《Burning Moscow》


 Chapter 1

    When my friend Andre came into my shop, I was talking to my friends in China about the recent forest fire outside Moscow. She learned about the fire in Moscow from domestic reports, mistakenly believing that the whole city was in a sea of fire and worried about my safety, so she specially called from China to learn about my recent situation.


    I pointed to the empty chair next to him and motioned him to sit down until I finished calling. At the same time, he continued to tease his friends in China and said: "do you think that the person who wrote the song" 0.5 mile "once crossed here and saw that Moscow was surrounded by forest fires in the suburbs, and then wrote such classic lyrics as" let the red burn Moscow, and memory smear Leningrad "..."


    Andre, a regular customer in my shop, saw that I was on the phone, but he didn''t speak. He just nodded at me with a smile and threw a white cardboard box tightly wrapped with transparent tape on my desk. Also did not sit down, turned and walked to the water dispenser, took out a paper cup, began to drink cup after cup of water.


    I stared at the carton in front of me and muttered, what''s in the box Andre gave me? In this way, when chatting with friends on the phone, I can''t help being distracted, and I didn''t answer the question several times. Friends from the phone to hear my strange, concerned to ask if I have something to do? As I was eager to find out what was in Andre''s box, I kept saying to my friend, "yes, I have something to do now. I''ll call you another day." As soon as the other party said goodbye, I hung up immediately.


    Andre came to me with a glass of water and sat down. While drinking water, he asked me vaguely in Chinese, "are you finished? What are you talking about with others? You''ll be in high spirits. "


    "My friend saw the news and said that the fire continued in Moscow. He thought the whole city was burning and worried about my safety, so he called to ask."


    Andre drank up the water in the cup, flattened the paper cup and threw it into the garbage can nearby. Then he said solemnly, "you should tell your friends that the difference between us and barbecue now is that we only have a handful of cumin."


    When I heard Andre say this, I was stunned at first, and then I burst out laughing. I didn''t expect that he was so humorous. Moreover, the whole joke was spoken in Chinese with a little strange emphasis, which added to the comic effect of his speech.


    After laughing, I picked up the carton Andre had just thrown on the table and weighed it in my hand. I felt that the weight was not too heavy. I asked him with a smile: "Andre, is this the fan you bought for me? Why is it so light?"


    "Electric fan?" Andre''s face froze when he heard the word. He scratched the back of his head and said with some embarrassment, "I''m sorry, don. I''ve failed to live up to your trust and have not been able to buy you an electric fan. " Maybe it was because I was afraid that I would blame him, and then he began to shirk his responsibility. "It''s not because I didn''t try my best, but because this year''s weather is too hot, and the forest in the suburbs is on fire again, so that the electric fans that nobody bought in previous years have become hot sales. When I bought it for others at the beginning of last month, it cost more than 300 rubles. Now, less than a month later, the price has risen to more than 3000 rubles, which is a ten fold increase. At this price, there is no market. I''ve run all the supermarkets and shopping malls in the city during this period of time, and I haven''t seen anyone selling electric fans. "


    The weather in Moscow this year is very abnormal. It has been very hot since June. So far, it has been almost two months without rain. The long-term heat and drought have caused forest fires in the suburbs. Moscow, with its "city in the forest", is besieged by the burning forests around it. The city is surrounded by smoke every day. The residents of the city become the smoky barbecue on the grill. In this case, the air conditioner and electric fan, which were neglected in previous years, became a hot spot overnight.


    Because the shops in our street sell leather clothes in winter, if the weather is too hot, the customers will not come to try on the clothes. Seeing the dismal business caused by the hot weather, the merchants once organized to go to the Jewish boss who managed the market, hoping that they would allow the merchants to install air conditioners on their own. But the boss of the market considered that if the large-scale installation of air conditioning, the existing transformer station will not be able to bear such a high load, frequent tripping will lead to a large area of power failure in the market. Therefore, he strictly stipulated that shops in the market are not allowed to install air conditioners.


    Because of this rigid regulation introduced by the market, merchants have to choose to buy electric fans. However, because the fans in the hands of the electrical appliance merchants in the market have already been sold out, the merchants who are in urgent need of electric fans will show their magic power: some people will go to other markets to buy them; Some entrusted people to bring them from home; Some businesses even ask their friends from other places to buy them in the local area, so that they can bring them when they come to Moscow.


    There are several large shopping malls near my residence. I used to see shops selling electric fans in them. But when I went to buy it, I found that I didn''t know when it would be out of stock. When I was worried, Andre, who often came to visit my shop, knew about it, patted his chest and assured me that he was familiar with the place, and he often drove around the city to buy an electric fan.


    It is precisely because I understand the actual situation, so after listening to Andre''s words, I didn''t mean to blame him at all. In order not to make him feel guilty, I changed the subject in time. I held the carton higher in my hand and asked curiously, "Andre, what''s in the box?"


    Andre did not answer me immediately, but said mysteriously, "guess what."


    "I can''t guess." This one foot square box can hold countless things, so I didn''t have the leisure to play guessing with him, so I simply said: "I can''t guess, you just say what it is."


    Andre''s face was slightly disappointed when I refused to guess what was in the box. Seeing my plain expression, I had no choice but to say, "well, since you don''t want to guess, I''ll let you see what it is." With that, I picked up the paper cutter I inserted in the pen holder and cut the tape around the carton.


    With the opening of the carton, the things inside revealed the true face of Lushan, which I could never think of even if I wanted to break my head. A helmet, a German helmet, to be exact, a German helmet made in World War II, now rusty, with an irregular bullet hole on the right.


    I watched with tongue tied eyes as Andre took the helmet out of the box and held it in his hand, looking left and right. Seeing my surprised expression on my face, he asked triumphantly, "you didn''t expect that there was a helmet in the box, did you?"


    "I didn''t expect it. I didn''t expect it." I shook my head like a rattle, saying that I had never guessed what was in the box. Then I asked curiously, "Andre, what do you want to do with a broken German helmet?"


    Andre carefully put the helmet into the box and rewound it with tape. While wrapping tape, he explained to me: "next month in Smolensk, there will be a war game organized by the military fans association to reproduce the scene of the battle of Smolensk between the Soviet army and the German army during the patriotic war. I''m playing the German side, so naturally I have to prepare German equipment. "


    Thinking of the rusty helmet, I frowned: "Andre, you can buy a new one. Why do you want to buy such a shabby one?"


    When I said this, Andre glanced at me with disdain, then said in a tone of teaching me, "restore history, do you understand what it means to restore history? Naturally, it means that in reproducing the fighting scenes of that year, both sides have to use the weapons and equipment of that year. Not only are the military uniforms, helmets and guns of both sides old-fashioned, but even the tanks and artillery were made during World War II. Although the helmet is dilapidated, when I went to the flea market to buy it today, the stall owner said that the owner of the helmet was shot and killed by his grandfather himself. If he didn''t have to wait for money at home, he would not have sold such a commemorative thing. He asked for ten thousand rubles, but fortunately I would bargain, and at last I bought it for six thousand


    Andre''s face was full of pride when he said this, as if he had picked up a big bargain. I knew in my heart that he must have been dominated by the stall in the flea market, so I got up, went to the water dispenser, poured two glasses of water, handed him one, and then gently reminded him, "Andre, can such a broken helmet be used as a family heirloom? Are you not fooled by the stall owner? "


    "No? What is deception? " Although Andre''s Chinese is good, he can''t understand this word with northeast characteristics.


    "To cheat is to praise you repeatedly how good a thing is, and then sell it to you at a high price."


    After listening to my explanation, Andre took a sip of water from his glass, then sat there with a dignified expression, silent, as if thinking about what I had just said to him. Seeing his expression, I couldn''t help but worry. My heart said that he would not find that he had been cheated, so I ran back to the flea market to find someone else to return the goods, right?


    After a pause, Andre didn''t mention the helmet any more. He took another drink, pointed to the newspaper I had spread on the table, and asked casually, "is there anything in your newspaper? I saw in the title, "why is Moscow still written?" Although he speaks Chinese fluently, he doesn''t know a few Chinese characters, just as my spoken Russian is OK, but I can''t read Russian newspapers. Sometimes, we often read our own newspapers for each other.


    I picked up the newspaper and said to him, "the news in the newspaper, even if I don''t say it, you can guess that it''s mainly about the forest fire in Moscow. Let me read a paragraph for you." After that, he took a drink from the water glass on the table, and then began to read: "Russia has recently experienced the most serious siege since 1942 when it defeated the German army - the siege of fire and smoke. On August 4, Moscow was shrouded in smoke, and the scene was extremely tragic. Looking around, the city in the forest looked as if it had just been bombed. In some places, the visibility was so low that people outside could only see their arms Doctors suggest that people stay at home and don''t go out and close the doors and windows, but it''s better to be cooked in the heat wave at home than to breathe harmful smoke outside... "


    Hearing this, he suddenly raised his hand and interrupted me: "I heard a joke last night. I''ll tell it to you."


    "Come on, I''m all ears!" With that, I put down the newspaper in my hand.


    "There is a couple who want to break up because of a quarrel. Later, they agreed to walk back to back for 100 steps and then turn back. If they could see each other, they would not break up; On the contrary, if they can''t see it, they will break up. With that, they began to act. After two steps back to back, both men and women could not help but turn back. As a result, they broke up. "


    Maybe the joke Andre told was too cold. After listening to it, I was still at a loss. "I don''t understand," I asked, "why did they turn around after only two steps and then break up?"


    Seeing that it didn''t resonate with me, Andre''s face showed a disappointed expression. He put on a serious face and explained to me: "love experts advise lovers in love not to play this kind of love game in fog, otherwise it will bring you lifelong regret." Then he burst out laughing.


    I understood Andre''s explanation immediately. In the place where the visibility can only see your own arm, two people walk two steps in the opposite direction, and it''s really damned that they can see each other. Thinking of this, I couldn''t help laughing.


    After we finished laughing, he suddenly asked curiously, "by the way, when I came in, I seemed to hear you talking to your friends on the phone about burning Moscow and bloodstaining Leningrad. What''s the matter?"


    I can''t laugh or cry when I hear about his curious baby. It seems that his Chinese level is not so good, even such a simple dialogue will be heard wrong. But since he asked about it, I had to explain it patiently: "Andre, you heard me wrong. What I''m talking about is not "burning Moscow and bloodstaining Leningrad," but two other lines: "let red burn Moscow and memory smear Leningrad.". My friend is a corn, so when I chat with her, I will talk about the lyrics of this song


    "Corn, what is corn?" Asked Andre curiously.


    "Corn," seeing his blank face, I took the opportunity to be popularized by him for entertainment: "she and I like the same singer, who sings very well, so she has a large group of fans. And these fans are collectively referred to as "corn."


    "Fans, I understand that." Andre continued: "but I want to know what ''corn'' is. We have this kind of plant in our country. How to say it in Russian?"


    After hearing what he said, I realized that I was wrong. I thought he wanted to know why the fans called "corn". It turned out that he wanted to know what "corn" was. So, I quickly read out the word in Russian: "Gulu day!"


    "What, what do you say?" Maybe I speak too fast, or the pronunciation is not standard, so Andre didn''t hear clearly: "you say it again, how to read it?"


    In order to let him hear clearly, and to confirm whether his pronunciation is standard, so I said again: "Gollum day!" After that, I saw that his expression did not change, so I charged twice, "Gollum day! Gollum day


    Voice just fell, the door suddenly came an old lady''s voice: "Hello, is it you want to buy corn?" I looked in the direction of the sound. I saw the old lady who was pushing a cart to sell boiled corn in the street. I thought that when I said the word corn aloud, she just passed by the door, so she stopped to ask.


    Andre and I were stunned at the old lady''s question, and then we all laughed. Seeing that the old lady was a little overwhelmed by our laughter, I went up to her and asked, "how do you sell corn?"


    "Fifty rubles each." The old lady replied with a smile.


    Andre came over and looked at the steaming corn in the pot on the special cart behind the old lady. "It turns out that this thing, translated into Chinese, is corn. I finally learned a new word."


    When Andre finished, I began to bargain with the old lady: "fifty is too expensive. Didn''t you sell only 30 rubles last year? Well, can you sell it to me for forty roubles? "


    After hearing this, the old lady shook her head like a rattle: "no, no, fifty rubles. It can''t be cheap."


    I have known for a long time that it is impossible to bargain for such things with a unified price. I just talk nonsense with the old lady when I am idle and bored. I took a hundred roubles out of my T-shirt pocket and handed it to him. I pretended to be generous and said, "since it can''t be cheap, it''s OK. Here''s a hundred roubles. Pick me two good ones At last, he specially told him, "remember, sprinkle more salt on the corn. It''s not delicious if the salt is less."


    When Andre and I were eating a boiled corn full of salt, Andre suddenly stopped and asked me, "Hey, don, will you go straight home after we close today?"


    "Well, that''s for sure." As I continued to gnaw corn, I pointed to the occasional wisps of white smoke outside the door: "you see, there is smoke everywhere outside. People can''t even open their eyes. It''s not asking for trouble to stay outside, or it''s safe to go home."


    "Do you want to go swimming in the Moscow River and get some fresh air?"


    When I heard Andre''s proposal to go swimming, I couldn''t help but feel a little moved. But seeing the smoke passing by the door, I gave up the idea. In such a bad environment, it''s really boring to go swimming in the river.


    "Forget it, I''d better not go." The main decision, I began to find reasons to shirk, "you see the smoke outside so big, the air good everywhere floating burning ash, I think the river must be floating thick soot."


    "No, No. I just went there yesterday, and the river is very clear. " The first reason I put forward was overruled by him.


    "Also," I continued to find a reason for not going: "besides, even if I want to go, I can''t get into the water without swimming trunks."


    "So you''re worried about that." After listening to my second farfetched reason, Andre said, "it''s OK. When I came, I just bought a dozen when I passed the swimsuit area. I''ll give you two as a gift."


    He is so well prepared that he can''t refuse without proper reasons. Just as I was racking my brains to think about how to refuse him, he came close to my ear and said in a low voice, "where I usually go swimming, there is a celestial camp on the other side of the river. Every day, many beautiful girls are basking in the sun or swimming in the water."


    "The beauty of the celestial camp." When he said that, my brother pig nature was exposed, and my saliva almost flowed down the corn in my hand. I quickly pulled a piece of paper, wiped my mouth, and threw it into the garbage can together with the corn that had not been eaten. I sat up straight and put on a serious look and said, "well, since you have invited me to swim again and again, I can''t refuse your kindness, so as not to hurt your self-esteem. Do you think so? " Without waiting for his reply, I added to myself, "anyway, there is no business today. Let''s go and close the door. Alas! The air here is so bad that we need to go to the river to get some fresh air. "


    Due to the complicated steps of closing the door, I asked Andre where his private car was and asked him to wait for me in the parking lot. After I closed the door, I went to find him.


    I closed the door, asked the security guard to sign, and turned on the alarm in the shop. Then I hurried to the parking lot to find Andre. Andre''s 80% new black Mercedes Benz stands out in a pile of colorful old cars such as LADA and riguri. I can see his car from a long distance.


    I quickly came to the side of the car, only to find that the door was closed, and Andre was not seen. Seeing this, my first reaction was, did I recognize the wrong car? For this reason, I specially went around to the front of the car and looked at the license plate. Yes, it''s Andre''s license plate number. I took out my cell phone and was about to call him and ask him where he had gone.


    When I was dialing, I suddenly heard his voice calling me. I looked around, but I didn''t see anyone. At this time, he was heard shouting in Russian: "look back, I''m behind you!"


    I turned to see him squatting next to a medium-sized truck. He quickly walked over and asked him strangely, "what are you doing here instead of staying in your car?"


    "Oh, forget it!" He said with a sad face: "as soon as I got into the car, I felt that it was as hot as a sauna. I almost got heatstroke. So I turned on the air conditioner and hid in this cool place. " Then he said to me, "don''t stand foolishly. Come to a cool place for a while. When the temperature in the car drops, we''ll go back to the car."


    After five or six minutes, he stood up abruptly and said, "it should be almost now." With that, he quickly walked to the car, opened the door and went in. After a while, the front passenger''s window fell down, and he pointed out his head to greet me, "get in the car!"


    Driving, Andre said that the swimming area is not far from the market, only ten kilometers, at most half an hour. Leaving the market, I found that the smog outside was thicker and the visibility was less than 20 meters. Because of this, the traffic seems congested. But after more than an hour, our car is still moving slowly in the long traffic flow.


    Seeing my anxious face, Andre comforted me and said, "don''t worry. Drive another two kilometers or so. There''s a parking lot in front of us. Then we''ll park there and walk to the river."


    When I heard him say that, I felt a little more at ease. On such a hot day, sitting in the car exposed to the sun, even if there is air conditioning, there is also the possibility of heatstroke. If I have to drive for a few more hours, I''d rather get out of the car and walk. At least there are many roadside trees to shade me. When I was thinking about it, I caught a glimpse of a tank on the left side of the road, which was very old at first sight. It was driving close to the side of the road with our car.


    I was about to ask Andre to look at the tank that suddenly appeared. Unexpectedly, it was very fast. After a moment, it disappeared in the thick smoke. Seeing this scene, I couldn''t help shivering. I raised my hand and patted Andre on the shoulder. I pointed to the direction where the tank disappeared and asked nervously, "Andre, do you see the tank on the side of the road?"


    "Tank?" Andre looked in the direction of my finger, and then said with disapproval, "Oh, you mean the tank sculpture on the roadside in front of me. It''s a meritorious tank who participated in the patriotic war. But now there is too much smoke and low visibility. We can''t see where we are now. "


    "No, not sculpture." I tried my best to put forward my hand and explain: "it''s a real tank. I can see it very clearly. It should be T-34. I was driving by the side of the road just now. I drove very fast. In a twinkling of an eye, it disappeared in the thick fog."


    Andre looked me up and down and said with a smile, "don, you don''t feel dizzy. You think a truck is a tank."


    Listening to what he said, I can''t explain any more. I can only mutter to myself in my heart. Maybe I''m really confused by the heat, so it''s totally possible for me to be dazzled for a moment.


    Our car drove two or three hundred meters forward again. Andre coughed, looked at me, pointed out the window and said, "now look at the left side of the road. When you just had an illusion, did you see this sculpture?"


    I looked in the direction of his fingers. There was a tank in the green belt on the side of the road. The back half of the tank was deeply sunk into the ground. The front half of the tank was high and cocked up, and the long gun barrel pointed to the sky. Judging from the old and new degree of green paint on the car body, it should be that maintenance has just been carried out.


    The car continued to drive for more than half an hour. After taking a long breath, Andre turned to me and said, "thank God, we''re here at last. When I get into the parking lot, we''ll walk to the river


    Andre takes a travel bag out of the trunk and locks the car. He took me through a dense grove to the swimming area by the river. I stood at the edge of the woods, watching the swarms of people standing or sitting or lying on the grass. I couldn''t help asking Andre curiously, "why is this river a lawn, not a beach?"


    "There''s a beach." Andre pointed across the river and said, "the location of the celestial camp over there is the beach; On this side, it''s always just grass. "


    I looked across the river and saw a golden beach across from Moscow. Because of the heavy smoke on the river, we can only vaguely see the beach opposite, which is also densely packed with people. As for whether or not we wear swimsuits, we can''t see clearly.


    When I looked around, I found that there was no other building except a few sheds selling things, so I couldn''t help asking Andre, "Oh, man, where are we going to change our clothes?"


    Andre pointed to the side and said impatiently, "it''s here. The forest is a natural dressing room." Said, he threw a pair of swimming trunks to me, he began to deftly undress, but also a force to urge me to move faster. Although there are many trees around me, it''s a public place after all. It''s really embarrassing for me to change my clothes in full view of the public. While hesitating, I caught a glimpse of some young girls nearby. They took off their clothes and put on their three-point swimsuits. Then they ran out of the woods talking and laughing. Seeing that other girls are so generous and natural, can''t I even compare with them? So I took off my clothes and put on my swimming trunks.


    Andre, who had changed into swimming trunks, took the clothes I had changed and stuffed them into the travel bag he was carrying. Instead of rushing into the water, he took me through the crowd. When he came to an area with few people, he took out two large bath towels from his bag, spread them on the grass, and asked me to lie down and bask in the sun first.


    Seeing this, I asked curiously, "Andre, why don''t we go swimming yet?"


    He sat on the bath towel, while applying sunscreen, he said slowly, "don''t worry, don''t worry. Look at the river now, all the ash floating on the water is plant ash. We''ll go down when we sleep clean."


    When I looked into the river, there was a layer of gray plant ash floating on the water. Almost all the people stayed on the shore, and there were few swimmers in the water. Seeing this, I can''t help but cry bitterly. Even if the water is so dirty, I won''t go down. Because I didn''t know how long it would take for the river to become clear again, I lay on the towel on the grass and closed my eyes. Before long, I fell asleep unconsciously.


    In my sleep, I felt as if someone was shaking my shoulder. At the same time, I heard a familiar voice: "don, don, wake up, wake up quickly." I opened my eyes vaguely and saw Andre squatting by calling me. I suddenly sat up and asked, "can I go into the water now?"


    "Yes, the water is clean and ready to go into the water."


    I haven''t swam for many years. For the sake of safety, I only dared to swim in the shallow water near the shore for the first half hour. Andre knew that I was rarely useful. He was worried that I would be in danger, so he didn''t dare to leave. He was probably ready to be my full-time lifeguard.


    Swimming, he suddenly called me: "Hey, don, look, there are two beautiful young girls in the middle, who are swimming from the other bank. Let''s go and say hello to them." Then, without waiting for me, he speeded up and swam towards the center of the river. Looking at his far away back, I secretly scolded in my heart: "lust, lust over friends." After scolding, he followed him and swam forward.


    Although I swim to the front as hard as I can, I can''t be compared with Andre, who doesn''t swim for ten years. He had already swam to the side of the two girls and started talking and laughing loudly with others. But I was still 20 meters away, flapping desperately.


    Seeing that I was only seven or eight meters away from the three, I suddenly heard the noise on the other side. The villains who were playing on the beach and in the woods were shouting like crazy. They rushed into the river in groups and swam towards us with their arms.


    I stepped on the fake water and stopped at the same place. I was surprised to see the crowd swimming closer and closer. I didn''t know what happened. At this moment, Andre, who was talking and laughing with the two girls, also stayed in the same place for a while, and then swam towards me with the girls, shouting something while swimming. Because of the uproar, I couldn''t hear him at all, so I stayed where he was. It wasn''t until he swam close to me that I realized what he was shouting was: "don, swim back. The woods are on fire over there. Swim back to the shore."


    At this time, wisps of choking smoke have floated along the wind, I was startled. I quickly turned around and swam towards the shore with all my strength. Although I swim faster than I just did, more and more people overtake me from behind and play to the shore. When I stepped on the shore, I couldn''t help but look back. I was scared out of my wits. I saw the fire rolling from the direction of quantity. The trees by the river are humid, and the smoke becomes more pungent and choking as soon as they burn. Although the fire is still far away, along with the beach and the river nearly 100 meters wide, the suffocating smell and rolling heat wave have come. The people who used to bask in the sun on the grass on the shore have already run out, and even Andre, who came ashore before me, has disappeared. The people who had just escaped from the other bank had turned into headless flies and didn''t know where to run. The blazing fire and the choking smoke made everyone even more frightened. Like them, I had no brain and no thinking. The rest was just instinctive running. I ran to where there were so many people. I saw someone bump into me from behind when I was running into the woods where I had just changed. Under the huge impact, I couldn''t help flying forward and bumping my head into a big tree. At the same time, I felt intense pain, and then I fainted.

 Chapter 2

    A little bit of bean sized raindrops fell through the clouds and hit me heavily in the face. It was cool and refreshing. At the next moment, more raindrops fell from the air. Rain hit on the dry soil, the kind of soil just wet soil smell immediately into the nose.


    it''s raining.


    Looking through the branches and leaves of the trees and staring at the gray sky, I thought to myself: it''s raining at last. It''s time to cool down Moscow, which has been hot and dry for a month and a half.


    It was quiet around. I listened carefully. I didn''t hear any other sound except the sound of the rain and the slight clatter of the leaves. Where has Andre gone? Where have so many swimmers gone just now?


    I moved my body and wanted to sit up. Unexpectedly, as soon as I moved, there was a deep pain in my abdomen, which made me cry. Didn''t I hit my head just now? How could my abdomen hurt so much? Did my stomach knock on the stone again when I fell down?


    "Rita." With my appearance, a rough and old face suddenly appeared in front of my eyes, which startled me. He had two upturned goatee, and even wore an exaggerated old Soviet cornice hat with four triangles on the collar. This strange dress was the Soviet dress during the patriotic war. Where is this? Did I accidentally fall into the set of a film about the patriotic war? And this strange man, who is he calling? Rita, is that a woman''s name? Oh, my God, don''t call me again. You know, I''m a man to the core.


    "Zhun Wei... Comrade..." and "I" actually spit out two such Russian words. Ah, what the hell is going on?! I haven''t even opened my mouth. I''m not talking. I''m not talking. Who''s talking?


    "How are you feeling?" He asked with concern.


    "Genoa died?"¡° I asked again. Who''s Genoa? The name sounds strange. I don''t think it''s someone I know.


    The brigadier nodded: "now we have nothing, no guns, no bullets, and now we have no Genoa." When I heard the conversation, I felt that I was hallucinating. I wanted to bite my finger. As soon as I raised my hand, I felt pain in my abdomen, reminding me that everything in front of me was real.


    "Suddenly... Dead?"


    He pulled off his hat, held it tightly in his hands, and beat his head hard: "I hurt, my heart hurts, Rita, it hurts! I hurt you. I hurt five of you. But for what, for a dozen German devils? " Hearing what he said, I suddenly felt like vomiting blood. My God, how come there are German devils again? What''s the matter? Did I cross?


    "Why do you say that... It''s obvious, it''s not your fault." Because of the excitement, my breathing became short. Hearing this, I understand how it''s going on. It seems that there are two souls in my body. One is me. Can I hear or speak; The soldier who is talking with the soldier in front of us should be the female soldier named Rita, the original owner of the body.


    "Maybe, but in the future? Can you understand why you have to die then? Why can''t I let these German soldiers go? Or, I''ll take you all the way west from Xiniu Xingling to find the major and our troops. Maybe someone will ask me: why don''t you die, but give our mothers to death? The worst part is why I survived, if I did. "


    "No, don''t do that." Because of the pain, Rita couldn''t help getting up again and said softly, "I''m going to die."


    "No, Rita, you''ll survive."


    "You asked me that day: How did you meet the German devils in the woods?"


    Hearing Lida''s question, the old brigadier nodded. It seemed that he always wanted to know the answer.


    "I went to the city to see my son. He is three years old and his name is Alek. He lives in my mother''s house. My mother is very ill. Maybe before the end of the war, she will..."


    "Don''t worry, Rita. I get it all."


    Listening to Rita continue to cry in pain, the brigadier put the crumpled cap back on, opened her hand covering the wound, looked at the wound in her abdomen, and then grasped Rita''s hand tightly.


    "Vaskov!" Rita gave a hard cry. It turns out that the brigadier''s name is vaskov, but how does it sound so familiar?


    "Call me fiddot, or my nickname, as my mother did: Feijia."


    "Feijia, can you... Can you grant my last request?"


    "No They talk like riddles. I can''t understand them at all.


    "I really hurt. I don''t even have the strength to speak..."


    "I''ll reconnoitre and come back immediately, and then I''ll carry you back to my troops."


    "It''s too late. Take out the pistol... "Lida said weakly.


    Brigadier vascoft unconsciously covered the holster.


    "Do you want me to die of pain?" Vaskov looked at Rita in consternation as she became weaker and weaker. She really can''t. You can see that. But let him shoot Rita himself, he can''t do it, he can''t do it¡° Or let the German devils beat me to death? " Vaskov shook his head in pain. Rita said to vaskov in a commanding voice, "well, you come." I know why Rita made this decision. I can feel her injury clearly. If there is no miracle, she will have no hope. At the moment, I feel like I''m burning on a brand iron. There seems to be a cold bottomless hole in front of me, waiting for me. Death is sitting in the deepest darkness. I can almost feel the cold breath of death. Seeing that vaskov refused to start, she said weakly, "gun." Hearing this word, I immediately panicked, no, Rita wants to commit suicide, since I can feel all the pain on her body, then if she committed suicide, I am not finished. I yelled at her: no! However, he could not make a sound and could only watch the development of the situation. Vaskov could not hold on any longer. He slowly took out his pistol and handed it to Rita. But Rita didn''t even have the strength to take the gun. As soon as she took the gun, it fell to the ground¡° Help me. " Rita''s voice was so faint at the moment that she could hardly hear. Vaskov bent down to pick up the gun from the ground, then let it go in a panic, and the gun fell to the ground again¡° Feijia, are you scared Rita was smiling sadly at her. Vaskov picked up the pistol again. He opened the magazine, looked at it and said, "there are only two bullets left." Rita closed her eyes for a moment and said in a weak voice, "put... The gun, put the gun at me..." vaskov put the gun at Rita''s temple. She motioned to him to put her finger in the trigger. Vaskov did it again in silence. Rita closed her eyes with satisfaction. When she opened them again, she suddenly said to vaskov, "kiss me." Vaskov leaned awkwardly down and touched Rita''s forehead with his lips. Although vaskov was kissing Rita, I felt a chill in Rita''s body. I couldn''t stand a same-sex kiss¡° It''s amazing... "Lida closed her eyes again and spat out the last two words of her short life:" go. " Vaskov took two steps into the distance, sat down under the tree and crouched with his back to Rita. This plot is so familiar. There is a feeling of deja vu. This idea suddenly flashed through my mind, but I can''t remember where I have seen it. Rita closed her eyes, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes, and slowly pulled the trigger with her fingers¡° "Poof," a dull gunshot went off in my ear, and then I lost consciousness again.

 Chapter 3

    I don''t know how long it took, the cool rain made me wake up again.


    As soon as I opened my eyes, I found that I was covered by a lot of branches. I looked at the gray sky through the gaps of the branches and tried to recall what had just happened. Am I dreaming? Why is this dream so real? What''s the connection between female soldiers, Soviets and Germans? Why did I feel very familiar when I heard the conversation between Rita and brigadier vaskov just now?


    In addition to the sound of wind and rain around, or can not hear any other sound, I can not help but sigh, heart said here is really quiet everywhere! quietly?! As soon as I thought of this word, I had a flash in my mind. By the way, what happened just now is the plot of the movie "Li Ming is quiet here". No wonder I feel so familiar. I have seen this movie at least ten times.


    I tried to sit up, but as soon as I lifted my body, there was a burning pain in my abdomen, which forced me to lie down again. I lay on the cold rock for a while, raised my hands, and slowly pulled the branches to both sides. After all the branches were removed, I took a deep breath, covered the wound with my left hand, supported the nearby rock with my right hand, and tried to sit up slowly with the strength of my hands.


    This usually simple movement, but almost exhausted all my strength, I leaned against the rock wall, gasping.


    Thinking that Lida shot her head just now, I quickly touched the temple and was surprised to find that there was no bullet hole, only blood oozing from the right eyebrow bone. Maybe Rita was so weak and weak that she couldn''t hold the pistol firmly, so that the bullet missed a little when she shot, which saved me from death. Then I untied my military uniform and looked at the abdominal injury. I saw a pool of dark blood silting up in the place where the abdominal gauze was wrapped. I couldn''t see the injury clearly. The oozing blood had already flowed to the ground and gone with the muddy rain.


    I looked around and saw that brigadier vaskov had disappeared, and the gun he had just used had also disappeared. According to the development of the plot, he should have gone to the rest of the German soldiers with the pistol with only one bullet.


    Sitting on the ground, I continued to think about the plot in the movie: at first, Rita went to the city to see her son in the evening. When she returned in the morning, she found two German soldiers in the woods, and then went back to report to Deputy platoon commander kiryanova and brigadier vaskov. Because there were only two German soldiers, the Brigadier and five women soldiers set out to pursue the two enemies who sneaked into the Soviet rear. I didn''t expect to find out later that there were not two Germans, but sixteen. In the case of few enemies, vaskov with the women soldiers, and the German devils skillfully around. In a few days of fighting, one after another German devils were killed, five female soldiers were all killed, and the only surviving brigadier was also injured. Supported by his belief in revenge for the female soldiers, he continued to fight and captured all the remaining German soldiers.


    The five women soldiers who took part in the battle were all killed, and so was my attached Rita, but why am I still alive now? Was it me who took over Rita''s body?


    Suddenly, the distant bell broke my train of thought. I can see the spire in the distance. It''s supposed to be a monastery, and it''s an abandoned one. There won''t be anyone in it. How could the bell ring inexplicably? Is it German there?


    I suddenly stood up. Maybe I got up too hard. I felt dizzy and black in front of me. I helped the rock in front of me, but I didn''t fall. I stood for a while. After the dizziness was over, I looked around and saw a Soviet rifle leaning against the rock, so I grabbed it. He opened the bolt of the gun and checked it. He saw that it was full of bullets.


    I covered the wound in one hand and used my rifle as a crutch. I recognized the direction of the monastery and stumbled forward. Along the way, I saw backpacks, helmets, kettles and even a submachine gun discarded by the German soldiers. I wanted to pick up the submachine gun, but as soon as I bent down, my eyes were filled with pain. After several attempts, I couldn''t squat down without affecting the wound, so I had to give up the plan to pick up the submachine gun.


    With these objects as references, I know where to look for brigadier vaskov and German devils.


    It''s raining tirelessly, as if it''s going to clean the world again. I stumbled to the lake. The water was vast and the sky was the same. Standing by the lake, you can see the abandoned monasteries not far away. The muddy road is a mess of footprints.


    Under the cover of trees, I approached the monastery carefully. Because I didn''t know what was going on in the monastery, I didn''t dare to rush past, so I had to hide behind a tree, poke out my head and look carefully in the direction of the monastery.


    When I saw two men in German uniforms lying beside the well outside the monastery, I was scared to retreat behind the tree. Hiding behind the tree, my heart beat faster and faster. I thought to myself that the two Germans should never come here, or I would have to be a prisoner.


    After a while, there was still no movement outside, so I leaned out again and found that the two men were still lying there. It suddenly dawned on me that these were two bodies. It was estimated that they were all killed by the brigadier. Now that all the German soldiers at the gate have been killed by the brigadier, there are not enough of them. I came out from behind the tree with a rifle and walked towards the old wooden door of the monastery.


    As soon as I got to the door, I heard the brigadier yell in it: "henderhoff£¨ German: hands up! " I slowly looked in. Under the light of the pine torch in the hall of the monastery, Brigadier vaskov pointed his pistol at some German soldiers standing in the opposite corner.


    Although there were a large number of German soldiers standing opposite, they all looked at the gun in the brigadier''s hand and hesitated. I quickly stepped into the door, leaning against the doorframe, and pointed my rifle at them.


    "Henderhoech!" The warrant officer yelled again.


    Perhaps seeing another Soviet Army enter the monastery, the hesitant German could not help but want to take risks. A German soldier threw himself at the submachine gun on the altar. It was their last chance to get rid of being a prisoner.


    The warrant officer''s gun went off.


    Unfortunately, the bullet passed the German soldier''s ear and hit the wall. Seeing that the German soldier''s hand had touched the submachine gun, I instinctively pulled the trigger, and the bullet hit the German soldier accurately. He covered the chest of the wounded soldier with both hands, turned around in the same place and fell forward to the ground.


    The recalcitrant German soldiers died like a bear, which shattered the last hope of others, "riagayi! Riagayi Under his leadership, the German soldiers raised their proud hands. Watching the enemy raise their hands to surrender, the brigadier, leaning against the wall, breathed a sigh of relief and slid down the wall to the ground, but still holding the gun tightly.


    The German commander seemed to have a chance, but as soon as he saw the two Black Muzzles in our hands, his hands rose higher.


    "Feijia 1" I called the brigadier in a loud voice, but he didn''t pay any attention to me. Instead, he scolded the German soldier in Russian fiercely: "how about victory? Five girls, five girls in all, only five in all But you don''t want to go there and die... Even if the superior spared you, I''ll kill you one by one with my own hands! Let them judge me, and let them go!... " He picked out the dirtiest words, coupled with the most ferocious expression, there was no reason why the frightened German soldiers did not follow his orders.


    With a pistol, he ordered four German soldiers to strap each other''s hands. At last, he called the commander to him and tied him up with his own hands.


    All this was done safely. The brigadier supported the wall, stood up with difficulty, hobbled over, picked up the submachine gun, pulled open the bolt, and pointed the muzzle at the five German soldiers who were bound.


    "Feijia, no!" At the moment when he pulled the trigger, I rushed over and pushed his muzzle up. A string of bullets hit the wall, which made the German soldiers shiver. They looked at the situation in front of them in surprise and anger.


    "Go." The brigadier still didn''t pay any attention to me. He pointed the German soldiers'' guns at them and yelled hoarsely.


    One by one, the German soldiers passed in front of us, bowed their heads and went on the road of prisoners of war.


    The prisoners walked ahead in frustration, and the German commander secretly turned back to us from time to time. It seemed that his fear was not over. Maybe he was worried that the Soviet soldier might shoot them again at any time, because extreme anger could make a person completely crazy.


    I suddenly felt a burning pain all over my body. Maybe when I opened the muzzle of the brigadier''s gun, I cracked the wound again. The pain made me confused and thirsty. It seemed that my whole body needed to drink water desperately. I tried my best to keep awake, and staggered along behind the line of prisoners and the brigadier who escorted them.


    Waded the river with difficulty. It''s almost out of the forest. I feel more and more tired and I can''t support myself, but I dare not stop because I know that once I fall down, I can''t get up again. The only thing we can do is to follow the brigadier in front and go on until we reach our destination.


    In the silent forest, only heavy steps were ringing.


    Li Ming is quiet here.


    All of a sudden, countless Red Army soldiers emerged from the surrounding forests, hills and rivers. They came to us shouting. It was the major and platoon leader kirianova who came to the forest with a large army to search for us. But brigadier vaskov didn''t seem to feel anything. He staggered forward, passed the prisoner, and walked on.


    I stopped and waited for the major and platoon leader kirianova to come to me. Relying on my rifle, I stood firm, saluted them, and weakly reported: "Comrade major, corporal Rita, the monitor of the first class of the third platoon of the fifth company of the independent battalion of the antiaircraft machine gun, has reported to you that the team has been ordered to pursue the German devils who are lurking behind our army and are engaged in sabotage, Kill eleven and catch five alive. " With these words, I can''t help but be stunned. How can I speak Russian so smoothly? When I became Rita, I also merged her original consciousness?


    Before I knew it, the major came up to me, put his hands on my shoulders, patted me hard twice, and said aloud, "good job! Girl, you are so good!! I''m so proud of you


    At the end of the report, I felt extremely weak and a little shaky. When I was so badly patted by the major, I suddenly felt black in front of my eyes. I fell heavily on the ground and fainted.

 Chapter 4

    ... what happened after I fell down, I finally remembered.


    I remember when I opened my eyes, I was lying on a temporary stretcher. Several male soldiers were carrying me along in the dense forest. Kirianova, the platoon leader, followed the stretcher closely, wiping tears secretly.


    "Kiriyanova," I called her in a weak voice. She bent down, grabbed my right hand and asked me with concern, "how are you feeling, Rita?"


    "I''m not going to die. When I die, who will take care of my mother and my son, Alec?" I can''t help saying this, though I didn''t want to say it. It seems that Lida''s body has the final say in my own body.


    Kirianova nodded and wiped her tears, comforting me and saying, "Rita, no, no, you won''t die. Hold on a little longer, and we''ll be back at the station soon. "


    *********************************************


    In the woods at dawn, birds sing and mist curls. When I saw my son alik, I always felt very happy. When I walked, I found that my boots were wet with dew. I immediately remembered that the mud on my boots had exposed my whereabouts, so I sat down, took off my boots and carried them on my shoulder.


    I pattered along with my bare feet, my boots dangling behind my back. I have to hurry up now. I''ve been on the road for too long this time. If I go back late, I''ll be in trouble if brigadier vaskov finds out.


    At this time, I heard some voices, someone carefully pulled the branches in front of me and came over.


    "It''s not a patrol, is it?" My heart beat so fast that I had no certificate. I was caught by them and would be sent to the brigadier. In that case, I would have to be shut down by vaskov.


    All of a sudden, I heard voices - some incomprehensible words, and someone''s laughter


    "What are they saying? Why can''t I understand?" I am a little puzzled to think, all of a sudden, I came to realize: This is the German devils! It''s German!


    I flashed into the trees, held my breath, and watched the road ahead through the sparse leaves. The first person to come out was a tall man in a camouflage shirt. In his right hand, he held a small rectangular bag tightly strapped with a belt. On his chest, he hung a German submachine gun. He looked back. For a moment, another man in the same dress came out of the woods, carrying the same bag, but shorter. I couldn''t help it. I moved a little. The dwarf tree shook and the dew spilled all over me.


    Two strangers looked around warily, and I didn''t dare move any more. He pulled off the boat cap on his head and blocked his mouth, so as not to make a noise to disturb them. He just looked at the two strangers with wide eyes. Yes, this is the German devils. They lowered their voices and talked, slowly approaching my hiding place.


    At the very first moment, I realized that I was helpless, so I was very afraid to think that the Germans would soon find me, and I was totally desperate... I knew that everything was over, and my fate had been decided. I would never see my comrades in arms, my mother and Alek. In a few minutes, I would no longer live in the world, Everything will never exist for me.


    Fortunately, the two German soldiers murmured a few words and went on. Hiding in the trees, I saw the German soldiers disappear in the woods, and carefully observed the direction of the German soldiers. Except for the singing of birds, no one appeared.


    Then I burst out of the trees and rushed to the stream. Regardless of the density of the trees and the depth of the stream, I ran forward recklessly until I ran to the 171 meeting station where the troops were stationed and reported to vaskov and kiriyanova about the discovery of the German in the woods.


    Then we organized a small team to hunt down the two German devils. Led by brigadier vaskov. In addition to me, there are soldiers garka, Lisa, German speaking Sonia, and platoon sharpshooter Genoa.


    I thought it would be easy for six of us to deal with two German devils. We were very relaxed along the way. Along the way, Genoa kept teasing vaskov, who always said "according to the code of conduct...", while Lisa, who was secretly in love with the brigadier, kept saying good things for the brigadier.


    Under the guidance of the brigadier, we went through the swamp and set up a blocking position in line with the code of conduct on the only way for the German devils. We were ready to launch a blocking battle with ease and strive to capture a German soldier. However, when I saw the German devils coming out of the woods with my telescope, not only the two people I saw that day, but sixteen people, I couldn''t help being shocked.


    In the face of sixteen German soldiers armed to the teeth, we can''t deal with them just by one man and five women. Others are sixteen submachine guns with strong firepower, while we only have one pistol and five rifles. We are at an obvious disadvantage both in terms of the small number of people and in terms of weapons and equipment. Not to mention eliminating them, it is a question whether we can preserve ourselves.


    The brigadier will send Lisa back to report and ask her to bring the army to support her. And the five of us left, we''ll do everything we can to keep these German devils here.


    However, we did what we had to do, and the German devils were delayed by us all day and night, but we still didn''t see the shadow of a large army. But the confrontation with the German devils inevitably happened. Garka and Sonia died in the battle. Vaskov led me and Genoa to re-establish a blocking position on the necessary road. When the remaining German devils entered the effective range, he immediately roared: "shoot!" And took the lead in firing down the top German soldiers. I knocked down four German soldiers in a row with a short volley. Hiding behind the trees, Genoa calmly knocked down a German soldier who was preparing to drop a bomb with a rifle. When the grenade landed and exploded, it knocked over a German soldier nearby. Seeing that vaskov was overwhelmed by the German fire, I stood up from behind the hidden rock and opened fire on the enemy, hoping to relieve his pressure. I didn''t expect that at this time, a grenade flying from unknown place exploded not far in front of me. I just felt a shock in my abdomen, and then wet liquid flowed out. The submachine gun slipped from my hand. I covered my abdomen with my hands and leaned against the rock. Seeing that I was injured, vaskov and Genoa rushed over with their heads down. I covered my stomach with my hands and grinned at them reluctantly with dry lips¡° What kind of injury? " Vaskov asked with concern¡° Grenades. " Vaskov wanted to open my hand and examine the wound. I endured the pain and said shyly, "there''s nothing to see." Vaskov didn''t care what I said at all. He just yelled at Genoa, "bring the bandage!" Speaking time, vaskov has stripped off my uniform, took the bandage in Genoa''s hand, and carefully bandaged the wound for me. At this time, the enemy''s gunfire more intensive, a string of bullets hit the rock, we all know where we are found by the enemy. In order to cover us, Genoa jumped out nimbly, followed by her charge gun********************************************* Abdominal pain, pain through the heart and lungs, is particularly true and clear, I opened my eyes, the original just all is a dream ah. I want to move my body a little, but I feel that my whole body is like a fracture, and I can''t help groaning¡° Rita! Rita!! Rita A familiar cry let me know. I have returned to the 171 meeting station where the troops are stationed, and the women soldiers who live together day and night are around my stretcher. I vaguely heard people talking, someone was cutting my clothes, and then I lost consciousness. By the time I woke up, my abdominal and head wounds had been bandaged. At this time, I heard the major''s voice outside the door: "Comrade kiryanova, let the soldiers hurry up. Smolensk has been lost. The German troops will arrive here soon." Then came kirianova''s voice: "is this true? Comrade major. Did not the news from yesterday say that general Lukin''s troops were fighting tenaciously with the enemy in Smolensk? "¡° Yesterday is yesterday, today is today. " The major''s voice was very impatient. "The Germans, under the cover of powerful aviation or artillery, have driven the 16th army out of the city, which lacks heavy weapons. At present, the main force of our army is transferring to Moscow, and we are also preparing for the transfer. " Speaking of this, he paused, and then urged kirianova, "sergeant, hurry up, the ambulance from the city has arrived. Hurry up, take Rita and the brigadier to the rear hospital."¡° Where to? Moscow? "¡° It''s not Moscow, it''s Leningrad. "¡° But, comrade major, isn''t it closer to Moscow? "¡° Comrade sergeant, let me remind you. We belong to the Leningrad front army. According to relevant regulations, all the wounded should be sent to Leningrad. Stop talking nonsense and let the soldiers carry them to the ambulance as soon as possible. "

 Chapter 5

    I woke up from the anesthesia after the operation, opened my hazy eyes, and looked at a girl in front of me who was bending over in a white coat and hat. I couldn''t understand where I was.


    "You wake up!" Exclaimed the girl in surprise.


    I finally realized that I was in the hospital in the back, and I felt very weak.


    "Where am I?" I want to sit up as I ask. But I was dizzy to death. There were many black dots floating in front of me, and I fell on the pillow feebly.


    "Lie down, lie down, dear!" The girl pressed me gently with her hand in a hurry: "please don''t move. You''ve only had an operation. Be careful to crack the wound. Tell me what you need."


    It turned out that I had just had an operation. No wonder I felt so tired. I raised my head and looked under the quilt. I was surprised to find that I was naked except for the bandage on my abdomen. I blushed with shame, alas! What a difference! In order to go to the Moscow River to see the beautiful MM naked swimming, the result made himself across by accident. Crossing is crossing. It''s even in a woman''s body. I hesitated for a moment, and then said, "where''s my uniform?"


    "Uniform?" She was shocked when I asked, but she immediately replied, "I didn''t see your uniform. When you got to the hospital, you didn''t wear any clothes."


    After hearing this, I was even more embarrassed. It turned out that I had never been dressed since 171 meeting. Isn''t that a shame.


    "Just had an operation, how does my wound not ache?" I quickly changed the topic to resolve my embarrassment.


    "The anesthetic effect is not over. Don''t always think of pain, it will hurt you enough in the future, "the girl said with a smile.


    "So... Why anesthesia?"


    "To get the shrapnel out. Do you know how many shrapnel you have in your stomach


    "Nurse, what''s your name?"


    "Vera."


    "How long have I been here? Where is brigadier vaskov? " I suddenly thought of the brigadier general who had lived and died with me. I couldn''t help sitting up again, but the scene in front of me became more and more blurred, and my throat felt sick.


    "Don''t move, don''t move. Look how you move around again. Be careful to crack the wound." I heard Willa''s voice as if it were from a distance¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤


    When I woke up again, the nurse was gone. I struggled to turn my head and saw that there was still a bed in the ward. There was a man lying on the bed, motionless, with the quilt almost covering his chin, only his head tightly bandaged.


    "Hello I whispered to her, "are you asleep?"


    The two puffy, black lips, which appeared between the gaps of the bandages, first moved silently. After a while, I heard the words: "who are you? Is it a doctor? "


    "No, no!" I said quickly and raised my voice a little bit¡° I''m just a soldier. I live in the same ward with you, and I''m also injured. "When I say these last words, I''m kind of defending myself in a low voice.


    "Well, but I''m dying


    "You talk nonsense, my friend!" I try to side body, to her a little insincere¡° I''ve asked the doctor. He said your injury doesn''t matter, the worst is to live here for a month


    "No, no... don''t comfort me. I know my situation." These words seemed to burst out from her blackened mouth.


    There was silence again.


    "Where are we?" The other side asked.


    "In the hospital." I answered hastily.


    "Where''s the hospital?"


    "Ah, I don''t know. I wake up here."


    She didn''t talk any more, she just lay still. But I feel that she is thinking about something nervously, trying to know and understand something.


    As if to confirm my conjecture, she spoke again.


    "I ask you to... Inform my family... My address... Please write down the address..."


    "No more!" I couldn''t help but raise my voice¡° Didn''t I already tell you


    "My home address! ¡¤¡¤¡¤" She interrupted me and said it again.


    "All right." I can only agree, "I write down your address, but I only inform your family that you are in the hospital for treatment. Go ahead, please Although I can''t move myself, let alone write by hand, I firmly believe that I can keep the address of the wounded in my mind.


    "Tell me." I said it again.


    "Moscow... She said with difficulty¡° Gangchamonisgaya ¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤ No.47 ¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤.


    "Kajia!" I comforted her and said, "I''ve written down your home address. Don''t worry. You''ll get better soon." Kajia''s head shook a little, and her lips began to move silently: "thank you... I know my own situation... You see... I''m going to die." Her voice was getting lower and lower. Finally, I could not hear her. I struggled to get up and rang the call bell beside the bed. After a while, Vera opened the door and ran in. She asked nervously, "Rita, what do you need?"¡° She''s in a bad situation! " I raised my voice and said to her, "you see how she is?" She stood by Kaja''s bed, looked down, and walked quickly to the door. Then, I heard her voice in the corridor: "doctor" soon, Vera came in with some doctors and nurses to inject and change oxygen for Kajia. I lay motionless on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He thought to himself: "it seems that Kajia can''t do it. How long can I last? It''s a pity that I spent most of my time in a coma I don''t know how long after that, the rescue work next to it suddenly stopped. I heard a man''s voice saying, "she''s dead. Take it away." Kajia''s body was carried out, and the doctors and nurses left the room with me and Vera¡° How much time do I have? " When Kajia died, I began to worry about myself. I asked incoherently, "I mean, how long can I live?" It''s not groundless for me to ask this question. After all, it was in the war years. Many people died in hospital beds instead of on the battlefield¡° Look what you said, dear, "Vera closed the door of the ward and comforted," your operation is very successful. All the shrapnel in your abdomen have been taken out, and you can recover as long as you rest for half a month. "¡° Where is this? " I couldn''t help asking a question that I was concerned about¡° The hospital in the rear. " Vera''s face showed a look of surprise. I think she was wondering that I was lying in the hospital bed and asked such a stupid question¡° I know it''s a hospital. " I reorganized the words: "I mean, this is a hospital somewhere."¡° Leningrad, my dear. " Leningrad?! I actually came to this city which was besieged by the German army for 900 days during the Patriotic War of the Soviet Union¡° What''s the date today? "¡° August 28. "¡° What year? "¡° 1941. " In 1941, the Soviet German war broke out only two months ago, but I remember that the story of "Li Ming here is quiet" happened in the early summer of 1942. Did the time deviate¡° Rita Vera comforted me and said, "when you first got to the hospital, your blood almost dried up. Even the doctor thought pessimistically that you couldn''t survive. You see, don''t you lie on the bed and talk to me now? " I can''t help but smile bitterly. In fact, the real Rita has already died, and the rest is my fake¡° What''s going on at the front? " In fact, I know that although the Soviet Army resisted tenaciously, it was still retreating under the fierce German offensive¡° It''s still fighting. " Her answer was extraordinarily simple¡° Oh¡° I''ve heard your story. You guys killed so many German devils. It''s amazing. It is said that the headquarters will send someone to give you a medal soon. "¡° How do you know? " I asked hastily¡° So many people come to the hospital every day, what kind of news can''t be heard. " She said it in a flat, homely tone, as if it were a matter of course¡° Let''s get to know each other again. My name is Vera Ivanovna koroleva¡° Mushdakova oshanina. " I know the custom of Russians. Except for very formal occasions, they only tell their real names to their friends. I took her hand and gently shook it. I felt a lot more relaxed. She chatted with me for a long time until I fell asleep unconsciously.

 Chapter 6

    My wound healed quickly, and after the operation, "Rita." Vera said, "Comrade Marshal has come to see you."¡° Marshal? " I can''t believe my ears. Will the great Soviet Marshal come to the hospital to see me? I felt at a loss and asked incoherently, "which Marshal?"¡° Of course, marshal voroshlov Willa''s tone was slightly discontented, as if I didn''t even know the current commander of the Leningrad front army, marshal voloshlov¡° Hello, comrade Lida Voroshilov flashed out from behind the major general and said in a loud tenor, "I heard the commander of the headquarters, Colonel Korolev, mention that you have done very well in the battle... Serve the Soviet Union!" I forced myself to suppress the confusion in my heart and said it in one breath. Only then did I see that voroshlov extended his hand to him. I even forgot to salute. I stepped forward in a hurry. I tripped over my broken slippers and took the Marshal''s hand¡° Announce, major general cholohov. " Marshal turned to the side of the major general commander said. Major general cholohov took out a document from his pocket and began to read it aloud: "in recognition of corporal mushdakova oshanina''s brilliant achievements in the air defense station and his bravery in the fight against the German army, he was awarded a red flag medal and a medal for bravery. Headquarters of Leningrad front army. 3 September 1941. " The marshal took the two glittering medals from the officers nearby and hung them on my hospital uniform. Then he reached out again to shake my hand and congratulate me. Then he asked me, "if you have any requirements, you can come up with them now. I will arrange for someone to handle them for you."¡° I want to go back to the front. " I really can''t think of anything to ask for. I just want to ask for the most common and easily accepted one. Voroshilov was silent for a moment, and asked Willa beside him: "Comrade nurse, can Rita be discharged from hospital in good health?"¡° Not yet. " Vera in front of the marshal is not nervous, directly said: "at least need to rest for a week."¡° I see He nodded, patted me gently on the shoulder and said, "Comrade Lida, you see the nurse also said that it''s not right now, so you can rest in the hospital for another ten days. Ten days later, I''ll personally send someone to take you back to the front line. "¡° See you now. " The marshal shook my hand again, turned and walked out the door, and the group of officers followed. Ten days later, a young lieutenant came to the hospital to see me. He said that he had sent me to report to the air defense headquarters on the order of the headquarters of the front army. They also brought me new uniforms, military certificates and transfer orders. After I put on my new uniform, I found that there was a sergeant''s triangle on the collar. I quickly asked the second lieutenant, "Comrade second lieutenant, do you think this uniform is wrong? I''m a corporal, but this is the sergeant''s collar." The second lieutenant looked at it and said without hesitation, "yes, I saw your military ID card and transfer order when I came here. It says that you have been promoted to sergeant. Congratulations Then he extended his hand to me for congratulations. After the car arrived at the air defense headquarters on the Neva River, the second lieutenant took me into the duty room, handed over to a brigadier officer on duty, and then left. The brigadier officer took me to an office on the second floor and met the director of personnel, an elderly bald major. I quickly took out my ID card and transfer order from my military uniform pocket and handed it over. He took it, frowned, looked at it, and read it again. Then he said, "at present, the German air strikes are very fierce, and our air defense forces are short of manpower. Every jurisdiction needs a lot of manpower. Where do you want to go?"¡° Can I go back to 171? " I made my request carefully¡° 1717 will let the Institute? It''s not within our jurisdiction. " Although he didn''t object, I also know that I can''t go back there¡° Where can I go? "¡° Go to the polkovo highland, which is the barrier to defend Leningrad. Every day, it will be attacked by the German army. The air defense force is very weak. "¡° All right As long as there is a place to go, I resolutely agreed: "I obey the organization''s arrangements."¡° Well, in another 20 minutes, there''s an ammunition truck going to Pulkovo heights. You can take that truck. Now go to the duty room and find the brigadier just now. He will arrange it for you. "¡° Yes I saluted the major, turned and walked out of the room. Welcome to our website www.start.com. The latest, fastest and most popular serial works are all original!

 Chapter 7

    When I returned to the duty room, the brigadier on duty had prepared my appointment. Seeing me enter the door, he picked up a paper from the desk and handed it to me.


    As soon as I took over the appointment letter, I couldn''t help but look silly. If it''s a printed document, I can still understand it. But the commands on the paper are not printed, but handwritten. The difference between Russian handwritten and printed is so big that I can''t understand what is written on the document at all.


    I hesitated for a moment, and could only brazenly ask Zhun Wei: "Comrade Zhun Wei, can you read me the contents of this document? The handwriting on it is so scribbled and the light in the room is so dim that I can''t see it clearly With that, I blushed with shame.


    The brigadier didn''t notice my abnormality, but looked at me discontentedly, but patiently read the order to me: "to commander of unknown highland garrison battalion: our department is sending sergeant mushdakova oshanina to your place as platoon leader of anti-aircraft machine gun platoon, please accept. Leningrad air defense command. "


    "Who should I report to when I go?" I asked in a hurry.


    "After you go, someone will tell you," said the brigadier, a little impatient. Then he added, "the car and the driver who took you to the highlands are waiting outside. You go quickly. I''m done


    I quickly saluted him, then turned and walked out of the duty room.


    I walked out of the gate of the air defense headquarters and saw that it was evening. A truck with canvas was parked not far ahead. I was just about to go over and ask if it was the car for the Pulkovo highlands when the door of the truck opened and a driver in a boat hat leaned out of it and yelled, "girl, are you going to the front line?"


    Girl! Hearing this word, I immediately looked left and right reflexively, but in addition to two soldiers on guard, I didn''t even have a picture of myself. Where was the girl?


    "Hey! well! "Honey," he continued, "don''t look around. It''s about you. Get on the bus quickly. The bus has been waiting for you for a long time."


    It was called me. Alas, after so long, I still can''t remember that I am a female soldier now. I quickly walked a few steps, got on the car and sat in the co pilot''s seat. I tentatively asked, "is it going to Pulkovo highlands?"


    "Yes, yes." The driver twists the key of ignition switch and pulls the gear lever with a thump, and the car starts.


    For a while, the driver was driving in silence, none of us spoke, but his face was always wearing a strange smile.


    "Why are you so happy?" I finally couldn''t help asking him curiously.


    "You''re amazing!" He unexpectedly replied: "in such a short period of time, he has won two military medals."


    "I''m just getting it."


    "My sincere congratulations, comrade sergeant."


    "Thank you, comrade driver. This was given personally by the commander of the front army. " When it comes to medals, I''m a little smug. But soon I felt a little embarrassed. These two medals came from a hard time. The red flag medal is the brilliant achievement of the headquarters in commending Lida for shooting down two enemy planes in the air defense war; As for the battle in the forest, although all the German devils were wiped out, four female soldiers died and brigadier vaskov was wounded. I don''t know which hospital he was sent to. I still haven''t been able to find out his whereabouts. I''m really ashamed that I have won the honor that should belong to them.


    "Is it general Zhukov?"


    "No, it was given personally by Marshal Voroshilov, commander of the front army."


    "Ah?" He was a little surprised and said, "don''t you know? Marshal voroshlov was recalled to the base camp last week, and now it is general Zhukov who replaces him as commander of the front army. "


    "Oh," I quickly explained, "I just came out of the hospital today, and I didn''t know that the commander had been replaced."


    "I love driving at night," the talkative driver continued. "I''m always itching to run at full power! You don''t have to take care of pedestrians or vehicles! Run as fast as you can, and be king on the road Just then, a policeman on the roadside crossed to the front of the car from the sidewalk and stopped the car. When I saw the police blocking the car, my heart immediately rose to my throat. When I was in Moscow, what I was most afraid of was the police blocking the car. Usually, after stopping, many of them were blackmail in the name of checking their driver''s license and passport. The number of times I met more than one, I unconsciously formed a kind of police phobia.


    Just as my heart beat faster, I suddenly heard the driver''s voice: "Hello, Hello!" He issued a loud warning to the police, "have a clear look! Don''t delay me in my official duties. " He poked his finger at the square cardboard pass posted on the windshield. The police looked at the pass, saluted us, moved back two steps and retreated to the side of the road.


    I breathed a sigh of relief and looked at his driver with a smile. At this time, I realized that I was not in Moscow, but in Leningrad during the war. In the war, soldiers had many privileges, and there was no need to be afraid of these policemen.


    Without the restraint of the police, he didn''t obey the traffic rules more and more. He drove his car along the empty streets, sometimes left and sometimes right. Obviously, he felt very happy because he could drive so freely¡° Where are you from? " He asked me again¡° Moscow. " I said without thinking¡° Moscow He got excited. "It''s a coincidence that I''m from Moscow, too. I''ve been serving in Leningrad since I joined the army. My home is at 27 Lenin street. Where do you live? "¡° I live at 118 mozaisk road. Standing on the balcony of my house, I can see the Arc de Triomphe and the victory monument in Victory Square. "¡° Where do you live? " The driver asked in some surprise. At the same time, because of the accident, his foot moved away from the door. The car slowed down suddenly¡° Watch your driving I hurriedly reminded him, but also realized that I had made a serious mistake. Victory Square was built in 1995, and now it is only 1941. He is not a passer-by like me. How can he know the building that will appear more than 50 years later¡° Honey, what do you mean by the Arc de Triomphe and Victory Square? " The driver asked aloud as he adjusted his speed¡° I don''t think I''ve ever heard of these two places. "¡° Oh, I didn''t make it clear. What I mean is: after the war, we should build a grand Arc de Triomphe in Moscow, build a huge square, and build a tall Victory Monument in the middle of the square to commemorate the Great Patriotic War. It''s better to be near Kutuzov subway station on mozaisk Road, so that I can stand on my balcony and see these two great buildings every day. " I''m trying to make up for my mistake¡° That''s very kind of you Without any doubt, he began to follow my train of thought and daydream: "I also hope to get rid of the German devils as soon as possible, and then we can build the buildings you said in Moscow to celebrate our victory." The truck climbed up a hill and went a long way. The driver began to slow down¡° Is this the destination? " When the driver pulled up next to the other trucks, I said wearily¡° Here we are The driver confirmed. I said thank you to the driver, pushed the door open and jumped down. The driver crossed his seat, poked his head out of the door I left behind, pointed to the front and said to me, "you go along this road and see a shelter half buried in the ground. That''s the headquarters of nameless heights. You should report to the commander there." I thank him again, walking along the uneven path to the direction of the headquarters. Before long, a raised earth house bunker appeared in front, and two soldiers in military uniform walked up and down the room. Seeing me approaching the room, one of the soldiers raised his hand to signal me to stop, and then said to me, "Comrade soldier, please show me your identification."¡° I''m sergeant o''shanina, the new platoon leader of Nameless Highland AA machine gun platoon. I''m here to report to the commander. " As I spoke, I unbuttoned my coat pocket, took out my military ID card and the letter of appointment, which was sandwiched in it, and handed it to him. The soldier took the certificate, read the letter of appointment carefully, looked at the soldier''s certificate, looked at me, probably checked the photo with me, and then said to me, "wait a minute." he turned to open the door and went in. As soon as he entered, the wooden door slammed shut. I understood that the soldier was going in to report to his superior, so he stood in place and waited patiently. The door opened and the soldier came out again. He only gave me the soldier''s certificate, but I didn''t see the letter of appointment. He must have stayed with the commander in the room¡° You can go in, sergeant. The commander is waiting for you in there

 Chapter 8

    I followed the steps down to the shelter. Not very spacious room filled with smoke, so that the original poor light of the room has become more dim. It was so easy for me to see a tall soldier standing upright with his head almost touching the roof. Then I saw a wooden table with an officer holding a telephone headset.


    "Comrade commander," because the light in the room was so dim that I could not see the rank on his shoulder. When I raised my hand to salute, I could only vaguely address him, "I''m sergeant oshanina from air defense command."


    The tall officer didn''t speak. He just pointed to the stool beside him, gestured to me to sit for a while, then turned away and looked at the caller seriously.


    I went over and sat down. The voice of the officer on the phone came clearly. "¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤ Comrade Colonel, I still think that regular troops should be replenished as soon as possible. From the name itself, we can see that the militia division is only a division in the form of a special military sense. Yesterday the Germans tried to break through our defence, but we smashed their attack. God knows when they will attack again. If the enemy already knows, this part of the position is defended by irregular forces - their scouts are neither deaf nor blind. The militiamen could not resist the attack of the tanks. If the Germans break through here, the prkovo highlands may fall, and then they will march straight into Leningrad


    "The militia Division will not retreat." The sound from the microphone interrupted him¡° Instead of complaining here, it''s better to consider how to use your forces to defend the defense line and not to retreat. "


    "But, comrade Colonel, have the militia ever seen German tanks rush in front of them? Have they ever been shot by machine guns? When you see such a tank crawling towards them and a plane pressing down overhead, they will show their original shape! When they see the tank turning and running away, they can''t be stopped by any propaganda. Please believe what a veteran said


    "Enough, comrade captain." The captain''s angry voice came from the microphone¡° Who gave you the right to insult the militia division? They are all the working class in Leningrad. As long as they live, they will stick to this land and no one will escape from here. "


    The captain hesitated for a moment, then quickly changed the subject and said, "in yesterday''s battle, our battalion was reduced by more than one third. I don''t want to tell lies. The soldiers are very brave. But we can''t stand the next attack. We should add regular troops, even a platoon


    "No, Captain," the Colonel''s voice softened¡° I don''t have any reserves


    The captain finally put down the phone in disappointment. The tall officer next to him couldn''t wait to ask, "what did you say?"


    "What else can we say? We need troops everywhere. If we all send regular troops, that is far from enough. The division commander said that tomorrow the militia Division will send two companies to supplement us. " Then he glanced at me and asked, "who are you?"


    I stood up quickly and saluted him seriously: "Comrade captain, I''m sergeant oshanina from the air defense command. I''m ordered to be the platoon leader of the high altitude anti-aircraft machine gun platoon."


    "How long have you been in the army?" He picked up the paper on the desk, looked at it, and asked with a frown.


    "Four months. I joined the army a month before the war broke out. "


    "Oh, you''ve only been in the army for four months. You''re a sergeant. It seems that it''s very easy to be promoted in the rear." His words are full of provocative elements, he said: "war is a man''s business, women still stay in the rear."


    "Red flag medal?" Just as I was thinking about how to deal with the captain''s provocation, a voice suddenly broke in beside me. The tall officer was surprised and said, "you''ve got the red flag medal."


    "Yes, I took part in several battles. These two medals were awarded to me personally by Marshal voroshlov." I replied humbly that I can''t be modest at this time, or I will be looked down upon by them and think that I am climbing up by virtue of nepotism.


    Medals and marshals, these two things, a drop close to the distance between us. The captain''s attitude took a 180 degree turn, and he extended his hand to me with a smile: "I''m captain horopov, commander of the fighter battalion. Welcome to the unknown highland."


    After shaking hands, he pointed to the tall officer next to him and took the initiative to introduce him to me. He said, "this is captain helopov, the first-class political instructor in the battalion."


    After we sat down again, the captain began to point to the map on the table and explain the current situation to me. The Pulkovo highlands are hills on the nearest road from the south to Leningrad. If the German army occupied here, it could control the roads between Moscow and Kiev to Leningrad, and ensure their motorized troops to advance to the urban area. At the same time, the German army on the high ground could also deploy artillery to accurately bombard a series of areas in the city.


    "What is the task of our AA platoon?" After the captain introduced the situation to me, I asked another question.


    "The task is very clear. Our battalion sticks to the right side of the Pulkovo highland, and we can''t retreat a step to resolutely block the German devils here. The task of your anti-aircraft machine gun platoon is to provide effective air defense protection for our battalion''s positions. "¡° I see I stood up straight¡° Comrade captain, I think it''s time for me to meet my comrades in the platoon. Will you allow me to leave? " After listening to his nonsense and smoking so many second-hand cigarettes here, it''s time for me to go out for a breath of fresh air¡° Let''s go. The instructor and I will take you to the platoon With that, the captain took the lead and walked towards the door. I followed them and walked along a very flat path. After a while, I saw a big wooden house. Then suddenly a voice rang out: "who is it? Stop, command When I went, it turned out that a female soldier was holding a bayonet rifle in front of me¡° What password is not a password? " The captain was a little unhappy and said, "I''m captain horopov. Go and ask the Deputy platoon leader to come out and say your new platoon leader has arrived."¡° Yes The woman soldier agreed, put the gun on her shoulder, turned her head and ran to the big wooden house¡° Come on, Sergeant oshanina, "the silent instructor pointed to the cabin and said kindly to me," your soldiers live there. "¡° Sergeant, "there was a shout from behind. I turned to see that it was the driver who had just sent me. He was trotting towards me with a paper box in his hand. Ran to my side, did not wait for me to speak, handed me the carton, said: "almost forget, this is the air defense command distribution to your row of soap." I took the carton, and the captain muttered: "the air defense command has even specially distributed soap to you." The driver heard that although his rank was very low and he was only a corporal, he still said impolitely to a commander who was not his superior: "Comrade captain, female soldiers are different from male soldiers. They have privileges." Then he saluted me and said, "good bye, dear. Good luck! See you when you win¡° Turn around and stride back along the way you came. By the time the three of us got to the wooden house, the women soldiers in the anti-aircraft machine gun platoon had assembled¡° Salute With the command, the women soldiers neatly saluted us. Then a slender female soldier ran up to us, gave a serious salute to captain horopov, and dryly reported: "Comrade captain, lieutenant commander, Sergeant Karenina, report to you, the anti-aircraft machine gun platoon is assembled, waiting for your order."¡° At ease. " The captain went to the front of the line and introduced me to you directly: "this is sergeant oshanina, your new platoon leader. She will command you to fight in the future." I put down the carton in my hand, went up to salute the women soldiers, and said briefly, "I''m your new platoon commander, Sergeant oshanina. The Deputy platoon leader and squad leader stay, and the rest of the soldiers are disbanded. " I have a lot to say, but I''m afraid I don''t know enough Russian words. I''d better say less in order to avoid being a gangster. When the team was disbanded, I called a female soldier who was close to me: "wait a minute, please move this carton into the room." After the captain and the instructor left, I took the Deputy platoon leader and the three squad leaders to inspect the artillery position¡° This gun position is in the charge of a squad leader, Jenna. There are no less than two bases of ammunition. " Karenina was there to introduce me¡° Well, in addition to here, we need to prepare one or two more preparation positions. " Although I haven''t been to the battlefield, I still know that if I keep a fixed position in the battle, I can easily become the target of the enemy¡° Yes I reached out again and touched the gun barrel. My hand was stained with a little rust. I also told Karenina to say, "I''ll arrange someone to wipe the machine gun tomorrow. It''s useless for a long time. It''s rusty."¡° Yes

 Chapter 9

    "Battle alert! Battle alert


    A series of rapid shouts woke me up from my sleep, and I turned over and sat up. See those women soldiers who also wake up from their sleep, put on their clothes in a hurry, jump on their shoes, then pick up their helmets from their pillows, button them on their heads, pick up their rifles and run out. I was lying down with my clothes. I quickly put on my helmet and shoes, followed them and rushed out.


    The women soldiers ran out of the hut and quickly entered their respective gun positions. I ran to position one and saw them expertly lift the camouflage on the anti-aircraft machine guns and load the bullets. Jenna was sitting in her seat, shaking the handle and turning the machine gun, trying to lock the enemy plane in the air through the sight.


    I stood there at a loss and didn''t know how to direct them to fight. You know, although Rita used to be a squad leader, she always played the role of a shooter in the platoon. She never directed even one battle, so she didn''t have the slightest command experience for me to learn from.


    When I was still in the hospital, my Russian level, which was once comparable to that of my mother tongue, was greatly reduced in the process of gradual improvement of my injury, so that there were more and more obstacles in the communication with vera in the later stage. Many times, I couldn''t understand what she said, and she couldn''t understand the new terms such as TV, computer, Internet and so on. In order to prevent cheating, I subconsciously reduced the frequency of talking to outsiders, trying to make others think that I was originally a silent person.


    After arriving at this highland last night, I took the Deputy platoon leader and several squad leaders to wander around the position for a long time. I didn''t go back to the cabin to have a rest until midnight. The purpose is to avoid directly facing the dozens of female soldiers in the platoon. I''m afraid that if they pester me to ask questions and talk more, I may reveal myself.


    After wandering around the position for several hours, the harvest is still quite big. I guess Karenina also thinks that I got to my present position by virtue of nepotism. She is afraid that I am not familiar with weapons. When we came to the anti-aircraft machine gun, she stroked the body of the gun and patiently explained to me: "this is a 14.5 mm quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun, which is composed of four 14.5 mm anti-aircraft machine guns. It is a combination of body, sight, gun rack and four wheel double axle car seat, Pull with a car. " Although I can''t understand many of the terms she said, I guess what she explained according to the parts she explained¡° The rate of fire is 600 shots per minute and the effective range is 2000 meters. Equipped with two cartridges, each cartridge is 150 rounds


    "Position one is ready to fire." A sudden voice around me interrupted my train of thought. The Deputy platoon leader Karenina saw me standing next to the artillery position in a daze, thought I was scared and panicked, and took over my command position and gave orders to each artillery position.


    It was a German reconnaissance plane that disturbed our sleep. It was hovering over the highlands. The muzzle of our anti-aircraft machine gun pointed straight into the sky. The female soldiers skillfully control the machine gun, with Karenina''s command, the muzzle always follows the reconnaissance plane. As soon as the reconnaissance plane flapped its wings, it climbed to the height where the machine gun could not hit. It seemed that it was deliberately teasing us, and recklessly went round and round over the highlands.


    "Shoot!" Karenina decisively gave the order to fire.


    Jeanne stepped on the button of the gun and the bullets shot into the sky. The shells were flying, jumping and splashing to the ground.


    "Position two, position three, correction lead, fire!" Seeing that the attack of No.1 artillery position did not work, Karenina issued a series of new instructions without hesitation.


    The second and third gun positions not far away also fired dense bullets.


    The reconnaissance plane in the sky shook its wings, pulled up its height and got out of the dangerous sky. But it didn''t fly far, but continued to circle in a higher position.


    Looking at this arrogant reconnaissance plane, I can''t help getting angry. I went to Jeanne and patted her on the shoulder: "Jeanne, let me have a try."


    Jenna''s face showed a surprised expression, but she still moved her body away from the seat of the machine gun and let me sit in the seat of the manipulator. Although I have gradually lost Rita''s original language ability, her military skills can still be used by me. I rotate the machine gun, the gun body with the enemy''s movement and rotation. After operating the machine gun for a few turns, I can skillfully use this weapon that I have never used before.


    "Comrade platoon leader, the ammunition has been loaded." Jenna, who was standing by, reported to me.


    I nodded calmly and continued to try to lock the self righteous enemy plane through the sight. At this time, I suddenly feel a silence on the position, as if everyone seems to be looking forward to me.


    "Knock it down." Karenina encouraged me.


    I nodded calmly and focused on the enemy plane. The sight caught the enemy aircraft again and again, but because of the range, I never fired, and continued to track the target patiently.


    "Height 1500." Karenina reports as she looks through her telescope¡° Height 1500. " Jenna repeated it aloud.


    "Height 1300!"¡° Height 1300! "


    I stepped on the button of the gun and stepped down slowly¡° Height 1100! "¡° Height 1100! " I clenched my lips and turned the gun patiently. The crosshairs on the sight caught the enemy plane¡° Height 900! Shoot¡° Shoot The enemy''s targets are getting bigger and clearer¡° I couldn''t help yelling in Chinese. Then I stepped on the button of the gun, and a series of bullets burst out of the muzzle and shot at the enemy plane. As I kept stepping on the button, dense bullets shot into the air. After the tail of the enemy aircraft pulled out a long black smoke, turned a big bend in the air, and fled to the direction of the German position¡° Yes, yes Jeanne was the first to jump up and shout wildly. Then there were screams and cheers from the women soldiers in the position. The first battle of anti-aircraft machine gun platoon in Nameless Highland ended with injuring an enemy plane.

 Chapter 10

    The enemy plane ran away, and the women soldiers rushed to me, desperately kissing me on the cheek. Originally, it was a good opportunity to hold one''s arms to the other, but I sat in front of the machine gun. When I hit the enemy plane just now, I was calm; Even though the battle was over, I began to be afraid. My whole body was shaking like chaff.


    "What''s the matter with you?" Next to Jenna asked with concern, her address to me has changed from "you" to "you".


    "Nothing, just a little cold." I found a more appropriate reason to cover up their gaffe. The temperature difference between morning and evening in autumn in Russia is too big. When I rushed out of the room just now, I didn''t feel the chill of the morning because I was nervous. I really feel a little cold at this time.


    Karenina came up, took my shoulder and said, "come on, Rita. Let''s go back to breakfast. We can''t let the damned German devils delay our breakfast. " I promised, jumped out of my seat, and returned to the room surrounded by the women soldiers.


    There was a long wooden table in the room, which was supposed to be the dining table for female soldiers. On it were sliced black bread, pickles, cheese, sausages, and even a pot of green apples.


    Just about to start eating, suddenly a man''s voice came from the door: "can we come in?" I looked at the door and saw captain horopov and captain helopov standing outside with a smile. I quickly stood up to meet the past, repeatedly said: "commander comrades, welcome to your arrival."


    They sat down at the table, took off their helmets and put them on the table. Helopov said excitedly to everyone, "girls, you are so wonderful! Before you came here, there was no air defense force in this position, so the German Devils'' planes would fly to the Highlands every day, and they would not pay any attention to us. Today, you have taught them a lesson. I think they will not dare to be so arrogant in the future. "


    "Well, my political instructor," the captain interrupted, "it''s time for breakfast. You''d better wait until you''ve finished eating." He put a military satchel on the table and put the contents on the table one by one: dried bread, lard and a can of condensed milk. Although there are not many things, I clearly know that these ordinary things are precious food in the war years.


    "Girls, this is my present for you." The captain said to everyone, "you''re welcome. Come and eat. Your normal time for breakfast has been delayed by the German Devils'' plane, so hurry up and eat, so as not to be disturbed by the German devils in the middle of the meal. "


    "Boom!" As soon as his voice fell, there was an explosion outside. At first it was just a sound, then "boom, boom, boom!" The sound of the explosion was loud.


    "No," the captain''s face immediately changed. "The German devils are shelling the ground again. Captain, let''s go to the observation center. " Grabbing the helmet on the table, he rushed out, followed by helopov.


    "I torture you. The captain is a crow mouth." I murmured a curse in Chinese, then stood up and yelled to my deputy platoon leader: "Karenina, except for leaving a few necessary personnel at the anti-aircraft machine gun to guard, other people are hiding in the blast hole."


    "Rita," Karenina said hesitantly, "but we always stay in the house during the shelling. The battalion commander also said that the house is built behind the mountain, so the artillery fire can''t hit it. It''s very safe. "


    When I heard this, I couldn''t laugh or cry. Maybe the German artillery couldn''t hit the house, but it didn''t mean the plane couldn''t blow up here. Dozens of people were living in a dilapidated wooden house, and an aerial bomb fell down and all of them died. So I firmly said: "no, go to the shelter. This is the order."


    After I gave the order, I grabbed a few pieces of bread from the table, ate and walked out of the hut, followed the two commanders to the observation post on the hillside.


    In addition to the battalion commander and instructor who are observing the enemy''s situation with binoculars, there is also a male operator with earphones, holding a microphone, shouting loudly: "Hello, Hello, division headquarters, I''m Nameless Highland, I''m Nameless Highland..."


    "Boom, boom, boom!" I lay down in front of the observation port and watched German shells explode one after another on the high ground. The smoke and dust covered half the sky.


    However, the situation here is not the most serious. The highland on the left side has been more heavily shelled. All kinds of solid Fortifications on the hillside are like paper toys, torn and crushed by the power of the explosion, and then high up in the air. The mines in the minefield were constantly detonated, the barbed wire in front of the trench was torn to pieces, and the soldiers hidden in the trench were blown to pieces¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤


    At last, the division headquarters was about to get through, and the captain reported the situation to the division commander in a loud voice: "the German devils shelled the Highlands fiercely, and the infantry were gathering behind them. Depending on the situation, they are ready to adopt the old tactics, use artillery fire to suppress the left and right Highlands, and then organize troops to assault the main peak positions


    "Boom!" With a loud noise, a shell exploded near the observation post, and the big and small pieces of soil on the roof fell down like a rainstorm. I screamed with fright, left the observation port in a hurry, and squatted on the ground with my head in my arms. The pungent smoke outside was blown in by the wind, which made me a little out of breath.


    The captain, who had just finished the call, looked at me discontentedly. He was about to criticize me, a panicked man. Helopov, who had been observing the enemy situation outside, suddenly said aloud, "Oh, no good."¡° What''s the matter? " The captain rushed over, grabbed the telescope on the observation port and looked out nervously¡° Captain, you see, there are tanks and armored vehicles covering the German infantry. They are going around from the right side of our position. They want to attack the defense line on the Kiev road directly. "¡° Report to the higher authorities as soon as possible. " The captain turned around, grabbed the phone and began to shout again: "division headquarters, division headquarters! I am Nameless Highland, I am Nameless Highland He suddenly dropped the phone and said angrily, "hell, the phone line was blown off." Then he told the signalman, "go and check the line quickly."¡° What did the teacher say just now? " As soon as the signalman left, helopov asked the captain with concern¡° Said, or those words: would rather let the bones exposed in the wilderness, never abandon the highlands; As long as there is still one person in the field, it must be nailed to the position like a nail, and not a step back. "¡° Boom Another shell fell nearby, and a thick layer of soil fell on me. It''s too dangerous here. Maybe it will be directly hit by a shell in a short time. I don''t want to die in the dark. I''d better go to the gun hole to find the soldiers in the platoon. At least I won''t be killed by the shell. Think of here, I did not say hello to them, quietly stood up, sneaked out of the observation station. As soon as I got out of the door, I immediately ran to the fangpaodong.

 Chapter 11

    The blast proof hole is a large basement with dim light and damp. It looks like a boiler room. When I went in, there was no one in it. I couldn''t help getting angry. The female soldiers in the platoon were so impolite that no one obeyed my orders and came here to avoid the German artillery.


    I wanted to go out and teach them a lesson, but I couldn''t help beating the drum when I heard the roar of guns from outside. Sitting on the bench against the wall, recalling the several shells exploded just now beside the observation post, I still have a lingering fear, so that my heart is jumping faster and faster, I can''t breathe, and my legs are shaking constantly.


    "Rita," Jenna suddenly appeared at the entrance of the cave. She said breathlessly, "Why are you hiding here? We are looking for you everywhere."


    "Ah," Jenna''s sudden appearance rescued me from panic. I took a deep breath and then asked calmly, "what''s the matter?"


    "The German devils were found behind the position. The Deputy platoon leader asked me to come to you. If I can''t find you here, I''m going to observe and find you."


    "Oh, there are Germans behind the Highlands!" When she said that, I was relieved. When I was at the observation post just now, I heard that the German army was trying to bypass us and then cross the road to attack the defensive positions in the rear, cutting off the connection between the high ground and the rear. Although I don''t know what kind of battle is about to take place, I know clearly that the German attack is bound to fail, which is an unchangeable fact. Otherwise, Leningrad would have fallen long ago, so I still sit on my stool and ask, "what kind of German?"


    "I don''t know." She replied with a little panic: "the sentry on duty just now said that he had found a German. I think he should report to you first, and then you should report to the superior."


    The gunfire outside stopped, although I was still flustered not long ago, now the feeling of fear is gone. It''s back to what it was. I interrupted and asked, "how many Germans are there?"


    "Comrade platoon leader!" Jeanne, affected by my emotions, calmed down and said¡° It''s the mobile sentry in the platoon who''s here to report, she said definitely, the Germans


    "What kind of forces?"


    "I don''t know," Jeanne replied, already aware that her own answer was very bad. "I think we have to report right away¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤¡¤ When I came to you, the Deputy platoon leader went to the edge of the cliff to observe the enemy''s situation. "


    I stood up and said to Jeanne, "come on, take me to see what kind of German you are."


    Karenina and two squad leaders of class two and class three were standing on the edge of the cliff, observing the enemy situation below with binoculars. I went up to Karenina and asked in a low voice, "what''s going on down there?"


    "It''s very good," she said with a sad face as she handed me the telescope in her hand. "There''s probably a battalion of German devils under the cover of three tanks and ten armored vehicles, attacking the position north of the road. The defense line may be broken through."


    "Not necessarily." I laughed scornfully and raised my telescope to look down. On the road several hundred meters away, the German infantry formed a scattered formation and were slowly advancing towards the position on the north side of the road. In front of the road are three heavy tanks, one moment firing, one moment firing guns, slowly moving forward, all the way to the bushes, stumps, circles of barbed wire are rolled under the car.


    The defensive forces may lack anti tank weapons. From time to time, some soldiers jump out of the trench and rush towards the tank with explosive bags, but they are soon knocked down by the machine gun fire on the armored car behind the tank. The tank stopped about 50 meters from the trench, opened fire with guns and machine guns, covered the infantry jumping from the armored vehicles, and occupied a favorable battle position.


    "Karenina, assemble the whole platoon at once." Seeing the situation of the defense line below becoming more and more critical, I gave the order decisively. With a promise, Karenina ran to gather the team.


    In a short time, the fully armed women soldiers ran over one after another, and then stopped in front of me, neatly arranged in three lines. Jenna, the second squad leader nalisa, and the third squad leader nadasha also returned to the queue. Karenina stepped forward and saluted me: "Comrade platoon leader, the whole platoon has assembled. Please give us your instructions."


    I stepped forward and said solemnly to the more than 30 female soldiers in front of me: "comrades, the situation is very serious now. The German devils have come around behind us and are attacking the militia division in the north of the road. The militiamen have little combat experience. It is difficult for them to block the enemy''s attack. We should support them


    "Comrade platoon leader," the second squad leader, nalisa, interrupted me. "How can we support them? There''s a cliff behind here. We can''t get down. "


    "Who said we were going down?" Because I was dissatisfied with her interrupting my speech, my tone was also very impolite¡° We will support them with fire on the high ground. "


    "But we''re all equipped with rifles. I''m afraid it won''t work much." Although I heard my dissatisfaction with her from my tone, she still summoned up the courage to say what she wanted to say.


    "Who said we were going to shoot with rifles?" I deliberately pause for a moment, and then announced: "I decided to use the anti-aircraft machine gun on the German devils flat fire."¡° Flat shot? " After listening to my words, she could not help but brighten her eyes and said in surprise: "you have a point. The anti-aircraft machine gun can really provide powerful firepower support for the militia division. But... She stopped for a moment, then hesitated a little and said: "but according to the regulations, if you want to change the use of weapons, you must get permission from the superior..." "OK," I can''t wait to interrupt her. These old men are dull. After asking for instructions and getting permission, it is estimated that the position in the north of the road will be broken by the German army¡° I''ll take all the responsibility. The following operational tasks are arranged: Deputy platoon leader Karenina and the second squad leader stay in the original artillery position to maintain air defense. Jeanne, the first group leader, and Natasha, the third group leader, immediately took the soldiers to push the anti-aircraft machine gun here. We must fight immediately and eliminate these German devils. Do you understand? "¡° I understand The women soldiers roared with high morale¡° AA gun one is in position¡° Three AA machine guns are in position Standing on the edge of the cliff, I raised my right hand high, and while observing the enemy with a telescope, I cried out: "machine gun No.1, target: German tanks."¡° Got it. Target: German tanks. " Jenna, sitting in the shooter''s seat, repeated my command aloud, "machine gun three, target: armored car on the right side of the tank."¡° Target: German armored vehicles. " Natasha repeated my orders in a loud voice¡° Shoot With the shouts, my hand swung down, two anti-aircraft machine guns opened fire, a string of revenge bullets to the enemy. Looking through the telescope, an armored car was hit by dense bullets, and the smoke immediately came out, like a burning torch. The bullet rattled the tank''s armor, but it only spattered a series of sparks. It seems that the machine gun bullet did little damage to it at such a long distance¡° Jeanne, "seeing that the attack on the tank was invalid, I immediately told Jeanne loudly," don''t fight the tank any more, fight the armored vehicles and infantry next to you. " The German tanks attacked at the foot of the mountain stopped shelling the militia positions and turned to fire on our mountain. However, because of the angle of fire, all the shells of the tank landed on the hillside without exception; The infantry covering the tanks also turned their guns to our positions in a hurry and organized fire attack, because their weapons did not have enough range and did no harm to us at all. In my eyes, this is a one-sided massacre. The armored vehicles at the foot of the mountain were blasted one after another, and the sound of ammunition explosion was heard all the time. The nearby infantry were knocked down by pieces of shrapnel, and the rest of them ran around with guns and screams. Many more people in the militia positions jumped out of the trenches and rushed to the German tanks. At this time, the German army was too busy to organize effective defense, and the militia soon rushed near the tank. The body of a tank burst out a dazzling fire, surrounded the whole huge body, and then started a raging fire. The hatch lid clattered open, and the first thing that came out was a thick plume of smoke, and then several soldiers jumped out. They yell, wave their arms, roll on the ground, trying to put out the blaze on their tank suits. Our anti-aircraft machine guns continue to roar, pouring ammunition into the German queue, mercilessly harvesting the lives of the German devils. Where the bullet plowed, no one could be found standing. The remaining two German tanks were also bombed by the militia, and the militia division started a comprehensive counterattack. Under our double attack, the German devils could not escape the doom of the whole army.

 Chapter 12

    "Now tell me: How did you come up with a good way to hit German tanks and infantry with anti-aircraft machine guns? How did you come up with that? " Captain horopov, standing on the edge of the cliff, with his telescope in his hand, asked me curiously as he looked with interest at the soldiers cleaning the battlefield below.


    Just now, he rushed to me with some soldiers in a rage. His face was red and his veins were blue. He yelled at me: "sergeant, you are committing a crime! You know, without the permission of the higher authorities, the anti-aircraft machine gun was used to fight the German infantry, and the use of technical equipment was changed without authorization. This is going to the military court


    I couldn''t help but retort. I immediately restrained myself and shook my head with a bitter smile. Many things in this era can''t be measured by the standards of later generations. The anti-aircraft machine gun was invented by the Soviet army. I just plagiarized the achievements of the predecessors. Although the captain is the highest commander on the Nameless Highland at present, he can only remove me at most. Can he really send me to the military court? If he wants to scold me, let him scold me enough at one time. Anyway, what he said is fast and urgent. I can''t understand a lot of the content, so I just choose to ignore it.


    He was cursing fiercely, and the smoke from the foot of the mountain and a disgusting smell of scorch interrupted his long speech. He ran to the edge of the cliff, put up his telescope and looked down. First, he opened his mouth wide in surprise, then he burst out laughing and exclaimed excitedly: "good job, girls! Good job, girls!! You''ve done a good job! " Although I didn''t look down with the telescope as he did, I knew exactly what he saw: the dead bodies of the German troops were lying on the silent battlefield, the destroyed tanks and armored vehicles were still emitting smoke, and the German soldiers who survived with their hands held high, under the escort of the soldiers, they had no choice but to go on their way as prisoners of war.


    Although I saw the example of fighting infantry with anti-aircraft machine gun on a well-known forum, it is impossible for me to say to the captain: I saw this kind of fighting method from a World War II post when I was browsing the Forum on the Internet. In that case, I would not be taken as a madman by them. I shrugged my shoulders, laughed awkwardly, and racked my brains to make up a bad reason¡° At that time, I wanted to fight the enemy''s tanks and infantry as airplanes, and that''s how it happened. "


    He put down his telescope, gave me a look, shook his head in disbelief and gave me a smile¡° So, you said, you just took the German devils below as enemy planes in the sky, that''s what happened? "


    I didn''t know how to answer him, so I didn''t say a word.


    "No matter what you thought at that time, you still ordered the use of anti-aircraft machine guns as ordinary weapons." The captain kept asking¡° Maybe you just want to take a chance? Taking risks, don''t you think you were taking risks at that time? "


    "Comrade platoon leader," I was pondering over how to answer him when Natasha broke in next to me and said, "shall we continue to count the ammunition consumption?"


    "Go on." I finally found the reason to get rid of the captain. I didn''t make good use of it. I told them, "first check how many empty ammunition boxes there are, and then check how many bullets are left in the ammunition boxes on the machine gun, so that we can calculate how much ammunition was consumed in this battle."


    Seeing that I was busy, the captain closed his mouth and continued to look at the scenery with his telescope. After all, there was something he liked to see there.


    The roar of the motor came from the distance. Everyone stopped their work and looked in that direction. There was a team of armored cars coming towards us on the road.


    "It should be the senior commander." Behind her, a female soldier whispered, "look, there are so many armored cars coming."


    "What senior commander?" The captain''s ears were very good. He heard such a small voice. He put down his telescope, looked back and saw the convoy coming, and immediately trotted to the armored car.


    The armored cars in front slowed down as they passed the captain, and the other armored cars behind slowed down. One of them stopped a few steps away from the captain. The door opened with a crash. Three generals came down from it. One of the generals, of medium build, broad shouldered and big brained, was at the front, followed by the other two.


    The captain straightened up and saluted the general who came. Then he said in a loud voice, "Comrade General, I''m the interior people''s Committee." my name is mushdakova oshanina, Sergeant rank. Now I''m the platoon leader of the unknown highland anti-aircraft machine gun platoon. "


    Looking at his serious face, I guess Zhukov will be furious soon. After all, I am now in a very special era. It is always a taboo to change the way of using technical equipment without authorization. Even if I have the credit, the consequences are hard to predict.


    But soon I found that I was worried. Zhukov had a smile on his face. He pretended to be serious and said, "wrong, wrong. It''s not sergeant oshanina, but lieutenant oshanina. It''s not a platoon leader, it''s a company leader. Report it again. "


    I just got the rank of sergeant yesterday, and I got a higher rank of lieutenant today. I became an officer from a soldier. I can''t help blushing with excitement. The women soldiers behind me began to whisper happily when they heard that I had become a lieutenant. I tried my best to suppress my excitement. I reluctantly spoke and repeated the report. For the first time in my life, I called myself a lieutenant and a company commander. Of course, I don''t forget to express my gratitude to Zhukov. After all, he gave me an unexpected promotion.


    "Is there anything else you want to say?" He asked me kindly¡° We should bring some more anti-aircraft guns, "I replied almost without thinking." the power of anti-aircraft machine guns is too small to pose a threat to German tanks. The anti-aircraft gun is powerful and can be used as an anti tank gun. " I say this because I think that when German Marshal Rommel was in North Africa, he used the 88mm antiaircraft gun as an anti tank gun, which made the British armored forces lose their armor¡° Comrade major general mareshkov, "he asked one of the major generals in the crowd," how many anti-aircraft guns can be withdrawn immediately and transferred to the army''s combat sequence? "¡° But Comrade commander My boss, Sima Shang, raised his objection in a loud voice¡° The city has been heavily attacked by the enemy for two weeks. If we cut down the number of anti-aircraft guns used for air defense, we will have no way to guarantee Leningrad''s air defense work. If we "answer the question!" Zhukov interrupted, then turned to all present and added¡° If the tanks of German bandits rush into the street, what''s the meaning of city air defense Then he gave an order to the general: "you call at once and report to me in 15 minutes how many anti-aircraft guns and what kind of guns you can call up. Do you understand? "¡° Yes, comrade commander, "the general replied. Then he glanced at me and asked Zhukov¡° Will you allow me to leave? " I secretly complained in my heart. It''s over. I didn''t think about what I said just now. I offended my superior who was in charge of me. Will he wear shoes for me in the future¡° let''s go. You will report to me in person in 15 minutes. There''s one last question, "Zhukov added¡° Two platoons of anti-aircraft artillery troops will be transferred here tomorrow, under the command of lieutenant o''shanina. "¡° It''s very difficult! Comrade Georgi konstantinovic. " The general began to complain to Zhukov: "there are insufficient troops everywhere. Where can I find so many female soldiers for her?" I thought to myself, it''s only a few minutes since he started to wear shoes for me. It seems that I''ll have a hard time in the future¡° No female soldiers, no male soldiers. " Zhukov rebutted him impolitely: "at ten o''clock tomorrow morning, the supplementary anti-aircraft artillery troops must be in place. This is an order. Carry it out."¡° Yes The general sighed softly, then saluted and strode toward the armored car. Seeing Zhukov talking for me, I felt relieved. With such a backer, my boss would not dare to wear shoes for me. Zhukov said to the commanders on the scene: "go, let''s go to the shelter department and continue the meeting." As a lieutenant in sergeant''s uniform, I am not qualified to attend such a meeting. What I can do is to watch them go away and continue to command the female soldiers to count the ammunition consumption and scrub the anti-aircraft machine guns. ahref= http:www.; Welcome to our website www.start.com. The latest, fastest and most popular serial works are all original!

 Chapter 13

    At night, we did everything, except for leaving a few sentries on duty, the rest of us went back to the cabin.


    More than twenty female soldiers and I sat around the big wooden table. The food and tableware had been set, and the hot soup had been put on the plate. I''ve only had a few slices of black bread since morning, and I feel so hungry that my hands and feet are soft.


    Karenina poured a dark red liquid into the enamel teapot in front of everyone. When it was my turn to come here, I quickly covered the mouth of the cup with my hand, waved my hand and said, "no, no, I don''t drink."


    "Comrade lieutenant, it''s not wine, it''s just juice." I heard it was juice, so I didn''t refuse any more. I moved my hand from the mouth of the cup and let her pour me a full cup.


    "Raise your glasses." Karenina began to pay tribute to the wine: "for us to fight back the German Devils today, for Rita to become a lieutenant, let''s have a drink."


    "Cheers I picked up the teapot, yelled and touched the cups one by one, then took a big drink. The taste of the juice is sour, slightly sweet, but I also feel a spicy taste. I cried in my heart that I had been in Russia for so many years, but I forgot that they all drank alcoholic fruit wine as fruit juice. After a short period of time, I felt that my cheeks were hot, my whole body was soft, and I felt drowsy.


    "Let''s dance." Suddenly a female soldier suggested. Everyone immediately became active, and the house suddenly became a magpie nest. I saw Jenna stabbing Karenina quietly, indicating that she would ask me for advice.


    "Be quiet, everyone. Who''s talking about the ball?" Karenina stood up and said solemnly to the women soldiers, "this proposal will not be adopted without the permission of the commander."


    After listening to her words, the girls who were just chirping closed their mouths and looked at each other. Then they turned their eyes to me. I know that in this era of lack of entertainment life, there is no TV, computer and other things that can be used to amuse boring time, so we should take a supportive attitude towards this kind of spontaneous entertainment program of female soldiers. So I stood up with the table and said to all the people in the room, "girls, don''t stand still. The dance is now on. Let''s jump up!"


    The soldiers cheered, folded up the big wooden table and moved it to the corner. A wide area suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. I am weak, sitting in the corner chair, watching them busy back and forth.


    Lena, the woman soldier who helped me carry soap last night, did not know where to turn out an accordion and pulled it up. With the melodious sound of the piano, a beautiful song suddenly sounded in the room. It was my familiar "Cranberry blossoms". Emotion is a popular song of this era.


    At the end of the song, Karenina suddenly proposed to everyone: "next, let''s ask our lieutenant to sing a song for me. Do you agree?"


    "Good The women soldiers cheered in unison.


    I was in a cold sweat. If it were Russian songs, I would be able to sing "Cranberry blossom", "night outside Moscow", "Katyusha" and so on. Unfortunately, I can only sing Chinese, not Russian. The only Russian song I can sing is the once popular song "to marry someone is to marry a man like Putin". On such an occasion, I dare not sing it. I could only wave my hands and say vaguely, "I''m sorry, girls. I''m too drunk to sing. I''ll talk about it another day."


    Still, the women didn''t embarrass me. Karenina grabbed narissa and took the lead. The women soldiers, who had been itching for a long time, entered the primitive dance floor one after another and danced with the music. The room immediately became a sea of joy.


    Jeanne didn''t go dancing, but sat by my side with me. She suddenly asked me, "Comrade lieutenant, when I was flying a German reconnaissance plane in the morning, I seemed to hear you shout something, but I didn''t understand it."


    "Oh," she said, and I remembered that I couldn''t help shouting in Chinese. I hesitated for a moment, or make up a reason to explain to her: "I called a Chinese sentence."


    "Chinese?" She then asked curiously, "what does that mean? Where did you learn Chinese? "


    "In Russian, it''s" clothes are wumier. "The reason why I want to explain to her is that there is a man who shares a room with me in later generations. He likes to talk in his sleep at night. When he talks in his sleep, he usually uses Chinese and Russian alternately. I''m afraid that when I''m talking in my sleep, there will be such a mix of Chinese and Russian. Instead of arousing other people''s suspicion, I''d better find a reason to cover up the truth as soon as possible¡° In the school where I used to study, there was an old school worker who was a Chinese who had participated in the October Revolution. I know him very well, so I learned some Chinese from him. "


    "Oh." Jenna put on a sudden appearance.


    My head more and more dizzy, in front of the characters began to become fuzzy, side Jeanne''s voice also seems to come from a distant place, I finally fell asleep unconsciously.


    By the time I woke up, it was already bright. As soon as I got out of the cabin, the sentry who was in charge of duty came to me last night and reported to me, "Comrade lieutenant, come and see, there are troops mobilized under the cliff."


    "Is it the German army?" I was so surprised that I thought it was the German army that was going around quietly in the dark¡° No, "he said The sentry''s face was full of joy: "it''s our army." The road under the cliff is marching with a large number of people. On the road and roadside, there are soldiers in line or single line, as well as military trucks, artillery cars and even tanks. I watched with a very calm telescope what was going on below. These troops were dispersing along the side roads to the front lines on both sides of the road. In any case, it''s a pleasure to see this huge team, artillery and tanks¡° How exciting Suddenly there was Karenina''s voice. I turned to see that she didn''t know when she was standing beside me and was looking excitedly at the passing team. According to my recent habit, I raised my eyes and looked up at the sky, thinking: if we mobilize troops on a large scale in broad daylight, will we be attacked by the German air force? But today''s sky is gloomy, heavy clouds are low, and the rain has fallen down. I guess it''s mostly for this reason that Zhukov took the risk of continuing to move the team in broad daylight. What team is this? As I looked at it, I guessed whether they were transferred from other parts of the front line or from the reserve team transferred from the headquarters? But there is no doubt about the fact that the Soviet army has concentrated a large number of troops on the prkovo line. According to the known outcome, I know clearly that the German army''s attack on the Highlands will end in failure. They will be defeated by the Soviet army and defeated by a devastating counterattack¡° You see, comrade lieutenant, that''s a sailor! " Karenina pointed down to me excitedly. I looked in the direction of her fingers, and sure enough, I saw several groups of soldiers in blue and white striped shirts and a kind of black uniform marching bravely. These should be the Marines drawn from the warships. I thought about it. Although today''s weather is not suitable for the plane to take off, I still can''t take it lightly. Then he put down his telescope and said to Karenina beside him, "send out the battle alarm and inform all the soldiers to enter the gun position. We should prepare for air defense in case the German Air Force launches a surprise attack on the troops behind us." Karenina agreed and was about to walk away when a man''s voice came out behind her: "girls, where''s your commander?" I turned around and saw a second lieutenant in a brand-new uniform and shining boots coming towards us. When he came to us, he looked at the ranks of Karenina and me, and saw that we were both sergeants, so he gave a frivolous whistle: "Hello, beauty, where''s your commander?" I gave him a scornful look, and then asked, "I''m lieutenant o''shanina, the commander of the anti-aircraft machine gun company. Who are you?" When he heard that I had reported my family, he quickly straightened up and saluted me. He replied in a flurried way, "sorry, comrade lieutenant, you are still wearing the sergeant''s uniform, so I didn''t expect you to be the commander." After a pause, he calmed down and said, "I''m lieutenant sapchenko from the air defense command. I''ve been ordered to be your deputy. The antiaircraft artillery of the two platoons are also in position, ready to enter the position at any time. "

 Chapter 14

    In the next few days, the defense deployment of the Soviet army was greatly adjusted: the first was to defend the south of Leningrad A roaring shell landed on the south slope of the Nameless Highland, which interrupted my interest in seeing the scenery. It seemed that the enemy''s attack, which had been silent for several days, would start again. I immediately put down my telescope and turned around to run back. When the sound of the guns rumbled, I had already run to the air defense position, and the soldiers of the company had been waiting here.


    "Lieutenant sapchenko! Sergeant Karenina. "I called out to my deputy company commander and platoon commander.


    "Here we are." Lieutenant sapchenko and sergeant Karenina heard me and trotted up to me, stopping to salute me.


    "Lieutenant sapchenko, take five antiaircraft guns and one antiaircraft machine gun to the new defensive position." I took Karenina''s helmet and issued instructions to them: "Karenina, the remaining one anti-aircraft gun and two anti-aircraft machine guns stay here under your command. Make sure the air defense in the highlands."


    "Yes." They agreed to turn around and command each other to carry out my orders.


    After the anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns entered the new position, the second lieutenant and I stood in the bunker and watched the battle with binoculars under the hillside. The minefield in front of the highland defense line was also heavily shelled, and the buried mines were detonated one after another. The continuous explosion of Mines made the damaged tanks and armored vehicles re ignite, and then they were immediately put out by the overwhelming soil.


    The shells rained down on the high ground. Although the nearest impact point was about 50 meters away from me, I still felt the violent explosion as if it was around me. The earth was shaking violently and my ears were buzzing.


    The shelling stopped suddenly after 45 minutes, just as suddenly as it started. First, two red and white flares flew up on the other side of the German position, and a dozen or so tanks crossed the trench in a wedge-shaped line. Then, the German soldiers in grey green uniforms who were lying in the trench immediately jumped up and charged towards the high ground behind the tanks.


    There was a violent explosion, and the leading German tank stopped abruptly, followed by an explosion of flame coming out through the tank. And then there was a second explosion, and then there was a third - it was the other two tanks that came up, and they hit the mines and exploded again.


    At this time, there was a lot of gunfire. First, the machine guns roared, and then the whole battalion opened fire. The tankers who jumped out of the tank cockpit fled backward one after another. Without exception, they were knocked down by the Soviet firepower.


    At first, only the sound of intensive gunfire and machine gun fire could be heard from the Soviet positions, but a few minutes later, the sound was overwhelmed by the explosion of shells. After the artillery attack just now, there were few mines that didn''t explode. Several tanks behind had passed the minefield successfully, stopped moving near the trench, and opened fire fiercely with guns and machine guns.


    The shells landed directly on the defensive positions, and the most dangerous machine gun fire points were destroyed one by one by German artillery fire. The soldiers in grey green uniforms behind, carrying submachine guns, made a short leap and gradually approached the trench.


    "It''s our turn." I finished this sentence to myself, turned around and told the second lieutenant next to me: "attack tanks with anti-aircraft guns, and infantry with anti-aircraft machine guns. Go ahead and carry it out."


    The German attack was very fast. As soon as the infantry approached the trench, the tanks that had stopped began to move forward. The soldiers who lack anti tank weapons have nothing to do with this kind of giant. Some of them jumped out of the trench and ran to the rear. As a result, they were knocked down before they ran far away. Two tanks crossed the first trench and came quickly towards us. Some of the German soldiers rushed into the trench and fought fiercely with the soldiers inside.


    Just then, I heard the sound of guns behind me, and a blast of mud burst up beside the two approaching tanks¡° It''s the antiaircraft gun firing. "I had this idea in my head.


    For these well-trained antiaircraft artillery, it is much easier to fight a tank moving on the ground than a plane moving at high speed in the air. There were several more explosions, this time something inside a tank exploded. Smoke came out of the tank''s observation hole, and the body shook and stopped.


    The second tank drove forward as usual, several shells fell on the side and exploded, which did not affect its moving speed at all. The distance between the tank and the second bunker was only about ten meters. Suddenly, I saw a man jump out of the bunker and throw a flask at the tank. Maybe the soldier was too nervous and didn''t hit the target. The burning bottle fell on the ground and rolled. Before he made any remedial action, he was immediately knocked down by the machine gun on the tank. Just then, another man jumped out of the trench, rushed over, grabbed the burning bottle on the ground and smashed it at the tank. The surface of the hit tank immediately burst into flames. It seemed that the fire stuck to the armor plate, trapped the tank tightly and engulfed the whole tank. Several fire covered tankers screamed and jumped out, rolling wildly on the ground, their shouts actually covered the roar of the tank engine.


    The man who threw the flasks at the tank had turned his head and ran quickly to the hidden trench. I saw him through the telescope. It was captain helopov, a political instructor. He was one or two steps short of rushing into the trench. All of a sudden, he fell to the ground with convulsions¡° "Helopov", watching the captain sacrifice in front of my eyes, immediately made me red. I rushed to the anti-aircraft machine gun, drove the shooter down, and sat down on the seat of the machine gun. At the same time, I yelled angrily at the Second Lieutenant: "continue to fire at the German Army, don''t save ammunition." Then he slammed on the firing button. The four barreled anti-aircraft machine gun fired a lot of fire at the German infantry in front of the position. As I cried, I stepped on the gun button. The machine gun trembled, the bullet shot out of the muzzle, and the cartridge case jumped to the ground. Watching the German army falling at my gunpoint, I began to calm down. It turns out that death is so simple. In the fierce battlefield, it only takes a moment to dedicate many lives to the God of death. This is war!

 Chapter 15

    All of a sudden, I felt the machine gun stopped. I stepped on the button again, but I still didn''t respond. Jenna yelled in my ear in a hoarse voice: "all the bullets are gone, comrade Lieutenant!" I followed the direction of her fingers and saw a pile of hollowed out ammunition boxes and a mountain of cartridge cases on the ground.


    On the south slope, fierce fighting continued. The German army is worthy of being an elite and well-trained division. The soldiers who broke into the trenches fought hand to hand with the militia soldiers. With their skilful fighting skills, they gradually mastered the initiative of the battlefield. As more and more German soldiers entered the trench, the militia was a little overwhelmed. In addition to retreating to the left and right of the trench step by step, some soldiers simply jumped out of the trench with guns, bent down and ran quickly to the second line of defense. But most of these soldiers were knocked down by the German fire in the open field.


    Most of the German tanks were destroyed after the continuous bombardment of our company''s anti-aircraft guns. The remaining three tanks increased their horsepower, crossed the first trench and rushed to the second trench quickly.


    "Boom boom!" The anti-aircraft guns continued to shoot down. With a series of explosions, the three tanks twisted for a certain distance, emitting black smoke, and stopped five or six meters away from the second trench. Several soldiers with submachine guns immediately jumped out of the trench and fired mercilessly at the tankers who escaped from the tank. The tankers who got away from the tanks all fell at the gunpoint of the soldiers.


    After a while, the antiaircraft guns stopped firing, and the second lieutenant came to report to me that he had run out of ammunition. In my heart, I secretly complain that if I run out of ammunition, I can no longer provide firepower support to the infantry defending below. What can I do?


    "Comrade lieutenant," seeing that I had not spoken for a long time, the second lieutenant came up and said, "we should go into the position and help the infantry defend."


    "That''s right," Jenna, who was standing next to me, echoed, "all the bullets are gone. It''s no use for us to stay here. We should go to the position to help the infantry soldiers fight against the German devils."


    I pondered a little, and then decisively ordered: "the women soldiers stay to guard the antiaircraft guns, and the men soldiers follow me to the position."


    As soon as I entered the position, I saw the captain running around in the trench. Others wear steel helmets, but he still wears a big cornice hat. I don''t know whether he feels invulnerable or just for showing off. Anyway, I always put safety first and prevention first, so as soon as the gun rang, I immediately put on my helmet. Seeing that he stopped not far in front of me, he ran to me in a hurry: "Comrade captain, Lieutenant o''shanina, bring the anti-aircraft artillery company to support, please give us instructions."


    "Great, here comes the new force!" The captain narrowed his eyes happily and asked, "how many people and what kind of weapons are there?"


    "Two platoons and three platoons are here. There are sixty soldiers, all equipped with rifles."


    "Here," the captain pointed to the side, "your troops are here. Or the old saying: "if you want to drive here like a nail, you can''t step back." Seeing that I was about to leave, he immediately added, "don''t run around, just stay by my side and listen to my direct command." With these words, he looked left and right, and whispered to me, "all the officers in the position have died except me and you."


    Although all the German tanks were destroyed, the soldiers who occupied the first trench, even without the cover of armored forces and artillery, still fiercely armed with submachine guns and rifles, formed a scattered formation and rushed towards us.


    "Don''t shoot!" The captain yelled, "get the German devils closer and fight them again."


    When the German straggler formation was only 50 meters away from our trench, the captain suddenly yelled, "open fire!"


    All of a sudden, the heavy and heavy weapons on the position opened fire together, and the advancing German army was caught off guard. Many soldiers in the first two rows were knocked down, and the rest of them fell to the ground in a hurry and started shooting with us.


    "Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. The incoming German troops were completely separated from those behind them. The German soldiers who were shooting us hastily retreated into the trenches they were still in control of.


    "This is the artillery support of the group army to our position." The captain came close to my ear and cried out.


    Although all the German troops retreated into the trenches, they suffered heavy casualties under the heavy artillery attack of our army. If it had not been for our artillery shells blowing up a wall of fire between them and their successors, they would have retreated.


    The artillery fire of our army began to extend. I saw the bloody bodies of the German army lying outside the first trench. It seemed that the German army who occupied the trench had become a lonely army.


    "Comrade captain," I said to him in his ear, "the German devils can''t stand it any more. We should fight back and take back the lost positions."


    The captain looked at the situation on the other side, nodded and did not speak. He jumped out of the trench, stood on a high place, raised his submachine gun over his head and cried out: "comrades! For the motherland For Leningrad For Stalin Go ahead! Before... His cry suddenly stopped, and the whole man fell face up into the trench.


    I looked back, and there was a bullet hole in his eyebrow that was bleeding. I went up and touched his carotid artery. I couldn''t feel any heartbeat. It seems that the German devil''s bullet has killed him. Originally, many soldiers who jumped out of the trench were a little at a loss when they saw the captain fall down. When several soldiers followed the captain, they were so scared that the rest of them either fell down on the spot or jumped back into the trench. Seeing this, I don''t feel very good. The sacrifice of the captain has a great impact on morale. Although the number of German troops on the opposite side is not large, it is also a question whether we can defend this trench if they take the opportunity to attack. After the captain died, I was the highest commander in the position. What should I do? I remember watching a film of the former Soviet Union before, in which there was such a scene: the Soviet Army repeatedly failed to attack a German guarded position, and then returned to the starting point of the attack in embarrassment. The female health workers in the army found that there were wounded soldiers in the middle of the two army positions groaning in pain, so they rushed to bandage the wounds for the soldiers. After the German army found the brave health worker, they first fired. Seeing that they couldn''t beat her all the time, they sent people to the outside of the position to try to capture her alive. At this critical moment, the blood of the Soviet soldiers was aroused, they braved the enemy''s gunfire and rushed up, conquering the German position. Hesitating again and again, I gritted my teeth, climbed out of the trench, raised my pistol high, and also cried aloud like a captain: "comrades, for the motherland! For Leningrad!! Go ahead When I finished, I waved my pistol forward and strode forward. Although I appear to be awe inspiring on the surface, I''m actually trying to figure it out while I''m away. If there are no soldiers following me after ten steps, should I lie down on the spot and look for cover? Ten steps passed, but I still didn''t hear any movement behind. I couldn''t help but pause for a moment, trying to get down on the spot, but my feet didn''t listen and continued to move forward. A cannonball landed behind me, and the earth from the explosion fell on me, making my helmet rattle. I shook my head to get rid of the mud on my helmet, and my idea changed. It seems that it''s useless to lie down. Even if I can avoid bullets, I can''t avoid bombs falling from the sky. I can only move forward in front of my eyes. Even if I am screened by the bullets of the German devils, I can only move forward. All of a sudden, I heard footsteps behind me. Looking back, I saw the second lieutenant running up with a rifle in his hand, followed by the scattered line of anti-aircraft artillery company soldiers. The bottom of female soldiers'' summer uniform is skirt. I can''t run like them. I can only stride forward. After a few steps forward, the sound of "Wula" was heard from behind. I don''t have to look back to know that the soldiers in the position must have started to attack the whole line. More and more soldiers, armed with rifles and submachine guns, passed me and rushed to the enemy''s positions like tigers. Shells roared down into the middle of the attack team one after another. From time to time, some people fell down, but they couldn''t stop the soldiers'' pace of attack. The fast soldiers had already jumped into the trench in front of them and put on bayonets with the unstable German army. Thirty meters later, I went to the edge of the trench. Another sharp shell fell in front of me on the left, and a stream of soil rose into the sky. Suddenly, I felt as if my chest had been hit with a heavy hammer, and the huge impact force knocked me down to the ground. Welcome to our website www.start.com. The latest, fastest and most popular serial works are all original!

 Chapter 16

    The pain from my chest made me sit on the ground and dare not move. At this time, do not say to stand up and continue to move forward, is the strength of breathing a little bit larger, the parts of the heart also feel bursts of pain. Many soldiers rushed past me, but no one stopped or even looked back.


    I''m not annoyed at everyone''s neglect. After all, it''s on the battlefield. It''s common for soldiers to bleed to death. No one knows whether he will be knocked down by a bullet or shrapnel in the next moment. In this situation, who cares whether he is an ordinary private soldier or an officer.


    After the pain abated a little, I gently unbuttoned my coat and looked down at the injured part. I saw a piece of black shrapnel inlaid on the long handled copper key hanging from my chest. The key had seriously changed its shape. It seemed that my life was really big. It was the key that helped me block the deadly shrapnel. However, the white and smooth skin around the key has already been red and swollen. When you press it gently, you will feel pain.


    I rubbed my chest and stood up with difficulty, only to find that I had lost my pistol. Looking around, I saw a dead German soldier lying not far away, holding a submachine gun in his hand. I stumbled over, bent over and grabbed the submachine gun, pulled it hard and caught it in my hand.


    I''m not going to bayonet the enemy. It''s what men do. Don''t say I''m a petite woman now. Even in my previous life, this kind of technical work which requires courage and skill is not suitable for me. I hung the submachine gun on my chest, put my right hand on the trigger, gently rubbed the injured part with my left hand, and staggered forward.


    By the time we got to the edge of the trench, the battle was drawing to a close. Most of the German devils were either killed by random guns or stabbed to death by soldiers with bayonets. Most of the German troops are equipped with submachine guns. The number of people who use rifles is very small. If they are used to attack fortifications, their firepower is very strong. But in close combat, the German soldiers with their submachine guns that have run out of bullets can''t beat the soldiers with their bayonet rifles.


    The soil of normal color can no longer be seen in the trench. The ground is either purple or red. The flesh and blood have been completely smeared here. The German soldiers cry and cry there, and the soldiers shout and kill there. The heaven and the earth are like hell on earth, in which there is nothing but desperation but tyranny.


    I pulled the trigger and knocked down a wounded German soldier who was struggling to come at me, without any pity in my heart. On the battlefield of life and death, we can''t have any benevolence. Otherwise, we don''t know how to die in the end.


    When the trench returned to our army, I, who had just taken the lead in the charge, did not know what to do. Fortunately, second lieutenant sapchenko, the deputy company commander, had rich experience. He directed the soldiers to reinforce the fortifications and began to treat the wounded at the same time.


    I looked at the artillery fire that continued to extend to the German position in front of me without expression. Where the artillery fire passed, there was no German soldier standing. I thought that today''s battle was really weak. The German devils broke through our defense line so easily. If the counterattack was not successful with the support of the artillery of the group army, the highland would have been lost now. After the German occupied the unknown highland, they would take it as their starting position and attack the main peak position from their flanks. Once the main peak was lost, the Soviet line of defense collapsed completely, and the German army could drive straight into Leningrad.


    "Comrade lieutenant," a soldier next to me touched me and said to me in a loud voice, "there''s a phone in the shelter department. It''s from the headquarters of the group army. The other party wants to talk to a commander."


    I followed him into the shelter, picked up the phone on the table and began to report my name: "I''m lieutenant o''shanina, commander of the antiaircraft artillery company. I''m commanding the battle. Please give me your instructions."


    "What''s the matter with you?" "Where''s captain horopov?" he said in a very impolite tone


    "Comrade captain died." I didn''t know who the other side was, and I couldn''t get angry. I tried to report the situation to him in a smooth tone: "the German army once occupied the first line of defense of our army under the cover of tanks. After destroying the tanks with anti-aircraft fire, with the support of the artillery fire of the group army, we have recovered the lost positions by counterattack. "


    "Where is captain helopov, political instructor I?" The other side pondered and asked again.


    "And sacrificed." The other party didn''t show his identity, and I didn''t want to talk to him. After that, I kept silent.


    "I''m major general feijiuningsky, commander of the group army," another voice came from the phone after a while, "report your current situation."


    "The soldiers suffered a lot of casualties. Almost all the officers died. We need support." I''m not sure when the German army will attack again. With the current strength and equipment, I can''t resist the new attack of the German army. So I impolitely asked the commander for reinforcements.


    "I''ll send a company of Marines to replenish you right away," he said after a pause. "In about an hour, you can enter the position."


    "Yes." When I heard that reinforcements would come soon, the stone in my heart fell to the ground.


    "You will take over the command immediately, and the new troops will be under your command, understand?" Said fejiuningsky flatly¡° Yes, comrade commander. "¡° I order: do not hesitate to sacrifice, stick to the position! If you need reinforcements - call. " Before I could speak, there was no sound in the earphone. An hour later, the soldiers of the company entered the position, and the commander of the company, Captain pastuhov, went directly to the shelter and told me. Two platoons of marines were placed in the first trench by me to assist the original troops in defense, under the command of captain pastuhov. The remaining platoon, along with the rest of the company, retreated to the second trench. The German position was silent after the group fire stopped. Until dark, the German army did not organize another attack. I breathed a sigh of relief and knew very clearly in my heart: the highland has been held!

 Chapter 17

    In the evening, the German army, which was repulsed by us, never launched a new offensive.


    The whole battlefield quieted down.


    I took pastuhov and sapchenko with me. The Colonel didn''t speak. He pulled me over and hugged me. He said excitedly, "good job! You''re so good, Lieutenant


    Although according to Russian customs, when shaking hands or hugging, the greater the strength, the more friendly and intimate. But his strength is so strong that I can''t breathe.


    He didn''t notice my painful expression and continued to say to himself, "you are so amazing! I''m a veteran, and I know how hard it is to stand up under the roar of bullets and the explosion of mortar shells; The first few seconds are decisive. The soldiers, driven by their sense of responsibility and the will of their commanders, either summon up the courage to face death or stay in the trenches. "


    His embrace touched the wound on my chest, and I almost cried out in pain, but I could not help it, but tears still burst into my eyes. I thought with tears streaming down my face that Zi once said: impulse is the devil. It seems that what he said was really right. At that time, I must have been possessed by the devil. Otherwise, how could I get a fever in my cerebellum and jump out without thinking, and then charge bravely. If it wasn''t for my great fortune, the copper key hanging on my chest blocked the shrapnel, I would have gone to have afternoon tea with God at this time.


    He let me go, stood at the front of the line, affectionately called my nickname and said to me with emotion, "Lieutenant Rita, do you know? Today you''ve blocked not only the German devils, but also other places. They haven''t been able to move forward. According to the plane reconnaissance, today''s long-range artillery fire of our navy also eliminated a large number of tanks and armored forces who tried to bypass the Highlands again... "His voice sounds very familiar. It should be the person who talked to me during the day, but I still don''t know who he is. Although he made some understatement, from the history I know, I know that many important facilities and buildings in the city behind me are planted with explosives. Once the defense line is broken by the German army, those places will become ruins.


    "Comrade division commander," a signalman rushed over, saluted the colonel, and reported aloud, "Comrade division commander, major general feijiuningsky, commander of the group army, told you to go back immediately, saying that you have an important task." After listening to the messenger, I realized that this was the commander of the 21st division, Colonel Novikov.


    When I finished all my work and went back to have a rest, it was already eleven o''clock in the evening. I went into the female soldier''s dormitory and saw that it had been cleaned up. Rows of bunks were arranged in an orderly formation. The moonlight swept over the young faces. They exhaled evenly, with the sweetness of falling asleep on their faces. Occasionally, some people vaguely uttered some gibberish.


    My bed is under a wooden bed near the door. When I chose this position at that time, I said that it was close to the gate, so that I could go out to command the battle at any time. In fact, it''s because I''m afraid of death. If I encounter German artillery or air attack, it''s the most convenient way to escape if I''m close to the door.


    "Rita," I went to the bed and bent down to go to bed when I heard someone calling my name softly. Looking up, I saw that it was Lena, the soldier who was sleeping in the upper bunk. I stood up straight in front of her and asked softly, "Lena, why haven''t you had a rest so late?"


    "Can''t sleep, can I talk to you?"


    "Yes, yes, of course, renachka." Although I was a little surprised, I agreed. Anyway, she doesn''t know my details, and she''s not afraid to worry about her asking questions. I lay down with my clothes and covered them with a quilt. Wearing a thin silk underwear that could only cover the key parts, she climbed down from the upper bunk and quickly got into my quilt.


    She lay in my arms, did not speak, a hand began to touch my chest, my goose bumps came out, thought she would not be Lala, otherwise how come in on me. Just as she was considering whether to hold her hand to stop her touching me, she stopped, grabbed the copper key hanging from my chest through her clothes, and asked me curiously, "Rita, what kind of key is hanging on your chest?"


    I reached out to touch the copper key that had already been deformed. I sighed to myself. Fortunately, I had this key hanging on my chest, so that I could guarantee my life today. I organized the words in my mind, and heard myself saying, "this is the key to my house. It''s a gift from my husband." When it comes to the word husband, I''m really embarrassed. I blush with shame. Fortunately, Lena didn''t notice my unusual look in the dark.


    "Is your husband in the army, too?" Lena whispered curiously.


    I stroked the key in front of my chest, and the broken memory fragments about the origin of the key in my mind finally pieced together into a complete story at this moment. I began to tell Lena the story of Rita and oshanin, but I used the first person: "my husband''s name is oshanin, and he''s a captain at the border guard post He has a military dog around him. Although I''m afraid of dogs, I''m not afraid of the dog when I go out with him every time. After we get married, we have our own house. He hung the key around my neck for me. After the war broke out, he rushed back to the front line, I hung the key on his neck again, and told him to come back safely... But one morning a few days later, I found his army dog lying outside the house, with the shining copper key on his neck. As soon as I took the key off his neck, it closed its eyes. From then on, I found that the dog was still alive, I keep hanging this key on my chest... "


    I told the story quietly, holding Lena''s hand, but I used to walk around her body, from hips to full breasts, up and down. At the same time, I sighed to myself that this Russian girl is good. She is not only beautiful, fair and smooth, but also of first-class stature. It''s a pity that her fresh-keeping period is shorter, and she becomes aunt Katyusha with a bucket waist in her middle age. I felt about Lena. She didn''t have the slightest disgust. She seemed to enjoy it. After a while, she fell asleep in my arms.

 Chapter 18

    The morning meeting was held under my leadership in the headquarters of the battalion in the highland, where I reported to the captain when I first arrived at the highland. I remember when I came in last time, I felt that the room was very narrow. I didn''t expect that now about ten people are sitting here for a meeting, but it doesn''t seem crowded at all.


    Among the people who attended the meeting, except that pastuhov was a captain, the rest of the company and platoon officers, including me, were in the rank of lieutenant or second lieutenant. If an uninformed outsider came in at this time, he would be regarded as the top commander here.


    The topic of the meeting was to discuss the construction of fortifications in the highlands. Before the meeting, a lieutenant of the Navy company tentatively asked me if I could smoke, and without thinking, I nodded and agreed. Unexpectedly, as soon as he took the lead, other participants were unwilling to lag behind and took out their cigarettes one after another. Within five minutes, the small shelter was shrouded in smoke, which made me cough. In this case, I had to be dumb to eat Coptis chinensis, because smoking was allowed by me at the beginning, so I tried to overcome it by myself.


    The captain and several experienced officers calculated how many steel plates, T-beams, pipes, cement and labor would be needed to build new Fortifications on the high ground. The result is frustrating. In the current situation, many factories have stopped production, and even one third of the materials needed cannot be guaranteed. Moreover, at least four or five hundred experienced people are needed to build fortifications. At present, the total number of people in our highland is less than three hundred.


    I couldn''t get into the topic they said, so I chose to be silent. I''m the supreme commander. The only thing I can do is to wait for them to work out the final result and exercise my decision-making power.


    In the middle of the meeting, suddenly the telephone rang, and the whole shelter was quiet. The captain picked up the phone and said in a loud voice, "Hello, this is captain pastuhov."


    I was so close to the phone that I could clearly hear the voice coming from the receiver: "Comrade captain, Sergeant Luzhkov of the frontier observation post has reported to you that a German army is coming to our position with a white flag."


    "What?" The captain was obviously shocked by the news. He suddenly got up from his seat and yelled at the microphone: "do you know what you''re talking about, Sergeant? It''s impossible


    With these words, he sat down in his seat again. After a moment of silence, he immediately said in an irrefutable tone: "nonsense! Either you are dazzled, or the spies have slipped the news to you. "


    I was surprised and puzzled when I heard what the other side said: what is the German army going to do at the foot of the mountain? Although we beat back their attacks many times, at this stage, compared with us, they still have an absolute advantage in terms of technical equipment and the number of soldiers. No one will take the initiative to surrender to a weaker opponent. This is too illogical. If you want to persuade us to surrender, just send two people. There''s no need to open a team. That''s too much publicity. Even those who want to surrender will be scared back.


    I interrupted the captain''s next words, took the phone from him and said to him gently, "I''m lieutenant o''shanina. Please report what you see again." The chairman has taught us that there is no right to speak without investigation. I will not give orders casually if I don''t know the details of the matter.


    "Comrade lieutenant," the other party, perhaps frightened by the captain just now, replied in a flustered tone, "a German army is coming to our position with a white flag."


    "How many people are there, what kind of equipment, and where are they now?" I still asked in a steady tone.


    "There are 40 people who have not carried any weapons. When they come 50 meters away from the front position, they stop. Now they don''t move on."


    "All right," I heard him say, and I was sure that the German army was not here to surrender, or to persuade, but with other purposes¡° Chief, keep your guard. I''ll be right there. "


    I put down the phone, stood up and said to the officers in the room with a tone of ridicule: "comrades, there is a special situation in the front line. There are a group of German devils with white flags coming to our position. Now they are stopping 50 meters away from the front line, waiting for us to review. Let''s go and see immediately. What do they want to do? "


    After hearing the news, the people in the room were all stunned, and then burst out laughing. I put on my helmet and said, "let''s go." This sentence is like the order of attack to all people. In an instant, people, whether they are crowded in the room or sitting on the bench, rush to the door.


    In a short time, we reached the front position. I immediately saw a group of German soldiers standing not far ahead, neatly arranged in four lines, with ten men in each line. Someone nearby whispered: "the German devils standing there are really the best targets. Needless to say, the sharpshooters, even the ordinary soldiers who shoot at them, can kill several of them."


    I frowned and looked at the people who were talking next to me, thinking: Why are you so ignorant? Although the other side said it was the enemy, others came over with white flags. It''s morally indefensible to shoot at them casually. The man closed his mouth when he saw that I was staring at him seriously.


    Because the distance is very close, you can see it without a telescope. These German soldiers are all stabbing hands and empty fists, and they don''t carry any weapons. As I was about to climb out of the chest high trench, the captain next to me held me and kindly reminded me, "Comrade lieutenant, be careful of the enemy''s plot." schemes and intrigues?! I looked at the German soldiers standing on the opposite side and couldn''t see anything wrong. Even if they want to cheat our commanders out, and then kill them with long-range firepower, it''s a bit illogical to use so many people as bait. Finally, I climbed out of the trench, walked over to meet the German army, and stopped 20 meters away from them. Behind him came a rapid sound of footsteps. Looking back, it was the captain with the officers who had just held the meeting. Holding the white flag opposite was a German officer. When he saw us coming out, he also came up with the white flag high, followed by a soldier in a boat cap. They stopped two or three meters away from us. The soldier stepped forward, saluted pastuhov, and then stammered in broken Russian, "I salute you, captain."¡° I''m not a gentleman, "the captain replied coldly, then pointed to me." this is our commander. " The officer was at a loss when he heard the captain''s words, but the soldier was surprised. However, he saluted me again and said respectfully, "I salute you, Lieutenant girl." I could not help but frown. Is there no one in the German army who is good at Russian? How to find such a person? What you say sounds like a standard translation. How can you hear it? How can you feel uncomfortable¡° What can I do for you I asked without expression¡° We have come to contact you at the order of Marshal von Leib, commander of the northern army group. " Although the Russian he speaks is still not standard, it sounds more used to than just now¡° We want to restrain the bodies of the dead soldiers. I don''t know if you will allow it Oh, I wanted to restrain the bodies of the dead soldiers. I thought they wanted to surrender to me. In yesterday''s battle, at least more than 500 German soldiers were killed by us in front of the position. Although it''s autumn now, if it doesn''t converge, it''s easy for corpses to rot and cause diseases. The bodies of our dead soldiers have been converged. I''m having a headache about what to do with the German bodies. Since they want to converge, let them¡° OK, "I agreed without hesitation," you can hold back the body in front of the position, but your people can''t cross our present position. As for the bodies of soldiers on the ground of our army, I will arrange for people to come here, and then you can take them all away. "¡° Thank you The German interpreter gave me a thank you, turned around and muttered a lot to the officer who held the white flag. After saluting me again, they turned and walked to the opposite team¡° Comrade lieutenant, "the captain next to me pulled my sleeve and asked in a low voice," should I ask my superiors for instructions and get their permission before answering them? "¡° No, "I know too much about laomaozi''s procrastination habit. According to their efficiency, by the time the feedback information of various requests and reports comes back, it is estimated that the German bodies have rotted. I am the supreme commander of the nameless highlands has the final say. Although the German army is here to restrain the corpses, the possibility of another outbreak of fighting is very small, but it can not be taken lightly, the necessary preventive measures should be arranged, I then said to the captain: "you immediately send a platoon of sailors to come here, pull a cordon here, if there are German devils crossing the line, you can shoot directly without waiting for orders."¡° Good. I''ll arrange it right away. "The captain listened to me, agreed excitedly, turned around and ran back. When the two Germans returned to the army, the officer held the white flag high and swayed from side to side. In a short time, I saw a long line of trucks coming out slowly from the German position.

 Chapter 19

    Before the German truck across the way came, pastuhov had come out with the soldiers.


    First, a soldier with a bucket of white lime spread a white line in front of the position where we were standing, then a team of sailors came on the stage. They walked out of the trench with neat steps and lined up according to the guard position.


    I paced in front of the team, loudly assigned them tasks: "our task is to stay here, do not allow the Germans to cross the white line, to the side of the trench."


    "What if I step over?" It was a soldier with the rank of sergeant.


    "Luzhkov!" Pastuhov, who followed me, stopped him discontentedly.


    "No cross is no cross. If they want to pass by force, what''s your rifle for?" I sternly reprimanded him.


    Then I gave a loud order: "listen to my command, all of us have bayonets!"


    The soldiers immediately opened the folding bayonet.


    "Raise your gun!"


    A rifle equipped with bayonets was raised in the hands of the soldiers, and the shining bayonets pointed to the German soldiers not far ahead. If there are photographers in the trenches at this time, maybe there will be another exciting photo in the field press tomorrow, which is called "German prisoners of war who toiled under our bayonets".


    By this time, the truck had arrived at the German formation, and the first car was slowly turning around. All of a sudden, I found that there were trucks with awnings, and I became nervous. I remember in an old film, the guerrillas set out at night to try to blow up the covered trucks parked in the square. As soon as they got close, the tarpaulin was lifted. The German army had already set up machine guns in it. After a while of shooting, all the guerrillas died.


    Thinking of this, I could not help but panic, and quickly called to pastuhov, and several of their officers returned to the trench together. As soon as I got into the trench, I told pastuhov, "Captain, I''ll order you to be ready for battle." With that, I got into the nearest machine gun bunker.


    The shooter inside saw me go in and stood up to salute me. I did not care to reply, hastened him: "the machine gun at the German truck, ready to fire." Although the machine gunner was at a loss, he resolutely carried out my order and pointed the muzzle of the heavy machine gun at the German truck in front of him.


    There was a long trail of trucks parked neatly, and then with a command, the tarpaulins of all the trucks were lifted at the same time. Without the machine guns I imagined, only a lot of unarmed soldiers jumped out of the car and helped the soldiers in line to carry the bodies onto the truck.


    I secretly relieved, secretly wiped the cold sweat on my head, ordered the shooter: "OK, it''s OK, close the insurance, pay attention to the guard."


    "Pastuhov," I called out the captain''s name. When no one answered me immediately, I looked around and found that I was still in a small machine gun bunker. I couldn''t help laughing to myself. Leaving the bunker, I saw the captain standing not far ahead, explaining the task to his officers, and went over.


    When I came to him, I called his name again, then pointed out to the outside and said to him, "now lift the battle alarm, and the soldiers on duty outside will rotate every hour. The work here is up to you. Sometimes I''ll call you. "


    "Yes," he readily agreed. I just walked a few steps, and heard him ask a question in the back: "are you going back to the shelter?"


    "No," I answered without thinking as I walked, "I''ll go back to the female soldier''s dormitory and find time to wash my clothes."


    Because there was no combat mission, the women soldiers had a very leisurely life. The open space in front of the wooden house was lined with colorful underwear. Some of the women soldiers who had finished drying their clothes even took off their clothes and stood there scrubbing their bodies with cold water.


    I came to the pool with a basin of my own dirty clothes. As I washed them, I thought to myself: it''s troublesome to be a female soldier. I have to wash my underwear every other day or two. Otherwise, I feel very uncomfortable. The box of soap I brought last time was almost used up after it was distributed to the female soldiers. When I have a chance, I will ask the superior for more boxes.


    Just after washing the clothes and drying them, Lieutenant sapchenko came over in a panic. After standing at attention and saluting, he reported to me: "Comrade lieutenant, just received a call from the division headquarters. The division commander asked you to report to the main peak position, saying that there was an important task arrangement."


    He talked to me, but his eyes could not help glancing at the naked women soldiers. I coughed on purpose. He took back his eyes in a hurry, straightened up again, and put himself at attention.


    "Lead the way ahead. I don''t know the way."


    "Yes." He agreed very readily.


    I felt that we had walked for a long time, through many traffic trenches and trenches, and around many artillery positions, and finally reached the division headquarters built in the cave on the east slope of the Pulkovo highlands. The commander, Colonel Novikov, saw me go in and said cheerfully, "you''ve come so fast. I thought you''d have to arrive in half an hour."


    I am a little puzzled to ask: "you invite me to come over, what task?"


    Although my question was a little abrupt and impolite, the Colonel didn''t care at all. He asked me, "do you have any work in progress on the Nameless Highland at present?"


    I immediately made a brief report to him about the German army''s efforts to control the corpses. After hearing this, he nodded and said, "you''ve done the right thing. Send a group of soldiers with bayonets on guard. This will not only improve the morale, but also suppress the arrogance of the German army."


    He went on to say, "Comrade feijiuningsky, commander of the group army, called and asked you to report. The person who received you will be here in a moment. Please hand over your work to your deputy as soon as possible."


    The Deputy designated by my superior was lieutenant sapchenko, so I pulled him aside and gave him a brief account of the recent work arrangements. After the handover, he was sent back by the colonel. Looking at his back, I can''t help but feel sorry for captain pastuhov. Since he arrived at the position, he has been under the command of a person with a lower rank than him. First, I was a newly promoted lieutenant, and now I have to accept the leadership of a second lieutenant. I don''t know whether he will have any resistance in his heart.


    After the second lieutenant left, the colonel said to me, "Comrade Rita, you are leaving the highlands. I will take you to see Leningrad behind us."


    We passed through a building badly damaged by shells or bombs and came to a hole in the wall facing north. The captain handed me a telescope to show me the city below. The terrain here is similar to the Nameless Highland. The north side of the mountain is not a slope like the south side, but a cliff. Below is the Kiev Road, cut off by a number of anti tank piles and barricades, leading from the foot of the cliff to the city. "You see, the whole Moscow district of the city is as clear as the back of your hand when you look down from here," the Colonel pointed out. On the left, you can see clearly part of the narwa district. Over there is the shipyard named after Comrade zhidanov. "


    While he was introducing the terrain to me, a voice came from behind him: "Comrade Colonel, second lieutenant berev reports to you that I have come to meet lieutenant oshanina on the order of major general feijiuningsky, commander of the group army."


    I heard the sound a little familiar. Looking back, I found that I knew the second lieutenant, the one who took me out of the hospital and sent me to the air defense command. The Colonel nodded, pointed to me and said, "this is lieutenant o''shanina."


    "Hello, comrade Lieutenant!" The second lieutenant didn''t seem to recognize me and saluted me again.


    "Hello I took the initiative to reach out to him, he hesitated for a moment, also reached out and shook me. I don''t think he recognized me yet. He suggested to him on his own initiative and said, "why, comrade lieutenant, you don''t know me. At the beginning, you took me out of the hospital and sent me to the air defense headquarters! "


    "Air defense command?" When he listened to my suggestion, he suddenly realized: "I remember. No wonder I think you look familiar. It''s you. " He looked up and down, and said enviously, "at that time, you were still a sergeant, but now you are a lieutenant. Congratulations on your higher rank. "


    "Well," the Colonel next to him interposed, "don''t talk about the past here. Take the lieutenant and don''t let the commander wait."


    After I got in the car, while the second lieutenant started the car, I asked, "where are we going?"


    "The airport."


    "Airport?" I remember that the headquarters of the group army seemed to be near this highland. How could it take me to the airport? Can''t help the curiosity in the heart, and asked: "what to do at the airport?"


    "Go, and you will know." The lieutenant laughed at me and avoided answering my questions.


    The car drove straight into the runway of the airport and then stopped. The second lieutenant pointed to a plane with soldiers on guard not far away and said to me, "Comrade lieutenant, go there. Someone is waiting for you there."


    I got out of the car, said thanks to the lieutenant, and hurried to the plane. There were dozens of steps away from the plane when he was stopped by a soldier on duty. Just as I was thinking about how to explain, a man with the rank of Colonel came up to me and said, "Comrade soldier, let her come. We are waiting for her."


    The soldier stepped aside and made a gesture of invitation to me.


    The Colonel came up, shook my hand and said, "Lieutenant oshanina, I''m Colonel Korolev, deputy director of the combat division of the headquarters. I''m waiting for you here on the order of the commander."


    "Commander fejaninski?" I feel a little curious. Can a group commander also command the people in the headquarters? So I couldn''t help asking curiously.


    "No. It''s commander Zhukov. He''s going back to Moscow today. Let me take you with him. "


    General Zhukov?! I didn''t expect that he still remembered me, a little man, and even brought me back to Moscow. Thinking of this, my heart beat faster and wondered what he would do with me when he took me back to Moscow?


    "Rita," the Colonel suddenly called out my nickname¡° Do you know Vera? "


    "Yes, comrade colonel." I wonder why he mentioned Willa all of a sudden¡° Vera is my daughter. My name is Bavier maximovic Korolev. You can come to me if you have anything in the future. Now let''s get on the plane first. "¡° All right, uncle Pavel

 Chapter 20

    Our plane, flying in the air for two and a half to three hours, arrived in Moscow in the evening and landed safely in a military airport.


    The plane came to a steady stop. After the roar of the engine stopped, the cabin was silent. I saw the pilot open the cockpit door and come out. He came to Zhukov sitting in the front window and said, "here we are, Comrade General!" Then he suddenly opened the door, kicked the door open, put down the short iron ladder with a bang, straightened up, took a step to the side, and asked Zhukov to get off the plane.


    Although no one called the command, but as Zhukov got up, all the people in the cabin stood up in unison, standing in silence, eyes staring at him. Zhukov went to the open door, stood for a while, and then walked down the gangway. His adjutant, carrying a bag in one hand and a gray coat with a green star on the field collar in the other, followed him.


    After Zhukov left, everyone immediately got busy, packed up their carry on luggage and fished out of the cabin. I didn''t bring any luggage at all, so I didn''t have anything to pack up. I followed everyone out.


    As soon as I got to the door of the engine room, a damp and cold autumn wind blew in front of me, which made me cold. When I got down the gangway, I couldn''t help shaking my head and laughing bitterly. I had been in Moscow for five or six years, and I knew that the temperature in October in this city was very low sooner or later. Now I''m wearing a summer combat suit, and I''m still wearing a skirt that is just longer than my knees. It''s strange that I don''t feel cold. Look at the others. Everyone is wearing thick military coats. It seems that they are well prepared.


    Zhukov was standing in front of a black sedan more than 20 meters away, shaking hands with a man in military uniform. He was wearing a leather jacket, and his army coat was being held by the adjutant standing behind him. I thought to myself, if only he could lend me his coat to wear. Of course, I can only think about it. If you know that other people are big people, how can future Deputy commanders pay attention to small people like me.


    Just when I was shivering with cold, a coat fell over me, and my covered shoulder felt warm immediately. Looking back, it turned out that it was Col. Korolev, who was also wearing a thin summer uniform. I thought I was freezing, so I put on his military coat. I wrapped up my overcoat and gratefully said to him, "thank you, uncle Pavel."


    In the history I know, during the war, the commanders of Leningrad''s front army kept changing like lanterns. On the contrary, the commanders at all levels within the military region rarely changed. If I want to find a stable backer in this era, Korolev is undoubtedly the best candidate. Besides, his daughter and I are still good friends.


    I looked around the empty airport. There were only two fighters in the distance, which should be the planes that escorted us to Moscow. The two pilots from the plane stood by the "t" shaped landing sign, talking to an officer on duty with a white flag and a red flag in his hand. Besides, there was no one on the airport.


    After Zhukov got on the limousine and left, a bus came to us. After the door was opened, a captain came down from the car. Instead of saluting, he said directly to everyone, "get in the car, commanders." Although everyone present, except me, had a higher rank than him, no one said a word about his unreasonable attitude. Since the high rank people don''t speak, my little Lieutenant should just shut up.


    There were thick curtains on the bus. As soon as the lights were turned off, it was dark. I found a back seat, sat down and began to close my eyes. Anyway, I couldn''t see the street view outside. I might as well go to bed early. But before I fell asleep, I still thought that before I left the highland today, my underwear was only half dried, and I didn''t know if anyone would help me to dry it again, and if anyone would help me to collect it after drying. If there is someone to help, who will it be, deputy platoon leader Karenina, first squad leader Jenna or the lovely Lena.


    When the car was woken up by Colonel Korolev, it was already in front of the hotel. The hotel should be directly under the jurisdiction of the military. In addition to the Sentinels on duty at the door, even the waiters inside are all dressed in military uniforms.


    In the hall, the female lieutenant in charge of reception arranged the room according to our rank and position. A general has a single room for one person, a colonel has a room for two, and a commander and a major have a room for four. When it was my turn, she obviously felt a bit embarrassed. After all, I was the only one who was a woman. Let''s divide it into single rooms. I''m not good enough; It''s all men in other rooms. After thinking about it for a long time, she decided to put me in the hostel of the hotel.


    There were four beds in the dormitory. When she led me in, there was a female soldier in the room. Wearing a white shirt, she was sitting on the bed reading a book. When she saw us enter the door, she immediately stood up and looked at me up and down, probably hesitating whether to salute me. The second lieutenant said, "aksala, I''ve brought a commander here. She''s going to stay here for a few days. You should be responsible for receiving her well."


    The woman soldier who called aksala answered in a panic and came over to help me with my luggage. She found that I was empty handed. She was a little stunned and said to me, "Comrade commander, please take off your coat. There is heating in this room." Then she took the coat I took off and hung it on the coat hook on the wall.


    The second lieutenant said to me, "my name is Liuda. If you have anything, you can come to me directly." Immediately after saluting me, he turned away and closed the door behind him. I saw aksara standing in front of me, a little at a loss. I laughed and asked her, "which bed do I sleep in?" She looked around, then pointed to the bed near the radiator and said, "you can sleep there. It''s warm at night." I sat on the bed, not sleepy at all, but I felt very hungry. Besides eating something in the morning, I have been hungry until now. After much hesitation, I finally asked aksara, "honey, can I find something to eat at this time?"¡° No problem. " She answered me very frankly: "we are a military organization here. Food is available 24 hours a day in the restaurant, but it''s during the war, so there are few kinds of food available. What would you like to eat? I''ll bring it to the restaurant for you. "¡° Let''s have a box of instant noodles. " I answered without thinking¡° what?! What is it? " Aksala asked in surprise, "please say it again."¡° Instant noodles. " I think I made it very clear, but I repeat it¡° Ah? " She looked at me blankly. Could it be that my development was not right, so I read it again: "best has gone to Lhasa." I read very slowly this time, and try to pronounce every sound very standard. But I saw a blank expression on aksala''s face. I''m a little speechless. Isn''t she Russian and doesn''t know Russian? I''ve made it so clear that she still can''t understand it?! But I patiently spelled the word instant noodles letter by letter to her¡° Instant noodles, "she repeated the word with great difficulty, still with a strange and blank expression on her face," I don''t know what it is. We certainly don''t have it in our restaurant. " I suddenly recovered. What am I talking about? You know, instant noodles came out in 58 years. How can I always make such common sense mistakes. So he quickly explained to her, "I forget that it''s just a snack in our hometown, which should not be available in Moscow. You''d better get me some bread and soup¡° All right She agreed, put on her army coat, opened the door and ran out.

 Chapter 21

    A night without a dream.


    Early in the morning, although no one disturb, but I still habitually wake up early. I sat up and looked around. The quilts on the other three beds were neatly folded. Aksala was not there. I was the only one in the room. Lift the cover on the body of thin quilt, I turned out of bed, went to the bathroom. In my heart, I felt that it was the hotel where important people were received. The heating in the room was really full. Although I was only wearing underwear, I didn''t feel the biting cold of Moscow in the early morning.


    After washing and gargling, I came out from the bathroom and saw that there was still no one in the room. I picked up the military uniform on the head of the bed and put it on. When I was ready to put it on, I went to the dining room for breakfast, and then asked Colonel Korolev, what was the purpose of our trip to Moscow? You know, it''s the war time, the situation in Leningrad is still very serious, and so many officers have been dispatched to Moscow. There must be something important to do.


    As she was getting dressed, aksala knocked the door open with her back, carried a plate in her hands, and stepped back into the room. Seeing me getting dressed, she said in surprise, "Comrade commander, you''re up, and I''m going to call you."


    "Yes, aksala." I called her name, with a smile on my face, politely responded to her: "I just got up, ready to go out to the restaurant for breakfast."


    "Don''t bother, comrade commander. I''ve brought you breakfast. " She put the plate in her hand on the table. I saw that there were two plates of mashed potatoes, four pieces of black bread, a pot of tea and two small crystal glasses, a small plate of sugar, knives and forks, napkins and so on.


    "Thank you, dear."


    The amount of breakfast was too little. I ate the mashed potatoes in a few mouthfuls, then picked up a piece of bread and chewed it. Black bread is no longer fresh. It feels sour and hard to eat. It''s really hard to swallow. I picked up the teapot, poured tea into two glasses and politely asked her, "how many pieces of sugar do you put in, one or two?"


    "Two. I like it sweet." She is eating mashed potatoes, listen to me ask her, quickly swallow the food in the mouth, a little nervous to answer me.


    I put two pieces of sugar in her cup. I stirred them gently with a small spoon. When I saw that the sugar had completely melted, I handed the cup to her.


    "Thank you." She picked up the glass, took a big drink, and then buried herself in the food in front of her.


    I picked up a piece of sugar from the plate, did not put it into the cup, but in my mouth, and then sipped the tea, enjoying the sweet feeling of the sugar melting slowly in my mouth.


    "Comrade commander." Aksala called out to me¡° May I ask you a question? "


    I looked at her, nodded with a smile and said, "yes, you can ask."


    "Your husband, the man named o''shanin, where is he now?" Her words remind me once again that I am now a married woman. The husband, who doesn''t know what he looks like and is called oshanin, will always be the focus of people I know. I hesitated again and again, and felt that this matter could not be completely avoided, so I sighed and said, "he is a captain of the border guard post. Soon after the outbreak of the war, he disappeared."


    After hearing what I said, aksala looked at me apologetically and said, "Comrade commander, I''m sorry, I shouldn''t have mentioned your sad story."


    I gathered a few wisps of hair at my temples and gave a wry smile: "it doesn''t matter. It''s war time." After a pause, I said, "aksala, can you stop calling me commander comrade? Although my rank is higher than yours, I feel uncomfortable to hear you call me that in private. You''d better call me Rita, just like other friends. And don''t be so divided between us, just call each other "you."


    "All right, Rita!" She agreed very simply.


    I looked up and suddenly saw the military coat hanging on the wall. The captain''s badge on it was very striking. I just remembered that I came to Moscow empty handed. I didn''t even have a piece of clothing to keep out the cold. It doesn''t matter if I wear this military overcoat temporarily at night, but it would be a bit arrogant if I still wear this military overcoat during the day. So I hesitated for a moment, and then asked with some embarrassment, "aksara, do you have a military coat here?"


    "Army coat?" She was stunned for a moment, and then replied, "yes, of course, I have two here."


    I was a little embarrassed to ask her: "can I borrow one?" Hearing what I said, she was very surprised and said, "don''t you have an army coat?"


    I blushed and murmured to her, "I came to Moscow yesterday because I left in such a hurry that I didn''t bring any luggage. Although it hasn''t snowed in Moscow in October, it''s already winter, and I''m still wearing a summer uniform, which doesn''t keep me warm at all. If the well meaning uncle Colonel lent me his clothes last night, I would have been frozen. "


    After listening to me, she immediately ran to a closet on the wall, opened the door, took out a gray army coat from it, turned to me and said, "this is ina''s army coat. You can take it and wear it." I took her military coat and asked casually, "she won''t object if you lend me ina''s clothes."¡° No, "she said, her eyes suddenly red." ina has died. "¡° Ah? " I was startled and asked, "how did she sacrifice?" I feel that it should be very safe to work in this well guarded hotel. How can there be casualties? She said chokingly, "a week ago, ina''s mother was ill. Yina asked the political commissar of the hotel for leave and went back to see her mother. As a result, when she passed Gonzales, she was killed in an air raid. " Gangchamonisgaya, hearing this familiar place name, I immediately thought of Kajia, who was seriously injured and died in Leningrad hospital. I promised to bring her information to her family. Maybe someone from the Civil Affairs Bureau had informed her family about her sacrifice, but I have never forgotten my promise. Since I have the opportunity to come to Moscow and have free time, I will definitely go to gonchamonisgaya to find her family and tell them everything about her¡° Oh, dear She screamed suddenly, which startled me. She pointed to the wall clock and said, "just now, when I was bringing breakfast, I met a colonel. He asked me to tell you to meet at the hotel gate in 30 minutes. And now 25 minutes have passed, and you should be late if you don''t go. " This Colonel, needless to say, is colonel Korolev. He is waiting for me outside. I can''t be late. So I put two army coats on my left hand, said goodbye to aksara, opened the door and walked out quickly. There were a lot of pedestrians in the corridor outside. From time to time, officers came face to face. According to the regulations, a commander with a lower rank should salute a commander with a higher rank. I sighed to myself that I didn''t know that I was a junior officer until I arrived in the capital. All these people had higher military ranks than me, which made me raise my hand to salute each person I saw. In this way, on the way to the hotel gate, my right hand kept raising and lowering, mechanically repeating the salute. It was so easy to come to the door of the hotel and see the familiar figure of Colonel Korolev standing next to a bus. Suddenly, with a feeling of breaking away from the sea of misery, he trotted forward a few steps and cried, "good morning, uncle Bavier." Korolev heard me and turned to smile and wave at me: "good morning, Rita! Hurry up and get in the car. We''ll start right away. "

 Chapter 22

    I returned Korolev''s army coat to him and got in the car after him.


    I thought that because I was late, I made everyone wait for a long time. Someone would complain and even blame me. I didn''t expect that when I got into the carriage, I saw friendly eyes. For the late female soldiers, everyone seemed to be very tolerant. A familiar general sitting in the front row even laughed at me.


    Korolev and I got to the back of the car. As soon as we were seated, the car started slowly.


    I approached Korolev''s ear and asked quietly, "Uncle Pavel, where are we going?"


    "Go to the Kremlin!" He asked me in surprise, "didn''t Comrade fejiuningsky tell you the purpose of this trip to Moscow before you came here?"


    "Tell me what?" I''m really at a loss. More than ten hours ago, I was still washing clothes on the position, but I didn''t finish drying them, so I was called to the division headquarters urgently; Not long after arriving at the division headquarters, they were sent to the airport by the group army; After a few hours'' flight, we arrived in Moscow. During the whole process, I didn''t even see feijiuningsky. The second lieutenant who took me to the airport was very tight lipped. How could I know the purpose of going to Moscow?


    After listening to my whispered explanation, Korolev suddenly realized and quickly explained to me the purpose of his trip to Moscow. When we come to Moscow this time, first, the current situation in Moscow is very difficult. The headquarters has transferred general Zhukov from Leningrad, and there will be a new appointment soon; Second, a tactical seminar will be held in the Kremlin to make a systematic summary of our army''s combat situation in the previous stage. Except for the giants in the headquarters, the rest are the commanders of several front forces currently fighting with the German army.


    After listening to his explanation, I asked curiously, "Comrade Zhukov left Leningrad. Who will take over the post of commander of the front army?"


    "Guess what?" He didn''t answer me, but sold the pass¡° You should have guessed that it''s someone you know. "


    "Major general fejaninski." I answered without thinking. Because I know that fejiuningsky is Zhukov''s deputy and has always been the deputy commander of the front army. It is because the former commander of the 42nd group army was dismissed due to poor fighting that he took over the command of the group army. Although he was only a major general, according to his working ability and Zhukov''s trust in him, it was natural for him to take over the post of commander of the front army.


    "Well, you''re so good. I''ll guess at once." He gave me a thumbs up. Just as he was about to say something more, the bus stopped abruptly. The captain guide in the front row stood up, turned to everyone and said drily, "comrades commander, we are here. Please get off the bus."


    I got up, put on my military coat, and walked out of the car with everyone. Unexpectedly, I found that it was my familiar red square outside, and the door was facing Lenin''s tomb. Although soon after the outbreak of the war, Lenin''s crystal coffin was transferred to the rear, the sentry at the door was still not removed. Two tall and handsome men, wearing brand-new woollen army coats, holding steel guns, stood there like nails.


    We marched up to the viewing platform on the north side of Lenin''s tomb. When we passed by them, I couldn''t help looking at them more. I secretly envied that these two soldiers were handsome. If I could be as handsome as them, I don''t know how many young and beautiful girls I would enchant!


    Between the tomb of Lenin made of red granite and black feldspar and the tall red walls of the Kremlin, there is an open space paved with marble. After we passed the viewing platform, we stopped there and waited.


    We stand in a position with a wide field of vision. I look at the place I am familiar with with with great interest. The history museum in the north is a three story building made of red brick in the 19th century, with typical Russian style. On the east side is the famous Gumm super mall. Although the prices inside are extremely high, its unique design and luxurious decoration can be compared with the most modern shopping malls in Europe and America. To the south is the Church of Saint Vassily, which is composed of nine towers. It is very characteristic and is called onion dome. It is unique in Russia and Eastern European countries. It is the landmark of Red Square. Next to the church is the Vasili slope, which extends to the banks of the Moscow river.


    When I was looking around, someone behind me patted me on the shoulder and quickly turned to see that it was the general who just laughed at me in the car. He said in a sarcastic tone, "dear comrade oshanina, after getting two medals, don''t you know me, jolokhov?"


    Medal! When he said that, I suddenly thought of who the general in front of me was. He was major general jolokhov, who accompanied marshal voroshlov to the hospital to honor me. No wonder he looked so familiar. I straightened up to salute him, he stopped me, said: "are old acquaintances, do not be so polite."


    He looked at the rank mark on our army coat and asked with concern, "I heard that you took part in several battles later and showed great bravery. Why are you still in the rank of sergeant?"


    Just as I was about to explain that I was wearing someone else''s military coat, a familiar voice came from Korolev: "Comrade General, comrade oshanina is already a lieutenant. Because she came to Moscow in such a hurry that she did not have time to get her military coat from the quartermaster, so she can only wear the borrowed military coat for the time being. "


    While they were talking, I looked at the marble floor and thought that in a few years'' time, the place where we are standing will be the resting place of 12 famous leaders of the Soviet Union, such as Stalin, brezhelev, andrepov and chernianke. Their tombstone is their own marble bust. The captain, who was the guide, ran over again and said to major general cholohov with a blank face, "Comrade General, please take your people to register inside." Soon we came to the place where the pass was issued. There were so many people here. No wonder we had to wait outside just now. When it was my turn, the officer in it looked at my officer card, registered it in the book, wrote down my name on a small card, and then handed it back to me together with the officer card. Continue to go forward, came to a security entrance, the lieutenant in charge of the inspection took my temporary pass, dry asked: "do you have a gun?"¡° Yes I''ve been wearing weapons every day since I became a lieutenant¡° Please hand it in The lieutenant said to me in a formulaic tone. I can feel that he has said these words many times today. I just saw the commanders in front of me hand over their weapons, so I didn''t hesitate to untie the holster, take out the pistol and hand it to the lieutenant on duty. The lieutenant put the pistol on the table, tore a small ticket, handed it to me with a temporary pass, and said, "get the gun at the guard when you go out." After a while, I followed the team to a hall, where the stars were shining. There were generals and major generals everywhere, and there were many generals. In contrast, the ranks of our troops from Leningrad are extremely low-key. Among the 15 people, there are only five major generals and the same number of colonels, three lieutenant generals and one major, and I, who have the lowest rank. After a while, an electric bell rang in the hall. The bell sounded like an order of attack to all the people. In an instant, people of any rank rushed to the hall door. I fell a little behind others and let those with higher rank go ahead. Then I was the last group to go in. Welcome to our website www.start.com. The latest, fastest and most popular serial works are all original!

 Chapter 23

    There was an officer standing in the door. He kept repeating: "please take off your coat, comrades, please take off your coat..."


    I saw the officers in front of me all take off their overcoats and wait in line in front of the cloakroom to deposit their clothes. I also took off the soldiers'' overcoats and followed.


    When the female sergeant in the deposit office took the coat, she looked at me curiously and asked me hesitantly, "Comrade lieutenant, is this your coat?"


    "That''s right!" I think she asked a lot. I handed it to her personally. It''s not mine. Who else can it be? "This is my military coat."


    "But this is an ordinary military coat for soldiers. You are a lieutenant, and the rank on the coat is a sergeant. I''m afraid you''ve made a mistake, so I''ll ask. Are you sure? " She has a very friendly attitude. After all, this is a special time, and people who can enter the Kremlin are not ordinary people.


    "Oh." It turned out that this was the case. I quickly explained to her, "honey, when I came to Moscow, I was in a hurry. I didn''t bring any winter clothes. I borrowed them from my hotel comrades temporarily."


    "I see." She handed me a number plate. "Please take care of it. It''s used when you come out to pick up the clothes. Good luck


    "Thank you After I took the number plate, I quickly walked into the conference hall and took a seat in the last row.


    On the rostrum were rows of long tables covered with red cloth. As soon as I sat down, the members of the presidium made their debut.


    At the front, a man in a grey uniform with all the buttons on. He was wearing a pair of polished boots with oil on his feet, holding a pipe in his right hand, and walking leisurely on the rostrum. Two or three steps behind him were a group of marshals and high-level generals.


    I''ve seen his photos more than a thousand times. On the red square of later generations, I often see his imitator of the old people. His classic beard impresses me even more. So as soon as he appears, I recognize him without hesitation: he is Stalin!


    After Stalin came out, everyone in the hall stood up from their seats, and I was no exception. Suddenly, the thunderous clapping and the crashing of the chair flipped backwards were mixed together.


    Without too many greetings, after the members of the presidium sat down, someone announced the beginning of the meeting. However, it was not Stalin who presided over the meeting, but Marshal Changsha bosnikov, the general staff of the Red Army. Marshal voroshlov, whom I knew, was also on the stage, but there was no sign of Zhukov.


    My eyes have never been away from Stalin, only to see him sitting in the furthest row next to the presidium. After a few minutes, he stood up, lit his pipe and began to walk slowly around the back of the presidium. He walked quietly back and forth, sometimes sitting in his distant seat for a while, and then rising again to continue his slow, peaceful walk.


    From time to time, Stalin interrupted the speakers, asking them a few questions or making brief interruptions.


    There was silence in the hall, but when Stalin slowed down his already slow silent steps and looked at the speaker, or raised his pipe hand a little, the silence under the stage became more obvious, because everyone knew what he was going to say. At that time, the people standing on the platform could not help but silence and turned to Stalin''s side.


    The meeting lasted for several hours. One by one, the military leaders of all front armies came to the podium to speak. Most of their names are very strange to me. After all, I only know World War II famous generals like Zhukov and trakov, as well as senior marshals like voroshlov, timoshingo and bujoni.


    Almost all the speakers pointed out that although the equipment and quality of our soldiers are absolutely inferior to those of the German army, they are all very tenacious. In the face of the enemy''s three-dimensional attack, they are still nailed to the position like nails and never retreat until they fight to the last person. Even the generals of the southwest front who broke out of the German encirclement had the same view.


    I''m not interested in listening to such platitudes. As a person of later generations, I clearly know that before the outbreak of the war, the Soviet Union was not fully prepared for the German attack. Although he thought that the war between the Soviet Union and Germany was inevitable, he still dreamed of delaying the outbreak of the war as much as possible. Before the war, a large number of strategic materials such as grain, coal and non-ferrous metals were exported to Germany in accordance with the Treaty of non aggression between the Soviet Union and Germany. It was Stalin''s misjudgment that made the Soviet army not mentally but physically prepared. The sudden outbreak of the war left many officers and men at a loss. From the headquarters of the front army to the troops at all levels, they were in chaos. The unprepared spirit and the rapid attack of the German army led to the collapse of the Soviet army. After the German army seized the well prepared material reserve, it became the enemy''s material.


    The German generals have been fighting in Europe for many years, and they have rich operational experience and know how to form a local advantage over the Soviet army. Although the number of weapons of the Soviet army was large, its quality was far inferior to that of the German army. In addition, the German army was a surprise attack, and the Soviet Army''s advantage in quantity was not brought into full play, which made the overall strength of weapons at a disadvantage. This was also one of the reasons for the defeat in the war.


    What''s more, a large number of experienced military leaders were washed out in the big clean-up a few years ago. It was replaced by a large number of low-level and young officers, which resulted in the low military and cultural quality and lack of experience of Soviet commanders from the army to the battalion, and the obsolete and rigid tactical thinking, which led to the low overall combat effectiveness of the army. This situation can be seen in the Soviet Finnish War: as many as one million Soviet troops attacked the Finnish army with only 200000 people, but they were repulsed by the Finnish army because of their poor command. Although the Soviet Union won in the end, it paid a heavy price for casualties. The Soviet army was so inferior to the Finnish army, and even worse than the German army.


    Although I know the reason why the Soviet army lost in the early days of the war very well, if I speak on the stage, I will take this suggestion as if someone asked me to jump off the plane without parachute. It''s just an international joke. On such an occasion, you know what''s going on, but you can''t even say it. Rashly speaking, it''s light to be sent to Siberia for labor reform. If you annoy someone, it''s possible for you to evaporate.


    I had planned to live below until the end of the meeting, but the dispute between admiral konev and shaposnikov changed my mind.


    General konev, the former commander of the Western Front Army, said: "the German army gained the initiative in the battlefield entirely through their superior forces, especially tanks and air force. In order to illustrate the power of the enemy''s assault, I can just cite one example to prove that the enemy used 20 divisions against the four infantry divisions of the 30th group army, while the enemy invested more than 400 tanks. The soldiers of the 30th group army were very stubborn and had to retreat. Retreat, as you know, is the most complex form of combat. It requires high fighting quality. "


    "Come on." Shaposnikov interrupted him, "when will your complex form of fighting end and when will our troops retreat? When can we fight tenaciously? This is also a strategic issue for me. You also said that the soldiers had no experience of retreating when they brought down the Red Army. "


    "Yes, we didn''t study this form of fighting before the war. We are preparing to fight on the territory of the enemy,... I don''t want to argue, but we paid a huge price in the war on this point." Konev did not give in and argued with him tit for tat.


    "Oh, it turns out that all the mistakes you have made are my fault,... I think the leaders of the Western Front Army are completely lack of strategic foresight and are not good at commanding the combat forces according to circumstances,..."


    I think what general konev said is very reasonable. As for shaposnikov, I look down on him very much. Although he had a high prestige in the Soviet army, he always stuck to the idea of the first World War: to organize a strong defensive position with artillery and machine guns, waiting for the enemy to come and smash his head and blood, and scoffed at the advanced theory of armored warfare at that time. The fact is that in the face of Guderian''s tank attack, the Soviet army, which lacked experience in anti tank warfare, although armed to the teeth, still showed no way to do anything but to retreat.


    I took the pen and notebook of the commander next to me, and wrote on it without hesitation: "I request to speak", and also wrote my rank and name. When I wrote about my army, I considered whether I should write "Leningrad front army" or "Leningrad"? Finally, he wrote down Leningrad''s front army. Then he tore the paper apart and touched a colonel in the front row on the shoulder with a purely mechanical gesture.


    The man turned his body half around, glanced at me from the corner of his eye, and then stretched out a five finger hand over his shoulder. Then I put the folded note into the general''s palm.


    It took me a minute to realize that I had a fever in my head and had done an irreparable stupid thing: unlike most of the spokesmen, I understood the real reason for the Soviet defeat. Without preparing the speech in advance, I rashly asked to speak at such a meeting. It was easy for me to say too much without losing.


    The next thought was: take back the note quickly and don''t let it go to the presidium. I even slightly raised my body and looked at the back of the people sitting in front of him, trying to judge from their actions who they handed this piece of paper to. However, all this is in vain! It seems that all the people in the front row are sitting still or taking notes.


    At this time, I began to comfort myself with fantasy. Maybe the note disappeared after a long journey among the commanders, or someone was busy taking notes, so I put the note aside and forgot to send it to the front.


    When I saw a tall soldier with a tight belt and a well-trained posture coming out from somewhere nearby, and collected a lot of notes from the front row, ready to hand them to the presidium, I was almost completely relieved that no one would notice my note for so many notes demanding to speak.


    Even so, I always looked at the soldier mechanically. With easy steps, the man stretched out his straight hand with the note to his chest and climbed the small ladder leading to the presidium. He walked a few steps, bypassed several rows of seats, and seemed to want to squeeze into Shaposhnikov, who presided over the meeting. But when he saw Stalin coming straight to him, he turned around in a hurry, then ran back a few steps, put the note in front of a general at the end of the table, ran down the small ladder and disappeared. The general sorted out the notes, folded them into piles, and passed them to the people next to him, one by one. The notes soon passed to shaposnikov, who was quarreling.


    When Stalin came between the two debaters, the dispute came to a sudden end. After konev left the platform, shaposnikov looked at the pile of notes in front of him, then stood up with a frown and handed one of them to Stalin standing in front of him. Stalin took it with his left hand, which did not hold a pipe, looked at it, did not speak, then handed the note back to shapusnikov, nodding silently. Then the whole audience heard shaposnikov announce: "next, let''s invite Comrade oshanina to speak, the leader of Leningrad''s front army!"

 Chapter 24

    At the first moment when shaposnikov announced my name, I sat still in my seat. It wasn''t until there was a slight commotion in the hall and people began to turn around and look on both sides for the speaker whose name was mentioned that I took a deep breath and stood up abruptly.


    I pulled the hem of my uniform, straightened out my fengjikou, and straightened my cap before I came out of my seat. I waved my hands along the passage and walked to the small ladder that could climb the rostrum without squinting.


    I walked so slowly that I could clearly hear all kinds of comments coming from the side.


    "Look, it''s a woman soldier!"


    "And a lieutenant. At present, the highest rank of female soldier in our army seems to be Lieutenant? "


    "It''s so beautiful. Look at this figure, it''s very charming! Unfortunately, it''s just a little shorter... "


    In the midst of your comments, I swaggered along the small ladder to the rostrum. After going up, I first stood at attention, then saluted the members of the presidium, and then strode to the podium. At this time, Stalin walked to the back of the members with his pipe in his mouth.


    I stood in front of the platform, saluted the generals sitting under the platform again, and then said in a slightly nervous voice: "Hello, commanders at all levels!"


    There were sporadic applause, and then thunderous applause. After all, not everyone can stand on the stage of the Kremlin, let alone a young woman.


    I stood there at a loss, some not knowing what to do. I didn''t go on until the applause stopped completely. I didn''t write a speech in advance, or even an outline. I just spoke out loud about the feelings that touched me when I spoke to those military commanders in front of me.


    "... in the face of a fierce enemy, courage is not enough. First of all, we should know how to preserve ourselves. Only when we preserve ourselves, can we finally eliminate the enemy When there is a great disparity between the enemy and us, it is also beneficial for us to reasonably give up some places and throw the burden of defense to the enemy. "


    "Enough!" I was just about to get into my speech when someone in the presidium interrupted me and turned around. It turned out that it was marshal bujoni sitting in the front row. He clapped the table angrily and stood up: "Russia has a vast land, but no inch of it is redundant. We must not let the enemy occupy our land. You coward, shut up! Don''t make such shaken remarks here... "


    "Come on, come on! Old man, "said marshal Voroshilov, who was sitting near him," Comrade oshanina is not a coward. Don''t you see that she has two medals on her chest? But after she shot down two German airplanes and killed a dozen German devils armed to the teeth, I personally awarded her the red flag medal and the Bravery Medal. "


    Marshal voroshlov''s direct support for me, and his commendable mention of my past achievements, all worked. I saw curiosity and approval on the faces of other members of the presidium. Even bujoni''s expression eased down, and even a smile flashed in his eyes.


    "Will you allow me to go on?" I looked at the marshal who helped me out and asked hesitantly.


    "Go on, tell me what you really feel." I was startled by a low voice. Then I turned to see that Stalin didn''t know when he was standing beside me.


    "What should I say?" I looked at him and thought, "what can I say to win his favor without touching his scales?"


    "Comrade oshanina," Stalin said in a calm voice, lacking any cadence, "then please tell me, comrade oshanina, what do you think the senior military leaders of our army did not do well in the early days of the war?"


    "First of all, there is no doubt about the loyalty of these military leaders to their motherland." I gritted my teeth and first put on a high hat to all of you. Then I recited the summary from later history books to them: "but because of their lack of experience in the war, they generally made three mistakes: adventurism in attack, conservatism in defense, and escapism in retreat..."


    "Wait a minute." Stalin took the cigarette end away from his mouth, pointed at me with his finger, and said with great interest, "these points are very interesting. Please tell me more about them in detail."


    "Yes I agreed and went on: "first of all, the German attack was very sudden, which led to chaos in our command system and reconnaissance system. When the situation between the enemy and ourselves was unclear, individual troops launched a rash counterattack against the enemy. We should know that this hastily organized attack will not achieve good results without knowing the enemy''s forces and technical equipment I carefully use the right words to translate what I want to say, and strive to achieve the meaning of the words¡° In the course of defense, our commanders put too much emphasis on positional defense. They just stay in the position and defend for the sake of defense. I don''t know how to take advantage of the favorable opportunity to fight back properly and take back some lost positions... "


    When I said this, I secretly looked at Stalin''s expression. If I found anything wrong, I immediately shut up. He put the pipe back in his mouth, struck a match, lit the cut tobacco in the pipe, took a deep breath, and then nodded silently. Seeing that he didn''t have the slightest sense of disgust, I boldly continued to say: "as for the escapism in retreat, it means that when highlighting the encirclement, because many organizational systems have been disrupted, the units at all levels have lost contact with each other, and the military leaders have not actively restored their command over their subordinates, organized effective breakout operations, but fought on their own, The retreat turned into a rout. Just as general konev said: retreat is the most complex form of combat, which requires higher fighting quality. In the whole process of withdrawal, we should establish defensive positions in time, organize troops to carry out echelon resistance, and cover the withdrawal alternately, so as to maximize the preservation of our army''s living strength. " With these words, the hall was silent, even without whispering. It seems that these shocking remarks have calmed everyone down¡° What do you think we should do at this stage? " After a pause, Stalin asked again¡° In order to exchange space for time, while organizing the existing troops to fight against each other step by step, we should dispatch troops from other places to form a strategic reserve. When we have enough strength, we can have a final battle with the German devils under Moscow city. " I replied without hesitation¡° You mean: the German army will still fight down to Moscow. Is my understanding correct? " His tone was very polite, he gave a pause, and then asked me, "do you think we can block their attack?"¡° There is no doubt about that. Comrade Stalin I, who knew the standard answer, naturally showed full confidence in answering this question: "we can not only block their crazy attack under Moscow, but also completely crush them."¡° I remember, "he suddenly changed the subject." are you the antiaircraft gun lieutenant oshanina who came to Moscow with Comrade Zhukov¡° Yes, comrade Stalin. " Zhukov even mentioned me to Stalin. It seems that I have a bright future in the future¡° It''s said that you invented using antiaircraft gun to hit tank with flat fire, which effectively defended the Pulkovo highlands. It''s really amazing. " He pointed to me with his right hand holding his pipe: "you should get a higher rank." With that, he took his pipe back to his mouth and turned to the back of the presidium.

 Chapter 25

    I don''t remember how I finished, how I walked down the aisle to my last row in the distance. I didn''t wake up until I was in my seat. I mechanically shook hands with the officers who reached for me from the left and right seats.


    On the podium, there was another speaker. He was also a general. He should be a general in a certain front army. But I didn''t understand what he said. To tell you the truth, everything he said was a series of meaningless foreign language words to me. I was still immersed in the memory of what I had just gone through, I haven''t felt the great relief that I felt after a few minutes.


    As I sat in my seat, I gradually recalled what I said later. First of all, I made a detailed elaboration on the formulation of "exchanging space for time": the more places occupied by the German army, the longer its logistics supply line. In order to prevent the endless harassment of our guerrillas and ensure that ammunition supply can be sent to the front line and the wounded can safely return to the rear, it is necessary for them to deploy troops from the offensive forces on the front line to protect their own logistics supply line. In this way, their forces in the front will be reduced, and the offensive momentum will be weakened. By the time the offensive troops arrived at the foot of Moscow, there was no more power to launch a strong offensive.


    Then I emphasized the importance of carrying out guerrilla warfare in the enemy''s rear. I proposed that the scattered troops should be reorganized into guerrillas, and the guerrilla warfare of small and unobtrusive troops should be carried out on the spot. This restrained the German army, cooperated with our army''s frontal battlefield operations, attacked the weak defensive areas of the German army, and made it impossible for the enemy to take care of one thing and lose the other, Tomorrow, we will destroy a patrol so that the enemy will not have a day''s peace and anxiety. We will turn small victories into big victories and take the initiative in the war in our hands


    A burst of thunderous applause woke me up. When I looked on the stage, I found that Stalin didn''t know when he had stood in front of the platform and was making a summary of today''s meeting. I can''t understand what he said. My thoughts are still stuck in the historical conclusion recited on the stage just now, which shocked everyone present. In this case, I have completely lost the ability to understand Russian. What I heard was a series of Russian Sentences with a Georgia accent.


    As soon as the meeting was over, I, who was closest to the door, took the lead out of the door and ran into the cloakroom to get my clothes. Before I could get out the number plate, the sergeant had already taken off my uniform. When she handed me the clothes, she whispered, "you are so amazing, you have the courage to speak on stage, even Comrade Stalin has spoken to you..." before she finished, a large group of officers came, and I took the opportunity to leave here with my clothes in my arms.


    Although the temperature outside was very low, I came out of the warm hall and didn''t seem to feel the cold. I just held my coat in my arms and walked across the square to the guard room at the exit of the Kremlin.


    There is a big table at the door of the police room, which is full of various types of pistols. The lieutenant who keeps the guns for us is sitting at the table, and there are more than ten guards in his body. I went to the table, took out the certificate for the gun and gave it to the lieutenant. He took it and looked at it. Then he quickly found the one that belonged to me from the guns on the table.


    I took the pistol, put it in the holster and buttoned it. Then I took out the temporary pass and asked the lieutenant, "well, what about this temporary pass? Do you want it back? "


    "No, the temporary pass is only valid for one day. It will be invalid tomorrow. You can throw it away, and you can stay as a souvenir. "


    "Rita." Someone called my name at the back. Looking back, it turned out that it was major general cholohov and Korolev. They were coming towards me. It was Korolev who called me. As he went through the procedure of getting the gun, he said happily: "your performance on the stage today is really good. I didn''t expect you to see things so thoroughly. This time, we have made a big splash in Leningrad''s front army, ha ha. "


    After receiving the weapons, the officers of other front forces around also came to greet me, shook hands and said a few words. Just as I was overwhelmed, a stern voice came from behind: "who is lieutenant o''shanina?"


    I looked back and asked a colonel in a brand-new military coat. Behind him were two soldiers with submachine guns on their chests. They came to me with neat steps.


    "What do you want with lieutenant o''shanina?" Major general jorlokhov, who had never spoken to me, suddenly asked, "who are you?"


    "Colonel bezikov, commander of the first battalion of the Central Guard Corps." The Colonel replied dryly, "by order of the superior, let lieutenant oshanina come with us."


    Perhaps it was the great purge a few years ago that frightened everyone. After listening to the Colonel''s words, the major general immediately closed his mouth, and the people around him, including those wearing the rank of lieutenant general and general, were also silent. Only Korolev looked worried and looked at me anxiously, with an expression of desire and silence.


    Bezikov made a gesture of invitation to me. Then he took the lead to the guard room. I put my coat on my right arm and followed. Two soldiers with guns followed me. While I was walking, I was still thinking. I didn''t know how the superior would deal with me. Would they send me to Siberia to dig coal, or would they drag me to a place where there were no people to shoot me? Didn''t I just say a few words of truth in public, so I could use such extreme means to deal with me? But I''m not a fool. I won''t wait to die. Even if I die, I have to pull a few cushions. With this in mind, under the cover of the military coat, my hand secretly untied the holster and grasped the cold handle of the gun to ensure that I could draw the gun at any time.


    Bezikov walked along the long corridor without saying a word. I looked at the rank on his shoulder and thought: the rank of the guard regiment is really high. The battalion commander is a colonel, and the commander is at least a general. Later, if it turns out that the situation is not right, I will turn around and knock down the two soldiers behind me, and then shoot at bezikov. Even if they are killed by random guns, it''s better than being slaughtered. Just thinking about it, bezikov in front of me stopped. I couldn''t stop and bumped into him. He took my shoulder and said with a gentle smile, "honey, be careful." Without waiting for me to speak, he pushed aside a door and said, "here it is. Go in." I looked carefully through the open door and saw a camera on a tripod in the middle of the room. A white cloth was pulled against the wall and a bench was under the cloth. I''ve been looking around for a long time. It''s like a photo room, isn''t it¡° Please go in Bezikov said to me again, "I''ll take a picture of you and you can leave." Then he said to the two soldiers behind him, "you are at the door." It turned out to be a photograph. I thought what I said on the platform just now infuriated someone. I''m going to settle my account in the future. I wiped the sweat from my head and stepped into the room. Behind the door sat a photographer wearing the rank of first-class soldier. Seeing us go in, he got up and saluted us. After the photo, bzikov sent me out with two more soldiers. When I went back to the door of the police office, I felt that my underwear was wet with sweat. Seeing that Korolev was still waiting there alone, I was so excited that I speeded up my pace and ran to him, shouting excitedly, "Uncle Bavier." I quickly ran to his side, stopped, just want to speak, "Wu ~ ~" A sudden alarm went off. I looked around in surprise. What''s the matter? Did an enemy break into the Kremlin? Bzikov''s voice came from behind: "attention! Air raid alert! Let''s go to the nearby air raid shelter to hide! "

 Chapter 26

    It was dark in the evening, and there were large, slow-moving clouds floating in the sky.


    Korolev and I looked up into the sky. We couldn''t see the enemy plane, we could only hear the roar of the engine. Obviously, not one, but several bombers were flying at very high altitude.


    Anti aircraft guns deployed on the roof of the Kremlin building began to fire fiercely into the sky. Looking at this aimless shooting, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. I thought that if I didn''t see where the enemy plane was, I would shoot at the sky. What''s the effect.


    When the air raid alarm sounded, the people in the building where the guard room is located ran out of the building one after another, crossed the wide square and went to the bomb shelter at the other end for air defense. When Colonel bzikov saw that the people in the building were almost evacuated, he came to us and asked us in a reproachful tone, "why haven''t you gone to hide yet?"


    Korolev did not answer his question, but asked: "is Moscow often attacked by air strikes?"


    "Yes, since July 22, the German Air Force has been carrying out uninterrupted air strikes on cities. Unfortunately, there are too few planes in our air force to prevent enemy planes from invading our cities. "


    While they were talking, I began to look around and enjoy the scenery. I''ve been to red square countless times, but the Kremlin has never had a chance to come in. It''s not easy to come in. Naturally, I have to seize the opportunity to have a good look, because I don''t know that I can''t get another chance to come in until I''m in the prime of life.


    I tried hard to think about the name of the square I was standing on, whether it was sopranoya or something else. It was a bit of a tongue twister when I was on the contrary. I didn''t seem to pronounce the place exactly. The tall big Ivan bell tower in the middle of the square is the tallest building in Moscow at present, and it is estimated that it is also the best coordinate for the German air force to calibrate the location of the Kremlin. Next to the clock tower is a huge czar clock, which is the world famous clock king. The bell, weighing 200 tons, was broken at the first knock, and the piece that fell off was as high as one person. I can see from a distance that the internal space of the clock is quite large. Later, if the German bombers start to drop bombs, it should be very safe for me to hide in it for air defense.


    Not far away, there is a huge old gun, a tsar''s gun built in the 16th century. It is 5.35 meters long, 40 cm in diameter and 40 tons in weight. It was originally used to guard the Moscow river ferry and the gate of the spask bell tower, but it never had a chance to launch. There are several huge round shells beside the cannons. If they are sold as scrap iron, they can be sold for a lot of money.


    "Paratroopers! German planes dropped paratroopers! " Suddenly there was a loud cry.


    I looked up into the air. Before I could see the situation clearly, I felt that someone was trying to grasp my shoulder. Then I heard Korolev''s familiar voice asking nervously: "paratroopers?! Where is it? Do you see it? "


    An open parachute came down from the dark cloud. I stare at the air, in addition to this top, temporarily did not see other parachutes. I nervously observed the slowly falling parachute. Under the parachute, there was an oval thing shaking constantly, which looked like a human form from a distance.


    "No, it''s not like paratroopers. It''s useless for the Germans to air drop only one paratrooper?" I guessed in disbelief¡° Is this the pilot who parachuted from the damaged German plane? " But I don''t seem to see any enemy planes falling down.


    There was no hiding in the square, but the guards on duty rushed to the center of the square, raised their rifles and submachine guns, and shot fiercely at the parachute falling slowly in the air.


    Looking at the falling parachute, I suddenly realized that this is not a parachute, but a heavy bomb dropped by the German army! In later military documentaries, we can often see that the air force dropped this kind of heavy bomb with parachute. With the bomb landing, the enemy''s position turned into a sea of fire.


    I yelled anxiously: "don''t shoot, spread out, this is a bomb!" But my voice was covered by the sound of gunfire and the sound of antiaircraft guns, and everyone was still shooting desperately into the air.


    If the bomb is hit in the air, forming an air explosion, there is not even a safe corner below, and the people on the scene are bound to be seriously injured. I grabbed bzikov''s arm, shook it hard, and cried out to him, "this is not a paratrooper. Tell everyone to stop shooting, or the bomb will be detonated, and we will all be finished."


    Bzikov jumped onto the table at the door of the guard room, pulled out his pistol, fired a few shots into the sky, and cried out with all his strength, "listen to me! Stop shooting. It''s a bomb! Everybody down


    I grabbed Korolev and dragged him to the ground.


    "Boom!" The violent explosion was not far away, and the earth trembled violently for a while, and then calmed down again. I lay on the ground, covered my ears, and desperately endured the unbearable pain caused by the shaking of the ground hitting my internal organs. Compared with the pain caused by the objects splashing on me during the explosion, it was insignificant.


    I saw people all stand up from the ground and try to stand up. But as soon as I got up, I felt dizzy and nauseous, so I squatted down again. I looked down and saw that on the ground in front of me, apart from gravel, there was a broken and bloody wooden gun handle. It seems that when the bomb exploded just now, the casualties of the guards on the scene must be not small.


    With his help, I finally got up again. I said to him, should we go to the hotel? He also said something to me, but my ears were temporarily deaf because of the explosion just now, and I couldn''t hear anything, neither his voice nor my own voice. It wasn''t until he came up to my ear and yelled that I understood what he said: "the air raid is over. We should go back to the hotel." I saw bezikov standing next to the smoke crater to check the situation, while the wounded or dead soldiers were being carried away by the emergency medical staff on stretchers. I said to Korolev, "Uncle Pavel, let''s go and have a look." He nodded and helped me stagger to the crater. Bezikov stood beside the crater, staring at the bottom of the black mud hole in a daze. We didn''t even find him when we went to him. When a soldier came to ask him for instructions, he didn''t respond as if he were a fool¡° Uncle Bavier, "I approached Korolev''s ear and asked him quietly," what''s the matter with him? "¡° Shh! Keep your voice down Korolev also whispered: "you don''t know that the German plane flew over the Kremlin today and dropped a bomb. The commanders in charge of air defense and security here will be punished."¡° What kind of punishment? " I think this system is a little too inhumane. The enemy''s current strength is so strong that it is difficult for my family to stop them for the time being. Only once in a while, when you come to the sky above the Kremlin, you have to punish the relevant security personnel. Who dares to work here in the future¡° They are usually sent to reform through labor camps or shot. " Korolev answered me solemnly¡° Ah? " I was startled. This punishment is too heavy. No wonder Colonel bzikov is standing in front of the choking crater like an idiot¡° Don''t kikov Suddenly a voice with a strong Georgia accent came from across the bullet hole. I followed the sound, but I didn''t expect to see Stalin. He was standing opposite us, looking at the newly formed crater, and several guards in plain clothes were standing two or three steps behind him¡° Comrade Stalin. " Bezikov recovered from his daze and straightened up quickly to stand at attention¡° How''s it going? " Stalin frowned and asked, "are there any casualties?"¡° No, comrade Stalin. " Bzikov''s lies are almost flawless: "none of them." Stalin nodded, turned and walked quickly to the building not far away. Several security guards immediately followed.

 Chapter 27

    It was about ten o''clock in the evening when I got back to the hotel.


    When Korolev and I passed through the hotel lobby and were ready to go to the dining room to see if there was any dinner left, Lieutenant Yoda, who was on duty at the front desk, stopped me.


    "Comrade oshanina." She trotted up to me and said, "the hotel has arranged a new room for you. It''s on the second floor, No. 16. It''s a single room. If you don''t have any luggage, you can go directly to the new room to see if our arrangement is satisfactory to you. "


    "Are you telling me?" I asked vaguely, "the single room is for the generals. I''m just a lieutenant. Aren''t you mistaken?"


    "I don''t know. I don''t know. It''s the decision of the hotel Commissar." She handed me the key, with a meaningful smile, as if to let me know that her way is far more than what I''m talking about now.


    Korolev took my shoulder and said with a smile, "it can''t be better arranged! Come on, Rita, let''s go and show me your new house


    "Why is the hotel arranged like this?" With this question, I went to my new room with Korolev. He took the key in my hand and opened the door. This is a small room, but there are a lot of furniture in the room: there is a writing desk against the wall, there is a black dial-up telephone on the desk, there are two armchairs in front of the desk, a bed with dark blue printed sheets, and there is a small round table in the middle of the room, facing an electric light hanging from the sky flower and covered with sky blue cloth lampshade. The door of the bathroom is half open. From the door, the decoration inside is much better than that in the staff dormitory.


    "Why did you suddenly arrange a single room for me?" I looked at everything in the room at a loss, and asked Korolev with some trepidation, "Uncle Bavier, are they wrong?"


    "No," he said with a smile, "don''t worry, the hotel political commissar will not make a mistake. Let''s eat and talk. " Then he went to the desk, picked up the phone on the desk, dialed a number, and said to the microphone, "Hello, restaurant? I''m on the 16th floor. Give me... "


    After a while, aksala brought the dinner Korolev ordered on a large tray, which was very rich for laomaozi: roast beef with potatoes in a metal basin, herring with pointed red onions, barbecue with shredded onion and tomato sauce, a bottle of Georgia red wine, two tall glass glasses. Aksala put these things on the table, then handed me a cotton army cap matching with the army coat, refused our request to ask her to stay for dinner, and turned away.


    "Now let''s sit down, my dear." Korolev moved the two armchairs to the small round table and made a gesture of invitation to me¡° OK, come on, come on! Let''s start eating. "


    He opened the cork of the wine bottle with a bottle opener, filled the two goblets in front of us, held up one and handed it to me, saying, "there is no doubt that the hotel political commissar arranged this arrangement because he knew your performance on the Kremlin podium and would give you such special care. Tell me, how did you have the courage to go to the podium? When I think back to that time, I feel like a dream. "


    I took the glass, put it on the table in front of me, and said with some embarrassment, "I just heard the dispute between marshal shaposnikov and general konev. I felt that the general''s speech was very reasonable and should support him, so I handed a note to the rostrum. I don''t even believe the note can be delivered... That''s what happened. "


    He gave me a look, shook his head in disbelief and gave me a smile¡° Honey, you said, you handed me a note. I wrote a few words on it, and that''s what happened? " Seeing that I didn''t say a word, he kept asking¡° No matter who you are, did you still write a note? Maybe, people regard you as a general? By the way, military rank, do you name your military rank? "


    "There''s no doubt about it. I wrote my name and rank." At this point, I quickly turned off the topic, "let''s have a drink, uncle Bavier?" Then he lifted the glass in front of him.


    "No, wait a minute!" Korolev exclaimed excitedly, quickly reaching over and covering the tall glass in my hand with his broad hand¡° I just want to find out. If anyone tells me that Rita mushdakova oshanina is going to charge with the soldiers, I believe it. I personally shot down the German Devils'' planes and destroyed the tanks... I think it''s completely possible. But now it is... Strange! You know, there was Stalin in the hall at that time! Members of the people''s Committee! Marshals! I''m surrounded by generals. All of a sudden, I heard the marshal announce: Comrade oshanina speaks, the leader of Leningrad''s front army! At first, I was confused: I seemed to know all the leaders of the front army. How could there be an o''shanina?, And she''s a woman. I looked up and I was startled. My mother! It''s Rita. You''re walking down the aisle. Listen to me, I promise you, if I had been standing there instead of sitting there, I would have been so scared about you that my legs would have softened! "


    I just laughed and didn''t speak.


    Korolev put his hands together again, then shook his head hard and said, "come on. Let''s have a drink. I congratulate you! No, wait a minute! " He suddenly remembered and covered my glass with his palm¡° First, let''s talk about the most important thing. What did Comrade Stalin say to you at last? "¡° Didn''t you hear that? "I can get a higher rank," he said I asked, puzzled. At that time, Stalin and I were in front of the microphone. We should have heard everything clearly¡° Yes, yes! However, just because I heard it with my own ears, I felt a little incredible. You know, in our military system, the highest rank of a female soldier is only a lieutenant, and you have already won this rank, so it''s impossible for you to go up again. "¡° It''s a matter for the supreme commander to think about. It''s not our turn to worry about it. We''ll still have a bar, uncle Bavier We touched the glasses and drank them all. Korolev filled the glass with wine again, then forked a small piece of barbecue, dipped it in the tomato sauce, chewed on the onion, and continued, "of course, if he says that on the platform, you can be promoted to captain tomorrow. Although the previous highest rank was lieutenant, maybe this time because of you, he personally ordered to cancel the rank restrictions on female soldiers. On the whole, you are really lucky! Let you speak at a meeting like this, and it caught his attention. " When he said this, he emphasized the word "his" in a more emphatic tone. "You see, the effect is so obvious. The political commissar of the hotel has arranged it very well." He picked up his glass and looked around the room¡° The colonels are still two in a room. But now you have the privilege of a single room. Come on, for your good luck, let''s have another drink So we drank it again. Korolev emptied the bottle, just enough to fill two glasses for the third time. Looking at his way of pouring wine, I feel sorry to myself. It''s too wasteful to drink good wine with a meal like this and drink it in such a cow''s way. According to the drinking method of later petty bourgeoisie, it should be to pour half a glass, then gently shake the glass, nose close to the mouth of the glass, smell the wine, gently inhale a mouthful of wine, and taste it carefully, instead of drinking it all in one gulp like us, so that the wine can stay in the mouth for no time, and then go straight through the throat to the stomach. I fork up a piece of beef and ask Korolev, who is bending over to eat herring: "Uncle Bavier, when are we going back to Leningrad?"¡° Tomorrow night. " He was eating something in his mouth, and some of them answered me indistinctly¡° Is it going back by train? " The train station in Moscow is in gonchamonisgaya. If I want to take the train, I can just go to Kajia''s family and inform them of her sacrifice¡° No, we don''t take the train. " He swallowed the fish, wiped his mouth with a cloth, and said solemnly, "the situation is very serious. Leningrad is besieged by the German aggressors. The land traffic with other places has been cut off, and the railway traffic with Moscow has been cut off. We can only go back by plane. "

 Chapter 28

    When I opened my eyes, I looked at the wall clock. It was already seven o''clock in the morning. Maybe it was because I had drunk too much last night. My head still felt dizzy. It seems that I can''t drink. I''ll try not to drink in the future. The amount of wine I drank last night can only be regarded as relieving thirst for good Russians; And for me, it''s enough to make me drunk. So this sleep for eight hours, not only did not feel relaxed, but also felt more tired.


    I took a long stretch, sat up, lifted the quilt and got out of bed. Suddenly I felt a little cold on my body. When I looked down, I was shocked. I was naked. Looking around, in addition to the military coat hanging on the wall, my military uniform, shirt, bra, underwear and other clothing were scattered on the ground.


    Seeing all this, I can''t help but feel a cold sweat: is Korolev also a kind of strange corn man who took advantage of me when I was too drunk last night to wake up?! Although I''m a woman''s body, I''ve always regarded myself as a woman. As soon as I thought of being attacked by a man, I couldn''t control my strong feeling of nausea. I immediately jumped out of bed and rushed into the bathroom, lying on the edge of the toilet.


    Vomit for a while, see toilet oneself vomit those filth thing, immediately vomit more disgustingly again, the sky is dim. It''s the end of spitting until there''s nothing to spit.


    I sat on the cold floor of the bathroom for a while, then I began to check my lower body. After being a woman for such a long time, I still know a lot about the physiological structure of my new body. After checking for a long time, I found no trace of being violated. I thought to myself: maybe I blame uncle Bavier wrong. The clothes that I threw on the ground are probably the ones that I took off and threw on the ground when I was drunk. It''s just that I was so drunk that I didn''t remember what I had done when I woke up.


    After taking a bath, I came out of the bathroom, picked up my clothes one by one from the floor, dressed up in the mirror, took off the military coat and cotton hat hanging on the wall, took them in my hand, opened the door and went out. We are going back to Leningrad in the evening. We don''t know when we will come again next time. While there is still time, I will go to gangchamonisgaya to find Kajia''s relatives and finish her last instructions.


    The second floor is where senior officers gather. From the beginning of going out, almost all the people I saw in the corridor were generals. As I walked, I saluted them according to the regulations. Maybe I was in the limelight at the Kremlin podium yesterday, so all the generals knew me. They all gave me a polite smile and even stopped to talk to me.


    On the first floor, I saw Korolev and cholohov chatting in the hall. As soon as I saw Korolev, my face turned red. It was not because I had wronged him just now, but because I was afraid that I would be seen by him when I was drunk last night. I was a little embarrassed. As he hesitated, joloff saw me and waved to me. Seeing that I couldn''t escape, I had to walk quickly and salute them.


    "Our beautiful female officer, where are you going?" He asked jokingly when he saw that I had a military coat in my hand.


    "Report to Comrade General." I stood at attention again, and answered him honestly, "I''m going to goncha monisgaya."


    "Gonchamonisgaya?" Hearing this place name, the general was puzzled and asked, "where are you going and what are you doing? You know, the train to Leningrad is no longer available. We go by plane at night. "


    "Comrade General, the situation is like this..." so I told the two of them what happened when I met Kajia in the hospital and accepted her last instructions.


    "Then go and come back quickly." Korolev took over the topic and asked with concern, "do you know the way there? Do you need me to ask the commissar of the hotel to arrange a car for you to take you there


    "No, no, uncle Pavel." In the face of Korolev, I was still a little embarrassed. I put my hands in a hurry and politely refused his kindness: "I know where to go and what bus to take."


    "Well, you''ll go and get back." This is what the general said, that is, he agreed to my request to go out in disguise.


    I quickly saluted them again, turned around and trotted out of the hotel. Out of the gate of the hotel, he put on his military coat and hat, asked the guard the location of the station, and walked toward it.


    There is a direct tram to gonchamonisgaya. Maybe it''s because of the war. There are very few trams. It took a long time to get on the tram to gonchamonisgaya.


    When I was in later generations, I often took the tram. I felt very excited when I could take this familiar means of transportation at this time, so as soon as I got on the bus, I found an empty seat and sat down, looking out the window with interest.


    Someone touched my shoulder. I immediately turned around and saw a female conductor in an orange vest standing beside me.


    "Have you bought a ticket?"


    "Tickets?" I first asked a question in doubt, and then I came back immediately¡° Oh, I''m sorry. Please forgive me. I forgot just now. I''ll buy it right away. " I quickly untied my coat and went to feel the uniform pocket inside.


    Since I came to this world, it seems that I have never used money. My daily needs are allocated by the army, so the concept of using money has gradually faded away. I have forgotten the use of money. I don''t think money is useful any more. I even forget to buy tickets when I get on the bus. I took a five rouble note from my pocket and handed it to the conductor. After she took it, she asked me, "do you have any change? It''s only five gobits. The face value of your note is too big for me to open it. " Oh, my God, tickets in the 1940s are so cheap. They are only five gobits. You know, the cheapest tickets in the future are 25 rubles. Five rubles are not enough to go to the toilet. In this era, it''s a huge sum of money. I looked at several people standing beside me, a sergeant in a brand-new military coat, and some elderly women¡° I''m sorry I went through my pocket for a long time, but I couldn''t find any more Gobi. I had to take the note from the female conductor, blushed and said in a low voice with embarrassment, "but I don''t have any change on me! I''ll get off in a minute... Sorry! "¡° No need, comrade soldier The next sergeant said happily, reaching into his trouser pocket, took out a coin and handed it to the female conductor¡° Honey, please! I''ll buy the ticket for the woman soldier. "¡° No, no, I can''t ask you to help me pay the fare! " I raised my voice and felt more embarrassed¡° How can I ask you to help me pay the fare The sergeant''s beautiful pale brows rose¡° We should help each other in the battle! " He took the ticket from the female conductor and handed it to me. Half jokingly and half seriously, he said, "comrades, let''s settle the accounts after the war." I feel very embarrassed. For the first time in my life, a stranger paid for me on the tram¡° Thank you very much I sincerely expressed my gratitude to him¡° You''re welcome, comrades of the women soldiers. " He just said a word with a smile, and suddenly caught a glimpse of my rank from my open coat. He felt straight and said to me, "sorry, comrade commander, you are wearing sergeant''s coat. I didn''t see your rank just now..." "come on, don''t care about that." I grabbed his hand and took him to sit down beside me. In order to dispel his nervousness, I deliberately asked him, "where are you going? Chief¡° Go to gonchamonisgaya, comrade commander. " Then he explained to me, "I''ve just come back from the front line. One day I''m on vacation and I''ll go back there to see my fiancee."¡° What a coincidence. I''m going there too. Please help me to be a guide later. "¡° No problem, comrade commander. I''m happy to help you. "

 Chapter 29

    The tram stopped. The woman conductor went to the door, pressed a button, opened all the doors, and then said to us in a loud voice, "the tram is here, comrades. Let''s all get out of the car The sergeant and I got out of the car. Looking at the strange environment around me, I asked the Staff Sergeant: "is this Gonzalo nisgaya?"¡° Of course not. There are two more stops from Gonzalo ninesgaya, but the barricade has been built in front of it, so the tram can''t drive through. The rest of the way... "He bent down and patted his knees with both hands, and then said to me," we can only walk by our two legs. " I followed the sergeant and went down the street. As I walked, I looked at the faces of passers-by in a hurry, at the windows of the houses with long and narrow black strips, at the shop windows with sandbags, and at the posters on the walls. The further we went, the slower we went, because we had to go around the barricades made of sandbags, logs and planks from time to time. The men guarding these barricades, dressed in plain clothes and armed with bayonet rifles, were seen as temporary militia units. From time to time, they stopped passers-by to check their documents, but we passed through the barricade without any obstruction. For the militia on duty, maybe our uniform is the best pass. After a while, we stopped in front of a stone house¡° I''m here, comrade commander. " Then the sergeant pointed to the front and said, "go on down this road. On the right side of the road," may I ask what kind of appointment it is? " I summoned up the courage to ask boldly¡° The commander of a certain antiaircraft artillery battalion in the Kremlin has been transferred today for some special reason. There is a vacancy in the position of commander of this army. You can take up this position. " Ah! I was shocked. It seems that what Korolev said yesterday was not a lie, because the enemy aircraft intruded into the sky of the Kremlin and dropped bombs, and the commander in charge of air defense was punished. I don''t know whether it was sent to Siberia to dig coal or was directly shot? What about bezikov''s fate? If I promise to take up this position, will I follow their lead¡° What do you think? " Zhukov saw that I didn''t speak and asked impatiently¡° You can say what you think. "¡° Comrade general, "I can''t accept the first appointment, otherwise I don''t know how to die in the end. I''m still more concerned about what the second appointment is¡° Can I hear what the other appointment is? "¡° Of course. " Zhukov nodded and said, "I''ve become the commander of the Western Front Army. I need a good assistant to accompany me to borojino. But let me remind you in advance: the situation there is already very difficult. " In my impression, it seems that Zhukov has never been in danger in the war, so his own safety can be guaranteed if he follows him. So I answered without hesitation, "I''m willing to be your deputy and accompany you to borojino. Comrade General

 Chapter 30

    Zhukov''s black car was parked in the inner parking lot of the hotel, and they put us in the car. Before getting on the bus, Korolev hugged me, gave me a gentle kiss on the forehead, and said with concern in his father''s voice, "Rita, take care! We''ll see you later. "


    At that time, I suddenly felt that my nose was sore and tears were about to burst out. I put my face on his chest and choked and said, "Uncle Pavel, thank you. I''ll miss you. Back in Leningrad, if you see Vera, please say hello to her for me. "


    "Hurry up, major oshanina." Zhukov, who was already in the car, urged me impatiently: "if you have anything to say, wait until you defeat the German devils. Now we''re going to go to the front line at once. "


    I opened the door, got into the back of the car, sat down next to a huge canvas bag, and waved goodbye to Korolev through the window.


    The car started slowly, after leaving the parking lot, the speed gradually increased.


    I looked back and saw that there was no car except our one. I was a little surprised and asked, "Comrade General, are we going to the front line?"


    "Yes." Zhukov replied impolitely, "do you think we are going to the wedding?"


    "But there are only you, me and the driver. Do you go to the front without a guard? "


    Zhukov, sitting in the front co pilot''s seat, didn''t even look back and said, "there''s a submachine gun in the canvas bag next to you. As far as I know, you are very familiar with firearms and good at shooting. Along the way, you are responsible for serving as my guard. "


    I happily agreed, opened the canvas bag, took out the Popov submachine gun from it, pulled open the bolt, checked the ammunition, and saw that there were enough bullets in the gun, so I felt at ease. As long as you have this Popov submachine gun in your hand, you will be able to deal with a few German stragglers.


    There was a checkpoint in front of us, and there were several soldiers with rifles at the intersection where the roadblocks were placed. Seeing our car passing by, one of them stood in the middle of the road and raised his right hand over his head to signal us to stop. The car came to a steady stop in front of him, and the soldier came up and stooped to look into the car. Zhukov sat up straight, turned his head and glared at him. The soldier stood up straight, stepped back two steps and raised his hand to salute us. Seeing this, the other soldiers quickly moved the obstacles on the road to one side. As soon as the driver stepped on the gas, the car looked forward again.


    Out of the checkpoint, on both sides of the road appeared a large number of labor forces, most of them women, they are digging trenches around the city. I saw in the rear of the trench, in addition to building blockhouses, there was an anti-aircraft machine gun position every few hundred meters, in which the soldiers in charge of air defense were on duty.


    "Comrade oshanina," I was holding a submachine gun and looking out of the window when Zhukov suddenly said, "I have a lot of questions. I want to ask you."


    I was a little surprised to hear what he said. Is there anything else Zhukov needs to ask me? I sat up straight and said nervously, "Comrade General, please tell me."


    "What you said on the Kremlin podium, I have read the minutes of the meeting today. It is undeniable that many of the arguments in what you said are very penetrating and original. " At this point, he turned his head to look at me and continued: "but that''s where I was surprised. If you can analyze the current situation so clearly, at least you should be the chief of staff of the front army or higher. And you, only half an hour ago, got the rank of major. There are a lot of things, even the commander of the Admiral level does not have the authority to know, not to mention you are a small officer who stays at the front line every day. In the face of the fierce German attack, even the Supreme Commander himself was not confident that he could stop them under Moscow. But you, on the platform, said in a light tone that our army can not only block the enemy, but also completely powder them. When it comes to analyzing the reasons for the failure of our army''s senior commanders in the early stage, it is even more to the point. There is no doubt that the person who can draw such a brilliant conclusion is a military genius. Under the current severe situation, I really want to get to know such a person, talk with him, and ask him how to deal with the current severe situation. So I particularly want to know, who put these ideas into your mind? "


    For such a direct question, I was speechless. It''s true that everything I said on the Kremlin podium is what I read from the history books. As for "adventurism in attack, conservatism in defense and escapism in retreat", I directly quoted the chairman''s summary at the Zunyi Meeting. But how can I answer him? Can I tell the truth to the general in front of me and say, "Comrade General, I''m from the future. Everything I said on the Kremlin platform is the historical knowledge learned in later books."


    In that case, I would be regarded as a spy instead of a madman. My brain was running fast, trying to figure out how to tell a lie.


    "What''s the matter?" Zhukov asked puzzledly, "is that man arrested? In that case, I can exercise my special right to liberate him and arrange a suitable position for him in the headquarters of the front army. " Zhukov took my silence as another hardship. In the Great Purge movement a few years ago, a large number of experienced and capable commanders were ruthlessly purged, including the Soviet military genius marshal Tukhachevsky himself. Maybe he thought I met a survivor in the cleansing movement, so he said so.


    "No, Comrade General." I quickly denied it, and then prevaricated him with the fabricated reason: "I was seriously injured in the battle more than a month ago. As I lay dying, I felt that my soul had come to a mysterious castle where I saw a mysterious man¡° What kind of mysterious person? " He asked suspiciously¡° I don''t know. He has an iron mask on his face, "I continued to make up the story," but strangely, he is wearing the uniform of our army. "¡° What kind of uniform? Say it directly He interrupted me impatiently¡° Yes Now that the story has started, it''s much easier to make it up later¡° It''s a marshal''s uniform. Although he was wearing a mask, he looked very young, just in his forties. He told me a lot about the military viewpoints I expounded. What he said on the Kremlin podium is just a repetition of what he said. " At this point, I feel sweat on my forehead. It seems that lying still needs excellent psychological quality. After listening to me, Zhukov turned around and sat down again without saying a word. The car bumped up a wooden bridge¡° Comrade general, "the driver, who had been silent, suddenly said," we''re almost at purtova. " Zhukov looked at the driver and said in a flat voice, "really?" He looked left and right for a moment, and then asked, "pultova?" I don''t know why the driver suddenly mentioned the place name and could only look out through the window without saying a word¡° When I was a teenager, I went all over the place. " Zhukov suddenly opened his mouth and said to himself, "the village I live in is only ten kilometers away from here. There''s a mother, a sister and her children¡° Comrade general, "I couldn''t help interrupting," why don''t you drop in? "¡° No, "Zhukov shook his head and said very decisively," time does not allow. " There was a brief silence in the car, and the driver''s words broke the silence¡° Comrade general, if the enemy comes here, what about your mother and sister? If the enemy knew that this was the relative of general Zhukov, he would be shot. Go, say it, and let them go... "No Zhukov said very firmly: "I said no, we don''t have time. What we have to do is to rush to the headquarters of the Western Front Army as soon as possible. At present, the situation there is very critical. " Welcome to our website www.start.com. The latest, fastest and most popular serial works are all original!

 Chapter 31

    The car continued to bump up and down the muddy road.


    Although I''ve never been carsick, I''m dizzy today. In this case, I carefully closed the safety of the submachine gun in my arms. If I accidentally go off and hit the big man sitting, then the history of World War II will be rewritten for me.


    I looked at the situation in the front row and saw that the driver was concentrating on driving, while Zhukov was keeping his head down and shutting his eyes. So I leaned back, closed his eyes and began to sleep.


    The car stopped suddenly, and then heard the driver''s voice: "Comrade General, look!"


    There''s a situation! This is my first reaction, almost when I open my eyes, the submachine gun in my hand has opened the safety, and the muzzle of the gun points out of the window. If something is wrong, I will pull the trigger immediately and shoot out all the bullets in the gun.


    However, I soon found out that I was worried too much. Several people in the uniform of Soviet tank soldiers were blocking the car. One of the captains went to the car, bent over to the window and said dryly, "no way ahead! Who are you? Comrade General. "


    "I''m general Zhukov!" Then he asked, "where are your troops?"


    "Comrade General," the captain saluted Zhukov, waved his head back and said, "the headquarters of the tank brigade is in the woods ahead."


    Zhukov turned his head back and said to me, "Rita, let''s go ahead and have a look." Then he opened the door and stepped out.


    I quickly opened the door, hung the submachine gun around my neck, got out of the car and stepped on the muddy road. Then I followed a group of people and walked to the woods.


    On the way, I saw many Soviet T-34 tanks neatly parked in the woods. Looking at us coming, the soldiers standing next to the tank stood up one after another, straightened up and saluted us. After a while, we came to a wooden house.


    There was no soldier standing guard outside. The captain opened the door and said to Zhukov, "this is the headquarters of the tank brigade. Please come in, Comrade General!"


    Zhukov was not polite either. He swaggered in through the open door. I followed him and walked into the room. After entering, I closed the door and stood at the door with my submachine gun.


    Zhukov went to the long wooden table in the middle of the room, and the commanders who had been sitting stood up one after another. One of the officers in a leather jacket looked at him and reported directly to him without salute: "Colonel Zheng niski, commander of the tank brigade of the reserve, reports to you."


    "My old comrade in arms! How are you Zhukov said as he extended his hand to him, and then the two men''s hands came together¡° I didn''t expect to meet you here. How are you doing? "


    "I didn''t expect to see you here, Comrade General." The captain continued to shake hands with him as he spoke¡° I know that you are commanding the front army of Leningrad. "


    "No," Zhukov interrupted. "Report on you."


    The captain picked up a map on the table, pointed to it and said to Zhukov, "the enemy has occupied yubunov. The tank brigade I command is here as a reserve. It''s the next day and I haven''t received any orders yet. "


    Zhukov nodded and began to give an order to the colonel, saying, "now this tank brigade is under my command. Without my instructions, every tank will move. Do you understand? "


    "Understand, Comrade General!"


    Zhukov looked back at me standing at the door, waved to me and motioned me to go. I dare not neglect, a few steps to the middle of the room.


    Zhukov pointed to me and said, "meet me. This is major oshanina. She''s my deputy."


    "Major?" The captain of the tank brigade looked me up and down, and asked Zhukov in a puzzled voice: "Comrade General, as far as I know, in our military system, the highest rank of a female soldier is only Lieutenant?"


    "Yes, my old friend!" Zhukov said with a smile, "but that''s the old rule. Today, comrade Stalin has issued a new order to abolish the rank restriction of female soldiers. In this way, not only more female majors, but also generals and marshals may appear in the future. " Then he looked at me and said, "do you think so? Future marshal o''shanina


    Everyone burst into laughter, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became much more relaxed.


    The Colonel reached out to me and said with a smile, "I congratulate you, major oshanina!"


    "Thank you After shaking hands with him, I shook hands with several other commanders in the room one by one.


    "My old friend," Zhukov said to the colonel, pointing to the map on the table, "in this way, the troops will be immediately deployed, the defense will be organized, and the direction of Madden will be covered."


    "Yes The captain agreed, then picked up the teapot on the table, and said to Zhukov with the taste of an old friend¡° Comrade general, sit down and have a cup of tea! "


    "No," Zhukov shook his head, reached out and shook hands with the Colonel again¡° There''s no time. You''ll send a communications officer with me right away. I wish you good health


    Then he strode out. I nodded to the people in the room and ran out. As soon as we got back in the car, the communications officer from the tank brigade arrived. As soon as I saw it, I was still acquainted with the captain who just stopped us and took us to the headquarters. He was standing in front of the car, ready to salute, Zhukov impatiently urged him: "don''t dawdle, get on the bus." He promised, and got into the car and sat next to me¡° Shall we go to the front line now? Georgi konstantinovich "out of courtesy, I asked Zhukov by honorific name¡° Front line? " Zhukov asked in surprise: "what kind of front line? Aren''t we always on the front line? " Then he told the driver, "drive!"

 Chapter 32

    Our car drove along the muddy road beside the forest for more than half an hour. By the time we got to a small town, it was already four o''clock in the afternoon.


    The small town has shown a scene of front line, where almost no complete house can be seen, and the streets are full of black bullet holes. Except for the signalmen pulling the wires and the patrols passing by from time to time, there are no local residents at all. Maybe they have been evacuated to the rear.


    On duty at the crossroads is not a policeman, but a fully armed Red Army soldier. The driver pulled up in the middle of the road, opened the window and yelled at him, "Hello, friend. How can I get to the headquarters? "


    The soldier on duty came over unhappily. It seemed that he wanted to complain about the driver who stopped and left the car illegally. He bent down and looked into the car. He immediately stood upright, pointed to one side of the intersection, and said in a loud voice, "go north, comrade commander. The headquarters of the infantry school is in the north suburb


    The headquarters is located in a small house in the northern suburb. Not far from the outside, there is a black car with a green camouflage net. This small house should be the only complete house in the town. Our car stopped right in front of it.


    After the car stopped, Zhukov turned and said, "let''s go down and see which army is stationed here?" Then he opened the door and went down. The tank captain and I opened the door and got out of the car from the left and right.


    There was a sentry standing guard by the steps. When he saw the three of us, he immediately called out to the open door, "Comrade Lieutenant!"


    With his shouts, a second lieutenant in a brand-new army coat came to the door.


    The tank captain quickly jumped up the steps, stood in front of the second lieutenant on duty, and said to him, "I said, comrade second lieutenant, please report to your commander immediately: General Zhukov is here!"


    The second lieutenant glanced at us, then turned his eyes and looked at the captain in front of him. He replied somewhat flustered: "Comrade General, you are very busy at the moment. I don''t have the right to let you in. I''ll report to you first, will you, comrade captain? "


    "But this is general Zhukov..." the captain was very dissatisfied with the attitude of the second lieutenant on duty. Just as he wanted to get angry, Zhukov interrupted him: "the second lieutenant did right!" He gave a brief order to the Second Lieutenant: "go and report!"


    The second lieutenant turned and ran into the room. Less than a minute later, he reappeared at the door, raised his hand and said, "please, senior general and general are waiting for you inside."


    I followed Zhukov into the door. In the room stood an elderly major general and several school commanders, each wearing a brand-new military coat.


    Seeing us coming in, he stepped forward to Zhukov and began to report: "major general Smirnov, principal of podorisk Infantry School..." but Zhukov interrupted him and asked one after another, "where are the troops you command? How many people? What''s the current state of the war? "


    "To the north, about five kilometers from here." Replied the major general with great composure¡° There are 1120 students in all. Although the equipment and weapons are very poor, but the students are very brave, we beat back the German attack many times, and have kept them here for three days


    "The name of the German army? How many troops are there? " Zhukov continued to ask like a teacher testing a student.


    "It''s not clear. We haven''t captured any German prisoners so far. As for the strength of the German army, I estimate it to be about one regiment. We have the confidence to stop such forces. "


    "Estimate?" Zhukov''s face became very ugly. He said in a sarcastic tone: "when did our commanders learn to command operations with estimation? Have you never sent someone to scout the enemy? Does it mean that all the information you get is estimated by you in this house? "


    "Comrade General!" In the face of Zhukov''s dissatisfaction, the major general was very embarrassed. He explained in a flurried way: "the local residents have evacuated. We can''t find a guide, so there is no way to scout the German army."


    After hearing this, Zhukov''s face was full of tears and laughter. He asked, "have you ever fought back against the German army or harassed them on a small scale?"


    "No, senior general. The positive German army is very strong. With our current strength, what we can do is to hold the position for as long as possible. It is impossible to fight back against the enemy. "


    "Rita." Zhukov turned his head and affectionately called my nickname, and said, "it seems that you are right. This is what you call defensive conservatism."


    "Yes! Georgi konstantinovic. " I promised and shut up. In such an occasion, if I say more and make more mistakes, I''d better keep silence to avoid offending others and not knowing what happened.


    The major general looked me up and down. Maybe he felt very strange. Why did Zhukov run around with a female soldier? He looked at me and asked Zhukov doubtfully, "Comrade General, who is she?"


    "Come on, meet me." Zhukov introduces me to major general¡° Major oshanina, whose rank was conferred personally by Comrade Stalin. "


    I stepped forward, saluted the major general, said hello to him and said, "Hello, Comrade General!"


    "Well," Zhukov said again without waiting for the major general to say anything, "Comrade General, take us to the front." Then he told the tank captain, "as for you, captain. Just stay here and get in touch with the military academy. "


    Zhukov and I drove north along the muddy road. The major general''s car followed us closely.


    After driving northward for more than ten minutes, rows of wooden piles with barbed wire began to appear on the side of the road. Knowing that they were not far from the front position, I opened the safety of the submachine gun, increased my vigilance, and was ready to deal with emergencies at any time.


    The driver suddenly yelled, "German!" Then the car came to a sudden stop. Because the incident happened suddenly, I also reacted, and was carried forward by the huge inertia. My shoulder heavily hit the back of the chair in front of me, and I almost cried out in pain.


    Instead of checking my shoulder injury, I opened the door and jumped out. I saw a long trench more than 20 meters in front of me. It seemed that there were many people in it. I half squatted and raised my gun to guard. As soon as I found the people in the trench rushing towards us, I immediately shot them without hesitation.


    "Wait a minute. Rita Zhukov opened the door and came out. He looked over there. "It''s not German in the trench. Don''t shoot." It''s not the German army. Is it the driver who lied? But since Zhukov said so, there should be no problem, so I stood up straight, hung the submachine gun around my neck again, and closed the insurance.


    Later, the major general in the car ran over in a panic and asked nervously, "what''s the matter?"


    "Nothing." Zhukov said in a smooth tone: "the driver misjudged our soldiers and regarded them as Germans." Then he waved to a man who had just stood up on the other side of the trench and called out, "Hello! Come here


    A captain in a brand-new army coat jumped out of the trench and ran over in the muddy water. He stood up in front of Zhukov and saluted. He said in a loud voice, "Comrade General, Captain Andre, commander of the sixth company of podorisk Infantry School, report to you."


    "How many days have you been defending?" Zhukov asked with concern.


    "The third day and night."


    "How was the enemy''s attack?"


    The captain turned and pointed to the front line to introduce to us: "we beat the enemy across the UGRA river. It seems that this is the enemy''s vanguard. We stick to the East Bank of the river." With that, he turned around and looked at Zhukov, waiting for his statement.


    "How many people are there in the company?" Zhukov asked in a steady tone.


    "140 students. If we can add another company and add 60 people, we can increase the defense depth. Comrade General


    The captain''s words seemed to suit Zhukov''s taste. He turned to the major general next to him and said, "give him 100 people."


    "Difficulties, Comrade General!" The major general looked embarrassed and complained to Zhukov: "in other battalions, the number is less than half. Besides, we stick to such a line of defense


    "I know." Before he could finish, Zhukov interrupted him¡° Look for it. You can look for it anywhere


    "Yes The major general made a helpless promise.


    Zhukov took two steps forward, walked up to the captain and asked, "Captain, if you get a supplement, can you guarantee to hold this area?"


    After a short silence, the captain hesitated and said, "yes. I think we can, Comrade General! "


    "You see, the German Communist should not be allowed to cross the UGRA River and tell the students so."


    "Yes The captain agreed very readily.


    "Wait!" Zhukov immediately changed his mind. "I''ll tell it myself!" With these words, he walked around the captain to the direction of the trench, and I followed him quickly.


    Seeing us coming, the soldiers in the trench stood up one after another. I looked at the trench. It was too simple, narrow and shallow. People squatted in it, their heads were still exposed, and the deflecting bullets were OK. If the German army fired heavily, there would be no survivors left.


    Standing on the edge of the trench, Zhukov glanced around and said in an unhappy tone, "Why are they all wearing German military coats?" As soon as I saw it, most of the soldiers in the trenches were wearing German army coats and boat caps. No wonder the driver took them as Germans just now.


    "Comrade General," one of the soldiers nearest to him took off his German overcoat and stood up to answer him, "it''s just a substitute. It''s really cool to stay in the trench without a military overcoat. Comrade General


    "What''s the matter? Why don''t the soldiers have military coats?" Zhukov looked back at the major general and asked angrily. I carefully observed that the officers in the trenches were wearing military coats, while the soldiers were still wearing thin summer uniforms. He took off his German coat and shivered in the cold wind.


    "The school issued a battle alert. Because of the rush of time, the Quartermaster didn''t have time to make statistics, so he didn''t give military coats to the students." The major general stepped forward and explained to Zhukov.


    "Take the quartermaster to court martial." Zhukov said angrily. I estimate that if the Quartermaster stands in front of him, he will definitely be shot¡° You must deliver the army coat on time in the evening. You should do it yourself. "¡° Yes! I see The major general agreed and returned to his original position. Zhukov walked back and forth a few steps on the edge of the trench, and then said aloud, "you are all good! Children, you can''t step back. You have to hit the last one. "Then you squat down and say to the soldier in a kind voice," I ask you, do you understand? Children He reached for the soldier''s head and said softly, "hold on for another two days." Then he stood up and gave an order to the major general as he walked: "we must get a military coat at night."¡° Yes The major general saluted Zhukov as he passed him. The car came unsteadily. I took the lead to open the door and let Zhukov in. Then he opened the back door and got into the car¡° Where are we going next? Comrade General. " The driver asked as he drove¡° Next, it''s time for us to go to borojino, where the headquarters of the Western Front Army are. " Welcome to our website www.start.com. The latest, fastest and most popular serial works are all original!

 Chapter 33

    The atmosphere in the car is very depressing.


    Zhukov sat in the front row without saying a word, and the driver was just concentrating on driving. I sat in the back, bored through the window looking at the scenery outside, the forest tree leaves almost lost, and the grass on the ground is still green.


    I fully understand Zhukov''s feelings at this moment. He is feeling sorry for the students. Although he said that on the battlefield just now, he was also very clear in his heart that it would be in vain to let those children who are only adults, with their simple equipment, and with their young flesh and blood to hold such a battlefield and resist the German armored forces. In the face of this reality, he can do nothing. After all, there are no troops of our army behind them for the time being. If they don''t find a way to stop the Germans, they will rush all the way to Moscow.


    "Shayt," Zhukov said to the driver, "are you a borojino?" As soon as he spoke, the oppressive atmosphere in the car was swept away.


    "Yes, Comrade General." The driver, shayt, replied cheerfully.


    "Anyway, the road is boring, so you can tell us the glorious history of borojino." When I heard Zhukov''s words, my attention immediately focused, because I knew nothing about this place. I hope I can learn more about this area through the driver''s story.


    "All right." The driver promised to tell us the story of borojino while driving. In June 1812, Napoleon, the French emperor who conquered most of Europe, led 600000 troops to invade Russia. He threatened to defeat Russia in half a year.


    Because of the successive failures of the Russian army in the early days of the war, Czar Alexander I thought that it was because of the incompetence of the Russian army commander Prince de Tuoli, so he removed his post and replaced him with the old Kutuzov. Kutuzov, who was supported by his subordinates, assembled a large number of troops according to the changes in the situation on the battlefield, and took the initiative to fight a decisive battle with the French army in the borojino area in September.


    Although the battle ended with the withdrawal of the Russian army, the French army failed to get along with it, and both sides suffered heavy casualties. Soon after he occupied Moscow, Napoleon was threatened by the shortage of troops and logistic supplies, and finally he had to withdraw from Moscow. At this time, Kutuzov took the opportunity to organize troops to carry out a comprehensive counterattack and completely defeated the invading French army. In the end, Napoleon fled back to Paris with only a few hundred people.


    I also remember what kind of place it is when I listen to shayt. When I was a student in Tolstoy''s war and peace, I saw this history described in the book, which is worthy of Russian pride. At that time, the Russians and the French fought a decisive battle here to determine the fate of the country. I didn''t expect that one hundred and thirty years later, the Soviets would fight a decisive battle against the invading German devils here. Fortunately, both Napoleon and Hitler suffered a lot in this place called borogino.


    The silent memory in my mind revived, recalling the details of the novel. I remember that later lemontov wrote a long poem called pologino. However, the poem was too long for me to remember completely, so I tentatively asked the driver, "do you remember the long poem" pologino "by lemontov


    "Yes, of course!" The driver said excitedly, and then began to read aloud: "uncle, do you mean it? Moscow burned in flames, but not cheap? Didn''t you fight several tough battles? It is said that it was extremely fierce at that time. No wonder we all in Russia remember borojino!... "


    "... yes, our people at that time were not the people of today''s generation. They were heroes - not like you! We had a hard time and didn''t get many people back from the battlefield. If God didn''t have that intention, how could he give up Moscow? " Zhukov read with interest.


    While they were happily reciting this famous poem together, I suddenly heard a huge engine roar outside. I looked around in a hurry, concentrating on the source of the strange sound. When I looked out of the window, I saw a long gun pipe sticking out of the woods in front of me. Then a birch tree fell to the ground, and the turret of a tank appeared in my view.


    "It''s a German tank! Back up I interrupted the two men''s poetry recitation and patted the driver anxiously on the shoulder.


    The car suddenly stopped, and I hurriedly opened the safety of the submachine gun, ready to roll down the window and shoot out. Just then, a shell landed a few meters away from the car, exploded, splashed mud into the sky, and then hit the car heavily. The glass on my side was immediately covered with thick mud, completely blocking my view.


    The driver made a quick turn and stepped on the gas to get out of the dangerous area. The machine guns on the German tanks began to fire, and a long string of bullets hit our bodies accurately, jingling. Then, another shell exploded behind the car, and the mud covered the glass behind the car tightly.


    I thought I should shoot out. I quickly smashed the glass of the back window with the butt of my gun. I put out the submachine gun from the window, pointed it at the position of the enemy tank, and pulled the trigger. I was shooting instinctively. I didn''t think it would have any effect to shoot a tank with a submachine gun. I didn''t even hear the sound of bullets coming out of the tank. I just felt that the submachine gun was shaking in my hand and spewing a shuttle of bullets at the German tank.


    "Rush into the forest." I heard Zhukov behind me shouting to the driver. The bullets in the disc were exhausted, and I skillfully replaced the new clip and continued to shoot at the tank. However, due to the bumpy car, most of the bullets I fired failed to hit the target. Maybe it was because the road was muddy and the German tanks were moving too slowly, so they just fired at us from a distance and didn''t catch up with us. In a short time, we lost our efforts¡° are you all right? Rita Zhukov in the front row asked with concern¡° No injuries? "¡° business as usual. Georgi konstantinovic. " Although there was no German tank behind, my heart was still pounding. When I heard Zhukov''s question, I tried my best to make my knees no longer tremble and let my voice become calm. "The enemy has been rid of by us." We took a walk through the forest and did not arrive at the western front command in borojino until evening. As I got out of the car, I heard shayt counting bullet holes in the car. He looked up and said to us, "what a miracle! There were at least 40 bullets in the car body, and the trunk lid was screened, but the fuel tank and engine were still intact, so we can come back safely. It seems that we have God''s blessing. "¡° Come on, shayt Zhukov said, "count your miracles in the future. First drive the car to the maintenance station to repair it."¡° Yes Shayt agreed and was about to open the door when Zhukov stopped her. Zhukov hugged him and said gratefully, "thank you, young man. You saved our lives."¡° What are you saying? Comrade General. " "Look what you said," said shayt, somewhat surprised! I''m going to save my own life. It''s not the same thing¡° All right, "Zhukov said¡° I won''t forget it. It''s rare for you to return to Bologna. I wanted to give you a few days off to go home and see your family. But I can''t. the battle may be about to begin, shayt. Maybe in a day, maybe not a day, the battle will start He stopped for a moment and said, "now, you drive to the maintenance station immediately, immediately." Then he turned to me and said, "follow me to the headquarters, brave girl." Then walk to the house where the headquarters is. I looked at his back, then went up to shayt, looked at him and said sincerely, "thank you!" Then he picked up his toes and gave a kiss on his cheek. Without waiting for him to say anything, he immediately turned to Zhukov, who was walking in front of him.

 Chapter 34

    I followed Zhukov along the long corridor.


    At the end of the corridor there was a room with a closed door. There was a table at the door. There was a lieutenant without a military cap sitting there. Seeing us coming, he quickly stood up and whispered to Zhukov, "senior general, they are all waiting for you. Please come in." Then he turned and opened the door.


    Watching Zhukov go straight to the door, I immediately stopped and prepared to stop here to wait for him to come out. After all, this kind of place can''t be easily entered by little people like me.


    As soon as Zhukov''s foot entered the room, he stopped, looked back at me, frowned and said, "what are you doing standing there? Come in with me. " Since Zhukov let me in, I don''t have to wait for him at the door and trot to his side. Just as he was about to enter the door, he felt that his image of carrying a submachine gun was somewhat unsightly, so he took off the weapon hanging around his neck and handed it to the index Lieutenant standing by. Then he followed Zhukov into the mysterious room.


    Zhukov didn''t speak after entering the door. He took off his military coat and hat and handed it to me. Then he put his hand into his trouser pocket and leaned against the wall to watch the people in the room talking. I took his clothes and hat, hung it on the clothes rack next to him, closed the door and stood beside him.


    By the window of the room, there were several people sitting around the table, and a dusty general standing in the middle of the room. When I look at it carefully, sitting in the middle of the table is a round faced old man with a straight suit, gold rimmed glasses and a beard. In his left hand is marshal voroshlov, and in his right hand is a thin middle-aged man in military civilian clothes. General konev, the former commander of the western front army, sits opposite them. Standing general is a general, his coat is covered with mud, looks particularly embarrassed.


    I heard marshal voroshlov ask the general unhappily: "general rokosovsky, why did you leave the 16th army and stand out the encirclement of the German army alone?"


    In the face of the Marshal''s rebuke, general rokosovsky defended himself humbly: "Comrade marshal of the Soviet Union, I have been ordered to go to vyajima to accept the 16th army. The order says that there are five divisions waiting for me to command. I didn''t realize until I arrived that there were no troops there at all. "


    "What?" The marshal was surprised and asked, "are there no troops there? Whose orders do you take? "


    "Yes, I didn''t see any troops." The general said, took out a folded paper from his coat pocket and handed it to the Marshal''s position¡° This is the order I received, signed by admiral konev, commander of the Western Front Army. "


    The marshal stood up, took the document from the general, opened it, looked at it, and then frowned at konev, who was still sitting there. Seeing the Marshal''s unfriendly expression, the Admiral quickly stood up and explained: "yes, I signed the order. Originally, lieutenant general rokosovsky was able to obtain five divisions in viajima. However, these troops were all entangled in the battle with the German army, so they did not arrive at viagima on time


    "Pa!" After hearing this, the marshal burst into a rage, slapped the paper heavily on the table, and yelled at konev angrily: "do you know that this is a crime? Let an excellent commander to command the nonexistent troops, this kind of irresponsible written military deployment directly led to the deviation of the judgment of the headquarters on the enemy''s situation. Do you know how much loss this will bring to our army? "


    In the face of the Marshal''s interrogation, konev just said: "the enemy''s strength is too strong, they have mastered the initiative of the war." The middle-aged man in military civilian clothes stood up and interrupted him: "enough, comrade konev, this is the argument of defeatism. It seems that you have been frightened by the enemy. In view of the current complex situation, I declare on behalf of the people''s Committee of the interior: you are arrested Then he turned to the round faced old man beside him and said, "I think the case of general konev should be submitted to the military court immediately."


    As soon as the middle-aged man in the interior department spoke, the room fell into silence. Konev stood there with an iron face and did not say a word. The marshal returned to his position in silence. Only general rokosovsky looked at the depressed general with sympathetic eyes. After all, the clean-up movement, which has just passed, is still fresh in our memory. Even though we know that the people in the Ministry of internal affairs are arbitrary, we dare not speak up.


    I couldn''t help looking at Zhukov beside me. He stared at several people in the room without expression, as if what happened just now had nothing to do with him.


    At this moment, a telephone placed on the wall of the room rang. The round faced old man in suit, who had never spoken, stood up and walked slowly to the phone and picked up the receiver.


    "Hello, who is it?" Asked the round faced old man. The sound from the receiver was loud enough for the whole room to hear the conversation.


    "Molotov?" Stalin''s voice came from the microphone.


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." Although the other side couldn''t see it at all, the round faced old man nodded habitually when answering. I thought to myself, the old man''s name is Molotov. His name sounds familiar, but I can''t remember his position?


    "Is Zhukov here?" Stalin asked¡° Zhukov? " Molotov asked in a puzzled way, and then looked over to where we were standing. It turned out that we had been in so long that no one in the room found us. He saw Zhukov standing at the door and quickly replied, "yes, he has arrived. He will come right away." Then he took the receiver away from his ear and stretched it in our direction. Zhukov walked over with heavy steps, took the phone from Molotov''s hand, looked at Stalin opposite the microphone, and said smoothly, "I''m Zhukov, comrade Stalin."¡° Judging from the current situation, the decision of the base camp to appoint you as the new commander of the western front army is correct. Do you have any objection to our appointment? "¡° I obey "I have a request to appoint general konev as my deputy to be the deputy commander of the front army," Zhukov said in a calm voice There is no sound in the microphone. It is estimated that Stalin is considering this problem. The staff of the Ministry of internal affairs just said that they would arrest konev and send him to the military court. They decided that it was not a spur of the moment, but rather the advice of others at a higher level¡° Are you still there? Comrade Stalin. " Zhukov couldn''t help but ask when he didn''t hear each other''s voice¡° Members of the National Defense Commission have great opinions on konev. " I heard Stalin say this from a distance and thought to myself: I''m afraid it''s not the members of the National Defense Commission who have opinions on konev, but you are not satisfied with him! However, these words can only be thought about in mind, and can never be said¡° Konev is very familiar with the combat area. " Zhukov turned to konev and tried to persuade Stalin at the other end of the telephone line, "I think konev should be assigned to lead the troops in the direction of Kalinin." When Zhukov said this, I found admiral konev''s face was grateful and his eyes were red¡° This area is so far apart that I need to have my own Deputy there. "¡° All right After a while, Stalin finally agreed with Zhukov''s proposal. He continued: "all the remaining units of the reserve front army are transferred by you, and they will be taken over as soon as possible." Then the phone was hung up. After putting down the microphone, Zhukov faced several big figures from the headquarters and said, "as the new commander of the Western Front Army, I want to talk to the members of the National Defense Commission about my views." When he said that, it dawned on me that these are the members who have opinions on konev! Zhukov took another look at konev, and then said: "the troops of the western front army fought bravely and tenaciously. The main thing is that they didn''t run away. I think... "He took two steps forward and pointed to konev." this is also the achievement of the former leader of the Western Front Army. " He went to the table, put his hands on the table, looked at the three members of the National Defense Commission, and continued: "they saved Moscow with their precious lives. We should pay tribute to those soldiers who fight to the end in the cruel battle of defense and fight to the death in the encirclement. They held back the main force of the German army and delayed the German attack for eight days. We should make full use of this achievement and build a new front in front of Moscow. " At this point, he stood up straight and turned to greet general rokosovsky standing on one side: "Comrade General rokosovsky, commander of the 16th group army," when he heard his name, the lieutenant general hurried up to him and stood up, "now I''m going to set up a combat mission for you. You are going to cut off the enemy''s road to Moscow. "¡° Are there any troops? " Asked rokosovsky impatiently. Zhukov pondered for a moment, then nodded and answered in a very positive tone: "there should be!" After a pause, he said, "the Minsk Road on your left will be cut off by other troops." When Zhukov finished his assignment to rokosovsky, the lieutenant general saluted everyone and turned to walk outside. I hastened to open the door for him, and when he left, I closed it again. Konev left with the three members of the National Defense Commission. He will follow Zhukov''s orders and immediately set out from here to command the Kalinin front army in a new area. When marshal Voroshilov was about to leave, he suddenly stopped me and said, "major oshanina, when Comrade Zhukov went to see you in the hotel in the morning, he forgot something important. Now I''ve brought it for you. Put it away Then he handed me a red certificate. He shook hands with me and strode out. When I opened my ID card, it turned out to be a new military officer''s ID card. The picture pasted in it was the one I took in the Kremlin guard room yesterday.

 Chapter 35

    Zhukov and I lived in a suite with a bathroom arranged by the staff of the headquarters.


    Zhukov pointed to the room inside and said to me, "Rita, you can live in that room. I live outside in this one. " Without waiting for me to say anything, he turned to the staff who accompanied us and said, "bring me a map, and then lead the telephone line to my room."


    Is it appropriate to live under the same roof as Zhukov? I stood in the room, hesitated for a moment, and finally entered my own room. The furnishings in my room are very simple. There is no furniture except a table and a bed. I put the submachine gun on the table, took off my military coat, hung it on the wall, sat by the bed and took off my boots.


    Today, I ran outside for a day. Although I spent most of my time in the car, I still felt tired after such a thrilling experience. I just wanted to lie down and have a rest, but I fell asleep.


    I woke up hungry in the middle of the night and wanted to find something to eat. When he was about to pull the door to go out, he suddenly remembered that Zhukov lived outside, so that going out would not disturb his rest, right? I want to wait until dawn to go out, but I''m really hungry. I haven''t eaten anything all day.


    I gently opened the door, and unexpectedly found that the lights were bright outside. Zhukov was sitting at the table looking at the map. It seemed that he was so busy that he still had no rest. Hearing me open the door, he said without looking up, "Rita, you wake up. Go and get me a cup of tea."


    "Yes." I quickly agreed and ran outside to find someone.


    There were soldiers on duty outside the door. When they saw me coming out, they immediately stood at attention and saluted me. I went up to him and asked him, "can you help me find something to eat and pour me a cup of tea?"


    "Yes, comrade major!" He promised and ran away. Looking at his back, I feel strange. How does he know I''m a major? Looking down, it turned out that I didn''t wear the soldier''s military coat, so the rank of major in summer clothes was very clear.


    After a short time, the soldier came over with a tray on which I put what I needed. He handed me the tray and helped me open the door. I gave him a thank you and went into the room with the tray. Put tea cups, teapots, plates with fine sugar, plates with military black bread and sliced cooked pork on the table.


    Zhukov looked up at me and said with satisfaction, "thank you, Rita. Let''s sit down and eat. "


    I''m so hungry that I won''t be polite to him. I just sat down on the chair next to him, picked up a piece of dry bread and began to chew it.


    "Lida," Zhukov said, "I just received a call from Comrade Stalin. I have already transferred three anti-aircraft artillery regiments from Moscow overnight to our borojino line."


    "Is it to strengthen air defense?" I asked with dry bread in my mouth.


    "No, not for air defense. These anti-aircraft guns are used to strengthen our anti tank forces." He continued with an appreciative tone: "in the case of our army''s serious shortage of anti tank weapons, it is very effective on the battlefield to use the anti-aircraft artillery method you invented to hit tanks."


    I laughed and didn''t speak. To tell you the truth, it seems that I saw so many World War II movies and novels before, which are very useful. At least Rommel''s tactics against the British army can be used against the German army.


    Zhukov added: "our army suffered great losses in the war, and the morale was inevitably affected. Do you have any good ways to boost your morale? "


    "Parade." I answered him almost without thinking.


    "Parade?" "What parade?" he asked, frowning and puzzled


    "The traditional military parade on October Revolution Day!" When I think of the exciting parade that later generations witnessed in red square, I am also a little excited. "Although the enemy is coming down, our leaders still calmly hold a grand parade ceremony in red square, which is a great inspiration to the morale of the people."


    "Red Square parade?" Zhukov listened to me and began to think. I don''t think he''s talking. I''ll hurry to eat so that I won''t be able to eat again.


    "Where did the parade come from? What about the evacuation of these troops after the parade? " He seemed to talk to himself and to ask me¡° In addition, the German air attack on Moscow almost never stopped, so many troops gathered in a small area, once they were found by the enemy''s air force and attacked, they would suffer heavy losses. At that time, it was not only unable to achieve the purpose of boosting morale, but also counterproductive. "


    "The troops can be transferred from several aspects: the first is the reserve troops transferred from the rear, the second is the troops directly under the Moscow military region, and the third is to transfer some combat backbones from the troops on the front line to form a temporary reading unit." As a pacer of later generations, I know very well the role and far-reaching influence of the parade, so I want to try my best to promote the parade on October Revolution Day¡° Air defense is not a big problem. Let the air force increase the patrol density over Moscow and shorten the time of the parade. Even if the German air force gets the information, the parade will be over by the time they arrive. As for the evacuation of troops... "Speaking of this, I deliberately stopped for a moment, took a sip of the tea cup on the table, and then slowly said," we first prepared a large number of trucks on the Moscow river. After the troops arrived at the river through Red Square, they directly got on the bus and drove to the front line. "


    Zhukov listened to me, stood up without a word, and walked back and forth in the room with his hands on his back. I know that my proposal is very attractive to him, and he will never object to it. What he considers is how to put forward this proposal to the supreme commander in proper terms and try to put it into practice. Zhukov stopped in the room, picked up the phone on the desk, dialed a set of numbers, and said, "I''m Zhukov. Please connect me with marshal shaposnikov." After a while, I heard him say: "marshal, I have a proposal. Please pass it on to Comrade Stalin after dawn..." when he called, I went back to my room with interest. One is that my level is too low. I have to pretend that I don''t know many things I shouldn''t know, even if I am the initiator. Second, I have been out all day. My clothes and boots are dirty and covered with mud. It''s time to wash them. In the next few days, Zhukov didn''t give me any specific work. That said, I''m sorry to be idle, so I can only play a temporary role as a signalman and waiter. Help him send the orders to all departments of the headquarters every day, and then bring back all kinds of reports from all departments. When it''s time to eat, go to the restaurant to help him bring food back and eat with him. The situation lasted until October 12. When we had finished breakfast, Zhukov suddenly said, "Rita, are you bored to stay in these days? If you go on like this, you''ll get fat. For the sake of your figure, we should go out for a walk today! " So I immediately cleaned up the tableware on the table and handed it to the soldiers on duty outside. Then I went back to my room, put on my military coat and submachine gun, and left the headquarters behind him in the image of Zhukov''s female bodyguard. We were in the same car the other day. The broken windows had been replaced with brand new ones. The trunk lid had been repaired and repainted. When we got on the bus, the driver didn''t speak and started the car directly. It seems that he already knows where our destination is. I looked at the back, but we were the only car with no other guards. After what happened last time, I was a little bit scared. I couldn''t help worrying and asked, "Comrade General, don''t we take guards?"¡° Rita, aren''t you the best guard? " Zhukov joked at me, and then said, "this section of the road is behind our defense line. You won''t encounter German tanks again. You don''t have to worry." After all, Zhukov is not only a famous general, but also a lucky general. He has never been injured in the war. There should be no problem with his safety. The car stopped in front of a tent in the forest. The soldiers standing guard at the door watched us walk down from the car, quickly stood at attention, saluted and said to Zhukov, "senior general, the commanders of the 16th army are all in the tent." Zhukov nodded and went straight in, and I followed. The space in the tent is very high. You can stand up straight after entering. As soon as we went in, several people who had been sitting inside immediately stood up. Lieutenant general rokosovsky, whom I am familiar with, immediately went over to salute Zhukov and said, "Comrade General, the commanders of the 16th army are having a meeting. Please give us your instructions."¡° I''ll see how you''re getting ready, "Zhukov said, looking at the others in the tent." who are the others? " A general in a black cape called out, "I''m the commander of the third guard cavalry." Then mustache, wearing a khaki fur coat, reported, "I am major general Panfilo, division commander of the 316th infantry division from central and Western Asia." Finally, a handsome officer in a blue cotton coat reported: "I am the commander of the 32nd far east red flag infantry division, Colonel polosucci. The whole division is fully equipped and ready to fight at any time."

 Chapter 36

    For the next few hours, although I was sitting in the tent for the meeting, I was absent-minded. As a rule, every time I''m distracted, my Russian Listening will almost automatically return to zero.


    I watched in a daze as the cavalry commander and Colonel polosucci took turns to stand up and speak. Zhukov and rokosovsky explained their views after their speeches. What they said reached my ears and turned into a bunch of meaningless foreign language words.


    When major general panfeiluofu stood up to speak, I finally regained my concentration. This man from Central Asia and Western Asia, with a Ren Dan beard, looks like a Japanese bandit. This aroused my interest in him. He could barely understand what he said. He said slowly: "my division is full of vitality. There are 15000 people there. It is made up of the old system, and the commanders are selected, Political workers are all activists in Kazakhstan. We are going to fight! "


    His speech soon ended, and I was a little absent-minded again. I stared at his moustache, which looked particularly annoying. I thought if I was not a major general of the Soviet army, but a ferocious Japanese pirates in front of me, would I just take out a pistol and shoot him in the head.


    "Rita!" It seemed that someone was calling my name. I looked around and didn''t find the speaker¡° Rita! " Zhukov''s voice came clearly, and I came back to myself. It turned out that this general was calling me, "Rita, what are you doing? It''s time for us to go." He said it with some displeasure in his voice, then stood up and shook hands with rokosovsky, who stood up at the same time.


    Zhukov and I went out of the tent, and we came out with colonel borosushi. I looked at him in surprise and thought: what''s he doing with us?


    Just as I was guessing, Zhukov, who was already in the car, poked his head out of the window and said, "Colonel borosushi, get in the car and go. Take us to your defense line."


    On hearing this, I quickly opened the door and asked Colonel borosushi to get on. He said very politely: "honey, how can I get on the bus first? You are a lady, or after you Since he said that, I was not polite, so I got into the car, sat down and moved to the other side to make room for him. When he got in, he sat down next to me and closed the door.


    Under the direction of the colonel, the car quickly drove to a position nearby. Through the window, I saw a lot of people in civilian clothes in the trench were nervously digging the fortifications. As soon as we got out of the car, a lieutenant commander climbed out of the trench and ran towards us. In front of us, a man saluted and reported to Zhukov in a loud voice, "Comrade General, the 230th preparatory training regiment is guarding the position. All of them are moscoks."


    Zhukov looked left and right, then raised his voice and said in a loud voice, "Hello, muscovite!"


    Hearing his voice, all the people stopped their work, turned their eyes on him, and answered neatly, "Hello! Comrade General. "


    Zhukov, accompanied by us, walked along the trench, looking at the soldiers in civilian clothes in the trench. As he walked, he asked, "where did these people come from?"


    Hearing his question, the commander quickly stepped forward and introduced to him, "mainly the workers from the sickle and hammer factory." He pointed to one of the nearest fighters and said, "this is engineer grigliev." The old man standing in the trench heard the lieutenant commander introducing himself to the senior commander, took off the presbyopia glasses on the bridge of his nose, and said to Zhukov in an ordinary voice: "Hello! Comrade General. "


    "Hello Zhukov nodded to him and went on.


    "This is the senior electrician in the factory." With the introduction of the colonel, the middle-aged man standing in the trench and shovel was coming to attention, and in a passionate tone of voice, respectfully, he said, "Hello, general Comrade."


    "These are the workers in the sand turning workshop. They are also from the sickle and hammer factory." The soldiers came to attention and looked at the general passing in front of them with reverent eyes.


    "This is paplov and his son." When the commander introduced the father and son soldiers, the young man flushed with excitement and looked up at us. And when the father, but some embarrassed to bow his head.


    Zhukov stopped, squatted down, and asked the old man with great interest, "are you from Moscow?"


    "Absolutely right, Comrade General!" Zhukov''s approachability relieved his nervousness. He looked up excitedly at the general in front of him.


    "How''s the mood?" Zhukov continued.


    "Full of fighting spirit, Comrade General! However, "he looked at his son in embarrassment and said hesitantly," the monitor just now wants to drive us old men away. Look at this... "


    "Who is this?" Zhukov digs away and points to the young man next to him. I can''t help but laugh. Zhukov, I know what he is asking. Just now, the commander has introduced us that this is the father and son of Pavlov, and the one next to him must be his son.


    The old man turned to look at his son, who was embarrassed to touch the back of his head, and replied with pride, "my son, Pavlov, has just been promoted and become a first-class soldier today." At this point, he stopped for a moment, and then said with some embarrassment: "but you see, I still... Or..." "ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Zhukovlang laughed. Although the old man didn''t finish what he said, he understood the old man''s meaning. He patted him on the shoulder and said, "it''s OK, old man. After this battle, I''ll ask you to be a sergeant. I''ll take care of it myself." With that, Zhukov stood up and went on. I heard the old man in the trench say to his son, "do you hear me? Chief, Comrade General said it himself. "¡° What flag is that? " Not far ahead, Zhukov suddenly stopped and asked, pointing to a flag in the trench in front of him. I looked in the direction of his finger. It was a dark brown double headed eagle flag. It didn''t look like the flag of the Soviet army¡° Comrade general, it was the banner of the Moscow militia in 1812. "Upon hearing Zhukov''s question, Colonel borosushi stepped forward and explained to him," it was taken from the borojino war museum this morning. I want these glorious flags to protect them. "¡° Well, that''s a good idea. " Zhukov nodded and agreed: "hope can bring luck to the troops in the battle." After inspecting the position, Zhukov shook hands with colonel borosushi to say goodbye. But I saw the Colonel cast a glance at Zhukov, in which a sort of nervous look flashed. But I quickly denied myself: I must have been dazzled, and the colonel was not a man on the first day of battle. He should not show such a fear. The Colonel made an unexpected gesture, as if to keep Zhukov, and confirmed his action with the following words¡° I can... Ask you, senior general,... Can you grant me a request? " I began to despise him in my heart. Did he want to ask Zhukov to transfer him to the rear and let others command the army? You know, Zhukov''s character is impossible to agree to him¡° Do you have any problems with... " Zhukov''s tone was very severe, and his address changed from "you" to "you"¡° There''s a soldier getting married tonight, "the Colonel asked hesitantly." I hope you can stay for the wedding. "¡° Soldiers marry? " Zhukov asked in surprise. I was also surprised to hear him say that before the battle was about to start, there were soldiers who wanted to get married. Would Zhukov agree¡° It''s an Azerbaijani soldier, "said the colonel, fearing that Zhukov would interrupt him." there''s a company of Azerbaijanis in the division. They all followed you in Nomenkan and taught the Japanese a lesson... "" got it. " Without waiting for the colonel to finish, Zhukov readily agreed: "since they are all old comrades in arms who fought with the Japanese in Nomenkan. Then, I must attend this wedding. "

 Chapter 37

    Azerbaijan! As soon as I hear the name of this country, my teeth itch.


    This kind of deep hatred originated from the end of June and the beginning of July 2009 when Moscow''s cherkizovo market was suddenly closed by the government, and all businesses'' goods were sealed in the market. In this case, the black hairs with bad reputation, especially the Azerbaijanis who are in business, have a bad idea. Even if they still pat you on the shoulder during the day, and you brotherhood, vowed to say that you will be in the same boat. But in the evening, they will still spend money quietly to bribe the security guards guarding the market and sneak into the market. They either pry open the shops of Chinese businessmen and steal the goods and money inside, or sweep up all the goods that Chinese businessmen put in their shops to sell, and then flee.


    In this way, in just one or two weeks, the actions of this small group of people made Azerbaijanis become notorious street mice. Even those who later dealt with Chinese businessmen would solemnly declare: "I am not Azerbaijani." Then he would scold indignantly: "Azerbaijanis are all bad guys!"


    I often think: if I met those Azerbaijanis who rolled up my goods and ran away, and I happened to have a knife in my hand at that time, would I stab them without hesitation?


    As soon as Zhukov turned his head, he happened to see my gnashing face. He was surprised and asked, "what''s the matter with you, Rita?"


    He asked, immediately let me wake up from the gaffe, I quickly covered up and said: "nothing, toothache!"


    "Toothache?" Zhukov looked at me sympathetically. "There are no dentists in the army. If you have severe pain, I''ll accompany you back to the health worker for some painkillers, and we won''t go to the wedding. "


    "Don''t, don''t delay your going to the soldier''s wedding. My toothache doesn''t matter. I can bear it. Thank you for your concern, Georgi konstantinovic You know, Nomenkan is Zhukov''s famous battle. He didn''t know how happy he was to meet his old comrades here. Now that he has promised the colonel to attend the wedding, I can''t let him break his promise. Even if he hates azerbaijanism any more, he can only stick to his head and give up his life to accompany a gentleman.


    Under the direction of Colonel borosushi, our car came to a building two or three kilometers away from the front, where the wedding will be held. Several young soldiers were standing at the door, greeting the guests. I saw that almost all the people who came into the building were soldiers.


    Seeing us coming, the two soldiers at the door came running towards us. When he arrived, he stood at attention and saluted. One of them reported to Zhukov loudly: "Comrade General, Sergeant Elson reports to you that we are preparing for the wedding. Please give me directions! "


    "There''s nothing to tell you," Zhukov said with a smile. "Keep busy. We''re just here to have a look. We''re all old comrades in arms who have participated in the battle of Nomenkan."


    "I have seen you, Comrade General." The young soldier next to Elson said suddenly.


    "Oh, really? When? " Zhukov asked with interest.


    "In August 1939, the day before we launched a counter offensive against the Japanese army, you went to our regiment to give instructions. After defeating the Japanese, you personally awarded me a medal. "


    Medal. Hearing this word, I saw a bright medal on the soldier''s chest. Zhukov looked at the medal on the soldier''s chest, nodded and said, "well, I''m a little impressed. I remember you killed 75 Japanese soldiers on the battlefield alone. I remember right, private gasang. Oh, no, you''re a corporal now. "


    "It''s me, Comrade General." The soldier raised his chest with pride and said excitedly, "I can''t believe you remember me."


    "Comrade General," said the silent Colonel borosushi, "I didn''t expect you to know gasan. Today we are here to attend his wedding."


    "Oh, the groom tonight is you, corporal gasang." Zhukov took gasang''s hand and said, "I didn''t expect that our hero is old enough to start a family. I sincerely congratulate you!"


    Seeing Gesang blushing with shame, Elson even came up to help him out: "Comrade General, thank you very much for coming to my brother''s wedding. Don''t always stand at the door. It''s cold outside. Please sit inside


    The place where the wedding banquet was held turned out to be a restaurant. There are no lights and decorations in the hall. There is no festive atmosphere at all. The table is placed on the four sides of the hall, leaving a wide space in the middle. When I sat down, I was still wondering if there was such a wide space in the middle of the room. Would the bridegroom and bride be allowed to stand here later and perform for the guests?


    I look around curiously. I can''t see any women except me. What''s the matter? How can the wedding be held without a bride?


    When everyone is seated, the wedding begins.


    Corporal gasan, accompanied by his brother Elson, came to the middle of the room. I thought that as in China, I would ask leaders to make a speech first, so I turned my eyes to Zhukov and borosushi. But when I saw that they were still sitting there, watching the excitement with great interest, I also turned my eyes to the two brothers standing in the middle.


    Elson rattled away in Azerbaijani for a long time, but I didn''t understand a word. Then an elderly man in casual clothes came up, and he continued to talk for a long time, but I still didn''t understand even one word. It was not until Elson spoke again and repeated what he had just said to us in Russian that he realized that he was blessing his brother.


    After Elson finished his speech, then his village uncles took turns to speak in the middle. They all congratulated gasan and said something to wish him happiness. Until the beginning of the dance, no one asked Zhukov or polosucci to come forward and say a few words, as if they had forgotten them. It is inconceivable that such a cold leader would be replaced in China.


    Why is there no bride on the wedding? I asked polosucci curiously. He was also vague, saying vaguely that it might be Azerbaijani tradition. According to the rules, if there is no bride at the wedding, no other women can appear at the wedding. My presence is absolutely an anomaly.


    After everyone''s blessing to the bridegroom, accompanied by two best men, the bridegroom went back to a table in the corner and sat down to eat. As for the work of toasting the guests, his brother Elson represented him.


    When Elson came to our table for a toast, Zhukov drank two full glasses of vodka very forthrightly, and borosushi drank the vodka in one drink. When it was my turn, I only took a symbolic sip. I knew that my drinking capacity was not good. If I got drunk, I would make a fool of myself again.


    After a round of drinking, the guests rushed to the middle of the venue, kicking the wooden floor with leather boots, and dancing with the rhythm of accordion. When I was happy, there were two people standing beside the dance floor throwing money into the air. These five gobis and ten gobis fell like snowflakes. When the money was finished, they squatted down again to pick up the money on the ground and sprinkle it again, so they sprinkled it again and again. It is said that throwing money at the wedding ceremony means that newlyweds will have endless wealth in the future.


    Zhukov looked at the dancers with a smile and whispered a few words to borosushi from time to time. I turn hatred into food. Anyway, the descendants of these Azerbaijanis have cheated me. At this wedding banquet, I will open up my appetite and eat back all my losses. I put all the caviar, foie gras, salmon and so on on on the table into my own bowl, and ate them in spite of my lady image.


    "Comrade major," I heard a nice voice. Looking up, a young and handsome sergeant stood in front of me. He asked me with a smile, "may I have a dance with you?"


    I put down my knife and fork and looked at Zhukov, who was sitting opposite me. He nodded with a smile, indicating that I would accept the invitation. Since he does not object, I have no reason to object. Reached out a hand, stood up with his help, and jumped up with him in the middle.


    He put his arms around my waist and slowly circled in the middle of the dance floor. He leaned close to my ear and whispered, "honey, you are so beautiful."


    "Thank you, of course." I speak more and more like an old hairy woman.


    "My name is Lai. What shall I call you? "


    Hearing this name, it was actually the same as the name of the black maozi who ran the most goods for me. I couldn''t help but itch with hatred. I thought that the laii in front of me would not be the ancestor of the laii in later generations? I didn''t want to pay any attention to him, but since others have asked me politely, it would be impolite if I didn''t answer, so I just said, "please call me oshanina."


    "Beautiful major, let''s go out for a walk." As soon as I finished my name, he suddenly made such a request. I understand very well that the walk he said is not equal to drinking beer and eating crayfish for later generations, and then finding a quiet place to discuss life. On such a cold day, I went out to find a haystack to discuss my life, but I didn''t get sick. So I rejected him very directly: "sorry, no way."


    "Honey, I love you." His confession is quite direct.


    "But I don''t love you." I answered him coldly.


    With that, I wanted to push him away and go back to my seat. But he held me tightly, his left hand around my waist, and his right hand skillfully stretched out from the middle of the buttons in the front of my military uniform, grabbed my right chest and rubbed it recklessly. My blood rushed to my face. I didn''t expect this man to be so shameless, but I couldn''t shout out on such an occasion. In the United States, this is * *; But in Russia, this is the most common thing, we all think it is a natural good thing. I don''t want to eat such a dumb loss. After struggling for several times, I stamped on his instep. While he was holding his injured foot and jumping in place, I took the opportunity to run back to my seat.


    Before I could catch my breath, I caught a glimpse of Zhukov looking down at his watch. Then I heard him say to borosushi, "Colonel, it''s getting late. It''s time for Rita and I to go back to headquarters." Then he stood up, held out his hand, shook it with the colonel, and said, "good health to you, good-bye!"


    Then he walked around the table and strode out. I also quickly shook hands with the colonel and left the room behind Zhukov. Welcome to our website www.start.com. The latest, fastest and most popular serial works are all original!

 Chapter 38

    In the early morning of October 14, the German attack on borojino began. The distant sound of guns woke me up from my sleep. I sat up from my bed and looked out the window. Although it was not bright yet, the reflection of the fire on the southern horizon reddened the sky. There was a soft knock at the door, and Zhukov''s voice rang out: "Rita! Rita! Are you up? " Is Zhukov ready to go to the front? I guessed like this, jumped out of bed, hurriedly dressed and promised loudly: "senior general, I''ve got up. I''ll go out when I''m dressed." After I put on my uniform, I opened the door and went outside. Zhukov was rubbing his hands and walking around the room awkwardly. He was out of his mind. What''s going on? You know, Zhukov is the kind of character that Taishan collapses in front of him without changing his face and heart. What would make him so impolite? My heart is full of curiosity, but there is not good to ask directly. Standing in the same place for a while, seeing that Zhukov didn''t notice my appearance, he took the initiative to say hello to him: "good morning, senior general!"¡° Rita Zhukov heard my voice, stopped, turned to look at me, and asked with concern, "get up, did you sleep well last night?"¡° Good, Georgi konstantinovich I simply answered his question. Knowing that he called me, I must have some important tasks to arrange, so I asked frankly, "do you have any tasks to assign to me?" Zhukov hesitated for a moment, and then slowly said, "I have a special task to give you, but I need to ask your opinion in advance to see if you are willing. If not, I will go to another person."¡° What do you mean? Comrade General. " Seeing that he was so polite to me, I couldn''t help changing "you" into "you" when I answered, "you are the commander. If you have any tasks, just arrange them directly. You don''t need to ask for my opinions." Then he asked cautiously, "do you plan to send me to a specific position in which combat force?"¡° Where, where. " Zhukov shook his head and said, "I haven''t arranged for you to come to the combat forces for the time being. I asked you to come today because of a private matter I want to ask you for help."¡° Can I help you with your personal affairs? " When Zhukov said that, I couldn''t help frowning and racking my brains for a long time, but I didn''t think of anything I could do for Zhukov¡° Yes, Rita Zhukov returned to his usual calm expression and said slowly, "do you remember when we passed a wooden bridge on our way from Moscow a few days ago, I talked about my mother and sister living in a nearby village?"¡° Remember, remember very clearly, Comrade General! " When he said that, I had vaguely guessed what kind of special task he would give me, so I tentatively asked, "is my task related to this matter?"¡° Just now I received information that the German vanguard has approached that area. Maybe tomorrow, or even today, they will occupy it. So I want to send you to the village of strelkovka to help me move my mother and sister out of the village and send them to Moscow. "¡° I see, Comrade General. " I then asked, "who am I going with? Where shall I send your mother and sister to Moscow after they are taken out of the village? "¡° The driver, said, will go with you. I have already agreed with him. He is waiting for you outside. After receiving my mother and sister, you just need to send them to the edge of Moscow, where we left the city last time, and there will naturally be someone to pick you up. " Just then, the phone rang on the desk. Zhukov went to pick up the receiver and said, "I''m Zhukov." I heard from the microphone that I was standing in a daze. I didn''t expect that the last time a German bomb fell into the Kremlin, so many people would be punished. It''s fair to say that the commander of the Antiaircraft Artillery Force was transferred from his post because of the disadvantage of air defense. But the captain of the central guard regiment was also inexplicably demoted, which is too chilling¡° Comrade major. " Sayid didn''t know when to stand beside me and asked me, "what should we do next?"¡° Get in the car and go back to the headquarters of the front army to report to the senior general. " With that, I turned around and walked to the car that was parked.

 Chapter 39

    On the way back to the headquarters of the front army, I was in a very bad mood. It''s true that I was accompanied by a tiger. Being an official in the Kremlin really made people feel precarious. Maybe yesterday was a glorious day, but today I''ve been included in another book. Now it seems that my decision to go to the front line with Zhukov is very wise. No matter what circumstances in the future, whoever proposes to let me work in the Kremlin, I will resolutely refuse.


    Maybe it''s because I''m in a bad mood. Saite doesn''t speak, just drives in silence.


    "Comrade major!" I was boring to remove and install the clip of submachine gun in my hand, and then remove and install it again, when suddenly I heard Saite calling me. I turned to look at him and asked, "what''s the matter?"


    "Another two kilometers ahead, we''ll be at the headquarters of the front army."


    "Really?" After listening to what he said, I immediately turned to look at the forest outside the window. No, the terrain here looks very familiar. According to the current speed, I can reach my destination in a few minutes.


    "Boom!" Suddenly, 20 meters in front of the car, there was a sudden explosion, and a mass of mud rose into the sky.


    Saite slammed on the brakes, and the car plunged into a puddle, splashing a large amount of mud. I was caught off guard and hit my head against the windshield. Fortunately, there is a cotton hat as a buffer, otherwise either the glass is broken or my head is broken. I didn''t care to rub my head, opened the door and jumped out. I looked up at the gray sky, not only did I not see the plane, but I didn''t even hear the roar of the engine.


    Just then, there was another explosion. Now, about 10 meters to the left of the car, another stream of black smoke with mud goes straight to Yunxiao.


    "Lie down!" I fell to the ground as SAET yelled. After a while, I raised my head slightly and looked around in amazement.


    Another mass of mud flew into the sky, and then smashed on the roof of the car. This time, the explosion was very close.


    "It''s a German mortar, comrade major!" Said sait.


    The direction of the headquarters of the front army suddenly heard the sound of intensive gunfire. Although the gunfire was very weak, we could still hear the sound of the familiar Popov submachine gun. Headquarters under attack? Did the German army engage in decapitation tactics and send special forces to attack the headquarters?


    "Comrade major!" Sait yelled at me on the other side of the car¡° We can''t stay here. We have to go back to the headquarters as soon as possible. " Then he opened the door and went in to start the car. I didn''t know the car didn''t start even after it started for a long time.


    "Sait," I got up from the ground and called to the driver in the car, "get out of the car and we''ll go back to the headquarters on foot." I saw some figures shaking in the forest in the distance, whether they were my own people or the German army, and rushed over with guns.


    After more than ten steps forward, I could see clearly that the figures were German devils wearing steel helmets and gray green uniforms. Behind them, there were many snow-white parachutes hanging on the trees. It seemed that they were enemy paratroopers. I rushed to the ground, pulled the trigger of the submachine gun, and fired a series of bullets at them.


    I knocked down two or three, and the rest of the German devils bent over, put their submachine guns against their abdomen, and gradually came closer. Their facial features were clearly visible. I looked back in the direction where the car was parked to see why SAET hadn''t come to help. Just then, a mortar shell hit the car directly. An explosion made the car into a ball of fire.


    "Sait!" I yelled at the burning car. The sacrifice of my comrades in arms made me full of anger and dispelled the original fear in my heart. I roared and stood up, armed with a submachine gun, while firing at the opposite enemy rushed past. When I got rid of the bullets in the magazine, I found that all the German devils who had just rushed over had become the ghosts under my gun.


    I''m turning around and running to the car to see what''s going on with sait. At this time, the car had a bigger explosion, the oncoming heat wave made me have to climb on the ground.


    I got up from the ground, wiped my tears with my sleeve, finally took a look at the burning car and rushed to the headquarters with my submachine gun.


    The more you run forward, the more gunshots you hear. As we ran, we saw the two sides of the exchange of fire. The number of German troops was small, and they retreated step by step under the fierce attack of our security forces. In addition to a large number of commanders at the rank of major and lieutenant, there are even several commanders with the rank of general charging with submachine guns. It seems that even the staff officers in the headquarters fought back against the enemy''s surprise attack.


    I also joined the charging team. The fierce power of the submachine gun showed great power in the approach shooting. Wherever I swept, there would be a lot of enemies falling down.


    There was no suspense about the battle. The German Paratroopers were soon wiped out. More than 100 people were either killed or captured alive. None of them escaped the net.


    I followed a lieutenant general to Zhukov''s room. As soon as I opened the door, I saw Zhukov sitting at his desk looking at a map with a Popov submachine gun on it. It seemed that if the situation was not good, he was going to fight the German army with his gun.


    The lieutenant general saluted Zhukov and said in a loud voice, "report to the general that all enemy paratroopers have been destroyed." Seeing that Zhukov didn''t seem to respond at all, he quickly added, "I''ve caught several prisoners. Do you want to be interrogated?"¡° There''s no time. " Zhukov said without raising his head, continuing to write in a book¡° Do you need to report this to the headquarters? " The general put forward a suggestion, hoping to attract Zhukov''s attention. Zhukov stopped his pen, looked up at the general, and asked in a cold voice, "why?" The admiral said nothing more. After saluting again, he left the room and closed the door. After the lieutenant general left, I stepped forward, came to Zhukov, saluted him, and then reported, "Comrade General, I''m back. On your order, your mother has been picked up from the village of strelkovka and sent to Moscow safely. But when I went, your sister and her children had already moved ahead of time. " Zhukov nodded, stood up, patted me on the shoulder and said, "well done, dear! That''s very kind of you After a pause, he asked, "where''s sayit?" When he asked me this question, my nose was sore and my tears welled up. I choked and said, "on the way back to the headquarters, we met the mortar attack of German Paratroopers. The car was hit directly. He... He''s dead. " Welcome to our website www.start.com. The latest, fastest and most popular serial works are all original!

 Chapter 40

    When I asked Zhukov to go to the front line, he sat at the table and was silent for a long time. Originally, he was to reward me for the successful completion of the task he delivered, let me talk about what I wish, he can help me achieve. Maybe he thought to himself that I would ask him to give me a few days off so that I could have a good rest in Moscow. I didn''t expect that I would take the initiative to go to the front line, which was so unexpected that he would sit there and say nothing.


    He stood up, walked up to me and asked, "what do you think of the German Paratroopers attacking the headquarters of the front army? Is our position exposed? "


    "It''s impossible." I didn''t expect that he didn''t reply to my request directly, but suddenly raised this question, but still answered him honestly: "if the position of the headquarters is exposed, then the German army is bound to send air force to bomb here, and will not just send so many paratroopers to die."


    "Are you sure that only a few enemy paratroopers, not our defense lines, have been broken through?"


    "Yes, Georgi konstantinovic." I answered him with great certainty: "I think so. If our defense line is broken through, we will hear the sound of guns and tanks. I also took part in the siege and annihilation of paratroopers, who had nothing but submachine guns and mortars. I think it''s just an enemy paratrooper who accidentally parachuted near the headquarters. "


    "What''s the point of the enemy Airdropping paratroopers in the rear of our army?" He then asked.


    "The paratroopers dropped by the German army in the rear of our army can only cause some disturbance and damage, such as attacking the headquarters of our army, blowing up roads and bridges and so on. However, they are small in number and will soon be wiped out by our troops, which poses little threat to us. "


    "Yes, although one or two paratroopers are not enough to worry about, when the front line is tight, we have to deploy valuable troops to encircle and annihilate them. The situation is still very bad. What do you think? Let''s hear it. "


    "We should also send a large number of destruction teams with weapons and explosives to the enemy''s rear to attack their command system and destroy their logistics supply lines. At the same time, we should mobilize the masses in the enemy occupied areas, extensively carry out guerrilla warfare behind the enemy lines in familiar areas, coordinate favorably with the front battlefield, and submerge the enemy in the vast ocean of people''s war. " I said it almost without thinking. After that, I found that I quoted the great man''s words again unintentionally.


    "I see." After listening to me, Zhukov nodded and said, "I will personally recommend this to the supreme command. It''s getting late. Go and have a rest first. "


    The next morning, Zhukov woke me up and told me in person that the base camp had passed my proposal to send a large number of guerrillas to the enemy''s rear to carry out guerrilla warfare. At the same time, he appointed me as the special commissioner of the front army and asked me to set out for the Panfilov division immediately to take charge of the arrangement.


    After accepting the mission, I left the headquarters by car. After yesterday''s attack, I saw a pile of black and burnt car bodies standing on the uneven ground, which had been burned to the ground. I stopped the driver, went to the wreckage alone, took off my hat and bowed my head to mourn for the sacrifice of sait.


    The driver came up to me and asked, "do you know the driver who died yesterday?"


    "Yes. He''s my friend I put on my hat again, looked at the driver in front of me and said in a positive tone, "he also saved the lives of me and my senior general. Now, comrade driver, drive me to the front line. "


    When I arrived at the headquarters of the Panfilov division, I met the teacher with a moustache. He seemed a little unhappy about my coming. As for his feelings, I understand very well that the special commissioners from the headquarters usually belong to the kind of people who are ignorant and know nothing but unrealistic blind command there. They are very annoying. However, due to their identity, the people below dare to be angry and speechless, so they are all respectful.


    The division commander arranged a sergeant named bahadu to be my guard. I heard him solemnly tell bahadu: "you should protect the life of special commissioner o''shanina like your own eyes."


    In the evening, the guerrillas from Moscow arrived. General Panfilov received them in an auditorium at the station and sent for me. When I walked into the auditorium, I saw that the room was full of people, almost all guerrillas in civilian clothes. While general Panfilov and several political workers stood on the rostrum and pushed forward against the wall.


    The first speaker was the political commissar of the division. He first welcomed the arrival of the guerrillas, and then began to talk about the importance of carrying out guerrilla warfare behind the enemy''s lines. I heard straight want to doze off, and dare not really close their eyes to sleep, can only stare at the ceiling in a daze.


    Suddenly, someone pushed me. I looked back blankly and saw that it was the political commissar who had just spoken. He said to me in a low voice, "Comrade division commander, please say a few words to the guerrillas."


    Let me talk?! This Panfilov can really make a fool of me. I''m not prepared for anything. What should I say to these people? Think of here, I can not help but nervous, so that standing in front of the podium for a long time, do not know how to speak. Seeing my performance, there was a whisper coming from the audience, and it was getting louder and louder. In the face of this situation, I became more and more nervous and couldn''t say a word.


    "Comrades, please be quiet, please be quiet!" At this time, major general Panfilov, who was standing on one side, came out to understand the surrounding. He said loudly to the following, "listen to major oshanina tell us a few words." Listening to what he said, the audience immediately quieted down. I calmed down, and then summoned up the courage to say: "Hello, comrades!" As soon as the voice fell, there was a thunderous applause under the stage. The sudden applause startled me and started clapping without saying anything? However, I was soon relieved. This is everyone''s encouragement to me and gives me the courage to continue to speak on the stage. After the applause calmed down, I went on to say, "comrades, you will soon pass through the front positions and go to the enemy''s rear. I hope that when you are past, you can mobilize all the people in the enemy occupied areas, carry out extensive guerrilla warfare behind the enemy, lay mines, blow up bridges, destroy the enemy''s lines of communication, and cooperate favorably with the front battlefield. " At this point, I looked under the stands and didn''t react quietly. Did the political commissar just say what I said? I just repeated what he said? It seems that I have to speak in depth to arouse their resonance, so I went on to say: "Russia is a vast country, where we grow up. Every inch of land here is our own. If the German bandits dare to seize it, we will fight with him to the bottom. When we go to the enemy''s rear, we should not be afraid of difficulties or sacrifice. We should take their back roads and hit the weakest areas of their defense. We should attack a village today and seize a city tomorrow, so that they can not concentrate their forces. We can win only by fighting between the two sides. Go to the enemy''s rear, drive the devils out of the country, and plant our red flag everywhere in Russia. " As soon as the voice fell, there was another thunderous applause. Major general Panfilov took my hand and said in a loud voice, "that''s very kind of you! It''s good for morale I laughed and didn''t speak. I just held his hand tightly. After the end of the pre war mobilization, the guerrillas were divided into many groups. With the cooperation of the soldiers, they went to the enemy''s rear through the front in batches¡° Comrade major, "there was a timid voice around me. I looked back and saw that it was a beautiful girl with a headscarf. Looking back at me, she blushed and said to me, "what you said just now is really wonderful. I really envy you!" Without waiting for me to speak, suddenly someone was shouting from a distance: "Zhuoya, hurry up, we''re going to start."¡° OK, I''ll be right there The girl in front of me agreed, grabbed my hand and shook it, saying, "goodbye, comrade commander. Goodbye after victory!" Then he turned and ran away. She''s Zhuoya, and I''m stunned. Do I need to catch up with her and tell her never to go to a place called "petrissevo village". After just a few steps, I stopped. History is history. I have no right to modify it. What should happen will always happen.

 Chapter 41

    After seeing off the guerrillas, I went back to the room Panfilov had arranged for me to rest. As soon as he took off his clothes and lay down, there was a knock on the door. I was not satisfied with this untimely man who came to disturb my sleep, so I asked out of the door, "who? What can I do for you¡° Major o''shanina, your number! It''s from the headquarters of the front army! Emergency call It''s bahadu''s voice that answers me. It seems that there is something urgent. Otherwise, he would not disturb me so late. I quickly got up from the bed, put on my clothes and opened the door. Bahadu stood outside the door. When he saw me open the door, he immediately stepped back, raised his hand to the hat tightly fastened on his forehead, and reported, "the division headquarters has an emergency call for you. It''s from the headquarters of the front army. The division commander asked me to come and ask you to answer the phone at once." I nodded, did not care to talk to him, and almost ran into the division headquarters. The microphone from the phone was on the table. When I came in, Panfilov grabbed it and handed it over. I took the microphone, cleared my throat and said in a loud voice, "Hello, I''m o''shanina! Who is calling, please Immediately I heard the familiar voice of general Zhukov, commander of the front army: "major! I''m sorry to disturb your rest. The headquarters of the front army has made new arrangements for your work. That''s why they call you up at this time. "¡° I''m at your disposal! Georgi konstantinovic. " Hearing that there is a new appointment, I feel a little uneasy. I don''t know where I will be sent this time¡° You have to get there as soon as possible. "I can''t see. You''re not easy." His attitude towards me began to soften¡° May I come in? Comrade General A familiar voice came from the gate of the command post. Turning around, I saw that it was Colonel polosucci, whom I knew, followed by a colonel in a black tank uniform¡° Come in, and I''ll be waiting for you. " "This is major oshanina. She is a special commissioner sent by the headquarters of the front army to assist us in our battle," he said My rank is lower than that of the other two. I stood up to salute them. He took the initiative to greet polosucci: "Hello, Mr. division, we meet again." Polosucci was stunned for a moment, but immediately recognized me, seized my hand and shook it vigorously. Lian said, "welcome to our troops, we can fight side by side in the future." Next to the tank soldier Colonel lightly said: "I am the 20th tank brigade commander Colonel olnenko, welcome you." Then he reached out and gave me a polite shake¡° Let''s all sit down and discuss how to fight after dawn. " Lelushenka called everyone to sit down again, and then began to carry out tactical deployment¡° In the past two days, the German army has advanced three to six kilometers in borojino. It is very difficult for our army''s equipment to completely block them, so what we can do now is to delay their advance to Moscow as far as possible, so that the headquarters can have enough time to accumulate strength to fight back. "¡° How do you arrange it? Comrade General. " Asked Colonel borosushi¡° You should defend the position with your infantry. After the enemy''s attack is weakened, ornianko''s tank brigade will fight back. "¡° I don''t have many tanks, "ornianko said stiffly, at least in my opinion, his attitude towards the general was very unfriendly. But after a while, he added, "after a series of battles, there are only 20 tanks left in the brigade, but it''s enough for a while." The meeting was soon over. While ornianko and lelushenka continued to talk, I faced the nearby Colonel borosushi and asked curiously, "Colonel, what''s the matter with that groom, gasan, that day?"¡° He died. He died in battle the day after his wedding. Not only him, but also the soldiers of Azerbaijani company have died. They have been very tenacious in the fight until the last one. " Borosushi answered my question in a somewhat low mood.

 Chapter 42

    A shell roared down on the Soviet position. After the earth shaking explosion, smoke rolled up.


    In the observation post of the group army, I stood in front of the observation hole and looked at the position shrouded by gunfire with a telescope. I couldn''t help worrying about the soldiers on the position. You should know that the soldiers of the 230th preparatory training regiment on the front were factory workers not long ago. Although many of them had participated in the domestic revolutionary war and fought against foreign intervention forces and bandits, most of them only had shooting training, and knew how to shoot bullets out of the guns. As for what they could hit after shooting them out, Then only God knows. There is no skill in the offensive and defensive battle of the position. What the two sides are competing with each other is the number of troops, as well as the equipment and morale of the soldiers. In the face of the German crazy attack, let such a lack of training troops to defend such an important position, I think of here, my heart is raised to the throat.


    The German artillery stopped. After a short silence, the huge roar of tank engines came from the front of the position. It seems that the German infantry is starting a new round of attack.


    In a short time, the sound of our artillery counterattack rang out on the smoke filled position. Listening to the sporadic gunfire, my heart suddenly cool half, the position of more than a dozen artillery company of hundreds of guns, is there only so few guns left?


    A few hours before the battle, when general lelushenka and I went to the front to inspect, I found that several artillery companies of the army were directly deployed behind the trench, and the guns were placed one by one on the open ground. Seeing this situation, I directly pointed out to him this wrong deployment at that time: "major general, this arrangement of artillery is not good! You can see that the guns are so densely arranged that if even one shell falls into the artillery line when the German army is shelling, the whole artillery company will be reimbursed by the shells killed. Without the support of the artillery company, the poorly equipped and untrained militia will not be able to withstand the German tank attack. "


    After hearing this, he shrugged his shoulders and answered in a helpless tone, "Dear major oshanina, my comrade Commissioner! I admit that there are many unsatisfactory aspects in the deployment you have seen, but they are all implemented in full accordance with the provisions of the military regulations. At present, the general regulations were specially formulated by Marshal Shaposhnikov on the basis of his experience during the civil war, and were also included in the teaching materials of the Military Academy of vorongze. We don''t have permission to modify this. "


    After hearing what he said, I was completely speechless. Shaposhnikov was a great militarist and had a high prestige in the Soviet army. However, he always adhered to the concept of World War I, believing that organizing strong defensive positions with artillery and machine guns would break the enemy''s head and blood. I have no idea how untimely such a deployment is in the current situation. Artillery positions are so densely arranged in open areas without cover that they are the living targets of the enemy''s artillery and aircraft.


    The cold wind dispersed the smoke, and I could see clearly the situation on the battlefield. The German tanks, which were huge in scale, formed a formation and pressed fiercely towards our formation. Behind them were dense infantry in loose formation. Occasionally, one or two tanks were hit by sporadic fire on the ground of our army and stopped in smoke, but more enemies continued to push our position.


    Seeing that the tank was approaching the first trench, the position was still quiet and there was no movement. Next came general lelushenka''s anxious voice: "what''s the matter? The infantry didn''t fire yet. Did they all die in the shelling just now? "


    A German tank crossed the trench, just a short distance away, with a huge explosion, the swaggering giant suddenly turned into a fireball. With the explosion, the originally silent light and heavy weapons suddenly opened fire, and dense bullets were fired from the trench towards the enemy. The German army was caught unprepared. More than a dozen infantry rushed in front of them suddenly settled down. Then they fell on the ground straightly, and those behind them quickly fell on the ground.


    A few more tanks crossed the trench, not far away, without exception. The follow-up of the tank just now became several piles of burning scrap iron. I finally saw how the tanks were destroyed this time. It turned out that the soldiers in the position came out of the hiding place one after another after the German tanks crossed the trench, blocked the enemy infantry with intensive fire, and then threw flasks and anti tank mines at the tanks from behind. However, this method was really effective. In a short time, more than ten German tanks were bombed in succession.


    However, there were too many German tanks. The front tanks were destroyed and the rear tanks swarmed in. Finally, several tanks safely crossed the trench and drove towards the headquarters of the group army. Along the way, several artillery of our army were crushed into scrap iron.


    Looking at the tank getting closer and closer to us, not only I was worried, but also leliushenka was flustered. He grabbed the phone on the table and yelled: "ornianko! Orniaco!! where are you? Where are you? " Without waiting for an answer, he continued to shout: "attack the observation post of the group army immediately and fire at me! Fire at me


    Soon, the shells roared down around the observation post, shaking the roof of the earth down one after another. As soon as leliushenka threw the phone in his hand, he pulled me to lie on the ground of the observation post. When the gunfire stopped, he got up from the ground, bent over the observation hole and looked out. Then he picked up the bobosha submachine gun I had put on the table and rushed out.


    I got up from the ground and looked outside. I found that all the tanks that had just rushed over had been destroyed and were burning not far away from the observation post. The submachine gun was taken away by the major general. I had to pull out my pistol and rush out of the observation post. I rushed out of the door and saw that lelushenka had jumped out of the trench and was running towards a burning German tank. Two tankers covered with fire escaped from the cockpit and were knocked down by his random gun. On the right side came the rumble of guns, and I turned back to see some tanks flying over, firing while driving. I recognized at a glance that it was a Soviet tank, small but flexible¡° §´£­£­ 34 "tank. He was still standing in front of the blazing German tank, waving his hand with a submachine gun and yelling, "orniaco! Olnenko The hatch of the leading tank was open, and olnenko, the commander of the tank brigade, stood there with half of his body exposed, waved to lelushenka, and promised in a loud voice, "look at me, I''ll go ahead and beat those bastards myself!" General lelushenka continued to wave his weapon, leaning over to ornianko''s tank and shouting, "forward, forward! Give them something to see! " The situation is developing to our advantage. It seems that I don''t need to do my best, so I put my pistol back in the holster and walked slowly along the trench to them. Just then, a shell roared down between them. Olnenko fell on the tank''s canopy without saying a word. General lelushenka covered his forehead, slowly turned around and fell to the ground. His submachine gun was thrown to one side¡° Comrade major general I was surprised by the unexpected change. I yelled and quickly climbed out of the trench with my hands and feet and ran to him.

 Chapter 43

    I ran to leliushenka''s side, squatted down and carefully held him up. Only then did I find that he was not only injured on his forehead, but his military coat had been dyed red by blood, and several parts were still bleeding. Seeing this, my tears rolled down my cheeks and anxiously called out to him: "Comrade major general! Major general! How are you doing? "


    He still covered his forehead with his hand, looked at me with two eyes, and said, "we beat the enemy back when we saw them. I didn''t expect to be injured in this situation. It''s really bad luck."


    My hands reached under his armpit, clasped his shoulder, half bent back and dragged him to the headquarters. In the process of dragging, his head quietly tilted to one side, the hand that originally covered the wound also hung down, let me feel that his life is losing a little bit.


    "Lelushenka, general lelushenka, please, don''t sleep! Wake up Tears blurred my vision, I accelerated the speed of backward drag, at the same time yelled: "anyone? Anybody? Come and help me! Help me


    With my shouts, I didn''t know where two soldiers in helmets came from for a long time. Without a word, they took lelushenka from my hands, jumped out of the trench and carried him to the headquarters. I followed them with tears streaming down my face.


    After entering the headquarters, the two soldiers carried in lelushenka and put him on the March bed, where he was being bandaged. Then I could see that both of them were carrying medicine boxes, with white sleeves printed with red cross on their arms. It turns out that they are all health workers. With them, there will be no danger to the major general''s life. I was so nervous that I was finally relieved. I leaned against the wall and sat on the floor, gasping for breath. The strenuous exercise just now not only exhausted all my physical strength, but also made my close clothes drenched with sweat.


    The phone on the desk suddenly rang, which made me jump. I thought, didn''t lelushenka just throw the microphone aside and run out of the observation post? How could the phone still ring? If you look carefully, it turns out that another one is ringing. I took a deep breath, put my hand on the wall and stood up. I took two steps to the table and grabbed the microphone.


    "I''m Colonel karotov, commander of the fourth tank brigade. Comrade yesakov, chief of staff of the group army, who was sent to command the battle here, died." Without waiting for me to speak, the other party told me the sad news in a hurry.


    "Ah?" I was shocked. The commander was injured and the chief of staff was killed. Who should command this unit? I''m sure I can''t. I don''t have the experience and ability to command tens of thousands of troops at all. If I command blindly, the whole army may be destroyed.


    As soon as I put off the phone, the bell rang again. This time, it was Colonel polosucci. Without waiting for me to speak, he said in a hurry: "my political commissar has died and several positions have been occupied by the German army. Please send the group army to my reserve team so that I can organize the team to take back the lost positions."


    "Colonel borosushi, I''m major oshanina, special commissioner of the front army." Upset, I answered him, "general lelushenka, commander of the group army, has been injured. I''m taking over his command. I don''t have a reserve team in my hand."


    "Ah?" Hearing this news, he was also greatly surprised, but he continued to state his difficulties to me: "my troops have been killed more than half, many battalions and companies have run out, but the front German troops are still under the cover of tanks, launching a crazy attack on our positions."


    "All right, comrade colonel." I said impatiently, "I repeat, I don''t have reserves in my hand. If I can''t, I''ll go to your position to fight in person." When I said this, he was immediately silent. Then I slowed down and suggested to him, "put the enemy''s tanks, cut off the infantry, and then send the soldiers with anti tank weapons to destroy the tanks without infantry cover."


    When the phone rang for the third time, I had completely lost patience. I picked up the phone and didn''t wait for the other party to speak. I couldn''t help yelling angrily: "which commander of TMD was injured or sacrificed?"


    "Rita!" Zhukov''s familiar voice came from the microphone. He said with a smile, "Dear major, why are you so angry? Is something wrong? Where is general lelushenka? "


    His series of questions made my tears fall down again. I choked and said, "Comrade General, the situation is very dangerous. The German army once attacked near the headquarters of the group army. General lelyushenka was wounded in the battle, and group army chief of staff yesakov also died. Now the whole group army has lost its unified command and is fighting separately. "


    "Well, don''t cry, don''t cry!" He comforted me on the phone and said, "crying can''t solve any problem. How is general lelushenka''s injury? Can he continue to command the battle? "


    I wiped my tears, looked at the general who was lying on the March bed and was being wrapped up by the medical staff, and replied, "no, he is seriously injured."


    "Can you take over the command of the group army and command it?" Zhukov was silent for a moment, and then made the suggestion.


    After thinking about it, I immediately rejected his proposal and replied, "senior general, I can''t accept your proposal. At most, I once commanded a battalion, and I don''t have the experience and ability to command a large army. Therefore, I strongly suggest that Colonel polosucci take over the command post of the group army. He once commanded a division for a long time. With his experience and working ability, he is more qualified for this post than I am. " At this point, I stopped for a moment, then continued: "at the same time, I strongly request that you send us some reserves. At present, the army has suffered serious losses, the battalion and company units of the group army have been exhausted, the defense line is in danger, and there is a possibility of losing at any time. "


    "Come on! All right Zhukov interrupted me: "you''re like them. You ask me for a reserve team, as if I''m going to make an army out of thin air."¡° But the current situation is indeed very dangerous, Comrade General. "¡° I understand that, so I sent troops to you an hour ago. I believe they will arrive soon. I''m just calling to let you know and get ready to receive them as soon as possible. " His words let the big stone in my heart fall to the ground, it''s good to have the reserve team come up, at least this defense line can persist for a few more days¡° That''s great. Comrade General I said excitedly, "on behalf of the soldiers of the Fifth Army, I thank you."¡° All right, all right! Don''t talk to the officials. After the reserves go up, you must hold back the German army for a few days. I''ve arranged for the air force to support you. As long as you beat back the German tanks, your pressure will be reduced a lot. " After stopping for a while, he said, "also, we must tell the soldiers that Moscow is behind us. We have no way back." Then he hung up. I stood in front of the observation hole and watched the situation on the battlefield with a telescope. Our tanks lined up behind the first trench and were firing on the attacking German tanks and infantry. Many of the enemy''s tanks were destroyed, but our army''s tanks were also hit by bullets and caught fire from time to time. According to this way of fighting, it is estimated that our army''s tanks will be completely lost in a short time. But I have no way to help them. I can only watch the tank troops stop there and fight with the enemy¡° Who is the commander here? " Suddenly a loud voice came from behind. Looking back, I saw an officer in a cornice hat and a military coat standing at the door. Then I put down my telescope and went over to him. I said, "I''m major oshanina, special commissioner of the Western army. Who are you?" The officer saluted me and said, "Captain Su puningzefu, commander of the close guard rocket battalion, reports to you that I have been ordered to come here for reinforcement. Please give me your instructions if you have any tasks." Great. This rocket is powerful enough for the German army. I pulled him to the lookout hole, pointed to the German troops in front of the position and said, "your battalion will launch two volleys on your attacking troops immediately. We must destroy as many German tanks as possible. Do you understand? "¡° I see! " The captain agreed, then turned and ran out of the headquarters.

 Chapter 44

    Less than five minutes later, there was a strange whistling sound in the air, and then the arrow like fire cut through the sky. I know it''s the close guard rocket battalion firing on the enemy. Although the rocket is still a strictly confidential weapon in this era, I know better than others how powerful it is.


    Rocket shells made beautiful rainbows in the air, then disappeared into the enemy attack line in front of our army, and then there was a terrible roar. Dozens of rockets exploded into a sea of fire within a radius of several hundred meters. Not only the German infantry were blown to pieces, but also the tanks, like paper toys, were overturned and torn into piles of burning scrap iron in the fierce explosion.


    "How wonderful A voice suddenly rang out beside me. Turning around, I saw that the two health workers who had bandaged leliushenka were standing beside me. They were also appreciating the masterpiece of rocket launcher. They couldn''t help crying out for a moment.


    "What about the commander?" I asked the two soldiers in front of me with a straight face. At the same time, I glanced at lelushenka lying on the March bed. Seeing his ruddy face and steady breathing, it seems that his life is not in danger.


    "Report to the major." One of the health workers stood at attention and said, "Comrade commander''s wound has been bandaged and the blood has stopped. We''ve just injected him with morphine. There''s no danger of his life. However, for the sake of his health, he should be sent to the rear hospital for treatment as soon as possible. "


    "Well, when the battle is over, I''ll arrange some soldiers to send the commander to the rear with you."


    "Yes


    "Major Rita." There was a weak voice from lelushenka. He raised his hand slowly with his eyes half open. I quickly came to his bedside, half squatted beside him, grabbed his raised hand, and said excitedly, "Comrade major general, are you awake? Did you hear the rumble of guns? That''s our new type of rocket


    "Well," he said, nodding difficultly, "I hear you. I''ve heard of this kind of powerful artillery for a long time, but I''ve never seen it. It''s a strictly confidential technical equipment. In order to keep borojino, the headquarters has spent a lot of money. "


    The telephone on the desk rang. I got up and picked up the phone. I said, "I''m special commissioner major oshanina. Where are you?"


    "Comrade reporter, I am the head of the 230th preparatory mission. The German army in front of the position has been defeated by the artillery fire just now. Can we attack it?"


    "Who''s calling?" Without waiting for me to answer the other side, general leliushenka next to me took the lead. I covered the microphone with my hand and told the general in a low voice: "it''s the call from the head of the ground 230 reserve regiment. He asked if he could take the opportunity to attack."


    "What do you mean, major Rita?" Instead of expressing himself directly, lelushenka asked me a rhetorical question.


    "Not for the time being." I explained, "I just ordered two volleys from the close guard rocket battalion, and that''s the first round. Although the rocket is powerful, it takes too much time to load. It is estimated that it will take half an hour to launch the second round of salvo fire. If we attack now, it will be easy to rush into the range of our own artillery bombardment and cause unnecessary casualties. "


    "I see." The general nodded, closed his eyes and continued, "then you can command on my behalf. I''m tired and want to have a rest. "


    "Yes I promised, let go of the hand covering the microphone, and gave an order to the head of the preparatory Regiment: "Comrade commander, don''t attack now. However, the soldiers should be ready to attack the whole line after the second round of artillery attack. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commissioner." With that, I put down the phone for convenience.


    I put down the phone and stood in front of the lookout hole to check the situation of the battlefield. Although the shelling just now contained the German offensive, they still showed no sign of retreating. If only the 230th reserve regiment, a unit with heavy casualties, was sent out, it would be difficult to achieve the effect. On the contrary, they might be eliminated by the superior German army.


    I thought about it again and again. I went to the desk, grabbed the handle of the phone, shook it a few times, and then picked up the phone. The voice of the female operator immediately came out of the microphone: "Hello, where do you want to go?"


    "Get me Colonel polosucci." In a short time, the voice of Col. polosucci came from the other end of the telephone line: "this is Col. polosucci. Who are you?"


    "Hello, comrade colonel. I''m major oshanina." I first showed him my identity, and then gave him a combat order: "I have taken over the command of the group army. In half an hour, we will launch a round of artillery attack on the German army. As soon as the shelling is over, you will lead your troops to fight back. Do you understand? "


    After listening to my words, the other party was silent for a moment, and then answered decisively, "I see, comrade major."


    Then I gave the same order to the commander of the fourth tank brigade, Colonel karotov, and the commanders of several other units.


    After giving the order, I looked at general lelushenka, who was lying on the March bed with his eyes closed. I felt that it was not appropriate for him to make his own stand on such a big matter. I should ask for his advice, so I went up to him and called him in a low voice: "major general, I plan to organize a counterattack. Do you think it is appropriate?"


    "Now you are commanding the army, everything has the final say, and I will support you unconditionally." Although he said that he supported me, I was still at sixes and sevens in my heart. I thought it would not be an impulse again. I''d better call Zhukov and have a ventilation. I dialed Zhukov''s phone and heard his familiar voice. I couldn''t help being nervous and speechless. He didn''t hear someone talking here for a long time. He couldn''t help getting impatient: "who in the world is talking?"¡° It''s me, Comrade General! " I replied timidly¡° Oh, it''s Rita Zhukov''s laughter came from the other end of the microphone. He also teased me and said, "have you seen the power of rockets? Did the huge explosion scare you? "¡° Georgi konstantinovich I called Zhukov''s honorific name and said solemnly, "I have something important to report to you. I want to hear your opinions."¡° If you have anything, just say it. " When he heard me say that, his tone became serious¡° I intend to organize a counterattack by the troops of the group army, so as to restore as many lost positions as possible. " After listening to me, Zhukov was silent for a long time, so long that I thought he hung up. I asked tentatively: "Comrade General, are you still there?"¡° What''s your reason? " He said dryly¡° I think we should change our current thinking of fighting. We can''t hide in the trenches as before. If the Germans don''t attack, we will be happy; When the Germans attack, we will fight to the death and never retreat. I think we should resist when the Germans attack. If the Germans hold their ground and stop attacking, we don''t have to wait passively. We don''t want to be happy when we have a chance to catch our breath. We have to take the initiative to look for fighters to attack the enemy. "¡° Well said, "Zhukov simply supported my point¡° Since you have such a view, do it boldly, and I will support you. Besides, I''ve sent an ambulance to you to take general lelushenka to the hospital in the rear. " As soon as I put off the phone, general lelushenka opened his eyes and asked me with concern, "what does the senior general say? Does he support your plan?"¡° Yes, major general. General Zhukov has agreed to my battle plan. " I replied with great pleasure, and then conveyed Zhukov''s meaning to him: "senior general has specially sent an ambulance to pick you up. It will be here soon." Then I told the two health workers, "you two should take care of general lelushenka responsibly. When an ambulance comes, you will escort the general to the rear. Do you understand? "¡° Make sure you get the job done! " The two health workers replied with one voice¡° Let''s see you then, major general. And I, "I took general lelushenka''s hand, shook it gently, and said," I want to go ahead and direct this counterattack myself. "¡° Ah? " Hearing what I said, lelushenka was very surprised. He held my hand tightly and said to me, "Rita, you''re a commander. You can''t run to the front line. It''s too dangerous there."¡° It''s because of the danger that I should go. A commander should take the lead and charge ahead, so as to stimulate the morale of the soldiers. " Seeing that my attitude was so firm, he knew that nothing more could make me change my mind, so he released my hand and said with concern, "be more careful. I''ll see you after the war."¡° Goodbye, major general. " I stood up straight, saluted him, turned and ran out of the headquarters. Before going to the forward position, I went to the place where lelushenka was injured and looked for the submachine gun I had left there. Although the Soviet army was equipped with a large number of bobosha submachine guns in the late stage of World War II, it was not long before they came out, and a total of no more than 100 of them were produced. I only got one because of Zhukov. This kind of weapon with strong firepower could be used in a big way when it was in charge. My luck is good, just to the burning German tank next to, I saw the ground with my submachine gun. He quickly picked it up and hung it around his neck. Then he turned and strode to the position of the 230 regiment.

 Chapter 45

    The position from the headquarters to the 230 regiment was only five or six hundred meters away, but there was no traffic trench to get there directly, so that I had to walk on the open land most of the time.


    Although the German attack was temporarily stopped, they were still firing cold guns and cold artillery towards our position. In the process of marching, as soon as I heard the sharp whistling sound of the shells, I quickly fell down and waited for the explosion to get up and move on.


    By the time the 230 regiment''s defense line arrived, it had been nearly half an hour. The tanks lining up behind the trench are still firing at the enemy, but I observed that only five of them are intact. The others are either destroyed or their tracks are broken. It seems that they are unable to take part in the offensive.


    I saw several tank soldiers dressing their wounds behind a tank with broken tracks, so I went over and asked them in a loud voice, "comrades, where are your commanders?"


    They looked up at me, and then a man pointed to a tank firing nearby and said, "right there, Lieutenant Gusev is directing the battle." I nodded my thanks to him and walked quickly to the tank. Behind him came a soldier''s muttering voice: "are all the men dead? They sent a woman to the front line!"


    When I heard this, I didn''t look back at him. I went straight to the tank and knocked on the shell of the turret with the butt of my gun. Seeing that there was no movement inside, I stepped up and knocked hard. This time, there was an immediate response. The hatch opened with a bang. A tank Lieutenant leaned out, looked at me and asked aloud, "what''s the matter with you? Comrade sergeant


    Sergeant?! Who is he calling? I looked around and didn''t see anyone else. Then I pointed to myself and asked him hesitantly, "are you calling me? Comrade lieutenant. "


    "Of course. Look, is there anyone else here besides you? " He replied with dissatisfaction.


    I looked at the soldier''s coat on my body and was relieved. Since Moscow, I have been wearing soldiers'' military coats. Although I had the chance to change them into officers'' military coats later, I didn''t change them. I don''t want to wear brand-new coats on the battlefield and become the target of German snipers.


    "I''m major oshanina, the special commissioner of the front army." I hastened to make myself known to him.


    "I''m sorry! Major, I didn''t see your rank clearly. I''m Lieutenant Gusev The lieutenant quickly saluted and apologized to me, and then asked me why I came: "do you have any instructions?"


    "Well, in a few minutes, I will lead the troops to launch a counterattack against the enemy. I hope you can lead the remaining tanks to open the way for the infantry in the front. Is there any difficulty? "


    "No problem, comrade major." Lieutenant gousheff replied excitedly, "you see, as long as you give the order, I''ll go and crush the Krauts myself."


    "Well, our army will launch another volley on the German devils later. As soon as the fire stops, you will lead the remaining tanks to charge the enemy and open up a way for us to attack. Do you understand? "


    "Very clear, comrade major."


    After explaining the task to lieutenant Gusev, I jumped into the trench more than half a person deep and walked along the traffic trench to the shelter of the regiment. Walking, I was blocked by a group of people around in front of me. I said with some dissatisfaction: "comrades, please give way. I want to go to the regiment headquarters."


    Several people in front of me immediately put their bodies close to the side of the trench and made way for me to see clearly the situation in front of me. It turned out that a young man was crying with the body of an old man, and several people standing behind him were also wiping their eyes.


    "What''s the matter?" I quietly asked a soldier standing next to me.


    "This is our regiment''s Pavlov father and son," the old soldier said to the weeping young man, and then said, "the young man is young Pavlov. When he just jumped out of the trench to blow up the German tank, his father found that a German devil wanted to fire a cold gun, so he jumped out and blocked the bullet for his son without hesitation."


    Listening to what he said, I also think of the pavlovs and their son, whom I met last time I visited the position with Zhukov. At that time, Zhukov promised the old man that he would be promoted to be a staff sergeant when the battle was over. Unexpectedly, he died so soon. Seeing that little Pavlov was so sad, I could not help feeling affected. Tears were swirling in my eyes and could flow down my cheek at any time.


    But on second thought, I was about to launch an attack on the enemy. If young Pavlov continues to grieve like this, it will affect his morale. So I wiped my eyes, went up to Pavlov and said to him in a loud voice, "Comrade Pavlov, this is not the time for sadness. Dry your tears and stand up."


    Startled by my voice, Pavlov looked up at me blankly, let go of his father''s body, stood up mechanically, looked at me for a long time, and then said in a hoarse voice, "I know you, comrade commander. Last time you and your senior general came to inspect the battlefield together." When I speak, I don''t have the attitude that subordinates should have towards superiors. Several people standing around also look at me with unfriendly eyes.


    I know that it is very impolite for me to interrupt other people''s grief so abruptly, and it is inevitable for me to arouse other people''s antipathy. I felt that there was an invisible wall between me and the others, which alienated each other. I want to get through the wall and tear it down. So I pointed to the front of the position and said loudly, "tears are useless. The German devils who killed our relatives are just opposite. They take up their guns and fight with them. Blood debts should be paid with blood, and let them use their lives to repay the blood debts they owe us. "


    A few short words will be enough to make me reconcile with those who were a little disgusted with me.


    "Comrade major." The head of the 230 regiment didn''t know when he crowded in front of me. "Your battle mobilization is really characteristic. Don''t worry, we''ll beat the German devils to death later. "


    At this time, a new round of rockets whistling from our head swept past, once again disappeared in the enemy''s offensive line. After the earth shaking explosion, everything fell silent.


    I jumped out of the trench, raised the submachine gun in my hand, and cried out: "spread out in a scattered formation, for the motherland! Forward ~ ~ in ~ ~! Revenge for the sacrifice of comrades! Forward ~ ~ in ~ ~ " Although I was shouting, the sound in my ears was very small. I think the explosion just made my hearing impaired.


    Our tanks crossed the trench first and charged. Then the soldiers jumped out of the trench, armed with bayonet rifles, followed the tank in a formation of scattered soldiers, and moved forward. I followed closely behind a tank, because it was a safe area. As long as the enemy didn''t fire, the cold gun couldn''t hit here.


    After two rounds of salvo firing of our rockets, the German offensive troops had suffered heavy losses and were retreating in a panic. The sudden counterattack of our army intensified the chaos. Our air force also flew over the battlefield at this time. Although there were only nine planes, they bombed the German tank troops fiercely. The German army lost the magic weapon they relied on and was even more demoralized. When they were attacked by our army, they were defeated.


    Originally, our sandal line was striding forward behind the tanks. I don''t know who took the lead in the trot. Suddenly, the whole team changed from trot to trot, and soon to fast. Most of the German troops were running away desperately, only a few diehards were hiding behind the bunkers and shooting at us. The soldiers rushed over, and the German soldiers were either killed by random guns or stabbed to death by bayonets. This sporadic resistance immediately disintegrated.


    In less than an hour, our counterattacks reached a commanding height in the borogino field. I saw a memorial tower standing on the high ground, in the shape of an octagon, with a sculpture of an eagle on the top, and the lower part of the tower was densely engraved with Russian. I grabbed a soldier beside me and asked, "what kind of monument is this?"


    "Comrade commander, you don''t even know that?" The soldier looked at me in surprise: "this is the Russian Memorial Tower of borojino. The text below records the course of the battle of borojino." Seeing my blank face, he added: "this place was the main position of the Russian army at that time. It was guarded by the seventh army of the Russian army under the command of general rajevsky. In the whole battle, there was the most fierce competition and heavy casualties. It is said that tens of thousands of people died on both sides in this place alone." Then he ran away and went to catch the German soldiers who were running away.


    "Comrade commander," Pavlov called to me as I was gazing at the memorial tower, and I turned to see him coming with his bayonet loaded rifle and some dejected prisoners. He came up to me and said, "I think these German devils are very strange. They don''t speak German."


    "Which of you knows Russian?" I asked at some of the prisoners.


    Several prisoners looked at me blankly without any reaction.


    "I know German," Pavlov added. "I asked them just now, but they didn''t understand."


    If they don''t understand German and Russian, they will not be the puppet army of the captured Soviet army. Since they are not puppet army, what kind of army will they be? I frowned and thought for a long time, but I couldn''t think of a result.


    Then a soldier came to me and said, "Comrade major, the troops of the fourth tank brigade have joined us. Their commander is looking for you."


    I nodded and said, "OK, I''ll be right there."


    After a few steps, I suddenly had a flash of inspiration in my mind. I stopped, went back to the prisoners and asked in English, "who are you? Which army is it from? "


    "We are French." One of the prisoners understood my question and quickly answered me in English. Although a hundred years'' War broke out between Britain and France, there are as many French speaking people as English speaking people. After all, it is a fashion for them to understand foreign languages. "We are a French legion of French volunteers," he added


    "The French legion of volunteers, hum!" With a sneer, I told Pavlov, "take some soldiers and send them to the headquarters of the front army. These are not German devils, but a group of French. If they try to escape, they will be killed without any nonsense. "


    "Yes Pavlov agreed cheerfully and escorted the group of prisoners away.


    On my way to the fourth tank brigade, I saw a tank on the side of the road which was damaged by the German army when they attacked the Highlands just now. Next to the burnt out tanks lay the charred bodies of several dead tankers, one of whom I recognized at once: This was lieutenant Gusev.


    Welcome to our website www.start.com. The latest, fastest and most popular serial works are all original!

 Chapter 46

    There was a heavy snow at night, and a piercing wind was blowing on the snowy plain. The German troops were disrupted by our counterattack, and the sudden bad weather forced them to suspend their offensive in the direction of borojino. There was no war in the morning. I was organizing a team to rush to repair and reinforce the fortifications to cope with a new round of German offensive that might be launched at any time. Colonel borosushi sent someone to inform me that there was a phone call for me in the headquarters and asked me to answer it as soon as possible. When I heard this news, I immediately informed my soldiers and walked along the traffic ditch to the new headquarters. At the entrance, there was a sentry, wearing a short fur coat and a submachine gun on his chest, stamping his feet in place. After seeing me, he stood at attention and saluted. The walls and ceiling of the headquarters were covered with planks. Along one side of the wall lay a few benches, and in the middle was a wooden table with a battle map and two telephones. Polosucci was on the phone with one of them. He saw me go in, nodded to me, and then said to the microphone, "Comrade General, major oshanina is coming." Then he handed me the microphone. I answered the phone and heard Zhukov''s familiar voice: "is that Rita?" He quickly replied, "it''s me, Comrade General."¡° Well done! Because you have grasped the fighter plane in time, you have successfully counterattacked the enemy and disrupted their overall deployment. Today, the German attack on Moscow has weakened in several other directions. According to the investigation, they are readjusting their forces and preparing to launch a large-scale attack on borojino again. "¡° Comrade general, please rest assured that we are well prepared for all battles. " When I said this, I relied on the weak light in the room to observe whether the headquarters was built firmly. First I looked at how the cladding of the wall was made, and then I studied the ceiling and the pillars supporting it. I thought that if the shell exploded in the approaching place, would its fastness stand? What I just said to Zhukov was just a few cliches. I knew as well as he did. People who came to hear the news gathered around me, but I stood in a daze, wondering if I would have the courage to shoot myself in the head if all the troops I led were killed¡° What''s going on? Where to shoot? " Zhukov''s voice rang out behind me, and the lieutenant standing beside me who had never moved quickly replied, "Comrade General, it''s major general Smirnov, the principal of podolisk Infantry School, who shot himself."¡° Suicide? " Zhukov was furious and angry with the Lieutenant: "when did he come to the headquarters of the front army? Why didn''t anyone report to me? And why did he commit suicide? "¡° I''m sorry, Comrade General. " The lieutenant quickly defended himself and said, "when he came, you were busy, so I didn''t disturb you. As for why suicide? Maybe it''s because all his students have died. He can''t stand the stimulation. He just chose to take this step when he can''t think about it. "¡° Shut up Zhukov blushed and roared: "why didn''t he report to me immediately after he came? If he could see me, maybe he would not go this way. Now, you hand over your work to others, and then go to the front line immediately to experience the life and death parting between your comrades in arms on the battlefield¡° Yes The tearful Lieutenant agreed, put on his cornice hat, saluted Zhukov, and walked out of the corridor with great strides¡° Rita, "Zhukov said to me with a wry smile," you go to the logistics department to find a coffin, gather up the remains of major general Smirnov, and then arrange to send someone back to Moscow. "¡° Yes I raised my hand to salute. Then I walked along the corridor through the crowd. Finally, I had a look at the major general sitting on the ground against the wall. Then I went to the Logistics Department of the front army to find the quartermaster to arrange his affairs. Welcome to our website www.start.com. The latest, fastest and most popular serial works are all original!

 Chapter 47

    The logistics department is on the second floor, but I''ve never been there before.


    When I was going up the stairs, I met a soldier coming down the stairs. I stopped him and asked, "where is the logistics department, please?"


    "After going upstairs, the right commander looked at me for a few seconds at a loss, then slowly stood up from the table and said," I''m commander Kudrin. I''m in charge of the Logistics Department of the front army. What can I do for you


    "I''m major oshanina." I quickly reported my identity to him and explained my intention: "there is a dead man downstairs. Comrade General asked me to come to you to see if I could find the coffin, so as to restrain the body of the dead."


    "Comrade commander sent you. Well, I''ll try my best to see if I can find the coffin." Then he picked up the phone from the desk, dialed a number, put it on the phone and said, "I''m lieutenant commander Kudrin. Is there any coffin in the warehouse? Oh, and that''s great. You immediately send a truck with tarpaulin, a coffin and four soldiers to the front headquarters. Who died? Comrade lieutenant, your curiosity is too strong. It will kill you. That''s it. "


    After he hung up the phone, he said to me, "fortunately, there are still several coffins in the warehouse. You know, they are in short supply now." Then he asked curiously, "who died, a general?"


    "Yes, it''s a general, an old general who has been through many battles." Listening to what major general Smirnov said before he died, I think he has participated in many battles, so it is not too much to say that he has experienced many battles.


    "How did you die? Was it a German plane?" Commander Kudrin was also curious and continued to question me.


    "Comrade commander!" I said to him in the tone of his phone call just now: "your curiosity is too heavy. You can''t get to the bottom of some things, otherwise you will be killed."


    Kudrin was embarrassed by what I said. He quickly cut off the topic and said, "the truck is expected to arrive soon. Let''s wait at the door."


    Ten minutes later, I took Kudrin to the corridor with four soldiers carrying coffins. During my absence, major general Smirnov had been laid flat on the ground, lying on his back with his hands folded on his chest. I looked at his blackened face and felt nothing but regret.


    "Put the coffin here." There came Kudrin''s voice.


    The soldiers placed the coffin next to major general Smirnov''s body, lifted the lid and set it aside. Then he went to lift the major general''s hands and feet, carefully put him into the coffin, and then closed the lid. Then, in the silence, the soldiers began to tinkle, and they began to hammer nails.


    When all was done, Kudrin said, "take it away!" With his command, the soldiers lifted the coffin and walked along the corridor to the door. After putting the coffin on the truck, several soldiers climbed on the truck and put down the tarpaulin. Kudrin also opened the cab door and went in.


    I stood in the snow, watching the truck carrying major general Smirnov''s body stagger away, until I couldn''t see the shadow of the car, I went back to the building.


    In the place where the major general killed himself, I don''t know who put a high footed tea table next to the wall with several red carnations on it. I am very clear about the meaning of placing carnations. In China, this flower is a gift for mother; And here, it means to repose infinite sorrow.


    At the door of Zhukov''s office sat the young lieutenant who had just stopped me. When he saw me coming, he immediately stood at attention and stretched out his hand to open the door for me.


    I went into the room and saw Zhukov standing against the wall with his back to the door. There was a huge map of the enemy and ourselves on the wall. I reported to him in a loud voice: "Comrade General! Oshanina has come to report to you. "


    Zhukov looked back at me and said, "major general Smirnov''s body has been sent away?"


    "Yes, Georgi konstantinovic!"


    "It''s a pity that such an old comrade who is loyal to the motherland died like this. Alas ~ ~"


    Seeing that I stood in front of him with a gloomy look and didn''t speak, he turned the topic again, "OK, don''t talk, so as not to affect your mood. Next, it''s time to say something happy. " He went to the table, picked up a piece of paper, raised it to me, and said, "it was sent by Comrade Stalin this morning. It''s about you."


    It''s about me? I couldn''t help but be stunned for a moment, and thought in my heart: are you going to give me a medal again? You know, Stalin was very strict with the defeated generals, either exiled or shot. However, we do not grudge rewards for those who have made outstanding achievements in war. I remember that a few months ago, the commander of the 63rd infantry army was directly promoted from Colonel to lieutenant general because of his bravery and tenacity.


    Zhukov took the paper and read it to me word by word: "in recognition of oshanina''s outstanding performance in the defense war in borojino, she was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel."


    Did you really give me the title?! I can''t believe it''s true. In just over two months, I have been promoted from a corporal to a lieutenant colonel, from an unknown soldier to a person who has a place in the eyes of the supreme commander.


    After reading the letter of appointment, Zhukov saw that I was still standing here in a daze and didn''t respond at all, so he reminded me, "at this time, have you forgotten what to say?" Then I came back to myself, straightened up, took a step forward, and said aloud, "I''m willing to serve the Soviet motherland!" Then Zhukov called me to the front of the map and asked me, "what do you think of the situation in the future? Tell me your opinion." I couldn''t understand the military map all the time. Moreover, it was full of Russian place names that I didn''t know, so I didn''t speak for half a day before I stood on the map that made me dizzy¡° What do you think of the future situation? " Zhukov saw that I didn''t speak for a long time. He couldn''t help urging me¡° Georgi konstantinovich, "I put forward my own point of view with the honorific name of Zhukov:" do you think it is necessary to continue to stick to Bologna? "¡° Well, I''m thinking about that, too. " Zhukov pointed to the map and said to me, "you see, due to the fierce attack of the German army, our defense lines on both wings of borojino were forced to retreat for 20 to 30 kilometers. The German army has formed a situation of encircling the borojino area. "¡° Yes, "I added," although the counterattack on the 16th disrupted the deployment of the German army, restored all our positions in the borojino area, and effectively delayed the enemy''s advance to Moscow, our troops suffered heavy casualties in the battle. If they were surrounded by the German army, it would be inevitable that the whole army would be destroyed. Therefore, I suggest that the troops be withdrawn from this area. "¡° Get out of here? " Zhukov asked: "where to withdraw? You know, behind the line of defense is Moscow. We have no way back¡° We can withdraw our troops to Tula. " I only remember that during the battle of Moscow, Guderian''s armored forces were unable to attack Tula repeatedly, and finally had to bypass Tula and attack Moscow from other directions. Originally, he wanted to point Tula to Zhukov very smartly, but after looking at the map for a long time, he couldn''t find Tula''s position on the map, so he had to give up¡° Well, that''s a good proposal. " Zhukov looked at the map and nodded. It seemed that he agreed with my proposal very much¡° I will report this plan to the supreme command immediately. " He used his hand to draw on the map for a long time, then turned to me and said, "you don''t have to go back to the fifth group army. I''m going to let you work as a special commissioner in the 16th group army of lieutenant general rokosovsky. Do you have any opinions?"¡° No, Georgi konstantinovic. " You know, lieutenant general rokosovsky is also the future marshal of the Soviet Union. It''s good for my future to know more important people, so I answered Zhukov very frankly, "I''m determined to obey your arrangement."

 Chapter 48

    The sky was overcast, thick clouds were low, and snowflakes were falling.


    Standing alone in front of Lenin''s tomb in red square, I gazed at the dome of the pale yellow government building towering over the battlements of the Kremlin. I feel very strange. Why can''t I see anyone else in the daytime, even the guard in front of the tomb, and I''m the first one standing alone in the square?


    It was so quiet that I could only hear my own breathing. I began to panic, there is nothing to rely on, my feet can not help but move forward. I walked along the Vasili slope next to St. Vasili''s Church until I reached the Moscow river. After crossing Dashiqiao, he walked westward along the river.


    The street is quiet. I can''t see any vehicles or pedestrians. I can''t hear any sound except my footsteps and breathing. My heart is more and more afraid. What''s the matter? Did I cross to Moscow in 2012, an empty city without people?


    I don''t know when the snow stopped, passing through several familiar streets, then several European style buildings, came to a huge puddle.


    Next to the puddle stood a medium-sized, slim woman soldier with her back to me. Looking at the back of this blonde soldier in her summer uniform and boat hat, I suddenly felt an inexplicable warmth and moved to her involuntarily.


    "Hello She didn''t look back. She said "hello" instead of "hello". Like an old friend who has known me for many years, she continued, "here you are at last!"


    "Who are you?" I was puzzled and asked, "why do you say ''you''re here at last''


    "Do you know?" Instead of answering my question, she said to herself, "my husband oshanin was baptized here when he was a child."


    Oshanin?! This name sounds familiar. It seems that I''ve heard of it somewhere. Isn''t baptism usually in the river or church? How can you come to such a big puddle?


    "Who are you?" I asked again.


    "Don''t you know who I am?" She asked me.


    "I don''t know," I replied honestly, "but I feel very familiar with your back, and there is also a kind of intimacy."


    "Really? Then you can have a good look at who I am? " She turned around as she spoke.


    What came into my eyes was a pretty face with a melancholy appearance. It looked very familiar. Unfortunately, I couldn''t remember where I had seen this face for a while.


    "Do you think I look familiar?" With a smile on her face, she expected to see that I was still at a loss, so she kindly reminded me, "how do you think about it, every morning when you look in the mirror, do you see this face in the mirror?"


    "Ah Although I heard what she said, I still didn''t get back to myself: how can I see your face when I look in the mirror every day.


    Looking at me or staring at her foolishly, she puffed a smile, looked at me with a smile and said, "I''m Rita mushdakova oshanina."


    Her words sounded like a bomb beside me. I couldn''t help stepping back two steps, staring at her in horror, and asked in disbelief, "you''re Rita mushdakova oshanina! Who am I then? " Then I rushed to the edge of the puddle and looked down. Two beautiful faces as like as two peas on the surface of the water, the difference is that the real Lida still wears a summer uniform and I am wearing a thick military coat.


    "Who are you?" Rita asked me softly beside me.


    Yeah, who am I? This question, I have been asking myself for several months, was originally a man, but inexplicably across to another time and space, but also become a woman.


    "Who are you?" Rita asked me again.


    "I come from the future. Once I went swimming by the Moscow river. I had an accident and fainted. When I woke up, I found that I had become you somehow." I honestly answered her, her address has unconsciously changed from "you" to "you".


    "Oh She asked thoughtfully, "you should not be Russian, because I hear you talking to yourself in a voice I don''t understand many times."


    "Yes, I''m not Russian." I showed her my identity very readily: "I''m a businessman. I''m a Chinese businessman doing business in Moscow. My name is Tang."


    "I see." She nodded, then asked me: "also, I often listen to you hum a beautiful song, the lyrics appear in Moscow and Leningrad, I want to know what it means, can you tell me?"


    "Yes, which song is it? Can you sing it to me?"


    She hummed two of them softly: "let the red burn Moscow, and the memory smear Leningrad." If I hadn''t seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought it was a Chinese singing this song.


    After listening to the lyrics I translated for her in Russian, she asked softly, "do you think Moscow, which is burning with war, can block the crazy attack of the German devils?"


    "No problem, it can be blocked." Without thinking, I replied to her, "except for the German prisoners, other Germans have no chance to enter Moscow."¡° I''m relieved to hear that. " I felt that she was obviously relieved after listening to me¡° That''s right I was very interested in the puddle in front of me, so I asked her curiously, "what''s the matter with this puddle? Why did your husband oshanin be baptized here when he was a child?"¡° Don''t you know? " She asked me in surprise, "this is the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. In 1931, the government demolished it to build a Soviet palace here."¡° Oh, so it is. " After listening to her, I realized that this is the site of the Church of Christ the Savior. No wonder the buildings I saw on the road are so familiar. In 1931, Stalin ordered the cathedral to be blown up, preparing to build a Soviet palace here, and planned to place a ten meter high bronze statue of Stalin on it. Unexpectedly, when excavating the foundation, there was a collapse accident, which killed several construction workers, and the project was forced to be interrupted. It took several years to lay the foundation well. Unexpectedly, it was flooded again overnight and turned into a big puddle. The place was abandoned. In the 1950s, Khrushchev had transformed it into Lenin''s indoor warm water swimming pool. Unexpectedly, people drowned soon after it was opened, but it had to be closed. It was not until Yeltsin came to power in the early 1990s that he spent a lot of money to rebuild the cathedral, which was completed in September 1995, just before the 850th anniversary of the founding of Moscow¡° What are you thinking? " Rita interrupted me with a sudden question¡° Ah! I didn''t think about it I answered in a hurry, and then asked her, "by the way, do you know where your husband is?" She shook her head and said, "I don''t know. I only know that he is missing. I don''t know whether he has been sacrificed, captured or exiled to other places¡° Don''t be upset, Rita I comforted her and said, "if I have a chance to go back to Leningrad in the future, I will help you find out his whereabouts. Don''t worry. This is my promise to you. "¡° Thank you, my friend She looked at me gratefully and said, "actually, I have another important thing to ask you. I wonder if you will help me with this? "¡° Come on, Rita. As long as it is within my ability, I will promise you. " I thought to myself, doesn''t she want me to give her back? But what she said next gave me a big relief¡° My mother and son, Alek, live in the small city of pochnok near the 171 railway. When you have a chance to go back to Leningrad, will you go and see them for me? "¡° No problem, Rita I readily agreed to her request: "when I return to Leningrad, I will take care of your mother and son instead of you."¡° Thank you, my friend With a happy expression on her face, she smiles at me and says, "it''s time for me to go. Good luck to you!" With that, she disappeared out of thin air in front of me, as if she had never appeared¡° Rita~~ Rita I yelled around the open space¡° Comrade commander! Comrade commander I felt someone gently shaking me and whispering in my ear. I opened my eyes and saw that it was the driver who sent me to the headquarters of the group army. Seeing that I opened my eyes, he pointed to the front and said, "Comrade commander! The 16th regiment headquarters is here. It''s in the woods by the side of the road ahead. " I nodded to him gratefully, opened the door beside me, jumped out of the car quickly, and walked quickly to the headquarters in the roadside woods.

 Chapter 49

    There was a very smooth path leading to me. I took a step forward, saluted rokosovsky, and then reported aloud, "Comrade General, commander oshanina, special commissioner of the front army, has come to report to you. At your command. "


    "Welcome, commander oshanina." Rokosovsky stood up and welcomed me warmly. He gave me a hug instead of a salute or a handshake. He said, "congratulations on your getting a higher rank at the same time."


    Next, the commanders who were sitting there also stood up and shook hands with me to express welcome and congratulations.


    After greeting everyone, rokosovsky asked me to sit down. The major general moved aside to make room for me. After I said thanks, I sat down. Rokosovsky picked up the teapot on the table, filled an empty glass with tea, and then put the glass into the pure silver cup holder. Then he handed it to me and said, "tea, please."


    I just got up from a sleep and was thirsty. I took the cup, first said a thank you, and then put the cup to the mouth, drink a mouthful. The tea was steaming and too sweet. Obviously the general put too much sugar in his cup.


    "Comrade oshanina, you have come at the right time. We are going to have lunch. Would you like to join us? " The general asked me politely.


    "It''s my pleasure to have dinner with you." Rokosovsky is the future marshal of the Soviet Union. It''s good for me to keep a harmonious relationship with him. I just came here. I''m not familiar with my life. I can''t find a place to eat without them. What''s more, the food of these senior commanders will never be too bad. I can improve the food with them, so I readily agree with them.


    There was a series of slow footsteps outside the curtain. First, I smelled the smell of baked potatoes. Then I saw several soldiers coming in with trays full of tableware. They put the tray on the table one by one and then backed out.


    There are many kinds of lunches on the table, including baked potatoes wrapped with tin foil, braised beef with potatoes, mashed potatoes, mutton soup, pickled cucumbers, pickled tomatoes, pickled mushrooms, corn salad, tomato salad, cucumber salad, carrot salad, sausage salad, banana fruit salad, and a few dishes of butter and shredded cheese. When I saw such a big lunch in front of me, I couldn''t help but drool. I was filled with emotion that rokosovsky would live. In those days when I lived with Zhukov, every day there was either bread or dry bread, and occasionally there was a red vegetable soup to improve the food, but there was absolutely no meat. I have applied for transfer since I knew the life here is so good.


    "What would you like to eat?" Rokosovsky asked me very gentlemanly.


    "Baked potatoes." Almost without thinking, I replied that, you know, after several years in Moscow, my eating habits have begun to be russianized, and I like to eat baked potatoes as much as I like to eat baked sweet potatoes in winter at home.


    Rokosovsky picked up a large potato wrapped in tin foil, put it on an empty plate, skillfully cut it in half with a knife, then mashed it into mud with a small spoon, added some butter and shredded cheese, and continued to stir. After mixing well, I pointed to several salads on the table and asked, "what kind of salad would you like to add?"


    I pointed to the corn salad, tomato salad and cucumber salad and said, "just these three."


    He spooned a few spoons of my salad into the potatoes, stirred it again and handed it to me. Then he said to everyone: "comrades, don''t mention it. Let''s all start eating. Since morning, we haven''t eaten yet. I guess we''ve been so hungry that we''ve already pressed our chest against our back."


    When they heard this, they burst into laughter. Then they stopped being polite and began to eat their favorite food in front of them. Because of the war at any time, we can''t find any alcoholic drinks on the table. We all drink tea while eating.


    "What''s the taste of baked potatoes?" Rokosovsky picked up the potatoes in the mutton soup and asked me as he ate.


    "It''s good. It''s delicious." I quickly swallowed a mouthful of sweet and delicious, and some hot tongue baked potatoes, very happy to reply: "if only I could often eat such delicious potatoes."


    "Ha ha," the general said with a smile, "I''ll treat you to eat every day when the German devils run away."


    As I ate this delicious baked potato that I had not seen for a long time, I couldn''t help thinking back to the good things I had in Moscow. Although the barbecue in Witten Khan is very strong, it tastes really good from the heart; The Russian cafeteria near Mayakovsky square has good taste, many varieties and low price. Every time my friends from China want to taste authentic Russian flavor, I will take them there to have a good time.


    "Rita." The general''s words interrupted my reverie. I quickly put down my fork and looked up at him. Before I could speak, he continued: "I heard about your performance in borojino. The counterattack you organized actually drove the German army back three to six kilometers and recovered all the lost positions. It''s really not easy!" He gave me a thumbs up, then picked up the tea cup on the table, said: "now in war, can''t drink, I''ll give you a cup of tea instead of wine. Cheers


    Hearing this, I quickly picked up the tea cup on the table and touched it gently. Seeing the general''s beginning, several other people, unwilling to lag behind, tried to imitate him and clinked glasses with tea instead of wine. Fortunately, it''s not drinking, I thought to myself. Otherwise, I would not be lying in the battlefield, but in the headquarters. After the tea was served to me, the general said, "you may not know. Soon after you left, the Supreme Command appointed a new commander to the Fifth Army. Today, the German army launched another fierce offensive against borojino in the early morning. According to the latest intelligence, many positions were reoccupied by the German army, our troops suffered heavy casualties, and the remaining troops are retreating. " I can''t help but be surprised to hear him say that the situation is so bad in just one day. Fortunately, Zhukov recalled me to the headquarters of the front army. If I continue to stay in the fifth group army to command the battle, I may be injured, captured or killed, or even be responsible for the forced retreat of the army. In the distance, suddenly came the rumble of guns, a telephone of the headquarters also rang up. The commander nearest to the phone picked up the phone, listened for a while, then covered the phone and said to the general, "Comrade commander, the phone is from general Panfilov. The German devils are attacking his defense line under the cover of tanks."¡° I see. I''ll go to him right away¡° Yes, "the Lieutenant Commander agreed. Then he let go of his hand and said aloud to general Panfilov at the other end of the telephone line," the commander has orders that you should resolutely block the enemy and not step back. He will come to you immediately. " Rokosovsky stood up, tied his belt and said to everyone, "comrades, go and do your work. I''ll go to Panfilov''s division and have a look." Then he said to me, "Rita, come with me."¡° Yes I quickly put down half eaten baked potatoes and stood up to answer him. In the heart secretly scolds this group of damned German devils, even does not let us finish the meal well. If there is a chance in the future, I will organize the troops to attack at night every day, so that you can''t even sleep.

 Chapter 50

    General Panfilov''s command post is very large. It used to be the village Soviet Office of a collective farm. After his troops moved here two days ago, they directly transformed the largest building here into their own headquarters.


    Now, in addition to general rokosovsky, general Panfilov, the political commissar of the 316 infantry division and me, there are seven or eight staff officers of the division headquarters, a colonel in a military coat and two soldiers guarding him. The command post is very crowded.


    General rokosovsky''s face was very ugly, and he stared at the bound Colonel without saying a word. Next to him, Panfilov''s face turned red and growled at the Colonel: "why did you lead the troops to retreat and hand over the position we have held for so long to the Germans? Do you know that as soon as the position is lost, the flank of the whole group army will be exposed to the German army. If they take the opportunity to attack, we will be in danger of being surrounded. "


    The colonel looked up at the two generals, then explained in a hoarse voice, "Comrade General! Our 948th brigade was very tenacious, but the enemy''s attack was too fierce. They used planes to bombard every day, and my 2842 regiment had been completely destroyed. 2843 regiment and 2844 regiment had only two days to take over their positions, and they were almost dead. There are 5000 people in the brigade, and now there are less than 500 left. I couldn''t bear to see the soldiers die here, so I took them down with me. "


    "Enough." Panfilov interrupted him and continued to scold him: "don''t talk nonsense! The situation is not the same for all units. There are less than 180 people left in the 2840 regiment of the 947 brigade, but they are still holding their positions and never let the enemy move forward. "


    Rokosovsky waved to general Panfilov to stop talking. The bearded division commander immediately closed his mouth, looked at the Group Commander in front of him, and listened to him how to punish his retreating colonel.


    Rokosovsky looked at the colonel for a while, then walked slowly in front of him, and then said calmly: "when a large regiment is fighting, military discipline must be strict! Especially in the current situation, we must not tolerate those who are afraid of death and greedy for life Turning to Panfilov, he said, "we must resolutely enforce the discipline of the battlefield."


    As soon as the group commander said this, he directly sentenced the colonel to death. Not only me, but all the people in the room understood the general''s final attitude. There was silence in the room, and I saw tears rolling out of Panfilov''s eyes, and the muscles of his face shaking violently. After a long time, he raised his hand, slashed down and ordered the two soldiers: "drag out, enforce discipline and shoot on the spot."


    Two soldiers came forward, seized the Colonel''s arm and pushed out. The Colonel faced Panfilov and did not say what he wanted to say, allowing the two soldiers to push themselves out of the command post.


    Hearing the clear gunshot coming from outside the house, I couldn''t help but feel shocked: a living person is gone like this?! His troops were almost exhausted, and he was able to hold the position without reinforcements. It''s wrong for him to lead the rest of the troops to withdraw without asking for instructions, but it can''t be said that he was shot. But we can''t blame rokosovsky, we can only blame the ruthlessness of the war.


    "General Panfilov, when we gave up our position, did our wounded withdraw?"


    "Report, comrade commander, it''s all down! The Colonel sent all the wounded down first before he ordered the evacuation. He was the last to leave the position! "


    When Panfilov said this, rokosovsky was shot, his face turned black, and he bit his lips with his teeth. It took him a long time to say, "inform the Colonel''s family that he died bravely. He died bravely in the cruel battle with the German army."


    "Yes. Comrade General Panfilov replied, "I''ll pass your message on to his family."


    "What about the lost position?" "Do you have a reserve team?" rokosovsky asked? While the enemy''s foothold is not stable, immediately organize troops to recapture the position! "


    "My guard camp can fight immediately, but my battalion commander died in the recent air raid. Please send me an experienced commander to take up this position and organize this important counterattack."


    "Where can I find you an experienced commander?" Rokosovsky frowned and said, "you know the situation of my troops. They are all pieced together. They all lack commanders with rich combat experience."


    "Well, if you can''t send a commander, I''ll take the troops to fight back myself."


    "No way!" Panfilov''s proposal was rejected by the commander without hesitation, "if you want to stay here to command your troops, it''s not your turn to be the commando captain."


    "But, comrade commander, I really can''t find a suitable person to direct this counterattack. It''s necessary for me to direct the troops myself. We are fighting for the honor of the 316th infantry division. "


    Panfilov''s words deeply moved rokosovsky, he became a bit hesitant. Seeing this, I couldn''t help feeling a little feverish again. I stepped forward and said to him in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, if you trust me, please let me command this army."


    "You?" He and Panfilov looked at me in disbelief, and they asked in unison, "do you want to direct this counterattack?"


    "Yes, Comrade General!" I looked at rokosovsky and answered him very seriously.


    After listening to my words, he said to me in a kind voice, "Rita, this counterattack will be very dangerous. You should think it over. Don''t be impulsive."


    "Thank you for your concern, Comrade General! I once commanded the fifth group army''s all-round counterattack against the German army in borojino and won. I have rich combat experience, and I believe that this counterattack will be successful. Please let me direct this counterattack force. "


    After listening to me, rokosovsky walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. Everyone''s eyes turned to him and moved with him. Maybe it was the Bologna counterattack that I mentioned that made him finally make up his mind. As soon as he patted the table, he said in a loud voice, "well, comrade Rita, I''ll appoint you as the acting battalion commander of the guard battalion of the 316 division to direct the counterattack." Then he said to Panfilov, "there are no other commanders in the guard camp. Let him come in and meet commander o''shanina."


    "Yes, now the commander of the army is Comrade kroshikov, a political instructor at the level of deputy battalion commander. I''ll call him to come and get to know lieutenant commander oshanina."


    Kroshkov soon appeared. He was a round face, black hair, very handsome young man. Hearing that I was going to lead the guard camp with him to take back the lost position of the 948th brigade, he looked me up and down curiously, and then extended his hand to shake me.


    "Rita, are you sure you''ll get your position back in this attack?" Rokosovsky asked again with concern.


    "I am very confident, comrade commander! Please order the artillery of the group army to bombard the positions occupied by the enemy for 20 minutes. " I answered with confidence that when the Soviet Army dug the trench, the soil was piled in front of it, so the position was high in front and low in back. It''s OK to defend from the front. If you attack from the back, it''s easier to attack than to defend. I hope that the German army who just occupied the position had no time to change the structure of the trench, so that I would have a better chance of winning.


    "No problem. I''ll arrange it right away. It''s 13:50 now. In ten minutes, I''ll order the artillery to bombard the enemy''s position. You should get ready as soon as possible. Good luck


    "Yes! Comrade General. " I agreed and left the headquarters with the first level instructor, kroshkov.


    In the trenches where we were preparing for the attack, because of the rush of time, I only called together all the company and platoon cadres to make a speech, which was very brief: for our honor, we should take back the lost positions.


    At 14 o''clock, the shelling officially began, and dozens of artillery shells roared down on the enemy occupied positions, which were soon covered by fire and smoke.


    After a while of shelling, I asked kroshkov next to me, "how long has the shelling been going on?"


    "Fifteen minutes, comrade commander." He answered me in a loud voice.


    "I command: the whole battalion will attack at once!"


    "But He said in embarrassment: "according to the regulations, we should wait until the end of the shelling before we can carry out the attack."


    "Go to his regulations. When the shelling is over, the German devils are ready in the position. To attack at that time is to let the soldiers die in vain. I am the supreme commander of the battalion. I has the final say, and attack all over the line! "


    With that, I jumped out of the trench and cried out, "comrades! Brothers! For the motherland! For our honor! Forward ~ ~! " After shouting, I strode forward with my submachine gun.


    I had already rushed out, and kroshkov could no longer stay in the trench. He also rushed out, and then the soldiers of the whole guard camp jumped out of the trench with their weapons in their hands and strode towards the enemy''s position.


    I looked around at the soldiers who passed by me, and I felt in my heart: in the end, the guard camp is well equipped. In addition to rifles, it is also equipped with a large number of carbines, submachine guns and machine guns, and its firepower is no worse than that of the German army.


    I don''t know if the designers of women''s military uniform have leg fetishism. The military uniform, whether summer or winter, is designed with skirts at the bottom. It''s not good to go faster first. So the longer the journey, the farther the distance between me and those soldiers, and gradually I fell behind.


    By the end of the shelling, our troops were only a few steps away from the trench. In the smoke filled position, the German army had been bombed dizzy, did not expect us to launch a charge in the artillery. Several sharp eyed German soldiers found us. They just picked up their weapons and were screened by our intensive fire before they could shoot.


    Although I fell behind, I heard kroshkov''s voice vaguely from the dense gunfire ahead: "comrades, go! For the honor of our division, drive out the German devils. "


    The soldiers kept pounding the trenches and engaged in close combat with the German army. The automatic weapons in their hands played a great role at this time. The humiliation and blood debt brought by the German devils were recovered at this moment.


    Although the German army fought hard, they were soon disintegrated and jumped out of the trenches to escape to their original positions. We wiped out all the enemies in the trenches and then stopped fighting. The positions were full of German bodies, and at least half of the German defenders stayed here. We recovered the lost position at a very low cost.

 Chapter 51

    After recovering the position, kroshkov led the soldiers to clean the battlefield, bury the bodies, rescue the wounded and reinforce the fortifications, so I stayed in the battalion headquarters to supervise the signalmen to install the communication lines to the rear.


    While waiting for the signalman to lay the line, I had nothing to do. By the faint light of the flickering candles in the room, I disassembled the bobosha submachine gun into parts and carefully wiped every part clean before reassembling it. After wiping the weapons, seeing that the signalmen were still busy, they took out the round clips and pulled out the bullets one by one. Looking around, they saw that the signalmen were busy and no one noticed me, so they polished them one by one with their saliva, and then replaced the clips.


    As soon as the clip was fixed, the phone on the desk rang. I looked at the time, and it took the signalmen nearly three hours just to restore communication between the battalion command post and the rear. It seems that it is absolutely necessary to organize them to have a technical competition in order to improve their technical level.


    After the communication was restored, the telephone rang all the time. Almost every call was to congratulate us on regaining the position occupied by the enemy.


    Major general Panfilov, who called first, said happily on the other end of the line, "major o''shanina, you''re amazing! It took only half an hour to recapture our lost position. I''ll ask for your credit immediately. "


    As soon as his phone was hung up, the group army commander, lieutenant general rokosovsky, got on the phone one after another. He first congratulated me on my action to recover the position, just like the division commander, and then asked with concern, "are there many casualties in your battalion?"


    Looking at the report of casualties before me, I replied, "it''s not big. In the counterattack, we sacrificed six soldiers, injured 15, wiped out 197 enemies, and captured two mortars and a large number of submachine guns."


    On hearing this, rokosovsky was silent for a moment, and then said to me in a long tone: "Comrade Rita, we are not outsiders. I hope you can tell me the truth. How many people were killed in your camp? You should know that no matter how much you pay to defeat the enemy, it''s worth it. "


    "Really, comrade commander." I know that in such an offensive, it is very difficult to believe that there are only such small casualties. I hastened to explain: "our battalion has only suffered 21 casualties in this offensive. There is absolutely no falsification in this data. If you don''t believe it, you can count the number of people in person. After counting the number of people, you will know whether what I said is true or false. "


    "Really?" Rokosovsky asked uneasily.


    "Of course it is, comrade commander." I answered him in a positive tone: "I know that in such a battle, it''s incredible that there are only so few casualties, but it''s true."


    "Tell me, how did you do that?" There was still distrust in his tone.


    "While the artillery of the group army was still bombarding the position, the German devils were suppressed in the trenches and could not observe the situation outside, I led the troops to launch the attack. At the end of the shelling, our troops were only ten meters away from the position, and a charge rushed into the trench, which caught the enemy by surprise. In addition to the well-equipped guard camp, the powerful firepower made the enemy have no power to fight back. Maybe it''s the combination of these factors that will enable us to recapture the position with the least casualties. "


    "I see, commander Rita, well done! Now that the position has been recaptured, hold it well and never let the enemy move forward. Good luck to you Then he put down the phone.


    The phone rang again.


    This time, Zhukov himself called. As soon as he got through, he said impatiently, "Rita, what''s the matter with your phone? Why can''t you get through all the time?"


    "Hello, senior general!" I politely said hello to him, and then patiently explained to him: "just now I was talking to general rokosovsky, commander of the group army."


    "I heard that you would not stay in the headquarters of the group army, but you would run to the army and charge with the soldiers! This is not what you should do. You''d better be a counsellor in the headquarters! "


    "Thank you for your concern, senior general. I don''t think I''m suitable to stay in the headquarters. It''s better for me to work face to face with the German devils in the front line." As my rank increases, I will be able to contact more and more senior generals in the future. But if we continue to stay in the headquarters for a long time, we will inevitably be involved in the power struggle within the army. Although the front line is extremely dangerous, you at least know who your enemy is. In the headquarters, if you stand in the wrong team, you may be in a situation of irreparable doom. That''s why I, as a political Xiaobai, have chosen to come to the front again and again.


    After listening to my explanation, Zhukov sighed and said, "I just heard major general Panfilov say that you and your troops have recaptured the lost position of the 316 division. It''s amazing! I congratulate you. " Then he said, "what are the casualties of the troops in this attack?"


    "The casualties are very small, Comrade General." Then I added, "the casualties are incredibly small."


    "Too small to believe?" He repeated what I said and then asked, "how small is it?"¡° Six soldiers were killed and 15 wounded, and 197 German devils were wiped out. And a lot of weapons and ammunition have been seized. " I repeated to Zhukov the information I just reported to rokosovsky. After listening to my report, he hesitated and asked, "are you sure what you said is accurate?" If in future generations, I tell others like this, they will probably ask me: "you didn''t open the invincible plug-in, right?"¡° Exactly, Georgi konstantinovich. " I answered him in a very positive tone. I guess he should ask me why I got such a result. Sure enough, he then asked, "how could the casualties be so small? How did you do that?" So I repeated to the commander of the group army what I had just reported to him. Finally, I added: "I think that in war, as a commander, we should pay attention to some command skills. We should not blindly fight and rush. In that case, the casualties of the army will be too great. If we pay a huge price to reluctantly recapture the position and face the enemy''s crazy counterattack, it will be difficult to hold without enough troops. "¡° You have a point He agreed: "now that the position has been taken back, hold it well. If there''s a reserve team from base camp, I''ll give you a supplement. Good luck Then he hung up, too. At this time, political deputy battalion commander kroshkov came in and reported to me: "Comrade commander, all the battlefields have been cleaned up. We have collected the bodies of the enemy and buried them. The bodies of our dead soldiers and the wounded have also been sent to the rear. The original Fortifications on the positions have also been reinforced to withstand a new round of enemy attacks. "¡° Let''s go and take me to have a look, first-class political instructor comrade. " Then I stood up, tilted the submachine gun on my back, and led the way out. After walking along the newly dug trench, I found that the soldiers just dug up the collapsed area again, and then simply reinforced it with logs. It''s OK to hide bullets in such a trench, and they will still suffer heavy losses in case of artillery attack. So I turned to kroshkov and said, "Comrade political instructor I, such fortifications are not good. As long as the enemy bombards us, our soldiers in the trenches will suffer heavy casualties."¡° What should we do? Comrade commander. " Kroshkov asked for my advice with an open mind¡° The bigger the pit, the better. When the enemy shelled, in addition to leaving a few observation posts, other people can hide inside, so as to avoid many unnecessary casualties. " Then I pointed to the open area in front of the position and said, "immediately organize soldiers to dig dozens of individual bunkers 20 meters in front. The deeper the bunkers, the better. They should be as deep as people can''t climb out after they enter." Kroshkov heard that he was full of fog and asked curiously, "why do you dig so deep in the individual bunker? And so deep that no one can climb out? " I smile, deliberately sold a pass, do not say: "as for what use? You''ll know when the German devils attack. Also, "seeing that kroshkov turned to leave, I told him," arrange manpower immediately, dig individual bunker and bullet proof pit immediately, and move quickly. "¡° But, comrade commander. " He said with some embarrassment: "the soldiers are very tired and need rest. It''s not appropriate to arrange them to continue to work at this time."¡° Carry out the order! First class instructor comrades. " I said in a strong tone: "now is not the time to rest. You tell the soldiers to sweat more in peacetime and bleed less in wartime. Now, if you dig one more shovel of soil, you will get one less shell skin when you fight. "¡° But... "Kroshkov wanted to explain something, but I immediately interrupted," there''s nothing but. I am the supreme commander of the battalion, and I has the final say in my jurisdiction. Go ahead and execute it¡° Yes Kroshkov saluted me and turned to arrange for the soldiers to carry out the geotechnical work I arranged.

 Chapter 52

    "Report!" Outside came the voice of soldiers, let me give up the idea of staying in bed.


    "Come in." Before I could speak, kroshkov, who had been in the shelter, had already spoken.


    I lifted the curtain that separated the camp bed from the command post and looked out. I saw a soldier with a helmet and a bayonet rifle standing in front of kroshkov, reporting to him: "Comrade instructor I, I see a team of trucks with awning coming towards us."


    "What kind of truck? Is it our truck? " He asked after him.


    "Yes, it''s the tractor truck of the artillery company of the division headquarters. The back of each truck is towing artillery, and we are coming from the rear of the position. The platoon leader thought it necessary to report it to you, so he sent me here


    "I see. Thank you." Kroshkov said, waving to the soldier to let him go. The soldier immediately understood, immediately saluted him, turned and left the command post.


    Kroshkov watched the soldier walk out of the command post, then slowly turned around. He thought he was going to call me, but it was just opposite to my eyes. He laughed and then asked me, "Comrade commander, can you get up? The sentry on duty just now reported that an artillery company was coming. Let''s go and have a look. "


    "All right." I was lying on the March bed with my clothes. With these words, I immediately got out of bed, put on my boots, pulled open the curtain, took off the coat hanging on the nail on the wall, and said to kroshkov: "Comrade instructor, let''s go and have a look together."


    Kroshkov and I were standing on the open ground, watching the motorcade in the distance getting closer and closer. In a short time, the motorcade stopped five or six meters in front of us. Then the driver''s cab door of the first truck opened, and a fully armed captain jumped out of it. He blew his whistle hard and yelled, "artillery company, listen to me, all of you get out of the car."


    With his shouts, the soldiers in the truck jumped out of the car one after another, waving their arms and kicking their legs to move their rigid bodies, and looking around with laughter and talk.


    The captain ran over, saluted kroshkov, and said in a loud voice, "first class political instructor comrade, Captain gangchajin of the antiaircraft artillery company reports to you. I will lead the antiaircraft artillery company to come and wait for your order."


    "Anti aircraft artillery camp?" When kroshkov said this, he looked up at the sky and said, "what we need here are anti tank anti-aircraft guns, not anti-aircraft guns. If you want to strengthen air defense, it might be more appropriate for you to go to the division headquarters. "


    "Wait a minute," I interrupted the instructor and asked the captain directly, "Comrade captain, the order you have received is to use anti-aircraft guns to fire flat on the enemy''s tanks?"


    "Yes, exactly." When the captain answered me, he looked me up and down curiously. Maybe he was very strange, how suddenly a young woman soldier would jump out and say "three four", but the first level political instructor didn''t express any objection.


    "Let''s meet. This is commander o''shanina." Kroshkov quickly introduced me to the captain.


    "Hello, comrade commander." The captain quickly saluted me at attention. "I''m waiting for your instructions."


    I didn''t return the gift. Instead, I went up to him, took his hand and said, "welcome. With your support, the German Devils'' tanks are not a concern. " After releasing his hand, I pointed to a forest in the northwest of the rear of the position and said, "you lead the antiaircraft artillery company to build a position in the forest over there. I''ll arrange the messenger to lay a telephone line immediately. If you need fire support, I''ll call you."


    "I see, comrade commander." The captain saluted me at attention again, then quickly ran back to his motorcade and cried out in his loud voice, "artillery company, listen to me, all aboard."


    Looking at the motorcade turning to the northwest woods, kroshkov asked, "Comrade commander, why did you arrange the artillery company''s position in the woods? You know, according to the regulations, artillery should be deployed directly in the open area behind the position. "


    "My political instructor comrade," I explained patiently to him, "the regulations were formulated more than ten years ago. At that time, the enemy''s planes and tanks were very few, and the layout of defensive positions like that was completely correct. Now, however, the situation is different. Before the enemy attacks, first the plane blows up the artillery, and then the infantry charges under the cover of tanks. If we still follow the rules mechanically and put the artillery on the open ground, it is to let the soldiers be the living targets of the enemy. Do you see what I mean? "


    On hearing my explanation, kroshkov said nothing more but nodded. After a while, he said, "Comrade commander, it''s cold outside. Let''s go back to the shelter." He didn''t say that I didn''t feel cold yet. Listening to what he said, I felt the cold wind hurt my face, so I agreed, turned around and trotted all the way back to the warm shelter.


    The German attack began at ten in the morning. They have the same old tactics. When the plane comes to the position, it goes around first, drops a few bombs, then chases the target on the ground, and shoots with machine guns. Then their cannons began to roar, and dense shells fell on the ground of our army.


    I had a way to deal with the old German style. As soon as the enemy plane arrived, I informed the company commanders that except for a few observation posts, the rest of the soldiers were hiding in the bullet holes they had already dug. As long as there were no dense battle formations in the trenches, the German bombing and shelling did much less damage to our army. I am very confident that under my command, the guard camp will never be completely destroyed in a day or two. Otherwise, without the higher authorities being held responsible for the failure, I would shoot myself in the temple like major general Smirnov. Before the shelling was over, I heard two quick whistles coming from the trench. These were the signals that I had spoken to the observation post in advance. They meant to ask the commander to go there immediately. I quickly ran out of the bullet hole, bent down along the trench, and ran to the observation post under enemy fire. As soon as I saw the soldier in charge of observation, I asked unhappily, "the enemy''s shelling is not over. What do you do with your whistle?"¡° Comrade commander, you see, German devils, "the sentry I blamed did not retort, but pointed to the front of the position and said to me," you see, German Devils'' infantry are coming. " I raised my telescope and looked out. I saw that the German army''s formation of scattered soldiers was approaching our position. I didn''t expect that the German commander in charge of the army had a strong learning ability. Yesterday, I used this tactic to bring the troops to seize the position, but I didn''t expect that they would return the soldiers in their own way today, and launch an attack when our army was suppressed by artillery fire. However, since this tactic was initiated by me, I naturally have a way to deal with it. I immediately ordered the observation post to blow the whistle and ask the soldiers to enter the position as soon as possible. After a series of rapid whistles from the observation post, the soldiers hiding in the bullet hole braved the enemy''s fire and entered the battle position. As soon as the shelling was over, the German infantry charged. However, they were not as lucky as we were yesterday. They were not able to rush into the position because they were met by the intensive firepower of our army. The German infantry were exposed to the open ground more than ten meters away, which was the living target of the soldiers. The bullets splashed out, and the infantry fell in front of our position one after another. In order to avoid the intensive firepower of our army, some soldiers jumped into the individual bunker we dug¡° Go Just as the fight was fierce, a shout was heard from the side. I turned to see that it was kroshkov who led the charge. See more and more soldiers jump out of the trench, began to attack the enemy. I secretly complained that it''s safe to stay in the position and fight the enemy. Why are you leading the team to rush blindly? However, seeing that the enemy had retreated like a tide, I stood up straight, carrying a submachine gun to sweep the enemy''s retreating line. After hitting a clip and replacing it with a new one, I jumped out of the trench and followed the soldiers forward. The stormtroopers stopped 300 meters before retreating as a whole. Kroshkov pointed to the individual bunker and said, "now I understand why you asked us to dig the bunker so deep that the German devils could not climb out if they fell in."¡° Hee hee, just understand. "¡° What about the German devils in the bunker? " He asked¡° Find German soldiers to shout to them, want to live to throw out weapons to surrender. Otherwise, "speaking of this, I pulled a grenade from the waist of a nearby soldier, pulled the fuse, and after burning for five seconds, I threw the grenade into one of the bunkers¡° Boom A loud noise, smoke mixed with a burst of blood mist from the bunker, and then everything is calm. I then added, "those who do not surrender will be dealt with in this way. Do you understand? "¡° I see Kroshkov and the soldiers around him answered me at the same time. The shouting to the German soldiers trapped in the individual bunkers began. Many German soldiers in the bunkers obediently threw out their weapons. After being dragged up by the soldiers, they held up their hands and became our prisoners. However, from time to time, there were two explosions, which were the most direct means used by the soldiers to deal with those stubborn enemies.

 Chapter 53

    The first German attack was repulsed by us, but less than an hour later, they launched a new attack.


    Kroshkov and I were talking about the battle in the shelter. He asked me modestly: "Comrade commander, I didn''t expect that the individual bunker you asked the soldiers to dig was a trap for catching prisoners. But I have a question. How many prisoners can we catch with these dozens of traps? "


    "In fact, I asked the soldiers to dig such traps, not to capture the prisoners, but to destroy the enemy more."


    "Ah?" My answer made him puzzled. "How could you be so sure that the enemy would jump into the bunker we dug?"


    "When the enemy attacks, in order to avoid our intensive firepower, we must find a place to escape. Seeing so many empty bunkers, it''s natural to jump in and hide bullets. But what they didn''t expect was that the cover was dug so deep that once they jumped in, it became a turtle in a jar, and we had to cut it off. "


    At this point, the phone on the desk rang, and kroshkov picked up the phone. After listening to a few words, he said to each other, "I see. Let the soldiers get ready for battle." Put down the phone and told me, "the German devils are attacking again."


    I quickly came to the lookout hole and raised my telescope to observe the situation on the battlefield outside.


    In this attack, the German army was much more cautious than before. The tanks rushed in front and the infantry fell far behind. It seems that they are still using the same tactics. First, they use tanks to attack and tear a gap in our defense line. Then the infantry follow up and occupy the position to expand the breakthrough. However, it should not be admitted that this kind of attack was very effective, because the Soviet defense positions were usually linear, lacking or no depth configuration, so the German army often broke through one point, and then the whole defense line collapsed.


    In the face of the rumbling German tanks, kroshkov was extremely calm. After all, the 316 division had fought several battles since it arrived here. With rich combat experience, kroshkov would not be as helpless as he was at the beginning of the war. Each company is equipped with ten anti tank guns, which are specially used to deal with tanks.


    He said to me: "I go to the position to command the soldiers to fight tanks." Then he lifted the curtain and ran out.


    "Wait a minute." I quickly stopped him and told him, "the German infantry are far away. Let the soldiers fight the tanks first. If the enemy''s tanks advance too fast, let them pass through our line of defense, and then stop the infantry behind with intensive fire. Do you understand? "


    "What about the German tanks coming to our rear?" Asked kroshkov, puzzled.


    "Those tanks without infantry cover, you just send a few soldiers to throw a few burning bottles from the back, those big guys will become piles of burning scrap iron."


    "I see, comrade commander. I know what to do With that, he trotted out of the shelter.


    I was in the telescope, looking at the front of a tank, suddenly a meal, and then suddenly stopped, and then the whole body of smoke. Seeing all this, I know that the soldiers hit the target with anti tank guns.


    Seeing that one of the tanks was shot, the rest of the tanks slowed down one after another and fired at our army in the process of moving. I counted out the tanks outside. In addition to those destroyed, there were 13 other tanks. It''s estimated that they can''t hold up with dozens of anti tank guns. So I picked up the phone on the desk, shook the handle a few times, and said loudly to the operator, "connect me with the artillery company." As soon as I got on the phone, I said in a loud voice, "is that gonchazin? I''m lieutenant commander oshanina. The artillery company is ready to fire. Attack the German tanks with armor piercing bullets. Move fast. " With that, I hung up and went to the lookout hole to observe the war outside.


    In a short time, the shells of the antiaircraft artillery company roared and fell into the attack queue of the German tanks. Some of them directly hit the target, deflected the turret of the tank or broke the track. But more shells fell on the open space, and the earth rose to the sky.


    There were too many German tanks. Although seven or eight of them were destroyed by successive attacks, the remaining tanks still crossed our trenches and rushed back. One of them rushed through the trench only ten meters away from my shelter. Seeing this, I quickly put down my telescope and ran out with a submachine gun.


    As soon as the tank ran through the trench, a soldier jumped out of the trench and ran after him, throwing two flasks. The first one missed and landed on the left side of the tank, smashing the bottle and spilling the liquid all over the floor. The second bottle was ready to hit the turret of the tank, and the body was immediately surrounded by a fire. The soldier was stunned for a moment. He saw clearly that the enemy''s tank was burning, and then he turned around and ran back.


    I''m glad to see this young soldier who just killed a German tank rush towards me. I''m going to wait for him to enter the trench and praise him. He had two steps left before he could jump into the trench. Suddenly he leaned back and fell straight in front of me. First I was startled and looked up to find that it was the gun fired by a tank man climbing out of the destroyed tank. I quickly picked up the submachine gun in my hand and swept at him. The tank man first lost his submachine gun, then covered his chest and fell down from the tank head on and heavily on the ground.


    "The German devil''s infantry is coming up." I suddenly heard someone nearby shouting so loudly. I turned around and saw that when we were trying our best to deal with the tanks, the enemy infantry had unconsciously approached our position. I aimed at a few German soldiers who were coming up, pulled the trigger, and a row of bullets went out. Seeing that I opened fire, the soldiers around me opened fire one after another and fired at the enemy. We are shooting and the attacking German soldiers are fighting back. A bullet whistled and wiped my scalp, then I felt cool on my head. I stretched out my hand and touched it. It turned out that the bullet had knocked the cotton hat off, which scared me out of a cold sweat. How dangerous! If the bullet was lower, I would have to fantasize if I wanted to survive. I took the submachine gun and fired again until all the bullets in the magazine were gone. Then he squatted down, picked up the hat with a hole, bent over and trotted back to the shelter. As soon as I entered the room, I grabbed the phone on my desk and asked to get through to the antiaircraft artillery company. I ordered gonchazin to exchange high explosive bombs to bombard the German infantry immediately. With the support of artillery, we beat back the German attack again. In addition to destroying 14 tanks, nearly 200 infantry were killed and wounded. However, the casualties of our army were not small. There were only 200 people left in the original camp of 500 people. If I want to defend such an important position, I can''t defend it only by 200 people. So while reporting the war situation to division commander Panfilov, I made a very direct request to him for reinforcements. He hesitated for a long time on the other end of the phone, and then reluctantly answered me, saying that if the group army or the front army sent him a reserve team, he would give priority to our battalion. Although I didn''t get a satisfactory reply, I also know that Panfilov was powerless. In order to regain this position, he even used the most elite guard camp. Now, in addition to a group of staff officers and political workers, there are only a few security guards around him. Kroshkov stood by and watched me finish the call. Then he asked with concern, "how is it, can the division send reinforcements to my battalion?" I shook my head and said, "without reinforcements, it''s all up to us."¡° Do you have any good plans? " He asked me again, and unconsciously he changed my address to "you". I went to the lookout hole and looked at the battlefield where there was still smoke outside. I was thinking about how to use this effective force to hold this important position for as long as possible¡° Do you have any good ideas? " Kroshkov asked me again. When he asked, I suddenly thought of several real-time strategy games that later generations had played. In the war against computers, if we just keep on defending, then the computer troops will keep on attacking, as if their forces are inexhaustible; If it launches an attack on its rear, even if it''s just a sneak attack by a small force, it will stop the attack foolishly, and then transfer all its forces back to guard its base. Think of here, my train of thought suddenly enlightened: right! We can''t attack all the time. We should defend. It''s time for us to attack. So I said to kroshkov, "Comrade instructor I have come up with a way. If we want to hold the position, we should not always stay in the trenches and simply defend. We should take the initiative to attack the enemy." He was startled by my words. He quickly retorted: "Comrade commander, your idea is not appropriate. How many German troops are there and how many of us are there? Moreover, the German army has aircraft and artillery, while we have only one company of anti-aircraft artillery. If it is purely defensive, it''s OK. If we attack with such forces, it''s no different from death. " With a smile, I said, "did I talk about a frontal attack on the German army? My plan is to use the night to launch a night attack on the German army. "¡° Night attack? " He asked uneasily, "how many troops do you need to invest?"¡° We''re not going to attack the fortified positions, we''re just going to attack secretly, so we don''t need too many troops. Thirty people are enough. "¡° Who do you think is suitable to direct the operation? "¡° I put forward this plan, so I will personally direct the night attack. "¡° No, you''re the top commander of the battalion. You can''t take the risk. I''d better lead the team. " Kroshkov was afraid that I would be in danger, so he wanted to direct the operation for me¡° I am the supreme commander of the battalion. If I has the final say, you won''t argue with me. In order to prevent kroshkov from blocking my action, I raised my identity to suppress him¡° Yes He agreed helplessly. Therefore, the plan for the German night attack was determined in a few words.

 Chapter 54

    Kroshkov went to pick out the people who would take part in the attack, and I pulled a curtain in the shelter to change my clothes. Since I entered this era, I have been wearing skirts almost every day. I don''t feel anything at ordinary times. It''s only when I fight that I feel that this skirt is in the way. I''m going to take the team to attack the enemy''s camp. It''s estimated that the war situation will be very fierce at that time. It''s not very convenient to wear a skirt again. So I just borrowed a pair of military trousers from kroshkov. Although it''s a little bigger, it''s much more convenient to wear skirts.


    After wearing pants and a white camouflage suit, he walked out of the shelter with a submachine gun.


    The soldiers who took part in the night attack had formed two neat lines in the trench. When they saw me coming out, the originally whispering lines immediately calmed down. Kroshkov came to salute me and reported, "Comrade commander, the 30 soldiers participating in the night attack are ready. Please give us your instructions."


    As I passed in front of the line, I could barely see the young faces in front of me by the light from the shelter. I said to them in a loud voice: "comrades, in today''s battle, you have severely taught the German devils that they have not been able to move forward. You are all good!"


    "Serve the motherland of the Soviet Union!" The soldiers responded to me with one voice.


    "We beat the German devils hard during the day, and we can''t let them rest at night. Now, I''m going to take you to attack them. This operation is very dangerous, maybe we will all sacrifice, so I don''t force you. If there are those who don''t want to go, you can stay, I won''t blame you. "


    "Look what you said, comrade major." A familiar voice came from the side, "we are ready to fight at any time. No one will shrink back."


    "Who''s talking to?" Although the voice was familiar, I couldn''t see the speaker''s face clearly, so I couldn''t help asking.


    "It''s me, bahadu." He said with some frustration and disappointment, "Comrade major, you don''t know me?"


    "Know, know, how can we not know? After all, we are all old acquaintances." I went over and patted him on the shoulder and said, "I didn''t expect you to join the night attack team."


    "Yes, comrade major." Bahadu didn''t know that I had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander. He also called me my former rank. "At the beginning, comrade division commander asked me to protect your safety as my own eyes. This order is still valid today. You take the troops to attack the German devils. Of course, I will follow you and protect you. "


    "Thank you I held his hand tightly and shook it hard.


    "Can we go? Comrade commander. " Kroshkov asked me softly.


    "Comrades, let''s go." I gave orders to the soldiers to attack.


    The distance between our position and the German forest was about 500 meters. To pass such a long distance without being discovered by the German army, we had to crawl. Fortunately, when I was a unit militia, I practiced crawling, so these hundreds of meters are just a piece of cake for me.


    Every few minutes the German army fired a flare into the air, and then we stopped and lay motionless on the snow. Wait for the flare to disappear, then move on.


    After entering the woods, I vaguely saw the orderly tents in front of me. I guess it should be the rest place for German soldiers. We continued to crawl forward, searching for the German sentry.


    "Comrade major, look over there." Bahadu next to me said a word gently. I followed the direction of his fingers and saw a red bright spot not far away. Then, with the light of the flare, I saw that it was a soldier in a helmet, leaning against a tree, smoking.


    "Who''s going to take out the sentry?" I asked the soldiers behind me softly.


    "I''ll go." A voice agreed, and then I saw a burly soldier, with hands and feet, crawling past me and quickly leaning forward to the sentry. After a while, the soldier climbed back to me and said softly, "Comrade commander, the sentry has been killed. Please direct the next task."


    There was a faint smell of blood in the air, but to my surprise, the sentry was still standing in place, and the cigarette in his mouth continued to flash red. I asked the soldier a little displeased, "are you sure the sentry has been killed?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." He recognized the dissatisfaction in my tone and quickly explained to me, "I stabbed the sentry''s chin up with a dagger. He didn''t even chew it. He was out of breath." Listening to what he said, I looked up and carefully observed the sentry leaning against the tree not far away. In the light of the flares, I vaguely saw a long object inserted in the chin of the sentry. Some liquid was dripping down the object.


    "I just looked at it carefully and found no other sentry except this one." The soldier continued to whisper in my ear. I was very happy in my heart. God bless me. I didn''t expect that the German vigilance would be so poor. Maybe they thought that the Soviet army would only hide behind the position and defend passively. They didn''t have the courage to attack them at all, so they didn''t even arrange more sentinels at night.


    As soon as I got up, the soldiers behind me also got up one after another. Under the cover of trees, we moved quickly to the German tent.


    Suddenly, bahadu grabbed my sleeve and whispered, "be careful, there''s a German ambush ahead."


    Ambush?! Hearing this, I instinctively whispered: "lie down!" Then he took the lead in climbing on the ground.


    After lying on the ground for a while, he didn''t see any movement in front of him, so he asked bahadu, "where are the German devils you see?"


    "There, you see." Looking in the direction of his fingers, there were more than a dozen people lying on the snow in front of him. Although the light was weak, he could still see that the other party was wearing German uniforms. But it''s strange that we should have been discovered in such a short distance, but they are still lying there.


    Another flare rose into the air. With the help of its light, I was surprised to find that two of the German soldiers lying in front of me were on their backs. No, they put on such a strange shape. They can''t sleep at night and run out to lie on the snow and count the stars.


    I stood up and approached the German soldiers carefully¡° Be careful, comrade major Fearing that I was in danger, bahadu clambered up and followed me closely.


    When I got closer, I could see what was going on. It turned out that there were more than a dozen cold bodies of German soldiers lying here. Each of them was tied with his hands, including soldiers and officers.


    "What''s going on?" Bahadu stood beside me and asked curiously, "besides ordinary soldiers, there are also captains and lieutenants. Who killed them?"


    Looking at the bodies tied upside down, I immediately remembered the Colonel I saw in the division headquarters. I immediately understood what was the matter, and told bahadu lightly: "sergeant, don''t make a fuss. These German soldiers escaped from our guns. Although our bullets didn''t kill them, they lost their positions, In the end, we can''t escape the severe punishment of our own people. "


    The soldiers gathered around me, waiting for my orders. I thought there would be a fierce battle in the night attack tonight, but I didn''t expect that the German camp was so lax that we could come and go freely. In this way, it makes me a bit embarrassed. What should I do next? Are you going to take people to fight the German headquarters, or are you going to fight the ordinary German soldiers in the tent?


    "Comrade major, what''s next? Give the order quickly. " Bahadu whispered at the side.


    A plot in plain guerrillas suddenly came to my mind: the devil and the puppet army attack Li Zhuang, and Li Xiangyang appears in the middle of the two armies through the tunnel, shooting and throwing grenades at both sides at the same time. Because it was too dark and there was a lack of effective contact between the devils and the puppet army, they fought with each other, while Li Xiangyang''s guerrillas hid to watch.


    Yes, the current situation is similar to that of Li Zhuang. Let''s refer to Comrade Li''s playing method. So I called bahadu and the soldiers who had just killed the sentry, and told them in a low voice what to do. After the assignment, I asked them to take ten people with them to go in two directions.


    Kung Fu is not big, first a few grenade explosion sound, and then the roar of submachine gun will ring into a piece. I and the rest of the soldiers remained on guard in case the enemy came by accident and cut off bahadu''s retreat.


    The sound of rapid footsteps came from the East and west at the same time¡° It''s our own people. " The soldiers around me told me happily. Soon the familiar figure of bahadu appeared in my field of vision, followed by another soldier to lead the team back to the assembly site.


    At this time, the German camp was in full swing, with the sound of shooting, explosions and screams.


    Bahadu excitedly reported to me: "Comrade major, on your order, I took the soldiers to the outside of the tent, threw a few grenades inside, then hit a few shuttles at the other tents, and then backed back."


    "Comrade commander, my situation is the same." The soldier added: "when you gave the order just now, I doubted whether your plan would work. Unexpectedly, the development of everything is in your calculation. We only threw a few grenades and fired a few shots at the enemy, and they became a mess. We fought with each other. "


    "Next, what should we do? Comrade major. " Bahadu asked, as if he wanted to take the opportunity to teach the Germans a lesson.


    "Retreat now."


    "Retreat?" They were surprised by my order. Bahadu said reluctantly, "I just observed that there are not many enemies stationed here, only two companies. Or we can throw a few more grenades, maybe we can wipe them out


    Seeing his confident appearance, I couldn''t help laughing and crying. Throwing a few grenades, I wanted to wipe out 300 or 400 people in two German companies. You thought you were throwing atomic bombs.


    "Obey orders and retreat at once." I decisively gave an order to the soldiers on the scene, "let them fight with each other. It''s time for us to go back to sleep and teach them a good lesson in front of the position after dawn."


    Then, thirty-one of us moved to our position. This time, we were no longer crawling, but trotting back. The German army was fighting happily. Who would have noticed if anyone had passed through the open space between the two armies.

 Chapter 55

    Kroshkov was particularly happy to see us safely back in position. In particular, when he saw that many of the people who participated in the night attack had returned, he was even more excited to call the division headquarters immediately to report the results of the night attack tonight.


    I disbanded the soldiers and went back to the shelter. Seeing me open the curtain and enter the room, kroshkov put his hand over the microphone and said, "Comrade commander, the teacher wants to speak to you." Then he handed over the microphone.


    I took the microphone and said calmly, "Hello, Comrade General."


    "Hello, comrade o''shanina. Just now, I heard from the first level instructor that you personally took the detachment to attack the German camp. How was the result? "


    "The German army is still fighting each other, so we can''t count our results for the time being. However, after such a toss, it is estimated that the enemy''s attack will be delayed or cancelled after dawn. "


    "How about the casualties of the night attack team?"


    "There were no casualties." When I said this, I stopped for a moment, reorganized the words in my mind, and then said, "if you can add 300 people to me, I am confident that I will catch the same number of prisoners and give them to you."


    "Alas I heard a sigh from Panfilov, and I knew that he was powerless. Even if he sent all his staff officers to the front line to serve as soldiers, he could not change the situation of serious shortage of troops.


    After the call with Panfilov, kroshkov asked me, "Comrade commander, what are your plans next?"


    "No plan," I sat down on my camp bed and began to take off my camouflage clothes. "Now the most important thing is to sleep. I''ll talk about other things after dawn." Then I pulled the curtain beside the bed.


    The gunfire in the German camp lasted most of the night, and then gradually subsided.


    As I expected, it was almost noon, and the German front had not launched a new attack on our position. In his spare time, kroshkov called the three company commanders to the shelter for a meeting.


    The atmosphere of the meeting was very harmonious. Speaking of fighting back the German attack, he held the position; Although the small unit of the night attack did not kill many enemies, it succeeded in letting the enemy fight each other, thus disrupting the enemy''s combat deployment. Speaking of this happy thing, we are all very excited.


    When it was kroshkov''s turn to speak, he coughed and said, "Comrade commander, I have some opinions on you. Can you tell me?"


    "Go ahead." I was in a good mood, so I agreed very readily.


    "Although the night attack last night has achieved great results, I think if we attack on the whole line, even if we can''t eliminate all the enemies, we can drive them far away from our position."


    "Ah?" Listening to what he said, I couldn''t help but be stunned. My heart said, it''s not that you don''t know the current situation. The troops with less than 200 people are reluctant to defend their positions, let alone attack.


    Seeing that I didn''t refute him, he continued: "also, the tactics of sneak attack are used by guerrillas. As a regular army, we should fight face to face with the enemy in positional warfare


    "Have you ever thought that if we attacked all the lines last night, then the sneak attack might turn into a strong attack. Do you think it is possible for us to win when our troops and weaponry are not dominant? If the attack is thwarted and the German army takes the opportunity to fight back, do you think our disabled soldiers will be able to hold the position


    "Comrade commander, this is a defeatist argument." As for my series of rhetorical questions, kroshkov could not accept them. He refuted me and said, "our Red Army is invincible. As long as there is still one person alive, the enemy will not want to move forward."


    "Invincible!" When I heard this word, I had no choice but to smile bitterly. The number of prisoners of the Western Front Army and the reserve front army in the encircled viagima area has reached more than 600000. I really don''t know how to draw the conclusion that the army is invincible.


    Seeing that I didn''t speak, he continued: "and in the battle of yesterday''s day, you ordered the soldiers to only fight the German infantry, and let the tanks break through our line. You know, you are taking risks. If the soldiers didn''t show their bravery and destroy these tanks in time, the consequences would be unimaginable. "


    "Enough." "Every single word or phrase, I interrupted him with a patient''s voice," I am the highest commander of the battalion, and has the final say in the military aspect. If I lose my position, I will take all the responsibility. "


    "If you lose your position, all the flanks of the group army will be exposed to the enemy. If the troops are surrounded, can you bear the responsibility?"


    Seeing that our two quarrels turned red in the face, several company commanders next to us were both eager to talk and stopped talking, but they didn''t dare to persuade us. Finally, there was a sudden sound of shells landing and exploding outside, which interrupted our quarrel.


    "The enemy has begun to attack!" Next to a company commander reminded.


    "You all go back to your respective units and get ready to fight." I tried to command the three company commanders in a smooth tone.


    "Yes." They stood up, agreed neatly, and then turned away from the shelter.


    I came back to my senses at this time. I spoke well in the meeting. How could I suddenly quarrel with kroshkov? But now I can''t care so much. The first thing to consider is how to beat the German army back first. So I rushed out of the shelter with my submachine gun and ran into the trench. The German attack was led by tanks and followed by infantry. However, after a toss at night, the German army could not put in many infantry. I counted them, and they were not more than 100. German tanks stopped more than 50 meters in front of our position, then fired at our position in a line, covering the infantry to charge us. The heavy machine gun, which was less than 20 meters away from me, roared and immediately knocked down the German devils who rushed in front of me. In less than a minute, the machine gun position was directly hit by German tank guns, the main and auxiliary machine gun hands fell into a pool of blood, and the heavy machine guns were blown to pieces. A soldier put up a long anti tank gun beside me, just fired a gun, then threw the gun and put his hands around his head. I saw the fresh blood gushing out of his head as soon as he lifted his cotton cap. He gave me one last look with helpless eyes, then fell back into the trench. Maybe I''ve seen too many deaths now. I''m numb to them. When I saw this soldier die in front of me, my mood didn''t fluctuate too much. Very calmly, I shot out all the bullets in my magazines at the infantry who came, hung the submachine gun around my neck, then rushed to grab the anti tank gun, put it back up, and pulled the trigger at a tank. I could clearly hear the sound of armor piercing shells hitting the turret, but the tank seemed unaffected at all and continued to fire at our position as if nothing had happened. I threw the antitank gun, bent over and trotted all the way into the shelter. Grabbing the phone on the table and trying to get through to the artillery company, I yelled, "gonchazin, target German tanks, fire quickly." The tanks standing in line in front of the position are much easier to fight than when they are moving. They are just good targets for shooting. As soon as the nine anti-aircraft guns of the artillery company opened fire, they almost fired without fail. Most of the shells hit the tank accurately. After losing seven or eight tanks in a row, the German army began to retreat. Although the German attack was defeated, we also paid a great price. In the battle just now, more than 40 soldiers were killed or wounded, and the number of soldiers on the battlefield dropped sharply to 150. The German attack was held back until dark, and there was no second attack. I thought I would spend the night in peace, but in the middle of the night, there was a fierce gunfire outside, which woke me up from my sleep. I pulled back the curtain and asked kroshkov, who was sleeping outside, "Comrade instructor I, what happened and where was the exchange of fire?" He picked up the phone on the desk, shook the handle, and asked, "what''s the noise of guns outside?" After putting down the phone, he said to me with a serious look: "the sentinel reported that our right-wing position had been attacked by the enemy and was exchanging fire." I can''t help but sigh to myself that the German commander opposite is really not simple. He learned the tactics of night attack so quickly.

 Chapter 56

    Kroshkov put on his belt, put on his cotton cap and said to me, "Comrade commander, the 2836 regiment of the 946 brigade is defending the right-wing position. They lost a lot of personnel in the early fighting. Now they are suddenly attacked by the enemy. They may not be able to withstand it. I''ll take the first company to support them immediately, and the second and third companies will stay in your command. "


    "No way." I stopped him decisively and said: "the situation outside is not clear now. We don''t know how many troops and what kind of equipment the enemy of the 2836 regiment has. Moreover, our battalion has been greatly downsized. There are less than 50 people left in each company, and the number of reinforcements is less, which makes no difference; Going too much will weaken the defensive strength of our positions. "


    "We can''t wait to save! If the position of 2836 regiment is lost, our flanks will be exposed to the enemy. " When he heard more and more gunfire coming from the outside, kroshkov was very anxious. He walked back and forth in the shelter, then stopped and said to me, "Comrade commander, why don''t we leave some soldiers on guard here, and the rest of the troops go to reinforce the 2836 regiment?"


    "No way." Without thinking, I rejected his proposal and reminded him, "our task is to hold this position. If the enemy stealthily attacks our position when they go to reinforce, what should we do? You don''t think that with the soldiers we left behind, we can stop the enemy and hold the position, do you


    "But if we don''t, the position of 2836 regiment will be in danger."


    "The position of the 2836 regiment has been lost, and the 946 brigade can organize a counterattack to take it back. But if we lose our position, the division headquarters will not even have the troops to fight back. "


    "We can''t wait to save the dead!"


    "If I say no, I can''t." Seeing his obstinacy, I couldn''t help getting angry. My tone became impolite. I slapped the table and said, "this is an order. There''s no room for negotiation."


    Seeing that I was so determined, he sat down angrily and said nothing. The two of us sat in silence, one looking to the left and the other to the right.


    When the telephone rang on the desk, he grabbed the phone and said, "I''m kroshkov, the first-class instructor. Where are you?" I vaguely heard the person on the other side of the microphone report his identity, and croxikov stood up and said in a loud voice: "Hello, sir, you haven''t had a rest so late?"


    Because of the interference of gunfire outside, I couldn''t hear what Panfilov said on the phone, while kroshkov kept answering: "yes, yes."


    Although I have a dispute with him in our work, we all want to do our duty well. As soon as I saw him put down the phone, I immediately asked in a smooth tone, "what did the teacher say on the phone?"


    I didn''t expect that when I asked, he blushed and said with shame: "the division commander told us to hold our position well and not to attack casually. He also said that the rest of the 946 brigade had gone to reinforce the 2836 regiment and would soon be able to beat back the enemy''s sneak attack." At this point, he apologized to me and said, "Comrade commander, you are right. Please forgive my impulse just now."


    "It doesn''t matter. It''s all about work. Don''t take it to heart." I answered him politely and took the initiative to shake hands with him, in which all the conflicts disappeared.


    After shaking hands with me, kroshkov and I went out on sentry duty with a submachine gun on our back, and I sat alone at the table in a daze. Looking back on what happened in recent days, I can vaguely feel that there is a character in the German commander opposite.


    It was only in the self-defense counterattack in the late 1970s that the tactics of charging forward while artillery bombarded the enemy''s positions and stepping on the bombing points appeared. I only used it once, and the German army learned this kind of tactics in the attack the next day. If it was not discovered by the observation post and acted in time, whether it could hold the position was also a question.


    Last night, I just organized a small team to carry out a sneak attack on the German camp, and achieved good results. I didn''t expect that the German army would touch the position of 2836 regiment tonight. Although the victory or defeat has not yet been decided, according to my understanding of the combat effectiveness of both sides, the casualties of the Soviet army must not be small.


    Although the German army is attacking the 2836 regiment of the right wing, I always feel that their goal is not there. Is it the enemy''s plan to divert the tiger from the mountain? Deliberately sneak attack the position of 2836 regiment, lure us to send reinforcements there, and then take advantage of our empty position and suddenly attack our position? If this is the case, then the opponent on the other side is too terrible. It''s just that I don''t know what level the opponent is, the battalion commander, the regimental commander or the commander at a higher level?


    Just as I was thinking, there was a clear gunshot outside. In a short time, the dense gunshot outside became one. I listened carefully. There were not only German mp40 shooting, but also Soviet moshinagan rifles, carbines and Sokolov heavy machine guns.


    Is it really the enemy''s attack? Thinking of this, I grabbed the submachine gun on the table, stood up, opened the curtain and planned to go outside to have a look.


    The telephone on the desk rang. I put down the curtain, turned to the table and grabbed the phone. Without waiting for me to speak, kroshkov''s anxious voice came from inside: "Comrade commander, just now the sentry found a large number of people moving towards our army, so they fired a warning. I didn''t expect that the other side immediately fired at us with fierce fire. I''m organizing soldiers here to stop the enemy. The soldiers of the second and third companies are also entering the position. "¡° I see. We must hold the position firmly and not let the enemy move forward. " With that, I dropped the phone and went out of the shelter with my submachine gun. Because I rushed too fast, I bumped into a man standing at the door, and the huge inertia made me sit on the ground¡° Who is TMD? Walk without eyes. " I said angrily¡° I''m sorry, major. I''m bahadu The other side quickly showed me their identity¡° Do you have nothing to do with standing in the shelter? "¡° I''ve been ordered by my teacher to protect your safety as well as your own eyes. "¡° Don''t talk nonsense. Give me a hand. I can''t stand up. "¡° Yes Bahadu agreed. With the help of the light from the shelter, he grabbed my outstretched hand and pulled me up from the ground. It was so dark that I couldn''t see anything more than ten meters away. I could only judge their approximate positions from the muzzle flame of the German shooting. I took the submachine gun and pulled the trigger at those positions. For the sake of safety, I''ll take a few shots and change to another place, so as not to become the target of the enemy. Bahadu is like a follower. He follows me wherever I go; I shot, he shot, I dropped, he dropped¡° Boom A mortar shell exploded not far away, and the snow and soil splashed all over me. I shook my head, got rid of the mud from my hat, and then continued to run in the trenches, shooting a few shots and changing places¡° Comrade major, take care of your concealment. " Bahadu cried anxiously from behind¡° It''s OK. You don''t have to worry. The shells that can kill me haven''t been produced yet. " As I shot out of the trench, I answered bahadu with indifference¡° Be careful Bahadu slammed me to the ground, and then a shell exploded over the trench, covering us with a thick layer of soil¡° Bahadu, are you ok? " I asked the soldier who was pressing on my back carefully. The shell just exploded at such a close distance that he would not be injured or sacrificed¡° It''s all right, major. It didn''t hurt a hair Bahadu got up as he answered. When he got up, he bent down to help me up and help me dust myself¡° Ha ha, "I said to him with a smile," I''m not wrong. The shell that can kill me has not been produced yet. " Hearing what I said, he laughed in agreement. Laughter did not fall, another shell whistling fell into the trench, behind bahadu exploded. I felt a shock all over my body, and then I fell to the ground by the strong explosion. I fell heavily on my back in the trench. I didn''t feel any pain. I just felt a lot of tiredness. My sight became more and more blurred until I couldn''t see anything. Www.start.cn welcome all the readers to read. The latest, fastest and most popular serial works are all original at the start!

 Chapter 57

    I opened my eyes and found that everything around me was white, white ceiling, white walls, white bedding. Seeing these things, I know that I am lying in the hospital now. I closed my eyes and thought for a while, but I didn''t know how I got to the hospital. The last impression I left in my mind was that a shell exploded behind bahadu.


    "Comrade commander, you are awake!" There was a girl''s cry of surprise. I turned to see that it was a young nurse in a white coat.


    "Where am I?"


    "This is the rear hospital in yujanaya." After answering my question, she ran out of the ward. I look around. This is a single room. Besides the bed I sleep in, there is a table and a armchair in the room. There was a pile of clothes piled up on the chair, and I immediately recognized that it was the military uniform I was wearing.


    I moved my hands gently without any pain; After moving my feet again, I still feel good. It seems that my injury is not serious at all. I groped all over my body with my hands for a long time, but I didn''t find any injured parts.


    At a strange time, the door of the ward opened, and the little nurse came in with several doctors and nurses. When they came in, they took my temperature and blood pressure with all hands. They were very busy.


    After a nervous inspection, I found that everything was normal. An old military doctor wearing a mask who had just examined me with a stethoscope said, "Comrade commander, it''s a miracle that you can wake up. You know, you''ve been in a coma for a week in the hospital bed. Although you don''t have any scars on your body, we still can''t bring you back to life. "


    "Ah?" The words of the military doctor startled me and made me lie in the hospital bed for such a long time. I can''t help asking him anxiously: "doctor comrade, is my body OK?"


    "It doesn''t matter, comrade commander. Judging from the examination results just now, you are in very good health and can be discharged at any time. " When he said this to me, there seemed to be a sense of relief. Then he turned to the little nurse and said, "Ania, you stay and take good care of the commander. Do you understand? "


    "Yes, comrade president." After listening to her words, I couldn''t help but be surprised. In order to give me a physical examination, the yard of the military hospital actually went out in person. It''s too important for me.


    The doctors and nurses packed up the equipment and left the ward safely, leaving only the little nurse named Ania.


    After everyone left, my little nurse handed me the clothes on the chair, and then chatted with her as she dressed: "my dear, your name is Ania?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." She answered me with some restraint.


    "What did you do as a nurse?"


    "I''m a student of Lenin Normal University. I''m a sophomore this year. After the outbreak of the war, the school stopped classes. Although no one mobilized us, most of the students went to the front line, so I came with them. "


    "Do all your classmates work in hospitals?" I then asked.


    "No, comrade commander. In addition to me and a few female students as nurses in the hospital, the rest went to the front-line combat troops or built fortifications in the city. "


    "Oh." I nodded, lifted the quilt, and began to put the men''s army trousers on my legs.


    "Comrade commander, how do you wear men''s military trousers?" Annia asked curiously.


    "It''s too cold to wear a skirt, and the Quartermaster didn''t give me the right pants, so I borrowed one from my comrades."


    "Do all the women soldiers wear skirts?" She really got me in the way of asking. I only remember when I was in Leningrad, the women soldiers of the anti-aircraft machine gun company wore blue dresses, and the women soldiers directing traffic on the street also wore skirts. As for the other women soldiers, it seems that I haven''t seen any other women in the army since I arrived in Moscow, so I really don''t know what they wear, skirt or pants.


    "What''s going on at the front?" I quickly turned off the topic and asked what I was most interested in.


    "Still fighting." Her answer is very vague and general. No wonder the internal information of the Soviet army was too closed, not to mention that a little nurse, even a commander at the battalion or regiment level, did not know where to fight. All they could do was to gather the troops and enter the battle positions assigned to them by their superiors on time.


    "Did I really go into a coma in bed for a week?" I had a little doubt about what the military doctor said just now. I didn''t have any scars on my whole body. I was just stunned by the blast of the shells. How could I have been in a coma for so long?


    "It''s true, comrade commander." Ania answered me with an innocent look on her face¡° During the days when you were unconscious in bed, many superior commanders called to understand your situation every day. I heard a classmate working in the courtyard Office say that you are calling from the division commander of your division, the commander of the group army, and even the commander of the front army, general Zhukov. "


    I put on my army coat and cotton trousers, but I didn''t find my army coat that I wear every day. So I asked annia, "annia, I still have an army coat. Do you see it?"


    "I know where it is." Annia nodded her head desperately and said, "on the day you were sent to the hospital, your coat was covered with blood. It was as wet as if it had just been fished out of the water, so as soon as I took it off, I sent it to the laundry room. Just a moment. I''ll get it for you right away. " Then she opened the door and ran out.


    I sat by the bed staring at the roof in a daze, thinking back to the situation before the injury, the shell exploded behind bahadu, I was stunned, he was more dangerous. The bloodstains on our army coat must be from him.


    Annia came back to the room with her military coat and gave it to me. I took it and looked at it carefully. I found that although the military coat had been cleaned carefully, there were still large brown marks on her front. It seemed that bahadu had died. I couldn''t help feeling sad.


    "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with you?" She asked curiously.


    "Nothing," I said to her, wiping the tears on my cheek with the back of my hand. "Don''t always call me Comrade commander. I''m too awkward. I''d better call me Rita."


    "I see, Rita." The girl changed her tongue very quickly.


    "Do you know where to call?" Having put on my military coat, I asked annia again.


    "In the yard, in the office." The little girl volunteered and said to me, "I''ll take you."


    In the office of the yard, there is only another little nurse. It is estimated that she is the classmate that Ania said just now. Sure enough, Ania went up to her and murmured a few words. The nurse picked up the phone and asked me, "Comrade commander, where do you want to call?"


    I thought for a moment, call Panfilov. I''m afraid the battle is going on near his division headquarters. It''s not appropriate to call at this time; Call the headquarters of the group army. If rokosovsky receives my call when he is in a bad mood and is nervously commanding the battle, he may scold me and not call me. I''d better call Zhukov, commander of the front army. Anyway, I''m also the special commissioner he sent to the 16th group army. I have more reasons to call him. So I said to the little nurse, "connect me with the western front command."


    "All right, comrade commander." The little nurse began to dial a number, and then said to the inside, "Hello, please connect with the western front command."


    In the process of waiting for the phone to be connected, I said to Ania, "Ania, please help me to go through the discharge procedures. I need to go back to the army as soon as possible." Annia agreed, turned and ran out of the dean''s office.


    "The phone is through, comrade commander." The little nurse handed me the microphone. I took the microphone and heard a familiar voice: "I''m the western front command. Where are you?"


    "I''m lieutenant commander oshanina. Please connect me with general Zhukov."


    "Hello, comrade commander. I''m Vassili, the second lieutenant on duty. I''ll pick you up at once His self identification reminds me of the second lieutenant who stopped me at the gate of the headquarters on the day when the major general committed suicide. No wonder his voice just sounded familiar.


    "I''m Zhukov. Where are you?" Zhukov''s familiar and serious voice came from the microphone.


    "Hello, senior general. This is oshanina. May I report back to the headquarters? "


    "How are you doing?" Zhukov asked with concern.


    "It''s all right."


    "Since everything is normal, don''t stay in the hospital. Come back to the headquarters as soon as possible. I''m short of staff here." With that, he hung up.


    With the discharge certificate that Ania helped me with, I went to the gate of the hospital alone and stopped a military car with the wind to the Western army headquarters.


    As soon as I entered the headquarters, I met some familiar faces from time to time. When everyone saw me, they all nodded to greet me with a smile. When he came to Zhukov''s office, the second lieutenant on duty stood up from the table and said to me, "Comrade commander, you are here. Comrade General is waiting for you." Then he opened the door for me.


    I went into the room and saw Zhukov busy at his desk. He took off his army coat and hung it on the coat rack. Then he walked to him and stopped a few steps away.


    "Anything to report?" He felt someone approaching and asked without looking up.


    "Report to senior general, o''shanina is discharged from hospital after her injury. I''m here to report to you. At your disposal. " I saluted him at attention and reported aloud.


    "Rita." He looked up and saw that it was me. He threw the pencil in his hand on the table, stepped over to me and held me tightly in his arms.


    After letting go of me, he stepped back two steps, looked me up and down, then frowned and said, "what are you wearing? The upper body is wearing the summer military coat of the female soldier, and the lower body is wearing the men''s cotton military trousers that don''t fit. It looks really awkward. "


    "These military trousers are borrowed from my political instructor. It''s too cold to wear skirts and it''s not convenient to fight." I explained to him in a hurry.


    After listening to me, he didn''t say a word. Instead, he picked up the phone on the desk, dialed a number and said to it, "I''m general Zhukov. You can prepare a small winter uniform for me. Send it to me immediately. Move quickly. Do you understand? "

 Chapter 58

    Perhaps it was because Zhukov himself said hello that the new uniform was soon delivered. The man who came to deliver the uniform was actually Lieutenant Colonel Kudrin, the Minister of the logistics department.


    He came in with a set of tawny men''s winter uniform in his hand, stood at attention in front of Zhukov, and then respectfully reported, "senior general, I''ve got your uniform."


    "Give it to lieutenant commander o''shanina. The uniform is for her." Zhukov said without raising his head.


    "Yes." Kudrin looked at me in surprise, but he gave me the new army uniform, saluted Zhukov and left.


    Kudrin had been gone for a while, but I still stood there with my uniform in my arms. I didn''t know where to change my clothes; Wait here to see if Zhukov has any orders for me. Maybe he felt that there was no sound in the room. Zhukov raised his head and looked around. He found that I was still standing like a stake. He couldn''t help laughing and said to me, "silly girl, what are you doing standing there? Hurry to find a place to put on your new uniform. You look really awkward now. "


    "Yes." I quickly promised, and then holding the clothes out of the door.


    Outside the room, I asked the second lieutenant on duty at the door, "is there any place to change clothes?"


    He stood up, pushed open the door of the next room and said to me, "Comrade commander, this is our lounge. You can change your clothes in it. Please come in I nodded gratefully at him, pushed open the door and went in.


    The furnishings in the rest room were very simple. There was only a small wooden bed for the officer on duty to sleep, and there were no tables and chairs. Close the door, take off the old uniform, put on the new uniform. Although it''s men''s, it''s a perfect fit. From the bottom of my heart, in the uniform of World War II, my favorite is the German uniform, especially the SS uniform, which is so beautiful.


    Wearing a brand new uniform without rank, I stood in front of Zhukov again. He looked me up and down carefully for a long time, and finally shook his head and said, "it''s not nice to wear skirts. It seems that women soldiers should wear skirts."


    Instead of answering his question directly, I asked him, "senior general, I am the special commissioner you sent to the 16th group army. Now I am discharged from the hospital, should I go back there to report?"


    "No hurry, no hurry." Zhukov raised his hand, looked at his watch and said, "it''s five past one in the afternoon. I''ll give you a half day''s holiday and have a good rest. I''ll report to the 16th army early tomorrow morning."


    "Yes." I agreed very simply, then stopped for a while and asked, "where do I live today? Also, is there a military service nearby? I need to buy some personal necessities. "


    "Of course, I''ll stay in the same place. I''ll keep your room for you all the time. As for the military service agency, there should be. I''ll find someone to take you. " Then he picked up the phone, dialed a number, first reported his name, and then said to each other: "do you have any rest there today? OK, let her go shopping with commander o''shanina. Also, prepare 20 roubles in cash, all in one rouble denomination. "


    Putting down the phone, he said to me, "I''ve arranged it. Go back to your room and put your things away. Then go to the gate of the headquarters. There will be a woman soldier named Nina waiting for you


    "I see, Comrade General." I saluted him gratefully and walked out of the room with my changed uniform.


    I put my things away and came to the gate of the headquarters. I saw a truck with tarpaulin outside. I looked around to see where the woman soldier waiting for me was. Suddenly I heard a timid voice behind me asking, "excuse me, are you lieutenant commander o''shanina?"


    I looked back and saw a young woman soldier with black hair standing behind her. She was wearing several sizes of men''s military uniform and was looking at me awkwardly. I quickly replied, "yes, I am o''shanina. Are you Nina? "


    "Hello, comrade commander." She stood at attention and respectfully replied, "I''m Nina. I''ve been ordered to go shopping with you." Then he took out a stack of banknotes from his coat pocket and handed them to him. "Here is the cash for you. Please click it."


    I took the money and put it directly into my pocket. Then I took her hand and asked, "do you know where there is a military service near here?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." She had answered with restraint.


    "Don''t be so nervous," I comforted her. "Don''t call me lieutenant commander all the time. Call me Rita."


    "Yes."


    "Well, next, it''s time to take me there to buy daily necessities."


    "Rita," Nina suggested, "there''s nothing for sale in the service club. If you want to buy something, you''d better go to the city."


    "To the city?" Listening to what she said, I can''t help hesitating. It''s so far from the city and there is no bus. How can I get there. And now it is during the war, even if there were bus lines leading here, it is estimated that they will be out of service now.


    Hearing my worries, she comforted me and said, "you don''t have to worry about transportation. We can take a ride to the city." Then he took my hand and walked out to the truck outside the door.


    Seeing us approaching, the driver''s cab door opened and a tall, baby faced Sergeant jumped out. He said to us impatiently, "Hello, ladies, can you hurry up? It will be dark in the city later."


    "I see, talkative guy." Nina answered, pulling me into the cab.


    When the car started, the driver looked at me and asked Nina, "who is this girl? I haven''t seen you before. Is that your new female colleague? "


    "Yes, my name is Rita. I''m Nina''s new colleague." I saw that Nina was trying to introduce me to him. She answered in a hurry, grabbed her hand and shook it gently, indicating not to tell the driver my true identity.


    "Well, yes, she''s only here today." Nina was very cooperative in helping me out.


    "The operator, too?" The driver then asked. After hearing what he said, I realized that Nina was the operator in the headquarters. I''ve only heard of female operators in the headquarters of the front army before, but I haven''t met them because they have been working in the underground communication room and I haven''t had the chance to enter such an important place.


    "It''s a military secret. I won''t tell you." Nina''s tone is coquettish, which makes people guess that they are lovers.


    The driver held the steering wheel with one hand and reached out to me with the other hand. He took the initiative to introduce himself to me: "my name is a geifu. I''m from Moscow. Nice to meet you." I held out my hand politely, gave him a little shake and let go.


    The next journey, the two have been flirting. My light bulb is very witty. I looked at the two people who looked like no one else and laughed. Then I tilted my head to one side and began to close my eyes. Unexpectedly, I fell asleep unconsciously after a while.


    I don''t know how long later, the car stopped, Nina woke me up and said something. I asked vaguely, "where is this place?"


    "This is Yuga zapatnaya."


    "Yuga zapatnaya?" When I heard this familiar place name, I was stunned. I didn''t mean to go shopping in the city. Even if I didn''t go to albard street, I could make do near Pushkin square. How could I get to the terminal of the red line subway? You know, even in later generations, it can only be regarded as the edge of the city, not to mention it is still in the early 1940s.


    Reluctantly, I pushed the door open and got out first. When Nina got out of the car, ah geifu said to her in a loud voice, "I''ll go to the warehouse to get supplies first. I''ll wait for you here in two hours."


    "I know, I know. When have you become so wordy? Go and get supplies Nina waved to him, then came and took my hand and said, "come on, I''ll go shopping with you."


    The snow on the ground is very thick. Several cleaners are shoveling the snow under the roadside trees. The high snowdrift separates the motorway from the sidewalk. We walked slowly along the sidewalk, chatting as we walked.


    "Nina, where are you from?"


    "I''m from Kiev."


    "Kiev?" I was surprised and said, "so you are Ukrainian! Kiev has been occupied by the German devils. Is your family still there? "


    "Yes, my parents and a younger brother have all stayed in that city. I don''t know when we can call back." Speaking of this, Nina couldn''t help looking sad.


    Seeing that Nina''s tears are coming down, I regret that I shouldn''t ask her about her family. I patted her on the shoulder and comforted her: "Nina, don''t worry, your family will be safe. I promise you, two years at the most, we will drive the German devils out of our country. "


    "Well, Rita, you''re the commander, and I believe what you say." Nina wiped away her tears, sniffed loudly, and suddenly asked, "what daily necessities are you going to buy?"


    I was stunned at first, and immediately came back to myself and said, "I want to buy toothpaste, toothbrush, towel, soap, needles and so on."


    "There is a shortage of material goods in Moscow today. Some of the goods in short supply can''t be bought even with money. But now that we are here, we have to take a chance. "


    We walked along the newly shoveled sidewalk, paying attention to the shops by the side of the road. Along the way, most of the shops are closed doors, windows are stacked with sandbags, some full, some also exposed half. It was not easy to see a shop with its door open. Nina pushed the door and went in. I followed her closely.


    The store is quite large, with more than 100 square meters. Half of the daily necessities and half of the food counters are sold. There were a lot of people shopping inside, with long lines on both sides.


    Nina looked at the wall clock and said to me, "Rita, it''s getting late. The store is closing. Let''s both line up, or we won''t be able to buy anything. "


    "Well, all right." I thought about it for a while and said, "I''ll line up in the food section. You can line up in the general merchandise."


    "I see," she promised, and ran to the back of the line in the department store area. I''m also honest. I''m standing on the side of the food section, behind a short old lady.


    After waiting in line for a while, I suddenly heard Nina calling me in a low voice behind me and quickly turned to look at her. "What brand of toothpaste do you want?" she asked me in a low voice


    "Just buy it." I answered her without thinking.


    "What?" She raised her voice involuntarily, and immediately met with the white eyes of several old ladies around her. Then she lowered her voice and asked me, "what did you say just now? I didn''t catch you. Please repeat


    My cold sweat almost came down. Although I can buy it in all the stores or convenience stores in Moscow, it has not come out yet. So I quickly covered up and said, "any brand will do. Otherwise, I''ll buy the toothpaste of" muscovite. "


    The food purchasing line was moving forward slowly. After two people, it was my turn. Seeing the goal in sight, I felt relieved. The shop assistant began to receive the old lady in front of me. She asked mechanically and expressionless, "what do you need?"


    The old lady really didn''t treat the salesman as an outsider, but she muttered a lot of things, such as 100 grams of bread, 50 grams of sausage and 20 grams of butter. The shop assistant was very patient. She took the things she wanted out of the counter, cut off some of them, weighed out the same amount of food with a balance, put them in a paper bag and handed them to the old lady.


    Seeing off the old lady, it was finally my turn to stand at the counter and go shopping. When the salesman asked me with the same expression, I immediately rushed to reply, "I want a bag of dried bread, 200 grams of sausage, two eggs, and four tomatoes."


    The shop assistant neatly put the things I wanted to buy into a paper bag, then put them on the counter and offered me a dry price: "a total of 35 gobies." I handed her a note that I had already held in my hand. She was about to receive the note, but the electric bell in the shop rang.


    As soon as the electric bell rang, the salesman made a completely unexpected move. She picked up the paper bag on the counter and put it under the counter. Then she said to me in a cold voice, "Comrade soldier, I''m sorry, we''re off work." With that, she turned back to the back of the small room to change clothes.


    I held up a rouble note and was stunned there, scolding in my heart: it''s not too late for you to get off work after you accept my money. However, watching the people in the queue behind me disperse without complaint, I didn''t argue with the salesperson, because I knew that Lao maozi was too rigid in his work, and everything he did was so rigid. Moreover, it was not the first time that I encountered this kind of situation, and I had some experience.


    But fortunately, Nina has bought all the daily necessities I need. It''s also a great misfortune.


    We came out of the shop and walked back the way we came. Under the corner of the street, two young people were hugging and kissing. When they passed by, I couldn''t help looking back. I remember when I first arrived in Moscow in 2002, young lovers kissing can be seen everywhere in public places. This is also a scene on the street. Unexpectedly, in 2003, Russia issued a law declaring that kissing in public places was illegal. Overnight, such scenes disappeared from the streets, stations, shopping malls and other public places.


    Maybe I look back too many times, which makes Nina curious. She also looks back and asks me, "Rita, what do you always look back at? Do you look at the posters on the wall?"


    The poster on the wall?! When I look at it carefully, there is a huge poster on the wall behind the young couple, on which is a female militiamen with a rifle, and it is written in Black: "you can win only by fighting between two sides! Go to the enemy''s rear and drive them out of the country! "


    Isn''t that what I said when I first spoke to the guerrillas? How could it appear in the posters? Nina looked at the poster and said with great feeling: "these two sentences are very good. They are really high-level. It makes people feel excited when they listen to them."


    "Nina!" There was a cry in the distance. We looked at it and found that a geifu''s truck stopped on the opposite side of the road. He opened the cab door and leaned out to greet us.


    Nina and I stepped on the snowbank and came from the sidewalk to the motorway. Just as we were about to cross the road, a black car came in the distance. I pulled Nina to a stop, ready to wait for the car to pass before crossing the road. Unexpectedly, the car stopped five or six steps away from us. The driver in military uniform gestured to us to go first.


    I gratefully waved to the driver and took Nina to the opposite side of the road. Nina opened the cab door and climbed up. While I was waiting for her, I looked at the black car again. As the car passed by our truck, I found a big beard in a gray coat sitting in the back seat. Although I only saw one side, I had a very familiar feeling. I couldn''t remember who it was in a hurry.


    The car started and headed for the headquarters of the front army outside the city. I frowned and thought bitterly, recalling who I saw just now and why I was so familiar with them? At this time, I suddenly heard Nina and ah gei Fu laughing. They were shouting: "for the motherland! For Stalin! Go ahead! "


    Stalin! Hearing the name, I suddenly remembered who I saw just now. Yes, that''s Stalin!

 Chapter 59

    Along the way, I pondered: most of the people I saw just now were Stalin, but why did he come to yugatzabatnaya, southwest of Moscow, at this time? Besides, there is not enough security around him, so he brings a driver. Isn''t he afraid of danger?


    I was so absorbed in my thoughts that Nina called me several times, but I didn''t hear her. It was only after she grabbed my shoulder and shook it a few times that I recovered. I looked at her and asked, "Nina, what''s the matter?"


    "Here we are."


    I look out of the window, but no, the building of the front army headquarters is 100 meters away¡° Ah geifu''s car is really fast enough to return to the headquarters so soon. " I just said something with emotion, but unexpectedly I found that the car was still in place, so I asked a geifu strangely, "why don''t you drive forward?"


    Ah gei Fu didn''t speak. On the contrary, Nina began to wriggle. She stammered to me with a red face: "that... That, Rita, can you... Walk back the rest of the way? Ah gei Fu and I still have something to do. "


    I looked at the two embarrassed people and immediately understood them. I said, "no problem. I can walk back for the rest of the journey. I won''t disturb you." Then he blinked at Nina, picked up the paper bag on the bridge, pushed the door open, jumped into the snow, waved to them, and slammed the door shut.


    I took a few steps forward and heard the truck behind start again. I couldn''t help looking back and saw that the truck had turned its head and was staggering towards the forest.


    When he came to the gate of the headquarters, the sentry on guard met him and said, "commander oshanina, you are back. The general is looking for you everywhere."


    "I see. Thank you With that, I quickly stepped into the building.


    The second lieutenant on duty in the corridor saw me from a distance and stood up from the table to meet me. He said to me in a low voice, "Comrade commander, senior general, I sent people everywhere to look for you just now."


    "Do you know what it is?" I asked the lieutenant as we walked to the door side by side.


    He shook his head and said, "I''m not sure about that. Anyway, I heard him angry at several generals who came to report their work just now. When the generals left, he asked me to send someone to you, saying that I wanted to see you immediately. "


    "How long ago was that?" I asked with some worry. After all, I just went shopping in yugatza patnaya and wasted too much time.


    "About twenty minutes ago." The second lieutenant''s reply made me feel relieved. Fortunately, it was only 20 minutes later, and it should not delay Zhukov''s major event.


    When I came to the door, I handed the paper bag to the second lieutenant to tidy up my uniform. Then I suddenly opened the door and went in. The second lieutenant helped me gently close the door behind me.


    Zhukov walked up and down the room with his hands back and his face full of anger. I approached him and said in a loud voice, "senior general, o''shanina has been ordered to come and wait for your instructions!"


    Hearing my voice, he stopped and approached me a few steps. With a sullen face, he asked, "where have you been? You haven''t come until now?"


    "Sorry, Comrade General!" Seeing his bad complexion, I quickly explained, "I didn''t know you would come to me, so I just used the half day holiday you gave me to go shopping in Yuga zabatnaya."


    "Judging from the current situation, your holiday has to end ahead of time," he said, taking a piece of paper from his desk and handing it to me. "You immediately send this order to the 16th group army headquarters, and their contact with the front army is completely broken. They are ordered to firmly hold their present positions at all costs and not to retreat at all. "


    "Yes." I took the order from him and answered it out loud.


    I got into the car Zhukov arranged for me and asked the driver, "do you know how to get to the 16th army headquarters?"


    "Is it general rokosovsky''s headquarters?"


    "Yes, can you drive faster?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." The driver agreed, stepped on the gas, and the black car rushed out along the bumpy dirt road.


    Half an hour after the car left, guns came from the front. I felt the pistol pinned to my waist. I didn''t have the submachine gun I used to use around me. When I heard the gunfire, I felt a little uneasy. Can''t help but some worry to ask the driver: "how long to get to the headquarters?"


    "If it goes well, we can get to the headquarters of the 16th group army in ten minutes." The driver replied indifferently.


    The farther you go, the louder the guns are. The roadside began to appear one after another retreating wounded, some on sleds, some on foot. I asked the driver to pull over to the side of the road, opened the door and asked the wounded in a loud voice, "comrades, what part are you from?"


    "The 16th army." Replied a soldier with a bandage on his head and a crutch on his post.


    "Do you know where the group command is?" I went up to him and asked.


    "I don''t know. Our positions have been occupied by the enemy, our troops have been dispersed, and our contacts with our superiors have been interrupted."


    "Where is your commander?"


    "All sacrificed. We are the only wounded left in the battalion. " He said, pointing to the wounded standing beside him. I counted that there were only eleven people, and all of them were injured in more than one place. It seems that they had to go through fierce fighting to withdraw. I didn''t speak, just patted the wounded on the shoulder, then turned and walked back to the car.


    The car bumped forward for another half an hour and finally arrived at the headquarters of the 16th group army. The driver pulled up to the door and asked the guard, "Hello! Man, is this general rokosovsky''s headquarters? "


    "Yes, what can I do for you?" Asked the sentry alertly, and came with his bayoneted rifle.


    "Don''t be nervous, man! I''m not a German devil. " The driver jokingly said: "I sent the special commissioner of the front army to the headquarters to find general rokosovsky. You can''t shoot casually!"


    "The general is in there, comrade commissioner." The sentry put the gun back on his back, saluted me as I walked out of the car, and then made a gesture of "please come in."


    The light in the headquarters of the group army was very dark, but I saw the rokosowski I was looking for at a glance. He was sitting at the table looking at the map with a sad face. Several people who looked like the staff of the headquarters were busy nervously.


    I went up to rokosovsky, saluted him at attention, and told him in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, lieutenant commander oshanina reports to you. At your disposal. "


    "Hello! Commander o''shanina. " Rokosovsky stood up, hugged me and said excitedly, "I was very worried to see you lying unconscious on the stretcher that day. I''m so happy to see you standing in front of me alive! From the outbreak of the war to now, I have lost many good comrades who have worked together for many years. "


    When he let me go, I quickly explained my intention to him: "I have brought you the latest order from the headquarters of the front army. The senior general has ordered you to stick to your present position and not to retreat."


    "Difficult, comrade commander." Rokosovsky cried out to me, "the fighting is going on day and night, and our troops have suffered great losses. The troops added to each division no longer come from the reserve forces in the rear, but from a temporary patchwork. Those soldiers used to belong to different units. They all rushed out of the encirclement, lost contact with the original units, and became a group of one or several people. We have temporarily formed a united fighting group of all these people and enriched them to the front where there is a shortage of manpower. Because of the lack of time, these soldiers and commanders did not even know each other, so they rushed into battle. Can you count on the combat effectiveness of such an army? "


    "What is the situation of the 16th group army? Comrade commander. " I asked with concern.


    "We have retreated from many places." He said with great pain.


    "Ah?" "How''s the 316 infantry division?" I asked in surprise


    "And retreated." He told me what had happened¡° After you were wounded, the guard camp also suffered heavy casualties, leaving less than 50 people in the whole camp. I pulled down the guard battalion and sent a new battalion to defend that part of the area. In the first few days of the battle, the enemy only shelled the positions there every day without launching even one ground attack. In order to better command the battle, I set the observation post of the group army headquarters at the edge of the forest, next to the anti-aircraft artillery company. "


    "And then?"


    "One day, when the enemy''s shelling was sparse, I decided to look at the situation of the position, so I went to them with the chief of staff. Unexpectedly, I saw with my own eyes a dense line of German soldiers coming towards us from behind the ridge 2km away from the position. There were about 10 tanks behind them. In the face of the enemy''s attack, the soldiers in the defensive positions were shooting with machine guns without fear, and the anti-aircraft artillery company on the edge of the forest began to fire directly. At first, everything seemed good. The German infantry lay down and the tanks stopped


    "What happened next?" I asked anxiously.


    "But soon there were enemy planes on the horizon... Diving into our foxholes, the enemy guns and mortars strengthened, the tanks advanced again, and the planes bombed our positions in turn. In the face of the enemy''s heavy bombardment, some of our infantry couldn''t stand it and began to shake up. At first, a single person jumped out of the trench and ran to the forest, and then they ran to the forest in groups. I felt very sad when I saw all this. "


    "Because of the retreat of the soldiers, is our defense lost?" I asked cautiously.


    "That''s not true. The soldier was running when suddenly a soldier in the crowd cried out, "stop! Where are you going? go back! I didn''t see the general standing there... Go back! " Yes, the chief of staff and I stood upright in front of all the soldiers, because we realized that this was the only way to save the situation. The soldier''s cry and our performance had a huge effect. The soldiers who were running towards the forest fell down on the spot and fired at the enemy together, making the enemy infantry who got up to attack fall down again. Our artillery company also aimed directly at the enemy''s tanks. But the enemy was too strong. Although several tanks were hit and set on fire, their infantry, under the cover of the rest of the tanks, as well as the firepower of aircraft and artillery, occupied our position. In the face of the enemy who occupies the advantage, we can only be forced to retreat. "


    "Do you have the confidence to hold the present position?" I asked the general who was worried in front of me with concern¡° I don''t know, "rokosovsky said helplessly," because of continuous retreat, the organizational structure of the group army has been completely disrupted. Because of the complete interruption of communication, there are only two or three infantry divisions that I can command now. If we don''t get the reserves, we will have to continue to retreat

 Chapter 60

    That night, I stayed in rokosovsky''s headquarters and talked with him all night, listening to him explain to me what kind of commander is the best commander.


    As soon as the topic of this aspect was opened, he kept on talking, so that I couldn''t even find the opportunity to interrupt. He said with great interest: "in the battlefield, many things depend on the behavior of the commander. He should have great perseverance and sense of responsibility, and be good at overcoming the fear of death. Where he is needed and where he is needed to boost morale, he should be where he should be, even where he should not be In the current situation, excellent commanders are the most valuable. Soldiers trust them and need to complete the most arduous tasks under their leadership to build meritorious deeds. Only under their leadership can the combat effectiveness of all units be improved. I hope that under the leadership of some of these commanders, the combat effectiveness of the troops has been strengthened hour by hour, not day by day. Only in this way can we launch an organized and tenacious battle with the enemy, whether in attack, defense or retreat. "


    "Do you think there are many such commanders in the 16th army?" While he was drinking from a glass teacup with a silver cup holder, I chipped in.


    "Many of the commanders of the 16th army graduated from the Military Academy of vorongze." When he said this, he flashed a proud expression on his face, but then said with regret, "but when it comes to excellent commanders, I''m very sorry to tell you that there are really not many in the 16th group army, at least among the officers who graduated from these regular colleges and universities."


    When I heard him say this, I thought to myself that there were many excellent commanders in the Soviet army, but the marshals and generals who had experienced many battles, made outstanding achievements, had rich combat experience and excellent command ability were washed out in the Great Purge movement a few years ago. Those excellent commanders, who did not fall under the enemy''s butcher''s knife, were executed indiscriminately by Stalin. This is simply self destruction of the Great Wall.


    "What are you thinking, Rita?" Maybe you see me in a daze, rokosovsky asked curiously.


    "I was thinking," when I said this, I hesitated for a moment, but fortunately there was no outsider, I said what I wanted to say: "I was thinking that if marshal Tukhachevsky and many generals who participated in the first World War and the domestic revolutionary war were alive, they would lead our army to fight against the German devils, Will we lose as badly as we do now? "


    My words made him silent. After all, this is a sensitive topic. Even as a general, he dare not touch it easily. After a short silence, he raised his hand and looked at his watch. His face was surprised and said, "Oh, it''s so late!" Then he said to me, "it''s getting late. You can have a rest early. We''ll continue to talk when we have time." Then he stood up and ran away without looking back.


    After he left, I pulled up the curtain, took off my uniform, and lay down on the March bed specially prepared for me, covering my head with a blanket and sleeping.


    In the early morning, I was woken up by the busy people outside the curtain. I quickly put on my clothes, got up, opened the curtain and went out. After greeting the people in the room one by one, I carried a paper bag to find a place to wash.


    After washing, when I went back to the headquarters, I found something wrong with the atmosphere. There are many soldiers standing near the headquarters. Each of them is wearing a brand-new gray army coat and equipped with the latest bobosha submachine gun, which is in sharp contrast to the soldiers of the 16th group army in Khaki fur coats.


    I went on suspiciously to the headquarters, but was stopped by a soldier¡° What''s the meaning of this? What part are you from? What are you doing here? Why are you blocking my way? "I asked discontentedly.


    The soldier standing in the way didn''t say a word. He just reached out to block my way and didn''t let me go in the direction of the headquarters.


    At the moment of deadlock, a familiar voice came from the headquarters: "let her come." The soldier heard the voice and immediately stepped aside and made a please sign to me.


    I was surprised to find that the man coming out of the headquarters was lieutenant colonel bezikov. I hastened to greet him and said excitedly, "Hello! Comrade commander bezikov. I didn''t expect to see you here. "


    Bezikov shook hands with me, took me outside the headquarters, and whispered, "I''m here with the big guy."


    Big shot? I guess to myself, who is this so-called big man? They even mobilized the troops of the Moscow garrison command to guard.


    Within two minutes, the mystery was solved, and I saw rokosovsky walk out of the headquarters first, then give way to the side, and respectfully make a please gesture to the mysterious figure inside. When I saw the mysterious man in the gray coat appear in my field of vision, I was completely shocked. I''m not dreaming. I saw Stalin!


    I rubbed my eyes and pinched my thigh. The real pain made me take a breath. It seems that this is real, not a dream. But why did he come here all of a sudden? It was because the 16th group army had retreated. He came here to boost morale? But has he ever considered his own safety? In case his whereabouts are found by the Germans, he will have his life in danger if he carries out artillery coverage or heavy bombing in this area.


    Stalin came up to me, reached out to me and said, "Hello! Comrade oshanina. "


    I didn''t know what to do, so I stood there staring at Stalin foolishly. It wasn''t until Stalin repeated what he had just said that I regained my consciousness and grasped his broad hand.


    "Comrade commander," rokosovsky said to me behind Stalin, "Comrade Stalin is going to return to Moscow soon. You are responsible for escorting him to the nearest airport."


    "Yes, it''s guaranteed."


    Before getting on the bus, rokosovsky gave me the submachine gun I used to use, and repeatedly told me to be vigilant all the way, act as a good bodyguard and protect Stalin''s personal safety.


    Stalin''s motorcade was made up of three cars and two trucks. In front of the motorcade were two cars with Guard officers. In the middle of the motorcade were Stalin''s cars. In the back were two trucks full of soldiers. I was in the same car with lieutenant colonel bezikov and Stalin. He was in the co driver''s seat, but I was lucky to be in the back with Stalin.


    Stalin and I had a family routine all the way. Almost all of his questions and answers were as concise as telegrams. Although I was talking to Stalin, I was nervous. I looked around the window from time to time for fear that some German soldiers might come out of somewhere.


    Stalin saw my nervous expression and said with a smile, "don''t be nervous, comrade oshanina. Germany is far away from us. Although they have a great advantage for the time being, they won''t be here in the short term. "


    I said in my heart, if you are not afraid of ten thousand, just in case. If there is a German who breaks through the defense line and gets here to kill you, then there is no need to fight this war any more.


    Just as I was thinking about it, I suddenly caught a glimpse of several tanks coming towards our motorcade more than 100 meters away from the front left, with many soldiers sitting on the body. I quickly pointed out the window and yelled: "look, there are tanks there!"


    Bezikov, sitting in the front row, looked at it and said, "don''t make a fuss, comrade oshanina. It''s our own T-34 tank."


    As soon as the words came down, a tank shell came whistling, directly hit the car in the front of the road, blowing it into a ball of fire. There was an emergency brake on the car immediately behind, and the officers in the car jumped down and fell on the ground.


    "What''s going on? Why do our tanks fire at us? " Stalin asked in alarm.


    "Comrade Stalin, this is not our tank. It should be that the German army used the captured tanks and pretended to be our troops and got behind our line of defense. " As I spoke, I opened the door on one side and jumped out. I put the submachine gun on the roof of the car, ready to shoot.


    The four tanks lined up and came slowly towards us. The soldiers who had been riding on the tanks also jumped down and trotted towards us in a scattered formation.


    "Comrades, for Stalin! Get rid of the German devils in front of you. Go Behind me came an officer''s cry, followed by a group of soldiers in neat formation, charging the German army.


    A tank shell landed in the middle of the attack line, "boom" to a sound, the two soldiers in an instant into a blood mist all over the sky. Hearing the explosion, the rest of the soldiers first lay on the ground, then got up, carrying the weapons in their hands and continued to rush forward.


    I saw that the German infantry had entered the range and immediately pulled the trigger and fired at them as hard as I could. Several German soldiers threw away their weapons and fell to the ground. I don''t know whether they were killed by me or by the soldiers charging.


    Several shells exploded around me, splashing soil and snow and falling on me¡° Commander o''shanina, what shall we do? " Asked bezikov, panicked, not knowing when he would appear behind me.


    "Come on, get back in the car." Then I got into the car first.


    Entering the car, I was stunned by the sight in front of me. The window was smashed by shrapnel. Stalin leaned against the back seat with blood all over his body, while the driver was lying on the steering wheel with blood all over his body.


    Bezikov, who just got into the car, was also frightened by the sight. He asked me incoherently, "now... Now, what should we do?"


    "Drive away and stop here, we''ll be hit by the Germans."


    "But the driver has died."


    "Can you drive?" I can''t drive, so my only hope is in him.


    "Yes," he said with some embarrassment, "but the driver blocked the steering wheel."


    "Push him down, and then you drive." It''s an extraordinary time now. I can''t take care of so many.


    Bzikov pushed the door open, pushed the driver out, closed the door, and started the car again. Just out of not far away, a shell hit the car just parked. It''s so mysterious. I secretly wiped the cold sweat on my head. If we were a little later, we would be blown to pieces.


    I looked back and saw that the soldiers of the security forces rushed to the German tanks without fear of death. Seeing all this, I can''t help but feel sore nose. Infantry fight tanks. I know whether to die or not. These soldiers are really amazing. The car raced wildly along the road. I put the submachine gun aside and looked at Stalin''s injuries. He was injured by shrapnel, and the wound on his chest was bleeding continuously. I took out the emergency bandage and pressed it on his wound, hoping to stop his massive blood loss. The car didn''t know how long it had been bumping, and finally arrived at a field airport. According to bezikov, the special plane that took Stalin back to the city stopped here. Our car rushed near the airport and was stopped by an army led by a man in civilian clothes. Bzikov got out of the car, went up to the man, stood at attention, saluted him, and reported something. Then the man came over and bent over to see what was going on in the car. I opened the car door, came out and said to him, "Comrade Stalin is seriously injured and needs to be rescued immediately." He took a look at me, and then told the soldiers behind him to get on the bus and lift Stalin down with all hands, then put him on a stretcher and onto the plane. While they were busy with everything, I went up to bzikov and asked him quietly, "who is this man?"¡° The head of the Kremlin. " He answered me in awe. The manager came over with several soldiers after he was busy with everything. Stop in front of us, then turn around and command the soldiers behind us: "disarm them and arrest them." What''s wrong with my arrest? I turned around and looked at bzikov. Seeing that he handed over all his weapons without any expression on his face, I had to do it obediently. I gave the submachine gun and pistol to the serious soldiers. Bezikov and I were handcuffed, and escorted by the bayonets of several soldiers, we got on Stalin''s special plane.

 Chapter 61

    After a short flight in the air, the plane landed on the ground again.


    There were several black cars and an ambulance beside the plane, and a prison car in the distance.


    Stalin, who was lying on a stretcher, was covered with a blanket, and was immediately carried to an ambulance when he got off the plane. Then the long line of cars and ambulances disappeared. But bezikov and I, escorted by the soldiers, came to the prison car.


    From the driver''s cab of the prison car, a major officer came up to us without expression, took out the key and opened the handcuffs on my right wrist. Before I could recover, he quickly turned my hands behind me, handcuffed me again, and covered my eyes with a black cloth.


    What is this for? I can''t help but get a little flustered. Can I just drag out and shoot like this? In the past few months, I have been on the battlefield almost every day, and I haven''t had the chance to enjoy it. I lost my life for no reason. It''s really not worth it!


    Two soldiers supported me from left to right and forced me into the prison car. As soon as I fell on the cold car floor, tears came out and soaked the blindfolded black cloth. Then I heard another thump. It was probably the soldiers who threw bezikov in again.


    As the car started, I called out cautiously, "Colonel bzikov, are you there?"


    "Be honest. Don''t talk." Around came the harsh shouts of the soldiers.


    Hearing what the soldier said, I immediately shut up.


    Bumpy on the road, I don''t know how long, I was pulled down from the prison car, and then by two frame, deep one foot shallow one foot to the front. At the beginning, I was walking on the snow. My heart was half cold. I thought it was over. This is to drag me directly to the execution ground.


    But it didn''t seem as bad as I thought. After a while, we stopped. Then I heard the door open with a bang, and someone untied my handcuffs and gave me a big push in the back. I staggered forward a few steps, and then I heard the door slamming behind me.


    I reached out and pulled off the blindfolded black cloth and found myself in a small room. There were no windows or lights in the room. The light from the corridor penetrated through the fence door, so that I could see everything in the room, except that there was a wooden bench on the right side of the wall, and then the whole room was empty.


    I sat down on the wooden chair and looked around. Inadvertently saw the dark green wall, full of dense words, he stood up curiously and went to see what happened. All the words on the wall were swearing and vicious curses, while the people who were abused and cursed, except for a few different names, were greetings to Stalin.


    I secretly speculated about the fate of these people graffiti on the wall. I didn''t know that they were skinny and they were better off digging coal in Siberian reform through labor camps; Or has long been turned into a pile of bones, lying in the cold grave. What''s my future? Will I follow their lead?


    The sound of opening the door with a key came from the door. I turned around and saw that a female guard came in with a plate. Although the light was dim, I could see a few pieces of black bread on the plate. I haven''t eaten anything since morning. Besides, I have just experienced a fierce battle. When I see something to eat, I feel more and more hungry.


    I met her and was ready to take her plate. Who knows, I haven''t touched the plate, but her hand suddenly loosened, let the plate directly fell to the ground, smashed, bread also fell everywhere. I bent down to pick up, just caught a piece of bread, did not wait for me to pick up, she put her foot on my finger.


    "What do you want to do?" My tears were so painful that I couldn''t help asking her out loud.


    "Bah, you are a spy. You don''t deserve to waste food here. You should be dragged out and shot at once." She cursed fiercely.


    Instead of asking how I became a spy, I raised my voice and said, "get your feet off me!"


    Unexpectedly, the female guard just snorted, on the contrary, she also increased her strength on her feet. It hurt so much that the cold sweat on my head came down.


    "Get your feet off me!" I roared, grabbing her ankle with my movable left hand and pushing it up. She didn''t prepare. I threw her to the ground and threw her on all fours.


    "Good! How dare you hit me She got up, stormed up and punched me. I grabbed her right wrist with my left hand, took a step forward with my right leg, bent over and hugged her calf with my right hand, and lifted it up. With my exertion, she rotated 180 degrees in the air, and then fell face down heavily on the concrete floor.


    I stepped forward, threw myself on her, knelt against her vest, and twisted her hands behind her back. She was crushed by me and howled like a pig. With her shouting, several guards with police batons rushed to the corridor and beat me down. I can only let go of this annoying female guard and squat on the ground with my head in both hands, allowing them to violence me.


    When they were tired, the female guard kicked me to the ground and gave me a kick in the stomach. The pain made me cover my stomach and roll all over the ground. Then she closed the door with several guards and left.


    After they left, I slowly climbed to the bench and lay down, rubbing my injured abdomen with my hands, and my tears flowed incessantly. I thought to myself, what''s the matter? I was ordered to escort Stalin from the headquarters of the group army to the airport in the morning. On the way, we met the German attack. Taking advantage of the opportunity of fierce fighting between the security forces and the enemy, bezikov and I spared no effort to protect Stalin from the dangerous situation; Even if there is no reward, we can''t be treated like the enemy? The lights went out in the corridor outside, and the whole house fell into darkness. My stomach started protesting and growling. I tried to move my body. I didn''t feel as much pain as I did just now, so I struggled to get off the chair, squatted on the ground and picked up the pieces of bread scattered on the ground. After picking it up, I sat down in my chair, weeping, and put these already trampled bread slices into my mouth. No matter what will happen in the future, I''ll fill my stomach first.

 Chapter 62

    "What was Stalin''s purpose in going to the front line for inspection at such an extraordinary time?" After filling my stomach, my mind jumped back to Stalin. "When I saw him yesterday in Yuga zapatnaya, I didn''t even bring a personal guard except a driver. On this tour, the security forces were directly under the Moscow garrison headquarters, not the most elite central security corps. What''s going on? " The more I think about it, the more confused I am.


    "What''s wrong with me? Why did I lock me up with bezikov? Why can''t I remember what mistakes I made? Did I mention to rokosovsky about marshal Tukhachevsky and the generals? It''s impossible! I just mentioned that for a moment, and I didn''t express any tendentious views. Is that not enough to lock me up? Did they find out I was a fake Rita? No, in that case, it would have been a long time ago, and it would not have to wait until now? What on earth is it... "I''ve been daydreaming. Thinking about it, I gradually fell asleep


    When I was sleeping, I felt as if someone was poking me, so I reluctantly opened my eyes. Before I could see the person in front of me, a pair of cold handcuffs had already handcuffed my hands.


    "Who are you?" I asked alertly.


    "Come with us. Don''t talk. Do you hear me?" In the dark, two figures in a trance, one on the left and the other on the right, picked me up and walked out the door


    I shook my dizzy head, because I woke up from my sleep, and my mind was still not clear. I just felt that I was carried by two people through the corridor, climbed up the stairs, turned a few corners, and came to a room whose window was covered by black cloth. Two people pressed me on the chair, untied my handcuffs, twisted my hands behind my back, put them back on the chair, and then stood behind me left and right.


    There was a strong light coming in. I couldn''t help but turn my head aside and close my eyes¡° No, close your eyes and look at me! " From the strong light came a very cold voice. Hearing this sound, the people standing around me forced my head to the direction of the strong light.


    "Why on earth? Why did you lock me up? " I narrowed my eyes and asked angrily.


    "You are not qualified to answer our questions honestly." The other side slapped the table and interrupted my question


    "Name?"


    "Rita mushdakova oshanina."


    "Rank?"


    "Lieutenant commander."


    "When did you become a German spy?" The other side asked my name and rank, and suddenly changed the topic.


    "German spy?" "I don''t understand you," I asked


    "Pa!" The other side slapped the table again and said in a scornful tone, "don''t be confused here. Your partner bzikov has admitted that you disclosed Comrade Stalin''s itinerary to the Germans. That''s why the Germans carried out this planned ambush."


    "Colonel bezikov, whom I met in the Kremlin before, and he and I met three times in total. He is not my accomplice. Moreover, the task of escorting Comrade Stalin was temporarily assigned to me by Comrade rokosovsky this morning. I didn''t know it beforehand. "


    "But you and bezikov are the only ones who survived the whole army escorting Comrade Stalin."


    "Did the rest of the guards die?"


    "Nonsense, of course. We have just checked with the headquarters of the 16th group army that all the 86 commanders and soldiers who escorted Comrade Stalin died. They killed nearly 40 enemies, and they all died bravely. "


    "What a pity!" I can''t help but sigh that if we fight tanks with infantry, and we don''t have any anti tank weapons, if we fight against steel with flesh and blood, it is inevitable that the whole army will be destroyed.


    "Do you admit it?" The other side asked again.


    "Admit what?"


    "You are a German spy!"


    "I don''t know where you came to such a wrong conclusion, but I''m definitely not a German spy." I tried my best to defend myself so as not to die under this false accusation.


    "The guard troops escorting Comrade Stalin are the most elite troops. If no one divulges their itinerary and allows the German army to ambush them on the road in a planned way, they will not all die. "


    Elite! It''s good for you to use the best! I swear in my heart. Even if all the soldiers in the security forces are highly skilled in martial arts and have learned the legendary golden bell jar of the thirteen supreme guards, one bullet of the enemy can still kill them; Even if everyone will have the so-called Invincible Iron sand palm, let them clap the tank to see if they can skew the turret?


    "Silence means acquiescence! You are a spy hiding in our army. Comrade krochkov, take her confession and sign it for her. " With this sound, a young man in civilian clothes came out from behind the light, holding a piece of paper in his hand. Maybe this is my so-called confession. Krocchikov asked someone standing beside me to release the handcuffs for me, and then handed me the paper and pen for my signature.


    "No!" I knew very well in my heart that once I signed, my unnecessary crime would be settled, and the only thing left was to be shot. So I strongly rejected him: "I''m not a spy, I will never sign on any so-called confession."¡° Krochkov, since she won''t sign, come back and sit down! " The voice behind the light said, "even if she doesn''t sign, it can''t change the fact that she is a spy." Krochkov heard the sound and returned to the back of the light with pen and paper in silence¡° Now I pronounce the sentence on you! " The male voice said solemnly. Next to the two people put me up, listen to the other side announced this inexplicable bullshit judgment The verdict of the internal people''s Committee is as follows: the death sentence of German spy Rita mushdakova oshanina is executed immediately! " death penalty! I was so scared by the verdict that I would have fallen into a chair if I hadn''t been carried by two people nearby. What did I do? Why did you sentence me to death so rashly¡° Yes? Scared out of my wits? " The other side said with a contemptuous smile: "this is the end of the spy. Your accomplice, bezikov, has been waiting in the yard for a long time. He will send you there immediately, and you will be shot together. " After a pause, he said, "drag her into the yard. I don''t want to see this damned spy in this room any more." Two people promise a, frame me to drag out. Just then the telephone on the desk rang. When the mysterious figure behind the light answers the phone, the room is so quiet that I can hear the content of his call clearly¡° Comrade boskelebeshev, I''m Stalin. What''s the situation with oshanina? "¡° Comrade Stalin, she has confessed that she is a German spy. " When I heard this, I couldn''t help but get angry. When did I admit that I was a spy, I just wanted to add crime¡° What measures have you taken? " Stalin continued in his low, slow voice¡° She has just been sentenced to death and is preparing for execution! Comrade Stalin. "¡° Nonsense, it''s nonsense! Oshanina was a special commissioner sent by Zhukov to the 16th army. How could a comrade with fighting spirit be a spy? She has been with you for a long time. Let her stop chatting with you and go back to rokosovsky. Yasnayapolana has been lost. " Then Stalin hung up. The light that had been shining on me just now went out. As the chandelier on the roof turned on, the whole room suddenly became bright. I can see clearly that boskhlebeshev, who has been talking just now, turned out to be the man whom bezikov jokingly called the Kremlin chief. He solemnly told the two men who were holding me: "let go of Comrade oshanina. She is not a spy, but our comrade. And you two go to the yard right away and bring bezikov back. There may be some misunderstanding. "

 Chapter 63

    This absurd and playful short trial ended.


    My handcuffs had been released, and instead of sitting on the chair I had just been tried, I was politely invited to the reception room next door. Boskhlebeshev even arranged for tea and refreshments to be delivered to me.


    In less than five minutes, bezikov in the yard was also brought back.


    The bruised bezikov was unable to walk on his own. He put his hand on someone else''s shoulder and was carried in by two people. Seeing him come in, boskelebeshev gave him a embarrassed smile and said, "Comrade bzikov, you were wronged just now! We are also doing this for revolutionary work. I hope you can understand. Comrade Stalin has just called in person to explain the situation and let me arrange for you two to return to your original posts as soon as possible. "


    Bezikov stared at him coldly for a long time before he said, "well, when can I go back to the garrison headquarters? Comrades boskhlebeshev


    When boskelebeshev listened to his question, he couldn''t help but feel embarrassed and said, "you should have a rest here first, and I''ll arrange someone to see you off right away."


    I watched the chief manager leave and asked bzikov, "what''s the matter with you?"


    Who knows that he made a silent gesture to me, people also quickly stood up, past closed the door, around the room to check, even lying on the ground to check under the table. After a long time, he took a long breath, stood up and said to me, "I checked. There is no eavesdropper in this room. We can talk."


    "Oh." After listening to what he said, I realized what he was doing just now. I always wanted to find out why we were arrested for no reason, and even nearly lost our lives, so I asked frankly, "what''s the matter? Why are we arrested? Is it just because on the way to escort Comrade Stalin to the airport, he encountered and exchanged fire with those Germans who went around the rear of our army? "


    "You are sitting with Stalin today. Do you notice anything different?" Instead of answering my question directly, he asked me.


    After listening to what he said, I recalled all kinds of things at that time and found many differences. I organized some words in my mind, and then I slowly told him what I had found: "during the time I stayed with Comrade Stalin, I really found a lot of anomalies."


    "What''s abnormal? Let''s hear it. " He said with interest.


    "First of all, I didn''t see him smoking, nor did I see him take out the famous pipe that never leaves his hand. Secondly, in the current situation, his role in the Kremlin is much greater than simply going to the front line to boost morale. However, this visit to the 16th group army was not in line with Stalin''s character, even though there was some element of deliberately showing off and taking risks. Because he clearly knows that if anything happens to him on the front line, it will be a fatal blow to the morale of the people. "


    When I said this, bzikov nodded and said, "your analysis is very reasonable. Go on."


    "Even if Comrade Stalin wanted to inspect the front line, the troops accompanying him should at least be escorted by the most elite central guard regiment, and this time only the troops from the garrison headquarters were deployed, which is not in line with common sense. In addition, in Stalin''s capacity, there should be some big people accompanying him. But I found that you are the highest ranking of all the accompanying personnel. "


    "What kind of conclusion have you come to through these?" When he said this, he picked up two pieces of sugar, put them into the teacup, picked up a small spoon, stirred them gently, and then put the spoon into his mouth.


    After hesitating for a moment, I finally blurted out my conjecture: "is it... Is it that you see in the 16th group army that Comrade Stalin is not himself, but a substitute for him?"


    As soon as my voice fell, I heard a local sound. The spoon in his hand had fallen on the table, and it made a clear sound when it collided with the table. He didn''t care about this. He came over and grabbed my arm. He couldn''t wait to ask, "how do you know this secret?"


    "It''s easy!" I shrugged my shoulders and said, "the Stalin in our car is seriously injured. In my opinion, even if he doesn''t die, he is seriously injured. If that''s the case, he should be lying in bed in a coma, and there''s no way he can call bosklebershev. Just now, I also heard the voice from the phone. It''s still very neutral. I didn''t feel hurt for a long time. Based on this kind of observation and speculation, I dare to speculate: in fact, what we see today is not the real Stalin, but just a substitute for him. "


    With that, I was staring at him. He was silent for a long time, then said slowly: "you are right! What we are escorting today is not the real Stalin, but just a stand in. In order to stimulate the morale of the front and stabilize the current front. It was Comrade Stalin who came up with a good way to encourage the generals without risking himself. But then the attack, it was an accident. "


    "Do you know why boskhlebeshev arrested us at the airport?" I am most concerned about this issue.


    "He was afraid that we would spread the news of false Stalin''s injury and affect the morale of the people. That''s why he took such a temporary emergency measure."¡° But what he did was ridiculous, "I said discontentedly." if Comrade Stalin hadn''t called me, you and I would have been shot by him now. "¡° Alas With a long sigh, he said, "I didn''t expect this to happen. I thought it was just a temporary measure of confidentiality, so I obeyed. I didn''t expect that after he came here, he actually tried to extort a confession by torture, and let me admit that I was a spy. "¡° Do you admit it? " I''m concerned about whether he''s a soft bone¡° No! " He answered very simply¡° Since he didn''t admit it, why did he drag you to be shot? " Recalling the scene just now, I can''t help sweating¡° Only the dead can keep a secret. So, if Stalin didn''t call to protect us, he would be at ease only if we became dead. "¡° However, it is not just the two of us who know about the injury of doubles. Many people saw the soldiers who met at the airport that day. "¡° Hum He snorted and continued: "if I guess correctly, those soldiers will soon be sent to the most dangerous part of the front line. As long as these soldiers die, no one will know the news of the double being injured. "¡° Ah Listening to him, I feel that my underwear is wet with sweat. I just see something I shouldn''t see. I can''t escape the end of being killed. It''s terrible! He and I were silent. The room was silent. The door was pushed open, and the one who came in was krochkov, who had just given me a confession for my signature, with the weapons we had seized in his hand. He put his weapon on the table and said coldly, "you can go. The car is waiting outside." I helped bezikov and followed krochkov out. Many people came and went in the corridor. When they saw us, they all stepped aside to make way for us. Walking, I suddenly found that the female guard who kicked me was standing not far away chatting with several other female guards. I stared at her fiercely. With my right hand, I let go of bzikov''s hand. I went straight to my waist and deftly untied the holster of the pistol and grasped the cold handle. When the female guard saw me, she also found my move. She stepped back in panic and dodged behind others. I hesitated for a moment, released my hand, buttoned up the holster, grabbed bzikov''s hand again, and helped him forward. I know in my heart that it''s not too late for a gentleman to take revenge. It''s too cheap to shoot her like this. I maliciously thought that as long as I had the chance, sooner or later, I would torture this female guard to death. There was a black car outside the building. Krochkov came forward and opened the rear door for us. Then he said drily, "you get on the bus. The driver will take you to your destination." Welcome to our website www.start.com. The latest, fastest and most popular serial works are all original!

 Chapter 64

    Before getting on the bus, I first looked inside the car and confirmed that only the driver was sitting in it. Then I helped bzikov to get on the car and sit in the back row. As soon as the door was closed, the driver started the engine.


    As our car started, krochkov stepped back and stood on the side of the road, watching our car leave with a blank face. I looked back at the person with the same name as my first-class political instructor and thought, are the expressions of political workers all carved in the same mold? They not only have the same name, but also have the same expression on their faces.


    "Hey, man, where''s this car going?" Bezikov''s voice rang around. I looked back and saw that he was patting the driver on the shoulder and asking for directions.


    "Go to the Moscow garrison command, where I am ordered to send you." The driver, holding the steering wheel in his hands, turned his head to him and replied.


    "Well, I see. Keep driving. " With these words, bzikov leaned back and began to close his eyes.


    As the special pass was pasted on the glass of the car, we didn''t stop us to check the pass all the way, so we came to the garrison headquarters very smoothly. Several people had been waiting outside the headquarters building for a long time. When they saw our car passing by, they immediately met us. The driver seemed to have known that someone was coming back to greet him, so he drove straight to those people and stopped. As soon as the car stopped, the garrison headquarters opened the door and helped bezikov out of the car.


    After the driver stopped, he didn''t even turn off the engine. We all got out of the car, said hello to me, turned around and drove back.


    I followed the soldiers who supported bezikov. Later, I went to the gate of the headquarters and hesitated to follow in. When bezikov looked back and saw me standing at the gate at a loss, he called out to me in a loud voice, "Comrade oshanina, what are you doing standing there? Come on in!"


    I hesitated for a moment, still did not follow him in, but whispered: "I want to go back to the front line immediately, can you help contact the vehicle to give me a ride?"


    After listening to this, bzikov looked at the blackened sky and said with some embarrassment, "it''s so late. Don''t you stay here for one night before you leave? You know, it''s hard to go at night. "


    "No," I said firmly, "I want to go back to the front line immediately."


    Seeing that my attitude was so firm, he couldn''t say anything more. Instead, he gave orders to a soldier in a low voice. The soldier listened to his arrangement, nodded, then turned and ran to the street. But bzikov pushed aside the soldiers who helped him, came to me, stopped at my side, and said in a low voice, "what happened today, you must keep it absolutely secret, and no one can know about the injury of Comrade Stalin''s double, or you will be killed. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander. Only you and I know about this matter. When we go back, even if Comrade Zhukov, commander of the front army, asks, I won''t tell you. "


    "Just understand." He patted me gently on the shoulder and said in a very friendly tone, "it''s not bad to go to the front line. You''re a female comrade. You don''t have to fight like a male soldier. It''s good to be a staff officer in the headquarters."


    Just then, a truck with tarpaulin came to the gate and stopped. He jumped off the truck and the driver and the soldier who was looking for the truck. After saluting bezikov, he reported, "Comrade commander, I found a truck to the front line for maintenance. Please give me your instructions."


    Bezikov went up to the driver and asked, "what''s your name and what part of it?"


    "Report to commander comrade, my name is mesat. I''m from the logistics battalion of the garrison headquarters. I''m being ordered to go to the front line to take care of them."


    "Well," bezikov said, pointing to me, "this female soldier is going to the front line. You can give her a ride by the way."


    "Yes, comrade commander." Mesatte answered in a loud voice.


    Bezikov came up, took my hand and said, "let''s say goodbye. Good luck to you."


    The driver and I were both silent and did not speak to each other. The truck drove along the street to the outskirts. After driving for more than half an hour, it came to Yuga zabatnaya, where I had been yesterday. The driver stopped the car suddenly, and I asked unexpectedly, "what happened? Did the car break down?"


    "No, I have a friend who''s going to the front line too. I''ll wait for him to come and send him with me."


    "When will he come?" I looked at the darkening sky outside and couldn''t help feeling a little worried. At such a speed, I didn''t know when I would be able to get to the headquarters of the front army.


    "Soon, in a few minutes." Then the driver rolled down the window and took out a packet of cigarettes from his coat pocket. He handed it to me and asked, "do you smoke?" Seeing that I shook my head, I took one out of the cigarette box and put it in my mouth. Before he lit his cigarette, I heard a voice outside saying, "mesat, my old friend, are you waiting for me?"


    "Hurry up, Mikhail," the driver urged. "It''s dark. It''s hard to go."


    When I saw a man coming to get on the bus, I opened the door and jumped into the snow on the side of the road. I asked him to get on the bus first. I don''t want to sit between two men. When he got on the bus, I got on again and closed the door.


    When the car was restarted, the driver asked the man who got on the bus, "Mikhail, I heard that you are a good driver. Have you become a conductor?"


    "Yes. It was just promoted at the beginning of this month. "


    "Oh, I didn''t expect you to be promoted so fast. Look at me. We joined the army together. I''m still a first-class soldier, but you''re already a sergeant. " As soon as mesat saw Mikhail, he began to talk more.


    I couldn''t help looking curiously at the soldier beside me. He was wearing a brand new uniform and SERGEANT RANK. Maybe he found that I was watching him, and he also turned to look at me. I smile at him, and then stare silently at the dark forest outside the window.


    Outside, I don''t know when it began to snow, and the powdered snow like white granulated sugar came down. The truck was driving along the rugged forest road in the heavy snow. The snow powder from the sky constantly pours on the windshield, blurring the front view into a ball. In addition to the range of more than ten meters illuminated by the car lights, it is surrounded by thick darkness like ink, which makes the originally desolate road even more gloomy and terrifying. I clenched my submachine gun in my hand and watched out the window warily, fearing that some German devils would come out of nowhere.


    "May I see your submachine gun?" There was Sergeant Mikhail''s voice.


    I looked back at the handsome face in front of me. I felt that I had a sense of deja vu. I agreed and handed him the weapon without thinking.


    He took the submachine gun, looked at it carefully with the help of the weak light, and then said, "this should be the bobosha submachine gun just launched. I''ve heard of it before, but I''ve never seen it before."


    "Yes, the output of this kind of weapon is not large, and the number of armed forces is not large. It''s not surprising that you haven''t seen it."


    "But," he said with some surprise, "as far as I know, it seems that no more than 500 guns have been produced so far. Almost all the equipment is provided to the Central Guard Corps and the garrison headquarters. Where did you get such good weapons? "


    For his curiosity, I don''t know whether to answer or not. Fortunately, mesat solved the problem in time: "Mikhail, you are still so interested in guns, so you can just transfer to weapons to make weapons later."


    "Mesat, if I have a chance, I really want to work in the Arsenal and design advanced weapons to defend the motherland."


    "Come on, you''ve never had a professional education or learned to draw. At best, you can only draw some simple sketches, how to design advanced weapons." Mesat poured cold water on him.


    But after hearing their conversation, I had a good feeling for the young man in front of me. I asked with great interest, "what arms are you, infantry?"


    "No, I''m a tank soldier. I was promoted to sergeant at the beginning of this month and became a car commander."


    "Then I congratulate you." I reached out to shake his hand and congratulated him.


    "What''s your rank? I don''t see any rank marks on your uniform. " Asked Mikhail curiously.


    "The military uniform is new. The collar has not been sewn on yet." At this point, I pause for a moment, and then express my identity: "not long ago, I was promoted to commander."


    As soon as my words came out, there was silence in the carriage. After a while, Mikhail handed me the submachine gun and apologized: "sorry, comrade commander, I didn''t see your rank, so I don''t know..."


    "It''s all right, Mikhail." I patted him on the shoulder and said, "many things are not born to anyone. As long as you seize the opportunity, everything is possible."


    "Thank you for your encouragement. If there is such an opportunity, I will seize it. "


    After a while, he asked me, "do you think there are any deficiencies in our army''s light weapons?"


    I thought for a while and answered, "although our submachine guns have strong firepower, they have a low hit rate; Although the rifle has a high hit rate, its shooting speed is slow. If there is a weapon that can combine the advantages of the two weapons, it can have both high hit and powerful firepower, and it also has a folding bayonet. After the bullets are exhausted, it can also engage in hand to hand combat with the enemy. "


    Hearing what I said, he asked me suspiciously, "can we really design such a weapon?"


    "Yes." I answered him positively, "I think it''s OK." This is not groundless. In the history I know, after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, Russia has accumulated enough foreign exchange reserves by selling oil and advanced weapons.


    "Mikhail, you should have your birthday in a few days."


    "Yes, three days after the October Revolution Day, it''s my birthday."


    Hearing this date, I was stunned for a moment and asked curiously, "Mikhail, you were not born in 1919, were you?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." "How did you guess?" he asked curiously


    Instead of answering his question, I continued, "don''t tell me that you were born in curia, a suburb of Almaty in Southeast Kazakhstan?"


    "Exactly, comrade commander." "How do you know?" he said in surprise


    "What''s your full name?" After listening to his birthday and birthplace, I immediately associate with a celebrity I met on the victory festival in 2007. I can''t help but continue to verify his identity¡° Mikhail tymofeevich Kalashnikov. " God, it''s him! The famous gun designer of Soviet Russia, who is famous for his design of "AK-47 assault rifle", once saw him lay a wreath in front of the tomb of the unknown martyr during the victory festival in 2007. No wonder I saw him just now, I felt like I had known him before¡° Comrade commander, you haven''t answered me. How do you know me? " He asked me curiously¡° I''ll tell you later, "I deliberately digged off the topic," don''t forget what you said just now. If we have a chance, we must design an advanced weapon to defend our motherland for our troops. "¡° Do you think I have such ability? " He asked uneasily¡° Yes, I have full confidence in you. "

 Chapter 65

    "Comrade commander, the special unit has assembled. Please give us your instructions!"


    The man who is reporting to me is Aji, a soldier in white camouflage. He was the soldier who stabbed the German sentry in the jaw with a dagger during the night attack I led. Because of his heroic performance, he was soon promoted to sergeant by relevant departments.


    Late the night before yesterday, I went back to the headquarters of the front army in the snow and gave Zhukov a brief report on my recent situation. Of course, I didn''t even mention the injury of Stalin''s stand in. He stayed in his room for one night. The next morning, he politely declined Zhukov''s kind invitation and insisted on returning to the 16th army, which I knew well.


    For my return, rokosovsky, who is short of experienced commanders, is very much wanted. I only worked in the command post of the group army headquarters for one day, and rokosovsky gave me a special task, asking me to set up a capable special unit to investigate the enemy''s deployment in yasnayapolina, and then come back to report to the group army. When he has the detailed information of the enemy, he will be able to work out a detailed counter attack plan according to the command of the headquarters.


    When I accepted this task, I felt very strange, because this kind of investigation task is usually completed by the guerrillas. How can regular troops be used this time? So he asked him: "Comrade commander, is there no guerrilla force in YASNAYA Poliana?"


    "Yes." At that time, he answered me with a serious look: "because the German forces are advancing too fast, we have no time to send guerrillas and sabotage groups to the area, so we need to set up a special unit temporarily to complete this task. And the commander of this team, you are undoubtedly the best candidate


    So, I accepted the task and selected 12 elite soldiers like Aji from the remnants of the group army. Now I''m getting them to gather in the trenches outside the shelter of the guard camp to prepare for their pre departure mobilization.


    I nodded to Aji and said, "get in the line." Aji saluted me, stepped back and returned to the queue. I took a submachine gun and walked back and forth in front of the line for two times. My eyes flowed through the twelve ordinary faces in front of me one by one with the help of the light from the masking part. These faces looked simple and calm. Their eyes moved with my movement, looking forward to my upcoming battle mobilization.


    "Comrades." I just said a word, they came to a neat attention.


    "Take a moment, please!" I went on to say: "our mission this time is to go to yasnayapoliana to carry out the investigation mission. Because the German army has occupied this area, we can''t take any means of transportation for the distance of tens of kilometers. We have to walk by our own legs. I made a statement in advance that the risk factor of this mission is very high, not to mention that if it fails, the whole army will be destroyed. Even if the task can be successfully completed, many comrades will die. So, if anyone is afraid of death and doesn''t want to go, he can come up with it immediately. I will never embarrass him... "


    "Comrade commander," the political instructor kroshkov, who used to stay in the shelter, did not know when he came out and interrupted me in a hurry. Then he came to my ear and said in a low voice, "how can you do such battle mobilization? It will affect the morale."


    "I''ve got discretion. You don''t have to worry." I whispered to him, then coughed and asked the soldiers, "do you want to stay? If you want to stay, move forward; Or raise your hand and say something. "


    After I said this, there was a silence. No one spoke, no hands raised or moved forward.


    "Comrade commander," my words made kroshkov a little angry. He said discontentedly, "in the face of a fierce enemy, even if the bayonet reaches his chest, our soldiers will not shrink back."


    I raised my hand to stop kroshkov from going on, and then said to the soldiers, "since we are not afraid of death, we are willing to participate in this operation. Then I put the ugly words in front of me. If there is anyone on the battlefield who is greedy for life and afraid of death, flinches or runs away, "I raised my submachine gun high and said aloud," I know him, but the submachine gun in my hand doesn''t know him. Do you understand? "


    "I see!" The soldiers replied with one voice.


    "OK, let''s go!" At my command, the soldiers turned right and walked along the trench.


    "Comrade commander," I heard kroshkov call me from behind. I turned around and saw that he held out his hands to me. I quickly reached out and took his hands. When shaking hands, he said sincerely: "the future is hard, be more careful!" I gratefully shook his hand hard. After releasing it, I solemnly saluted him regardless of my higher rank. When I saluted, I felt my nose ache. Without waiting for him to return the salute, I turned to catch up with the team in front of me. At the same time, I secretly raised my hand to wipe away the tears from my face.


    Marching in the snow forest, it is not easy to find the road, but also easy to get lost. In order to prevent us from running into the German position, every 500 meters or so, our team would stop, use the compass to correct the direction, and then move on.


    The team was divided into three parts. Aji led two soldiers as top soldiers, walking about ten meters in front of the team to open the way for the team; Staff sergeant geriath and the other three soldiers fell more than ten meters behind to serve as the rear of the palace for us; And I, along with a sniper, a surveyor, a messenger with communication equipment and two stormtroopers, walked in the middle of the whole team. Starting in the middle of the night, we advanced in the snow for five or six hours by daybreak. According to the surveyor, the distance is no more than 15 kilometers, and the straight-line distance is estimated to be shorter. In the early morning, the forest began to fog, and our vision became more and more blurred. At first, I could see the scenery 30 or 40 meters away. At last, I could only see the scenery 5 or 6 meters away. I shrunk my neck to avoid the snow falling from the treetops, carefully led the troops through the forest, listening attentively to the movement around me with my ears. All of a sudden, the soldier in front of me came running and called to me in a low voice: "Comrade commander!"¡° I''m here, "I don''t know what''s going on, and I don''t dare to shout, so as not to expose the team''s target. When the soldier ran to me, I asked him in a low voice, "what''s the matter?"¡° Ah Ji heard something moving in the distance. He thought the army was coming towards us. Ah Ji asked me to report the situation to you. He and his staff have been in ambush and are continuing to observe the situation. "¡° Those in the back, follow up quickly I turned back to greet the four soldiers later, then looked at the soldiers standing on the left and right, and said, "all come with me." Running forward for more than ten meters, I saw Aji crawling in the snow. I quickly fell on his right side and asked in a low voice, "what''s the situation? Do you know what kind of army it is? "¡° I only heard the sound of one or two motorcycles, and the rest of them were walking, probably an infantry unit. " As we were talking, the soldiers behind us came and fell on the snow. Because we are all wearing white camouflage clothes, lying on the snow, if you don''t look carefully, you really can''t find us¡° Prepare to fight I gave orders to everyone in a low voice. I turned to look at the sniper on my right and said, "if I order the fire later, you are responsible for killing the German commander. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander. You see, well, as long as the commander of the German army dares to show up, I will kill him with one shot. "

 Chapter 66

    I was lying in the cold snow, watching with my telescope. The fog is too big, dozens of meters away is a vast expanse of white, nothing to see clearly.


    "Comrade commander," ah Ji, who was lying beside me, poked me and asked in a low voice, "do you see anything?"


    I put down my telescope, shook my head and said, "it''s too foggy to see clearly."


    "Shall I show someone over?" He asked for my advice.


    "Don''t overdo it," I said, shaking my head again. "Anyway, they''re coming in our direction. We''ll soon find out who they are."


    The footsteps came closer and closer, but no one could be heard. I raised my telescope again to observe the situation. Unfortunately, I could only see a group of people shaking in the fog, and I couldn''t see who they were. So I handed the telescope to Aji next to him to see who they were.


    As soon as he looked at it for a while, he excitedly told me, "Comrade commander, it''s one of his own." Then he put down his telescope and got up from the snow.


    "Wait a minute!" I stopped him immediately. You know, this is an enemy occupied area. How can our troops march here in a swagger? Seeing him lying on the snow again, I asked: "did you see clearly just now? Are you sure it''s our army?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Ah Ji replied with great certainty: "although the fog is too big to see clearly. But I can see clearly that the people walking in front are wearing long grey military coats, just like the clothes you wore some time ago. "


    "This is behind the enemy lines. You should be alert at any time," he said. I felt a little suspicious. I quickly explained to him, "after they come, you can take someone to contact their commander."


    "Yes." Aji answered me very frankly, but this time he didn''t stand up, still lying on the snow, and continued to hold the telescope to observe the situation.


    "Ah?" Aji suddenly let out a cry of surprise in a low voice. I looked at him in surprise and asked, "don''t you see the Germans in my army?"


    "There are Germans!" He said and handed me the telescope. In the telescope, a group of soldiers in gray army coats move forward mechanically with their heads down. In front of the queue, there is a single motorcycle. The soldiers on the bicycle are wearing helmets and windshields, and long army coats. Anyone can recognize that this is the dress of the German army.


    What''s going on? I continued to observe the situation. When more and more soldiers of our army came into my sight, I saw several German soldiers with weapons walking around the team. My God! Seeing all this, I suddenly realized that it was our captured soldier, who was being escorted to their rear by the German army.


    "Aji," I put down my telescope, looked back at Aji who was silent and said, "these are our captured soldiers. The Germans are escorting them to the prison camp. Let our comrades be ready to fight against these Germans when necessary. "


    "I see," Aji promised, and he crawled away.


    "Come here for a second." I whispered at the sniper.


    As I yelled, the sniper climbed up to me without saying a word, looking at me, waiting for my order.


    "Put the gun on here," I pointed to a bush beside me and said, "as soon as I say fire, you shoot. Do you understand?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." The sniper answered me very simply.


    "Excuse me, what''s your name?" I am embarrassed to ask: "I remember you once said, but I forgot."


    "My name is aguminte." With these words, he had put the moxingan rifle with sight in the bush.


    The troops walking on the forest trail have completely come into my sight, so clear that I can see everything without a telescope. There are about one hundred soldiers in the whole army. The captured soldiers are almost all wearing gray army coats. Some of them are wearing helmets, some are wearing cotton caps, and some are even bareheaded, but they all look dejected. I repeatedly counted the number of German soldiers escorting them. Except for the two motorcyclists at the front and back of the team, there were only five soldiers with submachine guns in the middle. Seeing all this, I couldn''t help frowning. The German army sent seven soldiers to escort more than 100 Soviet prisoners?


    "Comrade commander," Aji did not know when he crawled back and asked me in a low voice, "what shall we do now?"


    "Fight!" I answered him very simply. There are seven German talents, while there are thirteen of us. We have mental calculation but no intention. This ambush is sure to win¡° As soon as the sniper''s shot rang out, everyone opened fire immediately, and the target was optional. "


    "Yes Ah Ji agreed and crawled to convey my orders to the soldiers.


    "Agumente," I whispered to the sniper not far away, "take out the German soldiers on motorcycles in the back of the line."


    "Pa!" As soon as I spoke, agumento''s gun rang. I saw through the telescope that the German soldier on the motorcycle at the back of the team burst out a blood mist on his head, leaned back, and then fell heavily on the snow with his men and his car.


    The gunfire was an order. All the weapons were fired together. After a series of gunshots, another German soldier on a motorcycle and three soldiers on the side of our ambush were killed. The remaining two German soldiers, because on the other side of the line, our captured soldiers were in the middle, so we couldn''t shoot. After the shooting, they hid in the middle of the team and fired back in the direction of our ambush. It made my teeth itch to see the captured soldiers standing motionless and letting the German soldiers hide among them and shoot at us. After all, this is an enemy occupied area. We can''t turn an ambush into an encounter. We must make a quick decision. So I stood up and yelled at the soldiers who were standing there: "get down! Get down! Almost lying down... "Before I finished shouting, I fell on the ground behind me. At the same time, several bullets hit the place where I just stood, raising a series of snowflakes. I turned around and saw that ah Ji had thrown me to the ground. I gave him a grateful smile and said, "thank you, ah Ji. You just saved my life." After listening to my cry, the captured soldiers came back to their senses and fell on the ground together, revealing the German soldiers hidden among them. For the sniper, this is the best target. After two shots, the remaining two German soldiers fell under the muzzle of aguminte''s gun. Seeing that all the German soldiers had been killed, I took the soldiers to stand up from the hiding place and walked to the captured soldiers¡° Assemble Aji stood on the side of the road and gave orders to the soldiers who just got up from the ground. At his command, the soldiers quickly formed a neat four line formation¡° What part are you I went to the front of the line and asked aloud. Maybe it''s because I don''t have a rank in my camouflage suit. No one answered my question¡° Comrade commander asked you, "why didn''t you answer?" Ah Ji couldn''t see it. He stepped forward to help me out¡° Report to commander, "a soldier with the rank of corporal came out of the queue and replied," we used to belong to the fifth group army. The troops were surrounded and most of the soldiers died. The rest of us were captured only when we ran out of ammunition and food. "¡° All right, "I interrupted, unsatisfied." I''m not asking why you were captured. Not to mention the humiliating fact that more than 100 of you were escorted by seven German soldiers, why didn''t you resist when the German devils hid among you and shot at us just now? " Hearing what I said, the soldiers bowed their heads in shame and did not dare to answer¡° Comrade commander, "Aji asked me next to him," what shall we do next? "¡° Goliath, "I yelled at the back¡° Here we are The sergeant agreed to run over and stood at attention in front of me. He asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"¡° I''ll appoint you as the commander of this unit and bring them back to our position. Is there a problem? " Although I am very dissatisfied with the performance of these soldiers just now, there are not enough troops in the position. It is necessary for them to go back and enrich their defense line. Sergeant geriath looked at the neat line in front of him, hesitated for a moment, and then replied, "no problem, comrade commander. I promise to finish the task. "

 Chapter 67

    Sergeant geriath, with the troops, left along the way we came. In order to enrich the combat effectiveness of this unit, I also arranged for three other soldiers to accompany him. When the team passed me, I found that there were a lot of wounded people inside, some with bandages on their heads or arms, and some with a branch as a crutch. I can''t help feeling guilty. I feel that my attitude towards them just now is a little too much.


    "Comrade commander, I know you." When a soldier passed me, he suddenly stopped and said something to me.


    "Yes? Comrade soldier. " I said carelessly. Guilt belongs to guilt, but I always remember their cowardly performance just now, so my attitude is particularly indifferent.


    "Not long ago in borojino, you came to our regiment and personally led us to fight back against the German army. And all the way to the war memorial tower on the high ground. "


    "There has been such a thing."


    "I met you at that time. Do you remember me?" He said happily.


    Listening to what he said, I couldn''t help looking up and down at him curiously. Unfortunately, in my impression, it seems that I have never seen the soldier in front of me, so I shrugged, shook my head and said, "I''m sorry, it seems that I''ve never seen you before."


    "Alas, comrade commander," he said wrongly, "at that time, on the high ground, after the fourth tank brigade joined us, their commanders looked for you everywhere. I went to report to you. Don''t you remember? "


    I remind of it! When he said that, I remember it all! As soon as the Highlands were conquered, I was standing under the war memorial tower, talking to Pavlov, who was escorting some captured French soldiers. The soldier came to report to me that the fourth tank brigade had reached the Highlands, and their commanders were looking for me everywhere.


    "Well, I remember." I nodded and asked, "what happened to your regiment and how did you get captured?"


    "The day after you left, the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, artillery and aircraft, attacked our positions in turns. The soldiers showed great tenacity and beat back more than ten German charges, which made them pay a heavy price in front of our position. After a day''s fighting, the positions on the left and right wings were successively broken through by the German army, and our regiment was surrounded by the German army. That night, the commander personally led us to break through. The German position had a lot of firepower. As soon as the leader of the charge left the highland, he fell at the muzzle of the enemy and died. The rest of the commanders took us forward, but we still failed. The troops were scattered, most of the soldiers died, and the rest were captured by the German army. "


    "Then, are there any members of your regiment in this army?"


    "No more." He shook his head and continued: "they have long been escorted to the prisoner''s camp behind the enemy. Because I was organized into a temporary engineering team, which was responsible for digging graves for them, burying the remains of soldiers on both sides, or building fortifications, I was sent to the prisoner''s camp with these captured soldiers until today."


    "How is Pavlov?"


    "I don''t know. Maybe I died."


    "So it is!..." At this point, I feel a little speechless.


    "Comrade commander!" The soldier suddenly said to me firmly, "can I stay and fight with you?"


    "Why?"


    "I will avenge my dead comrades! How many comrades have I buried myself? In the future, I will send the same number of German bandits to the grave. "


    I stared at him for a while, then nodded and said, "OK, then you stay. By the way, what''s your name? "


    "Sergeant sapochuk, Moscow."


    We walked south in the forest for more than 500 meters, until we couldn''t see the forest road with binoculars, so I ordered the team to stop and have a rest. It turned out that it was difficult to walk in the rugged forest. In addition, there was thick snow. So after the quick march just now, I felt that my underwear had been wet with sweat, wet and cold. When I stopped and was blown by the cold wind, I felt cold.


    There are only ten people left in the team, including me. Sergeant Aji was at the front of the line, and the two soldiers with him were private saskat and private Leon Geoff; I was surrounded by the new sergeant sapochuk, sniper agumente, telegraph operator corporal Orlov; At the back of the line were sergeant Lukin, corporal resdayev and corporal sgoria, all armed with submachine guns.


    I went to Aji''s side. At present, he is the most familiar and trusted person in my team, so he has been assigned the top job. At the moment, he was squatting in the bush between the two birch trees, watching warily ahead. I put a hand on his shoulder and asked softly, "what''s the matter?"


    Ah Ji twisted his head and said, "no, it''s quiet all around. There''s nothing moving. It seems that our ambush just now has not yet alarmed the Germans. "


    "Which way shall we go later?"


    Aji took out his North finger to determine the direction, then with one finger to the right front, said: "should go in that direction. Walking for about two hours, you should be able to see a small village. If the village has not been occupied by the Germans, we can choose our camp there tonight. "


    I went back to sergeant sapochuk and Sergeant Orlov with my submachine gun. The operator asked me softly, "Comrade commander, do you need to contact the headquarters of the group army now?" I waved my hand and said, "I don''t need it for the time being. Let''s talk about it after camping at night." Then he turned to sapochuk and asked him, "do you know where yasnayapoliana is?"¡° Ah? " Sapochuk listened to me, looked at me with wide eyes and surprise, and said, "no, comrade commander. Don''t you know that the manor of the famous Russian writer Lev Tolstoy is there? "¡° I know, I know! " I hastened to cover up their ignorance, "of course I know this, I just test you." He quickly turned his eyes to aguminte and asked, "is your sniper gun heavy?"¡° It''s not heavy. " As he said, he raised his weapon several times before he continued, "just like an ordinary rifle, there is only one more sight." I walked up to the three stormtroopers and had a brief chat with them. After a tour, I felt more secure and returned to my position. I asked the operator, "what time is it?" He rolled up his sleeve, looked at the watch on his wrist, and said, "it''s 11:07. We''ve been resting here for five minutes." I looked around and saw that the fog had already gone. I waved my hand forward and said, "let''s go!" At my command, the team moved on again. After walking hard for more than an hour in the snow, suddenly a Ji''s voice came from the front: "something''s wrong!"¡° Stop I quickly gave the order to the team: "stay in hiding and stand by." Then he ran to Aji with his submachine gun and asked softly, "what did you find this time?"¡° Comrade commander, you see, "he pointed to the front and said to me," thirty meters ahead, that''s a temporary road that has just been built. "¡° Is there anything on the way? " I saw the sky above the road, neither cars nor people. But I believe Aji will give us an alarm when he finds out something, so I specially ask¡° The enemy forces are coming in this direction. This time they are not infantry, but mechanized forces. " As if to verify what he said, the roar of the motor came from the road. When the enemy came, I just had this idea in my mind, and my body was instinctively lying on the snow. In a short time, I saw German tanks, armored vehicles, artillery tractors, and trucks full of soldiers driving one by one on this rough forest road.

 Chapter 68

    In the face of such a huge German team, I dare not act rashly. I can only lie down on the snow and dare not even let out the atmosphere. After all, our hiding place is too close to the road. If someone stands on the side of the road and pays attention to the forest, it''s not difficult to find our footprints on the snow.


    A command car stopped by the road without warning, and the door opened with a crash. My heart suddenly raised to my throat, thinking, have we been found? I couldn''t help but put my finger on the trigger, and if I found something wrong, I immediately fired without hesitation.


    Out of the car came a German officer in a cornice hat and a red collar. He looked around carelessly, then jumped directly into the snow, lit a cigarette, put his hands on his waist, with his back to our hidden position, and stood on the side of the road, watching the endless stream of vehicles passing in front of him.


    Although I was not familiar with the rank of the German army, I recognized it as a general at once. From his position, it''s a perfect target, not to mention a sniper, even an ordinary soldier can knock him down with one shot. I tried my best to restrain my impulse to shoot. At the same time, I prayed in my heart that no team member would be itching to shoot at the general. There is a great disparity between the enemy and us. Once a fight starts, it is a typical case of hitting the stone with the egg, not to mention the German tanks. Even if the machine guns on the armored vehicles fire at us, we can be easily and happily wiped out. The destruction of Stalin''s bodyguard is a good example. Moreover, if we can''t complete the reconnaissance task assigned by the superior, even if we can get away with a German general, it will not help the future war.


    Suddenly, a soldier in a boat hat appeared in the door. He said something to the general. The general threw his unfinished cigarette into the snow, stepped on the car and slammed the door. In a short time, the command car will merge into the forward traffic. Watching the command car disappear from my sight, I can''t help but breathe a sigh of relief, secretly raised my hand to erase the cold sweat from my forehead.


    It took an hour for this huge German convoy to pass. It is estimated that the German army intends to launch a large-scale attack in some parts of our defense line when the mechanized troops of such a scale are mobilized. This important information must be reported to the headquarters of the group army in time when they camp at night.


    I stood up and just wanted to tell the team members to move on. Suddenly, I felt cold at the tip of my nose. I couldn''t help reaching for it. I didn''t know when it began to snow. It was a snowflake falling on my nose.


    "It''s snowing. It''s wonderful!" Aji standing beside said excitedly¡° It''s snowing well. Although it makes our operation more difficult, it brings concealment to our operation. Now we are marching in the forest, and we don''t have to worry about being discovered by the German army. " Although what he said is very reasonable, in my opinion, snow is not a good thing at this time. In that case, it will be colder and the road we are going to take will be more difficult.


    The snow is falling more and more heavily, the northwest wind is blowing fiercely, and the goose feather like snowflakes flutter on our faces, which makes it more difficult for us to walk in the forest. The village, which could have been reached in half an hour, walked for more than an hour without even seeing a shadow.


    "Comrade commander," Aji yelled in my ear, "if we go on like this, we will easily get lost. We''d better stop and have a rest."


    "Good." I promised, then raised my voice and yelled to everyone, "stop moving forward, rest where you are."


    At my command, the team stopped. Everyone was staring at me, waiting for my next order.


    "Saskat, Leon Geoff," Aji said next to me, "you hurry up and build a snow wall, so that we can temporarily avoid the snowstorm."


    "Yes." The two soldiers agreed to take off the shovel on their back and began to dig the snow in place.


    After a short time, a semicircle half man high snow wall was built. Everyone squatted behind the wall. Although the snow still kept falling on the body, the northwest wind had been blocked by the wall. We could wait here until the snow stopped.


    More than half an hour later, the snow gradually reduced, and the visibility was much better than just now. Aji came up to my ear and said, "Comrade commander, I''ll take some soldiers to the front for reconnaissance. You can stop the snow completely before you bring the rest of the people. Is that all right? "


    I looked at a group of "snowmen" squatting around me. Then I stood up, dusted off the snow on my body, and looked around with my telescope. I saw that there was a vast expanse of white all around, and the scenery was almost the same. If I walked blindly, I would easily get lost in the forest. But it''s no way to stay like this. We can''t spend the night in the snow, so we nodded and agreed to his proposal, saying, "OK, take some soldiers to the front to explore the way and see if we can find a place to camp tonight."


    "I understand." Aji agreed to take saskat, Leon Geoff and aguminte to march on the snow with the help of the compass.


    After Aji left with the group exploring the way, the snow stopped slowly. I asked Orlov, the operator squatting beside me, "can I send a message to the group army command?"


    Orlov debugged the machine for a while, and then replied with great embarrassment, "it seems that it can''t. the temperature is too low for the radio station to work properly."¡° Comrade commander, "Sergeant Lu Jin, who was silent all the way, suddenly said," the snow has stopped. We can move on. " After listening to his words, I said with some embarrassment, "but Sergeant Aji has not come back from the reconnaissance. If we leave now, I''m afraid they will come back later and won''t find us."¡° It doesn''t matter, comrade commander. " Sapochuk said for Lukin: "Aji, they didn''t walk long. The snow should not have buried their footprints. We should follow their footprints and find them." After listening to him, I turned to look at Lukin in front of me and asked, "do you think so, too?"¡° Yes, exactly Lukin answered me very positively. We all want to move on, so there''s no need to stay here, so I threw the submachine gun on my chest behind my back. "Let''s go," he said with a wave of his hand Then a few of me stepped on the footprints left by Aji''s Pathfinder team. After walking for about ten minutes, there was a sudden shot in front of me. My heart a tight, is Aji they and German encounter? So he urged everyone to speed up the March and hurry to the place where the gun rang. After a short run, we came to the edge of the forest. There is a small village outside the forest. Because it''s a little dark and far away, I can only see a few figures shaking at the edge of the village, but I can''t see who they are. I took off the submachine gun, lifted it in my hand, bent over and continued to rush forward¡° It''s comrade commander. " From ahead came the voice of aguminte¡° It''s me Although I heard my own voice, I still didn''t dare to relax my vigilance and walked forward with a submachine gun. As he approached, he saw the figure he had just seen. Besides aguminte, there were saskat and Leon Geoff. There were five or six dead German soldiers lying on the ground. It seems that they were fighting with these German soldiers just now. I looked around, but I didn''t see Aji. I couldn''t help asking anxiously, "Why are you three alone? Where is Sergeant Aji?"

 Chapter 69

    On hearing my question, agumento turned and pointed to a lighted room behind him. He said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, Sergeant Aji is in that room."


    "What did he do in that house?" I asked discontentedly.


    "Please allow me to report to you in detail!" Replied aguminte respectfully.


    "Come on, what''s going on?"


    "We were ordered to come to the front for reconnaissance and unexpectedly found this small village outside the forest. Because we found that there were Germans in the village, we did not venture into the village, but hid in the forest more than 100 meters away from the village. After a period of observation, it was found that there were about one class of German soldiers stationed in the village, which should be a temporary Garrison or something. Ah Ji said that there are not many enemies anyway, so we can find a chance to kill them all. "


    I''m very happy to hear that. I''m very satisfied with Aji''s active fighting performance. I can''t help but ask curiously, "you have fewer people than them. How did you do that?"


    "We observed that the enemy lived in this house." "Every half an hour, there are six German soldiers going to patrol the village. Except for a guard at the door, the rest rest rest in the house. As soon as the patrol left, a corporal came out of the room. It looked like the head of the German soldiers. As soon as he came out, he said a lot to the soldiers on guard, and then went to the house with the light on. Ah Ji estimated that there were no more than six people left in the room, except the patrol and guard, and the corporal


    "What happened then?" Lukin and some of them didn''t know when they came around. They were collecting weapons and ammunition from the German corpses, and they were curious to ask aguminte.


    "Aji told me to stay on guard and shoot as soon as I found anything moving. Then he sneaked around the back of the house with saskat and leonjeff from other places. The German soldiers on guard, dressed in military coats and armed with bayonet rifles, walked back outside the snow swept gate. They rubbed their hands for a while, warmed their mouths for a while, and stomped their feet for a while. It seemed that they were freezing. I saw Aji holding a dagger in his hand, bending down along the wall, quietly approaching him. When he got behind the sentry, he stepped forward and covered his mouth with his hand. Then he wiped his neck with a dagger. The sentry didn''t even hum. He killed him. "


    "What a beautiful job!" Some of the onlookers couldn''t help feeling it.


    "No, it''s a beautiful job." Aguminte continued: "Aji gently put the body of the sentry on the ground, and two soldiers came to the door, first waved in my direction, then carefully pushed the door open, looked in, and then took the lead to rush in. After the three men entered the room, there was no movement except a few screams. After a while, Aji and the three of them appeared at the door safely. Ah Ji gave me a sign and went to the room with the light on. The other two soldiers were responsible for dragging the sentry they had just killed into the room. "


    "What happened to the gunfire and the German devils?" I asked, pointing to the German body on the ground.


    Aguminte looked at the body on the ground, and then replied, "saskat and Leon Geoff are cleaning the blood at the door after dragging the body of the sentry into the house. Unexpectedly, the German patrol is back at this time. Because they suddenly came out of the back of the house. Just a few more steps and a turn, you can see saskat and Leon Geoff. Because of the critical situation, I didn''t have time to warn them, so I shot first and knocked down the first soldier. Both of them were smart enough to fall to the ground when they heard the gunshot. The German patrol, who was suddenly attacked, did not recover for a moment. Standing in a daze, I took the opportunity to shoot a second shot and knocked down another enemy. This time, the German army found my hiding place and rushed to me with a submachine gun. I rolled a few times on the spot and hid in a safe place. I was just about to take aim again. However, I found that saskat and Leon Geoff stood up behind the German army and fired at the back of the enemy. They killed them all without much effort. "


    "Well done!" I said a word of approval, and then asked: "you are not hurt, are you?"


    "No!" "Comrade commander, no one has been injured," the three men replied in unison


    "Ah ~ ~!" Suddenly there was a scream of a woman in the distance. I looked around and asked, "just now I heard a woman scream. Did you hear that?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." "The voice came from that room," said the operator, Orlov, pointing to the room with the light not far away


    "No, it must be Aji." Then I rushed to the house with my submachine gun. Thinking about ah Ji''s safety, when I got to the door, I kicked open the door. I didn''t care to observe the situation inside, so I took the lead to rush in.


    When I rushed into the room, I tripped over something and stumbled into the middle of the room. With the help of the dim candle light in the room, I found the body of a naked young woman lying in a big shape on the bed, with a dagger in her chest. Her breasts had been cut off, and half of the sheets were stained red with blood. Seeing her eyes full of despair and anger, my chest immediately filled with anger. Who on earth did such a thing as a beast?


    When I looked up, I found that Aji, who was wearing the upper part of his body, was standing beside him in panic, and was wearing pants in a hurry. Seeing everything in front of me, I understood everything. It turned out that the woman''s scream just now was ah Ji''s masterpiece¡° You beast I roared and rushed in front of him and slapped him with all my strength. Then he stepped back, grasped the right hand of the charging gun handle, threw it up and put the muzzle on Aji''s cheek. Aji quickly raised his hands and cried: "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with you? I''m Aji! Be careful that your gun doesn''t go off. " Because he raised his hands high, the trousers that he hadn''t put on just now fell below his knees, revealing the thing that was still jumping and shaking in his crotch¡° You brute, "I scolded fiercely," are you still human? Even if you raped this girl, you killed her. "¡° Comrade commander, let me explain. " Aji continued to hold his hands high and said aloud, "this is a bitch I killed. She sleeps with the German. Since she is a traitor to the motherland, I certainly can''t show mercy to her! "¡° It''s time for you to quibble. " When I heard his sophistry, I was even more furious. I pushed the muzzle of the gun forward and stuck his face on the wall. "You raped and killed her, but you insulted her body and cut off her breasts. Animals like you will only harm people in the world. Today I want to get rid of you..." I scolded him, I can''t help but increase the pressure of my finger on the trigger¡° Comrade commander, no! " Almost at the moment when the bullet came out of the chamber, the muzzle of the gun was pushed aside by Lu Jin, who rushed over. Several bullets hit the wall, and the resulting bouncing bullets and fragments of bricks and stones made several bloodstains on Aji''s face. I suddenly felt a stream of warm liquid splashed on my trousers. I looked down and saw that Aji was scared to urinate. With a sigh, I lowered the muzzle of the gun, stepped back two steps and sat down by the bed behind me. Looking down on the ground, I found that the thing that tripped me just now was a naked male corpse with a pool of dirty blood under it. It is estimated that this is the German corporal mentioned by aguminte just now. He should have been killed by Aji when he came here to have fun with this young girl. I guess after killing the German corporal, ah Ji was so bold when he saw the beautiful girl lying on the bed that he raped her. Maybe he was so involved that he didn''t even hear the fierce gunfight outside just now. But what I don''t understand is, why did he do this to this girl? Seeing me sitting by my bed in silence, the other soldiers in the room stood silent, silent, like a group of sculptures¡° Lukin I stabilized my situation for a moment, and said to him in a calm tone as far as possible, "first find a place to lock Aji up, and then you take two soldiers to bury the girl well." The dressed Aji was escorted out of the room by Leon Jeff, and Lu Jin also took two soldiers to carry out the female corpse wrapped in sheets. I sighed to myself. This is the cultural difference between the East and the West. If in the country where I grew up, soldiers committed such crimes, in order to enforce military discipline, commanders can use the means of making an example when necessary. Here, I can only confine him, not shoot him. After all, he is not a deserter. He just made a little mistake that they don''t think is worth mentioning. I don''t know how long I sat by the bed, until Lu Jin came to report to me that the girl''s body had been buried according to my order, and asked me what I had to do next. I thought about it and said to him, "you first arrange for the soldiers to find a place to rest, and then send someone to the village to see if there are any residents left. If so, bring them to me and I''ll ask them about the situation here. " Lukin agreed, saluted me and went out¡° Orlov. " I cried out¡° Here I am, comrade commander! " Hear my cry, the operator immediately agreed to appear in front of me¡° Get the transmitter ready. It''s time for us to send it to the headquarters of the group army. "¡° Yes, I''ll be ready. "

 Chapter 70

    The operator, Orlov, sat at the table and set up the Bodo telegraph with nimble hands and feet. Then he looked up at me and asked, "can we start? Comrade commander


    I nodded and said, "let''s go."


    The operator''s fingers were beating flexibly on the key of the telegraph, and a long string of "is anyone there?"? Is anyone here? Is anyone there


    The other party''s reply soon appeared on the narrow note: "Comrade rokosovsky, commander of the group army, will speak to you. Please wait a moment."


    After waiting for a minute or two, the telegraph began to come alive again, and the note that came out said, "Hello!"


    "Hello I don''t need to tell you. Orlov replied immediately. Seeing such a scene, let me more or less find the feeling of chatting QQ, the two sides of the telegraph operators through the telegraph, we want to chat content word for word through the telegraph to the other side, and the telegraph spit out the narrow note shows all our chat records.


    "Comrade oshanina, where have you and your team arrived?" Rokosovsky asked directly.


    "We''ve reached a small village near yasnayapolana, and we can start reconnaissance tomorrow."


    "Did you have a good journey?"


    "We had two small battles with the German army on the road, but we were very smooth."


    "Any casualties?" The commander asked again with concern.


    "No, not a single casualty. After these two battles, we have wiped out more than 20 German devils and rescued hundreds of captured soldiers. I have arranged for the soldiers of small teams to lead them back to our fortified positions. "


    "Well done! But you can''t be proud. You should organize the reconnaissance work conscientiously and provide accurate information for the battle we are going to fight in the near future. "


    "I understand!" After replying to the other party, I suddenly remembered the huge convoy I saw on the road during the day, and then dictated to the telegraph operator: "we met a German mechanized army on the road today. Judging from the scale of the convoy, it should be an armored division. They are pushing towards the northeast. It is estimated that they are planning to launch a new round of attacks on our positions."


    The telegraph was suddenly silent. There was no response. After a long time, the note began to crawl again. I grabbed the note and saw it printed: "in what area do you think the German army will launch a new offensive?"


    This question of rokosovsky has stopped me. This German army is not under my command. How can I guess where they are going to attack? However, since the commander asked this question, I couldn''t answer it. It took me a while to think about it, and then I vaguely replied, "I think the focus of the German attack is still in the defensive area of the Panfilov division." I don''t mean to say this without a definite aim. In the history I know, although the Panfilov division was not established for a long time, it became famous in the first World War through the Moscow defense war. As the main force of the 16th group army fighting with the German army, they fought in almost all the defensive areas of the group army, and repeatedly damaged the German army. Finally, because of their remarkable achievements, Stalin personally awarded the title of the eighth division of the guards.


    "You are right. During the day today, the German army formed a powerful tank assault group with 125 tanks. With the support of the air force, they launched a crazy attack on the wolokramsk road defended by the Panfilov division. Although the soldiers fought tenaciously, there was a great disparity between the enemy and us. In the evening, the station of wolokramsk was occupied by the German army. Now general Panfilov is organizing a counterattack, trying to drive out the German troops who occupied the station. "


    "With the current strength of the 316th division, it is difficult to keep the German troops even if they are driven out of the station."


    "Do you have any good suggestions?" He consulted me modestly, without the arrogance of the superior over the subordinate.


    "After such a long time of fighting, the artillery of the 316 Division has been seriously damaged, and it is no longer enough to deal with the part of the German troops that have been put into the battlefield. I think it is necessary to add new artillery units as soon as possible in order to block the attack of German armored forces. "


    "I talked to Zhukov on the phone in the morning and had won two 37mm anti-aircraft artillery regiments from him. The commanders of these two regiments have just reported to me and are waiting for my next order in the headquarters. "


    "A 37mm antiaircraft gun is enough for German tanks."


    "Well, I''ll send an antiaircraft artillery regiment to the Panfilov division immediately. That''s it. Good luck and return soon. " Then the telegraph note stopped, which meant that the communication was officially over.


    "Comrade commander," as soon as he finished his contact with the headquarters of the group army, he suddenly heard sapochuk''s voice. Looking back, he stood at the door holding an old lady in a headscarf. Seeing that I noticed him, he continued, "I found this aunt from the village. She can provide you with some useful information."


    I let the old lady into the room, brought a chair, asked her to sit down, and poured a cup of tea for her, then asked: "old lady, how can I address you?"


    "My name is ayuna. I''m from this collective farm."


    "How many people are left on the farm?"¡° Most of the people have evacuated to the rear, and there are still more than a dozen households left in the farm. " "Oh," I said, and then I asked, "how long have the Germans occupied this place?" In my opinion, in the next section of the bridge, the people in the enemy occupied areas should see their troops and immediately cry out in front of them about the enemy''s persecution and so on. I was thinking about how to comfort the old lady later¡° It''s almost a week. " Unexpectedly, she answered me coldly¡° It''s been a hard time, isn''t it? " I tried to lead her ideas to the bridge I had imagined, so that when she asked for German intelligence, she would know everything and say everything¡° How could it be? " She said with some dissatisfaction, "what''s wrong with the German people? When they came, they not only didn''t steal or rob, but also sent people to help me dive and chop firewood every day when they saw that I was an old woman who didn''t live well."¡° Ah? " What she said made me feel anxious. I couldn''t help wondering if it was the German communist who occupied the village? How do I feel that those people in her mouth are like people''s soldiers. I cough, digress and ask, "how many Germans are there in the village?"¡° It seems that there are more than a dozen of them. They live in the house next to them. " She seemed to think of something. She stood up, looked around, and cried out, "Yiyang na! Yiyang na!! Where are you? " After a few shouts, seeing that no one answered her, he began to say to himself, "it''s so late. Where will Yi Yangna go? She''s usually at home at this time. " Yi Yang Na, hearing the name, I can''t help but take a breath, thinking that it''s not the young girl killed by ah Ji, right? He took the old lady and asked, "ayuna, who is Yiyang na?"¡° Who else could it be? " She replied unsatisfied, "don''t you know who she is when you live in her house?" Then he said to himself, "she seldom goes out at ordinary times. Why isn''t she at home today? Is there an accident? " Listening to her saying this, I can''t help getting a little flustered. It turns out that the girl who was killed by ah Ji just now is really Yi Yang Na in her mouth. I quickly cut off the topic and said, "maybe she''s going out for something. Maybe she''ll be back in a while." The old lady stared at me for a while, which made me more and more flustered. Seeing that I was so nervous, the old lady suddenly realized. Then she rushed over and grabbed my collar, shook it hard, and asked me aloud, "I see. You must have found that she was dealing with German people, and then you killed her. Don''t you think so! Isn''t it? You animals In the face of the angry old lady, I was speechless for a moment. I could only let her hold my collar tightly. Next to sapochuk and the operator saw this situation, they rushed to catch the old lady, desperately trying to open her hand. Two people dragged the old lady out of the room, I silently fell to the edge of the bed, at a loss, ah Ji ran into such a catastrophe, how should I deal with him?

 Chapter 71

    I don''t know how long I''ve been sitting by the bed. Before I saw the operator and sapochuk coming back, I couldn''t help but stand up, open the door and go outside.


    Standing on the snow outside, I saw many fires in the northeast, which reflected the sky into a purplish red, and from time to time came the rumbling sound of guns, rolling in the sky like summer thunder. But I can''t understand the real situation of the war. I don''t know whether it was our army or the German army.


    Behind the snow to upload the sound of footsteps, from far and near. I turned my head and, with the help of the light coming out of the room, saw that only sapochuk came by himself. There was neither a telegraph operator nor the old lady behind him¡° Where''s my operator, Orlov? " I asked him in a loud voice.


    He pointed to a house in the distance and said, "we''ve sent the old lady back to her house. Orlov is with him. I''m afraid you''re worried. I''ll report back to you first."


    "What do you think I should do with Aji?" When I saw that there was no outsider around, I would not beat around the Bush and ask him directly.


    "Deal with Aji? Why deal with Aji? " He looked at me in surprise and said, "ah Ji just killed a woman sleeping with the German, not a deserter on the battlefield. You have already closed him up. Such punishment is enough. What else should you do with him? "


    After listening to what he said, I closed my mouth with interest. There are too many cultural differences and different national conditions, so the ways of dealing with many things are very different. If I had been in another army, I would have been familiar with the way of dealing with Aji, that is, I would have summoned the whole village to the sunning barn first, and then tearfully reviewed the laxity of my defense. Only in this way could such a sad thing happen. In order to enforce military discipline, the murderer must be severely punished. Then he waved his hand again, and immediately two soldiers would escort ah Ji, who was all tied up. When I finished counting his crimes, I would take him aside and shoot him to calm the people''s anger. Although some people will plead for him, let me see that he has made great achievements in the war. I hope that his merits and demerits can offset his death and give him a chance to commit crimes. At this time, some villagers may be moved and come out to plead for him. However, in order to show the strict discipline of our army, I will still cut Ma Su with tears in the end. He will never escape death. However, before he died, he would often shout such sayings as "brothers, help me to kill more devils", "burn a few pieces of paper on my grave every Tomb Sweeping Day". But in this country, when this happens, the heaviest punishment for the murderer is to shut up for a few days, and then scold him. There are tens of thousands of people who died in the war. Who will make a fuss about the death of an insignificant woman.


    I sighed and said to sapochuk weakly, "go back and have a rest. You''ll have to start reconnaissance tomorrow." He saluted me, turned around and was about to leave. I quickly added: "remember to ask Lu Jin to wake me up at four o''clock."


    Back in the room, I looked at the wooden bed I had just sat on. Sitting is one thing, but sleeping on it is another. Although the bodies of the German corporal and the young girl have been removed, and the blood stains on the bed and the floor have been cleared, I still feel that there is a strong smell of blood in the room. I don''t have the guts to sleep in the bed of a dead person or a murderous person. I''m afraid of having nightmares in the middle of the night. After thinking about it for a long time, I still sat in the armchair in front of the telegraph, and then I lay on the table and closed my eyes.


    Sergeant Lukin woke me up at the appointed time. After a brief wash, I went outside and saw that the team had assembled. Except for Aji, who was imprisoned, the other eight soldiers are here.


    I walked back and forth in front of the neat team with my gun. Suddenly I felt that it would not take so many people to go for reconnaissance, so I began to issue a series of orders to them: "Orlov, you don''t have to go for this reconnaissance. Stay and keep in touch with the group headquarters at any time."


    "Yes." He answered me loudly.


    "Saskat, Leon, Jeff," I called the names of the other two soldiers at the end of the line.


    "Here it is They agreed with one voice and took a big step forward.


    "You two stay to guard Aji, and don''t let him leave. Do you understand? " I made this arrangement because the two soldiers have been with Aji all the time. They have a better relationship with each other. Let them take care of Aji. I believe they will not embarrass Aji.


    "Yes." They gave a very straightforward answer.


    After a short walk in the forest, the sky began to snow. The weather is really cold, the wind with snow particles hit my face, like a sharp needle, like a knife cutting face, we are struggling in the knee deep snow. What is waiting for us on this long road? What enemy situation will you encounter? What kind of enemies will you meet, crafty or stupid? It''s all unexpected.


    "Comrade commander, let''s have a rest. It''s easy for us to get lost when we are snowing in the dark Sergeant Lukin came up to my ear and reminded me in a low voice.


    I looked back at the soldiers behind me. Although I couldn''t see their faces clearly, I could clearly hear the heavy breathing of the soldiers behind me. It seemed that everyone was very tired. So I decisively issued an order to the back: "rest in place, wait until dawn."


    The soldiers scraped away the snow and began to build the snow wall. I used a telescope to observe the distant terrain, vaguely found that there seems to be a road ahead, but the road is quiet, no vehicles and pedestrians. After the low snow wall was built, we all squatted behind to avoid the cold wind. After a short silence, someone began to whisper to pass the time waiting for the dawn.


    "Sergeant Lukin, how long have you been in the army?" Because it is close to the road, although there is no traffic for the time being, I still speak in a low voice to prevent exposure of the target.


    "Three years." Lukin answered me in the same low voice.


    "Have you ever fought before? I mean, did you fight before this war broke out? "


    "Yes, I''ve been wounded in battle."


    "Where? Is it the haraha river? " Hearing that he had fought before, I naturally thought of the battle of Nomenkan, which made Zhukov famous in the first World War.


    "No, it''s in Brest."


    "Brest? What are you doing there, beating the Germans? " Brest left me a deep impression. The garrison in the fortress was still fighting until the last man, so I was very surprised to hear this place name.


    "On the contrary, comrade commander. We are not going there to fight the Germans, but to join them and destroy our common enemy, Poland. " At this point, he began to try to recall: "I remember that day was September 17, 1939, when we and the German defense forces met victoriously in Brest, captured tens of thousands of Polish soldiers, and held a joint parade on the 25th."


    "Ah What he said surprised me. What''s the matter? How could the Soviet and German armies join forces in Polish territory? Haven''t Brest Fort always been the leader of the Soviet Union?


    Before I could think of a reason, suddenly the sound of a car motor came from far and near, which interrupted my thinking. I quickly got up and went along the road, only to see a few trucks with awning coming from a distance, strong headlights, in the dark night, shooting far away. The trucks first drove down the road for a while, then suddenly turned around and headed for our hiding place.


    "Strange, what do these Germans want to do?" I couldn''t help saying to myself.


    "No, we decided to hide here temporarily. The Germans would never have guessed that we would be here." Lu Jin leaned over me, looking at the enemy''s vehicle and whispered to me, opening the safety of his submachine gun.


    I lowered my head and whispered to the soldiers squatting behind the snow wall: "everyone, get ready for battle!"


    "Yes The soldiers agreed to go around the snow wall and lie on the snow. They opened the insurance of their weapons one after another.


    "No one is allowed to shoot without my orders." Although I have just ordered you to prepare for the battle, I don''t know how many people are on the German trucks. I''m afraid that anyone can''t help shooting rashly. Once our hidden place is exposed, we will have to fight a hard to hard encounter with the superior German army, which is not worth the loss. That''s why I would like to add that I intend to observe the situation and see you later.


    The truck with the light on is driving slowly in the forest. With the help of the light of the car, I was surprised to find that there is such a large open area in the middle of the forest.


    The truck came to a stop after a staggering distance. The four trucks were lined up, their lights were not off, and the snow in front of them showed a broad and pale fan.


    Many German soldiers in military coats, helmets and submachine guns jumped out of the car. After they got out of the car, they quickly ran to the front of the car and stood in a row.


    "What are they doing?" Lukin asked softly in my ear.


    Seeing the formation of the German army, I was confused. I couldn''t figure out what they wanted to do. I just held the submachine gun tightly in my hand and stared at the German soldiers in front of me without saying a word.


    At this moment, five ragged people came out of the back of the car. Because they were far away and the light was dim, they could only barely see that they were soldiers of our army. As for who they were, they could not see clearly. Some of them had bandages on their heads, some had crutches on their legs, and were forced by the German soldiers with guns. They walked hard and slowly in the knee deep snow.


    "Ah! They want to kill people. What shall we do? " Lu Jin''s voice was low and anxious.


    I just stare at the front, still silent. I know clearly in my heart what tasks I am shouldering and what I should and should not do under such circumstances. There are at least 50 German soldiers in front of us. Can we beat them with six of us? If we allow our feelings to act, the consequences will be unimaginable. But when I saw everything in front of me, I couldn''t help but feel my heart beat faster. I held the submachine gun hand and trembled because of nervousness.


    Five men, with their backs to us, stood in a row in front of the German truck. At this time, I heard from the right that it was political workers, and everyone was silent. I understand the reason why everyone was suddenly silent. In the whole Soviet German war, political workers were always a thankless role. They knew nothing about military affairs, but they had absolute command of the army. The reason why some battles have been lost so miserably is also inseparable from the blind command of some political workers on the battlefield.


    I remember meeting a tank lieutenant in a restaurant when I was recovering in a military hospital in Leningrad. He once talked to me about the blind command of political workers. At that time, the regiment was ordered to fight back against the German army, but because of the lack of fuel and ammunition, the troops were unable to launch an attack after they assembled. Just at this time, a political commissar came to the army, involuntarily called the commander to get rid of the smell, scolded him and shot him dead. Then the deputy commander took over the command of the regiment and immediately launched an attack on the German position. The deputy commander had no choice but to lead all the tanks to launch a suicide charge. Many tanks were forced to stop in the middle of the battlefield because there was no fuel when they drove half the way, becoming targets of German aircraft and anti tank fire. The second lieutenant''s tank was also destroyed by German antitank fighters, and all the crew members except him were killed. The day after I told this story, the tank captain disappeared, and I didn''t hear from him until I was discharged¡° What shall we do? " Lu Jin asked, probably because he found that the political workers who had just been sacrificed were not likable, so he became hesitant¡° After all, they are all our comrades. "Although I hate these political workers in my heart, as a school level officer, I still have to say a lot about the scene:" dig a hole and bury them. " I''ll arrange for aguminte and sapochuk to guard the road before the rest of us dig. Lesdayev and sgoria worked together to dig out the thick snow with an engineering shovel, and then to dig out the frozen hard soil. It took nine oxen and two tigers to dig out a shallow pit that could hold five people. Lu Jin joined hands and put the remains of five political workers into the pit one by one. They buried their bodies and marked their graves so that they could be identified in the future. After all this, I assembled the team. Standing in front of the tomb, I took the lead in offering a solemn military salute to the comrades who sacrificed themselves. After the other people finished the salute, I led the team to move on to the unknown destination.

 Chapter 72

    The sky is still half dark, and the forest is silent. The only sound we can hear is our footsteps in the snow.


    The scene I saw just now had a serious impact on my mood, so that during the March, I kept silent and just mechanically moved forward following the footprints left by the soldiers in front of me.


    Lukin was at the front of the line. He stopped from time to time to check whether we were going in the right direction with the North needle.


    Marching in the knee deep snow was originally a tiring thing. In addition to my heavy heart and low mood, when I walked, I felt too tired to breathe. I took a few steps to catch up with Lu Jin and asked, "how long have we been walking?"


    Lu Jin stopped, raised his hand to look at the watch on his wrist, and then replied, "in 40 minutes, we have walked about two or three kilometers, and the straight-line distance is about one kilometer."


    "How long do we have to get to YASNAYA Poliana?"


    "If you go down at this speed, it will take about two hours."


    Two hours?! Hearing this time, my head is very big. Let alone two hours, I can''t hold on for two minutes. Just saw in front of a fallen birch tree, quickly to the team under an order: "troops stop advancing, rest in place!" With that, I went straight to the birch tree and pulled out the snow with my hands. Then I sat on the cold trunk and gasped for breath.


    At my command, everyone stopped and looked for a place to sit down. After looking around for a long time, he came up to me and asked, "can you sit down here? Comrade commander. " Seeing that I nodded my head and agreed, he also learned from me, dusted off the snow on the tree trunk and sat down. After he sat down, he put the rifle with sight on his thigh, then took out half of the flattened bread from the pocket of his uniform and chewed it.


    When I saw him eating with relish, my stomach cooed with me. I remembered that I hadn''t had breakfast today. I quickly opened my satchel and took out a bag of dried bread from it. As soon as I chewed the first bite, I felt that the frozen bread was too hard to swallow after chewing for a long time. I have the heart to learn from the volunteer soldiers, like them, eat a mouthful of fried noodles, eat a mouthful of snow, then bent down to grab a handful of snow from the ground, want to group into a group to swallow. The weather was too cold, I pinched for a long time, but I couldn''t knead the snow powder in my hand into a snowball, so I just put it into my mouth. I didn''t expect that when I entered my mouth, I choked accidentally. I coughed violently, and all the crumbs in my mouth came out. He leaned his rifle against the tree trunk, reached over and beat my back gently. Leisdayev, who was sitting opposite, handed me the kettle he was drinking.


    I took the kettle and smelled its mouth to see what was inside. Seeing my little action, lesdayev said with some embarrassment: "Comrade commander, don''t worry, this pot is filled with water. I never drink when I am on duty."


    I was a little embarrassed when he said that. I quickly picked up the kettle and poured a few mouthfuls at the mouth. Warm water into the throat, immediately diluted the feeling of cough. After a few more drinks, he flushed the residual bagasse into his stomach, closed the lid of the kettle, handed it back to lesdayev again, and said, "thank you!"


    "Comrade commander, someone is coming this way!" The voice of Lukin came from the side.


    "Hidden!" Do not know who whispered a, so all the people are lying on the snow.


    "In which direction?" I climbed up to Lukin and asked anxiously.


    "It''s southwest." We have been marching to the southwest, so as soon as he said the direction, he immediately knew what he was talking about. It seems that the place where we fell down was right. The fallen tree trunks just provided us with cover. I picked up the snow directly from the tree trunks and the ground and observed the situation in the forest through the gap with a telescope.


    In winter, there is no shelter in the birch forest. The vision is wide and I can see far away. But I haven''t seen any moving figures for a long time. After listening for a while, there was still silence. I can''t help but complain that Lu Jin is making a fuss. Maybe he is listening to the sound of snow falling on the treetops as someone walking.


    "Where is anyone? I can''t see. Did you hear me wrong just now I asked Lukin discontentedly.


    "I can''t be wrong. I can vaguely hear someone walking in the snow." He answered me with a very positive tone, and then took the telescope in my hand, lying on the tree trunk, carefully observing the movement of the forest.


    After less than ten seconds, he suddenly said excitedly, "I see four people coming in this direction." Then he handed the telescope back to me, pointed to the front and said to me, "it''s at ten o''clock."


    I raised my telescope, half squatted on the snow, and looked in the direction that Lu Jin said. It was true that there were several people moving fast here more than 200 meters away. I counted it. It was just four people. Because their figure is blocked by birch from time to time, I can''t see whether they are their own or German.


    Without waiting for my orders, agumint put his sniper gun on the tree trunk. I estimated the strength of the two sides, and felt that the four men, even the enemy, could kill them all. So I gave a low voice order to aguminte, saying, "be ready to shoot. I''ll give you an order and shoot. "


    I handed the telescope to Lukin, and then told the others, "get ready to fight. No one can run away."


    The answer was very brief: "yes!"


    "Comrade commander!" Lukin suddenly called me softly.


    "What''s the matter?" I looked back at him and asked.


    "It''s our own people. You see, they all wear our army uniform." Then he handed me the telescope again.


    "My own people?" When I connected the telescope, I asked suspiciously, "are you sure you didn''t read it wrong?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." It wasn''t Lukin who answered me, but aguminte who was lying on one side. He turned off the safety of his sniper gun and said to me in a positive tone, "I can see clearly from the sight that it''s one of my own, one of them is a second lieutenant of our 316 infantry division."


    "I''ll go and call them so they won''t go away later." Lu Jin wanted to stand up. I pressed him on the shoulder and said in a low voice, "don''t worry, wait for them to come. They are highly nervous at this time. Maybe they will shoot you when they see you suddenly come out. " Lu Jin listen to me so say, also didn''t insist on, continue to maintain the original posture, lie on the tree trunk, waiting for the arrival of the four people.


    With the creaking sound of stepping on the snow, you can clearly see the faces of the four people even without a telescope. They were wearing Khaki fur coats and bayonet rifles in their hands. As they walked, they looked around warily.


    When they came to the place less than 20 meters away from us, suddenly a voice came: "hide!" The four men immediately dispersed and hid behind the birch. After a while, I heard another voice asking, "Comrade lieutenant, what''s the matter?"


    "There are footprints on the snow ahead. There must be people nearby." The second lieutenant hiding behind the tree answered the soldier who asked.


    "Hello! Comrades Lukin let out a cry, but didn''t get up abruptly.


    Behind the tree there was a clatter of pushing the bolt, and then someone snapped, "who? Don''t move


    Lu Jin turned to look at me and asked for my advice in a low voice: "Comrade commander, can I get there?"


    "Go ahead."


    Maybe seeing that we didn''t answer, the voice of the second lieutenant on the opposite side rang again and repeated what he had just said: "don''t move, only one person is allowed to come."


    Lu Jin stood up with both hands raised high and said in a loud voice, "Comrade lieutenant, please don''t shoot. It''s your own man." Then he stepped over the trunk of the tree and walked towards the birch tree hidden by each other.


    "Lu Jin, is that you?" When I saw him go by, there was a surprise voice. The voice was the one who spoke first. Then I saw a man come out from behind the invisible birch tree, put his rifle on his shoulder, and quickly ran to Lu Jin. They soon hugged each other, and I heard Lukin saying in a loud voice from a distance, "isayev, my friend, I''m so glad to see you."


    The gathering of the two friends immediately defused the vigilance between the two sides. First, the three men hiding behind the birch stood up and put their guns on their shoulders. Then the people on our side stood up one after another, crossed the tree trunk and walked towards them.


    The second lieutenant came forward and asked us in a loud voice, "ah! I said, "where did you come from?"


    Lu Jin released his friend, went forward to salute the second lieutenant, and said in a loud voice, "report to the second lieutenant, our scout of the 16th group army, who was ordered to come to the enemy''s rear for reconnaissance."


    "Reconnaissance?" The second lieutenant muttered, "there are no enemies here. What can I do for you?"


    "What did you say?" When I heard the sentence behind him, I quickly walked a few steps to him and asked, "what did you say just now? Are you saying there are no enemies around here? "


    Instead of answering me, he looked me up and down, and then asked coldly, "who are you?"


    "This is commander of our reconnaissance unit, lieutenant commander oshanina." Lukin took the initiative to introduce me to the second lieutenant.


    The second lieutenant blushed with shame. He immediately stood at attention in front of me and said in an apologetic tone, "Comrade commander, I''m sorry, I didn''t see your rank mark. I''m the engineer platoon leader and second lieutenant of the 316 infantry division. I just led my troops out of the encirclement of the bandits. "


    "What did you say?" I didn''t care about the change of his attitude towards me. Instead, I continued to ask the question: "do you think there are no Germans around here?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." He stood in front of me and replied respectfully, "not only around here, but also in the dozens of kilometers we have passed in the forest, we have never seen a German."


    When I heard him say this, I was stunned for a moment, and then I understood what was going on. The German army''s mobilization was all done by road, and the German army had no time to take care of such a inaccessible forest. After a pause, I asked, "how many people do you have?" As soon as I said this, I felt a little regretful. I felt that I was a bit like adding to the cake. They were only four people. Why should I ask more¡° We have 400 people. " His answer surprised me¡° Four hundred... Four hundred people?! So many people? " Not only me, but also the soldiers around me were very surprised¡° Yes, they rest 300 meters away. We are here to explore the way. "

 Chapter 73

    Four hundred! This number can''t help but make my heart beat. It''s a force that can''t be underestimated. These soldiers, who stand out from the encirclement of the German army, have experienced a series of cruel battles. They are not afraid of the tanks that simply gallop through the trenches, and they will not be panicked because they are cut off by the enemy. They all have rich experience in fighting against the German army, if I can lead them to fight guerrillas behind the enemy, It will certainly turn the enemy''s rear area upside down.


    In the history I know, after the German army captured YASNAYA Polina, the famous tank general goodrian set his headquarters in Lev Tolstoy''s manor. If I lead this army to attack the manor, I am quite sure that I can take down the German headquarters. If I am lucky enough to capture goodrian alive, the military operation I command will be recorded in history in the future, so that future generations will firmly remember my feat. At the same time, the action of taking away the German headquarters and capturing the famous German generals will greatly boost the morale of the Soviet army. At present, the Soviet army, which has been losing and retreating, needs a victory too much. Capturing goodrian alive is definitely a record worthy of showing off. As soon as this tempting idea came out, my heart beat faster and I was eager to put it into practice immediately, so I couldn''t wait to urge felstov to take me to the army.


    On the way, I asked felstov, "are there any other commanders in the army?" The reason why I ask this question is that I am afraid that there are still people with higher ranks in the team, so I can''t command the team at will.


    "There is also a political worker, also from the 316 division, including the instructor Pavlov."


    When I heard that there was no one with a higher rank than me, I felt more secure. Then I asked him, "which army are the soldiers originally from? Are they all from the former 16th army? "


    "The numbers in the army are very disordered. Except for a few soldiers of the 16th group army, most of the others belong to the 19th, 20th, 24th and 32nd group army, which belong to the former western front army and the reserve front army. Although they were scattered, they tried every means to avoid the German resistance and break through to the east to find their own team. Pavlov and I met them on the way out of the encirclement and took them in and formed an army. "


    With these words, we had come to a place not far from the rest place of the army. I saw a tall young officer coming towards us with two soldiers carrying rifles.


    After more than ten steps, the other party called felstov in a loud voice: "Hey, comrade lieutenant, where did you bring so many people here?"


    "Comrade company instructor," felstov pointed to me as he walked and introduced to Pavlov, "this is lieutenant colonel oshanina. You should have heard of her. When she was the commander of the division''s guard battalion, she personally led the troops to recapture the positions occupied by the German army."


    Company instructor Pavlov took two steps, came to me, stood at attention and saluted me, and reported: "company instructor Pavlov of 1st battalion and 2nd company of 1077th regiment of 316 Infantry Division has reported to you that the newly formed 1st battalion is resting, please give us your instructions."


    1077 regiment?! I''ve never heard of the name of this army, but I still pretended to be calm and waved my hand and said, "continue to rest." Then I turned around and asked Lu Jin behind me quietly, "when will there be a 1077 regiment in the 316 division? Why don''t I know?"


    Lu Jin stepped forward, approached me and said in a soft voice, "Comrade commander, you don''t know something. During the period when you were in hospital, the 316th division had been adapted. Now the division''s new establishment is 1073, 1075 and 1077 infantry regiments, plus 857 artillery regiment. "


    "Oh." After listening to his explanation, it dawned on me that a lot of big things happened in my coma days. I looked back and asked the instructor Pavlov, "what about the equipment of the army?" I thought that if I was well equipped, I would take it directly to attack goodrian''s headquarters.


    Unexpectedly, he shook his head and said with great regret: "we have a large number of people, but the equipment is a little less. There are only more than 40 rifles. Most of the soldiers run out empty handed."


    His words, immediately let me want to immortalized dream of history shattered. Of the 400 people, only one tenth are equipped with weapons. With such equipment, it''s just a dream to destroy goodrian''s headquarters. And even if we don''t fight, such a huge team will have to walk one day in the northeast direction to reach our defense line. If they met with a large number of German troops on the road, they would not escape the fate of being captured. Thinking of this, I couldn''t help sighing. I said in my heart that if I could replenish some equipment for them and arm them, even if I didn''t attack the manor, I would at least let them have the ability to protect themselves. We have fought two small battles along the way, but the capture is very limited. All the weapons captured for the first time were taken away by the captured soldiers; In the battle in the village yesterday, although more than a dozen submachine guns were seized, all of them remained in the village except Lukin and sapochuk who carried one. Moreover, even if these weapons were given to them, it would be useless.


    When he was in a dilemma, sapochuk came up to me and said in a soft voice, "Comrade commander, I know that there is a large ammunition depot about five highways away from here. It used to be dedicated to providing weapons and equipment for the fifth group army. If there is no German occupation, we can go there to find some weapons and arm them all. "


    I was a little excited to hear what sapochuk said, but on second thought, since it was a large arsenal, it might have been occupied by the German army, so I opened my mouth and swallowed what I said. Seeing that I was silent, sapochuk was a little worried and said, "Comrade commander, what do you think about this? But to say something Seeing his anxious appearance, I still expressed my worry: "since the size of the arsenal is not small, it is estimated that it has been occupied by the German army for a long time, and it is impossible to find the equipment we need."¡° No, I''ve been to the armory. The location is very hidden. If no one leads the way, outsiders can''t find it. " When they heard him say this, Pavlov and felstov were excited. They rushed to say, "Comrade commander, please allow this sergeant to be our guide. We''ll send some people to have a look with him. Maybe we can find the equipment we need urgently."¡° All right It''s hard for me to object to what they all said, but I still put forward my own idea: "if we can find that Arsenal, it''s not enough to go to only some people. My idea is to let sergeant sapochuk act as a guide. You can take all the troops there and take as much equipment as you can. " I turned and called to the corporal who had just handed me the kettle to drink: "resdayev!"¡° Here we are He agreed very simply. I pointed to a few people around me and said to him, "I sent the instructor and the second lieutenant with the troops, led by sapochuk, to find the armory. After we find the armory, whether we can find the weapons we need or not, the troops must return immediately. The first meeting place is in the village where we camped yesterday, waiting for our meeting; If you miss it, you will take them along our route and directly return to the defense area of division 316. Do you understand? "¡° Very clear, comrade commander! "¡° Well, get ready to go. " After giving orders to them, I shook hands with Pavlov, felstov, sapochuk and resdayev one by one and said to each of them sincerely, "good luck Lu Jin, who was standing beside me, said anxiously: "Comrade commander, there are fewer and fewer members in our small team. You see, apart from you and me, there are only two people left, aguminte and sgoria. If we encounter with the German army, we will suffer greatly." I looked at him and said with a smile, "it doesn''t matter. There are few people and small targets, so it''s not easy for the German army to find out when they move. If we really have bad luck and encounter the German army, we can fight if we can, but if we can''t, we can run. "

 Chapter 74

    I''ve never been to yasnayapolana, but I know the Russian meaning of this place is "bright clearing in the woods". This former aristocratic territory is the biggest dowry of Tolstoy''s mother. After she married, she planted a lot of trees and shrubs here. When Tolstoy became an adult, he also planted Tilia, spruce, poplar, birch and other trees in the manor. Today, it''s very green and lush.


    With the birth of Tolstoy, the fate of this ordinary Russian aristocratic manor has been completely changed, and it has become one of the few cultural holy places in the world. There are an endless stream of tourists here every year.


    At noon, we finally arrived at YASNAYA Poliana to conduct a close reconnaissance on Tolstoy''s manor, trying to understand the garrison locations of various arms and army headquarters of the German army nearby. If conditions permit, I plan to catch a higher ranking officer to understand what the German army will do next.


    The thick snow covered roads, fields, rivers, houses and woods, making many targets appear blurred. There is an open area of tens of meters between the forest in the manor and the forest where we hide. If we want to detect the situation in the manor, we must go through this open area and go to the opposite forest.


    Several destroyed armored vehicles fell on the snow, and the heavy snow could not cover the dazzling black. It seems that the German army had to fight hard to occupy here. But I didn''t see any dead soldiers'' bodies in the snow. I think they have been buried by the German army.


    At the edge of the forest, there are several birch trees that have been broken by the explosion. The crooked trunks have become a natural shelter. Aguminte and I are lurking here, while Lukin and sgoria are crawling through the open area, ready to go to the forest of the manor for close reconnaissance.


    I raised my telescope and looked to the right side of the forest. I soon found that there were many trenches and traffic ditches. There were strong blockhouses built behind the trenches. Judging from the shape of the buildings, they should have been built by the Soviet army and occupied by the German army. In front of the trench stood rows of wooden piles and barbed wire. Several tanks covered with thick snow were neatly parked in the back of the trench. There were even anti-aircraft gun positions in the manor. In addition to patrol teams of ten people who passed by from time to time, there were mobile sentinels carrying rifles everywhere.


    I can''t help sweating when I see such a tight German defense. Now it seems that the idea of taking down the German headquarters and capturing goodrian alive is naive and naive. Although we have more than 400 people, we have no heavy weapons, and there is no way to deal with the German tanks and blockhouses. The security in the manor is so strict that it''s almost there outside. It''s hard to say that there are minefields outside the barbed wire. If we launch an offensive rashly, it is estimated that before we rush into the manor, the whole army will probably have been killed. If we can''t end the fighting in a short time, and when the reinforcements from nearby German troops arrive, we will have nothing left but a complete annihilation.


    "Comrade commander, there is something wrong with a sentry in the woods." Suddenly there was the voice of aguminte.


    I put down my telescope, looked at him and asked, "where is it?"


    "There!" He said, pointing to eleven o''clock.


    I quickly picked up my telescope and looked in the direction he pointed out. I saw a German soldier with a rifle swaying in our direction, looking around as he walked. As he walked, he suddenly stopped, craned his neck and looked aside as if something had attracted him. Bad, is it Lu Jin? They were found by him. You know, the traces they crawled on the snow still look very obvious.


    "Aguminte, aim at him! I said, "shoot, you''ll shoot him right away!" I said in a low voice to aguminte beside me.


    "Yes, you can fire at any time!" Agumento answered me very quietly.


    The sentry looked left and right, then put his gun on his back and strode in the direction he had just seen. I feel a little strange. How did the sentry carry the gun on his back, and he didn''t yell. Was it because I was so thoughtful that he didn''t find them lurking around there?!


    The sentry went to a tree and picked up something. The branches trembled violently, and the snow fell down like a sack of flour. The sentry turned into a "white man" in an instant.


    "He''s picking apples," aguminte murmured. "This villain is stealing apples from Tolstoy."


    After hearing this, I understood what the sentry was doing. I remember that there are also many apple trees in Moscow. Every September, when the autumn wind blows, ripe apples fall all over the ground, but the apples still hanging on the trees at the end of October are very rare. I saw through the telescope that the sentry dusted the snowflakes on his body with his hands at random, then wiped a small red fruit on his body, and then began to bite.


    The sentry ate the apple and went deep into the woods, and soon disappeared out of my sight¡° This greedy guy scared me. I thought he found them. He almost killed himself with this action. " I also whispered with a smile, said to the next to the agumento.


    After more than half an hour, Lukin crawled back from the opposite woods with sgoria and reported to me in a low voice: "this should be an important headquarters of the German army. I saw five black cars parked in front of the manor house. In just 20 minutes, seven or eight more cars came in front of the manor house, and a dozen signalmen on motorcycles entered the house. "¡° Who are these people going in and out of that house? " I looked through my telescope at the very simple two-story milky white building at the thickest part of the forest, and asked Lu Jin calmly¡° The ranks of officers in and out are very high. They are either generals or colonels, and there are very few even commanders. I guess this is a German army headquarters¡° There''s no need to guess, "I put down my telescope and said positively to Lukin." it''s not a military headquarters. It''s goodrian''s headquarters. "¡° Ah Several of them exclaimed in a low voice of surprise, then looked at me suspiciously. "No, goodrian has set up his headquarters here at Tolstoy''s manor."¡° Our reconnaissance mission has been completed, "I said calmly to the three men." we will immediately return along the same road to the village where we camped last night, and send this important information back in time by telegraph. " Then he took the lead to climb back¡° Yes With a promise, they lost their way in the snow and crawled carefully to the depth of the forest. Until the German army could not find us, they got up and strode back. We walked back very fast. In less than two hours, we got close to the camping village. By this time, I was so tired that I announced, "stop moving and rest where you are." Then he sat down under a birch tree. Lu Jin sat next to me and asked me in a low voice, "Comrade commander, our reconnaissance mission has been completed. After sending information, where shall we withdraw?"¡° Is there any city near here still in our army''s hands? " I know what he is worried about. After all, it will take a day on the road to return to wolokramsk. If we encounter a large number of enemy troops, we will be in danger. That''s why he asked¡° Tula He replied, "that city is only fourteen highways away from here. I heard the gunfire coming from that direction on the road just now. The German army should not have occupied it yet." Tula is engaged in a fierce battle. If we rush to the middle of the battlefield carelessly and are killed by the German army, it''s fair to say that it''s not worth it if we die under the fire of our own people. So I thought about it briefly and answered him in the affirmative: "we''d better go back to wollock rumsk." At this moment, the direction of the village suddenly came a dense gunfire. I stood up abruptly, looked towards the village and asked anxiously, "what''s the matter? Where are you shooting? " His heart beat fast again, wondering if the German army had taken our way back and occupied the village again? The four of us ran to the village with weapons, about 200 meters out. All of a sudden, I heard a loud cry from aguming: "get down, there are Germans in front of you!" With his shouts, we all lay on the snow. I hid behind a tree and watched through a telescope. I saw that someone was running towards us. When I looked at it carefully, it turned out that it was the person I left behind in the village. In front of them, the two operators, Orlov and saskat, were helping to run forward. They kept running forward for a moment. Orlov faltered and seemed to be injured; Behind them are Aji and Leon Geoff. After a few steps, they stop to shoot at the back. More than 50 meters behind them, more than a dozen German soldiers with submachine guns were in hot pursuit. ahref= http:www.; Welcome to our website www.start.com. The latest, fastest and most popular serial works are all original!

 Chapter 75

    "Pa!" Without waiting for my order, the sniper gun in agumento''s hand fired first. With the sound of the gun, the German soldier who rushed to the front suddenly stopped. He bent his knee and knelt down on the snow with a plop. Then he fell forward heavily.


    Seeing that one shot worked, agumento calmly aimed at the new target and continued to shoot, along with "pa! Bang Two shots were fired, and two hapless German soldiers fell to the ground.


    "Hello, Aji!" Lu Jin stood up, hid behind a tree, risked his head, and yelled at ah Ji, "come here with us!"


    Suddenly hear Lu Jin''s shout, a Ji they a few first Leng for a while, but immediately return to God. Aji stopped running and hid behind a tree to shoot at the German soldiers who were chasing him. Leon Geoff ran to saskat with his gun, helped Orlov with him left and right, and ran desperately towards our hiding place.


    After the fourth shot, he stopped shooting and said in a low voice, "these idiots can''t run away. They are all in front of me. I can''t aim at them."


    Three people are running closer and closer. As long as they run more than ten steps forward, they can run in front of me. Saskat, who was running, suddenly snorted and fell to the ground with Orlov. Suddenly, Leon Geoff, who had lost his support object, stood in a daze. At this moment, his chest spattered a blood flower, together with broken meat, on the white snow. This sudden change stunned me who had been watching them all the time. I foolishly watched Leon Geoff stop for a few seconds, then slowly fall back and fall on the snow without saying a word.


    "Damn German devils!" Lu Jin''s angry roar suddenly sounded in my ear. Looking back, he stood out from behind the tree, roared, carrying a submachine gun, and rushed forward while shooting.


    "Lu Jin! Come back I came back from the shock and yelled Lu Jin''s name. Now I am outnumbered. At this time, I rushed forward to die. But my shouts were covered by the dense gunfire, and Lukin rushed forward without hesitation.


    Seeing this situation, I know it''s unrealistic to keep hiding here. I have to rush up. I yelled at the sniper first, "aguminte, cover me." Then he turned his head to say to sgoria, who was hiding away: "follow me." Then he rushed out with his submachine gun.


    Lu Jin rushed to the birch tree where Aji was hiding. Instead of rushing forward rashly, he started shooting at the opposite German army. When sgoria and I arrived, we also fell down and shot at the German army.


    The 71 bullets in the gun chamber were finished soon. When I changed the clip, I secretly scolded myself for not being calm today. I pulled the trigger so hard that all the bullets in one clip were shot out in just ten seconds. So I switched to point fire, and yelled to several other people to stop continuous fire and switch to point fire. But my voice was suppressed by the sound of fierce shooting. They were still like firecrackers.


    The distance between the German army and US was more than 30 meters, and the people were also scattered. Therefore, our fierce shooting, in addition to being lively and wasteful of bullets, actually caused little damage to the German army. On the contrary, the German army appears to have rich experience in combat. Not only are our firepower so fierce, they are all shooting back.


    This kind of shooting lasted for two minutes, and our shooting stopped suddenly. I knew in my heart that it was not a trick to lure the enemy, but Lu Jin and several of them had run out of bullets. When we set out from the village in the early morning, we had plenty of weapons and ammunition. However, when we met the forces of felstov and Pavlov on the road, we gave them the surplus equipment. We only carried ammunition with one base. After such an unrestrained fight, except for me, I still have less than one bullet clip left, and all the others have run out of bullets. If the German army takes the opportunity to rush up, all we can do is fight with them for bayonets.


    But if we really want to fight for bayonets, I don''t think we can get any better. As I have just counted, in addition to four German soldiers killed by aguminte, there are still 13 left. On our side, plus I only have five people, five to thirteen, the winning rate is too low.


    The German army saw that the fire stopped on our side, and they also stopped shooting. First, two German soldiers got up from the ground and came to us with submachine guns. After more than ten steps, seeing that everything was safe, other people also stood up one after another and swaggered to us with weapons. Lukin, Aji and sgoria all looked back at me and wanted me to give them an idea. I looked at the submachine guns in our hands. If we have enough ammunition, they are really powerful weapons; There are no bullets. It''s not even as good as a firestick. Now I still have bullets in my submachine gun. I''m silent, I don''t speak and I don''t shoot. I want to wait until the German soldiers get close to me and shoot again. It''s enough to kill one, but it''s profitable to kill two. Anyway, I can''t wait to be a prisoner.


    "Pa!" With a light shot, the German army at the front faltered and fell to the ground. This bullet came from behind us. I don''t have to look back to know that it was the masterpiece of sniper aguminte. How can I forget such an important person? If he is here, we can''t suffer any loss.


    Sgoria saw that the German soldier who had been killed fell ten steps away from him, and immediately jumped out from behind the invisible tree, looking like he wanted to pick up the weapon on the ground. However, the other German soldiers were not vegetarians. When they saw someone rushing out, they immediately opened fire. Sgoria jumped on the body of the German army, grabbed his submachine gun, stood up, was riddled by dense bullets before he could get out of the gun, and then fell on his back in the snow without saying a word. I yanked the trigger and opened fire on the German army in front, knocking down a soldier who was closer to me. The sudden attack made the German soldiers confused for a moment. But the instinctive reaction of the soldiers made them disperse, lie down and shoot back. At this time, agumento''s sniper gun rang again. After the firing, another German submachine gun stopped firing. Although we had a sniper, the rest of the German army ignored him. Instead, they lay on their ground and fired at the three of us from all directions, crushing us with fire. Because of the existence of agumente, it was very difficult for the German soldiers to destroy us; It is also unrealistic to kill all the more than a dozen German soldiers just by relying on one agumento. What should I do? If this stalemate continues, more German soldiers may be recruited. At this critical juncture, I suddenly heard the cry of "Wula" behind me. Looking back, I saw countless Soviet soldiers pouring out from the deep forest, and they rushed forward shouting slogans. When they were more than 20 meters away from us, the heavy and heavy weapons in their hands opened fire together, and dense bullets roared past my head, splashing mud and snow on the German hiding place. Several German soldiers were killed on the spot. The rest of them got up and tried to escape. They were also knocked down by random guns. After the destruction of the German army, some soldiers came to help us up. Then two officers came up to me. I looked at them and found that they were felstov and Pavlov. They saluted me and reported to me, "Comrade commander, we are going to collect weapons and ammunition in the warehouse on your order. We have finished our task and come back. Please give us your instructions."¡° Good I nodded and said, "you''ve done a good job. Now gather the team and let''s go into the village."¡° Comrade commander, "before they answered me, I suddenly heard someone calling me. I looked in the direction of the voice. It turned out that I was called aguminte. He and another soldier came to help the operator Orlov. I went up to the operator and asked him in a loud voice, "what happened in the village and where did these German devils come from?" On hearing my question, Orlov lowered his head and said with shame, "it''s my fault that I let out the old lady who was locked up last night. Unexpectedly, she secretly went to get the German. When the Germans came into the village, saskat found them and gave an alarm in time, so that we could escape from the village in time. "¡° Where is the radio station? " What I care about is not how they get out of the village, but where are the radio stations we carry? If the radio station falls into the hands of the Germans, not only will the communication between us and the headquarters of the group army be interrupted, but the German army will also use the captured radio station to obtain our army''s information, so I must find out where the radio station is¡° When I escaped, I was in a hurry. The radio station was still in the house last night. It is estimated that it has been captured by the German army. "¡° Felstov After hearing what he said, I immediately turned around and called out the second lieutenant''s name. Seeing that the second lieutenant ran to me quickly, I immediately told him, "take a hundred people with me and go to the village to get the radio back."¡° Yes He agreed very simply, then turned around and began to gather people to prepare to work with me. Welcome to our website www.start.com. The latest, fastest and most popular serial works are all original!

 Chapter 76

    I summoned the surviving members of the team to the front and counted the number. In addition to Lukin, Aji, aguminte, the wounded Orlov, and sapochuk and resdayev, three soldiers in the team died, and they all fell under the German gun in front of me.


    Behind him came a series of loud slogans from felstov: "line up~~ Come on, come on~~ Attention~~ Turn right, form a four line formation, run Then there was the sound of Qi''s footsteps, and a large group of armed soldiers, under the leadership of felstov, ran past me, with uniform steps, showing that this is a well disciplined army.


    "Comrade commander," seeing the troops running towards the village, Lu Jin couldn''t help saying, "should we follow them and have a look? Maybe there are still Germans in the village."


    I thought for a moment. What he said is very reasonable. Lieutenant, they have never been to this village. They are not familiar with the situation in the village. How can they know where to go to find the radio station? We''d better follow them. So I nodded and agreed, "OK, let''s go." Then he said to Aji, who was standing on one side and bowed his head, "I''ll talk about your business later. Now follow us to the village to have a look."


    I took a group of people to walk in the direction of the village behind the team, deliberately let Aji walk beside me, let outsiders feel that I trust him very much, let him follow around as a bodyguard. In fact, I was worried that he would resent me for what happened last night. When I didn''t pay attention, I would shoot my black gun behind me, so I could feel at ease if I put him within sight.


    The soldiers were at the edge of the forest, waiting for my order. I looked through the telescope at the house where the team was resting last night. There was no movement. It didn''t look like someone was in it.


    "Felstov!" I called out the Lieutenant''s name.


    "Here it is Hearing my shouts, the second lieutenant, holding a TT pistol in his left hand, ran to me, saluted me and asked, "are you ready to attack? Comrade commander. "


    "Yes!" I nodded and then issued a series of instructions to him: "although more than a dozen German devils were killed in the forest just now, I don''t know if there are any remaining Germans in the village. So you have to send someone to occupy the house in front of you and build a firepower there I pointed to the house where I had a rest last night and said, "then send someone to search the house. The radio station is there. I hope it hasn''t been transferred by the Germans." After that, I looked at the fading sky and added: "it''s getting late. You should make a quick decision and try to solve the battle in ten minutes."


    "I understand!" Felstov saluted me again and ran away.


    Soon his loud voice came again: "get out of the way in a loose formation, all forward!" With his orders, the soldiers, who had long been ready to go, rushed to the house in a scattered formation. There was no one to speak. It was surprisingly quiet all around, just the chaotic footsteps of the soldiers. But when the line was less than 10 meters away from the gate, the gunfire suddenly started.


    It was not our soldiers who were shooting, but the clear roar of German submachine guns at the windows and gates, and the intensive fire brought down a large area of the soldiers who were attacking. The rest of the soldiers quickly lay on the snow and fired at the German soldiers in the room.


    The last thing I wanted to see happened. I didn''t expect that there were Germans in the house. Judging from the intensity of fire, there are at least ten people inside. I yelled at the man who was standing next to me, "aguminte, shoot! Kill all the German devils who shoot. "


    Agumente, lying on the snow, calmly fired a shot in the direction of the house, and the submachine gun at the gate was dumb immediately. A soldier who was close to the house jumped up and rushed to the door with his rifle. He tried to break into the door. As a result, he was knocked down by the bullet from the window just after a few steps. I found that the soldiers lying on the snow and the enemy hiding in the building were very vulnerable. In a short time, several soldiers were hit, and the snow was stained red with blood.


    "Comrade commander!" Just as I was worried by the successive casualties of the soldiers, the voice of the instructor Pavlov came from behind me. He panted and ran to me and said loudly, "the German fire is too fierce. Let''s attack with artillery?"


    "Artillery attack?" When he said that, I was stunned. Did the Soviet army have the advanced communications like the US Army, and could call for artillery support at any time? "What kind of fire?" I asked? Where is the artillery to support us? "


    He pointed to his back and said: "we found a lot of 50 mm and 82 mm mortars in the ammunition warehouse, and selected some former artillery soldiers to form an artillery company. They can provide artillery support for the attacking soldiers."


    I look back and see, isn''t it? Dozens of soldiers carrying gun barrels, gun racks and ammunition boxes are running towards me. Then he stood up excitedly and yelled happily, "come to me, put up the guns and beat these damned Krauts!"


    After ten mortars were set up, the artillery adjusted the firing angle quickly and skillfully. With Pavlov''s command, the ammunition man put the shell into the barrel. After a series of bangs, shells roared down around the house, exploding, mud and snow splashed, and shrapnel crackled on the wall.


    "Where are you going? All missed! Aim at me and fight well Seeing that none of the shells hit the target, I couldn''t help yelling at the artillery. After roaring, I also regretted it. Maybe I saw so many soldiers died, so I was a little too impulsive. The first artillery shell was fired with the nature of test firing, and it''s okay that I couldn''t hit the target. However, I got angry with them indiscriminately. It''s really wrong. The artillery did not refute me. Instead, they adjusted the position of the guns and reloaded them. This time, it was very accurate. The shells exploded at the gate and windows, and the German firing in the house was interrupted. In the third round, the falling shells even opened the gate directly¡° Go ahead, comrades Ah Ji beside me roared and rushed forward with his bayonet loaded rifle. More than 50 meters away, although the snow was deep, he still ran past in more than ten seconds. Under his leadership, the soldiers who had been lying on the ground also stood up and rushed to the gate. I could clearly see through the telescope that when they rushed five or six meters away from the gate, several German soldiers came out of the room with their hands raised and shouting. But Aji actually did something that made me dumbfounded. He shot one of the soldiers down, then rushed forward and stabbed them with bayonets. Under his demonstration effect, other soldiers also fired one by one, interrupted the surrendering soldiers, and then rushed up to make up for them. In less than a minute, the house was occupied by our army, the battle was over, and all the German soldiers were killed. The radio station was moved out of the house, but it can no longer be used. In the short shelling just now, a shrapnel flying in from the window damaged the battery of the radio station. Lukin, sapochuk and lesdayev also carried out a bloody body from the room. I saw that it was the old lady named ayuna last night. Orlov pointed to the old lady''s body and said angrily, "it''s this damned old lady who led the Germans here."¡° Why did she bring in the Germans? " When I said this, I glanced at Aji and thought: if you hadn''t done something like that yesterday, maybe the old lady would not have informed the German. I was surprised by Orlov''s reply. He said angrily, "this old lady is not a Russian, but a rich peasant who escaped from Ukraine."¡° Rich peasants?! The old lady turned out to be a rich peasant? " Behind him came Pavlov''s voice, "if it''s a rich peasant, it can explain why she tipped off the Krauts."¡° Why? " This time it was my turn to be puzzled, and I asked Pavlov, "what the hell is going on?"¡° This... "Pavlov looked left and right, with an expression of desire to talk and stop. I knew he couldn''t say something in public, so he pointed to the house where I had a rest last night and said, "let''s talk there." Back in the room where I had a rest last night, I asked Pavlov, "Comrade instructor, why do you tell me that the old lady is a rich peasant and she informs the Germans?"¡° Have you heard of the great famine in Ukraine? " The great famine? I racked my brains and tried to recall this historical event. I vaguely remember that the great famine happened in 46 years. At that time, shortly after the end of the patriotic war, Stalin proposed to Ukraine, which is known as a granary, the amount of grain handed over to the central government that year. Considering that Ukraine was still in the recovery period after the war, the amount of grain collected was lower than that before the war, but even so, the amount of grain collected was far more than the people could bear at that time. Khrushchev, as the general secretary of Ukraine at that time, found this problem, but for his own future, he finally chose to be silent. After the whole country''s grain was expropriated, the great famine was inevitable. In a few months, nearly a quarter of the population was starved to death. After Khrushchev ascended the throne of supreme power, he built a statue in Kiev to commemorate the people lost in this unfortunate catastrophe. But it''s only 41 years now! Five years before the great famine, how can Pavlov know about it? Is he a passer-by like me?

 Chapter 77

    Without a word, I looked Pavlov up and down to see if he was a passer-by like me. Perhaps it was too long for him to look at Pavlov. He blushed, rubbed his hands awkwardly, and stammered: "Comrade commander, what are you looking at me for?"


    Hearing what he said, I realized my gaffe. I quickly calmed down, coughed and said, "what''s the matter with the great famine in Ukraine? Let''s hear it. " I''m saying this because I want to know if the history he knows matches what I remember.


    "From 1932 to 1933, the Soviet Union launched a collective farm movement to encourage farmers to join the farms on a voluntary basis. But the collectivization movement developed so much faster than the government had planned that there were not enough machines for the farm, and there were not enough accountants and managers. The lack of efficiency and hope, together with the indiscriminate slaughter of livestock instigated by the rich peasants and two years of drought, led to the food shortage in 1932. "


    When I heard this, I thought, "Oh," he was talking about the famine in the 1930s, which is not the same as what I know. In this case, he is also an ordinary person. He is not a passer-by at all. What''s more, crossing this yard is not a chance. It''s not a coincidence. How can he get to other time and space. However, I interrupted him curiously and asked, "is the famine related to the national food shortage?"


    "Yes." He gave me a positive answer, and then went on to say: "there are many rich peasants in Ukraine, the collectivization of farms is low, and most of the grain produced is hoarded by the rich peasants, which leads to very little grain supplied by the farms to the cities. Due to the nationwide grain shortage and the hoarding of grain by the rich peasants, the residents in the city could not buy grain, so there was a case of starvation. This situation started with only one or two small cities, then gradually spread to big cities, and finally inevitably affected the whole of Ukraine. "


    "Did many people die in the great famine?" I asked with concern.


    "As a result of the government''s timely campaign to clean up the saboteurs in the collective farms, it organized grain collection teams to go to the countryside to collect the surplus grain from the rich peasants, and immediately implemented a strict national ration system, which enabled the country to tide over the difficulties. But even so, there are about 100000 to 150000 people who died of starvation in the great famine. "


    "Oh." I thought that the number of deaths that could be equated with the great famine would be more than one million. I didn''t know that it was just over one hundred thousand. It seems that the efficiency of the Soviet government is still very high, and it can rescue people from the famine in time. I suddenly thought of another thing, and then asked: "is it because the grain collection team collected the surplus grain, which caused those rich peasants'' dissatisfaction with the society, that the old lady named ayuna would run to tell the Germans?"


    "Exactly, comrade commander." Pavlov nodded and said in a positive tone: "maybe this ayuna is a rich farmer who came from Ukraine and has been hiding in this village in anonymity. Now I can''t wait to see the Germans coming, so I can''t wait to join them and become the running dog of the bandits. "


    "Report!" As he was talking, Lu Jin''s voice came from outside.


    "Come in!" I yelled at the door.


    When Lu Jin came in, he stood at attention and saluted me. Then he respectfully reported, "Comrade commander, the number of casualties has been counted."


    "What are the casualties of our army?" I am very concerned about the casualties of my subordinates in the small-scale battle just now, so I can''t wait to ask.


    "Our army killed 38 people and injured 25. Most of the casualties were during the attack on the hut


    I could not help but frown and ask, "what about the Germans?"


    "In this battle, our soldiers were very brave. They killed 31 German devils and seized 17 submachine guns, 10 rifles and 1 pistol."


    "All right!" I impatiently interrupted Lu Jin''s words, saying that more than 200 people beat others, more than a dozen people, and there were so many casualties. If the other party is not more than a dozen people, but more than a hundred people, it is estimated that we will be the ones who will be wiped out. Then he turned to Pavlov, who was sitting beside him, and said, "Comrade instructor, please call all the company commanders here. I have something to say to you."


    "Yes Pavlov rose, saluted me, and went out.


    Five minutes later, the room was full of low rank commanders. The reason why we say low rank means that these people are holding the rank of sergeant and staff sergeant; Although their ranks are very low, they all hold the post of company commander or deputy company commander in this temporary team. For example, Lu Jin''s friend isayev, though only holding the rank of sergeant, held the post of company commander of artillery company.


    I stood in the middle of the room and said, "today we had a fight with the Germans in the village. Please talk about your feelings."


    "Comrade commander, let me say a few words." A short sergeant with freckles stood up and said he was short, but for other people, he was still much higher than me. Seeing that I nodded in agreement, he went on to say, "in the battle, the soldiers were very brave, so no German devils could escape from us."


    "Yes, because our soldiers are very brave, none of the bandits can run away." As soon as his voice fell, someone nearby immediately echoed. When one person opens his mouth, he immediately mobilizes other people''s emotions. Everyone talks with all kinds of words, to the effect that no matter what kind of enemy we meet, our brave soldiers will be destroyed without exception.


    "Enough!" I interrupted the group. Maybe my voice overtook all the people and scared them. The room suddenly became silent. I glanced at the dignified atmosphere around me, and I felt angry. Then I scolded mercilessly: "I want you to sum up the experience and lessons you should learn in today''s battle, not to let you come here to talk nonsense!"


    "Comrade commander, can I say something?" It was sergeant isayev, the artillery company commander, who spoke. I nodded to indicate that he had something to say.


    He stood up, cleared his throat, and said in a loud voice: "in today''s battle, although many German devils have been eliminated, I should also see that the casualties of our army are not small, even far greater than the enemy." At this point, he stopped and looked at me, afraid that I would be angry again.


    I didn''t expect that someone could see the problem of this battle. I wanted to hear if he could say something new, so I gave him a smile and said, "what would you do if you were in charge of this battle?"


    "If I command this battle, before it starts, I will send a few soldiers to reconnoiter and make sure there are no Germans in the house. Judging from the size of that house, it can only hide about 20 people at most. Judging from our army''s current technology and equipment, we don''t need today''s sea of people tactics at all. We just need to make a round of artillery preparation before the attack, blast the enemy out of the house, and launch an infantry charge when they can''t become an army, At the same time, it can effectively reduce the casualties of our army. "


    "Well, it''s a little interesting." What he said was very simple, but it was more in line with my idea. I nodded again and made a concluding speech: "isayev is right. When fighting, it''s not only enough to have courage, but also need to use more brains. The life of a soldier is precious, so when commanding a battle, we should not blindly rush and fight fiercely. Instead, we should know how to reasonably use strategies and tactics to reduce unnecessary casualties in the battle. "


    At this point, I saw people around me looking at me with strange eyes, as if looking at an alien monster. I looked suspiciously at filstov and Pavlov sitting next to me and asked, "what did I say wrong?"


    "No, comrade commander." "What you said is very different from what we learned in the military academy," he explained. For example, according to the regulations, when attacking enemy positions, soldiers should charge forward in a scattered formation with guns, while the commander should charge at the front of the whole team. "


    "I see." With a sigh, I patiently explained to them, "a lot of the knowledge you have learned is out of date in the current situation. For example, if you still go to attack in line according to the regulations, it may take only a few enemies to wipe out all our attacking forces. The ultimate goal of the attack is to defeat the enemy. In order to achieve this goal, we can take all necessary means. Let me tell you about the battle I fought in the suburbs of wolokramsk. At that time, the German army occupied the position of the 948th brigade. General rokosovsky, the commander of the group army, was furious and ordered to shoot the escaping brigade commander. He also ordered the division commander to immediately organize troops to take back the lost position. I happened to be there at that time, so I took the initiative to accept the counterattack task. Before the attack, I asked the commander to order the artillery of the group army to bombard the enemy''s position for 20 minutes. "


    At this point, I stopped for a moment to see that everyone listened with interest, and then went on: "when the shelling went on for 15 minutes, I ordered the troops to attack..."


    "Ah?" Someone cried out in a fuss, and immediately attracted a lot of disdainful eyes. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand, so as not to make any more noise and make public anger. I told them the truth about the situation at that time. Although it was simple, it still made everyone marvel. Especially when it came to the fact that after the recovery of the position, our army only killed about 20 people, but nearly 200 German soldiers were destroyed by us. They were even more surprised and open their mouths, and did not believe what they heard. It''s no wonder that on the battlefield, one or two German battalions often annihilated a Soviet division. So they heard that when our forces were roughly equal, it was incredible that we, as attackers, could win at a very low price.


    Pavlov was a little surprised and said, "Comrade commander, you are so amazing that you can achieve such a great result."


    "Comrade instructor, commander oshanina has achieved more than that," said sapocchuk, who had been sitting nearby and did not speak. He stood up and began to sing praises for me. "Some time ago, she served as a special commissioner in our fifth army, but after the commander was wounded and withdrew from the battle, she led us to carry out a large-scale counterattack in borojino, He severely damaged the bandits. "


    I''m a little embarrassed to hear sapochuk say that everyone looks at me with reverence. With a dry smile, I said, "I called you to a meeting to sum up today''s fighting, so that you can learn something useful from it. For example, our department now has a lot of artillery, so there is no need for the soldiers to charge with bayonets and the intensive firepower of the enemy; Instead, we should bombard the enemy''s positions before we attack, and then we will attack after heavy casualties are caused to the enemy, so as to reduce the casualties of our department. " Pavlov clapped his hands and said, "yes, comrade commander, what you said is very good. Why didn''t we expect to fight like this before?" After listening to what he said, I just smile and don''t speak. You know, this kind of playing method is not my creation, but I learned it from the post on the military forum of later generations. "How many of us are there now?" I asked Felstov frowned for a moment, then raised his head and said to me, "there are more than 60 casualties out there today, and there are still nearly 700 soldiers in the army."¡° Seven hundred people? " This figure scared me again. Isn''t it 400 people in the daytime? Dozens of people have been killed and injured. Shouldn''t there be only more than 300 left now? I asked curiously, "where do so many people come from?"¡° On the way to the armory, we met a group of soldiers, and on the way back, we saw that they were all soldiers with combat experience, so we organized them into the ranks. "¡° How many weapons have you found? " I asked the most concerned question again. After all, we still have a long way to go before we can go back to the wolokramsk area where the 316 division is stationed¡° Comrade commander, you can''t believe it. There are so many things in that armory. We have not only rifles, submachine guns, machine guns, mortars, but also a few 45mm guns, as well as a large amount of ammunition urgently needed by the troops. The weapons and ammunition we brought back are enough to equip two regiments. "¡° How did you get so many weapons and ammunition back? " I think the two regiments have a lot of equipment. Even if you have seven or eight hundred people, each carrying two guns and carrying a box of ammunition, you won''t bring much. I didn''t expect that his reply was greatly beyond my expectation. "We found dozens of sledges in the warehouse. Except for the parts carried by the soldiers, the remaining weapons and ammunition were pulled back by sleds. Unfortunately, we can''t find horses or dogs. We can only use people to pull the sledge. " I was talking to Pavlov when Lukin''s voice came from the door: "Comrade commander, can you come out? There is a member of the village Soviet who wants to talk to you about something. " I agreed, then patted Pavlov on the shoulder and said, "go on organizing the discussion." Then he turned and walked to the door.

 Chapter 78

    Although the room I went to was still lit with candles in broad daylight, the light was still surprisingly dark. First, all the windows are covered with paper, so the light outside can''t get in; Second, it''s too little to light a candle in such a big room.


    There was only a rickety wooden bed in the room. On the bed lay a young girl with black hair. Maybe because she had been ill for too long, she didn''t have any good looking meat on her face. At first glance, she looked like a skeleton wrapped in skin. Pale eyes without any light, so fixed looking at the roof. I would have thought there was a dead man lying on the bed if she hadn''t groaned once or twice.


    Before I could speak, the door was suddenly pushed open with a bang, and seven or eight uniformed people rushed in from the outside, startling me. I fixed my eyes and saw that the people who came in were all wearing Soviet uniforms. I was relieved, patted my heart and said with self mockery: Fortunately, you burst in like this, but I was scared. I thought it was German. After that, I''ll take a closer look. I don''t know any of these people.


    "Who are you? How can you break into other people''s homes so casually I asked these intruders loudly, but they didn''t answer me. Instead, they fell on the girl lying on the bed.


    "Comrade captain, this girl is still alive. What should we do?" The first two men raised the girl lying on the bed and turned to look at the person behind. The team leader went forward to have a look, and then said in an indifferent tone: "even if you don''t die, you can''t live for a few days. Let''s carry it out first."


    "Please, give me something to eat, I don''t want to die, I want to live!" The girl pleaded with those who carried her in a weak voice.


    "Stop! Who are you and what do you want to do? " Although I didn''t understand what was going on, I couldn''t see any more, so I stood up to stop them and blocked their way. I didn''t know that those people turned a blind eye to me and directly carried the girl out of the room. I found that they walked past me well and walked through my body. Oh, my God! What''s going on? I stopped and was stunned.


    At this time, the roar from outside attracted my attention. When I looked out of the door, I saw a man suddenly rushing at the uniformed people like an angry lion. Then there was a crackling sound and a hysterical curse.


    "Pa! Bang After two clear shots, everything returned to calm. I rushed to the door and looked down. A bearded little old man was lying on the floor beside the door. He was staring at me, holding a stick tightly in his hand. His white shirt was dyed red by the blood coming out of his chest.


    I looked up into the distance and saw those people throw the girl into a carriage with baffle. Although it was more than 20 meters away, I still saw that the carriage was full of corpses, all of them were as skinny as girls.


    "Comrade captain!" There was a cry from a man on the right. I turned around and saw seven or eight uniformed people with long guns in their hands, escorting more than a dozen bound countrymen to this side.


    "What''s the matter? Thank you, Liao Sha The captain asked impatiently the man who had just called him.


    The man named Xie liaosha came forward to salute the captain respectfully, and then said, "we just caught more than a dozen rich peasants. What do you want to do with them?"


    "What else can we do? We''ll follow the old rules!"


    "But you see there are women and children in it!"


    "Xie liaosha, aren''t you awake from today''s wine? As long as they are rich peasants, even women and children, they must be eliminated mercilessly. Do you understand? "


    "Yes Xie liaosha agreed, turned and ran back to his team, and called for people to pull the bunch of rich peasants to the wall of a house and stand. Then the uniformed man stepped back, raised his rifle indifferently, and aimed at the people standing by the wall.


    I can''t help but rush to stand in the middle of the two groups. Facing the black muzzle, I calmly stretched out my hands and blocked the so-called "rich peasants" who were standing by the wall behind me. I yelled from the people in uniform, "stop, you can''t do this!"


    No one paid any attention to me. The team leader drove several carriages out of the village. Only Xie liaosha continued to shout the command to his subordinates: "everyone, listen to my command, aim at the enemy in front, prepare ~ ~"


    "Mom! I''m afraid! I''m afraid ~ ~! " Behind me came the cry of a little girl. I couldn''t help looking back. A young woman with a headscarf was holding an eight or nine year old girl in her arms and coaxing her with a strong smile: "Yiyang Na, be good! Don''t be afraid, mother is here. You close your eyes quickly, and you won''t be afraid if you close them! "


    "Let it go At Xie liaosha''s command, seven or eight rifles opened fire together. I saw six men leaning against the wall, first burst out a cloud of blood mist on their chest, then fell back and slowly slid to the ground against the wall. Before the smoke of gunfire left, the second round of gunfire started again. The other five women who fell this time, Yi Yangna''s mother, was shot in the back. She used her body to block the evil bullet for her child.


    "All right, line up and go." Xie liaosha saw that the shooting task had been completed, and he didn''t come to check it, so he called on all the people to catch up with the captain.


    I went to Yi Yang Na''s mother, who was lying in a pool of blood. I squatted down and carefully looked at the child she held in her arms. Yi Yang Na was closing her eyes, holding her mother''s clothes tightly and sobbing in a low voice. I wanted to comfort her, so I reached over and touched her face. I didn''t know it was empty. I can''t help but wonder what''s going on. It seems that no one else can see me, and even pass through my body. Am I out of my body again? But where is this? Why did the Soviet Army shoot and kill its own people?


    In order to find out this series of questions, I stood up and ran after the captain and Xie liaosha. After about a kilometer, I finally caught up with this strange team. They stopped in front of a ditch in the wilderness, where several people were still standing. The captain made the others stop, and then he ran alone. Although it''s far away, I can still hear him clearly. He is reporting to one of the big eaves hats with the rank of political worker: "Comrade military commissar, the 97th corpse collection team has come to report to you. Please give us your instructions!"


    Corpse team?! I''m at a loss. What''s going on? Am I in another era? In order to find out what happened, I had to listen patiently.


    "How many bodies have you collected this time?" Asked the big hat.


    "There are 49."


    The big eaves hat nodded, then said to a soldier with a book and pen in his hand beside him, "write it down. The 97th corpse collection team has collected 49 corpses today. According to the standard of 200 grams of bread for each corpse, they should be rewarded with 9800 grams of bread." Then he told the captain, "unload the bodies and throw them into the pit."


    The team leader agreed and ran to his teammates quickly, shouting: "unload the bodies and throw them into the pit." When the members of the corpse collection team heard the captain''s cry, several people climbed onto the carriage one after another, lifted the corpses inside and threw them to the ground like wood. The people standing below lifted the body up from the ground and carried it to the ditch to throw it away.


    In the process of carrying the body, I clearly heard the girl pleading with them in a weak voice: "please, I''m not dead. Don''t throw me into the pit. I want to live." But they didn''t pay any attention and threw the girl into the body pile in the ditch.


    I didn''t have the ability to stop this human tragedy. I couldn''t even save the innocent girl. When I thought about it, my heart was like a knife. I burst into tears.


    I don''t know how I got back to that small village. As soon as I got outside the original house, I saw a middle-aged woman with a headscarf crying on the old man who died at the door. I stopped in the same place, silently looking at the crying woman. At this time, in the pile of corpses beside the wall came the voice of Xiao Yi Yang Na: "aunt ayuna! Is that you? "


    The woman raised her head from the body and looked at the sound. At this time, the little girl''s voice rang again: "Auntie ayuna, is that you?"


    "It''s me, it''s me!" The woman stood up, while wiping tears, while quickly walking to the corpse pile past, loudly promised each other: "according to Yang Na, where are you?"


    "I''m under my mother''s body. Please come and help me."


    The woman went to her mother, carefully turned her body over, pulled her from her arms, and held her tightly in her arms. "Poor child, my poor child!" he said Then she looked up at the sky and cried out, "Virgin Mary! What evil have we done? Why do you punish us like this? "


    When she looked up, I could just see her face from my point of view, which surprised me. It turned out that this middle-aged woman was ayuna who led the German people to the village during the day.


    I suddenly sat up from the bed, only to find that I had a strange dream, and everything in the dream is so real. I sat on the bed with my knees in my hands. After thinking about it, I found that this dream did not appear for no reason, but was related to the village Soviet committee member I met at night.


    As soon as the middle-aged woman saw my face, she began to nag. She had been telling me about ayuna and iyana. Nine years ago, ayuna fled to this village with a nine-year-old yiyangna. They were pitiful, so they were taken into the farm. At the beginning, ayuna was quite honest. Over a long period of time, she often spread some reactionary remarks in the village to bewitch people.


    I remember when she said this, Lu Jin interjected and asked, "which side of the reactionary speech?"


    The middle-aged woman said: "what else can we do? She said that her family was originally in Ukraine. At the end of the year 32, there was a food shortage. The government organized a grain collection team to collect all the food left in the countryside. If anyone refuses to do so, he will be directly designated as a new rich peasant, and the members of the task force have the right to execute the death sentence on them. " Speaking of this, she added her own opinion: "Comrade commander, do you think our army will do such a thing? It''s not her dissatisfaction with society that makes her vile. "


    "What else? Go on. " I didn''t want to pick up on her, so I urged him to continue¡° Ayuna also said that because the grain was robbed by the grain collection team, people went to the forest to dig grass roots and bark to eat when they had no food. In winter, they began to starve. At first, only one or two people died. Later, families starved to death. So the government organized a corpse collection team to collect corpses from door to door and send them to the wilderness to bury them. At that time, her daughter was just dying of hunger and was dragged by the corpse collection team to be buried alive. The reason why the corpse collection team does this is that they can get 200 grams of bread for each corpse buried. " Lu Jin said at this time: "I''ve heard about the organization of corpse collection teams. However, shortly after the beginning of starvation, the government adopted a strict rationing system throughout the country, which soon helped us tide over the difficulties."¡° It''s true, comrade soldier. I know the same thing. It''s said that Ukraine was the worst hit area of the great famine, and more than 100000 people died before and after it. But this evil ayuna made a rumor that the government concealed the real death toll. According to what she saw and heard on her way to escape from famine, it is estimated that thousands of people starve to death every day. Almost a quarter of the people in Ukraine starved to death during the whole famine¡° To make a rumor is to make a rumor Lu Jin said indignantly, "such a person, why did the Soviet in your village ignore her?"¡° Lukin, stop it. " I interrupted Lu Jin and prevented middle-aged women from trying to speak. So far, I have fully understood that the famine in my memory should not have happened in 1946, but at the end of 1932. In that great famine, nearly 10 million people in Ukraine were starved to death. In this way, I can understand why Yiyang Na and the Germans got mixed up so quickly. When ayouna found out that Yiyang Na was dead, why did she run to inform the Germans and take them to try to destroy us. What''s more, during the whole Patriotic War, why there were so many Ukrainians in the puppet army? It seems that they were all caused by this damned famine. I was sitting in bed thinking, when there was a knock on the door¡° Who is it? " I asked aloud¡° Comrade commander, I''m Pavlov¡° What can I do for you¡° Let me tell you that the troops are assembled and ready to leave at any time. "¡° I see. I''ll be right there With that, I turned out of bed and began to dress.

 Chapter 79

    Yesterday, when I learned that there were 400 soldiers under my command, I once thought of taking them to attack the German headquarters and capturing goodrian alive. But I soon found that the soldiers had too few weapons, and most of them were unarmed. Besides, I didn''t know what kind of weapons the German forces in the defensive command were equipped with, and how their forces were deployed. In this case, to attack rashly was undoubtedly to die, so I finally had to give up this tempting idea.


    Today, the newly formed reinforced battalion has a total of 700 people, equipped with a large number of submachine guns, machine guns, and even a mortar company. From any point of view, it is a force with strong combat effectiveness. When the troops had assembled, I took them back to wolokramsk instead of to goodrian''s Tolstoy estate. Because I clearly know that even if we launch a surprise attack, it will not have much effect. The commanders and soldiers of this newly assembled army are not familiar with each other and do not cooperate well with each other, and their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced. Besides, there are blockhouses, trenches and tanks around the manor. With our equipment, it is difficult to end the battle in a short time. Once we are entangled by the garrison and surrounded by the German reinforcements, we will be completely destroyed. Instead of taking such a risk, I might as well go back and tell Zhukov the truth, so that he can send planes to bomb more easily.


    With such a huge army, I am not reconciled to go back quietly without making trouble in the enemy''s rear, so I especially want to find a chance to beat the Germans, so as to stimulate the morale of our army.


    When the troops moved near the simple road where we saw the German mechanized troops two days ago, I finally made up my mind to organize the troops to fight an ambush here. According to my guess, since the German army opened up such a simple road in the forest, its purpose was to mobilize troops and transport materials. It''s impossible for large troops to pass here every day. Most of the time, it''s just small troops or transport teams. With our current strength, it is no problem to eat the small German troops.


    The independent battalion now has four companies, including three infantry companies and one mortar company. The commander of the battalion is lieutenant felstov, the instructor Pavlov is the political commissar of the battalion, the first company commander Lukin, the second company commander sapochuk, the third company commander risdayev, and the mortar company commander issayev. In addition, there were still 40 people left, forming a guard platoon, and the platoon leader was a sniper, agumento. One of the reasons why I have assigned all the people I know to be commanders is that I am familiar with them, and I can only command when I fight; Second, I''m somewhat selfish and want to cultivate my own power in the army. It''s not a bad thing that I can have several troops under my direct command when I become an official.


    The simple highway is north-south. I divided the troops into two parts. Lu Jin''s company went to the east of the road to ambush. I led the second company, the third company, the mortar company and the guards to ambush in the west of the road.


    In order to ambush, it is necessary to lay mines. Felstov used to be an engineer platoon leader, but he was a veteran of mine laying, so he naturally gave him this skill. In the end, it''s no good to be an expert without admiration. In less than ten minutes, all 40 mines were buried.


    Before the ambush, I called several company commanders to arrange the task. According to my knowledge, I issued a series of orders to them: "felstov, you and the second company are lurking 50 meters away from the road. Once the German vehicles enter the ambush circle, you immediately detonate the mines." Among the mines laid just now, the only anti tank mine needs to be detonated by remote control. That''s why I told him so.


    "Yes, comrade commander." He answered very simply.


    "Sapochuk, the German army will fall into temporary chaos after the mine explosion. At this time, the light and heavy firepower of the second company opened fire together, launched a round of salvo fire on the enemy, and then began to charge. In such a short distance, because of the shelter of trees, mortars have no place to use, so they can only rely on hand grenades to exert their power. They have to charge and drop bombs at the same time, so as to give the enemy maximum fire damage. Do you understand? "


    "Fully understood, comrade commander."


    "Lukin," I turned my head to Lukin, who impressed me a lot in the past two days, "when the German army can''t resist the attack of the second company and retreats in your direction, you will lead the troops to attack the whole line and make sure to wipe out the rest of the German Army. Do you understand? "


    "I see! Comrade commander, "he replied excitedly. Looking at his face, he seemed to have been looking forward to such an opportunity to teach the German devils a lesson.


    "Pavlov," I gave my last order to Pavlov, "stay in the middle of the forest with the third company, pay attention to concealment and take care of the wounded, and come back to join us after the battle."


    "Comrade commander," he said wrongly, "when other comrades are fighting the enemy, how can I stay in the rear as a political worker?"


    "I put the wounded in the back and need someone to calm them. This job is only for you." When fighting, I don''t like to have a political worker next to me telling me what to do, so I can send him as far as I can.


    Two companies with a guard platoon, more than 400 people lie motionless in the snow, all wearing white cloaks. This is a good thing to find from the warehouse. It can not only keep out the cold, but also achieve the effect of concealment.


    As time went by, it had been two hours since the troops entered the latent position. There was still no movement on the road, and I began to shiver with cold. Just as I was about to announce the cancellation of the lurking order, there was a faint roar of the car''s motor from the north.


    "Coming, coming, aguminte, listen to the motor of the car, the German motorcade is coming soon!" As I spoke, I raised my telescope and looked in the direction of the sound.


    There is a German car team in my telescope. There is a machine gun on the roof of the cab of the first car. The car is full of German soldiers with live ammunition, helmets and gray green army coats. There are six trucks full of soldiers.


    "Comrade commander," aguminte, who has been observing the enemy situation with his sight glass, said to me in a soft voice, "there are 30 soldiers in each car, plus three in the cab. There are 33 people in one car, and there are 198 people in six cars." After a pause, he said with some worry: "although we have twice as many people as them, it is still difficult to wipe them out quickly."


    I watched the approaching car team and found that the German army was not very vigilant. The machine gunner in the head car held the machine gun with one hand and turned his head to talk and laugh with the people nearby. Maybe they would never dream that they would be ambushed in their own rear. So he said to aguminte with disapproval, "don''t worry. You see, the German army has no defense at all. As long as our attack speed is fast, we can finish the battle before their reinforcements arrive."


    The German motorcade entered our ambush without notice. There was a loud bang, which made the earth tremble. I didn''t have to see it clearly. It was firestov who detonated the remote-controlled mine. The poor military vehicle was blown up more than three meters high by the powerful anti tank mine. The fragments of the vehicle and the broken limbs of the German soldiers fell from the sky and scattered irregularly on the snow near the explosion point.


    The five trucks immediately behind stopped, and the machine guns on the roof of the cab roared. Because they didn''t know the direction of the attack, the German machine gunners were aimlessly shooting around.


    I heard agumento pull the trigger next to me, and then I saw the machine gun shooter on the second car with his head tilted back, and then the whole person disappeared from my view. The assistant shooter next to him quickly grabbed the machine gun. Before he pulled the trigger, he was shot in the head by agumento. At the same time, all the light and heavy weapons of the second company opened fire together, and dense bullets were fired at the motorcade.


    Although they were suddenly attacked, the German army did not panic. The well-trained soldiers jumped out of the car one after another and shot around under the cover of the car. But as soon as more soldiers got up, before they could jump out of the car, they were hit by our bullets. They either fell directly into the car or hung head down on the wing of the car. The driver''s cab door of the third car opened, and a German officer in a big cornice hat stumbled out. After looking around in a panic, he held a pistol high in his right hand and yelled at the chaotic procession. At this time, aguminte lost no time to shoot again. The German officer covered his right shoulder with his hand and sat down on the pedal of the door. He did not know where he had lost his pistol. He struggled to stand up and wanted to shout a few more words, but he was hit by a bullet flying from nowhere. He covered his chest and fell on the snow.


    "Wula! Wula The soldiers jumped up from the snow, carrying weapons and shouting slogans, and rushed forward, shooting as they ran. Many soldiers slowed down in the process of charging, throwing string grenades into the German convoy. A soldier just pulled the string and was hit by one of the enemy''s bullets before he could throw the grenade out. His body shook and then fell down quietly. When a soldier was about to rush past his body with a gun, the grenade that landed on the ground exploded. The charging soldier screamed, covered with blood, and fell on the snow.


    In the face of our army''s charge, some German outlaws also came up with submachine guns. However, as soon as they reached the edge of the road, they set foot on the land mine that had been buried by felstov. After being blown up, people were turned upside down. After 20 or 30 people were killed and injured, they had to retreat back and continue to resist under the cover of cars.


    At a distance of 50 meters, the soldiers quickly rushed up and launched a close combat with the enemy. There was a scuffle on the road. The sound of gunfire, the short explosion of grenades and the scream of those who were shot were all interwoven


    Although the German army suffered heavy losses, it still resisted stubbornly and did not retreat into the eastern forest as I imagined. Fortunately, Lukin was not a conformist. Seeing that the German army had not retreated according to the route we had set in advance, he took the initiative to lead the troops to attack. A company of soldiers on the road, unfortunately also stepped on our own planted mines. This kind of land mine can''t tell the enemy from us, and it has also blown down more than a dozen soldiers in an instant. However, a series of attacks became the last straw to crush the enemy''s defense. The German tenacious resistance was soon completely destroyed, and the gunfire died down. The rest of the soldiers obediently put down their weapons and raised their hands to surrender to us.


    After the battle, I took the guards to the road. After all, now that I am a lieutenant commander, there is no need to charge with the troops like a lieutenant. I took him to inspect the battlefield that was being cleaned. Several German soldiers with blood all over them were lying on the ground moaning and watching me walk by. They stretched out their hands, opened their eyes and said something I didn''t understand. They probably wanted me to save them. Although they are our enemies, but that kind of eyes make people look very worried. I turned around and said to aguminte behind me, "aguminte, go and arrange some stretchers to carry these German soldiers together."


    "Comrade commander, we still have so many wounded people to carry. If we have so many more German devils, I''m afraid we don''t have so many people!"¡° Who said our comrades had to carry it? " I said impatiently, "didn''t you catch a German prisoner? Let them carry the wounded Lu Jin quickly counted the casualties for me. In this ambush, 145 German soldiers were killed, 18 wounded and 35 captured. There were 47 casualties and 21 wounded in our army, half of which were caused by mines planted by ourselves. I gathered up felstov, Pavlov, Lukin and some platoon leaders. I walked excitedly in front of the line for two times. Then I raised the note with the number of casualties in my hand and said to them in a loud voice: "comrades, today''s ambush is really brilliant. This battle wiped out nearly 200 German devils, but we only lost less than 70 people. What does that mean? " At this point, I stopped for a moment to see that everyone was whispering excitedly. No one answered my question, so I had to go on: "it shows that the combat effectiveness of our team is no worse than that of the German devils. As long as the troops are well deployed and properly commanded, it is not necessary to pay a huge price to win a beautiful battle, but also to destroy a large number of effective forces of the enemy. "

 Chapter 80

    The troops left the road and continued on to the northeast of wolokramsk.


    Because of the existence of the supplies, the wounded and the prisoners, the advance speed of the whole team was much slower than that before the battle. A company led by felstov and Lukin, 200 meters apart from the big army, walked in the front of the whole army. They searched forward in class.


    The more you go to the northeast, the more gunfire comes from the front. Pavlov and I were standing on a small hill, observing the place where the gun was fired. From the telescope, we could see the gunsmoke billowing in front of us, the flames rising in the air, and we could clearly hear a few sporadic explosions accompanied by the big flames rising from time to time.


    "Pavlov, where is the battle ahead?" I put down my telescope and asked the camp commissar standing next to me. Hearing my question, he held up the German made telescope he had just captured, looked carefully at the place where the fierce fighting took place for a while, and then answered me in a positive tone: "Comrade commander, from the direction, it''s the bus station of wolokramsk."


    "Oh I said thoughtfully: "when I contacted general rokosovsky the night before yesterday, he once mentioned that the German army occupied the bus station of wolokramsk at that time, and division commander Panfilov was organizing troops to fight back, trying to drive the German army out of the station. It has been two days, and I don''t know whether our army is attacking the station or the German army is attacking the station? "


    "No matter who owns the station now, as long as the gunfire doesn''t stop, it means our people are still fighting." Pavlov put down his telescope and said to me calmly, "we should go and help them."


    "Well, instructor Pavlov, go and gather the company commanders together, and I''ll assign them combat tasks."


    "Yes Pavlov agreed, then turned and ran down the hill. After two steps, he stopped and said to me, "Comrade commander, you can''t let me stay behind and listen to the guns this time."


    I gave him a wry smile and said, "no problem. I will let you fight this time."


    With little effort, dozens of platoon leaders ran up the hill from all directions, stopped in front of me and lined up in two rows. Felstov, who was standing at the front of the line, stepped forward, saluted and then reported to me in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, all the commanders have assembled. Please give us your instructions!"


    I waited for felstov to return to the team before I went to the front of the line with my hands back. I coughed first, then pointed to the place where the gunfire was intensive, and asked them frankly, "you see, the front is wolokramsk bus station. Our army is fighting fiercely with the bandits. What should we do?"


    Even the platoon leaders looked at me and didn''t speak. I was very dissatisfied with everyone''s performance, because the scene I imagined didn''t appear: I thought that we had a beautiful ambush only a few hours ago, so these commanders should all take part in the war, and their emotions were extremely high. It''s inevitable that they would fight for the leader. I looked around again and saw that their expressions were still the same and they were still looking at me without saying a word. Then I realized that they were used to obeying. What the superiors said was what they said. Even if they were wrong, they would not discount them. There are always differences between the eastern and Western cultures, but I still use the Oriental way of thinking to think about problems. No wonder there is such an embarrassing situation.


    Since no one expressed their opinions, I arranged the tasks according to my ideas. I announced a series of tasks to them without expression. First, I named a few familiar names: "felstov, Pavlov, Lukin, sapochuk, issayev!"


    "Here it is The five answered neatly, then took a step forward at the same time.


    "The first company, the second company and the artillery company under your leadership will follow me to the bus station for reinforcement."


    "Yes Five of them returned to the line.


    "Lesdayev!"


    "Here it is


    "You lead the third company and escort the baggage and the wounded back to the line of defense of the 316 division."


    Hearing my command, his face showed a very unhappy look. He complained to me: "Comrade commander, we were in the back of the ambush just now. After listening to the gunfire for a long time, the soldiers had a lot of emotions. Now it''s not easy to expect war again. As a result, you can see that... In this case, the comrades will not be able to turn their minds around. "


    Hearing this, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. My heart said that you are the one who can''t change his mind. If you jump out earlier and say this, I will arrange you to take part in the battle. It''s too late to talk about it at this time, but I still have to patiently explain to him: "Comrade resdayev, you should know that because of the existence of the wounded and prisoners, It''s slowed our march down a lot. If we go on at the current speed, it is estimated that by the time we get to the station, the battle will be over, and our reinforcement will be meaningless. Do you understand? "


    "Absolutely, comrade commander." He gave me a reluctant answer.


    "However, since the comrades of the third company want to take part in this battle, I will certainly achieve their wishes." The infantry company is made up of four or four formations. It has four platoons under its jurisdiction. Each platoon has four classes and the company has 180 people. After the battle just now, the first and second companies have been reduced to varying degrees. If they want to launch an attack, they need to be replenished. Now only the third company is fully loaded, so I plan to transfer staff from them. That''s why I have such a saying.


    "Really?" When I heard this, there was an expression of surprise on his face¡° Yes, in the ambush just now, there were casualties in the first and second companies to varying degrees, so I decided to take a squad from each platoon of the third company and add it to the first and second companies. "¡° But... "Leisdayev still wanted to explain, but I interrupted him impolitely:" I promised you to let the soldiers of the third company take part in the battle, but I didn''t break my promise. " My heart said that I only agreed to let the soldiers of the third company take part in the battle, but I didn''t say that I also wanted you to take part in the battle¡° Yes He saluted me and retreated disappointedly to the middle of the line. The three companies were soon assembled, leaving behind the soldiers who had been drawn out, and the rest of them set out with resdayev for the Northeast defense area. When leisdayev led the troops to pass under my hill, he stopped alone, saluted me solemnly, and put down his raised hand after a long time. As I watched the company go away, the voice of aguminte suddenly rang around me. My platoon leader said to me, "Comrade commander, you should follow them away!"¡° Why? " I asked, puzzled¡° Because you are a woman! You also know that this battle is very dangerous. Maybe all of us will die. We have no right to let our future mother accompany us to take risks! " His words moved me, at least he cared about me. But I still said in a calm tone: "there is no distinction between men and women on the battlefield. We are all soldiers." After a pause, he asked, "are the troops assembled?"¡° Well, all the additional soldiers have entered the company. I''ve come to ask you to give instructions. "¡° There are no instructions. Get ready to go. "

 Chapter 81

    I took the troops in the forest towards the direction of the most intense gunfire.


    It wasn''t long before we got close to the edge of the forest. From here, we could see the smoke, shrapnel and gunfire in front of us! The black smoke and air waves from the explosion, like a hot fog, shrouded the fighting area for a long time.


    I asked the troops to stop and stand by. Then I went to the edge of the forest by myself, stood by a birch tree, raised my telescope and watched the battle in the distance.


    I don''t know what the volokramsk bus station looked like, but I only saw the ruins through the telescope. In addition to a two-story building without a roof, which stands stubbornly on the horizon, and a few half man high walls that have not yet collapsed nearby, there are still smoky debris piles everywhere. There are dark pits all over the periphery of the rubble heap. There are many bodies lying around the craters. From their uniforms, it is easy to identify that these are the bodies of the German army, which were probably destroyed by our soldiers during the attack.


    From the window of the two-story building, we can see a lot of figures shooting out. It should be that our soldiers are fighting tenaciously. Between the building and the rubble, there were many buses with only frames left in the fire. With these vehicles as the cover, the German army launched a cautious attack on the building. Maybe our army''s firepower was too fierce, and the German attack did not work. After leaving a pile of corpses in front of the building, the remaining soldiers had to retreat back and hide behind the car. They were lying on the rubble and firing at our soldiers in the building.


    "Comrade commander," said felstov in a voice beside me, "it seems that our people are fighting. We should go and help them."


    I put down the telescope and turned to see that he was standing beside me, also holding the telescope to observe the enemy situation. Looking aside, it was not only him, but also other company commanders and deputy company commanders. Originally, I was the only one in the team who had binoculars, but since the army came back from the warehouse, almost every company had a binoculars hanging around its neck. Except for a few which were seized from the German army, the rest should be the inventory in the warehouse.


    I raised the telescope again and measured the distance between us and the destination with the scale on the lens. Then I shook my head regretfully and said, "we are nearly 300 meters away from the station. If it''s normal, the soldiers only need to charge at this distance, and they can rush past it in minutes at most. However, the snow on this section of the road is too deep, and the soldiers'' charging speed will be affected. If the German army finds out, they just need to turn the muzzle of their guns and they can easily wipe out our troops in the snow. "


    "Look! German tanks. " There was a sudden cry from Pavlov, who had not spoken.


    I quickly raised my telescope and nervously looked to the direction of the station. Pavlov was right. There was a German tank coming from a distance. It seemed that it was to provide fire support for the German soldiers. Maybe it was because when they saw their tanks coming, a few German soldiers who had been lying on the rubble suddenly had the courage to jump up and rush into the building with weapons. I didn''t know that I was knocked down by the cross fire of the windows on the first and second floors of our army just after two steps.


    German tanks stopped behind the rubble, the turret slowly turned half a circle, aimed at the building, and burst into fire. A shell hit the wall between the two windows on the ground floor. With the explosion of the shell, bricks and stones splashed on the wall, and the fire of the two windows near the explosion point was interrupted. As the smoke dispersed, a circular pit appeared on the wall, but the wall was not penetrated by the shell. When I saw that the wall was not pierced by German shells, I could not help but feel relieved. I admired Lao maozi from the bottom of my heart. They built the building with high quality and quantity. They did not cut corners at all. They were able to build a high-quality project that could not be pierced by German shells.


    Just as I was filled with emotion about this trustworthy project, the German tank fired another shot and hit the position just now. This time, it was not so lucky as last time. The wall was directly blasted with a big hole for two people to go side by side. The German soldiers hiding behind the bus, seeing that the cannonball had exploded the breach, rushed out of the hiding place and rushed towards the hole.


    This new German attack was defeated by the cross fire of our soldiers without any doubt. Except for those who hid fast, the rest were knocked down. However, a German soldier rushed fiercely. After hitting several rounds, he fell through the hole with the inertia of rushing forward.


    Less than a minute after the German soldier fell in, more than a dozen of our soldiers with rifles poured out of the cave, shouting and attacking the German army hiding behind the car. Tank shells exploded in the crowd, killing several soldiers in the middle. The soldiers in front fired only one shot and were knocked down by the fierce German fire. The soldiers who just came out of the cave saw that the situation was not right, so they quickly turned around and ran back. Unfortunately, it was a step too late, and the German bullets found their final destination.


    A funny counterattack fell apart like this. I was stunned to see the stupid action of the garrison. I secretly scolded which idiot had made such a short attack on the spur of the moment.


    The German tank stepped back a few steps and stopped. With a stream of black smoke coming out of the back of the car, the tank sped up and rushed up the rubble to the station building.


    "No!" There was a cry from Lu Jin¡° What''s the matter? " I put down my telescope and looked at Lu Jin discontentedly, thinking that there is something worth your fuss¡° Comrade commander He came up to me, pointed to the station in the distance and said to me, "the tank of the Communist Party of China wants to rush over and hit the building. If it breaks several walls, the building will collapse and bury all the garrison alive inside." I didn''t speak. I raised my telescope again and looked at the station. My heart was in the battle between heaven and man. Is it going to rescue or not? Compared with such a long impact distance, in addition to the soldiers will pay a huge price in the midway, the German tank will also pose a great threat to us after rushing past. Just as I was thinking about it, I suddenly felt that my vision began to be a little blurred. The two sides of the war, who had seen clearly, actually became a little vague¡° Great! It''s snowing I don''t know who''s next to me. I yelled excitedly. I took a look away from the telescope, and sure enough, the sky really began to snow, and the snowflakes like scraps of paper were falling down, and the more they were scattered, the denser they were, and the visibility quickly dropped to within a few meters. Russia''s weather is so abnormal, often a minute ago or sunny, a minute later will snow. Seeing such a heavy snow, I was overjoyed: God helps me. I don''t have to worry that the German troops will find me when they approach the station. I immediately summoned all of you and gave them a loud assignment: "the first company and the second company surrounded from the left and right sides, and the guard platoon and artillery company attacked me from the front. You tell the soldiers to be smart when fighting. It''s not enough just to have courage. They also need to learn to use tactics correctly. The flesh and blood alone can''t stop the enemy''s bullets. So don''t rush forward foolishly with the enemy''s firepower. That will only let the enemy kill us all... "" Comrade commander! How shall we attack? " The short sergeant who spoke yesterday stood up and asked aloud¡° Good question! You all have to remember that our equipment is good now. Every class is equipped with machine guns. So when attacking, attack with the class as the unit. When encountering the enemy''s firepower interception, first use the machine gun to suppress it, and then use the grenade to destroy him. If you encounter a difficult fire point, the artillery will blow it up with guns. " I stopped for a moment, looked at the commanders gathered in front of me, and then said, "in this battle, I don''t ask you to make a quick decision. As long as you can destroy the enemy with the least cost, it doesn''t matter if you fight slowly. At the end of the battle, if we can live one more soldier, we will have more hope of holding the position. Do you understand? "¡° I see! " Everyone answered me with one voice¡° Good! You go back to your teams and lead the troops to attack! Remember, we used the heavy snow to approach the station and launched a sneak attack on the enemy instead of a strong attack, so the troops were not allowed to make any noise before approaching the German army. Do you understand? "¡° Understand They all agreed.

 Chapter 82

    Under the cover of heavy snow, our troops quickly approached the ruins of the station.


    The sound of gunfire from both sides obscured our actions, so that when we reached the ruins, the German troops besieged the station were not aware of it. As soon as he entered the designated attack position, before I gave an order, Ishayev took the initiative to spread the artillery company around the ruins, and the muzzle of more than a dozen 50 mm and 82 mm mortars aimed at the front.


    Strangely enough, we were just about to start the attack when the snow suddenly and slowly diminished and soon stopped completely. As soon as the snow stopped, my vision suddenly brightened. I was surprised to find that there was a road about ten meters between our position and the German position. Our army had built a lot of barricades and fortifications here, but after being bombed by German planes and artillery, they had become desolate ruins. The ruins were strewn with the bodies of the dead, both German and our army. In contrast, the bodies of our soldiers on the defensive side were more.


    Looking into the distance, the German tank that I saw just now may have been too reckless when rushing forward. The gun barrel actually passed through the frame of an abandoned bus. Now the bus body is hanging on the gun barrel. Hanging such a huge object, it''s hard to hit the wall of the building. Several times, they rushed to the wall for impact, but failed to achieve the goal because of the buffering effect of the car body.


    "Fire!" Isayev, who was next to me, suddenly yelled, which made me jump without any psychological preparation. With "bang, bang, bang!" The sound of a series of shells coming out of the chamber, more than a dozen shells whistling to the German army. The shells accurately landed at the position where the German troops were gathering. One by one, they exploded continuously. The air waves raised the objects near the explosion point high into the air, and the German soldiers were blown to pieces. A lot of blown up bricks and stones were slapped on our hidden debris pile. Seeing this, I felt very lucky. Fortunately, I didn''t launch an attack at the same time, otherwise the splashed bricks and stones would cause unnecessary casualties to us.


    The German soldiers were blinded by our surprise attack. Many people with guns were looking around, eager to find out where the attack came from. While they were in a daze, the second round shells of the artillery company went out again, allowing more enemies to go to God with doubts.


    Seeing that the infantry was shelled, the German tank backed back in a hurry, and kept turning the turret. It was estimated that it wanted to throw the bus out of the way. However, the artillery did not give it a chance to escape, several shells roared straight to the tank. Except for one explosion nearby, the rest of the shells hit the car body without error. The tank, wrapped in fire and smoke, struggled back and retreated a section of the way, then it was completely paralyzed, and none of the tankers could escape from it.


    Another round of artillery shells roared down on the German positions, and the rubble was lifted to the air by the blast wave. Except for a few of them fell on our positions, the rest of them were evenly spread on the German positions, which made the German soldiers who were not visited by the shells cry.


    I suddenly stood up, took up my submachine gun, hit a fan at the German position, and knocked down several soldiers who stood up and ran to avoid falling rocks. The gunshot was an order. Almost as I was shooting, there was a burst of gunfire.


    I held up my submachine gun, which was still smoldering with smoke. I was just about to give out the order of attack. Unexpectedly, the soldiers had already jumped up with a shout, and jumped onto the rubble one after another, carrying the gun and shooting at the same time. Seeing this, I nodded secretly. It seems that these company commanders are pretty good. They know how to grasp the fighters and when is the best time to attack.


    Not only the left and right wings of the troops attacked, but also my guard platoon rushed forward with guns. In this case, I couldn''t stay where I was, so I also grasped the submachine gun and rushed forward behind the soldiers.


    The soldiers'' attack speed was very fast, and the distance of more than ten meters rushed past at once. By the time I crossed the rubble and set foot on the road separating the two armies, the battle was drawing to a close.


    At this time, I don''t know where a bunch of bullets came from, and several soldiers around me were shot and fell to the ground. The soldier standing in front of me leaned back and slammed into me. In a hurry, I quickly reached out to help him. As a result, I was rushed back a few steps by the huge inertia. If someone didn''t help me at this time, I would have fallen on the muddy road.


    I turned around and saw that it was Aji who helped me. He took the body of the soldier from my hand and carefully put it on the ground. Agumento ran to me, half squatted, raised his gun and aimed forward. I looked in the direction of his gun. It turned out that more than a dozen German soldiers were hiding in the wreckage of the bus. They hid in the car, carrying guns to charge the soldiers crazy shooting, many soldiers have fallen under their muzzle.


    With the sound of a gun around me, a German soldier threw his gun, covered his chest and fell out of the window. Five or six of the remaining German soldiers were killed by the intensive firepower of the soldiers, while the rest of them, after emptying the ammunition clips of the submachine guns, yelled and raised their hands to surrender to our army. However, the soldiers have long been red eyed. At this time, they can''t stop even if they want to. The dense bullets are still shooting into the car. In the end, except for the two who were lucky enough to be taken prisoner, the rest were shot into a sieve.


    The sound of shooting on the battlefield gradually thinned down, and then fell completely into silence. The garrison in the opposite building, from the beginning of our army''s shelling, they stopped shooting and hid in the building to watch the change. Now, seeing the end of the battle, someone carefully poked his head out of the window. However, in order to prevent misunderstanding, they first stretched out a flag full of bullet holes and burned a corner from the window and swung it vigorously to show their identity. See our people slowly to the building around the past, upstairs someone leaned out his head, shouting: "Hello, comrades, what part of you?"¡° We are from the independent battalion of 1077 regiment. Which part are you Lieutenant felstov stood in front of the building and answered in a loud voice¡° We are from the first battalion and third company of 1077 regiment. We have never heard of any independent battalion. Which part of you are there? " Then the man who heard the words gave an order in the building: "everyone, prepare to fight!" Seeing the muzzle of the gun protruding from the window, our soldiers were not willing to be outdone and pointed their guns at the building one after another. In this situation, I quickly stepped forward and said to felstov, "let the soldiers put down their guns. Don''t you see our flag floating in the building?" Seeing that everyone had put down their weapons, I went downstairs alone, looked up and said in a loud voice, "I''m commander oshanina, the special commissioner of the front army. The unit I led was temporarily established behind the enemy lines. What part of you? "¡° Commander o''shanina¡° Yes, it''s her. It''s comrade commander Several people''s excited conversations came from the building. In a short time, a few people came out of the hole just opened by the German artillery shell, and they came to me in a few steps. One of the leading staff sergeants stood at attention, saluted me and said aloud, "report, comrade commander, staff sergeant geriath reports to you!" Geriya, the name sounds familiar. I''m thinking about where I heard the name. Aji came up to me and whispered, "commander comrade, geriya, you ordered him to escort the rescued comrades back to the defense area a few days ago. Have you forgotten?" Listening to ah Ji''s words, I suddenly realized. I quickly came forward and took gelia''s hand and said, "it''s you, chief. I didn''t expect that we would meet here."¡° Yes, "he said excitedly, holding my hand in both hands," Comrade commander, I hope you can come back... "Before he finished, a man''s cry came from the distance:" the German devils are coming up! " Hearing the unexpected news, the people around me could not help getting a little flustered. I quickly took my hand out of gelia''s hands, turned back and gave the order to the crowd: "prepare for battle!"

 Chapter 83

    The German infantry, under the cover of a tank, rushed from the city down the street to the station. The soldiers of the second company, under the command of sapochuk, concealed themselves in the buildings on both sides of the street that had not yet completely collapsed and opened fire on the enemy.


    Taking advantage of the opportunity of the second company to block the enemy, I asked felstov to lead the first company into the waiting building to assist the garrison defense. Then I took the soldiers of the guard platoon and artillery company to push the wreckage of several buses to the middle of the road to make a roadblock, and piled up the sandbags in front of the roadblock to build new fortifications.


    The tank stopped about 50 meters away from our position, slowly turned the turret to the left and fired at the most powerful position of the second company. With a loud bang, the shell hit the target accurately and collapsed the whole wall. The broken wall fell down, raising a piece of dust and covering the soldiers who had just shot inside. Several soldiers covered with soil struggled to get out of the ruins. As soon as they ran to the street, they were knocked down by the German soldiers hiding behind the tanks.


    The turret of the tank turned to the right again and fired another shot. The outer wall of the five story residential building on the left side of the road was blown down in half, and the fire point in the building was dumb again. Seeing that the threat on both sides of the street was eliminated, the German soldiers hiding behind the tanks bent over with guns and carefully touched up along both sides of the street.


    I lay down behind the sandbag bunker, looked at the black muzzle of the tank, turned to the artillery company commander who was hiding behind, and cried anxiously, "Ishayev, quickly shoot down the German tank with the gun."


    The artillery company had already set up the mortar. As soon as my order was issued, several shells roared out, and then exploded in the position where the enemy infantry were gathered. Several soldiers close to the explosion point were blown to pieces, and their limbs and viscera were scattered on the street like rain. Fortunately, the soldiers who survived quickly shrank back to the back of the tank.


    The German tanks, perhaps finding our mortars the biggest threat, drove a way forward and then stopped to fire at the artillery position. The shells hit the artillery position accurately, several mortars were directly destroyed, the surrounding artillery were either dead or wounded, and the wounded lay on the ground moaning loudly. Fortunately, the shell was not detonated, otherwise it would cause more casualties.


    Sapochuk was also wounded, his face covered with blood, kneeling on one knee, calmly directing the remaining guns to fire at the enemy.


    "How are you doing, sapochuk?" I asked aloud, crouching behind the bunker.


    "I can''t die." He gave me an answer, then waved down and yelled at his men, "fire."


    Several shells exploded around the tank, and the smoke completely covered the tank. Just when I thought the tank had been destroyed, the wind dispersed the smoke, and the tank continued to move forward intact, followed by groups of infantry.


    "Sapochuk, where''s your antitank gun?" It suddenly occurred to me that there were 45mm anti tank guns in the artillery company, but it seemed that I had never seen them before. If I want to fight tanks, they are the most effective.


    "On the sled, it''s not assembled yet." His answer cooled my heart. Will the German give us time to assemble? Except for a few mortars, we don''t even have combustion bottles. If the tank rushes in front of us, we''re all finished.


    At this time, the second company''s firepower points on both sides of the street revived again, shooting at the German army from a commanding height, and dropping several grenades from time to time. I saw that the infantry behind the tank fell down, and the tank couldn''t hit the soldiers because of the angle. I was afraid of being attacked by our anti tank weapons, so I had to back up in an emergency and run over the corpses and the wounded directly. The screams of those people were creepy.


    As the tank retreated, it fired. A shell hit the rubble pile not far away from me, lifted many bricks and stones into the air and smashed them down again. The falling debris hit my back like a heavy hammer, which made me see stars. I could clearly hear the sound of the bone being smashed, but fortunately it was only painful and didn''t hurt the key. However, the machine gun shooter who was shooting beside me was not so lucky. He was hit in the head by the falling stones. Without a hum, he lay on the sandbag and did not move.


    Holding back the pain, I climbed over and grabbed the machine gun. Put the gun on the sandbag, squat half, put the butt of the gun against the shoulder socket, and jerked the trigger at the enemy in the distance. But machine guns and submachine guns are not the same, the huge recoil let me sit on the ground, a bunch of bullets aimlessly shot into the sky. I stood up, took a lunge, put the butt of the gun against the shoulder socket again, and pulled the trigger again. This time, I didn''t hit the bullet to the sky, but hit it on the ground more than ten meters away, causing snow to splash on the ground. I adjusted my angle again, and this time I fired the bullet right at the German army.


    Two more rounds of mortars were fired, but they did not pose much threat to the German tanks. They just knocked out a lot of infantry. When the German tanks shelled the fire point of the second company, our mortar did not move. I handed the machine gun to Aji, who had just climbed into the bunker. Then I bent down and ran to issayev. I asked him angrily, "why don''t you fire?"


    He sat on the ground, pointed to the empty medicine box and the shell case beside him and said to me, "all the shells are gone."


    I looked disappointedly at the empty box on the ground, then turned my eyes to isayev''s face. I was startled when his Zunrong stopped, and I couldn''t help taking a breath. On his right side of the face, a wound extended from the temple to near the chin. The skin on both sides turned over. The bones inside were clearly visible. It seemed that there were a lot of dirty things in the wound. It seemed that it was black.


    "Hygienist, is there a hygienist?" I yelled to the side, if this wound is not treated in time, once infected, he will be completely finished.


    With my shouts, a soldier with a medicine box on his back climbed up from the nearby rubble, bent to run to me, squatted and saluted me: "commander comrade, Gaidar, 1077 regiment health worker, reports to you, waiting for your instructions."


    I pointed to isayev, who was sitting beside me, and said, "help the company commander deal with the wound. His injury is not light."


    "Yes With a promise, the health worker came to isayev and helped him deal with the wound. He first disinfected the wound with alcohol. Isayev was so painful that he even inhaled air, but he still gritted his teeth and insisted that he didn''t cry out. After picking out the dirty things in the wound with tweezers, the health worker began to sew the wound with special needle and thread. When I saw the health worker doing all this, I got goose bumps all over my body, but it''s not good to leave at this time, so I can only continue to watch. When the health worker took out a roll of bandage and began to bandage, I was relieved and ran back to my original position.


    The three anti tank guns of the artillery company were finally assembled and pushed to the street by the soldiers to shoot directly at the German tanks. By this time, the firepower points on both sides of the street had been almost destroyed by the German army, and the remaining soldiers of the second company could not stop the German army''s massive attack.


    The first round of the anti tank gun broke the track of the tank. The tank, which was moving forward, immediately began to turn around in the same place and glided forward in a circle. Then it crashed into a wall and stopped, revealing only the back half of the body. The stopped tanks are much easier to hit than the moving targets. The artillery''s new round of shooting all hit the targets, and the tanks immediately emitted heavy smoke. It seems that this time they are completely exhausted.


    Without the cover of the tanks, the German infantry appeared to be coming out, bending over and shouting, rushing to our position and shooting at the same time. Several artillery soldiers holding shells and preparing to be loaded were hit by the dense bullets of the enemy. They shook their bodies and fell to the ground.


    Facing the fierce enemy, the soldiers in the guard platoon and the artillery who took up arms, hiding in the ruins and bunkers, opened fire together, and I tried my best to pull the trigger of the submachine gun. In the process of shooting, I could clearly see that countless blood was constantly exploding in the charging crowd. When the enemy rushed 20 meters away from us, they fell down one after another. In the face of our intensive firepower, the German army still rushed forward regardless of casualties.


    Seeing this, I couldn''t help thinking that when there were tanks covering just now, the German army didn''t attack so madly. The tanks were knocked down by us, but they rushed forward recklessly. It''s a hell of a thing.


    "Comrade commander, we have come to help you." When I heard this familiar voice, I knew it was Lukin without looking back.


    When he was lying down beside me and shooting, I asked him in a loud voice, "what''s the matter with you?"


    "Comrade lieutenant, I''m afraid you can''t withstand the German attack, so let me bring two platoons of soldiers to support you."


    In such a dense formation, there is almost no need to aim when shooting. As long as you aim at that place and pull the trigger, you can hit the target. Three or four hundred light and heavy weapons opened fire together, forming a dense fire net. From time to time, grenades and shells exploded in the crowd. It was a complete one-sided massacre.


    After the rest of the German army retreated, we stopped shooting. At this time, the streets were full of dead bodies, and the whole street was soaked in blood. I saw that there were at least 400 German soldiers killed in front of me. I''ve never seen the German army fight such a stupid battle, and I don''t know what their commander thought. In the face of our intensive firepower, they even adopted the stupid method of using people to fill in.


    "What happened to the German army today? This kind of play is just death. " My voice was a little trembling and said to Lukin beside me.


    "Yes Lukin also didn''t understand the German performance. He frowned and thought about it. Then he shook his head and said, "I can''t think of it. It''s estimated that the German commander is crazy. That''s why he made such a crazy move."


    "I know! I know! " When we were puzzled, isayev with bandage on his face climbed over and said excitedly, "I know why the German army is attacking so hard."


    "Why?" Lukin and I asked in unison.


    "Listen


    I listened. There was a lot of gunfire in the distance, and it was getting closer and closer to us. I sat up straight and said, "yes, there are guns in the distance."


    "Ha ha, I know what''s going on." Lukin was excited, too.


    "What''s going on? You two don''t play riddles, just tell me! " What I heard was confused. I was very dissatisfied with them, so I was not polite.


    "Come on, isayev, don''t beat around the bush with the commander. Tell her the real reason why the enemy is crazy." Lukin said to isayev with a smile¡° Say I turned to isayev again. He coughed and then asked me, "Comrade commander, when you heard the gunfire, didn''t you hear anything else?"¡° No, All I heard was gunfire in the distance, nothing else¡° In addition to the sound of gunfire, "isayev was afraid that I would be angry. This time, he did not go around the circle again, but said directly," there was also the sound of shouting "Wula", that is to say, our army was carrying out a counter offensive in the city. The sound is getting closer and closer to here, which means that the German army has been unable to resist and is ready to withdraw from the city. "¡° Oh, I see. " Only then can I understand why the German army just made such a crazy move, adding: "the retreat of the German army was blocked by us. In order to avoid being encircled and annihilated, they attacked regardless of casualties, trying to open a channel from here and let the troops withdraw from wolokramsk."¡° Yes, I guess that''s why. " Isayev nodded and replied, "maybe they will start attacking again later."¡° The German devils are coming up. " Aji yelled at the side. I looked into the street, and the German army in the distance was moving slowly towards us along the street against the corner¡° Crow mouth I secretly scolded Ishayev in my heart, and then yelled at the soldiers hiding around me: "all attention! The German devils are coming up, ready to fight

 Chapter 84

    We''re ready to fire when the Germans get closer.


    Unexpectedly, we saw a strange scene: the German army stopped 50 meters away from our position, and there was no move to attack or find a place to hide. A soldier walking in the front even took off his helmet, turned around and handed over his weapons to the soldiers next to him. Then he held his hands high, with a white handkerchief in his right hand, and strode towards us.


    "What''s the matter?" Seeing this scene, I stood up from behind the bunker and looked at Lukin face to face. After a while, I hesitated and asked Lukin, "what is the German army doing? Do you want to surrender?"


    Lukin slung his submachine gun over his shoulder and said, "I''ll go and have a look."


    "Do you know German?" I asked with some concern that if I did not understand German, I would not understand the intentions of the German army in the past.


    "No problem. I dealt with the German army in Brest and knew some German." Then he went around the fortification and met the German soldier.


    They chatted for a long time in the street covered with corpses. Then Lukin followed the German soldier to the German camp.


    "Comrade commander, do we need to keep up?" Aguminte, Aji and Ishayev asked me in one voice.


    I looked carefully and saw that they were walking slowly, and the German soldiers leaning against the corner were standing there with no movement. He shook his head and said, "it doesn''t matter. Let Lu Jin go and have a look. Besides, I really want to know what medicine these German devils sell in their gourds."


    After listening to me, agumento and Aji didn''t say anything more. They squatted down and watched the German army in front with weapons. Only issayev was still not at ease, walking back and forth in the bunker.


    "Isayev," I looked at him anxiously and quickly looked for a topic to divert his attention: "how are the casualties of the artillery company? How much ammunition is left? "


    This method was really effective. He stopped, thought for a moment, and answered me: "more than 70 soldiers were killed and wounded. There are still two 50 caliber mortars and three 82 caliber mortars left, but there are no shells left; One 45mm anti tank gun and two shells. "


    His reply surprised me. In the battle just now, the German tank was the only one that threatened us most, but we paid such a high price. If the attacking German troops attack us under the cover of a large number of tanks after the bombardment of airplanes and cannons, can we hold on?


    While I was thinking, Aji exclaimed excitedly, "Lukin''s back!"


    I quickly looked up into the street and saw that it was Lu Jin who had come back. Next to him was a German officer in a big cornice hat. Behind the officer was the soldier without helmet. The soldier held a white flag in his hands.


    "I''ve come to surrender!" I said out of the bunker, along the blood soaked streets to meet forward. Behind me were aguminte, Aji, and several other soldiers in the guard platoon.


    The streets were strewn with corpses. Although I walked cautiously, I still stepped on the broken limbs and arms of the German army from time to time. I forced nausea to continue to move forward, trying not to think about what I stepped on, lest I would run to the side and spit out yellow gall.


    After a few more steps, the ground was covered with all kinds of internal organs and pieces of clothes. Unless I stepped on it, I didn''t even have a place to stay. So I stopped and yelled at Lukin not far away, "Lukin, bring that German officer here!"


    Lu Jin and the officer came up to me, pointed to me and introduced to the officer, saying, "this is our commander, Lieutenant Colonel oshanina."


    As he was about to explain the German officer to me, the officer stepped forward, stood at attention, saluted me and said, "Hello, officer girl, we meet again!"


    I meet you again?! When he said this, not only Lu Jin, but also I was stunned. When did I deal with German officers? What''s more surprising to me is that the officer actually spoke Russian just now, and he spoke it very skillfully and standardly.


    "When did we meet? Why don''t I have any impression at all! " I also found out what was going on, so I didn''t bother to ask if they had come to surrender, so I went straight to the subject and asked my concerns.


    "Have you forgotten? On the high ground of Pulkovo outside St. Petersburg, I took people to collect the bodies of our dead soldiers, and you were there. But you were a lieutenant then, and now you''re a lieutenant commander. It''s amazing Then he gave me a thumbs up.


    When I heard this familiar place name in Pulkovo highland, I immediately remembered it. At that time, it was an officer holding a white flag and a lame interpreter wearing a boat hat who came to negotiate. I remember that the officer holding the white flag was somewhat similar to the officer in front of me. Thinking of this, I nodded and said to him, "I remember that when I went to the front of the battlefield with you, it was a very poor Russian translator."


    "Yes, at last you remember. After that, my troops were transferred to the middle line to take part in the attack on Moscow. "


    I coughed, cleared my throat and asked coldly, "what are you going to do now? Do you want to surrender? "


    When the officer heard what I said, he immediately saluted me and said respectfully, "major von torman, commander of the 139th regiment of the 35th infantry division of the German army, led the remaining troops of the 139th regiment to surrender to the Soviet Army!"


    "Wula There was a sudden cheer behind me. I turned around and saw that several guards behind me, holding high their weapons, ran back and yelled: "the German devils have surrendered! The German devils surrendered! "


    With their shouts, the soldiers who had been hidden in the fortifications and bunkers also stood up, raised their weapons and cheered in unison, shouting "Wula!" When someone couldn''t help pulling the trigger on the sky, the sound of various calibre weapons suddenly became one.


    I looked at the soldiers'' carnival with a smile, and I didn''t say anything untimely to stop it. In the dense gunfire, I felt someone touched my shoulder. I turned to see that it was Lu Jin. He came close to my ear and said in a loud voice, "the German devils have surrendered to us. You haven''t answered them yet."


    I was a little embarrassed to hear what Lukin said. I was so happy to patronize myself that I forgot that the German army was still waiting for my reply. He quickly stood up, put on a serious face, and replied, "major von Tolman, on behalf of the Soviet 316th infantry division, I accept the German surrender. Now, you bring your team here and go to the station ahead to disarm. " Then he said to Lukin, "you take a platoon of soldiers to contact with the troops who are fighting from the city, saying that the German army has surrendered and asking them to stop attacking. Remember to go with the flag in case of misunderstanding. "


    "Yes Lu Jin agreed, and ran back to our army to gather people.


    Von torman, with his troops, followed me to the open space in front of the station building. There have been many soldiers of our army here for a long time. The first acquaintances I saw were gelia and felstov. I immediately stopped felstov and said, "Comrade lieutenant, the German army is here to surrender. You are responsible for taking over the weapons and arranging for their evacuation."


    "Yes


    "Where are Pavlov and sapochuk?" I haven''t seen anyone from the second company since the end of the battle, so I am particularly worried that they have all died in the battle.


    "Comrade commander, we are here!" Pavlov and sapocchuk came to me from a crowd not far away and stood at attention.


    When I saw them standing in front of me, my worry suddenly turned into surprise and comfort. I reached out and patted them on the shoulder and said, "just be alive."


    Then he turned and asked gelia, "is there any quiet place around here?"


    "Yes, comrade commander!" He pointed to the gap and said, "there is a meeting room in the station on the first floor, which has not been destroyed by gunfire and can still be used normally."


    "You take us!" Then I said to Pavlov, sapocchuk and von Tolman, "let''s go!"


    When I went in through the gap in the wall, I asked the guide gelia curiously, "gelia, how did you come to the 1077 regiment? What''s going on? "


    Gelia said to me, "Comrade commander, on your order, I will escort the rescued soldiers back to the defense area with some soldiers. I happened to meet the division commander. He said that the strength of defending the station was weak, so he added all of us to the 1077 regiment. Because the company commander of the first battalion and the third company died in the battle, I acted as the company commander. "


    Then he came to the door of the conference room, and gelia pushed open the rickety door and went in first. I went in to have a look. The walls of the room were empty. There was not even a common portrait of Stalin. It was estimated that the staff of the station had taken the portrait away when they moved. In the middle of the room is a long wooden table with a lot of benches around it, on which there is a thick layer of soil. Gelia came forward and dusted the stool with her sleeve. Then she put the stool in front of me and said politely, "Comrade commander, please sit down."


    I''m not polite either. I asked everyone to sit down together. We all found a stool, dusted off the soil and sat down. Because the individual''s movements were relatively big, the house was dusty and it took a long time to return to normal.


    I asked von Tolman, who was sitting next to me, "Mr. major, listen to your name. Are you a German aristocrat?"


    "No," he hesitated for a moment before saying, "my father is just an ordinary government official, and I... I''m a social democrat. I''m anti war. I hate war very much. I have lost any hope of the so-called "victory" publicized. However, Hitler is going to die before I lead the troops to surrender to the Soviet army. "


    "That''s enough. Put away your story." A voice from the door interrupted him. I looked in the direction of the voice. The commander of the 16th group army, rokosovsky, and the 316 division commander, Panfilov, and political commissar, yegorov, were standing at the door. I quickly stood up to salute him and said, "Hello, comrade commander!"


    Rokosovsky nodded at me, walked into the room and said, "all the German officers and men who were caught by us, afraid of being shot by us, said they were Social Democrats." After standing at the table, he told his soldiers at the door, "take this major to ustinovo."


    When I heard him say this, I knew in my heart that this ustinovo should be the new headquarters of the group army headquarters. What makes me feel strange is that since I saw the real Rita in my dream last time, many unknown place names have appeared in my mind, including volokramsk and this ustinovo. After von torman was taken away by the soldiers, all the people who had been sitting in the conference room, except me, backed out. Rokosovsky spread a map on the table and discussed the war situation with Panfilov and yegorov. And I stood by, waiting for their latest orders. Rokosovsky looked up at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, what have you got from this reconnaissance in the enemy''s rear?"¡° Yes¡° Then report it. "¡° Yes I agreed, and then began to report the reconnaissance information to the commander in detail: "as far as the reconnaissance knows, in the face of the 16th army, the German army concentrated the 5th army and the motorized 46th and 40th armies of the 4th tank cluster. The 106th and 35th infantry divisions held their starting positions north of vorokoramsk. To the West and southeast of volokoramsk, facing the left wing of our group army, the German army launched four tank divisions: the 2nd, 11th, 5th and 10th tank divisions and a SS motorized division. More importantly, goodrian''s headquarters are located in the manor of count Tolstoy. " In the information reported to rokosovsky, except that goodrian''s headquarters was in the manor, I personally detected the information. The rest of the information seemed to come out of my mind, and I didn''t know what was going on. However, judging from the situation at the time of the report, it is estimated that it will not be false. I don''t know the number of so many German troops¡° The situation is grim, comrades! " Rokosovsky knocked on the map with a pencil: "judging from the current distribution of German forces, volokramsk station will be the focus of German attack. Mr. Panfilov, can we draw forces from other places to strengthen the defense here?" Panfilov shook his head: "it''s very difficult, comrade commander. We can''t pull out our troops! "It''s also dangerous for dubosekovo to pass, and there are only more than 500 people left in the 1075 regiment defending there." Rokosovsky was silent and frowned. After a while, he bit his purple lips, left the map and went straight to me¡° Commander o''shanina. "¡° Here we are He tapped on the wooden table with his fingers and asked, "I''ll give you the station. Can I hold it for five days?" Originally, I was full of confidence in holding the station. After the battle, I had a rational understanding of the strength of both sides. It was good to hold the station for one day in the face of the German offensive. It was a joke to hold the station for five days. I opened my mouth, and just as I wanted to open my mouth, I found it inappropriate to say so, so I had no words¡° To ask you something! Can we stay here for five days? " Rokosovsky was a little worried when he saw that I didn''t answer¡° I''m... I can''t guarantee it. "It seems that I can''t do without talking. I can only answer with hesitation¡° Four days? " I still shook my head: "after the battle just now, i... I have less than 400 people left, and the consumption of weapons and ammunition is very large. Without heavy weapons, I can''t withstand the German attack."¡° Three days? " Seeing rokosovsky so aggressive, I almost cried out: "Comrade commander, it''s not that I don''t want to defend, but that I really... Can''t defend. We don''t have strong fortifications. As long as the German army bombards us with airplanes, when they attack, we won''t have many living people left in our position. "¡° You Rokosovsky raised his hand in anger, but he didn''t fall down. I thought that if I was not standing in front of him, but a man, he would have slapped me in the face¡° I can''t see that our heroine is also a coward who is afraid of death. " Yegorov, who was next to him, said something like this, biting his back teeth. Since he said such ugly words, I had to retort. I said very impolitely: "in order to defend the motherland, I am not afraid of sacrifice. Since I''m supposed to guard the station, I''ll guard it. But I can''t guarantee that I will stay for a few days. I can only guarantee that the last person in the battle will never retreat. " Rokosovsky was moved to hear me say such cruel words. He stepped forward and put his hand on my shoulder. He comforted me and said, "Comrade oshanina, I hope you can live well to win, instead of sacrificing here with the soldiers. You know, behind us is Moscow. We have no way back. " Welcome to our website www.start.com. The latest, fastest and most popular serial works are all original!

 Chapter 85

    For three days, the station, surrounded by trenches and cobwebs of barbed wire, always wakes up or goes to sleep with the roar of guns and pea like gunfire. It is quiet only in the middle of the night, but occasionally there are German flares shooting into the sky, which make the station look like day in a short time.


    After talking with rokosovsky that day, he and Panfilov left with a pat on the ass, and the task of guarding the bus station still fell on me. Although I was given the establishment of an independent battalion, the third company of resdayev did not return. Only the company with more than 70% casualties led by gelia was under my command. As a result, I had only three heavily wounded infantry companies and an artillery platoon outside, with a total strength of less than 400.


    In order to keep this damn station, I have to rack my brains to find a way. In order to strengthen the defense, I organized the soldiers to dig a half person deep circular trench outside the ruins, and pull barbed wire outside the trench. Later, I found out by accident that although the buildings near the station had been destroyed, the basement below was still intact. So I immediately organized people to dig tunnels to connect the basement with the trench. In the event of German bombing or shelling, except for a few observation posts, the rest hid in the basement.


    Since the total annihilation of the 139 regiment that attacked wolokoramsk in the direction of the station, the German army changed its direction of attack and did not launch a new attack on the station. Instead, it sent planes to bomb or bombard us with large caliber heavy artillery.


    Although the various measures I have taken have effectively reduced the casualties of our army. But it is only reduced, and can not be completely avoided. In yesterday''s shelling, the station building became the main target of German attack. In just half an hour, it was directly hit by at least hundreds of shells, and finally collapsed. Like the surrounding houses, it was in ruins. When the building collapsed, more than 20 soldiers were buried alive before they could escape. Lukin and sapochuk were seriously injured and taken to the military hospital in yujanaya. While gelia was directly hit by the shell, and was blown to pieces on the spot, even the body was not found. In one day, I lost three powerful right and left arms. Now I only have four people around me, I hope they don''t have any accidents. Otherwise, I don''t even have anyone who can use them.


    In the evening, I was squatting in the trench, watching the enemy outside with a telescope. Suddenly I heard someone calling me: "Comrade commander, Mr. Panfilov is calling to ask you to go to the division headquarters immediately." I moved the telescope away and looked in the direction of the sound. I saw festov bending over and running towards me along the trench.


    He squatted down in front of me and repeated what he had just said. I handed him the telescope in my hand and asked, "do you know what the teacher asked me to do?"


    "The teacher didn''t say it on the phone. He just asked you to hand over the position to me immediately, and then rush to the division headquarters immediately."


    "Well," I said reluctantly, "during my absence, you and Pavlov should be alert and keep an eye on the movements of the German army. They consume our troops with bombs and shells every day, and they may launch a new offensive at some time. "


    "I see!"


    I took agumento and Aji across the city to the east of wolokramsk, where the division headquarters is. Under the guidance of a patrol sentry, we came to the semi underground shelter where the division headquarters was.


    Seeing us approaching, the sentry at the door, with his rifle in his hand, asked for the order in a loud voice. I stopped and said to the sentry in a loud voice, "I''m lieutenant commander o''shanina. I''m reporting to the division headquarters on the order of the division commander. I don''t know today''s password."


    "Comrade sentry, let her in. We''ve been waiting for her for a long time." Hearing the sound, the sentry put away his weapons and returned to his post. As soon as I saw it, it was none other than yegorov, the political commissar who made sarcastic remarks a few days ago.


    I asked aguminte and Aji to wait for me in the same place. I went up to salute the political commissar whom I didn''t want to see. Then I followed him into the shelter. As soon as I went in, I saw the teacher with a moustache sitting in front of the table. There was a lantern on the table and a radio. It seemed that someone was making some important speech on the radio, so that he was very absorbed. Seeing me come in to salute him, he nodded and then asked me to sit down: "Comrade commander, you are just in time. Please sit down and listen to Comrade Stalin''s speech at the celebration meeting of October Revolution Day."


    It''s not easy to hear the sound in the radio. The loudspeaker often crackles. Teachers and political commissars could not help but come to the radio to meet and listen attentively, trying not to miss a word. I sat at a long table, listening to Stalin''s resounding speech on the radio: "the German aggressors wanted to carry out a war of annihilation against the people of all ethnic groups in the Soviet Union. ok Since the Germans want to carry out a war of annihilation, they will certainly get it! "


    When Stalin finished his speech, there was a storm of applause and cheers on the radio. Then came the music of the Internationale, which seemed to cross the surging sea. At first, it was faintly audible, but soon it became louder and louder.


    "Report!" Panfilov got up and was about to say something when a man''s voice broke in untimely. We look around and see krochkov, the first level political instructor, standing at the door. He was wearing a short fur coat with a fur collar, no hat and hot air on his forehead. He looked as if he had come from a long distance. Without waiting for the teacher to speak, he continued: "Comrade General, please forgive me. I can''t salute you. On the way here, the enemy''s sniper knocked the hat off


    Panfilov laughed, turned off the radio and jokingly said, "it doesn''t matter if you don''t have a hat. The important thing is that you still have your head." Then he went to the commissar, bent down and said something to him. I took advantage of this opportunity to stand up and shake hands with krochkov. After all, I''ve been together for a long time, so it''s hard to say without saying hello.


    The teacher turned around, holding two red boxes in his hand, and said to both of us, "stand up!" Krochkov and I quickly came to attention and stood upright in front of him.


    "Commander oshanina," he said solemnly, "for your bravery and indomitable fighting spirit in defending our capital Moscow, the highest Soviets award of the Soviet Union gives you the red flag medal." After that, I handed one of the boxes over. I took the box with the medal in both hands, straightened up and said aloud, "serve the Soviet Union." Panfilov extended his hand and gave me a strong shake to congratulate him.


    "Instructor krochkov!" He looked at my former battalion commissar and said, "for your bravery, tenacity and indomitable fighting spirit in the battle of defending our capital Moscow, the Supreme Soviet Union''s Soviets award you the red flag medal." With that, he handed over the remaining box. Krochkov took the box, straightened up like me, and said aloud, "I''d like to serve the motherland of the Soviet Union." The teacher also grasped his hand and gave it a strong shake.


    "Wait a minute." The commissar stood up with an enamel teacup, poured vodka into it, and said, "bring me the medal." Although I was puzzled by his actions, I still handed the box with the medal as he told me. Krochkov also handed the medal to the political commissar just like me.


    As soon as the commissar threw the two medals into the cup, krochkov asked curiously, "what are you doing?"¡° I should say clean, "said the commissar, handing me the cup and explaining," according to the tradition of the Russian army, I hope this is not the last one. " Seeing that I had taken the cup, he said to me in a commanding tone, "drink it!"


    Holding the glass, I hesitated and said, "but I don''t know how to drink!"


    "It doesn''t matter. You can have a drink. Let crotchekov have the rest." My teacher helped me out in time.


    I raised the cup high and said aloud, "glory belongs to us, glory belongs to our motherland." Then he put the cup to his lips, took a small sip, and handed the glass to krochkov. He took the cup, very embarrassed to say: "but I do not drink ah!"


    "Come on! You can try it for this good thing. It''s also to celebrate our great October Revolution Day. " The teacher encouraged him to finish his drink with a smile.


    I''ve already said that. If krochkov doesn''t drink any more, it''s a bit unreasonable. He picked up the glass and drank all the wine left in it as if it were boiled water. As soon as he finished, his body began to shake. I quickly helped him sit down on the bench. He took a long breath after sitting down, then said to the two division leaders with a smile, "I should be drunk."


    "It doesn''t matter. The Germans won''t touch it at night. You can sleep safely." The commissar took out two medals from the cup and pinned them on his chest for me and krokov.


    Just then, the telephone beside the wall rang. The teacher went to pick up the receiver and said loudly, "I''m number one. Go ahead." Then he straightened up and said respectfully to the microphone, "Hello, comrade Zhukov! I didn''t expect you to call me like this. Do you have any combat missions? " Then he did not speak, but listened carefully to what the other party said. When the other party finished speaking, he continued: "OK, everything is clear, comrade general, I''ll arrange it right away. I wish you good health. Goodbye


    Putting down the phone, he excitedly walked up to us and said to the political commissar, "we have just received a call from the commander of the Western Front Army, ordering us to immediately transfer our manpower from all the troops to form a mixed battalion and get on the bus, which is directly dispatched by the headquarters." At this point, his eyes turned to me, called my name and said, "Lt. o''shanina!"


    "Here it is I came to attention.


    "I appoint you commander of this mixed battalion." Then he looked at the first level political instructor sitting on the stool: "krochkov!"


    "Here it is Krochkov jumped up from the stool.


    "Appoint you as the commissar of the mixed camp."


    "Comrade division," I couldn''t help interrupting and asked, "can I ask, what is the mission of this mixed camp?"


    "Yes. The task of the mixed camp is to go to red square and take part in the inspection of tomorrow''s October Revolution Day! "


    "Great When krochkov heard the news, he was as excited as a chicken. His drowsy drunkenness disappeared immediately. I know vodka is different from domestic Baijiu, and it has no stamina. What it usually feels like when it''s drunk is that it will be better in a few minutes.


    Krochkov belongs to the impatient type. He turns around and wants to run out, but the teacher stops him again. The teacher took the hat he was wearing from his head, handed it over and said, "it''s cold outside. If you don''t wear a hat, you''ll have a headache. I''ll give you the leather hat I''m wearing." Krochkov took the hat with some embarrassment, hesitated for a moment and put it on his head. Then he slowly raised his hand, saluted and said, "thank you, Comrade General."

 Chapter 86

    According to my opinion, if personnel are to be transferred, Lieutenant felstov and instructor Pavlov are the best candidates. They are fully qualified for the positions of company commander and instructor in one company. As a result, this proposal was rejected by political commissar yegorov. His reason was that the station was the key point of the division''s defense zone. Second lieutenant, they should stick to their posts to prevent German sneak attacks. As for the personnel participating in the inspection, they should be transferred from the troops currently in the second line.


    Since he has said so, I can only keep silent even if I have no more opinions. So I let him and krochkov choose the people to refer to, and I stay in the division headquarters to chat with Panfilov.


    Because Stalin could be seen in close range during the inspection, the soldiers showed great enthusiasm after learning the news and did not want to miss this rare opportunity. It took them nearly an hour to select 200 soldiers and temporarily appoint company commanders and instructors of three companies.


    But when the car that headquarters sent to pick us up arrived, all the people were surprised. There were only three and a half ton trucks. That is to say, in addition to a few commanders including me, only 80 soldiers went to the Red Square parade, and the rest had to stay.


    Seeing all this, Panfilov stood there with an iron face and said nothing. Yegorov came up to him and said in a low voice, "Comrade division commander, do you think we should call Comrade Zhukov of the front army headquarters and ask him to ask the headquarters to send us some more trucks?"


    "No, it''s right to arrange the base camp like this. If our division sends too many people to participate in the inspection, the defensive forces will be empty and give the enemy a chance." When Panfilov finished saying this, he stopped for a while, and then he said with some embarrassment, "now it seems that only half of the people can go, what do you think should be arranged?"


    Yegorov frowned and thought about it, then shook his head and said, "it''s not easy to do, sir. It''s not easy to do any ideological work. After all, it''s not always possible to see Comrade Stalin at close range." At this point, he turned to ask krochkov, "Comrade political instructor, what do you think should be done?"


    Krochkov was silent for a moment. He seemed to be thinking about what he should do and how he should solve the problem. Finally, he shrugged and said, "I don''t have the best of both worlds."


    Panfilov looked at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, do you have any good idea?"


    I nodded, did not speak, but directly went to the front of the line of four, said loudly: "attention! At my command, all of you, count


    "One, two, three, four, five..." the soldiers began to count.


    When the count was over, I announced: "the soldier who reported the count, move forward!"


    With my command, half of the soldiers in each column took a step forward, and then all eyes looked at me, waiting for my next command.


    "Even numbered soldiers, turn back." Seeing the soldiers turning back in unison, I then finished the command: "target: barracks. Walk together Although I can only see the back of the soldiers leaving, I know that their faces must be filled with disappointment, but there is no way. Who told the base camp to send only three cars, but someone still has to stay.


    "Well done!" The teacher came and patted me on the shoulder and said with approval. But he looked at the rest of the team and said with some worry, "there are only 80 soldiers in the car, but there are still 100 people here. What about the 20 more?"


    "It doesn''t matter. Although there are more people, they can squeeze together in order to meet Comrade Stalin." Then I asked the soldiers loudly, "do you think so?"


    "Yes Hundreds of throats agree with me.


    "OK, let''s go!" Then the division commander turned to krochkov and ordered, "you still have a long way to go. Go and command the soldiers to get on the bus."


    Krochkov saluted, ran to the truck and called out in a loud voice, "all of you, get in the car I raised my hand to salute the division commander and political commissar, and then quickly ran to the truck.


    I was sitting in the cab of the front car, with the driver on the left and krochkov on the right. Shortly after the car left, krochkov''s strength of wine seemed to come up again. He fell asleep on my shoulder. I pushed him a few times. Seeing that he didn''t have any reaction, I didn''t disturb his sleep any more.


    The driver looked ahead and drove with all his attention. He didn''t want to talk to me at all. I began to shut my eyes. With my eyes closed, I remembered what krochkov said just now when he received the Medal: "serve the motherland of the Soviet Union!" He bit the word "motherland" very hard, which made me feel very uncomfortable. I can''t help thinking about an important question: who am I? Where is my motherland?


    If I am the real Rita, then the Soviet Union is my motherland; But I still haven''t fully adapted to the role of Rita, or even to my current female identity. Let me regard the Soviet Union as my motherland. I really can''t do it. In my heart, my motherland will always be an ancient civilized country in the Far East, which is being invaded by the Japanese aggressors. What does it matter to me who wins or loses, the Soviet Union or Germany? Although the German invaders have never been able to step into Moscow and conquer the country. But decades later, in Moscow, there were a group of young people with shaved heads, dressed in * * uniforms, marching on the streets, holding up * * hands and shouting "long live Hitler". What a funny thing it is that those new revolutionaries, not the Germans, are the descendants of those soldiers who fought with the German army behind me!


    If I had not foreseen the final outcome of the war, knew that Germany would be defeated in the end, and the Soviet Union was one of the final winners, I would not have fought so hard in many battles. I could have led my troops to surrender to the German army under the unfavorable situation, just like the German major von Tolman did a few days ago. However, in the current situation, I can only stand on the side of the Soviet Union. What I fight for my motherland is just a slogan. My motherland is China, not the Soviet Union. All the battles we are fighting today are just for our own survival.

 Chapter 87

    Half asleep and half awake, I felt as if the car had slowed down, so I tried to open my eyes. While rubbing his eyes, he asked the driver next to him, "are you going to the destination?"


    "Soon, comrade commander, we have arrived at Pushkin square. We will arrive at Red Square in five minutes."


    I looked out of the car window. Pushkin''s bronze statue is on the left side of the road. It seems that it has entered the martial law area. On both sides of the road, an armed man stands every few meters. From the uniform, except the soldiers of the garrison, the police, the traffic police, and even the workers'' pickets, they all carry bayonet rifles, Standing on the side of the road like nails.


    "Comrade commander," the driver said softly again.


    "What''s the matter?" I asked, looking at him.


    "It''s time to change your clothes. I think everyone else is wearing a short fur coat in khaki. You are the only one wearing a white camouflage suit."


    After listening to what the driver said, I found that my camouflage suit really needed to be changed. It was so dirty that I couldn''t see the original color because of the bloodstain and mud. Besides, there was a shortage of water at the station, so I didn''t have the condition to wash clothes, so I always wore this dirty clothes. But this little thing can''t help me. I''m still wearing a tawny short fur coat inside. So I carefully moved krochkov''s head from my shoulder to the window glass, and then began to take off the belt and take off my coat.


    After taking off the clothes outside, although I was in the car, I still felt a chill. I took the medal off my camouflage suit and pinned it carefully to my fur coat. Then I put on my belt and my briefcase. Just after all this, the car has arrived at its destination and stopped steadily beside the Gumm shopping mall.


    I pushed krochkov beside me and said, "Hey, wake up, comrade instructor, here we are."


    Krochkov, who was still sleeping, immediately opened his eyes and said excitedly, "it''s Red Square!" Then he pushed the door open and jumped down.


    I asked the driver, "will you take us back later?"


    "Of course, I''ll wait for you by the Moscow river. As soon as the inspection is over, you can take your troops back to the front line When he said this, he took a look at the camouflage clothes and submachine guns I put on my knees and offered to say, "you can put these clothes and submachine guns on the car. Anyway, you have to go back by car later."


    Thank you I said, putting my clothes and submachine gun on my seat and jumping out of the open door.


    "Comrade instructor, look what you look like. Quickly gather the team and go to the square." As soon as I got out of the car, I saw an officer with a lieutenant colonel''s badge lecturing krochkov.


    "What''s the matter?" I asked curiously and walked towards them.


    "What else?"?! As soon as the commander got out of the car, he stood here and stretched himself. He didn''t know how to gather the troops and go to the station as soon as possible... "The officer turned to me and saw me standing in front of him. After half of the words, he stopped.


    "Hello! Comrade commander, I didn''t expect to see you here. I''m so happy. " At a glance, I recognized the officer standing in front of me. It was no one else. It was Colonel bezikov who almost went to the execution with me.


    He took my active hand, shook it a few times, and said excitedly, "commander o''shanina, I didn''t expect to see you here. It''s so nice to see you here. How are you doing? "


    "OK, thank you for your concern."


    While we were talking about the past politely, kroshkov whispered: "Comrade commander, is it time for us to enter the whole team?"


    Hearing what he said, I found that this time was really not suitable for reminiscence, so I answered him, "gather the team first, and I''ll be there in a minute." Seeing kroshkov greeting the soldiers who had just got off the bus, he cried out, "come here, team up!" Taking this opportunity, I asked bzikov in a low voice, "what happened just now? When I got out of the car, I saw you criticizing instructor kroshkov. "


    "No big deal. It''s just that after he gets off the bus, he doesn''t gather the troops and still stands there to stretch out, which is harmful to the image of the soldiers. In the future, just tell him to pay attention. " He said a few understatement, and I shook hands, turned to continue his work. I''ve been in Moscow for many years, and I know that stretching, sneezing and so on in public will be looked down upon and disgusted by people. So it''s not surprising that bzikov did that to kroshkov just now.


    The inspection teams are all arranged in front of the Gumm shopping mall in the east of Red Square, facing Lenin''s tomb and the Kremlin, while our team is at the northernmost side of the whole team. Standing opposite us were soldiers of the Central Guard Corps, who drew a cordon along the west side of Red Square and with their back to Lenin''s tomb. The viewing platforms on the left and right sides of Lenin''s tomb are full of people, all of whom are important party and government officials. Because of the distance, I don''t know if there are people I know inside.


    Snowflakes falling from the sky, not only dyed the red square ground white, but also turned the soldiers'' shoulders and backs into a vast expanse of white.


    When the bell on the clock tower began to ring, Stalin, wearing a gray coat and hat, accompanied by a group of heavyweights, slowly walked up to the rostrum on Lenin''s tomb. After the ninth stroke of the bell, the military band under the palace wall sounded the horn.


    As soon as the trumpet was over, Stalin''s familiar voice came out through the trumpet placed on the wall of Gumm Mall: "Red Army and red navy soldiers, commanders and political workers, male and female guerrillas, comrades! The whole world is watching you as a force capable of destroying the German aggressors and bandits. The enslaved European peoples under the oppression of the German aggressors are watching you as their liberators. The great mission of liberation has fallen on your shoulders. Don''t let this mission down! Your war is a war of liberation, a war of justice. "


    I can feel that Stalin is very excited at this time. His speech speed is much slower than that on the platform of the Kremlin. Stalin stopped for a moment, took a deep breath, and then said in a more determined tone, "let''s look at the heroic images of our great predecessors - Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Dmitry pocharski, Kozma minen, Alexander Suvorov, Mikhail Kutuzov, Let us inspire you in this war, let the banner of victory of the great Lenin guide you, and march forward to victory under the banner of Lenin! "


    As soon as his voice fell, the whole audience burst into cheers, and thousands of throats chanted: "Wula ~! Wula!! Wula


    At the beginning of the call, I was still very calm. I even had time to recall the scene when I arrived at Red Square in 2002. When the day came, Red Square had been closed, and the police on duty separated the tourists from the square with iron fences. At that time, a group of middle-aged and old people holding high the Soviet Union''s national flag were standing outside the fence. One of them, a middle-aged man with a beard, saw a lot of foreign tourists around, and waved the flag and cried out: "the 85th anniversary of the great October Revolution, Wula!" When the voice of "Wula" became loud, he opened his voice to sing the Internationale.


    The commanders and fighters in the square chanted "Wula" over and over again I couldn''t help shouting. I didn''t stop until someone was pulling at my sleeve.


    The one who pulled my sleeve was a soldier with a red sleeve on his left arm. He came close to my ear and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, take your troops to the front of the history museum right away. We are going to review them."


    I nodded and saw that the soldier went to another queue to inform the other commanders one by one. Then I turned to krochkov and said, "Comrade instructor, take the troops to the museum. The inspection will begin soon."


    Krochkov happily agreed, and then began to give orders in a loud voice: "everyone, listen to my command: turn right, march together!"


    Today''s review ceremony was arranged in a very compact way. Almost as soon as Stalin''s speech was over, the parade began. Walking in front of us is an army from Siberia. The soldiers in the square array are carrying bayonet rifles, following several commanders, walking forward with vigorous steps.


    Our phalanx followed closely. I stood on the far right of the front row of the phalanx, that is, when I passed Lenin''s tomb, I was the nearest commander to Stalin. Before we started, we were reminded by the officers of the guard Regiment: don''t go straight, just walk together.


    I can fully understand this strange order. The ground in red square is paved with stones. Once it rains or snows, the ground will be very slippery. In previous years, before the military parade ceremony, the commanders of the military and the leaders of the traffic police forces would draw the road routes on the square together, and there was a special person responsible for the snow removal work of the square. However, the decision of the military parade was very sudden, so some preparatory work was not carried out. In addition, with the Russian army''s forward step, the legs were raised at a right angle of 90 degrees to the ground, so it was difficult for ordinary troops to complete this movement. Because of the slippery road and the fear that everyone''s movements were not standard, the rule of going straight when passing the reviewing stand was cancelled.


    On this occasion, I was very nervous, so when I left, I couldn''t help looking left and right. After a few steps, I found that krochkov had raised his hand to his temples and began to salute. No way, I can only obediently learn from him to lift his hands.


    As the square array passed Lenin''s tomb, I could clearly see Stalin standing on it. He also put his hand on his temples and saluted the commanders and fighters passing by him. He was accompanied by a bearded soldier in a leather hat and Marshal''s uniform standing next to him. I easily recognized marshal bujoni, who had been challenging me from the Kremlin podium. He seemed to recognize me from the queue, and even nodded to me with a smile.


    It wasn''t until I got down the wasiri slope that I put my hand down and breathed a sigh of relief. When they came to the Moscow River, from time to time, officers of the guard regiment came to direct the troops coming from Red Square to turn left or right, and a special person led them to find their vehicles.


    We walked west along the river and passed by a long line of trucks parked on the side of the road, but we didn''t see the three trucks that had just sent us. I can''t help worrying. If I can''t find those trucks, my submachine gun will be lost soon.


    Just when I was in a hurry, the door of a truck not far in front of me opened. A driver half leaned out of the cab and yelled, "Comrade commander, here it is."

 Chapter 88

    The truck drove westward along the river. After driving for some distance, it turned around and got on a stone bridge. Then it drove all the way south.


    The military parade in 1941 was of great significance to both the Soviet Union and later Russia. It was a major historical event worthy of special study. And as a participant in this historical event, I am sitting between the driver and krochkov, holding a submachine gun, and I shut my eyes without saying a word.


    The truck was driving and suddenly stopped. I opened my eyes and asked the driver, "how did you stop?" While asking questions, I looked out of the window to see if I met any temporary checkpoints. I don''t know when the snow has stopped outside. The visibility is very high. The sky above the highway is very clear. Not to mention the checkpoints or barricades, even people can''t see one.


    "The car broke down. I''ll go and have a look." The driver opened the door and jumped down. He went around to the front of the car, lifted the front cover and examined it carefully.


    I moved my body to the left and sat in the driver''s seat. I went out from the half open door and looked back. Except for my car and the other two trucks, all the cars behind me stopped. The long motorcade couldn''t see the end at a glance. I turned to kroshkov and said, "Comrade instructor, you see, our car broke down and blocked all the cars. I don''t know what''s wrong with this car. I don''t know when it will be repaired. Would you go to the back and let those cars go first? "


    "No problem. I''ll be right there." He said, straightening the cap on his head, then pulled open the door on his side, jumped down and trotted to the motorcade behind.


    After a while, the cars behind me came and passed me one by one. The driver was still checking what was wrong with the car. I was bored sitting in the cab alone, so I moved my body to the right side of the car and got out of the car through the door opened by krochkov.


    I looked into the carriage and saw that although the soldier''s hat, shoulders and back were covered with thick snow at the moment, he still sat upright. While admiring the soldiers, I also have a lot of opinions on the leaders who sent us cars: on such a cold day, they actually sent us three open trucks to let the soldiers sit in the open car and drink.


    There seems to be a man-made lake on the right side of the road. From a distance, except for the small area in the middle of the lake, other places have frozen. Isn''t the man-made lake usually in the forest? How can one suddenly appear on the Moscow river? With this doubt, I walked to the lake.


    The man-made lake is about 50 meters away from the road, and I walk cautiously along the snow. Just half the way, a mature voice came from behind: "Hello, comrade commander, are you here for the October Revolution Day parade?"


    When I looked back, I saw an old officer in his fifties. He was wearing a big cornice hat with a red cap ring. The gold star on the red diamond collar showed that he was a general. I quickly counted that there were four stars, a general. I hastened to salute him at attention and reported, "Hello, general! I''m lieutenant commander o''shanina. I''ve been ordered to bring my troops to red square for the inspection. "


    "Very good!" The general nodded and said, "it''s a coincidence that you''re here. There''s only one person left in our parade commander''s team. You can just join us to make up for this position."


    Commander''s party?! What''s going on? I was confused and asked, "what kind of commander square array? Where are the other commanders? Why can''t I see anyone but you? "


    "Isn''t that right?" He pointed to the lake with his hand. I looked in the direction of his finger. Sure enough, a small army came to me behind an officer holding a flag.


    In a short time, a strange team passed in front of us. I can see clearly that it is a major general who holds the flag, and the commanders who follow are generally of high rank. Except for a few political workers, the rest are either generals or colonels, and there are very few at my level.


    "Comrade commander, hurry up, stand in the team and go to red square with us. If we delay any longer, the review will be over. " The admiral said to me in a tone of command, and then he turned and followed the line. Without thinking, I followed the admiral and walked back and forth towards the Moscow river.


    "Commander kilbonos!" A shrill voice suddenly called a voice nearby. The sudden voice made the whole team stop and everyone looked in the direction of the voice. I saw the speaker in a gray army coat, a dog skin hat and round glasses on the bridge of his nose. He came up to us and said in a trembling voice, "commander kilbonos, didn''t you die in the battle of Kiev?" Then he turned to the major general who held the flag and said, "chief of staff tupikov, didn''t you also die?" Then he pointed to a political worker with two beards and cried, "Comrade burmestenko, military commissar, I saw you blown to pieces by the bomb of the bandits with my own eyes."


    Ah?! Hearing this, I couldn''t help shivering. I ran a few steps to the side, came to the man''s side, and asked in a trembling voice, "what''s the matter?"


    "I''d like to introduce you," he said, pointing to the general I spoke to just now. "This is general kirponos, the former commander of the southwest front army. Major general tupikov, the chief of staff of the southwest front army, holds the flag. That is Comrade burmeschenko, the military Commissar. The rest are staff members of the southwest front army headquarters. Except for Khrushchev, bujoni and I who broke through successfully, the rest of the commanders died in the battle to defend Kiev! "


    Even if a bomb went off beside me, the power of the information that this officer with eyes told me was not amazing. I can''t help but step back two steps. My God, I''m dealing with a group of ghosts. At this time, I noticed that they were all wearing summer clothes, and just now so many people walked, there was no sound; After walking in the snow, I didn''t even leave a footprint. Seeing this scene, I really wanted to know whether it was real or a dream, so I put my index finger in my mouth and bit it fiercely. The pain I felt in the moment made me understand that what happened in front of me was real, but I was not in a dream.


    Admiral gilbonos looked at us, gave us a sad smile and said, "I didn''t expect that we all died." After a pause, he said, "Comrade Vlasov, the task of defending Moscow is up to you and the living comrades. You must not betray our trust."


    "Comrade commander, you can rest assured that as long as I am still alive, I will fight on."


    "Since you say so, I''m relieved!" The general said, facing the silent commanders and fighters standing nearby, and said, "we have fulfilled our vows and defended our motherland with our lives. Now we are going to move forward to the Red Square, to protect our motherland and nation with our souls together with the martyrs who are sleeping there. "


    The admiral and his team soon disappeared from my view as if they had never been there. I chased forward a few steps, stopped, facing the place where the spirits disappeared, raised my hand to the sideburns, and solemnly made a military salute.


    "Hello, comrade o''shanina!" The shrill voice rang out in my ears again. I remembered that there was another person standing beside me. I quickly put down my hand and turned to face the person later. Seeing me turn around, he added, "I''m major general Vlasov, commander of the new 20th army."


    After listening to his identification, I found that there was a major general standing in front of me. I immediately stood at attention, saluted him and reported to him in a loud voice: "Hello, Comrade General! I''m lieutenant commander o''shanina. I''m at your service


    "Do you know where this is?" He suddenly pointed to the artificial lake and asked me.


    I shook my head and said in an uncertain tone, "maybe it''s a man-made lake or something."


    "No, it''s not an artificial lake. It used to be the site of resurrection cathedral. A few years ago, we planned to build a Soviet palace here, so we bombed the church and exiled all the priests. But after the foundation was laid, construction accidents occurred frequently, several people died, and the construction site became a lake overnight. Some people say that this is the God angry, will appear this kind of incredible thing At this point, he looked left and right, then came over, put his hands on my shoulder, and said in a low voice, "you and I can only know what happened to commander gilbonos just now. We don''t think we can tell a third person, otherwise we will cause unnecessary trouble. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" I didn''t understand why he said that, but I agreed to him very simply.


    "General Vlasov, commander oshanina, you are here. We are looking for you everywhere." I was startled by the sudden voice. I turned around and saw that I knew the person who had participated in the trial of me and bezikov.


    Krochkov, dressed in casual clothes, came up to me and said dryly, "I have come to you on the order of Comrade bosklebshev and general Vlasov. You have important tasks to perform."


    "OK, I''ll go and talk to my soldiers, and then I''ll go with you."


    Krochkov did not speak, but nodded and agreed.


    I walked quickly towards the parking place of the truck, just in time to see krochkov with a few soldiers come in a hurry. When I saw him, he quickly walked a few steps to my side and asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, where did you go just now? I didn''t see you in the twinkling of an eye. I thought something was wrong with you, so I drove all the soldiers out of the car and looked for you everywhere. "


    "Ah?" I was surprised to hear him say that. I didn''t walk far just now. It was no more than 50 meters away from the truck. How could they not see me¡° I haven''t gone far. It''s by the puddle


    "I''ve seen it. There''s no one everywhere. That''s why the soldiers are looking for you." At this point, he leaned close to my ear and said in a low voice, "at this moment, I saw a black car parked behind our truck. A general came down from the car. After walking towards the puddle for a while, he suddenly disappeared from my sight. When he shows up again, I''ll see you with him. "


    My God, what the hell is going on? The more I listen, the more confused I am. But I couldn''t make it clear for a while, so I quickly raised my hand to stop krochkov and went on: "OK, that''s it. Don''t mention it any more. I''m here to tell you that the superior has important tasks for me to carry out, and you are responsible for bringing these troops back. Do you understand? "


    "Yes I went to the truck, leaned in through the open door and took out my clothes and submachine gun. Just as he was about to close the door, he saw the driver get on the car from the door on the other side and asked him, "Comrade driver, has the car been repaired?"¡° Comrade commander, do you know? It''s very strange. I checked it just now and there was nothing wrong with it. I''m thinking about how to repair it. The motor of the car starts to rotate automatically. Isn''t that strange¡° Commander o''shanina, please hurry up. Everyone is waiting for you From behind came the voice of the hateful krochkov. I quickly and loudly promised: "here, I''ll be right there." Then he waved to the driver, slammed the door, turned around and shook hands with coach krochkov, and walked quickly past the black car parked in the back.

 Chapter 89

    Krochkov was in the co pilot''s seat, and I had to go to the back and sit with general Vlasov.


    Strange to say, although Vlasov saved my life just now, I felt uncomfortable and extremely restrained when I sat with this benefactor. He didn''t speak. I didn''t speak first. I just held the submachine gun in my arms, turned my head to one side, and looked out of the window.


    Along the way, I thought, I am the soul through this time and space, borrowing Lida''s body, occasionally see some strange things, it''s reasonable. But why can general frasov see the spirits of general kilbonos? And even more strangely, when we were communicating with the dead, we actually disappeared from other people''s sight. When I think about it, I feel a chill coming out of my back.


    Looking back to the last time I met the real Rita in my dream next to the puddle just now, my Russian level almost reached the level of my mother tongue overnight. Did I directly inherit all her language memory after communicating with Rita? One day, Russian TV News reported that there was a UFO near Red Square, and a video was broadcast for several minutes. Judging from the hovering position of the UFO at that time, it was not far from the cathedral. Is there any mysterious power hidden in the place where the church is located? When general Vlasov and I saw the death of the general, we were temporarily involved in this mysterious space, so other people would not see us for the time being.


    "Comrade oshanina! Comrade o''shanina! " Just as I was thinking, there was Vlasov''s cry. I quickly calm down, turned to look at him, asked: "Comrade General, what can I do for you?"


    "What are you thinking? I called several times, but you didn''t respond. " The general said a little dissatisfied.


    "I''m... I''m thinking, what important task will comrades boskelebeshev ask me to carry out? I''ll let you and Comrade krochkov drive after me. "


    "Comrade krochkov, do you think I''m going to give Comrade oshanina an account of the task, or are you coming?" Vlasov asked krochkov in the front row.


    When he heard the general call him, krochkov turned to me, looked at me first, then turned his head to the general and said, "it''s up to you, comrade general, to tell me in person. Comrade boskelebeshev sent me here just to lead you two to the destination. "


    "I see. It''s up to me." Vlasov held up his glasses with his fingers for a while, and then said to me slowly, "we''ve chased you back today, because we want you to accompany me to meet someone."


    "Who do I know?" Hearing what he said, I couldn''t help interrupting him.


    "Don''t interrupt, just listen to me." He raised his hand to stop me from going on. Seeing that I nodded my head to show understanding, he continued: "the person we want to see is a comrade from China. When Germany invaded France last year, he accurately pointed out that the German army would bypass the well defended Maginot Line and attack France from its flanks on a large scale. The reason why he made such a prediction was because of this tactic, which was often used by the Chinese Red Army in the anti encirclement and suppression struggle in the Chinese Soviet area. "


    Hearing this, I can''t help frowning and racking my brain to think: who is this famous militarist of our country? The domestic war of resistance against Japan has entered a stalemate. The future generals and marshals of the Republic are in their respective battlefields, commanding their troops and Japanese aggressors to fight to the death. Who will come to the Soviet Union at this time? Are they generals of the national army? However, it seems that they have never heard of any famous generals who have been to the Soviet Union. They usually go to the United States. I thought for a long time, but I didn''t come up with a reason.


    Vlasov continued to talk: "after the German army occupied Poland, the general headquarters once held an important military meeting. This comrade was invited to attend as a nonvoting member. At the meeting at that time, the marshals of our army believed that if war broke out with Germany, they would attack the rich Ukraine first. However, this comrade said that if Hitler attacked the Soviet Union, he would not only plunder the Soviet Union''s wealth and resources, but completely destroy the Soviet Union. Therefore, he would not attack from Ukraine. He would attack from the Caucasus in the west, from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathians, and occupy Moscow. As for his formulation, all the participants shook their heads. No one agreed with him. Finally, they deployed their main forces in Ukraine. As a result, at the end of the war, the German army really launched an attack according to the route he predicted. "


    "He''s amazing!" When I heard that my compatriots were so capable, I felt proud of them. I couldn''t help praising them.


    "After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, he, who had been paying close attention to the war situation, put forward to the supreme commander that the Western Front Army and the reserve front army were in danger of being surrounded by the German army, and asked the commander-in-chief to take preventive measures as soon as possible. Unfortunately, his warning did not attract anyone''s attention. As a result, the situation was really like what he analyzed. The two front armies fell into the encirclement of the German army, and a large number of loyal and experienced commanders and fighters gave their precious lives. "


    The car stopped in front of a white building. I opened the door and stepped out. Then I went around the back of the car to the other side and opened the door for Vlasov. At the door of the building, in addition to the two soldiers on guard, there was a lieutenant officer on duty walking back and forth. Seeing the three of us walking past, he came forward and stopped us. As soon as he wanted to say something, krochkov had already taken out his identification and handed it over. As soon as the officer looked at the red cover of his certificate, he came to attention and made way for us. Entering the building, on the right side of the door was a duty room. Krochkov asked me to give the submachine gun and camouflage suit to the duty officer, and then led us along the corridor. As he walked along the corridor, Vlasov explained to me the mission of this trip: "Comrade Stalin said that this Chinese comrade who came to the Soviet Union to recuperate is a rare military talent, and we should try to persuade him to stay and work for us. As long as he is willing to stay, we can even provide two divisions of military equipment to their troops. Your mission here today is to persuade him to stay. As for his position, let him come to my "Shizhe comrade, who''s from outside?" Before we spoke, a deep voice came from the room. Although he didn''t speak Russian, I understood all of it, because he spoke Chinese. Hearing this familiar mother tongue again, my heart beat faster and my tears burst out of my eyes. Fortunately, I stood at the end, and Vlasov and krochkov stood in front with their backs to me, just blocking the soldier''s sight, so that no one could find my gaffe¡° Sir, three Soviet comrades have come to see you! " The comrade, Shi Zhe, turned to the man inside and said¡° Invite them in Hearing the orders from the people inside, Shi Zhe stepped back, opened the door wide and asked us to make a gesture. I followed you into the room and saw a young man in the uniform of the Eighth Route Army standing by the table against the wall. Although it''s just a glance, it''s enough for me to know him well. I''ve completely confirmed that he is the person I just guessed¡° Hello! Nice to meet you Vlasov took the lead and extended his hand to him. Shi Zhe translated this sentence into Chinese in time. When they shook hands, Vlasov introduced himself to each other: "I''m Vlasov, commander of the 20th army. I''m here to see you today." Kroshkov seems to be a regular here. After Vlasov finished shaking hands, he also came forward to shake hands with each other politely. Then, according to the Russian tradition, he pointed to me and made an introduction to each other: "this female officer is the lieutenant colonel oshanina you always want to know."¡° Comrade o''shanina, "after introducing me, he pointed to the other party and said," this comrade is the commander of the 115th division of the Eighth Route Army from China... "Before krochkov finished introducing me, I had already stepped forward to hold the hand of this great man and said excitedly:" Hello, Mr. Lin, I''m glad to meet you! " After that, I found that I had made a big mistake. This sentence was actually spoken in Chinese. There was a sudden silence in the room, and all the people looked at me in surprise.

 Chapter 90

    I let go of Mr. Lin''s hand, stepped back, looked at Vlasov and krochkov, and pretended to be surprised and asked, "eh! What are you all watching me do? "


    "I heard you said hello to Mr. Lin in Chinese just now." "I didn''t expect you to know Chinese," Vlasov said, somewhat surprised


    After hearing what Vlasov said, I cried in my heart: no! Bad things. Krochkov is a member of the people''s Committee of the interior. If I can''t give a reasonable explanation for this matter, he is bound to doubt me. In that case, my future situation will be very bad.


    I coughed and said with a smile, "where can I speak Chinese?" Then he pointed to Shi Zhe standing beside him: "I just remember a few Chinese words used by this translator when he introduced you just now, and then string them together and say them out." After listening to my explanation, except for Mr. Lin, who didn''t understand Russian, his face was at a loss, the other three people were all dubious. So I asked Shi Zhe on purpose, "Comrade translator, is my pronunciation standard just now?"


    "What you said just now is very standard. If you didn''t see it with your own eyes, you would think it was the Chinese speaking." Shi Zhe finished, then turned to quietly translate my words to Mr. Lin.


    "Sit down, everyone, please After listening to the content translated by Shi Zhe, Mr. Lin nodded. He suddenly realized it. Then he asked everyone to sit down.


    Krochkov didn''t sit down. He said that his mission was to send me and general Vlasov here. Now that his mission has been completed, it''s time to go back. Hearing what he said, Mr. Lin couldn''t keep him. He sent him to the door.


    The departure of krochkov gave me a sigh of relief. It was very dangerous just now. If I hadn''t been quick witted and perfunctory, I would have gone to the interior department for coffee again tonight. It seems that I have to control my mood well in the future, even if I am excited, I have to keep absolutely calm, otherwise I will lose my life and I don''t know what happened.


    After the attendant brought us a few cups of tea, Mr. Lin and Vlasov had a chat. Before today, I didn''t know who general Vlasov was. Even now, I know little about him. However, it seems that Mr. Lin knows him very well. I just want to know what this general Vlasov really has through their conversation.


    "Comrade General, I heard that you have been to China?" Mr. Lin''s words surprised me. I didn''t expect that the general around me had been to China, but I never seem to have seen his name in history books.


    "Yes, Mr. Lin. I came to Wuhan in 1938, your 27th year of the Republic of China, to help your Chairman Jiang train his army to resist the Japanese attack. "


    "When did you return to the Soviet Union?"


    "I came back in November 1939. At that time, the war between our country and the Finnish white bandit army was imminent, and the army needed a lot of commanding personnel, so I was transferred back from China. Shortly after returning home, I was appointed division commander of the 99th Infantry Division under the Kiev military region. In September of the next year, marshal Timoshenko went to Kiev to inspect the troops and spoke highly of our division. Soon after, I was awarded the rank of major general and transferred to the fourth mechanized army as commander. "


    "It''s said that in the defense of Kiev, your troops were very brave and tenacious, resolutely blocking the German attack."


    "Yes, you are right." Without modesty, Vlasov naturally accepted Mr. Lin''s praise: "at that time, I took the remnants of the fighting troops and withdrew from the region of przemeiser on the border of Ukraine. General kirponos, commander of the front army, and Comrade Khrushchev, then member of the front Military Commission, appointed me commander of the newly formed 37th army. I took in the soldiers who had retreated from the front line, added them to the various units of the 37th army, and quickly organized the defense. In early August, the 29th German army launched its first attack on Kiev. Under the resistance of our organization, their attack failed. In the middle of August, the German offensive in the southwest of Kiev was repulsed by our group army again, and we tenaciously held the front line of Kiev. If there is a gap between Kuznetsov''s 21st group army and podras''s 40th group army on the flank, as well as the failure of the buliansk front army''s counter attack on the German army, Guderian and Kleist''s armored cluster will not be able to drive straight in, and Kiev will not fall so easily. " I heard everything Vlasov said for the first time, so I enjoyed it.


    Vlasov finished his story and asked Mr. Lin, "general Lin, do you think the German army will occupy Moscow?"


    "Occupy Moscow?" When Mr. Lin heard his question, he waved his hand and said, "it''s impossible."


    "Why?" Although this is what Vlasov asked, it is also what I want to ask. I come from later generations and know that Moscow will never fall. But division chief Lin is not a passer-by. How can he be so sure that the Soviet army will be able to defend Moscow? You know, the Soviet Army outside the city is retreating, and the German army is approaching Moscow.


    "Don''t look at the German offensive, but it''s not so easy for them to win Moscow." With a smile, master Lin continued, "besides, there is a natural ally who will help you."


    "Natural allies? Who is it, Brit or American? " Asked Vlasov, puzzled. Listening to what Mr. Lin said, I have guessed that the "ally" he said is neither Britain nor the United States, but Russia''s cold climate. Not surprisingly, division commander Lin explained to Vlasov: "the German army originally planned to win the Soviet Union in two months, so they were not prepared for winter combat at all. Although the German army has been under Moscow, but with their ability in the short term can not achieve the strategic goal. Therefore, with the arrival of winter, the German army, which lacks winter combat equipment and even winter clothing, will surely pay a heavy price in the face of cold, Russia''s natural ally. " When Mr. Lin said this, Vlasov patted the table and said excitedly, "you are absolutely right! As long as the cold comes, the unprepared German army will suffer. Their artillery will be frozen in the soil, the engine of the tank will not start, and the soldiers will be frozen to death. In that case, they will have to turn to defense and wait for spring to come. "¡° Not bad. " Lin added: "however, with Comrade Stalin''s character, they will never be allowed to wait quietly for the arrival of spring in the defensive positions. He will surely transfer well-equipped and highly effective infantry divisions from Siberia to Moscow City in an endless stream, consume the living strength of the German army little by little, and launch a counterattack at the right time to defeat the German army thoroughly! " After listening to Mr. Lin''s analysis, I can''t help but raise my thumb under the table. I''m really a famous general! The analysis is so accurate. As far as I know, Hitler had been planning to end the war before winter, so instead of urging the relevant departments to increase the production of cotton padded clothes, he delayed the delivery of cotton padded clothes to the front. Now the winter in Russia has been more than a month, and many German soldiers are still wearing summer combat clothes. So many German soldiers had to take off their short fur coats from the dead Soviet soldiers to keep warm¡° General Lin, your military ability is also highly appreciated by Comrade Stalin. He sent me here today to convey a word to you. "¡° What are you talking about? Just say it. "¡° Please stay and take part in our patriotic war. Comrade Stalin said that if you are willing to stay, you can first serve as deputy commander and chief of staff in my 20th army. When you are familiar with the troops, you will be sent to the Western army headquarters to serve as deputy to Comrade Zhukov. " After listening to this, Mr. Lin was silent. He just tapped the map on the table with his fingers. Seeing his expression, Vlasov added, "Comrade Stalin also said that if you are willing to stay, he is willing to provide the Chinese comrades in Yan''an with weapons and equipment of two divisions." The most popular legend in later generations is that Stalin, in order to retain Mr. Lin, was willing to exchange ten divisions for him, which I always believed to be true. Now I understand that it''s not ten divisions, it''s just two divisions'' weaponry. Mr. Lin raised his head and gave Vlasov a blank look. Then he looked down at the map in front of him and continued to tap the table with his fingers.

 Chapter 91

    "General Lin!" Mr. Lin''s indifference made Vlasov''s face embarrassed. Seeing this, I quickly called out to master Lin to help Vlasov. Then I said to the point¡° I know the Pingxingguan battle you directed. "


    After listening to Shi Zhe''s translation, Mr. Lin looked up at me with a smile on his face, but he still didn''t speak.


    "According to relevant reports, the Eighth Route Army led by you wiped out more than a thousand Japanese troops in the battle of Pingxingguan. This is the first big victory of the Chinese army since the Anti Japanese war. It broke the myth that the Japanese army was invincible and greatly inspired the morale of the Anti Japanese army and people. This victory is of great significance both militarily and politically. Am I right? "


    Mr. Lin nodded and said, "not bad."


    "Do you think there are still many unsatisfactory aspects in this battle?"


    "Well, if the Jin army on the front of the battlefield can attack in time as planned, we can achieve greater results and eliminate more Japanese aggressors."


    "What else?" Hearing his answer was not the answer I wanted to hear, so I asked again.


    "What else?" He frowned and thought, then shook his head and said, "I can''t think of it. Do you have any idea?"


    "Well, I''ll go on. However, in advance, this is only my personal view, only for Mr. Lin''s personal reference. " I said politely, and then went on in my own way of thinking: "although thousands of Japanese aggressors were wiped out in this battle, the casualties of the Eighth Route Army were not small, almost reaching a ratio of 1:1. As far as I know, you are commanding the 115th division. Most of them are backbone troops with rich combat experience who have gone through the 25000 Li Long March. They are highly effective troops. However, such an army, under favorable terrain, launched a sudden attack on the Japanese army with superior forces. Although it achieved brilliant results, it also paid a great price. This proportion of casualties in an ambush proves that there are many areas that need to be improved in this battle. "


    "Comrade oshanina, don''t go on..." frasov suddenly cut in. It seems that he was afraid that my words would embarrass Mr. Lin, so he wanted to stop me from going on.


    "Never mind, Comrade General. Let her go on. I want to hear it." After listening to Shi Zhe''s translation, Mr. Lin stood up in time to help me out.


    "In fact, there are many reasons for such heavy casualties. First of all, let''s talk about the Japanese army. The Tanigaki division is a class a division in the Japanese army. It can''t be denied that they are well equipped and have strong combat effectiveness. Even their logistics units, their combat effectiveness can''t be underestimated. Secondly, the Eighth Route Army is poorly equipped. Many soldiers use old-fashioned weapons and are seriously short of ammunition. There are only a few bullets in a gun. After that, they have to fight for bayonets with the Japanese army. Several changes of hands in Laoyemiao are a typical example. Third, many soldiers take it for granted that they use old experience to set up new situations, and they still fight according to the pattern of fighting against the white bandits. They think that if they shout a few words at the Japanese aggressors and refuse to kill them, the enemy will obediently lay down their weapons. But I don''t know that the Japanese army is deeply poisoned by the bushido spirit. They would rather die than surrender. It is more difficult to catch a Japanese prisoner than to kill ten enemies. When the soldiers saw that the enemy had not fired, they swaggered forward to hand in their guns. As a result, the enemy took the opportunity to fire, causing unnecessary casualties. "


    When I said this, Mr. Lin suddenly stood up and walked back and forth in the room. When I saw him like this, I closed my mouth.


    After walking for a while, he might have found that the room was suddenly quiet, so he stopped, looked at me with a puzzled face and asked, "why don''t you continue?"


    I think the fire is almost ready, and then began to lobby: "general Lin, the weapons and equipment of the Japanese army are stronger than those of the Chinese army, so they can show their might and act domineering in China''s territory. But if they compare with the Soviet Union, their weapons and firesticks are almost the same, which can be confirmed by Comrade Zhukov''s beating them all over the nuomenkan area."


    When I heard the word "looking for teeth everywhere", everyone laughed and the atmosphere in the room became relaxed. Mr. Lin sat down at the table again, took over my topic and said, "Comrade o''shanina, I have understood what you mean. If I stay, the Soviet Union will provide us with weapons and equipment of two divisions. If the Eighth Route Army gets this batch of equipment to deal with the Japanese aggressors, at least it will not suffer any more losses in weapons. Is that what it means? "


    "Good! General Lin, your guess is correct. " I can''t help admiring Mr. Lin for his flexible mind. He has already guessed what I want to say before I finish my words. When Mr. Lin said that, Vlasov secretly gave me a thumbs up and praised me for my good work.


    Mr. Lin went on to say, "as we all know, our own arms factory is very small and unable to be self-sufficient. Therefore, most of the weapons used by the soldiers were captured from the enemy. I think even if we can''t get these weapons from the Soviet Union, we can also arm ourselves by seizing them from the enemy. The weapons and equipment of just two divisions are not worth keeping. "


    As soon as this remark came out, Vlasov''s face suddenly darkened, but I saw a glimmer of hope. It was not that division chief Lin didn''t want to stay, but that our reasons for him to stay were not enough. So I continued: "general Lin, since the Soviet Union, you have been studying in the Military Academy of vorongze. Don''t you want to stay in this great patriotic war, Do you want to test your theoretical knowledge? I have read your information before. I remember that when you were still the commander of the Red Army, in a fierce battle, you selected a part of the backbone from the company and platoon cadres of the whole regiment to form a charging team, equipped with short firearms. Every 24 people formed a charging group and formed more than 10 groups. They rushed and attacked the enemy in turn, and finally completely annihilated the enemy. "


    After hearing this, I suddenly caught a glimpse of Mr. Lin''s eyes. My heart said that there was a play. It seemed that I mentioned his glorious past, which really aroused his interest. I went on to say, "of course, different national conditions will lead to different tactics used in the battlefield. Although you used to command the first Red Army and the 115th division, you had tens of thousands of people under your command. But if you have the opportunity to command more troops in the future, not tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions of people, many of your previous experience will not be applicable. The 20th group army is still in the process of assembling and will soon go to the front line to compete with the German army. You are a great military genius. With your military talents, if you stay to command this army, you can not only display your military talents to your heart''s content, but also teach the commanders and fighters some tactics they don''t know. In this way, you will be more confident of defeating the German Communist Party. " Mr. Lin nodded and didn''t speak, but I can see that he has already been moved. As long as he adds more fire, he will agree to stay. I organized some words in my mind and said, "after defeating the German Communist Party, comrade Stalin will never look at Chinese comrades and fight alone in the anti Communist battlefield. He is bound to send troops to support them. The Japanese are the tail of the rabbit. Think about it. If you had been a leader in the Soviet army, would the task of liberating the four northeastern provinces fall to others? To defeat Japan is not to drive them away from China''s leadership. Don''t you want to lead the Chinese Soviet army to Japan and see what this island country has been invading China for decades? "¡° Bang Mr. Lin slapped the table and yelled, "well said!" Then he stood up. As he got up and walked towards us, Vlasov and I both stood up quickly. Mr. Lin went up to general Vlasov, took his hand and said, "Comrade General, please go back and tell Comrade Stalin that I agree to stay and take part in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union. However, I''d like to send a telegram to Yan''an for instructions. If the central government agrees, I can join the Soviet Army''s operational sequence immediately. " Then he came up to me, took my hand and said gratefully, "thank you, comrade o''shanina." While taking us out, commander Lin suddenly asked, "Comrade o''xanina, I''d like to ask why you don''t want to stay in the rear command, but like to fight the enemy in the front?" As soon as this question was put forward, even general Vlasov was particularly curious. He stopped and, like Mr. Lin, was waiting for my answer. In the eyes of ordinary people, my action is really unreasonable. The safe and comfortable rear organs are not waiting, but they have to run to the battlefield full of fire. In fact, it''s really hard for me to say that when I follow Zhukov around every day, my Russian is not very fluent, and I can''t understand Russian handwriting. At this level, if I stay in an institution for two days, I will be exposed, and my internal and external comrades will soon send me to the punishment camp in the Arctic Circle to work as coolies. Even if I can muddle through, I have very few chances of promotion in the office. At best, I can only be a staff officer who doesn''t fart all my life. There are also many factions in the army. Maybe this chief officer thinks highly of me. After I am replaced with a new chief officer, I will become the object of exclusion. Because of these reasons, I chose to go to the front line. However, these reasons can only be hidden in my heart, and I can''t tell others, so I perfunctorily said: "the commanders I follow all like to put their command post only a few hundred meters away from the front position, and if the German troops sneak attack, all the logistics personnel will also take up arms to fight. Since it''s the same everywhere, I chose to go to the front line and fight face to face with the enemy. "¡° Oh After listening to my explanation, Mr. Lin nodded in disbelief. When he was recuperating in the Soviet Union, the doctor used too much medicine, which damaged his nervous function and caused some sequelae, such as fear of water, wind, cold, diarrhea and sweating. So he sent us back to the corridor. General Vlasov and I came to the door. As soon as we stood, a black car came. The car stopped at the door, and a major got out of the car. He stood at attention and saluted the general, saying, "Comrade General, I have come to meet you and lieutenant oshanina on the order of Comrade krochkov. Please get in the car When I got on the bus, I still thought that although this krochkov looked disgusting, he was quite serious. After he left, he did not forget to arrange a car to pick me up with the general. Otherwise, I would have to take a taxi home.

 Chapter 92

    The silent major driver drove his car through the streets of Moscow.


    General Vlasov and I sat in the back row, nodded to me with satisfaction and said, "I said, comrade commander, today we have gained a lot. According to Comrade Stalin''s estimation, if we want General Lin to stay, we have to go four or five times. According to the Chinese saying, it''s called "looking at the thatched cottage three times", and things will come to light. I didn''t expect that you would make general Lin make up his mind to stay just a few words. You''re really not easy! "


    I smile and don''t speak.


    The general suddenly remembered something and asked, "did you know general Lin before?"


    Without thinking, I replied, "I''ve heard of his name, but I''ve never seen him in person." What I said is true at all. When I was born, his old man had already lost wendur Khan. I only saw his image in documentaries and books.


    Suspiciously, the general held the eyeglass holder and asked, "I remember the battle of Pingxingguan. There was only one short message in our newspapers. How do you know that the proportion of casualties between the Eighth Route Army and the Japanese army reached 1:1? And how do you know the offensive tactics of general Lin when he was commander in chief? "


    Seeing that he was suspicious of me, I quickly explained, "you have just arrived in Moscow. You may not know the situation. Although our government has not reported it, the intelligence agencies have collected similar intelligence, and the general commanders of the front army can have access to this kind of intelligence. I used to be an assistant to general Zhukov, so I had a chance to read the information. "


    The general laughed: "well, you have a point." He is a man with a flexible mind, who has a lot of experience in officialdom. Knowing that some questions can''t be asked casually, he immediately switched the sensitive topic to other fields. He asked, "I''m going to report to Comrade Stalin later. Where do you get off?"


    I don''t know how krochkov arranged it, so I asked the driving major, "Comrade major, where is the accommodation that Comrade krochkov arranged for me?"


    Without looking back, he said, "it''s a military hotel. It''s coming soon. After you get off the bus, I''ll take the major general to the Kremlin. "


    When the car stopped, I looked out of the window. I knew this place, which was the hotel I stayed at that night from Leningrad to Moscow. I said goodbye to Vlasov, then pushed the door open and got out of the car.


    As soon as I entered the familiar hotel hall, a female officer wearing the rank of second lieutenant came up and said hello to me with a smile on her face: "Hello, commander!"


    "Hello! Comrade Liu Da, we meet again. " At a glance, I recognized the female officer in front of me, who was Liuda who had arranged a residence for me, so I took the initiative to say hello to her.


    Hearing that I called out her name, she was stunned for a moment, but immediately came back to her senses and said in surprise, "it''s you, comrade commander. Please forgive me for not recognizing you. I didn''t expect that the commander who arranged the room by the comrades of the interior department was you. Welcome to our hotel. "


    I nodded and asked, "are my rooms all set?"


    "Everything is ready. Please wait a moment. I''ll arrange for someone to see you over." Then she turned to the corridor and yelled, "aksala, where are you? Come to the hall quickly


    With her cry, a female soldier ran over in a hurry and asked, "Liuda, are you calling me?" Liuda pointed to me and said to her, "aksala, please send this commander to her room."


    Another acquaintance, I looked at aksara with a smile and said, "what''s the matter? Honey, I haven''t seen you for a month, so I don''t know you? "


    "Rita, is that you? Are you still alive? " And she came at me. I put her in my arms and said with a smile, "of course I live. As soon as I get back to Moscow, I''ll come to see you, an old friend."


    "Come on, Rita. I''ll show you to your room." After aksala let me go, she took my hand and went upstairs, chirping, "the room is the one you stayed in last time. Today, the superior said that a commander would come to us, so Liuda asked me to clean up the room you used to live in. "


    Last time I lived here, the rank of the residents seemed to be higher than me, which made me have to raise my hand to salute every officer I met from the beginning of leaving my room. On the way to the room, we also met several officers from time to time, but their ranks were lower than mine. Seeing them salute me on their own initiative, my vanity got a little satisfaction.


    Aksala didn''t pay attention to this detail just now. Later, when he saw more people saluting me, he said with envy, "it''s good to be an officer. There are so many people saluting me, but I keep saluting others." When she saw a major officer coming towards me saluting me, she was a little surprised and asked, "what''s the matter, Rita Cheka? How can a major salute you, a lieutenant?"


    "I''m no longer a lieutenant." I''m really speechless about aksala''s character as a big ha. After chatting with me for such a long time, I didn''t find that my military rank on my badge was different from the original one.


    "Not a lieutenant? Have you been demoted? " She was very surprised to hear that, but after seeing my badge, she said excitedly, "Wow! So you''re a lieutenant commander. You''re amazing, Rita CHICKA


    With these words, she came to the door. Aksala took out the key from her pocket, opened the door lock, and then pushed it in. The door opened¡° Come in, Rita She turned on the light in the room, then turned to me and said, "look, the furnishings here are the same as the last time you lived here."


    "Yes, it''s the same. It hasn''t changed at all." As I spoke, I put the submachine gun in my hand on the table. Then he asked aksara, "honey, can you help me find something to eat? I haven''t eaten for a day. I''m starving. "


    "Oh, it''s so late. You haven''t eaten yet. I''ll go to the restaurant and help you get something to eat. Just a moment. It won''t be long. Five minutes at most. "


    After aksala left, I closed the door gently. I know laomaozi''s habit. It''s five minutes. It''s faster to come back in 15 minutes. So I hung my camouflage suit and short fur coat on the hanger and went to the bathroom to take a bath.


    When I came out of the bath, I saw that the time had passed nearly 20 minutes, but aksala, who claimed to be back in five minutes, could not even see the shadow. I suddenly felt pain in my back. I don''t know if it was because I was hurt by bricks and stones a few days ago. Anyway, I felt very uncomfortable, so I lay flat on the bed to rest.


    When I was sleepy, I heard aksara''s voice in the hazy: "Rita, here''s something. Get up and eat." I opened my eyes and struggled to sit up. When I saw aksala putting the tableware at the table, I got up and walked behind her. I hugged her waist, put my head on her shoulder and asked lazily, "what''s good to eat?"


    "It''s a time of war, and there is a lack of material. Even the restaurant in our hotel is no exception. You see, I rummaged in the kitchen for a long time and found five or six cooked potatoes, a buckwheat porridge and a bowl of red vegetable soup. You can make do with it. Maybe there will be good things in the restaurant during the day tomorrow. "


    At the moment, I was starving, so I sat down at the table, took the spoon and began to drink soup. Although the soup was a little cold, it tasted good. I drank it clean after a few mouthfuls, and then began to eliminate the buckwheat porridge on the table.


    When aksala saw me eating, he took a potato, peeled it, dipped it in the salt on the plate, and took a slight bite. Then he asked me, "Rita, how did you eat when you were at the front line? Was it so rich?"


    I looked at the simple food in front of me. In any case, it couldn''t be equated with abundance. But I didn''t want to dampen her interest, so I vaguely replied, "it''s OK. My food in the headquarters is similar to that here."


    "That''s good," she took another bite of the potato. "If you don''t have hot soup every day, you''ll lose weight." After listening to her theory, I can''t laugh or cry. If I don''t drink soup, I''ll lose weight. Some people who don''t like soup still grow up like tigers.


    "When you go to the front line, you must have fought many battles. Tell me your story." She finished eating a potato, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and even pestered me to tell her a story.


    I laughed. As I was about to speak, suddenly my lower abdomen hurt like a knife. I threw away my spoon, covered my abdomen with my hands and groaned. Aksala was frightened when she saw my painful expression. She hugged me on the shoulder and asked anxiously, "what''s the matter with you, Rita, honey?"


    "I don''t know," I replied in a weak voice, feeling sweating on my head. "I don''t know. I have a terrible stomachache. Maybe the old wound is cracked."


    "Wait a minute, I''ll go to the doctor." With these words, she had opened the door and rushed out.


    I lay flat on the bed, slowing down my breathing and gently rubbing the painful area with my palm. After a while, the pain began to weaken slowly, and my hanging heart finally relaxed. It didn''t look like the old injury recurred. Maybe I just ate something bad. Just then, aksara came back with the doctor, followed by lieutenant Liuda.


    The doctor was also a woman. She put her medicine box on the table, took out the stethoscope and auscultated me. After checking, she took off her mask and said, "don''t worry, it''s not a recurrence."


    "Then why does it hurt so much? You see, even the cold sweat came out." Liu Da couldn''t help interrupting.


    The doctor laughed and asked me, "Comrade commander, can you ask me when your last menstruation was?"


    Ah! I was stunned at that time. In my impression, it seems that I haven''t been here since I borrowed Rita''s body. So I hesitated and said, "I can''t remember clearly. Maybe I haven''t been here since August."


    "That''s no wonder. Maybe it''s because of abdominal injury, which leads to endocrine disorder. That''s why I didn''t come for such a long time. Have you ever had a history of dysmenorrhea before? "


    Dysmenorrhea, this word gives me a severe landmine again. It turns out that just now the lower abdominal pain is dysmenorrhea. For the doctor''s question, and can not but answer, had to say vaguely: "there should be no bar."


    "Oh, it may have happened after the injury." Then the doctor blablabla said a lot. In the process of her talking, I didn''t notice when aksala left, until she appeared in front of me with sugar water¡° Rita CHICKA, drink some honey water. It won''t hurt I took the honey water in her hand, drank a few mouthfuls, and immediately felt much better. Unexpectedly, honey water has the same effect as brown sugar water.

 Chapter 93

    The sound of anti-aircraft guns rumbled all night. I know it was Hitler who learned that the Soviet Union had held the celebration and military parade of October Revolution Day in Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union. In a rage, he ordered the German air force to increase the intensity of air strikes. I think for the crazy German air raids, in addition to the antiaircraft artillery fire, the pilots of the Soviet air force will not sit idle. They are bound to fly their fighters into the air again and again to fight to the death with the enemy. For the sake of my safety, aksala asked me to take refuge in the air raid shelter several times, but I politely declined her kindness. The reason why I don''t want to go to the air raid shelter is very simple: first, I don''t want to stay in the dark and humid basement due to physical discomfort; Second, I really didn''t take the German air raid seriously. In my impression, apart from a fluke hit on the Kremlin square, no aerial bomb ever fell near the city center. Moreover, the house I live in is very strong in appearance. If it wasn''t hit directly by a heavy bomb, the safety factor here would be similar to that of an air raid shelter. In the early morning, the sound of guns and bombs all night long finally stopped. I got up from the bed and went to the window. I looked out through the window glass with black tape. I saw a piece of fog outside. I couldn''t see anything clearly five or six meters away. In my experience of five or six years in Moscow, it''s not morning fog, it''s smoke from the burning of houses and trees in the air raid area on the outskirts of the city. When I broke up with general Vlasov yesterday, he didn''t tell me about today''s work schedule. Now it''s smoky outside, so I can''t go out. I''d better go on sleeping and make up for all the sleep I lack during this period. Thinking of this, I lay down on the bed again and went on dreaming of Duke Zhou. When I was on the front line at ordinary times, I was nervous all day. I always felt that I had a serious lack of sleep. I dreamed that if I had a chance, I would sleep every day until I woke up naturally. I didn''t expect that when I had this opportunity, I couldn''t sleep. After a long sleep, I got up and looked at the wall clock. It was less than an hour. I looked at the snow-white ceiling in a daze. I was thinking about the hot and dry summer of 2010. Every day there was smog outside. Besides going to the market, I spent the rest of my time at home chasing after the American TV play Spartacus Blood and sand. As soon as I read books, the time is very fast. If it wasn''t for aksala who sent me two meals, I didn''t know it was evening. Just as I saw the fire in Moscow and Napoleon''s army forced to retreat from the burning city, there was a gentle knock at the door. I put down my book and turned my head to the door, but the knock stopped. I thought it was my own auditory hallucination. When I picked up the book to read on, the knock on the door rang again. This time I really heard that someone was knocking at the door, so I stood up, took the book to the door, grabbed the handle and pulled it hard, then opened the door. At the door stood two soldiers in military coats. Because the light in the corridor was darker than that in the room, I didn''t see who was coming for a moment. Is in a daze, the other side first opened a mouth: "Hello, comrade o''xia Ningna, we meet again." I speak Chinese. As soon as I hear the voice with Hubei dialect, I immediately know who is coming¡° It''s you, general Lin! Don''t stand at the door, please come in I quickly called the two people into the room. When they came into the room, I found that they were wearing Soviet military coats, while Mr. Lin''s military coat had a red diamond collar. I counted that there were three Venus on it. Seeing their dress, I was surprised and asked, "general Lin, how do you dress?" The translator took the initiative to explain to me: "Comrade commander, I''d like to explain to you that Yan''an has agreed to let Mr. Lin stay for the time being to participate in the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union. We met Comrade Stalin today. He personally conferred the rank of lieutenant general Lin and asked us to change our clothes. "¡° Oh Only then did I understand what happened. Division chief Lin was awarded the rank of lieutenant general by two countries at the same time. Although he was not the queen, it was absolutely unprecedented¡° When we came back from the Kremlin and passed by, our driver said that you live here, so the teacher proposed to come and have a chat with you. "

 Chapter 94

    "Xiaoshi, please go back to the office first. I''ll stay and chat with Comrade o''xia Ningna. You''ll pick me up in three hours." After listening to the interpreter''s introduction, Mr. Lin gave him a direct order. I couldn''t help but be stunned at his words. What''s the matter? Why did he send the translator away? How can he communicate with me without an interpreter¡° Comrade Shizhe, not only me, was stunned. He hesitated and said, "you don''t understand Russian. If I leave, who will be your interpreter?"¡° You don''t have to worry about that. Obey orders. "¡° Yes Shizhe had no choice but to salute him and look at me again. Then he turned to leave and took the door with him. I helped Mr. Lin hang his military coat on the coat rack by the door. Then I could see clearly that he was wearing a gray Eighth Route Army uniform in addition to the Soviet Army coat. He sat down at the table and saw me standing at the side with some restraint. He pointed to the chair and said, "please sit down, comrade o''shanina. This is your room. Don''t be too restrained. Sit down and we''ll have a good chat." I hesitated and sat down in the chair opposite him¡° Can we have a frank talk? " He said to me in a sincere tone. I''m in a dilemma. I don''t know how to answer him. Speaking Russian, he can''t understand; Speak Chinese. I''m afraid to scare him. So I just watched him quietly and didn''t speak. He seemed to see my dilemma and said with a smile, "Comrade o''xanina, it''s just us here. You don''t have to hide it. I know you know Chinese and speak it very well!" I was a little surprised: "general Lin?" I said that in Russian. In a calm tone, he said, "when we met at the office yesterday, those Chinese sentences you said were of special standard, which could not have been learned temporarily. In addition, during the whole conversation, I have carefully observed you. Sometimes, Comrade Shi Zhe has not completely translated my words, but you have already begun to answer my questions. " I smile at him, noncommittal, and lean back as comfortably as possible. Although I am calm on the surface, there is a fierce ideological struggle in my heart. Can I admit that I can speak Chinese? He then said, "don''t worry, I will keep secret about your understanding of Chinese. Don''t you see that I even have to support the translation? This matter only you know I know, never let not know how long, suddenly sounded the knock on the door. Before I got up, the door was pushed open. Aksala''s voice came from the door: "Lida chica!" At the moment when I heard aksala''s voice, my language program immediately switched from Chinese to Russian, and turned to ask her, "aksala, what''s the matter?"¡° There''s a Chinese soldier out there looking for you! "¡° Oh, it''s getting late. " After that, Mr. Lin raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he screwed on the cap of his pen and put it into his pocket together with his notebook. Then he said, "it''s been a long time before I know it. It''s estimated that Mr. Lin came to take me home."

 Chapter 95

    In the next few days, the German air force carried out a crazy air attack on Moscow day and night, and the whole city was shrouded in smoke. Although the windows of my room are always closed, I can still smell the smoke mixed in the air.


    Since President Lin visited the 20th army two days ago, he has never appeared again. I guess he may have gone to the 20th army with general Vlasov. But kroshkov, who put me in the hotel, never showed his face, or even sent someone to tell me what to do next, whether to stay in Moscow or return to the front line. It seems that I have become a forgotten person.


    At the beginning, I was also very uneasy about the indifference of the relevant departments. But after a few days, I gradually got used to this kind of leisure life. In addition to sleeping every day to wake up naturally, even three meals a day will be delivered to me on time. Although there is the danger of being bombed by enemy planes, compared with the front line, it is very safe here. At least you don''t have to worry about shells falling on your side at any time, or you don''t know what bullets are coming from to hit you.


    These days in the hotel, apart from reading books, I just chat with aksala who came to visit us. Life is really monotonous, so I plan to take advantage of nothing and go out for a walk. I''ve been puzzling about where to go for a long time. Red Square, widenham and Victory Square are the three places that have been visited most in later generations. A few days ago, I went to red square to participate in the military parade. There is no need to go again in a short time; Victory Square was built only in 1995. At the moment, it is still a forest; It seems that the only one who can go shopping is widenham.


    Widenkhan, later known as the "all Russia Exhibition Center", has not yet disintegrated, so it is also known as the "exhibition hall of national economic achievements of the Soviet Union". It covers an area of 300 hectares, with a perimeter of 35 kilometers. The scale is very grand. Of the more than 50 galleries, 15 participating republics have their own special galleries. Display the latest great scientific and technological achievements in the fields of economy, science and technology. Because it is scientific, knowledgeable and entertaining. The park has beautiful scenery, rich architectural features and different styles. Therefore, it is not only an exhibition center, but also a good place to broaden your horizons, increase your knowledge, sightseeing and leisure.


    Although I just went shopping, now it''s during the war, anything can happen, so before going out, I still carried the submachine gun that never left me.


    As soon as I walked out of the gate, I regretted that the smoke outside was too big, and the buildings more than ten meters away could only see faint shadows. Now, during the war, many buses and trams leading to that direction have stopped. To get to widenham, there are only two choices: one is to walk directly, the other is to go to the Chinatown subway station near Red Square and take the subway. I chose the latter scheme almost without thinking.


    I walked along the footpath where the pedestrians stepped out of the snow. I calculated my speed. I could walk to the subway station in about 40 minutes.


    Just as I was walking, suddenly a truck stopped beside me. A soldier in helmet leaned out of the cab and asked aloud, "Hello! Comrade female soldier, where are you going? Do you want a ride? "


    When I heard that he called me a female soldier, I was stunned for a moment. Then I looked at the white camouflage clothes I was wearing, and I immediately understood that the collar of this dress was very high, just blocking my rank. In addition, when he saw that I was carrying a submachine gun, he thought I was an ordinary female soldier.


    "I''m going to Chinatown subway station, and then take the subway to videnhan. Is your bus on the way?" Since I took the initiative to give me a ride, I was not polite. I explained where I wanted to go.


    "Get in the car. We are going to a place not far from widenham. We can take you to your destination directly."


    Hearing his affirmative answer, I opened the door, grabbed the handle and climbed up. The soldier took the handle and pulled me into the cab. I sat in my seat, said thanks to the soldiers, then pulled the door.


    When the driver saw me close the door, he stepped on the gas and the car went on.


    The soldier who pulled me into the car was holding a submachine gun in his arms. It looked like a escort. I asked curiously, "what are you pulling in your car?" At the same time, he took down the submachine gun on his back and held it in his arms like a soldier.


    The driver held the steering wheel silently and drove his car attentively. The soldier sitting in the middle answered me in a very general way: "it''s military supplies." I nodded, then turned my head to the right and looked out the window.


    After a while, maybe seeing that I didn''t speak, the soldier asked, "girl, what''s your name?"


    "My name is o''shanina."


    "Ah?" The soldier listened, his face showed a surprised expression, "I can''t see that you are so young to get married." After a pause, he said to himself thoughtfully, "o''shanina, o''shanina, then your husband''s name is o''shanina. I seem to have heard of this name somewhere."


    Listening to his self talk, I can''t help but shrunk my mouth contemptuously, thinking that I should use such an old-fashioned way to pick up girls, so I asked him: "what should I call you?"


    "Victor, but you can call me Vicia." Then he asked curiously, "where is your husband? Is he on the front line, too? "


    "Missing. The Civil Affairs Department informed me that he was missing on the battlefield." Although it was only Rita''s husband who was missing, my mood went down again.


    After listening to me, Victor was silent again thoughtfully. After a while, maybe he saw that my mood was a little low, so he comforted me and said, "o''shanina, don''t worry, it''s just missing rather than sacrificing, then there is still hope of reunion. Maybe one day, as soon as you open the door, your husband will stand in front of you intact. "


    "Thank you." I reached out gratefully and gave him a shake.


    He asked me with concern: "look at your dress, it seems that you are ready to fight on the front line at any time."


    "Yes, I''ve been on the front line several times. Now I''m on vacation in Moscow, and I''m ready to go back to the front line as long as I have orders. "


    "Just you?" Victor''s face showed disbelief: "war is our men''s business, you women should stay behind."


    "Don''t you think I''m already neutral? At least I don''t want to be seen as a woman. " After hearing what he said, I immediately hit him back in a very unfriendly tone.


    The atmosphere in the cab suddenly became awkward. Fortunately, at this time, the car stopped, and the driver suddenly broke the silence: "Comrade o''shanina, here is Witten Khan."


    When I looked out of the window, I saw the tall arch of wittenhan and the bronze statues of the male and female members of the collective farm holding the ears of wheat. I breathed a sigh of relief, gave thanks to the driver and Vic, opened the door and jumped down. After a few steps, I suddenly remembered that I hadn''t said goodbye to them. I turned around and waved goodbye to them. Through the window, I saw that they were also waving goodbye to me.


    Maybe it''s because of the wind direction. Most of the smoke from the burning has been blown away by the wind. The air here feels much better than that in the city center, and the vision has become wider.


    At the gate stood a dozen red army soldiers with helmets and rifles. They watched the people coming in and out with vigilance, but they did not stop anyone to check their documents. When I passed by them, a man who was obviously a team leader asked me: "I said female soldier comrade, where are you going?"


    "I''ll go inside and have a look."


    "The exhibition halls are closed. What can I do for you?" The captain mumbled and went to one side to smoke.


    I walked along the broad road to the main exhibition hall facing the gate. Around the snow covered bronze statue of Lenin, I stepped up to the gate of the exhibition hall. I stood on the steps and looked around. Today, there are not many visitors to videnhan. Almost all of them are walking in the open space with the snow cleared. There are really no people like me who go straight to the exhibition hall. I pulled the tall, thick oak door, which was closed, and it didn''t move. At this time, an old lady came out and yelled at me: "Hello! Comrade woman soldier, what are you doing there? The exhibition halls are all closed. They won''t open until the war is over. Come back then. "


    The war is over?! That''s four years to wait! I let go of the door handle, turned around and walked down the steps. It was not easy for me to come and go back like this. So I went around the main exhibition hall and went on to the back.


    Behind the main exhibition hall, there is a huge central fountain called "fountain of friendship among the people". The fountain is large in scale and novel in design. It is composed of 15 young girls of different nationalities holding ears of wheat and gold-plated statues of layers of wheat stacks symbolizing harvest, symbolizing the 15 republics of the Soviet Union. Because of the coming of winter, the fountain no longer spray water, and the water in the pool is frozen.


    When I passed by the fountain, I saw about a dozen young girls jumping into the middle of the pool, with steel rods and other tools in their hands, struggling to dig ice. Judging from their neat clothes, they are already the staff of Witten Khan. But what do they do to dig ice? Are they catching fish?


    When I came to the exhibition hall in the back of the garden, I found that there were many differences with the memory of later generations. At least now there is no space museum, and the skyrocketing carrier rocket, schema airliner and MiG fighter that used to be on the square are gone.


    I walked around the park for a long time, but I was a little hungry. I saw a coffee shop in front of me and ran over. Coincidentally, the location of the coffee shop next to the coal mine is the place where barbecue will be sold in later generations. Although the Turkish barbecue tastes good, it''s just that it''s too hard to knock. The price of the same food is ten times higher than that of other places.


    The shop assistant in the coffee shop was an old lady. When she saw me coming, she said hello to me politely: "Hello! What can I do for you, girl? "


    "Do you have any baked potatoes?" I asked


    "No, it''s all sold out."


    "Do you have boiled corn?"


    "Miss, don''t you look at the season now? Corn is usually gone by the end of September. "


    "Oh, have a cup of coffee then." When I heard that I didn''t have any of my favorite food, I was a little disappointed, so I had to order anything¡° Black coffee? "¡° No, I''m not used to black coffee. I''d better have milk coffee. " The old lady was very quick. She made the coffee and handed it to me in a short time. At the same time, she asked me, "do you need anything else?"¡° Another bread, "I looked at the bread in the cupboard, pointed to one of the nice looking buns and said," this jam bread. "¡° There are two kinds of jam, one is strawberry and the other is peach. Which one would you like The old lady is so patient. If I had changed my mind, I would have given any bread to the shopper. How could she have asked in such detail¡° It''s strawberry. "¡° Yes, four gobies for coffee and three gobies for bread. Do you have anything else Seeing me shaking my head, he continued: "there are seven gobies in all." Fortunately, I still had the money Zhukov gave me last time in my pocket. I quickly took out a one rouble bill and handed it over. There are usually two or three round tables for customers to eat next to the coffee shop. Half a person is more than half a height, and there is no stool or chair. Customers are standing at the table to eat. I put away the ninety-three gobies that the old lady found, and then I came to the round table beside the pavilion with coffee and bread. After eating, I slowly walked back along the way. When I was approaching the fountain, I suddenly heard the laughter of girls coming from the pool in front of me. Curious, I quickened my pace to see what happened. I came closer and was shocked. It turns out that the girls just now cut an area of 20 to 30 square meters into the ice and were swimming in it. What surprised me was not the winter swimming itself, but the girls swimming naked in the water. I can''t help but secretly admire their good physique. Although it''s not too cold today, there are still seven or eight degrees below zero. It''s amazing that they can swim in such cold weather. Although there are so many young girls swimming naked in the pool, few of the tourists who come and go around stop and watch. In contrast, it seems a little too different for me to stand by and stare at them¡° Hello! Comrades of female soldiers, don''t always stand by and watch. Come and join us in winter swimming. " Maybe I watched it a little longer, and one of the girls stood up and called to me loudly. The water in the pool is not deep, just to her waist. Looking at her white skin and graceful figure, I couldn''t help swallowing some saliva, waving my hand and saying, "no, no, I''m afraid of cold. I''ll catch a cold in such a cold day." At the same time, I continue to stare at their bodies and think: I''m a woman now. Women probably don''t have needle eyes when they take a bath. At this time, the girl in the water screamed, and then shrunk into the water, only to show a head. Why? What''s going on? Just now, he was so bold and unconstrained that he became shy¡° Rita Cheka! Rita Cheka! " Behind me came aksala''s voice. I looked back and understood it all at once. Aksala is striding towards me with five or six soldiers. No wonder that girl will be ashamed. However, from this posture, I know that my vacation in Moscow is officially over.

 Chapter 96

    I was sitting in the car out of town, cursing the crotchekov in the interior department. A few days ago, when I didn''t exist. I just came out for a walk today. I wanted to relax, but I sent someone to look for me. I was led by an acquaintance, the major who sent me to the hotel last time. As soon as he found me, he took me to the black car parked outside the gate of widenham. After getting on the bus, he didn''t even return to the hotel and drove directly to the southwest battlefield.


    On the way out, I secretly asked aksara how to bring the people from the Ministry of interior to wittenhan? Aksala quickly explained that as soon as your front foot went out, they came in. She said that there were 100000 urgent things for you, so she brought these people to viden Khan.


    As I walked towards the gate, I began to think: as big as Witten Khan, if I missed them in the park, wouldn''t they go for nothing? When I got to the gate, I found that my idea was wrong. The major of the interior department thought more comprehensively than I did. Before he entered the garden, he put four soldiers at the gate and told them about my dress. In this way, even if I can''t be found in the garden, I can be stopped at the door.


    Instead of driving today, the major took the co pilot''s seat. I asked at the back of his head, "Comrade major, where are you sending me?"


    "I have orders to send you to the 16th army headquarters in ustinovo." Without looking back, he said dryly.


    "What about aksara? It''s not very close from here to the hotel. " When I knew where I was going, I worried about aksara, who was still at the gate of widenkhan.


    "Don''t worry about that. Our soldiers will send her back to the hotel safely." He still answered me in a cold voice. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then suddenly said, "Comrade commander, we have just received reliable information from the guerrillas behind the enemy lines. The commander of the 16th group army has been injured and captured."


    "Ah?" I''m stunned by the news. Rokowski is captured?! How is that possible? If he was captured, it would be an impossible task to rescue him under the current situation of our army. If he stayed in the German POW camp until the end of the war, how could he become the future marshal of the Soviet Union? Also, if I stay with rokosovsky, will I also be captured by the German army.


    After a while, I recovered from the shock and asked the major in a trembling voice, "Comrade major, what did you say just now? The commander of the 16th army was injured and captured? Is that general rokosovsky? "


    Hearing this, the major suddenly turned his head to stare at me, looked at me blankly, and asked, "when did I say that general rokosovsky was captured?"


    "Didn''t you just say that the commander of the 16th army was injured and captured by the German army?" Seeing the blank expression on his face, I couldn''t help wondering whether he had hallucination just now.


    "Yes, I said just now that the commander of the 16th army was captured. But it''s not general rokosovsky, it''s general Lukin, the old commander of the 16th army. " His explanation made me feel relieved. As long as it wasn''t rokosovsky, it was none of my business that other people I didn''t know were not captured. So I leaned back with my submachine gun and began to close my eyes.


    Ustinovo is not a city at the moment, but a relatively large residential area. It seems that the major has been here before. Since he entered the residential area, he kept directing the driver to turn left and right, and finally came to a big wooden house. When the car stopped, the major turned to me and said, "here we are, comrade commander."


    I said thanks and pushed the door open to get off¡° Wait a minute, comrade oshanina. " I stopped and looked at him in surprise. The major reached out to me across the seat and said with a smile, "good luck!" I grabbed his warm hand, squeezed it hard, and said gratefully, "thank you."¡° And me, comrade commander. " The silent driver all the way also extended his hand to me.


    At the door of the cabin stood a colonel, who saw me go over, looked me up and down, and then asked me, "is it Comrade o''shanina?"


    "Yes." I promised and saluted him at attention, thinking who this man is, I''ve never seen him before.


    "I''m Colonel malining, chief of staff of the group army. Go in quickly. The combat meeting will begin soon. The commander is waiting for you."


    I went into the room and found that it was a conference room. The long table was full of people. Commander rokosovsky was sitting under a large military map. When he saw me go in, he stood up, waved to me and said in a loud voice, "Comrade Rita, come to me." So I went along the corner with a blush under the gaze of the people, and then sat down in the position left for me.


    "We are all here. We have a meeting now. The commanders in today''s meeting are from different places and don''t know each other. In order to cooperate well in the coming battle, I''d like to introduce them to you. " He first pointed to himself and said, "my name is rokosovsky. I''m the commander of the group army." He stopped for a moment, then said in a sarcastic tone, "who else doesn''t know me? Hands up if you don''t know. "


    His words caused a burst of laughter, and the atmosphere in the room became relaxed.


    He pointed to the burly political worker sitting on his right seat and said, "this is Comrade lobachev, political commissar of the group army." Lobachev nodded to the commanders and said, "Hello, comrades!"


    "Comrade Romanov, director of the Political Department of the group army." A tall, thin officer to lobachev''s right stood up.


    "Major general kazakov, artillery commander of the group army." Rokosovsky turned his eyes to me again. The fat general on my right got up from his chair and said hello.


    "Colonel malining, chief of staff of the group army, and Comrade Aurel, deputy chief of staff."


    Then he looked at me and solemnly introduced to the commanders here: "this is Comrade o''shanina, the only female lieutenant colonel of our army and the special commissioner of the Western army." As soon as his voice fell, there was a burst of applause. I stood up to salute you, and then sat down again.


    Rokosovsky then began to introduce the commanders who came to the meeting: "general dovator, commander of the third cavalry army, and his subordinates, major general Iliev, commander of the 50th cavalry division, and brigadier commander of Colonel melinick, commander of the 53rd cavalry division." the handsome young cavalry major general I knew stood up with two other cavalry commanders at the same time.


    "Colonel chernenov of the 18th infantry division."


    "Colonel katukov, commander of our independent tank brigade, has just been provided by the front army."


    "On the basis of the military academy named after the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation, the mixed Cadet regiment is composed of commander mlakintsev and political commissar Comrade slavkin."


    ¡­¡­


    "The last one I introduced is Comrade romanchenko, director of the Moscow police. He has brought us a well-trained and well-equipped police detachment." This time, one of the farthest officers in police uniform stood up to salute.


    "Well, all the commanders have finished the introduction. Next, let''s ask the chief of staff, comrade malining, to explain to you the upcoming battle of skilmanovo." When the commander said this, I scanned the whole room again, but I still didn''t see Mr. Panfilov and political commissar yegorov. It seems that the 316 division was not arranged to take part in this counterattack.


    Malining went to the front of the big map, pointed with a stick and explained to everyone: "at the end of October and the beginning of November, the German aggressors captured several settlements on the right wing of our army, including skilmanovo. From the south, the Hitler elements threatened the wolokoramsk Istra highway. They could not only bombard the highway, but also cut it off at any time and enter the rear of the main group of our army in this direction. In order to eliminate the threat of being encircled by the German aggressors, the headquarters of the front army ordered us to launch a campaign against the German aggressors immediately. "


    Marinin stopped for a moment, as if to make everyone think about what he said. Then he went on to say: "the attacking forces are divided into two echelons. The first echelon is Iliev''s 50th cavalry division, chernenov''s 18th infantry division and katukov''s tank brigade. The second echelon consists of the 17th, 20th, 24th and 44th cavalry divisions from Central Asia, the 58th tank brigade, and the 78th and 44th infantry divisions of Colonel beloborodov from Siberia. Before the attack, several artillery units and guard mortar battalions will prepare for the fire. In addition to our group army, the 5th and 20th group armies will also cooperate with our attack. The total strength of our army in this campaign is 11 divisions. "


    After listening to marinin''s words, the commanders in this room couldn''t help exclaiming that almost all the eleven divisions are new forces. If they are to deal with the exhausted German army, they will win the battle.


    Eleven divisions? Hearing this number, I immediately associate with the campaign that President Lin mentioned that day. It seems that everything he said is true. According to the records of later generations, although the German offensive has weakened at the moment, its combat effectiveness has never declined to such an extent that it can not resist the Soviet counterattack. Moreover, these counterattack forces were all improvised, and their cooperation and combat effectiveness were not satisfactory. To launch a hasty counterattack at this moment, apart from slowing down the German army''s march to Moscow and paying unnecessary casualties, is simply not worth the loss.


    The chief of staff pointed out the direction of the main attack to everyone. "We''ll carry out the assault here," he drew a circle with the explanation stick, which included skil manovo. "The attack will start on November 11, tomorrow. After our artillery preparation, the 50th cavalry division of Iliev launched the first attack; Chernenov''s 18th infantry division followed. When the infantry and cavalry split the German line of defense, katukov''s tank brigade attacked again to expand the breakthrough. "


    After listening to the chief of staff''s introduction, rokosovsky stood up and asked the commanders present, "do you have any questions?"


    Major general Iliev, the commander of the cavalry division who took part in the main attack, stood up and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, can I express my personal opinion?"


    "Say it! Comrade General. " Rokosovsky nodded at him.


    "Comrade commander, as far as I know, the cavalry from Central Asia have not yet replaced their winter horseshoes. Near Moscow, the land has been frozen, and ice debris has appeared in many swamps, which makes it difficult for the horses to move. And the commanders and fighters of these cavalry still lack the experience of operating in ravines and forest swamps


    "I see. I will arrange the relevant departments to change the horseshoes for their horses as soon as possible. As for the lack of experience, we can only explore it slowly in the battle. Now we have no time." With these words, rokosovsky scanned the room again, and then asked, "is there any other question?" After hesitating for a moment, I summoned up the courage to stand up and said to him, "Comrade commander, I want to say a few words."¡° Well, let''s listen to Comrade o''shanina''s new views. " Then he sat back in his chair. I took a deep breath and then said in a loud voice, "I think we''ll make a big sacrifice if we let the cavalry and infantry take the lead." At the end of the speech, the whole audience was in an uproar, and some people even said loudly: "in order to protect the great motherland, we are not afraid of sacrifice."¡° be quiet! be quiet! Let''s hear what the commander said Rokosovsky stood up in time to relieve me, and then turned to me: "tell us your reasons."¡° As we all know, the positions between our army and the German army were frozen, which made it difficult for the horses to move. As a result, the cavalry could not move quickly. At best, they were only infantry on horseback. On the open plain, the infantry and cavalry were packed together, which was a good target for the German army to shoot. They would kill us all like hunting. Tanks without infantry cover will be killed one by one by the enemy''s anti tank hands, even if they rush to the position. "¡° What should we do then? " The chief of staff for this interview¡° Before the end of our artillery fire, the tank brigade was used as the guide to launch the attack. The tanks slow down and keep the triangle attack formation. At the same time, order the infantry attacking with the vehicle not to leave the 60 degree acute fan of the vehicle, so as to avoid casualties. When the tanks and infantry break through the enemy''s position, the cavalry will attack again to expand the breakthrough. " After I finished, I nervously looked at the commanders on the scene to see what reaction they had. The commanders listened to me and began to talk to each other. Vaguely heard someone say: "before the artillery preparation is over, start to attack. Is that ok? It won''t cause unnecessary casualties, will it The idea of infantry attacking with vehicles is quite novel, but I don''t know whether it works or not¡° be quiet! Comrades, be quiet Rokosovsky stood up again to speak for me: "I think the plan put forward by Comrade oshanina is very good. Just do as she said. Do you have any objection? " The commander made a speech, who dares to say no, so the people below answered with one voice: "no!"¡° Well, since there are no different opinions, the meeting is over. "

 Chapter 97

    At 6:00 a.m. on the 11th, with rokosovsky''s order, the roar of artillery broke the silence of the winter morning, and the overwhelming shells smashed at skilmanovo shrouded in thick fog. The battle of skilmanovo, which was hastily deployed by the Western command, officially began.


    I stayed in the front observation post of the group army and stood at the lookout hole with rokosovsky. The thick fog made us unable to see the battlefield clearly. It was useless to use telescopes or observation glasses. The Milky fog curtain was only red by the flashing fire of the shells... The rumbling of the guns did not stop for a moment.


    The explosion of the shell moved into the distance. This means that the artillery began to extend fire. At this time, I clearly heard the cry of "Wula" and the creaking sound of tank tracks. The attack begins! I couldn''t help looking at rokosovsky beside me. He looked at the front without expression and didn''t say a word. Maybe he was thinking about the same question as me - can we break through the enemy''s fortifications?


    I focused on listening to the news from the battlefield. The German artillery began to fight back, but the sound of the artillery was sparse, and the artillery seemed to be scattered. It seems that in the artillery preparation just now, the German artillery position suffered a lot of losses. All of a sudden, I heard the sound of German machine guns all over the line. It seems that our artillery preparation has not yet destroyed all the German machine gun positions. In the thick fog came the sound of scattered guns. I surmised to myself that perhaps our artillery was pushing forward in order to suppress the German firepower.


    "Do you have any cigarettes?" I was staring at the thick fog outside in a daze when I suddenly felt someone touched my arm. I turned my head and saw that it was rokosovsky. Maybe he is worried now. He wants to have a cigarette to relax his nervous mood, so he casually asks the people next to him for a cigarette. Unexpectedly, he found me by mistake.


    "Sorry, comrade commander, I don''t smoke."


    "Oh, it''s you. I didn''t notice." He turned his head and called out from behind, "chief of staff, do you have any cigarettes there? Give me one. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Malining agreed to run over, took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to rokosovsky. The commander took one out of the cigarette box and put it in his mouth. The chief of staff nearby lit the fire for him in a hurry. He took two puffs, then puffed out a few rings, and then asked, "where''s director romanchenko?"


    "I went back to Moscow after the meeting yesterday." The chief of staff replied.


    "What about the police detachment? How did you arrange it?"


    "There are 150 people in the police detachment from Moscow, and I divided them into three groups with local militia. At one o''clock in the morning, I have sent them to sneak into the areas we are about to attack to carry out reconnaissance and sabotage work


    "Well, do they have any news now?"


    "Not for the time being, comrade commander."


    Rokosovsky threw the cigarette end on the ground, crushed it with his feet, then picked up his telescope and looked into the thick fog. It was late in winter. In addition to the rare fog weather, he could not understand the situation on the battlefield in time. No wonder he was so upset.


    "Comrade commander." The voice of Romanov, director of the political department, came from the gate of the observation post. Without waiting for rokosovsky to answer him, he continued to say to himself, "here comes Vladimir stavsky, a reporter from Moscow for Pravda. He wants to interview you. Is that ok? "


    "No!" Rokosovsky simply rejected the request and said impatiently, "we are fighting now. We will wait until the fighting is over."


    "Yes Romanov answered and turned to walk out.


    "Wait a minute, comrade Romanov." General kazakov, the artillery commander who had been sitting at the table looking at the map, stopped the director of the political department and said to him in a low voice, "don''t you see that the commander is upset? First find a place to settle Comrade Vladimir stavsky, and then talk about the interview after the battle. "


    Romanov complained endlessly: "I''ve just arranged a rest place, but Comrade Vladimir stavsky didn''t want to. He said he came to the front line to interview and wanted to go deep into the front line to stay with the soldiers. For the sake of his safety, I arranged for him to interview Comrade commander. But what do you think of this


    General kazakov walked back and forth a few times, then stopped and said to Romanov, "Comrade director of the political department, please arrange for him to go to major yevlemenko''s 259th anti tank artillery regiment first. That regiment belongs to the reserve of the group army and will not fight for the time being. Staying there can guarantee his safety. "


    "Yes Romanov saluted general kazakov, turned and left happily.


    As time went by, the day began to light, but the thick fog refused to disperse. The gunfire outside has become sparse, but there is still no news. Waiting is painful, especially not knowing what the end of waiting is. I hope that news will come from the front line as soon as possible so that I can know whether the battle will be won or lost. However, I don''t know whether the person who comes to deliver the message will bring good news or bad news. Because this counterattack is not in my limited memory of the Moscow defense. So I''m not only looking forward to the news, but also afraid of it. This kind of emotional entanglement makes me a little anxious.


    Just then, the telephone rang on the desk. The chief of staff picked up the phone and asked, "this is the observation post of the group army. Where are you?" As soon as the other side spoke, he excitedly called to rokosovsky: "Comrade commander, it''s Colonel chernenov of the 18th infantry division. He wants to report to you..." without waiting for him to speak, rokosovsky had grabbed the microphone and said loudly to him: "I''m general rokosovsky. Tell me about it. What''s the situation over there?" The observation station is not big, and the sound from the microphone is enough for all the people in the room to hear¡° Report to commander, our 18th infantry division, under the cover of the katukov tank brigade, has captured skilmanovo, and most of the German troops have been destroyed by us. At present, with the cooperation of the 50th cavalry division, the army is cleaning up the remaining enemy in the occupied area. " Colonel chernenov''s words were a relief to all the people in the observation center. Rokosovsky was even more excited, he said in a loud voice: "well done! I congratulate you, comrade colonel. In skilmanuovo, a small group of troops will be left to clear up the remnant enemy. The rest of the troops will continue to attack the enemy''s line of defense, and their movements will be fierce! Do you understand? Although our tanks and artillery are superior to the German army, we have no air supremacy. As soon as the fog is dispersed, the German Air Force planes will be dispatched to bombard the attacking forces, which is bound to cause heavy casualties to our army. Therefore, you should seize the time to expand your achievements and strive to recapture a few more residential areas before the enemy planes destroy you. Do you understand? "¡° I fully understand, comrade commander. " At the other end of the line, Col. chernenov appeared confident. Rokosovsky put down the phone, looked at his watch, then grabbed another phone on the table, shook the handle a few times, picked up the phone and said, "get me Comrade Zhukov, commander of the front army." After the phone was connected, rokosovsky reported to Zhukov that skilmanovo had been recaptured. Zhukov on the other end of the phone quietly listened to the report without interrupting him. After a long time, he said, "except for the reserve team, I suggest you put the second echelon into the battle immediately. Move quickly!" Then he hung up. Rokosovsky ordered malining standing on one side: "get me all the commanders of the second echelon right away." Malining picked up the phone and started calling the units of the second echelon in turn. Rokosovsky came up to me and asked with a smile, "Rita, what do you think our counterattack will achieve?"¡° It can effectively slow down the German army''s advance to Moscow and gain precious time for those troops who are assembling to the capital and preparing to take part in the great counter offensive. " After listening to my words, rokosovsky''s face showed obvious disappointment. He might want to hear my praise for the campaign, but I said such disappointing words. When he was about to say something, the chief of staff was already calling him: "Comrade commander, the second echelon''s phone has been connected. Please give us your order!" Rokosovsky took the phone, took a deep breath, then yelled at the phone, "comrades! Brothers! It''s time for a counterattack, for the motherland! For Moscow! Go ahead The speed of the horse''s hooves, mixed with the voice of the soldiers shouting "Wula", spread to the observation center from far and near¡° Comrade commander, listen, it''s the cavalry of the second echelon. They''re coming up. " Hearing the news from outside, marinin flushed with excitement.

 Chapter 98

    The thick fog gradually dissipated. In the observation station, I could barely see through the telescope that the cavalry soldiers in black cloaks and wielding sabres were following the tanks and rushing to the enemy line in the distance.


    The telephone on the desk rang, and then I heard the voice of the commander: "I''m rokosovsky, where are you?" I turned away from my telescope to hear if there was any good news of victory.


    "Comrade commander, this is Panfilov!" In the receiver came the anxious voice of the division commander of 316 Infantry Division: "I would like to ask, what is the task of our 316 infantry division?"


    "Comrade division commander," rokosovsky said with obvious dissatisfaction, "the order is very clear. Your division''s task is to stick to wolokramsk, so as to ensure the flank safety of the attacking forces."


    "However, comrade commander," Mr. Panfilov tried to argue, "our division''s commanders and fighters can do more. We can not only launch a counterattack against the German army, but also deploy part of our forces to support other troops participating in the counterattack..."


    "The purpose of holding on to wolokramsk is to ensure that the flanks of the counterattack forces of the group army are not attacked by the German forces. You should understand this, comrade teacher. " The Group Commander''s attitude was extremely severe. After a pause, he said with a tone of lesson: "Comrade division, every place in the war is equally important - both offensive and defensive. I have to remind you of this. Do you understand what will happen if the flank of my counter attack forces is attacked by the enemy? If you all leave the position and take part in the counterattack, who will stop them? "


    "But..." Panfilov at the other end of the phone wanted to distinguish something, but he was interrupted by rokosovsky: "don''t go on, sir. I will let you go when it''s your turn to go up in the future. At present, your task is to hold fast to wolokramsk, firmly guard the city and ensure the safety of the flanks of the group army. Do you understand? " Then he hung up.


    "Comrade commander, should we go to the frontier?" Seeing that the commander finished answering the phone, chief of staff malining carefully put forward his own suggestions.


    "Well, all right, let''s go and have a look. Comrade marinin, make arrangements to move the headquarters forward to skilmanovo as a whole. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Malining replied aloud.


    He first faced karzakov, who was sitting at the table, and said, "let''s go, comrade artillery commander, and see what the results of the artillery you command are?" Then he turned to me and said, "Rita, you''re coming with us, too."


    The headquarters and I came out of the observation post, and under the protection of a dozen soldiers with submachine guns, we crossed the wide battlefield and went to the newly recovered skilmanovo.


    There was no one in the open battlefield, but when I looked closely, I immediately found that there were soldiers'' bodies in camouflage or black cape everywhere. The more we go forward, the more dead soldiers there are. Looking at the bodies of the soldiers who were destined to be unable to stand up and fall on the road of charge, I couldn''t help but burst into tears.


    Rokosovsky, who may have been used to life and death, became indifferent to all this, and they walked on calmly. Khazakov, who was walking in front of me, suddenly said, "do you know what the commander of the fourth tank brigade is like? You see, we''ve been walking for such a long time that we haven''t even seen a destroyed tank except for the infantry and cavalry soldiers who died in the battle. "


    Rokosovsky replied, "ask the commander of the fourth tank brigade. His name is katukov. He''s an interesting guy. I''ve known him for more than ten years. I remember when I was 36 years old, I once watched an exercise he participated in. During that exercise, the armored forces on his side had the task of breaking through the "enemy". Before breaking through, they found that the trench dug by the "enemy" actually exceeded the crossing width of their own tanks. When the other units were at a loss, he ordered the soldiers of the t-18 tank unit under his command to drive two of them into the trench, and then, in an almost barbaric way of "burying cars as bridges", drove the tanks across the fortified area. Afterwards, he was called "Kutuzov type commander" by Marshal Tukhachevsky of the national defense people''s Committee. "


    "Yes, this katukov is very powerful," deputy chief of staff o''lear continued after taking over the topic: "the Colonel took over the fourth tank brigade in early October. At that time, the brigade had only 45 old-fashioned tanks with insufficient ammunition, and their task was to guard the west gate of Moscow, mzensk, and block the German goodrian armored cluster."


    "It''s 45 tanks. It''s not easy to block goodrian." Kazakov said with emotion.


    "The Colonel knew that hard fighting was not the way, so he urged the soldiers to dig fake bunkers day and night, and made a large number of fake tanks with plywood for camouflage, while the real tank positions were deployed four kilometers away. The soldiers were tossed about for days and nights by katukov. Behind his back, they all scolded him as "a German spy commander who wants to kill the Russians."


    "What was the result of the war?" Political commissar lobachev also asked curiously.


    "It was only at the beginning of the battle that the officers and men found that following this" slippery brigade commander "would at least save their lives. It is said that during the battle of msensk, katukov used every soldier carefully, and stipulated that every tank should have three or four firing points, and each tank should be fired in another place, which would make our army very strong. His deception tactics worked so well that the German aggressors were deceived. When they reported to their superiors, they even claimed that there was a war among thousands of tanks. The fourth tank brigade fought fiercely for eight days and nights in msensk and achieved brilliant results. It destroyed 133 enemy tanks and shot down two planes, while its own troops only lost three failed tanks and successfully completed the tasks assigned by the superior. "


    "It''s incredible to lose three of the 133 German tanks. It''s a bit overqualified just to make him a brigade commander. " Rokosovsky began to sigh: "if I were the commander of the front army, I would let him command a mechanized army." With these words, we came to skilmanovo unconsciously. Maybe the German army had been attacking since they set foot on the territory of the Soviet Union, so they were thinking about how to attack, not how to defend. Even in this village, there were no decent fortifications. Only on the side facing our army, we dug up a few scattered bunkers and machine gun positions. Near these bunkers, there are bodies of our soldiers and German soldiers. It seems that not long ago, there was a deadly battle here. In order to capture these bunkers, our army paid a lot of casualties. We passed through the ruins of the building and came to the middle of the village. Although most of the buildings were destroyed in the bombardment of our army, the village chapel was miraculously preserved. In the middle of the village, everyone looked around in silence. Although the fighting here is over, the fierce fighting is still going on two or three kilometers away, and the sound of guns comes from the southwest from time to time. Behind me came a roar of motorcycles. I turned to see a soldier wearing goggles coming towards us on a motorcycle with a straddle. I thought that the chief of staff sent someone to send some emergency information, so I quickly called rokosovsky: "Comrade commander, you see, there is a motorcycle coming. I don''t know if the chief of staff sent someone to send the message." Without waiting for rokosovsky to speak, the motorcycle had already arrived in front of him. Driving, the soldier turned over and got off the motorcycle, and came forward to pay a standard military salute to rokosovsky: "Comrade commander, lunch is ready. Comrade chief of staff asked me to bring it to you."¡° Well, "rokosovsky nodded and said," give us lunch in the car. "¡° Yes With a promise, the soldier went to the motorcycle, took off his goggles and bent over to get our lunch from the straddle. When the soldiers took off the goggles, I was surprised to find that the other side turned out to be a female soldier. It seems that great personnel changes have taken place in the headquarters during this period. At least I haven''t seen a female soldier in the headquarters before. The female soldier came to rokosovsky with several stacked aluminum lunch boxes. The commander took down the one on the top and pointed to me, saying, "give me one first. She hasn''t eaten since early in the morning, so she must be hungry." The female soldier came up to me and said politely, "please, comrade commander." I also took a hot lunch box from the top and politely expressed my thanks to the female soldier. I was about to lift the lid to see what was in it. The female soldier suddenly jumped on me and knocked me to the ground. All the food in her lunch boxes was scattered on me. I am a little angry, just want to open mouth to scold her a few words, did not expect a series of shouts around: "lie down, it''s a sniper!"¡° Shoot¡° The enemy is on the top of the church. Shoot The soldiers who served as guards shot and fell down one after another, and the intensive fire made the roof rubble splash. I looked up at the woman soldier who fell on me. Her head was resting on my chest. The wound on my neck was bleeding and dyed my clothes red. I put my hand in front of her nose and couldn''t feel any breath. It seems that the bullet just came to me. This young female soldier just blocked the bullet for me¡° Comrades The deputy chief of staff, o''lear, who was lying on the ground, got up and "rushed forward and wiped out the enemy''s snipers." After shouting, he picked up the submachine gun in the hand of one of the dead soldiers and took the lead to rush forward¡° Go The soldiers got up one after another and rushed forward with the deputy chief of staff. There was only one German sniper. Although he shot down several other soldiers, he was soon beaten to the ground by the soldiers. He fell from the top of the church and fell heavily on the snow. The huge impact splashed the snow high on the ground. Seeing that the soldiers had eliminated the snipers, I sat up from the ground and carefully laid the remains of the female soldier on the ground. Then I stood up and took off my hat to let her in silence. Rokosovsky and a few of them also gathered around, like me, took off their hats and observed a moment of silence for the female soldiers.

 Chapter 99

    In the evening, the headquarters of the group army moved to the church in the village.


    I sat alone in the porter''s room, took off my camouflage clothes, which were stained with blood and oil, and threw them on the ground. Then through the window, I watched the commanders and soldiers outside busy in and out. The death of the female soldier just now made me feel restless for a long time. If she didn''t deliver the meal to me at that time and stood in front of me, then the sniper killed me instead of her, and she inadvertently became my scapegoat. When I think about it, I feel very sad.


    All of a sudden, I saw the deputy chief of staff, Col. o''lear, running by the window of the porter. It seemed that he was still in a hurry. Is something wrong? Thinking of this, I couldn''t sit still any more. I chased out of the small room in a hurry and asked nervously, "Comrade deputy chief of staff, what''s the matter?"


    O''lear would not say: "it''s no big deal. The commander asked me to bring a commander to the headquarters. There was a problem with the line to his unit, and the phone couldn''t get through." Then he got into the sidecar of a motorcycle and asked the soldier to drive away.


    What''s the matter with the commander calling katukov to the headquarters in such a hurry? However, it should not be. The tank brigade under the command of katukov is particularly outstanding today. In addition to skilmanovo, it also cooperates with infantry and cavalry to recover the other three villages at one stroke.


    "Comrade oshanina." When I was pondering, suddenly I heard someone call me behind me. Looking back, it turned out that it was political commissar lobachev. Seeing that I turned around, he said to me in a deliberative tone, "are you busy now? If you''re not busy, go to the kitchen and see when dinner will be ready? "


    "Yes I said yes, saluted him and turned away. After a few steps, it suddenly occurred to me that I had forgotten to ask where the kitchen was. Looking back, the commissar had entered the church again. In this case, I''m too embarrassed to run back and ask. I have to think of my own way. I stopped and looked around. Most of the buildings around me had collapsed. Only one house in the southeast looked relatively complete, and white smoke came from the chimney on the roof. It seemed that the kitchen for preparing meals for the headquarters was there, so I walked towards the smoking house.


    Before I got to the door, I smelled a strong smell of meat. It seems that I chose the right direction. So I quickly walked a few steps, went to the house, pushed the door open and went in.


    When I entered the room, I saw a group of people in it busy, choosing vegetables, washing vegetables, cutting vegetables and so on. When they saw me push the door in, they stopped their work, looked up at me, then lowered their heads to get busy. Except for one or two elderly men, the rest of the room were young girls. Where did these people come from? How come I never saw them when I was in the headquarters? When I was wondering, a female soldier with four triangles inlaid on her cravat came up and asked curiously, "what can I do for you? Comrade commander He used a very common tone and didn''t report to me in accordance with the regulations.


    "Oh," I suddenly saw a room of female soldiers here. I was very surprised. When I heard someone ask me, I was a little flustered: "Comrade political commissar, let me ask, when will dinner be ready?"


    "It''s almost ready. When the soup starts to boil, it can be sent to the headquarters."


    "Yes, I see." I nodded, then introduced myself to her and said, "my name is o''shanina, special commissioner of the front army. How do I address you? "


    "I''m the chief of the Department, major ina."


    ¡° §ã§ä§Ñ§â§ê§Ú§ß§Ñ£¿¡± I couldn''t help but be stunned. I repeated the word "staasla" in my mouth. I thought 171 would make Suo vaskov. There are four triangles on the collar, but he is a brigadier. Why is this female soldier a major?


    "What are you thinking? Commander o''shanina Maybe seeing me standing in the same place and talking to myself, ina asked curiously.


    "Nothing!" I coughed, then changed the subject and asked, "where did you come from? I''ve never seen you before in the headquarters of the group army. "


    "Report to commander, we used to belong to the 7th mechanized army. Not long ago, together with the former chief of staff, Colonel malining, we were assigned to the 16th group army."


    "Can you show me how to make red cabbage soup?" Although I have drunk red vegetable soup many times, I still don''t know how to make it, so I want to know more about it.


    "Yes!" Ina took me to the kitchen table, pointed to a pile of vegetables on the chopping board, and said, "these are the materials for making red vegetable soup, including potatoes, tomatoes, onions, radishes sliced, celery sliced." Then he pointed to the hot aluminum pot with no lid on the fire, and continued to explain to me the method of red vegetable soup: "what is cooked in the pot is beef tendon meat. When the meat is cooked to the degree of spongy, take out the meat for use. Then put the potatoes, onion and celery into the pot and cook for 10 minutes. Then put the cabbage and tomato. When it''s all cooked, add ketchup and salt, and you''ll be out of the pot. "


    It can be seen that ina has been in the kitchen for a long time, and she has a lot of experience in cooking. When it comes to cooking, she talks on and on until the red vegetable soup starts to boil.


    From the kitchen back to the headquarters door, Aurel''s motorcycle just came back, followed by a tank of our army. I was thinking: who is this? It''s arrogant to come to the headquarters to report a work and drive a tank. So I stopped to see.


    As I watched, the tank stopped next to the church. Oriole got off the motorcycle and went to the tank, waiting patiently for the passengers inside. The hatch was opened with a bang, and a tall tank soldier climbed out of the cockpit. The black tank coat was tightly tied with a belt, and a pistol was pinned on the belt. It turned out to be an officer. I looked at the officer and thought he looked familiar. I saw him at the meeting yesterday, but I couldn''t remember his name for a moment.


    "What are you looking at? Comrade oshanina I was startled when someone spoke around me. Looking back, it turned out that it was chief of staff malining.


    I quickly explained to him, "chief of staff, look, a tank has stopped at the door. I want to see who is driving it, so I stop to have a look."


    "Isn''t that Colonel katukov, the commander of the 4th tank brigade? Didn''t the commander introduce you at the meeting yesterday? Don''t you know him? "


    Just then, oler and katukov came to us. Katukov saluted malining and said in a loud voice, "Hello, chief of staff!" Marinin saluted back and reached out to shake his hand. While they were shaking hands, I quickly saluted the new captain.


    "Hello, comrade commander." Katukov gave me a bear hug instead of a return. His strength is so strong that I can hardly breathe. But I''m not easy to get angry. After all, hugging is a Russian custom, and the strength of hugging represents the degree of friendliness. But I murmured to myself: I met him at the meeting yesterday, and we didn''t know each other so well that we didn''t need to hold each other so tightly.


    "Well, comrade katukov, don''t cling to our commander. The commander is still waiting for you." Malining called to the tank captain and helped me out in time.


    I followed the three and walked into rokosovsky''s headquarters. Seeing us go in, rokosovsky stood up from his seat, met katukov, extended his hand, and said, "welcome, major general katukov."


    As soon as this remark came out, not only katukov, but also I was stunned, thinking: isn''t he a Colonel? When did he become a general? Isn''t it the commander who has been tired and confused recently?


    Indeed, katukov also corrected the commander''s statement: "Comrade commander, I am a colonel, not a general."


    "I can''t be wrong, comrade katukov. I can''t be wrong about that." Then he turned to the commissar and said, "Comrade lobachev, make an announcement."


    The political commissar who originally stood behind rokosovsky stepped forward, took a piece of paper and read aloud: "in recognition of the heroism and tenacity of Comrade Mikhail yefmovitch katukov and the fourth tank brigade he led in the battle to defend our great capital Moscow, and the brilliant results he has achieved, The commander was awarded the rank of major general and the title of "No.1 tank brigade of close guard" at the same time. 11 November 1941. "


    When the order was announced, rokosovsky took katukov''s hand with a smile and said, "Congratulations, you have won the rank of general, and your army is also the first armored force in our army to win the title of guards. In the next battle, I hope your troops can achieve more brilliant results. "


    People in the headquarters came forward one after another to shake hands with katukov, and I was no exception. When I shook his hand, I said, "Comrade General, congratulations on your getting a higher rank."


    "Thank you. While thanking you for your congratulations, I also want to express my gratitude to you." As soon as katukov said this, the room became quiet, and everyone''s eyes looked at me. I was puzzled and asked: "Comrade General, why do you want to thank me?"


    "Remember the tactics you put forward at the meeting yesterday?" Seeing that everyone was watching me, katukov quickly explained to everyone, "today''s fighting is so smooth, it''s all related to the tactics put forward by Comrade oshanina."


    "Tell me, what''s going on?" Rokosovsky asked curiously, then waved to the table and said to everyone, "don''t stand in the room, sit down and speak slowly. The food will be delivered soon. We can talk while eating."


    I sat down next to rokosovsky, and katukov sat opposite me. Then I continued: "in the past, our attacks were all cavalry or infantry. When the artillery was ready, they charged first, and when they were close to the enemy''s trenches, the tanks attacked again. According to this method of attack, if the enemy''s firepower is too strong to keep the attacking troops on the ground, the attack channel of the tanks will be blocked. Once our tanks have to stop on the battlefield, they will become the targets of the enemy, and their artillery or air force can easily destroy us. This time, tanks attack first, and infantry and cavalry cooperate behind. In the course of the attack, the enemy''s firepower points were easily knocked down by our tanks, and the anti tank fighters who emerged were also eliminated in time by the following infantry. To tell you the truth, I didn''t expect that this kind of cooperation between arms would be so easy to win and the casualties would be far lower than I expected. That''s why I said that I would like to thank Comrade o''shanina specially for putting forward such good tactical suggestions for us. "


    So it is. After listening to his explanation, I can understand why he used so much force when he hugged me just now. The commanders on the scene listened to him and began to talk to each other¡° May I come in? Comrade commander Ina''s voice came from the door. I turned around and saw her and several female soldiers standing at the door with trays full of dishes¡° Come on in, "rokosovsky stood up and said politely to her. Then he said to everyone," the meal is coming. Let''s have a meal first. After that, let''s continue to discuss the tactics proposed by Comrade oshanina. "

 Chapter 100

    At night, sporadic gunfire came from time to time. It seems that the fighting did not stop because of the coming of night. The enemy and us are still fighting for some areas on a small scale.


    Rokosovsky, the chief and deputy chief of staff and political commissar gathered around the map to study the battle after dawn. Seeing that they didn''t plan to go to bed at all, I could only give up the idea of going to the dormitory of the female soldiers in the cooking class to have a rest and stay up late with them in the headquarters honestly.


    As for the battle after dawn, rokosovsky obviously had a complete set of mature plans. He pointed to the map and said: "after the battle in the daytime, our army has completely smashed the German troops who occupied skirmanovo and other villages. The 10th German tank division, which tried to cut off the wolokoramsk Road, suffered heavy losses and was forced to retreat a long distance. According to the statistics, our army destroyed more than 50 enemy tanks and captured many guns, including 150 mm cannons, mortars and hundreds of cars. In order to consolidate the present achievements and prevent the German armored forces from attacking our flanks, I plan to transfer major yevremenko''s 289th anti tank regiment to the area of spas lyuhovsky, where they will take up the defensive task. "


    "Comrade commander, I want to remind you one thing," political commissar lobachev said, "you put Comrade Vladimir stavsky of Pravda in the 289 regiment today. If you transfer the regiment to such a dangerous area, then the safety of Comrade stavsky''s life will not be guaranteed. He is a precious asset of our country, and none of us has the right to risk his life. " The commissar''s words made everyone silent, and collectively turned their attention to rokosovsky.


    I thought to myself: who is this stavsky? Isn''t he a reporter from Pravda? Do you worry about his safety? Is he famous? No, at least he is not as famous as Gorky. Otherwise, I have never heard of his name. Originally, I wanted to ask the people next to me quietly: what kind of person is this stafsky? But when I looked left and right, I found that everyone was very serious. Then I realized that the reporter was not a small man. It was better to ask less, so I closed my mouth.


    "Comrade political commissar, do you think it''s OK for him to come to the headquarters for a while?" Asked rokosovsky tentatively.


    The political commissar shook his head and said, "Comrade stavsky is here for an interview. He has always wanted to go to the front line to see for himself how our brave soldiers fought against the ferocious enemy. If he knows that the 289 regiment will be transferred to the most dangerous area, it may be too late for him to be happy. If he wants to stay in the headquarters honestly, I''m afraid he won''t agree. "


    "What shall we do then?" The commander''s fingers tapped on the table. He frowned and thought for a while. Then he looked up, glanced at the commander and asked, "do any of you have a good idea?"


    The people in the room looked at each other and didn''t speak. Everyone knew that it was a difficult matter. Although stavsky was a big man, he couldn''t affect the movement of the troops alone. But if he is allowed to follow the troops to the most dangerous places, who should bear the responsibility and who can afford it once something happens?


    Finally, the political commissar opened his mouth to break the embarrassing situation. He said: "otherwise, the troops will be mobilized according to the original plan. I personally went to the 289 regiment to take charge, and I was responsible for the safety of Comrade stavsky. As long as I was alive, he would never be in danger. "


    "I''ll go." The political commissar''s proposal may be the best solution. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Artillery commander karzakov stood up and said, "I''d better go. 289 regiment is under my direct command. When I go there, I can not only ensure the safety of Comrade stafsky, but also command and mobilize the troops according to the specific situation. "


    Rokosovsky thought for a moment, nodded and said, "I agree with Comrade kazakov that it is most appropriate for him to go to the 289 regiment." With these words, he picked up a pencil, wrote a few lines on an open Notepad, tore them off and handed them to kazakov.


    When handsome Luo was writing, I immediately recalled his natural and unrestrained action in the movie "the battle of Moscow" when he led the troops to the national defense warehouse to collect weapons and ammunition, and wrote the receipt to the warehouse Quartermaster. His action is so cool, it''s fascinating. No wonder there are so many young women who will fall in love with him later.


    "Rita, Rita!" Handsome guy Luo even called me twice, and I came back to myself. I found that I had been staring at him just now. After listening to him, he suddenly felt a fever on his face, coughed quickly, stabilized his mood, and then asked, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter?"


    Rokosovsky did not answer my question, but went on to say: "except for the 289th regiment, I intend to transfer the 78th infantry division of Colonel beloborodov here..." he dotted a place name on the map with his hand: "in the area of Istra, it is possible for the German army to gather forces in this area and launch a counterattack against our offensive forces."


    To tell you the truth, I don''t like to participate in such military meetings. I feel crazy when they mention one strange place after another and say the names of the troops and commanders that I don''t know at all. It''s much easier to be on the front line. When the superior orders you to attack or defend, you only need to consider how to complete the task. You don''t need to remember the place names that are difficult to remember and the number of troops that are increasing or disappearing. If I have a chance, I''d better ask handsome Luo to go to the front line. At least when others stay up late, I can sleep peacefully.


    After dawn, our army''s attack continued. I learned from the war reports that the headquarters received from the front line that the 50th cavalry division led by major general Iliev had penetrated the German defense line for three kilometers. General katukov''s 1st guard tank brigade was strafed and bombed by the German air force when it was covering the attack of chernenov''s 18th infantry division. The troops lost a lot, but at noon they broke through the German defense line and recovered several residential areas. At the same time, the German army assembled an armored division and launched an attack on the spas lyuhovsky area. The 289 regiment, which entered the area at night, fought back tenaciously with tank guns and destroyed more than 30 enemy tanks. The troops of the 17th and 20th cavalry divisions, who arrived in time, launched an attack on the flank of the German army, defeated the German infantry, forced the enemy to stop attacking the area, and had to return to the starting point of the attack. Generally speaking, the results of the second day of the campaign were not bad. Our army''s sudden attack caught the German army by surprise. They were forced to retreat from many places and a large area of territory was recovered.

 Chapter 101

    In the evening, the fierce fighting stopped, and even the sporadic gunfire could not be heard.


    I had dinner in the headquarters, because rokosovsky did not arrange duty work, so I went back to the women''s dormitory with the commander ina.


    As we walked back and forth, I suddenly found that her military uniform seemed to fit her very well. It wrapped her slender body very tightly. It was almost tailor-made. So I quickened my pace to go side by side with her. At the same time, I asked curiously, "ina, where did you get your uniform? It really fits you."


    Maybe women can find countless common words when it comes to dress. She looked at my small military uniform, which doesn''t fit me, and then said to me, "the military uniform is issued by the superior, but it seems too big. However, there is a soldier in the cooking class who can order tailoring skills. She helped all our female soldiers modify the military uniform, so it looks very fit."


    "Is she still here? I want her to help me change my uniform. You see, although this uniform is the smallest size, it''s still big on the body. It''s really ugly to stand in front and pout back. "


    "Of course. Don''t worry, commander. Damana''s craftsmanship is excellent. It won''t be long before you can put on your military uniform. "


    With these words, I unconsciously came to the dormitory of the female soldier, which is an independent house not far from the kitchen. Ina pushed the door forward and yelled, "girls, line up. There''s a commander coming."


    When I entered the room, I saw a dozen female soldiers in two neat rows, looking at me curiously. I gave them a smile and said, "Hello girls! I''m staying here, not checking work. Let''s not be so restrained. Let''s all disband! "


    When the soldiers were disbanded, I looked around at the bunk beds against the wall and asked ina, "do you have any spare beds?"


    "Yes, please follow me." She led me to a bed, pointed to the lower bunk and said, "Comrade commander, you can sleep in this bed. All the quilts and pillows are ready-made."


    Looking at the neat bedding on the bed, I hesitated and asked, "does this bed seem to be sleeping?"


    "The soldier died yesterday. When he was delivering food to the commander, the German sniper killed him." Ina''s words reminded me of the woman soldier who fell in front of me. I felt a sudden stab in my heart. How fragile human life is in war! A few days ago, I was as lively as others, but now I go to bed empty and lie alone in the dark soil. But then again, if she hadn''t happened to block the sniper''s bullet for me, I would be lying in the grave now. I silently sat on the bed, gently stroked the neatly folded blanket with my hand, and said nothing.


    "Damana, come here for a second." When ina saw my gloomy look, she immediately yelled at me. With her cry, a tall woman soldier ran to us and asked, "Comrade chief, what''s the matter?"


    Ina pointed to my uniform and said, "you see, the commander''s dress doesn''t fit. Can you help her modify it?" When ina spoke, I also looked at the woman soldier who could tailor in front of me. I was afraid that she would say "no".


    Damana looked at it for a while and said, "no problem, chief secretary. I can do it right away." Then he pointed at me and said, "Comrade commander, in fact, women look very good in military uniforms, but they are too fat. Please stand up first and I''ll measure your size for you, then you can revise it. "


    After I took off my cotton padded clothes and trousers and handed them to damana, I was left with only underwear and underpants. There was no heating in the room, which made me cold enough. I quickly sat on the bed with my back against the head of the bed and shook the quilt open to cover me. It was cold in the room. Unexpectedly, the quilt was also cold. As soon as it was covered on the body, it made me shiver.


    "Comrade commander, you are in good shape!" Standing next to me, ina patted me a little flattery. After listening to her, although I felt hot on my face, I gave her a polite thanks.


    She then asked curiously, "Comrade commander, how long have you been a soldier?"


    "A soldier a month before the war broke out."


    "Ah?" She was very surprised and said, "I thought you had been a veteran for two or three years. I didn''t expect you had been in the army for only a few months, but now you are a lieutenant commander."


    "It doesn''t matter how long you stay in the army. Some people have worked in the army for more than ten years, but they are still ordinary soldiers; But some people can get high positions and military ranks in a very short period of time, one is by ability, the other is by luck. " I said carefully, "I belong to the latter."


    She listened to me and was about to ask again when there was a soft knock at the door. Hearing the knock on the door, the room suddenly quieted down, and a female soldier nearest to the door ran to open the door. When the door opened, I saw a handsome and shy soldier standing outside. He looked very nervous. He looked into the room as if he wanted to find someone. He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but he didn''t say it.


    The woman soldier who opened the door asked him, "what can I do for you? Comrade Barca The tone was full of ridicule, and her words immediately caused the girls in the room to laugh. The male soldier was more shy and nervous, blushing like Guan Gong.


    "Barca, is that you?" Not far away, a female soldier jumped up from the bedside. She couldn''t even care about her shoes, so she rushed to the door. After a while, she jumped into the arms of the male soldier.


    Just as they were hugging each other, ina stood up, went to the door and said in a loud voice, "Hey, Barca, can you take Vania to another place to make out? We''re not interested in seeing you two perform here. Besides, on such a cold day, open the door and let the cold wind pour into the house. Do you want to freeze us to death? " Ina''s words, immediately caused a laugh.


    I thought the man named Barca would push the boat and leave with Vania. Unexpectedly, he gently pushed Vania away, took a step to meet ina, and then stood at attention to salute, reporting: "Hello, comrade commander, I''ve come to invite the women soldiers to the headquarters for the dance on the order of the commander."


    Hearing that there was going to be a dance party, the women soldiers suddenly became active, and the room immediately became a magpie''s nest. I sat on the bed and thought: maybe it''s because the war in the past two days is relatively smooth, that''s why handsome Luo has this kind of interest in calling everyone to a dance.


    Ina pulled in Vania, who was standing at the door, and then said to Barca, "you go back first, we''ll go there after dressing up." Then, without waiting for Barca to say anything, he slammed the door.


    As soon as the door was closed, the women soldiers began to get busy. They took off their cotton padded clothes and trousers and put on summer clothes with skirts and light boots. I feel cold when I look at their dress. Although it''s only a few degrees below zero outside, it''s not cold when I go out. It''s typical to have demeanor without temperature.


    "Comrade commander," ina came up to me with a summer suit in her hand and said, "please put on this suit."


    I wanted to refuse, but when I looked aside, damana was still sewing for me with a hand-held sewing machine. It was estimated that she would not be able to finish work for a while. It was better to wear summer clothes to the dance than to wear underwear, so she took over her military uniform. Ina turned to damana and called, "damana, please change your clothes quickly."


    Damana stopped her work, looked at us and said in embarrassment, "Comrade commander, the clothes of the commander have not been changed. I can''t go."


    In this case, I can''t delay other people''s going to the dance because I ask her to help me change my clothes, so I should be more generous: "it''s OK, damana, change your clothes first, and change my uniform when you have time."


    The dance was held in the chapel. It used to be the office of the war office and the reconnaissance office. Tables and the like were moved to the position against the wall, and the empty position in the middle became the dance floor of the dance. There were two steam lamps on all sides of the walls, and the hall was as bright as day. The gramophone is singing the joyful song, many already unable to restrain commanders have already danced in the middle of the dance floor.


    With the entrance of the female soldiers, the atmosphere became more enthusiastic. The male commanders rushed in and invited their favorite female soldiers to the dance floor. In the end, I was left on the bench with another fat female soldier. Looking at the handsome Luo sitting on the opposite side of the dance floor, the female soldier said to me, "Comrade commander, you see, the commander is really handsome. If only I could dance with him."


    "Since you like the commander, go and ask him to dance. Don''t be shy!" I encouraged her to try.


    "I''ll invite him, won''t he refuse?" She''s still a little less confident.


    "Certainly not. A gentleman never says no to a woman." I continued to cheer her up.


    After listening to me, the female soldier suddenly stood up and took a deep breath. Then she walked through the dancing crowd and resolutely walked to the opposite handsome Luo.


    Before she came to handsome Luo, the gramophone began to play another song. I listened to the melody carefully, and immediately recognized that it was my familiar song "night outside Moscow". At this time, a man came up to me and said in a loud voice, "Comrade oshanina, why are you sitting here alone? Do you mind if I ask you to dance?"


    I looked up and saw the chief of staff, Colonel marinin, standing in front of me. I quickly got up and replied with a smile, "you''re very kind. Of course I won''t mind."


    While dancing on the dance floor with marinin, I asked him in a whisper, "how did Comrade commander think of having a dance?" I''m puzzled that rokosovsky held a dance at such a time. You know, it''s the beginning of the campaign, and the commanders have a lot to deal with, but he put aside all his work and called his department to hold a dance. If the later stage of the campaign develops smoothly, no one will say anything; If the campaign is defeated or defeated, someone will certainly make a big fuss about his holding the ball, which will affect his future.


    "The commander said that everyone has been working hard for such a long time. It''s rare that there is no fight tonight. So he held a small dance to let the comrades in the headquarters relax and combine work with rest. Only in this way can they keep the best working condition."


    Malining''s explanation didn''t reassure me, but made me more worried. I reminded him, "there are sporadic gunshots in the evening, but it''s unusually quiet tonight. Isn''t that a bit abnormal?"


    "It doesn''t matter," the chief of staff said with disapproval, "now we are taking the initiative in the battlefield. The German aggressors are being defeated by us. They won''t do anything in a short time." Although listening to what the chief of staff said, I still feel uneasy, because I clearly remember that the day of the Soviet counterattack was December 6, not November. That is to say, this hasty counterattack will end in failure. My eyes looked at the seat where rokosovsky had just sat, but I didn''t see him. After searching for a long time on the dance floor, he found that he was holding a fat girl soldier in a circle. Time passed unconsciously, and the officers and men who attended the ball danced with the music. The whole chapel became a sea of joy¡° Boom There was a sudden explosion of shells or bombs outside. The people who were dancing stopped, and then the sound of the gramophone stopped. Everyone listened to the movement from outside. At this time, my heart beat faster, it seems that my worry finally happened: the German army began to launch a counterattack¡° Boom, boom The sound of explosion outside became more and more intensive, and in a short time it became a sound. At the same time, the phones on the tables near the wall rang one by one. The staff officers of the headquarters threw away their dancing partners and rushed to the table to answer the phone. After a while''s silence, the church became noisy. I saw ina summon the women soldiers and quietly withdraw from the church. Handsome Luo, with a black face, took the political commissar and chief of staff into his office. I stood in place hesitated for a moment, or walked into the office of handsome man Luo. The information was quickly placed on rokosovsky''s desk. The information that the troops fed back was that the German army was carrying out heavy shelling on the positions occupied by the 50th cavalry division and the 18th infantry division. As our army only built simple fortifications, it could not resist the heavy artillery bombardment of the German army, and the casualties of the troops were large. Fortunately, the German army has not yet sent out infantry to attack these positions. After reading the information, rokosovsky walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, and then gave an order to the chief of staff: "get the commanders of the second echelon and the reserve team immediately, and let''s study how to fight after dawn."¡° Yes Malining agreed in a loud voice and ran out of the room to give orders.

 Chapter 102

    From time to time, the rumble of guns came from afar and rattled the windows of the conference room. Rokosovsky stood at the table, facing a large number of commanders who attended the meeting, and asked, "the German guns are shelling our army. What should we do next?"


    "We should fight back," one of the Colonel stood up and answered loudly, "order our artillery to open fire and destroy all the enemy artillery."


    "We all want to wipe out the enemy," chief of staff malining stood up. "But where are the enemy''s artillery and where should our artillery fire?"


    Listening to what the chief of staff said, the colonel was silent and sat down without saying a word.


    "Rita," rokosovsky called my name and asked, "you tell me, what shall we do?"


    I couldn''t think of any way to deal with the sudden attack of the German army, so I kept silent on the question of rokosovsky. However, he has asked me to answer the questions by name. It seems that I can''t escape. I can only stand up and reply with a stiff head: "Comrade commander, I think we should withdraw our troops from the shelled area as soon as possible."


    "Get out of here?" After listening to my words, rokosovsky didn''t say anything. A lieutenant commander next to him jumped out and asked me, "is it so easy for us to throw the place that we have sacrificed so many soldiers to seize to the enemy?"¡° Yeah, yeah! We can''t just give up the position that we can recover at a great price. " His words immediately attracted a voice of support.


    Rokosovsky made a gesture, interrupted the words behind these people, looked at me and said, "tell me your reasons for withdrawing the troops."


    "According to the information obtained so far, the German army only shelled the areas occupied by our army, but did not dispatch ground forces. According to my estimation, "I know rokosovsky''s character, so I didn''t beat around the Bush and directly stated my point of view:" this shows that the German army does not have enough troops to counterattack. The reason why they use artillery bombardment is to achieve the purpose of killing a large number of living forces of our army. As soon as their follow-up troops arrive at dawn, We''ll launch a full-scale attack. In order not to let our soldiers die in vain under the artillery fire, I suggest that our troops should be withdrawn immediately. Except for a small number of Guard troops, all other troops should be withdrawn to safe areas to build new fortifications. "


    "What about the present position?" This time, it''s deputy chief of staff o''lear¡° Just give up? "


    "It''s not giving up, it''s just a temporary retreat." Although the person who asked this was the deputy chief of staff, I clearly know that almost all of you here share the same idea, so I have to explain to them clearly: "the German artillery reserves are not unlimited. It''s 11 p.m. now, maybe in an hour or two, they will stop shooting. When it''s safe, let our troops re-enter the position; As for the newly built positions, they can be used as preparatory positions. They must be disadvantageous to war. When our army retreats, they can also quickly form new defenses in these places. "


    "You''re right, Rita. But have you ever thought about how the commander should mobilize his troops in the dark night, especially in the area under heavy German artillery fire? It is said that it is a retreat, but under such specific conditions, it is easy to turn into a collapse and flight without planning and organization, and our army may collapse in the whole line at that time! " I was speechless and fell to my seat. Ginger is still spicy. Rokosovsky and his family have rich experience in fighting for more than ten or twenty years. However, I only read a few history books and visited military forums for a few years. How ridiculous it is for me to reach the same military level as them.


    My mind unconsciously began to wander, so that I did not hear what tasks rokosovsky assigned to the commanders at the meeting. It was not until the voice of a dispute between rokosovsky and a colonel that I was pulled back from the state of being too empty.


    "... the new soldiers feel very uncomfortable about the air raid, and most of them have been alive." but in this way, the battle is not over, and the commanders are dead. " The colonel, wearing a green collar, said, I recognized him as the commander of the 126th infantry division, but I didn''t remember his name. I looked down at my badge and found that I was still wearing ina''s summer uniform with a skirt. There were four triangles on the red badge.


    "I don''t care if I die!" Rokosovsky clapped the table and roared: "now what soldiers need is not a commander, but courage. If the soldiers can''t rush forward, it''s useless to have a group of generals standing behind them. "


    I look at two people blankly, isn''t arranging a task, how suddenly to have a dispute? If you want to persuade me, I''ve just been away from my mind. I don''t know what happened and I can''t persuade you; If you don''t advise me, I''m just in the middle of them. It''s hard for me to hear them arguing.


    When it was not time to persuade or not, the political commissar stood up and said, "well, comrade commander, don''t fight. It''s time for the commanders to go back to the army." Then he turned to the 126 division commander and said, "Comrade Maximov, you should go back too. You should carry out mobilization work in the team. As soon as the day dawned, you should enter the position of the 50th cavalry division and help them defend well."


    "Yes Colonel Maximov saluted the commissar and commander, then left the conference room with the other commanders¡° Rita Rokosovsky called my name and said with concern: "there is no heating in this room, and you wear so little. Be careful not to catch cold. Go and change your clothes quickly."¡° Yes I promised to salute him and quickly ran out of the house to change clothes in the dormitory of the cooking class. Night passed, morning came. The roar of the battle never stopped. I learned from the operations department that the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, artillery and aircraft, attacked our army from several directions at the same time. As a result of the shelling at night, our counter attack forces suffered a lot of losses and had to turn to comprehensive defense in the face of the fierce attack of the enemy. The bad news came one after another. First of all, the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, defeated the 126th infantry division of Colonel Maximov at one stroke, and surrounded the cavalry division of general Iliev in a forest of less than two square kilometers. The position of the 18th Infantry Division was once occupied by the German army. With the cooperation of general katukov''s first brigade of close guard tanks, the counterattack troops finally recaptured the position after three hours of fierce fighting. At the same time, the German army concentrated four divisions in the Istra area and launched a fierce offensive against the 78th infantry division of Colonel beloborodov I went to rokosovsky''s office with a stack of war reports I just received. As soon as the door was opened, the only person in the room was the commander, who was on the phone. I stood at the door listening to a few words, and immediately recognized that it was general kazakov who was speaking. He was now staying in the 289 anti tank regiment in the spas lyuhovsky region to command the battle. Rokosovsky yelled into the microphone: "Comrade kazakov, report it quickly. How''s the situation over there? What is Comrade stavsky doing when he went to the 289 regiment to interview him? "¡° Report to the commander The voice of general khazakov on the other side was not small. "The German army concentrated a large number of tanks and bombed our positions under the cover of aircraft. The 289 regiment lost nearly half of its artillery in the morning''s battle, and the rest were still fighting doggedly with German tanks. As for Comrade stafsky, "when he said that, the other side stopped for a moment, and then said," he''s counting the junckers that are bombing our positions... Now he''s counting the 27th. "¡° Can you hold on? " Asked rokosovsky anxiously¡° Please rest assured that in the morning''s battle, we destroyed more than 20 German tanks. Now the remaining artillery ammunition is still sufficient. It should be no problem to hold on for another day. "¡° Hold on, general kazakov. I''ll send the 58th tank brigade to support you immediately. " Putting down the phone, rokosovsky sat down on the chair in silence. His face was livid and silent. He took out a packet of cigarettes from his pocket and pulled out one of them on the spot. I hesitated for a moment, slowly went to his side, called out: "Comrade commander!" He looked up at me and asked me in a slightly hoarse voice, "what''s the matter?"¡° This is the war report I just received. Please have a look. " With that, I handed over the stack of war news in my hand¡° Put it on the table Instead of reaching for it, he asked me to put it on the table next to him. After I put the war report on the table, he sighed and said, "actually, I don''t need to read it. I know what it is. It''s all bad news. The skilmanovo campaign we launched this time was far beyond the expectation of the German army. They never thought that we would dare to launch a counterattack under such circumstances, so they were caught off guard. But they have an absolute advantage in both military strength and equipment. In just one or two days, they have assembled enough forces to fight back. "¡° What''s next? " I couldn''t help asking¡° What else can we do? " Rokosovsky gave a wry smile, and then said: "the battle of skilmanovo is over. Although the German aggressors were badly injured, our army suffered a lot of casualties. From today on, our counter offensive has come to an end, and we have returned to our former defensive state. "

 Chapter 103

    Zhukov, as the commander of the front army, soon knew about the failure of the counter offensive. Just after noon, he called the headquarters to ask questions.


    "Comrade rokosovsky," as soon as the phone was connected, Zhukov began to rage: "why did you switch from attack to defense? I heard that the troops assigned to you by the 5th and 30th army were either defeated or trapped by the German army. What''s the matter? "


    "Comrade commander, please listen to my explanation," rokosovsky replied in a loud voice, "the 30th group army was assigned to our 126th infantry division, because in the early stage of the battle, too many soldiers were reduced and all the new recruits without any combat experience were added, and the overall combat effectiveness of the army was very poor. After only one hour of fighting, the division commander, Colonel Maximov, was seriously injured and withdrew from the fighting. The troops who lost command were also defeated by the German army. "


    Zhukov interrupted: "what I care about is not the 126th infantry division, but the Cadet regiment named after the highest Soviet assigned to you by the fifth group army, which is a very effective force. I know very well why it is surrounded by the German army?"


    "I sent the Cadet regiment and the 58th tank brigade to the spas lyuhovsky area to reinforce the 289th anti tank regiment, which blocked the German armored forces there," rokosovsky said. It was thought that the Cadet regiment, with the support of the tanks of the 58th brigade, could cooperate with the 17th and 20th cavalry divisions to eliminate the enemy in the front. Unexpectedly, there were only five tanks in the 58th tank brigade, which could not provide enough firepower support for our troops. The soldiers of the Cadet regiment were all very brave. They cooperated with the cavalry troops to repel the German frontal attack many times and did not let the enemy move forward. However, according to the information just received, an armored force of the German army circled the rear of our defense line and cut off the connection between the group army and the area of spas liukhovsky


    Zhukov rudely interrupted the words behind rokosovsky: "I don''t want to hear your explanation. I just want to know when your troops can turn back to the attack on the German army?"


    "Comrades commander," rokosovsky said, holding the microphone in his hand and standing upright, "I need a week to redeploy..."


    "No, one week is too long. Three days. I can only give you three days. After three days, that is, November 16, your troops must launch a full-scale counterattack against the German army! "


    Listening to Zhukov''s words, I muttered again: what''s the matter with Zhukov? With his military common sense, it should be very clear that under the situation of great disparity between the enemy and ourselves, our first consideration is how to defend, not how to attack the enemy.


    When I was thinking about it, I heard rokosovsky calling me. I looked up at him blankly and saw that he was handing me the microphone. He said, "Rita, comrade commander wants to speak to you."


    Zhukov just scolded rokosovsky. At this time, he suddenly wants to talk to me again. Do you want to scold me? Thinking of this, I couldn''t help my heart beating faster. I nervously took the microphone from rokosovsky''s hand, put it in my ear, and then I said, "senior general, I''m oshanina. I''m waiting for your instructions."


    "Rita!" Zhukov said to me in a softer tone, "you are the special commissioner I sent to the 16th army. I hope I can hear a little truth from you."


    "Go ahead, senior general." After hearing this, I realized that he wanted to learn from me, instead of scolding me. The big stone in his heart fell to the ground.


    "If you want to turn back to counterattack, do you think there is any difficulty?"


    As for Zhukov''s question, I hesitated for a moment and looked at rokosovsky, hoping to get some enlightenment from him. But now he stood on the other side of the table, moved another phone to him, shook the handle a few times, picked up the phone and said, "connect me with general dovator, Commander of the third cavalry army." Seeing that handsome Luo doesn''t care for me at the moment, I can only honestly say my own opinion: "senior general, if we want to turn to the counter offensive, we will face many difficulties. First of all, there was no air supremacy. Under the heavy bombing of German planes, our army suffered too many casualties during the attack, and it was often unable to continue to develop in depth after occupying German positions. "


    "Well, I wrote that down. What else?"


    "Facing the strong armored forces of the German army, our army lacks enough anti tank weapons..."


    "Wait a minute," Zhukov suddenly interrupted me and said, "I know what you mean, but I don''t have any artillery or tank reserves on hand. The last mortar battalion and Katyusha battalion, I have been equipped for the 16th army a few days ago."


    "Comrade General, I have an idea that we can easily attack Fu''s tanks without adding artillery to the 16th army." An idea suddenly appeared in my mind, but I was afraid of being rejected by him after saying it. I couldn''t help hesitating. When I was struggling, Zhukov impatiently urged me to say, "just say what you have, don''t stammer."


    "We can consider using trained animals to bomb German tanks."


    "Trained animals?" Zhukov listened to my proposal and asked with great interest, "what animal?"¡° Army dog I hesitated to say this word again and again. In China, if we propose to use military dogs to bomb tanks, we can say it lightly. But in Russia, a country where everyone loves dogs, it takes enough courage to say this. I was afraid that Zhukov would interrupt me, so I continued to say it in one breath: "we can send military dog trainers to carry trained military dogs, Hidden in the trenches. When the German tanks approached, the trainer quickly fixed the explosive on the back of the military dog, ignited the ignition cable of the explosive, and then released the general dog, so that the military dog could rush over and die with the enemy''s tanks. " After listening to my proposal, Zhukov fell into deep meditation. For a long time, there was no sound coming from the microphone, so that I thought he had put down the phone. He rushed to the microphone and called out: "general, are you still there?"¡° Yes The opposite answered drily, and then there was no sound. Rokosovsky, who was standing opposite me, also finished the call and was looking at me with strange eyes. At this time, Zhukov began to speak again: "Rita, I will report your proposal to the supreme command immediately to see what Comrade Stalin''s opinion is." Finish saying, hang up the phone directly. As soon as I put down the receiver, rokosovsky on the other side immediately asked me, in a tone full of reproach: "Rita, how could you make such a suggestion to the general? We should know that dogs are our human friends. How can they perform such a dangerous task? " In the face of rokosovsky''s criticism, I did not refute him. His attitude was completely in my expectation. Russia is a dog loving country. Saying that dogs are human''s friends is not just a saying, but a deep-rooted tradition. I remember when I first came to Russia in the winter of 2002, a group of data was published in the newspapers every day, reporting how many people died of freezing in the streets last night; But one day, all the newspapers and magazines suddenly reported the news that two stray dogs were hunted and killed by people on the edge of the forest with column headlines. There were many words of condemnation to the murderer of dogs, which showed that the Russians love dogs. In order to ensure the interests of dogs, the Russian government even issued a law, declaring that all dog owners must go out to walk their dogs every day, otherwise it would be an illegal act and would be severely punished. The political commissar came out to help me out and said, "don''t worry, comrade commander. Rita must have her reasons for saying that. You might as well listen to her reasons."¡° Come on, I want to hear what''s going on? " Rokosovsky sat down in a huff across the street¡° Comrade rokosovsky, "I said solemnly to the commander of the group army," in the previous stage of the battle, our artillery lost a lot. In the face of fierce German tanks, if we want to stop them, we can only let the soldiers blow up these tankers with flesh and blood. " Having just said that, the telephone on the desk rang very well, avoiding the possible dispute between the commander of the group army and me. Rokosovsky picked up the phone. Zhukov''s voice came from the microphone: "Comrade rokosovsky, I just talked to Comrade Stalin on the phone. He has agreed to Rita''s proposal. What I didn''t expect is that Comrade Stalin had the same idea for a long time. He had set up four anti tank dog companies as early as August, and the headquarters will send one of them to your group army tomorrow. " Hearing Zhukov''s words, I can''t help but feel relieved. It seems that my proposal is very timely. As long as it is affirmed by the supreme commander, other people will not blame me any more.

 Chapter 104

    Rokosovsky put down the phone, looked at me and said, "Rita, you''re right. It''s a time of war, and we need to adjust our thinking." He stood up and said to me, "come on, follow me to the troops of dovator, and see how they broke through the enemy lines and rescued the besieged 50th cavalry division."


    The 53rd Cavalry Division is not far from the headquarters of the group army. It''s only a few minutes'' drive. After driving in the forest for a short time, I looked out of the window and saw that the distance was dark. All of them were cavalry soldiers riding on high horses. Almost all of them were wearing black capes. The car stopped about 20 or 30 meters away from the team. When we got off the bus, a cavalry on a white horse wearing a black leather cap immediately came to meet us. I had a close look. It turned out that it was major general dovator, the commander of the army. When he came in front of us, he stopped his horses and told rokosovsky in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, commander of the third cavalry army, dovator, reports to you that after the troops have assembled, they can attack the enemy at any time."


    "Well done, dovator!" Rokosovsky praised him loudly, and then said in a commanding tone, "but you are the head of the army. You don''t have to take the troops to charge yourself. Let Colonel melinick take the troops up. After the battle, I will personally promote him to the commander of the 53rd division. As for you, you''d better go to the observation post with me to command the battle! "


    I very much agree with rokosovsky''s view that, after all, in the case of a charge, it is more suitable to be led by the acting division commander, Colonel melinik, than by dovator. As the head of an army, dovator should stay in the office to command the troops rather than charge like a common soldier. Dovator hesitated for a moment, and then pleaded with rokosovsky: "Comrade commander, please allow me to give an account of the task to Colonel melinick."


    "Go ahead, I''ll wait for you in the observation center." Rokosovsky agreed very readily.


    Dovator turned his horse and returned to the line, while I followed rokosovsky down the trench towards the observation post. There are many machine gun positions in the trench to provide firepower support for the charging cavalry. When we pass these fortifications, the machine gun shooters stand up one after another and stand straight on both sides of the trench to salute us. Before stepping into the observation post, I looked back at dovator and saw that he was talking loudly to the soldiers with a sabre in his right hand. Although he was too far away to hear what he was saying, according to the analysis of the soldiers shouting "Wula" from time to time, he must be doing battle mobilization.


    The facilities in the observation center are very simple. There is a wooden table in the middle of the room. On the table, there is a battle map with two black telephones on it. There were two or three signalmen in the observation center. When they saw us coming in, they stood up and saluted.


    When rokosovsky sat at the table looking at the map, I stood in front of the observation hole with a telescope to observe the enemy situation. The German position was at the edge of the forest four or five hundred meters away. As the occupation time was not long, it was too late to build solid fortifications. Only on the basis of the original trenches, many individual bunkers were dug. The open area between our and German positions was covered with a thick layer of snow, so that when the cavalry attacked, their movement speed would be greatly reduced. The cavalry who lost their speed would pay a heavy price if they wanted to seize the German position.


    Just at this time, dovator panted and ran in from the outside, reporting to rokosovsky: "Comrade commander, I''ve made arrangements. Can we start?"


    Rokosovsky nodded approvingly and said, "let''s go!"


    "Yes Dovator agreed, went to the table, picked up a phone, shook the handle a few times, then picked up the phone, and gave a loud order to the inside: "I''m dovator, I order, the military artillery immediately aim at the German position, open fire!"


    The shells fell on the front and back of the German trenches, exploding, and the air waves threw mud and snow high into the air, and then scattered them like flowers. Perhaps it is because the cavalry army does not have large caliber heavy artillery. Although these artillery with little lethality are crackling noisily, I still don''t see the spectacular scene of the German army''s blood and flesh flying through the telescope.


    As soon as the five minute gunfire was over, the heavy and heavy machine guns in the trenches began to ring, suppressing the German position. At the same time, the shouts of "Wula" began to ring, and then the rapid sound of horses came in from outside the observation post. Dovator has been standing beside me to observe the enemy situation since the shelling. At this time, rokosovsky could not sit still. He stood up and walked quickly to the observation hole to observe the situation on the battlefield with his telescope.


    The soldiers hung their guns on the horses, waved their sharp sabers in their hands, yelled "Wula", and urged the horses to rush to the German position. Although the cavalry are charging, due to the limitation of terrain, their forward speed is only equivalent to the normal running speed of infantry in the environment without snow. Fifty meters, 100 meters, the German position is still quiet, as if there is no one. Seeing this situation, I became more and more worried. I saw the shelling effect just now. The German army didn''t have much casualties. Why didn''t they shoot? In the twinkling of an eye, the cavalry had reached a distance of 150 meters, and our machine guns stopped shooting in order to prevent accidental injuries.


    "What''s the matter with the German army? Why is there no movement? If it goes on like this, it won''t take a minute for the cavalry to rush to their positions. " Rokosovsky also saw something wrong.


    Seeing that the cavalry had rushed less than 200 meters away from the German position, the silent German position opened fire. Heavy and heavy weapons shot out of the bullets formed a dense fire net, stormed into the charging line. The horses in the first few rows fell to the ground, whining sadly, and threw the knight out of his back. Some of the soldiers who were thrown out were shot and killed before they fell to the ground, and their bodies rolled forward for a certain distance before they stopped; Fortunately, the soldier, who was not injured or killed, just struggled to get up from the ground and was knocked down by the intensive German fire before he could shoot.


    The following platoons found that the situation was not right, and they could not help slowing down the speed of the horse, but it was too late. They had already entered the German fire range. They all stood up, then fell back together, sat on their hips, fell on all fours and threw the Knights off their backs. The cavalry in the rear could not stop because of inertia, so they directly stepped on them, rushed into the German firepower circle, and soon followed these comrades in arms. In just a few minutes, hundreds of cavalry soldiers fell in front of the German position.


    Seeing all this, rokosovsky and I haven''t made any response yet. Dovator has already dropped his telescope, rushed to the table, grabbed the phone, and then issued a loud order to the artillery: "aim at the German position, open fire!"


    As the shells exploded again in the German position, the firepower of the blocking cavalry became sparse. The attack battle formation of the cavalry division quickly separated to the left and right, made a big circle more than 100 meters away from the German flanks, and then came back.


    Seeing the retreat of the cavalry division, I could not help but frown. They were not far away from the German position. Under the cover of artillery fire, they could continue to rush forward under the barrage of bullets. Maybe it only took a few seconds to rush into the enemy position. But this time suddenly pulled down, all previous achievements were wasted.


    "Comrade commander, I''ll take people to charge this time! Please approve! " Dovator stood in front of rokosovsky and pleaded. Although I don''t agree with the commander to charge in person, it''s very inappropriate to raise objection rashly under such circumstances. So I kept silent and looked at rokosovsky to see what kind of decision he would make.


    "I used to be a cavalry soldier, and I have a lot of feelings for this branch." Rokosovsky put down his telescope and did not reply directly to his request. Instead, he said to himself, "but the cavalry has lost its role in the first World War. With the emergence of a large number of troops equipped with automatic weapons, rapid fire artillery, tanks and airplanes on the battlefield, and the emergence of troops extending in the front, hidden in the bunker and protected by barbed wire, the cavalry can not move smoothly. The cavalry, which was once brilliant for a time, is no longer in the spotlight. " At this point, he turned his head, looked at dovator and said, "my commander, if you want to win the German position, you don''t have to rely on courage. You need to use your brain."


    Dovator didn''t seem to think that he would say this. He asked curiously, "is there any good way for the commander?"


    Rokosovsky pointed to the open field in the distance and said to dovator: "you see, the German army has deployed very strong firepower in the front, which can be seen from the casualties of cavalry just now. But if you look at it again, the organizational structure of the retreating troops is still very complete. That is to say, the German forces are relatively weak on both wings. When you lead the charge, you can take it as the main breakthrough. In addition, you should remember that after approaching the enemy''s position, you can no longer charge in the form of cavalry. You should immediately order the soldiers to dismount and turn into infantry, crawl forward and get a little closer to the enemy''s position. Do you understand? "


    "I understand! Comrade commander. " After saluting rokosovsky, dovator turned and ran out of the observation post.


    What rokosovsky said just now immediately benefited me a lot. It is those who have been fighting for more than ten years who have rich combat experience. If you look at the problem thoroughly, you can find the weak links in the German defense line.


    A new round of attack soon began. In this charge, the soldiers did not wave their sabres any more, but held the guns that had just been slanted on the horses in their hands. After all, this is the era of hot weapons. If you can''t rush in front of the enemy, it''s almost the same with a saber and bare hands. When the troops rushed to the position where they were frustrated last time, the soldiers jumped down from their horses one after another, fell down on the ground, crawled forward, and stopped from time to time to shoot at the enemy in front of them with the dead bodies of their comrades in arms and horses as bunkers.


    This change of cavalry to infantry only reduced some casualties. Seeing that the machine gun fire did not work, the German army used mortars to bombard the attacking troops. The cannonball fell into the line with a roar. As the soldiers crawled forward, many of them were pulled up from the ground by the blast, thrown high into the air, and then fell down heavily. Fortunately, the soldier who was not hit by the shell was still crawling forward desperately.


    "Comrade commander," seeing the heavy casualties of the attacking soldiers, I couldn''t help saying to rokosovsky standing beside me, "we can''t fight like this any more. You see, the casualties of the soldiers are too great. If there is not enough artillery to suppress the German army, even if we attack this position, our people will die. "


    "Even if it''s dead, we should continue to fight." Rokosovsky replied to me without expression: "this German line of defense separates us from the 50th division. If we don''t occupy this position as soon as possible, the encircled troops will be all over."


    When I heard what rokosovsky said, I had nothing to say, so I had to shut my mouth and put up my telescope to look for dovator on the battlefield. But I looked for him several times, but I still didn''t see his shadow. This is because the cavalry, whether soldiers or commanders, are wearing black cloaks. It''s really not easy to find one person from thousands of people.


    Just when I was about to give up searching for dovator, I was surprised to see a white war horse and a knight in a black cape lying in the snow seven or eight meters away from the observation post. I remember when I came here just now, I saw dovator riding a tall white horse. Is it him? I turned my attention to that side.


    After a while, I knew what was going on. The horse must have fallen down after being injured by shrapnel when charging. After falling down, it pressed one of the knight''s legs on its back under it. The knight was lying on his back in the snow, trying to pull his leg out of the horse. The horse twitched a few times on the ground, leaped up and fell down again. The knight took advantage of the short time when the horse jumped up and quickly moved his leg out. The knight seemed to be injured and lay still in the snow after pulling out his leg.


    Of course, my mind suddenly became hot. I put down my telescope and rushed out of the observation post. After climbing out of the trench, I bent over and ran quickly towards the knight. He went to the knight and saw that it was dovator. See me appear in front of him, his face squeeze out a smile, said: "leg in shrapnel, can''t move." Without saying a word, I grabbed his clothes with both hands and dragged him backward to the observation station.


    From time to time, shells exploded near me, and the mud and snow fell on me. Although it was extremely dangerous at that time, I didn''t even do any evasive action. I just tried to drag dovator back. I was so tired that I gasped for breath after only dragging more than 20 meters. Fortunately, several soldiers rushed out of the trench and took over their commander from my hands. At the same time, two soldiers carried me back to the trench.


    "Rita," when I was sitting in the observation center panting, rokosovsky was furious with me: "you have to make it clear that you are a commander, not a health worker. It''s not your turn to rescue the wounded."


    "Comrade commander, I''m sorry, I''m wrong." I don''t want to explain anything. I was a little too impulsive just now. Seeing that dovator was injured, I rushed out regardless of the consequences. Fortunately, I was lucky and came back intact. However, people are not so lucky every time. I can''t say that they will lose their lives because of their own impulse that day, so they quickly bow down and admit their mistakes.


    The battle was not going well. After the cavalry was changed to infantry, the attack was still defeated by the German army. Because it was late and commander dovator was injured, no new attack was organized. Although we did not launch any more attacks, rokosovsky and I did not return to the headquarters of the group army, and we still stayed in the 53rd cavalry division.


    On the 14th, the fighting lasted a day. In the morning, Colonel melinick had just led the troops to take the position. At noon, the German army, under the cover of artillery and air force, took the position back again. The two armies are engaged in repeated tug of war in this position. I can clearly see from the observation post that the trenches are filled with the bodies of the dead on both sides. Katukov''s first guard tank brigade, which was supplemented in the afternoon, was put into combat. With such a military genius as the commander, the victorious sky will inevitably incline to our side. In the evening, the 50th cavalry division, which had been besieged for two days, finally stood out and joined us.


    I stayed in the cavalry camp with rokosovsky that night because he had too many things to deal with. In addition to the 50th cavalry division, other places also achieved ideal results: first, the Cadet regiment and the 289th anti tank regiment broke the German siege, and the subsequent two cavalry divisions joined forces successfully; Then the 79th infantry division smashed two invading German infantry divisions and held the line firmly.


    Rokosovsky and I stayed in the cavalry camp until the afternoon of the 15th. This is because rokosovsky is going back to the headquarters to set up tomorrow''s counter offensive. Otherwise, he does not know when he will leave.


    Before I got to the headquarters, I heard a dog barking outside, so I rolled down the window and looked out. I saw a strange line in the open space near the church. Everyone in the line was holding a military dog.


    "This should be the anti tank army dog company sent by Comrade Zhukov." Rokosovsky looked at this strange team with great interest, then turned to me and said, "I hope they can become the enemy of German tanks as the legend says."


    The car stopped not far from the line because it saw chief of staff malining standing in front of the line, talking to a captain. Knowing that the chief of staff would bring the captain into the headquarters to meet him, rokosovsky and I got off the bus and didn''t stop any longer. We just rushed to the saluting soldiers and went straight to the headquarters.


    As I passed by this unit, I couldn''t help looking at it curiously again. Unexpectedly, I found that the captain standing beside the chief of staff was staring at me. The captain was tall and thin, looking very young. He was only twenty-five or twenty-six years old. Although there was a long scar on his right face, it didn''t affect his handsome appearance at all. I don''t know why. As soon as I saw him, I felt a sense of deja vu. But I went through the young opposite sex in my mind, and I couldn''t remember where I had met the captain. I stopped and stood looking at the captain. When I saw a smile on his face, my heart beat faster inexplicably, and I felt a fever on my face¡° Rita Rokosovsky may have seen me stop and urged me impatiently in front: "hurry up, we still have a lot of work to do when we go back." I promised, covering my beating heart with my hand, to follow rokosovsky and continue to walk towards the headquarters. Just walk a few steps, I heard behind the sound of a rush to run, and then there is a person from behind to hold me up. Before I could make any response, a magnetic voice sounded in my ear: "Rita CHICKA, honey! Is that you? "

 Chapter 105

    Suddenly I was held by someone from behind for no reason. I felt ashamed and angry, but I felt weak and could not resist at all. The brain seemed to stop working at that moment. It took a long time to hear its weak mosquito like voice: "let me go!" As soon as the words came out, I immediately found something wrong. I wanted to get angry with the person who held me. How could I say something that seemed to be more coquettish?


    "Lida chica!" The mysterious man whispered in my ear again. When I heard his voice again, I felt difficult to breathe. My heart was like a deer, and I felt very comfortable. I was so weak that I could hardly stand. If he hadn''t put his arms around my body, I would have fallen to the ground. I wanted to push him away, but I found that my whole strength seemed to be emptied, and there was an inexplicable desire in my heart. I just wanted him to hold me all the time. So I stopped struggling in vain, closed my eyes and leaned my head back against his chest.


    "What''s the matter with you, Rita?" Rokosovsky''s voice came suddenly. I opened my eyes and saw the commander looking at me in surprise. Without waiting for me to speak, he moved his eyes to one side and asked the person holding me behind him in a stern tone: "who are you?"


    The man behind let me go, but he still took my waist with his left hand. At the same time, he stood at attention and saluted rokosovsky and said, "Hello, comrade commander! I am captain oshanin of the first company of the anti tank army dog company. On the order of general Zhukov, I came to the 16th group army to cooperate in the battle. "


    "Anti tank dog company?" Rokosovsky repeated the name of the army once, then looked at the person behind me with dissatisfaction, "what are you doing holding commander o''shanina?" Just as I wanted to continue, I suddenly changed my face and asked the person behind me, "what''s your name just now?"


    "Oshanin! Comrade commander. "


    "Oshanin! Oshanin! " Rokosovsky repeated the name twice, then asked tentatively, "are you... Are you Rita''s husband oshanin?"


    "Yes, comrade commander!" The man behind replied in a positive tone.


    On hearing this reply, rokosovsky, with a long lost smile on his face, came forward, extended his hand to oshanin behind me and said, "congratulations on your reunion!"


    When I heard that the person holding me was Rita''s husband oshanin, my head exploded. If oshanin didn''t hold me, I would have collapsed to the ground. Oh, my God! He''s oshanin!!! I remember that he was a border officer. He disappeared soon after the outbreak of the war. How could he suddenly emerge from here? Although I look like Rita, with his understanding of his wife, if he stays with me for an hour or less, he will find that I am a fake. I really can''t imagine what kind of fate I will face after being torn down.


    Maybe it was because I was in a trance. I couldn''t remember how I got into the rokosovsky command room. The only impression I had was that oshanin had been holding my hand. When I got to the command room, I saw a dozen people in the room, some of whom knew and some didn''t. Rokosovsky introduced my relationship with oshanin to you. I had to accept many people''s congratulations before I got back to the point and discussed the attack to be launched tomorrow. Perhaps because of me, oshanin was allowed to stay as an exception.


    The speaker was deputy chief of staff o''lear, who pointed to the map on the table and said: "according to the reconnaissance and interrogation of prisoners, on the left wing of our group army, the German army has launched four Armored Divisions and one SS motorized division, instead of the infantry division as we think, so we have to deploy troops to strengthen this direction."


    "Wait a minute," rokosovsky interrupted him, and asked, "has this latest situation been reported to the commander of the front army?"


    "It has been reported," said o''lear, looking embarrassed. "But the commander of the front army didn''t believe it. He thought that we had obviously exaggerated the enemy''s strength in the report. So... "


    Rokosovsky made a gesture, interrupted him again, then turned to ask the chief of staff standing aside: "Comrade marinin, what kind of supplement have we got these days?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, the front army has sent us a reserve team composed entirely of Muscovites, with 1200 people." Malining said, pointing to a burly general next to him, and introducing him to the commander, he said, "this is major general leviagin who leads the team."


    Rokosovsky nodded to the major general and said, "Comrade General, when the meeting is over, you will take your team to wolokoramsk to defend the 316th infantry division there. We have lost a lot of troops in the early stage of the battle, so we need to replenish our forces now."


    "Yes, comrade commander."


    "Also, comrade commander, I suggest that the anti tank dog company should also be allocated to the 316th infantry division, which is the main attack direction of the German army." Malining said, looking down at his watch, and then said, "it''s better to get there before dark. Now it''s less than two hours before dark. If you go by car, you have to walk for nearly an hour, that is to say, the troops must start within an hour. "


    Hearing what the chief of staff said, I can''t help but feel relieved. If o''shanin leaves in an hour, I can talk to him about the past at most. I don''t have time for any intimate contact at all, so I don''t have to worry about helping. What''s more, this kind of military meeting takes a long time. Maybe when the meeting ends, we will only have a few minutes to say goodbye. Just when I was congratulating myself, I didn''t expect that the considerate rokosovsky gave me an embarrassment. He said, "Rita, while there is still a little time, you and the captain go out to find a place to talk." After listening to this, although I kept cursing rokosovsky''s kindness in my heart, I still had to show gratitude on the surface. After thanking him, I took oshanin who had been holding my hand and fled out of the command room. When I went out, I heard a friendly laugh coming from behind. After going out, my brain began to turn quickly. Where should I take oshanin to reminisce about the past: the female soldier dormitory is definitely not good. At this time, they are all busy in the kitchen. After going, if oshanin wants to have sex with me, do I agree or not? If you don''t agree, you can''t say it; Promise. As soon as you go to bed, you will be able to help in less than a minute. We walked out of the church with fingers clasped. Seeing the soldiers standing guard at the door saluting me, I suddenly thought of a suitable place: the gatehouse of the church. The concierge is an independent space. Although people come and go outside, once you see someone chatting inside, you won''t go in to disturb. More importantly, in this environment, o''shaning has no chance to have sex. As soon as the time came, he would go to the front line, so that I would temporarily avoid the risk of exposure. After making up my mind, I took him into the church gatehouse and began to reminisce with him in the room¡° Honey, "although this title gives me goose bumps, but on the surface still try to pretend to be happy," tell me quickly, how did you get out of danger? How can you suddenly appear here? " Oshanin sat on the opposite chair, grabbed my hands, looked at me with a warm face, heard my question, looked at me with affection for a long time, and then said, "do you remember? When the war broke out, I was at home enjoying my family with you and our son alik. " Hearing what he said, I quickly nodded to help him say: "mm-hmm, I remember! It was the telephone that woke us up that morning. I saw your face gradually become dignified after you answered the phone. My intuition told me that something big had happened What I''m saying is not from Rita''s memory, but from the plot of the novel¡° That''s right. " He took over the topic and said, "I told you that war broke out."¡° Yes, "I''m very familiar with the plot, so I don''t worry about helping," you put on your military uniform, kiss our son, and before you go out, you repeatedly tell me to take my son with you. "¡° Yes, that''s what I said at the time. " At this point, he raised his hands to my chest and began to unbutton my uniform. For his sudden action, I can''t help shivering. My heart says how impatient he is. Do you want to have sex in such a place? Before I could think of a way to deal with it, his right hand had gone through my collar, and then he took out the copper key that I had hung around my neck. It turned out that he just wanted to take the key. I was secretly relieved. Holding the deformed key, he continued: "I still remember that when I left, you worried that I would not be able to enter the door when I went home, and you specially hung the key around my neck." I was afraid that he would make further moves, so I grabbed his hand and said, "I thought the war would end soon, but I didn''t expect that I would never see you again after I broke up that day. What I was waiting for was this copper key." At this point, I only feel a hot eye, my heart seems to be blocked by something, the tears are not controlled by me down the cheek. I quickly raised my hand to wipe, the more I wiped, the more tears I shed. Seeing this situation, oshanin released the key in his hand, took out a white handkerchief from his pocket, wiped the tears on my face for me, and continued to tell me his story: "I had the same idea at that time. When I was sitting in the car to the fort, I was still thinking, maybe before we got back to the army, The invading enemy has been wiped out by our brave frontier forces, and our air force is bombarding the enemy''s capital. I didn''t know that when I went back to the fortress, I found that everything was just my own wishful thinking. " At this point, he stopped with a look of pain on his face. I refused to leave the topic aside, and quickly led him on: "honey, what happened in the fortress? Tell me quickly

 Chapter 106

    He bent down, put his arms on his knees, held his head in agony, and began to tell me about the unforgettable past:


    On Sunday, June 22, 1941, at 3:40 a.m., 20 minutes before the outbreak of the Soviet German war, checkpoint 6, northeast of the Red Guard fortress.


    From the Red Guard city where Lida and oshanin live, there is a road leading to the fortress. In order to ensure the safety of the fortress, the military set up several checkpoints on the road. Checkpoint 6 is one of them, only three kilometers away from the fortress. Because it is a permanent checkpoint, in addition to a two-story military dormitory building, reinforced concrete blockhouses with walls as thick as one meter were built on both sides of the road.


    There have been two groups of troops stationed in the checkpoint for a long time. The highest commander is a lieutenant. Their task is to check the pedestrians and vehicles entering and leaving the fort every day to prevent saboteurs from entering the fort. Originally, according to the regulations, there were two posts on duty every night. At the same time, there must be one or two machine gun shooters on duty in the bunker. But the long-term peaceful life has made them slack off. Now they only have one sentry on duty every night. The rest of them, including the machine gunners, go back to the dormitory building to have a good sleep.


    On duty that day was a recruit named Vassili, who was carrying a bayonet rifle and slouching back and forth in front of the wooden railings blocking the road. At the end of the week, it was my turn to be on duty. I watched my comrades in arms drinking and drinking, but I could only watch.


    He walked for a while, feeling a little tired, then stopped, leaned on the railing, took out a packet of cigarettes from his pocket, took one out of his mouth, and struck a match to light it. Just after taking a good breath, I suddenly heard a quick step from the direction of the fortress.


    It''s early in summer in Russia. Although it''s less than four o''clock, the light is enough to see the scenery one or two hundred meters away. Vasili saw a small team coming towards the checkpoint, threw away the cigarette, took off the rifle on his back, and met him with both hands flat. When there were more than ten steps between the two sides, Vassili called out: "stop, command!"


    Although the detachment stopped, the leading officer came straight up to him and stopped. He took out his certificate and handed it to him. He said, "I''m lieutenant sobyanin. I''ve been ordered to go to checkpoint 6 to help you strengthen your defense. Because I was in a hurry, the fortress didn''t have time to tell me the password for tonight. "


    Vassily compared the photo on the certificate with the lieutenant in front of him. He felt that he had a certain truth, so he gave the certificate back to the lieutenant. At the same time, he kindly reminded him: "Comrade commander, it''s better to ask for the password before coming next time, so as to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding."


    "I see! Thank you for the reminder. " The lieutenant put the papers into his pocket and gratefully said thanks to the little soldier. Vassily put his rifle back on his shoulder. Suddenly he saw the Lieutenant''s eyes glancing behind him. Then he was shocked. He pointed to his back and said, "what''s that?"


    Without thinking, Vassily turned and looked up the road. At this moment, the lieutenant rushed to his back with a lunge, holding his head in his hands and twisting it hard. Only a "click" was heard. Vassily''s neck was abruptly twisted off, his head fell down powerlessly, and his whole body collapsed. The lieutenant quickly took hold of him, gently put the body on the ground, and then made a sign to the team that was not far away. Seeing the signal, more than a dozen soldiers immediately ran over. Without waiting for his command, they rushed into the two blockhouses with their weapons.


    A sergeant ran up from the bunker and whispered to him, "Captain, there''s no one in the bunker."


    If Vasili, lying on the ground at the moment, was still conscious, he would be surprised to hear what the sergeant said, because the sergeant didn''t speak Russian, but another foreign language he didn''t understand. Unfortunately, at the moment, he has become a cold corpse. It is impossible for him to hear what the sergeant said and know that these people are German devils in Soviet uniforms who come to the rear to engage in sabotage activities.


    The lieutenant nodded, looked at the dormitory building by the side of the road, and told the sergeant in a low voice, "go and kill all the people in the building. Remember, don''t shoot, try to use a knife! "


    "Yes The sergeant agreed and rushed to the dormitory building with about a dozen people who had just come out of the bunker.


    Two soldiers came out of the bunker on the right. They first saluted the lieutenant. Then they bent down to lift Vassily''s body and stumbled into the bunker. The lieutenant walked alone to the middle of the two blockhouses, stood in front of the wooden railings with both hands on his back, and silently looked at the empty road.


    Gasping for breath, the sergeant ran out of the building, holding a bloody dagger in his left hand. As he ran, the blood dripped down the blade to the ground. Running behind the lieutenant, he stood at attention and said in a loud voice, "report to captain, all the enemies in the inspection station have been cleared by us. Please direct the next task."


    The German captain in the uniform of a Soviet Lieutenant turned around and looked at the soldier who came to report. He frowned slightly and asked anxiously, "have you confirmed that there is any one who has missed the net?"


    "It has been checked carefully. There are 25 officers and soldiers in the inspection station, all of them have been solved by us, and none of them has run away. This is their roster. " The sergeant said and handed over a book. The officer took over the roster, looked at it casually, gave it back to the soldiers, and said, "let''s get into the fighting position. Maybe the Russians will send reinforcements after the war begins!"


    "Yes The sergeant saluted and was about to turn to leave when suddenly there was an earth shaking explosion from the direction of the fortress, and the light of the fire from time to time turned half of the sky red.


    "Great! We''re going to attack! " Seeing this scene, the sergeant couldn''t help shouting excitedly.


    The lieutenant looked at the distant fortress shrouded in fire and smoke, with a satisfied smile on his face. He patted the sergeant on the shoulder and said, "go and get the soldiers in a good position. If we meet the enemy who escapes from the fort, we can stop them."


    The German bombardment and bombing of the fortress lasted for two hours and began to weaken slowly. From time to time, sporadic Soviet soldiers retreated from the direction of the fortress, including drivers, horsemen, and even walkers. But when they passed the checkpoint, they were all detained by disguised German soldiers, and soon became corpses, which were piled up in the dormitory of the dormitory building. Although the lieutenant was still far away from the dormitory building, he also smelled the thick smell of blood in the air.


    In the distance, the roar of automobile motors sounded, and military vehicles came along the road from far to near.


    "One, two, three... Nine, ten. There are ten military vehicles." The sergeant stood beside the lieutenant and counted in a low voice. Then he asked anxiously, "the enemy should go to reinforce the fort. There are almost 200 people, but we only have 15 people. Can we stop them?"


    "Shut up! I know that. " The lieutenant gave him a hard look. See Sergeant obediently closed his mouth, then continue to say: "call machine gunners are ready, later I''ll get them out of the car, wait for them to gather in front of the open space, you order machine gun fire.". As long as more than half of them are wiped out, the rest will not be able to pass through the checkpoints. "


    The ten trucks full of Soviet soldiers came from the Red Guard city. Oshanin sat in the cab of the sixth truck. Although the driver drove fast, he still felt that the car was driving slowly. He wanted to get to the post early to see what was going on. Is it true that the war broke out, or did he inform his duty officer to panic and regard the saboteurs'' bombing of the armory as an enemy attack?


    As he got closer and closer to the fortress, his suspicion began to waver. The dense explosion coming from the front didn''t sound like the explosion of an ammunition depot. Did the Germans really dare to risk the world''s great injustice, tear up the non aggression treaty between the two sides and launch a brutal aggression against the Soviet Union?


    The car suddenly began to slow down and then slowly stopped by the side of the road¡° What''s going on? Why did you stop? " Aoxianing discontented to ask the driver, you know everyone is the emergency end of the holiday back to the fort, can''t delay time on the road.


    "The checkpoint is here!" The driver just pointed to the checkpoint not far ahead and added, "it was the people at the checkpoint who stopped our car." Oshanin apologized to the driver with a smile, opened the door, jumped down, and walked in the direction of the checkpoint.


    As the lieutenant walked out of the checkpoint, he called out, "all of you get off and gather in front of the checkpoint. We will prepare our own documents and be ready for our inspection. "


    Oshanin stood by the cab and looked around. He saw the soldiers jumping off the car one after another and gathering in the open space of the checkpoint. He took Sasha, the army dog who had just jumped out of the carriage, in his hand. He was hesitating whether to join the soldiers, but he heard the voice of quarrel coming from the front: "we are in a hurry to get to the fortress. Why do you stop us?"


    Oshanin saw that it was a second lieutenant under his command, who was arguing with the lieutenant at the checkpoint. The lieutenant said solemnly, "it''s ordered that all vehicles and personnel going in and out of the fortress should go through strict inspection, and no one can be excepted."


    O''hsianing took two steps forward, and wanted to give some quiet advice. By the way, he reminded the lieutenant that if we stay in the car, we can also check the documents, so that we can gather together to check, which will delay the mobilization of the troops. Just as he was about to open his mouth, he lowered his head to see that the laces of the Lieutenant''s right boot had loosened, so he kindly reminded him, "Comrade lieutenant, your laces have loosened."


    Listening to o''shaning''s words, the lieutenant looked down at his feet and found that the shoelaces had opened, so he squatted down to tie the shoelaces. The second lieutenant who quarreled with him looked down at the lieutenant squatting beside him angrily. He inadvertently looked at the sole of his left foot, and immediately exclaimed, "they are German! They''re German!... " While shouting, he reached to his waist to draw the gun. But the lieutenant, who had been in a high nervous state, moved much faster than him. He pulled out his gun and fired two shots at the position of the second lieutenant without turning back. The second lieutenant''s cry stopped abruptly. All eyes were fixed on the second lieutenant. He lowered his head, his body trembled slightly, his knees bent slowly, and finally he knelt down. Then he shook a few times, and finally he fell to the left. The blood from the wound flowed to the ground and accumulated into a red stall.


    The lieutenant turned the muzzle of the gun and aimed at oshanin standing in front of him. As he was about to pull the trigger, Sasha jumped forward and bit the wrist of the lieutenant holding the gun. A loaded bullet flew directly into the sky. At this moment, oshanin also recovered. He pulled out his pistol and pulled the trigger repeatedly at the lieutenant, beating him all over the face. The lieutenant lay on his back. O''shanin squatted down and looked at the soles of his shoes carefully. Then he understood why the second lieutenant could recognize that the lieutenant was a fake of the enemy. The spikes on the bottom of the Soviet Army''s boots were generally round, while the German boots had the same appearance, but their soles used square spikes¡° Dada, dada... "The machine guns in the blockhouse suddenly roared, and the soldiers near the checkpoint fell under the muzzle one after another before they could recover¡° Lie down! Lie down O''shanin cried out, then fell to the ground, aimed at the blockhouse and fired twice.

 Chapter 107

    The walls of the blockhouse were one meter thick reinforced concrete. Only two small white marks were left before the pistol bullets hit. Seeing that the pistol attack was invalid, oshanin didn''t care whether the other soldiers had fallen down. He quickly rolled to the right and hid under the car. Sasha followed him to the bottom of the car.


    The sound of the gun covered oshanin''s cry, and more soldiers fell under the muzzle one after another before they knew what was going on. In addition to the sacrifice on the spot, the rest were either injured in the waist and abdomen, or were shot through the legs. As long as there is a breath, they are struggling desperately to climb back, trying to hide in a safe place as soon as possible. But the German did not let go of their plan, a series of bullets hit, there will always be a few unfortunate wounded were hit. Looking from the extreme, the road was full of corpses and wails.


    "Damn the Krauts!" Seeing his comrades fall down in pieces, and hearing the wails of the wounded lying on the ground, he said, "how many people have come?" When the major asked this, there happened to be a shell exploding outside the window. He shrunk his neck and squatted down and pulled o''shanin.


    "When we started from the Red Guard City, we had about 200 people." Oshanin looked at the soldiers with him, twitched at the corner of his mouth, and then said: "but when he passed the No. 6 checkpoint, he was ambushed by the German in our army uniform. There were a lot of casualties, and less than 40 people followed me to the fortress..."


    The shelling stopped, and suddenly it became quiet outside. Except for the smoke that had not been dispersed for a long time, it was the smell of blood in the air.


    "Soldiers! Soldiers Suddenly, the sound of a high pitched loudspeaker came from the outside. Oshanin and the major came to the window and looked out. It turned out that a German armored car was coming. The high pitched loudspeaker installed on the roof of the car sent out the voice of persuading the Soviet soldiers to surrender: "don''t make unnecessary resistance, lay down your weapons and go out of your hiding place. You will get the treatment that a prisoner of war should have..."


    "Look A soldier suddenly cried out.


    "Ivan, what''s your name?" The major gave the soldier an unsatisfied look.


    "Comrade major, look over there!" Ivan pointed out to the major. The major''s eyes flashed over the open field outside, then looked back as if nothing had happened. At another moment, the major had already jumped up with fright. In a moment, he howled like thunder through the corridor: "damn cowards, they have surrendered to the German army!"


    Oshanin looked out from the window sill and saw a lot of people in White army shirts coming out of a nearby building. All of them were unarmed and walked slowly towards the German armored car with their hands up and head down.


    "Coward!" Oshanin scolded, then put the gun on the windowsill and aimed at a Soviet soldier who was about to walk in front of the armored vehicle. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a hand reached over and seized the barrel of the gun. He turned to see that it was the major who stopped him.


    The major shook his head at him and said, "forget it, comrade captain, let them go." Then he stood up and said loudly to the soldiers in the corridor, "listen, I don''t force you. Anyone who doesn''t want to stay can go out and surrender."


    After shouting this, the corridor was silent, and almost all the soldiers kept their original posture and didn''t even make a move to get up. Fearing that someone might be hearing impaired in the long shelling, the major walked back and forth in the corridor for two times, repeating his words several times in a loud voice, but no one moved his position.


    Seeing this, oshanin laughed, turned to look out of the window and found that the surrender soldiers had passed the armored car and entered the German position. He raised his gun again, this time aiming at the loud horn that kept ringing, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.


    "Pa!" The horn went dumb immediately after the gunshot.


    Seeing that the resistance in the fortress continued, the angry German army immediately launched a new attack. Armed with rifles and submachine guns, the German soldiers formed a scattered formation and forced to the building under the cover of craters and broken bricks and tiles.


    "Fire!" When the German army was still more than ten meters away from the building, the major roared, and then the heavy and heavy firepower in the building shot together. The German soldiers who rushed in front of them were immediately knocked down, and the rest of them quickly fell down and fired back.


    After shooting for a while, the German army without heavy firepower began to retreat one after another. The major took the rifle from the soldier who died nearby, jumped up to the windowsill and yelled, "go!" Then he jumped out of the window and headed for the enemy. The soldiers chanted "Wula!" Also jumped out of the window one after another.


    Seeing the Soviet Army rushing out of the building, the retreating German army stopped. Soldiers with submachine guns were shooting at the crowded places, covering the soldiers with rifles to fight. As soon as they fell to the ground from the window, many soldiers were hit by German bullets. Without saying a word, they fell to the ground, but the rest continued to shout and rush forward. In an instant, the two troops were twisted into a regiment.


    Oshanin, armed with a rifle, rushed to a German soldier who had just finished shooting and was changing his clip. Did not wait for the other side to come back, a sudden stab put him through the heart. After putting down the enemy in front of him, he saw a famous German soldier in the distance knock the major to the ground and stab him with a bayonet rifle. Because he was too far away to rush, he quickly raised his gun and fired at the German soldier. The German soldier was shot in the head and fell back to the major''s side. The major got up from the ground, nodded to oshanin in a friendly way, then pulled out his pistol and shot down a German soldier who jumped at him.


    Perhaps the German army had never met such a tenacious opponent as the Soviet army. After fighting for a while, they saw that they could not get any advantage, so they retreated one after another. After another chase, the major ordered the troops to return to the building and continue to guard. As soon as he ran to the front of the building, before oshanin jumped on the window, the German artillery shell roared down and landed on the people who had not yet had time to return to the building. A series of explosions, smoke will gradually annihilate the crowd. In the thick smoke, the limbs and viscera were flying all over the sky, and the walls on the ground were splashed with red and white things. A shell exploded not far from oshanin. He felt a sharp pain in his right cheek. He just wanted to reach out and touch it, but he was heavily knocked down by a man who fell from a high altitude. In the continuous explosion, the big and small pieces of soil falling like a rainstorm almost buried him alive. He struggled to get up. At this time, another body raised by the explosion fell from the air and hit him heavily again, which made him lose his awareness. I don''t know how long it took for oshaning to wake up and find that he was firmly pressed by several corpses and couldn''t move at all. At this time, he suddenly rushed to a light body, as if someone was moving the body away from his body¡° Well, the major must have sent someone to see if there are any survivors When he thought about it, he felt relaxed. He was about to shout out: "I''m here. Come and help me!" All of a sudden, he heard something - something he didn''t understand¡° What are they talking about? " O''shanin was puzzled and thought, all of a sudden, he suddenly realized: This is the German devil! It''s German! Yes, this is a German soldier. They are being ordered to clean up the fortress, put the bodies that can''t be identified one by one into the truck, and then pull them outside to bury them. At this time, two German soldiers stood beside oshanin and raised the body of a Soviet soldier who was pressing on him. At that moment, oshanin realized that he was helpless. He was very afraid to think that the German would soon find him. He was completely desperate... But things didn''t seem as bad as he thought. Two soldiers carried the body toward the truck. The weight on the body is less. Oshaning tried to push the body away. He quietly moved his body and found himself lying in a crater, surrounded by mountains of dead bodies. He looked around and found that seven or eight German soldiers were smoking near the truck nearby. The two soldiers who had just carried the corpses onto the truck crowded into the crowd to smoke. Oshanin looked and saw that he was still seven or eight meters away from the building. If it was normal, he could run there in a few seconds. At this time, he was in great pain. Let alone running, it was difficult to climb. It was impossible to enter the building without being found by the Germans. When he was in a dilemma, he accidentally found two grenades on the body of the soldiers around him and quickly reached for them. He pulled the fuse and threw it at the place where the German soldiers had gathered¡° After a loud bang, the German soldiers fell to the ground. Oshanin used up his last strength to drop the bomb, and then fainted again. At this time, Sasha rushed out of the building like an arrow, bit oshanin''s collar and dragged him into the building. When oshanin came back to life, he found himself lying in the corridor, and Sasha was wandering around him restlessly. He whispered, "Sasha, Sasha." Sasha rushed to oshanin impatiently and sniffed oshanin intimately. Oshanin stroked Sasha''s head and whispered, "go ahead and tell Rita I''m still alive." Sasha refused to leave, constantly whining around. Oshanin took the key from his neck, put it on Sasha''s neck and patted it gently. Sasha still refuses to leave. Oshanin leaned weakly against the wall, took out his pistol and said to Sasha, "go, I command you!" Sasha takes a desperate look at oshanin and suddenly rushes out like an arrow. Oshanin lay on the windowsill and saw the Germans chasing and shooting Sasha. A bullet shot Sasha, a wisp of blood from the back down, but it is still running. Finally, Sasha fell down. In a moment, he struggled and continued to run with a limp... Oshanin watched Sasha disappear from his sight without any concern in his heart. He raised his rifle to aim at the German soldiers outside and pulled the trigger suddenly

 Chapter 108

    O''shanin recalled stopping here, red eyes, tears rolling in the eyes.


    What does he suffer from? I know it in my heart. Although the loss of the fortress was expected by me, I was still sad to hear this news suddenly. After all, I have been in this era for several months. How can I be heartless without plants and people? I stood up, walked behind him, leaned down, hugged him from behind, gently rubbed his cheek against the scar on his right face, and asked softly, "what happened then?"


    Oshanin took a deep breath, calmed his excitement, and then continued: "I''m the only one left in the building, and the rest of the people have been captured for many sacrifices. The German army found that there were still people fighting in the building. Instead of sending their infantry to die, they directly bombarded them with artillery. Originally, the building was riddled with holes, and then it was hit by dozens of shells. Finally, it collapsed, and I was buried alive in the smoke and dust in the sky.... "


    Although he is now alive in front of me, when I heard him say that he was buried alive in the building, I still couldn''t help saying "ah" softly.


    "I don''t know how long I''ve been dizzy. I didn''t wake up until I was excited by the cold rain. I looked at the surrounding environment and found that there was a huge cement board slanting on the column above the position where I was lying, blocking the falling bricks and stones, leaving a small safe space in the middle. Because of this, I was not killed by the bricks and stones alive. I struggled to climb out of the ruins until I reached the place where Sasha saved me. All this almost exhausted my strength. The sharp pain in my right cheek and the shrapnel wound on my body made me faint again. "


    I stood up straight, gently stroked the long scar on his right face and asked, "does it still hurt?"


    He grabbed my hand, shook his head and continued: "it wasn''t long before I felt someone shaking my body and shouting in Russian:" comrade, wake up! Comrade, wake up! " When I opened my eyes, I saw a Soviet soldier squatting in front of me, with ragged clothes, a face full of smoke and blood. Seeing that I woke up, he waved to the side, and soon another soldier who was also in ragged clothes came. Without saying a word, they lifted me up from the ground and helped me forward. I asked them, "where are we going?"¡® Comrade commander, "the soldier replied solemnly," the fortress has been occupied by the Germans. We are going to be prisoners! "


    "Are you captured?" I asked in surprise.


    He nodded and continued to tell his story: "hearing this, I tried to break free from the support of the two soldiers and cried out:" let me go, I will never be a prisoner! " But I was weak after the injury, and I struggled a few times, but I couldn''t get out of the hands of the soldiers¡® Please keep quiet, comrade commander. " The soldier suddenly said to me seriously, "the communication between the fortress and the rear area has been completely interrupted. We are now out of ammunition and food, isolated and helpless. We can''t make unnecessary sacrifices."¡® I will never be a prisoner! " I growled in a low voice¡® No one wants to be a prisoner, comrade commander. " The soldier looked around, then frowned and said, "we are all blocked by the Germans. We can''t get out at all. If we want to leave here, we have to be prisoners." I snorted and said nothing. The soldier explained to me, "the German army is persuading us to surrender again. We are going to surrender and then find a chance to escape. Do you understand, comrade commander? " After hearing what he said, I didn''t say anything more. I honestly let two soldiers help me to join the surrender team. "


    "Wait a minute," I couldn''t help interrupting him, saying my doubts: "didn''t you say you were the only one left? Where did the others come from? "


    "There are many buildings in the fortress, and there are defensive troops in each building. Although my building was destroyed by the German army, and all the commanders and fighters in it were killed, many of the defenders in the building were still fighting bravely. Seeing that the strong attack did not work, the German army turned to propaganda and called on our soldiers to lay down their arms and surrender. "


    "Oh, so it is. You go on I thought that the German commander was quite capable. He knew the truth of "subduing the soldiers without fighting" and he knew how to launch a propaganda offensive against the tenacious garrison.


    "When we entered the German position, two German soldiers with submachine guns came up. They simply searched us and escorted us out of the fort. After walking West from the fortress for about ten minutes, I came to the town, where there were four or five hundred Soviet prisoners of war. Most of them were ragged and depressed. The two German soldiers pushed us hard into the crowd and turned straight away. After observing the environment, I found that there were only more than 30 German soldiers on guard, and they did not take strict care of us. "


    "How did you get out?" I really wanted to know how he got out of danger, so I couldn''t help interrupting him again.


    "We spent the night in the town, and the next morning the German troops escorted us to the border. Maybe it''s because of the shortage of troops. There are not many German soldiers escorting us. There are only less than 50 people on motorcycles.


    At noon, we approached the border and walked to the edge of a forest. The German officer in charge stopped the troops to have a rest. The prisoners of war walked a whole morning in the scorching sun. If they had not been forced by the German soldiers with guns, many of them would not have been able to hold out on the way. Now it''s hard to get to the place. The prisoners of war don''t care what they can do. They sit on the ground and gasp. Except for seven or eight guards, the rest of the German soldiers hid in the forest for lunch, leaving the tired and hungry prisoners in the open to endure the scorching sun.


    Looking at the German soldiers left behind, Ivanov, the soldier who saved me, complained in a low voice. A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He came close to my ear and whispered, "commander, you see, these German devils are beginning to complain. As long as they relax their guard, we can find a chance to escape."¡® Run away? " I asked him, "where are you going?" He pointed to the forest where there were no German soldiers and said, "run into the forest, as long as you run into the forest, the German devils will not catch us.".


    After observing the surrounding environment, I quickly rejected his proposal, shook my head slightly and said, "we are at least 50 meters away from the edge of the forest. How much do you think there is hope that the German devils will not find us there?" Hearing that I rejected his proposal, he was a little worried: "if you rush through here, you can rush into the forest in 15 seconds at most. If you don''t act, you can''t even run after crossing the border."


    "If it''s night now, we''ll have a better chance of escaping from here, but now we''re going to die...". It seems to prove what I said. A soldier not far from us suddenly jumped up and ran towards the forest dozens of meters away.


    The man only ran more than ten meters away, and the German soldiers in charge of the guard had found him. There was no warning at all. Several submachine guns were fired at the same time. Although the mud around the man was splashed by bullets, he was determined to escape the control of the German soldiers, so he ran all the way without stopping. However, the man''s luck was limited. Although he successfully approached the edge of the forest, he was finally hit by a bullet. I only saw several blood flowers on his body, then stretched out his hands into the air, as if trying to grasp something, but finally fell to the ground.


    After hearing the gunfire, the German officer rushed out of the forest with a group of people to see what happened. He didn''t show much surprise when he learned that a prisoner of war had tried to escape and was killed. Obviously, he had thought in advance that someone would try to escape. And I''m sure no one will be able to run.


    He stood in front of the line with no expression on his face and said, "gentlemen, please remember your identity. You are prisoners of war! When we get to the camp, we will give you the treatment you deserve. If anyone tries to escape, he will come to the same end as this man. " Then he scanned the team and said, "now I need some volunteers to come out and bury this guy."


    After listening to the German officers, all the prisoners remained silent, and no one took the initiative to stand up as the volunteer. The main reason is that everyone is tired and hungry, and no one can do the physical work of burying bodies.


    "No one really wants to be a volunteer?" Seeing that my proposal was not answered, the officer''s face began to darken, and his hand touched the pistol at his waist.


    Seeing that no one was making a sound around me, I pulled Ivanov next to me, then stood up and said, "I''ll come."¡® And me. " Ivanov also immediately stood up.


    "Guard, Shovel them with them, and bury them quickly, so we can make our way." Seeing that someone finally took the initiative to stand up, the officer asked two soldiers to escort us to bury the body, and then he took people back to the forest to eat.


    Ivanov and I walked into the forest with bodies full of craters. After walking about 20 meters, the German soldiers stopped us and handed us two engineering shovels to dig on the spot.


    When digging the pit, I whispered to Ivanov, "when we fill the soil later, we will use this engineer to shovel them while the German soldiers are not paying attention." Ivanov gently agreed, and then buried himself in digging.


    It took half an hour to dig a shallow pit for the body. After dragging the body into the pit, we began to fill it slowly. Two German soldiers were watching us at the beginning. After a long time, they relaxed their vigilance and stood by the pit chatting. Seeing that the time was ripe, I made a look from Ivanov, then shoveled up a shovel of soil to the German soldiers. Taking advantage of the chance that they were blinded by the dust, we rushed over like lightning, and slashed down with the engineer shovel in our hands. The two German soldiers didn''t even say a word, so they fell flat on the ground. We picked up the submachine guns on the ground and ran to the depths of the forest


    "You are so lucky." I couldn''t help but say with emotion: "fortunately, the German officer made a whim and asked you to bury the dead prisoners of war, so that you had a chance to escape. If he doesn''t pay attention to the dead bodies on the side of the road at all, but directly escorts you to the prison camp, it is estimated that you are in danger now. "


    "We''ve been walking in the forest for a week, during which time we''ve been feeding on wild fruits. If we didn''t happen to be rescued by the Scout of the outer Baikal division, maybe we would have died in the forest. After the battle of Smolensk, my company was transferred to the outskirts of Moscow. In September, someone came to the army to recruit military dog trainers. Because of my experience, I took the initiative to sign up for this mysterious army. Before long, we were transferred to the north of Moscow for closed training. Yesterday, we received a notice from our superiors that the Western Front Army lacks enough anti tank forces at present, so we assigned our company to the front army. " O''shanin held my hand tightly, looked up at me and said excitedly, "I didn''t expect to meet you here. This unexpected reunion is so happy."

 Chapter 109

    "Rita, Rita! Open the door for me Before I could speak, ina''s voice came out of the door. Hearing ina''s cry, I quickly broke free of oshanin''s hand, stepped back two steps to the door, grasped the handle and opened the door.


    As soon as the door opened, I immediately saw ina standing at the door with two teacups in her hands. As she walked inside, she said, "I met the chief of staff just now. He said that you and your husband have reunited and are reminiscing here. I''ve come to bring you two tea, and I''ve come to see how handsome our female Lieutenant Colonel''s husband is. " With that, she put two cups of tea on the table, looked at o''shanin with interest, and asked curiously, "are you captain o''shanin, Rita''s husband?"


    "Yes Oshanin stood up nervously and saluted ina, whose rank was lower than him.


    "Rita," ina did not salute him according to the regulations, but pulled me to o''shanin and said enviously, "your husband is so handsome!" Then he turned the topic and teased me and said, "how about giving him up to me as a lover?"


    "Cut!" Deliberately disdain to say: "you like to take it, as long as he agrees, not to say when the lover, when the husband is OK!" Although I knew she was teasing me, I still felt a fever on my face. After saying this, I glanced at oshanin and found that he was blushing with shame and looking at me with a smile on his face.


    "Well, I have to help the comrades in the headquarters prepare dinner, so I won''t delay your husband and wife''s reminiscence." When ina saw our embarrassment, she vomited out her tongue. She quickly found a reason, explained the scene, and took the door with her when she went out.


    I saw o''shanin''s eyes still looking at the direction of the door, deliberately mocked him and said: "why, do you have a crush on the beautiful young lady? Or you will be wronged and be her lover. "


    Oshanin turned his head, laughed awkwardly, then grabbed my hand and said, "no matter how beautiful she is, she''s not as beautiful as my dear lidachika."


    I struggled carefully. I couldn''t earn my hand. I had to let him sit down again. As soon as he sat down, he couldn''t wait to say, "Rita, I''ve told you my story. Now it''s your turn. Where are our children? When did you join the army and become an officer? "


    When I was listening to oshanin''s story just now, I kept recalling the plot about Rita in the novel. When I heard that he had asked, I coughed, cleared my throat, and began to tell him about Rita''s story: "that morning, after you left, the whole city fell into chaos, except that from time to time there were teams of armed soldiers running through the window, There are also many residents carrying luggage to start moving to the rear.


    At noon, the city defense headquarters specially sent out propaganda vehicles to broadcast along the streets, saying that the enemy was suffering heavy losses from our army, so that everyone could keep calm and stay at home, and called on activists to take part in the voluntary work of building barricades and fortifications. After listening to the broadcast of the propaganda vehicle, the panic calmed down temporarily. Many people who had left went back to their homes one after another, and even volunteers went to the streets to help the army maintain order and build fortifications.


    I didn''t expect that later our platoon moved to 171 station near bocchinook, because I was outstanding in the battle. After I shot down two German Devils'' planes in succession, I changed her view of me, and the relationship between us began to gradually improve.


    One day, I sneaked to bochinok to see my son at night. When I came back in the morning, I saw two German soldiers in the forest. According to their dress, they were supposed to sneak into the rear of our army to engage in sabotage activities. So I reported the situation to brigadier vaskov and sergeant kiriyanova, the commander of the headquarters.


    When vaskov heard that there were only two German soldiers, he took me, Genoa, Sonia, Lisa, garka and other five women soldiers to search in the forest. Vaskov was very familiar with the terrain nearby. He took us to the only way for the German army to ambush. He planned to take advantage of the terrain and the number of people to destroy or capture the two German soldiers alive.


    When the German soldiers reappeared in front of us, we were surprised to find that the German soldiers were not two, but sixteen. In this way, we were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of equipment and number. With only one pistol and five rifles in our hands, we are not only unable to stop the enemy, but also in danger of being annihilated by the enemy.


    Fortunately, Brigadier vaskov, who led the team, had rich combat experience. While sending Lisa back to report, he took four of us and a dozen German soldiers around the forest.


    It''s a pity that Lisa died when she passed the swamp. Our people didn''t get the information, so they didn''t send reinforcements. Only a few of our German soldiers who were in the forest and had the advantage of standing around were left. In the battle, Genoa, Sonia and garka died one after another. I was also hit by shrapnel of a grenade and seriously injured. "


    "Ah?" Hearing this, o''shanin screamed in surprise, and then reached out to touch me, anxiously asked: "let me see quickly, where is the injury?"


    "It''s in the abdomen, but it''s long gone." I grabbed his hand and went on, "listen to me."


    "Well." He nodded, gently twisted my hand, and then looked at me, waiting for me to continue to tell the story¡° I was seriously injured and bleeding. I couldn''t bear to die in pain. I begged vaskov to give me a shot so that I could finish it. But he couldn''t do it. In the end, I raised my pistol and fired at my temple. "¡° Ah Once again, oshanin couldn''t help crying out and interrupted me again. Seeing that I looked at him unhappily, I laughed sheepishly and motioned me to continue¡° After the gunshot, I went into a coma. I don''t know how long later, the cold rain drops on my face, let me wake up. Strangely enough, the constant bleeding stopped miraculously, and the wound didn''t hurt. I struggled to lift the branches from my body, sat up and looked around for the trace of brigadier vaskov. It''s raining, it''s quiet all around, there''s no one. Just then came the thought of the bell of the monastery in the distance. I stood up and walked along the road. I could see the spire of the monastery in the distance. It was an abandoned monastery. No one was supposed to be in it. How could the bell ring inexplicably? Were the Germans there? So I took the direction of the monastery and strode forward. Along the way, I saw explosive boxes, helmets, kettles and even a submachine gun discarded by the German soldiers. I picked up the submachine gun, expertly opened the bolt, and found that there was no bullet in it, so I threw the gun to the side of the road. To me, this kind of weapon without bullets is the same as a firecracker. But it was these items that became important landmarks for me to find brigadier vaskov and the German devils. I saw the dead German soldiers lying on the ground outside the monastery, and heard the angry roar of the brigadier in the room. I was afraid that he would be outnumbered, so I quickly picked up a submachine gun and rushed in. There were six German soldiers in the room, but there was only one bullet in the warrant officer''s pistol. I went in just in time for a German soldier to grab a gun and try to resist. The brigadier fired one shot and missed the target. I made up two shots and knocked down the German soldiers. The rest of the German soldiers, facing our muzzle, had to raise their hands obediently to surrender and become prisoners. Later, I was sent to the military hospital in Leningrad, where I was healed. Before long, marshal Voroshilov, commander of the front army, personally went to the hospital to confer a medal on me. After discharge, I was promoted to sergeant and appointed as platoon leader of the women''s anti-aircraft machine gun platoon in the unknown highland of Pulkovo I told oshanin about my experiences one by one after I arrived at this time and space. Of course, the first half is the story of the real Rita, and the second half is my experience as a fake. When he heard that the anti-aircraft machine gun was used to hit the infantry, and the speech was made on the platform of the Kremlin, he could not help but marvel and feel a lot of emotion. After the story of Rita and me, I just felt thirsty. I picked up the tea on the table and began to drink it. Oshaning opened his mouth. Just as he wanted to ask, there was a knock at the door.

 Chapter 110

    After the door opened, there was a smiling general standing outside. I fixed my eyes. It turned out to be major general leviagin.


    Seeing me standing at the door, the burly general lowered his head and asked me with a smile, "Comrade o''shanina, have you finished talking to my captain? If not, please hurry up. The troops will have to leave in five minutes. "


    Without waiting for me to speak, oshanin had already stood behind me, put his hands on my shoulders, and rushed to reply, "Comrade General, I''m ready to start at any time."


    General leviagin nodded to both of us and said, "then hurry up and say goodbye to the commander. I''ll wait for you in the truck." Then he turned and left the church.


    Looking at the back of the general walking away, I was about to speak when o''shanin turned my body hard, and then his lips finally fell down. I clumsily cooperate, maybe because of lack of oxygen, feel a little dizzy.


    After that, he put me in his arms again. I buried my face in his chest, listening to his clear heartbeat and sighing in my heart. I didn''t expect that I would kiss a man.


    When I thought about the situation of kissing, I shivered and pushed him away.


    "Rita! What are you doing? " He asked, somewhat unexpectedly.


    "Honey," I prevaricated, "you should go back to the company. The soldiers are waiting for you."


    "Well, you''re right. It''s time for me to go back to the army."


    "I''ll go with you." I wanted to send him away early, so I would be at ease.


    "All right. Give me a ride


    Outside the church, there was a long line of trucks, and soldiers were lining up to board one after another. I saw a lot of soldiers with military dogs standing in line at the back of the motorcade, so I pointed to that direction and told oshanin: "your company is over there!"


    Oshanin looked in the direction I was pointing to, nodded and said, "yes, it''s them." Then pull me that way. More than ten steps away from the truck, a military dog jumped out of the queue, ran for a few steps and jumped up to us. I couldn''t help crying out, and instinctively stepped back a few steps.


    Oshanin stopped the dog, looked at me, gave a shy smile and explained, "this is my new training dog, also called Sasha!" I saw that the dog had been tamely lying on the side of the captain, some embarrassed to smile, and then squatted forward to touch the dog''s head. The army dog wagged its head and tail to show me friendship and put out its long tongue to lick my hand.


    "Comrade female soldier, do you still know me?" I saw two feet standing in front of me and heard someone asking me. Looking up, he was a young soldier wearing a helmet. He had a good face, but he couldn''t remember where he had seen him in a hurry.


    I stood up, hesitated and said, "I look a little familiar, but I can''t remember where I met."


    "You forgot?" He reminded me, "who gave you a lift on your way to widenham?"


    "Oh! It''s you, victor As soon as I mentioned Vuitton Khan, I suddenly remembered who he was. At that time, when he said that he seemed to have heard of oshanin''s name, I wishfully thought it was the way he used to pick up girls, but I didn''t expect that it was true. If I had asked a few more questions at that time, I might have known the whereabouts of oshanin. I was a little embarrassed and said, "I''m sorry, I didn''t remember who you are. Thank you for taking me to videnhan that day. "


    He just wanted to continue talking, but he caught a glimpse of my badge. He came to attention and saluted me respectfully, saying, "sorry, comrade commander, I didn''t notice your rank."


    "All right, all old acquaintances. Don''t be so polite." I put his hand down, then pointed to oshanin and explained to him, "this is oshanin." After a slight pause, I heard myself saying, "my husband."


    "I know, comrade captain is my company commander. I remember that day as soon as you got off the bus. I wanted to stop you, but you are far away


    "How do you know my men, Rita?" Asked oshanin curiously.


    When I heard him ask, I told him about the day. At last, I added: "at that time, Vicia said that she seemed to have heard your name somewhere, but I didn''t expect you to go to Moscow, so I didn''t take it to heart. If I had asked one more question at that time, I would have met you again. " Although I thought that I would never see o''charnin, I still wanted to say that I miss him.


    "Comrade captain, it''s time for us to go." Victor poked his head out of the cab window and urged oshanin to get on.


    "Honey, it''s time for us to say goodbye. When the battle is over, goodbye!" Seeing that the truck in front of me was starting up one after another, oshanin hugged morchanov once more, pushed me away gently, as if to release me from my arms, turned around, jumped on the steps, opened the door and sat in.


    When I saw the motorcade driving far away, I was relieved that the big stone in my heart finally fell to the ground. Seeing off oshanin, I avoided my fate of crossing the gang. However, after spending so much time with him in the gatehouse, it''s time to go to rokosovsky to learn about tomorrow''s combat deployment.


    In rokosovsky''s command room, in addition to him and the chief of staff, there are four or five other generals I am not familiar with. Seeing me enter the door, he quickly beckoned me to come over and asked Colonel marinin to explain the deployment for me and ask me for my views on the campaign.


    Although I know the famous battle of Moscow, I have no idea in my mind of the course of the battle launched by the 16th army before December 6 and the growth and decline of the strength of both sides. In fact, even if I know all these battles in history, it doesn''t mean that everything I know will follow the original track. When I appear in this time and space, some history will inevitably deflect. No one can tell how this campaign will develop and evolve. Originally, I didn''t want to express any opinions, but since the commander is not ashamed to ask questions, it''s not appropriate to keep silent, so I thought about it for a while, then raised my head and asked rokosovsky, "Comrade commander, shall we use our existing forces to launch a campaign?"


    Without waiting for the commander to speak, the chief of staff had preempted me and said, "in this campaign, in addition to using the existing forces, the general headquarters also put in general Vlasov''s 20th group army and general Kuznetsov''s 1st assault group army to cover the two wings of our group army and provide us with sufficient artillery support."


    Speaking of this, deputy chief of staff o''lear said: "the artillery of the 20th group army is very powerful. The general headquarters has not only equipped them with three Katyusha rocket barracks, but also five regiments of heavy artillery units, equipped with big guys like 122 howitzers and 152 howitzers, which will be enough for the German devils to drink."


    "But it''s their new deputy commander that makes people worry," a major general who has never spoken suddenly interposed. "It''s the Chinese general named Lin. after he took office, he immediately called all the commanders above the regimental level to study and instill his own theory into them."


    "What kind of theory?" Asked rokosovsky with interest.


    The general said with some disdain, "listen to an old comrade in arms there. What are the names of" one point, two sides "and" four fast, one slow "and so on? Anyway, they are all inexplicable things. You know, many of their excellent commanders graduated from our military academies. It''s ridiculous that these students want to be our teachers instead. "


    "Can you tell me more about it?" Rokosovsky did not agree with him, but continued to ask.


    The general scratched his head and said with some embarrassment, "I didn''t ask that in detail."


    I glared at the self righteous general, and then said to rokosovsky, "Comrade commander, I went to see this general Lin with general Vlasov and had a long talk with him. In my opinion, he is a very excellent strategist, and we have never heard of many military theories. What the general just said about "one point and two sides" refers to: concentrating the superior forces on the main attack points and opposing the equal distribution of forces at all points; At least encircle the enemy on both sides to ensure that the enemy will be defeated and annihilated. "Four fasts and one slow" refers to: advance quickly to the enemy, so as to prevent the enemy from escaping; After seizing the enemy, we should make preparations quickly, look at the terrain, choose the breakthrough, build fortifications, mobilize and mobilize troops, and arrange firepower quickly; After the breakthrough, we should expand the results quickly; We should pursue the retreating enemy quickly, no matter what day or night. The fourth is the same as the third. First, the timing of launching a general attack should be slow, and the attack should be carried out after sufficient preparation. Once the general attack begins, it should be fast. "


    "That''s great. His summary is brilliant." When rokosovsky heard this, he stood up and said excitedly: "I have heard of him. Long before the outbreak of the patriotic war, the general headquarters called a military conference and invited him to attend. Most of the marshals and generals at the meeting believed that if war broke out, Germany would attack Ukraine, which is the richest country in the world. But he thought: "if Hitler attacked the Soviet Union, he did not want to plunder the Soviet Union''s wealth, but to destroy the Soviet Union, so he would not fight from Ukraine. He would attack from the Caucasus on the western front, from the Baltic Sea to the Carpathians, and occupy Moscow." At that time, all the participants shook their heads and felt that he was alarmist. After the meeting, the headquarters still deployed the main forces in Ukraine, but unfortunately, he was right in the end. If there is an opportunity, I must invite him to our group army and let him give lessons to all the commanders, which is very helpful to improve the command level of our commanders. "


    "We should have this opportunity soon, comrade commander." Malining looked at rokosovsky and said in a calm tone: "I have the news that maybe soon he will take the post of deputy commander of the Western Front Army."


    Rokosovsky was about to say something, but the telephone on the desk rang untimely. He picked up the phone and said, "I''m general rokosovsky. What''s the matter?"


    The other party replied, "report to commander, the antiaircraft machine guns provided by the headquarters are attached. Please give us your instructions on where to deploy them."


    He thought for a moment and replied, "the air defense force of the group army command is insufficient. Let''s deploy them in the village." Then he hung up. He raised his wrist, looked at his watch, and then said to us, "comrades, it''s getting late. Go back to your posts."


    When I came out of the church, I saw a group of people setting up anti-aircraft machine gun positions in the twilight. I walked towards them and saw my arrival. The soldiers who were building fortifications with sandbags stood up and saluted me. I motioned to them to continue working, and then went forward to check the anti-aircraft machine guns they were using. On the position, I placed the 14.5mm quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun that I used to use. Seeing the familiar weapons, I couldn''t help itching for a moment, and directly sat in the position of the manipulator, spinning the machine gun skillfully¡° Comrade commander, it seems that you are quite familiar with anti-aircraft machine guns. " A soldier beside said in surprise¡° Yes, "I said to him as I looked into the air through my sight glass," I used to be an antiaircraft shooter. "¡° no wonder. Have you ever taken down an enemy plane? "¡° I''ve had two fights. " I answered lightly¡° You are very good. " I didn''t want to continue talking with him. I got down from my seat and pointed to the machine gun and said, "the air defense of the headquarters will be handed over to you. I hope you can bring down the enemy as soon as possible."¡° I will, comrade commander. " I nodded at him, then turned and headed for the kitchen. In the early morning, I was awakened from my sleep by the roar of guns. I got up from the bed, went to the window barefoot, and looked at the distance with a telescope. Regiments of fire are rising from the enemy''s positions. It seems that our army''s attack has begun.

 Chapter 111

    The battle of attack began.


    The campaign plans formulated by the headquarters have been given to all combat units in the form of orders. According to the orders of the higher authorities, the participating troops are fighting tenaciously with the German army in the designated area.


    I don''t have a fixed position in the headquarters, and I don''t have to rush to take part in the command of the campaign immediately. So after I dressed and washed, I took time to eat breakfast in the kitchen, and then walked slowly to the headquarters.


    As soon as I entered the hall, I felt like I came to the food market. The hall was in a mess. The telephones of the operations and intelligence departments kept ringing, and the operators were shouting the numbers of the troops below; The correspondent runs back and forth between the two offices, sends the information received by the intelligence office to the operations office, and then takes the new instructions from the operations office to the intelligence office.


    I only stood for a while, and then I felt headache because of the noise. I quickly pushed open the door of rokosovsky''s command room and slipped in. The effect of the church oak door is good. As soon as the door is closed, the noise is completely isolated from the outside.


    When he heard someone coming in, rokosovsky, the political commissar and the chief of staff who were sitting at the table drinking tea all turned their heads. Handsome Luo also called me and said, "Rita, just as I was going to have someone call you, you came first. Come and sit down for tea. " As soon as I sat down next to the political commissar, a staff officer immediately put a cup of sweet black tea in front of me.


    There was a captured German radio on the table, in which was playing sweet music. I asked the political commissar curiously, "Why are you so free today? How can you all get together to listen to music?"


    The commissar said with a proud look: "a captured major has just been interrogated. He said that the German defense line has shown signs of collapse. Comrade Zhukov called the commander and said that rokosovsky made a gesture to interrupt him, saying: "the Germans are broadcasting. Please translate it for us to see what they are talking about."


    The lieutenant went to the table, bent down to listen, then stood up and said, "the radio says: attention! be careful! Next, please listen to the speech of the head of state to the German army on the 15th. "


    The chief of staff said with great interest: "ha ha, maybe Hitler saw that his army would soon be crushed by our brave red army, so he couldn''t wait to jump out and cheer up his soldiers." His words immediately caused everyone to laugh.


    After a short silence, Hitler''s voice came out from the radio. The interpreter stood aside and translated every sentence to everyone in time: "soldiers! Moscow is right in front of you. After two years of war, all the capitals of the European continent have been conquered by you. You have left footprints on the most beautiful streets. Now only Moscow is left. You have to conquer it, let it taste the power of your weapons, and walk through Moscow''s red square with the pace of victory. Moscow is the end of this war. Go to Moscow to cultivate your bodies covered with gunpowder. Go ahead


    Hitler''s speech was simple and ended in just one minute. After listening to his speech, the deputy chief of staff gave a cold Snort and said with disdain, "Hitler''s bandits have been in a mess in the face of our army''s offensive, so their master has to come out to speak and cheer them up."


    I was silent, thinking that Hitler was a good speaker. Although his words were brief, they had effectively stimulated the morale of the army. It can be imagined that the next battle will be more brutal. In the face of the fierce German attack, the Soviet army will have to continue to retreat. When I think about it, I sweat behind my back.


    I looked at rokosovsky, who was sitting next to me. He frowned and asked the interpreter to leave. Then he stood up and said in a serious tone to the complacent deputy chief of staff, "Comrade o''lear, don''t take the enemy lightly just because we were successful in the early stage of the campaign. We have to know that in the early morning battle, we can achieve such a great result because the German army misestimated our strength. They didn''t expect that we would launch a new round of counter offensive when the skirmanovo campaign didn''t achieve the expected goal. Now they are caught off guard by us. Once they come back to their senses, they will use their air and ground advantages to launch a crazy counter offensive against us. "


    When I heard rokosovsky say these words, I breathed a sigh of relief. A famous general is a famous general. In this case, I still keep absolutely sober, and I can see the problems existing in the current army.


    Rokosovsky asked everyone to look at the map, and immediately a staff officer came forward and removed the radio from the table. According to the situation map of the map, the defense lines of the German army were mainly located in villages and towns or in the small woods. Mines were laid in the intervals between the bases, and strong firepower was used to block these areas. However, due to the suddenness of the attack, these lines of defense were broken through by our army one after another, and the participating troops had wedged into the German positions for three to five kilometers.


    Just then, the door slammed open and a major rushed in with a piece of paper in his hand. As soon as the door opened, so much noise came in that I couldn''t hear what the major was reporting to rokosovsky. It wasn''t until one of the staff officers closed the door that I heard what the major with the information in his hand said: "the latest news just came from the headquarters of the front army: the German central army group changed its deployment, transferred new troops, supplemented the participating regiments, and turned to attack under the command of field marshal von Bok. The enemy and US fought on the broad front from Kalinin to Tula. The northern German army carried out major raids in the right-wing defensive zones of the 30th, 16th and 5th group armies (Volga reservoir, Moscow mozaisk railway), and the southern German army carried out major raids in the defensive zones of the 50th group army (Tula, new Moscow)


    "Chief of staff!" After listening to the major''s report on the enemy situation, rokosovsky walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, and said to malining with a blue face: "order the troops of the group army to stop the attack immediately, build fortifications in the existing occupied area, and turn to defense on the spot."¡° Yes After recording the commander''s orders, the chief of staff went out with the major to convey them to the army. The commissar came over, patted rokosovsky on the shoulder, comforted him with a smooth tone and said, "Comrade commander, don''t worry. Now our army is taking the initiative in the battlefield, and the German army will pay a huge price even if they want to counterattack." I coughed and broke in: "Comrade commander, now we must first find out where the German army is going to launch an attack in the defensive zone of our group army, so that we can carry out targeted defense and counterattack." Rokosovsky listened to me, nodded and said, "well, we should first make clear the direction of the German assault. Comrade o''lear, it''s up to you to do this. Move quickly. "¡° Yes The deputy chief of staff agreed and left the room. Rokosovsky stood at the table, looking down at the map in front of him. I stood behind him, hesitated for a moment, and then said cautiously: "I think the focus of the German attack may still be concentrated on the left wing of the group army, that is, the volokoramsk area defended by the 316 division." After listening to my words, rokosovsky''s face showed a smile: "if there are no soldiers to send elsewhere, if the German army dares to attack the volokoramsk area, it will definitely suffer heavy losses." He turned to see me with a puzzled look on my face and quickly explained: "yesterday, I added major general leviagin''s 1200 men and captain oshanin''s army dog company to the 316th infantry division. At the same time, I also deployed the combat effective Cadet regiment and a part of the 126th infantry division there." With a bitter smile, I didn''t say anything. I said to myself: in the battle launched this morning, the weak Soviet army was attacking, while the strong German army was defending. If the offensive and defensive sides were transferred, with the existing strength of the Soviet army, would they be able to defend the battlefield under the heavy bombardment of German planes? The door was pushed open again, and in came deputy chief of staff Orel, who solemnly reported to rokosovsky: "report, comrade commander, the main assault direction of the German army has been identified, which is on the left wing of our group army - volokoramsk area defended by the 316 division and the Cadet regiment."¡° I see, "rokosovsky went to the door, took off the cotton cap from the coat rack, put it on his head, turned to the commissar and said," Comrade lobachev, let''s go to Panfilov division to have a look. " When he saw me, he waved to me and said, "Rita, you don''t have to go. You''d better stay in the headquarters." Rokosovsky, the political commissar, and several staff officers left for wolokoramsk. There were only two people left in the room, I and deputy chief of staff Aurel. Seeing my unhappy face, o''lear asked me cleverly, "Comrade o''shanina, are you worried about your husband''s danger?"¡° Ah? " I couldn''t help but be stunned by what he said. If he hadn''t mentioned the word "husband", I wouldn''t have thought of the relationship between Rita and o''channing. No wonder rokosovsky didn''t let me go with him to volokoramsk. Maybe he thought I was worried about oshanin''s safety and wanted to go to the front line. He didn''t agree with me to go because of his good intentions. After all, war is dangerous. Maybe he was worried that our couple would meet at the front line, so that I would stay¡° Air raid warning A lieutenant opened the door and rushed in, shouting, "Comrade commander, the German plane is coming. Go out and hide."

 Chapter 112

    O''lear and I rushed out of the church and saw that there was a mess outside.


    Several German planes circled in the air, diving down from time to time to drop bombs or strafe. In the thick smoke and fire, the anti-aircraft machine gun company, which had constructed the air defense position yesterday, was shooting fiercely into the air. Three or five groups of unarmed or armed soldiers were running around in panic. Several female soldiers of the cooking class were also running around with tableware behind the crowd.


    "Hide! Hide I ran a few steps forward and yelled at the women, but the explosion and the firing of the antiaircraft machine gun suppressed my voice.


    "Be careful!" A man rushed up from behind and crushed me on the snow. Almost at the same time, the bullets from a dive enemy plane passed through the place where I was standing.


    "Go and find a place to hide. I''ll evacuate the headquarters." As soon as the man on me spoke, I immediately recognized that it was deputy chief of staff o''lear who had saved my life just now. I hastened to loosen my back. O''lear got up and ran to the church. As he ran, he cried in his loud voice: "all the people in the headquarters leave their positions and go outside to hide!"


    In his shouts, I also heard a series of screams. Turning around, it turned out that the soldier standing guard at the door had been hit in two by machine gun bullets. Because he didn''t die in a moment, his upper part of his body was rolling with blood red intestines in the extremely painful scream


    Seeing the tragedy in front of me and smelling the strong blood gas, I just felt that between my chest and abdomen, there were waves of things pouring up. I couldn''t stand it any longer, so I lay there and vomited.


    The bomb dropped by the plane was exploding everywhere in the village. I was thinking about where to hide. Although I had been calling everyone to hide just now, it was just an instinctive reaction. I didn''t know where to hide if I wanted to. Maybe lying on the ground would be the safest.


    From time to time, a bomb fell into the crowd, and the air wave of the explosion lifted the soldiers high into the air, and then dropped them heavily. In the continuous explosion, my hands and feet trembled involuntarily, my body was lying in the snow, and I didn''t dare to move. I was afraid that the shrapnel flying around would hit me.


    A bloody arm suddenly fell in front of me, which startled me. Wait a little calm God, a close look, found that the arm''s skin delicate white, should belong to women. The residents of the village have been scattered for a long time. Which female soldier in the cooking class has suffered misfortune?


    Looking around, I saw damana, who helped me to change my clothes a few days ago, lying in the snow not far away with blood all over her body, rolling in the same place and shouting vaguely from her mouth which constantly gushed blood. I quickly climbed up to her, hugged her and asked aloud, "damana, how are you doing?"


    Damana looked at me with silent eyes, opened her mouth a few times, and said a few words in a very weak voice. Because the explosion around was so loud, I didn''t understand what she said. I just wanted to put my ear to her mouth to hear it. As a result, she had tilted her head and stopped breathing.


    Seeing the sacrifice of damana in my arms, a burst of sadness came to my heart, and my eyes began to wet. Death! It turns out that it is so simple. In the fierce battlefield, it may only take a few seconds for a fresh life to turn into a cold corpse. My tears in the eyes of astringent red transit for a long time, or can not help but flow out, drop by drop fell on damana''s face.


    "Boom!" A bomb exploded not far away, and the mud and snow fell on me.


    Looking up, it turned out that another enemy plane swooped down and dropped a bomb on the village. Seeing the rampant enemy planes in the air, I suddenly feel an irresistible impulse in my heart. I want to revenge and beat down the damned enemy planes! Looking around, I saw that the anti-aircraft machine guns in the village''s air defense positions were shooting desperately at the air. I wiped a tear, put down damana''s body, stood up and rushed to the nearest air defense position.


    Just now, I was so scared of the explosion of the bomb, but now I don''t even do the instinctive necking movement. I just bend over and run towards the anti-aircraft machine gun. At this time, a bomb fell on the side of the anti-aircraft machine gun. The blast wave collapsed the chest wall made of sandbags. The soldier who was shooting covered his head and fell from the seat. The machine gun suddenly became dumb.


    I stepped over the collapsed sandbags, jumped on the machine gun seat, turned the handle nimbly, and aimed at the enemy plane in the air through the sight. There are soldiers next to me shouting: "commander comrade, what can I do for you?"


    "Help me with the ammo." I said faintly, and then stepped on the gun button, a little bit more strength


    "Yes In response, the soldier quickly inserted two ammunition boxes into the gun.


    The target of the enemy plane in the sight is bigger and clearer¡° Maybe it was this plane that broke the soldiers on guard into two parts and killed damana. " So I thought, and at the same time, I stepped on the button of the gun, and a series of bullets burst out of the muzzle and shot at the enemy plane.


    The two ammunition boxes soon ran out, but they didn''t even touch the side of the plane. At this time, it suddenly occurred to me that when I was in the Pulkovo Highlands, I heard the female soldiers say the secret of fighting enemy planes: better welcome than chase! That is to say, when the enemy planes dive, they shoot head-on, which is higher than the hit rate of chasing the enemy''s buttocks. So I changed my strategy, continued to focus on the enemy aircraft in the air, and slowed down the rotation speed of the gun


    The enemy plane was ready to dive again at high altitude, whistling towards the position. When the sight caught the enemy plane again, I stepped on the gun button without hesitation, and a string of bullets shot at the enemy plane.


    The enemy plane was hit and pulled a black smoke to one side. Although the enemy plane had been injured, I didn''t intend to let it go. I continued to lock it with the sight glass, continuously stepped on the gun button, and the machine gun bullets shot at the enemy plane. In an instant, I heard a loud noise, the enemy plane exploded in the air, disintegrated and became pieces of debris.


    After destroying an enemy plane, my nervous body and mind suddenly relaxed, my right foot released the gun button, and I sat down on the seat feebly.


    "Hide The soldier who loaded me with ammunition suddenly yelled and gave me a push.


    I didn''t know what was going on, but instinctively I jumped off the machine gun and ran to the side.


    After a few steps, I was knocked down from behind again. Then I heard the earth shaking explosion coming from behind. Then the overwhelming mud and snow came down from the sky and buried me.


    After a while, the person who pressed on me moved and asked me in a low voice, "Comrade commander, are you ok?"


    "I''m fine. What happened just now?"


    "The German devils saw that one of their planes had been shot down, and the rest of them all turned around and made a ferocious dive towards us. That''s why I let you hide." The soldier spoke and stood up.


    I felt a light on my back and immediately turned over and sat up. Seeing the position where the anti-aircraft machine gun was placed just now, it was blown into a big pit, still emitting plumes of smoke. I got up from the ground with fear, went to the pit, looked at the wreckage of the anti-aircraft machine gun, and thought I was lucky. If the soldier didn''t react quickly, I would have no bones left.


    The enemy planes circled over the village for a while. It was estimated that they had dropped all the bombs before they all turned around and flew away.


    "Come and help, everyone!" Someone was shouting in the distance: "the commanders are buried in the church!"


    Hearing this cry, I couldn''t help but excite myself. I turned to look at the position of the church. I was surprised to find that the bombing had turned the church into a smoky ruin, and the dome with gold foil was also broken into several pieces and scattered around. Around the church gathered a lot of soldiers, they are nervously looking for survivors.


    "O''lear has just entered the church to take charge of the evacuation. He will be OK." I think so, at the same time, I keep running towards the original headquarters.


    When I came to the ruins, I tried my best to squeeze into the crowd, but I was held by someone later. Looking back, it was o''lear. His head was covered with bandages and blood oozed from his forehead.


    "Are you all right?"¡° Are you ok? " We asked each other in unison.


    "It''s OK, it''s good! And you? " We both answered each other''s questions at the same time.


    "Comrade deputy chief of staff, what happened?" This time I asked him first.


    He pointed to the ruins of the church with his hand and said excitedly, "at least five bombs hit the church just now, and then it collapsed."


    "What about the casualties?" I asked with concern.


    He shook his head and said, "although I was directing the evacuation just now, I was still a little slow. Most of the commanders of the intelligence service and the operations department didn''t have time to withdraw. The church collapsed and buried them in it. I''m organizing people to rescue them."


    I look at the busy soldiers in the rubble, especially understand that people are buried in such ruins, the chance of survival is very slim. After a pause, I asked, "do you have the latest report on the war?"


    "Yes. This is the last document the intelligence service received. " O''lear took a folded sheet of paper from his pocket, opened it and read to me, "the local counter attack launched under the command of the front army this morning has had little effect. At the beginning, because of our sudden attack, our army even succeeded in inserting about 3 kilometers into the enemy''s camp. But at this time, the enemy began to launch a full line attack on our group army. Our advancing forces were forced to rush back. The cavalry led by dovator was in a particularly difficult situation. The enemy attacked them from all sides. Thanks to the dexterity of the commander, the skilful cavalry were able to escape and avoid being completely surrounded. "


    "The commander is back!" There were soldiers nearby shouting excitedly.


    O''lear and I looked in the direction of the village. A black car was coming along the bumpy road. When the car came near, I was surprised. The windshield in front of me was gone and bullet holes were everywhere. As soon as the car stopped, commander rokosovsky jumped out of the car. I was also surprised by his image. His long military coat was covered with mud, as if he had just rolled on the mud.


    O''lear went up and said with concern, "Comrade commander, why did you come back alone, political commissar?"


    "After coming out of the 316 division, political commissar Comrade lobachev and I went directly to the Cadet regiment, where fierce fighting was also going on. I went back to the command post here to understand the defense situation of the troops in each zone. I didn''t expect that the car was strafed by German planes twice in a row on the way back. " After listening to rokosovsky''s story, I understood why he was so embarrassed. It turned out that there was an air raid on his way. He walked quickly to the front of the church, pointed to the ruins and asked Aurel, "what''s going on?"


    O''lear bowed his head and replied sadly: "just now, the enemy plane bombed US crazily. The church where the headquarters is located was hit by five bombs. Most of the comrades in the intelligence and combat departments died." Looking at the mutilated body on the ground, rokosovsky''s face became heavy. The shaking of his hands was obviously very exciting.

 Chapter 113

    I thought rokosovsky would be furious. At least he would pull out his pistol and shoot a few shots into the sky to vent his anger. After all, no one could bear to see so many soldiers lying in front of him.


    Unexpectedly, he soon calmed down. As a senior commander, he knows how to control his emotions on the battlefield, which is very necessary. He took a deep breath and began to give orders: "Comrade Aurel!"


    "Here it is Standing beside him, the deputy chief of staff quickly agreed.


    "Can I get in touch with the troops below?" Asked rokosovsky, frowning.


    "Yes, comrade commander." O''lear replied in a positive tone: "two radio stations have been transferred out to convey orders to the troops below at any time."


    "That''s good. You''ll immediately arrange for the headquarters to be moved to new petrovskiya on the wolokoramsk Moscow highway. At the same time,...... "he spoke in a low voice. It was estimated that he was assigning some important tasks to the deputy chief of staff. I took two steps to the side with great interest, and continued to watch the soldiers lift the incomplete bodies of the sacrificial officers out of the ruins with indifference.


    "Zaharov!" I was startled by the sudden cry of rokosovsky.


    "Here it is Another disheartened commander came running from a distance. When I looked at it carefully, it turned out that the major general who was dismissive of President Lin''s strategy and tactics at the meeting in the morning looked more embarrassed than the commander at the moment.


    "Follow me to the junction of the group army and the 30th group army. I don''t think the situation there will be too optimistic."


    "Yes Although the major general zaharov agreed very simply, I found that the corners of his eyes twitched a few times and he looked a little ugly. He seemed to be dissatisfied with the arrangement made by rokosovsky.


    "Let''s go!" Rokosovsky said, then turned to his shabby car. After a few steps, I stopped and turned around to say hello to the stupid man who was standing in the same place, and said, "Rita, you''re going with me, too."


    "Yes I promised and trotted to catch up.


    I opened the back door and wanted to ask rokosovsky to sit in first. But when I looked inside, I couldn''t help taking a breath of air. All the cushions were beaten to pieces, and a long board was placed on the seat, so I could barely sit. However, rokosovsky didn''t care at all. He got into the car and sat in the back row. I just wanted to pull the front door to the co pilot''s seat, but he said to me, "let general zaharov sit in the front, and you sit next to me in the back."


    Although I didn''t spend too long with rokosovsky, I know that he must have his intention in arranging seats like this. Maybe there will be something else to tell me later. So I gave up the plan to open the front, and got into the back door and sat down beside him.


    After general zaharov got on the bus, the driver started the car. I looked up at the roof of the car, which was full of bullet holes. I can imagine what kind of air raid I just met. Because the windshield in front of me was all broken, so as soon as the car started, the piercing wind poured in, which made me shiver.


    "Do you know?" Rokosovsky suddenly said, "your former partner, instructor krochkov, has died!"


    When I used to work with krochkov in the 316 division, although I often had some disputes, when I suddenly heard the news of his sacrifice, my tears still flowed down, and my voice choked and asked, "how did he sacrifice?"


    "In the morning, the commissar of lobachev and the members of the staff arrived at the command post of commander Panfilov just in time for the German army to launch a fierce attack." Rokosovsky told me in a painful tone: "the anti tank destroyer group of the fourth company of the 1075th infantry regiment, led by commander krochkov, will defend and block the German tanks near the station of dubosekovo. The impact started with the support of strong artillery and bomber air strikes. After a while, German tanks in groups of 15-30, accompanied by dense automatic gunslinger lines, rushed to the position. We can see in the command post that krochkov and his 28 soldiers are fighting tenaciously. They bombard the German tanks with anti tank guns. Soon, nearly 10 tanks have burned or started to smoke. We can clearly see that some Hitler bandits immediately fall to the ground after climbing out of tanke, while the infantry who follow the tanks attack, Also by our army''s firepower pressure on the ground. In the face of krochkov''s tenacious defense, the German tanks were divided into two parts. One part stopped and suppressed them with artillery fire; The other part continued to rush forward. Before long, fierce fighting began in front of the trench. When they ran out of anti tank shells, they smashed gasoline flasks at German tanks or blasted them with cluster grenades. Some soldiers held cluster grenades hidden in the crater, waiting for the German tanks to pull the grenades, and died with the enemy tanks. The fighting was very fierce at that time. In the end, because they were outnumbered, they all died bravely. "


    Listening to rokosovsky''s narration, I can see the scene in "the battle of Moscow": a little soldier in a short fur coat and a cotton cap, facing the approaching German tanks, shrinks into the corner of the trench in horror, grabs a white smoke antitank grenade in both hands, raises his arms flat, and extends to the approaching behemoth. There were two loud bangs, and the bottom of the tank was filled with fire and smoke. The body of the tank jumped up, and then it stood motionless on the trench.


    "Our commanders in the command post heard krochkov''s cry before the sacrifice by telephone:" Russia is big, but there is no way out - Moscow is behind it "..." speaking of this, rokosovsky stopped. I turned to find his face muscles twitching violently. He sniffed and wiped his face with a handkerchief, He quickly put it into his pocket, and then went on to say, "Comrade lobachev proposed that all this should be reflected to the higher authorities, and Comrade krochkov should be awarded the title of Soviet hero."


    "I think it''s not only Comrade krochkov, but also the other 28 comrades who deserve the honor they deserve." Hearing this, I couldn''t help interrupting.


    "Well, that''s a good proposal. I agree." Rokosovsky did not refute my opinion and nodded in agreement.


    The unit we went to inspect is the 107th motorized infantry division, whose command post is located at the junction of our group army and the 30th group army. The command post is very big. There are several battle maps on the big wooden tables. A senior officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel is looking at the map. Many Lieutenant commanders who look like combat staff are busy going in and out.


    Seeing several of us enter the command post, they quickly stop and stand in the same place to salute us. The sudden silence in the room made the commander raise his head curiously. When he saw us, he was stunned. Then he recognized who was coming in. He quickly stood up, pulled the hem of his uniform and trotted two steps to rokosovsky. With a salute, the report said: "Comrade commander, commander XX, chief of staff of the 107th motorized infantry division, reports to you that the army is fighting with the German army tenaciously." I didn''t catch his name because he spoke so fast.


    Rokosovsky looked at him and asked coldly, "Comrade chief of staff, where has the division chief gone?"


    The commander bowed his head and said in a painful tone: "the German army launched a fierce attack on our division''s defense area in the morning. The command post was directly hit by the shell, and the division commander died. As I am now the highest commander of the division, I have taken over the command of the division. "


    "Let''s talk about the current situation." When he heard that another subordinate had died, the corners of rokosovsky''s mouth twitched, but he still kept a calm expression, went to the observation hole and looked at the war outside with the observation mirror.


    "Today, the German army used about two battalions to attack the defensive position of the 30th group army under the cover of 15 tanks. After two hours of fierce fighting, the German army defeated the garrison and occupied the position. "


    "What measures have you taken?" Asked rokosovsky coldly.


    "I ordered the German occupied positions of the third regiment to carry out counter raids, and the lost positions of the 30th group army have been recaptured." The deputy division commander pointed to the defense line outside and explained to the commander, "I have gathered some of the retreating soldiers and redeployed them to the original positions, so that they can defend together with the soldiers of our division."


    "Well done! Well done. " Rokosovsky turned his attention away from the observation mirror, patted the Deputy teacher on the shoulder with approval, and then asked with concern, "is there any difficulty?"


    "Our division has lost a lot of personnel in the battle and needs to be supplemented by the reserve team."


    After hearing what the chief of staff of the Division said, rokosovsky pondered for a moment, and then said, "I have ordered the 17th cavalry division, the first close guard tank brigade, the 289th anti tank brigade, the 18th and 126th infantry divisions to quickly assemble here. In two hours, maybe not two hours, the defense forces here will be strengthened."


    The chief of staff of the division was overjoyed, but I frowned and thought to myself: This is a big hand. If rokosovsky has gathered so many troops of the group army in this direction, it is bound to weaken the defensive forces in other directions.


    "Hitler''s bandits are attacking again!" I don''t know who yelled in the command post, which immediately attracted everyone''s attention. In addition to rokosovsky, chief of staff of the division and Zakharov, I also squeezed into the observation hole and raised my telescope to look out.


    About 300 meters away, there is a long trench across the East and West. This should be the first line of defense of the 107th motorized infantry division. Further away, we can clearly see that the attacking German troops are taking tanks and armored vehicles as the forerunners, and the infantry are following them, rushing towards our defense line in a fierce manner.


    When the tank was only a few tens of meters away from the trench, I suddenly saw several soldiers jump out of the trench. My first reaction at that time was that they would rush to German tanks with explosives or anti tank grenades or flasks. However, I was stunned by what happened. The soldiers came running towards us with arms and bent over.


    "What the hell Rokosovsky could not help but scold, and then angrily asked the division chief of staff: "Comrade chief of staff! What''s the matter with these cowards? "


    The chief of staff of the division looked through the telescope again, and then replied, "Comrade commander, these are not soldiers of our division, they are all soldiers of the 30th group army. As you know, the 30th army is newly formed, and they have more recruits... "


    "Enough!" Rokosovsky interrupted him with a roar, then said in an irrefutable tone, "I order you to stop this desertion immediately and let them all go back to the trench. If you don''t listen to dissuasion, you can enforce the battlefield discipline immediately. Do you understand? "¡° Understand The commander saluted helplessly, pulled out his pistol and walked out. Although rokosovsky''s attitude is relatively rough, no one has any objection, including me. Because we all know that although there are not many soldiers in panic, it makes those soldiers who are still in the position panic. If this goes on, the defense line will soon collapse. The commanders who stay in the command post have fought wars. We all know what will happen if the defense line is lost. As soon as he saw the soldiers escaping, rokosovsky immediately asked the chief of staff of the division to stop them, but it was still a step too late. In the face of the overwhelming German offensive and the escape of some soldiers who were afraid of life and death, the morale of the troops was greatly damaged. I didn''t hear any gunshots. I just saw more and more soldiers jumping out of the trenches and running towards us with guns¡° It''s over I just have one thought in my heart: "our defense line has collapsed!"

 Chapter 114

    "It''s nonsense When rokosovsky saw all this, he couldn''t help scolding angrily. Then he turned around and said to us, "all the commanders come with me. We must let the soldiers go back to the trench."


    The command post of the division is located on the edge of the forest. The second line of defense built by the 107th division is about 30 meters away. Several of us dispersed immediately after going out, trying to stop the army''s retreat. I saw the division chief of staff standing next to the second trench, waving a pistol and shouting loudly to stop the soldiers from collapsing. I stood in the same place for a moment and thought that if I stayed with the chief of staff of the division, my achievements would be more obvious. Most of the soldiers who escaped were his subordinates.


    Seeing many soldiers running past him, the chief of staff of the division was impatient and said angrily, "go back, all back to the trenches! You cowards


    Most of the soldiers heard his roar, stopped, turned and jumped into the trench, but still a lot of people ran past him. These people angered him so much that he didn''t even give a warning to the air, so he pulled the trigger directly at the deserters. At every shot, someone fell to the ground.


    When he shot, he kept swearing: "you cowards, you dare to run away when you see me. Go to hell When I saw him shooting, I was stunned at first, but then I understood that he was enforcing battlefield discipline against the fugitives. In a large army, the military discipline must be strict, otherwise it would be a complete defeat.


    I stood beside him, wondering if I should persuade him to stop just enough and make an example. Don''t kill too many people to avoid mutiny. I looked at him, thinking in a disorderly way, half of the commander''s head burst open, red and white viscous liquid splashed everywhere. I couldn''t dodge. I was splashed all over my face. I watched in amazement as the chief of staff of the division bent his knee and plopped down on the snow. Then I fell back heavily.


    I was scared out of my wits by the unexpected changes. I immediately fell on the ground, holding my head in both hands and burying my face in the snow. I prayed to myself in my heart: "injustice has its head and debt has its owner. It was the chief of staff of the division who shot you just now. It has nothing to do with me. Don''t shoot me."


    After a while, I felt that there was no movement around me, so I raised my head carefully. The soldiers who had been running all the time just now were standing in the same place. The young soldier standing in front of the commander''s body was holding a smoky submachine gun. It seems that the chief of staff of the division was killed by him.


    I got up from the ground, grabbed the submachine gun in his hand, and yelled at the soldiers in a daze around me: "go back to the trench, don''t let the German devils rush." Shouting and pushing the shooter to the edge of the trench. The soldiers hesitated for a moment, turned around and jumped into the trench, putting their weapons on the edge of the trench.


    I squatted on the trench, carefully observed the trench in the distance, and found that it had been completely occupied by the German army. Although their tanks and armored vehicles did not cross the trench guarded by infantry, they all lined up at the side of the trench, aiming at the muzzle and vehicle mounted machine guns. Maybe they are building up their strength to launch a new attack.


    When I looked back, I found that there were cavalry on the edge of the forest. The vanguards were lining up. At the same time, a large number of cavalry were pouring out of the forest. Rokosovsky is talking to the commander of the cavalry. It suddenly dawned on me that the reason why the soldiers just stopped was not because they were shocked to see their division chief of staff killed, but because they saw the cavalry stopped at the edge of the forest blocking their way.


    A few hours ago, the submachine gun that I never left was buried in the collapsed church. In such a war-torn battlefield, only wearing a pistol with very limited range and power, I was very uneasy. So instead of giving the submachine gun back to the young soldiers, I bent over and ran towards the command post with the gun.


    When I approached the cavalry line, I only heard the last sentence of rokosovsky to the cavalry commander: "we have no way back. You should immediately organize your troops to fight back and take back the position!"


    "Yes The commander on the horse replied loudly: "please rest assured, comrade commander. I will lead the troops to charge immediately and drive the Hitler bandits out of our army."


    "Go ahead, I''ll be waiting for your good news in the command post." Rokosovsky finished, with general zaharov and several staff returned to the command post.


    I stopped and did not move. I looked at the real assembled cavalry in front of me, and then looked back at the well defended German position. I could not help worrying about the impending attack.


    I looked at the cavalry commander with the rank of major in front of me, hesitated for a long time, but still summoned up the courage to say to him: "Comrade major, the German army now occupies a favorable terrain, and there are tanks and armored vehicles. If we don''t have enough artillery cover, we will attack rashly, and we will pay a heavy price!"


    The major on the horse gave a wry smile and said, "one must die!" Then he turned his horse''s head and ran to the cavalry, shouting orders at his subordinates.


    Hearing what he said, I was speechless. I could only stand in silence and watch him deploy troops.


    After a while, when the troops were assembled, I heard him make a speech to his subordinates from a distance: "brothers! Russia is big, but we have no way back, because Moscow is behind us... "Hearing this, I couldn''t help but smile bitterly. I said that krochkov had only said this for a few hours, but I didn''t expect that he already knew. But on second thought, I think the commander just told him this. He just used it to boost morale. The cavalry major pulled out his Sabre and held it high over his head: "we swear: to defend our great capital with our blood and life!"¡° We swear Thousands of cavalry pulled out their sabers and raised them above their heads like major. The major turned his horse, pointed his saber forward, and said in a loud voice, "the Hitler bandits who occupied our territory are ahead. Brothers, teach them hard with the knives in your hands. " Then he swung the knife down and roared: "forward!"¡° Wula The cavalry broke out with an earth shaking cry and began to move forward. The corner of my mouth twitched, and I wanted to stop the major. I said that this is not the age of cold weapons, and I need to keep the formation to give full play to the combat effectiveness. To attack the well-equipped German troops relying on solid positions, if the cavalry were to charge in such a thick and dense formation, it would be almost suicidal. However, as soon as I took a step forward, I suddenly remembered the major''s saying that "people always die" and the cavalry''s vow to defend the capital with blood and life. I knew that they all fought with the determination to die. Even if I tried to persuade them, it would not have any effect, on the contrary, it would be annoying. So I stopped in time, stood in the same place, and looked in awe at the front line of charging cavalry, a line of 50 horses, a line of four, a total of five teams, horses under the control of cavalry walking slowly forward. I went back to the command post and saw rokosovsky standing in front of the observation hole, watching the charging cavalry through the observation glass. General zaharov also stood with a telescope. Suddenly, he cried excitedly: "Comrade commander, you see, the cavalry is speeding up. In a minute, they will rush forward and chase them out of our position like rabbits." I glanced at the overjoyed general discontentedly and picked up the telescope that had just been placed on the observation hole. I saw that the cavalry began to accelerate gradually after they had crossed the trench. The horses ran faster and faster, but the line was quite neat. Compared with the infantry charge, the cavalry charge is more majestic. However, my main attention was still focused on the major. He rushed to the far left side of the whole team, leaning forward, holding the reins in his left hand, and holding the saber in his right hand pointing forward. The distance from the German trench was less than 100 meters, and the speed of the cavalry charge reached the limit. The rest of the way, as long as 10 or 20 seconds can be rushed past. Just at this time, the opposite suddenly sounded like a pea burst of gunfire, German machine guns, submachine guns, rifles, and armored vehicle machine guns opened fire together, dense firepower stormed to the charging cavalry line. At the sound of the gun, my chest suddenly tightened, my heart beat faster, my breath became shorter, and my hands holding the telescope shook uncontrollably. I saw through the telescope that the galloping horse was hit by the bullet, either standing up in pain, or kneeling forward, throwing the cavalry heavily out of his back. The soldiers who fell to the ground were either trampled to death by the horses coming up behind them or hit by the intensive German fire. For a moment, the cry of the horses and the howl of the soldiers came one after another. I saw the major charge with his horse, and suddenly his whole body was shocked. His right arm, which was held high in the air, tilted back, his five fingers loosened, and his saber fell to the ground with a bang. Then the body shakes twice, directly from the horse''s back to the sky, because one foot is still hanging on the stirrup, so the body is dragged by the horse on the ground and continues to run forward. Running in front of the horse directly fell to the ground, behind the horse in front of the trip, charging the team immediately in chaos. Although the Soviet cavalry fell one by one in the continuous shooting of the German army, the people in front fell down, and the people behind were not frightened or dodged, but continued to rush forward one after another. Facing the heavy casualties of the cavalry, I moved my telescope away from my face and turned to look at rokosowski standing on one side. I found that he was looking through the observation mirror to see the ongoing battle in front of him. He didn''t even blink his eyelids at the suicide charge of the cavalry. Seeing all this, I can''t help feeling a little cold. For a commander in a high position like him, the responsibility is just to stick to the defense line. For him, thousands of people are just a cold number. I raised my telescope again, and with tears in my eyes, I saw that after the German stopped shooting, all the forward charging cavalry fell to the ground. Among the corpses, several soldiers with blood all over them struggled to climb out, waving their sabers and stumbling towards the German position¡° Boom, boom Several tank shells accurately landed among them, and the flying shrapnel instantly penetrated their bodies, ending their last charge.

 Chapter 115

    I couldn''t bear to continue to look, so I squatted down, turned around, sat on the ground with my back close to the earth wall, looked up at the roof made of big logs, and my nose was sore. Although I tried to hold back my tears, when I thought of the tragic death of thousands of soldiers, I burst into tears and fell on my clothes drop by drop down my cheek.


    "Rita, don''t be sad. It''s a war. There will always be sacrifices." Rokosovsky found my difference, bent down and patted me on the shoulder, comforted me and said, "remember these brave soldiers, they are all from the 17th Cavalry Division in Central Asia."


    "Yes, although the cavalry have been sacrificed, the sacrifice is valuable. At least it can inspire the morale of the defenders outside and give them the courage to continue fighting." General zaharov echoed.


    "Courage When I heard this word, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. My heart said: those soldiers squatting in the trenches were probably scared to death by the massacre just now. Maybe there were people who were scared to pee their pants. However, due to the harsh military law of the Soviet army, they didn''t flee again. From his heart, rokosovsky was one of the few commanders in the Soviet army. He only cared about how to block the enemy ''.


    Rokosovsky went to the table, grabbed the phone on the table, shook the handle a few times, and then said to the microphone, "I''m the commander. Get me major general kazakov." The phone was soon connected, and I heard him ask aloud, "Comrade kazakov, what''s the situation over there?"


    As soon as I heard that it was the artillery commander, I immediately became interested. Under the current situation, if we can get the support of the artillery, our defense will get twice the result with half the effort. General kazakov, who was opposite the microphone, said aloud, "Comrade commander, the cold has frozen the swamp because of the drop in temperature. The German tanks and mechanized regiments gained freedom of movement. These tanks have bypassed our defensive settlements and moved along the groves and bushes. "


    "What measures have you taken?"


    "We sent the mobile artillery company, part of the artillery and tanks to fight back. They intercepted the tanks of the Communist Party and directed them head on. The engineers played a good role in fighting against the enemy''s "wandering" tank groups. They used cars to lay mines on the roads the enemy might drive. This has achieved good results. Hitler''s bandits have to pay a great price for every advance in our land. They have lost a lot of technical equipment and weakened their assault force. "


    "When will the 289th anti tank regiment I need arrive at the defense area of the 107th motorized chemical division?"


    "Comrade commander, although the enemy has suffered a head-on attack from us, their strength is still very strong, and they continue to carry out attacks without interruption. The 289th regiment is fighting and can not withdraw from the fighting for the time being... "


    "No way!" Rokosovsky roared, interrupted him, and then said firmly: "now the German armored forces have wedged into the joint of our group army and the 30th group army. We lack the necessary anti tank forces. It is very difficult to repel them. I order you to immediately find a way to remove major yevremenko''s 289th regiment from your position. An hour later, I hope to see him in the command post of the 107 division. " With that, he hung up.


    As soon as rokosovsky put down the phone, a new round of German attack began.


    A huge engine roared, and the German tanks and armored vehicles, which had been standing still, stepped up the accelerator, crossed the trench and rushed forward. The German infantry also crawled out of the trench, armed in a loose formation, and charged behind the tanks.


    With the approaching of the German army, there was a lot of gunfire on our defense line. The machine guns, submachine guns and rifles in the trenches opened fire together, forming a dense fire network. After several people were knocked down one after another, the German infantry who had just been swaggering had to lie on the ground. At first, we could only hear the sound of intensive gunfire and machine gun fire, but soon the sound was overpowered by the sound of shell explosion. It was the tank in front of us firing.


    A tank shell exploded near the command post, and the earth on the roof fell to me. I shook my head to get rid of the dust on my hat, and continued to look out with my telescope. I saw that the tanks were not far away from the trench, firing with artillery and machine guns. The German soldiers who were still lying on the ground just now got up and slowly gathered behind the tanks.


    Seeing this situation, I couldn''t help asking lokosovsky standing beside me loudly: "Comrade commander, what should we do now?"


    "We must find a way to block them," rokosovsky said solemnly. "There are no troops behind us. If we don''t eliminate these tanks, our defensive troops will be destroyed, and the road to Moscow will be opened, which is the dream of the enemy." At this point, he turned to the back, and the group of staff members stood shouting: "go to a man, go to the trench and command the soldiers to destroy the enemy''s tanks with anti tank grenades and flasks." Hearing what he said, the staff in the command post looked at each other, and there was not even a volunteer.


    "I''ll go!" I put down my telescope, bent down and grabbed the submachine gun against the dirt wall, shot the staff in the room with disdainful eyes, and then walked out with great strides.


    "Rita, wait a minute." Rokosovsky called me from behind. I stopped and looked back. He came up to me, put his hands on my shoulders, patted me gently, and said with concern, "we must come back alive!"


    I grinned and replied, "I will, comrade commander." After the ceremony, he turned around and rushed out of the command post and ran to the direction of the trench.


    As soon as I ran out of the forest, I heard the roaring sound of shells. I fell down on the spot. Then a shell exploded not far from the right side, and the mud and snow fell on me. Just want to get up, and heard the sharp whistling of shells, can only continue to lie on the ground, this shell fell in front of my left four or five meters away from the explosion.


    Seeing that the explosion point of the shell was very close to me, I guessed that I was found by the German tanks. I clearly know that if I stand up at this time, it may become the target of shells or machine guns; But if you continue to lie here, you may still be killed by the ensuing shells. It''s safer to venture forward and enter the trench.


    I crawled forward with my hands and feet. As soon as I got near the crater, I quickly rolled to the left and directly rolled in. As soon as I rolled into the crater, the two shells fell back and forth in the position where I stayed for the last second. I had a thrill. If I hadn''t made a quick decision just now, I might have been blown to pieces by now.


    After a while, I didn''t hear any more shells coming, so I leaned carefully on the edge of the pit and looked out. The muzzle of the German tank pointed to the trench again. I looked at the nearest trench, which was only ten meters away. If I ran there, it would take ten seconds, but I was afraid that the German army would find it again. If the shells and bullets came together this time, I would die very ugly. Hesitated again and again, still took the way of climbing, although a little slower, but the safety factor is higher.


    I crawled out of the crater. Every two or three meters forward, I would roll to the left or right. Even if I was found by the German soldiers, the bullet would not easily hit me.


    When I jumped into the trench, I felt that my vest was wet with sweat. Although it was only a few tens of meters, if there was a mistake in the middle of the way, I would have lost my life.


    Under the command of the company platoon leader, the soldiers in the trench rushed out to shoot and drop bombs as hard as they could, keeping the attacking German troops at a distance of 20 meters. If the German tanks were not there to make our army helpless, we would have launched a counter charge.


    The trench is more than half a person deep. If I bend over and run, I don''t have to worry about being hit by stray bullets. I ran to a captain who was shooting with a rifle. I crouched down and told him, "Comrade captain, I''m lieutenant o''shanina."


    The captain heard my voice and fired two shots at the outside. Then he squatted down, grabbed his rifle with his left hand, raised his right hand and saluted me, saying, "Comrade commander, the third company is fighting, please give us your instructions!"


    "Boom!" A shell exploded at the edge of the trench, and the dust spread all over us. I shook my head, shook the mud off my hat, and then said, "the German tanks are too dangerous for us. You can send soldiers out to blow it up right away!"


    "Yes The captain made a very frank promise. Seeing him bend over and run to one side to arrange the attack, I feel more secure. The reason why he was able to carry out my orders simply was that the Soviet regulations stipulated that the orders of the superior should not be discussed and must be carried out to the letter. In other words, even if I give the wrong order, they will follow the rules.


    Soon a soldier climbed out of the trench and climbed forward in the face of the enemy''s bullets. When he was more than ten meters away from the tank, he actually stood up, scared me out of a cold sweat and yelled to let him lie down and drop bombs. But my voice was completely covered by the gunfire, and he was beaten into a honeycomb without any suspense.


    "Up again!" The captain continued to give orders beside me, so another soldier climbed out.


    This soldier had more elves than the soldier just now. He climbed to the place about ten meters away from the tank and stopped. He raised his hand sideways and threw out an anti tank grenade. But I soon regretted that he threw it too lightly, and the grenade fell two meters away from the tank and exploded. Seeing that he didn''t hit the target, he turned to his side again, raised his hand forward, and another white eyed grenade flew out. This time, with a little more strength, he flew over the tank and fell into the infantry line behind, directly blowing up several German soldiers to pieces.


    "Alas! It''s missed again The captain said regretfully, "if I don''t make any more shots, I''ll have to send someone else."


    "Why?" I''m curious how the captain said that all of a sudden.


    "Because he only carried three grenades."


    "Oh." I realized what was going on, and then I continued to look at the soldier who was going to blow up the tank.


    The soldier learned from the mistakes of the first two rounds, corrected the direction, and then dropped the grenade for the third time. The grenade made a beautiful arc in the air and hit the turret accurately. After the explosion, smoke billowed from the tank¡° Great Seeing the tank destroyed, the captain clapped the earth wall excitedly and cheered loudly. The soldiers who bombed the tanks had no grenades and no weapons. All they could do at this time was to withdraw to the trenches. Unexpectedly, he stood up and ran to this side. The German soldiers found him, and many guns fired at him. No matter how fast a man runs, he cannot run a bullet. I saw him running, suddenly his upper body tilted back, and then he fell straight on the snow, lying there and did not move. In other parts of the trench, when we saw that a tank had been destroyed, we immediately understood and sent people to attack one after another. Although we paid a great price, we also destroyed several tanks. The tanks were bombed one after another, and the German army was worried. The remaining tanks and armored vehicles started again and stormed over. Although our army organized many soldiers to bomb tanks, as soon as they got out of the trench, they were knocked down by the infantry following the tanks. Seeing the German tanks getting closer and closer to us, I couldn''t help but ask: can''t the position be held?

 Chapter 116

    Many of the German infantry had overtaken the tanks and rushed to the trench.


    In the face of the German soldiers standing high, I pulled the trigger without hesitation. The two soldiers who didn''t respond were immediately hit by bullets and spattered with blood. One of the soldiers shook his body, shot a few bullets into the sky from the muzzle, then turned around in the same place and fell in front of me.


    Another soldier with a rifle appeared in front of me. When I pulled the trigger again, I found that it was empty. Then I remembered that what I used was not my bobosha submachine gun, but an ordinary ppd-40 submachine gun. There are only 25 bullets in the clip of this kind of gun. When the young soldier killed the chief of staff of the division, he consumed several bullets, and the rest of the bullets were shot out by me just now.


    Soon after that, in my stupefied time, the German soldiers had jumped down from above with bayonets. Looking at the bayonet coming straight to my chest, I flashed to the side in a hurry, but it was still slow for a moment. I only felt a strong force pushing me back, and my body slammed into the back wall of the trench. My left shoulder first felt a heat, and then a burst of heartbreaking pain. Looking down, I found that the bayonet had penetrated into my left shoulder. In addition to the great inertia of the German soldiers when they jumped from a high place, the bayonet came out from behind their shoulders and nailed me to the earth wall of the trench.


    I screamed in pain and almost fainted. The left hand has been unable to move, the outflow of blood stained the shoulder. I quickly threw away the submachine gun with no bullets on my right hand, and seized the barrel of the rifle to stop the other side from drawing out. Because I knew clearly that if he pulled out the gun and stabbed me a few more times, I would be dead.


    The German soldiers saw what I was trying to do and pulled their guns out. Although I tried my best to hold the barrel of the gun, the bayonet came back from my shoulder little by little because of the great power gap between them.


    "Bang!" Just when I couldn''t support it, there was a clear gunshot in my ear. A bright line quickly went into the soldier''s left temple and pulled blood foam out of the right temple. The ferocious expression of the soldier''s face suddenly solidified, and he stopped for a few seconds, then slowly fell back under my astonished gaze.


    I look back and it''s the captain who saved my life. He gave me a smile and then turned to deal with the other enemies. In the fight just now, part of the bayonet had been pulled out of my shoulder. I took a step forward cautiously. Just as I wanted to pull the bayonet out of my body, I saw another German army coming towards me. As soon as I released my hand, ignoring the wound pain caused by the rifle falling on the edge of the trench, I pulled out my pistol and pointed at the German soldier Two shots in a row. German soldiers first body meal, and then kneel to the ground, body forward, lying on the snow motionless, the submachine gun in the hand is not biased to swing to the position I can reach.


    In my heart, I put the pistol on the edge of the trench, grabbed the submachine gun, raised the muzzle, and pulled the trigger at the people moving above the trench. The German army was engaged in a close combat with our army. Most of them had not rushed into the trench yet. Facing the dense German army, I hardly needed to aim. As soon as I pulled the trigger, the fan-shaped bullets knocked down several unlucky German soldiers.


    As soon as I finished shooting the bullets in the magazine, I heard the sound of the guns and the sharp roar of the shells. I couldn''t help but secretly scold them: these Germans are crazy. They dare to fire even though the two armies are fighting each other. Aren''t they afraid to hurt their own people?


    However, to my surprise, there was a sudden rush of soil beside the German tank in front of the trench, and then there was an explosion. The explosion made the battlefield quiet. No matter the German army outside the trench or the Soviet army inside the trench, they all stopped and looked in one direction.


    Curious, I also turned to look behind. There was a low rumbling sound from a metal object in the forest. A few seconds later, a big cannonball came out from the gap between the trees. Two or three seconds later, a complete tank appeared in front of us.


    After shaking my head and blinking hard, I recognized that the tank was a kv-2 heavy tank. I had only seen pictures before, but I didn''t expect to see real objects now.


    After leaving the forest, the tank did not stop, but continued to drive forward slowly. Not far away, we saw a stream of white smoke coming out of the muzzle, and our tanks opened fire again.


    This time, the shell roared over my head and hit a German tank. After an earth shaking explosion, a flame came out through the tank. The German infantry, who had rushed to the front of the trench, were all lying on the ground to avoid being hurt by the splashing shrapnel.


    The reaction of the German army was very quick. Several tanks fired back immediately. Several shells exploded around the heavy tank, washing up waves of soil. Our tanks don''t fight back, they just keep moving forward. Within a few steps, it was hit by German shells, and the whole car body was shrouded in smoke.


    "Oh dear!" When I saw that our tank was shot, I couldn''t help crying out. I thought this heavy tank could achieve more success, but I didn''t expect that it was killed by the German army just after two rounds. What a pity!


    Seeing that their tanks destroyed the target, the German infantry on the ground couldn''t help cheering and getting up one after another, ready to attack our position again.


    Just then, something unexpected happened. The smoke dispersed, and the heavy tank that had just been hit was still moving forward. The German tanks fired again. This time, the firing accuracy was much higher than before. At least three shells hit the target, and the heavy tanks stopped. But when the smoke of gunpowder dispersed, the heavy tank started again, and in front of the stunned German soldiers, it fired a gun impolitely. The roaring heavy shells directly lifted off the turret of a tank¡° Wula Seeing the wonderful performance of our army''s heavy tanks, there was a cheering on the battlefield. On the contrary, the German soldiers who just got up were scared to get back to the ground. There were many tanks in the forest, but no heavy tanks were seen this time. They were all T-26 and T-34. They formed a battle formation behind the heavy tanks and drove towards the trench. The German tanks retreated, and the infantry on the ground also got up and backed back with their weapons. I think that scene just now has scared them. A tank even has several shells intact. Now there are so many tanks that can''t be damaged. How can we fight this battle? So they have to retreat. Before the German army retreated to the trench they occupied, our tanks had crossed the trench and rushed forward¡° Wura! Wula Behind me came a tsunami like cry, and I couldn''t help looking back again. This time out of the forest, a group of cavalry in black cloaks, waving their sharp sabers, like an irresistible torrent, rushed to the retreating German army¡° Another cavalry charge? " Seeing this scene, I can''t help frowning. Only a few hours ago, a cavalry unit of our army was completely destroyed. Their bones are not cold. How could anyone engage in cavalry charge? But the next thing didn''t seem as bad as I thought. In the sound of fire and explosion, the German tanks opened fire while covering the infantry and slowly retreated. Our army took the heavy tank as the leader, followed by more than 20 tanks in battle formation, and fiercely pressed the enemy''s tanks. The German army still took our heavy tanks as the main targets of attack. Not only the tanks, but also the 88mm anti-aircraft guns which were just towed to the trench and set up, aimed at them and fired. After a series of gunshots and explosions, the heavy tank that had been hit many times was still moving forward as if nothing had happened. As soon as its shell came out of the chamber, a German tank or armored vehicle would be hit by a bullet, and it would catch fire or explode. Even a tank was knocked over by it. Only the track facing the air was still turning. The tanks of our army stopped in front of the bodies of the dead cavalry soldiers. They couldn''t bear to crush the bodies of the dead comrades. The task of forward assault was given to the cavalry soldiers who followed immediately, and they were responsible for providing the necessary firepower support with tank guns and machine guns. As the cavalry overtook the tank line, they inevitably stepped into the corpse heap as they stormed forward. When I heard the strange sound of horse''s hooves trampling in the plasma and rotten meat, my heart was bleeding. The general was incompetent to kill the three armies! The death of more than 1000 cavalry soldiers just now is really not worth it. In the face of the cavalry charge, the German army also tried to block. In the sound of the explosion, flames were everywhere, and clouds of soil and snow were spraying into the sky. In the thick smoke, cavalry and horses who were hit by shrapnel or bullets fell to the ground. But the torrent of the charge did not stop at all. Even if a frightened horse deviated from the direction of the charge, the soldiers on the horse tried their best to adjust it to the right direction immediately. As the cavalry rushed into the infantry line, their sabers flew up and down, and one German soldier after another was cut to the ground. Under the cover of tank fire, the cavalry gradually gained the upper hand, and the balance of victory began to tilt towards us¡° Comrade commander Suddenly someone called in my ear, which scared me that I didn''t seem to be ready. Turning around, it turned out that it was the captain just now, and behind him was a male health worker with a medicine box on his back. Seeing that I paid attention to him, he continued, "I''ll help you pull out the bayonet! Is that all right? " Hearing this, I remembered that I still had a bayonet rifle on my shoulder. I nodded and motioned him to do it quickly. Watching the captain and the health officer carefully separate the rifle from the bayonet, I could not help but relax my nervous just now. Then the severe pain from my shoulder made my consciousness more and more blurred. Gradually, I lost consciousness unconsciously.

 Chapter 117

    The burning pain from the wound on my shoulder made me wake up from my lethargy. When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on a hardwood bed in a tent. The tent was illuminated by two steam lamps. A military doctor in a white coat stood in front of me, holding a bloody bayonet in his hand.


    When I woke up, the military doctor with mask nodded at me, threw the bayonet aside and bent down to deal with the wound for me. Almost rudely, he used scissors to cut my short fur coat. He thought he was just cutting the clothes near the wound. Unexpectedly, after cutting the sleeves, he changed the position of the scissors and began to cut them up from the bottom. I sighed to myself: damana had been wearing the clothes that I had made into my body for only two days, but it was damaged by his scissors. Now damana has also died, It seems that I''m going to wear that kind of ill fitting men''s uniform for a long time.


    After he cut my clothes beyond recognition, he stood up straight and said in a voice: "health officer, help the commander up."


    As soon as the voice fell, someone reached under my body from behind and held my right back. Then a man''s voice came: "Comrade commander, I''ll help you sit up, so that the military doctor can help you sew the wound."


    I gave a hum, and then with the help of the strength of the health worker on my back, I sat up slowly. After sitting upright, the health worker cooperated with the military doctor to take off my coat, leaving only my white Pullover and underwear. After taking off all my clothes, I could not help shivering with cold. I looked down and saw that the left side of my body had been completely penetrated by blood. The military doctor began to cut my pullover and underwear with scissors. In a short time, my upper body almost collapsed. I wanted to cover the key parts with my hand, but my left hand couldn''t work hard, and my right hand supported the bed board. I had no choice but to eat this dumb loss. Although the military doctor carefully uncovered the clothes near the wound, it inevitably affected the wound, and I couldn''t help humming.


    After the military doctors injected a needle of anesthetic into the front and back of the wound, they began to use the anesthetic to clean up the wound, stop bleeding and suture the wound for me. At the beginning, it was very painful. After the anesthetic came into effect, the pain was relieved a lot. Rao, I was still sweating with pain.


    After the wound was sutured, the military doctor stood up straight again, breathed a long breath, and said, "Comrade commander, your luck is really good. Although it''s a through wound caused by bayonet, it didn''t hurt the bone. It will be cured in ten days."


    Seeing that the work of the military doctor was over, the male health worker released me and quickly went to get the anti-inflammatory injection, which was injected next to my wound. Then he carefully wiped the blood on my arm with the cotton wool dipped in alcohol. After dealing with all this, he began to bandage my wound. In a moment, he wrapped my left shoulder into a mummy. In order to prevent the wound from cracking when walking, the health worker also suspended my left hand on my neck with bandage.


    "Put on this uniform!" The military doctor put on a short fur coat for me and said with concern, "it''s cold. Don''t freeze it." I turned to look at him, gratefully said thank you, put the right hand out of the sleeve, directly buttoned up the clothes. The health worker helped me out of bed. As soon as I fell to the ground, I felt dizzy and fell back involuntarily. If the health worker didn''t help me, I would fall to the ground.


    Being held like this by a man, I felt uncomfortable all over. I quickly earned it out of the health worker''s arms and said with some embarrassment, "maybe I got up too hard and felt dizzy!" The military doctor came up to help me and answered, "you''ve lost too much blood. You need a good rest!" Then he turned to the health worker and said, "you should help the commander to the tent next door."


    With the help of the health worker, I walked out of the tent slowly. After more than ten steps forward, he entered another tent with lights on. There are three stretchers on the ground inside the tent, two of which have wounded people lying on them, and a female health worker is taking care of them. Seeing us go in, the female health worker quickly got up to help and helped me lie on the spare stretcher with the male health worker.


    I lay on the stretcher and watched the male health worker explain something to the female health worker in a low voice. The female health worker''s eyes looked at me and kept nodding. Said for a while, two people hugged, the male health officer then turned and walked out.


    The woman health worker bent down, opened a medicine box in the middle of the tent, took out a bottle of liquid from it, stood up and hung the bottle on a hook on the top of the tent. Then I pulled the long hose, squatted down beside me, and stabbed the needle on the back of my right hand.


    "Have a good rest," the woman said to me with a smile on her face. "When you get to sleep, you will feel better."


    I looked at the bottle of liquid hanging on the top of the tent and couldn''t guess whether I was losing normal saline or glucose? I felt very tired, so I answered vaguely and closed my eyes.


    The sound of the cannon woke me up from my deep sleep. When I opened my eyes, I saw the light coming through the gap of the curtain at the door. It was light outside, and the German attack on us began again.


    I raised my right hand to my eyes and found that the needle on the back of my hand had been removed at some time. I struggled to sit up, looked around the tent, in addition to the two are still sleeping wounded, female health workers also disappeared. Hearing the clear gunfire outside, I couldn''t sit still any more. I stood up and walked out.


    The first aid camp in the forest is only a dozen tents, but it is a busy scene. The wounded were originally in the tent. Male and female health workers with Red Cross Signs on their arms were continuously carried out, with people and stretchers placed in the open space, waiting for the arrival of transport vehicles. I pulled a passing male health worker and asked him in a loud voice, "where is the headquarters?" He took a look at me and pointed, "it''s over there." Then he ran into the tent to carry the wounded. I walked forward in the direction he pointed, and the more I walked, the clearer I heard the sound of guns, and soon I could see the fire and smoke from the explosion outside the forest. I didn''t dare to walk too fast, because as soon as the wound was shaken, I felt a burning pain. I walked for about ten minutes before I saw the house of the command post where I stayed yesterday. I covered my left shoulder with my right hand and trotted to speed up. There are a lot of people in the command post. In addition to rokosovsky, zaharov, political commissar lobachev and chief of staff malining, there are also general katukov, who is still wearing the rank of colonel. They are all around the table listening to rokosovsky''s arrangement of combat tasks. I stood by and was hesitating whether I should report my arrival to rokosovsky according to the regulations. Unexpectedly, malining saw me at a glance and immediately said in surprise, "Comrade oshanina, are you back?" His words made everyone turn their attention from the map to me. I stepped forward awkwardly, straightened up and saluted rokosovsky: "commander comrade, commander oshanina reports to you." Rokosovsky didn''t reply, but rushed to me step by step, grabbed my empty sleeve, stared at me, anxiously asked: "what''s wrong with your hand?" I looked down and immediately understood that he had misunderstood me. I quickly explained, "thank you for your concern. I just got a knife on my shoulder. My hand is OK." He patted the position of his left hand with his right hand across the clothes and continued: "you see, my hand is still here. When the wound on my shoulder is healed, I can be as happy as before." After a simple greeting, we went back to the table and sat down to listen to rokosovsky''s assignment. Only through his explanation did I know that in yesterday''s battle, the first guard tank brigade of general katukov and the remnant of the 17th cavalry division of Colonel gedukov appeared in time to rescue us. The reason for the remnant is that the main cavalry regiment arrived in advance had been completely destroyed under the wrong command of rokosovsky, and there were only more than 700 troops left in the division. After nightfall, the 18th infantry division, 289th anti tank brigade and other troops transferred from other defenses entered the position one after another. Judging from the current situation, our army has gained superiority in military strength and equipment here. Rokosovsky pointed to the map and said to everyone: "in yesterday''s battle, although the enemy once occupied the first line of defense of our army, under the tenacious counterattack of our army, all the bandits who occupied the position have been eliminated by us. At this time, under the cover of tanks, the German army launched a crazy attack on our army. At present, the 18th infantry division, which arrived last night, is defending in the first trench. Although they are only militia divisions, they are very tenacious. Today, they have defeated the enemy''s two crazy attacks. And the 289th anti tank regiment, which has performed well recently, has set up its position at the edge of the forest, which can give a head-on blow to the tanks of the bandits... "Comrade commander," rokosovsky''s task has not been finished. Suddenly, a military officer came running into the forest, shouting loudly while running¡° What''s the matter? " The interrupted rokosovsky turned his voice, looked at the fussy officer with great dissatisfaction, and asked impatiently. Seeing the commander''s serious expression, the officer realized his gaffe and immediately stood at attention to salute him. However, his face was still overjoyed. He said in a loud voice, "report to commander, Alexandra red flag song and dance troupe is here!" After listening to his report, almost all the people except me gave a surprise. Political commissar lobachev excitedly said to rokosovsky, "great! Comrade commander, this is tantamount to sending us a reserve team! "¡° Let''s go! Go and have a look! " When the commander heard the news, he made some gaffes and walked out. The rest of the people also stood up and went out behind him. A few seconds later, I was the only one left in the room to sit in a daze¡° Alexandra red flag song and dance troupe? What kind of song and dance company is this? It can make everyone so excited. The political commissar even called them "reserves" If you want to find out, everyone in the room has gone out with the commander. You can''t ask if you want to. I hesitated for a moment, but I got up and walked out of the command post.

 Chapter 118

    Not far away from home, I saw that the commanders who had just gone out had just come down to a trench and were walking forward. I walked around several broken tree trunks on the ground and down the gentle slope into the trench.


    This half man deep trench was the third line of defense built by the 107th division in the forest. Because there has never been a battle here, there is a thin layer of snow inside and outside the trench. The soldiers, who had been in the trench, saw the commanders passing by and stood up one after another to salute them with their backs against the trench wall.


    After a short walk, I came to the door of a shelter. The shelter was not big. As long as rokosovsky, zaharov, lobachev and malining, the chief of staff, walked in, I and the others stayed outside. Although they didn''t go in, they all crowded at the door and peered inside.


    When he saw the commander go in, a dozen people who had been sitting in the room stood up in unison. One of them, a middle-aged man with a moustache, a big cornice hat and a long grey army coat, came up to rokosovsky and saluted him.


    Rokosovsky saluted back, then held out his hand and said in a loud voice, "Hello! Alexander vasilievych Alexandrov


    Moustache quickly put his hand down from the brim of his hat and grasped the commander''s hand: "Hello! Comrade commander


    "Welcome here!"


    Moustache shook hands with the other three commanders one by one, and then replied to the commander, "Comrade commander, I think it is our duty to go to the front position immediately and perform a concert there."


    Hearing this, rokosovsky shook his head and said, "it''s already a concert. Do you hear me?"?! You can''t go there. "


    Mustache did not want to give up easily, trying to persuade the commander to agree with his proposal: "but we are here for the performance!"


    Rokosovsky''s head shakes like a rattle and says firmly, "no! no no way!!! Comrade Alexander vasilievych Alexandrov! I have no right to do so. You know, you are the wealth of the whole Red Army. "


    Hearing that the commander used the honorific name for moustache twice in a row, I couldn''t help but ask katukov, who is this moustache, Comrade General


    "Moustache?" After listening to my question, katukov looked at me in surprise and said, "don''t you even know him? He''s the head of the red flag troupe, Alexander vasilievitch Alexandrov. This national famous song and dance troupe is still named after him. "


    I answered vaguely, then craned my neck and looked at the members of the song and dance troupe carefully. According to my later experience, usually there are beautiful women in the song and dance troupes of such military groups. Can see for a long time, only to see a room full of handsome boys, a heterosexual are not immediately interested. At this time, I heard rokosovsky shout: "Comrade chief of staff!"


    "Here it is Colonel marinin came forward.


    Rokosovsky half turned his body and said, "prepare more telephones, bring them here, and let the singers and dancers sing to the telephone." Malining agreed, turned to go out, and squeezed out from among us. I heard the commander say to moustache, "the soldiers can hear you in the front. Sing to your heart''s content."


    "Thank you, comrade commander." Mustache was very satisfied with the arrangement.


    "I wish you success!" Rokosovsky reached out to him again, shook his hand, turned and walked over. He went to the door and stopped. Looking at us who were crowded in the door, he said, "go back to the command post and continue the meeting."


    "Yes Everyone agreed, and then happily surrounded the commander back to the command post.


    When we sat around the wooden table again and continued to discuss the deployment of the campaign, I did not join in the fun, but held a telescope to observe the situation of the front.


    From the command post to the first trench, tanks and armored vehicles can be seen everywhere, which are burned black and damaged. There are both our army''s and German''s. on the ground, there are dense craters, inside and outside of which are covered with the bodies of Soviet soldiers and German soldiers. Seeing all this, I can''t help but feel a little afraid: in terms of the intensity and cruelty of the battle yesterday, what a bloody battle it was, what a horror it was.


    The first line of defense of our army was full of noise and smoke, and the whole position was shrouded in smoke. In the distance, on the other side of the smoke, dozens of German tanks were hurtling towards our army, with dense infantry following them. Looking at the limbs flying out of the smoke of gunfire, my heart immediately raised: the troops suffered so many casualties in the artillery fire, and they were facing the powerful offensive of the enemy. Won''t our defense line collapse as suddenly as it did yesterday?


    From time to time, shells fell on the German attack line, blowing up the sky of mud and snow. It was our army''s artillery that was firing. I searched our artillery positions everywhere, and soon found that there were some small 45mm anti tank guns in the right rear of the trench. The guns were set up next to the destroyed tanks and were shooting at the German army. I counted that there were only nine guns. It was impossible to shoot so many bombing points in the German line at the same time. There should be other artillery positions.


    I continued to observe for a while, and was surprised to see our tank in the left rear of the trench. To be exact, it was the heavy tank that couldn''t be broken yesterday. Although from time to time shells exploded around, or even hit it directly, it did not affect it to continue to fire on the German army. Seeing this unusual tank, I immediately think of a post I read later: it said that a heavy tank of the Soviet army had blocked the attack of an armored division of the German army in the early days of the war. At that time, I thought it was boasting. No matter how good a tank is, it will still turn into a pile of burning scrap iron after being shot. However, the performance of this super tank in yesterday''s battle made me look at it with new eyes. The heavy industry of the Soviet Union was really not built. It was able to build such a tank that could not even be broken by shells.


    As the German army approached, the shelling stopped, and there was a lot of gunfire in the trenches. The German tanks slowed down, stopped in front of the trench, and used artillery and machine gun fire to suppress our troops, covering the infantry charge.


    "Rise up, great country, fight to the death, to eliminate the evil forces..." a passionate voice suddenly sounded in my ear. I followed the source of the voice and saw that it was from a square box hanging on the wall. I am very familiar with the melody of this song. I hear it every year when I watch the live broadcast of the Red Square parade. I can hear it in the films of the former Soviet Union''s patriotic war. I even hear it in the series of "lurking" and "soldier assault". Although I''ve heard it countless times, I still feel excited when I hear the familiar melody on this occasion.


    Many of the commanders in the room were sitting and even smoking. As soon as they heard the song, they immediately put out their cigarettes and stood up one after another to listen to the singing of the song "holy war" by the comrades of the song and dance troupe.


    Just after listening for a short time, rokosovsky said: "comrades, the tasks are clear, you go back to prepare immediately!"


    "Yes The commanders agreed neatly, saluted the commander and commissar, and retreated.


    I saw two soldiers climb out of the second trench, then stand up, bend over and run to the anti tank gun position. Running in front of the soldier holding a microphone, behind the soldier holding a spool, while running while playing the phone line. After a while, they ran into the artillery position. They crouched down and handed the microphone to a commander who was also squatting.


    The commander took the microphone and listened for a while. Then he stood up abruptly and pulled the cotton cap off his head, revealing his bandaged forehead. He raised his cap high and yelled at the artillery. After two words, he waved his hand down. With his action, the artillery came to a salvo.


    I turned my telescope to look at the German line, and the shells roared down. In the sound of the explosion, the charging infantry was blown up to the ground, crying and howling. The tank that was hit directly lifted the turret, and the fire covered crew struggled to climb out of the car, ran back a few steps, and then fell on the snow.


    Then more shells fell one after another into the German attack line, blowing them dizzy. Judging from the explosive power and killing radius, this is definitely not an anti tank gun, but a heavy gun like 122 or 152 can produce such an effect.


    I suddenly heard the voice of chief of staff malining coming from behind. Looking back, he did not know when he came back and was reporting to the commander: "in addition to the way of transmitting the voice to the commanders and fighters through the telephone, I also used the original high pitched horn on the position, so that even the soldiers hundreds of meters away can hear it."


    "That''s great. I should give you a credit. By doing so, the soldiers on the front line are greatly encouraged by the singing, which is very effective for us to repel the current enemy attack. " He stopped for a moment and asked, "what''s the latest enemy situation?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Malining is indeed rokosovsky''s most trusted chief of staff. He always keeps abreast of the enemy''s situation in time: "yesterday, the 14th motorized division of the German aggressors was repulsed by our army. From today''s interrogation of the prisoners, we know that they have been supplemented, and the 252nd infantry division is the new one."


    "Report!" At the door stood a burly commander, shouting a report.


    "Come in! Colonel beloborodov, I''m looking forward to seeing you Rokosovsky was very happy to see this man coming. He brought him to the table, pointed to the map and said to him, "you should immediately organize troops to fight back. You must defeat the current enemy and drive them far away. Do you understand? "


    "I understand." The Colonel saluted and then said, "may I go out to command the battle?"


    "Go ahead and wish you success!" And the commander held out his hand again.


    Inspired by the song, the artillery was as excited as chicken blood. The shooting speed was nearly twice as fast as before, and the accuracy was much higher. When more and more tanks were destroyed by our artillery fire, they chose to retreat.


    As in the past, as soon as the German army retreated, the Soviet army would fight back. This time, it was general katukov''s first close guard tank brigade that led the battle. The tanks from the forest quickly formed a battle formation and opened fire while driving. But to my surprise, the heavy tank was still standing there, just shooting at the German army.


    Rokosovsky, who stood beside me to observe the fighting situation, saw me puzzled and explained to me that in yesterday''s battle, the heavy tank had engine failure first, and then the track was broken by German shells, so it could only be used as a fixed fort there. The tanks of the guard brigade rushed up, followed by the 78th infantry division from Siberia. Under the command of the division commander, Colonel beloborodov, they formed a scattered formation, shouting "ulah!", They marched forward in the face of sporadic German fire.

 Chapter 119

    The German army is retreating.


    But it''s not a rout, it''s just a retreat after the attack was frustrated, and it always maintains a relatively complete formation. From this point of view, once they gain the superiority in firepower and strength again, they can launch a counter attack against our army at any time.


    The 18th division in the front did not attack, but relied on the position to kill the retreating German army with light and heavy weapons.


    The soldiers of the 78th infantry division from Siberia were responsible for the attack. They were in loose formation, shouting slogans and charging forward with their heads held high. The forward had followed the back of the tank brigade close to the trench, while the troops behind were still pouring out of the forest.


    From time to time, German shells landed in our ranks and exploded, splashing the frozen soil. The spread of the queue, it is to reduce some casualties, but only to reduce it, casualties are still not small. From time to time, soldiers screamed and fell to the ground, and the first few rows of neat formation suddenly became sparse. The living soldiers did not waver in the slightest. They stepped over the body of their comrades in arms, chanted slogans and continued to charge forward without hesitation. As for the soldiers who fall on the ground, if they are only injured, there will naturally be the health workers at the back to treat them; If we die unfortunately, we can''t help it. There are no undead people in war.


    Seeing all this, I can''t help but sigh to myself: the charm of this music is so great that the soldiers who can hear the song are full of confidence. Judging from the current situation of the war, the defeat of the German army is a certainty. But the fly in the ointment is that the old maozi''s vocabulary is too poor. Every time the troops charge, they only shout "Wula!" There seems to be no other slogan to shout. Like the current charge, we have to shout some inspiring slogans like "capture goodrian alive".


    From the current situation, our army has a great advantage. But I know very well in my heart that this local advantage is only a superficial phenomenon. The 16th group army lacks sufficient reserves in depth. In order to hold the present defense line, rokosovsky has to take the risk to withdraw some of his troops from the temporarily non dangerous areas and transfer them to the direction where they are in danger of being broken through by the enemy.


    Everyone knows that he is gambling and taking risks in doing so. As the enemy outnumbers our army in number and has huge mobility and absolute air support, it is easier for them to set up assault groups in the course of fighting. It''s good for them to freeze the land. They can carry out raids anywhere at any time and make us tired.


    The tanks of katukov brigade had already rushed into the German line. Our artillery, fearing that they might hurt their own people by mistake, began to carry out extended firing, and the shells fell on the only way for the German infantry to retreat.


    When they saw that their back roads were cut off, their tanks were destroyed one by one, and the soldiers were flooding towards them, the German army began to panic. Some of the Siberian soldiers who rushed to the front, ran a few steps with rifles, then half squatted down to shoot, and then stood up and rushed forward; Some of them rushed to the enemy and raised their bayonets. The German army was in a rout and couldn''t stop the soldiers like tigers. Some weak willed soldiers turned around and ran away. Their fear was like an infectious disease. At first, only one or two soldiers ran away. Soon more and more soldiers joined the escape line. The whole team was in a state of chaos, You crowded me and ran aimlessly.


    With the support of the tank brigade and artillery of the group army, the Siberians, who were full of fighting passion, occupied several starting positions of the German army and drove them far away from the defensive positions of our army. The enemy was defeated, and the precarious defense line was stabilized. The brave performance of the soldiers of the 78th division saved the unfavorable situation of our army.


    By midday, our offensive troops had stormed out of my sight. Seeing that the war situation is developing in a favorable direction, I can''t help but feel relieved and put down the telescope that has been raised for almost a morning. Just want to turn around, but feel dizzy, body involuntarily backward. Fortunately, someone held me in time, so I didn''t fall to the ground.


    Looking around, it turned out to be rokosovsky. He asked with concern, "Rita, don''t you mind?"


    His concern made me feel hot. I stood up straight and replied, "Comrade commander, I''m ok. Maybe I''ve been standing for a long time and I''m a little dizzy."


    He took me by the shoulder, helped me to sit down at the table, and looked down for my advice: "your injury looks serious. Do you want me to arrange someone to take you back to Moscow?"


    "Ah?" Listening to his sudden remark, I was stunned for a moment. Then I came back to my senses and immediately rejected his kindness without thinking: "thank you, comrade commander. My injury is not serious. I will be fine in ten days." This is not to show off, but out of a little selfish consideration. I had a hard time getting acquainted with these future famous generals. If I go back to the rear hospital to recuperate at this time, I don''t know where the superior will arrange me after the injury? Even if I could return to the army, I would not be able to return to the Western army. Then my accumulated popularity would be zero. If any other leading comrades, out of concern, assign me to work in the rear organs. I''m kidding. The rear office is not a place where everyone can stay. As a passer-by, many of my views and opinions are deviant or even rebellious to people of this era. In the front line, the day-to-day fighting life has exhausted everyone''s spare energy. Few people will pay attention to these details. Even if some people notice them, most of them just laugh them off. If you are in an organ, it is like walking on thin ice. If you are careless, you will be caught., If the promotion is affected, you may even lose your life. In this way, I''d better stay in the front line, so that my life can be more protected.


    Although I repeatedly stressed that my injury was not serious, rokosovsky sent someone out to find a female health worker to take care of me. As soon as the woman came in, I recognized her. This is the one I saw last night. At the moment, her face was covered with smoke, and her uniform was covered with blood and soil. It seemed that she had been treating the wounded on the battlefield before entering the command center. When the health worker saw me, he immediately ran over and said, "Comrade commander, you are here! I was looking for you everywhere just now. It''s time to change the dressing! " I gave her a smile. Before I could speak, rokosovsky, who was next to me, had already answered the conversation: "Comrade health worker, I order you to accompany the commander to change the dressing immediately!"¡° Yes The female hygienist agreed to stop at the same place and saluted the commander. Just came to help me. With the help of the health worker, I stood up and said hello to the commander, political commissar, chief of staff and others. Then the health worker helped me to go to the emergency camp for dressing change. In the first aid camp deep in the forest, the ground was covered with military felt, on which lay the seriously wounded soldiers. Because of the fierce war, too many wounded, and the limited rescue ability of health workers, most of the seriously wounded who were rescued from the battlefield escaped from the curtain and died in pain. When I passed through the wounded, I found that many of the wounded on the felt were still. Some people''s blankets and even the land are soaked with blood, and the blood freezes, turning purple and black around them. As for the wounded who were so bloody by the shells, it was even worse. Although I have seen too many lives and deaths, I also feel that my eyes are hot and I can''t help it. If the female health worker didn''t help me into the tent in time, I think I would not be able to restrain my sadness and squat there crying.

 Chapter 120

    When I got into the tent, my nose was still sore.


    The hygienist helped me sit down, untied my clothes, opened the bandage and changed my dressing. There was no heating facilities in the tent. I was only wearing a military coat. As soon as I took off my clothes, my body was exposed to the cold air. When the cold air froze, I could not help shaking slightly.


    When the health worker cleaned the wound, I felt a burst of burning pain. Looking down, not only did my left shoulder turn black purple, but it also swelled to the elbow. Seeing this, I couldn''t help but take a breath, then clenched my teeth tightly, held back the pain and didn''t say a word.


    Because of the large area of the wound, the time for the health workers to change the dressing is a little longer. In the process of suffering pain, I also shivered from the initial cold to sweating at the back.


    After the hygienist wrapped the bandage again, I asked her to help me put my left hand through my sleeve and hang it around my neck. When all this was done, I was about to get up and leave, but she stopped me: "Comrade commander, please wait a moment." Then she got up and ran out of the tent.


    "What did she tell me to wait for?" I got up slowly and stood in the middle of the tent in a daze.


    Before long, the health worker came in again with a pile of things in his hand and handed them to me. When I looked at it carefully, it turned out that it was all my things, including the holster belt, briefcase and medal.


    I raised my hand just want to pick up, she took the initiative to say: "I''ll help you."


    Seeing that I nodded, she slipped the briefcase off my head and put it on my right shoulder. Then she strapped me on. Finally, she put three medals on my chest carefully.


    After thanking her, I left the tent and went outside to see that it was getting dark. I don''t have a watch. I don''t know the exact time. I can only guess from the weather that it''s about three o''clock in the afternoon. Looking around, the wounded on the ground were all transferred, and the ground between the trees was purple black everywhere.


    I walked slowly along the path to the command post. The gunfire in front of us is still ringing. It seems that fierce fighting is still going on. From time to time along the way, we can see that the wounded are being carried or helped by health workers or soldiers, rushing to the emergency camp.


    When I went into the command post, I saw people sitting around tables in a meeting. I glanced at him and found that in addition to rokosovsky, lobachev, malining and zaharov, there were a few more strange faces.


    Who are these people? Is it the reserve sent by the front army? In the process of thinking wildly, the sharp eyed political commissar lobachev had found me and quickly asked me to sit down for a meeting.


    Rokosovsky is reporting today''s battle report to you: the brave and indomitable 78th division defeated the German motorized 14th division and the infantry 252nd division one after another today, and severely damaged the 106th infantry division that came to reinforce one hour ago. At this moment, the imperial tank division of the German army rushed forward crazily, which prevented the division from continuing to advance


    Hearing such a gratifying record, everyone could not help whispering excitedly.


    "Please be quiet!" In the face of such brilliant results, rokosovsky can not see the slightest joy on his face. From what I know about him, what he''s going to say next is the point.


    As I expected, when everyone was quiet, he began to speak: "comrades! Although we have made great achievements in this defensive area, the whole situation is still very serious for us. According to the information transferred from the headquarters of the front army, the deployment of the "central" group of the German army has changed, new troops have been transferred, and the participating regiments have been supplemented. On November 16, it was led by field marshal Burke and transferred to the offensive. The enemy and US fought on the broad front from Kalinin to Tula. In the north, major raids were carried out in the right-wing defensive zones of the 30th, 16th and 5th group armies (Volga reservoir, Moscow mozaisk railway), and in the south, in the defensive zones of the 50th group army (Tula, new Moscow)


    Listening to these strange place names and serial numbers from the commander''s mouth, I can''t help but have a headache again. It has always been my weakness that I am not familiar with the place names, the numbers of troops and the names of commanders. If I were to command this group army at this time, the command system would be in chaos.


    "... general Zhukov called in half an hour, and since the contact with the headquarters of the 30th group army had been completely interrupted, he transferred the command of the two cavalry divisions and one tank division of the former 30th group army located in the area of our group army and west of Kerin to me."


    Hearing this, I couldn''t help glancing at the unfamiliar commanders and Thinking: This is really great. I added three divisions to our group army, one of which is tank division, so that rokosovsky would not worry about the lack of reserves for defense depth.


    When I was elated, the conversation between rokosovsky and the tank division commander cooled my heart. The commander asked the division commander, "Comrade Colonel! How many tanks are there in your division? "


    "None of them. Comrade commander The Colonel stood up and answered aloud.


    "What?" People who heard what he said were stunned. The tank division didn''t even have a tank. Did it lose it in the battle?


    "Why?" Asked rokosovsky gravely. The colonel looked around and said with some questions, "my 58th tank division was formed shortly before the war broke out. According to the establishment, our division should have 260 tanks. When our division was assigned to the 30th group army, the superior once said that we would assign tanks to us as soon as possible, but the national defense warehouse where the tanks were stored was destroyed in the enemy''s air raid, and all the tanks became burning scrap iron. " After listening to the Colonel''s explanation, everyone was silent. Chief of staff malining said: "according to the reconnaissance, in addition to gathering heavy troops in the direction of volokoramsk defended by the 316th infantry division, their tank regiment also detoured from the north of our army units and began to advance rapidly towards klin. We have to draw forces from the existing forces and go to the city of Kling for defense. " At this time, major general zaharov, who had not spoken for a long time, stood up and said in a loud voice: "comrades, the situation is very serious. We must take immediate action to prevent the German army from continuing to advance towards our capital!" I looked at him with dissatisfaction and didn''t say anything. After all, he had an unshirkable responsibility for the sacrifice of thousands of cavalry soldiers yesterday¡° I agree with zaharov, "rokosovsky said after a pause." I decided to send the following troops to klin city. " Then he read out a series of serial numbers: the 126th infantry division, the 17th very weak cavalry division, the 25th tank brigade with only 12 tanks, the 107th tank division with only 300 soldiers and the 58th tank division without a tank. There must be a unified command between so many troops of different numbers and the original klin garrison. Malining volunteered and said, "Comrade commander, I''ll go!" Rokosovsky shook his head almost without thinking and objected: "no, I need you to stay as my adviser. I''d better send someone else for that position." His eyes swept across everyone''s face. When he saw me, I thought: don''t ask me to go. I don''t even know where Colin is, let alone command so many different numbers of troops. The commander''s eyes stopped at zaharov and said, "I have decided to ask Comrade zaharov to command the army. Do you have any objection?"¡° No! " Everyone answered with one voice. Then he added: "the pressure on volokoramsk, who is defended by the 316 infantry division, is also great. I need someone to help general Panfilov. Does anyone want to go? "¡° I''ll go¡° I''ll go Malining and the commissar rush to sign up. Before rokosovsky made a decision, I stood up, coughed and said, "Comrade commander, let me go to the 316 infantry division. I''ve been there, but I''m familiar with general Panfilov, and I''ve been in command of the grass-roots company below. I believe that no one is more suitable for this task than me. " Rokosovsky looked at me and did not speak for a long time before nodding slowly.

 Chapter 121

    The headquarters of the 316 infantry division, on the edge of the forest south of vorokoramsk. The drivers who sent me to the headquarters often came and went between the headquarters and the headquarters of the group army, so they were able to get me to my destination smoothly in the dark night. The car stopped at the gate of the command post. I got off and closed the door. After thanking the driver, I went to the command post.


    There is a lantern hanging at the gate of general Panfilov''s command post, illuminating a place more than ten meters wide. Two soldiers on guard at the door watched me walk past. Instinctively, they took up their rifles and pointed them at me. I stopped five or six steps from them, just to show my identity. A soldier had put away his gun. He put his rifle on his shoulder and his companion''s muzzle aside. Then he came up and asked, "is it Comrade oshanina?"


    It turned out that they knew me. I couldn''t help breathing a sigh of relief and quickly replied, "yes, I''m o''shanina."


    The soldier came up to me and saluted me: "Hello, comrade commander, division commander and political commissar are in the command post." Then he turned back and made a gesture of please, saying, "please come in."


    I nodded to him with a smile, passed by him, came to the gate of the command post, lifted the heavy curtain and stepped in. After a few steps down the stairs, we came to the house. The whole room was illuminated by a steam lamp hanging on the roof. The division commander, general Panfilov, and political commissar, yegorov, were sitting at the table looking at the map.


    Seeing these two familiar commanders, I felt very kind in my heart. I quickly stepped forward and stood at the table. I raised my uninjured right hand to their forehead to salute them. At the same time, I loudly reported: "report to our teacher, comrade political commissar, Lieutenant Colonel o''xia Nina, please give us instructions!"


    Hearing my report, they looked up at me. When he saw that I was standing in front of them, the corner of general Panfilov''s mouth immediately turned up, showing his joy. Political commissar yegorov stood up directly, pointed to the bench beside the table and said excitedly: "Dear Lida, I didn''t expect that the person sent by the group army turned out to be you! Come on, don''t stand in a daze. Sit down quickly. "


    I said thanks, sat down, took the submachine gun off my shoulder and put it on the table.


    Penfilov got up, picked up the teapot from the nearby stove, poured a cup of hot tea and brought it. Just about to pass it to me, I found my left hand hanging around my neck. I was surprised and asked, "Rita, why are you hurt?"


    I smile a little and reply: "it''s OK. I was stabbed when I was fighting with the German devils."


    "Pa!" When the political commissar heard this, he slapped the table and scared me. He said angrily, "what? Fighting for bayonets?! What a shame! Are all the men dead? Let the female soldiers fight for bayonets with the enemy


    Seeing the anger of the political commissar, I quickly explained, "Comrade political commissar, it''s not what you think. At that time, I just went to convey orders, but I didn''t expect that the enemy''s offensive was too fierce, so I rushed into the trench, and the hand-to-hand battle started like this. "


    "How was your journey?" Penfilov handed me the cup and asked with concern.


    "It went well." I took the cup and answered the teacher''s question.


    "That''s good!" Panfilov sat down again and explained to me: "recently, there are often German devils on motorcycles who sneak in from our army''s defensive gap and sneak into our rear warehouse or command center. Yesterday, the regiment headquarters of the 1077 regiment were attacked, and the deputy commander and ten soldiers died. "


    "Ah I was so angry that I was stunned: "the German devils have come around our rear? What happened later? "


    "These enemies were completely annihilated by the support forces who arrived later."


    As he was talking, a cry came from outside. As we walked along the steps, two soldiers came in, supporting a man covered with blood. His eyes were closed and his face was covered with blood. When the two soldiers'' hands relaxed a little, the man''s body would fall to the ground,


    I squinted at the man I was helping and was about to look away when I suddenly found that he looked very familiar. I was racking my brains to figure out who this man was when both Panfilov and yegorov cried out, "Victor, what''s the matter with you?"


    "Victor?" I suddenly remembered who this man was. I quickly put the cup on the table, stood up, took a step forward, grabbed his left shoulder, shook it hard, and called out his nickname: "Weijia! Vicia! Wake up


    He seems to have gone, in my repeated shaking, finally powerless to open his eyes, but then want to close again. But when I saw that I was standing in front of him, I didn''t know where suddenly a spirit came from. Struggling to gather the last strength, I said intermittently: "commander... Comrade, I''m sorry, i... I didn''t protect the captain well." At this point, if his head is crooked, it will not work.


    Hearing this, let me confused, standing there at a loss. Panfilov, standing on one side, told the soldiers, "help Victor out quickly." Then he and yegorov helped me back to the table and sat down.


    "I''m sorry, Rita Yegorov gently patted me on the shoulder, comforted me and said: "war will always kill people!"¡° Wait a minute, comrade political commissar. " I couldn''t wait to interrupt him, looked up at him and asked, "what''s going on? I''m confused! " The commissar and the teacher looked at each other, then made a gesture and said, "let the teacher explain this to you." Then he went around to the other end of the table and sat down. My eyes turned to the division commander again. Panfilov was a little embarrassed by me. He coughed and explained: "after the anti tank dogs led by Captain oshanin came to our division, I sent him to help filstov and Pavlov guard the station. In the daytime battle, the army dog company under the command of captain oshanin was very brave and destroyed more than ten German tanks. Although many enemies were wiped out, they also paid a great price. Not only the trainers were killed, but also the military dogs were killed. The captain was seriously injured in the afternoon battle At this point, he looked at me and saw that I looked as usual. Then he continued: "I specially arranged for the captain to be escorted back to the rear, and Victor was one of them. You saw Victor''s situation just now. It''s estimated that they had an accident on the way. It''s estimated that the captain is also very dangerous! " When Panfilov finished, he patted me on the shoulder and sighed softly. Although o''shanin is Lida''s husband, to me who occupies Lida''s body, I am just a stranger. Let me cry for a stranger, it seems a little too hard. I tried to make a sad expression, but after half a day''s effort, I still didn''t achieve the desired effect. When I saw that both of them were staring at me, I had to give a bitter smile and said, "I understand that this is war. Sacrifice is inevitable. You don''t have to worry about me. I can stand it! "

 Chapter 122

    Hearing the news of oshanin''s sacrifice, I didn''t feel the slightest sadness. Instead, I felt relieved and relaxed. After all, I''m just a fake Lida. I can''t escape the fate of Gangbang sooner or later after I have been in contact with o''shanin for a long time. With his sacrifice, the risk factor of my exposure was reduced a little bit.


    The three of us sat face to face, no one spoke, and the room fell into a brief silence. The commissar reached over and patted me on the back of my hand. He asked me kindly, "Rita, what are your plans for the future?"


    "What''s the plan?" I asked in a puzzled way.


    The political commissar looked at me in a daze and explained to me, "I mean, do you want to stay in the division headquarters or go to the grass-roots level to command an army?"


    I quickly stood up and saluted them: "I want to command the army at the grass-roots level. I hope that the division commander and political commissar can agree."


    "Which army do you want to go to?" The commissar asked with a smile.


    I thought about all the people I knew in the 316 division and the troops I knew. When I was commanding the guard camp, I used to be a first-class instructor, krochkov, but he had already died with honor. And the rest of the people who are close to me, such as felstov, Pavlov, Aji, aguminte, are stationed in the station area. At present, they all belong to the 1077 regiment. If they want to join forces, it is most appropriate to work with these people. So I put forward tactfully: "Comrade division, can I go to 1077 regiment as commander?"


    Panfilov stood up with a smile and asked me to sit down. Then he came up behind me and patted me on the shoulder. He said, "our division has been greatly reduced in recent battles. Many grass-roots units are short of suitable commanders. At present, there is a position in the 1077 regiment. Their deputy head has just died, so a capable candidate is needed to take over the post. However, their daily fighting is very cruel and there is a risk of sacrifice at any time. You have to think about it clearly. "


    At the end of the speech, I answered without hesitation, "Sir, don''t think about it. I''m willing to go."


    He listened to my reply, walked back and forth behind me two times with his hands on his back, and then said, "I''m not worried about your ability to work. We can all see your performance on the battlefield. The key is that the new commander in chief is a general. Without greeting him in advance, he is equipped with a female deputy. I don''t know what he will think? " He stopped and said to the commissar, "Comrade yegorov, please call the head of the 1077 regiment and ask him to come over and let Rita meet him first."


    Commissar promised, picked up the phone on the desk and began to dial. Panfilov continued: "Rita, when the new commander comes, I''ll let you meet first and communicate with each other, so that you can work in the 1077 regiment in the future."


    I quickly stood up and said: "teacher, please rest assured, no matter who partner, I will do my best."


    The teacher patted me on the shoulder, asked me to sit down again and said, "Rita, you have to be prepared. The commissar and I know you very well and trust you very much. And this team leader is new here. I don''t know you. I''m afraid he may reject you. "


    "No problem," I didn''t stand up this time. Instead, I sat down, looked up at the teacher in front of me and said, "as long as it''s not a matter of principle, I''ll listen to him. In this way, there will be fewer contradictions. Since he is a general with rich experience in leading troops, I have a lot to learn from him. "


    The teacher nodded and said with appreciation, "it seems that you are very confident." Then he raised his voice and said, "well, try it first! When he comes, I''ll let you communicate with each other. As long as he doesn''t have any opinions, you can follow him to the army immediately. "


    "Comrade division," I suddenly had the impulse to communicate with my former subordinates first, so I took the initiative to put forward my request to Panfilov: "can I have a word with filstov and Pavlov who defend the station?"


    "No problem," Panfilov replied very readily. Just as the commissar finished the call, he picked up the phone, dialed a number, and then said to the inside, "I''m general Panfilov. Connect me with festov at the station." After a moment''s waiting, he said in a loud voice again, "is it felstov? I''m Panfilov No, no, no... I don''t have any instructions for you. It''s just an acquaintance who wants to talk to you. You wait. " Then he handed over the microphone.


    I took the receiver, put it to my ear, took a deep breath, and said, "Hello, festorf, I''m oshanina!"


    "Comrade commander?! Is that you? " Felstov, on the other end of the receiver, asked in a hesitant tone.


    "Hello, festorf! Of course, it''s me. Is there a fake here? " I answered his question in a positive tone.


    "Instructor Pavlov, come here. It''s comrade o''shanina." I heard him calling out to another acquaintance, Pavlov, and then I vaguely heard Pavlov''s excited voice: "is it really Comrade commander? Give me the phone quickly. I want to have a word with her. "


    Soon Pavlov''s voice was clearly heard in the receiver: "Hello! Comrade commander, how are you


    "Very good!" Hearing the voices of these acquaintances, I felt very kind and asked, "what about you?"


    "We are also very good, although the fight is cruel, but we are still alive." His voice stopped for a moment, then said: "besides me and felstov, as well as aguminte and Aji, we all live well."


    While chatting with Pavlov, a cold wind came into the room and made me shiver. When I looked at the entrance, I saw an officer coming in with the curtain lifted. As soon as the burly officer came in, Panfilov immediately came forward and shook hands with him. Even yegorov, the political commissar who had just been sitting, stood up.


    I caught a glimpse that the bearer''s collar badge was a red diamond with two gold stars. I hung up the phone and stood up to salute him.


    After shaking hands with the teacher and political commissar, the man turned to see me and exclaimed in surprise: "it''s you, commander o''shanina. I didn''t expect that we would meet again so soon." And reach out to me.


    Listen to him so accurately call my name, it should be someone I know. As I shook hands with him and looked at the general in front of me, I felt a little familiar, but I just couldn''t remember where I met him in a hurry.


    Just when I was in a daze, political commissar yegorov said: "Comrade Lida, I''d like to introduce you. This is the new leader of 1077 regiment, general leviagin, who came to the division the day before yesterday."


    As soon as I heard the name leviagin, I immediately remembered who this man was. Two days ago, he came to the 316th infantry division with thousands of soldiers and oshanin''s anti tank dog company on the order of the group army headquarters¡° It''s you! Comrade General. " When I met an acquaintance at the front line, I was very excited, and the strength of shaking hands increased a bit.


    We went back to the table and sat down. Panfilov asked general leviagin, "Comrade commander, how are the casualties in the army?"


    Leviagin shook his head, sighed and said, "Comrade division, it''s terrible. Two thirds of the commanders in the regiment were killed and more than half of the soldiers were killed. My deputy commander has also died. I hope you can help me with a competent assistant as soon as possible. "


    When Panfilov heard this, he seemed a little excited and said, "you and I want to go together." Then he added without thinking: "since you and lieutenant colonel oshanina know each other, it''s much easier."


    What he said made leviagin confused. He asked in a puzzled way, "Comrade teacher, you have confused me. Do I know lieutenant commander o''shanina and have any connection with your calling me from the position to the division headquarters in the middle of the night? "


    "Yes, yes! Comrade leviagin. " Political commissar yegorov took over the topic first: "we intend to appoint lieutenant colonel oshanina as your deputy, and take up the post of deputy head of 1077 regiment. I called you here to ask for your opinion. "


    Leviagin turned his head and did not speak. He just stared at me. When I was a little embarrassed, he turned his head, looked at the division commander and political commissar, and said slowly, "when I was in the headquarters of the group army, I heard Comrade rokosovsky introduce the situation of lieutenant colonel oshanina. As for sending her to the post of deputy head of our regiment, I personally think that.... "


    At this point, he even stopped. Not only the teachers and political commissars focused on him, but also I waited for his reply nervously. Fortunately, he did not let us wait for long, then he said his answer: "I personally think: with her working ability and indomitable fighting spirit, she is fully qualified for this position."


    After listening to his opinions, the three of us breathed a sigh of relief. The teacher immediately took over the topic and said, "since you also agree with the appointment of the division headquarters, let lieutenant commander o''shanina go back to the 1077 regiment with you later."


    "This!" Leviagin hesitated and said, "Sir, can I have commander o''shanina in my regiment at another time? When I go back at this time, I''m afraid there''s something wrong with the road. Besides, as you know, there are often small groups of enemies on motorcycles sneaking into the rear of our army to harass them. I''m responsible for the safety of the commander! "


    Although leviagin''s reason was very good, penfilov frowned and asked, "how long do you think it would be best to postpone it?"


    Leviagin looked at me and hesitated a little. Then he came close to the division commander and said something in a low voice. Because the voice was too small, I couldn''t hear what he said, but I knew that he was stating to the division commander the reason why he couldn''t let me go to the army for the time being. But the time was very short. After whispering, he straightened up and said aloud, "how about tomorrow at noon?"


    Panfilov tapped his fingers on the table, frowned and considered leviagin''s proposal. After a long time, he nodded slowly and said, "well, comrade leviagin, I''ll do as you say. I''ll let commander o''shanina report to your regiment at noon tomorrow."


    After the three arranged my work properly, leviagin stood up, pulled the hem of his uniform with both hands, and then said, "then it''s settled. There are still tasks to be assigned in the regiment. I''ll go back first."


    Panfilov and yegorov also stood up and told leviagin, "be careful on the way back."


    "I will." Leviagin answered, raised his hand to salute them, and then turned away. At dawn, a new round of German attack began. The sound of gunfire came from outside. The telephone in the room began to ring. The three of us took turns to answer the incoming calls. The contents of these calls were similar. They either reported where the German army was attacking or asked Panfilov for reinforcements. For the former, Panfilov said that he knew, and then drew the position of the German attack on the map with a pencil. As for those who asked for help, he replied very simply: I don''t have a reserve team. You must be nailed to the position like a nail. You are not allowed to retreat, because Moscow is behind you. When I heard what Panfilov said, I knew very well that it wasn''t that he couldn''t save himself, but that he really had no soldiers to send. As far as I know, the earliest division guard battalion has been lost in the battle for a long time. Today''s guard force is no more than a platoon, and it is composed of the staff of the division headquarters and the logistics personnel of some organs. It''s OK for such troops to be on guard. If they are sent to the front, it''s the same as death. As time goes on, the situation becomes more and more unfavourable to us. According to the feedback, although our defense line has not been broken through by the German army, it is constantly retreating. At ten o''clock, I received the last call from Aji from the position. In the phone, he said excitedly: "Comrade commander, * the bandits have rushed into the position. We are fighting tenaciously, fighting with them for every basement." Hearing this, I interrupted him and asked, "where''s filstov?"¡° He was fighting with the enemy in the trench just now, but now there is no movement. He must have died! " Hearing the news, I felt a little nervous and asked, "where''s the instructor Pavlov?"¡° Sacrifice¡° What about aguminte¡° I''ve sacrificed myself, too After listening to these bad news, my heart is like falling into the ice cellar, finished, my most effective subordinates are sacrificed! Without waiting for me to speak, a burst of dense gunfire came from the receiver, and then ah Ji''s voice came again: "the enemy is coming in, comrade commander, take care!" There was a sudden gunshot shock inside. After a loud bang, there was no more sound in the microphone. Ah Ji died, too! A series of blows made me stop thinking and leave my brain blank.

 Chapter 123

    I stand in front of the table, holding a microphone that has no sound for a long time in a daze, and I can''t help but burst into tears. I know, ah Ji''s take care is the last word, the team I worked hard to cultivate no longer exists¡° What''s the matter, Rita? " The political commissar on the opposite side saw my difference and asked with concern. I wiped a tear on my face and said chokingly, "the commanders and fighters defending the station have all died!"¡° So the station is lost? "¡° Yes As soon as I finished speaking, suddenly an object flew in from outside and fell to my feet with a slap. I looked down and saw that it was a long handled grenade with white smoke¡° Grenades, lie down The teacher roared and flew to me, crushing me to the ground¡° Boom Just as I was stunned, the grenade exploded. The room fell into darkness in an instant. I just felt a "buzz", a sharp pain in my eardrum, and a sharp pain in my left shoulder. For a moment, half of my body was almost numb. The steam lamp was broken by shrapnel of the grenade, the room was dark, and the air was full of choking smoke, which made me cough. There was a sudden light in the room and it fell into darkness. There was a rush of footsteps at the door, as if someone had entered the headquarters. At this time, I felt a light weight, and then heard a clear shot. Just when I was in a daze, the room suddenly lit up, a person directly loaded down from the steps, rolled down near me and stopped. From the way he was dressed, I recognized him as a German soldier. It was division commander Panfilov who fired the gun. When the German soldier who was killed by him fell down, he pulled off the curtain of the door. The light came in from the outside and re illuminated the room. He took a look at the dead German soldier in front of him, then jumped up and rushed out with a pistol in his hand. At this time, I came to my senses. It turned out that the German army had attacked the headquarters. The German devil had thrown the grenade in just now. If the division commander hadn''t reacted quickly and knocked me to the ground, I would have been at Marx''s place and had coffee with him at this time. I struggled to get up, bent over and grabbed the submachine gun in the hands of the German soldiers, and then I rushed out. The division commander rushed very fast, I just stepped up a step, he has already rushed to the gate of the headquarters. But as soon as he rushed out, he backed back and squatted on the steps to shoot out. I passed him, just wanted to rush out, he grabbed my sleeve, jerked back, yelled: "pay attention to concealment, there are enemy machine guns outside." Panfilov''s shooting caught the attention of the German army, and the intensive fire immediately swept towards the door. The wanton bullets hit the ground with smoke and dust, and the wooden door was full of holes. I swung my head to get rid of the dust on my hat. Then I looked at Panfilov, who had his back against the wall, and asked aloud, "what shall we do, sir?"¡° The enemy''s firepower is too strong for us to rush out. " Panfilov also answered me in a loud voice, and then he yelled at the political commissar who staggered up the steps: "call quickly, inform the nearby troops that the division headquarters was attacked by the enemy, and ask them to send troops to rescue."¡° Yes The commissar promised to turn around and go down. I watched the commissar return to the overturned table, pick up the phone from the ground and start to shake the handle. I don''t think I should lie here doing nothing, so I raised my submachine gun and pulled the trigger in the direction of the bullet. After a few shots, I felt that the German firepower seemed to have weakened. I was surprised. Was my shooting so accurate that I knocked down the enemy? Curious, I looked out. The first thing I saw was two corpses lying in front of the headquarters. From the uniform, they were soldiers of our army. One of them was the soldier who took the initiative to say hello to me last night. More than 30 meters away from the headquarters, there was a German machine gun clattering incessantly, but the direction of shooting was no longer aimed at us, but at the soldiers charging towards them. There was a guard platoon nearby. Seeing that the headquarters had been attacked, the soldiers spontaneously attacked the enemy from all directions. Although our army is superior in number and the soldiers are brave, they are no match for these well-trained and experienced German soldiers. Except for a machine gun, the rest of the German soldiers were all mp40 submachine guns; Our army is almost all pistols, occasionally a few rifles are considered heavy weapons. The firepower intensity of the two sides was not at the same level at all, so the guard platoon suffered a big loss as soon as there was an exchange of fire. From time to time, some people screamed and fell down. Fortunately, they were only slightly injured and moaned bitterly. If they were not lucky, they were directly hit and killed. For a moment, outside the headquarters, there was a Shura hell, with fierce gunfire and the scream of the wounded.

 Chapter 124

    Dozens of meters away, under a tree, there are four motorcycles. Seven or eight German soldiers are relying on the motorcycles to shoot at the attacking soldiers. These enemies should be the motorcycles that Panfilov mentioned last night, who bypassed the defense line and ran to the rear of our army to sneak attack.


    I once commanded the guard battalion of the 316 infantry division. I am deeply impressed by the strong fighting capacity of the unit. With their equipment and combat experience, it is easy to eliminate the rampant German soldiers on the opposite side. But now, what is fighting with the enemy is just a guard platoon temporarily composed of staff officers, clerks and political workers, which greatly reduces the combat effectiveness. In addition, almost all of their equipment was based on pistols, and occasionally a few rifles were considered heavy weapons, which was more than one grade different from the German firepower configuration. It would be suicide to let such troops attack. However, knowing that the division headquarters was under attack, these soldiers instinctively ran out from where they were and bravely charged against the enemy''s intensive firepower.


    Watching one soldier fall down after another, my blood surged up and I wanted to rush out with my gun. I didn''t expect to be caught by Panfilov again. He grabbed my sleeve tightly and scolded me sternly: "stop! What do you want to do, rush out and be the enemy''s target? " Without waiting for me to speak, he turned around and yelled, "my political commissar, have you got through?"


    "Got through!" Political commissar in the following reply: "contact with the 1073 regiment, they immediately sent a company to come to the rescue."


    When I heard that reinforcements would come soon, I was relieved. With difficulty, I half squatted down, put the gun on the doorframe, aimed at the German position and pulled the trigger. Submachine gun close combat effect is very good, but to accurately hit the target in the distance, it is not so easy. I shot out all the bullets in the clip at one go, but I just splashed the body shell of one of the motorcycles with sparks, not even the hair of the German soldiers.


    My shooting drew the German''s attention again. Almost as I ran out of bullets, several incoming bullets hit the doorframe. Fortunately, I retreated two steps, otherwise I would have been hit by a bullet.


    Panfilov, who had been standing close to the wall, first bent down and drew a bullet clip from the body of the German soldier. Then he took the submachine gun from my hand and said, "Rita, don''t shoot. Stay here and wait patiently for a while. Our reinforcements will be here soon. When they arrive, we''ll rush out together. "


    "Yes I agreed to take the gun in his hand, squatted down and listened to the outside movement. Although the gunfire outside was still ringing, it was much less than just now. Except for the sporadic gunfire of pistols and rifles, submachine guns and machine guns were rattling most of the time. Judging from the gunfire outside, most of the officers and men in the guard platoon were killed, and only a few survivors were still fighting with the German army tenaciously.


    When I heard that the German army had the advantage outside, I couldn''t help raising the muzzle of the gun and pointing to the entrance. I held the trigger with my fingers and prepared to shoot as soon as I found someone coming up. I absolutely couldn''t let the Germans rush into the division headquarters.


    I don''t know how long it took, but I didn''t dare to relax. Just when I was nervous, the gunfire outside suddenly gathered again. When I heard the gunshot, I became more and more flustered. I turned to look at Panfilov standing next to me, only to find that he looked happy.


    "It''s our reinforcements He said excitedly.


    As if to confirm his judgment, there was a voice on his head: "is there anyone in it?" It''s Russian that I''m familiar with, not German.


    "Rita, don''t shoot. It''s one of your own." Panfilov lowered the muzzle of my gun with his hand, then yelled at it in a loud voice: "I''m Mr. Panfilov. What part are you


    "We are from the 1073 regiment. I heard that the division headquarters was attacked by the German army and was ordered to come to the rescue." The man above answered and came in carefully from the outside. Looking at the people coming in wearing Khaki Short fur coats and cotton military caps, typical of our military dress, I can''t help but sigh of relief, put away the gun and stand up straight.


    It was a lieutenant who came to Panfilov, changed his pistol to his left hand, raised his hand to salute, and reported: "Comrade General, lieutenant general Ramis of 1073 regiment has come to report to you. Our company is exterminating the remnant enemy outside. Please give us your instructions! "


    Heard the gunfire outside again sparse down, it is estimated that the battle is near the end. Penfilov put the pistol in the holster and said, "come on, let''s go out and have a look." Then he lifted his legs and walked out.


    Seeing that the lieutenant followed him out of the door, I followed him out with my submachine gun, but my finger was habitually placed at the trigger.


    By the time I got to the door, the battle outside was over. The German soldiers who came to sneak attack, in addition to the soldiers who were killed, and three other prisoners, were escorted by the soldiers to come this way.


    Panfilov pointed to the German soldiers who had been detained and said to Ramis, "go to find someone who knows German and interrogate these prisoners to see which army they belong to and how many people have come?"


    "Yes The lieutenant agreed and ran forward with the gun.


    "Dada dada!" With three shots, Panfilov standing in front of me was shocked. Then he covered his chest with his hands and fell back. With a "plop", he fell beside me.


    First I was stunned, then I looked down. Next to the bodies of the two soldiers, there was a German soldier. He shot the bullets just now. Almost instinctively, I aimed my gun at him and yanked the trigger. Although the long-distance shooting effect of the submachine gun was not good, it was very easy to hit the target several meters away. The dense bullets immediately made the wounded German soldier bloody and spattering.


    I understand at this time that two German soldiers attacked the division headquarters just now. One was knocked down in a fight with the guard, and the other was killed by Panfilov after throwing a grenade at the headquarters. I used up all the bullets in my clip and went forward to kick the German soldier who was beaten to the skin by me. After confirming that he could not die any more, I turned to check the injury of Panfilov.


    Panfilov was lying on his back, convulsing. The blood from the wound on his chest slowly merged into a stream. The stream slowly melted into a river, then slowly penetrated into the earth, and slowly dyed the white snow red.


    "My old man, what''s the matter with you?" The political commissar who came out of the room saw this scene when the soldiers and I stood in a daze in front of the division commander. With a cry of sadness, we rushed forward and hugged Panfilov''s body.


    Seeing us all around in a daze, political commissar yegorov couldn''t help but be furious: "what are you doing standing there? Why don''t you come and help us to carry our teachers and comrades to the headquarters?"


    When I heard that the political commissar was angry, I came back to my senses and immediately directed the people next to me to take action: "you four, help the political commissar to carry the teachers and comrades to the headquarters."


    The soldiers picked up Panfilov with all hands and walked towards the headquarters. I called lieutenant Ramis again and told him, "Comrade lieutenant, take some people with you immediately and go to the military doctor. Speed up


    "But Ramis said with some embarrassment, "Comrade division commander just asked me to interrogate these German soldiers."


    When I heard him say this, I couldn''t help but get angry. Lao maozi was dull and couldn''t distinguish between priorities. Now I didn''t save face for him and yelled at him: "just now, now! You didn''t see how many of our comrades were killed by those German soldiers! I''ll interrogate you, drag them all to the edge of the woods and shoot them. None of them will be left! "


    "Comrade commander! Is it a bit... "Ramis wanted to refute me, but before he finished, I interrupted him and gave him an order directly, saying," this is my order. Do you understand me? You should resolutely carry out the orders of the superior, not question them. Hurry up and finish the task I have given you


    "Yes Seeing that I was angry, Ramis agreed helplessly and turned to carry out the task.


    With a few shots, the three German soldiers who had just been captured fell to the ground. After watching the process of the German soldier being shot with no expression on my face, I turned to the headquarters with my gun.


    The wooden table that had just been overturned in the headquarters had been rearranged, and a steam lamp was hung on the roof again, shining the whole room. Panfilov was placed on a march bed beside the wall. The soldiers who had just carried him in stood beside him, while the political commissar was squatting on the bed, almost putting his lips to the ear of the division commander, and shouting: "Ivan vasilijevich, my dear old man, wake up


    I also went to the bedside and saw that although the commissar was shouting, Panfilov didn''t respond at all¡° Old man, do you hear me? You have to stand up and not die. There will be more work in the future. Maybe tomorrow you will need to command the troops to carry out a counter offensive. Do you hear me


    But Panfilov''s eyes are still closed. Seeing this scene, I can''t help sighing. After being shot in the chest, so much blood has been shed. It''s estimated that the division commander is in danger.


    "Report! Comrade commander, I''ve got the military doctor. May I come in? " There was a report coming from the door. I followed it. It turned out that it was Ramis and another officer with a small leather box.


    "Come on! Come here and see what''s going on with your teacher? " The commissar, as if grasping the straw, called out to the two men who had just come in.


    The officer who was carrying the small suitcase came forward, squatted down beside Panfilov''s bed, grabbed his wrist, took a pulse, sighed gently, moved his hand to the division commander''s carotid artery, touched it, then stood up, shook his head and said, "it''s too late, comrade division commander is dead!"


    "Bullshit." The commissar suddenly stood up, grabbed the military doctor''s collar, and roared angrily: "you must have made a mistake. The division commander is not dead. You should check again as soon as possible."


    The military doctor said with a wry smile: "Comrade political commissar, I have carefully examined it just now. The division commander has really sacrificed. You see, there''s no breathing. Blood came out of my mouth. Please believe me, I am a doctor with nearly 20 years of medical experience. I will never be able to tell whether a person is alive or dead. "


    After listening to the military doctor''s words, the political commissar stepped back two steps, sat down on the ground and murmured, "no, no, you must have made a mistake."¡° Sir, I have good news for you! " As the voice rushed in, an officer, I looked back and saw that it was Levi yagin, the head of the 1077 regiment who left last night. Seeing a group of us standing in the room and not talking, leviagin came in and asked curiously, "what''s the matter with you? What''s the matter with you?"¡° Comrades of the division have died! " I answered him in a low voice¡° What, comrade teacher, did he die? " He rushed to the bed with two steps and bent down to look at Panfilov''s body. When confirming that it was not a joke, the whole person was stunned and stood in front of the bed in a daze. When the room was in a state of sadness, the telephone on the desk rang untimely. Seeing the commissar sitting on the ground muttering to himself and leviagin standing in front of the body in a daze, I quickly walked towards the phone. Put the submachine gun on the table, and then grabbed the microphone: "316 division headquarters, please speak!"¡° Rita! It''s you. " Rokosovsky''s excited voice came from the microphone: "let general Panfilov answer the phone." After taking a deep breath, I answered in a low voice, "Comrade commander, general Panfilov has died!"¡° What What I said surprised rokosovsky. He raised his voice and asked, "what are you talking about? Say it again¡° General Panfilov is dead! " I repeated what I had just said, and finally I burst into tears. When I heard that the other party hung up, I put down the phone and wiped the tears on my face with my hand, but soon new tears came out. When the phone rang again, I sniffed hard, then picked up the phone again and said, "I''m the headquarters of 316 Infantry Division!"¡° Rita This time, it was not rokosovsky who spoke, but Zhukov, commander of the front army¡° Comrade General Hearing this long lost voice, I couldn''t help feeling a little excited: "general Panfilov died."¡° I see, Rita. This is war, and death is inevitable. " Zhukov comforted me and said, "don''t be sad. I have a message for you to convey to all the officers and men of the 316 division."¡° Go ahead, senior general! " I sniffed again as I spoke¡° The Supreme Soviet has just made a decision: in order to recognize the heroic performance of the 316th infantry division in the defense of Moscow and the great achievements it has made, it is hereby awarded the title of honor to the 8th division of the close guard of the division! "¡° That is great! Comrade commander. I''ll pass the good news on to all the officers and men of the 316 infantry division. "¡° And more Zhukov continued: "are there any other commanders in the division now?"¡° Yes, "I looked at the political commissar and the general next to me and replied," in addition to the political commissar, comrade yegorov, there is also general leviyagin, the head of the 1077 regiment. "¡° I command you to take over the command of the division immediately! " Ordered Zhukov¡° But, "I looked at the general standing next to me again, and said in embarrassment," major general leviagin is the highest rank here. I think it is more appropriate for him to command the guard division than me. "¡° I order you to take over the command! Do you understand? " Said Zhukov with a firm command¡° Yes! Comrade commander. " I understood Zhukov''s temper and knew that his orders were inviolable, so I agreed to take over the division''s command¡° I''ll pass on this appointment to rokosovsky, and you should quickly arrange the division''s defense. If you have any questions, you can call me directly. " With that, there was no sound in the microphone.

 Chapter 125

    Putting down the microphone, I stood in front of the desk and didn''t move my position. Looking at the telephone on the desk, I was in a daze. My mind was trying to digest the news I just got: Zhukov actually appointed me to be the commander of the division. I cleared my throat and said in a loud voice: "general Zhukov let me take over the command of the division temporarily!" I''m afraid that general leviagin will be irritated in front of me. After all, the other party is a general, and he is given a much lower rank than him. Moreover, he is still a female officer in command. His face is a little lost, so the word "temporary" is added. When I said this, I suddenly found that the commissar''s face was covered with blood. I was immediately surprised and asked, "Comrade commissar, what''s the matter with you?" Yegorov wiped his face, then looked at the blood in his hands. He was stunned for a moment, and then replied, "maybe he was scratched by shrapnel of a grenade just now."¡° Military doctor Leviagin quickly called the military doctor standing beside him in a daze: "come and bandage the comrades of the political commissar quickly." The military doctor helped the political commissar to the table and sat down. Then he put his small suitcase on the table, took out the medicine and bandage from it and began to bandage the political commissar¡° Comrade division commander, "hearing leviagin''s voice, I habitually looked at the division commander lying on the March bed and found that his body had been covered with a blanket¡° Sir, comrade Levi yagin called again, and I suddenly realized that he was calling me. I am now the commander of the eighth division of Jinwei. Although I am only a temporary agent, I quickly agreed: "Comrade General, what can I do for you?"¡° What is the task of our division? "¡° This... "His question really stopped me. When rokosovsky heard the news of Panfilov''s sacrifice, he immediately hung up the phone; Zhukov only announced to me that our division had won the honorary title of the guard division and let me take over the command of the division. Just when I was in a dilemma, the phone on the desk rang again. I quickly raised my hand and grabbed the phone: "Hello!"¡° Is that Rita? " Rokosovsky''s voice came from the microphone¡° It''s me, comrade commander! "¡° Congratulations on your new position¡° Thank you, comrade commander Rokosovsky''s phone call, just to me, I quickly asked: "what is the task of the eighth division of our guards in the future?"¡° Or that sentence: like a nail in the position, not a step back. " The other side''s answer was concise and comprehensive¡° Yes, I promise to finish the task! " As soon as I finished, rokosovsky hung up. I put down the microphone, looked up at leviagin in front of me, and said, "the order of the group army command is still that we should firmly hold vorokoramsk at all costs and not step back." Leviagin pondered for a moment, and then asked, "will our superiors replenish our troops? After a long time of continuous fighting, the commanders and fighters of the three regiments are now suffering heavy casualties. If we do not make any supplements, I think we should keep the existing area... "I waved my hand, interrupted him and said," the front of the group army''s defense is too large, and its strength is not enough. It is impossible for new troops to be added to our division if they are not supplemented by the reserve forces at the rear. "¡° I''ll call all the leaders here and give them a new assignment. Do you think so, sir? " It was the commissar who was dressing the wound. I looked at leviagin and he nodded in agreement. I just accepted the command, but I don''t know how to carry out the work. Since they proposed to call group level commanders for a meeting, I naturally have no reason to object, so I nodded my head and agreed. Seeing that the three of us agreed, the commissar picked up the phone from the desk and began to dial. When the commissar was on the phone, leviagin gently pulled my sleeve, waved his head to the door and motioned for me to pass him. Although I was at a loss, I knew that when he did this, there must be something important to tell me, so I followed him up the steps very obediently. Coming to the door, I asked him in a low voice, "Comrade General, what''s the matter?"¡° Comrade division commander, "he also answered me in a low voice," I''ve come to the division headquarters specially because I have news for you. " I looked at him blankly and muttered in my heart: he specially came to the division headquarters to find me. What kind of thing would it be? "Last night, I took soldiers to inspect the road area attacked by the German army and found several damaged trucks loaded with evacuation wounded people," he said When he said this, seeing that I was still silent, he went straight on and said, "we have carefully checked that most of the wounded and the soldiers escorted have died, but there are still several survivors, one of whom is captain oshanin!"¡° Is o''shanin still alive? " Hearing the unexpected news, I stepped back involuntarily. But I forgot that I was standing on the steps, and my whole body fell back.

 Chapter 126

    Fortunately, levia''s golden eye and quick hand seized my uninjured right hand, otherwise I would have to fall on all fours.


    With his help, I steadied myself on the steps and asked, "Comrade General, what did you say just now? Oshanin... Oshanin, he''s still alive. Is that true? " With that, I stared at him, eager to hear the negative answer from him.


    He regarded my nervousness as a surprise. He nodded his head with great certainty and said, "yes, I personally took people to the scene and found captain oshanin among the seven or eight survivors."


    "Don''t you recognize the wrong person?" I asked with my last fluke.


    "No, Captain oshanin is my man. I''ll never admit it." After hearing this, my heart suddenly cooled. I thought I had got rid of o''shanin, but I didn''t expect that he survived and was saved again. He already knows where I am. If he wants to be with me after his injury, the superior leader will agree to his request. Then my end will come.


    "Rita, general leviagin, what are you two standing there saying? Come here quickly. We have something to discuss. " The voice of the commissar came from the room. By this time, he had already finished the call.


    In the grenade explosion just now, a one foot deep pit was blown out in the house, and several earth steps near the pit were also damaged. If you are not careful when you go down, it is easy to fall. So when I stepped down, I repeatedly reminded general leviagin, who was walking in front of me, to be careful not to wrestle.


    Seeing the two of us carefully walking to the table, the political commissar asked us to sit down and curiously asked, "what are you two going to say outside mysteriously?"


    I was a little nervous about the political commissar''s question. I didn''t know how to answer him, so I turned to leviagin for help. When the commissar saw that I wanted leviagin to speak, he turned to the general and asked, "tell me, Comrade General! What is it that needs you and your teachers to go to the door and whisper? " The political commissar''s tone was very strict, which made people feel that he was suspecting that we were doing something behind his back.


    Leviagin looked at me and asked me, "Comrade division, can you say that?"


    "Go ahead, go ahead!" I know in my heart that if the political commissar is not clear about the matter, it may cause unnecessary misunderstanding.


    Leviagin cleared his throat and began to report to the commissar: "Mr. Panfilov called me last night..." speaking of this, he turned to look at the body of the former division commander lying on the March bed covered, and then went on to say: "he asked me to come to the division headquarters and say something important. On the way here, soldiers from the regiment came to report that the convoy carrying the wounded back to the rear of our regiment had been attacked by small German troops, and the two sides were fighting. After getting this information, I immediately sent a company soldier to the fighting place for support


    "But you didn''t mention it when you came last night?" The commissar interrupted him and asked curiously.


    "As you know, almost every day there are German motorcycles, bypassing the well defended front, coming from our defense gap, to the rear to carry out destructive attacks. For such a small-scale attack, the troops are usually transferred to nearby troops to fight head-on. Because these small units coming to the rear of our army will be eliminated in a short time, we generally do not report to the higher authorities. "


    "Oh, so it is." The commissar nodded, with a sudden realization. However, I began to think about whether the German tactics could be regarded as a kind of rudiment of special operations. Their role was similar to that of the active guerrillas in the enemy occupied areas.


    "Because I want to rush to the division headquarters, I just give the task to the commander below. When I arrived at the division headquarters, I knew the reason why I was recruited. General Panfilov wanted lieutenant commander oshanina to be my deputy... "At this point, he turned to look at the remains of the division commander again." it reminds me that among the wounded, there was oshanina''s husband captain oshanin. At that time, I wanted to go to the scene to see if I could find oshanin''s body, It''s good to have an account for the commander. Before I left, I told my teacher about this idea. " Hearing this, I immediately think that he once whispered to Panfilov for a while. It was for this.


    "What happened after you went to the scene?" Asked the commissar with concern.


    "By the time I got to the scene, the fighting was over and all the bandits who attacked the convoy were wiped out by the soldiers. Except one of the trucks carrying the wounded was still intact, all the others were destroyed, and all the soldiers escorted were killed in the battle. We found six survivors on the intact truck, one of whom was captain oshanin


    "What? Is o''shanin still alive? " The commissar rose abruptly and asked in surprise.


    "Yes, not only he is alive, but also several wounded people in his car are alive."


    "Great! It''s really exciting news, Rita I gave a wry smile to the political commissar, and said in my heart that oshaning was not dead. What can you be happy about?


    "Where is captain oshanin now?" The commissar then asked¡° I sent a soldier who could drive them to the rear hospital. At the same time, for the sake of safety, I also provided them with five soldiers to escort the car. Then I took the troops to the division headquarters, and planned to take commander o''shanina to our regiment. Unexpectedly, when it was still a mile or two away from the division headquarters, I heard a lot of gunfire here. I guessed that the division headquarters had been attacked, so I rushed to support with the soldiers. "¡° May I come in? " Someone at the door asked aloud¡° Come in The commissar replied in the same high voice. In came a second lieutenant with a face full of gunpowder. He saluted us and reported out loud: "report to the political commissar, the results have been counted out. We have eliminated 11 enemies and seized eight submachine guns and one machine gun."¡° Wait a minute, "I lifted up the submachine gun I had just put on the table and said," here''s another one. " Then he couldn''t wait to ask, "how are the casualties in our army?" The second lieutenant bowed his head and said nothing¡° Why don''t you talk, dumb? " Leviagin said rudely¡° Sixty three of our troops were killed and 27 wounded. " Although the second lieutenant''s voice was low, we could hear it clearly. We didn''t expect that the casualties of our army would be so great. I stood up and asked, "how many bullets are left in the captured weapons?" The second lieutenant looked up at me, and then replied loudly, "no, not a single bullet." After listening to his words, my heart was cold. I didn''t expect to pay so much to wipe out more than a dozen German soldiers. Moreover, it was only when they ran out of ammunition and food that they managed to win; If the German army had enough ammunition, they might have made a successful breakthrough. What a fluke our victory was!

 Chapter 127

    The sky was overcast, the thick clouds were low, and the snowflakes had been falling down.


    Just now, when the two leaders of the 1073 and 1075 regiments arrived at the headquarters, they were forced to wait for the political commissar outside the headquarters to hold an open-air memorial service for general Panfilov.


    A half ton open top truck was parked outside the door. I don''t know whether it was brought by the two leaders or transferred by the political commissar from other places. Anyway, listen to the political commissar, and as soon as the memorial service is over, send someone to take the remains of general Panfilov to Moscow City in this car.


    Outside the headquarters of the division, more than 200 soldiers stood like a piece of trees. They surrounded the political commissar standing on the stump and listened to his speech with serious expression.


    I stood two or three meters behind the commissar, with my left hand hanging on my chest and a submachine gun in my right hand. I think if I change my submachine gun into a duster and my military uniform into a monk''s robe, it will be a one armed God nun.


    Although I have been absent-minded, most of what the political commissar on the stump said got into my ears. When he told the soldiers how the division commander rushed into the enemy to fight bravely before he died, I was stunned. You know, when general Panfilov was shot and killed, I just stood by and witnessed the whole process. I remember that after he was shot, he didn''t say a word. He covered his chest and fell on the snow. He didn''t even shout any heroic words. How could he start to rush into the enemy?!


    When I was thinking about it, I suddenly felt that it was quiet around me. I quickly turned to look around and found that the political commissar had stopped talking. He took the lead to take off his hat and lead all the soldiers. He bowed his head to mourn for the blanket covered general''s body on the stretcher.


    I quickly slung the submachine gun on my shoulder and took off my cotton cap. The weather is very cold, the cold wind blows, I suddenly feel a cold forehead, brain melon seeds were frozen painful. I wanted to put the hat back immediately, but as soon as I saw that all the people around me were bareheaded and buried in silence, I couldn''t do anything special, so I had to stick to it.


    Although the time of silence is very short, less than a minute, it is as long as a century for me. When the commissar spoke again, I couldn''t wait to put my hat on my head, and pressed my forehead with my hand until I felt the cold slowly leave me.


    The four soldiers raised the stretcher on which general Panfilov''s body lay and looked solemnly at the truck. When we got to the car, the stretcher stopped. The two soldiers who had been standing on the car put down the rear fender first, then squatted down to help the soldiers under the car carry the stretcher into the car.


    "Comrades!" The voice of political commissar rang out: "let''s shoot to see off the brave teacher!" With that, he took out his pistol and raised it high above his head. At his command, more than 200 weapons of various calibres pointed to the sky. I took off the submachine gun from my shoulder and aimed at the air.


    With the start of the car, there was a lot of gunfire. All the people pulled the trigger. The sound of machine guns, submachine guns, rifles and pistols became one. I ran out of bullets in the gun cleanly, and then hung the submachine gun on my shoulder again. After all, it was too tired to hold one hand.


    "Comrades!" When the trucks driving along the uneven dirt road disappeared from everyone''s sight, the political commissar began to speak again: "I have good news to tell you. Due to the bravery and tenacity of our division in the battle of defending volokoramsk and the brilliant results, the Supreme Soviet awarded us the red flag medal, and changed our division''s name to a soldier who stood close to the political commissar after hearing this amazing news. He was excited and yelled at the soldiers around him: "do you hear me? The Supreme Soviet awarded us the honorary title of the eighth division of the guards


    For the Soviet people who love honor, what is more cheering than winning the praise of the supreme commander and conferring the title of honor?


    One person, two people, three people, first the people around us, and then even the soldiers standing in the distance cheered loudly. Everyone was cheering with all his strength: "Wula! Wula


    The soldiers are shouting, the political commissar is also shouting, everyone is shouting, in the end, even I was infected by this atmosphere, I can''t help shouting with them, all people are shouting the same sentence: "Wula! Wula


    When the cry was almost over, the commissar made a gesture and yelled, "everyone, please be quiet. Next, let the new division commander, Lieutenant Colonel oshanina, speak to us." When it was quiet, he jumped off the stump and asked me to deliver my inaugural address.


    Finally, it was my turn to shine on the stage. I held my hat on my head with my hand and stepped on the stump. Someone helped me to stand on the stump.


    In the flying snowflakes, I face the black head, formed an irregular team, in the face of a face full of smoke, raised his hand to solemnly respect a military salute.


    "Comrades, our brave division commander, general Panfilov, has died, and so have many comrades in arms. Although they can''t speak any more, they can''t fight with us anymore, but they still live in our hearts, and their achievements will last forever... "I feel that I can''t speak any more, and my eyes are wet.


    The sound of gunfire and explosion from afar filled my short silence. I took a deep breath, stabilized my mood for a moment, and then went on to say: "now general Panfilov has died, but we are still shouldering the sacred mission of defending Moscow. We will continue to fight with the bandits here. Although the battle in the future will be more arduous, the division commander will be with us, and his spirit in heaven will bless us to win the final victory! "¡° Victory¡ª¡ª Wula!!! Victory¡ª¡ª Wula The soldiers began to cheer again. Standing on the stump, I couldn''t help but smile bitterly. I once again felt that Lao maozi''s vocabulary was too poor. Apart from the word "Wula", was there no more words to express my feelings? When I got down from the stump, the political commissar stood up and said a few words. Then, with his order to disband, the soldiers immediately scattered. I called lieutenant Ramis, who passed by me, and ordered him to say, "Comrade lieutenant, from today on, your company will be the security guard of the division headquarters, under the direct command of the division headquarters."¡° However, "he said hesitantly," my company is under the jurisdiction of 1073 regiment. Without a formal written order, is it appropriate for us to be directly under the jurisdiction of division headquarters? " Then he glanced at a commander standing not far away. I resisted the impulse of kicking him, patiently explained to him: "in the enemy''s sneak attack just now, the security force of the division headquarters has completely lost. At present, your company is the closest and most complete unit to the division headquarters. Who should you go to for the security work of the division headquarters I glanced at the colonel, and raised his voice, "I am now division commander, Konoe eighth division. Everything I do has the final say, do you understand?" Yes Ramis reluctantly accepted the reality, saluted me and ran away. The political commissar took my hand and called several commanders around him, saying, "comrades, don''t stand here. Go to the headquarters. It''s time for us to discuss the next operational deployment."

 Chapter 128

    When I went back to the headquarters, I first found that the crater in the room had been filled and even the two steps damaged by the explosion had been repaired.


    Several of us sat down around the table, and the political commissar began to introduce some of our leaders to me. Due to the long-term fierce fighting, not only the soldiers were seriously reduced, but also the regimental commanders were almost replaced. Except for general leviagin, I don''t know the other two of the three commanders here.


    The commissar first pointed to the tall officer sitting on my right and said, "this is colonel chisgakov, head of the 1075 regiment."


    The officer stood up, saluted me, and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade division!"


    I also stood up, did not return the gift, but reached out to shake with him, politely said: "Hello, nice to meet you!"


    The lieutenant commander who was winking outside with lieutenant Ramis just now stood up, saluted me at attention, and said aloud, "report to Mr. commander, I''m sherebriavko, head of 1073 regiment."


    After shaking hands with the two commanders one by one, I asked everyone to sit down and begin to discuss the next combat task.


    The political commissar said: "the task given to us by our superiors is to guard wolos ramsk at all costs. But judging from the current situation, it is very difficult to complete this task. The German army is pressing us from the north, the West and the south at the same time. Because our army has no air supremacy and sufficient technical equipment, in the face of the three-dimensional offensive composed of German planes, tanks and artillery, our soldiers can only fight with their own flesh and blood, and the price is heavy. "


    "Yes," Colonel chisjakov continued, "our regiment defends the west side of the city. Although it has been supplemented several times, there are only more than 2000 people left now..."


    "Yes, yes," sherebriavko echoed: "before each attack, the German army used planes to bomb big guns, and then sent out tanks to cover the infantry charge. Due to the lack of artillery and anti tank weapons, our soldiers had to tie explosives on their bodies and rush to die with the enemy''s tanks. "


    I listened to the words of several people, and fixed my eyes on the urban map of wolos ramsk on the table. According to the enemy or foe sign on it, nearly half of the city was occupied by the German army. Moreover, judging from the current situation, the Soviet army is still showing signs of retreat. What should I do?


    I raised my head and asked leviagin, "Comrade General, which direction is your regiment?"


    "Here." His finger was on the map without hesitation. I followed his fingers and saw that it was to the north of the city, where the German army focused on attacking. It seems that the casualties of the 1077 regiment should not be small. Just as he wanted to look away to express his views to you, he caught a glimpse of a place next to his finger that said "station". When I saw this place name, I immediately thought of the sacrifice of felstov, Pavlov, aguminte and Aji. The corners of their mouths twitched and turned to look at leviagin, "Is the station still in our hands?" he asked in a low voice


    Leviagin shook his head and said regretfully, "no, the station is occupied by the German army at present. When the station was just lost, we organized the troops to carry out a counter charge. But because the enemy''s firepower was too strong, we failed in several attacks. "


    Colonel chisjakov asked the political commissar, "Comrade political commissar, when will the reserve team assigned to our division by the higher authorities arrive?"


    Yegorov sighed and said: "the German army is launching a fierce attack on us. The defensive area of the group army is too large to send us a reserve team without being supplemented. We have to rely on our own ability to fight tenaciously with the German army here. "


    "There is no reserve in the group army. Should there be one in the front army?" The Colonel asked the commissar tentatively.


    "No As for the situation of the reserve forces of the front army, I have the most say, so I will answer the Colonel''s question: "according to the order of the base camp, all the reserve forces of the front army have been involved in the counterattack a few days ago, and now they are firmly contained in the area near wolos rumsk by the German forces. If we want to defend the city, we can only rely on our existing strength."


    After listening to my reply, several leaders here were surprised. Lieutenant colonel sherebriavko first asked, "are you sure that we can hold the city with our existing forces, sir?"


    I pondered for a moment, then said: "I''m not sure, but we can try. Maybe we can beat back the German attack." That said, I don''t know what kind of weapons and equipment the German army has and how to deploy its forces. The only thing we know is that the German army is launching a crazy attack on our army. To tell you the truth, how should we fight this war? I don''t have a clue.


    "What do you think? Let''s talk about it and see if it works. " The person who is most concerned about the war situation is always general leviagin, who came from a military background.


    I tapped on the map with my fingers and said carefully: "judging from the current situation, our army''s technical equipment is far less than that of the German army. If we fight with them so hard, we will suffer a lot. No matter how tenacious our soldiers are, if there is no reserve team to supplement them, once the troops are exhausted, the city will not be able to hold on. So I think we should give up the existing positional warfare and fight Street warfare with the German army instead. "


    "Street fight?" After listening to me, the political commissar raised his eyebrows and asked curiously, "how to play?"


    I know in my heart that there is no technology to speak of in such hard to hard positional warfare. What we are fighting for is weapons, equipment and troops. Knowing clearly that this is an inevitable war of attrition, it is not worth the loss to continue to fight a war of attrition with the enemy without any supplement. Compared with the German army, we were at a disadvantage in terms of technology and equipment. If the number of people fell again, the battle would be lost.


    I glanced at the three commanders here, and then asked, "do you have good communication with the front-line forces now?"


    "Of course," Lieutenant Colonel sherebriavko took the lead and replied confidently, "our regiment''s communication is unimpeded. I can give orders directly to any company below."


    "So is our regiment." Colonel chisgakov echoed.


    In the face of my inquiring eyes, leviagin nodded vigorously, indicating that his regiment was the same situation.


    The communication between the headquarters and the company below is smooth, and my plan is half successful. So I stood up and began to give orders: "I ordered: except for the 1077 regiment to stay in the city, the 1073 regiment and the 1075 regiment to withdraw from the city immediately."


    "Ah?" Hearing my deployment, all the people were stunned.


    As far as I expected, I ignored them and continued to give orders: "when the troops withdraw, we should pay attention to leaving the necessary troops for cover to avoid excessive casualties. After withdrawing from the city, the 1073 regiment built a new defense line in the east of the city, relying on the original fortifications. As for the 1075 regiment, they should immediately rush to the position where the division headquarters is and gather, and take a timely rest as the reserve team of the division. "


    "Shut up, commander o''shanina!" The political commissar suddenly slapped the table and stood up. He called my name sternly. His face turned red. He asked me loudly, "I don''t know who put such a ridiculous idea into your mind. Do you know that this is a crime?! Let''s hand over the city to the bandits, it can''t be done! Even if we only have the last soldier left, he will be firmly nailed to the position like a nail, and he will never step back. I''d like to report to the group army command and ask commander rokosovsky to withdraw your position as division commander! " With these words, he had grabbed the phone on the table and began to shake the handle.


    "Wait a minute, comrade political commissar." I grabbed his hand holding the microphone and said to him in a sincere tone, "please don''t worry. I''ll finish what I have to say."


    "Say something." He threw the microphone on the table and sat back in his seat.


    "Comrade political commissar, when I asked the two regiments to withdraw from the city, it was just an adjustment in the operational deployment, not a surrender of the city to the Germans." I patiently explained my intention to the commissar: "sometimes I take my fist back to fight better."


    "Hum!" The commissar just snorted and did not speak.


    So I went on, but the main target was leviagin, because his troops played the leading role in the later play: "stay in the 1077 regiment in the city, disperse the troops as companies and platoons, and fight guerrilla warfare with the enemy in the city. After being dispersed, the troops should rely on the streets and buildings to deal with the enemy instead of fighting unnecessary wars of attrition. The enemy will give them whatever they want. When they take it lightly, we will come out from behind and beat them hard. "


    "Sir, comrade!" It was general leviagin who interrupted me this time. He asked, "how long do you think we can deal with the bandits in the city with our current strength?"


    "This one?" When he asked, he really stopped me. I pushed the cap on my head with my hand, and then cautiously replied, "do your best, as long as you can. The more German troops we hold here, the less pressure we will bear in the direction of Moscow. "


    "Is it certain that our soldiers and the enemy are fighting guerrilla warfare in the city?" The commissar couldn''t help asking, but his tone had softened a lot.


    "There should be no problem." I answered him confidently: "the German army can have the advantage in the battlefield only by virtue of their absolutely superior aircraft and artillery. Once our troops are entangled with them in street fighting, their aircraft and artillery will be useless. Without the support of these technical equipment, the combat effectiveness of the German army will be greatly reduced. " The reason why I am so confident is that I can clearly remember that in the future Chechen battles, the Russian army suffered a great loss in the attack on Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, because it was not suitable for the armed urban guerrilla warfare in Chechnya. Even the commander of the airborne troops who commanded the battle was killed in the war.


    "The task has been made clear. Let''s carry it out immediately." The political commissar stood up again and helped me to issue operational orders to the three commanders.


    "Yes The three regiments rose to their feet.


    Lieutenant Colonel sherebriavko of the 1073 regiment went to the door, turned back, stood in front of me and the political commissar, and said, "Sir, political commissar, I have a request. I don''t know whether I should say it or not."


    "Come on, what''s the matter?" Asked the commissar in a serious tone¡° Since the 1075 regiment is going to be stationed near the division headquarters, can I help the company that I came to reinforce the division headquarters to build up? After all, our regiment suffered a lot of casualties in the battle and was seriously short of troops. "¡° No way Without waiting for the political commissar to speak, I said, "the safety of the division headquarters is the top priority. If the command system is defeated by the enemy, how can we fight this battle? Needless to say, your company will stay as the guard company of the division headquarters. If there''s nothing wrong, you can go back to the regiment as soon as possible and carry out my orders just now. "¡° Yes The commander saluted US helplessly and turned to leave.

 Chapter 129

    When lieutenant commander sherebriavko walked out of the headquarters, the political commissar asked me seriously: "Comrade Rita, the troops on the front line are seriously insufficient. We should not be so selfish and leave a company of soldiers to protect our own safety."


    I gave a bitter smile and thought that the commissar really didn''t have a long memory. Before general Panfilov''s bones were cold, he was cured and his wounds were forgotten. If the security work is not strengthened and the headquarters is taken away by the enemy, the team without command will fall into a mess, and then the enemy can easily defeat or destroy them.


    Without waiting for me to speak, the political commissar went on to say, "in fact, the security work of the division headquarters is completely completed by the logistics department. That''s what we used to do."


    No wonder the division commander will sacrifice and the guard platoon will be almost annihilated because of your wrong thinking. Although I was particularly dissatisfied with him in my heart, I still wanted to explain to him: "the commanders and fighters in the logistics department are inexperienced in fighting, and they are not well equipped. Once they fight, they are easy to suffer big losses..."


    "But our soldiers were all very brave. In the face of the ferocious enemy, no one was afraid to retreat." With that, the political commissar raised a bar with me.


    "Our commanders and fighters are holding pistols to fight against the enemy with submachine guns and machine guns. It''s not a level contest at all. When a pistol is fired, the opponent can fire a row of bullets. Let alone our inexperienced logistics personnel, Rambo is here. If you ask him to fight with the enemy armed to the teeth with a pistol, he will still be beaten into a sieve by random guns. "


    "Rambo?! Who is Rambo? " Asked the commissar curiously.


    Although the temperature in the room was very low, when the political commissar asked me this, I was so scared that my cold sweat came out. How could I be so quick to talk again that even Rambo could say it. I replied: "Rambo, Rambo should be a legendary god of war. It is said that he is a hero who can''t fight to death."


    "Is it?" The commissar said in a suspicious tone: "it''s a legendary figure in that country, Greece, Rome or Persia. How come I''ve never heard of such a figure?"


    "Report, may I come in?" The report from the door interrupted the commissar and directly relieved me.


    "Come in." I saw that it was lieutenant Ramis calling for a report, so I asked him with a smile, "what''s the matter?"


    "Report to the division commander and political commissar that in order to prevent another German attack, I have set up enough firepower points and guard posts near the division headquarters. I came to ask specifically, "is there anything else to do?"


    "What did you do with the bodies of the dead soldiers?" Asked the commissar without expression.


    "They have been buried in the forest and marked. When the battle is over, they will move their graves again."


    "Well done." I went up and patted him on the shoulder, and then said, "you can go out. If there''s anything, I''ll call you."


    "Yes." Ramis saluted and left the headquarters.


    The commissar and I sat in front of the table and looked at each other. No one spoke. The atmosphere in the room became particularly dull for a moment. I was about to speak when the wound on my shoulder suddenly began to hurt without warning, and I took a breath of cold air. When the political commissar saw it, he immediately asked with concern, "what''s the matter with you, Rita? Is the wound hurting again?"


    "Mm-hmm, it hurts. It really hurts. It hurts a lot!" I wanted to gripe my teeth, but the pain still made me cry out.


    "Come on, lie down on the bed and have a rest. You''ll be all right soon." The commissar came up to help me and let me lie down on the March bed beside the wall. I looked at the bed where the body of general Panfilov was still lying. I could not help hesitating. But I could not resist the commissar''s concern, so I had to close my eyes and lie down.


    The left shoulder was injured. I was afraid that sleeping would oppress the wound, so I had to sleep on the right side. Although I stayed up last night and tried to close my eyes, I couldn''t sleep at all because of the pain.


    I don''t know how long I''ve been lying in bed. Because of the pain, I can''t sleep, so I just sit up. Sitting up and scanning around, I found that the political commissar was not in the room, and I didn''t know where he would go at this time.


    I''m the only one in the headquarters, and now I''m sitting in the place where I used to lie dead. I can''t help feeling a little hairy in my heart. Coupled with the pain of the wound, I feel restless. I just go out for a walk to see what''s going on outside?


    As soon as I got to the door, I met the commissar who was about to enter. When he saw me, he was surprised and asked, "Rita, why did you get up and don''t sleep a little longer?"


    "What''s the situation with the army?" Instead of answering his questions, I asked my own concerns.


    "According to the latest information, the 1073 and 1075 regiments are withdrawing from the city in an orderly manner, and the 1077 regiment is also breaking up into parts, dispersing into the city as a unit of company and platoon, and waging street battles with the German army."


    I still stood at the door and asked, "didn''t the troops suffer any loss during the retreat?"


    "No The political commissar shook his head and said, "the German army did not expect that we would suddenly give up our position. They were afraid that this was the trap we set for them, so the German army in the South and West had temporarily stopped attacking."


    I listened attentively. In the distant city, only a few guns were heard, and they were mainly concentrated in the north of the original 1077 regiment. As the political commissar said, there was no movement in the southwest¡° Let''s go in, "the commissar volunteered." we can get in touch with all the troops by telephone. "¡° Good I promised to follow the political commissar into the headquarters. When I returned to the table and sat down again, the commissar asked me, "Rita, have you reported your combat plan to the higher authorities? If you don''t get their approval, you''ll lose your head if you make any mistakes. " Listening to the political commissar''s words, I was scared out of a cold sweat again. Yes, I mobilized my troops without asking for instructions. It''s fair to say that I won the battle. If I want to lose the battle, I will lose wolos ramsk. It''s estimated that even Zhukov can''t protect me. Thinking of this, I quickly picked up the telephone microphone on the desk and asked the political commissar to help me get the handle. I wanted to report my combat deployment to the higher authorities. Without waiting for a phone call, the gunfire outside suddenly gathered. I quickly put down the phone, the first out of the house, overlooking the direction of the city. Hearing the dense explosion and seeing the rising fire and smoke from time to time, I can''t help but feel depressed. The German army is shelling the city fiercely, and the density of shelling is still so high. What''s the matter with the retreating troops? Will they suffer heavy losses?

 Chapter 130

    I grabbed the collar of the political commissar who ran out later and asked aloud, "where can I find the car? I''ll hurry to the city and have a look. "


    "It''s too dangerous. You''d better stay in the headquarters and wait for news."


    "No, I have to go." I was really in a hurry. When I yelled, my voice choked. After all, I personally ordered the troops to be transferred. If they were destroyed by German artillery fire in the process of retreat, I would be guilty. The only thing we can do now is to hurry to the city and find out about the situation? See if there is any remedy.


    The commissar stood in front of me, silent for a long time.


    "Comrade political commissar, I personally arranged the battle plan. I must go to the city myself. Let''s see how the troops are doing. If I happen to meet several commanders, I can readjust my deployment according to the specific situation. Do you understand? " I loosened my grip on the collar, stepped back two steps, and said to the commissar again in a sincere tone.


    The corner of the commissar''s mouth moved. He wanted to say something, but he didn''t say it. Obviously, it''s not easy for him either. After a long silence, he said, "no! You are the head of a division and shoulder the heavy burden of commanding the whole division. You can''t leave your post without permission. You should stay in the headquarters and coordinate the overall command of the troops. " Then he said in an emphatic tone, "besides, you are still injured. As a man, can I send a wounded female commander to the front line? If you want to go, I''ll go too. "


    Since he raised the question to the height of whether to respect women, it really left me speechless for a while. It took me a long time to retort, "this is the time of war. There are only soldiers on the battlefield. There is no distinction between men and women. Besides, you have been in the division for a long time, and all the officers and men in the division know you. If you are much better than me in controlling the army, and let you go to the city, I can''t control the whole army in case of any accident. "


    "But..." the commissar wanted to say something else, but I interrupted him. I waved my hand and said, "there''s nothing but. It''s settled. When you stay in the headquarters, you have more important things to do. In addition to reporting the situation here to the headquarters of the group army, you may also need to arrange for people to take in the scattered troops. "


    "All right!" Hearing this, the commissar finally reluctantly agreed to my request. He took two steps aside and cried out, "Lt. Ramis, Lt. Ramis!"


    "Here it is Lieutenant Ramis agreed loudly and ran out of a mud hut not far away. He ran up to us, saluted at attention, and then reported, "Lieutenant Ramis has been ordered to come. Please give us directions!"


    The political commissar didn''t beat around the Bush, and told him the task frankly: "Comrade lieutenant, Mr. o''shanina needs to get to the city immediately. You should accompany her in person. Remember to protect her life just like your own eyes. Now, you''ll find a car first, and as soon as it arrives, you''ll start


    "Yes Ramis agreed, saluted again, turned and ran away.


    While waiting for the bus, listening to the sound of guns coming from the direction of the city, I can''t help but feel anxious. If wolos ramsk is lost, there will be a huge gap in the defense line of the 16th army. If the German army marched through this gap, it would be a great disaster for the group army without any reserves in the defense depth. Once the troops were encircled, Zhukov''s elaborate defense line would collapse, and the German army would be able to reach Moscow. Although in my known history, the Moscow defense war ended with the victory of the Soviet army and the defeat of the German army, I dare not take this risk at this moment. Who can guarantee that history will not deviate because of the appearance of me as a pacer?


    Seeing that the car didn''t come, I said hello to the commissar and went back to the headquarters to get the gun. The submachine gun was on the table. I grabbed the body of the gun and was about to pick it up. However, I caught a glimpse of the telephone on the table. I couldn''t help hesitating. Should I report the situation here to rokosovsky or Zhukov?


    Hesitating again and again, I think it''s better not to say. The situation is not clear at the moment. In addition to being reprimanded by them, reporting rashly will not help the situation at all. It''s better to leave such a difficult matter to the political commissar. Thinking of this, I put on my submachine gun and hurried out of the headquarters.


    When I went out, I saw a car parked outside. The commissar, Ramis and two soldiers were standing beside the car. When I saw the car I was going to take, I couldn''t help being surprised. I made a circle around the car to make sure that I didn''t see anything wrong. Instead of the common black car made by the Soviet Union, I stopped in front of an American jeep.


    Seeing me circling around the car with a look of surprise on my face, the commissar patiently explained to me, "this is a car that our American allies have given us. It''s called a jeep. Some time ago, when the front army issued US aid materials, they allocated one to our division. Let them drive you to the city later. "


    The commissar helped me get into the co driver''s seat of the jeep. Then he took my hand and said with concern, "Rita, you must come back alive!" My eyes can''t help being a little wet. I can''t speak for a moment, so I can only nod my head.


    The driver drove so fast that he was close to the edge of the city in less than two minutes. On both sides of the road are collapsed houses and dark craters. There are also bodies and wounded soldiers lying upside down. The closer to the city, the more bodies and wounded soldiers there are. The German artillery bombardment has not stopped, from time to time there are roaring shells fell on the roadside, explosion, a lot of fleeing soldiers. See bursts of smoke from the front of the car, the smoke filled with a strong smell of blood. In my heart a burst of sadness, this is the war!


    I couldn''t stop to look at the wounded soldiers and bodies along the way and urged the driver to drive forward. I know it''s dangerous, but I have to. Today''s tragic scene is all caused by me. Besides, I''m acting as a division commander now. If I don''t take the lead, I''ll be looked down upon by the soldiers. I''m afraid I won''t be able to command the whole army in the future. The car pulled out a section and stopped. The road in front of it had been blocked by bricks and stones. It was impossible to drive through, so we had to get off and walk. I walked in front with my submachine gun, followed by Ramis and two other soldiers. In front of a group of soldiers running face to face, Ramis came forward to seize a soldier and asked aloud: "which regiment are you from?" The soldier replied, "from the 2nd Battalion of the 1077 regiment." Hearing this number, I couldn''t help but be overjoyed. I quickly went over and asked, "do you know where general leviagin is?"¡° Yes, comrade commander! "¡° Then take me. I''m looking for him The soldier looked at me and said nothing. He thought that he was thinking about whether it was necessary to accompany me back to the dangerous place¡° This is our teacher, commander o''shanina Ramis looked at each other''s indecision and immediately revealed my identity to him¡° Sorry, I didn''t know you were the teacher The soldier stood at attention and said, "Sir, I know where the general is. I''ll take you there."¡° OK, lead the way ahead As a result of the long-term suffering from the baptism of artillery fire, the whole city has almost become a piece of ruins, full of bricks and stones, debris, some blocks have become unrecognizable. The soldiers who led the way lost their way several times and led us around the ruins. It was getting dark. At last, the soldier who led the way cried excitedly. Then he pointed to a dilapidated building standing in the ruins not far ahead and said, "Sir, look at it. The general and his command post are in that house. "

 Chapter 131

    We walked carefully around the dense craters towards the building. Along the way, we did not see the Sentinels on guard or the necessary firepower points. Looking at the craters and rubble everywhere, I can''t help but worry. What''s the matter? Has leviagin''s regiment headquarters been transferred? Otherwise, how could there be no warning at all?


    "Stop!" A low voice suddenly appeared in the rubble in front of me, which scared me to jump into a nearby crater, half squat down, and at the same time put the submachine gun on the edge of the crater, aiming at the front. Looking back around, Ramis and the soldiers who led the way also fell down on the spot and pointed their guns in the direction of the sound.


    "Who are you?" Rumis, lying on my left not far away, poked his head out and asked aloud.


    A soldier in a raincoat and helmet, armed with a Soviet submachine gun, stood up from behind a pile of rubble in front of the building. Instead of answering Ramis'' question, he asked, "which army are you from?"


    When he saw that his own people were standing up, Ramis got up from where he was and answered, "I''m lieutenant Ramis, commander of the division''s guard company. Where''s your commander?"


    "Keep it secret!" The sentry said coldly, "the German devils may be here soon. You''d better go back quickly."


    "Comrade soldier, I''m the new division commander, lieutenant commander oshanina. I have something to ask for your commander, general leviagin. Please take me to see him immediately." Then I got up from the crater and tried to walk to the sentry.


    "Stop and show me your papers!" The vigilant sentry stepped back, leveled his weapon and pointed it at us.


    The sentry''s attitude angered Ramis. He pointed to the other side with one finger and yelled: "this is our new division commander. Do you need any other documents to see your commander?" After roaring, he strode toward the sentry. It seemed that he wanted to teach the soldier a lesson.


    "Stop! One more step and I''ll shoot you! " The sentry didn''t answer Ramis''s question at all. He said in a loud voice, "show me your identification!"


    With the sound of the sentry, a few more helmets and a few Black Muzzles aimed at us emerged from the rubble. Seeing this, Ramis, who originally wanted to rush forward, had no choice but to retreat back, and then looked at me with the help of his eyes.


    I put the submachine gun on my shoulder and reached for my certificate. I prayed in my heart that I would find the certificate, otherwise I would fight with my subordinates. That would be a big joke. A touch coat pocket, there is a hard small book, quickly took out a look, thank God, it is my ID.


    I handed the document to the next Ramis, who took it and yelled at the opposite sentry: "Hello! And then Then he threw the document at the sentry.


    The document flew over the debris in the middle and landed exactly at the sentry''s feet. Without saying a word, he bent down to pick it up, looked at it carefully, put away his weapons, then pointed to the right and said, "you go ten steps to the left, and then come to me. There are mines and flasks in front of where you are standing."


    Under the guidance of the sentinel, we passed the minefield with great care. The sentry came up to me and handed me the certificate. Then he stood at attention and said in a low voice, "Sir, I''m sorry! I didn''t know you were here. Please forgive me


    "Since you know it''s the division commander, you just..." Ramis yelled angrily at the soldier.


    I turned my head and signed to stop Ramis, saying, "the sentry did the right thing." Then he stepped forward, patted the sentry on the shoulder with his hand, and said, "Comrade soldier, you are right. Under the current situation, you should always keep a high degree of vigilance."


    The sentry came to attention again. He looked at me to express his gratitude and said: please wait a moment! He turned and ran away.


    I looked to the left and right, and found that there were more than ten soldiers holding weapons, squatting behind the rubble, watching everything around with vigilant eyes. I couldn''t help sweating out. If there was a fight just now, these soldiers would be able to easily wipe out all of us.


    Just thinking about it, the sentry just now ran back and reported, "Comrade division commander, the commander will be here soon."


    In less than a minute, leviagin''s familiar figure appeared in front of me. Seeing me standing outside, he came up with a few steps, took my hand and said, "Comrade teacher, I didn''t expect that you would come to our dangerous place at this time. Come on, don''t stand outside. Go to the headquarters in the building


    It''s common to see this building full of holes, but there are wide halls and long corridors inside. There are soldiers sitting or lying on the ground everywhere. When we see us coming in, almost all of them stand up to salute us except those who have fallen asleep.


    The regiment headquarters is located on the second floor. The stairs are broken by shells. There are holes all over the place. If you are not careful, you may fall from the hole. So when I went upstairs, leviagin was afraid that I would slip. He held my hand all the time. When he got to the gate of the headquarters, he released my hand.


    When I opened the door, a dazzling light came out. When I went in, I found that it was a room without windows. There were a steam lamp on the wall all around, which made the room bright. Several military officers are busy, issuing orders to the outside by telephone. Seeing the general and I enter the door, we immediately stop our work and raise our hands to salute us. The general waved his hand and said, "let''s keep busy! I''ll show my teacher around. "


    When I sat down at the table, I saw a map of the city of wolos ramsk on the table. I asked with concern, "Comrade General, what''s the situation of your regiment?" Hearing my question, leviagin quickly stood up and prepared to report to me. I immediately called him: "Comrade General, don''t be so polite. You''d better sit down and say it." Although my present position is higher than that of him, I''m not used to having a person who is much higher than me in rank and age stand in front of me and answer questions respectfully. After the general sat down, he pointed to the map and said to me, "the whole regiment has spread out to the north, West and south of the city with company as the unit. I''ve given them orders to ignore the frontal attack of the Krauts, get out of the way, let them in, and then go around to the back and beat them hard. "¡° Yes, your arrangement is very good. " The general''s statement is in my heart. This is the essence of urban guerrilla warfare. In the case that weapons and equipment are not dominant, we should make full use of our strengths and avoid our weaknesses, shoot one shot at another place and deal with the enemy¡° All the officers and men of the Soviet Union Suddenly came the sound of broadcasting outside, I can''t help but a Leng, at this time who still use the big speaker to broadcast, ah, is it I heard wrong? But when I listened, the voice came again: "all officers and men of the Soviet Union, please pay attention!"¡° Go outside and have a look. "Levi king stood up abruptly and said," the German guns must have stopped shelling. That''s why their armored cars came out to broadcast to us. " We came to the corridor, hid by the window frame and looked out carefully. I found that this building is not isolated, and it is separated by the place, at least ten buildings still stand. In the night, I saw a German armored car driving slowly on the road. The horn of the car was chirping and yelling, followed by dozens of German soldiers with weapons This is an opportunity, choose! To die under the fire, or to surrender bravely and live? What you have is despair. Your fighting is in vain! We are here to liberate your country from Jews and Bolsheviks! Rebuilding a new life, no collective farms, no stakhanov movement... "Hearing this, I couldn''t help asking leviagin curiously:" Comrade General, what does stakhanov movement mean? " Leviakin gave me a marvelous look, but patiently explained to me, "the stakhanov movement is a socialist labor competition in the Soviet Union, named after stakhanov, a coal miner in dunbas, Ukraine."¡° Surrender so you can live The horn of the armored car was still shouting¡° Report I don''t know when a lieutenant appeared. He whispered to us: "according to the observation post, there are German soldiers in several streets around us. We are surrounded."

 Chapter 132

    "What should we do, sir?" Leviagin asked me in a low voice, "fight?"


    I did not answer him immediately, but carefully observed the German army marching up the street below. The armored radio car was driving very slowly, and the German soldiers, all carrying guns, were looking around while walking. They were looking around with vigilance, but they didn''t want to go into the building to search at all.


    Seeing this situation, I confidently answered leviagin: "it seems that these Krauts haven''t found us yet. Don''t rush to open fire, so as not to expose our own targets."


    "I understand!" He promised, and then told the officers: "pass the order, everyone keep vigilant, pay attention to the enemy outside, no one is allowed to shoot without order."


    "Yes The officer agreed, turned and ran away.


    Every day, the color is getting darker and darker, and the German army below is becoming more and more blurred. Finally, the armored car stopped broadcasting, turned around and drove back. The German infantry, who had been following, also stopped moving forward. The rear team changed and the front team moved back in order.


    Watching the German army gradually leave, I feel relieved. The fierce battle in my imagination has not happened. It seems that tonight is destined to be a peaceful night.


    "What''s next?" Leviagin asked me what to do next.


    As soon as I relaxed, I felt extremely tired. Because of the injury, I haven''t had a good rest these days. Now I want to find a place to lie down and have a good sleep. I told him, "leave a few soldiers on guard and watch the enemy''s movements. The rest of the soldiers will have a rest as soon as possible. After daybreak, there may be a big war to fight." Then I couldn''t help yawning, and then embarrassed to ask, "is there any quiet place?"


    "Yes, yes," he quickly replied, "there is one next to the regiment headquarters. Please follow me."


    He led the way in front of him and soon came to the door of a room not far from the headquarters. He pointed to the door and said, "this is the place where the regimental commanders rest. Now there is no one in it. If you are tired, you can go to rest first."


    I nodded and pushed the door open. The dim light in the room suddenly reminded me of one thing, so I stopped and asked, "is the light in the headquarters a little too bright, so it will be exposed in the dark?"


    "Please rest assured, sir." "There are no windows in the room where the headquarters is located. Don''t worry that the light will show through the room and expose our position," he said with confidence


    After listening to his words, I still worried and asked: "if the room is closed, there will be no hypoxia and suffocation, right?"


    "No," he said patiently, "don''t worry, there''s a hidden ventilation system in the room. What you''re worried about will never happen." Then he stepped forward, pushed the door wider and said to me, "it''s the same with this room. You can have a good sleep here."


    "OK," I stepped forward into the room, turned and politely said to leviagin standing at the door before closing the door, "good night, Comrade General!" Then he closed the door.


    On the left side of the door was a small table with a silver candlestick with four burning candles. Facing the wall in the past, there were two marching beds with blankets. I went over, leaned the submachine gun against the wall, chose a bed to sit on, then covered my left shoulder, lay down carefully, pulled the blanket and covered myself randomly.


    I closed my eyes and lay down for a while. As the general said, although there were no windows in this room, I didn''t feel stuffy at all. The concealed ventilation system was really wonderful. I haven''t had a good rest these days because of my injury, so I fell asleep unconsciously.


    I don''t know how long I''ve been sleeping. In a daze, I feel that someone is shaking me gently. At the same time, a familiar voice is shouting: "Comrade teacher, comrade teacher. Wake up


    I opened my eyes, blinked hard, and the scene began to clear. I found the guard company commander Ramis standing in front of the bed. I was awoken from my sleep. I was very upset, but I didn''t dare to get angry. Since someone called me at this time, it might be something important. So I asked coldly, "what''s the matter? Comrade lieutenant. "


    Ramis replied, "commander leviakin, please answer the phone. He said it was general rokosovsky, commander of the group army."


    I sighed, some things want to hide or can''t escape, finally still have to face. I closed my eyes wearily and said, "Comrade lieutenant, help me up."


    "Yes He promised to help me sit up from the bed.


    I sat by the bed for a while, feeling completely awake, then I grabbed the submachine gun by the wall, stood up and said to Ramis, "come on, let''s go to the headquarters."


    As soon as levigin saw me enter the headquarters, he quickly handed me the phone. I put the submachine gun on the table, took the microphone and said, "Hello, comrade commander!"


    "Rita, you''re making a fool of yourself! Why did you order the troops to withdraw from the city without asking for instructions, causing so many unnecessary casualties. What''s more, you are a division commander, not a soldier. Who allowed you to go to the front line on your own There came the angry voice of rokosovsky on the other side of the phone.


    "Comrade commander, please listen to me." I quickly laughed, "because our division suffered too many casualties in the battle and could not be supplemented in time, there was no reserve in the depth of defense. Once the troops were exhausted in the war of attrition with the German army, the defense line would collapse. The task given to me by my superiors is to guard volokoramsk. As the head of a division, I have the right to adjust the deployment of troops according to the changes in the situation on the battlefield. As for casualties, it was a complete accident. No one expected that the German infantry would suddenly stop attacking and bombard the city with artillery fire at that time. "


    "Even if that makes sense, what do you do at the forefront? You know, your task is to command the troops to block the enemy''s attack, rather than squatting in the trenches and fighting face to face with the enemy like a soldier. Once you have an accident, who should command this unit? "


    "..." I was speechless for a moment.


    "Talk! Why don''t you talk? " The phone is almost roaring.


    "Comrade commander, I..."


    "What are you doing? I don''t want your explanation. Get out of the city and go back to your division headquarters. The rest of the city is under the command of general leviagin, understand? "


    Looking at the sympathetic expression on leviagin''s face, I had to give him a wry smile.


    "Did you hear what I said?" Rokosovsky''s voice is eight degrees higher.


    "Yes, yes! Comrade commander, I''m listening. " When I heard that his tone was not good, I quickly agreed.


    "When are you going to withdraw?"


    "I..." I thought, when to retreat, is it up to me? I am now surrounded by the German army. Can I withdraw as soon as possible?


    "Why don''t you answer?"


    "I..." I hesitated for a moment, and decided to report the truth to rokosovsky: "my place is surrounded by the German army, and I can''t withdraw at all."


    "What?" The commander on the other side of the phone was in a hurry. "Nonsense, it''s just nonsense. You have just been awarded the honorary title of the eighth division of the guards. In less than one day, the division commander was surrounded by the Germans. It''s ridiculous. You must hold on. I''ll report to Comrade Zhukov immediately and ask him to send a reserve team to pick you up and lead you out of the encirclement. "


    "No, comrade commander." Listening to his fuss, my head was sweating. "Our division has enough troops in the city. Although it''s very difficult to defeat the enemy, we can drag most of their troops in the city so that they can''t attack Moscow."


    When I spoke, I was quiet in the microphone, and no one spoke for a long time, so that I thought rokosovsky had hung up. I coughed and asked, "Comrade commander, are you still there?"


    "Yes, what''s the matter?"


    "I want to stay in the city for a few more days and try to hold down as many German troops as possible, so as to ease the pressure of the group army''s positive defense."


    "Good!" When he finished, he added, "you have to be safe. What I want to see is a living Rita standing in front of me, not your body lying in front of me. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" I agreed very readily.


    "Good luck!" Then he hung up.


    Put down the phone, leviagin asked with concern: "Comrade commander angry?"


    I nodded and didn''t tell him what he had just called. Instead, I asked, "how is our defense work going?"


    He pointed to a piece of paper on the table and explained to me, "please see, this is the defense plan of our regiment." When I look at it carefully, it''s not a city defense map or something like that. It''s a plan drawn on a piece of paper. A few lines and squares represent the distribution of our army. He pointed to one of the squares surrounded by lines and explained to me, "we are here now. The lines around represent the roads that can be passed. Around these roads, we''ve set up firepower points so that we can suddenly open fire when the Krauts pass through the middle of the road, so that we can give them a good beating. "


    "That''s a good idea." I''m very satisfied with leviagin''s ability. From the bottom of my heart, I really hope he will take the position of teacher. He should be more suitable for this position than me. Then I asked a key question: "how is our communication with these fire points? Can we contact them in time?"


    "No problem, our communication is unimpeded." He confidently pointed to the dozen telephones on the long table beside the wall and said, "I can directly give orders to the class through these telephones."


    I was about to speak when the door was pushed open by a man. A soldier with a submachine gun rushed in. He panted and said, "report, comrade commander, the Germans are coming up."


    Before leviagin spoke, I said, "let''s go, take us to have a look." Then he picked up the submachine gun on the table and went out. The soldier looked at me, didn''t move his steps, or stood in a daze. Leviagin raised his hand and patted him on the back of the head. He said with a smile, "you didn''t hear the teacher say you want to go out and have a look. Why are you still standing here?"

 Chapter 133

    After being patted by the general, the soldier grinned shyly, turned around and rushed out in front of me, and then stood at the door waiting for me. Seeing us coming out, he made a gesture of "please" and then showed us the way without saying a word.


    It''s daybreak outside. It seems that I''ve been sleeping for quite a long time. The walls of the rooms on the right side of the long corridor were riddled with shells, and the ground was strewn with broken bricks and short tiles. Soldiers with weapons squatted or stood behind the wall with the window frame blown off on the left side, watching the outside movements with vigilance.


    At the observation point last night, the soldier stopped, hid by the window, pointed to the bottom and said to us in a low voice, "Comrade commander, please look down." I leaned against the wall and looked down carefully.


    Hundreds of soldiers formed a sparse formation, carefully along the road with rubble on both sides. They didn''t realize that they were going down at the enemy''s gunpoint and that life and death were in our hands.


    "Comrade General, what shall we do, fire?" The soldier whispered to leviagin, who was watching. After hearing this, he glanced at me and then replied, "no, the Krauts didn''t see us. Orders go on. No one is allowed to open fire until the mines go off. "


    "Yes." The soldier agreed and ran away.


    Looking at the general''s eyes looking at me, I nodded with a smile and agreed with the order he had just given. In the case of the enemy has not found us, rashly open fire to expose themselves, how can also play a surprise attack around. It is better to fight a positional war with the German army.


    Suddenly, more than a dozen soldiers left the line, stepped into the rubble, and slowly came to our building. It seemed that they wanted to search the building. I looked to the left and right, and the soldiers who had been on guard put their guns on the windowsill, aiming at the approaching German army.


    "Boom!" I was looking around when there was a loud noise outside, which made the floor under my feet tremble slightly. I looked out of the window and saw a thick cloud of smoke rising from the rubble. Two or three German soldiers were lying on the ground, covering some part of their bodies and shouting.


    In the sound of the explosion, the German army squatted down in unison, the muzzle of the gun pointed at our building. Seeing this scene, I can''t help feeling that these German soldiers are of high military quality. They have such a quick response that they are still standing in a daze when they change the Soviet army.


    "Fire!" Leviagin yelled and finally gave the order to shoot.


    With his shouts, there was a lot of gunfire. All the weapons upstairs and downstairs opened fire together, forming a dense cross fire network. In an instant, all the ten or so German soldiers were put down. The German soldiers on the road saw that the search team here had been attacked and rushed over. The soldiers who rushed in front of us soon fell under the muzzle of our army without any suspense. The rest of the soldiers quickly fell down, crawled to the back of the debris pile and began to fight back.


    I also put the submachine gun on the windowsill, quickly pulled the trigger, and opened fire on the German army below. Because our army''s shooting had already made the German concealed place splash with mud and snow, I couldn''t see whether it had hit the target or not. I just tried my best to shoot out all the bullets in the gun. The terrain of the German army was unfavorable, and it was within the coverage of our army''s cross fire. With little effort, most of the soldiers were either dead or wounded.


    "Wula As soon as the gunfire stopped, shouts came from downstairs, and then dozens of soldiers rushed out with rifles loaded with bright bayonets. Some German soldiers stood up from the rubble with guns. Before they made any tactical moves, they were stabbed with bayonets in the hands of the soldiers who rushed forward.


    There was no suspense in the battle. Nearly a hundred German troops were easily destroyed by the soldiers of leviagin regiment. In addition to those killed, there were more than ten prisoners.


    Seeing that the prisoners were escorted into the small building by the soldiers, leviagin beside me said with ease: "I didn''t expect that the Germans were so free to fight, and the whole army was destroyed in a few minutes."


    I laughed and replied, "the German army didn''t expect us to hide in this building, so we were caught off guard."


    "Look, the enemy''s tanks are coming up." There was a shout from a soldier nearby. As soon as his words fell, a shell hit the wall of the corridor on the right side, and the thick brick wall collapsed. The broken wall immediately buried several soldiers hidden there. Leviagin and I were so shaken that we fell to the ground in a very awkward way. Bits of cement fell from the ceiling and clattered down beside us.


    Leviagin got up hand in hand and foot on the ground, helped me up from the ground, dragged me to the direction of the headquarters. After a few steps, the second shell exploded not far away. The huge explosion made my eyes black and my brain blank. I just blindly followed leviagin, who was holding my hand, and tried to run forward.


    We didn''t stop until we ran into the command post. I looked around blankly to make sure that I had come to a safe place. Then I felt my breath was short and my heart beat as fast as a drum. I don''t care about the image, sitting on the stool gasping heavily.


    Although I sit idly, leviagin is not idle. In front of him lay out a simple map that looked like a newly drawn map, indicating the positions and deployment of our army in the city. He put his right hand on the map, pointed to all kinds of traffic roads in the city, and then pointed to the buildings with our army''s defense. He said to the commanders sitting around the table, "inform our observation posts, closely monitor the German movement, and report to the regiment headquarters in time if there is any situation. If sporadic small German troops are found, they have decisively attacked and eliminated; If it''s a large force, let them go, then sneak in the back and take a chance to eat one or most of them. Do you understand? "¡° I see The commanders around agreed and dispersed one after another to make a phone call to convey the task to the troops below¡° Are you all right, sir? " Leviagin looked at me and asked with concern. I tried to squeeze a smile on my face and replied, "I''m ok. Thank you for saving me just now."

 Chapter 134

    Leviagin came up to me, patted me on the shoulder and said friendly, "don''t be so polite. I''m saving my own life, too." After a pause, he asked, "what are your plans for the next step?"


    "Call the Commissar. I want to ask him how the whole situation of the army is now." As the head of a division, although I stay at the front to command the operation, I still need to grasp the situation of the whole army in time.


    "Rita, you finally called. What''s the situation over there? " As soon as the telephone was put through, the anxious voice of political commissar yegorov came from the opposite side.


    "I''m fine. The troops are fighting the enemy tenaciously." I answered vaguely, so that he would not worry. Then I asked, "what''s the situation with the troops withdrawn from the city?"


    "In accordance with your order, the 1073 regiment held fast in the fortifications built outside the city, and had just repulsed a German attack. As a reserve, the 1075 regiment is in the process of rest


    "How many troops are there in the two regiments?" What I care about is how many troops can be mobilized at present.


    "As a result of the long fighting, the two regiments have lost more than half of their lives. Although they have been supplemented several times in the middle of the battle, at present, there are only 1900 people left in the 1073 regiment and 2300 in the 1075 regiment, with a total force of only over 4000." The political commissar should have kept these data in mind. When he heard my question, he immediately gave me an unambiguous answer.


    If people who do not know the inside information hear these data, they will be complacent and think that the organizational structure of the troops is almost complete. However, the actual situation is that the initial staffing of these regiments was 5000, and they were supplemented several times in the middle. The actual strength of each regiment should be more than 10000, but now only one fifth of them are left. It can be imagined how cruel the battles they have experienced.


    When I was calculating the troops, the political commissar''s voice came again. He said with concern, "Rita, I think you should just withdraw from the city. Your position is in the division headquarters, not just like ordinary soldiers. You should stay in the front line and fight face to face with the enemy


    "Yes, sir." Leviagin, who was standing nearby, probably heard the commissar''s words and helped him persuade me: "the troops here are under my command. You can go back to the command post with ease."


    "No, not yet." I frowned and said firmly, "the enemy''s attack will begin. I will stay until the soldiers beat them back."


    After hanging up the phone, I waved to leviagin, interrupted what he wanted to say, and explained: "you don''t have to say, the soldiers are bleeding. As their division commander, I can''t leave my combat post at this time."


    My words seemed to move everyone present, but only I knew in my heart that it was just a high-profile singing. It was a joke. There was such a fierce fight outside. If I wanted to withdraw from the building at this time, I would be shot into a sieve by the German army before I ran far away. I would not take this risk.


    "Well, let''s go outside and have a look." In order to prevent them from going on, I took the initiative to change the topic. When I got up, I habitually went to get the submachine gun on the table, but I caught it empty. Then I remembered that I had already thrown it somewhere when I ran for my life.


    Although I had no weapons, I took the lead in going out. As soon as I opened the door, the sound of gunfire outside suddenly became clearer. A group of soldiers with live ammunition ran in front of me and went to support the place where they were fighting.


    I went back to the observation point just now and found that the wall of a corridor had been collapsed by the shell, and several soldiers were lying on the bricks and stones and shooting out. I stood by the window and looked out carefully. I found that the German tanks were approaching downstairs, and there were also two armored vehicles, covering hundreds of German soldiers coming towards us.


    Looking at the approaching tanks, I can''t help but feel nervous. Our army doesn''t have any decent anti tank weapons. In the face of such a huge thing, the soldiers can only rush to blast it with burning bottles. But under the enemy''s attack, do they have such a chance?


    When I was daydreaming, suddenly there was a dull explosion downstairs. I looked out again and found a thick smoke coming out of the track on the right side of the German tank.


    "That''s great. The Krauts'' tanks are on our mines." There was leviagin''s excited voice.


    "What''s the matter?" I asked the general standing opposite me.


    "The tank pressed on the mine We laid. Although it was only an infantry mine, if it happened to hit an important part of the tank, it would still be finished."


    As if to make a note of his words, the top cover of the smoking tank slammed open and two tankers in black uniforms climbed out of it. Without waiting for them to jump out of the tank, a fat soldier held out his gun from the window beside me and swept at them. The tank hand suddenly burst out countless blood, the body shook a few, then fell on the tank.


    The machine gunner on the armored car in the back raised his machine gun and shot at us fiercely. Stormy bullets hit the walls and window frames, and a bouncing bullet flew past my ear, which scared me to shrink my head and hide behind the wall. The fat soldier who shot was not so lucky. A series of bullets hit him fairly. His body froze, his weapon fell to the ground, and then he fell on his back, lying motionless on the ground.


    Seeing this soldier sacrifice in front of me, I didn''t have the slightest emotion fluctuation. Maybe I saw more life and death, and became numb to these things. When the enemy stopped shooting at us, I went out to see the situation again. The armored car has been driven to the side of the damaged tank, and the machine guns on it are frantically suppressing the fire of our army. When I saw the arrogant expression of the German machine gunner, I couldn''t help bleeding. I rushed to leviagin next to him and said, "Comrade General, find me a rifle." Soon a rifle was handed over from the other soldiers. I put it on the windowsill and aimed it in the direction of the armored car. I almost didn''t aim at it, so I pulled the trigger directly. With the sound of the gun, the machine gun hands back, and then the whole person will lie on the machine gun¡° What a good shot, sir Leviagin praised me¡° Help me load the bullet. " Instead of answering, I handed him the gun. I didn''t have a Farah bolt in one hand. While the general was loading me, I looked down with a telescope. Another armored car was parked far away, and an officer was directing the troops to rush up. Looking through the telescope, I think the officer looks familiar. He seems to have seen him somewhere. Before I could figure it out, leviagin had handed over the rifle. I took the gun, put it on the windowsill again, and tried to kill the German commander. I was surprised to find that the officer had disappeared from my view.

 Chapter 135

    Since I couldn''t see the officer, I quickly put away my rifle, crouched down and leaned against the wall, trying to think back: the German officer I saw in the telescope just now looks familiar. Have you seen him anywhere before?


    Maybe seeing me squatting there in a daze, leviagin next to me asked with concern, "what are you thinking, sir?"


    "Just now I saw a German officer on the armored car in the distance. He looked familiar, but I couldn''t remember where he had seen him." I answered aloud.


    "Before the war?" He gave me a friendly hint.


    I shook my head and replied, "it''s impossible. I never met the Germans before the war." I didn''t inherit Rita''s former memory, so this familiar looking German can''t have known her before.


    While I was thinking hard, a soldier bent over and ran over, squatted down in front of me, and loudly reported, "Comrade division commander, there is a phone call for you in the headquarters."


    I asked curiously, "where are you calling from? Group army headquarters or political commissar If he didn''t tell me the content of the phone call, I could guess that nine times out of ten I was asked to withdraw from the city immediately and return to my command post. I just wanted to know whether it was rokosovsky or political commissar who called at this time?


    The soldier shook his head and said, "none of them. It''s general Zhukov himself, commander of the front army."


    Ah, my heart sank when I heard this familiar name. Based on my understanding of Zhukov, if you call me at this time, you will scold me first for ordering the troops to withdraw without authorization, and then you will definitely order me to withdraw from the city immediately. As for returning to the rear, he may be sent to the military court for trial.


    I went back to the command room with the soldiers in an uneasy mood. He took the microphone from the messenger, took a few deep breaths in his hand, and then summoned up the courage to say to the microphone: "Hello, general, I''m Rita!"


    "Rita, how brave you are Zhukov''s voice came out of the receiver like thunder. "You''re committing a crime. My order to your division is to nail it in the city like a nail, and not to step back. But what about you? Unexpectedly, without asking for instructions, they withdrew their troops and left the city to the enemy! Do you know that if I hadn''t stopped you, you would have been taken to the military court by the Ministry of interior now! "


    Zhukov''s words scared me out in a cold sweat. I know that his words are not alarmist, especially in this sensitive period. Let alone my little acting division commander, he himself, dare not order any troops to withdraw from the existing position without asking for instructions from the supreme command. But I was self righteous and made the decision to withdraw without authorization. It was really a bit of a risk of the world''s great injustice. If he had not had a better relationship with Zhukov, he would have regarded me as a fugitive and sent someone to carry out the battlefield discipline.


    "Comrade General, please listen to my explanation." I know that if I don''t make my plans clear to him, my division commander will be the end, and the court martial will be waiting for me.


    "Go ahead, I''ll listen." His voice immediately became much smaller, but his tone was still severe: "you''d better give me a reasonable explanation."


    "After a long period of fighting, our division has been seriously downsized." I explained to him carefully.


    "Hell, not only your division, but all the troops are the same. Some divisions are almost finished, but the rest of the soldiers are still fighting tenaciously. This cannot be a reason to order the troops to withdraw without authorization. " Zhukov interrupted me discontentedly and complained in the microphone.


    "General, please listen to me." I was afraid that he would interrupt me again, so I snatched the lead.


    "Well, you go on."


    "Our division has been seriously downsized. It is an unfinished task to block the attack of four or five German divisions without being supplemented. After careful consideration, I felt that instead of fighting with the German army in the city, I''d better change my tactics. So I withdrew the main force of the division for the time being, leaving only the small forces and the German forces in the city. In this way, even if the German army occupied most of the cities, they would have a considerable number of troops firmly held by us. "


    "The small troops in the city may soon be wiped out by the German aggressors. Have you considered this question?" Zhukov asked suspiciously.


    "I don''t think it''s possible," I replied with great confidence. "Because we were so intertwined with the German defense, they didn''t dare to use aircraft guns. Without these heavy weapons, the fighting capacity of the German army is similar to ours. I am confident that I will hold the city


    "Well, I''ll wait for your good news." Zhukov gave me an order: "keep the city at all costs."


    "Yes." When I heard the other party put down the phone, I took a long breath and found that I was scared out in a cold sweat.


    I went back to the observation point and found leviagin standing in front of the window, holding a mirror to observe the war outside.


    "Comrade General," I was so surprised that I quickly reminded him, "pay attention to safety."


    "It''s OK," he said, looking back at me. Then he turned his head and said, "our regiment''s troops around here have all gone out and are destroying the rest of the Krauts."¡° Ah? " After hearing what he said, I was shocked again. I went in and answered the phone. I didn''t expect that the war situation would be so beneficial to our army. So I took a few steps to the window and raised my telescope to look down. Our army was pouring out of buildings in all directions. There were at least five or six hundred people in that posture. And dozens of German troops were retreating while fighting, one after another retreating into a double-layer building that had been blown through the roof 100 meters away. Just now, the once arrogant armored car was also burning. There were several burning bodies lying around the car. I searched for the officer I saw just now and found that he was being helped into the building by two soldiers in helmets. I put down my telescope and asked leviagin, "why is there no one in the building opposite us?"¡° I went to see the house when it was deployed. It looks like it''s two stories on the outside, but the inside has been blown into ruins, which is not conducive to defense, so I didn''t arrange human defense inside. "¡° oh So it is. I see. "¡° Sir, please look at it Leviagin excitedly pointed to the front and said to me, "our people have surrounded the house. As long as we have another charge, we can rush in and destroy these enemies. Maybe we can catch many prisoners." Capture prisoners. When I heard him mention this word, I suddenly remembered who the German officer I saw just now was. Wasn''t he the major von torman who led the army to surrender to me near the station? He was not taken to the rear camp. How could he be here¡° Comrade general, "a soldier ran up to leviagin and reported," we have surrounded the enemy. Do you want to launch the final attack immediately? "¡° Of course, attack immediately. " Leviagin gave the order almost without thinking¡° Wait a minute, "I quickly stopped the soldiers from leaving, and gave them a puzzling order:" let the troops stop and surround for the time being instead of attacking. "

 Chapter 136

    At my command, the soldier''s face was full of surprise. He couldn''t help looking at leviagin. Leviagin, who was also puzzled, just frowned a little, and then told the soldiers, "didn''t you hear the command of the division commander? Go and tell the troops. "


    "Yes." The soldier agreed, his shoulders collapsed and went back to the command post to convey the order.


    Watching the soldiers go away, leviagin asked, "the Krauts have been surrounded by us in the house. As long as the soldiers rush up, they can be wiped out. Why stop attacking at this time? If we don''t take the time to eliminate them, we will fall into the situation of being attacked by the enemy on both sides when their reinforcements arrive later. "


    "I''m just waiting for their reinforcements." I replied disapprovingly.


    "Ah?" He listened to my answer, startled, puzzled to ask: "why ah?"


    Instead of answering his question directly, I pointed to the relatively complete building complex on the opposite side and asked him, "are there our soldiers'' defenses in those buildings?"


    He looked in the direction I pointed out, then nodded and said, "yes, I have arranged personnel defense in these places, and from the current situation, only part of them are attacked, and there are a considerable number of soldiers in the building guarding."


    With a smile, I said, "if we just surround the enemy and do not destroy it, the enemy will soon send troops to reinforce us. And these defensive buildings are just on both sides of their only way. As soon as they enter the effective shooting range, we can launch new attacks on them and destroy the enemy who comes to help them. "


    Leviagin listened to me, looked at me with a frown, and asked suspiciously, "will this work?"


    "Yes, it will." I explained to him, "it''s called round the corner. It will not be too difficult to eliminate these besieged enemies, but after all, it is a tough task. Even if we do, we will lose a lot. Now we have changed to encircle rather than attack, luring the enemy to send troops from other places to support them, while we ambush and annihilate them at selected locations. "


    "Encircle the spot to help?" Leviagin, still skeptical, asked, "I''ve never heard of this tactic. Will it really work?"


    "You can rest assured that my judgment will not be wrong." This tactic is so famous in later generations, it must have been tested by practice, so I confidently told him: "the troops in the March, no matter how well equipped, are very vulnerable. Coupled with the suddenness of our attack, it is entirely possible to inflict heavy damage on or annihilate all the enemy troops that have come to our aid. "


    "Since you are so confident, let''s wait and see." Hearing that I talked about this matter in such a positive tone, leviagin had no choice but to agree with my proposal.


    Although I have ordered to stop the attack, the messenger has not yet passed the order to the combat forces, so the attack of the following forces continues.


    The soldiers carried their weapons over the rubble and rushed to the building. The German soldiers in the building hid behind several windows, stretched out their weapons and shot at the soldiers frantically, causing the ground to fly. Several soldiers who had rushed into the range of the German army burst into blood and fell to the ground.


    "Machine gun! Machine gun cover Seeing the soldiers'' sacrifice, leviagin was heartbroken and yelled at the side. As soon as his voice fell, a machine gun beside him began to rattle. Dense bullets hit the wall of one of the windows. Bricks, stones and sawdust flew everywhere. The shooting behind that window stopped immediately.


    After destroying the fire point, the machine gun turned to the next window¡° Great Levi King slapped his hand on the window frame and exclaimed excitedly, "the machine gunner is really good. Let''s fight like this..." just halfway through, I suddenly heard him say "ah". Turning to see, he has been sitting on the ground, is covering his forehead with his hand, blood flowing down his fingers.


    Seeing that he was injured, I couldn''t help feeling a little flustered. I squatted down and asked with concern, "Comrade General, what''s the matter with you?"


    He gave a wry smile and did not release his hand covering his forehead: "it doesn''t matter. He was bitten by the enemy''s stray bullet."


    I looked around and saw that there were still a lot of soldiers around me. I cried out: "health worker, where is the health worker? Come to me quickly


    A nearby soldier squatting at the window to observe the war situation, heard my cry, bent down and ran over, squatted in front of me, and loudly reported: "report commander comrade, I am a health worker, waiting for your order."


    I looked at the medicine box on his shoulder and the Red Cross sign on his sleeve, and told him: "Comrade General is injured. Please bandage him as soon as possible."


    "Yes The hygienist agreed, moved a few steps to leviagin and began to bandage him.


    I carefully put my head out, raised my telescope to observe the situation, and found that our attack had been repulsed by the German army, and the soldiers had retreated, hiding behind the rubble and fighting with the German army in the building.


    A soldier took a grenade from his body, pulled the fuse and threw it right through a window. However, unexpectedly, the grenade was immediately thrown out of the window by the German army and landed in the open space outside the window. A stream of mud and snow was blown up into the sky. The soldier took another grenade and burned the fuse again. This time, instead of rushing to throw the grenade in, he stayed for two or three seconds before throwing it out. This time, as soon as the grenade flew into the window, there was an explosion. In the light and smoke of the explosion, a German soldier was thrown out of the window by a wave of air, fell heavily on the ground outside, struggled twice, and then lay there motionless.


    The soldier suddenly stood up and rushed forward with his rifle in his hand. Just as he approached the building, a grenade flying out of the window fell on his side. The air wave of the explosion raised him fiercely, whirled in mid air, and then fell heavily on the snow. At this time, my order was sent to the fighting forces. The soldiers who were eager to try stopped trying to attack and hid behind the rubble to guard¡° How''s it going? " Leviagin, with a bandage on his head, appeared next to me and asked with concern¡° The troops have stopped attacking. " I sighed softly and said, "the enemy''s resistance is very strong. The attack launched by our army just now has failed."¡° What? " He said with some disbelief: "the soldiers who took part in the attack all had rich combat experience. The number of them was as many as 300. Can''t they eliminate dozens of Germans in the building?"¡° Look at it I pointed to the area where the fighting was going on and said to him, "there are nearly 100 bodies near the building. Except for a dozen left by the German army when they were defeated, the rest are all our soldiers who died." Seeing this, leviagin''s mouth twitched violently and his hands were shaking. After a long time, he came back and stabilized his mood, then said to me: "I didn''t expect that the resistance of the German guys is so tenacious. If we continue to attack, we will pay a more painful price. It seems that you are right. We really should only encircle but not attack, attract other enemies to reinforce us, and then find the right time to eliminate them. "¡° Report Just now, the signalman bent over and ran quickly in front of us, and loudly reported: "according to the observation post, about 200 German soldiers, under the cover of two tanks and five armored vehicles, are rapidly advancing towards our area!"¡° I see! " Before I could speak, leviagin had preempted the messenger: "tell the observation post to continue to observe, and report to the headquarters in time once there is any new situation!"¡° Yes The signalman agreed loudly, turned and ran away. Leviagin looked at me, then said with a wry smile, "the German reinforcements are coming. There are still a lot of them. We are going to fight a tough battle next."

 Chapter 137

    I looked at the hot place on the opposite side and said, "what are you afraid of? The soldiers will block the water and cover the land. No matter how many people come, they will never come back." With that, I snorted scornfully at the German soldiers who came to die. As soon as I finished humming, I suddenly felt that something was wrong. Why did I speak Chinese unconsciously just now? Suddenly startled out a cold sweat.


    "What did you say? I didn''t get it Maybe the shooting outside is too loud or my voice is too small. He didn''t understand what I said just now and is still asking me loudly.


    I breathed a sigh of relief, then turned away from the topic and asked with concern: "Comrade General, how is your injury? Can you hold on? "


    "It''s OK. It''s just a small injury. I can stick to it."


    "Please don''t worry about it," said the health worker next to him. "I checked it carefully for the general just now. It''s estimated that a bouncing bullet crossed my forehead. It''s just skin injury. After bandaging, it won''t get in the way."


    "That''s good." I nodded and said, "now that the enemy has come to reinforce, there is no need for the enemy in the opposite building to stay. Give my orders and the troops will attack immediately and wipe them out. "


    "I totally understand." He agreed, then turned to the side and yelled, "come on!"


    Hearing his cry, a soldier immediately took back the weapon on the window frame, ran over, squatted in front of him and asked aloud, "Comrade General, what do you want to do?"


    "You go to the troops immediately and get them to attack immediately. In the shortest possible time, we should eliminate all the Krauts in the building. "


    "Yes The soldier agreed excitedly and got up to leave¡° Wait a minute, "I quickly stopped him and added," tell them to be fierce and fast, fight quickly and make a quick decision. No enemy is allowed to run away. "


    "I understand." The soldier agreed to take the gun and ran away.


    "Comrade division," leviagin asked me again, "what can we do next?"


    I looked around and saw that many soldiers in the corridor were putting their weapons on the windowsill, aiming at the outside. Weapons are various, including rifles, submachine guns and two machine guns. Then he had an idea and said, "order all the soldiers to be ready. As soon as the attack begins, all the soldiers will open fire and use their firepower to suppress the enemy in the opposite building to provide firepower cover for our attacking troops."


    "I see." He agreed. He stood up straight with his back against the wall and yelled at both sides: "all of you, listen to my command: target, enemy in the opposite building, aim and prepare to shoot!"


    Just at this time, the voice of the charge came from downstairs. At first, I was my own auditory hallucination. Listen carefully, yes, it was the voice of the charge. I didn''t expect that the Soviet army would also blow the bugle when charging. I thought it was all up to the front commanders to shout slogans to guide the soldiers to attack. At the sound of the bugle, the Soviet soldiers, who had been lying in the rubble and shooting against the German army, stood up, yelled and rushed forward with weapons.


    "Shoot!" With leviagin''s shouts, dense gunfire suddenly rang out in the corridor. The soldiers standing in my left and right windows did not hesitate to pull the trigger. Dense bullets poured like raindrops to the opposite building. Under the suppression of the commanding firepower, the original rampant German firepower weakened, and even some windows completely stopped shooting.


    The fighting here was in full swing, and German reinforcements appeared in the distant street. I raised my telescope and looked over. Because of the narrow road, the dilapidated buildings and the messy debris on both sides, the German troops could only march forward in a long snake line. An armored car in front of the road, followed by more than 20 German soldiers.


    With a loud noise, the moving armored car turned into a ball of fire and flew up in the air. After a somersault in the air, it fell heavily to the ground. Flames came out from the windows of the car. The whole car was surrounded by black smoke and the fire was burning into the sky. Several German soldiers who were close to the car were blown up to pieces. Fortunately, they didn''t die. They quickly fell on the ground and looked around with fear.


    "The German armored cars are pressing on our mines," leviagin said with some regret. "It''s a pity that they don''t open the way with tanks. If they can blow up their tanks at once, our army''s casualties will be much smaller later."


    The battle downstairs is still going on. Our army has gained an obvious advantage. Many soldiers have approached the building. At this time, the firepower point of a window revived again, and the bullets from several submachine guns formed a dense firepower blockade, frantically harvesting the life in the area.


    Almost in an instant, more than a dozen soldiers who rushed to the front fell to the ground, and their blood dyed the snow red. The soldiers behind did not flinch, but rushed forward crazily. Although there are still soldiers falling, but more people rushed up.


    One grenade after another flew into the window. After a series of explosions, the German firepower was completely dumb. Countless soldiers rushed into the building shouting.


    The battle without suspense soon ended, and the soldiers escorted the prisoners out. There were more than a dozen prisoners, including one officer. I looked at leviagin and said to him, "Comrade General, let''s go and see what kind of people we have captured."


    "All right." Leviagin agreed, and then told the soldiers around: "everyone watch out, the German reinforcements may soon be here." We went downstairs and led a group of soldiers towards the prisoner. As I approached, I could see at a glance that the officer in the group was the German major von torman I had captured. I stepped forward, put my hand away the two German prisoners in front of me, and said to the major in a flat tone, "major Tolman, we meet again." Major Tolman saw me greeting him, and I could not help but face with embarrassment, awkwardly stammered in Russian, and said, "yes... Yes, I didn''t expect... I... So quickly became your captive again." I frowned and asked coldly, "last time you were captured, you were sent to the camp. How could you be here again?" Tolman gave a wry smile and replied, "that day, on my way to the prisoner''s camp, I happened to encounter a small unit that attacked the rear of your army. They killed the Soviet soldiers who were escorting us and rescued me. After I returned to the army, I met an old friend of my father, who was the commander of the 106th infantry division. Out of his concern for me, he arranged me to be a battalion commander in his division. " After hearing his statement, I sneered: "I hope our soldiers can send you to the capture camp smoothly this time." Before he could speak, the tanks of the German reinforcements fired. The shells roared and landed around us, and the bricks and rubble flew everywhere, injuring many soldiers who couldn''t dodge.

 Chapter 138

    "Lie down!" When the second shell fell near us, general leviagin yelled. In fact, his cry was totally superfluous. The shells were still roaring along the way. No one needed to remind us that we were all lying on the ground. It was a survival instinct.


    Besides our soldiers, even the German prisoners were all down. They knew better than anyone that cannonballs could not tell the enemy from the enemy. They could not only kill the Soviet soldiers, but also blow them to pieces. So everyone reacted quickly and almost fell down at the moment when the first cannonball exploded.


    I lay on the ground and was shocked by the huge explosion sound wave. Instinctively, I used my uninjured hand to protect my head. Other parts of my body were hit by stones falling from the air. Even if I was injured, it would not be too heavy. But if I was hit by a stone directly on my head, I would lose my life.


    From time to time, the shells flying around us exploded, and the bricks and stones in the rubble pile were raised high into the air by the air waves, and then fell from high places. A few pieces of gravel hit my back like a heavy hammer, and the pain made my tears come out. I can''t help regretting the pain. I didn''t have to wait for a good command post. I had to run to the front line to direct the battle. Was my decision too hasty?


    When I was struggling with myself, there was a sudden sound of gunfire in the distance, and the German tank''s shelling on us suddenly stopped. I slowly raised myself with my hands and looked in the direction of the densest guns. From time to time, fire and smoke rose in the direction of the German reinforcements. It seemed that our troops on both sides of the road were attacking the German troops.


    I was about to get up when suddenly several people passed me and ran towards the place where I was fighting. Before I recovered, an angry voice rang out: "stop! Stop all of you I turned my head and looked in the direction of the sound. I saw a soldier with a red face, shouting and rushing towards me.


    "You damned Krauts, go to hell!" He rushed to me, stopped, raised his submachine gun, and pulled the trigger at the figures who were running in front of me¡° Dada dada With a series of gunshots, the bodies of the people who were running all leaned back, then ran two steps forward and fell to the ground.


    It was only then that I understood that several German prisoners wanted to escape, but they were found and killed on the spot by soldiers with high vigilance. If you look at the shooter, I know the one who went to the headquarters in the morning to report to leviagin. Although he saw that the escaped prisoners were all shot down by him, he still refused to give up. He angrily walked forward with his gun and made up for them one by one.


    "Colonel girl, I protest!" Major Tolman didn''t know when to stand in front of me and exclaimed angrily, "now that we have surrendered to you, please give us the treatment that a prisoner of war deserves. Your killing of unarmed prisoners of war is a serious violation of the Geneva Conventions. "


    "Enough! If they had not attempted to escape, such a thing would not have happened. " I got up from the ground, interrupted him impolitely, glanced at the major with an angry face like a pig''s liver, and continued: "if you want to avoid similar tragedies happening again, you should restrain your men and let them be prisoners honestly."


    "Yes He listened to my words, helplessly agreed, and then rushed to the side to shout a few words in German. With his shouts, the remaining ten or so prisoners gathered in front of him and formed a regular line. Seeing that his troops had assembled, he turned around, walked up to me, saluted me, and then said, "I''ve assembled my troops. Please take us where we should go."


    I looked around and found general leviagin standing on my right side. I asked him in a low voice, "Comrade General, where are these prisoners? Can they be sent out of the city?"


    He shook his head and said, "I''m afraid not. We are surrounded by German forces. It''s almost impossible to send these prisoners out smoothly." He looked up at the German prisoners standing in front of us, sighed softly, and said to me in a low voice, "why don''t you put them in the downstairs of the headquarters for the time being? There are many German prisoners there, and they can be locked together."


    I turned to see the soldier with the gun. He was standing not far from me. He waved to him quickly: "Comrade soldier, come here." He ran to me in three steps, put his gun on his shoulder, and then stood at attention respectfully. I didn''t reply. I pointed to the building behind me and told him directly, "take these prisoners to the building."


    "Yes He agreed, then took off the submachine gun again, pointed at the German prisoners of war, and yelled: "all follow me honestly, who wants to run away again, these people just now are your examples."


    He said these words in Russian, which no one could understand except major Tolman. I gave a wry smile, just to remind him, when Tolman nodded at me, and then yelled at his subordinates, as if translating the words of the soldiers. After he finished shouting, he turned to salute me, and then led his men to follow the soldiers to the building.


    Watching the prisoners go away, leviagin came up to me and opened his mouth to talk¡° Diddiddidi... "The loud and clear charge horn suddenly rang. I looked back in surprise and saw soldiers with all kinds of weapons pouring out from every corner and rushing towards the fierce fighting place¡° Let''s go back to the headquarters, comrade division. " Leviagin''s words put an end to my idea of charging with the troops, and he continued, "you can better command all the troops in the city there."¡° All right, then I just hesitated for a moment and agreed to his proposal. After all, I am now the head of a division. I am no longer the platoon leader. There is no need to lead the soldiers to charge. Staying in the headquarters, I can play a greater role. As soon as we entered the headquarters, a second lieutenant came up to greet us and reported to us, "Mr. division, I''m going down to look for you. I have a call for you." Seeing that I looked at him blankly, I quickly explained, "it''s the Commissar." I grabbed the phone and said to it, "Hello, comrade political commissar! I''m oshanina¡° What''s the situation in the city now? " The political commissar didn''t say anything polite, but couldn''t wait to ask me, "are you not hurt?"¡° Not bad, "I was quite satisfied with today''s results. Looking at leviagin standing beside me, I answered the commissar happily," I fought two battles with the German troops who entered the city and wiped out a lot of enemies at a very low cost. What''s the situation over there? "¡° Comrade teacher, I''m calling you now to bring you bad news. " The political commissar hesitated on the phone and said, "I just received the latest order from group army commander rokosovsky..." "what order?" Before he finished speaking, I interrupted him and asked in my own way: "is the commander still ordering our division to keep the city at all costs, like yesterday, and drive it here like a nail, not to retreat?"¡° no I was told the opposite. The commander ordered our division to give up volokoramsk, and all the troops immediately retreated to the Istra river area to establish a new defense there. "¡° What Leviagin and I were stunned by the news almost at the same time.

 Chapter 139

    I quickly recovered from my surprise, took a deep breath, and tried to ask in a calm tone: "Comrade political commissar, do you know why the commander gave such an order?"


    "I don''t know!" At the other end of the phone, the commissar muttered in a complaining voice: "I only know that when the order is clear, I will immediately carry out the order instead of discussing the right and wrong of the order."


    When I heard him say this, I sighed and said, "then you should follow the command of the commander, and lead the 1073 and 1075 regiments to withdraw to the Istra River first..."


    "What about you and the officers and men of the 1077 regiment?" The commissar couldn''t wait to interrupt me and asked.


    "If the main force wants to move, someone must stay to cover it. I plan to lead the 1077 regiment with general leviagin and stay in the city for another two days to attract the main force of the enemy so that you can safely retreat to the assembly site. "


    "But you are the head of a division. Your duty is to go back to the headquarters and command the troops, not to fight the enemy face to face like ordinary soldiers." He tried to persuade me: "besides, you are still injured. Staying in a place with fierce fighting and poor medical conditions is not conducive to your recovery."


    "Thank you for your kindness." Although I would like to leave this dangerous city and go back to the headquarters of rear security, we are surrounded by German troops and it is not so easy to retreat. Instead of risking to break through at this time, it would be better to stay in the city and deal with the German army until the time is ripe to jump out of the siege. So I said to the commissar on the other side of the phone as if nothing had happened: "first, you take the division''s main force outside the city to transfer. After I finish the task of containment, I will lead the troops to join you as soon as possible."


    "But..." the commissar tried to persuade me, but I stopped him mercilessly: "carry out the order, comrade commissar!"


    Hearing that my attitude was so firm, he had no choice but to agree.


    Hang up the phone, I looked at leviagin standing in front of him with a confused face, and asked before he spoke, "Comrade General, can we talk directly to the headquarters of the group army?"


    He said with a bitter face and shaking his head: "there was a high-frequency telephone that could contact the headquarters of the group army directly, but it was blown up in the process of yesterday''s transfer. Now, unless the headquarters of the group army calls us first, we will not be able to contact them on our own initiative. "


    I sat down on the bench beside the table, staring at the map spread out on the table, tapping the table with my fingers. Although I look at the map with my eyes, I can''t see anything on it. I just wonder why rokosovsky suddenly gave the order to withdraw?


    "Sir, comrade!" Leviagin, who was standing opposite me, put his hands on the edge of the table, leaned forward and asked me in a low voice, "why do you think the commander suddenly gave such a strange order?"


    First, I shook my head. I just wanted to say I don''t know, but I suddenly thought of a scene in the movie "Moscow defense": rokosovsky went to the Western army headquarters to find Zhukov and asked him to allow the troops to retreat to the Istra river area to organize a new defense. As a result, Zhukov turned down the request mercilessly. In desperation, he had to call marshal Shaposhnikov, the general staff officer of the Red Army, and put forward the request to withdraw the troops again. This time, he was very lucky. After consulting Stalin, the chief of general staff agreed to rokosovsky''s withdrawal plan.


    Since rokosovsky gave the order to withdraw at this time, according to the history I have, it was the supreme commander who agreed to withdraw the troops to a new area and reorganize the defense plan. Now that I understand the context of things, I can make targeted decisions.


    I looked up at leviagin in front of me, spread my palm on the map, and said to him in a casual tone, "Comrade General, please point out the location of the Istra River to me!"


    Leviagin looked down at the map, then pointed decisively to a place with his index finger. I followed the position of his finger and saw that the name spelled out the Istra river. Although I already knew the reason for rokosovsky''s order to withdraw, I still pretended to point around the place with my finger, and then said thoughtfully, "Oh, I see. That''s it!"


    "What do you understand?" Levigin asked me mistily.


    "I understand why the commander, general rokosovsky, ordered the troops to withdraw here." When I spoke, I deliberately pointed the place name with my fingers.


    Leviagin asked me with great cooperation: "why?"


    "The enemy forces quickly gathered in the direction of Kling, and the threat from the North increased. The fierce attack on the left wing of our group army has not stopped. All this made general rokosovsky have to consider taking new measures to improve the situation of our army and prevent the enemy from advancing. Today, the battle between the center of the whole army group and the left wing takes place 10-12 kilometers west of the Istra reservoir. If my estimation is correct, the commander will think that the reservoir itself, the Istra River and its adjacent areas are the best defense areas. After occupying this area, only a small number of troops can be used to organize a solid defense. In this way, the group army can put some troops in the second echelon, establish defense in depth, and put most of the troops in the klin direction. "


    "Is it?" Although listening to my analysis, leviagin habitually asked a rhetorical question¡° That''s right. " I answered him very simply, in a confident tone. He frowned at the map and tried to digest what I had just said. Suddenly, the phone on the desk rang. He reached for the microphone and said aloud, "I''m general leviagin. Where are you?" The other side replied, but before I could understand what he was saying, he held the receiver and stood at attention, respectfully saying, "Hello, comrade commander." When I heard him call the commander, I immediately guessed that it was rokosovsky calling. I quickly raised my ears to listen to the conversation between them. Unexpectedly, leviagin handed over the microphone directly and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, I want to talk to you in person." I took the microphone, put it in my ear and said hello to rokosovsky: "Hello, comrade commander."¡° Have you received an order to withdraw? " He asked with concern¡° I got it. "¡° Do you know why I decided to withdraw? "¡° I know¡° "Oh," he said with great interest, "tell me your reason!" I looked at leviakin, who was listening to my conversation with rokosovsky, and repeated the analysis aloud¡° Great After listening to my analysis, rokosovsky said excitedly: "it''s amazing! I didn''t expect that you could judge my intention so accurately. " After a pause, he asked with concern, "are you ready to withdraw?"¡° I have ordered the political commissar to lead the 1073 and 1075 regiments to retreat first, while the 1077 regiment led by general leviagin and I will continue to stay in the city and deal with the German army as a follow-up cover mission. "¡° No way "You should also obey orders, abandon the existing defensive areas and immediately organize troops to move to the Istra River," he said firmly¡° Comrade commander, "instead of directly rejecting him, I changed the subject and said," I think this order of retreat you gave may be opposed by general Zhukov, commander of the front army. "¡° Ha ha, "he said with a smile at the other end of the phone," you really know Comrade Zhukov very well. To tell you the truth, I first made this request to him, but he refused it without hesitation. Then I made the same request to the chief of the general staff. With his consent, I gave the order to the group army to withdraw. I worked with Shaposhnikov as early as in peacetime. I believe his reply was undoubtedly agreed by the supreme commander, or at least informed him. So I immediately drafted an order for the troops to transfer the main force to the Istra reservoir at night, and ordered individual troops to remain in their original positions and maintain contact with the German forces, so as to contain their forces and cover the whole retreat. "¡° But... "I hesitated for a moment, but I finished what I wanted to say:" I think with the character of general Zhukov, even if this action is approved by the chief of general staff and the supreme commander, he may still oppose it. " When I heard this kind of worrisome thought, rokosovsky laughed on the phone and said, "dear comrade Lida, you think too much..." Before he finished, I suddenly heard someone talking next to him: "report to Comrade commander, I just received a telegram from general Zhukov, commander of the front army."¡° Read Rokosovsky didn''t cover the microphone, so he told his subordinates directly. Maybe he also wanted me to hear what Zhukov''s telegram said¡° I''m commanding the front army! No one else! Now I withdraw the order to transfer the troops to the Istra reservoir. I ordered you to stay where you are and not step back. General Zhukov. " The message was short, but daunting. After listening to the telegram, rokosovsky didn''t speak for a long time. If I didn''t hear his breathing, I even thought he hung up. After a long time, he sighed and said, "Zhukov is right. Behind us is Moscow. We have no way back. "

 Chapter 140

    Due to Zhukov''s intervention, the withdrawal order of rokosovsky was less than ten minutes and had to be cancelled. As soon as I put off the phone, leviagin asked me what to do next?


    I tried hard to think back to the plot in the movie. When Zhukov forcibly cancelled the withdrawal order, I couldn''t remember what kind of situation the 16th army would face. But one thing is certain, that is, in the face of the German army''s strong offensive, the whole defense line moved to Moscow little by little.


    My heart beat violently at the thought that the Soviet army was defeated by the German army, and the situation of us surrounded by the German army was worrying. I squeezed out a smile to leviagin and said difficultly, "first try to drag the German army in the city and consume them a lot. Then we are taking the opportunity to break through."


    The general noticed the change in my expression and had no choice but to say: "the enemy''s strength is too strong and tenacious, which is beyond our imagination. What we can do now is to find a way to delay the enemy here as long as possible and delay their advance to Moscow." With these words, he turned and yelled at the busy officers, "where is the communication officer?"


    As he called, a second lieutenant ran up to us and stood at attention. Leviagin told him frankly, "contact the troops outside immediately to see how the war is going."


    In less than five minutes, the result of the battle was in front of me. Judging from the results of the battle, the immature siege was remarkable. It destroyed 10 German tanks and armored vehicles, killed more than 270 German soldiers and captured 40 people, including a major Tolman.


    "What time is it?" After reading the war report, I raised my head and asked Levi king.


    He raised his wrist, glanced at the time above and replied, "three o''clock."


    I stood up, waved my hand and said, "let''s go and have a look outside before it''s dark." Then he took the lead and went out.


    Following me and leviagin were lieutenant Ramis and a dozen soldiers, and we walked along the narrow road with debris in the middle. From the beginning of the early morning fighting to now, only seven or eight hours later, this area has been covered with shocking bodies, and the streets are full of bullet holes. We walk on the road, no one speaks, we are quietly thinking about their own thoughts. The psychological impact of bloody battle needs time to adjust the mentality.


    The ruins and debris on both sides of the road make the originally not spacious streets narrower. The more you go forward, the more corpses there are on the ground. In the street between several buildings, the remains of German tanks and armored vehicles are burning. You can feel the heat from a long distance. Because the battle has just ended, and the search for the remnant enemy continues, the remains of our soldiers and the bodies of the German army are lying there intact, with guns and ammunition scattered everywhere.


    "We can''t go any further, sir." More than ten steps away from the burning tank, leviagin suddenly grabbed the front and stopped me. He said with some worry: "the battle has just ended, and the remnant enemy has not been eliminated. If we go further, we may encounter cold attack from the German army."


    In order not to worry him, I stopped and said to him, "OK, let''s go back." Then he bent down and picked up a submachine gun on the ground, turned around and went back.


    After going out for a walk, I learned one thing: no wonder street fighting is so difficult. It turned out that due to the limitation of the terrain, after the buildings on both sides were blown up, the falling stones made the originally narrow streets narrower, and the German tanks and armored vehicles could not boast as they did on the plain. Once the vehicle in front is destroyed, the road of the vehicle behind is completely blocked, and it can only be stopped there to be slaughtered.


    As night fell and the battlefield was completely silent, leviagin and I went back to the headquarters to discuss the battle plan for tomorrow. However, after a short talk, the two of US continued to stick to the existing area, or boldly intruded into a new place to harass the German army, resulting in a fierce dispute.


    We were red faced with arguments, and we all tried to convince each other with our own views, hoping that our own views could be adopted in the final deployment. The officers standing next to them kept silent. Maybe they thought it was useless to express their opinions, so they just kept silent.


    Later, it occurred to me that when I was in a dispute with leviagin, I forgot my teacher status. I could use my power to force him to obey. Although so many German troops were wiped out here in the daytime, it is absolutely impossible to achieve the same victory as today''s tomorrow. So the best way is to move to a new place overnight, seize the gap of the German army and beat them hard.


    Just when we couldn''t get any results in our argument, rokosovsky''s phone call helped me out in time. I picked up the receiver, and before I could speak, he could not wait to say: "Rita, I just received information, and the German forces have assembled new forces in your direction. Maybe they will attack you after dawn. So I order you to act immediately and withdraw from the city at all costs. Do you understand? "


    I said with some embarrassment: "the 1077 regiment is distributed in many places. It is difficult to gather and break through overnight."


    "You are a pig!" For the first time, rokosovsky scolded people: "since there is no time to gather, it''s better to disperse and break through. If you delay any longer, you will be completely encircled by the German army, and it will be too late to break through at that time. "¡° Is this the way to give up the city? " I asked reluctantly. The commander slowed down and said, "yes, there are too few troops in your city. If you encounter another attack or two, the whole army will be annihilated. So I order you to withdraw immediately, regroup your troops outside the city, and then build a defense line. You must stop the enemy."¡° Yes Now that I have said that, I can no longer express my objection, but I can only obey orders. Putting off the phone, I said to leviagin, who was arguing with me just now: "the commander just gave us an order to break through the siege overnight, regroup outside the city and build a new defense line. Let''s pass on the task immediately. " My order had just been sent to the troops below by telephone. The staff of the headquarters and I were preparing to leave here when there was a loud explosion outside. The floor under our feet was shaking slightly in the huge explosion¡° Damn it When we were at a loss, we didn''t know who yelled: "the German army fired at us at night."¡° Don''t panic Leviagin''s voice immediately rang out: "all in accordance with the order just issued, immediately launch a breakthrough."¡° Yes They agreed, and then they rushed out.

 Chapter 141

    "Don''t be in a daze! Run Looking at me standing in a daze, leviagin and Ramis came up and ran out with me.


    When I got to the ground floor, it was dark and I couldn''t see anything clearly because there was no light. Not far away, the firelight generated by the explosion of shells, played a moment of lighting, I found that here has been a mess, people are running around like headless flies.


    Leviagin released my right hand and said in a loud voice in my ear, "Comrade division commander, you and Ramis will leave here first, and I will organize the troops to break through." Then he told Ramis, "Comrade lieutenant, we must protect the safety of our division commander."


    "Comrade General, please rest assured!" Ramis confidently replied, "it''s up to me. As long as I don''t die, I will ensure the safety of my teachers."


    "Report!" Just now, an officer who ran down first rushed to us and asked in a loud voice, "we are going to break through soon. What should we do with the prisoners in the building?"


    I didn''t want to think about it. I waved my hand and said in a loud voice, "if I don''t care, I''ll let them stay here. Whether they can survive depends on their own luck."


    "But..." the officer hesitated, "if we let them escape and join the other German forces, it will cause us a lot of trouble. Do you want to... "


    "What do you want?" I asked impatiently: "if you have anything to say, don''t play riddles with me!"


    Seeing that my tone was so severe, the officer quickly added, "I mean to kill them all in order to prevent future trouble."


    "Let''s just do it!" Leviagin, who had not yet had time to go away, gave him an order and explained to me, "if these prisoners take up arms again, they will become a force that can not be underestimated immediately, and there will be endless troubles in the future. In extraordinary times, they will take extraordinary measures."


    "I see. Do as you say." Although I know that killing prisoners on a large scale is immoral, I really can''t find a more suitable way to deal with them in this case. Instead of letting them take up arms again to fight against us, it''s better to start first, and get rid of them to avoid future trouble. Seeing that we were in agreement, the officer stood at attention, saluted, then turned and ran away.


    As soon as the officer left, leviagin urged me to say, "Comrade division, please go. I''ll take care of the business here."


    Listening to him, my nose was a little sour. After a while, I stabilized my mood. I put out my right hand and patted him on the shoulder. I said, "pay attention to safety. I hope I can see you alive."


    "I will." With these words, he said to Ramis again, "Comrade lieutenant, get the division commander out of here. We must protect her."


    Ramis agreed and pulled me out. At the same time, there was a crackling sound of footsteps behind me. Without looking back, I knew that the soldiers who were following me were protecting me.


    Outside a pitch black, flying shells from time to time fell on all around us, the explosion of fire, for us to illuminate the way forward. The occasional scream from the back indicated that some soldiers were injured and fell down. However, in this case, I just moved forward mechanically.


    A group of us ran like a lost dog. We didn''t know how long it took. Ramis, who was pulling me to run, finally stopped and said in a loud voice, "Comrade division, let''s have a rest. The German shells can''t hit here."


    At this time, I felt shortness of breath and my heart was beating like a drum. I gasped for breath and looked around. After I was sure there was no danger for the time being, I sat on the broken wall by the side of the road. In fact, it wasn''t just me. Ramis and the soldiers who followed were all panting and tired.


    Not far away there are burning buildings, burning flames, so I can see the surrounding environment clearly. I counted to myself that there were only twelve people, including Ramis. I waited for my breath to subside. I turned around and asked Ramis, who was sitting beside me, "Comrade lieutenant, how many people were there when we came out?"


    "There are thirty-six of me." He looked around, probably found that the number of people was too small, and explained to me: "other people may have run away because it was too dark!"


    With that, he looked around awkwardly, trying to avoid the embarrassment. Suddenly he suddenly stood up, waved to the side, and said in a low voice, "there seems to be someone over there. Come here and have a look with me."


    I watched him and the other two soldiers with guns, walking cautiously towards a nearby building, worried about whether they would encounter German ambush here, and quickly asked the rest of the soldiers to hide.


    Just when we were very nervous, Ramis and the soldiers came with a prisoner. I quickly stood up from the hidden position and met him. As they approached, they could not help but take a breath of air. It was not others they were holding, but major Tolman. However, the major is quite different from before. He has lost his big hat and mud all over his body. He is as embarrassed as he looks.


    Seeing that I was in front of him, his face couldn''t help looking surprised, but soon his face darkened, and his face was full of depression. I stopped in front of him and said coldly, "what a coincidence, Mr. major, we meet again." Although the appearance of cold, but can see him standing in front of me, actually feel dark relief. Although he is my enemy, he is also an acquaintance who I have known for a long time. If leviagin and I can easily kill him, I still feel very sorry.


    He laughed awkwardly and replied in a low voice, "I didn''t expect to be captured by you again."


    "Yes." I took over the topic with a smile: "this time, you are my third prisoner."


    "Next time I will never be your prisoner again!" He muttered a little unconvinced.


    After him, Ramis said impolitely, "next time! It''s dying. You want to have another time! " Then he looked at me and said, "Comrade division, we need to break through the encirclement. It''s a burden to take him with us. Let''s shoot him here."


    At the words of Ramis, the expression of pain and despair appeared on Tolman''s face, but he still stared at me, looking forward to my final judgment.


    "Well, do as you say." Ramis has a point. We are running for our lives. If we take another prisoner with us, our actions will be affected. So we''d better kill and save trouble.


    With my consent, Ramis led two soldiers to pull Tolman up to the wall. The two soldiers let Tolman go and then returned to our position. Ramis took the submachine gun, pulled the bolt, aimed at Tolman, and was ready to shoot. With his back against the broken wall, his eyes closed, and his body trembling slightly, Tolman seemed to be afraid of death.


    Just as Ramis was about to pull the trigger, I stopped him and said, "wait a minute."


    Ramis looked at me in surprise and didn''t speak. I said to myself, "I''d better come myself." With that, he pulled out his pistol and walked towards Tolman.


    Tolman didn''t hear the gunshot for a long time. He slowly opened his eyes and saw me standing in front of him. First he was stunned, then he said with a bitter smile, "I''ve been captured by you so many times. It''s Fair for you to shoot me yourself."


    Instead of answering him, I turned to Rumis, who was standing in the back, and they said, "you wait here. I''ll take him on the road." Then he put the pistol against Tolman''s chest and said sternly, "go!" Tolman sighed, his shoulders fell, and he walked dejectedly into the ruins of the building.


    When I entered the building, I turned around and looked at it. There was no sign of Ramis and others from here, so I called out: "stop!" Tolman stopped, turned around and said, "is that right here?" Then he looked around, nodded and said, "it''s good here. At least after death, the body won''t be put out in the sun and rain."


    "You go." He was completely stunned at what I said. I lowered the muzzle of my gun, shot at the distance and said, "your people are over there. Let''s go!"


    "You... You," he asked incredulously, "are you going to let me go?"


    "Let''s go! I hope you won''t be my prisoner next time. " I stood two or three meters away from him with a pistol. It was a safe distance. Even if he pounced on me, I could avoid and shoot in time. Although in the current situation, the possibility of him attacking me is very small, but I can not relax my vigilance.


    He was sure that I was telling the truth. He stepped back carefully, saw that I didn''t respond, and then turned and strode away.


    I raised the pistol over my head and shot into the sky.


    Hearing the gunshot, he could not help shaking all over, immediately stopped and looked back at me.


    I gave him a smile, did not put down the high pistol, pulled the trigger again.


    He knew that I would not do it behind his back. He turned to stand at attention, saluted me with a standard military salute, and then turned away again.


    I walked out of the building and they said, "it''s settled. Let''s go back and have a rest. "


    For fear of getting lost in the dark, he rushed into the middle of the German army, so he didn''t leave until dawn. We walked carefully along the road to avoid accidentally entering the German ambush.


    Walking, suddenly a soldier in front of the road whispered: "be careful, there are Germans in front." We quickly spread out to both sides of the road, lying on the rubble, pointing our guns straight ahead.


    I carefully observe the terrain. It turns out that the station I used to guard is in front of me. Almost all the original buildings have been razed to the ground. If I don''t know this place well and observe it carefully, I really can''t recognize where it is.


    "Sir, comrade!" Ramis climbed up to me, pointed to the front and said softly, "look, there''s something hanging on the flagpole in the middle of the square!"


    I followed the direction of his fingers to see the past, the high flagpole was really suspended in an object, the metal flagpole was bent into a big arc. I fixed my eyes and looked again. The object turned out to be a person, swinging slightly in the cold wind. Under the flagpole stood four German soldiers, smoking and chatting together.


    I turned and told Ramis, "move quietly and get rid of all those Krauts."


    We quietly moved to a broken wall 30 meters away from the flagpole. I half squatted, looked at the soldiers on the left and right, and said in a low voice, "listen to my command, and then shoot together. After that, I rushed out immediately and caught the living... "After that, I looked around again and found that except for the four German soldiers, I didn''t see any signs of other Germans, so I called out:" shoot! "


    Before I heard it, three or four submachine guns stuck to my cheek and started! My head seemed to be suddenly hit by a big stick. I lost my hearing and sat down on the ground. Over my head, a few soldiers grabbed the trigger, like a game, to get rid of all the bullets in the magazine. Then I watched in a daze as Ramis rushed up with the soldiers. No way, everyone rushed forward, I can not always sit on the ground, had to endure dizziness and tinnitus, waving a pistol also rushed forward. Four German soldiers were killed on the spot, three of them were killed, and the remaining one was captured. The corpse hanging from the flagpole was put down. I didn''t want to see it, but I couldn''t help looking at it curiously. As a result, I couldn''t move my eyes. Although the dead man''s head was covered with bandage, I recognized that he was my former subordinate felstov. I didn''t expect that after he died, the German army would insult him so much that they hung his body on the flagpole. Seeing this, I angrily pulled out my pistol, aimed at the German prisoner standing nearby, and pulled the trigger. The prisoner was shot in the abdomen, covered the wound, stepped back two steps, and sat down on the ground. I stepped forward and shot him in the head again. A bright line ran through his forehead and out of his back head with blood foam. He leaned back and fell to the ground. Anger dazzled my mind. I raised my gun and continued to shoot at him until I ran out of bullets and pulled the trigger in vain¡° That''s enough, sir Ramis came up and hugged me, tried to push me back, and said, "we have to move right away. The gunshot will soon lead all the Germans nearby. We won''t be able to leave any later."

 Chapter 142

    In the distance, there was a loud cry. It seems that Ramis is right. The gunshot just now has alerted the German army nearby. They are coming here.


    I pointed to the West and said in a loud voice, "retreat to that side. As long as you run for several hundred meters and enter the woods, you can take off all these pursuers."


    "Withdraw!" Ramis roared. After hearing him yell like this, everyone raised their strength and ran away. After a run, because of the injury of my left shoulder, I couldn''t swing my arm vigorously and gradually fell behind the team. As soon as Ramis saw that I was lagging behind, he ran to me. Without saying a word, he picked me up and carried me on his shoulder.


    As soon as I got close to the woods, I heard the sharp whistling of a bullet coming. Then a bullet hit the ground beside Ramis and exploded into a cloud of mud and snow. Looking up at the back, I saw that in addition to the dense soldiers, there were two armored vehicles rushing towards us.


    "Run! Run! Run faster Scared out of my wits, I yelled, "the German armored cars are coming up." As soon as the cry came down, the dense bullets swept over and made mud and snow fly everywhere. Two unlucky soldiers fell on the snow without saying a word.


    As soon as he ran into the woods, the armored car ran to the edge of the woods. The truck mounted machine guns swept at us, and the trees around us were broken and broken. In the face of such intensive firepower, we all tried our best to seize the road, and we were afraid that if we ran slowly, we would fall under the firepower.


    After another run in the woods, the soldiers at the front stop, disperse and hide behind the trees, put up their guns and shoot at the armored car to cover our retreat.


    The armored car was suddenly shot, and the speed slowed down. The machine gunner turned the muzzle and shot at the soldiers in charge of the cover, which gave us a chance to breathe. Seeing that the soldiers were too overwhelmed by the fire to lift their heads, I quickly patted Ramis on the shoulder and cried, "stop! Stop quickly


    Ramis ran a few steps forward and hid behind a big tree. Then he stopped and asked me breathlessly, "what''s the matter, sir?"


    I struggled to jump off his shoulder, pointed to the fighting position not far away, and said, "those soldiers are very dangerous. We should go to help them and kill the armored vehicles before the German infantry comes." Seeing that we stopped, the rest of the soldiers did not continue to run. They all stopped one after another to find a place to hide.


    As soon as we opened fire on our side, it immediately attracted the attention of the German army. The machine gun of one of the armored vehicles immediately turned its muzzle and fired at us. A soldier next to me leaned out from behind the tree, raised his bayonet rifle and was about to shoot, but unfortunately he was hit by a bullet. He shook his body and fell on his back in the snow.


    I saw that his rifle was thrown aside. Instead of rushing to pick up the gun, I carefully observed it. Seeing that the German machine gunner didn''t notice me, I rushed over, grabbed the rifle on the ground and hid behind a tree nearby. I sat on the ground with my rifle in my hand and my back against the tree. After taking a few deep breaths, I carefully poked out my head to observe the situation. Seeing that there was no danger, I lay down on the snow, put up my rifle and aimed at the machine gun shooter on the armored car.


    Seeing the sight of the shooter, I pulled the trigger without hesitation. With the sound of a gun, the shooter who was hit was directly lifted from the car by the huge impact of the bullet. Next, the shooter of another armored car was also defeated by the soldiers. Seeing the threat relieved, the soldiers around me immediately got up and rushed towards the armored car with weapons.


    One of the first soldiers to stop and cover jumped out of the hiding place and smashed a smoky grenade into the armored car. When the grenade landed on the car body, it exploded, and the smoke and fire immediately engulfed the armored car.


    A German soldier had just escaped from a smoking armored car when he was knocked down by random guns. The soldier who dropped the grenade took the opportunity to step forward and put another grenade into the observation hole. After the low explosion, the once arrogant armored car burned like a torch. Another car saw its companion blown up, turned around and ran out of the woods.


    I took out a German armored car, and I stopped the soldiers'' pursuit. There are at least fifty or sixty enemies outside the woods. We are the only ones who can compete with them. It''s like beating the stone with the egg.


    Ramis gathered everyone together and continued to retreat into the woods. I quietly counted the number again, but there were only seven people left, and almost all of them were injured. Seeing all this, I can''t help worrying. With so many German troops following us, can we escape smoothly?


    More afraid of what really come, is running forward, suddenly heard in front of the roar of the motor. We stopped and stood there listening. After listening for a while, Ramis said to me in a positive tone, "it''s the sound of tanks and motorcycles, and there are a lot of them. It seems that we are surrounded."


    After listening to his words, my heart suddenly cooled. Just now, only two armored cars left us at a loss. Now there are so many tanks and motorcycles in front of us. It seems that we don''t have to fight this battle and we know the result.


    "What to do?" The soldiers around me all looked at me eagerly, waiting for me to make up my mind. But in this case, what can I do? Just a few of us are going to compete with the enemy''s armored forces with few ammunition left. Isn''t that the old man hanging himself to death?!


    I thought in my heart: "now it''s death to move forward and death to move backward. It''s better to let go than to wait for death. We can''t beat the armored forces, but the pursuers behind are infantry. It''s easier to fight. " Thinking of this, I looked around and said slowly, "comrades! There are mechanized troops in front of us, and there are pursuers behind us. We are in a desperate situation. You say, "what shall we do?"¡° Fight with them A soldier called out impulsively¡° Yes, fight with them! Sir, please give the order Everyone echoed¡° Good I looked at the soldiers with relief and said aloud, "let''s turn back and fight with the pursuers behind. Remember: if you meet in a narrow road, the brave will win¡° Meet the brave The soldiers responded with a bang, then turned around and rushed up to meet the pursuers behind. When we were more than 50 meters away from the enemy, we found a hidden place to lie down and set up our guns for shooting. The other side came to us step by step in a scattered formation. They walked very slowly because there was no armored car to cover them. When they were 20 meters away from us, Ramis suddenly yelled, "fire!" As soon as his cry fell, seven or eight guns opened fire. The German army was caught unprepared by us. Five or six soldiers who walked in the front immediately fell on the snow. The rest of the soldiers immediately fell down and fired back. The dense bullets made the Bush branches flying around us. Later, the roar of the motor became more and more clear, but no one looked back. We all know that even looking back is useless, because we don''t have any anti tank weapons. We all exchanged fire with the enemy in front of us with the mentality of killing one and two. Probably because we found that our firepower was sparse, the armored car that just escaped swaggered back. The new machine gunner in the car pulled the trigger crazily, and the stormy bullets poured into the position, which made us unable to lift our heads. Looking at our embarrassed appearance, the German army, who was lying on the ground, got up and rushed forward with guns¡° Boom A shell whistled over our heads and hit the armored car impartially. The armored car was immediately engulfed by fire and smoke, and the flying shrapnel made the soldiers scream around. Seeing this scene, I can''t help but be stunned. The German tank hand''s skill is too bad. He put his own armored car down! However, without the firepower suppression of the other side, we can shoot up again and press the charging soldiers back to the ground¡° Boom, boom Three more guns fell in the German line and exploded, lifting several soldiers lying on the ground and falling back to the ground¡° Sir, comrade There was a surprise voice from Ramis: "look, it''s our own people. It''s our own tank that fired!"

 Chapter 143

    Looking at the T-34 tanks firing while driving, I wonder: where did these tanks come from? Looking left and right, not only me, but also the soldiers around me are full of doubts. I don''t know what''s going on? But whatever he is, as long as he''s here to help. If he doesn''t come, we''ll be wiped out in a few minutes.


    I was thinking that the tank had passed me at high speed and rushed to the opposite German line. The German soldiers who had been lying on the ground got up one after another and ran wildly along the road with guns. But where can they run past a tank, let alone a dozen motorcycles. When the tank stopped to fire, the soldiers on the motorcycles jumped down one after another and took the car as a shelter to shoot at the German army. In an instant, in the woods in front of us, there were only a few wounded German soldiers who had not been killed by gunfire.


    Anyway, at the moment, we won. When the soldiers got back on the motorcycles and rushed forward with the tanks, all of us were relieved. We all stood up and surrounded me and asked curiously, "Comrade division, what''s the matter? Where did this unit come from? "


    I shook my head and answered honestly, "I don''t know." Then I stood up and tried to find someone to ask what was going on.


    In the distance, an infantry unit was moving towards us. In front of the unit was a motorcycle with a straddle. Maybe seeing us standing here, the motorcycle speeded up and drove over, stopped in front of us and jumped down an officer. As soon as he landed, he asked in a loud voice, "which of you is the commander?"


    I pushed aside the left and right soldiers, stepped forward to him, glanced at his second lieutenant''s badge, and then solemnly replied, "I''m a close guard. I personally think that it''s a genius move for the Soviet people who are keen on honor to change a meritorious army into a close guard division. The conferment of honor after honor made the Soviet Union''s army more aggressive, consolidated its team spirit, and increased its combat effectiveness in multiple times, thus making great contributions to the victory of the Great Patriotic War.


    The second lieutenant listened to me show his identity, hurriedly stood at attention and saluted, and reported: "report, comrade commander, I am the liaison staff officer of the seventh guard division. Just now we received a report that we found some soldiers of our own here. The division commander, Colonel gritznov, ordered me to come and have a look. "


    "The seventh guard division?" Although the serial numbers of these two troops are close, I can''t tell which one they were. I looked around and was about to ask Ramis if he knew. Unexpectedly, the second lieutenant answered, "we used to be the 64th infantry division. On September 26, we were awarded the title of the 7th Division by the Supreme Soviet."


    I nodded, and then continued to ask my concern: "which group army do you belong to?"


    "The 20th army."


    "The 20th army?" When I heard that, I couldn''t help but see that Mr. Lin was acting as the deputy commander of the army. So I asked tentatively, "is it the army under the command of general Lin of China?"


    "Yes." The second lieutenant answered my question without hesitation, and explained: "we were originally the reserve of the group army, and had no combat mission. But yesterday, I heard that the German third and fourth armored groups broke through our defense line from the north and were ready to further occupy wolokramsk, so the front army mobilized our division to block the German breakthrough. "


    Seeing that I wanted to ask the truth, he turned the topic around in time and said, "Comrade division commander, I''m just a low-level commander, and I don''t know much about many things. You''d better come with me and ask my division commander, Col. griaznov, or the commander of the group army."


    "All right." I looked back at Ramis beside me and told him, "if the army recovers the station later, remember to keep Comrade felstov''s body together. Do you understand?"


    "Yes He agreed very simply.


    I got into the straddle of the motorcycle and followed the second lieutenant to the headquarters of the seventh guard division. Along the way, I saw a large group of people and horses coming. On the road and roadside, there were soldiers in line or in a single line, as well as military trucks and tanks. Seeing so many troops, my mood gradually became better and better. It''s really nice to see such a large army in the hinterland of the German army when the Soviet army is losing.


    It wasn''t long before we arrived at the headquarters. When I got out of the car, I looked around and found that the headquarters of the seventh guard division was in an armored command vehicle. The second lieutenant led me straight to the front of the car and was stopped by a sentry. The second lieutenant said unhappily, "I''ll bring the commander of the eighth division of the guards to see the colonel."


    The sentry looked at me, raised his hand, saluted and stepped back to make way for us. The second lieutenant took me up the steps. He knocked on the door, then turned the handle and opened the door. Then he saluted the door and said in a loud voice, "report to the colonel, I''ve invited the division commander of the eighth division of the guards."


    Hearing his report, there was a surprised voice: "the commander of the eighth division of Jinwei? Is it Comrade o''shanina? "


    "Yes, it''s me." I agreed, and went over the lieutenant into the car.


    As soon as he entered the door, he saw a not young colonel standing facing the door. Behind him was a table with a map on it. I stepped forward, reached out to shake hands with him, and said, "Hello, comrade Colonel! I''m lieutenant commander o''shanina, acting division commander of the eighth division of Jinwei. I''m glad to meet you here He took my hand, shook it hard, and said with a smile, "I''ve been famous for you for a long time. I finally have a chance to see you today."¡° Comrade o''shanina, we meet again. " A voice suddenly rang out, which was in Chinese. Then someone quickly translated the sentence into Russian. I turned to see two people standing on the right side of the door. The general in the military coat in front of me was smiling at me. I fixed my eyes and found that it was Mr. Lin who was not talking to others. I quickly released the captain''s hand, stepped forward, held his right hand tightly, and said excitedly, "Hello, deputy commander Lin, I didn''t expect that we would meet again here." My words were all spoken in Russian, and Shi Zhe immediately translated them to Mr. Lin in time¡° You''ve worked hard. Please sit down Mr. Lin pointed to the table and said, "let''s sit down and discuss the next action plan."

 Chapter 144

    I first sat down at the table, then Mr. Lin sat opposite me, and the translator zhe stood behind him. Colonel griazenov stood on my right with his hands on the table, glanced at the map on the table, then looked at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, please tell us about wolokramsk."


    I looked at the map in front of me. It was wolos ramsk''s map. It was one of the few maps I could understand. I pointed to the east of the city and said, "our division headquarters of the eighth guards division are here." He drew a dotted line between my headquarters and the city with his finger. "I placed the 1073 regiment of lieutenant colonel sherebriavko here and set up a new line of defense to stop the German troops coming out of the city of wolokramsk; The 1075 regiment, led by Colonel chisgakov, as the reserve of the division, took a rest near the division headquarters. " At this point, I stopped for a moment to see that several people were listening to me seriously, and then continued: "the 1077 regiment led by general leviagin and I stayed in the city to deal with the German army, trying to hold back the German army''s march towards Moscow. In yesterday''s daytime fighting, we used the tactics of surprise attack and encirclement to destroy a small German army unit in the city and captured their commander. "


    When it comes to the word "encircling and supporting", I paid special attention to Mr. Lin''s reaction. You know, this tactic is his invention! Sure enough, Mr. Lin, who was looking down at the map, listened to Shi Zhe''s translation. His eyebrows beat and he suddenly looked up at me. His eyes were full of doubts.


    I can guess what he is thinking in his mind. It is clearly his initiative to "surround and help". Moreover, this tactic has not been fully formed at this time. How can foreigners know and know how to use it?


    "Where is the 1077 regiment now?" I was in a dilemma about how to face his interrogation when the question from Colonel griazenov relieved me.


    I shook my head and replied in embarrassment, "I don''t know. Last night, I received a withdrawal order from general rokosovsky, commander of the group army. When I was deploying the troops to withdraw, the German army suddenly launched a heavy shelling on the area where our 1077 regiment was stationed. Because of the emergency, general leviagin asked me to retreat in the dark, but he took the initiative to stay and command the troops, intending to break through the German encirclement from the East and join the troops outside the city. "


    "What happened?" It was Mr. Lin who asked this question. Although I understood his words as soon as they came out, I still waited for Shi Zhe to translate Mr. Lin''s original words into Russian, and then I replied, "I took dozens of soldiers to run around in the dark, and I found that I came to the station near dawn. I could have jumped out of the enemy''s defensive emptiness, but seeing them hanging the remains of our dead comrades on the flagpole, I couldn''t control my emotions for a moment, so I ordered to kill several German soldiers guarding the flagpole. As a result, the target was exposed, and the German soldiers were chased all the way into the forest. " At this point, I looked at Mr. Lin again gratefully, and then said softly, "fortunately, we met your armored forces, otherwise we would not escape the end of total annihilation."


    "Ha ha," the colonel said with a smile, "you have to thank deputy commander Lin for that. Last night, as soon as the Supreme Command transferred our group army from the reserve to the Western army, general Zhukov immediately gave us an operational order, saying that the defense line was retreating under the strong pressure of the German army, ordering us to enter the designated position as soon as possible at all costs to block the fierce German offensive. After receiving the order, the whole army group immediately took action. Deputy commander Lin went to our division directly from the headquarters of the group army to direct the operation. When he said that we were going to surprise the enemy, he dispatched all the tanks and motorcycles in the division to form a leading battalion to open the way in front, followed by the infantry, and boldly crossed the rear of the German army. We have been marching in the forest to prevent German reconnaissance planes from finding us As he said, he looked at President Lin with his eyes. "If it wasn''t for deputy commander Lin''s ingenious command, according to the normal procedures in the past, our army should still be in the process of mobilization, not to mention helping you out, it would be a problem whether we could reach the current position."


    After listening to the Frank flattery of the colonel, President Lin just said coldly: "the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and the fighters are fleeting. Therefore, the mobilization and mobilization of troops should be fast, and the long-distance penetration attack can play a surprise attack effect." Then he asked me, "I heard that your commander rokosovsky once proposed to Zhukov to withdraw his troops. Do you know where he intends to withdraw his troops?"


    "I know." Almost without hesitation, I replied, "the commander intends to withdraw his troops near the Istra River and organize a new line there."


    As soon as I finished, the Colonel quickly moved his finger to the Istra River and whispered, "here it is."


    Mr. Lin gazed at the position for a long time, then slowly said: "the position of the new defense is well chosen. General rokosovsky''s decision is right. There are no troops behind the 16th group army. If the defensive troops are destroyed, the road to Moscow will be opened, which is the enemy''s dream. In my opinion, the reservoir itself, the Istra River and its adjacent areas are the best defensive areas. After occupying this area, as long as we use a small number of troops, we can organize a solid defense. In this way, some troops can be put into the second echelon to establish defense in depth, while most troops can be put into other directions. "


    "Yes," I said, "I think so, too." President Lin looked at the map and said without looking up: "but with my understanding of general Zhukov, he will definitely stop rokosovsky. He has the responsibility to defend Moscow. Even if there is only a glimmer of hope to hold the position, he will order the troops to remain firm and never allow them to step back without authorization. " In my heart, I secretly praised President Lin for his foresight. Although they may not know Zhukov''s sternly worded telegram now, it is true. Even the retreat plan, which was tacitly approved by the supreme commander, was rejected by Zhukov mercilessly.

 Chapter 145

    Next, the two men began to discuss the next step of combat deployment, and the operational instructions were quickly transmitted to the specific troops through the nearby radio.


    I sat by and watched them busy. I couldn''t get a word in, so I kept silent and watched them deploy troops. Tired of sitting, I just wanted to stand up and walk around, but I didn''t expect that my body would affect the wound together, and my left shoulder suddenly began to ache. The intense pain made me snort.


    My groan caught the attention of both men, who turned their heads almost at the same time. President Lin asked with concern, "what''s the matter, Rita?" I took a deep breath, forced to endure the pain, replied: "the wound is very painful, may be infected."


    Without saying a word, Col. griazenov went straight to the door and called out, "Lieutenant garbifer, come in."


    With his shouts, the second lieutenant who had just shown me the way strode into the door, raised his hand, saluted and asked, "Comrade Colonel, second lieutenant garbifer has been ordered to come here and wait for your instructions."


    The Colonel pointed to me and said, "Mr. o''shanina''s injury has broken out. You should accompany her to the division clinic for examination immediately. Do you understand? "


    "I understand." Lieutenant garbifer agreed to step forward to me and said politely, "Sir, I''ll take you to the clinic. Please follow me."


    I stood up, followed him to the door, stopped, turned to Mr. Lin and said, "if there is a guard, I quickly waved my hand and said," it doesn''t matter. I''m here to check the injury. You don''t have to be so restrained. "


    The female health worker glared at the second lieutenant, then said to me with a smile: "Comrade commander, please follow me." To see her so polite, I also politely said: "thank you." Then he turned to garbifor and said, "thank you too, comrade lieutenant."


    The second lieutenant smiles, salutes me at attention and turns away.


    At this time, the female health worker had opened the door and got on the car. She poked her head out of the car and said to me, "Comrade commander, please come up." And reach out to me. I was not polite. I grabbed her hand and got on the ambulance with her help.


    There were two beds on the left and on the right in the ambulance carriage. I looked left and right, and then I sat on the left. When I got in the car, the woman health officer closed the door. Fortunately, there is a light on the top of the car. Even if the door is closed, there is still plenty of light in the car.


    The female health worker wanted to check the wound for me, but she didn''t know that my clothes had stuck to the wound. It was estimated that it was caused by the burst of the wound caused by strenuous exercise in the fighting from yesterday to today. See clothes can''t take off, she had to cut my clothes with scissors, and then clean up the wound.


    After cleaning the wound, she gave me another shot of sedative and helped me lie down. After covering the quilt for me, he said softly, "Comrade commander, I''m going to take care of the other wounded. Please stay here and have a good sleep."


    I felt that my sleepiness had come up slowly, so I gave a vague "um". As she walked out of the car and closed the door, I closed my eyes and went to sleep.


    Although I feel sleepy, I can''t sleep when I lie in bed, listening to the sound of guns coming from outside. When I close my eyes, I see festov with blood bandages on his head and chest, his neck tilted to one side, and the frightened expression on the face of the soldier I killed at close range. Even his nose seems to smell the smell of mixed blood, gunpowder and charred human flesh.


    In this way, my sleepiness disappeared immediately, so I had to open my eyes and look at the roof in a daze. I don''t know how long it took for me to be a little sleepy. After I closed my eyes and fell asleep for a while, I heard the sound of the door being gently opened.


    I suddenly woke up, shouting: "who?" Subconsciously, I reached out to touch my waist. I thought my pistol was still hanging there, but it was empty. Then I remembered that I was lying on the bed naked, and I didn''t know where to throw it on the way out. At this time, the face of the female health worker appeared in front of me and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with you?"


    "Nothing, nothing." I hastened to cover up his just gaffe, "I thought it was the German devils who came here."


    "No," the health worker comforted me. "Listen to the wounded who came down from the front line, our troops have entered the city, joined forces with the troops who are staying there, and are cleaning up the remnant enemy in the city."


    "Ah?" To my surprise, it wasn''t the seventh division that attacked the city, but my men were still fighting in the city and waiting for reinforcements. I quickly sat up, but I couldn''t care that the quilt fell down and showed my naked body. I grabbed the clothes of the female health worker and asked anxiously, "how many people are left in the army in the city? Who is the commander? "


    "I don''t know, I don''t know." The health worker shook his head and said, "I just listen to the wounded, and I don''t know the details."


    "Oh." Disappointed, I let go of the hand that held her dress. The health worker lost no time to pick up the quilt and put it on me. He said carefully, "Comrade commander, you''d better go to the division headquarters to inquire about these things. Only the commander there can tell you the specific situation."


    Yes, I didn''t expect to go to the division headquarters of the seventh division to inquire about it. As soon as I got up, I sat down again. I couldn''t go out naked. Then some embarrassed asked: "Comrade soldier, do you have any extra clothes?"¡° Yes, yes, "the health worker replied repeatedly," I still have an extra uniform. " Then he bent down and pulled out a small suitcase from the bed and took out a military uniform from inside. When handing it to me, he said with some embarrassment, "this is just the uniform of ordinary soldiers. I''m afraid it''s not suitable for you."¡° It''s OK. I''ll try first. " Then I took her uniform and put it on myself. After so many days, the injury of my left shoulder has been greatly improved, and my left hand can use some force. Without much effort, I put on my clothes. For the sake of safety, I''ll hang my left hand on my chest. After thanking the hygienist, I pushed the door open and went out. As soon as I got out of the car door, I saw a large group of wounded people gathered outside in front of the tent. When I came out, everyone looked at me in unison. Although I was a little embarrassed to see, but still hard through them. As soon as I got to them, someone put his arm around my waist from behind. Then a voice rang out in my ear: "female soldier, where are you going?" I turned around and saw a soldier with a bandage around his head. He was looking at me with a straight face. I was in a hurry to go to the division headquarters and didn''t want to entangle with him, so I snapped, "let me go!" He didn''t let go of my meaning at all. Instead, he said, "I won''t let go. What can you do?" Without saying a word, I elbowed him in the ribs and yelled, "get out of here!" And quickly out of his arms¡° Oh, it''s very pungent. " He rubbed his waist and pushed towards me¡° Stop it! What do you want to do? " At this critical moment, a voice from a distance relieved me.

 Chapter 146

    I looked in the direction of the sound, and two soldiers in helmets were coming here in a hurry. After a while, they came to us


    I can see clearly that it''s not someone else, but my guard company commander Ramis. I also know the soldier behind him, that is, the soldier who shot and killed the escaped prisoner. Although I can''t name him, he should be regarded as general leviagin''s personal guard or something. Now that he''s here, leviagin''s safe. Thinking of this, the big stone in my heart fell to the ground.


    Ramis walked up to the crowd, looked at the soldier seriously and asked, "Comrade soldier, what are you doing?"


    Seeing that it was a commander who helped me out of the siege, he was a little embarrassed to my impolite soldier just now. He replied in a friendly way: "Comrade commander, nothing happened. I''m just playing with this female soldier. Don''t take it too seriously."


    Ramis got out of the way, came to the soldier, and said word by word, "we are from the eighth division of the guards. She is our division commander, lieutenant commander oshanina, and your division commander is at the same level!" "She''s here to heal," she said in a more emphatic tone. If you''ve finished dressing your wound, go where you should be


    When he had finished speaking, there was a sound of air-conditioning, and then there was a whisper. The soldier came up to me with a red face and said, "sorry, comrade commander!" After saluting me, I went through the crowd and got into a nearby tent.


    Although the soldiers who harassed me went away, my heart was very uncomfortable. Although the Soviet army had strict discipline on the battlefield, its military discipline in peacetime was unsatisfactory.


    "Comrade teacher, let''s go!" Ramis stood beside me and made a gesture of please.


    When the three of us went to the headquarters, I turned and asked the soldier, "Comrade soldier, what''s your name?"


    "My name is grissa. I''m a soldier of the guard company of 1077 regiment."


    "Where are you now?"


    "At present, it is estimated that we have returned to the division headquarters, and we have handed over the defense of the city to the comrades of the seventh division of Jinwei."


    "Let''s talk briefly about the situation from last night to now." Listen to his tone, it seems that leviagin did not organize troops to break through last night, but continued to defend the city. Fortunately, commander Lin''s seventh guard division arrived in time, otherwise the 1077 regiment would be as lost as the 857 artillery regiment directly under the division.


    "After the German artillery attack started last night, the general ordered all the troops to withdraw from the occupied buildings and hide on the spot 200 meters before ambushing the enemy. To tell you the truth, when he gave the order, everyone doubted whether his decision was right. " Although we walked very fast, grissa told me the situation clearly.


    "And then?" I asked with concern.


    "The shelling stopped about an hour later, and the enemy took advantage of the night to launch attacks from several directions in an attempt to wipe us out at one stroke and completely occupy the whole city. As soon as the enemy entered the ambush circle, our army, occupying favorable terrain, immediately opened fire fiercely. The German army was caught unprepared by us and hardly organized effective resistance. After more than ten minutes of fighting, nearly 100 bodies were left behind and defeated.


    Half an hour after the enemy''s second attack, they learned from the lesson they had just learned, adopted the step-by-step tactics, and advanced step by step to the defense depth of our army. First, we fire flares to expose our defense line to strong light. Then, we use mortars and flame throwers to make sure there are no more living people on the front line before sending infantry to occupy it. As the German tactics were beyond our expectation, we couldn''t find a way to deal with them for a while, so we had to retreat.


    Fortunately, general leviagin sent a small force around the rear of the attacking German army and knocked out their mortars and flamethrowers, eliminating the greatest threat. Without the cover of powerful and advantageous weapons, the German troops who attacked our army immediately fell into chaos. Comrades of the general came to the front in person, calmly commanded, adhered to the favorable terrain, and commanded some troops to divide and encircle the German troops and eliminate them one by one.


    The enemy''s third attack was launched after dawn. More than 200 German troops, under the cover of two tanks and 10 armored vehicles, launched another offensive against the area our army was defending. General leviagin had long guessed that the enemy might launch another attack under the cover of their tanks after dawn, so he laid ambush in many places.


    At the beginning of the battle, I was standing next to the general and clearly saw a soldier hiding behind the rubble. When the German tank was only 10 meters away, he suddenly jumped out of the hiding place and threw five grenades to the enemy, which disrupted the German formation and caused one of its tanks to break into the minefield and be destroyed. When he was unfortunately hit by machine gun bullets from the enemy armored vehicle, he died.


    Inspired by this soldier''s heroic performance, the defending soldiers opened fire fiercely, cut off the contact between the enemy infantry and tanks and armored vehicles, and engaged them in close combat to weaken their firepower. The famous anti tank man became more and more brave in the war. In order to facilitate the bombing, he threw off his cotton padded clothes and woollen clothes in spite of the cold weather, and went close to drop bombs. He successively destroyed and injured three armored vehicles of the Soviet German army. After half an hour of fierce fighting, the German army successfully smashed its third attack


    Although grissa talked lightly about the battle last night, I knew that it must have been extremely cruel. Through this battle, I have a further understanding of leviagin''s tactical guidance level. According to the Soviet Army''s previous tactics, it would only fight with the German army, without any tactics, absolute superiority in military strength and equipment. It was almost impossible to beat the German army. However, leviagin was able to repel the German attack one after another without the protection of artillery and aviation, and insisted on the arrival of reinforcements. It was really not easy.


    With these words, we have come to the headquarters of the seventh division. Lieutenant garbifer is standing outside the command car and looking around. He looks like he is waiting for someone. Seeing our arrival, he quickly came up, ran to me, stood at attention and saluted, and reported: "Hello, comrade commander! Our teacher is waiting for you inside. Please come in quickly


    Col. griazenov and Mr. Lin sat at their table studying the map. When they saw me coming in, they both stood up and shook hands with me. President Lin asked with concern, "Lida, how is your injury?"


    I said gratefully, "thank you for your concern. I changed the medicine and had an injection. It''s no longer in the way." Then I couldn''t wait to ask, "what''s the situation in the city?"


    "I''d like to introduce you," said the colonel, taking the initiative. "Our vanguard battalion captured the station in the morning, covered the infantry and built new fortifications. When the main force of the division arrived, it quickly spread out to the whole city, and fortunately joined with the troops of your division who were still fighting in the city. "


    After listening to the Colonel''s nagging for nearly half an hour, I finally asked weakly, "can I get in touch with my division headquarters here?"


    "No problem." The colonel said carelessly, "we have just laid a telephone line. We can not only talk to your division headquarters, but also have a direct conversation with the headquarters of the front army." Then he turned around and told the signalman in the corner, "get me through to the division headquarters of the eighth guard division immediately."


    "Yes." The signalman agreed and began to call our division''s index. After a while, he stood up and reported to us, "Comrade commander, the phone has been dialed."


    "Du!..." Duh!... " The prompt sound from the microphone made me nervous even more than the sound of guns. While waiting for the other party to connect, I couldn''t help sweating on my forehead and my heart beat faster.


    "Hello! This is the headquarters of the eighth division of Jinwei! What can I do for you The voice of political commissar yegorov came from the other end of the microphone, which calmed me down. At least the division headquarters was safe. I opened my mouth and just wanted to speak. Suddenly, I felt my nose was sore and tears were rolling in my eyes. I quickly closed my mouth and didn''t dare to speak. I was afraid that I would cry when I spoke.


    "Hello Hello!... " The other side fed twice, see I don''t speak also fell into silence. Then the other party seemed to notice something, and then tentatively asked: "Rita, is that you?"


    "Comrade political commissar, it''s me! How is everything in the division? " I hold my nose and try to control my emotions.


    "Good! Good! General leviagin has led the 1077 regiment to withdraw safely from the city and is taking a rest with the 1075 regiment. " The commissar said excitedly: "although general leviagin got the news that you might be in the seventh guard division, we are still organizing people to search because the news has not been confirmed."


    "Nothing! I''m fine. Thank you for your concern. " I quickly comforted the commissar and said, "I was rescued by the soldiers of the seventh guard division when I broke through the encirclement. I am now in their division headquarters."


    "Shall I send someone to pick you up?" Asked the commissar with concern.


    "No I politely refused his kindness and asked, "is general leviagin here?"


    "Yes, yes, you wait. I''ll put him on the phone right away." Then I heard the commissar calling leviagin over the microphone. After a while, another voice that I am familiar with rang out in the microphone: "Hello, sir! I''m leviagin. How are you


    "I''m fine, thank you!" When I heard leviagin''s voice, my mood became more stable. "After breaking up last night, I''ve been worried about you. I don''t know if you can lead the troops safely to highlight the German encirclement. Just now, I heard grissa, a soldier, talk about the fighting last night. I know you are safe and sound, so I feel at ease. "


    "Sir, we are also worried about your safety. After daybreak, when I was commanding the troops to fight with the enemy, I specially sent people to the city to search for your whereabouts. However, only the bodies of some soldiers who were responsible for protecting your safety were found, which made us more worried about your danger. Later, after meeting with the seventh division of Jinwei, I heard their commanders and fighters say that they had seen you before, so I sent grissa, the guard, to follow them to find you. "


    "Come on, stop it!" I couldn''t wait to interrupt him. "I''ll go back to the division headquarters as soon as possible. I''ll talk about other things when I go back. Besides, during my absence, you will act as a teacher


    "Yes Leviagin agreed very simply.


    After putting down the phone, I looked at Colonel Lin and said, "the current situation is not optimistic. I want to go back to my division immediately. Can you arrange a car for me?"


    "No problem, I''ll arrange it right away!" The Colonel went to the door and called out, "Lieutenant garbifer, you''ll find a car right away. The commander will leave immediately." Then he came up to me again and said, "just a moment. The bus will arrive soon." Mr. Lin sat at the table, staring at the map without saying anything. I looked at him and wanted to ask him what he thought of the future situation. Seeing his expression, I hesitated for a moment and didn''t speak again. However, the silence in the room was soon broken, and President Lin said, "Rita, I think you should be prepared to mobilize your troops when you go back and organize your defense, so as not to be caught off guard when you get there."¡° Transfer? " I am a little puzzled to ask: "where to transfer?"¡° Here it is President Lin slapped his hand on the map and confidently said, "Istra river!" He looked up at me: "although general rokosovsky''s withdrawal plan was rejected by Zhukov, judging from the current situation, it will be sooner or later for the 16th army to withdraw to Istra. If you are not ready now, when you suddenly receive an order, the troops may fall into chaos, so you should prepare for a rainy day. Do you understand? "¡° Understand? I know that! " I have no doubt of President Lin''s words. There is still half a month to go before the great counter offensive. Anything can happen during this period. We should make preparations for the withdrawal in advance, so as not to make the troops fall into chaos and turn the withdrawal into a rout after receiving the temporary order, which will not be worth the loss. At this time, the voice of lieutenant garbifer came from outside: "Comrade commander, the car is ready." We walked out of the command car and saw another brand new Jeep parked outside. The Colonel thought that I had never seen such a vehicle, and specially introduced it to me, saying: "this is a jeep. It is a new type of vehicle aided by US allies. It has strong off-road performance and is suitable for driving on bad terrain." Grissa was the driver. He had been a bus driver before he joined the army and had rich driving experience, so I declined the driver arranged by the colonel for us. Actually, I don''t need the driver arranged by the colonel. I have my own small abacus in my heart. If the driver of the seventh division is allowed to drive us, he will drive the car back to our destination. With our own people as drivers, we can finally take the car as our own. I sat in the co pilot''s seat, and Ramis had to sit in the back seat. Before driving, I was going to ask grissa, "grissa, do you know the way?"¡° No problem, sir Grissa confidently answered me: "I''ve been a bus driver, and the best thing I can do is to remember the route. As long as I walk once, I can find it." I waved goodbye to President Lin, Shi Zhe and the Colonel outside the car, then turned to grissa and said, "OK, let''s drive!" Although the jeep''s off-road performance is good, but in the bomb and shells on the road, even if the speed is not fast, still bumpy. I reclined my head on the back of my chair and closed my eyes. I didn''t have a good rest for several days. I just took this opportunity to take a nap in the car¡° Sir, comrade, "suddenly Rumis''s puzzled voice came from his ear:" I think something''s wrong. There seems to be someone in the woods in front of me! " I opened my eyes and looked around. I didn''t find anything unusual. I was dissatisfied with Ramis who disturbed my rest, but it was not easy to attack, so I had to say in a tone of Indifference: "I didn''t see anyone, did you see anything wrong?"¡° Boom! Boom! Boom My voice did not fall, a series of explosions sounded around the car, the smoke instantly blocked our sight¡° It''s the enemy Ramis suddenly yelled and quickly put his submachine gun on the window¡° Get off the road and drive into the forest I yelled in grissa''s ear. Almost as I yelled, grissa slammed the steering wheel and drove away. Not far away from the main road, there are still shells falling on both sides of the road. The air waves caused by the explosion lift the car back and forth. The windshield is smashed by flying shrapnel and stone fragments, and a warm and choking smell of gunpowder rushes into the car¡° Come on! Come on, come on!! Drive into the forest Ramis yelled and shot into the smoke. The jeep, which had already rushed into the forest, got rid of the smoke blocking the sight and continued to drive full power to the depth of the forest. "It must be a small German unit, they are attacking us with mortars," Ramis said aloud as he changed his clip After changing the cartridge clip, he released his right hand and patted grissa on the shoulder, saying: "continue to drive towards the division headquarters. As long as we enter our own area, these German devils will not be worried." The car drove forward in the forest for another five or six minutes, and then came to a large area of forest with relatively few trees. There are more than ten green tents scattered in the woods, with sporadic military activities. I recognized at a glance that this is where my division headquarters is located!

 Chapter 147

    As soon as the car stopped, Ramis opened the door, jumped down and headed for the headquarters.


    Looking at the impatient look of Ramis, I couldn''t help laughing. I turned to grissa and said, "I''ll get off here. You can find a place to park your car."


    "Then this car will not be returned to the seventh division of Jinwei?" Grissa didn''t recognize what I said and asked foolishly.


    I patted him on the shoulder with my right hand and said with a smile, "do you know why I refuse to send us a driver from Colonel gritznov?"


    He looked at me suspiciously, frowned and thought for a while, then suddenly realized, "Oh, I see. If they send us a driver, the car will be driven back by their driver. If we drive it back, we don''t have to send it back. "


    Like leviagin, I slapped him on the back of the head and said with a smile, "you idiot, you just want to understand now. If you don''t find a place to park your car, remember to change the windows. " Then he opened the door and jumped out.


    "I see, sir." Grissa agreed, stepped on the gas and the car rushed forward.


    When I went to the division headquarters, a sentry suddenly came out from behind the tree, looked me down, and immediately exclaimed excitedly, "are you the division commander?"


    "Yes, I''m oshanina, the commander of the eighth division of Jinwei, your immediate superior." Back to my own territory, I felt very happy, so I couldn''t help joking with the sentry.


    The sentry stepped forward, stood at attention and saluted me. He reported: "report to Mr. division commander, soldier gelia is standing guard. He is responsible for the safety of the division headquarters. Please give us your instructions!"


    "Stay on duty!" After returning the salute, I continued to walk towards the division headquarters.


    More than ten meters away from the headquarters, I saw political commissar yegorov come out of the shelter department, followed by general leviagin and Ramis who just went to report. Seeing them coming out to meet me, I hastened to meet them.


    We stopped two or three steps apart. Regardless of my status, I stood up to salute the political commissar. Although my nose was sour, I tried to squeeze out a smile and said, "Hello, comrade political commissar! I''m back. "


    The political commissar didn''t care to return the gift either. When he came up, he hugged me tightly and patted me on the back with his hand. He choked and said, "just come back, just come back. We''ve been worried about you for hours. We have lost one of our beloved teachers two days ago. I don''t want to lose another so soon. "


    As soon as the political commissar released me, general leviagin came forward and hugged me again. With so much strength, I felt a little out of breath, and felt the wound on my shoulder burst open again. At this time, I hate the etiquette of Lao maozi. When they meet, hugging is just like shaking hands. The stronger they use, the more intimate they are.


    When I finally got back to the headquarters, I sat down at the table and asked leviagin, "Comrade General, how many people have the 1077 regiment withdrawn from the city?"


    Leviagin happily told me that at least 1500 people had followed him out of the city.


    When I heard this, I felt very sad. I remember when I arrived in the city yesterday, leviagin told me that there were nearly 3000 people in his regiment, but now only half of them have been withdrawn. I sighed and said faintly, "so in yesterday''s battle, we had the same number of soldiers killed."


    "Well," leviagin did not evade the question, and honestly admitted this reality, "but we persisted in the city for another day, wiped out a large number of enemies, and held them back in their march to Moscow."


    Listening to the faint sound of guns outside, I muttered: "but the price is too high!"


    "This is the war," the commissar continued, "in order to protect our country, our great capital, no matter how great the sacrifice is worth."


    "What about the other two regiments?" I went on to ask.


    "The situation is not bad. The 1075 regiment is resting in the forest. After the 1073 regiment built a new line of defense outside the city, it has repelled the German attack many times. " Levi yagin was the one who introduced the situation. Although he only acted as my teacher for a few hours, he knew the situation of the division like the back of his hand.


    It suddenly occurred to me that the defense of the city had been taken over by the seventh division of Jinwei, and the pressure our division was facing was greatly reduced. After several attacks, the German army was very tired from officers to soldiers. If I could lead the recuperated 1075 regiment to launch an attack on the German Army, I didn''t know what the result would be.


    But I soon gave up this unrealistic idea, you know, in the absence of air and artillery firepower cover, on the basis of these thousands of people to rashly attack the well-equipped and well-trained German army, even if the initial success can be achieved, but will soon fall into the encirclement of the German army, may also end up with a total annihilation.


    I was just thinking about it when the phone on my desk rang. The commissar picked it up and listened. Then he handed me the microphone and whispered, "it''s general rokosovsky, commander of the group army."


    I picked up the receiver and said uneasily, "Hello, comrade commander! I''m oshanina I''m beating drums in my heart. I don''t know what will happen if the commander calls me at this time. You know, I left my troops last night and went straight to break through. But for leviagin''s luck and the help of the seventh division of the guards, maybe they would have been destroyed. I don''t know if the commander knew that I had left my troops to run for my life, and he made a special phone call to ask for help¡° Rita, "rokosovsky''s voice was steady, and there seemed to be no sense of settling accounts in the future." I''m glad you''ve come back to your own headquarters alive. How is the injury? " I wry smile for a while, said: "still the same, the wound has not healed, the left hand is always unable to move freely." The other side was silent for a while, then a voice came: "I asked Comrade Zhukov, he is ready to let you go back to the city to recuperate first, and then we will meet the eighth division of the guards after the injury is healed. Do you have any comments? "¡° I''m under the orders of my superiors. " Although he is asking for my opinions, I know very well in my heart that it is a matter of certainty. I can''t change the established facts whether I agree or not, but it''s better to behave obediently and leave a good impression on my superiors¡° All right, then Rokosovsky didn''t show any politeness to me. He continued to ask, "who do you think you should give the command of the division to during the period when you leave?" After listening to his words, I had a lot of balance in my heart. It turned out that I was not dismissed, but really let me heal. Almost without thinking, I replied, "I think general leviagin is right for this position."¡° That''s the decision. Take a night off first, and leave for Moscow early tomorrow morning. Be safe on the way. Good luck Finish saying, didn''t wait for me to declare a position, then directly hung up the phone. Putting off the phone, the commissar asked with concern, "what did the commander say?"¡° Let me go back to Moscow tomorrow for treatment With these words, I turned to leviagin and said solemnly, "general leviagin, during the period of my departure, the command of the division will be handed over to you. I hope you will not let me down." Leviagin stood up abruptly, saluted me and said in a loud voice, "don''t worry, sir! As long as there is still one man in the eighth division of the guards, we will never let even one German army swagger through our defense line. " Seeing his attitude, I nodded with satisfaction and sat down again. After greeting him to sit down, I began to chat with him: "Comrade General, can you tell me about the fighting in the city last night? Although grissa said it once during the day, it''s not very detailed. I want to hear you say it again. "¡° No problem. I''ll tell you as long as you''re interested. " Leviagin readily agreed to my request.

 Chapter 148

    I had a night''s rest in the division headquarters.


    Early the next morning, I bid farewell to political commissar yegorov and general leviakin, and took Ramis to Moscow in a jeep driven by grissa.


    As they drove to the rear, the two people in the front row seemed relaxed and even joked. Ramis asked grissa, "Hey, comrade soldier, can you drive downtown? Don''t break down on the way. My teacher and I still have to walk into the city. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade Lieutenant!" Grissa took the cigarette end off his mouth and flicked it out of the window. "It''s OK to drive to Vladimir, not to mention Moscow. After I came back yesterday, I went to the patrol maintenance station to change the window glass, and I also prepared two barrels full of gasoline. It''s no problem how far I can drive. "


    When I heard about Vladimir mentioned by grissa, I knew it was a small city 200 kilometers east of Moscow. I couldn''t help living in the back row and asked curiously, "grissa, are you from Vladimir?"


    "Almost." Grissa looked back at me, then turned her head and drove intently.


    "Yes, it is. No, it is not. What do you mean it''s almost yes?" Ramis, who was sitting in the co pilot''s seat, was not idle. He raised the bar with him.


    "My home is not far from Vladimir. I was born in a nearby town called gusiherstaline, where my parents work in a glass factory."


    "Crystal goose?" "The name of the town is very interesting," said Ramis curiously. Comrade soldier, do you know how this name comes from? "


    I know that the literal translation of "gusiherstaline" is "crystal goose". Such an interesting name must have many stories, so it aroused my interest. I sat up straight, patted grissa on the shoulder and said, "grissa, there''s nothing wrong on the road anyway. Please tell us the origin of the name of the town."


    Grissa agreed, carefully driving around one crater after another on the road, and began to tell us the origin of "crystal goose"¡° It''s a long story. Our town is named after the river. As early as the Czar''s time, probably in the 1850s and 1860s, there was a crystal merchant named Akim malizov. He was the largest crystal merchant in Russia at that time. With the permission of the royal family, he carved the "m ¡¤ B" trademark on his crystal products. The "m ¡¤ B" was taken from the two letters of malizov''s surname, It is the symbol of quality and reputation of crystal glass products.


    His crystal factory was originally located in mozaisk, a suburb of Moscow. Its business is booming and its products are well-known in Russia. But it didn''t last long, because St. Petersburg college warned the Czar government that the forests in Moscow were being seriously damaged due to excessive deforestation. In order to protect the ecological environment, the Czar government ordered that no iron and glass factories should be built within 200 kilometers of Moscow. In this case, malizov''s crystal glass factory also received a deadline to move out of Moscow.


    In order to find a new plant site, malizov came to a place called "meixiaola" more than 200 kilometers to the east of Moscow, where there are dense forests and few people. Malizov didn''t know where he was. He saw a clear river winding through the dense forest. Several beautiful white geese were playing on the river. Malizov asked an old woman in the laundry by the river, where is this place? The old lady replied, "it''s the Guxi River, that is, the goose river.".


    Malizov, who has come to inspect the environment, thinks that it is an ideal place for firing glass with rich wood resources, pure river sand and beautiful scenery. So he moved his crystal glass factory here, and with the factory came a large number of serfs. In this way, the place where we used to be inaccessible has become a famous crystal town. "


    "Hum!" Ramis snorted a little unconvinced and said, "if you say it''s famous, it''s famous. I''ve never heard of it! Don''t say I don''t know. I don''t think even my teachers and comrades know. " Then he turned to me and asked, "Comrade teacher, am I right? Have you heard of this place before? "


    "Yes, I have." I nodded and replied that this is not nonsense. I have been famous for this place for a long time. I know that there are famous crystal products there, but I have never had the chance to go there. I explained, "I''ve heard friends say before that the crystal products such as wine sets and vases produced there are good, but I''ve never been there." Then I asked grissa, "is the glass factory still making crystals?"


    "No Grissa''s head shakes like a rattle. "Since the outbreak of the war, the glass factory has not produced any crystals. It has collectively changed production and started to produce the burning bottles urgently needed at the front line."


    When he said that, Ramis didn''t argue with him any more. Instead, he said with regret, "it''s a waste to blow up German tanks with crystal bottled gasoline."


    Before he finished sighing, the car was shocked, and then stopped in the harsh sound of braking. I had no mental preparation. I rushed forward and almost hit the seat in front of me. Ramis was not as lucky as I was. He banged his head against the windshield. He sat up straight, rubbing his forehead, and asked grissa, "Comrade soldier, what are you doing? Why do you brake suddenly?"


    "Checkpoint!" Grissa replied faintly, "they signaled us to stop."


    I looked through the windshield and saw an officer in a cornice hat and two soldiers in steel helmets with bayonet rifles coming towards us from the simple checkpoint.


    The officer came to our car, bent slightly over the glass and said to Ramis, "Comrade lieutenant, please show me your identification!" Glancing at me, he said, "and you, comrade commander."


    As I was about to pick out my papers, Ramis took the lead and said to the officer at the checkpoint, "we are from the eighth division of the guards. We need to go back to Moscow immediately. Please don''t delay us."


    The officer was not moved. He put his hand into the window and said coldly, "your identification!" The two soldiers behind him also took down the long gun they were carrying on their back. Their hands were flat and the muzzle of the gun was aimed at us.


    When I saw that Ramis still wanted to argue with the officer, I stopped him in a hurry and said, "Ramis, this officer comrade has done right. It''s his duty. You should take out the certificate quickly." With these words, I took out my certificate and handed it to the officer.


    The officer just looked through the document, closed it immediately, stepped back and saluted us at attention. After waving to the two soldiers to put down their guns, they went to the car window with their certificates in both hands and handed them back to me respectfully. With a smile on their face, they said, "commander oshanina, I''m sorry. I didn''t know it was you."


    "Do you want to check my ID?" Rumis, sitting in the co pilot''s seat, asked angrily.


    "No, No. We have just received an order that as long as we see the car taken by lieutenant colonel o''shanina, we should let it go immediately and not stop it intentionally. " With that, he stood up, waved in the direction of the checkpoint and yelled, "open the fence." After shouting, he made a gesture of please to us.


    With the shouts of the officers, the wooden fence at the intersection was quickly removed. As our car passed through the checkpoint, the soldiers on duty saluted us one after another.


    On the next road, he ran into several checkpoints. When Ramis had some experience and someone wanted to check his ID, he pointed to me in the back row and said to them, "we are from the eighth division of the guards. This is our division commander, Lieutenant Colonel oshanina." I really didn''t expect that this would be unimpeded. Without any inspection, I passed more than 20 checkpoints, large and small, and smoothly entered the urban area.


    Another checkpoint appeared ahead. The checkpoints just now are all temporary in nature. They usually consist of two simple sandbags, a wooden sentry box and one or two military tents for soldiers to rest. These are all the facilities of these temporary checkpoints. The checkpoint is much more formal at first sight. Concrete blockhouses are built on both sides of the road. Besides trucks carrying soldiers, armored vehicles can even be seen in the checkpoint. Not far behind the checkpoint is the moat around the city, and you can see the helmets shaking.


    Grissa slowly parked his car ten meters away from the fence, waiting for the people from the checkpoint to come up and check. As soon as the car stopped, a young officer trotted up from the station, ran to the window, bent down, and asked me, "is it lieutenant commander o''shanina?"


    "Yes." I looked at the strange officer in front of me. Although I didn''t know him, I gave a positive answer.


    The officer raised his hand to the sideburns, saluted me, introduced himself and said, "I''m Lieutenant Xie liaosha of the central guard regiment. I''ve been ordered to meet you."


    "On whose orders? Where are you going to take me? "


    "On the order of Colonel bzikov, I will send you to the designated hospital for recovery."


    "Bezikov?" Hearing this familiar name, I couldn''t help but brighten my eyes and asked excitedly, "he has returned to work in the Kremlin now?"


    "Yes." "The lieutenant replied positively," the colonel was restored to his rank last week and transferred back to the Kremlin to continue his old post. "


    I looked outside. I didn''t see the familiar black em, so I asked curiously, "Comrade lieutenant, don''t you have a car?"


    The lieutenant said awkwardly, "yes, comrade commander. I broke down on the way here. I''m repairing it at the inspection station. Otherwise, you can wait until the car is repaired. "


    I poked my head out to observe the surrounding environment. I saw that there were bare open areas all around. If there was an enemy air attack, I didn''t even have a place to hide. I looked at the sky again. It''s gray and there''s no snow. It''s a good weather for flying. I thought about it for a while, and then said to the lieutenant, "since your car hasn''t been repaired, you don''t have to wait. Just take my car and go."


    Seeing that the lieutenant was still hesitating, I urged: "don''t think about it. Get on the bus, comrade lieutenant." Then he told Ramis, "Ramis, give up your seat to Comrade lieutenant. You come to the back row."


    Seeing that Ramis had been in the back row, Lieutenant sherius was embarrassed to stand outside the car again. Directly opened the door, stood in and sat in the co driver''s seat.


    After entering the city, there are more and more inspections, including checkpoints and patrols. In every case, Lieutenant Xie liaosha just pokes his head out, stares at his eyes, takes out his red pass, and says, "I''m from the central security corps. I''m on a mission." The inspectors immediately stepped aside, made way for us, and stood at attention.


    Because I don''t know how long the car will take, I feel sleepy. I lean back and start to doze. Vaguely, I vaguely heard that Ramis and Xie liaosha seemed to be chatting. Half asleep and half awake, I seem to hear someone saying "gangchamonisgaya". Hearing this place name, I suddenly woke up, sat up straight and asked the front shaeliosha, "Comrade lieutenant, just now I seem to hear you and Ramis talking about gangchamonisgaya. Do you live there?" "No, I''m not from Moscow. I''m from St. Petersburg," he said Ramis snickered. I looked at him discontentedly and asked him, "what are you laughing at?" He stopped smiling and explained to me, "you heard me wrong. I was just asking if Lieutenant Xie liaosha was a party member. He replied that he was a league member, not a party member. " I only know that "gangchamonisgaya", which I have been to before, means "the Communist Youth League". After listening to what Ramis said, I realized that "the Communist Youth League" and "League members" are the same word. No wonder I made a mistake¡° Woo~~~ Woo! ~ ~ " The sharp air raid alarm suddenly sounded, "Damn it! Here comes the Krauts'' plane! Comrade lieutenant, where can we hide? " Grissa looked ahead and asked Xie liaosha in a loud voice¡° Drive straight ahead and see the first crossing. Turn right. Drive 200 meters ahead and you''ll see a new shelter. " Almost without thinking about it, she turned her head and yelled at grissa. As soon as grissa stepped on the gas, the car sped forward. Turning right at the corner of the street, he saw a barricade in front of him. Xie liaosha pointed to the position and said in a loud voice, "it''s there. Drive the car quickly." When the car stopped in front of the barricade, Xie liaosha first jumped out of the car and cried anxiously below, "come on! Get out of the car After we all got down, we immediately led the way ahead and led us around the fortifications made of sandbags, wood and stones. When I came to the back of the barricade, I saw a downward passage. Without waiting for me to speak, Xie liaosha had led the way down the steps. The three of us followed him closely. Along a huge arched passage, you enter a hall supported by columns and square columns. In my experience, this is a subway station. Habitually, he looked at the place where the place name was marked on the wall. To find out what place it was, he saw a wooden sign hanging on the snow-white marble wall, which was written in red¡° §Ü§â§Ñ§ã§ß§à§á§â§Ö§ã§ß§Ö§â§ã§Ü§Ñ§ñ¡±¡£

 Chapter 149

    ¡° §Ü§â§Ñ§ã§ß§à§á§â§Ö§ã§ß§Ö§â§ã§Ü§Ñ§ñ¡±£¬ I read this place name again in my heart, "red brysno station". If I remember correctly, it should be a station on the ring line. But the brown line was put into operation for 50 years. How can I have this station now?


    "Comrade commander," Xie liaosha interrupted my train of thought and introduced to me, "this is a new subway, which has now been transformed into a Tibetan soldier cave. Except for a few soldiers who were on duty in the barricade, the rest of the soldiers who were responsible for guarding the street stayed here. In the worst case, when the German invades Moscow, they can quickly enter the barricade and engage in street fighting with the invaders. "


    He pointed to the soldiers in a neat line in the middle of the hall¡° These are the brave soldiers. " Then he pointed to the mountain of materials piled up in the corner of the hall and covered with tarpaulin, and said, "here are the weapons and ammunition needed by the army, and the grain and medicine reserves, which are enough for three months."


    I nodded and went to the line in the middle of the hall. The team formed eight neat lines. I counted them. There were 30 people in each line and 240 people in the whole team. Plus the ten or so commanders standing in front of the line, there were almost 260 people.


    Just now, far away, I only heard the commander in front of the line talking loudly to the soldiers. When he approached, I could hear what he was saying clearly, "... In order to ensure the defense work in Moscow and stop the subversive activities of the spies, instigators and other agents of the German Communist Party, the National Defense Commission made a decision:" acting battalion commander? " When I heard about his position, I asked curiously, "where''s the battalion commander?"


    "When the battalion commander went out for inspection yesterday, he encountered an air raid, and his barricade was directly hit by a bomb. Four soldiers died on the spot. The battalion commander and two other soldiers were seriously injured and sent to the hospital for rescue. " At this point, he was a little shy and explained with embarrassment: "originally, I was just a company commander. My superior called me and said that the fighter battalion could not do without a battalion commander. You should act for him first. In this way, I became the acting commander of this fighter battalion. "


    "Ha ha!" With a smile, I came forward and patted him on the shoulder and said in a friendly way, "work hard! It won''t be long before you get rid of the title of "agent" and become a real battalion commander. "


    "Hey, hey," he laughs sheepishly, "that''s a good relationship."


    I turned my eyes to another young officer. His rank was much lower than that of bukov. He was just a second lieutenant. But just now he was reading Stalin''s martial law order to the soldiers. So I asked him curiously, "Comrade commander, what should I call you? And just now I heard you reading out the martial law order issued by Comrade Stalin last month. "


    The young officer saluted me and said in a loud voice, "report commander, I''m lieutenant dornikov of the people''s Committee of the interior." After a pause, he added: "in addition to assisting the battalions in defending the barricades, I also shoulder the task of eliminating the instigators and subversive elements of the German Communist Party. I read the martial law order to the soldiers once a day, so that we can be more vigilant and find the enemy hiding around us in time. "


    "I understand! I understand! " Dealing with the people in the interior department always made me feel uncomfortable, so I agreed one after another and turned off the topic: "Comrade lieutenant, it seems that the defense here is too loose. Why didn''t we see the soldiers on duty when we came in just now? "


    Hearing this, the second lieutenant blushed and said awkwardly, "I''ve called all the people here. There''s no one left on duty outside."


    I was particularly dissatisfied with the negligence caused by his conceited self righteousness. I said solemnly with a stern face: "Comrade lieutenant, this is the time of war. We can''t relax our vigilance at any time. If we are not here today, but the Germans sneak in and attack you, how many people do you think will survive in the end? "


    My words may be too harsh. The second lieutenant''s face turned red. He lowered his head and said, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. I''m wrong. However, I am also doing this in order to better accomplish my task. You know, in the current situation, all kinds of saboteurs emerge in endlessly, and we can''t prevent them... "


    "Wait a minute, comrade lieutenant." I interrupted him and said impatiently, "I''m not your superior. Don''t say sorry to me. I am not saying this to you to teach you a lesson, but to remind you that we have suffered too much since the outbreak of the war At this point, I can''t help but think of the sacrifice of general Panfilov, who was killed in the German sneak attack. When I think of him, my nose turns sour.


    "Comrade commander, I know you." The next bukov suddenly said a word to break this embarrassing situation.


    "Oh?! Have we met before? " I looked bukov up and down in front of me, trying to remember where I had seen the officer before. But after thinking for a long time, I still had no clue. I had to shake my head, smile and say with embarrassment, "sorry, comrade captain, I have no impression of you. I really can''t remember where I met you."


    "Have you forgotten? On the day of the October Revolution Day parade, you bring a troop to red square to participate in the parade. When I got off the bus, you had a chat with lieutenant colonel bezikov. I was standing behind him at that time. "


    I was a little impressed by what he said. It seemed that I saw two officers standing not far behind bzikov. However, I watched bzikov chatting and didn''t pay attention to the appearance of the officers behind him. Anyway, he is an acquaintance. I let out a cry, and my face suddenly realized. I stepped forward, took his hand, shook it hard, and said, "it''s you. If you don''t talk about the Red Square parade, I really don''t remember."


    He took my hand in both hands and said with reverence, "Comrade commander, I have heard commander bzikov mention you many times. He said that you are a great woman. You have participated in many battles and won three medals for bravery. In just a few months, he became an intermediate officer of our army from an ordinary soldier, and now he even commands a unit in front. In our garrison headquarters, many young people regard you as their idol. "


    Idol, hearing this term, I can''t help laughing. I didn''t expect that in this era, I have my own fans. In this era, I just want to live in peace, and I don''t want to be the target of public criticism. I have to keep a low profile. I took my hand out of his palm, looked at the soldiers who were still standing neatly in the hall, and again turned off the topic and said, "please let the soldiers disband first, and after arranging for people to go out on duty, take me to visit the place where the soldiers rest and sleep."


    "Do you want to see the soldiers sleeping?" He stepped back and made a gesture of "please come with me. I''ll show you where the soldiers live." Then he said to lieutenant dornikov, "Comrade lieutenant, please go and ask the soldiers to disband and and arrange for the people who will be on duty at the barricade."


    On the right side of the hall is a row of arches, through which you come to the subway platform. Relying on the light coming out of the door, I could see the dense tents on the track under the platform. "This subway station is a station on the ring subway under construction," he told me. Because of the outbreak of war, workers and technicians either evacuated to the rear or joined the army at the front, so the construction of the whole project was completely stopped. "


    Just speaking of this, Xie liaosha interrupted him and asked, "what is online subway?"


    "It''s a term." Bukov explained patiently: "because it''s a circular subway, the subway running in a clockwise direction is called the online subway; On the contrary, it''s called offline subway. "


    I looked at the tent under the platform and asked, "if you put the soldiers here, won''t it affect the operation of the subway?"


    "No way." "Because the termination of the project was very sudden, there was not even time to lay the tracks here," he replied positively With that, he pointed to the opposite platform and said, "although the platform over there is paved with rails, it is only paved to the exit of the tunnel."


    I pointed to the lighting on it again and asked curiously, "I see the lights are bright in the hall, and there are lights here. Why not light them?"


    Bukov shook his head and said, "I don''t know what happened. When we came here, we found that although the hall was bright, the platforms on both sides were dark. They have reported this to their superiors, but they don''t know which department is responsible for supplying power here. So we have to let it go and maintain the status quo. " Then he came to the nearest arch and asked me to follow him in.


    After him, I walked back into the hall and came to the material yard. Then I found that there was a desk and several chairs in the corner. He asked a few of us to sit down and took up the teapot to pour us tea.


    There was an explosion outside and the lights in the hall flashed. Bukov looked up for a moment, then continued to pour tea for us as if nothing had happened. He said, "it''s OK. It''s more than ten meters from the ground. The bomb can''t fall here. Now it''s very dangerous outside. You''d better have tea here with peace of mind. "


    After listening to him say this, I turned the corner of my mouth and wanted to say something. At last, I held back. From my heart, I don''t like to take the subway except for the inevitable trip, because there are so many miraculous events in Moscow subway that I shudder at the thought of them.


    Far apart, I experienced it once in 2009. I came home late that day. There were not many people in the carriage. Although there were still vacant seats, many people still stood habitually. I read with my back against the car door. There was an old man standing on the left and a beautiful woman standing not far in front of me. I glanced at her several times. Shortly after the car started, the beautiful woman suddenly fell to the ground and convulsed. When the car was in a mess, several men and women sitting next to her rushed up and pressed their hands and feet. Two women hugged her head, squeezed her mouth hard and put a long handle key in to pry open her closed teeth.


    When I was in a daze, the old man next to me suddenly gave me a hard push and yelled at me. Then he rushed to the walkie talkie by the door and told the conductor about the patient in the carriage. After a few words, he looked back and saw that I was still in a daze. He yelled at me again. Then I realized that he asked me to help. I stuffed the book into my bag and ran to help hold Meimei''s leg.


    Although five or six people and I pressed Meimei''s leg together, but in the case of her violent convulsions, it still made us feel powerless. At this time, who yelled a word I didn''t understand, and then I found that the crotch of her jeans was wet, and soon spread to the whole pants, and soon a strong smell of urine filled the car. It occurred to me later that the man was shouting that Meimei was incontinent. When the bus arrived at the station, doctors from the subway station came to give first aid and brought stretchers. After the doctor got on the bus, he didn''t see the patient. Instead, he directly asked everyone if there was a young woman with an epileptic seizure. At that time, I thought the doctor was really amazing. Before I saw the patient, I could guess who was sick. When the doctor put down the medicine box, the first thing he took out was a roll of bandage. There was an old lady nearby who could not see it. She accused the doctor and said, "other people have epileptic seizures. What do you do with bandages?" The doctor said calmly, "when she fell, she must have broken the back of her head." Saying hello, everyone turned over the pretty girl who was not twitching. At the back of his head, there was a bleeding wound. The old lady was surprised and said, "doctor, it''s amazing that you can even judge this." "It''s not my magic, it''s three young girls who have had seizures in the car in a row this week, and they are in the same car every time," the doctor muttered Back home, I checked the news on the Internet, only to know that on the night of September 9, someone photographed a young woman''s face in the empty subway car. As soon as this photo was taken, a young girl in the car had a seizure, fell to the ground, convulsed, and broke the back of her head. However, it is strange that the young girl was sent to the hospital, an examination found that she did not have any epilepsy. A week later, as like as two peas in the same carriage, a young girl was just like the last one. Of course, the result of the examination was still the same. According to the online version, there are ghosts wandering in the subway station, and they come out to wander around at night. What I met in the subway today is the third case. Later, two similar incidents happened one after another. It was not until the relevant departments invited the priest to do a Dharma in the subway that the subway became peaceful again. Now I''m staying in an unfinished subway station. Isn''t there more chance of meeting ghosts? As soon as I think of what I said on the Internet, I feel cool on my back. I was determined to leave as soon as the air raid was over.

 Chapter 150

    The air raid, which was not over for a long time, made me very upset. After drinking tea for a while, I stood up and walked around.


    Some of the disbanded soldiers went back to the tent to have a rest, some stood in small groups in the hall and chatted in a low voice. The whole subway station was very quiet.


    Seeing me go by, the soldiers stopped talking and looked at me curiously. I just gave them a polite smile, but I didn''t speak. I looked at the subway station.


    The whole subway station is composed of three arched buildings. The platform has nine large arched openings on the marble wall next to the hall for passengers to enter and leave. The four corners of the hall are supported by square columns with three huge columns in the middle.


    I was wandering in the hall when I caught a glimpse of the second lieutenant running down the steps at the entrance. He looked flustered, as if something had happened. So he quickly went to the place where the materials were stacked, trying to find out.


    Approaching, I saw that the Lieutenant''s face was black with smoke, and his uniform was covered with mud. He ran to the table and sat down on the chair, gasping, but speechless for a moment. Bukov poured a cup of tea and handed it to him. The second lieutenant took it and drank it. After drinking the tea, he put the cup on the table again, and then he said: "the German guy is crazy. The bomb fell down like rain and blew up the surrounding buildings into a sea of fire. As soon as I came out of the barricade, a bomb exploded about 20 meters away. Before I could make a response, I was thrown into a somersault


    "You''re not hurt, are you?" Bukov asked him with concern.


    "It''s OK. I just fell and didn''t get hurt." The second lieutenant wiped his face with his sleeve, and then said happily, "fortunately, we are deep underground, and the German bomb can''t fall here..."


    Before I heard it, there was a terrible noise not far away, which scared me to sit down directly. With the sound of something falling to the ground, dust mixed with smoke came from the door of the subway platform, and the hall was filled with a strong smell of smoke.


    "What''s the matter?" Ramis got up from his chair and rushed to the platform with his gun. I was in a daze for a while. I saw bukov, the second lieutenant and grissa rushing forward, and then I ran after them.


    As soon as I rushed onto the platform, I was immediately fascinated by the flying dust. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, I was choked by the brick ash that intruded into my mouth and nose and coughed violently.


    When I stopped coughing and rubbed out the dust in my eyes, I could barely see the situation in front of me: a huge bomb was inserted between the two tracks, surrounded by broken masonry and cement falling from it. Bukov and Ramis stood on the platform like sculptures, holding flashlights and staring at the bomb falling from the sky.


    Just as I held my breath and nervously thought about what to do, there was a scream behind me: "bomb! bomb! It''s going to explode! "


    With his shouts, the hall became noisy, and the soldiers who had been resting came one after another. When they crowded onto the platform and saw the bomb, they all took a breath of cold air.


    Seeing that everyone is crowded here, I can''t help getting upset. So many people are crowded here. In case of a bomb explosion, hundreds of people will be killed. So I cried out: "don''t panic, spread out, don''t surround here. Ramis, you go to organize everyone to go to the opposite platform to hide! " Ramis agreed, and immediately began to shout out for everyone to disperse.


    Hearing my voice, bukov also woke up from the initial confusion. He also cooperated with the underground command: "everyone, listen to my command, evacuate and hide immediately. Lieutenant dornikov, please call the engineers immediately and ask them to send someone to dismantle the bomb. "


    Just in the middle of the cry, his voice suddenly stopped and he looked straight at the entrance tunnel. I looked in the direction he was looking at, and saw six lights moving rapidly, accompanied by the sound of banging.


    "Di... Di... Subway... Train?" Seeing this familiar sight, I stammered nervously: "where did the subway come from..."


    "Damn it Lieutenant dornikov yelled: "isn''t it ten minutes after the air raid, the subway will resume operation? Where did this subway train come from? "


    "What to do?" "If the train doesn''t stop and hit the bomb, we''ll be finished," bukov said nervously


    I looked at the location of the bomb. It''s more than 20 meters away from the exit tunnel. If the train stops normally, it will definitely hit the bomb. Watching the train getting closer and closer, my heart became more and more flustered. Is considering whether regardless of the people on the train, only with the soldiers here to escape, less death is one.


    Inadvertently, he turned his head and caught a glimpse of the red sleeve on the second lieutenant''s arm. He pulled it off and thrust it into his hand. Then he yelled at the stunned Second Lieutenant: "put this sleeve on the flashlight, and then send a signal to the train to stop them."


    My words made them wake up. Soldiers with sleeves took off their sleeves one after another and put them on the flashlight. They rushed to the entrance tunnel, shaking the flashlight desperately to send signals to the train.


    Soon there was a screeching sound of train emergency braking in the distance. It seemed that the driver saw the emergency stop signal we sent out and responded in time. Watching the train stop two or three meters away from the bomb, we were relieved. The long subway train stops on the platform, and the light coming from it suddenly makes the light of the platform become sufficient. As soon as the car stopped, the door of the bridge opened. The middle-aged driver in a short sleeve sky blue uniform and a boat hat jumped out and asked aloud, "what''s the matter? Why send an emergency stop signal? " Bukov went up to the driver, pointed to the terrible bomb in the middle of the track and said, "a bomb broke through the roof and fell down." Then he told the driver, "I''m captain bukov of the fighter battalion. I''m in charge of the defense here. You immediately inform the passengers to get off the bus by radio, and our soldiers are responsible for evacuation to a safe place. " The driver promised and went back to the cab. When the door was opened, maybe the driver informed us in advance that the passengers were not in a panic. Instead, they got out of the car orderly and followed the soldiers into the spacious hall. Lieutenant dornikov went to call the engineers, and captain bukov remained on the platform to watch the bomb. I''m afraid there are passengers on the train who haven''t got off yet, so I specially went into the car for inspection. Russia''s subway cars are separated one by one, so we can''t walk from the beginning to the end. Every time we finish a tour of a car, we have to walk out and enter again. When I got to the fifth carriage, I suddenly saw a comic book on the ground, so I bent down and picked it up. Read the cover, is a blonde boy holding a lovely white dog, the book called "Tintin in the Soviet Union.". Seeing the name, I can''t help but wonder, does Herge have this work? It''s not piracy, is it? Just about to open the book and have a look, I suddenly heard a timid voice saying: "Comrade female commander, this book is mine." I looked back and saw that it was a little boy in a white shirt. He looked five or six years old. I handed the book to him, touched his head with a smile, said: "children, it''s too dangerous here, take the book and go back to my mother quickly!" With a promise, he hopped away with the book. I watched with a smile as he left, came out of the fifth car and went into the sixth car. In this car, I saw a baby carriage near the door. I can''t help shaking my head, heart said this when the mother is really careless, leave even the child''s car, also don''t feel tired holding the child. After patrolling the last carriage, I was about to leave when I saw an open newspaper on the seat beside the door. I picked it up and wanted to see if there was any news and if there was any report on where the German army had been fighting? I didn''t expect to see the first news headline, which made me almost fall to the ground. It read: "two stowaways were killed on the spot yesterday when they tried to cross the Berlin Wall.". The Berlin Wall is a product of the cold war. How can anyone know about it? Am I blinded? I rubbed my eyes and reread the headline of the newspaper. It was what I saw just now. I''m not dreaming, am I? I bit my lip hard, and the instant pain told me that what I saw was true. I looked carefully at the masthead, trying to find out when the newspaper came out. When I saw the date, "July 23, 1975", I almost stopped breathing and fell into my seat. God, what''s going on? I was staring at the date in the newspaper and my brain almost stopped thinking. I''m just a passer-by. Suddenly, I''m a passer-by of a train. What''s the matter with the world? No wonder the driver and the little boy I saw were wearing summer clothes¡° Comrade commander, where are you? " Bukov''s cry came from the outside. I quickly stabilized myself, threw the newspaper on my seat, stood up, went to the door, and asked calmly, "I''m here, comrade captain. What''s the matter? Are the comrades of the engineers here? "¡° No, "bukov ran to me panting and whispered," Comrade commander, I think something is wrong. " He patted the shell of the car with his hand. "There''s something wrong with this train. Usually the subway trains are made up of four cars, with only four cars, but this train has six. Also, I suspect that these people are of unknown origin. It''s winter now, and those who get off the bus are still wearing summer clothes. "¡° OK, "I know the origin of these people, interrupted him and said faintly," come on, let''s go to see these people of unknown origin. "

 Chapter 151

    The last two sections of the train still stay in the tunnel. The gap between the body and the tunnel wall is very small. When we walk alone, we feel a bit crowded when we walk side by side. At this time, I can''t help admiring the foresight of the mother with the baby. She can''t walk in such a narrow place with a stroller.


    I asked bukov, "who''s with the bomb?"


    "The lieutenant you brought is here. I agreed with him that as soon as we heard something about the bomb, we would fire a warning gun, so that we could move the crowd to a safe place in time. Although we can''t go outside, we can hide in the tunnel of the subway. No matter how powerful the bomb is, it can''t blow up the whole subway station. "


    "Well, you have a point." Although I say that, I don''t think so. Since the bomb can penetrate the soil layer of more than ten or twenty meters, break through the marble and fall on the subway track, the power of the explosion is not small. Even if the building doesn''t collapse, the shock wave from the explosion is expected to kill many people.


    With these words, we both came to the hall unconsciously. As soon as I entered the hall, I saw a swarthy crowd. It was estimated that there were about eight or nine hundred people. However, due to Lao maozi''s habit of not making a lot of noise in public places, although there are a large number of people, only a few people are talking in a low voice, so the hall is still very quiet.


    Among the people standing in the front row are the handsome young man in shirt and trousers, the beautiful girl in various colors, the intellectual with glasses and briefcase, the old man with crutches, and the childish and lovely child


    We were seen walking into the hall and out of the crowd came a police officer. I glanced at his epaulet, which had three stars on it. It was a captain. He came up to us, took out his certificate and handed it to us. He said, "I''m police captain gustov. It''s Moscow." she''s our guard police captain. Gustov was puzzled by his question. He said blankly: "the rank is originally worn on the epaulets. If you are a real officer, you don''t even know this common sense? In June 1943, China carried out the reform of military rank, which abolished the practice of wearing military rank on the collar badge and changed it to wearing shoulder badge. My rank is captain. Can''t you see that? "


    "Nonsense Dornikov gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "do you think this can deceive us? You damned German spy He raised his pistol and pointed it at Gustav.


    Not to be outdone, gustov reached out to his waist and prepared to take out his gun. One of dornikov''s soldiers jerked the trigger. In the deafening sound of gunfire, gustov''s light blue uniform chest was instantly opened with a row of blood holes. The crater with gunsmoke jumped out of the gun and fell on the marble floor, making a clear sound. Gustov covered his chest with anger in his eyes, glared at the soldiers who shot at him, took a hard step forward, and then fell flat on his back. Seeing him fall to the ground, people around him screamed and scattered around.


    I stood in the back and saw it happen. Due to dornikov''s special identity, in this case, even though my rank is much higher than that of him, I dare not come forward to stop him. I can only stand in the same place and tremble with fear. In fact, not only me, but also captain bukov just stood there in a daze. The Ministry of internal affairs is a terrible synonym for everyone. They can do things according to their own preferences, and no one has the right to stop them except their superiors. Bukov has no right, nor do I, even senior commanders like rokosovsky and Zhukov.


    Dornikov stepped forward, pointed a gun at the driver of the train and said aloud, "you! Come out


    The driver came out of the crowd tremblingly and pleaded with tears: "don''t kill me! Don''t kill me


    Dornikov grabbed him by the collar, put a gun at his temple, and yelled, "are you German spies?"


    "No, no!" The driver was scared out of his wits and yelled: "we are not spies, the Germans are our allies, our allies... Don''t kill me! Don''t kill me!... "


    Dornikov hit the driver on the head with a gun handle. The driver''s face was covered with blood and fell to the ground moaning. Seeing the driver''s embarrassed appearance, he was still angry and said: "it''s not a spy. The Germans are all under Moscow city. They may attack the city at any time. Do you still say they are our allies?"


    "What are you doing? Stop it An old man with a stick came out of the crowd trembling, came to dornikov, raised his stick, pointed to him and said, "why did you hit the driver? He is right. Germany is our ally now. We still have troops in Berlin. "


    Perhaps seeing that the other side was an old man, Lieutenant dornikov''s attitude was a little better. At least he didn''t add up his fists to the old man, but his voice was still very tough: "you said our army was stationed in Berlin, but who are the people fighting with us outside Moscow? And the bomb on the track, who dropped it? "


    "Can you show me?" Asked the old man, holding his cane in both hands, looking at dornikov.


    "You?" Dornikov said contemptuously, "what''s the use of seeing it?" The old man looked at him and said in a calm tone, "I was a veteran of World War II. After I retired, I went to work in the ordnance factory. Before I retired, I was a senior engineer in the factory." I know who these people are and where they come from. When I heard the old man say so, I quickly went forward to make a comeback: "Comrade second lieutenant, since the old man says so, I''ll take him to have a look. I''ll talk about other things later." With that, I helped the old man and took him to the platform to see the bomb. Seeing that I had helped the old man away, dornikov had to say to his subordinates, "take care of them." Then, like bukov and others, they followed us to the platform. As soon as I got to the platform, the old man suddenly broke away from my arm and rushed forward. He squatted down on the edge of the platform and kept saying: "it''s impossible, it''s impossible..."¡° What''s up? Old man Rumis, squatting beside to watch the bomb, asked curiously. The old man pointed to the bomb and said to us, "you see, this is a German sd-1800 ground penetrating bomb, which is specially used against our reinforced concrete air defense basement. Like the sc-2500 bombs that bombed Brest fortress in those years, they were all powerful heavy bombs, but they had been discontinued as early as 20 years ago. How could they appear here? "¡° We all know that this is a heavy bomb, but how do you distinguish the type of bomb? " Bukov is also interested. After listening to his words, the old man said with some pride, "you don''t understand. Let me clean up your illiteracy. German aerial explosive bombs are usually divided into six categories: 50kg, 250kg, 500kg, 1t, 1.8T and 2.5t. The explosive bomb marked as SC is thin-walled, the explosive bomb marked as SD is thick walled, and the number at the rear end is the weight of the bomb in kilogram. For example, the German army dropped sc-2500 at Brest fort. It''s a 2.5 ton thin-walled bomb. And this... "He pointed to the shell of the bomb with his walking stick and said," you see, it says sd-1800, which means 1.8 tons of bomb. " Then he showed off and said: "the German army stipulated that bombs under 1 ton should be painted in dark gray, and bombs above 1 ton should be painted in sky blue camouflage. Let the bomb fall with the sky, prevent the bomb is too big, fall in the air will be in advance of the anti-aircraft artillery explosion The old man took everyone as his students and explained the weapon knowledge seriously. While I was standing nearby, I was so anxious that I didn''t know what lieutenant dornikov would do with the walkers later.

 Chapter 152

    Inadvertently looking back, I found that lieutenant Xie liaosha, who had long been forgotten by me, was standing in the door hole, holding his hands in front of his chest, leaning against the marble wall, peeping over our side to watch the excitement.


    Seeing his expression, I was so angry and funny. To his annoyance, there are eight or nine hundred people whose lives are at stake, and he, as a privileged officer, is still watching as if nothing had happened.


    I went up to him, patted him on the shoulder, winked at him and motioned him to come with me. When we came to our desk, I said to him in a whisper, "Xie liaosha, I ask you something. Can you promise me?"


    "Go ahead, comrade commander!" He readily promised: "as long as it is within my ability, I will promise you."


    "It''s like this..." I hesitated for a moment, but I still said what I said in my heart, "you see, the eight or nine hundred people in the subway station are of unknown origin. However, Lieutenant dornikov, who has the power to deal with them, is too young and inexperienced. I am afraid that there will be any deviation in his handling of the problem, which will lead to adverse consequences. I wonder if you could call Colonel bzikov and ask him to come here in person. It is far better to deal with such matters with his experience and qualifications than with lieutenant dolnikov. "


    Xie liaosha hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded and agreed: "OK, I''ll call the colonel." Then he picked up the phone, and after shaking it through, he said to the phone, "operator, I''m lieutenant shagliaosha of the Central Guard Corps. Connect me to the duty room of the Kremlin immediately. The phone is..."


    When I went back to the crowd, I saw that the soldiers of the Ministry of interior, who were in charge of guarding, did not put down their light machine guns and continued to watch people''s every move. When she found that she was in a bad situation, some timid women started to cry secretly. At first, only a few people started to cry, but soon infected the people around her, and then the cry became loud.


    "Dada dada!" A burst of clear gunfire rang out and immediately suppressed the cry in the crowd. I turned around and saw that it was the soldier who killed the police just now. The machine gun in his hand was tilted to the roof, and he cried out, "be quiet! be quiet! Shut up, all of you. Anyone who speaks again will be shot on the spot. "


    "What''s the matter?" On hearing the gunfire, Lieutenant dornikov rushed out of the platform and asked aloud, "what''s the matter, what''s the matter? What''s the matter? "


    "Nothing." With a sneer, I grabbed the soldier''s mouth and answered him, "someone was crying in the crowd just now. In order to prevent the riot, your subordinates shot to deter them."


    The soldier came over and ignored me. Instead, he directly asked lieutenant dornikov, "Comrade lieutenant, what should we do with these people?"


    "Needless to say, these are all German spies. Don''t be polite to them. They are all shot!" Dornikov looked at the crowd in front of him and said, "get ready."


    "Yes The soldier agreed and turned to convey the second lieutenant''s order.


    "Wait a minute." I stopped the soldiers who wanted to go away, and then said to lieutenant dornikov in a stern tone, "Comrade lieutenant, please see clearly that these hundreds of people standing in front of us are all our comrades. Although you have the right to decide their fate, you can''t make the death sentence so hastily. "


    "Comrade commander," dornikov was very dissatisfied with my attitude, and his voice immediately went up an octave, "we don''t have to be taught how to do things in the interior department. In addition, I ask you to pay attention to your position. Don''t stand against us, otherwise it will be very dangerous! "


    Listening to the second lieutenant''s words, although I was very unconvinced, I did not dare to refute him. After all, he represented the Ministry of internal affairs, not to mention that I was a lieutenant commander. Even a lieutenant commander would give him three points.


    My conversation with the second lieutenant was clearly heard by those who were close to us. They saw that I didn''t refute again. There was a look of despair in their eyes. No one yelled. Facing the muzzle of the gun pointing at them, they just retreated silently, and a large space appeared in front of us.


    Seeing that the second lieutenant''s hand had been raised high, just waiting for it to fall, more than twenty light machine guns in the hall would shoot death at people. Unable to return to the sky, I twisted my body, bowed my head and walked out quickly, tears sliding down my cheek.


    "Wait a minute." at this critical moment, there came the voice of lieutenant Xie liaosha: "Comrade second lieutenant, order your soldiers to put down their guns. Here, Mr. O Natsu Chaanning Aa is the supreme commander, and she has the final say.


    I was stunned and then relieved to hear that he was so sure. He had just called Colonel bezikov. What he said must have been approved by the other party.


    "Why?" Second lieutenant dornikov asked unconvinced, and then again raised his identity to suppress Xie liaosha, "Comrade lieutenant, don''t meddle in the business of our people''s Committee of internal affairs!"


    Xie Liaosha has the final say, "I am the central guard", careless, and I have been ordered by the colonel O Natsu Chaanning Aa. The rest of the matter is waiting for my superiors to come. Then he went to the middle of the open space, then turned to the body and shouted to the soldiers who had been holding the gun. "All of you have, listen to my password: stand at attention!" The soldiers all looked at lieutenant dornikov and saw that the lieutenant dropped his hands weakly. They all took their guns and stood at attention.


    Looking at the dejected lieutenant dornikov, Xie liaosha gave a scornful smile and said in a sarcastic tone, "what''s so great about the Ministry of internal affairs? We are the guards responsible for protecting Comrade Stalin." At that time, the soldiers who were not convinced could not help but take a breath of air and began to whisper. Dornikov raised his head and said reluctantly, "I''ll ask my superiors about this." Xie liaosha made a gesture of invitation to him, saying: "go and call your superior. You''d better let him be present in person." When dornikov passed by me to make a phone call, I stepped forward and yelled at the fighters of the fighter camp standing a little far away: "comrades, what are you doing standing there? Don''t you see the women, the old people and the children in front of you freezing? Get them some blankets or clothes to keep them warm. " As the soldiers ran back to the tent for blankets and extra clothes, I turned back to the platform to see how the bomb was. During the period of delay just now, the engineers have come. There were not many people coming, only a sergeant and an ordinary soldier, so we didn''t notice when we came. When they removed the bomb, Ramis and other silly bold still squatted on the platform without hiding. I saw the old man standing in the door opening, bending over, holding his cane in both hands, nervously looking at the engineer inside. I looked around and there was no one, so I went forward and patted him on the back shoulder. The old man was startled. He turned around and saw that it was me. He was discontented and asked, "Comrade commander, what can I do for you?" I stretched out my index finger and put it in front of my lips to make a silent movement. Seeing that the old man immediately understood it, I said to him in a low voice, "old man, you will hear what I said later. No matter how strange it is, I hope you can keep calm. Can you do it?" Although the old man was still puzzled, he nodded, and then I continued: "according to the situation I just observed, you and the whole train are from Moscow in 1975, right? If it''s right, just nod your head. " The old man nodded to show that I was right¡° Although you were born in 1975, I don''t know what incredible things happened to the subway train in the process of driving, which led you to come to our era collectively. That is to say, you have now left 1975 and entered a new era. Do you understand what I say? " After hearing this, the old man was almost stunned and muttered to himself, "how is this possible? How is this possible?"¡° Everything is possible. " I said in my heart that if I didn''t cross over, I don''t believe there would be such a thing. But I can''t tell the truth. I can only remind him vaguely: "remember, you came to this era in 1941, just when the German army came to Moscow. You are from the future, and you know what is happening now, but at the same time, you should also know clearly what kind of era this is? If you want to live, you have to change your mind and regard yourself as a person who has been growing up in this era. Only by learning to act stupid can I live a long time. Only in this way can I be sure that you will all live, understand? " After listening to my words, the boss was stunned for a long time, and then slowly said: "although I don''t understand what you said, I know how to do it."¡° Just understand. " Listening to him say so, I was finally relieved and began to chat with the boss: "excuse me, how can I address you?"¡° My name is Florin. I''m a senior engineer in XX ordnance factory. I''m retired at home now. " He introduced himself last night and asked, "I don''t know what to call you?"¡° Rita! Rita mushdakova oshanina is now the commander of the eighth division of the guards¡° Rita mushdakova oshanina He repeated my name and said to himself, "it sounds familiar, as if I''ve heard it somewhere." I wry smile for a while, can not be familiar with it¡¶ Li Ming is quiet here is a best-selling book of the Soviet Union in the 1970s. Even if Rita is not a household name, few people do not know the name. But I thought that if I didn''t say it, the old man didn''t know how long he would be talking about it, so I vaguely reminded him: "maybe I saw it in that novel. There are many people with the same name."¡° Ah Listening to my reminding, the old man slapped his thigh and said, "I remember that the female soldier in the best-selling novel" Li Ming is quiet here "has the same name as you. But she didn''t die in the end, and you''re still alive, and you''ve got such a high rank? "¡° A novel is a novel. What dies is only the character created by the writer, and the real me is still alive! "

 Chapter 153

    Back in the hall, I saw that it was empty. Except for a few soldiers on duty in the interior department and the body lying on the ground, everyone else didn''t know where to go. I grabbed a soldier passing by and asked, "where are the people in the hall?"


    The soldier pointed to the parking place of the train: "it''s too cold here. Captain bukov asked everyone to go back to the train to get warm."


    I''m relieved to hear the soldiers say that these people are not in danger for a short time at least. He went back to the door and continued our unfinished conversation with senior engineer Florin.


    The old man asked me anxiously, "if I stay in this era, how can I survive?"


    I don''t know the fate of others. However, with the skills he has mastered, he can survive well, and even live better than in the future. I comforted him and said, "you don''t have to worry about that. As a professional, you have a lot of technology that people don''t know in this era. As long as you contribute these technologies to the authorities, you will gain honor and status. "


    "But I''m just an engineer in an arms factory. What kind of technology can I have that the authorities need?"


    Listening to what he said, I couldn''t laugh or cry. I kindly reminded him, "Comrade senior engineer, do you really don''t understand or pretend to be confused? The ongoing war between the Soviet Union and Germany is what later generations will call the "Great Patriotic War.". Compared with the enemy, we are at a disadvantage in terms of weapons and equipment. If you can provide the authorities with the military technology you have mastered, then we have the hope to reverse this situation in the shortest time. Do you see what I mean? "


    "I see what you mean," he said hesitantly. "However, I have signed a confidentiality agreement with the relevant departments before, one of which is not to provide technology to a third party without authorization. If I want to provide technology to the government authorities, I must first ask for instructions from the higher authorities.... "


    "Stop! Stop! Stop I couldn''t wait to interrupt him. I quickly leaned back against the wall, so as not to be fainted by his single-minded popularity. Then I continued: "Comrade senior engineer, please understand one thing first. You are now in 1941, not 1975. Where can you find your superior department? If you can find your superior department, do you still need to stand here and talk nonsense with me? " To stabilize the situation a little, he said, "besides, you are helping the Soviet government, not hostile forces. There is no problem of leakage or violation of the agreement."


    After listening to what I said, he seemed to understand, and some hesitated to ask, "but even if I provide a lot of military technology to the authorities, it can''t be produced overnight?"


    Talking with Lao maozi is tiresome, rigid in thought, and rigid in handling affairs. I said in a bad voice: "Comrade senior engineer, I ask you to pay attention to this. In addition to tanks, airplanes and artillery, you can give priority to providing infantry weapons."


    "Infantry weapon technology?" He asked me blankly: "I still don''t quite understand. Please tell me more about it."


    "Today''s infantry are equipped with rifles and submachine guns. The rifle is far but slow; Submachine guns can be fired intensively, but their range is limited. Are there any guns in your time that combine the advantages of these two weapons? " Originally, I wanted to talk about the AK47 assault rifle, but I was afraid that it would be too shocking, so I held back and guided him purposefully to say what I wanted him to say.


    He pondered for a moment, and then tentatively asked me, "Comrade commander, have you ever heard of a man named Kalashnikov? He''s very young. He''s not twenty


    Hearing this familiar name, I was relieved and said: Thank God, you finally remembered the inventor of AK47, so you nodded, stood up straight and said calmly, "I know a man named Kalashnikov. His full name is Mikhail tymofeevich Kalashnikov, a tank man, I wonder if it''s the one you want to know? "


    "Great The old man rushed up, hugged me and exclaimed excitedly: "that''s him, that''s him! Ha ha ha The old man''s exaggeration startled Ramis on the platform. He ran over and asked aloud, "what''s the matter, sir?"


    "It''s OK. I''m talking to senior engineer Florin." I carefully broke away from the old man''s arms and asked, "what happened to the bomb?"


    "The engineers have defused the bomb fuse. The danger has been eliminated."


    "Commander o''shanina, where are you?" I was just about to speak when a voice calling for me came from outside. I hastened back to the hall from the door opening, turned to look in the direction of the sound, and saw Colonel bezikov in his brand-new military coat coming down the steps with some soldiers.


    Seeing him appear, I feel more cordial and welcome him. He stopped in front of him, saluted him at attention, and said happily, "Hello, comrade Colonel, we meet again."


    Bezikov didn''t reply. Instead, he took my shoulder, pulled me aside and asked quietly, "what happened? Let me come in such a hurry. "


    I also said in a low voice, "Comrade Colonel, this is a bit too strange. If you don''t come to see it yourself, you will never believe it."


    "Tell me, you didn''t say, how can you know if I believe it or not?"


    "Just now when I went here to hide from the air raid, a German bomb penetrated the soil layer and marble ceiling more than ten meters later and fell on the railway track," I pointed to the direction of the bomb with my hand and continued: "fortunately, the bomb did not explode. While we were observing on the platform, suddenly a subway train came along..."


    "It''s impossible!" Bezikov interrupted me. "Although the circular subway has been built for a long time, as far as I know, of the six subway stations that have begun to take shape, only one section of rail has been laid in this subway station, and no other place has been laid. Since there are no tracks, where did the train come from? Did it fall from the sky? "


    I gave a wry smile and said, "Comrade Colonel, maybe this train really fell from the sky. The car is full of passengers, but from what I just observed, we can see that these people are not from our time, they come from another time and space. "


    "What?" He was surprised to open his mouth, a pair of incredible expression: "another time and space?"


    "Yes." I answered positively, "I saw a newspaper in the carriage, which was dated July 23, 1975. What''s more, it''s winter, and the passengers are all dressed in summer. It can''t be a vacation. "


    "Really? It''s incredible. " Although he heard me say that, he still couldn''t accept the reality because it was too much beyond his imagination.


    "Really," I answered him again in a positive tone, "please believe me, it''s absolutely true."


    He released his hand that held my shoulder, stood in the same place for a while, and then asked me, "what can you do if you ask me to come in person?"


    "Just now, Lieutenant dornikov of the Ministry of interior wanted to shoot all these people as German spies. You know, although my rank is higher than that of him, he is from the Ministry of interior. I have no right to stop him from making a decision, so I have to move you out temporarily. " I organized the wording in my mind, and then went on to say: "I found that among the passengers, there was a senior engineer of the later generation of the ordnance factory, who mastered a lot of technologies unknown to people of our time. Once we can get these technologies, our army''s technical equipment will get a qualitative leap. "


    When I said this, bzikov''s eyes suddenly brightened and couldn''t wait to ask me, "where''s the senior engineer you''re talking about?"


    "Here it is I pointed to Florin standing in the doorway and said, "isn''t that right. His name is Florin. He is a senior engineer in a later ordnance factory


    "Great, great!" "I''m going to call Comrade Stalin, report this information to him and ask him to make a decision," he said excitedly. Where''s the phone? " I just pointed to the location of the phone. He had already run to it. After a few steps, he stepped back and asked carefully, "do these future people know the outcome of this war? Can we win in the end? "


    "Yes," I can give him a positive answer without asking the passengers, "according to the newspaper report, in 1975, our country had troops in Berlin and many European countries. You said, "did we win or lose this war?"


    "I see, ha ha ha!" Bzikov listened to my consolation and ran excitedly to make a phone call.


    After a little effort, bzikov came over and said, "Comrade Stalin gave an order to protect the engineer immediately and send him to the Kremlin. He wanted to meet him in person. I just called the duty room and asked them to send a special car to pick up the engineer. "


    I accompanied bezikov to Florin and said, "this is colonel bezikov of the Central Guard Corps. He will take you to the Kremlin to see Comrade Stalin later. Please be prepared."


    "Comrade Stalin?" On hearing the news, Florin was stunned. He shook his body and fell back. I took the lead and helped him from the back. I fully understand his feelings at the moment. Although the Soviet Union had already denied everything in Stalin''s time in the 1970s, it was exciting to see this world-famous leader.


    After I helped him, I quietly said behind him: "old man, pay attention to your health, don''t get excited! When you see Comrade Stalin, remember what to say and what not to say. Do you understand? "


    Florin looked at me, nodded, and then said in an almost inaudible voice, "I see. Thank you for reminding me."


    As if he had found a treasure, bzikov''s face was bursting with laughter. He took Florin and wanted to go out, but I stopped him: "Comrade Colonel, please wait a moment."


    "What''s the matter?" He asked, puzzled.


    "There are eight or nine hundred passengers on the train, and there should be many technicians and workers from arms factories or various machinery factories. They are all valuable assets. Don''t miss them." I don''t know what will happen next, and I don''t know how the relevant departments will deal with these passengers. I can only think of ways to save one by one.


    "You have a point. I''ll arrange someone to do it right away." With that, bizikov gave a loud order: "sherio Sha, where''s lieutenant sherio Sha?"


    "Here it is With his shouts, Lieutenant Xie liaosha ran to him, stood at attention and saluted, and reported: "report to Comrade Colonel, Lieutenant Xie liaosha has come at your command and is waiting for your instructions!"


    "Take a few people to the train immediately and ask who are the workers and technicians in the arms factory or the machinery factory. If so, bring them all to me. "


    "I understand!" Xie liaosha agreed, turned and ran away. Bezikov turned around and told the soldiers following him: "call the duty room immediately and ask them to send more trucks."


    Xie liaosha''s efficiency is very high. In a few minutes, he brought a group of people over. I roughly counted the number. There are about 150 people. Except for about 20 women, all of them are men, old, middle-aged and young. As soon as he came over, he happily said to bzikov, "Comrade Colonel, I didn''t expect that these passengers have quite a complete range of jobs, including Turner, electrician, fitter, riveter and welder..."


    "Sherekin! Is that you? I''m glad to meet you here. "


    Out of the crowd came a middle-aged man with glasses. He came up to help Florin and said happily, "senior engineer florin, I''m glad to see you here, too."


    "This is the sherekin Engineer in our factory. He is in charge of the design and manufacture of firearms," he said


    "Good, good!" Bezikov was so happy that he couldn''t even close his mouth. He said triumphantly, "welcome, welcome, the more people like you, the better." He told Xie liaosha: "Comrade lieutenant, take them outside the subway station. As soon as the car sent by the duty room arrives, send them to..." Because when he said the place name, his voice suddenly went down. I only heard a series of numbers. I thought it was a secret unit.


    Seeing that hundreds of people could leave, the rest of the passengers were in a panic. Hula ran to the hall, shouting that they wanted to leave the right and wrong place. Because there were so many people shouting, I couldn''t hear what they were shouting. The originally quiet hall became like a vegetable market.


    Lieutenant dornikov stood in front of the crowd, brandishing his pistol and shouting, trying to stop the panic. But his voice was covered by the noise of the passengers. Although I stood not far from him, I couldn''t hear what he was shouting?


    When the bus arranged by bezikov arrived, he arranged for shaeliosha to lead everyone on the bus. Then he stayed and continued to pay attention to the development of the situation. There are still nearly 700 people left. How to arrange these people is not up to him.


    As the noise in the hall calmed down, the interior arrived. Many people came, at least 50 or 60 of them, led by a major. When he saw his superior coming, Lieutenant dornikov rushed to report to him.


    After a little time, the major came over, stopped in front of Colonel bzikov and reported to him, "Hello, comrade Colonel! I''m major zuyev of the people''s Committee of the interior. I''ve been ordered to take over here. "


    "What are you going to do with these people?" he asked


    The major replied without expression, "I''ve been ordered to send them to the reform through labor camp."


    "Go on the mission!" Bezikov nodded, then stood with his waist crossed and said nothing more.


    The major first drove the soldiers of the annihilation battalion far away, and then asked the soldiers of the interior department to set up a new cordon. Then he came to the crowd and said loudly, "attention, attention! A group of 20 people, line up and walk out slowly. Our soldiers will guide you to go out and leave by car. Anyone who dares to run and shout will be severely punished! "


    After his words were called several times, there was a lot of noise in the crowd at first, but it soon quieted down. At first, several people came out, and then more people came out. As soon as they came out, two soldiers led them outside the subway station.


    Everything seems to be going well. In less than five minutes, there were only 70 or 80 passengers left in the hall. I saw that the evacuation work was going on in an orderly way, so I put down my mind and turned to bezikov. I just wanted to ask him when we could leave, and something happened.


    A man''s cry came from the crowd. I turned to see that it was the driver of the train. His head was wrapped with a piece of cloth torn from which shirt. His face was covered with blood and he cried out: "no No I''m not going to the reform through labor camp. I''m not going to the reform through labor camp. I''m not a German spy. The Great Patriotic War has been won, and the Krauts have been beaten back to Berlin by us... "


    At the sound of his voice, the soldiers who wanted to pull him stopped and looked back at major zuyev and lieutenant dornikov. At this time, the driver shouts out the last words: "Stalin, the dictator is dead, you can''t send me to the Gulag islands!"


    As soon as I said this, I was shocked. Not to mention the people in the interior department, even bzikov beside me was furious. He brushed the floor, pulled out his pistol and walked forward.


    The driver turned and ran to the platform, looking like he wanted to escape to the car. Just after a few steps, he was knocked down by the bullets from several pistols and fell to the ground without a hum¡° Run The crowd didn''t know who yelled, so they ran to the train. Without any sign, there was a dazzling white light coming from the door. My eyes were white and I couldn''t see anything. I could only hear the sound of gunfire. I don''t know how long after that, my eyes regained their eyesight. Although there were still dark shadows in front of me, I could see things clearly. As I walked towards the platform, I found that the subway train stopped on the track had disappeared, and the platform was strewn with the bodies of passers-by. I stepped back a few steps, sat down on the ground, confused, these people do not belong to this era, so tragic way disappeared from this world. And me? I don''t belong to this era. Will my fate be more miserable than theirs? When I think of this, I feel chilly in my back and fear in my heart.

 Chapter 154

    I don''t remember how long I sat on the floor and was pulled up by a man. Mechanically follow the other side out of the subway station, and was crammed into a black car. Then I found that it was Colonel bezikov who pulled me on the train. I foolishly asked him who was sitting next to me, how are the passengers on the platform, and are there any survivors? He said with some impatience, how could anyone survive after they were broken to pieces? I seemed to cry and ask him, "why did all this happen? Why? Dozens of people, dozens of people! There are also old people, women and children inside. They are so unknowingly beaten by random guns. Why on earth Bezikov said unhappily: "it was the damned driver who caused the trouble. He insulted Comrade Stalin in his words, which had already angered the soldiers. At that time, the dazzling white light appeared again, and almost all the people in front of their eyes in an instant, instinctively pulled the trigger. " Just then, I heard the alarm. The sound of the alarm was mild and distant at first, and then quickly grew louder and louder, overwhelming the voice of bezikov. He yelled angrily at the driver in the front row, "what''s the matter? Didn''t the air raid alarm go off? Why is it ringing again? " The driver glanced out of the window, then continued to concentrate on driving ahead. He replied indignantly, "Comrade Colonel, the Germans are very cunning now. They divided the air raid fleet into two groups and took off in batches. When the first planes left for some time, I was dreaming, but what bzikov said next made me fall into the ice¡° I have some bad news for you, "he said slowly." our motorcade was found by the enemy plane shortly after it came out of the subway station. Perhaps the enemy took it as a new reinforcement force, so the enemy planes attacked the convoy in turn. Except for a few wounded soldiers who escaped by chance, the rest were killed. " I asked incredulously, "is it a fleet carrying passengers on a subway train?"¡° Yes "Not only their motorcade, but also the motorcade of our guard regiment escorting those mechanical technicians and workers were bombed. Almost all of them died in the air raid," bezikov said faintly I was stunned for a long time, and suddenly remembered that he used the word "almost", so I asked with a fluke: "what about senior engineer Florin? Another name is... Sherekin, like an engineer with that name? Did they all die? " Then he fixed his eyes on bzikov to see what kind of reaction he would have. Seeing shaking my head as I expected, I was relieved that the big stone in my heart was falling. However, he went on to say: "although the car they took did not go with the team, they were also bombed." My heart suddenly came up to my throat, and my breathing was too rapid. My right hand unconsciously grasped the sheet. After a long time, I asked weakly, "are they OK?"¡° Engineer sherekin''s head was cut in half by shrapnel and died on the spot. The senior engineer of Florin''s life is very big. He was stunned by the blast. He lost his head and fractured his hands and feet to varying degrees. After rescue, the doctor said that his life was no longer in danger and he was still in a coma. We''ve put him in the next ward. If you have time, you can go and see him

 Chapter 155

    I lay in the singleton ward specially arranged by the hospital and had a full day''s sleep. After he left Moscow, he followed rokosovsky to fight the fire like a fire brigade. Then he went to Panfilov division to help him. When he took over the guard, he looked at me and shook his head. The other side was disappointed and said, "commander Tongzhi, do you really forget me? I''m lesdayev, the third company commander of the independent battalion As soon as the commander of the third company of the independent battalion mentioned the number of the unit that I had temporarily set up to take in the stragglers when I came back from reconnoitering behind the enemy lines, my memory revived and I immediately remembered who he was. At that time, before attacking the station, I asked him to lead the third company and escort the prisoners and supplies to the 316 division. Later, I never saw him again. I didn''t expect to meet him here. I patted him on the shoulder happily and said, "Oh, I remember. It''s you!" Then he teased him and said, "it seems that you are doing well. You have become a major." Leisdayev touched the back of his head and began to laugh with embarrassment. He said, "if I can take this position, I''m still in your favor. Otherwise, I may still be an ordinary Sergeant or Sergeant." In my light? I''m a little confused. I''m just a commander. I don''t seem to have the right to promote him to major. Fortunately, his timely explanation made me understand what was going on. It turned out that after he had escorted the prisoners and supplies to the defense area of the 316 division, Mr. Panfilov took the supplies and ordered him to escort them back to Moscow. In the prisoner''s camp, I met a general from the garrison headquarters who came to inspect the work. The general thought he was quite capable, so he transferred him directly to the headquarters. It turns out that if I didn''t send him to escort the prisoners and supplies, but let him go with me to attack the station, I think he would have died as well as felstov and Pavlov. Thinking of this, I can''t help sighing: "Alas! It''s a pity that you were the only one left among the members of the reconnaissance team who went to the enemy''s rear with me After listening to my words, he said, "no! Aren''t Lukin and sapochuk alive? "¡° What? " He surprised me so much that I couldn''t believe it. I grabbed his arm and asked aloud, "what did you just say? The first company commander Lu Jin and the second company commander sapochuk are also alive¡° Yes, "he said in a positive tone," they are now in the military hospital in yujanaya, and I visited them only yesterday. Among them, Lu Jin''s injury is relatively mild and he can get out of bed and walk; And sapochuk''s waist injury has not yet healed, can only lie in bed every day curse Lukin and sapochuk, as I recited these two familiar names, my heart was filled with mixed feelings. My nose was sour, and I burst into tears and fell down my cheek.

 Chapter 156

    Seeing my tears, lesdayev was a little flustered. He stood in front of me at a loss and asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with you? Why are you crying all of a sudden? "


    I was suddenly in a better mood when I learned about Lukin and sapochuk. Although I have known a lot of people since I crossed the world, they either separated from me or died. Even the team I tried my best to train for myself was lost after several battles. With Lu Jin''s ability and qualifications, I will be able to work as a part-time official after discharge. In the future, I will be able to have two more right-hand assistants. Think of here, my heart can not help but a burst of relaxed, wipe a tear, laugh.


    "Nothing. I''m happy." I happily punched lesdayev on the shoulder. "Thank you, lesdayev. I always thought that Lukin and sapochuk had died, but I didn''t expect that they were still alive. The news is so happy. "


    "It''s OK," he said with a smirk. "I saw you burst into tears. I thought something was wrong. I worried for a long time."


    "Have you eaten yet?" I don''t know what time it is. I''m still used to being polite: "if you don''t eat, I''ll invite you to the restaurant of the hospital."


    "I haven''t had lunch yet. I''m a little hungry when you say that. Let''s go now." Leisdayev shook his head, and without being polite to me, he turned to the side of his body and made a gesture of please: "I guess you don''t know where the restaurant is. I''ll show you the way."


    The dining room in the hospital is not big. There are only about ten square tables in order. This time should not be the time to eat. There is no one in the dining room. As soon as we went in, a fat old lady in a scarf and apron stood up in the corner of the door. She said to lesdayev, "Comrade commander, I''m sorry. The restaurant is closed now. Please come back in two hours."


    Although the old lady ordered us to leave, lesdayev still asked reluctantly, "but I haven''t eaten since morning. Can you prepare something for me? Even a few slices of bread will do


    "No, nothing." The old lady replied coldly, "Comrade commander, the restaurant is not open now. All the food is sold out."


    After listening to the old lady''s words, I gave a wry smile and said to lesdayev apologetically, "lesdayev, I''m sorry. I wanted to invite you to eat, but I didn''t expect that the restaurant didn''t work. I''m so sorry. "


    Lesdayev sighed disappointedly and said, "Alas! Forget it. I''d better go back to the garrison headquarters. Comrade commander, let''s go. "


    "Comrade commander!" The old lady looked me up and down when she heard lesdayev call me like this, and repeated my rank in her mouth. As soon as we turned around and walked out, the old lady suddenly called out, "please wait a moment."


    We stopped and looked back at the old lady. The old lady stood in front of me and asked me tentatively, "are you commander o''shanina?"


    "Yes." I looked at her in surprise and wondered how she would know who I was.


    "I''m sorry, comrade commander!" The old lady apologized to me and said, "I didn''t recognize you when you were wearing a medical suit."


    "It doesn''t matter. There''s no military rank mark on the patient''s suit. It''s normal not to recognize it." I said to the old lady in a friendly way, "we just wanted to have something to eat, but we didn''t expect that the restaurant was closed. Alas, it''s a pity. Let''s go first and come back later. Goodbye


    After that, I was ready to leave again. The old lady had grabbed my right arm and led me to the restaurant. As she walked, she said, "come with me, girl. It''s not easy for you to come here. How can you go back hungry? " After a few steps, he yelled at lesdayev who was still standing there: "I said, comrade commander, what are you doing standing there? Do you want to stand there like a capitalist master, waiting for the servant to bring the food to you on a plate? "


    In the kind laughter of the old lady and I, lesdayev laughed sheepishly, raised his foot and caught up with me.


    The old lady put us at a table and went to the kitchen to get food for us. Looking at the old lady''s back, lesdayev said with emotion: "it seems that you still have a big face. Even the restaurant that is closed can make an exception to provide services for you."


    I''m also at a loss. I don''t understand why when the old lady hears my rank, her attitude will suddenly turn 180 degrees. She just smiles and doesn''t speak.


    Lesdayev suddenly asked, "have you been in the 316 infantry division all this time?"


    "Yes, since I led the independent battalion to recover the station, I have been responsible for the defense of the area. On the night before the October Revolution Festival, I received an order from the division headquarters to lead a mixed battalion composed of officers from various divisions to red square for a military parade with instructor kroshkov


    "Wait a minute," he interrupted me and said, "you mean you also led the troops to the Red Square parade?"


    "Yes." It seems to me that he wants to express something, especially when he said "Ye" just now. Did his troops also participate in the famous military parade? Thinking of this, he asked curiously, "why did you say ''Ye''? Were you in the receiving army at that time?"


    He shook his head dejectedly and said, "that day, my army was under martial law in the street near Red Square. It''s a pity that I missed the chance to see Comrade Stalin with my own eyes."¡° It doesn''t matter! " I comforted him and said, "I didn''t see you this time. I''ll have another chance next time. Besides, when you work in the garrison headquarters, you have a much better chance of meeting comrade Stalin than our field forces. "¡° "By the way," he changed the subject and asked, "how have they been? Are they still at the station? I haven''t seen them for a long time. I miss them very much. " My smile suddenly froze on my face, and my mind immediately recalled the body of filstov that was hanging on the flagpole and swaying in the wind. My nose was sour, and tears almost came down again. After a while, I managed to stabilize myself, looked at the ceiling, and said, "they all died! He died bravely in the battle to defend the station. Besides felstov and Pavlov, aguminte and Aji also died. After recovering the station, our army heard from the captured German officers and men that felstov had blown up a German tank while he was seriously injured. In anger, the German commander ordered him to be hanged on the flagpole of the station When he heard that the German army was treating his comrades in arms in such a way, lesdayev was so angry that he slapped his hand on the table and said with gnashing teeth, "these damned bandits, I want you to pay for your blood!"¡° What''s the matter? " The old lady, who was busy in the kitchen, heard the loud noise of the dining room and ran out to have a look¡° It''s OK, it''s OK! " I quickly turned and waved to the old lady, said: "we are chatting, major comrades a little excited, patted the table, startled you, I''m sorry."¡° It''ll be in a minute. " The old lady said this and flashed into the kitchen again. Looking at the emotional lesdayev in front of me, I said slowly: "this is the war. If we want to no longer lose our friends and relatives, we must first defeat these aggressors."¡° Comrade commander, I''ve kept you waiting for a long time. " The old lady''s loud voice came from the kitchen, and then she came out with a tray. When she came to our table, she held the tray with her left hand and put everything on the table with her right hand. In addition to two plates of baked potatoes, a plate of bread and a bowl of red vegetable soup, there was a steaming roast with tomato juice and fresh shredded onion. After the old lady set the meal, she put the tray on the next table, then made a gesture of "please eat, comrade commander. You must be hungry. " Lesdayev was not polite either. He took a piece of bread in his left hand and bit it hard. Before he put it down, he forked the potatoes on the plate and said vaguely, "I haven''t eaten all day. I''m really hungry." I really want to know how the old lady knows my identity, so instead of eating immediately, I asked her to sit down next to me, and then asked curiously, "old lady, how do you know my name?" The old lady first pushed another plate of potatoes in front of me, and then said, "the hospital informed us yesterday that there was a female lieutenant colonel who was here for treatment. Let''s help her at any time. I heard the commander call you Comrade commander just now, and I guessed it was you. And I''ve heard a lot about you... "What''s the story?" Listening to the old lady''s words, I became more and more curious. I didn''t expect that I was a little famous now. Actually, someone started to recite my story¡° He said that you once led a small team to go deep into the enemy''s rear to carry out dangerous reconnaissance missions. On the way back, he took in a large number of scattered soldiers and formed an army. When fighting with the Germans who attacked the city, they went to the front line to fight face to face with the enemy, and forced an enemy force to surrender to you. " What the old lady said was brief, but it was true. However, it was impossible to report these things in the newspaper. How did she know? I looked at the old lady puzzled and asked, "who did you listen to what you said?"¡° My son¡° Your son? "¡° Yes The old lady said with pride, "he used to be in the independent camp. He was your company commander."¡° My company commander? " I couldn''t help looking at the opposite lesdayev. He had half a potato in his mouth and was staring at the old lady. Judging from the old lady''s attitude towards him just now, they are definitely not mother son relationship, so who is her son? I recited the names of several company commanders of the independent battalion at that time, and then tentatively asked, "who is your son, please? Lukin or sapochuk? " The old lady shook her head and said, "none of them are. My son''s name is issayev. He is your artillery company commander."¡° Ishayev The potato in lesdayev''s mouth fell into the plate with a click. He stood up with me and asked the old lady in one voice, "is issayev your son? Where is he now? Is he still alive? "

 Chapter 157

    November 22 is my lucky day.


    First, he met lesdayev, whom he had not met for a long time, and learned from him the good news that Lukin and sapochuk were still in the world. What''s more surprising is that in the restaurant of the hospital, I met the mother of former artillery company commander isayev. I knew that isayev was lucky to survive and was recovering in a military hospital in Moscow.


    The old lady brought us a pot of tea from the kitchen and poured it for both of us before she sat down beside me. Because of the common topic of issayev, we are not so formal and chatting freely.


    "Mom, Cheka," said lesdayev with a sweet mouth. He immediately called the old lady with a nickname, which made the old man smile. Then he asked, "tell us about issayev quickly."


    "Well, tell us how he came back to Moscow. Is he seriously injured?" I also agreed that I had hardly seen issayev since the recovery of the station. As for when he was transported back to Moscow as a wounded, I had no idea. It can be seen how incompetent a commander like me is.


    "That day, just in time for my rest, in response to the call of the Soviet business labor, I was not idle, and the remaining women in the residential building dug trenches in the community. Suddenly, a strange voice asked aloud, "excuse me, is there any relative of Comrade issayev here?"


    We were stunned. Qi Qi looked at the speaker. It turned out that a woman dressed as a government worker was standing above the trench¡® He is the civil affairs assistant of the district Soviet. " Hearing this, I felt my heart sank suddenly. My heart said that my son isayev had died. I just felt as if my whole strength had been taken away, and I just sat down in the trench.


    "Who are the relatives of Comrade issayev?" The staff member asked again, with a trace of impatience.


    All the people didn''t speak, just looked at me.


    Holding the moat wall, I tried to stand up. Only half of the time I got up, I fell to the ground again. When a neighbor came by and helped me, I got up with difficulty. I hobbled to the man and came to her. I answered her in a slightly changed voice: "I''m isayev''s mother."


    The staff took out an envelope from her briefcase, squatted down and handed it to me. I took the envelope, but I didn''t have the courage to open it, so I gave it back to the staff and begged her to read it for me.


    Originally, I thought it was the death notice of my son isayev. Unexpectedly, my son was injured and was recovering in XX military hospital. I was informed to visit him. The notice also said that due to Comrade issayev''s heroic performance in the battle, the higher authorities awarded him a medal for bravery and promoted him to the rank of lieutenant. "


    Hearing this, lesdayev excitedly said to me, "do you hear me? Comrade commander, isayev has also won the rank of lieutenant. " I looked at him and nodded. I didn''t speak. I said in my heart that during the war, promotion is always the fastest. Don''t you become a major.


    The old lady then said, "I''ll go to the military hospital where my son is recovering according to the address on the notice. When I first saw my son, he was covered with bandages stained with blood on his body and head. He looked like he was dying of serious injury, which scared me. But when he spoke, he found that he was in good spirits. Later, when I asked the doctor, I found out that he was only suffering from skin injury, and the injury was not as serious as it seemed.


    I stayed with my son in front of his bed and listened to him talk about his fighting experience. He told me that his unit had been broken up by the German forces in borojino when he escaped alone. I met the platoon leader of felstov in the forest and moved to the rear with them.


    On the way to transfer, I met the reconnaissance unit led by you. As you are the commander of the highest rank, it is natural for you to take over the command of the whole army. When you first accepted the army, he looked down on you. He thought that what kind of war a woman would fight might soon make everyone a prisoner.


    But in the battle of attacking the station, I saw you take the lead, waving a submachine gun and charging with the soldiers; When holding the position, he was not afraid of the bullets whizzing over his head. He stayed at the forefront all the time. Like an ordinary soldier, he took up his gun and fought face to face with the German. Only then did he admire you so much. "


    The old lady is really talkative. She has been talking almost all afternoon. Lesdayev and I don''t even have a chance to interrupt. If the waiter didn''t come back to work to prepare dinner for the wounded, I don''t know when she would have said that.


    I sent lesdayev away and went back to my own ward. As soon as I pushed the door, I saw the beautiful nurse circling in the room. I closed the door and asked jokingly, "what''s the matter with you, nurse? How can you go around like a lion in a cage? "


    The nurse heard my voice, stopped and asked angrily, "Comrade commander, where have you been? I almost searched the whole hospital and didn''t see you. I thought something was wrong with you. "


    I said with a smile, "what can happen to me? What can I do for you in such a hurry?"


    "It''s time to change the dressing," he then gave me an order and said, "go to bed and I''ll change the dressing for you."


    With the help of the nurse, I took off my hospital uniform and lay naked on the bed. She took off the bandage carefully to change the dressing for me. When I cleaned the wound with alcohol, I felt cool without any pain. It seemed that the wound had almost healed.


    After changing the medicine for injection, she covered the quilt for me and said, "Comrade commander, have a good rest. Don''t run around any more." Then he came out of the room with a tray full of bottles and cans.


    She gave me the injection, it is estimated that there are sedative ingredients, not a moment later, I feel more and more heavy eyelids, gradually unable to open their eyes, soon unconsciously fell asleep.


    Half asleep and half awake, I feel my body floating up, floating out of the room, floating out of the city, floating to the raging battlefield. Looking down from high altitude, in the open land in the middle of the boundless forest, there are fierce battles everywhere. Countless shells exploded in the positions of both sides, and the smoke was dispersed by the wind, forming a smoke area on the battlefield.


    I continued to drift deep into the Soviet army and soon came to the top of a village. There is a T-34 tank in the west of the village. Several tankers are sitting on the tank, smoking and chatting with each other. Except for them, there are no soldiers of our army around. There is a big wooden sign at the entrance of the village, on which there is a place name written in Black: "peshki village".


    There seems to be a lot of people in the wooden room next to the tank. I floated over curiously to see what happened. There was a lot of noise in the room. Let''s discuss and analyze the situation. I looked at the people present. I knew almost all the senior commanders, except the commander of the 16th group army, rokosovsky and the chief of staff, malining, as well as general kamela and general kurkin from the headquarters of the front army. From their conversation, I knew that these people were originally sent by Zhukov to investigate the situation.


    At this time, general Carmela stood up and said loudly to the people present: "comrades of the front command, there is no need to discuss any more. General rokosovsky, who is responsible for defending this area, has arrived. Let''s not hinder him from commanding the battle any more, let''s go!" With that, he went to shake hands with handsome Luo and left with the investigation team of the headquarters of the front army.


    I followed them through the village and came to the south of the village. I found that there were more than 20 cars, large and small, parked in the middle of the building. A group of drivers had been chatting together. When they saw the commander coming, they quickly dispersed and stood at attention. The drivers from the headquarters of the front army saluted and rushed to open the door and ask their commanders to get on the bus.


    Watching the convoy of the investigation team of the front army command go away, I went back to the wooden house where rokosovsky was. At this time, the commander, the chief of staff, and the staff of the headquarters were analyzing the war situation. According to various indications, some troops of the eighth division of the guards have arrived in the forest five or six kilometers north of the village, while other troops are still fighting and withdrawing, and have not entered the designated defense area for the time being.


    When we were studying the situation of the enemy and ourselves, there was a loud noise, which startled us. Looking back at the direction of the sound, we found that a German tank shell had penetrated the wall and fell into the room. Fortunately, the shell did not explode.


    Rokosovsky turned to a commander and asked him anxiously, "Comrade commander, where are your tanks? What are your tank soldiers doing? How can the German army easily touch the outside of the village, and no one issued a battle alarm. "


    The tank commander''s reply surprised everyone: "sorry, comrade commander! I left two tanks for the infantry in the northern position of the village, and the rest went to durekino to refuel. "


    "What?" Malining slapped the table and was so angry that he scolded: "nonsense! It''s nonsense


    Rokosovsky is still trying to keep calm, lightly asked the tank commander: "are you sure these two tanks left for infantry are still in the position, did not go to refuel?"


    The tank commander seemed blind, he argued: "according to the doctrine, in war, it is generally from the rear to deliver oil to the tank, rather than from the front to deliver oil to the tank. I''ve been sending tanks to refuel ever since I received the order to transfer all the tanks to peshkey


    "Report!" A combat staff officer pushed open the door and rushed in, reporting to rokosovsky in a loud voice: "report, comrade commander! German tanks rushed down the road into the village, and stormtroopers advanced in all directions of the village, shooting at houses. In three minutes at most, the German tanks will come to us. "


    Rokosovsky was surprised and asked the commanders in the field, "where are our troops blocking the road? And where is our car and is it still in good condition? "


    "Comrade commander," said the chief of staff, malining, melancholy, "at this time, we can only gamble our luck."


    "Let''s go!" Rokosovsky called out, and then took everyone out of the wooden house and looked around. Over the village, there were shells flying around from time to time, falling in front of them and on both sides of them. Some shells roared past, but landed gently; Some shells fell on buildings or walls, but did not explode. I fixed my eyes on it. It turned out that these were fake bullets fired by German tanks.


    The T-34 tank is still parked next to the house. The tank commander advised rokosovsky to sit in the tank. However, rokosovsky ordered him to take this tank to find his own troops immediately, and command the tank troops to cover the road, so as not to let the enemy continue to advance along the railway. We should know that the railway crosses the Leningrad road 6-8 kilometers south of peshki. They evacuated with 12 people, kept within sight of each other, and quietly walked to the south of the village. The T-34 tank, on the other hand, drove West with full strength, attracting the enemy''s attention. The tank driver''s technology is very good, his tank in the enemy''s heavy fire, quickly disappeared from our view. And rokosovsky, they are carefully along the street to the south of the village, and soon found their own car. Those drivers who are waiting anxiously here, seeing the arrival of the commanders, immediately rush to their cars, open the doors and ask them to get on and run for their lives. As there was no defense from our army in the north of the village, the German army was able to drive straight in and quickly break into the village. The German tanks took the lead and rushed to the front of the whole army. When they saw rokosovsky''s motorcade, they immediately increased their horsepower to catch up. I can''t help but cry out with worry when I see rokosovsky and their situation is dangerous.

 Chapter 158

    This cry made me suddenly open my eyes. When I looked around, I found that I was still lying in the hospital bed. The thrilling scene just now was just a dream I had.


    I stare at the ceiling, trying to remember what I saw in my dream. Say it is a dream, everything seems so real; It is true. From the analysis of the situation at that time, it is almost impossible for rokosovsky''s motorcade to rush out of the encirclement of German tanks in the open field.


    However, in my limited memory of the Soviet Union, rokosovsky lived to the end of the war, not only as a marshal of the Soviet Union, but also as the commander-in-chief of the first Red Square parade after the victory of World War II. Maybe what I saw just now is just a dream, and I don''t need to worry about it.


    I close my eyes and want to go on sleeping. But it''s not easy for people to fall asleep after waking up in the middle of the night. I tossed and turned in bed for a long time, but I didn''t feel sleepy at all. I opened my eyes and looked at the sky. It should still be midnight. It''s too early to get up at this time. Even if I get up, I have nothing to do, so I close my eyes and go on sleeping.


    Close your eyes or not a bit sleepy, the mind can not help but just dream like a movie playback again. The peshki village and the tank commander mentioned the place name of durejino in my dream, which I have never been to or heard of, but why does everything in my dream look so real?


    At daybreak, I had a half night''s wishful thinking, and finally I was looking forward to the sleepiness that I hadn''t seen for a long time¡° Maybe it''s just a dream. " I meditated in my heart and slowly fell asleep. After a short sleep, I vaguely heard someone pushing the door. I tried to open my eyelids like lead and look at the sound. There was no light in the room, but when I looked, I knew that it was the nurse who was nursing me. She was walking towards the head of my bed.


    "What''s the matter? Comrade nurse Seeing that the nurse was going to wake me up, I sighed and asked weakly.


    Maybe I didn''t expect that I had woken up. When I heard my voice suddenly, she was scared. She covered her chest with her hands and stepped back. A little calm, she gently patted her chest with her hand, panted violently for a few times, turned on the light in the room, then came back, bent down and said: "Comrade commander, you are awake!"


    "Yes! What can I do for you I asked, trying to sit up.


    "Colonel bzikov is waiting for you outside. He says there is something important!" She stepped forward and helped me sit up and dress.


    I sighed. It seems that I can''t even sleep today, so I put on my clothes and asked her, "do you know what Comrade Colonel wants from me?"


    "I don''t know," she replied honestly, wearing the buttons of my medical suit. "The Colonel just asked me to call you up as soon as possible, saying that there was something very important."


    After I got dressed, I moved back, leaned my back against the head of the bed, and said to the nurse, "OK, go and ask Comrade Colonel to come in."


    The nurse agreed, went to open the door and said to the outside, "Comrade Colonel, please come in!" Then he turned aside to let bzikov in.


    I was surprised to see that bezikov, who limped in, didn''t have a crutch in his hand. His recovery ability was so strong that he could walk on his own in such a short time. When he sat down in front of my bed, I asked, "Comrade Colonel, is there anything important to come to me so early?"


    He first raised his wrist, looked at his watch, and then said without hesitation: "we have just received a phone call. In half an hour, the Kremlin will send a car to pick us up. Comrade Stalin is going to meet you. You should be ready first. "


    He said it lightly, but as soon as he said it, I was shocked: what? Stalin wants to see me. How is that possible? You know, during this period of time, I had no remarkable achievements and could attract the attention of the supreme commander. How could I be summoned so abruptly?


    Before I woke up from the shock, he looked at me again and said in an irrefutable tone, "you can''t go to see Comrade Stalin in this suit. I have prepared a new uniform for you and will send it to you soon."


    There was a knock at the door before the words came down. The nurse standing at the door opened the door and poked her head out. I only heard her whisper a few words to the people outside the door and then open the door wide. I caught a glimpse of a uniformed soldier standing outside, as if holding something in his hand. Bzikov looked back and saw the man. He immediately stood up and said in a loud voice, "give the clothes to the nurse and you can leave." The soldier outside agreed, gave his clothes to the nurse, saluted and turned away.


    The nurse came to bezikov with her clothes and watched him waiting for his order. Don''t zikov waved his head at me and said, "what are you doing? I''d like to change it for the commander. "


    The nurse agreed, and then came to me with her clothes in her arms. Then she turned her head and looked at bzikov. She didn''t speak. I understood the meaning of the nurse''s embarrassed expression and quickly called bzikov: "Comrade Colonel, I''m going to change my clothes. Could you avoid it first?"


    "Oh," bzikov said, obviously stunned for a moment, then nodded: "no problem, I''ll go out right away, I''ll wait for you outside." Then he got up and limped out of the door and took the door with him. What bzikov prepared for me was a brand new military uniform, a dark gray military coat, a white standard shirt, a gray uniform skirt, a standard military uniform with military rank on the collar and a gray cylinder fur hat. The nurse helped me take off my hospital uniform, and then helped me put on my new uniform one by one. I got dressed and came down from the hospital bed. I was about to wear a skirt when I found the nurse staring at me. I asked her curiously, "Comrade nurse, what are you looking at?"¡° You are so beautiful! I''m stunned The nurse was not stingy of her praise, but made me blush. I quickly put on my skirt and digged off the topic: "I''m dressed. Go and ask the colonel to come in." By the time bizikov came in, I was already in my military cap and in my military coat. At the sight of me, he and the nurse had the same expression just now, staring at me without blinking, which made me particularly embarrassed. I coughed quickly and asked him, "Comrade Colonel, I''m dressed. When can I start?" He suddenly regained his mind and agreed in a panic: "we can go now. We can go outside and wait for the bus." As we passed the downstairs hall and walked out, a staff member in a white coat was pushing the dining car by. Bezikov stopped him, grabbed a handful of bread slices from the car and handed them to me. He said with concern, "you haven''t had breakfast yet. Eat something first. Don''t be hungry." I thank him and take the bread. As he was preparing to eat, a soldier rushed in from the outside, stood at attention in front of bezikov, and reported, "Comrade Colonel! I''ve been ordered to meet you and lieutenant commander o''shanina. The car is just outside, please follow me¡° I see Bezikov saluted the soldier, then turned to me and said, "the car is coming, let''s go!" Then I lifted my feet and left. I quickly put the bread into my pocket and followed him out. The car drove to the Kremlin. Before entering the arch, bzikov, who was in the co driver''s seat, rolled down the window and reached out to an officer standing by the door. The officer raised his hand and stepped aside. Two armed men stood in the battle ground beside the brown hillock and saluted our car with guns¡° Drive to the same place. " The captain whispered to the driver. Almost without slowing down, the car passed by the great Kremlin, bypassed the open Ivanov square and braked in front of the door steps covered with carved metal cornices. As soon as the car stopped, the captain opened the door, jumped out and came back to help me open the door. I came out of the car and looked around curiously. Last time I came, I was in a hurry. I didn''t look so carefully. Now I find that the church with five gilded domes next to me is the Cathedral of Notre Dame. It is said that there are copper coffins dressed with the remains of successive Popes and czars¡° Come with me Bezikov said to me without expression, then turned and went up the steps to show me the way. In my impression, the Kremlin is famous for its mystery and strict security. I don''t know how many inquiries it will encounter along the way. However, following bezikov, all the procedures were omitted and the road was smooth. On the second floor, I came to a wide corridor with long red carpet on the ground. On both sides of the corridor, there is a tall door stained with oak wood every considerable distance, and there is a big black square sign on the door. I didn''t care to see what was written on the sign. I just followed bezikov with my head buried. The more I walked, the more nervous I felt. At the end of the corridor, turning right, there was a small table with a green cloth and a telephone on it. Behind the table sat a soldier without a cap. Seeing our arrival, he quickly stood up and said softly to bzikov, "Comrade Colonel, you are here! Comrade Stalin is in there. He has orders that only commander oshanina should be allowed in. " Then he turned to me and said, "commander oshanina, comrade Stalin is waiting for you in there. Come in, please As he spoke, he held the door handle carefully and gently and pulled the door open. After the door opened, I stood at the door in a daze. Colonel bzikov gave me a push behind and said softly, "hurry in! Don''t keep Comrade Stalin waiting. " I thought I could see Stalin when I entered the door, but I only saw a man with a shaved head sitting at the table on the left side of the door. When I looked at it carefully, I found that it was boskelebeshev I knew. Although I almost died in his hands last time, he was Stalin''s most trusted man, and I couldn''t offend him, so I smile on my face and say hello to him: "Hello, comrade bosklebshev! We meet again Boskelebeshev stood up, reached out his hand without expression, shook my hand politely, then turned to open the door behind him and said to me coldly, "please come in, comrade Stalin is waiting for you inside!" As soon as I stepped into the room, I saw Stalin.

 Chapter 159

    Stalin stood at a long table with his back to the door, leaning forward, looking at the map spread out on the table.


    I quickly walked to a place two or three meters away from him, stopped to take a deep breath, then raised my right hand to the brim of my hat, saluted him and reported my arrival. Because of tension, not only the voice trembled, but also the words stammered: "report... Report! Stalin and Comrade! Commander o''shanina has been ordered to come and listen to... Your instructions! "


    Stalin turned at my voice. He was wearing a grey uniform coat, breeches with wide top and narrow bottom, trousers tucked in boots, and a pipe in his fist. After looking at me up and down, he learned my tone and said, "newspaper... Report! Stalin and comrades!... "


    Although he has a serious expression on his face, he has learned my tone so vividly that I can''t help smiling and the indoor atmosphere becomes relaxed. He changed his pipe to his left hand, then extended his hand to me and said kindly, "Comrade Rita, welcome back to Moscow."


    After shaking hands with Stalin, I should have been standing at attention with my hands drooping naturally and my fingertips sticking to the seams of my trousers. But because of the left shoulder injury is not healed, the left hand can not be completely straight, had to bend on the waist.


    Stalin looked me up and down again, and then asked me anxiously, "Rita, I heard you were injured in the front line. How''s the recovery going? "


    I quickly held my left arm with my right hand, raised it up slightly, and answered loudly, "report to Comrade Stalin, you have recovered very well. In a short time, you will be able to take up arms and fight with the enemy as before."


    "Rita, come and sit here!" Stalin pulled out a chair at the table and asked me to sit down.


    I was flattered to see Stalin being so polite to me. Although he said it twice in a row, I still stood in the same place at a loss. It was not until he sat down at the other end of the long table covered with green woollen cloth that I stepped over and sat down at his designated position.


    He put his pipe in his mouth, picked up the matchbox from the table, struck a match, and carefully moved the match back and forth on the cut tobacco until all the cut tobacco turned red. Lighting his pipe, he took a puff, puffed out his ring, and said to me frankly, "Rita! Some time ago, we set up a women''s league from volunteers. When the Supreme Soviet discussed who should be the supreme commander of the army, comrade voroshlov recommended you. Because of your outstanding performance on the Kremlin podium at the beginning, you were recognized by everyone, so this proposal was unanimously adopted. When this appointment is conveyed to Zhukov, you will know that you have been appointed as the acting division commander of the eighth guard division. At the same time, you will get the news that you were wounded in the battle. I personally ordered Zhukov to send you back to the city to recuperate. "


    After listening to what he said, I understood why the notice for me to go back to Moscow for recuperation came so suddenly, and the respectful attitude of those soldiers towards me when they passed the checkpoint on the way back to the city were all related to the supreme commander in front of me.


    I just wanted to say a word of thanks to him. He has changed the topic: "you have been in the front line for so long. I want to hear your views. From the current situation, do you think we can defeat the Germans?"


    This sudden question made me feel at a loss. I don''t know why Stalin asked me that. For a moment, I didn''t know what to say. I just looked at him in a daze.


    He stood up, took his pipe from his mouth, held it in his hand, and walked slowly back and forth at the table. Seeing that I didn''t speak for a long time, he stopped and asked strangely, "Comrade Rita, why don''t you speak? Do you have any scruples about me?"


    When I heard this, I said I don''t care about you. If I say something wrong, you will drag me out and shoot me in a rage. How unjust I am! Although I thought so in my heart, I didn''t dare to say so. I had to smile on my face and say, "I''m thinking about how to report to you."


    "Let''s just say it," Stalin continued walking around the table with his pipe in his mouth. "We chat like old friends."


    Although he said that, I dare not take it lightly. I reorganized the words in my mind and said cautiously: "Comrade Stalin, although the current situation is very unfavorable to us, our defense line is still shrinking in the face of the increasingly fierce German offensive. But according to the analysis of various situations, in half a month or even less, we can not only block the German attack, but also drive them back to a place quite far away from the city. "


    When Stalin heard this reply, he could not help but stop. Looking at me, his big beard cocked up slightly. He raised his hand to take off his pipe, lit it to me with his cigarette holder, and said, "talk about your reasons!"


    "The war of aggression waged by the bandits is unjust, but the war of anti aggression waged by our great Soviet motherland is just. It is a war in which almost all the people fight against the bandits."


    "Stop! Stop! Stop Stalin interrupted me with some displeasure and said, "I want to hear what''s in your heart, not what everyone would say!"


    Seeing his attitude, I knew that I could not use any more empty talk to deal with him. After considering it for a while, I went on to say: "after months of fighting, the bandits who suffered from our army''s tenacious resistance have become tired, and their original crazy offensive is gradually beginning to weaken. They are far away from home and go deep into the hinterland of our country to fight. They are very dependent on logistics supplies. However, because their troops advanced too fast, they did not leave enough troops to consolidate the occupied area. Along the supply line of more than 1000 highways, our guerrillas and sabotage groups have been operating all the time. It is not easy for the enemy to transport materials from the rear to the front line. "


    "Wait a minute." Stalin interrupted me again. He went to the table, looked down at the map in front of him, pointed the position of Moscow with his finger, drew a dotted line to the west, and said thoughtfully, "do you mean that the supply line of the * * bandits is actually in our hands?"


    "Yes, comrade Stalin!" I replied confidently: "because of the long battle line, insufficient supplies, and excessive consumption in the campaign, the bandits did not set up defensive positions and campaign reserves, nor were they prepared to fight in winter. Once the severe cold comes, their soldiers will have a large number of non combat casualties due to the lack of winter clothing. Their tanks and other vehicles can''t move because of the low temperature. "


    "The analysis is very reasonable!" After listening to my analysis for nearly half an hour, Stalin stood up straight with relief, knocked his long extinguished pipe on the ashtray, and then pointed to me with his finger holding the pipe, indicating, "what can I do for you? For example, what measures can be taken to aggravate the present predicament of the bandits and accelerate their demise? "


    I thought for a while, and then slowly said four words: "strong wall, clear field!"


    Stalin nodded and said, "the supreme command has long considered this method and issued Order No. 0428. The order said: destroy and burn all residential areas 40-60 km deep in the front line... Immediately put in all aircraft, concentrate on artillery and mortars, use scouts, skiers and guerrillas... All residential areas must be destroyed without reservation. At the same time, it is required that the troops accepting the task be completed within 10 days from November 21 to December 1. "


    He spoke slowly, but every word he said hit me like a big bomb. Although the room was warm and I was wearing a thick military coat, I couldn''t help but have a cold war when he mentioned it lightly. This short order means tens of thousands of people will be homeless. Although I also understand that this is a forced action in the war, I still can''t bear it. The numerous residential areas around Moscow were the natural support for the German army to hide and keep out the cold. Only this kind of inhuman command could achieve the goal of driving the German army from the warm house to the ice and snow.


    "Rita! Rita Stalin''s cry woke me up from my meditation. Just now, I was so lost that I didn''t even hear what he said behind me. I hastened to look back at him, waiting to say the words behind him.


    "What are you thinking?" Instead of raising his voice, he asked me with concern, "I called you so many times that I didn''t hear you."


    "Nothing, comrade Stalin!" I answered awkwardly, "I just thought of something and left for a while."


    Stalin looked me in the eye and asked curiously, "what''s on your mind that can distract you?"


    Although there was no special expression in his eyes, I felt that the eyes were warning me: don''t lie, you can''t cheat me. I hesitated for a moment, stood up abruptly, coughed, and covered up my panic: "I remembered a dream I had in the morning, in which I saw general rokosovsky in danger. The car he and other commanders of the group army were in was trapped by German tanks."


    Stalin laughed after listening to me. I didn''t expect that he would have such a reaction. I couldn''t help but be stunned. His laughter was so loud that even Percy lebeshev outside the house heard him. He opened the door and looked into the room to have a look. Stalin found him standing at the door and waved him out.


    After bosklebshev went out and closed the door, Stalin stopped laughing and said to me a little seriously, "Comrade Rita, it''s just a dream. Don''t be distracted by these unimportant things."


    "But Comrade Stalin!" I tried to defend myself: "what I saw in my dream was very real, and I had never heard of the place where the headquarters was. Although it''s just a dream, it can''t be taken lightly. " Then I told him what I saw in my dream.


    Stalin''s face sank, probably because of my unkind attitude. With his empty pipe in his mouth and his hands behind his back, he seems to be thinking about whether the dream I''m telling is believable. After a long time, he stopped, looked at me with his eyes, and asked me in a very serious tone, "are you sure that the places you see in your dreams are places you have never been to, or even heard of?"


    "Yes." I answered him in the affirmative¡° Then repeat the place names you heard in your dreams and the names of the officers you saw¡° The name of the village is peshki, and the head of the investigation team of the front army command is general Carmela and general kurkin. " Stalin listened to the names of places and people, nodded gently, and then walked calmly and confidently to the other end of the big room. He went to the armchair by the desk, sat down, took off the earphone of a telephone, and whispered, "I''m Stalin." After a while, I heard him raise his voice slightly and say to the microphone, "Comrade Shaposhnikov, please call Comrade Zhukov of the Western Front Army immediately and ask if he has sent an investigation team to the front line today and who is the officer in charge of the team? At the same time, you should know more about peshki village, which is located to the north of Leningrad highway. Are there any troops there? I''m waiting for your reply. " Put down the microphone, Stalin did not get up in his seat, put tobacco into his pipe, lit it again, and sat there smoking. And I stood in the same place, looking at him uneasily, and regretted that I was a little too bold. It was just a dream, but I told Stalin seriously, as if it were the truth. Although it was only a few minutes, it was as long as a few hours for me. When I heard the telephone ring on the desk, my heart beat faster. I knew this call clearly, and I could confirm whether what I just said was true or a dream. Stalin picked up the receiver, did not speak, but listened quietly. Putting down the receiver, he stood up, walked up to me in no hurry and said slowly, "Rita! Just half an hour ago, Zhukov sent General Carmela and general kurkin to the front line with the temporary investigation team of the headquarters of the front army to learn about the unauthorized withdrawal of the 16th group army and the emergence of a defensive area. Their destination was peshki village. The chief of staff also reported that there were our troops and a certain number of tanks in the village. It seems that the dream you are talking about is true. " Instead of speaking, I watched Stalin nervously to see what decision he would make. He took the pipe away from his mouth, frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "if it''s true, as you dream, comrade rokosovsky will be in danger. Reliable troops should be transferred from nearby to help him out of danger. "

 Chapter 160

    Stalin went back to his desk and picked up the receiver. He put the microphone to his ear and didn''t speak. After holding this position for a while, he simply put down the microphone and walked back and forth across the big room.


    He walked up and down the room, but I didn''t dare to talk. I just stood there, my eyes moving around with him. I wonder what he is going to do? Mingming had just picked up the phone, but why did he delay issuing an order to the following. If my dream is true, and there are no reinforcements, then rokosovsky is about to face the fate of more and less.


    Soon I was relieved, and his hesitation was understandable. Even if he was the supreme commander, he could not move the troops at the next level for the sake of an illusory dream. I regret that I should not have told him my dream just now, so that he fell into the choice barrier.


    However, my worry seemed superfluous. When I was considering whether to apologize to Stalin for his recklessness, he went to the desk decisively, picked up a phone on the desk, dialed a number and said, "I''m Stalin." After a pause, he said, "Comrade Shaposhnikov, please immediately transfer a regiment from the reserve team, equip them with ten tanks, and quickly rush to peshki village to build a defensive position here. Remember, they have to get into the defensive position by four o''clock this afternoon. "


    It seems that the other party said something, but I couldn''t hear it from a long distance. Stalin was a little unhappy and said, "you should arrange it yourself, and you don''t need to inform Zhukov. What the troops command you directly is when I withdraw from the position has the final say. " Finish saying, involuntarily hung up the phone.


    He rekindled his pipe, took a puff, came to me, stopped two or three steps away from me and said, "don''t worry about rokosovsky. Next I want to talk to you about another thing."


    I was relieved to hear that he had ordered the troops to be transferred to peshki village. Can hear his last words, my heart suddenly mentioned the throat, what will happen? oh dear! It''s not going to be about me withdrawing my troops from volokoramsk without authorization. If it''s really investigated, maybe I can be directly sent to the military court. In my impression, the military court of the Soviet Union is equal to the death verdict. General Pavlov, the former commander of the Western Front Army, was executed by Stalin because of successive command mistakes after the outbreak of the war, which killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers. People in such a high position say that they will be shot if they are shot, not to mention my little commander. Thinking of this, although I tried to keep calm on the surface, my feet began to shake slightly.


    "Listen to Colonel bzikov, you arrived in Moscow at noon the day before yesterday?"


    When I heard Stalin ask this question, I felt very strange, but I answered honestly, "yes."


    "It''s said that you encountered a very strange thing when you were evading the air raid at the red brysno station. Is that right? "


    "Yes."


    "Tell me about the situation at that time. I want to know what happened?" Stalin walked past me, sat down at the long table again, and asked me to sit down.


    After I sat down, I answered him honestly, "when I was evading the air raid in the red brysno station, a German bomb penetrated deep into the soil and landed on the rail in the subway station. I was studying the bomb with some commanders of the fighter battalion when a subway train came from the direction of Belarus station. As the bomb was in the middle of the rail, I was afraid of danger, so I sent someone to stop the train in time. After the car stopped, many passengers came down from the car. Some soldiers found that they were different from us. Almost everyone wore summer clothes... "


    "Is there only one person wearing summer clothes, or are all people dressed in summer?" Stalin interrupted me, asking for one of the details.


    "It''s everyone. Comrade Stalin. " Almost without thinking, I answered him and added: "when everyone got off the train, I went to the car to check, and I found an incredible thing."


    "What''s the matter?" He interrupted me curiously again.


    "It''s a newspaper. A newspaper of July 23, 1975, to be exact. "


    "Do you remember that?"


    "I glanced at it at that time, and there was a piece of news on it, which seemed to introduce our troops stationed in Berlin."


    "What? Berlin He looked at me with incredible eyes and asked, "are you sure you''re not wrong. What''s in the paper about the Soviet garrison in Berlin? "


    "Yes, I read it right." I answered him in a positive tone: "originally I wanted to have a close look, but at this time the commander of the fighter battalion came to me, so I put down the newspaper and left."


    "Where is that newspaper now?" Stalin asked eagerly.


    I shook my head and replied, "I don''t know. Later, the situation was very chaotic. When the soldiers of the interior department opened fire, a dazzling white light flashed and the train disappeared. The newspaper may have fallen into the train and disappeared with the disappearing train; It may also be on one of the passengers who are going to escort the reform through labor camp, but they are all killed in an air raid on the road, and the newspaper may have turned to ashes. "


    "Alas He sighed, his face full of regret¡° But Comrade Stalin! There is also a survivor on the train. He is not a person of our time. Maybe he knows a lot of things we want to know. "¡° Who is he? "¡° He is a senior engineer in a military factory. He should be helpful to our present Patriotic War. "¡° Where is he? " When I heard Stalin''s question, I could not help frowning slightly, thinking that Colonel bzikov had not reported such an important matter to him? Just as I was daydreaming, I heard Stalin ask, "Rita! You haven''t answered my question. Do you know where he is? "

 Chapter 161

    Seeing Stalin''s tendency to get angry, I quickly stood up and replied in a panic: "report to Comrade Stalin, the senior engineer named florin, who was injured in the air raid and is now recovering in the hospital where I live."


    Stalin glanced up at me, turned his pipe to his side, knocked it gently on the edge of the ashtray, poured the ash into the ashtray, and asked thoughtfully, "that day, you went to see bzikov in person for this engineer of unknown origin?"


    Now that he has said this, I can only tell the truth. I looked down at the map in front of me and said, "senior engineer florin, like those passengers, is not a person of our time. I don''t know why he suddenly came to us. When I first found out the truth, I was shocked. It was just incredible and incredible. " At this point, I secretly glanced at Stalin. He also looked down at the map in front of him without saying a word, and then continued: "as a military expert from later generations, he has mastered many cutting-edge military technologies that we do not know at present, which is very helpful for us to improve our existing equipment."


    "You found that he was a rare talent, so you asked bzikov to help you." When Stalin said this, he raised his head, looked at me and asked, "am I right?"


    "Yes, comrade Stalin, your analysis is quite right. It was a rare technical talent like Florin who was described as a German spy by junior officers of the Ministry of interior and wanted to shoot him. As you know, the troops of the Ministry of internal affairs are privileged. Although my rank is much higher than that of the officer, I have no right to change his decision, so I have to ask Colonel bezikov to help me solve this problem. "


    "Have you ever talked to him alone?" Stalin said here, hesitated for a moment, then asked carefully: "did he say that we can hold Moscow?"


    "Yes Although I don''t know many specific details of the Moscow defense war, I know that the battle ended with the victory of the Soviet army and the defeat of the German army, so I can give Stalin a positive answer¡° I heard froming say, "I know that the old man has lost his memory. Even if he met Stalin, I can''t remember many things. So I have no scruples to say what I know about history in the name of froming." although the attack of the bandits was fierce, they only got close to Moscow under the tenacious resistance of our army, but failed to step into the city. Moreover, under your wise leadership, the red army launched a great counter offensive in early December, driving the invading enemy far away from our city. "


    Hearing what I said, his big beard turned up slightly again, and a rare smile appeared on his face. I feel a sigh of relief in my heart. It seems that his flattery is very useful to him. He stood up, walked back and forth in front of me, and asked in a consultative tone, "how do you think I should settle this great engineer?"


    "Of course, go to the ordnance manufacturing Bureau and arrange a place for him there. As long as we have the technical information provided by him, our military equipment will soon be upgraded to a higher level and the gap between us and the enemy in equipment technology will be shortened. In time, we can even surpass them. "


    "Rita, you think too simply." Stalin interrupted me with a wave of his hand, which made me feel stunned. "Even if this engineer provides us with complete technical information, technical equipment such as aircraft, tanks and cannons can not be used simply after being assembled according to the drawings. There are many factors to consider: for example, whether there is a supporting production line, whether there is a complete production line, whether there is a complete production line, whether there is a complete production line and whether there is a complete production line At present, whether the domestic production of steel and other raw materials meet the standards, as well as a series of weapons testing and other work to be done, even if it is necessary to complete the loading of troops, it will be a matter of one or two years later. "


    His words made me silent. It seems that I really think the problem is too simple. But it''s a pity that such a rare technical talent is hidden in the snow. I bowed my head and thought that although I could not improve the large-scale technical equipment in a short time, I could try to improve the infantry weapons. So I looked up at him and said, "Comrade Stalin, I''ve also heard engineers say that our army is equipped with an AK47 assault rifle in later generations. You can consider asking him to provide us with the technical information of this kind of weapon first, so that this kind of weapon can be equipped in advance, so that our infantry will not suffer losses because of the differences in light weapons on the battlefield."


    "AK47 assault rifle?" Stalin repeated the term and asked with interest, "is there anything special about this rifle?"


    "Yes," I tried to recall what I had learned about this weapon. "According to engineer florin, this gun is a world-famous gun of later generations, designed and manufactured by a soldier named Mikhail tymofeevich Kalashnikov. Compared with the rifles equipped by other countries in the same period, the body of the rifle is short, the range is short, and the shooting distance is maintained at 300 meters in close combat, which is suitable for close assault combat. because §¡§¬£­ 47 and later various improved gun types have amazing reliability, simple structure, solid and durable, high quality and low price, great power, flexible and convenient use, so that many friendly countries and even western countries'' armies are widely used §¡§¬£­ 47 series rifles. "


    "Wait a minute," Stalin returned to the table, put down his pipe, picked up his book and pencil, and asked me again, "what do you say the full name of that soldier?"


    "Mikhail tymofeevich Kalashnikov." I answered his question accurately, and added: "I once rode with him in a truck on the way to the front line. I knew that he was a tank sergeant and served as the commander of a T-34 tank."


    Stalin recorded and asked, "how much do you know about him?"


    "According to engineer florin, Kalashnikov was seriously injured in a battle and was sent to the army hospital in the rear for treatment. Although his life was saved, he became disabled, especially his right hand. Later, he was unable to move freely. " I know a little about the life of this legendary Weapon Master, but when I tell Stalin, I must add the prefix "listen to engineer Florin" so that I can''t get involved.


    Stalin rang a bell on the table, and then the door I had just entered opened, and the bald bosklebshev appeared silently at the door, holding a standing position. Stalin tore the written note from the book, passed it to bosklebshev, and said, "immediately arrange for people to go to the army hospital, find this man, and give him the best treatment. Remember, this person is very important. Make sure he survives. "


    Bosklebshev nodded and agreed, "I see, comrade Stalin." Then he turned and went out, and took the door with him.


    Stalin came back to me and said, "Rita, what else do you know about this Kalashnikov? Tell me all about it. I''m curious about him. I really want to know that as a tanker, he has few opportunities to use rifles. How can he think of designing rifles for infantry? "


    "It is said that in the hospital, he talked about war and weapons with his comrades in arms. During a chat, a patient asked him, "why only the German army has automatic rifles, and we are short of old rifles?" This inspired him to design a new automatic rifle. During his stay in the hospital, he also asked the nurses to read all the books on light weapons in the hospital library, one of which was called the evolution of light weapons, which gave him great inspiration. "


    "I want to know how he made the weapon? You should know that even if you can complete the design of weapons, you can''t complete the manufacturing work by yourself. "


    "During his stay in hospital, he was awarded the red star. In the spring of 42 years, he asked to be discharged from hospital and return to fight, but the hospital did not allow him to go home for half a year. So he went back to the railway locomotive repair station where he had worked before, and explored the design of firearms while working. He found krachenko, his best friend in the railway technology department, a train driver familiar with machining technology. With the help of my friends, I polished an automatic rifle by hand in a simple shed. "


    "Oh, so it is." Stalin asked, "how did the rifle he designed and made get the approval of the relevant departments?"


    "After the automatic rifle was made, Kalashnikov personally sent the gun to the jerrensky Artillery Academy for testing and evaluation. After the test, the evaluation committee considered that the mechanism of the rifle was too complex, and its overall performance did not exceed that of our army''s PPS-43 rifle at that time, so the design was not adopted. " Seeing that Stalin was listening carefully, I simply told him all I knew: "but it was this unsuccessful automatic rifle that attracted the attention of Comrade blagonglavov of the Soviet Equipment Planning Committee. As the authority of Soviet infantry weapons and the president of dzerzhinsky Artillery Academy, the general appreciated the unique design of the rifle. In 1993, he personally recommended Kalashnikov to the advanced infantry and firearms school for further study. After graduation, he was assigned to the onsk military weapons testing ground as a technician.


    In 1944, after numerous failed experiments, 25-year-old Kalashnikov designed a 7.62mm semi-automatic carbine. In 1946, on the basis of this semi-automatic carbine, he designed a full-automatic rifle ak46 and sent it to participate in the national range selection test. At that time, he also competed with the works of many famous rifle designers.


    After the primary, three types of rifles, including ak46, were designated for the final review. In order to better test the real combat capability of rifles, a series of severe tests were carried out. In the extreme shooting evaluation, ak46''s outstanding performance impressed many judges: ak46 fired 15000 bullets in a row. Although the barrel was red, the shooting accuracy did not change much. After a few shots, the competitor''s sample gun can''t work normally or even can''t work at all.


    After very careful calculation and statistics of the test results, the review committee compared each group of firing data, sorted out all the data into a comprehensive report and submitted it to the Soviet Ministry of defense. The judges unanimously agreed: "the 7.62mm assault rifle designed by Sergeant Kalashnikov is recommended for official equipment."


    Soon after, the review committee decided to produce the first batch of ak46 rifles, and at the same time to conduct a test more important than type selection, and to give the weapons to the army for trial use. As a result, the army is full of praise for the simple and powerful ak46 automatic rifle. So the Soviet Ministry of defense decided to make ak46 the standard rifle of the army, and officially named the rifle AK47. "


    After listening to me, Stalin went to the table without saying a word. He took his pipe and put it in his mouth. He took a cigarette out of the box on the table and crushed it with his fingers and put it into the cigarette end. I watched in silence what he had done and stopped talking, waiting for him to ask new questions. He struck a match, lit his pipe, took a puff, and then asked leisurely, "Rita, have you heard engineer Florin say, what''s my reaction after I heard that this kind of weapon came out?"¡° Engineer Florin said that you sent a colonel named Deming to inform Kalashnikov that the AK47 rifle was designated as Soviet standard equipment. Then he was recruited to the Kremlin and personally awarded a prize of 150000 rubles. " After listening to me, he looked at the ceiling, just smoking in silence, did not speak. I stood looking at him, and suddenly felt a little dry in my mouth. I secretly regretted whether I had said too many things that I shouldn''t have said. After all, what I said was so incredible that it was very difficult for him to believe it completely. He put his pipe on the table, and then walked up and down the office without looking at me standing in the same place. Later, he stood at the writing desk, as if determined to say: "although it''s hard to believe, I decided to believe you. If you can find the Kalashnikov you said, I will arrange for him to go to the ordnance manufacturing bureau to be the assistant of the senior engineer fronin from another time and space. "

 Chapter 162

    Seeing me coming out of Stalin''s office, bzikov, who was chatting with the officer on duty in the corridor, quickly met me and asked me in a low voice, "are you OK, Rita?"


    I nodded and said softly, "I''m fine, thank you." With these words, I can''t help but feel relieved to find that my feet are sore and my vest is wet. Meeting with Stalin is always a matter that makes me nervous. Even though I know that there will be no danger, I am still nervous.


    Bezikov accompanied me to walk out. I looked around on the way, but there was no one. I told him quietly, "Comrade Colonel, in the conversation just now, Stalin asked about the mysterious engineer."


    Bezikov, surprised, looked around like I did, and asked me in a low voice, "did you tell him the origin of the Engineer fronin?"


    "Yes I asked in a puzzled way, "have you not reported this to Comrade Stalin?"


    "No!" He was in a bit of a hurry. If it wasn''t for fear that the irrelevant people would hear our conversation, he would have yelled, "Rita!" He called my name and said sincerely, "don''t you think it''s incredible? A person from the future, but also our most urgent military technical personnel. If I hadn''t seen the passengers and the train mysteriously disappearing in the white light, I wouldn''t have believed it. Therefore, as a Guard officer, I will not report such matters to Comrade Stalin casually. He knew that the presence of engineer Florin was entirely from other sources


    Listening to what he said, I immediately felt flustered. I thought that bezikov had reported the mysterious subway train to Stalin. That''s why he just said so much in his office, and even recommended to Stalin the weapon manufacturing master who is now in a state of obscurity. Oh, my God, it''s too hasty for me to do this. I don''t know what the consequences will be. At that moment, I even had the idea of going back to Stalin''s office to explain to him.


    But a little thought, some words have been said, no matter right or wrong, can not take back, simply let fate. Anyway, in the office just now, Stalin was not angry, so he was not sure that I would come back to the hospital and settle the accounts later.


    Bezikov took me out of the building, stood on the steps and waved, and the car that sent me immediately came from a distance. After the car stopped, the driver came down from the back of the car, pulled open the rear door, and then stood at attention. Bezikov made a gesture of invitation to me and said, "Rita, please get in the car! The driver will take you back to the hospital. "


    I lowered my head and got into the car. After sitting well, I turned back and asked bzikov, who was still standing outside the car, "Comrade Colonel, won''t you take me to the hospital?"


    "No, I have something else to do." Bzikov held the door, bent down and said to me, "the driver will take you back to the hospital. Good luck to you!" Then he closed the door for me. After closing the door, he didn''t stand up straight, but said to the driver who was already in the driver''s seat: "drive carefully, and ensure the safety of commander oshanina."


    "I understand! Comrade colonel The driver started the car.


    The car left the Kremlin and drove south along the Moscow river. Looking from the window, I found that it was not the road that came in the morning at all, so I asked the driver curiously, "Comrade driver, it seems that this road is not the one that we took in the morning?"


    "Yes," the driver said without looking back, "although the road we are going on is a little farther, there are far fewer barricades and checkpoints on the road. We can get to the hospital faster than that road."


    Listening to the driver''s tone, he is very familiar with the roads in Moscow. I also allow him to arrange the route and recline in the back seat. Maybe it was because I didn''t sleep well last night. After a while, I fell asleep unconsciously.


    When I was sleepy, the car suddenly came to a sudden brake, and I suddenly ran into the front seat. The severe pain drove my sleepiness away. I rubbed my hot and painful forehead and asked the driver discontentedly, "what''s the matter? Why did you stop all of a sudden? "


    The driver looked at me and replied innocently, "I was driving well, but the truck with a hood in front of me suddenly came to a sharp stop, so I had to stop."


    Just then, the tarpaulin curtain behind the truck in front was lifted, and the two soldiers who were escorting the truck leaned out and looked out. Seven or eight children in ragged clothes came running from the front of the car, came to the bottom of the two soldiers, raised the teapot or lunch box in their hands, and made a fuss.


    "What''s going on?" This scene confused me. Where did these children come from and what were they doing.


    "Alas The driver looked at the group of children in front, sighed and said: "after the war broke out, there were many orphans whose parents died. They have no one to look after them. In order to survive, apart from stealing, they have to stop the vehicles carrying munitions everywhere, hoping that the kind-hearted driver can give them a piece of bread or other food. "


    "No one cares about these orphans?" Seeing those poor children outside, the corners of my eyes are a little wet.


    The driver shook his head and said, "no one cares about them. Because their parents died, they don''t have the conditions to evacuate at all, so they have to stay in this city to survive."


    Standing in the carriage, the two soldiers yelled at the children below, and the children immediately calmed down. In this way, I can clearly hear the older soldiers say in a loud voice: "children, stop making noise, keep order, take good pictures of the team, each with a potato." Then he picked up a small box.


    After the children listened to him, they were photographed in an irregular line under the car baffle, but they still held up their tea pots and lunch boxes.


    As soon as the old soldier picked up a potato and wanted to give it to the first child, the younger soldier next to him stopped him and said: "no, it''s military material. You can''t give it to them casually. We''ll be sent to the military court... "He grabbed the old soldier''s hand, grabbed the potato in his hand, and turned to the bridge behind him and yelled," Hey, what are you still doing? Hurry up and drive


    Hearing the cry, the driver of the car in front of the car blew the accelerator, and the truck rushed forward. He found that the cheated children also yelled and chased them. But two legs where can catch up with the car, not far away, the truck has been out of one or two hundred meters away. The children chased a section of the road. Seeing that there was no hope of catching up, they scattered and disappeared into the buildings on both sides of the road.


    "Drive." Seeing this scene, although I feel like a knife in my heart, I have nothing to do but tell the driver to drive.


    The car drove forward more than ten meters, suddenly a child rushed out of the road and stopped in front of our car. The driver braked again. Fortunately, I didn''t hit the front seat again because I was prepared.


    "What happened to the child?" The driver said angrily, "don''t you see the special pass on the window? I''ve just rushed out to stop the car, and I''m not afraid I''ll take it as a saboteur and shoot it on the spot. "


    Seeing the car stop, the child in front of the car didn''t move. He just put the broken lunch box in his hand to us. I carefully looked at the child standing before I got off the bus. It turned out that he was a five or six-year-old boy. He was wearing a worn cotton military cap, a black cotton padded jacket that didn''t fit, and a black military belt was tied around his waist. The cotton padded jacket was covered with blood and soil. I didn''t know where he came from.


    I accidentally touched the pocket of my coat and found that there were still some bread slices in it when I left the hospital. I pushed the door open and got out of the car. I asked for the bread in my pocket, walked over to him and said, "come here, boy, I have something to eat here." The child is still standing in the same place. Maybe he is afraid that the driver will suddenly drive away before and after he leaves the car. Maybe he has been cheated too much.


    I went up to him, squatted down and put the bread in his lunch box. Instead of looking at me, he grabbed the slice of bread with his right hand, put it directly into his mouth and gobbled it up. He coughed violently because he ate too much. I patted him gently on the back and said pitifully, "no one grabs with you. Eat slowly."


    The boy stopped coughing and looked at me gratefully. He slowed down his eating. Tears came out of his eyes and ran down his cheek.


    He couldn''t see his face as it was, so he was immediately washed out of two white marks by tears. I raised my sleeve and carefully wiped the dirt off his face. Soon a fair and handsome face appeared in front of me.


    I just said in my heart, Lao maozi''s men are more handsome, even children are no exception. But unexpectedly found that the child looks very familiar, as if where seen. I frowned and asked the boy, "child, where is your home?"


    The boy didn''t answer my question. He just lowered his head and continued to eat bread.


    After eating three pieces of bread, he pulled open the lapel of his cotton padded jacket and put the rest of the bread in his arms. When he pulled open his skirt, I saw that he was wearing a white shirt. I suddenly thought of something, but it was not clear. I quickly grabbed his skirt, pulled it aside and opened it wider. I clearly saw that he was wearing a short sleeve white shirt, not a long sleeve shirt this season.


    I have guessed his true identity, quickly covered his skirt and said softly, "son, do you remember me? In the subway carriage, the woman commander who picked up your comic book? "


    Hearing this, his body trembled violently. Then he looked up at me in horror and murmured, "don''t catch me, don''t catch me!"


    "Comrade commander, what''s the matter?" The driver didn''t know when to get out of the car. Seeing the child''s panic expression, he asked curiously.


    I was thinking about how to answer when the alarm sounded.


    The sound of the alarm was slight and distant at first, and then it grew louder and louder as if it were pounding against the walls of the house, overwhelming all the noise in the street.


    "Get in the car!" The driver urged me anxiously, "the German darn plane is bombing again. We need to find a place to hide."


    I took the child''s hand and pulled him into the car. Without waiting to sit down, the driver stepped on the accelerator and our car rushed forward.


    Two blocks out, suddenly there was a loud bang not far away, and the cement dust filled the sky, blocking our car''s sight. Then, sometimes, one after another loud noise came from around.


    "Come on! Drive faster Seeing the critical situation, I couldn''t help yelling at the driver. The boy trembled with fright and went straight into my arms. I hugged the boy tightly and looked out the window nervously, fearing that the short-sighted bomb would hit the car we were in.


    In the violent explosion, another roadside building collapsed. The driver suddenly braked out of the car, turned his head and yelled to me: "Comrade commander, we can''t drive like this any more. We may be hit by bombs at any time. We should find an air raid shelter to hide and wait until the air raid is over."


    "What are you doing? Get off at once. "


    I pushed the door open and came out of the car with the boy in my arms. The pungent cement mixed with other choking smell made me cough violently and feel dizzy in front of my eyes. The driver came around from the other end of the car, waving his hands in front of his eyes, and the cement slowly dispersed. He yelled at me, "come with me!" Then I took the child in my hand, turned around and ran. I followed him closely, covered my nose and mouth with my sleeve, and ran stumbling forward.


    Fragmented buildings, still falling bricks and stones, I ran in the process, although careful again and again, but still hit once or twice.


    The people on the street were running around, shouting in panic. On the way, you can see people lying on the ground from time to time. I don''t have to go forward to check. Based on the existing experience, I know they are hopeless.


    The antiaircraft guns rumbled, and the sound of antiaircraft guns and bombs exploded.


    The driver in front of us ran towards a residential building. At the door stood two middle-aged women in cotton jackets and red sleeves. Seeing us running, they cried out: "Comrade soldiers, come here quickly!"


    Running into the building, under the guidance of a middle-aged woman, we walked down a dozen steps and entered a dark basement. As I just entered from the well lit outdoor, even if there was a lighted oil lamp in the basement, I still felt that I could not see anything clearly. It was a long time before I could barely see everything in the room.


    The driver was sitting on a bench opposite me, gasping for breath with his child in his arms. I gave him a smile and said to him gratefully, "thank you, comrade driver. If I didn''t have you, I would have stayed in the street to get bombed by the German."


    He waved his hand, continued to breathe heavily, and then said, "Comrade commander, don''t be so polite. It''s my duty to protect you."


    I looked at the child in his arms, and the child was also secretly looking at me. I waved to him and said softly, "come to me, child!"


    The boy stood up hesitantly and came slowly to me. I took him into my arms, put my chin on his head and asked him in a low voice, "what''s your name, son?"


    "Varoja," he replied timidly, "my mother calls me LOVA."


    "LOVA, can you tell me what happened?" As I said this, I caught a glimpse of the driver sitting opposite. His eyes were closed, his head was leaning against the wall behind him, his chest heaved violently and he was panting heavily¡° I want to know what happened after you left the subway station? "


    Valoja in her arms suddenly sobbed and stammered: "my mother and I had just driven out of the truck, and it was not far away when we met the bombing of the plane, and the truck stopped. At that time, I was so scared that I hugged my mother tightly. The other uncles and aunts in the car screamed and tried to run out, but they were stopped by the two soldiers guarding us. They cried out: "no one is allowed to get off without orders! No one is allowed to get off without orders! "


    "The alarm outside seems to be off!" The driver suddenly stood up and said, then walked out without looking back, "I''ll go out first."


    When the driver came out of the basement, I asked, "what happened then?"


    "Uncle soldier didn''t allow everyone to get out of the car, so everyone quarreled with them desperately. At this time, a bomb hit a car not far away. Seeing the rising fire and smoke, everyone was scared and stopped arguing. It was my mother who pushed me to the back of the car, explored my family background from the middle of the two uncle soldiers, and put me under the car. "


    "What about your mother?"


    "She wanted to jump out of the car, but she was caught by the soldier uncle and pushed into the car. All I heard was my mother shouting, "LOVA, run! Run home to find Dad! " I was so scared that I ran. As a result, after running for a while, she found that she couldn''t find where her home was. Then she ran back to her mother, only to find that her truck was burning... "At this point, valoja began to cry.


    His cry brought in the middle-aged woman who had just left. She asked curiously, "Comrade commander, what''s wrong with the child?"


    I wiped a handful of tears, trying to squeeze out a smile, said: "the child thought of his dead parents, are sad to cry. It''s all right. Go and help yourself! "


    The warden shook her head and walked away muttering.


    I gently patted the child on the back, comforted him and said, "well, child, don''t cry. If you can survive, your mother''s spirit will also feel comforted." I raised my head, poured back the liquid from my eyes, and then said, "you come with me first, I''ll help you find a place to place you."


    Hearing what I said, the child''s cry gradually decreased and answered me in a low voice. I don''t know how long later, the child gradually calmed down, there was no sound. I looked down and saw that he had fallen asleep in my arms. A quick step came from the door, and then I heard the familiar voice of the driver: "Comrade commander, the air raid alarm has been lifted. The car is just at the door. Please come out and get on the bus as soon as possible! "

 Chapter 163

    I took varoja up the steps and saw the driver waiting in the door of the residential building. See me come out, quickly meet up to pick up the child, holding out.


    When I got out of the residential building, I saw that the car I was riding had changed, the windows were all broken, and there was a thick layer of soil on the car body. I couldn''t see the original color at all. I opened the door and saw that the seat was full of soil. I hesitated and got into the car.


    When the driver handed valoja in, he gave a wry smile and said apologetically, "Comrade commander, I found the car just now and found that it was like this."


    I took valoja, held him in my arms, gave the driver a smile and said, "it''s OK, it''s OK. If you didn''t take us to the basement to hide, maybe we would be the same as this car. "


    The driver walked around the back of the car and sat on the bridge. He turned around and asked me, "Comrade commander, where are we going?"


    "You''d better go back to the hospital and drive quickly."


    The driver glanced at varoja in my arms, then readily agreed and started the car.


    As soon as the car started, the chilling wind poured in through the windowless windows. I was afraid that valoja was frozen. I just wanted to ask him, but I found that he had already fallen asleep.


    After driving for more than ten minutes, I finally arrived at the hospital. When I saw the tall and solid building of the hospital, I was relieved. Finally, I arrived. If I didn''t arrive, I would be frozen into ice.


    After thanking the driver, I pushed the door open and got out of the car with valoka in my arms. As soon as she got out of the car, varoja woke up. He struggled to get out of my arms, rubbed his eyes and asked curiously, "where is this?"


    "This is a military hospital," I said as I moved my numb hands and feet Then he took his hand and went inside. Although the injury on my shoulder is no longer serious, I still can''t hold a five or six-year-old for a long time.


    On the way here, I thought, I can''t listen to Ren valoja living on the street any more. A child as young as him will soon die on the street because of lack of food and clothing in this cold winter. Although I also know that there are many such things in the war, valoja is different from others. He does not belong to this era and does not know how to survive in the war. I want to help him find someone who can take care of him.


    When I led him through the hospital hall, from time to time, some soldiers or officers came to me to stand at attention and salute. Because I was holding valoja with my right hand, I didn''t return the salute, just nodded at them.


    Came to the restaurant, from the big open door, the hall was empty. I yelled to the inside, "Mom, Cheka, are you there? Mom, Cheka! Are you there? "


    "Who is it?" Inside came an impatient voice, "the restaurant is closed. Come back at dinner time."


    I recognized that this was the voice of the mother I was looking for. I quickly pulled valoja into the restaurant and said aloud, "Mom, Cheka, it''s me! I''m Rita


    "Ah?! It''s Rita With the sound, the fat old lady rushed out of the kitchen, wiped her wet hands around her waist, and then gave me a bear hug.


    I was strangled tightly by her, but I still didn''t let go of valoja''s little hand. My mouth came to her ear and said, "Mom, Cheka, I brought a child to see you."


    "Child?" The old lady let go of me, stepped back, looked at me suspiciously, then turned her eyes to varoja, who I was holding, and asked curiously, "where does this child come from?"


    "In the street." I really don''t know how to explain the origin of the child, so I can only perfunctorily say: "on my way back, I met this child begging in the street. I thought he was poor, so I brought him back."


    "Poor child!" Then the old lady squatted down, stretched out her hands to valogia, and said softly, "come to me, child."


    Varoja seemed to have not heard the old lady''s words. Standing in a daze, I squatted down, pushed him gently, and said, "LOVA, go. The old lady is calling for you. Go to her." Valoja was still standing in the same place, his face muscles twitched violently. Suddenly, he glanced at the corner of his mouth and burst into tears. He rushed into the old lady''s arms and began to cry. He cried intermittently and said, "wonia... Great grandmother, you... You don''t know me, i... I''m LOVA!" Your great grandson LOVA!... "


    Valoja''s words, like a bolt from the blue, fell on my head and scared me to sit on the ground. Oh, my God? It''s not like that, is it? They are so related.


    When the old lady heard valoja''s address, she was surprised to push him away and asked in disbelief, "what did you just call me, son?"


    Varoja wiped her tears and sobbed, "great grandmother, you... You are my great grandmother!"


    The old lady was so scared that she waved her hand and shook her head like a rattle: "son, you must be mistaken. I have only one son. He is not married yet. How can he have children?"


    "Yes! That''s right The child cried and said, "my grandfather''s name is isayev. He is your only son." Then he threw himself into the old lady''s arms.


    I wanted to stand up with my hands, but when I heard the child''s words, Ji Lingling had a cold war and sat down on the ground again. It''s incredible that the child I saved was the grandson of issayev. Sitting on the cold floor, I meditated that it was 1941, and the child was from 1975, 34 years apart. If issayev married after the end of the patriotic war, he would have his own children by 46. When his children are 75 years old, they are almost 30 years old. It''s normal to give him another five or six-year-old grandson. What''s more, when the child sees the old lady, she calls her name accurately, but the old lady doesn''t correct him, which at least proves that the child''s name is not wrong. You know, although I know that the old lady is issayev''s mother, I don''t know her name at all. I don''t know the old lady''s name. Of course, I can''t tell the child in advance who to take him to see. So I estimate that nine out of ten of the kinship that the child said is true. To understand this, I stood up again with both hands and patted the old lady on the shoulder. When she looked back at me blankly, I reminded her, "Mom, Cheka, is there anything to eat in the kitchen? The child hasn''t eaten well these days. He may be hungry. "¡° Yes, yes, yes She repeatedly replied, "you see, I''m really confused. I''m going to prepare food for him." Then he released his hand holding the child, stood up, wiped his face, and turned into the kitchen. Looking at the old lady''s back disappearing from the kitchen door, I went up and took valoja''s hand, led him to a table and sat down, comforted him and said, "LOVA, you sit here first. I''ll see if the food is ready yet."¡° Mm-hmm He answered me with a cry. When I went to the kitchen door, I turned around and saw that he was sitting at the table without moving, so I entered the kitchen safely. There was a plate of bread on the kitchen table. The old lady was cutting enema. When she saw me go by, she asked me in a low voice, "what''s the matter with this child? Why do you call me great grandmother?"¡° I''m not sure about that! " I faltered and perfunctorily said: "maybe he was scared when he saw his parents die in front of him. In addition, he was in a state of panic for a long time, and his nerves were not normal." I''m not good at speaking. After that, I just feel a fever on my face. Fortunately, the old lady didn''t notice my abnormality. She nagged, "what a poor child." she put the sliced enema into the empty plate and went out with a plate in one hand. When I saw that she was going out, I quickly followed her. After a few steps, the old lady suddenly stopped and whispered to me, "Rita, this child is also very poor. Let me take him in and let him be my grandson." Listening to her saying this, I''m a little sad. What''s the matter? Great grandchildren have become grandchildren, and the whole generation is in a mess. But I couldn''t refute the old lady, so I had to follow her and say, "well, that''s a good idea."

 Chapter 164

    In the next two days, although the nurse still delivered three meals to my ward on time. But whenever I''m free, I''ll go to the restaurant to see the old lady and valoka. Because she had to be on duty in the restaurant, the old lady seldom went home, so she lived in the duty room in the corner of the restaurant, and valoja naturally lived with her.


    After an hour''s nap, I got out of bed and got ready to go to the dining room to see the old lady and valoka. It was at this time that I heard the sound of rapid footsteps coming from outside. I listened and stopped for a moment. There were at least forty or fifty people who could make such a noise.


    With a command, the orderly footsteps stopped outside my door. Listening to the sudden disappearance of the footsteps, my heart beat faster. At this moment, I even thought that the Ministry of internal affairs sent me to arrest me. After all, I stopped them shooting "German spies" in the subway that day. With this, they could arrest me.


    I went to the window to have a look. This is the third floor. It''s about ten meters above the ground. If I jump down, I will be disabled even if I don''t fall to death. It''s impossible to escape from the window. It''s even more impossible to rush out of the door. Don''t say I''m unarmed now. Even if the bobosha submachine gun is still around me, I still have no chance of winning in the face of dozens of fully armed interior ministry soldiers.


    At present, the only thing I can do is to let go. As long as they don''t shoot me on the spot, I still have a chance. As long as Colonel bzikov knew the news, he would be able to plead for me in front of Stalin, and then I would have a chance to escape.


    I sat down on the edge of the bed, waiting for people outside to break in. The hands on the bed trembled uncontrollably because of nervousness.


    However, after waiting for a long time, I didn''t see the scene of breaking into the house as I expected. I only heard someone speak in a low voice outside.


    I could not help but stand up curiously, went to the door, gently opened the door and looked out. Every few meters in the corridor stood a fully armed soldier, wearing a blue hat with a big eaves hat. Especially at the opposite door, there was an officer with a briefcase and a pistol on his shoulder, walking back and forth in the corridor.


    When I opened the door, although my action was very light, it still alerted a soldier standing guard opposite. He came over with a big stride, pushed the door open and whispered, "what are you doing?"


    I was startled by his action. Fortunately, he flashed in time and was not touched by the door. In the face of his question, I faltered and replied, "I heard something outside. Let''s see what''s going on."


    Without waiting for the soldier to ask again, the officer I saw just now also went into the ward, looked at the soldier, then looked at me and asked seriously, "what''s the matter?"


    The soldier quickly replied, "report to major, I found the wounded comrade opening the door and peeping, so I came to stop her."


    The major of the internal affairs department took a book and a pencil from his briefcase, turned to a blank page, looked at me and asked coldly, "your name, position and rank, when did you begin to live in this ward?"


    I looked down at my clothes and found that I was wearing a medical suit, not a military uniform. No wonder the major was so tough on me. I pointed to the military coat hanging on the coat rack by the door, and replied angrily, "Comrade major, please have a look at that military coat, which is wearing the rank corresponding to my rank." Seeing that the major looked back and carefully checked the rank on his coat, I said in a sarcastic tone, "Comrade major, do you see clearly? I''m a commander and you''re a major. According to the regulations, you should salute me instead of speaking to me in such a bad manner. "


    My words embarrassed the young major a little. Just at the same time, a voice broke in and said, "this is commander o''shanina. Don''t you know that?"


    A few of us looked in the direction of the voice. Bezikov and another major from the interior department were standing at the door. Then the major looked familiar. I took a second look and immediately recognized major zuyev, who I met in the subway station. I didn''t know what he was doing in the hospital. Did he really come to catch me? However, when I saw bezikov beside him, my heart went back to my belly. Based on my relationship with the colonel, it was estimated that the people in the interior department would not take me away so easily.


    Major zuyev did not speak to me, but glared at the major in the room and scolded him in a low voice: "I said, comrade major, your task today is to protect the safety of the leader, not to go to the ward of major oshanina to inquire her identity." Although he said this to the major, I always felt that he was a bit accusing.


    The major and the soldiers in the room saluted me, went out of the ward without a word, and went back to their respective posts.


    Seeing them leave, major zuyev also saluted me and said coldly: "Comrade commander, we are carrying out the task. If there is nothing important, please don''t leave the ward, otherwise there will be some misunderstanding, which will be bad for everyone."


    "I see, my comrade major!" Bezikov took the conversation, pushed zuyev out a step, then stepped into the door and closed the door behind him.


    The door is not completely closed, and the corridor can still be clearly seen from the crack of the door. I asked bzikov quietly, "Comrade Colonel, why are you here?"¡° I''m here to give you orders. " He took a document out of his briefcase and handed it to me. "There''s an order for you to go back to the army immediately." I took the document, glanced at it casually, and asked, "when do you expect me to leave?"¡° You can start at any time. The car and guards from the eighth division of the guards are waiting for you down there. " At this point, bzikov thought hard about the name of the escort, "what''s the name of the lieutenant who came to pick you up? He also told me just now... "It''s Ramis, isn''t it?" I tentatively reminded him¡° Yes, that''s the name I was relieved to hear that it was Ramis. No wonder I haven''t seen him since I came out of the subway station. It turns out that he went back to the front line¡° What''s the matter with the house troops outside? " I looked at the two majors standing outside through the crack of the door and asked bezikov curiously, "what''s the big man here? There are two majors leading the team." Berzikov also looked out through the crack in the door and replied in a low voice, "don''t you know? Today, with the permission of Comrade Stalin, comrade Ustinov came to the hospital to visit engineer Florin. "¡° Ustinov This name is strange to me. I have never heard of it: "who is he?" After listening to me, bzikov had an incredible expression on his face. "No, you don''t even know him?"¡° Well, I may have heard of him, but I can''t remember who he is for the moment. " I quickly perfunctory¡° You can remember this time, "bezikov told me about the resume of this mysterious leader:" his full name is Dmitry Fedorovich Ustinov. He is currently in the position of the people''s Committee on weapons and equipment, and is responsible for leading the production of guns and the development of new weapons. " After listening to the explanation of bezikov, I have a little impression of this mysterious figure. I guess he may be the youngest member of the people''s Committee who was called by Stalin in the movie "the defense of Moscow". Just as he was talking, a command came from outside: "everyone, stand at attention!" I looked out through the door, only to see the back of a group of soldiers, they just came out from the opposite ward of Ustinov blocked tightly, so that I can not see his true face. A group of people gathered around the young people''s committee members. As soon as they left, a stretcher carried by four soldiers came out from the opposite ward. Although I could not see the patient''s face on the stretcher, I immediately guessed that engineer Florin was lying.

 Chapter 165

    Although I didn''t see what the young chairman of the people''s Committee looked like, I knew in my heart that it was the conversation with Stalin that day that played a role when I saw them carry away the injured floonin. Since he sent Ustinov, who is in charge of military production, to come forward, it means that he will fully carry out the production of new weapons after mastering the high-tech technology provided by Florin. After all, in the battlefield, besides the command ability of officers, the courage and determination of soldiers, the performance of technical equipment is also crucial.


    When the people from the interior department left, I sent bezikov downstairs to wait for me, changing clothes alone in the ward. After changing my clothes, I went to the restaurant to say goodbye to the old lady and valoka.


    My grandparents and grandchildren are very reluctant to leave. They have already had feelings with each other during this period of time. The old lady was surprised, and then wiped tears repeatedly told me to pay more attention to safety in the battlefield. Varoja didn''t want me to leave. He just hugged my leg. Finally, the old lady pulled him away, and I was able to get away.


    Out of the hospital building, I saw a jeep parked under the steps in front of the building. I thought it was Ramis'' car, so I ran to it in a hurry. As a result, I came to the car and saw that the driver was a strange face. I bent down and asked the driver tentatively, "Comrade soldier, excuse me, does this car go to the front line?"


    "Front line? What front line? " The strange driver asked in a confused way, but after catching a glimpse of my military rank on the badge, he straightened up and replied respectfully, "report commander, I''m a commander of our regiment. I''ll take him to the Communist Youth League station when he comes out."


    "So you didn''t come to pick me up!" I was disappointed to hear him say that. They agreed to wait for me outside. When I came out, not only Ramis and grissa were not seen, but even bezikov was missing. What''s the matter? I hesitated and thought that they might have gone to the ward. Maybe I just missed them. I thought like this, and without talking to the driver, I turned around and walked into the building.


    When I just stepped up a few steps, I suddenly heard a voice calling me from afar. Turning around, I saw a jeep rushing in from the front door of the hospital, and then stopped steadily in front of the steps.


    As soon as the car stopped, the people in the car opened the door and jumped out. I knew all the people who came out, except for bezikov. The other two were my guard company commander, Lieutenant Ramis, and the driver, grissa. So, I turned around and welcomed it with a smile.


    Grissa stood still. Ramis took two steps, came to me, stood at attention and saluted. He excitedly reported to me, "report to Mr. commander, commander of the security company, Lieutenant Ramis has been ordered to pick you up from the hospital. Now I''m waiting for your instructions."


    I didn''t return the salute. Instead, I raised my hand and pulled down the hand that he held on his forehead. Then I asked with concern, "what''s the situation in the teacher? General leviagin and political commissar, are you all right? "


    He replied with a smirk: "it''s all very good. We''re looking forward to your early return to the army. No, after receiving the order from the superior, the political commissar and general will send me to the hospital to pick you up Then, his body to the side, made a please gesture, "Sir comrade, please get on the bus!"


    At the side of the car, I shook hands with grissa, who was standing there, and then got into the jeep and sat in the back row. Bzikov came over, bent down and said to me, "the battle ahead is cruel. Take care of yourself!"


    "Thank you For his concern, I am very grateful, and quickly reached out from the window to shake with him.


    When the car started, he said aloud again, "good luck!" With that, he stepped back, stood at attention and saluted our car.


    Maybe it was bezikov who said hello to the checkpoints along the way. Almost no soldiers on duty stopped our car to check our documents. All of them were still more than ten meters away. The sentry lifted the railings of the road, and we were able to leave the city unimpeded.


    In the outskirts, the road condition became worse. In addition to the areas damaged by various vehicles during the rainy season, there were craters of different sizes blasted by German planes. The uneven and snow covered road slows us down unconsciously.


    It''s getting dark gradually. Ramis, who is sitting in the co pilot''s seat, urges grissa to drive faster. Drive at this speed until it''s dark at the division headquarters


    I looked at the darkening sky outside and asked Ramis, "how far is it from the division headquarters?"


    "About ten kilometers."


    Not far away, I vaguely saw that there were two crossroads ahead, so I asked Ramis curiously, "Comrade lieutenant, there are two roads ahead, which one should we take?"


    "The one on the right," Ramis said, pointing his hand, "the one on the left goes to peshki village."


    When I heard the name of peshki village, I couldn''t help fighting a cold war. Although I heard Stalin send troops here two days ago to protect rokosovsky. But I haven''t heard the following. At the moment, I don''t know whether the troops are still stationed in the village or whether rokosovsky is safe?


    I was thinking this way, looking around from the windows on both sides, paying special attention to the forest on the side of the road. I was afraid that a few Germans would suddenly come to attack us. Unexpectedly, I found something unusual in the snow in the woods on the right. The ground level of snow in these places is obviously higher than that in other places, as if there are thousands of troops hidden. a german! I suddenly had this idea in my mind, and cried out: "stop, stop quickly!" Hearing my cry, grissa slammed on the brakes, pulled up and looked back at me. Ramis also turned his head and asked, "what''s the matter, sir?" I pointed to the woods on the right and said, "look at the woods over there, it seems that there are people in ambush!" Ramis lifted his submachine gun from under his seat, pushed open the door and jumped out. When I got on the bus just now, I saw a submachine gun on the back seat, which should belong to grissa, the driver. I grabbed it and put it on the window, ready to shoot as soon as I found it dangerous. Ramis bent and approached the woods carefully. More than ten meters later, when we entered the woods, there was a shout in the woods. Because I was too far away, I didn''t hear what the other party was shouting. But when Ramis heard the cry, he immediately stopped, straightened up, stood where he was, and slung the submachine gun he had just held on him. Seeing his performance, I guessed that the people ambushing in the forest must be our army, so I put the submachine gun on the seat, jumped down boldly and swaggered past. Just as I was walking towards the woods, three people got up from the snow in the woods. They were all wearing white camouflage clothes, carrying powerful rotary machine guns in their hands, and stepping on the snow with deep feet and shallow feet. I walked up to Ramis and stopped, looking at the three soldiers approaching us without expression. They stopped in front of us. One of the soldiers came forward, lifted the camouflage hat on his head and asked aloud, "who are you?" As soon as the hat was lifted, I saw his badge. It turned out to be a captain¡° We''re from the eighth division of the guards, "Ramis replied preemptively." this is the division commander, lieutenant commander o''shanina. I went to the hospital today to pick up the division commander and return to the army. What part are you The captain came up to me, stood at attention and saluted. The report said, "report commander, we are from the 214th Airborne Brigade. I am captain starcha, commander of the Sixth Battalion. We are carrying out the destruction task behind the enemy lines."

 Chapter 166

    The other side showed their identity, I lowered the muzzle of the gun, but my finger did not leave the trigger. Once I found something wrong with the other side, I could immediately pull the trigger and raise my hand to sweep the bullets out of the gun. I looked the middle-sized young officer up and down, and then asked, "sabotage mission, what kind of sabotage mission?"


    "Report to lieutenant commander," said Captain starcha in the dry tone of reply from his subordinates to his superiors, "our battalion has been ordered to cut off the roads from klin to wolokoramsk, wolokoramsk to lotoshilo, klin to new pedrovskoye, and shahoskaya to new petrovskoye after klin parachute landing."


    As soon as I hear that their combat range is so large, can they have enough troops? I took my finger off the trigger and asked with great interest, "how many people in your battalion can complete the combat tasks in the above areas at the same time?"


    "There were 415 men in the battalion, three companies. The deputy battalion commander took a company to destroy the railway from shahhoskaya to new petrovskoye. I led the second company to ambush the German troops who might pass by here. In these days of fighting, our battalion has destroyed ten German trucks, and hundreds of enemies have been killed by us.... "


    "Ramis, let''s go!" I was not interested in hearing the captain talk about their fighting experience, so I called Ramis and turned away with a gun.


    "Then where are the soldiers of the third company?" Ramis, who followed me, asked curiously.


    "According to the brigade''s orders, I have deployed them in peshki village."


    "What?! Peshki village? " I had already walked several steps towards the position of the car. Suddenly I heard the place name mentioned by the captain. I stopped and ran back to the captain. I looked at the captain and asked in an uncertain tone: "Comrade captain, what are you talking about? Peshki village? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." The captain was startled by my unusual behavior. Although he didn''t understand why he suddenly asked, he respectfully gave a positive answer.


    "What''s the situation in the village, in our hands or in German hands?" I grabbed the captain''s collar and asked anxiously.


    The captain stepped back and gently freed his collar from my tightly held hands. He replied awkwardly, "Comrade commander, I can''t answer your question for the time being. I''m sorry."


    Aware of my gaffe, I quickly put down my hand, chuckled twice, apologized to the captain with some embarrassment, and then repeated the question.


    "I don''t know. Maybe it''s in our army''s hands, or maybe it''s taken away by the Germans." The captain shook his head and gave me an ambiguous answer. Seeing the disappointment on my face, he quickly added: "please don''t worry. I''ll ask how the situation is over there."


    "How?"


    "There is a phone in the shelter department to contact them directly. Please do it!" With that, he put his body aside and made a gesture to me. Then he took a step to guide us.


    Following the battalion commander, we came to the forest. I found that there was a long trench in the middle of the forest. There was a heavy machine gun position piled up with snow in the middle of the trench. The soldiers on duty stood up to salute us when they saw us entering the trench.


    Walking along the traffic ditch to the deep forest, about 70 or 80 meters, turning a corner, you can see a shelter made of wood. The captain stopped, turned and said, "this is my battalion headquarters. Please come in." Then he lifted the curtain and went in first.


    As soon as I entered the shelter, I felt the light inside was extremely dim. It took me a long time to get used to it. In the middle of the room, there was a map and a steam lamp on the shabby wooden table, which dazzled people. There is also a table in the corner, on which is a square machine. Next to it is a soldier waiting for earphones.


    The captain pointed to the communication equipment and said to me, "this is a walkie talkie, a portable low-power wireless telephone transceiver, which can be used to communicate even during the March." With that, he took off the earphone from the signalman''s head and put it on his head. Then he picked up the microphone and began to shout: "parachute, parachute! I''m a glider, I''m a glider! If you hear me, please answer


    After he repeated it several times, the answer came from the earphone: "I''m a parachute, I''m a parachute."


    The captain looked at me and asked, "where are you now?"


    "Our company is now one kilometer south of peshki village."


    "Is the village in our hands, or is it occupied by the Krauts?"


    Perhaps this question was too abrupt, and the other side obviously stopped for a moment before answering, "in the hands of our army, almost a regiment entered the village two days ago and built many fortifications in the north of the village."


    "Has there been any fighting recently?"


    "No, there was no fighting. There wasn''t even a German in the neighborhood."


    After listening to the other party''s report, the captain removed the microphone, took off his earphone, turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, I just asked. Peshki village is still in the hands of our army." I put the submachine gun on my shoulder, and walked in the shelter with my hands on my back, with a bitter smile in my heart: it''s ridiculous. It''s just an ordinary dream. I actually believed it. I also flew Stalin to transfer a regiment from the reserve team to defend this unknown village. If the Germans attack, it''s OK. If they don''t attack, I won''t have the face to see Stalin in the future. After walking back and forth in the room, he looked up and saw that the captain still held the earphone in his hand, so he said casually, "Comrade captain, please ask him again, has any commander of the Western Front Army been to the village recently?" The captain put on the earphone again and asked, "have any commanders of the Western army entered the village these two days?"¡° Yes, two days ago, a Western army investigation team entered the village, led by two generals. " As soon as I heard the word "investigation team", I ran to the captain''s side and urged him: "ask quickly, has the investigation team left?"¡° No, "the other side said firmly without waiting for the captain to ask," absolutely not! They have never left since they entered the village. "¡° Are you sure? " I asked the captain again¡° It''s quite certain, comrade commander! " The other party replied, "I''ve arranged people around the village. No matter which direction they leave, I can find them in time." When he said that, he suddenly gave a sigh of surprise and said, "they left. The investigation team''s car is coming towards our highway."¡° Are you sure? " This time it was the captain himself who asked¡° Yes, comrade battalion commander, "the other party replied drily," there are four black cars coming out of the village and driving northeast along the highway. It seems that they are going to the defense area of the eighth division of the guards. " The captain took off the headset again, handed it to the signalman together with the microphone, and asked me, "Comrade commander, what else can I do for you?"¡° Yes, "after implementing the information that the investigation team of the front army was in the village and had just left, my confidence was enough. At least part of my dream was real. Whether the rest would happen remains to be seen. But instead of waiting passively, I should do something. So I said, "Comrade captain, can you give me some soldiers and let me take them to peshki village to have a look?" Captain starcha frowned in embarrassment, then nodded his head and said, "Comrade commander, this is no problem. I''ll take the men myself." I nodded with satisfaction and said, "thank you, comrade captain, but you''d better hand over the command to your deputy first. I''ll go out first and wait for you outside. " Then I patted Ramis, who had been standing nearby and didn''t speak, "come on, let''s go back to the car."

 Chapter 167

    Originally parked in the middle of the road jeep, do not know when has stopped at the edge of the forest. Slightly trembling body, indicating that the engine has not been off, ready to start at any time.


    A few steps away from the jeep, grissa pushed open the door of the co driver''s cab, poked his head out from the inside and asked me anxiously, "when are we going back to the Division Department, sir? If you don''t go, it will be dark. "


    I opened the door, got into the car, sat in my seat, turned to grissa and said, "we have other things to do. We won''t go back to the division for the time being." Then he yelled at Ramis, who was still walking slowly in the snow: "Comrade lieutenant, get in the car quickly. We''ll wait for captain starcha in the car."


    Ramis waved his hand and said, "no, I''ll wait for them outside." Then he took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it with a match, and began to puff with his back against the hood.


    By the time Ramis finished smoking, Captain starcha had come out of the trench with his team. Seeing them coming, I quickly pushed the door open, jumped into the snow and asked the captain loudly, "Comrade captain, how can we get to peshki village?"


    "Comrade lieutenant," the captain replied, "we have no means of transportation. We can only walk there."


    "Oh," I said, "how far is it from here to the village?"


    Hearing my question, the captain turned around and whispered a few words to a soldier nearby. Then he answered me, "if you take the road, it''s about four kilometers. We can get through the forest, so we can save about half the distance


    After listening to what he said, I looked at the size of the team. Although there were not many people, there were about 20 people. Then I looked back at the car and thought that the car could not hold so many people. So I told the driver, "grissa, I won''t go back to the Division for the time being. You can drive the car first."


    "This... This..." grissa said with some embarrassment, "Sir, I have been ordered to take you back to the division headquarters safely. If you don''t go back with me, I don''t know how to explain to the political commissar when I see him. "


    "Don''t worry," I said to him as soon as I saw his uneasy appearance, "go back and tell the political commissar that I have more important things to do, and go back when I''ve finished, so that he doesn''t have to worry." Speaking of this, I stopped for a moment, pointed to Ramis beside me and continued: "as for safety, there should be no danger if lieutenant Ramis is around to protect me. Just let the commissar rest assured."


    "But..." grissa wanted to say something else, but Ramis interrupted him, "but what, you''d better listen to the teacher''s order and drive back to the division immediately. I am responsible for the safety of the teachers. " As he said this, he seemed to wink at grissa.


    Seeing this little action of Ramis, I just wanted to ask the truth. Captain starcha, who was standing nearby, said, "Comrade commander, the collar on your coat is too conspicuous. You''d better put this dress on the outside." Then he handed over a white camouflage suit.


    I looked down, but no, I was still wearing the clothes that I went to see Stalin. Not only the clothes were new, but the red collar was also very eye-catching. When I got to the battlefield, I would be the target of German snipers. So I hurriedly took over the clothes and put them on the outside of my coat.


    When he was buttoning his clothes, grissa said to me, "Sir, I''ll go back to the division first. Please pay more attention to safety." After saluting me, I closed the door and started the jeep to drive along the right road to the division headquarters.


    When all the buttons were buttoned up, the jeep had disappeared from my sight. Then I suddenly remembered that I had left the submachine gun in the car and forgot to take it down. I couldn''t help but say "ah". Captain starcha asked me curiously, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? Did you leave something in the car? "


    "Yes, yes!" I nodded my head as hard as I could, and answered with embarrassment, "I left my submachine gun in the car."


    With a smile, the captain took a submachine gun from the soldier next to him, handed it over and said, "please use this one." Seeing that I took the gun, he specially introduced: "this is the Popov submachine gun of the latest armed forces. It has large ammunition capacity, fast firing speed and fierce firepower, which is very suitable for close combat."


    Without saying a word, I put the gun on my shoulder and said to myself, "it''s useless. I''ve been using it since the new product came out. I know better than you about the performance of the weapon. Of course, these words are just in my mind. It''s impossible to say them. I waved my head at him and said, "Comrade captain, it''s getting late. Let''s go!"


    "Let''s go!" At the captain''s command, the team set out. I specially looked at the soldiers'' equipment and found that almost all of them were equipped with identical Popov submachine guns. Two soldiers at the end of the team dragged a sled with several long wooden boxes on it. I didn''t know what new weapons were in it.


    After crossing the forest road and entering the forest on the other side, the captain began to allocate manpower. Two soldiers were arranged in front of him to explore the road. A sergeant and five soldiers were following 200 meters behind the detachment to take on the guard task.


    As the team walked through the forest, no one spoke but the crunching of boots on the snow.


    Just as I was walking, there was a lot of gunfire in front of me. Captain starcha raised his right hand high, motioned the troops to stop, and then listened to where the sound was coming from. There was a rush of footsteps in front of me. I looked up and saw that there was a soldier exploring the way in front of me. Panting for breath, he ran to the front of the line, raised his hand and saluted, breathlessly reporting: "Comrade commander, there is a battle ahead."¡° I know there''s a fight ahead, "Ramis said before Captain starcha could speak." but what I want to know is where the fight is going¡° Maybe it''s the direction of the village, "the Scout replied in an uncertain tone." another soldier has gone to the place where the gun was fired. I came back specially to report. " Captain starcha waved to the back, and the messenger with the walkie talkie on his back immediately ran over. The captain took off the earphone and microphone from the machine and began to shout: "parachute, parachute, I''m a glider, I''m a glider, please answer if you hear me." Just after the call, the headset immediately sent a response voice: "glider, I''m a parachute." The captain glanced at me and then asked, "what happened in the village? Why are the guns so loud?"*** The bandits have entered the village¡° What? " Hearing this, I grabbed the microphone in the captain''s hand and asked aloud, "where are the troops in the village? What about our tanks? " Hearing my voice, the other party was obviously stunned for a moment, and then hesitated to reply: "just now I saw a large army and a dozen tanks leaving from the east of the village. According to the report of our soldiers, there was only one squad left on the position in the north of the village. It is estimated that the bandits broke through the defense line before they attacked the village."¡° Why not report in time? " I immediately thought of my dream. I was worried that rokosovsky would be in danger, so I was very impolite. In the face of my questioning, the other side was silent. The captain took the microphone from my hand and said to his subordinates, "you should organize troops to defend immediately. You must block the enemy''s infantry. I will bring people to support you immediately. Do you understand? "¡° I see! " The other side agreed very readily. After hanging up the earphone, the captain yelled to the team, "we''re going to stop the enemy''s tanks. Take out the things in the box quickly." As soon as the sled puller threw the rope in his hand, he came forward and lifted the lid of the wooden box and took out a long cylindrical Dongdong. I knew what it was only after a glance, and Ramis asked curiously: "what is it? Mortars are not like mortars, chimneys are not like chimneys..." "this is a new weapon that American allies help us with. It''s specially used to fight tanks. It''s called bazooka!" The captain gave Ramis a simple explanation, and then began to give orders: "all at my command: target, pesky village, run forward!"

 Chapter 168

    As the order was given, the detachment immediately spread out in a scattered formation, and the soldiers, one by one carrying weapons, rushed to the direction of the gunshot, following captain starcha. The rocket launcher was carried on the right shoulder by a burly soldier with a box of shells under his left armpit. Although the load was not light, he ran very fast and almost always ran in the middle of the whole team.


    In my heart, I was sighing at the strength of this soldier. Ramis, who had been standing beside me with a gun, suddenly asked me, "Comrade division, what shall we do?"


    "What to do?" I took a puzzled look at him and replied in a very natural tone, "what else can I do? Keep up with them." With that, I followed up with my gun.


    It''s only 200 meters away from the edge of the forest, but the thick snow has greatly affected my running speed. When I pant out of the forest, the soldiers have already caught fire with the German infantry coming under the cover of tanks and armored vehicles. Without saying a word, I fell on the snow, aimed at the figure in front of me and pulled the trigger.


    As soon as I hit half the shuttle, I suddenly heard a strange sound coming. Then a dazzling fire came out not far away. Behind the fire, there was a long white tail smoke. I couldn''t help but stop shooting, staring at the flight path of the fire. I saw the fire with long white smoke, in the twilight draw a dazzling beautiful arc, and then straight into the German offensive line. As I watched, the firelight hit a German tank. There was a puff of smoke coming out of the tank. At the same time, a huge fireball rose into the sky, and then a loud explosion was heard. It turned out that the rocket launched by our army accurately hit the German tank.


    I looked up to see what the German tanks were like. Without waiting for me to see clearly, someone rushed to me and crushed me on the snow. Caught off guard, I thrust my face into the snow. Fortunately, the snow is relatively deep, otherwise, such a big impact on the ground, certainly broke the appearance.


    I raised my head with difficulty. Just as I wanted to scold this reckless guy, I heard a strange sound of "chuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchuchu.


    When everything calmed down, I saw a loaded rocket launcher thrown on the snow, two soldiers who had been beaten by bullets lying in the pool of blood, motionless and dead. Seeing all this, I can''t help but feel creepy. What kind of weapon does the German use? How powerful is it?


    "Comrade division," as soon as the man on my back began to speak, I immediately recognized that it was Ramis. He moved his body a little, and then said, "this is the mg42 general machine gun of the German army. It has fast firing speed and strong lethality. If anyone is unfortunately hit, he will be shot several times in an instant, and the possibility of survival is very small. A few days ago, on the way of our division''s transfer, the 1075 regiment met with the German men equipped with this kind of machine gun. As a result, almost a battalion of soldiers fell under the muzzle of the gun. "


    "What?" I''m not a military fan. I don''t know what remarkable achievements this kind of machine gun had in World War II. However, when I heard that so many of my subordinates were killed at the muzzle of the gun, I was infuriated. I looked up at the position of the German army and found that the machine gun was mounted on an armored vehicle. The shooter had turned the muzzle to strafe other areas of our army.


    I turned to look at the rocket launcher on the snow not far away, put down my submachine gun, took a deep breath, and then rolled to the side. As there were no obstacles such as shrubs in the middle of the snow, I only rolled a few circles and got to the side of the rocket launcher.


    I put the rocket launcher over my shoulder, but without getting up, I fell on the ground, pointed it in the direction of the armored car, and pulled the trigger. The rocket dragged a long white smoke to the German line, and I didn''t care to check the results. I threw the rocket to the side, and then quickly rolled to my position.


    Just rolled back to the original position, there was a violent explosion. I didn''t know that I was blind. I hit the armored car accurately when I met a dead mouse.


    "Good job, sir." Lying on the side of the snow, Ramis sincerely praised me.


    Without waiting for me to be modest, there were continuous explosions and bursts of screams in front of me. When I looked up, it turned out that the ammunition in the armored car was killed, which made the German soldiers beside the car cry.


    "Brothers, follow me With captain starcha''s voice, more than a dozen soldiers in white camouflage clothes stood nearby and rushed towards the enemy with weapons.


    I wanted to rush up with them, but I saw that there were only seven or eight figures shaking beside the burning tanks and armored vehicles. The captain was able to cope with them, so he stopped after a few steps. Ramis, who is responsible for protecting my safety, asked strangely, "Comrade division, why don''t you rush?"


    I looked at the captain and their battle with the German army, and I answered lightly, "no, these German guys, Captain, they can easily get rid of them." In fact, I was saying in my heart that the battle was almost over. If I rushed forward rashly and was killed by a stray bullet, I would be wronged enough. It would be safer to stand here and watch the battle.


    There was no suspense in the battle. After the detachment rushed up, the German soldiers who had not been knocked down raised their hands and surrendered one after another.


    I was about to go with Ramis when I saw captain starcha coming with the messenger in a hurry. A few steps away from me, he cried anxiously: "Comrade commander, no, something''s wrong!"


    Listening to him shouting like this, my heart could not help sinking and said in secret: is there something wrong with rokosovsky? He quickly stepped forward, grabbed the clothes on his shoulder and asked nervously, "what''s the matter? What''s the matter? "


    The captain bowed his head and answered in a low voice: "I just received a report from the parachute that several destroyed black cars were found on the roadside, and most of the commanders in the cars were killed."


    Although I was worried, I still kept a little sober. I heard that most of the commanders died, not all of them. So I was lucky to ask: "so where is the commander who was rescued?"


    "Parachute, they are rescuing. They should be able to save lives."


    "Take me to have a look!" I grabbed his clothes and couldn''t help but want to lead him.


    The captain carefully removed my hand from his clothes, and then said, "follow me!"


    Following the captain, they walked about a few hundred meters to the edge of the village. When I saw a group of people coming from the opposite side, I instinctively raised the gun. When the captain saw my action, he quickly grasped the muzzle of the gun, gently pulled it aside, and kindly reminded me, "Comrade commander, please don''t be nervous. It''s your own man."


    After we joined the group of soldiers, an officer came out from the other side and reported the situation to the captain, while I was looking around to see where the destroyed car was. Maybe it was blocked by the surrounding buildings. I didn''t see anything.


    Looking from east to west, Captain starcha brought the commander to me and said, "this is my company commander. He is in charge of the area near peshki village."


    After listening to the captain''s introduction of his identity, the commander came forward to salute me. When he was about to report his position, rank and name according to the regulations, I impolitely interrupted him: "Comrade commander, I want to ask you, isn''t there a tank with a regiment and a unit stationed in the village? Where did they go when the battle happened? "


    The commander''s eyes turned to the captain next to him. Seeing that he nodded, he answered me: "originally, there were troops transferred from the reserve in the village, but they left early this morning. It seems that the defense line in some place is tight and they need reinforcement; As for the tank unit, after lunch, except for the one left on guard, all the others left. Later, I heard a soldier say that these tanks seem to be going to other places to replenish fuel. "


    I heard him say fraught with grim possibilities. It''s really not a good idea to calculate the weather. It''s hard for Stalin to send a regiment of troops here. I didn''t expect it to be late. It was just before the enemy moved to attack that Rokossovski was a lot of less. But I still took a chance and asked, "I heard that you saved several commanders. Where are they now?"


    "I''ve put them in a house nearby." The commander glanced at the captain next to me again, then took his side and politely said to me, "Comrade commander, please follow me. I''ll take you to see them."


    The residence for the commander of the 16th army is not far away. It''s only 20 or 30 meters away. I saw two soldiers standing guard at the gate. When we walked past, the soldiers immediately stood at attention and saluted. I didn''t care to return the gift. I pushed the door open and went in. In the dimly lit room, there was a large wooden table, surrounded by seven or eight dejected officers. I went in, did not wait to see the face clearly, anxiously asked aloud: "who is the commander of the highest rank?"


    "Rita!" A familiar voice suddenly appeared¡° Is that you? "


    It sounded familiar, like the voice of Colonel marinin, chief of staff of the group army. I hastened to ask, "Colonel marinin?"


    "It''s me, Rita." Marinin got up from the table, grabbed me by the shoulder with both hands, shook me hard and said, "something''s wrong, something''s wrong!"


    It wasn''t long before the wound on my shoulder healed, but I couldn''t stand the old man''s shaking. So I grabbed his hand and asked with concern, "what''s the matter? Chief of staff, don''t worry. Speak slowly. "


    He replied with a cry: "when we were moving, we were attacked by German tanks and the motorcade was scattered. Fortunately, we met the airborne soldiers, who destroyed the enemy''s tanks, destroyed the infantry, and saved several of us. But when I went to look for it, I found that the commander''s car had been destroyed. "


    "You mean the commander has been killed?" I asked this question carefully. We should know that rokosovsky is an important figure. If he died at this time, the whole history of the patriotic war will change greatly.


    "We only found the bodies of the guard and the driver in the car, not the commander. I don''t know whether he was captured or escaped to the woods. "


    "Comrade chief of staff," I heard that rokosovsky''s body had not been found, so I felt more secure. I quickly comforted him and said, "don''t worry. All the enemies who have come here should be eliminated, and the possibility that the commander has been captured can be ruled out. According to my guess, he should have seen the danger, abandoned his car and fled to the forest. " After that, I turned and asked captain starcha, "Comrade battalion commander, how many people do you still have?" The captain cried and said, "there were more than 150 people, but more than 60 soldiers were killed in the battle just now, and there were more than a dozen wounded. Only about 70 people could be used." There are only over 70 people. There are really few people to search such a large forest outside the village, but they can''t transfer people from other places in a hurry. Just when I was in a dilemma, the walkie talkie brought by the captain suddenly rang. The signalman had a chat with the other party, and then handed the headset and microphone to the captain. The captain listened for a moment, and then told me, "Comrade commander, a convoy has come to the north of the village. The soldiers in charge of the guard have come forward to check. Are they our own troops?" Before he could speak, marinin cut in and asked, "is it the army that used to guard the village?"¡° No, comrade colonel The captain gave him a negative answer. Then he looked at me and said, "they said they were from 1077 regiment of the eighth division of the guards. They were ordered to protect you from going back to the division headquarters." How could they know I was here? I turned my puzzled eyes to Ramis. Seeing that I had noticed him, Ramis stepped forward and explained to me in a low voice, "I''m afraid you might be in danger, so when grissa left just now, I motioned him to go back and bring someone to protect you." After hearing that, I understood why grissa and I had such strange facial expressions when they drove away. But now I need people. The arrival of these soldiers can solve my big problems. So I told captain starcha, "Comrade captain, let your soldiers bring the convoy here." Kung Fu is not big, I heard the sound of a car coming, then said: "the car is coming, I''ll go and have a look." Just out of the door, a motorcade came slowly and stopped a few steps away from me. I looked at it carefully. Except for the jeep in front, there were seven trucks with awning in the back. After the car stopped, two people jumped from the jeep and ran towards us. Although it was dark, I could see that one of them was grissa, who broke up an hour ago, and the other was a major. They came to me and stood at attention to salute. Grissa said, "Comrade division commander, driver grissa reports to you. On the order of general leviagin and political commissar, I will bring troops to meet you at the division headquarters."¡° I''ll talk about going back to the division headquarters later, "and I turned to the major. Seeing that I was staring at myself, the major was a little nervous. He quickly reported to me, "Comrade division commander, major of the first battalion of the 1077th infantry regiment..." before he finished, I interrupted him and asked seriously, "Comrade major, how many people have you brought?" The major didn''t expect me to be so open-minded. After a pause, he replied, "there are 193 people in the whole battalion." A battalion? I can''t help sighing again. The cruelty of the battle can be seen from the severe casualties. But I soon stabilized my mood and gave him an order: "Comrade major, general rokosovsky, commander of the group army, is missing. You immediately order the soldiers to get out of the car and work in groups of five to search in the forest outside the village."¡° Yes He promised to turn around and run¡° Wait a minute, "I stopped him and told him," search carefully, live to see people, even if the commander died, we should carry his body back. Do you understand? "¡° got it. Sir, please rest assured that I will complete the task. " Then he saluted, turned and ran to the motorcade. Soon his voice rang from the other side of the motorcade: "the whole battalion has it. Follow my orders and get off!"

 Chapter 169

    Originally, I intended to let all the soldiers take part in the search operation, but it was opposed by Captain starcha. His reason was that he did not know whether the German army would attack again. He had to leave enough soldiers on guard. At most, he could only send 20 soldiers to assist us in the search.


    His proposal is a wake-up call to me. If we send out all the people and meet the German attack again, the scattered troops will not be able to form effective combat effectiveness and will be destroyed one by one by the enemy. With a little thought, I readily agreed.


    It''s getting late and the moon is shining. The search team entering the forest still needs lighting tools. Except for a few teams equipped with flashlights, the rest of them light torches. Looking at the flickering light in the forest, I felt that I could not stand in the same place and wait for news. I should do something. So I asked the commanders behind me, "I want to see the commander''s car. Who can show me the way?"


    "I''ll take you, Rita!" Hearing this, malining, who was standing behind me, immediately volunteered to jump out.


    The destroyed vehicle was not far away. It was only two or three minutes'' walk away. Although I was psychologically prepared, I still felt a chill rising from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head when I saw the car riddled with machine gun bullets.


    A few steps away from the car, I smelled a strong pungent smell of blood, I quickly covered my nose and walked over. When I got to the car, someone raised a flashlight to illuminate me. When I looked inside the window with only frame left, I couldn''t help feeling sick. If I didn''t cover my mouth in time and divert my vision, I would probably run to the side and spit. The bodies of the drivers and guards left in the car have already been screened by powerful machine gun bullets. If rokosovsky continues to stay in the car, he will not escape the same fate.


    "Oh, my God," someone whispered behind him, "what kind of machine gun is this? It broke all the people in the car to pieces. "


    "This is the mg42 general purpose machine gun of the German army''s newly equipped troops," the one who answered his question was Ramis. "A few days ago, one of our division''s troops suffered from this kind of weapon, resulting in heavy casualties."


    Just now the man continued: "the lethality of this kind of machine gun is terrible. It seems that it is not easy for general rokosovsky to get away safely. Maybe we should look around to see if there is his body... "


    When I heard this, my temples suddenly jumped, and I felt that my brain was tense. I had been in the 16th army for such a long time, and I had to rely on rokosovsky to cover me. If he hung up, I would be a fart in the future! I turned back and yelled at the talkative guy angrily, "shut up


    Seeing that I was angry, people around me were also angry at this guy. Seeing that he was angry, he quickly lowered his head and did not dare to speak any more.


    I took a deep breath and asked marinin, "Comrade Colonel, is there any news from our search force?"


    "No," marinin said, raising his wrist and looking at his watch, "the search has only been going on for ten minutes." Then he patted me on the shoulder, comforted me and said, "don''t worry, Rita! Commander Ji Ren has his own way. He will be safe. "


    I tried to squeeze a smile on my face. "I hope so. Let''s wait here patiently for the intelligence of the search forces." Although the words are easy to say, no one knows that the palm of my hand is full of sweat.


    "Buddha Guanyin, all the gods in the sky, please! Rokosovsky must not have an accident I keep praying in my heart, only I know how fast my heart beats at the moment


    "Pa!" Just as we were waiting anxiously, there was a clear shot in the distance.


    "Where to shoot? Come with me and have a look. " First of all, Captain starcha pulled the bolt of the gun and rushed to the place where the gun rang with his submachine gun.


    "We''ll go too." Seeing that the captain and his men had already rushed out, I turned my head and said to marinin and Ramis, drew out my pistol and rushed forward.


    Running to the edge of the forest, I suddenly heard a cheering voice in front of me. Someone was shouting something, but the distance was too far to hear clearly. Although I didn''t hear what the soldiers were shouting, my mood was somehow relaxed, and I couldn''t help slowing down. I ran a few more steps and stopped to walk slowly.


    Malining saw that I suddenly slowed down and stopped. He asked me curiously, "why don''t you run?" I made a sign to Ramis to go to the front to see what was going on, and then I replied to the chief of staff, "I hear the soldiers cheering. I think there''s some good news."


    "Is it?" The chief of staff asked with great interest. Although he was still worried about the safety of the commander, I heard that he was also relieved.


    We chatted as we walked and walked slowly towards the edge of the forest. Just as we were walking, a large group of people came out of the forest and welcomed us. One of them quickly ran out of the crowd and exclaimed excitedly: "Comrade teacher, comrade teacher! We have found the commander


    Although the light of the torch is dazzling, I can''t see the face of the person running, but as soon as I hear the sound, I know that the one running towards us is company commander Ramis.


    Ramis ran up to us, panting a little, but still excitedly reported to us: "report to division chief, chief of staff, our search forces have found the commander in the forest!"¡° What''s the situation with Comrade commander? Have you been hurt? "¡° Where is Comrade commander now? " Malining and I asked in unison. The only difference is that I care about the current situation of rokosovsky. What he cares about is where the people are¡° Comrade commander sprained his ankle in the forest. Two soldiers are helping him to this side. " Ramis answered both of us in a concise way¡° Is that Colonel marinin over there? " Closer and closer to the crowd, came the familiar voice of rokosovsky¡° Yes, comrade commander, I''m malining. All right with you Malining promised to meet him¡° And me, comrade general, I''m Rita Seeing that malining had passed, I quickly showed my identity and walked a few steps to meet him. After a few steps, I saw rokosovsky in the crowd. At the moment, he looked particularly embarrassed. He didn''t know where he had lost his hat. His military coat was black everywhere. He didn''t know whether it was blood or soil. Two soldiers were helping him to come.

 Chapter 170

    When I indicated my identity to rokosovsky, we were not far apart, only seven or eight meters in the middle. Hearing that it was me, the commander broke away from the soldiers who helped him and limped towards me. At the same time, he asked excitedly, "is that you, Rita?"


    "Yes, it''s me. Comrade commander


    As soon as the voice fell, he had rushed to my side, grabbed my shoulder with both hands and shook it vigorously, saying, "great, great, it''s great to see you alive!"


    I forced to endure the pain from the shoulder wound, tried to squeeze a smile on my face, joked: "alive, of course alive, my life is big, the German man''s bullet can''t kill me."


    He released his hands, stepped back, looked me up and down, and suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Rita, are you hurt?"


    be wounded?! Listen to him suddenly so say, I can''t help but also surprised, injured? But I don''t feel any discomfort? I moved my body for a while, and there was no pain in other parts except the wound on my left shoulder. So I asked in a puzzled way: "injured?! I''m not hurt! Comrade commander, how could you suddenly ask such a question? "


    He pointed to my right body and said, "it''s not hurt. Look, your clothes are full of blood."


    I quickly look down, in the torch light, see the right side of the white camouflage has brown traces, close to smell, there is a strong smell of blood. After a little meditation, he immediately guessed that nine times out of ten of the rocket launchers that had been used just now had the blood splashed by the sacrificial soldiers. He quickly explained, "it''s not my blood, it''s someone else''s blood splashed on me."


    Rokosovsky stretched out a hand and put it on my left shoulder. He asked with concern, "was this shoulder injured last time?"


    "Yes, it was here that I was stabbed by a German." I gently rubbed the slightly painful wound with my hand and replied, "but the injury has healed. Please rest assured."


    "It''s OK."


    "Commander, what shall we do now?" Malining came up and interjected, then fixed his eyes on rokosovsky, waiting for him to make up his mind.


    "Where do you think we should go now, Rita?" Instead of answering the chief of staff''s question, rokosovsky lowered his head and asked me who was standing in front of him.


    I looked at the surrounding environment and felt that I couldn''t stay long in this land of right and wrong. Maybe when the German army came again, I didn''t know whether we could block their new attack or leave early. So I said cautiously, "our army has too few troops in the village. If the German army comes to attack, I''m afraid it won''t be able to stop them."


    "I see what you mean," rokosovsky interrupted me before I finished, asking in a consultative tone, "so where should we move? Where is safer than this village? "


    "Report to the commander," said Ramis this time, "the division headquarters of the eighth Jinwei division is three or four kilometers north of the village, where 1077 regiment is stationed. You will be safe there."


    I was worried that I didn''t know where to arrange the personnel of the headquarters. After hearing what Ramis said, I quickly agreed: "yes, comrade commander, this is not a long stay. I''d better go to our division." With these words, I felt that the reason for persuasion was not enough. I quickly added: "there are not many troops of our army in this village. If the Germans attack again, you and the headquarters will not be safe. If something happens to you, the whole group army will be leaderless, leading to the paralysis of the command system, and the troops without unified command may be destroyed by the enemy. But when you go to our division, the situation is different. In addition to thousands of people who can direct the command, you can also set the headquarters in our division''s defense area. In this way, you can not only ensure the safety of you and the headquarters, but also flexibly command the forces under the control of the group army. "


    "Yes, comrade commander!" Malining supported me in time: "Rita is right, let''s go with her to the eighth division of the guards?"


    Rokosovsky frowned and considered for a long time, then reluctantly nodded and told malining to say, "well, comrade chief of staff, you go to gather the rest of the headquarters and let''s go to the eighth division."


    "Yes Malining agreed in a loud voice, turned and ran to summon the men.


    As soon as marinin ran away, I quickly asked Ramis to come and help him, and helped rokosovsky to the parking place with him. Although I didn''t give any orders, the troops that participated in the search just now automatically formed four columns, keeping a neat queue behind us.


    Due to rokosovsky''s sprained ankle, we walked very slowly. When we got to the parking position of the team, malining and the staff of the headquarters were waiting there.


    I helped rokosovsky to the jeep and said, "Comrade commander, please get on the bus. Let''s go to the division headquarters together... "


    Before he could speak, malining interrupted me anxiously, pointed to a black car nearby and said to me, "Rita, this car can still drive. Let the commander get in our car!"


    Rokosovsky looked at the two cars, then pointed with his hand and said, "I''d better take Rita''s car." Then he told malining, "chief of staff, you and the comrades in the headquarters go to that car."


    When I helped rokosovsky into the car, the guards around put out their torches one after another and got on the truck orderly under the command of the army commander. I stood by the car and didn''t get on. I watched my men get on quietly. At this time, Captain starcha and some soldiers came over. He stood at attention and saluted me. Then he said, "Comrade commander, the search and rescue mission is over. Please allow me to lead my department to perform other missions."¡° I see. Go ahead. " I replied faintly. He saluted again and turned to leave. I suddenly feel that my attitude towards him is too cold. After all, others have helped me a lot today. Without the anti tank weapons of his troops, even if the reinforcements of our division arrive in time, it is difficult to say whether the battle will be won or not without enough Anti Tank Firepower. In other words, without the help of the captain, it is estimated that the personnel of rokosovsky and the headquarters will be more or less dangerous. So he quickly stopped him: "Comrade captain, please wait a moment." He stopped, turned around, and looked at me in disbelief. I went up and grabbed his hand, shook it hard, and said gratefully, "thank you very much for today''s affairs. Without your help and your subordinates'' help, it is estimated that all comrades in the headquarters would have met with misfortune."¡° Serve the motherland of the Soviet Union The captain gave a formulaic answer to my thanks¡° You can go. I hope I can see you again later. " I finished, released his hand, raised his hand to salute him. The captain stepped back, saluted me again, and led more than a dozen soldiers away. I got to the back of the car and sat side by side with rokosovsky. First, I asked him about his foot injury with concern. Then I looked up and said to grissa, who was driving, "drive! We need to get back to the division headquarters as soon as possible. "

 Chapter 171

    "Colin''s lost!" In the bumpy jeep, rokosovsky, who had been silent, suddenly made such a remark. Colin! Hearing this place name, I immediately think of the military conference that changed my destiny. At the meeting, rokosovsky assigned two tasks: one was to send people to klin to take charge of the city defense war; the other was to send people to 316 infantry division at that time to assist the division commander, general Panfilov. At that time, I took the initiative to go to the 316 division to assist in commanding, and by chance, I became the first division commander of the division after it was promoted to the guard division. I remember it was a general who went to Kling, but I couldn''t remember his name in a hurry. Because I was racking my brains to think about the general''s name, the dignified expression on my face made rokosovsky mistakenly think that I was listening to him, so he went on talking to me. When I heard the commander say that klin''s garrison, under the fierce attack of the German army, which was superior in strength and weaponry, had fought tenaciously and inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy, and then the remaining troops with heavy casualties withdrew from the city in an orderly manner to the Istra area, I suddenly remembered the general''s name and asked with concern: "Comrade commander, Major general zaharov, who is in charge of commanding the klin defense, what''s the matter now? " Rokosovsky shook his head and replied, "I don''t know. Under the fierce German offensive, the troops were scattered. The headquarters has lost contact with him." Are the troops dispersed? What I heard you say just now is that we retreated in an orderly way. How could it become a rout after a while? But just think about it in your heart, and you can''t say it. Seeing the sad look of rokosovsky, I quickly comforted him: "Comrade commander, you don''t have to worry. Major general Zakharov Ji Ren has his own destiny. Maybe he is gathering the scattered troops and building a new defensive position somewhere. " Rokosovsky sighed and said helplessly, "I hope so!" Then he stopped talking, closed his eyes, leaned his head on the back of the chair, and closed his eyes. After driving a little further, the speed began to slow down. Ramis, who was sitting in the front row, turned back and said to me in a low voice, "Comrade division commander, we have entered our division''s defense area. There are more craters on the road, so I slowed down. "¡° Well, I see. Drive carefully The first sentence is to reply to Ramis, and the second is to remind grissa. Less than two minutes later, the car stopped. Grissa just wanted to tell me where I was. Ramis had pushed the door open and jumped out into the snow. I gently pushed rokosovsky beside me and called him softly: "Comrade commander, we are here. Let''s get out of the car!" Rokosovsky opened his eyes, bent over and looked out of the window, muttering, "it''s coming so soon."¡° Let me help you out of the car Then I reached over to help him get out of the car. Who knows, he waved his hand, repeatedly said: "no, no, I''d better go by myself. After so long, the sprain seems to be less painful." Since he didn''t need help, I didn''t have to sit still. I got up and got out of the car. Although rokosovsky said he could walk by himself, I still stood by the door to see if there was anything I could do to help him. When I waved to Ramis and asked him to help me, I saw that he was not happy. It seemed that I was doing something superfluous. Fortunately, what happened afterwards proved that my worry was not unnecessary. Rokossovski just stepped on the snow, probably because his injured foot was not strong enough, and his body suck up and went straight to the snow. Fortunately, Ramis was quick-sighted and helped him to avoid the fate of the commander wrestling in full view of the public. Ramis and I supported rokosovsky left and right to prevent him from falling again. He put his hands on our shoulders, looked back, and said, "chief of staff, they''re here too. Let''s go to the division headquarters." I promised and helped him to walk forward carefully. The headquarters of the division is in a big wooden house in the forest. From the outside, it is an old building. From the light in the crevice, it can be seen that many people are busy inside. We got off the car only ten meters away from the building. Although we helped the slow-moving rokosovsky, it took only a minute or two. The two soldiers on duty at the gate were supposed to be under Ramis'' hands. Seeing us in the past, they neither stopped us nor asked anything. They stood at attention and saluted directly. Then a soldier took the initiative to lift the curtain at the gate and invited us in. Entering the new division headquarters, there was a lot of noise. Telegrams, telephone rings and shouts came one after another. Staff officers and signalmen were busy nervously. In the middle of the room, there was a huge wooden table with a map spread out. Leviagin, the political commissar, two other commanders and several commanders were around to watch a staff officer''s work on the map.

 Chapter 172

    "I said, comrades commander! What are you up to? " Looking at the commanders around the table, rokosovsky couldn''t help asking.


    His voice was not loud, but it was enough to attract the attention of everyone at the table. Hearing his voice, the commanders turned their heads and looked at us one after another. Their faces were all unhappy. They wanted to see who was so impolite, so they jumped out to disturb us.


    When it was clear that the people standing next to me and rokosovsky, everyone''s face showed a look of surprise. The leaders of the 1073 and 1075 regiments, chisjakov and sherebriakov, as well as several staff officers of the division headquarters, went straight up to me, glanced at rokosovsky, and then stood at attention to salute me, "Hello, comrade division commander! Welcome back


    However, leviakin and political commissar yegorov walked up to rokosovsky without squinting, raised their hands to salute him, and reported: "Comrade commander, major general leviakin and political commissar yegorov report to you, welcome to the eighth division of Jinwei."


    The reason why they reported to the two men was that only leviakin and yegorov had seen rokosovsky, so they saluted the commander with the highest rank. And the rest of the people have never seen what the commander looks like, so even if they see that the commander I am supporting is much higher than me, they still report to my division commander in accordance with the regulations.


    I looked awkwardly at rokosovsky and explained to him, "they haven''t seen you, so they didn''t recognize you." Without waiting for him to speak, I quickly told the officers in front of me, "this is general rokosovsky, commander of the 16th group army. Please report to him."


    At my command, chisgakov turned right and stood at attention again. They raised their hands and saluted rokosovsky. They loudly reported, "Comrade commander,...."


    Unexpectedly, rokosovsky raised his hand to stop what they wanted to say behind them. Instead, he directly asked leviakin in front of him, "Comrade General, what''s the current situation of the eighth guards division?"


    "The situation is very bad, comrade commander." Leviagin replied solemnly, and then, leaning to one side, he made a gesture to rokosovsky: "we are making the current situation map of our enemy. Please come and have a look."


    First I helped rokosovsky sit down, then I sat down, and then I asked everyone to sit down and study the enemy situation together. Although everyone agreed verbally, only leviagin, political commissar yegorov and chief of staff malining, who had just come in, sat down at the end. The rest of the commanders stood upright at the table.


    Rokosovsky looked at the map in front of him. He was about to speak when there was a sudden sound of footsteps at the door. I turned to look at it, and was surprised to find that the voice of the signalmen had just disappeared. Except for two or three soldiers on duty, the rest of the people by the telegraph and telephone had left, and the room became very quiet.


    A group of commanders came in. Judging from their ranks, except for a captain, the rest were either lieutenant or major, all school level officers. I saw a familiar face from the crowd, that is, the commander of the major who had just escorted us back to the division headquarters.


    Leviagin stood up, coughed, cleared his throat and explained to us, "commander, comrade division commander, before you come back, we informed all battalion commanders of the division to come to the division headquarters for a meeting. No, it''s all here. "


    After explaining the situation briefly, leviagin said to the group of commanders who just came in, "now, you can report your position and rank to the commander and division commander."


    At his command, the commanders reported to us one by one. The first speaker was the battalion commander. He said to us in a loud voice, "I''m major dolov, the first battalion commander of the 1077th infantry regiment."


    "Major panishev, commander of the second battalion of the 1077 regiment."


    "Captain lomov of the Third Battalion of the 1077 regiment."


    "Lt. Col. chernukov, deputy head of 1073 regiment and commander of 1st battalion."


    "Major Xie Dulin, deputy head of the 1075 regiment and commander of the Third Battalion."


    "Major Kuleshov, commander of the second battalion of the 1075 regiment."


    ¡­¡­


    I looked at these commanders without expression, one by one came forward, reported my name, position, military rank and so on to me and rokosovsky, and guessed in my heart the intention of leviagin suddenly calling so many commanders. Many years later, when I looked at the history of the eighth division of Jinwei, I was surprised to find that all the officers from the first division to the ninth division were included in the meeting. At the moment, they are just serving as ordinary battalion and regiment level commanders.


    "Now for the meeting, please come to the table." It was leviagin who spoke. With his order, all the commanders who just came in gathered around and stood around the table, listening to leviagin''s analysis and explanation of the current situation.


    When I sat down just now, I looked at the map on the table. The Red Square representing our division''s defense area was cut into three irregular areas by two blue arrows representing the German army. Each area is marked with the number of the defensive force, while the 1073 regiment is sandwiched between the two arrows. From the situation, this regiment has been almost surrounded by the German army.


    The topic of the meeting revolved around the situation of the 1073 regiment. Leviagin said frankly, "comrades, as you all know, because the enemy''s offensive is very fierce, our troops haven''t stopped them for the time being. The defense line we hastily established in the process of withdrawal is not only broken through by them, but also divided into three unconnected combat areas, The 1073 regiment is now surrounded by the enemy. Today, the purpose of calling commanders at or above the battalion level to the division headquarters is to discuss and study how to get rid of the present unfavorable situation. "


    The head of the 1073 regiment, Colonel chisgakov, who first spoke, said anxiously: "I think we should withdraw our regiment from the above-mentioned areas. Once the Germans have completed the encirclement, we will face the fate of total annihilation."


    "Comrade commander in chief is right. We should organize a breakthrough immediately," said lieutenant commander chernukov, who pointed to the map and raised his head to the commanders around him. "I think we should withdraw our troops here and join the 1075 and 1077 regiments to build a new defense in the existing area."


    The two men''s words played an important role in attracting talents. The rest of the commanders also spoke one after another. Everyone''s opinions were unexpectedly unified. They all suggested that the 1073 regiment should be withdrawn from the existing area immediately and join the 1075 regiment and 1077 regiment to establish a new defense line.


    When everyone finished their opinions, political commissar yegorov opened his mouth. Instead of directly expressing his opinions, he turned his eyes to rokosovsky: "Comrade commander, what''s your opinion?"


    Rokosovsky stared at the map in front of him and asked, "how many troops are there in the 1073 regiment?"


    On hearing this question, I looked up at Colonel chisgakov standing at the table and repeated rokosovsky''s question: "Comrade Colonel, how many people are still in your regiment?"


    The Colonel bowed his head and answered with some embarrassment, "the regiment has been reduced by two-thirds after a brutal battle. At present, there are still more than 1500 people, including more than 300 seriously wounded."


    I turned to selebriakov again and asked, "Comrade commander, how many troops do you have in your 1075 regiment?"


    "Similar to the 1073 regiment, there are more than 1000 people, including hundreds of wounded."


    "The same is true of our regiment. With the wounded, the total strength is no more than 1300." I just looked at leviagin. Before I could speak, he had already answered the question I wanted to ask.


    "Comrade Rita," rokosovsky asked solemnly, "I want to hear what your plans are?"


    After organizing some words in my mind, I began to say, "Comrade commander, our division has suffered heavy losses in the continuous fighting, and the troops have been reduced by more than two thirds. With this strength, it is very difficult to defend such a large area. If, as you have just said, we temporarily withdraw our forces and combine the forces of the three regiments for joint defense, it would be a relatively safe approach. But... "


    "But what?" Rokosovsky just heard me say retreat, his brow wrinkled up. As soon as I heard that I seemed to have something to say, he quickly asked, "what''s your good idea?"


    "If the 1073 regiment retreats and merges with the 1075 and 1077 regiments, on the surface, our defense forces will be strengthened, but the whole defense line will be forced to retreat." I stood up and pointed to the 1073 regiment on the map. "If the German troops occupy here, they will gather here and use it as a forward base. In that way, they can launch a continuous offensive against our army. Do you think that with our current strength, we can block their attack after attack? Under their fierce attack, we will have to retreat again, so they will soon approach Moscow After listening to what I said, there was a sound of air-conditioning around me. It seems that my analysis shows us the adverse consequences of the retreat. I continued to add: "in view of the current situation, I intend to let the 1073 regiment continue to hold its original position and contain the German troops, so that they do not dare to intrude into the rear of our army recklessly."


    "But what should we do to replenish our forces? You know, I don''t have reserves at the moment! " Rokosovsky was afraid that I would ask him for a reserve team, so he made a statement first.


    I know what he said is true. On the way back, the communication between the group headquarters and other troops has been completely interrupted. Not to mention the reserves, I''m the only unit that can command directly now,


    "Comrade commander," malining said softly beside him, "can I make a suggestion?"


    "My chief of staff, just say what you have to say. Time is running out. Don''t stammer


    "I think there are two things to do at present: one is to get in touch with the headquarters of the front army immediately, ask for instructions on the next task and request to send more reserves to us; Second, send people to take in the retreating troops from Kerin and Taiyangshan City, and put them into the combat sequence of the eighth division of the guards. What do you think? "


    "Great!" Rokosovsky patted malinin on the shoulder excitedly and said in a loud voice, "my chief of staff, your idea is really wonderful. What are you waiting for? Go and contact the headquarters of the front army. "


    "Yes With a promise, marinin hurried to the telegraph to send the message. I looked around and saw the commanders on the scene. Because they had just heard the dialogue between the commander and the chief of staff, they all breathed a sigh of relief, and their brows stretched out. Especially during my absence, leviagin, who has been acting as a teacher, even showed a rare smile on his face¡° Commander comrades, "I cleared my throat and gave them my first order after returning to the division headquarters:" the task has been made clear, that is, to continue to stick to the original position and not to retreat! As long as there is one more person, the enemy must never be allowed to move forward. Do you understand? "¡° I see! " The commanders attending the meeting agreed neatly. I added: "the gap between the enemy and our weapons and equipment can not be changed in a short time. So when you go back, you should immediately organize the soldiers to carry out civil engineering operations, dig more bullet holes and air raid shelters, and be ready for big and vicious battles. That''s all I''ve said. You all go back to your respective teams! "¡° Yes The commanders agreed neatly, saluted us and left one after another. I sat down again and watched the political commissar rokosovsky and yegorov study where to set up reception points to accommodate the troops who had retreated from the city and how to reorganize them¡° Comrade commander, we have a call back from the front army. " Malining stood next to us with a telegram and reported¡° What did the front army say? " When asked this, rokosovsky still had a smile on his face¡° The telegram was personally answered by sokolovsky, the new chief of staff of the front army. He conveyed to us the order of Comrade Zhukov, commander of the front army: order the 16th group army to immediately integrate its troops and launch a counter offensive against Taiyangshan city on November 27, that is, tomorrow! "¡° what? Tomorrow''s counterattack against sun mountain city? " The sudden order stunned everyone in the room.

 Chapter 173

    Rokosovsky''s face was unbelievable. He asked back in a loud voice, "what, counterattack? How could the headquarters of the front army order us to launch a counterattack against Taiyangshan city tomorrow? God, the person who gave this order must be crazy. As the commander of the 16th army, I don''t know where my troops are. How can I organize this counterattack? "


    "Comrade commander," malining replied calmly, "that''s what the telegram just received says."


    "No way!" Rokosovsky slapped heavily on the table. "It must be a mistake. It must be the translator who translated the telegram wrong."


    "The translator checked it twice, and it won''t go wrong." Said marinin, setting the telegram on the table.


    Seeing the excited look of the commander, I quietly asked leviagin across the street, "Comrade General, can we talk to the headquarters of the front army directly?"


    "Yes, sir." Leviagin also replied in a low voice: "we have a new walkie talkie provided by US allies, which can directly communicate with the headquarters."


    "What are you muttering about?" The Furious rokosovsky roared so hard that leviakin closed his mouth. I quickly explained, "Comrade commander, please don''t get excited. We have a walkie talkie here that can talk to the headquarters of the front army. You can talk to Comrade Zhukov directly to confirm whether this order is correct. "


    Rokosovsky listened to me, calmed down a little, looked at leviagin and asked, "where''s Rita''s walkie talkie?"


    "This way, comrade commander, please follow me." Leviakin said and helped rokosovsky to the walkie talkie.


    Rokosovsky told the signalman: "get me the headquarters of the front army, move quickly!"


    The signalman agreed, and immediately began to make an emergency call. He soon contacted the headquarters of the front army. Rokosovsky took the microphone from the signalman and said, "I''m rokosovsky, commander of the 16th army. Who are you?"


    The other party replied, "Hello, Comrade General! I''m general malanjin, director of the combat Department of the headquarters of the front army. What can I do for you


    "Just now I received an order that I should attack Taiyangshan city tomorrow. I want to confirm with Comrade Zhukov."


    "I know that this order was signed by Comrade Zhukov himself and then sent to you by someone I arranged."


    "I want to talk to Comrade Zhukov in person to find out why such an order was given?"


    "I''m sorry, Comrade General!" The other side said humbly, "general Zhukov has a lot of work. He may not have time to explain this order to you personally."


    "No way!" Rokosovsky also said: "I will talk to him tonight anyway, and tell him about the current situation of the army and the difficulties in carrying out this order."


    "Comrade General!..." What else did the other party want to say? At this time, Zhukov''s familiar voice came faintly: "general malanjin, who are you talking to?"


    "Report to commander comrade. It''s general rokosovsky, commander of the 16th group army." Hearing the voice of the other party''s report and knowing Zhukov''s appearance, everyone present was relieved.


    "I''m Zhukov, comrade rokosovsky?" Zhukov''s voice soon appeared on the conversation channel.


    "It''s me, Comrade General!"


    "Have you received my counter offensive order?"


    "Yes, general!" Rokosovsky quickly asked, "excuse me, did you draft and issue the counter offensive order issued by general malanjin?"


    "Of course I gave the order! Do you have any questions about this? " Zhukov''s tone was slightly discontented.


    "General, please don''t get me wrong. I want to verify the authenticity of this order, and then..."


    "And then what?" Zhukov tone severely interrupted the words behind rokosovsky, "since the authenticity of the order has been verified, then immediately go to prepare to execute it!"


    "But, comrade commander." After hearing Zhukov''s words, rokosovsky was a little worried and quickly explained: "you know, our group army headquarters has lost contact with the troops below, and it is impossible to organize enough forces to counterattack the enemy within the specified time."


    "What did you say? Say it again I could hear that Zhukov in the distance was on the verge of violence. "Your troops have been scattered? How did all this happen? What about general zaharov, who is in charge of commanding the troops to defend klin, the third cavalry army of dovator, and the troops to defend sun mountain city? You know, you have at least twenty divisions, but where are they now? "


    "I don''t know. I''ve completely lost contact with them." Rokosovsky was so angry that he couldn''t find a place to vent his anger. Seeing that Zhukov''s attitude was so bad, he was not polite, so they began to argue through the microphone and earphone: "the enemy is far stronger than we thought. Many of our troops had to withdraw from the fight after a tough fight. After we withdrew from sun mountain city, the members of the headquarters and I entered a village called peshki in the evening, where we met the investigation team led by general Carmela and general kurkin. At that time, I reported the situation of the group army to them and asked them to give me a few days to gather the troops and form a new defensive zone. "


    "The two generals, Carmela and kurkin, must have been delayed by something on their way. They haven''t returned to the headquarters of the front army so far, so I don''t know anything about your army. I need you to give me a direct answer: can we launch a counterattack against Taiyangshan city at ten o''clock tomorrow morning? "¡° Sorry, comrade commander! If it is the day after tomorrow or later, I believe I can organize the counterattack you want to see, but if it is tomorrow, I''m sorry, I can''t do that! "¡° You should immediately set up a temporary headquarters in peshki village, get in touch with your subordinates quickly, gather as many troops as possible, and prepare for the counterattack work in the daytime tomorrow. "¡° Senior general, I don''t need you to remind me of this. When general Carmela and they left, we started to set up a temporary headquarters and used various means to communicate with the troops below. "¡° You are right to do so, "Zhukov softened his tone, and even changed the name of rokosovsky from" you "to" you ", which is relatively friendly." how many troops have you contacted now¡° Sorry, general! I didn''t get in touch with any of them! "¡° What? " Zhukov asked angrily, "what happened? It''s been several hours since the evening. You said that none of the troops were contacted. What''s the matter?"¡° Please let me explain that we were in contact with the troops when a German mechanized unit suddenly launched an attack on our village. Since there are no troops of our army in the village, and the security forces of the headquarters of the group army have all been sent to the front-line units, there are only some staff officers left. In the face of the enemy''s attack, we suffered heavy casualties. "¡° Wait a minute, "Zhukov stopped rokosovsky and continued. I heard him asking the people beside him," general malanjin, please check if there are any troops in our army near peshki. " Less than a minute later, the voice of general malanjin''s report to Zhukov came over: "I have inquired. There is a infantry regiment and a tank unit in the village. They are dispatched from the general reserve under the command of the supreme commander and are under the direct command of the supreme commander."¡° Comrade rokosovsky, "Zhukov asked sternly," did you hear what general malanjin said? There is a regiment in the village. If the enemy does not have the same force as ours, it is impossible to attack the village in a short time. "¡° Damn it Rokosovsky scolded fiercely, and explained: "this regiment was transferred out a few hours before I entered the village. As for the tank team, one was left to guard, and the rest of the tanks went to the base to refuel. If it wasn''t for Rita who happened to bring a paratrooper unit to the rescue, you''d have to arrange someone to collect the corpses for us. "¡° Who did you say led the troops to the rescue? "¡° It''s Rita Rokosovsky looked at me, then answered Zhukov word by word: "it''s lieutenant colonel Lida mushdakova oshanina, the commander of the eighth division of the guards. On her way back from the hospital to the division, she met a paratrooper unit. When she heard that I was in danger, she led the troops to rescue us. After defeating the enemy, the soldiers of the eighth division who came after hearing the news escorted them to the division headquarters of the close guard division. "¡° So you are now in the division headquarters of the eighth division of Jinwei? "¡° Yes¡° Give Rita the microphone and I''ll talk to her myself! " When Zhukov said that, rokosovsky handed me the microphone without saying a word. I took the microphone, took a deep breath, and then said, "Hello, general! I''m o''shanina! "

 Chapter 174

    "Rita," Zhukov first asked with concern, "have you recovered from your injuries?"


    "It''s all right, thank you for your concern!" I knew that he didn''t talk to me in order to understand my injury or simply talk about the past, which was definitely more important. So I asked frankly, "Comrade General, what''s the important thing for you to come to me?"


    "Where is your division now?"


    This question made me feel a little embarrassed. Although the meeting was held for half a day just now, I only heard that the word "our division defense area" was mentioned all the time, but there was no specific place name. So I couldn''t help but look at leviagin standing next to me. Seeing my eyes for help, leviagin said in a loud voice: "it''s in the kleukovo area, comrade division!" Before I reported the place to Zhukov, he had heard it. Then I heard him say, "Oh, here it is. I know this place. It''s just north of peshki village. It''s not far from Taiyangshan city. "


    Hearing that he mentioned the name of Sun Mountain City, my heart beat faster. My heart said that he would not let my division take part in this damned counterattack. He didn''t expect that the more he was afraid of something, the more he really came. He said: "I just gave your commander General rokosovsky a combat order to organize forces to counter attack Taiyangshan city tomorrow and drive the bandits out of our city. But he said that there were no soldiers available. This is an unfinished task. Now I''ll give you a direct order. At 10 o''clock tomorrow morning, I''ll send the air force to cooperate and cover your division for a counter attack. Can you finish the task? "


    My cold sweat came down at that time. You know, we are too busy to fight back now. Where can we spare forces to take part in this hopeless counterattack? But since Zhukov had already spoken, I couldn''t do without answering, so I gritted my teeth and asked my most concerned question: "I don''t know how many reserves the front army can supply to our division?"


    "Reserve?" When Zhukov heard my question, he was a little surprised and said, "don''t you know, Rita? I don''t have reserves at all. The whole counterattack depends on your own strength


    Without the reserve team, my heart suddenly cooled. When I was wondering whether to explain to Zhukov, the microphone in my hand had been snatched by rokosovsky. He put the microphone close to his mouth and said in a rude voice: "senior general, you are giving an unfinished task to Mr. Lida."


    "What do you mean, I don''t understand?" Rokosovsky''s interruption confused Zhukov.


    "After several fierce battles, the eighth division of Jinwei suffered heavy casualties. There were less than 5000 people left in the whole division, and there were still a considerable number of wounded. The artillery regiment has run out, and only one third of the three first class infantry regiments are left. Now the troops of the Communist Party of China have wedged into the line of defense and divided their defense area into three irregular areas, one of which is still surrounded by the enemy. Under the current circumstances, it is a question whether the eighth division, with its limited force, can hold the existing area. How can we even say that we can dispatch surplus forces to take part in the counter offensive? "


    "If we have less troops, we don''t have to counterattack, and we just leave our city to the bandits?" Zhukov''s tone became extremely severe again, and the two men began to pinch each other again: "even if the 16th army is completely destroyed, the counterattack must be carried out. We just want to use our own sacrifice to hold the enemy firmly here and buy time for the assembly of our reserve forces. "


    When they were pinching each other, I found that several telegraph machines began to send messages, not ordinary signalmen, but the communication officers of the group army headquarters who came with us just now. I asked malining in surprise: "Comrade Colonel, what''s the matter? Who are they sending a message to? "


    Malining came close to my ear and said softly, "I''m ordering them to send electricity to the troops below. I hope we can contact one or two retreating troops. If we have enough troops, we will have a better chance of winning tomorrow''s counter offensive."


    "Are you in touch?" I asked excitedly.


    He shook his head bitterly and said, "I''m sorry, so far, no one has called back."


    "Don''t worry, my chief of staff!" I patted him gently on the shoulder, comforted him and said, "don''t worry. Be patient. Maybe we''ll hear the good news in a while."


    "Good news? What''s the good news? " Maybe my voice was too loud, which startled rokosovsky next to me. He asked me in a loud voice, "Rita, what good news are you and the chief of staff saying there?"


    "Comrade commander, this is what happened." now that he has heard our dialogue, there is no need to hide anything from him. I honestly replied, "just now, chief of staff malining ordered the communication officer to contact the troops below by telegraph, hoping to gather several troops as soon as possible to take part in tomorrow''s counterattack."


    "Did you get in touch?" Rokosovsky also asked the question I just asked.


    "Not for the time being, comrade commander." I replied, "the chief of staff is also worried about this matter, so I comforted him and said," don''t worry. If you wait patiently, there may be good news soon. "


    "Oh, so it is." Rokosovsky nodded and handed the microphone to the messenger next to him. Seeing this scene, I immediately reminded him: "Comrade commander, aren''t you talking with general Zhukov?"¡° Zhukov called the supreme commander and said that he was discussing the counterattack tomorrow. " Then he limped to the telegraph machine, patted one of the communication officers on the shoulder and asked, "how are you doing? Have you got in touch with the troops below?" Then the communication officer with headphones turned around and found that it was the commander who patted himself on the shoulder. He quickly got up and stood at attention, and said aloud, "report to commander, not yet." Rokosovsky put his hands on his shoulders, pressed him to his seat, and said, "don''t stop, continue to send messages to the troops, be sure to contact them." At this point, he took off his face cap, combed his hair with his hand, and said in a confident tone, "I don''t believe that so many troops will be destroyed by the enemy, and we won''t be able to contact any of them?" At the end of the speech, a famous communication officer suddenly exclaimed excitedly: "comrades commander, I''ve got in touch, I''ve got in touch with the troops of political commissar lobachev!"

 Chapter 175

    "Great! That is great! That''s great Rokosovsky rushed over and slapped the messenger on the back excitedly, causing him to cough violently. Realizing that he was overjoyed, rokosovsky quickly stopped the slapping on his hand and asked, "what does political commissar Comrade lobachev say?"


    "Cough, cough, cough, the political commissar said that he had gathered some troops and built fortifications to the east of Taiyangshan City, ready to resist the new enemy offensive." As the officer coughed, he read the contents of the note vomited from the Bodo transmitter.


    "Great, great!" Rokosovsky rubbed his hands excitedly and repeatedly said, "come on, call the political commissar back and ask him what troops he has and what is the total strength?"


    The other party''s reply came soon. Looking at the little note spit out by the machine, I quickly stepped forward, grabbed the note, and read aloud to rokosovsky and all the people in the room: "our current troops are as follows: the 17th cavalry division of gedukov, the 50th and 53rd cavalry divisions of the 3rd cavalry army under the command of general priev, acting commander, The 289th and 296th anti tank regiments and the 138th cannon Regiment under the command of general kazakov, the artillery commander of the group army, the Cadet regiment named after the Supreme Soviet of lieutenant colonel mlakintsev, and several infantry regiments temporarily formed by the defeated troops. There are more than 13000 troops in total. At present, they have launched and occupied positions in the east of Taiyangshan city. "


    I was reading a telegram when the messenger over there called out again: "Comrade commander, the commander of the headquarters of the front army wants to speak to you!"


    "Keep reading the telegram," rokosovsky told me. Then he limped over, grabbed the microphone and said aloud, "I''m rokosovsky. Go ahead, please!"


    "I''m sokolovsky, chief of staff of the front army. Comrade General! General Zhukov asked me to convey his meaning to you: after his struggle, the Supreme Commander agreed to send one Katyusha rocket artillery regiment, two anti tank regiments, four Anti Tank Gun Companies and three tank battalions to supplement your group army. In addition, there are more than 2000 soldiers from Moscow who can be added to the severely reduced troops. "


    "That''s great. With such a complement of troops, tomorrow''s counter offensive will have a much higher chance of winning." Hearing such good news, not only rokosovsky, but also other people in the room were excited, whispering and chattering.


    "General rokosovsky," the opposite sokosovsky continued, "Comrade commander asked me to ask you if you have got in touch with the troops below?"


    "Chief of staff, please tell general Zhukov that I just got in touch with lobachev, political commissar of the group army. He led an army of tens of thousands of people, which had already started in the east of Taiyangshan city and occupied the starting position. "


    When I heard rokosovsky''s report to the front army, I suddenly had an uncertain premonition in my heart. I wanted to stop him from speaking. But he spoke very fast. Before I could react, he had finished the report. So I just opened my mouth and swallowed my words.


    "This news is very important. I will report it to the commander immediately." Sokolovsky said dryly, then there was no voice on the other side.


    "Why don''t you read on? Read on, Rita Rokosovsky reminded me when he saw that I was standing there without moving or reading a telegram.


    I looked at the note in front of me, shook my head and said, "no, comrade political commissar has sent so much content."


    "No? He didn''t talk about their next battle plan? " Standing in the same place, rokosovsky dictated to the communication officer, "tell the political commissar that the group army will launch a counterattack against Taiyangshan city at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. Do you have any difficulties?"


    Just as the communication officer converted the meaning of rokosovsky into radio waves, there was a voice on the side of the front army: "general rokosovsky? I''m Zhukov


    "What can I do for you? Senior general. As long as you give me enough troops, I will attack Berlin tomorrow. " Perhaps it is to hear that the reserves will be added tomorrow, rokosovsky''s mood is particularly good, and even joked with Zhukov.


    "I don''t want Berlin," Zhukov said coldly. "I just want you to take the sun mountain city back from the bandits. Can you do it?"


    "As long as the reserves can arrive in time," rokosovsky hesitated for a moment, or gave the other side a positive answer: "sun mountain city will be able to get back."


    "Now that things have changed, you have to be prepared. When I was talking to Comrade Stalin just now, he said that we should give up our measures to resist the enemy and only consider how to fight back the enemy. So the original attack time has been advanced. "Here, Zhukov pauses. I think he is looking at his watch. Sure enough, he quickly goes on to say," the counterattack must be launched at eight o''clock tomorrow morning. This is the meaning of the supreme command. This order is beyond doubt and must be carried out to the letter. Do you understand? "


    Since Zhukov brought out the supreme commander, rokosovsky did not dare to refute, so he could only honestly answer: "yes, I totally understand! The counterattack against sun mountain city will begin at eight o''clock! "


    "Well, I''ll wait for your good news. Good luck With that, Zhukov cut off contact. Rokosovsky slowly put down the microphone and sat down on the seat in a daze. After a long time, malining came forward and asked softly, "Comrade commander, what should we do?" The revived rokosovsky wiped his face, then stood up and said in a decisive voice: "send power to the commissar immediately, and let them prepare for all battles at 7:30 tomorrow morning. At eight o''clock, we should launch a counterattack against Taiyangshan city on time, and we must drive the enemy out of the city as quickly as possible. " At 8:00 a.m. on November 27, with the order of rokosovsky, there was a rumble of artillery in the distance, and the counterattack against Taiyangshan city officially began. In addition to rokosovsky, malining, me, leviakim and yegorov, there are only some operational staff and communication personnel in the headquarters. Since the political commissars do not have walkie talkies, all the operational instructions and the results of the feedback are carried out by telegraph and telephone. What we can do is to wait for the war report here, and then issue operational instructions according to the specific situation. At half past eight, the report of the first stage came back. Because the fighting broke out suddenly, the German army was caught by surprise. General priev led three cavalry divisions to encircle the enemy in the city from the southwest and Southeast directions. He led his division to attack sverchikovo, sherischevo and martenovo. After fierce fighting, the troops occupied the three settlements and severely damaged the German 240th infantry. Seeing such results, malining immediately reported the intelligence to the headquarters of the front army. Rokosovsky said optimistically: "if the reserve team given by the superior can arrive within half an hour, we can completely recover Taiyangshan city before dark." The wish is good, but the reality is cruel. Only half an hour later, the situation reversed. Before our reinforcements and air force could take part in the war, the enemy reinforcements arrived first. First, they used airplanes to bombard our troops occupying the residential areas. Then they sent out tank troops to fight back and drove general priev''s troops out of the above-mentioned areas.

 Chapter 176

    When rokosovsky heard the news that the troops had been driven out of the residential area by the German army, he directly dropped the phone in his hand, and then angrily walked back and forth in the room. After a night, his foot injury seemed to be better, and he didn''t feel as limp as he did yesterday.


    Malining came over from the telegraph machine with a telegram in his hand, but when he saw the commander circling the room like an ant on a hot pot, he stopped at the same place.


    "What''s the matter with you?" Rokosovsky stopped and asked malining impatiently¡° Comrade commander, this is the order of the supreme command transmitted by the front army! " Malining handed him the telegram with a smile on his face.


    "Orders from the supreme command? What''s the order of attack? " Rokosovsky mumbled and took the telegram. He looked at it a few times, and a rare smile appeared on his face.


    What''s the situation? What order did the Supreme Command give? Even rokosovsky, who had just been furious, was happy. I looked at leviagin and yegorov beside me blankly. They were also looking at me blankly. We were all at a loss. We found it difficult to understand the rapid attitude change of the commander.


    When rokosovsky finished reading the telegram, he looked up and saw that the whole room was staring at him like a monster. He laughed with embarrassment. He raised the telegraph in his hand and said in a loud voice, "this is the order of the supreme command, between major general dovator''s third cavalry army in the battle to defend our great capital Moscow, On November 26, the supreme command decided to confer the honorary title of the 2nd cavalry army of the guards with its bravery and indomitable spirit and great achievements. "


    As soon as he finished reading the contents of the telegram, there was a burst of applause in the room. For the Soviet people who love honor, the title of a close guard is more inspiring than a reserve team of 1000 people. Looking at everyone clapping, I had to pat my hands symbolically.


    Rokosovsky laughed and pressed his hands down. When everyone was quiet, he continued: "comrades, this is good news. We should inform the cavalry officers and men immediately." Looking back, he asked marinin, "is dovator on the front line?"


    "No, comrade commander." Malining reminded him: "general dovator was injured some time ago and is being treated in the hospital. Instead of him, he is commanding the commander of the 50th cavalry division, general priyev."


    "Put me through to general priev immediately, and I''ll speak to him myself."


    "Yes Malining agreed, and immediately arranged for the replacement of the broken telephone. It''s a bit embarrassing to see the people in the headquarters busy all the time, and to see some division level commanders of the eighth division of the close guard doing nothing nearby.


    The phone will soon get through, and the one who answers the phone is general puliev himself. Just after hearing his name and rank, rokosovsky excitedly shouts into the microphone: "Comrade puliev, I''m commander rokosovsky. I''d like to tell you a piece of good news. In recognition of your heroic performance and outstanding achievements in the battle, The supreme command has decided to award you the honorary title of the 2nd army of the guards. In order to defend this honor, I order you to immediately organize a new attack again to recover the lost settlements. "


    "Comrade commander, please rest assured!" I heard general puliev across the street make a firm promise: "we swear that we will defend our honor with blood! I will immediately organize troops to carry out a new round of attacks. Even if we fight to the last man, we will take back the settlement. "


    "Well, go! I''m waiting for the news of your victory. " With that, rokosovsky hung up. As soon as the microphone was put on the telephone, he shook the handle again. After a few shakes, he picked up the microphone and said loudly, "I''m rokosovsky. Connect me with political commissar lobachev."


    After connecting with the political commissar, he first reported that the cavalry army of dovator had won the honorary title of the second army of the guard cavalry, and then said, "Comrade political commissar, when the cavalry army launches attacks on the residential areas, you must urge the infantry to keep up in time, eliminate the enemy in the occupied area, and establish a solid defense line. In addition, the two existing anti tank artillery regiments should be pushed forward as far as possible to eliminate as many enemy tanks as possible and reduce the attack pressure of cavalry. "


    Suddenly there was a report from outside, and then a loud voice rang out: "report commander comrade, katukov, commander of the 1st tank brigade of the guards, come to report!" Hearing this, marinin immediately went out.


    When katukov came in, rokosovsky also finished the phone call, shook hands with him and said happily, "Comrade General, your tank is too timely. My attack here needs the cooperation of armored forces."


    "I''m at your service." General katukov said as he shook hands with the rest of the room. When he came to me, I first saluted him, then I took his hand, shook it hard and said, "nice to see you again, Comrade General!"


    "Nice to meet you, comrade commander, too!" Katukov took my hand and used some force unconsciously. I knew it was a kind of friendly performance, so although my hand was pinched and hurt, my face still kept smiling.


    "Comrade commander." After katukov released my hand, he turned and asked rokosovsky, "what''s my next task?"¡° Comrade commander, "I thought that my defense line had been cut to pieces by the German army. Instead of throwing this precious tank unit into meaningless counterattack, I had to come and put it in my own defense area to help defend. So I couldn''t help crying¡° Tell me what you think, Rita Rokosovsky didn''t mean to be surprised. Instead, he asked me to express my views. Since the commanders had this attitude, I had the courage to say, "I want to assign general katukov''s tank brigade to our division to help us defend the existing line of defense. What do you mean, commander? "

 Chapter 177

    Without waiting for the commander to speak, chief of staff malining said, "no, no, it''s absolutely not. The tank brigade can''t be assigned to your division. We should know that our troops are attacking sun mountain city. If we can have tanks to cover the attack, our chances of winning will be much higher. "


    After listening to marinin''s words, rokosovsky looked noncommittally, then turned his eyes to katukov and asked, "Comrade General, what do you think?"


    "Commander o''shanina, since she wants my brigade to be assigned to her troops, there must be a reason for her. I want to hear the reason why she wants to do so."


    Rokosovsky nodded and said to me, "Rita, tell me your reason. If we can be convinced, we will assign the tank brigade to your division; If we can''t be convinced by the reasons given, the tank brigade should still invest in the direction of Taiyangshan city and participate in our army''s counterattack. "


    After coughing and clearing my throat, I began to explain my reasons: "as we all know, today''s counterattack against Taiyangshan city was temporarily decided by the headquarters of the front army. They didn''t know anything about the current situation of our group army, so they directly issued this unrealistic counterattack order to the army. Because our army is in a hurry to fight and lacks unified command, there are also great problems in the cooperation among the various forces. In this case, even if more troops are put in, the battle will be in a stalemate at the end. Even if the tank brigade is put into combat at this time, they can only be used as an auxiliary means to accompany the infantry assault, and will soon be annihilated by the dominant German tanks. If assigned to our division, the tanks can be used in a centralized way, and used on a large scale in the direction where the German army broke through. With the cooperation of infantry, the enemy wedged into our division''s line of defense can be eliminated. " I know that my reasons are far fetched, so I added: "if we take the initiative to attack in the defense area, we can also contain a considerable number of enemies here to reduce the attack pressure in the direction of Taiyangshan city."


    After I finished, I nervously looked at several commanders who had the right to decide in the room. The first speaker was katukov, who said with approval: "Lieutenant Commander oshanina has a point. As long as we fight, the enemy will not be able to send troops from here to reinforce sun mountain city. The actions we have taken here indirectly support the counter offensive of the group army. "


    As soon as katukov finished speaking, malining immediately retorted: "this is absolutely impossible. The main purpose of the first tank brigade of the close guard assigned to us by the headquarters of the front army may be to let them participate in the counter offensive of Taiyangshan City, and it will never be allowed to use this kind of troops in other combat directions."


    Rokosovsky said slowly: "I also agree with Rita that it is better for them to annihilate the incoming enemy in the defense area of the 8th division of the guards than to put the elite tank brigade into the battle of attrition in Taiyangshan city." Then he turned to malining and said, "chief of staff, please contact the headquarters of the front army immediately and report to them our idea of changing the use of the tank brigade to see what they mean."


    "Yes Malining agreed and ran to the walkie talkie to contact the headquarters of the front army.


    Rokosovsky took the lead and went back to the map at the table. He asked katukov, "where is your tank?"


    Katukov stood in front of the map and looked at it. Then he pointed decisively to a place on the map: "here it is. As shown in the picture, it''s just the arrow where the enemy wedges into our defense line, and we just have a tit for tat fight with them. "


    I looked at the map and found that the gathering place of tank troops was just at the junction of the three regiments. That is to say, once a fight started, all regiments could send troops to support them in time. If our army is still a bomb that may explode at any time without tanks, then at this time, they are a group of turtles in a jar.


    At this time, malining came to report to rokosovsky and said, "Comrade commander, I have reported the situation to the front army. Guess what, general Zhukov replied in person: this must be Rita''s idea again. Her thinking is unrestricted. You should follow her suggestion! "


    Hearing the reply from the headquarters of the front army, I was deeply relieved. I stood up straight and said to rokosovsky, "Comrade commander, please allow me to carry out this counterattack task with general katukov."


    "No way!" Leviagin and yegorov objected with one voice: "this task is too dangerous. You are the head of a division. You must stay in the headquarters to plan the overall situation. Let''s go."


    At the critical moment, rokosovsky supported me. He waved to them and said, "since this proposal is made by Rita, let her direct the battle." He glanced at me and continued, "don''t you know about her? Although they are dangerous in every battle, and even injured many times, which one is not to save the day in the end? " When they heard that the commander supported me, they had to shut up.


    Rokosovsky came over, patted me on the shoulder, sighed and said, "Rita, you know what''s going on. I don''t have any reserves in my hand. I can''t help you any more. You can only find a way to make good use of the existing forces and maximize their combat effectiveness, so as to relieve the pressure of our army in the direction of Taiyangshan city... "


    "Report!" A communication officer interrupted rokosovsky''s words. He handed a telegram to him and reported: "the telegram sent by general priyev, after the tenacious fighting of our army, the bandits in the residential areas have been driven out. We have reoccupied the three residential areas of sville chikovo, Sheri shevo and martenovo. The troops are building fortifications in the residential areas to prevent the enemy''s possible counterattack. After the subsequent reinforcements arrive, we will officially launch the attack on Taiyangshan city. "¡° Great Rokosovsky glanced at the telegram, then handed it to malining and told him, "report the news to the headquarters of the front army immediately, so that Comrade Zhukov will be happy too!" At this time, an officer hurried in from the outside and said aloud, "report to you, comrade report commander, major yevremenko, former head of the 289th anti tank regiment and now head of the 280th anti tank regiment. On the order of the supreme command, our regiment will be incorporated into the eighth division of Jinwei from today on, and come to accept your combat order! Please give me directions! "

 Chapter 178

    Half an hour later, katukov and yevlemenko and I arrived at the headquarters of 1073 regiment. Seeing our arrival, the commander, Colonel chisgakov, was startled. He said in surprise, "Oh, my division commander, how did you come to me? It''s too dangerous here. The enemy may attack at any time. You''d better go back to the division headquarters! "


    I waved my hand and said, "Comrade commander, you don''t have to worry about my safety. I''m not here to wander, I''m here to help you destroy the enemy. " Facing chisgakov, I pointed to the other two and said, "Comrade Colonel, please come here. I''ll introduce you: This is general katukov, commander of the 1st tank brigade of the guards; That''s major yevremenko, head of the 280th anti tank regiment. " Then he turned to face them, pointed to the colonel and said, "this is colonel chisgakov, head of the 1073 regiment of our division."


    When the three people saluted and shook hands, I called around the headquarters made of logs and found that it was similar to my division headquarters. In the middle of the room was a big wooden table with military maps and telephones on it. There is a square observation hole on one side of the wall, and the periscope for observation is placed in front of the hole. On the other side of the wall, there are transmitters, walkie talkies and so on. Because there is no battle outside, the soldiers who are responsible for operating these equipment are sitting there quietly.


    I went to the table and looked at the map lying on it. I still couldn''t understand it, so I said to the three: "stop chatting, come and study the battle plan!"


    When the three came to the front and back of the table, I said to chisgakov, "Comrade commander, first of all, you can tell us about the deployment of your regiment."


    "Please come here with me," said the colonel, taking us to the observation hole and pointing out, "the regiment headquarters is located in the forest, 200 meters to the East. It is a battalion defensive position under the command of lieutenant colonel chernukov. About two kilometers to the East, there is a forest in which the enemy''s tanks are stationed. "


    "How many tanks does the enemy have?" As soon as I heard about the enemy''s tanks, the first person to ask about the number was major yevremenko, head of the anti tank regiment. I don''t know if this is his professional habit.


    "I sent someone to scout last night. It was probably one of the enemy''s tank battalions. When they broke through our defense line, they lost several tanks. Now there are still 17 tanks. It''s just tanks, no infantry. "


    "At present, our brigade has only 30 tanks. If we attack from the front, even if we wipe out all the enemy''s tanks, we will suffer a lot of casualties." Katukov said thoughtfully, looking out.


    "Can we go around to the back of the enemy and attack them secretly, so that the casualties will be less." Chisjakov made his own suggestion to the tank brigade commander.


    "No way!" Katukov immediately vetoed his proposal. "We don''t know how the enemy is deployed in the forest. Not only from what direction they approach, they may be found. In that case, the sneak attack will turn into a strong attack, and such a battle is not worth fighting. "


    While they were discussing how to attack German tanks, I used a periscope to observe the situation outside. Russia''s forest is not the kind of continuous edge can not be seen, a piece of open space will be divided into small irregular forest area. The forest two kilometers away is no exception. It''s surrounded by bare open land. No matter how close it is, people inside will find it. I adjusted my periscope and continued to look at the terrain in other directions. I saw that there was still a forest about 500 meters southeast of our army base.


    Seeing this, I stood up straight, turned and called chisgakov: "Comrade Colonel, come here and have a look. Are there any troops of our army or the enemy in the forest over there?"


    Chisgakov looked at it and said to me, "Comrade division, the area of the forest is too small for the troops to expand, so we didn''t set up the defense line there. When the Scout came back last night, he went to check. There was no enemy there. " As he spoke, katukov and yevlemenko also pushed over to the observation hole to see the terrain outside.


    When chisgakov finished, I nodded, went back to the table, turned to them and said, "come here, let me talk about how to fight this battle."


    I wanted to give directions on the map, but thinking that I didn''t know the map and was afraid of making jokes, I picked up a book on the table, tore a page and spread it on the table. I first drew a square on the top and bottom of the paper with a pencil, then drew a horizontal line on the top of the square below, and finally drew a circle on the right of the middle of the paper.


    When I finished drawing, I looked up and saw that the three people were all looking at me in a daze. I knew that they didn''t understand what I was drawing on the paper. I quickly explained to them, "this is my enemy situation map." Pointing to the square below with a pencil, he said, "this is the location of our headquarters. This line represents our defense line."


    "I understand," the reaction of high rank soldiers is quick. As soon as I said this, katukov understood, "the square above is the position of the enemy, and the circle on the right should refer to the forest you just asked?"


    "Good job!" Seeing that katukov understood my sketch so quickly, I praised him and then said, "next, I''ll set up the combat mission."


    "Comrade division commander, I want to remind you that our troops are limited. If we attack, we will pay a great price. When the enemy launches a new offensive, we will not have enough troops to defend." It was chisgakov who said this. He was afraid that my blind command would destroy the whole army¡° In this battle, the infantry is only responsible for defense, and the tank brigade is responsible for attack. " Speaking of this, I raised my head and asked katukov, "Comrade General, what kind of tanks do you have? Do you have heavy tanks that can''t be broken by enemy shells?"¡° Our brigade is equipped with the latest T-34 tanks, not as heavy as you said¡° Alas, it''s a pity. Otherwise, the enemy will be full of teeth. I''ll go on to talk about operational deployment. " I pointed to the horizontal line with a pencil and said to yevremenko, "Comrade major, you will deploy the anti tank regiment here in our defense line." Then he moved the tip of his pen to the circle and said to katukov, "Comrade General, you have put 25 tanks here. Then send the remaining five tanks to the forest where the enemy is. "¡° Do you mean to let these tanks undertake the task of luring the enemy? " Katukov asked tentatively. It''s easy to talk with smart people. I''m only half way through, and he''ll know my plan. But there are still two people nearby. I don''t know if they understand my intention. I have to explain to them: "general katukov''s tanks are advancing towards the enemy''s position. When the enemy bombards them, they will turn around and run to our army, trying to lead the enemy out of the forest. When the enemy''s tanks entered range, the anti tank artillery regiment fired. When the enemy was dazed, general katukov''s other tanks rushed out of the forest and cut off their retreat. At this time, even if they come back, it''s too late for them to turn around and run away. What''s waiting for them is the fate of the whole army. Do you understand what I mean? "¡° I fully understand The three answered me in unison.

 Chapter 179

    "Now that we all understand, let''s go and carry it out." With that, I lowered my head to draw my battle diagram. I now write a lot of Chinese characters "people" on the horizontal line, representing the infantry deployed; A few crosses were drawn between the horizontal line and the square to represent the artillery of the anti tank regiment; In the circle, a small tank is drawn, which represents the tank troops of general katukov. I drew a straight line up from the horizontal line with a pencil. When I drew it half the distance from the square above, I turned a curve and drew it down. It means that the tank luring the enemy is turning around and retreating after attracting the enemy''s attention. When I was about to draw the attack route of the tank in the circle, I found someone standing at the table. Looking up, I found that the three katukovs had not left. I asked curiously, "what are you doing here if you don''t carry out the order?" The three did not answer, but their facial expressions were very strange, especially major yevlemenko, whose eyes were looking at the roof and whose body was shaking desperately. I asked again, but the three did not answer. I suddenly realized that they were laughing at me, but I was too embarrassed to make a sound. I had to endure a smile to have such a strange expression. As soon as I wanted to understand this, I could not help blushing with shame. I waved to them discontentedly and said, "don''t stand here in a daze. Hurry up and carry out the task!" Seeing that I was a little angry, major yevlemenko saluted me and turned to leave quickly. Colonel chisgakov quickly walked to a telephone, shook the handle a few times, picked up the receiver and said aloud, "I''m the commander, Colonel chisgakov, get me a battalion." Katukov came over and patted me on the shoulder. He said in a friendly way, "Comrade commander, this battle plan you have made is really wonderful. We are sure to succeed." When he turned around and left, he quietly said, "it''s time for you to practice your homework on the map. Your current level is similar to that of kindergarten children." After listening to katukov''s words, I felt more and more embarrassed. However, other people''s ranks were higher than mine, and I couldn''t get angry with him. I quickly slipped to the observation hole, picked up a pair of binoculars, and pretended to observe the terrain outside. Ten minutes later, the tank''s feint began. Five decoy t-34s sped past our trenches and toward the forest where German tanks were hidden. Our tanks are getting closer and closer to the forest, but the other side still has no response. I can''t help worrying: will the enemy have moved to other areas? But I soon found that my worry was superfluous. When the tank was two or three hundred meters away from the forest, suddenly a shell flew out of the tank, landed next to the leading T-34 and exploded. With the explosion, our tanks stopped and fired back. Perhaps katukov had told them the plan to lure the enemy in advance. After a few shots, they began to back up. Because they were shooting while retreating, the German tanks in the forest thought they had met several Soviet tanks that were going the wrong way, so they ran after them without any doubt. First one, then another, and soon more than a dozen tanks rushed out of the forest. Every time a tank came out, chisjakov next to him counted one, and soon he told me in a loud voice, "yes, seventeen tanks." Our tanks retreated very fast. Although they kept firing in the process of retreating, they almost had no hit rate. The shells fell around the German tanks and exploded. The undamaged German tanks came down, and the roar of the motors could be heard clearly in the headquarters. Just then, a T-34, which was running at the end, was hit by the shell, and the body covered with smoke immediately stopped at the same place. The German tanks got closer and closer, firing at the remaining four tanks. I quickly observed the tank with a telescope, hoping to see the tank crew escaping from the smoke. My intention was discovered by chisgakov. He sighed and said, "Comrade division, I know what you mean. Don''t look, the soldiers in the tank must have died." Although I don''t think the soldiers on this tank have any hope of survival, I still use the telescope to continue to observe desperately. Looking at the clock again, I still didn''t see anyone escape. I couldn''t help sighing and looked away. At this moment, the nearby chisgakov suddenly cried out: "Comrade division, you see, someone has escaped from the tank." I quickly moved my eyes to see a soldier in black tank clothes, staggering out of the smoke. I quickly put down my telescope and yelled, "run, run!" I forgot that I was hundreds of meters away from him. No matter how loud the sound was, he couldn''t hear me. As soon as the soldier ran to our army, he was hit by the machine gun on the German tank behind him. He suddenly leaned back, staggered forward for a few steps, and then fell to the ground.

 Chapter 180

    When the soldiers fell to the ground, our remaining four t-34s had quickly crossed the trench and hid in the forest. The German tanks bypassed the burning T-34 and quickly charged at our troops.


    Seeing that the enemy''s tanks were only three or four hundred meters away from the position, I just wanted to order chisgakov to order the artillery to fire. Suddenly, the front position burst out with dense gunfire. The heavy and heavy machine guns on the position opened fire fiercely, and the bullets hit the tank body, splashing a string of dazzling sparks.


    The German tanks, which were advancing at a high speed, slowed down, slowly discharged their battle formation, turned their muzzle, and fired slowly at the exposed fire points. A few shells flew over, and the two most active fire points suddenly became dumb.


    "Nonsense! It''s nonsense Seeing that the infantry opened fire without authorization, which attracted the German tank''s shelling, I couldn''t help but be furious. I yelled at chisjakov: "hurry up, get the anti tank artillery regiment, let them open fire immediately!"


    Almost as soon as my voice fell, the anti tank gun deployed in the forest had already started fire. It seems that major yevremenko found that the situation was not right. Before he could ask for my instructions, he decisively gave the order to open fire.


    Shells flying out of the forest, landed in the German tanks in the queue, exploded, suddenly the smoke billowed, the fire burst into the sky. In addition to the first few shells did not hit the target, the next shells landed accurately on the body of the German tank, and the hit tank was immediately shrouded in thick smoke. Soon a tank soldier with fire all over his body got out of the abandoned burning tank, threw himself on the ground and rolled in an attempt to extinguish the burning fire.


    Seeing the enemy coming out of the tank, the gunfire in the trench became more and more intense. The figure rolling on the ground, under the heavy fire, trembled violently for a while, then fell on the ground and there was no more movement.


    After retreating into the forest, the four t-34s drove forward at full power, stopped in front of the trench and opened fire on the enemy''s tanks.


    In the first round of anti tank artillery bombardment, four German tanks were destroyed. The anti charge of our tanks easily destroyed two more. The remaining ten or so tanks finally found that something was wrong. They immediately backed up and retreated while shooting.


    Because the number of T-34 stopped behind the trench was too small, they did not immediately pursue, but cooperated with the anti tank artillery regiment to shoot at the German tanks. The German tanks retreating in the open field were the best targets. When they approached the forest where the katukov tanks were fortified, at least six more tanks were beaten to the ground and became burning scrap iron.


    "Great "Another six have been killed, and they only have five left," chisjakov exclaimed excitedly Then he asked me in an inquisitive tone, "Comrade division, do you want general katukov to attack them now?"


    "Don''t worry about that. Katukov is a good fighter. He knows when to take the initiative. If these tanks are allowed to escape, he will not be katukov. " I casually say these words, can''t help but Leng for a while, this words how so familiar ah, did I steal which movie dialogue?


    Katukov did not disappoint us. As soon as the five German tanks got close to the forest, our T-34 tanks rushed out of the forest. With intensive shelling, four of them were destroyed. The tracks of the remaining tanks were also broken and were spinning in place. The top cover of a T-34 was opened, and a tank soldier emerged from it. He held the red and green flags in both hands and waved a series of flags. With the end of the flag, the rest of the tanks stopped firing, slowly circling in three directions towards the German tanks.


    When the German tank stopped, the top of the tank was opened and a submachine gun with a white handkerchief protruded from it. The white flag waved desperately, indicating that it was ready to surrender.


    Seeing that the German tanks had been completely annihilated, I breathed a sigh of relief, hung my telescope around my neck, and then said to chisgakov, "Comrade Colonel, the battle is over. Let''s go ahead and have a look."


    When he arrived at the anti tank artillery position, yevremenko was directing the soldiers to attach their guns to the tractor. Seeing our arrival, he rushed over and saluted me at attention.


    As I saluted, I said, "well done, comrade major! Are there many casualties in the army? "


    He said with a shy smile: "not big, he was blown up a gun, killed three people and injured nine people. Fortunately, it''s not German tanks, otherwise our regiment will suffer more casualties. "


    Not German tanks? I raised my telescope and looked at the destroyed tanks again. The white cross standard on the body was clearly visible. So I asked in surprise, "isn''t there a cross sign of * * on this destroyed tank? You say it''s not a German tank, but an American tank? "


    Listening to me, the major repeatedly waved his hand and said, "Sir, you have misunderstood me! When I say it''s not German tanks, I mean these tanks are not made in Germany. "


    "It''s not made in Germany. Where is it made?" I was at a loss when I heard what he said.


    "Well," he coughed, cleared his throat and explained to me, "the German tanks lost a lot in the early fighting, and they couldn''t get timely replenishment from the mainland, so they began to use the captured French tanks on a large scale. Compared with the German tanks, these tanks are much inferior in firepower, armor and speed. That''s why we can annihilate this small tank unit with such small casualties. "


    "Comrade division," chisgakov said to me, "look, general katukov''s tank is coming." I looked in the direction of his finger. A T-34 tank of our army was carefully bypassing the burning tanks and coming towards us quickly.

 Chapter 181

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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

 Chapter 182

    On the way to the 1075 regiment defense area, I sat in the back of the jeep and kept silent. Maybe it was due to my emotion that grissa, who was driving, and chisgakov, who was sitting in the front row, did not speak and kept quiet all the time.


    Along the way, I was thinking about a problem: with only one tank battalion and two or three infantry companies, the German army could break into the defense line of the elite Soviet troops, and form a encirclement situation for a force several times its own strength, which can be seen from its strong combat effectiveness. The Soviet army can be regarded as an elite force, but it is still in such a mess. What will happen to the rest of the troops? Will they be defeated or completely annihilated?


    The car stopped suddenly while thinking about it. I looked out of the window at the forest and asked, "where are you?"


    "Not yet," said chisgakov, who answered me. "There''s a fork in the road ahead. To the left is the defense area to the second battalion of our regiment; To the right, go to the Third Battalion of 1075 regiment. Which side shall we go, sir? "


    Instead of answering his question directly, I asked, "who is the commander of the second battalion of your regiment?"


    "The second battalion commander died in the battle in the daytime yesterday. I temporarily assigned the commander of the seventh company to act as the battalion commander."


    When I heard that the second battalion was temporarily represented by a company commander, I lost interest and told the driver, "grissa, go right. Let''s go to the Third Battalion of 1075 regiment."


    The car drove forward for a few minutes, and was stopped by the soldiers on guard. After verifying our identity, one of the soldiers stood on the step and hung outside the car to lead us to the battalion headquarters. The headquarters is in the trench, and the car is not far ahead.


    The third battalion commander of 1075 regiment is major Xie Dulin, who also holds the post of deputy commander. Seeing our arrival, he quickly came up to report and salute.


    After I entered the room and sat down, I raised my head and said to Xie Dulin, who stood respectfully in front of me, "Comrade major, tell us about your situation here."


    "Yes With a promise, he stood in the same place and began to report: "the enemy opposite our battalion has about two companies. Yesterday, they launched an attack on our position. After being repulsed, they stationed in the forest opposite the line of defense. So far today, they haven''t heard anything. I think they are waiting for reinforcements and heavy weapons. "


    "How far is the enemy''s base from us?" I then asked.


    "About six hundred meters."


    "What measures have you taken?"


    "Measures?" Xie Dulin repeated what I said, with a puzzled look on his face and asked, "Sir, I didn''t understand you."


    "I mean, since the enemy is stationed opposite your battalion, have you ever used the night to send people to scout or organize small teams to attack at night?"


    "No," he said, shaking his head like a rattle. "You know that the troops have retreated after repeated battles. The organizational structure of the troops has been crippled and the soldiers are very tired. If you think about sending troops to sneak attack, there are some difficulties... "


    "Enough!" Hearing his incoherent explanation, I couldn''t help getting angry again: "if you are tired, the enemy will be tired? When is the right time not to attack at night? Are you going to sneak attack again when the enemy sleeps all night and becomes energetic and comes under the cover of planes, artillery and tanks after daybreak? "


    When I yelled at Xie Dulin, I thought the anger was too much. But I didn''t know what happened these two days, so I felt upset. I couldn''t control my mood and wanted to get angry.


    Just when I scolded shedulin, chisgakov stood in a dilemma and didn''t know how to persuade me, a soldier rushed in and called out a report: "report to battalion commander, German tanks are coming up!"


    "What? Tank? " All three of us were surprised. The red faced Xie Dulin, who was scolded by me, asked eagerly, "where is it?"


    "It''s coming from the left side of our army."


    "How far is it from our trench?" This time, it was chisgakov who asked first.


    The soldier looked at one of chisgakov''s badges, then straightened up and said, "report to the colonel, after the enemy''s tanks came out of the forest, they drove along the front of our army for a while, and then they drove towards the forest where the enemy was stationed."


    "Go and have a look." When I said that, I got up and wanted to walk out.


    "Please wait a moment," chisgakov said in a pleading tone, standing in front of me. "Comrade division, it''s dangerous here. You''d better go back to the division headquarters."


    "Yes Xie Dulin also echoed: "during the transfer of our battalion, almost all the anti tank weapons were discarded. If the German tanks attack, I can only organize the soldiers to bomb with cluster grenades. For your safety''s sake, you''d better move with the Colonel first! "


    "No, go and have a look." With that, I pushed chisgakov aside and took the lead out of the headquarters. In fact, I didn''t try to be a hero and take risks blindly. I thought that katukov''s tank brigade was nearby and could fight at any time. As long as the German army does not have the absolute advantage, the tank brigade can repel them.


    Standing in the trench reinforced with logs, I watched with binoculars the two German tanks with cross marks. They drove slowly towards the opposite forest, as if they were going to join the troops there and then turn their heads to attack us. When the tank was more than 100 meters away from the forest, several armored vehicles were driven out of the forest, followed by a lot of infantry. It seemed that they were ready to join and attack together. Seeing this, I put down my telescope and gave an order to the nearby Xie Dulin: "pass my order, order all soldiers to be ready for battle immediately!"


    "Comrade division commander," replied Xie Dulin, "the soldiers are ready to fight." I looked left and right, the soldiers had entered the position, put their weapons on the edge of the trench, and even several soldiers were squatting on the ground to bundle cluster grenades. Just then, there was a loud noise in the distance, which startled me, and the German army began to attack? He quickly picked up the telescope and carefully went out to observe. What I saw surprised me again. I saw that the tank was shooting at the armored car, and the roaring shells easily tore apart the thin armor of the armored car, causing the lethal explosion of ammunition inside the car, which made the soldiers around the car cry and howl. After the violent explosion, the armored car began to burn¡° What the hell is going on? " Said chisgakov, who was also looking through the telescope. I was also at a loss, so I couldn''t explain to him what happened to the German cannibalism. The roar of tank motors came from the forest on the left side of the position, and I quickly turned the telescope to the place where the sound came from. I saw a tank unit shuttling through the forest. There were a lot of tanks, at least 20 or 30. My heart beat faster immediately. Without anti tank weapons, we can''t cope with both vehicles. With so many vehicles coming down, can we hold our position? I should have brought the anti tank regiment of yevremenko just now. Next to him, chisgakov suddenly exclaimed excitedly: "look, sir! It''s our own tanks. Look, it''s all T-34 tanks. " When I heard him shouting like this, I fixed my eyes and found that it was a Soviet tank. After a little meditation, I could see what happened to the firing of the German tank opposite. I put down my telescope again and cried out, "major shedulin, organize the troops to attack immediately!"¡° Attack? " "But we don''t have any anti tank weapons. Launching an attack in this situation would be like committing suicide," he asked foolishly¡° Yes Chisgakov also said: "Sir, the major has a point. Please think about it again."¡° What can I think about? "I almost got angry again, but I explained patiently," Comrade Colonel, don''t you understand? The tank that was firing at the German army was captured by general katukov just now. If I guess correctly, general katukov first used two captured tanks to approach the enemy. After the exchange of fire started, the rest of the ambush tanks quickly attacked the enemy''s position. At this time, we need the cooperation of our infantry to have the opportunity to annihilate the enemy. Do you understand me? " My last words almost came out¡° I see! " They both answered at the same time. Then major Xie Dulin climbed out of the trench hand and foot, pulled out his pistol, raised it over his head, and cried out in a loud voice: "brothers, follow me, move forward!" Although the soldiers did not know what happened, they saw that their battalion commanders had climbed out of the trench first, and then one commander after another climbed out, and they did not hesitate to climb out, and formed a scattered formation in front of the trench. I also wanted to climb up, but chisjakov caught me. He said nervously, "Oh, my teacher, it''s too dangerous outside. Don''t go out and take this risk." I looked at the outside of the line, has been under the leadership of Xie Dulin, slowly forward, also did not insist on climbing outside, but honestly stood in the trenches to observe the situation. In the line of attack, except for Xie Dulin, other people didn''t know that our army had occupied the absolute advantage. They only knew that there was a battle in the German position. As for what happened, they couldn''t see and know. It was a habit of obedience that they would charge forward with us. Because of this, although Xie Dulin is marching forward with great strides, the commanders and soldiers who follow him are always dallying, so that the distance between them is getting larger and larger. Chisgakov, who was standing below, was worried and yelled: "go, go! Rush forward and crush the enemy Only a few soldiers in the back row heard his cry. They accelerated and walked a few steps. Seeing the people in front of them moving slowly, they slowed down again. The tanks of the katukov brigade rushed out of the forest, spread out battle formations one by one in front of the infantry attack formation, and then increased their horsepower and rushed forward. Seeing that his tank has entered the war, no matter how stupid he is, he knows what''s going on. The scattered line, which is still advancing slowly, looks like a bloody chicken. Everyone is shouting "Wula!" He leveled the weapon in his hand and ran quickly. Seeing that the infantry, under the cover of tanks, pressed down on the enemy''s position, there was no suspense of victory, and the stone in my heart finally fell to the ground. When he put down the telescope, he felt his face hurt with cold, so he asked chisjakov to go back to the command post and wait for the good news from the front line. On the way to the command post, I was still thinking: just now katukov captured only one German tank, but just now he led the attack on two German tanks. Where did he find the other one? When I see him later, I must ask him about it.

 Chapter 183

    I went back to the command post and sat for a long time before I felt warm. I rubbed my cold hands and said to chisgakov, who was sitting beside me, "it''s so cold outside. It didn''t seem so cold when we came here just now, did it?"


    "Yes, it''s much colder than in the morning. It looks like it''s cooling down," he replied as he added coal to the charcoal basin in the corner


    Looking at the gray sky outside through the observation hole, I said with some worry: "it''s cold. The soldiers sleep in the trenches at night. Can they be protected?"


    After hearing this, the colonel said to me in surprise: "Comrade division, who told you that soldiers sleep in trenches at night? There are usually special barracks behind the trenches for the soldiers to rest


    "Well, I must have made a mistake." In order to cover up my ignorance, I quickly digged off the topic and said, "major shedulin, why haven''t they come back so long?"


    As soon as the voice fell, Xie Dulin''s loud voice came from the outside: "Sir, comrade, I''m back!"


    Then, armed with submachine guns, a smoky face of shedulin appeared in front of us. As soon as he came to the table, he put his submachine gun on the table, and then said to us, "Comrade division, comrade Colonel, this is the submachine gun we just captured. What''s wrong with you?"


    Chisgakov picked up the submachine gun and looked over and over for a long time, but he didn''t see a bright hall. Then he handed the gun to me and said in frustration, "I see that all parts of the gun are intact, and I don''t find anything wrong."


    I took the submachine gun, the first feeling is too cold, almost holding a piece of ice. I slapped the submachine gun on the table and said discontentedly, "it''s like taking it out of the ice cellar. It''s so cold that my hands hurt. Don''t beat around the Bush for us, major. Let''s get to the bottom of it. "


    Xie Dulin said with a smile: "it''s still the division commander who observes carefully. What''s wrong with this gun is that it''s as cold as ice and it hurts when you hold it on your hand."


    Listening to his reply, chisjakov and I looked at each other, but we still didn''t understand what was going on. The captain frowned and said, "what''s the matter?"


    Seeing that we were a little displeased, shedulin quickly explained, "you see, because it was cold and the German didn''t use antifreeze on the gun, the bolt was frozen." As he said it, he pulled the bolt hard and did not move.


    Seeing this, I immediately understood that because of the cold weather and the lack of special antifreeze in Germany, all the bolts were frozen. To understand this, I immediately asked excitedly, "Comrade major, what was the result of the battle just now? Was there a large number of casualties in our army?"


    "Report to our division commander that the casualties of our battalion are not large. After fighting, we have completely annihilated the enemy. Only five people have been killed, 18 wounded, 159 destroyed and 147 captured."


    I was very satisfied with the result, and then asked with concern, "where are our troops? Have they all been withdrawn?"


    "No," he said, shaking his head, "the original line of defense of our battalion is in that forest. Except for seven companies retreating back here, eight companies and nine companies are in the positions just recovered."


    "Where is general katukov?" I asked again.


    "He''s in the position over there, spreading out the tanks, covering the fortifications."


    "Are there any officers in the captives? Find another German speaking soldier to help us interrogate the prisoners and understand the enemy''s deployment. " After all, chisjakov is a veteran soldier for many years. He thinks about things more comprehensively than I do.


    "I arrested a captain, said to be the commander of the German company. But without an interpreter, he knows Russian himself. " With that, he turned his head and called from the outside, "bring up the prisoners."


    With his shouts, two soldiers came in, escorting a dejected German officer. The officer was dressed in a special way, with a towel on his head, a wrinkled cornice hat, and a torn coat covered with mud.


    Chisgakov and I sat at the table, and then we asked the soldier to move a wooden stool and let the officer sit down, and then we started the formal trial.


    It was chisjakov who asked, "name, position, rank?"


    The officer replied honestly, "my name is Lawrence. I''m the captain of D company of the 23rd infantry division of the German defense forces."


    "What is your mission?"


    "After breaking through the line of defense of the Soviet army, cut off your retreat, cooperate with the troops of frontal assault, and annihilate you all."


    "You speak Russian well. Where did you learn it?" I was very curious about why he spoke so fluent Russian, so I asked curiously, and also wanted to know why there were so many Russian speaking officers in the German army.


    "I went to Russia in 1936 and studied at the Military Academy of vorongze, so I can speak Russian."


    "Nonsense This time, the speaker was Xie Dulin. He yelled at the captain and said, "how can our military academy in vorongze make the bandits students?"


    "It''s true, it''s true," the German captain turned his eyes to chisgakov, who was sitting next to me. "You must know, Mr. Colonel, that at that time our two countries were still allies. It was very common for us to send people to each other''s military academies and schools."


    Shedulin turned to look at chisgakov and asked, "Comrade Colonel, is this true?" Before he could answer, I had already taken over the topic: "well, comrade major, I believe what he said is true." I said I believe that this is not a free talk. Since the two countries can join hands to divide Poland, what else is impossible? I took a look at chisgakov and said, "continue the interrogation!"¡° Why didn''t you attack today? " Asked chisgakov again¡° According to the plan, today''s division headquarters will send two infantry battalions and a tank unit to cooperate. However, due to the tense fighting on the other side of Taiyangshan City, these units have been put into that place to participate in the fighting. " It turned out that the German army did not fight today because the reinforcements were transferred to other directions. It turned out that we were not relieving the pressure on Sun Mountain City, but the bloody troops there restrained the German troops who were going to attack us.

 Chapter 184

    "Mr. captain, I have a question." I got up from my seat and walked around the room with my back on my back. Frowning, I asked the German officer what I thought: "yesterday, with hundreds of troops, you broke through the defense line of our division and occupied the front of our army. From this point of view, the combat effectiveness of your troops is beyond doubt. " On hearing my praise, the German captain had a smug look on his face. I then said, "but when our army launched a counter offensive against you today, you were easily defeated by us. Can you tell me what''s going on? "


    The captain didn''t answer me, and his eyes swept over chisgakov and shedulin. Chisjakov slapped the table and said, "it''s the teacher of our guard division who asked you this question. You should answer her quickly."


    The captain was startled and nervously explained to me, "Madam commander, there are many reasons. First, your tanks pretended to be our army and suddenly opened fire when approaching our army, which caught us by surprise; Secondly, we lack enough anti tank weapons to resist the attack of your tanks; Thirdly, and most importantly, because of the cold weather, the guns in the hands of soldiers can''t be opened, and the weapons that can''t be fired are almost like firesticks in their hands, so we have to wait and see. If it''s not for this damned cold, even if you can beat us, you will pay a huge price. "


    "You mean it''s not our soldiers who beat you, but the cold weather in Russia?" Hearing him say so, Xie Dulin, standing on one side, asked sarcastically.


    "Yes, sir major." Although the German captain became our prisoner, he was unconvinced: "if we didn''t adapt to such cold weather and lack the antifreeze for guns, even if you have the support of tanks, it''s not easy to defeat us."


    "All right, take him down." Chisgakov saw the unconvinced face of shedulin and was about to quarrel with him. He immediately ordered the soldiers to take the prisoner out.


    As soon as the captives were escorted out, katukov hurried in. He is not polite, sitting on the empty seat opposite me, took off the tank cap on his head, wiped the sweat on his head with his sleeve, and said happily: "Comrade commander, I really convinced you! Under your command, these two battles have been really enjoyable. I didn''t expect that with such a small number of casualties, we completely annihilated the two German troops wedged into our defense line. "


    After hearing his praise, I just gave a wry smile and replied, "Comrade General, don''t you think our victory today is too lucky? In these two battles, we can solve the battle so quickly by relying on our own absolutely superior technical equipment. If the enemy used aircraft and artillery during our attack, what kind of situation do you think today''s battle will be like? " Speaking of this, I suddenly thought of the excellent performance of the tank brigade in today''s battle. I felt that I should not blindly pour cold water on them. I quickly changed the topic and said, "of course, under your wise command, the tank brigade''s performance in today''s battle is remarkable. First, the enemy''s tank units were killed cleanly; Then they used the captured tanks to confuse the enemy, swaggered close to their positions, and when they were not on guard, they decisively attacked, killed the most dangerous armored vehicles for our army, and caught them by surprise. It is because of your proper command that our infantry battalion can easily destroy the enemy and regain its position. "


    "Yes, sir, you are right!" Major shedulin also joined me in flattering general katukov: "when I led the soldiers to rush up, your tank troops had divided and surrounded the enemy. With the support of your powerful firepower, the enemy was defeated and was forced to surrender to our army when there was no hope of escape. "


    When general katukov was flattered and embarrassed by us, chisgakov, who had never participated in the dialogue, suddenly asked, "do you think what the German captain said just now is true?"


    "What did he say?" The three of us asked coincidentally.


    "Cold! The German captain did not admit that they were defeated by us, but by the cold


    "It''s possible!" Although he almost quarreled with the German captain just now, he hesitated for a moment and replied objectively: "when I led the troops to rush into the position, only a few of the enemies resisted stubbornly, while the vast majority of the others ran around with weapons like headless flies. At that time, I thought it was quite strange when these Germans became so greedy and scared of death that they didn''t even have the courage to shoot us and started to run away. After the enemy laid down their weapons and surrendered, I picked up this kind of submachine gun, "he said, pointing to the submachine gun on the table, and then said," I understand what''s going on. It''s not that they don''t want to shoot, it''s that the bolt is frozen and can''t be pulled open. "


    "This is an important situation, which needs to be reported to the commander immediately." I asked Xie Dulin, "Comrade major, can you contact the division headquarters directly by telephone?"


    "No!" He shook his head and replied, seeing my face showing disappointment, he quickly added, "but the regiment can. It''s a pity that we should first contact the regiment headquarters, ask them to call the division headquarters, and then ask the people from the division headquarters to call us again. "


    "All right then!" I nodded and told him: "you should call the regiment headquarters immediately, ask them to contact the division headquarters, and tell the commander that I have important intelligence report, and ask him to call me back as soon as possible." When he started dialing, I turned my eyes to general katukov sitting opposite me and asked him curiously, "Comrade General, I want to ask you a question. Didn''t I just capture one German tank? How did it just become two?"¡° I thought only one German tank could be used, but when I cleaned the battlefield, I found another one just broke its track. The soldiers thought they could use it, so they repaired it by the way. I didn''t expect that the two captured German tanks would be put to great use. "

 Chapter 185

    While chatting with katukov, I glanced out of my eyes at major shedulin, who was on the phone next to me. It seemed that he was just about to call the regiment headquarters and was reporting to the other party that "... Our battalion had just gone through a battle and had wiped out all the enemies in front of us! What, army casualties? There were not many casualties. Five people were killed, 18 injured, 159 destroyed and 147 captured. What, impossible? Really, comrade commander, please believe me, everything I said is true! If you don''t believe it, you can ask the division commander in person that she personally directed the battle just now, and general katukov''s close guard tank brigade cooperated with our attack. What, would you like to talk to Mr. Zhang in person? OK, just a moment, please


    He handed me the receiver and said, "Mr. division, it''s commander sergeant selebriakov. He wants to talk to you!"


    I went up to the phone and said, "Hello! Chief selebriakov, I''m oshanina! "


    "Hello! Comrade division, "after the other party politely asked, he went straight to the point to verify the results of the war just reported by Xie Dulin¡° Just now I heard major Xie Dulin, deputy commander and third battalion commander, say that the German army in front of the position has been completely annihilated by our army, and the position lost yesterday has also been restored by our army. I want to ask you, is his report accurate? "


    "Yes, what he said is true!" I did not hesitate to give him a positive answer, "general katukov used two captured German tanks to impersonate the enemy''s reinforcements, swaggered close to their positions, and when they were not on guard, he decisively attacked them unprepared and killed all the armored vehicles that threatened our army the most. Major shedulin seized the plane in time and led the troops to attack the enemy''s position with the following tanks. The whole battle time... "Speaking of this, I calculated the battle time in my heart, and then said," the whole battle took about 20 minutes, annihilating more than 100 enemies and all the remaining prisoners. "


    "It''s incredible." The other side said in a suspicious tone: "but according to our previous reconnaissance, the German army occupying our army had more than 300 men, and the Third Battalion of major shedulin had only the same strength. We should know that if we want to launch an attack with roughly equal forces, even with the support of the tank brigade, it will take quite a long time and pay a huge price to achieve such a victory. "


    "Comrade commander, please pay attention!" Hearing that he was still doubting the authenticity of the results, I was a little impatient and said in a stern tone: "you are too lack of confidence in your soldiers. You have greatly underestimated their fighting enthusiasm and the extraordinary fighting capacity they have aroused. You should know that the soldiers armed with Stalin''s ideas are invincible to any enemy!" Having said that, I gave him a direct order: "Comrade commander, I have important information to report to the commander immediately, but this battalion can''t contact the division headquarters by phone. I order you to contact the division headquarters immediately and ask the commissar or general leviagin to call me back. Remember, move fast. I''m pressed for time Finish saying, did not wait for him to have any reaction, I can''t help but hang up the phone.


    When I put down the phone, I suddenly found that the three commanders in the room were looking at me like an alien monster, which made my heart bristle. I couldn''t help asking curiously, "what are you looking at me for? What''s good to see? "


    Katukov stood up, walked up to me, raised his thumb, praised me, and said, "commander oshanina, you really make me admire you. I didn''t expect you to say such a level word." he repeated the sentence just now, learning from me: "soldiers armed with Stalin''s ideas are invincible to any enemy. It''s a good sentence. I must write it down and tell my tank soldiers to let them all remember it. "


    "Yes! Comrade teachers. " Chisgakov and shedulin also joined the ranks of admiring me. "We will also remember what you said, and then let the cadres and soldiers of the whole division know what you said."


    It''s just a sentence in a hurry, but it''s taken as good advice by them. I can''t help feeling cold sweat when I hear them all say that. Fortunately, the phone rang in time for me to get rid of the encirclement, I quickly grabbed the microphone to cover up his embarrassment: "I''m teacher o''xia Nina, who are you?"


    "What do you mean? Who are you? I''m rokosovsky The voice of the commander''s dissatisfaction came from the microphone. It seems that the war in Taiyangshan city is not going well, leading to his bad mood. What he said next confirmed what I said: "I say! Rita, what''s the situation on your side? Can you solve the battle before dark? We should know that the situation in Taiyangshan city is very unfavorable to our army. The soldiers of the second cavalry army of the guards, led by general priev, have been fighting with the enemy in the three residential areas of sville chikovo, Sheri shevo and martenovo. The rest of the offensive forces are now blocked by the enemy at the starting point. Because the enemy had tanks and planes to assist in the battle, the casualties of the troops were very large. In order to turn the war around as soon as possible, I plan to put the anti tank artillery regiment and the tank brigade into battle. If you can''t solve the battle before dark, I will take back the tank brigade of katukov and the anti tank artillery regiment of yevremenko. At that time, you will only have infantry without heavy weapons to provide fire cover to attack the enemy''s solid positions. Think about it. Time is running out. "


    When I heard him say this, I immediately replied, "Comrade commander, please rest assured that the battle has already ended, the enemy has been completely annihilated, and our position has been recaptured. But even if the task is completed, I will not return the tank brigade and anti tank artillery regiment to you. I will save them for great use. "

 Chapter 186

    "Nonsense, nonsense!" From the receiver came rokosovsky''s roar, followed by a loud bang, probably another slap on the table in front of him. I feel very sorry for the wooden table in the division headquarters at the moment. I don''t know if it broke up after being hit by the commander again and again these days?


    I took the phone away from my ear a little bit so that I wouldn''t be deafened by his roar¡° Anyway, I''ll see katukov and yevlemenko and their troops in your division headquarters by 10 a.m. If you can''t wipe out a few enemies like you, sooner or later the tank brigade and anti tank artillery regiment will be completely defeated. "


    Listening to the commander''s anger on the phone, it is estimated that the repeated attacks of Taiyangshan city have failed, forcing him to the verge of collapse. He just vented his dissatisfaction, so that he didn''t even listen to what I just told him the battle was over. But I knew it was unwise to remind him at this time, so I kept silent.


    He roared for a while, then suddenly asked, as if he had found a new world: "what did you say, Rita? Another German unit wedged into your division''s line of defense has also been completely annihilated by you? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." I put the receiver close to my ear again and replied with a smile: "I have just reported to you that the lost position has been recaptured and the invading enemy has been completely annihilated."


    "I''m sorry, Rita!" Rokosovsky took the initiative to apologize for his attitude: "I was in a bad mood just now. I was angry with you. Don''t care. By the way, how about the casualties of the troops? "


    "The casualties of our army were very small. Only five people were killed and 18 wounded. More than 100 enemies were wiped out and the same number of prisoners were captured. Later, these prisoners will be escorted to the division headquarters and sent to Moscow


    "It''s not easy. It''s amazing that the enemy was wiped out and the position was recaptured with such a small amount of casualties." Rokosovsky said heartily: "it seems that I should report to Comrade Zhukov and give up the position of commander so that you can command the troops to counter attack Taiyangshan city."


    I laughed and replied, "Comrade commander, don''t you know me? With my ability, it''s a bit difficult to command a division now. Isn''t it a joke to command another group army? "


    "Just now, the commander of 1075 regiment, Lieutenant Colonel sherebriakov, called to say that you have important information to report to me. What is it that makes you so anxious to find me


    "Well, comrade commander." When I heard him ask this question, I told him in detail about the lack of German winter equipment. At last, I suggested: "I suggest that you suspend military operations in sun mountain city. It''s very inappropriate for you to compete with the German army in the situation of lack of air supremacy and inferior equipment. We should first withdraw from the occupied residential areas, return to the starting point of the attack, and let the troops rest. "


    "You have a point, but I can''t do it." Although rokosovsky agreed with me, he couldn''t take my suggestion. In order to keep me from being distracted, he quickly stated his own point of view: "this counter offensive is the meaning of the supreme command. Zhukov just made a plan and conveyed it to the army in the form of an order."


    "But such an attack is to let our soldiers die in vain!"


    Rokosovsky sighed and said earnestly: "I know what you said, but there is no way. The orders of the superior can not be discussed, they can only be carried out. You often object to my orders, which is very dangerous. If you change people, you may be sent to a military court. Do you know what it means to go to court martial? The only end is to be shot. "


    Hearing that I was shot, I was startled. I still remember the last time I escaped from death inside and outside. I know it''s useless to say anything now. If I go on, it''s easy to put myself in a dangerous situation, so I shut up.


    Hearing that there was no voice on my side, he probably felt frightened and said in a different tone: "tell me why you don''t plan to return the tank brigade and anti tank artillery regiment."


    When I saw him, I asked me to talk about my views, but I was not polite. I said frankly, "nowadays, the German attack is very fast, and many of the organizational systems have been disrupted. I intend to use the tank brigade to cooperate with the troops to launch an attack against the isolated enemy and annihilate one or more of them. By doing so, we can not only reduce the pressure for the attack in the direction of Taiyangshan City, but also disrupt the enemy''s attack deployment. What do you think of my idea? "


    After listening to my suggestion, rokosovsky didn''t speak so much that I thought he hung up. After a while, I heard his voice again: "this idea is very good. I will report it to Comrade Zhukov immediately. You can go back to the division headquarters or the regimental headquarters of the 1073 regiment as soon as possible. The telephone of the front army headquarters can''t reach the battalion headquarters directly. "


    "Yes I quickly agreed and put down the phone. First I told major shedulin to arrange for the prisoners to be escorted to the headquarters of the division as soon as possible. Then I asked katukov and chisgakov to leave.


    Out of the headquarters, katukov ran back to his tank and mobilized his troops. The rest is me and chisjakov going to the jeep. It''s only one or two hundred meters from the headquarters to the parking place, but when I walk to the jeep, I feel that my face and ears are almost numb with cold.


    Sitting in the car, taking advantage of the hot car in grissa, I gently rubbed my numb ears and said to myself, "this damned weather should be minus 20 degrees."¡° It should be more than that, "said chisjakov, taking over the topic." you see, the snow on the ground crunched on the way we came here just now, at least minus 30 degrees. In this kind of weather, if there are not enough warm keeping measures, it will freeze to death in the middle of the night. "

 Chapter 187

    Our car just started, not far away, then came the roar of the tank motor. I looked out the back window and saw katukov''s tank coming towards us. The canopy of the turret was open, and katukov''s head came out of it, shouting what? I quickly asked grissa to stop and park on the side of the road to wait for katukov.


    The tank soon came and ran parallel to my car. When I heard someone calling my name outside, I pushed the door open, looked up at katukov and asked, "Comrade General, what''s the matter?"


    "Comrade commander," katukov looked down at me and said aloud, "go back to the regimental headquarters first. After today''s fighting, ammunition and fuel consumption is very high, I will take the troops to supplement. " At this point, he raised his hand, looked at the watch on his wrist, and then said, "it''s twelve o''clock at noon. My troops will arrive at the regimental headquarters to meet you at four o''clock in the afternoon, no later than five o''clock at the latest."


    "Good!" I promised, waved to him, pulled up the door and told grissa to drive.


    There was no heating on the jeep, and there was ventilation everywhere. Although I wrapped my military coat tightly, when I stopped in front of the 1073 regiment headquarters, I felt that I was becoming frozen meat that I had just taken out of the refrigerator.


    Stepping into the room of the regiment headquarters, I caught a glimpse of two stoves for heating in the corner of the wall, but I didn''t dare to sit there directly. I was afraid that I would be frozen. I ran to the extremely hot place suddenly, which would make something wrong. Then he went to the table and sat down, intending to wait for the body to warm up, and then squatted to the stove to get warm.


    Kisjakov is not as free as I am. From the beginning of entering the door, he kept calling and gave various orders to the troops below.


    Seeing that he was busy, I didn''t disturb him. After looking around, I found that a staff officer seemed to be doing nothing, so I waved to him. When he came over, he asked, "why didn''t I see major yevremenko of the anti tank artillery regiment? Where did he go?"


    The staff officer straightened up and reported, "Comrade division commander, just a few minutes before you came back, the major received an order from the headquarters of the group army and went to Taiyangshan city."


    "What? Sun mountain city? " It seems that rokosovsky is still adamant and has transferred the anti tank artillery regiment. The next one to be transferred is general katukov''s tank brigade. Thinking of this, I suddenly stood up, grabbed the staff''s skirt and asked, "is there any way to contact General katukov''s tank brigade?"


    "No way!" The staff officer shook his head and said, "general katukov''s tanks don''t have car radio stations. Unless they are stationed and set up telephone lines, they can''t be contacted."


    Hearing that I couldn''t get in touch for the time being, I felt a little more secure. Katukov led his tank to refuel. Rokosovsky may not know. As long as he can''t contact the tank brigade, I can continue to dispatch this unit. I let go of the staff officer''s skirt, waved my hand and said, "go ahead."


    Kisjakov, who had just finished the call, didn''t know what had happened. When the staff officer went away, he came over and asked quietly, "Comrade division, what''s the matter?"


    I sighed and told him that the anti tank regiment had been transferred to sun mountain city. He was also worried and said, "Comrade division commander, the reason why our position was so quickly broken through by the enemy two days ago is that we lack enough anti tank weapons. Now there is no anti tank artillery regiment. If even the tank brigade is transferred, it will be impossible to fight in the future. "


    "No tank, no war?" Although I am dissatisfied with the action taken by rokosovsky, I can''t complain in front of my own ministry. I can only act as if nothing happened. "Even if we don''t have anti tank weapons, we can use cluster grenades to bomb. Just now we were in the position of the Third Battalion of the 1075 regiment. You saw that major shedulin was organizing the soldiers to bundle up cluster grenades


    "But..." what else did chisjakov want to say, but I stopped him. I said in an official voice: "it''s the order of the superior to transfer the anti tank artillery regiment. As for why, the superior has the consideration of the superior, so there''s no need to explain the malice to us. What we can do is to carry out the order firmly. "


    Just as I was talking nonsense, the telephone rang on the desk. Chisjakov picked up the receiver and just said a few words, he handed over the phone and said in a low voice, "it''s general Zhukov, commander of the front army!"


    I was a little nervous when I answered the phone. I didn''t know what Zhukov would say to me. I took a deep breath and said, "Hello, general! I''m o''shanina! "


    "Well done! You are good, Rita Zhukov didn''t say anything else. As soon as he came up, he praised me severely, which made me confused. I don''t know what he meant by that. But he quickly went on: "rokosovsky has told me about you. Today''s two battles, together with the holding battle in wolos ramsk, are enough to build up your absolute prestige in the eighth division of the guards, so that all the soldiers can understand that your division commander has real ability, not nepotism. "


    "Thank you for your compliment." When I heard Zhukov''s words, I was elated and couldn''t help thanking him.


    "And," he went on, "the 78th infantry division, for its outstanding performance in combat, was also awarded the honorary title of the 9th close guard division on November 19. The division commander, Colonel beloborodov, was also promoted to major general because of his military achievements. What I''m saying to you, Rita, is to make you understand that even though you''re a small lieutenant commander, it''s possible to be a general as long as you make brilliant achievements in battle, not to mention being promoted to a colonel. "


    general!!! Zhukov''s big pie made my eyes brighten, and quickly expressed my determination to him: "Comrade General, please rest assured that as long as I''m here, I will be able to hold the position and never let the German devils move forward to Moscow." He finally got to the point and said the purpose of the call: "the current offensive and defensive war in Taiyangshan city is very difficult. I heard rokosovsky say that he wanted to transfer general katukov''s tank brigade, but he was held by you. That''s not good. You should know how to obey the overall situation. The Taiyangshan city needs tanks more than you do. "¡° General, please listen to me. " I will add a little polish to what chisgakov said just now and say to Zhukov: "the reason why our division''s defense line was easily broken by the German army two days ago is that in addition to the heavy casualties of the troops and the disruption of the organizational structure of the troops, the lack of anti tank weapons is also the main reason. Today, I can easily destroy the two German troops that broke into the defense line. The tank brigade played a decisive role. Instead of clinging to the tank brigade, I want to make use of the current favorable situation to launch a limited counterattack from our division''s defense area, contain the enemy''s forces, disrupt the enemy''s deployment, and favorably support the counterattack of Taiyangshan city. " Zhukov was bluffed by what I said. Maybe it''s time to say something supported by today''s brilliant results. He thought for a long time before he asked, "what''s your plan?"¡° Do you have a reserve team? "¡° No, I don''t have reserves on hand He said this sentence almost without thinking. Judging from the proficiency of his answer, there are absolutely not a few reserve commanders who ask him every day¡° I have two plans, one with reserves and the other without reserves. Which one would you like to hear? "¡° Rita, why do you have so much nonsense? Let''s hear it! Let''s talk about the one with the reserves first I coughed, cleared my throat and said, "if you can give me a regiment of infantry, I can launch an attack on sun mountain city. My idea is: in the early morning of tomorrow, take the tank brigade as the leader to launch a surprise attack on the German tank troops stationed in Sun Mountain City, and the infantry will follow up and expand the results. If our troops occupying the three residential areas can cooperate in the attack, it is entirely possible to recover Taiyangshan city quickly. "¡° What about the second one? " He asked noncommittally¡° Because there is no reserve, and the forces that our division can use are effective, I can only consider a small-scale attack on the 23rd German infantry division, and the results I can achieve are limited. " I said the second plan simply and clearly. Zhukov is an understanding person. He should be able to clearly recognize that I focus on the first plan¡° If I give you the reserves, are you sure the attack will succeed? " Zhukov asked suspiciously¡° Well, "I hesitated for a moment, but I replied decisively," Comrade General, please rest assured that the probability of success is very high. Even if we can''t drive out the enemy, we can also severely damage them and relieve the pressure of our army''s later attack. " I don''t say this casually, because I know in my heart that the sudden cold weather is enough to make the German army lose its original fighting capacity. Zhukov thought about it again, and then replied, "I''ll think about it again and get back to you later." Then he hung up.

 Chapter 188

    After putting down the phone, chisjakov, who was sitting on one side, looked at me and said anxiously, "Comrade teacher, can your plan work?" Instead of answering, I walked back and forth in the room, thinking about the feasibility of the plan.


    In the history I know very well, before the great Soviet counterattack began on December 6, the German army, which had been very aggressive, slowed down its attack on November 27. In the past, I couldn''t understand this. Today, I felt the sudden cold. When I heard chisjakov say that there was no measures to keep out the cold, it would freeze to death at night. It was the cold weather in Russia that prevented the German army from attacking. The lack of winter clothes made the German soldiers numb and frozen to death in the snow. Due to the increasing attrition, freezing death, frostbite and severe logistics supply, the German officers and soldiers were in a panic. Many people were in constant panic, which led to a sharp decline in the combat effectiveness of the German army. In this case, if we can make a sneak attack on the German army, the results will be quite amazing. We don''t need to spend as much as sun mountain city.


    My main consideration is whether Zhukov can provide a reserve for me and what kind of troops he will provide for me? In fact, there is a regiment in peshki village, which is not far away from me. If it can be assigned to me, my chances of winning will be much higher. But on second thought, no, that army was directly dispatched by the base camp, and Zhukov had no right to transfer. It''s really no good. We can only consider mobilizing the troops in the division.


    Just as I was thinking, the telephone rang again. I quickly picked up the phone and couldn''t wait to ask, "I''m o''shanina. Am I a general?"


    "It''s me!" It was Zhukov who said, "I''ve thought about it. Your plan is feasible. However, I really don''t have a reserve team in hand. After consideration, I will assign you a mixed Cadet group of military schools named after the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation, which was originally to be transferred from the 16th group army today. Now I will give you this unit. The commander, Lieutenant Colonel mlakintsev and political commissar slavkin will report to you soon. I hope your attack will not disappoint me


    "I understand, Comrade General." I hastened to express my determination to him, "please rest assured that I will beat the Krauts all over the floor."


    Zhukov laughed and said, "I''ll wait for the news of your victory." At the end, he added: "I''ve been angry with rokosovsky about this matter. You should also remember to report it to him. Good luck Then he hung up again.


    With the reserves, I immediately feel confident enough. He immediately said to chisgakov, "Comrade Colonel, you will immediately inform lieutenant colonel chernukov to come here. I have a combat mission to assign."


    "I understand!" With a promise, chisgakov ran to the side and called to inform his deputy commander and third battalion commander that he had gone.


    I picked up the phone in front of me and shook the handle a few times. When I heard a voice inside, I immediately said, "operator, I''m Mr. oshanina. I''ll connect 1075 regiment to head sherebriakov."


    "Yes, sir. Please wait a moment. I''ll connect you right away." Hearing the voice of the female operator, I can''t help guessing that the other party must be a beautiful woman.


    After a short wait, the phone was connected, and a thundering voice came from the opposite side: "I''m commander sergeant selebriakov. Where are you?"


    "I''m Mr. o''shanina." I immediately identified myself.


    "Hello, comrade teacher." He immediately lowered the volume and asked respectfully, "what can I do for you?"


    "There is an important combat mission. You will bring major shedulin and major kuleshuofu to the 1073 regiment immediately."


    After I hung up, I immediately began to call the division headquarters, because general leviagin, the head of the 1077 regiment, was there.


    The phone rang, and the one who answered the phone was rokosovsky. Thinking of what Zhukov had just said, I immediately reported to him my plan for a counterattack against the German army. Rokosovsky pondered for a long time, saying that now the second cavalry of the guards is under the leadership of priev, and the German army is repeatedly fighting for the three settlements. If I could attack in the direction of Sun Mountain City, he would order the cavalry to cooperate with me.


    I asked him to hand over the microphone to leviagin, and then gave an order to his general: "general leviagin, I have an important combat order to give. Please come to the 1073 regiment as soon as possible with major dolov, major panishev and captain lomov."


    Chisgakov stood beside me. After I finished the call, I asked cautiously, "Comrade division commander, you are going to hold a combat meeting. Why don''t you come here instead of in the division headquarters?"


    I was afraid that he might misunderstand something, so I quickly explained: "now general rokosovsky, commander of the group army, is there, and the division headquarters is the group army headquarters. I''ll give you orders in the headquarters. Don''t mention you. Even I feel nervous. That''s why I called everyone here. "


    With a report, Lieutenant Colonel chernugove came in with great strides, saluted us at attention, and said in a loud voice: "commander, commander, commander of the first battalion, Lieutenant Colonel chernugove has been ordered to come and wait for your orders!"


    I pointed to the seat next to me and said, "you sit first. We have to wait for other commanders. We''ll have a meeting when everyone comes. There will be a big operation this evening, so I''ll call you together to discuss whether our division''s existing defense area can be maintained or not. It depends on the success or failure of the operation tonight. " Chernukov, with a cry, turned to look at chisgakov sitting next to him. His leader did not speak, just made a gesture to please sit down, and he sat down obediently. Half an hour later, leviakin and sherebriakov, as well as the commanders I just named, arrived. After I asked everyone to sit down, leviagin, who was sitting next to me, reminded me in a low voice, "Mr. division, everyone is here. Let''s have a meeting."¡° Wait a second, "I waved my hand and said," we have to wait for general katukov, commander mlakintsev and commissar slavkin who are part of the mixed cadets. " When I mentioned the name of the mixed Cadet group, leviagin was surprised: "isn''t the Cadet group going to be transferred soon? How can their head and political commissar come here for a meeting?" I explained to him in a low voice, "it''s all because of the action at night. I asked general Zhukov for a reserve team, and he temporarily assigned the Cadet team to my division." When it comes to the cadets, the head of the regiment and the political commissar arrive. Two middle-sized, chubby commanders came up to me, stood at attention, and loudly reported: "commander mlakintsev and political commissar slavkin, the leader of the mixed Cadet regiment, have been ordered to report to Mr. oshanina."

 Chapter 189

    The table in the headquarters is too small for too many people to sit around, so only the regimental commander and deputy regimental commander can sit down. The remaining battalion commanders have to stand up and have a meeting.


    I sent out all the people in charge of communication in the regiment headquarters except one communication staff officer. For the sake of confidentiality, I also specially asked chisgakov to add double posts at the door, so as to prevent irrelevant people from breaking in during the meeting.


    After lieutenant commander mlakintsev and political commissar slavkin sat down, leviagin asked me in a low voice, "Comrade division, we are almost here. Are we still waiting for general katukov?"


    I raised his left hand and looked at the wrist watch. The clock pointed to four o''clock. It was the appointed time of katukov, but I didn''t see his trace. According to my understanding of laomaozi, they always have no idea of time. If they want to continue to wait, they still don''t know when to wait. So I let go of his hand and said decisively, "no, let''s have a meeting."


    When I saw that everyone''s attention was focused on me, I cleared my throat and announced the topic of this military conference: "I''m calling you here today to assign you an important combat task. I plan to launch an attack on the German forces occupying sun mountain city at 11 o''clock tonight. "


    As soon as the voice dropped, the commanders who attended the meeting began to whisper. Although our division didn''t take part in the attack of Taiyangshan city today, everyone knew that the war was stuck. From your expressions, I can guess that the troops of several divisions have attacked for nearly a day and have not made any substantial progress. What kind of effect will our attack achieve?


    Leviagin couldn''t see it any more. He knocked hard on the table with his fist to suppress all the voices. Then he stood up and said discontentedly, "if you have any ideas, just say them. Don''t mutter below."


    "Comrade division commander," the first one to stand up was lieutenant colonel mlakintsev, head of the mixed Cadet regiment. He asked a question that everyone was concerned about: "how many troops do we have in this attack, and what kind of support will we get?"


    As soon as his words were finished, everyone''s eyes turned to me again. I looked at Lt. Col. mlakintsev and replied without hesitation, "the troops that can be put into this attack are the tank brigade of general katukov, the mixed regiment that I have drawn from various regiments, and the mixed Cadet regiment that you and political commissar slavkin command. As for what kind of support we can get, I''d like to tell you first. Once the attack starts, commander rokosovsky will order the second cavalry army of the guards to attack from the three occupied residential areas at the same time to cooperate with our actions. "


    "How are you going to launch this attack?" Colonel mlakintsev continued.


    I looked at the map on the table. Fortunately, when I was waiting for you just now, I asked chisgakov for advice. So I easily pointed out the location of Taiyangshan city and answered, "I plan to take the southwest direction of the city as the breakthrough point for the attack. General katukov''s tank brigade will be the first to launch the attack. After the tank troops tear up the enemy''s defense line, the mixed regiment, as the second echelon, will quickly catch up and tear the breach even larger. Commander mlakintsev, your mixed Cadet regiment, as the third echelon, you can rush to reinforce when the soldiers are stuck somewhere


    "What troops will our division have to fight?" This time it''s general leviagin.


    "That''s how I think about it." as for the troops to be transferred to the war, I had just thought about it. Chengzhu ordered in his heart: "all the 1st Battalion of the 1075 regiment, two companies of the 2nd Battalion of the 1075 regiment, one company of the 3rd Battalion, all the 1st Battalion of the 1077 regiment, one company of the 2nd Battalion, and all the 3rd Battalion. The total force is about 1500. " At this point, I suddenly asked a key question: "which battalion is the closest to Taiyangshan city?"


    "Report to division commander," replied captain lomov, who was standing in the back row with the lowest rank, "the position of our battalion is the nearest to Taiyangshan City, which is less than five kilometers away, so that the troops can gather in our battalion''s defense area to prepare for attack."


    "Is there a forest there?"


    "Is that true? Moscow is a city surrounded by forests. There will be forests everywhere. " It was general katukov who had not arrived.


    "Hello! General katukov. " Leviagin got up and went forward to shake hands with him.


    "Hello, general leviagin, we meet again."


    "General katukov, you''ve come just in time. I''m setting up a combat mission for tonight." I was not polite either. I pointed to captain lomov standing next to him and said, "after the meeting, you will hide the tank brigade in the forest of the captain''s defense area and prepare for the attack at night."


    "I understand!" Katukov readily agreed.


    "Now," I asked, looking around, "who''s going to talk about sun mountain? Let''s have a clear idea of the attack at night. "


    "I''ll come," said Captain lomov. Although he was facing a group of commanders with a higher rank than him, he didn''t have stage fright at all: "at noon, some citizens of Sun Mountain City fled from the city to the defense area of our camp. According to them: yesterday afternoon, a German Stormtrooper first entered the city, and the defenders in the city withdrew from the city after exchanging fire with them. It was not until the evening that German tanks and large troops were seen entering the city


    "Make a rumor! This is just a rumor Lieutenant commander chernugove jumped up and interrupted the captain: "it''s impossible. Just a few stormtroopers can drive our defenders out of the city. How can it be? The person who tells you this is probably a German spy. Where are they now? They should be arrested and shot immediately. "¡° Enough, comrade commander. Please pay attention to your identity Chisgakov interrupted his deputy commander, "it''s not your turn to give orders here. Listen to the division commander continue to assign tasks."¡° That''s the end of the battle. Everyone immediately went back to the troops, and after drawing out the best troops, they assembled in captain lomov''s defense area. Besides being quick, they should also pay attention to air defense when marching, and never be found by the enemy''s reconnaissance plane. " Everyone left one after another, but chernugove was still standing there, lingering and refusing to leave. I looked at chernukov suspiciously. "Comrade commander, didn''t I make my order clear?"¡° That''s clear. " He blushed and answered me, and then summoned up the courage to ask: "all the troops have been transferred away. Is there no need to defend here?"¡° If we can''t drive out all the enemies of Taiyangshan City, we can''t defend our defense line with our strength. " Said, waved to him, said: "don''t dawdle, go quickly."¡° Yes He promised, saluted and turned away. Seeing that katukov, who had just arrived, was going to walk out, I quickly stopped him: "general katukov, please stay. I have something important to discuss with you."

 Chapter 190

    Katukov stopped, looked at me regretfully and asked, "Mr. oshanina, what else can I do for you?"


    I looked at leviakim, chisgakov, sherebriakov, Lieutenant Colonel mlakintsev and political commissar slavkin who were still on the field. After hesitation, I asked my most worried question: "general katukov, is there a car radio installed on your tank?"


    "Yes," I was just relieved when I heard his answer. As long as there is a radio station, it is very convenient for communication and command of troops. Did not expect that his next words, like a basin of ice water pouring from my head: "but because of poor contact, has long been useless."


    "What? What? " I was surprised to ask: "car radio can not be used, then how do you command the army?"


    Hearing my question, his face showed a look of suspicion that I don''t see much of it. He asked in a puzzled way: "of course, it depends on the soldiers to command with flag language. Otherwise, how can they command?"


    "How can this work?" Listening to his understatement, I couldn''t help crying out: "I command the tank battle by the flag, but this battle is at night! Do you think the soldiers can see your signal in the dark? Even in the daytime, when large-scale tank troops attack, the battlefield is covered by all kinds of artillery smoke everywhere. Where can we see clearly what information is conveyed? Tanks have very high mobility, very high operational speed, wide range of activities, and the distance between the front and back of the troops is also very far. There is no way to really command a mechanized army only by the flag language. If there is a car radio, it can facilitate your command, coordinate the whole armored forces organically, and multiply the combat effectiveness. "


    When I talked on and on, I suddenly found that all the people on the scene were staring at me with strange eyes. I immediately realized that I had said something I shouldn''t have said. I quickly changed my words and said, "since the car radio can''t be used, there''s no way. In the battle tonight, general, your tank troops will be the main force of the attack. The success or failure lies in whether the tank brigade can quickly break through the enemy''s line of defense, so I have to trouble you in command. "


    Katukov stepped forward, took my hand, shook it a few times, and said excitedly, "Mr. oshanina, you are so good. How come I have never considered using car radio to command troops before. You can rest assured that I will urge the mechanic to repair the radio station immediately after I go back, so that the troops can communicate with each other through the radio station before they go into battle. " Let go of my hand, salute and turn away.


    Looking at lieutenant colonel mlakintsev and political commissar slavkin standing next to me, I suddenly remembered that I had patronized and assigned tasks, and I had not arranged any staff to serve as a guide for the mixed Cadet group. No wonder the leader and political commissar stayed here all the time. So he quickly squeezed out a smile and said to them apologetically, "I''m sorry, commander mlakintsev and political commissar slavkin. I just forgot to arrange someone to act as a guide for you. Please don''t worry. I''ll do it right away


    Then he turned to leviagin and said, "Comrade General, the assembly site is in your regiment''s defense area. You see, are you going to take the commander and the political commissar by yourself, or should I arrange someone else to lead the way? "


    "I''ll go!" Leviagin readily agreed, and then made a gesture of invitation to them, saying, "Lieutenant Commander mlakintsev and political commissar slavkin, please follow me. I will take you to captain lomov''s defense area myself."


    There were only two commanders left in the room, chisjakov and sherebriakov. I was a little embarrassed and said to chisgakov, "Comrade Colonel, can I ask you something?"


    Chisgakov looked at me strangely and said, "Comrade teacher, if you have any tasks, you can give orders directly, needless to say please or not."


    Listening to him say so, I feel more embarrassed and explained: "it''s not a combat mission, but I want to trouble you to find me a pair of cotton padded trousers." Then I raised the hem of my military coat to show him, "look, my coat was changed that day when I saw Comrade Stalin, and I was wearing a uniform skirt inside. I can''t stand wearing a skirt in such cold weather. Do you understand? "


    To figure out what was going on, chisjakov and sherebriakov looked at each other, with a kind smile on their faces, and then replied, "no problem, I''ll do it now!" Then he walked out of the headquarters quickly.


    As I watched chisjakov leave, I made a gesture to selebriakov, who was still standing upright beside me: "Comrade commander, please sit down and let''s have a chat."


    "Yes He agreed and sat down honestly. He didn''t know what I was going to talk with him, so he was a little nervous.


    "Please forgive me for my bad attitude towards you this morning." I was a little excited when I called him in the morning at the camp headquarters in shedulin, and I took advantage of this calm moment to apologize to him.


    He stood up and said, "Comrade teacher, you were right in your criticism at that time. I have too little confidence in my soldiers, and greatly underestimated their fighting enthusiasm and the extraordinary fighting power they inspired. As you said at that time, the soldiers armed with Stalin''s ideas are invincible to any enemy! " After stopping for a while, he tentatively asked, "can I take part in the battle at night?" Seeing that I was noncommittal, I quickly made up my mind to say, "I want to personally lead these soldiers armed with Stalin''s ideas to teach those invincible Germans a lesson!"


    "All right, all right!" I interrupted his more and more numb words and said, "this attack will be under my own command. You''d better stay in 1075 regiment to command your troops. Hold the position well, don''t let the Krauts sneak into our rear again. There''s nothing more to do here. You can go back. "¡° Yes He saluted helplessly and turned to leave. All the people in the room were almost gone, and there was only a communications officer on duty in the corner. I said to him, "I''ll have a rest. Don''t let commander chisgakov disturb me when he comes back. Let him wake me up after eight o''clock in the evening. " With that, I went to the corner where the marching bed was, pulled back the curtain and clothes, and lay down.

 Chapter 191

    Sleeping soundly, I felt someone gently shaking my body in the hazy, and kept shouting: "Comrade teacher, comrade teacher, wake up..."


    I opened my eyes in a daze and saw that the person standing in front of the bed calling me was chisgakov. Knowing that he was calling me at this time, he must have something important to ask me, so I sat up slowly and asked weakly, "what time is it now?"


    "It''s just past six!" Chisgakov may feel a little uneasy about waking me up in advance, for fear that I would be angry with him. So with these words, he instinctively stepped back two steps, and said cautiously: "Comrade commander, comrade commander, I have a call to ask you to answer it in person."


    Oh, I didn''t get up to answer the phone immediately. I just put my feet on the ground and rubbed my face with both hands. I wanted to get rid of drowsiness as soon as possible, so that I could quickly recover to a sober state. I know that rokosovsky''s call at this time is most likely related to the war in Taiyangshan City, so I asked chisjakov, who was standing far away: "is there any war in the direction of Taiyangshan city?"


    "The gunfire in the direction of sun mountain city stopped half an hour ago. It is estimated that the battle is over. But whose hand is the city? Because the scouts we sent haven''t come back yet, we don''t have exact information for the time being. "


    I got up again, quickly walked to the table, picked up the microphone on the table, and said hello to rokosovsky: "Hello, comrade commander. Is there any good news for me? "


    "Rita!" Rokosovsky called my name and told me in a heavy voice: "maybe what I bring you is bad news. In tonight''s offensive action, I can offer you very limited help. After a whole day''s bloody battle, our army still failed to stop the crazy attack of the bandits. The three settlements of sville chikovo, Sheri shevo and martenovo, which were once occupied, have been taken back by the enemy. At present, the 2nd cavalry of the close guard retreated three kilometers backward, occupied a new defensive position and launched. In today''s battle, we have inflicted heavy losses on the attacking enemies, who barely rushed into the residential areas after almost stepping on their own corpses. "


    The last few words of rokosovsky were directly ignored by me. The loss of residential areas means that they are lost, and it is useless to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy. Moreover, in my impression, the combat effectiveness of the enemy and ourselves is quite different. Even if the Soviet Army belongs to the defensive side, its casualties are bound to be far greater than those of the German army. I didn''t go along with him. Instead, I asked a question I was most concerned about: "are the buildings in these three settlements seriously damaged?"


    "The buildings in the residential area, after the enemy''s aircraft bombardment, almost a complete building survived." When he said that, he suddenly asked me curiously, "Rita, what do you want to do with this?"


    Instead of answering his question directly, I asked, "commander, do you find that it''s cooling outside today?"


    I have said that to this extent, but rokosovsky still didn''t come back and asked me: "I know the temperature has dropped today, and the drop is quite large. But what does it have to do with asking if the buildings in the residential area are complete? "


    I sighed in secret. I didn''t expect that such a smart man like rokosovsky could not guess the meaning of this sentence. I could only explain to him: "if all the buildings in the residential area occupied by the enemy are destroyed, they can only spend the night in the ruins tonight. Can you imagine what would happen to the German guy who lacks winter clothes and is thinly dressed and stays in the open ground all night in the cold weather here? "


    As a future marshal and famous strategist, rokosovsky''s reaction speed is indeed faster than that of ordinary people. He immediately understood what I wanted to express and said excitedly: "I understand that although they occupied several residential areas temporarily, there is no house for them to hide in for warmth and shelter. They can only stay in those ruins. In the cold weather here, they would all go to hell in one night. Don''t worry, Rita. I''ll immediately assign a task to general puliev. As soon as the war starts on your side, I''ll order his troops to counterattack the residential areas and actively coordinate your attack. "


    I put down the phone and told chisgakov, who was standing in front of me with bright eyes, "Comrade Colonel, please arrange for grissa to heat up the car. I''ll go to the place where the troops are assembled immediately to have a look."


    As chisgakov left, I sat down on the table. Although I was full of confidence in front of others, the closer I left the war, the more insecure I was. You know, I don''t have a complete set of plans at all, I don''t know the enemy''s deployment, and I don''t even know the situation of my own troops. The fact that my subordinates can make preparations according to my orders is not to be convinced of my command, but a habit of obedience developed under strict military discipline.


    When the mood calmed down, he quickly went back to the camp bed, pulled up the curtain, took off his uniform skirt, and put on the thick trousers that chisjakov had brought me. As soon as the change was completed, I heard the Colonel calling me at the gate of the headquarters: "Comrade division, the car is ready. We can start at any time."


    "Here it is! Here we are I was running out with my belt on.


    Just ran to the door, was ready to open the curtain to go out, heard the telephone ring, I quickly stopped, want to find out what is the matter. The communication staff officer on duty picked up the phone, then handed it to me and said, "Comrade division commander, it''s general katukov. He''s looking for you in an emergency."


    When I heard that katukov was looking for me, I could not help feeling flustered. I was worried that there would not be any problem with his tank troops. His troops were the main force in tonight''s attack. I took the microphone and nervously asked, "Hello, Comrade General! Can I help you? "¡° Report to Mr. division chief, after the emergency repair just now, the car radio stations of eight tanks have been repaired. In this way, I can command the troops directly through the radio station. "¡° That''s great. " This is really good news. One of the problems that bothered me was solved. I beamed happily and immediately said loudly to the microphone, "Comrade General, this is really great! I''ll be with you in a minute. We''ll talk about it when we meet. "

 Chapter 192

    Chisgakov led me to the parking lot. Far away, I saw someone standing straight in front of the car. I thought it was grissa, the driver, who was still laughing in my heart that he was too stupid to stay in the car on such a cold day, and ran outside the car foolishly to drink. Approaching, I found that it was not grissa who was standing in front of the car, but Lt. Col. chernukov. I went up to him, stopped, and asked curiously, "commander chernuggoff, what are you doing standing in front of my car instead of staying in your battalion command post?" After saluting me, he replied, "report to division commander, my troops have been transferred by you to prepare for the attack. I''m waiting for you here to join you in the battle. "¡° I''ll go there with colonel chisjakov. You''d better stay Seeing his disappointment, I pointed to the direction of the regiment headquarters to comfort him and said, "Comrade commander, although you can''t go to the front, you still have more important things to do. Commander chisgakov and I went to the front. As deputy commander, you are in charge of the 1073 regiment during his absence. Do you understand? " Instead of answering me immediately, chernukov turned his eyes to chisgakov. The colonel said to him in a non-negotiable tone, "don''t you understand the orders of the division commander, commander? I now order you: turn back, headquarters of the target regiment, march together Chernukov agreed wrongly, obeyed his command, turned and walked to the regiment headquarters. The moon is very big and round tonight. Even if you don''t turn on the lights, you can see the road clearly. After driving forward for a few minutes, a marching army appeared on the side of the road. Chisjakov, who was sitting in the front row, turned to me and said, "Comrade division, these are all soldiers of the mixed Cadet regiment. During the meeting just now, I heard their commander, Lieutenant Colonel mlakintsev, say that yesterday they received additional troops and equipment from the headquarters of the front army. At present, there are 2500 soldiers in the regiment, and most of the soldiers are equipped with the latest submachine guns. " I can''t help sweating when I heard chisjakov''s introduction. It seems that my ability is too poor. At most, I''m only suitable to be a company commander. I don''t have the qualification to be a senior commander at all. During the meeting just now, I simply said hello to lieutenant colonel mlakintsev and political commissar slavkin. Without even asking about the troop and equipment of the regiment, I hastily gave them operational orders. If I had known that they had such a large number of troops and excellent equipment, I should have let their regiment follow the tanks and attack the defenders of Taiyangshan city directly. Captain lomov''s camp is in a forest. As soon as the car drove along the easy road into the forest, I could see the figures shaking inside. The more cars go in, the more people there are on both sides of the road. It seems that many troops are in place. When the car stopped in front of a big wooden house, chisjakov told me, "here we are, sir. The wooden house ahead is captain lomov''s battalion headquarters As soon as we walked into the command post, we were found. The commanders all around the room raised their hands to salute me. I raised my hand to my forehead and touched it as a gift. Then I went directly to general leviakin in the crowd and asked aloud, "where is general katukov?"¡° I''m here. " Katukov''s voice came from the room. I looked around, but I didn''t see him. I was wondering what was going on when leviagin pulled away from the crowd and pulled me to the table. I saw that there was a walkie talkie on the desk, and katukov''s voice came from here. I picked up the receiver and asked curiously, "general katukov, where are you?"¡° I''m in my tank, testing the car radio¡° That''s great. "Knowing that I can talk to the tank directly through walkie talkie now, I''m in a particularly good mood:" in this way, after the battle starts, we can adjust our strategy according to the change of the enemy''s situation. " Before I finished, katukov added, "Comrade division commander, I just got the information from the scout in front. The German army is in the south of the city, which is the direction we are going to attack. They have assembled about 40 tanks."¡° Ah? When did the enemy''s tanks assemble? " This unexpected news made my heart hang. The enemy has so many tanks. Once the fight starts, katukov''s tank brigade will be in danger¡° It entered the city at noon. But it''s strange that these tanks didn''t fight with our army for residential areas. They just stopped in the city without any action. " I thought for a moment, and then told katukov my bold guess: "Comrade General, don''t worry. According to what you said, these tanks should have no oil or ammunition. Now they''re standing there, waiting for you to shoot. In a few hours, you will personally lead the tank brigade to attack and break them into piles of burning scrap iron. "

 Chapter 193

    After interrupting contact with katukov, I scanned the commanders in the room. There are too many people, and the command post is too small to allow everyone to sit down for a meeting, so I simply stood by to hold a pre war meeting. I looked at the commanders in front of me and said, "comrades, tonight we are going to launch an attack on the German army who occupied the sun mountain city. The specific deployment is that after the troops of the division''s mixed regiment and the mixed Cadet regiment have assembled, they immediately set out to go to the vicinity of Taiyangshan city for lurking. After the battle, general katukov''s close guard tank brigade will assault the enemy''s defensive positions. When his troops tore up the enemy''s line of defense, the mixed regiment kept up in time and expanded the breach. "¡° Comrade division commander, who is in charge of the mixed regiment? " The next officer asked. I looked at general leviakin and Colonel chisgakov standing upright beside me, pointed to the Colonel decisively and said, "the mixed regiment will be under the command of Colonel chisgakov, the head of 1073 regiment." Speaking of this, I looked at leviagin and said: "Comrade General, please go back to the division headquarters first. When I''m away, the guards" don''t worry. Even in the silent night, as long as the distance is more than 1500 meters, the enemy can''t hear the roar of tank motors. What''s more, the distance between the forest and the city is far more than that. " This time it was major dolov, commander of the 1077 regiment. The captain asked unknowingly, "when our tanks enter the forest, will they not be found by the enemy in Taiyangshan city?"¡° Yes, "major dolov replied patiently," I''ve been a tank soldier before. This is the most basic common sense. I can''t be mistaken. "¡° But... "What else did the captain want to say, but I interrupted him coldly:" well, instead of arguing here, you''d better go back to the army immediately and take the soldiers to the starting point of the attack. "¡° That''s the end of the meeting. Let''s all return to the army. Clean up and lead the soldiers to the designated place as soon as possible. Do you understand? " Leviagin stood up with me to avoid unnecessary quarrels at the meeting. Leviagin''s prestige in the division is higher than mine. With his orders, the commanders saluted in unison, turned around and left one after another. Only a few school level officers, including me, were left in the room.

 Chapter 194

    Leviagin looked around for a moment, and saw that except for captain lomov standing at the door, the rest of the room were relatively familiar commanders. He came close to my ear and said in a low voice, "Comrade division commander, the captain who kept talking just now is named Yushchenko, who was sent to my Division by the Ministry of internal affairs." It''s from the Ministry of interior. No wonder it''s so arrogant. However, when I heard the word "Ministry of internal affairs", I couldn''t help fighting a cold war. In my mind immediately came the scene that bezikov and I survived, and the second lieutenant who wanted to shoot all the passers-by in the subway. It seems that my idea of making him a sergeant after the war is too kind. I should send him directly to the most dangerous front-line troops. Of course, if he could die with honor, it would be a happy ending for everyone. Although I was scared to death and hated the Ministry of internal affairs, I could only complain in my stomach. On the surface, I had to pretend that there was nothing wrong with it and say lightly, "Oh, it''s the Ministry of internal affairs." When leviagin saw that my face was as usual, he said nothing more. He asked everyone to sit down and told captain lomov, who was still standing at the door, "Hey, comrade captain, as the master of the command post, should you invite the commanders to have tea?" With a smile on his face, lomov replied, "Comrade General, I''m ready. Can you bring it up? "¡° Yes, bring it up! " As soon as leviagin''s words were finished, lomov lifted the curtain of the door and called a few words from the outside. Kung Fu is not big, a few soldiers with tray carrying teapot and crystal cup with cup holder fish through came in. Sitting in the warm command post, drinking steaming black tea with a group of commanders and eating exquisite cakes, I can''t help feeling to myself: "people are just different. The same soldiers, ordinary soldiers in the cold wind in the snow forest, almost turned into frozen meat; But the commander is sitting in the room, eating and drinking. If the war is not imminent, someone may propose to drink two cups. It turns out that in the Soviet army, there is no such saying that officers and soldiers are equal. " My original plan was to wait until half past ten before I set out for the forward command to launch an attack. But when I stayed in this room, I felt restless even though I had food and drink, and I didn''t feel cold. So just after nine o''clock, I called for chisjakov, Lieutenant Colonel mlakintsev and political commissar slavkin, who were going to fight, to set out together. A few kilometers of road, although it has been covered by snow, but the driver grissa''s superb technology, coupled with the jeep''s excellent cross-country performance, only ten minutes, we arrived at the starting point of the troops. Knowing our arrival, general katukov climbed out of his tank and came to meet us. When shaking hands with me, he said with some worry: "Comrade teacher, the situation is not good now!" Hearing what he said, I was startled and asked, "what''s the matter? Comrade General! Has the enemy''s deployment changed again? "¡° It''s not that the enemy''s situation has changed, "katukov quickly denied. He pointed to the nearby woods with his hand and said," it''s too cold. Although our soldiers have thick winter clothes, they are freezing to death. If they are allowed to stay here for another two hours, it is estimated that there will be a lot of frostbite, resulting in unnecessary combat casualties I followed the direction of his fingers and saw that almost all the soldiers gathered there wrapped their coats tightly, holding weapons and stamping their feet in place to maintain their body temperature. Seeing this scene, I once again found myself a poor commander, who made thousands of soldiers endure the cold for several hours in the icy forest. Moreover, judging from the current situation, katukov''s statement is very reasonable. If it continues to freeze like this, when the battle starts, I don''t know how many soldiers have been frozen. I looked around and saw chisgakov, Lieutenant Colonel mlakintsev and commissar slavkin standing behind me. I took a deep breath, made up my mind and decided to attack ahead of time. I said to you decisively, "comrades, the situation has changed. Because the cold weather is not conducive to our army''s continued lurking, I plan to launch an attack on Taiyangshan city in advance. Do you have any objection? " Four people answered me in one voice: "no!"¡° That''s good! " I saw that everyone agreed, so I gave an order to katukov: "Comrade General, please go and start the tank first. Ten minutes later, we will officially launch the assault."¡° Yes Katukov saluted and turned away¡° Colonel chisgakov, "as katukov got into the tank, I gave an order to chisgakov:" hurry to the regiment, gather your battalion commanders, and make everyone ready for the attack. " Chisgakov agreed excitedly, saluted and ran away. I looked back at commander mlakintsev and commissar slavkin behind me, turned to them and said, "comrades, your regiment will be the last to attack. Now, you accompany me to find out where the communication car is. We may have to stay there for a while. "¡° Yes

 Chapter 195

    The three of us easily found the communication car parked in the middle of the forest.


    The car is very spacious, and the facilities are very complete. There are many telephones, transmitters and walkie talkies. In addition to a few signalmen, there was major dolov of the 1077 regiment. When he saw us getting on the bus, he immediately stood at attention and saluted us.


    Captain Yushchenko of the Ministry of the interior, who is in charge of security. Although I was particularly disgusted with the people in the interior department, when I saw Yushchenko on duty before I got on the bus, I still felt a twinkle in front of my eyes. Just now I was in the command post, because there were so many people, I didn''t see what he looked like. This time, by the light from the car, I looked him up and down, and found that he was not only handsome and tall, but also a standard soldier. No matter walking, standing at attention or saluting, his every move is completely the style of a professional soldier. Not only he, but also the soldiers on duty under him were all energetic and upright in their guard positions.


    I looked at dolov and asked quietly, "Why are the people from the interior department guarding outside?"


    "Report to the division commander," dolov replied in a low voice, "this is the security force assigned to the division headquarters by the superior department today. General leviagin thinks that they have strong combat effectiveness and only work as security guards in the division headquarters. They are a bit overqualified, so they are sent here."


    After listening to the major''s words, I nodded thoughtfully, thinking that general leviagin sent the people from the interior department here, did he mean to kill them with the German knife?


    Just thinking wildly, the roar of the tank motor came from the distance. In the silent night, the sound is amplified. Although it is two kilometers away from Taiyangshan City, I am still worried that the movement here will be heard by the enemies in the city.


    Political commissar slavkin was a little worried and asked: "is the sound of the tank''s motor so loud? Will the enemy find it? If they are prepared in advance, the tank troops may suffer heavy losses when they attack later. "


    "My political commissar, you don''t have to worry," said lieutenant colonel mlakintsev, who sat next to him


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." Dulov echoed: "we are two kilometers away from the enemy. They can''t hear us. The cross-country speed of the T-34 is 25 kilometers per hour. When the enemy hears the news, the tank has already rushed in front of them, so it can still take them by surprise. "


    As we chatted, we heard the roar of the tank motors outside gradually go away. I calculate the distance. It''s two kilometers. The infantry have to walk for ten minutes. It''s time to let them go. So major dolov got through to chisgakov, and I gave the order of attack: "Colonel chisgakov, the tank troops have begun to attack. You should lead the mixed regiment to set out immediately. Remember, once general katukov breaks through the German line of defense, your infantry should rush up quickly and tear up the breach to occupy a favorable offensive position for the follow-up forces


    "I understand!" Chisgakov agreed and hung up.


    Time is waiting, passing minute by minute. Five minutes later, an explosion was heard in the distance, followed by another, and soon the explosion was heard. I went to the door of the car and looked in the direction of the explosion, where fireballs rose one by one, illuminating half of the sky.


    I turned to lieutenant colonel mlakintsev and commissar slavkin, who also stood up, and said, "comrades, it''s your turn to attack. Remember, the action should be quick and fierce. As long as the enemy is out of breath, we should firmly hold the initiative in the fight in our hands. Do you understand? "


    "Yes! Make sure you get the job done. " Two people finish, salute, and then get off by my side, to mobilize their troops.


    The battle started, and my heart began to feel uneasy. This attack is the product of my whim. Although this is in line with the intention of the superior to counter attack the enemy, I have no idea what kind of results I will achieve or what measures I should take if the attack is frustrated; Even once the enemy withstood our attack and began to fight back madly, how should we deal with it. Fortunately, today''s commanders are all experienced in actual combat. Whether they succeed or fail depends on their command level and their performance.


    In order to hide my nervousness, I asked dulov curiously, "Comrade major, this communication car looks very advanced. Where did it come from?"


    "Report to division commander," dolov replied respectfully, "this is just assigned to the troops a few days ago. It is said that all the assistance provided by US allies."


    I thought to myself, the aid from the United States has come so fast, first jeeps, now communication vehicles. Will the next step be to provide us with a large number of urgently needed tanks?


    Just as he was thinking, the walkie talkie rang, and general katukov''s voice came out of it. Because there was too much interference, his voice could not be heard clearly intermittently. The signalman had a great effort to convey his meaning to me completely: "our tank assault succeeded. All the 40 German tanks assembled in the south of the city were destroyed without any casualties. At present, we are continuing to assault the center of the city, hoping that the follow-up infantry can follow up and occupy important positions, Expand the breakthrough. "


    After hearing the news from katukov, I felt a lot more at ease. I immediately got through to the division headquarters with walkie talkie and talked directly with rokosovsky. As soon as I heard rokosovsky''s voice, I excitedly reported to him, "report commander, general katukov''s tank brigade has now broken through the enemy''s first line of defense and is developing in depth. Please order general priyev''s second guard cavalry to fight back again against the three residential areas lost in the daytime and cooperate with our division''s attack. " When he heard my good news, rokosovsky was also very happy. He was very frank and praised, "great, Rita! You are so wonderful! You have done a good job. If you have caught the enemy by surprise, I will immediately give an order to general priyev to organize the attack immediately. "

 Chapter 196

    The battle lasted nearly an hour, and all kinds of exciting news came back from time to time through the walkie talkie in the car.


    "Sir, this is colonel chisgakov. My mixed regiment has occupied the south of the city and eliminated the enemy. At present, lomov is leading the troops to the west of the city... "


    "Sir, I''m political commissar slavkin. After fighting, we have occupied the center of the city. Now the commander of the regiment, Lt. Col. mlakintsev, is taking the main force of the regiment to attack the east of the city and is ready to take over general priyev''s cavalry... "


    ¡­¡­


    "Commander oshanina," I was called by general katukov. Perhaps his tanks were not running at high speed, so the voice was very clear: "all the German armored forces in the city have been destroyed by us. Except for a few buildings where German stormtroopers are shooting at us, we can no longer see the enemy''s formed units. Our brigade has just occupied the north of the city and is clearing the enemy''s firepower. Please send infantry to help as soon as possible. "


    "Well, I''ll inform Colonel chisjakov immediately and ask him to send troops to help you." After interrupting the communication with general katukov, I immediately got through to chisgakov again: "Comrade Colonel, general katukov has captured the north of the city. Please send an infantry unit to help him eliminate the enemy hiding in the building. In addition, the troops of the Cadet regiment have occupied the city center. When your troops pass by, you should pay attention to identification and avoid misunderstanding of firing with friendly forces. "


    "I understand," chisgakov agreed very readily, "the resistance we encountered in the course of the attack was very weak. At present, the troops have occupied the west of the city and are cleaning up the remnant enemy. I immediately ordered major Kuleshov to bring a battalion to the support


    I went to the door of the car and looked in the direction of Taiyangshan city. I listened to the explosions one after another and watched the red light from the burning buildings, which changed half the sky.


    At the moment, the situation is going surprisingly well. Even if I just drove the enemy out of Taiyangshan city temporarily, my first attack after I took charge of the eighth division of Jinwei was brilliant, and I would be praised by the relevant departments of the higher authorities. At the moment, I was in a very good mood, but I don''t know why I felt a little nervous.


    Major dulov, who is good at observing words and expressions, found my uneasiness and began to flatter me in order to divert my attention: "Comrade division commander, judging from the war reports, our division is progressing smoothly. At present, it has occupied most of the city. As long as general priyev''s cavalry can successfully recapture the three lost residential areas, it can quickly join our division. In this way, even if we can''t wipe out all the enemy troops in the city, we can drive them out. The offensive battle you plan and command will be a great victory. "


    When I heard the major say this, and when I thought of Zhukov''s hint to me, I knew that this battle was related to my future, and I couldn''t help getting more nervous. Looking at the battlefield in the distance, I took a deep breath. I felt that since the overall situation had been decided, there was no need to stay so far away from the battlefield. I should go to the city to have a look. So I decisively ordered: "Comrade major, let''s go to the sun mountain city."


    The major was stunned for a moment, but immediately nodded and agreed. Then he ran to the door of the car and yelled out: "Captain Yushchenko, the division commander has an order to go to Taiyangshan city immediately."


    With his command, the outside security forces began to shrink quickly and began to board the covered trucks that had been parked in the forest for a long time. Looking at the soldiers running back and forth outside, I can''t help but change my attitude towards Yushchenko. He is worthy of being from the Ministry of interior, and is very experienced in guarding important targets. He not only sets up fixed sentries and patrols around the communication vehicles, but also sets up secret sentries in many places. Even if the enemy comes to sneak attack, he can organize effective resistance. If they had been the guards of the division some time ago, Mr. Panfilov would not have been sacrificed.


    As there was a car to take the place of walking, it took less than ten minutes for our team to enter the sun mountain city. I look out from the car door, the sun mountain city is really not worthy of the name, not only there are no mountains, even there are no walls.


    At this time, there was almost no explosion of shells in the city, only the incessant gunfire. After the car stopped steadily, I was stopped by Yushchenko as soon as I wanted to get off the bus. He said with a blank face: "Comrade division, although our army has occupied most of the Taiyangshan City, there are still many enemies who have missed the net and are hiding in the buildings in the city to shoot cold guns. For your safety, you''d better stay in the car. "


    "Yes, Captain Yushchenko is right." Major dolov echoed him and said, "it''s dark outside. You can''t see clearly when you go out. You''d better stay in the car and direct the fight."


    I was hesitating whether to stay in the car or to take the lead in running to the front line to shoot a few shots. Suddenly there was a roar of tank motors in the distance. Yushchenko under the car first yelled: "enemy tanks, prepare to fight!"


    His voice scared me to death. According to my observation just now, our motorcade has no anti tank equipment at all. Just relying on the rifles, submachine guns and a few machine guns in the hands of the soldiers, we want to fight against the tanks. That''s just death.


    The soldiers quickly fell down on the spot and pointed their guns in the direction of the sound of Mada. Major dolov and Yushchenko, who were on the bus, got me off the bus and prepared to run into the burning building by the side of the road.


    "It''s our tank!" As soon as the coming tank was illuminated by the bright light, the sharp eyed soldiers immediately saw the model clearly. It was not the German tank, but the T-34 of the tank brigade. Dolov and his men also saw clearly that what was coming was their own tank. They stopped and let go of my hand. The tank stopped in front of the convoy, the hatch was opened, and a tall tank soldier jumped out of it. He asked in a loud voice, "where''s your commander?" Dolov quickly stepped forward and said in a loud voice, "this is major dolov. What can I do for you?" The tank soldier jumped out of the tank and ran to him. After saluting, he reported, "Comrade commander, I''m from the tank brigade. After we occupied the north of the city, the brigade commander ordered us to turn around and support the infantry behind us. As a result, we met the enemy''s anti tank men on the way. Three of our tanks have been destroyed. I came here specially to ask the infantry for help. Without the infantry to eliminate these annoying anti tank fighters, we can''t move forward in the city. " By the time the tank man said this, I was in front of him. When he finished, I turned to dolov and Yushchenko and said, "order the troops to follow the tanks and destroy all the enemy''s anti tank men."

 Chapter 197

    Fire from buildings on both sides of the road lit up the street. The team ran forward behind the tank, and three of our commanders were in the middle of the team.


    After running along the street for a while, I was surprised to find that the soldiers in front of me and behind me were always in a square and neat formation. They were always running in order. Moreover, the sound of the steps was almost uniform, which covered up the roar of the tank motor.


    I haven''t trained troops, but I know what it means. On the battlefield, only well-trained internal affairs units can reach such a level. If other combat units were replaced, they would have been running in chaos for a long time.


    Soon the troops ran to a crossroad. There was a burning tank in the middle of the road. From the appearance, it was our T-34 tank. Around the car were several bodies in black tank uniforms. It was estimated that they were killed by German Gunners when they escaped from the destroyed tank.


    The leading tank slowed down and carefully tried to make a detour to the left of the burning tank. Although the tank slowed down, the soldiers didn''t slow down. They went around from the right side and kept pace with the tank. A few steps away from the burning tank, I felt a heat wave coming towards me. I gave a wry smile. I could feel the heat from such a distance. If there were still people in the tank, it would be more or less dangerous.


    As I hesitated to go around the tank on the left or right, I suddenly heard a sound like tearing linen from a distance. Without waiting for me to understand what this familiar voice is, the soldiers running in front of the team have collapsed with a scream. At the same time, someone next to me gave me a big push. I was unprepared and staggered forward for several steps. Then I slipped and fell heavily into the gap between the two tanks. At the moment when he fell to the ground, he heard a series of cry: "lie down, lie down! Lie down, lie down!... "


    As I lay on the ground, I heard the shouts of the soldiers and the sound of gunfire like peas. Then I remembered that the sound of tearing linen I had just heard was from the German mg43 general purpose machine gun. As soon as I looked up, I found that the T-34 tank was making a turn. Seeing the track that was getting closer to me, I quickly got up, stepped back and squatted to the tail of the abandoned tank. This position is a safe place for me. Although I can feel the high temperature from time to time above my head, it is at least better than being crushed by my own tank or killed by German bullets.


    I looked out carefully and saw that the soldiers had already found a hiding place. Some of them, like me, bent down to hide behind the tank; Some squat behind the walls of roadside buildings, some even lie on the ground directly, raise the muzzle of the gun and shoot at the enemy. Among the dozen soldiers who were shot and fell to the ground just now, except for two or three who were rolling and groaning on the ground, the rest were lying there motionless and probably died.


    I looked around to see where major dolov and captain Yushchenko were. Just then, an object with white smoke flew over and plunged directly into the middle of the crowd. After the violent explosion, several soldiers with the rising fire, dancing to fly into the air, and screamed down.


    I carefully looked out, dozens of meters away is a small church, there are two golden domes, the left dome is below the bell tower, the explosive object is flying from there, and at this time, the German machine gun is still desperately shooting at us.


    The tank that had just turned had completed its turn and aimed at the target. Maybe the shooting was too hasty, the gunner didn''t aim well, the shell hit the dome on the right, after the gravel splashed, the enemy''s machine gun was still tilting to us, with lethal bullets.


    Major dolov bent over and ran quickly. He squatted down beside me and said in a loud voice, "Comrade division, it''s too dangerous here. Please go back to the command car as soon as possible."


    Although I saw a few soldiers bombed into the sky just now, I regretted in my heart that I should not rush to the city to show my hero before the battle was over. Originally, I wanted to find a chance to sneak to the safety zone and wait for the end of the battle. But when I heard dulov say so, I felt that leaving at this moment would damage my image in the eyes of the soldiers, so I had to harden my head and say, "no, I''ll stay here and watch you destroy the enemy."


    "Comrade teacher!..." Dulov was just about to persuade me again when the sound of the nearby tank''s shooting interrupted him. It hit the pillar of the bell tower, and the dust and smoke immediately surrounded the small space. After the explosion, the enemy''s machine guns were dumb.


    "Comrades! Follow me Just now, Captain Yushchenko, who didn''t know where to hide, stood in the middle of the road with a pistol raised high and yelled, then rushed to the church. The soldiers rushed out of the hiding place, shouting with weapons and charging forward with their commanders. After two rounds of firing, the tank moved slowly, following the soldiers.


    When the charging troops were twenty or thirty meters away from the church, the firepower on the clock tower revived again. Several soldiers fell on their backs without saying a word.


    The elite is the elite, and the combat effectiveness of the Ministry of internal affairs is better than that of other troops, which can be seen from the reaction of the soldiers. As soon as the German guns were fired, the rest of them, except for the fallen soldiers, spread out quickly, sought shelter and fired back.

 Chapter 198

    The German machine guns on the broken clock tower were shooting down the street, and their roar was interrupted by a shell. This shell, launched by the tank charging with the infantry, directly collapsed the dome on the left side of the church. Countless broken bricks and stones fell down. It is estimated that the people in the bell tower were smashed into meat cakes by bricks and stones. The antitank man, who made our army''s tanks fear, looked at the team and thought that the sergeant in front of me had the highest rank, so he replied, "we have wiped out all the enemy. From now on, you are all under captain Yushchenko''s command. " The sergeant listened to me and hesitated for a moment, but his obedience habit in the army made him agree with me in a dilemma: "yes, comrade commander! We are all at your command. "

 Chapter 199

    Although Yushchenko only took over so many soldiers, he just glanced at them casually, without any joy on his face, and then turned to me and asked, "Comrade division, what''s our next task?"


    "Sir?! Is she a teacher When the new group of soldiers heard what he called me, they were surprised and began to whisper.


    "Be quiet, everyone be quiet!" I stopped the private talk of the soldiers and looked around. There was no sound of intensive gunfire in the city. As long as there were sporadic gunshots and the occasional explosion of grenades, it seemed that our offensive battle was coming to an end.


    Almost without thinking, I said to Yushchenko, "Comrade captain, take these soldiers along the street to carry out the search task. If you encounter residual enemies, you can catch them alive, if you can''t catch them alive, you can eliminate them all."


    "But we are all gone. Who will guarantee your safety?" Although he heard my order, Yushchenko didn''t carry it out immediately. He still kept his duty in mind and specially reminded me.


    I waved my hand and said, "don''t worry, there are still seven or eight soldiers responsible for protecting me."


    He looked at the soldiers standing around me and thought that the security force was enough to ensure my safety, so he gave me a military salute, and then yelled, "come with me!" After shouting, he ran along the street. When he heard his shouting, both the new soldiers and his original subordinates ran behind him. In addition to me and the guards, there were several soldiers who came out of the church and were dressing their wounds.


    When I saw Yushchenko''s troops go away, I said to a few guards: "go, let''s go back to the communication car." Just about to take a step, a voice came from overhead: "Comrade commander, what shall we do?"


    Looking up, it turned out that a tank soldier came out of the turret and was looking at me pitifully, waiting for my order. I looked at the troops disappearing in the night and thought that Yushchenko might encounter the enemy''s small troops in front of them. With the help of tanks, they would be easier to deal with. So I told him, "Comrade tank soldiers, follow the troops in front and cover them to eliminate the enemy."


    "Yes The tank soldiers saluted me and got into the tank.


    I took a few soldiers back to the parking position of the communication car, let them serve as the guard, I got on the car alone. When I saw major dolov in the car, I asked, "Comrade major, what''s the situation in the city?"


    "Report, sir!" With an irrepressible smile on his face, he replied, "Colonel chisjakov and lieutenant colonel mlakintsev have successively reported that the city has almost been occupied by us, and they have not met the fierce resistance of the enemy. At present, the troops are cleaning up the latent enemy in the city."


    I guessed this situation as early as I heard that there was no fierce gunfire in the city, so I didn''t feel surprised at all. I was concerned about whether the troops sent by rokosovsky had entered the city, so I specially asked, "have you contacted the commander? Where is the cavalry of general priev who is cooperating with us? "


    Just then, a soldier sitting in front of the walkie talkie turned his head and said in a loud voice, "report to the division commander, comrade commander wants to speak to you!"


    I quickly stepped forward, took the earphone and microphone handed by the soldier, and said aloud: "Hello, comrade commander!"


    "Rita!" Rokosovsky''s voice sounds a little hoarse: "what''s the situation on your side?" Without waiting for my reply, he went straight on and said, "after fierce fighting, general priyev''s cavalry has recovered three residential areas. Originally, according to the plan, they should attack quickly to cooperate with your counterattack against Taiyangshan City, but now there is something wrong, and the cavalry has to withdraw from the battle immediately."


    "What''s the matter?" I asked in surprise


    He replied with a heavy tone: "we have just received a telegram from the front army that the German army has captured the red village in the daytime and is ready to deploy long-range artillery there to bombard the Kremlin. So Zhukov ordered us to fight back against the enemy who occupied the red village at all costs, even if we could not completely eliminate them, we should drive them out of the village. At present, I don''t have many troops that I can mobilize, so I have to transfer the most effective cavalry out. " At this point, he stopped for a moment, and then reminded me: "if your division''s counterattack against Taiyangshan city is not smooth, you should immediately stop the attack and dispatch troops to take part in the counterattack of Hongcun."


    I coughed, cleared my throat, and then calmly replied, "Comrade commander, please rest assured that our division''s counterattack against Taiyangshan city is very smooth. After the fighting, the troops have occupied the whole city and are now cleaning up the remnant enemy. "


    "What?" Rokosovsky asked in an unbelievable voice: "has the city been occupied? Is there no mistake? "


    "No mistake, comrade commander!" I answered him positively, "I''m in sun mountain city right now, and I''ve just been in a small battle."


    "Great! Great I was not in the communication car just now. Major dulov didn''t dare to take over the task, so he didn''t report the war situation in time. Now when he heard my good news, rokosovsky got excited. He said excitedly, "I''ll report the good news to Comrade Zhukov right away." Then he reminded me: "report the name list of the commanders who took part in this battle immediately, and I will ask for credit for them!"


    As early as when I arranged the combat mission, I had memorized the names of all the commanders participating in the war. When I heard rokosovsky say so, I quickly dictated the list of these people to him. While recording, he said: "these commanders are heroes. I want to ask for credit for them. In addition to the medals, they can also get a higher rank. "

 Chapter 200

    Within hours of the end of my communication with rokosovsky, I kept in touch with Capt. chisjakov and Lt. Col. mlakintsev, who were conducting the battle in the city, through walkie talkie. Judging from the feedback, the situation is very favorable to us. In addition to the hot scene when the tank brigade killed dozens of German tanks at the beginning of the war, the German resistance in the rest of the time was very weak, even negligible. At the beginning, I was puzzled by this one-sided victory. You know, even if the German army was caught off guard by us, it would not be so vulnerable. I didn''t know what was going on until chisgakov gave me the record of the prisoner''s trial. It turned out that there was only one garrison with less than 800 soldiers from the beginning to the end of the city, and the dozens of German tanks that were targeted by the katukov tank brigade were temporarily parked in the south of the city because there was no fuel. The German army had planned to attack our army after replenishing fuel for the tanks the next day. Unexpectedly, the sudden attack of our division tonight would beat all these tanks to pieces. In this way, goodrian should cry. At five in the morning, rokosovsky spoke to me again and told me two things. First, the three residential areas occupied by priyev''s cavalry troops withdrew in a hurry because they did not clear up the remnant enemy and leave the necessary troops and other new forces to hand over their defense. As a result, the remnant enemy occupied the residential areas again. Our army, which went to accept the defense, was fighting with the enemy in the residential areas. Second, Zhukov is very satisfied with the results of our division''s offensive last night. He will contact you in person later. The primary task now is to transfer all the eighth division of the guards to Taiyangshan city and firmly guard the city. As for the original defense area, the 20th group army will send troops to take over the defense. Finally, he added that the 1077 regiment, under the command of general leviagin, has now begun to move in the direction of Taiyangshan city. It is estimated that it will enter the city around 7 a.m. After breaking contact with the commander, I began to give orders to the troops who were still in the original defense area. After receiving the order, commander sherebriakov of 1075 regiment immediately went to command the troops to move without saying a word. However, Lieutenant Colonel chernukov, acting as the head of the 1073 regiment, was full of nonsense. He also asked me repeatedly who would take over the existing defense area after all the troops were transferred. The reason why I carried out rokosovsky''s transfer order cleanly was that I heard him say that it was the troops of the 20th group army, that is to say, the troops of general manager Lin, who were coming to take over the defense. According to my understanding of President Lin, after his troops accept the defense here, we can ensure that our division has no worries. The division troops began to enter Taiyangshan city at 8 a.m. By this time, the battle had already ended, and the enemy in the city was either killed or captured. Both chisgakov and mlakintsev began to set up defensive positions in their respective occupied areas to cope with the possible German counterattack after dawn. My headquarters also moved from the communication vehicle to a relatively complete building. When the signalman was still laying the telephone line, Zhukov contacted me through the walkie talkie. He asked aloud, "I said, Rita, what''s the situation with you? Is there any German in the city?"¡° Yes, senior general! " "But except for the captured, the rest are lying on the ground and have turned into cold corpses," I replied lightly For my humor, Zhukov was stunned for a moment, then laughed and praised me, saying, "Rita, you''re so good! When you put forward this attack plan yesterday, I thought it was an unfinished task, so I didn''t have much hope. But since your proposal coincides with the idea of the supreme command, even if it is impossible to achieve the goal, I can only let you have a try. I didn''t expect that you were so lucky to take back the city at one stroke. I want to congratulate you I can''t help but feel ashamed to hear what he said. The victory of this attack really has a lot of luck. If the city is heavily guarded by the German army, even with the strong support of general katukov''s tank brigade, it is not easy to capture the city. Without waiting for me to speak, he went on to say, "because of your outstanding performance, the front army has submitted a report to the supreme command, suggesting that you be promoted to the rank of colonel and awarded the red flag medal to the rest of the commanders." At this point, he specially explained: "if you are a man, according to my authority, I can directly promote you to colonel. But because you have already exceeded the highest rank of a female soldier, you must report to the supreme headquarters if you want to be promoted. But you can rest assured that this is just a form. I believe that even Comrade Stalin, hearing of your great achievements, will agree to promote your rank. "

 Chapter 201

    Zhukov''s words made my heart beat and I was promoted to Colonel! Although the rank is only one level higher than now, it is still an irresistible temptation for me. As the head of a division, I''m just a small lieutenant commander, commanding a group of generals and colonels with higher ranks than me. I always feel that I don''t have enough confidence. If I can get a higher rank this time, I will be more upright when I speak. It seems that if there is a chance in the future, we should organize more such attacks. In a year, I may become a general.


    "Comrade teacher! Mr. and Comrade teachers! " Next to dolov''s call, let me wake up from my wishful thinking. I realized that Zhukov had already cut off the call, and I was still giggling with my headset and microphone. Seeing that the major and several signalmen looked at me with strange eyes, I could not help blushing. I quickly put down what I had in hand, looked at the major and asked, "major dolov, what''s the matter with you?"


    Durov did not expect that I would suddenly ask this question. He was a little flustered and quickly replied, "I just want to ask you what to do next?"


    Without thinking, I told him, "you should contact General katukov, general leviakin, Colonel chisjakov, Lieutenant Colonel sherebriakov, and lieutenant commander mlakintsev immediately, and let them come to the headquarters immediately. I have new combat tasks to assign."


    "Yes With a loud promise, he went up to carry out my order and informed all regimental commanders by telephone to come to my temporary headquarters for a meeting.


    In less than ten minutes, all the commanders who were named just now arrived at the temporary headquarters.


    Looking at everyone sitting around the table, I was not polite. I pointed to the map of Taiyangshan city on the table and gave them an order directly: "comrades commander, we have occupied Taiyangshan city now, and the next task is to guard it. At present, the three settlements in the southeast of the city, sville chikovo, Sheri shevo and martenovo, are still occupied by the German army. We should quickly attack and recapture the settlements. Commander sherebriakov


    "Here it is When the commander heard my roll call, he jumped up from his position and stood upright.


    "Your regiment is responsible for the Western defense of Taiyangshan city. Without affecting the defense deployment, draw out a battalion and assemble in the southwest of the city."


    "Yes He agreed and sat down.


    "Colonel chisgakov!"


    "Here it is The Colonel stood up in a high voice.


    "Your regiment is responsible for the defense task in the north of the city. After the deployment is completed, take out the Third Battalion of major shedulin and assemble in the southwest of the city."


    "Yes Although he didn''t understand my intention, he agreed very simply.


    "General leviagin!"


    "Here it is The general sitting next to me immediately stood up.


    "Your regiment is responsible for the defense to the east of the city. The first battalion of major dolov was transferred to the southwest of the city to assemble. "


    "Yes He agreed and sat down.


    "Lt. Col. mlakintsev and commissar slavkin!"


    "Here it is The two chubby commanders stood up at the same time. Without waiting for me to speak, political commissar slavkin asked in advance: "Comrade division, is our regiment responsible for the defense of the south of the city and dispatching a battalion to the southwest of the city?"


    "Comrade political commissar, you are only half right. The defense in the south of the city belongs to your regiment, but only one battalion needs to be left, and the rest of the troops will gather in the southwest of the city."


    Seeing that his political commissar asked a question, the commander next to him hesitated for a moment and summoned up courage to ask: "Comrade division commander, several troops have assembled in the southwest of the city. May I ask what is the combat mission?"


    "Yes, I''ll tell you now. The reason why I am assembling so many troops is to attack three residential areas. "


    "What are the specific operational tasks?" This time it''s general katukov.


    "My political commissar, what time is it?" Instead of answering the general''s question directly, I turned to ask the political commissar sitting next to me, yegorov. He raised his wrist, looked at his watch and replied, "it''s ten in five minutes."


    Knowing the specific time, I then arranged a new combat mission: "this operation is under the command of Colonel chisgakov. After the troops are assembled, they immediately attack the three residential areas of sville chikovo, Sheri shevo and martenovo in a clockwise direction. General katukov''s tank brigade was the leader, tearing open the enemy''s line of defense, followed by infantry, clearing the remaining enemy in the settlements. "


    "What shall we do after the recovery of the settlements?" Asked chisgakov curiously.


    "Don''t worry about that. Now there are troops sent by general rokosovsky attacking the residential areas. After seizing the settlement, you just attack the next target, and the friendly forces will naturally accept the defense of the settlement. All in all, move quickly. After clearing out all the enemies in the residential area, you need to return quickly to defend the city to cope with the possible counter attack of the enemy. Do you understand? "


    "I see!" All of you answered in unison.


    "Now that you understand, let''s go back to the army and get ready! I hope the attack will start at 11 o''clock on time


    As we dispersed one after another, there were only three commanders left in the room, I, political commissar yegorov and general leviagin. They were studying the feasibility of my mission on the map, but I was walking around the room, thinking about when and with what kind of forces the German army would launch another attack on sun mountain city. At this time, I heard the signalman sitting in the corner calling me: "Comrade division commander, it''s general Zhukov, commander of the front army. He wants to speak to you." Leviagin and yegorov also heard the voice of the signalman, stopped studying the map, and looked up at me nervously. I quickly walked over, took the headset and microphone from the signalman, and said in a loud voice, "Hello, senior general! I''m lieutenant commander o''shanina¡° I congratulate you, comrade Rita¡° congratulate? Congratulations on what? " Zhukov''s words made me confused, and I couldn''t help asking¡° Comrade Stalin has already known about you. He is very satisfied with your decisive organization of the attack and the quick recovery of Taiyangshan city. He has decided to give you a special reward. "¡° Special reward? " I asked curiously again, "what''s the special reward? Did Comrade Stalin pass the application of the front army to promote me to the rank of Colonel?"¡° No! " Zhukov simply gave me a negative answer¡° Ah Hearing this news, I couldn''t help feeling a little disappointed, but Zhukov''s next words almost made me jump up: "Comrade Stalin said that in order to commend you for your great achievements in the battle, he decided to make an exception to promote you to the rank of major general!"

 Chapter 202

    "Shao, major general rank?! I was promoted to the rank of major general I was so nervous that my tongue was tied up that I even stuttered. I couldn''t help glancing at general leviagin and political commissar yegorov, who were not far away. They looked at each other in surprise. When they looked at me again, their faces showed a tacit smile, and there was an obvious envy in my eyes.


    I stabilized my mood for a while. The first thing I thought was that Zhukov might have made a mistake, so I cautiously checked with him and said, "Comrade General! You just said that Comrade Stalin personally promoted me to the rank of Colonel, right


    "I said, Rita, how can you hear so badly when you are young?" Zhukov murmured discontentedly: "I repeat, it''s an exception to promote you to the rank of major general. Before you, only Comrade Petrovsky of the 63rd infantry army had ever received such an honor. In order to commend him for leading the army to bravely and tenaciously recapture the great achievements of Lu ribin and Luo jiaqifu, comrade Stalin directly promoted him from a colonel to a lieutenant general. "


    When I heard Zhukov''s introduction, I immediately remembered the image of the commander, tall and thin, with two beards and a face of vicissitudes. Because of his outstanding military achievements, he was soon appointed commander of the group army. However, in order to organize the troops to break the siege of the German army, he resolutely postponed his appointment and led the soldiers to attack the German army. Finally, he died in the battle. However, when I think of the hero''s short-lived general career, I feel a little unhappy about Zhukov''s idea of comparing me with him.


    When I was murmuring in my heart, Zhukov asked, "what measures have you taken after taking back Taiyangshan city?"


    I quickly stopped thinking and concentrated on answering, "report commander, after taking back Taiyangshan City, I divided the defense areas for the regiments and ordered them to use the terrain to build a large number of strong fortifications to prepare for the enemy''s possible attack. In addition, although the city is in our hands, the three settlements of sville chikovo, Sheri shevo and martenovo in the southwest are still occupied by the remnants of the enemy forces. Therefore, without affecting the overall defense force, I will dispatch troops from each regiment to form a temporary force under the command of chisjakov, with general katukov''s tank brigade as the leader, to attack and assault the enemy in the residential areas, cooperate with the attack of friendly forces, and strive to seize the residential areas from the enemy in the shortest time. "


    "Your plan is good, so go ahead and carry it out right away." Zhukov agreed with my new combat plan very much. After a few words of praise, he added: "however, your division''s attack speed must be fast. If you can''t solve the enemy quickly, once the enemy sends out planes and tanks, you will become passive, and the whole attack plan will be in danger of being abandoned."


    "Understand, once the attack begins, I will order general katukov and Colonel chisgakov to speed up the attack and try to get the settlement back from the enemy in the shortest time."


    "This is the best..." after listening to me, Zhukov mumbled a lot, and finally told me: "after the recovery of the residential areas, you will transfer your position to your deputy general leviyakin and political commissar yegorov, and then you will come to the headquarters of the front army."


    At Zhukov''s command, I thought there was something good waiting for me, so I agreed very simply: "yes!"


    Break off contact, leviagin and yegorov came over. In his excited voice, yegorov asked, "Comrade teacher! Is this all true? Comrade Stalin personally promoted you to the rank of major general? "


    Although I tried to keep calm, the corners of my mouth still turned up and grinned. But in front of his subordinates, he always wanted to maintain a good image, so he forced himself to keep a straight face, smile indifferently, and answered, "yes, this is what general Zhukov, the commander of the front army, said personally. I believe it can''t be wrong!"


    After receiving my affirmative answer, leviagin and yegorov immediately said with one voice: "I congratulate you! Congratulations on your rank as a general. " And reach out to me. I shook hands with them one by one and said thank you.


    After shaking hands with them, the signalmen on duty also gathered around and congratulated me one after another. With a smile on my face, I shake hands with such cadres and soldiers one by one, and thank them for their heartfelt congratulations.


    Two minutes before eleven o''clock, general katukov and Colonel chisgakov called at the same time to report to me that the troops were ready, and to congratulate me on getting the rank of general. After thanking them, I told them to move fast and fiercely after the battle, so as to solve the battle in the shortest time.


    The battle started on time. I stayed in the headquarters waiting for news. Although there have been friendly forces attacking the three residential areas to be captured, which contain a large number of German troops, it is a bit of a sense to attack from the rear of the German army at this time, but the battle can not be ended in a short time. I have commanded so many battles, and the tactics I used are extremely simple. I only use tank troops to assault first, and then send infantry to catch up after breaking through the enemy''s lines, so as to expand the breakthrough. Can this tactic be effective in attacking these three settlements? Once the attack fails, the battle is deadlocked, and the German forces are mobilized to attack Taiyangshan city again, can we hold the city with our limited forces and imperfect defensive positions? The worry in my heart makes me uneasy. I walked about the room anxiously with my hands behind my back, so that I didn''t hear yegorov tell me to sit down twice.


    After walking around the room for a long time, I stopped and asked yegorov, "Comrade political commissar, what time is it now? Have you heard from general katukov and Colonel chisgakov? " Yegorov gave me a strange look, looked down at his watch, then raised his head and said to me, "Comrade division, the battle has just started for seven minutes. It is estimated that it will be a while before the news of the battle comes." Seven minutes?! I feel like I''ve been walking back and forth in the room with my hands on my back for several hours. How can it be so short? I sighed and continued to circle the room with my hands behind my back. I don''t know how long it took, the phone in the room finally rang. As soon as I turned my head to look at the phone, I found that leviagin, who had been guarding the phone, had grabbed the phone and said aloud, "I''m general leviagin. Go ahead, please!" After listening to what the other party said quietly, he covered the microphone with his hand and reported to me: "Comrade division commander, Colonel chisgakov''s phone call said that the troops have successfully occupied the two residential areas of sverqikovo and shelyshevo, and are now moving towards the final residential area of martenovo." Hearing the good news, I can''t help but feel relieved. Just as I was about to speak, the political commissar sitting at the table had already spoken first: "Comrade General, are you sure that what Colonel chisjakov said is true? It''s only ten minutes since the beginning of the battle. According to the normal speed of the March, our troops have just arrived at these two settlements in such a short period of time at best. What''s more, only after fighting can we seize the settlements from the enemy. " The political commissar''s skepticism made leviagin hesitant. He moved his hand covering the microphone. Just when he wanted to check with chisgakov, I went to him, grabbed the microphone in his hand, and said softly, "Comrade General, I''d better ask myself." He released his hand and the microphone came to me. Although I still feel incredible that they can seize the residential areas so quickly, I don''t suspect that they have lied about the military situation as the political commissar did. Under such special circumstances, I dare not take the risk of going to the military court to deceive me. In view of this, I said in a flat tone, "is it Colonel chisgakov? I''m Mr. o''shanina. Please report your situation to me again. " PS: dear readers, I''m very sorry, because there is something wrong with the computer. It was not repaired until yesterday. All of them have not been updated. Today, they can resume normal update.

 Chapter 203

    Hearing my question, chisjakov at the other end of the microphone answered me in an excited voice: "Mr. reporter! Our army has captured the two settlements of sverqikovo and selishevo. At present, general katukov''s tank brigade is advancing towards the settlement of martenovo, and I have also sent a battalion of major dulov to follow


    From his tone, I couldn''t recognize any false elements. I wanted to ask him directly whether the war report he reported was true or not, and I was afraid that it would hurt his self-esteem. So I asked in a different way: "Comrade Colonel, where are you calling me now?" It''s quite skillful for me to ask questions like this. You should know that the communication with him at the moment is using a wired telephone, not a walkie talkie. I can call back at any time to find out where it is.


    "I''m in the sherishevo settlement. I just joined up with the 354th infantry division. I''m calling you from their headquarters." When I heard that he had given the name of another army, I knew that he had not lied about the military situation. However, I still thought it was inconceivable that they could recover two residential areas so quickly. So I asked curiously, "Comrade Colonel, how did you recover two residential areas in a short time?"


    "Comrade division, the German army is a remnant of the fighting. There are only a few of them. There are more than 100 people in each of the two settlements. In the face of the fierce attack of the 354th infantry division, they were unable to support themselves. After seeing general katukov''s tank brigade rush into the residential area, they gave up their resistance and surrendered to our army after firing a few shots. "


    "Well, I see!" I answered, and then I gave him an order: "you should go to the residential area of martenovo immediately and cooperate with general katukov''s attack. Remember, after seizing the settlement, immediately hand over the defense to the friendly forces, and then you will lead the troops back to sun mountain city to strengthen the city''s defense. Do you understand? "


    "Yes, guarantee to finish the task!" Colonel chisgakov assured me loudly at the other end of the line.


    Putting down the phone, I explained to the political commissar and the nearby leviyakin, "I have verified that Colonel chisjakov''s report is accurate. Our army has captured two settlements, sverqikovo and sherishevo. At present, the tank brigade and a battalion of infantry are attacking the last settlement."


    Although I said this, the commissar still asked in a suspicious tone: "but this time is too fast. It''s not as if the Krauts surrendered just after two shots?"


    I replied with a smile: "my political commissar, you really don''t believe it. This is the situation. The Colonel reported that after yesterday''s fighting, the German army in the settlement was running out. They had been hard to resist the fierce attack of the 354th infantry division. Seeing that our division''s attacking troops were under the cover of the tank brigade, they knew that the situation was over. After a weak resistance, the stubborn enemy was forced to surrender to our army. It is for this reason that Colonel chisgakov''s forces recaptured the settlements so quickly. "


    "So it is!" After listening to my explanation, general leviagin nodded thoughtfully, but the commissar did not speak, still frowning and looking down at the map in front of him.


    Just then, the signalman sitting by the walkie talkie suddenly called me: "Comrade division commander! The commander of the group army wants to speak to you! "


    I took the headset and the microphone. As soon as I reported my name, I heard rokosovsky laughing and saying, "Rita, Congratulations! I have just received a special notice from the supreme command to all the army groups, saying that the troops under your command have recovered the sun mountain city occupied by the enemy through tenacious fighting. In recognition of your bravery and tenacity in the defense of Moscow and your great achievements, I hereby promote you to the rank of major general. "


    I''m a little embarrassed to hear that. After all, it was he who led the army to fight fiercely with the German army for a day yesterday. He severely damaged and consumed a large number of enemy troops. Only in this way could the night attack under my command be so easy to win. Although he was congratulating me, I was still afraid that he would have any idea. I quickly explained, "Comrade commander, don''t say that. If it wasn''t for the troops under your command to attack the three residential areas, contain the main force of the German army there, severely damage and destroy most of the enemies, I think whether the night attack I organized last night would be successful or not is still a question. I feel that this honor belongs to you, and I deserve it. "


    "It''s rare that our heroine should be shy." After listening to me, rokosovsky joked with me, and then he went on to say: "although we had a day''s battle to capture Taiyangshan city yesterday, our troops were forced to retreat to the starting point of attack because the enemy had the advantage in technology and equipment. If you had not decisively led the troops to carry out a surprise attack and slashed the enemy''s back, perhaps our troops would still be engaged in a tug of war with the enemy''s residential areas on the outskirts of the city, let alone recapture the city. By the way, what''s the situation of the three settlements now? "


    "Comrade commander, I just want to report to you. The shock troops I sent have recaptured the two settlements of sverchikovo and sherishevo from the enemy''s hands. At present, general katukov''s tank brigade and a battalion of infantry are attacking the remaining martenovo. "


    "Well done!" Rokosovsky praised me and then asked, "when will the battle be over?" Without thinking, I replied, "half an hour at most." After all, with the help of two or three thousand troops and tanks, chisgakov attacked the residential areas with only one or two hundred enemy defenses. If he can''t even fight down, he will quit and report to the military court himself¡° How do you plan to deploy your troops after taking the settlement? " Rokosovsky asked again¡° After the troops recovered all the residential areas, their defense was handed over to the 354th infantry division, and all the troops returned to Taiyangshan city to strengthen their defense to cope with the possible attack of the enemy. "¡° Well, the sun mountain city will be handed over to you. You must stick to the city. "¡° Please don''t worry, commander. People are in the position. As long as there is a soldier alive in the eighth division of the guards, Taiyangshan city will not be occupied by the Germans. "¡° Good luck With that, he cut off the communication. After returning the microphone and earphone to the signalman, I turned to yegorov and leviagin and said, "Comrade political commissar, comrade general, from the current situation, the residential area will be recovered soon. I''m going to meet Comrade Zhukov at the headquarters of the front army. During the time I''ve been away, I''ve left the big and small affairs of the division to you two. " After hearing this, they both nodded to show their understanding. Leviagin asked with concern: "Comrade division commander, how many security forces will you take to the headquarters of the front army this time?"¡° Not many people, "I said, dismissively." just let grissa drive, and let the company commander take two soldiers. "¡° There are two company commanders in the division, Captain Yushchenko and lieutenant Ramis. Which one would you like to go with I compared them in my heart. Although I believe in Ramis, Yushchenko is a little better in terms of ability. I don''t know what kind of situation I will encounter on the way to the headquarters of the front army this time. I''d better find an experienced person to accompany me. At least the safety is guaranteed. So I said without hesitation, "you''d better let Yushchenko go with me. Ramis will stay behind to be responsible for the security work of the division headquarters. You are familiar with him, so you can take advantage of it."

 Chapter 204

    Almost ten minutes later, I received another call from Colonel chisgakov, who told me that martenovo had been recaptured, that defense had been handed over to the 354th infantry division, and that the troops were now assembling to return to sun mountain city.


    As soon as I put down the phone, Captain Yushchenko, who was responsible for protecting me from going to the headquarters of the front army, came into the headquarters and informed me that grissa, the driver, had driven the car to the door and could start at any time. I once again explained to leviagin and yegorov the defense situation of the troops, and then I left the headquarters with Yushchenko at ease.


    The jeep stopped at the gate of the headquarters. Two soldiers in military coats stood upright in front of the jeep. When they saw me walking over, they immediately raised their hands to salute me. I raised my hand and saluted. I went straight to the front of the car and opened the front door. Before I stepped on the car, I turned to Yushchenko and said, "Comrade captain, you and your men sit in the back." With that, I got into the car, sat in the co driver''s seat and said hello to grissa who had been staying in the car.


    Seeing Yushchenko and two soldiers sitting in the back row, I asked grissa in an uncertain tone: "do you know how to get to the front command?"


    "Yes, sir! I know where the front command is. "


    "Well, let''s go!"


    As soon as I spoke, grissa stepped on the gas and the jeep rushed out.


    The car was driving along a temporary path opened up in the forest. From time to time, I looked up at the sky through the window and prayed to myself that I would not encounter German planes on the road.


    After driving for five or six minutes, I saw a small army coming along the road. The sight of this sudden emergence of troops made my heart beat faster, so I quickly asked grissa to stop at the side of the road. Seeing that the car suddenly stopped, Yushchenko, who was sitting in the back row, immediately pushed the door open and jumped out. They fell down on the spot and pointed the muzzle of the gun to the front.


    As the troops got closer and closer, the faces of the people were clear and recognizable. I had been staying in the car and didn''t move. I saw that the other party was wearing our uniform, so I pushed the door open and rushed to Yushchenko, who was lying on the snow. He said, "comrade captain, it''s our own army. Go and ask, what part are they?"


    "Yes," Yushchenko agreed. He got up from the ground, slung his submachine gun over his shoulder, and then ran to the other side with a big stride.


    When the opposite team saw Yushchenko running towards them, they all stopped at the same time. An officer came out of the team and met him. After they got together, they saluted each other and began to talk.


    After chatting for a while, they came to me together. In this case, I naturally can''t stay in the car, jump out of the car, straighten my clothes and wait for them to come.


    The officer came up to me, stood at attention, saluted, and said in a loud voice, "Comrade division commander, Captain lomov of the Third Battalion of 1077 regiment of the eighth division of the guards, reports to you that the troops have completed the task of capturing the residential areas and are now on their way back to Taiyangshan city. I''m waiting for your instructions


    I didn''t reply. Instead, I raised my hand and patted the captain on the shoulder, who was a head higher than me. I asked with concern, "how are the casualties of the troops in the battle against the residential areas?"


    "Report to Mr. division commander," lomov replied loudly, "in the battle of seizing the residential areas, only three soldiers in our battalion died, more than a dozen soldiers were wounded, and more than 80 of the enemy were destroyed and captured."


    "Well done!" After I praised him, I immediately told him: "you should continue to lead the troops on your way. If you want to go back to the city as soon as possible, there may be fierce fighting right away. You should be psychologically prepared."


    "Yes Lomov agreed, and then tentatively asked, "can I leave?"


    "Go


    After saluting me again, he turned and ran away to gather troops in front. I also turned to Yushchenko and said, "Comrade captain, get on the bus. It''s getting late. We need to get to the headquarters as soon as possible."


    The car drove on for another ten minutes, and fierce gunfire and grenade explosions came from the woods on the left. I was surprised. How could there be gunshots here? He quickly asked grissa to stop the car again, turned his head and asked Yushchenko, "Comrade captain, what''s this place? What''s the matter with the gunfire? "


    Without waiting for Yushchenko to speak, grissa, the driver next to him, had already preempted me and said, "Sir, this is Himki, also known as chemical city. There''s a settlement near here. It may be that our troops and the infiltrating enemy are on fire. "


    "Get out of the car and have a look."


    Five of us went into the forest and ran for a few minutes to the edge of the forest. The field of vision is suddenly clear. There is a residential area in the front left, most of which are two-story buildings. Because they have not received the baptism of the war, the overall preservation is still complete. From a distance, I saw two or three armored vehicles parked in front of the buildings on the edge of the settlement. The clear cross on the vehicles made me understand that they were German armored vehicles.


    In the forest on the right, a group of soldiers with weapons rushed out. Judging from their clothes, they should be militia troops. They were shouting and rushing towards the residential area.


    The machine guns on the German armored vehicles were shooting desperately, and the windows above the residents were leaning towards the charge. The soldiers charged more than 50 meters away from the residential area, as if they had hit a transparent wall and fell to the ground one after another.

 Chapter 205

    The soldiers charged with bayonet rifles in their hands. Except for a few people who stopped for a while to shoot, the rest of them all rushed forward. The soldiers in the front fell down, but the soldiers in the back still rushed forward recklessly, because there was no fire cover, and they all fell under the muzzle of the gun under the intensive fire of the enemy.


    More than 100 soldiers fell down in the open space in front of the residential area, and some of them were still struggling in the corpses. Although they were separated by dozens of meters, their shrill screams still clearly reached my ears, which made my heart like a knife.


    I don''t know which idiot is in command. Now, without any firepower cover, we let the troops launch an attack. Isn''t this a way for the soldiers to die in vain? If Yushchenko didn''t react quickly and hold me in time, I would have rushed out with a pistol. He said in my ear, "please calm down, sir!" After a pause, he continued: "it depends. The starting point of the attacking troops should be in the forest on the right. We should be able to find their commander there."


    Yushchenko''s words calmed me down. Yes, one person can''t play any role in the battlefield. Even if I rush out, I''ll just die. Nothing can change. I took two deep breaths and said to Yushchenko in a deep voice, "come on, let''s go over there and have a look. Who is commanding the army?" Then he took the lead and walked quickly to the place where our army might be.


    After a short walk, someone in front of me suddenly yelled, "stop!" With the cry, two people jumped out from behind the trees. Almost as the two men jumped out, Yushchenko and grissa, who were behind me, had dodged in front of me and aimed their guns at each other.


    I saw two soldiers in cap and plain clothes aiming at us from the opposite end of the gun. The rifle with bayonet in hand was also the standard of our army. I stopped Yushchenko and grissa immediately: "don''t shoot, it''s your own people!" After that, I separated them and came forward and asked aloud, "which part are you?"


    "We are from the Himki militiamen annihilation battalion. What part of you, comrade commander?" One of the soldiers answered my question while his gun was still aimed at us.


    "We''re from the eighth division of the guards." Yushchenko stepped forward, stood beside me, and answered in a loud voice: "this is our division commander, general oshanina. Comrade soldier, we need to see your commander at once. Take us there at once


    Yushchenko came out of the Ministry of internal affairs in the end. He spoke in a condescending manner, which completely deterred the other side''s soldiers. Two soldiers put their guns on their shoulders, came forward to salute me, and then showed us the way.


    After walking in the forest for a few minutes, I saw a dense crowd in the forest in front of me. I guessed that this might be the assembly site of the annihilation camp. I could not help but quicken my pace. As soon as we got close to the edge of the crowd, we heard someone in the crowd saying loudly: "comrades, although the first company''s attack failed, we can''t give up easily. As long as one person is still alive, the attack can''t stop. Now I announce that the soldiers of the second company are ready to fight and immediately prepare to start the second round of attack... "


    "Wait a minute! Don''t make unnecessary sacrifices I don''t want to see these soldiers die in vain. I quickly stop them and push away the soldiers in front of me.


    "Who said that?" After listening to my words, the speaker was very angry and asked aloud, "what is meaningless sacrifice? In order to defend our motherland, each of us will give our precious lives without hesitation."


    When the other party was talking, I had already squeezed into the crowd and walked up to him. When I looked up, I was stunned. I knew the commander of the militia. The other side was stunned when they saw me.


    "Captain bukov!"¡° Commander o''shanina We both cried out almost at the same time, and the next moment, our hands clasped tightly together.


    I said with emotion, "I didn''t expect to see you here, comrade captain!"


    He also said excitedly, "yes, comrade commander. Last time we met in the subway, we didn''t expect to see each other again in a few days. "


    "Comrade captain!" Yushchenko said coldly: "Mr. oshanina is now a major general, awarded by Comrade Stalin himself."


    "The military rank conferred by Comrade Stalin himself?" There was a sound of air-conditioning. It seemed that his words stunned the officers and soldiers around him.


    Bukov let go of my hand, stepped back, stood at attention and saluted. The report said: "report general Comrade, commander of the Himki militia annihilation battalion, Captain bukov, is being ordered to launch an attack on the enemy troops who captured Himki. I''m waiting for your instructions!"


    I stepped forward, pulled his hand off his forehead and said, "they are all old acquaintances. Don''t be so polite. You give me a brief introduction, and then we''ll study how to attack. "


    "Yes He agreed and began to tell me about the situation in the Himki settlement: "according to the information we got, it was the reconnaissance battalion of the 258th infantry division of the German army that occupied Himki, with a number of nearly 200 people and three armored vehicles. Besides a large number of submachine guns, they were also equipped with mortars and heavy machine guns."


    I interrupted him and asked with concern, "what about the strength and equipment of our army?" With a wry smile, he replied, "there are five companies with 600 people in the battalions. As for the equipment," he pointed to the left and right and said with self mockery, "the soldiers are equipped with rifles and no heavy weapons. After all, we are militia, not regular army." After listening to his introduction, the idiom "strike a stone with an egg" immediately came to my mind. To attack the well-equipped German army with such troops and equipment is to die. I also wry smile twice, holding a fluke mentality, asked: "there are our troops nearby?"¡° Yes Bukov''s reply surprised me: "there is a tank division of our army. It is said that it was pulled down from Kelin. The day before yesterday, it fought in green city, more than ten kilometers north of Himki. It lost a lot. Now it is resting in the forest, two kilometers east of our camp. "

 Chapter 206

    "Tank division?" When I heard that such a troop was stationed nearby, I could not help but see that the tank division was much better than the tank brigade. General katukov''s tank brigade has only about 20 tanks, which can make a rampage in the attack. Even if this tank division has losses, the number of tanks is definitely more than that of my tank brigade. It would be a piece of cake to have them to assist in the attack and destroy the enemy in himkiri.


    Thinking of this, I asked bukov curiously, "Comrade captain, since our tank division is stationed nearby, why don''t you ask for their help and launch this kind of attack with no chance of winning?"


    After listening to my question, bukov replied with a sad face: "Comrade division commander, I also sent someone to contact the tank division, but the other side said that the order they received was to rest in place, and no one had the right to act without the order of the superior. And the leader of the district Soviet gave a death order that I must take Himki back before dark, so I had to harden my head and order the soldiers to attack the enemy in the residential area at all costs. "


    "Well, so it is!" I know that he is not only the commander of the militia, even the commander of the regular army, he may not be able to let the tank division send troops. This is the place where Lao maozi is inflexible. Everything has to be done according to the regulations. I don''t know how much he will suffer in the rapidly changing battlefield. Originally, it had nothing to do with me, but since it happened, I had to take care of it. So I comforted him and said, "Comrade captain, first stop your attack and set up your defense, so that the enemy on the other side will not attack us in vain. Now I''m going to the tank division to try my luck. You can send a soldier to show us the way


    "All right." He readily agreed, called a soldier from the side, let him be responsible for guiding us.


    After a few steps, I suddenly heard someone behind me asking, "Comrade battalion commander, what should we do with the wounded lying on the open ground?" When I heard this, my heart beat faster, and my heart said: Yes, there are still many wounded people lying in the corpses in the attacking troops just now. On such a cold day, if we don''t treat them in time, it will be very dangerous.


    I slowed down and turned slightly to hear what bukov had to say. But bukov did not speak, just sighed deeply. With this sigh, I understand his intention. It''s not that I don''t want to treat the wounded, but that my heart is more than my strength. The wounded lay in the open, and if they were sent out for rescue, they would be the targets of the German army. I also secretly sigh a breath, this matter I also can''t help, can only let these wounded to live and die on their own, this is the war! Since I can''t do anything for the wounded, there''s no need for me to care about what bukov will do. I just need to speed up and keep up with the leading soldiers.


    We walked in the forest for about a quarter of an hour before we met a soldier on guard. His vigilance is very high. As soon as he sees us appear, he immediately dodges behind a tree, raises his gun to aim at us and asks us who we are.


    Yushchenko quickly reported our identity and explained his intention. Then he put down his gun and came out from behind the tree. After saluting me, he reported that the tank division was stationed nearby and took the initiative to lead us.


    After walking for a few minutes, the soldier stopped, pointed to a wooden house more than ten meters away and said, "Comrade commander, the headquarters of the tank division is there. Do you want me to inform you?"


    "No, I''ll just go in myself. Go back to your duty


    "Yes The soldier agreed, saluted and turned to leave.


    Seeing that there was no sentry at the door of the cabin, I couldn''t help sneering. I said that the commander of the tank division was too shameful. There were no soldiers standing guard at the door of the headquarters. If the enemy attacked me, I would not be killed. As I thought about it, I pushed open the wooden door.


    There were many people in the room, sitting around a long wooden table discussing something. Seeing me as an uninvited guest, everyone immediately calmed down. A commander with no hat and bandages on his head was sitting with his back to the door. When he saw that everyone was looking behind him, he turned his head strangely.


    At the moment when he turned around, I had seen his badge clearly. It was a commander. So I stepped forward, raised my right hand to salute him, and politely asked: "Hello, commander! Who is the commander of the highest position here


    He stood up, walked up to me, and did not return a gift. He looked me up and down, and asked impatiently, "which part are you from? What''s the matter with you coming to my headquarters?"


    "Comrade commander!" Yushchenko stood next to me again and introduced to the other side: "this is oshanina, the commander of the eighth division of our guards. Because of her bravery and outstanding results, comrade Stalin personally promoted her to the rank of major general today. " After a short pause, he said in a very impolite tone: "according to the regulations, comrade commander, you should salute Mr. o''shanina."


    After hearing Yushchenko''s words, all the people sitting in the room stood up. The commander standing in front of me stepped back half a step, then raised his hand to salute and said aloud, "Comrade General, commander Sergei buniachenko, chief of staff of the 389th tank division, reports to you that the troops are resting and waiting for your instructions!"


    My eyes swept through the crowd in the room, and I didn''t find anyone with a higher rank than him, so I couldn''t help asking, "what about the division commander, deputy division commander and political commissar?" The chief of staff, with a red eye, replied in a low voice, "all sacrificed!"¡° All sacrificed? " The answer surprised me so much that I asked, "what''s going on?"¡° Our division originally went to reinforce klin. On the way, we suddenly received an order saying that klin had been lost. Let''s turn to the green city to the north of Himki and launch and organize defense there. The day before yesterday, under the cover of aircraft, tanks and artillery, the bandits launched a fierce attack on green city. With the cooperation of the defenders, our Division launched a counter offensive against the attacking enemy. In order to prevent the enemy from advancing to Moscow, our division made great sacrifices in the two days of fighting and lost more than 160 tanks. The division commander, deputy division commander and political commissar died in this battle. "¡° Ah I was surprised by the news. More than 160 tanks were lost, so this tank division is almost completely destroyed. Can we expect them to provide support for the troops attacking Himki? I took a deep breath and asked with a fluke: "have all the tanks been lost? Is there none left? "¡° No, We still have six intact t-34s, ready to fight at any time. "

 Chapter 207

    "Only six tanks?" Hearing this number, I was a little disappointed, but immediately relieved, six on six, better than none. With the support of tanks, the militiamen annihilation battalion has a much higher chance of recapturing Himki.


    Before I could explain my intention, commander buniachenko asked me to sit down. I went to the table, picked up the nearest seat and sat down. I looked up at the people in the room. Seeing that they were still standing there, I quickly gestured and said, "don''t be so restrained. Let''s all sit down."


    With these words, I found that the commanders stood upright and did not move, but turned their eyes to buniachenko beside me. Seeing this reaction, I glanced at buniachenko in surprise and frowned slightly. Bunia Chenko looked at me and found my displeasure. He quickly sat down, raised his hands and pressed them down. He nodded to his subordinates and said, "since Comrade General has given orders, let''s sit down." At his command, the commanders sat down in unison.


    I turned to Yushchenko, who was standing by the door, to ask him to find a place to sit down. Unexpectedly, he saluted me first and said, "Sir, there is no one standing guard outside the room. I''ll arrange the security work first." I''m very satisfied with Yushchenko''s performance. It''s the people who come from the Ministry of internal affairs. What they consider is comprehensive. So I nodded in agreement. Seeing that I didn''t object, he turned and waved his head at grissa, the militia leading the way and the two soldiers of the guard company. They immediately understood and followed him out of the room and closed the door.


    Seeing Yushchenko and several of them leave, commander buniachenko coughed and asked, "tell me about it! Comrade commander, do you have any instructions for coming here? "


    I coughed and cleared my throat. Instead of answering his question directly, I asked, "Comrade chief of staff, before we came here, did any comrades from the militia annihilation battalion come to you and ask you to help them attack the enemy?"


    "Yes." He gave me a positive answer: "there were two people here, and the one in charge of communication was a captain. He was carrying a soldier in civilian clothes. He said that they belong to the himmji militia annihilation camp. They have received orders from their superiors and are ready to fight back against the German army of himmji. I hope we can cooperate with them. "


    "You refused their request?" I asked grimly.


    "Yes, I refused their request."


    Hearing his reply, I was very angry, but I couldn''t show it. Although my rank was higher than that of him, he was not under my jurisdiction after all, so I just asked, "why? Comrade chief of staff


    Buniachenko shrugged his shoulders and replied: "our division has been ordered to stay here to rest and wait for the reserves to supplement us. According to the regulations, in the absence of orders from the higher authorities, we can only stand by


    Regulations are regulations again. As soon as I heard this word, I felt headache. I secretly scolded Lao maozi for being dull in his work and not knowing how to adapt to circumstances. No wonder less than half a year after the beginning of the war, the Soviet Union was defeated and retreated under the fierce German offensive, a large area of territory was occupied, and millions of troops were eliminated.


    Although I tried my best to control my emotions, I still couldn''t help raising my voice and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, if I order you to send troops to help the militia drive away the enemy who is in Himki, will you obey my order?"


    As soon as buniachenko was about to answer, the door rang, attracting everyone''s attention. I also turned to see that it was captain Yushchenko who came in from the outside. He closed the door and walked behind me without saying a word. When bunyachenko saw Yushchenko standing behind me, he said, "Comrade General, this may not work. What I have received is an order from the headquarters of the front army. Therefore, even if your rank is higher than mine, I can''t obey your order. Please forgive me!"


    It turns out that their division is under the direct command of the headquarters of the front army, so it''s easy to do. Based on my friendship with Zhukov, this unit can be under my command with just one phone call. So I looked at buniachenko with a slight upturned mouth and a smile on my face: "Comrade chief of staff, is the communication between you and the headquarters of the front army smooth? I''d like to speak to commander General Zhukov in person. "


    "I''m sorry, Comrade General." Buniachenko''s reply surprised me: "in yesterday''s battle, our division suffered a heavy loss, almost completely annihilated. After receiving the order for the front army to retreat and recuperate, the army encountered enemy air strikes on the way to the transfer, and the communication vehicle was destroyed, resulting in the interruption of our contact with our superiors. "


    After listening to buniachenko, I frowned and lost contact with my superiors, which meant that in a short period of time, they could not receive new orders at all and could only rest in the same place. But without the cooperation of tank troops, it would be a fool''s dream to win back Himki only by the poorly equipped militia with poor combat effectiveness. What shall I do? My brain is turning rapidly. How can I think of a way to have the best of both worlds?


    Just when I was in a dilemma, Captain Yushchenko''s voice suddenly sounded behind me: "Comrade lieutenant colonel, since division commander oshanina is the commander with the highest rank here, she can completely decide the action of the army."


    Yushchenko''s words attracted everyone''s attention in the past. Hearing Yushchenko''s opening to help me out, I suddenly realized that since the troops could not receive orders from their superiors in a short time, I could use my own identity to deploy troops. Buniachenko gave Yushchenko a serious look. Maybe he was dissatisfied with his sudden interruption. Then he looked at me and asked me impolitely, "Comrade General, who is the captain behind you?" Half sideways, I introduced Yushchenko''s identity to him: "chief of staff, this is my security company commander, Captain Yushchenko from the Ministry of interior." After listening to my introduction, Bunia Chenko looked at Yushchenko thoughtfully, then nodded and said, "well, that''s OK. Now that the captain from the Ministry of interior has spoken, your rank is the highest here, then the troops will follow your command. " Although his words are high sounding, I can hear a trace of irony in his words. I didn''t care about the tone of his speech. Just as I wanted to stand up and issue the order for the troops to leave, a major sitting opposite me had taken the lead in standing up and challenging me. His tone was particularly impolite: "Comrade General, I don''t know how you got this rank, but I want to know if you have personally participated in the battle at the front line?"

 Chapter 208

    When the major finished, there was a complete silence in the whole room. We should all understand that what he said was a provocation to me. So at the moment, no one spoke, and all the people were silently looking at me, trying to see how I dealt with it.


    After hearing what he said, I stood up slowly with my hand on the table, just a faint smile, and said, "maybe I should remind you, comrade major, that the war has been breaking out for several months, but what is missing in your uniform?" Then I pointed to the place where the medal was on my chest.


    My words made the major''s face red, and he immediately hit back and said, "maybe you can take out the medal and let us have a long experience. Comrade General


    Hearing what he said, I unbuttoned the white camouflage coat on the outside of the military coat, took it off and threw it on the table. Then I pointed to the dazzling medal hanging on my chest and said calmly, "Comrade major, please look. You can look carefully. The red flag medal and the medal for bravery are genuine, This is an honor awarded to me by the relevant departments at a higher level in recognition of my achievements in the battle. "


    The major looked at the medals on my chest and said in surprise, "red flag?"


    I snorted. I didn''t show a proud look, but nodded silently and said in a sarcastic tone: "in addition to these medals, there are some scars on my body that can prove that I have participated in the battle. Do you want to have a look?" Then I put my finger on the button and tried to untie it.


    "Enough, comrade major!" Buniachenko may have seen my displeasure and quickly stood up to resolve the embarrassing situation. He frowned and said gravely to the major, "you know, even in war, it''s not easy to get a high rank."


    The major blushed and didn''t answer. After saluting us both, he sat down again.


    Seeing the major sitting down, buniachenko looked back at me and said sincerely, "Comrade General, please give me an order." Then he sat down, too.


    I picked up the clothes on the table and put them on again. As I buttoned them, I said solemnly: "comrades, the situation in front of us is very serious. The enemy''s vanguard troops have occupied Himki. Just now, the militia annihilation battalion of Himki has launched an attack on the enemy in the residential area. It''s a pity that this attack failed because of backward equipment. I am here to ask you to give them the necessary assistance to ensure that we can wipe out the enemy or drive them out of the settlements. I would like to remind you that behind us is the Kremlin. Even if we fight to the last man, we can never let the enemy go any further. "


    "But, Comrade General!" It was the major who interrupted me just now. He complained: "there are only 170 people left in our division, and the defense may be barely enough. When it comes to attacking the enemy, please forgive me. Even if the whole division is finished, it will not be able to take Himki back. For us, this is an unfinished task. "


    "Pa!" Without waiting for me to refute him, buniachenko next to him slapped the table and stood up. He said angrily, "what if there are only 170 people?"?! In the present situation, we can only attack! When all the soldiers are gone, the commander will fill them in; The commander ran out of money and said, "I''ll fill it in!"


    "All right! Chief of staff, sit down first. " Although buniachenko said my lines first, I was very satisfied with his attitude, so I patted him on the shoulder and said: "according to the reconnaissance, the enemy forces of Himki are only more than 200 people, only three armored vehicles and a small number of mortars. There are more than 500 soldiers in the militiamen''s annihilation battalion. With your troops, we are superior to the enemy in both strength and equipment. Now let''s discuss the details of the army''s attack. "


    Bunyachenko asked a commander to take the map, spread it on the table, pointed to Himki''s position and said to me, "Comrade General, please have a look! Surrounded by forests, Himki can only carry out key defense in residential areas with the enemy''s strength. My opinion is: in the enemy''s key defensive areas, four tanks should be sent to cover the militia for feint attacks; The infantry of our division, under the cover of the other two tanks, went around to the other side of the settlement and beat the enemy from behind. When the enemy understood and wanted to change the direction of defense, the militia units, which had been the task of feint attack, quickly pressed up and cooperated with our division to fight a beautiful war of annihilation. "


    After listening to him, I thought the tactics were good, but I didn''t immediately express my opinion. Instead, I looked around and asked other commanders, "what do you think of the chief of staff''s operational plan?"


    "I agree with the chief of staff''s operational plan!"


    "I agree, too!"¡° I agree, too! " Almost everyone expressed support for buniachenko''s plan.


    "All right then!" This plan coincided with what I thought, so I nodded my head and agreed: "since everyone agrees, then carry out this plan!" Then I said to buniachenko, "Comrade chief of staff, go and assemble your troops! I''ll arrange the barracks first. As soon as your troops arrive, we''ll launch an attack! "


    "Yes Buniachenko stood up and promised to salute me.


    "Good luck!" I reached out to shake him and left the headquarters with Yushchenko. As soon as I went out, I saw a jeep parked at the door. Grissa was sitting in the jeep, and two soldiers were standing beside the jeep. Seeing that I was a little surprised, Yushchenko quickly explained to me, "just now I asked grissa to drive the car parked outside the forest. We need to rush to the barracks as soon as possible, or we will miss the plane." I gave Yushchenko a look of approval, then nodded and said, "well, let''s get in the car and go back to Himki."

 Chapter 209

    With the car, the speed of returning is much faster. It took about 20 minutes to walk when I came, but only five minutes to go back.


    Grissa drove into the forest and drove back to the area. Looking out of the window, I was surprised to find that it had become a busy logging site. The soldiers in single clothes cut down the birch with axes. The soldiers waiting nearby will come immediately. Three or five people will not even clean the branches. They will lift up the trunk and go out of the forest, shouting the number.


    Seeing this scene, I couldn''t help wondering what bukov was doing and how the soldiers cut down the trees? I pushed the door open, jumped into the snow, took a few steps forward and looked around to see where bukov was. Even if I couldn''t find bukov, I could ask any officer. Because they are militia, the difference between officers and soldiers is obvious. The former wears military uniform, while the latter wears civilian clothes. However, after standing in the snow and looking around for a long time, I saw that all the people who came and went were wearing casual clothes, but none of them were wearing military uniform.


    Yushchenko and they got out of the car, came to me and put on guard. At the same time, Yushchenko asked me in a low voice: "Comrade division, what is this captain bukov doing? Instead of arranging for the soldiers to defend themselves, they organized everyone to cut down trees here. "


    Instead of taking his words, I stopped a soldier passing by with an axe in his hand and asked, "Comrade soldier, do you know where Captain bukov is?"


    The soldier glanced at my badge, immediately changed his axe to his left hand, saluted me at attention, and loudly reported: "report, comrades of commander, battalion commander and company commander have gone to a meeting."


    "Meeting?! What meeting will be held at this time? " I roared a little discontentedly. As soon as the words came out, I immediately felt that it was not right. The man in front of me was just an ordinary soldier. How could he know what meeting the commanders were holding? He quickly changed his calm tone and asked, "where are they meeting, captain?"


    He looked around, then pointed decisively to the north and said, "there, comrade commander, they are meeting in that tent."


    I followed the direction of his fingers and saw that there was a dark green tent in the forest tens of meters away. I nodded and politely said to the soldier, "thank you, comrade soldier. You can leave. "


    When the soldier heard me say this, he saluted me and trotted away.


    I turned to Yushchenko standing beside the car and said, "Comrade captain, you and your men will stay here. I''ll go to the captain''s headquarters alone."


    "Yes Yushchenko agreed very simply.


    I went outside the tent, lifted the curtain and went in. It''s full of people. My sudden intruder attracted everyone''s attention. With sharp eyes, I found that the commander sitting opposite was captain bukov. I quickly laughed and said hello to him: "Hello, Captain bukov! I''m here specially to attend your military meeting. "


    "Hello! Sir, comrade Bukov stood up to meet me and held out his hand. After holding my hand, he asked softly, "do you get anything from going to the tank division?"


    As I shook hands with him, I said frankly, "I''ve talked with lieutenant colonel bunyachenko, chief of staff of the tank division. Their troops will come soon. You want your troops to be ready for battle!"


    I thought that bukov would be very excited when he heard this news. He just let out a faint voice, then released my hand, pointed to a man in civilian clothes and said, "Comrade division commander, let me introduce you. This is Comrade kashevsky, the people''s commissar of the district Soviet."


    After listening to bukov''s introduction of his identity to me, the man stepped forward and offered to shake hands with me. Look at the person in charge in front of me, wearing a Lenin hat and a black woollen coat with exquisite texture and fine workmanship. I just politely shook him and let him go.


    Bukov asked me to sit in an empty seat. Then he separated his hands and pressed them down. He said, "everybody sit down. Let''s go on with the meeting." With his command, the commanders who just stood up because I came in sat down again.


    When everyone was ready, I said, "Comrade captain, I have a question for you. I see the soldiers outside cutting down trees. I don''t know what they are doing with these trees? "


    "Build fortifications!" Bukov immediately replied without thinking, then added: "recently, the air-conditioning temperature is low, the ground has been frozen, if you do not use explosives, there is no way to dig trenches, so I can only order the soldiers to cut down trees to build fortifications."


    "Fortifications?" Hearing what he said, I was puzzled and asked, "our attack is about to start. In terms of the comparison of forces, we have the advantage in numbers. With the cooperation of the tank division, there is no problem in recapturing Himki. There is no need to build any fortifications."


    Bukov looked at me and said with some embarrassment, "Comrade division, you don''t know something. During the period when you left, the mission of our battalion changed again. The higher authorities ordered us to give up the task of attacking Himki and instead build defensive positions in the forest to block the enemy''s way forward and wait for the arrival of reinforcements! " Then he pointed to kashevsky next to him and added, "Comrade kashevsky is here to convey the new order."


    "Yes! Comrade commander. " Kashevsky immediately took over bukov''s topic and explained to me, "as you know, we are militia, and there is a big gap between us and regular forces in terms of equipment and combat effectiveness. With respect, from the current situation, not to mention us, even the same number of regular troops can''t wipe out the enemy in a short time, so we must stick to it first. The regional Soviets have already issued an order, demanding that the soldiers be nailed to the positions like nails, and not be allowed to retreat a step. When the reinforcements arrive, they can choose an opportunity to destroy the enemy. "¡° no way! I''m against it I immediately stood up and strongly opposed this unreasonable order, "we must organize the attack! If these enemies who occupied Himki are not eliminated, they will use the reserves to strengthen their forces here and use it as a new starting point of attack. You know, comrades, the Kremlin is 20 kilometers behind us, and the enemy''s tanks can enter Red Square in less than an hour. " Kashevsky shrugged his shoulders, tilted his head and said, "Comrade commander, although you have a good point. But you have to know that this order for the troops to immediately turn to defense was issued by the regional Soviet. As a subordinate, it can only be carried out, and it is not allowed to question and discuss the order. " After listening to what he said, I was very angry. This is a group of political workers who sit in the office every day and know nothing about military affairs. If it wasn''t for them, the losses at the beginning of the war would be much smaller. At the thought of this, I was so angry that I immediately took a clear stand and expressed my attitude: "no way! I still said that as soon as the tank troops arrive, they must launch an attack immediately. We must never let the enemy gain a firm foothold in the base station of him, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable. " I turned my head to bukov''s position, and then said, "Comrade captain, I suggest that you deploy immediately before the war and prepare for the attack. We don''t have much time." Bukov gave me a wry smile. Instead of giving me a direct answer, he focused on his subordinates in the tent. Maybe it was because he didn''t make a statement. The officers on the scene were afraid of causing trouble for themselves, so they didn''t dare to express their true views. When they saw bukov''s eyes looking at them, they avoided his eyes, either turned their heads to one side or buried their heads. Bukov''s eyes swept around the tent. Seeing that no one spoke, he sighed. Then, as if he had made up his mind, he straightened himself up, stood up abruptly and said to kashevsky, "Comrade committee member, I think Mr. oshanina''s opinion is very correct. What do you think of it?" Kachevsky was stunned and thought a little. Then he put his face in a straight line and said stubbornly, "no, comrade captain, please pay attention to your position. You should know that the order of the district Soviet can''t be changed. You must resolutely implement it, or you will bear the consequences. Besides, comrade captain, I now order you to let the soldiers continue to build fortifications and prepare for a tough defensive war. " When he said this, he gave me a scornful glance with a trace of provocation in his eyes.

 Chapter 210

    This so-called District People''s committee member really doesn''t pay attention to me. His contemptuous expression at the corner of his eyes and eyebrows may be deeply felt by the commanders sitting next to him.


    My brain almost in a moment will be some congestion, want to raise a fist, hard hit in front of this complacent and flat face. But then I calmed down. Losing my temper naturally didn''t help. On the contrary, it was easy to make mistakes. You know, I''m here to command the troops to fight against the German devils, not to fight with the so-called people''s committee members.


    Bukov did not answer kachevsky''s words, but looked at me with worried eyes, waiting for my statement. The captain did not speak, and his commanders did not dare to speak. The arrogant people''s committee member originally wanted to say something, but when he saw the strange scene in the tent, he opened his mouth and said nothing, so he closed his mouth obediently.


    After a moment''s silence, I felt completely calm. Then I turned my eyes to bukov and said, "Comrade captain, since you have agreed with me, let''s discuss the details of the attack." Then he turned his eyes to the disgusting member of the people''s Committee, bit his back teeth, and said faintly: "comrade, we are going to study military action soon. Because it involves military secrets, non military personnel like you are not suitable to stay here, so please leave on your horse." I know he looks down on me from the bottom of his heart, so I''m not polite to speak to him. Sooner or later, I''ll offend him. If I offend him in the end, I''d better get rid of him. In this way, I can get rid of one person''s hindrance when making war plans.


    "What?" His reaction was not what I expected. After listening to me, he jumped up from his seat and asked aloud, "what did you say? Let me leave at once? " He gasped. "How dare you say that!"


    I looked at him contemptuously and said coldly, "I repeat, we are going to discuss the next military action soon. If you have nothing to say, please leave at once!"


    "You have no right to drive me!" He waved his fist in front of me and yelled loudly: "I am the people''s committee member of the district Soviet. You have no right to prevent me from attending the meeting!"


    Be neither humble nor pushy. I replied, "here I am the commander of the highest rank, and I has the final say in military affairs. You''d better leave as soon as you''re OK. "


    "..." after listening to me, kashevsky''s face changed, but he could not speak, but his face became darker and darker. He looked around at the militia commanders sitting around, hoping to get their support. Maybe you all recognized the anger in my heart from my words, and clearly knew that I was dissatisfied with this people''s committee member, so they all chose to be silent. As soon as they saw his eyes looking at themselves, they immediately turned their heads away or lowered their heads.


    Seeing no one''s support, he was a little embarrassed and could only glare at me and say, "I''ll sue you to the higher authorities! I''m going to write a report to the district Soviet and the city leaders at once, and let them punish you! "


    For his anger, I simply turned a blind eye, just a faint smile and said: "whatever you want! In addition to the two departments you mentioned, you can also write a report to general Zhukov, commander of the Western Front Army, saying that I snorted again. If Yushchenko was around, he would answer this question. But at this time, he was still standing in the jeep far away from the tent, so I had to answer this question myself: "my rank of major general was only obtained a few hours ago, In recognition of the meritorious deeds of my soldiers in defending Moscow, comrade Stalin personally awarded them. "


    On the issue of Stalin''s promotion to the rank of major general, the commanders of the militia had just heard Yushchenko say that, so their reaction was very flat. Kashevsky almost fell to the ground when he heard that. He was surprised and asked, "is it Comrade Stalin who personally promoted your rank of major general?" Stimulation alone is not enough for a man like kashevsky. To make him give in, he must be completely overwhelmed. The first blow worked very well. The people''s committee member shivered and got up at a loss. He stared at me with his pupils dilated.


    "Please leave. We are going to have a military meeting soon." I said coldly to him again.


    "OK, I''ll go right away." Hearing this, he quickly raised his legs and walked out as if he had been pardoned. But as he left the tent, I heard him mutter, "I''m going to write a report right now..."


    I looked at his back as he left, hummed softly, and then said to bukov, "Comrade captain, let''s study the details of the attack later."


    Before sitting down again, bukov asked a little worried: "Comrade division, you will not have any problem in driving out the people''s committee members like this, will you?"


    "What can he have?" I replied with disapproval, "don''t worry about him, comrade captain. What we are going to discuss now is how to get Himki back from the bandits. Now I''m risking my own head. If I can''t get it back, even if we haven''t sacrificed yet, our fate will go to the military court. " When I said this, I didn''t pay attention to the people''s committee member who just left, but what I didn''t expect was that a report submitted by this little man whom I looked down upon in my heart caused me a lot of trouble and even nearly killed myself.


    Because I have just talked with lieutenant colonel bunyachenko, chief of staff of 389 tank division. When his troops arrive, two tanks and division troops will detour to the flank of Himki, while the remaining four tanks will be responsible for providing effective fire support for the militia''s frontal feint. So when I assigned the task to bukov, I explained it to him in detail and emphasized that this attack was led by tanks and followed by infantry. Although a frontal attack is to disrupt the feint action deployed by the enemy, once the situation is favorable to our army, the feint will turn into a real attack.


    Finally, I added: "it''s not necessary to put all the troops of the battalion into attack. It''s necessary to leave a company to defend here. Which of you is willing to take the initiative to accept the task? "


    As soon as I said that, the atmosphere in the tent became a little tense again. Obviously, everyone saw that this attack was very risky, and whether it would succeed or not was unknown. Several company commanders looked at bukov as if they were waiting for him to take the Charter.


    Bukov coughed and said, "comrades, behind us is Moscow. This is the last battle. We can''t give up. We must know that the enemy will surely fail." At this point, he frowned and thought about it, then issued an order, saying: "each company will leave a platoon to form a mixed company to take charge of the defense work here. As for the commander of this company. " He looked around and then said with a smile to me, "it''s better to direct the work immediately."


    I knew that he was afraid that I would follow the soldiers to attack, and that something unexpected would happen, so he proposed that I should stay and command this temporary assembled garrison. I nodded slightly and promised, "OK!"


    After getting my affirmative reply, he told the rest of the commanders, "now that the task has been made clear, let''s go back to our company and transfer our staff."


    The commanders stood up, saluted us and turned away.


    When there were only me and bukov left in the tent, I went to the door of the tent, lifted the curtain and looked around. When I saw that there were no idlers waiting around, I went back to the middle of the tent and sat down. I whispered the question I had been hiding in my heart: "Comrade lieutenant, the subway station we met last time is quite far away from here, It should not be your defense area. How can you suddenly appear here and command a militia with poor training and equipment? According to my observation, there is still a big gap between them and the soldiers you used to command. "


    After listening to my question, bukov asked with a wry smile: "Sir, do you remember that mysterious subway train?"


    "Remember!" How can we forget such things when we can see people who come across the world like ourselves in this era. I sighed and said with some regret, "it''s a pity that hundreds of people from the future have died. In addition to on the platform, dozens of people who were killed by the interior ministry and those who got on the truck were all killed by German air strikes. "


    "Killed in the air raid?" Bukov was a little surprised and said, "Comrade teacher, who did you listen to? As far as I know, only two trucks carrying passengers were destroyed in the air raid, and the rest were evacuated in a timely manner, so the passengers on board were very safe and did not receive any harm. "


    "What?" I was stunned by the news. How could what he said be so different from what Colonel bzikov said? Who is lying. Thinking of this, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "so where are those passengers now?"


    "The first selected people who have professional expertise and know the riveting and welding technology of vehicle tongs were sent to the yizhevsk machine factory to participate in military production; Other women, children and old people are escorted to the east by the troops of the Ministry of interior. I don''t know exactly where they will go. "


    Bukov revealed this heavyweight news, shocked me, I fell on the stool, a blank mind, at that moment, I almost stopped thinking. It wasn''t until bukov next to me called me several times that I recovered my ability to think. Why is that so? It''s clear that most people are safe. Why did Colonel bzikov cheat me that all people were killed in the air raid? What is his purpose in doing so?


    I looked at bukov, who was sitting opposite me, and asked tentatively, "so, is it related to your being transferred here to command the militia camp?"


    "Yes He gave me a positive answer: "the soldiers who saw the mysterious subway train that day, except those from the interior department, the rest of them have been sent to the front line of Tula, and I," he said with a shrug. "Because of the duty, they were not sent to the front line like ordinary soldiers, but were transferred from the original defense area, Come here to command a makeshift militia battalion. "


    When I heard what he said, I seemed to understand that the subway train incident was really incredible. In order to prevent the soldiers from leaking secrets and causing panic, the relevant departments sent everyone to the dangerous front line. As for bukov, the situation is not much better. At least judging from today''s situation, he is also a dead man.


    Just as we were silent, we heard the roar of a tank motor outside. Then we heard captain Yushchenko''s voice outside the tent: "Comrade division, our tanks are coming!"

 Chapter 211

    Yushchenko, who suddenly emerged, resolved the embarrassing situation between bukov and me. I said, "come on, comrade captain! The 389th tank division is coming. Let''s go out and have a look. " Then he opened the curtain and went out.


    Walking out of the tent, I saw Yushchenko standing in front of me with his submachine gun. Seeing us coming out, he quickly came up to salute me and reported to me again: "report to Mr. division! The 389th tank division is coming


    When I looked in the direction of the roar of the motor, I saw six Soviet T-34 tanks in a straight line, slowly approaching our position. In the rear of the tank, we followed 80 or 90 soldiers. The uniforms of these soldiers are very miscellaneous, including black tank jumpers and ordinary military coats. It seems that they are not all infantry, and some of them may even be tank soldiers who have lost their cars.


    The tank stopped in the middle of the open space opened up in the forest. When the infantry were in the formation, the top cover of the turrets of two of the tanks was lifted, and two men got out of the tanks. Because it was not too far away, I recognized commander buniachenko and the major who had just picked me. They stood on the tank and looked around. They saw me standing in the tent. They jumped out of the tank and walked towards me.


    When they came to me, bunyachenko raised his hand and saluted: "report to general Comrade, bunyachenko, chief of staff of 389th division, leading the troops to come. Please give an order."


    I gave him a salute, then extended my hand to shake with him, and said: "Comrade chief of staff, since your troops have arrived, then according to the plan just now, first send two tanks to detour back to Himki''s right wing to hide, wait for the front feint to start, then attack from the enemy''s flank and beat them hard. As for the infantry that work together. " At this point, I looked at the infantry formation of 389 division standing neatly in the open space, and the militiamen in disorder. I felt that it was more appropriate for the well-trained regular army to carry out such a task, so I continued: "it''s still the infantry of your division. After all, they all belong to the same army, and the effect of cooperation is better. "


    "All right!" It is estimated that my reply has long been expected by buniachenko, so he readily agreed, and then asked for my opinion: "I intend to let major malafeyev carry out this task. We should know that he is one of the most experienced commanders in our division. Under his command, he will surely achieve the expected results."


    I looked at major marafeyev, who had offended me just now, nodded slightly, turned around and said to bukov next to me, "Comrade captain, please arrange two guides to lead the way for the major''s shock troops."


    "Yes Bukov agreed. Then he went to marafeyev, made a gesture of invitation, and said, "Comrade major, please follow me. I''ll arrange some soldiers as guides for you."


    After the departure of the special detachment led by major malafeyev, the soldiers of the militia battalion also assembled. Seeing the black crowd standing in the open space, buniachenko suddenly suggested to me, "Comrade General, we are going to attack soon. In order to boost morale, would you like to speak to the soldiers? "


    Seeing that there were so many people, I wanted to refuse, but I saw that bukov had already stood on the tank of buniachenko and began to speak loudly to the soldiers: "comrades! Our tank troops have come. With their firepower support, we will launch a fierce attack on the bandits who occupy Himki! " During bukov''s speech, I was surrounded by Yushchenko and several of them. Together with buniachenko, I walked to his tank.


    Seeing our past, Captain bukov, who was talking, stopped and looked at me. Then he turned the topic to me: "comrades, it is Comrade oshanina, commander of the eighth division of the guard, who has just been promoted to the rank of major general by Comrade Stalin, who commands our battle with outstanding results. Now please let her speak for you."


    In the applause of everyone''s welcome, I have no way back. I have to work hard to climb up the tank with buniachenko. I stand on the tank, open arms, palm down pressure, signal everyone quiet. Seeing my action, all the people stopped clapping and quieted down. Only the roar of the tank motor could be heard at the scene.


    I cleared my throat, looked down at the militiamen looking up at me, and said in a loud voice, "comrades, brothers! I don''t care what you used to do, workers or citizens, students or professors, but now, you are all soldiers. Your mission is to take up the gun and fight bravely to defend our great capital Moscow. The Kremlin, where Comrade Stalin works, is not far behind us. We must never let the enemy move forward and take the initiative to destroy them. Even if we have only one person left, we should stop the enemy from advancing. " Hearing what I said, the soldiers below were silent. It seemed that they were not confident enough to defeat the German army. I quickly added: "the bandits who occupied Himki have no ability to attack any more. We should attack them with one go, and then we can eliminate or drive them away. When the war is won in the future, we will set up a monument here, on which it will be written, "the militia camp of Himki, let the bandits stop here", so that our descendants can remember our glorious battle today! "


    With these words, I carefully observed the expression of the militiamen and saw that although they were still silent, we could see from the eyes of many people that they could not wait to fight immediately. So I pushed the boat with the current and put fire to their high emotion. I cried out: "today''s war, no matter success or failure! It will go down in history¡° Wula First, one person yelled, and then more and more people yelled. Soon, the sound of orderly shouting resounded all over the world. Even bukov and bunyachenko around me were also shouting. The fighting passion of the soldiers yearning for the honor was aroused by my simple words.

 Chapter 212

    Hundreds of people chanted "Wula!" in unison, At that moment, I even had the impulse to take the lead in charge. Fortunately, I finally held back.


    I was supported by Yushchenko and others to walk down from the tank armor plate, while bukov stood in my position and continued to do the agitation work. As soon as the shouting stopped, he immediately cried out, "listen to my command, all of us have bayonets!" With his shouts, the soldiers standing around the tank took bayonets from their waists and inserted them into their rifles. Bukov saw the soldiers ready, nodded, turned back, said a few words to bunyachenko, who had already got into the tank and only showed half of his body, and jumped off the tank.


    Buniachenko looked around and saw that the bayonets were shining in the sunlight. He raised his right hand and cried out: "for the motherland! For Stalin His answer was the earth shaking "Wula!" Sound. He turned his body and looked ahead. When the soldiers stopped shouting, he waved his right hand forward and cried out, "go ahead!"


    With his shouts, a thick plume of smoke came out of the rear of his tank, and then the body of the tank rushed forward, taking the lead. The soldiers with bayonets and rifles were shouting and charging behind.


    When the soldiers followed the tanks into the open, bukov and I came to the edge of the forest, where we built temporary wooden fortifications. This open-air fortification is half a man high, and there are more than a dozen soldiers left behind to take on the guard task. As soon as we went in, bukov handed me a pair of binoculars so that we could observe the situation here.


    It''s about 300 meters from the forest to the edge of the residential area. When the troops rushed over 100 meters, there was no movement from the German troops in the settlement. When the troops advanced to 200 meters, the German troops began to stop and shoot. First, the machine guns in the residential building, and then the armored vehicles parked outside the building also started to fire.


    Under the intensive German fire, there were casualties in the front two platoons. This time, the militiamen did not rush forward like they did just now. Instead, they shot back on the ground.


    Seeing the Germans start shooting, buniachenko retracts the turret and covers it. Then our four tanks stopped, turned their guns, and opened fire on the most powerful point of German fire. After a brutal battle, the surviving tank soldiers had excellent fighting quality. In the first round of shooting, they killed three German armored vehicles. Then two stopped at the same place and continued to fire at the German firepower, while the other two continued to push towards the residential area.


    Seeing that the most dangerous armored vehicle was killed, the soldiers who had been lying on the ground got up again under the command of their company platoon leader, shouting and continuing to rush forward with weapons.


    When the troops were only 50 meters away from the residential area, suddenly a shell flew out of the residential area and landed in the attack line. The soldiers near the explosion site were blown to pieces. Except those who were killed on the spot, the wounded who had not died for a while fell on the ground and screamed loudly, which made me feel unbearable hundreds of meters away.


    As the first tank rushed into the residential area, some soldiers also rushed in. Seeing all this, bukov next to me continued to hold the telescope in one hand and waved it desperately in the other hand, shouting excitedly: "take it down! Brothers, take it down! Got Himki back! Comrade division, you see, the soldiers are rushing up. "


    I looked at the constant stream of soldiers rushing into the residential areas, and the two tanks left in the periphery to clean up the German firepower with artillery. I laughed bitterly and didn''t speak. In fact, I know very well in my heart that although our troops have already entered, it does not mean that we have taken back Himki. You know, what''s going to happen next is the hardest street fight. In the narrow urban area, tanks can only play a limited role in street fighting. To solve the battle, we can only rely on infantry. We hope that the circuitous troops can join up with the positive troops as soon as possible.


    "What? Himki is back! " A familiar voice suddenly sounded around me. I turned around and saw that it was the member of the people''s committee just now. He excitedly said, "let me have a look!" Then he snatched the telescope from captain bukov''s hand.


    I looked at him discontentedly and wanted to say something about him. When I saw bukov next to me waving his hand desperately, indicating that I would not have any more conflicts with this member of the Committee. I hummed coldly and continued to take up the telescope to observe the war.


    After a while, I heard captain bukov''s voice: "comrades of the people''s Committee, please don''t stand so high. You should know that there may be enemy snipers in the residential area..."


    I took the telescope away from my eyes and turned around. It turned out that kacheves base station was on a horizontal wood. Most of his body was exposed outside the fortification, and we were half shorter than him with only his head exposed. I looked at him and said bitterly in my heart, "you''d better let the German snipers kill you if you''re such a nuisance!"


    As soon as I thought of this, I vaguely heard the sound of the bullet breaking. Then kachevsky''s head looked back and he fell down and hit the ground heavily.


    Bukov rushed up and checked kashevsky a little. Then he shook his head and said to me, "Mr. division, he is hopeless. The sniper''s bullet broke his skull."


    "Carry it away!" I said faintly, and then raised the telescope to continue to observe the enemy, for me, such a person died, it is not worthy of sympathy¡° Yes Bukov agreed, and then arranged for the soldiers to carry kashevsky''s body out of the fortification.

 Chapter 213

    The militiamen had all rushed into Himki, and the dense gunfire and smoke from time to time showed that fierce fighting was going on inside. In terms of time, it is time for major malafeyev''s troops to enter the settlement from the flank. Today, the battle was quite smooth. Originally, we only planned to make a feint attack in the front. Unexpectedly, with the cooperation of the tank troops, we attacked immediately, and the feint attack became the main attack.


    After a while, I heard the sound of guns from the residential area gradually thinning down. I think the battle is coming to an end. After all, there are only dozens of houses here, which are evenly distributed on both sides of the road. Even if the soldiers fight house by house, they should destroy the enemy.


    I moved the camera to the middle of the forest and residential areas, and found that there were still wounded people struggling in the open field. Put down the telescope immediately and looked left and right. Captain bukov, standing on the right, was watching the battle with a telescope, while captain Yushchenko, the commander of the guard company at the left rear, stood upright and looked ahead. I quickly told him: "Comrade captain, you immediately take people to the front to carry down the wounded!"


    "Yes He agreed very simply, turned and rushed behind, shouting, "come with me." Forty or fifty soldiers, originally hidden in the simple fortifications, stood up and ran to the open after Yushchenko. And grissa and the other two soldiers stayed by my side, as a guard.


    Seeing Yushchenko commanding the soldiers to treat the wounded, bukov put down his telescope and carefully asked for my advice: "Comrade division commander, we have almost taken Himki down. You see, shall we go to the front as well? "


    I turned around and looked at the place where kashevsky was lying just now. There was only a pool of frozen black blood on the ground. My heart said that I would not follow his footsteps, right? I listened to the gunfire coming from the residential area. It seemed that it was mainly the gunfire of our army. The German submachine gun occasionally rang twice, which was immediately suppressed by the gunfire of our army. It seems that the German army was almost wiped out at this time. There should be no danger in the past. So I nodded and said, "OK!"


    When I just came out of the fortification, I was still a little hesitant. I was afraid that a bullet would bring me down. But after a long walk, I was close to Yushchenko, where they were treating the wounded, and it was still safe. My heart stone fell to the ground. I could not help but quicken my pace and walk quickly to the residential area.


    By the time we walked into Himki, the battle was over. Along the way, we saw soldiers cleaning the battlefield, some moving the corpses to the roadside, some escorting the German troops with hands up to the settlement.


    Seeing that Himki was recaptured, Captain bukov was relieved and said with emotion, "Comrade division commander, we have finally recaptured the residential area!"


    "Yes, it is!" I said faintly: "if there is no tank division''s support today, it is not easy to recapture here." At this point, I looked around. Except for the two tanks left outside the residential area, I didn''t see any of the other tanks, and I didn''t know where they were going.


    When I was looking east and West, I suddenly heard someone yelling at me. Looking in the direction of the voice, it was bunyachenko and two tank soldiers coming towards me. The commander''s arm was bandaged in front of his chest. It seemed that he was injured again.


    I met him, touched his arm gently, and asked with concern, "chief of staff, are you injured?"


    Bunyachenko said with a wry smile: "originally, the battle was about to end, but unexpectedly, an enemy anti tank man burst out from a house on the side of the road and broke the track of the tank. One of the tank soldiers died on the spot, and my hand was injured. But it doesn''t matter. When the tank is repaired, I can still fight the enemy. "


    Just as he was talking, suddenly a militiamen came running from the West intersection, shouting: "Captain bukov, Captain bukov! Something''s wrong


    "What''s the matter?" Asked bukov nervously.


    ¡±When the militiamen ran up to us, they did not even care to salute. They panted and said, "tanks, enemy tanks, there are enemy tanks in the west forest!"


    "What?" We were all startled by the news. Only after Himki got back, the enemy reinforcements appeared. We don''t know if we can stop them with our current strength?


    I immediately told buniachenko: "chief of staff, please quickly transfer the remaining tanks and try to block them out of the residential area." Then he said to bukov, "Comrade captain, organize the militia, enter the residential buildings, and choose favorable terrain to stop the enemy. Now we have to defend Himki at all costs and never let the enemy fight in again. "


    Just as I was giving orders, another soldier came. From his uniform, we can tell that this time it was not the militia, but the soldiers of 389 tank division. He ran in front of us, took a few breaths, excitedly reported: "report commander Comrade! There are our troops beyond the forest


    We are completely confused by this news. Just now we said it was German tanks, but this time it was our troops. Who is right? I pondered a little, then waved and said, "go and see what''s going on!"


    We came to the northwest intersection and saw an armored force approaching in the distance. Six T34 tanks opened the road in front of us, followed by armored vehicles and trucks full of soldiers. Because the distance is only 200 meters, even if you don''t use a telescope, you can clearly see that it''s our army. Seeing that it was his own army, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Buniachenko gave the order to the soldiers around him: "bring the flag of our division quickly and insert it at the intersection, so as to avoid misunderstanding with the opposite army."

 Chapter 214

    Buniachenko''s order was quickly conveyed. Just as the soldiers of the civilian barracks began to gather at the intersection, a tank came quickly from the north side of the residential area. After passing us, we drove forward more than ten meters and then stopped steadily. The top of the turret touched the ground and opened. Major malafeyev leaned out of the turret and then spread out a red flag.


    The militiamen and soldiers originally gathered here because they found that some troops were approaching, and they were going to stop. Who knew that they were actually their own troops. Then they looked at the flag inlaid with yellow edges, with a sickle and hammer in the middle and a five-star flag flying in the wind on the tank, so both the soldiers and the commanders cheered loudly.


    Maybe I heard the cheers and saw the flag flying in the wind. The approaching troops stopped more than 30 meters away. Tanks and armored cars stopped on both sides, leaving the loaded truck in the middle. As soon as the car stopped, the soldiers jumped out of the car and lined up in the command of the commander.


    When the opposite army was in formation, two commanders came towards us. Looking back at the faces flushed with excitement, I quickly found bunyachenko and bukov in the middle, so I said to them with a smile: "chief of staff, Captain, you see, it seems that the commander opposite is coming. Let''s go and say hello to them."


    Two commanders of the other side came up to us and stopped. They stopped at the same time. They saluted and asked, "are they comrades of the Himki militia annihilation camp?"


    Hearing the other side''s question, bunyachenko and I didn''t speak, but showed the blocked bunyachenko with our side. Seeing that we were all looking at him, the captain could only step forward and answer, "yes, we are from the Himki militia annihilation camp, and I am the commander of the battalion, Captain bukov. I don''t know what part of you are? "


    The young officer on the left replied, "we''re from the garrison command. I''m major shermark. This is first-class instructor aldonin. We''re here to help you recapture Himki. However, judging from the current situation, you have successfully completed the words given to you by your superiors. " Although he was talking to bukov, his eyes swept at me from time to time.


    When I saw that there was nothing wrong with me here, I just wanted to turn around and leave. Commander aldonin, who was much shorter than him, suddenly opened his mouth. He looked at me and asked hesitantly, "Comrade commander, are you a guard? I pointed to the door not far behind him with a smile and asked," is the office of commander Zhukov here? "


    He shook his head, raised his hand to the left and said, "this is the communication room. The comrades'' office of the general should go straight ahead. That''s the room at the end of the corridor." I said thanks and went on.


    After walking dozens of meters, I saw another table. Although the man sitting behind the table still didn''t wear a military cap, I could see clearly the rank of captain on his badge and hastened to step up. The other side saw me go over, quickly stood up and asked in a low voice, "is that Mr. o''xia Nina?"


    "Yes." I made a quick promise.


    "The general has been waiting for you," he said, turning to push open the door, and then made a gesture to me: "he said that if you come, you can go directly to see him without notice. Please


    When I entered the room, I saw a large wooden table with a map spread out in the middle of the room, just like the front-line headquarters, as well as telephone and gas lamps for lighting. Zhukov, who was not wearing a hat and a military coat, was on the phone behind my back. He didn''t seem to notice my arrival at all.


    I didn''t speak. I closed the door gently and stood straight in front of the wooden table. Looking at his familiar back, I can''t help but feel excited.


    The voice of the call came clearly. I analyzed it from the tone of his voice. It must be Stalin who talked with him. Just listen to him say: "because of rokosovsky''s rapid counterattack, half an hour ago, all the enemies who occupied the red village had been driven out, and they also seized the long-range artillery that the German army was ready to fire at Moscow The German troops who rushed into the area of XXX were also driven out of the city and across the canal. Comrade Stalin, it''s time. Please give an order immediately to subordinate the first assault group army and the tenth group army to the Western forces, so as to counter attack the enemy and completely repel the enemy from near Moscow. "


    Said here, he turned to pick up the cup on the table, want to drink water, drink a mouthful only to find that the original cup has been empty. I looked around and saw that the teapot was placed on a small stove in the corner of the wall. I quickly went to pick it up and went to refill the tea for him. He then noticed my arrival, nodded to me with a smile, and continued to say to Stalin, "the enemy is exhausted now, but if the troops of the front army do not use the first assault group army and the tenth group army, they will not be able to eliminate the wedge that the enemy has inserted into our defense line." At this time, Stalin seemed to have said something. He was silent, took a drink from his glass, and then said in a decisive tone, "if we don''t eliminate them now, then the enemy will use the reserves to strengthen the troops in the Moscow area. At that time, the situation will become complicated! I think it''s time to counter the assault, comrade Stalin! " After that, he held the phone and listened for a while with a serious look, then slowly put down the phone.


    He looked up at me with a smile on his face and asked, "the settlement near Sun Mountain City was taken back a few hours ago. Why are you here at this time? " Although I know him very well, I still can''t save the basic etiquette. I immediately stood at attention and reported, "report commander, as soon as the residential area is taken back, I''ll be here immediately. But something happened on the way and it was delayed. "¡° What''s the matter? " He asked with concern. Before I could speak, the phone on his desk rang. He picked up the phone and said, "I''m Zhukov." I don''t know who is calling. Anyway, the more he listens, the more ugly he looks. He frowns and looks at me from time to time. Finally, he said, "I''ll get to know the situation first. You can call back later." When he put down the phone, he looked at me and said seriously, "the phone is from the city government. They are telling me about you." When did I offend the people in the city government? Without waiting for me to explain, he continued: "they have received a report from Comrade kashevsky, member of the people''s Committee of the Soviet people''s Committee of the northern region, that you have arbitrarily revised the operational orders of the Soviet people''s Committee of the northern region, which has had a very bad impact. Tell me, what''s going on? " Oh, it turned out that it was this matter. My mental calculation fell to the ground, and I quickly told Zhukov the cause and effect of the matter. After that, I felt a little uneasy and thought that even if I was wrong in this matter, seizing Himki from the German army was equal in merits and demerits, and he would not pursue it again. Instead of dwelling too much on the details, he asked frankly, "who is Himmy defending now?" Fortunately, I had ready answers to all these questions, so I replied, "except for the militia battalion, the remnants of the 389th tank division, and the garrison command, the troops defending Himki. The commanders are lieutenant colonel bunyachenko, chief of staff of the 389 tank division, major sheemak and first-class instructor aldonin of the garrison headquarters, and captain bukov, commander of the militia battalion. "

 Chapter 215

    After listening to my answer, Zhukov did not speak. He sat down with a teacup in his hand and looked down at the map in front of him. Because he didn''t ask me to sit down, I stood upright at the table.


    I stood for a while and found that Zhukov''s attention had not yet shifted from the map in front of him. I knew that he was considering a new combat deployment and was thinking about whether to say goodbye to him. At this time, a telephone on the desk suddenly rang. Zhukov, who was still in deep thought, woke up, grabbed the phone and said in a loud voice, "I''m Zhukov."


    "Comrade Zhukov!" Because of the close distance, I heard Stalin''s deep and slow Georgia accent clearly in the microphone.


    "Hello! Comrade Stalin Zhukov suddenly stood up, because the action was too big, and his military uniform fell to the ground. I quickly walked around the table, picked up the army coat on the ground and put it on Zhukov.


    Stalin on the other side of the phone still said without hesitation: "I just talked with marshal Shaposhnikov and decided to subordinate the first assault group army and the 10th group army, as well as Comrade Vlasov''s 20th group army, to the Western Front Army from November 29 today, all under your command."


    "Well," Zhukov didn''t have many surprises. Maybe the acquisition of these troops is far from his expectation: "with these troops, we can carry out counter attack against the German army."


    They talked a few more words. Suddenly, I vaguely heard Stalin mention my name. I couldn''t help but prick up my ears to hear what it was. He was a little unhappy and asked: "what''s the matter with o''shanina? What''s she doing when she doesn''t command the troops to defend in the sun mountain city? The leader of the municipal Party committee sued her in front of me. "


    "Comrade Stalin, please listen to me. This thing is like this... "Zhukov looked at me, and then told Stalin in detail what I had just reported to him. Finally, he added: "thanks to Comrade oshanina''s prompt decision to organize militia and tank troops to attack in time, all the German troops stationed in the Himki settlement were wiped out, blocking the enemy''s advance to the Kremlin."


    After listening to Zhukov''s explanation, Stalin asked slowly, "well, what are the positions and ranks of bunyachenko and bukov who participated in the attack?"


    Zhukov put his hand over the microphone and looked at me. I quickly replied, "lieutenant general bunyachenko is the chief of staff of the 389th tank division, and captain bunkov is the commander of the militia annihilation battalion." After listening, Zhukov released his hand covering the microphone and repeated my words to Stalin.


    "Immediately, the 389th tank division was added from the reserve, and bunyachenko made him the division commander and promoted him to the rank of colonel. As for captain bukov, he was promoted to the rank of major and made a battalion commander of the eighth guard division of oshanina. " In a few words, Stalin arranged the future of the two commanders who took part in the Himki offensive. After that, he hung up the phone.


    Zhukov put down the phone, looked up at me, sighed softly, and said earnestly, "Rita, as your superior and elder, I want to say something about you. Soldiers should take obeying orders as their bounden duty. No matter right or wrong, as long as they give orders, you must carry them out. You can''t doubt them or change them casually. We should know that the nature of violating the orders of the superior is very bad. Even if we win in the end, we may be sent to a military court. Do you understand? "


    I know what he said was that I changed the Soviet operational order in the northern region without authorization, although I always thought that it was right to adjust the operational plan according to the changes in the situation on the battlefield. When he heard that Zhukov had said this, he could only bow his head and admit his mistake: "I''m sorry, comrade general, I''m wrong."


    He got up, walked around the table to me, patted me on the shoulder and said, "don''t worry, comrade Stalin. I''ve explained it for you just now. Forget it this time. Next time you encounter such a situation, please let me know and let me deal with it in person. "


    Listening to what he said, I knew that he was trying his best to defend me. He quickly replied, "I see. Thank you, Comrade General! " When I said this, I was fluke in my heart. If Zhukov didn''t protect me, I don''t know what fate would be waiting for me now.


    Just then, the telephone on the desk rang again. This time, it was the commander of a certain group army below. He reported that his front-line enemy was attacking fiercely, and the lines of defense in some areas had been broken through by the enemy. On hearing this, Zhukov was furious and yelled at the other side: "I order you to organize troops to carry out counter assault immediately, and you must take back the positions occupied by the enemy, otherwise you will wait to go to the military court."


    There is more than one such phone. Before we put it down, several other phones on the desk ring one after another. The contents of these calls were similar. They all said that the German army suddenly launched an attack in a certain area, and the enemy, who had a huge advantage in technology and equipment, forced our army to retreat and quickly occupied a certain area. When I saw Zhukov angrily angry at the commander on the other side of the phone, I felt particularly embarrassed. At the same time, I was glad that I had good luck. It was so easy for me to attack Taiyangshan city and Himki.


    When he put down all the phones and sat down at his desk and stopped talking, I stepped forward two steps and asked cautiously, "senior general, I don''t know if you have sent me to the headquarters. Do you have any tasks to assign?" Hearing my voice and looking at the map in a daze, Zhukov seemed to think that there was still a number one like me in the room. He looked up at me and said slowly, "I''m calling you back from the front because there will be a military meeting tomorrow to set up a counterattack plan against the German army. Present at the meeting were commanders of various army groups, as well as division commanders of several guard divisions. You''re going to take part, too. " I don''t think it''s a good thing for me to stand here, so I immediately asked, "what''s my task now?"¡° Your task now is to have a good rest. I know you haven''t had a good rest these days in order to direct the battle. So I''ve arranged a room for you upstairs. You can go and have a good sleep and come back at the meeting tomorrow. " Then he called to the door, "Comrade captain, come in." With his shouts, the door was pushed open, and the captain appeared at the door. Zhukov said to him, "take Mr. oshanina upstairs to have a rest." After saluting Zhukov, I followed the captain out of the room. After going out, the captain planned to take me directly upstairs to find my room, but I saw that he was alone here. If he left, there would be no one on duty at the door, so he politely declined his kindness, asked the number of his room, and planned to go to the third floor by himself. When I got to the corridor where the communication room was located, I suddenly heard the captain calling me from behind. I stopped and looked back. The captain asked aloud, "Comrade division commander, I''ll have your new uniform sent to your room later."¡° Well, I''ll trouble you! " Then I went back. As soon as I turned around, my body banged lightly, and my elbow seemed to hit a soft silk ball. I fixed my eyes on it. It turned out to be a young female soldier. Maybe I hit her a little too hard just now. I was frowning and rubbing my chest with my hands. Although the other party was just a soldier, I apologized to her immediately: "sorry, comrade soldier! I walked carelessly, didn''t I hurt? " Just as he wanted to say more, he suddenly felt that he was a little familiar and looked up and down. He immediately remembered that this was Nina, the soldier who accompanied me shopping two months ago. He immediately patted her on the shoulder and said excitedly, "Nina, it''s you! Do you still know me? I''m o''shanina! " Nina looked up at me carefully and recognized me. Her eyebrows jumped up and she hugged me with a smile. She exclaimed excitedly, "remember, Rita CHICKA, I''m so glad to see you here again!"¡° be quiet! Please be quiet Hearing us yelling excitedly, the staff sergeant sitting on duty in the corridor immediately stood up and made a voice to stop our gaffes. Nina spat out her tongue, made a face at the sergeant, and then pulled me out.

 Chapter 216

    We whispered and laughed and walked up the third floor side by side.


    On the third floor, there is a table with a lot of things on it. With the help of dim light, I could see all the candles on it. I wonder why there are so many candles here. Nina has already picked up one and lit it with a match. The lighting in the corridor on this floor can''t be compared with that on the second floor. Except for a steam lamp hanging at the entrance of the stairs, there is only one in the middle of the corridor and one at the end of the corridor. Because the scope that the steam lamp can illuminate is only more than ten meters, the whole corridor looks gloomy and frightening.


    Nina held a candle to show me the way. After walking for a while, she looked back and asked me with concern, "what''s your room number, Rita CHICKA?"


    I thought about it and said, "the captain said it''s in Room 303."


    Nina looked around, then pointed to a door not far from us and said, "here it is. Let''s go in!" Then he pushed open the door and went in.


    I followed her into the room and found that it was a double room. Nina did not know where to find a crystal candlestick, put the candle on the bedside table between the two beds. Then he asked me to sit down first, and she went out to find something to eat for me.


    After Nina left, I took off my military coat and hung it on the coat rack by the door. With the help of the light of the candle, I looked at the environment of the room. Maybe it used to be a senior cadre ward or something, and there was an independent bathroom.


    Because there was no heating, I went to the bathroom and simply rinsed with cold water. Then I got into bed in my underwear. I leaned against my bed and tried to recall the turning point of the Moscow defense war. On which day, since I came to this world, many events have deviated from the original history. Will the counter offensive on December 6 start as scheduled?


    When I was thinking about it, I heard the door ring and looked up. It turned out that Nina was back with a few pieces of bread and a cup of coffee in her hand. After she put the things on the bedside table, she turned and closed the door, and put the bolt in.


    She took off her military coat and hung it on the clothes rack. Then she sat on the bed opposite me, with her elbows on her legs, her chin in her hands and her eyes fixed on me eating. She looked at me like this, which made me feel particularly embarrassed. She quickly finished the bread in her hand.


    She stood up to help me pack things, I was surprised to find her abdomen slightly bulging, I can''t help but scream, and then curiously asked: "Nina, do you have it?"


    She nodded shyly and said, "it''s been two months."


    I immediately thought of the handsome driver and asked, "Sergeant a geifu?"


    She nodded.


    "Where is ah gei Fu now?" I couldn''t help asking again.


    "Don''t mention him, he was transferred to the automobile team of the garrison headquarters at the beginning of this month, and soon got involved with a female typist," she said


    I was surprised and asked with concern, "what are you going to do? Do you want to have a baby?"


    "Well," she nodded hard and said, "we are just husband and wife in the war. I knew we would not have a good result, but this child is mine. I must give birth to him." With that, he picked up the empty coffee cup on the table and walked out of the room.


    Looking at Nina''s leaving, I sighed, got up, closed the door, lay down on the bed again, and then thought about my problems. Because I was so tired, I fell asleep unconsciously.


    When I wake up, I find it''s bright outside. Afraid that Zhukov was in a hurry, he rushed to the bathroom to wash. After washing, he put on his clothes in the mirror and went downstairs to see Zhukov.


    When I came to Zhukov''s office, I saw a new lieutenant on duty. I nodded to him, just wanted to go in, but he stood up and stopped me. His big figure blocked the door tightly, and asked coldly, "Comrade commander, what can I do for you?"


    I didn''t lose my temper with him, but voluntarily reported my identity: "I''m oshanina, the eighth division commander of the guards. I''m going to see general Zhukov. I made an appointment yesterday."


    He picked up a piece of paper from the table, looked at it, shook his head and said, "sorry, comrade commander, you are not on the list of the senior general to meet today. Please go back. "


    "You I glared at him fiercely. Just as I was about to get angry with this illiterate man, I heard Zhukov''s swearing voice coming from the room. It seems that who provoked him. I may be a scapegoat if I go in at this time, so I immediately swallow the words back and leave without saying a word.


    As soon as I got to the corridor of the communication room, someone stopped me head-on. Then I heard a voice saying in surprise, "look, who is this? Isn''t this our heroine commander o''shanina? "


    I looked up and saw that the man who stopped me was actually general leliushenka, the former commander of the 5th army. When I saw the senior commander who had dealt with me before standing in front of me, I was very happy. I immediately stood at attention and saluted: "Hello! General lelushenka, nice to see you. "


    Then he grabbed my hand, shook it a few times and said happily, "I''m glad to see you, too." After a pause, he said to the people around him, "Comrade o''xanina once saved my life in the battlefield, otherwise I would have died long ago." The man beside him laughed and said, "general lelushenka, you may not imagine that Comrade oshanina not only saved your life, but also saved my life." Then he reached out and shook hands with me. "Nice to see you again, comrade oshanina." I looked blankly at the young general who took the initiative to shake hands with me, and then I knew that this was major general dovator, commander of the 2nd cavalry of the guards. So he also extended his hand to him, "Hello, comrade general, I''m glad to see that you have recovered and discharged from hospital." Lieliushenka was curious that I had also saved dovator. He wanted to ask him what was the matter. The lieutenant on duty at Zhukov''s gate had already seen the two men, so he called out: "two general comrades, please come quickly. The general has been waiting for you for a long time." They looked at each other with a smile, then shook hands with me and went straight to the office to see Zhukov.

 Chapter 217

    I went back to my room, went to the window and opened it. Outside the window, the north wind is whistling and the snow is falling. There is a vast expanse of white everywhere. Looking at the snowflakes flying in the sky outside the window, I feel a little relaxed. In such weather, it is impossible for German planes to take off. The ground attack without air cover will greatly weaken its power.


    I can see the entrance of the hospital from my position. I found that the security work here was very good. In addition to the sentry, there were sandbag Fortifications on both sides of the gate. Beside the fortifications were tanks and armored vehicles. Patrol teams in platoons passed by the gate every few minutes. From this point of view, even if the German sneak attack is equipped with heavy equipment such as tanks, it is not easy to enter the hospital in a short time.


    It''s not that there are black Jim cars and jeeps coming. After one or two people get out of the car, they drive away immediately. As soon as the people coming out of the car came to the door, the Sentinels on duty saluted immediately. It seemed that they were all senior officers recruited by Zhukov.


    He was lying at the window, looking at the scenery in all sorts of boredom. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. He quickly got up and went to open the door. At the door stood the second lieutenant who had seen him last night, with a famous soldier behind him. He raised his hand to the brim of his cotton cap and saluted me. As soon as he wanted to speak, I had already said cleverly, "it''s the senior general who asked you to come to me. I''ll see him with you."


    The captain reached out to stop me and said apologetically, "I''m sorry, sir. I didn''t come to ask you to see the commander. As far as I know, the war meeting has been postponed. You are not on the list of people he will meet today. "


    I couldn''t help being disappointed by what he said. Then I asked, "Comrade captain, since you''re not here to invite me to see the commander, what else can I do for you?"


    The captain replied, "I''m sending you a new uniform." Then he leaned over and waved his head to the soldier behind him. The soldier immediately took a step forward and handed over the uniform in his hand without saying a word.


    I took the coat and gave thanks to the two men. I politely asked them to come in and sit down, but the captain refused. They saluted me again and turned away.


    Watching them go downstairs, I immediately closed the door and couldn''t wait to take off my military coat and put on the coat that belonged to the general. Looking at the two Venus on the red diamond neckband in the mirror, I was very excited. After a few months in the world, I had already become a general by mistake. Maybe one day, I will become a unique female marshal in the history of the Soviet Union.


    I''ve been admiring myself in front of the mirror for a long time. I think it''s boring to stay in the room all the time. I''d better go out for a walk. First, I''ll find a place to call the division headquarters to learn about the situation of Taiyangshan city. By the way, I''ll take a look at Yushchenko and some of them who came with me.


    I went out of the gate and asked the officer on duty where the people I came with last night were. As a result, the other party said that he was not on duty last night and did not know where the people who escorted me lived. When I asked him where he could make a phone call, he readily promised me that there was a direct line to the front line in the communication room on the second floor.


    So I went back into the building and ran to the communication room on the second floor. I thought that when the other party saw my general uniform, the soldiers on duty at the door would let me in easily. Unexpectedly, I was stopped. The soldier on duty said with a strong voice: "this is a military area. No one can enter without the permission of the commander."


    Seeing that I couldn''t go to the communication room, I wanted to find Zhukov. Unexpectedly, he was blocked by the officer on duty at his door, saying that Zhukov didn''t have time to see me today. When I heard him say that, I was dumbfounded. I stood at the door and didn''t know what to do.


    When I was ready to turn around and leave, a familiar voice came from behind: "isn''t this comrade o''shanina? What can I do for you


    I turned around and saw a general who had just come out of the room. When I saw the pair of round glasses he was wearing, I immediately recognized that this was Vlasov, commander of the 20th army. After all, we had dealt with each other several times, and his characteristics were obvious, so I recognized him immediately. I quickly saluted him and said excitedly, "Hello, general Vlasov. I''m glad to meet you here." When I said this, my eyes unconsciously glanced behind him to see if deputy commander Lin was also with him.


    My little action was noticed by him. He laughed and said, "I came here alone. Deputy commander Lin from China is commanding the troops for me at the front line." After a pause, he asked, "what can I do for you to find the commander?"


    I pointed to the direction of the communication room and said to him wrongly, "I want to call the army in the communication room, but the soldier on duty at the door won''t let me in, saying that I can only enter with the permission of the commander. I wanted to get authorization from the senior general, but I was stopped by the officer on duty at the gate here. "


    He nodded, patted me on the shoulder and said, "don''t worry, it''s up to me." Then he turned and walked back into the room. Because he just came out of it, the officers on duty didn''t stop him.


    After two or three minutes, Vlasov came out of the room again, handed me a note and said, "this is the temporary pass issued by Comrade Zhukov himself. Just give it to the soldiers on duty at the door."


    He accompanied me all the way to the corridor where the communication room was, and then he said, "go and make a phone call. I''ll go back to the front line first. Good luck Then he reached out and shook my hand, and went straight out. Seeing the pass signed by Zhukov himself, the soldier on duty saluted me first, then ran to open the door and yelled inside. Seeing that a famous soldier quickly ran to the door, he introduced me to him and said, "this general is going to make a phone call to the front line. You are responsible for the arrangement." Finally, he raised the note in his hand and added: "this is authorized by general Zhukov." The soldier in the room led me to a phone and said, "Comrade General, this is the phone. Where do you want to talk to? Just talk to the operator and they will connect you right away. " Then he turned and left. I picked up the receiver and as soon as I heard a voice coming from it, I immediately said, "Hello! Please connect me with the headquarters of the eighth division of Jinwei in Taiyangshan city. "¡° OK, comrade commander, please wait a moment. I''ll connect you right away. " After a short time, a familiar voice came from the microphone: "Hello! This is the headquarters of the eighth division of Jinwei. "¡° Hello! Comrade political commissar, I''m teacher o''xia Ningna. "

 Chapter 218

    The next day when the captain was asked to go to a meeting, I was lying in bed with my stomach covered in my forehand, suffering from dysmenorrhea. I don''t know if Rita had this problem all the time or only after she suffered an abdominal injury.


    Yesterday after the phone call, just returned to the room began to attack, pain I roll all over, fortunately, Nina just off work to see. She helped me lie on the bed, fed me a cup of honey water, and helped me rub my stomach for a long time before I got better. Unexpectedly, after one night, it broke out again at dawn.


    Hearing the knock on the door, I covered my abdomen with my hand, got down from the bed, walked slowly and opened the door. Standing at the door was the captain who delivered the clothes yesterday. When he saw me like this, he first saluted according to the rules and reported respectfully, "Mr. oshanina, I''ve come to invite you to attend the military meeting in half an hour on the order of general Zhukov."


    I nodded and said feebly, "I see. Where will the meeting be later? "


    "In the conference room on the first floor. If you go down the East stairs to the first floor, you will see the soldiers on duty. They will tell you how to go After answering my question, he hesitated for a moment. Finally, he asked with concern, "what''s the matter with you, sir? May I call a military doctor for you? "


    I looked at him gratefully, shook my head and said, "it''s nothing. Maybe I had a cold last night and my stomach was a little uncomfortable. I''ll be fine in a moment. Don''t bother the military doctor. Thank you, comrade captain


    The captain saw that I didn''t want to ask for a doctor, so he didn''t insist. After saluting again, he turned and left.


    I closed the door and went to the bathroom to wash my face. Although I know I can''t touch cold water these days, I don''t know where I can find hot water. I can only make do with it.


    Walking slowly along the stairs to the first floor, I saw soldiers standing guard on both sides of the corridor. Seeing me coming down from the stairs, I was immediately welcomed by a second lieutenant. As soon as I fixed my eyes, I recognized the Officer immediately. I used to deal with him when I was in the headquarters. Although I couldn''t name him, I knew each other. He also recognized me, immediately said to me with a smile: "Hello! Mr. o''shanina, are you here to attend the meeting? Please follow me, and I''ll take you


    I followed the second lieutenant through the soldiers on both sides and came to a spacious reception room. The second lieutenant made a please sign and said, "Mr. o''shanina, this is it. Please." Then he saluted me and left.


    There are already many people in the reception room. I glanced at the ranks of all of them. I was shocked to find that they were all generals. The major general with the lowest rank was me. The rest were almost generals, and even two generals. Some stood, some sat on benches against the wall, and the familiar people gathered to chat in a low voice.


    The door of the reception room was closed, and outside sat a lieutenant officer of the headquarters. He looked at the commander who came in, as if he was silently remembering which commanders had come, and repeated from time to time: "please take off your coat, comrades general, please take off your coat..."


    I saw a long hanger nailed to the wall between the doors. The hanger was already covered with short fur coats and military coats. I took off my military coat and found a vacancy to hang it up.


    While considering whether to take a seat, suddenly a low voice came from the side: "eh, if I''m not mistaken, today should be a high-level military conference. How can there be a female commander to attend? And it''s still a major general! "


    I went along the line of fame. It turned out that two major generals sitting on the bench were talking about me in a low voice. Just now, the middle-aged man with a wide face was sitting on the left. As soon as he finished, the bitter faced officer next to him glanced at me and said frivolously, "old man, you know, military rank can be obtained not only in the battlefield, but also in other places. As a woman, as long as she serves her superiors well, she can still get a high rank. "


    Then they laughed at the same time. Because the sound of bitter gourd face was very loud, almost all the people in the reception room heard it, and everyone turned their eyes to us.


    For their humiliation, I immediately blood to the head, glaring at them, step forward, is ready to rush to give them a punch. Just then someone behind me put his hand on my shoulder and said softly, "Rita, don''t be impulsive!" It stopped my recklessness.


    I looked back and saw that the one standing behind me was actually group army commander General rokosovsky. He stepped forward two steps to the two major generals and said coldly, "I don''t know how they got the rank of major general, but I can tell you very responsibly. The rank of general o''shanina was obtained by her own strength on the battlefield. Not to mention that she has won so many battles under her command, even she has killed more bandits than you can see. "


    Seeing a lieutenant general come out to speak for me, they blushed and stood up. Just as they wanted to say something, a familiar voice came over: "general rokosovsky is right. It is obvious to all that oshanina has repeatedly made war contributions. Only Comrade Stalin will personally make an exception to promote her to the rank of major general."


    When I looked back, it was lieutenant general Vlasov who said good things for me this time. Behind him were two generals, lelushenka and dovator. When I noticed them, they all gave me a smile and nodded.


    Two major generals who talked about me saw that two generals with higher ranks spoke for me. They realized that they had said something wrong and apologized to me. Then they went to the other end of the room. When rokosovsky saw two old comrades in arms who were discharged from hospital after injury, he immediately pulled them to chat excitedly. After shaking hands with Vlasov, I asked him gently, "Comrade commander, is deputy commander Lin from China here?" Vlasov shook his head and said: "no, yesterday the German army launched another attack on wolokoramsk. After deputy commander Lin directed the troops to repel the enemy, he organized another counterattack and successfully wedged into the enemy line for two to three kilometers. He is organizing troops to strengthen the defense in the area today, so he can''t get away to attend this meeting. " I felt a little sorry to hear what Vlasov said. I wanted to meet the military God at the meeting and ask him for advice. It seems that I have no chance. When I was melancholy, the lieutenant on duty at the door opened the door of the inner room, then let himself to the door and announced in a high voice: "comrades general, please come in!" This sentence is like the order of attack to all people. In an instant, people, whether they are crowded in the reception room or sitting on the bench, rush to the door. I deliberately fell behind others and let those who were higher than myself go ahead, so I was the last group to go in. When I crossed the threshold, the first thing I saw was Zhukov, who was standing in front of a big map on the wall with his hands behind his back, looking at the generals coming into the room without expression. The group commanders who went in first sat around the long tables, while the lower level commanders sat on the benches against the wall. Seeing that Zhukov didn''t notice me, he quickly sat down in an obscure corner.

 Chapter 219

    I saw that everyone was in place, but there were still a lot of people whispering. A general sitting not far behind Zhukov stood up and announced in a loud voice: "comrades in command, please be quiet! The military conference is about to begin. "


    The room suddenly quieted down, and I heard someone next to me asking in a low voice, "who is the man speaking?"


    "You don''t even know him? This is general sokolovsky, chief of staff of the front army. "


    Seeing that no one spoke at the meeting, general sokolovsky continued: "comrades, the purpose of calling you here today is to deploy the Western forces to counter attack the German forces under Moscow." Seeing that someone took out a book and spread it on the table to record, he immediately raised his voice and said, "no recording." In his drink, the commanders immediately put the book away again.


    Sokolovsky looked at it. No one wanted to record it any more, so he said in a calm and clear tone, "now let''s invite general Zhukov, commander of the Western Front Army, to speak."


    Zhukov stepped forward two steps, leaned forward slightly, put his hands on the table, slowly looked around the people at the meeting, and then said with a smile: "Hello, commanders! The purpose of calling you here today is to deploy the counter offensive we are about to launch under the city of Moscow. "


    As soon as his voice fell, the audience burst into thunderous applause. After several months of humiliation and retreat, we finally saw the hope to wash away the humiliation. This kind of emotion was immediately expressed through warm applause.


    After the applause stopped, he continued: "as we all know, due to the cruel fighting, our troops have been greatly reduced. Not only the ordinary commanders and fighters have a high proportion of casualties, but even the commanders of the group army have been frequently replaced for various reasons. In order to facilitate your cooperation in the new campaign, I would like to introduce the commanders of each group army first." First of all, I pointed to rokosovsky, who I am most familiar with, and introduced to you: "lieutenant general rokosovsky, commander of the 16th group army."


    "Lieutenant general govorov, commander of the 5th group army, is a famous artillery commander."


    "Lieutenant general frasov, commander of the 20th army."


    Every commander who was called stood up and nodded his head.


    After introducing the two commanders, Zhukov added: "at present, the 16th group army, as the main defensive force of the front army, is under great pressure. Their defense line is like a western line and is in danger of breaking at any time. Therefore, the front army will deploy on the right wing of the 16th group army and strengthen the 20th group army; The combat effectiveness of the left wing''s 30th group army is slightly weaker, so we will put the newly acquired 1st assault group army at the junction of the two groups. "


    "Commander of the 30th group army..." when I heard this, I couldn''t help frowning. My heart said that the combat effectiveness of this army was so poor that it was vulnerable on the battlefield. If the troops of the 16th group army had not been reinforced in time last time, the defense line would have been broken through by the German army, and their commander would not be much better. Unexpectedly, when the commander of the Group Army stood up, I was surprised that the new commander was general leliushenka.


    After introducing the group commanders, Zhukov went to the map and pointed to the map to explain to you: "at present, in this vast front, the German shock groups are too scattered and their iron arms are too long, which makes them spread out their forces too much in the process of the battle in Moscow. In this way, they lost their main breakthrough power in the decisive battle near Moscow. The enemy''s supply lines are more than 1000 kilometers long, and they are constantly being attacked by guerrillas. The huge losses of Hitler''s army and the fierce resistance of the Soviet army have greatly weakened the combat effectiveness of the German army and the strength to continue to break through, "he said with a pause and a slight cough before continuing:" of course, the Soviet army has also suffered huge losses. But they continue to get assistance from the motherland and maintain their fighting capacity. "


    With that, he went to the table, pulled out the seat and sat down. After looking around again, he continued: "the headquarters of the western front army is ready to take advantage of the favorable situation formed under Moscow city and the current situation of the Germans. We decided to turn to a full-scale attack on December 6, 1941."


    As soon as the words came to an end, all the people who attended the meeting were relieved. Finally, they were looking forward to the day of the great counterattack, so thunderous applause rang out again.


    "The task of the counterattack is to smash the German assault group and drive them out from near Moscow." At this point, Zhukov couldn''t help standing up again, looking at the people with his back hand, and asked, "how do we attack? General comrades Although everyone was eager to try, no one stood up to speak for the time being. Zhukov reminded us sternly: "please note that although we have been supplemented with the three army groups, the Western army and the enemy did not have any advantage in number. Like the original situation, tanks still have the advantage of technical equipment on the enemy''s side, which is the main feature of our counter offensive under Moscow. Now let''s hear from you. " Then he sat down again.


    I remember when I saw in the film that the first one who responded to Zhukov was lelushenka, so I turned my attention to him. He looked around for a moment, then stood up with his hand on the edge of the table, looked at Zhukov, and politely asked, "may I speak?" Seeing Zhukov nodding, lelushenka straightened up, looked at the commander on the spot, and then said, "in order to offset the German superiority in technical equipment, I suggest attacking at night! Considering that our infantry are fighting against German tanks during the day, it''s not good for us. The enemy''s tanks will easily bring down our infantry, but in the dark, it is difficult for the enemy to judge the situation. The important thing is that the German army will lose its advantage in tanks and air force. They will not be able to take part in the battle. Our infantry will approach the enemy by surprise attack, forcing them to engage in close combat, using machine guns, rifles, grenades, submachine guns, and even white-edged combat. In a word, night is an ally of courage and wisdom. " Lelushenka constantly expressed his own views, coupled with a variety of corresponding body language, which aroused everyone''s emotions. As soon as he spoke, several generals echoed his views and made some supplements. When lelushenka was about to sit down, Zhukov, who had been listening to him, suddenly asked, "general lelushenka, I want to ask you a question. How do you get directions in areas you''re not familiar with at night? " Everyone''s eyes turned to lelushenka to hear how he answered the question. With a smile, he lowered his head and asked frasov, who was sitting beside him, "Comrade General, do you have a lighter?"¡° Yes, "said Vlasov. He took out the lighter and handed it to him without hesitation, though he didn''t understand what he wanted. Leiliushenka took his lighter, took out his lighter from his trouser pocket, and started it one by one at the same time, demonstrating to everyone: "at the rear of each offensive camp, we light two bonfires. The bonfires must be on the baseline of the direction of action, and the distance between them is one kilometer. If the commander turns around and sees two firelights on the same line, the direction of action is right; If he finds that the campfires are separate, it means he''s off course. " Then he put out the lighter and gave it back to Vlasov. After listening, Zhukov nodded thoughtfully and said in a low voice, "so, OK! Good, I agree. " Turning to the chief of staff next to sokolovsky, he said, "Comrade chief of staff, you should write this down and convey it to the commanders of the troops participating in the attack." Just then, the door of the house that had been closed was pushed open, and general Carmela walked straight to Zhukov, holding a roll of narrow electronic newspapers in his hand. When he got to Zhukov''s side, he bent down, approached Zhukov''s ear and said in a low voice, "Comrade Zhukov, we have received an urgent telegram. The enemy has just broken through the central part of the front line." Zhukov grabbed the telegraph, glanced at it, then stood up and announced to everyone, "the enemy suddenly broke through our defense line in the middle of our defense line, at the junction of the 5th and 33rd army, and pushed along the road to Kubinka. The commanders of all the army groups immediately returned to the army and immediately eliminated them, "he said, rubbing the telegraph paper into a ball, throwing it on the table and saying firmly," this is their last assault. Comrades and generals, the date of our comprehensive counter offensive remains unchanged, that is, December 6. " At the end of the meeting, everyone stood up and walked out. Rokosovsky stayed in his position. When I passed him, I suddenly said, "Rita, you will go back to the army with me immediately. The position of Taiyangshan city is very important and must be kept at all costs. " I glanced at Zhukov, who was still standing at the table, and saw that he also nodded in agreement with rokosovsky''s opinion. I immediately replied, "yes! Comrade commander, I will go back to the group army with you immediately. Please rest assured that as long as there is a soldier of the eighth division of guards in Taiyangshan City, the city will never be taken over by the enemy. " I followed rokosovsky and walked out. Within two steps, Zhukov stopped me behind him. He thought for a moment and said, "Rita, I know that it''s very difficult for the eighth division of the guards to defend the city with its existing strength. Well, I''ll ask Comrade sokolovsky to transfer two infantry battalions and an artillery regiment from the reserve team to supplement you immediately. " At this point, he sank his face and said solemnly, "only by guarding the sun mountain city can we ensure the safety of the flanks of our counter attack troops. Do you understand? "¡° I understand, Comrade General. " I straightened up, saluted him respectfully, and then asked, "may I leave?"¡° Go Zhukov patted me on the shoulder and said with concern, "pay more attention to your safety on the battlefield."¡° Yes With a promise, I turned and went out to pursue rokosovsky.

 Chapter 220

    I went back to the front line in the same car as rokosovsky. With my understanding of him, I knew that he must have something to say to me in private, so I didn''t sit in the co pilot''s seat, but sat side by side in the back with him.


    Sure enough, not long after the car left the headquarters of the front army, rokosovsky, who had been in a low mood, began to complain about Zhukov to me¡° Rita, you can see the current situation of the group army All of us, from soldiers to commanders, feel that we have reached a decisive moment to hold on anyway. We all have only one idea, that is, everyone should try his best to do his job better without being urged. The army trained by war knows how much responsibility it has. "


    I could not help glancing anxiously at the driver in the front row when I heard rokosovsky''s unrestrained complaints. This little action of mine was immediately noticed by rokosovsky. He waved his hand and said, "it doesn''t matter. The driver is his own. He won''t spread the content of our conversation."


    I said, "commander, please go on."


    "These days, I have also learned the nervousness and impatience of some of our immediate leaders. Self control, calmness and respect for subordinates are the essential qualities of any leader, which are particularly important in war. The old soldier should be trusted: he realized that his superiors trusted him, believed in his ability, and pinned hope on him. In battle, there was nothing more precious for a man than this consciousness... Unfortunately, our commander of the Western Front Army sometimes did not consider this. "


    The reason why rokosovsky has such a big opinion on Zhukov is clear to me: first, rokosovsky wanted to withdraw his troops to the Istra area to organize a new defense zone, and this proposal was immediately rejected by Zhukov. Although the opinion was rejected, according to the judgment of the enemy, rokosovsky felt that the 16th group army could not hold the position at that time, so he took the upper line and made a request to Stalin to withdraw through Marshal Shaposhnikov. With the tacit consent of the supreme commander, the order of retreat was given to his troops. Just as the withdrawal of troops began, a message from Zhukov terminated rokosovsky''s now seemingly correct order. Although at that time, rokosovsky showed a noble attitude of obedience to the overall situation, he had an idea of Zhukov in his heart. After a few days of resistance in place, the ill fated rokosovsky again ordered the troops to withdraw to the Istra area.


    At the beginning of the movement, Zhukov passed rokosovsky and gave orders to the following division leaders to change their march route and attack the German troops who occupied Taiyangshan city. Because there was no unified command, all the troops fought on their own. In the absence of heavy weapons, they launched attacks on the enemy with dominant technical equipment, with little effect and heavy casualties.


    As for rokosovsky himself, because of Zhukov''s order, he not only lost contact with his troops, but even nearly took his own life in peshki village. For this reason, rokosovsky was particularly dissatisfied with Zhukov, so that they did not even say a word at today''s military meeting.


    I can only give a wry smile to rokosovsky''s complaints. I know, after all, they are old comrades in arms for many years. Although the relationship between them is so tense now, it''s not as serious as fire and water. If I help him fight against injustice, maybe when they are reconciled, this will reach Zhukov''s ears. It will be enough for me to drink a pot, so I wisely choose silence.


    Seeing that I didn''t respond, rokosovsky gave me a look of disappointment, and then turned the topic to other aspects: "in order to strengthen the command and combat effectiveness of the troops, I made necessary adjustments to the commanders of your division."


    "Ah?" I was shocked by rokosovsky''s words. Less than two days after I left the army, the command system of the army was adjusted. I was silent for a few seconds, still can''t help but ask curiously: "don''t know how to adjust?"


    Looking out of the window, rokosovsky said calmly, "the three settlements outside Taiyangshan city are currently defended by the 133rd infantry division, which has just retired from Kerry. Because the division commander died in the battle, I appointed general leviagin as the new division commander, and transferred the mixed Cadet regiment of commander mlakintsev and political commissar slavkin to the past. "


    I have no objection to the arrangement of rokosovsky. After all, it is inappropriate for a general with rich combat experience like leviyagin to be under the leadership of a person like me who is inferior to him in both resume and experience for a long time. The geographical location of the other three settlements is very important. If the German army occupied them, the traffic between Taiyangshan city and Moscow in the north and East directions would be completely cut off.


    I nodded, agreed with his arrangement, and then asked, "what else?"


    "The first guard tank brigade withdrew from Taiyangshan city yesterday. I have sent them to Hongcun to help the infantry consolidate the defense there. You know, if we didn''t recover the red village in time the day before yesterday, the German artillery deployed there would be able to directly aim at the Kremlin and fire. "


    Speaking of general katukov''s first guard tank brigade, I have nothing to say. Rokosovsky had long wanted to return the troops to the army. I had been holding the ground for a long time and refused to return it. Because of the remarkable performance of our division and tank brigade in a series of battles, rokosovsky turned a blind eye and didn''t care with me. However, at present, the situation there is even more threatening. It is also justifiable to transfer the tank brigade at this time. But in this way, even if the two infantry battalions and one artillery regiment that Zhukov promised me could be in place in time, there would be no tanks with strong mobility in our hands. At least before the big counterattack, we could only defend passively and could not take proper counterattack actions. I wry smile for a while, did not make a statement, just a simple question: "is there anything else?"¡° After general leviakin was transferred, I appointed Colonel chisgakov as the deputy division commander and lieutenant colonel chernukov as the head of the 1073 regiment; Major sherebryakov was the chief of staff of the division, and major sherdurin was the head of the 1075 regiment; Major panishev, the former commander of the second battalion of the 1077 regiment, was the head of the 1077 regiment. " After listening to a series of personnel changes in the division, my mood became more and more depressed. It''s not that I''m dissatisfied with these promoted commanders. It''s that rokosovsky made such a large-scale personnel adjustment without saying hello to my teacher. Even if the starting point is good, it will make me have bad associations. Looking at my silence, rokosovsky asked faintly: "talk about your opinion." I organized the words in my mind, and then said: "Comrade commander, I will obey your adjustment unconditionally. The transfer of the mixed Cadet regiment will have limited impact on the overall defense of Taiyangshan city. However, if even the tank troops are transferred, it will be very difficult to block the attack of the enemy''s armored forces with their current anti tank strength. " After listening to me, rokosovsky pondered for a moment, and then answered like he was determined, "well, you have a point. But it''s not realistic to bring back general katukov''s tank brigade. I''d better wait until I get back to the headquarters and try to bring you another tank brigade from other places. " Now that he has said this, I have to reluctantly promise: "well, that''s the only way." Just then, the car suddenly stopped¡° What''s going on? " Asked rokosovsky aloud. My first reaction was that when I was attacked by the enemy, I quickly reached for my gun and looked out of the window¡° Comrade commander, "the driver in front turned to rokosovsky and asked," there is a fork in the road ahead, one leading to the headquarters, the other leading to the eighth division of the guards. Which way should we go, please¡° We''re going straight back to headquarters. " Rokosovsky said, then turned to me and said, "Rita, I can only send you here. Now go to change your car and go back to the division department. I''ll send you the tanks you need as soon as possible. " I promised, got out of the car and asked grissa, who had been following me, to drive over. Grissa drove the car over and stopped steadily beside me. Yushchenko and two guards immediately opened the door and got out, stood beside me, waiting for me to get on the bus. Instead of getting on the bus immediately, I stood by the side of the road, watching rokosovsky''s black Jim car and the truck full of soldiers behind. After driving away, I got into the car, got into the co driver''s seat, and told grissa: "drive, return to the division!"

 Chapter 221

    When I drove into Taiyangshan city and saw the scene outside the window, my face sank. The collapsed water towers by the roadside, the houses with their roofs lifted, and the smoky ruins indicate that the city was shelled or bombed by the German army. I sighed in my heart. When I called the political commissar yesterday, I repeatedly told him to send troops to build fortifications two kilometers away from the north of the city and to leave the front of the defensive position as far as possible from the city. I don''t know if he followed my orders?


    The car stopped at the gate of the division headquarters. I got out of the car listlessly, pulled my overcoat, which was a little wrinkled. I was walking towards the headquarters with my head down. Suddenly I heard Yushchenko''s surprise voice behind me: "Oh, isn''t this comrade bukov! Why are you here? "


    Hearing this familiar name, I quickly looked up and looked around. I saw that the militia battalion commander I knew was standing upright at the gate of the headquarters with two soldiers.


    When he heard Yushchenko yelling, bukov laughed at us and quickly came up. When he came to me, he raised his hand to salute me, and said, "report to division commander, close guard" report to division commander, "bukov replied respectfully," after we recovered Himki the day before yesterday, the troops of the garrison command took over the defense. Originally, our task was to assist the regular army in defense. Unexpectedly, in the evening, I suddenly received an order from my superior, telling me that I was promoted to major, and that I was asked to be battalion commander in the close guard division. " When he said that, I knew what was going on. That day, at the headquarters of the front army, I reported to Zhukov that I had recovered Himki. I heard him and Stalin report their work through words. The Supreme Commander himself was very satisfied with the military action of seizing Himki, promoted bunyachenko and bukov personally, and asked Zhukov to assign bukov to my division as battalion commander.


    Originally, I thought that when bukov arrived, the Political Committee arranged for him to be the battalion commander of a regiment. Unexpectedly, he was left in the division headquarters and a guard camp was rebuilt. Needless to say, besides the company of Yushchenko and Ramis, this guard camp also has the militia under the former command of bukov.


    So I inquired about the structure of the guard battalion that I was interested in, and found that in addition to the two companies of Yushchenko and Ramis, there are also three militia companies. At present, the total strength of the whole battalion is 400.


    I went into the headquarters and saw that there was a meeting going on inside. The meeting was presided over by political commissar yegorov, who was sitting in the middle of a long wooden table, with deputy division commander chisjakov in his left hand and sherebriakov in his right, and three new commanders who had just been promoted. When I saw that I walked in, the meeting was suspended, and everyone stood up to greet me. I nodded to everyone, then pulled back the bench and sat opposite the political commissar of yegorov.


    I didn''t have the courtesy to ask directly, "Comrade political commissar, what are you studying at the meeting?"


    The political commissar didn''t expect me to ask so directly. He was stunned for a moment before he replied, "we are discussing which army should be transferred to the new fortification built yesterday?"


    It''s been a day. The newly built fortifications haven''t sent troops in yet. It''s useless to build fortifications. As long as the Germans swagger over, they can easily occupy there. Although I was not happy in my heart, I didn''t show it on the surface. I just said coldly, "what can we discuss? Send the first battalion of the 1073 regiment, and then the second battalion of the 1075 regiment as the reserve team, and be ready for reinforcement at any time."


    "Comrade division commander," sherebriakov asked somewhat puzzledly, "our division has only a few troops. We can all shrink to defend in the city. There is no need to build a line of defense so far away from the city?"


    After his words, almost everyone''s eyes turned to me, waiting for me to make an explanation that everyone can accept. My eyes swept around everyone''s body, and then I said slowly: "although the sun mountain city is not small, the urban area is limited after all. If all the troops stay in the city, then the German army can siege us calmly and consume us with shells and bombs. The reason why I want to push the new defense line out of the city is that I intend to keep the enemy far away from the city. In this way, if the enemy wants to attack the city, he must first break through this line of defense outside the city. When they are entangled with our front forces, the rest of our forces can detour from the flank and beat them hard from behind. "


    When I saw the map of Taiyangshan City lying on the table, I stood up and looked at it. Then I pointed to the defense line at the north gate and said to everyone, "you see, there are forests on the left and right sides of our army''s new defense line. We can also hide the tank troops here. When the enemy attacks, we can attack from the flank, cut them into two sections, and then destroy them one by one."


    "Comrade division, maybe I''ll disappoint you," chisjakov stood up solemnly and told me solemnly, "early this morning, the close guard tank brigade has been ordered to go to red village to help defend. We don''t have any tanks at all."


    As soon as his words came out, everyone immediately echoed them. He said that without tanks and enough artillery, the defense line built in the open area would be fragile and vulnerable.


    Seeing the trend of this meeting turning into a wrangler''s meeting, I quickly exercised my division commander''s right to stop everyone from expressing their opinions. I firmly said to the people present: "don''t worry about tanks. I will seek the assistance of the group army. The first thing to do now is to first deploy the 1st Battalion of 1073 regiment to the position. Commander chernukov I called out the name of the new head of the 1073 regiment and said to him, "you should do it yourself. Go now, remember, move fast. You know, in this situation, even a few minutes are valuable to us. "


    "Yes, I''ll move the troops right away." After saluting me, commander chernukov ran away from the headquarters. As chernukov left, I sat down again and said, "chief of staff, tell me about the current situation." Selebriakov stood up and reported to me, "Comrade division, this is the situation. At about 10 a.m., the German army sent out three bombers to carry out air raids on Taiyangshan City, but there was no sign of the enemy sending out ground forces. " I looked at him and asked, "how are the casualties of our division in this air raid?" He shook his head and said, "there were not many casualties, only more than 200." More than 200 people, if the whole division is fully loaded, this number is really nothing, but under the current situation, it means that we have lost two more effective companies, and the difficulty of defending the city has increased a bit. Because I know that for the Soviet army, guarding the city is the most important thing. As for the number of casualties, it''s just a irrelevant number, so I didn''t just keep silent. I didn''t speak, and everyone didn''t dare to speak. There was silence in the room. When the telephone rang, the commissar sat close, grabbed the microphone, listened to it, and handed it to me. I took the microphone and heard a familiar voice from rokosovsky: "Rita, I''ll tell you a good news. When I came back, I knew that chief of staff malining had sent a tank division to you after he transferred the guard tank brigade. It''s estimated that he will arrive soon, and this unit will also be under your command." Hearing the good news, I couldn''t help turning my mouth up slightly. I quickly expressed my gratitude to him and expressed my determination: "thank you, comrade commander. Please rest assured that we will never let the enemy step into the city again. " After a pause, he said cautiously, "Comrade commander, I would like to ask whether the part of the German army that broke into our defense line has been eliminated?"¡° The German army, which broke through the joint of the 5th and 33rd army, was blocked by the 32nd infantry division near the village of akulovo. Many of the enemy''s tanks were destroyed in the minefield. The division is destroying some of the remaining enemy''s tanks with artillery fire. Before long, they will be completely crushed. " Rokosovsky finished and hung up. I put down the microphone and just wanted to tell you what rokosovsky had just said. Then I heard someone behind me calling for a report, and my head would not say, "come in!" Then, I heard a familiar voice coming from behind: "report to Comrade division, commander of 389th tank division, Colonel bunyachenko, report to you. The troops are ordered to come to Taiyangshan city to assist in defense and wait for your instructions."

 Chapter 222

    "Buniachenko?" When I heard the name, I still doubted whether it was the same name or not. Turning around, I found that the people standing there were really familiar, but I''m still not sure that things in the world would not happen so coincidentally. Colonel marinin actually sent him.


    Seeing that I sat on the stool and looked at him in a daze, buniachenko pulled the hat off his head and revealed his bandaged forehead. Then he said aloud, "Comrade division, don''t you know me? You know, the day before yesterday, we beat the bandits in Himki together. "


    There was no need to doubt that it was bunyachenko, the chief of staff of the tank Division I knew. I quickly got up to meet him, held his hand, shook it hard, and said excitedly, "chief of staff, it''s really great to see you here again."


    "So do I, sir." "I didn''t expect to have the chance to fight with you again so soon. It''s my honor," said buniachenko sincerely


    "Comrade teacher, what''s the matter? I''m confused. Did you know Mr. buniachenko before? " When political commissar yegorov shook hands with us, he quietly came behind me. Seeing that bunyachenko and I were very familiar, he couldn''t help asking curiously.


    "Come, comrade Colonel," seeing that all the people stood up, I took buniachenko and introduced him to the commanders of the division. I first pointed to yegorov and said, "this is Comrade yegorov, our political commissar."


    Bunyaqin saluted and said, "Hello! Comrade political commissar. " Then he reached out and shook hands with the Commissar.


    "Deputy commander, Colonel chisgakov."


    "Lt. Col. sherebriakov, division chief of staff."


    ¡­¡­


    Every time I introduce someone, buniachenko and the other party first salute each other, then shake hands warmly.


    After introducing all the commanders in the headquarters and taking their seats again, I pointed to buniachenko beside me and explained to the political commissar, "Comrade political commissar, I met Colonel buniachenko by accident on my way to the headquarters of the front army the day before yesterday."


    "Yes Bunyachenko echoed: "at that time, our division just retired from the direction of klin and was on standby in the area of Himki. Mr. oshanina came to us and said that the enemy had occupied Himki. He hoped that we could cooperate with the local militia to take back the settlement. In fact, before she came, the comrades of the militia battalion came to us for help, because we could not get in touch with our superiors, so we had to refuse the comrades of the militia to stay in place. After the arrival of Mr. o''shanina, he fought against the public opinion and called for the dispatch of troops. Under her command, the commanders and fighters of our division cooperated with the militia to fight back decisively and quickly recaptured Himki. "


    After listening to buniachenko''s story, I saw curiosity and approval on the faces of those who watched me. Even the face of political commissar yegorov, who always had a serious expression, also showed a trace of uncontrollable smile. I turned to look at bunyachenko and said with a smile, "Comrade Colonel, you may not know that captain bukov, the commander of the militia battalion, is here with us now. Because of the Himki war, he was promoted to major and transferred to our division. Now he is my guard battalion commander. "


    Buniachenko nodded and replied, "I know that. I saw him at the door when I came in just now, and I had a few words with him."


    I went on to say, "let''s discuss the defense of this defense line outside the city."


    As soon as my words came to an end, sherebryakov, the chief of staff, who had been eager to give a try, took the lead and said, "Comrade division commander, I always think that there is no need to defend this new line of defense. You know, it''s freezing now. Yesterday, we used a lot of explosives to build this half man deep circular trench. At present, there is nothing but trenches. There is no permanent fire point made of reinforced concrete, no mine array, no anti tank trench, not even wire mesh. If the enemy launches a fierce attack, our soldiers, not to mention the enemy''s tanks, can''t even stop the infantry. I still suggest that all the troops should be withdrawn to the city, relying on the buildings in the city to build a solid defense line. "


    "Enough, chief of staff." Yegorov impolitely interrupted sherebriyakov and criticized him with a serious look: "you are pessimistic defeatism. You should know that the Red Army soldiers armed with Stalin''s ideas are invincible."


    I stare at the political commissar with black lines on my face and say that if I say a word casually, you don''t have to quote it at any time. If I say that again, I will charge a patent fee. In order to avoid further unnecessary arguments, I stood up and said, "OK. What we want to discuss is not whether to defend this line of defense, but how to defend this line of defense and prevent the enemy from approaching the city. Let''s talk about what we can do. " Then I sat down again.


    Chisgakov looked left and right, half raised his body, looked at me tentatively and asked, "Comrade teacher, can I talk about my own views?"


    "Yes, say what you think."


    He stood up and said cautiously, "it''s a good starting point to keep the enemy out of the city. However, our army lacks heavy equipment at present. If we want to defend this line of defense, there will be a lot of casualties. Apart from the fact that the enemy''s heavy guns will cause heavy damage to our infantry when they bombard the positions, we have no way to deal with the enemy''s tanks that cover the infantry assault. You know. Our division doesn''t have any anti tank weapons, so the soldiers can only wait for the tanks to get close, strap cluster grenades on their bodies and rush up to die with the enemy. "


    I didn''t refute the problem he said, because I knew in my heart that it was an objective problem that needed to be solved first. I bowed my head for a moment and asked buniachenko, "Comrade Colonel, how much technical equipment do you have now?"¡° Yesterday, the superior supplied a batch of tanks and anti tank guns to our division. At present, the Division has 33 tanks and 16 guns. I temporarily set up an anti tank artillery battalion, the commander of which is under the command of major marafeyev, who you know. " I nodded, and then said to the political commissar, "the troops in the city will remain the status quo for the time being. As for the front line, don''t worry. I can find a way to supplement them. General Zhukov, commander of the front army, once promised me that he would immediately transfer two infantry battalions and an artillery regiment from the reserve to our division. I think the troops are on the way now." Everyone was relieved to hear that the front army had replenished our troops. After a while, the political commissar asked me carefully, "Rita, do you think you need to call the general again to confirm whether the troops have started?" If it had been before, I would have called Zhukov without hesitation. But after today''s conversation with rokosovsky, I know that he has a grudge against Zhukov. I feel that this call really can''t be made. Although both of us are very familiar with each other, it is a very taboo thing to call Zhukov beyond rokosovsky in such a sensitive period. So I denied the political commissar''s proposal, and pointed to the map and gave an order to buniachenko: "Comrade Colonel, please see, there are forests on the left and right in front of our newly built defense line. I mean you quietly lead your troops to hide in the forest. When the enemy attacks our army, you suddenly attack from their side and rear, Beat them up. Do you understand? "¡° I understand Buniachenko immediately stood up and asked me respectfully, "can I leave now?"¡° Go And I reached out to him, "good luck!"

 Chapter 223

    Less than an hour after buniachenko left, there was a rumble of artillery from the north. As I heard more and more muffled noises, my heart went up to my throat. If buniachenko''s tanks didn''t enter the designated position, it would be too unlikely that lieutenant colonel chernukov''s infantry would hold the position.


    I''m worried. The political commissar in the headquarters with me is even more worried. He urged the busy signalmen in the corner: "well, haven''t you got in touch with lieutenant colonel chernukov or Colonel bunyachenko?"


    A communications officer raised his head and said, "Comrade political commissar, I have sent someone to check the line. It is estimated that I will be able to get in touch with commander chernukov soon. As for Mr. buniachenko, "he explained with some embarrassment," it is estimated that only through the walkie talkie can we get in touch with his car radio station. "


    I went over and told the officer, "if you still can''t get in touch, send someone to the front line immediately, and be sure to feed back the situation of the front line in time..."


    When I was just halfway through, a signalman next to me suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "report, comrade division commander, that''s the connection with commander chernukov."


    I grabbed the phone and said to the microphone, "I''m o''shanina. Please report the situation on your side."


    "Report, sir," Lieutenant Commander chernukov almost roared, but the explosion in the background still made me unable to hear what he was saying. I asked him to repeat it several times before I could barely understand what was going on. It turned out that he set his headquarters in an isolated building on the edge of the city, which was only a few hundred meters away from the trench. He could clearly see the situation of the front through the telescope. The German army is carrying out heavy shelling on our army. At the moment, the front line has been surrounded by smoke and fire. The casualties are not clear for the moment.


    I said to keep in touch and report the latest war situation at any time, and then I ended my contact with him. After leaving the phone, I looked at the commissar and said, "the enemy is shelling our army''s new line of defense. According to this analysis, the enemy is planning to launch an attack on Taiyangshan city from the north."


    At this time, the messenger who was in charge of contacting the tank division was calling me: "Comrade division commander, contact with division commander bunyachenko."


    I quickly walked over and took the microphone and earphone from him. As soon as I heard someone speaking from the opposite side, I immediately opened my mouth to show my identity: "am I oshanina, comrade buniachenko?"


    "It''s me, sir." "Our division has entered the designated position and all the troops have been deployed. I can see that the enemy is shelling our forward position," buniachenko said carelessly


    "Don''t do anything now, Mr. bunyachenko. Let the troops be careful not to be found by the enemy. When they begin to attack our front line, you will attack from the side. " After that, he wanted to hang up directly. Suddenly, he thought of a key thing he had almost forgotten. He asked, "how far is your hidden forest from the battlefield? If the tank doesn''t turn off, it won''t be discovered by the German army, will it


    "Comrade division, please rest assured that our troops are hiding in the forest in the East, about two kilometers away from the battlefield. The enemy can''t hear the roar of tanks and motors. Besides, it''s too cold now. If the engine is turned off, it will take a while for the engine to start again before it can attack. This will delay things. "


    "This is not a problem." although I''m a layman to tanks, it doesn''t prevent me from talking about my own views. "In order to ensure that the troops are not found when they are hiding, even if the tank motor is off, it doesn''t matter. When you restart the warm-up, you can let the anti tank gun fire first. When they finish firing a base number of shells, your tanks will be almost warmed up. At this time, they will attack to destroy the remaining tanks. "


    "Comrade Colonel," a strange voice suddenly came from the earphone, "the enemy''s shelling has stopped. It seems that their attack will begin soon."


    "I see. Keep watching." Bunyachenko ordered the other side and said to me again, "report to Mr. division commander, now that the enemy''s shelling has stopped, it is estimated that they will attack soon. Please make the defensive forces ready for battle."


    "All right." With that, I stopped communicating with him, and then I told the messenger, "get me commander chernukov." As soon as I got on the phone, I said immediately, "Comrade commander, what''s the situation over there?"


    "Report to Mr. commander," commander chernukov was still roaring loudly, but because there was no interference from the explosion of shells, his voice made my ears buzzing. I quickly moved the microphone away. "As soon as the enemy''s shelling was over, I had contacted the commander in the position and was counting the number of casualties."


    "OK, organize the defense quickly, and I''ll send someone to reinforce you as soon as possible."


    Put down the phone, I took the tea cup from the political commissar and took a drink. Then I told the signalman again, "connect me with general rokosovsky, commander of the group army."


    As soon as I got through the phone, I immediately reported to him, "Comrade commander, the German army is attacking sun mountain city from the north. The current strength of our army is effective, but the strength of counterattack is insufficient. I hope the commander can help to urge Comrade Zhukov so that the troops he promised can be replenished to us as soon as possible. "


    "I see." Rokosovsky answered faintly and hung up.


    Maybe my phone calls were too frequent. After hanging up this time, the messenger asked me, "Comrade division commander, whose phone do you want to connect this time?"


    "Get me major Kuleshov, commander of the second battalion of the 1075 regiment."


    "Yes." The signalman agreed and quickly contacted Kuleshov with his walkie talkie.


    I picked up the receiver and asked aloud, "major Kuleshov, where is your army now?"


    "Report to Mr. division commander, the troops have arrived in the north of the city. For the sake of safety, I have evacuated all the soldiers to nearby buildings. When we are needed in the front, I will transfer the troops up."


    "You did a good job." After listening to his deployment, I thought he was very comprehensive, so I praised him: "let the troops continue to hide and wait for my order."


    After the call, the political commissar and I went back to the table and sat down to tell him about the current situation of the enemy and ourselves. Because I think buniachenko will play an unexpected role, and there is no need to worry about the outcome of the battle. So after a brief introduction, we began to discuss with the political commissar the next battle plan.


    Half an hour later, the battle was as I expected. Under the cover of seventeen tanks, the German infantry attacked our position. Because the soldiers in the front defense were very tenacious, the battle soon fell into a stalemate. At this time, buniachenko''s troops made a decisive attack from the flank and caught the enemy by surprise. It not only turned all German tanks into burning scrap iron in front of the positions, but also captured hundreds of prisoners.


    However, our army suffered a lot of casualties in this battle. Because of the poor fortifications, almost all the troops responsible for the defense task were wiped out. So I had to change my plan temporarily, take them down to rest, and replace them with major Kuleshov''s second battalion ahead of time.


    Nothing happened overnight.


    At ten o''clock the next morning, the German artillery bombardment of our positions began again. This time, they learned to be smart. Apart from shelling infantry defensive positions, they did not even let go of the forest on the east side. Fortunately, after yesterday''s attack, buniachenko transferred all his troops to the forest on the west side, otherwise he might suffer heavy losses in this shelling.


    Ten minutes after the German artillery bombardment, they launched another attack on our position. However, it was strange that only 20 tanks were on the attack mission, and there were no infantry to follow.


    When I heard the news, I was sitting in a chair beside the table, suffering from the damned abdominal pain. I rubbed my abdomen gently with one hand to relieve the unbearable pain. The other hand was holding a towel, which was used to wipe the cold sweat on his forehead from time to time. While I was suffering from pain, I was thinking about this strange German attack. You know, tanks without infantry, even if they break through our defense line, they can''t occupy it. What''s the point of doing this?


    Standing in front of the walkie talkie, I was commanded by political commissar yegorov, who first ordered major Kuleshov to hold his position, and then contacted buniachenko. I heard the political commissar say to the microphone, "Comrade Colonel, since the enemy has no infantry, when they enter the range, you will first order the anti tank guns to fire, and then the tanks to attack, so as to quickly smash the enemy''s attack."


    I picked up the hot tea on the table and sipped it gently. I suddenly had a bad feeling in my heart that something was going to happen, but I couldn''t figure it out for a moment.


    At this time, the commissar came up to me with an excited look on his face and said with pride, "Rita, I have good news for you. Just now, Colonel buniachenko''s anti tank artillery battalion opened fire and destroyed three enemy tanks at one stroke. The remaining tanks turned around and fled when the situation was not good. By this time, the colonel had led his troops to catch up with them. "


    "What? Catch up? " I put the teacup on the table, stood up abruptly, walked back and forth to the table with my hands on my back, and said to myself, "no, no, the enemy''s behavior today is too abnormal. First of all, when attacking, there were only tanks without infantry. Now, how long has the battle been going on before they lost a few tanks and ran away? There must be a conspiracy. "


    When the commissar heard what I said, he said with some disapproval, "Rita, you think too much. The enemy was overpowered by our momentum, so he ran away


    Ignoring the commissar, I went directly to the walkie talkie and told the messenger, "get me Colonel bunyachenko as soon as possible."


    As soon as I got through, I was not polite. I immediately ordered buniachenko to come straight to the point and say, "Comrade Colonel, I order you to stop the pursuit immediately and lead your tanks back to the hidden forest."


    "Sir, why? If we know that the enemy is running away, we can wipe them out. "


    "Time is pressing. I have no time to explain to you. I will lead the troops back immediately! This is my order. Carry it out immediately. "


    "In five minutes, just five minutes, comrade division." His sincere voice came from the earphone: "I can kill all these German tanks in a moment."


    I almost wavered when I heard him say that, but from my understanding of the Germans, they are not so vulnerable. There must be some conspiracy waiting for us. So he said without mercy, "Comrade Colonel, I order you again to withdraw the troops immediately. This order can''t be changed."


    Before buniachenko spoke, a familiar voice burst into the channel: "report to Comrade Colonel, the enemy''s tanks are running too fast, we can''t hit them."¡° Come back quickly. "I recognized that the soldier who was talking was yesterday. After listening to his report, I was more sure that the enemy must have a plot waiting for us. So I gave a strong command again:" Comrade Colonel, withdraw the troops immediately! "¡° Yes Buniachenko reluctantly agreed and gave orders to his subordinates: "all of them, stop moving forward and prepare to turn around and return to the hiding place."¡° Comrade Colonel, no, there are a lot of German tanks in front of us. "¡° Report to the Colonel that there are about 15 German tanks on the left. "¡° Report to the colonel, German tanks are also found on the right side, with more than 20 tanks. "..." Originally, I was relieved to hear buniachenko promise to return, but a series of sounds from the earphone made me dumbfounded. I didn''t expect that my premonition was right. I was really trapped by the German army. So I yelled at the microphone: "Comrade buniachenko, withdraw immediately, withdraw quickly, withdraw quickly!"

 Chapter 224

    As soon as my voice fell, buniachenko''s loud voice rang out in the call channel: "all the captains, listen to my command: spread out, shoot freely, and break through at the right time!"


    The commissar also heard about the difficulties faced by the 389th tank division. He said anxiously, "Rita, Colonel buniachenko, they are very dangerous. We should help them."


    I secretly complained that if general katukov''s close guard tank brigade was here, I could send him to reinforce and rescue them. But now I can command only a few thousand infantry, let the infantry fight tanks in the open field, isn''t that driving sheep into the tiger''s mouth?


    But when our troops are in danger, they can''t wait for help. I held the microphone for a few minutes, then looked down at the signalman and said, "connect me to the anti tank battalion of the 389th tank division." Up to now, we have to be a living horse doctor. Now the nearest one to the battlefield is major malafeyev''s anti tank artillery battalion. Let''s see if he can provide some help and save one vehicle. Besides, major malafeyev is originally a subordinate of buniachenko. He can''t be helpless to his superior.


    I spoke to malafeyev very quickly. Without any nonsense, I gave him an order directly: "Comrade major, Colonel buniachenko''s tank troops are ambushed by the German army. It is possible that the whole army will be destroyed. Now, as a teacher, I order you to send a capable force to the rescue immediately. "


    Malafeyev listened to my command and kept silent instead of saying anything. I was very unhappy to hear that the other party did not speak for a long time, so I accentuated and said, "what? Comrade major, are you going to die without help? "


    "No, sir! You are mistaken, "he explained to me." our anti tank guns are not self-propelled guns. They are all drawn by animal power. If we have to go to such a long distance to reinforce, if we meet German tanks head-on, we will be wiped out by the enemy before we launch. "


    When I heard him say that, I had no choice but to tell him to keep a close watch on the front. Once we find our army''s tanks breaking through the encirclement, we should immediately provide firepower cover to stop the enemy tanks chasing behind, so as to ensure the safe escape of our army''s tanks.


    Originally, the tank division was surrounded and faced with the total annihilation, which was enough to make me upset. Unexpectedly, rokosovsky called me again and said that Zhukov had agreed to assign two infantry battalions and an artillery regiment to me, and now he has arrived at the headquarters of the group army. As the group army intends to organize counter attacks in the hagriyaqi area, these forces are now under the command of general kazakov and deputy chief of staff Orel. Finally, he told me that there would be no reinforcements for the time being, but the sun mountain city must be held at all costs, otherwise, what is waiting for me is the trial of the military court.


    After talking with rokosovsky on the phone, I felt a sudden tightness in my heart, just like being stabbed by someone. First, I felt tingling all over, then I felt cold and weak all over. My hand trembled uncontrollably, the microphone slipped from my hand, and my whole body collapsed on the ground.


    "What''s the matter with you?" Asked the commissar with concern, he helped me to the table and sat down with the two men, chisjakov and sherebriakov, who had just come in. I sat in my chair with a wry smile and looked at the political commissar and said, "Comrade political commissar, just now the commander informed me that the two infantry battalions and an artillery regiment originally assigned to our division have been transferred to general kazakov and deputy chief of staff o''lear to join the counter assault of the Canadian group army in the Hagrid Aceh area."


    "What?" Hearing this news, the political commissar also confused: "without reinforcements, can this Taiyangshan city be held?"


    I said with a wry smile, "if I can''t keep it, I have to keep it. I have a military order. Even if I fight to the last person, I will never give up the sun mountain city." Then I grabbed the phone on the desk, shook the handle a few times, heard the voice of the operator, I immediately said: "I''m Mr. o''shanina, get me major Kuleshov right away."


    When I got through, I first identified myself and then issued a series of operational orders: "major Kuleshov, there is an anti tank gun position in the forest ahead of you on your left. You should immediately send a company''s troops to take up the guard task and ensure the safety of the anti tank battalion at all costs. And after two days of shelling, there must be many craters in front of your position, right?! Some soldiers will be sent to carry burning bottles, anti tank mines and other weapons, lurking in these craters, waiting for the enemy''s tanks to come near and destroy them. "


    "I understand. I''ll do it right away." Then he complained to me: "Comrade division commander, after that round of shelling just now, the casualties of our battalion have been solved by one third. Now if so many troops are deployed to leave, there will not be many defensive forces left."


    "I see. Your reinforcements will be here soon."


    I immediately asked the operator to call major Xie Dulin, the head of the 1075 regiment, and told him straightforwardly, "Comrade head, there are not many troops left in the second battalion. Now I order you that your regiment, in addition to the necessary guard forces, assign all the troops that can be transferred to the second battalion, and firmly guard the line of defense. "


    All the arrangements were finished, and the communication channel was transferred back to buniachenko. I only heard the fierce explosion and all kinds of shouts from the headphones. From these sounds, I knew that from time to time the enemy''s tanks were hit, but at the same time our army''s tanks were destroyed. Because our tanks are better in armor and firepower than the German, after the initial chaos, although they are still surrounded by the enemy, they are hard to separate.


    Buniachenko''s voice suddenly came back: "the tanks that rush out of the encirclement immediately seize the favorable terrain, cover the remaining tanks with fire, and then the troops cover the retreat alternately." Hearing that he was conducting the battle in an orderly way, I felt that the situation was not as pessimistic as I thought, and the big stone hanging in my heart was down again. Perhaps the commissar saw a relaxed expression on my face and quickly asked with concern, "Rita, what''s the matter?"¡° At present, a part of Comrade Colonel''s tank troops has come out and is seizing the favorable terrain to cover the remaining tanks to break through the encirclement. "¡° That''s good, "said the political commissar with a sigh of relief." at present, our troops have few anti tank weapons. If there are no more tanks, we are really helpless in the face of the fierce attack of enemy tanks. " The channel switched to malafeyev''s anti tank gun position, and I asked the major, "how''s it going?"¡° Report to Mr. division commander, "he replied aloud," from me, we have seen several tanks of our army protruding from the enemy''s encirclement. They have seized the favorable terrain and are shooting at the enemy. " Malafeyev''s words gave us all a reassurance and relaxed our depressed mood. Although the enemy has set a trap for us to drill through, judging from the performance of the tank division, it is entirely possible to turn defeat into victory, and even lead these ambushed tanks into the range of the anti tank guns and annihilate them with the firepower of the artillery. However, the greater the hopes, the greater the disappointments. When we have no doubt about the tank division''s safe breakthrough, the sudden changes occur. There was a sudden explosion in the earphone. I frowned and asked aloud, "Comrade major, what''s the matter with the gunfire?" But in addition to the sound of explosions one after another, malafeyev''s voice was not heard. I was a little impatient, raised my voice and cried, "Hello! Hello! Major marafeyev, what''s the matter? Where''s the shooting? " My shouts led to the political commissars who had been sitting at the table drinking tea. They gathered around, just like me, anxiously waiting for major malafeyev''s reply. After a long time, malafeyev''s confused voice came again from his earphone: "Comrade division, the enemy has started shelling. Except for a few tanks, the rest of the tanks have been cut off by the enemy''s artillery fire."¡° Has Mr. buniachenko''s tank retreated? " I couldn''t wait for him to finish, because at this moment, the word "Russian Liberation Army" suddenly appeared in my mind. Although I can''t remember the specific leader of this army, buniachenko should be one of them, so his whereabouts at this moment has become my most concerned problem. Malafeyev was silent for a moment, and then replied in a low voice: "no, only nine tanks were withdrawn, among which there was no tank of division buniachenko." Hearing the news that buniachenko''s whereabouts were unknown, the atmosphere in the headquarters suddenly became depressed and dreary. No one spoke, only a few people''s heavy and rapid breathing could be vaguely heard. After a long silence, I sighed in my heart. I looked up at these extremely complicated commanders and said faintly, "when it''s too dark, I''ll immediately send scouts to the battlefield to search for the whereabouts of Colonel buniachenko. I want to see people alive or dead."

 Chapter 225

    Chisgakov sighed and said softly, "well, when it''s too dark, I''ll send a scout over." In spite of these words, we all know that it''s just to do our best. There are still seven or eight hours between now and dark. In such cold weather, it''s difficult for the wounded lying on the battlefield to persist for more than half an hour.


    I sat in a chair with a gloomy face and did not speak. My memory of the "Russian Liberation Army" became more and more clear. I would rather have the spies sent by chisjakov at night to find the cold body of buniachenko on the battlefield than to see the situation that there were no dead or alive. If his body is found, then at least he will have a chance to win the title of "Soviet hero". If he''s missing, he''s going to be ruined for years.


    The commissar came up to me and asked for my opinion in a low voice: "Rita, do you need to report to the commander of the group army about Colonel buniachenko?"


    I looked up at the political commissar standing in front of me, shook my head and said, "don''t worry, wait until the scout reports the results back in the evening." At this point, I paused, looked at the walkie talkie direction, and said calmly: "inform major marafeyev that their artillery position has been exposed, and it is no longer necessary to stay in the current position. In order to avoid becoming the preferred target of German artillery fire, let them choose the right time to withdraw to the city. We only have this anti tank force left now, but we can''t lose it for nothing. "


    "All right." The commissar agreed and stood up straight to convey my order to major marafeyev.


    Half an hour later, chisgakov reported to me the news from the front line that the German artillery bombardment had ended and their tanks had withdrawn. There was no sign of a new attack for the time being. The remaining tanks of our army and major malafeyev''s anti tank artillery battalion were safely withdrawn to the city


    I was listening to the report when the phone on the desk in front of me rang. I grabbed the phone and said, "Hello, I''m o''shanina!"


    "Rita!" It was rokosovsky who recognized what he was saying. I quickly stood up, straightened up and said respectfully, "Hello! Comrade commander. " When I said this, my heart beat a drum and I thought to myself, who has poked up the issue of buniachenko? So he scanned all the people in the room with dissatisfied eyes.


    "Come to my headquarters at once!" When he finished, he hung up without even giving me time to answer.


    "Captain Yushchenko!" I yelled at the outside, and then said to the commissar who came by, "the commander told me to go to his headquarters at once. I don''t know if it''s about Colonel buniachenko. Remember, as soon as it gets dark, send a scout to look for the captain


    "All right." The commissar agreed, and when he saw me turn around, he went out and immediately called out, "Rita, the headquarters of the group army is not in Istra now, it has been transferred to rialovo."


    "What? Transferred? Why? " I stopped and asked.


    "According to intelligence, the first division of enemy tanks, composed of three tank groups, appeared on the right wing of the group army yesterday morning. Although the group army put all the remaining forces into combat, the enemy still used the temporarily dominant forces to force our troops to retreat, so we had to set the headquarters closer and closer to Moscow, And this new choice is in rialovo. "


    "I see." I should be a, and continue to go out, my heart even called disorderly, disorderly, it is all disorderly. I remember in the movie, it seems that there is no big battle between December 1 and 6. How can rokosovsky be beaten back step by step? Is it because of the dual needs of politics and propaganda that the director chose to report only good news but not bad news? When I got to the door, I saw Yushchenko standing upright and waiting for my order. I waved my head at him and went straight out. He immediately followed me with understanding.


    It was almost 12 o''clock when the car arrived outside rokosovsky headquarters. Seeing my arrival, a duty officer of the headquarters immediately took the initiative to open the door for me and said to me in a low voice, "Comrade division commander, please follow me. The commander has been waiting for you for a long time."


    I followed the officer and walked towards the headquarters. I was very familiar with rokosovsky. I should be very calm when I went to see him, but I don''t know why. I felt a little flustered from the beginning of the road, and I don''t know whether it was because of nervousness or other inexplicable factors.


    The headquarters of the group army was set up in a semi underground shelter. The light in the room was very dark, but as soon as I entered the room, I recognized rokosowski among a group of commanders who were studying maps. I quickly stepped forward, raised my hand to salute, and loudly reported: "report commander comrade, major general o''xianingna, commander of the eighth division of Jinwei, has come at your command and is waiting for your instructions!"


    Rokosovsky straightened up, beckoned me to a corner of the room, sat down, took a piece of paper from the briefcase hanging on the wall, handed it to me, and said, "look, this is the order sent by general Zhukov."


    I picked up the document and looked at it in the light. It read: "from December 2, the eighth division of the guards under the command of major general oshanina will be assigned to the battle sequence of the 20th army. The commander of the front army, Georgi konstantinovich Zhukov. December 2, 1941. "


    After reading the order, I stood up, looked at rokosovsky and asked in surprise, "why did senior general put our division under the command of the 20th group army?" Rokosovsky shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly, "I don''t know. Maybe the senior general thinks that the assault force of the 20th group army is too weak and needs to be strengthened. You know, other people are the main force in this big counterattack. " I asked wrongly, "what should I do? Do you really want to go to the 20th army? You know, I already have feelings for the 16th army. I''m reluctant to leave here. "¡° I''m sorry, Rita Rokosovsky patted me on the shoulder and comforted me, saying, "in fact, I don''t want you to leave. With you, we can win more victories that can attract the attention of the supreme commander. But as you can see, it has nothing to do with me. It''s an order directly given by general Zhukov. As a subordinate, we can only implement him unconditionally. " Listen to him say so, I didn''t say anything, just kept silent. Perhaps because he was afraid that I would be oversensitive, he specially explained to me, "it''s my idea to detain the troops that general Zhukov added to you. As you know, the losses of the group army are very great at present, and a lot of replenishment is urgently needed to restore its vitality. " When he said this, I despised him severely in my heart. Maybe you knew that we were going to belong to the 20th army, so you took the troops that were added to our division as your own according to the principle of keeping fat and water out of the field. But he was a senior commander, and he has the final say in the sixteenth army''s three acres. I can only eat this dumb loss. So I asked him in a faint: "can I go?" OK, goodbye then. We are at war. We will meet again when we have a chance. I''m going to beat the Germans here. That''s what I''m worried about... Thank you for your contribution to the 16th army. We''ll all remember you... "I got in the car and ordered grissa to turn around and drive to wolokoramsk, the headquarters of the 20th army there. We have all fought in volokoramsk, so not only grissa, but also I am very familiar with the right way. But after entering the city, we still lost our way, because it is no longer a city, but only ruins. Our car drove for a long time in the narrow passage left in the middle of the rubble, but inevitably got lost. Fortunately, we met more than one patrol team. Under their guidance in turn, we finally came to a large debris pile with many soldiers on guard. This is general Vlasov''s headquarters. I got out of the car, went forward alone, showed my identification to the soldiers on guard, and was led to a basement under the rubble. It was not Vlasov who came to meet me, but his deputy, deputy commander Lin, whom I knew well. When I saw the military God I admired, I quickly took two steps. I went to him and stood at attention to salute him. Seeing that there was no outsider on the left and right, I quickly whispered in Chinese: "Hello, comrade deputy commander Lin! Nice to see you again here! " Deputy commander Lin smiles a little and doesn''t speak. He makes a gesture of please to me. Then he turns and walks to the house. I follow him on my face. When I saw general Vlasov, I stood at attention and saluted him. The report said, "Comrade report commander, major general oshanina, division commander of the eighth guard division, reported to you that our department has been under the command of the 20th army since today, and I''m waiting for your order." Frasov, who was wearing glasses, looked me up and down. With a smile, he extended his hand to me and said happily, "Comrade oshanina, welcome to join the 20th army. From today on, we will fight side by side." After shaking hands with me, he took a piece of paper from the table, looked at me and said, "here''s an order from the headquarters of the front army. I''ll read it to you." When I heard Zhukov''s command again, my mouth twitched. My heart said, I was surprised. Is Zhukov going to move my troops to the most dangerous place? Fortunately, Vlasov didn''t find my difference, so he read out the order according to the document: "from now on, appoint Rita mushdakova oshanina as the chief of staff of the 20th group army and the commander of the 8th division of the guards." With that, he put down the order and extended his hand to me with a smile. I was relieved to hear that it was not defense. It didn''t matter whether I was promoted or not, as long as I stayed in the eighth division. So I shook hands with him and the others who congratulated me.

 Chapter 226

    Twenty minutes later, in the headquarters of Vlasov, a briefing was held after I became chief of staff. He turned his eyes to general manager Lin next to me and said, "next, please ask deputy commander Lin to arrange the recent military operations for you."


    After listening to Shi Zhe''s translation, President Lin stood up, went to the map on the wall, pointed to the map with an explanation stick and said, "comrades, please look at the map." Seeing that everyone''s attention was focused on him, he continued to explain: "our current task is still to stick to volokoramsk. At this point, I hope all the commanders present here can understand that sticking to the city does not mean hiding in the trenches and waiting for the enemy to attack, nor is it just like nailing there without retreating. Instead, we need to change our tactics. When the enemy attacks, we will resist. If the enemy holds his ground and stops attacking, then we don''t have to wait. We don''t want to be happy when we have a chance to catch our breath. We have to take the initiative to attack. " Shi Zhe translated every word he said into Russian in time so that all the commanders could understand it¡° We should not only attack during the day, but also at night. We should give full play to our advantages in night and close combat and offset the enemy''s superiority in weapons and equipment. "


    "Deputy commander Lin is right," I heard here, and I couldn''t help echoing, "the German commanders and troops are very conventional, only blindly obeying orders. Once we counter attack them when they are still or stop attacking, they will be helpless and passive, waiting for the instructions from the higher authorities. However, under combat conditions, the instructions from the superior can not always be conveyed in time. Through my own observation of the fighting process and our army''s actions, I am convinced that almost all the troops who do not just defend, but launch counter attacks on the enemy in the daytime and at night when possible, can win. Especially at night, because the German action in the dark conditions is very hesitant, should say, play very bad. This can be confirmed in our division''s night battle to capture Taiyangshan city. "


    I was overjoyed for a moment and expressed my true feelings. At first, there was silence and silence in the headquarters, but immediately there were warm applause and excited cheers.


    Vlasov looked at me with admiration, then stood up and said, "you have heard what chief of staff oshanina said just now. Facts have proved that the vision of the Supreme Command and the headquarters of the front army is correct. Our new chief of staff not only has rich combat experience, but also has a high theoretical level. I believe she will adapt to the role of chief of staff and lead our troops to achieve more brilliant results. Now let''s continue to listen to deputy commander Lin''s speech. "


    Mr. Lin continued to point the map with his stick and said: "at present, the main force defending volokoramsk is the seventh division of the close guard of Colonel griyaznov. They restrained the forces of the enemy''s four mechanized divisions here, and the enemy could not advance to Moscow through here. But this is not enough. Our task is not only to stop the enemy, but also to smash the enemy. The day before yesterday, in a small village in the southwest of the city, the seventh division once surrounded a small army of the enemy. It adopted the tactics of encircling but not fighting to induce the enemy to send troops to reinforce. After the enemy entered the ambush circle, the pre ambushed troops decisively attacked and quickly annihilated the enemy, greatly reducing the pressure on the front battlefield. In future large regiments, we should pool our wisdom, use our brains, and make more use of this tactic of "encircling and supporting" in order to eliminate more enemies at a minimal cost. "


    The military theory that President Lin explained above gives me a refreshing feeling. The last time I stuck to wolokoramsk, although I used the old man''s "encirclement" to fight and help, I still wiped out a lot of enemies. If we can learn more applicable military theories from him, we will be able to command a larger army in the future.


    After the meeting, Vlasov politely asked me, "Comrade oshanina, do you have any requirements?"


    Now the situation of Taiyangshan city is not very good, and the defensive force is relatively weak. When I heard him ask, I pushed the boat along the river and said, "Comrade commander, our division is seriously short of troops to defend Taiyangshan city. I hope we can add some troops." When I said this, I said in my heart that I would be satisfied to add even a hundred people to me.


    I thought Vlasov would shirk or refuse, but he readily agreed: "OK, I can agree to your request. Just today, the Moscow garrison headquarters sent me two battalions of reserves. I''ll give you all of them. " Then he told a staff officer beside him, "go and call the major from the garrison headquarters."


    The major of the garrison command came in with the staff and stood at attention in front of Vlasov. He said, "report to commander, major lesdayev of the garrison command is reporting to you and waiting for your instructions."


    Vlasov shook hands with the major and said, "Comrade major, because the strength of Taiyangshan city is weak, the headquarters has decided to put you under the command of the eighth division of the guards. I''d like to introduce you to major general oshanina, chief of staff of the group army and commander of the eighth division of Jinwei. "


    The major came to me with a respectful salute and said excitedly, "Hello, comrade commander! I''m glad to be under your command again. "


    I didn''t return the gift. Instead, I reached out to him and said happily, "major resdayev, I''m glad to see you again."

 Chapter 227

    Grissa, who came out of the headquarters and had been waiting outside, immediately drove the car over and stopped steadily in front of me. Captain Yushchenko opened the door, jumped from the co pilot''s seat and opened the back door for me. With the help of the lighted steam lamp at the door, I looked at the empty street in the middle of the ruins. I asked lesdayev curiously, "Comrade major, where are your troops?"


    "The troops are in the woods southeast of the city," he replied Then he asked with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, my car has gone back to the army''s camp. Can I go with you in your car?"


    I shook my head and said, "get in the car." Then he went straight into the car. He got into the car and sat in the back row with me. Standing under the car, Yushchenko helped us close the door, and then he sat in the co driver''s seat and said softly, "drive." As soon as grissa stepped on the gas, the car drove out of the city along the street.


    By this time, it was very dark. There was no moon. It was dark everywhere. Although I can''t see anything, I still look out of the window and think about my mind. To be honest, although I was appointed chief of staff of the 20th group army today, I am not happy at all. It''s a headache to think about buniachenko''s uncertain life and death and the German attack on Taiyangshan city.


    When I attended the military conference just now, I listened to President Lin''s teaching us all kinds of military theories. I forgot about buniachenko at all. Now when I''m free, I think about it again. I was thinking about what to do if I couldn''t find buniachenko? Although the sacrifice of a division commander in a cruel battle is a common thing, just like my predecessor, general Panfilov. But even if I die, at least I can see the body, but this buniachenko can''t live and die. I really don''t know how to explain to Zhukov, whether to tell the truth or to hide the truth?


    "Comrade teachers, comrade teachers." I vaguely heard Yushchenko calling me. I answered quickly, only to find that I was so lost that I forgot that I was still in the car.


    In order to cover up my gaffe, I coughed, pointed to lesdayev beside me and said to Yushchenko, "Comrade captain, this is major lesdayev of the garrison headquarters. He once went to the enemy''s rear with me to carry out arduous reconnaissance tasks. This time, he brought us a reserve team."


    Then he pointed to Yushchenko and introduced him to lesdayev, saying, "this is captain Yushchenko. He used to belong to the people''s interior Committee, but now he is the company commander of our division."


    After listening to my introduction, they reached out and shook hands at the same time and began to exchange greetings.


    Looking at lesdayev who talked and laughed with Yushchenko, I couldn''t help thinking of another key problem. Because of my rapid promotion, I was promoted from corporal to major general in just two months. But all this is just superficial scenery, without any network foundation. Being a teacher is barely enough. If I want to hold a higher position, I can''t find anyone available. In front of me, lesdayev, Lu Jin and sapochuk, who were still recovering in the hospital, went to the enemy''s rear with me to carry out reconnaissance missions. They were good comrades in arms. They could be regarded as my authentic lineage. At present, I am close to lieutenant Ramis of the guard camp and major bukov, who can also develop into my future team. I took another look at Yushchenko sitting in the front row and sighed to myself. Although he has been trusted by me recently and is responsible for my safety every day, he is an officer from the Ministry of interior after all and can only have limited trust.


    The forest where the reserve troops are stationed will soon arrive. Yushchenko accompanies lesdayev to get out of the car to gather the troops. Grissa and I are left on the car.


    Grissa looked out of the window, then turned back and whispered to me, "Comrade division commander, just now when I accompanied you to the 16th army headquarters, I heard a driver I knew tell me something."


    I knew that the drivers had nothing to say when they got together, and it was normal for them to hear some news on the grapevine, so I asked curiously, "what''s the matter?"


    "I heard him say that the headquarters of the front army originally sent a reserve team to our division, including infantry, artillery and tank soldiers. As a result, all commander rokosovsky was detained and handed over to other troops. At the same time, he also ordered the mixed Cadet regiment led by general leviagin to withdraw from the settlements at 4 p.m. and retreat eastward. Now, only a small number of garrison troops of the 133rd infantry division are left in the three settlements. "


    When I heard this news, the corners of my mouth twitched, and I almost wanted to scold rokosovsky. However, when I thought that I could not make a gaffe under my own department before leaving the 16th group army, I scolded the former commander without division. If it was spread, others would not know what to think of me. So he controlled his mood in time, pretending to be relaxed, and said: "commander rokosovsky also has difficulties. His troops are not enough. In the face of the fierce attack of the enemy, he is not able to do what he wants. It is normal to send several troops to defend the key areas."


    By the time Yushchenko and lesdayev got on the bus, my mood had stabilized. The strength of the residential area was insufficient. I would just transfer the strength from the city after I get back later.


    A convoy of more than 40 covered trucks followed my jeep and drove to the sun mountain city.


    When we were one or two kilometers away from the city, we were found by the sentry on duty on the defensive position outside the city. He immediately issued an alarm and the troops quickly entered a state of combat. But we were still driving forward foolishly. If chisjakov, who happened to be inspecting there, had not found something wrong and sent someone to contact us, we might have been fighting with our own people. The motorcade drove down the road into the city, and chisjakov was waiting at the entrance. Without waiting for my orders, grissa parked the car more than ten meters away from them. I opened the door and walked to chisgakov and them, followed by Yushchenko and resdayev. After introducing lesdayev to chisgakov, I gave a direct order to send a special person to guide ten of the trucks to the residential areas outside the city. Another 30 trucks, guided by a division staff officer, headed for the defensive positions in the north of the city, and leisdayev went with them. When the car was far away, I asked chisjakov to get on the bus and return to the division headquarters together. After the car started, chisgakov said in a heavy voice, "Comrade division commander, our scout who went to the front line is back."¡° How''s it going? Have you found Mr. buniachenko? " Although I knew that the possibility of finding it was zero, I still took a chance to ask. He shook his head and said slowly: "our scouts found Colonel buniachenko''s tank on the battlefield. The tank rolled over in a crater and found the remains of two soldiers in the car. There were also two bodies in the parking lot, but the colonel was not found. In order to be on the safe side, the Scout searched all the wreckage of our tanks around, but still did not find the colonel. So we come to the conclusion that Colonel buniachenko is missing. " I know in my heart that although chisjakov said that buniachenko was missing, everyone knows that this is just a synonym for being captured, but no one wants to say this word. However, since the other principal officials in the division have decided on this matter, I can''t pick out this layer of window paper. I can only push the boat along the river when buniachenko is missing. If the headquarters of the front army inquires about it, I will report it as missing on the battlefield.

 Chapter 228

    "Ah! I see! " I was startled by the sudden cry of major shedulin next to me. I looked at him discontentedly and said faintly, "Comrade commander, what do you want to understand?" Instead of answering me directly, he patted leisdayev on the shoulder affectionately and changed his address from "you" to "you". He said excitedly, "Comrade major, you are such a genius! Why didn''t I think of it?! If these abandoned tanks in front of the positions are slightly transformed, they will become new fire points and observation points. In this way, even if the enemy''s infantry take a sudden attack, the soldiers hiding under the abandoned tanks will be able to find out and delay their progress, so as to gain enough time for our troops to enter the position. " Looking at lesdayev, I nodded with satisfaction and said, "Comrade major, please introduce me to the details. I see if it''s worth promoting to other troops. " Leisdayev agreed and then introduced his deployment: "a pit has been dug under each abandoned tank and two soldiers have been assigned to each tank. According to different positions, I have set up observation points, machine gun positions and anti tank positions. When the observation point finds that the enemy is approaching, it immediately reports the enemy''s situation to the command post through walkie talkie. But the machine gun position and the anti tank position have the purpose of delaying the enemy''s advance and buying time for our army to enter the position defense in time. "¡° Well done I affirmed lesdayev''s practice and concluded: "as a commander, he often loses a battle if he does not personally visit the battlefield where the troops are about to fight, only studies the terrain on the basis of maps and gives written orders." At the same time, they also reminded them that "as intermediate commanders, before completing combat tasks, they must be familiar with the terrain and the enemy''s combat formation, so that they can take advantage of the enemy''s weaknesses in deployment, repel and counter attack them in combat." I was imparting to them the military theory I had learned from President Lin, when I suddenly heard that the barrage stopped. The first thing I thought of was "the enemy''s artillery has stopped!" He took up a telescope from his hand and looked out. Although the position was still shrouded in smoke, no more explosions were heard. It seems that the enemy''s shelling has indeed stopped. I put down my telescope and gave an order to lesdayev who was standing beside me: "the enemy''s shelling has stopped. Major, it''s time to let your troops go on the field!"¡° Yes He promised to run to the table, grabbed the phone and shook the handle hard. As soon as the phone rang, he ordered in a decisive tone, "Comrade captain, the shelling has stopped. It''s time to take your company into the position immediately." As soon as he put down the phone, he heard orderly steps coming from the right side and going along the line. A group of soldiers, led by several officers, bent forward with weapons and in neat formation, ran along the trench.

 Chapter 229

    The German offensive troops soon appeared in my telescope. The enemy infantry did not walk behind the tanks and armored vehicles, but came by truck. The truck didn''t stop until it was four or five hundred meters away from our army. The German soldiers, at the yell of the officers, quickly got out of the truck and formed a whole team. Then they followed their tanks and stormed towards our army.


    The fire points under the tanks did not fire easily, but let in the enemy''s tanks. Looking at the ten or so German tanks getting closer and closer to our army, in one minute at most, they can cross the trench and advance to the depth of our army. I just wanted to remind lesdayev that it was time to order the troops to open fire. A red signal bomb suddenly flew up in the trench, and suddenly the pea like gunfire on the position was heard.


    With the sound of the gun, the anti tank men who had been hiding under the abandoned tanks came out one after another and smashed the burning bottle into the enemy''s tanks. The flasks drew arcs in the air, accurately fell on the armor plate and smashed to pieces. The liquid in the flasks quickly spread out, and the tanks on the fast March burst into flames. They drove forward a few steps and then stopped one after another. The top covers of the smoky turrets were opened one after another, and from inside came one tank hand after another covered with fire. Some jumped off the tank, rolled on the spot, put out the fire, turned around and ran back, and were killed near the tank by our soldiers. As soon as some tank soldiers emerged from the turret, they were killed by random guns, and their bodies hung on the turret.


    As soon as they saw that their tanks had been blown up, the enemy infantry who followed them quickly rushed to the front with submachine guns and swept at the anti tank hands of our army. Several soldiers who had just bombed the tank and had not yet had time to hide fell under the enemy''s muzzle. Our concealed fire point opened fire. The German soldiers were caught off guard and fell in front of the firing hole in rows.


    Some of the remaining tanks of the German army that had not yet been destroyed continued to rush forward. After driving for a short time, they were destroyed by the flasks thrown by the anti tank men hidden in the craters in front of the trench. Some of them backed up in the same place and ran into their own soldiers regardless. The scene was chaotic for a moment.


    The German tank formation was in a mess, but the infantry were well-trained. They soon recovered from the initial confusion, avoided driving their own tanks, fell down on the spot and chose to shoot our army. Our army''s shooting points under abandoned tanks were also reimbursed one by one with grenades.


    The battle lasted for nearly an hour, but at last the German army could not support it. Under the cover of the remaining two tanks, it slowly retreated. Because the troops in the trench were effective, they did not launch a counter charge. But when the enemy retreated, lesdayev ordered his men to go out to treat the wounded, clean the battlefield, and restore the fire point under the abandoned tanks.


    Although this battle has won, there are still many unsatisfactory places. In conclusion, I pointed out directly to lesdayev that the space under the tank is effective and can hold too few people and ammunition. Some of the destroyed fire points are because the soldiers'' bullets soon run out, so that they have to rush out and fight for bayonets with the enemy armed to the teeth. Although these firepower points under abandoned tanks have played a great role today, the enemy will soon come up with countermeasures. For example, first use mortars to suppress firepower, and then use flamethrowers to close fire to clear our firepower points. So I remind him to keep sober and continue to improve the defense system here.


    Before returning to the division headquarters, I repeatedly told him not to simply defend, but to send elite small troops at night to harass the enemy''s rear area by means of night attack, so that they would not get peace, so that their offensive power in the daytime would be greatly weakened.


    According to the history I learned from the film "the battle of Moscow", from December 1 to 6, only the seventh army took action. They used the typical combat formation of the German mechanized legion, diamond or trapezoid, to attack. They took heavy tanks as the vanguard, placed in the front of the formation, and launched a fierce attack on our defensive positions. But the end of the attack was very tragic. Under the heavy artillery bombardment of the Soviet army, all these tanks turned into burning scrap iron.


    It is because of this memory that I did not pay attention to the German attack. It is just that they are struggling. The fate of defeat is waiting for them. So after explaining everything to shedulin and lesdayev, I went back to the division headquarters in a jeep driven by grissa, ready to study the counter offensive with political commissar yegorov in a few days.


    Back in the headquarters, I saw yegorov and deputy division commander chisjakov. Walking back and forth in the room, chief of staff sherebryakov was bending over the walkie talkie and asked the signalman, "how''s it going? Haven''t you contacted me yet? "


    Seeing this, I was startled. Which unit of the division was in trouble, was it broken up by the German army or defected? He seized yegorov and asked anxiously, "my political commissar, what''s the matter?"


    Yegorov saw that it was me, and immediately breathed a sigh, as if he had found the backbone. He quickly pulled me to the table to sit down and said mysteriously, "as soon as I got the information, the commander''s city was suddenly attacked by the enemy. After the tenacious resistance, the unit was forced to retreat, and was retreating towards our Taiyangshan city."


    "Commander? Is it general Vlasov? " I was surprised to ask: "the enemy occupied the city. Where is the seventh division of the guards responsible for defending the city?" When political commissar yegorov heard me say this, he was stunned: "I didn''t say that general Vlasov had an accident?"¡° But you just said that something happened to the commander! " I am more and more confused. Political commissar, you are not very old. How can you forget what you said¡° Comrade division, "chisjakov came out to rescue the political commissar and explained to me," the political commissar is talking about general rokosovsky. You know, although we are now in the 20th group army, we still habitually call rokosovsky commander. "¡° What''s going on? I''m confused when you say that. " Chisgakov brought me a cup of hot tea and explained the situation to me in detail: "according to the Scout''s report, this morning, the German army assembled the 1st, 6th and 7th tank divisions and the 23rd and 106th infantry divisions. Under the cover of the plane, the German army sent a report to general zaharov, deputy commander of the 16th group army, the 17th, 126th and 133rd infantry divisions and the 25th tank brigade, The defensive areas of dmitrovo and yahroma launched an attack. After the fierce battle, general Zakharov led his troops to retreat to the direction close to the city of Moscow, while rokosovsky''s headquarters withdrew from lialovo in the battle and lost contact with us. According to the surveyors'' speculation, the headquarters of the 16th group army is retreating to the direction of Taiyangshan city. " After introducing the situation, he finally added: "Comrade teacher, this is the situation. What do you think we should do?"¡° Rita, we can''t wait for help. I think we should send troops immediately to rescue general rokosovsky''s headquarters from the possible encirclement of the enemy. " After staring at the map in front of me for a long time, I finally saw that the German army was attacking the right wing of the 20th group army, trying to open a breakthrough from here to achieve the goal of occupying Moscow city. And this main direction of attack is exactly where the 16th army of rokosovsky is located. I patted lightly on the map, and then said decisively, "since commander rokosovsky is in trouble, we must go to the rescue." I looked at chisgakov and asked, "where are the 389th tank division?" You know, yesterday, after I gave the order to withdraw the remaining tank and anti tank artillery battalions, I went to the group army to accept the order, and was transferred from the 16th group army to the 20th group army. Since I came back from the military meeting in Vlasov, I still don''t know the whereabouts of this unit. Chisgakov pointed to the map and said without hesitation, "the remnants of the 389th division are now here in the east of the city." I nodded, pointed to the position of the tank division, and said to chisgakov, "now I order you to go to the tank division immediately, take the command from major malafeyev, and lead the troops eastward to find the whereabouts of general rokosovsky''s headquarters." When chisjakov left, the commissar kindly reminded me, "Rita, do you think you need to report to general Vlasov about the transfer of the tank division?"¡° "OK," I promised. I picked up the phone on the desk and started shaking the handle. When I got through, I reported to Vlasov about the transfer of troops. Vlasov pondered for a moment, then said in a shrill voice, "I have also received reports here that the fierce and uninterrupted fighting of the enemy continues in the whole front of the 16th group army and the friendly group, as well as the right side of the 30th group army and the left side of the 5th group army. There are serious difficulties everywhere. The right-wing forces of the 30th group army were repulsed by the enemy to the East Bank of the Moscow Volga canal, and a few of the enemy''s troops had even crossed the canal south of dmitrov. The right wing units of the 5th army were also repulsed by the enemy. " What he said scared me out in a cold sweat. I didn''t expect that the situation was so bad. But why didn''t I mention it in the films and TV works I saw later? However, Vlasov agreed that we should send troops for rescue, and offered to send a regiment of the seventh division of the guards to reinforce me if I felt that the defense strength of Taiyangshan city was insufficient. When I put down the phone, I could not help feeling with emotion. General frasov, who was also the commander of the group army, had a solid defensive position, but rokosovsky was defeated again and again, and was beaten by the German army like a lost dog. In this case, Vlasov''s command ability should not be inferior to that of rokosovsky, or even less than that of Zhukov. But why have I only heard of Zhukov and rokosovsky in later generations, but never heard of the name of Vlasov?

 Chapter 230

    Although deputy division commander chisjakov was sent to lead the remnants of the 389th tank division to rescue rokosovsky''s headquarters. But I was still not at ease. An hour later, I called the forward position in the north of the city and asked shedulin to stay and continue to command. Then leisdayev immediately took a company''s troops to the residential area of sville chikovo by truck and joined the garrison there. After the deployment, I quickly arranged the defensive position and waited for rokosovsky who might withdraw.


    After all this, my stomach began to ache. I was going to go to the bathroom to change a cushion. Unexpectedly, Zhukov called. As soon as he heard my voice, he yelled angrily: "Rita, what''s the matter with colonel buniachenko, the 389th division commander?"


    Who reported the disappearance of Colonel buniachenko to Zhukov? My face sank with a brush, and my eyes swept over several commanders in the room. Although I didn''t speak, when I saw my eyes that could kill people, everyone knew that something was wrong. Although I am dissatisfied with the person who leaked the news to Zhukov, I have to give an explanation: "Comrade General, please listen to me. This is the situation."


    "Go ahead." Zhukov snorted angrily.


    "Yesterday, German tanks launched an attack on the position in the north of our city. After two rounds, they turned around and ran when they saw Colonel buniachenko''s tanks rushing out of the flank. Our tanks also followed suit. I didn''t expect that this was a trap set by the enemy. Several tanks were used as bait to lead our tanks into the ambush circle. After a battle, Colonel bunyachenko led half of the tanks to break through the enemy''s encirclement. In the process of retreating, they were heavily shelled by the enemy. In the end, only a few tanks escaped, none of which was Colonel buniachenko''s


    "Have you sent for Colonel buniachenko?"


    Although Zhukov couldn''t see, I still nodded my head and said, "yes, I sent a scout to the battlefield that night. They found Colonel buniachenko''s tank, which rolled over in a crater. The bodies of four crew members were found inside and outside the car, but no buniachenko was among them. Because our people are still looking for the whereabouts of the colonel, because it is not sure whether he died or disappeared, we have not reported this matter for the time being. "


    As soon as the voice fell, I heard Zhukov slap the table hard. The loud voice made me tremble: "what''s missing! It''s captured! Captured!! Do you understand? It''s captured! Captured by the bandits


    Captured! Although I had already guessed the fate of buniachenko''s capture, I was surprised when the news was confirmed from Zhukov''s mouth. With a fluke in my heart, I said, "Comrade General, maybe you have got inaccurate information."


    "What inaccurate information." Zhukov said sternly: "the Intelligence Department of the front army should have intercepted a telegram from the enemy. After decoding it, it is learned that they captured a Soviet division commander in the battle yesterday. This man is colonel bunyachenko, the division commander of the 389th tank division." Finish saying, did not give me the opportunity to explain, then hung up the phone.


    After putting down the phone, I looked around the commanders in the room again. I knew that they had been wronged just now. It was not one of them who went over the top to report to the police. It was Zhukov who intercepted the German intelligence that got to know about Colonel buniachenko. I said faintly: "just now general Zhukov called and asked about Mr. buniachenko. According to reliable information, he was captured in yesterday''s battle." Seeing what political commissar yegorov wanted to ask, I quickly waved my hand and continued to explain: "this information was obtained from the German telegram intercepted by the Intelligence Department of the headquarters of the front army."


    Then he told sherebryakov, who was standing in the pile of signalmen, "Comrade chief of staff of the division, you should contact the small teams in the enemy''s rear immediately and let them quickly find the whereabouts of division commander bunyachenko. Once we know the exact whereabouts of the colonel, we must rescue him at all costs! "


    Sherebriakov stood up straight and said in a loud voice, "yes, sir, I''ll give the scouts an order."


    After the assignment, I quickly ran to the bathroom to change a pad. Coming out of the bathroom, I just wanted to go back to the headquarters. I vaguely heard someone talking in the duty room, so I walked over. Pushing the door open, I saw seven or eight people sitting against the wall in a small room. Without waiting for me to speak, someone stood up and saluted me: "Hello, sir! This is Lieutenant Iger on duty. Do you have any instructions


    With the demonstration effect of the commander, the rest of the people also stood up neatly to salute me.


    I waved my hand and said in a soft voice, "nothing''s wrong. When I passed by, I heard you are very busy here, so I came in to have a look." Seeing that everyone was standing upright like a stake, he immediately called them, "don''t be constrained. Let''s all sit down." Then I looked around and sat down on a chair by the door.


    Seeing that I had taken the lead to sit down, the second lieutenant also asked other people to sit down and personally picked up the teapot and poured me a cup of tea. I took the cup and sipped it gently. It was black tea with sugar, sweet and bitter. I held the teacup in both hands and chatted with the Second Lieutenant: "I said, comrade second lieutenant, there are quite a lot of people here." When I said this, I thought to myself that if he could not give me a satisfactory answer, I would demote him to a private soldier tomorrow and send him to the front line. You should know how important the security work of the division headquarters is. As an officer on duty, he was hiding in the room with a group of people of unknown origin for tea.


    Hearing my question, the second lieutenant was a little flustered and quickly explained, "they are all soldiers coming to change their posts. Because it''s still a little early, I''ll come to my duty room first and have a rest."


    Oh, so it is! I made a mistake again, and my heart was finally put back in my stomach. But I''m a little dissatisfied with myself. What''s the matter these two days? I''m always suspicious and I always want to lose my temper. In order to cover up my embarrassment, I deliberately cut off the topic and chatted with these soldiers who were somewhat restrained in the face of me.


    When I first entered the gate, I felt a pain in my stomach. After drinking hot tea, I felt less pain in my stomach. I also set up a friendly image among these soldiers. Then I put down my tea cup, stood up and walked slowly to the headquarters.


    I didn''t expect that as soon as I entered the door, before I could sit down, the political commissar ran to me in a panic and said, "Rita, we contacted commander rokosovsky through our division''s communication equipment."


    I looked at him puzzled for a long time to understand the meaning of what he said. I was surprised and asked, "is it a good thing to get in touch with commander rokosovsky? With our communication equipment, it means that our rescue forces have joined their headquarters. Which army did they join, the tanks led by Colonel chisjakov, or the infantry of major resdayev? "


    "It''s Colonel chisgakov''s army!" Yegorov said as he pulled me to the telephone, took the earphone and microphone from the signalman''s hand and put it into my hand.


    After I put on the earphone, I couldn''t wait to call each other: "I''m o''shanina, who are you? Please speak


    "Rita, it''s me." At the other end came the familiar voice of rokosovsky.


    "Hello, comrade commander!" Although I was not under his jurisdiction, my respect for him did not diminish at all, so I still spoke with him politely: "what''s the situation over there?"


    "Rita, to tell you the truth, it''s bad. It''s very bad!" Rokosovsky sighed and began to tell me his situation excitedly: "the sudden attack of the enemy disrupted our defense deployment. General Zakharov led the troops that had been withdrawn from klin. After fierce fighting, they had retreated to the direction near the city of Moscow. And my command was forced to withdraw from lialovo. There were several cars carrying 4-joint anti-aircraft machine guns that were originally responsible for protecting us. They were damaged in the German air raid. Our car, about three kilometers away from the sville chkovo settlement, was overtaken by German tanks. We were at our last resort, but fortunately, at this time, the troops led by Colonel chisgakov arrived. They first used the anti tank gun battalion to kill several heavy tanks of the enemy, and then launched a tank charge to defeat the pursuers following us at one stroke. "


    Hearing this, I became more and more confused. Didn''t chisgakov join you and beat back the pursuers? So what''s the problem? I was afraid that rokosovsky would not be able to explain the matter clearly even if he spoke for another half an hour, so I quickly asked, "Comrade commander, since you have joined up with the troops I sent to the rescue, why don''t you withdraw to sville chikovo residential area in a hurry?"


    When I asked, rokosovsky sighed and said, "when our tank pursuit ended and returned, ready to cover our return to sverchikovo settlement, we found that German tanks appeared on the west side of the forest. It seemed that they were coming from both wings. Our tank soldiers launched a very tenacious attack on the enemy, but because they were outnumbered, they all died. At present, I am trapped in the forest with colonel chisgakov and the anti tank artillery battalion, unable to break through. "


    I was scared out of a cold sweat. How could rokosovsky always be out of shape? It wasn''t long since he was saved last time. How could he be in a desperate situation again. It''s said that the enemy''s tank troops are encircling them. What I lack most at present is anti tank forces. Even if I want to save them, I can''t do it. At this time, I understood why the political commissar was so panicked just now. In the face of this situation, I was also at a loss and didn''t know what to do.


    I clenched my teeth and asked, "Comrade commander, how long can you support me there?"


    "Colonel chisgakov built an anti tank gun position in the forest, and we were placed in a temporary tent. All kinds of signs show that the enemy is gathering forces here, and it is estimated that the attack will be launched in another hour or two. "


    "I see," I comforted him, "Comrade commander, please rest assured that I will try my best to rescue you."


    After the termination of the communication, I immediately ordered the signalman: "connect me with general Zhukov, commander of the front army." As soon as I got through and heard Zhukov''s voice, I couldn''t wait to report to him: "senior general, I have important information to report to you." Then he made a detailed report on rokosovsky''s current situation.


    After listening to my statement, he was silent for a long time before answering in a low voice, "I know. I''ll send someone to help him right away. You give me the coordinates of his location. "


    I quickly turned around and asked selebriakov, who was standing beside me, "Comrade chief of staff, give me the location of commander rokosovsky."


    Sherebriakov immediately reported a series of coordinate numbers to me, and I immediately reported this data to Zhukov. After recording the data, he said again: "the reinforcements will arrive soon. You tell him that once you find that the enemy''s battle line is in chaos, you will break through immediately. As long as people can safely stand out, it doesn''t matter if all the technical equipment is discarded. " Although Zhukov''s words puzzled me, I still told rokosovsky. Although I want to ask commander Vlasov to send tank troops to reinforce me, far water can''t save near fire, so I just give up. Chisjakov went to arrange the breakout, and I continued to communicate with rokosovsky. Twenty minutes later, I suddenly heard a surprise voice from my earphone: "Comrade commander, we are saved. Please come out and have a look. The plane is ours in the sky." Then came a series of explosions, which sounded like bombs rather than shells. After hearing this news, I understood why Zhukov asked me to report the coordinates just now. He wanted to send planes to bomb the German tanks that besieged rokosovsky and create conditions for them to break through. Among the cheers suppressed by the continuous explosions, I heard rokosovsky''s decisive and resolute voice: "all of you, break through immediately!"

 Chapter 231

    Half an hour later, I received a call from rokosovsky from the sville chkovo settlement by field line telephone, saying that he was out of danger and had entered the defensive area of our army. When he broke through the encirclement just now, chisgakov had given an order to discard all the technical equipment and break through the encirclement lightly. However, major malafeyev insisted on bringing all the anti tank guns with him. When we returned to the residential area, only five of the original 16 anti tank guns were left, and the rest were lost in the process of breaking through.


    Because rokosovsky''s communication equipment was destroyed by the German aircraft during the transfer process, and the walkie talkie carried by chisjakov could not contact the front army headquarters. After knowing the specific situation, I reported rokosovsky''s escape and current situation to Zhukov with the walkie talkie.


    After hearing this, Zhukov remained silent for a long time as usual, and then replied, "let him stay there first. I will send someone to send him the supplementary troops and new communication equipment. You have to make sure he''s safe before the reinforcements arrive. "


    "Yes As a traverser, I know the importance of rokosovsky in later generations better than him, so I made a solemn guarantee to him very decisively: "Georgi konstantinovic, please rest assured that as long as there is a soldier of the eighth division of the close guard in sverchkovo residential area, commander rokosovsky will never be hurt."


    At the end of the call with Zhukov, I told sherebriyakov: "Comrade chief of staff, give a call to the deputy division commander, Colonel chisjakov, and ask him to find a way to bring general rokosovsky here and let the commander stay in the residential area. I''m not sure."


    "You are right, sir. I agree! Comrade chief of staff, you should carry it out immediately. " The political commissar echoed and expressed his support for me.


    When night fell, we finally waited for the arrival of rokosovsky. In addition to him, there is his chief of staff, Colonel marinin, and the guide, chisgakov. As soon as the three men entered the division headquarters, I saw them and said to several commanders around them, "Comrade commander is coming!" Finish saying, then took the lead to welcome up.


    I went to rokosovsky, raised my hand at attention and said excitedly, "Hello, comrade commander! Welcome to the headquarters of the eighth division of Jinwei. "


    After returning his salute, rokosovsky bent down slightly and grasped my hand. Although his face was still the usual serious expression, I had already noticed the touch in his eyes. Although he was grateful for my help, he whispered in his usual voice, "thank you, Rita." Then he released my hand, straightened his body, looked over me, looked at the other commanders behind him, and said in a loud voice, "Hello, comrades!"


    "Hello, comrade commander!" Everyone said hello in unison, and one by one came forward to salute him and shake hands with him.


    Although my rank is higher than that of chief of staff malining, I didn''t put on airs and ignore him. As usual, I went forward to salute him and shake hands.


    After greeting everyone, rokosovsky went directly to the telephone and talked to Zhukov in the distance. The two began to talk more politely, saying that for the sake of the reserves, the two sides quarreled.


    I can understand rokosovsky''s mood at this time. Seeing the great counterattack coming, not only his troops were defeated one after another, but also his headquarters were almost defeated by the Germans several times, and even nearly taken prisoner. No one would be angry about this. To be honest, rokosovsky''s initial decision to withdraw his troops to the Istra area to organize a new defense is completely correct from now on. Originally, the troops of the 16th group army could withdraw to Istra in an orderly and safe way, but the troops who received the order of withdrawal were forced to return to their original defensive positions because of Zhukov''s obstruction at the beginning of the operation. After fighting with the enemy for a few days, Zhukov was forced to retreat because he couldn''t resist the frantic attack of the German army. When Zhukov passed rokosovsky, he directly gave the order to the retreating troops to counter attack Taiyangshan City, which led to the collapse of the chaotic army command system. However, the participating forces did not belong to each other and fought their own way. They paid a heavy price and achieved few results.


    For this reason, rokosovsky has been holding a nameless fire in his heart. Now the troops are suffering heavy casualties and lack of self-protection. How can he participate in the counter offensive? To find Zhukov point reserve to add their own army, but was not polite to refuse, his anger broke out at this time. If a quarrel between two senior generals is spread out, it will have no good influence on anyone. Therefore, except for political commissar yegorov, deputy division commander chisjakov, chief of staff sherebryakov and group army chief of staff malining, I have expelled other people in the headquarters, including the signalmen.


    Rokosovsky and Zhukov argued for a long time, suddenly turned off the communication switch, and directly took the initiative to interrupt the contact with Zhukov. Seeing rokosovsky''s fierce action, we were even more silent and did not dare to speak casually, so as not to touch his bad luck. There was a dead silence in the headquarters, only the heavy breathing of rokosovsky''s anger.


    The telephone ring on the desk suddenly rang. We looked at each other. We didn''t dare to answer the phone easily. We were afraid that Zhukov would ask for help. I thought the bell would break after two rings, but I didn''t expect it to ring tenaciously for a minute or two.


    Everyone turned their eyes on me, hoping that I could answer the phone. I secretly glanced at rokosovsky and found that he was still standing in front of the telephone. He was angry and hesitated. If Zhukov calls and I don''t answer, I will definitely offend Zhukov; And if you take it, it may become the outlet of rokosovsky. Hesitating again and again, I stepped forward to the table, leaned over, elbowed on the table, picked up the phone with my right hand, and said cautiously: "Hello! I''m oshanina, the eighth division commander of Jinwei. "¡° Hello, comrade Rita A familiar Georgia accent came from the earphone: "I''m Stalin!" When I heard that it was the Supreme Commander himself who called, I straightened up and said respectfully, "Hello! Comrade Stalin¡° Is Comrade rokosovsky in your division headquarters? " Stalin asked slowly. I held the receiver in my hand, looked at rokosovsky, knew that the phone was from Stalin, his face showed a surprised expression, saw my consulting eyes, nodded slightly, so I answered: "yes, comrade Stalin!" Stalin simply said, "give him the phone."¡° Yes I promised, gave the phone to rokosovsky, and then stepped back to stand at attention¡° Comrade rokosovsky, "Stalin said sternly," what''s the situation in Istra? " After briefly reporting the situation to Stalin, rokosovsky went on to say, "Comrade Stalin, I will now talk to you about our measures against the enemy." However, Stalin mildly interrupted rokosovsky''s words, saying: "Comrade rokosovsky, there is no need to talk about measures to resist the enemy. He believes that you will be able to stop the enemy''s further approach to Moscow city." At the end of their conversation, Stalin asked, "Comrade rokosovsky, please tell me the truth. Is it very difficult for your 16th army?"¡° Yes, comrade Stalin. " Rokosovsky reported the real situation to Stalin: "the troops of the 16th group army have been dispersed. General zaharov, the deputy commander, and the 17th, 126th, 133rd infantry divisions and the 25th tank brigade under his jurisdiction have been repulsed by the enemy from the vicinity of dmitrovo and yahroma, and are retreating to the vicinity of Moscow city." After getting a positive answer, Stalin said in an understanding tone: "Comrade rokosovsky, I understand your situation. Please hold on for a while, and we will help you..." listening to the kind and fatherly voice of the Supreme Commander coming from the earphone, he realized his concern for us, and at the same time encouraged us deeply and doubled our confidence. In the early morning of the next day, the help promised by the supreme commander to rokosovsky - two Katyusha rocket artillery regiments, three anti tank regiments, four Anti Tank Gun Companies and two tank regiments, as well as 3000 recruits came to Taiyangshan City, all of which were added to the fighting sequence of the 16th army.

 Chapter 232

    I can''t help worrying about the steady flow of reinforcements into the city. Although Taiyangshan city is not small, there are still thousands of troops stationed in our division. With so many soldiers and technical equipment, the city will be very crowded. So I discussed with rokosovsky and suggested that he send these troops to the settlements of sverchikovo, sherishevo and martenovo outside the city.


    Rokosovsky agreed to my proposal and immediately ordered the headquarters to accept the staff of the troops and guide the troops entering the city to the three residential areas.


    After arranging everything, he stood in front of the map with chief of staff malining and a group of staff of the group army, and began to study the counter offensive against lialovo. Since I am no longer a member of the 16th army, I can only stand by silently as an audience when they discuss. From their conversation, I learned that lialovo is just a big village, not the city I imagined.


    While studying, the roar of tank motors came from outside. Rokosovsky stood up straight, waved his hand and said, "go to the door and see our troops!" Then he took the lead and walked out. We quickly followed.


    Standing on the steps outside the division headquarters, rokosovsky stood in the front with high spirits, looking at the tanks, rockets and trucks full of soldiers passing in front of him. His face turned red with excitement, and he waved to the marching line from time to time, shouting: "good boys! Good job, boys! " His mood deeply infected everyone around him. Everyone looked at the continuous team and talked excitedly.


    Before all the troops were finished, a communication officer rushed out of the building, stopped by me, stood at attention, and reported in a low voice, "Comrade division commander, general Vlasov, commander of the group army, asked you to answer the phone."


    I trotted to the headquarters, picked up the microphone on the table and said, "Hello, comrade commander! This is o''shanina. Do you have any instructions? "


    Instead of beating around the Bush, Vlasov said frankly, "you immediately hand over the command to deputy division commander chisjakov and political commissar yegorov, and then come to the headquarters of the group army. We need to jointly study the next operational deployment."


    I asked the communication officer to call in the political commissar, the deputy division chief and the chief of staff. Then I called the guard camp and asked major bukov to arrange for me and prepare the car.


    The political commissar and the three of them came in in a hurry. The political commissar first asked with concern, "Rita, what''s the matter with you calling us in in such a hurry?"


    I said calmly, "just now general Vlasov, commander of the group army, called me and asked me to hand over the command of the division to you. Then I immediately went to the headquarters to attend the combat meeting." Then he began to transfer the command of the division to them.


    After explaining everything, when turning around and going out, I met rocosovsky who was returning. He saw me go out in a hurry and asked with concern, "where are you going, Rita?"


    "I want to go to the 20th group army headquarters immediately and attend the combat meeting to be held immediately."


    Rokosovsky took my hand and shook it hard. He said, "it''s not safe on the road. You may meet German people. Take more soldiers with you."


    "Thank you for your concern. I will pay attention to safety."


    "Good luck!" With the last sentence, rokosovsky let go of my hand.


    Waiting outside was grissa''s jeep, and company commander Yushchenko was waiting for me outside. When he saw me coming out, he saluted me and quickly opened the door. Then he went from the back of the car to the other end of the car, opened the door and sat in the co pilot''s seat. After our car started, it soon followed a truck full of soldiers.


    I pointed to the truck in the back and asked Yushchenko strangely, "Comrade captain, what''s the matter with the truck in the back?"


    Yushchenko half sidedly replied to me, "Comrade division, this is major bukov. For your safety, he specially sent two classes of soldiers to protect your safety along the way."


    Although I have only one or two guards with me when I run back and forth recently, it doesn''t matter on the surface. In fact, I''m still scared to death. In case of an enemy attack on the road, just a few of us are going to kill ourselves. After hearing Yushchenko''s explanation, I gave a hum and didn''t speak any more. I was very satisfied with bukov''s arrangement.


    Arriving outside the headquarters of the 20th group army, as soon as I got off the bus, officers on duty came to salute me, saying that the commander and deputy commander had been waiting for me for a long time, and guiding me into the headquarters under the ruins.


    In the room, Vlasov and deputy commander Lin are sitting face to face drinking tea. The interpreter stands behind Mr. Lin and translates his words to Mr. Lin in time, or repeats his words to Mr. Vlasov.


    Seeing me enter the door, both commanders stood up and welcomed me. Without waiting for me to stand at attention, they all reached out to shake hands with me. Frasov also said with a smile, "Hello, chief of staff oshanina. I just called you. I didn''t expect you to come here so soon. Have you been safe all the way? "


    "Thank you for your concern," I replied with a smile. "From Taiyangshan city to wolokoramsk, we are under the control of the 20th army. Maybe it''s because the enemy is afraid of the two comrades in command and dare not come out to harass them at will, so I can have a peaceful journey. " Vlasov chuckled, gestured to the side and said, "come on, sit down first and say." General manager Lin had to wait for Shi Zhe''s translation, so his reaction was a little slower than that of Vlasov, but he also added in Chinese: "you are the chief of staff of the group army, which is equivalent to being a member of the headquarters, so you don''t have to treat yourself as a guest. Don''t be restrained." When I sat down, I took a close look at Vlasov and found that he was actually a tall and thin man with a height of at least 1.9 meters. Why did I always think he was of medium height before? Maybe it was because I didn''t observe him carefully. After sitting down, Vlasov said frankly, "Comrade Rita, we are in a hurry to call you here today because the great counterattack is around the corner, and the current situation is not optimistic. If we launch a counter offensive in a hurry, it is estimated that we will not achieve any good results. Therefore, we need to study it carefully. How can we change the current unfavorable situation? "

 Chapter 233

    As the chief of staff of the 20th army, I feel very incompetent. I''ve been in office for two days, and my eyes are still focused on the third part of the eighth division of Jinwei. I don''t care about the rest. So far, I don''t know what units are under the control of the group army and where the specific defense area is.


    I stared at Vlasov as he was speaking, remembering the names of the troops and commanders he had mentioned, as well as their current positions.


    After Vlasov introduced the basic situation, President Lin began to speak: "in recent days, the German army launched an attack on our army in many areas. The intensity and density of the attack is unique since the beginning of the Moscow battle. According to the analysis of this situation, it should be German Marshal von bock who put all their reserves into the battle, trying to break through the defense line of our army at one stroke, so as to quickly capture Moscow and draw enough troops to other fronts. Judging from the current situation, this desperate tactic is extremely threatening. They have forced our troops to retreat in many areas. "


    Mr. Lin talked endlessly. Shi Zhe, who was standing behind him, translated his words into Russian in time for us to listen to. Vlasov leaned back in his chair, took the cigarette case on the table, took a cigarette out of it, struck a match in his mouth and lit it. Smelling the faint sulfur smell of the match burning in the air, President Lin looked at him, frowned slightly, and continued: "the situation of our group army is slightly better than that of other troops. Although the enemy launched several large-scale attacks on us since we occupied wolokoramsk, their plot to seize the city failed under our army''s heroic resistance. Not only did they not take advantage of it, on the contrary, some of the areas they occupied were recaptured by us. In order to reverse the current unfavorable situation, the headquarters of the front army is prepared to let our group army take positive actions to contain part of the enemy''s forces, so as to give the friendly forces a chance to breathe. "


    "Deputy commander Lin," I asked preemptively, taking advantage of the gap between his words, "in what direction is the headquarters of the front army going to let us launch an attack?"


    "Comrade Rita, come and see." Mr. Lin used the red and blue pencil in his hand to light the map for me to explain. Maybe it was for his convenience to read the map. There was Chinese beside the Russian name on the map. It was not a problem for me to understand such a map¡° The operational intention of the headquarters of the front army is to make our division, with the seventh division as the main force, equipped with two tank battalions, attack kashino, which is guarded by the German 340th infantry regiment in the north, strive to seize the small town, and then threaten the German supply bases in suvorovo and botovo, forcing the enemy to transfer troops from the front line to defend, In order to reduce the pressure of the friendly forces. "


    I looked at the map and thought to myself whether it would be cost-effective to launch such an attack. Seeing that I didn''t speak and just stared at the picture in a daze, Vlasov couldn''t help asking, "Comrade Rita, what do you think of this attack?"


    Instead of answering his question directly, I asked, "comrades commander, under normal circumstances, if our group army is going to take part in a major counter offensive, what kind of offensive line will it take?"


    Vlasov leaned forward, pointed to a point on the map, and said: "according to the initial deployment, after the great counterattack begins, the group army will take the seventh division as the main force, take chismena eastward first, and take this small town as the starting point to launch a counterattack against klin in the Northeast. At the same time, the eighth Division will go northward from Taiyangshan City, forming a potential attack against klin."


    "What forces do our army have in chismena and Cassino at present?"


    The one who answered my question this time was general manager Lin. he pointed his pencil at chismena on the map and replied, "the forward position of the seventh division is on the edge of the forest three kilometers west of chismena, defended by two infantry battalions and an anti tank artillery battalion." Then he moved the pen to another position and said, "five kilometers south of kashino is the small city of Ivanov skoye, where a regiment of our 354th infantry division is stationed. Although they are the same regiment''s troops, because the enemy''s organizational system is different from ours, they have an advantage in the number of people. "


    "Is there any fighting in these two areas in the near future?" I asked a third question that I was interested in.


    "No," said Vlasov, shaking his head, "since the end of November, the German army has been afraid of being beaten in the war with us. Now it no longer takes the initiative to attack the areas under the jurisdiction of our group army, but tries its best to build all kinds of fortifications to defend against the counterattack that our army may launch."


    I raised my head, looked at the two commanders and asked softly, "Comrade commander, do you think we should carry out this combat order of the headquarters of the front army?"


    Almost without thinking, Vlasov replied, "the orders of the superior are not to be discussed. We should carry them out immediately."


    "I don''t agree!" After listening to Shi Zhe''s translation, President Lin decisively put forward his own point of view: "our existing forces and reserves obtained from the base camp are preparing to assemble in chismena area. If they are transferred to Ivanov skoye to take part in the attack, if the attack is not smooth, they may be entangled by the enemy, which will affect our plan of counter attack."


    When I heard the two commanders'' different views, I understood why they called me to the headquarters of the group army in such a hurry. It turned out that I was the referee for them. Although I agree with Mr. Lin''s point of view, if we want to publicly express our support for him, we will offend Vlasov and even Zhukov. My eyes were fixed on the map, and my mind was desperately trying to figure out what to do? For a moment, I was so absorbed that Vlasov patted me on the shoulder twice before waking me up from my meditation. Seeing that I noticed him, Vlasov urged, "Rita, how do you think about it? Tell me what you think." I looked at Vlasov and remembered that he had just said that the German army was afraid to take the initiative to attack our group army. All of a sudden, I had a brilliant idea in my mind and came up with a clever plan. So I took a long breath and said to them easily, "two commanders, I have a bold idea. I can not only complete the operational orders issued by the headquarters of the front army, but also not affect the counter offensive two days later." Hearing that I thought of a way to have the best of both worlds, they could not help but brighten their eyes and urged me to speak quickly¡° Just now, general Vlasov said that the enemy facing our army has been scared by us, and we dare not take the initiative to attack at all. Therefore, we can create a false impression of assembling a large number of troops to ivanovskoye, put on a posture that is about to attack kashino, and force the German Army to increase its troops to kashino. "¡° What illusion? You need to be more specific. " Vlasov asked in a puzzled way, but Mr. Lin frowned slightly, trying to think about something. I went on to say, "we can send troops to Ivanov skoye area in a big way during the day, and intentionally let the enemy find our troops moving, and then quietly withdraw them at night. In this way, troops were sent during the day and then withdrawn at night, giving the enemy the illusion of a large army gathering and a major military attack in the direction of kashino. In this way, if they want to keep their important supply points, they will send heavy troops back to defend the area. "¡° What about chismena? " Vlasov asked, motionless¡° In chismena, we take the opposite approach. In the daytime, except for a small number of Guard troops, the rest of the troops swaggered back, and in the evening they were sent up together with the reinforcements. In this way, we will be able to gather enough troops at the starting point of the offensive before the great counter offensive begins. " After listening to the translation, Mr. Lin slapped the table and exclaimed, "great! What a trick to" hide the truth from the world and cross the sea! " I was stunned when I heard that the name of this strategy was "hide the truth from the world and cross the sea". I thought it should be called "increase the number of troops and reduce the number of stoves" or "decrease the number of troops and increase the number of stoves". Vlasov also showed a smile on his face and said, "since this is the best way to get the best of both worlds, we will act according to the plan after we report it to the headquarters of the front army."¡° Wait a minute, comrade Vlasov. " President Lin stopped Vlasov who wanted to report to Zhukov in time. "Although this plan is good, there are still many shortcomings. Some details need to be improved. For example, what should we do if troops encounter enemy air strikes on the way to mobilization? If the enemy doesn''t respond to our false appearance of assembly in the direction of kashino, what should we do?... " After listening to President Lin''s analysis, I admire him more and more. He is worthy of being the God of the army. The problem I''m considering is comprehensive. With him commanding the army, there''s no reason why I don''t win.

 Chapter 234

    After perfecting the details of the plan, Vlasov reported our plan to Zhukov. After Zhukov listened, he hung up without saying a word. Zhukov''s attitude made me have no bottom in my heart. I wondered whether it was because the plan was too ridiculous. He thought there was no feasibility at all, so he hung up the phone impolitely. Zhukov''s action was just as much as Vlasov and Lin expected. They were gloomy and silent. The former kept smoking, while the latter bent over and looked at the map on the table. And the most embarrassing is the translator Zhe, who stands straight behind President Lin and dares not move. When I look at him, there is a helpless smile on his face. Just when everyone was in low spirits, the telephone on the desk rang suddenly, which scared everyone. Looking at the location of the bell, it was the one that had just called Zhukov. No one immediately to pick up, but each other looked at each other, the face showed a relieved expression, it seems that things have changed. There were two more rings. General Vlasov grabbed the phone, took a deep breath and said, "Hello! I''m Vlasov It was very quiet in the room. Both Mr. Lin and I could hear the voice clearly from the phone. It was Zhukov himself who spoke: "Comrade Vlasov? I have reported your plan to the Supreme Commander himself. After careful consideration, comrade Stalin has agreed to let you implement it! "¡° Great, Comrade General. Thank you When Vlasov heard that the plan had been approved, his eyes glowed with excitement. "I''m going to assign tasks to the army."¡° Wait a minute. Don''t be too happy, comrade Vlasov Zhukov splashed him with cold water: "have you ever thought that the enemy would be deceived in such a short time when there are less than two days left between now and the great counterattack? Even if they want to mobilize their forces to defend suvarovo and botovo, will they certainly move the troops stationed in chismena? " The two questions Zhukov asked are just the biggest flaws in the whole plan. If it can''t be solved, we may have been busy for a long time, but all of them will be useless. So we discussed the details of the plan just now. Vlasov organized the words and then replied cautiously: "we have discussed these two questions just now. How to give the enemy in kashino the impression that they will be attacked by our army, deputy commander Lin''s opinion is that, within an appropriate period of time, they should bombard the area and send troops to make feint attacks, so as to attract the enemy''s attention completely. " Zhukov asked in a low voice, "what kind of forces are you going to use for this feint?"¡° We are going to bombard the enemy''s kashino area with a cannon regiment, and then send two infantry battalions to attack the enemy''s front tentatively under the cover of the T-34 tank battalion. "¡° No, no! " Without thinking, Zhukov denied Vlasov that "there are too few troops and too weak firepower to attract the enemy''s attention and achieve the effect of deceiving the enemy. Well, I''ll send you another Katyusha rocket battalion, and send the air force to air attack kashino. Although it''s only feint, we should put on a strong attack posture. Only when they get through the enemy in the kashino area will they consider sending troops back from the front. "¡° Comrade general, the help you have provided is so timely, "Vlasov said confidently." only with the support of the air force and the rocket artillery regiment, I can make the enemy believe that we will attack their supply bases and force them to return from other areas. As for where the enemy will dispatch troops, according to our analysis, if the enemy wants to rescue kashino, it is the quickest way to dispatch troops from chismena. "¡° In this case, then you go to implement it! Good luck With that, Zhukov hung up. Vlasov put down the phone and exchanged a few words with President Lin. then he called in several combat staff of the headquarters and asked them to pass down the orders for the mobilization of various troops. While they were busy, I came up to the messenger who was sitting in front of the telephone in the corner of the wall, handed a piece of paper to Vlasov, and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, the headquarters of the front army is calling." When Vlasov read the telegram, I also looked at it and saw that it read: "according to the intercepted German intelligence, as botovo was suddenly attacked by our army, the garrison in chismena area was transferred to the above areas to strengthen defense."

 Chapter 235

    When we were elated by the German movement in chismena, the main direction of the group army''s attack. Kalinin''s front army, located in the southwest of Moscow, took the lead in the counterattack against the front German army at eleven o''clock that night, thus opening the prelude of the Red Army''s counterattack on the whole line under Moscow.


    At 3:00 a.m. on December 6, we received a call from Zhukov, who ordered that at 6:00 a.m. today, three hours before dawn, the infantry of the 20th group army, together with the infantry of the 1st shock group army and the 30th group army, would start a full-scale attack on the German army without artillery and aviation firepower.


    After receiving the order, I discussed with Vlasov and general manager Lin and decided that they should stay in the headquarters to coordinate the overall situation. I acted as the commander in chief of the front line and went to the front line to command the counter offensive of the group army.


    In addition to infantry divisions, there are also tank brigades, artillery regiments, rocket artillery regiments and other units to be commanded. This is the first time that all kinds of services have really cooperated in combat. So when I set out, I took with me not only Yushchenko''s security personnel, but also several combat staff and communication personnel of the headquarters, and even major Leo utov, the head of cavalry who just arrived in the afternoon. I hope he can play a big role in the counter attack against klin.


    Due to the cavalry troops, the marching speed of our motorcade was affected. Originally it only took one hour, but it took half an hour more.


    It was half past five o''clock in the morning when we arrived at our position in chismena, only half an hour before the official attack. The motorcade stopped at the edge of the forest. The commander of the seventh division of the guards, Colonel gritznov, who had been waiting there, came up to me, raised his hand, saluted me and said in a friendly way: "Hello, chief of staff, welcome to the front line."


    I gave him a military salute. Then I reached out and shook his hand. I said, "Comrade Colonel, we meet again. I''m here today to fight with you. "


    The Colonel leaned to the side and made a gesture of invitation: "Comrade chief of staff, time is running out. We''d better go to the headquarters first."


    Not far down to a trench, where thousands of officers and men who are about to take part in the battle are crowded together. Because the soldiers come from different troops, their clothes are very different. Some wear white camouflage clothes, some wear short fur coats, and some wear gray long army coats. Seeing the arrival of our party, they stood up straight and made way for us with their backs against the trench wall.


    Entering the headquarters of the seventh division, the staff officers and correspondents who were busy stood up immediately and saluted us. I am not too polite. I ordered a group army staff officer to come with me: "Comrade lieutenant, contact the group army headquarters immediately and say that we have arrived safely."


    When the staff officer contacted the headquarters, I stood in the observation hole and looked at the German position two kilometers away with a telescope. I saw that it was dark and nothing happened there. I turned my head and asked gritznov, who was standing beside me, "Comrade Colonel, is there any news from the enemy on the other side?"


    He shook his head and said without looking back: "according to the Scout''s report, the German army had transferred all the mechanized troops from the position yesterday afternoon, leaving only infantry on the position." After a pause, he said with some worry: "however, comrade chief of staff, I think our troops may have been discovered by the enemy tonight."


    I snorted softly and said with disapproval, "Comrade Colonel, do you think that the German army might not have noticed such a large concentration of troops? But even if they know that we are going to attack, it will be too late, and the troops they transferred will not be able to come back to fight. " I immediately changed the topic and asked, "how are the soldiers feeling?"


    Listening to my question, the Colonel immediately replied confidently, "we have just mobilized the soldiers for fighting. Now everyone is full of fighting enthusiasm and can fight at any time."


    At this time, the calling second lieutenant called to me: "Comrade chief of staff, you are connected with the headquarters."


    I picked up the receiver. The speaker was commander Vlasov. As soon as he heard my voice, he asked with a smile, "Rita, have you arrived at the headquarters of the seventh division of the guards?"


    When I looked around, most of them were strange faces. I didn''t want to show too close to the commander in front of too many departments, so I replied in a proper way, "yes, comrade commander."


    Vlasov didn''t seem to notice the change in my tone. Instead, he said to himself, "I have some good news for you. Do you want to hear it?"


    I said very politely: "Comrade commander, please say! I''m listening


    "I have just received a call from the supreme command, saying that with the approval of Comrade Stalin, the first army of the guard cavalry under the command of general belov has been allocated to our group army, and they will cooperate with the eighth division of the guard to advance towards klin this day."


    I was overjoyed by the news. With the strength of a whole army, the eighth division''s northward attack will be extremely easy.


    At the end of the call with Vlasov, I immediately called the division headquarters of the eighth division, and the person who answered the call was deputy division commander chisjakov. Hearing my voice, he said happily: "Comrade division commander, the great counterattack is about to begin. I really hope you can come back to the division and command us to fight against the enemy."


    "I''m directing you now, aren''t I? Is everything ready? Comrade colonel Hearing his affirmative reply, I couldn''t restrain my joy and announced to him, "Comrade Colonel, please tell us that the first unit of the guard cavalry under the command of general belov will fight with you tomorrow."¡° I fully understand. Sir, please rest assured that the enemy in the north will be defeated by us. "¡° Well, I''ll see you under Klein in the day Then I hung up. Then I communicated with the artillery and tank commanders under my command one by one through the communication staff, and arranged the tasks of various arms when the infantry began to counterattack. After a busy time, the time from the beginning of the counter offensive is getting closer and closer, and my heart is also accelerating, because I will witness a great history here. I was holding a phone that connected more than a dozen units at the same time, and my eyes were fixed on the watch pointer on Col. gritznov''s wrist. When I saw the pointer pointing to 12, I decisively gave the order to all the commanders who were answering the phone: "start!" There was no such spectacular scene as the roar of thousands of guns in the film and television works. Only someone yelled "light up!" outside I put down the microphone and walked out of the headquarters. I saw that the officers and soldiers were climbing outside the trench, and there were several bonfires in the distance behind the position¡° Comrade chief of staff Colonel griazenov appeared next to me, handed me a microphone and said, "please say something to the soldiers to boost their morale." I took a look at him, took the microphone and said in a loud voice, "Hello, comrades! I''m major general oshanina, chief of staff of the group army! " After simply stating my identity, I didn''t say anything high sounding, but simply and clearly said to the commanders who took part in the war: "the time of our long-awaited counter offensive has finally come. I order you to move forward! Go ahead bravely! Destroy every bandit you see, and build your immortal merit. forward! The final victory must belong to our brave red army! Comrades, advance! Wula At the beginning, I used a plain tone. When I talked about the back, I was so excited that I couldn''t help shouting "Wula!"¡° Wura! Victory~~~ Wura! Victory When I heard the surrounding commanders and fighters shouting out these two words in a neat voice, I felt more and more excited. If I wasn''t in charge of commanding the troops, maybe I would take a troop to charge myself. Not far away from me, a commander held a pistol high and roared: "spread out in formation!" Then, with a wave of his arm, he strode forward. Armed with rifles and submachine guns, the soldiers followed him straight forward, trying to rush into the enemy''s position as soon as possible. The machine gunners at the back of the army were dragging heavy machine guns with wheels and sleds full of ammunition boxes. The German on the opposite position was silent, and there was no movement. However, when our soldiers were only 150 meters away from the first trench, they began to shoot the attacking soldiers like a storm, and the soldiers fell down. Seeing this scene, I rushed into the headquarters, grabbed the telephone earphone to contact the artillery position, and yelled: "I''m chief of staff oshanina. I ordered all the artillery to fire at the enemy position together! Fire The enemy''s position was immediately blasted into a sea of fire by our artillery shells, and the enemy''s fire was suppressed¡° The artillery extended to open the way for the infantry My order was faithfully carried out, the artillery firepower to the depth of the enemy position extension, the soldiers who had been lying on the ground, and stood up to continue charging. But as they approached the first trench, the German fire began again. It turned out that the machine gunners at the back of the whole team had set up heavy machine guns to cover the attack of their comrades in arms with dense and powerful firepower. Under the cover of machine gunners'' firepower, the attacking soldiers crawled and ran for a while, quickly approaching the enemy''s trench. The German troops were limited in strength, and they were killed by our artillery fire. In addition, they were suppressed by our heavy machine gun fire. Their resistance became weaker and weaker. Although there are still some people fighting to death, they can''t save their failure. A red signal bomb soared from the trench, and the nearby Colonel griazenov cheered: "great! Our soldiers have taken down the first trench. " I went to the table, picked up the phone, dialed the headquarters of the group army, and reported to Vlasov, "report, comrade commander, the infantry have occupied the enemy''s first line of defense and are advancing in depth."

 Chapter 236

    At dawn, the enemy''s defense in the chismena area was broken through, and the offensive forces of the group army were continuing to expand their achievements, rapidly advancing toward the northeast city of Kling.


    At 12 noon, Vlasov called me again. At this time, I was explaining the defense to the commander of the seventh division, Colonel gritznov. When I heard the phone ring, I immediately picked up the headset¡° Rita, is that you "What''s the situation there?" Vlasov asked


    "Very well, comrade commander," I replied, "the enemy forces in the chismena area have been eliminated, and I am handing over the task to Colonel griazenov. In order to prevent the German mechanized forces from attacking the rear of the Kremlin forces, I left behind a regiment and a tank brigade of the seventh division of the guards, under the unified command of Colonel gritznov. "


    "I agree with your deployment." He agreed to my plan without any hesitation, and then said in a low voice: "I want to tell you a bad news, because rokosovsky''s troops are still fighting with the enemy in rialovo and cleukovo areas, they have no strength to fight back for the time being. Just now, the headquarters of the front army informed us that the first army of close guard cavalry, which was originally decided to be assigned to us under the command of general belov, was temporarily assigned to the 16th group army. "


    It''s said that the cavalry army originally assigned to us is gone, which makes me feel empty. You know, without the cavalry army, we will lose a crucial assault force. But since the superior ordered us to leave, we have to obey. Seeing that I hadn''t spoken for a long time, he quickly asked, "Rita, why don''t you speak?"


    "I''m fine," I quickly replied, "Comrade commander, do you have anything else to do? If not, I will lead the troops forward. "


    "No, you go. Deputy commander Lin and I will go back to Colin tomorrow. I hope you have taken the city back from the bandits by then. "


    Putting down the phone, I said to gritznov, "Comrade Colonel, I''m going to lead the troops to Kerin, and the defense of chismena is up to you."


    "Chief of staff, please rest assured." "As long as the soldiers of the seventh division of our guards are here, then the chismena area will be firmly controlled by our army," gritznov said confidently


    With gritznov''s promise, I turned to major Leo, who was standing by in a black cape, a machete, knickerbockers, a mink cap and riding boots, and said, "come on, cavalry chief. Take your troops with you and follow me to Colin. Teach the Krauts a lesson and wash away your shame. "


    "Yes The major happily agreed and followed me out of the headquarters.


    My staff and correspondents, together with the guards, took six jeeps and three trucks. My jeep is at the front of the whole team. There was a full tank brigade in front of them, so I let grissa follow them and go along the road to klin.


    The road we were driving was through the line of defense. After occupying the German position, our engineers backfilled the trenches in some areas and restored the traffic of the road in time.


    In a short time, my jeep was close to the first German trench. A few hours ago, thousands of soldiers were charging here on the snow, but now it was empty.


    But after a closer look, I found that there were soldiers'' bodies in camouflage clothes or military coats all over the snow, especially near the blockhouses on both sides of the road. These soldiers who fell down during the charge are doomed to no longer stand up. Although they were lying in the snow, their heads were still stretched forward, in the direction of cline, where we were going. I don''t know if it''s because what I said when I mobilized them to build immortal meritorious deeds inspired them and made every soldier have an irresistible desire. Even if he couldn''t run, he had to climb there. Even death couldn''t restrain this desire.


    I quietly wiped away the tears from the corner of my eyes and said to Yushchenko sitting in the front row, "grissa, pull over."


    "Yes Grissa was used to obeying. He slowed down and pulled over with a promise. Yushchenko, sitting in the co pilot''s seat, turned his head and asked curiously, "Sir, why are you parking here?"


    Instead of answering, I pushed the door open and went down. Because my car stopped, so the cars following me pulled over one after another. Almost every car had people coming out. I vaguely heard them asking each other curiously: "why did they stop here?"¡° You ask me, I ask who''s going? And I want to know what''s going on? "


    I saw the cavalry regiment of major leontov coming to us along the road. They quickly came to the middle of the road, raised their right hand and motioned them to stop.


    The cavalry stopped at a distance of more than ten meters away from me. The horse ran over and pulled the reins at a distance of two or three meters away from me. The horse hissed at the bottom of its hip. The man stood up and pushed his front hooves several times before falling to the ground. The major, holding the reins, looked down at me and asked curiously, "chief of staff, what can I do for you?"


    I looked at the corpse of the soldier lying on the battlefield, and then gave him an order: "Comrade major, you should lead the cavalry regiment to collect the remains of our soldiers and bury them. After all this, you can go to Kling."


    "Yes The major agreed. After saluting, he turned around and ran back to the front of the line. He gave a loud order: "cavalry regiment, all of you, dismount!" Our motorcade continued down the road towards Kling. Sitting in the car, I can''t help feeling that if the German armored forces were not cheated out in advance, we would pay a more painful price to conquer this area today. The motorcade arrived in the outskirts of Kling an hour later. My team was stopped by a small, dark, Central Asian faced commander. Seeing me get off the train, he immediately stepped forward two steps, stood at attention, saluted and reported: "report to chief of staff, commander of the Far East independent division, Colonel hapsafu. Report to you that the army is launching an attack on the city of Kerin according to the order, and is waiting for your instructions."¡° Comrade Colonel, please take a moment! " I asked with concern, "how is the war going?"¡° It''s not going well, chief of staff. Our first two attacks have been repulsed, and now we are on our third attack. "

 Chapter 237

    A shell roared down on the snow more than ten meters away, and the mud and snow raised by the explosion were scattered from the air like a woman in the sky, and fell on us. When the shell exploded, the Colonel instinctively crouched down. After the explosion, he stood up again and cried nervously: "Comrade chief of staff, it''s too dangerous here. Maybe the enemy has captured our guns. Let''s go to the forest! My division command post is right there. "


    If the German army had only mortars, I might still stand still and show my subordinates that I was calm in front of the collapse of Mount Tai. After all, there are still about two highways from the city, and the range of the enemy''s mortars is not enough. But now I heard that the German army might have guns with long range. If they stayed in the open field, they would be dead. So I decided to hide in the forest immediately.


    I yelled at grissa, who was still in the car, "drive to the forest." Then he ran into the forest with a group of staff officers and guards who had already got out of the car.


    There was a row of tents in the forest. I knew that they had just been built. The Colonel led me directly into one of the biggest tents. The light inside was good, thanks to a steam lamp hanging above the tent. On one side of the tent was a table with a telephone on it, and a soldier with the rank of sergeant sat beside the machine nervously busy. Next to the curtain stood a small table and a few small Mazars. A commander with the rank of colonel was looking down at the map in front of him.


    Sensing someone coming in, the commander looked up, then stood up abruptly, saluted me at attention, and said: "Hello, sir! I didn''t expect to see you here. "


    I fixed my eyes on him and was overjoyed. Without paying any attention to the salute, I punched him on the shoulder socket and said excitedly, "Colonel chisjakov, it''s you!" Then he asked with concern: "our division has also come up? What about the political commissar and chief of staff? Where are they now? "


    Chisgakov looked at me with a smile, and when I finished asking all the questions at one go, he said, "report, comrade commander, we will break through the enemy position north of Taiyangshan city before dawn, and then we will quickly advance to Kling. On the way, the chief of staff, comrade selebriakov, proposed that if the whole Division launched an attack on klin from the south, it might not be able to expand its forces. It would be better to divide the troops into two routes and attack them from both sides at the same time. We saw that this plan was feasible, so the troops were divided into two routes. One route was the 1073 regiment led by me to the south of Kerin city and joined the main forces of the front army; The other, the political commissar and the chief of staff, led the 1075th and 1077th regiments around to the east of Kling and launched an attack from the flank. "


    "Well done!" Their plan to temporarily adjust the marching route of the troops was very agreeable to my heart, so I gave a good compliment: "an excellent commander should know how to adjust the deployment of the troops according to the situation of the battlefield." Then he said to hapsafu on one side, "Comrade Colonel, tell us about the current situation of the war."


    Pointing to the map on the table, Colonel hapsaffo said to us, "look, two circular trenches have been built in the south of Kerin city. In front of the trenches are mine arrays, anti tank trenches and barbed wire. At the same time, there are permanent fire points of reinforced concrete structure between the two trenches. Because the snow in front of the trench was too deep for infantry and armored vehicles to attack, we had to attack through the road connecting the city. As this is the German firepower coverage, the two charges we organized have been repulsed, and the third one is under way now. "


    Hearing this, I couldn''t help but frown and interrupt him: "Comrade Colonel, as far as I know, the German army only occupied klin for a few days. How could they build such a perfect defense system in such a short time?"


    Hapsaffo gave a wry smile, looked at chisgakov and said, "Comrade Colonel, you know this better. You''d better explain it to the chief of staff."


    "In fact, this defense system was not built by the Germans, but the defense work that we completed not long ago," chisjakov said. As the German army attacked the city of klin from the north and West, the southern fortifications were preserved intact. I didn''t expect to be used by the Germans now, which has become an obstacle to our progress. "


    "Report!" The voice of a staff officer of the headquarters came from the door.


    Without looking back, I said, "come in!"


    "Chief of staff," the staff officer who came in reported to me, "we have set up communication equipment in the tent next to us. Now you can go and command the troops."


    "I see." I agreed and asked chisgakov to go out with me. As soon as I got out of the tent, I suddenly remembered something. Then I went back to the tent and asked hapsaffo curiously, "Comrade Colonel, I suddenly remembered something. You are from the Far East. Do you know the commander of the 32nd red flag infantry division, Colonel borosushi? "


    Although he looked confused, he nodded and replied: "yes, we used to fight Japanese together in nomencan. Why, does the chief of staff also know him? "


    I replied with a smile, "yes, we played German together in borojino. How is he now? "


    "That''s not clear, but it should be pretty good." "He is now in the fifth group army under the command of general govorov. As the main force, he must be indispensable in today''s great counterattack," hapsafu said¡° Yes, I know him. He must be indispensable in such a historic battle. That''s it. Good luck Then I went out of the tent. I went out of the tent at the headquarters of the hapsaffo division and did not immediately enter the tent prepared for me. Instead, I took chisgakov to the edge of the forest to observe the fighting. Indeed, as Colonel hapsaffo had introduced, a group of infantry followed several tanks and rushed down the road to the city. There are several burning tanks on that road, and the bodies of our soldiers are lying on the road. Perhaps because of the lessons of the previous two defeats, the attack was much more cautious. When the tank is 50 or 60 meters away from the enemy''s fire points, it stops to fire fiercely and destroys the most dangerous fire points one by one. The soldiers who followed also fell to the ground, shooting at the enemy in the fortification. After a few rounds of shooting, the enemy''s clear fire point has been completely destroyed. Seeing that there are no visible obstacles on the way forward, a tank can''t wait to rush forward first. When I watched the tracks of the chariot run over the bodies of the soldiers, my heart seemed to be pulled by something, and I felt very sad. Just as the tank was about to bypass a burning tank, a rocket came with a long trail of smoke, fell on the body and exploded. With the explosion, the tank body suddenly stopped, the broken track quickly pulled out from behind the body.

 Chapter 238

    The tank with the broken track stopped in the same place. Smoke and fire were burning beside it, but no one pushed the top cover of the turret or escaped from under the tank. The slanting muzzle pointed to the front of the road¡° Did all the crew in the tank die? " I couldn''t help thinking.


    The tanks that followed stopped, turned the muzzle and fired in the direction of the rocket. Under the cover of tank fire, the infantry who had been charging behind the tank rushed over the tank and rushed to the trench.


    The infantry rushed very fast. If they ran more than ten steps, they could reach a blockhouse that had been shot through and was still smoking. At this moment, a row of bullets suddenly shot out of the shooting hole, rushed to the front of several soldiers, shook a few, and then fell to the ground. The soldier who followed quickly fell down and fired back at the hole.


    I moved the lens of the telescope from the intersection where I was fighting to another place. Colin has no city walls. He can directly see the orderly buildings in the city. I know that behind the windows of the buildings facing us, there must be countless enemies with loaded weapons. As soon as our soldiers enter their range, they will not hesitate to stand in front of the window, carrying weapons to pour out their death to our soldiers.


    There were two trenches outside the city, as Colonel hapsaffo said, and the figures were shaking. It seemed that there were still a large number of German soldiers defending inside. The snow in front of the trench was so deep that only a small half of the wooden posts with barbed wire were exposed. In front of the barbed wire, in addition to the fallen bodies of our soldiers, there were even several tanks destroyed by the German army burning in flames. Perhaps the first two attacks were launched from this direction, but the attack ended in failure because of the thick snow.


    I turned my attention back to the road where I was fighting and found that the situation was getting worse. The tanks and infantry attacking from the road were attacked by the German troops in the trenches on both sides. The dense bullets and the roaring mortar shells formed an insurmountable barrier, but the soldiers were still rushing forward regardless of the casualties. Several tanks without infantry cover were destroyed by anti tank fighters hidden in buildings as soon as they rushed into the streets of the city.


    Seeing such a futile and increasing casualty attack, I couldn''t help turning my head and asking the nearby chisgakov, "which army is attacking now?"


    Instead of putting down his telescope, chisgakov replied directly, "he was a soldier of the Far East independent division."


    I stared at the front of the enemy''s dense fire network in the fallen soldiers, biting the teeth, said: "the attack must stop immediately, can not fight like this."


    "Why? Comrade teachers. " Chisjakov put down his telescope and asked unexpectedly, "you see how brave the soldiers are. Even in the face of the enemy''s intensive fire, they are still rushing forward without hesitation."


    In the face of chisgakov''s indifference to the life and death of the soldiers, I said indignantly: "if we fight like this, the soldiers of the independent division will die, and they will not be able to fight." With that, I turned to one of the staff officers standing behind me and said, "Comrade second lieutenant, please go to inform Colonel hapsaffo immediately and ask him to stop this meaningless attack immediately."


    "Yes The second lieutenant''s staff officer promised to turn around and run away. I called him back and said, "go and inform the heads of several cannon regiments and tank brigades waiting here to come to my tent for a meeting. By the way, don''t forget to call commander Valeri, the deputy division commander of the seventh division of the guards


    Seeing the staff officers running to deliver orders, I said to chisgakov, "let''s go back and wait for them first." With that, he took the lead to go to the tent prepared for me.


    As soon as I got to the door of the tent, a staff officer ran out and reported to me, "chief of staff, the commander wants to talk to you."


    I quickly lifted the curtain and flashed into the door. In the hands of the signalman sitting on the walkie talkie, I got headphones and microphones and said, "Hello, comrade commander! I''m oshanina


    "How''s Colin?" Vlasov''s anxious voice came from the earphone.


    "Very bad, comrade commander." I solemnly reported the situation here to him: "the German army strengthened its defense by using our original defense system in klin, and the snow and cold affected the mobility of our armored forces. So far, the Far East independent infantry division, with the help of a small number of tanks, has launched three attacks on Colin through the road connecting the city, all of which have failed. I''m going to call you together to study how to fight this battle? "


    "You did the right thing!" Vlasov praised me unexpectedly: "in war, we should not blindly fight and rush, we should know how to think. First of all, you should sum up the experience and lessons of today''s battle and find out the problems, so that you can avoid making similar mistakes in the next attack. " He talked to me for a few more words. Just as he was about to break off contact, I couldn''t help hesitating and asked, "Comrade commander, can I ask what''s the situation of the 16th army?"


    Hearing my question, he was silent for a moment and seemed to be organizing language. The 16th group army is our right wing. If they are defeated, we may be attacked by the German army from the rear. It took a long time for him to reply, "the situation is very bad. According to intelligence, general rokosovsky''s troops are engaged in a seesaw war with the German army in the lyalovo area, and have not yet entered the starting position of the counter offensive." He also specially reminded me: "I suggest that you deploy troops in the rear side of the group army to monitor the enemies at war with the 16th group army and prevent them from sneaking attacks from the rear."


    Knowing the current situation of the 16th army, I can''t help feeling that things are a little tricky. If the German army wants to attack us from the rear, it will definitely pass through sun mountain city. Since the eighth division took part in the counterattack, the defense of the city has been handed over to leviagin''s 133rd division and Cadet regiment. Their strength is limited. It seems that I need to send troops to reinforce them.


    At the end of his communication with Vlasov, looking back, he saw the commanders coming to the meeting coming in one after another. Chisjakov was busy asking them to sit around the simple wooden table in the middle of the tent.


    After waiting for another two minutes, I saw all the people coming except the independent division commander hapsafu. I think he may be arranging for the troops to stop the attack, so he didn''t wait for him to announce the start of the meeting.


    First of all, chisgakov introduced to you three failed attacks. Just at this time, Colonel hapsafu broke into the tent and yelled: "Comrade chief of staff, why should we stop the attack? Now the soldiers are enthusiastic about fighting. Maybe in a little while, we can attack the city..."


    His voice interrupted chisjakov''s story, and everyone in the room looked at him with dissatisfaction. I raised my hand to stop what he wanted to say: "Comrade Colonel, please sit down first." Although hapsaffo wanted to say something else, he could only sit down in an empty seat when he saw everyone''s reproachful look.


    After chisjakov finished, I added: "in today''s battle, the bravery and tenacity shown by the soldiers of the independent division are obvious to all of you." At this point, my eyes from the presence of the face swept, everyone nodded in agreement. Seeing that all the people affirmed the performance of the independent division in the battle, hapsafu, as the division commander, was also proud of you, and his face was much more relaxed than just now.


    Seeing that he was not so excited, I then turned to him and criticized him, saying, "but Comrade Colonel, just because our soldiers are brave, we can''t let them die at all costs." I pointed to the map and said to him, "because of the snow and cold, we can only attack the city along this road. But the German army is hiding in the positions on both sides of the road, constantly shooting at our soldiers from the side, and we have to pay a huge price for every step forward. "


    "But the German army in the city is limited. As long as we continue to march forward, we will soon take over the city." For my criticism, the colonel was still a little unconvinced and continued to struggle with me.


    I asked quietly, "how many enemy troops are there in the city?"


    The Colonel hesitated for a moment, then replied, "according to the intelligence, the German armored forces have all gone south to fight the 16th army. There are only two infantry battalions left in the city. Two battalions, only seven or eight hundred, and my Division has eight thousand. I can afford to compete with them. "


    With a sneer, I said, "Comrade Colonel, don''t you know that the German army is different from ours? There are 700 to 1000 people in one battalion, including three infantry companies, one artillery company, battalion headquarters, communication company and engineering company. Now there may be nearly 2000 German troops in the city. With their fighting capacity, it is possible to annihilate your division in defense. "


    When the Colonel heard me say this, he was immediately dumbfounded. He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but he didn''t say it at last. "Comrade chief of staff, how do you say this battle should be fought?" a lieutenant commander next to him asked


    "We''ll talk about the war later. Now we''ll announce the new deployment." In my heart, I always have the German Armored Regiment going south. In case they kill me, the 133rd division, which is seriously understaffed by general leviagin, will not be able to defend the sun mountain city. We have to send troops to reinforce it¡° The Far East independent division immediately went south to Taiyangshan city to join the garrison in the city to prevent the German armored forces from sneaking attack. "


    As soon as he said this, Colonel hapsaffo could not wait to interrupt me: "Comrade chief of staff, my Division has been transferred away, so who will attack klin? What''s more, we have sacrificed so many soldiers here. Suddenly we say we will not fight, but we have to turn to other directions. I''m afraid the soldiers will have emotions. "


    "I think it''s you who are in the mood!" Said chisgakov in a sarcastic tone.


    "All right!" Seeing that hapsappho had signs of rage, I quickly stopped him and said coldly, "I''ll send other troops to the attack of Colin. Your task is to cooperate with general leviagin of the 133rd division to firmly guard Taiyangshan city and ensure the safety of the rear of our army. Do you understand? "


    "Yes Now that I have said this, he has no choice but to agree.


    I said to a middle-aged, white and chubby officer next to me, "Lieutenant Commander Valeri, the task of attacking Colin is to be completed by your seventh guard division. Is there any difficulty? "


    Lieutenant commander Valeri stood up and answered in a loud voice, "please rest assured, chief of staff. There is no problem. Our division will complete the task of liberating klin."


    I nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "well, let''s prepare for the artillery fire first. After the artillery kill the enemy''s garrison, we can attack the city with infantry." I looked at the four heads of cannon regiment sitting together and asked with a smile, "are there any problems with the four heads of artillery?"


    The four stood up in unison and answered in a loud voice, "no problem, we promise to finish the task!"¡° Good I stood up abruptly and said decisively, "then go back to the army immediately and get ready for battle. Remember, don''t be stingy with shells, aim at the enemy''s position, "said here, my fist heavily hit the map," give me a hard hit! "

 Chapter 239

    When the rumble of guns came from the outside, I had just made a phone call with yegorov, political commissar of the eighth division of Jinwei. I knew that his troops, under the cover of the remnants of the 389th tank division, had attacked and advanced to the starting position in the east of klin City, ready to fight at any time. I finally said, "wait for my order." He put down the phone.


    Our army''s more than 200 artillery salvos are really powerful. Standing on the observation point, you can feel the ground shaking slightly. The barrage of shells fell on the enemy''s position and exploded. Even without binoculars, we could see the black soil and white snow dust columns rushing high into the sky. Of course, if you use a telescope to observe, you can also see the flying human limbs and broken weapon parts from time to time.


    We saw our artillery pouring so many shells into this defensive position, which is less than two kilometers wide and less than one kilometer deep. Colonel chisgakov, who had been standing beside me, asked with some worry: "Comrade division, is it a bit of a fuss to use more than 200 guns to attack such enemy positions. We should know that the artillery regiment''s shells are not unlimited. If they are all finished, it will be very troublesome to add up with the current transportation situation of our army. "


    I continued to look at the barrage of enemy positions and said faintly, "if we don''t wipe out all these enemies in the trenches outside the city, we will pay a great price when we attack the city. As for the shells, you don''t have to worry. As long as Colin is liberated, the headquarters of the front army will try to replenish them in time. "


    After listening to me, chisgakov did not speak any more. Like me, he raised his telescope to watch the German army crying under our heavy artillery fire. Some of the German soldiers, who had been hiding in the trenches, jumped out of the trenches and ran to the city. They may have forgotten that the shell is about covering, not hitting. The shells of our army''s heavy-duty cannons explode just a few meters away, and the splashing shrapnel can still kill them. So these enemy soldiers ran not far away and were blown to pieces.


    After 40 minutes of shelling, almost all the German fortifications outside the city were destroyed. Many logs with a diameter of tens of centimeters used to build the fortifications were blown into sawdust. The ground was full of black smoke craters. Even the two or three storey buildings beside the city were blown down.


    Although the gunfire stopped, my ears were still buzzing, and suddenly I heard a loud bugle. At first I thought it was auditory hallucination, but soon I saw a red signal bomb rising into the sky, and then thousands of soldiers who had hidden in the forest rushed to the city quickly.


    The artillery bombardment just now has cleared all the minefields and barbed wire in front of the trench. In some areas, there are even roads for infantry. Therefore, the route to the city is not limited to that road.


    The flag bearer holding the military flag rushed to the front of the team and took the lead in stepping on the streets of the city, followed by his comrades in arms. Although from time to time people were shot down, but more people immediately flocked.


    In the trenches, German soldiers who survived and were dazed by the bombing waved white flags tied to rifles and surrendered to our soldiers.


    The engineer troops followed the attacking troops and began to repair the road which was full of craters, so that our tanks could move into the city as soon as possible to cover the infantry''s battle to capture the city.


    When I saw this, I put down my telescope and said to chisgakov, who was looking beside me with enthusiasm: "Comrade Colonel, please call the political commissar and ask him to immediately lead the troops to launch an attack on Kling city from the East."


    "Yes He agreed excitedly, turned around and trotted all the way back to the tent.


    I happened to find the cavalry commander, major leiutov, standing in the middle of the staff behind me, and asked curiously, "Comrade major, when did you come back?"


    "Report to the chief of staff, I have just arrived. See you are paying attention to appreciate our army artillery is how to beat the German guy, I did not disturb you Perhaps seeing that the infantry had successfully rushed into the city of Kling, he was also eager to try, so he couldn''t wait to ask me to fight: "Comrade chief of staff! You see, the infantry soldiers have rushed into the city. Maybe we should help them again. Do you want to send our regiment to rush up, cooperate with infantry and tanks, and teach the Germans a lesson? "


    "No way!" The next thing is street fighting. I can''t let the cavalry ride a horse and wave a saber into the room to cut people, so I didn''t give him a chance, so I shook my head and refused his request: "the cavalry can''t play a big role in street fighting, so I''d better let you go on the next field battle."


    The battle has shifted from outside the city to inside the city, and I calculate to myself: even if the German army has 2000 people, it is impossible for them to defend such a big city. They can only choose the key defense. The focus of defense is to the south where I am and to the East where the political commissar is. In the shelling just now, at least thousands of enemy troops have been killed, so the remaining troops are hundreds of thousands. It will be a matter of time before the whole army is destroyed under the double attack of our army. It depends on how long they can sustain.


    At this time, a staff officer came over and reported to me, "Comrade chief of staff, commander, please answer the phone immediately."


    Vlasov called me at this time to ask if he had captured the city of klin? When I think of this, I feel very uneasy. Although the troops have already entered the city, it is not so easy to eliminate the enemy. If the German army resisted house by house, it would take a long time, in addition to heavy casualties, depending on the combat effectiveness and street fighting level of our army.


    As soon as I heard my voice, Vlasov couldn''t wait to ask me, "Rita, how''s the battle going under Kling?"¡° Report to the commander I don''t want to hide anything from him, lest the wrong information make him make the wrong decision: "after the preparation of artillery fire, the enemy''s defense outside the city of Kerin has been destroyed, and the infantry of the seventh division of the close guard has now entered the city. Engineers are trying to repair the reason why they were destroyed so that the tanks of the tank brigade can enter the city as soon as possible for reinforcement. Under the command of Comrade yegorov, the political commissar, the eighth division of Jinwei also launched a fierce attack from the east of the city to the German army. Now it is in a fierce battle, and it is estimated that it will soon be able to attack the city. But... "But what?" Vlasov said impatiently, "Rita, just say what you have to say. Don''t always say half of it in such a way as to make people worried."¡° At present, the remnants of the German army have retreated into the city. They will take advantage of the buildings in the city to fight tenaciously. If they want to drive these bandits out of their houses, I fear that our army will pay huge casualties and spend a lot of time. " Vlasov was silent for a moment, then said resolutely, "I don''t care how much your troops pay, but I want to drive the enemy out of klin as soon as possible. Cassino has been attacked by the troops under the command of deputy commander Lin. I hope you can draw out the main force as soon as possible, and then go west with all your strength. After converging with deputy commander Lin''s troops, he waited for an opportunity to seize the German supply bases in suvorovo and botovo, cutting off the logistics supply lines of the enemy who were fighting with the 16th group army. When this strategic goal is achieved, the main force of the group army will be concentrated to attack the west, driving the enemy away from the outskirts of Moscow and annihilating it. " After a pause, he asked, "when will you be able to solve the battle?" I meditated, and then said, "I''ll try to solve the battle by two o''clock tomorrow afternoon."¡° No, it''s too slow! " Vlasov strongly vetoed me and arranged a time for me: "the fight can''t be later than 11 noon tomorrow. This is the deadline." Now that he has said this, I can only obey unconditionally, so I hastily agreed: "yes, comrade commander! I will settle the battle by eleven o''clock tomorrow. " After the call with Vlasov, I got through to the tank brigade commander, Colonel kaliyev, who didn''t say a word at the meeting just now. I didn''t care to use any honorific name when I got through the phone. I said directly, "Colonel kaliyev, I''m chief of staff oshanina. I command you, as soon as the road to the city is repaired, the whole brigade will attack immediately to cover the infantry in the city and eliminate the enemy. Be sure to finish the task by ten o''clock tomorrow, or I''ll dismiss you. Do you understand? "¡° I see, chief of staff! "

 Chapter 240

    Although I gave Colonel kaliyev a death order in a tough tone and dismissed him if he could not finish the task, I had no idea whether he could finish the task of liberating klin on time. You should know that street fighting is the most difficult to fight. Tanks can destroy roadblocks and firepower points on the streets. However, if you want to destroy the enemy in the buildings, you can''t do much. To solve the battle in the end, you can only rely on infantry.


    Looking at me walking back and forth in the tent, chisgakov, who was familiar with me, said in a low voice: "Sir, do you think I need to take the 1073 regiment up? You know, we had a defensive battle in volokoramsk for more than a month, and we have more experience in this kind of street fighting."


    Hearing his sudden request, I could not help but stop. I was about to frown, but after putting myself in the position of chisgakov, I understood what the eager commander was thinking.


    "You should be calm, my deputy teacher." I said to him gently¡° Don''t you understand that the battle of the great counterattack has just begun?! There will be many battles to fight in the future. Good steel will be used on the blade. "


    Without waiting for him to answer, I went out of the tent, ready to continue to observe the war ahead. Chisgakov and several staff officers followed out of the tent.


    One after another, the German soldiers were escorted into the woods by the soldiers. All the German prisoners in the front were in rags, with more or less injuries. From their dull eyes and faces full of fear, they should be captured in the trenches. They were all frightened by our army''s artillery fire, The only thing that can make them feel lucky is to be captured by our army alive.


    "Comrades, teachers," one side of chisgakov carefully asked me, "do you need to arrange for the interrogation of these prisoners?"


    "No need!" As soon as the words came out, all the people around me were at a loss. I quickly explained to them, "the reason why I said no is because these prisoners were captured from the trenches. You see, their eyes are dull and their actions are slow. It is estimated that during the shelling, not only their ears may be deafened, but some people may even be confused. Do you think these people can ask us what we want to know? "


    After listening to my explanation, it suddenly dawned on everyone that no one mentioned the interrogation of prisoners.


    The engineers have repaired the road leading to the city. The bodies of the dead soldiers have been carefully moved to the roadside. The destroyed tanks in the middle of the road have also been towed away by the workers of the repair station with armored trailers. The tanks of the tank brigade are driving into the city one by one in line.


    Seeing that on the battlefield, there was a specially assigned person to drag away the abandoned tanks which had become roadblocks, he could not help but curiously asked the staff around him for advice. Only after their explanation did I know that I had a lot to learn. For the first time, in addition to being equipped with engineers in the infantry system, there were a large number of logistics and maintenance personnel in the tank system.


    The fighting in the city lasted from afternoon to midnight. I finally received a phone call from political commissar yegorov, saying that after destroying the garrison in the east of the city, our army successfully broke into the city under the cover of tanks, and now it has successfully joined up with the seventh division of the guards in the city center. The troops of the two divisions are marching towards the north of the city to wipe out the recalcitrant German troops.


    When I heard that the progress of the war was better than I had imagined, I felt more confident. Then I saw in the tent that Colonel gritznov, who was responsible for staying in chismena during the day, actually led a large army to fight against klin. Seeing my surprised expression, he told me that as a new reserve team was stationed in chismena, he brought all the troops he had left behind, including a regiment of infantry and a tank brigade, as well as a ski brigade.


    After all, the more troops I command, the easier it will be to fight. Then, I announced to chisgakov, griyaznov, lewatov and others the battle plan for the day of the 7th: after the German troops were driven out of the city of klin by us, the tank brigade, ski brigade and cavalry regiment immediately followed. As the fleeing enemy does not have any heavy weapons or means of transportation, they can not escape our pursuit troops on the open plain, so we must annihilate them all.


    The gunfire in the city of klin went on all night, and it did not stop until ten o''clock the next morning, when the deadline I had given to Colonel kaliyev of the tank brigade arrived.


    Almost at the moment when the cheers of the soldiers came from the city, I received a call from Colonel kaliyev. He excitedly reported to me: "Comrade chief of staff, after a night of fierce fighting, our brigade has cooperated with infantry to wipe out most of the enemies in the city, and the remaining few enemies are fleeing to the northwest along the highway."


    "Well done, Captain! Your soldiers are good, too! Please give them my thanks. " After praising him, I added, "but now you can''t rest. You have more important tasks to complete."


    "Chief of staff, please give me an order! I promise to finish the task. "


    "Good! You immediately lead your tank brigade to pursue the enemy fleeing to the northwest. I will soon send out ski brigade and cavalry regiment to cooperate with you. "


    After talking with kaliyev, I turned back to major leiutov and lieutenant commander of ski brigade behind me and said, "two commanders, your task is to lead the troops to fight with the tank brigade Association of Col. kaliyev and jointly pursue the fleeing German troops. After a short rest, our large forces will immediately follow. When they join forces, they will attack the German controlled botovo to the West. Is the task clear? "¡° It''s clear, comrade chief of staff. " Two commanders answered me almost at the same time. I''m going to contact commander Vlasov after we''ve arranged the pursuit troops. As soon as I got through the phone, I couldn''t wait to report that "Comrade report commander, our army has liberated klin city."¡° Great. "After hearing this news, Vlasov was also very excited. He immediately asked me about my next action:" the city has recovered. What''s your next plan? "¡° I have now ordered a tank brigade, a ski brigade and a cavalry regiment to pursue the fleeing enemy. After a rest, the main force will advance westward at 2 p.m. to attack botovo, which is controlled by the German army. "¡° That''s good. You''ve thought it all out. Go ahead with your plan. " When I finished the call, Colonel griazenov suggested to me with a smile, "chief of staff, Colin has been recovered. Shall we go to the city?"¡° Good I was very much in favor of his proposal, so I waved my hand and said, "let''s go." Our motorcade stopped at the edge of the city where there was still smoke everywhere. As soon as I got out of the car, gritznov and chisjakov got out of the car behind me and ran to me. They said excitedly, "chief of staff, you see, we have arrived at the edge of the city, but we can''t go directly into the city like this. We should have a small-scale entrance to celebrate today''s victory." After thinking about it, I realized that it was not a kind of sensationalism, but a Russian tradition, and I readily agreed. The troops that took part in the march to the city were soon assembled. In the music of "holy war" played through the horn of the propaganda car, the city entering ceremony began. At the top of the list were twenty security guards led by Captain Yushchenko. They carried their submachine guns to their chests and walked in the streets among the ruins with orderly steps. I walked behind them with my hands behind my back. Ryaznov and chisgakov were half behind me, followed by a group of commanders. In the excitement of the song, our small team with neat steps, along the street to the city. Although no one called Wula, I couldn''t help shouting to all the people in my heart in the blood boiling singing: Colin, we''ve taken it back!

 Chapter 241

    In a fairly complete building in the city of Kling, I called all the commanders above the regimental level for a meeting to prepare for the next action. As a result, a phone call from Zhukov disrupted my plan.


    "I know you''ve got Colin back, Rita, and I congratulate you." Zhukov said in a low voice on the phone: "but at present, I need you to send troops to the South immediately to support rokosovsky''s 16th army. They are now in great difficulty. The 17th infantry brigade and the 44th cavalry division of the group army are fighting repeatedly with the enemy in the areas of lyalovo and cleukovo, and even fighting with the enemy. Unfortunately, they have not driven the enemy away from these areas for the time being. "


    After Zhukov hung up the phone, I hesitated again and again, thinking that I should report the matter to Vlasov immediately, because Zhukov''s move was suspected of being over command after all. In the past, when I was just a teacher, as long as a commander higher than me gave orders, I would obey them. Now, with different identities and commanding a number of various kinds of troops from different places, the angle of consideration is different.


    After receiving my report, Vlasov kept silent for a long time on the phone, and then replied leisurely: "since the senior general has given the order, then you can carry it out! However... "He specially ordered:" the establishment of the reinforcements should not affect the combat effectiveness of the troops remaining in Kling. Use them when attacking botovo. In addition to leading the eighth division, you should also deploy a tank brigade and a cannon regiment. For the time being, the troops in klin were under the command of Colonel gritznov of the seventh division. That''s all. You can set it up. "


    So I handed over the command of the troops in klin city to Col. gritznov. At the same time, I ordered the kaliyev tank brigade, the leiutov cavalry regiment and the skiing brigade to stop and defend in place, waiting for further orders. Then I led the eighth division, the tank brigade and the cannons regiment out of the city and rushed south to help rokosovsky.


    The tank brigade opened the way ahead, followed by the cannon regiment of trucks, followed by the eighth division of the guards. Because of the lack of transportation, half of the soldiers took cars and half walked.


    Sixty kilometers of road, we drove for nearly two hours, just close to the destination. At one o''clock in the afternoon, the tank brigade who opened the way in front sent people to report that they had arrived in the dakliukovo area, where they found the German defense positions, and they could clearly see the German soldiers moving in the trenches with binoculars.


    I ordered them to stay where they were, not to attack for the time being, waiting for artillery and infantry to arrive. At the same time, he ordered the signalmen to send orders to the Artillery Corps to speed up the March.


    Five minutes later, I had reached the position of the tank brigade. While the cannons were laying out their positions, I took the staff officer, the signalman and Yushchenko. They found a high place and raised their binoculars to check the enemy''s defensive positions.


    The enemy''s position was laid out in a large open area extending to the horizon, which was composed of two trenches one kilometer apart, and the middle section was cut apart by cobweb like trenches and traffic trenches. The damaged tanks and armored vehicles in front of the position looked black. I went out of my way to check the signs on the tanks. The damaged ones were all German technical equipment. We can imagine how tenacious our resistance was when the German army seized this position.


    The arrival of our army has undoubtedly been noticed by the German army. They are transferring a large number of infantry and all kinds of heavy weapons to the trench facing us through the traffic trench. The German soldiers who entered the position put their rifles and assault rifles on the edge of the trench and were ready to shoot at our army at any time.


    The head of cannon regiment reported to me by walkie talkie that the artillery position had been arranged and could be put into battle at any time. I nodded and ordered to fire at the enemy positions.


    Soon, the artillery regiment hit out of a shell, with a sharp whistling sound, in the air after drawing a curve, accurately fell on the enemy''s position.


    The huge air wave generated by the explosion lifted the snow on the German position so high that all the German soldiers who were still running in the traffic ditch bent down. Even the soldiers who were in full readiness squatted down to avoid our artillery attack.


    The explosion continued for a moment, and the flying snowflakes with scorched soil kept falling on the heads of the German soldiers. They could no longer see their swaying figures in the trenches. In the face of such shelling, they could only squat in the same place, desperately trying to hide themselves more safely.


    After a quarter of an hour of shelling, I asked the signalman to call the channel of the brigade commander of the tank brigade, and then decisively gave him the order to attack.


    When the tank brigade commander heard my order, he was silent. After a few seconds, he asked cautiously, "Comrade chief of staff, our artillery are still bombarding the German positions. Do you think our brigade will attack again when the bombardment stops?"


    I knew that this kind of fighting method was beyond the scope of what he had learned in the military academy. Because of the lack of time, I didn''t care to explain it to him in detail. I simply said, "the tank brigade will attack immediately. This is the order!"


    The tank brigade commander had no choice but to agree: "yes! "Guarantee to complete the task"


    I then talked to the head of the artillery regiment and asked him to extend the artillery fire to the enemy''s rear after the tank brigade attacked.


    With the roar of the motor, a large number of our tanks appeared in the vast snow and rushed to the German position in a neat formation, while the infantry of the eighth division arrived by car followed them and launched a charge with the tank group in a scattered formation. At a distance of one kilometer, the tank can reach it in two or three minutes. When our tanks approached 100 meters in front of the German position, the enemy''s counterattack began, and the surviving mortars fired desperately at the tanks. However, this kind of small caliber gun does very little damage to our army''s tanks, even if it hits, it can''t blow up the tanks. Seeing that the mortar attack did not work, a German soldier immediately jumped out of the trench with two anti tank mines and rushed to our tanks. Just as he was approaching the leading tank, he did not know where to fly. A tank shell fell on his side and exploded. Then the air wave lifted him to four or five meters away. After landing, he did not move. It was estimated that he was seriously injured even if he was not dead. Our tanks soon crossed the trenches and rushed to the rear of the German army. From time to time, German soldiers came from the trench and threw anti tank mines and flasks at the tanks from behind. A bad luck tank was hit at once, and a raging fire broke out on its body. It drove on for a while and then stopped¡° That''s major marafeyev''s tank Captain Yushchenko, standing next to him, suddenly let out a cry. I moved my telescope to the burning tank. As soon as the tank stopped, two tankers covered with fire came out of the tank. After jumping off the tank, they rolled on the ground and put out the fire. Then he pulled out the pistol he had with him and shot the German soldiers. One of the tankers was soon shot down, and the other, after knocking down two enemies, picked up a submachine gun and jumped out of the trench. The soldiers of the guard division had already rushed into the trenches of the German first line of defense and were fighting with the enemy for bayonets. Although soldiers were constantly knocked down by German submachine guns or machine guns when approaching the trench, they still rushed forward one after another. With the passage of time, the superiority of our army in technology, equipment and number of soldiers began to appear, and infantry constantly rushed to the enemy''s positions. The shelling of our army has stopped, and the tanks of the tank brigade have rushed to the trench of the enemy''s second line of defense. Those firepower points that pose a greater threat to our army are being destroyed one by one under the fire of tanks. Under the strong attack of our army, the soldiers on the German positions are dying one by one, the will to resist is being destroyed by our army little by little, and the sound of gunfire at our soldiers has become zero. Seeing that the enemy''s situation was gone, I called the tank brigade commander again and ordered him to shout to the German army through the horn on the car, so that the remaining German troops would stop resisting and immediately lay down their arms and surrender to our army. If any German army continued to resist, it would be resolutely eliminated. After hearing our army''s call, the demoralized German army knew that there was no point in fighting any more, so they stopped resisting one after another and surrendered to our army obediently.

 Chapter 242

    Surrounded by a group of commanders and fighters, I set foot on the position just occupied by our army. The tanks that our army had been bombed were still burning, and the trenches were crisscrossed on the ground. The trenches were full of corpses. It seems that not long ago, the deadly white-edged battle here was far more dangerous and cruel than what I saw through the telescope.


    The soldiers of the guard division are busy cleaning the battlefield. Separate and pile up the corpses of our army and German soldiers collected from the battlefield. The wounded soldiers were simply bandaged by the health soldiers and left by themselves. The seriously wounded were put on stretchers and carried away by two soldiers.


    "Comrade General!" As I passed by a stretcher carried by two soldiers, I suddenly heard a gentle cry. I looked around and found that it was the wounded on the stretcher who called me. Instead of lying down, he was lying on the stretcher. As soon as I got closer, I could see clearly that the wounded man lying on the stretcher with his face blackened by gunpowder turned out to be major malafeyev.


    I stepped forward, took his outstretched hand, and asked with concern, "Comrade major, what''s the matter with you?" When the troops went south, I temporarily enlisted him in the tank brigade. Originally, I wanted him to take advantage of the opportunity to make some contributions, but also to speak well to Vlasov. When the 389th tank division was replenished in the future, I asked him to take over the position of division commander. Unexpectedly, in such a battle in which our army''s strength is absolutely superior, he was injured.


    "Comrade chief of staff," the health worker standing next to the stretcher saluted me and reported, "Comrade major has a large area of burns on his back. He has three submachine gun bullets in his right leg. He has not hurt the vital part."


    Knowing that major malafeyev''s injury is not important, I comforted him and said, "Comrade major, your injury is not important. Go to the rear hospital to recuperate. You will be back in the army soon."


    "Comrade General," he said timidly, instead of saying his illness, "has our division commander, Colonel buniachenko, heard from us?"


    His words left me speechless for a moment. At last, Yushchenko relieved me. He leaned over major malafeyev and said, "Comrade major, please take good care of yourself. We will pay attention to the captain''s affairs."


    I shook his hand as hard as I could, and some insincerely said, "don''t worry, I''ll let you know as soon as I hear from your teacher." Then he let go of his hand and waved to the health worker, signaling them to carry the stretcher away.


    Malafeyev looked at me for the last time, sighed deeply, then turned his head to one side and lay down again.


    I went on, passing by the destroyed and burned tanks, passing by the bodies of our soldiers and German soldiers who had not been cleaned up. I am imagining again: in terms of its intensity and cruelty, what a bloody battle it was, and what a terrible one it was. In this defensive position, there are only two German infantry companies, no more than four or five hundred at most. However, under the circumstances of our artillery attack and tank assault, they still cause us such heavy casualties. If they still have tanks to cooperate, it is also a big problem whether the battle can be ended so quickly.


    The fighting didn''t stop. From the southeast, there was the sound of shells exploding and the faint sound of machine gun fire - the battle was still going on there, and the 17th infantry brigade and the 44th cavalry division of the 16th army were fighting with the enemy in rialovo.


    As I was walking forward, I heard a loud noise from a group of German prisoners who were under the care of our soldiers. I frowned and looked at the place. My original disgust for the Germans increased a bit. I turned my head, but I still kept an eye on the group of prisoners. I told Yushchenko, "Comrade captain, go and see what''s going on? If a prisoner wants to make trouble, he should be wiped out physically without being soft handed. "


    "Yes Yushchenko agreed excitedly and ran with two soldiers.


    As soon as Yushchenko left, chisjakov and several commanders rushed to meet him. Although it''s still a long way away, I can see that the commander of 1073 regiment, Lieutenant Colonel chernukov, is following him. The infantry who followed the tank to attack just now were the soldiers of the 1073 regiment.


    Colonel chisgakov trotted up to me, stood at attention and saluted with a happy smile on his face, saying, "here you are, sir!" Then he looked behind me, and then asked, "what about Comrade yegorov, political commissar? Haven''t the other two regiments led by him come yet?"


    After Colonel chernukov saluted me, I shook hands with him and praised him: "Comrade commander, well done. It took less than an hour to wipe out the enemy. I thank you for your excellent fighting and successful completion of your mission. " At this point, I stopped for a moment and carefully observed his expression. Seeing that he was still immersed in the joy of victory, I couldn''t help throwing cold water on him. "It''s just that the casualties of the troops are a little bit heavy. You know, under the condition that our army''s technical equipment and firepower are dominant, the casualty ratio of infantry and the enemy is still 1:1. Go on like this, By the time we join forces with the 16th army, it is estimated that your regiment will have run out. "


    On hearing my criticism, lieutenant commander chernukov lowered his head in embarrassment, blushed at his neck, and murmured to me, "in today''s battle, most of the casualties are new fighters. Many of these soldiers have just entered the army, and they don''t even know how to lie down when shooting. So that when they charge, they are straight forward facing the enemy''s bullets, resulting in a large number of unnecessary casualties


    Because the troops will fight in the future, I can''t attack chernukov''s enthusiasm too much, so I digged off the topic: "are the troops ready for defense?" When he heard my question, he immediately straightened his back and replied loudly, "report to Mr. division chief, I have arranged the most effective battalion to enter the defensive position and prepared for all the enemy''s counter offensive attempts."¡° Good, good! " I said yes twice, and was about to raise my hand and pat him on the shoulder. Yushchenko, who had just been sent out, had come back to me and stood at attention to salute me: "Sir, comrade, I have brought the German guy who made trouble here." Because a few of them were blocking my sight, I only saw the sleeve of the Red Cross on the left arm of the German soldier who was carried by two soldiers. My heart said that he was a health worker. I don''t know why he made trouble in public. Aren''t you afraid that he lost his life? When two soldiers came to me with German soldiers, the first thing that came to my eyes was the plump grey green uniform on my chest. I couldn''t help but be stunned. I thought I was dazzled. I rubbed my eyes with my hands and blinked a few times. Then I looked at the health worker again. Under the helmets, there were bright red locks of hair, white and smooth, which clearly belonged to the female face. They told me clearly that the German health worker standing in front of me by two soldiers was a female soldier. While I was observing the other side, the other side was also looking at me. She was full of curiosity when she was staring at me. Maybe she was wondering how she could have a female general in the enemy camp. I coughed twice, cleared my throat, looked around and asked, "who knows German?" No one spoke. When I asked for the second time, chisgakov replied, "maybe there are German translators in the tank brigade. I just heard them shouting to the German army through the trumpet to persuade them to surrender." After hearing what chisgakov said, I immediately told Yushchenko, "Comrade captain, go to the tank brigade immediately and call a German man."¡° No, I can speak Russian The speaker is a female health worker. She not only uses grammar relatively accurately, but also pronounces correctly¡° Do you speak Russian? " I couldn''t help asking in surprise, and gestured to the two soldiers to let her go. She gently shook her aching arms and said faintly, "I used to study at a medical school in Moscow for two years, so it''s not uncommon that I can speak Russian." I looked up and down at this somewhat beautiful woman health worker, and then asked with a straight face: "girl, I want to know why you just took the lead in making trouble?"¡° "Miss general," the woman immediately retorted, "I didn''t make trouble. There are several of our wounded lying in the trench. I want them to be carried away after dressing them, but your subordinates don''t allow it. I quarreled with them for this. Please let me take the wounded away, Miss general, or they will freeze to death. " When I heard her say that, I immediately understood what was going on. It must be our soldiers who don''t want to capture the German wounded and want them to lie in the cold trenches to survive. Only when the female health worker refused to give up the wounded would she have a dispute with our soldiers. If I didn''t come across this matter, I would let it go. But since the female health worker has asked me for help, I can''t ignore it. I can only act as if it''s business and tell Yushchenko: "Comrade captain, please take some soldiers and this female health worker to deal with this matter, and let them be responsible for carrying away all the wounded." Hearing my order, the female health worker looked at me gratefully. Before she left with Yushchenko, she took the initiative to say, "thank you, Miss general! I''m Abigail. I don''t know what to call you? " When I heard the name of Miss general, I had goose bumps all over my body. When I heard her ask my name, I quickly replied, "major general o''shanina, major general o''shanina!"

 Chapter 243

    I got in touch with rokosovsky through the telephone, and knew that his area of lyalovo was still fighting hard. Due to the advantage of German mechanized forces, our army''s attack has not made much progress for the time being. Knowing that his situation was not very good, I immediately ordered the tank brigade to attack and quickly move closer to the 16th group army.


    The 1075 and 1077 regiments led by political commissar yegorov and chief of staff sherebriakov finally arrived in the evening. Before they arrived, the soldiers of the 1073 regiment had entered the repaired defensive positions, and even built a command post for me with logs in the trench of the second line of defense.


    In the command post, I met the political commissar, chief of staff and two other commanders who came in a hurry. After shaking hands with them one by one, I had a brief chat and sat down to discuss the next operational deployment.


    First of all, I''d like to introduce the current deployment situation. The first line of defense was defended by the 1073 regiment. Although the tank brigade had been sent to support the 16th group army, because a large number of rocket launchers, anti tank guns and anti tank grenades were found in the trenches, the anti tank forces in the positions were still sufficient; In addition, artillery positions of cannon regiment were arranged in the second line of defense of our army to provide firepower cover for infantry from the rear.


    After introducing the situation, the commissar asked curiously, "how can the German army have so many anti tank equipment?"


    "It''s not surprising," chisgakov replied, "nine times out of ten it was captured from our army when the German army occupied the klukovo area. And now we have taken these equipment from their hands, which can be regarded as the return of the original owner. Next, we should use these weapons to teach them a good lesson. "


    I took over the topic and continued: "I just learned from commander rokosovsky that they are currently fighting against the German mechanized forces in the rialovo area. Among them, the 9th division of Colonel beloborodov''s guards and the 11th division of Colonel cherneshof''s guards have already defeated the German infantry, and are making a detour to the two wings of the enemy, preparing to encircle the enemy who has burst into the depth of our defense line. " At this point, I picked up the tea cup in front of me, took a sip of tea, and then said in an envious tone: "in fact, the most remarkable thing is the 11th division of the close guard of Colonel cherneshoff. You know, they used to be only militia divisions. I believe we all have a point in mind about the militiamen''s combat effectiveness. It is such a unit that has repelled the enemy''s invasion of Moscow many times in the battle. Because they have repeatedly made war contributions, they have been awarded the honorary title of "guard division" by the highest base camp. "


    Hearing what I said, major Xie Dulin, who had been sitting there and didn''t speak, suddenly stood up, blushed and asked aloud, "Comrade division commander, the 11th division of Jinwei is a hero, and the 8th division of Jinwei is not a vegetarian. I want to ask what is the next task of our 1075 regiment? "


    "Yes Major panishev, the head of the 1077 regiment, also stood up and echoed: "major shedulin is right, and all of our eighth division guards are good. I don''t know what the next task our teachers will give us? We promise to do it well. "


    I found that when I praised the 11th division of the guards, I inadvertently hurt the self-esteem of these commanders. Moreover, because of their walking, the two regiments failed to catch up with the battle to recover the cleukovo area. They thought that they were a little frustrated. When they heard me praising others again, they could not help but stand up to me and ask for a fight. I understood that they were eager to fight, but no matter how anxious they were, they could only wait for the day tomorrow. So I stood up and asked them to sit down, comforted them, and said, "don''t be anxious, two commanders. The great counterattack will begin. The battle will be fought by you. Your troops will be placed in the second line of defense, and they will adjust their deployment according to the changes of the enemy''s situation after daybreak. "


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    From the distance came the sound of guns all night, which shows how fierce the battle between the 16th army and the enemy was.


    At eight in the morning, I got a call from rokosovsky. As soon as the phone rang, he couldn''t wait to say, "Rita, after a night of fierce fighting, the enemy forces in lialovo have been defeated by us. According to the information, they are fleeing to your area. I have sent tank brigade and the 2nd cavalry of the close guard of dovator to follow them. You must stop them. Create conditions for the complete annihilation of this enemy force. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." I said confidently, "as long as the eighth division of the guards is here, one of the enemy''s soldiers and one of them will not pass through the rialovo area."


    When I called, the commissar and several of them were staring at me. As soon as I put down the phone, chief of staff sherebriakov immediately asked, "Comrade division commander, commander rokosovsky, they won?"


    I nodded and replied, "yes, the enemy who defeated the invasion has been defeated. At present, the soldiers of the 16th group army are chasing the German army fleeing to our side. Now I order all of you to be ready for battle and never let a German soldier pass through our position. "


    A few hours later, the first few tanks appeared in my telescope. It started with a few black ideas, and soon they got bigger and bigger. I carefully counted that the German army had eleven tanks, followed by more than 30 armored transport vehicles full of infantry.


    I immediately called to inform the commander of 1073 regiment, Lieutenant Colonel chernukov, who stayed in the forefront command post, that he would be ready for all battles immediately.


    Lieutenant Colonel chernukov confidently told me: "the infantry have entered the trenches, the machine gunners have entered the positions, and the anti tank men have entered the bunkers and various ambush sites. As long as the enemy is close, we will teach him a lesson. " I didn''t say much. I just told him calmly, "never let a German soldier step on our position."¡° Yes! Comrade teachers. " He assured me loudly, "I promise to finish the task. Except for the German soldiers who were captured by our army, I will never let an enemy step on our army''s position I then dialed the head of the cannon regiment and ordered him: "Comrade head, the German tanks are coming towards our army. When they are in range, they will fire immediately and try not to let the tanks get close to our positions. "¡° Yes The head of the regiment simply agreed, and then said with some embarrassment, "Comrade chief of staff of the group army, now we have only half a base number of shells left. It''s difficult to wipe out all the enemy''s tanks." I just remembered that in yesterday''s battle, I once ordered them not to be stingy with shells when shelling the enemy, and to fight as many as possible. I didn''t expect to catch up. Now there are not enough shells. It seems that the remaining tanks can only be dealt with by infantry with anti tank weapons. I controlled my emotions and said clearly: "Comrade commander, let''s shoot out all the shells, and let the infantry of the eighth division of the close guard solve the rest of the enemy."

 Chapter 244

    The smoke from the explosion of dozens of shells raised a smoke in front of the position and covered all the four or five German tanks. Because it has not entered the effective range of infantry, the position is still silent.


    Without waiting for the smoke to be dispersed by the wind, the second and third artillery shells fell mercilessly in the German attack line, immediately enveloping them in a sea of fire.


    I picked up the microphone to get through to major Xie Dulin of 1075 regiment. I ordered him loudly: "Comrade major, hurry up and move your regiment to the front. The attack later depends on your regiment playing the leading role."


    "I see, sir!" Major shedulin replied loudly, "I''ll get the troops ready at once."


    Then I gave another order to major panishev of the 1077 Regiment: "Comrade major, your regiment, as a reserve, will stay in the second line of defense for the time being."


    "But, sir." Major panishev complained to me: "our regiment''s officers and men can do more things, but they have participated in every battle. Now let them participate in the battle passively, I''m afraid that everyone''s mood will have problems."


    "Comrade major," I said in a tone of teaching, "are you in the mood? You know, in a war, no matter what division of labor is equally important - whether it''s the main attack force or the reserve force. I regret to remind you of this. Do you understand what would happen if the 1073 and 1075 regiments failed to block the enemy''s crazy attack and let them break into our defense line? Who''s going to stop them? "


    Although my tone was severe, I still kept on pestering and wanted to get important tasks from me. He said with a smiley face: "even if the whole regiment can''t take part in the attack, even if one of them is selected to take part in the counterattack?"


    I''m so angry and funny. You think this is a vegetable market. You can bargain freely. So I said impolitely, "Comrade major, obey the order. When it''s time for you to join the group, I''ll let you join naturally. " Then he hung up without waiting for him to speak.


    The political commissar said with a smile: "the fighting mood of the soldiers is very high. It seems that it will be very uncomfortable for them to let the 1077 regiment be the reserve team in the back and let them watch the other troops teach the Germans a lesson."


    Chief of staff sherebriyakov also said: "yes, because yesterday the 1077 regiment was on foot. When they arrived at the battlefield, the battle was already over. The soldiers are holding their strength to teach the bandits a lesson. "


    The political commissar, deputy division chief and chief of staff gathered around and began to chat. Instead of participating in their topic, I stood in front of the lookout hole to watch the enemy situation in front of me.


    The smoke on the battlefield was dispersed by the wind, and the effect of the artillery attack just now clearly appeared in my telescope. Nine of the enemy''s tanks were directly destroyed and were burning in place. And the other two tanks, which were fast approaching our army, had been emitting thick smoke on their bodies.


    When we were still 70 or 80 meters away from our army''s position, the tank was completely lying down. From the cockpit of the tank, we could see several black figures, one after another falling on the charred snow. Rolling and crawling, suddenly falling down, suddenly standing up, stumbling backward and running towards the armored transport vehicle in the distance.


    German armored transport vehicles were also destroyed, and the rest quickly drove up. Except for two tanks that escaped from the front, the rest of the armored vehicles drove to the place tens of meters away from the front of our army. The soldiers on the vehicles jumped from the vehicles to the ground one after another and launched a scattered attack on our army.


    There was a lot of gunfire and the machine guns roared. The whole 1073 regiment opened fire. A row of German soldiers in front of the charge were immediately knocked down by the dense bullets. The rest of them quickly fell on the ground and fired against our army. And the armored car also relies on its thick armor, while firing slowly approaching our army.


    But without waiting for the armored car to get close, several rockets with white smoke flew out of our army''s trench, hit the armored car impartially, penetrated the armor that could not be penetrated by bullets, and turned the vehicle into burning scrap iron.


    Chisjakov, who came to me, happened to see this exciting scene and couldn''t help saying with emotion: "it''s better to use the weapon supported by the US allies. With this kind of rocket launcher, our soldiers can kill the enemy''s tanks by hiding in the trench, which is much easier to use than the anti tank gun."


    I turned around and looked at him, and I agreed with him very much. In the case of the large-scale relocation of the arms factory to the rear and the normal production, if there is no large amount of weapons assistance provided by the United States, it is a question whether the Soviet army can block the German attack.


    As I was about to speak, chisgakov suddenly pointed to the front without a telescope and cried out, "look, our tanks are coming up, and the leading tanks are still carrying flags."


    When the political commissar and the chief of staff came to grab the telescope with him, I could see clearly that the tanks advancing rapidly in formation in the distance were all Soviet style T-34 tanks, and there were a large group of cavalry in black cloaks behind the tanks. There''s no doubt that the 16th army is following.


    I rushed to the table, picked up the receiver, called major shedulin''s 1075 regiment, and loudly ordered him, "Comrade major, it''s time. Our troops are coming up from behind the enemy. Your regiment will attack immediately. We must annihilate all the enemy in front of the position. " The loud bugle sounded, and the charging troops leaped from the trench and rushed towards the enemy. Some soldiers even rushed straight forward, trying to rush to the front of the enemy as soon as possible and fight face to face with them.

 Chapter 245

    Although the enemy has become the end of the crossbow, but because of the existence of those armored vehicles, their futile resistance is not without any effect, at least many soldiers fell on the road of charge.


    The political commissar, who was watching the battle, suddenly called out: "what the hell is going on? How can major shedulin personally lead the troops to charge? We should know that his command position is in the regiment command post, rather than taking the soldiers to charge in person like the company commander. "


    In fact, I just saw a man in the telescope, holding a pistol high, obviously a commander, turning to the soldiers, pointing to the front, shouting something. It''s just that I didn''t recognize this man as major Xie Dulin, the head of the 1075 regiment.


    The fighting continues. When the shells fired by our tanks destroyed several crazy armored vehicles, and the cavalry rushed into the German infantry formation and began to kill them madly, the German soldiers who were still fighting with trapped animals threw away their weapons and raised their hands to surrender to our army.


    Our tanks and cavalry stopped in front of the position. Except for a few soldiers who were in charge of the captives, the rest of the infantry rushed up to hug and cheer with their comrades. Soon I saw major shedulin and some commanders coming down the trench and along the traffic trench towards us.


    "It seems that the commander of the other party is here, comrade commander." Nearby, Colonel chisgakov reminded me, "should we go out to meet the friendly forces? After all, it''s a big event!"


    "Good idea!" I very much agree with the deputy division commander''s proposal. I put the telescope aside and said to the political commissar with a smile, "except for the personnel on duty, the rest of our headquarters will go out to meet the commanders of the friendly forces."


    In fact, there are few people on duty, just two signalmen in charge of communication. Rao is so. I still see disappointment in their faces. After all, this is the first meeting after winning the battle.


    Several of us were about to leave the headquarters to meet the commander of the friendly army. At this time, we sat by the telephone, and the communications Corps stood up and called me, "Comrade division commander, your phone number!" Then he added, "it''s general Vlasov, commander of the group army."


    I quickly stopped and ran to pick up the headset from the messenger''s cell phone. Vlasov did not exchange greetings, but asked directly, "Comrade Rita, what''s the situation over there?"


    "Report to commander, we have joined forces with comrades of the 16th army." I looked at the smiling political commissars around and then said, "political commissars and I are going out to meet the comrades of the friendly army. I didn''t expect that you called first."


    "Meeting up?! That would be great! " From Vlasov''s voice, I felt that he was relieved, "you immediately hand over the position to the friendly forces, and then take the troops back to Kling. We will mobilize our forces to cooperate with deputy commander Lin''s forces from the east to attack the German forces in suvarovo and botovo. "


    "Yes! I''ll arrange it right away. I''ll be back to Kling as soon as possible. "


    As soon as I finished my call with Vlasov, political commissar yegorov came and asked with concern, "Rita, what''s the matter?"


    I said with a wry smile, "the commander called and asked us to hand over the position to the friendly forces immediately, then return to klin and concentrate our forces to attack botovo."


    Next, I called major panishev, the head of the 1077 regiment, the head of the cannon regiment, and Colonel hapsafu, the division commander of the Far East independent division in Taiyangshan City, and asked them to immediately gather their troops to fight against klin.


    The head of the cannon regiment and Colonel hapsaffo were nothing. They immediately carried out my orders. Only major panishev complained. The troops marched from klin to klukovo on several dozens of roads. As a result, they had to go back the same way without firing a shot. No one would feel comfortable. However, since I gave the order, although I have some opinions, I can only obey it. But unlike when they came, they didn''t have to walk any more. Instead, they left by truck.


    After giving all the orders, I took a group from the division headquarters out of the headquarters and walked along the traffic ditch to meet the friendly commanders. Not far away, I saw major shedulin and some people coming towards me in a hurry.


    As soon as I got closer, I found that the friendly troops were all acquaintances. I know all three commanders in black cloaks and mink caps, except the commander of the tank brigade I sent to support the 16th army. Behind him was the young and handsome major general dovator, commander of the second cavalry of the close guard. Behind him were general priev, commander of the 50th cavalry division, and Colonel melinick, commander of the 53rd cavalry division.


    As soon as he approached, the guide, Xie Dulin, stopped, leaned on one side of his body against the trench wall, and began to introduce me to dovator: "Comrade General, this is major general oshanina, commander of the eighth division of our guards."


    Just when he wanted to introduce dovator to me, I waved my hand and said, "don''t introduce me. The general and I are old acquaintances." With that, I stepped forward, raised my hand, saluted dovator and said in a friendly way, "Hello! Comrade General! I didn''t expect that we would meet again so soon. "


    Dovator also gave me a salute, then gave me a strong hug, slapped me hard on the back with his hand, and said happily, "Rita, it''s not easy for you to defeat the German army in such a short time, not only to take back cleukovo, but also to send a tank brigade to reinforce us."


    After he let go of me, I shook hands with the other three commanders one by one and simply said hello. As soon as I looked back, I was surprised to see that political commissar yegorov and dovator were kissing when they hugged each other. In broad daylight, the two men were kissing each other mouth to mouth and then separated. This kind of performance is a little too warm. I can''t stand it. If I didn''t know that it was a kind of etiquette of Lao maozi, I would think that they were engaged in foundation.


    After dovator and the others said hello and exchanged greetings, we went back to the headquarters together. After everyone sat down and introduced the whole situation of cleukovo area, I told him about the troop''s relocation. In his regret, I asked the political commissar to stay behind to help deal with the change of defense. I left first with Yushchenko and the soldiers of the guard company.


    The artillery regiment and the 1077 regiment are now in operation. I thought it would take more than half an hour for the artillery regiment to go out. However, after they finished their shooting task, they were ready to transfer. All the guns were hung on the tractor truck. With the order of transfer, they immediately returned along the original road.


    Grissa''s Jeep carried me and Yushchenko at the front, followed by five trucks from the guard company, and the convoy went down the road to Kling.


    Although grissa drove very fast, he still did not catch up with the artillery regiment and the 1077 regiment in front of him with 10 kilometers to go.


    Just in my heart, I wondered whether the two troops had not started, or they had turned into some other fork on the way, otherwise they might not catch up, when the car suddenly came down without warning.


    Because the car stopped too suddenly, the truck that followed didn''t have enough brake, and the road was slippery, so it directly hit us. Our car suddenly flew out a long way before and landed heavily on the ground. I was a huge inertia with a forward dash, the body heavily hit the back of the chair in front of the violent collision shock viscera as dislocation general pain unbearable.


    I slowly sat up straight, took a few deep breaths, covered my chest with my hand, felt the pain slightly relieved, and then asked grissa: "Comrade driver, what''s the matter? How did it stop all of a sudden? "


    Grissa looked back, apologized and said, "sorry, sir, the car broke down!"


    At this time, the guards and soldiers in the following cars jumped out of the car one after another, surrounded them and asked with concern: "Comrade division, don''t you mind? Did you get hurt? "


    I pushed the door open and went down. I waved to the soldiers and said, "I don''t mind." Then I went to the rear of the car and looked at it. I found that the damage was not big, but a large part of the rear was dented. On the other side of the bypass car, I saw Yushchenko covering his chest to get out of the car. I quickly stepped forward to help him and asked him with concern: "Comrade captain, don''t worry?"


    He shook his head hard and said, "it''s OK. It''s just a shock and a little pain in the chest."


    Grissa came over with his head down and said, "Sir, I''m sorry. I didn''t know the car would break down at this time."


    I patted him on the shoulder and said, "Comrade grissa, you are a good driver. We don''t mean to blame you. Don''t you think so? Comrade captain. " When I said that, I also deliberately turned the topic to Yushchenko.


    Seeing that I said so, Yushchenko, with a bitter face, had to perfunctorily say: "yes, grissa. The teacher and I don''t mean to blame you, so don''t worry about it. "


    "Repair the car first, and then catch up with it." Then I said to Yushchenko, "anyway, it''s not far from Colin. We''ll take a walk on the road before it''s dark, and the rest of us will catch up when the car is repaired."


    "Yes Yushchenko agreed, ran to his subordinates to convey my order, let all the cars stop, wait for grissa to repair the car and catch up together, and then took more than 20 soldiers and I on foot to klin.


    After walking for more than ten minutes, a soldier at the front found a group of people on the roadside not far from the front. He turned back and yelled. So Yushchenko, who got the alarm, immediately changed the formation and let the soldiers surround me in the middle in case of any accident.


    Just then, a cry came from the front: "Hello, comrades! I said, "where are you going?"


    When I heard that the other party was speaking authentic Russian, I felt relieved. I pushed aside the soldiers in front of me and stepped forward. I saw that the other party was all wearing our uniform. Except for a few people with military rank sitting on a fallen birch tree by the side of the road, the others were standing around them. So I answered loudly, "we are going to attack Berlin, Hit Hitler''s moustache hard. There are just not enough people. Are you going to join us? "


    The soldiers around me burst out laughing at my words.


    Maybe I just came out of the crowd when I saw it. Several sitting commanders stood up immediately, and one of them ran to me quickly. The middle-aged commander, who was big and bearded, stood at attention in front of me and said, "Hello, general! Second lieutenant Yuri reports to you that our troops have been scattered and we hope to join you. "


    "Welcome to join us." Then I reached out to the second lieutenant.

 Chapter 246

    Captain Yushchenko, from the people''s Committee of the interior, was very wary of the sudden addition of the second lieutenant. He not only repeatedly questioned the other party''s origin, but also checked the other party''s military certificate. Originally, I thought the other party would be furious, but Lieutenant Yuri showed his ID with great cooperation. After checking the documents, finding out the identity of the other party and knowing that they were not disguised German spies, Yushchenko became friendly to the second lieutenant and began to chat while walking. From their conversation, I know that lieutenant Yuri was sitting with his back to me. He was a German officer. He was wearing a military coat and silver thread epaulets, but he didn''t wear a hat. Behind him stood two soldiers with submachine guns. I did not interrupt the interrogation work of the political workers. I took off my military coat and hung it on the coat hook by the door. Then I leaned back against the wall, folded my hands in front of my chest, and quietly listened to this rare interrogation¡° Because... Because... "The German officer murmured at first, and suddenly, unexpectedly, he cried hysterically," do you think we don''t want to occupy Moscow as soon as possible? You know, tracked vehicles are not greatly affected by bad road conditions, but most of our vehicles are wheeled. There are less than 300 tracked vehicles in an armored division, but there are more than 3000 wheeled vehicles, which are all trapped on the road. By early November, heavy rain and mud had completely stopped us. After the land began to freeze, the vehicles were just able to drive, and there was a rare severe cold since November 27. Our car won''t catch fire, the gun won''t open, the fuel has frozen to a solid, in the ice and snow! No warm clothes! People are almost frozen. " When I came in just now, the political workers had just finished asking questions, and I couldn''t understand the German spoken by the translator, so I didn''t know what he was asking. I couldn''t help laughing at the ugly behavior of the prisoners¡° Be quiet The political workers slapped on the table, startled the German officers and quieted down. He looked around and asked, "who else has a question?" Seeing that there was no reply from the two teachers around, he made a gesture from the soldier and said, "take the prisoner down first." After the prisoners were taken away by the soldiers, I went to meet Colonel gritznov and several of them. After saluting me first, the Colonel pointed to the political worker nearby and said to me, "Comrade chief of staff of the group army, let me introduce to you. This is Comrade lewaz bakanize, political commissar of our division. Some time ago, he didn''t go to the army because of his injuries, so you guess he didn''t see him."¡° Hello! Comrade political commissar. " I reached out to him with a smile on my face¡° Hello! Comrade oshanina Although the Colonel has not yet introduced me to him, the fat old man with black hair and no silver thread has said to me in a very friendly tone: "I heard Comrade Stalin mention you personally, and he praised you as a great heroine." Although I always smile, I don''t think much of his words. Who are you? Stalin will chat with you, and even mentioned me in the process of chatting, which is really big. The Colonel came up to me and whispered, "Comrade chief of staff of the group army, comrade bakanize is an old comrade in arms of Comrade Stalin. They had a friendship of more than 40 years, and they had been exiled to Siberia together during the Czarist era Mr. Jinwei''s words immediately made me change the view of the political commissar in front of me. It turned out that he was still a man of great origin, so the polite smile on his face turned into a sincere smile. I asked with a smile, "Comrade political commissar, are you all well?" He replied with a smile, "thank you for your concern. The wound has healed completely. In the battle to defend Smolensk, I was wounded in the chest by shrapnel. At the moment of injury, I even thought I would die soon. " As he said this, he turned to look at the Colonel next to him and said with a feeling tone, "fortunately, Colonel griazenov saved me and let four soldiers lift me down from the battlefield, otherwise you won''t see me standing here talking to you today." Seeing that bakanize kept talking to me, the colonel said with a slight smile, "Comrade political commissar and chief of staff of the group army have just come back from the front line. Maybe they haven''t eaten yet. You see, I''ll talk to you later. " As soon as bakanize heard this, he immediately said with a smile: "you see, you patronize and chat with you, and forget to ask if you have dinner." He waved his hand and said, "come on, comrade chief of staff of the group army. It happened that we were interrogating prisoners just now, and we didn''t care to eat. Let''s have some together. Please sit down first I went back to the table with bakanize and griazenov and sat down. Lieutenant commander Valeri went to the door, opened the door and cried out, "orderly, go and bring the dinner."

 Chapter 247

    As soon as dinner was served, yegorov, chisgakov and sherebriakov, who had been transferred to defense by the friendly forces in cleukovo, just came back.


    Seeing the appearance of political commissar yegorov, bakanize, sitting opposite me, stood up excitedly, and then cried out: "dear yegorov, is that you?"


    The commissar was startled by the sudden cry. After seeing the other party clearly, he hesitated and asked, "liezhuo, are you or your ghost?"


    "Of course it''s me! I didn''t expect that I could still stand in front of you alive! " Bakanize got up and went to the Commissar.


    "I heard that you died in the battle to defend Smolensk. I didn''t expect to see you here again." Yegorov also came.


    After hearing the conversation between them, I realized that yegorov and bakanize were old acquaintances. They had known each other since they were exiled in Siberia, and both of them had participated in the battle of Nomenkan under the command of Zhukov. Now the old comrades in arms unexpectedly meet again, which is a separate intimacy. Looking at the two people hugging each other tightly and slapping each other on the back, I immediately got goose bumps all over my body. My heart said that you should stop kissing. I was eating. I watched two big men holding each other and gnawing. Even though I knew it was a kind of etiquette, I couldn''t bear it psychologically. Maybe I would spit out all the things I ate. Fortunately, the two old comrades in arms were only limited to hugging and patting each other on the shoulder, and there was no scene that would cause my appetite discomfort.


    "Well, two political commissars, you are all hungry!" I don''t know how long they''ll hold each other, so I quickly interrupted them: "sit down and have something to eat first."


    Bakanize let go of yegorov and said with a smile, "chief of staff oshanina didn''t remind me. I almost forgot that you didn''t eat. Come on, let''s sit down and eat. " Then he took yegorov and sat opposite me with him. Sherebriakov sat down on my right side with the deputy commander, Lieutenant Colonel Valeri. Chisgakov and griazinov are sitting on my right.


    After everyone was seated, I asked chisjakov in a low voice, "Comrade Colonel, is the transfer of defense finished?"


    Chisgakov just put a piece of bread in his mouth. When he heard me ask, he swallowed the bread desperately and nodded his head desperately. After swallowing the bread, he took a deep breath and replied, "please rest assured, division commander. All the lines of defense have been handed over to comrades of the 16th army. Our division has now returned to klin. "


    I nodded with satisfaction, then made a gesture of please, said: "I have no problem, you continue to eat." Then he looked at Colonel gritznov beside him.


    Seeing me looking at him, the Colonel put down his bread in time to avoid the embarrassment of chisgakov. I asked curiously, "what happened to the prisoner just now?"


    The colonel looked at his commissar and then answered me, "that''s a German tank lieutenant. During the battle, his tank lost contact with other tanks, because Colin was still in their hands and drove straight to the city. His tank was destroyed by our soldiers with rockets in the east of the city. The other three crew members were killed on the spot because of stubborn resistance, and were captured by our soldiers because they were injured and comatose. "


    When the Colonel finished answering my question, Lieutenant Colonel Valeri on the right suddenly said, "Comrade political commissar, I heard that you went to the Kremlin to meet Comrade Stalin before you returned to the army. Can you give us some inside information? "


    Having seen Stalin, this sentence is so destructive that people who were eating stopped chewing and looked at bakanize. I also look at the old political commissar opposite me with great interest. You know, in the Great Purge that began in 36 years, many of Stalin''s close comrades in arms were purged, and he survived. In addition to saying that he was lucky, maybe his friendship with Stalin was extraordinary.


    Bakanize glared discontentedly at his deputy, looked around, but did not speak.


    I also looked left and right. In addition to the chief officers of our divisions, there were also several staff officers, service soldiers and security guards. I immediately realized that he was afraid of hearing too many people. If his words were spread out, it would be a serious matter. So I coughed, stood up and said to the others, "we''re going to study something important. You go out first."


    The officers and men standing around immediately came to attention, turned and walked out of the room without saying a word.


    Seeing that all the people left, yegorov, who was sitting next to him, could not help but said curiously, "I said, old man, there is no outsider here, so you can tell us."


    "Yes, political commissar bakanize." I also echoed: "tell us about it. You can rest assured that there are reliable people here, and nothing you say will be disclosed. "


    Seeing that everyone was staring at himself, bakanize knew that he would not say anything. Today, everyone would not give up. So he cleared his throat and reminded everyone to keep what he heard confidential. Then he said, "before I left Moscow this morning, I received a notice that Comrade Stalin wanted to see me. Of course, I made an appointment for this meeting a few days ago. "


    Listening to his slow speech, yegorov, who was beside him, seemed to be more anxious than anyone else. He hastened him to say: "I say dear lejo, I will not talk about these irrelevant things for the time being. Let''s just talk about the main point. Everyone will wait."¡° In fact, he didn''t say anything, "bakanize said without hesitation." Comrade Stalin just talked with me about my family and health for a while. "¡° And then what? " This time I asked Colonel gritznov¡° When talking about the differences in technology and equipment between our army and the German army, comrade Stalin mentioned the assistance of US allies. "¡° The US allies'' assistance to us only stays in words, and in fact, they don''t see any real equipment for us. " Valeri couldn''t help complaining¡° That''s not what I said, comrade deputy division commander. " Bakanize impolitely corrected his statement, "do you know how much material our allies aid us every month?"¡° How many? Isn''t it just a few old jeeps? " Valeri retorted somewhat unconvinced. "The real aid data is confidential," bakanize said, shaking his head. But according to Comrade Stalin, the aid provided by US allies is 400 airplanes, 500 tanks, 1000 tons of armored steel, 400 tons of barbed wire and 5000 jeeps per month. There are also a lot of anti-aircraft guns and anti tank weapons. "¡° Is there so much? " The data he gave surprised everyone, including me. I don''t think the United States has anything to offer to the Soviet Union except a large number of jeeps and anti tank weapons, as well as such distant and empty promises as sending several divisions to fight and opening up a second battlefield. I didn''t expect that there were so many technical equipment. There was silence in the room. After a long time, I began to break the silence: "it''s getting late. Let''s go back and have a rest. Tomorrow we''re going to botovo. What political commissar bakanize said today will be forgotten when he goes out of this door. Do you understand? "¡° I see. Comrade chief of staff (division commander) of the group army. " All the people present answered with one voice. Political commissar bakanize on the other side also gave me a grateful glance. I stood up and was about to go out when Colonel gritznov suddenly stopped me. He asked, "Comrade chief of staff of the group army, what is the sequence of the March tomorrow?" I pondered for a moment and replied, "tomorrow the seventh division will start first, followed by the eighth division, the Far East independent division, and finally several artillery regiments." After arranging tomorrow''s March sequence, I went back to the room arranged for me by Colonel gritznov. The next morning, it was chisgakov who knocked on the door to wake me up, saying that the vanguard of the seventh division, led by political commissar bakanize, had already set out, followed by the troops of Colonel griazenov and Lieutenant Colonel Valeri. The eighth Division has also been assembled. You can set out at any time. I''m here to join the division headquarters. I had just walked out of the building when I saw a jeep coming quickly. My heart was a little uneasy. Did something happen there again? When the car stopped, it was lieutenant commander Valeri who jumped out of the car. He quickly ran to me, saluted in a flurry, and reported in a low voice, "Comrade chief of staff of the group army, it''s bad. Something''s wrong!" I was scared out of a cold sweat, grabbed his skirt, nervously asked repeatedly: "come on, come on, what''s the matter? Did the troops meet the German ambush Waleri shook his head, lowered his head, and said with some sadness, "the jeep of political commissar bakanize was destroyed by German mines. The commissar and several soldiers in the same car died. "¡° what?! Sacrificed? " The news was like a bolt from the blue, which made my mind blank. If it wasn''t for the kisjakov behind me, I would have been sitting on the ground.

 Chapter 248

    December 16, in an unnamed village on the outskirts of suvarovo.


    In the headquarters set up in the village chapel, the sound of telegrams, telephone calls and the shouts of signalmen came one after another.


    On the huge wooden table, there is a map of suvarovo''s city defense. Vlasov is pointing around on the map, as if he is studying where to open a breakthrough. Mr. Lin sat beside him, but he didn''t say a word. From time to time, he just twisted a soybean out of a small cloth bag in front of him and put it into his mouth to chew it slowly. Shi Zhe, who acted as a translator, stood upright behind President Lin.


    I stood at the table, holding two battle reports I had just received. I was considering whether to report to the two commanders immediately, because the Far East independent division and the close guard seventh division''s attack on suvorovo had failed again.


    A week ago, when we left klin for botovo, political commissar bakanize of the seventh division of the guards was killed. I immediately reported the bad news to Zhukov. Perhaps Zhukov knew about bakanize''s friendship with Stalin. After learning the news, he kept silent for a long time and then said leisurely, "I know. I will report this to Comrade Stalin at an appropriate time."


    At 10 a.m. that day, the battle against botovo started. After one hour''s shelling, the officers and men of the seventh division of the close guard, shouting the slogan of revenge for the political commissar, followed the tank brigade and cavalry regiment and launched a heroic attack on botovo, which was occupied by the German army. After two hours of fierce fighting, they successfully captured this important German supply base and captured nearly 60 tanks and soldiers 120 cars, a lot of artillery, ammunition and other military supplies.


    After leaving the necessary garrison troops, I led the troops to suvorovo. In the afternoon of the same day, I joined the main forces of the group army led by Vlasov and President Lin, and surrounded a German armored division and several infantry divisions with serious losses in suvorovo area.


    Although the battle I commanded in the early stage was very smooth, my good luck seemed to have been exhausted from the moment I came to suvarovo. In the early stage of the battle, the ammunition consumption was so large that the ammunition stock of each artillery regiment was less than a base. In particular, the Katyusha artillery regiment only fired three volleys, and the ammunition was exhausted. As our artillery fire failed to cause effective damage to the enemy''s living forces, the attack launched that day was defeated without any doubt.


    The next day, without artillery preparation, Vlasov mobilized three tank brigades, one cavalry division, two skiing brigades and two infantry divisions to launch a fierce attack on the besieged enemy from all sides at the same time. As a result, they were repulsed one by one by the counter attacking tank troops.


    On the third day, at the suggestion of general manager Lin, the troops stopped attacking the encircled enemy troops in suwolovo area and adopted the tactics of encircling but not attacking. At the same time, they took advantage of the opportunity of waiting for ammunition supply from the rear to let the fighting troops rest.


    Zhukov was furious at the sudden stop of our group army''s attack. He gave a death order to general manager Vlasov and general manager Lin. if he could not win suvorovo before the 17th, he would send them to the military court for trial.


    In the face of Zhukov''s strict order, Vlasov had to order the troops with serious casualties and insufficient ammunition to re-enter the attack. It is conceivable that the result of such an attack was negligible, except for the increase of many unnecessary casualties.


    Yesterday Zhukov promised to send us planes to cover the attack. However, major general dovator, the commander of the 2nd cavalry of the guards, was killed in the enemy''s counterattack when he led his troops to attack the enemy in luzhahe. His cavalry was also severely damaged. In order to prevent the attack sequence of the 16th group army from collapsing, the air force turned to the area and bombed the German troops on the ground. Finally, the enemy''s counter attack was contained and the 16th group army was saved.


    Today, starting from dawn, all the troops launched attacks against the encircled German troops regardless of casualties, but with little success. The two telegrams I have just received are reports of the failure of the attack.


    Vlasov, who was looking at the map, suddenly raised his head and saw me standing rigidly by. He could not help frowning slightly and asked, "our attack failed again?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." I stepped forward, handed the telegram in my hand, and said in a deep tone: "the attack of the independent division and the 7th guard division was repulsed by the German tanks. In the battle, the division commander, Colonel hapsaffo, was wounded and had withdrawn from the battle. At present, the deputy division commander has taken over the command, and is blocking the German troops in the counter attack. "


    "Comrade commander," President Lin suddenly said in his low voice, "we can''t fight like this any more. The troops should be stopped immediately. "


    After listening to Shi Zhe''s translation, Vlasov was a little surprised and said, "but Comrade Zhukov''s deadline for us is tomorrow. If we can''t win suvorovo, the consequence will be..." although he only said half of what he said, we all know that he was afraid that he would not complete the task and therefore went to the military court.


    "Deputy commander Lin, do you have any good ideas?" I know Mr. Lin must have some new ideas, so I asked first.


    Mr. Lin put a bean into his mouth, and then said, "there is a lack of one in three."


    "There''s a shortage of one in three." After listening to the translation, Vlasov asked blankly, "what do you mean, I don''t quite understand."


    "Withdraw troops from one direction, and then attack the enemy from the other three directions at the same time."¡° What? " As soon as Vlasov sat down and listened to President Lin''s words, he immediately jumped up again and cried out, "no, if one aspect of the army is removed, the enemy will run away."¡° Comrade commander, don''t worry. Let me explain in detail. " President Lin also stood up, pointed to the map in front of him and said to Vlasov, "you see, there are perfect defense systems on all sides of suvorovo, including the defense fortifications built by our army and many firepower points reinforced by the German army after occupying the city. In our deceptive operation, the enemy''s armored forces transferred from chismena due to deception are now in the city. Summing up the lessons from the failure of the attack in recent days, we can see that this armored force is a fatal threat to our attack. In the absence of sufficient artillery firepower and air force support, if we want to forcibly seize the city, we will not only pay a huge price, but also take a long time. " At this point, he stopped for a moment. After Shi Zhe translated his words completely to Vlasov, he continued: "all the retreats of the German army have been cut off by us. In order not to be annihilated by us, they are bound to fight to the death. However, if we open up one side of the net, the German army will think that they have a chance to get out of danger safely, and only think about how to leave quickly from the channel we gave way. Then, in the face of our three side offensive, their resistance will be much weaker. Using the tactics of encircling three and missing one, I don''t care how much the German army will escape, but only hope that our army can capture suvorovo as soon as possible. Taking suvarovo is victory for us. As for the fleeing German troops, they can send highly mobile troops to follow them and attack them severely. " After listening to Mr. Lin''s explanation, Vlasov suddenly realized. He nodded thoughtfully and said, "deputy commander Lin, you are right. I''m going to adjust my operational deployment and launch a general attack on the whole line at nine o''clock tomorrow morning to ensure that suvarovo can be won before dark. " President Lin also nodded and said, "yes." Vlasov looked at me again and asked, "what do you think, Rita?" Looking at the map in front of me, I said with a clear mind: "I suggest that before the general attack tomorrow, we should first hit all the artillery and launch a heavy shelling on the defensive position south of suvorovo. At the same time, we asked the headquarters of the front army to send planes to bombard the military targets inside and outside the city in turn, so as to speed up the determination of the German army to flee. They also arranged mobile troops to pursue the German troops who fled to the West. " As soon as Vlasov patted the table, he said excitedly, "OK, that''s settled. I will report this plan to the front command immediately. "

 Chapter 249

    Several troops originally deployed to the west of suvarovo withdrew that night, making way for the German army to retreat westward. Of course, we will not let these bandits leave easily. This seemingly calm road is full of all kinds of mines. Even if they can escape their new stronghold, they will pay a huge price.


    When arranging the task of the general attack tomorrow, I first said, "in the general attack tomorrow, I suggest that the cavalry units of the group army should not take part in the fighting, and the attacking units should mainly be infantry, tank troops and ski brigades."


    After listening, President Lin did not speak, but nodded thoughtfully. But Vlasov asked strangely, "I said, Rita, I want to hear your reasons for not allowing cavalry to fight?"


    As usual, I coughed and said in a low voice, "cavalry is suitable for pursuit and local breakthrough. For example, if we attack fortified positions now, if we send cavalry to take part in the attack, I can''t think of what kind of results they can achieve except increasing unnecessary casualties." When I said this, I couldn''t help thinking of the cavalry unit that fell in front of the German position last time. My nose was sore and my tears almost came down again. After a hard blink, I continued, "I don''t mean not to use cavalry, but to gather all the cavalry. When the German army is defeated and fleeing, they should pursue them in the rear, so that they can inflict heavy damage on the enemy. "


    After listening to my explanation, Vlasov did not make a direct statement. Instead, he looked at President Lin and asked, "deputy commander Lin, what do you think?"


    "I agree with the chief of staff." As for my proposal, President Lin expressed support and added: "in addition to cavalry, we will leave another tank brigade and ski brigade as the reserve of the group army. When the German army is defeated, this army will carry out the pursuit task."


    "Since you say so, let''s go on with the task." With that, Vlasov yelled at one of the staff officers behind him: "record my order: no cavalry regiment or division of the group army will take part in the attack tomorrow..."


    At nine o''clock the next morning, the shelling before the general attack on suvarovo began.


    I stood on the bell tower of the church with Vlasov, President Lin and Shi Zhe, observing the German defensive position being shelled by our army with binoculars. In fact, the so-called bell tower is more like a pavilion supported by only four pillars. There is a copper bell with a diameter of more than one foot on the roof, and the long bell ring rope has been dragged to the ground. Here, with a wide view, we can clearly see that the German position in the distance has been shrouded by the smoke of the explosion.


    About ten minutes later, with a dull sound similar to thunder coming from the southeast, a black cloud covered the sky. I moved the telescope to the place where the sound came from, because I was not prepared. When I saw what was making the sound, I couldn''t help taking a breath of air.


    It turns out that black clouds are made up of hundreds of planes. Although we have been fighting for several months, we have also encountered countless enemy aircraft bombings, and we have even fought a few by ourselves, but the oppressive momentum brought by so many planes flying in dense formation makes me feel unprecedented terror. I was a little flustered and yelled to frasov and President Lin behind me: "two commanders, look, there are many planes in the sky." My voice trembled slightly because I was nervous.


    Vlasov just turned his head and looked through his telescope. Then he turned his attention back to the German position and said, "Rita, don''t worry. That''s our plane. They are here to bomb German positions. "


    Our plane! After such a long time, we finally saw our own plane in the sky and came to support us. The guard soldiers on duty outside the church also saw the plane in the sky, and immediately cheered. In any case, the presence of our own fighters, bombers and fighters in the sky is undoubtedly a great encouragement to the troops.


    The air force arrived just in time. As soon as the artillery finished firing a few shells, the plane''s bomb fell on the street of suvolovo and exploded. Because the bombers are carrying heavy bombs, from time to time, we can see the parts of guns or artillery and the remains of human body mixed in the fireballs and gunsmoke. The German tanks, which had been prepared to carry out counter attack when our army attacked, were stopped in the street. They were caught on fire, rolled and exploded by the bombs. From time to time, black figures came out of the burning wreckage of the chariot, ran all over the fire, and finally fell to the ground with convulsions.


    After the air force finished bombing and left, the general attack of our troops began. Nearly ten thousand officers and men, closely following the rear of the tank troops, launched a fierce attack on the city shrouded in gunsmoke.


    The escape route our army deliberately set aside for the German army has been detected by them. So except for the resistance left by a small number of troops, the rest started to flee westward under the cover of tanks.


    Seeing this scene, Lin and Vlasov, who have been observing the enemy''s situation, put down their binoculars and looked at each other with a knowing smile on their faces. Vlasov turned to me and said, "Rita, it''s almost time. It''s time for the reserves to attack. Go and give the order


    "Yes I agreed excitedly, saluted them, and ran down the narrow revolving stairs.


    As soon as I got into the headquarters, I went straight to the telephone and let the messenger connect to the reserve channel. As soon as I heard someone talking to me, I could not wait to give them an order: "brothers, it''s time for you to build immortal meritorious deeds. Let''s go and teach those fleeing Krauts a lesson so that they will never forget the failure they suffered today. "


    After giving the order, I was about to go back to the clock tower, but a staff officer stopped me. He pointed to a little old man in a black coat and cotton hat and said, "Comrade chief of staff, this is a reporter from Moscow. He was ordered to come to the front line to interview." I nodded politely to the senior reporter, extended my hand to him and said, "Hello, I''m major general o''shanina, chief of staff of the 20th group army. Nice to meet you!" He took my hand, shook it hard, and replied, "Hello, comrade o''shanina. I''d like to introduce myself. I''m Elia Grigorievich Ellen, the special correspondent of Pravda, the news and the red sta

 Chapter 250

    Due to the arrival of the field journalists, I was going to have Lin and Vlasov invited down to the bell tower. Unexpectedly, they came down first.


    Vlasov heard his voice before he saw him. Before he entered the headquarters, his voice came in: "Rita, did the reserve team attack?"


    I didn''t answer immediately, but when I saw him enter the headquarters, I replied loudly, "Comrade commander, the order to attack has been given, and the reserve team should have started to act by this time." Then he pointed to the reporter sitting at the table drinking tea and introduced to Vlasov, "this is a reporter from Moscow..."


    Before I finished, the reporter who had been sitting stood up and exclaimed excitedly, "Comrade Vlasov, is that you?" Then he came forward with a quick step.


    When Vlasov heard this, he was stunned. When he saw who was coming, he laughed and welcomed him. When they were holding each other, I heard Vlasov say in a loud voice, "it''s you, comrade ellenburg. Welcome to our group army. "


    Seeing Vlasov''s enthusiasm for this reporter made me have a strong interest in this reporter who had never heard of his name. I asked one of the staff around me quietly, "is this reporter very famous?"


    After hearing my question, the staff officer gave me a look at the alien, and then answered in a panic: "Comrade chief of staff, don''t you know him? He is a famous journalist, writer and international peace fighter


    I can understand the two identities of a famous journalist or writer, but where does the title of international peace fighter come from? I wanted to ask again, but I didn''t want to show my ignorance in front of the Ministry, so I pretended to be enlightened and said, "Oh, it''s him. I''ve heard his name for a long time, but I haven''t had the chance to see a real person. This time, I finally got a wish. Well, there''s nothing for you here. Go and do your work


    Lin always didn''t know when he came to me. When no one noticed, he asked me quietly: "who is this? Why is Comrade commander so enthusiastic about him? "


    I shrugged and replied in Chinese in a low voice, "I don''t know the exact identity. But he is said to be a famous journalist and writer. " As for the identity of the international peace fighter, I didn''t know what was going on, so I didn''t tell president Lin.


    When they were separated, Vlasov came to us with ellenburg''s hand in his hand and said excitedly, "deputy commander Lin, Rita, let me explain to you. This is a famous journalist of our country, comrade ellenburg. During the Spanish Civil War in 1936, he once served as a special correspondent of the news in the Spanish front. While conducting interviews in war-torn places, he showed the Spanish people the Soviet revolutionary films "chaboyang" and "we are from cranstadt" to inspire their fighting spirit. At that time, he successively published several feature books such as "my rations", "my Paris" and "Spain", which timely revealed the rampant reactionary forces in European countries and the truth of the Spanish incident, and played a certain role in mobilizing people all over the world to support the just cause of the Spanish people. During this period, he often dealt with Spanish anarchists and made joint efforts for the anti Communist Spanish domestic forces. Exposing the crimes of Germany and Italy in time has played a certain role in mobilizing people all over the world to support the just cause of the Spanish people. "


    I didn''t expect that the old reporter standing in front of me had such extraordinary experience. I immediately looked at him with new eyes and a friendly smile on his face.


    Vlasov continued to introduce ellenburg''s resume to us: "in 1935 and 1937, he represented Soviet writers and journalists to the International Conference for the defense of culture twice. Together with Picasso, barbice and many other cultural celebrities in the world, he angrily denounced the Communist Party of China and its war plot, and called for the protection of Europe and human progressive culture. In 1939, he was arrested by the French gendarmerie in Paris on suspicion of having links with the German Hitler authorities. After a while, Mr. Lin shook hands with him and said hello. For the greetings from the Chinese comrades, ellenburg just gave a polite smile and a light greeting.


    Vlasov solemnly introduced me to him: "this is Comrade oshanina, chief of staff, and the first female general of our army. The famous Soviet hero, commander krochkov, is in her division. "


    As soon as ellenburg''s eyes brightened, he came forward and took my hand with both hands. He shook it hard and said, "it''s you, comrade o''shanina. I''m sorry I didn''t recognize you just now. When I interviewed the 316 infantry division, which is now the eighth division of the guards, I heard the commanders and fighters mention you many times, saying that you are a great heroine. "


    I gave a polite smile and said, "you flatter me. I should like to thank you for letting everyone know the heroic deeds of instructor krochkov and the famous saying "although Russia is big, we have no way back, because Moscow is behind us". I''m sure that if instructor krochkov and the 30 soldiers who died were aware of it, I would appreciate it. "


    Ellenburg suddenly let go of my hand, put away the smile on his face, and said to me in a serious tone, "Comrade o''shanina, I need to remind you that there are not thirty soldiers, but twenty-eight."


    The reason why I say 30 instead of the 28 people recorded in the book is that I once learned about the situation from the commanders and fighters who stood behind their line of defense in krochkov, and knew that there were 31 people in the position, including the instructors. So I reminded him, "Comrade reporter, as far as I know afterwards, there were 31 people in the position, including commander krochkov."¡° Don''t you know? " Ellenburg''s face even showed an angry expression: "among the 30 soldiers, there are two shameful traitors. They actually put down their arms and surrendered to the bandits." His words calmed me down, because I knew that all the people in the position had died, so when I asked the commanders and fighters about the situation, I only asked how many people were in the position of krochkov, but did not ask any other questions. I did not expect that there would be traitors in this heroic team, and I was speechless¡° Come on, don''t stand and talk. Let''s all sit down and have tea. " Vlasov found my embarrassment and quickly asked everyone to sit down. He solved the embarrassment crisis in the house. Seeing that everyone was silent, Vlasov finally took the lead and said, "Comrade ellenburg, I don''t know if there is any news in the newspaper recently?" Ellenburg could not help but feel a little stunned and asked, "can''t you see the newspaper here?" Vlasov shook his head and said, "we are busy fighting every day. The troops are moving at any time. Even if there are newspapers, they can''t be delivered to us in time." Ellenburg took a folded newspaper out of his coat pocket, spread it out on the table, pushed it over to Vlasov, and said, "I only have this December 13th newspaper with me. You can read it first." I looked over and saw that it was a Pravda. The Soviet news agency announced that the German attempt to encircle Moscow had completely failed, and published on the front page photos of red army generals who had made great achievements in the battle of neutrality in Moscow, including the photo of Vlasov. He was honored to be juxtaposed with the photos of Zhukov, lelushenko, Kuznetsov, rokosovsky, govorov, baoerjin, Golikov and belov, the outstanding Soviet generals, and became a hero in the defense of Moscow in people''s minds.

 Chapter 251

    The Red Army''s counter offensive continued.


    Suwoluowo''s tactics of encircling the three towers and one made great achievements. The mines laid along the road greatly delayed the enemy''s speed of fleeing westward. The German army fleeing from the city had no neat organization, and all the people ran aimlessly along the snow covered road. The German army, which had been demoralized for a long time, could not form any combat effectiveness. After sporadic exchanges of fire, their temporary resistance collapsed. Except for a small number of infantry who risked their lives to escape into the snowy forest, the rest were either killed or captured.


    In order to quickly escape from our pursuit and preserve their living strength, the German army threw away the things that hindered their escape while fleeing. Therefore, our pursuit troops often encounter the abandoned technical equipment and various items of the enemy along the way. There are hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles, tractors, guns of all calibres, thousands of cars of all kinds, ammunition boxes. When the battle is over, these things will naturally become our spoils.


    After this joyful victory, Vlasov was more convinced of President Lin''s military ability, and even confidently handed over the command of the army to him. He retired behind the scenes and willingly became deputy. In the next battle, all the battle plans of the group army were made and executed by general manager Lin himself.


    When all the troops of the Western Front turned to attack, our group army had eliminated all the enemies to the east of vorokoramsk and began to take the lead in attacking the West.


    The front-line enemies of our group army are Reinhardt''s third armored group and Hepner''s fourth armored group. The area we are attacking is 20 kilometers wide. Everyone knows that this will be a tough battle. However, general manager Lin boldly shortened the attack area to eight kilometers, and concentrated the main forces of the group army here, including more than 70% infantry, 87% artillery, 87% mortar, and 100% tank, thus ensuring that the army had a 2-3 times advantage over the enemy in the main direction.


    The 20th group army under the command of general Lin and the 1st army of the close guard cavalry under the command of general belov have made remarkable achievements repeatedly, becoming two powerful striking forces in the counter offensive stage, and known as the two iron fists of the Soviet army. The troops under his and belov''s command were invincible and invincible. They defeated Kalinin and yelitz, the strategic points of the German army, and drove the enemy 90-100 kilometers westward to the areas along the Lama River and luzha river. They recovered many residential areas and successfully completed the tasks assigned by the Soviet general headquarters. During the fighting, the army also seized a large number of weapons and various military materials from the German army.


    As an army reporter, ellenburg has always been in the headquarters of the group army. It can be said that every victory we have won will be known to him at the first time. Through the pen in his hand, our victories are constantly seen in the newspapers. However, when he wrote the report, he probably didn''t want to let a foreigner steal the limelight of his compatriots, so he directly ignored general manager Lin, who actually directed the fight, and attributed all the credit to Vlasov.


    When talking about Vlasov in the red star, he wrote in a rather lyrical tone: "the soldiers look at their commanders kindly and confidently, because Vlasov''s name is closely related to the attack. The general is 1.90 meters tall and has the outstanding eloquence of suvolov. "


    The Supreme Command spoke highly of the 20th group army and said: the experience of this attack has enriched the Soviet Union''s campaign method, that is, to concentrate a large number of troops and weapons in the main direction and skillfully use them in winter operations. The tactics adopted by general manager Lin were also grafted onto Vlasov by ellenburg, but the real hero Lin was completely ignored by him.


    With this red star, I went straight to my room in ellenburg. He pushed open the door and slapped the newspaper on the table. When he saw that he looked up, he began to say to him with displeasure, "Comrade ellenburg, I want to remind you to pay attention. As a journalist, it is his duty to report the truth and defend the fairness of the news. The report should truly reflect what happened. In the past half month, you have been in the command of the group army, who has the final say in the command, who is conducting the battle, you should know better than anyone else. But in this newspaper, I see that putting the cart before the horse, only commander Vlasov, who is the deputy, has become the leading role in your news report, while Deputy Commander Lin, who is the real hero, has not seen you mention it in even one word. "


    For my trouble, ellenburg gave me a cold look and said, "Comrade chief of staff, I''m writing a manuscript. I don''t want anyone to disturb me. Please go out."


    Ellenburg''s attitude made me angry, but I had nothing to do with him, so I had to snort, pick up the newspaper on the desk, turn around and leave the room, and slam the door on my way out.


    After leaving ellenburg''s room, I went to Mr. Lin again, complained to him, and fought for his unfair treatment. After listening to my words, Colin just gave me a faint smile, didn''t say anything, and went to study the map again. Seeing his attitude like this, I also know that for him, as long as he can command a large regiment to fight, he will be satisfied. As for whether he can win the honor or not, it''s all a floating cloud. So he just shut up and won''t mention it any more.


    The little conflict with ellenburg, because of the busy work, I soon forgot. But I didn''t expect that this small conflict would cause me a big trouble in the near future.

 Chapter 252

    From December 25, I returned to the guards for the time being. Without waiting for the political commissar to speak, chisjakov said with a smile: "Comrade division commander, since the beginning of the counter offensive of our army, not only me, but also every commander present has been promoted by one level." I stopped, looked around, followed the commanders, and found that they were all promoted, as major general chisjakov said. Not only the chief of staff, Lt. Col. sherebriakov, was promoted to Colonel, but also the two captains, Mr. sherdurin and Mr. panishev, were promoted from the former major to Lt. Col. When I got to the headquarters, I sat in the center of the table. The political commissar sat on my right, and chisgakov sat on my left. When he sat down, he also asked everyone to sit down. After a few minutes of silence, I stood up, with a smile on my face, and said excitedly, "Hello, commanders. I''m glad we meet again. " Although it was only half a month since I left the eighth division, when I saw these familiar faces appear in front of me again, I still couldn''t control my emotions, so that my voice trembled slightly¡° I am very happy that I can go back to the eighth division of the guards and fight with my comrades. In this special time and space... "At this point, I stopped and began to slowly look around the people who attended the meeting, choosing and organizing the words I was going to use in my mind. After a while, I continued:" at this time, the group army headquarters sent me back to the eighth Division of Jinwei, whose main task is to clear up the remaining German troops in the rear of our army. "¡° Comrade division, "the first speaker was lieutenant colonel Xie Dulin, head of the 1075 regiment. He stood up and asked," what is the task of our 1075 regiment? " Chief of staff sherebryakov was a little unhappy about his abrupt speech. He said to him with a gloomy face: "Comrade commander, sit down first and wait for the division commander to finish. There will be tasks for you then. " As soon as shedulin sat down, chisjakov asked me, "Comrade division commander, how do you think about the task of suppression assigned to our division by the headquarters of the group army?" As for this mission, I had thought about it on the way here. Since he asked, I said frankly: "after the great counter offensive, our group army and belov''s command of the 1st Cavalry army of the guards were invincible. They even defeated the enemy 90-100 kilometers westward in Kalinin, klin and yeritz, strategic points of the German army. Because of the cold and snow, it is impossible for the German army to camp in the forest. They can only hide in the villages where our army has not arrived yet. " After listening to my analysis, everyone began to whisper, and the room became lively¡° Be quiet, everyone, please be quiet The commissar patted the table. When no one in the room spoke, he looked at me and said, "Rita, go on." I nodded and went on to analyze with you: "according to my estimation, after several fierce battles, the remaining number of these Germans hiding in the village will not be very large. At most, they are in the platoon system. Therefore, I plan to break up the troops into parts, take the battalion as a unit, with walkie talkies, and search for the enemy in the north, South and west directions at the same time. Once the enemy is discovered, those that can be eliminated will be eliminated directly; If they cannot be eliminated, they will immediately report to the division headquarters, which will mobilize troops to encircle and annihilate the enemy. " The first one to stand up for me was deputy division commander chisjakov, who said in a loud voice, "well, the division commander has a point. I agree with her deployment."¡° I agree, too! " The commissar then made a statement: "in this way, we can find the enemy hiding behind our army in the shortest time and annihilate them."¡° I agree, too! "¡° I agree, too! " The commanders here have expressed their support for my deployment¡° Good! Since everyone agrees with my deployment, the deputy division chief and chief of staff will assign tasks to you next. "

 Chapter 253

    The whole division broke up into parts and launched a campaign of suppression.


    After only two days of fighting, I found that my original judgment was wrong. The number of German soldiers hiding in villages or settlements is far less than my estimate. The number of them is only five or six, and the number of them is only twenty. Moreover, they are not only without heavy weapons, but also lack of ammunition for rifles or submachine guns.


    Every time our army sent out a battalion, its strength was more than 20 times that of the German army, its equipment was excellent, its morale was high, and the German army, which had already become a bereaved dog, had an advantage. In addition, it''s not easy to catch a few hundred people beating a few or a dozen others.


    Yesterday, major lomov, the commander of the Third Battalion of 1077 regiment, was fighting in a small village. The whole battalion did not fire a single shot, but by fighting with bayonets, they solved all the German troops in a class in the village.


    Seeing the brilliant achievements of my subordinates, I couldn''t help itching when I used to stay in the division headquarters for a long time. So, in spite of the opposition of yegorov and chisjakov, we took the security forces as the backbone, and then transferred a group of people from other forces to form a battalion sized suppression force. We appointed the commander of the security company, Captain Yushchenko, as the commander of the battalion, and I personally led the search for the enemy.


    But my luck, even looking for two days, in the passing villages or settlements, did not find the German.


    Seeing the soldiers from full of joy gradually turned into disappointment, I was particularly worried. Every time my subordinates attack, they can achieve something, but I, the head of the division, lead the team to attack, but nothing, which makes me feel very shameless.


    Tomorrow will be new year''s day. In the morning, I received a call from commander Vlasov, saying that our group army and all the Soviet troops were fighting separately and jointly, encircling some units of the 9th German group army and the 4th German armored group army in the vyazima area. The retreat of the besieged German army was completely cut off by the paratroopers dropped by our army. He told me to go to the headquarters of viazima immediately to discuss the new combat mission in the coming year of 1942.


    It was the mixed battalion formed two days ago that escorted me to the headquarters of the group army. After the soldiers quickly boarded the car, a long motorcade drove to viazima. I sat in grissa''s jeep and looked out of the window without saying a word. Yu Guang caught a glimpse of Yushchenko on the co driver''s seat. He looked back several times as if he wanted to say something to me. But I didn''t look well and closed my mouth.


    After more than half an hour''s driving, my mood gradually calmed down. Although the battalion I led these two days did not find any remaining German soldiers, it was about to go to the battlefield, and there were still many opportunities to fight with the enemy.


    I was about to have a word with Yushchenko in the front row when there was a loud explosion in front of me, and then all the cars in front of me stopped.


    Yushchenko turned his head and said solemnly, "Comrade teacher, I''ll go to the front to have a look."


    I nodded and said, "go!"


    He pushed the door open, jumped down and trotted forward with his submachine gun.


    I looked forward and backward. The soldiers on the front and rear trucks had already lifted the tarpaulin and jumped down from the truck. They quickly scattered to the trees on both sides of the road to seize the favorable terrain and guard against the guns.


    Except for the explosion just now, there was no movement. I saw a thick plume of smoke rising in front of me. I didn''t hear any more explosions or gunshots because there were so many vehicles blocking my view that I couldn''t confirm what had happened.


    After a few minutes, Yushchenko came back panting. Without waiting for him to stop, I opened the door to meet him and asked aloud, "Comrade captain, what''s the matter?"


    He stopped at once, saluted me at attention and reported: "report to Mr. commander, the explosion just now was caused by the thunder of the truck in front of us."


    "Ah?" I was so surprised that I asked, "how are the casualties?"


    Yushchenko bowed his head and said with some sadness: "the driver and the lieutenant in charge have died on the spot. Six of the soldiers in the carriage were seriously injured and 14 were slightly injured. I''ve arranged for the health workers to treat them. After dressing, they will be sent back to the rear. "


    As soon as his voice dropped, a truck with a hood came unsteadily from the front, passed us, and drove back in the direction.


    I watched the truck go away, then turned to Yushchenko and said, "come on, comrade captain, let''s go to the front together."


    Yushchenko immediately put out his hand to block my way, and said with some embarrassment, "Sir, the front is too dangerous. You''d better stay here."


    I frowned and asked him, "can the team move on?"


    He shook his head and replied, "not yet. There are still mines laid by the enemy on the road. I''ve arranged for the engineers on the truck in front to start minesweeping. You stay here for a while, and we''ll be able to move on soon. "


    I didn''t object to what he said. After all, the killing power of land mines is too great. If I don''t clean them up, I don''t dare to move forward. I don''t want to sacrifice myself like bakanize, political commissar of the 7th Division of Jinwei. So I told him, "Comrade captain, it''s too cold on the road. Except for the minesweepers and the necessary guards, let the rest go back to the car."


    "Yes He made a promise and conscientiously carried out my order. I went back to the car and closed the door. Grissa, who had been staying in the car, turned to me and asked, "what''s going on ahead, sir?" I looked out of the window at the snowy forest by the side of the road, wondering if I could pass through the forest, and answered him, "it was the truck driving in the front that hit the mine, and all the officers and men on the truck were killed." The snow in the forest is too deep. It is estimated that it is more than one meter in many places. In such places, people may be able to pass, but cars will not pass. It seems that we have to wait patiently for the engineers to clear the land before moving on. I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. Suddenly, someone outside the car called out to me: "Comrade teacher, comrade teacher." Is something wrong again? I suddenly opened my eyes, head out of the window, see is an ordinary guard company soldiers. I quickly asked: "Comrade soldier, what''s the matter?" The soldier changed his submachine gun to his left hand, then saluted and replied, "report to Mr. division, there are people in the forest. Our captain has taken people to check it in person. He asked me to let you know, so that you pay attention to safety! "¡° I see. I''ll pay attention. " I nodded at him and said with a smile, "thank you!"

 Chapter 254

    Ten minutes later, Yushchenko and several soldiers, accompanied by a man and a woman and two children, came to my car.


    I pushed the door open and went down. Looking at the two children struggling in the hands of the soldiers, I asked strangely, "Captain Yushchenko, what''s the matter with these two children?"


    Yushchenko came forward to salute and reported: "Mr. teacher, we just caught two children in the forest. They asked which village they were from, but they refused to say, so I brought them here. " Then he turned to the soldier behind and waved his head and ordered, "bring them here."


    After the two children were pushed by the soldiers, they were still silent, just struggling desperately. I said to the soldiers who caught them, "let them go, they are just children."


    When they were free, they both looked at me with hatred and anger in their eyes. I looked down at them and asked kindly, "children, what village are you from? Why are you in the forest?"


    After a short silence, the girl on the right, who is a little bigger, asked timidly, "who are you?"


    "My own people."


    When I said that, their hostile eyes disappeared. The boy in the cotton hat even stepped forward and boldly asked, "can I touch your star badge?"


    Touch the star emblem? Can''t you see so close? Even though I thought so, I still bent down cooperatively and let the boy reach for the star badge of his hat. The girl also summoned up her courage and came up to me. She reached out and touched the two Venus that touched my bright red badge.


    After touching the star emblem and the collar badge, the two children looked at each other. Then they threw themselves into my arms, burst into tears, and said intermittently, "I... we finally found you... You, comrade commander! The Germans... The Germans are killing people in the village. Please... Help me... My family! "


    At a loss, I gently patted the two children on the back and asked in a soft voice, "child, child, don''t cry, don''t cry. Tell me quickly what happened? "


    It took a while for the two children to stop crying. The girl stood up straight, wiping her tears and pointing to the deep forest, told me: "I''m from... Village." the girl spoke very fast, and with crying voice, I didn''t understand what village she was talking about. "From this morning, the Germans in the village rushed the whole village to the church, and then took the people out in batches and shot them. My brother and I escaped from the window with the help of my mother and some kind aunts. Originally, we were reluctant to leave our mother and run away alone. It was our mother who asked us to come out and find our own troops, so we left the village and ran on the road. "


    When I heard that the Germans were slaughtering the villagers in the village, I knew I could not delay any longer. I immediately ordered Yushchenko: "Comrade captain, you should gather your troops immediately. In addition to leaving a platoon to cover the engineers for demining, the rest of the people will follow me to the village to save people."


    "Yes Yushchenko agreed to take several soldiers to carry out the mission.


    I let the two children sit in the car, and I stood outside the door and asked them, "how many Germans are there in the village?"


    "47. Five of them are officials. " The girl replied.


    "What kind of equipment do they have?"


    For my question, the girl did not answer, but turned her eyes to her brother. From her reaction, I guess that the boy is probably the one who knows the most about weapons knowledge, so I also looked at the boy and asked, "little friend, do you know?"


    The boy nodded and replied, "they have a few submachine guns. The rest are rifles." Stop to think for a moment, and added: "officials are pistols."


    "Do you have heavy weapons?" I asked again.


    "Comrade commander, what is a heavy weapon?" The child asked me, puzzled.


    Just at this time, several soldiers came, one of them carrying a mortar on his shoulder. I called the soldier who carried the gun to come over, then pointed to the mortar on his shoulder and asked the little boy, "this is the heavy weapon."


    In order to let the boy see clearly, I let the soldiers put the mortar on the ground. The boy observed it carefully, and then looked back at his sister. Seeing her shaking her head, he looked back at me and said, "I''ve never seen her before."


    I was relieved to know that the German army in the village had no heavy weapons. There are only 47 Germans in the village, and they are all light weapons. I can take hundreds of people to beat them later. That''s not cutting melons and vegetables, and then I will clean them up.


    After Yushchenko had assembled the troops, I took two children to the front of the team and said in a loud voice, "comrades, these two children escaped from the nearby village. They told me that there were a group of frantic Germans who were killing their relatives in their village. What should we do?"


    "Go and destroy them!" Hundreds of voices called in unison.


    Seeing everyone''s high morale, I felt more confident in this battle, so I yelled, "OK, let''s go!"


    "Wait a minute, comrade teacher." Yushchenko suddenly stood up, open arms blocked my way, "the village is too dangerous, I''d better take the troops, you stay here and wait for the news."


    I frowned, and my heart said that I had been waiting for so long, and I finally expected to fight a small battle with a high winning rate. In this way, you still want to take credit with me. So he put his face down and said to him coldly, "according to the regulations, there is no need to discuss the commander''s orders. Please execute them as soon as possible." Then he added sternly, "let''s go now!"


    "Yes Yushchenko reluctantly agreed, and then yelled at the soldiers: "all of you, listen to my command: turn right, form three columns, march together!"


    In the sound of his command, the armed soldiers walked into the forest with neat steps. I also followed with my two children, grissa, armed with a submachine gun from the car, followed me as a guard.


    After entering the forest, the neat team walked slowly through the knee deep snow. Seeing this, Yushchenko adjusted the queue in time and let everyone move forward in a scattered formation.


    On the way to the small village, I started chatting with my two children. I knew that my sister''s name was marina, and she was ten years old; My brother''s name is Anton. He''s just eight years old. After walking for a while, I felt a little too tired to breathe.


    After walking for more than ten minutes, Marina pointed to the front and said, "our village is in front of us. If we walk a few minutes further, we can see the entrance of the village."


    It was then that I heard women howling and screaming in the direction of the village, but then after a dense gunshot, everything was quiet.


    "Comrade captain," I called out to Yushchenko when I saw that he was not far ahead of me on the left. After hearing this, he turned back and added breathlessly, "did you hear the gunshot just now? It must be the Krauts slaughtering the villagers again. Let the troops speed up their advance. "


    "I understand!" Yushchenko agreed, and then issued an order to the left and right soldiers: "comrades, we can no longer let the bandits continue to harm our people, speed up to eliminate them."


    Around the soldiers agreed, and then speed up the pace, in the snow deep one foot shallow one foot to run up.


    Before long, we got close to the edge of the forest, and the village had already appeared in our sight. Yushchenko, who just ran in the front, ordered the troops to stop moving and stand by.


    I went up to him and asked angrily, "Comrade captain, why did you stop?"


    Yushchenko, with an angry look on his face, handed me the telescope in his hand and gritted his teeth and said, "Sir, have a look, these damned German beasts!"


    I picked up the telescope and looked in the direction of Yushchenko''s finger. I saw dozens of bodies piled up in the snow under the corner of a large wooden house near the entrance of the village. Among them, on the top are more than a dozen young girls in their infancy. They are all naked and naked. Their white chests are stained red with blood. Seven or eight German soldiers in military coats and bayonet rifles were walking back and forth in front of the body.


    Seeing this terrible scene, I smashed my fist on the snow in front of me, which made Yushchenko and his sister and brother startled. I bit my back teeth and said: "Captain Yushchenko, send one to go around the back of the village. Don''t let any of these animals escape."


    "Yes Yushchenko agreed and immediately ran to the side to give orders.


    I turned around and found that the soldier carrying the mortar was not far away from me. I immediately called him: "Comrade soldier, you set up the mortar right away. When our people get around the village, you will fire immediately!"


    When the soldier heard what I said, he replied with some embarrassment: "report to our division commander, the snow here is too deep to set up mortars."


    Listen to his words, I almost kick in the past, you sb, the snow is too deep, you don''t know how to get rid of the snow.


    I took a deep breath, restrained my anger, bent down and began to plow the snow in front of me. Seeing what I did, my sister and brother and the soldier were stunned at first. Then they immediately understood my intention and began to help me dig away the snow.


    As he was about to dig out a field where mortars could be set up, a soldier suddenly called out in a low voice: "look, the Germans are escorting the villagers out again."


    I quickly raised my telescope and looked at the entrance of the village. Seven or eight naked young girls with their hands over their chests were driven out of the village by a dozen German soldiers with submachine guns. There was a German soldier at the back, his coat open, and he was wearing a belt as he walked.


    Seeing this, I suddenly understood that the German soldiers who were not as good as beasts had ruined these girls and then drove them outside to shoot them. At this moment, I don''t care to wait for the signal of the army around the village. No wonder it will expose the target. I yell at Yushchenko: "Captain Yushchenko, I can''t delay any longer. I will lead the army to attack at once."


    For my order, Yushchenko was obviously stunned. After all, it was nearly 200 meters from here to the entrance of the village, and there was thick snow. Soldiers charging knee deep in the snow, speed will be affected, but also pay huge casualties. Perhaps because of this reason, Yushchenko became hesitant after hearing my order.


    Seeing that these young girls are about to be poisoned by the Germans, I can''t care much. Since Yushchenko stays in the same place, I will lead the charge myself. I grabbed grissa''s submachine gun, held it high above my head, and yelled, "comrades, follow me!" Then, in the knee deep snow, he dashed forward with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

 Chapter 255

    As soon as the troops rushed out of the forest, they were found by the Germans at the entrance of the village. After a short period of panic, the well-trained German soldiers responded. The soldiers with rifles immediately fell down on the snow, and the soldiers with submachine guns half squatted, firing fiercely at the charging troops.


    Originally, in recent battles, the soldiers used to attack by class. When one class was charging, the other class would surely lie on the ground to provide fire cover for them. But because the speed of charging on the knee deep snow was too slow, the soldiers were taken as living targets. In just one or two minutes, under the German shooting, 20 or 30 people fell.


    Watching his comrades in arms falling down beside him, the living soldiers were all red eyed, and they didn''t care about the tactics of alternate attack with firepower cover. They all rushed forward with weapons.


    I rushed forward with my submachine gun, then stopped to shoot. Maybe it''s because the distance is too far, the shooting accuracy is not enough, no one hit. Before I finished a bullet, the gun jammed. Just as I was looking at it, grissa''s voice came from behind: "be careful!" Then I was knocked down from behind.


    Although he fell heavily on the ground, he didn''t feel any pain because of the thick snow. Hearing the whistling of bullets flying overhead, I knew grissa had saved my life just now.


    "Are you all right, sir?" Grissa cried in my ear.


    "Nothing!" I answered in a loud voice, and then I threw the jammed submachine gun aside, lying on the snow and looking left and right to see if there were any weapons I could use.


    Grissa lay beside me, holding a rifle he didn''t know where he had picked it up, closed one eye, took a look, and then pulled the trigger without hesitation. With the sound of the gun, a German soldier who was half squatting and shooting fell to the ground.


    "Good shot!" When I saw his shot, I couldn''t help shouting "yes". At the same time, I remembered that before he was my driver, he had been the close guard of general leviagin. It''s not surprising that he had such a shot.


    I caught a glimpse of a soldier who had died not far to the right, lying on his back in the snow, with his rifle still in his hand. I rolled to his side, grabbed my rifle, aimed at a German soldier lying on the ground and fired. After the gunshot, a bright line was seen flying through the forehead of the German soldier, pulling blood foam from the back of his head and slanting out. The shot German soldier''s head tilted back and then his body tilted to one side.


    The charging troops are close to the entrance of the village. A soldier who rushes in the front is only ten meters away from the German soldier who is shooting. With a little more effort, he can rush in front of the enemy. A bullet from somewhere hit him. The soldier stood in the same place and fell on the snow.


    The German soldiers who had been in the village heard the gunfire at the entrance of the village and rushed out from the village with weapons. They shot at us together with the German soldiers who stayed at the entrance of the village. Under the enemy''s dense fire, the charging soldiers fell down one after another.


    Just then, a mortar shell roared to the entrance of the village. Perhaps the Gunners fired too hastily and did not adjust the angle properly, but they fired. As a result, the shells did not concentrate on the German soldiers, but fell on the corpses of the villagers and exploded. After a loud noise, the flesh and blood flew around, and the fragments and blood splashed around the German soldiers.


    The next few artillery shells hit with much higher accuracy. Almost all of them landed in the middle of the German army accurately. The blast pulled one German soldier after another from the ground, threw them high into the air, and then fell heavily.


    I don''t know whether it was because of our artillery or because we ran out of bullets. The German soldiers who had gathered at the entrance of the village turned around and ran to the village. Our soldiers took the opportunity to catch up.


    I shot down a German officer who was running wildly in the village again. Then I stood up, put my rifle on my shoulder, and took grissa to the village.


    The battle ended ten minutes later, and the villagers who were shut up in the church by the German army were rescued by Yushchenko and his soldiers.


    Marina and Anton, who led the way, saw the villagers we rescued and ran to one of them, a middle-aged woman with a scarf and a big shawl. Looking at the scene of middle-aged women holding two children and crying together, I know it must be the mother of two children.


    I walked up to them and silently looked at the three members of the family who survived the disaster. I couldn''t help feeling a lot. Suddenly, an old lady with a bandage came over and hugged me, saying thanks to me. Under her demonstration, the rescued villagers also gathered around to express their gratitude to me. Then several old ladies cried bitterly and asked me to make the decision for them and execute all the German robbers.


    I look around and see that almost all of them are middle-aged and old women, and there are no young adults. I think they have gone to the front line. In the distance, there were several young girls wrapped in unsuitable military coats, which should be the ones who were driven to the village by the German army and were ready to be shot. If our army had not launched an attack in time, they would have suffered a lot at this time.


    Yushchenko came up to me and said in a loud voice, "report, comrade division commander, we have captured 17 German soldiers, one of whom is an officer. Will they be sent to the rear camp? "


    "I want to see your supreme commander... I want to see your supreme commander..." someone in the distance was shouting in poor Russian¡° Who is that? " I asked Yushchenko standing in front of me. Yushchenko looked in the direction of the voice and replied, "it''s the captured officer. He said it was the Ss who slaughtered the villagers, and they were the IDF. I hope you can give him the treatment as a prisoner of war. You see, what should we do with them? " The villagers who heard our conversation all quieted down and looked at me silently, waiting for me to make the final decision. I saw the scene with my own eyes just now. It is unrealistic for me to forgive these German soldiers who have committed public anger. So I coldly replied: "let every soldier go to the village to see the villagers who were slaughtered by the bandits. These innocent villagers, especially the girls who were ruined by them, begged for mercy from these executioners before they were shot, but they were mercilessly slaughtered. We must not let go of these executioners whose hands are covered with the blood of the villagers. "¡° But... "Yushchenko was a little at a loss and said," it''s not good to shoot the prisoners who have laid down their weapons. "¡° We don''t need prisoners, "I said firmly." according to the regulations, the commander''s orders are not to be discussed. Captain Yushchenko, no one left, all shot, now carry out the order¡° Yes Yushchenko agreed, turned around and left in the cheers of the villagers to carry out my orders.

 Chapter 256

    On the new year''s day of 1942, the Soviet army and the German army stopped all their military operations. In this way, I had a chance to have my first lunch in the new year with Vlasov, President Lin and translator zhe at the headquarters of the group army in shahovskaya.


    Ellenburg, to my disgust, went to the army to interview. The staff officer and signalman in the headquarters were also turned out by Vlasov. There were only four of us in the room, enjoying a big lunch around the table.


    Perhaps for the sake of the new year, this lunch prepared by Vlasov is very rich. Besides the essential dry cheese, bread, ham and fried eggs, there are beef soup, caviar, vegetable salad, duck, roast chicken, black coffee and black tea.


    As we ate and talked, Vlasov brought the topic to yesterday''s battle in the small village¡° Comrade chief of staff, although the battle you commanded yesterday has wiped out dozens of enemies, the cost is a little higher. " Vlasov''s criticism made me feel a little embarrassed. In yesterday''s battle, 115 people were killed and injured due to wrong command, of which 41 were killed and 27 were seriously injured. If there were not only 47 German soldiers and no heavy weapons, maybe I would be totally destroyed.


    Mr. Lin took a cup of unsweetened black tea from Shizhe''s hand, sipped it gently, and said calmly, "Rita, the commander has a point. If, before launching an attack, the German army was first given manpower to suppress its firepower, and then charged, then there would not be so many casualties in the process of charging. "


    "Yes Vlasov added: "at that time, the distance between you and the enemy was no more than 100 meters. Rita, if you organized dozens of sharpshooters, at such a distance, you would certainly be able to eliminate all the German soldiers at the village entrance with zero casualties."


    When I heard what Vlasov said, I couldn''t help beating the table. Yes, organize some sharpshooters to kill the German soldiers at the entrance of the village with rifles, and then we attack again, so that the casualties of our army can be negligible. You know, in the process of charging, I also killed two German soldiers with my rifle.


    Mr. Lin put the cup on the table and said in a low voice, "Comrade Lida, I have something to criticize you. It''s said that you have shot all the German soldiers who surrendered. It''s a terrible thing to do so. We will give preferential treatment to those who surrender their guns. "


    Mr. Lin''s words immediately brought to my mind several scenes from the red movies: the Eighth Route Army commander with a rifle in his hand, shouting to the desperate Japanese pirates with a righteous face: lay down your arms, surrender your guns, we will treat the prisoners favorably. Then the Japanese pirates with the 38 big covers put down their weapons and raised their hands to surrender.


    "Comrade deputy commander Lin," said Vlasov suddenly, "I think Comrade Rita has done the right thing in shooting the prisoners."


    "But the enemy has laid down their weapons. We should give preferential treatment to the prisoners."


    "The crimes committed by those bandits against our people should be paid with their blood. Didn''t you listen to Rita? Those two legged animals will drive our sisters to the village and shoot them after they have ruined them. If it were me, I would shoot all these damned Krauts. "


    "But Comrade commander, I still think we should treat the prisoners better than shoot them..." Lin and Vlasov began to argue about my shooting of the prisoners. I can only sigh in my heart that this is the cultural difference between the East and the West. Li Yunlong, however, shot and killed a few wounded Japanese soldiers who were willing to die, and was demoted from the regimental commander to the battalion commander. I''ve killed so many German prisoners. If I''m in the domestic base area, I will not be reduced from division commander to company commander.


    Just as they were arguing under Shi Zhe''s translation, Yushchenko called for a report at the door. "Is that Captain Yushchenko out there?" I yelled? Come on in


    When Yushchenko opened the door and came in, the dispute between Vlasov and President Lin had been heard, and everyone''s attention was focused on my company commander.


    Because Yushchenko was my subordinate, I asked, "Comrade captain, what''s the matter?"


    "Report to the commander, deputy commander and chief of staff." On such occasions, he did not address my division commander, but my position in the headquarters of the group army, "there are commanders from Moscow outside. They want to see you."


    This time it was Vlasov: "commander from Moscow, please come in."


    Minutes later, an energetic commander and an old man in a dark blue coat followed Yushchenko into the headquarters.


    After the commander came in, he passed Yushchenko and came to us. He stood at attention and saluted us. He said, "good new year, comrades commander. I''m Colonel bezikov of the central guard. I''ve been ordered to give you presents


    "Gift, what gift?" While Vlasov was still talking to himself a little confused, I had already stepped forward two steps, walked up to Colonel bezikov, saluted him, and said with a smile, "Hello, Colonel bezikov. I didn''t expect that we would meet again. Are you all right? "


    Bezikov reached out to me and said with a smile, "Hello, Rita. Thank you for your concern. My leg has been healed a long time ago. I haven''t seen you for a long time. I didn''t expect that you are a general now. " As I shook hands with him and looked at the old man who came in with him, I felt a little familiar. But I couldn''t remember where I had met him. So I asked curiously, "Colonel bzikov, who is this old man?" "What''s the matter?" bzikov asked with a smile? After just over a month, you don''t know the old man? " Then I released my hand, went forward to shake hands with Mr. Vlasov and Mr. Lin in turn, and then pointed to the old man and introduced him to us, saying, "this is a senior engineer of vronen, who invented and launched a new rifle under his guidance. After testing, the performance of this kind of rifle exceeds that of the rifles currently equipped in our army. Therefore, comrade Stalin personally ordered that all the 100 rifles produced in the first row be equipped with your 20th army. " The old man, who had been standing behind Yushchenko, came up to us when he heard bzikov talking about his name and said excitedly, "Hello, commanders! Nice to meet you After Vlasov, Lin and the old man shook hands, I went forward to shake hands with the future senior engineer of Florin. I was just about to speak, but the old man said, "Hello, Comrade General. I have heard from Colonel bezikov that you have saved my life. Here, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to you. As a token of my gratitude, I give you the assault rifle I made myself. " He turned to bezikov and said, "Comrade Colonel, please give that assault rifle to my life-saving benefactor." Bezikov took the gun off his shoulder and handed it to me. As soon as I took the gun, I was stunned. You know, I not only saw the picture of the gun, but also saw the real object in the museum. It turns out that the newly invented assault rifle is the later famous AK47 assault rifle.

 Chapter 257

    When I was in a daze holding AK47, Vlasov asked bizikov curiously: "Comrade Colonel, why does this engineer Comrade say that Rita is his life-saving benefactor?"


    I was in a daze when I heard Vlasov''s question. I couldn''t help but feel excited and stare nervously at bzikov to hear his answer. But I soon found that I was worried about nothing. The identity of Florin seemed to be a top secret. Bzikov took a look at me and said lightly: "the last time Rita went to the city for treatment, she encountered an air raid on the road. By chance, she saved the engineer''s life."


    As for some perfunctory explanation of bezikov, Vlasov seemed to see something wrong. He just let out a sound and didn''t continue to ask. Instead, he took the assault rifle from my hand, looked at it carefully for a long time, and then asked florin, "senior engineer Tongzhi, what are the characteristics of this kind of assault rifle?"


    Florin stepped forward, took the rifle from Vlasov''s hand, put it on the table, and began to give us a detailed introduction: "this kind of rifle is my newly developed assault rifle, with a length of 870 mm and a weight of 4.3 kg. It uses 7.62 mm bullets, that is, the moxinnagan rifle bullets currently used by our army are fed by an arc magazine with a capacity of 30 bullets. The safety / fast / slow handle is on the right side of the casing, and the semi-automatic or full-automatic launching mode can be selected. The pull handle is on the right side of the casing. Compared with the rifles equipped in other countries, this kind of rifle has a short body and a short range, which is suitable for close combat. "


    Mr. Lin picked up his rifle and looked at it. Without saying anything, he put it back on the table. Vlasov said with some disapproval: "this kind of rifle is equivalent to a new submachine gun."


    "At the same distance, assault rifles and submachine guns are not only more accurate, but also more lethal than assault rifles," he said


    Vlasov said, turning to Mr. Lin, "what do you think, comrade deputy commander Lin?"


    With a slight smile, President Lin said, "without investigation, there will be no right to speak. It''s no use just talking on paper here. We need to know that practice is the only criterion for testing truth. Only after our own practice can we know the performance of this kind of gun. "


    "Well, let''s go out and find a place to try the power of this weapon." Said Vlasov, picking up the rifle on the table again, and asking for bzikov''s advice: "Comrade Colonel, come with us?"


    Bezikov nodded in agreement and asked florin, "Comrade senior engineer, are you with us?"


    The old man waved his hand, sat down and said, "I won''t go. I''m a little tired. I want to have a rest here. " At this point, he looked up at me and said, "female commander, I don''t know if I have the honor to ask you to stay and have a chat with me?"


    I laughed awkwardly, and immediately felt that neither staying nor going. Fortunately, Vlasov helped me out: "Rita, since senior engineer comrades feel tired and want to sit down and have a rest in the headquarters, you can stay with him."


    "Yes Since the commander said so, I naturally stayed.


    When all the people left, I poured a cup of black coffee for the old man, pushed a plate of biscuits in front of him, and warmly welcomed him: "senior engineer Comrade, please try the biscuits baked by the cooks in our army."


    Instead of speaking, Florin looked around and then asked in a low voice, "Rita, how is vaskov? Or should we say that there is a warrant officer? "


    When I first heard vaskov''s name, I didn''t remember who Florin was talking about. But when I heard what he said about the brigadier, I immediately understood who he was talking about, and I was scared out in a cold sweat. Regardless of his words, I rushed to the door, opened the door and looked out with some guilty heart.


    Sitting outside on duty was a lieutenant. Seeing me standing at the door, the officer quickly stood up to salute me and asked, "chief of staff, do you have any instructions?"


    I looked at the empty corridor and was relieved. Then I asked him carefully, "commander, have they all gone out?"


    The lieutenant on duty looked at me in surprise and replied, "yes, commander Vlasov, deputy commander Lin, interpreter, Captain Yushchenko, and the new Colonel left together." After a pause, he asked me carefully, "chief of staff, what can I do for you? Do you need me to call them


    I waved my hand and said, "no, I''m just asking. You go on duty. " After that, regardless of the blank faced lieutenant, he slammed the door.


    After closing the door, looking back, Florin was enjoying his coffee. I went to him and sat down. Looking at the old man in front of me, I asked in a low voice, "Comrade engineer, don''t you have amnesia? How could you suddenly ask brigadier vaskov? "


    With a proud smile on his face, the old man also replied to me in a low voice: "when I was in the subway station, didn''t you warn me that it was Stalin''s time. If I want to live safely, I have to change my way of thinking and regard myself as a person who has been living in this age. To live a long life, you have to learn to act stupid. "


    I approached him and asked, "Comrade engineer, what''s going on? You have confused me. "¡° It''s easy! " "After hearing what you said, I''ve been thinking about how to pretend to be confused without the suspicion of the authorities," Florin explained to me. Just on the way to meet the air raid, I was injured and admitted to the hospital, so I had an idea to pretend amnesia. I didn''t expect that I cheated all the people. " Seeing the proud expression of the old engineer, the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground, and then I turned my words to the point. I asked him curiously, "I didn''t expect you to make assault rifles so soon. But I have a question. Can we produce so many rifles in such a short time? Is it because we have built another gun production line? " After asking this question, I immediately denied my guess, "no, no, even if I have to go on the production line, one month is not enough. What''s the matter?" The old engineer looked at me like an alien monster and said, "Rita, it seems you are really a layman. Don''t you know that these assault rifles are all hand-made by the workers of the Izhevsk machine factory? "¡° But can workers produce qualified products just by spelling out the drawings you provided? " With a sigh and a look of defeat, Florin explained, "do you remember the technicians in the subway station? You know, many of them were originally workers in the arms factory. Not to mention the construction according to the drawings, even without the drawings, these skilled workers can still assemble the assault rifles with suitable parts. "¡° But didn''t all the workers die in the German air raid after they left the subway station? " The old engineer waved his hand and said, "it''s impossible. Except for the same car Engineer sherekin who was killed in the air raid, the rest of the technical workers are alive and well. They are working in a workshop specially provided for them in the yizhevsk machine factory. These AK47 assault rifles are produced by them working overtime."¡° AK47, the original name of this assault rifle is AK47. " I pretended to be suddenly enlightened and agreed. Then I deliberately understated: "the number 47 should be the year of the army. If this assault rifle has been equipped with our army since 1942, should it be renamed ak42?" When he heard me say this, he was stunned for a long time before he said thoughtfully, "you''re right. Although this gun is the AK47 of later generations, it has been released so many years in advance that it can only be called ak42. "

 Chapter 258

    While Florin was muttering to himself, I filled the empty cup in front of him with coffee and asked him again, "Comrade senior engineer, have you found that Mikhail?"


    The old engineer was stunned, "Mikhail? Which Mikhail Then he understood who I was talking about, nodded and replied, "Oh, you mean Mikhail tymofeevich Kalashnikov. He has been found. Now he has been assigned to a formal school. After finishing his study, he will be appointed as a technician of the weapon testing ground."


    I asked tentatively, "are the assault rifles you are making exactly the same as those of later generations?"


    "The structure of the guns is exactly the same." He confidently replied: "because the intermediate power bomb used by AK47 will not be developed until 1943. At the beginning, we tried to replace this kind of bullet with moxinnagan rifle bullet, but after the test, we found that not only the continuous firing speed was slow, but also the frequent jamming phenomenon appeared, so we finally adopted the special intermediate power bullet. "


    I don''t understand what he said, but I can''t help but ask curiously, "is there any difference between the bullet used by mosignagan and the bullet used by AK47? Aren''t they all 7.62mm bullets? "


    As for my question, the old engineer''s bad habit of being a teacher broke out again. He said with pride, "I''ll explain to you what is the intermediate type power bomb. In order to give consideration to the power and control the firing accuracy in continuous firing, the short cartridge ammunition developed by us is called intermediate power cartridge. It can also be said that it is the intermediate bullet with power and size between pistol bullet and rifle bullet. " Although I didn''t fully understand what he said, he still nodded his head blindly and pretended to understand. Seeing my expression of extraordinary cooperation, he continued: "as the regular bullet used in AK47 is 7.62 * 39mm, and the moxinnagan bullet is 7.62 * 54mm, the two kinds of bullets can''t be used in common, so we shortened the shell length from 54mm to 39mm, The charge was also reduced from 3 G to about 1.6 G. In this way, although the bullet charge is less, and the power and recoil force are also much smaller, it can be fired continuously and quickly. With the same load, soldiers can carry more ammunition


    "Is it convenient to make special bullets for assault rifles?"


    "The output of this kind of bullets is not high. Each gun is only equipped with four clips, that is, 120 bullets, so you should save a little when using it. Otherwise, when the bullets are exhausted, the gun will only be used as a firecracker," he said


    "Why is the output so low?" In my heart, I really wonder why the output can''t go up since it can be mass produced. It''s really puzzling.


    He sighed and said: "the existence of us is a high-level secret. Except for the soldiers who escorted us to the factory, we can''t meet anyone, otherwise we will be killed. In the same way, the technology we have mastered is only used in the production workshop where we are, and can not be transmitted to other countries. Due to the limited manpower and the lack of manufacturing equipment, the output of power bombs is so low. For the same reason of confidentiality, in order to prevent leakage, when publicizing the new rifle, they all said that the gun used moxinnagan ammunition. "


    I didn''t expect that there was such complicated inside information behind this incident. Looking at the old man in front of me, I couldn''t help asking: "since you can''t contact outsiders, how can you leave the factory?"


    The old man showed a sly expression and said mysteriously, "I''m different from them! I''m an old man with amnesia. I can''t remember anything except the knowledge about military industry. That''s why Colonel bzikov dare to take me out to meet you, the life-saving benefactor. "


    This old guy, when he was in the subway station, I thought he was an old fool. I didn''t expect that he had been playing pig and eating tiger. I pointed to him with my finger and jokingly said, "you are such an old fox! I didn''t expect that you cheated everyone so easily. " Then he changed the topic: "Comrade engineer, I''ve been wanting to ask you since I saw you. I don''t know if you can give me an accurate answer."


    "What''s the matter?" asked Florin in surprise


    "Where are you now?" As soon as I finished saying this, I immediately realized that I had a language problem and added, "I mean, where are you at the moment during the patriotic war?"


    After listening to the question, he frowned and thought for a while, and then replied leisurely: "I joined the 18th Infantry Division under the command of Colonel cherneshoff in late October. Although we are only a militia division, we were awarded the honorary title of the 11th guard division by the supreme command for our bravery and tenacity in defending Moscow. Now we are in the battle sequence of the 16th army, launching a fierce attack on the remaining German troops in the Lamar river. "


    "Have you made a contribution?"


    The old man shook his head and said, "no, the day after the great counterattack, I was injured and sent to the rear hospital. I didn''t return to Moscow until the summer of 1943." Speaking of this, he suddenly seemed to think of something, took a breath of air, looked at me with strange eyes, and asked, "are you in the 20th army now? Is the commander Vlasov


    "Yes! I am now the chief of staff of the 20th group army and the commander of the eighth division of the Jinwei. " Although I don''t know what suddenly occurred to him, I still nodded honestly and showed my current identity¡° I remind you to keep a distance from Vlasov, or you will be killed in the future. "¡° Why? " I''m all the more confused by what Florin said¡° Vlasov The old man gritted his teeth and said, "this damned and shameful traitor, as a senior general, had shaken his faith in the most difficult years of the patriotic war. In the concentration camp of the Communist Party of China, he turned from a hero of the Red Army to an accomplice of the Communist Party of China. He collected the scum of the Soviet prisoners and formed the anti Soviet military organization "Russian National Liberation Army". Like many people in that crazy age, he used the guns and ammunition provided by the Germans to fire at his compatriots, hoping to rely on the Germans to transform the social system of the Soviet Union. This is not only futile, but also nailed himself to the stigma of history forever. "¡° What happened to the 20th army? " I know nothing about the history of the Soviet counterattack, which was only limited to the fact that the German army was repulsed several hundred kilometers westward¡° What else? " "In the middle of January, the 20th group army and all the Soviet troops fought together, encircling some units of the 9th group army and the 4th armored group army of Germany in vyazima. But when victory was in sight, the Soviet supreme command made a fatal mistake. Despite Zhukov''s strong opposition, the Soviet supreme command prematurely withdrew Kuznetsov''s first shock group army and rokosovsky''s 16th group army from the west of Moscow to reinforce the north and South wings. As a result, Vlasov''s 20th group army, which was trying to attack from east to west, had to widen the frontal width of the attack and gradually lost its sharpness, This reduced the pressure on the east side of the besieged German army. However, when the Soviet paratroopers and guerrillas tried to close the gap between yukhnov and viazima, they were suddenly attacked by the fourth German armored group army. On February 3, the besieged German army had opened up contact with the outside world. On February 5, 1942, the 9th German group army of moder surrounded the 20th Soviet group army, cut off its contact with the neighboring forces, and soon annihilated it. Only about 5000 members of the group escaped from the encirclement. " After listening to him talk about the coming history, I couldn''t help worrying about my future. I couldn''t wait to ask, "what about my eighth division?"¡° Originally in mid December, the eighth division of Jinwei was transferred to the reserve of the highest base camp. I don''t know why your troops are now in the order of the 20th group army. Is there any deviation in history? " I was eager to know my future fate, so I couldn''t wait to interrupt Florin''s thinking and continued to ask, "Comrade engineer, don''t mind any deviation. I just want to know where my eighth division of guards was when the 20th army was destroyed."¡° If there is no accident, your division will be transferred to the northwest front army in the middle of this month. From February to March 1942, he took part in the battle against Jamie youngsk group of German Communist army in the formation of the northwest front army and the second close guard infantry of Kalinin front army Knowing that he could escape from being captured, he could not help but breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he wanted to continue to ask, he heard something coming from the door, as if they were Vlasov. With a deep sigh, I knew that I would never have the chance to inquire about the future history of Florin today. The door opened, and it was Vlasov and others who came in. Bezikov, who walked in the front, put the rifle he had just taken out on the table and said excitedly, "this assault rifle is really wonderful. We just went out to test the gun, and the hit rate of 150 meter target is similar to that of moshinagan rifle. When attacking close range target, the killing effect is much better than that of submachine gun. " Frasov asked me with a smile, "Rita, what did you and engineer Florin talk about when we went out to test the gun?" When bezikov, who had been somewhat complacent, heard his question, he calmed down and turned his attention to me, waiting for my answer. I glanced at the old engineer sitting next to me. He was drinking tea with a cup in his hand. His eyes were staring at the tea in the cup, as if he wanted to see what was in the water. I tried to squeeze out a smile and said, "in fact, I didn''t talk about anything. I just heard the engineer explain to me the characteristics of this new assault rifle. I''ll know when I use it in the future."

 Chapter 259

    After the new year''s day, the development of the war, as Florin said, the main force of our group army, with the cooperation of the 1st assault group army and the 16th group army, surrounded three armored divisions, one motorized division and two infantry divisions of the 9th group army and the 4th armored group army in vyazima.


    When the commander of the 7th Division of the guards, Col. gritznov, joined the 4000 paratroopers who had been airdropped and cut off the retreat of the besieged German army. The matter was immediately reported to commander Vlasov by telephone in an excited, incoherent, but clear voice. As soon as the captain''s voice fell, all the people in the headquarters immediately blurted out and yelled "Wula!"


    I was responsible for reporting this to Zhukov. When Zhukov heard the news, he was very happy and said in a low voice, "just surround, Rita. Please tell Comrade Vlasov that he will organize troops to attack the encircled enemy immediately. Don''t let them have any breathing space. I will send planes to cooperate with you."


    Put down the phone, I said Zhukov''s original words to Vlasov, he nodded, and then directly verbally issued a new combat order. Then the telegraph and telephone in the headquarters rang one after another, and the staff officers and signalmen began to send telegrams or telephone calls to their respective responsible troops according to their division of work to convey Vlasov''s orders to the commanders of their subordinate troops.


    When the orders were sent to the army, the headquarters gradually calmed down. Seeing that Vlasov was in a good mood, I summoned up the courage to say to him, "Comrade commander, I have a request. I don''t know if you can agree?"


    Vlasov was looking down at the map. When he heard me say this, he said without looking up: "Rita, if you have any idea, just say it. As long as I can do it, I will promise."


    "I plan to lead the eighth division of the guards to carry out the task of suppressing the areas that have just been recovered, and to wipe out the scattered enemies hidden in those villages or settlements."


    Instead of answering me directly, Vlasov looked at President Lin and asked, "Comrade deputy commander Lin, what do you think of Comrade Lida''s proposal?"


    After listening to Shi Zhe''s translation, President Lin nodded and said, "I think Lida''s idea is good. Although there are not many enemies left in the liberated areas, if we don''t thoroughly eliminate them, it will be a headache for us to let these scattered soldiers attack our logistics supply lines."


    "Not bad at all." In his voice, Vlasov said with satisfaction, and then added: "these disabled generals are not reconciled to their defeat. When they are unable to win in the face of our army, they will certainly poison our unarmed collective farm workers or residents, so it is necessary to eliminate them." Then he said to me in a decisive tone, "Rita, it''s up to you to clear up the enemy."


    "Yes I was relieved that not only did I keep my distance from Vlasov, but also I was able to escape the fate of being completely annihilated with my own troops in the name of eliminating the remaining enemy.


    After saluting Mr. frasov and Mr. Lin, I turned to leave. As soon as he got to the door, he was stopped by Vlasov. He said with a smile, "in two days, I will let Comrade ellenburg come to your division to interview you. You must receive him well."


    Originally just relaxed mood, after hearing the news that the reporter who made me feel disgusted was coming to my division to interview, it became bad. But on the surface, I had to squeeze out a smile and say to Vlasov, "thank you, comrade commander. When ellenburg comes to our division for an interview, I will receive him well."


    Back in the eighth division of the guards, I asked yegorov, chisgakov and sherebriakov to lead one unit each to clear up the remaining enemies in the north, South and East, while I myself took major resdayev''s battalion and Yushchenko''s guard company to the West.


    In a short period of three days, we liberated 89 villages and 11 residential areas from the hands of the bandits, wiped out more than 400 enemy soldiers and captured nearly 200 people. Because of the early experience in eliminating the remaining enemy, the casualties of the troops were not large in destroying the enemy in these areas.


    At noon on the 15th, major resdayev''s troops captured the village of petrissevo. After destroying more than 100 German troops who had resisted tenaciously, they forced the remaining 84 men to lay down their arms and surrender to our army.


    Half an hour after seizing the village, under the protection of Yushchenko and the guard company, I got out of the car at the entrance of the village and walked into the village. The liberated villagers stood outside the wooden houses on both sides of the road, watching our marching troops in silence.


    The villagers stood numbly on the side of the road. No one welcomed our own team. As I walked, I thought, what''s wrong with these villagers? Why are they so indifferent? Don''t they know we''re here to liberate them?


    Just as I was daydreaming, suddenly a middle-aged woman with a headscarf rushed out of the road. Captain Yushchenko''s quick reaction, in front of me at the same time, has pulled out the pistol, the muzzle of the gun at the woman rushed out.


    The woman stepped back in a panic and asked me in a loud voice, "comrades, are you the commander of this army?"


    I pushed Yushchenko out of my way, raised my hand, pressed down the pistol he was holding, and kindly said to the middle-aged woman, "yes, comrades. I''m the top commander of this unit. What can I do for you? "


    Seeing that the muzzle of the gun pointing at her was removed, the woman patted herself on the chest with her hand, took a deep breath, and then answered me, "my name is Polina, the wife of villager Vassily Kulik. A month and a half ago, the Germans who occupied the village hanged a girl they had caught in the village square. " The news surprised me, so I quickly went up to her skirt and asked, "you said they hanged a girl. Do you know who she is? Where is the body now? " Polina was a little overwhelmed by my series of questions. After a while, she said, "I''m not sure. I just heard that the German said that he was an arsonist and was hanged in the square by them. The corpse was hanging on the gallows for more than a month, and we were not allowed to collect it. It was only two days ago that several German soldiers took down the gallows and dug a pit to bury the corpse. "¡° Take me to have a look. " My mood was inexplicably agitated, and I repeatedly urged Polina to lead us to the body of the girl who was killed. Polina led us to the square. The captured German soldiers were squatting in the middle of the square, surrounded by the soldiers of major resdayev. Yushchenko and I followed Polina to a corner of the square. Polina stopped, pointed to a place on the ground and said to us, "Comrade commander, the body is buried here." I turned to Yushchenko and said, "Comrade captain, get someone to dig this place right away."¡° Yes Yushchenko agreed, and then gave an order to the soldiers of the guard company not far behind: "come on, find tools to dig this place."

 Chapter 260

    The efficiency of the guard even was quite high. It took no time to borrow the pickaxe and shovel needed for digging. After they arrived at the position that Polina pointed out to us just now, with Yushchenko''s order, seven or eight soldiers began to dig.


    After a few planing, half of the rope came out of the clay. Yushchenko, who was in command at one side, called out: "wait a minute, don''t dig, stop, stop!"


    I glared at Yushchenko discontentedly and asked him, "Comrade captain, why do you stop the soldiers?"


    Yushchenko pointed to the exposed half of the rope and said, "Sir, please have a look. This pit is just a layer of topsoil covered. If we dig it with tools, it will easily damage the remains of the martyrs. "


    Listening to his explanation, I hesitated, frowned and asked for his advice: "what do you say to do?"


    He squatted down and began to pull the clay buried in the rope with his hands. When the soldiers around saw him doing so, they immediately understood his intention and squatted down one after another to pull the clay in the pit with their hands.


    In a short time, a female corpse was exposed from the surface soil. Her skin was black, and her head was seriously tilted to one side because she had been hanging on the gallows for a long time. Her hands were tied upside down, her blouse was open, her petite chest was exposed, her left breast had been cut off, and there was a huge black hole in her left chest.


    When I saw the damaged body, my chest was filled with anger. I turned to look at Polina who was standing beside me in a daze and asked viciously, "Polina, can you tell me what''s going on?"


    Polina looked at the woman''s corpse, and she could not help shivering. She didn''t hear my question until I grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her hard. Then she came back and told me the whole story.


    "I heard that the girl was arrested while trying to burn down the German stables. After she was caught, the Germans took her home in Voronin, and a group of damned German soldiers took off her warm boots and warm clothes, and ruined her. Later, I heard that the hostess of the family, evdorkia Petrovna Voronin, said that after the Germans had abused her, they had asked her to go to a cold room to be interrogated by a German officer barefoot and only in thin clothes. "


    When I heard this, I couldn''t help gnashing my teeth and asked her, "do you know the name of that damned officer?"


    Polina thought about it, and then said in an uncertain tone, "I seem to hear the German soldiers call him to stay in lieutenant colonel Jerrell. According to my husband, this officer is a commander."


    "Do you know the name of this girl?"


    Polina replied: "when the German interrogated her and asked her name, she replied that her name was'' Danniang ''. During the two-hour interrogation, she was very tenacious. This trial lasted more than two hours. When answering questions about her comrades, the base of her guerrillas and their leaders, he always said in general: No, I don''t know. I won''t tell you. The German lieutenant commander became angry and ordered the soldiers to tie her to the bench and beat her with a belt, but she still kept silent and didn''t tell them any valuable information


    "And then?"


    "Then she was sent to my home by the Germans. At that time, there were 26 German soldiers living in my home. They ravaged her like crazy all night... When she woke up from coma and wanted to drink water, my husband kuric brought her a bowl of water. As a result, they knocked her down and put the kerosene lamp on her face to burn her. Later, other German soldiers went to sleep, and the sentry on guard pulled her into the snow and walked barefoot for more than an hour.... "


    As I listened to Polina, I bit my lips until my tongue was salty with blood. But I tried to control my emotions and let Polina tell the whole story.


    "... the next day, it was clear that Danniang was taken to trial again, but the enemy still got nothing. So the German lieutenant commander ordered her to be taken to the square and put to death by hanging a wooden card on her chest with the words "arsonist." At this point, Polina couldn''t help wiping her tears. "She broke away from two soldiers holding her and walked calmly to the gallows. All around her were German soldiers. All the people in our village were driven to watch the execution. Before the sacrifice, Danniang exclaimed: "we are not alone. We have 200 million people. The enemy can''t hang us all! The people will avenge me! German devils, it''s not too late for you to surrender. The final victory must be ours! " When the rope was tied around her neck, she yelled to us: "comrades, why are you so sad? You know, I''m not afraid of death. I''m happy to die for my motherland and people. Farewell, comrades, strike hard. Stalin is coming. Stalin is with us. " Before she finished shouting, the German soldier kicked off the ammunition box under her feet... "


    "Enough, no more." At this moment, I already know who the girl who died is. Danniang is just the name of a heroine she worships during the civil war. Her real name is Zhuoya kosmojeanskaya. Seeing Zhuoya''s severely damaged body and hearing her tragic experience, the last calm in my heart was dissipated by nameless anger!


    I took the assault rifle off my back and strode angrily towards the captured German soldiers. Yushchenko and a group of security soldiers trotted to follow¡° Stand up to anyone who has abused that girl I stood in front of the squatting prisoner and cried out. The German soldiers squatting on the ground heard my cry and looked up at me blankly, but no one spoke. Yushchenko stood beside me and carefully reminded me, "Comrade teacher, maybe they don''t understand Russian, you must calm down..." I raised my hand to signal Yushchenko to shut up, and then pointed to the nearest prisoner and ordered my men to bring him to me. When the prisoner, who was a head higher than me, stood trembling in front of me, I clenched my back teeth and asked, "who ruined that girl that day?" The prisoner looked at me nervously and grunted in German. MD, what are you talking about? I can''t understand a word. I didn''t talk to him anymore. I raised my hand and shot him in the head. After the gunshot, his head exploded like a ripe watermelon. Red blood and gray brain splashed all over the German army. I didn''t want to be called any more. I went into the group of prisoners with an assault rifle. I picked a prisoner who was closer to me. The muzzle of the gun was aimed at his head. I bowed my head and asked, "who has abused that girl?" Maybe it was the decisiveness when I shot just now, coupled with the black muzzle aiming at him at the moment, which frightened the prisoner. His lips trembled for a moment, and finally spit out two words: "I know..." but I didn''t care what he knew, and I pulled the trigger without any influence. The deterrent effect of shooting in the captive group was excellent. The German soldiers squatting around couldn''t dodge. They were all covered with splashed blood. It is estimated that no matter how many people are used to killing and felling, they will be scared to see such unreasonable killing as me. After the second shot, it occurred to me that the prisoner was shouting Russian just now. But he''s been shot in the head by me. It''s just bad luck for him. This time, I pointed the gun directly at a prisoner on the side and asked impatiently, "do you know the answer I want to know?" Looking at the muzzle of the black hole aimed at his forehead, the prisoner did not hesitate, but just cried out: "I know, I know." At the critical moment of life and death, the Russian language is actually correct. I hung down the muzzle of the gun and said coldly, "then point out those people." The prisoner looked around, then pointed to the German corpses piled up in a corner of the square and said to me, "Miss general, those people were killed by your people there." All dead? There are dozens of people, they all died? MD, you dare to play with me. When I heard him say that, I was so angry that I didn''t hesitate to pull the trigger again and blow his head out. When I was about to find the next victim, Yushchenko and lesdayev rushed up, took my hand from left to right, and said, "Sir, please calm down. You are like a wild animal now. You see, even the villagers who come to watch are scared by you. " I was shocked and couldn''t help looking around. In the distance, the villagers, including Polina, were staring at me. They looked away, lowered their heads and shivered. In this short glance, I saw the boundless fear in their eyes! I struggled. Yushchenko and lesdayev held me tighter and pulled me back desperately. I breathed out a long breath and gave a loud order to the soldiers standing around me, which was enough to make me doomed, but I would never regret: "all of you, aim at the bandits in front of you, fire! Kill all and leave none With my order, the soldiers around took up their rifles, submachine guns and machine guns and immediately opened fire on the German prisoners squatting in the middle of the square. Many prisoners were knocked down by random guns before they recovered. Occasionally, a few responsive prisoners stood up and tried to escape. Without running for a few steps, they were hit by the dense bullets and fell to the ground with crazy convulsions. In just a minute or two, the soldiers had run out of bullets in their guns, and the German prisoners who had squatted in the middle of the square had turned into smelly corpses. Some soldiers, who were determined to carry out the orders, went in with guns and carefully examined every corpse. When they found that there was still air, they put on a shot or stabbed a bayonet. Seeing that the matter was irreparable, Yushchenko and lesdayev reluctantly released me and stood in the same place, looking down and sighing. Because our attention was attracted by everything in front of us, we didn''t pay any attention to ellenburg, who was supposed to be interviewed by the political commissar and his troops, came behind us, secretly photographed the scene of the bloody massacre with a camera, and then quietly turned away.

 Chapter 261

    With the help of the villagers, the bodies of our soldiers and the wounded were sent to the rear by truck, while the bodies of the German soldiers were dragged to the wasteland outside the village and directly thrown into a large pit that had been dug.


    Zhuoya''s body was put into a coffin provided by the kind villagers and stored in the village church.


    Although all the prisoners have been killed by us, leisdayev has already known the serial number of this unit from the captured German officers and soldiers: the 332nd infantry regiment of the German army, headed by lieutenant colonel liujielier.


    After dealing with the affairs in the village, I directly gave the order to the division''s troops through the telephone: all the German officers and soldiers in the 332nd infantry regiment would be sentenced to death and would never accept their surrender.


    For this order, although the commanders and battalion commanders felt strange, they carried it out to the letter. Only yegorov, chisgakov and sherebriakov raised their objections. They felt that we should give the other side the treatment that a prisoner of war should have, rather than shoot them casually.


    When I told the story of Zoya in detail, they were silent and did not raise any objection to my order to execute all the prisoners of the 332nd German regiment.


    All night long.


    At noon the next day, I was having lunch with lesdayev, Yushchenko and several company commanders at the temporary command post at Polina''s home. Soldiers on guard outside the village reported to us through walkie talkies that a troop was coming, led by deputy division commander General chisjakov. So I immediately took them out to meet him.


    Seeing from a distance that chisjakov, two other commanders and a group of soldiers came towards me, my heart suddenly jumped, and I felt a little bit bad.


    "What''s going on?" I said to myself, "why didn''t chisgakov even say hello and bring the commanders of other troops to see me?" I left resdayev behind and they went up quickly.


    "Hello, sir!" Chisgakov first stopped and saluted me.


    When I saluted back, I found that general sokolovsky, the chief of staff of the front army, was standing beside him. I looked at the chief of staff with some surprise, wondering why he came to me from the headquarters of the front army at this time. I saluted him and said politely, "Hello, chief of staff sokolovsky. Welcome to the eighth division of the guards."


    "Hello! Comrade oshanina. " Sokolovsky returned a salute with a bitter face, then frowned, pointed to the officer beside him and said to me, "I''d like to introduce you. This is from the people''s Committee of interior..."


    "Comrade chief of staff, let me introduce myself." The officer stepped forward, raised his hand haughtily, interrupted sokolovsky and said to me, "Hello, Mr. oshanina! I didn''t expect that we would meet again so soon. I''m major zuyev of the people''s Committee of internal affairs. Do you remember me? "


    I shriveled shriveled mouth, did not speak, the heart said I have seen so many people, how can remember who you are? So he shook his head and said he didn''t remember seeing him anywhere.


    "We met in the red brysno subway station, don''t you forget?" The major reminded me kindly¡° Before I got to the subway station, you had a conflict with my subordinate, Lieutenant dornikov. "


    I was a little impressed by what he said. At that time, Lieutenant dornikov and I had different opinions on how to deal with the people on the subway train. In the end, we had to find a relationship to solve the problem. I''m looking for Colonel bezikov of the central guard, and the interior lieutenant is looking for this major.


    I didn''t like the people in the interior department all the time, but since other people showed friendly behavior, I couldn''t refuse people thousands of miles away, so I held out my hand to shake with him, and said hello to him by the way, and asked about his intention: "Hello, comrade major! Why do you come to the eighth division of our guards today


    The major shook hands with me and said with a smile, "I''ve been ordered to arrest you!"


    His words were like a flash of lightning, which made me stupid. After a long time, I broke away from him and asked, "arrest me? Why? Did I do something wrong? "


    Without waiting for zuyev''s reply, several officers behind me were already shouting in disorder.


    In particular, Captain Yushchenko, also from the Ministry of internal affairs, first jumped out and questioned: "Comrade major, I am also captain Yushchenko from the Ministry of internal affairs. Now I am the company commander of the eighth guard division of the guards. I want to ask what is wrong with division commander oshanina and why do I arrest her?"


    "Yes! Why? " Lesdayev and several company commanders also cried out in unison.


    "Be quiet!" At this time, I calmed down, waved my hand to calm everyone down, and then turned to major zuyev seriously and asked, "Comrade major, can I know the reason for my arrest?"


    Zuyev nodded his head and replied: "according to the photos provided by Red Star reporter Comrade ellenburg to Comrade Stalin, you personally ordered the brutal killing of nearly 100 German soldiers who laid down their arms and surrendered, which had a serious impact. In order to avoid similar incidents, I have been ordered to arrest you and hand over to the military court. "


    I nodded, then said to sokolovsky, who was standing beside me and kept silent: "Comrade chief of staff of the front army, I want to know who will command the eighth division of the guards after I am arrested." Sokolovsky''s eyes glanced at chisgakov beside him, and then replied, "according to Zhukov''s order, after you are arrested by the Ministry of interior, major general chisgakov, the deputy division commander, will take over the post of the eighth division of the guards." I know a lot about chisgakov''s ability. I''m relieved to let him take the post of teacher. Then I turned to zuyev again. I tried to squeeze a smile on my face and said, "Comrade major, before you formally arrest me, I want to show you something. You won''t object to my proposal, will you Major zuyev nodded slightly in agreement. Then I said to sokolovsky and chisjakov, "two generals, please come with me." I took a group of people to the village chapel, went to the coffin parked in the hall, I told Yushchenko: "Comrade captain, open the coffin."¡° Yes Yushchenko agreed loudly, and then he and the other two soldiers moved the lid of the coffin. Zuyev, sokolovsky and chisjakov all feel strange when I bring you to the church. When the coffin lid is removed and Zhuoya''s broken body appears in their sight, everyone present is filled with indignation. Even zuyev is no exception. He looked at me in surprise and asked, "Comrade oshanina, that''s why you ordered the execution of all the German prisoners?" I nodded and began to explain to them the real reason for killing the captives: "if they catch this young girl named Zhuoya and just shoot her or hang her, I will not express anger. After all, this is a life and death war. But as you can see, what did they do to Zoya? First, she was raped and insulted by dozens of German soldiers; After hanging her, she hung her body on the gallows for a month and a half; The most extreme thing is that they even insulted the corpse, not only cutting off her eyes, but also digging out her eyes. Seeing that our army was going to fight here and prepare to flee in a hurry, the German soldiers demolished the gallows to destroy the criminal evidence, and threw the remains of Zhuoya, who still had a rope on her neck, into an earth pit for burial. " At this point, I stopped for a moment, saw the angry expression on everyone''s faces, knew that their goal had been achieved, and then went on to say: "is it the style that the Germans should do when they do this? It can be said that they are not human beings at all, but animals. For such a two legged animal, we should pay an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and blood for blood. I want to let these bandits know that when they want to act recklessly in our country, they should carefully weigh what kind of consequences they will bring and what kind of price they will pay. " Sokolovsky walked forward two steps with a cold face, came to me, patted me gently on the shoulder and said, "Mr. oshanina, I really didn''t expect things to be so complicated. I will report to Comrade Zhukov immediately." Major zuyev came over and said to me in a low voice, "Mr. oshanina, let''s go. It''s a long way back to the city. If we don''t go any further, it will be dark when we enter the city."¡° Comrade major. " All of a sudden, chisjakov, who had never spoken, said, "please take good care of our teachers."¡° Yes, comrade major Lesdayev and Yushchenko echoed and said, "our teachers will ask you." Zuyev saluted the commanders on the scene and made a solemn promise: "please rest assured that I will make it convenient for Mr. oshanina within my authority." Then he made a gesture of invitation to me. After shaking hands with sokolovsky, chisjakov and resdayev, I strode out of the lecture hall accompanied by zuyev.

 Chapter 262

    When we left the church and walked outside the village, two of the four soldiers brought by major zuyev walked in the front and two in the back, while zuyev and I walked side by side in the middle. Because he didn''t handcuff me, people who didn''t know it didn''t think they were escorting me, but they were escorting me.


    Passing by the square, I met Polina who just came back from the well. Far away, she put down the bucket and stood there shouting to me: "Comrade commander, where are you going?"


    "Hello, Polina!" I raised my hand to greet her politely and said perfunctorily, "I''m going back to Moscow."


    "Have a safe trip and come back early."


    "Thank you, Polina."


    As Polina lifted the heavy bucket and left, we continued to walk outside the village.


    A jeep and two trucks were parked beside the temporary guard box outside the village, both of which were hung on the license plate of the Ministry of interior. In addition to the two sentries sent by the leisdayev battalion, there were more than 30 soldiers standing by the car. Without zuyev''s explanation, I also know that these vehicles and soldiers were prepared to escort me back to Moscow.


    Zuyev let me sit in the back of the jeep, at the same time, two soldiers from the left and right on the car, put me in the middle. Before getting on the bus, zuyev called several soldiers and gave them a few orders in a low voice. When the soldiers turned to go to the village, he opened the door, sat in the co pilot''s seat and told the driver to drive.


    Except for the two soldiers standing guard saluting me when I got on the bus, I never saw anyone from the leisdayev camp or the guard company. I sighed a little disappointed in my heart. I didn''t expect that my character was so bad and that I would be so lonely when I was escorted to the city by the people of the interior department.


    After driving out a section of the road, through the window, I suddenly saw a group of orderly soldiers on the roadside. They were wearing helmets, carrying submachine guns on their chests, and all of them stood upright, just like waiting for inspection on the roadside.


    "Comrade oshanina," major zuyev, who was sitting in the front row, turned to me and said, "these soldiers outside are just brought by general chisgakov. They are here to see you off."


    The jeep slowed down and passed slowly in front of the line. I saw a familiar face outside, Captain lomov, third battalion commander of 1077 regiment. No, he has been promoted to major now. When the car passed him, I heard him shout out: "all of you, salute to the teachers and comrades!"


    His command was passed down one by one. The soldiers raised their hands to my forehead and saluted me. From a distance, they looked like a group of sculptures.


    Zuyev sighed and said softly, "Comrade oshanina, it seems that you have gained the respect of the soldiers, otherwise they would not have braved the cold to wait by the roadside to see you off."


    My eyes were hot and misty. Although I knew they couldn''t see me, I also raised my hand to my forehead to salute and say goodbye to my subordinates.


    The distance from the village to downtown Moscow was too far. Although the jeep driver drove very fast in the later part of the road, it was still dark when we entered the city.


    Although the German army had been expelled to the West for 100 ~ 300 kilometers, the city was still under blackout. Cars sped through the streets without lights on, most of which were covered with tarpaulins and headed for the front line. The streets are full of strict camouflage. The city is quiet and orderly. The war and the enemy''s approach not long ago have made a special mark on the city.


    But I thought to myself, here, in these houses, in these dark windows, people have adapted to living in another way. Thinking of this, I feel very happy. I am proud to witness this period of history and participate in this great Congress.


    I was just thinking about it when the car stopped. Zuyev turned to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, we have arrived at the Ministry of interior. I''m sorry, I have to hurt you first. " Then he waved his head to the soldiers beside me.


    The soldier sitting on my left raised my hand and clapped the handcuffs on my hand.


    After getting out of the car, the two soldiers grabbed my arm left and right, and escorted me to the building behind major zuyev.


    I was finally led into a conference room where three people sat at a rectangular table with a chair on the other side of the table. After entering the door, zuyev saluted those people and said in a loud voice, "report to Comrade krochkov that I have brought back oshanina, waiting for your instructions."


    Krochkov?! As soon as I heard the name, my heart sank and I couldn''t help being afraid. You know, the last time I and Col. bezikov were arrested here, it was this man who was in charge of interrogating us. If Stalin hadn''t called in time, we would have been shot at that time.


    The man in civilian clothes in the middle made a sign and told zuyev, "let her sit in the chair."


    "Yes Zuyev agreed, and then let the two soldiers push me to a chair to sit down.


    Two soldiers stood straight behind me, while zuyev ran to the other end of the conference table and stood behind krochkov. Krochkov slapped the table and yelled, "o''shanina, you know what? Your behavior is really shameful. What you have done has tarnished the sacred name of the Great Red Army... "I didn''t speak, but looked at krochkov with provocative eyes. Krochkov, who was infuriated by my uncooperative attitude, glared at me fiercely and yelled at me: "do you know how serious the consequences are for killing the enemy who has laid down his weapons? This kind of extreme behavior in dealing with prisoners will make those already wavering bandits dare not surrender, thus increasing the casualties of our soldiers on the front line. " After he finished his roar, I coldly replied, "those bandits I killed deserve what they deserve. Now I begin to regret that I didn''t shoot them all myself! Comrade krochkov, I want to ask you, what would you do if you saw your sister raped and killed by the enemy and insulted after her death? "¡° What did you say? " When krochkov wanted to get angry again, major zuyev came close to him and said a few words. I saw that his face suddenly changed and he could not speak for a long time. After a while, he stood up and said to the two staff members of the interior department on the left and right, "let''s go out with major zuyev first." Then he told the two soldiers standing behind me: "you take care of her." Then he followed zuyev out of the meeting room with two unknown staff members. As soon as they left, it took at least an hour for them to come back. In addition to zuyev''s calm expression, the other three were all angry. As soon as krocchikov sat down, he slapped the table again. Then he threw a teacup out of the table. In the sound of the teacup falling to pieces, he began to swear: "animals, they are a bunch of animals. It''s time to kill, it''s time to kill them all! " I feel a little strange about krochkov''s performance. After going out with major zuyev, he became like this. Did the major show him something that made him angry? When I was puzzled, krochkov gave a strange order to the soldier standing behind me: "you two, open major general oshanina''s handcuffs, and then go out." When I heard that he called me my rank, I felt relieved. It seems that there is room for things to turn around. I just don''t know what zuyev showed him just now, which makes his attitude change so much? The answer soon came out. Krochkov sighed, got up and poured a cup of tea at the teapot by the wall. Then he pushed it in front of me and said leisurely, "I''m sorry, comrade oshanina, you''ve been wronged." I look at him blankly, don''t know what to say, the heart said your old man''s attitude change too fast, right? His next sentence made me fully understand what was going on. He said: "before taking you back, zuyev asked people to bring back the body of Zhuoya who was killed. Seeing the broken body of the heroine, I am angry. If I were in your position at that time, I would not hesitate to order all these inhuman two legged animals to be shot. "

 Chapter 263

    The atmosphere in the conference room became much more harmonious because of the common reason and language.


    Krochkov introduced to me the two staff members sitting next to him: "on the left is Comrade Xie Jin, and on the right is Comrade grev. They are all members of the counter revolutionaries Committee."


    I can''t help shivering at the term "anti counter revolutionaries committee". We should know that this department can control the life and death of countless people. They can decide a person''s life and death with a single word. However, it is necessary to have a good relationship with them, so when I saw them standing up and holding out their hands to me, I quickly got up and shook hands with them one by one across the conference table.


    Then krochkov said, "Comrade oshanina, I''m here to tell you the truth. This case was personally explained by Comrade belia. He said that Comrade ellenburg published a group of photos of your organization killing prisoners in the Pravda. After this news was reprinted by the newspapers of individual bourgeois countries, it caused an uproar. You are also known as the "butcher" by the bourgeoisie for your wanton massacre of German prisoners Speaking of this, he looked around at the members of the anti revolutionaries, with a friendly and meaningful smile on his face. "When Comrade Stalin heard the news, he was furious and asked Comrade belia to seriously deal with the matter, and asked him to immediately send someone to arrest you and hand over to the military court, to give an account to the relevant parties."


    After hearing his introduction, I asked with a wry smile, "Comrade krochkov, I don''t know what to do with me?"


    Krochkov did not speak. He looked at scherking on the right. "Originally, according to Comrade belia''s instructions, we made a decision to send you to a labor camp or exile to Siberia after you were dismissed from all your posts and discharged from the army," said Xie Jin, who had a brain gate and some balding After a pause, he observed my expression and saw that I was looking at him without expression. Then he said, "but after we have just learned the truth, we are going to make suggestions to Comrade belia. Continue to retain your military position and allow you to return to the army. "


    Seeing the trend of things becoming bigger and smaller, I said to him gratefully: "thank you!"


    Krochkov stood up and said, "let''s stop here today and report to Comrade Beria. Comrade o''shanina, I''ll arrange a place for you to have a good rest and let you know the result tomorrow. " Then he yelled out to the outside, "major zuyev."


    On hearing this, major zuyev came in, saluted him and asked, "Hello! Comrade krochkov, what can I do for you? "


    Krochkov pointed to me and said, "Comrade major, go and help Comrade o''shanina arrange a place to live. Remember, she is not a prisoner in the interior department, but a guest, so we should arrange a comfortable place for her to have a good rest. "


    Zuyev agreed, walked up to me, made a gesture of please, and said in a soft voice, "please, comrade oshanina, I''ll go and arrange a residence for you."


    Before I left with zuyev, I looked back at krochkov. He looked at me smilingly, waved his hand and said, "Comrade oshanina, go and have a rest. I will report the results of the discussion to Comrade belia as soon as possible."


    As krochkov had already spoken, zuyev naturally would not take me to any cell for the night, but directly led me to a duty room with beds and bathrooms to rest.


    As soon as the major left, I locked the door and didn''t go to the bathroom to wash, so I fell directly on the bed in the duty room, and my sleepiness immediately flooded me! In a daze, I counted for half a day, but in any case, I can''t remember that in the more than one month since the beginning of the great counter offensive, I haven''t had a solid sleep for more than ten or twenty days!


    The next day in my sleep, I heard someone knocking on the door and calling my name out loud. I got up from the bed in a daze, went to the door and asked feebly, "who is that?"


    "Comrade oshanina, this is major zuyev." The voice outside the door made me wake up. It occurred to me that I was not in my barracks, but in the building of the Ministry of interior, waiting for the final verdict. So he immediately opened the door, gave a polite smile to the major outside and said, "good morning, comrade major!"


    Zuyev looked me up and down, but without politeness, he said to me directly, "Comrade oshanina, you should hurry to wash up, and then go to the conference room, where important people are waiting for you." After that, he turned and left.


    When I heard that an important person was waiting for me in the meeting room, I didn''t dare to neglect him. I rushed into the bathroom immediately and ran to the meeting room after a simple wash.


    When I opened the door of the conference room, I saw a soldier sitting in the middle of the conference table with a golden knife. I fixed my eyes on Zhukov. Surprised, I trotted a few steps, stood at attention opposite him, saluted and said, "Hello, general! Major general oshanina, chief of staff of the 20th group army and commander of the eighth division of the Jinwei, will report to you and wait for your order. "


    Zhukov just raised his hand and touched his forehead as a gift. He asked coldly, "I want to hear what you have to say?"


    I understand what Zhukov means. He wants me to review it, and then let him go out and beg for help. Maybe it will be over. But after thinking about it, I didn''t think it was a serious crime to kill the prisoners, so I replied, "no!"¡° No! " He slapped the table and stood up. He sank his face and said sternly, "you have made such a big mistake and caused such a big trouble. You can''t say anything!" I bowed my head and answered in a low voice, "I don''t think I''ve done anything wrong with this." My words angered Zhukov. He pointed to my nose and yelled: "you, a senior officer of the Red Army, can even kill prisoners in full view of the public. What a shame you have done! You think that if you pull the trigger in your hand, you''ll be happy with your love and hatred. But have you ever thought that for a few German guys who are inferior to animals, you''ll have your future and even your life. Do you think it''s worth it!... " Zhukov was so angry that he scared me so much that he stood upright like a wooden man. Just then, someone pushed the door and came in. I turned around and saw that it was some of them. As soon as he entered the door, Zhukov, who was in a rage, immediately fell silent and looked coldly at the men who had just entered. Krochkov didn''t expect to meet Zhukov here. He was stunned. However, he immediately regained his normal look and took the initiative to say hello to Zhukov: "Hello, Comrade General! I didn''t expect to see you here. I wonder if you have any instructions for our interior department when you come here today? " Zhukov snorted angrily and said, "I''ll see what you do with oshanina." Krochkov seemed a little afraid of Zhukov. Hearing what he said, he quickly explained: "Comrade General, there may be some misunderstanding. We asked Comrade oshanina to come back after receiving Comrade Beria''s order. Please understand us. " Zhukov glanced at me. I quickly stood up straight, chin slightly upturned, face like water in front of me. Zhukov snorted again, turned to krochkov and said, "Comrade krochkov, you represent the Ministry of interior. Please announce your opinions on how to deal with Comrade oshanina.", Although I had been psychologically prepared, my heart was still beating wildly in the face of the final "sentencing". Krochkov came up to me, gave me a blank look, opened the folder, picked up a piece of paper and read: "now announce the decision of the people''s Committee of internal affairs on oshanina, chief of staff of the 20th group army and commander of the 8th division of the Western Front Army: Rita mushdakova oshanina, 22 years old, major general, member of the regiment..." After hearing what krochkov had read, I realized that Rita was so young, and I had ignored her age for such a long time¡° On January 15, 1942, after leading the army to seize the village of petrichevo, they wantonly slaughtered 84 German soldiers who had laid down their arms and surrendered. At this time, after the reporter Comrade ellenburg exposed it in the red star, the news was reprinted by many bourgeois newspapers, causing extremely serious consequences. Because of the serious consequences caused by Comrade oshanina''s actions, we should have dealt with them seriously. However, in view of the fact that Comrade oshanina has made many war achievements since the beginning of the great counter offensive, and that these German soldiers who were shot and killed have also committed unforgivable crimes against our people, it was decided through the study of the people''s Committee of internal affairs, After reporting to Comrade belia, she made the following punishment decision: she was expelled from the army and relieved of all her existing posts, and was transferred to Qiuming city in Siberia for another appointment. Over Krochkov slowly folded up the folder, looked up and asked, "Comrade oshanina, do you have any opinions on the decision of the organization?"¡° Obeying the decision of the organization, I will learn a lesson and make a change! "¡° Good, good! " A trace of a smile climbed onto krochkov''s face. He took two steps forward, patted me on the shoulder and said, "this is the best way. After the autumn festival, don''t have the burden of thinking, and seriously do the work assigned to you by the organization. It doesn''t matter if you make mistakes. As long as you correct them, you are still good comrades! I hope you can learn from this experience and make new contributions to your new position¡° Comrade krochkov, "Zhukov asked coldly," I''d like to ask you what kind of work you''ve arranged for Comrade oshanina to go to Qiuming? " Krochkov put the folder under his armpit, took a few steps towards Zhukov, and then said in a low voice, "senior general, you should know that the body of comrade Lenin has been transferred to Qiuming city. What Comrade Beria means is that he intends to send Comrade oshanina to guard the mausoleum for comrade Lenin at Qiuming. "

 Chapter 264

    Two days later, on January 19, accompanied by Xie Jin, a member of the counter revolutionaries Committee, and two soldiers, I went to the railway station in gangchamonisgaya, where I was going to take the train to the Far East and go to Qiuming city.


    I was very dissatisfied with this disposal. Originally, I thought that krochkov, seeing the tragic situation of Zhuoya, would open their eyes to me. How could I know that after a long time, I was expelled from the army, removed from all posts, and assigned to Qiuming, a small city in Siberia, to guard Lenin''s mausoleum.


    At the railway station, after getting off the train. Wearing a military coat without any military rank and carrying a satchel, I followed behind Xiejin with a gloomy look and walked to the platform weakly. Two soldiers with luggage were following us closely. The three of them would accompany me to Qiuming.


    Russia''s railway station is different from that in China. It can walk directly to the platform without passing through any ticket gates. However, you can''t get on the train until the conductor outside checks the ticket.


    As the German army had been driven away from Moscow by our army, the large-scale evacuation tide had come to an end, and the originally crowded railway station had returned to its former calm. At the moment, few people can be seen on the platform, which seems a little lonely.


    "Chief of staff o''shanina." When I was staring at the track in a daze, I suddenly heard someone shouting at me not far away. I couldn''t help turning to see what happened.


    More than 20 meters away from us, there were seven or eight soldiers. Two of them were obviously Asian faces. One of them was waving to me desperately. When I looked at it, it was Lin Zonghe and his translator Zhe, who just called me Shi Zhe.


    "It turned out to be deputy commander Lin." I said to myself. I raised my leg and wanted to walk towards them, but I was blocked by an accompanying soldier.


    I glared at the soldiers discontentedly, knowing that they were ordered to escort me to Siberia, so I was restricted. I didn''t want to see him in the same way, so I turned my eyes to Xie Jin, who was in charge, and said coldly, "Comrade Xie Jin, the two Chinese comrades opposite are also members of the 20th group army, one of whom is the deputy commander of the group army. I''d like to go and have a talk with them, don''t you mind? "


    Xie Jin looked at President Lin and then nodded to the soldiers. The soldier who blocked the way immediately understood and made way for me.


    I walked quickly to President Lin and saluted him. Then I took his outstretched hand and shook it vigorously. I asked strangely, "deputy commander Lin, where are you going?"


    "Back to China!" The translator zhetilin answered my question.


    Go back to China?! I found out that in addition to the Soviet soldiers who accompanied them, although President Lin and I were also wearing military coats, there was no military rank mark on them, just like me. See this scene, I can''t help but secretly surprised, heart said that their own things also involve them? So I asked curiously, "Comrade deputy commander Lin, why do you suddenly want to go back to China?"


    Mr. Lin couldn''t understand my Russian, so he turned to see Shi Zhe behind him. Shi Zhe glanced at the accompanying Soviet soldiers, and then translated my words to President Lin in a low voice.


    "We are ordered to return home!" After listening to the translation, Mr. Lin replied in a low voice.


    "Did you leave with Comrade Stalin''s consent?" I asked curiously, do you know that at the beginning, Stalin promised to use the equipment of several divisions in exchange for President Lin''s stay, and President Lin would return home, would Stalin let him go easily? I also asked the question in my heart: "if you leave, will the equipment of several divisions promised by Comrade Stalin be fulfilled?"


    "Hum!" Shi Zhe didn''t translate my words to Mr. Lin. instead, he gave a cold hum, and then said: "what equipment is there? Our military did its best to break through the Japanese pirates'' defense and open up the communication line with the Soviet Union. As a result, only a few hundred books of Marxism Leninism were exchanged back. Can we defeat the Japanese pirates who invaded our country with this


    "Shut up, don''t talk nonsense!" Although Shi Zhe didn''t have a translator, President Lin still guessed what I just said. He decisively interrupted Shi Zhe''s words, looked at the Soviet soldiers standing nearby, patted me on the shoulder, and said in a low voice: "Comrade Lida, the future is very dangerous. Take care of yourself!"


    Without Shi Zhe''s translation, I nodded quickly. Although there are some regrets about the departure of President Lin, at the same time, I also think it is a matter worthy of celebration. You know, some time ago, engineer Florin told me that the 20th army was completely annihilated by the German army in February, and only Vlasov and a small number of troops were out of danger. Mr. Lin''s departure at least avoided the risk of being captured.


    Just then, the train for the Far East came into the station.


    The soldier who stopped me just now came over and said in an unfriendly tone, "Comrade o''shanina, the train is coming in. It''s time for you to go back and get on the train."


    "Chief of staff, what car are you in?" Shi Zhe asked curiously.


    "Car two, what about you?"


    "Car 9, you can come and walk at any time in a few days'' journey."


    "Well, I''ll call on you when I''m free. Deputy commander Lin, goodbye and see you later! " In spite of that, I don''t think I will have a chance to meet them even on the same train. Xie Jin and some of them are here to detain me. The soldiers who escort Mr. Lin and them are not holding the post of guard at the same time. I looked back and said to the disgusting soldier, "come on, comrade soldier, let''s get in the car." After saluting President Lin again, he turned to follow the soldiers and walked towards Xie Jin who was standing in the distance. Xie Jin took out four tickets and gave them to the conductor who was guarding the door. He also took out his own certificates and handed them to him. Seeing his action, I also took out my ID and handed it to the conductor. The conductor carefully checked and compared our certificates and tickets, then made a gesture of asking inside and politely said, "comrades, please get on the bus. Have a good trip!" Two soldiers with luggage entered the carriage first. I followed them and wanted to walk in. Suddenly, I heard someone calling my name loudly: "Comrade oshanina, comrade oshanina, wait a minute, please wait a minute!" I went with Xie Jin, who was following me. I saw krochkov and several soldiers running out of the waiting hall. The two soldiers who had already got on the bus thought that something had happened, so they immediately threw away their luggage and ran down from the car. When krochkov came to us breathlessly, without waiting for me to speak, the man beside him asked in a strange voice, "Comrade krochkov, why are you running so fast? What''s the matter?" "Things have just changed," krochkov said breathlessly. "Your plan to go to Qiuming has been cancelled."¡° Why? " She asked curiously. Krochkov took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to scherking, saying: "Comrade Zhukov went to see the Supreme Commander himself last night. After a long conversation, the supreme commander gave Comrade Beria an order that he should be cautious in dealing with the issue of oshanina. This is the latest decision." Xie Jin unfolded the document and read in a low voice: "after studying and deciding, I now announce that I will cancel the decision to expel oshanina from the army and remove all his duties, demote her to major and send her to Leningrad today! Belia. "£¨ On June 22, 1941, one of the saddest days in Russian history, the Great Patriotic War officially began. On this day, Russians will remember those who died in the war, those who were enslaved by Communists, and those who died of hunger and cold. Russians will use their own way to mourn those who have dedicated their lives and completed their sacred mission to defend their great motherland. PS: to commemorate this special day

 Chapter 265

    The luggage carried by the soldiers on the train was picked up again and handed over to the soldiers brought by krochkov. At the same time, shaykin, who was in charge of escorting me, officially handed me over to krochkov.


    Outside the station, after watching shaykin and they left, krochkov and I got on the bus and drove in the opposite direction.


    Half an hour later, we arrived at a heavily guarded military airport.


    Looking out of the window and looking at the fighters and transport planes neatly parked on both sides of the runway, I suddenly felt a little familiar here, as if I had been here before. In this era, I don''t fly many times. One time, I came to Moscow from Leningrad to attend military meetings with a group of middle and senior commanders. The other time, I was escorted from the suburbs to the airport in the city with bezikov.


    Before I could figure out when it was, the car had stopped in front of a large transport plane. Krochkov turned to me from the front row and said, "Comrade oshanina, we''re here. Let''s get out of the car."


    As soon as I got out of the car, I found that at least 30 fully armed soldiers were on guard around the transport plane. At the tail of the plane, a group of soldiers are busy moving the things of a truck from the tail to the cabin.


    Seeing that the alert here is so strict, I can''t help but wonder what''s on the plane, that so many soldiers should be sent to guard the cargo. Curiously, I went near the moving team and looked over to see what was going on. I didn''t expect to see flour and sugar written on my pocket.


    Looking at the things carried by the soldiers, I couldn''t help but shrivel. I was full of disdain for the person in charge of arranging the soldiers'' guard. I said that it was a bit of a fuss to send so many soldiers to guard for these two common things.


    Krochkov, standing next to him, didn''t speak. It seemed that he was used to it. I was just about to ask him if I would take this plane to Leningrad, when he suddenly said excitedly, "here we are!"


    coming? Who''s here? His inexplicable words made me confused. I looked in the direction of his fingers and saw two black Jim cars coming from the direction of the command tower. I feel as if I know something now. There must be some important people going to Leningrad on the same plane. That''s why so many soldiers are on guard.


    As Jim drove closer and closer, krochkov sorted out his clothes and trotted up. I guessed what the big man was in the car, so I followed him.


    The car came to a steady stop beside krochkov. As soon as the car stopped, he stepped forward two steps, opened the door politely, and put his hand in the door to prevent the big people coming up from touching his head.


    When the big man in the car appeared, I couldn''t help looking a little silly. How could it be Zhukov? Is he going to Leningrad today? But no, in the effective history I know, he left Leningrad in October of 41 and didn''t go back until about 43 years ago. Is it because of the appearance of my butterfly that history has deviated again?


    I was a little excited to see Zhukov appear. After he finished shaking hands with krochkov, I quickly came forward to salute him. At this time, I sat and listened to his explanation. Instead of feeling relieved, I frowned. Originally, my boundless future was almost doomed because of your irresponsible news. If Zhukov didn''t plead for me, let alone keep his military status now, he would be killed after being exiled to Siberia.


    Originally, I wanted to take the opportunity to complain or even scold Zhukov, but I secretly glanced at Zhukov and found that he had sunk his face. I could only sigh in secret, pretending to be indifferent and said: "Comrade reporter, since the matter is over, don''t mention it any more. You see, I haven''t put this matter in my heart. Why do you still worry about it? " With that, I pretended to laugh two times, but the sound in my mouth is not like laughter, but more like crying, which can be heard by people who are not deaf.


    "Rita!" Zhukov came up to me, patted me on the shoulder and asked, "what do you think about this incident?"


    "No, I''m at the disposal of my superiors." I looked at Zhukov a little puzzled, wondering how he suddenly remembered to ask this question.


    "Is it?" Zhukov looked at me with a smile: "but I think you still have a lot of emotion in your heart."


    "No, you must be mistaken." I quickly denied it.


    Zhukov said with a smile, "but I just heard your laughter is worse than your cry."


    Zhukov saw through his mind. I scratched my head with embarrassment and said, "it''s hard to avoid feeling a little emotional when I was suddenly dismissed and demoted. But please rest assured that I will be all right soon. "


    "Do you know what''s wrong with being dismissed and demoted this time?"


    I took a guilty look at Zhukov, and then cautiously replied, "I shouldn''t have killed all the prisoners of war."


    Zhukov snorted again, and then said, "you are too impulsive! Do you understand? The main reason is impulse! At that time, you should call all the villagers together, make public the crimes of these vicious bandits, and then punish them openly. In this way, no one can say you are wrong. " When he said this, Zhukov''s eyes glanced aside.


    When I heard Zhukov say this, I was speechless. I didn''t think about all this, but I couldn''t control my emotions because of my hatred for Germany and Zhuoya''s broken body¡° Comrade o''shanina, I''m sorry. " Ellenburg once again apologized to me. "I was deeply angered when I learned the truth. If I were in your position at that time, I would not hesitate to give the same order as you. " After listening to his words, I felt that I could no longer hate him, and I said in my heart that maybe this is my life¡° I have one more thing to tell you, Rita Zhukov stood in front of me with his hands behind his back, looked me in the eyes and said, "today, comrade Stalin has just issued an order to the Western army: all the German officers and soldiers of the 332nd infantry will be shot on the spot, and we will never accept their surrender!"¡° Comrade general, the goods have been loaded and we are ready to go. " We were talking, but krochkov interrupted us inappropriately, "Comrade oshanina needs to report to Leningrad as soon as possible." I took a regretful look at Zhukov standing in front of me, saluted him and said goodbye. As he was about to turn around, ellenburg came running with a cloth bag and handed it to me. He said sincerely, "Comrade oshanina, Leningrad, besieged by the German army, is starving because of food shortage. Take this food with you. It''s a little bit of my heart I took the heavy bag, and my affection for him increased a little. I sincerely said to him, "thank you, comrade ellenburg. We''ll see you later. " With that, he turned to the tail of the plane¡° Rita I didn''t take a few steps when I heard Zhukov raise his voice behind me. I stopped and adjusted my breath to accept Zhukov''s lesson. To my surprise, instead of swearing, Zhukov took an AK47 and three clips from the accompanying soldiers, handed them to me, and said, "when you get to Leningrad, go to the commander immediately and ask him to arrange a suitable position for you."¡° Is the commander of Leningrad still major general fejaninski? " I know that fejiuningsky is Zhukov''s old subordinate. Maybe he will see Zhukov''s face and arrange an ideal place for me. Zhukov was very clever. From my simple questions, he guessed what I wanted to express and answered me: "shortly after you left Leningrad, fejiuningsky resigned as commander. Today''s commander is lieutenant general Huo Jin, who used to be my subordinate. "

 Chapter 266

    The plane will take off in five minutes. As there was no special seat, I had to sit in the cabin full of goods with a few soldiers on the same plane.


    At the beginning of the flight, I still felt good. When the plane rose to a certain height, the temperature in the cabin began to drop suddenly. Although I was wearing a thick military coat, I was still shivering with cold.


    It seems that the soldiers on the same plane often go back and forth to this route. They have rich experience in keeping out the cold. Soon after the temperature dropped, they skillfully took out the blanket from their backpack and put it on. Seeing that I was sneezing with cold, a kind-hearted soldier handed me a blanket and said in a friendly way, "Comrade commander, I still have an extra blanket here. Please use it first. Be careful not to freeze it."


    I looked at him gratefully, took the blanket from his hand and put it on my body. Thanks to this blanket, I was able to get to Leningrad without catching cold.


    After the plane landed at the airport, the back cabin opened, and I followed several soldiers out of the plane. As soon as I got off the plane, a second lieutenant came up to me. Before and after he came to me, he raised his hand to salute and politely asked, "Hello, comrade commander! Are you major oshanina from Moscow


    I looked down at my coat, which I had not yet worn, and then nodded and said, "yes, I''m major oshanina. Are you here to meet me


    The second lieutenant shook his head unexpectedly and said, "Comrade major, I''m bergkin, the platoon leader of the airport security. As the city is being shelled by the German army, the car that came to pick you up is trapped on the road. I have been ordered to take you to the duty room of the airport to have a rest first. "


    As I followed second lieutenant bergkin to the duty room, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "do the German often bombard the city?"


    "Yes," the second lieutenant gave me a positive answer. "It turns out that the German army still bombed the cities. When they thought it was a waste to bomb the besieged cities with valuable airplanes, they used cannons to bombard us instead."


    When I heard the second lieutenant say this, I could not help shivering. My heart said that it was much more dangerous here than Moscow. If I was killed by German shells on the way to smornie Palace today, I would be really unjust.


    Sitting in the duty room, you can see the plane just now. Around the plane, a dozen trucks were parked, and soldiers were unloading things. Although it was a little far away, I could see clearly that the small anti tank guns and heavy machine guns were unloaded. The soldiers carried all the flour and sugar on the plane to the empty truck, and then loaded the weapons unloaded from the truck into the plane.


    Seeing this scene, my curiosity rose again and I couldn''t help asking, "Comrade lieutenant, what are they doing?"


    The second lieutenant standing at the window said without looking back: "this plane is for weapons produced in Leningrad. Because of the shortage of food in the city, the transport plane will bring us a full plane of food every time."


    Just as I wanted to know more about Leningrad, the second lieutenant suddenly said, "Comrade major, here comes your car." Then he opened the door and went out.


    I was met by a lieutenant and a driver. When Jim''s car stopped steadily outside the duty room, the lieutenant came out of the car, ran to me, stood at attention, saluted, and loudly reported, "Hello, major! I''m Lieutenant Ivanov from headquarters. I''m here to meet you


    I raised my hand to give him a salute, then extended my hand to him and said in a friendly way, "Hello, comrade lieutenant, thank you for coming to meet me."


    After shaking hands with me, Ivanov made a gesture of invitation and said, "Comrade major, please get on the bus. Because of the German bombardment, we have already wasted a lot of time. If we don''t go any further, it will be dark when we get to smornie palace. "


    The driver''s skill is very good, driving Jim car, driving at high speed on the potholes of the road, only half an hour, arrived at the gate of Smolny officer.


    The entrance of Smolny palace is covered with a huge camouflage net. Although it is not dark yet, the light here is very dark. We got off at the door. After the driver drove away, I followed Ivanov to the building.


    The guards on duty at the gate, whether they are officers or soldiers, are extremely strict with the inspection of the people in and out. All kinds of signs show that Ivanov and these guards are very familiar, but from the gate, he had to show his identification to the sentry three times in a row. After checking his documents, the young officers who served as guards checked my documents again and again. Even the officers at the sentry called the relevant departments to ask if I was qualified to enter the smornie palace.


    Ivanov took me to the gate of the building, stopped and said, "Comrade major, according to my authority, I can only send you here, and you can only walk the rest of the way."


    I reached for him, shook his hand and said, "thank you, comrade lieutenant. We''ll see you later. "


    Ivanov nodded at me, saluted and turned away.


    When I went up to the second floor, it occurred to me that I didn''t know on which floor lieutenant general Huo Jin''s office was. I didn''t expect to ask Lieutenant Ivanov about it just now. Now I have to wander in the corridor of Smolny palace, hoping to find the commander''s office according to the name signs on every door. However, I was soon disappointed that there were no name signs on the door. Perhaps for reasons of confidentiality, those signs had been removed for a long time. Today, only narrow light color marks are left on the door. I hesitated to ask where Huo Jin''s office was as soon as I met someone. After wandering for a long time, I was going back to the hall downstairs to ask the guards for the room number I was looking for. As soon as I turned around, I met a commander who was coming out of the nearest door.


    The commander didn''t see me wandering in the corridor, so he went straight in the opposite direction, farther and farther away from me. I summoned up the courage to catch up quickly, and at the same time, I raised my voice and cried, "Comrade commander, please wait a moment!"

 Chapter 267

    The commander stopped, slowly turned around and gave me an absent-minded look. Then he looked serious and asked in a business like tone, "Comrade commander, what can I do for you?"


    Before I could speak, the expression on his face changed from seriousness to surprise, and he said in surprise, "my God, isn''t this my Rita Cheka? Am I right? Is it you or your ghost that appears in front of me


    He knows me? I couldn''t help but be surprised. I quickly rubbed my eyes and carefully observed the commander in front of me with the help of the dim light in the corridor. Looking closely, I realized that it was my old acquaintance, Willa''s father, Colonel Korolev, who worked in the headquarters. Compared with a few months ago, he was much thinner, so that I didn''t recognize him at a glance.


    I quickly straightened up, made a stand at attention posture, saluted him: "Comrade Colonel, how do you do!"


    "Why haven''t you seen me for a few months? When you were in Leningrad, you always called me uncle Pavel. " "Of course, as a former general, it''s understandable to pretend that he doesn''t know me as a little Colonel," Korolev said with a kind sarcasm


    "Uncle Pavel," he said, and I felt a fever on my face. I quickly explained, "it''s not what you think. I''m glad to meet you here. However, according to the regulations, if you see the commander, you should salute... "


    "You and I are old acquaintances. Besides, you and my daughter vera are still best friends, so we don''t need to talk about these empty rites. Why, are you here to find Comrade commander? "


    When he said that, I thought of the purpose I had just stopped him, and immediately added, "yes, uncle Bavier, I''ve been ordered to report to commander horzin. I don''t know where his office is, so I always... "


    "I''ve been wandering in the corridor, haven''t I?" He gave a little smile and then said, "what would you do if you didn''t happen to see me in the corridor?"


    I quickly explained, "I don''t know where the commander''s office is, so just now I was going to go downstairs to inquire about the guards. Unexpectedly, I met you."


    "Lieutenant General Huo Jin took the engineers of the headquarters to inspect the defense of the Kirov factory. It is estimated that he will come back very late. I have been authorized to arrange new work for you. Now let''s go to my office together! "


    I followed him along the carpeted corridor.


    We soon came to a door, and he went up and opened it. Entering the room, I saw that it was a small reception room. Near the door of the inner room, there was a small table with a second lieutenant sitting there. Seeing us at the door, the second lieutenant immediately got up and saluted us. At the same time, he looked at Korolev with a hint of inquiry.


    The Colonel immediately pointed to the second lieutenant and said to me, "Rita, this is my adjutant, second lieutenant zirkov." After the second lieutenant beckoned him to come, he introduced me and said, "zirkov, this is oshanina that I often mention to you."


    After listening to Korolev''s introduction, zirkov stepped forward and saluted me again. He held my hand excitedly and said, "Hello, comrade general, I''m glad to meet you here!"


    I gave him a wry smile, then corrected him and said, "Comrade lieutenant, I am only a major now, not a major general."


    "You are always a great general in my mind. It''s great that you killed so many German men in order to avenge our comrades! You know, our colleagues who know your story admire you very much.... "


    "Enough, comrade lieutenant." Korolev suddenly interrupted what he said behind him and said with a straight face, "call major general hilov and brigade political commissar Higgins and ask them to come to my office." After giving orders to his adjutant, he waved his head at me and said, "Rita, come with me to the office."


    When he entered the office, he went straight to his desk and said to me, "Rita, please sit down now. You don''t have to take off your coat if you like. Because of the lack of fuel, the furnaces here are not flourishing. "


    I sat down in a armchair not far away, put the bag I had been carrying under my feet, took off my hat and held it in my hand.


    "Well, talk about it," said Korolev, and sat down¡° I''ve heard about you in Moscow, and I know you''ve played well. It''s just that I think you are too impulsive to shoot those German prisoners. Is it worth ordering so many people to be killed for the sake of irrelevant people, and thus ruining one''s own future? "


    I don''t want to discuss the killing of prisoners with anyone at the moment, so I digged off the topic and said, "Uncle Bavier, I haven''t seen you for only a few months. Why have you lost so much weight?"


    After hearing my question, Korolev was obviously stunned for a moment, and then said slowly, "due to the siege of Leningrad by the German army, there was a shortage of food in the city, and the relevant authorities implemented the ration certificate system. Because there is very little food that can enter the city every day, we have to cut the food quota of the army and the people again and again. Only two months ago, the concept of "dietetic malnutrition" was understood only by doctors who came to the clinic or carried patients on stretchers to write a medical history. The concept of concept has become a household name for all leningrads. "


    I understand that the German siege led to the shortage of food and materials in Leningrad, and hundreds of people died of hunger every day. Even middle-level officers like Korolev were affected by the lack of food. The captain got up from behind the table, shaking a little, but he held the table by his hand to avoid falling. Then he straightened up and walked with firm steps towards the wall with the map. He went to the map of the city, pointed to the map with a stick and said to me, "in late December, we opened an ice transportation line on the frozen lake Lado. With this ice transportation line, we can evacuate the old people, women and children in the city and bring in the necessary supplies at the same time." Although his words have not been finished, I have already guessed the position I am going to take, so I can''t help but ask tentatively, "Uncle Pavel, I want to know what position you are going to arrange for me to defend the ice transportation line?" Korolev was very satisfied with my understanding ability. He nodded and said, "because the ice transportation line has not been opened for a long time and various facilities are not complete, it''s very cold there, but the number of heating sheds we set up is seriously insufficient. At the same time, the German army sends planes to bombard and strafe our ice transport line every day, so we urgently need commanders with air defense experience to transport and command the anti-aircraft artillery troops deployed there. " I nodded, stood up and said, "I see, uncle Bavier. I don''t know what scale of air defense forces I can command, a company or a platoon, or even a class. " On hearing this, Korolev put down his stick with a smile, came up to me, patted me on the shoulder and said, "Rita, you really look down on yourself. At present, the air defense area of the ice transportation line is divided into three sections, each of which is about five kilometers long. We intend to appoint you as the commander of an anti-aircraft artillery battalion, and you will be responsible for the air defense of the middle section of the road. " As he walked back to his desk, I sat back in my armchair. I accidentally raised my foot as if I had kicked something. I looked down and saw that it was the cloth bag that ellenburg gave me at the airport. What''s in the bag? I haven''t opened it for a long time. If I hadn''t picked it up, I would have thrown it away. I bent down, frowned, opened the bag, opened the mouth and looked inside. I found two buns, a tin of canned fish, two tins of condensed milk and seven or eight boiled potatoes in it. Seeing what it was, I felt less disgusted with ellenburg. You should know that in peace time, these things are not worth much money at all, but in Leningrad at this time, they are more precious than gold. These things can save at least several people''s lives. I took out the canned fish and a tin of condensed milk, went to Korolev''s table, put it gently in front of him, and said, "Uncle Bavier, I didn''t bring you anything when I came to Leningrad this time. This is my gift to you. " When Korolev saw the canned fish and condensed milk placed in front of him, he stood up and said in a flurry, "Rita, you''d better keep these things for yourself. You know, there is a shortage of everything in Leningrad. Maybe you can use them at any time."¡° Uncle Bavier, "seeing that he kept staring at the canned milk and condensed milk in front of him, knowing that he was being polite, he pushed the two things in front of him a little bit," this is my gift for you. Please accept it anyway. " Seeing that I insisted on it again and again, he naturally accepted it, and at the same time, he repeatedly expressed his thanks to me. There was a slight knock outside the door, and then the adjutant, second lieutenant zirkov, pushed the door and came in. Standing straight at the door, he reported to Korolev, "Comrade Colonel, major general hilov and brigade political commissar Higgin are here!"¡° Invite them in When the two future superiors came into the room, I had stood up from my chair, put on my military cap, and saluted them politely. Korolev came out from behind the table, shook hands with them, and then began to introduce major general hilolev and brigade political commissar Higgins to me. Tall and thin, with two gold stars on the diamond neckband of the military coat is major general hilov; The other fat man with eyes and of medium build is Xijin, a tourist political commissar. The conversation with the two superiors was very brief. They repeated what Korolev had just said to me and repeatedly stressed to me the importance of ice transportation line. This is the only ground transportation line in Leningrad that keeps in touch with the outside world besides air transportation line. It is the life line of Leningrad. Even if you sacrifice your life, you should protect her.

 Chapter 268

    After consulting with them, Korolev decided that political commissar Xijin would accompany me to take office. When we walked out of the building, I saw that it was dark outside.


    While waiting for the commissar''s Jim''s car to arrive, Ivanov, who took me to Smolny palace, did not know where he came from. As soon as he saw me, he came running over quickly. From a long distance, he cried out: "Comrade major, I''ll wait until you come out. Here is your luggage


    I took his luggage and assault rifle, laughed at him and said, "thank you, Lieutenant Ivanov. I''m sorry to have kept you waiting so long outside. "


    "Never mind, that''s what I should do." As he said this, he unconsciously glanced at Higgins standing beside me, and then said, "if there''s nothing wrong, I''ll leave first."


    I nodded to thank him again.


    He saluted me and Higgins and turned away.


    Shortly after the lieutenant left, a black EM car slowly pulled up in front of us and stopped. After the car stopped, the driver opened the door and quickly came around the back of the car. He opened the rear door and asked political commissar Xijin to get on the car.


    I plan to put my luggage into the trunk by myself. Unexpectedly, the driver has already taken the luggage in my hand, opened the trunk and put it in. Originally, I wanted to take the co pilot''s seat. As a result, Higgins, who was sitting in the back seat, called me and said, "Comrade oshanina, you can also sit in the back. Come on." So I stooped into the car, held the gun in my arms, and sat side by side with Higgins.


    Compared with the jeep, the off-road performance of the EM car is much worse. The driver has to slow down again and again when there are potholes on the road, so that the journey from smornie palace to the lakeside takes nearly an hour.


    Due to the special pass pasted on the window, the checkpoint on the way saw the car driving far away and lifted the railing to let it go. There are dozens of meters away from the frozen lake, and another checkpoint appears in front. Under the light of the car lights, you can see the fence of the checkpoint and a raised earth house type shelter covered with snow. Two soldiers in short fur coats and submachine guns were pacing up and down the fence.


    I thought this checkpoint would be like those in front of us, and we would raise the railings all the way to let us pass. I didn''t expect that the car would stop one or two meters in front of the railing, but the two soldiers on duty were still unmoved.


    A soldier went to the left side of the car, bent down and said to the driver, "it''s ordered that lake Lado be closed at night."


    "Hello, comrade sergeant." The driver said with some displeasure, "I have a task. I want to send the new commander to the anti-aircraft gun camp immediately. Get the railings up quickly. "


    The sergeant didn''t answer him. Instead, he went to the window where political commissar Higgins was. He bent down and tapped on the window. After Higgins rolled the window down, he said, "Comrade commander, please show me your identification."


    "This is Comrade Xijin, the brigade political commissar responsible for protecting the ice transportation line." The driver said angrily.


    "Comrade Sergeant did the right thing." Political commissar Higgins stopped the driver from complaining. He unbuttoned his fur coat, took out his ID and handed it out.


    The sergeant on duty took his certificate. Instead of looking at it immediately, he looked at me with his eyes and asked, "Comrade commander, what''s your certificate?" I whooped and immediately took out my military card from my satchel. After a little hesitation, I handed it over.


    The sergeant took my ID, went to the front of the car, bent down and checked our ID in the light of the car lights.


    After looking through our documents, the sergeant suddenly stood up straight, walked over and whispered a few words to another soldier, then turned and walked towards the earth house bunker, while the remaining soldier pointed his submachine gun at us.


    "What''s the matter? Do you think we are saboteurs?" The driver pushed the door open and wanted to get out of the car and argue with him. Unexpectedly, the soldier pulled the bolt and yelled, "get back to the car now, or I''ll shoot!"


    The driver saw the loaded black hole, the muzzle of the gun pointed at him, had to mutter and obediently sit back in the car, and closed the door.


    "Comrade political commissar, what''s the matter?" I felt a little puzzled about the accident, so I asked the political commissar Xijin sitting beside me.


    Higgins shook his head and said, "I don''t know. The soldiers on duty at this checkpoint are really baffling. It seems that their superiors will be called to have a good training tomorrow."


    We didn''t have much time. There were seven or eight people running out of the earth house type bunker. They came up with weapons and surrounded our car in the middle.


    Seeing this, Higgins could not help being angry. He pushed the door open and went out, yelling, "what are you trying to do? Let your commander come out to see me. "


    Just now, the sergeant lowered his gun and came to Higgins and said, "Comrade commander, we suspect that there are German spies in your car, so we will detain you temporarily until our superior arrives. Now please go back to the car or we''ll shoot you. "


    "It''s no sense, it''s no sense." Higgins grinned into the car and closed the door.


    Holding an assault rifle in my arms, I looked at what happened in front of me strangely, thinking: who is the German spy on the car? Is it the political commissar Higgins around me? Thinking of this, I can''t help but quietly move my body to the side. Kung Fu is not big, a truck full of soldiers came from behind us. The driver''s skill is very high. When he stops, he firmly butts the front of the car against the back of our car in case we suddenly turn around and run away. The soldiers jumped out of the car one by one and surrounded our car in the middle with weapons. After the encirclement, an officer came down from the cab. Although the light was weak, I could see that it was a captain officer. When he saw his commander get out of the car, the sergeant immediately welcomed him, handed over his certificate and pointed in our direction, as if to introduce the situation to his superior. The captain looked at the papers for a while, and then came to us with a big stride. He went to the right side of the car, pulled the rear door open, and then said to me in a stern tone, "lesbian, please get out of the car." I looked at the captain outside the car and asked coldly, "why?" Without saying a word, the captain reached out and touched the gun at his waist. How could I let him do what he wanted? As soon as I raised my hand, the barrel of the assault rifle was on his throat. He didn''t expect that I would be suddenly in trouble. His hand, which had touched the holster, could only stop there obediently and didn''t dare to move¡° Captain kuselev, "political commissar Higgins, sitting next to me, obviously knew the officer. He roared angrily," can you tell me what''s going on? "¡° Political commissar Xijin, is that you? " Unexpectedly, the captain also knew the Commissar. Facing the muzzle of the gun I pointed at him, he said with a sad face: "I received a report from my soldiers that a car carrying German spies was intercepted at the checkpoint, so I brought people to rush here."¡° Nonsense, there are no German spies here. " Higgins said angrily, "tell your men to put down their guns first."¡° Put it down. Everybody put the guns down. " Although the captain did not dare to make any drastic moves under my gun, it did not prevent him from giving orders to his subordinates. Seeing that the soldiers defending us lowered their guns, Higgins patted me on the shoulder and said, "Comrade oshanina, put down your guns, too. It''s all your own. There may be some misunderstanding." With that, he pushed the door open and went out. Seeing that the danger was over, I removed the muzzle of the gun, closed the insurance, and got out of the car with political commissar Higgins. Higgins came around from the front of the car, stood in front of the captain, and asked gravely, "Captain kuselev, tell me, what''s the matter?" The captain handed a certificate to Higgins and said excitedly, "Comrade commissar, please have a look. There is something wrong with the certificate of the female... Female commander. " Higgins took the papers, frowned and asked, "what''s the problem?" The captain glanced at me and saw that I was looking at him calmly. He didn''t look like he would be in trouble again. Then he carefully explained to the commissar, "Comrade commissar, look. Her rank on the military card is major general, but you see she is wearing the rank of major now. " After listening to the captain''s explanation, I realized that it was a misunderstanding. I knew there would be misunderstanding because of the rank. When I was in Smolny palace just now, I was not in a hurry to wear the rank. Higgins handed back the papers to me, then snorted coldly and said, "before being transferred to Leningrad, comrade oshanina was the chief of staff of the 20th group army and the commander of the 8th division of Jinwei. Her rank of major general was promoted personally by Comrade Stalin. Later, because of an accident, he became a major again. " When I heard Comrade Stalin''s personal promotion, there was no accident that there was a sound of air-conditioning. Originally, it was worth showing off that I was promoted by the supreme commander, but now that I was demoted, I can only smile bitterly. Higgins reprimanded captain kuselev standing in front of him: "because of the discrepancy between the rank and the certificate, you are regarded as a German spy. If I didn''t send major oshanina to the air defense camp in person today, she would be arrested and shot as a spy by you! For the two soldiers on duty today, we must deal with them seriously. Now that the Pulkovo highland is short of manpower, send them there! " For Higgin''s reprimand, the captain had no choice but to promise and dare not have the slightest excuse. After scolding the captain, Higgins opened the door and got into the car again. He told me to get in, too. The soldiers who had originally surrounded us gave way to both sides of the road, and the truck at the back of our car also retreated a few meters. Captain kuselev himself ran to the railing, pressed the short end of the fence, and the fence rose slowly. Seeing that the railings had been raised, the driver stepped on the accelerator and the car moved forward again.

 Chapter 269

    After leaving the checkpoint, for a long time, no one spoke in the car, and the car drove forward silently.


    I accidentally looked up and saw the driver smiling in the rearview mirror. He couldn''t help but ask strangely, "Comrade driver, what are you laughing at?"


    "Comrade major, you are really great." The driver unexpectedly replied, "I didn''t expect that you had been a general, and you were the only female general in the history of our army."


    I answered with a bitter smile: "what female general?! That''s all in the past. I''m just a major now. " After that, I turned to the next political commissar Xijin and said, "Comrade political commissar, in order to avoid similar misunderstanding, do you think you can replace my military ID card as soon as possible?"


    After listening to me, the political commissar nodded in agreement.


    I looked curiously out of the window into the darkness, but except for a small area in front illuminated by the lights, there was nothing to notice. I wanted to ask Higgins, but I found that he was keeping his eyes closed. So I turned to the driver and asked him, "Comrade driver, how long do we have to get to Lake Ladoga?"


    "Comrade major, we are already driving on Lake Ladoga." The driver said without looking back.


    The car drove on the ice of Lake Ladoga for a few minutes, and the piercing wind came into the car from time to time. I was shivering with cold, even my teeth. I couldn''t help thinking that I was frozen into this virtue when I was sitting in the car. How could those soldiers who were on duty on the ice stand such cold?


    I looked around and finally found that the cold wind was blowing in from the window of the political commissar. I want the commissar to roll up the window, but I''m sorry to disturb the secluded Higgins. When he was in a dilemma, the commissar opened his eyes, looked around and said, "what''s the matter? Why is it so cold in the car? Where does the cold wind come from? "


    I pointed to the window beside him and said, "Comrade political commissar, it''s your window that is not closed tightly."


    Hearing what I said, he quickly shook the handle and closed the window. As soon as the window was closed, the cold wind stopped pouring in, and I felt a lot warmer in the car.


    "Comrade o''shanina," he said with concern, "I didn''t expect it to be so cold on this lake. You should keep warm. If you get frostbite, you will be in trouble."


    I nodded and just wanted to say thank you. Suddenly I saw the outline of the anti-aircraft gun device beside me. To be more precise, I saw the towering barrel, because the rest of it was blocked by the parapet made of snow. Some antiaircraft guns are built on the snow parapet. Behind it, a dimly recognizable tent flashed in the distance. I think it''s probably the accommodation of antiaircraft artillery.


    I pointed out and asked, "is that where we''re going?"


    The commissar looked out of the window and asked the driver, "is that the camp for the women''s antiaircraft artillery company?"


    The driver stopped the car steadily and replied, "yes, comrade political commissar. We''re at our destination. "


    The three of us got out of the car, and the driver volunteered to be our guide in front of us. We walked along the parapet that covered the anti-aircraft guns, smearing the direction of the tent.


    "Stop! What do you do? " Suddenly a voice of vigilance came from the front.


    The sudden sound startled all three of us. Instinctively, I aimed my assault rifle at the direction of the sound and almost pulled the trigger.


    After a short silence, the driver came forward and said in a loud voice, "don''t be nervous, comrade soldier. We are here for your commander."


    "Hello Although heard the driver say so, but the opposite voice is still a little nervous, "you all stop, away from our military equipment, do not come, otherwise, I will shoot."


    I recognized that the other side was a sentry on duty. I was relieved. I lowered my gun and walked slowly towards her position. At the same time, I said, "Comrade soldier, don''t be nervous. My name is o''shanina. I''m the new commander of your antiaircraft artillery battalion. I''m here to find your commander. "


    Hearing my voice, the other side seemed relieved, and then timidly said: "the other people don''t want to move, just you come slowly."


    I turned to Higgins and the driver and said, "Comrade commissar, you stay here first. I''ll go and have a look." Then he walked slowly with his assault rifle in the direction of the sound.


    I went to the place a few meters away from the female soldier and stopped. Seeing that I stopped, the female soldier on duty pressed the flashlight and shook it on my face. Then I heard a dry voice report: "report commander comrade, soldier clarissina is on duty, waiting for your instructions."


    "Go on duty." By the time I said this, I had come to her and asked, "where is the commander of your company?"


    She pointed to a tent that was about 20 meters away from the back and said, "Comrade commander, company commander and instructor are all in that tent."


    "Well, I see. You go on duty. "


    "Yes With a loud promise, clarksina took up her gun and began to walk back and forth in front of the antiaircraft artillery position. I asked Higgins and the driver to come and walk to the tent together. Outside the tent, the driver tried to lift the curtain to get in, but I stopped him. I stood outside the tent and politely asked, "may I come in?" There was silence in the tent, and then a woman''s voice said, "come in!" I lifted the curtain and went in first, followed by the commissar and the driver. There were two female officers in the tent, neither of whom was wearing a military cap. The instructor with golden hair was sitting opposite the door, while the other officer with her back facing us, though her rank could not be seen, should be the commander of the female soldier company. When the young instructor saw us go in, he stood up and saluted us. He told Higgins dryly, "report to the brigade political commissar. The instructor of the women''s antiaircraft artillery company, Orlova, will report to you and wait for your orders." The female officer sitting with her back to us also stood up. She was a slender young woman with a medal pinned on her chest. Her black hair was rolled into a smooth bun behind her head. She also saluted us. At the same time, she seriously reported: "report to the political commissar, Lieutenant kiryanova, the commander of the women''s anti-aircraft artillery company, report to you and wait for your instructions." Political commissar Xijin also gave a military salute, and then introduced me to them: "Hello girls! I''d like to introduce you to major oshanina, the new commander of the second antiaircraft artillery battalion. She will command you later. " Clarissina first shook hands with me and politely said, "Hello! It''s a pleasure to meet you, major! " But lieutenant kirianova, who was standing in front of me, seemed to be under some magic spell. He stood there motionless, staring at me, his mouth twitching constantly, and his expression was like seeing some family member who had been reunited for a long time. Clarissina, who was beside her, gently pulled the corner of her dress and quietly reminded her, "Hello, comrade company commander, what''s the matter with you?" Lieutenant kirianova sprang on me, hugged me tightly, and exclaimed excitedly, "is that you, Rita? Honey, I always thought you died. I didn''t expect you to live. That''s great When I was hugged by the lieutenant, I was stunned for a moment, but when I heard her address and what she said, I immediately remembered that she was kirianova, who was the Deputy platoon leader of 171 women''s anti-aircraft artillery platoon. At that time, she was still a sergeant, but she didn''t expect to see her for several months. She also became an officer. I didn''t expect to meet an acquaintance here, who I knew when I just crossed. When I hugged her tightly, I couldn''t control my emotion any more, and my tears came down.

 Chapter 270

    When I held kirianova tightly, I could not help thinking about the scenes when I first met her.


    That day, I turned into Rita, dragging my wounded body, trying to keep sober, staggering forward behind the line of prisoners and the lieutenant in charge of escorting them.


    Waded the river with difficulty. It''s almost out of the forest. I feel more and more tired and I can''t support myself, but I dare not stop because I know that once I fall down, I can''t get up again. The only thing we can do is to follow the brigadier in front and go on until we reach our destination.


    In the silent forest, only heavy steps were ringing.


    Li Ming is quiet here.


    All of a sudden, countless Red Army soldiers emerged from the surrounding forests, hills and rivers. They came to us shouting. At the front, in addition to commander Rostov, commander of brigadier vaskov, there was another female soldier, Sergeant kiryanova, deputy platoon leader of antiaircraft artillery company of guard 171. Seeing that our small team of pursuing the German army had not returned, they took the large army to search for us in the forest.


    I remember fainting as soon as I reported the results to major Rostov.


    When I opened my eyes again, I found that I was lying on a temporary stretcher. Several male soldiers were carrying me in the dense forest, while sergeant kirianova, the Deputy platoon leader, was closely following the stretcher, wiping tears while walking.


    "Kirianova," I called her in a weak voice, and she immediately bent down, grabbed my right hand and asked me with concern, "how are you feeling, Rita?"


    "I''m not going to die. When I die, who will take care of my mother and my son, Alec?" I can''t help saying this, though I didn''t want to say it. It seems that Lida''s body has the final say in my own body.


    Kirianova nodded and wiped her tears, comforting me and saying, "Rita, no, no, you won''t die. Hold on a little longer, and we''ll be back at the station soon. "


    Later, vaskov and I were sent to the military hospital in Leningrad by the major. When I got well injured and inquired about the whereabouts of the brigadier general and the women soldiers, I knew that 171 will let the German army occupy it, and the troops nearby were scattered, so I lost contact with them completely. I didn''t expect to see my old superior in the tent of the women''s air defense company on Lake Ladoga today. I was overjoyed.


    "Comrade company commander," the instructor next to me interrupted my memory. She pulled kiriyanova''s clothes and whispered, "comrade company commander, comrade brigade political commissar is still here."


    After my separation from kiriyanova, while she was still wiping tears and dressing, I first stabilized my mood and apologized to Higgins and said, "I''m sorry, comrade political commissar, please forgive me. I didn''t expect to meet Comrade kirianova here. She used to be my platoon leader, and then I lost contact with her when I was wounded in the battle and sent to the hospital in Leningrad. I didn''t expect to meet her here today, so please forgive me for my temporary gaffe. "


    Higgins laughed and said, "it''s a good thing that old comrades in arms meet again. Anyway, I''ve already sent you to your destination. There''s nothing for me here. I won''t delay you to talk about the past. I''ll go back to the city. "


    "Comrades of political commissar," said kiriyanova, urging him to stay, "it''s dark and it''s hard to go. You can rest here for one night. There is an empty tent next to it. You can live there with the driver tonight. "


    The commissar looked at his watch, shook his head and said, "no, it''s just eight o''clock now. It''s just the right time to rush back."


    At this time, I found out that the driver was not there. I just wanted to ask the Commissar. The driver came in with my luggage in his hand. He put his luggage on the floor and said, "Comrade major, I''ve got your luggage." Before I could reply, he turned around and said to Higgins, "Comrade commissar, the car hasn''t stopped. Shall we start now?"


    Higgins nodded and said, "OK, let''s go." He shook hands with us one by one, then lifted the curtain and left with the driver.


    When the political commissar and I left, kirianova took me to the table and asked curiously, "Rita, where have you been in the past few months? Why haven''t you heard from me?"


    The instructor, Orlova, echoed, "yes, Rita, just tell us about it. I often hear the company commander mention you. She tells me that you once shot down a German plane and followed brigadier vaskov to pursue the German devils who sneaked into the rear of our army. When you came back from the mission, you were seriously injured. After being sent to the hospital in Leningrad, she completely lost your message. "


    I chuckled and said, "it''s a long story. I''ll talk to you later. Comrade platoon leader, after I recovered my injury in the hospital, marshal tovoroshilov once inquired about your whereabouts. The result is that 171 will be occupied by the German army. Not only you and brigadier vaskov have no news, but also major Rostov, who is in charge of our command, is missing. Can you tell me what happened while I was in hospital? "


    "Marshal voroshlov?" The instructor looked at me with adoring eyes and asked in surprise, "have you ever seen the marshal himself?"¡° yes. I''ve seen it more than once. " I answered faintly, saying that if you knew that I had even seen Stalin, you would faint in excitement. Kiriyanova pushed a cup of hot tea in front of me, and then began to tell the story that happened when I left 171 will let the hospital: "shortly after you and brigadier vaskov were sent to the hospital in Leningrad, the German army launched a new offensive. Although our soldiers fought tenaciously and fought for every inch of land with the enemy, they still couldn''t stop their attack. After major Rostov''s railway terminal was occupied by the German army, almost a company of soldiers, highlighting the enemy''s encirclement, escorted the injured major to the 171 meeting station. As a result, the German army followed and launched a fierce battle with us. Being outnumbered, after half a day''s fighting, all the other soldiers, including major Rostov, died bravely except me and a few soldiers who escaped from the encirclement on the lake. " Seeing kiriyanova''s painful face as she recalled the past, I patted her on the back of her hand and asked in a low voice, "do you know the whereabouts of brigadier vaskov?" She shook her head instinctively, then nodded vigorously. I was confused by her contradictory expression. I asked curiously, "do you know about Comrade Zhunge Wei?" She suddenly showed embarrassment, look a little flustered, Huo stood up and answered me: "I have heard some news about him, but I can''t be sure."¡° Whether it''s true or not, let''s hear it. " To tell you the truth, I am very concerned about the whereabouts of the first person I saw after crossing¡° It is said that after coming out of the hospital, the brigadier general was transferred to a temporary unit and took part in the battle to defend the polkovo highlands. He had already died in the battle. It has also been said that after leaving hospital, comrade Zhun Wei went directly to the railway terminal and took part in the fighting there. After most of the troops broke through the encirclement, he also highlighted the encirclement and joined the guerrillas. " Although I didn''t know the exact news of vaskov from kiriyanova''s mouth, my heart was still down, because at the end of the novel, comrade zhungewei went to find Rita''s son and brought him up. At the moment, although vaskov''s whereabouts are unknown, he is lucky and will live well. When I was thinking wildly, I heard Orlova''s voice again: "Comrade major, you used to be a subordinate of company commander, but now you are a major. There must be a lot of legendary experience. Let''s tell you your story."¡° Yes, Rita Kiriyanova also said: "I haven''t seen you in just a few months. You have become a major. There must be a lot of stories. Let''s listen to them." I coughed and began to tell my story to them.

 Chapter 271

    My experience in Moscow can be called a legend. Just by chance, in just a few months, I was promoted from a small corporal to a major general level, and even directly commanded a main division. In the whole process of telling, I told my story in a flat tone, without any artistic processing. What I have experienced is really incredible to the uninformed outsider. The answer based on the facts will make people feel that the arrogance has been blown to the sky. If we add more oil and vinegar, it will be even more unbelievable.


    Although they had long suspected that my experience in Moscow was unusual, they still exclaimed from time to time when they really listened to me. Especially when I heard that I was interviewed by Stalin, Orlova screamed excitedly like an innocent little girl.


    But I didn''t tell them everything. I just mentioned some things that I didn''t think were of any importance. I didn''t mention the strange subway trains and Florin engineers at all. After all, no one can know such secrets, even the closest ones.


    In the course of my story, Orlova got up to add coke to the stove in the corner of the tent twice, and from time to time she added hot tea to our cups. Because it was a little hot in the tent, I got up and took off my coat outside, revealing my uniform inside.


    When the two men saw the medal hanging on their chest, there was another cry of surprise. Kiriyanova looked away from the medal to my face and asked curiously, "Rita, can you tell us more about how you got these medals?"


    Although I feel that she regards me as the king of stories, I still have to say something about the medal. So I pointed to one of the red flag medals and said to them, "this red flag medal was won by me on the eve of the October Revolution Day, and my partner, instructor krochkov, won the medal at the same time. We also led the troops to participate in the parade in red square the next day. Unfortunately, he died in the battle to defend volokoramsk soon


    "Krochkov?" Kiriyanova repeated the name, frowning and trying to recall where she had heard it: "it''s a familiar name. I seem to have heard of someone before."


    "Comrade company commander, of course you are familiar with the name." "Do you forget that two months ago, our superiors called on us to learn from him. He said that he led 28 soldiers to tenaciously block the attack of German tank troops, and all of them died bravely in the end. His slogan at that time: although Russia is big, we have no way back, because Moscow is behind us. This is a famous saying that we all remember. "


    After her reminding, kiriyanova suddenly realized: "yes, yes, there is such a thing. Comrade instructor, I can''t remember what you didn''t say. " Then he looked at me with envious eyes and said, "Rita, I envy you for being a partner with such a great hero."


    I didn''t want to keep talking to them about my own affairs, so I tried to get out of the way and asked, "kiryanova, tell me about the army."


    Kirianova turned her eyes to Orlova and said, "let the instructor introduce the situation to you."


    Orlova nodded and said, "let me first talk about the importance of ice transportation lines. You may have heard in Moscow that Leningrad suffered from famine because of the siege, and thousands of people were starved to death. " Said here, she stopped for a moment, pay attention to my expression changes, see I nodded thoughtfully, just continue to say.


    In fact, I nodded, not as she imagined, to know that Leningrad was besieged by the German army, and thousands of citizens were starved to death. I didn''t hear from others in Moscow, but learned from later history books.


    "After the outbreak of the war, according to the meeting of the residents evacuation Committee. The children and old people in the city should be sent out of the city anyway. It''s not only to save their lives and protect them from hunger and cold, but also to free the city from "idle people", because every piece of bread is very precious now.


    Evacuate those who do not need to stay in the front-line cities, and evacuate those experts. Without them, some factories and enterprises in Leningrad, which began to move to the East soon after the outbreak of the war, would be difficult to start. At first people went out by rail, then by Lake Ladoga. But evacuation has been suspended since Lake Ladoga began to freeze and shipping stopped.


    Now, after opening up the ice transportation line, the evacuation work has officially resumed. "


    I took a sip of the slightly cool black tea in front of me and said, "go on."


    "Four road construction regiments, three independent bridge construction camps, two workers'' camps and two independent workers'' companies initially guaranteed the safe transportation of the ice transportation line of Lake Ladoga. Later, in order to ensure the safety of the ice transportation line, the front army sent a infantry regiment. In addition to the concentration of strong anti-aircraft artillery on both sides of Lake Ladoga and on the island of jelenitz; At the same time, on the ice, portable rapid fire guns are mounted every three kilometers, and multi barrel anti-aircraft mechanism guns are mounted every five hundred meters. The planes of the front army and the Navy patrol around Lake Ladoga day and night


    When Orlova finished, kirianova added: "as our location is the focus of German aircraft bombing, our company moved here two days ago." Time passed unconsciously in our chat, until a voice outside the tent suddenly interrupted our conversation¡° May I come in? "¡° It''s a soldier in the cooking class. " Orlova explained to me, then said out loud, "come in." The man standing outside lifted the curtain and stooped into the tent. I saw that she was a woman soldier with a tray in one hand. She was of medium build and had black hair. Maybe it was because she often smelled oil fumes in the kitchen. She looked a little chubby. She straightened up and told us, "comrades, breakfast is ready."¡° Put it on the table. " Kirianova said lightly. The woman soldier agreed, came over and was about to put down the plate when she suddenly screamed, which scared us. She cried out cheerfully, putting the plate on the table, then freeing her hands to reach out to me. For her gaffe, several of us were stunned, and we didn''t know why she had such a sudden performance¡° You don''t know me, Rita? " The woman soldier asked excitedly. I carefully looked at the female soldier in front of me. I felt that I had never seen her before. I could only smile awkwardly and shake my head¡° Comrade Liu Da, what are you doing? " Asked Orlova sternly. Instead of looking at her, Liuda grabbed my hand and shook it, saying, "Rita, you really don''t remember? We''re neighbors. In bocchinook, your mother and I are neighbors. " When I heard her mention the place name of pochnock, I knew that most of what she said was true. Maybe it''s true that Rita and she used to be very familiar neighbors, but I, a fake, didn''t know anything about it. In order to hide my panic, I pretended to be suddenly aware and said, "it''s you, Liuda. You see, I can''t recognize you in your uniform. " Before she could answer, I asked, "do you know what happened to my mother and children?" The real Rita once asked me to take care of her children. I just took this opportunity to inquire about his whereabouts¡° Before the fall of portinock, your mother had left there ahead of time, and now she and her children are living in an apartment on the Neva River. I''ll go back and look for the address later, and I''ll give it to you when I find it. "

 Chapter 272

    When from Liuda''s mouth, learned the news of Lida''s mother and son, the happiest is kiriyanova. Although in 171 will let, she once and real Rita is enemy. But it''s the easiest to cultivate friendship on the battlefield. Lida''s outstanding performance in several air defense battles has gradually made their relationship harmonious. Although they are not close friends, she can''t help but feel sad when she sees that Lida is seriously injured.


    At the moment, she is really happy for Lida. Unexpectedly, I am a real fake. She said excitedly, "Lida, since you know the whereabouts of your mother and son, you should go to see them right away."


    I looked at her sitting opposite me, smiling and shaking my head, and said, "honey, I''d like to see my mom and kids, too, but it''s not the right time. I have more important things to do."


    "Comrade major is right! Our main task at present is to protect the ice transport line. You can wait for your spare time and go back to the city to have a look. " The instructor Orlova stood up to support me. She raised her hand and looked at her watch. Then she said, "it''s already seven o''clock. You can take advantage of two hours of sleep before dawn." He also said to kiriyanova, "company commander, I''ll go out to check the sentry first. You should also take time to have a rest." Then he put on his hat and took Liuda away.


    There were two mattresses on the ground of the tent. She pointed to one of them and told me, "Rita, you can sleep here."


    After chatting with them all night, I felt a little sleepy at this time. Without being polite to her, I just lay down and covered myself with my military uniform. When I was about to close my eyes and go to bed, I suddenly thought that I would meet with the company commanders of the other two companies later. I told kiriyanova, "honey, I''ll sleep for two hours. Please call me later."


    "All right." She very readily agreed, also want to lie on the mattress beside me. Suddenly, as if she had found a new world, she gave a cry, which woke me up with a fright. I asked her feebly, "honey, what''s the matter with you?"


    "Rita, I found out you don''t have a watch."


    "I never have." It turned out that she was doing it for this reason. It was such a fuss that I wrapped up my military coat and closed my eyes again.


    I didn''t expect that she gave up her plan to sleep, squatted beside me, gently shook me and said, "Rita, I have an extra watch here. I''ll give it to you!" Then she took my hand out from under my coat.


    When I opened my eyes, I found on my wrist a man''s watch with black patent leather strap. I wonder why she has a man''s watch. Is it from her lover? So he asked curiously, "honey, where does this watch come from? If it''s from your suitor, I can''t have it. "


    "No, it was taken from a dead German officer. I have the same one here She also raised her wrist to show me the same style men''s watch.


    I can''t accept it psychologically, but if I want to refuse it directly, I''m afraid of making kiriyanova unhappy. So I deliberately said: "I don''t want the dirty things of German devils." Then he raised his other hand to take the watch off.


    She took my hand and said, "Rita, it''s very inconvenient for me to see that you don''t have a watch. You know, a commander can''t command a war without a watch. Wear it. When you have a suitable new watch, you can change it. "


    Now that kirianova has said this, it''s hard to say no more, so I can only accept the gift she gave me.


    Before I closed my eyes and went to bed again, I told her to call the other two company commanders and ask them to report back after dawn and report to me about their deployment.


    After I told her what I should do, I closed my eyes and went to sleep again. This time, without her interference, I soon fell asleep unconsciously.


    When Orlova woke me up, it was already dawn. Kiriyanova, who was lying on the mattress beside her, had already disappeared. I raised my hand and looked at the watch she gave me. The pointer had already pointed to ten o''clock, but the two antiaircraft artillery company leaders of the two had not come to report to me.


    I lifted the curtain and went out. After adjusting to the light outside, I finally saw a different scene from last night. The frozen lake is not a vast expanse of open land. Except for the transportation line in the middle, there are icebergs of different sizes all around. Tents, heating sheds and so on are located in the middle of these icebergs.


    Moving into the encirclement, one truck after another was loaded with much-needed food and materials in the city. On the other hand, it is a long line of walking. In this long line, there are not only various residents, but also organized troops.


    The soldiers who marched across Lake Ladoga on foot walked quite slowly. It seems that the hunger not only weakened the residents of the city, but also made the army not escape the same fate. But when they saw the oncoming car full of bags and canvas, all the people were obviously active, cheerfully shouting: "food is coming, food!..."


    "Rita," kirianova said thoughtfully, looking at the people walking on the ice, she didn''t know when she came to me. "Do you think your mother and son will also be among the people who have evacuated to the outside of the encirclement?"¡° Maybe it will I replied uncertainly. At the same time, I was secretly planning that after Liuda gave me the address, I must find time to go to the car to see Lida''s mother and son. It''s also a wish that I helped her. When I was thinking about it, suddenly someone was shouting in the distance, because it was too far away, and the wind was too strong outside, I couldn''t hear what he was shouting. Kirianova next to me gave me a push. When I noticed her, she said solemnly, "Rita, it''s a battle alert! The German planes are bombing again. "

 Chapter 273

    The roar of the aircraft engine came from the southwest. At first, it was slightly inaudible, and then it became louder and louder. When the sound was clear, three small black spots appeared in the distant sky.


    As a result of the battle alarm, the female antiaircraft artillery ran out of the tent and ran to their positions.


    "Hide, hide!" Kirianova, who was still standing beside me, yelled at the pedestrians and vehicles on the road. Her voice reminded me that at this time, what I should do is to help evacuate the traffic flow, instead of standing on the side of the road and doing nothing in a daze, so I followed her to shout.


    In addition to the two of us shouting at each other, there were several soldiers on the road wearing short fur coats, cotton caps, red sleeve sleeves on their arms and red and green flags in their hands. I guess they should be responsible for directing traffic. Under their command, one truck after another full of grain left the road and drove into the iceberg. Walking on the road, the army and the people quickly fled to both sides of the road, the original bustling road suddenly became empty.


    At this time, three black spots in the sky were clearly visible, and kirianova called out: "it''s a fighter." Then turn around and run to the air defense position behind.


    After three enemy planes approached, one of the leftmost planes overturned and dived down, and began to strafe the vehicles on the ice transportation line and the people who had no time to hide, while the other two continued to fly forward to find new targets.


    A truck full of grain seems to have broken down seven or eight meters in front of me on the right. Several soldiers in charge of traffic control are pushing the car desperately behind. It seems that they want to push the car to a safe place as soon as possible. The enemy plane swooped down and dropped a bomb, which exploded near the truck. After the ice blocks raised by the explosion and the lake fell from the air, two or three of the soldiers in the cart shook their bodies and then fell down, the blood flowing out dyed the ice under their bodies red.


    When I saw another soldier give up his cart, take off his rifle, aim at the enemy plane which has been pulled up and pull the trigger, my first reaction was to turn around and run to the gun position, because the weapon that can effectively deal with the enemy in the air is still only antiaircraft gun.


    Around the snow wall, I saw nine 85 mm anti-aircraft guns lined up with 10 meters in the middle. Next to each antiaircraft gun, there are women soldiers busy, some busy aiming, some busy dressing bombs. Kirianova is holding a pair of telescopes, observing the height and position of the enemy aircraft, constantly reporting all kinds of data and giving corresponding orders to Orlova. And Orlova accurately transmitted the company commander''s order to each artillery position in time through the correspondent nearby.


    When kiriyanova gave the order to open fire, nine anti-aircraft guns opened fire again and again. The shells burst out smoke around the enemy plane, but none of them hit the target.


    Seeing that all the shells were empty, kiriyanova immediately yelled out: "reload the shells, come again!"


    As the women were loading shells, my eyes crossed the snow wall and looked at the group of soldiers who were shooting at the plane with rifles. The enemy plane made a turn in the air, and then came roaring down to them. Two airborne machine gun bullets linked to the dust line through them, a few soldiers were immediately hit bloody, fell around the truck.


    At this time, kirianova issued a second order: "target 600, fire!"


    Another volley, but still dodged by the crafty and experienced German pilot. He found the location of our antiaircraft artillery and made a direct dive in the air after adjusting a head.


    Due to the wrong dive angle, the bomb he dropped flew from the air defense position and hit an empty tent in the middle of the iceberg dozens of meters away. The collapsed tent suddenly burned.


    The German pilot pulled the plane up again, dodged the third round of firing by the women''s antiaircraft artillery company, adjusted the angle at high altitude, dived down again, and strafed the ground with the airborne machine gun.


    The bullet pierced the snow wall. As soon as a female soldier of No. 4 artillery position picked up a shell from the box, she was unfortunately hit by the bullet. Without a hum, she fell on her back on the snow and her shell fell on the ice. Around a few comrades in arms immediately surrounded up, one of the big female soldiers to her arms, shouting her name.


    I don''t think the situation is right. I ran to them and stopped them: "girls, this is not the time to be sad. Go back to your posts and continue to fight!"


    The woman soldier with the corpse looked at me, silently put down her dead comrades and returned to her post. The rest of the women soldiers also returned to their positions.


    I picked up the shell on the ground, handed it to one of the female soldiers and said in a loud voice, "girls, don''t be sad. The bandit who killed your comrades in arms is still in the sky. You can shoot it down so that you can avenge your comrades in arms!"


    Just now, the female soldier holding the body was staring at the enemy plane diving again with hatred eyes, shouting: "load the bomb quickly, we want to avenge Lena!" As soon as the shell was filled in, kirianova couldn''t wait to pull the gun rope without her command.


    The roaring shell flew past the fuselage, and a cloud of smoke burst out not far behind it, which startled the pilot, quickly pulled up the nose and flew away.


    "All of you, stop shooting!" Then came the voice of Orlova¡° Why? " The big girl soldier asked aloud¡° Our fighters are coming. If we fight again, it''s easy to get hurt by mistake! " At this time, kirianova went over and explained her orders to the women soldiers. At this time, two silver fighters passed over us and chased the enemy planes that had just bombed and strafed us¡° Comrade company commander, you see, Lena has died! " With that, the woman soldier squatted on the ground with her head tightly in her arms and began to cry in tears.

 Chapter 274

    Looking out through the broken snow wall, I saw a group of people gathering in the anchored truck, and there were more people running there from all directions. I couldn''t care to sacrifice Lena and comfort the grieved soldier. I called out to kiriyanova, who was standing beside me: "bring some people with me Then run to the truck first.


    We quickly ran to the truck, because just now the enemy''s strafing, the ice beside the car was broken, and the dark water was covered with ice under the heavy pressure of the heavy truck. The bodies of the soldiers who died just now have been moved more than ten meters away and placed neatly on the roadside. At the moment, dozens of soldiers with short fur coats and military coats are desperately pushing the truck full of grain, trying to rescue the truck from the danger of sinking into the lake as soon as possible.


    Kiriyanova and some of the women soldiers wanted to join the cart, but I stopped them. When I came here just now, I found that the driver had died in the cab. Judging from the huge bullet hole in the hood, it is impossible for the car to start again. And in order to push the car, too many people gathered around the truck, the crushing ice was falling, and people were standing in the water below their ankles. I knew in my heart that if this continued, the ice under their feet would break at any time. At that time, they would sink with the truck into the dark ice caves. So I stopped the women soldiers coming forward to help, and yelled, "stop, stop quickly!" Kiriyanova didn''t know what I was shouting for, but she raised her voice to help me out of her trust in me. The women soldiers also began to shout.


    The voice of the women soldiers made the busy people stop. One of the commanders, who was wearing the rank of second lieutenant, wiped the sweat on his head, waded through the water overflowing on the ice and came to me. After saluting, he politely asked, "Hello, major! I''m lieutenant miducci, traffic commander. Why did you stop


    I pointed to the deeper and deeper water under his feet and said impolitely, "Comrade lieutenant, I don''t know if you have noticed. If more people come to help you push the cart, the ice under your feet will be in danger of breaking, so that all of you will sink to the bottom of the lake together with the truck." With these words, I waved to the soldiers who were still around the truck and said in a loud voice, "comrades, don''t crowd here. Stand aside first."


    "But, comrade major!" The second lieutenant said in a pleading voice, "there''s food on the car! These are priceless grains! We don''t have the right to watch the cart sink to the bottom of the lake. "


    "Yes, comrade major! Even if we have sacrificed our lives, we should also protect our food. " Not far away, a well-known soldier heard the conversation between the second lieutenant and me, and loudly defended the second lieutenant.


    With a leader, a group of people immediately said, "yes, comrade commander, as long as we can protect the grain well, we are not afraid of sacrifice!"


    Seeing everyone''s turbulent situation, I quickly raised my hands and pressed them down. I said in a loud voice, "be quiet, everyone. Listen to me carefully." Because Lao maozi''s army is very strict, although many people are dissatisfied with me, I am the highest rank among the people present at the moment. Listen to me, everyone will be quiet immediately.


    When no one spoke, I began to give a series of orders: "Lieutenant miducci!"


    "Yes


    "This truck was damaged in the German air raid just now. It''s impossible to drive. You immediately go ahead and find a truck, and use the tow rope to pull the car out


    "Yes The second lieutenant promised to run away quickly.


    "Lieutenant kirianova!"


    "Comrade battalion commander, I''m here!" Kirianova quickly stepped forward and promised me.


    "You see, because this truck is in the way, the whole traffic is interrupted, the troops and civilians out of the city are blocking the traffic, blocking the road of the motorcade into the city. You immediately take the women soldiers to evacuate the crowd, maintain order and let the traffic return to normal


    "Yes! Make sure you get the job done. "


    Finally, I gave the order to the soldiers who were still standing around the truck and said, "OK, it''s your turn. At my command, go to two people in the car and unload the grain from the car. "


    The soldiers agreed, and then two burly soldiers boarded the carriage and climbed onto the mountain of grain bags¡° The soldiers under the car line up and deliver the grain unloaded from the car to the roadside. "


    The two soldiers grabbed a bag of grain and threw it down. Unexpectedly, many of the bags were broken in the shooting just now. What they threw was two of them. Suddenly, white flour was flying all over the sky, which fascinated many soldiers under the car. Some irascible people immediately yelled at the soldiers on the car.


    "Be quiet, everyone, be quiet!" I saw that the scene was out of control, so I yelled at the soldiers in a row. When they were quiet again, I said to the two soldiers in the carriage, "Comrade soldier, there are many pockets in the car, which were damaged by the German plane just now. You should unload those bags first."


    The two soldiers in the car nodded, carefully picked up a bag and threw it down. A few hands under the car immediately grabbed the bag from the ice and passed it to the roadside in turn. When the truck was about half empty, Lieutenant miducci, who was looking for the truck, came back. So I asked the soldiers who were unloading in the car to come down first and let the second lieutenant hang the tow line. Fortunately, a lot of goods were unloaded, so the front car easily towed the broken down truck to a safe place.


    Looking at the broken ice and the dark lake water in the ice hole, I asked the second lieutenant anxiously, "Lieutenant miducci, what should I do if the ice in this place is broken?" He just looked at it casually, and then said lightly, "Comrade major, please rest assured that the temperature on the lake is low, and it will be frozen again in two hours."¡° Report major, "there was a familiar voice around. Turning around, it turned out to be Orlova, the instructor. Seeing that I noticed her, she went on to report," the company commanders of the first and second companies of the antiaircraft artillery company are coming. They are waiting for you in the tent. " I nodded and continued to say to miducci, "Comrade lieutenant, I''ll leave it to you. Good luck!" After that, he raised his hand to salute him, turned to Orlova and said, "let''s go! Comrade instructor. Take me to meet the two company commanders

 Chapter 275

    Orlova led me into the tent where company headquarters was. Seeing us enter the door, the two male commanders who were sitting immediately stood up and saluted me at attention. They reported: "report major, Captain Ali, commander of the first antiaircraft artillery company, has been ordered to come!"¡° Comrade major, Lieutenant Baku, commander of the second antiaircraft artillery company, reports to you! "


    I raised my hand, waved my hand, let them sit down, and ordered Orlova to go out and call kiriyanova in. While the three company commanders are all here, I need to know the specific situation of the whole defense area first.


    In the process of waiting for kiriyanova to come, in order to ease the atmosphere in the tent, I tried my best to find a topic and wanted to communicate with them first.


    Captain Ali is a young man in his twenties. I feel a little introverted. When he looks at me, he looks a little stiff and embarrassed. He doesn''t even know where to put his hands and feet. But Lieutenant Baku looks old, his white face is full of wrinkles, and he looks like a man in his early fifties. Even when he looks at me, he can keep calm. So I talked with him first: "Comrade lieutenant, where did you work before the war broke out?"


    "Report to the major," the old lieutenant stood up. I quickly reached down and pressed him to sit down and answer the question. As he sat down, he continued, "I worked in zhidanov shipyard before the war."


    Shipyard! Not another senior engineer or something? In that case, the recruiters in the battlefield should be sent to the military court. With a smile on my face, I asked, "what are you doing there?"


    "Fitter, level 8 fitter."


    Although he is not an engineer, he is also a senior technician. Maybe it is more meaningful for him to stay in the shipyard than in the battlefield. I asked tentatively, "how can you go to the army again?"


    "The factory organized several militiamen annihilation battalions. As the backbone of the factory''s production, I made a name for myself. We had a fight with the Germans in the Pulkovo highlands. Many of our workers died, and I was seriously injured and sent to the military hospital in Leningrad. When I got out of the hospital and reported back to the headquarters, I was just in time to set up an air defense camp to defend the "road to life", so I signed up and was appointed company commander of an anti-aircraft artillery company


    "Wait a minute," I interrupted and asked curiously, "what did you say just now¡® What''s the meaning of "the road of life"? Does it mean the ice transport line we are defending? "


    "Exactly, comrade major." The old Lieutenant explained to me, "thanks to the opening of this ice transportation line, the material supply of the city has been guaranteed. Flour, meat, sugar, rice, oil and other urgently needed things have been continuously transported into the city. In this way, the food ration of the residents has the possibility to increase, and countless people have escaped the fate of starvation. That''s why people call this ice transportation line "the road of life."


    "May I come in?" Outside the tent came kiriyanova''s voice.


    "Come in, comrade lieutenant." I said it out loud.


    As soon as the words fell, kirianova lifted the curtain and came in. After saluting me, I found a seat and sat down.


    After listening to the three company commanders'' introduction of their respective situations, I couldn''t help frowning and asked, "I want to know how to put the anti-aircraft guns in your company?"


    "Report to the major," Captain Ali wanted to stand up and answer, but I stopped him with my hand sign. He just sat down and said¡° Our three companies, each of which has nine anti-aircraft guns, are arranged in a straight line after the snow wall built by the engineers according to the arrangement of the superior. "


    "That''s not good," I said, shaking my head. "If the anti-aircraft guns are arranged in a straight line, the firepower density is not enough, and it''s difficult to effectively kill the enemy planes."


    "Rita, how do you think the antiaircraft guns should be deployed?" Kirianova took off her hat as she spoke and raised her hand to sweep a strand of hair behind her ear with her fingertips. In my eyes, this natural little action seemed so elegant, which made her more charming. In a moment, I couldn''t help but look a little dazed.


    "Comrade major, what''s the matter with you?" Maybe I was in a daze for a long time. The old Lieutenant found my abnormality and couldn''t help reminding me.


    I quickly stabilized my mood and solemnly explained my point to them: "one company has three platoons, each platoon has three anti-aircraft guns. My opinion is that in the unit of platoon, the three gun platoons are in the shape of finished products; Then the three rows of pinyin form a big pinyin form


    "Comrade major," the old Lieutenant looked at me blankly and asked, "what is Pinyin?"


    When he asked me this, I almost slapped myself on the side of my mouth. Why didn''t I speak through my brain just now? I just opened my mouth. I know what pinyin is, but none of them knows Chinese. How can they know how to write pinyin? So I coughed quickly and explained it in a different way: "I was wrong just now. It should be a triangle. Each row forms a small triangle, and then three rows of small triangles form a large triangle. In this way, we can ensure the same firepower density no matter which direction the enemy aircraft comes from. I don''t know if you understand what I said? "


    "I see!"¡° I fully understand The three answered me in unison¡° Now that I understand, I''ll arrange it right away. I hope to see you finish your new deployment before dark. "¡° Yes Ali and Baku saluted me, turned and walked out of the tent. Kiriyanova and I stood at the door of the tent with the curtain lifted, looking at Orlova, who was busy with a group of female soldiers in the distance¡° In the battle just now, Lena died and two other female soldiers were injured. The instructor is arranging to send them to the rear hospital. " When she said this, kirianova looked very sad. Listening to her saying this, I couldn''t help looking at her for a long time. Then I came forward and took her soft and elastic waist with my right hand from the side, comforted her and said: "honey, it''s war now, there will always be people to die. In these short months, in order to defend our great motherland, I don''t know how many brave soldiers fell down. Don''t worry. One day, we will pay back the blood debt to the bandits. "¡° Is there really such a day? " Kirianova, half a head higher than me, put her left hand on my shoulder and asked¡° Yes, although the war will continue, we will win in three years at most. " I answered her confidently¡° War will make people close, "kirianova said suddenly and thoughtfully¡° I can''t forget that when I first arrived at the 171 meeting, I was very unhappy with you. I not only aimed at you everywhere, made trouble for you, but even tried to push you out of the platoon... I didn''t expect that after several battles, our relationship improved unconsciously. " Hearing that she mentioned the 171 meeting again, I couldn''t help but say, "I still remember that major Rostov scolded our brigadier vaskov bloodily after the class''s Weijia died in the air defense battle, saying that he didn''t fulfill his duty as a man, as a veteran, and didn''t protect the women''s safety. War is about bloodshed and sacrifice, but not women. " My words also brought back her memories. She said with emotion, "yes, the major said at that time that we should add up the soldiers in your class as soon as possible, and assign the new Genoa to your class." At this point, she asked thoughtfully, "Rita, can you tell me something about you and brigadier vaskov blocking the German devils? I want to know how the four of them, Genoa, Sonia, Lisa and garka, died? " I can''t help feeling guilty when I heard her words, because I don''t know if she has heard anything from vaskov. If what I said is different from what she knows, I will be in danger of helping. Thinking of this, I quickly put down my arm around her waist and said perfunctorily, "I''ll tell you this later when I''m free. Let''s go to see Lena off for the last time." With that, he passed her and fled toward Orlova and them.

 Chapter 276

    Orlova and the company''s soldiers were standing next to a covered truck. There was a dark coffin on the ice. Lena, who had no breath, was lying in it. Her hands were folded on her abdomen, as if she were asleep. The women soldiers had wiped the blood stains on her face, put on clean military coats, combed her hair neatly, and even the dirty boots on her feet had been wiped without any soil by the girls with the towel dipped in water.


    Looking at the women soldiers in a circle with tears, saying goodbye to their dead comrades, I can''t help thinking about whether the women soldiers in the platoon faced the sacrifice of Weijia when they were at the 171 railway station.


    "Do you remember, Rita?" Kiriyanova did not know when she came to me and said to me softly, "how familiar this scene is. All the soldiers in the platoon gathered around her and looked at the young face with tears in their eyes." I guess what she said should be the plot of Weijia''s funeral, but I don''t know whether it is consistent with the novel. So I didn''t speak wisely, just looked at her silently and listened to her tell the story at that time.


    She didn''t find anything unusual about me and continued to recall the scene: "it was a light rain at that time. Brigadier vaskov knelt down on one knee, waving his shovel and digging out. He looked sad, his face full of rain kept twitching, so that others could not tell whether it was tears or rain. The four armed men brought by the major raised the coffin containing Weijia and slowly put it into the tomb dug by the brigadier. The women soldiers shed tears and scattered the unknown wild flowers on the coffin.


    The major took the shovel from vaskov''s hand, scooped up the Loess and spread it evenly on the coffin. Then he handed the shovel to kiriyanova. Women soldiers consciously line up, weeping to add a handful of loess to their comrades in arms.


    A new grave rises


    At this time, one of the four male soldiers standing next to the coffin was a corporal from the collar. He went to Orlova and whispered a few words, as if asking for instructions. Seeing that Orlova nodded his head, the corporal turned and made a sign to his men. Two men raised the coffin lid and gently covered it. Another soldier took an ax and some nails out of the carriage. When they began to drive the nail with an axe, I don''t know who took the lead in crying loudly, which immediately caused a chain reaction, and the crying around suddenly rang out.


    Four male soldiers carefully carried the coffin onto the car. The tearful female soldiers came forward and helped push the coffin into the car. Then the two wounded female soldiers got on the car with the help of the male soldiers. The corporal saluted Orlova, then ran to the bridge and started the car.


    When the covered truck gradually disappeared from our sight, and I was thinking about what to do next, kirianova helped me out in time, only to hear her shout: "all of you, follow my orders. Assemble


    With her order, the women soldiers who were still grieving for their comrades in arms a minute ago quickly ran over and formed a neat square array according to their usual queue.


    Kiriyanova and Orlova stood in front of the team, turned to look at me standing with my hands behind my back, and saw me nodding. So kiriyanova began to shout the commands of "stand at attention", "relax" and "look left", and the women soldiers moved with her commands.


    After calling out a series of commands, kiriyanova ran to me, saluted and reported, "report to battalion commander, female soldier company is assembled, please give instructions!"


    I saluted and went to the front of the orderly line. Looking at these childish women soldiers, I guessed that they should be students studying. Because of the damned war, they were forced to put on unsuitable uniforms and go to the battlefield of life and death to defend the motherland. I coughed and began to introduce myself to them: "Hello girls! I''m major oshanina, the new battalion commander... "


    "Ah?! O''shanina??? " Suddenly a woman soldier in the line screamed.


    "Naya!" Kirianova''s voice suddenly rang out beside me. She looked at a thin female soldier in the second row with severe eyes and said coldly, "what are you barking about?"


    "Report Comrade lieutenant," the female soldier named by kirianova stood up and said with some grievances, "I was surprised to hear the name of Comrade battalion commander, which has the same name as the legendary female commander in our Red Army."


    "What legendary female commander? Why don''t I know? " Kiriyanova asked, frowning, in a tone that was much slower than she knew it. "Let''s hear it." Hearing what Naya said, I was also very curious. There was a young woman soldier who knew my name thousands of miles away. I also wanted to know what was going on?


    Naya tooted her lips and said, "Comrade lieutenant, have you never heard of our army''s victory in the Moscow battle? There have been references to the commanders of the counterattack forces. " Then she read like an endorsement: "among the troops that took part in the great counter offensive, those who achieved brilliant results were general lelyushenko''s troops... General rokosovsky''s troops... General govorov''s troops... General Vlasov''s troops... General oshanina''s troops..."


    "General oshanina?" Listening to what Naya said, the team was in a mess. The women soldiers looked at me standing in front of the team, whispered to each other, and said in an incredible voice: "God, isn''t general o''shanina really coming to our anti-aircraft artillery battalion as battalion commander?"¡° No, general o''shanina should be a major general, but you see, this battalion commander is only a major! " Seeing the confusion of the troops, kiriyanova was worried and quickly stopped the laughter of the women soldiers with the command: "stand at attention." With her command, the discussion of the team suddenly stopped. Kiriyanova stopped the noise in the group and turned her curious eyes to me, as if to ask, "is what Naya said true?" I gave a wry smile, knowing that this problem can not be avoided, and that the soldiers under my command should always know it, so as to avoid their random suspicion. I went to the female soldier Naya who was still standing outside the line, patted her on the shoulder and said, "Naya, you''re right. I''m general oshanina mentioned in the war report. In the great counter offensive under Moscow, I commanded the troops and fought with the enemy in many areas." I just said here, there was another cry of surprise in the team. I asked Naya to come back, and then I said to the women soldiers in a friendly tone: "but general oshanina is in the past. You just need to remember, I''m your battalion commander, major oshanina. Do you hear me¡° I hear you The women agreed neatly¡° Well, "I don''t have much experience in speaking in front of the public, and I don''t know what to say next. I quickly cut off the topic:" next, we are going to adjust the deployment of anti-aircraft artillery positions. Please give us a speech by company commander lieutenant kiryanova. " Kirianova took a look at me, went to the front of the line and announced in a loud voice, "the platoon leaders and squad leaders will stay, and the rest will be dissolved."

 Chapter 277

    I''m a battalion commander now, not a company commander, so I don''t need to do some things by myself. I just need to give orders. Naturally, someone will carry out my orders. For example, the relocation of artillery positions does not require me to go to the scene to supervise the implementation in the fierce cold wind. Kiriyanova and Orlova will do it properly. What I can do now is to sleep in the quilt in the tent, because the sleeping time is too little recently.


    I didn''t expect that I was sleeping soundly, but I was awakened by the noise outside. I opened my eyes, raised my wrist and looked at the time. I only slept for an hour. Because of the lack of sleep for a long time, I finally had a chance to sleep in, but I was woken up by people. I felt very upset. I wanted to rush out of the tent and squash the guy who disturbed my sleep. If there were any grenades in my hand at that time, I would have thrown them out.


    I lifted the quilt, turned over, put on my military coat, lifted the curtain and went out to see what was going on outside.


    Twenty or thirty meters outside the door stood a group of female soldiers, surrounded by a red faced male soldier, a female officer wearing the rank of second lieutenant, pointing his head with her fingers, talking about something, while the female soldiers around kept laughing from time to time.


    I walked towards them to find out what had happened. A sharp eyed female soldier found me walking towards them in anger, and quickly called out: "the commander is coming!"


    With her voice, many people found me in the shortest time, including the second lieutenant. They only heard her shout the command: "everyone, stand at attention!" All of a sudden, the women soldiers were silent and paid attention to me.


    I stopped two or three meters away from them and asked in a discontented tone, "who can tell me what''s going on here?"


    The female Lieutenant quickly ran to me, stood at attention, saluted and reported, "second platoon leader Ye Lianna reports to you, please give instructions!"


    I saluted and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, can you tell me what happened?"


    Second lieutenant Ye Lianna turned to look at the male soldier behind, and then she stopped. Seeing her expression, I knew that things could not be explained in a few words, and male soldiers were the key, so I waved to him to come.


    The soldier came to me honestly. His chin was close to his chest, his face was red, his hands were behind him, his mouth was open, but he couldn''t say a word.


    I turned to ask Ye Lianna: "Comrade lieutenant, what''s the matter? I command you to say


    Ye Lianna saw that I asked, and knew that she couldn''t avoid it any more. She could only honestly reply, "report major, this male soldier is here to find Naya."


    "What''s the matter with Naya?" I asked, puzzled.


    Ye Lianna pulled the soldier''s hands behind her to the front, and I saw an unknown wild flower on the soldier''s hand. Maybe because of the cold weather, the flower had withered. Without waiting for me to speak, ye Lianna kicked the drooping bouquet in the male soldier''s hand with her toes, and taught him a lesson in front of me: "Comrade soldier, do you know that this is a time of war, and now the most important thing is to love the motherland, not someone. A woman soldier is a soldier, not a woman, in the front line. When fighting, what you should hold in your hand is a steel gun, not flowers for women. Instead of spending so much energy on love, you might as well sign up to join the front-line fighting forces and eliminate a few more bandits... "


    To be fair, what ye Lianna said is very reasonable, but she is also a person with strong principles. Listening to her endless lecturing of male soldiers, I know that if I don''t stop her, she can talk for another two or three hours. If my battalion needs political workers, she is a suitable candidate. But it''s not the time to listen to her long talk. There are a lot of things to do.


    So I interrupted her later words, turned to the male soldier and said, "that''s all for today. Please go back. Please bear in mind that our primary task at present is to protect the lifeline of Leningrad with our own lives. We have no time and are not allowed to devote our energy to love. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." The soldier raised his head and straightened his back, then asked me, "can I leave now? Comrade commander. "


    "Go


    He saluted me, threw away the bouquet of withered fingers, and turned away.


    Seeing the soldier leave, ye Lianna was a little worried. She quickly pulled my sleeve and said, "Comrade major, I haven''t finished my words. How can you let him go?"


    I looked at the lieutenant in front of me and said coldly, "let him go, because we have more important things to do, instead of wasting our energy on these trivial things. Have you adjusted the position of your platoon? "


    Hearing my question, the second lieutenant quickly came to attention and answered in a loud voice, "report, comrade major, that all the positions of the anti-aircraft guns in the second platoon have been adjusted. Please give instructions! "


    When I saw kirianova and Orlova coming to us from a distance, I waved and said, "when the work is finished, you can take the soldiers in your platoon back to rest."


    Ye Lianna agreed, and then issued the command of "stand at attention" and "turn back" to her group of female soldiers, and then left with them. At the end of the walk, the client, Naya, stopped and nodded to me with a smile, then quickly went to catch up with the front line. Kirianova and Orlova came up to me, stood at attention, saluted, and loudly reported: "report to battalion commander, the adjustment of the artillery position of the women''s antiaircraft artillery company has been completed. Please give instructions! " I didn''t return the gift. I took her hand and pulled it down from my forehead. I said, "report your work to me. You don''t need to be so serious." Kiriyanova looked at me, snorted softly, and said in a poor tone: "I dare not be too casual. You are a general, but I am just an ordinary officer."¡° Company commander, please pay attention to your attitude. "When Orlova saw kirianova''s strange voice, she quietly pulled her sleeve and reminded her carefully. I knew in my heart that kirianova''s willingness to change my attitude was because I concealed the story that I had been a general from her. "It''s too cold outside. Let''s go back to the tent. I''ll tell you what it''s like when I''m a general," she said After entering the tent, kiriyanova and I sat down around the table, while Orlova was busy making a fire and boiling tea for us. After everyone sat down, I began to tell them all about what happened in the Moscow defense war, including the details of how I met and broke up with oshanin, how I became the division commander of the close guard division, how I became the chief of staff of the 20th group army before the great counterattack, and how I was awarded the rank of major general by Stalin himself. When I heard that because I saw the tragic situation of Zhuoya''s death, I ordered my men to kill all the prisoners in a rage. They cheered one after another. Orlova, in particular, said that if she had been in my position at that time, she would have given the same order as me without hesitation. The advantage of such a conversation is that it unconsciously shortens the distance between the three of us and improves their trust in me. Just talking happily, a familiar voice came from outside the tent: "comrades commander, I''m Liu da. May I come in?" Hearing that it was Liuda, kiriyanova raised her hand and looked at her watch. She was surprised and said, "it''s so late that we forgot to eat dinner." She was about to call Liuda in, but she found that Orlova had taken the lead out of the tent, went to take Liuda''s dinner, brought it in and put it on the table for us.

 Chapter 278

    The reason why this ice transportation line on Lake Ladoga is called "the road of life" by the army and people of Leningrad is that it can not only transport a large amount of food and daily necessities to Leningrad, but also evacuate the redundant population in the city, such as the elderly, women and children who are unable to work, so as to reduce the population pressure of the city. By evacuating the population, we can improve the food of the soldiers and civilians who actively resisted the invasion of the German invaders.


    The opening of the ice transport line was completely unexpected to the German people. In order to cut off this "road of life" which is related to the life and death of Leningrad, they not only bombarded it with long-range artillery, but also sent many planes to bomb it every day.


    The commanders of the front army took corresponding measures to deal with the tactics used by the German army. When the German artillery bombarded, the heavy artillery units of the front army and the naval guns of the Baltic Fleet suppressed their artillery positions. In terms of air defense, in addition to a large number of air defense forces on both sides of the ice transport line, aircraft were also sent to patrol over Lake Lado.


    Every day at dawn, German planes would patronize the ice transport lines. They dive down from the clouds, bombing and strafing people and vehicles on ice transport lines. Especially those trucks full of food and necessities became the focus of German aircraft attack.


    Air bombs are exploding and airborne machine guns are shooting. Trucks are constantly hit, burned or overturned by the explosion, and even some vehicles with people and food slowly sink into the ice cave. And the residents who evacuated outside the city were desperate to leave the transportation line and escape to the ice piles on both sides of the road to avoid air strikes.


    In the two days after adjusting the deployment of anti-aircraft artillery positions, my three anti-aircraft artillery companies have achieved good results. Lieutenant Baku''s antiaircraft artillery company had the best record, shooting down four enemy planes and capturing two parachuting pilots; Second, Captain Ali''s antiaircraft artillery company shot down two and injured one; The female soldier company I was in also shot down and injured one of the enemy planes.


    On the morning of the 27th, I received a phone call from major general hilov, who was in charge of the line. He said that in order to increase the transportation volume and reduce unnecessary losses, the superior leadership decided that from now on, the ice transportation line will no longer be closed at night, and will operate all day, so that I can strengthen the night air defense work in the area under the jurisdiction of our anti-aircraft artillery battalion on the transportation line.


    The introduction of this new policy soon achieved immediate results, and the amount of grain transportation almost doubled on the same day. In this way, people feel that the future is bright, and it can be predicted that in the near future, the ration quota of urban residents will be raised again.


    However, it didn''t last long. Just one day later, the German army found that the ice transport line was still carrying on at night. So from the evening of the 28th, night fighters and bombers were dispatched to bombard the ice transportation line. Because the air defense forces were not equipped with enough searchlights, they could not find the enemy aircraft in the night in time. However, the lights of the transport team indicated the target for the German aircraft to attack.


    The first night bombing of the German army achieved brilliant results, while the Soviet transport team suffered great losses in the air raid. Many of the vehicles were destroyed. In order to avoid the bombs dropped by the enemy planes, some of the vehicles fell into the holes of the ice and sank into the bottom of the cold lake with people and precious food.


    After learning that the transport team had suffered serious losses, major general Shilov was furious. Early the next morning, he called me and scolded me. Finally, he said: "if you can''t do this antiaircraft artillery battalion well, you can tell me in advance. There are more people here who can be the battalion commander. And you are ready to go to the military court! " With that, he hung up the phone impolitely.


    Listening to the busy sound from the microphone, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. When I went to the military court during the war, there was only one result: I was shot. After the outbreak of the war, even the commander of the Western Front Army, general Pavlov, and his chief of staff, who were in a high position, were shot by Stalin because of their poor fighting. I''m just a small major now. If you want to shoot me, it''s as easy as stepping on an ant. You don''t have to ask for instructions from your superiors. Major general hilov probably has this right.


    Just thinking wildly, I suddenly heard kirianova ask with concern: "Rita, have you been scolded by the general?"


    Only then did I find that I was distracted, and the telephone microphone was still in my hand. I put down the receiver, nodded and said, "yes, the transport team suffered heavy losses in the air raid last night. It''s inevitable for Comrade General to get angry. At present, what we have to consider is how to strengthen air defense at night. " Strengthening air defense at night is easier said than done. I can''t do it alone. I still need to work together and mobilize everyone to think of ways. So I went on to say, "kirianova and Orlova, what do you think?"


    "Comrade major," Orlova replied preemptively, "I think we should report to the higher authorities and add more air defense units and searchlights to us, so that we can accurately find and eliminate the enemy aircraft at night."


    As soon as she said this, I immediately denied it. I pointed out to the point: "it''s unrealistic for our superior to increase air defense forces. If there were enough air defense forces in Leningrad, they would have been sent to the ice transportation line long ago. Despite the fact that there are only three anti-aircraft artillery battalions and several independent anti-aircraft machine gun companies responsible for the air defense task of the ice transportation line, this should be all the forces that the headquarters of the front army can put in. " When they heard what I said, they didn''t say anything. Instead, they nodded their heads thoughtfully and agreed. I added: "there is also a lack of electricity in Leningrad. Even important departments such as the headquarters of the front army, government agencies and hospitals can''t guarantee sufficient electricity supply, let alone other departments. Even if general Shilov has equipped us with enough searchlights, if the city can''t provide us with enough electricity, these searchlights are just a bunch of furnishings, which can''t be of any use at all in the night war. "


    After listening to my analysis, they were silent. I stood up, put on my military coat and said to them, "you two should think about it carefully and see if there is any good way. I''ll go out for a walk." The transportation line in our area is east-west. The anti-aircraft artillery camp is located in the south of the road, while not far from the north, there is a road convoy. According to kirianova, their commander is a lieutenant colonel. Standing in the middle of the ice on the side of the road, I braved the fierce cold wind and looked blankly at the endless stream of vehicles and people passing in front of me. My mind continued to consider how to strengthen the night air defense. To capture and shoot down the high-speed enemy aircraft in the environment with poor vision makes me feel like an almost impossible task. When I was at a loss, I happened to see a group of soldiers in the distance around a truck whose back half was burned into a frame, shouting a neat number to push the car to the side of the road. I know the soldiers are cleaning up the bombed cars on the road to make sure the transportation line is unblocked. I looked up at the sky. It was gray, and I didn''t see the shadow of the enemy plane. Maybe they thought that they would go out at night and lose less, so they gave up the plan to go out during the day. I walked towards the busy soldiers and carefully observed the ice along the road. I found that all the holes in the ice that had been blasted in the air raid last night had been frozen and could be opened to traffic normally¡° Report to the major that the road protection team is carrying out the task of clearing the road. Please give us your instructions! " A young lieutenant appeared in front of me. Maybe he thought I came to them to give instructions, so he took the initiative to report to me¡° Go on with your mission, comrade lieutenant. "¡° Yes, comrade major. " The second lieutenant gave a dry promise and ran to command his men to continue pushing. Although the back half of the truck was burnt down, the front part of the truck was basically in good condition. I feel that if it wasn''t for the rear tires, the car would still be able to drive. I felt a chill and looked down. It turned out that the collar of my military coat was still open. No wonder the second lieutenant just saw my rank. I stood up the collar of my coat and buttoned it up. I felt much warmer. I looked around and saw that two or three hundred meters to the East, behind a chest high snow wall, there was a double anti-aircraft machine gun. Looking to the west, at about the same distance, there was an anti-aircraft machine gun. I guess they all belong to the independent AA machine gun company. Seeing this kind of deployment, I can''t help thinking of the tower defense game I played before. I thought that if the enemy planes were flying along the transportation line, the anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns arranged by our army along the way would be enough to beat them down. When I think of the game, I suddenly have a flash of inspiration in my mind. I suddenly think of the famous air defense sentry of the volunteer army in the war of resistance against US aggression and aid Korea, and immediately have a complete plan of air defense at night. So I immediately yelled to the busy lieutenant in front of me, "Comrade lieutenant, please come here." The second lieutenant trotted up to me with a blank face. After saluting, he hesitated and asked, "Comrade major, do you have any instructions?" I pointed to the truck that had been pushed to the side of the road by the soldiers, and told the Second Lieutenant: "Comrade second lieutenant, please order the soldiers to push the truck to the middle of the open snow heap."¡° Major, may I ask why? " I said sternly: "Comrade lieutenant, don''t you know that according to the regulations, the lower level has no right to question the orders of the higher level, but should execute them unconditionally? If you think this task is incomprehensible, you can respond to your superior and ask him to come to me. I am major oshanina, the commander of the antiaircraft artillery battalion stationed on the south side of the road. " The second lieutenant reluctantly raised his hand to salute, weakly agreed, turned to command the soldiers who were preparing to rest, and pushed the car into the open snow far away from the transportation line. Looking at the back of his cart, I didn''t forget to tell him loudly: "remember, push the car as far away from the roadside as possible!" After shouting, without waiting for his reply, I turned and trotted back to my tent. As soon as I opened the curtain, I saw kirianova and Orlova sitting in the distance with a sad face, pondering, and announced to them in a loud voice: "you don''t have to worry, I have come up with a way to strengthen the night air defense." Two people stay on the spot, showing incredible expression. Who was not searching for a good plan just now. Not long ago, I left with a sad face. Suddenly I ran in from the outside and told them that there was a direct road. How could I not make them dumbfounded and dubious. I ignored them. Instead, I picked up the phone from my desk and went straight to the headquarters. As soon as I heard someone talking, I immediately told myself, "Hello, I''m major oshanina, commander of the second antiaircraft artillery battalion. I have something important to report to general hilov immediately! Yes, it''s very urgent! "

 Chapter 279

    After hearing this, the person who answered the phone said, "Comrade major, please wait a moment. I''ll inform the general right away." Then I heard the sound of the microphone gently resting on the table, and the sound of footsteps rushing away.


    Before long, there was a rush of footsteps in the microphone, as if several people had entered the room at the same time. Then a familiar voice came from the microphone: "major oshanina, Hello! I''m political commissar Higgins


    I straightened up and said hello to him! Comrade political commissar. "


    "I hear you have something important to report to general hilov?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar. It''s very important. It''s about the safety of the ice transportation line. " I don''t know why Shilov didn''t answer the phone, so I asked cautiously, "is general Shilov in, please?"


    "What a coincidence, comrade major. Ten minutes ago, the general received a call from the headquarters of the front army and rushed to attend an important meeting. It is estimated that he will not be back in a short time. If there''s anything important, you can tell me the same. I''ll tell him when he comes back. "


    I can''t help feeling a little disappointed to hear that general hilov is not here. However, political commissar Xijin is also one of the persons in charge of the ice transportation line, and the effect of reporting to him is the same, so I said frankly, "political commissar, I have a plan to strengthen night air defense, and I want to report to you and general."


    "That''s great. Today, the general and I are worried about this. Just now, the headquarters called the general to the meeting for this matter. " Higgins voice sounded a little excited, but he immediately gave me a preventive injection: "but I remind you, comrade major, it''s unrealistic to ask the front army to send more air defense units to you, or provide equipment such as searchlights and flares."


    After listening to his words, I immediately answered with confidence: "please rest assured, the political commissar, this air defense scheme I proposed, on the one hand, does not need to increase manpower, on the other hand, does not need to increase any technical equipment, and can be completed only under the present conditions." As soon as the words came out, not only was there no sound in the microphone, but even kiriyanova and Orlova in front of me also looked surprised.


    When kirianova opened her mouth to say something, Higgins voice came from the microphone again: "tell me!"


    I waved to kiriyanova and motioned to her not to speak. Then I said to Higgin, "Comrade political commissar, the reason why our army''s transport team suffered heavy losses last night is mainly because the noise of many car engines during the night transportation covered up the sound of the engines of the enemy planes from far to near. Therefore, the enemy plane can easily find the light of our transport vehicle at night and take it as an attack target. When the driver of the transport team hears the voice of the enemy plane, the enemy plane has strafed and bombed the top of the team. In this way, the loss is inevitable. "


    "You have a point!" Higgins immediately confirmed what I said. "Go on, what do you think we should do to prevent it?"


    "In order to ensure the smooth flow of ice transport lines and reduce unnecessary casualties and material losses. I suggest that air defense Posts be set up on the ice transport lines. That is to send one or two soldiers to watch the sky every kilometer to keep them away from the road, so that they will not be disturbed by the sound of cars. As soon as he heard the enemy aircraft, he fired a gun into the air and told the convoy that our army was driving. When the driver heard the gunfire alarm, he immediately took air defense measures, that is, turn off the lights or stop by the side of the road, and wait for the enemy plane to pass before continuing to move forward. "


    Just now, there was a loud bang in the microphone, like someone slapping the table with his hand, which made me jump. I don''t know if I said something wrong, so I stopped and waited for the reply. After a while, Higgins voice came from the microphone, which was a little bit out of tune! That is great! Major o''shanina, you are wonderful! Your suggestion is very good. I''ll call general hilov right away


    When I put off the phone, I habitually wiped my forehead and wiped the sweat that didn''t exist. I couldn''t help saying: I didn''t expect that I would give the Soviet army the way to deal with the US Army to deal with the German army. However, there is no way. If I can''t solve the problem of air defense at night, I will die.


    As soon as I looked up, I saw kirianova and Orlova standing in front of me in a daze. They quickly stretched out their hands and shook in front of their eyes for a few times. They also called out: "Hey, hey, what''s the matter with you two?"


    Hearing my voice, they woke up from the lost state. Kiriyanova grabbed my hand, shook it hard and said, "Rita, it''s not easy for you to come up with such a wonderful idea. I used to think you could be a general, but by luck, now I know you are really capable. "


    "Well, don''t be crazy here." I patted her on the shoulder with my free hand. "I think the anti-aircraft sentry of this ice transportation line will be set up this evening at the latest after commissar Higgins reported my proposal. You and Orlova should go to the company and arrange the personnel to serve as the air defense sentry


    "All right." She released my hand, saluted me with Orlova, turned and walked out. When she got to the tent door, she suddenly stopped, turned around and asked me, "Rita, what does it mean to be crazy?"


    She asked me this question. Although this word is frequently used in later generations, it still belongs to a coinage. I was thinking about how to answer her when a rough male voice came from outside the tent: "excuse me, is major oshanina in the antiaircraft artillery camp?" Who will be looking for me? Instead of answering kiriyanova''s question, I went over her and out of the tent to see what happened. Outside the tent stood two men, whose coat collars were open, so it was easy to see their ranks: a lieutenant commander and a second lieutenant. I know the second lieutenant, the one who directed the soldiers to push the truck just now. I went up to the commander, saluted him at attention and reported, "Hello, comrade commander. I''m major oshanina, commander of the antiaircraft artillery battalion. Are you looking for me The commander returned a salute and introduced himself, saying, "I''m commander of the convoy, commander habi. I''m here for you." When I saw the second lieutenant, I knew the origin of lieutenant hobby, but politely asked, "what can I do for you, please?" Commander hobby pointed to the north, and said in a somewhat awkward tone, "Comrade major, I want you to explain what you want my soldiers to do by pushing a broken truck into the snow far away from the road."

 Chapter 280

    It was a spur of the moment for me to let the soldiers push the broken trucks away from the roadside, but it was also an important part of my plan to figure out how to deal with the German plane''s night attack.


    Although lieutenant commander habi of the road guard stood in front of me and stared at me impatiently, he might lose his temper at any time. But for the sake of confidentiality, I''m not going to tell him the real reason until general hilov and commissar Higgins adopt my plan and formally set up air defense posts on the ice transportation line.


    So with a smile on my face, I answered him, "report, comrade commander, I ordered the soldiers to push the truck to an open place for air defense at night. As for the specific reasons, I can''t tell you for the time being without the authorization of my superior. Please forgive me


    As soon as I finished, habi''s face changed. The commander''s eyes became stern, his lips moved, and he said, "no authorization?! Hum hum, I have to be authorized to answer my question. Is this the attitude a subordinate should have towards a superior? "


    Although his attitude was extremely unfriendly, I calmly replied, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. Although your rank is higher than mine, I can''t tell you anything until I get the official order from the superior."


    My attitude surprised him. He couldn''t believe his ears, so he asked again¡° How do you understand that? " He was already asking in a threatening tone.


    At the moment, I don''t know when the air defense Sentry will be officially set up, so it''s not clear when the truck will be used, so I can only answer vaguely: "Comrade commander, please don''t worry. Maybe the higher authorities will give orders soon. Then you will understand the purpose of this broken truck. "


    With that, I looked at habi warily to see if he would be angry immediately. But to my great surprise, he didn''t lose his temper at all. He just sneered and said, "well, comrade major, that''s it. I''ll wait for you to explain the reason to me after you get the authorization." Then he waved his head to the male officer next to him and said, "come on, lieutenant, go back to the camp. We still have a lot of work to do." Then he turned and left.


    After saluting me, the second officer followed. I vaguely heard commander habi muttering: "I don''t believe a broken truck can be of any use in air defense?"


    Seeing captain habi and the second lieutenant leave, kirianova came up to me and asked anxiously, "Rita, aren''t you afraid to offend the guard?" Orlova also echoed: "yes, if they sue your superiors, it will affect your future promotion."


    I went between them, raised my hand and patted them on the shoulder with a smile, and said confidently, "don''t worry. After the German air raid tonight, his attitude towards me will change." Then he told them: "now you two go to the company to choose the soldiers who will serve as air defense sentries. Maybe you can use them tonight."


    After they accepted the order, they left. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was still early. It was just after one o''clock at noon. I had been the commander of the anti-aircraft artillery battalion for such a long time. Except for the female soldier company, I had not been to the other two companies. Now I can go to have a look if I have nothing to do. So I went back to the tent, found my assault rifle and carried it over my shoulder.


    I was standing on the side of the road, looking at the moving convoys and retreating people. When I was thinking about going that way, a timid voice suddenly sounded behind me: "Comrade major, are you going out?"


    I turned around and saw that it was Naya. She was wearing a military coat and a cotton cap. She was also carrying a rifle on her shoulder. I didn''t know whether she was going to work or just changed. So I replied with a smile, "yes, Naya. I''m going to visit the other two companies, but I don''t know how to get there? "


    "If you have no objection, I can show you the way."


    "Well, let''s go together."


    The two of us joined the ranks of the residents who had withdrawn from the city, following the crowds slowly along the ruts made by the convoys of trucks and sledges. It''s not too cold at the moment, and there''s no wind on the lake. At least it won''t be too cold to breathe when walking.


    At the beginning, we just followed the crowd in front of us in silence. After a while, Naya couldn''t help chatting with me: "Comrade major, thank you for that day."


    "That day?" Hearing her words, I was stunned for a moment. Then I thought of the soldier who was taught by second platoon Lieutenant Ye Lianna that day. I asked curiously, "is that your boyfriend?"


    Naya''s face was flushed. She didn''t know whether it was shy or frozen red. She whispered and explained to me, "his name is marado. He''s my classmate in Grade 10. He''s been chasing me since he was a student. After the outbreak of the war, the senior students of our school joined the army. Originally thought that there was no chance to meet, did not expect that his unit, and our company is only one way away. He just came to see me that day, but the platoon leader found out. So he was scolded by Lieutenant Ye Lianna in front of all the people in the platoon. " At this point, she turned to look at me and said, "fortunately, you came to help him out, otherwise I don''t know how it will end in the end. Thank you


    In my mind, I am calculating whether grade 10 is equivalent to grade one or grade two in China. If the primary school is five years, it is grade two; If it''s a six-year system, it''s a senior one. No wonder the online joke said: the Soviet Union can get married at the age of 16. When they were in senior one or two, others were old husbands and wives. In China, they were still in puppy love.


    When I heard Naya thank me again and again, I just laughed at her and didn''t speak. After another walk, I felt that my attitude just now was a little cold, which would make Naya misunderstand me for putting on airs, so I took the initiative to chat with her: "Naya, don''t blame your platoon leader, she is also for your own good, but her expression is not correct."


    Naya nodded and said, "I see."


    In fact, I really don''t have any say in emotion. I''m afraid that the more I talk about it, the more embarrassing I will be. I quickly change the topic: "Naya, which antiaircraft artillery company is closest to here?"


    "Report major, it''s lieutenant Baku''s second company." She pointed to the front with her hand and said, "it''s about 500 meters away from our present position."


    I nodded to show that I understood, and then said to her in a friendly way, "Naya, don''t call me major or senior, or call me Lida."


    Little girl a listen to, immediately happily agreed, next and I talk is not so formal. After a while, she pulled my sleeve, pointed to a white tent not far away, and said, "Rita, it''s a heating shed. Let''s go there to get warm before we go."


    The tent is more than ten meters away, next to a big ice pile. At the door stands a white board with several black words: "heating station". I looked at my watch. We had been away from the station for more than an hour. Listening to Naya talking about the heating station, I really felt a little cold. So we went to the heating station together.


    When she got to the tent, Naya first lifted the curtain and went in. I followed and followed.


    The tent was full of people. Men and women were standing. The old people and children were sitting on wooden benches. On the ground of the tent, there are several thick wooden boards, in which there is a stove, and two lanterns are hung on the pole supporting the tent.


    Although there are many people in the tent, no one speaks, which gives people a feeling of special depression. Because of the large number of people and the stove, the tent is much warmer than outside. For those who have walked a long way in the cold wind, it is a good place for a short rest.


    People came in from time to time, but few people went out, and the tent became more and more crowded. I whispered to Naya, "let''s go out and leave our seats for those who are freezing."


    Naya promised to squeeze out with me. When I opened the curtain, I saw that many people outside wanted to come in, and we wanted to go out, so we took the initiative to make way for us.


    On the way to the second company station, I was silent and couldn''t help thinking, "how far have I come from the station? It''s only two kilometers, right? It''s hard to walk such a little bit when it''s not too cold. The residents who have been evacuated from the city have to walk dozens of kilometers in the cold, and the number of heating stations on the ice transportation line is limited. It''s not known how many people will be frozen to death on the road. " Think of here, can''t help but dejected.


    When I was thinking about it, suddenly there was a clear shot in the distance. Where to shoot? Almost as I thought about it, I held the assault rifle over my shoulder, opened the safety, squatted around to see where the gunfire came from.


    "German, it''s German coming up." From the north of the road came a loud cry.


    With his shouts, the vehicles on the way to the city stopped. The driver and the soldiers in charge of the vehicle jumped down from the bridge and pulled the door open one after another, lying on the side of the road, covered by the ice, put up the gun and pulled the trigger. For a moment, the gunfire was loud.


    The residents who evacuated outside the city were in a mess after the gunfire. Some ran forward, some turned around and ran back, and some hid behind the ice on the south side of the road.


    From the direction of the gunshot, I knew that the Germans were from the north, and I didn''t care where they came from. I called out to Naya behind, "Naya, follow me!" He rushed across the road with a gun and a cat''s waist. He also learned from the drivers who were lying on the side of the road and put the gun on the ice. But instead of shooting right away, I watched carefully what happened.


    Only after this observation did we find that two armored vehicles were parked about 200 meters away from the road. The white cross on the body was clearly visible. More than a dozen German soldiers were using ice as a shelter to cover our side alternately.


    I have a look at our side. There are at least 40 drivers and soldiers escorting cars. Plus the coming soldiers of road guards, it is estimated that we will soon reach hundreds of people. As long as the other side doesn''t have any heavy weapons, there should be no problem in guarding the transportation line, or even wipe them out.


    It''s not far from Baku''s second company. If he was told to bring dozens of soldiers to help, the battle would be over soon. So I turned my head slightly and called to Naya, but after a few shouts, I didn''t hear an answer. Turning around, I saw Naya sitting behind me, holding the gun in her arms, shaking her head, almost crying.


    I reached for Naya by the collar and said sternly, "I order you to go to lieutenant Baku''s company immediately and give my order that he bring twenty soldiers here at once. Do you hear me


    The muscles on Naya''s face twitched violently, and she burst into tears. To see her cry so sad, so wronged, I can not help but secretly sigh. But now is an extraordinary period, can not be soft hearted, so I ruthlessly grabbed her collar, shaking hard, yelled: "this is the order, go quickly!" Then she loosened her collar.


    Crying, Naya got up on the ground and turned to run. I yelled at her again: "don''t run straight, bend over." After watching Naya run to the side of the road and disappear into the ice of different heights, I turned my attention to the Germans again. In just one or two minutes, they were close to 100 meters. Although our guns were loud, they didn''t seem to have caused any casualties. In the distance, the two armored vehicles were still in the same place, and they didn''t know whether they were stuck in the ice or not. The machine guns of the nurses on the bus were not beating incessantly, but they were firing without delay. Not only the soldiers who blocked the attack, but also some people were shot, injured or sacrificed. Even the residents who ran about on the road were hit by stray bullets from time to time, with screams and cries. I lay behind the ice and didn''t shoot. I looked around again. It was found that behind a chest high snow wall on the south side of the road, there was a quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun, the kind I used to use. If I used it to hit German armored vehicles, it would be no problem. Just as he was about to get up and run across the road, a famous Lieutenant with a submachine gun and more than a dozen soldiers ran to my side and fell down. The gun on the rack opened to the German who was coming. In the clear gunfire, I yelled at the lieutenant, "Comrade lieutenant, are you a road guard?" The lieutenant glanced at me and asked me, "yes, what''s the matter?" I pointed to the anti-aircraft machine gun on the other side of the road and said to him, "send a soldier to inform the anti-aircraft machine gun position immediately and let them suppress the German armored vehicles. There will also be a few more soldiers to evacuate the residents who are running around and take them to a safe place. " The lieutenant rolled his eyes at me and said, "who are you? Why should I listen to you? " I didn''t talk to him. I unbuttoned my clothes, opened my collar and let him see my badge. At the same time, I pulled the trigger and fired three shots to knock down a German soldier who just jumped out of the ice. The lieutenant looked at my rank and immediately agreed to give orders to the men he had brought. My order was quickly conveyed. A soldier with a gun bent over the road and ran to the anti-aircraft machine gun position; Five soldiers, with their backs against cars parked on the side of the road, yelled, directing the residents to evacuate to safety.

 Chapter 281

    When the German advanced to a place seven or eight meters away from the side of the road, they stopped. They hid behind the uneven ice and started shooting at us. Although they are small in number, they look like veterans who have been fighting in Europe for several years. They have accurate shooting skills and rich combat experience. They don''t shoot blindly, but they hide behind the ice after one or two shots.


    On the other hand, although our army has a large number of people, it belongs to a mob that has been put together on a temporary basis. There is no way to start a war. The drivers, in particular, put their rifles on the ice by the side of the road and beat them with a crackle, regardless of whether they aimed at the target or not. What''s more, they didn''t know how to hide. Not only did they expose most of their bodies when shooting, but they didn''t even know how to hide when changing their ammunition clips. They squatted there to let the German target them.


    After fighting in this way for a long time, seven or eight German soldiers were knocked down, and the casualties of our army at least exceeded 40. Fortunately, the German weapons are mainly rifles, equipped with four or five submachine guns. In the distance, there are semi tracked armored vehicles. Except for machine guns, they are not equipped with artillery. Otherwise, with one shot of gunfire from the Germans and another charge of infantry, our regiment will be almost destroyed.


    In the interception, I finished a clip, except that the first three bullets knocked down a German soldier, the rest of the German soldiers were not hurt. I turned to my side and leaned against the ice. I took out the bullet clip from my coat pocket and called to the next Lieutenant: "Comrade lieutenant, you can''t fight like this any more. Otherwise, even if all the people here are gone, we will not be able to eliminate the German army. "


    The lieutenant crawled up to me and asked aloud, "Comrade major, what shall we do?"


    I changed my clip, turned over and looked through the cracks in the ice. I saw that there were about ten German men shooting. I didn''t care to answer the Lieutenant''s words. I put the gun back on the ice and prepared to shoot twice first. However, I was found by the German army on the opposite side and immediately two men fired at me. Instinctively, I shrank down and hid behind the ice. The bullets hit the hard ice, and the cold pieces of ice splashed around.


    I quickly rolled to the left, put the gun on another ice, and fired two shots in the direction of the bullet. This time, it was a fluke to hit a target. As soon as the German soldier threw his rifle, his body fell head down on the ice.


    I hid myself in the ice again, and told the lieutenant not far away: "Comrade lieutenant, you go to organize the soldiers with submachine guns and let them suppress fire here; Then two more teams will be sent to make a detour from the left to the right of the German army. They must be wiped out. "


    "No, major. The German armored car is too dangerous. The machine gun on it suppresses us. As long as anyone stands up straight, he will be knocked down. "


    After listening to the Lieutenant''s words, I knew that I had considered the problem too simply. If I didn''t kill the fire of the armored vehicle, the soldiers on both wings might be killed by all the machine guns above. I don''t know whether the soldiers who went to the anti-aircraft machine gun position to convey orders have arrived? There''s no way we can take German armored cars without anti-aircraft machine guns.


    When I was extremely anxious, I couldn''t help looking back at the anti-aircraft machine gun position. Unexpectedly, I saw a group of soldiers bending over, pulling or pushing a quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun towards us. Seeing this, I couldn''t help shouting: Hell, you just fire behind the snow wall. What are you doing with the machine gun?


    Sooner or later, the anti-aircraft machine gun was pushed between two trucks. A soldier sat in the seat of the sightser, quickly shook the handle, leveled the high muzzle, and fired violently.


    In the clear sound of gunfire, the machine gun shooter on the first armored car was beaten to pieces, and disappeared from my sight in the blood fog. Then the antiaircraft machine gun pointed the muzzle at the second armored car and continued to fire. After killing the machine gun shooter this time, the ammunition of the armored car was hit. After a violent explosion, the car began to burn.


    The German soldiers who were shooting against us were a little flustered when they saw that their armored car had been knocked down by us. When two more soldiers were shot and fell down, the rest did not dare to stay and tried to escape in turn. To tell you the truth, when the armored vehicles were still there, they wanted to run, but we couldn''t do anything about them; Now the armored vehicle which is the biggest threat to us has been killed. If they want to run, they have to ask us whether we agree or not.


    I stood up with my gun, and said to the lieutenant who was still lying behind the ice, "Lieutenant, take your men up, and don''t let any of them run away!"


    "Yes The lieutenant agreed, jumped up from the ground and yelled, "comrades, come with me!" Then, he took the lead to rush out with a submachine gun. The soldiers lying on the ground, whether they were road guards, drivers or escorts, saw that some commanders took the lead in rushing out and rushed up.


    When I saw that the overall situation had been decided, I did not follow the charge. Instead, I put the gun on my shoulder and walked towards the anti-aircraft machine gun. I want to express my gratitude to their commanders, because without their help, not to mention how long we will fight against this enemy, it is difficult to say who will win and who will lose in the end.


    Just after a few steps, a second lieutenant came to me with the two soldiers. The three men came up to me, saluted me neatly, and said in unison, "Hello, comrade major!"


    Then the second lieutenant shook hands and said gratefully, "thank you, comrade second lieutenant! If it were not for your help, we would have nothing to do with this enemy. " The lieutenant looked at me with a smile: "major o''shanina, don''t you remember me?" The officer in front of me looks familiar, but I can''t remember where I''ve seen him. This may be the sorrow of a face blind patient like me. Out of politeness, I asked cautiously, "you look a little familiar, but I don''t know where we''ve met before?" The second lieutenant sighed and said, "Comrade major, don''t you really remember me? I''m sapchenko¡° Sapchenko? " I didn''t really remember the name, so I shook my head and said apologetically, "I''m sorry, comrade lieutenant. I really can''t remember where I met you." Seeing that I still didn''t remember who he was, the second lieutenant continued to remind me: "think again, last October, we fought together in the nameless highlands of Pulkovo." As soon as I heard the place names of Pulkovo and Nameless Highland, I immediately connected the lieutenant in front of me with the frivolous whistling lieutenant in the antiaircraft machine gun company I was commanding at that time. I''m very happy to meet another acquaintance here. I grabbed the second lieutenant''s hand, shook it hard and said, "I didn''t expect it to be you, comrade second lieutenant. We meet again¡° Yes, yes, comrade major. " Seeing my old superior, he was also very happy. "Look, I''m still a lieutenant now, and you''re a major already!" As we spoke, the battle to wipe out the remaining enemy came to an end. After all, we have 60 or 70 fully armed soldiers. If we can''t deal with even a few disabled German soldiers, we''d better go back and be common people. It is for this reason that I can confidently and boldly talk about the past with the second lieutenant. After a while, the lieutenant came to me and said, "report, comrade major, that all the German invaders have been wiped out. Two armored vehicles were destroyed, 19 German soldiers were killed and 5 were captured alive. How to deal with the prisoners, please give us your instructions! " I was about to speak when I heard a quick step, and then Naya''s voice: "Comrade major, I''m back!" As I went, Naya, armed with a rifle and a group of soldiers, was running towards me. The commander beside her was lieutenant Baku, the commander of the second company. Then, I heard the horn of the car, two trucks full of soldiers rushed over, and stopped more than ten meters away from us. As soon as the car stopped, the soldiers on the car jumped down one after another and formed a team under the car. The driver''s door of the truck in front of him opened, and a commander came down from the co driver''s side, shouting: "who is in charge here? Come to me As soon as I saw it, this man was no one else. He was lieutenant colonel hobby, who had only dealt with him in the morning. How come these people, like the policemen in the Hong Kong and Taiwan films, are all waiting for the dust to settle before they arrive late.

 Chapter 282

    Just now, when the lieutenant of the road guard asked me how to deal with the prisoners, I tried to save trouble and let him all be shot. But now that his immediate superiors are here, it''s none of my business to deal with the prisoners.


    Without waiting for my command, the lieutenant trotted all the way to lieutenant colonel Harpy, raised his hand at attention and reported respectfully what had just happened.


    I looked at Lieutenant Baku, who stood upright in front of me, and pretended to be straight faced and said seriously, "Comrade lieutenant, you are too slow! You see, after all the battles have been cleaned up, you and your subordinates appear on the battlefield. If you had been earlier, maybe you would have captured a few more prisoners. "


    Perhaps he heard that my address to him was "you" instead of "you", and his tone was business like. He could not help but feel a little flustered and explained: "report major, as soon as I got the notice from the soldier Naya, I rushed to support him with the people I could call. As you know, the speed of moving on ice will be affected... "


    I couldn''t help laughing when I saw his nervous and helpless face. Baku realized that I was joking with him, and he laughed awkwardly with me twice. Then he asked, "Comrade major, are you here to inspect our company''s defense?"


    "Yes, if I hadn''t been attacked by German soldiers just now, I would have been in your company''s station by now."


    "Then go now," Baku said enthusiastically. "The soldiers and I will show you the way."


    Seeing that sapchenko was still standing next to me, I reached out to shake hands with him and said in a friendly way, "Lieutenant sapchenko, thank you for your help today. Only in this way can we eliminate these annoying Germans. Goodbye, see you later! "


    The second lieutenant shook my hand a few times and said, "you''re very polite. In fact, it''s your initiative to use antiaircraft machine gun to hit tanks and armored vehicles. Goodbye and good luck


    Lieutenant Baku and I, as they left, saw Colonel harpy''s eyes coming towards me, and raised our hands to salute him from a distance. He watched our team leave, and I caught a glimpse of him grinning up slightly as he returned the salute.


    On the way to bakulian station, I took Naya''s little hand and asked her with concern, "Naya, are you still afraid?" I was really impressed by her performance just now.


    Naya didn''t say a word. In a moment, she whispered, "I''m not afraid! Rita


    I nodded, did not speak, just with the other hand gently patted the back of her hand.


    After songkainaya''s hand, Baku and I walked side by side. On the way, we told him my air defense plan. After he returned to the station, we arranged to set up air defense sentries as soon as possible.


    When I arrived at the station of the second company, accompanied by Baku, I checked the adjusted antiaircraft gun positions, chatted with some soldiers about their family customs, and praised those soldiers who shot down enemy planes and captured prisoners. Finally, in the case of everyone''s happiness, we had a simple dinner in advance, and then set foot on the way home with Naya.


    Passing the place where the fighting just happened, there were many trucks with awnings and several ambulances marked with Red Cross. A group of soldiers are busy, not only the soldiers but also the wounded civilians are all carried to the ambulance, and the remains of soldiers and civilians are thrown into the truck with awning.


    We were passing by these vehicles when we heard someone shouting, "Comrade major, please wait!" I turned and saw that it was the lieutenant who had fought side by side, so I stopped and waited for him to come.


    The lieutenant ran to me, saluted and asked tentatively, "Comrade major, are you going back to the antiaircraft artillery camp?"


    As for how he knew that I was the commander of the antiaircraft artillery battalion, I could think with my toes that Lt. Col. harpy told him, but I was surprised why he would ask me if I was going back to the station. Was he going to drive me and Naya back? I didn''t speak, just nodded in affirmation.


    "That''s great! Major, I''ve been ordered to drive you back to the station, and the commander of the convoy, Lieutenant Colonel habi, wants to see you The lieutenant straightened his back and said, "please wait a moment with your female soldiers. I''ll go and explain my work."


    If we could have a car, Naya and I would be able to walk less than an hour. This is what we can''t wait for. I didn''t object, so I nodded and agreed.


    The lieutenant ran to the middle of the soldiers, called an officer and gave orders. Then he ran to me and said, "Comrade major, please follow me. The car is in front of me."


    There was an empty truck in front of him. The lieutenant drove the driver down and sat on the bridge to ask me and Naya to get on the bus. Naya opened the door and let me in first. After I sat down, she followed and closed the door.


    While the car was driving, I couldn''t help asking the lieutenant, "Comrade lieutenant, have you interrogated the prisoner just now?"


    "I''ve interrogated the soldiers who understand German. These two armored vehicles got lost in the process of patrol and ran into our ice transportation line by mistake. Originally, they found our army activities nearby and planned to leave immediately, but one of the armored vehicles was stuck in the ice for some reason. The other one hung on the traction rope and tried to pull it away. As a result, there was too much movement, which alerted the soldiers on duty of the road protection team and triggered the battle. "


    I said, and then asked, "how are our casualties?"¡° The casualties were not small, "the lieutenant hesitated when he said this question, but after seeing the rank on the red diamond on my coat collar, he continued to say," according to preliminary statistics, 15 soldiers of the road convoy were killed, 21 were injured, 8 drivers and escorts of the transport team were killed and 19 were injured. More civilian casualties, 35 dead and 49 wounded. " When I counted the numbers, I was startled. My God! Only a small German army without heavy weapons was wiped out, while the Soviet army paid three times as much as the enemy. If we meet a large German army with heavy weapons, we don''t know how many people will be killed. Just as he was daydreaming, the lieutenant drove to a tent by the side of the road and stopped. Then he pointed to the tent and said to me, "Comrade major, commander habi''s command post is here." I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It hasn''t been more than ten minutes since I got on the bus. Naya and I just walked for more than an hour. These four wheels are faster than two legs. After getting out of the car, I told Naya to go back to the camp and report to kirianova and Orlova, saying that I was a guest in the command post of commander habi across the road, so that they would not worry. When I saw Naya trotting all the way to the station of the women''s antiaircraft artillery company with her gun on her back, I followed the lieutenant and went into the command post of commander habi. As soon as I entered the tent, I coughed violently because of the smoke. Commander Haby and another officer were sitting at a small wooden table, smoking while looking at a map. Hearing my cough, they looked up at me. Hobby stopped the lieutenant who was about to report to him, put out his cigarette in the ashtray on the table, stood up, reached out his hand to shake hands with me, and said, "Hello, major oshanina, we meet again." Then he pointed to the officer who was looking at me from the beginning to the end and said to me, "this is puccico, the political commissar of our road guard." he pointed to me and said to puccico, "this is our neighbor, major oshanina, the commander of the anti-aircraft artillery battalion stationed in the south of the road." I shook hands with the commissar again, politely said a few words, and then found a seat to sit down. As soon as I sat down, Colonel harpy ordered the lieutenant who had sent me to pour me tea and food. For habi''s kindness, I wanted to refuse, but I opened my mouth, but I still didn''t say it. This is mainly due to the shortage of food in Leningrad and the poor food supply of the troops defending the ice transport line. Although the food quota is higher than that in the city, they are still often short of food. After a meal in Baku just now, I really didn''t have enough to eat. Since it''s a treat, I won''t refuse anyone. As soon as the lieutenant came out of the tent, I asked frankly, "commander hobby, what can I do for you?"

 Chapter 283

    Instead of answering my question directly, Lieutenant Colonel hobby sat down in the vacant seat next to me, picked up the assault rifle I was leaning against the table, and studied it with great interest. Looking back and forth for a long time, he muttered: "this gun is so special. How come I''ve never seen it before?"


    It''s right to say that you haven''t seen it before. This is the equipment that will appear only a few years later. It''s just because there are a group of passers-by who happen to be technicians and professional workers in military factories, so this AK47 assault rifle can be released in advance.


    Puccico took the rifle from commander habi''s hand, looked at it and said, "it''s a very interesting rifle." Then he began to study carefully.


    Looking at me, staring at puccico''s rifle, Lieutenant Colonel habi quickly explained, "my political commissar used to work as a technician in the ordnance factory in Leningrad. As soon as he saw new weapons and equipment, he wanted to study them carefully." Then he changed the subject and asked, "I heard lieutenant ugard say that you killed two German soldiers with this rifle in the afternoon battle."


    Only then did I know that the lieutenant who had fought with me and brought me here turned out to be ugad¡° Yes, comrade commander I lightly replied: "with this rifle, I have killed many bandits."


    Puccico, next to him, unloaded the clip, took out a bullet and looked at it. Excitedly, he said to commander habi, "Comrade commander, look, the bullets used in this gun are very special. The caliber is 7.62mm, just like that of moxinnagan, but the length is shorter."


    "You have observed very carefully, comrade political commissar." I paid a compliment and then explained this new type of assault rifle to them: "this is the latest assault rifle developed by the military factory, which uses 7.62 millihair short cartridge bullets. The hit rate of 150 meter target is similar to that of moxingan rifle. When attacking close range target, its killing effect is much better than that of submachine gun. "


    Puccico put the clip back and asked curiously, "listen to you, this new weapon is really wonderful. If the troops can be deployed as soon as possible, their combat effectiveness will be greatly improved. "


    Hearing what he said, I couldn''t help pouring cold water on him: "this assault rifle has just been developed, and relevant departments need to carry out a series of tests to determine whether it can be loaded into the army. And it''s not easy to produce the bullets of this kind of gun, so after 120 bullets are fired, this gun is a decoration. "


    Before puccico could speak, the curtain of the tent was lifted, and lieutenant ugad and a soldier came in with plates of teapots, cups, sugar, black bread and grilled fish. Hobby folded the map on the table and put it aside. They had the lieutenant put everything on the table.


    Puccico, with some regret, put the gun aside and asked me to eat. Hobby picked up a piece of black bread and pushed a plate with grilled fish in front of me. He asked vaguely, "do you need ketchup?"


    I waved my hand, picked up the fish and ate it. The advantage of being stationed on the ice transportation line is that you can often eat all kinds of roast fish.


    There wasn''t much food and the time of eating was not too long. The three of us soon cleaned up the food on the plate. We didn''t go on to talk about the important things until habi asked the soldiers to clean up.


    The well fed Lieutenant Colonel habi said to me solemnly, "Comrade oshanina, I received a call from general hilov of the headquarters this afternoon. When he deployed the new night air defense plan, he also gave us the order to set up the night air defense sentry. After receiving the order, I immediately transferred personnel from my troops to form an air defense post. At present, all the sentries of our department have been put in place. In order to prevent frostbite accidents, special tents have been distributed to each sentry post. "


    I didn''t ask much about the layout of the air defense sentry, because Lieutenant Colonel habi is not my subordinate and has no obligation to report to me in detail. I only asked one question I was interested in: "how can I inform the drivers who run the night transport line?"


    "It''s not a problem." Habi said with great confidence: "all drivers will be informed when they enter the transport line through the checkpoint: when all vehicles are driving at night, the driver will turn off the lights as soon as he hears the sound of the alarm gun, and hide his car by the side of the road. Only after the enemy plane leaves and safety is ensured can it drive again. "


    Haby finished, looked at me, frowned and asked sternly, "Comrade o''shanina, can I ask now why you ordered my soldiers to push an abandoned truck to an open area far away from the roadside? Please don''t tell me that you have to be authorized to speak. I know now


    "Yes, major oshanina." The political commissar echoed, "I''m also very curious."


    Now that everyone knows about the new night air defense plan, I will not keep it secret any more. However, I explained it to them directly, and asked: "if the air defense Sentry can play a good warning role in the night air attack, what do you think the flying German aircraft will do? Return immediately or continue to hover in the air looking for targets


    Puccico said thoughtfully: "I think the latter is more likely. The bandits are not willing to risk so many planes in the middle of the night and return without any harvest." After listening to the commissar''s words, Colonel habi nodded in agreement with him.


    "Yes Seeing them, we can clearly understand this, so it''s easy to say, "in order to let the enemy''s planes return quickly, we must prepare several bombing targets for them."¡° Wait a minute, "hobby interrupted, scrambling." I think I see what you mean. When the enemy aircraft attacked at night, all the vehicles in the transport team turned off their lights and drove to the roadside to turn off the fire. At this time, the abandoned truck turned on the lights again, indicating false targets for the enemy planes attacking at night, inducing them to shoot and drop bombs on the open ice. When the so-called target is destroyed, they can return safely. am I correct? Comrade oshanina. " Ginger is still old and spicy. Who said that Lao maozi had a string missing in his mind? I just gave a hint, and he guessed all my intentions. I gave commander Haby a thumbs up and said sincerely, "Comrade commander, you are so wonderful. You can guess the correct answer at once."¡° Bang As soon as the political commissar slapped the table, I was startled. He said excitedly: "genius! Genius!!! Comrade major, you are a genius! I can think of such a wonderful way to deal with the enemy''s night air attack. " He turned to habi and said, "Comrade commander, you should report this method to the general immediately and promote it in the whole transportation line." When the political commissar praised me, I couldn''t help feeling a fever on my face. It was all my plagiarism of the ideas of future generations of volunteers. However, they didn''t notice my abnormality. Instead, habi added: "one truck is a little too few. Shall we find a few scrapped trucks to pass by. When the air raid, turn on the light well; It doesn''t matter if you don''t have lights. Put two lanterns on the car so that you can disguise yourself as a motorcade. The enemy''s plane can''t be fooled. " Then he raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he said, "it''s still early now. I''ll arrange someone to do it right away."

 Chapter 284

    Commander habi called lieutenant ugad and several other officers into the tent and assigned them the tasks we had just discussed.


    I looked at my watch and found that it was just six o''clock and the enemy plane was about to leave at least four hours later. I just used this time to check the preparation of the female soldier company.


    When habi finished his assignment and several officers saluted him and left, I got up to say goodbye to him and puccico. Seeing that I was going to leave, they urged me to stay. They said they would see the new air defense sentry system later and see if it could play its due role in night air defense.


    I refused to go back to the women''s company to check the formation of the air defense sentry system. I asked Lieutenant Colonel habi to call me when he found out that the enemy plane was out, and then I would come back from the women''s company. As I said this, I left in such a hurry that I caught a glimpse of Colonel harpy and puccico''s embarrassed face, and didn''t have time to think about what was going on.


    Back at the station of the company, kirianova and Orlova were waiting for me in the tent. As soon as I asked about the air defense sentry, I immediately reported that four soldiers were transferred from each platoon to set up a temporary air defense sentry team, with three people in a group. They were on duty every six hours.


    After the report, Orlova asked anxiously, "Rita, does this air defense sentry system really work?"


    "It works, and it works quite well." I gave her an unambiguous reply. I joked that the performance of the US aircraft in the next ten years will be much better than that of the German aircraft now. Aren''t they confused by the heroic volunteers?


    "Rita," kirianova asked again, "I want to ask one more question. When we have air defense sentries, what is the task of our antiaircraft artillery company when enemy planes attack? "


    "It depends on the specific situation." When she asked me this question, she really stopped me, thought about it a little bit, and then answered her, "if it''s too dark to see the incoming enemy planes, the whole army will stay hidden. If we open fire rashly, it is possible that the enemy plane will not come down, but will expose our position, attract bombing and strafing from the enemy plane, and cause unnecessary casualties. We can''t fight, can''t we hide? "


    "But..." kiriyanova wanted to say something else. I waved my hand to stop it. I added: "of course, we can''t just avoid fighting. If we have a good view and can clearly find the enemy plane on a moonlit night, we will fire decisively. Antiaircraft artillery attacks enemy aircraft by covering rather than hitting. With our existing gun position formation, we concentrate our firepower to attack an enemy aircraft, so that shrapnel can form a killing area without dead angle in the air. As long as the enemy''s plane dares to crash into it, it will never come back. " Although I know that kirianova and Orlova, as professionals, know more about these theoretical knowledge than I do, they still talk a lot, mainly to increase their confidence. After all, people are more or less skeptical about the unknown new things.


    With these words, kirianova asked about my encounter with the German patrol in the afternoon. It was obvious that Naya had come back and reported to them that they knew about it. But in the first stage of the battle, Naya held the gun behind me, shivering and probably didn''t see anything. Then I ordered Naya to go to the second company in Baku for help. She couldn''t tell how the battle was going on and how it ended. The only way to report to our company commander and instructor is to encounter German patrol soldiers on the road. After the battle, our army completely annihilated the enemy.


    I briefly described how I encountered the German patrol on the road and how it fought. When I heard that lieutenant sapchenko''s men leveled their anti-aircraft machine guns and knocked out two German armored vehicles. Orlova couldn''t help interrupting and asked, "Rita, since the anti-aircraft machine gun can be placed horizontally to fight the German armored vehicles, can our anti-aircraft guns be used to fight tanks? Of course, the premise is to be equipped with special armor piercing bullets. "


    When I heard her say that, I was stunned. At the beginning of October last year, I suggested to general Zhukov, then commander of Leningrad front army, that we should mobilize enough anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns to set up front-line positions for fighting German tanks and armored vehicles. It''s been a few months. Why hasn''t this method of warfare been popularized? Is it that when people leave, the tea will be cold. Zhukov''s command style and many orders issued before leaving office have been denied by the new commanders?


    I was just thinking about it. Suddenly someone outside the tent called for a report. Kirianova yelled at the door, "come in!"


    As soon as the words fell, a female soldier with a rifle on her back opened the curtain and came in.


    "What''s the matter?" Kirianova asked the soldier.


    The female soldier reported: "report to the company commander, it seems that someone is calling the name of the major in the station opposite the road."


    "Is it?" I stood up, lifted the curtain and went out. Sure enough, I heard someone calling my name from a distance: "major oshanina, is major oshanina in?"


    "I''m o''shanina. What can I do for you?" I yelled at the distance.


    "Colonel hobby, please come here."


    "OK, I see. I''ll be right there."


    I went back to the tent, packed my weapons, took the clips off the gun, took the new clips out of my briefcase and put them on. In the process of being busy, I stared at the phone that had not rung on the desk, and said with a bitter smile, "this Lieutenant Colonel hobby, if you have something to ask me, just call me. Why let the soldiers shout outside for a long time?"


    After hearing this, Orlova quickly explained, "you may not know, Rita. Although we and the convoy are under the management of general hilov, we belong to different systems. This phone can only talk to the troops of this system. That is to say, although we are very close to each other, they can''t make a call and we can''t make a call. "


    "But general hilov should be able to communicate directly with all the troops on the ice transport line?" I asked uncertainly.


    "That''s natural. The general''s office and duty room use many telephones. It''s very convenient to contact any army."


    After listening to Orlova''s explanation, I understood why the two male officers were embarrassed when I left commander habi''s tent just now. Fortunately, the stove in the room is still relatively warm, otherwise, our situation really becomes that the heating basically depends on shaking, and the communication basically depends on roaring.


    As soon as I got to commander Haby''s tent, the enemy plane arrived on schedule. After the sound of clear gunfire, the motorcade on the transportation line turned off their lights one after another and turned off the fire to hide. The fake motorcade we arranged is now on the stage. In addition to the lights of several scrapped trucks, the soldiers also put a lot of lanterns on the ice. From a distance, it really looks like a moving motorcade.


    Our camouflage tactics have achieved the desired results. The enemy planes flying on the ice transport line dive down to the fake convoy, drop bombs and strafe, and have a good fight.


    Commander habi was standing outside the tent. He could not help laughing when he saw that the German plane had been fooled and bombed the fake convoy. He couldn''t help but take out his cigarette box and put a cigarette in his mouth. Just as he was about to strike a match to light a cigarette, puccico political commissar next to him slapped the cigarette out of his mouth and said in a low voice: "Comrade commander, don''t smoke, be careful to expose the target."


    The German planes came and went, and the bombs and bullets poured out to the location of the fake convoy for free until all the bombs and bullets were gone.


    Seeing the enemy plane away, commander habi waved his hand and said in a loud voice, "let''s go and see what the outcome of the German plane is." Political commissar puccico said: "I want to ask the situation of other areas, so I won''t go with you."


    We came to the original location where the abandoned trucks were placed and saw that all the ice here had been blown up. According to lieutenant ugad''s report, they have 11 trucks and dozens of lanterns here. At the moment, there is nothing but the black water and the broken ice floating on it. It is estimated that they have sunk to the bottom of the lake.


    As soon as he entered the tent, puccico excitedly told us: "Comrade commander, major oshanina, I just called the road guards in other areas. They all reflected that the newly established air defense sentry system played a great role. In the air raid just now, the transport team did not suffer any losses because of timely prevention. "


    Knowing that the air defense sentry system did play a great role tonight, my original worry disappeared. I huffed, and then said to habi and puccico, "two comrades of the commander, nothing''s wrong, I''ll go back to the women''s company. I don''t sleep well these days. I''ll take this opportunity to make up for my sleepiness. "


    Puccico said with a smile: "go ahead, major oshanina. It''s estimated that the enemy plane won''t come back tonight. You can have a good sleep."


    Commander Haby also asked with concern, "shall I send someone to escort you back to the company?"


    I waved my hand and declined his kindness. I''m kidding. It''s only 100 meters away from the tent where I live. It''s a little exaggeration to need escort for such a short distance. I saluted them and turned out of the tent.


    A night without words, a sleep until dawn.


    While they were having breakfast with kirianova, the telephone on the table rang. Orlova, who was closest to the phone, picked up the receiver. As soon as she said a word, she immediately stood up and said to the receiver, "yes, yes, the major is here. I''ll put her on the phone right away Then he handed over the microphone.


    I took the phone from her and gave a hello. Then I heard the voice of political commissar Higgins: "good morning, major oshanina. Are you having breakfast? "


    Hearing the voice of the commissar, I quickly stood up and said respectfully, "Hello! Comrade political commissar. "


    "Comrade oshanina, I congratulate you." Political commissar Higgins said frankly, "the air defense sentry system scheme you proposed proved to be very effective in last night''s air raid, and effectively avoided the loss of our transport team." Then he slowed down his tone and said, "general hilov asked me to convey his apology to you. Yesterday''s tone was a little too heavy for you. Please don''t mind."


    "Comrade commissar, look what you said." The leader would like to apologize to me, but I still have to maintain a modest attitude, otherwise it will leave a bad impression on the leader, "it''s our work that has not done a good job and caused unnecessary losses to the transport team. Comrade General is right in his criticism."


    Originally, he wanted to say a few more words, but he was interrupted by Higgins. He said on the phone, "get ready. Hitchhike to the city. Commander Huojin and general hilov want to see you."


    I was just about to ask if I would be arrested by the patrol as a deserter after entering the city without a travel permit. Higgins added: "you get off at the first checkpoint in the city, which was the checkpoint that almost started fighting last time. I asked my driver to pick you up there. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" As soon as he finished, Higgins hung up¡° Rita, "kirianova asked with concern," what did the commissar say on the phone? "¡° Let me go to the city at once, and say that commander horzin and general hilov want to see me. "

 Chapter 285

    After breakfast, kirianova and Orlova went out to inspect the gun position, and I packed in the tent alone.


    If you want to go back to the headquarters in the city to see the commander of the front army, you can''t dress as casually as I usually do. So I found the belt that had been in my luggage, tied it to the outside of my military coat, took out the pistol from the holster, unloaded the magazine, checked the bullets inside, and then put it back in the holster.


    I was about to go out with my briefcase and assault rifle when Orlova opened the door and came in with a large cloth bag in her hand. Seeing my dress, he said with a smile, "Rita, are you ready to go?"


    "Yes," I asked, "where is kirianova?"


    "There''s something wrong with the antiaircraft gun of No.7 gun position. She''s urging the soldiers in the maintenance station to repair it. I don''t think she can come to see you off." Then he handed me the cloth bag in his hand. "It''s for you from kiriyanova and me."


    Instead of reaching for it, I shook my head and said, "thank you for your kindness. I''m just in town for a day or two. I can''t use these things."


    Orlova forced things into my arms and said with some displeasure, "there is a famine in Leningrad, and the residents of the city are not satisfied at all. If you want to see your mother and son, you must bring them something to eat. " Then he put a note into my coat pocket and added, "this is the address Liuda gave you, building 146, Vladimir Street on the Neva River. If they haven''t evacuated, you should be able to see them."


    Rita''s mother and children! If Orlova doesn''t mention it, I forget that they are still in the besieged city. Since becoming Rita, I''ve been trying to avoid meeting her relatives because I don''t know how to get along with them.


    "It''s getting late, Rita. It''s time for you to start." See me in a daze, next to Orlova kindly remind me.


    I went forward to give Orlova a hug, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and said to her in a grateful tone, "on behalf of my mother and son, thank you." With that, he lifted the curtain and went out with a cloth bag with food in his left hand and an assault rifle in his right.


    I stood by the side of the road waiting for a ride. When I didn''t plan to enter the city, trucks of the transportation team passed through the area one by one. Today, I want to take a ride, but I can''t see a car for a long time.


    I raised my hand and looked at the watch on my wrist. I had been standing on the side of the road for nearly ten minutes. I didn''t know if the driver sent by general hilov was in a hurry at the checkpoint. Just then, a truck with a hood came slowly from a distance. I quickly went to the middle of the road, put my rifle on my shoulder and raised my hand high.


    With a sharp brake, the truck stopped five or six meters away from me. The driver with black hair stretched out his head from the driver''s cabin and yelled at me: "you don''t want to die. You ran to the middle of the road to stop the car."


    I quickly walked to the driver: "sorry, comrade driver, I have something urgent to go to the city, can you give me a lift?"


    The driver looked at the rank on my badge and said, "come up, major. I''m glad to serve you."


    I came around from the front of the car, opened the front passenger''s door and got on the car. As soon as the door was closed, the driver started the car.


    The driver is like a talkative taxi brother. Maybe he can see that the young female soldiers who take the bus are very active. They keep talking to me actively: "Comrade major, I go to Leningrad almost twice a week to get flour and various supplies for the residents. Nowadays, there are many people who go out of the city by car, but few people go into the city. Where are you going? "


    "Go to the city to see mom and son." This time I went back to the city to see commander Huojin and general Shilov. According to the regulations, the purpose of this trip should be kept absolutely secret. So I didn''t even know about Colonel habi except kirianova and Orlova. Now when a driver I have never met asks, I can only use other reasons to prevaricate him.


    "Oh?" The driver was a little surprised and said, "I can''t see that you are so young and married." Then he asked, "how old is your son?"


    "Three years old. I haven''t seen him since the war broke out. "


    When I said this, the driver was even more surprised: "my God! How many months have you been in the army? I always thought you had been in the army for several years, otherwise you would not have such a high rank. "


    I''m used to this kind of reaction of the driver. A female soldier who has only been in the army for a few months can make a smooth progress. She has become a senior general commanding tens of thousands of people from an ordinary soldier. It''s incredible for anyone to change.


    I organized the words in my mind, and then whispered, "in war, any miracle can happen."


    "Where does your mother live?" Fortunately, the driver did not continue to struggle with this problem, but timely changed the topic.


    The address of Rita''s mother, which Orlova told me just now, but I didn''t remember, so I took out the note in my coat pocket. On the note is Liuda''s address written in pencil, because it''s too scrawly. In a hurry, I really can''t recognize what she wrote.


    The driver glanced at the note in my hand and said, "it''s on Vladimir street by the Neva River."


    When he said this, he immediately reminded me that I even guessed the content behind, "it''s building 146. Comrade driver, have you been anywhere? "


    The driver was silent. It took a long time to reply, "because of the shelling and bombing by the bandits, there is hardly a complete building. The young and strong residents who live there have gone to the front line, and most of the remaining old people and children have been evacuated. I don''t know if you can find your mother and son when you go. "


    When I heard the driver say that, I felt relieved. Because I''m a fake Rita after all. If I really show up in front of her mother and son, maybe I''ll show up in two words.


    Seeing that I didn''t speak, the talkative driver also shut up. There was silence in the car.


    After another section of driving, the driver asked me again, "Comrade major, where are you going to get off?" Maybe I was afraid that I would be oversensitive, and then explained, "I''m pulling flour in my car. I have to go to the designated place to unload the car, but I can''t go to Vladimir street."


    "It doesn''t matter." my destination is not Vladimir street, so it doesn''t matter where the driver stops¡° When you get to the checkpoint in town, just put me down


    The driver suddenly asked, "by the way, do you have a pass? The car inspection is very tight these two days. You have to be prepared. If not, the soldiers at the checkpoint may catch you as a deserter. "


    During the war, without travel permits and passes, officers and soldiers are not allowed to act at will. Otherwise, once they are caught by patrols or checkpoints, they may be caught as deserters and sent to the punishment camp or directly shot. Although I have not been in this world for a long time, I have learned a lot about the rules of the game that may kill people at any time. If it wasn''t for political commissar Higgins who said there were people waiting for me at the checkpoint, I would not dare to go back to Leningrad.


    I was very grateful for the kindness of the driver. I gave him a smile and said, "thank you for your reminding. There will be passes to the city, and someone will come to pick me up at the checkpoint. "


    When the car was one or two hundred meters away from the checkpoint, it met a patrol. When the driver saw the leading officer waving to stop, he stepped on the brake in time.


    When the car stopped, a car inspector came forward, looked at the driver''s identification, and then reached out to me for it. I took out my military card and handed it to him. Instead of looking at it immediately, he asked, "do you have a travel permit or pass?"


    "No," I told him frankly, "I was temporarily informed to go back to Leningrad to carry out the mission, so I didn''t get the travel permit and pass for the time being."


    "Please get out of the car." The lieutenant, acting like a business man, reached out and opened the door. I said impolitely, "someone is waiting for me at the checkpoint. He should have the documents you need."


    "Please get out of the car." The lieutenant was unmoved and didn''t look at my military card. He just asked me to get out of the car. Seeing that I didn''t have the slightest intention to get off, I stepped back and raised my hand. The soldiers of the patrol team rushed up with guns and pointed the muzzle at the cab.


    Seeing this, I gave a wry smile and got out of the car helpless.


    The driver leaned out his head from the co pilot and said in a loud voice, "Comrade lieutenant, are you mistaken? She is also a commander. How can she be a deserter


    The lieutenant raised his hand to the driver, "drive away quickly, or you will be arrested together."


    The driver had no choice but to say to me, "Comrade major, I''ll go first. Good luck to you!" Then he closed the door and drove away.


    As the military vehicle left, the lieutenant turned to me and said, "next, it''s time for us to talk about your problem, comrade major. Why did you leave your defense area and come to Leningrad without a travel permit or pass? "


    I looked at him coldly and said solemnly, "I repeat, I was ordered back to Leningrad. As for the travel permit or pass, as long as you get to the checkpoint, the people waiting for me will surely give it to you for inspection. "


    I didn''t expect that the lieutenant was just a pimple. He didn''t know how to be flexible at all. He just had to check his travel permit or pass without looking at my military pass. Seeing my tit for tat with him, I couldn''t help feeling a little annoyed. I asked the two soldiers behind me to come up and disarm me. Naturally, I would not let him succeed. I lifted the assault rifle in my hand and squarely resisted the Lieutenant''s chin.


    The soldiers around me, afraid of hurting the lieutenant, just yelled at me with guns, but no one dared to come forward. Seeing this scene, I can''t help laughing to myself. It seems that I made a mistake at this checkpoint. Last time I took a captain, this time I was a lieutenant, and next time I don''t know what rank I will be. next time?! Thinking of this, I can''t help fighting a cold war. Next time I hijack the officers at the checkpoint, I can''t tell if it''s really true that someone will shoot me.


    When the swords were drawn and it was difficult to ride a tiger, suddenly a shout came from the distance: "stop, stop, everyone. It''s one of our own. Put the gun down. "


    Following the prestige, there are several soldiers running from the checkpoint in the distance, led by an officer.. The soldiers who surrounded me lowered their guns at the command of the officer who was running. Several soldiers came up to me panting. The officer who was still breathing came up to me. After standing at attention and saluting, he said in a loud voice, "report major, Captain kuselev, commander of the checkpoint, report to you. Please give instructions! " Seeing that the gun in my hand was still against the Lieutenant''s chin, Captain kuselev quickly pulled my military ID from the Lieutenant''s hand, handed it to me respectfully in both hands, and said, "major oshanina, this is your military ID. It was just a misunderstanding. Would you please let go of the lieutenant? " I took back my gun, put it on my shoulder, took the military certificate from the captain, and asked casually, "Comrade captain, do you know me?"¡° You forget that the last time you and political commissar Higgins passed through the checkpoint, there was a misunderstanding. " The captain was a little embarrassed to remind me, "at that time, you also just like just now, with a gun on my chin."¡° It''s you, comrade captain I took the initiative to reach out to him, handshake attitude gently asked: "how are you?"¡° Good. Thank you for your concern. Political commissar Higgins''s driver is waiting for you at the checkpoint. Let''s go there now. "¡° Comrade captain, do you know her? " Asked the lieutenant, who had just been held by me with a gun. Captain kuselev glared at the lieutenant and said, "this is major oshanina I mentioned to you."¡° It''s general o''shanina It''s said that it was me. The anger on the Lieutenant''s face disappeared when he stopped. He called my original rank with a smile on his face and apologized sincerely: "I''m sorry, I was too reckless just now. Please forgive me With that, he respectfully saluted me with a standard military salute¡° Major, let''s go. " Captain kuselev saw the atmosphere relaxed, lost no time to say: "political commissar Higgins''s driver is still waiting for you at the checkpoint."

 Chapter 286

    There is a truck beside the guard box at the checkpoint. It looks familiar from a distance, like the free ride I just took. Free ride, why stop at the checkpoint? You know, the driver''s documents are complete. The lieutenant who checked the car immediately released them. Is it the driver who called captain kuselev? As soon as I think of it, I suddenly feel hot and feel that there are still many good people in the world. I couldn''t help but quicken my pace to find the driver immediately and ask for the truth.


    Several soldiers in short fur coats and submachine guns were walking back and forth by the railings. Seeing that a large group of us were passing by, they immediately stood at attention to salute us and raised the railings at the same time.


    I walked quickly to the truck and saw that there was no one in the cab. He took a soldier who was closest to me and asked in a loud voice, "Comrade soldier, where is the driver of this car?" I was worried that the driver would be detained at the checkpoint for speaking for me.


    "Comrade major, please don''t get excited. When I left just now, he was still in his truck Captain kuselev, afraid of my anger, came to persuade me. Then he looked around and cried out, "Azarov, Azarov, where have you been?"


    "Here it is! coming! Stop yelling. I''m coming A familiar voice came out of the raised earth house type shelter covered by snow on the side of the road. The door was pushed out, and a young soldier with black hair came out of the room without a military cap. He still muttered: "damn captain kuselev, I just came into the room to have a cup of hot tea. Before the water was boiling, I heard you shouting outside."


    When I heard the captain calling the driver''s name, I knew his name was Azarov. From his attitude towards the captain, they undoubtedly knew each other. Azarov played a key role in the captain''s rescue. I called his name friendly: "Azarov, Hello! We meet again Put down the pocket in your hand and stretch out your hands to him.


    "Hello, comrade major. I''m glad we meet again so soon. " Azarov shook my hand and said in a low voice, "Captain kuselev and I are old friends. Do you need me to get you a pass? Otherwise, even if you enter the city, you will be in trouble when you meet the patrol. Maybe they will really catch you as a deserter at that time. "


    "Thank you for your kindness. It is estimated that the person who came to pick me up will arrive soon. Thank you for your help. If it wasn''t for you, I would still be confronting the soldiers at the checkpoint. "


    The captain came over, patted the driver on the shoulder and said, "OK, Azarov. I''ve taken over the major. I''ll take care of the rest. I said, "you''ve stayed here long enough. Are you going to drive the grain to the warehouse right away? Maybe the staff there are waiting for you."


    The driver shook my hand hard again. After letting go, he saluted me and said, "I''m leaving, major. Good luck." He turned and got into the car, sat behind the steering wheel, waved to me, then stepped on the gas and drove away.


    As the car drove farther and farther, the captain and another tall soldier came up to me and said, "Comrade major, this is the driver who is here to meet you. You see, do you want to start now, or do you want to warm up in the room? "


    I glanced at the tall man, nodded at him with a smile, reached for his hand and gave him a gentle grip. Then I answered the captain, "thank you for your kindness, comrade captain. But the general and political commissar should be in a hurry. I''d better start at once. "


    "Then get in the car, comrade major." The tall driver led me to the black car parked on the side of the road, opened the back door, and when I got on the car, I walked around the back of the car, got into the cab and started the car.


    After the car started, the driver handed me a brown paper bag and said, "major, this is what political commissar Xijin asked me to give you."


    I took the document bag and opened it. There was a military card, a travel permit and a temporary pass. I opened my military ID card and saw that the rank in it had been adjusted to major.


    Because it''s daytime, I look at the sky from the window from time to time. The driver noticed my abnormality in the rearview mirror and reminded me, "major, after entering the city, you don''t have to worry about air raid."


    "Why?" Seeing the dilapidated buildings on both sides of the road, I couldn''t help asking.


    The driver said with a sneer and gnashing his teeth: "the damned bandits besieged our city and tried to destroy us with hunger and shells. They were reluctant to drop their precious bombs on our city again."


    The driver pulled over to a three story marble building, then turned to me and said, "here we are, comrade major. The general and commissar''s office is on the second floor. " After thanking him, I got out with my luggage and weapons.


    When I went to the entrance, I was stopped by the soldiers on duty at the door. One of the older soldiers politely asked me, "Comrade commander, what can I do for you?"


    "I have been ordered to see general hilov and commissar Higgins."


    "Your identification, please." Because of my high rank, the soldier did not take a business like attitude towards the net.


    I handed him the new soldier card and the business trip card. He opened it and looked at it carefully. Then he yelled into it: "Comrade lieutenant, please come out." When I heard that there was another lieutenant in charge here, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. It seems that the number of lieutenants in the Soviet army is the largest, even the sum of the two ranks of Captain and second lieutenant. The lieutenant on duty ran out, took the soldier''s certificate, looked at it, and handed it back to me. At the same time, he saluted and said, "Hello, major oshanina. General hilov and commissar Higgins have been waiting for you. My order is to take you to them as soon as you arrive. Please follow me I followed the lieutenant into the building. When I went to the second floor, I found a big hole in the middle of the stairs. If the lieutenant hadn''t pulled me in time, I would have fallen. Rao, I was still in a cold sweat. After walking through this dangerous staircase, the lieutenant explained to me: Although this building is the office building of the transport line command, it did not escape the fate of being shot in the German artillery bombardment. The hole in the staircase was blasted out after being directly hit by German artillery shells. The lieutenant led me to a room at the end of the corridor. There was an officer on duty at the door. When I saw the rank, I couldn''t help but be happy. I was a lieutenant again. The lieutenant who led me told the guard a few words, saluted me and turned to leave. The lieutenant at the door whispered, "Comrade major, please wait a moment. I''ll report to the general right away." Then he got up and went to the door. After knocking twice, he opened the door and stood straight outside. He told the people inside loudly, "Comrade General, major oshanina is coming." I heard the man inside say, "ask her to come in." The lieutenant agreed, then turned aside and made a gesture of invitation to me. I put my assault rifle and food bag on the table, sorted out my uniform, and strode into the room. Almost at the same time, I heard the lieutenant behind quietly close the door. When general hilov saw me enter the room, he got up quickly and came out from behind his desk. I immediately stood at attention to salute, loudly reported: "report general comrades, antiaircraft artillery battalion commander o''xia Nina has been ordered to come, please direct." General hilov did not return the salute. Instead, he took my hand away from my forehead, shook it, and said, "major oshanina, welcome. Please sit down and make yourself at home. There''s a stove in the room. You can take off your coat. " I hung my coat and hat on the coat rack by the door and sat down in a back chair by my desk. After sitting back at his desk, hilov picked up the phone on the desk, dialed a number and said, "is it Comrade political commissar? Major o''shanina is here. Come here now. " Hang up the phone, did not wait for me to speak, he picked up another red phone microphone, began to dial. As soon as he got on the phone, he got up immediately and said solemnly, "Hello, comrade commander of the front army. Major o''shanina has arrived and is now in my office When I heard him report my arrival to Huo Jin, I was secretly surprised. What''s the matter? My arrival is to alarm the commander of the front army? Putting down the phone, hilov did not sit down. Instead, he put his hands on the table and leaned slightly over me, saying, "to let you come back to the city is the meaning of general Huojin, commander of the front army."¡° Why? " I asked, puzzled¡° I don''t know. Maybe the commander wants you to work in the headquarters. " Hearing this, I couldn''t help feeling a little flustered. I stood up and said, "Comrade General, I don''t think the work of the headquarters is suitable for me. I''m still willing to stay in the front line." Hilov raised a hand, pressed it down, motioned me to sit down, and then said, "while waiting for the commander and commissar Higgins to come, can you tell me what you think of the ice transport line?"

 Chapter 287

    As soon as I sat down and heard hilov ask, I immediately stood up again, straightened up, and answered in accordance with the regulations: "report to general Comrade, i..."


    Hilov stretched out his hands, pressed them down, and said, "major oshanina, don''t be so formal. I just want to talk to you. Make yourself at home. Don''t be so formal."


    I agreed, sat down again, and said, "well, during my time on the ice transportation line, I can see a lot of transportation teams every day. There are trucks and sleds carrying grain to the city. At the same time, thousands of residents are being evacuated out of the city in a planned way." Because the next topic was particularly sensitive, I sorted out my thoughts and asked carefully: "Comrade General, I would like to ask, so much food has been transported into the city, and a large number of residents have been evacuated, which has reduced the population pressure of the city. Is the famine situation in the city better now?"


    When he heard my question, hilov was silent. He slowly sat down in his chair, took a cigarette out of the cigarette box on the table, lit it, took two hard puffs, and then replied in a low voice, "no, no relief, comrade major. Although there are many transport teams delivering food to the city day and night, it is a pity that the quantity is still too small, which can only barely guarantee that the ration standards of the army and residents in the city will not continue to be reduced. "


    At this point, he pressed out his cigarette end in the ashtray on the table, looked up at me and said apologetically, "now you can understand why I would be angry with you after the transportation team suffered huge losses that day." Then the topic changed and asked, "do you think there are any deficiencies in the transportation line?"


    This question sounds simple, but it is not so easy to answer. In a country where it is assumed that the enemy may approach a big city, or that they may be condemned or imprisoned, the longer they stay, the more scruples they will have. A careless word will ruin their own future and even their precious lives.


    Seeing that I was silent, hilov might have guessed the reason why I didn''t speak, so he promptly changed the topic and asked in a relaxed tone, "this time you may stay in Leningrad for a few days. Do you have any plans?"


    How many days? I thought I could go back to the ice transportation line that night. It seems that I can''t avoid meeting Rita''s mother and son this time. Although there was resistance in my heart to this meeting, I had to pretend to be happy on the surface and reply to hilov: "Comrade General, after the official business is finished, I''m going to see my mother and children. They are in Leningrad."


    "Really?" When hilov heard me say this, he couldn''t help but wonder: "your mother and son are in Leningrad. How is that possible? I always thought your home was in Moscow


    When he said this, I was a little flustered. I could only say vaguely, "I used to live in a small city. After the outbreak of the war, I came to lenningrad after several evacuations."


    "Where do they live?"


    "On Vladimir street by the Neva River..."


    Before I could give the specific address, I heard someone at the door say, "who lives in Vladimir street?" We looked at the door. It turned out that the political commissar pushed in. When he heard my address, he asked.


    General hilov did not get up either, but pointed to an empty chair beside him and motioned the commissar to sit down. Hilov is a general, equal to the political commissar of Higgins. He can sit still, but I can''t put on airs and get up to salute Higgins.


    After we all sat down, hilov said to Higgins, "Comrade commissar, before you came, I just talked with major oshanina about her family. Her mother and son live on Vladimir street


    Hearing this, Higgins asked with concern, "how are they now, staying in the city or evacuating?"


    I murmured, "I don''t know that either. Their address is a cook soldier from the women''s antiaircraft artillery company. She told me that she used to be my neighbor. But she joined the army as early as two months ago, and she can''t tell what happened afterwards. "


    Higgins nodded thoughtfully and said, "yes, during the war, it''s very easy to lose contact with your family due to the inconvenience of communication." Then he said decisively, "Comrade major, I approve you to stay in the city for two more days to see your mother and children after you finish your business."


    General hilov echoed: "the political commissar is right. I agree. When the official business is finished, I will give you two days off to visit your relatives." Then he added, "now that the political commissar is here, let''s talk about business." He looked at me and asked, "Comrade major, I''d like to hear your opinion on the air defense of the ice transport line. I remind you that what I want to hear is the truth. Don''t use those official articles to prevaricate me. "


    The political commissar also said: "yes, comrade oshanina, we want to know the real air defense status of the ice transport line. Please tell us everything you want to know."


    It seems that I can''t avoid this. I can only stand up and reply with a stiff head: "at present, the air defense force of the ice transportation line is still very weak. It''s far from enough to defend such a large area with only three anti-aircraft artillery battalions and several anti-aircraft machine gun companies. If the headquarters can send enough anti-aircraft artillery troops to the ice, then the air defense of the transportation line can be fully guaranteed. "


    After hearing what I said, hilov shook his head and said, "in the short term, it is impossible to add new anti-aircraft artillery troops on the ice transportation line. Do you know the number of anti-aircraft artillery units deployed in Leningrad during the outbreak of the war? "¡° Comrade general, I don''t know that. You know, these military data are confidential. "¡° Yes, yes, I know it''s confidential. " "To tell you the truth, I still don''t know how many anti-aircraft artillery units were allocated at that time," said hilov Speaking of this, he took out two cigarettes from his cigarette box, threw one to the political commissar, lit it by himself, and then said, "as early as last October, according to the order of general Zhukov, commander of the front army at that time, in order to strengthen our army''s defense force, most of the anti-aircraft artillery units in the city were transferred to the front line, using anti-aircraft guns or anti-aircraft machine guns to shoot flat at German tanks and armored vehicles." Hearing this, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. I used antiaircraft guns to hit tanks and armored vehicles. I was the initiator. However, judging from the expression of general hilov, the outcome of these anti-aircraft artillery troops is not so good. Sure enough, he continued: "among them, a considerable number of anti-aircraft artillery units were lost in the defensive war. The other part is currently undertaking the air defense task of breaking through the Neva River, so the number of anti-aircraft artillery units that can be transferred to the ice transportation line is quite limited. " Higgins shrugged and said, "no way, comrade oshanina. At present, we hope that your troops can ensure the air defense of the transportation line with the existing quantity and technical equipment. " Listening to Higgin''s words, I suddenly had a strange idea at this moment. Why did he say this to me? You should know that there are three anti-aircraft artillery battalions and several anti-aircraft machine gun companies on the transportation line now. I''m just one of many commanders. Except for the second battalion, I can''t command any other troops. Does he want to set up a unified anti-aircraft artillery headquarters and let me be the commander? Thinking of this, I can''t help shaking my head and trying to get this ridiculous idea out of my mind. To tell you the truth, I''m still a rookie in military command. In the past, I was lucky to have won two battles and won the favor of my superiors. Now I''m dealing with my new superiors in the new environment, and it''s almost impossible to encounter the previous promotion opportunity. Seeing my shaking head, hilov and Higgins misunderstood. They asked in unison, "what''s the matter? You don''t have confidence." I quickly replied, "comrades of the general and the political commissar are not without confidence. I''m just one of the many commanders of the anti-aircraft artillery force. I can only ensure that I am responsible for the air defense in the area. I can''t do anything about the rest of the area. "¡° You don''t have to worry about that. You just have to keep your lot Hilov added, "as for the commanders in other areas, we will negotiate with them." I was a little disappointed by hilov''s words. It seems that I think too much. How many days have I been in Leningrad? It is estimated that they only reluctantly let me become the current antiaircraft artillery battalion commander after seeing that I was awarded the rank of general by Stalin and had a good relationship with Zhukov, who is now famous. As he was talking, the telephone on the desk rang. Hilov picked up the receiver and immediately got up and answered in a loud voice, "Hello, comrade commander of the front army, do you have any instructions?" It turned out that the call was from lieutenant general Huo Jin. Put down the phone, he said to me: "Comrade major, originally the commander of the front army wanted to come and have a chat with you, but now he has something to do. He told you not to leave for a while. He will call you when he is free Then he said to me in a friendly tone, "now you go to see your mother and son in Vladimir street. Do you want me to send a car to take you?"¡° Thank you, general. No, I''d better take a ride by myself. "¡° Well, I won''t give it to you. Be careful all the way. Good luck After saluting them, I turned around, took off my coat and hat from the coat rack and walked out of the room.

 Chapter 288

    With my rifle on my shoulder and a cloth bag of food in my hand, I carefully went down the broken stairs. As I was approaching the exit, it occurred to me that I was in such a hurry that I forgot to ask general hilov how to get to Vladimir. When they saw that I didn''t ask, they probably thought I knew the way, so they didn''t say much.


    Go back and ask, for fear of being ridiculed; Don''t ask. I''m not familiar with Leningrad. I can''t find my way out. I stood in the same place and thought about it. I decided to go to the door and ask the sentry. He made up his mind and walked quickly towards the door. It''s a coincidence that the Sentinels are still the two people who just checked their certificates. They are now jumping in the same place because of the cold.


    The sentry on the right, the older one who had spoken to me, came up to him and asked, "Comrade soldier, I want to ask you how to get to the Vladimir street by the Neva River?"


    The sentry stopped beating at once, raised his left hand and pointed to the road in front of him. He moved from left to right and answered in a hoarse voice: "Comrade major, you go out from here. After you get to the road, walk along the road to the west, walk ten minutes to the River, and you will see a public transport platform. You can take a tram from there." He took his hand back, counted it with a bent finger, and then said with certainty, "eight stops to Vladimir street."


    Just as I was about to say thank you, and then I left, the sentry added, "Comrade major, because of the lack of electricity in the city, many tram flights have been cancelled. Maybe you will have to wait a long time to get a car. If you have something urgent, I suggest you take a ride


    I solemnly said thanks to the sentry who showed me the way, and then walked westward to the Neva River with things and guns on my back.


    There were few pedestrians on the road. After walking for a long time, I saw five or six people. They were all wearing thick clothes, hoods or hats. They could not tell whether they were male or female from the appearance, but they were all moving forward slowly in the same strange posture.


    The houses on both sides of the road can hardly find a complete brick concrete structure house, which has become piles of two or three stories of construction waste. The walls of those marble buildings that didn''t collapse were full of holes. After the side wall near the roadside completely collapsed, you can clearly see all kinds of indoor furniture covered by snow on the road.


    From a distance, I saw seven or eight people standing in a neat line under a standing metal sign on the frozen Neva River. Looking at the track under the snow in the middle of the road, I can conclude that this is the bus stop that the sentry told me. So I quickened my pace and walked past. Without talking to anyone, I consciously ranked last in the line.


    There was a strong wind by the river, and all the people in front of them were wrapped tightly, only a pair of eyes showed. Seeing their dress, I also felt colder, so I pressed down the cotton military cap on my head and wrapped my military coat more tightly.


    Fortunately, time is not long, in the clear bell, a tram slowly stopped in front of the platform. As soon as the tram stopped, the line in front of me slowly moved to the open front door.


    There was no conductor on the bus. Every passenger on the bus handed the money to the driver directly. I felt my pocket. Fortunately, there were a few coins in it. In such a low price era, it should be no problem to buy a ticket.


    When it was my turn to get on the bus, I took out the coin in my pocket, picked up a five Gobi and handed it to me. Unexpectedly, the driver waved his hand and said feebly, "Comrade commander, according to the regulations, all military personnel taking public transport during the war are free of charge." Then he ignored me and yelled, "next one."


    The seats on the bus are full and many people are standing, but it''s not too crowded. I was afraid that there would be too many people on the bus later, so I tried to squeeze the back door, so that I would not be able to squeeze when I should get off.


    My guess is good. The tram stops at several stops, and some people get off, but more people get on, and soon the whole carriage is packed.


    As soon as the eighth stop arrived, I jumped out of the open door. The tram stops by the river. On the opposite side of the road is a group of buildings. The house I''m looking for should be among them. I looked around and saw an underground passage not far away. Instead of crossing the road, I went straight to the passage.


    Just a few steps down, I saw a wrinkled old lady standing with her back against the wall, holding a pair of black cotton padded trousers in her hands. I don''t know how long she has been standing here, her head and shoulders are covered with snowflakes. Curious, I walked over and saw that it was obviously a pair of cotton padded trousers that I had been wearing for several years. There was a piece of cardboard hanging on it, and there were several black words: "change 100 grams of bread."


    Seeing this scene, I can''t help sighing. In the current environment, people''s first consideration is how to fill their stomach. As for clothing, they are not so particular about it. Not to mention the old cotton padded trousers, it is estimated that even if they are new, no one will exchange them with precious food.


    I untied the cloth bag and looked inside. Kirianova and Orlova prepared a lot of things for me. In addition to five or six dried bread wrapped in kraft paper, a tin of condensed milk, a packet of sugar, a piece of cream, four or five enemas, and even a rare piece of Saro (a kind of salted meat product, similar to bacon and bacon, but it is mainly made of fat meat, Lean meat is just an embellishment. It''s a Ukrainian specialty.


    I took out a bag of dry bread, weighed the weight, almost 100 grams, and handed it to the old lady. However, she did not have any response, just silent, with empty, dull eyes looking at me. I pulled her hands down, put the dried bread into her hands and said, "grandma, this is a bag of dried bread. Please take it." The old lady was stunned for a while. When she realized that the food I gave her was extremely precious, she suddenly made an unexpected move. She suddenly held the dried bread and cotton padded trousers firmly in her arms, and squatted down against the wall, fearing that someone would suddenly come out and snatch the bread from her hands. I tied up my bag, carried it and went into the dark corridor without lighting. Out of the passageway, looking at the dilapidated building in front of me, I can''t help but have some silly eyes. Which house is the 146 building I''m looking for? I walked towards the nearest house. The street sign on the house said building 122. I walked towards the building on the left. When I saw the sign above said building 120, I knew that I was going in the opposite direction. I turned around and walked in the opposite direction. When I came to Leningrad to meet Rita''s family, I just took a formality. I met her mother and son, chatted a few words, put down some food, and quickly got away on the pretext that there was a task in the army. I didn''t expect that with the approaching of building 146, my heart began to speed up. Is it that Lida''s family love hidden in my body has been activated that makes me so uneasy? Is this the legendary close family? Finally, outside building 146, the house is an old three story building, which was seriously damaged by the German artillery bombardment. Two thirds of the building has collapsed, and only one unit building remains relatively intact. I went to the door of the unit and looked inside. I couldn''t see anything clearly in the dark. There was silence inside the door, as if no one was living at all. I went into the door, groped for a few steps forward in the dark, and when my eyes got used to the light, I cried out, "is anyone here? Is anyone here? " With my shouts, the sound of opening the door came from my left side. I turned around and saw a middle-aged woman standing at the door of the room. She asked me in a dry voice, "Comrade soldier, what can I do for you?" I went up to her and asked in a friendly manner, "Hello! I''m looking for someone. " The middle-aged woman looked at me and asked, "who are you looking for? I know almost all the people who live here, but many of them have been evacuated. Maybe the person you are looking for has left. " Her question really caught me. I don''t know Rita''s mother''s name besides her son''s name is Alec. However, I was stunned for a moment, and then I thought about how to ask so as not to show any flaws. So I said, "an elderly woman, and a child who is only three years old. They are not from Leningrad. They came here from other cities after the outbreak of the war. "¡° Oh, you said old lady Liuxia. She lives on the third floor, the first room on the right. Are people there? Yes, she must be at home, because every time before she goes out, she will say hello to me. Only our two families in this building have not been evacuated. " After thanking her, I went up to the second floor with the cold railing, and then to the third floor. Because the walls are full of holes, the light is good. I went to the first door on my right hand, took a deep breath, and then banged on the door. After knocking, I listened to the movement inside, and there was no sound at all. Is there no one to live in? can''t. Just now, the woman downstairs made it very clear that the old lady lives here, and she hasn''t been out of the door today. Maybe my knock on the door is too small for her to hear. Knock again! So I banged on the door again, and this time something came out, as if someone was coming slowly towards the door. I put down my knocking hand and asked aloud, "is there anyone in the room?" An old voice came out of the door: "who?"

 Chapter 289

    Hearing this sound, my heart began to thump and thump wildly, my breath became short, and my hands and feet were shaking uncontrollably. Although it''s cold winter, I feel hot all over and sweating on my head. Suddenly, I feel as if I have just finished running several thousand meters. I put my hand on the threshold to prevent myself from falling because I was too excited.


    The door opened, and a fat old lady with a turban and a woollen shawl appeared in front of me.


    The moment I saw the old lady, I had a short absence.


    Is this Rita''s mother?


    I opened my mouth and wanted to call my mother. But his lips moved a few times, but he couldn''t make any sound. You know, although I''m Rita''s body now, I can''t call a strange woman mom.


    The old lady looked at me in surprise and did not speak.


    When the scene was in an awkward and unusual atmosphere, a clear child voice suddenly came from the room: "grandma, who''s here?"


    I looked into the room. A little boy in a black tweed coat was standing in the living room, looking up at me with his innocent face.


    Is this Rita''s son? I can''t help looking at him carefully. He''s really beautiful. White face, curved eyebrows under a pair of water Lingling eyes. When he and I looked at each other, the big eyes with aura flickered, and the corners of his mouth were slightly upturned when he was smiling. Coupled with the golden braid at the back of my head, huotuotuo is a beauty.


    I was looking at the child when I suddenly felt something was wrong.


    Twist braids


    Twist braids


    Lida gave birth to a son. How could she have a braid on her head? That''s what a girl looks like.


    "Comrade soldier, are you here to inform us to evacuate?"


    The old lady''s voice rang out in my ear, which brought my thinking back to reality. In a few seconds, I found out one thing: I recognized the wrong person. Fortunately, I didn''t speak rashly just now, otherwise I would have lost my face.


    I stabilized the situation for a moment and replied, "madam, I''m not here to inform you to evacuate. I''m here to see my mother and son. They live in this building


    "Is that right?"?! What''s your mother''s name? "


    I''m sweating again. This question really gets me. After becoming Rita, although I inherited many of her memories, I still didn''t know her mother''s name. Just as in the countryside of that time in China, the vast majority of people lived with their mothers all their lives, but they could not name their mothers.


    However, I have a clear idea of how to answer the old lady''s question. "My mother and son came to Leningrad only after the war broke out," I said. My son''s name is Alex


    "So you are Alec''s mother!" It was the little girl in the living room who relieved me. She excitedly said to her grandmother, "grandma, I heard brother Alek say before that her mother is a soldier and her name is Rita."


    "Yes, little girl, you are so clever. I''m Rita


    With a smile on her face, the old lady put her body aside and said enthusiastically, "so you''re aliksina''s daughter. Come on in."


    I guess what she said should be Rita''s mother''s name, so I secretly remember the name. When I go to other places to find Rita''s mother and son, it will be useful. As for the old lady in front of me, her name has been known through the woman downstairs.


    The living room had very little furniture, nothing but a round table and two armchairs. After old lady Liuxia asked me to sit down in one armchair, she also sat down in another armchair, looked at me and said apologetically, "I''m sorry, Rita, there''s nothing to eat at home. I''ll give you a cup of black tea, if you don''t mind? "


    I nodded and said, "thank you, Liu Xia. I''ve been walking outside for such a long time, and I''m freezing. I just want to have a cup of hot tea to warm my body. "


    When Liu Xia went to pour tea, I put my cloth bag on the table and put my gun on the chair. Then I asked the little girl to come, picked her up, sat on my leg, stroked her hair, patted her shoulder and asked, "little girl, what''s your name?"


    "Ekaterina. You can call me Kajia. "


    "Kajia, are you familiar with my son alik?"


    "Yes, aunt Rita." It seems that Kajia is a very lively child. She called my name cheerfully and said, "Alec and grandma aleksina used to live in the next unit. I often play outside with him. Later, after grandma didn''t let me go out, I haven''t seen him for a long time. "


    "Why didn''t grandma let you go out?" I think it''s quite easy to communicate with children.


    "Grandma said, there is a war outside. If a cannon bomb falls down, it will not only kill people, but also collapse the house. Many of the children we used to play with were bombed out by shells. " When Kajia said this, her tone was flat, as if she were telling me a fairy tale in a book.


    Without waiting for me to express my emotion, Liu Xia came into the living room with two cups of tea. She stepped carefully for fear that the tea might spill out. She put one cup of tea on the edge of the table and asked Kaja to get off my leg. Then she handed me another cup and said, "Rita, please have tea!"


    The tea in the cup was steaming. I took the cup to my mouth, blew it, and then took a sip. There is no sugar in the tea. It tastes a little bitter. For me, who is used to the black tea with sugar, the tea is really bad. I can''t help frowning slightly.


    Maybe Liuxia found my frowning expression and said apologetically, "I''m sorry, Rita. There''s nothing left at home. There''s no sugar in black tea. "


    I put down my tea cup, looked around the living room and said, "it seems that there is not much furniture in the living room."


    Liu Xia blushed and said, "I can''t help it. It''s too cold. I''ve cut off all the extra furniture and used it as firewood." Then he said, "not only is there no heating at home, but also the electricity and water have stopped. Because the food ration standards have been lowered several times, people have not enough to eat, and thousands of people starve to death every day. I''m old, I eat less, and I can barely survive. But even so, I spent the rest of my time in bed to save energy, except to get my ration. The tea you are drinking is made from the crushed ice I picked up on my way home... "


    "Do you know the whereabouts of my mother and my son?" When I was on the ice transportation line, I occasionally heard a few words from the residents passing by. At that time, I was just filled with emotion. Now I chat with the residents who are still trapped in the city to find out what the hunger situation is. However, there is no way. After all, during the war, the government has done its best. Every day, countless trucks and sledges are continuously transporting food to the city, and at the same time, they are constantly evacuating the surplus population outside the city, so as to reduce the consumption of food. When she stopped talking, I couldn''t help interrupting.


    "You''re late, Rita. Your mother, alekshena, and son, Alek, used to live in the unit next door and were evacuated before the new year because the house was destroyed in the shelling. "


    "Do you know where they evacuated to?"


    Liu Xia shook her head and said, "I don''t know. The evacuation work now is different from that at the beginning of the war. At that time, the staff of the Soviet area would send train tickets to the evacuees door to door, and they would inform everyone when to evacuate and where to evacuate. Now, those government officials just come to inform us that they will arrange for you to evacuate tomorrow, gather at some place, and then someone will lead the residents to leave the city from the ice transportation line. "


    I am relieved to hear that Rita''s mother and son have evacuated from the city. As long as they can leave Leningrad, their chances of survival will be improved. I will go to them when I have a chance in the future.


    I took another sip of the cup, then put it down, stood up and said to Liu Xia, "Liu Xia, thank you for telling me where my mother and son are." Then I picked up the cloth bag on the table, opened the bag, took out condensed milk, sallow, sugar and two bags of dried bread, and put them on the table one by one¡° This is a little of my heart. Please accept it. "


    When Liu Xia saw the food on the table, she was stunned. Then she waved her hand desperately and said, "I can''t use it. These things are too precious. I can''t take them!"


    I looked at Kajia standing next to me, reached for her head and said, "for Kajia, you must take these things." With that, he took out two enemas from the bag and put them into Kajia''s small hand.


    Liu Xia came over and hugged me, choked and said incoherently, "thank you, dear. Rita, you''re a good person, and I''ll always be grateful to you. The Virgin Mary will bless you and help you find your loved ones. "


    I hugged Liu Xia for a while, then gently released, lifted the cloth bag on the table and the rifle beside the chair, and said: "goodbye, Liu Xia." Then he looked down at Kajia holding the enema in his hand, "and you, lovely Kajia. Good luck to you


    After I left the building, I felt relieved and finally had something on my mind. Although I didn''t find Rita''s mother and son, I at least fulfilled my promise to her.


    Because it''s near the river, it''s very cold when it''s windy. I put up the collar of my coat, pulled my hat down, and walked slowly back along the way.


    See roadside building walls, in addition to a lot of posters, but also posted some handwritten inspiration. I curiously looked at a few, without exception, are willing to treasure things at home, in exchange for a small amount of bread. One of them said that he was willing to use a house with full furniture to live in, and also in exchange for two pigeons


    Seeing all these revelations, I shook my head with a bitter smile and went on.


    Just as I was about to pass through the passageway just now, I heard a feeble voice coming from the passageway: "Comrade soldier, please wait a moment."


    I stopped and looked at the passage I had just crossed. A tottering old lady came up the steps step by step. I just wanted to ask the old lady what''s the matter with me. When I saw the cotton padded trousers in her arms, I immediately remembered that she was the old man who used the cotton padded trousers for bread.


    I asked her with a smile, "Mom, what can I do for you?" She slowly came up to me, handed me the cotton padded trousers, panted and said: "Comrade soldier, these are your cotton padded trousers. Please put them away." I have been giving the old lady bread for at least an hour since I returned. But the old lady has been waiting for me here in the cold just to give me the cotton padded trousers. I couldn''t help feeling a little moved. I pushed her cotton padded trousers and said, "Mom, you''d better take them back. I can''t use them." The old lady didn''t speak. She handed over the cotton padded trousers again, and I pushed them back. The old lady lowered her head, crossed her chest with her right hand and said in a low voice, "may the Virgin Mary bless you!"¡° Mom, you should be careful of frostbite when you come out to sell cotton padded trousers on such a cold day. " Hearing what I said, the old lady suddenly began to cry and said, "when my wife went to get the food the day before yesterday, the ration card on her body was stolen by the thief, the ration card of the whole family! It''s all stolen. A few days before the end of the month, there is nothing to eat at home. If we don''t find a way, the whole family will starve to death. "¡° Damn thief. " I swore in my heart. I remember in the battle of Huaihai, in order not to starve to death, the retreating residents exchanged a gold plate for a big cake. In Leningrad at this time, it was not so difficult to exchange a bag of bread for the same weight of gold. There was a sound of walking behind me. I was afraid to get in the way of others, so I gave way slightly to the side of the road. I continued to listen to the old lady about her own tragic experience. At this time, I suddenly felt that the cloth bag I was carrying was pulled by a strong force, and then I left. I watched a man with a headscarf rush past me, grabbing my cloth bag and running forward. I pointed to the direction of the man''s escape, in addition to the mouth kept issuing a series of "ah ~ ~ ~ ah ~ ~" sound, nothing else to shout out, let alone catch up¡° What happened? " At this time, three soldiers in military coats, military caps and rifles came up from the passage and asked in a loud voice. At this time, I finally recovered, pointed to the man who ran away and said to the soldiers, "robbery! It''s a robbery. That man robbed me. " I was stunned by what happened next. A soldier pulls the bolt, raises the gun to his head, takes a slight aim, and without hesitation pulls the trigger. The other two soldiers chased forward a few steps, half squatted and shot again. The robber must have been starving and exhausted. He had been running for quite a while before he could run forty or fifty meters. The soldiers failed in the first round and hit the target in the second. I saw the man leaning back, then he fell to the ground, and the bag in his hand was thrown far away. However, the gun that hit him should not be fatal. After he fell to the ground, he crawled a few times in the direction of the cloth bag. Seeing that they had hit the target, the soldiers slung their rifles over their shoulders and rushed over. They all have red sleeves on their arms. They should be patrols on duty nearby. By chance, they just caught up with the robbery. I heard the old lady shouting excitedly: "good fight, boys, kill all these damned villains." The voice doesn''t sound as powerless as before, but full of confidence. I said goodbye to the old lady and ran after the soldiers with my rifle. Only two soldiers put up the injured man and pulled him to the wall. The remaining soldier raised his gun and fired at the robber without hesitation. Then as soon as the two soldiers let go, the man''s body fell into the snow. The shooter put his gun on his back, picked up the cloth bag from the ground, walked up to me, stood at attention and saluted me, then reported, "Comrade commander, this is your stuff. Please put it away." When I took the cloth bag, I felt my collar and found that it was tightly buttoned and the rank was blocked. Maybe it was my briefcase and other pistols on my waist that made him confirm the identity of my commander. I asked, "why did you shoot him?"¡° Report to the commander, there are orders. " The soldier replied nervously, "the patrol has the right to shoot the captured thieves and robbers on the spot."¡° You are right, comrade soldier. " Knowing what happened to the old lady just now, I very much agree with the way the patrol handled it. In the besieged Leningrad, these thieves and robbers pushed their compatriots to death in order to survive. They are like the same birds of a feather as the Germans who killed by bombardment and starvation. I took out three bags of dried bread from the lost bag and handed them to three soldiers. For my gift, they were surprised. At first, they declined in confusion, but at my insistence, they hurriedly took the dried bread and put it into their coat pocket. Because they know that in today''s environment, one more piece of bread can give them more hope of survival.

 Chapter 290

    The soldier who shot the first time just now, called florin, is the captain of the patrol, with the rank of sergeant.


    After carefully putting away the bread, he politely asked, "Comrade commander, what should I call you?"


    "Oshanina," I said my name, thought about it and added, "major oshanina, my troops are on the ice transport line."


    Sergeant Florin nodded and said, "I see." Maybe it''s hard to eat people''s mouths and short hands, he continued in a friendly tone, "Comrade major, according to the regulations, I should have checked your ID and business card, but now I don''t have to. May I ask what you do in town? "


    "Come and see mom and son." I know it''s Sergeant Florin''s duty to ask me that, so I''ll answer truthfully.


    "See?" Asked the sergeant with concern.


    I shook my head and said, "No. I found out where they lived, and then I knew they had evacuated. "


    The sergeant was silent. After a while, he said with regret, "it''s all this damn war, otherwise we won''t be separated from our relatives." Then the topic changed and asked me, "major, where are you going next?"


    "I''m going to hitchhike or tram back to headquarters."


    "Except for the occasional tram, I can''t get a free ride on this section of the road. I think we''d better escort you to the station and wait for the tram. " Without waiting for me to say anything, he turned to the other two soldiers and said, "let''s go."


    So three people accompanied me to the bus stop not far from the scene of the robbery. Because there were no people waiting for the bus on the platform, they were afraid that I would be lonely and didn''t leave immediately. Instead, they took the initiative to stay and chat with me.


    It was not until a tram came and stopped in front of the station, when I was about to get on, that the three people saluted me and said goodbye. Sergeant Florin also kindly reminded me: "Comrade commander, in a moment, the bandits will bombard the city. You must pay more attention to safety."


    The driver of the tram was a young man with a cap on his tongue. When he saw me getting on the bus, he took the initiative to say, "Comrade commander, you don''t need to buy a ticket."


    After thanking him, I used to squeeze into the back door at the back of the car.


    Near the back door stood a fat old lady. According to my visual inspection, she weighed at least 400 Jin. If I want to get off, I guess I can only side my body, otherwise I can''t get out of the door at all.


    The tram stops and goes. It has passed seven stops unconsciously, and many passengers have been on it one after another. I was thinking that when I stopped at the next stop, I would not be far away from my destination. Because there are too many passengers on the bus, many people have to work hard to get out of the middle when they get off the bus. Seeing this scene, I congratulated myself. Fortunately, I had foresight and stood at the back door ahead of time. Otherwise, after the tram arrives at the station, I will have to squeeze in the crowd for half a day to get off.


    From a distance, I could see the station where I was going to get off. Suddenly, a series of shrieks appeared in the air. Then a shell came and exploded very close to the tram, shaking the car. Then another shell landed on the left, about dozens of places away from the tram, and exploded, raising a black and white plume of mud mixed with snow.


    Shelling! I immediately thought of sergeant Florin''s warning. I didn''t expect that my luck was so bad that I was bombarded at the place where I wanted to get off.


    The driver stopped the car, opened the front and rear doors, and jumped out of the car first. The front and rear passengers were running, shouting and directing the passengers to get out of the car to evacuate.


    At this time, the high pitched loudspeaker on the side of the road sounded: "attention, please! Residents, this area is under shelling. Please go to the nearby air raid shelter immediately and don''t walk in the street. "


    I could have jumped out of the car quickly, but I was blocked by the fat old lady. She didn''t know whether she was hungry and weak or had leg problems. Her whole body was moving in millimeters. Shells exploded all over the street, and the people who got off the front door quickly disappeared in the middle of the snow covered buildings. But all of us who got off the back door were blocked by the old lady.


    I wanted to step back and get off from the front, but I was blocked by people coming up behind. And those people don''t know whether they are confused or not. They just stare at the door in front of them and completely ignore the fact that there is almost no one at the front door.


    The driver evacuated the passengers in the first half of the car. Seeing that none of us got off in the second half of the car, he ran over and stood a few steps away from the door, shouting: "hurry up, comrades! Hurry up,... "


    Before he finished shouting, a shell exploded 20 meters behind him. He just screamed, covered his back with his hands and fell to one side. There was also a shell explosion on the left side of the car. The flying shrapnel smashed the few windows and hit the nearest passenger.


    Watching the driver fall down and the screams and screams coming from behind. I knew that if I didn''t take decisive measures, everyone in the car would be ruined, so I bit my teeth and hit the fat old lady with my shoulder. Under my impact, the upper part of the old lady''s body leaned out of the car, her hands desperately trying to keep her balance. Before she could find her balance, I hit her hip with my knee. This time, she couldn''t support it any more. She flew out of the car door and fell heavily on the snow, splashing countless snow powder.


    Almost as the old lady landed, I jumped out of the car and quickly stepped aside to check the driver who had fallen on the ground. The passengers on the bus, suddenly enlightened before meeting, jumped out of the car and fled. There are several shrapnel inserted on the driver''s back, one of which is inlaid in the position of the vest. Although he still breathes, he can''t be saved by sight. His mouth and nose were bleeding, his whole body was twitching, and his legs were kicking in the snow. I took a look and saw that there were no passengers on the bus, and I didn''t care to see whether the old lady I hit was alive or dead. With a gun, I followed the passengers to the buildings to find a safe place to avoid the shelling. There is an air raid shelter in the complex. As soon as I ran in, a middle-aged woman with red sleeve sleeves closed the iron door. As soon as the door was closed, the deafening sound of artillery outside was much less¡° Comrade commander, please stay inside. It''s too dangerous here. " There was a lantern hanging at the door. Under the dim light, the woman on duty saw my briefcase and the pistol hanging on my belt, recognized my identity, and took the initiative to make friends with me. I declined her offer because I didn''t want to stay with the passengers who escaped with me. Although my decisive action saved many people''s lives, the fat old lady was more or less unlucky¡° Comrade commander, where are you from? " Asked the middle-aged woman¡° Ice transport lines. "¡° Do you know my husband? He''s in the convoy of the ice transport line. "¡° What''s his name? "¡° His name is... "When the woman said her husband''s name, a shell landed outside and exploded not far away. The huge explosion covered her voice. I didn''t hear her husband''s name clearly, and it was hard to ask again. I could only reply vaguely, "I''m sorry, I haven''t heard of this name." seeing her look of disappointment, I quickly comforted her and said, "there are too many troops on the ice transportation line. Maybe his troops are not near our station, so it''s not surprising that I haven''t heard of his name." The shelling lasted more than ten minutes and then stopped. When I heard that the gunfire stopped outside, I immediately wanted to go out, but I was stopped by the woman on duty: "Comrade commander, please wait a moment. I can''t leave until I make sure it''s safe outside."¡° How do you know if it''s safe outside? " Before she could answer me, the horn installed in the air raid shelter suddenly sounded: "residents, the shelling is over. You can leave the air raid shelter. At the same time, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that if no explosive shells are found in the street, if we report to the relevant departments in time... "The woman pulled the iron door open and said to me after a long sigh of relief," Comrade commander, it''s safe outside now. You can leave safely. " I left the shelter and went to the parking place of the tram. The tram has been overturned and its body is burning. Just now, where the driver and the fat old lady were lying, there was only a deep pit, in which there was nothing belonging to human beings. I can''t help but be afraid. If I didn''t make a quick decision to push the old lady out of the way, I and so many passengers on the bus would have been blown to pieces by German artillery shells.

 Chapter 291

    On the road from the station to the headquarters, there were busy people everywhere, including those who put out the fire, those who rescued the wounded, and those who cleared the road obstacles. It took me more than half an hour to get back to the headquarters.


    When I came to the headquarters building again, I saw that it was still calm, in sharp contrast to the busy surroundings. However, this is also a good thing. It shows that the headquarters did not suffer any losses in the shelling just now.


    Outside, an officer with his hands behind his back was pacing back and forth in front of the two sentinels. From time to time, he raised his wrist to watch the time, as if waiting for someone.


    When he saw me walking past, he trotted to me with a smile on his face. Before and after arriving at my face, he raised his hand and asked with a smile, "is that major o''shanina?"


    "Yes." I looked at him up and down, and asked, "who are you, please?"


    "I''m major uliukayev, the logistics section chief of the headquarters. At the command of general hilov, I will arrange an empty bed for you in the building. From the present situation, you may live in the city for a few days. "


    "Thank you. Can you take me now?" I feel very tired, hungry and cold now. I want to find a place to have a good rest immediately.


    "Come with me, please!"


    He led me to the room where I stayed. The room is on the first floor. There are four beds in it. Under the dim light, you can see that the beds are neatly covered with gray quilts, and there is no one. Major uliukayev explained to me, "this is the dormitory for female soldiers in the communication room. They usually work late into the night, sometimes all night."


    After uliukayev left, I ate a few slices of dry bread and didn''t drink water. I took off my clothes, turned out the light, covered myself with the quilt and lay down to sleep. The quilt cover is cold and wet. Even if you cover your head, you still feel cold. It''s too cold to sleep.


    I closed my eyes and tried not to think about anything. I even forgot what I saw today for a while. Then I began to count sheep from one to a thousand according to the old habit that I had almost forgotten when I was a child. But it didn''t work. I still couldn''t sleep


    Suddenly, I seemed to understand why I couldn''t sleep. I felt someone in the room staring at him. I pulled the quilt down hard and poked my head out from under the quilt. The room was still dark and silent.


    I covered my head again, but the feeling didn''t disappear. Instead, it became more and more intense. I felt someone staring at me from somewhere in the dark. I couldn''t see the man or her face, only her eyes - those were angry eyes.


    I suddenly understood whose look it was. It''s the look of the fat old lady I pushed out of the car. She stood in front of my bed with blood and flesh, and glared at me with hatred.


    My body began to tremble slightly. I didn''t know whether I was afraid or frozen. I tried to narrow my eyes more tightly, hoping that this feeling would disappear. I comforted myself in my heart that under the circumstances at that time, if the old lady in the way was not pushed down, the rest of the passengers and I would probably die under German fire. I didn''t do anything wrong when I sacrificed one person to save a group of people.


    I tried to comfort myself with this idea, but the old lady''s eyes still looked at me from the dark


    In this way, I didn''t fall asleep until dawn. After a short sleep, the female signalmen who came back from work woke me up. Although their voice is very light, it is enough to wake me up. I looked out of the window. It was already dawn. He got up and dressed, asked a girl soldier who had not yet gone to bed about the location of the canteen, and went directly to the canteen for breakfast.


    In the canteen, I met general Shilov who was having breakfast. After greeting me to sit down, he kindly asked me, "major oshanina, did you see your mother and son on Vladimir street yesterday?"


    I shook my head and said, "I went there yesterday. I didn''t see it. They have been evacuated. "


    The general listened to me, sighed and said, "this is war. We have to separate ourselves from our relatives." The topic changed, "are you here for breakfast? You don''t have your name in the dining list of the headquarters. If you come by yourself, you can''t eat anything at all. " Then he turned to the front desk and yelled, "waiter."


    A woman soldier in an apron came quickly, bent slightly in front of us and asked hilov, "general, what''s your instruction?"


    Hilov pointed to me and told the waiter, "there is no major''s name in the dining room. Go to tell the person in charge of your canteen that I specially approved it and prepare the same breakfast for the major."


    "Yes." The waiter promised, turned and ran back to the desk. He put a plate in front of me and said, "Comrade major, this is your breakfast. I wish you a good appetite. "


    I see that breakfast is very simple, just a piece of black bread and a spoonful of porridge. He opened the cloth bag he had brought, took out the dried bread and enema, and invited general hilov to eat it. At the beginning, he was still a little constrained and pushed back the food I put in front of him, but at my insistence, he ate it in a hurry.


    While eating, he said to me in a low voice: "major oshanina, originally commander Huojin intended to meet you and talk with you about how to improve the air defense sentry. However, the situation has changed. Our assault operation on the Neva River has failed. The troops involved in the assault are suffering huge losses. Comrade commander has now rushed to the front line. Originally I wanted you to stay in the city for a few more days, but now it seems that you can''t. You have to go back to the ice transport line immediately. The air defense mission there is a great responsibility. "¡° What time does it start? " Hilov looked at his watch and said, "in another hour, there will be a tank troop going out of the city through the ice transport line. You will go with them. After dinner, I''ll ask the driver to take you to join the army. " After dinner, general hilov''s driver took me to the assembly site of the tank troops that were about to leave. Seeing our car, an officer in a tank uniform ran up to me and said, "Hello, major oshanina. I''m captain vitorganov, commander of the tank unit. I''ve just received the order from the superior. I''m waiting for you here. "¡° When can we start? "¡° Go now¡° All right, "Captain vitorganov agreed, then waved to his troops and called," let''s go! " Our march on the ice began. This is really a special tank unit. The turrets and the steel covers on the engines of all the tanks have been removed and put on the sled trailers made of logs. And the tank driver, standing in the base of the tank, drives the tank. The rest of the tank soldiers got into the covered trucks specially prepared for them. I''m thinking about whether I''ll be in a covered truck like the soldiers. The considerate vitorganov bent down to my ear and said in a low voice, "Comrade major, I found an empty truck for you. You can take that truck later." Then he got up straight and pointed to the side: "that''s the one." I went over to have a look and couldn''t help being happy. It''s a coincidence that another acquaintance, Azarov, pulled me into the city yesterday. After I got on the bus, he shook hands and said, "Azarov, it''s a coincidence that we met again so soon." After shaking hands with me, Azarov said while driving: "yes, comrade commander, what a coincidence. They asked me to take a commander to the ice transportation line, but it was you. Oh, by the way, have you seen your mother and son? "¡° No, "my mood suddenly went down. What I am most afraid of now is that others ask this question, and the people who ask this question are all out of concern. It''s not enough if they don''t answer," they have evacuated. " Azarov let out a cry, and then asked with concern, "do you know where they have been evacuated?"¡° hear nothing of. I asked my neighbors, and they didn''t know. They just knew it was an evacuation. " Azarov was silent, looking ahead and driving with all his attention. After driving on the ice transportation line for about ten minutes, it was very close to the anti-aircraft artillery camp. At this time, clear gunfire came from outside. First, one shot, then another shot, and then another shot¡° Air raid If the first shot rings, I''m still a little confused. When the second and third shots ring, I can''t react again. I''ve got Alzheimer''s disease. It''s the alarm shot of air defense sentry¡° Find a place to hide. "¡° What happened? " Azarov does not know about the newly launched air defense sentry, let alone the repeated gunfire outside, which is an air defense alarm. He continues to drive forward¡° Stop the car In a hurry, I patted him heavily on the shoulder and yelled at him: "you are deaf. Didn''t you hear the alarm and gunfire outside? The enemy planes are coming to attack. " Azarov slammed on the brake. The huge inertia made me rush forward and hit my head heavily against the window glass. If it wasn''t for the cushion effect of the cotton hat, I would have broken my head and blood or flew out of the window. An enemy plane swooped down on the tank troops in front of us, and the bullets from the machine guns plowed through the body. First of all, I saw the baffles on both sides of the car smashed to pieces, flying like feathers, and then the tires were punctured and shriveled. When the enemy plane pulled up its nose and flew, the truck burst into flames. It seemed that the fuel tank had been pierced. Several tank soldiers covered with fire jumped from the car and rolled on the ground, trying to put out the fire. Azarov opened the car door, jumped down, ran towards the tank soldiers and took off his clothes as he ran. He ran to a tank soldier who was rolling on the ground and covered it with his coat. The fire on the tank soldiers suddenly became much smaller. Azarov lifted his coat and covered it with all his strength. He soon put out the fire on him. Then he turned to help other tank soldiers put out the fire.

 Chapter 292

    The successful enemy plane made a beautiful turn in the air and then turned around to dive down. At the same time, a bomb was dropped. The bomb landed in the middle of the sled Trailer dragging the tank turret. After the explosion, the towing cable was broken, and the sled made of logs was blown to pieces. The chariot horse fell down with a sad cry, and the soldiers on the chariot were lifted into the air by the blast. Then they fell heavily on the ice, and the turret spun and slid across the road on the smooth ice, It stopped only after several small ice piles collapsed.


    The tanks that have unloaded their turrets lose all their fighting power. On the open ice, they are the targets of enemy planes. I opened the door and jumped down from the bridge. No wonder I was hiding. As I ran forward, I yelled, "hide, hide. Don''t stay in the car, get out of the car


    When the enemy plane pulled up again, our air defense firepower opened fire.


    First, I heard that there was an anti-aircraft machine gun nearby, firing fiercely at enemy planes in the air. Then I heard the rumble of the guns. The shells of the antiaircraft guns exploded in the air, forming a barrage around the enemy planes. It must be the women''s antiaircraft gun company firing.


    In order to avoid the artillery fire, the enemy plane pulled up to a higher altitude and completed the turning dive. Although the anti-aircraft artillery firepower won us a short time, it was precious enough for most of the soldiers of the transport team to escape from the car and disperse behind the ice pile on the side of the road to avoid the attack of enemy planes.


    I was lying behind a pile of ice on the side of the road, watching the enemy plane dive down for the third time. With an airborne machine gun, the bridge of a truck was riddled with holes, and then it caught fire. Fortunately, the driver had already escaped, otherwise his life would be in danger now.


    After attacking the transport convoy, the enemy plane turned around and flew to the air defense position of the women''s antiaircraft artillery company. After repeated diving and strafing bombing, the enemy plane was concentrated by shrapnel, dragging black smoke to the distance.


    This air raid caused a great loss to the tank units. Just now, I saw with my own eyes in the distance that two trucks were destroyed by the airborne machine guns of the enemy plane and a sled trailer was blown up. When we counted the losses in the past, we found that many tank drivers also died in the air raid. They drove for more than ten kilometers in the cab of the tank without any shelter, and the people were frozen, so that it was impossible for them to complete the simple action of escaping from the tank when they suddenly encountered an air raid, and the sacrifice was very miserable and not worth it. Several sacrificial tank drivers lay on the ground, their faces seemed to be wearing an ice mask, their hands stretched forward, and they still kept their original driving posture.


    Due to the reimbursement of two trucks, the extra tank soldiers could not sit down, so Azarov''s truck was also temporarily requisitioned. Capt. vitorganov asked me if he could let soldiers without cars get on my car. I asked in a low voice, "Comrade captain, how are the casualties in the army?"


    The captain bowed his head and answered with some frustration, "no, it''s not small. The tank unit originally had 20 tanks and 80 fighters, plus maintenance and logistics personnel, with a total number of 185. In the air raid just now, 15 people were killed and 26 wounded. "


    "Will it affect the combat effectiveness of the troops?"


    "No, comrade major." The captain looked up at me and said in a determined voice, "if necessary, our maintenance and logistics personnel can fight. They can drive and operate tanks."


    The damaged cars, sleds and turrets were left on the side of the road, and the surviving tank unit continued to move towards its destination.


    When passing by the station of the women''s antiaircraft artillery company, Azarov pulled over to the side of the road and said, "Comrade commander, you are here."


    I patted him on the shoulder and said, "Azarov, you are very brave today. Good job!" Then he reached out to him and said, "I hope to see you again soon. Good luck!"


    After shaking hands, I pushed the door open, jumped on the ice, waved to him, turned and walked to the camp.


    Walking, I feel something is wrong. In the smoke, I smell a strong smell of blood. Is there anyone injured or killed in the air raid? Thinking of this, instead of going back to the tent, I ran directly to the air defense position.


    Around the chest high snow wall, I was stunned by the sight. Three antiaircraft guns were smashed, holes were all over the ice, and pieces of wood from some ammunition boxes were still burning. An open space, placed in a row of neat bodies, it is estimated that these are a few anti-aircraft gun soldiers. Some of the women soldiers who did not die were searching for the broken limbs and arms of their sisters, and some were carrying ammunition boxes.


    I don''t know which sharp eyed female soldier found me standing on one side and cried out: "the major is back." Then he ran to me. Her cry did not arouse the reaction of the women soldiers, who were still busy with their work. But when she threw herself into my arms and burst out crying, she excited the other women soldiers. They all came up with a hula.


    It was Naya who fell into my arms. I put my arms around her and asked softly, "what''s going on?"


    But Naya didn''t respond to my words. She just kept crying. I asked again, but she didn''t answer me.


    When I looked around, all the women soldiers were black and covered with smoke. It seemed that the battle just now must have been very cruel. I yelled at them, "who can tell me what just happened?"


    "Comrade major," a second lieutenant officer came over from among the female soldiers, saluted me and reported, "please speak louder. Many girls are deafened by the bomb." I saw in front of me was lieutenant Ye Lianna, the platoon leader of Naya. I raised my voice and asked again. Now, ye Lianna heard my question clearly and answered aloud, "report major, there was a convoy of enemy planes attacking the transport line just now. After our company found out, in order to cover the transport team, we decisively opened fire on the enemy aircraft and injured them in the battle. But when the enemy planes attacked the air defense positions, they destroyed our three anti-aircraft guns with bombs. "Speaking of this, she lowered her head, pointed to the position where the bodies were placed, and her voice went down in a low voice." many sisters died with honor. "¡° What about the company commander and the instructor? " Did not see kirianova and Orlova, I can not help flustered, asked: "still alive?"¡° I''m still alive, but I''m all injured. " Hearing that they were still alive, I was relieved. I let go of Naya in my arms and told ye Lianna, "Comrade lieutenant, take me to see them." Ye Lianna took me to a snow wall and found the company commander and instructor of the female soldier company. Kirianova''s head was bandaged, her back against the snow wall, her hands over her face, and her shoulders trembled desperately. The instructor, Orlova, stood beside her, one hand stroking her head, while the other bandaged arm was hung on her chest with a Trichet. My arrival immediately attracted Orlova''s attention. She moved her hand away from kirianova''s head, saluted me, and said aloud, "report major comrade, women''s antiaircraft artillery company..." I interrupted her report, gently touched her arm hanging on her chest, and asked with concern, "how is the injury?"¡° It doesn''t matter. I''ve been hit by shrapnel. I only hurt some bones. I''ll be fine soon. " I patted her on the shoulder, then looked down and asked kirianova, "how are you?" Kiriyanova looked up at me with no brilliance in her eyes. She murmured to herself, "German planes dropped bombs, and many female soldiers died. Just now I found that the enemy plane was attacking the transport convoy. I immediately ordered the women soldiers to fight. When the enemy plane dived and strafed, no one retreated. They all stuck to the gun position and fought tenaciously... "He said here, his head fell to the ground. The women soldiers did not know when they came around and fainted the company commander. They went up one after another to help him. I handed the rifle in my hand to Orlova, and a few women soldiers raised kiriyanova hand in hand. I looked at the women soldiers in front of me with approval and said aloud, "good job! Girls, you are all good! I''ll take credit for you. " Then he said to the women soldiers who were carrying kirianova with me, "now, let''s carry your hero''s company commander back to the tent."

 Chapter 293

    Kirianova was carried into the tent, and we carefully placed her on her bunk.


    After settling her in, I sent the women out, picked up the phone on my desk and called the other two company commanders of the antiaircraft artillery battalion, Captain Ali and lieutenant Baku, to find out what was going on there.


    Both men replied to me on the phone that they were fighting when the enemy planes attacked the transport line. Although the enemy plane was not shot down, there were no casualties in the company.


    When I put down the phone, kiriyanova had awoke. Her eyes were not focused on the top of the tent, and she said in a tired voice: "Rita, are our women''s anti-aircraft guns finished?"


    I crouched down, holding one of her hands in both hands, comforted her and said, "honey, don''t be so pessimistic. The organizational structure of the company is still very complete. When the headquarters get the information, they should soon add up the company. "


    "One platoon, more than thirty girls, is gone. They are still teenagers. " Kirianova said, covering her eyes with her other hand and sobbing.


    "In war, sacrifice is inevitable." I know that she is sad, but I don''t know how to persuade her. All I can do is to say, "in order to protect the lifeline of Leningrad and to stop starving more people in the city, it''s worth the price we pay." With that, she patted her hand gently on the back of her hand.


    Kiriyanova dried her tears, sniffed loudly, and suddenly asked, "Rita, as a friend, please tell me the truth. Do you think we can defeat the Germans and win the final victory?" Speaking of the latter, she hesitated a little, because these are taboo words, once heard by the people of the interior department, they may be evaporated.


    "Yes." Although I have limited knowledge of the history of the Soviet Union''s Patriotic War, I know the final result, so I gave her a positive answer without hesitation, "you are injured. Close your eyes and have a good rest. If you have anything to say tomorrow, there are still a lot of work waiting for you to do." Finish saying, let go of her hand, shake the quilt that put aside to give her to cover on the body.


    I got up and was thinking about whether I should go out and help Orlova with the aftermath. The phone on my desk rang. I grabbed the microphone and said, "I''m major oshanina of the antiaircraft artillery battalion. Where are you?"


    "It''s the major," came the voice of general hilov, who asked with concern, "you have returned to the antiaircraft barracks?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." My answer is concise and to the point.


    "Are you safe on your way back? Did you encounter any enemy air strikes? I have just received a report from the convoy that German planes have just carried out an air raid on the ice transport line. Although the air defense forces opened fire in time, our transport team inevitably suffered some losses. "


    "Report, comrade general," I replied in a deep tone, "I just want to report this to you. When we were marching on the ice, our tank unit and I met the enemy''s air attack. The tank unit lost two trucks and a sled, a quarter of the casualties, and the tank did not lose any. "


    "Ah?" Hilov was a little surprised and said, "the casualties of the tank unit are so great?"


    "Yes." I added, "the tank unit was attacked in the vicinity of the women''s antiaircraft artillery company. During the air raid, Lieutenant kirianova, the commander of the antiaircraft artillery company, issued a battle alarm in time, ordering the antiaircraft positions to open fire and attracting the attention of the enemy planes. After a fierce battle, the enemy plane was badly damaged, but... "


    "But what, comrade major," pursued hilov anxiously, "please finish all at once. What happened? "


    "Report to the general that in the battle, the women''s anti-aircraft artillery company suffered heavy losses, three anti-aircraft guns were destroyed, more than 30 women soldiers were killed, and company commander kirianova, lieutenant and instructor Orlova were injured."


    "Can they still command the battle?"


    I looked back at kiriyanova, who was lying beside me with eyes closed, and said in a positive tone, "it''s OK. But the casualties of the troops are too large, and they need to be supplemented in time. "


    After listening to me, hilov was silent. After a long time, he sighed and said, "it''s difficult, comrade o''shanina. There are more than 30 female soldiers in a platoon. You know, even if you count all the troops of the ice headquarters, you can''t make up so many female soldiers. "


    "However, the lack of anti-aircraft artillery forces can not guarantee the completion of air defense tasks. Comrade general, please think of a way to supplement the women''s antiaircraft artillery company as soon as possible. " I knew that it would be difficult for him to supply dozens of female soldiers at this stage, so I went back to the second place: "if the number of female soldiers is not enough, can you give me the same number of male soldiers?"


    "I can''t give you an answer immediately about the replenishment of troops. I''ll study it with the political commissar. As for the lost antiaircraft guns, there are still some stocks in the city, which can be replenished tomorrow. "


    At the end of the call with general hilov, Orlova came in from the outside and reported to me that the bodies of the dead women soldiers had been removed, and the seriously injured women soldiers were also sent to the military hospital in the city by ambulance.


    Because I didn''t get any definite information from general hilov about the replenishment of troops, I didn''t sleep soundly all night. I kept getting up from my bunk and staring anxiously at the motionless telephone on the table by the moonlight coming in from the curtain of the door. After confirming that it would not ring suddenly, he fell down on the bed disappointed.


    After dawn, kiriyanova, who had been lying for almost a day, had almost returned to normal. After breakfast with Orlova, she went to the air defense position, while I continued to stay in the tent waiting for general hilov''s call. The phone didn''t ring, but there were neat steps and loud commands outside. Are our troops coming? I couldn''t help but feel happy, but I soon felt that something was wrong. Why are all the men''s voices calling the orders outside? Did general hilov really send a group of men soldiers to me? When I was putting on my military coat, the command of "stand at attention" and "relax" came out of the door. I quickly buttoned up, lifted the curtain and went out. What came to my eyes were three neat lines of young men. To tell you the truth, I know many of these young soldiers, especially the officer of the guard, Lieutenant ugad of the road guard. Seeing me coming out, Lieutenant ugad trotted towards me. He came to me and stood at attention. After saluting, he said in a loud voice, "report major, our department is ordered to supplement the women''s antiaircraft artillery company. I''m waiting for your order." As I saluted, I murmured in my heart: "this general hilov is too unreliable. I''ll recognize a group of male soldiers in the female company, but you can''t transfer a group of infantry to be anti-aircraft artillery? Artillery can quickly turn into infantry, but infantry may not be able to be a good artillery, you know, this is a technical job, not everyone can be But now that they are all here, I can''t turn them out any more. When I saw Orlova coming, I stopped her and asked her to take the men to the air defense position. I went back to my tent and the phone rang after a long night''s waiting. When I heard it was hilov''s voice, I immediately complained to him, "Comrade General, what did you say? I need antiaircraft artillery, but you sent me a group of infantry¡° Comrade oshanina, "hilov said earnestly," now our air defense forces are insufficient. We can only consider converting one infantry unit into anti-aircraft artillery. As for the fact that they don''t know how to operate anti-aircraft guns, it doesn''t matter. You can ask the women soldiers to teach them. Maybe soon, they will become an elite air defense force. " I said in my heart that before they became elite, all the female soldiers in the company were taken away by them. Although I thought so in my heart, I still had to follow Shilov''s meaning and say, "yes, comrade general, you are right. I will arrange the women soldiers to teach them how to use anti-aircraft guns as soon as possible."¡° Rita, what the hell is going on? Why did the headquarters send us the infantry of the convoy? " As soon as kirianova entered the tent, she complained to me. Although I have resentment and dissatisfaction with the headquarters, I can''t show it in front of my subordinates. I can only say, "kirianova, this is the order of the headquarters on the ice. We must carry it out." Even though they have mastered the anti-aircraft gun shooting technology, their combat effectiveness is not flattering in the short term. At present, it seems that the best way is to divide them into parts and disperse them among the female soldiers so that their combat skills can be improved rapidly. So I finally told kiriyanova: "I plan to adjust the organizational structure of the women''s company. I will take a class from each of the two women''s platoons and add a male class to form a new platoon. The class that the women''s platoon has taken away will be supplemented separately by the men of the remaining two classes. " I don''t know if I said something wrong, but kiriyanova thought for a long time before she understood. Before she left, she asked, "what''s the position of lieutenant ugad?" I waved my hand and said, "let him be the deputy commander of the company."

 Chapter 294

    After the adjustment, the women''s antiaircraft artillery company still maintains the original three three system. There are three platoons in the company. Each platoon has three classes, one of which is a male soldier class.


    At noon, when kirianova and Orlova came back for lunch, they unanimously praised the men for their hard work. They soon learned how to use anti-aircraft guns. When they left, many soldiers could operate anti-aircraft guns in a decent way.


    After lunch, I asked them to inform all the female soldiers to stay in the tent in the afternoon. After explaining my arrangement, I put on my military coat and went to the air defense position alone to see for myself the training results of the male soldiers.


    The women went back to the tent for lunch, just like kiriyanova. On the air defense position, only the men who were training hard were left.


    Lieutenant ugad was sitting on an empty ammunition box next to the gun position to smoke. When he saw me, he threw the cigarette end, stood up and yelled, "all of you, stand at attention!"


    With his loud command, the men stopped training, jumped off the antiaircraft guns one after another, stood firm on the ice, stood at attention and saluted me.


    Wugad came up to him, saluted and reported, "Comrade major! Lieutenant wugade, deputy commander of the women''s antiaircraft artillery company, reports to you that the men are training. Please give us instructions! " There was a look of embarrassment on his face as he spoke.


    I understand why he has this kind of expression. If he changes the male commander to the female soldier''s deputy, I can''t help but have this kind of complex psychology. I forced myself to smile and asked, "have the male soldiers had lunch yet?"


    Ugad looked at the men who stood upright and said, "not yet. I''m going to let the women go to lunch when they come back."


    "Arrange for the soldiers to take turns at lunch." I told ugad, "it''s too cold. I''ll let the women soldiers rest in the tent in the afternoon. They won''t show up without a battle alarm. Let the soldiers go now. Don''t be hungry


    "Yes." Ugad agreed, and then began to give orders to his men: "follow my orders, stand at attention. Everyone goes to lunch in turn. Now the soldiers in the first row go first, and the rest continue to train. "


    When the soldiers in a row left with neat steps, ugad asked, "Comrade major, will the training continue?"


    "Of course, there''s no need to say that." I quickly replied, "please go on."


    With lieutenant ugad''s command, the men put in intense training again.


    After watching the men''s training for a while, I turned to leave, only to see Lieutenant Ye Lianna coming. I met her and asked in surprise, "Lieutenant Elena, why don''t you rest in the tent and run to the gun position?"


    Ye Lianna seems to have been carefully dressed and put on lipstick. When she heard me ask, she was a little coy. She asked sheepishly, "I''m afraid the male soldiers are not familiar with the technical equipment. I came here to see if there is anything I can do for them."


    help?! Looking at her face and eyes, I said, you cheat me when I''m a child, and you even use such farfetched reasons to treat me. Turning to the men, he saw lieutenant ugad looking at us, his eyes shining. As soon as I noticed him, he turned his head to one side.


    I muttered in my heart that the female lieutenant and the male Lieutenant are developing too fast. I only knew each other for a long time, but they even looked at mung beans.


    "Oh, so it is." I deliberately said in an official voice, "Comrade lieutenant, go and guide them." Seeing that the corner of her mouth slightly tilted up, she quickly added: "it''s cold outside. You can go back to the tent as soon as you finish your work."


    In the next two days, the training results of the male soldiers were tested in actual combat. In the next few German air strikes, one enemy plane was shot down and the other wounded.


    Just when I was elated by the result, Orlova poured a basin of cold water on me, saying that now the female soldiers and male soldiers in the company are fighting together. Apart from training and fighting, they stay in the tent to chat and sing or recite poems. If this continues, it is easy to cause accidents.


    Kiriyanova was injured and spent most of his time in the tent recently. He didn''t understand a lot of things. After listening to Orlova''s words, he asked in disbelief: "really? Comrade instructor, are you sure you are not mistaken? "


    "Absolutely not!" Orlova replied in a positive tone: "I have seen this with my own eyes, especially Lieutenant Yelena and lieutenant ugad. Even in the artillery position, they dare to be affectionate in front of the soldiers. They don''t avoid suspicion at all. If they continue to develop like this, something big will happen sooner or later."


    As for Orlova''s statement, I agree with her very much. It''s really easy for a group of bloody men and women soldiers to get together all day long, so it''s better to take preventive measures in advance. So he said to kiriyanova, "gather the women''s company at once, and I will speak to you."


    Five minutes later, the team assembled.


    I took kiriyanova, Orlova and ugad to the front of the orderly line. The soldiers straightened up and saluted us.


    Standing in front of the team, I coughed and said, "comrades of the soldiers, there are several things to announce when we call you together today. We put on our military uniform and come to this ice transportation line from Leningrad to defend the lifeline under our feet, not to come here for love. " Said here, I glared at Ye Lianna in the queue. When she saw me staring at her, she blushed and lowered her head slightly. I then said, "you are still young, and you will have a long time to fall in love. Now what you have to do is to put all your energy into training and fighting. Are you clear? "


    "Listen up!" There was a voice of reply in the queue¡° It''s too small for me to hear¡° Listen up This time the answer was neat and the voice was especially loud¡° "Well," I was quite satisfied with the answer, so I went on to say, "now that you all understand what I mean, I''ll assign you new tasks."¡° New mission? " There was a little commotion in the line, and everyone looked around and whispered¡° Stand at attention Kirianova yelled the order. With her command, the noise in the line immediately disappeared, and the soldiers stood upright again¡° Please take a moment! " I raised my voice and said, "from today on, the women''s anti-aircraft artillery company will add a new training subject: flat fire with anti-aircraft guns to fight tanks. All right, take your positions and disband! "¡° Comrade major, "as soon as the troop was disbanded, Lieutenant ugad came up to me and reminded me in a low voice," we are anti-aircraft artillery, and our main task is air defense. " I frowned and said in a dissatisfied tone: "when the anti tank force is insufficient, anti-aircraft artillery can also use it to fight tanks." The reason why he was dissatisfied with him was not that he intervened, but that in the encounter with the German patrol some time ago, he used the antiaircraft machine gun to fire flat fire, which decided the final outcome of the battle. As a participant at that time, he didn''t know how to draw inferences from one instance. The anti-aircraft machine gun can fight armored vehicles, but why can''t the anti-aircraft gun fight tanks¡° But the ammunition used by antiaircraft guns is not suitable for tanks. It needs special armor piercing ammunition. "¡° Comrade lieutenant, "I said in an emphatic tone," according to the regulations, the orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed. You should implement them immediately according to my arrangement. "¡° Yes Wugad reluctantly agreed, raised his hand and turned to leave.

 Chapter 295

    How time flies! It''s mid February before you know it.


    That day, I called captain Ali and lieutenant Baku from the station by telephone, and assigned them to carry out anti-aircraft artillery and tank training in their two companies.


    Although I''m the commander of the antiaircraft artillery battalion, I''m a bare commander. I don''t have guards, signalmen, service soldiers, or even a single residence. From the day I got to the ice transportation line, I had been huddled with kirianova and Orlova in the tent as the headquarters of the women''s anti-aircraft artillery company. Because of this, it''s natural that I chose this tent as the venue for the meeting of several company commanders.


    The tent is too small. It''s OK to wait for three people. If there are more people, they will be very cramped. There was only a company commander in one company and two companies, but the female soldier company was the company commander''s instructor and vice company commander. Because the women''s company had been carrying out anti tank training for a long time, so there were not so many people left. So I arranged Orlova and ugad to go to the air defense position for inspection, and the three company commanders and I continued to have a meeting.


    I told two male company commanders how to train soldiers to fight tanks with anti-aircraft guns, and kiriyanova added some problems and precautions found in the training.


    Captain Ali was asking kiriyanova for technical advice when lieutenant ugad''s voice came from outside the tent: "Comrade major, may I go in?"


    I looked out and said, "come in."


    Wugad opened the curtain and wanted to come in. Seeing that there were too many people, he hesitated for a moment. He stood at the door and didn''t come in. He looked at me and said, "Comrade major, can you come out for a moment?"


    "What''s the matter?" I asked in surprise.


    "I saw a couple of cars parked on the side of the road, and a couple of trucks with awnings. It looks like somebody''s coming. I see them coming our way, so I''ll let you know. "


    Big shot? It''s not a day or two for ugad to become an officer. He can be called a big man, at least at the level of general or above. But I''m just an ordinary battalion level organizational unit. It doesn''t seem to be worth stirring up. Why don''t some important generals come here? So I asked tentatively, "are you sure you want to come to us, not to Colonel harpy?"


    "Comrade major, I''m quite sure." At this point, he drew his head back, looked into the distance, then put his head in and continued: "the leader is like general hilov of ice command."


    "Here comes general hilov!" When the boss came, I couldn''t stay in the tent and said to the others, "let''s go, three comrades of company commander. Let''s go out to meet the general."


    Out of the tent a look, but no, a group of people came across. At the front was a round faced commander of medium build and ordinary appearance. The collar of his military coat was pulled high to block his rank. However, according to my experience, I knew that he was a general.


    Behind him on the left was a middle-aged man with thick eyebrows in a short fur coat, a grey ermine cap, and general hilov, whom I knew well, followed him on the right.


    I hastened to bring people up and stood at attention in front of several people.


    I raised my hand to my forehead and looked at general hilov. I didn''t know who to report to.


    Seeing my dilemma, hilov stepped up, pointed to the general in front of me and said, "Comrade major, report to the commander of the front army."


    It turns out that the round faced general is lieutenant general Huo Jin. I straightened up and said in a loud voice: "report to the commander of the front army, comrade, on the ice transport line. I turned around and told kiriyanova and ugad behind me:" do you hear me? The commander is going to honor you in person. You muster the troops immediately. Go, now. " Because of excitement, my voice trembled.


    After the troops assembled, according to the usual practice, kirianova ran to me, stood at attention, saluted and loudly reported, "report major, the women''s anti-aircraft artillery company has assembled and is waiting for your order."


    "At ease!"


    "Yes Kiriyanova agreed, turned and ran to the front of the line, shouting: "at ease!" Team with her command, cleanly completed a little action.


    When I saw her standing in front of the line, I turned around and ran to Huo Jin. I reported, "report to the commander of the front army, the women''s antiaircraft artillery company has assembled and is waiting for your order."


    Huo Jin looked at the neat team and muttered in a low voice: "women''s antiaircraft artillery company, how can there be so many male soldiers?"


    "Comrade commander, this is the situation." General hilov put his mouth to Huojin''s ear and explained in a soft voice why there were so many men in the company.


    After listening to general hilov''s words, Huo Jin strode to the front of the team with tears in his eyes and said with emotion: "girls, comrades, good job, you are all good! It is with you that the enemy''s planes dare not fly recklessly over the ice transport line, and our transport team can transport more grain and daily necessities into Leningrad. On behalf of the headquarters of the front army, thank you With that, he made a solemn salute to all the soldiers.


    "Wula Kiriyanova took the lead in shouting, the soldiers chin up, eyes slightly closed, followed her neat and rhythmic shouting: "Wula! Wula! ~ ~ " At first, the soldiers of the female company were shouting. With Huo Jin''s response, several company commanders and I, as well as the commanders and soldiers Huo Jin brought, were shouting.


    "Lieutenant, bring me the papers." After the cheers subsided, Huo Jin turned to greet his subordinates. An officer with a briefcase squeezed out of the crowd behind him, walked up to Huo Jin, saluted him, opened the cover of the briefcase, took out a stack of documents from inside, and handed the top one to Huo Jin. Huo Jin took over the document and said solemnly, "in recognition of" the bravery and heroism shown in the air defense battle of defending the ice transportation line, the red flag Medal of Rita mushdakova oshanina is awarded by the research and decision of the headquarters of the front army. " This is "Comrade major, why don''t you talk?" Huo Jin said sternly, "don''t you know what you should say when you get the medal?" Then I found that I was distracted, and the general''s entourage had put the new red flag medal on my coat. I quickly and loudly said, "serve the Soviet motherland!" Huo Jin nodded with satisfaction and then reached out to shake hands with me. When I stood aside again, I could not help regretting that I should have hung the other three medals on my uniform on my army coat when I knew I was going to win the medals today. The four medals were lined up in a row. It looked like a lot of fashion. Next, those who won the medal were Orlova, ugad, Yelena and other officers. Even ordinary soldiers like Naya also won a medal. After Huojin''s award, his colleague vasnezov went up and delivered a speech, warning everyone not to be proud, to continue to do their own work, to protect our ice transportation line, and to continue to fight with the bandits. Huo Jin called me into the tent alone and said frankly, "Comrade major, I received a call from general Zhukov a few days ago. He is very concerned about you."¡° How are you, senior general? Having been away from Moscow for so long, I still miss him and the leaders of the Western Front Army. "¡° He''s very good and is now preparing to deploy a new campaign. " Huo Jin finished saying this, some embarrassed to continue to say, "originally this award at the same time, I want to promote your rank, and transfer you to a more important department. After all, you''ve been a general, and you''ve commanded tens of thousands of people''s operations, and you have rich combat experience. At present, there is no commander like you in Leningrad''s breakthrough. But... "" but what? Comrade General. " As soon as I heard this turning word, I knew that I had no hope of promotion in recent months, but I still couldn''t help asking¡° However, your rank was demoted by Comrade Stalin himself. No one has the right to promote your position and rank without his consent. I can''t, general hilov can''t, not even general Zhukov. Please understand that. " In fact, I don''t mind if I can be promoted. Now is the time of war, the promotion of military rank is very random, even depends on the personal will of the supreme commander. Although he demoted me from major general to major some time ago, maybe one day he will be in a good mood and be reinstated by me. With a smile on my face, I replied, "please rest assured, comrade commander. I can understand your difficulties, and I will not be burdened ideologically." After staring into my eyes for a long time, he made sure I didn''t mean it. Then he asked, "if you have any plans in the future, please let me know." I thought about it and said, "in another month, the ice on the lake will begin to melt. I expect that the anti-aircraft artillery battalion will soon be disbanded and merged into other units. I hope Comrade commander can arrange a suitable position for me then. "¡° No problem. " Huo Jin said very frankly: "the fijiuningsky group army lacks enough intermediate commanders. I want to send you there. What''s your opinion?" I have dealt with fejiuningsky before, and I know that as long as people with ability can be reused under his hands, so I simply replied, "great, comrade commander, I will obey your distribution."

 Chapter 296

    In March, as the temperature rises, the ice on Lake Ladoga begins to thin.


    As the ice can not bear too much weight, the ice headquarters decided to stop using trucks from now on, and rely on horse drawn sleds to carry food and daily necessities to the city.


    Except for a company left behind to maintain order on the ice, the other units of the convoy of regimental units of Lieutenant Colonel habi were transferred to the south of Lake Ladoga. At the same time, there was also lieutenant ugad, who had been temporarily strengthened to the women''s antiaircraft artillery company, and the male soldier of the platoon he brought over at that time.


    Not long after habi''s troops were transferred, general hilov of ice command sent a driver to send me a transfer order. The order reads: "in order to quickly break the siege of Leningrad by the bandits and effectively strengthen the grassroots command force of the assault forces outside the siege, major Lida mushdakova oshanina, commander of the second antiaircraft artillery battalion, was dispatched to the 54th group army under the command of general fejiuningsky. This order shall take effect from the date of service. Commander of Leningrad Front Army: Mikhail semunovich Hozin. March 10, 1942. "


    After I read the transfer order, general hilov''s driver said dryly, "report major, I''ve been ordered to send you to general olhof fejiuningsky''s 54th army headquarters."


    "All right, comrade driver. Please wait outside the tent. I''ll clean up and start right away


    After saluting, the driver turned and walked out of the tent. Kiriyanova, who had been staying nearby, got up and gave me a hug. After separation, her eyes were red and she asked, "Rita, is this going to break up again?"


    "Yes, kirianova." In fact, I''m quite helpless with such personnel arrangement. I haven''t had any comfort days since I went through it. I''ve always been transferred from one unit to another, and I feel like I''m running a dragon''s errand. Or in popular terms, it''s a brick, and you can move to where you need it.


    In fact, I don''t have much luggage to pack up. Basically, I just need to put on my military coat, strap on my belt, step on my briefcase, and then put my assault rifle on my shoulder to walk.


    I am still reluctant to leave this place where I have lived for nearly two months. At the thought of being separated from these women soldiers, I can''t help but have a sour nose. Before leaving the tent, I couldn''t help hugging kiriyanova again. I put my hands around her waist, put my head on her shoulder, closed my eyes and choked back the tears.


    When my mood was stable, I let go of kirianova, tried to pretend to be happy, put my hands on her shoulders and said, "Dear company commander, don''t be sad. They are temporary. We will meet again sooner or later."


    I turned around and tried to lift the curtain. Suddenly she asked, "Rita, don''t you need me to call up the women soldiers to see you off? Even if you call the director of Orlova back


    "No, you all have things to do. I want to leave alone. Don''t disturb anyone." Then I lifted the curtain and walked out of the tent.


    The driver stood straight outside the tent, saw me come out, turned around and took me to the parking place. I followed him, pretending to be casual, raised my hand and quietly wiped away a drop of tears from the corner of my eye.


    The driver is like a man of few words. Since he got on the bus, he didn''t say a word. He just looked at the front and focused on driving.


    After driving for more than an hour, I met the first checkpoint. While our cars were waiting in line for inspection, I carefully observed the checkpoint. There are seven or eight soldiers in short fur coats in the middle of the road. They are checking vehicles and pedestrians from south to north. There are snow covered sentries and machine gun fortifications piled up with sandbags beside the road. There are several earth house type bunkers in the distance. It is estimated that the troops guarding here are at least company level.


    When it was our turn to inspect the car, it was a second lieutenant who came to inspect the car. Although there were several kinds of special passes pasted on the windshield, he still carefully checked the documents of me and the driver before releasing them.


    After starting the car again, the driver said, "Comrade major, this is cobona."


    "Cobona?" I''m talking about this strange place name.


    "Yes, comrade major." "We have now entered the volhof River Basin from Lake Rado," the driver explained


    I looked out of the window, and there was still a vast expanse of white outside, but there seemed to be no war here. The snow on the ground was spotless, and there was no trace of being affected by the explosion of bombs or shells.


    "How far is it from the destination?" I asked the driver as I looked out the window at the snow.


    "Thirty five kilometers to go." The driver simply replied, "the headquarters of the 54th army is located in plyhanovo."


    As the car continued to drive forward, the scene outside the window began to change gradually. I was attracted by the beauty in the middle of winter, and I was pulled back to reality by the things that suddenly appeared in the field of vision. Broken tanks with broken tracks and tilted turrets can be seen everywhere on the roadside, only a truck with a dark frame, cannons that have been blown apart, and a corpse that hasn''t been cleaned up in the snow.


    "Comrade major," the driver looked at me and kept looking out of the window. He took the initiative to tell me, "in order to protect the ice transportation line, the 54th and 4th Army Groups fought a cruel tug of war with the bandits here not long ago. After suffering great losses, the enemy had to retreat to the West. " In my heart, I thought that the German army suffered huge losses and retreated, and the Soviet Army''s losses might be even greater. Maybe a lot of the organizational systems of the troops were exhausted. Otherwise, there would be no strange phenomenon of being separated from the troops in the city by only a few kilometers, but still unable to break the German encirclement. The road condition is getting worse and worse. The car that used to run smoothly is bumped from one side to the other side from time to time, and the speed drops down unconsciously. Fortunately, it was not far from the destination. Although the speed slowed down, I arrived at the destination before dark. Plehanovo is a relatively large town, in which almost no complete building can be found. Even the headquarters of fejiuninski is located in a building which has been half collapsed by the blast, leaving only the ground floor and basement. After the driver left, I showed my identification and transfer order to the second lieutenant on duty at the gate of the headquarters. After checking the documents and handing them back to me, the officer shook hands with me and said with a friendly smile: "Hello, major oshanina, welcome to the 54th army headquarters. I have received an order from the commander that as soon as I see you coming, I will take you to the headquarters to see him. "¡° Thank you I politely expressed my thanks to the second lieutenant, and then said, "please take me to see the commander." Fejaninski''s headquarters, like all the Soviet headquarters I''ve been to, are in rooms at the end of the ground floor corridor. At the door, as usual, there was a table with a lieutenant on duty. When he saw us passing, he nodded to the leading lieutenant, got up, knocked on the door, then pushed the door open, stood upright at the door, and reported to the people in the room, "report commander, major o''shanina is here."¡° Ask her to come in¡° Yes The lieutenant promised, turned to me and made a gesture of please. After thanking the lieutenant who led the way, I strode into fejiuningsky''s headquarters. Almost as I entered the room, the lieutenant on duty gently closed the door. The room was not big. Fejaninski sat at a wooden table in the middle of the room with maps and black telephones on it. I went up quickly, stood at attention, saluted and reported, "report to Comrade commander of the group army, major o''shanina has been ordered to report to you and wait for your instructions."

 Chapter 297

    With a moustache, fejiuningsky stood up from the table and said with a smile, "major oshanina, I''m glad to see you here safely." After shaking hands with me, he pointed to the bench beside the table and said, "don''t mention it. Please sit down."


    I looked in the direction of his fingers, and then sat down with some formality, just opposite his position. After he sat down, aware of my nervousness, he took the initiative to start a dialogue with me. He said, "major oshanina, if I remember correctly, we have dealt with each other before."


    I quickly stood up and said, "yes, comrade commander. In September 1941, I fought in the defense of the Pulkovo highlands. At the end of a battle, you once visited the position with general Zhukov and commander Huojin. And soon after you became the commander of the 42nd army, the 21st division of the Ministry of internal affairs where I work will be under your command. "


    "Sit down and talk. You''re old acquaintances. Don''t be so formal." On hearing my reply, ferjiuningsky''s neatly trimmed moustache suddenly shook and his face began to smile. He raised his hand, pressed it down, and said, "major oshanina, I can''t believe you are familiar with my resume. But you are not simple. After you went to Moscow with general Zhukov, you made a name for yourself and even became a general for a time, commanding tens of thousands of troops to take part in the counter offensive under the city of Moscow. "


    I heard him mention my past history with a smile and no words.


    "I heard that you were transferred back to Leningrad''s front army and just went to the ice transportation line and served as the commander of an ordinary antiaircraft artillery battalion. It''s very humble," he said Then he pointed to the map on the desk with a red and blue pencil and said to me, "I''ll tell you about the current situation of the enemy and ourselves. This is the volhof River, the main outlet of Lake irmen. It flows through Novgorod, passes northeast through a flat basin with marshes, and flows into Lake Ladoga. The 54th army under my command is now deployed on the East Bank of the volhof river.


    At the same time as the group army, the warhoff front army was deployed on the east coast. It was formed on December 17, 1941 on the basis of Leningrad''s left wing forces and the reserve forces of the headquarters of the supreme command, with the purpose of giving more accurate campaign command to the fighting forces east of the volhof river. It has the 4th, 52nd and 59th army groups; The second group army (adapted from the 26th group army) and the aviation corps were attacked. The commander of the front army was under the command of general meletzkov, the former chief of the general staff of the Red Army. The task of the front army is to annihilate the German forces on the West Bank of the volhof River, and then to develop an attack in the northwest direction, and cooperate with the Leningrad front army to lift the blockade of the hostile Leningrad. "


    It''s the first time I''ve heard of the Volkhov''s front army, whether it''s the formation of the army or the name of the commander of the front army, general meletzkov. Because a lot of information is confidential, it would not have been possible for a junior officer of my level to know if it had not been for fejiuningsky to tell me. To tell you the truth, before I came here, I thought that all the troops outside Leningrad were under the command of fejiuningsky.


    After a brief introduction of the deployment of the warhof River, fejiuningsky looked at me and said with a kind smile, "major oshanina, you have also commanded the battles of tens of thousands of people. If you give the warhof front army or the 54th army to you, how will you command it?"


    When he asked me this question, I was immediately dumbfounded: other people are all generalists. They can strategize and win thousands of miles. They can make use of the convenience of being familiar with history to turn the tide. Even if they are bound to lose, they can turn defeat into victory. However, as a trailblazer, I know little about the history of the war of defending the country. I''m even a rookie in military affairs. Some of my achievements in the past were just due to some people and good luck. If you really want me to talk about how to fight, I''m crazy. I didn''t dare to look at fejiuningsky''s eyes. I could only stare at the map and pretend to be thinking hard. In fact, I was so confused that I didn''t know how to answer his question.


    "Major oshanina," said fejiuningsky, who hesitated to speak. "What are you thinking? Why don''t you answer me?"


    I shrugged my shoulders and answered with a bitter smile, "Comrade commander, I don''t know how to answer you. You know, although I''ve been a general and commanded tens of thousands of people to fight, in the final analysis, I''m a high-level dragon in soy sauce. Everything is carried out according to the strategy arranged by the superior, just fine-tuning the details. "


    "Soy sauce?" Fejaninski repeated the word and asked in surprise, "what does it mean?"


    When I heard him ask this question, I would like to slap myself in the face and say something bad. I have to say "make soy sauce". It''s no wonder that Russia doesn''t have soy sauce at all. I explained awkwardly: "how to say, this is a mantra I heard from soldiers from East Asia. The general meaning is: the Red Army soldier is a brick, where needs to move


    Fejaninski opened his mouth, gave a silent smile, and said, "this metaphor is very interesting. It''s the first time I''ve heard of it. However, in the past half a year or so, my position has also changed rapidly, first as deputy to general Zhukov, commander of the front army, and then as commander of the 42nd army. After Zhukov was transferred, I also served as commander of Leningrad''s front army for a period of time. Later, he exchanged with general Huojin and became the commander of the 54th army. It may not be long before I am transferred to command other troops. "


    "Comrades commander," I was afraid that feijiuningsky was asking me some embarrassing questions, so I quickly cut off the topic: "can I know what position I am going to hold in the 54th army?"¡° I plan to put you in the combat Office of the headquarters of the group army as a combat staff officer first. " Said fejiuningsky vaguely¡° However, comrade commander, I prefer to go to the combat forces. " To tell you the truth, I have no interest in serving as a staff officer in the headquarters. I prefer to stay in the front-line combat forces, "even if you let me command a battalion or a company."¡° This is not a question you should consider. "When it comes to my work arrangement, feijiuningsky seems to have changed his mind. He impatiently interrupted me." you just said that the Red Army soldier is a brick. Where do you need to move it? Why did you forget so soon? "¡° But I''ve never worked in the war office before? "¡° No one is born with it. You can learn it if you don''t understand it. " He interrupted me again and said firmly, "I''m very optimistic about your ability to command troops, but you still have a lot to learn to be an excellent senior commander. That''s why you''re in the war office. It''s not my opinion, it''s general Zhukov himself. " Hearing Zhukov''s meaning, I can only accept this reality reluctantly. I stood up, saluted him and asked, "Comrade commander, I obey the organization''s arrangement. Who should I go to report to?" Feijiuninsky went to the door, opened the door, and said to the lieutenant on duty outside: "Comrade lieutenant, you lead major oshanina to the combat department to report, and arrange her accommodation by the way."¡° Yes, "the lieutenant said decisively. I saluted fejaninski again and was about to leave. He suddenly stopped me and said, "major oshanina, maybe you will be transferred again soon after you stay in the combat department. I hope you will be ready in advance." Just came to a new place to report, not waiting to go to work formally, soon to be transferred away? I was stunned for a moment, and then I couldn''t help asking fejiuningsky curiously: "Comrade commander, can I ask where I was transferred?" Instead of answering my question directly, fejiuningsky said, "someone has been calling me these two days, hoping to transfer you to his army." I''m very curious about the person who asked me to go. You know, I don''t seem to be well-known here in Leningrad. Otherwise, I would not have been able to fight with soldiers at the checkpoint of the ice transportation line twice. So I asked softly, "Comrade commander, can I ask who it is?"¡° Your old superior, lieutenant general Vlasov. " Fejiuningsky also said softly: "he is now the deputy commander of the volhoff front army. At present, he is commanding the second shock group army of the front army to launch an offensive against the German army in the liuban area in order to coordinate the breakthrough of the Leningrad front army."

 Chapter 298

    I followed the lieutenant, and not far away, came up to a tall, thin faced officer, whose open collar showed that he was a colonel.


    The lieutenant stopped and stood at attention to salute the tall colonel. I also stopped to imitate the appearance of a lieutenant and saluted the colonel. After the ceremony, I raised my leg and tried to move on, but the lieutenant stopped me.


    "Comrade major," the lieutenant pointed to the Colonel standing in front of us and said to me, "I''d like to introduce you to your new superior. This is colonel Lavrov, the director of operations. Please report to him."


    I had to salute the Colonel again and report my name and rank.


    "So you are major oshanina, who has just been transferred to the group army. Welcome After looking me up and down, he reached out to me. While shaking hands with me vigorously, he said: "when the combat division was established, I once proposed to the commander that there was no experienced staff. It''s really great that you can come to work in the combat division."


    The lieutenant saw that Colonel Lavrov and I had already known each other, saluted us and turned to leave.


    Lavrov released my hand, shook his head and said, "Comrade major, come with me!" Then turn around and show me the way.


    As I was about to reach the exit, I saw two stairs on the right side of the corridor. The upward stairs had been blocked by collapsed bricks. Lavrov walked straight into the downward stairs. It turned out that the combat office was underground. I thought so and followed him.


    The layout of the ground floor is similar to that of the upstairs. There are rooms on both sides of the long corridor. Because the door is closed and there is no sign on the door, I can''t know where the functional department is located.


    The combat department is in a big room on the right side of the corridor. There are seven or eight staff officers in it. Judging from their ranks, they are either captains or lieutenants, and there are no school officers. Seeing that there is no one with a higher rank than me, I feel relieved. It seems that only Colonel Lavrov can manage me.


    The staff are busy with their own work, some are answering the phone, while listening to the phone, writing down something in the book with a pen; Some of them work on the map and constantly mark the situation of the enemy and ourselves on the map according to the information provided by other staff officers. Maybe I was so busy that Colonel Lavrov and I went into the room for half a day without anyone to greet us.


    Lavrov looked at his watch, then raised his voice and said, "comrades of staff, let''s stop our work first. I have something to announce to you


    The staff then found that there were two more people in the room. They stopped their work and stood up and looked at Lavrov. Seeing this scene, I thought that the vigilance of these staff officers was too poor. If it was not me and Colonel Lavrov, but the German assault team, they would surely be killed by the regiment.


    Lavrov pointed to me and said, "this is major oshanina, who is new to our group army. From today on, she will work in our combat department. I hope you can support her more."


    I straightened up to salute the staff in the room and said, "Hello, comrades! I''m major o''shanina. Please help me in the future. "


    "Hello, comrade major!" Several staff officers saluted me one after another.


    "Well, we all know each other. Let''s continue to work." At Lavrov''s command, the staff went on with their work. The captain came up to me and said, "at the end of the corridor is the dormitory. The beds on the left side of the entrance belong to the female communication soldiers. They are always on duty all night and seldom go back to rest. You can choose a berth and go back to have a good sleep when the combat office is busy."


    Lavrov took me to a corner of the room, pointed to an empty table and said, "you''ll work here in the future." Then he took a pile of files and piled them in front of me. He said, "these are all war reports. You should be familiar with them first."


    I can''t help but feel dizzy when I see the hill like folder in front of me. I know my own business best in my heart. I''m not the material to be an adviser and give advice to my superiors. After a few days in the office, I have to show off. So all along, I have been trying to avoid being a staff officer in the headquarters. Unexpectedly, I became a staff officer in the combat department.


    Seeing that everyone is busy, I can''t stay around doing nothing. I can only open the top folder and look at the contents.


    In the combat department, except for Colonel Lavrov, I was the highest ranking officer, and the rest of the staff couldn''t manage me, so everyone ignored me automatically. Every day, they are still busy answering the phone or doing homework on the map, or sorting out the latest war reports they received and sending them to feijiuningsky. And I have nothing to do but look at those hill like documents.


    Through these documents, I have a general understanding of the current fighting progress of the warhoff front army.


    As we all know, the formation of the volhoff front army is to cooperate with the breakout action of the Leningrad front army in order to smash the German northern army group and rescue Leningrad from the siege.


    In order to achieve the purpose of this campaign, according to the operational intention of the supreme command, the warhoff front army, with its troops in the center of the front line, broke through the German defense on the West Bank of the warhoff River, annihilated the enemy''s rear area on the West Bank, and developed the attack with the main force along the direction of qiudovo liuban. Then it made a further assault to the northwest, cooperated with the 54th group army of Leningrad''s front army which attacked from east to west, isolated and eliminated the German group army which went out to Lake Ladoga. At the same time, the left wing forces of the volhoff front army, together with the 11th group army of the northwest front army, attacked in the direction of old Rusa, DeNO and solze, and then cut off the enemy''s retreat from the direction of Novgorod and Luga. Once this was achieved, the German northern army group that besieged Leningrad could be smashed.


    Although I can understand the map now, it is still very difficult to find out the place names mentioned in the circular. Fortunately, with the help of an enthusiastic captain, I was able to understand the operational intention of the headquarters according to the map.


    The idea is good, but it''s not so easy to realize. Because in the area of attack, the German army deployed more than ten divisions belonging to general Linderman''s 18th army. Faced with such a hard bone, what the Soviet Army lacked was a pair of good teeth. From December 17, 1941, the 4th and 52nd army of the Volkhov front army turned to attack. However, due to the shortage of troops and the lack of proper rest, the attack had little effect. After a great sacrifice, he only won three small landing sites on the West Bank of the volhof river. Due to the heavy bombardment and powerful artillery firepower of the German planes, the Soviet Army''s attempts to further expand the landing site failed.


    Seeing that the progress of the Soviet army was not good at the beginning of the attack, general sumeletskov, commander of the front army, wanted to stop the attack and gather strength so as to make a decisive assault after the arrival of the new group army. However, the supreme command, which was eager to break the siege of Leningrad, repeatedly demanded that meleletskov launch the attack without stopping, Urge to start as soon as possible with all forces to break through the warhof River campaign. However, by the end of December, the 26th and 59th army groups, which were originally assigned to the warhoff front army, had not been deployed.


    By January 7, 1942, the day when the supreme command was due to attack, the front army of warhoff was still not ready. As one of the new forces, the 59th group army has only five undermanned divisions in place, and three new divisions are on the way. At this time, the 26th group army has been reorganized into the assault 2nd group army, which is specialized in breaking through the enemy''s defense. Only half of the army, which will play an important role in the upcoming campaign, has entered the attack starting position. In addition, due to the unfavourable logistics organization, the lack of vehicles and the long distance, the speed of transportation and forward delivery of ammunition, materials and technical equipment, grain and fodder is very slow. Although the preparatory work before the launch of the campaign has not yet been completed, the starting time of the campaign issued by the base camp can not be changed. As a result, meletskov was forced to order some of the troops of the front army of volhoff to turn to attack.


    In three consecutive days of fighting, although the soldiers of the front army showed extraordinary bravery and tenacity, in front of the fierce German firepower, the attacking troops were repeatedly pressed back to their starting positions.


    According to intelligence, before that, due to the continuous attacks of the 4th and 52nd army groups, the German northern army group headquarters and the 18th army group headquarters, which were defending here, had already paid more attention and vigilance to the Soviet troops on the East Bank of the volhoff River, and had transferred new troops to this direction and strengthened their defense, So the German resistance was prepared and strengthened day by day. In view of this situation, the military committee of the front army of warholf thinks that it is necessary to suspend the attack and regroup forces. Fortunately, the headquarters in Moscow also saw this, so when meletzkov reported directly to Stalin, Stalin allowed the time to be postponed for another three days, that is, to launch another attack on January 13.


    On January 13, after a short period of artillery preparation, the first echelon of the four groups of warhoff front army turned to attack. For the first three days, the troops of the front army spent repeated attacks on the German first defensive zone. Except for crossing the volhof River in some areas and seizing several settlements along the bank, the offensive troops did not advance in depth. Starting from the 15th, the 2nd group army was attacked, and the 52nd group army put the 2nd echelon into combat. The attack of the volhoff front army finally improved, the German first defense zone was broken through, and the troops advanced 5 to 10 kilometers. However, the further the advance, the fiercer the German resistance, and the greater the loss of the Soviet army. Almost every kilometer, a regimental unit was disabled or disappeared from the organizational system.


    After several raids, the second group army finally broke through the enemy''s defense in spaska, apolis and miasnoypol. Taking advantage of this favorable opportunity, general meletskov decided to transfer all the forces of the front army to the above-mentioned areas, and thus to attack liuban.


    The headquarters of the volhoff front army redeployed the 52nd, 59th and assault 2nd army units, focusing on the direction of spaska apolis and miasnoibol. The second group army was in the middle of the attack and carried out the attack on the front 15 kilometers wide. On its right is the 59th group army, which forms another assault group with its left wing forces to assist in the assault of the 2nd group army. The 52nd group army is on the left, and its task is to develop this breakthrough after the breakthrough of the above two groups.


    The breakthrough of volhoff''s front army started smoothly. After the breakthrough of miasnoyipol, the headquarters of the front army put the newly formed 13th cavalry army into the breakthrough, and ordered the assault 2nd group army to follow the cavalry army into the breakthrough; They also ordered the 59th and 52nd group armies to expand their breakthrough points to both sides with one part each. Within five days, the cavalry troops and the troops of the second group army, who entered the breach, penetrated 40 kilometers and cut off the railway from Leningrad to Novgorod.


    However, when the Soviet Army turned to liuban in the northeast, it met the fierce resistance of the German army who was waiting for work. In the battle, it not only consumed a lot of technical equipment and ammunition, but also forced the Soviet army to move back from the West. Under the climatic conditions at that time, the implementation of large-scale detour in the snow covered wasteland and forest swamp areas not only exhausted the troops, but also lengthened the transportation lines of the supply troops, and often interrupted the supply of ammunition and fodder. What is more serious is that the German forces on both sides of the breach are desperately trying to close it again and cut off the transport line for the Soviet army to survive and fight in the enemy occupied area. Therefore, the success of the liuban campaign depends to a large extent on whether the breakthrough can be maintained and whether various material support can be provided to the front forces in time through the breakthrough.


    By the beginning of March, the second group army and other units had gone into the enemy occupied area alone, 70-75 kilometers deep, and advanced to the honggorka area, 15 kilometers west of liuban. At this time, the 54th group army of Leningrad''s front army, under the command of general fejiuninsky, the 310 division of major general zamirovsky and the Navy brigade composed of the Baltic Fleet attacked liuban from the north of kirib, and only 30 kilometers away from the second group army was it blocked by the solid fortifications and powerful forces of the German army. Seeing that the German army in liuban was facing the great threat of being surrounded and annihilated, trohiller, who took over Leibu as the commander of the northern group army, quickly transferred three infantry divisions from Leningrad and kirich directions to attack honggorka from the East and west directions, and surrounded the Soviet troops in honggorka. Under such circumstances, the troops of the front army of warholf could not move forward any more, so they had to turn around and break through the encirclement. After several days of hard fighting, the task of seizing liuban was obviously unable to be completed. Almost at the same time, the 54th army''s attack on liuban was also stopped by the German army and forced to turn to defense. After withdrawing from honggorka, the troops of the second group army had no power to attack liuban any more, so they had to stand by in a large forest and swamp area between the chudovo Novgorod railway and the Leningrad Novgorod railway. What''s the next step of the assault on the 2nd group army? At that time, the military committee of the front army put forward three plans for the headquarters to decide. First, request the base camp to strengthen the front army, even if only one group army, so as to break through the area occupied by the second group army and then attack liuban before the beginning of the muddy season in spring; Second, withdraw the second shock group army to the south of the chudovo Novgorod railway to ensure the safety of the group army and the landing site on the West Bank of the volhof river; The last plan is to let the group army stick to the occupied area and build up its strength after the muddy season. After repeated discussions, the Supreme Command chose the first plan, because Stalin believed that the advantage of this plan was that it could have a direct impact on the improvement of Lenin''s situation. If the new impact could succeed, the blockade of Leningrad could be lifted. Stalin ordered the headquarters of the volhoff front army to set up an assault group composed of five infantry divisions, one cavalry division and four infantry brigades. After strengthening with tanks, artillery and air force, the assault was carried out again in the direction of liuban. At the same time, the 59th army, which guards the right flank of the breach between spaskaya politi and miasnoyipol, is ordered to attack the northwest direction of chudovo. In order to strengthen the command of the army, Stalin sent his trusted general, lieutenant general Vlasov, to be the deputy commander of the army and the commander of the second shock group army. He hoped that Vlasov could command the army to inflict heavy damage on the German army in the liuban area, so as to achieve the goal of extricating Leningrad. After reading these thick materials, I have a better understanding of the current situation of the enemy and ourselves. However, the more I know about it, the more I feel uneasy. Although there are two Soviet front armies in Leningrad, according to the analysis of various data, it is an unfinished task to break through the German encirclement in a short time.

 Chapter 299

    Time flies. I''ve been working in the combat Office of the 54th army for a week. In addition to sitting in the room and reading all kinds of war reports every day, I occasionally send the latest war reports to fejiuningsky for other staff when they are too busy.


    At noon on March 17, I took the latest war report to fejiuningsky.


    I was already familiar with the lieutenant on duty at the door of the office. Seeing that I came with a folder in my hand, I didn''t get up. I just nodded at me and said softly, "Comrade major, the commander is inside. You go in."


    I smile at him, go to the door, tap twice, then twist the handle and go in.


    In addition to fejiuninsky, there was a round faced commander sitting at the table. Because there was no stove in the room, the temperature was just a little warmer than outside, so the collar of the strange commander''s coat was still tightly buttoned, and his rank could not be seen at all. However, according to my judgment, he was at least a general.


    Seeing me enter the door, fejiuninsky stood up from the table, and asked with a smile, "Dear major oshanina, I don''t know what good news you brought me today?"


    I answered with a wry smile, "I''m sorry, Comrade General. I expect today''s war report will disappoint you." Then I opened the folder, took out the war report written on the paper and handed it to him.


    After the 301 division occupied kirishi, it had been waging repeated tug of war with the German army in several villages in the west of the city. Usually in the morning the Soviet army still occupied the village, and in the afternoon it was taken over by the German army. Even the intelligence received this hour was that the Soviet Army recaptured the village. Before the latest war report was handed over to fejiuningsky, the village returned to the German army.


    "Ivan Ivanovic," the strange commander suddenly said, affectionately calling the real name and father''s name of fejaninski, "are you confident that you will continue to push the defense westward in the short term?"


    Without waiting for fejiuningsky to speak, I had already answered for him in my heart: "No. In the absence of air supremacy and sufficient technical equipment, it is absolutely impossible to defeat the German army equipped with solid fortifications and powerful firepower with only a few light infantry with heavy equipment. "


    After throwing the war report on the table and staring at the map for a while, fejiuningsky said slowly: "in the current situation, if the troops can''t get personnel and technical equipment, it''s impossible to continue to attack liuban." He picked up the red and blue pencils on the table, pointed out the names of kirich and liuban, and said reluctantly: "although we are only 30 kilometers away from liuban''s second assault group army, such a short distance may become a natural moat that we can''t cross."


    "You''re too pessimistic, general fijiuningsky." The commander said in a stern tone, "this is the argument of defeatism. You should know that the Red Army soldiers armed with Stalin''s ideas are invincible."


    I heard this, can''t help a Leng, this is not a famous saying I tampered with? Although I have said it on different occasions, with my popularity, I will never let the commander of the general level in the troops far away in Leningrad know it?!


    Feijiuningsky did not answer. He looked at me and said, "major oshanina, you are from the combat department. You know the situation better. Tell me your opinion."


    I glanced at the commander sitting next to me, then looked at fejaninski and asked, "can I be honest?"


    Fejaninski sat back in his seat and said impatiently, "let''s just say, where''s so much nonsense coming from. Only by listening to the truth can we have an accurate judgment of the situation. "


    "Yes." I promised to show off my limited military knowledge¡° I agree with the commander''s judgment that it is unwise to continue to fight against the German army at the present position. "


    "Be more specific." Said the commander.


    I didn''t read the war report in the combat department this week for nothing. At least I have a good understanding of the current situation of the enemy and ourselves, so I can say it clearly: "what our 54th group army and volhoff front army are facing is an elite German heavy army group. In the areas they occupied, there were strong fortifications and perfect defense systems. However, our army''s preparations for the attack are very hasty, lacking the necessary technical equipment and material supply to support the attack. In the face of German fortifications and powerful firepower, our officers and men, no matter how brave and tenacious they are, will still be slaughtered and smashed. "


    At this point, I listened and looked at the look of fejaninski and the commander. The commander muttered, "go on." Fejaninski nodded at me, motioning me to go on. Then I went on to say: "once the offensive forces fail to carry out effective operations, our attack will not only fail, but will even lead to the siege of exhausted troops by the German forces in the counterattack, or even the division and annihilation. The second shock group army was encircled by the German forces in the liuban area, which is an example. Although our army broke the German encirclement and restored the contact with the main force of the warhoff front army after dogged fighting, the prospect is still not optimistic. "


    "Major oshanina, why is the future not optimistic? Let''s hear it. " After listening to my analysis, fejiuningsky didn''t express any opinions, but asked faintly.


    "At present, the warhoff front army can only deliver necessary materials to the second shock group army through a narrow breach. This is not only known to us, but also the commander of the German army, Leibu... "


    "Comrade major, von Leib has long been removed from his post by Hitler, and tricheler, who is now taking over his post," he said The commander gave a dull reminder.


    I can''t help blushing when I heard the commander say that. I didn''t expect that I would make such a low-level mistake. Even the name of the commander of the German northern army group was wrong The commander of the German army, giseler, also knows that once he has been supplemented, he will be on both sides of the breach. "Speaking of this, I point to two place names on the map." in the east of Pascal apolis and in the west of great zamoshiya, the German army will use the advantages of personnel and technical equipment to rush to the 52nd and 59th army groups guarding the breach. According to intelligence analysis, I boldly judged that our army could not withstand the fierce German offensive. In two days at most, the East-West German forces may meet in the area west of miyasnoyibor. In this way, it marks that the breakthrough that was opened at a great cost will be completely closed by the German army, and the traffic line that the second group army relies on for survival and fighting will be cut off. "


    After listening to my analysis, the commander and fejiuningsky did not speak. They both stood up, hands on the edge of the table, head to head, and studied the map carefully.


    Both of them devoted themselves to the study of the map, and neither of them paid any attention to me, which made me extremely embarrassed, neither leaving nor staying.


    For a long time, they looked up and looked at each other. Then the commander asked feijiuningsky: "Comrade General, do you have a direct call to my headquarters?"


    "Yes," he said, pushing a black phone in front of him.


    The commander picked up the receiver, dialed a number and said to the operator inside, "connect me to the warhoff front command." Less than a minute later, when the phone got through, he said to the microphone, "is the chief of staff in? I''m meletskov. Put him on the phone Soon, I heard him say to the microphone, "chief of staff, I''m at the 54th army headquarters in fejiuningsky. I order you to find out immediately whether there are any signs of German troops moving in the areas of spasca, apolis and greater zamoshiya. As soon as there is a situation, call the group army headquarters of fejiuningsky to report to me. "


    After putting down the microphone, meletskov (I only knew that he was the commander of the warhoff front army, general meletskov, when he reported his name just now) walked up and down the room with his hands behind his back without saying a word.


    Fejaninski looked at meletskov pacing in the room and asked me in a low voice, "major oshanina, why are you so sure that the German army will launch an offensive in a short time and cut off the supply line of the 2nd assault group army?"


    "Comrade commander," I hastened to reply, "all these are based on my analysis of the war reports. For a long time in the future, attacking liuban will be the core of the offensive campaign of the front army of warhoff. As the main attack force, the second assault group army will certainly become the priority target of the German army. "


    Just then, the phone on the desk rang. Meletskov took the lead, picked up the phone and said, "I''m meletskov." In the whole process of answering the phone, he didn''t say a word, but his face became more and more ugly. From the change of his expression, I think what I said just now has been unfortunate.


    Meletzkov put down the microphone, took out a cigarette from his coat pocket, took a few puffs, and then said in a slow and low tone: "major oshanina''s analysis is correct. According to the investigation, the German forces in the two areas of spaska, apolis and greater zamoshiya have increased their strength one after another yesterday and today, At least two or three full divisions. " At this point, he pressed the cigarette out in the ashtray on the table, then extended his hand to me and said, "Hello, comrade major, let''s get to know each other formally. Kiril afanasievich meletzkov, commander of the front army of volhof. "


    I held his outstretched hand tightly and said, "nice to meet you, senior general. I''m Rita mushdakova oshanina, staff officer of the combat Department of the 54th army. "


    Meletzkov held my hand, turned to fejiuningsky and said, "Comrade commander, give me Comrade major. I''m short of grass-roots commanders like her."


    "Excuse me, comrade warhoff, commander of the front army." Fejaninski said politely, but firmly at the same time, "the major works in the headquarters of the 54th group army. You can''t dig the wall so blatantly."


    "All right, all right, commander of the group army!" Meletskov laughed and said, "let major oshanina work with you for the time being. Anyway, she said that she would be transferred to our front army soon."


    "Why?" Fejaninski helped me to ask the questions I wanted to ask.


    "You don''t know yet?" Meletzkov''s address to fejiuningsky changed from you to you, "general Vlasov, deputy commander of the Volkhov front army, asked major oshanina to assist him in the second shock group army. The transfer is issued through the supreme command, and it is estimated that you will see it soon. "


    Supreme command?! I was shocked to hear this word. No, my little major''s job transfer is also worth alarming Stalin¡° I see, Comrade General. " After pondering for a moment, fejiuningsky said, "I obey orders. As soon as the transfer order arrives, I''ll send major oshanina to the front army of warhoff. "

 Chapter 300

    On the morning of March 19, the work of the operations department suddenly got busy. The latest war reports were collected and sent to fejiuningsky; Through the telephone of the combat office, the operational orders were sent to the combat units of the group army. However, the 54th army was fighting with the German army, and the troops of the front army of warhoff were fighting with the German army in different places. In the vast area of the volhof River Basin, the enemy and us have been fighting together.


    As I can see the latest battle report at the combat office at any time and know the cause of this situation, as I estimated, the German army launched a fierce offensive against our 52nd and 59th army groups on both sides of the breach.


    Facing the fierce German offensive, the Soviet army was forced to retreat step by step after tenacious resistance. By noon, the first line positions of the two group armies were almost lost, and the troops retreated into the second line of defense, relying on solid fortifications to fight.


    In order to relieve the pressure of the Volkhov front army and coordinate the battle of the second shock group army in the liuban area, fejiuninsky sent a new marine brigade with 500 Baltic navy soldiers to the kirish area and strengthened it to the 301 infantry division of major general zamirovsky. The 301 division, which has been supplemented, can be regarded as the only bright spot in today''s battle. After consolidating the defense of several villages to the west of kirich, they took advantage of the victory to defeat the German troops in the area and pushed the front ten kilometers westward.


    When I took this latest inspiring report and went to the headquarters to give it to fejiuningsky. But unexpectedly found that he was sitting at the table, staring at the map spread above in a daze.


    He took my war report, just looked at it and threw it aside. He didn''t show any joy at the results of the 301 division. After looking at the map for a while, he raised his head and said to me in a hoarse voice, "major oshanina, it seems that your judgment is correct. Today, the German army''s attack on the 52nd and 59th army groups on both sides of the breach is inevitable. They want to completely encircle the 2nd assault army group and then eat it up bit by bit. "


    "Yes, comrade commander. The German intention is obvious. " I replied.


    "What would you consider if you were sent to the 2nd shock group army at this time?" Fejiuningsky asked suddenly and thoughtlessly.


    Although I didn''t understand the meaning of his question, he replied with a standard: "orders from superiors are not allowed to be discussed. If I am transferred to the second shock group army at this time, I will obey unconditionally. "


    He stood up, took out a folded paper from his coat pocket, handed it to me, and said, "this is the transfer order for you to the 2nd shock group army, just received."


    I took it over and opened it to see that it was really an order to transfer me to the second shock group army, signed by general meletskov, commander of the volhoff front army.


    After reading the transfer order, I folded it carefully and put it in my pocket. Then I straightened up and asked fejiuningsky, "Comrade commander, I don''t know when I will report to the second shock group army."


    "Go now. The car sent by general meletskov is waiting for you outside."


    "Yes." I promised to turn around and get ready to leave.


    "Wait a minute." He took my hand, patted me on the shoulder with his left hand, called my nickname like Zhukov, and said with concern in his elder brother''s voice, "Rita, it''s difficult and dangerous. Promise me to come back alive. "


    I tried to squeeze out a smile, said: "please rest assured commander, I will come back alive."


    After I got my assault rifle from the dormitory, I went to the war office to say goodbye to Colonel Lavrov. Knowing that I was going to work in the second shock group army, which was about to be surrounded by the German army, the Colonel repeatedly told me to pay more attention to safety.


    Walking out of the building, you can see a jeep parked not far from the door. This kind of vehicle with good cross-country performance, which was aided by the United States, was already heavily equipped with Zhukov''s Western Front Army in the late period of the Moscow battle, and it was the first time I saw it in Leningrad.


    A corporal was chatting with the sentry by the door. When he saw me go out, he immediately welcomed me. He stopped in front of me, stood at attention and said, "Hello, major o''shanina. I''ve been ordered to take you to the front of warhoff. "


    Seeing that the corporal knew me, I couldn''t help looking up and down at him. I went through all the drivers I knew in my mind and finally decided that I hadn''t seen him before. So I asked curiously, "Comrade corporal, have you seen me before?"


    The driver shook his head and said, "no, comrade major. I see you for the first time today. But in the army, female officers are very rare, let alone a female major, so as soon as you appear, I''ll be sure it''s you. " Then he reached back and said, "please get in the car."


    I sat in the co pilot''s seat, and when the car started, I asked, "would you like to take me to the headquarters of the volhoff front army, or directly to the headquarters of general Vlasov of the second shock group army?"


    "Neither. I have been ordered to send you to the headquarters of the 52nd group army, where the senior general is directing the battle. "


    When I met meletskov, he was about to leave the 52nd army headquarters and take a group of staff to the front. Seeing my arrival, he just said faintly: "Comrade major, come with us." He traveled in a large group of four jeeps and two covered trucks full of guards. I don''t know anyone except meletskov, and I''m embarrassed to carpool with others, so I have to let the driver who just saw me off continue to drive me and follow meletskov''s team. After driving about ten kilometers, the motorcade stopped. We got out of the car, walked through the snow trench, and entered the frontier headquarters in the forest. Meletzkov entered the headquarters with about a dozen commanders. I didn''t know whether I was qualified to enter, so I lingered at the door. As soon as meletzkov looked back, he saw me wandering at the door. He said with some displeasure, "major oshanina, what are you still doing at the door? Come in quickly." This headquarters has a large area and can accommodate about 40 people at the same time. Seeing a group of us coming in, a colonel studying maps at his desk came up and reported to meletskov, "Comrade commander of the front army, commander of the 65th infantry division of the 52nd group army, Colonel kosewoi, report to you and wait for your instructions!" Meletskov also saluted and asked, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the situation?"¡° Very bad, Comrade General. " "The bandits attacked us 13 times, and we beat them back. After the first line of defense has been broken through, the troops have retreated to the second line of defense to defend. "¡° When are you going to fight back? " Meletskov asked impolitely. On hearing this, the Colonel stammered, "senior general, I don''t think it''s wise to fight back now. We need to know that our air defense weapons are too weak, our troops lack air cover, and the enemy''s dive bombers carry out fierce raids on our division''s battle formation several times a day. The casualties of our troops are very large. Moreover, we should not only dig up the shelter for the personnel, but also hide the technical weapons, transportation equipment and materials and technical reserves underground. Moreover, when we attack, we have no firepower cover at all. As soon as the artillery fire, it will attract the enemy''s indiscriminate bombardment. At present, half of the artillery of the group army have withdrawn from the battle. "¡° Do you know the German number in front of your division? " A general next to meletskov suddenly asked¡° Report to the commander of the group army that we have just finished interrogating the prisoners, "the Colonel replied to the general." the enemy troops in front of us, except for the original German infantry division, are all the "Dutch" and "Flanders" foreign volunteer corps composed of Dutch and Belgian elements. When they attacked our defense line, they were supported by Keller''s air force. " After listening to the Colonel''s report, meletskov walked up and down the headquarters with his hands behind his back, and the people around him were silent, even afraid to leave the atmosphere. I secretly compared meletzkov''s height, which is the shortest among the commanders on the scene. It is estimated that it is only about 1.6 meters, which is about the same height as Zhukov and Stalin. Meretskov stopped and asked Col. koshevoy, "Comrade division, if I add reinforcements to you, can you fight back against the German army immediately?"¡° Yes, comrade commander of the front army. " The Colonel''s answer was very straightforward. Meletzkov turned his head to the commander of the 52nd army and asked, "how many reserves do you have in your army? General Yakovlev¡° No, Comrade General. " General Yakovlev replied with a sad face: "in order to defend the defense line, even the guard regiment of the group army has been sent to the front line. In addition to two sentinels on guard, there are only a group of staff officers and signalmen left in the headquarters."¡° Reserves, I''ll figure it out. I just want to know if you can counterattack immediately and take back the lost position when you get the replenishment? " General Yakovlev and Colonel koshevoy looked at each other and replied with one voice, "yes!" Meletzkov went to the table, grabbed a phone and dialed the number. As soon as he got through the phone, he heard him say to each other in a loud voice: "is it Comrade chief of staff? I''m meletskov. Now record my order: immediately transfer all the personnel of the second lieutenant training team and the junior commander training company to the 65th division of the 52nd army. "

 Chapter 301

    When I heard these two unfamiliar terms, I knew that meletskov was in a hurry. In order to block the German army''s crazy attack, even the elite troops at the bottom of the box were used. You know, in the Chinese army at that time, it was equivalent to the existence of officers'' training regiment or cadres'' regiment.


    When general Yakovlev heard that meletskov had finished calling, he was surprised and asked, "the second lieutenant training team and the junior commander training company are all officers. Do you want to use them as ordinary soldiers?"


    Meletzkov waved his hand and said in an indisputable tone: "the situation is critical now. We can''t care so much. Once the Germans broke through the 65th division''s line of defense, rushed to the road, occupied and closed the passage to liuban, the contact between the front army and the 2nd shock group army would be cut off. You should be able to think of the consequences. "


    Yakovlev opened his mouth just to say something. Suddenly he heard the gunfire outside. It seemed that the German army had launched a new round of attack. He quickly closed his mouth..


    Meletzkov turned and asked Colonel koshevoy, "Comrade Colonel, where can we observe the situation on the battlefield?"


    "Report to the commander of the front army," kosewoi replied after standing at attention according to the regulations, "there is an underground observation post on the edge of the forest 200 meters away from here, which can clearly see the situation of the whole battlefield."


    Meletskov waved his hand and said, "what are you still doing? Take us there right away."


    "Comrade General, that observation post is too small to accommodate so many people," said Col. koshevoy in some embarrassment


    Meletzkov looked at the room full of commanders and said, "since it can''t accommodate so many people, I''ll go less. Except for those whose names I call, the rest will stay here." Then he named Yakovlev and the two generals and went to the observation post with colonel koshevoy.


    He went to the door, looked back, pointed at me, who was still crowded among a group of commanders, and said, "major o''shanina, you come with me, too."


    Originally, I didn''t show mountains and water in the crowd. When he called, everyone in the headquarters turned their eyes on me. Embarrassed to be seen, I quickly lowered my head and walked quickly through the crowd to catch up with meletskov in front of them.


    We bent down and walked quickly along the trench to the observation post on the edge of the forest. There were two officers in the observation post. One was observing the enemy''s situation, and the other was recording at a wooden table. Seeing us go in, they immediately stand at attention and salute.


    "How''s it going?" Meretzkov asked as he took the telescope from an officer.


    "Report to the general." The officer obviously knew meletskov, and he replied in a concise and comprehensive way: "all the attacking Germans were infantry. Because our army was suppressed by the enemy''s artillery fire, we were unable to organize strong resistance. The enemy in some areas has approached our line of defense. "


    Several senior commanders were crowded in the observation hole. I couldn''t get through it at all. I simply didn''t want to join in the fun. I just stood upright in the middle of the observation post and waited patiently.


    In this observation station, except for the rumble of guns, the sound of rifles and machine guns, and the explosion of Grenades can be heard clearly. From time to time, a shell fell not far from the observation post and exploded, which made the snow on the roof fall down the gap between the logs from time to time, making people all over their faces.


    "Comrade teachers, comrade teachers. Are you there, sir? " Outside, a roaring voice came in, and then a lieutenant with a helmet, a rifle and a face full of gunpowder came in.


    Koshevoy looked back at the intruder and asked sternly, "what''s the matter?"


    "Report to Mr. division commander that the Germans have broken through the position of the 195th regiment."


    "What?" All the people in the observation center were shocked by the news. Koshevoy grabbed the lieutenant by the collar and asked aloud, "how did the position get lost? Where is the commander of the 195th regiment, Lieutenant Colonel deniev?"


    The lieutenant caught by the collar coughed loudly. Koshevoy found that he was too tight to breathe, so he quickly released his hand. The lieutenant gasped for breath and coughed twice before answering, "the soldiers were so overwhelmed by the fire that the enemy quietly approached our position under the cover of gunfire. As soon as the gunfire stopped, they rushed up, because the soldiers suffered heavy casualties in the shelling and could not stop their attack. The battle is going on near the regiment headquarters. Chief denikov has died, and the chief of staff of the regiment is directing the soldiers to fight back. "


    Colonel koshevoy turned to meletskov and said, "Comrade General, I will go to the 195th regiment to take over the command immediately, and I will certainly be able to hold the position."


    "Go Meletskov did not stop and readily agreed.


    The Colonel saluted and ran along the trench with the lieutenant to the position of the 195th regiment.


    The fighting continues.


    While observing the situation of the battlefield, meletzkov raised his wrist to look at his watch from time to time. I can see from his little gesture that he is anxiously waiting for the arrival of the second lieutenant training team and the junior commander training company.


    "Comrade teachers, comrade teachers. Are you here, sir? " There was another shout outside. With the cry, a second lieutenant broke into the observation post this time¡° Which area was broken through by the German army this time? " General Yakovlev asked fiercely at the second lieutenant¡° Report, comrade general, "said the second lieutenant, shivering with fright, stammering," the Germans have rushed into the position of the 194th regiment, and the soldiers are fighting with them for bayonets. "¡° The position of the 194th regiment has also been broken through? " On hearing this news, meletzkov frowned nervously and said to himself, "the left wing and the middle of the 65th division have been broken through by the German army. There is only one right wing left. Can it stand?"¡° General, "general Yakovlev suddenly said to meletskov," at this critical moment, only the determination of the commander is the spiritual strength to stabilize the war situation. Don''t say anything. I''ll go to the 194th regiment at once and personally direct the troops to drive the enemy out of our position. "¡° No, "meletzkov interrupted him, saying firmly," you are the commander of the group army, not the commander. Let other commanders do the counterattack. " When he heard this, general Yakovlev grabbed the cotton cap on his head and fell on the table. He patted his chest with one hand and said to meletskov in a loud voice, "come on, comrade general, my personal safety is nothing. As long as I can stop the attack of the bandits, old man, even if Yakovlev is killed, what is it? " With that, he grabbed the cotton cap on the table and walked out. He went to the door, put on his military cap, turned to us, and said in a gentle tone, "Comrade General, please rest assured that the German bullets can''t hit me Yakovlev." There was silence in the observation center. Meletzkov put the telescope on the table, walked slowly towards Yakovlev, held each other''s hands tightly with both hands, shook them hard and said, "good luck, old man!" Then he let go, put his hand on his shoulder, patted him gently and said, "take care, be safe!" Yakovlev stepped back, slowly raised his right hand and saluted meletskov. Seeing meletskov saluting himself, Yakovlev resolutely turned and left with the second lieutenant. Meletzkov''s hand has not been put down, watching the 52nd army commander''s back away, I see his eyes have faint tears flashing. When general Yakovlev and Colonel kosewoi arrived at the position, the morale of the troops was obviously improved. After less than half an hour, the gunfire outside became sparse, the German offensive troops began to retreat, only sporadic shells were still falling on our positions and exploding¡° Report Hearing the sound from outside, I can''t help but feel nervous. Is there something wrong with the defense line¡° Come in Meletzkov, who was observing the battlefield, cried without looking back. With his orders, two commanders came in from the outside, one was the lieutenant, the other was the captain¡° What''s the matter? " Meletzkov did not turn around, and a general next to him took the initiative to ask questions. The lieutenant took a step up and said in a loud voice, "report, Comrade General. The second lieutenant''s training team has been ordered to come and wait for your instructions." Then the captain took a step forward and said in the same voice, "report to the commander of the front army, junior commander. The training company has been ordered to come and wait for your instructions." Meletzkov turned, his face full of joy and said, "you are here at last!"

 Chapter 302

    The lieutenant answered in a flurry: "report to the general. As soon as we received the order, we immediately mobilized. After receiving the equipment, we immediately came by car at the fastest speed."


    As the German attack was temporarily repulsed, meletskov''s mood improved slightly. He kindly asked the nervous lieutenant, "Comrade lieutenant, what''s your name?"


    "Akhromeyev," the lieutenant answered his name dryly, then added his full name, "Sergei Fedorovich akhromeyev."


    Meletzkov sat down at the table, took a cigarette out of his pocket, put it in his mouth, and reached for akhromeyev. Seeing that the other party shook his head, he put the cigarette box on the table, lit the cigarette, took a sip and asked, "where are you from?"


    "Chief General of the report," seeing meletskov''s amiable attitude, akhromeyev was not so nervous, and naturally replied, "I''m Mrs. Tambo. At the age of 17, he left the farm to join the Red Army and soon entered the Naval Academy. When the war broke out, before I finished my studies, I graduated from the college ahead of time and went back to the combat sequence of the army. "


    "It doesn''t matter. I''ll read it later," meletskov said friendly. "Now work hard in the army. Maybe you will become a general in the future."


    The telephone rang in the observation center. As soon as the idea came out, I went up boldly and stopped the general who wanted to leave: "Comrade General, please wait a moment."


    "What''s the matter?" The general looked at me and asked.


    Instead of answering him, I said directly to meletskov, "senior general, please allow me to be the commander of this commando team."


    "You?" Meletskov didn''t expect me to say that. He was stunned.


    After a moment''s silence, the general said with distrust, "I say, comrade major, I don''t know how you got your present rank, but I remind you that this is going to war, not to the ball. Maybe the enemy''s shell is still far away from the explosion, you will be scared to turn around and run


    Instead of the general''s sarcasm, I continued to say to meletskov, "Comrade General, during the Moscow defense war, I led several hundred small troops to recapture the positions occupied by the enemy; He also commanded tens of thousands of troops and participated in the counter offensive under Moscow. I have rich combat experience. If you can give this unit to my command, I promise to take back the position. "


    When I finished, meletskov was silent, and the general was silenced by my words.


    After a long time, meletzkov finally made a decision. He nodded slowly and said to me, "OK, come with me. I will appoint you commander of the assault force in front of all the commanders and fighters. "


    We came to the front of the team and stopped. Meletskov said to them in a loud voice, "comrades, soon you will join the counter offensive against the Germans and drive them out of our position. Are you confident? "


    Hundreds of throats answered neatly, "yes!"


    On hearing the answers from the commanders and fighters, meletzkov nodded with satisfaction, pointed to me and said to them, "this is my newly appointed commander of the assault force, major oshanina, who will lead you to fight the Germans. Now ask her to tell you a few words. "


    Voice fell, silence, terrible silence.


    It''s one thing for Russia to respect women. It''s another thing for a group of promising commanders to go to war with a woman they don''t know. At least, the commanders and fighters present, except for meletskov, could not find anyone who believed in my ability.


    I stepped forward, looking slowly across the faces of these young officers, and from their resolute expression and closed lips, I knew that they were ready for all battles. In order to dispel their worries and make them act like an arm in the battle, we must first let them build up their trust in me.


    "The second lieutenant''s training team and the junior commander instruct all the commanders and fighters of the company, comrades, brothers!" I said in a loud voice, "it''s hard to make up your mind to take part in such a cruel battle. It''s even harder for general meletzkov to give such an order. He made this difficult decision after careful consideration."


    At this point, I stopped for a moment and glanced at meletskov standing next to him secretly. He was surprised at first, and then he showed a look of approval. Then he continued: "you are all excellent commanders in the Red Army. I firmly believe that in time, many of you will grow into senior commanders and become generals in the Red Army, Even marshals. How can we have the heart to use you as ordinary soldiers. But now the situation is grim. If we let the bandits gain a firm foothold, they may break through our defense line at any time and cut off the supply channel under our feet, which is difficult for the second shock group army to survive. "


    "Please rest assured, major." Lieutenant akhromeyev stepped forward and answered in a loud voice, "the second lieutenant''s training team and the junior commanders will never disgrace the glorious Red Army troops. All of us will be like ordinary soldiers to attack. "


    The captain of the training company also stepped forward and said in a loud voice, "please give us the order. We are ready for all battles. We can fight at any time." Seeing all this, meletskov said again: "brothers, I hope you can exchange the minimum sacrifice for the maximum victory." At this point, he pointed to a distant slope and said to me, "major oshanina, you should lead the troops there to occupy the starting position and wait for the signal of attack. Remember, it''s a red flare. " I gave him a solemn military salute and answered in a loud voice, "please rest assured, comrade commander. I promise to finish the task well." After the ceremony, he turned around and gave a loud order to the troops: "everyone, listen to my command. attention! Turn right, target the earth slope in front of left, march together The troops followed ahlomeyev and the captain in a neat step towards the slope. I was just about to catch up when meletzkov stopped me behind: "major oshanina!" I turned around and heard him ask hesitantly, "how long do you think it will take to finish the fight?" I have been thinking about this issue when I was in the observation center just now. The first line of defense occupied by the German army was actually only one trench. The German army was not equipped with tanks or armored vehicles except for artillery and aircraft support. In addition, between the second line of defense and the first line of defense is a smooth line, which is conducive to the deployment of troops. If our army attacks quickly, it should be able to regain its position soon. So I answered very simply: "half an hour or so should be able to solve the battle." I squatted on the slope, and akhromeyev, Captain two people to observe the enemy. After being repulsed, all the enemy troops retreated into the trenches, and the shelling of our troops'' positions completely stopped¡° How are you going to attack? Comrade major. " Akhromeyev asked aside. I pointed to the trench I was going to attack and said, "you see, it''s more than 300 meters from here to that trench, and there are dense craters in the middle. When attacking, let the formation of the brothers disperse, don''t crowd together, let the Germans be the target. Make good use of those craters and cover forward alternately. Do you understand? "¡° I understand They agreed in unison. At this time, the Soviet counter offensive began. On our left is the position of the 194th regiment. With the sound of the charge, groups of soldiers jumped from the trench and dashed forward with guns. I looked up at the sky. It was gray. There was no sign of the signal bomb that general meletzkov said. It seemed that he still felt that the time had not come to use our commando team. As soon as the 194th regiment reached the middle of the two trenches, it was intercepted by the enemy''s artillery in the trenches, and then all kinds of guns began to fire. Shells kept falling in the middle of the attack team, mud and shrapnel splashed around. After several commanders who rushed to the front were knocked down by bullets or shrapnel, the army''s offensive stopped. The soldiers lay down on the ground, and no one wanted to get up from the ground. Everyone tries to find a safe hiding place. When they feel safe, they begin to look around and shoot aimlessly in front of them¡° Major, look, flare! " The captain suddenly yelled and pointed to the air. I followed the direction of his finger and saw a red signal bomb rising. It''s our turn to play!

 Chapter 303

    I stood up straight, half turned around, looked at the officers who were eager to give a try at the foot of the hillside, slowly raised the assault rifle in my hand, just wanted to shout in accordance with the routine: "brothers, for the motherland, for Stalin! Forward! ", Then, with a sharp wave of the gun forward, the troops surged to the enemy''s position. Did not expect a sudden motor roar, my attention attracted in the past.


    In the distance, a few black spots appeared first, and soon they became bigger and bigger. With the naked eye, we could see that it was our army''s T34 tank. These tanks are forming a column, along the simple road, to our location.


    "Comrade major, is it time for the troops to attack?" Perhaps it was to see that after I raised my gun, it would not fall down. Lieutenant akhromeyev, standing nearby, reminded me anxiously.


    "Wait a minute, Lieutenant akhromeyev. Wait a minute. Don''t rush to attack." I put down my gun hand slowly. I pointed to the tanks and said to him, "maybe these tanks can help us. Wait here. I''ll meet their commander. " Then I ran down the slope.


    I came to the middle of the road and waved my hands at the tank desperately to signal the tank driver to stop.


    The leading tank stopped ten meters away from me, and then the tanks in the back also stopped in turn.


    The top hatch of the tank turret was opened with a bang, and the upper part of a tank hand was out of the hatch. He was wearing a tank soldier''s helmet, a black tank suit, two hands on the hatch, two eyes looking at me.


    When I saw this tank soldier, I felt as if he was someone I knew. I''m thinking back to the time when I met him somewhere, he had climbed out of the tank and jumped out of the tank. He spread his arms and came to me, shouting excitedly: "Hello, comrade major! I didn''t expect to see you again so soon. It''s great to see the living you in front of me. "


    "Captain vitorganov," I immediately thought of visiting relatives in Leningrad. When I returned, I returned with a tank unit, and the captain was the commander of the unit.


    We didn''t salute, we didn''t shake hands, we just celebrated our reunion with hugs.


    After separation, I asked captain vitorganov, "Comrade captain, where are you going?"


    "At the command of the superior, assist the counter attack of the 194th regiment of the 65th infantry division of the 52nd army. Our task is to support the infantry attack with artillery fire. "


    "That''s a coincidence. We''re here to help the 65th division counterattack." I took his hand, pointed to the hillside and said, "see? That hillside is our starting point. "


    "Can I help you?" Asked the captain politely.


    I nodded and said, "of course, we also need artillery or tank fire support. Otherwise, our hundreds of infantry without heavy weapons will die before they rush to the enemy''s position. "


    "Are those your subordinates?" The captain looked at the orderly line over there and suddenly exclaimed, "my God! Major, what unit are you commanding? They''re all officers. They''re all second lieutenants. After a battle, won''t all the grassroots commanders of the army be wiped out? "


    "Yes, that''s why I sincerely ask for your help. I hope we can get the most results at the least cost. "


    The captain said very simply, "Comrade major, it''s easy. I have seven tanks. I''ll leave two to cover your attack. I''ll take the rest to assist the 194th regiment. "


    "No way!" I refuted him, saying: "tanks can''t be dispersed, they must be used in a centralized way, so as to maximize their combat effectiveness. I now order that all tanks be under my command and attack the enemy''s positions from the hillside immediately. I will bring the officers and commandos to follow you. "


    "But that would be against the orders of the superior!" Said the captain, somewhat embarrassed.


    I knew what he was worried about, so I said, "Comrade captain, you don''t have to worry. Anyway, you cooperate with the 194th regiment. The nature of your attack from the regiment headquarters is the same as that of your attack here. If there are any adverse consequences, I will bear them. You should know that the reason why I was able to serve as the top commander of this army was personally appointed by general meletskov, commander of the volhoff front army. "


    Maybe I took meletskov out and held the captain down. He hesitated for a while, and finally he gritted his teeth and stamped his feet and said, "OK, that''s it." He turned and got into the tank and quickly got into the turret.


    "Comrade captain," as he closed the hatch, I reminded him loudly again, "your task is not to cover the attack with artillery fire, but to open the way ahead. Give full play to the tank''s strong mobility and fierce firepower, quickly tear open a hole in the enemy''s defense line, and cover the infantry to recover the lost positions. "


    The captain saluted me and agreed loudly to close the hatch. Then the tank jumped forward and started.


    I trotted along the side of the moving tank, waving my rifle hand, and shouting in the huge roar of the motor: "go ahead! Tank soldiers. forward! Go teach those damn Krauts a lesson. forward! Go and build up your immortal achievements


    The captain''s tank took the lead to rush to the top of the hillside, slowed down, buttocks a meal, a tank shell flew out. Then the front of the car went down and down the hill. The tanks that went up one after another were similar. When they got to the top of the slope, they fired one shot and then went down.


    I almost ran up the hill behind the rear of the last tank. I stood on the top of the hill, raised my rifle high, and cried out the words in my mind: "all commanders and fighters, for our motherland! For Stalin! Forward! ~ ~ " After shouting, I waved my gun forward and headed down the slope.


    Almost at the same time, there were two shouts: "the commanders and fighters of the second lieutenant training team, the future generals, for our honor, move forward! Go and teach those damned Krauts across the street a lesson


    "Teach the company brothers, move forward! Destroy the enemy and build up our immortal meritorious service


    Akhromeyev''s words were more provocative than mine. Hundreds of officers chanted "Wula!" in unison They rushed up the slope with weapons in their hands, and rushed down over the top of the slope.


    Although I was the first to go downhill, I was soon overtaken by the people behind me. Our charge was soon discovered by the enemy, who immediately turned the muzzle of the gun and fired at us. Bullets whizzed past my ears. From time to time, officers were shot and rolled down the hill from me.


    Because the attack route was full of craters, our tanks had to go around one crater after another, which affected the attack speed and made the German firepower so rampant.


    As soon as I ran down the hill, I jumped into the nearest crater. Just wanted to look out, but the roar of mortar shells made me shrink back. The shell exploded outside the crater, and the mud fell on my face. At the same time, a second lieutenant with blood all over his body fell into the crater. I went up to check and found that he had stopped breathing.


    I poked my head out of the crater and saw that several more shells exploded in the charging line, overturning many officers. The rest of the officers jumped into the crater and fired at the opposite German army.


    Looking at the casualties of the second lieutenant''s training team and the instructor, I couldn''t help but burst into a rage and yelled at the tanks: "Captain vitorganov, what are you doing? Why don''t you fire?" I patronized and yelled, never thought that in the sound of guns and the roar of motors, except those officers and soldiers who were close to me, the captain in the tank, they could not hear me at all.


    Perhaps it was captain vitorganov who found something wrong on the battlefield and gave the order in time. Seven tanks lined up and fired at the enemy''s position at the same time. After a few shots, the German firepower and mortar positions were knocked dumb. The remaining two German artillery guns continued to fire. The shells landed near our tanks and exploded. The splashing shrapnel rattled the tanks, but did not cause any damage. A tank turned the turret, hit it, and submerged the two mortars in the smoke.


    Seeing that the enemy''s heavy firepower had been destroyed, the officers of the second lieutenant''s training team and the training company climbed out of the crater one after another, shouting and charging forward. Led by them, the soldiers of the 194th regiment, who had been lying on the ground and firing guns at random, bravely stood up and rushed forward behind them with weapons.


    Everyone is charging, and I''m not idle, but I''m not charging in a straight line with a gun like them. Although the distance is much closer, the risk factor is very high. On the battlefield, the first thing I have to learn is how to save my life. I climb out of one crater, jump into another crater and shoot at the chance.


    The captain''s tank troops pushed flat to the enemy''s position. The fastest tank was only a few tens of meters away from the trench. We could see that it would cross the trench in more than ten seconds. Suddenly, a shell came from somewhere and hit the tank impartially. After the smoke dispersed, I found that the track of the tank was broken, the body was spinning at high speed in the same place, and then it slipped into a crater. The back half of the body was deeply sunk, the front half was high, and the long barrel pointed to the sky.


    I looked around, looking for the direction of the shell. Soon I found that in the front right, there was an anti tank gun on the trench, and several people in helmets were busy. I set up my assault rifle, aimed at the soldier who was bending over and running fast with the shell in his arms, and pulled the trigger. After the gunshot, the soldier''s head in helmet tilted back, took two more steps forward, knelt down on his knees, and tilted to the ground with the shell in his hand.


    Another German soldier saw his comrades fall to the ground. He quickly got up and ran to him. He grabbed the shells from the dead soldiers and turned to run back to the gun position. As a result, he was knocked down by a bullet that came from nowhere and fell to the ground.


    The antitank gun versus the tank depends on who moves fast. The anti tank gun didn''t fire, and the captain''s tank troops were not idle. The remaining six tanks fired at each other, and the gun position of the anti tank gun was razed to the ground.


    Without the cover of heavy firepower, the enemy''s will to resist was no longer tenacious, and some people began to run out of the trench and started to run far away. At first there were only a few people, then a dozen or so, and finally there was a great rout.


    At the same time, the captain''s tank unit stormed over the trench and pursued the enemy fleeing in the distance. Lieutenant akhromeyev and the second lieutenant''s training team rushed into the breach and began to fight with the enemy entrenched in the trench. Then the captain of the training company swarmed in with the officers. Behind them, the soldiers of the 194th regiment overtook the enemy''s trenches like the flood water that broke the dike, followed the tanks, and then launched a chase.


    At the end of the battle, the soldiers of the 194th regiment and the tank unit of captain vitorganov were left to guard, and I returned to the original assembly site with more than half of the wounded officers. At this time, meletzkov has been waiting for us there for a long time. Seeing us coming back, he came up and gave me a warm hug, then patted me on the shoulder and said loudly, "good job, comrades commander, you are all good job!" His hand strength is too big, a slap down, half of my shoulder shock numb, when his second slap down, I cleverly flash away. I thought that your first slap almost made me a one armed God. If you slap me again, I will become Venus¡° Comrade general, we are back! " At this time, general Yakovlev, commander of the 52nd group army, and Colonel koshevoy, commander of the 65th division, came together from a distance and helped me out. The general walked up to meletskov and first gave me a salute. Then he said to meletskov, "Comrade General, major oshanina is an excellent commander with fighting spirit. It''s wrong to leave such a commander in the headquarters. Let her stay in our 52nd army. We need such a commander. "¡° Yes, comrade commander of the front army. " "I beg you to let her stay with me," echoed Colonel kosewoi! You also know that in the battle just now, the head of the 195th regiment died! I want her, major o''shanina, to be the commander. "¡° I am the commander of the front army, and has the final say. " Meletskov interrupted him, muttering: "the Colonel wants to order the general to do something. It''s nonsense." He looked at me and asked, "major oshanina, what''s your plan?"¡° I am at the command of the senior general. " I hope in my heart that meletzkov will promise to keep me in the 52nd group army, so that I can avoid the fate of taking office in the 2nd shock group army. I don''t know what''s going on. Just thinking about Vlasov and the second shock group army these days, I feel flustered. Meletskov reached out to me and said, "show me your transfer." I was overjoyed to hear that he wanted to see the transfer order. It seems that I have a chance to stay in the 65th division as the commander. He took the folded order out of his coat pocket and handed it to meletzkov in both hands. Meletzkov took the order, opened it and looked at it only once. His face suddenly changed. He rewrote the transfer order and gave it back to me. With regret, he said to Yakovlev and koshevoy, "the transfer order of major oshanina to the 2nd shock group army is issued by the supreme command, and I have no right to change it."

 Chapter 304

    Since the transfer order was issued by the supreme command, meletskov, even as a general, had no right to cancel or change it. It seems that tomorrow at the latest, I can only go to "Hello, Lieutenant!" I didn''t expect to meet an acquaintance here, so I quickly reached out to him. When shaking hands, he asked curiously, "are you going to the 2nd shock group army, too?"¡° No, "he said I was very surprised by the Lieutenant''s reply. If you go in different ways, why do you run to my car. When I was upset, he continued, "I''m ordered to protect you to the railway station. Please get on the bus." I nodded, went around the front of the car, opened the front passenger''s door and sat in. Then the driver and akhromeyev came up, and the car started. As soon as the train started, I couldn''t help asking, "which one of you can tell me why we are going to the railway station instead of the second shock group army?"¡° Major, let me answer this question. " Akhromeyev, who is sitting in the back row, said on his own initiative¡° There is a small railway station more than ten kilometers away from the headquarters of the front army. The resupply personnel, ammunition, and grain were all transported by road, and then transferred to the narrow gauge train there. After passing through a forest, they were transported to the di-2 assault group army. " It turns out that''s what happened. I always thought that transportation was done by road. In the bumpy car, I suddenly remembered something about my transfer. When I was at fejiuningsky headquarters, I saw that it was signed by general meletskov of volhoff''s front army. Why did general meletskov say that it was signed by the supreme command when he saw it in person yesterday? Think of here, quickly will transfer out of the pocket, look again. After a close look, I found that I was negligent. The transfer order was indeed issued by the supreme command, and it was signed and issued by meletskov. No wonder I saw his name at that time. As a result, I mistakenly thought that the transfer order was issued by him. The small railway station in the forest will arrive soon. After the soldiers on duty at the checkpoint checked our documents, they let us go. The station is very small, with only one track and a tanker parked. In addition to a few soldiers on duty, an officer was wandering around with a cigarette in his mouth. The jeep pulled up to the officer and stopped. Akhromeyev opened the door and went down to chat with the officer. The officer threw the cigarette end on the ground, stamped it out with his feet, came to my window, straightened up, saluted and said aloud, "report to major, I''m captain diomi, who is responsible for escorting you to the 2nd shock group army, and I''m waiting for your orders."

 Chapter 305

    I don''t know the pedal of the train is designed by that idiot. It''s so high off the ground. I muttered, stepped on the pedal, reached out a few hands from the car, grabbed two of them indiscriminately, and captain diomi gave me a lift at the waist, so I got into the car smoothly. I glanced at the overcrowded carriage and frowned subconsciously. At this moment, Captain diomi stepped into the carriage, and he cried out, "Hello, comrades, leave a place for the major to come out." After hearing his words, the soldiers around me squeezed more tightly with each other. In a short time, they made room for me and the captain. It was enough to sit two people, let alone stand two people. As the door of the carriage closed with a bang, the train began to move slowly. I stood leaning against the wall of the car, closing my eyes and thinking quietly. For "Comrade military commissar, have you heard the story of the heroine Zhuoya?" Vlasov did not answer his question directly, but asked in reply. General afanasiyev shrugged and said, "of course, our propaganda department has publicized her heroic deeds. She is a guerrilla. Unfortunately, she was captured and brutally killed after being tortured while carrying out the raiding mission behind the enemy lines. Later, after learning that Zhuoya had been brutally killed, comrade Stalin issued an order to the Western army: all officers and men who captured the 332nd infantry regiment of the German army should be shot on the spot, and we will not accept their surrender. " Speaking of this, the general was shocked and said in surprise: "is the demotion of Comrade o''shanina related to this matter?"¡° You guessed right Vlasov went on to say, "after oshanina''s troops recovered the village of petrichevo, they found Zhuoya who had been brutally killed in the village. When they saw that the heroine''s body was damaged by the bandits, they could not restrain their anger and ordered their troops to kill all the captured German troops. Later, this matter was poked out and had a bad effect. Comrade Stalin demoted her for this reason. " After listening to Vlasov, the whole headquarters was quiet. General afanasiyev stood up, saluted me solemnly and said, "Comrade oshanina, whether you are major general or major. I want to say to you: you are good And he held out his hand to me. I quickly stood up to return a gift, and then took his outstretched hand. Then major general alfiriev, deputy commander, Colonel vinogoladov, chief of staff, and Colonel brennin of the operations department all rose to salute me to show their respect. After everyone was seated again, Vlasov asked me kindly, "Rita, do you want to work in the group army command?" When the commander asked me this question, everyone''s eyes turned to me, waiting for my reply. Since I have to choose my own post, it should be ideal to stay in the combat department. I stood up, accidentally touched the assault rifle leaning on the bench, and when I bent down to pick it up, I suddenly came up with the advice of senior engineer Florin: stay away from Vlasov. So I hesitated. I stood up straight and didn''t answer Vlasov''s question immediately¡° What do you think, Rita? " Vlasov asked again. To keep a distance from Vlasov, you have to go to the fighting forces. I bit my lip, made up my mind decisively, and then replied, "Comrade report commander, I want to go to the fighting forces."

 Chapter 306

    After listening to me, Vlasov was silent for a moment. He turned to the deputy commander sitting beside him and asked, "general alfiev, what do you think?"


    Hearing Vlasov''s question, alfiliev looked at me and asked seriously, "Comrade oshanina, I''m here to ask you seriously whether you want to stay in the headquarters or go to the front-line fighting forces. Are you sure you have considered it?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander of the group army." I answered very simply.


    There was a glimmer of disappointment in general alfiliev''s eyes. He turned to Vlasov and said, "since Comrade oshanina has decided to go to the front line, I support her decision."


    Vlasov didn''t know why I was determined to go to the fighting forces, but when the deputy commander said so, he had no choice but to nod his head and ask the chief of staff vinogoladov, "Comrade Colonel, which army''s grass-roots commander has a vacancy, can I arrange major oshanina?"


    The Colonel bowed his head for a moment and replied, "Comrade commander, Colonel anchufiev''s 327th infantry division. The number of grass-roots commanders at present is insufficient and needs to be supplemented. Major oshanina can be sent to the 327th division."


    Without waiting for Vlasov to speak, general afanasiyev first agreed. He said, "I agree with the arrangement of the chief of staff. The 327th division is the main division of our group army. In the battle of attacking liuban, almost all of their battalion and company commanders died, and there is an urgent need to supplement excellent commanders. "


    All the people who should have made a statement had made a statement. In the end, it was Vlasov who made the final decision. He said, "well, since everyone agrees, it''s settled that major oshanina should be sent to the 327th division. But there is something I want to tell you. General Yakovlev of the 52nd army called me yesterday to ask oshanina to head the 65th division, but I refused. My opinion is that after arriving at the 327th division, even if she can''t hold the post of commander in chief, she can''t become company commander. That''s too condescending. I want her to be the battalion commander. Do you have any different opinions? "


    "Agreed!"¡° No problem! " Several commanders on the scene answered in unison.


    After confirming my new position, general afanasiyev picked up the phone and asked to get through to the division headquarters of the 327th division. When he opened his mouth, he told himself: "Colonel anchufiev?"?! I''m general afanasiyev, military commissar of the group army. I now inform you that after the study of the group army command, it has been decided to send major oshanina to you as battalion commander. what? You don''t want a female commander? " The general slapped the table and raised his voice. "No, it''s an order from the superior. It''s not allowed to discuss. I''ll send someone to report to your teacher with her right away. "


    After general afanasiyev put down the phone, he said with a bitter smile to Vlasov, "Comrade commander, the colonel is not willing to let major oshanina come to him. It seems that there are really some people who don''t know the goods."


    Vlasov waved his hand and said, "don''t worry about him. As long as we ask Rita to stay with him for two months, and then we want to transfer her back, I think the Colonel will be reluctant to let her go." Then he yelled to the outside, "come on!"


    With his shouts, the second lieutenant who accompanied me just now came in and stood at attention to salute him. He didn''t speak and quietly waited for his order.


    "Go and get captain Naomi."


    "Yes The second lieutenant agreed and turned away.


    Not very good. Captain diomi followed the second lieutenant into the headquarters. Salute Vlasov and report: "Comrade commander, Captain diomi has been ordered to come to your command."


    Vlasov pointed to me and said, "I''ve decided to send major oshanina to the 327th division. You''ll go with her. She''s a battalion commander. You can be a company commander under her. "


    "Yes Diomi agreed, straightening up, then turned to me and said, "Comrade major, let''s go."


    I nodded at him, saluted Vlasov again, and then turned away.


    Coming out of the headquarters, diomi suddenly asked me, "Comrade major, can you ride a horse? It''s a long way from the 327th division headquarters. It takes an hour or two to walk. It''s faster to ride a horse. "


    As soon as I heard what he said, I was covered with black thread. I grew up so big that I rode once in the park. Moreover, it was the owner of the horse who led the horse himself at that time, so I had the courage to go around the park. I murmured, "can we go by car?"


    "You can''t ride a horse?" "It''s hard to find a car now," said diomi, somewhat embarrassed


    I''m just going to say no, let''s walk. There was a truck with a hood passing by, and diomi rushed over and patted the car and yelled, "Comrade driver, comrade driver, stop."


    The car stopped a few meters later. The driver poked his head out of the window and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, what can I do for you?"


    "Do you know how to get to the 327th division?" he asked


    The driver just replied, "yes." And diomi turned to me and said, "major, get in the car. We''ll take this car."


    I followed him around the front of the car. He opened the door and asked me to get on first. When I was seated, he got on and closed the door. Then he said to the driver, "come on, comrade driver. Go to the division headquarters of the 327th division. "


    The driver was embarrassed and said, "sorry, two commanders. I just came back from a transportation trip. It''s time to have a rest. Can you find another car? "¡° No way I was feeling embarrassed. When I didn''t know how to reply to the driver, diomi said sternly to the driver, "the major and I have urgent business to go to the 327th division. We can''t find the car in a hurry, so we temporarily requisition your car. If you dare not go, you will delay your business and be careful to send you to the military court. " The driver was scared by diomi, and immediately he was honest. He stepped on the gas and the car moved forward again. After driving for more than ten minutes, the driver stopped at the edge of the forest, pointed to a shelter which was exposed on the ground and covered with a thick layer of snow on the top, and said, "two commanders, here you are. The 327th division''s headquarters are there. " After thanking the driver, I went into the shelter with diomi. The shelter is very big. Besides the wooden table in the middle, there are many commanders standing around. There are several people on the phone in the corner, which looks like signalmen. As soon as captain diomi entered the door, he asked aloud, "excuse me, where is Comrade division?"¡° I''m the teacher. What are you shouting about? " A man standing at the table gave an unsatisfied reply and gave us a glance. I quickly went up to salute him and said, "report to Mr. commander, major o''shanina has been ordered to report and wait for your instructions." Then diomi gave the same report¡° You are the female commander that the commander said The teacher''s words were unfriendly. Then he turned to the people around him and said, "let me introduce you. The commander sent a female commander to our division, indicating that she should be no less than the commander of the battalion. Which regiment of you would like to accept her? " As soon as the teacher''s words came out, there was a sudden silence in the room. It seems that our arrival has disturbed his military meeting, and it should be the heads of regiments or political commissars who come to the meeting¡° Comrade division, let major o''xianingna come to our regiment. I just lack an excellent commander like her. " At this time, a familiar voice came from the door. Then the two commanders walked in, came to the division commander, and said in a loud voice, "report to the division commander, commander habi, commander of the 1127th regiment, and political commissar puccico have been ordered to report to the headquarters, waiting for your instructions!"¡° Comrade commander, "when the teacher glanced at me and saluted them back, he asked," do you know the major? "¡° Yes, "replied major habby with a smile on his face." I''ve fought with major o''shanina. She''s a brave and fighting commander. "

 Chapter 307

    So I was assigned to "I know you''re from the health team, and I want to know why everyone is sitting glumly on the side of the road? Can you tell me? Comrade sergeant The sergeant blushed and murmured, "it''s because of the bath. Comrade commander, we want to take a bath."¡° Take a bath? " Her answer confused me, and I asked, "what bath? Comrade sergeant, you have confused me. Can you tell me more about it? " The sergeant hesitated for a moment, looked at some girls, and saw that they all nodded to indicate the truth to her. Then he continued: "we haven''t bathed for a long time. Originally, he wanted to take a bath in the field bathhouse, but he was stopped by the soldiers on duty. He said that the bathhouse only received male soldiers. If we want to take a bath, we have to wait until all the men have finished and see if there is any water. " At this point, the sergeant''s eyes were red, and tears of grievance almost burst out of his eyes. Hearing this, I couldn''t help but get angry and told yemeryanov, "comrades, go to the bathhouse immediately and call out all the male soldiers who are taking a bath to me." The sergeant saluted me and ran to the bathhouse with some guards. Before entering the bath, he called a soldier and whispered a few words. When he saw the soldier running away, he broke into the bath with someone. Without much effort, a group of men in untidy clothes were expelled from the bathhouse by the senior soldiers. They were in the open space in front of the bathhouse. With the order of the chief, they quickly formed two neat lines. The sergeant ran to me, saluted and reported, "Comrade major, I have called out all the soldiers in the bathhouse." I went to the front of the team with my hands behind my back, and looked at these men who didn''t know how to be pitiful and embarrassed. I couldn''t help but get angry. I waved my fist and yelled at them: "shame! Shame! What a shame you are The men looked at each other. I don''t know why I was so angry with them. I continued to roar: "have you ever thought that when you are wounded and fall on the battlefield, who risks his life to carry you down?" Speaking of this, I pointed to the group of female health workers with my hand, "they are our female health workers."¡° When you are lying in the emergency center covered with blood, who cleans the blood and bandages the wound for you? It''s them, female health workers; When you can''t move when you lie in the hospital bed, who feeds you water, food, excrement and urine? It''s them, our female health workers. " I can''t stop this abuse¡° Don''t you know how to respect women at all? Even their little desire to take a bath can''t be satisfied, and they sarcastically say that they should wait until you have finished. " With my scolding, the female health workers began to become happy, because they finally met someone who stood out for them. But the men all bowed their heads in shame in my scolding. After scolding, I took a few deep breaths to calm down my anger. Then I slowed down and said, "if these female health workers were your sisters, would you treat them like this today?"¡° Comrade commander, we are wrong. We will not make such mistakes again. " Someone started to admit to me. Then the male soldiers in the team began to shout: "yes, comrade commander, we know we are wrong."¡° We''ll give the bathhouse to the girl soldiers in a minute¡° Yes, yes, we''ll let you go right away. "¡° Comrade major, what''s the matter? " Captain diomi ran up to me panting and asked. I pointed to the female health workers and said to him, "these female health workers want to take a bath, but the male soldiers bully them and say that they have to wait for them to wash first. If there is still water left after washing, they will be allowed to wash. I just gave them a bad scolding. " Diomi looked in the direction of my finger. His eyes lit up. Then he turned to the men and said, "now, at my command, the first row will fetch water from the bucket, the second row will chop firewood, and boil water again to bathe our female health workers. Stand at attention. Take a break. Turn left in the first row and right in the second row. Walk together. " After giving the order, he turned to me and said, "Comrade major, are you satisfied with this arrangement?"¡° Yes, well done. " I nodded with satisfaction, went to the sergeant and said, "sergeant, in a moment, you can take your health workers to take a bath." The sergeant flushed with excitement, saluted me again and said gratefully, "thank you! Comrade commander. "¡° Sergeant, "diomi, standing behind me, suddenly asked," what''s your name? "¡° Nina. Nina bariyakova. "

 Chapter 308

    On the second day of the bath storm, I was startled by a heartrending cry coming from outside the door early in the morning.


    As I put on my clothes, I murmured. Did the girls conflict with the male soldiers again for the sake of taking a bath? I shouldn''t have. The soldiers were taught that way by me yesterday. How can they be honest for ten days and a half months. Can''t it be that soldier who touched the villager''s room in the middle of the night and crossed other people''s big girls?


    I was shocked to think of this. In the Soviet army, even if the soldiers who committed this kind of crime were reported by the victims, they were only reproached by their superiors afterwards. The most serious thing was that they stripped off their trousers and whipped a few whips in public.


    I dressed, opened the door and went out.


    When I went out, I saw a woman in rags and dirty face sitting on the ground crying. She squatted beside Sergeant Nina, helping her with her tears and persuading her. There were a lot of onlookers, not only a few female health workers, but also many soldiers of the seventh company, all whispering and whispering.


    "What''s the matter? What''s going on here? " I asked aloud at the crowd.


    No one answered me.


    I looked around and cried out, "master yemeryanov, where are you?"


    "Comrade major, I''m here." Hearing my cry, the old man trotted to me with his submachine gun on his back.


    I pointed to the crying woman on the ground and asked him, "what''s the matter with this?"


    The old man shook his head like a rattle and said repeatedly, "I don''t know, comrade major, I don''t know. I also saw a group of people around your house from a distance, so I came here in a hurry. "


    No way, no one answered me, I can only ask the client. I went over, squatted down and asked the woman, "comrades, what''s the matter, can you tell me?"


    The woman just looked at me and didn''t say anything. She just continued to cry.


    Upset by her tears, I pointed to the female Sergeant squatting on the other side and said in a loud voice, "Sergeant Nina, tell me, what''s going on here?"


    Nina could only raise her voice to answer me because the woman was crying. She said, "Comrade major, this woman escaped from kovov and wandered on the road for more than half a year. She arrived at this village only last night."


    "Kovov, I''ve never heard of this city." I couldn''t help muttering to myself.


    "Major, kovov is a city in western Ukraine, near the Polish border." Yemeryanov whispered in my ear.


    Looking at the woman crying in a mess in front of me and smelling the offensive smell from her body, I feel extremely indignant. The soldier who insulted her has too strong a taste. Even the woman who has been wandering for more than half a year and probably hasn''t even taken a bath won''t let go. I''ll find out which son of a bitch did it later. I''ll drag him out and shoot him.


    I looked at Nina and motioned to her to continue.


    Nina continued: "when she came to the village, she fell to the ground because she was tired and hungry. Fortunately, she was seen by our health workers, and several people carried her into the health team. Feed her drink water, eat something, she just slow down. This morning, a soldier of the seventh company came to the health team to get the medicine because he was upset. He happened to meet her. At that time, as soon as she saw the soldier, she jumped on him, hugged him tightly, and burst into tears


    It turned out that this woman was not insulted, so why did she cry with the soldier in her arms?


    "... we were very curious when we saw the two men weeping. When we went up to inquire, we found out that the soldier was actually her husband. Soon after the outbreak of the war, he was scattered. She thought that even if her husband did not sacrifice, there would be no chance to meet again. Unexpectedly, she saw her husband as a soldier in a small village


    It''s a good thing for husband and wife to meet again! But even if you want to cry, it should be two people crying. She came to my door to cry alone. What''s the matter? Did she fight in the middle of the night?


    "... the cry of the two men alerted the platoon leader of the soldier''s platoon. His platoon leader came and said that the soldier''s behavior violated the regulations of the army. After the two men were forcibly separated, the soldier was locked up. Seeing that the women comrades were desperate, I gave her an idea and asked her to come to you, saying that you could make decisions for her. "


    I glared at Nina fiercely and said: you really can make the decision for me. You treat me as the aunt of the neighborhood committee and deal with these trivial matters. But now that it''s at the door, I don''t care. So I coughed and stopped the woman from crying. I asked her, "don''t cry. I''ll make the decision for you. You tell me first, what''s your name? What''s your husband''s name? "


    The woman stopped crying and sobbed from time to time. "My name is Martha and my husband''s name is Eva."


    I stood up and yelled at the watchers nearby: "is Ivan''s platoon leader there? Come to me


    A young second lieutenant came out of the crowd, stood at attention and saluted me. He reported, "Comrade major, second platoon leader, second platoon commander, second platoon lieutenant saprekin, report to you and wait for your order!"


    I frowned and stared at the baby faced lieutenant in front of me. I asked unhappily, "Comrade lieutenant, why do you want to separate their husband and wife and put Ivan in jail?"¡° Major, Ivan has violated the military regulations. I have the right to imprison him. "¡° What regulations? " I don''t know this clearly. I don''t know much about the Soviet regulations. The second lieutenant replied respectfully, "according to the regulations, it is strictly forbidden for soldiers to receive visitors in combat."¡° Is this called reception? They''re married. " I pointed to Martha, who was still sitting on the ground wiping her tears, and said to the second lieutenant, "this wife has traveled thousands of miles from her hometown of Lviv. She has gone through many hardships to find her husband. Before she could laugh at the reunion for the rest of her life, you broke up the couple by force. Is that right for you? "¡° It''s not suitable! "¡° That''s too much! " Soldiers and health workers all around denounced the lieutenant. The second lieutenant buried his head low and confessed to me: "Comrade major, I''m wrong!" I raised one hand and pressed it down to signal silence. After the scene was calm, I said to the second lieutenant with all my heart and soul: "Comrade saprekin, regulations are dead, people are alive. Especially in times of war, as long as you don''t violate the big principles and turn a blind eye to some things, others will appreciate you for the rest of your life. " The lieutenant saluted me and said, "I see, comrade major. I''m going to release Ivan and reunite them. " I was very satisfied with his attitude. I nodded to him and said, "I''ll give Ivan a three-day holiday. You can find another empty house to let them get together. Go Martha stood up, came to me, bowed deeply to me, and then, supported by Nina and another hygienist, left behind the second lieutenant. As soon as I turned around, I saw captain diomi and another officer dressed as a political worker come up to me and stand at attention. Political workers in the salute, take the initiative to show their identity: "major comrades, Hello! I''m SOLIN, the new instructor of the seventh company. I''m at your command. "¡° Welcome, comrade SOLIN I held out my hand to him. Captain diomi looked at the crowd and said with emotion, "Comrade major, I didn''t expect you to handle such a difficult matter lightly." SOLIN added: "I very much agree with the major''s approach. In today''s extraordinary period, this kind of treatment not only makes everyone happy, but also helps to improve the morale of our army. "

 Chapter 309

    In April, the snow melts and the roads become muddy.


    Without the cover of tanks, the German army launched two attacks with infantry on the position of the eighth company, both of which ended by dropping dozens of corpses in front of the position and retreating in ashes.


    After the German attack on our battalion stopped, the direction of attack turned to 131 regiment on the other side of the lake.


    Standing on the position, I could see clearly with binoculars that after the German army''s fierce artillery attack, the attacking troops surged to the position of 131 regiment, soon overtook the first line of defense of the Soviet army and continued to attack the second line of defense. Blocked by the powerful firepower of the defending Soviet troops, they retreated into the first line of defense like a ebb tide. The Soviet army took the opportunity to launch a counter charge and rushed to the first line of defense in an attempt to quickly restore the lost position. However, the Soviet counterattack was crushed by the German resistance and forced to withdraw to the second line of defense. As soon as they withdrew, the German army immediately pursued them, trying to seize the second position.


    In this way, the Soviet army retreated from the German attack, or the German army retreated from the Soviet counterattack, and the two sides launched a cruel tug of war between the two lines of defense, with the bodies of the enemy and us lying in the middle of the two army positions.


    Because it was separated by a wide lake, and our battalion had no heavy equipment such as artillery, it was unable to provide the necessary firepower support for the garrison, so we had to stand by and stare anxiously, which was not helpful at all.


    This tug of war lasted for more than 20 days. On the contrary, it seems that we have become a corner forgotten by the Germans. Not only did the German army not launch an attack, but also the daily shelling stopped. Since there is such a rare quiet day, I am not idle. Every day I urge the eighth company to rush to repair the fortifications.


    On the afternoon of April 23, I was lying in the trench with sergeant yemeryanov, watching the fighting with binoculars. All of a sudden, Lieutenant miducci ran up to me and stood at attention behind me. He reported, "Comrade major, there is a call for you in the company headquarters. It''s from the superior commander. The company commander asked me to ask you to answer it."


    I stood up, handed the telescope in my hand to yemeryanov, and asked miducci, "Comrade lieutenant, do you know who is calling?"


    The second lieutenant shrugged, spread his hand and said, "I don''t know. When I passed the company command post just now, I was stopped by lieutenant ugad, who said in a loud voice, "Comrade second lieutenant, go quickly and ask the major to answer the phone. It''s from the commander at the higher level." Then I came


    When I heard that it was a call from my superior, I guessed in my heart that there was some big action, and I didn''t dare to delay any more. I went to the company command post at once.


    Lieutenant ugad saw me enter the door, covered the receiver and whispered to me, "it''s the leader''s phone." Then he handed me the microphone.


    I took the phone and just asked, "Hello, this is major o''shanina. Who are you The other side immediately came a familiar voice: "what, who? I''m lieutenant commander hobby. Comrade major, I have two things to inform you. I hope you will be psychologically prepared first. "


    Originally, I was in a stable state of mind. After hearing what he said, I knew that something must have happened, and I was a little flustered.


    "Hello, comrade major. Are you still listening to me? "


    "I''m listening, comrade commander. Please tell me something. "


    "Both things are very important. First, the volhoff front army has been withdrawn today, reduced to the volhoff group, and is under the leadership of the Leningrad front army. That is to say, from today on, we are under the command of commander Huojin of the Leningrad front army. " When he talked about it, his voice was steady, as if he was used to this kind of organizational adjustment¡° Second, commander Huojin plans to launch an attack from your camp position tomorrow, striving to break through the enemy position opposite and attract the enemy''s attention, so as to relieve the pressure on the 131st regiment. "


    I''m surprised to hear that we are going to attack tomorrow. It''s so sudden. There''s no sign in advance. With a bitter face, I complained to lieutenant commander habi: "Comrade commander, our battalion has only more than 200 people, and there are no heavy weapons. Maybe there is no problem in defense. It is an impossible task to attack the opposite German."


    Hearing my worry, lieutenant commander habi said faintly, "your battalion''s mission is just to hold the ground. The offensive task is in the charge of the team sent by the headquarters of the front army. "


    "I fully understand, comrade commander." When I heard that I didn''t need our battalion to attack, I felt at ease and finally asked, "when will the attack start?"


    "At six tomorrow morning." With that, commander hobby hung up.


    I put the microphone aside, and after listening to it for a long time, ugad couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade major, are we going to attack?"


    I nodded and said, "tomorrow we will attack the enemy on the opposite side to relieve the pressure on the 131st regiment. The attack is carried out by the troops sent by the headquarters of the front army, and our task is to hold our position well. "


    Because of the muddy road, in order to avoid the pain of running back and forth, I lived in the company headquarters of the eighth company that night. I was lying on the March bed in the corner with my clothes, closed but unable to sleep, thinking about tomorrow''s attack.


    Finally in the hazy into a dream, but wugade wake up. He called in a low voice, "Comrade major, wake up, wake up. The offensive troops are coming


    I sat up, raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was only five o''clock. I rubbed my face with my hands and asked ugad in a low voice, "Comrade lieutenant, do you know who is leading the team?"


    "I see. It''s the commander who leads the team. He''s going up the hill


    Commander habi came. I didn''t dare to neglect him. I got up and ran to the gate of the command post.


    As soon as I got out of the command post, I found it was raining outside. Is hesitating whether to go back to take a raincoat, a thick raincoat with a hat has been draped in the body. Looking back, there was lieutenant ugad standing behind him. He was wearing a raincoat. I gave him a grateful smile, put on my raincoat, and went down the trench to meet Lieutenant Colonel harpy.


    In a short time, I met commander habi with two soldiers. I immediately stood at attention, saluted him and reported to him, "Comrade commander, major oshanina is at your command!"


    "Have the minefields at the front of the position been cleared?" Asked Lieutenant Colonel hobby suddenly and inexplicably.


    "Report, comrade commander," I said with a bit of embarrassment, "because of the German shelling, the minefield in front of the position, and almost no mines without explosions."


    He didn''t ask why he didn''t mine again. Instead, he asked, "is there a heavy machine gun in the position?"


    Ugard stepped forward and replied, "there are two Maxim 1910 heavy machine guns."


    "Pull over and put it there." Said Lieutenant Colonel hobby, pointing to a trench not far away.


    "Yes Ugad agreed and turned to carry out the order.


    "Comrade commander, where are the attacking troops?" As soon as the lieutenant left, I couldn''t wait to ask.


    Commander harpy didn''t talk nonsense. He said, "come with me." Took me to the entrance of the traffic ditch on the uphill, pointed down the slope and said, "look, they''re all there."


    I looked down the slope. There were more than 30 trucks with awnings in the open space. They were wearing brand-new Khaki cotton uniforms and cotton caps. Soldiers with empty hands were jumping out of the trucks one after another. At the loud command of the helmeted commanders, the soldiers quickly formed a neat line. At the end of the assembly, with a new command, the collective stood at attention, and the army boots splashed with mud.


    The next scene, I was stunned. Another truck came and stopped at the front of the line. Several commanders went over, took the rifles handed down from the carriage, and distributed them to the soldiers standing nearby.


    After the weapons were distributed, a commander, holding a military flag high, led the way to the hillside. Then the commanders, who were giving orders, pulled out their pistols and waved away the soldiers who had just picked up their guns.


    I pointed to the soldiers who were coming towards the hillside and asked commander habi, "is this our attack team?"


    "Yes." Habi replied very simply, "they will charge directly to the enemy''s position."


    "But, comrade commander." I can''t help but remind the commander in front of me, "it''s a joke to launch an attack on the enemy''s position with troops like this without formation, firepower cover and enough ammunition."


    Commander hobby turned his head, looked at me coldly, and said solemnly, "don''t you know that the orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed? The duty of a soldier is to obey orders! What you have to do now is to urge your troops to defend their positions so that the Germans will not take the opportunity to counter attack. "


    I had no choice but to come to attention and answer loudly, "yes, I will obey orders and hold my position firmly."


    The troops slowly entered the starting position along the traffic trench. When they passed me, I was surprised to find that these soldiers in new uniforms were all Asian faces. Why are they all Asian? I can''t think about it. I vaguely remember that in 1940, the Anti Japanese Federation in Northeast China retreated to the territory of the Soviet Union for training, and was reorganized into the 88th infantry brigade of the far east front army of the Soviet Union, also known as the 88th international brigade.


    Thinking of this, I grabbed a soldier who passed by me and asked in a loud voice, "is it a Chinese comrade from the 88 international brigade?" For fear of revealing my identity, I asked in Russian instead of Chinese.


    The soldier looked at me blankly, shook his head and continued to follow the army.


    I sighed. It seems that this man doesn''t understand Russian and can''t understand what I''m saying. I grabbed another soldier and asked, but I still didn''t get any answers.


    Seeing that the troops had assembled and the heavy machine guns were in place, Lieutenant Colonel habi took the red flag from the commander and handed it to a middle-aged soldier with a short, round face. Then he stood up with an ammunition box, pointed to the German position in front of him and yelled to all the people, "today that forest will be the grave of the Germans, showing the bravery of the Soviet army to the cowards of Germany, Soldiers, March


    As he raised his hand to the enemy positions in the direction of a wave, the assembled troops issued a shout: "Wula! Wula Then he climbed out of the trench and rushed down the hill.


    I can''t help sighing when I see this unit without any firepower behind a red flag rushing towards the enemy''s position. It''s an attack. It''s just death. They are the death squads to the letter, the troops to the death.


    The enemy''s position was 800 meters away from us. In just three minutes, the troops had already crossed half the distance, but the German position was still quiet. There was an illusion that our attack was too sudden for the Germans to notice. It was almost four o''clock in April. In broad daylight, if the enemy didn''t respond to such a big operation of the Soviet army, there were usually only two situations. One was that there were no Germans in the forest, and they all withdrew; Second, all the Germans are deaf and blind. Then it turned out that the Germans were neither blind nor deaf, nor had they withdrawn from the forest, and they had been waiting for their chance. When the attacking troops were two or three hundred meters away from the edge of the forest, the German mortars opened fire. This sudden fire attack, immediately will have been a breath of relief to drive the death team hit dizzy. Mortar shrapnel whistling around, like a sharp scythe of death, will cut down the soldiers one by one, limbs and mud splashed together, rifles to blow into parts. The raised soil fell down and hit the soldiers who had been lying down and hiding. In an instant, they became mud monkeys. Fortunately, the soldiers who were not bombed by shells or lying in craters continued to rush forward with rifles, pulling the trigger at the enemy''s positions from time to time. When the soldiers rushed 100 meters away from the forest, all kinds of German guns, rifles, light machine guns, heavy machine guns, and even officers'' pistols were fired. In such a close distance, such a dense offensive team, there is absolutely no reason not to hit. The German army kept on shooting, which made people splash blood and scream to the ground. Soon, our attack was restrained by the German army, and the lucky soldier turned around and ran back crying. When they were 400 meters away from the position, commander habi ordered the two heavy machine guns on the position to open fire. Intensive fire in the middle of the retreating soldiers, two bloody hutongs were quickly and forcefully ploughed out¡° Cease fire, cease fire, cease fire I rushed to the side of the heavy machine gun and yelled at several machine gun shooters.

 Chapter 310

    At my command, the shooter stopped shooting decisively. After all, I was their familiar superior commander. When the shooting stopped, they seemed to think that it was the commander with a higher rank than me who gave the firing order. They could not help feeling a little at a loss, and their eyes kept moving rapidly between me and Lieutenant Colonel habi.


    "Comrade oshanina, who gives you the right to order the machine gun shooter to stop shooting?" Colonel hobby rushed up to me, his eyes burning out and yelling at me.


    I pointed to the troops who were retreating to the front and said, "those are our soldiers. We can''t shoot at them. This will kill them all."


    "They''re all cowards," said Lieutenant Colonel Harpy, pointing to the soldiers. "Don''t you see that they all escaped from German positions?"


    "It doesn''t matter if the attack is frustrated, we can organize the attack again. Kill them all. Who will fight with the Germans? " Instead of being intimidated by the tone of Colonel harpy''s voice, I argued with him.


    "Can you get them to stop retreating and attack again?"


    "Yes I answered very simply.


    "Well, I''ll let you command and see how to make them attack again."


    In the short time that I had quarreled with colonel habi, the soldiers were only about 200 meters away from the trench. I gave the order to the two machine gun shooters with blank faces: "aim at their feet and let them stop."


    For my order, the two shooters immediately understood, lowered the muzzle and pulled the trigger on the open space between us and the soldiers. When the sound of the local sound into a splash of shells rolling down to my feet.


    Dense bullets hit the ground, stirring up the soil. The retreating soldiers stopped and jumped into craters or anti tank trenches to avoid German mortars.


    Seeing that our attack had stopped, the German artillery had stopped, and silence had returned to the battlefield.


    "What are you going to do next?" Colonel harpy asked coldly.


    "Give them more ammunition and let them attack again." After answering the commander, I turned to yemeryanov, who had been standing beside me, and said, "Comrade chief, you take the soldiers of the guard class and carry some boxes of bullets to them." After thinking about it, he added, "give them two more boxes of grenades."


    Yemeryanov took six soldiers from the guard class with his rifles on his back. One of them carried two ammunition boxes, jumped out of the trench, bent over and ran quickly to the anti tank trench.


    "If you can give them some more bayonets, even if there are only 100, they will have a better chance of winning in hand to hand combat." I looked at the soldiers of the Anti Japanese League hidden under the array and said to myself.


    "Lieutenant miducci," I heard commander Haby''s voice suddenly, "there are bayonets on the truck down the hill. You take people down to get them and send them to those people in front of the position."


    When I saw lieutenant miducci walking down the hill with the group of commanders who had just followed habi, I couldn''t help but look at habi gratefully. As soon as I wanted to speak, there was the rumble of guns in the distance.


    "Where did the gunfire come from?" Asked hobby.


    "The German army is shelling the position of the 131st regiment again. It seems that they are ready to attack again." I have been in the position for more than a month, and now I can judge the German movement as soon as I listen to the direction of the gunfire.


    Looking through the telescope, the Soviet position was being heavily shelled by the German army. At the beginning, smoke plumes rose one after another from the positions. From time to time, we could see the pieces of wood, human limbs and weapon parts smashed by the explosion. They were lifted into the air by the air waves and quickly fell down again. As the shelling proceeded, the plume rose more and more, and soon the whole position was shrouded in black smoke.


    "If only we could support them." Said hobby to himself as he looked.


    "Comrade commander, there is nothing we can do about it." I explained to him, "our position here is too far away from the 131 regiment, and we have no heavy weapons to provide them with firepower support. In addition, after April, the ice on the lake has melted. Without boats, we can''t get to the other side of the lake, nor can we talk about military support. "


    "I know all about that," commander habi put down his telescope and turned his attention again to the group of "Anti Japanese Alliance" soldiers in front of the position. He pointed with his hand and said, "if we can make them attack again, maybe we can relieve some pressure on the other side of the 131 regiment."


    At this moment, yemeryanov came panting in front of me, raised his hand and reported to me, "Comrade major, the ammunition has been distributed. Waiting for your next order


    "And the bayonet? Has it been distributed? " I can''t wait to ask.


    Yemeryanov turned to point down and said, "it''s all done. You see, major miducci, they''re going up. " I followed the direction of his hand and saw that miducci and a dozen commanders were walking towards the position.


    When I heard that the ammunition had been distributed, I felt a lot more secure. I immediately told yemeryanov: "Comrade chief, please go again and let the soldiers below launch another attack. We must tell them that in the battle, we have to run in one direction, move forward and charge." With that, I gave him a gentle push, "go ahead, let them act immediately."


    The old man climbed out of the trench again and ran down the hill alone.


    Seeing his coming again, many soldiers covered with mud came out of the crater and anti tank trench. Several soldiers, who should know Russian, ran to him and nodded after a brief communication.


    When the sergeant turned and returned to the position, the new attack formation had begun to organize.


    Several soldiers shouting something, originally hiding in the crater and anti tank trench soldiers have stood up, quickly in a few people around the formation of a few loose attack formation. There were almost 400 of them before the charge. After the battle, there were less than 200 left.


    Almost as they stepped forward again, a neat song came out of the line. The wind sent the song to the trench. I was stunned when I heard the song. It''s not a Chinese song. Aren''t they from the 88th international brigade? Listen carefully again, the melody is very familiar, according to this melody, the lyrics clearly appear in my mind: under the morning glow, as far as you can see, ups and downs endless, a few mountains and rivers, our elite army is strong, the allies are all healthy, full of glorious Kwantung Army.


    When I think of the lyrics, I shiver. Those who are charging are not the Anti Japanese soldiers, but the elite Japanese Kwantung Army! I grabbed commander habi''s clothes, pointed to the soldiers and asked incoherently, "Comrade commander, are those Japanese? What on earth is... What''s going on? "


    Lieutenant Colonel habi replied faintly, "of course, it''s the Japanese army, otherwise, who do you think it is?"


    "Isn''t it the 88th international tour?"


    "Of course not. The 88th international brigade is composed of Chinese comrades'' anti Japanese forces, and these people on the battlefield are the enemy. "


    "Ah?! Where did they come from? " All of a sudden, the eastern army appeared on the Soviet German battlefield, and it was on the Soviet side, which made me unable to accept this reality in a short time.


    "These people were captured in the battle of Zhang Gufeng and nomenhan."


    "All prisoners of war?" I asked tentatively.


    "It''s not a prisoner of war, it''s just an enemy who has laid down his arms." Commander habi was still indifferent. "Let their allies destroy them."


    Standing on the left side of each line, it should be the Japanese commander. They yelled at their subordinates while they were marching. The commander led the soldiers forward, and the rows of bayonet rifles were moving forward.


    I felt faint in my heart that it was a risky decision to let the Kwantung Army attack the Germans. If they were to rebel, I would have to be sent to the military court.


    Only 300 meters away from the forest, the German mortar fired again. Every explosion of the shell falling in the crowd will make a ball of flesh and blood rise. As soon as someone falls in the front row, someone immediately moves forward to fill the position. The whole team was still advancing at a constant speed in the fire.


    When they were within 200 meters, the Germans began to attack. The battle just now made them despise the attacking troops in front of them. They thought they were vulnerable. A dozen German soldiers rushed out to capture the prisoners.


    At this moment, the Kwantung Army opened fire. In a volley, several German soldiers fell. Then the skilful tactics of the Kwantung Army dazzled me.


    After they fired, they did not continue to charge forward in a swarm, but fell down in the crater. Almost at the same time when they were lying down, the gunfire suddenly sounded like peas. The German soldiers who were retreating were caught off guard and fell to the ground one after another. Of the dozen soldiers who rushed out just now, only one escaped back.


    Seeing that the enemy who came out of the position had been destroyed, they jumped out of the crater and rushed down with shouts. Although the morale of these Japanese soldiers is like a rainbow, the number of them is too small. The momentum of the attack is really average.


    When they were 50 or 60 meters away from the edge of the forest, the German heavy and heavy machine gun fire pushed them back into the crater. Dense bullets whizzed past the crater. As soon as anyone came up, he could not escape the fate of being shot. The Japanese couldn''t rush up, but the Germans just suffered a dumb loss, and they didn''t dare to rush out any more. The battle fell into a stalemate.


    Just at this time, a strange lieutenant commander came up to lieutenant colonel habi and said, "Comrade commander, the artillery company of the regiment has been ordered to come and wait for your order."


    "Comrade lieutenant, you are just in time." Habi pointed to the 131 regiment position on the other side of the lake and said, "the Germans are attacking our position. Your company''s mission is to intercept the attacking Germans with artillery fire. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" The artillery Lieutenant saluted and turned to leave.


    "Wait a minute." I stopped the artillery lieutenant, regardless of the surprise on his face, and pleaded with colonel habi: "Comrade commander, I ask you to let the artillery company bombard the German positions in the forest to cover the attack of those soldiers."


    "No way!" "The task of the artillery company is to provide artillery cover for the 131st regiment," habi said firmly


    "But, comrade commander. You see, "I said, pointing to the soldiers of the Kwantung Army who could not lift their heads in the crater on the edge of the forest and were suppressed by the fire," as long as the fire destroyed the fire points on the German positions, those soldiers might rush up and seize the enemy positions. "


    Hobby looked at the opposite battlefield, lost in thought. The artillery Lieutenant raised his telescope for a moment, then reported to habi, "Comrade commander, as long as two volleys, we can destroy the German firepower."


    "Are you sure?" Colonel harpy asked tentatively.


    "I''m sure. I have just observed the firing data The artillery Lieutenant said yes.


    "Then get ready!"


    The artillery Lieutenant got the order, saluted the commander and ran away.


    The commander looked at me and said, "I can provide artillery support, but you have to make sure you can take German positions."


    "I''ll take people up myself." Forced to this step, it seems that I can only do it myself.


    "Comrade major, I''d better go." I was followed by lieutenant ugad. Before I could answer, he turned around and ordered, "Lieutenant miducci, take your platoon and follow me."


    As ugad approached the middle of the battlefield with miducci platoon soldiers, the regimental artillery company fired. A test fire landed seven or eight meters away from the German position. Before the smoke of the gunpowder was dispersed, the first round of salvo shells fell on the German position.


    The artillery companies of the regiment are equipped with small caliber guns with small lethality, but they are more than enough to deal with the German army with only mortars. The flying shrapnel had just cut off the branch of the tree, and the ensuing shells broke a big tree in the middle. From time to time, fire and smoke rose from the German position. The German firepower thinned out.


    After only two rounds of salvo fire, the artillery company stopped firing and turned the fire to the other side of the lake to stop the German troops attacking the 131st regiment.


    As soon as the German firepower was suppressed, the well-trained soldiers of the Kwantung Army immediately opened fire and fired back, rifles crackling. Then he jumped up and rushed over. When they were more than ten meters away from the position, they stopped and threw a round of grenades. The smoke of the explosion had not dispersed, and they had rushed into the trench with rifles.


    Major o''shanina Seeing the soldiers of the Kwantung Army attacking the forest, commander habi, who had been silent, suddenly said, "go to the front line, too. Even if you have captured the German position, you don''t have to leave someone to guard it. Withdraw. Your battalion is too small and has no heavy weapons to guard there. "


    "Yes I promised to call yemeryanov and get ready to go.


    "Remember, we must hold this army. Don''t let them run to the German side."


    "Yes! Make sure you get the job done. " I saluted Lieutenant Colonel Harpy, rolled out of the trench and ran to the forest.


    By the time I got to the edge of the forest, the whole battle was coming to an end. The positions were filled with Japanese shouts, gunshots and grenade explosions. The platoon with ugard and miducci stayed outside the forest, squatting in the crater, using pistols, rifles and submachine guns to eliminate the German soldiers who climbed out of the trench and wanted to escape.


    At the end of the battle and the beginning of cleaning the battlefield, two soldiers of the Kwantung Army came to me. Report to me in broken Russian: "Comrade commander, we have captured the position and wiped out all the enemies. I''m waiting for your further instructions. "


    When I look at these two soldiers of medium build, I have mixed feelings. All along, I have been imagining that if the German army and the Japanese Army meet on the battlefield, who will win the final victory. After today''s battle, I can see that the German army won because of its good weapons and equipment, but the Japanese army has a strong will to fight. In the case of equal strength and equipment, the German army is by no means an opponent of the Japanese army. Although I have always been disgusted with the Japanese pirates, they are in the same camp as us at the moment, so I can''t be too indifferent to them. So I tried to keep calm and asked them, "what''s your name?"


    The bearded soldier on the left replied, "captain of the Kwantung Army, kitaoku."


    The handsome soldier on the right said, "my name is park Chun Jung. I''m Korean."


    I nodded without expression and said, "you''ve done a good job. Gather the troops together, go back to the hillside first, drink some water, eat something, and have a good rest. "


    After they saluted me, they turned around and summoned their subordinates to go to the hillside with guns on their shoulders. After a brutal battle, there were less than 80 people left in the original team of 400 people. In order to prevent misunderstanding, I asked lieutenant miducci to accompany them back.


    After cleaning the battlefield, Lieutenant ugad came to me and whispered, "Comrade major, the battlefield has been cleaned. Kill the Germans, 48 in one infantry platoon and 9 in three mortar groups. One mortar and five boxes of shells, one light machine gun, three submachine guns and eleven rifles were seized. There are no prisoners. "


    "No prisoners?" I stared at him and asked strangely, "why?"


    Wugad nuzui to the back of the soldiers of the Kwantung Army, said: "this group of Japanese attack too hard, even the German wounded also did not let go, even if they raise their hands to surrender, they will be mended gun, bayonet." Looking at the troops of the departing soldiers of the Kwantung Army, I secretly reminded myself to be more cautious of these people. They are a double-sided blade. If they are used well, they can help themselves; But if they are not careful, maybe they will turn around and stab us in the back¡° Major, what shall we do next? " Ugard interrupted my meditation, and he couldn''t wait to ask, "do you need to keep lieutenant miducci''s platoon in this position?"¡° No, I don''t I waved my hand and repeated what commander Haby had just said, "we are too small and lack of heavy weapons to defend. Take the booty and we''ll leave! "¡° Yes Ugad agreed in a loud voice.

 Chapter 311

    When wugad and I returned to our position with our troops and booty, we were surprised to find that the officers under Lieutenant Colonel habi were driving the soldiers of the Kwantung Army who had been seized weapons into the truck.


    I was stupid at that time. You know, our battalion was always in a state of dissatisfaction and planned to use these Japanese soldiers to set up the ninth company. But as soon as the battle was over, commander habi couldn''t wait to take the men away. It''s not like tearing down the bridge and taking them from the bottom.


    I ran to lieutenant colonel habi, pointed to the soldiers who were getting on the train at the foot of the hillside, and asked angrily, "Comrade commander, why did you take them all away?"


    Colonel habi replied coldly, "now that their combat mission here has been completed, it''s time to send them to the next battlefield." With that, he turned and walked down the hill along the traffic ditch.


    I understand the commander''s meaning. These Japanese soldiers are a group of cannon fodder. Since they haven''t been consumed here, they should continue to be consumed in another place. Anyway, they are a group of cannon fodder without sympathy.


    Looking at the commander and several soldiers gradually away, came to a jeep, opened the door to get on. At this moment, I suddenly had an idea in my mind: since kitaoku Xiong is the captain of the Kwantung Army, he must have rich experience in leading the troops. If he comes to train my troops, it may be able to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops in a short time. Thinking of this, I can no longer restrain myself. I run down the slope at a fast pace, shouting: "Comrade commander, please wait, please wait." Too many people I may not, but as long as two people, he should not refuse it.


    I ran to the front of the commander''s car, grabbed the window of the car and said to the commander inside out of breath: "commander... Comrade... Comrade, please... Please... Wait a minute."


    Commander harpy in the car said impatiently, "major oshanina, what else can I do for you? I''ve told you that these people are going to other battlefields and can''t be left to you. "


    Panting, I held out two fingers and said, "two, comrade commander, I only want two."


    Hobby pondered for a while, then asked slowly, "which two do you want?"


    "It''s Takeo Tanaka and Jin Junzhi who led the charge just now." These two people left a deep impression on me just now. Instead of letting them serve as cannon fodder, they might as well stay here and train the troops for me.


    "Come on," the commander called out loud, leaning his head out of the other window. With the cry, a second lieutenant quickly ran to him and stood at attention. He said, "go and bring kitao Tanaka and Jin Junzhi to the major."


    The second lieutenant agreed and turned away. Go under the trucks and shout out the names of kitao Tanaka and Jin Junzhi. Because the troops were seriously reduced in the battle, the survivors were only full of six trucks, and the two were soon found by the second lieutenant.


    Seeing that the second lieutenant had brought the two men over, commander harpy only said to me, "these two men are at your disposal." Then he patted the driver in the front row and said, "drive."


    The lieutenant saluted me and said, "Comrade major, I''ll give you these two men."


    "Thank you I smile and thank him.


    He nodded, turned and walked to the bridge of a truck, opened the front passenger''s door and got on.


    When I saw commander harpy''s car leave, the trucks started one after another and drove away one after another.


    Lieutenant ugad came behind me at some time and asked me in a low voice, "Comrade major, what are you going to do with these two people?"


    I pointed to Jin Junzhi and said to him, "the Japanese will come back to the village with me. The Korean will leave it to you and let him help you train your soldiers. Besides, you and your soldiers have cleaned up the battlefield as soon as possible. There are also those Japanese who died on the battlefield. Although they used to be our enemies, they are now sacrificing for the sake of protecting our motherland, so we must bury them well. "


    After commanding lieutenant wugad, I went back to the village with sergeant yemeryanov''s guard team and kitaoku.


    In order to be a good instructor, I specially gave him the rank of sergeant, and asked sergeant yemeryanov to cooperate with him in the training of soldiers.


    When he became the instructor, kitajo guxiong immediately put on the air of a captain of the Kwantung Army. If a soldier''s tactical movements were not up to standard, he would go up and fight. Because I have given orders to the soldiers below in advance, so that they must resolutely obey the Beitiao instructor, and I can''t discount his orders. So after these soldiers were beaten in training, no one came to me or captain diomi to complain.


    The training of kitaoku is to let the soldiers run around the village two times with full arms every morning. The first time I saw him running happily with a large group of people, I was still wondering why this Guandong army captain used to practice marathons, or why almost every soldier was as tired as a dog after running, but he was still at ease.


    He had fought with the Soviet army and had a certain understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of Soviet tactics. For example, when the Soviet army attacked, the commanders asked the soldiers in the formation of scattered soldiers to stand up straight and rush forward with their heads held high. In his view, this kind of play is to turn the soldiers into the targets of the enemy. So the first thing he taught his soldiers was to crawl when attacking. This tactic is the first time for Soviet soldiers.


    The next thing to teach is the stabbing technique. Although all the Soviet troops are big and powerful, they are really not the opponents of the little devils to fight for bayonets. He said that in the hand to hand combat of Zhang Gufeng, he stabbed 28 Soviet soldiers to death. At that time, the soldiers were not convinced and wanted to compete with him on the spot. As a result, seven or eight of them were still not his opponents. After this contest, everyone was convinced of him.


    With kitaoku''s help in training soldiers, I would have more time to stay in the command post of the seventh company and study defense work with captain diomi and instructor SOLIN.


    "Comrade major," said Captain diomi, who was sitting opposite me while we were studying the combat tasks to be carried out in the near future, "the German offensive these days has been very fierce, and the 131st regiment has been encircled. If we don''t help, they may be wiped out. "


    "How can I help you? Comrade captain. " I raised my head and glared at him. Then I pointed to the battle map on the table and said, "you don''t know, this damned Lake separated us from the 131st regiment. You can''t let all our soldiers swim without a boat, can you? As I said, we can''t help the 131 regiment without heavy weapons and additional troops. "


    "In this case, we should do something for them?" Diomi still didn''t give up and tried to change my decision.


    "It''s easy to do!" I said slowly, "from tomorrow, the seventh company, the eighth company and the guard team will patrol the lake in turn. Once the soldiers of the 131 regiment are found breaking out of the lake, they will find a way to help them."


    "Comrade major, something''s wrong! Comrade major. " The door of qilianlian command post was suddenly pushed open, and major yemeryanov came in breathlessly. He stood at attention and reported, "Comrade major, something''s wrong."


    "Can''t kitaoku be the one who made the public anger again?" I looked at the map in front of me and asked without looking up.


    "Yes," the senior replied, "today, the Beitiao instructor said that he would give the soldiers courage training."


    "Courage training?" Before he finished speaking, I interrupted him and asked in a hurry, "he didn''t find some German prisoners from anywhere, tied them to wooden posts, and let the soldiers practice bayonets, did he?" This kind of cruel and inhumane training method only exists in Japanese pirates. So when you talk about courage training, I think of it first.


    The grand master waved his hand and said, "Comrade major, this is not the case. He told several soldiers to hide behind a mound of earth, and then let the machine gun fire at them, saying to let them feel the real feeling of the battlefield. Just after a few rounds, a soldier jumped out from behind the mound and ran to the back, but was injured by the stray bullet. "


    "Is it serious?" Asked diomi with concern.


    "It doesn''t matter. It''s just a bruise on the arm. However, the soldiers refused, saying that the Beitiao instructor wanted to pit them, and calling him the devil instructor. Then they rushed on and beat the instructor violently. Now the Beitiao instructor has been sent to the health team, but the soldiers are still reluctant to leave. They are surrounded outside and refuse to leave. "


    "Nonsense! I stood up and said to captain diomi and instructor SOLIN, "I''ll see."


    "Wait a minute, comrade major!" The instructor, who had not spoken for a long time, stood up and said, "this matter should be handled by Captain diomi. After all, he is their company commander." Then he winked at me secretly.


    I guess he wanted to tell me something in private, so instead of insisting on dealing with it himself, he said to diomi, "Comrade captain, I''ll leave it to you."


    Without saying a word, diomi got up, grabbed the cotton cap on the table, put it on, and then said to yemeryanov, who was standing by, "Comrade chief, let''s go."


    After diomi and the chief left, I asked SOLIN curiously, "Comrade instructor, do you have anything to say?"


    "Comrade major," said the instructor with a mysterious smile, "didn''t you notice that the captain''s eyes lit up as soon as he heard about the health team?"


    "Oh, really?" When he said that, my soul of gossip suddenly burst into flames and asked, "do you mean that the captain has fallen in love with a health officer in the health team?"


    "Of course, comrade major." The instructor said mysteriously: "in fact, the day I came, the captain had a situation. Why didn''t he ask the name of the other female health worker after you dealt with the bath storm, but only the female Sergeant? "


    Listening to the instructor''s reminder, I remembered that the captain really only asked Nina''s name at that time. Suddenly, I realized, "does the captain like Sergeant Nina?"


    "Yes. It''s been more than a month. "


    "Where is it going?" Life in the army is boring. When I heard these gossip news, I immediately became interested and couldn''t help asking questions to the end.


    "It is said that his name for Nina has changed from" you "to" you. "


    (author''s note: in Russia, "you" is the address used by the opposite sex. After a period of interaction, if women feel that their relationship is close enough, they will take the initiative to propose that we use "you" to address each other. This transformation of address can only be proposed by women, but not men.)

 Chapter 312

    Half an hour later, Captain diomi and sergeant yemeryanov, who went to the health team to deal with the conflict, went back to the company headquarters with kitaoku.


    Although he spent several years in the Soviet prisoner''s camp, his long-time experience in human life made him keep his momentum. He had already shaved off his beard and looked much younger. But at the moment, his condition is not very good. Guozi''s face is blue and purple, his thick eyebrows are tight, his arms are wearing bandages, and there are new blood stains.


    Captain diomi came up to me, saluted and reported, "Comrade major, the troublemakers have been pacified. I''ll bring it to you for your disposal."


    I nodded and said, "Comrade captain, I''ll take care of his affairs. But now go and gather the soldiers in the company. I have something to say to them. " Then I looked at SOLIN, who had been gossiping with me for a long time, and added, "Comrade instructor, go and help the company commander."


    "Yes They agreed, saluted me and left.


    I walked up to him and said with sincerity, "Beitiao instructor, is your injury OK? I''m sorry for the impulsive behavior of the soldiers today and the harm they brought to you. Please don''t mind With that, I solemnly saluted him.


    Maybe he didn''t expect that I would apologize to him. He was sincere and didn''t show any hypocrisy. He hesitated a little, and then he stood at attention and saluted me. He said in a loud voice, "Sir, I won''t blame the soldiers. I will continue to train them as well as I can."


    I am very satisfied with his attitude. I nodded and said, "sergeant Beitiao, let''s go and meet the soldiers of the seventh company with me."


    Since the death driving team attacked the German position, it was tantamount to poking a hornet''s nest. While the German army continued to attack the 131st regiment, it also gave us enough attention, shelling the position of the eighth company every day. Although there are enough blast holes in the position, casualties are inevitable. Because there are many new recruits in the seventh company and their combat effectiveness is weak, this is also the reason why the two companies have not been changed. Today, I would like to apologize to kitao Tanaka in an unusual way. I also hope that he can train the recruits of the seventh company to be qualified soldiers as soon as possible, and replace the eighth company, which suffered a lot of casualties, for a period of rest.


    When we came outside, we saw that the rest of the seven companies, except for the sentinels and patrols on duty, had been neatly arranged in the open space. When we came out, diomi trotted up to me, stood at attention and said, "Comrade major, the seventh company has assembled. I''m waiting for your order. Please give me directions."


    "Come in!" At my command, he saluted again and trotted back to the far right of the line.


    I walked slowly to the front of the line and said, "comrades, we have all seen the incident of beating the drillmaster today. What do I do to keep the Beitiao instructor? Is to train you, improve your technical and tactical level, so that you in the future cruel battle, a little more ability to save their lives. However, what did you do to the Beitiao instructor? Dozens of people swarmed up and beat the instructor so black and blue that even his arms were discounted. You are really capable. If you can be so brave against the Germans in the future, I should thank God! "


    "Comrade major, this Beitiao drillmaster is nothing. He didn''t take our comrade''s life as his life. He let a few people hide behind the mound and let them shoot with machine guns. He didn''t think that he would kill people." Lieutenant saprekin, who was in the line, stood up and exclaimed indignantly, "if you don''t teach him hard, the anger in the soldier''s heart will not be appeased."


    I didn''t expect that the second lieutenant would say that. He made a mistake, but he still tried to be reasonable. I rolled my eyes at him and asked, "where is the wounded soldier?"


    "Here I am, comrade commander." A soldier with bandaged arms came out of the line behind the second lieutenant.


    "Why do you run around when the machine gun starts shooting?"


    Hearing my question, the soldier was a little flustered and hesitated for a long time to reply, "major... Comrade major, you... You don''t... Don''t know, when the bullet whizzed over my head, my mind was blank. I didn''t think about anything, just wanted to leave there as soon as possible."


    I waved to the soldier and let him return to the team. Then I said in a loud voice: "comrades, I believe you all heard that the soldier was injured because he was afraid of bullets flying overhead and ran around. He was injured by stray bullets. You can seriously consider what it would be like to be in such a panic during training when you are really on the battlefield in the face of the enemy''s barrage of bullets and constantly exploding shells? At that time, I was running around, not only injured, but also at the cost of my life. "


    Seeing that the people in the team listened to me, they all looked thoughtful. I quickly struck while the iron was hot, and then said, "from today on, every soldier will carry out this training. But for the sake of safety, Beitiao instructor. " At this point, I turned around and called kitaoku Xiong, and said to him, "I''ll arrange soldiers to bury steel plates in the mound later, so that bullets won''t go through the mound and hurt the soldiers hiding behind."


    "Yes, sir!" he replied loudly I asked loudly to the team, "do you understand me?" The commanders and fighters in the team answered in a loud voice: "I understand!" Then I gave orders to diomi and SOLIN, saying, "two company commanders and instructors, the next training is for you to assist the Beitiao instructor. Do you understand? " They answered in unison, "yes, comrade major. We must finish the task. " In the next two months, the training results of Beitiao were remarkable. Except for lacking some battlefield experience, the soldiers of the seventh company were no worse than other elite troops. In this case, I was relieved to let the two companies change their guard, and the eighth company withdrew to the village to rest, while diomi''s seven links took charge of the original positions of the eighth company. The situation of the 131st regiment was getting worse and worse. Under the encroachment of the German army, the positions were greatly reduced, and the troops were almost killed. In order to rescue the besieged troops, on the morning of June 12, the 132nd regiment concentrated its forces and launched a fierce attack on the flank of the German army in an attempt to open a gap in the German blockade line and rescue the besieged troops. However, under the counterattack of the German artillery, the attack lasted only an hour and ended hastily. Standing in the position, I saw the 132nd regiment with heavy casualties through the telescope. After throwing down hundreds of corpses and withdrawing from the battle in confusion, I put down the telescope and sighed deeply. Then I said to sergeant yemeryanov standing beside me, "the 131st regiment is over. Tonight, you take the guard team to the lake to see if you can find the officers and men who broke out of the 131st regiment. " "Yes," he said Then he asked with concern, "Comrade major, I have taken away the guard class. Who will protect your safety?" I said with disapproval, "don''t worry, I can protect myself. Remember, call me as soon as you have any news. "¡° Yes The chief once again simply promised me. As soon as it was dark, it began to rain. Meanwhile, the German shelling began again. Listening to the sound, the shells exploded in the positions of the eighth company and the 131st regiment, but the explosion across the lake was more intensive. It seems that the Germans are making a final attack on the 131st regiment. The shelling lasted half an hour, and then suddenly there was silence. I came to the company headquarters of the eighth company in a hurry and asked lieutenant wugad who was calling inside: "Comrade lieutenant, what''s the latest situation on the position?" Wugad replied with a tearful face: "Comrade major, the contact with the position has been interrupted. Maybe the telephone line has been broken by the shell. I''ve arranged for the signalman to check it out. " Hearing that the contact with the position was interrupted, I couldn''t help feeling a little worried and said, "I''ll go to the position and have a look." Seeing lieutenant miducci sitting in the room, he pointed at him and said, "Lieutenant, take two soldiers and come with me." Because we were anxious to know the situation, we wore raincoats and ran all the way in the rainstorm. We usually had to walk for more than ten minutes. After only five minutes, we came to the position. I panted along the traffic trench into the position, saw the soldiers were repairing the collapsed fortifications, quickly grabbed a soldier, asked him: "where is the company commander?"¡° In the company headquarters, comrade major. " The soldier saw that I was the one and replied in a hurry. Seeing that I was going on, he added: "the guard team led by sergeant yemeryanov captured four deserters by the lake and took them to the company headquarters. The company commander and the instructor are interrogating them. " deserter?! Is it the soldier who broke through from the 131st regiment? I have to ask him clearly, so I quickly walked to the company headquarters. As soon as I got to the gate of the earth house shelter of the company headquarters, I suddenly heard a man''s nervous and flustered voice: "sorry, comrade captain, i... I know... Maybe you... You think what I said is absurd, but it''s totally... Totally a misunderstanding. We... We are not deserters, we... We are your descendants,... We come from the future! "

 Chapter 313

    "From the future?! Hell, are the so-called deserters the modern people who come across? " I thought indignantly. I walked down the wooden steps, lifted the curtain and went into the company headquarters.


    Captain diomi and instructor SOLIN were sitting at the wooden table. When they saw me coming in, they stood up and saluted me: "Hello, comrade major."


    "What''s the matter? I''ve heard that you''ve caught some deserters. I''ve come here to have a look. " I said, and walked up to them.


    Captain diomi quickly replied, "these deserters were captured by the soldiers of the guard team led by sergeant yemeryanov and sent to me for interrogation."


    "Master yemeryanov caught it!" I asked with a frown.


    "Yes, comrade major. I caught it The voice of the senior came from behind. I turned around and saw that he was standing on one side of the door. I didn''t see him when I came in. Behind him, there were four naked young men, with their backs against the wooden wall, covering their key parts with their hands, shivering and not knowing whether they were frozen or frightened.


    I sat down where the captain gave way, looked at yemeryanov and asked, "Comrade chief, where did you catch them, their uniforms and weapons?"


    "When the Germans started shelling, I was patrolling by the lake with the guard team. Suddenly I heard something moving in the lake, so I took the soldiers to hide. In a short time, I saw four people climbing ashore from the water, so I rushed to catch them and brought them to the command post of the seventh company. When they came ashore, they were as naked as if they had just come out of the womb. "


    "Continue the interrogation, comrade captain." I said it lightly.


    Captain diomi looked at the four young men and said, "go on, I want to hear what more absurd things you can say."


    The burly, square faced young man on the far left said loudly, "Comrade commander, the Great Patriotic War has long been over."


    Hearing what he said, I couldn''t help fighting a cold war. Did they really come from the future? Otherwise, how could they boldly say that the patriotic war had been won when the Soviet army was passive. In order to confirm the true identity of these four people, I did not speak, just kept silent.


    The instructor SOLIN walked up to the four and asked in a sarcastic tone, "so, in the end, we won?"


    The young man with a square face shivered and nervously replied, "yes, comrade commander. We are the final winners. "


    "Victory, yes, as we expected, the final victory." The little blonde boy on his right, after listening to him, quickly added.


    The other two young people standing nearby also nodded desperately to prove the truth of what their companions said.


    Diomi and SOLIN looked at each other with an incredible look on their faces. Just at this moment, major yemeryanov stepped forward and reported to us, "comrades commander, please allow me to report. In the shelling just now, the 131st regiment was completely annihilated. Because the shelling was very fierce at that time, I believe they might have been shocked and hurt their brains. In addition, seeing that all the officers and soldiers of the regiment were sacrificed and their nerves were stimulated, they would talk nonsense like this. "


    "Are you sure, Mr. chief, that their brains were injured by the explosion of the shell?" asked diomi suspiciously


    "Well, yes, comrades commander, everything is possible in life," he said


    "Comrade captain, comrade captain." A soldier in a raincoat yelled and hurried into the command post.


    I frowned at the intruder and asked, "what''s the matter?"


    The soldier lifted his raincoat cap back to reveal his face, and I recognized Martha''s husband Ivan at a glance. After a short pause, he recognized me and immediately stood at attention, reporting: "report major, I am under the command of yemeryanov to look for the documents of the deserter just captured by the lake. Now it''s found. " With that, he took out several military certificates from his arms and handed them to me.


    I took the military ID card, but without looking at it, I gave it to diomi and told him, "Comrade captain, please check it to see if it''s the four of them."


    Diomi stood in front of the four men with his military ID card. He wanted to look at the young man with square face. He looked down and turned over his military ID card. He picked out one of them and opened it with a cold hum. Then he said calmly, "private ferratov Sergei Ivanovich, born in 1917."


    He went up to the second little boy with short blonde hair, picked up another soldier''s card and read, "berroyev fedali simonovic."


    Instructor SOLIN came to him, took the remaining two military ID cards from his hands, went to the third thin man with messy hair, looked at his face carefully, then bowed his head, picked out one of the two military ID cards, opened it, and read: "soldier Andre Alexei."


    Then he went to the last fat man with a round face and handed him his military card. He said sternly, "read the contents to you."


    The fat man raised his hand, took the military ID card from the instructor''s hand, and read it: "private Vasiliev Lek igoleevich..." as soon as he read the name on the military ID card, he said aloud, "Comrade commander, I don''t know why it''s my photo, but this ID card is really not mine." SOLIN pulled the papers out of his hand, turned to me and diomi, and said, "comrades, it''s obvious that these four men are deserters of the 131st regiment. What should we do with them?" Before I could speak, diomi had already said, "there''s nothing to say. For cowards who are on the run, the only measure we usually take is to shoot them." Instead of taking his words, SOLIN turned to me, waiting for me to make a decision. Although there are military ID cards to prove the identity of the four, they are deserters from the 131st regiment, I firmly believe that the four are indeed from the future. Just now, I saw the watch on the wrist of a square faced man. I recognized it as a piece of Constantine, which is definitely not a product of this era. As for diomi''s proposal, I shook my head and told Mr. yemeryanov, "Mr. yemeryanov, take the four of them down first and deal with them tomorrow morning." When the four were taken away by the chief, diomi asked strangely, "Comrade major, these four are deserters. If you don''t shoot them, the higher authorities will blame them in the future, and you will have to bear the responsibility. "¡° You don''t have to worry about this. I''ll be responsible for any mistakes. " I said with disapproval, and then asked them, "did you report to the regiment headquarters the news of the total annihilation of the 131st regiment?"¡° Not yet, comrade major. As you know, we were interrogating the four deserters just now. " I interrupted SOLIN, who was defending to me, and picked up the phone on the desk to call the regimental headquarters. Puccico, the political commissar, answered the phone. He recognized my voice and asked unexpectedly, "major oshanina, what''s the matter with you calling at this time?" I replied in a low voice: "Comrade political commissar, I think what I have brought you is bad news: after a new round of German shelling, the 131st regiment has been completely annihilated."¡° What? " The commissar''s voice became flustered. "The 131st regiment has been destroyed. Are you sure?"¡° Yes, it''s quite certain. "¡° You wait. I''ll have the chief answer the phone

 Chapter 314

    After listening to the report, commander habi said sternly, "major oshanina, I will report to the division headquarters immediately about the sacrifice of the whole 131st regiment. You just stay in the position and wait for my latest orders. Don''t make your own decisions. Do you understand? "


    When I heard him calling me, I unconsciously changed from "you" to "you". Realizing the seriousness of the situation, I quickly and honestly replied, "I see, comrade commander. I''ll wait. "


    Diomi and SOLIN watched me put down the phone and asked with concern, "Comrade major, what does the commander say?"


    I replied, "after learning about the 131st regiment, the lieutenant commander didn''t say anything. He just asked me to stay in the position and wait for his latest orders." After that, I looked up at instructor SOLIN and said to him, "Comrade instructor, go and deal with the affairs of those four people, give them military uniforms, and then add them to the company."


    "Comrade major, is that appropriate? They are deserters SOLIN said with some embarrassment.


    "Comrade instructor," I said with some helplessness, "we are short of troops. Judging from the current situation, it is impossible to get a supplement from our superiors. So we can only use everyone, even deserters. In the future cruel battle, more people will have more strength. "


    "I see, comrade major. I''ll carry out the order right away. " SOLIN saluted me and left the company headquarters.


    I couldn''t wait for Lieutenant Colonel habi''s call, so I became more and more impatient. I kept looking at my watch, picked up the phone several times, and wanted to make another call to the regiment headquarters. When diomi saw that I was upset, he comforted me and said, "don''t worry, comrade major. Maybe the commander is reporting the situation to his superior. He will call later. Sit down and have a cup of tea


    I sat down opposite him, picked up the cup he had placed in front of me, took a sip of the black tea with sugar, and took a few more deep breaths, which relieved my anxiety. I remember in my mind the sentence just said by Lieutenant Colonel harpy: "don''t make your own decisions." what does it mean? Didn''t he know that there were only two hundred men under my command. Apart from defending the position, it was impossible for him to attack the German position with only one platoon.


    The phone on the desk suddenly rang. Before the bell rang the second time, I grabbed the phone and said aloud, "I''m major o''shanina. Am I the head of the group?"


    "Rita, it''s me." A familiar voice came out of the microphone. Without waiting for me to speak, he had already said his identity: "I''m Vlasov."


    "Comrade commander, it''s you!" Hearing the call from the Group Commander himself, I stood up from my seat and asked respectfully, "Hello! Do you have any instructions? "


    Instead of answering my question, Vlasov asked, "do you understand the situation of the group army?"


    This question really bothers me. Since I became the battalion commander, I seem to have been marginalized. What tasks are assigned by the group army to the division, and when the division reaches the regiment, the head of the regiment will convey them to me. So I can''t understand many things as well as I did in the Western Front Army or the 54th army. I murmured, "Comrade commander, I''m just an ordinary battalion commander. I only know the instructions from the superior. I really don''t know much about the current situation of the group army."


    When I said that, Vlasov was silent for a long time before he said in a heavy voice, "Rita, it''s very bad. We should know that the second shock group army is only a surprise force in name. In fact, after a brutal battle, the troops are seriously reduced and lack of ammunition. The soldiers who are supplemented by our superiors often suffer heavy casualties because they are blocked by the enemy when they pass through the passage. Now our army has difficulties in defense, let alone smashing the strong resistance of the German army. "


    "Didn''t commander Huo Jin think of a solution to the difficult situation of the second shock group army?"


    "I''ve thought about it. It''s no use." Vlasov said in a sarcastic tone: "at that time, he assured Comrade Stalin that as long as the two front armies of Leningrad and volhoff were merged and put under his command, the siege of Leningrad by the bandits would be broken. After the withdrawal of volhoff''s front army, he became commander as he wished, and personally took command of the battle in volhoff group. It''s a pity that he has great ambition and few talents. It took him a month and a half to make the troops inside and outside Leningrad meet. Even under the repeated supervision of the base camp, even the second shock group army failed to withdraw from the German encirclement. So a few days ago, the supreme commander was furious and withdrew from his post, leaving general yegorov to take over his post. At the same time, the warhoff front army was restored. In addition to retaining its original organizational structure, the front army was incorporated into the 8th and 54th army groups, and general meletzkov was re appointed commander of the front army. "


    Hearing this, I couldn''t help interrupting him and asked, "why did you merge the two front armies in the first place? In my opinion, this is inappropriate in terms of war, politics and any other aspects. Especially when the campaign is at a critical moment, it is taboo for military strategists to change generals before the battle. " Speaking of this, I couldn''t help glancing at diomi, who was sitting opposite me, looking at me.


    Although I was only a glimpse, the captain immediately understood, got up to salute me, turned and walked out of the company headquarters. Without the presence of outsiders, I no longer had any scruples when I spoke. I asked, "Comrade commander, what''s the situation of the second shock group army? Is it surrounded by the Germans?"


    "It''s worse than you said." Vlasov''s voice sounded haggard. "According to the intelligence, the German northern army group adjusted its deployment and sent reinforcements from other places. The 1st SS Police Division was from the north, the 58th and 126th German divisions and the 250th Spanish divisions were from the south, and cooperated with the 18th army group in liuban district to send reinforcements to the 52nd and 126th German divisions on both sides of our traffic line The 59th army launched a crazy attack. "¡° General Yakovlev''s 52nd group army and general korovnikov''s 59th group army, can they block the German attack? " I asked nervously¡° I can''t stop it. " Vlasov sighed, "during the day''s battle, the two groups were forced to retreat. The Germans have cut off our retreat and pocketed the 2nd assault group. At the same time, it has also seized our logistics supply base, and the group army is now in great shortage of food and ammunition. " At this point, he paused and asked in a low voice, "Rita, you used to be my chief of staff. I want to ask you, what do you think the next step should be to save the endangered second shock group army?" I hold the microphone in my hand and think about it. I think the best way is to break out as soon as possible while I haven''t exhausted all my ammunition. After consideration, I solemnly said to Vlasov, "Comrade commander, I think the only thing I can do at present is to break through the encirclement. You should quickly set up an elite offensive force to break through the encirclement to the East. At the same time, he telegraphed general meletskov, asking him to send troops, preferably armored troops, to attack from east to west. As long as these two forces can join forces, the second group army will be able to stand out. Move quickly, or when the troops have no food or ammunition, they will have to wait and die. " After listening to my suggestion, Vlasov gave a hum, and then said slowly, "Rita, your suggestion is very good. At the meeting of the military committee of the group army in the daytime tomorrow, I will put it forward for your consideration. Besides, in two days, I will send troops to you to receive and defend. The 327th division is the most effective division in the whole group army and an important force to break through the encirclement. Well, that''s all for today. I wish you good health! Good night Then he hung up. I put down the phone and walked around the room with my hands behind my back, trying to digest what Vlasov had just told me. It is imperative to break through the encirclement, but can it stand out? This is the biggest question in my heart. Although I came across the border, it''s a pity that I know nothing about the history of the patriotic war. I just want to open a golden finger to change the unfavorable situation of the second shock group army, and I don''t know how to start. It''s just like letting him cross over to Qin Shihuang. If he doesn''t understand that period of history, there will be great variables whether he can unify the six countries¡° If only a historian could come across and give some advice at this moment. " Thinking of this, I can''t help laughing bitterly to myself. If I want to be a historian, I''ll take the chance to appear in front of me, unless one of the four young people just now knows history. Thinking of this, I was suddenly enlightened. I beat back and said to myself excitedly: "yes, there are four people who have passed through this period of history. Some of them can know more about this period of history. I''ll just go and consult him. Do I need to kill a lot of brain cells here? "

 Chapter 315

    Wake up and look at your watch. It''s four o''clock in the morning. Anyway, I can''t sleep. I just get up and have a look outside.


    As soon as he walked out of the command post, he startled yemeryanov, who was sitting and sleeping outside. The old gentleman immediately stood up, saluted me and asked in a low voice, "Comrade major, where are you really going?"


    "Take a look at the position." Then I lifted my feet and left.


    The days are long and the nights are short in Russia. It''s only four o''clock and it''s already light. Because it was still early and it was not time to get up, except for a few sentries on duty, the rest of the soldiers in the trench were sleeping in the shelter or in the blast hole.


    I found a place where there was no one. I spread my raincoat on it. Then I got down and looked into the forest with my telescope.


    The positions we occupied last time were recaptured by the Germans the next day. In order to prevent us from launching another attack, they reinforced the fortifications, not only repaired the machine gun fire points, but also pulled up the barbed wire in front of the trench and laid out the minefields. At this moment, the enemy''s position is the same as ours. Except for a few sentries, the trench is also cold and clear, and no one can be seen.


    "Major, do you think the Germans will attack?" Asked yemeryanov, lying next to me in a low voice.


    "Yes, sir." I put down my telescope, turned to him and said, "the 131st regiment on the other side of the lake has been completely destroyed. The Germans have no worries. They will certainly mobilize their forces to attack us." I pointed to the wide lake and said, "they won''t choose to come from the lake, because in that case, our machine gun fire will give them great damage. I estimate that they will choose to attack us from the position on this side of the forest. In this way, in addition to artillery support, the attacking infantry will even have tanks to cooperate with the attack. "


    "Do you think they will attack today?" Asked the chief, a little worried.


    I shook my head, raised my telescope again, and said uncertainly, "they didn''t send engineers out to clear the mines in front of the position. There should be no action today."


    "Comrade major, it''s still early. Go back to sleep for a while." The old man said with concern.


    I looked at my watch. It''s half past five. The time passed so fast that it took an hour and a half to watch the enemy''s position.


    As I was about to get up, I heard a voice, as if someone was coming towards us. Yemeryanov stood up, looked down at me and said, "it''s lieutenant miducci and the four boys."


    I looked sideways and saw five or six people coming along the trench, chatting while walking. In front of him was lieutenant miducci. As he walked, he turned back and asked the people behind him, "I said, where are you from?"


    The round faced fat man, the soldier named igoleevich, replied, "Petersburg. We''re all from Petersburg. "


    Miducci had a smile on his face and said, "me too. Where do you live? "


    Ygolevich replied, "Gongnong street."


    The second lieutenant exclaimed in surprise: "what a coincidence, I live in Gongnong street, too. What''s your home number? "


    "No.9, comrade commander."


    "I''m on the 12th. Where did you read it? "


    "No.23 middle school."


    The second lieutenant stopped, faced egolevych, punched him hard on the chest, and said excitedly, "God, what a coincidence. I used to study in No.23 middle school." He put his hand on the fat man''s shoulder, took him and asked, "do you know the boxing association?"


    The fat man nodded his head and said, "well, I know. I''ve been boxing there for five years."


    "Is it?" The Lieutenant''s face was full of laughter when he met his neighbor here.


    "Yes The fat man gave a positive answer.


    The second lieutenant asked with a smile, "who is the coach now?"


    "Petrovic."


    "Petrovic. Aha The second lieutenant repeated the name aloud, and then asked, "listen, is he still strolling to the city post office every morning to get the new newspaper?"


    "I don''t know about the newspaper," the fat man replied with a shrug, "but he goes to the teacher''s TV station to watch the news every day."


    "TV?" The second lieutenant''s face became serious. He repeated the new word he heard. He frowned and said, "what is TV? It''s the first time I''ve heard of it. It''s a strange word."


    "How do you do, Lieutenant miducci?" Because the second lieutenant and they had already come to us, major yemeryanov quickly stood at attention and saluted him.


    The second lieutenant turned his head to the sergeant and asked, "Comrade sergeant, do you know what TV is?"


    The senior was confused and turned to ask me, "Comrade major, have you ever heard of TV?"


    I stood up, pretended to be surprised and said, "TV, this is the first time I''ve heard the word." Then he pretended to be enlightened and added, "maybe they call the school wall newspaper TV."


    The second lieutenant and the first sergeant both let out a cry, with the same expression on their faces, and began to laugh. When the laughter stopped, the second lieutenant turned his head to the fat man and asked, "is the major right? Comrade private. "


    The fat man''s face twitched violently, then nodded desperately: "yes, comrade commander. In our school, wall newspaper is usually called TV After that, I took the senior officer and a few people to pass by and walked to the company command post. On entering the command post, I told yemeryanov, "Comrade chief, I''ll go to sleep first. Wake me up in three hours and call the four young people over. I have something to ask them A step down the wooden steps, I stopped and added, "by the way, I''ll get captain Naomi and instructor SOLIN. I lived in the command post last night and I don''t know where they went." I said I slept for three hours, but I only slept for less than an hour, and then I woke up again. Get up, go to the door and tell yemeryanov to go and get captain diomi first. The captain and the instructor came to the command post very soon. When they entered the room, they saluted me and asked respectfully, "Comrade major, Captain diomi and instructor SOLIN have been ordered to come and wait for you..." "OK, Captain and instructor." I interrupted them and asked them to sit down. "I asked you to come here to learn something from the four young people of unknown origin."¡° The origin is unknown? " The instructor SOLIN asked in a strange way, "didn''t he find the relevant documents to prove that all four of them were deserters of the 131st regiment?"¡° They''re not deserters. But where it came from is still a mystery. " I said in a positive tone, "I''m going to ask Mr. yemeryanov to call them, just to find out the problem."¡° But what about those military certificates? " Asked SOLIN. I waved my hand and said, "maybe it''s a coincidence. When the four young people come, let''s learn about our future from them. " At this moment, yemeryanov''s voice came from the door: "report to the major, the four young people have come. Can you go in?"¡° Of course, comrades I yelled at the door, "come in. I''ve been waiting for you for a long time

 Chapter 316

    Four young people came in and automatically stood in a row with their backs against the wooden wall.


    I told yemeryanov, who brought them in: "Comrade chief, you go out first. Keep at the door. No one is allowed to come in without my permission. " Next, I want to know something about the future from the four people. The fewer people I know, the better. Even the senior, who is the monitor of my guard class, is no exception.


    After the grand master went out, I went up to the four men and asked the man with square face, "private Ivanovic, last night, I heard you say that you are our descendants. You are from the future. Am I right?"


    The man, whom I call Ivanovic, nodded his head desperately and answered with a very fast voice, "yes, comrade commander. I did say that. We are from the future. The Great Patriotic War has been won. "


    I looked back at diomi and SOLIN at the table, then turned to him and asked, "do you know what day it is today?"


    He shook his head hard to show that he didn''t know.


    "It''s June 13, 1942," I said slowly. "We''re stationed near liuban now. Can you tell me something about the history you know? "


    Hearing that I mentioned the name of liuban, his body suddenly trembled violently like chaff and murmured to himself, "battle of liuban, 2nd shock group army, Vlasov..."


    "Tell us what you know about the battle of liuban," I went back to the table, sat down, looked at him and asked, "maybe you can tell us why this battle is called the battle of liuban?"


    "... the reason why the Supreme Command formed the warhoff front army was to rescue Leningrad from the German siege. The Volkhov front army, under the command of general meletskov, launched an attack on January 13. However, due to the strong resistance of the Germans everywhere, the fighting was extremely cruel. Until the next evening, the second shock group army crossed the volhof River and captured some residential areas along the river. " The young man seemed to be familiar with this period of history. After a little thought, he talked on and on, "the most successful one was the 327th Infantry Division under the command of Colonel anchufiev. They drove the enemy out of the red village and captured the solid positions established by the enemy. On the left side of the division, the 58th infantry brigade, under the command of Colonel zhelitsov, also went well. After repeated attacks, the brigade captured the residential area of yamno. On the left side of the brigade, the right wing regiment of the 52nd army advanced to the West Bank of the volhof River, where it broke through the enemy''s defence. In order to develop the victory, the 2nd shock group army and the 52nd group army put the 2nd echelon into battle on the morning of January 15. After the second echelon entered the battle, our army''s attack improved, but failed to completely crush the enemy''s resistance. The more the troops advance, the fiercer the enemy''s resistance. Both sides have suffered a lot. "


    "Obviously, comrade major." SOLIN said softly beside me, "as long as you read the war reports of our army in the past few months, you can understand what he said."


    "Comrade instructor, please be quiet." "Do you think these soldiers are qualified to check our army''s war report? Listen to the soldier go on


    "... a week later, the second shock group army advanced to the second position of the enemy''s main defensive zone along the chudovo Novgorod railway and road. Meletskov ordered the troops to break through the position, but failed. So the front army sent artillery here again. But as the German command felt the threat to its main supply lines, it transferred reserves to the spaska apolis region, as well as artillery and the main air force.


    The battle is getting fiercer day by day. Although the second shock group army broke through the enemy''s defense several times, due to the shortage of ammunition and the control of the air by the German air force, the defense line was taken back by the German several times.


    After three days of dogged fighting, the second shock group army finally captured miasnebol and broke through the main German defense zone in this direction. In order to close the breach, the German command put in all kinds of troops, which were transferred from other parts of the front, including from near Leningrad. At the same time, the German "northern" army group was forced to give up its preparations for the attack on Leningrad and turn to defense. At this time, Hitler was extremely dissatisfied with the headquarters of the army group. In the middle of January, marshal von liber and chief of staff brennecker, commander of the "northern" group army group, were replaced by General von traxel and Hassel.


    If the 2nd shock group army is still making progress, the attacks of the 4th and 59th group army are not effective. Their impact became weaker and weaker, and then stopped completely. Our friendly neighbor, the 54th army of the Leningrad front army, stopped its attack on January 17 after it ran out of ammunition.


    In this case, the impact on the right wing of the front army is in vain. After general meletskov reported the situation, the base camp agreed to transfer all forces to the direction of spaska, apolis and liuban. So the region became the main direction in the next six months. That''s why the whole campaign is called the liuban campaign. "


    "That''s right, comrade private." Instructor SOLIN got up from his seat, walked up to the soldier, and asked in a sarcastic tone, "do you have a girl who is friendly to you in the Intelligence Department of the group army headquarters, otherwise how can you see such detailed war reports?"


    "Comrade commander," Ivanovic replied somewhat flustered, "I don''t have any friends in the intelligence department. I read all these things from history books. It''s very simple to know that I study history and understand this period of history."


    Seeing what SOLIN wanted to say, I coughed and stopped him: "Comrade instructor, take the other three soldiers out first and let them repair the fortifications with the soldiers of the seventh company. By the way, inform lieutenant miducci to gather the soldiers in his platoon. Let him come to me in an hour, and then go back to the village together. As for this private comrade, "I pointed to Ivanovic and continued," I''ll stay here for a while. The captain and I have something to ask him. "


    SOLIN wanted to say something else. Seeing that I was staring at him coldly, he agreed to leave the command post with three other young people who had never had a chance to speak.


    When SOLIN left, I quickly comforted Ivanovic and said, "Comrade private, don''t worry. Now there are only three of us left in the command post. You can speak freely. "


    "What do you want to know? Comrade commander. " Ivanovic asked nervously.


    "Tell the captain and I what has happened and will happen these days." As I said this, I turned to see diomi sitting next to me and asked him, "Comrade captain, do you have any objection?"


    "Comrade private, speak boldly," diomi, who was also intrigued at the moment, urged Ivanovich to continue, "we will not interrupt you."


    "... due to the combination of Leningrad front army and volhoff front army at an inappropriate time, and the damned forest swamp, the 2nd shock group army was completely besieged by the German army in early June. At this time, the base camp removed the post of commander of Huojin''s front army and reorganized the volhoff''s front army, and general meletskov was still the commander of the front army. "


    "Wait a minute, comrade private." Hearing this, diomi couldn''t help interrupting him and asked curiously, "when did you say that the Supreme Command reorganized the front army of Waldorf? I don''t know


    "Comrades of the soldiers are right," I said next to him. "I only learned about the reorganization of the front army last night. Moreover, in terms of the original organizational structure, the 8th and 54th army groups have been incorporated. " Then he said to Ivanovic, "go on, comrade soldier, go on."


    "... the first thing after general meletzkov was reinstated was to draw out three infantry brigades and some other troops, including a tank battalion. These meager forces were organized into two groups, and they were ordered to open a corridor one and a half kilometers to two kilometers wide, and cover the two wings of the corridor, so as to ensure the withdrawal of the besieged 2nd shock group army.


    The signal of attack came at dawn on June 10. The artillery prepared for a short time. Then tanks and infantry launched the impact. Although the plan has been carefully considered and the commanders and fighters have shown tenacity, the impact has not worked.


    In the evening of that day, meletskov and vasilevsky, the representative of the general headquarters, repeatedly calculated the total strength of the front army, and determined to transfer some troops to the breakthrough site. Our army is increasing, and so is the enemy. From the north, that is, from the west of the Leningrad highway, three infantry divisions and a police division of the SS, as well as some units that used to defend other areas, were transferred to form three brigades, namely, kalenberg, bass and main road. From Novgorod''s side, two groups of "jump" and "yashkai" and other troops were transferred. From the west, a "Duke" group, composed of two infantry divisions and one security division, came fiercely against the 2nd shock group army. The fighting did not stop for a minute and was unprecedented. There were heavy casualties on both sides.


    After a week''s brutal fighting, the German aggressors were finally unable to hold on before our army''s offensive.


    On June 19, the tank soldiers of the 29th tank brigade of our army and the infantry following them broke through the enemy''s defense and joined the troops of the 2nd assault group army attacking from the West. Two days later, a three or four hundred meter wide corridor was opened along the railway from the east to the West. Using this corridor, a large number of wounded officers and men of the 2nd shock group army retreated to miasnebol


    "Stop! Comrade soldier, that''s all I didn''t wait for him to tell us the fate of the whole second shock group army and Vlasov, then I stopped him. After all, there are some things that I, the passer-by, don''t care, but if I let Naomi know, it might cause trouble. I waved and said to Ivanovic, "Comrade soldier, go to your companions and reinforce the fortifications with them."


    Ivanovic agreed, saluted and left.


    As soon as he left, I didn''t get to captain diomi''s mouth to say anything, so I preempted and said, "it''s right to see what major yemeryanov said. Some of them were shocked and their brains were injured. In addition, they were stimulated and their nerves were a little abnormal. Later, let them go to the village health team to see if they can be cured. "


    Captain diomi frowned and said suspiciously, "Comrade major, are you sure they are insane? But what I heard from him was clear and organized. "


    "This is your illusion, comrade captain." I picked up the teapot on the ground, poured two cups of tea, handed one to the captain, and added: "the reason why he can understand so much is that there may be a girl with a good friend working in the intelligence department, just like director SOLIN''s analysis. Everything he said was told to him by the girl during her tryst with him. " With that, I sat down and took a sip of my tea cup, thinking at a high speed: will the history he said follow the original track? If I take part in the battle of breaking through according to the date he said, will I succeed in breaking through? If we ignore what he said as nonsense, what will happen? I asked myself three questions in my heart, but I have no answer to these three questions.

 Chapter 317

    "Report, major. Lieutenant miducci is here at your command." A sudden sound woke me up from my meditation. I looked up and lieutenant miducci was standing in front of me. I remembered that when I sent out instructor SOLIN just now, I asked him to inform me that lieutenant miducci would come to my command post in an hour.


    I took another sip of tea, put down the three unanswered questions, stood up and said to miducci, "Lieutenant, let''s go. Send another soldier to call up the four geese and go back to the village with us. "


    Stupid goose?! Miducci was stunned for a moment, and soon realized that I was talking about the four soldiers of unknown origin. He immediately ordered a soldier beside him to carry out the order.


    After entering the village, I ordered sergeant yemeryanov to take four people to the health team and ask assistant military doctor Sergeant Nina to examine them. And lieutenant miducci and I went back to company headquarters together.


    As I pushed the door open and walked into the command post, I saw lieutenant ugad just drop the microphone. Seeing me enter the door, he immediately saluted and reported to me: "Hello, major!"


    "Hello I saluted him, sat down on the stool at the table and asked, "is there anything new?"


    "I''ve just received the notice from the regiment headquarters that a company will be sent to exchange guards with our battalion tomorrow."


    Vlasov once talked to me on the phone about the change of guard. I didn''t expect that the change of guard would come so soon. I quickly asked ugad, "Comrade lieutenant, did the commander say on the phone what the mission of our battalion is?"


    "Yes, comrade major." Wugad replied, "Lieutenant Commander habi said that after the change of guard, our battalion immediately assembled at the regiment headquarters and prepared to participate in the breakout in a few days. At the same time, it is necessary to dispatch excellent troops and strong generals and organize a small guerrilla force to stay in the liuban area to fight guerrillas. "


    "Guerrillas?" I can''t have heard the wrong thing, can I? So he asked: "Comrade lieutenant, you have heard clearly. Does the commander mean that we should deploy our manpower to form a guerrilla force?"


    "Yes, the commander said that the number of small guerrillas to be set up is no more than 20, and it is necessary to select talents with various special military skills, not only aircraft gunners, correspondents, engineers, radio announcers, but also mortar gunners and even gunners. Moreover, everyone in the team needs to have a certain command ability, so that they can pull up a new guerrilla force when necessary. "


    After listening to the order relayed by lieutenant wugad, I sneered with anger. There are many new soldiers in the camp, and their combat effectiveness is poor. They are short of manpower when they want to take part in the breakthrough battle. At this time, if a group of backbones are sent to form the laoshizi guerrilla, the rest of the battle will not be fought.


    My reaction was seen by ugad, who carefully reminded me: "Comrade major, the orders of the higher authorities are not allowed to be discussed. Do you think we should immediately deploy people to form guerrillas?"


    I''m just a small battalion commander now. I can command only about 200 people under my command. I know very well in my heart that without Zhukov''s big tree covering me, even if the superior gives any absurd order, I can only execute it unconditionally. So I answered with a bitter smile, "Comrade lieutenant, do you have a suitable candidate? You know, we''re just infantry. We can find machine gunners, correspondents and radio announcers, but we don''t have engineers, mortars and gunners. "


    Ugad looked over my head to the door. I turned around and saw that it was lieutenant miducci standing behind me. I pointed to the lieutenant and asked ugad, "Comrade lieutenant, are you going to let lieutenant miducci be the leader of this guerrilla?"


    "Yes. I wonder if you agree? "


    I bowed my head and thought that if a second lieutenant commander with rich combat experience stayed in the army to command regular operations, he would be far better than a guerrilla commander who might not play any role at all and was annihilated by the German army. In this consideration, I very simply rejected ugard''s idea: "no, comrade lieutenant, No. Lieutenant miducci is an excellent officer. He should stay in the regular army to command the battle, not go to the guerrillas to bury his talent. "


    "What do you think, comrade Lieutenant?" Instead of refuting me, ugad asked miducci directly.


    Miducci saw that I was looking at him. He quickly snapped to attention and replied loudly, "no matter what kind of decision the superior makes, whether it''s to stay in the army as platoon leader or to be the captain of the guerrillas, I firmly obey the order."


    I stood up and said my decision: "Lieutenant miducci will stay in the eighth company. I''ll send another guerrilla leader."


    "Who do you think is more suitable?"


    I went through all the familiar people in my mind. A guerrilla leader must first have a certain rank and prestige among the soldiers. Only in this way can he manage more than ten or twenty people in the team. Ugad, diomi, SOLIN and others all hold important positions. They can''t leave at will. The only one they can send is my chief of security, Sergeant yemeryanov. When I made up my mind, I replied, "let sergeant yemeryanov be the guerrilla leader."


    After hearing this, ugad immediately told miducci, "second lieutenant, go and call Comrade chief."


    The second lieutenant agreed and wanted to go out. I told a sentence in the back: "remember, call the devil instructor and the Korean together again."


    Upon hearing this, miducci quickly reported to me: "Comrade major, park Junzhi, the Korean, had been sent to the rear hospital the day before he withdrew from the position because he was injured. Only kitao Tanaka, who handed over seven companies to our company, is still there. "


    "Then call kitaoku Hsiung over."


    The devil''s instructor kitaoku came in soon. When he had finished reporting to us, he stood by honestly.


    I walked up to him and asked with a smile, "how are you doing here, kitao Tanaka?"


    "Report, sir. It''s better than a POW camp." Kitaoku answered me loudly.


    One thing suddenly occurred to me. It is said that after the battle of nomenham in 1939, Japan and the Soviet Union repatriated all the prisoners of war to each other. Why didn''t kitaoku and his men return home and were sent to Leningrad as cannon fodder? At this time, I can chat with him face to face, just ask this question.


    After listening to my question, the muscles on his face twitched a few times, and then he replied in stiff Russian: "Sir, the repatriation of prisoners of war began soon after the cease-fire. It is said that when the staff of the repatriation working group came to our POW camp, it happened that the officer of the POW camp was drunk. He told those people that there were only Korean people in the POW camp, but no Japanese, so we were left behind. When the Soviet German war broke out, we were urgently recruited and transported to the front line to fight. "


    "Why are the North Koreans not in the scope of repatriation?" Ugad helped me ask the questions I wanted to ask.


    "According to the commander of the POW camp, it was Japan, not North Korea, who fought against the Soviet Union, so the captured North Koreans were only enemies who laid down their weapons, not prisoners of war, and they were not released."


    "Report to commander comrade, chief yemeryanov has been ordered to come and wait for your order!" The voice of the old man came from the door. It seems that the second lieutenant brought him here.


    "Comrade Tuan, I have an important task for you to complete when I call you here." Yemeryanov is my leader of the guard. I don''t need to be polite to him. I directly explained the task to him, "according to the order of the higher authorities, the camp should transfer the backbone to form a guerrilla team. After the large forces broke through, they stayed in the liuban area to fight guerrillas. Now I''ve decided to let you serve as the captain of this guerrilla group. Are you confident of completing this arduous task? "


    "Please rest assured that I will complete the task." With these words, the senior asked, "I don''t know how many guerrillas there are and what kind of equipment they have?"


    I thought about it in my heart, and then I replied to him, "there are 20 guerrillas in total. We''ll equip you with plane gunners, signalmen, radio announcers and health workers." At this point, I said with some regret, "it''s a pity that no one in the camp will use mortars. Otherwise, the mortars captured last time can be equipped for you."


    "Sir, I will use mortars." Next to him, Takeo Tanaka suddenly put in a word.


    "You?! You can use mortars, aren''t you infantry? " Ugad said in surprise.


    "I used to be a sergeant in the artillery, and then I was transferred to the infantry."


    "Well, I''ll give you the mortar. Also, kitajo Tanaka, "I pulled the old man in front of him and continued," I appointed you as the vice captain of the guerrillas and the deputy of the yemeryanov. You should cooperate with him well. Do you understand me? "


    "Hi Kitajo Ku Hsiung habitually came up with a Japanese sentence.


    "Comrade lieutenant," I called out to miducci, who had been standing at the door, "take comrades major and the devil instructor to select the guerrillas. Also, let the four geese join the guerrillas. I believe they will make some achievements when they get to the guerrillas. "


    Because there will be a change of defense tomorrow, and there will be a lot to do. In addition to the soldiers of the eighth company having to pack up, the seventh company on the position will also be informed and ready to hand over the position.


    It''s getting dark unconsciously.


    I was giving ugad an assignment, waiting for the arrival of diomi, when I heard music coming from outside. I stopped and called miducci, who was standing by, "Lieutenant, go out and have a look. Where''s the music coming from? Is there a concert going on somewhere?"


    The second lieutenant went out and came back five or six minutes later to report to us, "report to the major, it''s the female health workers and the wounded in the health team who are having a party. Do you want them to stop?"


    I waved my hand and said, "it''s not necessary. Anyway, we''ll leave here tomorrow. Let them have a good time tonight." Then I turned to look at ugad and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, do you want to see it?"


    Wugad was very cheerful. He immediately stood up, grabbed the big eaves hat on the table and said, "let''s go, major. Go and have a look. It''s been a long time since such a lively party was held."


    The three of us came to the health team''s house. We saw two bonfires burning in the open space in front of the house. The wounded were surrounded by the fire, listening to Nina''s beautiful singing. There are beautiful women singing. In my experience, the four modern youths may go up to pay attention. Just thinking about this, Ivanovic with square face and Simone lovic with messy hair have gone by. One has taken the accordion from the accompanist soldier, the other has taken the guitar and started to accompany Nina. At the end of the song, there were warm applause. But the two young people seemed to have more than enough, and began to play and sing: "hold the gun tightly, the soldiers go to the battlefield; War beckons, medals shine. To return home with honor is to make a hero famous; Return home with honor and enjoy the good time. This silence and sunshine foretell that there will be no more death. This silence and sunshine is the hope of victory in the war... "The lyrics are really wonderful, comrade major, do you know what it is Wugad couldn''t help asking me¡° I don''t know. I''ve never heard that song. " I was about to go on, when I heard some footsteps approaching. Turning around, I saw captain diomi, instructor SOLIN and two other soldiers. They came up to me, stood at attention and saluted. The report said, "major, company commander diomi and instructor SOLIN have been ordered to report to you and wait for your orders."

 Chapter 318

    At six o''clock the next morning, the regimental headquarters sent troops to change their guard. The commander in charge reported to me, and I sent lieutenant miducci to guide them to the positions.


    Looking at the departing team, Lieutenant ugad standing next to me suddenly asked anxiously, "can they hold the position?"


    "The position can''t be held." I replied without hesitation, "the reason why the Germans delayed to take our position before was that there was a 131st regiment not far away threatening their flanks. Now this threat no longer exists, as long as they want to carry out a round of artillery on the Highlands, and then use tanks to cover the infantry attack, they will soon be able to win the position. "


    "But, comrade major." Wugad listened to me so sure, a little anxious, "since I know I can''t keep it, what''s the significance of changing defense?"


    "Time, comrade lieutenant. We need time to gather our troops, and then concentrate on the tight encirclement of the Germans, tearing a hole to highlight the troops. The regimental headquarters is going to use our battalion as the main force to take over the fortified positions by using other troops. " At this point, I pause and change the topic in time: "what''s the situation of the guerrillas?"


    "I''m ready for your last order."


    "Let''s go! Let''s go and have a look. When Captain diomi and they come back from the position, we''ll go


    The guerrillas, led by sergeant yemeryanov and the devil drillmaster, lined up in two lines in the open space outside the health brigade, waiting for my final order.


    I walked past the line, looking at everyone''s faces one by one. The eyes of the old gentleman, the devil instructor, the 13 carefully selected soldiers and a female health worker all moved with me. And the four geese standing in the line, one of them grabbed a rifle, but their bodies were shaking like chaff.


    I looked at them scornfully, then went up to the chief and asked in a gentle voice, "are you ready, Mr. yemeryanov?"


    The old man replied excitedly, "report, major. The guerrillas are ready. I''m waiting for your order."


    I patted the old man on the shoulder and said, "comrade, remember that the guerrillas are still very weak. We must not fight hard with the Germans. We should focus on sneak attacks. Keep in mind that we must follow the operational mode of reasonably selecting operational sites, rapidly deploying troops, rationally allocating troops, reasonably selecting operational opportunities, and rapidly withdrawing after a battle. Do you understand? "


    The old man saluted me and replied loudly, "yes, comrade major. Please rest assured that I will lead this guerrilla force well and actively develop and grow so as to cooperate with our counter offensive in the future. "


    Shortly after the guerrillas set out, diomi returned to the village with his company. He and the eighth company should be transferred to the regimental headquarters.


    The headquarters of the regiment is about five kilometers away from our village, which can be reached within an hour of normal March. However, the carriage transporting the wounded in the health team could not raise the speed on the muddy road, which seriously affected the marching speed of the whole army. As a result, we didn''t arrive at the regiment headquarters until noon.


    I asked the troops to stand by and report to the regiment headquarters.


    The head of the regiment saw that we were late and black enough to squeeze out water. Without waiting for me to speak, he asked seriously, "Comrade major, I thought you could arrive at the regiment headquarters at nine. As a result," he said discontentedly, pointing the watch on his left wrist with his right index finger, "it''s already twelve o''clock. You are slower than a snail."


    When I heard the criticism from the regimental leader, I felt fever on my face. I was thinking about whether to say a few words of apology. Puccico, the political commissar of the regiment, happened to return to the headquarters and saw that I was being trained, so he came to help me out. He said in a loud voice, "major oshanina, here you are. It''s very fast. You are the first to arrive in the three battalions of the regiment. "


    Commander habi, who wanted to continue criticizing me, saw the political commissar come out to help me out, but he didn''t say any more. He just whispered a few words, and then told me, "take your camp and follow the political commissar. He will arrange accommodation for you."


    When the soldiers in the camp were camping, I quietly asked the political commissar, "Comrade political commissar, what''s the situation now?"


    He sighed softly, shook his head and said, "major oshanina, it''s very bad. The group army is besieged by the Germans. Originally, the headquarters ordered our 327th division to take the lead in breaking through the encirclement, but the whole division now occupies a very wide area, and it will take a long time to shrink and assemble. Therefore, the original plan to start the breakout battle on the 15th was replaced by reinforcements from the grassland front army. Major general privalov of the group army command is in charge of the battle to break through the encirclement. "


    After thinking about the name, I didn''t seem to know it, so I stopped thinking about it. Instead, I asked myself the question I was concerned about: "if our division doesn''t participate in the breakout, can we hold the occupied area and launch new attacks?"


    Puccico waved his hand and said, "it''s impossible, major oshanina. You know, our division is distributed over a wide area. After six months of uninterrupted fighting, our troops are very tired. In addition, we are short of ammunition and food. Let alone launch new attacks, we can''t even make active defense. "


    All the troops in the regiment were assembled the day after we arrived. However, we still stayed in place and stood by. I went to the regiment headquarters and found out that only our regiment had been assembled, while the other regiments of the 327th division were still assembling. We spent the next few days waiting. Every day we heard fierce gunfire coming from the northeast. It seemed that the troops under the command of general privalov were attacking the German positions. Everyone is waiting quietly. Without orders from the superior, no one will go to the headquarters to ask for a task. This is probably the difference between eastern and Western cultures. If it were the Eighth Route Army, it would never be as calm as we are now. It is estimated that the telephone number of the headquarters has long been blown up by the commanders of the subordinate units, and the desk is full of battle invitation letters from eager commanders and fighters. Until the afternoon of the 17th, I was called to the headquarters by commander habi. I did not dare to neglect, immediately trot all the way to the headquarters, at the door, met the other two battalion commander, I nodded to them friendly, as a greeting. As soon as I entered the door, I heard commander habi''s loud voice shouting: "major oshanina, the order of division headquarters has come down. Order our regiment to March East at once to join the main forces there. Your battalion, as the first battalion of the whole regiment, will start eastward along the forest road. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander. "¡° Then you can set out immediately. I''ll take the troops directly under the regiment and the other two battalions to catch up. " Although I was dismissed by Lieutenant Colonel habi in a few words, the basic etiquette was necessary. I still saluted him and then turned to leave. In order not to slow down the company''s marching speed, I only took two companies to rush to the assembly site designated by the division headquarters. The order of marching was seven companies in front and eight companies in the back. I walked in the front of the troop. The troop walked eastward along the path in the forest for about two hours. I suddenly smelled a peculiar smell. I thought it was my illusion. I sniffed and smelled it carefully. This time, I found that there was a pungent smell of burning tire rubber and another stench, But I don''t know what it tastes like. I stopped, raised my right hand, ordered the troops to stop, and then ran behind, shouting out the name of Naomi: "Captain Naomi, where are you?"¡° Major, "diomi heard me call him, trotted up to me from the middle of the line, slapped a salute, and asked aloud," Captain, diomi is at your command, please give me directions! " I covered my nose with my hand, frowned and said, "Comrade captain, do you smell the strange smell in the air?" Diomi sniffed, too, and then replied, "yes, it''s like a burning car tire, and there''s an indescribable stench. I don''t know what it''s like."¡° You take people to investigate immediately, and I''ll wait for you here. " Captain diomi looked left and right, then pointed to the left and said, "Comrade major, there''s a slope. It''s the highest in the neighborhood. You should be able to see what''s going on there."¡° Go ahead, captain He saluted and ran to the slope with several soldiers. Not long after he left, SOLIN, the instructor of the seventh company, and wugade, the commander of the eighth company, came to me and asked curiously, "Comrade major, why did you stop the army?"¡° I can smell a strange smell in the air. I don''t know where it''s coming from, so I''ll ask captain diomi to take some of them to have a look. " I looked back and saw that lieutenant miducci was standing behind ugad, so I pointed to him with my hand and said, "Lieutenant, take some people and follow me to the hillside over there." The hillside was not too low. Before climbing, I looked up and saw captain diomi looking around with his telescope. When I got to the top of the slope, I saw that captain diomi''s telescope fell to the ground, but he didn''t hear it. His whole body sat down on the ground, and all the soldiers around him were numb¡° What''s the matter, captain? What''s the matter I asked aloud and walked towards him.

 Chapter 319

    I went up to diomi, lowered my head and asked angrily, "Captain, what''s the matter?"


    Diomi looked at me with a dull look and didn''t seem to understand what I was saying. I repeated the words patiently, and then he pointed to the hillside and murmured, "it''s over, it''s all over."


    "What''s the end? What a mystery I bent down and picked up the telescope he had dropped on the ground. After checking it, I found that the lens was not broken, just stained with some dust. I photographed the pure land, raised my telescope and looked down the hill.


    What came to my eyes was the battlefield a few miles away. To be exact, it was the battlefield that used to be. In this forest clearing, which is three or four kilometers long and one or two kilometers wide, there is no sound of guns or moving figures. The bodies in our army''s uniform are all over the clearing near the north forest. There are many burned trucks and tanks in the middle of the battlefield.


    I carefully looked at the battlefield, and found that there was barbed wire at the edge of the forest. The German trench was in the forest. In the trench, there were fire points of brick concrete structure, and many artillery positions. From the east to the west, the front of more than 1000 meters is full of the bodies of Soviet soldiers who died in various attitudes. The fallen bodies in front of the barbed wire are stacked layer by layer. We can imagine how fierce the fighting was at that time.


    As the camera pulls back, the whole line of soldiers sitting on the board of the black frame trucks are burned to ashes. The drivers were still sitting at the wheel, blackened to charcoal. Seeing all this, I immediately realized that the stench in the air was the terrible smell of the soldiers'' bodies being burnt.


    My hand holding the telescope trembled slightly, and my mind seemed to play a movie, restoring this fierce offensive battle.


    This breakthrough force, which I don''t know who commanded, did not let the tanks open the way in front, but let thousands of soldiers, armed with bayonet rifles and singing the national anthem, attack the German positions. Behind them were nearly a hundred trucks full of soldiers. As a result, they became living targets for German tanks, artillery and machine guns. When all the infantry were lost, the tank troops slowly launched an attack, but without the tanks covered by infantry, their combat effectiveness was greatly reduced. When they walked around the burning trucks, they were hit by the German tanks, anti tank guns and anti tank infantry, and finally they were completely destroyed.


    I don''t think it''s worth the soldiers who were burned alive in the truck. When there was a fire in the truck, they had a chance to jump and escape. However, strict military discipline does not allow them to do so. If they jump out of the car and escape without permission from their superiors, they will be shot and killed as deserters on the spot. As a result, they can only wait to die.


    I slowly put down my telescope, took a few breaths, and tried to calm down the anger in my heart. As soon as the general was incompetent and tired to death, the commander in charge of the battle should go to the military court. The suicidal charge he launched has achieved the goal of suicide, but the attack has no effect at all, giving the Germans a chance to make contributions in vain. After this war, I don''t know how many German officers and soldiers will be rewarded.


    "Comrade major, comrade major." Ugad''s voice came down the slope. I followed him and saw him and an officer walking up the slope.


    "What''s the matter?" What I saw just now made me feel bad, so I spoke in a very stern tone.


    Wugad quickly came to me, stood at attention and saluted. The report said, "Comrade major, the division headquarters has sent a liaison officer. Let''s hurry to the division headquarters."


    After saluting me, the officer who followed lieutenant ugad also reported: "Comrade major, division commander, Colonel Anqiu fayev, has an order to make all the division''s subordinate units quickly move closer to the division headquarters, which is an important combat task. He is afraid that you will get lost, so he specially asked me to be your guide. "


    "I see. I''ll order the team to go right away. Come on, Captain diomi, Lieutenant ugard. " My last sentence was to the two company commanders, but they didn''t immediately agree with me.


    When I looked back, ugad was holding up the standing diomi, staring at the battlefield in the distance. I coughed and raised my voice: "Captain diomi, Lieutenant ugard, let''s go."


    They woke up and agreed in a loud voice: "yes!"


    Under the leadership of the liaison officer, the troops left the road, entered the forest and headed southeast.


    Half an hour later, we arrived near the division headquarters. I asked the troops to stand by and then follow the liaison officer to report to the division commander.


    The division headquarters was in a log cabin. Seven or eight commanders were standing against the wall. The division commander, anchufiev, was walking back and forth with his hands on his back. I hastened to stand at attention and said, "Comrade division commander, major oshanina, commander of the Third Battalion of the 1127th regiment, reports to you that our battalion has been ordered to come and wait for your orders."


    "Why is there only one battalion, your commander?" The Colonel stopped and asked sternly.


    "Report to division commander, our battalion is the first battalion, and the commander, political commissar and succeeding troops should arrive soon."


    "What the hell is" should "? I don''t want your hypothetical answer. I just want to know when they will arrive. " It seems that my teacher has always been prejudiced against me, so I''m not polite at all.


    "I''m not sure, sir. You know, I''m just a battalion commander. There''s only one battalion I can command. When will the main force of the regiment arrive? That''s the answer the regiment leader and political commissar can give you. "¡° So it is. It seems that I have wronged you. " The Colonel''s tone softened a little. He went to the table, sat down, pointed to the crowd, and said, "come in, major." At his command, I quickly went over and stood close to a commander, waiting for the colonel to give orders. The Colonel took a deep breath on his stool, then stood up, walked up to us and said in a loud voice, "comrades, I have called you here because tomorrow our division will launch an attack on the German encirclement, which will open a channel for the group army to let the main force stand out."¡° Sir, can I ask you a question? " There was a man''s voice on the left. I turned around and found that the speaker was a lieutenant commander, probably a team leader, who could speak so casually¡° Go ahead, commander Eugene. If you have any questions, just ask The Colonel seemed to know the man very well and spoke with a smile on his face. Eugene asked cautiously, "did the breakout under the command of general privalov yesterday succeed?" Colonel anchufiev''s face immediately turned cold. After a long time, he said in a low voice, "failed. General privalov''s troops have been destroyed. "¡° Ah? " "How many thousands of them, even tanks and artillery, have died?" Eugene asked in surprise The Colonel nodded his head vigorously and said, "yes, because the strength of the bandits is too strong, our breakout troops have been fighting tenaciously, and finally all of them have died bravely. At the same time, more than a dozen guerrilla groups came to meet them. "¡° What is the task of our division? Comrade teachers. "¡° The task given to us by the headquarters of the group army is to concentrate the forces of the whole division and launch an attack on the German army in the southeast direction at 5 a.m. on the 18th, striving to open a channel along the narrow gauge railway and cover the main force of the group army to stand out from the encirclement. "¡° Is there cover for fire? " Asked the commander. After listening to this question, the division commander shrugged his shoulders and replied with a bitter smile: "my comrade commander, no, nothing, no air force cover, no tank cover, even no basic artillery cover before the attack. We can only rely on the bayonets in the hands of the soldiers to make a way out of the enemy. "

 Chapter 320

    Bayonet! When I heard the word, my head suddenly turned a blind eye. In the absence of artillery cover, light infantry were used to attack the German well defended positions. Is it not a way to kill oneself? Thinking that he will be carrying a bayonet tomorrow and going to die behind a group of old men, I can''t help but feel confused.


    "Major oshanina, what are you thinking?" The severe voice of the teacher suddenly sounded in my ear, which woke me up from the state of wishful thinking. I looked up at him blankly and asked, "Comrade teacher, do you have any instructions? I''m at your command. "


    Colonel anchufiev did not speak, but snorted heavily. Then behind him came the voice of Lieutenant Colonel Eugene: "major o''xanina, where are you still standing? Come to the table and look at the map."


    When I looked around, the commanders who just stood beside me all gathered around the wooden table to look at the map. I was the only one who stood in the same place and didn''t move. No wonder the teacher didn''t give me a good face. I blushed, quickly came to the table, and remind me of the commander stood together.


    It can be seen from the map that our 2nd shock group army is completely surrounded by the German army. To the west, liuban has been the target of attack for half a year; North and South are forests and swamps; At present, the only way out is to attack to the East and try to join the 52nd and 59th army groups that used to stick to the traffic line.


    Just as everyone was frowning at the map in front of us, a voice of report came from the door: "report to Mr. commander, commander of the 1127th regiment, Lieutenant Colonel habi has been ordered to come and wait for your order."


    "I''m looking forward to you." The teacher met him, grabbed his hand, shook it vigorously, and asked with concern, "how''s it going, commander hobby? How''s it going? Has the whole regiment been brought here? "


    "Yes, sir. The whole regiment is here. "


    When I saw my immediate superior appear, I couldn''t turn a blind eye to him. I quickly went to him and saluted him at attention: "Hello, comrade commander! Major o''shanina reports to you that the third battalion has arrived at the division headquarters on time and is ready to fight at your command. "


    Hobby drew his hand back and saluted me. Before he could speak, the Colonel pulled him to the other side of the table to look at the map. Seeing their friendly scene, I was envious and jealous. The relationship between the division commander and several commanders was good, but I was indifferent to the battalion commander recommended by my superiors. It is estimated that if he had not been in the way of the order of the superior, he would have turned me out.


    Habi looked at the picture for a while and asked anchufiev, "Comrade division commander, was general privalov''s attack on dorgovo smooth yesterday? I heard that the headquarters of the group army has specially sent the guerrillas of saviliyev to cooperate with the operation. "


    Anchufiev sighed, gritted his back teeth and said, "the offensive troops have been destroyed. At the beginning of the battle, general privalov was seriously injured and the troops were handed over to his deputy. Because of the great disparity between the enemy and ourselves, all the commanders and fighters of the offensive troops died after the tenacious fighting. Even the leader of the guerrilla detachment, savilyev, also died with honor. " He pointed to the map with his finger and introduced the combat mission to you. "Our division''s mission is to attack along the narrow gauge railway, open up the passage to miasnebor, and join the guerrillas led by noxov who are active there. In this attack, the group army will send Comrade sotnikov''s guerrillas to assist us. "


    Guerrillas, guerrillas again. It seems that there are more guerrillas here than the regular army. I thought to myself that these guerrillas could do nothing but ambush, burn military vehicles and blow up warehouses. If we really wanted them to fight positional warfare, wouldn''t we let them die?


    Then Anqiu feyev began to assign combat tasks: the yevgeni regiment, as the leading regiment of the whole division, launched an attack at 5 a.m. on time. As the second echelon, the 1128th regiment, when the leading regiment split the enemy''s direction, made a rapid assault to enlarge the breach and encircle and annihilate the German troops in the position. And my habi regiment, as a reserve team, works with the division headquarters.


    At the end of the order, the colonel looked around and asked, "are the tasks clear?"


    I wanted to put forward my own view that if we attack the German defensive positions without the cover of artillery fire, even if we break through, we will pay a heavy price. It would be better to change the strong attack to the sneak attack, so that we can achieve the maximum results at a lower price.


    Just as he was about to open his mouth, several regimental leaders answered in unison: "I understand. I promise to complete the task." Seeing the end of the boat, I had to shut my mouth.


    Then anchufiev waved his hand and said, "now that the task is clear, go quickly to assemble the troops and enter the attack starting position as soon as possible."


    They agreed and left one after another.


    In Russian summer, the days are long and the nights are short. At more than four o''clock in the morning, the sky was slightly bright. In the forest one kilometer away from the attack position, the people of the brigade crowded together and looked at each other nervously. There was no voice of coughing in the queue, only the sound of bayonets and rifles colliding with each other.


    The commanders didn''t dare to call up the troops in the queue, but only whispered the orders one by one. As the order was given, the infantry that had been gathered together gradually separated according to the order of attack, and the soldiers of the Eugene regiment passed through the middle of our line one after another and marched forward without hesitation.


    The clock just pointed to five o''clock, a red signal bomb rose into the air, and the attack began¡° Wula The soldiers of the Eugene regiment, shouting, rushed towards the German position a few hundred meters away with rifles. I stood up straight, raised my telescope and looked at the enemy''s position. The forest in the outskirts of Leningrad is the same as that in Moscow. Every certain distance, there will be an open space in the forest. The small one is no more than 1000 meters in length and width, and the large one is more than two or three kilometers in length and width. The German army dug many foxholes where the narrow gauge railway extended into the forest. They did not see any solid firepower points, and there was no barbed wire in front of the position. On the right front of the railway track, there is an earth slope with an altitude of more than 100 meters. There is a figure shaking on the slope. It is estimated that there is a German defensive position there. In the face of our army''s stormtroopers, the Germans kept silent. The attack team slowly approached the edge of the forest. At this time, the German troops opened fire and the pea like gunfire started. Is charging the team, crackling down a piece, disorderly, everywhere are fallen people. I am far away from the battlefield, otherwise I can hear the screams and groans of the wounded. The Germans kept firing, and a lot of bullets poured out, hitting the middle of the attack team. Although the commanders and fighters in the front row of the Eugene regiment fell one by one, the soldiers who followed still did not stop and were still rushing forward without hesitation. The original neat line became chaotic when they were charging. As the front line was about to rush into the forest, the German army opened fire on the slope. As soon as the German army opened fire, I found out that all the positions they built on the hillside were machine gun positions, and several machine guns were shooting down at the attacking team. Blood fog is not a cluster of splashes, but in the crowd a group of a group, as if spewing general diffuse. The officers and men of the Eugene regiment wriggled and fell in front of the enemy''s positions.

 Chapter 321

    The German''s sudden fire blinded the attacking team. The surviving officers and men of the Eugene regiment were in a panic. Except for a few lying on the ground and firing at the German army, the rest were running back in disorder¡° What the hell is going on with your regiment, commander Eugene? Why did the German turn around and run back as soon as the gun rang. You have to hurry to some words that others say, and the effect is better than what I say. I opened the cover of my briefcase, took out the medal wrapped in cloth, opened it carefully, held it in my hand, and handed it to anchufiev¡° Red flag? 1¡¢ Two, three, three, and a medal for bravery. " Seeing these four golden medals, anchufiev almost hit his chin on the ground. He was surprised: "you actually got three red flag medals. What''s the matter?"¡° Comrade Colonel, these military medals were obtained by major oshanina for her outstanding service in the defense of Moscow. "When I was on the ice transportation line before, I told habi some of my experiences, but I didn''t expect that they would be useful today¡° Before the beginning of the great counter offensive, comrade Stalin personally appointed her chief of staff of the 20th group army to assist commander Vlasov in his work, and granted her the rank of major general. " When I heard that Stalin had personally awarded me the military rank, there was a voice of sucking cold air all around. Colonel anchufiev''s face turned red. He opened his mouth and tried to say something, but he couldn''t say it¡° Comrade Colonel, comrade Colonel In the distance, Eugene''s voice rescued him from the embarrassing situation. He calmed down and asked aloud, "what''s the matter? Colonel Eugene, have the cowards stopped retreating Yevgeni led a famous captain to anchufiev and said in a loud voice, "Comrade division commander, it was captain Ignatov, a battalion commander, who led the retreat just now. I''ll bring him here at your disposal. " The colonel looked at the bloody, bandaged and bareheaded captain, and yelled, "you left your camp, you left your soldiers, you damned coward." Then he felt for the holster at his waist. Commander habi, with a quick eye, seized anchufiev''s hand and said, "Comrade Colonel, please calm down and let us know what''s going on." He said to the captain, "what''s going on? Why lead the retreat? " Captain Ignatov looked at us dully and murmured, "we were almost in front of the enemy''s position just now. Unexpectedly, the machine gun on the hillside suddenly opened fire. The enemy''s fire was so fierce that we couldn''t make it. We can''t shoot the Germans, but they are killing us. How can we fight this battle? " The more he said, the louder his voice was, "how can we fight this battle? How can we go on fighting? " Eugene stood beside him and said to him in a stern voice, "Comrade captain, your men are still fighting. Don''t you see, are they still fighting? They were still lying on the ground, fighting with the Germans. Go back at once, take your battalion and launch another attack. You must take down the enemy''s position. " Then he gave him a hard push and yelled, "go back to your camp and run for me right away, quick!" The captain didn''t salute anyone. He looked at us with his eyes. He stepped back slowly. Then he turned around and ran to the edge of the forest where the troops assembled¡° Major oshanina, "said Colonel anchufiev in a low voice, beside me," maybe your proposal for a night raid is correct, but what we need now is time. At present, what I can do is to concentrate all my troops, adopt the tactics of a sea of people, and rush through the enemy''s barrage of bullets. "

 Chapter 322

    The miracle didn''t happen!


    Captain Ignatov returned to his camp and soon organized a second charge.


    Both the commander and the soldiers showed great bravery, but under the intensive German fire, they fell in front of the position in batches. Even captain Ignatov, who had dozens of machine gun bullets in his body, fell to the ground after several rounds.


    The hasty second attack failed again.


    Back in front of Colonel Anqiu feyev, Lieutenant Colonel yevgeni bitterly reported: "report, comrade division commander, the first battalion''s attack failed again, and the battalion commander, Captain Ignatov, was killed. Of the 700 men in the battalion, less than 20 were evacuated, and all of them were wounded. "


    Under such circumstances, if another commander is replaced, he may consider suspending the attack and calling on everyone to discuss what kind of fighting method should be adopted to reverse the unfavorable situation. But Colonel anchufiev, even though he saw the heavy casualties of the yevgeni regiment with his own eyes, did not blink an eye, but said coldly, "Comrade yevgeni, I need to remind you. Our task now is to open a breakthrough in the German encirclement and to cover the main force of the group army to stand out of the encirclement. In order to achieve this goal, it is worth the sacrifice. Go back to the regiment immediately and organize the third attack as soon as possible. " Lieutenant Colonel Eugene sighed helplessly. After saluting, he turned around and was about to go back to the regiment to set up a new attack. However, he was stopped by the colonel. "Lieutenant Colonel Eugene, wait a minute."


    I thought the division commander had changed his mind and stopped Eugene to adjust his deployment. Unexpectedly, he said coldly, "I don''t want any casualties. I just want the opposite position. Even if you have finished the whole regiment, you will be captured by me. "


    After hearing the death order from the division commander, habi and the other regiment leader were not good enough to persuade him, so they could only keep silent. Seeing that the matter was irreparable, Eugene went back to the team with his shoulders collapsed to organize a new round of futile and deadly attack.


    When I saw this scene, I couldn''t laugh or cry. What time is it? I still imagined that in the first World War, we would use the sea of people tactics to break through the enemy''s positions. Didn''t we let the soldiers die in vain? However, since the two commanders did not advise the division commander, why should I, the battalion commander, do anything to make trouble for myself.


    Anyway, being idle is also idle. I waved to wugad, who was not far away, to signal him to come.


    Wugad trotted all the way to me, looked at the dark faced teacher and embarrassed commander, and asked me in a low voice: "Comrade major, what''s your instruction?"


    I pointed to the side with my hand and ordered, "gather the soldiers of the eighth company and let them dig trenches."


    "Dig trenches?" Wugad a little puzzled to ask: "but now we are attacking, why dig trenches."


    With a sneer, I said slowly, "be prepared. In case the attack is frustrated and the German counterattack, at least we have positions to resist for a while." Although there is a certain element of anger in what I said, if we can''t provide firepower cover for the attacking troops during the attack, no matter how many times we attack again, the result will be the same.


    At the command, the soldiers of the eighth company immediately started to take action, took out their tools and dug up the foxhole. As early as a few months ago, I asked them to have a long-term civil engineering major in the field. Now I''m really familiar with this job. In less than ten minutes, most of the soldiers'' personal bunkers had been completed and were trying to connect them together.


    The attack organized by yevgeni was beaten back again. Watching the troops with heavy casualties hastily retreat back to the starting position, anchufiev jumped and cursed there. He grabbed commander habi, who was standing beside him, and loudly ordered: "commander habi, take your regiment up immediately and help yevgeni. They must take down the enemy''s position."


    Hearing the order that we should die, my heart suddenly cooled. Just as he was thinking about how to deal with this order, a soldier came with several armed men in civilian clothes. He went up to anchufiev and reported aloud, "Comrade division commander, comrade sotnikov, commander of the guerrillas, is here."


    Anchufiev shook hands with a stout middle-aged man and began to talk intimately.


    Seeing the speculation between them, an idea suddenly flashed into my mind: since they are guerrillas, they must be very familiar with the terrain. If they can be our guide, maybe we can go around to the back of the Germans and attack them back and forth to completely annihilate the enemy blocking the way.


    Determined, I went up to anchufiev and sotnikov and interrupted their conversation. First of all, he said to the colonel, "Sir, I''m sorry to disturb you. Can I have a word with Comrade sotnikov? " Seeing the Colonel nodding his head, he turned his head and asked, "Comrade sotnikov, are there any fighters in your guerrillas who are familiar with the terrain here?"


    Sotnikov was stunned by my question and then replied, "yes. Many of the fighters in the guerrillas are local people. They are as familiar with the terrain as they are with their own homes. "


    Anchufiev may not be satisfied. I interrupted the conversation between him and the guerrilla leader and asked rigidly, "major oshanina, what do you want to know?"


    "Comrade division commander," I quickly explained, "I think that since we have to make a great sacrifice to attack from the front, why don''t we send an army to quietly bypass the German positions, sneak to their rear and take them by surprise." My suggestion brightened Colonel anchufiev''s eyes. Although he repeatedly stressed that he would open a breakthrough at all costs, he would be willing to try if there was a way to make less sacrifice. Unexpectedly, after listening to me, sotnikov shook his head and said, "this task is very difficult to carry out. You know, there are swamps on both sides of the highland, and the troops can''t get through. If you want to go around to the back of the Germans, you have to walk five or six kilometers to the South first, and then turn to the East. Although there are marshes there, as long as you have experienced people to lead the way, you can still pass through the middle. "

 Chapter 323

    I heard that there is a way to go around to the rear of the German. Although it''s a little far away, it''s better than lining up to be a target for others. I grabbed sotnikov by the shoulder and asked aloud, "Comrade captain, do you have any guerrillas who are familiar with the swamp?"


    Sotnikov carefully broke away from my hand, looked at anchufiev and asked, "Comrade Colonel, is this female commander..."


    "Comrade sotnikov, I forgot to introduce myself to you." my proposal just now changed anchufiev''s attitude towards me. He introduced me to this short fat man with a smile. "This is major oshanina, who holds the position of battalion commander in 1127 regiment of our division. She has participated in many battles and made many achievements."


    When anchufiev introduced me, sotnikov was immediately awed. He took the initiative to extend his hand to me and politely said, "Hello, comrade major, nice to meet you!"


    Shaking hands with him, I then asked, "Captain sotnikov, you haven''t answered me. Is there anyone in your team familiar with the swamp?"


    "Yes," he nodded hard, "there are two soldiers who are quite familiar with swamps, so to speak, in this area, there is no swamp they can''t get through. It''s a pity that the most experienced one has gone to carry out the investigation task and is not here. I''ll send another soldier as your guide. Come here, Michelin His last sentence was to a guerrilla behind him.


    The soldier stepped forward two steps, straightened himself up in front of him, and waited for his superior to give an order: "from now on, Michelin, you will be under the command of Colonel anchufiev and obey his orders."


    Michelin''s answer was simple: "yes, comrade commander."


    After explaining to his soldiers, sotnikov said to anchufiev, "Comrade Colonel, I''ll let this soldier serve as a guide in your army. If you have any task, just give him an order. "


    Anchufiev nodded, turned to me and asked, "major oshanina, what are your plans?"


    I glanced at the commander standing beside him. After all, it''s a bit taboo to go directly beyond the regimental commander to make operational suggestions to a higher level commander. Hobby noticed that I was looking at him, only smiling and nodding, indicating that I could do what I wanted. So I looked up at anchufiev in front of me and said, "I''m going to take a small army through the swamp and go around to the rear of the German position and hit them hard from there."


    Anchufiev looked down for a moment and asked, "how many troops are you going to take with you?"


    I looked at the soldiers of the eighth company who were buried in the excavation. Just now, a trench had begun to take shape. It seems that it''s not a bad thing for me to let them repair fortifications every day, at least in today''s situation. Since they have their own work to do, I''ll take Naomi''s seventh company. So I said, "Sir, please allow me to take the seventh company to carry out this task."


    "With just one company, will there be too few people?" It was Colonel harpy who said this, and he looked very worried.


    "Yes, major o''shanina, is there too little company?" Did not expect Anqiu fayev also echoed him, "do you want me to transfer the division guard camp to you?"


    I quickly waved my hand to express my opposition and said, "Comrade division, in order to ensure the concealment and suddenness of the action, we should not have too many people in this team that goes around the enemy''s line of defense, otherwise we will be discovered by the Germans before we launch an attack." Although I said that, what I was thinking was another thing. What I can do has the final say that I can take seven company to carry out my duties alone. If you take the guard camp with you, there will be two commanders in the team, and you won''t be so easy to command.


    Seeing that I didn''t want the guard battalion to assist in the battle, and that anchufiev didn''t insist on it, he gave me a short order: "major oshanina, since you have a suitable chance to fight, you should take the team and set out at once."


    "Yes I promised to salute him and took my guide, Michelin, to the team. Not far out, commander habi came up from behind, stopped me and asked with concern, "major o''shanina, it''s too few to take a seven company. Shall I take another company from the other battalions to your command? "


    "Thank you for your kindness, comrade commander." When I turned down the guard camp of the division commander just now, some words blocked my retreat. Now I know that I have few people, and I can''t break my promise. I can only say with a stiff head, "there are a lot of people in seven companies." Speaking of this, I suddenly thought of a question that I had been ignoring. I immediately asked, "Comrade commander, is there not an artillery company in the regiment? Why didn''t you see them in this fight? " The last time the death squads attacked German positions, they also provided artillery cover. But as soon as the fighting was over, they withdrew with Lieutenant Colonel habi.


    Habi sighed and said with a bitter smile, "not to mention the artillery regiment, even the artillery regiment of the Division has been completely lost in the cruel fighting in recent months. The shells were gone, the guns were destroyed, and the rest of the artillery were turned into infantry. "


    Oh, that''s why. No wonder Colonel anchufiev went crazy and let the infantry rush down the German guns one after another without the cover of artillery. At present, I am the only one who can turn the bad situation around.


    (author''s note: on the way back to Moscow, due to many inconveniences, there are few updates. Please forgive me. When we return to Moscow, we will resume the normal update.)

 Chapter 324

    Our team, following the guide of the sotnikov guerrillas, marched south in the dense forest.


    After walking for a while, the gunfire on the battlefield disappeared. I don''t know whether it was Colonel anchufiev who ordered the troops to stop the attack, or because it was too far away for the voice to come from there.


    The special training effect of Beitiao guxiong, the devil instructor, on the seventh company was shown in the rapid march army. The soldiers of the seventh company were well-trained. Although they marched very fast, they kept a neat formation all the time. Except for the sound of rapid footsteps and heavy breathing, no one was whispering in the team. But it''s hard for me. Although the guard has carried my assault rifle on his back, I''m still at the end of the whole team. I trot to follow the whole team, every run a distance, I have to stop, hands crossed waist for a while. When my breath settled, I trotted all the way to catch up.


    After about two or three kilometers, a swamp appeared on the left side of the forest. There was a damp, putrid, suffocating smell over the swamp. As we approached, large groups of mosquitoes flew up from the water. As we walked away, they fell back to the water again.


    I don''t know how long I''ve been walking, but the front team suddenly stops. Seeing that the troops stopped advancing, I didn''t know what happened, so I ran directly to the front of the team to ask what was going on?


    I trotted up to diomi and gasped, "Comrade captain, what''s the matter? Why should the team stop? "


    Diomi pointed forward and replied, "Comrade major, comrade guide said that you can go around to the back of the enemy''s position through the swamp here."


    I looked at the boundless swamp in front of me, turned around and looked at the guide standing next to me. I asked in an uncertain tone, "Comrade Miguel Lin, are you sure you can pass here?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, I''ve been through this road several times, and I can pass people."


    "Comrade captain," I said, sitting down on a fallen tree trunk beside me, tired enough to say, "let the soldiers follow the guide and pass the swamp quickly."


    With a stick in his hand, Michelin explored the way carefully in front of him. Diomi and his soldiers formed a column and slowly moved forward behind him.


    After all the soldiers of the seventh company entered the swamp, I stood up, took off my boots, held them in my hands, and prepared to step into the swamp. The guard next to me held me and said, "Comrade major, let''s help you through."


    As soon as I waved my hand, I threw his hand to one side and said, "no, I can walk by myself." Then he stepped into the swamp. I didn''t expect that the mud in the swamp was too soft. As soon as I stepped on it, my feet immediately went down. I quickly leaned back and tried to take my feet back. Unexpectedly, my feet slipped and I fell directly into the mud pit beside me. My boots were also thrown out. Several guards ran up and pulled me up with all sorts of hands. Others picked up the boots that had fallen to one side.


    I blushed with shame when I was disgraced in public. Dare not to be brave, can only obediently let two guards stand me one after another, carefully through this swamp.


    When I came out of the swamp, I supported a tree, put my feet in the water, washed the mud off my feet, and then found a dry place to sit down, wrapped a foot binding cloth, put on my boots, and chased the front line.


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I found that it was already ten o''clock in the evening, and it didn''t mean it was dark at all. In broad daylight, we can''t sneak attack on the German positions. In this way, the sneak attack will become a tough battle. Even if we are all out, we won''t be able to take down the German positions.


    I ran to the front of the line, called the guide, and asked, "Comrade Michael Lin, how far are we from the enemy''s position?"


    The guide looked around and said, "Comrade commander, we are about one kilometer away from the enemy''s position. We should reach our destination in 15 minutes."


    I turned around and gave an order to diomi, who was walking beside the guide: "Comrade captain, stop the troops, let the soldiers rest in place and eat to replenish their strength."


    "Yes Diomi''s orders to me were never discounted. He immediately issued a command to stop the troops.


    After seeing the soldiers disbanded, they found a place to sit down, took out dry food, and ate in a kettle. Diomi and I, together with the guide, also found a piece of grass and sat down to eat the bread we had with us.


    After a break of about ten minutes, diomi suddenly asked, "Comrade major, when are we going to start?"


    I looked up at the sky, which was still not dark, and replied, "wait a little longer. As soon as it gets dark, we''ll start."


    "It''s dark!" The guide said in surprise, "excuse me, comrade commander, can I understand that you are not planning to sneak attack on the enemy''s position today?"


    "Comrade Migao Lin," his words make me feel very unhappy. If I don''t attack, I''ve been running in the forest for several hours, and I''ve passed the swamp. Do I come to travel? So the tone of speech is also very impolite, "what do you mean?"


    Miguel Lin may not know why my attitude suddenly became bad. He quickly explained, "Comrade commander, haven''t you heard of white night?"¡° White night Listening to this word, I couldn''t help but be stunned for a moment and asked: "what does it mean? I don''t understand The one who answered my question this time was captain diomi. He said, "Comrade major, white night means there is no night today. It''s all day. If it''s going to be dark, maybe we''ll have to wait a few days. "

 Chapter 325

    I was stunned when I heard what diomi said. Yeah, how can I forget that Leningrad is close to the Arctic Circle, and that there are so many white nights in June every year! I patted my forehead hard and said to myself, "muddle headed, really muddle headed!..." With these words, I looked up and saw that the expressions on the faces of diomi and the guide were somewhat unnatural. I immediately realized that it was their own words that made them misunderstand. I quickly explained with a smile, "I mean that I am too confused to forget such a big thing as the daytime in Leningrad." Then he turned the subject around and asked diomi, "Comrade captain, have you sent someone to the enemy''s position to investigate?"¡° Report to the major that I had already sent out the scouts when they had just had a rest. " "They should be back soon," said diomi, looking at his watch I turned to the guide and said, "Comrade Michael Lin, what did you do before the war broke out?" When Michelin heard me ask him, he quickly stood up, straightened up and answered in a loud voice, "Comrade report commander, before the war broke out, I was a lumberjack. After the start of the patriotic war, I served in the front army of Leningrad and took part in the battle of breaking through the encirclement. After the troops were dispersed, I found lieutenant colonel sotnikov and joined the guerrillas he led. " I raised my hand and pressed it down. I motioned him to sit down and said, "Comrade soldier, don''t be so restrained. Sit down and talk." When he sat down again, I tried to find some relaxed topics to continue talking with him. "It turns out that you were a lumberjack before you joined the army. No wonder you are so familiar with the forest and can bring us through the narrow passage in the swamp." My praise made the young guerrilla shy. He blushed and said, "Comrade commander, I''m nothing. When it comes to the familiarity with the forest, no one can match our captain. Before he joined the guerrillas, he had fought with the bandits in many places, made many contributions and won several medals. "¡° Is that right? " Michael Lin said so about his captain, which aroused my curiosity and urged him to continue to say: "tell me what kind of person he is?"¡° If he were present today, maybe we would not have to go so far. We only need to walk a kilometer or two southward to get through the swamp and get to the rear of the enemy''s position. Maybe by this time, we have begun to attack the German positions. "¡° Comrade Michael Lin, your captain, what''s his name? "¡° Report commander comrade, he called... "As soon as Michael Lin said this, he heard that diomi, who was beside him, cried excitedly:" look, comrade major, our scout is back. " Then he jumped up from the ground and ran to the two soldiers who were coming in the distance. After a while, diomi came back to me with the two scouts and told the two soldiers, "sergeant grasimenko, report to the major what you have detected." The Scout named by him agreed and began to report their results to me, while the other private just straightened up and stood aside quietly. Sergeant said: "report major, we just sneaked into the vicinity of the enemy''s position. After careful reconnaissance, we found that the Germans had arranged six heavy machine gun groups on the hillside, and there was an infantry company at the bottom of the hillside."¡° Do you have any heavy weapons Before he finished, I suddenly cut in and asked. Sergeant grasimenko shook his head and replied, "we didn''t find any German tanks or armored vehicles, except for heavy machine guns on the hillside. We didn''t even have mortars." When diomi heard this, he stepped forward and asked me, "Comrade major, since the situation is clear. Are we ready to attack? "¡° Well, "I said, nodding vigorously," gather the soldiers at once, and we''ll start at once. " A quarter of an hour later, we quietly came to the south of the hillside, where the slope is gentle and the forest is sparse, which is very suitable for launching a sneak attack. The attention of the German soldiers on the hillside was attracted by the main force of the 327th division, who was concentrated in the forest in the West. They did not expect that someone would come around to attack them, so that there was not even a guard post on this side¡° Put on the bayonet With this command issued by diomi in a low voice, hundreds of helmets fluctuated slightly, and all of them formed a dense line of scattered soldiers in a standard squatting and kneeling posture, staring at the low mountain in front of them! I was squatting not far behind him with my assault rifle. When he looked back at me, I nodded slightly to signal that the troops could attack. In front of the formation, Captain diomi sprang up. He didn''t use a pistol. He was also a good rifle with a bayonet. He raised his gun to move back and yelled, "brothers, move forward!" With his command, the soldiers of the seventh company also jumped up like him, and a neat cry sounded in front of the dense line: "Wula!" The sudden cry sounded like the sound of guns in the bright night. I followed the line with my gun and rushed to the top of the slope, along with a few guards and sergeant grasimenko, the scout, who came to protect me on the order of captain diomi.

 Chapter 326

    I was out of breath when I saw diomi leading the soldiers to shout up. I wanted to sneak into the village. No guns. But you''re good. As soon as you charge, you start shouting. I''m afraid that you can''t disturb the enemy. Originally a good sneak attack, you made a strong attack. However, the next wood has become a boat. If I don''t want to disturb the enemy, I can only follow behind and rush up, praying silently that I can occupy the position before the German reaction.


    Although the south side of the slope is gentle, it''s not easy for me to run. By the time I reached the top of the slope, I was almost at the end of the battle. The number of German machine gunners was small, and we were caught by surprise. Even if we wanted to resist, we were stabbed by the soldiers with bayonets before we could turn the gun.


    I bent over, my rifle on the ground as a crutch, gasping for breath. After breathing for a while, I immediately ordered sergeant grasimenko standing beside me: "sergeant, you immediately send someone to the division to report that we have started to attack the German positions. Please send troops from the division headquarters to attack immediately and cooperate with us."


    "Don''t bother, comrade major. I can tell them in flag." Sergeant grasimenko said, pulling out the signal flag on the belt and waving it in a higher position.


    Not only sending people to report, but also sending signals with flags are redundant. It is estimated that from the beginning of our departure, Colonel anchufiev sent special personnel to observe the movement of the position. Maybe as soon as we got to the top of the slope, the Colonel got information from the observation post and ordered the troops to attack.


    Just now, the movement of the seventh company''s attack was too loud, which not only alerted our troops, but also awakened the Germans stationed at the foot of the hillside. Almost as we annihilated the German troops on the hillside, dozens of German infantry with rifles and submachine guns rushed up.


    The seven company soldiers near the hillside raised their rifles and shot at the German soldiers. The German soldiers in the front row, as if pushed by someone, fell several times, and then rolled down the slope. The German soldiers in the back row responded, raised their guns and started shooting at each other.


    Such a sudden encounter, both sides did not expect to use the terrain to hide, subconsciously pull the trigger, want to rely on fire to overwhelm each other! Both sides in almost face-to-face distance, launched a crazy shooting! In the shooting, in the formation of both sides, there are people falling down without humming.


    Until the two sides ran out of bullets in the gun, they didn''t load them again, and there was no time to load them, so they rushed up with bayonet rifles and started a bloody white-edged battle.


    The German army always attached great importance to the speed of infantry shooting and the sustained firepower on the battlefield. Only in individual cases such as street warfare or trench assault warfare, the soldiers used grenades, daggers, engineering shovels and other equipment for white-edged warfare. And every soldier in the seventh company has been instructed by kitaoku. After his demonic training, the soldiers can''t improve their stabbing skills. Now they are very handy in a white-edge battle. The German''s stabbing skills were not as good as the Soviet''s, but now they met soldiers trained by Japanese coaches, and they were even more at a disadvantage. It often takes three or four German soldiers to fall before a soldier of seven companies falls into a pool of blood.


    Captain diomi stabbed at a big German soldier with a rifle. Unexpectedly, the guy dodged the fatal knife and hit him with an engineering shovel in both hands. Diomi pushed up and the bayonet was bent by the shovel. Just at this time, a blood burst out of his ribs. I don''t know where he was hit by a stray bullet. He wobbled and almost fell. Seeing that the German soldier had a chance, he swung the shovel and smashed it down again. Seeing that diomi was in danger, I picked up my rifle and aimed at the German soldier.


    "Pa" to a gunshot, the German soldier shot in the head, fell on his back, I looked at the gun in my hands in surprise, heart said I haven''t shot, the German devil how to hang up? Looking around, Sgt. grasimenko was squatting beside me. He pulled the bolt and picked out a bullet case with white smoke. It turned out that he had fired the gun. After killing the devil, he turned the gun to find a new target.


    Seeing that the enemy in front of him fell down, diomi couldn''t hold on any longer and sat down. Miguel Lin, the guide who had just knocked down a German soldier, rushed over and helped him up and back.


    Although our men had the upper hand in the stabbing, in the shooting just now, more than 30 people were killed in seven companies, and more than 10 people fell down in the stabbing. Now more than 40 soldiers are still fighting for bayonets. And the Germans are still pouring in, far more than us. If we continue to fight, we will lose out.


    I saw a heavy machine gun bunker not far in front of me. I quickly turned back and yelled to the guard behind me, "you go to help the guide bring captain diomi back." Then he dashed forward and jumped directly into the bunker. As soon as he landed on the ground, he stepped on a pile of smooth things. For a moment, he was unstable and fell on all fours.


    I felt my painful back and sat up. Looking down, there was a thick layer of bullet holes in the shelter, from which we can see how many bullets the heavy machine gun had just shot out. I saw the heavy machine gun in front of me. Although the safety was turned off, there was a bullet chain hanging on the sound of the gun. It was ready to shoot at any time. Quickly turned the muzzle of the gun, opened the insurance, and pulled the trigger on the German soldiers who were rushing up the hillside.


    A tongue of fire shot out from the muzzle of the gun. For a moment, the sound of the gun was deafening. The shells splashed. The bullets made the soil on the hillside as high as a pot. Several German soldiers who were shot were beaten to the flesh and blood, fell to the ground and rolled down the slope. A chain was suddenly knocked out, and I lowered my head to find a new chain in the bunker to replace it. At this moment, I only heard the local sound of the helmet. At the same time, I felt a huge force hit my head. Like being hit by a heavy hammer, my head tilted back in an instant, driving me to fly backward and hit the earth wall of the shelter heavily. My mind was blank, and suddenly a strange thought came out: "am I shot in the head?"¡° What''s the matter with you, major? " There seemed to be a man squatting around me, shouting in my ear. My mind is still a blank, two eyes blankly looking at the people around, opened his mouth, but failed to speak. When the other party saw that I was staring and speechless, he grabbed my arms and shook them vigorously. At the same time, he continued to shout: "Comrade major! Comrade major! What''s the matter with you? Are you all right? " After a while, I came back to my senses. Instinctively, I reached out to touch the position of the bullet on the top of my head. I found a hole in the front of the helmet. I felt around the front and back of the helmet and found a hole in the back. It was estimated that the bullet had penetrated it. Fortunately, I put my hair in a bun and put the helmet on a bit high, otherwise I would have been shot. I sat up straight and shook my head. Then I saw that it was lieutenant ugad squatting in front of me. I grabbed him by the collar and asked aloud, "Lieutenant, what are you doing here?"¡° Report major. We''ve been ordered to reinforce. Not only us, but also the whole regiment. The battle on the hillside is over, and the troops are cleaning up the remnant enemy in the woods. "¡° The whole regiment is up? Where are the chief and commissar? " Then I held on to the earth wall and wanted to stand up. As a result, as soon as I stood up straight, I felt like I was whirling around. I fell back to the pile of shell cases. My chest felt sick and I couldn''t help vomiting. Fortunately, there are not many delicious things. I have almost digested them in the action just now. I have vomited for a long time without anything. While patting my back, Lieutenant ugad comforted me and said, "don''t move! hold it! Comrade major, the battle is over. Just sit here and have a rest. "¡° I shook my head again and felt a little better. I immediately told ugad: it''s OK! I''m all right! Comrade lieutenant, you should immediately organize personnel to clean the battlefield and be on guard against the German counterattack. "¡° Comrade commander, major oshanina is here. " Instead of answering me, ugad stood up and yelled in the distance. After a while, commander habi jumped into the bunker, saw my embarrassment, and asked me with concern, "major o''shanina, are you ok?" Then he squatted down and patted me on the shoulder, and continued, "I''ll arrange for people to clean the battlefield. You can do it first and have a rest here." After that, he stood up and said to ugad, "Comrade lieutenant, you will take your men to clean the battlefield, and the task of searching for the remnant enemy will be handed over to the first battalion and the second battalion." After they left one by one, I got up from the bunker, stood firmly on the earth wall, and looked down the hill. In front of the position, the land covered with the remains of our soldiers had become purple and black, and the soldiers'' bodies on both sides of the front were almost beaten into a pile of rotten meat and limbs. If we had not succeeded in sneak attack, we would not know how much we would have paid in front of this position¡° Major oshanina, "I looked in the direction of my voice and found that it was Colonel anchufiev who was speaking. He had gone up the hill from somewhere and was standing not far from me. He nodded to my approval and said, "well done! Major oshanina. You should have a good rest first. I''m not sure that the second line of defense will need you to attack later! "

 Chapter 327

    After listening to what Colonel anchufiev said, I suddenly felt a chill on my back. It took thousands of people to break through the German first line of defense. According to the way of playing in the daytime, it is estimated that even if the whole division is assigned, it will not be able to break through the German encirclement.


    I took off my helmet and scratched the back of my head. There was a dignified look on my face. I didn''t think that there would be so many problems in the breakout. However, I am also clear that this breakthrough can only be carried out by our division. If it is replaced by other units, it is estimated that all of them will be destroyed, and it will not be able to break through the German defense. The failure of the northward breakthrough a few days ago illustrates this problem. Although the tactics of Anqiu feyev''s division are still inflexible, if I can master one unit, I will have a chance to break through the remaining German lines. So I thought of this and said, "Comrade Colonel, if you can replenish my forces and equip me with heavy weapons, then the probability of breaking through the German defense line will be greatly increased."


    Colonel anchufiev pondered a little, gave a slight smile, and said, "well, major oshanina, I believe in your ability. Lieutenant commander Eugene was wounded in today''s battle and withdrew from the battle. You can take over this regiment for the time being


    For the trust given by Colonel Anqiu feyev, I immediately felt a warm current coming up. I quickly climbed out of the bunker, stood in front of him, respectfully saluted him, and sincerely said: "please rest assured, sir, as long as I have breath, I will certainly make a gap in the German encirclement, Cover the main force of the group army and stand out the encirclement. "


    After listening, the Colonel put out his hands and patted me on the shoulder, and said with approval, "good job, major oshanina. I''m sure you can fulfill your promise. I''m waiting for your good news." At this point, he hesitated and then said, "but I can''t provide you with firepower cover when you attack. You should know that the artillery of the division were lost in the early fighting."


    As soon as I heard this, I felt a thump in my heart. The Germans in this line of defense did not have heavy weapons such as artillery, tanks and armored vehicles, which made us pay such a heavy price. Even the Germans in the second line of defense are equipped with the same weapons. Our attack is like hitting a stone with an egg. And the tactics of sneaking around the back of the German positions are also difficult to use again, because the Germans who run away will reveal the secret. As long as we send more guard posts at the rear of the line of defense, we will never have any chance of success even if we go around the rear of the position again.


    While worrying about gain and loss, I suddenly heard the familiar voice of commander habi: "Comrade teacher, comrade teacher." Soon he appeared in front of Colonel anchufiev. After standing at attention and saluting, he excitedly reported: "Comrade division, when we were encircling and annihilating the enemy, we captured five mortars and more than ten boxes of shells."


    When I heard commander habi say that, I was stunned. Since the Germans had mortars, why didn''t they fire when our army attacked in the daytime just now? Then our army would suffer more casualties¡° Comrade commander, "Colonel anchufiev thought of the same question. He frowned and asked," since there are mortars in their positions, why did they not fire when our army launched several frontal attacks? "


    Commander habi looked at me and then replied to anchufiev: "according to the interrogation of the prisoners, these mortar teams arrived an hour ago. Their task is to kill us with artillery fire when our army attacks. But because major o''shanina launched a surprise attack in time, I captured all the German artillery before they could fight. "


    "Great! That''s great With a smile on his face, anchufiev turned to me and said, "major oshanina, these five mortars are assigned to you. We must break through the second line of defense of the German army as soon as possible and open the way forward for the whole division. "


    I immediately stood at attention to salute him, assured him: "please rest assured, I promise to complete the task."


    I put together the seven and eight companies, mixed them with the remnants of the Eugene regiment, and put together a team of more than 500 people. Then the original artillery soldiers were drawn out of the army and formed a mortar platoon, which was under the command of Lt. miducci.


    After the formation of the troops, I took them to the second German line of defense.


    More than an hour later, the second German line of defense appeared in front of us. Several stuffy tank cars are on the railway track. There are high sandbags in the cars. The machine guns behind the sandbags can be seen clearly without binoculars. Behind the tracks, the Germans also dug dense single person bunkers, at least one company of troops, distributed in these bunkers.


    Captain diomi was wounded in the battle just now and has been sent to the temporary medical center for treatment. Now the commander of the seventh and eighth companies is lieutenant ugad. The remnant of the Eugene regiment was under the command of a captain named kozhara. Now these two men are standing in front of me, waiting for my order.


    Looking at the crude German defense line, I did not rashly give the order to attack. Instead, I asked lieutenant miducci to set up the artillery position, and then asked them, "two commanders, how do you think we should attack?"


    "That''s to say, gather the soldiers together, line up and rush through." Captain kozala replied without hesitation.


    After listening to him, I did not say a word, but turned my eyes to the next lieutenant ugad. Wugad looked at the captain first, then turned his eyes to me, and then replied, "Comrade major, my view is the same as that of Comrade captain. We should immediately concentrate our troops on the enemy, quickly break through the German defense line, and open the way for the main force of the group army." At this point, he pause, and then like a great determination to say: "I am willing to lead the troops to attack." I snorted, pointed to some stuffy can cars on the railway track in front of me, and said coldly, "according to the way you said, let alone break through the German position, even if we only rush to those cars, our people are almost dead."¡° So what should we do? " Wugad and I have been together for a long time, knowing that I must have been well-established, so they took the initiative to ask for my opinions¡° Lieutenant ugad, "I''m not going to talk any more. I''m going to give orders to the two men directly." you go and order lieutenant miducci to fire. First, concentrate the fire on these cars. After destroying the carriage, the artillery fire extended to the depth of the enemy''s position. Next, it''s you, comrade captain, who will lead the infantry to rush up and wipe out all the Germans who are still fighting! Do you understand? " They agreed in unison: "please rest assured, comrade major, that we will complete the task." At the command, Lieutenant miducci''s mortar platoon opened fire, and the shell roared toward the German position. In the sound of explosions, the car on the track was hit directly by the shells and was blown askew. The ammunition in the car was killed and caused a fire. Except for the German machine gunners who were killed on the spot, the rest jumped from the burning vehicles and ran to the rear scattered positions. Although our army has only five mortars, it can ensure the artillery density in a narrow area. Within the roaring range of shells and shrapnel, the fleeing machine gunners fell down one after another. At most, only two or three people escaped into the foxholes. Seeing this scene, I put down my telescope and said to captain kozhala, who was standing beside me and was eager to try, "Comrade captain, the artillery has destroyed the German machine gun position. The rest is up to you." The captain saluted me and ran to the troops on standby with his gun in his hand, still shouting: "comrades! It''s our turn to go on the stage. In order to avenge those soldiers who died, listen to my command and move forward! Go ahead! " Under his command, the troops who had been ready to go issued a tsunami like cry: "Wula! ~ ~ ~" Then hundreds of soldiers, armed with bayoneted rifles, rushed towards the German position.

 Chapter 328

    The shells exploded on the tree crown, making the branches fly.


    Hiding in a single shelter under a tree, the German was blown up by shrapnel flying everywhere. One after another, they climbed out of the bunker and ran back to find a safe area to avoid the shelling.


    Facing the weak resistance of the German, Captain kozhala quickly led the troops around the burning cars, suddenly inserted into the enemy''s position and launched a cruel white-edged battle.


    Seeing that the two armies were mixed up, I immediately ordered the artillery to stop shooting for fear of injuring my own people. Then I called ugad to the front and said, "Comrade lieutenant, the seventh company will stay on guard. You will lead the eighth company to help captain kozhala and destroy the enemy in the position. Remember, move fast! Be fierce


    "I understand! Major, I promise to finish the task! " Wugad gave me a loud promise, and then ran forward a few steps, shouting at his subordinates: "Ba Lian, follow me!"


    The reason why I sent up the eight companies at this time is that I have selfish intentions. After all, they are all my direct families, and they are very handy in commanding wars. The soldiers of yevgeni regiment were assigned to me on a temporary basis. I am not familiar with the regiment''s commanders and fighters, and they may not be able to convince me. It is difficult to control the team. So I did not hesitate to hand over the main task to them just now. Now that the overall situation has been decided, I will send my own troops to clean up the mess.


    The addition of the eighth company became the last straw to defeat the camel. The German resistance collapsed in an instant. Except for the German soldiers who were fighting with our army, the German soldiers in the distance began to flee in groups.


    Seeing that the victory had been decided, I asked miducci to gather the mortar platoon and prepare to push them forward with the soldiers of the seventh company. Suddenly, I heard a cry from behind: "major oshanina! Major oshanina! Just a moment, please


    Turning around, I saw that the division commander, Colonel anchufiev, and a group of staff of the division headquarters were coming to me in a hurry.


    I asked miducci and the seventh company to stand by. Then I trotted forward to salute and report: "report to Mr. commander, major o''shanina has been ordered to come and wait for your order, please give us instructions!"


    The Colonel also saluted, nodded to me, and said with a smile on his face, "Comrade major, what I want to say is: you are good!" Then he reached out and patted me heavily on the shoulder, ignoring the grinning pain, and then said, "I didn''t expect that you broke through the German second line of defense in only half an hour. good job! You and your soldiers are good


    I grinned silently, then asked Colonel anchufiev, "Comrade Colonel, we have broken through the German second line of defense. So what''s our next task? "


    "The task is clear, comrade major." Although Colonel anchufiev tried to put on a serious face when he assigned the task, his slightly upturned mouth had exposed his inner joy¡° Go on, take down the third German line of defense, and open the passage to the volhof river for the main force of the group. "


    I snapped to attention and answered in a loud voice: "please rest assured, sir. I promise to finish the task!"


    "Go! Major oshanina. " The Colonel gave me a gentle push on the arm, and said earnestly, "whether the whole army can break through the enemy''s siege depends on whether you can quickly break through the remaining German lines."


    I feel deeply about the trust of Colonel anchufiev. In such a short period of time, apart from the mortar platoon''s firepower support, there is also a certain element of luck. The German did not expect that the Soviet army, which had been attacking the first line for a day and suffered heavy casualties, would launch new attacks in such a short period of time, We were caught off guard. Now I can guarantee that the German troops in the third line of defense will never make the mistake of being careless again. The defense line at the moment must be well prepared.


    The third line of defense is different from the first two. The narrow gauge railway passes through two hillsides with an interval of 100 meters. In the middle of the tracks, the Germans built barricades with sandbags and wood. On both sides of the hillside, the trees in front of the fortifications have been cut down, and the field of vision of the firepower point on the position is wide, easy to defend and difficult to attack.


    When I saw this scene through the telescope, I couldn''t help wondering, can such a defensive position be attacked only by our strength and the firepower cover of several mortars?


    Captain kozala and lieutenant ugad were standing beside me, watching the enemy with binoculars. Seeing that I didn''t speak, they could only keep silent.


    In the end, Captain kozhala couldn''t restrain himself and said, "Comrade major, how do you think we should attack?"


    I moved the telescope away from my eyes and said slowly, "it seems that the German defense is very tight. We need to have a fire reconnaissance first." Speaking of this, I turned to kozhala and said, "Comrade captain, take a company and make a feint attack towards the hillside on the left. I want to see how the enemy''s firepower is equipped. " Then I called lieutenant miducci, who was not far away, and asked his mortar platoon to fire two volleys at the hillside to cover captain kozala''s feint.


    Five minutes later, the attack began. On the left side of the hillside, fire and smoke rose one after another. Captain kozala, with nearly 100 soldiers, rushed to the position.


    As soon as he reached the bottom of the slope, the German firepower on the hillside opened fire. Dense bullets poured down to the charging team, and the soldiers in the front row were knocked down. The soldiers behind did not continue to rush forward foolishly. Instead, they fell down on the spot and fired back at the hillside. I looked at my watch. It was only a few minutes before the attack began. I was thinking about whether to let the captain and his men withdraw immediately or to let the second lieutenant miducci''s artillery fire two more volleys to let the captain''s troops continue to march forward. Suddenly, several shells roared down the hillside and exploded, raising a mass of soil. Then another shell hit the barricade in the middle of the rail, and the air wave of the explosion lifted the human limbs and weapon parts high into the air¡° What''s going on? " I asked lieutenant miducci in the distance loudly, "Comrade lieutenant, who let you fire without permission?" Miducci in the distance exclaimed excitedly: "Comrade major, I didn''t fire the gun. It''s reinforcements. It''s our reinforcements. "

 Chapter 329

    Our reinforcements?!


    I was surprised to hear what lieutenant miducci said. How could Colonel anchufiev''s troops keep up so soon? I turned and looked back curiously, but I saw that the forest behind me was quiet. I couldn''t even see a person. Where did the reinforcements come from? At the same time, I thought that even if division commander anchufiev came, it was useless. They didn''t have heavy weapons. How could they provide us with firepower cover?


    Thinking of this, I turned around, looked at miducci standing in front of me with excited face, and asked sternly, "Comrade lieutenant, where are the reinforcements you mentioned? I didn''t see it


    "Comrade major, can we help you?" Lieutenant miducci asked back, "they are not behind us. They are behind the enemy." When he said this, there was a sunny smile on his face.


    After listening to him, I still don''t understand: How did our troops appear behind the German defense line? Was it general Vlasov''s hand that he sent other troops around the enemy and then launched a surprise attack?


    Although I was still at a loss, I saw shells falling on the enemy''s positions one after another, shrapnel whistling around, chopping down the running Germans one by one. From time to time, human limbs, weapon fragments and soil were blown into the air by the explosion.


    See a good attack opportunity in front of me, if I don''t know how to grasp it, then I can find a piece of cheese to kill. I quickly came to the front of the group, pointed to the front, and said to them in a loud voice: "comrades, as long as we capture the enemy positions in front, we can open a channel for the group army to stand out from the encirclement." At this point, I raised my assault rifle, waved it forward, and roared: "brothers, go ahead, destroy them!"


    Wugad in the queue also cooperated with me and called out a series of commands: "listen to my command, all of you in a scattered formation, move forward! Brothers, go ahead With his command, the troops set out to attack and charged with bayonets.


    Ugad led them to attack on the right side of the hillside. They kept a relatively neat formation and pushed forward. The Germans, who were lucky not to be killed by the shells, hid in the fortifications and opened fire on the attacking troops. The bullets made one gap after another in the middle of the line, but they could not stop them. Seeing that they were still advancing at a constant speed in the hail of bullets, they crossed the flat ground and began to climb up the slope. The troops led by Captain kozhala also got up from the ground and launched a final attack on the German position in front of them.


    The timing of the infantry charge was just right. The Germans were suppressed by the heavy artillery fire of our reinforcements and could not do any serious damage to our troops. As many firepower points were destroyed one by one, the troops led by kozala and ugad quickly rushed up two hillsides.


    I wanted to follow, but I was blocked by sergeant grasimenko and the soldiers of the guard class, to protect my safety. Since I can''t rush to the front, I can only stand behind the wall of soldiers in the guard class and yell at the front, no matter whether they can hear me or not: "Captain kozhala, Lieutenant ugad, kill all the Germans with bayonets, don''t leave any."


    The battle on both sides of the hillside is hard to separate. Several tanks are speeding along the track from east to west. The sandbag fortification built by the German in the middle of the railway was already half destroyed by the artillery fire, and the leading tank suddenly hit it, splitting the intact side. Several empty handed German soldiers rushed out of the fortification and ran to our side along the railway track. They were all knocked down by the machine gun on the tank before they ran far away.


    As the tank approached, it could be confirmed that it was our own T34 tank. I gently pushed aside the guard and sergeant grasimenko who were blocking me. As I walked forward, I said, "it''s our tank, sergeant. Let''s go and have a look."


    Several tanks drove to the place more than ten meters away from me and stopped in unison. The hatch of one of the tanks was opened and a soldier in a black tank uniform emerged from inside. He looked at us, quickly jumped out of the tank and trotted towards us without hesitation.


    Seeing the tank soldiers running closer and closer, my face showed a knowing smile. I put my rifle on my shoulder and met them. The other party came to me to stand at attention and salute. Without waiting for him to speak, I already opened my mouth first: "Hello! Captain vitorganov, we are old acquaintances. We didn''t expect to meet here again. " And he held out his hand to him.


    The captain took my hand, shook it hard and said, "Comrade major, I didn''t expect that you were the leading force commanding the second shock group army to break through the encirclement." At this point, he released my hand, stepped back, stood at attention again, and reported to me in accordance with the regulations: "Comrade major, Captain vitorganov of the 29th tank brigade of the volhoff front army reports to you that we have been ordered to come to rescue the troops of the 2nd shock group army. Now that we have successfully joined forces, we are at your command. "


    After hearing what he said, I realized that this sudden tank unit was not sent by Vlasov, but came to us from east to West under the command of general meletskov, commander of the front army. When I understood the whole thing, I stepped forward, grabbed his hand and stammered with excitement: "Comrade captain! Victory... Meeting. Can I understand that we have broken the siege? "


    With a smile on his face, Captain vitorganov replied, "my comrade major, since we have joined forces, we have certainly broken through the German encirclement. How can you think so hard! " I let go of his hand, took sergeant grasimenko and another guard standing behind him by the hand, and yelled happily, "sergeant grasimenko, and you, comrade soldier. Did you all hear that? We broke through the encirclement and joined forces with the troops sent by the commander of the front army. "¡° Yes, comrade major Sergeant grasimenko and the guards replied cheerfully, their faces full of joy¡° Sergeant grasimenko said, "now that we have broken through the siege, we should immediately inform Colonel anchufiev who is still behind us of the news. So I gave the sergeant an order:" take two soldiers to the division headquarters immediately, and tell Colonel anchufiev the news of joining the 29th tank brigade. "¡° Yes, comrade major, I promise to finish the task. " The sergeant agreed in a loud voice, then called on the two soldiers to set out. The battle on both sides of the hillside, with the help of the infantry following the tanks, was also over. Captain kozala and lieutenant ugad left their troops on guard on the hillside, and then they both ran over to report the results to me. At that time, I was standing in front of the tank chatting with captain vitorganov. They came to me, stood at attention and saluted. They reported: "report, comrade major, Captain kozala (lieutenant ugad) has reported to you that all the Germans on the hillside have been eliminated. At present, the troops are on guard at the position on the hillside. We are here for your order. "¡° Well done, comrades of the two commanders. " I went up and patted them on the shoulder, praised them, and added: "let the troops continue to stay on the hillside as a guard to ensure the smooth passage of the breakout."¡° Comrade major, "Lieutenant ugad continued," when we met with the friendly forces on the hillside just now, a young commander heard your name and said on his own initiative that he had fought side by side with you. He wanted to see you. I don''t know if he could? "¡° Who will be the commander I have fought with? " In nearly a year, I have fought in many places, with thousands of commanders fighting side by side. In a hurry, I can''t remember who it is. I bowed my head for a long time. I couldn''t get to the point. I looked up at ugad and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, where is the commander of the friendly army?"¡° I''m here, comrade major. " With the sound, a young commander came out of the tank and asked with a smile, "I''ve fought with you before. Do you remember me?"¡° Lieutenant akhromeyev, "I didn''t expect to meet two acquaintances who had fought near here. I took two quick steps, grabbed his arms, slapped them hard, and said excitedly," it''s you. I didn''t expect you to bring troops to help us out. " The lieutenant said with a smile: "Comrade major, I came to the rescue of the second shock group army with the training team of the second lieutenant on the order of general meletzkov. I didn''t expect to meet you as soon as I broke the German encirclement. "

 Chapter 330

    Breaking through the German siege was originally a happy thing, but I felt a little uneasy. If the Germans were so easy to deal with, it is estimated that the encirclement would have been broken by other forces long ago, and the second shock group army, which was once strong and powerful, would not be in danger of running out of ammunition and food.


    After chatting with lieutenant akhromeyev for a while, I went up the hill with him to see the commanding heights on both sides of the passage we had just captured.


    We walked up the hillside on the left, past the bodies of the Soviet and German soldiers who had not been cleaned up. Coming to the top of the slope, we can see that there are crisscross trenches everywhere, and the corpses are piled up in the trenches. It seems that even with the firepower support from our tanks, the troops attacking the positions still paid huge casualties.


    Akhromeyev and I found a relatively clean trench and raised our telescope to observe the enemy situation in the north, because it is said that the surviving German soldiers ran in this direction. I don''t know. I was startled to see that there was a German position in the north. I could clearly see the helmets shaking in the trenches.


    When I was thinking about whether to let akhromeyev and I join forces to open the way with the tanks of the 29th tank brigade and launch a round of attack on the German position, Sergeant grasimenko, who I sent to the division headquarters to report, hurried back to recover his life.


    Under the leadership of the soldiers, Sergeant grasimenko came to me and said in a loud voice, "Comrade major, I have been ordered to report to the division headquarters. I have completed my task and returned safely. I''m waiting for your order."


    I put down my telescope, turned to look at him and asked, "do you have any latest orders from the division headquarters?"


    "Yes, comrade major." Sergeant gracimenko replied, "Sir, I have brought you the latest orders. The task is: to organize the soldiers of yevgeni regiment and the former three battalions, and set up Fortifications on the highlands on both sides of the passage. Because the Germans may attempt a counterattack. They are not allowed to step back without orders. All the troops must be nailed to the positions like nails! Similarly, the troops are not allowed to move forward until they get further orders from the division headquarters. "


    After listening to the sergeant''s command, I asked akhromeyev, who was still holding a telescope to observe the enemy situation in the distance: "Comrade lieutenant, what do you think of this command? If we join forces and make a surprise attack on the Germans in the north, we will certainly be able to inflict heavy damage on them. " The reason why I say this is that during the observation just now, I found that the German troops were in motion. If they had completed the build-up of their forces and then launched a large-scale counter offensive, it was still a question whether we could stop them with our existing forces. Therefore, I intend to use the tanks and infantry sent by the front army to organize an attack on the German army and drive them as far away as possible to ensure the safety of the passage.


    After the last battle, I think the lieutenant is an excellent commander who not only has fighting spirit, but also knows how to grasp fighters. If he can agree to send troops to cooperate with us, we will be sure to defeat the former German army again.


    This time, however, akhromeyev''s reaction was somewhat unexpected. He put down his telescope, remained silent for a while, sighed, and replied clearly, "Comrade major, I''m sorry that although your proposal is very good, I can''t agree with it. You know, the order I received was to assault from east to west along the narrow gauge railway to meet the breakout forces of the second assault group army. Once the two armies meet, my task is to defend in place, and never retreat or attack until I get new orders. " At this point, he stopped for a moment and kindly reminded me, "Comrade major, I know you are a very good commander, but the orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed. Since the orders you have received are the same as mine, I suggest that you immediately let your soldiers reinforce the existing fortifications to deal with the possible counterattack of the Germans. "


    Akhromeyev said that. I was so angry that I felt the impulse to smash the telescope in my hand directly on his face. I presume that you are still a young and promising commander. You are also sticking to the rules and don''t know how to adapt to circumstances. You don''t even know how to grasp such a good fighter plane.


    Although there is an impulse to beat him in my heart, I can only think about it and can''t really put it into practice. You should know that he is only an executor. In his education, the orders of the superior must be carried out in all circumstances, and no one is allowed to question or discuss them.


    With a snort, I did not pay any attention to him. Instead, I raised my telescope again indignantly and observed the movement of the German army in the distance quietly. There were more and more figures shaking in the trenches, but I didn''t find any tanks or artillery on the enemy''s position, so I could hold the position even if I started fighting.


    Seeing that there was no sign of the enemy''s attack for the time being, I put down my telescope, called captain kozhala and lieutenant ugad who were not far away, and began to give them orders: "Captain kozhala, leave a hundred soldiers here, and then you take the remaining two hundred people to the hillside over there to build fortifications, so as to prevent the possible German attack." Then I said to ugad, "Comrade lieutenant, now the seven and eight companies are merged, and the 100 people drawn from the yevgeni regiment are responsible for fortifying this hillside. Remember, when fortifying fortifications, more blasting holes should be dug to reduce the casualties of soldiers when they are attacked by German artillery. Do you understand? "


    Two people agree neatly: "assure to finish a task!" Next, they took their own troops into designated positions and began to reinforce and improve the fortifications. I turned my eyes to akhromeyev, who was standing on one side, and said coldly, "Comrade lieutenant, since your task is to cooperate with us in fortifying and defending. Then take your troops to the high ground on the right and help captain kozhala defend When akhromeyev saw that my attitude towards him suddenly became extremely cold, he was stunned for a moment and immediately understood what was going on. With a bitter smile, he stood at attention and saluted me. He replied loudly, "yes, comrade major. I''m going to assemble the team and go into the position with captain kozala. " After sending captain kozala and lieutenant akhromeyev away, I raised my telescope again to look around. There are forests and swamps on both sides of the highland. If the Germans want to cut off our traffic, they must attack from the north. After watching for a long time, I didn''t see that the Germans wanted to attack. I couldn''t help feeling sleepy. After yawning a few times, I found a shelter that belonged to the German army and went to sleep. Before going to bed, I specially told grasimenko standing at the door: "sergeant, I''ll have a rest first. If it''s nothing serious, don''t let anyone disturb me. Do you understand? "¡° Yes, comrade major. Please rest assured that I will not let anyone disturb you until you wake up. " I nodded with satisfaction, got into the shelter, lay down on a march bed in the corner and began to make up for my doze. I didn''t have a good rest for several days. As soon as I got to bed, I fell asleep unconsciously. I don''t know how long later, I was woken up by the noise outside. I raised my hand and looked at the time. It was already ten o''clock in the morning. In order to find out why it''s so noisy outside, I sat up, rubbed my face with my hands, went out and asked aloud, "Comrade sergeant, what''s going on outside, why it''s so noisy?" Sergeant grasimenko, who was on guard at the gate, saluted me and replied, "report to the major that the succeeding troops are retreating from the passageway at the foot of the hill. There are too many people to wake you up." I climbed out of the trench and stood at a high place to look down. The narrow track passage down the slope was full of retreating troops. Without locomotives and wagons, the retreating troops had to leave on foot. At present, the troops passing through from below should belong to the field hospital. In the middle is a carriage, some carrying the wounded, some carrying drugs and medical equipment; On the left side is a stretcher team composed of soldiers. They carry the heavy wounded who can''t move and move forward slowly with the team; The right side of the light wounded, or head bandage or arm hanging in front of the chest, can walk independently, moving forward their own feet, slightly injured, put their hands on the shoulders of the soldiers, supported by them. Just at this time, there was the shrill whistling of shells in the air¡° Shelling I suddenly had this idea in my mind. Almost at the same time, the shell exploded on the hillside and lifted the soil high. I turned and ran into the trench. Without a few steps, a shell fell on the place where I was standing and exploded. The blast with a strong force, hard hit my back, will bring my body forward, hard fell into the trench.

 Chapter 331

    I fell so hard that I was born one Buddha and two Buddhas ascended to heaven. I stayed in the trench for a long time and didn''t move.


    The German shells rained down and burst into a sea of fire all around our position. The sound of explosion was deafening. I know that the passageway under the hillside, just like us, is suffering from the rampage of gunfire, and the line of the field hospital cannot escape the fate of heavy casualties. But at the moment, under such heavy shelling, I can''t hear screams or gunshots. Apart from explosions, there are still explosions!


    The earth fell and hit me as if the sky had fallen and the mountain had fallen. The soil falling from the air is like a quilt, covering my body. I covered my mouth and nose with my hands, so as not to get into the mud and suffocate myself.


    I don''t know how long it took, but suddenly it was quiet outside. Then I vaguely heard someone blowing the whistle, and then someone shouting repeatedly: "enter the position, the enemy is coming up! Hurry into the position, the enemy is coming up! "


    I wriggled hard, trying to arch all the earth on my body. My action startled the soldier next to me. He rushed over and pulled me out of the soil with his hands and feet, and asked with concern, "how about it? Are you all right? "


    "There should be no problem!" With that, I patted the clay on my shoulder and stood up on the earth wall. Maybe it was because I stood up so hard that I felt dizzy for a while. I stood up against the earth wall for a long time before I got back to normal.


    Looking around, the German artillery bombardment just now caused obvious damage to our army. Many parts of the trench collapsed. There were many bodies lying in the trench and many wounded people groaning in pain.


    The telescope and assault rifle, after falling into the trench just now, didn''t know where they were. Seeing a lot of guns and ammunition scattered on the ground, I grabbed a rifle, bent down along the trench and ran to the command post I remembered.


    Thankfully, the command post that appeared in my view was still intact, so I went in.


    Lieutenant ugad was holding up his telescope to check the enemy''s situation. Seeing that I suddenly broke in, he first stayed for a while, then relaxed and asked with concern, "where are you from? Comrade major. "


    I sat down on the stool beside the wooden table, patting the dust on my body and answering, "from the trench. Hell, it was buried alive at the time of the shelling. What''s going on out there? "


    "Very bad, comrade major." He handed me his telescope and said, "as soon as the shelling was over, their infantry attacked us under the cover of tanks. It''s fast approaching at the moment. "


    I put the rifle in my hand against the table, took the telescope in his hand and came to the observation hole to observe the enemy situation. The attacking German army, with two tanks as its forerunners, rushed to our position in a fierce manner. Hundreds of German soldiers with various weapons and bent over trotted behind.


    I looked at the command post. In addition to wugad, there were soldiers standing guard at the gate. Just as he was about to call the soldier in for the assignment, Sergeant grasimenko, a temporary guest of my guard, came in shouting, "Comrade lieutenant, comrade lieutenant. I''ve searched everywhere, but I haven''t found Comrade major. I don''t know if she is... "


    "Here I am, comrade sergeant." I knew that his gaffe was because I was worried about my safety, so I immediately interrupted the words behind him, went to pat him on the shoulder and said gratefully, "I''m safe, thank you!"


    The sergeant didn''t say anything, just straightened up and stood in front of me like a telegraph pole, waiting for my order.


    Now that the sergeant is here, I don''t call the sentry at the gate any more. Instead, I give him a direct order: "Sergeant comrade, go down the hill immediately and find captain vitorganov of the 29th tank brigade. Let''s say I said, let him drive the tank to the hillside immediately. We need his firepower to cover here. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade major. I promise to finish the task. " With that, Sergeant gracimenko turned and ran out of the command post. He went down the hill to convey my orders to captain vitorganov.


    As soon as the sergeant left, Lieutenant ugad came up to me with a solemn salute and said, "Comrade major, please allow me to command the troops in the trench."


    "Go, lieutenant. Good luck The soldiers in the trench came from several different companies and really needed a commander with rich combat experience like ugad to command them, so I agreed to his request without hesitation.


    German tanks soon approached our trench, one of which was destroyed by the antitank fire on the position, and then the antitank position was destroyed by the shells of the remaining German tank. Ugad sent several soldiers out of the trench with grenades in an attempt to kill the damned tank. As a result, the soldiers were either swept down by the machine guns on the tank or hit by the German soldiers following.


    At this time, a stream of soil burst up next to the approaching tank, and an explosion sounded. Several German soldiers were thrown to the ground by shrapnel.


    "What''s going on? Did Lt. miducci''s mortar platoon fire? " The idea flashed through my mind.


    Then there was another explosion. This time, it hit the tank directly, smoke came out of the observation hole of the tank, the body shook and stopped.


    Can mortars also destroy tanks? I was thinking, and the roar of motors came to my ears. Then several T34 appeared in my field of vision, and they rushed to the German infantry who had lost the cover of tanks at high speed. It dawned on me that it was captain vitorganov''s tank troops.


    Seeing our tank troops coming up, ugad jumped out of the trench with a submachine gun in his hand. He looked back and yelled at the soldiers, and then he took the lead to rush down. Then, I was glad to see groups of soldiers jump out of the trench. They passed ugad and rushed forward.


    The German attack was repulsed. Captain vitorganov''s tank troops and ugad''s infantry pursued only a few hundred meters and returned to their positions after annihilating the invading German troops.


    In the battle just now, the troops on the Highlands suffered heavy casualties. Even the wounded were included in the whole position, but there were only 126 people, barely a company. However, the casualties were even more serious. The field hospital was crowded in the passageway. When the wounded troops were attacked by German artillery, they had no place to run or hide. The wounded and medical staff fell down in pieces. After overturning, the burning carriage and the crooked remains of soldiers were scattered in the passage full of craters, and the smell of burnt human flesh floated in the air.


    I stood on the top of the hillside, looking at the miserable situation in the passage below, and wanted to cry without tears.


    Lieutenant ugad, with his arms hanging from his chest, came up to me and said in a low voice, "Comrade major, Mr. anchufiev and commander habi, they are here."


    I looked to the West. At the entrance of the passage, there were several commanders in big eaves hats, commanding the new troops to clean up the bodies in the passage. Although it was a little far away, I could see that among the commanders were Colonel anchufiev and Lieutenant Colonel habi.


    I sighed, trotted down the hill and came to them. Just as I was about to raise my hand to salute the report, I found that there was a well-known major general of medium build and thin face standing beside Colonel anchufiev. I couldn''t help hesitating for a moment. I didn''t know who to report to.


    Seeing my dilemma, anchufiev pointed to the general and said, "this is general privalov from the headquarters of the group army. Please report to him."


    General privalov, it''s a familiar name. I seem to have heard it somewhere before. But at the moment, I didn''t care to think about it. I went directly to the general and saluted him: "report to general Comrade, major oshanina, we have broken through the encirclement of the German army and joined the reinforcements of the front army. At your command. "


    The major general raised his hand to his forehead, returned a salute and said slowly, "good job, comrade major. Now that you have broken through the siege, you can take your troops and escort the field hospital to miyas nebol area. "


    I feel a little puzzled about general privalov''s inexplicable order. You know, there are still Germans near the passage. They may launch another attack at any time and cut off this narrow corridor. The first thing we need to do is to organize our troops to sweep away the enemies who are entrenched near the traffic line, or to strengthen the defensive forces on the highlands on both sides of the passage, so as to ensure the smooth flow of this road.


    Thinking of this, I retorted: "Comrade General, you should know that the Germans are still camping hundreds of meters away from here. They may attack at any time. If we withdraw our troops, they will be able to close the channel which our army has managed to get through again at any time. "


    General privalov glared at me and said sternly, "major oshanina, don''t you know that the orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed?" At this moment, I suddenly remember who the general in front of me was. He was the commander of the whole army that broke through the encirclement to the north a few days ago. I didn''t expect that he came here again to command blindly. Thinking of this, my hand could not help but feel the holster around my waist.


    "Major o''shanina," commander harpy suddenly yelled, and I got to attention in a hurry, and the movement of touching the holster ended inadvertently. He said, "please tell general privalov the reason why we can''t withdraw the troops."


    "Yes, comrade commander." I promised, turned to face general privalov and stated my reasons to him: "Comrade General, although we have opened the way to break through, the Germans are trying to encircle us again. Not long ago, they launched an attack on us. You see, "I continued, pointing to the mountain of corpses in the passage," these soldiers died under the German artillery fire. It was with the support of the 29th tank brigade that we eliminated the attacking enemy. From what we have just observed, we can see that the enemy is deploying a new attack. If the troops defending the highlands are withdrawn at this time, and once the enemy attacks again, they can easily occupy the highlands on both sides and re block this hard to get through passage. "


    On hearing what I said, Colonel anchufiev helped me and said, "general privalov, I think major oshanina has a point. The troops on the highlands on both sides cannot retreat. They must be strengthened to cover the retreat of the main forces of the group."


    To his surprise, general privalov waved his hand and interrupted the colonel. He said obstinately, "well, comrade Colonel, you don''t have to say that. Since major oshanina felt it necessary to hold fast, let her troops stay on the high ground. As for the reserves, we don''t have enough people to cover the evacuation of the wounded now, so we don''t have to send any more troops to her. You leave some people to clean up the bodies and clear out the roads as soon as possible. Let''s go With that, he left with several commanders. Hobby, who had fallen behind, looked at me awkwardly. His mouth twitched. He wanted to say something, but he didn''t say it. He turned to chase general privalov who was in front of them.

 Chapter 332

    slap in the face! This is absolutely a slap in the face!


    I looked at the back of general privalov and trembled with anger. I didn''t expect that a general would say such selfish and irresponsible words. You''re out of the encirclement safely. What about those commanders and fighters who are still in the encirclement? Once the gap is closed again by the German army, the main force of the group army will be wiped out.


    When I think of his blind command, which killed thousands of elite troops of the group army in vain, I am even more angry. Thinking of this, my hand reached back, opened the holster, held the cold handle of the pistol, and slowly pulled out the gun. Although general privalov has been 20 meters away, I can definitely kill him with one shot.


    "Comrade major, you are here. I''ve been looking for you everywhere! " Just as I was about to raise my gun, ahlomeyev''s voice came not far away. I followed him and saw him trotting towards me from the hillside on the right. With a wry smile, I put the gun back in the holster and said that if he showed up ten seconds later, general privalov would be my dead soul.


    When he stood at attention in front of me, I asked first, "Comrade lieutenant, did you suffer a lot in the German shelling?" Because it is a temporary position, although the two highlands are 100 meters apart, there is no telephone to contact, so I can''t keep up with the latest situation of the highlands on the other side.


    He waved his head vigorously and replied, "there are not many shells on our position. Only three soldiers were slightly injured because they didn''t escape in time."


    "What do you want from me?"


    He pointed to the passage between the two hillsides and said, "Comrade major, look at the terrain here. If you need someone to maintain order, speed up the passage of troops. Otherwise, as long as the Germans bombard this area continuously, our army will make a great sacrifice. "


    I thought what he said was reasonable. After pondering for a while, I asked, "Comrade lieutenant, how many people are there in your second lieutenant training team?"


    "There are 84 people, including me."


    "84 people, not a small number. Comrade lieutenant, it''s up to you to maintain the order of this passage. Now the first thing to do is to take people to clean up the remains of those soldiers in the passage. Remember, move fast. No one knows when the Germans will attack again. "


    Akhromeyev agreed, saluted and turned to carry out my orders.


    I looked at the back of general privalov who had gone away, snorted indignantly, and then walked up the hillside. Although I hate him to the bone, there are still many things to do. I don''t know how long we need to hold on here and how long we can hold on with our strength in order to ensure the smooth passage of the army. However, as long as one person is still alive, this defense can not be relaxed, otherwise, when the Germans fight, the commanders and fighters who are still in the encirclement will become turtles in the urn.


    Seeing me walking up the hill, ugad came quickly. As soon as he came to me, he asked anxiously, "Comrade major, why did the teacher leave without saying anything?"


    I didn''t answer his question immediately. I glanced behind him and found sergeant grasimenko and some of my guards were there. So I told them, "sergeant, go and call captain vitorganov of the tank brigade to the command post."¡° You call lieutenant miducci¡° You go to the opposite highland and bring captain kozala over


    After several guards were sent away, I said to ugad, "Lieutenant, come with me to the command post and wait for us to arrive. Besides, it''s not too late."


    Back in the command post, I sat down on a stool, staring at the map on the table in a daze. Seeing that I was in a bad mood, ugad dared to ask again. He poured me a cup of tea with his uninjured hand and put it on my hand respectfully.


    After a while, several commanders I called came. After calling them to sit down, I exchanged a few simple greetings, and then repeated to them what general privalov had just said at the foot of the hill.


    As soon as I finished, Lieutenant ugad jumped up and said angrily, "how can the general do this? You know, the Germans are hundreds of meters away from us. Now their shells have only hit here, causing us so many casualties. If we let them occupy the highlands on both sides of the passage again, we can completely block our retreat with a few machine guns. No, we must not retreat. "


    "Yes, Lieutenant ugard is right." I stood up with my hand on the edge of the table and said to everyone, "since we broke the siege, let''s shoulder the responsibility of sticking to the high ground on both sides of the passage. As long as there is still one person in the highland, we can never give up. Let the cowards who are afraid of death go, and the less the panicked people stay, the better. I''m not on a defensive mission next. "


    At this point, I looked at the commanders sitting in the room, and then named the tank captain vitorganov: "Captain vitorganov."


    "Here it is The captain agreed loudly and stood up.


    "How many tanks are there in your camp?"¡° Report to the major, there are twelve more. " When he said this, he shrugged his shoulders at the people around him and said, "originally, I brought 20 tanks. In the fierce battle to break the siege, eight of them withdrew from the battle. There is not much left, but it is enough to teach those Germans who threaten us I nodded to his reply, expressing satisfaction, and then said, "Comrade captain, you drive all your tanks to the south of the hillside to hide. In this way, we can not only avoid German shelling, but also quickly fight when we want to attack. " Vitorganov agreed and sat down¡° Captain kozala, Lieutenant ugad. " I called two names this time¡° Here we are Kozala and ugad stood up together and promised me loudly¡° Your task is to continue to reinforce the existing fortifications. Remember, to dig more holes, which can effectively reduce the casualties of commanders and fighters in the encounter of artillery¡° I see! " After answering the questions, they sat down again. When the two sat down, I called the last man''s name: "Lieutenant miducci."¡° Here we go! Lieutenant miducci is at your command¡° Comrade lieutenant, you take your mortar platoon and deploy it on lieutenant ugad''s position. When the Germans attack on a large scale, you try your best to kill the enemy''s infantry with artillery fire. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade major. I promise to finish the task. " After the assignment, I waved my hand and said, "now that the assignment is clear, go ahead and carry it out." The four stood up, saluted me and walked out of the command post.

 Chapter 333

    After the assignment, I said in my heart: in any case, within my ability, I have done all the things I can do. As for how long this highland can last, I can only let fate decide.


    I have nothing to do, carrying the rifle picked up around.


    In the trench, the soldiers were reinforcing the fortification. When they saw me walking past, they stopped their work and stood at attention.


    At the foot of the hillside, Lieutenant akhromeyev is directing his men to carry the bodies of the dead soldiers one by one to the side of the road. Then, Captain vitorganov''s tanks will join the bulldozer to push the burned carriages away from the road and make way for the subsequent troops.


    Looking at the troops that are passing one after another, there is no rush, no congestion, and everything is going on in an orderly way, I can''t help nodding my head secretly. I feel that akhromeyev is really a talent. If he doesn''t die in the battle, he will surely be outstanding in the future.


    Just then, I heard sergeant grasimenko, the monitor of the guard, calling me. He turned around and saw that he was walking towards me with some commanders in big cornice hats. Although I didn''t know who was coming, I took the initiative.


    I quickly saw that the commander, who was a little old behind the sergeant, was a colonel. The rest of them were also school level officers. They ran two steps quickly and came to them. They raised their hands at attention and said, "Hello, comrade Colonel! Major oshanina, commander of the 1127th regiment, reports to you and is at your command. "


    After the Colonel saluted me, he said with a smile, "Hello, major oshanina. I''m the commander of the 58th infantry brigade, Colonel zhizoulif Then he reached out to me and said, "I''ve heard your name on many occasions. I didn''t expect to see you here today."


    I was a little surprised to hear that, so I shook hands with him and asked curiously, "Comrade Colonel, have you heard of me? It''s not very possible. You know, I''ve only been in front of warhoff for three months


    Colonel zhicao Lifu stepped up his efforts and said with a smile, "major oshanina, I''m old comrades in arms with the commander of the 54th group army, feijiuningsky, and the commander of the 52nd group army, Yakovlev. At the same time, general Zhukov is also my old superior. In the conversation with me, they mentioned you more than once and praised you very much, So I was very impressed. "


    Before I could speak, he went on, "o''shanina, what are you doing here?"


    Pointing to the busy soldiers on the hillside, I replied with a wry smile: "the fortifications are being reinforced on the hillside, and the troops of the group army are being directed through this narrow corridor on the hillside. And I''m looking at the progress of this work. "


    Zizoulif raised his telescope and looked around for a while. Then he pointed to the area where the German troops were deployed, frowned and said, "major oshanina, why are there German positions there? We should know that their position is so close to us that if they launch an attack, it is likely to cut off the narrow corridor behind us. In that case, the follow-up forces of the group army will be besieged again. "


    I said with a bitter smile, "Comrade Colonel, I share your opinion. He specially reminded the superior of this problem, but it was ignored. At present, what I can do is to deploy the troops that I can command here and hold the high ground as long as possible, so as to ensure that more commanders can stand out from the encirclement. "


    When I said this, rizaolifu was furious and asked angrily, "who is it? Who is your superior commander? We should know that this kind of behavior is a crime, which is to ignore the lives of more than 100000 officers and soldiers of our group army. Who is your superior commander? I will go to general meletskov and accuse him. "


    I said in a low voice, "I''m under the command of Colonel anchufiev of the 327th division, but it''s general privalov of the group command who won''t let more troops stay to defend the highlands."


    "Privalov?" Hearing this name, rizaolifu''s anger weakened a little. No matter what, other people''s ranks were higher than him, so he had to be cautious. He walked back and forth in front of me a few times with his hands behind his back, stopped and said, "general privalov has worked with me, and there is no denying that he is a brave soldier. But he also has many shortcomings, the most important of which is that his concept of war is a little old-fashioned, and he is often indecisive when the war situation is chaotic and unfavorable. " At this point, he stopped, looking down and frowning, as if thinking about something.


    After a long time, he looked up at me and asked, "Comrade major, please answer me seriously. If I give you more troops and provide artillery cover, can you take the German position over there? "


    I looked at the German position in the distance, nodded hard, and said sincerely, "Comrade Colonel, if you can supply me with 300 men, I will attack the enemy position."


    "I''ll give you a regiment." Rizaolifu said boldly. Then he turned around and told a commander behind him: "commander ceremnov, how many people are there in your regiment?"


    The tall and burly lieutenant commander immediately stepped forward and replied loudly, "report to brigade commander, there are 1500 people in the 174th regiment. The regiment is fully equipped and ready to fight at any time."


    Rizaolifu nodded with satisfaction and said to me, "major oshanina, I''ll give you this regiment." Then he said to Lt. Col. cheremnoff, "from now on, comrade commander, you are under the command of major oshanina. She said how to fight, you will listen to, to carry out her orders. Do you understand? "¡° Yes After a promise, the commander came to me, raised his hand and saluted me, saying, "major oshanina, commander of 174th regiment of 58th infantry brigade, lieutenant general chelemonov, reports to you and is waiting for your order." I was moved to tears by the trust of Colonel zhizolifu. I held his hand tightly and said thank you repeatedly. The Colonel let go of my hand and said, "Comrade o''shanina, time is running out. You can give orders as soon as possible." With a promise, I squatted down and simply piled up a battlefield sand table with the soil dug out of the trench. Then I found a broken branch and explained my battle plan to them. I lit the high mound and said, "this is the hillside where we are now. The artillery battalion directly under the brigade will be deployed here later." I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was 6:20 in the evening. Then I said, "from 6:50, the artillery began to bombard the German positions. At the end of the ten minute bombardment, our tanks went out and the infantry followed After listening to my introduction, rizaolifu nodded and said, "do as you say." Then he stretched out, "the troops should be deployed as soon as possible and ready to fight at any time. I''ve been walking all day and I''m tired. I''ll find a place to have a rest first. "¡° Wait, comrade colonel. " Seeing that he was going, I stopped him and added, "I haven''t finished yet." Seeing that he stopped, I went on, but this time I was telling lieutenant colonel chelemnoff: "Comrade lieutenant colonel, when infantry attack, the attack formation must be kept loose, so as to ensure that the probability of overlapping between the front and rear platoons is not high."¡° But, comrade major. " After listening to me, cheremnoff interrupted me and asked, "if the formation is loose, it is impossible to guarantee intensive fire output in attack." I waved my hand and said what I just wanted to say: "Comrade commander, you don''t know. If you really use the traditional dense formation, the impact effect is often very bad. If the formation is too dense, the weapons of the people behind our army will not be used, and the other party''s weapon hit rate will be greatly increased, which will in vain increase unnecessary casualties of our army. "¡° Major oshanina is right, commander chelemonov. Just follow her plan. " Seeing that zhecholiv''s position firmly supported my statement, ceremnov had no choice but to agree and turned to deploy troops. Rizaolifu said to another major, "major awakov, don''t be idle. Go and transfer your artillery battalion and prepare to teach the Germans a good lesson later." The major agreed and turned away. Rizaolifu stretched again and yawned exaggeratively. Seeing this, I immediately told sergeant grasimenko, "sergeant, the colonel is tired. Take him to the command post to have a rest." Grasimenko agreed, then made a gesture to zhecholif and said respectfully, "Comrade Colonel, please follow me. I''ll take you to the command post."

 Chapter 334

    With the regiment provided by Colonel zhicaolif for free, my mood suddenly became very good. I now command more than 1000 people, nearly 2000, plus artillery and tank support, to clean up the opposite of the German guy, it is not easy and pleasant to chop melons and vegetables. Because of this, I now have leisure, standing on the hillside, smilingly looking down at the deployment of troops.


    Major awakov''s artillery barracks were towed by wagons. At the foot of the slope, the driver stopped the carriage, helped the artillery to unload the guns, and then drove the carriage far away so as not to hinder the traffic. Awakov was an experienced artillery commander. He was down the slope directing the artillery soldiers to push their guns to the high ground on both sides. Ten guns were placed on the high ground in the north. There was a big gap between the guns. According to him, this was the channel for tanks to attack. The remaining 20 guns were deployed in the southern highlands, where he himself stayed to command.


    The infantry regiment of commander ceremnov also entered the south side of the hillside and began to arrange troops. A dozen neat infantry squads, like a carpet, quickly covered the south side of the whole hillside.


    The 58th brigade''s signalmen are not idle either. They are laying telephone lines between the two Highlands, so that communication between the two highlands can be avoided by sending correspondents or shouting.


    I walked to a tank in front of the troop line, turned the butt of the gun and knocked on the turret twice. Soon the top cover came open. Then captain vitorganov came out of the tank and asked in a loud voice, "Comrade major, do you have any instructions?"


    "Captain vitorganov, your attention please." Although I had just given him a task, I was still not sure, so I told him again: "the artillery will start shooting at the German position at 6:50. Your tank troops will attack immediately after the shelling starts, and they must rush into their position before the German has a good memory of the shelling. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade major. I''ve already conveyed your order to all the soldiers. As soon as the time comes, we will rush to the German positions. When they find out, we have rushed to them and started to deal with them with tank shells and machine gun bullets. "


    I was very satisfied with the captain''s reply, nodded and walked over from the infantry square.


    Cheremnoff and several commanders gathered around to discuss something. When they saw me, they stood up straight and said, "major oshanina, Hello! Commander cheremnoff reports to you that the 174th regiment is deploying combat missions. Please give instructions! "


    "Please go on!" After that, I turned and went to the command post. Anyway, the infantry was under the command of such an experienced commander, so I didn''t have to worry about it.


    Back to the command post, I found that it was quite busy here. There were sentinels standing guard at the door, and commanders at all levels came in and out of the room from time to time. On the wooden table next to Colonel zhicao Lifu, I don''t know when there were several telephones. It was through these telephones that he kept in touch with his subordinates.


    When I went in, he just finished a phone call and saw me enter the door. He immediately asked me to sit down and offered me a cup of hot tea. After all this, he asked, "is everything ready outside?"


    I put the cup on the table and stood up to answer, "yes, comrade colonel. As soon as the time is up, the artillery will be able to fire at the German position. "


    He raised his hands and pressed them down, motioned to me to sit down, and said politely, "major o''shanina, don''t worry. This is your territory. Take it easy." Then he looked down at his wrist watch and said, "there are two minutes left."


    Just then, a lieutenant came in breathlessly, came to him and handed him a piece of paper: "report to Comrade Colonel, this is a telegram just sent by the headquarters of the group army."


    Rizaolifu answered with a smile, said thank you to the lieutenant, and then looked down at the telegram. Without looking at a few lines, his face became very serious.


    Just as rizzolif was reading the telegram, a major commander came up to me, raised his hand and looked at my watch. Then he picked up the phone on the desk, shook the handle a few times, and said to the microphone, "is it major awakov? I''m the chief of staff. Are you ready? "


    After receiving the other party''s reply, he covered the microphone with his hand and said to rizaolifu, "Comrade brigade commander, major awakov has made all preparations and is waiting for your final order."


    Almost at the same time that rizaolifu took over the microphone, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. The time just pointed to 6:50. I raised my head and waited for zhizolifu to issue the final order to his subordinates.


    Unexpectedly, Cao Lifu took a deep breath and kept silent for at least ten seconds. Then he said something startling: "Comrade major, I order: the original artillery mission will be cancelled, all artillery will withdraw from the position and quickly turn east." With that, he hung up decisively without waiting for the other party to have a chance to say anything.


    "Comrade Colonel, why is that?" When I heard the inexplicable order he suddenly issued, I couldn''t help being a little anxious. I stood up in a hurry and asked, "why should I suddenly cancel the order of shelling?"


    Not only me, but also his chief of staff was at a loss. When everything was ready and ready to attack the enemy at any time, the plan was suddenly cancelled, and no one could understand. Colonel zhicao Lifu handed the paper to the chief of staff, and then said to me in a low voice, "major oshanina, I''m sorry. Just received a call from the headquarters of the group army, saying that the German army is launching an attack on the miasnebol area, and the 59th group army is retreating in that area. In order to prevent the retreat of the group army from being cut off, our brigade should quickly rush to the area to support the 59th group army. " Then he waved to his chief of staff and the rest of the room and said, "pack up and we''ll go right away." Then he apologetically said to me, "besides the artillery, I will take the 174th infantry. This is the order of the superior. I can''t disobey it. I can only say sorry to you. " With that, he patted me on the shoulder, sighed and turned away. With the departure of Colonel zhicao Lifu, I fell down on the stool as if I had been drained of all my strength. My mind was blank, and I watched the communication soldiers of the 58th brigade dismantling the telephone lines and telephones in the command post.

 Chapter 335

    "When the house leaks, it rains at night, and when the boat is late, it blows."


    Before the day when all the men of Col. tsoliv left, Capt. vitorganov and Lt. akhromeyev entered the command post together. When I saw them coming in, I suddenly had a bad feeling about something big. However, I was lucky enough to ask, "how did you two come together?"


    As they looked at each other, Captain vitorganov stepped forward and reported to me, "Comrade major, we have bad news for you. Just now, I received an order from the brigade commander through the car radio station, saying that the German army was launching an attack on the miasnebol area. I was ordered to immediately lead the whole battalion back along the original road to attack the flank of the German army. "


    When he finished, I turned my eyes to akhromeyev, who was standing beside him, and asked, "what about you? Comrade lieutenant, did you get the same order as him? "


    On hearing my question, akhromeyev nodded awkwardly and said, "yes, comrade major, I have received the same order. I will immediately lead my troops back to rescue the attacked 59th army."


    This is the end of the matter. I can''t go back. If they want to leave, they have to let them go. I took a deep breath, stabilized myself, stood up and waved to them, pretending to be generous and said, "now that you have received the order, go ahead and carry it out. We should know that the orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed or delayed. "


    They silently raised their hands, saluted me and turned to leave the command post.


    After all the people in the command post were gone, my mood was still not calm for a long time. It never occurred to me that the German offensives in other places led to a sharp decline in the situation, and the easy victory turned into nothing. What''s more, the commanders of the front army didn''t know what they thought. The 52nd and 59th army groups, with more than 100000 troops in the field, were evenly deployed on both sides of the supply line, which was tens of kilometers long. On the surface, these 100000 people defend the traffic lines like iron barrels, but in fact there are loopholes everywhere. The Germans can launch attacks from any location, while our troops, who defend the traffic lines, can only carry out passive defense and give up the initiative of the battlefield to the Germans.


    Not long after akhromeyev left, Lieutenant ugad, Lieutenant miducci and captain kozala came in again. Three people lined up in front of me. Captain kozhala first said, "Comrade major, I have something to report to you."


    When I heard him say that, I couldn''t help clapping in my heart. I secretly said that not even his troops would be transferred away, right? When I thought about it, I became more and more depressed. I asked feebly, "Comrade captain, have you received any instructions from your superiors?"


    Kozala nodded with great certainty and said, "yes, comrade major. The messenger sent by the division headquarters just now sent me a personal letter from the division commander, who ordered me to immediately lead the Eugene regiment, quickly move closer to the division headquarters and accept new combat tasks. "


    I slapped the table and interrupted him with a roar: "enough, comrade captain! Needless to say I got up and walked back and forth in the room with my hands on my back. The 58th brigade of zhechouliv has left, the tank battalion of captain vitorganov has left, and the second lieutenant training team of lieutenant akhromeyev has also left. Today, even the yevgeni regiment, which has only a few hundred people left, is not spared. If they all withdraw, there will be only 40 or 50 men left in seven or eight companies. I don''t care if the battalion commander becomes the platoon leader, as long as he has someone who can command. What I am worried about is that once the Germans find that their defense is weak and launch another attack, we will not be able to hold on at all, and the channel that is hard to open will be cut off by the enemy.


    I sat down again, my fingers tapping gently on the table, my brain running rapidly, thinking about the countermeasures. If it just made me feel lost that Col. zhizolifu, Lt. vitorganov and Lt. akhromeyev left with their troops, then at this moment I feel that I am almost besieged. Don''t expect to attack. It''s good to hold the position under the fierce German attack.


    "Comrade major, comrade major." Captain kozhala''s cry brought me back from my meditation. I remembered that the captain was still in the command post, waiting for my reply. So I quickly forced out a smile and said apologetically, "Comrade captain, I''m sorry, I shouldn''t have been angry with you just now." At the moment, I know very well in my heart that since the division commander has personally given orders, it is impossible to keep their troops. It''s better to be generous and let them go. Of course, you can''t let captain kozhala take all the people away. You have to leave some troops for me, or I will become a bare commander. I went on to say, "I think so. Because the northern highland is only a few hundred meters away from the German position, it is likely to be attacked at any time. Now there are only more than 100 people on the position, half of them belong to your regiment. If you withdraw the people, then the defense force will be greatly weakened, and once attacked, it will not be able to defend at all. So I suggest that you only lead the troops stationed on the south slope to leave, and leave all the soldiers on the north slope. I wonder if you agree? "


    When the captain heard what I said, he bowed his head and thought for a moment. Then he nodded his head vigorously and answered decisively, "Comrade major, I will obey your order. I''m going to leave with my troops on the south slope and let all the soldiers on the north slope stay. If the division commander asks, I will tell him that because there are German people close to the opening of the breakthrough corridor, in order to ensure the smooth passage, I sent troops to the dangerous area to guard. "


    "Thank you, comrade captain." I went up and held his hand tightly, shaking it hard. You should know that he left troops to me without authorization, but he also had to bear the risk. If an enemy informs me, he may even be in danger of going to a military court. The captain said faintly, "Comrade major, please take care. I hope we can meet again soon. " With that, he took his hand back, saluted me and turned away. After the captain went out, I looked at lieutenant ugad and lieutenant miducci standing straight in front of me, frowned and asked, "what''s the matter with you? Did you also receive the order from the commander, Lieutenant Colonel habi, or the division commander, Colonel anchufiev, that you should lead the troops to move When I asked this, I kept beating drums in my heart. If they wanted to withdraw, I would really become a bare commander. Lieutenant wugad grinned and said, "Comrade major, seeing that so many troops are going to leave, the soldiers are not sure. I''ve specially asked you to decide whether we should follow or stay." Perhaps for fear of my misunderstanding, he said in a more emphatic tone, "I will resolutely obey your order, whether it is to defend or to withdraw." I gave him a hard blow on the chest and said with a smile, "Comrade lieutenant, now you know, no matter what other people think, I''ll stay and stick to the position." At this point, I put on a face and said seriously, "go back and tell the soldiers that even if there is only one person left, they should be nailed to the position like nails, and they are not allowed to retreat. We need to know that behind us is the breakthrough channel which is related to the life and death of the group army. We have no way back. " Wugad and miducci raised their hands to salute and answered in a loud voice: "please rest assured, major. As long as there is a living soldier in the position, we will never let the enemy take over the position!"

 Chapter 336

    As a traverser, I am confident that the troops under my command will win when the number of troops and equipment of both sides is roughly equal. But I am absolutely not arrogant and confident that I can stick to such an important strategic point with the help of No. 100 commanders and fighters.


    Not to mention that the German army sent out large troops to attack, it was to carry out routine shelling on our positions every day. In a week''s time, there would be no living people left on the positions. I will stay and stick to this high ground, that is, I will try my best to do my best, and I only hope that more people from the second shock group army can break through.


    I came to hold the position with the determination to die. I didn''t expect that in the next two days, although the guns in the East kept ringing, the front of our position was calm. The German on the other side, let alone attacking, never even fired cold guns and cold guns. Our place seems to be a forgotten corner.


    Having nothing to do, I stood on the hillside to see the troops passing below. Two days ago, we had almost light troops. Today, in addition to the troops carrying heavy materials, there are also many civilians carrying simple luggage. Due to the large number of people and no one to maintain order, the whole passage seems crowded and people are moving forward slowly.


    At this moment, the carriage at the front suddenly overturned, and several heavy boxes rolled down and blocked the passage. Although the soldiers and civilians who followed behind, one after another bypassed the roadblocks from the slope of the hillside, the speed of the march was inevitably affected.


    I quickly trotted to the place where the car overturned and came to the group of commanders and fighters who were trying to lift the carriage up and reorganize the big box. I asked aloud, "which part are you from?"


    With my shouts, a political work cadre in a big cornice hat came up to me and said solemnly, "I''m the political commander of the battalion level, zalilov, and I''m the head of the editorial department of bravery daily of the second shock group army. Who are you? "


    I first pointed to the overturned carriage and replied, "I am major oshanina, commander of the 327th division, who is now in charge of defending the high ground of the passage. Comrade instructor, I would like to remind you that we are breaking through the encirclement and should try our best to be light, but you are carrying so many unnecessary materials. If you are attacked by the enemy, you and the troops behind you will be very dangerous. "


    Zarilov snorted from his nose and said in a sarcastic tone, "Comrade major, according to what you mean, what can we do to suit you?"


    His attitude was unfriendly, and I didn''t say it politely to him. I said coldly, "please immediately order your men to throw away everything except weapons, ammunition and grain and move forward with light weight."


    As for my reminder, he retorted unconvinced: "what right do you have to order me to know that these printing presses are valuable assets of the group army, and we should protect these equipment like our eyes."


    "Comrade instructor," although I wanted to get angry when I saw such political workers, I patiently said to him in order to restore the corridor as soon as possible, "although these equipment are precious, they are insignificant compared with the lives of our vast number of Red Army soldiers. Your moving speed has greatly slowed down the breakthrough speed of the troops. "


    "Comrade major, please don''t be alarmist. Even at the cost of our own lives, we have to protect these valuable printing equipment. " At this point, he paused and said in an emphatic tone, "besides, according to the regulations, political workers have the final decision-making power in the case of the same rank."


    "You...!" His words choked me so much that I couldn''t say anything. Since he has already brought out the regulations to suppress me, we are not in the same system. We really can''t do anything with him. So I can only glare at him, and then angrily turned back to the position.


    As soon as he entered the command post, Lieutenant ugad came in, saluted me and reported, "Comrade major, there is bad news. We are out of food."


    I had just sat down. As soon as I heard this, I jumped up from my stool and asked nervously, "Lieutenant ugad, is there no food in the army?"


    With a sad face, he nodded and said, "at the beginning of the breakthrough, the army had only three days of food left. Originally, we wanted to supplement after the siege broke out. Unexpectedly, we stopped here unexpectedly, and we didn''t get any supplement. So far, all the food has been eaten up and there is nothing left. "


    I''m out of food. This problem gives me a headache. If there were no food, we would not be able to last two days. Before the Germans came, the officers and men in the position would be too hungry to move. Next, what should we do, stay or go?


    In the middle of a dilemma, the sharp whistling of shells came from outside, followed by a violent explosion, which made the roof soil fall.


    Ugad yelled, "no, the Germans are going to attack." Then he patted the soil on his shoulder and said to me, "I''ll go to the position." He ran out.


    Seeing wugad running out, I suddenly understood: the Germans have not found any attack or shelling these days. They are not forgetting us. They are accumulating their strength and preparing to take our high ground to defend the breakthrough channel. It seems that today we are going to face this endless battle. When I think about it, I feel my back chilly and I can''t stop the cold sweat.

 Chapter 337

    The German army seemed to have a must for our position. Heavy artillery and mortar shells rained down on our position. I can see from the observation hole that the front position has been submerged in a thick smoke of gunpowder.


    I raised my telescope, trying to see the movement of the German army on the opposite side, to see if they sent infantry or tanks when they were shelling,. But everything was covered by smoke and nothing could be seen.


    The German shells landed on the positions one after another, exploding with flashing fire, deafening explosion, and shrapnel flying everywhere. Although the place I stayed in was quite safe, I was still scared to death. My legs were shaking like chaff. Fortunately, I was the only one in the command post, otherwise my positive image of fearing death in the face of danger would be completely destroyed.


    At this time, a shell exploded a few meters away from the command post, and the shock wave rushed directly into the command post from the observation hole, and the raised soil came to me like raindrops. I closed my eyes in time, so as not to be lost by the dust. Rao, I was still disheartened.


    I was worried that the command post would be collapsed by the shell, so I grabbed my rifle and bent down to run out of the command post.


    When we ran out of the command post, shells were exploding everywhere, and the smoke and dust were blocking the sky, as if night had suddenly come. Just when I didn''t know where to go, a shell exploded in front of the trench, which scared me to lie down on the ground and let the collapsing soil fall on me.


    I got up, bent down and continued to run along the trench. Suddenly another shell exploded in the trench not far in front of me. The huge air wave overturned me head-on, and the trenches on both sides collapsed in the explosion for a long time. Before I knew what was going on, half of my body had been buried in the soil.


    Before I struggled to climb out, another shell exploded nearby, and the soil fell down again, burying me tightly. After a whirl, I lost consciousness.


    I don''t know how long later, I felt someone shaking my body hard. I slowly opened my eyes and looked at the person shaking me in front of me. It seemed like the soldier I reunited with my husband and wife last time. What''s his name? Vassili, Andre, Amis or other names? I can''t remember. But why didn''t he make a sound when he opened his mouth so wide?


    The soldier saw that I opened my eyes, surprised my face, and opened my mouth. This time I vaguely heard his voice: "Comrade major, you wake up. It''s very good!" I don''t know if it''s because he talks less or someone has put a wad of cotton in my ear, which makes me unable to hear others clearly.


    After a while, I heard a faint sound of gunfire nearby. I had a violent cold war. I immediately realized that I was on the battlefield. I couldn''t hear the soldiers clearly just now, because I was injured by the shock wave of the shell explosion and my hearing was affected. At this time, I also remembered the name of the soldier in front of me, so I asked, "Ivan, what''s the situation in the position?"


    Ivan anxiously replied, "Comrade major, all the people in the position are dead. Let''s withdraw!"


    Hearing this, my heart sank and I asked, "where''s lieutenant ugad?"


    Ivan bowed his head and replied in a low voice, "Comrade Lieutenant has died. He was blown to pieces by the cannonball. He didn''t even leave a complete corpse. "


    "What about Lieutenant miducci?"


    "And sacrificed." Ivan continued: "immediately after the German artillery attack, hundreds of infantry attacked our positions under the cover of three tanks. Under the command of artillery, Lieutenant miducci bombarded the enemy infantry, once cutting off their contact with tanks and destroying many Germans. But our shells soon ran out, and the second lieutenant, holding a flask in his hand, rushed towards the enemy tanks and died with one of them. "


    "And then?" I continued.


    "After our first attack, the Germans retreated to their starting positions and fired again at our positions. This time, our surviving officers and soldiers were killed. Comrade major, the German infantry has begun a second attack. Let''s withdraw quickly. Otherwise, when they attack the position, we will be prisoners. " He said while trying to dig the soil, trying to dig me out of the soil as soon as possible.


    When I learned that almost all the officers and men who held the position had died, it was no longer meaningful for me to stay here. What I could do now was to find ways to get out of danger as soon as possible, so I quickly cooperated with Ivan to dig out the soil.


    When we fled the position, we could see the German helmets shaking in the trench. When I rushed down the hillside, I saw that there were no moving objects in the passage, and there were bloody bodies everywhere, some of them were officers and soldiers, and some of them were civilians who moved with the troops.


    I wonder if Ivan had already figured out that we would lose the battle, so he explored the way ahead of time. No, as soon as I got down from the position, he led me quickly into the boundless forest in the East. I followed him, running deep and shallow in the forest, out of breath, and the scenery in front of me gradually became blurred.


    When Ivan stopped, he told me, "Comrade major, come on! It should be safe here. Let''s have a rest. "


    I sat on the ground with my back against a big tree, gasping for breath.


    Before I could even out my breath, I suddenly heard a thunderous voice beside me: "who? No one''s going to move. Hands up


    I went to grab the rifle and found that when I ran away with Ivan just now, I didn''t care to get the gun. Fortunately, the pistol was still there. I quickly reached out to my back, opened the holster, pulled out the pistol and aimed at the position where the sound came from. And the unarmed Ivan, even a little resistance plan, obediently raised his hands.


    From behind the tree turned out two soldiers with rifles, a look at their helmets, wearing uniforms and wearing a hat on the body of the raincoat, you know it is their own people. I quickly dropped the muzzle of the gun, stood up and asked aloud, "what part of you are?"


    The other side saw that I put down my gun and lowered the muzzle of the gun, and replied, "we are the guard class of the editorial department of bravery."


    "The editorial department of bravery?" I thought of the political worker who had just stood up with me, and quickly asked, "is your person in charge a battalion political instructor, zalilov?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." The two soldiers listened to my command from the head of the editorial department, and their faces showed joyful expressions. They quickly asked, "when we were bombarded by the German just now, we ran away from the instructor. Do you know where they are? "


    I shook my head and said, "I''m sorry, comrade soldier. My soldiers and I just withdrew from the position and came here by mistake. I don''t know the whereabouts of instructor zarilov."


    Seeing the disappointed expression on the faces of the two soldiers, and looking at the disheartened face of Ivan and I, I suddenly felt that we should form a team with them, and then try to escape from the German encirclement to find the troops of the front army. So I asked tentatively, "Comrade soldier, since you are separated from the comrades in the editorial department, why don''t you come with us. When we get out of danger, it''s not too late to ask about the whereabouts of zarilov instructor


    "Yes, two friends." Ivan helped me and said, "the Germans have occupied the highlands on both sides of the passage now. If we go back, we will either be killed or captured. It''s better to find a way in the forest to escape from the German encirclement. When we get back to the army, we can ask for other people''s information."


    After listening to our words, the two soldiers hesitated and stood in the same place without making a statement. Ivan came forward, took them by the shoulders and said, "OK, don''t think about it. Come with us." In this way, in Ivan''s persuasion, the two soldiers finally agreed to accompany us.


    We rested for half an hour and went on. Without compass and other tools, we soon lost our way in the dense forest. Although it''s still sunny outside, the light in the dense forest is like night. Looking around at the dark jungle, I can''t help feeling hairy. I quickly reached out and grabbed Ivan''s belt in front of me, so that he wouldn''t walk too fast and leave me here alone.


    I don''t know how long we walked, we finally came out of the dark and came to a section with sparse trees. Ivan took the lead to a big tree, sat down with his back against the trunk, and said, "I''m tired of walking. Let''s all sit down and have a rest. Let''s eat and drink some water before we go on." Seeing that the three of us sat down next to him quietly, he patted the shoulder of the soldier who was nearest to him, just like chatting with an old friend and said, "Hey, comrade soldier, do you have anything to eat? Give it to us. Comrade major and I haven''t eaten for a day. "


    The soldier took a small piece of bread wrapped in paper from his bag and handed it to him. Ivan is not polite, opened the paper package, picked up a piece of bread to me, and then he put the rest in his mouth. Although I was so hungry at the moment that my chest was close to my back, I politely asked the two soldiers, "after walking for such a long time, I guess you are also hungry. You should eat this bread!" With that, he handed the bread to them, but he secretly swallowed his saliva.


    Two soldiers waved their hands and said, "Comrade commander, you''d better eat this bread. We still have it here."


    Just as we were trying to push each other off, a faint voice came from nearby: "Hey, who''s there? Are you one of your own


    "Who is it?" Ivan roared, grabbed a rifle from a soldier''s arms and rushed in the direction of the sound. We were afraid that he would suffer, so we followed closely. While I stood up, I stuffed the piece of bread into my mouth.


    Behind a tree not far from where we were, an officer in a cornice hat was sitting with his back against the tree trunk, holding a pistol in his hand, nervously pointing at us¡° Comrade political instructor, is that you? " Two soldiers ran past me to help the commander.


    I heard their names and knew that the person lying on the ground was zalilov who had just had a conflict with me in the passage. So I said very impolitely, "Comrade political instructor, what are you doing here? You know, the Germans are not too far away from here. If you don''t go any further, if they find you, you will be a prisoner. "


    Zarilov looked me up and down, obviously recognized me, with a bitter smile on his face, and said, "it''s you, comrade major. My leg is injured. I''ve been injured by shrapnel. I can''t walk here. " At this point, he stopped for a moment, and then added: "you were right when you were in the passage just now. In order to ensure the marching speed of the troops, some unnecessary things can be discarded when breaking through the encirclement. I''m sorry Originally, I was still in a tight face, but when I heard zarilov apologizing to me, I felt a little softer. I quickly changed my smiling face and asked in a friendly way, "Comrade instructor, can you still walk?" Zarilov replied with a wry smile, "maybe not. You should go first. I''ll have a rest and go after you¡° Comrade instructor, what are you saying Although the Soviet army did not have the tradition of not abandoning and not giving up, since I saw that there were wounded people lying here, I would never leave. Besides, there were two soldiers with us who were his subordinates, so they could be free labor. I turned and told the two soldiers, "comrades of the two soldiers, go and chop down two small trees, make a stretcher and carry the political instructor."¡° Yes, comrade commander. " The two soldiers agreed and quickly ran to the side to cut down trees. Zarilov said to me gratefully, "thank you, comrade major." I went to him, squatted down, held his hand and said, "Comrade instructor, please rest assured that we will carry you out of the bag." After that, we had a much more harmonious conversation. Through chatting, I realized that this zarilov instructor was actually a poet. Originally, he had been working in Moscow. Later, because the editor in chief of bravery, the second shock group army, was killed in the winter battle. In order not to leave the post vacant for a long time, zarilov was sent from Moscow to the political office of the second shock group army as the chief editor of the newspaper. Two soldiers came carrying a simple stretcher and put zarilov on it. Because they wanted to carry people, their rifles were carried by Ivan and me. We don''t know where we are going, we can only go straight ahead in the forest, hoping to reach a safe place at last. After walking aimlessly for two days, I ate up all the food I had with me. As a result, I wandered in the boundless forest. And because we don''t have enough to eat and sleep well, we are extremely tired, and our steps are getting smaller and smaller. Just when we were on the verge of despair, zarilov on the stretcher suddenly pointed to the front and said in surprise: "Comrade major, there is a road ahead. You can get to the station of the 59th army by crossing it." Hearing what he said, everyone immediately raised their spirits and quickened the March. After walking for five or six minutes, a simple road appeared ahead. I saw the hope of getting out of danger. My tense nerves relaxed. I sat down on the ground and said to them, "we are getting out of danger soon. Let''s have a rest before we go."¡° No way. " Zarilov attitude firmly said: "wait to pass the road and rest, there may be German here."¡° I can''t walk any more. You go first. Ivan, stay I feel really tired. I don''t want to move when I sit down. When zarilov saw that I really didn''t want to leave, he had no choice but to say, "well, let''s go first. You can come as soon as possible." Then he urged his soldiers to speed up the March. Just as they set foot on the road, there was the roar of motors not far away. Soon, a German armored car appeared. Seeing that there were people on the road, the machine guns on the armored vehicles opened fire, and the bullets flew to them, knocking down the stretcher bearers. They fell to the ground and threw zarilov on the stretcher far away¡° No, there''s an ambush. Ivan, run I got up, turned around and ran back.

 Chapter 338

    I didn''t care to see if Ivan was following. He quickly flashed into the jungle and fled in the opposite direction.


    As soon as we escaped, we were found by German armored vehicles on the road. They immediately turned their guns and fired at us. The bullets kept hitting the trees around them, breaking the branches and leaves. I have only one idea in my heart, run! Never be shot or captured.


    People in a critical moment, can always burst out of the greatest potential, in the next time, I was in a panic in the escape. Until Ivan grabbed me and gasped, "little... Comrade major, no... don''t run, the Germans... I''ve... We''ve lost them." I just stopped, hands cross waist, standing beside a tree, gasping.


    When my breath was even, I asked Ivan, "Ivan, are you sure the Germans were dumped by us?"


    "Yes, comrade major." Ivan affirmed: "just now the armored vehicles on the road just shot at us, and there was no one coming to pursue us."


    "Ah?! Really? " I can''t help regretting what he said. I knew that the German didn''t catch up. Why did I run so hard and make myself tired like a dog. I sat down with my back against the tree trunk and said happily, "fortunately, we didn''t cross the road with instructor zarilov, or we would have lost our lives now."


    "Instructor zalilov is not dead." Ivan''s words surprised me: "just now, when I was running away, I looked back. When the German came out of the armored car to catch him, he fought with them tenaciously."


    "Fight?" I repeated the word and asked tentatively, "Ivan, do you mean instructor zalilov was captured by the Germans?"


    "Yes. Maybe the Germans found out that he was a commander, so they didn''t continue to shoot and wanted to catch him alive. "


    When I looked around, I couldn''t figure out where I was except trees. I had to ask Ivan, "Ivan, where are we now, do you know?"


    Ivan shook his head with a bitter smile and said, "Comrade major, I don''t know. We just ran about in the forest and got lost again. "


    I was about to say another word when Ivan suddenly lowered his voice and said, "major, someone''s here." With that, he took down his rifle and lay on the ground.


    At the same time, the noise of the crowd came from the side. I took off my rifle and fell on the ground. I rolled on the spot to the back of a tree four or five meters away from Ivan. After a while, a group of figures from far to near came to our position. I hastened to bury my head low, for fear of being discovered by the people coming. With the footsteps closer and closer, my heart is faster and faster. When the first person''s footsteps pass by me, I am so scared that I almost want to jump up and turn around. But reason told me: can''t move! Don''t move! You''re dead with a move! Don''t move! Don''t move!


    Just then the group stopped, and I heard a man say, "Captain, try it here."


    Then another man said, "OK, you guys are shouting around here to see if there is anyone nearby."


    When I heard the conversation between them, I had a cold war. They all spoke Russian. Did they come to meet our troops? But I didn''t have the courage to raise my head, for fear that a row of Black Muzzles would meet me.


    Just then, I heard someone start shouting, "is there anyone? Is someone here? Are there any comrades from the second shock group army? " In the same way, he yelled three times in a row. Maybe I didn''t move when I was lying on the ground, so Ivan didn''t move.


    The man yelled for a long time. Seeing that no one agreed, he said to the captain, "Captain, maybe there is no one here. Let''s go to other places to look for it." I heard him very clearly this time. He speaks Russian, and his authentic Russian is his mother tongue since he was a child.


    While I was still hesitating whether to stand up and say hello to them, Ivan had already got up first and exclaimed excitedly, "Hello, comrades, I''m here."


    I didn''t hear each other. Instead, there was a sound of pulling the bolt. Then a man yelled, "who are you?" Listen, it''s the captain.


    "Who else? Comrade captain. " Ivan some wrongly replied: "of course it''s our own people."


    "It''s our own people. Put away the guns." After giving the order, the captain asked, "Comrade soldier, are you alone?"


    "One man, how can that be. I withdrew from the position together with the major. " Ivan said this and began to shout to me: "Comrade major, it''s OK. It''s my own."


    "So you broke out with your commander. Where is he?" Asked the captain, in a tone of curiosity.


    "I''m here," I tried hard to get up, but because of excessive hunger, I ran for my life and exhausted my strength. After several attempts, I couldn''t get up, so I had to say feebly, "I can''t stand up. Who can help me?"


    Hearing what I said, the captain immediately said, "you two, go and help the major up."


    Two soldiers came over, bent down and helped me up from the ground, carrying me to the captain.


    "Hello, comrade major." The captain in his cornice hat and new summer uniform saluted me.


    Looking at the young and handsome captain with a smile on his face, I felt a little kind, as if I had seen him somewhere before. But it''s not a good time to talk about the past. I saluted him and asked, "Hello, comrade captain. What part are you in? "


    The handsome captain''s answer was simple and clear: "report to the major, we are from the search team directly under the 372nd division. Our task is to find the lost commanders and fighters in the forest and take them to a safe place."


    "Comrade captain, do you have anything to eat?" After asking the identity of the other party, I said to the captain with some embarrassment, "my soldiers and I haven''t eaten since yesterday." Before I finish, I feel hot on my face.


    The captain didn''t say anything. He took out a packet of bread from his briefcase and handed it to me. He said, "Comrade major, here''s bread. Please have some first." After thanking him, I took the bread, opened it and gave half to Ivan, who was drooling.


    The captain waved his head and said, "come on, comrade major, I''ll take you to a safe place." Then he told his men, "you two help the major and her soldiers carry their rifles." So when we set out, Ivan and I were transferred to the shoulders of the soldiers of the search team.


    Ivan and I were walking in the middle of the line. After eating, we slowed down a little bit and didn''t shake our feet when we walked. Walking, Ivan suddenly whispered to me: "major, you see, their equipment is really wonderful. Everyone is armed with the latest submachine guns. Even if we meet the same number of Germans, we can annihilate them with the advantage of firepower."


    After listening to Ivan''s words, I carefully observed the army. It was true that, as Ivan said, all the officers and soldiers were armed with the latest bobosha submachine guns, and they were all wearing brand-new summer uniforms, cornice hats or boat caps. Let''s look at Ivan and I again. Although their uniforms are not in rags, they are also dirty. How can they compare with other people''s looks like they are going to a military parade.


    Every time our team walked out of a certain distance, it would stop, and then the captain would send someone to shout in the jungle to see if there were any other lost officers and men hiding in the woods. Unfortunately, they didn''t seem to be very lucky. Apart from Ivan and I, they didn''t find any other scattered personnel.


    The procession passed through the forest, and no one spoke. As I walked along, I began to think about this small army. Although their words and deeds fully met the requirements of the Soviet Army''s formation regulations, this image was formed after years of training in the formation, and everyone spoke standard Russian. They wore Soviet uniforms and held the latest weapons of the Soviet army. But walking in the middle of them, I have a sense of insecurity in my heart. Especially the captain, why does he look so familiar? He seems to have seen him somewhere before, but he can''t remember in a hurry.


    Walking, Ivan suddenly cried out: "be careful, there are Germans in front of us!"


    I was interrupted by his cry. I looked around and asked, "where are the Germans?"


    Yi Wanxiang pointed in front of me and said, "right there, German tanks."


    I looked in the direction of his fingers, but no, we didn''t know when we came to a forest road. A tank stopped more than 100 meters in front of us, and the white cross on it was very clear. Near the tank stood a group of German men in helmets.


    "Hell, it''s German!" I was startled to see the German man suddenly appearing in front of me. I rushed to the captain''s side with a lunge, grabbed him by the shoulder, and loudly reminded him, "Captain, tell your men to stop, there are German men in front."


    Unexpectedly, the captain looked at me with a ferocious smile on his face and said, "it''s German. I will send you and your soldiers to them safely."


    I''m confused by his reaction. What the hell is this! As soon as I reached for the pistol, I was resisted by a hard thing at my waist. A low voice came from behind: "don''t move, comrade major, I''ll kill you." I obediently stopped pulling the gun, and then the captain deftly disarmed me and said to me in a sarcastic tone, "major o''shanina, we meet again. Do you remember who I am? "


    "Raj, you are Sergeant Raj." At this time, I suddenly remembered who he was. It turned out that he was the sergeant Layi of the Azerbaijani company, a subordinate of the red flag division of the Far East, Colonel bolosuhi. But I heard the Colonel say that the company had all died in the battle. Where the hell did this son of a bitch come from.


    "You have a good memory, comrade major." Rai said with a big smile in front of me, "but I want to correct you. I''m not a sergeant now. I''m a captain. I''m the commander of the 47th german east battalion." Then he told one of his men, "go and signal the Germans so that there won''t be any misunderstanding later." With that, he sneered at me again and again.


    I was infuriated by his sneer. My breath became heavy and my fingers trembled. I yelled at him: "you bloody traitor." Then he pounced on him. Before my hand touched his body, I got a heavy blow to the back of my head, and then my eyes turned dark and I lost consciousness.

 Chapter 339

    When I woke up from my coma, I found myself lying on a grass surrounded by many soldiers. My hands on the ground, want to get up, next to a lieutenant came to hold my shoulder, concern said: "you wake up, it doesn''t matter?"


    I sat up with his help, touched the back of my head with my hand, tried to squeeze out a smile to him, and replied, "thank you for your concern, but the back of my head still hurts, but it doesn''t matter." At this point, I looked around again and found that we were in the open space in the middle of the forest. There were nearly a thousand people wearing Soviet uniforms. I was surrounded by school or Lieutenant level officers. Further away, there were sergeants or ordinary soldiers. Hundreds of German soldiers armed with guns were on guard in the north, East and west of the forest, but there was no one in the south. In addition to the infantry, there are several tanks and armored vehicles in charge of us. The machine guns and muzzles on them point to where we are.


    I asked the lieutenant in a low voice, "do you know where this is?"


    The second lieutenant shook his head and said, "Comrade major, I don''t know. After I was captured, I was taken directly here. "


    I asked curiously, "how did you get captured?"


    The second lieutenant said with a wry smile: "the troops were scattered by the Germans. I wandered in the forest for a few days and unexpectedly met a so-called search team. I thought they were my own people, so I came out from the hiding place to contact them. I didn''t expect that they were the traitors of Dongfang camp. So I became a prisoner in such a muddle headed way. "


    I was chatting with the second lieutenant when a captain came to us with a cat on his waist and said in a low voice, "Hello, two, we are going to escape from the south where there is no German defense. Will you join us?"


    "Run? Where are you going? " After listening to what he said, after observing the surrounding environment again, I resolutely denied his proposal and pointed out to him with good intentions: "Comrade captain, we are at least 300 meters away from the nearest forest. How likely do you think it is that we will not be found by the Germans before we run there?"


    After listening to what I said, the captain thought for a while and said, "we can crawl to a place only 50 meters away from the forest, and then get up and run quickly. It only takes more than ten seconds to run into the forest."


    "Yes, major, the captain has a point. We can get close to the edge of the forest quietly, then get up and run into the forest quickly."


    I looked at the black muzzle, shook my head, lowered my voice and said to him, "what''s the use of running into the forest. We don''t know where we are now. We may be captured by the Germans or starved to death in the forest after wandering around for a few days. Do it yourself! "


    Listen to my words, the second lieutenant is a Leng, obediently closed his mouth, did not agree with the captain''s proposal. When the captain saw that we were not moved, he moved to other places to lobby other commanders.


    Just then, the three officers jumped up from where they were sitting and ran to the forest hundreds of meters away. Although everyone has been hungry for a long time, their speed is not slow.


    With a bang of gunshot, a fast bullet with a strong force, after completing the flight in the air, hit the officer running in the front on the back. A brilliant splash of blood, his body rushed forward, heavily fell on the ground, and then lay there motionless.


    Seeing his companion fall down, the other two officers quickened their running speed. In a few seconds, they could run into the forest. At this time, there was a sharp whistling of the shells in the air, and then the smoke of the explosion of two shells landed and covered them. After the smoke dispersed, we saw two fresh and smoky craters surrounded by many human limbs and arms.


    A German armored car quickly drove towards the accident site, stopped at the place where the officers were lying dead, got off the car, checked the bodies on the ground, got on the car again, turned around and drove to our position.


    The second lieutenant and the captain who tried to persuade us to run away were scared pale by what happened just now. Maybe they were glad to listen to my words and didn''t take risks. Otherwise, they would become two cold bodies now.


    I don''t know how to calculate and predict what will happen in the future, but I analyze it according to the German deployment. The reason why they didn''t set up defenses on the edge of the forest in the South was that they had thought in advance that someone would try to escape. And I''m sure no one will be able to run away, because all the Soviet prisoners of war have been in their fire range.


    The armored car stopped in front of our team, and a German Lieutenant came down from the car. He came up to us with his hands behind his back, and said in Russian without any expression on his face, "guys, I think you already know the consequences of escape. I hope you will remember that if you want to escape, there will only be one result, and that is death! "


    After listening to the German lieutenant, everyone was silent.


    I didn''t expect that what he said next made the originally quiet team noisy¡° There are so many disobedient guys in your team, because you can''t stop their stupid behavior in advance, then you will also be punished. Tonight''s dinner has been cancelled, so that everyone will not think about running away when they are full. "


    "Why cancel our dinner? We don''t know they''re going to run away." Someone in the line yelled¡° Yeah, yeah! Why punish all of us when a few of them make mistakes. " In the face of the noise, the lieutenant frowned, pulled out his pistol, and without hesitation fired a shot at the head of the officer who made the most noise. As the officer fell to the ground, the originally loud crowd suddenly quieted down¡° Who else has a problem with cancelling dinner? Stand up Seeing that his authority had been adjusted, the Lieutenant''s face began to darken. Then his expression gradually began to become crazy, seeing that the prisoners who were closest to him all bowed their heads and dared not face the madman''s eyes. Seeing that the prisoners of war kept silent, the German Lieutenant put the pistol back in the holster, turned and boarded the armored vehicle, directing the vehicle back to its original starting point. After a while, a German corporal with four or five soldiers, carrying pickaxes and shovels, picked a few strong commanders and fighters from the prisoners of war, thrust the tools into their hands, and then drove them to bury the dead prisoners.

 Chapter 340

    After more than an hour, the officers and soldiers who went to bury the bodies came back to the captives with tired bodies. Some people just sit on the ground to have a rest, while some people do not sit down to have a rest when they come back to the team, instead, they talk to people everywhere.


    I don''t know when the second lieutenant I know colluded with the captain again. The captain was one of the members of the burying team just now. He directly found the second lieutenant and pulled him aside. They squatted together and muttered for a long time. Then the second lieutenant came back to me and said in a low voice, "Comrade major, let''s run away at night."


    "Dark?" I was puzzled and said: "it''s not all white nights recently. How can I run in broad daylight. Do you want to end up like the three officers who were shot and smashed just now? "


    "Don''t you know, comrade major?" The second lieutenant said in a low voice, "the white night ended yesterday. From today on, from 11:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. the next day, there are five hours of night every day. We can sneak into the forest at night. "


    Hearing the second lieutenant say this, I can''t help but feel that it''s best for me to escape. Otherwise, when I''m sent to a POW camp or concentration camp, I will be doomed. So I asked the second lieutenant quietly, "this plan was put forward by the captain just now. Did he choose the escape route?"


    The second lieutenant nodded his head and said, "just now the captain was sent by the Germans to bury his body. When he was digging a hole at the edge of the forest, he carefully observed the terrain. There were no Germans in the forest. He also said that as long as we escape into the vast forest, the Germans will have nothing to do with us, and we have hope to escape from the encirclement. "


    To be fair, if he hadn''t mentioned the word "encirclement", I might have been impulsive to take part in their escape at night. But when he mentioned the encirclement, I realized that there was no point in such an escape, even if I escaped into the forest? We have no idea where we are now? What''s more, we don''t know where to run to be safe. Besides, we all wander around in the endless forest with our bare hands. The final result, as I just told them, is either to be captured again or to starve to death. Therefore, when the second lieutenant asked me whether I would take part in their operation, I politely refused him.


    As night fell, there were no stars and moon in the sky. In order to prevent the prisoners from escaping, an armored car of the German drove to the side of the prisoner''s team. Every ten minutes, the German on the car fired a flare into the air to observe whether there was any change in the prisoner''s team.


    The captain, with more than a dozen officers and men willing to try to escape with him, including the second lieutenant, crawled forward like the edge of the forest under the cover of night, as he said during the day. When the old flares went out and the new flares didn''t rise, the captain got up from his prone position and took the lead to escape into the forest.


    The gunshots I imagined didn''t ring. It seems that their escape was not found by the Germans. At that moment, I felt a little regret in my heart. I knew it was so easy to escape, so I should escape with them.


    My regret lasted only a few hours, and it turned into happiness.


    Just at five o''clock, a group of Germans stormed into the line of prisoners of war and drove all the prisoners lying on the grass to rest. Then we took out dozens of strong men from the crowd, one with a tool in his hand, and asked them to dig a hole 50 meters away from us.


    In half an hour, dozens of people dug a big pit more than 20 meters long, more than 10 meters wide and more than one person deep. Seeing such a big pit, I began to be afraid. According to the movie and TV series, digging a pit is to prepare for the next massacre. Is that pit my burial place?


    When the diggers returned to the ranks, the German lieutenant of yesterday appeared again. He stood on the armored car with an angry face, holding a horn in his hand, and yelled: "Russian soldiers, we killed some ignorant guys here yesterday afternoon, and cancelled your dinner in order to punish you for not giving back. Unexpectedly, in the evening, fifteen more officers and soldiers ran away. They thought they would be safe if they ran into the forest, but they were trapped in the swamp. " At this point, he turned to the direction of the forest and yelled a German I didn''t understand. Then a group of fully armed German soldiers came out of the forest. Among them were seven or eight ragged Soviet prisoners of war. My eyes are good. From a long distance, I can see that the second one is the second lieutenant I know. But I didn''t see the captain. Maybe he was killed.


    Seeing several prisoners of war being held in front of us, the German Lieutenant continued to say in a loud voice: "these prisoners of war who run away without permission will be severely punished." He bowed his head and said to the lieutenant, "before you are executed, I will give you two choices: first, each of you will go to the team and choose a companion to die with you; The second is to stand still. When the time comes, ten people will be buried with you. The time is one minute. Now it''s time The German Lieutenant raised his hand, looked at his watch, and read aloud, "60, 59, 58, 57..."


    When I heard the German Lieutenant''s offer, I took a breath of cold air. It turned out that he wanted to set an example to others. He wanted to implement such a strict system of sitting in company among prisoners of war. In the future, even if anyone wanted to escape, he would have to consider it again and again. At this time, it suddenly occurred to me that the relationship between me and the second lieutenant was pretty good. He would not pull me to carry on the back, would he? At the thought of this, my legs trembled and I could hardly stand.


    However, the second lieutenant didn''t seem to want to pull me on my back. After he entered the team, he had a little chat with a soldier in a low voice, and then they walked out shoulder to shoulder. With his example, other people soon chose their companions to go to the execution ground with them¡° Aha, it seems that there are some good hearted people among you bloody Russians. " I see that my counting of seconds is not over, and the number of people on the execution ground has come together. The German Lieutenant looked at the group of officers and soldiers with a somewhat ironic look and said in a loud voice, "I don''t know if you are not afraid of death, or because you are afraid that if I get angry, more bodies will be made among these prisoners of war?" Seeing that no one paid any attention to him, he felt a little bored and waved to his soldiers and said a word of German. So the soldiers drove the prisoners to the pit they had just dug, and then pulled the trigger on them. After the prisoners were shot, some fell directly into the pit, and some fell beside the pit. After the German soldiers finished shooting, they went forward and pushed the bodies beside the pit into the earth pit. Seeing his soldiers coming back to touch him, the German Lieutenant began to deliver his speech again: "Russian soldiers, now start to form a unit. The soldiers stand on my left and the officers stand on my right. Time is one minute. When I finish counting seconds, if anyone stands still, he will be shot on the spot. " As he began to count the seconds, the whole POW team was in a mess, and everyone rushed to both sides of the armored car to seize their own position. I was also coerced in the ranks of officers and pushed to the designated position.

 Chapter 341

    Seeing that his orders were carried out decisively, all the Soviet prisoners of war stood obediently on both sides. The German lieutenant, who was in charge of everyone''s life and death, was in a good mood. Standing on the armored car, he cheered: "Captain Lai! Where''s captain Lai? "


    The traitor Rai, who had been in German uniform for a long time, ran from the soldiers who were guarding around the prisoners of war, came to the armored vehicle, saluted the German lieutenant, and reported: "report to lieutenant, Captain Rai, commander of the 47th Oriental battalion, report to you, and wait for your order."


    "You immediately arrange for the Russian prisoners to be escorted to the camp. Remember, only the soldiers will be escorted, and all the officers will stay. "


    Captain Lai promised to run back to his team and assign the task. After a while, hundreds of soldiers in German uniform came to the captured soldiers. They were divided into eight groups and escorted to the north forest.


    After the captured soldiers were escorted away by the troops of the eastern battalion, Captain Lai came back to reply to the German lieutenant. The cold-blooded executioner nodded and then turned his eyes to our army of officers with only 70 or 80 people. I don''t know why, I felt a chilling killing intention from his eyes. He looked at us for a moment, raised his voice and said to Rai, "Captain, you ask your men to take all these Russian officers to the earth pit."


    With his order, a gang of traitors and scum came to us and drove all the people to the buried pit.


    We were surrounded by armed soldiers, some from the eastern battalion and some from the German army. In my limited historical knowledge, I clearly remember that during the Soviet German war, the German army slaughtered Soviet prisoners of war was a very common phenomenon. For the German army, the Soviet prisoners of war were a big burden. In addition to wasting precious human and material resources to guard them, they should also be on guard against the possible resistance of the prisoners at any time. So I guess the German Lieutenant''s plan is to remove the officers from the prisoners of war first. Without the officers, the rest of the soldiers would be left without leaders. For the Germans, the best way to get rid of these officers is to physically wipe them out.


    My hunch soon came true.


    The armored car came to our side and stopped. The German Lieutenant stepped down from the armored car. He ordered Rai to take five political workers from the team and take them to the side of the earth pit to stand in a row. Then five German soldiers came out and stood opposite them. Feeling that the atmosphere had been made terrible enough by himself, the German lieutenant stood on the side of the executioner and said in a loud voice, "as long as you shout ''long live Hitler'', you can survive."


    The five political work cadres standing beside the earth pit stood there with their heads held high, and no one answered him. The German Lieutenant raised his fist over his head with one hand and yelled angrily, "I''ll count to five. If no one yells, you''ll all die." With that, he began to read, "one, two..." each number, he stretched out a finger. On the count of five, his fists were all open. Seeing that no one paid any attention to him, he waved down and called out a word of German.


    With his command, the executioner pulled the trigger. After the gunfire, some of the political workers standing at the edge of the pit fell directly into the earth pit on their backs, and some of them shook their bodies in the same place and slowly fell to the ground.


    Layi estimated that he had done the same thing before. He immediately commanded several subordinates to push the corpses into the earth pit, and at the same time, he arrested five officers from among us.


    Of course, no one gave in this time. After a new round of gunfire, the five officers also fell into a pool of blood.


    When Layi''s subordinates came to the team for the third time, some people were afraid. A major was scared to pee his pants on the spot. The water stains ran down his pants to the ground, and a smell of shame immediately floated around him.


    Layi looked at the officer with disdain, then pointed to him and told his men: "you two. Get him out of here Two soldiers came immediately, and the major went out on the shelf.


    Although I was scared to death, I tried to keep calm. Seeing the major who was scared to pee in his pants, I said that he would not shout long live Hitler because he was afraid of death?!


    I didn''t expect that I guessed right this time. As soon as the muzzle of several German soldiers was raised, the major, who was too scared to stand up, squatted on the ground and cried out: "long live Hitler! Long live Hitler Seeing that someone finally gave in, the German Lieutenant showed a proud smile on his face. He asked the soldiers to pull the ghost aside and recapture an officer from the team to take his place.


    With a living example, there were one or two officers in almost every group of prisoners who were greedy for life and afraid of death. Because they called long live Hitler, they were dragged aside and escaped the fate of being shot. When the tenth group of Soviet commanders fell into a pool of blood, there were seven surviving officers standing next to them.


    Fifty people were pushed into the pit, and the wounded were still groaning in pain. The German Lieutenant frowned. He turned to Lai and said, "Captain Lai, go and help those people in the pit so that they won''t be upset."


    Laiyi agreed and asked for two long handled grenades from the soldiers nearby. He went to the pit, pulled the string, waited for a few seconds, threw the grenades into the pit, and then fell on the ground. After two loud noises, the flesh and blood flew around, and the groans in the pit stopped suddenly. But Laiyi didn''t expect that the grenade was so powerful that he was splashed with blood. When he returned to the German lieutenant in embarrassment, he looked at him and said impatiently, "OK, Captain, change the team." This time, unfortunately, I was chosen to be one of the victims of group 11. When I stood by the pit and looked at the bloody corpses inside, I smelled the strong and choking smell of blood. Although I tried to keep calm, I was thinking quickly in my mind. Do I need to shout long live Hitler like the previous officers later? When the German Lieutenant saw that there was a female officer among the pending officers, his face was a little surprised. He came up to me, looked me up and down, and said coldly, "this lady, as long as you shout long live Hitler, you will not die." Although I wanted to cry for my life in my heart, I could not help hesitating when I saw that the officers on the left and right were just and awe inspiring. I opened my mouth and held back. I looked up at the German lieutenant, hoping that he could provide me with other options. However, to my disappointment, the lieutenant obviously didn''t want to waste any more time. Seeing that I didn''t respond, he turned back to the executioner and raised his fist high above his head. Seeing this scene, I know that he should enter the five second countdown next. When the time comes, he will issue the order to open fire, and even the gods can''t save me. But let me shout long live Hitler, I really can''t shout. Seeing that he has straightened his third finger, the melody of a revolutionary song suddenly appeared in my mind. At this critical moment, I didn''t care about anything, so I began to sing loudly. When the German Lieutenant heard my humming tune, he stopped the countdown and slowly put down his high hand. The soldiers who had raised their guns also lowered their muzzle and listened to my humming carefully¡° Mr. lieutenant, the Colonel has something urgent for you. I want you to come right away Layi ran to the lieutenant and told him loudly¡° The Colonel called me When the lieutenant heard that, he said, "where is he? Take me quickly." Although I continued to hum that song, my eyes moved with the back of the German lieutenant and Raj, and I found that more than ten meters away, I didn''t know when an open car was parked, with the driver and an officer wearing a big cornice cap sitting on it. I guess that was the Colonel Raj said. There were two tricycles at the front and back of the car, with German soldiers in helmets and submachine guns. The German Lieutenant went up to the officer, stood at attention and reported something to him. The officer nodded as he listened to his report. Then it seemed that he gave an order to the lieutenant. The lieutenant took a look at me, and then another salute came to attention. Then he trotted over with Lai. The lieutenant came up to me and said coldly, "lady, don''t sing any more. Our captain wants to see you. Come with me." After that, I turned around and left. I quickly followed. Just out of a few steps, Lai catch up and flatter to ask: "Mr. lieutenant, the rest of the people how to do?" "Old rule, shoot them all," the lieutenant said Lai then asked: "what about the officers who called long live Hitler?"¡° The same, all shot, no one left When I heard the cruel command of the lieutenant, I shivered. It seemed that he was teasing us. Even if he yelled long live, he could not escape the fate of being shot. I just don''t know what kind of fate is waiting for me after meeting the colonel? When I got to the convertible and saw the officer sitting in the car, I was relieved: good intentions are rewarded. It seems that I have no worries about my life. The captain put his hand on the door of the car and said with a smile, "Hello! Officer girl, I didn''t expect to see you again. " I looked at the rank on his shoulder and replied with a smile, "yes, Colonel von Tolman, I didn''t expect to see you here." Colonel Tolman nodded at me and said with approval, "I just heard you humming" the training song of German Emperor Wei Lian ". I didn''t expect that you hummed so well." I wry smile, heart said: "brother, you know what ah? What I hummed was not "the song of the German Emperor Wei Lian training", but "the three major disciplines and eight points for attention", but the two songs all used the same song. "

 Chapter 342

    I looked around. The Russian speaking German lieutenant was standing a few meters away. He was turning his attention to the direction of the earth pit, watching captain Rai''s execution of orders. I took a step forward, lowered my voice and asked Tolman, "aren''t you in the central army group? How did you get transferred to Leningrad and get the rank of Colonel? "


    Tolman tilted his head and replied, "I was back in the army after my last escape in volokoramsk. Due to the great reduction of officers in combat, as a commander with rich combat experience, I was directly appointed as the chief of staff of a regiment and promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In the battle at the end of February this year, my regiment took part in the encirclement and annihilation of the 20th group army. In order to stop the crazy breakout of your army, the head of the regiment personally went to battle and brought the staff officers and signalmen of the regiment headquarters to fight. Although the 20th group army was annihilated in the end, the regimental headquarters lost all their lives and the regimental commander was killed. After the regiment was replenished, I was appointed the new head of the regiment and promoted to the rank of colonel. "


    Hearing this, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. He was the one who annihilated the 20th group army in Moscow. Today, he was the one who surrounded and annihilated the 2nd assault group army near liuban. He can be regarded as Vlasov''s nemesis!


    At this time, he asked curiously, "I remember a few months ago, you were the rank of commander. How can you become a major now?"


    If my colleagues ask me this question, I can explain the reason in detail, but I can''t tell the truth to an enemy officer, even an officer who has some friendship with me. I was afraid that he knew that I was demoted for ordering the massacre of German soldiers, and he shot me in a fit of anger. He could only reply vaguely: "because he made some mistakes in commanding the troops, he was demoted by his superiors."


    Tolman let out a cry, and then asked, "what are you going to do next?"


    What''s your plan? Of course, I hope you will release me. However, it can only be imagined that even as a colonel, Tolman did not dare to openly release an enemy officer in front of so many of his subordinates. In that case, he would lose his future or worry about his life. As I was about to speak, there was a sudden burst of gunfire, which could only be achieved by the simultaneous firing of rifles, submachine guns and even machine guns. I was startled by the sudden gunfire, and looked in the direction of the sound. The prisoners had fallen to the ground, and the soldiers were carrying their bodies into the pit.


    Looking at my silence, Tolman called out to the officer not far away, "Lieutenant, come here for a moment."


    The lieutenant trotted over, saluted him at attention and asked respectfully, "Mr. Colonel, what can I do for you?"


    Tolman pointed to me and said, "Lieutenant, send someone to take the major to the prison camp immediately and ask the prison camp to take care of her. Remember, make sure she''s safe on the way to the camp. "


    The lieutenant slapped a salute and replied loudly, "yes, sir, Captain!"


    After commanding the lieutenant, Tolman said to me, "I can only help you here. Take care! See you later. " Then he waved to me and patted the driver on the shoulder to signal him to drive.


    After Tolman''s motorcade left, the German Lieutenant called Rai over and ordered him without expression: "Captain, I order you to take two men and send this female officer to the prison camp, and tell the commander of the prison camp to give her the treatment she deserves. Also, on the road, we must ensure her safety, neither let people hurt her, nor let her escape. Do you understand? "


    "I understand, lieutenant." Layiquyi flattered: "I will complete the task you assigned successfully."


    Raj took me to a captured jeep and then yelled at a group of soldiers nearby, "Slaven, Lek, come here, you two."


    With his shouts, two young soldiers came running, one empty handed, the other carrying a Soviet style rifle. They stood in front of him and asked, "Captain, what''s the matter with us?"


    Layi pointed to me and said, "on the order of the lieutenant, send this female major to the prison camp. Slaven, you drive; Rick, you''re in the back seat. Watch her. Get in the car With that, he gave me a big push on my back and let me get on the bus.


    I gave him a hard look, opened the back door and got into the car. Rick came up with his rifle and sat next to me. And Layi went to open the front door and sat in the co pilot''s position.


    When everyone is seated, as soon as Slaven steps on the gas, the open Jeep will drive along the simple forest road.


    Not far away, you can see the long line of prisoners in front of you. It''s obvious that they were taken away by the soldiers of Dongfang battalion just now. Slaven honked the horn a few times, and the soldiers in charge of escorting saw our car. They rushed the prisoners to the side of the road to make way for us. When the car passed by them, they bowed and bowed to the Layi on the car.


    Over the prisoner''s line, the car went on for a few minutes. Lai suddenly called out: "Slaven, stop the car." Without saying anything, Slaven immediately pulled over to the side of the road and put out the fire.


    Layi opened the door and got out of the car. Then he called Rick, who was sitting next to me: "Rick, take her down." Rick jumped out of the car without opening the door, stepped back two steps, pointed the gun at me, and then whispered, "you, get out of the car quickly!"


    I looked around. Except for the woods or the woods, let alone the prison camp, I couldn''t see a ghost except for the four of us. I don''t know why they park here, but being pointed at by others, they have to obey others.


    Layi walked deep into the forest. Lek put his gun against my back and drove me to follow Layi.


    After walking about two or three hundred meters, we can''t see the jeep on the side of the road from where we are. At this time, Layi suddenly stopped and said to Lek, "Lek, this environment is good. It''s here."


    Hearing what he said, I couldn''t help thinking that he wouldn''t shoot me here, would he? At this time, I suddenly felt that someone would pull me back. I didn''t have any preparation. Under the guidance of this force, I leaned back and fell heavily on the ground. Almost at the same time when I fell to the ground, my hands were caught and held tightly.


    Did not wait for me to come back to God, the original standing still like a hungry wolf like Lamy rushed up, with knee pressure in my two legs, and then began to take off their own clothes. Looking at the crazy and terrifying expression on his twisted face, I suddenly understood that he had brought me to this remote place not to shoot me, but to rape me.


    I began to struggle, trying to get my legs out of his knees. However, my hands were firmly pressed by the strong Lek, and my legs were pressed by Lai''s knees. This kind of futile struggle aroused his greater desire.


    Layi stripped himself, looked up at the sky with a long smile and said triumphantly: "female major, when I was in Moscow, although I didn''t get you, today you can''t escape my palm." With that, he stretched out his stinky mouth.


    I spit in the past, just spit on his face. He straightened up, wiped the saliva from his face with the back of his hand, gave a sneer, then slapped me in the face and hit me with stars. And then he started tearing my clothes and picking my pants. As soon as I resisted, he would slap me in the face.


    When I saw that the resistance was invalid and I was going to give in, suddenly a clear shot came. Then the strength of holding my hands relaxed, and Rick fell heavily beside me. Before I knew the situation, I heard a second shot. Layi was shot in the right shoulder. As soon as he covered the wound with his hand, a figure rushed over me and threw him to the ground. Then they scuffled together.


    I sat up and saw a middle-aged man in civilian clothes wrestling with Laiyi. Although Laiyi was injured, he said he had the upper hand in the fight. In a short time, he pressed the man under his body and held each other''s throat tightly.


    I felt that I should go to help my benefactor. I looked around and saw that Lek''s rifle was beside me. I grabbed it, held the barrel in both hands, and dashed forward with an arrow, waving his rifle and smashing it down. With a loud bang, the butt of the gun was broken, and Laiyi''s body was stiff, then he fell to one side.


    When I saw the thing that was still stiff under him, I went up and kicked it with my feet. Then I felt very angry. I stepped on the bloody ball of Dongdong and crushed it with my toes.


    After I got rid of Lai, I turned my attention to the man who saved me. He sat up from the ground, covered his throat with his hand and coughed violently. Looking at the thick moustache on his upper lip and his old-fashioned face, I felt as if I had seen it somewhere before.


    I threw the rifle aside, stepped forward to help him up, and asked with concern, "are you ok?"


    With my help, the bearded man stood up and replied, "report to commander, I''m ok."


    When I heard him call me commander, I knew he must have been a soldier, so I asked, "are you also a soldier? Which army is it? "


    "Report commander comrade," he may have seen that my rank is relatively high. Almost every word he said, he would report, "I''m from sotnikov guerrillas. I''m on a reconnaissance mission near here. When I see some Germans bringing you here, I follow you quietly, trying to see if I can find a chance to rescue you. "


    "Facts have proved that you have succeeded. Thank you, comrade of the guerrillas." Then I extended my hand to him in a friendly way and asked, "I don''t know how to call you?"


    "Vaskov. The guerrilla, vaskov


    God, when I heard the name, I immediately remembered who this person was. He was the first person I knew when I crossed the world, the brigadier vaskov of the 171 railway station. However, in order to avoid recognizing the wrong person, I tentatively asked: "may I ask your father''s name and real name?"


    Vaskov replied very readily, "fidot yevgravic vaskov."


    After confirming his identity, I couldn''t help feeling a little excited. I couldn''t help calling out the nickname given to him by the girls in the anti-aircraft machine gun platoon: "Uncle Zhun, is that you?"


    "Zhun Wei, uncle?" Hearing this long lost nickname, he couldn''t help shivering, looked at me with puzzled eyes and asked, "Comrade commander, do you know me?" I went up, grabbed his hand, shook it hard, and said, "you forget, Freddie, you said to me and Genoa before, you are our brigadier, you are our brother, let''s call you Feijia like your mother." When I said that, vaskov was stunned for a moment, and then tried to ask, "are you Rita?"¡° Yes, you recognize me at last Vaskov couldn''t control himself any more. Tears ran down his cheek. He hugged me excitedly and said, "great, dear Rita. I always thought you were dead. I didn''t expect to see you again. I''m so happy. " My nose was sore, but I tried to control my mood. After hugging vaskov for a while, I let him go and said, "there are Germans nearby, uncle brigadier. Let''s get out of here and find a safe place to talk about the past." Vaskov wiped a tear from his face, nodded and said, "follow me." Take me and run deep into the forest.

 Chapter 343

    Not long after we ran in the forest, we were blocked by a swamp. As soon as I saw the swamp, my heart sank. I thought that the group of prisoners of war officers who ran away last night were trapped in the swamp because they didn''t know the way, so they were recaptured by the Germans. If the Germans catch up at this time, we will have to put our hands down.


    Just when I was anxious to get on the fire, vaskov pulled out the dagger in his boots, cut off two branches from the trees nearby, and scraped them carefully. Seeing that he was cutting the branches and leaves on the branch, I asked him strangely, "what are you doing, Feijia?"


    Vaskov stopped his work, looked up at me blankly and said, "don''t you see that, Rita? I''m cutting a branch. "


    "My uncle brigadier, don''t cut the branches. Let''s find our way out of here. Maybe the Germans will come after us soon. " As soon as I was worried, I inadvertently changed my address from "Feijia" to "Zhun Wei Da Shu".


    Vaskov began to cut the branches again, and said, "Rita, don''t worry. The road is ready. When I cut these two sticks, we''ll go. "


    "Where is the road?" I looked around to see where I could get around the swamp.


    Vaskov pointed to the swamp with his dagger hand and said, "here it is."


    I frowned and looked at the vast ocean in front of me. I was very dissatisfied with vaskov''s vague answer. I said, "no, uncle brigadier, do you think we should go through the swamp?"


    Vaskov handed me a chipped stick, then pointed to the swamp ahead with another stick and said, "Rita, let''s walk through here now." Seeing that I was still hesitant, he reminded me, "don''t you forget that when we went after the Germans who sneaked into the rear of our army, in order to take a shortcut, we also passed through the swamp."


    Listening to what he said, I remembered that there was a plot in the novel about crossing the swamp in order to take a shortcut, so I didn''t say anything any more, and obediently followed him to the swamp.


    Vaskov stepped into the waist deep muddy water with a stick in his hand. As he walked, he kept telling him, "Rita, be careful. You must follow me. One step is steady, and the next step is steady. You can''t do anything wrong, or you''ll lose your life. "


    A few days ago, I led my troops to break through the encirclement. In order to get around the German position, I once followed the guerrilla guide through the swamp, so today I am much more skillful.


    He looked back and saw me closely following him, smiling, nodding and admiring, "good job, Rita. At this speed, we can cross the swamp and reach the forest ahead in ten minutes at most. Out of the forest, there is a small village. When I passed there last night, I saw our troops stationed in the village. "


    When I heard that I could find my own troops within walking distance, I put down the big stone in my heart. As I walked forward in the mud with a stick in my hand, I chatted with vaskov: "Feijia, I just heard you say that you are from the sotnikov guerrillas. Where is sotnikov now? Do you stand out?"


    Vaskov shook his head without looking back and said, "I don''t know where he is. As early as ten days ago, on his order, I went to look for another guerrilla unit and discussed with the commander of that unit about how to cooperate with the second shock group army to break through the encirclement. But when I got to the place, I knew that the guerrillas had been completely destroyed. I rushed back to recover my life, only to find that they had all moved. Then I wandered in the forest for a few days, but I couldn''t find them. "


    "I saw sotnikov the other day. He led his troops to help the 327th division break through. Because our attack was frustrated, he also sent a guide to lead my troops through the forest and swamp, around to the German rear, caught them by surprise, and then successfully broke through the enemy''s line of defense. "


    "Through the woods and swamps?" Vaskov stopped and stood where he was, repeating my words to himself. I didn''t expect that he would suddenly stop and bump into him. The huge recoil made me shake and then fall back. Fortunately, his quick reaction caught me, otherwise I fell into the water again.


    When I got to my feet again, he didn''t let go of my arm, but asked anxiously, "was the guerrilla who took you through the swamp named Migao Lin?"


    I nodded my head hard and said, "yes, that young guerrilla is Miguel."


    "Where is he now?" Vaskov asked again.


    I shrugged my shoulders and said, "I don''t know. He took us around to the rear of the enemy''s line of defense and took part in the battle to seize the position. After the battle, I don''t know where he went. Maybe he died or jumped out of the encirclement with the 327th division." Speaking of this, it suddenly occurred to me that Michael Lin once said that his team leader was a soldier who was very familiar with the forest and swamp. Maybe it was vaskov in front of me. So I tentatively asked, "are you the team leader Michael Lin said?"


    Vaskov felt the back of his head awkwardly and said with a shy smile, "Yeah, I''m his captain. In sotnikov''s guerrillas, he and I know how to find a way through the swamps. "


    Before we knew it, we came to the edge of the swamp. As soon as vaskov stepped on the hard land of the island, he immediately fell over, stretched out his stick to me and said, "Rita, hold on." I grabbed the stick, with his action, set foot on the solid ground. As soon as I was soft, I fell on the ground. I didn''t eat or drink for more than a day. After walking so far, it''s very good that I can stick to it now. I turned over and lay on my back, exhausted, not even able to speak. Vaskov came over, squatted beside me and asked with concern, "Rita, can you go on?" I waved my hand and said feebly, "Feijia, let me have a rest. I haven''t eaten for more than a day. Now I''m tired and hungry. I can''t walk."¡° My God, look how careless I am. I forgot to ask you if you have eaten Vaskov said, taking the bread wrapped in paper from his arms, opened it and handed it to me. I saw that the paper bag was the kind of sliced dry black bread. I grabbed two pieces and stuffed them into my mouth. As I ate, vaskov sat quietly beside me and said nothing. When I finished eating, he hesitated and asked, "Rita, there''s something I want to ask you. I don''t know if it''s right?"¡° Ask, Feijia¡° I remember when you shot yourself in the head with my pistol. I thought you were dead. I took that gun and went to the Germans. I didn''t expect to see you alive again today. It''s incredible. "¡° It''s no surprise, Feijia I''ve been preparing this reason for resurrection for a long time, but I didn''t expect it to come into use now. "When I pulled the trigger on my head, I was too injured and my hand was weak. The recoil force of the gun made the bullet deviate from its position and wiped it from my brow bone. Maybe you thought I was dead when you saw my face covered with blood, but I''m still alive. " Speaking of this, I raised my hand to lift the hair on my forehead and showed him the scar on the brow bone. "Look, there''s a scar here." Vaskov lowered his head, looked at the scar on my head carefully, and said with deep conviction, "blessed by the Virgin Mary, you have survived such a serious injury. Then where did you go? Why did you now appear in the 2nd shock group army and be captured by the Germans? " I sat up and began to tell him about what happened after I was injured and hospitalized. I told him roughly. Even so, it took more than an hour. Seeing that our strength was almost recovered, we set out again to join the troops stationed in the small village outside the forest. As he was about to walk out of the forest, vaskov suddenly stopped without warning and said to me with some embarrassment, "Rita, I didn''t do what you asked me to do. I''m here to apologize to you."¡° What I asked you to do? What''s the matter? Why don''t I have any impression? " When I said this, I felt guilty. I didn''t know what Lida had entrusted him to do. Vaskov was a real man. Seeing my blank face, he quickly explained, "didn''t you entrust me to look for your mother and son alik? When I got out of the hospital, the city was occupied by the Germans. After several inquiries, I know that your mother escaped with her children and went to Leningrad when the city was occupied. " Hearing him say this, I added: "I already know about my mother and son going to Leningrad. I also went to the place where they lived, but soon after the ice transportation line opened, they evacuated to the rear, and then disappeared. " To my surprise, vaskov continued, "I went to the city to find them too. I heard from my neighbors that they had evacuated, and a female soldier went to find them. I guess that woman soldier is you? " I nodded in agreement, and he went on: "I learned from a comrade in arms who was responsible for the evacuation that the evacuees were in the nearby villages and settlements. But I''ve been looking for them for a long time, but I still can''t find out their whereabouts. " When I heard that Rita''s mother and son were in a nearby village or residential area, I grabbed vaskov''s clothes and asked in surprise, "are you sure that they are in this area?" Because of the excitement, my voice seemed a little shaky and hoarse¡° Yes, Rita Vaskov told me with certainty, "that''s what my comrades in arms told me."

 Chapter 344

    Hearing vaskov''s affirmative reply, I smile bitterly. It seems that no matter how I escape, I still can''t avoid meeting Rita''s relatives. Although I don''t want to see Rita''s family, I can''t show it in front of anyone. So I pretended to be moved, took vaskov''s hand and said, "thank you, Feijia! Although you haven''t been able to find my mother and son, I still thank you. " Vaskov shook hands with me, patted the back of my hand with his other hand and said, "don''t be sad, Rita. I''ll keep an eye on them for you. I believe we''ll find them sooner or later. " I was afraid that he would not finish talking, so I quickly made a gesture and cut off his words: "Feijia, it''s late. We''d better go to the village to find the army after we find my mother and son." We walked silently in the forest. Seeing that the atmosphere was a little cold, I took the initiative to say to vaskov, "Feijia, do you remember sergeant kirianova?" Vaskov said with a smile: "how can you not remember that she is your platoon leader. I remember when you just arrived at 171, she was arrogant and looked down upon by everyone. After getting along for a long time, I still think this person is good, but now I don''t know where she is transferred? Alive or dead? "¡° She''s still alive. " I gave vaskov a positive answer: "I was the antiaircraft artillery battalion commander on the ice transport line a few months ago. Lieutenant kirianova was one of my company commanders." Vaskov said with emotion: "I didn''t expect that this sergeant who is so strong everywhere has become an officer now. It''s really amazing." At this point, he glanced at me, afraid of my misunderstanding, and quickly added: "of course, compared with you, it''s still a long way to go. You know, you are a general." As for vaskov''s compliment, I just gave a polite smile and didn''t say anything. Just then, a guard with a helmet, a raincoat and a rifle came out from behind the tree. He called out, "stop, who are you As soon as the sentry jumped out, vaskov almost instinctively stood in front of me and replied, "I''m vaskov, the squadron commander of sotnikov guerrillas." then he pointed back at me. "This is the Soviet lieutenant. He walked up to the sentry and asked in a low voice," is general Vlasov there? " The sentry nodded and replied, "report, comrade lieutenant, the general is waiting for you in there." The lieutenant nodded his head with satisfaction, went back to the German major, stretched out his hand to the side, made a gesture of please, and said, "please, Mr. major, general Vlasov is waiting for you in the room." Seeing the German major following the lieutenant, he swaggered into the room where the headquarters was. I came forward, grabbed the guard by the collar and asked in a low voice, "what''s the matter with this German? Why is general Vlasov waiting for him in the house? What''s going on? " The sentry, with an unnatural expression on his face, faltered, "the lieutenant was sent to the German army by the commander to negotiate. As for why the German major came back with the lieutenant, I really don''t know. " I let go of the guard''s collar and gave him a hard push. I didn''t expect that Vlasov would negotiate with the German. What did he want? The German major came to the headquarters of the group army alone and nine times out of ten shouldered the important mission of persuading him to surrender.

 Chapter 345

    I was walking back and forth outside the headquarters when I heard my name called. Looking around, a second lieutenant in a helmet and submachine gun stood in front of me.


    Seeing me looking back, he said with a smile: "Hello! Major oshanina. I didn''t expect to see you here. " Between speaking, the tone is very respectful.


    I looked at the second lieutenant in front of me for a few minutes, and immediately remembered that the day I went to the 2nd assault group army headquarters to report, it was Vlasov that he took me to see, but I didn''t know his name. I said with a smile, "it''s you, comrade lieutenant. We''ve met again."


    "Are you here to see Comrade commander?" Asked the second lieutenant.


    I nodded and answered positively, "yes, lieutenant. I wanted to see the commander just now, but the soldier at the door stopped me and said that the commander wanted to see important guests, so he didn''t see anyone for the time being. "


    The second lieutenant was a little surprised and said, "the commander has important guests. Why don''t I know?"


    I nodded at the car parked at the door and said, "that''s the visitor''s car. He''s talking with the commander in it."


    The second lieutenant said, "I really don''t know. I just went to patrol the village. Now I''ll ask the sentry at the gate." With that, he ran to the two sentinels and began to talk to each other in a low voice.


    After a while, he came back to me and said awkwardly, "listen to the sentry, comrade commander is negotiating with the representative sent by the German." Speaking of this, he looked around and said in a low voice, "Comrade major, this is not a place to talk. Let''s talk about it in another place."


    I nodded in agreement, and then followed him to an empty house nearby.


    As soon as I entered the room, he asked me to sit down at the table in the middle of the room. Then he picked up a wooden basin in the corner and went out. He came in with half a basin of steaming water and carefully placed it on the table. He handed me a towel he had put on his shoulder and said, "Comrade major, wash your face."


    There was a broken mirror on the wall not far away. From a distance, I could see that my face was black and smoky, and my left cheek was bruised. The damned Layi was so cruel that he almost destroyed my face.


    Wet towel a Wu in the face, suddenly felt a burst of hot pain, pain I can not help but take a breath of air conditioning. The second lieutenant next to him immediately asked with concern, "Comrade major, how did you get the injury on your face?"


    "I was wounded when I was fighting with the enemy," I replied without taking off the towel on my face.


    "It''s amazing that you should fight with the enemy in a white-edged battle." Listening to his tone, he seemed to admire me. Perhaps in his mind, fighting with the enemy is another way of saying "white-edged war".


    The pain on my face slightly weakened, so I took the time to wipe the whole face again, and then threw the towel back into the basin. I looked at the second lieutenant standing in front of me and asked, "Comrade second lieutenant, I don''t know what to call you. I can''t always call you Comrade second lieutenant."


    The second lieutenant was a little shy and blushed a little before he replied, "you can call me gusip, comrade major."


    "Gusipu, you call me Rita. That''s what general frasov usually calls me."


    "I see, comrade major. I''ll call you Rita later."


    "By the way, gusipu, do you know what commander Vlasov and the Germans met to talk about?" I always think of the German officer who walked into the headquarters.


    Gusip put the wooden basin on the floor and sat opposite me. He took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and handed it to him. "Have a cigarette, Rita," he said


    I waved my hand and said, "I won''t."


    He lit a cigarette, took a hard breath, and said: "a few days ago, after the German army closed the channel which was finally opened, the headquarters of the group army issued an order to disperse the troops still trapped in the encirclement. The leaders of the headquarters were also divided into three groups, each with a firepower company composed entirely of stormtroopers. The first group was led by the deputy commander, general alfiliev, and the reconnaissance director, Colonel Rogoff; The second group was led by general afanasiyev, military commissar and communications director of the group army, and Colonel vinogoladov, chief of staff; The third group is under the command of commander General Vlasov and commander of operations Colonel brenning. According to the original plan, our group will arrive at the station of the 46th infantry division within the specified time and break through with the troops of the division. It was discovered on the way that none of the staff in the headquarters knew where the commander of the 46th Infantry Division was. We have to feel our way. As we approached the POLISI River, we were heavily bombarded by enemy artillery and mortars. Some people fell down, some people wanted to get rid of the enemy''s fire, so they scattered and fled. "


    "And then you came back to this village?" I asked tentatively.


    "Yes, after we retreated to the village, many scattered small troops also retreated. Now there are about 400 people in the village. If we regroup so many people, we will be able to go back to the river POLISI and jump out of the German encirclement. But... "At this point, gusip stopped.


    "But what? Go on, gusip In the middle of the speech, he stopped and made me confused, so I urged him to continue. He hesitated for a moment, then continued: "when Colonel brenning called the village commanders to a meeting, Vlasov did not attend at all. He was indifferent to our next action. Although there are simple fortifications and guard posts all around the village, I don''t think we can stop the German attack. "¡° Those fortifications are really simple, "I thought of the so-called fortifications I saw when I entered the village, and I couldn''t help complaining." let alone the German artillery, which is the stray bullet of infantry attack, is enough to wipe out all the soldiers in our fortifications. "¡° Rita, you don''t know something. All the troops in the village were exhausted because of the constant fighting and lack of food. Some soldiers even fainted because of hunger while on duty. According to yesterday''s reconnaissance, the Germans have occupied three directions, East, West and south, and completely cut off the passage for us to break through. "¡° What about the north? There are no Germans over there. Why don''t you break through there? "¡° Colonel brenning sent for a reconnaissance. To the north, there was an insurmountable swamp, which could not be passed at all. Even if we break through, we will pay a heavy price. And no one knows what''s going on on the other side of the swamp. Maybe we just jumped out of the German encirclement and fell into another encirclement. "¡° Do you know the purpose of the German just now? " Gusip thought for a moment and replied, "I asked the sentry just now. He said that this morning general Vlasov sent an officer to the German position. Then when I came back just now, I brought back a German officer. " At this point, he stood up, pointed to a nearby door and said, "Rita, there''s a bed in that room. Take a rest first. I don''t think the conversation between the commander and the German will be over for a while. You''d better see him tomorrow. " After hearing what lieutenant gusip said, I knew that it was impossible to see Vlasov today, so I agreed to his arrangement. Before he left the room, I asked again, "gusipu, what''s the name of this village?"¡° It''s like PIA what? By the way, it''s called piatnica village. "

 Chapter 346

    Although I was either fighting or running away, I was exhausted. But lying in a comfortable bed, I couldn''t sleep. My mind was always thinking about the German officer who entered the headquarters. What was his purpose? Was he coming to persuade him to surrender? Would Vlasov agree to his terms and let the troops lay down their weapons?


    It was not easy to talk about it until dawn. In my sleep, I heard someone mumbling and turning over impatiently. But my hand accidentally touched the wallboard, which made me wake up with a start. I opened my eyes, the sun had risen from the horizon, the sun through the window lit up the whole room. After a brief wash, I plan to take a chance at headquarters to see if I can meet Vlasov. When I went outside, I saw many people walking around in the street, including soldiers on patrol and local villagers.


    I came outside the headquarters and saw that there were still two sentinels on duty at the gate, but they were not the two soldiers yesterday. I went over and asked one of the soldiers, "Hello, comrade soldier! May I speak to lieutenant guscip, please I have learned from yesterday''s lesson. I can''t directly say to find the commander, but to find the superior who is responsible for managing them. Otherwise, I may still be rejected.


    The sentry heard that I was looking for lieutenant gusip. He looked at the rank on my badge and immediately said, "Comrade major, please wait a moment. I''ll call the lieutenant out right away." Then he turned and entered the room.


    In a short time, Lieutenant gusip followed the sentry and came out. As soon as I saw it, I ran over and asked in a low voice, "major Lida, are you looking for the commander?" I nodded and then said, "Comrade commander is still sleeping. Please come back later." I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was just five o''clock in the morning, which was a little early. In order not to embarrass gusip, I didn''t ask to see Vlasov now. I just said faintly, "I''ll go somewhere else and come back later."


    This village is not very big. There are only 40 or 50 families. As in other places, all the young and middle-aged people in the village have joined the army. Only the old, children, women and children are left in the village. Although the rest of the soldiers were still sleeping except for those on guard and patrolling, the industrious farm workers began their busy day again.


    Walking, suddenly a little boy in a ragged cap ran across from my right side. Fortunately, I stopped in time, otherwise I would knock the child over. The boy ran into the family yard on the left side of the road and hid behind the door, staring at me with his big clear eyes.


    Judging from his clothes, he should be a vagrant child. I laughed at him and took out the dried bread in my pocket to amuse him. As soon as I raised the bread, I suddenly felt that my nose was sour, and then I began to cry for no reason. I feel very strange in my heart, I just want to tease this lovely boy, why is my heart so sour?


    An old lady with a scarf stopped beside me and said with regret, "Comrade commander, do you like this child, too? Alas, this child''s life is so hard. When he followed his grandmother to escape from Leningrad and came to this village, his grandmother died of illness, leaving only this lonely child. If we hadn''t given him something to eat, he would have starved to death. " Then the old lady walked away with a sigh.


    Just as I was about to call the child over, I heard lieutenant gusip''s voice in the distance: "Comrade major, comrade major. So here you are. I''m looking for you everywhere. "


    I couldn''t take care of the boy any more, so I went to meet gusip and asked, "Lieutenant, what can I do for you?"


    Gusipu came to me with no respect. He said hastily, "Comrade major, the commander wants to see you. Please follow me to the headquarters immediately."


    The living room outside the headquarters was where the staff were, while general Vlasov worked in his bedroom. As soon as I entered the room, I was choked by the smoke and coughed violently. Vlasov, who used to be a tall figure, is sitting hunched by the bed, with cigarette ends piled in the ashtray made of tins on the wooden table in front of him.


    When he heard me coming in, Vlasov raised his head. There was no blood on his pale face. Maybe he was worried too much. He had a lot of white hair on his head. He looked at least ten years older than before.


    I immediately saluted him at attention and said aloud, "Comrade report commander, major oshanina, commander of the 327th division, has come to report to you and is waiting for your order."


    He raised his right hand, pressed it down, and then said feebly, "sit down first."


    I sat down opposite him. Although I wanted to ask Vlasov a lot, I didn''t know how to open my mouth, so I kept silent.


    It took a long time for Vlasov to ask, "Rita, do you know where we are now?"


    I nodded, did not speak, or continue to remain silent.


    Vlasov said to himself: "we are now in a tight encirclement of the German army. The army does not have enough ammunition and food. In this case, regardless of breaking through or sticking to the encirclement, the final result is the same - total annihilation. "


    "May I ask you what your plans are? Comrade commander. " I recognized the hidden meaning in his words. He was complaining that our troops had run out of ammunition and food, and there was no way out for them to resist. That''s why I asked this sentence by biting my back teeth¡° Yesterday, the 38th German army sent a liaison officer. The other side said that as long as we stop resisting, lay down our arms and surrender, we will ensure the personal safety of all our commanders and fighters and give us the proper treatment as prisoners of war. " When I heard this, I was furious. I slapped the table, stood up and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, I didn''t expect that you wanted to lead your troops to surrender to the German army. What a shame you have done!" Maybe I clapped the table so loud that I startled the people in the room outside. Immediately several staff officers rushed in and asked aloud, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? What''s the matter?" Vlasov waved to them and said, "it''s none of your business here. Let''s go out." After everyone went out, I stood there staring at Vlasov, and Vlasov did not want to be outdone. The two of us faced each other like this, and no one spoke again. After a while, Vlasov sighed and said, "I made an agreement with the German liaison officer yesterday that their troops would come at eight o''clock, and then I would order them to lay down their arms and formally surrender to them." I took a deep breath and said slowly, "as long as I have a breath left, I will never surrender to the Germans." With that, I turned and walked out of his room. As soon as I went out, the busy staff stopped their work and turned their eyes on me. I saw a few rifles on the gun rack in the corner. I went over and grabbed one and held it in my hand. I found lieutenant gusip in the crowd. I went up to him and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, the commander is going to lead the troops to surrender. What''s your plan?" When gusip heard me say this, he was stunned for a moment, and then stammered, "according to the regulations, the commander''s orders are not allowed to be discussed. Since the commander has decided to surrender to the German army, I will resolutely carry out even the wrong order. "¡° You...! " I didn''t expect him to answer like this. I snorted heavily and walked out of the headquarters with my rifle. Out of the door, I looked at the direction, and walked south. Heart said, even if I can''t find someone to fight with me, I will fight to the end. Unknowingly, I went to the place where I met the little boy just now. I couldn''t help looking into the yard on the left side of the road. I didn''t see the boy''s shadow. I felt a little disappointed. Just then, a timid voice sounded on my right: "Hello!" I turned to see, the boy stood with his back against a house, looking up at me, his face did not show the slightest look of panic. I went up to him, squatted down and looked at the thin boy. He took the bread from his pocket and handed it to him. Instead of taking the dry bread, he asked tentatively, "are you Rita?"¡° Yes, I''m Rita I feel very strange. In the village, only Vlasov and gusipu know my nickname. How could the child know it¡° Is your name mushdakova oshanina¡° Yeah, kid. How do you know my full name? " Now I''m really curious. This child not only knows my nickname, but also my real name and father''s name. The boy''s eyes suddenly spilled transparent liquid, he began to sob, dirty hands on the face to wipe, leaving a light gray trace. He cried and said, "don''t you know me? I''m Alec! Your son alik! Don''t you know me? Mom mom! When I heard this word, I felt like I was struck by lightning. My God, this little wandering boy is actually Rita''s son alik. It''s really amazing. When Alek called me mom again, the softest part of my heart was deeply hurt. I threw my rifle aside, picked up the sad Alec, wiped the tears off his face, and then got up and walked down the street. Anyone who likes to fight in this battle will fight. Anyway, I won''t fight. What I want to do now is to get Alek out of here safely, but can I? At this moment, a cry was heard all around: "the Germans are coming up, everyone hurry to enter the position!"

 Chapter 347

    With the continuous shouts, the officers and men living in the houses opened their doors and ran out one after another. They ran along the street to the village entrance. Several officers were running and shouting: "battle alarm, everyone enter the position immediately."


    I saw groups of officers and soldiers running past me and rushing to the fortifications at the entrance of the village. I can''t help but stop and think to myself: they don''t look like they are going to surrender. Do I misunderstand general Vlasov? Maybe I should stay, pick up the gun and fight with them.


    Just as I hesitated, several more people ran past me. There were five people, one officer and four soldiers, all unarmed and unarmed. As they ran, the officer waved his hands and yelled, "stop, no shooting! All stop! No shooting


    My heart sank when I heard the officer''s cry. Why don''t you shoot? Do you want the officers and men to stand there and wait for the Germans to come and catch the prisoners? It seems that I have not misunderstood Vlasov. He is really going to surrender to the Germans.


    I was only 30 meters away from the entrance of the village. I could clearly see that the commanders and fighters who had entered the fortification and aimed their guns at the outside of the village were all at a loss when they heard this inexplicable order. But since it was the order from the superior, they could only carry out it honestly. They put down their guns, stood up from the trench and looked at the people running towards them.


    The Germans outside the village are slowly approaching under the cover of tanks, perhaps because there is an agreement between the two sides in advance, so they just push into the village instead of firing.


    Seeing the Germans getting closer and closer, there were impatient soldiers in the trench shouting: "the Germans are coming up, why can''t we shoot? If we wait any longer, we will be captives. "


    "No shooting! Again, no one is allowed to shoot! " The commander who went to pass the order was giving it out loud. Then a soldier who passed with him took out a piece of white cloth from his body, hung it on a bayonet rifle, raised it high and waved it desperately to the German army.


    The German tanks stopped more than 100 meters away from the entrance of the village and pointed the black muzzle at us. The German infantry probably understood that the garrison in the village had given up their resistance and was waiting for their surrender, so they all seemed very relaxed and came slowly with guns or on their shoulders.


    I know that if I wait any longer in the village, I can''t escape the fate of being captured again. It''s a shame to be captured once. If I''m captured again, I might as well die. But now I''m holding Rita''s son, Alec, and I can''t die easily, so my brain is spinning fast, thinking about how to escape from here.


    I think in the movie, I see the commanders who are defeated, usually change into the clothes of soldiers or common people, and finally get away successfully. I looked down at my tattered military uniform and decided to take a risk. I raised my hand to untie the bun on my head, spread out my hair, tore off the rank on the badge, carefully put it into my pocket and put it with the medals wrapped in steps.


    I held Alec in my arms and walked towards the village with my head down. The village gathered the attention of the officers and men, all focused on the approaching Germans, and no one noticed me at all. Only when I walked out of the village to meet the German did I hear someone behind me exclaim, "Hey, danger ahead, come back! Come back quickly


    Now that I have left the village, I have no intention of going back. I''m gambling that the Germans will treat me as an ordinary citizen, and Alek in his arms undoubtedly increases the chance of winning this kind of gambling.


    I walked towards the Germans, and they were coming towards me. In a short time, I met them face to face. The young German soldier in front of me just looked at me with strange eyes, then slightly leaned down and let me pass him. Then the soldiers behind me made way for me one after another. Maybe in their eyes, I was a Russian woman who wanted to run away.


    When I was about to walk to the side of the tank, a tank commander who suddenly showed half of his body from the turret pointed at me and yelled a few words, then several soldiers came to surround me in the middle. My heart beat faster, and I said it was over. It seems that today is doomed.


    Holding in his arms, alik suddenly burst into tears without warning. He was so sad that my heart was broken. I patted him gently on the back, coaxed him in a low voice, and raised my hand to wipe the tears from his cheek.


    Perhaps it was Alec''s cry that made the tank commander change his mind. He waved his hand and said a few words, and the German soldiers around me scattered.


    Alek just cried for a while when I was stopped by the German. As soon as the German soldiers left, he stopped crying and winked at me mischievously. Only then did I realize that Alec''s crying was just a strategy to save me. He was really a little ghost.


    Although no one checked and stopped me, I was still in a cold sweat when I walked out of the German attack line without danger. The sweat made my back wet. Judging from the strength of the German army, the troops in the village can''t hold on at all. It seems that Vlasov has a certain reason to say that he wants to save the lives of the soldiers.


    I don''t dare to walk on the road. I''m afraid I''ll meet other German troops. I''m afraid they''ll be indiscriminate. But whether I''m a soldier or a common people, I''ll shoot when I meet them. I dare not walk in the forest. If I get lost, I may starve to death in the forest. Finally, I took a compromise approach and walked forward in the woods more than 20 meters away from the road. The advantage of walking like this is that I am not afraid of getting lost. Even if I find German people on the road, I can avoid them in time. I walked south for four or five hours, about ten kilometers. My physical strength was seriously overdrawn, my steps were getting slower and slower, and my eyesight was gradually blurred. Alex noticed my discomfort and offered, "Mom, let''s find a place to rest. I''m hungry and want to eat." I nodded, found a spacious place, put him down, raised his sleeve to wipe sweat, then took out the paper wrapped in bread from my pocket and handed it to Alek. As a result, he opened the paper package, took a piece of dry bread from it, and handed the rest back to me, saying, "Mom, I''ll just eat one piece. You can eat the rest." I took the paper bag and took only a piece of dry bread. The rest of it was wrapped up and put in my pocket again, because I didn''t know how long it would take to get out of danger. I had to keep the food in case. I was eating when I heard the roar of the tank motor in the distance. I quickly put the bread in my mouth, pulled alik to lie behind a bush and stared at him in a low voice: "alik, don''t talk, or they will find out." "I see, mom," alik replied in a low voice The tank was moving from south to north, and soon appeared in my view. As the tank got closer and closer, I could see that it was the Soviet T-34. The tank was moving very slowly. A commander in a helmet and raincoat stood on it, holding the handle on the turret in one hand and looking around with a telescope in the other. Behind him were two tricycles, all of which were soldiers in Soviet uniforms. Because of the previous experience of being captured by Layi, a traitor pretending to be a Soviet army, I still dare not act rashly, even if I see that these people are all dressed up as Soviet army. Just then, Alek excitedly said to me, "Mom, it''s our own army." With that, he stood up, waved his hands desperately, and cried out: "Uncle soldier, we are here. Come and help us!" With his cry, the soldier on the tank turned his telescope and looked at our position. The two motorcycles behind also stopped, and the soldiers jumped out of the car, lying on the ground and pointed their guns at us. I was scared out of my wits by Alec''s action. I was afraid that those people would shoot me. I could only stand up honestly and hold Alec up. When Alek saw that I was silent, he knew he was in trouble. He hung his head on my shoulder and said nothing. The commander knocked heavily on the turret to stop the tank. He raised his telescope and looked at us for a while, then jumped out of the tank and ran to me without hesitation. My heart finished, this time is really doomed, and when the German captives. The commander ran to a place five or six meters away from me, stopped and asked in a loud voice, "Hello, comrades, are you major o''shanina?" If you can name me, it seems that these Soviet commanders and fighters are not fake. I went over with Alec in my arms. Looking at the strange commander in front of me, I asked curiously, "Comrade commander, do you know me?" The commander saluted me and said, "Hello! Major oshanina, I''m lieutenant boloda, the adjutant of commander meletzkov. I''m ordered to find the headquarters of the second shock group army. Do you know where commander Vlasov is? "

 Chapter 348

    I looked at the T-34 and the two tricycles parked on the road. Instead of answering his question directly, I asked, "Captain boroda, you don''t want to lead these people to rescue general Vlasov, do you?"


    "Rescue?! Major oshanina, why do you say that? Is general Vlasov in danger now? "


    "You are right, comrade captain." I pointed to the north of the road and said, "along this road, about ten kilometers north, there is a small village called piatnica, where general Vlasov and his headquarters are." Seeing that the captain turned and wanted to go to the tank, I continued, "but Comrade captain, if I were you, I wouldn''t take the risk easily. Because the village is now surrounded by the Germans. "


    "Ah?" When I said this, boroda stopped and asked anxiously, "major oshanina, how do you know that the Germans have surrounded the village? Did you just escape from there?"


    "Yes," I gave him a positive answer, and then I took the initiative to remind him, "Comrade captain, if you can contact commander meletskov, you''d better ask him to send reinforcements. We should know that at least two battalions of infantry and heavy technical equipment such as tanks are besieged by the Germans, and we need at least one division before we can defeat the German army, Save general Vlasov from the siege. " Although that''s what I said, I know very well in my heart that one division, two divisions and three divisions, can''t save Vlasov. He has become a prisoner of the German at this moment.


    After listening to me, Captain boroda frowned slightly, thought for a while, and then made up his mind to say, "I''m going to report to the commander." After a few steps, he stopped and turned to me and said, "Comrade major, please come with me. I''ll try to get you to a safe place first. "


    After climbing up the tank again, he opened the top cover of the turret and said in a loud voice, "report to the headquarters of the front army that the rescue team brought by Captain boroda, after 20 kilometers northward, met major oshanina, who broke out alone. According to her, the headquarters of frasov is surrounded by heavy German troops, only with our existing strength, Unable to complete the assigned task, please send more reinforcements to me as soon as possible. "


    With that, he turned around and saw that I had come to the side of the tank with Alec in my arms. He quickly squatted down to take Alec over, put him on the car body, and then stretched out his hand to pull me up. When I got to my feet, he said, "I''ve asked the tank soldiers to report to the headquarters of the front army through the car radio. We''ll decide on our future actions when the reply comes."


    Looking at the motorcycles and the six soldiers parked beside the tank, I couldn''t help asking boroda: "Comrade captain, you dare to go deep into the enemy''s rear to carry out rescue mission with these people?"


    When I asked, boroda replied with a wry smile, "actually, when I set out, commander meletzkov sent me five tanks and a company of motorized infantry. But on the way here, I met with the Germans several times. Some of the other four tanks were hit by mines and some were destroyed by the enemy. These are the only people left in the motorized infantry company. "


    I used to think that boroda was a bold man with a tank and two motorcycles. He was full of money and about ten people. He dared to rush into the area where the German troops were concentrated. When I knew that there were only a few people in front of me, it was because the small troops kept fighting with the enemy on the road, and they barely got here after a lot of hardships.


    While waiting for meletskov''s reply, I suddenly remembered that after he saw me through the telescope, he quickly determined my identity, but I was very strange to him. I didn''t know how he recognized me, so I said my question: "Captain boroda, there is something I want to ask you. It seems that I have never seen you before. How do you recognize me? "


    "Major o''shanina, we''ve met a long time ago." Seeing my confused face, he said, "remember the German attack on the 52nd group army before you came to the 2nd assault group army last time?"


    I nodded hard, took alik next to me, sat down on me, and said, "of course, commander meletskov asked me to lead the second lieutenant training team and junior officer training company in the battle at that time."


    "When you accepted the task, I stood behind commander meletskov. Maybe there were too many people present at that time. You didn''t care to pay attention to me." While explaining the reason, boroda also gave me a small step.


    So I pretended to be enlightened and said, "Oh, you are the adjutant standing behind commander meletskov at that time! Don''t mention that there were too many people in the room that day. I didn''t notice what many people looked like. "


    At this time, a tank soldier leaned out of the open turret and said to boroda in a loud voice, "report to the captain. The commander has instructions. The unit will return the same way. At the same time, it is necessary to protect major oshanina''s personal safety."


    Boroda nodded at the tank soldiers and said with a smile, "thank you, comrade tank soldiers. We''ll turn around and join up with the reinforcements sent by the headquarters of the front army. "


    I sat with my back against the turret, holding the handle in one hand and holding Alek firmly in the other. The tank rebooted, made a circle, and drove south along the road.

 Chapter 349

    Although the tank soldier''s driving skill is very good, it is still like dancing when driving at high speed on the road full of craters. While I was holding Alek, I also grasped the handle on the turret firmly, so as not to bump me down when the tank dodged one dark crater after another.


    Less than two kilometers ahead, more and more bodies on the ground, and the remains of tanks, armored vehicles, motorcycles and trucks still burning, are telling people silently how fierce the fighting here not long ago was. It seems that captain boroda''s troops may have met and fought with the Germans here. As boroda was eager to find general Vlasov''s whereabouts, he didn''t even clean the battlefield. The remains of our soldiers and the bodies of German soldiers were lying there, guns and ammunition scattered everywhere.


    Looking at the dead bodies in various positions and the dense craters on the roadside, I could not help but look at him sideways. This little guy didn''t know when he had fallen asleep. Now he was sleeping sweetly with his head resting on my shoulder. He didn''t see the bloody scenes that might leave a psychological shadow on him.


    Boroda looked down at Alek, who was held in my arms. She squatted down and asked in a low voice, "Comrade major, whose child is this?"


    I gave him a smile and whispered, "his name is Alek. He''s my son."


    "What?" Hearing my answer, boroda raised her voice in surprise, "your son? How can you have such a big son? What''s more, I don''t understand why your son appeared in the forest near liuban with you? You know, he''s such a small child that he can''t come to this area alone. "


    To tell you the truth, I don''t know why alik appeared in piatnica village. But since captain boroda asked, I couldn''t help answering, so I said vaguely, "after the war broke out, I joined the army and left home, and lost contact with my mother and son. Later, after several inquiries, I found out that they were in Leningrad, and I went to them. As a result, my neighbor told me that they had evacuated. I had no hope of finding them, but I met my son in the village of piatnica. "


    "And your mother?"


    "Dead," I replied calmly, "because of malnutrition." Although I don''t know how Rita''s mother died, it''s the most acceptable reason to use this excuse to prevaricate.


    After listening to my explanation, boroda blushed. He coughed and said, "I''m sorry, major oshanina. I shouldn''t have mentioned your sadness." With that, he stood up again, holding the handle.


    Half an hour later, we approached a small village. There is a temporary checkpoint at the entrance of the village, with a cross bar in the middle of the road and machine gun fortifications piled with sandbags on both sides. Seeing our tank moving towards the village, a soldier stood in front of the crossbar and waved a signal flag to us to stop.


    The tank stopped, and boroda jumped out of the tank and went to meet the soldier.


    At this time, alik also woke up. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and asked lazily, "Mom, where are we?"


    I looked at the village surrounded by the forest, shook my head and said, "I don''t know."


    After a few words with the soldier on duty, the soldier turned and ran to raise the bar. The captain gestured to us that the tanks and motorcycles should go straight into the village.


    The tank stopped in an open space. I jumped out of the tank first, and then I took Alec off the tank. Originally, I still wanted to hold him, but he resolutely refused to say that he was afraid of tiring me. So I took him and stood there waiting for boroda to come.


    Boroda trotted up to me and said, "major oshanina, the 378th division of the 59th army is stationed here. The division commander is colonel dorofeyev. His headquarters are in the village. "


    I looked at Alec and said in a bit of embarrassment, "Captain, what about this kid?"


    Boroda looked around, pointed to a wooden house in the distance and said, "major, there''s a medical station there. I suggest you send the child there first and let the female health workers take care of it for you. "


    I saw that near the wooden house, the health workers came in and out from time to time. It seems that there are still many people. It is better to put the children there than to take them everywhere. So I nodded and led Alek and boroda to the medical station.


    Just outside the medical station, a young female nurse came to us with a smile on her face and asked boloda, "Comrade commander, what can I do for you?"


    Seeing that the female health worker only said hello to him, boroda gave me an embarrassed smile and then replied, "Comrade health worker, because we have something important to do, do you think it''s convenient to put the child here for the time being?"


    "No problem, just leave the baby to me." With that, she bent down and waved to Alek, "come to me, little friend."


    Alex looked up at me and waited for my decision. I nodded with a smile and said softly, "go ahead, Alek!" With my permission, alik let go of my hand and ran quickly to the woman health worker.


    Looking at the woman health worker holding alik up, I first said thanks to her, and then asked: "female health worker comrades, do not know how to address you?"¡° Ulanova, just call me ulanova. "¡° Comrade ulanova, "Captain boroda stopped the woman health worker who was about to leave and asked," I want to ask you how to get to your division headquarters. " Hearing boluoda ask the division headquarters, ulanowa gave a shiver inexplicably. Then she pointed to a certain direction and said, "go east, walk 200 meters, and see the house with several sentries at the gate." With that, he ran away without looking back. Seeing the strange performance of ulannova, boroda and I looked at each other. We didn''t know that she was fine. How did she hear that the division headquarters became like this. We walked down in the direction pointed by ulannova. As expected, we soon saw several sentries standing guard in front of a big wooden house. It seems that this is the division headquarters we are looking for. Boroda and I walked back and forth to the gate of the headquarters. Facing the incoming sentry, boroda said, "I''m captain boroda, the adjutant of commander meletskov. I''d like to meet your division commander. Is he there?"¡° Yes, comrade captain. Mr. and Comrade are inside. Please follow me. " Then the sentry would take boroda inside. I hastened to follow up, but was blocked by another sentry. He said in an official voice: "sorry, this female soldier, this is the division headquarters, not everyone can enter. You just stay outside and wait for the captain to come out."¡° Hello, comrade soldier Captain boroda, who was walking inside, heard the man''s words, immediately stopped and said sternly, "that''s major oshanina. Let her come quickly." When he heard that I was a major from boroda, the sentry was surprised. He quickly stepped aside and bowed to invite me in.

 Chapter 350

    As we walked into the room of the division headquarters, we saw a large map nailed to the front wall. A bald Colonel stood with his back to the door. Beside the wall, a gray haired lieutenant commander pointed at the map with a wooden stick. Captain boroda stepped forward and said in a loud voice, "Comrade division commander, Captain boroda reports to you and is at your command." Hearing boroda''s voice, the commander stopped explaining and turned his eyes on us. The bald captain turned around, looked us up and down, and asked in an official voice, "I''m Mr. dorofeyev. Comrade captain, what part of you are?" There was a trace of disdain in the tone. Boroda straightened himself up and replied, "report, comrade division commander, I''m the adjutant of general meletskov, commander of the front army, and I''ve been ordered to carry out special tasks." It''s said that he was the adjutant of the commander of the front army. With a special mission, dorofeyev''s tone softened. He turned his eyes to me and asked boroda tentatively, "Comrade captain, who is this female soldier? You know, this is the division headquarters. No one can come in. " Without waiting for boroda to speak, I quickly stepped forward, saluted dorofeyev, and said, "Comrade Colonel, Captain boroda was speechless when he heard that. He had to shrug his shoulders at me, spread his hands, and indicated to me that he was helpless. I laughed at the captain and did not speak. Instead, I took out the cloth bag from my pocket and opened it gently in front of several people, revealing four dazzling medals inside. As soon as my medal was displayed, all the people in front of me were stunned. The general military medal is nothing. As long as you have participated in several battles, you may get it. However, the red flag medal was awarded to the citizens of the Russian Federation who directly participated in the battle and showed extraordinary bravery and bravery. It was very difficult to get one, let alone three. The atmosphere in the room was a little embarrassed. The white haired lieutenant commander came over and offered his hand to me: "Hello! Major oshanina. My name is samoylov. I''m boloda. When the lieutenant commander said this, he said with a smile, "Comrade chief of staff, I can''t believe you know my past quite well." The commander then said, "I haven''t finished. My comrades in arms also said that you were transferred to the 7th group army and were wounded in the battle near Petrozavodsk. After you recovered, you became the company commander of the guard company of the Military Commission of the group army. Later, after you got to know commander meletskov, you were transferred to the combat division of the headquarters of the front army as assistant director. am I correct? Comrade captain. "¡° Exactly, comrade commander. " Colonel dorofeyev came back from the phone call and gave the latest order to the chief of staff: "Comrade chief of staff, according to the order of the commander of the front army, immediately transfer the troops to the command of captain boroda, and go to piatnica village as soon as possible to rescue general Vlasov who is trapped there."¡° Yes, sir. I will mobilize the troops immediately. " With that, the chief of staff got up and called in the corner. Less than five minutes later, the chief of staff came back and said, "Comrade division commander, our troops have been transferred. Among them, eight infantry companies and one tank regiment are under the command of captain boroda." Captain boroda raised his hand to look at the time and said, "it''s three o''clock in the afternoon, chief of staff. Can you tell me how long it will take for the troops to assemble?" The chief of staff also raised his hand to look at his watch and replied, "it will take about three and a half hours, that is to say, at six o''clock, the troops can complete the assembly." At this point, he added as if apologizing: "it takes time to know that the whole division''s forces are scattered in a wide operational area and to gather."¡° Three hours is too long, chief of staff. " Boroda said with some dissatisfaction, "it''s about 25 kilometers from here to piatnica village, and the troops are almost infantry. Even if we rush, it will take at least seven or eight hours. By the time we get there, it''s already midnight."¡° Comrade captain, "I interrupted boroda," Comrade chief of staff has done his best. After all, it''s not easy to gather up the scattered troops. It''s better to wait patiently. "¡° Yes, major oshanina is right Dorofeyev echoed me and said, "it''s our limit to assemble the troops in three hours." When all of us said that, Captain boroda had no choice but to say, "I see, comrade major. At present, it seems that we have to wait patiently. "

 Chapter 351

    The infantry gathered in the open space where our tanks were parked. It was said that there were eight companies, but there were less than 50 people left in each company. The so-called tank regiment is even more unreliable. There are only 11 tanks. According to Colonel dorofeyev, the rest of the tanks have been lost in the battle. Now there is only one tank company left.


    Just now, the chief of staff vowed that the troops could be assembled in three hours. But after five hours, there were only less than half of the companies in the open space, and the rest were still on their way to the village. Captain boroda and I stood at the front of the line, looking at them in a row without expression, and no one spoke.


    Looking at these tardy commanders and fighters, I can''t help frowning. It took so long to gather troops. If they were allowed to walk more than 20 kilometers, they would have taken all the prisoners away by the time they got to piatnica village.


    When the troops were finally assembled, Captain boroda went up and yelled in a loud voice, "all comrades, listen to my command! attention! stand at ease! Turn right and target the village of piatnica to the north. Let''s go


    With his command, the soldiers in four columns marched in neat steps along the road to the north.


    Not long after the infantry set out, boroda got on the tank and stood on the body to direct the tank troops to set out. They soon passed the infantry line and sped forward


    I wanted to march with the infantry, but the chief of staff refused to let me go with him. It''s hard to be gracious, so I didn''t refuse and went straight to the back of the jeep.


    After nearly ten hours'' March, our reinforcements finally arrived two kilometers away from piatnica village shortly after dawn. The tank troops led by boroda are now in attack formation and stopping in front.


    Our car stopped next to captain boroda''s tank. I saw that he was looking at the village in the distance with a telescope. I couldn''t help calling him: "Comrade captain, what''s the situation in the village? Have you seen the Germans? "


    Boroda put down his telescope, looked down at me and said, "Comrade major, the village is very quiet. No one can see. I don''t know if general Vlasov is still there."


    My proposal was quickly approved by the chief of staff, who rushed ahead of me and said to boroda, "Comrade captain, since the enemy has not moved, maybe they are not aware of our arrival. You should immediately organize the troops to attack and take them by surprise. "


    Boroda did not answer, but looked at me. Seeing that he turned his attention to me again, I was a little upset. Didn''t you stir up the contradiction between me and the superior leaders? When people give you orders, what do you keep looking at me? Although I was full of complaints, on the surface, I had to pretend nothing happened and said to the captain, "Captain boroda, since the chief of staff has given orders, you can carry them out! The tank soldiers advanced into the village, and the infantry entered the designated position and advanced to the village in a scattered formation. "


    Boroda agreed in a loud voice and yelled at the open hatch: "tank soldiers, go ahead, rush to the village." The tank under his feet gave a loud roar, and a stream of black smoke came out from behind. Then he rushed to the village quickly, and the eleven tanks followed him closely. The two three wheeled motorcycles also rushed into the village behind them.


    Seeing the tank approaching the entrance of the village, my heart couldn''t help but raise my voice. My heart said that the Germans would not ambush anti tank men at the entrance of the village, would they? Will they open fire as soon as our tanks enter the village?


    The following facts proved that I was completely worried, until all the tanks drove into the village, and no Anti Tank Man I imagined jumped out to block the tanks, and I didn''t even hear the gunfire. I was surprised. Where are the Germans? Did they go to piatnica just to catch Vlasov and get rid of them all?


    Soon after the tank troops entered the village, after a long journey of infantry, they entered the designated position one after another, and set up the attack of the formation of scattered soldiers, just wait for a command, they can fight at any time.


    Chief of staff samoirov looked through the telescope for a while, then asked me when I could launch an attack. I replied that I would let the infantry launch an attack after captain boroda sent someone to report the situation in the village.


    Just when we were very anxious, a motorcycle came out of the village. The chief of staff pointed to the approaching motorcycle and excitedly said to me, "Comrade major, you see, Captain boroda has sent someone back."


    When the motorcycle stopped five meters away from us, a soldier jumped out of the sidecar and trotted to us. After standing at attention and saluting, he loudly reported, "report commander comrade, Captain boroda asked me to let you report that the village is empty and there is no one."


    "No one?" The chief of staff asked in disbelief, "don''t you even have a common people?"


    "Report to commander, we have searched carefully and there is no one in the village."


    "What, no one?" This answer makes me depressed. What''s the matter with the German? Since frasov''s troops have surrendered, you just take the soldiers away. Why don''t you even let the civilians in the village go?


    The chief of staff turned his eyes to me and asked suspiciously, "major oshanina, I would like to ask who did you listen to about general Vlasov in this village?"


    "Who''s to say," I replied impatiently, "I saw general Vlasov himself in the village yesterday morning, but I escaped before the Germans surrounded me."


    "Then tell me, what shall we do next?"


    I looked down for a moment, pointed to the forest around the village and said to the chief of staff, "although there is no one in the village, I can''t rule out the possibility that someone will escape to the forest when the Germans enter the village. Comrade commander, I ask you to send half of your troops to search the forest. Maybe you will get something. "


    The chief of staff looked me in the eye for at least thirty seconds, then nodded and said, "well, major o''shanina, since you say so, do as you say." Then he sent for several company commanders. Except for leaving two companies on guard outside the village, the rest of the troops went into the forest to search for possible commanders and fighters.


    As soon as the search force started, Captain boroda came out of the village by motorcycle. When he came to us, he said solemnly, "I''ve seen it in the village. Although it''s empty and there''s no sign of fighting, we found our standard weapons and uniforms in several houses. Judging from this, our troops were once stationed in this village, but where are they now? I still can''t understand that. "


    My heart said that they were all prisoners. Now no one knows where they were taken by the Germans. Of course you can''t find them. But just think about it in your heart. You can''t say it. In order not to be cold, I comforted him and said, "Captain boroda, please don''t worry. When the search forces come back, everything will be clear."


    The chief of staff looked at his watch and said, "you two, should we go to the village to wait for news and have something to eat?"


    After listening to the chief of staff''s proposal, boroda patted his forehead and said with a smile, "Oh, chief of staff, if you don''t tell me, I really forgot that it was my negligence to let you stand outside the village all the time. Well, let the troops on guard come into the village with us first, and we''ll wait for the news in the village slowly. "


    Boroda took us to the former headquarters of Vlasov. In this room, except for a few rifles without bullets in the corner, maps on the wall, telephones on the desk and other things, it is estimated that they were all moved by the Germans.


    In the abandoned headquarters, we ate something with cold well water, and soon some company commanders came in to report their search results to us.


    After an hour''s search, the search force found nearly 50 sick or injured officers and soldiers in the forest. Some of them were carried out by the search fighters - mostly starving, swollen and half dead. The ones in better health came out with their own shoulders on their own.


    The officers and men were found by the stream or in the bush. Every one of the rescued commanders and fighters was emaciated. When they saw the commanders and fighters going to rescue them, some of them were silent and obstinately refused to speak. Some people keep on talking nonsense.


    After repeated inquiries, we made it clear that after the Germans surrounded the village, they captured most of the village''s officers and soldiers and villagers without fighting. Some officers and soldiers who didn''t want to be captured fled into the forest. In order to eliminate them, the Germans went to the forest several times to search for them, and even released police dogs. In this case, some of the commanders and fighters were killed by the German soldiers on the spot, while others were taken prisoner. The officers and men who survived by chance were hiding in the forest, always on guard against the enemy''s search. They didn''t come out of the hiding place until they saw our search team appear. But none of the surviving commanders and fighters can tell the whereabouts of Vlasov himself.


    After sending these officers and men into the village, boroda said to me with a sad face, "my task is to meet general Vlasov, but no one knows his whereabouts. Major o''shanina, what do you say we should do? "


    I knew that it was very urgent to find Vlasov himself. At the same time, I knew that he would definitely be a German prisoner. Now when I heard that captain boroda asked me for help, I could not ignore it. I could only reply vaguely, "I think you should contact the headquarters of the front army immediately, report the news of general Vlasov''s disappearance to general meletskov, and wait for his further orders."


    After listening to my suggestion, the chief of staff echoed and said, "Comrade captain, I think major oshanina''s proposal is good. You should contact the headquarters of the front army immediately, report the current situation and let the superior make a decision."


    When boroda saw that I and the chief of staff both said this, he had no choice but to nod his head and say, "in that case, I will report to the headquarters. However, how should these troops be arranged? Should they garrison here or go back to the headquarters of the 378th division? "


    The chief of staff estimated that he had been waiting for him to ask this question for a long time. He almost did not hesitate to reply, "the troops are tired after a day''s walk. Let them have a night''s rest in the village and return to the headquarters tomorrow."

 Chapter 352

    A sudden knock on the door woke me up. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was just four o''clock in the morning. Although it was already dawn at this time of summer, it seemed that it was still a little early to get up. I was very unhappy and asked to the outside: "who is outside? Can I help you? "


    The knock on the door suddenly stopped. After a few seconds, a young voice answered in a loud voice, "Comrade major, the troops are going to start. Captain boroda asked me to call you."


    When I heard that the troops were going to leave, I jumped out of bed, put on my boots and opened the door. At the door stood a subordinate of captain boroda, behind whom was a motorcycle. As soon as he saw me, he immediately stood at attention and said, "Comrade major, Captain boroda asked me to pick you up. Please get on the bus."


    After I got into the sidecar, the soldier started the motorcycle and drove along the street to the village entrance. I asked the motorcyclist, "Comrade soldier, where is the army?"


    "Report to the major that the troops assembled half an hour ago and are now on standby outside the village." Hearing the soldier''s reply, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. It seems that I''m too tired recently. I fell asleep so deeply last night that I didn''t even hear the movement of troops.


    When I arrived at the entrance of the village, I found a strange phenomenon: a tank and motorcycle under the command of captain boroda stopped not far from the entrance of the village. The chief of staff and his troops, however, stopped further away. In addition to the neat infantry square and tank units, there was also a team of neatly parked trucks.


    The motorcycle stopped in front of captain boroda. I came out of the sidecar and asked him strangely, "Comrade captain, apart from what, why did you start so early? And why don''t the 378 division stay with you? "


    Boroda said with a wry smile: "at three o''clock in the morning, just after dawn, the motorcade sent by Colonel dorofeyev came to the outside of the village. Along with the convoy, there was also an order drafted by the Colonel himself, asking the chief of staff to immediately take all the troops back to the station by car, and no longer participate in our search for general Vlasov. "


    Instead of pondering why dorofeyev gave such a puzzling order, I asked boroda, "Comrade captain, what are your plans?"


    Boroda thought for a moment and replied, "I''m going to spend another day searching around. If I still can''t find general Vlasov, I''ll go straight back to the headquarters of the front army and reply to general meletskov." At this point, he stopped for a moment and asked, "Comrade major, what''s your plan? Do you want to join us or go back to the 378th division? "


    To tell you the truth, it''s safer to go back to the division headquarters of the 378th division than to follow captain boroda around behind enemy lines. However, if I had a choice, I would still like to work with the captain. In 378 division, when I saw Colonel dorofeyev, I felt uncomfortable.


    I just wanted to tell the captain that I''m going with him. As soon as he was about to speak, he suddenly thought of alik, who was still in the medical station of the 378th division. He had to grit his teeth and change his mind: "I''m sorry, comrade captain. Although I would like to go with you to find general Vlasov, the actual conditions do not allow me to go back to the 378th division to find my son. "


    I thought that this would be despised by Captain boroda. Unexpectedly, he said with great understanding, "major oshanina, I think your choice is correct. After all, the child found it. He needs his mother''s company."


    Seeing that we were going to go our separate ways, I took the initiative to extend my hand to boroda and said gratefully, "Comrade captain, thank you for your understanding. I believe your search and rescue operation will be successful. Good luck


    After shaking hands, boroda untied the belt around his waist, handed it to me with the holster, and said, "major o''shanina, you can keep this gun for self-defense."


    Since I was captured last time, I have been in a state of bare handed. Now I see boroda give me his gun, but I don''t refuse. I take it and tie the belt to thank him.


    He gave me a little smile, then straightened up and saluted me, then turned and climbed up the tank.


    When the tanks and motorcycles under the command of boroda drove westward, I walked towards the 378 division in the distance.


    I went up to the chief of staff standing next to the jeep and saluted at attention. Then he asked frankly, "Comrade chief of staff, why did you gather the troops so early?"


    The chief of staff didn''t expect that I would suddenly ask this question. He was obviously stunned for a moment, and then replied: "I received the order from the division commander that German troops were found in the forest near the division headquarters. In order to ensure the safety of the division headquarters, I urgently assembled the troops and quickly returned by the truck sent by the division headquarters."


    An officer who was standing next to the chief of staff suddenly asked, "Comrade chief of staff, can we start?" Seeing the chief of staff turning around, he saluted, ran to the front of the infantry line, and called out in a loud voice, "get in the car!"


    The tank unit was driving ahead, and our jeep was following them. Behind us, there was a long queue. In addition to the soldiers of the 378th division, there were also the officers and men of the former 2nd shock group army rescued yesterday.


    I was in the back of the car, and the chief of staff was in the co driver''s seat. After more than ten minutes of silence, I couldn''t help asking again, "Comrade chief of staff, with all due respect, division commander dorofeyev should still have a lot of troops in his hand. Is it a bit of putting the cart before the horse to send a convoy to take back a few hundred of us?" The chief of staff turned around in his seat, glanced at me, coughed, and then replied in an official voice, "I''m not sure about the specific situation. Anyway, it''s an order from the superior, and I''ll implement it unconditionally." When I heard what the chief of staff said, I couldn''t continue to ask, but I always felt that something was wrong. Otherwise, the troops would never have gone back so early. Not to mention, it''s easy to walk with trucks. Yesterday, it took ten hours to walk. Today, it only took more than one hour for the troops to return to the village where the 378th division headquarters is located. The driver put me down near the medical station and drove to the division headquarters. I walked into the medical station. Stretchers of the wounded were neatly placed on the ground. Several female health workers were busy taking care of them. One of the rooms inside should be the operating room, because I saw two male health workers wearing red cross sleeves carrying out one of the wounded, putting them on the ground with stretchers, and then lifting another one who was moaning in¡° Major o''shanina, "I heard a familiar voice calling for me. Turning around, I saw a familiar face. I couldn''t help exclaiming in surprise, "it''s you, Sergeant Nina." The acquaintance was Nina, the camp''s health worker, and captain diomi''s dream lover. At the moment, she was lying on a stretcher, supporting half of her body with her elbow and smiling at me. I quickly went to her side, squatted down and asked, "Nina, what''s wrong with you? Where are you hurt?" Nina replied with a wry smile, "I hurt my leg. Two days ago, when I went to rescue a fallen comrade in arms on the battlefield, the stretcher man who was working together accidentally stepped on a German mine. He died on the spot, but I was wounded by shrapnel. "¡° Doesn''t it matter? Will it leave any sequelae? "¡° I had an operation yesterday, and the military doctor helped me take out all the shrapnel from my leg. He said that tomorrow I can be sent to the rear with the other wounded, and after a period of training, I can return to normal without any sequelae Nina and I were talking when someone called to me: "Hello, comrades, nice to meet you again." I turned around and saw that it was ulanowa who took care of the children for me. I quickly stood up, took her hand and said gratefully, "ulanowa, it''s you. Thank you for helping me take care of the child. Where is he now? Is he not causing you any trouble¡° He''s resting in the health worker''s dormitory. I''ll take you to have a look when I finish my work later. "¡° thank you! Thank you so much, ulanova¡° Ulanova, "Nina on the stretcher suddenly asked," Why are there so few health workers today? I saw 15 yesterday, but today there are only seven, half of them. What''s the matter? "¡° I don''t know. I don''t know. I don''t know anything. " Ulannova heard this question, suddenly flustered up, incoherent to say a few words, on the far away away away. Seeing her performance, Nina and I immediately looked at each other. What''s the matter? Why is she so alarmed when she hears this question? Unfortunately, none of us knows the answer.

 Chapter 353

    After ulanova left, Nina and I continued to chat. From the beginning of the breakout, in order to ensure the marching speed of the breakout troops, the headquarters of the group army ordered that the original rescue teams of each unit be separated from the organizational system and assigned to the field hospital of the group army. In this case, Nina''s rescue team was separated from our battalion. I didn''t expect to see Nina here today, so I said to Nina excitedly, "Nina, tell me something about your ambulance team."¡° Major... "Nina just habitually called out my official position. I immediately stopped her and said," you are all old comrades in arms. Don''t be so polite. Just call me Rita. "¡° Well, I''ll call you Rita later Nina readily agreed, and then began to tell the story of our separation: "soon after our health team was assigned to the field hospital of the group army, we heard that the pioneer division under the command of Colonel anchufiev had broken through the three German lines of defense and opened a narrow corridor for the main force of the group army along the narrow track. Due to the large number of patients to be treated, the field hospital arrived at "yes". Let''s go. " Wulannuova''s face was expressionless and said lightly. I stood up and was about to leave when Nina suddenly asked curiously, "Rita, it''s the first time I''ve heard that you have a son." I turned to her and said with a smile, "yes, I''m several years old. I''ll bring him to see you later." Speaking of this, I suddenly had a flash of inspiration. I thought that Nina would be transferred to the military hospital in the rear tomorrow. It might be a good choice for her to take Alek away. Ulannova took me to a wooden house not far away, pushed the door open and went in. This is obviously the dormitory of the female health worker. The single beds are arranged orderly, while alik is lying on a bed not far from the door. I thank uranova, walk up to Alek and sit quietly by his bed. Looking at the sleeping little boy, I gently wipe away the tears from the corners of his eyes with my hand. I can''t help feeling that if I hadn''t met him in piatnica village and risked to bring him out, maybe he would have disappeared just like the villagers. Just at this time, another soldier walked in from the outside, went directly to ulannova, and said carelessly: "Comrade health worker, you are here, I have been looking for you everywhere." Ulannova saw this man, as if he had seen a ghost, desperately retreated, warily asked: "what do you want me to do?" The man laughed and said, "what else can we do? Of course, it''s a good thing! The chief of staff has brought back his troops. He and his division commander are waiting for you in the headquarters. Let you go and have them examined. " Ulannova said angrily: "check up and go to those assistant military doctors. I''m just an ordinary health worker. I don''t know anything except taking care of the wounded."¡° The chief of staff came back with his troops after a long journey. He is in poor health and needs your care. " "I''m not going," she replied, biting her back teeth The man snorted coldly and gave out cruel words: "ulanova, I warn you, don''t be shameless. I''ll wait for you outside for five minutes. If you don''t come out, I''ll have you arrested. " With that, he walked away and slammed the door when he was going out. I was confused by what happened in front of me. I got up and went to ulanowa, took her shoulder and asked with concern, "ulanowa, what''s the matter? I''m confused by you. "

 Chapter 354

    However, to my surprise, ulanowa twisted her body, broke away from my hand and gave me a hard push. Caught off guard, under the action of inertia, I stepped back and sat on an empty bed.


    I sat on the bed for a moment, and then I understood that the person ulannova wanted to push was not me, but the soldier who had just entered the door. Because she was too nervous, she took me as the soldier, so she had such an impulsive move. When I think about it, I feel relieved.


    The development of things was not what I expected. After ulannova pushed me away, she soon recovered. Her pretty white face suddenly turned red. She came up to me, bowed her head and said with embarrassment, "I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to. Are you all right? "


    I shook my head at her with a smile and looked at Alec lying on the bed. I was relieved to see that he didn''t wake up just now. I turned around, took ulanova''s hand and asked softly, "ulanova, what happened? Can you tell me? "


    Ulannova hesitated for a moment, then shook her head decisively, said: "this matter has nothing to do with you, you do not ask." At this point, she looked at Alek''s position and said in a low voice, "I advise you to take your son away from here, or you will encounter the same trouble sooner or later."


    The more vague she was, the more curious I was. So I said with confidence: "ulanova, you don''t have to worry about me, no matter what kind of trouble, I can deal with it."


    "Ulanova, are you ready?" Just as we were chatting, there was another wailing voice outside the door. He yelled twice, saw no one to answer him, and naked threatened to say: "if you don''t come out again, I''ll take people in and take you away."


    "What shall we do? What shall we do? " Ulannova was so anxious that she stamped her feet in the same place, and she was about to burst into tears.


    I stood up, patted her on the shoulder, comforted her and said, "don''t be afraid. I will accompany you to the division headquarters. I promise you that it will be safe."


    "Really? You won''t lie to me, will you? " Ulannova''s tone was still full of doubt


    I thought in my heart that although I have known my teacher for a short time, it should be OK to say a few good words for a female health worker in front of him. So I nodded and said, "don''t worry, it will be OK."


    The two of us went out of the room, closed the door and followed the soldier to the division headquarters. When the headquarters appeared in our view, an open Jeep stopped in front of the headquarters. The bald captain, supported by two soldiers, got out of the car and hobbled into the headquarters.


    Seeing this, I was surprised. Was dorofeyev injured? What''s the matter? Was it true that there were Germans around the village last night, and the division commander was injured in the fight with them?


    With this question, I asked her in a low voice: "you see, how can the teacher walk like that? Was the headquarters attacked by the Germans, and he was wounded in the battle? "


    Ulannova snorted heavily and said with disdain, "if only I had been injured in the battle. It''s strange that this old goat, who had been fooling around with eight female health workers all night, can walk normally now! "


    With eight female health workers? Oh, my God, I didn''t hear you wrong. It''s incredible that a great teacher can sneak rules on his female subordinates!


    When ulannova saw me looking at her with incredible eyes, she blushed and said in a low voice, "besides the division chief, the chief of staff is not a good thing. The division commander only likes to find female military doctors and female health workers, but the chief of staff does not refuse them. Almost all the female signalmen and cooks in the division have been forced to stay overnight by him. "


    When I learned the truth, I was a little silly. Originally, I thought that the chief of staff sent ulanowa to the headquarters just to take advantage of her. Unexpectedly, she wanted to occupy her. No wonder she was so frightened when she heard about the headquarters of the division. However, since we are all here, it is obviously unrealistic for us to turn around and go back. It is estimated that the chief of staff will never give up until he gets ulanowa. Otherwise, he would not have sent someone specially to the medical station to look for her just now.


    When we got to the door, the soldier we brought was stopped by a sentry. The soldier turned to us and said, "the chief of staff is in there. You two go in yourself." With that, he went to chat with the sentry.


    Ulannova was a little scared at the moment. She stood in the same place and shivered. She said nothing and would not go any further. I don''t talk to her anymore. I hold her hand and drag her inside.


    As soon as I got to the door, I heard a slap inside, as if someone was patting the table. Then I heard the angry voice of chief of staff samoylov: "Comrade division, you are too much! That''s too much! "


    Hearing these words, I can''t help but stop. Are they discussing the military deployment of the troops? Is it appropriate for me, an outsider, to rush in now? When he was hesitating, the voice of his teacher, Colonel dorofeyev, rang out in the room: "come on, old man, aren''t you just a few female health workers? Is it worth your fire?"


    "A few female health workers, you say light." The chief of staff''s big voice rang again: "you know, eight! The whole eight young and beautiful female health workers, accompanied you to play all night. But I was sent by you to accompany the adjutant of the so-called commander of the front army, who drove dozens of highways to rescue Vlasov. "


    "Calm down, old man, calm down!" Although the division commander''s rank is higher than that of the chief of staff, he still said to the furious chief of staff kindly: "although I found eight female health workers last night, I still left you the most beautiful ulannova. You''ll call her later and take her back to your house and enjoy it. "


    When I heard the shameless and obscene conversation between the two people in the room, my blood immediately surged to my head. If you are not active in fighting, Vlasov''s troops will be trapped more than 20 kilometers away. You don''t want to rescue, but you want to play with women all day. If you two are my subordinates, I will shoot you down. Thinking of this, I couldn''t help reaching for the gun again. Hand just move, just discover oneself to still hold the hand of Wu lannuova originally. Turning around, I saw that her face was white and she was shivering all over.


    The chief of staff in the room said, "no, you found eight last night. Then I''ll take the rest. You''re not allowed to make any more decisions about them. Otherwise, don''t blame me for not talking about the friendship of my old comrades in arms. "


    The division commander still said calmly: "old man, I feel strange. It''s reasonable to say that it will take at least a day or two for you to rescue the besieged troops. As a result, you come back early in the morning with people in a truck. It''s not your friend in the communication company who secretly informs you, and then you arrange a vehicle to pick up the troops, right


    The chief of staff snorted and said, "so what? If you don''t get the news and rush back in time, I guess you won''t let go of the other female health workers tonight. "


    The more I listened, the more angry I was. I grabbed ulanova''s hand and strode in.


    They were bickering. When they saw me go in, they were stunned. There was a short silence in the room. However, the silence was soon broken by the chief of staff. He saw ulanowa standing behind me. He immediately stood up and said triumphantly, "ulanowa, I''ve been looking for you so many times, and you''ve refused me. If you enter this room today and don''t promise me, don''t try to go out. "


    I raised my hand to block the way of the chief of staff and said to him coldly, "Comrade chief of staff, please pay attention to your identity. You are a commander, not a local ruffian. Please don''t harass your female subordinates."


    I didn''t expect that he lifted my hand, reached for ulannova, and cursed: "you damned little girl, do you think I will let you go if I find a commander to help you?" Facing the arrogant chief of staff, I stopped in front of him again, but he pushed me away. As soon as he reached out his hand, ulanowa gently dodged to the side, cleverly dodged his claws, and then hid behind me.


    He took a look at ulannova hiding behind me and said coldly to me, "Comrade major, since you want to stand out for this female health worker, well, I don''t mind putting you and her on my bed."


    "Comrade division," I backed back a few steps to protect ulannova, and yelled at dorofeyev, who was still sitting at the table, "are you just looking at your own subordinates doing this kind of mischief?"


    I thought dorofeyev would pretend to scold the chief of staff even if he pretended to be a front man, but he said slowly, "Comrade major, I think you are mistaken. I don''t see any subordinate doing anything wrong? You know, the women here are prostitutes, and the commanders use them to look up to them, and it''s their honor... "


    If at first I was still trying to control my emotions, dorofeyev''s words completely angered me. Without hesitation, I pulled out my pistol, pointed to the chief of staff standing in front of me, and said coldly, "Lieutenant Colonel samoirov, I''ll give you one last chance. Step back now, or I''ll shoot!"


    When samoylov saw the muzzle of the gun pointing at him, he was stunned for a moment, then his face returned to normal. He said with disapproval, "this is the headquarters of 378 division, not your battalion headquarters. It''s not your turn to give orders. If you have the ability, you can shoot!" Then he took a step forward.


    I looked at the arrogant chief of staff, then turned my eyes to dorofeyev, who was sitting at the table. He was sneering all the time, and his face was full of disdain. I turned my attention to samoirov, and then I warned him again: "commander samoirov, I warn you for the last time that if you go one step further, I will shoot you."


    Unexpectedly, when I said that, samoylov took another two steps forward and said in a provocative tone, "I''ll go forward. What can you do with me?"


    I didn''t talk nonsense. I aimed at his feet and pulled the trigger¡° After the three shots, samoylov fell to the ground with his right leg in his arms, rolling back and forth, screaming earth shaking. When I shot, I could see clearly that the three shots all hit the soil between his legs, which deserved his bad luck. One of them hit him in the leg.


    "What''s the matter? Where does the gun ring? " With the shouting, a group of soldiers with guns burst into the door. When I saw the situation, I dashed behind dorofeyev, grabbed him by the collar and put the muzzle of the gun on the back of his head.

 Chapter 355

    The sudden change made the situation in the headquarters a little chaotic. All the soldiers who rushed in were unwilling to let their teachers be controlled by me and pointed their guns at me one after another.


    "Put the gun down!"¡° Let go of our teacher


    Looking at the black muzzle of the gun, I can''t help feeling weak. You know, it''s on someone else''s territory. At this time, both sides are nervous. Once someone can''t help pulling the trigger, I can be turned into a beehive in an instant. But now it''s hard to ride a tiger. I have to bear it hard. I yelled at the commanders and fighters: "put down your guns, or I''ll shoot!" Then he stabbed dorofeyev''s bald head with the barrel of his gun.


    Dorofeyev, who was shot to the head by me, although he was a lecheron, was extremely single at the moment. He even calmly advised me: "major oshanina, I want to remind you that this is the territory of my 378th division. I advise you to let go of me immediately, otherwise as soon as I give an order, you will be killed by random guns. "


    His words made me flustered for a while, because of tension, my breathing became heavy, my fingers trembled, and I almost pulled the trigger. Fortunately, I soon returned to normal, and the barrel of the gun poked him in the head and said indignantly, "Comrade Colonel, we can make a bet. I can blow your head off before your men shoot. "


    "Put down your guns!" After a brief silence, dorofeyev issued an order to his subordinates. Seeing that all the officers and men lowered their guns, he picked up the cigarette box on the table and took out a cigarette in his mouth. In order to prevent him from playing tricks, the muzzle of my gun is still on his head, and I try to take the initiative in my own hands. Looking at ulanowa still standing beside the wall in a daze, he immediately called out to him: "ulanowa, go and bandage Comrade samoilov''s wound, so that he won''t die of excessive bleeding."


    Ulannova agreed and squatted down to check the injury on samoirov''s leg. She lifted her trouser legs to have a look, turned her head and asked the group of officers and men behind: "who has a first aid kit?"


    "I have!"¡° I have! " The commanders and fighters rushed to answer one after another, and handed their first-aid kit to ulanova. Ulannova grabbed one and began to bandage samoirov. After dressing, she asked two soldiers to help him sit down opposite us. She came to my back, wiped a sweat, said in a low voice: "did not hurt the bone, as long as you need to rest for a few days can be good."


    Although the other side''s gun was put down and the injured chief of staff dressed up the wound, I couldn''t let dorofeyev go because I didn''t know what cruel means he would use to deal with me once he was let go.


    Just when I was in a dilemma, the high-frequency telephone on my desk suddenly rang, which startled me and almost pulled the trigger. After taking a deep breath, I pointed my gun at samoirov, who was sitting opposite us: "chief of staff, you pick up the phone, maybe it''s an important phone."


    Samoylov looked at me, picked up the phone without expression, and said to the phone, "Hello, I''m commander samoylov, chief of staff of the 378th division. Who''s calling, please?"


    The other party may have reported his identity. Samoylov, who was sitting at the table, quickly stood up and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade commander of the group army. What instructions do you have After hearing what the other party said, he was obviously stunned for a moment, and then said haltingly: "sorry, comrade commander, Captain boroda is not in the division headquarters at the moment. He took the team to find general Vlasov''s whereabouts."


    "I said, old man, who called?" Asked Colonel dorofeyev in a low voice.


    Samoylov quickly covered the microphone and said in the same low voice, "it''s general korovnikov, commander of the group army. He said he has an important task to convey to captain boroda."


    "Please tell the commander that captain boroda is not in. Let us know if there is anything. When the captain comes back, we will give him the order."


    Hearing what dorofeyev said, samoylov immediately understood and said cautiously in the microphone, "report to commander, although captain boroda is not in, you can tell me what the mission is. As soon as the captain comes back, I will report the order to him." I don''t know what the other party said in the microphone. Samoylov''s face changed. Then he handed me the microphone and said, "major oshanina, comrade commander of the group army wants to speak to you."


    I held the gun in my right hand and continued to aim at dorofeyev''s head. I answered the phone with my left hand and said, "Hello, I''m major oshanina!"


    "Hello, comrade major." "I''d like to introduce myself to you first. My name is Ivan jielianjivich korovnikov, commander of the 59th army."


    "Hello, comrade commander!" I stood up straight and asked respectfully, "do you have any instructions? I''m at your command. "


    General kolovnikov was silent for a few seconds before he continued: "I have just received an order from general meletzkov, commander of the front army, to transfer the command of the 378th infantry division to you and lieutenant boroda. Since the captain is not here, I''ll give you the appointment directly. Move now, major. Prepare to take command of the division. By the way, give the call to Colonel dorofeyev, and I have a few words to say to him. "


    When I handed dorofeyev the microphone, I put the gun back in the holster. Now that I have received the order from this division, these people are even my subordinates. They have lent them ten courage, and no one dares to shoot at me. When dorofeyev put down the phone, his face was similar to that of his dead parents. With a sad face, he said to me, "Comrade major, I have been ordered to hand over the command of the division to you and captain boroda. You see, shall we hand it over now, or shall we hand it over when Captain boroda comes back? "¡° Don''t wait, I''m back! " The voice came from the door, and then a dignified commander pushed aside the soldier standing in the door and came straight in. He was no one else. It was captain boroda who separated from me in the early morning. He went up to dorofeyev and said coldly, "Comrade Colonel, I have been ordered to take command of the 378th infantry division." Dorofeyev stood up, saluted boroda and me, and said in a loud voice, "report to the major and the captain, the former commander of the 378th division, Colonel dorofeyev, who has been ordered to give you the command of the division." Boroda nodded, did not pay attention to dorofeyev and samoylov, but turned to the commander behind and asked, "who is in charge among you?" A major came forward, saluted captain boroda and said, "Hello, comrade captain. This is major Antonov, chief of staff. Do you have any instructions? "¡° Call in all the commanders above the battalion, "boroda said, looking up at his watch." let them come to the division headquarters for a meeting as soon as possible within an hour. It''s an important task. Do you understand? "¡° I understand, comrade captain! " Major Antonov''s answer was neat, and I knew in my heart that it was only a superficial phenomenon. I didn''t feel good about constantly honoring someone who was lower than my rank. Seeing that the major had gone to carry out his mission, Captain boroda gave a slight sneer, and then told the soldiers following him: "four of you, in groups of two, are responsible for protecting the safety of Colonel dorofeyev and lieutenant colonel samoirov. Remember, we must ensure the personal safety of the two commanders. If anything goes wrong, I only want you to ask. " After boroda''s subordinates took dorofeyev and samoirov away, boroda drove out all the officers and men around the door and sat down again. I am very curious about how boroda appeared in this place at this moment. You know, he once said that he would go near the village and continue to search for Vlasov''s whereabouts. I thought I couldn''t see you for at least two or three days. I didn''t expect to see you again after just a few hours apart. I asked curiously, "Comrade captain, didn''t you go to find the whereabouts of general Vlasov near the village of piatnica? Why did you come back so soon?" Captain boroda said solemnly: "when I was carrying out the mission, I received the order from the commander of the front army through the car radio. Let me go back to the 378th division headquarters immediately and take over the 378th division with you. The order also says that you will be appointed as the division commander for the time being, and I will be your chief of staff. "

 Chapter 356

    Let me be the teacher?! I was stunned by the pie falling from the sky. It took me a long time to recover. I tentatively asked boroda, "Comrade captain, are you sure that commander meletskov appointed me as the division commander?" Captain boroda nodded with great certainty and said, "this appointment has been confirmed repeatedly by me." At this point, he raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he said, "in half an hour, the messenger from the headquarters of the front army will arrive. He will bring you my letter of appointment and the new combat order." After confirming that I was the acting teacher, I finally put my heart into my stomach. I laughed and then asked, "Comrade captain, do you know why commander meletskov suddenly changed? After listening to him, I stood up and held out my hand to him, gave him a strong shake, then gave him a thumbs up and said sincerely," good job! Comrade captain, you are very kind Although I praise him, I still feel a little uneasy. After all, he used to be a company commander. Can he shoulder such a heavy burden as the chief of staff of the division? He saw my doubts in the expression on my face, and then said, "this spring, near miasnebol, I was ordered by commander meletzkov to go to the division under the command of Colonel ugrich to help him command the troops to fight back the enemy who rushed to the Leningrad road. In the battle, the division headquarters was unfortunately hit by shells, and the division commander was seriously injured and could not command the battle. So I took over his command and acted as the division commander, commanding the division to withstand the German''s crazy attack. When I returned to the headquarters of the front army, I was promoted to the rank of captain by a general and served as his deputy. " After learning about the experience of boroda, I feel at ease. The next thing I have to do is to wait for the battalion and regiment commanders of the division to come to the meeting. First, I need to get familiar with them. Second, I need to take the opportunity to clean up the military discipline. Otherwise, even if such troops are pulled out, they will not be able to win¡° Comrade division, "boroda whispered to me from the other side," I want to ask why so many division commanders and fighters were surrounded in the room when I came in just now. What happened in the end? " When he came just now, things had almost subsided, so it was normal not to understand the situation. So I told dorofeyev and a group of female health workers about samoilov''s attempt to force ulanova to submit in detail, and specially emphasized that I shot three times on the ground and hurt samoilov with a bouncing bullet. After listening to me, he nodded thoughtfully and said, "Sir, I just want to tell you one thing. You are so lucky!"¡° Why do you say that? Comrade captain. " I was puzzled and asked, "do you mean that the call from general kolovnikov, commander of the group army, was timely?" Unexpectedly, boroda waved his hand and said, "it has nothing to do with the commander of the group army. I want to tell you that there are only three bullets in the pistol I gave you. Fortunately, you only fired three shots. If you fired a fourth shot, dorofeyev and samoylov would have ordered you to be shot to death. " After hearing him say that, my eyes turned black and I almost fell on the table. He quickly pulled out the pistol, took out the cartridge clip and saw that it was empty. Suddenly, he was in a cold sweat. Xin said that captain boroda is too unreliable. Give me a pistol. I don''t know how to fill it with three bullets. What''s the use of it? If everyone didn''t know there was no bullet in the gun, would I still be alive? When I was embarrassed, boroda cut off the topic again. He said, "Comrade division commander, those battalion leaders of the division are coming soon. Do you want to go back and change your clothes to make a good impression on them?" I looked down and saw that my military uniform was in tatters. One of them was scratched in the forest, the other was torn by the son of a bitch. Later, in order to escape, I even tore off the military rank on the badge. It''s really not right to see those subordinates in such a mess. It seems that I can only go to find ulannova to borrow a military uniform to wear when it comes.

 Chapter 357

    I pushed open the door of the health worker''s dormitory and saw ulanova sitting by alik''s bed, telling a story to alik, who was lying on the bed with eyes wide open. When she saw me enter the door, she immediately stood up and raised her hand to salute me: "report to Mr. commander comrade, health worker wulannuova..."


    Without waiting for her to finish, I interrupted the words behind her: "OK, ulanova. We''re all old acquaintances. We don''t have to be so polite. "


    When Alec saw that I was coming back, he immediately lifted the quilt and jumped out of bed barefoot. He held my leg in his arms and said sweetly, "Dear Mom, you are back. Alec has been thinking about you."


    Alec''s words made ulanova and I laugh. I bent down, pinched his little nose and said, "good boy, mother wants you too. Put on your clothes quickly and go outside to play for a while. My mother has something to say to aunt uranova. "


    Alex was very sensible. He agreed to put on his clothes, put on his shoes, waved to us, opened the door and ran out.


    Seeing that I had sent the child away, ulannova asked a little doubtfully, "Comrade teacher, do you have anything to tell me?"


    "Don''t call me teacher, call me Rita. That sounds kind." After the friendship, I went straight to the theme and asked: "ulanova, do you have any extra military uniform here?"


    "Yes, yes, Rita. Just a moment, please. I''ll find it for you." With that, ulannova ran to a corner of the room, opened a large wicker box and searched for it. Soon, she came over with a clean old uniform. When she handed it to me, she was a little embarrassed and said, "I''m sorry, Rita. I only have this old military uniform left, so I have to make do with it. "


    I didn''t pick up the clothes, but took out the rank mark from my pocket and handed it to her, saying: "ulanova, do you think you can help me put the rank mark on it?"


    Ulannova took my rank and looked at it. She answered very simply, "no problem."


    When the rank mark was finished, I took off my old uniform and put on ulannova''s uniform. Looking around at the small mirror on the wall, he thought that there was something missing, so he took out the medal in his pocket and put it on his chest.


    When she saw that four medals were hung on my chest, ulanowa''s eyes brightened. Then she put her hands together on her chest and exclaimed, "my God, Rita. It''s amazing that you''ve won so many medals. "


    Although the adoring expression on her face made me feel elated, I still kept calm on the surface. I deliberately understated and said: "ulanova, in fact, it''s nothing. If you live to the end of the war, you can get the same medal. "


    "Really? Rita "Is that true?" she asked in disbelief? Do health workers like me have a chance to get medals? "


    "Yes. As the war continues, countless heroes will emerge among your female health workers. " I wanted to give her some examples, but after racking my brains for a long time, I couldn''t remember any of them, so I had to give up.


    "By the way, Rita." Ulannova changed the topic and asked, "can you tell me what the first thing you want to do when you become a teacher?"


    "The first thing to do?" I frowned and thought about it for a while. I felt that what I was going to do was not confidential, so I didn''t hide it from her: "I''m going to clean up the military discipline and clean up all the black sheep in the army." Although that''s what I said, I know very well in my heart that it''s no problem to scold those commanders. If all of them are washed away, the troops that have lost their grassroots commanders will be in a mess. However, in order to maintain her good image in front of ulannova and let her continue to help me with Alek, I still have to talk about some scenes.


    "I''ll show you something, Rita." With that, she took out a folded paper from her pocket and handed it to me. I opened it and saw it read: "dear, if you don''t want to destroy our friendship, please take back what you said today and don''t eat with me again. This makes me very sad. You have hurt me a lot. Everything I do for you is out of kindness. I like you, or I''m used to being with you. "


    After reading the contents of the paper, I shook the paper and asked her, "it looks like a love letter. I don''t know who wrote it to you?"


    Ulannova shrunk her mouth and said with disdain, "who else can it be? It wasn''t written by commander samoylov, the chief of staff of the division. After he had the letter sent to me, he said that I would give him a reply on the same day. If he didn''t agree, he would show it to me. "


    "I guess you just turned him down. Didn''t he send someone to embarrass you? "


    Ulannova waved her head vigorously and said, "after you and the new chief of staff came here yesterday, didn''t samoilov lead the team to cooperate with you in the battle? As soon as he left, my heart returned to my stomach. I didn''t expect that he came back early this morning with his troops. If it wasn''t for your help, I guess I couldn''t get away from him. "


    I patted uranova on the shoulder and comforted him: "don''t worry, it''s all over. As long as I stay in the school for a day, no one will disturb you again. " At this point, I held up the love letter and asked her, "can you give me this love letter? It may be useful in the rectification of military discipline. "


    "Pick it up. You won''t take it anyway. I''ll tear it up later."¡° Do you know any other commanders in the division who are similar lecherons? " As the saying goes: the upper beam is not right and the lower beam is crooked. Since the division chief and the chief of staff are so lecherous, their subordinates are not much better. That''s why I ask¡° Yes Ulannova replied decisively: "Captain aftukhov, a member of the Military Commission of the independent telephone company of the division headquarters, lives with the most capable assistant female military doctor in the medical station. Every day she was shut up in the house and not allowed to treat the wounded soldiers, because a lot of people had different opinions about him. "¡° Any more? " Hearing this, I became more and more angry. These people don''t focus on fighting, but think about how to play with women every day. The captain of the telephone company, after the meeting, I''ll dismiss him and let him stay cool¡° Almost all the female tank soldiers, typists, correspondents and medical staff in the division have been harassed by their superiors. Some people could not bear the torture, so they tried to transfer to other troops. I remember last month a famous commander and his subordinates were drinking in the restaurant of the division. After getting drunk, they asked the waiter for sausages, jam and bread. The waiter replied that these things were supplied in limited quantity. As a result, he was beaten violently by them, gave a few ribs discount, and lay in the medical station for half a month before getting out of bed. After the fight, several of them planted mines in the kitchen, saying that they would teach these unintelligible cooks and waiters a lesson they will never forget. After leaving the restaurant, the commander went to the division headquarters to find his date, a female typist, and took her to the bathhouse to take a mandarin duck bath Hearing what ulannova said, I couldn''t help humming. I said that the commanders of the 378th division are really capable. They are greedy for women and drink too much. In the process of fighting, they don''t do their job well, but act recklessly in the front line. I must teach them a lesson when we meet later. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. The meeting is just a few minutes away. As I was about to leave, I was stopped by ulanova: "Rita, please wait a moment." I stopped and asked, "uranova, do you have anything else to do?" "Rita, you don''t have a military cap. You should wear my cap first," she said Then she took off the boat hat on her head and put it on my head. I put on my hat, went to the mirror and looked at it. I thought it was a good image. I thanked her and turned to the division headquarters.

 Chapter 358

    At the entrance of the division headquarters, there were four soldiers with submachine guns and helmets, and a second lieutenant with a big cornice hat. They walked up and down in front of them. When they saw a school level officer coming to the headquarters, they immediately saluted and politely invited each other into the headquarters.


    Before I got to the door, the second lieutenant had seen me and trotted all the way to me. He stood at attention and saluted me. He reported, "Comrade division commander, the second lieutenant on duty, Peskov, has reported to you that all the commanders of the meeting have arrived and are waiting for you. Come in, please Finish saying, the body side, made a please posture with the hand.


    I nodded, speechless, and followed the lieutenant to the headquarters.


    When I stepped into the threshold, I saw that the room was full of people. On both sides of the table were school level commanders, and on the back against the wall, most of them were captain level commanders, probably battalion commanders and so on.


    Seeing me enter the door, Captain boroda hurried to meet me, led me to the center and sat down. He also sat down on my left side. Then he came close to my ear and said in a low voice, "major oshanina, everyone is here. Can we have a meeting?"


    With my entrance, the commanders who were whispering and talking to each other were quiet, and they all looked at me. I nodded to boroda and said, "now that we are all here, let''s have a meeting."


    Boroda stood up and said loudly to the commanders in the room, "please be quiet. We are having a meeting now. First of all, I would like to ask you to confirm the identity of major o''shanina and me He took out a folded paper from his pocket, opened it and handed it to a nearby lieutenant commander. Then he said, "this is an order signed by general meletzkov, commander of the front army. Major oshanina was appointed as" in September 1941, after I was discharged from the hospital, I went to prkovo Highland to be the platoon leader of an anti-aircraft machine gun platoon. In battle, because of his outstanding performance, general Zhukov, the new commander of the front army, was directly promoted to lieutenant. "


    "From September last year to now, I''ve been promoted from lieutenant to major, which is really fast." Just now, the commander suddenly put in a word, and his strange tone immediately caused a burst of laughter from other commanders.


    I looked at him discontentedly, and regardless of the buzzing voice that began to ring in the room, I said to myself, "after the start of the Moscow defense war, I went to Moscow with general Zhukov. After Comrade Zhukov became the commander of the Western Front Army, I became his liaison officer, who was specially responsible for the headquarters and everyone was attracted by my legendary resume. They all watched me attentively and listened to me continue to tell their story: "before the great counter offensive under Moscow city began, I was appointed chief of staff of the newly formed 20th army, He was also promoted to major general by Comrade Stalin. " Those who have heard of my experience in the past, when they learned that I was awarded the rank of major general by Stalin, took a cold breath. At this point, I deliberately pause to observe the reaction of the people present. As a result, there was no accident. It was another collective air conditioning. The effect of this is also immediate, the original disdain, dissatisfaction and even hostility expressions have disappeared, replaced by the awe of me.


    "I don''t want to repeat what happened in the war report. Perhaps many of you here are curious to find out why I am a major, not a major general. " Seeing the commanders in the room nodding, I solved the mystery for them: "I was demoted from major general to major because I killed a group of demobilized Germans in the village of petrichevo. Commander comrades, do you know what kind of German I killed? "


    "Who are these Krauts?" the lieutenant commander asked


    Now I think of the Germans who are not as good as animals. I still hate them. I gritted my teeth and said, "we caught a heroine named Zhuoya and hanged her after torture. Her body was hanged on the gallows in the village for two months. In this way, the bandits did not let her go and cut her body to pieces with knives. After I captured these Krauts, I saw Zhuoya''s tragedy, and for a moment I couldn''t help ordering that all the prisoners be killed. "


    "Pa!" There was a clear slap on the table. Captain boroda stood up with his eyes full of fire and said in a loud voice, "well done, you can''t spare these two legged animals. If it''s me, I''ll kill them all. " Judging from his excited expression, nine times out of ten he has encountered a similar situation.


    I gestured to him to sit down and said, "because of this capture killing, I was demoted to major, but I don''t regret the decision I made at that time. Comrade captain is right. We can''t be polite to such two legged animals. We can kill as many as we can At this point, I specially added, "when Comrade Stalin understood the real reason why I killed the captured soldiers, he directly gave an order to the commanders and fighters of the Western Front Army: all the officers and soldiers who captured the 332nd regiment of the German army should be shot on the spot, and we will not accept their surrender." As soon as I spoke, the room burst into thunderous applause. I smile and look at the commanders clapping in front of me. I know that they are not clapping for me, but for Stalin''s loud order. But I have achieved some of my goals, at least they no longer exclude me.


    As soon as the applause stopped, I said, "next, let''s ask the acting chief of staff, Captain boroda, to introduce his resume to you." Then I sat down. When boroda introduced himself to you, the commanders in the room were silent. Maybe after listening to what I said just now, they knew that the person who can be a division commander is absolutely not an ordinary person, so their attitude changed like this. When Captain boroda finished, it was my turn to speak. I took out the letter that lieutenant commander samoirov wrote to ulanova, and let you pass it around again. When the letter came back to me, I raised the letter in my hand and said with a heartache: "comrades, when I saw this love letter, I felt very angry. A division commander does not think about how to command troops to fight, but how to seduce young and beautiful female soldiers. I also heard that women soldiers serving in the 378th infantry division, whether they were tank soldiers, signalmen, cookers, typists or health workers, could not escape the harassment of their superiors. Comrades in command, think about it carefully. Seeing such a commander, the soldiers will doubt their belief. Can such a unit win a battle? The commanders are addicted to wine and sex, but let the soldiers to bleed and die. Can the soldiers work for such commanders? " After listening to what I said, many commanders here lowered their heads in shame. I think these people have had a bad record of harassing female subordinates. But at present, it''s an extraordinary period, and the command force can''t do without these old people. Therefore, my criticism to them is that the thunder is small: "let''s forget what happened in the past. From today on, as long as I''m still the division commander, I won''t be allowed to harass female subordinates again. Are you clear? " When I asked the last sentence, I raised my voice¡° I hear you The people in the room answered in different ways¡° But, comrade teacher. " The lieutenant commander asked, "we are all normal men and have normal needs. How can we solve this problem?"¡° What''s your name? Comrade commander. " I looked at him and asked coldly. He stood up abruptly, straightened up and said, "my name is shailov, chief of the 1134th regiment I raised my hand and pressed it down, motioned him to sit down and said, "I just ask you not to harass the female soldiers in the division. You should know that they are all your sisters. Your responsibility is to care for them, not bully them. If you want to find a woman, "I hesitated for a moment, but I still said what I had in mind:" there are also women soldiers in Germany. After you are captured, how to deal with them is not your has the final say. When we call Berlin in the future, countless German beauties will not be at your disposal. "¡° Comrade division, we are still discussing how to resist the German attack, but you told us to fight to Berlin. " I put my elbows on the table, crossed my fingers under my chin, looked at him and said coldly, "commander sholoff, do you think we can''t beat the Germans? I''d like to remind you that this is a defeatist argument. With this, I can send you to the military court. " Sholoff''s face turned pale with fear, and the sweat on his forehead kept flowing down. He took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat while explaining: "Sir, you misunderstood me. I didn''t mean that. I have no doubt that we can beat the Germans. I... "I saw that sholov was soft to me, and I stopped talking to him. I turned to captain boroda and said," Comrade deputy chief of staff, have you received any combat orders from the headquarters and need to convey them to the commanders? " Boroda said to me in a low voice, "Comrade division, I have a problem with you. How can you let them deal with the captured German women soldiers at will? It will make them make mistakes. " I said with disapproval, "let''s talk about it alone some time. You should first convey the orders of your superiors." Boroda nodded, stood up, took out a folded document from his pocket, opened it and said in a loud voice, "comrades commander, please keep quiet. Now I''m going to convey the command of the front army to you."

 Chapter 359

    Boroda put the document on the desk, looked down at it, looked up at the room full of commanders, and said solemnly: "comrades, up to now, the arduous battle of liuban is over. During the six months of fighting, the commanders and fighters of the front army of volhoff showed rare bravery and tenacity. Because of the German superiority in military strength, weapons and equipment, as well as their mastery of the battlefield air supremacy, our goal of helping the Leningrad front army to break the German siege of the city was not achieved. " Seeing that everyone became dejected after hearing this, he added: "however, due to the tenacious fighting of our army, the Germans had to transfer a considerable number of reserves from Leningrad in order to block our March, which greatly reduced the pressure on the defenders in the city and disrupted the German plan to quickly seize Leningrad."


    The purpose of this campaign was not achieved for many reasons. The warhoff front is a section of the front between Lake Ladoga and lake irmen. It starts from Novgorod in the East, goes down the volhof River, forms an arc near kirich and turns towards schluselberg. The area separating the volhoff front army from the Leningrad front army is a 16 kilometer area occupied and guarded by the Germans. On the surface, as long as enough troops are gathered to carry out a strong assault, it is enough to make the two front armies join forces and break the siege imposed on Leningrad by the enemy.


    However, after the launching of our offensive campaign, we found that we encountered a rare terrain that was not easy to attack. On the way forward, there were boundless forests, swampy mud, watery peatlands and destroyed roads everywhere. Our struggle against nature is no less than our hard struggle against the enemy. In order to fight and live, the army did not dig trenches, but to build wooden walls. Instead, it did not dig trenches for scattered soldiers. Instead, it leveled the ground, spread logs and firewood for several kilometers, and built wooden platforms for artillery and mortars.


    As the main force of the campaign, the second shock group army gradually lost its ability to continue to attack in this difficult natural environment. It was unable to eliminate the enemy''s heavy army group surrounded by our army. In the end, it was surrounded by the German heavy army. Under such circumstances, the headquarters of the front army had to place the 52nd and 59th army groups on both sides of the long and narrow supply line to ensure the logistics supply of the 2nd assault army group.


    In the middle of June, because the supply line was cut off by the Germans, in order to prevent the destruction of the second assault group army in the encirclement, the headquarters of the front army gave them the order to break through. With the indomitable fighting of the commanders and fighters of the 2nd shock group army and the active cooperation of the 52nd and 59th group army, the army successfully highlighted the German encirclement.


    However, the casualties of the second assault group army were very heavy, with the number of casualties reaching more than 30000, and many of the units were disabled or even wiped out. What''s more, the commanders of the group army headquarters were separated from the main forces when they broke through the encirclement, and their whereabouts are still unknown. "


    Vlasov''s capture is a certainty. But the rest of the commanders in the headquarters are still missing. They will not all be captured. In that case, the second shock group army will lose face. I raised my eyebrows. Just as I wanted to interrupt, I heard boroda say, "according to commander meletskov''s plan, the 2nd shock group army, which was surrounded by the encirclement, huddled with the 52nd and 59th group armies, retreated to the banks of the volhof river for recuperation and replenishment of personnel and weapons."


    "I fully agree with the deployment of the commander of the front army. Our army, which has just finished the liuban campaign, is very tired at present and needs to be supplemented and rehabilitated before launching a new campaign." I''m interrupting with lieutenant colonel sholoff, who has been very active all the time, but his attitude towards us has improved, at least on the surface, he won''t contradict us any more.


    "I''m sorry, comrade sholov." Boroda said faintly: "maybe in a short period of time, the troops can''t stop and rest, and our army will launch a new campaign soon."


    The whole audience was in an uproar. I also frowned slightly, thinking that our army is now at the end of its rope. Without rest and replenishment, it will immediately enter into a new battle. Isn''t that the old man hanging himself?


    "Be quiet, please be quiet." Boroda knocked on the table twice, calmed down the whispers among the commanders, and then said, "launch a new campaign immediately. This is the order from the supreme command. On May 12, in order to prevent the German army from launching a new offensive against Moscow from the southwest, our southwest front army, under the command of Marshal Timoshenko, took the initiative to attack the German army. Some progress was made in the first three days. The troops advanced more than 30 kilometers. However, our attack was soon effectively contained by the German army. On the contrary, it created a good opportunity for the German army to encircle and annihilate the Soviet army.


    On the 10th day of our attack, German field marshal von bock suddenly launched a large-scale counterattack against our flanks with the strength of 11 divisions. As a result, the 6th, 9th and 57th group armies of our southwest front army were deeply encircled and almost completely destroyed. By June 28, the German army had gained a huge military advantage in the south. On June 30, the German Sixth Army broke through the lines of the Soviet 21st and 28th army in the direction of Voronezh. The situation of the Soviet army in the whole southern direction has further deteriorated. "


    Hearing the news of our army''s defeat, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became depressed. No one spoke, but they all focused on boroda, who was speaking, patiently listening to him explain the current situation of the enemy and ourselves: "what is more serious is that on July 4, yesterday, our important military fortress in the south, Sevas potor fortress, was captured by the 11th group army of German Marshal von Manstein. The officers and men who held fast to the fortress suffered extremely heavy losses, as long as a few people stood out. "


    At this point, he stopped for a moment, scanned the whole scene with his eyes, and made a conclusion: "it is precisely because of the current unfavorable situation that the base camp decided to carry out a new campaign. In addition to breaking through the blockade, we expect the volhoff front army to carry out positive operations in the northwest direction, so as to contain more enemies and prevent them from transferring their forces to the south, Make sure that there is a decisive battle that is possible in the south. "


    After introducing the situation, boroda said, "who has any questions?" Then he sat down directly.


    "Chief of staff," a lieutenant commander on my left in a black tank uniform stood up and tentatively asked boroda, "may I speak?"


    Boroda nodded at him and said kindly, "go ahead, comrade commander."


    "I want to know, where and when will we attack?"


    I turned my head to boroda and waited for his answer. Boroda picked up the document on the table and read: "the site of this battle was chosen in the so-called schluselberg sinavino bulge, which was formed in September 1941 when the German army came out to the South Bank of Lake Ladoga. The advantage of choosing this direction is that it is the shortest route from the southeast to the Neva River and Leningrad. "


    Instead of sitting down, the commander held the table in his hand and said to boroda, "Comrade chief of staff, I want to remind you. I have been to the place you mentioned just now, and the terrain of the bulge is not suitable for offensive operations. The peat mining area there is large, extending from the lakeside of Lake Ladoga to the village of sinavino. To the south of sinavino, there are dense forests and large swamps, where infantry are difficult to pass, let alone our tank troops, which seriously limits the movement of the army, but is very beneficial to the defensive side. The only dry place in this direction is the sinavino highland, which is ten to fifteen meters above the surrounding plains. Naturally, it has become the enemy''s main position on our offensive route, and any movement within a few kilometers will be detected by the enemy on the high ground. "


    "Comrade commander, what should I call you?" Without waiting for boroda to reply, I said something first, because I think this lieutenant commander is a very capable person. If he can be brought here, he may become my reliable team in the future.


    The commander was stunned for a moment. Then he straightened up and said, "report to Mr. commander, I''m lieutenant commander Donskoy, the head of the tank."


    I gave him a friendly smile and said, "head Donskoy, please take a seat. The chief of staff of boroda will answer your questions. "


    After Donskoy sat down, boroda continued: "Lieutenant Colonel Donskoy is very observant. It''s really what he said. After the German army occupied the area, in order to make schluser Fort sinavino protrusion an unbreakable fortress. They made use of all kinds of terrain, built defensive positions along rivers, lakes, deep ditches, swamps, highlands and forests, and set up many resistance hubs and supporting points. Artillery and mortar companies were deployed in the center of the resistance hub. The average density of anti tank guns is seven or eight per square kilometer. Personnel in a solid shelter, the front of the position erected barbed wire, laid mines. In this way, the terrain that is not easy to attack becomes easier to defend and harder to attack. "


    "Chief of staff, I don''t understand." I was the one who couldn''t help interrupting this time. I asked strangely, "since the supreme command has learned the specific situation of the front line and that it''s not conducive to the expansion and attack of the troops, why choose this area as a breakthrough?"


    "Yes, chief of staff, what''s the matter?" The commanders in the room echoed my first question.


    "Please be quiet!" The tone of boroda''s speech at the moment was a bit dignified, and the room became quiet. "The Supreme Command chose this direction for two purposes: first, under smooth conditions, we can reach the Neva River in two or three days to create the possibility of joining forces with the troops of Leningrad, Because the warhoff front did not have the strength to carry out a longer campaign. Secondly, by launching an attack in a direction unexpected by the enemy, we can ensure the suddenness of this assault and gain an advantage. Of course, the peat swamps to the north of sinavino and the forests to the South will bring me great difficulties, especially the use of heavy artillery and powerful technical weapons. But where else can we find better terrain? As for swamps and forests, you know, they are prominent signs in the north of our country. They are everywhere from Lake Ladoga to Novgorod. "


    "Comrade chief of staff, what is our task now?" When boroda''s speech came to an end, some people began to ask questions. This time, it was leader sholov who spoke.


    "Our current task is to gather the scattered forces and be ready to move at any time. And take advantage of this short time to rest. As for weapons and ammunition, we don''t have to worry. The supreme command will supply us in the near future. " At this point, he put his head together and said in a low voice, "Comrade division commander, after the task has been assigned, can we finish the meeting?"


    I nodded, stood up with the table, said: "the task has been arranged, the meeting is over." Seeing that everyone stood up in unison and wanted to walk out after saluting, I quickly added: "the others can go back. The commanders will stay."


    After a short time, there were only seven people sitting on either side of the table. After I asked them to sit down, I said, "comrades in charge, although I am acting commander of the 378th division, I still don''t know you. I''d like to take this opportunity to get to know you. Now let''s introduce ourselves. " I pointed to sholov sitting on the right, "let''s start with leader sholov." So sholov stood up, straightened up, and reported, "sholov, commander of the 1134th regiment, has the rank of lieutenant colonel." As soon as he finished his report, the stout political worker sitting on his right stood up and said aloud, "I''m Gagarin, political commissar of the 1134th regiment." The third one who stood up was a tall, well proportioned middle-aged man: "Mr. reporter, I''m Lieutenant Colonel Peter, head of the 1133rd regiment." On the right side of Colonel petrel is also a political worker. I guess it should be his political commissar. Sure enough, the commander with round glasses stood up and reported, "I am awakov, political commissar of the 1133rd regiment." The commander on the right is finished, and then it''s the left''s turn. The first one to stand up was the tank commander, Lieutenant Colonel Donskoy. He briefly introduced his name and rank and sat down. I think the other regiments are all headed by a political commissar, but he is the only one. So he asked curiously, "commander Donskoy, where''s your commissar? Why didn''t you see his people?" Donskoy''s expression suddenly became gloomy, sighed and said: "my commissar was killed in the battle last week when his tank was hit by the enemy''s heavy artillery. At present, the higher authorities haven''t sent a new political commissar to the regiment, so I''m the only one to come to the meeting today. " When I heard that his political commissar had died, I gave a wry smile. I didn''t say anything more. I just made a gesture to the rest of the commanders to introduce myself. Two commanders of the 1132nd regiment also stood up one after another to show me their identities. One was the head of the regiment, major atzenuk, and the other was political commissar zorrotuxin.

 Chapter 360

    When I finished introducing myself, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was already five o''clock in the afternoon. It was time for dinner. So I stood up and said to the seven regimental commanders, "it''s time to have dinner. Let''s stay and have dinner together. To tell you the truth, I''ve been here for three days, and I''ve never been invited to dinner. Today, even if I''m in the light of everyone, how about the food of the teacher? "


    As soon as my voice fell, everyone burst into laughter. Sholov said in a close tone: "Sir, I have a say in the food business. You know, I used to come here every once in a while to eat. If it had not been for Colonel dorofeyev''s reluctance, I would have poached his cooks into my regiment. " Sholov''s words made everyone laugh again, and the atmosphere in the room became especially harmonious.


    While we were chatting, boroda ran to the door and told the kitchen to send the food for nine of us to the headquarters. After all this, he returned to his position and quietly listened to our chat.


    Kung Fu is not big, a second lieutenant with nine soldiers carrying a tray into the headquarters. The second captain saluted me and said, "Hello, sir! Your meal has arrived. Please have a meal


    I nodded to him and said with a smile, "thank you, comrade lieutenant."


    He gave a rude reply, and then told the soldiers to put the food plate on the table first, and then put the knife, fork and napkin in front of everyone in turn. After all this, he saluted me again and left with the soldiers.


    Under current conditions, the dinner was quite rich, with two plates and a bowl of soup in front of each person. On one plate were a spoonful of oatmeal, two pieces of square jelly, five or six fingers of pickled cucumber, an egg sized pickled tomato, several pieces of roast mutton and two baked potatoes; The other is salad platter, which includes crab salad, mushroom salad, carrot salad, sweet and sour vegetable salad and chicken salad; Soup is the famous red vegetable soup, which also contains sliced cooked beef.


    Seeing so many delicious food, I couldn''t help swallowing my mouth without eating anything for nearly a month. Not only in front of my own department, I still want to maintain my glorious image. I picked up the fork next to the plate, put on a calm look and said to everyone: "comrades, don''t be stunned. Let''s eat it quickly." Finish saying, fork up a meat jelly with fork, put into own mouth directly. Others saw that I had started to eat, they also raised their forks and began to wipe out the delicious food in front of them.


    I always think the dining table is a good place to connect feelings, even in Russia. After a while, I saw that some commanders were not as restrained as they were at the beginning, so I began to chat with them. I first asked the tank commander, "Comrade Donskoy, where are you from?"


    Donskoy quickly put down his fork, wiped his mouth with a napkin, stood up and replied, "Mr. reporter, I am from Moscow and was born in the town of big uvarovo, on the outskirts of Moscow."


    I stretched out my right hand and pressed it down. I said, "Comrade Donskoy, I''m just talking to you. Don''t be so constrained. I''d better sit down and talk."


    After he sat down, I suddenly thought that the place name of big uvarovo was very familiar, so I asked him, "I heard you said that you were born in big uvarovo, and this place name is very familiar. It seems that I have heard someone talk about this place."


    Donscoy frowned and said, "there are at least a few hundred soldiers in the town with me. I can''t guess who mentioned the place to you."


    I tapped on the table with my fingers, repeatedly thinking about who had mentioned this place name to me, and this person''s position was not too low at least, otherwise an ordinary place name would not leave such a deep impression on me. The sound of my knocking on the table caught everyone''s attention. Everyone stopped and looked at me.


    Seeing that it affected everyone''s eating because of me, I quickly gave them a sorry smile and said, "I''m thinking about something that affected everyone''s eating. I''m really sorry. You go on eating. Don''t worry about me. " As I spoke to you, my eyes inadvertently swept over Donskoy''s body and saw his black tank uniform. A familiar name suddenly jumped into my mind. As soon as my eyes brightened, I suddenly remembered who it was. I couldn''t help saying to myself, "it''s him. No wonder I think this place name is very familiar."


    "Who is he? Comrade teachers. " Donscoy asked curiously.


    "Katukov!" I solemnly stated the name of the person I had just thought of, and tentatively asked the tank commander, "Comrade Donskoy, do you know katukov?"


    "Katukov?! Hahaha, you said Misha Donscoy couldn''t help laughing when he heard my name: "it''s this guy! No wonder you will be so impressed when you hear him mention his hometown. According to me, anyone who has ever been with him will be deeply impressed by his madman. "


    "Lunatic?! What''s the matter? Why do you call him that? " I know Misha is katukov''s nickname. Only people who are most familiar with him will call him that. However, I can''t understand why he is called a madman.


    "Oh, dear teachers, that''s a long story." When Donskoy knew that I knew katukov, his words became casual. "At that time, we were sent to the command class of olabaokunin advanced Infantry School and the motorization College of the workers'' and peasants'' Red Army to learn and master the command skills of tank operations. In a later military exercise, Misha served as the leader of the t-18 tank unit, and I was the vice captain. On the way to the enemy''s position, our tank unit had a trench dug by the other side, which exceeded the crossing width of our tank and blocked our unit. "


    Speaking of the trench, I remember hearing about katukov''s barbarism, so I tentatively asked Donskoy, "is it burying a car as a bridge?"


    "Yes, sir." Donskoy gave me a positive answer. "At that time, Misha asked his subordinates to send me a signal to accept the task. When my tank stopped at his side, he gave me an order: drive the tank to the pit, take the car with the bridge, and let other tanks pass from above. After listening to his order, I was in a hurry at that time. I called him a madman. I could have come up with such a crazy plan. You know, if you were careless, you would be killed. But no matter how I scolded him, he didn''t care. He just ordered me to carry out the order. There was no way. I drove the rest of the tank soldiers out of the car and drove the tank into the trench by myself. Sir, it''s a trench more than two meters deep! When I drove the tank in, I was knocked out of my body and fainted at that time. In this way, the other tanks of the unit rolled over my roof and passed through the enemy''s fortified area smoothly. After the exercise, marshal Tukhachevsky, the national defense people''s commissar who came to watch the exercise, received us and praised Misha, calling him a "Kutuzov type commander."


    Marshal Tukhachevsky, when I heard the name, I could not help shivering. You know, Tukhachevsky was executed for treason. At the moment, who wants to get involved with him, the consequences are still very serious. I watched the other people''s faces with vigilance. Seeing that they were eating as usual, I put my heart back into my stomach.


    Fortunately, Donskoy did not mention Tukhachevsky, but asked about katukov''s whereabouts: "Sir, do you know Misha? I haven''t seen him for years, and I don''t know what happened to him. "


    I nodded hard and said, "yes, I know general katukov. I fought with him during the Moscow defense."


    "General? Oh, my God, this maniac is going up so fast. I''m still a commander, but he''s a general. " Donscoy''s exaggerated expression caused a burst of laughter.


    "Colonel Donskoy, have you been separated from general katukov for so many years that you have never contacted him?" In my opinion, as old comrades in arms, they should have a close relationship with each other.


    "Since the outbreak of the patriotic war, I have lost contact with him. You know, being a tank soldier is different from being an infantry soldier. We often move around. In addition, the wartime military postal system is also inconvenient. Maybe the letter he wrote to me was lost in the process of mailing, or because he was afraid of divulging secrets, he was detained by the inspection authorities


    I''m surprised to hear him say that two fellow countrymen and good friends lost contact after the outbreak of the war. They didn''t even know that one of them became a general?! I asked suspiciously, "don''t you know how he became a general?"


    Donscoy shook his head, saying he didn''t know.


    "Haven''t you seen the report of the Moscow battle?"?, You know, you can find the answers you need there I asked reluctantly.


    Donscoy still shakes his head. My eyes swept to the others. All of you have already stopped your knives and forks. When you see my eyes looking at them, you collectively shake your head, saying that you have not read the war report I said. Among them, sholov said with a smiley face: "Comrade division commander, since everyone is very interested in how katukov became a general, and you have worked with katukov, you can tell us more about him."


    "Yes, yes, sir, tell us about it." The rest echoed.


    Seeing that you are all interested in this topic, I didn''t refuse any more. I pushed aside the empty plate in front of you and told you about the Soviet war report I read: "since you want to hear about general katukov''s deeds, I will first talk about his war of fame: the battle of msensktanke.


    In October last year, Capt. katukov served as a newly formed independent tank. After listening to katukov''s experience, Donskoy clapped the table excitedly and said in a loud voice: "just with dozens of old tanks, the German army''s invincible goodrian was beaten to pieces. Misha is really wonderful!"


    I looked at him with a smile and said, "Comrade commander, if you can achieve the same brilliant results in the next battle. Then I believe that in the near future, you will soon become general Donskoy''s wife. "


    Donscoy blushed in the friendly laughter of everyone. He stood up and expressed his determination to me: "please rest assured, sir, I will never live up to your expectations. In the future, make sure to complete every order you give


    Hearing Donskoy''s determination to me, all of you stood up and said, "please rest assured, sir, that we will complete all the orders you have given us."


    Seeing your response, I nodded with satisfaction and said, "well, since you are so confident, I solemnly promise you that as long as you have achieved outstanding results in the campaign you are going to launch, I will personally submit an application for your promotion to the commander of the front army."


    Hearing that he might be promoted to a higher rank after the end of the battle, several commanders blushed with excitement and cried out in unison: "serve the Soviet motherland." I was very satisfied with their attitude. After looking at the empty plates on the table, I knew that everyone had almost eaten, so I didn''t ask them to stay: "everyone has almost eaten. Let''s stop here and there today. Comrades in command, go back to your respective units immediately, do a good job of mobilization before the war, and be ready to pull the troops out at any time. " The seven commanders answered in unison: "yes, sir, I promise to complete the task!" Then he saluted me and boroda and left one after another. Looking at the back of their departure, boroda said with emotion: "Sir, your mobilization is really unique. You see, just how long ago, these commanders who originally held a contradictory attitude to us have been coached by you. " In today''s meeting, I skillfully subdued the most rebellious commander sholoff. Then at the dinner party in the evening, the tank commander, Lieutenant Colonel Donskoy, was attracted by katukov, which was also an unexpected gain. When I heard boloda''s words, I laughed and said, "to tell you the truth, if you want to control this division quickly, the best way is to replace all the middle-level commanders with people you are familiar with. But we can''t. We just took over the division today, and we didn''t bring new commanders here. We don''t know the situation of the commanders at all levels of the division. If we easily replace those who don''t agree with us, it may cause chaos in the command system and affect the morale of the troops. Managing a division is totally different from managing a company or battalion. When we are battalion commander or company commander, the order can be passed directly to the squad leader or soldier; But after becoming a division commander, if we want to pass on our orders, we must pass on them to every soldier through the regiment commanders who come to the meeting today. So we need to consider a lot of problems, how to deal with the relationship with these intermediate commanders is our first consideration. Only if they do not exclude us and are willing to accept us and obey us, can this division command easily. "¡° Yes, comrade major, I do! " Boroda''s words puzzled me a little. I couldn''t figure out why he said that. Fortunately, his later words solved the mystery for me: "when commander meletskov appointed you as the division commander, I was still quite unconvinced. But seeing your performance today and what you said just now, I am convinced of you." When he finished, I was about to be modest when he suddenly patted his forehead and said, "Comrade major, it''s so late. Should you go back to the dormitory to accompany your son alik?" When he said that, I remembered that Alek was still in the dormitory of the female health worker, and said, "yes, I forgot if you didn''t say it. Well, you stay on duty in the division headquarters. I''ll go back first and come back tomorrow morning. "¡° Comrade major, you can go back safely and leave it to me. "

 Chapter 361

    I came to the door of the health worker''s dormitory and pushed the door gently. I didn''t push it open. I pushed it again with a little more force. I still didn''t push it open. It seems that the door was plugged in. So I didn''t push any more and knocked on the door gently. There was a few knocks, but there was no movement inside. Knock a few more, inside spread a vigilant voice: "who is outside?" I recognized the voice of ulanowa and quickly replied, "ulanowa, it''s me, Rita." Then the door opened inward, and I was let in by ulanowa in her white underwear. She leaned out and looked around, then drew back and closed the door. Alek had already fallen asleep. Although there was no light in the room, the light from the outside was enough for me to see the frightened expression on ulanova''s face. I asked strangely, "ulanova, what''s the matter with you?" I pointed to the door and asked, "why did you lean out and look when you closed the door just now?" When I asked her this question, she blushed and snorted for a long time before answering, "Rita, you don''t know. When we first arrived in this village, we often had to get up in the middle of the night to pick up the wounded, so the door was never plugged in. Later, I don''t know which male soldier found out the secret and spread it out. So the male soldiers of the division guard camp took advantage of the opportunity to sneak into our dormitory at night, covered the sleeping sisters'' heads with quilts, lifted their underwear and groped all over. "¡° Who are you talking to, ulanova? " The sudden sound startled me. I turned around and saw a girl sleeping on the bed near the corner. She might have been woken up by the sound of talking with ulannova. After I lifted the quilt and sat up, I was still in a state of unconsciousness, rubbing my eyes with my hands¡° Takiyana, it''s OK. You go back to sleep. I''ll have a few more words with my teacher and go to bed. " I didn''t expect that it was ulanova''s words, which immediately led to a scream from takiyana. Her body curled up in the corner, held the quilt tightly in front of her chest, and cried out: "ulanova, get rid of the teacher, get rid of the teacher!" Her scream awakened Alec who was sleeping. The child looked around in horror and saw me standing in the room, lifting the quilt, jumping out of bed barefoot, rushing to hold me tightly, sobbing and shouting: "Mom, mom..." I bent over and hugged the crying Alec, looking at what happened in front of me, not knowing what happened. Ulannova went over, half knelt in front of the female soldier, put her arm around her shoulder, and said in a soft voice: "takiyana, don''t be nervous. It''s not the salamander, it''s the new one, it''s a woman. It''s also Alec, the mother of the little boy you were just teasing. "¡° Ulanova, what do you say? " Takiyana asked timidly, "is it a female teacher or Eric''s mother? Is that true? You won''t lie to me, will you¡° It''s true. I didn''t cheat you. If you don''t believe me, you can see for yourself. " With that, ulannova turned her body to her side, leaving enough space to observe me. It turned out to be a false alarm. I patted Alex on the back and whispered to him, "don''t worry, kid. It''s the aunt who had a nightmare. Go on sleeping." Then he put him back on the bed, covered the quilt, let him close his eyes to sleep. After all this, I went to uranova, sat down beside takiyana''s bed, and said to her with a smile, "Hello, takiyana, my name is o''xianina, and I''m Eric''s mother. He was silent for a moment, nodded reluctantly, and said," OK, I''ll divide the work according to what you said. "

 Chapter 362

    In fact, I know in my heart that these reasons are just cliches. My real purpose is to quickly build up my prestige in the army by leading the team to do several missions in person. And such a rescue operation with relatively small difficulty coefficient is my first choice.


    After implementing the matter of who will rescue general afanasiyev, boroda said solemnly, "Comrade division, I have one more thing to report to you."


    Seeing his serious manner, I thought in my heart that it would be no big deal except to rescue the general, so I said casually, "come on, chief of staff, what else is important?"


    "Just now general meletzkov, commander of the front army, had another order."


    There''s another order. Is it to be transferred to the army immediately? Thinking of this, I asked uncertainly, "did Comrade commander order our troops to move to the designated position immediately?"


    Boroda shook his head and said, "Comrade commander didn''t mention the troop transfer. Instead, he told us that there was no need to send Colonel dorofeyev and lieutenant colonel samoirov to the headquarters of the front army."


    The two former division commanders and chief of staff of the 378th division have been kept in a room next to the division headquarters since they were relieved of their duties. As for them, boroda and I have no right to dispose of them arbitrarily. We planned to send people to escort them to the headquarters of the front army today, but now there are variables. Hearing this news, I was not happy. I asked with a straight face, "if it''s not sent to the headquarters of the front army, where should it be sent?"


    "Send it to the headquarters of the 59th group army and give it to the commander, general korovnikov."


    After hearing boroda''s explanation, I was silent. You have to know that the two people are escorted to different destinations, and there are two completely different destinies waiting for them. If they go to the headquarters of the front army, they may be sent to the military court for dereliction of duty and delaying the flight; Going to the headquarters of the group army is another matter. Not only will they not go to the military court, but with their friendship with general kolovnikov, they may also be entrusted with heavy responsibilities.


    However, if you think about it, Captain boroda and I took over the command of the 378th division. General kolovnikov must be a little unwilling. He is bound to put forward an exchange offer to meletskov in exchange for no further investigation of their faults. Perhaps meletskov agreed to such an exchange for the sake of stabilizing the morale of the army. When I thought about this, I was relieved. I waved my hand and said, "since all the senior generals have given orders, you can arrange to send them to the headquarters of the group army later."


    Just then, a report came from the door. Lieutenant Peskov stood at the door, looking at me, and said, "Comrade division commander, female health worker ulannova of the medical station has something to ask for you."


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was seven o''clock in five minutes. I didn''t know what ulannova wanted to do with me at this time. So I told the second lieutenant, "Comrade second lieutenant, please let her in."


    The second lieutenant agreed. He put his hand to one side of his body and made a gesture to the room. He said, "please come in, comrade ulanova. The division commander is waiting for you in there."


    Uranova hurried into the room and saluted me and boroda. After returning the gift, I asked her with a smile, "Comrade ulanova, what''s the important thing for you to come to me in such a hurry?"


    She nodded hard and said definitely, "yes, sir, I have something important to come to you." I looked up and down at her suspiciously, and said in my heart, is there another soldier who has insulted her? But it shouldn''t be. I slept in the same room with her last night. I didn''t hear anything. She continued: "the convoy that transports the wounded to the rear is leaving at seven. I heard from you yesterday that I was going to ask Alek to withdraw with the wounded, so I came to the headquarters to ask you what your plans are. "


    "Mr. commander," boloda urged after hearing what ulannova said, "go ahead with Alek''s business, and leave the rest to me."


    Hearing what boroda said, I blushed a little and said to boroda with embarrassment, "Comrade captain, I''ll leave it to you. I''ll deal with my private affairs first."


    Boroda said very reasonably, "go ahead, I''m here. Send Alek away, and you will have less worries. "


    In addition to the headquarters, I saw a long motorcade on the street in the distance. Ulanova and I trotted all the way to the team and asked her, "ulanova, did you see Alek this morning? I didn''t see him when I went to bed. I don''t know where he went to play. "


    "Rita, don''t worry. Alec won''t be lost. He''s been with me ever since he got up. When I went to the headquarters to look for you, I left him in the care of takiyana. "


    As soon as I ran to the front of the team, I saw takiyana leading alik towards us. A few steps away, alik broke free of takiyana''s hand and threw himself at me. I squatted down and stopped him. Then I stood up with him in my arms and walked towards the motorcade. Ulanova and takiyana followed me closely.


    The door of the co pilot of the first car opened, and a second lieutenant officer jumped down, ran to me, stood at attention and saluted me, and reported, "Hello, sir! Varo, second lieutenant of the transport team of the group army, reports to you that the transport team for the wounded is ready and ready to leave at any time. Please give us your instructions! "


    I couldn''t return a gift to Alec because I was holding him, so I had to smile politely and said in a deliberative tone, "Comrade lieutenant, I want to find a wounded person in the car and ask her to take my child to the rear. Look, can you drive a few minutes later? "


    "No problem, sir." The second lieutenant agreed very readily, and then tentatively asked, "do you want me to help you find it?"


    "Thank you, comrade lieutenant." I thank the lieutenant for his enthusiasm, but I don''t say if I need his help. I walked back along the line with Alec in my arms, shouting, "Sergeant Nina, Sergeant Nina, where are you?"


    After me, ulanova, takiyana and the second lieutenant were also shouting for me. The enthusiastic lieutenant, next to each carriage, asked, "is Sergeant Nina here? Is there a sergeant named Nina here? "


    As we passed the seventh car, we suddenly heard a familiar voice behind us calling me, "Rita, I''m here." Turning around, Nina was lying on the fender of the car, leaning out half of her body and waving to me.


    I went to her with Alec in my arms, and first bowed my head to Alec and said, "son, mother is going to stay here to fight with the German devils. Will you follow aunt Nina to the rear?"


    Eric nodded wisely and said, "well, mom, don''t worry. I''ll listen to Aunt Nina."


    I lifted Alek up and handed him back. Immediately, a soldier in the carriage reached out and picked up the child.


    Seeing Nina holding Alex in her arms, I gave her a grateful smile and said, "thank you, Nina. I''ll give you the baby. Please take good care of him."


    "Don''t worry, Rita. I''ll take care of him like I did to my child."


    I turned to the second lieutenant standing beside me and said, "Comrade second lieutenant, you can go. Thank you


    The second lieutenant saluted with a smile, turned and ran to the front car.


    As the truck moved slowly, alik waved desperately to me on the fender of the car, shouting, "goodbye, mom! Goodbye, mom! Remember to come to me earlier. "


    Alex''s tender cry made my nose ache, and tears rolled in my eyes. If it wasn''t for my image, I would have burst into tears. Turning around, I saw ulanova and takiyana standing behind them wiping their tears. He quickly turned his head back, raised his hand and wiped the corner of his eyes. Then he turned around, patted them on the shoulder and said with a smile: "don''t be sad, ulanova and takiyana. I''m sure we''ll see Eric again soon. You go back to the medical station, where there are many wounded people waiting for you to take care of After that, without waiting for them to speak, I turned around and looked in the direction of the division headquarters.


    By the time I got back to the gate of the division headquarters, the guard camp had been assembled, and more than 200 officers and men were standing neatly on the road outside the headquarters. Seeing me coming back, a captain came out of the line and reported to me: "report to Mr. division commander, captain of guard camp, Gusev, report to you. Company 1 and company 2 are ordered to assemble and wait for your orders."


    I frowned and asked, "why is there only one company, two companies, where is the third company?"


    "Comrade division," boroda came out of the headquarters and explained to me, "the village needs troops to defend, so I left the third company behind."


    I have no objection to the arrangement of boroda. After all, we can''t transfer all the troops in the village just because we want to save people. So as not to be taken advantage of by the Germans and end our home. So I turned my head to captain Gusev and said, "Comrade captain, let me introduce your company commander."


    The captain called the two captains in the line, pointed to a small commander and said, "this is captain bulda, a company commander. He used to be a reconnaissance platoon leader before, so his company will also be responsible for reconnaissance in this operation."


    Captain bulda raised his hand to me and said, "Hello, sir."


    After I saluted him, I nodded and said, "good job, captain. Take a good look. If this task can be successfully completed, I will certainly ask for credit for you. "


    Then the captain introduced me to another black faced captain and said, "this is captain chumark, the second company commander. He used to be an artillery soldier, so this operation, mortars and other heavy weapons are equipped in his company


    Captain chumark also stepped up, raised his hand to me and said, "Hello, Mr. division!"


    Although I am not familiar with the officers and men of the guard camp, I have a preliminary understanding of the division of labor between the two companies after listening to captain Gusev''s introduction. I am very satisfied with this way of introduction. It seems that there are many capable people in this division, but the problem lies in the former division leaders. Now that they are under my charge, I will certainly let them make the best use of their resources, make the best use of their talents, give full play to their abilities, and cultivate a team of my future.


    Captain Gusev saw that I was very satisfied with the two company commanders, so he continued: "in this operation, we will first take a truck to the place not far from olejej. After getting off the bus, the second company will stay behind to guard the car and build simple fortifications. One company will go through the forest to olejej area and join the guerrillas of sakanov to rescue general afanasiyev."


    I patted captain Gusev, who was a head higher than me, on the shoulder and said with satisfaction, "Comrade captain, your plan is good. That''s how it is implemented. Where is the truck? "¡° Report to Mr. commander, the truck is just to the west of the village. In addition to twenty trucks, there''s an armored ca

 Chapter 363

    Outside the village, a long truck and several motorcycles were parked on the side of the road. Capt. Gusev, Capt. Burda and Capt. chumak, with their troops, boarded the vehicles one by one in order.


    Captain boroda, who came to see me off, handed me a bobosha submachine gun and joked with me in a low voice: "Comrade division, you can''t lead the commanders and fighters to charge with a pistol without bullets in the war! Take this submachine gun with you. It will be useful. "


    I know he said the pistol without a bullet, which he said last time, he was not a face red. When he took the submachine gun, he feel shy about asking, "do you have a pistol bullet?"


    "Yes," he promised. He took out a carton from his briefcase and lifted the lid to show me. There were dozens of yellow orange pistol bullets neatly stacked inside. He may think that I haven''t used the submachine gun. When he handed me the carton, he specially told me: "the drum capacity of this submachine gun is 71 rounds, and the bullets are pistol bullets, which can be used on both pistols and submachine guns."


    I answered faintly: "got it." Then I want to put the cartridge box into my trouser pocket. But my action was stopped by boroda in time. He handed over a brand-new briefcase and said, "Sir, this is the briefcase I prepared for you. Please put the bullet here."


    When I broke through the encirclement, my original briefcase was thrown away by me because it was too cumbersome. Now, seeing that boroda thought so carefully for me, I didn''t refuse. I took the briefcase generously, carried it on my shoulder, and put the bullet into it.


    At this time, the chief of staff, major Antonov, came up to me and raised his hand to salute me. He reported: "Comrade division commander, the troops have all boarded the train. Please give us instructions if we can start!"


    I returned a gift, did not immediately answer, but asked him: "Comrade major, when the troops set out, which car do you take?"


    Antonov pointed to the armored car in the distance and said, "I''ll take that armored car and guide the troops in front of me."


    I saw a few tricycles full of soldiers parked next to the armored car. I pointed to them and asked him, "Comrade major, what''s the matter with those motorcycles?"


    Antonov looked back and replied, "that''s a company of scouts sent by Captain bulda. They will follow me and take on the road opening and reconnaissance tasks."


    After listening to his reply, I nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "since the troops have finished boarding, let''s go."


    Major Antonov saluted me, turned and ran to the armored car at the front of the convoy. I turned around, reached out to boroda, who was standing beside me, and said with a smile, "Comrade chief of staff, I''ll give you all the command of the division. We''ll see you later."


    Boroda held my hand tightly. "Sir, I hope we can meet again soon. Good luck to you!"


    "I will." Then I let go of his hand and strode to the truck at the back of the line. I came to the front passenger''s side, opened the door and got into the cab with the help of the driver.


    The path in the woods, perhaps after the outbreak of the war, had not been repaired. In addition to the German air raids and shelling, there were large and small craters everywhere. In order to prevent the truck from turning into the pit, the driver had to carefully avoid one black crater after another. As a result, the speed was not much faster than walking.


    The car drove forward for two hours. Just as I was about to lose patience, the car stopped. The driver turned to me and said, "Comrade teacher, we are here."


    Almost at the same time, the commander''s shouts came from the front: "all out of the car!"


    "All out of the car!"


    After a while, a sergeant jumped down from the car in front of me. He stood under the car and yelled to the soldiers in the car, "listen to my command, all of you get out of the car!" With his command, the soldiers turned over the baffle and jumped out of the car.


    When the soldiers who got off the train began to form a whole team, I got off the car and walked along the dirt road to the front of the team.


    After a while, I came to the front of the team. At this moment, major Antonov, Captain Gusev, Captain bulda, Captain chumark and others were here. When they saw me walking over, they immediately raised their hands and saluted and reported, "report to the division commander, comrade, the troops have reached the designated position, please give instructions!"


    I saluted, went up to Antonov and asked, "Comrade major, how far is olejez from here?"


    Antonov replied without hesitation: "report, comrade division commander, if you enter the forest from here and walk about three kilometers north, you can reach the guerrilla base."


    I turned and looked at captain Gusev and said to him, "Comrade captain, take the second company to stay, guard cars and build simple fortifications. Captain Burda and I will go to the guerrilla camp in oljege to meet the general."


    Gu Xiefu said in embarrassment: "Sir, I''d better go with the first company. You and the second company will stay."


    After listening to Gusev''s words, company commander Burda also helped him persuade me: "yes, sir. It''s too dangerous in the forest. You''d better stay here and let the battalion commander work with us. I promise you that I will take Comrade General out. "


    I waved to them and said firmly, "this is an order. Carry it out!"


    Two people looked at each other, can only smile bitterly reply: "yes!"


    Our unit is divided into three parts. The deputy company commander leads a platoon to open the way in front of us and advance to the depth of the forest. I went to the middle with major Antonov and the soldiers in the second platoon, and captain bulda took three platoons behind, with each platoon 150 meters apart, so that even if one platoon was attacked, it could quickly get the support of the other two platoons.


    As I have repeatedly stressed that Germans may be encountered in the forest, everyone should be very careful when moving forward. Captain bulda seemed to have a problem with what I said. I heard him say to the deputy company commander that I was nervous, but he passed on my order to the letter.


    As the troops are advancing while searching, the marching speed is certainly not fast. As I walked, I heard a soldier nearby muttering: "marching with women is trouble. When have you ever seen a German in this area? Do you need to be so careful? If you go on like this, you won''t be able to reach your destination in the dark. "


    I just glared at the rude soldier and scolded him in my heart: "this fool, if you don''t be vigilant when you march in the forest, you can''t cry when you are ambushed by the German army..." before I finished, I suddenly felt a bad feeling, as if someone was hiding nearby to watch us.


    I quickly called out: "stop!"


    With my command, the troops stopped advancing, and all the commanders and fighters turned their puzzled eyes on me. Major Antonov, holding a submachine gun, ran to me from a distance and asked in a low voice, "Comrade division, why did you stop the troops?"


    I squatted down, put the butt of the submachine gun on the ground, held the barrel in both hands, and asked him to squat down. Then I said, "major Antonov, I feel like there are Germans nearby."


    Antonov learned from me to squat on the ground, glance around and ask in a low voice, "where is it?"


    I shook my head and said, "I didn''t see the Germans, it''s just intuition."


    Antonov and I were squatting and talking, and the rest of the officers and men were still standing there looking around.


    At this time, I heard the grumbling soldier murmur: "nervous!"


    Just now I put up with him. This time I don''t want to put up with him any more. I''m going to stand up and scold him.


    "Pa" of a shot, the soldier''s shoulder spatter from a blood flower, he cried out and fell to the ground, covered his shoulder in rolling scream.


    As the soldier fell to the ground after being shot, Antonov cried out in a hurry: "lie down!"


    Almost as Antonov called to lie down, I fell to the ground, raised my gun and looked around for the direction of the bullet.


    And those soldiers around the reaction is different, quick reaction immediately on the ground, and slow reaction, still holding a gun standing in situ in a daze.


    There was another shot, and the second lieutenant standing nearby fell down. He was the platoon leader. I didn''t ask him his name. However, he was not as lucky as the soldier who complained just now. He was shot in the chest and fell straight to the ground, then there was no movement.


    From where the soldier was shot, I know where the bullet came from. I quickly turned the gun and pulled the trigger in that direction. Since I haven''t used this kind of submachine gun for a long time, I shot out dozens of bullets in one breath. However, my shooting also pointed out the direction for other commanders and fighters. As soon as my shooting stopped, dozens of rifles and submachine guns opened fire in that direction. I threw the submachine gun that had run out of bullets and rolled it on the spot. I came to the wounded soldier, grabbed his rifle and aimed in the direction where the bullets had just come.


    One hundred meters away, a figure flashed out from behind the tree and ran away quickly. I slowly put his back into the sight and pulled the trigger. With the gunfire, the figure fell to the ground.


    I stood up and said to Antonov, who was still lying on the ground, "Comrade major, please send some people to have a look."


    Antonov agreed, called on a few people, cat waist ran over there.


    As soon as the major left, the deputy company commander, who was making the way ahead, and bulda, who had been cut off, came in a hurry. Seeing me standing safe and sound, bulda was relieved. After saluting, he asked, "Comrade division, what happened just now? Was it the German ambush?"


    I shook my head and said, "it''s not like a German ambush. Maybe it''s just a lost soldier."


    While speaking, Antonov ran back with a German rifle and reported to me, "Comrade division commander, there is only one German soldier. He may have lost his way in the forest." When he handed me the German rifle, he praised it heartily: "the gun you just shot was really accurate, one shot hit the head."


    I took the rifle, put it on my shoulder, and said to a few people with an air of dignity, "keep going. Remind the soldiers to be careful not to be attacked by the Germans again. "


    "Yes Several people promised to leave. I quickly stopped bulda: "Comrade captain, please wait a moment, this wounded man, get someone to bandage him. And the second lieutenant, the platoon leader, has died. Send someone to take his body to the truck first. "


    As the troops continued to move forward, the speed of marching was still very slow. Because of the bloody fact just now, we all realized that it was not a bad thing to be careful, so no one complained any more.


    In this way, it took us three hours to get close to the base of the zazanov guerrillas. Looking at the forest cabin dozens of meters away, Antonov volunteered and said, "Comrade division commander, let me contact the guerrilla comrades. I have been to this place several times before. Not only Comrade sasanov knows me, but also many of his soldiers know me. "


    "All right!" I nodded and said, "when you see Comrade sasanov, tell him that we are here specially to meet general afanasiyev, and ask him to send the general out as soon as possible."


    Antonov agreed, took his submachine gun over his shoulder and trotted toward the guerrilla camp.


    Watching him go away, I turned and called bulda: "Comrade captain."


    Captain bulda, who was standing at one side, heard me call him. He ran over and stood straight in front of me. Then he asked, "what''s your instruction, sir?"


    "Let the soldiers disperse and hide, and send out guard posts in four directions at the same time."


    When Burda heard my order, he was stunned, and then asked: "Comrade division commander, why should we set up a guard? We should know that there is a guerrilla camp ahead."


    Instead of explaining to him, I said coldly, "this is an order. Carry it out."


    Burda reluctantly saluted, honestly let the soldiers disperse and hide, and issued a guard.


    I squatted next to a tree and raised my telescope to observe the guerrilla camp. Soon I saw a lot of people pouring out of the camp. They were divided into two groups. There were seven or eight people at the front, including major Antonov, who was in charge of contacting just now. Dozens of meters away, there was a group of soldiers. Because their faces were blocked by trees from time to time, I couldn''t see if there was general afanasiyev I was going to take over.


    Major Antonov and the guerrillas in plain clothes walked more than ten meters away from us. Because they couldn''t see anyone, he looked around strangely and cried out: "Comrade division, where are you? Why can''t I see you?"


    I got up from the tree and answered him loudly, "Comrade major, I''m here."


    When Antonov saw me appear, he smiles, looks down, says a few words to a short fat man with black hair, and then runs towards me. When he came to me, he raised his hand to salute, and reported: "Comrade division commander, I have brought general afanasiyev, and Comrade sakanov of the guerrillas has also come. He wants to see you."


    The short fat man quickly came up to me, reached out to me, took the initiative to introduce and said: "Hello, Mr. oshanina, I''m the captain of the guerrillas, Mr. sakanov. Nice to meet you here."


    Holding his hand, I said in a friendly way, "Hello, comrade sasanov. Nice to meet you, too. Thank you for protecting general afanasiyev. On behalf of general meletzkov, commander of the volhoff front army, thank you. "


    With these words, general afanasiyev and more than a dozen soldiers had already come to a place not far from me. I quickly released sakanov''s hand and ran to the general. Running to him, I solemnly saluted him after I stood at attention, and loudly reported: "report to comrades of the military commissar, acting division commander of the 378th division, major oshanina, we have come to meet you on the order of general meletzkov, commander of the front army. I''m at your disposal now! "


    General afanasiyev looked me up and down and said strangely, "aren''t you the infantry battalion commander of the 327th division of our 2nd shock group army? When did you go to the 59th army and how did you become the acting commander of the 378th division? "


    I gave him a smile and politely replied, "Comrade General, it''s a long story. There are Germans near here. It''s not very safe. Let''s go back to the division headquarters first, and I''ll tell you in detail. "


    General afanasiyev nodded, went up to sakanov, held his hand tightly, and said gratefully, "thank you, comrade sakanov. I will never forget your kindness to save my life."


    Sakanov said modestly, "Comrade General, look what you said. We are all comrades in arms. We should help you. Besides, it was Comrade vaskov who first met you in the forest. With his help, you can arrive at our station safely. "


    The general nodded and said, "yes, if I hadn''t met Comrade vaskov in the forest, my soldiers and I would still be wandering in the forest now. Where is Comrade vaskov? "


    Vaskov, when I heard the name, I couldn''t help picking up my eyebrows. I said that it would not be so coincidental. Did I meet the warrant officer here again?


    I didn''t expect that there was such a coincidence in the world. Vaskov, who was called by sassanov, was really the brigadier''s uncle who saved me a few days ago. Bravely on the battlefield, he is a little stiff in the face of the general who thanks him.


    I stepped forward and said to sakanov in a loud voice, "Comrade guerrilla leader, can you give me vaskov?"


    As soon as my words came out, all the people were stunned, and everyone''s eyes turned to me. Vaskov saw me standing in front of him with an irrepressible smile on my face. Sarzanov asked curiously, "Comrade division, do you know vaskov?" I nodded hard and said with a smile, "yes, Brigadier vaskov was my superior before he became a guerrilla. He once led me and the Germans to fight tenaciously. " When I said that, everyone suddenly realized. General afanasiyev asked, "major oshanina, where do you plan to put Comrade vaskov to work?" I pointed to the guard company standing behind me and said, "on the way here just now, a famous platoon leader died because of the German sneak attack. I plan to let Comrade vaskov take the post of platoon leader in the guard company."

 Chapter 364

    After listening to my arrangement, general afanasiyev said with a smile, "major oshanina, your arrangement is very reasonable. I think that if Comrade vaskov is allowed to return to the army, his ability can be better played." At this point, he turned to look at sassanov standing beside him, "what do you think? Comrade guerrilla leader. "


    Sarzanov replied with a smile, "Comrade General, you are right. Vaskov is a comrade with rich combat experience. It is his greatest honor to return to the army. "


    General afanasiyev asked me again, "Comrade major, what rank are you going to give him if you want him to be a platoon leader in the guard company?"


    I thought about it for a moment and replied, "report Comrade General, I''m going to give him the rank of lieutenant." I pointed to my military rank on my badge and said, "I have heard Comrade vaskov''s subordinates say before that if he stayed in the front-line forces all the time, he would be at least a major now. To be honest, according to what I know about vaskov, with his ability, it''s not a problem to be a commander or something. It''s a pity that I''m just a major now. It''s impossible to promote him to a higher rank. "


    The general waved his hand and said with disapproval, "Comrade oshanina, your current rank is only temporary. Otherwise, I think you will get a promotion. Then you can give Comrade vaskov a higher rank." After that, he reached out to sasanov and said, "Comrade sasanov, thank you for your warm hospitality. Let''s say goodbye. See you later."


    "See you later!"


    Seeing them saying goodbye, I beckoned to vaskov, who was standing beside me grinning, to come over. He trotted up to me, raised his hand and respectfully reported: "Comrade division, Lieutenant vaskov, the platoon leader of the guard company, will report to you and wait for you..."


    Before he finished, I interrupted him and said, "come on, Feijia. After all, we''ve fought together. You and I don''t have to be so polite. "


    "However, according to the regulations..." when he wanted to explain a few words, I called captain bulda, the company commander of the guard company, and pointed to vaskov and said, "Comrade captain, come to meet the new second platoon commander, Lieutenant vaskov." Then he introduced the company commander to vaskov: "Comrade vaskov, this is your immediate superior, Captain bulda, the company commander of the guard company."


    After listening to my introduction, vaskov immediately saluted bulda and reported it as required by the regulations.


    After general afanasiyev and sarzanov said goodbye, he came to me and asked in a deliberative tone, "Comrade oshanina, I''m ready to go?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." I promised, and then told Burda, who was standing beside me, "Comrade captain, we should divide the army into three parts just as we did when we came here. The deputy company commander and the first platoon opened the way in the front, while the second platoon and I were in the middle, responsible for protecting the general''s safety; And you''re at the back


    General afanasiyev and I were walking in the middle of the line. At the beginning, neither of us spoke. After a moment''s silence, the general suddenly asked, "major oshanina, is there any whereabouts of general Vlasov, commander of the group army?"


    "Probably captured." I replied faintly.


    "What? Captured? " The general''s loud voice attracted the attention of the soldiers around him. Everyone looked back at him and went on¡° How could they be captured? " He asked me in a low voice, "did you hear it or see it with your own eyes?"


    I answered softly, "after I escaped from the siege, I went to the village of piatnica, where Vlasov''s headquarters were at that time." At this point, I hesitated for a moment. Instead of saying that Vlasov ordered the troops to surrender, I said vaguely: "later, the village was surrounded by the Germans, and all the people in the village should have been captured, because when I drove by with the troops the next day, the whole village was empty."


    "Wait a minute, there''s a place I don''t understand." General afanasiyev recognized the flaw in my answer and asked, "you don''t mean that the village is surrounded by the Germans. All the people in the village are captured. I want to know, how did you get out? "


    Hearing this question, I was so scared that I broke out in a cold sweat. As for how to answer him, I thought about it again and again, and decided to be honest: "coincidentally, I met my lost son in the village, and I escaped from the German encirclement with him."


    General afanasiyev sneered twice and said in a sarcastic tone, "the Germans are really nice to you. No one stopped you and let you leave the village so swaggeringly."


    "Yes, Comrade General." I knew that I had to make it clear to him, otherwise there would be endless troubles in the future. I explained with a wry smile: "when I went out of the village with my child, I tore off my rank. In addition, my uniform was torn to pieces when I broke through the siege for the first time. In the eyes of those Germans, I was a refugee. Of course, as I was about to escape from the German siege, I was stopped by several German soldiers. Fortunately, at that time, the children were more clever and began to cry, which made the German commander frown. He thought we were refugees and let us go


    The general frowned. Instead of continuing to dwell on this topic, he asked another question: "aren''t you in the 327th division of Colonel anchufiev? Why don''t you go to the 378th division without your own troops? "


    It''s good that he didn''t mention it. I got angry when he mentioned it. So I said angrily, "why did you go to the 378th division? It''s not because of general privalov."¡° General privalov?! What''s the matter with him? " I snorted heavily, and then began to tell him about general privalov: "our 327th division was the vanguard of the breakout. I led my battalion along the narrow gauge railway and broke through the three German lines. After breaking through the third line of defense, I found that the narrow gauge railway passes through the middle of the two highlands. If no troops are left to garrison in the highlands on both sides, once the Germans launch a counter offensive to occupy the Highlands, only a few machine guns or mortars can seal up the gap we opened. " The general said thoughtfully, "I''ve been to the place you said. At that time, the German army had occupied the highlands on both sides again. Their mortar and machine gun fire caused huge losses to our army. I took the troops to rush twice, but I didn''t rush past. I had to retreat and enter the forest to find a new route to break through the encirclement. " At this point, he was angry and fierce, and almost asked, "I want to ask you, since you find the importance of the highlands on both sides, why don''t you keep the troops?"¡° After breaking through the line of defense, I immediately ordered all the soldiers to enter the position and repair the fortifications in case the Germans could attack at any time. " I said lightly, "I only have more than 400 people, but I have to guard two highlands. As soon as the fortification was completed, the Germans launched an attack on our position. Under our tenacious resistance, the German attack failed. Shortly after the battle, Colonel anchufiev came with his troops. I''m very happy to see the main force of the division coming, because there will be enough troops to attack the Germans and drive them further away from our passage. I didn''t expect that with colonel anchufiev, there was general privalov. My request for the division to leave enough troops to attack the Germans was rejected by general privalov, who thought that we should move on rather than stay to defend against possible German attacks. Shortly after general privalov''s departure, one day Colonel tsoulif''s 58th infantry brigade arrived. He heard me explain the importance of the highlands. Without saying a word, he immediately transferred the artillery battalion and a infantry regiment to my command and prepared to cooperate with my troops to launch an attack on the Germans. Unexpectedly, just a few minutes before the beginning of the attack, he received an order from the headquarters of the group army, asking him to quickly lead his troops to move into the miasnebor area. The orders of the superior can not be violated. He can only withdraw all the troops under my command from the fighting and transfer them to the designated areas. "¡° Let''s move the troops into myasnabor? " General afanasiyev frowned and thought for a moment, saying: "I have the impression that the command of the group army received a telegram from general privalov, saying that the breakout troops had encountered with the Germans and that there was a fierce battle. He was short of troops and asked for reinforcements, so he gave such an order to zhicaoliv." I said to him bitterly, "Comrade General, do you know? Because of this order, the attack that was ready had to be cancelled. Shortly after the departure of Colonel zhicaoliv''s troops, the troops defending the other side of the highland were transferred by the order of Colonel anchufiev. I was the only one left to guard the highland. You know, I have more than 100 people, not to mention the offensive, but the defenders are not enough After hearing this, the general said solemnly: "if what you said is true, I will apply to general meletskov, commander of the front army. Since general privalov''s behavior has seriously endangered the safety of the breakout forces, I suggest that he be sent to the military court for examination and approval." When I heard the general say that, my anger calmed down a lot, so I changed the topic and asked, "Comrade General, when I heard that the headquarters of the group army broke through the encirclement, it was divided into three groups. Besides you and general Vlasov''s team, do you know the whereabouts of the deputy commander, general alfiliev, and the reconnaissance chief, Colonel Rogoff? " General afanasiyev shook his head and said, "I don''t know. Not to mention the other two groups, even the chief of staff, Colonel vinogoladov, who broke through with me, was separated in the battle. " With these words, Antonov ran to us, stood at attention, and reported to general afanasiyev, who had the highest rank, "Comrade General, we have joined the second company of the left behind guards. The car is waiting by the side of the road. Please get on the bus."

 Chapter 365

    General afanasiyev refused Antonov''s request. Instead of taking an armored car, he sat on the bridge of the truck like me. He leaned out of the co pilot''s window and said, "major oshanina, how far is it from here to your division headquarters?"


    I looked at my watch, looked up and said to him, "Comrade General, we can reach our destination in about two hours."


    "Then stop dawdling and get going."


    "Yes I promised, and then told captain Gusev to let the motorcade go. When I turned to leave, I vaguely heard general Afanasiev murmuring in a low voice: "the Germans don''t know when they will come, so I''d better leave this land of right and wrong as soon as possible."


    The team went back faster than when they came. It took only one and a half hours to get outside the village. When I passed the entrance of the village, I was surprised to find that fortifications had been built here. In addition to the machine gun positions piled up with sandbags, there was a trench more than half a person deep. At least two classes of soldiers were defending here.


    I asked the driver to stop the car. After getting out of the car, I came to the group of soldiers and asked a sergeant, "Comrade sergeant, when was this fortification built? When I left in the morning, there seemed to be nothing here but a few sentries. "


    When the sergeant heard my question, he straightened himself up and answered in a loud voice, "report to Mr. division chief, this fortification was ordered to be built by Mr. chief of staff. He said it can prevent the German from sneaking attack."


    "Does this fortification exist only in this village, or in every village?"


    "There are fire points in every village, and in the houses near the fortifications, even if they are attacked by the Germans, they will not be able to enter the village in a short time."


    After listening to the sergeant''s reply, I looked at the well prepared officers and men in the trenches and fortifications, nodded with satisfaction. In such a short time, the fortifications in the village can be improved. It seems that boroda''s ability is quite strong.


    I waved and asked the driver to drive away. I walked to the parking place and saw that general Afanasiev was waiting for me under the car, while major Antonov, Captain Gusev, Captain bulda and captain chumark were standing around him. Everyone bowed their heads, as if they had just been criticized by the general.


    Seeing me walking over, general afanasiyev said with some displeasure, "major oshanina, how long will you keep people waiting? We''ve been out of the car for five or six minutes, and you''ve come slowly. "


    I gave him an apologetic smile and replied, "I''m sorry, Comrade General. Please forgive me. I just checked the new fortifications at the entrance of the village, so I''m late. "


    General afanasiyev snorted with dissatisfaction and said, "don''t dally. Take me to your division headquarters as soon as possible. I''m still in a hurry to talk to commander meletskov."


    I didn''t argue with him. I led him to the division headquarters with a smile on my face.


    As soon as he entered the door, Captain boroda was sitting at a table, looking down at a map spread out in front of him. Aware that someone had entered the headquarters, he raised his head and saw that general Afanasiev and I were entering. He was obviously stunned for a moment. Then he suddenly stood up and rushed to meet us.


    He gave a solemn salute to general afanasiyev, and said in a loud voice, "Comrade General, your subordinate boloda reports to you and welcomes you."


    Afanasiyev looked him up and down, then exclaimed excitedly: "it''s you, Lieutenant boroda. I didn''t expect that you are still alive!" Then the two fell in love.


    Boroda also said with some emotion: "Comrade General, I''m so happy to see you out of danger."


    Looking at two big men cuddling in front of me, I felt a little uncomfortable, so I coughed, cleared my throat, and said, "general Afanasiev, I''d like to introduce you to this captain boloda. He pointed to the map with his hand, and asked him seriously," Comrade boloda, I want to ask you, Your base is only 20 kilometers away from the place where we broke through the encirclement. Why didn''t you send strong troops to support our break through operations? " Seeing that boroda wanted to open his mouth, he went on to say, "you know, I''ve seen the troops of your division today. Although they are not strong, their overall combat effectiveness is not low. Don''t prevaricate me with any reason, I just want to know the real answer. "


    "Comrade General, this..." for this question, boroda hastily did not know how to answer, opened his mouth, but still could not speak.


    I quickly rescued him and said, "Comrade General, I can give you an explanation about this."


    "Go ahead." General afanasiyev said solemnly. Seeing his expression, I know why he always feels awkward since he got out of danger. It turned out that he was blaming our division for not going to rescue the second shock group army in time.


    "It was only yesterday that captain boroda and I received an order from general meletskov to temporarily assume the post of division commander and chief of staff of the 378th division."


    "What about the former division chief and chief of staff?"


    "They have been escorted to the headquarters of the 59th army." Afraid that I didn''t know the situation, boroda explained the whereabouts of the two former division leaders.


    "The headquarters of the 59th group army," afanasiyev heard this unit, sneered twice, and said, "since he was relieved of his post, he should be sent to the headquarters of the front army to receive punishment. Why did he send it to the headquarters of the group army. You know, there are no good people in this group army. The commanders from the top to the bottom, from the group army commander to the regiment commander, have never done anything serious except drinking and drinking and being obsessed with women. " I turned to look at boroda, and he looked back at me. Seeing that he was helpless, I had to smile bitterly, saying that the 59th army is really famous. Everyone knows that it''s a wine and sex army. It''s self-evident why it''s not so effective. I said to borodanu, "Comrade chief of staff, you are quite clear about the whole story of this matter. It''s up to you to explain it to Comrade General." Boroda stood up and said respectfully to afanasiyev, "Comrade General, this is what happened. When the 2nd shock group army broke through, the commander of the front army gave orders to all the troops outside the encirclement, hoping that they would cooperate with you inside and outside to break the German encirclement of the shock group army. Unexpectedly, the commander of the division, Colonel dorofeyev, disobeyed the orders of general meletzkov and only sent a few small troops to launch a small-scale harassment operation against the areas where the German troops were stationed. Just after contact with the enemy, he hastily ordered the troops to withdraw from the battle, leaving you to live and die in the encirclement. " Afanasiyev slapped the table heavily and roared angrily: "hateful, hateful, really hateful! It''s time to shoot this Colonel dorofeyev. It''s because of him that we have sacrificed so many officers and men! " Then he angrily asked boroda, "the commander of the front army only removed him. Didn''t he say what to do with him?"¡° I said Facing this question, boroda seems to be reluctant to answer¡° What will general meletzkov do with him? "¡° Originally, he wanted to be sent to the military court for trial. Unexpectedly, general kolovnikov, commander of the 59th group army, personally called the headquarters of the front army to plead for mercy, hoping that the senior general would let them go. After careful consideration, the senior general finally ordered me to escort Colonel dorofeyev and his chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel samoylov, to the headquarters of the 59th group army and hand them over to general kolovnikov for disposal. "¡° Are you two the commanders of the division and the chief of the staff also the orders directly given by general meletzkov? "¡° Yes, Comrade General. " Boroda replied: "because in a short time, the front army will launch a new campaign. In order to better grasp the forces of the front army and put an end to the situation of poor command, general meletzkov made a temporary decision to let major oshanina and I act as the division commander and chief of staff of the division. "¡° General meletzkov''s decision is very wise. At least from my observation of the division''s troops today, the troops are full of vigor and fighting spirit. I think that under the leadership of both of you, this unit will surely achieve brilliant results in the new campaign. " At this point, he took the cup of tea on the table and drank it clean. After putting down the cup, he wiped his mouth, stood up and asked boroda, "boroda, is there a high-frequency telephone that can directly communicate with the headquarters of the front army? I''m going to call general meletzkov and tell him that I''m out of danger. "¡° Yes, this is it. " Boroda, who had served as a guard for general Afanasiev, immediately got up and grabbed the phone in the corner, then handed it to Afanasiev in both hands.

 Chapter 366

    In the face of his hospitality, general afanasiyev did not show any arrogance. Instead, he said thank you with a kind smile. He took the phone from boroda''s hand and put it on the table. He picked up the receiver, dialed a signal, and said in a low voice, "I''m general afanasiyev of the second shock group army. Please connect me with general meletzkov, commander of the volhoff front army."


    After a while, the phone seemed to be connected, and he said excitedly: "Hello, kiril afanasievich, this is Afanasiev. Yes, I stand out. Thank you for sending troops to meet me. At present, I am in the division headquarters of the 378th division, with your appointed acting division commander, major oshanina, and acting chief of staff, Captain boroda!... "


    When afanasiyev was talking to meletskov, I asked boroda in a low voice, "Comrade captain, you used to be the guard of Comrade General."


    Boroda took a look at the general who was on the phone and replied in a low voice, "yes. I stayed with the general for five years, first as a guard, then as a monitor of the guard, until the outbreak of the Sufen war


    "He said it''s good to see you alive. What do you mean? You once told me that when you were working in the 7th group army, you had been injured near Petrozavodsk and did not recover soon. You also served as the company commander of the guard company of the Military Commission of the group army. Does general afanasiyev not know all this? "


    For my questioning, boroda patiently explained: "Comrade General didn''t know about that injury. He knew it was another time. "


    "Oh, you''ve been hurt once?" What he said aroused my greater curiosity and made me just want to know what happened afterwards, "tell me about it. As a partner, I want to know more about you. "


    Hearing my question, he blushed and said with a little embarrassment: "it happened at the end of 1941. Shortly after I was transferred to general meletskov, I accompanied him to inspect nearby tikhvan. We arrived just in time for the defeat of the German attack by the division under the command of koshevoy, and the troops withdrew from their place of departure. When general meletzkov saw this, he decided to encourage the soldiers, so he went to the front army in person. When the soldiers saw the commander, their morale was boosted. They immediately got up and threw themselves into the attack again. This time, they successfully crossed the enemy''s position. But there was a machine gunner hiding in the woods, shooting us hard. Another guard, private Xie Liujing and I jumped on the general and protected him with our own body. At that time, I saw a 45mm gun beside me, so I got up, rushed to the gun, and shot the machine gun with direct aim. But I didn''t expect that I would be seriously injured by the last point shot by the enemy before I died. "


    After hearing what he said, I understood why meletskov would let a captain take the post of division leader. Although he was an acting post, I could see that the commander attached great importance to him. I may have been impressed by the performance of commanding the second lieutenant''s training team to fight back against the German army when I was in the 52nd group army last time. That''s why the appointment of acting division commander was made.


    Just as I was thinking, I heard general afanasiyev''s voice calling me, "major oshanina."


    When I looked up, the general was covering the receiver with his hand and calling to me, "major o''shanina, come and answer the phone."


    I pointed to my nose and asked uncertainly, "Comrade General, are you calling me?"


    "Yes," he replied impatiently, "Comrade commander of the front army wants to talk to you."


    I quickly stood up, took the microphone from his hand, put it in my ear, and then respectfully said to the microphone, "Hello, comrade commander of the front army, I''m acting division commander, major oshanina, waiting for your order."


    Meletzkov''s voice came out of the microphone: "Comrade oshanina, listen to general afanasiyev, you personally led the troops to rescue him. Good job! I''m very satisfied with your performance! " The general''s praise made me feel elated. Although I tried my best to control my emotions, I could not help but slightly upturned my mouth. He then said, "give the command of the division to captain boroda at once. Accompany general Afanasiev to the headquarters of the front army immediately."


    I looked out of the window and thought it was about ten o''clock in the evening. If there was nothing important, meletskov would not let me go to the headquarters immediately. So I couldn''t help asking, "Comrade General, may I ask what''s important?"


    "There will be a meeting at the headquarters of the front army tomorrow morning, attended by not only the commanders of the various group armies, but also the division commanders of the various divisions. We will review some of the problems exposed in the second assault group army''s breakthrough, as well as some of its deployment in the new campaign. " Although my question was a bit abrupt, general meletzkov patiently explained it to me, which made me very flattered.


    I quickly replied, "I see, comrade commander. As soon as I handed over the command of the division to captain boroda, I accompanied general afanasiyev to the headquarters of the front army. "


    When I heard a beep coming from the microphone, I put it back on the phone. He turned to boroda and said solemnly, "Comrade chief of staff, I have received an order from commander meletzkov to rush to the headquarters of the front army with general afanasiyev to attend an important military meeting. Everything in the division will be handed over to you for the time being."


    "Comrade division," boroda stood up and politely replied, "you can go to the meeting safely, and I''ll take care of it." After a pause, he said, "by the way, there''s one more thing I haven''t reported to you yet. During the day, several commanders called me one after another and told me that the troops had basically assembled, and that they could go to a new battlefield immediately at your command. "


    I am very satisfied with the high efficiency of these new subordinates. I nodded and said, "you ask them to stay in the original defense area for a while and wait for the next order of the division." Speaking of this, it suddenly occurred to me that I didn''t know where the headquarters of the front army was, and general afanasiyev didn''t know the new headquarters, so I had to ask boroda, "Comrade chief of staff, where is the headquarters of the front army?"


    Boroda nodded hard and said, "I know. A few days ago, I set out from the headquarters of the front army directly with my troops to rescue the personnel of the headquarters of the second assault group army. I''ll call a soldier to be your guide With that, he raised his voice and called out to the door, "Xie Liujing, come in."


    With his shouts, a sergeant came in from the outside. He came up to us, raised his hand to salute after standing at attention, and loudly reported: "report commander comrades, Sergeant Xie Liujing has been ordered to come and wait for your orders."


    Hearing that this is the soldier who once saved the life of general meletzkov with boroda, I couldn''t help looking at him more. He was of medium build, with a round face. There was a long scar on his left face. I don''t know whether it was a fragment or a bullet scratch.


    Boluoda nodded to him and said, "Xie Liujing, I''ll give you a task to guide the general and division commander and take them to the headquarters of the front army."


    Xie Liujing took a look at me and afanasiyev, and immediately stood up to attention and answered loudly, "I promise to complete the task."


    As the road to the headquarters of the front army is not peaceful, I dare not take it lightly. I don''t want to work hard to get out of the encirclement. Then I was ambushed by the German army on the way to the headquarters for a meeting and ended up captured or killed, so I specially strengthened the security forces. So I asked captain Gusev, the commander of the guard battalion, to prepare a motorcycle, a jeep and two trucks for me. Xie Liujing and two other motorized Company soldiers from the headquarters of the front army took motorcycles to lead the way; Then there was a truck with guards from the former 2nd shock group army who broke out with afanasiyev; In the truck behind the hall, there were two classes of security soldiers led by the new lieutenant vaskov. The jeep that general afanasiyev and I were in was between the two trucks.


    General afanasiyev and I were sitting in the back seat of the jeep. After the team started, we both looked out of the window, and no one spoke.


    About an hour later, general afanasiyev suddenly asked, "major oshanina, are you telling the truth today?"


    "What are you talking about?" I remember that since I met the general, I seem to have said a lot to him, and I don''t know what he suddenly asked, so I have to ask him clearly. So I politely asked him, "Comrade General, we talked about a lot of things today. I don''t know which one you mean?"


    General afanasiyev said solemnly, "it''s about general privalov. Are you sure what you said to me is true?"


    After listening to his question, I immediately understood that he wanted to confirm whether general privalov had made the mistake I had said. He nodded his head seriously and replied, "Comrade General, what I said is true. When you come to the headquarters of the front army, you can ask him for confirmation after you see Cao Lifu going to school."


    The general nodded his head and said, "in that case, when I see commander meletskov, I will ask him to deal with this matter seriously..."


    Just now, the jeep suddenly came to a sharp brake, and I was caught off guard. I dashed forward and hit the seat back in front of me heavily. As I rubbed my chest, I angrily asked the driver, "what''s the matter? Why did you stop all of a sudden? "


    The driver looked back and said wrongly, "report to Mr. commander, the car in front suddenly stopped."


    I turned to general afanasiyev and said, "Comrade General, you stay in the car first, and I''ll go down to see what''s going on?" Seeing the general nodding slightly, I opened the door and went down.


    I just walked forward a few steps, then I saw Xie Liujing running face to face. He ran to me, raised his hand to salute, and reported: "Mr. division, there is a big tree in the middle of the road at the corner ahead, blocking the way of the motorcade. We need to go to a few more people to move away."


    A tree fell in the middle of the road? After hearing what Xie Liujing said, I immediately became alert. In those films and TV works, the guerrillas usually put a tree in the middle of the road before they ambush. When the enemy entered the ambush circle and sent people to try to remove the trees, they suddenly opened fire. But at the moment, the Germans are lying in ambush on both sides, and we are the targets of ambush.


    General afanasiyev''s soldiers got out of the car. Vaskov also got out with the soldiers in the guard platoon. A large group of people surrounded the car. Seeing all this, I cried out: "what are you doing here? Want the Germans to target you? Spread it out. Go to ten people to help Xie Liujing move the tree, the rest of the people to the forest to search, see if there is a German ambush


    As soon as I reminded you, everyone was on the alert and all of them were scattered. Xie Liujing took ten soldiers to move the trees, while vaskov left a squad of soldiers to guard around the jeep. He took the rest of them into the forest to search for possible Germans. General afanasiyev, who was sitting in the car, wanted to get out of the car and have a look. When I stopped him for the reason of danger outside, I asked him to lean down and hide in the car, so as not to become the target of German snipers.


    The trees on the road were quickly removed, and I guess the German ambush did not appear. Seeing Xie Liujing standing in front of me recovering his life, I can''t help but doubt my judgment. Am I wrong? Is it really just a tree that fell in the middle of the road due to an accident?


    Perhaps hearing that everything was going well outside, afanasiyev sat up straight, poked his head out of the window and asked me, "major oshanina, what''s the matter? Where are you talking about the Germans? "


    I blushed and replied with embarrassment, "Comrade General, maybe I made a mistake."


    The general said with displeasure, "when can we start again?"


    I hastened to reply: "please wait a moment. When the soldiers of forest search come back, we will start immediately."


    The general raised his hand to look at his watch and said impatiently, "hurry up and call them back. We still have a long way to go."


    "Yes I promised, turned around and told Xie Liujing: "Sergeant comrade, you immediately call lieutenant vaskov back in the forest, and then we will start."


    Xie Liujing promised to turn around and leave. With a shot, Xie Liujing covered her legs and fell to the ground. My brain suddenly came up with an idea: "no, it''s a German sniper."


    I fell to the ground, just want to open mouth to warn the rest of the soldiers, Xie Liujing has cried out: "everyone quickly fall down, there are German snipers in the forest."


    There was a bang, another shot, a bullet hit not far away from me, burst up a cloud of dust, splashed small stones hit on the face of pain, pain, I can''t help humming. Lying not far away, Xie Liujing asked with concern: "Comrade teacher, have you been injured?"


    I shook my head and said, "no, it''s a small stone splashed on my face."


    When I spoke to Xie Liujing, all the soldiers who were on guard fell to the ground and opened their guns in the direction of the bullets.


    Seeing the soldiers shoot out bullets like they don''t need money, I shiver with anger. I''ve never seen such a loser, and I''ve never seen the enemy like that. I shot out hundreds of bullets. I repeatedly called out: "don''t shoot in succession, shoot out, shoot out!" However, in the clear and dense gunfire, so that my shouts can not be heard by the soldiers.


    "Don''t shoot in succession, use the punches. Do you hear me, you damned guys!" Xie Liujing, lying next to me, repeated my words aloud. His voice was louder than mine. After shouting several times, the soldiers no longer shot blindly, but shot after shot.


    At this time, I could clearly see a figure running among the trees about 70 or 80 meters away, hiding his figure in the shape of "Zhi", and rushing to the depth of the forest. The figure moves very quickly. In a few seconds, it may disappear from our sight.


    At this time, a gunshot rang out in my ear. Xie Liujing took the rifle he was carrying, aimed at the figure and pulled the trigger. The bullet flew over the enemy''s head and hit a tree. The man was stunned and stopped in the same place. Before he moved again, another bullet hit in front of him, shaking the Bush in front of him.


    The man was so scared that he hid behind a tree. Xie Liujing and the soldiers shot at the tree one after another, blocking all the retreats on both sides of the tree, and covering vaskov who was aware that the enemy was rushing there.


    Vaskov, they were moving so fast that in less than two minutes, they fell near the tree. I saw vaskov dive behind the tree from a distance. Then he fell out with another man in his arms. The soldiers around quickly came forward, separated them with all hands, and took the cold shooter back to us with both hands.


    When I saw the prisoners coming, I was relieved and got up from the ground. Just as he was about to walk by, he heard the voice of general Afanasiev. He asked nervously, "major oshanina, what''s the situation?"


    I turned to look at him and said, "Comrade General, it''s a German sniper. We''ve caught it."


    After a while, the prisoner was brought to me. I looked contemptuously at the young soldier in German uniform, and then asked vaskov, who was standing beside me with concern, "Feijia, are you not hurt?"


    Vaskov grinned silently and shook his head to show that he was not hurt. Xie Liujing, who was helped up by his comrades in arms, asked me angrily, "Comrade division commander, what should I do with this prisoner?" What we didn''t expect happened. The prisoner knelt down in front of us and cried out: "Comrade commander, please spare me. I was forced. I''m Ukrainian, I''m my own Ukrainians, Ukrainians in German uniforms. I looked at the soldier kneeling in front of me fiercely and realized that the sniper was a defector after being captured. So I gave an order to vaskov mercilessly: "Lieutenant, don''t be polite to the traitor of our motherland. Drag him to the forest and shoot him." Vaskov excitedly agreed to let the two soldiers carry the sniper to the forest. Soon, I heard a clear shot.

 Chapter 367

    After getting rid of the sniper, the team went back on the road. With this warning, vaskov, who is in charge of the security work, is on the alert. In addition to ordering people to mount machine guns on the roof of two trucks, he himself is also on our jeep. Holding a submachine gun, he sat on the co pilot''s seat and looked out of the window warily. As soon as the car started, general afanasiyev suddenly said, "major oshanina, good job." I was stunned by his words, and then I realized that he might be referring to my dealing with snipers. I didn''t say anything about his kindness, but just gave him a polite smile. He continued: "you said there might be enemies in the forest. When I sent people to search, I still blamed you in my heart. I thought you were making a fuss and nervous. I wanted to wait for you to go back to the car and criticize you. Unexpectedly, at this time, the enemy''s sniper fired. If you hadn''t resolutely stopped me from getting out of the car, maybe I would have been the target of the enemy sniper. By the way, how did you find out there were enemies in the forest? " I laughed and replied, "I guess it too."¡° Guess what? " General afanasiyev was surprised by my reply. He was obviously stunned for a moment. Then he burst out laughing and said, "it seems that you are quite accurate. You did the right thing with that prisoner. We must resolutely eliminate these people who have been captured and defected by the Germans, even if they are forced to act. " When I heard the general''s words, I couldn''t help clapping in my heart. My heart said that if you knew what I had been captured, I don''t know how miserable my fate would be. Thinking of this, I looked at vaskov sitting in the front row with a guilty heart. I was afraid that he would kill his relatives and tell the general about my capture. However, my worry seemed superfluous. Vaskov''s face was facing out of the window. I didn''t know if I heard the conversation between me and the general. He never looked back. It was a long way to the headquarters of the front army. It took the car five or six hours to stop at a checkpoint. Vaskov went down to check and came back and reported to me, "Comrade division commander, this is the station of the headquarters of the front army. The soldiers standing guard in front of us asked us to stop the car in place and the commanders attending the meeting to walk in." When general afanasiyev heard what vaskov said, he said to me, "it seems that the security work of the headquarters is good. Let''s get out of the car and walk over." Then he opened the door and went down. Under the guidance of the sentinel, we walked along the dirt road towards the headquarters. It took five or six minutes to see the headquarters of the front army. The shelter of the headquarters is a semi underground building covered with several layers of logs. It seems that the engineers built it in strict accordance with the requirements of military engineering technology. There were more than ten soldiers standing outside the door. Next to them was a second lieutenant in red sleeves. When he saw me and the general walking past, he quickly met them. He went up to the general, raised his hand and said, "Hello, Comrade General. Are you here at the headquarters for the meeting? " Seeing the general''s affirmative nod, he quickly took one side of his body, made a gesture of please, and politely said, "please, Comrade General. Please follow me to the headquarters The general lifted his legs and left, and I followed. Unexpectedly, the second lieutenant reached out to stop me and said politely, "I''m sorry, comrade major. This is because it is an important military meeting, which can only be attended by the chief military officer of the army. As an adjutant to the general, you''d better wait outside. " When the general saw that I was stopped, he frowned displeasantly. When he heard the explanation from the second lieutenant, he couldn''t help but be happy. He said with a smile: "major o''shanina, it seems that it''s not a good thing that my rank is lower. You see, comrade lieutenant, you are my deputy I laughed awkwardly. Just as I wanted to show my identity, the general had made a statement to the Second Lieutenant: "Comrade second lieutenant, you are wrong. This major oshanina is not my adjutant. She is a four person appointed by general meletzkov himself. After coming to the conference table and sitting down, the standing commanders sat down again. Meletzkov stood up and scanned the whole room before saying: "before the meeting, I would like to introduce the representative of the base camp, general vasilevsky, chief of the general staff of the Red Army." In the applause, vasilevsky, who was sitting in his right hand, also stood up, nodded with a smile and said, "Hello, comrade commande

 Chapter 368

    Looking at vasilevsky who is speaking, I would like to say that the chief of the general staff of the Red Army is not marshal Shaposhnikov? When did you change to this 50 year old young general?


    "... comrades, when the news that the second shock group army was besieged by the German army reached the base camp, comrade Stalin worried about the fate of more than 100000 officers and soldiers of the group army." Vasilevsky continued: "he specially called me to his office, pointed to the map and said to me: you, as the representative of the base camp, immediately set out to the front army of Volkhov, command the troops together with general meletzkov, and cover the second shock group army jumping out of the enemy''s encirclement."


    When he mentioned Stalin''s name, he seemed a little excited. He stopped for a short time and then went on. At this time, his voice became calm and clear: "because of the fierce fighting near Kharkov in the south at that time, the base camp could not provide the necessary help to the front army of Volkhov, whether it was the reserves or weapons and food. This requires us to rely on our existing strength to cover the second shock group army and to stand out from the encirclement. "


    "What was the situation at the front then?" Meletzkov stood up and went on: "the situation seems to be quite bad. After the supply base of the 2nd shock group army was cut off and surrounded, there was a great shortage of food and ammunition. Its guard regiment retreated slowly eastward under the pressure of the enemy. The avant-garde tried to get through the corridor, but failed. The forces of the 52nd and 59th army were scattered on the broad front, barely withstanding the enemy''s attempt to widen the gap between them and the 2nd shock army. Without the reserves provided by the base camp, we have to find another way. After coordination, vasilevsky and I deployed three infantry brigades and some other units from other areas, including a tank battalion. We organized these small forces into two groups, ordered them to open a corridor one and a half kilometers to two kilometers wide, and covered the two wings of the corridor, so as to ensure the withdrawal of the besieged 2nd shock group army.


    At dawn on June 10, I signaled an attack. After a short period of artillery preparation, tanks and infantry launched an impact on the enemy''s position. Although everything was carefully considered in advance, our attack didn''t work.


    From the analysis of the situation on the battlefield, it is obvious that it is unrealistic for us to smash the enemy with our present strength. That night, comrade vasilevsky and I repeatedly calculated the total strength of the front army, and tried every means to transfer some troops from other areas to the breakthrough sites, so as to strengthen the assault force there.


    We are deploying our troops, and the enemy is not idle. They have also increased their forces. According to the Scout''s report, the German army transferred three infantry divisions and a police division of the SS from the north, that is, from the west of the Leningrad highway, as well as some troops and units that used to defend other areas. They were combined into three brigades, namely, kalenberg, bass and main road. From Novgorod''s side, two groups of "jump" and "yashkai" and other troops were transferred. From the west, another "Duke" group composed of two infantry divisions and one security division pressed on to the 2nd shock group army. The fighting did not stop for a minute and was unprecedented. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. "


    After listening to meletskov''s briefing on the war situation, I understood why the troops of the second shock group army could not be assembled before breaking through the encirclement, because the fighting continued in many areas and many troops could not withdraw from the fighting.


    "The front army covered the troops breaking through the encirclement. While they were attacking from east to west, the second shock group army also organized the troops to attack from west to East. On June 19, the tank soldiers of the 29th tank brigade of our army and the infantry following them broke through the enemy''s defense and joined the troops of the 2nd assault group army attacking from the West. Along the narrow gauge railway, a corridor with a width of three to four hundred meters was opened from east to west. Using this corridor, a large number of wounded officers and men of the 2nd shock group army withdrew to miasnebol. " At this point, meletskov showed a smile on his face. After a moment''s pause, he continued: "it is the 327th division under the command of Colonel anchufiev that breaks through the German encirclement and opens the way to the life of the group army. It was the bravery and tenacity of the troops under his command that broke the German siege. Colonel anchufiev, stand up and show you As he said this, his eyes looked to a corner on his left.


    Colonel anchufiev stood up under the attention of everyone. He didn''t say anything. He just saluted the commanders with a red face and sat down again.


    Seeing meletskov''s praise and affirmation of anchufiev, I feel particularly depressed. You know, I am the one who led the troops to break through the German three lines of defense! But now it''s all thanks to anchufiev. Alas! I can''t help it. Who let me be his subordinate at that time? In the eyes of my superiors, my achievements are the achievements of his division commander.


    "Colonel anchufiev, I have a question. Can you answer me?" It was fejiuningsky sitting at the table who asked the question. After that, he laughed at meletskov and politely asked, "Comrade commander of the front army, may I ask the Colonel a question?" After acquiescence, he turned his eyes to anchufiev again: "now, comrade Colonel, please answer my question: why, after breaking through the third line of defense and joining the rescue forces of the front army, you no longer expand the breach, nor send troops to guard the highlands on both sides of the passage, but lead the division''s main forces to shift? Don''t you realize the importance of the highlands to encircle the corridor on which the 2nd shock group army broke through? Please answer me


    In the face of fejiuningsky''s severe question, anchufiev stood up again. He took off his hat, wiped the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief, and stammered, "because I''m afraid that there may be German in front of me, so I dare not divide my strength."


    "I''m afraid of encountering the Germans again," fejiuningsky said in a sarcastic tone. "You know, you had joined forces with the army of the front army at that time. On the way to the East, our 52nd and 59th army groups, as well as the reinforcements transferred from other regions by the commander of the front army and the chief of the general staff, had a very small chance of encountering the Germans again. And just because you didn''t pay enough attention to the highlands on both sides of the passage, the Germans recaptured the Highlands a few days later and cut off the retreat passage of the second shock group army. "


    In the face of fejiuningsky''s question, anchufiev did not refute, but just wiped sweat.


    "That''s enough, comrade fijiuningsky." At this time, general privalov stood up and explained for anchufiev: "it was my decision not to expand the breakthrough point and not to stick to the high ground on both sides. He was just acting according to the order. I would like to remind you that you are now the commander of the 54th group army, and no longer the commander of the Leningrad front army. You have no right to direct our second shock group army. "


    "What a man to follow orders." After listening to this, fejiuningsky nodded with a sneer and said, "general privalov, it is precisely because of your inaction that the channel opened by the commanders and fighters at the expense of blood and sacrifice was closed again by the German army after withdrawing only a part of the troops."


    Privalov slapped the table and yelled at fejiuningsky: "what''s the use of expanding the breach and keeping the troops on the high ground? We should know that the enemy is much stronger than us. They will also occupy the high ground and block the way we have opened. "


    "General privalov, if you don''t know what happened later, then I''m not afraid of trouble. I''ll tell you what''s in the war report.


    After learning that the breach was sealed by the German army, commander meletskov ordered the 59th group army to carry out another opposite assault from the East and the 2nd group army to carry out another opposite assault along the narrow gauge railway in order to make the troops of the 2nd shock group army stay on the other side of the front break through. The commander gave an order to the 2nd shock group army to launch an attack at 23 o''clock on June 23 to carry it through at all costs.


    At 2330 hours on 23 June, the forces of the 2nd shock group army began operations. The tanks of the 29th brigade of the tank set out again, carrying infantry to meet them. The artillery of the 52nd and 59th army shelled the German positions with full firepower. In order to prevent our army from breaking through the encirclement, the enemy''s artillery first made a fierce counterattack, and at the same time sent out night bombers to carry out indiscriminate bombing of the combat area.


    In the early morning of the next day, our army opened a small corridor along the narrow gauge railway, and the troops broke out one after another. But the Germans soon took control of the Highlands, and the troops breaking through were blocked again. In the evening, the troops of the front army who attacked from the East opened the corridor again and cleared the enemy on the railway. Along this cross firing corridor, a group of commanders and fighters of the 2nd shock group army were withdrawn one after another on the night of the 24th and the morning of the 25th. At 9:30 on June 25, the German pirates closed the corridor again, this time completely. "


    I have experienced some of what fejiuningsky said, which is very clear; Some things happened after I pulled out of the Highlands, and I naturally had no way to know. After finishing these war reports, fejiuninski glared at privalov and said sternly, "Comrade General, after listening to these, don''t you realize the necessity of sticking to the high ground? You know, if you sent troops to hold fast to the high ground and expanded the breach, you could only hold this passage for one day or even half a day. Then there will be more commanders and fighters of the second shock group army successfully protruding from the siege of the German army. "


    He stood in a daze at fejiuningsky''s rebuke. He opened his mouth again and again, as if to say something, but did not say a word. Then he looked at meletskov and vasilevsky with a kind of bewilderment, as if hoping that they could say a few words for themselves, but they kept silent.


    At the moment, seeing that privalov is still denying a series of serious mistakes he made in the process of breaking through the encirclement, I feel that I should stand up and say something, or at least support fejiuningsky. So an irresistible impulse prompted me to stand up and say in a loud voice to meletskov, who was sitting in danger: "Comrade commander of the front army, may I have a few words?"


    Hearing someone talking suddenly, the silence in the room was broken, and everyone''s attention was attracted by me. Privalov, who was in a dilemma, seemed to grasp the straw. He said sternly to me, "major, this is an important military conference. The participants are all the military commanders of various army groups and divisions. Where can a small battalion commander talk?"


    The words of privalov immediately caused a huge response in the room. Except for the commanders who knew me, the others were whispering to each other. I vaguely heard them commenting on my reckless behavior.


    At this moment, meletskov knocked on the table with his hand, and the room became quiet immediately. He said coldly to privalov, "general privalov, please keep calm. Major oshanina is not the battalion commander now. She is the acting division commander of my newly appointed 378th division. She is fully qualified to attend today''s meeting."


    Privalov was speechless and sat down. Those who were making sarcastic remarks closed their mouths when they saw meletskov glare at them.


    With a smile on his face, meletzkov waved to me and said to me in an encouraging tone, "major oshanina, say what you want. We will listen to you patiently. "


    I looked at the flustered privalov and the stern faced afanasiyev, and then said carefully: "dear comrades of the commander of the front army, the chief of the general staff and the commanders, Hello! First of all, let me introduce myself to you. My name is o''shanina, with the rank of major. I''m acting division commander of the 378th division of the 59th army. Before the breakout of the 2nd shock group army, I was still in the position of battalion commander in the 327th division of anchufiev. "


    At this point, I found that many people couldn''t help looking at anchufiev, and the colonel, who became the focus of the crowd again, turned red and looked a little embarrassed. I continued: "on June 18, our division, under the command of Colonel anchufiev, launched an attack on the German first line of defense along the narrow gauge railway. Without the cover of artillery and tanks, our division''s offensive team suffered heavy losses.


    At that time, I proposed to the division commander a plan of attacking at night or around the German rear. At that time, the comrades of the sotnikov guerrillas who cooperated with us to break through the encirclement came. So the division commander simply agreed to my proposal, and asked the guerrilla comrades to act as guides for us. He went around to the back of the Germans through the swamp to attack them


    Although I was indignant at the fact that Colonel anchufiev later succumbed to the obscene power of privalov, did not send more troops to defend the Highlands with me, and took away the soldiers of the Eugene regiment, he still gave the greatest support to my plan of sneaking attack on the German rear. I can''t deny this. If he doesn''t agree with me, I can only take my own troops, facing the intensive German fire to die. So when it comes to the war of breakthrough, I try my best to tell people the cause and effect of things from an objective point of view.


    "I led a company, through the forest and swamp, around to the rear of the German defensive position, launched an attack overnight. After the beginning of our attack, Colonel anchufiev also led the main force of the division to rush to the position and annihilate the enemy''s garrison.


    After breaking through the first line of defense, the Colonel gave me the command of the remnants of the disabled yevgeni regiment, and asked me to immediately lead the troops to attack the German second line of defense. At the same time, he gave me five mortars captured in the position. " Speaking of this, I smile and nod to Colonel anchufiev, who is sitting in the distance.


    "With these mortars, the attack on the second line of defense was much smoother. I first ordered the artillery to destroy the German machine gun position, then the artillery extended and the infantry attacked. It took only half an hour to break through the second German line of defense. After handing over the position to the coming Colonel, I led my troops to the third German line of defense.


    When our troops attacked the German third line of defense, they were very lucky to meet reinforcements sent by the front army. After a short period of fighting, with the support of the tank brigade and the second lieutenant training team, we successfully captured the third line of defense. The German troops we repulsed fled north to the fortifications hundreds of meters away. "


    "Well done, major oshanina! That''s very kind of you Fejiuningsky, who had been listening, could not help but exclaim, "I saw in the intercepted German intelligence that our vanguard troops broke through three lines of defense in more than two hours, and successfully joined the rescue forces of the front army. At that time, I thought it was quite strange. You know, I have dealt with the division commander and several commanders of the 327th division. I really can''t think of anyone who has such command ability to break through the enemy''s three lines of defense in such a short period of time and open a breakthrough for the main force of the group army. I didn''t expect that you were in charge of this army. Now my doubts have been solved. General Zhukov once told me that you are a commander who is good at making miracles


    "Comrade fejaninski," interrupted meletzkov, "please catch up with major oshanina later. We''re waiting for her to talk about the rest." Seeing that fejiuningsky nodded his head in agreement, he said to me, "Comrade oshanina, go on, I think everyone here wants to know what happened later."


    Vasilevsky echoed: "yes, comrade major, please go on."


    So I went on to say, "after seizing the Highlands, the Colonel gave me the order to fortify the highlands on both sides. After receiving the order, I divided the troops into two parts, which were originally under my command to defend the northern highlands; The remnants of the Eugene regiment, on the other hand, held fast to the southern highlands. After entering the position, I immediately ordered the soldiers to repair the fortifications to prevent a possible German counterattack.


    As soon as the fortifications were half finished, the German counterattack began. After heavy shelling of our position, they sent out two tanks to cover the infantry and attack the northern highland. With the cooperation of the 29th tank brigade and the second lieutenant training team, we completely annihilated the attacking enemy through tenacious fighting.


    At the end of the battle, I counted the casualties. Of course, the commanders and fighters in the positions suffered heavy casualties. At that time, he was retreating to the field hospital outside the encirclement through the corridor, and he also made a great sacrifice in the German artillery attack. "


    "Now that you have been ordered to hold fast to the high ground and fight the Germans tenaciously. So, I want to ask, "how did the Highlands get lost?" Meletskov broke in suddenly.


    As for his question, I quickly explained: "report commander, next, I will tell you how this highland, which is related to the life and death of the second shock group army, was lost."


    "Go ahead." He simply said one word and didn''t go on talking.


    "Shortly after the battle, Colonel anchufiev came with the main force of the division. At that time, I reported to him that we had captured and held the high ground, and asked him to send more troops to launch an attack on the German position in the north, so as to drive the enemy far away from our breach.


    But unfortunately, although my proposal was rejected. General privalov, who was with him at that time, ordered me to immediately withdraw all my troops from the highlands and to cover the transfer of the field hospital to myasnabor with him.


    At that time, I objected to Comrade General, saying that although we had opened the way to break through the siege, the German defense line was still several hundred meters away, and it was possible to re block the gap we had opened at any time. Therefore, not only can we not reduce the number of troops on the high ground, but we also need to strengthen them.


    Although Colonel anchufiev was also speaking for me at that time, Comrade General mercilessly rejected our proposal and blocked everyone''s face and said: "since major oshanina feels it is necessary to stick to it, let her troops stay on the high ground. As for the reserves, we don''t have enough people to cover the evacuation of the wounded, so we don''t have to send any more troops to her. "


    As soon as the words were heard, there was another uproar in the room. Some people even accused him loudly: "it''s too much. It''s because of the general''s wrong decision that we don''t know how many of our commanders and fighters died in vain."


    Seeing that everyone''s reaction is so strong, I think general privalov, as the party concerned, will not give up. Sure enough, he jumped up, patting the table, pointed at me, and said angrily, "major oshanina, you know, in the army, orders from superiors are not allowed to be discussed. At that time, you disobeyed the military order and refused to lead the troops to retreat with me. You just allowed you to stay and hold your position, but didn''t shoot you on the spot. It''s kind of out of the law to you. It''s good for you to complain about me here. "


    In the face of general pulivalov''s retort, I had no idea what kind of expression I should have except a bitter smile. I tried to keep myself calm and asked coldly, "Comrade General, do wrong orders have to be carried out? You know, it was because of this order that more than 100000 officers and men of the second shock group army were almost buried in the German encirclement. "


    "Comrade o''shanina, is all that you have said true? If it is true, I will punish the responsible person immediately. " General meletskov''s words revealed a resolute and resolute color, and his body also exudes a fierce murderous atmosphere!


    I nodded hard and answered, "yes, comrade commander of the front army. On this point, Lieutenant akhromeyev of the second lieutenant training team can prove it for me. " Then I added: "as far as I know, general privalov still felt insecure when he arrived in the miasnebol area, so he reported to his superiors that the troops were fighting with the heavy German troops and asked for immediate support. Because of his report, the superior immediately sent reinforcements to him from all aspects. Not only was one of my temporary reinforcements removed a few minutes before the battle began, but also the tank unit and the second lieutenant training team of the 29th tank brigade, who fought side by side with me, as well as the remnants of the yevgeni regiment originally assigned to me, were ordered to leave one after another. "


    "Don''t you have two companies? Why not stick to it? " Privalov, who is higher than me in rank, still sneers at me.


    At the moment, meletzkov''s face was as black as the bottom of a black pot. He was completely enraged by privalov''s attitude! He stood up abruptly, turned his face to his left, pointed to anchufiev sitting there with his hand, and said in a loud voice, "you, Colonel anchufiev, stand up and answer me, is major oshanina telling the truth?"


    Anchufiev stood up, buried his head in a low voice, and answered in a weak voice, "Comrade report commander, what major oshanina said is true. I was later ordered to transfer all the troops assigned to her. "


    "Comrades commander," a man suddenly stood up beside me. I turned my head and saw that it was Colonel zhizolifu. He said aloud to meletskov, "I can also confirm that major oshanina is telling the truth. At that time, I gave a infantry regiment and artillery battalion to her command. I was going to launch an attack on the German position hundreds of meters away, and drive them away from our breakthrough. Unexpectedly, just a few minutes before the battle started, I received an order from the headquarters of the group army, asking me to lead my troops to the miasnebol area to reinforce general privalov who was fighting with the German army. As a result, when I arrived, I found that there was no German heavy military group at all, just a few scattered soldiers. It only took one battalion at most to wipe them out. "


    "I issued the order that Colonel zhizolifu said." General afanasiyev, who had been silent there, suddenly said, "at that time, our group army headquarters was still working normally. After receiving general privalov''s telegram for help, and after the discussion and decision of the commander and deputy commander, I gave the order to the group army to immediately reinforce the myasnabor area."


    The words of Col. zhicaoliv and general afanasiyev made me extremely angry. I thought that the troops had been transferred one after another because of the tight situation in miasnebor area. Unexpectedly, it was pulivalov who lied about the military situation. My breath became short, and my hand could not help but feel for the holster again.


    But as soon as I felt the holster, I calmed down again. The top commander here is not privalov, but general meletzkov. He will make the right decision when he knows the truth. I took a deep breath and answered the question of privalov in a normal tone: "general privalov, didn''t you ask me why I didn''t stick to it? I can tell you responsibly that although there are only 126 troops left in my army, we still stay on the high ground and continue to fight. It wasn''t until almost all of the officers and men died that I was rescued from the position by a surviving soldier. "


    "What if you lead your troops to the high ground?" The unwilling privalov said with obvious dissatisfaction: "what qualifications do you have to criticize me? You know that I''m a general, and you''re just a small major. Even if you can be a little clever, you''ll not be beaten by the Germans and run away in a panic."


    In the face of privalov''s censure, I was thinking about how to respond when someone came out to speak for me. Only a low voice said slowly, "general privalov, I want to tell you something. When she was a lieutenant, she criticized many generals for their mistakes in the early days of the war in front of Comrade Stalin. Comrade Stalin appreciated her frankness and her command ability. Do you despise even the commanders whom Comrade Stalin valued? " Although he used a tone of understatement, he also shocked privalov into silence.


    "Comrade oshanina, do you have anything else to add?" General meletzkov asked, "especially about general privalov, so that the headquarters of the front army can give him reasonable punishment."


    After listening to meletskov''s question, I immediately understood what he meant by giving up the highlands on both sides of the breach and falsely reporting military information. These materials are not enough to punish privalov. I need to provide him with more important information.


    At this moment, I suddenly thought of the thousands of soldiers who died in the battlefield. My strong sympathy made me decide to get justice for them. I organized the words in my mind, and then I began to say, "comrades, you may not know that two days before the 327th Division launched the breakout, there were branch teams that also carried out the breakout."


    When he heard me say this, meletskov was surprised and asked, "there is another army. Why haven''t I heard of it? Where are they now?"


    "Comrade commander, they all died." Thinking of the soldiers who died in various positions in front of the German positions, thinking of the soldiers who were burned to coke in the truck, I said with anger: "thousands of officers and men, they were very brave, but they all died under the intensive German fire."


    For this news, the people present were thrilled. But meletskov couldn''t wait to know the details. He asked repeatedly, "what''s the matter? Major oshanina, make it clear. "


    I wiped a handful of tears on my face and replied, "although I didn''t see the specific battle with my own eyes, from the analysis of the remains of our soldiers and the distribution of bombed trucks, tanks and artillery on the battlefield, such losses can be avoided."


    "Comrade o''shanina, tell me your analysis." This time it''s vasilevsky urging me.


    "All right, chief of the general staff." I politely responded to him before continuing to say: "according to my analysis, the troops carrying out the breakout operations should be well-equipped and well-trained troops of our army. We can draw corresponding conclusions from their equipment.


    If I were to command such a force, I would first order the artillery to bombard the German positions. After the artillery is ready, let the tank troops take the lead in launching an attack to tear a hole in the German defense line, and then let the infantry trucks rush past to expand the gap under the cover of tanks and eliminate the enemy hiding in the trenches.


    Unfortunately, the commander in charge of the battle took the opposite offensive steps. He first asked the infantry to attack the German position with bayonet loaded rifles in a neat line. When the soldiers fell in front of the enemy''s position, he ordered trucks full of infantry to attack the German position. The artillery units that should have provided artillery cover for the attack did not set up artillery positions to bombard the enemy. Instead, they were ordered to hang all their artillery on trucks, ride all their artillery, and attack the German positions without any cover. As a result, they became the live targets of German artillery, tanks and machine guns.


    After these troops were exhausted, he ordered the remaining tank troops to attack again. We should know that tanks without infantry cover can''t give full play to their assault speed in areas full of our soldiers'' remains and burned trucks. When they struggled through the gap of burning trucks, they became the targets of German tanks, anti tank guns and anti tank men. " At this point, I turned to privalov and asked sarcastically, "am I right? General privalov. As far as I know, this failed breakout from south to North was under your command My words made general privalov completely angry. He stood up with his hands on the table and cried hysterically, "it''s impossible, absolutely impossible. Your troops must have been nearby. They must have been nearby. Otherwise, how could you be so clear about what happened on the battlefield at that time? "¡° analysis! That''s my analysis, general privalov I answered coldly. Privalov''s spirit seemed to break down. He sat down dejectedly, muttering: "it''s impossible! It''s impossible Vasilevsky stood up, looked scornfully at privalov, looked around and said, "comrades commander, I suggest that general privalov be arrested immediately and removed from all his duties. At the same time, someone should be sent to escort him back to Moscow for disposal by the military court." "I agree with the chief of general staff," meletzkov, standing with his hands on the table, nodded Then he raised his head and asked the commanders at all levels in the room, "what''s your opinion?"¡° I agree with the commander of the front army and the chief of the general staff that they should remove general privalov from all his posts and submit him to the military court in Moscow. " First of all, fajiuningsky expressed his support. After his statement, he said bitterly: "I knew General privalov before I stood. I was deeply impressed by his strength and bravery during the civil war. However, judging from this breakthrough, general privalov was not only unable to undertake the tasks assigned to him by his superiors, but also became panicked. It''s not appropriate for him to stay in the army. He has to pay for a series of mistakes he has made. " Then general afanasiyev said angrily: "the wrong command of privalov not only ruined the elite assault force of the second assault group army, but also indirectly led to the closure of the breach which related to the life and death of the whole group army by the German army because of his panic and false report of military information, which made tens of thousands of commanders and fighters pay their lives. I agree with the opinion of the commander of the front army and the chief of the general staff that he should be removed from all his posts and handed over to the military court. " As for the disposition of privalov, first it was the proposal of general vasilevsky, the chief of general staff, then the statement of commander meletzkov, and the agreement of such heavyweights as fejiuningsky and afanasiyev. Other commanders at all levels also expressed their support for the decision of the commander of the front army and the chief of general staff. Seeing this scene, I know in my heart that the next thing waiting for privalov is the death sentence in the military court. Seeing that everyone had reached a consensus on the disposal of privalov, meletzkov turned to the side and called out: "Comrade stilimach." With his shouts, a major general sitting by the wall stood up, stepped up to meletskov, raised his hand to salute, and regularly reported: "Comrade commander, major general stilimah, chief of staff of the front army, reports to you and is waiting for your orders!" Meletzkov pointed to the stunned privalov and said, "Comrade chief of staff, you should have general privalov taken away, find a place to lock him up, and send someone to Moscow tomorrow."¡° Yes Stilimacher agreed, went to the door, called in two of the guards standing outside, and whispered a few orders to them. Then the two soldiers came to privalov''s side, and without saying a word, they walked out with him alone. Seeing that privalov had been taken away, meletzkov beckoned all those who stood up to sit down. Then he told general stilimach again, "Comrade chief of staff, hang up the map, and then we should deploy the new campaign to the commanders of the various units."

 Chapter 369

    General stilimach came up behind meletskov and raised his hand to open the curtain on the wall, revealing the military map that had been hidden. He picked up the explanation stick leaning against the wall, held it in his hand, turned to the people present and said, "Comrade commander, please look at the map."


    Because I sit too far away from the map, I can''t see the place names clearly. I can only see the blue and red arrows representing the enemy and us. I wanted to have a closer look. As soon as I leaned forward and wanted to stand up, I saw that other people were sitting in their seats, so I gave up the idea of going to see them. If you can''t see clearly, you can''t see clearly. Anyway, the chief of staff will explain the campaign deployment to you.


    After everyone silently looked at the map for a few minutes, meretzkov, commander of the front army, said, "major general stilimah, please introduce the enemy''s forces and defense." Seeing that some headquarters took out paper and pen from their briefcase to prepare for recording, he immediately stopped: "no one is allowed to record what the chief of staff has said." The commanders listened to him and obediently put the pen and paper into the briefcase.


    Straglimacher faced us and explained without looking at the map: "comrades commander, the new campaign we are about to launch, because the place where we will carry out the campaign is chosen in the schluselburg sinavino bulge, which is called the" sinavino bulge campaign "by comrades commander.


    This protrusion was formed in September 1941 when the German army went out to the South Bank of Lake Ladoga. The advantage of choosing this direction is that it is the shortest route from the southeast to Neva River and Leningrad. From the map, the thickness of the encirclement here is the thinnest. Unfortunately, the terrain of the bulge, like that of other areas, is not suitable for offensive operations. The peat mining area here is very large, extending from the lakeside of Ladoga lake to the village of sinavino. To the south of sinavino village, there are dense forests and large swamps, where infantry are difficult to pass. This seriously limits the mobility of the army, but it is very beneficial to the defensive side. The only dry place in this direction is the sinavino highland, which is ten to fifteen meters above the surrounding plains. Naturally, it became the enemy''s main position on our offensive route, and the enemy could observe the situation within a few kilometers from the high ground. "


    Hearing this, I would like to say that what the chief of staff said is not the same as what captain boroda conveyed to the commanders and fighters below at the division''s provisional military meeting. It seems that the launch of this new campaign is imminent.


    "... what the German occupation forces have done in the past 11 months is to make the schluselberg sinavino bulge an impregnable fortress. They made use of all kinds of terrain, built defensive positions along rivers, lakes, deep ditches, swamps, highlands and forests, and set up many resistance hubs and supporting points. Artillery and mortar companies were deployed in the center of the resistance hub. The average density of anti tank guns is seven or eight per square kilometer. Personnel in a solid shelter, the front of the position erected barbed wire, laid mines. In this way, the terrain that is not conducive to attack becomes easier to defend and harder to attack. "


    When the chief of staff explained this, meletskov waved his hand to him and motioned him to pause. Then he stood up with his hands on the table and said to everyone, "comrades commander, maybe some people will ask, since we are facing a section that is not conducive to attack, why is the front army in a hurry to launch a new campaign?"


    Meletskov said here, pausing, as if waiting for a commander on the scene to echo him. But everyone here knows very well that the commander does not really want to ask this question and ask people to answer it. It''s just a speech skill of asking and answering questions by himself, so no one foolishly jumps out to be the outsider.


    Seeing that no one spoke, meletskov continued: "as we all know, although most of the commanders and fighters of the second shock group army jumped out of the German encirclement, the commander and deputy commander of the group army are still missing. The commanders and fighters are very tired and need to stop to have a rest and take a good breath.


    But, comrades, no way! Although I also want the commanders and fighters to have a good rest and replenish their troops and weapons before launching a new campaign against the German aggressors. However, the current situation is very bad. The reason why the base camp decided to launch a new campaign at this time is that it not only has a good wish to break through the Leningrad blockade, but also expects that the positive action of our front army in the northwest direction can contain the enemy''s heavy military group and prevent it from transferring its forces to the south, because a decisive battle was being launched in the south at that time.


    We choose this direction for two purposes: first, under smooth conditions, we can reach the Neva River in two or three days. Because the front army has no strength to carry out a longer campaign at present. Second, in addition, by launching an attack in a direction unexpected by the enemy, we can guarantee the suddenness of our first attack and gain an advantage by doing so. "


    After meletskov finished speaking, chief of staff stilimach immediately said: "yes, it is precisely because of the current bad situation that we have to launch the campaign of siniavino protrusion as soon as possible to contain the German northern army group, so that it can not transfer troops to the south."


    At this point, he turned and pointed to the map with his stick, and began to explain to you: "Dear commanders, please see, our attack direction is to the south of the sinavino highlands. The offensive forces will be divided into three echelons. The first echelon is a unit of the eighth group army newly incorporated into the front army. " At this point, he reached out to the side and said, "this is major general starikov, commander of the group army." Hearing his introduction, a black and thin major general stood up beside feijiuningsky, saluted everyone and sat down again.


    After introducing general starikov, the chief of staff went on to say: "according to the plan, after the campaign is launched, the 8th group army will take its own close guard 6th infantry Army (including close guard 3rd, 19th, 24th infantry divisions, and 265 infantry divisions) as the main attack. Their attack target is the station south of sinavino, and they will annihilate the German troops on sinavino highlands.


    As the second echelon is the second shock group army, which is under the command of former commander General Krakow. As the 2nd shock group army suffered heavy losses in the battle of liuban, it is in the stage of reconstruction. At present, only the 327th infantry division of Colonel Anqiu feyev and the 58th infantry brigade of Colonel zhizoliv are in its organizational structure.


    Behind the 2nd shock group army is the 4th Army of the close guard infantry, which serves as the third echelon, under the command of major general Gagan. The task of the Ministry is to make a rapid attack after the first and second echelons have torn open the enemy''s lines of defense, strengthen the assault force, expand our army''s achievements, complete the whole breakthrough and achieve the task of joining forces with the forces of Leningrad


    Taking this kind of campaign into consideration, we must overcome the enemy''s strong fortified positions in a short period of time and under the circumstances that the enemy may continue to strengthen its resistance. Therefore, the task of the first and second echelons is to break through the whole depth of the enemy''s defense, while the task of the third echelon is to destroy the enemy''s reserve forces at the final stage of the campaign. The essence of the campaign attempt is to rush to the Neva River quickly before the enemy''s reinforcements from other areas arrive.


    Of course, in order to prevent the second shock group army from being encircled in the battle of liuban from happening again. The commander of the front army has specially prepared a strong reserve team to cope with the unexpected. This reserve team is composed of five infantry divisions and one infantry brigade, and will be deployed at the junction of the 8th group army and the 54th group army in the south. "


    Straglimacher stopped here. He held the explanation stick in both hands and said to everyone, "that''s all about the deployment of the battle of the sinavino bulge. Anyone who has any questions can put forward them on the spot and let me answer them."


    General Yakovlev, commander of the 52nd group army, stood up and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, I would like to ask you that fighting in such an area requires a lot of artillery and tanks to provide the necessary firepower cover for the attacking forces. I don''t know how many such technical equipment can the front army use in the campaign? "


    Stilimach replied with a smile: "general Yakovlev, your question is very good. I''ll give you a detailed answer. At present, we have 12 artillery regiments and 9 mortar regiments, 4 independent mortar battalions, 3 M-13 Katyusha artillery battalions and 7 M-30 Katyusha artillery battalions. The density of artillery can reach 100 guns per kilometer. "


    After listening to the chief of staff''s explanation, there was a sigh of relief in the room. It was the first time that artillery firepower of such density appeared in the battle with the enemy.


    The chief of staff knocked the explanation stick on the wallboard with his backhand, and stopped everyone''s whispering loudly: "comrades, please be quiet, please be quiet. Now let''s invite general starikov, commander of the 8th Army Group, to introduce to you the situation of his tank troops. "


    The room was suddenly quiet, and everyone''s eyes turned to the small general. After he got up, he put his hands on the edge of the table, leaned forward slightly, and said with a smile, "comrades, my Eighth Army was rebuilt in early June, With the 54th army of fejiuningsky, it was newly incorporated into the order of the front army. Today, I''d like to take the opportunity of the meeting to meet with the commanders of various army groups so that we can fight side by side in the future.


    At present, our group army has two tank brigades and five independent tank battalions. A large part of the tanks are kV heavy tanks. Although the movement speed of this kind of heavy tank is much slower than that of T-34, it can give full play to its advantage of thick armor and fierce firepower in this kind of tough battle. Perhaps it is because we have such a good offensive weapon that the commander of the front army will let our group army serve as the first echelon of the campaign. "


    Meletzkov listened to him and said with a smile, "general starikov, do you have any difficulty?"


    Starikov shrugged and said, "of course there are difficulties. For example, the number of roads in the forest is small, and the mud makes it difficult for various means of transportation to pass, so the railway can only bear all the burden. If all my tank troops want to get to the starting point of attack, they have to rebuild their roads. After the road leading to the rear is repaired, the material supply we need can be guaranteed, so that the troops can fight effectively. And all this, it takes time to prepare. "


    After listening to this, meletskov was silent for a while. Then he said, "according to the command, the campaign will be launched in early August. Because during this period, the general headquarters will supplement our weakened corps and provide the front army with a sufficient number of supplementary companies, tanks, rocket troops, shells and material and technical equipment. Comrade general, there are still 20 days to go, which is enough time for you to build roads and assemble troops. "


    Having said that, he stood up and said to everyone, "that''s all for today''s meeting, comrades in command. You can go back to your troops. "


    I walked outside the door with the crowd and complained to koshevoy around me: "Comrade Colonel, after talking for a long time, it seems that there is nothing wrong with our 59th group army and your 52nd group army except the three echelons of attack in this campaign."


    Koshevoy replied vaguely: "the head of the front army has his own plan. Maybe he will send our two army groups to the army at any time. Didn''t you receive the order to assemble the troops some time ago? "¡° I got it. I''m busy gathering up troops and preparing to go to the designated place as soon as possible. " Koshevoy nodded and said, "that''s right. Since the troops are assembled, it must be intended for attack or defense in a certain direction. Just wait for it. Maybe there will be an order soon. " As we were about to walk out of the shelter along the steps, suddenly a second lieutenant ran up to me, stopped me and asked breathlessly, "excuse me, are you major oshanina?" I looked at such a strange face of the second lieutenant, nodded, some blankly asked: "yes, I am o''shanina. What can I do for you? "¡° Major oshanina, I''ve come to you on the order of commander meletskov. The commander said he had something to discuss with you. Please go to his office for me¡° Major o''shanina, I''ll go first Koshevoy saw that meletskov had sent for me, so he whispered a word to me, and then he was going out¡° Wait for me, will you? " I was a little flustered by meletskov''s sudden call¡° There''s no order for me to go to the commander''s office. " Koshevoy reached out to me. "Good luck. We''ll see you later." After shaking hands with me, he turned around, stepped up the steps and walked out of the shelter. Seeing the departure of Colonel kosewoi, the second lieutenant urged me: "Comrade oshanina, please go for me, or the commander will be in a hurry." Listening to the second lieutenant, I had no choice but to nod my head and say, "OK, comrade second lieutenant, let''s go."

 Chapter 370

    I walked behind the second lieutenant to the commander''s office, muttering: "after the meeting, what can the commander do for me? Do you think I''m only a major, and I can''t convince the public in terms of rank and prestige, so I plan to promote my rank? " At the thought of this possibility, the foot of the pace suddenly become more and more light. When I arrived at the gate of the headquarters of the front army, I saw meletskov, vasilevsky, and listen to me, meletskov raised his eyebrows and said, "promotion of military rank, I tell you, don''t even think about it. When you and boroda become acting division commander and acting chief of staff, they have attracted so many people''s opposition. If you are promoted to your rank, you will not be drowned by those people''s spittle. " After meletskov finished, vasilevsky also turned pale and said, "Comrade oshanina, I would like to remind you that your rank was adjusted by Comrade Stalin himself. No one has the right to adjust your rank until he gets his permission. Don''t say you are acting division commander now. Even if you become commander of the group army in the future and Comrade Stalin doesn''t speak, you can only be a major. Do you understand? " When I heard him say that, I knew that my desire to be promoted to the rank was dashed. I blushed with shame, and honestly agreed: "report to the chief of general staff, I understand." Then I looked at meletskov again and asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, may I leave?"¡° Go ahead. After returning to the army, immediately organize personnel to conduct a detailed search of the bodubia area. " I agreed loudly, raised my hand to salute them, turned and walked to the door, opened the door and went out.

 Chapter 371

    I walked out of the shelter of the headquarters and looked around. Except for one patrol after another, I couldn''t see the commanders I had just had a meeting with. I guess they would have gone back to their own troops. Instead of staying in front of the headquarters, I pulled the hem of my uniform and strode toward the parking place, knowing that vaskov and the soldiers of the guard company were waiting for me.


    A motorcycle, two trucks and a jeep quietly stopped by the side of the road. When I came back, the soldiers who were standing on the side of the road chatting stopped talking and bowed to me.


    Vaskov, who was staying in the jeep, might have seen me coming back through the window. He quickly opened the door and came out from the co pilot''s position. He ran to salute me and reported politely: "report to Mr. division, the guard platoon is waiting for your instructions."


    I waved my hand and said, "Comrade lieutenant, let''s go back to the division headquarters." Then he opened the back door of the jeep and sat in.


    As soon as he closed the door, he heard vaskov shouting out: "all aboard! Get ready to go. "


    When vaskov was seated in the co pilot''s seat, I immediately told the driver, "Comrade driver, drive."


    The driver promised, turned the key and started the fire. Just as he was about to step on the accelerator, he suddenly covered his stomach and cried out for pain. Vaskov frowned and asked, "Comrade driver, what''s the matter with you?"


    The driver turned his head and said to me with a bitter face: "sorry, sir, I have a stomachache and want to go to the toilet."


    I waved to him and said, "go! Go and come back


    The driver agreed, opened the door, jumped out of the car, covered his stomach and ran to the forest.


    As he watched the driver run into the forest, vaskov leaned over and asked me with concern, "Rita, I think the commanders of the other troops have already left. Why did you come out so late? Did something happen to you? "


    I nodded and said, "yes, after the meeting, the commander of the front army left me and specially assigned me a secret task."


    "Secret mission?" Vaskov repeated the word blankly.


    "Yes, secret mission." Vaskov in front of me is a person I can trust, so I won''t hide a lot from him. "The commander asked our division to send troops to the region of podubia to search for general Vlasov, commander of the second shock group army. General meletzkov gave a death order. He wanted to see people alive and corpses dead. "


    Vaskov frowned and thought, and asked, "Rita, why did the commander of the front army give you such an order?"


    I replied with a wry smile: "the reason why the commander gave such an order is for two reasons: first, I met general Vlasov before he disappeared; The second is our division''s residence, which is the closest to the place where Vlasov disappeared. "


    "General Vlasov is missing?" Vaskov looked at me in disbelief and asked, "where did he go missing? When did you see him? "


    "The last time I saw general Vlasov was in the village of piatnica." Because he was afraid that he didn''t know where the village was, he reminded him: "do you remember? Piatnica is the village we went to the last time we went through the swamp. We split our hands outside the village. I went into the village, but you went to the guerrillas. "


    Vaskov nodded and said, "I know the village, but how can you be sure that Vlasov was captured instead of being transferred with his troops?"


    After listening to his question, I patiently told him the whole story. Because he knew my experience before entering the village, the content I told him was much more comprehensive than what I just told meletskov and vasilevsky.


    Vaskov listened, thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "I see, Rita. According to you, general Vlasov must have been captured. Our search and rescue operation was just a passing. So as long as we send troops to the potubia area to search for a few days, and then report to the commander of the front army that there is no trace of general Vlasov, he can report to the supreme command with our report. "


    I nodded approvingly and said approvingly, "that''s how I think about it."


    "It''s a small matter to send troops out to search. At present, we have to face another and more important thing." Vaskov''s face sank and he asked with a worried face, "Rita, it''s just you and me. Tell me honestly, how many people know about your capture?"


    I thought about it for a moment and replied, "it should be just you and me."


    "Just you and me?" Vaskov asked incredulously, "didn''t the Germans lock you up with the rest of the prisoners after you were captured?"


    I frowned and thought for a moment, then answered in a positive tone: "after the Germans captured us, they separated the soldiers from the commanders. I''ve been in custody with the commander. No soldier should have found any women among the captured officers. Early the next morning, the Germans took away the captured soldiers and executed all the remaining officers. " At this point, I was afraid that he might misunderstand me, so I specially explained to him: "fortunately, I met a German officer who had dealt with me several times and saved me, otherwise I would be executed like those officers. After the German officers rescued me, they asked several traitors from the eastern camp to take me to the POW camp. I didn''t expect that these people tried to insult me on the way. Fortunately, you saved them. "


    After listening to my explanation, vaskov said solemnly: "Rita, the national defense people''s Committee issued Order No. 270 on August 16, 1941, stipulating that all red army officers and soldiers must fight to the end. If they are captured by the enemy, no matter whether they have resisted in advance or not, they will be punished as traitors afterwards and sent to the reform through labor camp together with their families. So I''m very worried for you. Once anyone knows about your capture, you may lose your official position and be sent to the punishment camp, or you may die. " When vaskov said this, I was in a panic. I grabbed his hand, shook it and said, "Feijia, what should I do? You know, although no one in our army knows about my capture, many scum in the German army, especially in the East camp, know about my capture. If one of these people, after being captured by our army, confesses that I have been captured in order to survive, I am doomed. " Vaskov gently hammered his forehead with his fist and murmured, "yes, what should I do? These traitors from the eastern camp are a real problem. " Seeing vaskov''s helplessness, I couldn''t help saying to myself, "if only I could wipe out all these people who know the truth." When he heard this, vaskov smashed his fist on the back of the seat and exclaimed, "Rita, you have a point. Although many scum of Dongfang camp are insiders, we can kill them. As long as these people die, no one will know about your capture. " Vaskov''s words brightened my eyes, and I immediately asked him, "Feijia, what are you going to do?" He replied, "do you remember where I saved you last time?" Seeing that I nodded and agreed, he continued: "one or two kilometers away, there is a camp of Dongfang battalion, in which there is probably a platoon of troops. The soldiers who captured you are already there. I''m going to take people to their camp at night and kill them. "¡° Good idea. When I get back to the division headquarters, I''ll send someone to do it for you. " Vaskov waved his hand and said, "no, I have a platoon in my hand now. When I get back to the village later, you can go straight back to the division headquarters. I will take these people directly to the village of piatnica and sneak through the swamp to attack the East camp."¡° There are too few people in one platoon, "I denied his plan to attack the enemy camp with only one platoon. I added," after you take the soldiers in the guard platoon over the swamp, send two smart soldiers back to piatnica village to meet my new unit. " Sometimes vaskov was stubborn, but he was really stubborn. He said firmly, "Rita, you don''t have to send any more people. I''ll just take this platoon."¡° No, Feijia I also firmly said to him: "more people will have more strength, more people will go, and I will be more confident." Seeing that he wanted to refute me again, I immediately sacrificed my mace: "have you forgotten that you took our five female soldiers to pursue the Germans? I thought there were only two German soldiers, but after intercepting them, I found that there were not two, but sixteen. As a result, except for you and me, all the other sisters died. " When vaskov heard me say this, he was silent. The sacrifice of several female soldiers was the eternal pain in his heart. From his expression, it was obvious that he was convinced by my reason. After a long time, he nodded and said, "maybe you''re right, Rita. Just follow your plan. When I take the soldiers of the guard platoon through the swamp, I will send two soldiers back to the village to meet you. " To his answer, I nodded with satisfaction. From the corner of my eye, I saw the driver coming out of the forest, wearing his belt as he walked. I said to vaskov, "Feijia, the driver is back. Be careful. Don''t show any flaws in front of him. " Vaskov nodded, turned around, looked out of the window with his submachine gun in his arms, and pretended nothing had happened. As soon as the driver got on the bus, he immediately urged: "I said, comrade driver, you''re here. We''ve been waiting for you for a long time. Let''s drive." The driver promised, turned the key again, started the fire, stepped on the gas, and the jeep drove forward.

 Chapter 372

    When the car entered the village, I asked the driver to stop the car. After vaskov got off, I asked the driver to drive to the division headquarters. In the car, I also heard vaskov''s loud voice shouting: "no one is getting out of the car, keep going."


    My car stopped at the gate of division headquarters, I opened the door and jumped down. The second lieutenant on duty at the gate of the headquarters, Peskov, immediately came up to salute me. As I saluted, I said, "Comrade lieutenant, go and call captain Gusev, Captain bulda and captain chumark. Move quickly!"


    When I saw the second lieutenant trotting away, I raised my legs and went to the division headquarters.


    Entering the headquarters, I saw boroda sitting at a table looking at the map. Seeing me enter the door, he quickly stood up and asked with a smile, "Rita, are you back?"


    I nodded at him and politely replied, "I''m back."


    "Here, have a cup of tea to moisten your throat." As soon as I sat down, he handed me a cup of hot tea.


    I said thanks, took a sip of the tea, and then asked, "Comrade boroda, after I left, nothing serious happened in the division?"


    Boroda sat down opposite me and said solemnly, "I sent sholov''s 1134th regiment in the morning to collect all the remains of the soldiers who died on the way to the village of piatnica."


    "Comrade chief of staff, you are right." As for his decision, I affirmed: "as long as conditions permit, we will bury the bodies of those soldiers who died." After saying this, I saw that he was still unhappy and asked strangely, "is there anything else? I don''t think you''re happy


    He thumped the table with his fist and said angrily, "you know what? We were all cheated by our former division chief and chief of staff. "


    "Ah?" Hearing him say so, I can''t help but be surprised: "what''s the matter, how did they cheat us?"


    "Do you remember the last time we went to piatnica village, commander samoirov, then chief of staff, transferred eight infantry companies to us?"


    I nodded hard and said, "I remember clearly that apart from providing us with eight infantry companies, there were also tank regiments, but there were only 11 tanks, and the rest were said to have been lost in the battle."


    Boroda snorted heavily and said discontentedly, "any loss is deceitful. There are only 40 or 50 troops in each company that samoirov sent to us. But when I called several commanders one after another today to find out the strength of each unit, I found that the unit had not gone through any decent fighting and the reduction was not serious. Today, there are more than 140 companies with large numbers, and nearly 100 companies with small numbers. The reason why the troops we saw last time were seriously understaffed was that they were ordered by the chief of staff to draw only one platoon from each battalion to deal with us. "


    When I learned the truth, I was stunned. The commander and chief of staff of the 378 division were too bold to deceive us. No wonder after the troops were assembled, they could have been transported by truck, but all the infantry were allowed to walk, which delayed our rescue operation in piatnica village. I also slapped the table fiercely and said indignantly, "this is too much. Do they dare to deceive others like this, and are not afraid to send them to the military court?"


    "Other people have backstage, they won''t be afraid." Boroda said with a wry smile: "you see, after they were relieved of their duties, they planned to be taken to the headquarters of the front army for disposal. As a result, the commander of the 59th group army, kolovnikov, came out and pleaded, and they were transferred to the headquarters of the group army."


    Just then, a report came from the door. Boroda stood up and called out to the door, "come in!"


    As he spoke, Capt. Gusev, Capt. Burda and Capt. chumark came in. The three men came up to me and raised their hands to salute: "Comrade division commander, commander of the guard battalion, Captain Gusev, commander of the first company, Captain Burda, and commander of the second company, Captain chumark, have been ordered to come and wait for your instructions."


    Without waiting for me to speak, boroda asked in surprise, "Sir, do you have anything important to call them here?"


    I stood up and saluted the three men. Then I turned to boroda and said, "yes, chief of staff, I called them here because I have an important task to assign." Then I went up to the three men and said to them with a straight face, "Captain Gusev, Captain bulda, Captain chumark, I called you here in such a hurry because on my way back, I got news that a German Eastern battalion was stationed in the north of piatnica village. The soldiers in this camp are all made up of those soft bones who have been captured and then defected. They wear our military uniform and attack villages and residential areas everywhere, killing our residents and isolated commanders and fighters. In order to ensure the safety of our division''s defense, this enemy must be eliminated as soon as possible. "


    "Well, sir, what is our task?" Asked captain Gusev, without expression.


    "Now, Lieutenant vaskov is taking the soldiers in his platoon to the East camp to watch the enemy. I''m afraid there are too many enemies to cope with, so I''m going to ask captain bulda to take the other two platoons to reinforce them. And you, comrade captain, take captain chumak''s second company and set up a defensive position behind the first company to take charge of the first company and ensure that they can withdraw smoothly after completing their mission. "


    "I see, sir. Can we leave now? " Gusev asked politely.


    I nodded and said, "go, comrade captain. Go and gather the team. Remember, to get enough trucks ready, we have to go and join lieutenant vaskov''s forces as soon as possible. "


    When the three left, boroda said with concern, "Rita, I listen to your voice. Do you plan to lead the team yourself?"


    "Yes." I gave him a positive answer.


    Hearing my answer, boroda waved his hand and said, "no, no, you are the head of a division. How can you take risks at will! I''ll lead the team this time. "


    Without seeing the scum of the East camp being killed, I was not sure. Therefore, I firmly said, "Captain boroda, the task of destroying the East camp is not dangerous. The camp we are going to attack is actually stationed with only one platoon. If there is a sneak attack, only one platoon of vaskov is enough. You see, for the sake of safety, I transferred two more companies to reinforce, and they are also the most elite security companies. You can rest assured that there will be no danger. "


    Seeing that I was obstinate, boroda couldn''t say anything more, so he had to cut off the topic and asked, "Rita, I''m going to have a meeting at the headquarters of the front army today. I don''t know what to say?"


    After I told him in detail about the deployment of the campaign, I said, "after the meeting, general meletzkov, commander of the front army, called me to his office and specially assigned us a secret mission."


    "Secret mission, what mission is it?"


    "Comrade commander ordered that our division''s commanders and fighters should immediately take action to search for general Vlasov''s whereabouts nearby, so as to see people alive or dead."


    "But," said boroda with some embarrassment, "general frasov said he was missing, but you and I know in our hearts that he is most likely captured by the Germans. It''s very difficult to find him. "


    "Of course, if this task is not difficult, it will not be handed over to our division. You are the commander that the commander thinks highly of."


    With these words, Captain Gusev came in again to report that the two guard companies were ready for departure at any time. I raised my hand to have a look. Only 15 minutes have passed. It seems that Gusev''s efficiency is quite high. So I made a brief statement to boroda and left the headquarters with Gusev.


    My reinforcements arrived in the village of piatnica two hours later. In the village, we saw two soldiers who were sent back by vaskov to meet us. They served as guides and led the troops to the swamp.


    Gusev looked at the ocean in front of him. Some worried and said to me: "Comrade division, there is a swamp ahead. If we advance with light equipment, the problem is not big. However, heavy weapons such as mortars and heavy machine guns cannot pass through here."


    As soon as I waved my hand, I said with disapproval, "if you can''t pass, you can''t pass. You stay and command the second company to build fortifications beside the swamp. If the first company is pursued by the enemy when it retreats, they will provide fire cover for the first company here. "


    After giving Gusev orders, I looked at bulda and asked, "are you ready? Comrade captain. "


    "Ready, ready to go." Speaking of this, he said with some embarrassment: "Comrade division, you don''t want to attack the enemy through the swamp with us, do you?"


    "There''s no such nonsense. Let''s go." I said, take the lead to go to the swamp.


    My action startled bulda. He ordered two strong soldiers to help me follow the troops through the swamp.


    Out of the swamp, we didn''t go far before we met the guard post set by vaskov. He took us to the hiding place of the troops.


    Vaskov took out a sketch that he had drawn, introduced it to captain bulda and me, and said, "according to our reconnaissance, the station is not a platoon, but a company. Because there were Germans nearby, their guard was very lax. There were only two sentries on duty in the camp, and the rest of them were sleeping in tents. Sir, you see, their tents are divided into two rows, nine in each row, and there are six people in each tent. "


    Bulda looked at the sketch, nodded thoughtfully, and said, "as long as we kill the sentries, and then send someone to sneak into the tent and kill all the sleeping enemies with bayonets and daggers, it should not be a big problem."


    When I heard bulda say this, vaskov didn''t object either, so I nodded with satisfaction and said, "that''s it. We''ll do it when it''s dark." I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was only nine o''clock before the sun set in the sky, so I added, "let the soldiers have a good rest first, keep their spirits and take action."


    They agreed in a low voice and went to deploy separately.


    At eleven o''clock, it''s dark, but you can still see everything 200 meters away with ordinary telescopes. Except for one platoon, the remaining two platoons, led by vaskov and Burda, quietly approached the camp from two directions.


    Two German uniformed and helmeted sentries, armed with guns, slouched around the camp, unaware of the danger approaching them.


    When I saw that vaskov had reached a tree only ten meters away from the sentry, he made a sign from a nearby soldier, with his palm on his neck, to use a knife to solve the sentry. The soldier nodded and approached the sentry quietly under the cover of trees and bushes. When the two sentries separated back to back, vaskov and the soldier came out of the hiding place, covered the sentry''s mouth and put a knife on his neck. The sentry struggled a few times and his body collapsed. They dragged the corpse to the hiding place just now and sent out a signal to the soldiers who were hiding nearby. Then the soldiers stood up one after another, carrying their guns on their backs, holding daggers or bayonets, bending over and quietly approaching the barracks. When bulda led the raiding troops and vaskov joined up, they immediately divided into two teams, one team responsible for a row of tents. The soldiers were divided into groups of four. One group found a tent, lifted the curtain and went in.

 Chapter 373

    Holding up my telescope, I held my breath and stared at the tent where vaskov went in, praying to myself that he would finish the task successfully.


    The curtain of the tent was lifted and three soldiers came out. Looking at the curtain which was still slightly swinging down again, my heart was raised to my throat: Hell, the soldiers are out, why isn''t vaskov out yet? Is something wrong with him?


    When he was worried, the curtain was lifted aside, and vaskov''s familiar figure came out of the tent. I was relieved to see that he was safe.


    Then the curtains of the nearby tents were lifted, and the soldiers came out one after another. Seeing them in high spirits, I knew that they had cleaned up the enemy in the tent.


    When I saw bulda coming out of the tent, I was about to stand up from behind the bushes where I was hiding. As soon as I was about to lift myself up, I heard someone beside me say excitedly, "brothers, company commander, they''ve finished their work. It''s so beautiful!"


    I turned around and saw that it was a second lieutenant who was also the platoon leader. I can''t help but be happy to hear him say that, but no, bulda and vaskov are really sharp. They killed a company in Dongfang camp in just a few minutes.


    I reached out and patted the lieutenant on the shoulder and said, "well, comrade lieutenant, don''t sigh. Call your people and come with me to the captain''s place."


    The second lieutenant, who was patted on the shoulder by me, blushed and laughed awkwardly. Then he stood up, leaned back and cried out in a low voice: "brothers, don''t lie down, all stand up and move forward!"


    The soldiers of the guard platoon and I came to the tent and immediately smelled the smell of blood in the air. Bulda just arranged for the soldiers to guard in several directions. Seeing my arrival, he immediately came to me. With uncontrollable joy on his face, he raised his hand to salute me and reported, "Comrade division, all the enemies in the camp have been solved. There are 110 people in total, and none of them has escaped the net."


    I saluted him and praised him with a smile: "good job, comrade captain, good job!"


    Then I turned to vaskov, who was standing behind him. Looking at the bloodstain on his face, I asked with concern, "Lieutenant vaskov, are you hurt?"


    Vaskov raised his arm, wiped his face with his sleeve and said with a smile, "no, I''m covered with enemy blood." Then he took out a handkerchief from his pocket, picked up the kettle hanging on his waist, unscrewed the lid, poured it on the handkerchief, and wiped the blood on his face with a soaked handkerchief.


    Captain bulda asked me, "what are we going to do next, sir?"


    I looked up at the starry sky and thought it was meaningless to stay here. I had better go back to our army station as soon as possible to be stable, so I told him: "let the soldiers take the enemy''s weapons and ammunition, and we will withdraw!"


    "Yes Bulda agreed, and then passed my order down to the soldiers. While they were nervously carrying ammunition, there was a sudden sound of footsteps from a distance. We went along, and it turned out that a soldier was running towards us¡° It''s my scout. " Vaskov said a word in my ear, and then he went up.


    The soldier ran to vaskov''s side, stopped and whispered a few words to him. I found that vaskov was stunned, and then his face changed greatly. Then he led the soldier towards me.


    Captain bulda saw them coming and asked, "what''s the matter? Comrade lieutenant. "


    "Comrade captain, the scout has important information to report to the division commander."


    "What''s the matter? Lieutenant vaskov I''m afraid that Burda will delay his time in asking questions, so I''ll ask vaskov directly.


    Vaskov came up to me and said in a low voice, "the scout reports that there are four or five hundred prisoners of war in the woods one kilometer north of here."


    Our prisoners of war?! When I heard this news, I was also surprised. I immediately asked the scout, "Comrade soldier, are you sure you have seen it clearly? Those who are staying there are indeed prisoners of war of our army?"


    "Yes, sir." The Scout replied with great certainty: "I quietly approached the place only 50 or 60 meters away from them. After careful observation, I was definitely a prisoner of war of our army. I can''t make a mistake."


    "What should we do, sir?" As soon as bulda heard that there were hundreds of prisoners of war in our army nearby, he was in a hurry and asked repeatedly, "are you going to rescue them?"


    Instead of answering Burda immediately, I continued to ask the inspector, "how many soldiers are there guarding the prisoners of war?"


    "Twelve people, just one class." The Scout said in a positive tone: "the guards are not German, they are all soldiers of the eastern battalion."


    "What should we do, comrade teacher?" Seeing that I didn''t respond to him, bulda couldn''t help repeating the question.


    "What else can we do? To rescue them, of course I immediately told him: "Comrade captain, gather the troops immediately and set out immediately."


    "Yes Bulda agreed loudly, and then began to give orders to the soldiers, arranging the order of departure.


    As the procession was gathering in disorder, vaskov called two soldiers and went with him into a nearby tent. His move made me feel stunned. The weapons and ammunition in the tent were moved out just now. What else did he go in for?


    It was soon revealed that vaskov and two soldiers came out of the tent with a German uniform in their hands.


    Seeing vaskov take out the German uniform from the tent, bulda''s face showed an expression of displeasure and began to scold: "I said, comrade lieutenant, we are preparing to set out to rescue our comrades in arms, and what have you done? What''s the use of this thing? Can you exchange it for bread? "


    As soon as Burda''s voice fell, Woolley, who had just assembled, burst into a burst of laughter.


    I saw that vaskov''s face was red, and I quickly rescued him: "come on, comrade captain. When the troops have assembled, they will set out immediately. As for what lieutenant vaskov is going to get, there must be his reason, so you don''t have to worry about it


    When bulda saw that I was speaking for vaskov, he couldn''t say anything more. He had to wave his hand to the troops and said aloud, "everyone, listen to my command, turn right and run!"


    At the back were vaskov and I, as well as two despondent soldiers with German uniforms in their hands.


    When the team was 500 meters away from the place where the prisoners of war were being held, it was dispersed, with the first row on the left, the third row on the right, and the second row in the middle, quietly approaching the target from three directions.


    But I stopped within a hundred meters to take a close look at the whole picture of the place where the prisoners of war were held. There was no fence or barbed wire around the prisoner of war forest. There were only a few guards guarding around with guns. However, hundreds of ragged Soviet soldiers were sitting on the ground. No one dared to get up and walk around, and no one should answer their ears. Even when they coughed, they covered their mouths with their hands and tried to keep their voices down so as not to disturb the guards, It''s a disaster.


    I hid behind the low bush and observed carefully. There were only two mobile guards on each side in the north, West and East. However, in the south where we are now, there are six guards. They are crowded together and there is a machine gun. It seems a bit difficult to kill them all without firing just now.


    Bulda came to me quietly and said in a low voice, "Comrade division, you see so many enemies gathered together. It''s impossible to kill them all without shooting. It''s better to shoot. There are just a few enemies. As soon as the gun goes off, they will be finished immediately. "


    "No, you can''t shoot." I answered firmly, "Comrade captain, it must not be far from the German garrison, otherwise their guard would not be so lax. As long as the gunshot goes, it will lead the nearby Germans. Don''t let the prisoners of war not be rescued, we will also be prisoners. "


    "But if you don''t shoot, what will happen to the enemies who are crowded together? You know, they still have a machine gun in their hand. Once they find us and shoot us, it will cause us heavy casualties. "


    "Comrades of company commander," before I could answer, vaskov had whispered to bulda, "these enemies will be dealt with by our platoon. You just need to let the soldiers in the first and third platoon quietly go around to the other three sides, and when we have solved the enemy here, they will not be too late to start again. "


    "Comrade lieutenant, do you have any idea?" Bulda looked at vaskov with distrust.


    "Comrade captain," I have unconditional trust in vaskov. Since he said that he would be able to solve these enemies in front of him, he would certainly be able to succeed, so I told Burda: "as Comrade vaskov said, let the first and third rows go around to the other three sides first. He is an experienced veteran. He said that if we can solve the enemy in front of us, we can certainly solve it. I have complete trust in him. " When I said the last sentence, I gave vaskov a look of trust.


    But vaskov didn''t look at me. He took off his uniform with the other two soldiers. But when I saw the three of them putting on their German uniforms, not only me, but also bourda understood that they were going to pretend to be officers and soldiers of the eastern battalion and get close to the guards. At this time, without my further command, Burda had sent his orders to the two platoons.


    A few minutes later, after vaskov changed their clothes, the soldiers in the first and third rows moved in place and sent us a signal of readiness. Vaskov then stood up and took the two soldiers to the guards.


    When they were forty or fifty meters away from the sentry, they were found by the sentry. A sentry yelled at them, "stop! Who are you It''s Russian. It seems that it''s the puppet army of Dongfang camp.


    "You''re blind. Can''t you see clearly?" Vaskov, dressed in the German Lieutenant''s uniform, put on the air of a deputy officer and yelled at each other: "we are here to convey the order of the regiment."


    Originally, when the sentry called, he turned the machine gun around and pointed it at vaskov''s machine gunner. When he saw his companion in German uniform, he relaxed his guard and moved his hand away from the trigger.


    Vaskov stopped five or six meters away from the Sentinels, pointed to them and said in a loud voice, "you, you, you and you, all come here." The Sentinels were quite obedient. They came out of the bunker in a neat line in front of vaskov. Seeing the sentinels in the south, they were attracted. The soldiers in the other three directions immediately started to kill all the Sentinels with daggers. Seeing that the other three Sentinels were killed, vaskov quickly stepped back, took his submachine gun, pointed to the Sentinels, and yelled, "don''t move, raise your hands, you are captured!" In the face of the three black charge guns, six soldiers were stunned. After a moment, one turned around and wanted to run to the machine gun. Vaskov raised his hand and stabbed a flying knife into the soldier''s waistcoat. The soldier leaned back, shook his body and fell to the ground. The remaining five soldiers raised their hands obediently when they saw the death of their companions. Seeing the situation under control, I rushed up with Burda and the soldiers in the second platoon. When we appeared in front of the captured Soviet army from four directions at the same time, they didn''t know what was going on, sat on the ground and looked at us blankly. I looked at the soldiers, who were still in a daze. I went up and grabbed one of the soldiers'' clothes and tried to pull him up. At the same time, I yelled to the others: "comrades, we are here to save you. From now on, you are free. "¡° What are you doing? Stand up and follow us. You are free. " The rest of the people followed me. Hearing our shouts, the captured soldiers realized that they had been saved. They immediately got up from the ground and rushed to the soldiers of the guard company, holding them and crying. Seeing that the situation was in danger of losing control, I immediately told Burda: "Comrade captain, let the soldiers of the guard company take them away immediately. Don''t stay here all the time. If the Germans find out, they will be in trouble." With a promise, bulda faithfully conveyed my order to the troops. Soon, with the help of soldiers from the guard company, the prisoners began to move. As soon as the prisoners of war took action, I understood why only a dozen soldiers were guarding them. These soldiers, who did not know how long they had been hungry, were staggering along the road. Even if they did not take care of them, they could not run far. I reckon that with the speed of the prisoners of war, if there is no accident, we can reach piatnica village through the swamp in three hours, then we can get them into the truck and speed up the whole March. I didn''t expect that the plan couldn''t keep up with the change. Almost all the prisoners left. Unexpectedly, a soldier who fell in the last place picked up the light machine gun on the ground and pulled the trigger at the puppet prisoners. The sudden sound of the gun sounded like a thunderbolt in the silent night.

 Chapter 374

    With the gunfire, several prisoners fell to the ground.


    Vaskov, who was in charge of the prisoners, roared, rushed over, grabbed the light machine gun from the soldier, and kicked him to the ground. As soon as vaskov raised his fist at the soldier, I saw that things were going to be worse. I quickly stood between the two and said to vaskov in a loud voice, "Lieutenant vaskov, calm down. This soldier may have been angry with these puppet soldiers, so he rushed to shoot them for a moment."


    Seeing vaskov withdraw his fist indignantly, I turned to pull up the fallen soldier and said to him in a low voice, "Comrade soldier, you are so impulsive. You know what? Originally, our rescue operation tonight has been successfully completed. It is because of your unauthorized shooting that many variables have been added. The gunfire may disturb the German troops stationed nearby. If they catch up, it is uncertain whether our slow-moving army will be able to get out of danger. "


    The soldier blushed and bowed his head to admit his mistake: "sorry, comrade commander, I think they killed a lot of our comrades in arms, so I couldn''t help it just now."


    "All right!" I interrupted the words behind him, urging him: "don''t say, I can understand your mood, quickly keep up with the front line, don''t fall behind." Then he said to vaskov, "Comrade lieutenant, you take your platoon to the back as a guard to cover the retreat of the troops towards the village."


    At this time, Captain bulda came to me and asked me anxiously, "Comrade division, the gunfire may have alerted the Germans nearby. Maybe they will come around soon. What shall we do?"


    I pointed to the large army moving slowly in front of me and said to bulda, "Comrade captain, take the first and third platoons to cover the evacuation of the rescued soldiers. The second platoon of vaskov and I will act as guards in the back to cover your safe evacuation." The captain promised, and was about to turn around and leave. I stopped him and specially told him, "send someone to contact captain Gusev opposite the swamp at once, and let them be ready to meet us."


    Bulda ran to urge the rescued soldiers to speed up the March, but with little effect. We should know that before they were captured, because of continuous fighting and insufficient food, they had already become extremely weak. In addition, there were many wounded among them, and the speed of the whole army''s march was even slower than that of a snail.


    Seeing the sluggish troops, vaskov sighed and said, "if only these soldiers could replenish their strength and have a good rest. At their present marching speed, the Germans can catch up with them even if they come for a walk. "


    I also looked at the troops in the distance again, shook my head and said, "it''s a pity that there is no time for them to rest now. The first thing to consider is how to let them escape to our defense area safely." Seeing that the soldiers in the second row were hiding in the surrounding bushes, they put their guns in front of them and immediately asked vaskov, "Feijia, have your scouts come back? The first thing we need to know is where the Germans will come from. "


    Vaskov looked around, shook his head and said, "it''s not long since the scouts were sent out. They didn''t come back so soon. Because of the sudden firing of the gun, no one was sent in advance to spy on the enemy in the vicinity. " When he said this, there was a bitter helplessness on his face.


    I had to smile bitterly and say: "it''s not your fault. No one would have thought that the soldier would be so impulsive. No matter where the Germans will come from, they will certainly send people here to check the situation of the prisoners of war. We will stay here. If they are few, we will destroy them; If there are too many of them, we will withdraw while fighting, and we must cover the safe withdrawal of large troops. "


    We lay on the ground for nearly ten minutes. When the transferred troops were completely out of sight, two soldiers came panting towards our hiding place, running and shouting in a low voice: "Comrade lieutenant, comrade lieutenant."


    Vaskov stood up from his hiding place, met him, and asked from a distance, "have you seen the Germans?"


    The Scout put his hand on his back, gasped, and reported to vaskov, "Comrade lieutenant, there is a German camp in the West. The gunshot just now startled them. Now there is probably a company moving towards us."


    Because the voice of the scout was very loud, I could hear what he said clearly even though he was a few meters away. A sergeant lying next to me, after listening to the report of the scout, was pale and trembling, and said to me: "Comrade division, there are hundreds of Germans in a company, and we are only over 30. The military strength is too wide. We''d better withdraw before the Germans find us."


    "Shut up, you coward." Vaskov was coming back to report the enemy situation to me. When he heard what the sergeant said, he immediately scolded fiercely: "have you ever thought that if we retreat without authorization, the Germans will easily catch up with the slow troops. Do you think those soldiers who can''t even walk steadily can resist these fierce pursuers?"


    When vaskov finished his scolding, I said with some worry: "we are too far behind the German troops. If we fight hard, even if we all die, we will not be able to block the pursuit behind us." After thinking about it, I went on to say, "how about this? You take two classes to catch up with the big troops in front, and I take one class to lead the enemy in the opposite direction."


    With that, I stared at vaskov, waiting to see his reaction. To tell you the truth, vaskov is the best person for the task from the bottom of my heart, the task of luring the enemy. However, at this critical moment of life and death, there are some scenes that I have to say, so that I can play an important role.


    Sure enough, my words angered vaskov. His face rose and he choked his neck and said angrily, "Comrade teacher, what you said is wrong. Don''t say you are a teacher, even if you are an ordinary soldier, as long as we men are not dead, you can''t let a woman risk for us. "


    Vaskov''s words immediately resonated with the soldiers around him. They said in unison: "the platoon leader is right. We must not let our division commander take risks for us."


    Even the sergeant, who was a little flustered just now, stood up and expressed his determination to me: "Comrade division commander, let me take my class to lead the enemy away. You and the platoon leader, take the other two classes and withdraw from the army."


    "Don''t argue," vaskov stopped everyone from arguing. He said firmly, "I''ve decided that I''ll take one class to lead the enemy away. The division commander and the other two classes will withdraw first." Seeing that there seemed to be someone else who wanted to say something, he opened his eyes and said in an indisputable tone, "this is an order. Carry it out."


    I took vaskov''s hand and said to him with concern, "Feijia, please. Remember, come back alive. "


    Vaskov let go of my hand, raised his submachine gun high in his hand, and called to the soldiers nearby: "class one, follow me." After shouting, he took the lead to run to the west, and then a dozen soldiers came out from behind the bushes and ran behind them.


    After they left, I took the remaining two squads south to catch up with the transferred troops.


    After a short advance in the jungle, there was a fierce gunshot. I stopped and looked at the place where the gun was fired. Although I couldn''t see anything, I prayed silently for vaskov in my heart: Feijia, I hope you are lucky and can come back safely.


    We soon caught up with the big troops in front of us. Seeing that I was catching up with a lot of soldiers, bulda asked curiously, "Comrade division, how can you catch up so quickly? What about Lieutenant vaskov? "


    I looked at the sluggish army, frowned and said to bulda, "vaskov has led the German pursuers in the opposite direction. Comrade captain, you ask the soldiers of the guard company to help these comrades who have just been rescued, and let them speed up, or we will all be finished when the Germans catch up. "


    Bulda promised to go and tell his men to carry out my orders. The soldiers of the guard company came forward, some of them carried the disabled on their backs, and those who didn''t carried the wounded arm in arm to prevent them from falling down when they walked fast. As a result, the whole army moved a little faster.


    It''s nothing to march in the jungle, but with the help of the soldiers of the guard company, many exhausted prisoners of war were swallowed up by the swamp. When we passed through the swamp and joined the second company, Burda''s tears fell down. He had more than ten soldiers carrying the wounded, and they sank together in the boundless swamp.


    At the same time, I ordered Gusev to make the second company ready to fight, put mortars and heavy machine guns on the edge of the swamp, and be ready to meet them at any time.


    We had been waiting for three or four hours. In the jungle opposite the swamp, the sound of gunfire changed from dense to sparse. At first, we could hear the sound of our army''s bobosha submachine guns and rifles. Later, the sound of gunfire was almost inaudible. Captain chumak sighed and said, "listen, the gunfire of our army is out of hearing. Maybe vaskov died."


    "Shut up Perhaps seeing that my face was livid, Gusev was afraid that I would get angry, so he quickly began to scold chumark: "Comrade captain, as long as the gunfire has not stopped, it proves that our soldiers are still fighting, and they still have hope to emerge from the enemy''s encirclement."


    Just then, suddenly someone cried out, "look, someone is running out of the woods."


    I quickly raised my telescope and looked across the swamp. Vaskov was alone, running a few steps with a submachine gun, then turning around and shooting back. After a few steps, he threw away his submachine gun and quickly came to us. I carefully looked at the woods again. I saw no other soldiers except vaskov. Maybe they all died.


    When vaskov got to the middle of the swamp, the Germans who came out of the jungle also began to enter the swamp and chased him from a distance. While chasing and shooting, the bullet hit around vaskov, splashing small streams of water.


    "Captain chumark, what are you doing?" Without waiting for me to speak, Gusev, who was quick to make a decision, gave an order to chumak: "machine guns and mortars should be fired immediately to wipe out the catching up Germans in the swamp."


    "Boom!" With a loud noise, a mortar shell fell in the middle of the enemy''s line and exploded, setting off a huge column of water. Several Germans around fell into the water.


    "Machine gun fire!" With chumark''s order, the heavy machine gun shooter pulled the trigger hard, and the dense bullets flew like raindrops to the enemy in the swamp. As the enemy at the front fell one by one, the German army set up machine guns on the shore and fired wildly at us to protect the soldiers behind. Every time a new enemy enters the swamp, the mortar shells will fall into their line and explode. After five or six consecutive blasts, the enemy behind will honestly stay on the shore and dare not continue to rush forward. As soon as vaskov had a few steps to go ashore, a machine gun bullet hit him in the back. With a splash of blood on his back, he snorted, leaned forward, and then fell into the mud¡° Vaskov Seeing vaskov injured in front of me, I couldn''t help shouting. Two soldiers bent over and ran past me, jumped into the mud, set up vaskov and dragged him back. Vaskov was placed in front of us, and Gusev cut his uniform with a dagger. When I saw the bleeding wound on his back, I felt sad¡° Fortunately, it''s just skin injury, not bone Gushev took a first-aid kit from other soldiers and bandaged him while saying¡° Comrade division commander, "said vaskov with his head down difficultly," has the big army transferred safely? " Although I knew he couldn''t see it, I nodded and said, "Comrade lieutenant, don''t worry, the rescued soldiers have now returned to the village. You and your soldiers are good. You have gained precious time for the transfer of the large forces. "¡° Well, comrade teacher. " After bandaging the wound, Gusev said, "Comrade Lieutenant should be sent to the medical station immediately, where doctors and health workers can take better care of him." I raised my telescope to look at the Germans across the swamp again, and found that they had given up the plan to enter the swamp to pursue us after being hit by our firepower, and were carefully retreating into the jungle. Seeing the enemy retreating, my heart relaxed, and I turned around and told Gusev, "the Germans are retreating. It seems that we are afraid of them. Captain Gusev, take your men and equipment, and we''ll go

 Chapter 375

    A few minutes later, our troops pulled out of the swamp. The team walked through the jungle towards the village of piatnica to the south.


    Before departure, Captain Gusev ordered his men to put up a simple stretcher for vaskov, and specially selected four strong soldiers to carry the stretcher.


    As we walked, Captain Gusev, who was walking side by side with me at the front of the line, suddenly said to me, "Comrade division, I think something is wrong."


    When I heard what Gusev said, it suddenly occurred to me that he would not doubt that vaskov was a German spy, or why the soldiers who were engaged in the task of luring the enemy died and he escaped alone. Thinking of this, I asked coldly, "Comrade captain, what do you think is wrong?"


    The captain didn''t seem to be aware of the change in my expression and made a serious analysis to me: "Sir, comrade, although we beat the Germans hard just now at the edge of the swamp, they retreated a little too fast. Is there any conspiracy?"


    After I found out that what the captain wanted to say had nothing to do with vaskov, I was relieved. It seemed that I thought too much, so I said with disapproval: "when the Germans were hit suddenly, they might think they were ambushed by our army, and they were afraid that the whole army would be destroyed, so they retreated in a panic."


    "But..." gushev wanted to say something else, but I interrupted him. I said impatiently: "nothing, but the Germans are not fools. They know that they can''t attack us through the swamp hundreds of meters wide without heavy firepower, so they are forced to retreat. Well, comrade captain, let your men speed up the March, get to the village and join the company, and return to the headquarters as soon as possible. "


    Gusev reluctantly agreed, and then issued an order to speed up the march to the troops. With his order, the soldiers immediately quickened their pace and made rapid progress towards the village.


    Captain bulda and some soldiers were standing at the edge of the trench at the entrance of the village, looking around. They saw us coming out of the woods and trotted to meet us. When he saw bulda coming, Gusev stood still, raised his right hand and said, "stop the troops!" With his command, the marching troops stopped.


    Captain bulda ran up to us, raised his hand to salute after standing at attention, and reported: "Comrade division commander, the rescued soldiers have boarded the vehicle and are ready to leave at any time. Please give us your instructions."


    I saluted and asked, "is the truck enough?"


    Burda shook his head with a bitter smile and said, "because there are too many soldiers rescued and we don''t have enough trucks, so I only let the wounded and some weak soldiers get on the bus first, and the rest of the soldiers and guards are still in the village."


    "You are right, comrade captain. Let the wounded return to the division headquarters first, and we will leave after the truck returns. " It is undeniable that his arrangement is the most reasonable, so I am not afraid to praise him. After that, I said to Gusev standing beside me, "come on, comrade captain, let''s go back to the village together."


    At my command, the troops that had just stopped moved on.


    At the entrance of the village, bulda told one of the soldiers, "go and inform the driver. You can start."


    The soldier agreed and ran away.


    At this time, from the air came a faint roar of the motor.


    I stopped, looked up into the air and said to myself, "what''s that sound?"


    "It''s a plane, it''s a German plane." Gushev yelled in my ear, and then ran to the village, shouting: "air raid alarm, hide quickly!"


    With his shouts, bulda came back to himself and ran to the village, shouting: "air raid siren! Air raid alert! All of you get out of the car and hide


    The German plane came so fast that the soldiers on the truck began to get off. Three enemy planes had already flown over the village and roared down.


    Although I have been an antiaircraft gunner and shot down several German planes, without antiaircraft machine gun and antiaircraft gun, I can neither blow up the MIDI''s plane with the three eight big cover like some gods, nor blow up the Japanese plane with a hand grenade like the experts in the drama. The only thing I can do is to lie down on the spot and protect my life.


    Three enemy planes swooped and strafed at the village, and bombs were dropped one after another. The smoke of gunfire quickly spread throughout the village. The house that was hit collapsed and was immediately reduced to ruins. The trucks parked on the street were hit one after another and were blown apart. The soldiers who couldn''t dodge by the side screamed and fell down.


    Maybe I saw many comrades in arms falling down one after another. A red eyed soldier stood in the middle of the street, raised his submachine gun and fired at the enemy plane in the air. But his shooting did not play any role. The enemy plane dived at him, and two long strings of machine gun bullets cut him into two sections.


    Seeing this bloody scene, I closed my eyes painfully and buried my head deep in the trench, expecting the enemy plane to leave as soon as possible.


    After firing all the ammunition, the enemy plane finally stopped attacking the ground, flapped its wings and flew to the distance.


    Watching the enemy planes leave, the village began to ring: "air raid lifted! The air raid is off There was a loud cry.


    I got up, walked out of the trench, and walked along the street with a blank face. Looking at the burning trucks, the soldiers who died in various positions, and the wounded who were moaning on the ground, I asked myself, "did I do something wrong? If I wasn''t afraid that my capture would be exposed, I wouldn''t let vaskov take people to attack the East camp. When it was found that there were hundreds of captured soldiers of our army nearby, I would not have taken the troops to rescue them if it was not for my momentary weakness. If we don''t bring troops to them, maybe the Germans won''t find out, and they won''t attract such cruel revenge. "


    Maybe I was so preoccupied that I didn''t hear Gusev yelling at me. Later, he grabbed my shoulder and shook it a few times, which made me wake up from my meditation. Looking at the black faced Gusev, I asked cautiously, "Comrade captain, are our casualties serious?"


    Gusev nodded painfully and said in a heavy voice: "our trucks were all destroyed. Because the enemy plane came so suddenly, the wounded on board didn''t have time to move. Fortunately, there were no casualties outside the village in the second company, and only one platoon in the first company. And those rescued soldiers, probably more than 200 casualties


    Hearing such heavy casualties, my heart suddenly sank. Three enemy planes had brought such heavy casualties to our army. If we had another two, we would have lost our army. Thinking of this, I quickly said to Gusev, "Comrade captain, take the troops away from the village immediately, so that even if the enemy plane comes back, we can immediately hide in the woods."


    Gusev immediately replied, "OK, I''m going to assemble the team." With that, he ran to the second company at the entrance of the village, because chumak company is the only company with the most complete organizational system at present. If he wants to move quickly, he needs young men like them to help carry the wounded.


    As soon as Gusev left, I saw captain bulda limping towards me. I was startled to see him like this. I quickly met him, held him and asked with concern, "Comrade captain, are you injured?"


    Burda waved his hand and said, "report to Mr. commander, I''ve been wiped by shrapnel. It''s not in the way. It''s too dangerous in the village now. Maybe the enemy plane will come again. You''d better order the troops to move first. "


    I nodded to comfort him and said, "Comrade captain, don''t worry. I''ve asked captain Gusev to arrange the transfer of troops. You''d better bandage the wound first."


    "All right." With my help, bulda came to the door of an open house, sat on the threshold, took out a first-aid kit from his briefcase, bit it in his mouth, rolled up his trouser legs and began to dress it by himself.


    After dressing, he stood up again with my help. First, he said thanks and then said, "Sir, I forgot to tell you something. Before you and captain Gusev arrived at the village, I contacted the division through the company''s telephone and asked them to send a truck to pick us up. " At this point, he raised his hand, looked at his watch and said, "in terms of time, maybe in a few minutes, they will be outside the village."


    "Great, comrade captain." When I heard him say this, I patted him on the shoulder excitedly and said happily, "well done, you have made great contributions. When I get back to my division, I''ll write a report to my superiors and apply for a medal for you. "


    Maybe I slapped it too hard and it hurt so much that bulda grinned. Before he could speak, Captain Gusev and captain chumak came in with their troops from outside the village. Gushev stopped in front of us, ordered chumak to take the soldiers of the guard company to rescue the wounded, and then said to me, "Comrade division commander, the situation is very bad. All the trucks have been destroyed. If we want to take so many wounded people back to the division headquarters, we have to walk for at least ten hours."


    I laughed, comforted him and said, "Comrade captain, don''t worry. Just now, Captain bulda reported to me that before we arrived at the village, he had talked with the division headquarters. The division headquarters had sent a motorcade to pick us up. It should be here soon. "


    "Burda, you are wonderful." After listening to me, Gusev slapped bulda on the shoulder with excitement. He''s more powerful than me. He slaps bulda to the ground. He quickly went up to help bulda, and at the same time, he joked: "I said, man, how weak you are, you fall to the ground with a tap."


    Burda grinned bitterly and did not speak. I quickly explained to him, "Comrade captain, Captain Burda''s leg is injured."


    "Yes? Where? Let me see. " Gusev said that he would stoop down to examine bulda''s wound.


    Bulda quickly stopped him, then raised his head and said to me, "Comrade division, that motorcycle is still in good condition. Why don''t you go back to the division by motorcycle first. It''s too dangerous here. You''re the head of a division. You can''t stay and take risks. "


    "Yes, comrade captain is right. I support him." As for Burda''s proposal, Gusev immediately expressed his support, and he also firmly said to me: "Sir, comrade, you''d better go back to the division department first. If you have me here, you can rest assured."


    To tell you the truth, the scene that the enemy planes bombed the village indiscriminately just now and our army was unable to fight back made me feel afraid. Now that there is such a good opportunity, I can''t let it go easily. But as a division commander, if they just made a proposal, I would agree immediately, which would affect my image in their eyes. So I pretended to be in a dilemma and said, "it''s not very good. The soldiers haven''t left yet. What''s the point of me going first?"


    "There''s nothing wrong. If you leave now, no one will say anything." When Gusev said this, he summoned the motorcycle and rode with Burda to the sidecar of the motorcycle. I half pushed myself into the sidecar and said to them in a serious manner, "in that case, Captain Gusev and captain Burda, I''ll leave everything here to you. Remember to get the troops out of the village as soon as possible. " Then he told the motorcyclist, "Comrade soldier, let''s go." Not far from the village, the motorcycle ran into a long line of trucks. The motorcade stopped not far away from us. The door of the first car''s co pilot opened and a second lieutenant came down from the car. He ran to me and raised his hand to salute: "report to Mr. division commander, second lieutenant Peskov. On the order of the chief of staff, he led the motorcade to meet the troops carrying out the task, waiting for your order." I saluted in the sidecar, looked at the invisible motorcade, and asked the second lieutenant, "Lieutenant Peskov, how many trucks have you come?"¡° Mr. reporter, a total of 35 vehicles have arrived. " It''s said that there are thirty-five cars. It should be no problem to load all the people in the village. So I nodded and told Peskov, "Comrade second lieutenant, lead the motorcade forward to meet captain Gusev. They are waiting for you outside the village at this time." The second lieutenant agreed, saluted and ran back to the car. After the team restarted, I let the motorcycle continue to move forward to the division headquarters. After more than half an hour, I returned to the division headquarters. As soon as I got out of the car at the gate of the division headquarters, I vomited into darkness. It''s not easy to stop vomiting. Two soldiers on duty came from the side and helped me into the division headquarters. As soon as he entered the headquarters, he saw captain boroda on the phone. When he saw me coming in, he quickly said to the microphone, "Comrade commander, please wait a moment. Mr. o''shanina is back. I''ll let her talk to you." After that, he covered the receiver and whispered to me, "Comrade division commander, it''s general kolovnikov, commander of the group army." I gently broke free from the support of the two soldiers, waved to them to step down, then swayed to boloda''s side, took the phone from his hand, took a deep breath, politely said to the microphone: "Hello, comrade commander, this is major oshanina."

 Chapter 376

    I said hello politely, but the result attracted the other side to scold: "major o''shanina, are you out of your mind? He didn''t stay in his division headquarters all day, but he went to attack some German camp. Now, let''s get revenge from the Germans. You see, the Germans have only three planes, which has caused us so much damage. In just a few minutes, more than 300 people were killed and nearly one battalion was disabled. According to the way you play, the 378th division can stand up to you for a few days. "


    What happened in the village of piatnica was so soon known to general kolovnikov. Who on earth sued? For a moment, I didn''t know what to do with the general''s accusation, and I didn''t know how to respond to him. I could only look at boroda standing by for help.


    Facing my eyes for help, boroda cried, shrugged her shoulders, spread her hands, and made a gesture of helplessness. According to his reaction, I guess that just before I came in, he was being scolded by the commander of the group army for me, so he no longer took any chances and listened to kolovnikov''s rebuke honestly.


    It''s the hardest thing to be scolded for not being able to answer back, especially when kolovnikov''s words are so ugly. Although I want to refute and fight back, I shut up when I thought that doing so would be like committing the following offence. We should know that in the Soviet army, which is a highly hierarchical army, we must abide by certain rules, especially as subordinates, it is a necessary quality to obey the orders of the superiors. Otherwise, if there are strong subordinates who rely on their own qualifications, they can ignore the instructions of the superiors and disobey the orders of the superiors. In particular, at the meeting of the headquarters of the front army just now, the following offenders argued for the loss of general privalov''s prestige, and were dismissed and submitted to the military court. After this incident, it is estimated that many people have already taken precautions against me, which can be seen from the attitude of general starikov, commander of the eighth group army, to me. In addition, kolovnikov was always worried about me because I took the position of his favorite general. He finally grasped me and didn''t take the opportunity to teach me a lesson.


    His reprimand lasted for half an hour. When he stopped talking, I could clearly hear the sound of drinking water coming from the receiver. It seems that he stopped because he was so dry. Taking advantage of the opportunity that he did not speak, although I was unwilling, I still kept a low profile and took the initiative to admit my mistake to him: "Comrade commander, you are right in your criticism. It''s all my fault that I launched the harassing battle against the Germans without asking for your instructions in advance and obtaining your permission. I sincerely admit my mistake to you and hope to get your understanding. "


    With my insincere admission of my mistake, the tone on the other side eased down: "well, major o''shanina, it''s a good progress that you can recognize your mistake. Remember, if there is any military action in the future, we must inform the headquarters of the group army in advance. Otherwise, how can I help you coordinate the friendly and neighboring forces to fight together? "


    When kolovnikov finished, I quickly continued, "yes, comrade commander, you are quite right. In the end, he deserves to be a commander, that is to say, he stands higher and looks farther than those of us junior commanders. You can rest assured that if there are any more military operations in the future, I will report them to you in advance and implement them only with your consent. "


    My flattery made kolovnikov feel good. He laughed and said, "well, you''ve just come back from the front line. You must be tired. Go and have a rest. By the way, let me remind you that you have made a hornet''s nest today. Maybe your division headquarters will become the target of German attack. You should take precautions as soon as possible. " Then he hung up.


    I put down the phone, gave a wry smile at boroda, and then asked, "Comrade chief of staff, I want to know why the comrades of the group army commander knew so quickly about our fighting situation near the village of piatnica? Who reported it? "


    When I asked, boroda''s face sank and he shook his head and said, "I don''t know. First, I received a telegram from captain bulda, a company commander, saying that you had annihilated a puppet company of the eastern battalion and rescued hundreds of captured soldiers of our army. They were staying in piatnica Village and asked the division headquarters to send trucks to meet them. After receiving the telegram, without saying a word, I immediately mobilized enough vehicles to meet you in piatnica village. About ten minutes before you went back to the headquarters, I received another telegram, this time from captain Gusev. He said that after you met in the village of piatnica, you were attacked by the German army. As there were no effective counter weapons, the troops suffered heavy casualties. After reading this telegram, without waiting for me to make any arrangement, the Group Commander''s call came. You know the rest. "


    When I heard what boroda said, I probably knew that it was one of Gusev or bulda who reported to the headquarters of the group army by leapfrogging to the next level after informing the headquarters of the division through his telephone. This was the incident that boroda and I were trained one after another. However, this is not the right time to investigate this matter. I thought of the reminder made by kolovnikov just now before he hung up the phone, so I asked boroda, "Comrade chief of staff, do you think our fight with the Germans today will attract their revenge?"


    Boroda thought for a moment, then nodded his head and said, "Sir, I think it''s very possible. If only a puppet company is destroyed by you, it is estimated that they have not responded so much. The problem is that you have also rescued hundreds of soldiers who were captured by them. At the same time, in the process of retreat, you have taught their pursuers a lesson. So I think it is possible for them to retaliate. I expect that the German army will soon enter the village of piatnica and send offensive troops to our headquarters. " After listening to boroda''s analysis, I think what he said is very reasonable. What we should do now is to take precautions. Otherwise, when the German calls, I can''t find a place to cry. So I asked, "how many troops do we have in the village?"¡° The first and second security companies have been taken away by you, but they have not been built yet. There is only one third security company, plus independent telephone company, medical station and other logistics units, there are probably more than 200 people in the village Hearing that there were only such a few people, I realized that if I wanted to fight, I would not be able to fight even one of the Germans, so I asked, "is there any troops nearby that can be mobilized?"¡° Yes, "boroda moved the map in front of me, pointed at our village, and then said," two infantry battalions of Colonel sholov are deployed in the South and east of the village. They are not far away. If we need reinforcements, we can arrive in ten minutes. In order to protect the division headquarters, Colonel Donskoy also deployed two tank companies to the west of the village. " After listening to the deployment of our army, I immediately ordered boroda: "immediately transfer the two battalions of sholov to the north of the village, repair the fortifications, and prepare to fight against the possible German attack." Boroda agreed, picked up the phone and started dialing. After dialing, he said frankly, "I''m boroda, chief of staff of the division. I now order you to gather your troops immediately and quickly rush to the north of the division headquarters to build fortifications and prepare to fight against the possible German attack." At this point, he suddenly Leng for a while, repeatedly asked: "what do you say, repeat it again?" After getting the exact answer, he took the microphone away from his ear, blushed and said to me in a low voice: "Comrade division, the other side said that no one can mobilize a soldier without the order of Colonel sholov."¡° What? " When I heard that there were such arrogant subordinates, I couldn''t help but be surprised. I quickly went over to take the phone and asked, "I''m acting teacher, major oshanina. Who are you?" When the other party heard my voice, he was stunned for a moment, and then replied, "report to Mr. deputy. I''m major Caucasus. I''m waiting for your order."¡° Good, comrade major. Since you are at my command, I now order you to gather your troops at once, drive quickly to the north of the village and build fortifications. "¡° But, comrade teacher. " Caucasus heard my order, can not help but a little flustered: "I have no right to move troops to other places before I get the order of Colonel sholov." Hearing his explanation, I couldn''t help getting angry and said sternly, "Comrade major, please make it clear whether it is the division commander or the regiment commander? Should you listen to the teacher or the commander? "¡° But, but,.... "hearing my severe tone, Caucasus became more flustered and stuttered, unable to say a complete word for a long time. I didn''t wait for him to finish, then I interrupted him: "OK, comrade major, this is an order. Carry it out. As for Colonel sholov, I''ll let him know. " Seeing that I had said this, Caucasus knew that it was useless to resist orders again, so he could only honestly promise: "understand, comrade division commander, I will go to gather troops immediately." When boroda answered the phone, he gave me a thumbs up sign that what I said just now was so beautiful that he took care of the other party at once. Then, when he called another infantry battalion and tank company, he used the way I just said, not to mention the effect was really obvious. The commander who received the order promised to assemble his troops immediately and prepare to quickly move to the designated place.

 Chapter 377

    After giving the order to mobilize the troops, boroda asked me anxiously, "Comrade division, what do you think is the scale of the enemy we are going to block this time?"


    I thought about it, then shook my head and said, "I don''t know. We startled the German army when we rescued the prisoners of war. At that time, they sent a company to pursue us. After encountering the second company''s block at the edge of the swamp, the air force dispatched to retaliate against us. According to the analysis of these situations, they had at least one division stationed near the village of piatnica, otherwise their air force would not have moved so quickly. If the German army can''t find out our details and only attack tentatively, it may only send an infantry battalion with tank cover. If the German Army wanted to destroy us, it might send a regiment. As for how many German attacks we will face in the end, it all depends on the final decision of the German commander. So I can''t say clearly how many enemies we are going to block. "


    But boroda stubbornly asked: "if the German army put in a regiment of troops, plus the cooperation of aircraft and tanks. Then, can our army hold the present position? "


    With a wave of my hand, I said flatly, "if you can''t keep it, you have to keep it! If we are broken through here by the German army, the flank of the main force of the group army will be completely exposed in front of the enemy''s attacking forces. After several fierce battles, the other divisions were already exhausted, waiting for the superior to replenish their troops, weapons and ammunition, and could not stop the German attack. So we have to hold on. After the arrival of the tank company, one company will set up a fixed fort on the position, and the other company will ambush in the woods in front of the position. When the enemy attacks, it will suddenly attack from behind, disrupting the enemy''s attack steps. "


    Boroda was still uneasy and said: "if the German troops sent out a regiment, just two battalions in the position, it would not be able to stop them. You see, do you need to contact the heads of the other two regiments so that they can gather their troops first and reinforce us when necessary? "


    After hearing what he said, I nodded and said, "your idea is good. Call the leaders of the other two regiments at once and ask them to dispatch two battalions each to quickly move closer to the division headquarters. Comrade chief of staff, when the troops arrive, they will be taken as reserve forces of the Division and left in the south of the village, and then change according to the situation of the battlefield, Decide when to let them fight. "


    Boroda agreed and immediately got up to call the other two commanders.


    Just at this time, Captain Gusev reported to me and came into the room. He saluted me and said, "Comrade division, we are back."


    I stood up and saluted him, and said to him, "come with me, I have a task for you." With that, he took the lead to walk outside the headquarters.


    When I went outside the headquarters, I saw that almost all the soldiers had got out of the car and were helping the health workers to carry the wounded to the medical station. Seeing the tumultuous procession, I frowned slightly and asked Gusev standing behind me, "Comrade captain, do you have any extra weapons and ammunition in the guard camp?"


    When Gusev heard this question, he was stunned and immediately recovered. His eyes looked at the busy soldiers and said to me, "the division headquarters has replenished a new batch of weapons and ammunition a few days ago. It''s enough to arm them." Here, he added: "the truck that came to pick us up just now carried a lot of food, which has been eaten by them."


    "Good! You immediately take the second company to get the weapons and ammunition and arm these soldiers. We are going to have a war soon. One more person means one more strength. "


    Gushev agreed, ran out and yelled: "second company, emergency assembly." With his command, the second company soldiers mixed in the crowd quickly ran out and formed a neat line in front of him. Seeing that the troops had assembled, he gave the order to go left and March in unison, and took the troops to the place where the arms were stored.


    Seeing that many of the wounded were sent to the medical station, I was worried about vaskov''s injury, so I went through the crowd and walked into the medical station. There were stretchers everywhere in the medical station, and there were so many soldiers in it that I couldn''t see where vaskov was. Because I can''t yell out loud here, I can only hold the health workers passing by me and ask them if they have met lieutenant vaskov. All of them told me that they have not.


    Just when I was about to despair, I suddenly heard ulanova''s voice: "Rita, are you looking for someone here?"


    I was overjoyed to see that it was ulanova. I grabbed her clothes and couldn''t wait to ask, "ulanova, I''m looking for a wounded man named vaskov. I don''t know if you''ve seen him?"


    "Vaskov?" When ulannova heard the name, she was obviously stunned for a moment, then shook her head and said, "there are too many wounded people today. I don''t know whose name is. By the way, Rita, what does he look like? "


    I recalled vaskov''s characteristics, and then described to ulannova: "he has an old face, looks like he is in his forties, and has two big beards."


    Without waiting for me to be more detailed, ulannova suddenly said, "it''s him you''re looking for. I saw him just now. Is he a lieutenant with a back injury? "


    After listening to the details of ulannova''s words, I shook her shoulder and asked, "great, so you really met him. Do you know where he is now? " Ulannova pointed to the middle of the medical station and said, "he has just been sent to the operating room. The military doctors are operating on him." I was relieved to hear that vaskov had entered the operating room. Seeing this, ulannova asked curiously, "Rita, are you familiar with this comrade Lieutenant?" I nodded and replied, "yes, I know him very well. When I was an ordinary soldier, I used to be his subordinate. He took care of me and even saved my life. He is not only my benefactor, but also my brother. " Speaking of this, I gently patted ulannova on the shoulder and quietly asked her: "the troops are going to war soon. I may go to the front line to command. Please take good care of him for me." Uranova knew the friendship between vaskov and me, so she agreed very readily: "Rita, don''t worry, I will take good care of him." Then I went to see Burda, who was injured in his leg. He heard that there was going to be a war soon. He insisted that he would not stay in the Medical Center for treatment. He found a crutch and limped behind me out of the medical station. Gusev was very efficient. When Burda and I came out of the medical station, he had already brought the second company back with arms and put guns and ammunition on the open space. I nodded to Gusev with satisfaction, and then ordered him: "Comrade captain, let all the soldiers who have not been injured gather." Gushev agreed to let the Ministry go down immediately and call all the rescued soldiers together. From a certain point of view, the Soviet army was indeed a well-trained army. Although they belonged to different forces, the effect of the usual queue training immediately appeared when they saw the commander giving orders. In just a few minutes, more than 400 soldiers formed a neat square array. I am very satisfied to see that the troops have assembled so quickly. I went to the front of the line and scanned the soldiers standing in the line. I found that after a short rest on the truck and food supplement, their morale and mental outlook were very different from those of a few hours ago. I asked them in a loud voice, "comrades, did you feel humiliated when you were captured by the enemy?" As soon as the words came out, the soldiers standing in front of me lowered their heads one after another. Some of them were brave and secretly looked up at my face, trying to find out what I was asking? At this time, Gusev quietly came to my side, close to my ear and said in a low voice: "Comrade division, if you say this, it will affect the morale of the soldiers." I nodded and whispered to him, "I know that''s what I want from them." Then I raised my voice and said to the soldiers, "now there''s an opportunity to wash your shame. I wonder if you''d like to take it or not?"¡° Comrade major, "said one of the soldiers in the line loudly," as long as you can wash away the disgrace of our being captured, you can let us do anything. " One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and his words immediately resonated. The soldiers in the queue yelled: "yes! Major, whatever you want us to do. " I raised my hands and pressed them down. When no one spoke, I continued: "in a few hours, maybe there will be an attack from the Germans here. In order not to be captured by the Germans again, I ask you to take up arms again and fight with the bandits who are armed to the teeth. Remember, this is not only for the protection of our motherland, but also for your honor Seeing that there were already people in the queue eager to try, I accentuated my voice and said in a loud voice: "brothers, in order to wash away your shame, for the honor of the Soviet army, for the immortal merits you are about to establish, go to the open space and take up your own weapons!"¡° Wula It has to be said that the slogans that Captain Gusev called out at this time made people excited. All the soldiers rushed to the open space, forming a neat long line, taking their weapons from the soldiers of the second company. Seeing this new force, I was deeply relieved. I turned to Gusev and said, "Comrade captain, after you have organized these soldiers into a battalion, you can send all the Deputy posts of the guard battalion to the new troops. The deputy battalion commander will be the battalion commander, the deputy company commander will be the company commander, the Deputy platoon leader will be the platoon leader, and the deputy squad leader will be the squad leader. Do you understand?"¡° I see, sir. " Gushev agreed excitedly, and ran to the soldiers who received the weapons.

 Chapter 378

    When Captain Gusev and his officers began to form a new combat battalion, I went back to the division headquarters and wanted to know through boroda whether the troops just transferred had entered the designated position. As soon as I entered the door, I said aloud to boroda, "Comrade chief of staff, have the two battalions of the sholov regiment entered the designated positions?" Boroda, who had been sitting at the table, stood up and hesitated for a moment before replying: "report to Mr. commander, the commanders of two battalions of sholov regiment and tank company of Donskoy regiment, who called one after another five minutes ago and reported that the troops had entered the designated position and were digging fortifications. As for the troops of the other two regiments... "Before he finished, I rushed to say," are they also in the designated position, waiting for my next order? " He shook his head hard and said angrily, "I just called the other two regiments. The people who answered the phone said that the head of the regiment and the political commissar were not in. They went to the army to check the defense. They couldn''t get in touch in a short time, so the troops couldn''t be transferred for the time being." When I heard that some of my subordinates dared to disobey my orders, my fire came up, pointed to the phone and said to boroda, "chief of staff, please connect me right away, captain. Listen to me, I immediately stood at attention and said loudly," serve the Soviet motherland! " I called him to the table, pointed to the map and said to him, "Comrade captain, you see, in the north of the village, two battalions of Colonel sholov are building fortifications. You immediately take the first and second companies of the new combat battalion and guard battalion to the area, and build a second line of defense 500 meters behind their line of defense. Do you understand? " Instead of answering me immediately, Gusev looked at the map for a moment and then said to me, "Sir, I have a point of view that the forward positions of the second line of defense and the sholov regiment are only 500 meters away, which is too close. Once the battle starts, both positions are within the effective range of German artillery fire. In this way, perhaps when the German artillery stopped and the infantry launched an attack, our troops in the two positions had suffered heavy casualties and were unable to withstand the enemy''s attack. "

 Chapter 379

    Captain Gusev''s analysis, like a slap in the face, woke me up from a complacent state. I stare at the map on the table and re-examine my battle plan. On the map, I seem to see that our army is full of fire and smoke under the heavy artillery bombardment of the German army. The soldiers who are dazed by the bombing are running around like headless flies, and finally fall into a pool of blood.


    I was so absorbed in my thoughts that Gusev called out several times before I came back to myself. I stabilized my mood for a moment and asked him modestly, "Comrade captain, if you are allowed to fight this defensive war, how will you deploy your troops?"


    As for my inquiry, Gusev was not polite. He pointed to the map and said to me, "Sir, please see, there is an open area on the dirt road between our village and piatnica village, which is about three kilometers away from the village. If I were in charge of the troops, I would send a troop to build fortifications here. After digging the trench, the minefield should be arranged in front of the position as soon as possible to delay the rapid advance of German tanks. As the infantry battalions of the Shilov regiment are all formed by four companies, I will put two companies in the front, and the other two companies will hide in the nearby forest, ready to reinforce the front defenders at any time. Also, there are no rolling hills in this area, so Gusev blushed slightly, and then said with some embarrassment, "I was arrested a few years ago."


    Arrested?! When I heard this word, I was stunned at first, and then I understood that what he said about arrest was not that he was arrested by the enemy, but that he had been detained and examined in the great cleansing a few years ago. However, he was lucky that he did not get rid of it, but survived and returned to the army.


    Because the topic inadvertently involves the great cleansing, we are silent. Just as I was trying to find a new topic and continue our conversation, a voice came from the door. When I looked up, the chief of staff, Captain boroda, came in with the chief of staff, major Antonov, and captain aftuhov of the independent telephone company.


    Seeing a few people enter the door, I quickly stood up, and Gusev also stood up. I met several people, and took the initiative to reach out to Antonov, warmly greet him: "Hello, major Antonov."


    Antonov quickly stopped, first raised his hand to salute me, then extended his hand to shake hands with me.


    Then I took everyone to the table, pointed to the map on the table and said to Antonov, "major Antonov, I have a difficult and glorious task to give you."


    Antonov quickly straightened himself up and replied respectfully, "I''ll follow your instructions, sir and comrade."


    Because of the lack of time, I would not be polite to him. He said frankly, "we are going to fight against the coming German in the north of the village. After my discussion with the chief of staff, I feel that you should direct this battle. "


    Listening to me, Antonov''s facial expression did not change at all. He just asked faintly, "Comrade division, do I want to know what kind of forces I command?"


    "Two infantry battalions of Col. sholov and two tank companies of Col. Donskoy are now available to you, and they are building fortifications three kilometers north of the village. In addition, there are the first and second companies of the guard battalion under the command of Captain Gusev, as well as a new combat battalion. "


    Antonov''s eyes were fixed on the map and asked: "Comrade division, I also want to ask, are so many troops placed in one line of defense, or should we prepare a second line of defense? If there is only one line of defense, I don''t think we can use such a force. We should know that the German artillery fire is very fierce. If our army discharges such a dense formation, the casualties under the artillery fire are a very terrible data. "


    "Where are you going to put the second line of defense?" I want to test him when I ask.


    He pointed to the position of the first line of defense, then moved a little southward and said, "I think we should build a second line of defense about two kilometers away from the front, and deploy the guard battalion and the new combat battalion here. At the same time, put another tank company here. When the German infantry attack the current position, the tank can be used as a fixed fort to provide the necessary artillery support for the garrison. "


    "Very good!" Seeing that his consideration was more comprehensive than mine, I immediately praised him without stint: "in this case, I will formally appoint you as the commander in chief of the former enemy to command this battle. After defeating the German attack, I personally ask the commander of the front army for your credit! "


    As soon as he heard the invitation, Antonov was so excited that his eyes lit up. He snapped to attention and said in a loud voice, "please rest assured, sir and chief of staff. I promise to finish the task well."


    Then boroda said, "Captain aftuhov, you are responsible for the communication between the division headquarters and major Antonov. If you can ensure the smooth communication between the division headquarters and the front line, I will personally ask the superior for your credit after the victory of the battle. "


    For a soldier who is eager to make contributions, nothing is more attractive than honor. After hearing boloda''s wish for him, aftuhov came to attention and said excitedly, "please rest assured, our independent telephone service will use the honor of soldiers to assure you, no matter how much sacrifice we make, We will also ensure that communication between the division headquarters and the forward positions is always unblocked during the fighting. "


    "Sir, I''m still a little worried." Antonov suddenly added: "if you give so many troops to me, the defense force in the village will be greatly weakened. It is very difficult to ensure the safety of the division headquarters with only one guard company. In your opinion, should one or two companies be deployed from the front to strengthen the security work of the division headquarters? " I shook my head and said, "major Antonov, you just need to consider how to stop and eliminate the enemy. As for the safety of the division headquarters, you don''t have to worry about it." At this point, I raised my hand, looked at my watch and said, "it''s one o''clock at noon. It''s estimated that the troops sent by 1132 and 1133 regiments will soon arrive in the village. At that time, these troops can not only undertake the task of defending the division headquarters, but also serve as the general reserve and throw into the battlefield when necessary." When I said that, boroda echoed, "yes, major Antonov, you don''t have to worry about the safety of the division. It''s not early. You''d better rush to the front as soon as possible to see if the soldiers of the sholov regiment have repaired the fortifications. The trench in the front should extend to both sides as far as possible, control the dirt road leading to the village, and block the areas in the forest where the Germans may bypass. "¡° Yes! I see, chief of staff. " Antonov agreed in a loud voice, and then saluted us in a proper way again, asking, "division chief, chief of staff, may I leave?" I also saluted, nodded at him and said, "Comrade Antonov, you can go to the front with confidence. Remember, keep in touch with us all the time. "¡° Yes He promised, then turned back and left. Capt. Gusev and Capt. aftuhov also immediately stood at attention and saluted, then turned and left with him. After several people left, I asked boroda, "Comrade chief of staff, have you heard from the Germans?" Boroda nodded, handed over a telegram and said, "this is a telegram from the guerrillas. It says that there are Germans gathering in the village of piatnica at present, because the vigilance in the village is too tight, and the guerrillas who are in charge of the reconnaissance mission can''t get close to it. However, from the analysis of the German movement, there should be two or three companies, as well as a certain number of tanks and armored vehicles. " I looked at the telegraph in my hand, sighed and said to boroda, "chief of staff, I have a feeling that the battle that is about to begin will be a fierce battle."

 Chapter 380

    There is a small church in the middle of the village. People standing on the bell tower can clearly observe the situation within a radius of more than ten miles with the help of a telescope. In order to know more about the battle in time, I moved the headquarters here.


    Standing on the clock tower, I looked through my telescope at the troops digging trenches in the distance and said to boroda in a puzzled way, "Comrade chief of staff, I don''t understand. Usually the troops are stationed in the village, and the commanders like to set the headquarters in the church. First, it is spacious and can accommodate many units of the headquarters; Second, the buildings are solid. Even if they are hit by bombs or shells, they are not so easy to collapse. Why didn''t they choose this place and set up their headquarters in an ordinary house


    Boloda, who was standing next to me, heard my question and replied with a bitter smile: "Comrade division commander, I have asked other commanders in the division about this question. They said that when division commander dorofeyev first entered this village, many people suggested that he set up the headquarters here, but he refused."


    "Why?" I put down my telescope and asked curiously.


    "The target here is so obvious that it is easy to become a target for German artillery or air force once it is attacked by German forces," Mr. dorofeyev said


    "Be greedy for life and afraid of death!" After I reached such a conclusion for Colonel dorofeyev, I raised the telescope again.


    "Comrade division," boloda said to me suddenly, "I don''t know if captain aftuhov''s independent telephone company has moved to the church now. We''ll depend on them for our contact with the front line later."


    "Go down and have a look. When I see the captain, I''ll tell him by the way that after the battle starts, I''ll send someone to send the war report to the bell tower in time. "


    "Yes With a promise, boroda turned and went down the bell tower.


    In the distance, the trench of the Caucasian camp had been dug. Most of the soldiers were squatting or standing in the trench, and some of them were walking around in the traffic trench with their backs straight. Nearby, the busy battalion was being fought, and soldiers wearing helmets were bent over digging trenches. Perhaps because of the heat, many soldiers took off their military uniform and waved shovel in their bare upper bodies. The seven tanks of the tank company lined up behind the trench, with the black muzzle pointing to the front of the defensive position.


    Just then, boroda trotted up the revolving stairs to the bell tower and reported to me in a loud voice, "Comrade division, the telegram from the guerrillas is coming. The Germans have already set out and are heading in our direction." Then he handed me a telegraph paper.


    I took the telegram and looked down at it. It said, "the German vanguard has left the village of piatnica at 3 p.m. with an armored car and two trucks full of soldiers on the way." After reading the telegram, I handed it back to boroda and said with disapproval, "Comrade chief of staff, the Germans have come out with such a small number of troops that our front-line troops are enough to wipe them out."


    Seeing that I despised the enemy, boroda immediately reminded me, "Comrade division, you can''t despise the enemy. You know, this is just the German vanguard. We still don''t know how many troops and what kind of technical equipment there are in the village. Maybe as soon as the battle starts, the German tanks and artillery troops will be sent out, and maybe planes will be sent out to bombard our positions. Then it will be a real fierce battle. "


    After hearing what boroda said, my face turned a little red. I quickly turned away from the topic and told him to say, "Comrade chief of staff, go and ask where the infantry battalion that is going around the enemy''s rear has arrived? By the way, I''ll inform major gogasov that the German has set out and will soon arrive in front of his position, so that his troops can hide themselves and never expose themselves before the battle starts. "


    Seeing that boroda was walking down the stairs, I told him, "Comrade boroda, next time you come up, you''d better bring a signalman up. In this case, he can do something for you."


    "Yes, sir." Boroda agreed and went downstairs again.


    An hour later, the armored vehicles and trucks of the German vanguard came into my sight. The vanguard was an armored vehicle. A German officer with a big cornice hat leaned out of the hatch, his hands on the roof, and his body swayed back and forth with the violent turbulence of the armored vehicle. When the armored car was more than 500 meters away from the camp, he pointed to the side of the road with his right hand wearing white gloves, and the armored car immediately stopped at the side of the road. The truck that followed also braked sharply and stopped close to the tail of the armored car.


    The officer raised his telescope and looked carefully at the trench where the Caucasus camp was. After all, the trench was newly dug, and the new soil piled up in front of the position could be seen at a glance. When the Germans were observing, all the soldiers of our army squatted in the trenches and buried themselves low. No one ventured out to see where the Germans had gone. Although the soldiers of our army are well concealed, my heart still goes up to my throat. I''m afraid that some soldiers can''t help but shoot without authorization, which will disturb the German people.


    After observing for a while, the German officer saw that there was no movement in the trench. He thought it was an abandoned defense line, so he did not continue to observe. He raised his right hand and waved forward, and the armored car moved forward slowly. It was only after the armored car had gone a long way that the drivers of the two trucks started the car again and kept up from a distance.


    Seeing that the armored car continued to move forward, I breathed a long sigh of relief and prayed that they would drive faster so as to press on the anti tank mines laid by our army earlier¡° Boom With a loud bang, the German armored car finally pressed an anti tank mine more than 100 meters away from the position. In the light of the fire, the parts of the armored car were blown up all over the sky, and the officers and soldiers on the car were blown to pieces. The explosion was the order to shoot. The soldiers of the Caucasus battalion put their guns on the edge of the trench one after another and pulled the trigger on the German truck. In the dense gunfire, the German truck stopped again, and the soldiers on board jumped under the car. Because of the fierce firepower of our army, they were caught off guard again. Some soldiers were killed by random guns before they could jump out of the car. The bodies either fell directly into the car or hung on the baffle of the car. The soldiers who jumped out of the car hid behind the car and shot back desperately relying on the car. The soldiers of the Caucasus battalion did not rush to charge. They fired machine guns, submachine guns, rifles and German soldiers, and set up mortars to bombard trucks. However, after several mortar shells accurately hit one of the trucks and blasted it to pieces, the German resistance was completely disintegrated, and five or six survivors fled from the other truck and scrambled to the forest in the distance. Just after the battle, I was watching some soldiers leave the trench and go to clean the battlefield when I heard captain aftukhov''s voice: "Comrade division commander, major gogasov''s call." I turned my head and saw aftuhov come up the revolving stairs with a telephone in his hand and a rolled telephone line on his shoulder. I quickly met him, gave him a polite smile, took the phone from him, picked up the phone and said in a loud voice, "is that major Caucasus?"¡° Yes, sir Caucasus''s excited voice came from the microphone: "the battle has come to an end smoothly. One German armored car and one German truck have been bombed, and more than 50 German soldiers have been killed. Our army has no casualties."¡° Good job, comrade gogasov. " I gave him a loud compliment and reminded him, "but you can''t be proud. It''s just the German vanguard. The hard fight is still behind."¡° Don''t worry, sir "No matter how many enemies like this come, they are not our opponents," he said with pride. We camp here, not to mention stick to one day, even stick to ten days is no problem¡° Once again, comrade major, I remind you that the battle has just begun. You should overcome the idea of belittling the enemy and be prepared to fight hard and vicious battles. Well, you go and urge the soldiers to reinforce the fortifications, so that they won''t be damaged by the German guns. " I really have the potential of crow mouth. Half an hour later, the position of Caucasus was shelled by the German army. According to guerrilla intelligence, the Germans immediately sent out large forces after they learned that the leading forces had suffered heavy losses. In addition to the infantry in trucks, there are armored forces and artillery. Five or six kilometers after leaving the village, their artillery laid artillery positions in an open area. According to the instructions of the artillery observers, they began to bombard the positions of the Caucasian camp. German shells roared down the long trenches, and our forward positions were quickly shrouded in the smoke of the explosion. The soldiers of the Caucasus camp, who had just won the battle, were bombarded by the German army before their laughter stopped. The huge contrast made the inexperienced soldiers panic. I put down my telescope and frowned at the shells that landed around the trench and exploded two or three times in succession, thinking about what to do to stop the German''s damned artillery. At this moment, I suddenly heard the nearby boroda exclaim: "Comrade division, look, someone is running out of the trench." I raised my telescope again and looked forward. I saw many soldiers of our army coming out of the smoke. Instead of charging forward, they turned around and ran desperately to the second line. They''re on the run?! I suddenly had this idea in my mind, and then I thought bitterly: I should arrange a team of supervisors in the back, and kill all those who escape.

 Chapter 381

    At first, only a dozen people fled. Unexpectedly, with their help, more and more people fled. Later, a group of people on the left and a group of people on the right escaped from the smoke and ran to the second line of defense two kilometers away. Although these people left the positions shrouded by the smoke of gunpowder, they were not completely out of danger, and death followed them like a shadow. As soon as a shell fell, they fell to pieces. Some Elven soldiers, hearing the sound of the shell landing, immediately fell down on the spot, waited for the smoke to disperse, then got up and continued to run.


    Seeing this scene, I was so angry and funny that I yelled at the side: "chief of staff!" After hearing the voice of boroda''s reply, I issued an order to him in a loud voice: "Comrade boroda, please record the order: first, order major gogasov in the forward position to restrain his troops. No one can step back without my order; 2¡¢ Major Antonov was ordered to send captain bulda with a company of guards to organize a supervision team to stop all the soldiers who escaped from the position. Those who did not listen to the order could immediately implement the battlefield discipline; 3¡¢ Send a telegram to the battalion that detours back to the enemy''s rear and ask where they are now


    "Yes With a promise, boroda went downstairs to telephone and telegraph.


    I looked at the soldiers who were still running back and felt a headache. Although I''ve heard that this division''s combat effectiveness is not good before, I think it''s hearsay, so I don''t take it seriously. I didn''t expect that the most elite main force of the division would have so many deserters just after the first round of German artillery bombardment.


    Just then, I saw a lot of people in the second line of defense climbing out of the trench and running towards the deserters. I turned to look at the revolving stairs. Boroda had not yet come to the chapel downstairs. It was obvious that the attack of these commanders and fighters had nothing to do with him. It should be Antonov''s arrangement.


    I looked through my telescope at the officers and men who were on the attack. One of them, in his uniform and helmet, limped while running. I immediately recognized it as captain bulda, the company commander of the guard company. It seems that Antonov and my hero have the same idea. Seeing that there are deserters running back in the front, he immediately sent the people of the guard company to stop them.


    The two teams stopped at a distance of 20 or 30 meters. Bulda''s right hand was holding a pistol high and waving it at the retreating soldiers. Although the distance was too far, I couldn''t hear him shouting at all, but from the posture of his left hand pointing to the front, he should let the soldiers go back to the trench immediately.


    It''s a pity that all the soldiers stood still, and not only did no one return to their positions, but some even attempted to continue to run to the second line of defense. In order to stop their escape, the soldiers of the guard company carried the guns of the experts and shot them to the sky desperately.


    Rao was so. The soldiers hesitated for a long time before they slowly turned back. By this time, the German artillery had become sparse. After these soldiers, driven by Burda and the guard company, stepped over the bodies of their comrades and returned to the trench, the artillery fire stopped completely.


    The German infantry, hidden in the forest in the distance, saw that the shelling had stopped, and immediately formed a scattered formation. Under the cover of tanks, they pushed fiercely towards our forward position.


    At this time, boroda went upstairs and reported: "Comrade division commander, major gogasov called. In the shelling just now, two companies in the forward position lost more than 150 casualties, and the troops in the trenches almost lost their fighting capacity. In order to block the German attack, he asked to add two companies waiting in the forest Seeing that I wanted to speak, boroda quickly added, "I have agreed to his request that one company enter the position first, and the other company continue to stand by."


    I nodded with satisfaction at boroda''s decision. If the German infantry were frustrated, they might launch another artillery attack. If the troops in the front were too dense, the German artillery attack would certainly cause heavy casualties to our army. I looked at the German troops getting closer and closer to the front position, and without looking back, I asked, "Comrade chief of staff, where is the circuitous battalion of our army?"


    Boroda replied, "Comrade division commander, according to their reported position, they are about two kilometers away from the German artillery position. If there is no accident, they will attack in an hour."


    I frowned and said discontentedly, "they''ve been starting for five or six hours. Why are they so far away from the target?"


    Seeing this, boroda immediately defended the circuitous troops: "Comrade division commander, we can''t blame them. The terrain in this area is too complex. It''s either forest or swamp. The troops can''t move fast in the forest at all. Although the German artillery position is no more than eight kilometers away from us in a straight line, it will take at least 20 kilometers for the troops to get there. "


    "Damned forest and swamp," I said, biting my back teeth. Then I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I saw that the clock had already pointed to seven. I could not help but say with some worry, "it''s still four hours before dark. I don''t know if we can eliminate this German army before dark."


    The battle at the front of our army started again. A few hours ago, the fortifications were hollowed out by German shells. Many parts of the fortifications had been destroyed. The commanders and fighters hid in the relatively good trenches and fired fiercely at the German tanks and infantry. The infantry behind the tank fell from time to time, but their pace did not stop.


    A tank, more than 100 meters away from the front line, pressed an anti tank mine. After a burst of fire and smoke, it began to burn. Several fire covered tankers got out of the tank and ran towards their positions. Without running far away, they were all knocked down by our soldiers.


    Several other tanks stopped and used artillery fire to suppress our firepower points in place to cover the infantry charging forward.


    Seeing this, Captain aftuhov''s voice came from the stairway: "report to the division chief and chief of staff, guerrillas call." Boroda quickly went forward to receive the telegram in his hand and read aloud to me: "all the German troops have left the village of piatnica. After repeated verification by our guerrillas, the enemy has three infantry companies, one artillery company and one tank company. At present, except one infantry company left behind to protect the artillery array, the other two companies have taken trucks to your location under the cover of tanks. " Reading this, boroda breathed a sigh of relief and suggested to me, "Comrade division commander, if the guerrillas have accurate information, then there are only two infantry companies and one tank company attacking our army in the front. With our current strength, we can fight back against them."


    I waved my hand and said, "no, it''s not time. If we don''t get rid of the German artillery positions, their shells will bring heavy casualties to our counterattack forces. " At this point, I turn the subject around and ask, "have the 1132nd and 1133rd regiments arrived yet?"


    Boroda nodded and replied, "the reserves are all in place. I order them to stand by in the south of the village for the time being. At your command, they can fight right away. "


    I raised my telescope again to see the battle at the front. I saw a heavy machine gun fire point of our army. The shooter was calmly aiming at the German infantry and firing. One soldier after another fell in front of his muzzle. All of a sudden, a tank shell directly hit the firepower point. With the sound of "boom", the two living soldiers turned into blood fog in the sky in an instant.


    I was so angry that I smashed my fist on the windowsill in front of me. I turned my head and saw that aftukhov had not come downstairs yet. I immediately told him, "Comrade captain, you should go down and call major Antonov immediately, and let the tanks on the second line of defense fire, so as to knock down all the German tanks parked in the front of our army."


    "I understand!" The captain agreed and ran downstairs quickly.


    Two minutes later, our tank company opened fire at the same time. Seven tank shells made a beautiful arc in the air and landed in the German tank line. Two German tanks were hit directly. The lethal ammunition blasted the surrounding area into a sea of fire. The flying shrapnel swept down the infantry following the tank.


    At this moment, Captain aftuhov came up with a telephone on his back and yelled excitedly at us: "report to the division chief, chief of staff, and the circuitous troops. They are attacking the German artillery positions."


    I was overjoyed to hear that the army was attacking the German artillery position. I took the earphone and the telephone from the captain, put the earphone on my head, held the microphone and asked aloud, "I''m acting division commander oshanina, who are you?"


    "Report to division commander," a loud gunshot and grenade explosion came from the earphone. A man was shouting, "I''m captain Boris, battalion commander. My troops have reached the German artillery position and are attacking them."


    "How''s it going?"


    "The enemy''s nine guns have been captured by us, and the troops are now fighting with the German infantry defending the artillery positions. But please rest assured, because our surprise attack caught the Germans off guard. In five minutes at most, we can solve the battle. "


    The German artillery was captured by us. If we could turn the muzzle to hit the German, our counterattack would be much easier. Thinking of this, I tentatively asked Boris, "Comrade captain, can anyone use those captured cannons?"


    Unexpectedly, he replied carelessly: "please don''t worry, division commander. Many of my subordinates turned out to be artillery soldiers. Because our artillery was lost in the battle, they became infantry temporarily. It''s just a matter of one sentence to turn the gun and hit the Germans. "


    Listening to what he said with such confidence, I immediately felt more relaxed than ever before, so I told him: "Comrade captain, after you have defeated the German infantry, you immediately organize the artillery and turn the muzzle to bombard the German troops who are attacking our front line. As for the firing parameters, I''ll have them reported to you later. "


    After terminating the call with Captain Boris, Captain aftuhov went downstairs with the telephone on his back. I turned to boroda and said, "Comrade chief of staff, we can now begin to deploy counter attacks. Inform major Antonov that as soon as captain Boris''s shelling of the German army stops, the tank company ambushing on the flank will immediately move out, and all the troops on the first and second lines will begin to fight back. At the same time, the battalions in the south of the village should be transferred to the village first. When they fight back later, let them follow. Winning a battle is very helpful to the morale of the troops. "


    Ten minutes later, our artillery attack began, and the German soldiers who had been lying in front of the front and shooting against our army were immediately enveloped in a sea of fire.


    I went back to the headquarters downstairs and asked boroda to call Antonov for me. After dialing the phone, I took the phone from boroda''s hand and immediately yelled into it, "major Antonov, the troops in the second line of defense are ready to attack. Order the soldiers to move forward and beat me hard. No matter how many enemies there are, don''t come back to see me until they are completely destroyed. " In the microphone, came major Antonov''s heroic voice: "please rest assured, I promise to complete the task." Almost at the same time, the sound of "Wula" came from the microphone. I don''t have to ask, but I also know clearly that it was the roar of the second company of guards and the commanders and fighters of the combat battalion.

 Chapter 382

    The battle ended after dark.


    While the troops were counting the results, long lost Capt. sholov, major atzenuk, lieutenant commander petrel and their political commissars came to my new headquarters in the church. Although they came to the headquarters for different periods of time, they came to the headquarters for the same purpose. On seeing my face, several political commissars rushed out a document from their briefcase and handed it to me.


    I opened it and saw that they were all applications for awarding medals to soldiers who showed bravery in battle. In my impression, there should be a big difference between sholov regiment, the main force in this battle, and acenuk regiment and petrel regiment, the reserve forces, when reporting the list of meritorious personnel. Unexpectedly, on the application form I held in my hand, the number of meritorious persons reported by the three regiments was almost the same.


    After I read their application patiently, I handed it to boroda, who was sitting next to me. Then I looked at the head and commissar of 1132 regiment, frowned and said, "major atzenuk, new commissar of zorotu, are you two reporting too many people? You know, although I transferred two infantry battalions from your regiment, they just took part in the battle as reserves."


    Atzenuk and zorrotusin blushed with shame when they heard what I said. Zorrotuxin, political commissar of the Communist Youth League, said to me with a bitter smile: "Comrade division, we are wrong. Although the soldiers of our regiment only take part in this battle as a reserve team, if they don''t get any honor, it will not only affect their morale, but also make it difficult for the team to carry them in the future. "


    I slapped the table, stood up, pointed to zorrotusin, and said sternly, "what did you say? If you don''t give the soldiers of your regiment the necessary honor, it will affect their morale and make it difficult for the troops to carry them. If you can''t lead the troops well, what else do you want your political commissar to do? If you feel that you are unable to lead the 1132 regiment with your own ability, I will speak as soon as possible so that I can report to the higher authorities and let them send a new chief political commissar to take over your post. "


    After I was angry with zorrotou, I looked at Lieutenant Colonel petrel and political commissar awakov of 1133 regiment again and said, "tell me, why do you report so many meritorious personnel to zorrotou


    Awakov waved his hand and said, "it''s not like this, sir. You misunderstood me. Although our division''s troops are also reserve forces, they still made some achievements in counterattack, and several of them captured a German tank completely. "


    "Oh, 1133 captured a German tank?" Because when the troops began to fight back, I came down from the clock tower. I really didn''t know whether the reserve team would win the battle. So I turned around and asked boroda, who was looking at the application: "Comrade chief of staff, do you know this?"


    Boroda put down his papers and looked up at me blankly, as if he hadn''t figured out the situation, so I repeated the question again. He nodded his head hard and said definitely, "I know that corporal yeffim of 1133 regiment captured a German tank with three soldiers, and captured all the members at the same time." Then he took one of the many documents, handed it to me, and said, "the political commissar awakov wrote clearly in his application."


    I took a look at it. It recorded in detail the whole process of how corporal yeffim led the soldiers to capture the tanks. At the same time, it also wrote a sentence: due to the bravery shown by the comrade in the battle, the 1133 regiment invited him for third class merit and suggested that he be awarded a military medal.


    Seeing that I held the application for merit in my hand and did not speak, political commissar awakov''s face became overcast. Maybe he was worried that I would reject the application. For a moment, I thought that although the 1132 and 1133 regiments were only reserve forces, they did not play a significant role in the whole battle, if there were no meritorious personnel, it would really make the commanders and fighters feel cold. Now that there is a real hero, let''s make it clear. Thinking of this, I handed the form back to boroda and said, "Comrade chief of staff, I agree to corporal yeffim''s application for meritorious service. At the same time, I changed the third class meritorious service to the first class meritorious service." With these words, I observed the expressions of petrel and awakov intentionally. They were stunned at first. After looking at each other, their faces showed joyful expressions.


    I turned my eyes to shailov and his political commissar Gagarin, who had not spoken for a long time. I coughed and cleared my throat. Then I said, "chief shailov..."


    Before I finished, Jiajialin, the political commissar of the Communist Youth League, had already said: "I''m sorry, sir. In today''s battle, the soldiers of major gogasov''s battalion were frightened by the German artillery because of their inexperience in fighting. Only in this way can some soldiers leave their positions because of panic. It''s all my fault. I''m not strict with them. Please rest assured, sir. I promise you that in the next battle, we will not... "


    "Not what?" I interrupted him, went up to him and hilov, and asked deliberately with a straight face: "Comrade political commissar, do you promise me that no matter how hard the German shelling is, no one will retreat from the position in the next battle?"


    Gagarin blushed, nodded hard, and answered firmly, "yes, sir, I promise!"


    I couldn''t help laughing when I saw his serious face answering my questions. I reached out and patted him and sholov on the shoulder and said kindly, "your regiment soldiers did well in this battle. Whether it was the Caucasus battalion that blocked the enemy directly or the Boris battalion that went back to the enemy''s rear to attack the German artillery positions, they all performed very well. "


    "Serve the Soviet motherland!" Gagarin straightened up and answered me loudly¡° I think, "the colonel sholov, who had not spoken for a long time, began," for all the officers and men of our regiment, they know their responsibilities. Even if there is only one person left, they will fight bravely. "¡° I know, I know, comrade colonel. " I nodded at him and said, "although at the beginning, some soldiers were frightened by the fierce artillery fire of the enemy, they were panicked and even ran away from their positions. But when the company of guards led by Captain bulda appeared in front of them, they immediately remembered their responsibility, returned to the front line, picked up the gun in their hands and launched a deadly battle with the German invaders. It is because of the indomitable and brave fighting of these ordinary soldiers that we finally defeated the enemy and achieved brilliant results. " Just then, the telephone on the table rang. Boroda, who was sitting at the table, picked up the receiver and raised his voice and said, "I''m captain boroda, chief of staff of the acting division. Where are you, please?" Hearing the other party''s reply, he immediately stood up, straightened up and said respectfully, "Hello, Comrade General. Yes, comrade division commander, she is discussing with several political commissars of the regimental commander about honoring the commanders and fighters who took part in the war. OK, I''ll put her on the phone right away! " Boroda covered the microphone with his hand and said to me in a low voice, "Comrade division commander, it''s the phone call from general kolovnikov, commander of the group army. He said that he has something important to tell you." I walked up to him a few steps, took the phone from his hand, also learned from him, straightened my waist, and said to the microphone in a loud voice: "Hello, comrade general, I''m acting division commander, major oshanina. I''m waiting for your order."¡° Well done, comrade oshanina General kolovnikov''s happy voice came from the phone. He said excitedly, "I''ve received intelligence and said that your" is good. That''s a good idea. How many military medals and certificates do you need? I''ll send them to you overnight. " I covered the microphone and asked boroda, "chief of staff, how many military medals and certificates do you need?" Boroda nodded and replied, "Comrade division, I have counted out that there are 21 collectives and 378 individuals who have rendered meritorious service. They need 120 military medals and 300 certificates of merit." I was startled to hear such a large number, but I immediately reported the data to kolovnikov. After hearing this, he gave another hum and said, "I''ll send someone to deliver the military medals and certificates to you overnight. The celebration meeting will be held tomorrow morning, and I will personally preside over it. " Then he hung up the phone.

 Chapter 383

    As soon as I put down the phone and was about to speak, Colonel sholov could not wait to ask, "Comrade division commander, what did the Group Commander say on the phone?"


    I felt a little uncomfortable in the face of such an impolite question from sholoff. Just as I wanted to say something about him, I saw that the rest of the chief political commissars were used to it. I immediately realized that Colonel sholoff might be such an acute character and didn''t mean to make trouble with me. When I thought about it, I gave up the idea of criticizing him, I simply repeated what general kolovnikov said on the phone.


    After hearing what I said, sholov immediately got excited. He waved his fist vigorously and said aloud, "it''s really wonderful. If the group commander comes to the celebration meeting tomorrow, it will greatly boost the morale of our army."


    As soon as sholov''s words were over, League political commissar Jiajialin immediately said, "yes, if our soldiers know that the comrades of the group army commander will come to present awards for them in person, their morale will be greatly boosted."


    The other leaders and political commissars also agreed.


    Seeing that everyone''s reaction was so strong, boroda asked me with a smile, "Comrade division, are you going to let those troops participate in tomorrow''s celebration?"


    As soon as boroda''s words came out, the room became quiet, and everyone''s eyes turned to me. Although we all know that there will be a celebration meeting tomorrow morning, the decision-making power of those troops is in my hands.


    In full view of the public, it really makes me a little uncomfortable to make a decision that no one can offend. I looked down to think about it, then raised my head and said, "now I announce the list of troops to attend the celebration meeting tomorrow." I turned my eyes to sholov and Gagarin, and then said, "the celebration meeting will start at seven o''clock tomorrow morning. The first troops to attend the meeting are colonel sholov''s camp Caucasus and camp Boris. In this battle, Their outstanding performance is worthy of the heroic collective. Let all the officers and men of these two battalions attend the celebration meeting. Do you have any opinions? " My last sentence is to ask everyone present.


    "No comment!" Col. sholov answered before the others, and his words caused a good laugh. Gagarin quietly pulled the corner of his coat and reminded him in a low voice: "Comrade commander, don''t be too excited. Please keep calm." Sholoff raised his hand and touched the back of his head. He laughed awkwardly.


    I went on: "one company from each of the two battalions that participated in the war was drawn by the petrel regiment to attend the conference. By the way, "I stopped for a moment and specially reminded him," corporal yeffim, who captured the German tank, won the first-class merit awarded by the division headquarters. He must not be absent at that time. "


    "Don''t worry, sir. I promise I''ll finish the task you''ve given me," said Lieutenant Colonel Peter in a loud voice


    Finally, I turned my eyes to major atzenuk and zorrotusin, and saw me looking at them, both of whom bowed their heads in shame. Before the beginning of the battle, major atzenuk, who had no clear idea of the situation, was reluctant to transfer his reserve troops to the headquarters of the division. Later, under my repeated supervision, he reluctantly sent two battalions.


    At the beginning of the counterattack, the Peter regiment, also a reserve team, had arrived from the village and "changed his second-class merit to first-class merit." With these words, I asked several political commissars of the regimental leaders present, "do you have any objection to my decision?"


    All the people shook their heads in order to show that there was no objection.


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. The clock had already pointed to 12 o''clock, so I waved to everyone and said, "it''s late. You all go back to have a rest. I remember to ask the commanders and fighters to put on their new uniforms tomorrow. "


    They agreed, saluted me and boroda, and left the headquarters.


    After everyone went out, boroda suddenly said to me, "Sir, I have an idea to ask for your opinion. What do you think? "


    I went back to the table and sat down. I took the cold tea on the table and took a sip of it. Then I said calmly, "chief of staff, what can I say between you and me? Don''t beat around the bush."


    Boroda sat down in front of me and said, "Rita, although we have only wiped out a few hundred Germans in today''s battle, we have achieved such a result soon after our army''s new defeat, which can be regarded as a great victory. You see, should we report the news to commander meletskov and make him happy? "


    When I heard him say this, I was immediately excited. This is a great opportunity to show my face in front of the superior leaders! But my mouth was very calm: "well, comrade boroda, what you said is very reasonable. Commander meletskov should also know the news of the victory. However, you should call the commander in person to tell him the good news. After all, you used to be his deputy. "


    Boroda got up, went to the high frequency phone, picked up the phone and started dialing. After a little effort, I heard that the phone was connected, and then boroda began a conversation with the other party: "Hello! Is this the headquarters of the front army? Hello, major! I''m captain boroda, the former adjutant of general meletskov. I''d like to report something to the senior general. Do you think he can answer the phone? what? General is not here?! Oh, I see. Thank you, major. OK, I see. Good luck to you Then he hung up with a slap.


    Seeing that he came over dejectedly, before he could sit down, I couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade boroda, what''s the matter? Why didn''t senior general answer your call? " After sitting down again, boroda shook his head and said, "it''s not that the general refused to answer my phone, but that he is not in the headquarters of the front army at all."¡° Not here? " I asked curiously, "senior general is not in the headquarters of the front army at this time. Where is he? Did you go to any unit for inspection? " Boroda waved his hand and replied, "Rita, you guessed wrong. The senior general is not in the headquarters of the front army. Instead, he went back to Moscow with general vasilevsky, chief of the general staff¡° Back to Moscow? When will they be back? " I was curious and kept asking, forgetting that some things are confidential in the army and not everyone is entitled to know. With a bitter smile, boroda shook his head again and said, "this is a secret, and the new deputy of the general is not clear." I''m sorry that I didn''t get the answer I wanted. I looked at my watch again, stood up and said to boroda in a business tone: "Comrade chief of staff, it''s getting late. I''m going to have a rest. I''ll trouble you to sort out the list of meritorious deeds to be used tomorrow. " Boroda nodded and said, "Rita, I''ll take care of this. You can rest assured."

 Chapter 384

    I went back to the dormitory of the female health worker and chatted with ulanowa, who had just come back from duty, before I lay down with her clothes and had a rest. Unexpectedly, I couldn''t sleep all the time. I tossed and turned in bed, thinking about tomorrow''s celebration meeting all the time. I was afraid that something might go wrong. It was not until I saw through the window that it was daybreak and sleepiness came up that I closed my eyes and prepared to sleep for a while.


    At this moment, there was a sound of knocking on the door. Before I got up, ulanowa, who was sleeping near the door, got out of bed. She grumbled discontentedly: "who, knock on the door so early, and let people sleep?"


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It''s less than five o''clock. It''s a little too early. Knocking at the door at this time may be to inform ulannova to pick up the wounded.


    Just thinking about it, ulannova had opened the door and asked: "Hello, comrade soldier, you come here early in the morning and knock on my door. What can I do for you?"


    After ulannova finished, the soldiers outside were silent for a while, and then timidly asked: "female health worker, are you awake? I''m calling her on the order of the chief of staff. "


    It was said that he came to me. I jumped out of bed, walked to the door barefoot, gently pulled open the door of ulannova, looked at the soldier standing outside, and asked: "Comrade soldier, who asked you to call me?"


    When the soldier saw my appearance, he immediately stepped back, raised his hand to salute and replied, "report to Mr. division chief. It was the chief of staff who asked me to call you. He said that the commander of the group army will arrive soon. Please go with him to meet him. "


    I nodded and said, "I see. You wait for a while. I''ll wash my face and go." With that, I pulled ulannova back and closed the door.


    Ulannova saw me close the door, picked up the thermos bottle on the wall, lifted the lid, put her hand on the bottle mouth, felt the temperature, and then said: "Rita, the water in the bottle is a little cold, you wait here for a while, I''ll help you get hot water back to wash your face."


    I waved my hand and said, "ulanova, don''t bother. I''ll wash it with the water in this bottle." Then I took the water bottle from her hand, went to the washbasin shelf, opened the lid and poured the warm water into the washbasin.


    After washing my face, I put on my boots and said goodbye to ulannova. Then I went to the door, opened the door and said to the soldiers waiting outside, "OK, comrade soldier, I''ve finished washing my face. Let''s go to the division headquarters now." Finish saying, lift a leg to walk, that soldier hurriedly followed me.


    Two cars were parked at the gate of the division headquarters. The one in front is a jeep. It''s estimated that it''s for me and boroda. The one in the back is a truck. There are more than ten armed soldiers around the car.


    Seeing me walking past, the door behind the jeep suddenly opened. Boroda got out of the jeep, trotted up to me, stood at attention and saluted, saying, "Comrade division commander, just received a call from the headquarters of the group army, saying that Comrade commander has set out and will arrive at us in about half an hour."


    I raised my hand, looked at my watch, nodded and said, "well, I see. Let''s set out. If we delay any longer, comrade commander will enter the village. " With that, he went to the front of the car and stooped into the car.


    "All aboard," she yelled outside After shouting, he stood outside the car for a while. It is estimated that after all the soldiers got on the car, he got into the car. Close the door, and then order the driver: "drive."


    On the way, I thought that general kolovnikov had come here to celebrate the event, but I must not make mistakes, so I asked boroda: "Comrade chief of staff, are the names of meritorious personnel and collectives ready?"


    Boroda nodded and replied, "Sir, please rest assured that you are ready. Just wait for the commander to send us the military medals and certificates we need, and then we can give them to the meritorious personnel. "


    The jeep left the village and drove East on highway 56, then stopped. Boroda opened the door, jumped down, stood outside the car and said to me, "Comrade commander, let''s wait for Comrade commander here."


    I nodded, got out of the car and stood on the side of the road with him. The guard soldiers of the truck behind also jumped out of the car one after another, quickly ran behind us and stood in a neat line. The two cars turned around in the same place, drove dozens of meters in the direction of the village, and then stopped at the side of the road.


    It''s cold in the early morning of summer in Russia.


    I stood on the side of the road, feeling the cold wind today is particularly piercing, I can''t help shivering.


    Seeing me like this, boroda next to me asked with concern, "Comrade division, are you a little cold?"


    I nodded and said, "yes, I didn''t expect it to be so cold in the morning. I don''t know when the commander will arrive. If I wait for an hour like this, I think I will catch a cold. "


    Boroda looked around and said in a low voice, "Comrade division, why don''t you go back to the car and wait for the commander''s car to show up before you come back."


    His words made me feel a little excited. I wanted to push the boat along with the current. But when I turned around and saw the soldiers standing straight behind me, I immediately gave up the idea of returning to the car, because that would damage my image in the eyes of the soldiers.


    In this way, we stood in the cold wind for more than half an hour. Just when I began to get impatient, the roar of the car motor faintly came from the distance¡° Sir, listen, it''s the sound of the motor. " Boroda sniffed hard and said to me excitedly, "it should be Comrade commander. They''re here." Hearing the more and more clear sound of the motor, I murmured to myself in my heart: "but if we don''t come again, we should all be cold." After a while, a jeep and four trucks full of soldiers appeared in my view. Looking at the machine gun on the top of the truck, I secretly despised the general kolovnikov: "aren''t you a little major general? You have to take two trucks of soldiers to protect you when you travel. Zhukov''s rank is as high as others. Every time he goes to the front line, he''s a light driver. Besides the driver, he can take three or five more security guards at most. How can you be so pompous? " The motorcade stopped more than ten meters away from us. After the jeep stopped, there was no one in the car. On the contrary, all the guards on the truck jumped out of the car and quickly set up a cordon around. Seeing this scene, boroda said to me in a low voice: "Comrade division commander, I didn''t expect that the commander of the group army had such a big shelf that he took a company with him when he went out. You see, what shall we do now? " Although I was extremely dissatisfied with kolovnikov in my heart, I had to maintain my basic respect for him at this time. So I also said to boroda in a low voice: "Comrade chief of staff, the commander of the group army did not get out of the car. He was waiting for us to meet him. Let''s go and say hello to him. " Boroda and I walked side by side to the jeep and stopped. I raised my hand to salute, and then loudly reported, "report to the commander of the group army, acting division commander of the 378th division, major oshanina, and chief of staff, Captain boroda. Please give us instructions!" At this moment, the door behind the jeep was pushed open. General kolovnikov stepped down from the jeep, pretended to be surprised and said, "Oh, isn''t this division oshanina and chief of staff boloda? What are you doing here if you don''t wait for me in the division headquarters? "¡° Comrade report commander, "boroda stepped forward and replied," you are our superior. It''s basic etiquette to come out to meet you. You can''t let others say that your subordinates are impolite. When the commander comes to inspect the troops, they don''t even fight face to face. They stay in the headquarters and wait for their superiors to find them. " Kolovnikov, listening to boloda''s words, came to us with a smile. At the same time, he stretched out his hand and said, "I didn''t expect that you would come out specially to meet me. It''s so cold that you''re frozen." Holding his warm hand, instead of answering his question directly, I politely said, "Comrade commander, welcome to our 378th division to guide our work. Please get on the bus and go to the division headquarters to have a rest. After the chief of staff and I have reported the work of the army to you, we can hold a celebration meeting. " Kolovnikov nodded with satisfaction. After shaking hands with boroda, he continued: "it''s too early now. Let the soldiers have a rest. I''ll go to your division headquarters first and listen to your work report." With that, he turned to get on the jeep and slammed the door. Seeing that the general got on the bus, the soldiers who were on guard also quickly returned to the truck and waited for the bus orderly under the command of commanders at all levels. But after all the soldiers had finished waiting for the bus, kolovnikov''s jeep started slowly and continued to drive towards the village. When kolovnikov''s motorcade passed in front of us, I waved my hand and said aloud, "get in the car. We''ll follow the general and go back to the village." When we got back to the village, kolovnikov''s motorcade had stopped outside the church door, but it was strange that all the people stayed in the car and no one got off. Seeing this scene, I was stunned at first and then reacted. General kolovnikov was waiting for us to ask him to get out of the car. So after I got out of the jeep, I trotted all the way to his jeep. First, outside the jeep, I said to him in a loud voice, "report to the commander, division headquarters is here. Please get out of the car." With that, he stepped forward, opened the door, put his hand on the doorframe and waited respectfully for the general to get off. Seeing that I was so attentive, kolovnikov nodded with satisfaction, came out of the car, looked around with his hands behind his back, and then said, "major oshanina, Captain boroda, it''s too cold outside. Let''s go to the headquarters." With that, he went up the steps of the church and went to the headquarters.

 Chapter 385

    As soon as kolovnikov entered the division headquarters, boroda, who had been prepared for a long time, immediately asked the soldiers to bring hot water to the general and his accompanying staff, saying that they had been working hard and that they would wash their faces first. After washing and gargling, he asked the kitchen to serve them a rich breakfast.


    Looking at a variety of breakfasts and hot tea on the table, I gave a friendly smile to boroda. Actually, people who have been adjutants to the commander of the front army are better than me in dealing with people and things, and they are more considerate than me. I said to kolovnikov with a smile, "Comrade General, you and your comrades in the headquarters went out early. You probably haven''t had breakfast yet. These are all made by the chef in the division. I don''t know if they are to your taste. Please have a taste


    Kolovnikov took a piece of barbecue with his fork, took a bite, and opened his mouth and said, "the barbecue is delicious, not bad!"


    I said with a smile: "Comrade General, if it''s delicious, eat more. You''ve been driving for such a long time. It''s estimated that the comrades will be hungry for a long time. "


    Kolovnikov grabbed a slice of thinly cut cheese with his hand and, before putting it into his mouth, called to the staff at the table: "eat, comrades! Don''t mention it. You haven''t had time to eat before you set out in the morning. Maybe you''re all hungry. " Then someone raised his head and said to me and boroda, "Hey, I said Comrade oshanina and boroda, what are you still doing? Sit down and eat! You know, this is your territory. We''re here to rub our bread. "


    In the friendly laughter, boroda and I sat down and began to eat breakfast.


    When I was eating, I inadvertently raised my head and saw the commander sitting opposite me, frowning at the food on the table. Seeing his expression, I can''t say it in my heart. Maybe he will make use of it.


    Sure enough, the commander stood up with a slap on the table and said, "Mr. o''shanina, I want to ask you something! The soldiers on the front line can''t even have three meals a day, but you and your chief of staff stay in the headquarters of the division every day


    "Comrade deputy chief of staff," before the lieutenant commander spoke, general kolovnikov stood up and interrupted him. He said in a tone of teaching: "the deputy chief of staff didn''t speak either. He got up to salute and went outside. I quickly touched boroda with my arm and said in a low voice, "Comrade chief of staff, please help the deputy chief of staff." Boroda nodded, got up and went out.


    General kolovnikov looked at his watch and said in a loud voice, "comrades, eat quickly. We have something important to do later."


    After breakfast, Colonel Donskoy, Colonel sholov, Lieutenant Colonel petrel, major atzenuk and their political commissars arrived one after another, so we had a meeting at the division headquarters.


    These league level cadres are all deputy chief of staff. They quickly stood up and said, "Comrade report commander," since everything is ready, let''s go to the meeting place. " With that, general kolovnikov stood up.


    The venue of the celebration conference is just outside the division headquarters, and the platform at the church gate is the rostrum for us to preside over the conference. After going out, I specially looked up at the top of the gate without any banners. It seems that the old man doesn''t like to engage in this wasteful display.


    The open space in front of the church was already full of commanders and fighters who had come to the meeting. Under the leadership of commanders at all levels, they formed a neat square array. Because I said hello yesterday, they all changed into new uniforms.


    In front of each square array stood their respective commanders, and even the political commissars who had just come out of the headquarters also stood in the front of their respective troops.


    I turned my eyes to the square of the nearest guard company. Next to captain Gusev, there stood Capt. Burda and Capt. chumark. Behind them were a group of lieutenant officers. I guess it was the deputy company commander and platoon leader of each company, because I saw the wounded vaskov standing upright with the help of others.


    I said to kolovnikov in a low voice, "Comrade commander, time is almost up. The celebration meeting can begin."


    Kolovnikov nodded, took two steps forward, came to the edge of the platform, scanned the team with his eyes, and then said aloud, "comrades!"


    With his voice, the soldiers in the line came to attention, and then all the officers and men, facing him, closed their eyes slightly, raised their chin high, waiting for him to go on.


    Seeing the reaction of the soldiers, kolovnikov nodded his head with satisfaction and said frankly, "today I''m here to present military medals and certificates for those heroes who showed brave and fearless fighting spirit in yesterday''s battle. Here, I want to say to you: good, great! Good boys, you are all good boys


    After kolovnikov''s brief opening remarks, there was silence. But it was only a short moment, and then a thunderous cheering broke out in the square: "Wula! Wula!! Wula The earth shaking cry made people feel excited. Even I, who was on the platform, couldn''t help shouting with rhythm.


    Then, boroda stepped forward, raised his hands and pressed them down. After the shouts of the commanders and fighters subsided, he yelled: "I declare that the conference of asking for meritorious service will begin now. I ask the acting division commander, major oshanina, to announce the groups and individuals who have rendered meritorious service." I stepped forward, first raised my hand to salute the commanders and fighters in the open field, then took the folder from boroda''s hand, opened it and read aloud: "in recognition of the bravery and fearlessness shown by the commanders and fighters in the front line of the Great Patriotic War and the many achievements they have achieved, we hereby award the title of heroic company of guard company 1 and company 2, And won the collective first class merit. I would like to invite Capt. Burda, the first company commander, and Capt. chumark, the second company commander, to come on stage to receive military medals and certificates. " Bulda and chumak agreed, walked up the steps to the platform, saluted us, and took the certificate and the military medal in the box from boroda''s hand. After shaking hands with boroda, they stepped back, saluted again, turned and walked down the steps. As they left, I continued to read: "award the hero camp of the Caucasus camp of the sholov regiment the glorious title, and honor the collective first-class merit, and invite the commander of the camp, Gao Jiasuo Fu, to take the stage to receive the award." " To confer the honor of the heroic battalion of Boris battalion of sholov regiment, and to honor the first class collective merit, and to invite the battalion commander Boris to come on stage to receive the military medal and certificate. "" The fifth and sixth tank companies of Donskoy regiment will be awarded the title of glorious tank company and won the first class collective merit. Please ask the head of Donskoy regiment, Colonel Donskoy, to take the stage to receive the military medal and certificate of merit. " After awarding military medals and certificates for collective service, individual military medals and certificates were issued. This time we started with the third class, followed by the second class and finally the first class. There are many commanders who have made first-class contributions, such as major Antonov, the chief of staff, because this battle was under his own command and he has made great contributions to the battle. This first-class contribution really comes down to him. Captain aftuhov of the independent telephone company, because he ensured the smooth communication during the fighting, I helped him to argue for it, and then boroda agreed to grant him the right. As for lieutenant vaskov, there was no objection from the assessors, and he was granted first-class merit by unanimous vote Lieutenant vaskov went deep behind enemy lines and rescued hundreds of captured officers and men. However, after our army''s action was discovered by the Germans, Lieutenant vaskov took the initiative to lead the enemy away, so that our army could successfully escape. In order to commend him for his meritorious service, the division headquarters decided to award him a first-class military medal. Now, let''s invite lieutenant vaskov to come on stage to receive the prize. " As soon as I spoke, there was a thunderous applause on the floor. With the help of two second lieutenants, vaskov came slowly. When he stepped onto the platform, I handed the folder in my hand to boroda, took the certificate and the military medal in the box from his hand, and went to meet vaskov. Seeing vaskov salute me, I return the salute with a smile, and then hand over the certificate and military medal in both hands. He gently broke free from the arm of the commander who supported him, reached out his hands and took what I had in my hand. He specially made one hand to shake hands with me. After shaking his hand, he stepped back and raised his hand to give me a standard military salute. When the two second lieutenants helped him again, he turned to the officers and men in the open space, took the military medal out of the box, raised it high above his head, and cried out: "glory belongs to us, glory belongs to the motherland!" His cry immediately aroused the resonance of the commanders and fighters, and almost all of them echoed him and followed him with a loud cry: "glory belongs to us, glory belongs to the motherland! Wura! Wula!! Wula The atmosphere of the celebration meeting was pushed to a climax in the loud shouts of the commanders and fighters.

 Chapter 386

    The enthusiasm of the Soviet soldiers eager for honor was fully aroused by the celebration, especially the commanders and fighters of the petrel regiment and the azenik regiment who took part in the battle but failed to perform meritorious service. They looked at their robes, wore military medals and received certificates of merit, but they had nothing. They were very red eyed.


    For a moment, the army''s fighting mood was high, not to mention the sweet commanders like sholov and Donskoy. Even in the last battle, petrel and yazeniuk, who were afraid of the enemy''s evasion, called me every once in a while to ask when the next battle would take place, and repeatedly stressed that their troops would be the main force in the battle this time.


    Over the next few days, I became extremely busy. First of all, a group of officers and men of the former 2nd shock group army who were scattered were assigned to our division. Fortunately, the soldiers said that it was the same everywhere, so as soon as they arrived in the army, I directly assigned them to the company with no staff. And those commanders really give me a headache for a few days, because even if they can''t return to their original posts, they can''t go to the company to be soldiers. Finally, after repeated discussions with several political commissars, they reluctantly agreed to assign them to their regiments as deputy posts to coordinate with the former military commanders in training the troops.


    In addition, I travel between the various units every day, in addition to checking the training situation of the units, that is, talking with commanders at all levels, trying to increase the understanding between me and the commanders in this way, so as to improve my control over the units.


    Time passed so fast that weeks passed in a flash, and it was the middle of July unconsciously.


    On that day, after watching the training of the two regiments of Donskoy and sholov in the coordinated combat between infantry and Tanzania, I had dinner in the sholov regiment and returned to the division headquarters in the evening.


    I got out of the car outside the church and said to the driver, "come here tomorrow morning at eight o''clock to pick me up." With that, he dragged his tired body along the steps to the headquarters.


    Just as I was about to enter the door, boroda ran out of it in a panic and hit me. The huge inertia made me step backward. Boroda was afraid that I would fall down the steps, so he grabbed me.


    After I got a firm foothold, I asked him discontentedly, "Comrade chief of staff, what are you doing in such a hurry? Don''t you know that as a division commander, you should keep a stable image in front of soldiers? "


    Boroda looked around and said to me in a low voice, "Rita, no, something''s wrong. The original commanders of the 2nd shock group army in the division have been arrested! "


    It took me only a few days to settle down these commanders. When I heard what boroda said, I was suddenly unknown. As I walked towards the headquarters, I asked aloud, "who is so bold that I dare to go to our 378th division to catch my subordinates?"


    Walking into the headquarters, I saw a lieutenant sitting at the table carelessly. When I came in, I didn''t even stand up to say hello. Seeing his attitude, I was even more angry and asked him impolitely, "Comrade lieutenant, which part are you from? Don''t you know that, according to the regulations, when you see a commander with a higher rank than yourself, you should stand up and salute me? "


    "Major oshanina," said the lieutenant, still sitting there, motionless and unhurried, "let me introduce myself. I am lieutenant turchinov of the people''s Committee of the interior and the new chief of the secret service section of the front army. "


    When I heard that they were officers of the interior department, I could not help but feel a thump. These people have always been the night owls who come to the house for nothing. They suddenly appeared in my division headquarters today. Did they come with any important tasks?


    When I thought of this, I sat down opposite him and asked boroda to sit down. Then I said, "Hello, comrade lieutenant. What are you doing in my teacher Speaking of this, it suddenly occurred to me that before entering the gate, boroda said that the original commanders of the 2nd shock group army had been arrested. Was it the man in front of me who did it? So I asked: "before I entered the gate, I heard that many of my commanders had been arrested. I don''t know if they were arrested by your men?"


    Turchinov smile calmly, said: "yes, the original commander of the second shock group army, are I let people catch."


    I was a little surprised by his calmness, so I bit my back teeth and asked, "why? Can you tell me why? "


    "Why?" Turchinov sneered and said, "they are all traitors'' subordinates. They are suspected of collaborating with the enemy. I will take them back for interrogation."


    As soon as his voice was over, I stood up with a slap on the table and asked him in a loud voice: "Comrade lieutenant, please make it clear that the commanders you arrested were all from the second assault group army, and they had to go through all kinds of hardships to emerge from the German siege. They are heroes and will never be suspected of collaborating with the enemy. "


    Seeing my anger, turchinov stood up, put his hands on the edge of the table, and said coldly, "I got information that the day before yesterday, July 12, general Vlasov, the former commander of the second shock group army, had surrendered to the Germans, betrayed our motherland and became a shameful traitor. The commanders I arrested are all under the traitors'' hands. Do you think they are not suspected of cooperating with the enemy? "


    Turchinov said that, not only me, but also boloda was surprised. I didn''t expect that Vlasov really surrendered and became a traitor. It was clear, but I felt calm. So I sat down slowly, looked at turchinov who was eyeing me, and said with a smile, "Comrade lieutenant, I want you to find out one thing. Vlasov''s personal act is to rebel to the enemy, It has no contact with the majority of the commanders and fighters of the 2nd shock group army. I believe that the commanders you arrested are innocent, and I can prove that for them. " Turchinov glanced at me and said contemptuously, "you prove it for them. Who will prove it for you?" When I heard him say that, my blood immediately surged to my head. I took out my pistol, opened the insurance, slapped it on the table, and said in a loud voice, "Comrade lieutenant, let me remind you that this is my 378 division territory, not the secret service section of your interior department. If you don''t release the commanders of our division today, you won''t want to leave here. " When boroda saw that I had put my gun on the table, maybe he was afraid that I would kill the chief of the secret service section in a fit of anger. He quickly stood up and became a peacemaker: "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant turchinov, everyone should be quiet. If you have anything to say, it''s all your own. Don''t use a knife or a gun." To my surprise, turchinov was not frightened by my fierce momentum. He looked very calm. He sat down again and said calmly, "major oshanina, put away your scary tricks. Don''t think you are a teacher, I will be afraid of you. I also told you that I won''t let any of those commanders go. At the same time, I will take you to the secret service to be examined by us, because you were once a member of the 2nd assault group army. " I sneered and said, "Comrade lieutenant, you want to take me and so many commanders away from here. You''re so whimsical. " With that, I patted the table hard, turned my head to the door and cried out, "come on!" Usually, if I just yell like this, at least one officer on duty will come in. As a result, after today''s yelling, there is no movement at the door, let alone anyone coming in. What the hell is going on? When I went to the door and looked outside, I saw seven or eight sentinels standing outside the headquarters. They were all new faces I had never seen before. As soon as he turned his head, he saw that boroda was following me to the door and asked him in a loud voice: "Comrade chief of staff, what''s the matter? Where are the soldiers of our guard company? " Boroda bowed his head and replied, "these soldiers are brought by lieutenant turchinov. They are from the secret service." I understood in a flash that turchinov came to the division headquarters today to arrest me. I said hello to his female relatives in my heart, and then I rushed to the table with an arrow, trying to pick up the pistol I put on the table. Unfortunately, I was a little late, but when I first touched the pistol, the gun in lieutenant turchinov''s hand was already on my forehead. I knew that if I acted rashly, the lieutenant of the interior department would definitely dare to shoot. He could only hold the gun in his hand, put it gently on the table and slowly stood up straight. Seeing my obedience, turchinov sneered two times and yelled at the door: "come on With his shouts, four soldiers with big arms and round waists rushed in from outside the headquarters. Turchinov pointed at me with his hand and told the soldiers, "tie her up for me." Several soldiers promised to go up and grab my arm, twist it behind me and tie it tightly with a rope. I didn''t struggle because I knew that resistance was useless at this time. I looked at turchinov with fierce eyes and asked aloud, "Lieutenant turchinov, do you know what commander meletskov did?" I''m just trying to find out whether he, the chief of the secret service, is following meletskov''s orders to arrest people, or whether he is acting on his own. At the same time, I also remind boroda: I''m in trouble now, you go to meletskov to save me. Turchinov picked up the pistol I had put on the table, closed the safety, put it in his belt jacket, and said with a proud smile, "do you still want to wait for general meletzkov to save you? Let me tell you, don''t dream. The commander and the chief of general staff have returned to Moscow, but they haven''t come back yet. It''s not sure when we''ll be back. " With that, he waved his head at the soldiers and ordered, "take away!"

 Chapter 387

    At turchinov''s command, two interior ministry soldiers grabbed my arm and dragged me out. I turned to look at boroda, hoping that he would come out and say a few words. After all, he used to be an adjutant of general meletskov in the headquarters of the front army. If he told turchinov, he would ask commander meletskov before he could decide whether to let the secret service take me away. If he said so, it is estimated that there is still room for things to turn around, but at the moment he stands nervously, his body shaking like chaff. When turchinov passed him, he stopped to look at him. Seeing his frightened expression, he could not help humming contemptuously and quickly catching up with us.


    I was pushed into the back seat of a jeep by two soldiers, and then two soldiers got into the car and sat on my left and right. Turchinov sat in the co pilot''s seat, turned to look at me, and then told the driver: "drive, back to the front command."


    After the car started, I looked out of the window, and many commanders and fighters stood in the distance, pointing at the car I was sitting in. Although I have not been a division commander for a long time, I am confident that I have cultivated some contacts in such a short period of time, so I wishfully think that as long as I drive forward, there will be commanders and fighters who have got the news and spontaneously stand in a neat line on the side of the road to see me off. I didn''t expect that the cars were almost out of the village, and I didn''t see any organized troops. Even those officers and soldiers who stood by the roadside to watch the excitement, when they saw our car approaching them, they were too busy to hide in the distance.


    Seeing this scene, I couldn''t help sighing. I knew in my heart that the commanders and fighters were scared by the purge in the past few years. To them, the soldiers in the Ministry of internal affairs are as terrible as death. Not to mention the ordinary commanders and fighters, even marshal Tukhachevsky, who is so famous, doesn''t mean to kill them. No wonder boroda shivered when he saw me arrested.


    When I was frustrated, I inadvertently looked up and saw two familiar figures in the rearview mirror. I quickly turned around and looked back on the window. With the help of ulanova, vaskov, who was wearing a medical suit, ran far behind the car.


    Because the speed was too fast and vaskov was injured, they stopped after running for a while. After standing in place, they raised their hands and saluted me with a standard military salute. See this scene, my nose a sour, tears can not stop down the cheek slide down. I''m afraid the soldiers next to me will see the joke and turn around again after wiping away their tears.


    Five or six kilometers from the headquarters of the front army, the jeep stopped by the side of the road. The soldier on my right opened the door and got out. He quickly turned around after getting off the car, bent down and whispered to me, "get off the car, hurry up." At the same time, reach in and grab my arm and pull it out. I couldn''t stand up with my seat because I was tied backwards. I got up a little slowly. The soldier on the left was impatient and gave me a hard push on my back. I turned around and glared at him before I got out of the jeep with the help of the soldier outside.


    Turchinov looked at what happened with an expression. When we got out of the car, he opened the door and walked out. He looked around and told the two soldiers, "take her to the interrogation room." Then he went straight on with his hands behind his back.


    When I looked around, I found a row of newly built wooden houses in the roadside forest. There were many rooms in this row of houses. Soldiers with rifles were standing guard at every door. Judging from the high security situation, this was the place where the secret service held the prisoners.


    I was escorted by two soldiers to leave when the sound of the motor of the car came on the road. I turned around and saw a truck with a hood coming from the direction of the headquarters of the front army. Stop not far from the jeep. Then the tarpaulin at the back of the jeep is lifted and two armed soldiers jump out. After they got out of the car, they put down the baffle, and then yelled at the inside: "when we get to the place, all of us get out of the car."


    With their shouts, more than a dozen Lieutenant commanders jumped out of the car one after another. Like me, they were all tied back with their hands. Because it''s not too far away, I have a closer look. They are all new faces. I don''t know any of them. They should be the commanders of the former 2nd assault group army captured by the secret service from other divisions.


    After the commanders got off, they jumped two soldiers with guns from the car. At first sight, they knew that they were also from the secret service department. Like the soldiers who got off the car the first time, they were all responsible for taking care of the arrested commanders. At this time, a second lieutenant opened the car door from the co pilot''s side and called out to the four soldiers: "Hey, I said, don''t dally, hurry up and lock them up."


    When the four soldiers got the order, they immediately drove the commanders to the wooden house with guns. A captain may have been injured and limped when he walked. Naturally, he walked slowly. A soldier rushed to him and gave him a hard push behind him. He said impolitely, "hurry up, don''t dawdle."


    The captain was pushed into anonymity by this slap. He stopped and yelled at the soldier angrily: "soldier comrade, I warn you, don''t push me any more. I''m a red army commander, not a traitor. I''ve fought with the Krauts, and I''ve been wounded in battle. You don''t have the right to do this to me


    For the captain''s reprimand, the soldier did not say a word, raised the butt of his gun and smashed it down, making the captain stagger. He is not reconciled, and rushed up, according to the captain''s head is a few hard butt, directly hit the captain to the ground. Just as he was about to continue to fall, the second lieutenant came to stop him: "OK, don''t kill him." Then he called another soldier to come over, and together with the soldiers, he carried the captain with blood on his face to the cabin.


    Maybe I was so absorbed that the soldiers who escorted me cried a few times, but I didn''t hear them. I didn''t know it was time to follow them to the interrogation room until the soldiers who had just pushed me in the car gave me another push on my back. I didn''t dare to argue with the soldier for his rude behavior to me this time, for fear that the captain would suffer the same fate.


    Two soldiers took me to the southernmost door of the cabin. The soldier who pushed me first went up to say hello to the two sentinels on guard at the door, and then stood in front of the closed door and said, "Comrade lieutenant, we''ve brought people here. Can we go in?"


    As soon as his voice fell, turchinov''s voice came out of the room: "bring her in."


    The soldier promised, gently pushed the door open, turned to the soldier behind me and said, "take her in."


    The room was not big, and there was a square table in the middle, behind which turchinov sat. There is a small rectangular wooden table not far behind him. There is a famous staff sergeant sitting at the table. There are thick notebooks and pens in front of him. I guess he should be a recorder, who is responsible for recording interrogation records.


    As there was no place to sit, I had to stand at the table. The two soldiers did not leave the room, but stood behind me.


    Turchinov looked up at me and said slowly, "major oshanina, we brought you here today. We have a lot of questions to ask you."


    I know that in the territory of the Ministry of internal affairs, there is no reason to speak. During the Moscow defense war, after bezikov and I were caught at the Cheka headquarters in Lubyanka, or Stalin''s phone call came in time, it was estimated that we were both dead under the gun. So I nodded and answered steadily, "Lieutenant turchinov, please. As long as I know, I will say everything. "


    Turchinov turned to the sergeant sitting in the back and said, "sergeant jaransky, get ready to record."


    Jaransky nodded, indicating that everything was ready.


    Turchinov then faced me and asked, "major oshanina, first of all, I want to inform you of an important thing: according to the German intelligence intercepted by our Ministry of interior, general Vlasov, the former commander of the second shock group army, defected to the enemy the day before yesterday, that is, on July 12, and embarked on the evil road of betraying the motherland, becoming a shameful traitor. Why did Vlasov betray? There is only one answer. He is a person who strives for fame and profit without principle. Before that, his performance was a kind of disguise to hide his indifference to his motherland. His participation in the election was just a step up. His performance on the battlefield, such as in Kiev in 1941 and under Moscow City, tried his best to show himself, to show his professional ability, so as to achieve the goal of prosperity. "


    "I have received orders from my superiors that in order to purify the troops and ensure the victory of the warhoff front army in the new campaign to be launched, the vlasovians hidden in the front army should be eliminated as soon as possible."


    "Comrade lieutenant," I heard here, and I couldn''t help interrupting him. I kindly reminded him, "Vlasov''s mutiny is only his personal behavior, which has nothing to do with the commanders of the second shock group army. Yes, as a commander of the former 2nd shock group army, I do not deny that there may be some unstable vlasovians in the team. What you should do is to carefully screen the commanders of the former 2nd shock group army, instead of catching them all indiscriminately as now. "


    Before I finished, turchinov slapped the table, stood up and yelled at me: "enough, we don''t need you to teach me how to do things in the interior department!" After venting, he sat down again and asked steadily, "major oshanina, let me ask you, what''s your relationship with Vlasov?"


    To his first question, I answered truthfully, "it''s the ordinary relationship between the superior and the subordinate."


    After listening to my answer, he said with a sneer: "ordinary superior subordinate relationship?! When you think I''m a three-year-old, will you cheat me easily? After our investigation, you first served as a combat staff officer in the 54th group army of general fejiuningsky. It was Vlasov who transferred you to the 2nd assault group army after he applied to the higher authorities. I would like to remind you that you should not take any chances and try to muddle through. You should know that no matter who comes to the site of our Ministry of interior and accepts our interrogation, they will honestly explain their own problems. "


    Listening to what he said, I can''t help thinking of a paragraph circulating on the Internet, saying that the archaeologists of the former Soviet Union found a mummy, and it took a long time to find out the age of the mummy. They heard that the KGB headquarters could solve all problems, so they asked several KGB staff to help. After a busy morning, several KGB workers came out in a sweat and excitedly told the archaeologists, "find out, 3147." The archaeologist was shocked and asked, "how do you know?" The KGB pointed to the mummy and said, "it''s easy. He did it!"


    At this time, Cheka, the staff of the Ministry of internal affairs, was the predecessor of the KGB. They fell into their hands, not to mention ordinary people. Even mummies had to fight. This shows how terrible they are. Thinking of this, I can''t help fighting a cold war.


    With such a tiny movement, turchinov noticed it. He asked warily, "major oshanina, why do you tremble? Is it because I saw through your lies and felt scared? "


    I took a deep breath, stabilized my mood for a moment, and replied clearly, "Comrade lieutenant, if you want to know why Vlasov himself transferred me to the second shock group army, I think I can tell you that."


    Hearing that I was ready to confess, turchinov excitedly yelled to the sergeant in the back: "yaranski, prepare to record!" After shouting, he said to me with a proud face: "go ahead, major. You see, if you had been as straightforward as you are now and told everything, you would have saved a lot of trouble. Come on, I''m all ears. "


    I thought about it, sorted out my thoughts, and then said without hesitation: "after the start of the Moscow defense war, I first worked in the Western Front Army, where general Zhukov served as commander. Later, I was sent to the 5th group army of general lyushenk, the 16th group army of general rokosovsky, and the 316 infantry division of general Panfilov, It was the eighth infantry division of the guards. When I was in the Panfilov division, I led one of its troops to the Red Square parade. It was on the way back from the parade that I met Vlasov, who had just served as commander of the newly formed 20th group army, and was searching for suitable commanders everywhere to enrich his troops. Maybe through someone''s introduction, he found me. Then we went with a leader of Cheka to see the deputy commander of the group army who has not yet taken office. "


    "Wait a minute," turchinov interrupted me and asked, "who are you talking about the leader of Cheka?"


    "Comrade klochkov."


    Turchinov turned and told jaransky, "chief, write it down." Then he turned to me and said, "major, go on. Who are you going to see the deputy commander of the group army who has not yet taken office? "


    "He is a Chinese comrade who came to Moscow to recuperate from injuries. His post as deputy commander of the 20th group army was personally appointed by Comrade Stalin."


    When I mentioned Stalin, the corners of turchinov''s mouth twitched. Unexpectedly, he didn''t interrupt me and asked me the name of my Chinese comrade. I was able to go on smoothly: "after meeting the deputy commander, I went back to the Panfilov division and continued to be the liaison officer of the front army and the division. It was not until general Panfilov died in the battle that I was ordered to act as the first division commander after the division was reorganized into the eighth division of Jinwei. "


    Hearing this, turchinov sneered and said in a sarcastic tone, "you are acting as the commander of the 378th division, which is a low rank higher vocational college. Then what is your rank when acting as the eighth division of the guards? You can''t be a captain!"


    As soon as his words came out, people in the room burst into laughter.


    "I was in the rank of commander." I didn''t pay attention to their sarcasm and continued to speak in my own way: "before the great counter offensive, my eighth division of guards was assigned to the 20th army of Vlasov. Thanks to Comrade Stalin''s appreciation, I was personally promoted to the rank of major general by him and appointed chief of staff of the 20th group army. "


    As soon as the words came out, the sneer on turchinov''s face disappeared, and the sergeant and the soldier who just laughed happily closed their mouths. Except for my voice, only a few people could hear the heavy breathing in the room. I sped up so as not to be interrupted by them later: "after taking the post of chief of staff of the group army, I once participated in the counter offensive under Moscow city with Vlasov. Maybe it was at that time that he recognized my ability, so after he was transferred to the commander of the second shock group army, he applied to Comrade Stalin to transfer me from general fejiuningsky''s 54th group army to his army. After arriving at the 2nd shock group army, I didn''t stay in the headquarters. Instead, I went to the division of Colonel Anqiu feyev and took the position of infantry battalion commander. Since then, I haven''t seen Vlasov or made a phone call. I don''t know anything about him. "


    At this point, I feel that I have said almost everything I need to say. In order to avoid the situation of saying too much and losing too much, I took the initiative to stop. Turchinov saw that I didn''t say it, and asked in surprise, "why didn''t you say it?"


    "I''ve finished what I have to say. I just want to tell you one thing. Although I was a member of Vlasov a long time ago, I am definitely not the kind of Vlasov you said


    After hearing what I said, turchinov bowed his head for a moment, then waved to the soldiers standing behind me and told them, "you two, take major oshanina down."


    "Comrade lieutenant," the soldier who pushed me up, asked him in a low voice, "where should we put her?"


    Turchinov looked at me and replied, "lock her up with the men who were captured by the 378th division."


    "Yes The soldier promised to turn around and push me out¡° Wait a minute, "turchinov called to him and said," untie her rope. " When the rope was untied, I rubbed my red wrists and said politely, "thank you." Then he followed two soldiers out of the interrogation room. Two soldiers escorted me to the door of a room not far away, and said to the sentinel guarding the door, "I said, we are under the order of the chief of the special service section to lock the major in here. Please open the door quickly." The sentry looked at us, took off the key from his waist, opened the lock on the door, pushed open the door, and said coldly to me, "go in." As soon as I stepped into the room, the door was taken up by the sentry, and then I heard the sound of a padlock. I stood at the door for a while, quickly adapted to the light in the room, and saw that there was no furniture in the room. There were more than a dozen people squatting on the ground together. When they saw someone being locked in, they all looked with concern. When they saw clearly that I was the one who was locked in, they all stood up and rushed to me. They also asked with concern: "Comrade teacher, it''s you! Why are you locked up by them? "

 Chapter 388

    In the face of the concern of these subordinates, I was suddenly moved. I didn''t expect that I would be so important in their minds. After they met me, they didn''t complain about their situation, but they cared about how I was in prison like them.


    After everyone was quiet, I said to them apologetically, "brothers, I want to say sorry to you. When I learned that you were captured, I argued with the secret service staff, and even drew a gun to threaten them. Unfortunately, not only did I not save you, but also I was arrested myself. "


    Hearing what I said, a lieutenant was stunned at first and then blurted out: "Comrade division, you said that after you knew about our arrest, you had an argument with the people in the secret service, and even pulled out the gun?"


    I nodded and answered positively, "yes, when lieutenant turchinov of the secret service refused to release you, I did pull out my pistol and put it on the table. If I threatened him not to release you, he would not be able to get out of our 378 division."


    "Comrade teacher, what happened then?" Someone asked curiously.


    The lieutenant slapped the man on the back of the head and reproached him discontentedly: "what else? Sergey, you idiot, didn''t you see the teacher put in here? " Then he looked at me and said bitterly, "Comrade teacher, you shouldn''t. You shouldn''t conflict with the secret service for us. You know, you are in danger. "


    I tried to squeeze out a smile, pretended nothing happened, and said to them, "it''s my fault. When I went back to the headquarters, I didn''t find that the soldier standing guard at the gate was not from the guard company, but was replaced by a soldier from the secret service department. If I find out earlier, maybe I can take the soldiers of the guard company to hold all the people in the secret service, and use them to exchange you back. "


    The lieutenant waved his hand and said, "it''s a good thing you didn''t do that at that time, comrade division. Otherwise, the consequences would have been serious."


    "Why?" Listening to what the lieutenant said, I was very curious to find out what the consequences would be, so I couldn''t help asking.


    "Sir, please take a seat first." The lieutenant didn''t answer my question directly. Instead, he asked me to sit down on a board in the corner of the wall. After the other commanders squatted around, he continued: "even if you mobilize the guard company to rescue us today, soon the superior will classify this as a rebellion, and may send troops to suppress it. We are now locked up here, and we may be released soon. If there is a military conflict with the people in the secret service section, then there is no room for recovery. There is only one end waiting for us, that is, all of us will be shot. "


    Sergey, who had just been hit by him, asked curiously, "I said Peter valov, do you think we will be released or shot when we are locked here?"


    Peter valov, the lieutenant, glared at him fiercely, raised his hand and tried to beat him again. Sergey learned to be smart this time. He tilted his head back and dodged. Then he muttered, "if you have something to say, I''ll just ask him casually. Don''t try to hit people all the time."


    Instead of paying attention to Sergei, Petrov turned to me and asked, "Comrade division, when we were arrested, the secret service said that we were vlasovians and suspected of collaborating with the enemy, so we had to arrest them all. Do you know what''s going on? General Vlasov is the commander of our second shock group army. Is something wrong with him? "


    "Yes, sir, can you tell us what happened?" The rest of the commanders echoed.


    I can''t help but be stunned to hear that. Don''t they even know the real reason why they were arrested? So I couldn''t help asking strangely, "don''t you know about Vlasov?"


    People on the scene listened to me, looked at each other, then shook their heads and said, "I don''t know. We were all arrested by secret service soldiers who suddenly rushed in while we were having lunch in the restaurant."


    Since they didn''t know about it, I had to explain it to them. I coughed, cleared my throat and said, "according to reliable information, general frasov, the former commander of the second shock group army, defected to the enemy the day before yesterday and went on the evil road of being forced to the motherland. He became a shameful traitor."


    As soon as I finished, someone rushed to speak and said, "although we were all subordinates of general Vlasov, it''s his personal business that he became a traitor, which has nothing to do with us. Why do you arrest us all?"


    Peter valov sat on the ground feebly and kept saying, "it''s over, it''s over, we''re all over!"


    "What''s the matter? Petrov, why do you say we''re all going to die? " Sergey asked strangely.


    "You all know about marshal Tukhachevsky?" he asked


    Everyone nodded and did not speak, waiting for him to continue.


    "In June 1937, field marshal Tukhachevsky was relieved from the post of deputy national defense people''s Committee and demoted to the post of commander of Volga River military region. At that time, I was one of the guards who escorted him to take office. The day before I left, I had an accident and was sent to the hospital. I had to be replaced by someone else. I lay in the hospital for half a month before I was discharged. When I was discharged, I heard that marshal Tukhachevsky and seven generals, including Yakir, ubolevich, Feldman, Kirk, Edman, primakov and shantner, were arrested by the staff of the Ministry of interior on their way to the military region and handed them over to the Military Commission for trial. After a brief secret trial in a military court, the defendant was executed on the 11th for treason. And the accompanying guards were all executed on the same day. I think we all know what happened later. After the death of Marshal Tukhachevsky, the Ministry of interior carried out a great purge among all the Red Army commanders and fighters, and a large number of commanders who had relations with marshal Tukhachevsky and others were arrested or executed. "


    As soon as Peter valov''s words came to an end, the room was in a mess. The timid man was so scared that he began to cry: "I''m not a vlasovian. I don''t want to die." After shouting, he rushed to the door and banged hard, shouting to the outside: "open the door and let me out. I''m not a vlasovian. I don''t want to die."


    His shouts alerted the guards at the door. As soon as the guards opened the door, the man tried to rush out of the half open door. Two guards outside stopped him in time, raised the butt of the gun and smashed him in a mess, which broke his head and blood. I quickly walked over and yelled at the two guards: "stop, do you want to kill him?"


    The guard stopped his hand, kicked the man lying on the ground in both feet, and dropped a cruel sentence: "I warn you, keep quiet, no one is allowed to talk, or I will be rude to you." With that, he slammed the door.


    I squatted down to check the commander, and found that his face was covered with blood. I was startled. I quickly put my finger to his nose and found that he was still breathing. I waved to the crowd standing nearby and said, "carry him over."


    Petrov and a few men came over and carried the injured commander to the board I had just sat on. After a brief examination, Peter valov raised his head and said, "it''s OK. It''s all skin injuries. It''ll be fine after a few days."


    I waved to everyone and said, "since it''s OK, let''s have a rest early. Maybe tomorrow we will find out that we have no contact with Vlasov, and we will be released. "


    We each found a place, sat down against the wall, and began to close our eyes.


    I sat near the door. Although I closed my eyes, I couldn''t sleep. I was thinking about what Peter valov said just now. The more I thought about it, the more my heart sank. My calm mood began to fluctuate. I knew that what he said was true. After Tukhachevsky was killed on a false charge, so many people were involved. Now Vlasov''s betrayal is a matter of certainty, so it is bound to involve more people. Are we really going to become his funeral objects?


    In the early morning of the next day, the guard opened the door and yelled at the door in a bad manner: "hurry up, everyone I slowly stood up, stretched a waist, the activity of a sore body, just in no hurry to follow other people out.


    Go outside and have a look. There are so many people! In addition to our room more than a dozen people, the rest of the room people also rushed out, at a glance, a black. At this time, a guard pushed me behind and growled impolitely: "go ahead, don''t stop."


    The commanders who came out of more than a dozen rooms were thrown together. At this time, Lieutenant turchinov, the chief of the secret service, came over surrounded by more than a dozen soldiers. He stood in front of our team and looked at it. Then he told a second lieutenant behind him, "Lieutenant Matvey, are you ready?"


    Lieutenant Matvey immediately nodded and bowed and said, "Comrade section chief, we are ready."


    Turchinov nodded and told him, "now that you are ready, take all these people with you."


    Lieutenant Matvey agreed and made a sign to the soldiers who were looking after us, so the soldiers who were standing around us immediately came with guns and drove us deep into the forest.


    Just now, I heard the conversation between turchinov and Matvey very clearly. As I walked, I was guessing whether turchinov was ready or not and what it meant. If it''s for breakfast, we can distribute food in front of the wooden house instead of taking us to the forest. Are you going to shoot us? At the thought of this possibility, I suddenly broke into a cold sweat. Due to wandering, I didn''t notice a stake on the ground. I tripped and jumped forward. My head hit the back of a commander in front of me.


    The man was caught off guard. He was hit hard by me and cried out in pain. He turned his head and wanted to get angry. Seeing that I was a woman, he slowed down and asked discontentedly, "how do you walk? I don''t know. Look at your feet. "


    I bumped into someone, a little embarrassed, blushed and apologized to him.


    Our team soon came to an open field deep in the forest. In the grass above the knee, there were four groups of people, each of whom was a second lieutenant, a senior soldier and three soldiers. Each of them was holding a stack of thick papers, and one of them was carrying a large cloth bag on his shoulder. See this scene, I began to panic, the heart said, is really put us here to shoot?


    Turchinov, who was walking in the front, raised his hand. The second lieutenant Matvey immediately turned around and yelled, "stop the team!" The soldiers escorting us around also yelled: "stop, stop! Stay where you are In the middle of their shouts, the team stopped in place.


    Seeing the arrival of turchinov, the four groups trotted towards him. After stopping a few meters away from him, four second captains raised their hands to salute him. Several people began to talk. During the conversation, turchinov pointed to our position from time to time.


    After a while, the conversation ended. Turchinov came to us with four lieutenants and their men. After stopping in front of our line, turchinov announced in a loud, expressionless voice, "the commander who will be named will come out later."


    With that, he waved his head to the four lieutenants behind him and said, "let''s go." The four lieutenants agreed, stepped forward, picked up the papers in their hands and began to call the roll. Soon, four commanders who were named walked out of the team. The second lieutenant gave the documents to his senior officer. The senior officer took the documents and looked at them. Then he nodded to the soldier with the big bag. The soldier quickly opened his pocket and took out a piece of hemp rope from it to the other two soldiers. After taking the rope, the two soldiers rushed to their respective targets and pulled the rope with a loose knot around their necks. When the commander''s head was tilted back, they tied the prisoner''s hands back. When all this was done, the two soldiers pushed the tied commander forward, and the chief followed. When they stopped 20 meters ahead, the sergeant stood behind the commander, drew the pistol from the holster, held the other side''s back of the head and pulled the trigger without hesitation. After a shot, the commander, who was held by two soldiers, was paralyzed. It seemed that he could not survive. The soldier threw his corpse on the ground, turned around and followed the grand master back to the front of our team. Seeing that it really brought us here to be shot, although I tried my best to make my expression look very calm, my hands and feet were shaking uncontrollably. Originally, I thought that after being arrested yesterday, I would be held in the secret service for a period of time. Then someone would try to inform commander meletskov in Moscow about this. In that case, I and the arrested commanders might be released. I didn''t expect that the action of the secret service department was so quick. All the people arrested yesterday were shot today. Am I going to die here today? Although I was very afraid, I always held a glimmer of hope that a Savior would come from the sky and rescue me from the edge of death. From time to time, I turned to look in the direction where we had just come, hoping to see meletzkov or other heavyweights appear. As a result, I turned back and was disappointed again and again. It''s so quiet in the forest that no one can be seen at all. Just then, I heard the second lieutenant at the front of the queue say a familiar name: "Lieutenant Petrov!" My heart beat faster and said it was my turn to shoot the commander of our division. Sometimes I say good things don''t work, and bad things do come true. Then I hear another familiar name: "Lieutenant Sergey!" Before I could find two victims in the queue, I heard my own name again: "major oshanina!" When I heard my name, I was so overwhelmed that I didn''t walk out of the queue like other victims. The second lieutenant, whose name was mine, saw that everyone else was out, but I didn''t move. He frowned, pointed to me and told his men, "go and get the female major out." With his command, two fierce soldiers rushed into the queue. Without saying a word, they put a rope around my neck, then pulled it back, and quickly tied my hands while my head was leaning back. Soon, I was pushed to the position where they shot people. I found that there was a ditch. The bodies of dozens of commanders who were shot just now were piled up in the ditch. When the cold muzzle of the gun was against the back of my head, I closed my eyes in despair. Bang a gunshot, I can''t help a shock, opened his eyes to see, he was still standing well. At this time, I heard turchinov''s voice coming from behind, with a trace of dissatisfaction in his voice: "what''s the matter? Why don''t you shoot? " The muzzle on the back of my head was moved away, and the senior officer replied wrongly: "Comrade lieutenant, it''s not that I don''t shoot, it''s that the gun is stuck."¡° It''s stuck. I''ll change it! " Soon the cold muzzle of the gun stood against the back of my head again. I was completely desperate this time. The gun just jammed, but it won''t jam again this time. I''m really finished. At this critical moment, I heard a familiar voice in the distance: "stop! Don''t shoot Then the gun on the back of my head moved away again, and I heard tulchinov ask discontentedly, "Comrade General, who are you? What right do you have to stop me from carrying out my orders? " The man replied coldly, "Comrade lieutenant, I''m major general fejiuningsky, commander of the 54th army. I am under the command of the deputy commander to stop you from executing major o''shanina. "¡° Deputy commander? I haven''t heard. Who is he? "¡° General Zhukov, deputy commander in chief appointed by Comrade Stalin himself

 Chapter 389

    Although fejiuningsky had already given the name of Zhukov, turchinov relied on the fact that he was from the Ministry of interior and no one dared to provoke them easily, so he still said: "Comrade General, I have never heard of the deputy commander of Zhukov, and you have no right to stop me from executing prisoners."


    "Comrade lieutenant," feijiuningsky said sternly in reply to the interior officer who did not get oil and salt, "I repeat that I came here on the order of deputy commander General Zhukov to stop your crime. You know, after Comrade Zhukov became deputy commander in chief, the Ministry of internal affairs was also under his jurisdiction. If you refuse to carry out my orders again, I have the right to take necessary measures against you. Even if your superior knows about it, do you think that he will take the risk of offending his immediate superior to stand up for your little Lieutenant? "


    In my impression, the people in the Ministry of internal affairs are all bullies. In the face of the tough feijiuningsky, turchinov was defeated at last. After a short silence, he gave orders to the soldiers who were holding me up: "what are you still waiting to do, didn''t you hear general feijiuningsky''s orders? Don''t untie major o''shanina as soon as possible. "


    The soldier behind me quickly promised to untie my hands tied behind me, then loosen the knot and take the rope off my neck. After the release, the two soldiers quickly dodged to one side.


    When the rope on my body was untied, I knew that I had been saved, and again, as in the case of rubiyanka in Moscow, I escaped from death. Although I was released only after Stalin called in person last time, if Zhukov had not come forward to plead for me, the people in the interior department would not have received the call to release me and bezikov. It is estimated that I would have become a pile of bones by now. This shows how important it is to find a stable backer!


    As soon as the tense nerves relaxed, I no longer had the strength to support my body. As soon as the two soldiers holding me let go, I collapsed on the ground like mud. Seeing that I fell to the ground, fejiuningsky and seven or eight soldiers trotted over and came to me. He raised his hand to stop the soldiers who wanted to help me. Instead, he bent down and reached out to help me. He asked with concern, "are you OK, Rita?"


    I had a sour nose and almost burst into tears. It took me a lot of effort to control my mood. I tried to squeeze a smile on my face. I looked at fejiuningsky with wet eyes and replied in a low voice, "I''m ok, but my legs are a little soft. Comrade commander, thank you for saving my life. "


    Fejiuningsky helped me to stand up slowly. As I was about to speak, fejiuningsky suddenly pointed to the side and ordered turchinov: "and the two commanders, untie the ropes on them."


    "But, Comrade General." Turchinov seemed to want to retort, but when he saw the serious expression on fejiuningsky''s face, he had to obediently order the soldiers over there: "Hey, I say, what are you still doing? Untie the two commanders."


    I turned my head curiously to see that the commander in turchinov''s mouth was actually Peter valov and Sergey. Although they were still standing on the edge of the ditch by soldiers, the executioner had already stood by. At turchinov''s command, the soldiers busily untied their ropes.


    I turned my head and looked in the opposite direction, and saw a famous commander with his hands tied back on the other side, head down in a pool of blood. Only then did I realize that the shooting started from the far left. After shooting one, I shot the next. When I shot more than ten groups of people in front of me, I kept looking back. I didn''t notice the shooting sequence. Fortunately, the gun that shot me got stuck. When fejiuningsky showed up in time, he not only saved me, but also saved their lives.


    Fejiuninsky helped me to walk a few steps, looked at the remaining 40 commanders standing not far away, then stopped and said to turchinov in an irrefutable tone: "Lieutenant, let all those commanders go and let them all go back to their respective teams."


    Turchinov turned to look at those people and said with some reluctance, "however, comrade general, these people are suspected of collaborating with the enemy. They can''t be released without trial by our Ministry of interior."


    "Trial?" Fejaninski repeated the word, then said sarcastically, "Lieutenant, you brought these commanders here to shoot them without trial. If I were a little late, you would have killed all these 100 commanders. Here, I need to remind you that they all went through a lot of hardships to break through the German encirclement. They not only have rich experience in fighting, but also have unlimited loyalty to the Soviet motherland. They are all valuable assets of our Red Army. But look at you, lieutenant, what did you do? You slaughtered the elites of the Red Army without fear. They didn''t die in the battle against the Germans, but fell at the gunpoint of their own people. You know what? You''re committing a crime. I will suggest to commander meletskov that you be removed from the post of chief of the secret service and replaced by someone else who is suitable for the post. "


    Facing the righteous and awe inspiring fejiuningsky, turchinov did not dare to continue to be arrogant. He waved to his subordinates and weakly ordered: "let them all go!" With that, he raised his hand and saluted feijiuningsky, and left with his group of subordinates. Peter valov rubbed his swollen wrist, came up to me and asked, "where should we go now, sir?"


    I looked at turchinov and his men in the distance, and replied without expression, "where else can I go? Of course, go back to the division and go back to your combat post. "


    "I see, sir." Petrov straightened up, saluted me and left with Sergei.


    I followed fejiuningsky and his guards, and slowly approached the group of commanders. Looking at the sparse line, fejiuningsky said bitterly: "comrades, you are all experienced commanders and treasures of our Red Army, but today you have suffered a lot because of Vlasov, a traitor of our motherland. I came too late, and many excellent commanders fell at the muzzle of their own guns without knowing it.... "


    Before he finished, the commander immediately began to yell: "Comrade General, it''s not your responsibility. Please don''t blame yourself. If you hadn''t arrived in time, we would have been shot by the interior department. "


    "Yes, Comrade General. If it wasn''t for you, we would all be shot


    "The people in the Ministry of internal affairs have gone too far. We have only been in the 2nd shock group army. We have never seen what general Vlasov looks like. How can we become vlasovs?"


    Fejiuningsky patiently listened to the commanders to vent their dissatisfaction. After a long time, he raised his hands and pressed them down. When no one in the team spoke, he said solemnly: "Comrade commander, it''s all right now. Go back to your respective teams. I promise you, there will be no more secret service people to harass you. "


    After listening to fejiuningsky''s words, the group of commanders stood at attention, saluted him solemnly, and then scattered in groups.


    After everyone left, I asked fejiuningsky, "Comrade commander, where are we going next?"


    "Follow me to the headquarters of the front army. General meletzkov will be back soon." With that, he turned to his guards and waved his head, "let''s go."


    Leaving this dead place in the forest, fejiuningsky and I sat in the back of his jeep and rushed to the front army headquarters of meletskov.


    On the way, it suddenly occurred to me that how could fejiuningsky suddenly appear on the execution ground? You know, I''m not his subordinate now. Even if I''m caught, it''s not his turn to rescue me? So I asked curiously, "Comrade commander, I want to ask why..."


    Before I finished, he had interrupted me and took over the topic on his own initiative: "Rita, do you want to ask me how I knew you were captured by the interior department and appeared on the execution ground in time to rescue you?"


    I nodded and looked at him intensely, waiting for him to say what I wanted to know.


    "It''s a long story. After you were captured yesterday, Captain boroda immediately called the headquarters of the front army to ask general meletzkov to protect you. However, the duty officer of the headquarters told him that the senior general and the chief of general staff had gone back to Moscow and did not know when they would be back. He had no choice but to call kolovnikov, commander of the 59th army, for help. Kolovnikov originally wanted to take charge of this matter, but when he heard that the people in the secret service were arrested in the name of catching vlasovs, he immediately shrank back. Fortunately, he knew that you and I were old acquaintances, so he called me specially. When I learned about this incident, I was immediately shocked. According to my experience, the Ministry of interior has only one way to deal with this kind of case. Anyone who is arrested will be executed in the shortest time.


    Rita, as you know, as a special security department, the people in the interior department have great power. Although I am a general, I may not be able to command a junior officer in the interior department. You have just seen this. Just when I was in a dilemma, comrade Zhukov called to ask about the preparations for the campaign of the bulge. I had an idea and told him about you. "


    Listen to feijiuningsky said here, I can''t help but put in a word: "Comrade commander, general Zhukov still remember me?"


    Feijiuningsi looked serious. When I said this, he was happy: "Rita, you think too much. Zhukov has always had a good impression of you. Every time he calls me, he should inquire about you. No, as soon as I heard that you had an accident, the general was in a hurry. Let me take someone to the secret service department to rescue you immediately. I told him my worries at that time. After listening to them, he was silent for a long time. He only said one thing: wait, I''ll solve this problem. I''m going to see Comrade Stalin. Then he hung up.


    I didn''t know when he would call again, so I stayed by the phone and didn''t dare to leave. It wasn''t until dawn that he called and confidently said, "dear fejaninsky, go to the secret service and let Rita out.".


    At that time, I asked what I would do if the internal affairs department of the secret service ignored me?


    He thought about it for a moment and replied: if the secret service people make trouble for you, tell them that you are on the order of general Zhukov to release the so-called vlasovs who have been arrested. If they don''t listen, you can tell them that Comrade Stalin has just appointed general Zhukov as deputy commander in chief and has the power to administer the Ministry of internal affairs.


    After I congratulated him at that time, he told me to take you to the headquarters of the front army as soon as possible after you were rescued from the secret service. General meletzkov has completed his mission in Moscow and will return to his headquarters this morning to deploy the upcoming campaign of the bulge. "


    Although fejaninski downplayed the whole thing, I still understand that without him, I would be finished this time. Of course, I would also like to thank boroda. Without him, the news of my arrest would not have reached fejuninsky so soon. But at the moment, I would like to thank first of all, or sitting next to me, because he saved me from the hand of death. I grabbed his arm and said gratefully, "Comrade commander, thank you. Without you, I have been shot by the secret service."


    Fejaninsky patted me on the back of my hand and comforted me by saying, "Rita, don''t worry. It''s all over. I listen to general Zhukov''s point. He intends to adjust your position. It seems that you can''t be the commander of the 378th division. Maybe he will transfer you to other positions. "


    "Up there?" I don''t understand to ask a way: "up is to point to who?"


    Feijiuningsky laughed and said: "who else can it be? Only Comrade Stalin can hold a higher position than general Zhukov. You can''t even imagine how your brain reacts so slowly. "


    I can tell from fejiuningsky''s words that because of Zhukov, comrade Stalin, who is superior, thinks of me again. I thought to myself, if I am not allowed to continue to serve as division commander, is it the intention to transfer me to other group armies to serve as chief of staff or other posts? Even if I can''t serve as chief of staff of the group army, it''s a good choice to go back and continue to serve as division commander of my eighth guard division.


    In my wishful thinking, our jeep stopped at the gate of the headquarters of the front army. Fejaninski touched me with his shoulder and reminded me, "Rita, don''t be in a daze. We''re here." With that, he pushed the door open and went out. I hastily also pushed open my side of the door, followed by the car.


    When we came to the door, fejiuninski asked a second lieutenant on duty at the door, "Comrade second lieutenant, is general meletzkov back?"


    The second lieutenant seemed to know fejiuningsky. After saluting him at attention, he replied, "Hello, Comrade General. The senior general just called from the airstrip and said that he had arrived safely and was driving to this side. He also told us that if you come, please wait for him in the headquarters first. "


    "OK, I see." With these words, fejiuningsky turned to me and said, "come on, Rita, let''s go to the headquarters and wait for the general."


    In general meletskov''s headquarters, there was only a captain, who looked like a staff officer. Seeing me and fejiuninsky go in, he quickly got up to salute and politely asked, "Hello, Comrade General. Is that general fejiuningsky and major oshanina? "


    Fejunins nodded and replied, "yes, I am fejuninsky." Then he pointed to me and said, "this is major oshanina."


    The captain picked up a pile of documents on the table and handed them to us. At the same time, he said, "this is the latest war report. The senior general has an order that you and major oshanina have a look first. When you come back later, he will ask you what you think of the current war situation."


    Fejiuningsky took the battle report from the captain''s hand, nodded to him with a smile and said, "I see. Thank you, comrade captain. Major o''shanina and I will stay here and read the war report slowly. Go and do your work


    The captain saluted us and strode out of the headquarters.


    Feijiuningsky looked over for a while, threw the thick war report on the table, and said impatiently, "we are going to launch the bulge campaign soon. General meletskov asked us to see what these southwest front army''s war reports are doing. We need to know that the Don river is far away from us."


    Don! As soon as I heard this word, my heart suddenly jumped wildly, and I immediately thought of a familiar city name Stalingrad. Are these war reports related to the coming famous Stalingrad? Thinking of this, I quickly picked up the war report, searched for the contents related to Don river, and picked out these war reports.


    It can be seen from the war reports that after the German forces defeated the counterattack of the southwest front army led by Marshal Timoshenko in the battle of Kharkov in May, they surrounded and annihilated the 6th, 9th and 57th army groups of the southwest front army. On June 30, the German sixth group army broke through the lines of the 21st and 28th group armies of the southwest front army in the direction of Voronezh, and severely damaged the two groups. On July 4, Manstein''s troops captured Sevastopol, our military fortress in the south. The German southern army group, which has won a series of victories, is advancing towards the East. However, in the process of arduous retreat, the Soviet Army constantly lost its troops at the expense of the army. The exhausted troops had become frightened birds, and it was difficult to organize an effective defense line.


    However, I still found a gratifying report: the German tank group army 4 had already arrived at the Don river line. With only one strong attack, it could capture Stalingrad with empty troops and weak defense at the moment. However, Hitler, who was very successful, made a wrong decision and transferred the tank group army to the Caucasus.


    Seeing that I was absorbed in the war report, fejiuningsky couldn''t help asking curiously, "Rita, do you see anything in the war report?"


    Looking at a map spread on the table, I quickly picked up the war report, went to the side of the map, and politely said to fejiuningsky, "Comrade commander, please come here. I''ll tell you my analysis of the enemy situation on the map."


    Fejaninski went to the table, bent down, looked at the map on the table, fixed his eyes on the position of our front army, and said, "I''m ready. Go ahead."


    I quickly put the war report on the map, covered the position where he was looking, and reminded him: "Comrade commander, don''t look at warhoff, we will soon lose the attention of the headquarters, they will turn all their energies to the new battlefield."


    "The new battlefield?" "Where is it?" he asked


    I pointed to Voronezh on the map and said to him, "Comrade commander, please see, according to the war report, Voronezh was captured by the German army on June 30, and now they are launching a fierce attack on the sector from Voronezh to kretscaya on the west side of the Don river, intending to break through our defense line from this sector."


    Listening to me, fejiuningsky understood my meaning almost instantly. He pointed to Stalingrad on the east side of the Dun River on the map and asked tentatively, "Rita, do you mean the next main target of the German southern army group? It may be here - Stalingrad?"


    I gave him a thumbs up for his quick reaction speed. Sure enough, there are no weak soldiers under the strong general. He is worthy of Zhukov''s right hand. I just mentioned it briefly, and he guessed that the next main attack direction of the German army might be Stalingrad on the east side of the Dun River. I nodded slowly and said, "Comrade commander, it''s not possible. The next main target of the German army must be Stalingrad."


    Feijiuning Skelton was shocked, but still some unconvinced to ask: "you only read a few war reports, how can you be so sure that the German army will attack in Stalingrad?"


    In my heart, man, I think at least three versions of the battle of Stalingrad are the most familiar part of the history of the Soviet Patriotic War. But I can''t say these words clearly, otherwise I will definitely be regarded as a psychopath. I can only say vaguely: "Comrade commander, this is just my intuition, and it''s based on the analysis of these war reports."


    "Intuition!" Fejiuningsky listened to my answer, nodded and said: "I once heard a rumor that you once told Comrade Stalin that you dreamt that rokosovsky would be in danger and nearly captured by the Germans. Comrade Stalin, however, though he thought it very absurd, sent an army to the village you said. It turns out that everything you see in your dreams is true. I want to ask you, is this rumor true? "


    I nodded and answered honestly, "Comrade commander, this is true."


    Fejaninski sat down at the table, looked up at me and didn''t speak. At least a minute later, he made his final decision and said, "all right, Rita. Since Comrade Stalin believed in your intuition, I also chose to believe in you this time. "


    After listening to feijiuningsky''s statement, I was relieved to know that these things are incredible. He can say what he believes in me, which shows how much he trusts me. I picked up the important war reports on the table and asked him for advice: "Comrade commander, do we need to report this to commander Zhukov or commander meletzkov?"


    "What do you want to report to me?" A familiar voice came from the door. I followed it. It turned out that general meletzkov and several generals came into the headquarters from the outside.


    Seeing meletskov enter the door, fejiuningsky quickly stood up, raised his hand to salute him, and politely said, "Hello, comrade commander of the front army, welcome back from Moscow."


    After finishing the ceremony, I quickly stepped forward to salute him and reported, "Hello, comrade general, welcome back to the headquarters."


    After meletskov returned the salute, he came to me, put his hands on my shoulders and asked with concern, "major oshanina, I heard in Moscow that you were captured by the secret service, so I came back all night. Are you ok?"


    I tried to squeeze a smile on my face, pretended nothing happened, and replied, "general fejiuningsky rescued me. I''m fine now. Thank you for your concern."


    After a simple greeting, meletskov turned his words to the main topic: "by the way, when I came in, what were you talking about just now, and you said you would report to me."


    "Comrade General," without waiting for me to speak, fejiuningsky had come to meletskov''s side and said, "it''s up to me to report this matter to you. Major oshanina has just analyzed the targets that the German army may attack in the next step according to the war report. " At this point, he made a gesture of "please come to the map, I''ll explain it to you in detail."


    Meletzkov and the generals with him followed fejaninski to the table and bent over the map. As fejiuningsky was about to begin his explanation, meletzkov suddenly looked up and said to me, "by the way, major oshanina, I forgot to tell you that the supreme commander has personally removed the post of division commander of your 378th division and asked you to be a combat staff officer at the headquarters of the front army."


    As soon as I heard of the new position, my heart sank. From acting division commander to combat staff officer, it was obviously a demotion. Although dissatisfied with the heart, but the appearance can not reveal, I face bitterly replied: "I obey the arrangement of the superior." At this time, fejiuninsky began to explain my analysis to meletzkov. When he heard that the German army was attacking Voronezh kretskaya section, which might break through our Don River defense line from this area, meletzkov interrupted fejiuninsky and said in a heavy tone: "Comrade fejiuninsky, your analysis is very right. On my way back to the headquarters just now, I got the latest war report. The Germans have broken through the area and approached the Don river. It seems that their target of attack will really be Stalingrad. This situation is very important. I want to report it to Comrade Stalin immediately. "

 Chapter 390

    Just as meletskov picked up the high-frequency telephone on the table beside the wall and was about to talk to the Kremlin, a general suddenly said, "Comrade commander of the front army, please wait a moment." I took a look at the general who stopped meletskov from calling and immediately recognized him as the chief of staff of the front army, stilimah.


    Holding the microphone, meletskov asked stilimach strangely, "Comrade chief of staff, what''s wrong?"


    Strimacher looked at me and reminded meletskov in a low voice: "Comrade commander, I want to remind you that the German will attack Stalingrad. This is only major oshanina''s personal judgment. At present, we can''t confirm whether her conjecture is accurate. If we report the unconfirmed intelligence rashly in this way, it will mislead the Supreme Commander''s judgment and make him decide to put the main forces in the wrong direction. Once something goes wrong in the future, you will be sent to the military court as the main responsible person. "


    Meletzkov hesitated to hear his chief of staff say so. He put down the phone and walked back and forth in the room with his hands on his back. There was no sound in the room except his footsteps, and everyone''s eyes moved with him.


    He stopped in front of a political worker, looked up at him and asked, "Comrade zaborozzi, as a member of the Military Commission of the front army, what do you think of this matter?"


    Zaborozzi looked down for a moment, then replied, "Comrade commander, I think the chief of staff has a point. What we have to consider now is that the battle of the siniavino bulge is about to begin, and the situation in the south of Moscow is in the charge of Marshal timoshinger, commander of the southwest front army, so we don''t have to meddle. "


    I was a little worried when I heard that two leaders of the front army had objected to reporting the enemy''s situation I had analyzed. However, all the generals I was present were generals. Without meletskov''s consent, the major who spoke lightly had no voice at all. Just as I was in a hurry, fejiuningsky said: "senior general, I think major oshanina''s analysis is very correct. From all kinds of signs, it can be seen that the German troops launched such a fierce offensive near the Don river, not for exercises, but for more important strategic purposes. Let''s look at the map. Where will Stalingrad attract the attention of the German army? I think we should report the situation immediately. "


    "I agree with general fejaninski." It seems that the identity of fejiuningsky, the former commander of Leningrad''s front army, still has some weight. As soon as his voice was heard, the commander of the eighth group army, starikov, immediately expressed his support. After expressing his opinions, he turned to ask another major general around him, "Comrade Gagan, what''s your opinion?"


    "Comrade commander of the group army, the Fourth Army of the close guard infantry will always be in line with you." Gagan replied with a smile. Only then did I know that this general was major general Gagan, commander of the guards under starikov.


    Meletzkov turned his eyes to a lieutenant general who had never spoken. He asked, "general Krakow, who do you support as the new commander of the second shock group army?"


    Looking at the tall commander of the group army, I said in my heart, comrade general, I''m from your second assault group army. You must support me.


    Unexpectedly, general krakov looked left and right, then pointed to stilimach with his hand and said to meletskov, "senior general, I agree with the opinion of the chief of staff of the group army. This matter matters a lot. We must be careful. We can''t report to the supreme command without confirming whether major oshanina''s judgment is correct."


    At present, the number of supporters and opponents is exactly three to three. Only meletzkov is left with a voice in the room. His opinion will ultimately decide whether to report my judgment to the supreme command. Everyone was silent, eyes fixed on meletskov, waiting for him to make the final decision.


    Meletskov went to the table and sat down. He took a cigarette out of his pocket and held one in his mouth. Stilimach, who was next to him, immediately took out a match to light it for him. After lighting the cigarette, he stepped back and, like others, quietly waited for meletskov''s decision.


    Meletzkov hung his head slightly and sat still, only puffing. When the cigarette was finished, he threw the cigarette end on the ground, crushed it with his toes, raised his head abruptly, frowned, scanned all the people with his eyes, and resolutely said, "comrades, although our main task at present is to carry out the deployment of the headquarters and launch the campaign of the siniavino bulge as soon as possible. But now that we find that Germany may launch an offensive in Stalingrad, we should report to the headquarters in time. To put it bluntly, if we are afraid of taking responsibility and conceal this information, once the German army really launched an attack on Stalingrad and the headquarters failed to prepare in advance, which led to the fall of the city named after the leader, what should we do then? I have decided to report this matter to the headquarters immediately, and I will bear the consequences. "


    At this point, he suddenly stood up, picked up the high-frequency phone again, and slowly dialed the number. As he dialed, there was silence in the headquarters, and everyone stood still and looked at meletskov.


    After the phone call, meletskov asked, "is it Comrade boskrebeshev? I''m meletskov, commander of the volhoff front army. I have something important to report to Comrade Stalin. "


    Then meletzkov stopped talking and silently put the microphone to his ear. After a while, he suddenly straightened up and said aloud, "Hello, comrade Stalin. Yes, I have safely returned to the front command. " After a simple greeting, meletzkov told Stalin my judgment.


    Because of the distance, I couldn''t hear what Stalin said on the phone. Anyway, I found that meletzkov''s face suddenly turned cloudy and sunny, as if he was being reproached by Stalin. After a while, he began to explain: "Comrade Stalin, from the war reports we received, major oshanina''s judgment is accurate. The German target is neither Moscow nor the oil fields in the Caucasus, but Stalingrad! Yes, comrade oshanina analyzed and said, "at least at present, the German army will not launch a large-scale offensive campaign against Moscow or the Caucasus."


    He should have been rudely interrupted by Stalin before he finished. His face was red and he bent down slightly to listen to Stalin''s instructions.


    "Yes, comrade Stalin, I know that our current task is to launch the battle of the sinavino bulge as soon as possible, but we can''t take Stalingrad lightly, because it''s a city named after you..."


    At this point, it is obvious that meletzkov was interrupted by Stalin again, so that he did not stop talking. After a while, he was able to continue to say: "Comrade Stalin, please rest assured that we will launch an attack on the German forces in the sinavino protrusion within the specified time." With that, he took the microphone away from his ear and slowly put it back on the phone.


    Meletzkov returned to the table and stood in silence. Like all of you, I watched him nervously, waiting for him to repeat the conversation with Stalin.


    After a long time, he finally opened his mouth and said in a low voice, "Comrade Stalin just ordered us to launch the campaign of the siniavino bulge on July 17 at the latest."


    "July 17?" "Isn''t that the day after tomorrow?" starikov, commander of the 8th Army, said in surprise? Comrade commander, we need to know that our preparations have not been completed, that the soldiers, weapons and ammunition promised by the base camp have not been in place, and that the road leading to the starting point of the attack is still under construction. As you know, the existing road conditions are impassable for heavy tanks.... "


    Before starikov finished his complaint, meletzkov interrupted him and said coldly, "this is an order issued by Comrade Stalin himself. No discussion is allowed. It must be carried out unconditionally."


    Seeing that meletzkov carried out Stalin, starikov had no choice but to agree: "OK, comrade commander, I understand everything. When I get back to the army later, I will dispatch people to repair the road and get ready for the attack as soon as possible. "


    "Comrade commander, what is Stalin''s attitude towards the information we reported?" When fejiuningsky heard that meletskov suddenly announced the advance of the campaign, he was slightly surprised, but he still asked his own question.


    Meletskov said with a bitter smile: "Stalin heard that the German army might launch an attack on Stalingrad in the near future. He was furious and said that I was talking nonsense. He must have listened to the rumors of German spies before he reported this kind of messy information to him."


    Fejiuninsky glanced at me and then continued to ask, "what is Comrade Stalin going to do with major oshanina?"


    Meletskov looked at me and said apologetically, "major oshanina, I''m sorry. It seems that you won''t be able to stay in my front army for long?"


    "Ah? Comrade commander, may I ask why? " This time, I couldn''t help interrupting. You know, it''s related to my future destiny.


    "Comrade Stalin said," meletzkov said helplessly, "since major oshanina thinks that the German will launch an attack on Stalingrad, then when the battle of the sinavino bulge is over, send her to Stalingrad to defend the city. But we can''t let her go empty handed. At that time, we will send her a company to hold the commanding point of Stalingrad, mamayev post, firmly for me. "


    Although meletskov said this in a light tone, I can guess how stern Stalin''s tone was on the phone just now. Otherwise, the experienced general would not change his face a lot. However, I was wronged most. I wanted to remind Stalin that the next target of German attack was not Moscow, but Stalingrad. However, I was directly demoted to company commander. Half an hour ago, I was relieved from the post of acting division commander of the 378th division and demoted to the post of operational staff officer in the headquarters of the front army.


    Meletzkov saw me look depressed, comforted me and said: "major oshanina, don''t worry, when you go to Stalingrad, I will send you excellent soldiers." At this point, he bowed his head and thought for a moment, then said very frankly: "you once commanded the second lieutenant training team of the front army, then let them go to Stalingrad with you."


    Second Lieutenant''s training team, listening to meletskov''s mention of this unit, my heart is warm. It''s his army at the bottom of the box. They are willing to take me to Stalingrad. This shows how much he attaches importance to me. My unhappiness was swept away. I stepped forward, raised my hand, saluted meletskov and said gratefully, "thank you, comrade commander of the front army."


    Meletzkov waved his hand with a smile, and then said to the others in the room, "while the military commanders of the troops participating in the battle of the bulge are here today, let''s first study how to fight this battle." After that, he waved to me and said, "major oshanina, although you will be transferred to Stalingrad soon, you are still the operational staff of our warhoff front army. Come and listen to me."


    As I was about to move on, I saw that starikov frowned and didn''t seem willing to let me participate in this level of discussion. Seeing his expression, I didn''t take it to heart. Anyway, I won''t stay in the front army of warholf for a few days. It has nothing to do with me what you think of me.


    We all stood around the table. Meletzkov held his hands on the table and said with some pride, "before we discuss the deployment of the campaign, I''d like to tell you a piece of good news. When I went to Moscow to report the campaign plan to the base camp, comrade Stalin asked me, "how many submachine guns and rifles do you need from the base camp to launch this campaign?"


    "Three to five thousand submachine guns, five thousand rifles." Thinking about the difficulties of the base camp in terms of weapons and equipment in the past, I only put forward a minimum number.


    I didn''t expect Comrade Stalin to say very frankly: "I''ll give you 20000 more. We have not only enough rifles, but also enough submachine guns. "


    At that time, I was a little worried and asked, "Comrade Stalin, if you supply so many guns for us, will it affect the supply plans of other front forces?"


    Comrade Stalin shook his head with a smile and said, "Comrade meletzkov, you don''t know that the work of turning various departments of the national economy into the wartime track has been successfully completed, so that the weapons and equipment needed by the army can be fully supplied."


    After listening to meletskov''s words, several generals whispered excitedly.


    When everyone was talking about this exciting good news, the chief of staff of the front army, steglimacher, went to the position of the telephone, picked up the receiver and made a phone call.


    After a while, a voice calling for a report came from the door. I turned to see a colonel with a briefcase standing upright at the door. As soon as meletskov saw him, he immediately said, "don''t stand at the door, comrade semunov. Come here to explain the details of the campaign plan to the commanders." With a promise, Colonel semunov walked quickly to the table and raised his hand to salute the generals.


    Meletskov introduced himself to me and said, "major oshanina, I''d like to introduce to you. This is colonel semunov, the combat director of the headquarters of the front army. He is also your immediate superior." Then he introduced me briefly to semunov.


    As soon as meletskov finished his introduction, I quickly raised my hand to salute semunov and politely said, "Hello, comrade colonel. Major o''shanina reports to you and is at your command. "


    Without waiting for semunov to speak, meletskov said in advance, "OK, what do you have to say? I''ll go back to the combat office after the meeting. Now, Colonel semunov, tell us the details of the campaign plan for the Ministry of prominence that you and the chief of staff, comrade stilimach, have worked out. "


    Semunov agreed, opened the briefcase in his hand, took out a map from it and spread it on the table. I had a close look. It turned out to be a map of the sinavino area. After putting his briefcase under his feet, he began to explain the details of the campaign plan.


    "As we all know, in this campaign, the main task of our Volkhov front army was general starikov''s eighth group army and general Krakow''s second assault group army. As for Leningrad''s front army, there will be Neva campaign cluster, artillery and air force participating in this campaign. After the beginning of the campaign, the Neva campaign group, with the cooperation of the aviation forces, will take active actions to contain the enemy forces at the throat of Schlussel fort, so that they can not be transferred to the direction of the attack forces of our volhoff front army. As soon as the time for us to go out of the Neva River is delayed, the Neva campaign group will cross the Neva River with aggressive actions, actively move closer to our front army, and strive to achieve the goal of joining the two armies and breaking the siege. "


    At this time, meletzkov raised his hand to interrupt the words behind semunov, and said solemnly: "when I reported the campaign plan in Moscow, the part of Leningrad''s front army forced to cross the Neva River was denied by Comrade Stalin. He said that the Leningrad front army lacks the technical equipment to cross the Neva River. In the upcoming campaign, the volhoff front army will play the leading role, while the Leningrad front army will support our operations with its own artillery and aviation. Go on The last word he said was to Colonel semunov.


    "After the battle plan was made, we began to prepare for the battle step by step," said Colonel semunov. What is most remarkable is that under the conditions of limited roads and the enemy''s Air Force''s frenzied operations, the army has changed its deployment, concentration and deployment in an organized way. Within half a month, the basic forces of various regiments and units used to carry out the campaign were transported along the two railways with low traffic capacity, and a small part of the troops moved along the dirt roads.


    Unfortunately, the number of dirt roads is small, and the mud makes it difficult for transportation vehicles to pass. It''s up to the railway to take on the whole burden. The widespread implementation of camouflage and counterintelligence measures has played a great role. In order to confuse the enemy, we used various campaign camouflage equipment to create the illusion of a large concentration of troops in little Visera. The city of glassmen, Brickmakers and sewing workers is located on the east side of the upper volhof river. As a result of the camouflage, it gave the Germans an impression that our army was going to fight in Novgorod. In addition, it has successfully created the illusion that troops and regiments are moving to the south. Under this pretext, some troops were transported to the sinavino area. The train started in the direction of Moscow, then turned around, passed vorogda, cheliebowitz and left for tikhvan. All the troops were transported in airtight carriages with the words "fuel", "grain" and "feed" written on them. Tanks were camouflaged with straw. Due to our proper security measures, although the German air force controlled the air, and even carried out intensive air raids on the railway hub and the unloading area, it failed to prevent our army from changing its deployment. What''s more, the enemy has not found a train for transportation, nor has he determined the real direction of the train''s increase in flow, because he is confused by the false appearance deliberately made by our army. "

 Chapter 391

    After the introduction, meletzkov looked back at starikov, raised his chin and said, "general starikov, Colonel sharikov has finished the report. Next, it''s your turn. Tell us about the campaign preparations of your army. "


    Starikov answered, pointed to the map and began to explain to us: "comrades commander, generals, I''d like to introduce to you the preparations for the campaign of my Eighth Army.


    After attending the last battle meeting of the front army, when I returned to the army, I immediately gave orders to the troops under my jurisdiction to prepare for the war. As we all know, for the sake of confidentiality, none of the orders we gave were in the form of written instructions. They were all given orally, and they were given face-to-face by recruiting the military commanders of the units to the headquarters of the group army.


    Troops should dig trenches and traffic trenches, build artillery positions, pave roads and open up marching routes, especially pave roads, which is the most important task in our campaign preparation, because a good road determines whether the army can reach the designated position in time and launch quickly, and whether the supply of reserves and offensive troops can move in time in the process of fighting. "


    When starikov said this, military commissar zaborozetz raised his hand to interrupt him and asked abruptly, "Comrade starikov, I have a question for you."


    Although his report was suddenly interrupted, and there was a trace of displeasure on starikov''s face, he still showed due politeness to the questions raised by senior officials of the front army: "senior officials, do you have any questions? Excuse me


    Zaborozetz pointed to the map and said, "when I went to the temporary headquarters of the 8th Army the day before yesterday, the car passed a section of log paved road, but I didn''t hear the" squeak "sound of log road. What''s the matter?"


    "Yes, comrade starikov." Zaborozetz''s question aroused meletzkov''s interest. He also asked curiously, "what ideas did you have on the road? When the car is driving on the log, the road doesn''t make any noise at all? "


    "It''s more than silence!" General starikov replied with a smile, "senior officer, don''t you find out? Besides being quiet, the log road is quite strong. Maybe in two days, you will find that he won''t shake at all. My engineers have taken a very easy but practical way to prevent rocking


    "What can I do?" meletskov asked with great interest


    "Sprinkle the top under the backing plate." Starikov continued with a gesture: "if you lay the crossbar on it again, it won''t vibrate. Now if you spread a thin layer of sand on it, it won''t shake. In this way, the driving speed of the vehicle can be greatly improved. "


    Meletzkov hit the table excitedly and asked excitedly, "great! General starikov, whose idea is this? I''ll give him credit! "


    "Colonel galmanovic, engineer of the group army. Together with his chief of staff, sofronov, he has worked out a plan to build the road network, which is now under full construction. " Instead of being greedy for credit and taking the achievements of his subordinates to himself, starikov truthfully reported to meletskov.


    "By the way, I want to ask more." Zaborozzi then asked, "I saw a watchtower more than 30 meters high standing in the forest near your temporary headquarters. Is this also the idea of the Engineer? Can you see far? "


    "It''s not the engineers'' idea, it''s the operational staff and artillery''s idea. Of course, it was designed and built by the engineers. When the weather is fine, you can always see sinavino from above. We plan to use it to observe the battlefield, correct artillery fire and air assault. It''s hard to say whether it will work or not. I''m afraid of forest fire. As you know, once the battle starts, it is possible to cause forest fire. The smoke generated by the fire will greatly limit the vision of observers. "


    Fejiuningsky, who had not spoken for a long time, said, "general starikov, I would like to ask you how you plan to command the troops when they gather in the forest and move towards the starting point of the attack?"


    Starikov laughed at fejiuningsky and replied, "Comrade General, this is easy to do. My group army chief of staff, Col. gorovchner, has devised a different method of command. He hit all kinds of whistles, and each company commander had a whistle with a different tone from others. When a predetermined signal is used to give an order, the commanders and fighters can recognize it according to the whistle


    After listening to starikov''s introduction, fejiuningsky nodded with satisfaction, patted him on the shoulder and praised, "well done! General starikov, it seems that your army has done a good job in preparing for the campaign. "


    Looking at the map in front of him, meletzkov said to the triumphant commander of the 8th Army, "general starikov, tell us about your attack plan."


    Starikov promised again and began to report to you: "yesterday, general jaggyaliov, the artillery commander of the front army, deployed the artillery forces to our group army. After studying with major general bezruk, commander of the group army, I decided to distribute the artillery units equally among the divisions, so that we can give the necessary artillery support to the units that capture the enemy''s forward support points in time. "


    "What is the gun density in the direction of attack?" Asked meletskov.


    "Since all the artillery units are evenly distributed among divisions, the density of artillery units on the front of each kilometer can reach 70 to 100 units."


    "How are you going to attack?"


    "I plan to launch the day of the campaign, that is, the morning of the 17th, with two hours of saturated shelling on the enemy''s positions, and then send out infantry to attack."


    "What about the heavy tanks of your group army? What role should they play in the attack? "


    "Similarly, I will distribute tanks equally among divisions to provide firepower support for attacking infantry."


    Meletzkov nodded with satisfaction and praised, "good plan." With that, he raised his head and asked the people present, "do you have any different opinions?"


    The generals on the scene looked at each other and then answered neatly, "no!"


    When meletskov saw that there was no objection, he was about to speak. When he heard me frowning, he quickly summoned up the courage and said, "Comrade General, can I have a word?"


    As soon as my words came out, the room was silent. All the people looked at me in surprise. They didn''t know what kind of shocking words I would say when I jumped out. Deeply afraid that meletskov would not let me speak, I hastened to add, "I have a different view on general starikov''s deployment."


    "Different views?" Meletzkov looked at me puzzled, then turned to look at starikov, hesitated for a moment, and finally gave me a chance to speak: "Comrade major, I heard Comrade Zhukov say that you are a commander with a very strategic vision, and you can often put forward some unique suggestions on campaign deployment. In that case, let''s talk about it. We''re all ears. "


    I didn''t look at anyone. Instead, I stared at the map and expressed my opinion: "I think we should follow the principle of concentrating artillery in the main attack direction, hand over the command of artillery to general jaggyaliov of the front army, and ensure the density of 150-180 artillery in the main attack direction.


    At the end of the two-hour artillery preparation, the artillery should quickly transfer their positions and carry out maneuver according to the advancing speed of the 8th group army, so as to continue to provide artillery support for the battle in depth.


    If we only launch an attack after the shelling is over, our attacking position is about three kilometers away from the enemy''s front. It will take our infantry about half an hour to reach the effective attacking distance. In such a long time, the German army has recovered from the initial panic of being shelled. Our army is bound to be frantically blocked by them, causing heavy casualties. "


    "Comrade major," starikov interrupted me with some dissatisfaction and said angrily, "in order to defend our motherland and Leningrad, our commanders and fighters are not afraid of sacrifice."


    "General starikov, please be quiet and listen to major oshanina." As soon as meletzkov opened his mouth, starikov closed his mouth honestly. Meletzkov looked at me with a smile and encouraged me to go on and say, "major oshanina, if you were the commander of the Eighth Army, how would you direct this battle?"


    Listening to his question, I was stunned for a moment, but I soon regained my mind and went on in accordance with my own way of thinking: "before the attack, we should first carry out two hours of saturated shelling on the German positions. Commander starikov also mentioned this point just now, and I agree with it. But when the shelling goes on for an hour and a half, I will order the heavy tank troops to attack, advance to a place 50 meters away from the German position and stop. "


    "Comrade major, I''d like to ask," this time interrupted by general Gagan, commander of the fourth guards¡° Let our tanks stop so close to the shelling area, won''t they be injured by our artillery fire? "


    "No, general Gagan." I replied with great certainty: "our kV heavy tanks can''t even break the German 88mm anti tank guns, let alone the shrapnel flying from tens of meters away." Speaking of this, I politely asked meletskov, "Comrade General, may I continue to speak?" Because this is not a formal combat meeting, don''t mention me. Anyone may be suddenly interrupted when they speak. That''s why I asked.


    "Of course, of course we have to go on." Meletzkov clearly understood what I said, and reminded those present: "let major oshanina go on, and no one will interrupt her."


    After thanking meletskov, I went on to say: "the reason why I want the tanks to reach 50 meters in front of the German position before the end of the shelling is for two purposes: one is to clear the mines in front of the position for our subsequent infantry troops. The German laid mines that would kill a large number of infantry and would not cause any damage to the tanks. Second, after the artillery bombardment, the tank troops can quickly rush to the enemy''s position, tear a hole in the enemy''s line of defense, and cover the infantry who immediately follow. This breakthrough can be expanded.


    As for the infantry unit that is in charge of the attack, it should advance to the front of the enemy ten minutes after the tanks attack. "


    At this point, I saw that starikov opened his mouth to say something, but when I saw that meletzkov was absorbed in it, he closed his mouth again. I knew what he wanted to ask, so I quickly put forward this question: "maybe some comrades in command will ask, why don''t infantry and tanks attack at the same time? You know, tanks are faster than infantry, even if they start at the same time, they will get to the designated position first. I would like to explain here that if infantry and tanks attack at the same time, there will inevitably be a problem of fighting for channels, which will easily lead to unnecessary chaos in the attacking forces.


    According to the forward speed of infantry, when they arrive at the enemy''s position, our tank troops should have torn open the enemy''s line of defense. At this time, with the cooperation of tanks, they can clear away the remnant enemy in the trench, consolidate the position and continue to attack. That''s all I have to say. "


    After hearing this, meletskov nodded again with satisfaction and said, "major oshanina''s play is quite novel. Although our army has never tried before, judging from my experience, the casualties of infantry troops in attacking enemy positions will be greatly reduced. "


    "I agree with the commander. Since you also think this kind of fighting method can effectively reduce the casualties of the troops, I think it should be popularized in this campaign." The first one to stand up for me was general fejiuningsky, an old acquaintance.


    After that, the chief of staff of the front army, steglimacher, and the senior official zaborozetz also expressed their positions one after another, supporting fejiuningsky''s opinion and proposing to promote this kind of tactics in the army.


    Seeing that several heavyweights supported me, starikov could not say any more words of opposition, so he had to harden his head and agree.


    At this happy moment, a few people came in from the door. Meletzkov looked up, suddenly changed color, angrily asked: "we are holding an important combat meeting, who allowed you to come in without authorization?"


    When I looked at the people who came in, I was surprised. One of them was lieutenant turchinov, the chief of the secret service section who almost shot me. But this time, he was standing behind a captain. Obviously, this man''s rank in the interior department was higher than him. My heart beat faster. My heart said that it was not feijiuningsky who represented Zhukov. It was settled. How could turchinov come out again? Did he come to me?


    The captain walked up to meletskov, first glanced at everyone present, and then said angrily, "comrades, I''m captain yevgenri of the Ministry of interior. As far as we know, major oshanina here is a vlasovian. We are ordered to arrest her."


    As soon as I heard about the arrest again, I stepped back unconsciously. I only survived a few hours ago. Would the people of the Ministry of interior not let me go? But I think I''m surrounded by generals, so I should be able to suppress these small shrimps in the interior department. Thinking of this, I turned my eyes to fejiuningsky.


    Fejiuninski nodded slightly when he saw my eyes for help. Then he pushed away starikov who was standing in front of him and went out. He went straight to captain yevgenri and said coldly, "Comrade captain, I tell you that major oshanina is an excellent commander in the Red Army. She was brave in fighting and had a good command, And won many awards and promotions. I vouch for her with my rank and honor. She is definitely not a vlasovian. "


    "Who are you? Comrade General. " Captain yevgenri asked politely and coldly.


    "I''m major fejaninski, commander of the 54th army. What, are you going to arrest me as a Vlasov? Also, comrade captain, I would like to remind you that every commander present has a higher rank than you. According to the regulations, you should salute us. "


    In the face of fejiuningsky''s accusation, Captain yevgenri had to raise his hand and salute the people present.


    During the conversation between fejiuningsky and the interior department captain, I didn''t hear meletzkov''s voice. I couldn''t help looking at him. Unexpectedly, I found that his hands were clenched and his body was shaking slightly. Seeing this scene, I couldn''t help wondering in my heart, did meletskov have been arrested by the people of the Ministry of the interior, and only when I saw the people of the Ministry of the interior standing in front of me at the moment would he behave so impolitely.


    At this time, fejiuningsky turned around, looked at meletskov and said, "Comrade commander of the front army, this is your headquarters. Can you allow these people from the interior department to arrest our commanders at will?"


    Meletzkov was asked by fejiuningsky. Facing the eyes of all the people, he could not keep silent any more. He just walked up to yevgenri and asked nervously, "Comrade captain, are you going to take major oshanina away from me?"


    "This is my duty, senior general." Yevgeny replied coldly.


    "No! "I don''t agree," meletzkov said in a raised voice, angered by the captain''s arrogant expression. "Yesterday, major oshanina was arrested by the secret service. At that time, I was still in Moscow. When I got the news, I specially reported it to deputy commander General Zhukov and Stalin. They all said that major oshanina would not be a vlasovian, And let general fejiuningsky come forward and save her. "


    "Is that so? Comrade lieutenant. " Listening to what meletskov said, yevgenri quickly turned back and asked turchinov standing behind him.


    Faced with fejiuningsky''s angry eyes, turchinov lowered his head and whispered, "yes, comrade captain. In the morning, when we were executing the vlasovians, general fejiuningsky suddenly appeared and stopped us, saying that he had been ordered by the deputy commander to stop the execution and let all the suspects go


    Yevgenri was a bit embarrassed when he heard turchinov say that. Maybe it''s easy for him to arrest an officer of my level, but he didn''t dare to offend a commander in an important position like fejiuningsky. What''s more, he didn''t dare to act rashly when there was a general like meletskov here.


    After hesitating for many times, he finally made a difficult decision. He raised his hand to salute meletskov and asked in a deliberative tone: "Comrade General, we are here to ask major oshanina a few questions, and then we will leave. Do you think that''s ok?"


    Instead of answering his question immediately, meletzkov turned to me and looked at me for advice. Seeing this, I nodded my head and agreed. So he said, "well, comrade captain, you can ask here."


    After getting permission, Yevgeny came up to me and asked coldly, "major oshanina, have you ever been a subordinate of Vlasov?"


    "Yes," I answered truthfully, "he was the commander of the 20th group army in the great counterattack under Moscow City, and I was the chief of staff of the group army."


    "I hear you''re close?"


    "Close?" Hearing this, I shrugged my shoulders and asked, "Comrade captain, I don''t know how to be intimate according to your understanding?"


    "I heard that when he used to call you, he always called you by your nickname, Rita, instead of oshanina''s surname."


    I can''t laugh or cry at what he said. A slightly more intimate name has become the basis for me to be a vlasovian. I said bitterly, "there are more people calling me by my nickname, and it''s not just Vlasov."


    "There are people who call you by your nickname. Let''s hear it." Yevgenri said here, back to a soldier behind him: "you make a good record." The soldier agreed and took out a pen and paper from his bag, ready to record.


    "I took part in the siege of Moscow, and there were some people who called me by my nickname," I thought for a moment, and decided to start from the lower rank: "commander kritchov of the 315 Infantry Division..."


    "The one who said: Russia is big, but we have no way back, because behind us are the heroes of Moscow, right?" Starikov asked, his eyes glowing as I finished my first name.


    "Write it down!" Yevgenri told the soldier, "go on, major."


    "General Panfilov, division commander of the 315th infantry division."¡° Write it down


    "General lelushenk, commander of the first guard infantry."¡° Write it down


    "General katukov, commander of the first guard tank brigade."¡° Write it down


    Every time I said a name, yevgenri asked the soldier to write it down, but his face became more and more ugly.


    "General rokosovsky, commander of the 16th army."¡° Write it down


    "General Zhukov, commander of the Western Front Army!"¡° Write it down When he said this, yevgenri was obviously weak. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead, bit his teeth and said, "go on, who else?"


    "Rita." Fejaninski also intimately called my nickname: "anyone else, tell him." Then he asked yevgenri in a sarcastic tone, "Comrade captain, I also call major oshanina by his nickname. Do you want to write down my name, too?"


    "There is a more important person who never calls me by my surname or rank. He always calls me by my nickname when he meets or calls."


    "Who is he? Say it. " Yevgenri grabbed the pen and paper from the soldiers, waiting to write down the name of the last person.


    "Joseph visariovich Stalin." When I said the name word by word, Yevgeny threw the pen and paper on the ground and yelled: "you lie. How can Comrade Stalin know such a small person as you and use such a friendly name for you?"


    "Comrade captain," said meletzkov in a positive tone this time, "I can testify to that. When I talked with Comrade Stalin about major oshanina, he used the name of Rita. If you don''t believe it, I can call Comrade Stalin immediately and ask him to explain it to you personally. " With that, he lifted his legs and went to the high-frequency phone, posing as if he was going to make a phone call.


    Yevgenri was flustered. He waved his hand desperately and said, "no, comrade general, I believe what you said is true." Then he glared at me and said, "let''s go!" With that, he took a few of his men out of the headquarters.

 Chapter 392

    When all the people in the interior department left the headquarters, I was relieved to know that I was out of danger this time. Meletskov came up to me, raised his hand, patted me gently on the right shoulder, comforted me and said, "Rita, don''t worry, it''s all over." Then he said to the rest of the generals, "that''s all for today''s meeting. Go back to the army. Seize the time to prepare for the war and attack the enemy on time in the morning the day after tomorrow. "


    After saluting meletskov, the generals left one after another. As starikov and Gagan were about to leave, meletzkov stopped them and said, "general starikov, I will visit your army tomorrow. You should pay close attention to the preparations for the campaign. There is only one more day left. "


    "Please rest assured, comrade commander." "I''ll go back to deploy and make sure that before 0 o''clock on the 17th, my troops will move to the offensive starting position to ensure the smooth progress of the campaign," he said


    Meletzkov nodded with satisfaction and said softly, "go ahead."


    "Yes Starikov agreed loudly, and after Gagan saluted meletskov again, he turned and strode toward the gate of the headquarters.


    As soon as they got to the door, a general was about to go inside. Seeing that they were about to leave, he stopped to say hello to them: "general starikov, I heard that your meeting is over. Are you going back to the army? "


    "Yes, Comrade General. After the meeting, comrade Gagan and I will not talk more about the deployment of our troops. You can go in and ask the commander about specific matters. Goodbye. " With that, they raised their hands to salute the general and turned away.


    The general looked at their backs in surprise and asked meretzkov strangely, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with them? It seems that they have a problem with me." With that, he walked into the headquarters.


    When meletskov saw the general coming, he quickly took me to him and introduced me to him, saying, "Rita, let me introduce you to general jaggyaliov, the artillery commander of the front army we just mentioned."


    The bald general in front of him, without a hat, looked like a man of honor. His stomach was as big as a pregnant woman in October. When he walked, his whole body was leaning back, as if he could keep his balance. I took a look at the four Venus on his badge, immediately stood at attention and said respectfully, "Hello, Comrade General. I''m major oshanina, the new combat staff officer of the front army. Nice to meet you


    "Hello! Comrade major. " Admiral jaggyaliov did not return my salute. Instead, he reached out to shake my hand.


    After shaking hands, he turned his head and asked meretzkov curiously: "Comrade commander, I met general starikov and his subordinate general Gagan at the door just now. They seemed very unhappy. After a few words with me, they left in a hurry. What''s going on? "


    "It''s a long story. I''ll sit down first."


    As soon as we sat down, a second lieutenant hurried in with a cup of hot tea, went straight to the table and put the hot tea in front of general jaggyaliov. The tea was put in a transparent glass with a smart silver cup holder. The general picked up the tea, put it to his nose and smelled it. Then, with a straight face and half joking, he said to the tea delivery lieutenant, "I say again, there can only be a spoonful of sugar in the tea, but what about you? Comrade second lieutenant, I''ve put three spoonfuls of sugar into it. I''m fat enough as an artillery commander. If I get fat any more, I won''t be able to walk. "


    In the laughter of me and meletskov, the second lieutenant saluted the artillery commander with a smile, turned and walked out of the headquarters.


    General jaggyaliov took a sip of tea and then asked meletzkov, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with general starikov? He doesn''t even want to talk to me. Does anyone make him angry?"


    Meletzkov looked at me and said to general jaggyaliov, "old man, at the meeting just now, major oshanina proposed to withdraw the command of the artillery units participating in the campaign from general bezruk, the artillery commander of the eighth group army, and give it back to you. After consideration, I have agreed to her proposal, perhaps because of the surrender of the command of the Artillery Force, general starikov felt a bit lost


    "Let the artillery headquarters of the front army command the Artillery Forces in the campaign. What''s the matter? Comrade commander, I am confused. "


    Meletskov continued to explain: "major oshanina suggested that in the campaign, we should follow the principle of concentrating artillery firepower in the main assault direction, and increase the gun density from 70 to 100 guns per kilometer to 150 to 180 guns. Old man, how many artillery units are there in the front army now? "


    Jaggyaliov put down his tea cup and looked dignified. He thought for a moment and replied, "Comrade commander, I used to have 24 artillery regiments in my hands, including two close guard artillery regiments, namely rocket artillery regiments. Of the remaining 22 regiments, there are 18 artillery regiments and four mortar regiments. These troops were all assigned to the 8th group army some time ago, and were evenly distributed among divisions by general bezruk, the artillery commander of the group army. "


    "I think major o''shanina is right in saying that all artillery units should be used in the main assault direction of the campaign, and after the infantry have made progress, the artillery positions should be moved forward quickly to continue to provide the necessary firepower support for the deep fighting. To command such a large Artillery Force requires an experienced and excellent commander, and you are obviously more suitable for this position than general bezruk. " After listening to meletskov''s words, jaggyaliov bowed his head and pondered. After a while, he raised his head and said slowly, "Comrade commander, I want to remind you that it was with my consent that general bezruk distributed artillery equally among divisions. The reason why we want to do this is that the Germans firmly hold the air supremacy of the battlefield. Once such a large-scale Artillery Force is used intensively, it is bound to call on the German air force to carry out savage air raids and cause great losses to our artillery forces. "¡° You can rest assured, old man. " Meletzkov lost no time to give him a reassurance, "when the campaign was launched, Leningrad''s front army would send out air force to compete with the Germans for the air supremacy of the battlefield." At this point, he turned to me and asked, "Rita, do you have anything else to say?" The German army controls the air supremacy of the battlefield, which is really a big problem that can not be avoided. After thinking about it, I said to jaggyaliov in a deliberative tone: "Comrade General, do you think this is OK? We deploy artillery units in different areas as regiments. After the campaign starts, you will command the artillery to fire at the same area. In this way, we can not only concentrate on the use of artillery, but also effectively avoid the air attack of the German air force. " As soon as my voice was over, meletzkov had already preempted and expressed his support: "I think major oshanina''s proposal is feasible. What do you mean, old man? " It seems that jaggyaliov still wants to say something against it. However, seeing that meletzkov is also speaking for me, he has no choice but to nod his head and say, "well, comrade commander, do as you say."¡° Old man, when you go back, you should arrange the preset positions of the artillery regiments as soon as possible. " Jaggyaliov stood up with a teacup in his hand and said bitterly, "I''ll go back and let the staff plan. In about a week, the artillery will be able to enter the designated preset position."¡° A week? No, it''s too long. " Meletskov immediately objected, "the new order given to us by the Supreme Command today is to launch the campaign of the bulge no later than the 17th of this month."¡° What? " Jaggyaliov was surprised. The cup in his hand didn''t hold steady and fell directly on the table. All the tea in the quilt was spilled on the map. I quickly got up and went to the corner to find a towel to wipe the tea on the table. Jaggyaliov complained to meletskov in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, artillery cannons are not toys. They say that they can be set up wherever they are. In order to enter the designated position, first of all, there must be suitable roads and necessary transport vehicles. In addition, in order to cope with a long period of fighting, we also need to reserve enough shells. All these preparations will take time. "¡° No, you only have one day to prepare. By tomorrow night, all artillery units under your command must enter the designated positions. If the progress of the campaign is affected because the artillery can not enter the position late, not only you but also I may be sent to the military court. " Meletzkov didn''t save face for his old man, and he spoke in a much heavier tone. He asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, can''t you discuss with the Supreme Command and give us a few more days to prepare?"¡° No way Meletskov answered firmly: "just now, comrade Stalin got angry on the phone. He asked us to launch a campaign at all costs as soon as possible to join the front army of Leningrad and completely break the German siege of Leningrad." Seeing that there was no chance for things to turn around, jaggyaliov had no choice but to harden his head and say, "well, comrade commander, since that is the case, I will go back to deploy as soon as possible and let all the artillery units enter the preset positions before the prescribed time limit."¡° That''s right, old man Meletzkov walked over, patted him gently on the shoulder and said in a friendly way, "since it''s the order of the base camp, we should carry out it to the letter."¡° I see, comrade commander. I''ll go back to the headquarters and give the latest operational orders to the troops. " With that, the serious face of jaggyaliov raised his hand to salute. Without taking the quilt on the table, he turned and left.

 Chapter 393

    Old maozi is dull and tardy. If we don''t set a deadline for the preparation of the warhoff front army, we have to wait for them to slowly replenish their troops and weapons before launching the battle of the sinavino bulge. I think it will be months or even half a year at least.


    Although in the first day''s headquarters of the front army, whether it was major general starikov, commander of the eighth group army, or general jaggyaliov, artillery commander of the front army, they were all crying for the troops to be assembled in a short time. When he learned that Stalin had issued a death order, which stipulated that the campaign of the sinavino bulge must be launched on July 17, if the delay affected the launch of the campaign on time, he would be sent to the military court regardless of his rank, which immediately showed unprecedented high efficiency. In just one day, more than a dozen infantry divisions, tank brigades and artillery regiments participating in the campaign all entered the designated positions at 11 p.m. on the 16th.


    I always thought that general Gagan''s fourth guard would serve as the first echelon of the campaign''s attack. After the artillery preparation, it would first attack the German positions. However, after consulting the campaign plan, I was surprised to find that I had made a mistake: it turned out that the first echelon of attack was not the fourth guards, but general starikov himself commanding the sixth guards. General Gagan''s troops, as the third echelon, are responsible for expanding the results of the war, strengthening the assault, completing the whole breakthrough and meeting the Leningrad front army.


    At the same time, I also found from the plan reported by the artillery command that jaggyaliov was also an incompetent commander. He even made a mistake about the number and types of artillery units under his jurisdiction. Originally, the artillery units of the front army had not 24 artillery regiments, but 12 artillery regiments and 9 mortar regiments, 4 independent mortar battalions, 3 M-13 Katyusha artillery battalions and 7 M-30 Katyusha artillery battalions. Although the artillery commander is incompetent, his staff officers are not ambiguous. According to the plan, the artillery positions are arranged in an orderly manner, and the gun density per kilometer has reached the 180 guns I suggested.


    I was looking at the battle plan when I heard someone calling me. I looked up and saw meletskov standing in front of me. It turned out that he was calling me. I quickly got up and saluted him: "Hello, comrade commander, I was just looking at the campaign plan and didn''t notice your arrival. Please forgive me!"


    Meletzkov raised his hand and pressed it down. He said politely, "Rita, don''t be so outspoken. Sit down and talk."


    Although I promised verbally, I stood still. I knew in my heart that although the leader asked me to sit down, before he sat down, I, as a subordinate, could not sit down first.


    When meletskov sat down, I sat down again. I know that he suddenly came to say hello, there must be something to say to me, so he straightened his waist, looked at him, waiting for his inquiry.


    My guess was right. He looked at the information in front of me, nodded, looked up and asked me, "Rita, I think you''ve been reading this campaign plan for two hours. I wonder if you have any different views on this plan? "


    I picked up the plan, turned it over, took out a page of it, pushed it to meletskov, and politely said, "Comrade commander, I have a little different opinion on the way of participation of Leningrad''s front army after the launching of the campaign."


    Meletzkov picked up the page, scanned it with his eyes, put it on the table again, and asked curiously, "what''s the difference? Let''s hear it. "


    "Comrade commander, please look here!" I stood up, leaned forward slightly, picked up the pencil on the table, lit a few lines, and said, "after the battle, the Neva group of Leningrad''s front army will cooperate with the attack launched by the volhoff''s front army with heavy artillery and aviation."


    Meletzkov''s eyes were fixed on the paper on the table, nodded and said: "I also mentioned this point yesterday. Because Comrade Stalin was worried that crossing the Neva River would be a difficult task, he cancelled the plan for the Leningrad front army to cross the river. Instead, he let them support our attack with long-range heavy guns, the naval guns of the Baltic Fleet and the air force. We didn''t cross the Neva until the offensive troops of our front army approached it. " At this point, he raised his head, raised his eyebrows, and said in some surprise, "do you mean that your different views refer to this matter?"


    I nodded my head and said with certainty: "Comrade commander, I personally think that if the Leningrad front army, with the 55th group army and the Neva campaign as a group, launched an opposite attack at the same time after the attack of our front army, the result would be much greater. But now if they don''t cross the river to cooperate in the battle, it means that our front army has to break through the whole German defense zone independently. To break through an area as deep as 16 kilometers is by no means an easy task. Can you call Comrade Stalin and ask Leningrad''s front army to revise its operational plan and send troops across the river to cooperate with our front army''s attack? "


    After listening to what I said, meletzkov almost immediately waved his hand and denied my proposal: "no, this campaign deployment is made by the supreme command, and Comrade Stalin''s orders are not allowed to be discussed, and can only be implemented unconditionally." Then he got up and left.


    Looking at his back, I can''t help thinking of the conversation I overheard last night when I was eating in the restaurant. They said that meletskov served as chief of the general staff, and later, for various reasons, he was arrested and examined by the Ministry of the interior. Almost all the people arrested with him were executed or exiled, and he was the only one who returned to the army unharmed. Perhaps it was this unspeakable experience that filled his heart with fear of Stalin, so when he carried out Stalin''s orders, no matter how unreasonable they seemed, he would carry them out unconditionally. Thinking of this, I couldn''t help sighing, saying that the upcoming battle seems to be more or less dangerous.


    The time of the offensive campaign was finally set at two o''clock in the morning of the 17th. First, the artillery units of the front army carried out heavy shelling on the enemy''s defensive positions. When the shelling was over, the infantry charged again.


    The attack time is communicated by me to the commanders of each echelon one by one. After listening to my announcement of the attack time, general starikov suddenly asked, "major oshanina, do I need to send engineers in advance to sneak into the enemy''s minefield to clear mine?"


    Engineer mine?! At yesterday''s meeting, it was agreed that the tank troops would go to mine. Why did it suddenly mention the issue of sending engineers to mine?


    When meletzkov, who was giving orders in the headquarters, saw me holding the microphone in a daze, he quickly came over and asked with concern, "Rita, what''s the matter? Who are you talking to? "


    I covered the microphone and reported in a low voice: "Comrade commander, general starikov of the eighth group army, asked if he would send engineers to sneak into the enemy''s position to clear up a passage for the attacking troops."


    "Isn''t it easy to use tanks for mine clearance? This starikov is such a fool. Give me the phone Then he took the call and raised his voice and said, "is that starikov? I''m meletskov. I said, what''s the matter with you? Don''t you know that with the current gun density, after the heavy artillery bombardment of the enemy, almost all the mines in the minefield can be reimbursed? Even if there are some left, we can clear all the tanks when we drive over. Well, you don''t need to say that. Just according to what was said at the meeting that day, when the shelling went on for an hour and a half, that is, at 3:30 in the morning, let the two tank brigades of your group army attack quickly. As soon as the shelling stopped, they immediately rushed to the station occupied by the Germans, and quickly captured and destroyed all the defenders. At the same time, let the troops occupying the station quickly repair the fortifications and turn it into our starting position for attacking the heights of sinavino. "


    Putting down the phone, meletskov saw that the commanders who participated in the campaign command were walking into the headquarters one by one. He didn''t care to talk to me and went straight to them. Then a group of generals surrounded the wooden table and began to study the map.


    When the clock was about to point to two o''clock, the chief of operations, Colonel semunov, picked up a telephone beside the wall, dialed it, held it and said to artillery commander jaggyaliov, "Comrade General, the telephone of the artillery has been connected."


    Jaggyaliov, who had been sitting, glanced at meletskov. Seeing the latter, he nodded to him with a smile. Then he stood up with the table, walked quickly to semunov''s side and took the microphone. He put the microphone to his ear and said, "I''m general jaggyaliov, artillery commander of the front army." At this point, he stopped and looked up at the watch on his wrist. When the time was just two o''clock, he suddenly raised his voice and cried out: "all artillery, fire!"


    About ten seconds later, the sound of guns came from outside.


    When he heard the roar of the guns outside, meletskov became calm. He called to the generals in the room: "the shelling will continue for another two hours. Let''s sit down and have a rest. After general starikov''s infantry attack, we will study the next deployment. "


    Waiting is very boring. The atmosphere in the headquarters is very dull. A large group of generals are sitting around the table. Some of them are looking at the map, some of them are leaning against the back of the chair, looking at the big log on the roof in a daze. No one speaks.


    Time is waiting, minute by minute. When a telephone placed against the wall suddenly rang, all the people''s attention was attracted in the past. I was nearest to the phone. I quickly went to pick up the phone and politely said, "this is the headquarters of the front army. If you have something to say, please speak!"


    "Is it major o''shanina?" General starikov''s voice came from the microphone.


    "Yes, I''m o''shanina." After I showed my identity to the general, I asked tentatively, "Comrade commander of the group army, do you have any information to report to the general?"


    "Yes, comrade major. Please give the microphone to the senior general. I have good news for him. " There was an irrepressible joy in starikov''s voice.


    I covered the receiver and looked up at meletskov, surprised to find that everyone was staring at me. I was a little embarrassed, so I coughed to make myself feel a little more stable, and then I reported to you, "Comrade General, it''s general starikov who called. He said that he wanted to report the good news to you in person."


    On hearing the good news, the impatient generals all came and surrounded me in the middle. Meletzkov, a short man, pushed aside the generals who were standing in front of him, came up to me, took the microphone, and then said nervously, "starikov? I''m general meletzkov. "


    When meletzkov and starikov talked, all the people were staring at him, trying to know what the good news of starikov was for the first time? I was standing next to meletzkov, and I could hear his conversation with starikov very clearly. As soon as he heard that meletskov was answering the phone, starikov on the other side of the receiver immediately said excitedly, "Comrade report commander, I have good news for you. Five minutes ago, my close guard 19th infantry division, under the cover of the tank brigade, seized the station from the German hands, and now the troops are cleaning up the remnant enemy. "¡° what? I didn''t catch you. Please say it again After listening to starikov''s report, meletzkov couldn''t believe it, so he asked again¡° Comrade general, the 19th guard infantry division of our group army has captured the railway station and is in the process of eliminating the remaining enemy. "¡° That is great! General starikov. " It was so good news that meletzkov got excited. He said loudly to the microphone, "I congratulate you, general starikov. Congratulations I was not the only one with sharp ears beside me. Seeing meletskov put down the phone, chief of staff stilimach took a step forward and asked in disbelief, "Comrade commander, are they all true? Has general starikov''s forces captured the station occupied by the Germans? " Meletzkov turned to look at him, nodded hard, and said softly, "yes, the 19th infantry division of the guards has captured the station, and the troops are cleaning up the enemy."¡° Wula I don''t know who took the lead in shouting a slogan, which made people blood boiling, so the whole room all cried out: "Wula! Wula!! Wula After shouting a few slogans with you, I looked down at my watch. It was only four o''clock two minutes away. According to the plan, this time should be shelling time. How could the Sixth Army of general starikov''s close guard attack ahead of time? However, seeing that everyone is in the mood, I am not good at throwing cold water on it, so I have to hide this speculation in my heart. When you have a chance to see general starikov, ask him about it. However, some people soon found out what I was thinking. General jaggyaliov, the artillery commander, walked up to meletskov, lit the watch on his wrist and said, "Comrade General, what''s the matter? According to the plan, the artillery will carry out two hours of artillery preparation, but you see, it''s only two hours now, and starikov''s troops have occupied the station area. " After listening to what jaggyaliov said, everyone discovered the problem one after another, so they began to talk about it. Seeing the chaos in the room, meletskov slapped the table and said in a loud voice, "comrades commander, please keep quiet." After everyone calmed down, he continued, "I''ll call starikov and ask what''s going on." With that, he went back to the phone, picked up the phone and began to dial. After receiving the phone call from meletskov, starikov was also stunned. It took quite a long time for him to reply, "Comrade commander, my troops only launched the attack on the whole line after the shelling was over. As the tanks and infantry moved to the German position ahead of time, the troops launched an attack as soon as the shelling stopped. The German who was dazed by our artillery fire had not recovered before the position had been occupied by us. " Meletzkov put down the phone, turned and told jaggyaliov about it. The general also felt that something was wrong, so he called his artillery headquarters and asked them what was going on. It turned out that the campaign was launched too hastily and many artillery regiments did not have enough ammunition in reserve. As a result, the shelling had to be stopped after only a little more than an hour and a half.

 Chapter 394

    The ensuing news of victory excited the people in the headquarters. For example, the fact that the artillery regiment lacked enough shells was directly ignored by everyone. Unexpectedly, because of this little negligence, it became the fuse of the tragic defeat of this campaign.


    Because of the suddenness of the campaign and the powerful artillery fire of the front army of warhoff, unprepared Germany was caught off guard. The fortifications, which took several months or even longer to build, were quickly turned into ruins under the attack of heavy artillery fire. After the shelling stopped, when the surviving German officers and men struggled to climb out of the ruins of the fortification, they were faced with the crushing of the tank tracks of the eighth group army and the death muzzle in the hands of the infantry commanders and fighters. After a little resistance, these German defensive positions were successively occupied by the troops of the eighth group army.


    In order to let the generals in the headquarters have a more intuitive understanding of the progress of the campaign, the commander of the operations department, Colonel semunov, specially hung a large map of the sinavino area on the wall, and arranged two other operational staff members to mark the enemy and ourselves on the map according to the battle reports sent from time to time.


    As the battle is developing in favor of our side, the nervous generals in the headquarters all relax and sit around the rectangular conference table, drinking hot black tea and eating the rich food sent by the cooks. While eating, they comment on the progress of our army.


    After lunch, zaborozetz, a military commissar of the front army who had been keeping silent, looked at his watch, then leaned close to meletzkov and reminded the commander who was reading the war report in a low voice: "Comrade commander of the front army, it''s noon now. Should we report the progress of the campaign to Comrade Stalin?"


    Meletzkov nodded, then stood up, took a report of the war, went to the high frequency phone, picked up the phone and began to dial. Knowing that the commander was going to call the supreme commander, the people who were still chatting in the room immediately calmed down and turned their eyes to meletskov, quietly watching him call.


    The phone was soon put through, and meletskov politely said to the receiver, "Hello, is that Comrade bosklebshev? I''m meletskov. I''d like to report to Comrade Stalin on the progress of the campaign of the siniavino bulge. " After a brief silence, meletzkov began to speak again: "Hello, comrade Stalin! I have the honor to report to you that our army has made great progress in the campaign of the bulge launched early this morning. As of 12 noon, the eighth group army, which was in charge of the assault mission, had opened a five kilometer wide opening in the enemy''s defensive area and wedged into the enemy''s defensive depth of four kilometers. "


    At this point, maybe Stalin asked some questions, and meletzkov stopped reporting. After a few minutes, he continued: "there are many reasons why we can achieve such results. First of all, the German command did not expect our attack. Of course, this is only my guess. In addition, the first assault of our army was sudden both in campaign and tactics, and we were unprepared for the inconvenient German army.


    According to our interrogation of the prisoners, it is the 26th infantry of the 18th German group army that is responsible for the defense task in front of our army. With the 227th division on the left and the 223rd division on the right, they guard the area on the West Bank of the volhoff river. At the end of our artillery preparation, the four infantry divisions of the 8th group army, under the cover of the tank brigade, launched an attack right at the junction of the two German divisions. First, the 19th division of the guards occupied the station, then the 24th infantry division of the guards was on the left and the 265th Infantry Division was on the right. They successfully captured all the German positions in the first line. "


    After the report, meletzkov returned to the conference table with a smile on his face, holding the table in his hand, leaning forward and excitedly saying, "Comrade Stalin is very satisfied with the results we have achieved today on the phone. He also asked us to make persistent efforts, take advantage of the victory and pursue the victory, join forces with the Neva group of Leningrad''s front army as soon as possible, and break the siege of the city by the bandits. "


    Although the headquarters is full of laughter, I have been doing nothing in the headquarters. Standing by the wall to watch the excitement, I feel a little uneasy. I always feel that something big is going to happen.


    The fighting continues, and our offensive forces are still progressing smoothly. At noon on the second day of the battle, another phone next to the high-frequency phone on the table beside the wall suddenly rang. Because I was close, I went over and picked up the phone and politely said, "Hello! This is the headquarters of the front army. "


    Soon, general starikov''s excited voice came from the microphone: "is it major oshanina? Please put general meletzkov on the phone


    "Comrade General, please wait a moment! I''ll call the commander for you right away With that, I covered the phone and looked up to greet meletskov. When I saw him coming towards me, he had already noticed when the phone rang. He came up to me, took the phone and said, "Hello, general starikov! I''m meletskov. "


    I heard starikov''s excited report clearly: "Comrade commander, I have good news for you. The vanguard battalion of the 19th infantry division of the guards has reached the south side of the sinavino highlands and is engaged in a firefight with the German troops."


    When he heard that the troops had attacked near the sinavino Highlands, meletskov was also excited. He immediately told starikov, "Comrade starikov, since some troops have already attacked the sinavino Highlands, what are you waiting for? Immediately transfer the following troops up and take down the highlands as soon as possible."


    After reading so many war reports, I know very well that if we can take the sinavino highland as soon as possible, our army can set up artillery positions on it and bombard the German defensive positions from the north side of the highland to the Neva River.


    On hearing meletskov''s order, starikov, who should have readily agreed, became hesitant. Meletskov soon found something wrong and asked, "what''s the matter? Comrade starikov, are there any insurmountable difficulties? "


    After a moment''s silence, starikov replied, "Comrade commander, the ammunition of the attacking forces has been used up, and there is no way to launch a large-scale attack."


    "What? The troops are out of ammunition? " Meletzkov slapped the table and yelled, "tell me what''s going on?"


    "Comrade commander, please don''t get angry. Please listen to my explanation." In the face of meletskov''s anger, starikov said in a flustered way: "this is because there are so many submachine guns in the front line for the first time. Although before the battle, I asked commanders at all levels to remind the troops to save ammunition. But it didn''t work. At the beginning of the impact, the commanders and fighters pulled the guns and shot out the whole set of bullets at one go. Of course, their doing so also reflects some psychological factors. Because the submachine gun against the abdomen, keep shooting, impact forward is not so nervous. The commanders and fighters all think that in the attack, the firing of our jaggyaliov and shpakin submachine guns inspires the Red Army soldiers, and when a series of bullets fly over the heads of the German aggressors, they can defeat them in momentum. "


    "What''s the use of exhausting all the ammunition and overpowering the Germans?" Meletzkov almost angrily yelled this sentence at the microphone, which scared starikov not to speak. After a while, he slowed down and asked, "what are you going to do with the next battle?"


    "Comrade commander, I intend to keep the first battalion of the 19th division of the guards in contact with the enemy, and the rest of the troops will rest in place until they have replenished their ammunition before launching an attack," he murmured


    Meletzkov''s breathing became heavy, and I stood by me quietly stepped back to avoid suffering from the fish in the pond. However, he didn''t get angry as I imagined. Instead, he quickly stabilized his mood and said to starikov, "let the troops rush to repair the fortifications in place and have a rest as soon as possible. I will ask the logistics department to replenish your ammunition as soon as possible." Finish saying, wait for the other side to say again what, hang up the phone directly.


    Meletzkov hung up and stood where he was. Chief of staff steglimacher came up to him and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? Is there something wrong with the Eighth Army? "


    Meletskov snorted and said angrily, "general starikov reported on the phone that their troops have reached the south side of the sinavino highlands. However, the troops have run out of ammunition and can no longer maintain a strong offensive against the Germans. "


    "Then what? Comrade commander. " When stilimacher figured out what was going on, he was also worried.


    "What else can I do?" Meletskov immediately told stilimah: "Comrade chief of staff, you should contact the logistics department immediately and ask them to send the ammunition needed by the 8th Army as soon as possible."


    "Yes Stilimacher agreed, turned and trotted out of the headquarters.


    Meletzkov stood still for a while. He picked up the high frequency phone and began to dial. It seems that he wanted to report the progress of today''s campaign to Stalin.


    The telephone was soon put through, and meletzkov cautiously said to the Supreme Commander: "Comrade Stalin, today the eighth group army has advanced another three kilometers. Among them, the vanguard battalion of the 19th infantry division of the close guard has reached the south side of the sinavino highlands."


    Stalin listened and said slowly, "Comrade meletzkov, when do you think the army will be able to conquer the Highlands?"


    A simple question like Stalin made meletzkov nervous. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead and replied, "Comrade Stalin, there is something wrong now, and the attack may have to be postponed."


    Stalin''s voice became serious: "what''s the matter?"


    "Because the campaign was launched too hastily, many materials were not fully prepared, and the eighth group army spent too much ammunition and did not receive timely replenishment in two consecutive days of offensive fighting," meletzkov said with fear. According to the report of general starikov, commander of the group army, the ammunition carried by the troops has been exhausted, and they can not launch another attack until they have replenished their ammunition. "


    Stalin asked faintly, "when do you think the troops who have replenished their ammunition can launch another attack?"


    Meletzkov thought for a moment and replied seriously, "I think the attack can start again at about six tomorrow morning."


    After listening to Stalin, he did not comment on his words, but suddenly changed the topic: "is Rita in your headquarters?"


    I was surprised to hear Stalin mention my name. Meletzkov was also surprised. He didn''t understand why the supreme commander would suddenly ask me about this little man. He looked back at me strangely and then replied, "yes, comrade Stalin, she''s right beside me. Would you like to speak to her? "


    "No, just tell her what I said. You ask her, if she was the commander of the front army, what would she do at such a time? "


    Meletzkov took the microphone away from his ear. I was afraid I didn''t hear what Stalin said, so he told me the original words. Almost without hesitation, I replied, "now it''s time to transfer the second echelon of general krakov''s troops. As the second shock group army is being reorganized, only the 327th division of Colonel anchufiev and the infantry brigade of Colonel zhicaoliv are slightly weak. Therefore, after the second shock group army is transferred to the south side of the sinavino Highlands, the Fourth Army of general Gagan''s guard will move forward from its present position, ready to take over the attack tasks of the eighth or the second shock group army at any time. "


    "When do you think the second shock group army can launch a new attack if it is transferred to the north?" I spoke in a loud voice, and Stalin could hear me clearly without meletskov, so he directly asked the questions he was interested in.


    I looked at my watch. At one o''clock in the afternoon, I calculated in my heart the speed of the troop''s transfer. Finally, I answered in a positive tone: "if the troop''s transfer is successful, we should be able to launch another attack around eight o''clock tonight."


    Stalin still did not express his opinion after listening, but asked the commander of the front army: "Comrade meletzkov, which German army is defending the heights of sinavino?"


    Upon hearing this question, meletzkov almost without thinking replied, "according to the prewar reconnaissance, the two regiments of the 96th infantry division of the German army are reporting to Comrade Stalin that they are defending the Highlands, with a force of about 5000."


    Stalin was silent for a while, and then said slowly, "since there are not many Germans in the Highlands, we should replenish the ammunition for the eighth group army first, and attack again tomorrow morning."


    When I heard Stalin''s statement, my heart immediately cooled. I didn''t want to talk to him directly, and even my proposal was negated. To wait until the troops are replenished and attack tomorrow morning is to give the Germans a breathing space all night. When our commanders and fighters want to conquer the fortifications reinforced by the Germans, they will pay a greater price.


    However, since Stalin had already spoken, even meletzkov did not dare to oppose it, let alone my humble little combat staff officer, so I immediately shut up and ran to help Colonel semunov go to the communication room to get the latest war report.


    The attack on the sinavino highlands started at 6 a.m. on the 19th. After the battle started, meletskov anxiously walked around the headquarters, constantly urging Colonel semunov to inquire whether there were the latest war reports.


    It was not until eight o''clock that the report of the Eighth Army came. Meletzkov took the report, only looked at it a few times, then slapped the paper on the table, and said angrily, "what''s the matter with this starikov? A whole infantry division, with a tank brigade, launched five charges in a row, but they were all beaten back by the German of the two regiments."


    Military commissar zaborozetz picked up the war report, looked at it, frowned and said, "Comrade commander, it''s not supposed to be like this. You know, the mountains and slopes of the sinavino highlands are low and gentle, which is conducive to tank attack. In addition, we have more troops than the Germans, so we should not be unable to attack. I think we should call general starikov and ask what''s going on? "


    Meletzkov nodded and told general stilimach, "Comrade chief of staff, go and call starikov and ask what''s going on?"


    Stilimacher got up and made a phone call to the 8th Army headquarters. When he came back, his face was very ugly. He went up to meletskov and solemnly reported, "Comrade commander, I asked general starikov. He said that after four successive setbacks in the charge, he interrogated the captured prisoners and unexpectedly found that many of them belonged to the 180th German division. "


    "What?" When meletskov heard the news, he immediately jumped up from his position and asked in disbelief, "isn''t the German 180th infantry division in the Kremlin area? When did they enter the heights of sinavino? "


    "It''s the highland that he entered at about ten o''clock last night," he replied with a deep expression. Moreover, the prisoners also said that the troops of the 12th tank division soon came to the highlands to take part in the counterattack against our army. As a result, the balance of forces between the enemy and ourselves has changed, and it will be very difficult to conquer the Highlands if new forces are not put in. "


    "Chief of staff," meletzkov heard, decisively ordered stilimach: "you immediately call general krakov of the second shock group army, and ask him to quickly lead the second echelon to the sinavino highlands to assist the 19th guard division in attacking the highlands." At this point, he thought for a moment and added, "give general Gagan a call and ask him to send the 98th tank brigade to the highlands as well."


    Stilimacher left the headquarters and went to the communications room to call Krakow and Gagan. At this time, semunov came to meletskov with several war reports. Seeing the new battle report, meletskov said impatiently, "Comrade Colonel, has our army been frustrated in any direction of attack?" Surprised by meletskov''s attitude, semunov quickly waved his hand and said, "Comrade commander, you have misunderstood me. These are all good news. "¡° All good news? " Meletzkov accepted the report with half faith. After a few eyes, the expression on his face became rich. From the change of his expression, I guess that semunov is telling the truth and the war report is really good news. Meletzkov handed the war report to zaborozetz. The military commissar looked down at the war report, nodded and said, "Comrade commander, this is really good news. Although our army''s attack on the heights of sinavino was frustrated, the attacks of the 24th infantry division and the 265th infantry division of the close guard on the right side of the heights were very smooth. They have broken through two lines of defense in a row and advanced three kilometers to the German defense. " At this point, he calculated with his fingers, and then said excitedly, "that is to say, we are only five kilometers away from the Neva River."¡° Yes, "meletzkov said confidently," now let the units of the 19th guard division and the assault group army, plus two tank brigades, entangle the enemy on the high ground, so that they can''t transfer forces to support other areas. At the same time, we deployed the third echelon to strengthen the troops on both sides of the highland, increase the attack intensity, and force to the Neva River as soon as possible, so as to realize the battle intention of joining the Leningrad front army. "

 Chapter 395

    With these words, meletzkov looked left and right. Seeing that the chief of staff, general stilimah, was not in, he immediately called the chief of operations, Mr. semunov, and gave him an order: "Col. semunov, record my order. The 22nd, 23rd, 32nd and 33rd infantry brigades of the 4th guard infantry army were immediately transferred to the east side of the sinavino highland, cooperating with general starikov''s 3rd guard division to attack the Neva River. The 53rd, 137th infantry brigade, and 122nd tank brigade, go to the right side of the highland, strengthen the close guard division 24 and 265th infantry division of the 8th group army, and cut off the contact between the enemy of the sinavino highlands and the Neva River defense area. "


    At this point, he turned to the artillery commander sitting at the table, jaggyaliov, and asked, "old man, how many artillery regiments do you have enough ammunition?"


    This time, jaggyaliov didn''t say anything casually. He looked down at the notebook in front of him, looked up and said, "there is also a heavy cannon regiment and four independent mortar battalions."


    After listening to the data reported by jaggyaliov, meletskov then ordered semunov to say, "let general Gagan immediately send out the 140th infantry brigade to cover these artillery units and establish positions on the south side of the sinavino highlands to provide artillery support for our troops attacking the highlands."


    After recording the order, semunov turned to the communication room and gave the order. When I saw him leaving, I frowned a little. I said that meletzkov''s command ability was not a bit worse than Zhukov''s. to command such a big battle, I didn''t arrange enough communication equipment in the headquarters, so that whether it was to give orders to the department or to receive feedback from the battlefield, Special personnel should be sent to and fro between the headquarters and the communication room, and the two places are not close to each other. You know, fighter planes are often fleeting. As they are, it''s easy to delay them.


    Soon after semunov left, the high-frequency telephone in the room rang again. This is a special line to the Kremlin. You don''t have to guess that the person calling at this moment must be the Supreme Commander himself.


    Meletzkov picked up the phone, said respectfully to Stalin, and then said with a smile: "Comrade Stalin, I''d like to report a good news to you. The 24th infantry division and the 265th infantry division of the close guard on the right side of the sinavino highland, after a tough fight, advanced three kilometers to the defense depth of the German army. At present, the army is only five kilometers away from the Neva River."


    At this time, he suddenly stopped reporting, put the microphone close to his ear, as if listening carefully to Stalin''s inquiry. After a while, he murmured, "Comrade Stalin, the highlands are still in the hands of the Germans. Last night, the 180th infantry division, originally stationed in crimson, quietly entered the Highlands in the dark. Because our scouts did not find the enemy''s reinforcements and strengthened the fortifications, all the five attacks this morning ended in failure. " At this point, he took the microphone away from his ear, turned around and waved to me standing by the wall to let me pass.


    I quickly walked up to him, just want to speak, he raised his hand to make a silent gesture, and then handed me the microphone. Knowing that I was about to talk to Stalin, I couldn''t help getting so nervous that my words were incoherent: "Hello! Stalin and Comrade


    Stalin on the other side of the microphone burst out laughing and said, "what''s the matter with you, Rita? Why are you stuttering? It''s not like you. "


    I didn''t know how to answer, so I had to giggle at the microphone.


    Stalin coughed, but he didn''t give me any more politeness. He asked frankly, "Rita, if you were the commander of the front army, how would you fight the next battle?"


    For a big man who can decide life and death in one sentence, he can not accept the suggestions put forward by his subordinates. However, since he has asked all the questions, if you dare not say them, the consequences will be very serious. I immediately opened my mouth to say what I thought, but suddenly I thought of the proposal that was rejected last time. I was worried that the proposal I put forward to him this time would come to the same end. I could not help hesitating.


    Stalin couldn''t hear my answer. He couldn''t help urging me. His tone became very severe: "Rita, why don''t you speak? Don''t you know how to answer me? "


    When I heard that Stalin was on the verge of anger, I quickly replied, "no, comrade Stalin. I have an immature idea. I''m thinking about how to tell you about it. "


    "Tell me."


    I quickly sorted out my thoughts, and then said clearly: "Comrade Stalin, at present, our army''s offensive forces are only five kilometers away from Neva River. I think at this time, we should let the Neva group of Leningrad front army cross the river immediately, attack from behind the German army, and coordinate the offensive action of the eighth group army. Our two-way attack is bound to disperse the German defense forces. In this way, the volhoff front army can quickly break through the German defense zone and realize the purpose of joining the Leningrad front army. "


    Stalin was silent for a while before he said slowly, "Comrade Rita, Neva group lacks enough tools to cross the river. Now is not the right time to cross the river. They should wait until the troops of the volhoff front army reach the Neva River before crossing it. Of course, they did not stand idly by in this campaign. The heavy guns of Leningrad''s front army and the naval guns of the Baltic Fleet did not always provide the necessary artillery support for the attack of the eighth group army. At the same time, the fighter planes of Leningrad''s front army constantly patrol over the battlefield to ensure that the German air force will not pose a threat to our ground forces. "


    "But Comrade Stalin. If the Neva group does not cross the river immediately, and after the German army has confirmed that its rear will not be threatened, they may leave only a small number of troops to monitor the Neva group on the other side of the river, and confidently and boldly transfer the rest of the troops to the breakthrough area to prevent our army from attacking the Neva River. "


    After listening to my brief analysis, Stalin said noncommittally, "well, I see." Then he told me, "Rita, give me the phone."


    Disappointed, I took the microphone away from my ear and handed it to meletskov. I came to the map with a gray face and looked at the two combat staff officers with a blank face. According to the battle report, I marked the enemy and ourselves situation on the map.


    At this time, meletskov''s heroic words came to my ears: "Comrade Stalin, please rest assured. Before lunch, our troops should be able to take the heights of sinavino. " Hearing this, I can only smile bitterly to myself. If we had launched the attack last night, the inferior German troops would not have been able to stop our army''s attack. Maybe we would have stepped on the high ground at this moment. Now, the reinforcements of the 19th division are still on their way. It is uncertain whether they can reach the designated position before lunch, let alone win the high ground.


    The generals in the headquarters of the front army are very optimistic about the next war. They generally believe that the overall situation has been decided. It is only a matter of time before the second and third echelons of the army and general starikov''s Eighth Army join together to eliminate the Germans in the defensive zone and join lenningler''s front army. But at the moment when everyone was optimistic, I had a stronger and stronger premonition,


    At 12 o''clock at noon, as everyone was preparing for dinner, an emergency call from general krakov made meletzkov and the rest of the generals lose their appetite.


    As soon as general krakov heard that it was meletzkov who was answering the phone, he said anxiously, "Comrade commander, something''s wrong."


    Meletzkov was stunned and asked, "what''s the matter?"


    "As soon as the 327th division of Colonel anchufiev arrived at the area two kilometers away from the sinavino highland, it was attacked by heavy artillery fire. The troops suffered heavy casualties. The command system has fallen into chaos. The division commander can''t find the commander, the commander can''t find the battalion commander, and the company commander can''t find his own soldiers. In a word, the army is in a mess. "


    "What''s going on? To be clear, where was the fire coming from? " Meletzkov tried to keep calm and patiently asked krakov.


    "I don''t know. Fortunately, the infantry brigade of Colonel zhizolifu started half an hour later than the troops of anchufiev, otherwise my second assault group might be completely destroyed. "


    Meletzkov put down the phone, his face became particularly ugly, he answered the table, said in a heavy tone: "as soon as the troops of the second assault group army entered the battlefield, they were hit by the strong German artillery, the command of the troops failed, and the casualties were heavy. Now it seems that they can not complete the task of attacking the highlands. Therefore, I have ordered general Krakow to try his best to gather up the troops and temporarily retreat to the original station for rest. "


    Just then, an officer rushed in from the outside, saluted everyone and handed in a telegram to artillery commander jaggyaliov. Jaggyaliov only looked at it for a moment. He was shocked. He quickly took the telegram to meletskov and said angrily, "Comrade commander, look, this is the telegram from the surviving commander of the artillery unit I sent to the highlands. As soon as they had laid out their artillery positions, they were attacked by the superior German forces. Without the cover of infantry, after the battle, the artillery positions were occupied by the Germans. "


    After reading the telegram, meletskov slapped the table and stood up. He ordered stilimach: "chief of staff, you should call general Gagan of the Fourth Army of the guards immediately and ask where is the 140th infantry brigade that I asked him to cover?"


    After the chief of staff got up to make a phone call, meletzkov hesitated and said to the generals at the table, "I suspect that the artillery attack on the 2nd shock group army came from this position occupied by the German army."


    Meletskov''s words surprised everyone present. Military commissar zaborozetz looked up at him and said: "I agree with the analysis of the commander. The German army should use our artillery to bombard our infantry after seizing our artillery positions without infantry protection."


    Although the commander and the military commissar have reached a conclusion, some people still raise objections. A general sitting next to zaborozzi asked suspiciously, "it''s impossible. Since the German army sent troops to attack the artillery positions of our army, they should blow up all the cannons and move quickly after successful attack. How can they stay in the positions and turn the muzzle to attack our infantry. Is there any artillery in the troops they attacked? "


    "This possibility exists, Comrade General." When meletskov said this, he turned to ask stilimach who called: "Comrade chief of staff, have you contacted general Gagan?"


    "The man on duty in the army headquarters told me that general Gagan had gone to the army and could not be contacted for the time being," he replied with an unnatural look


    "Did you ask where all the units of the Fourth Army of the guards have gone?"


    Stilimach knew which unit meletskov was asking, and quickly replied, "the 140th infantry brigade lost its way in the forest and swamp because there was no guide. It was unable to reach the designated position in a short time."


    After listening to steglimacher''s reply, meletskov looked down at zaborozzi and asked in a deliberative tone: "Comrade military commissar, the military discipline of large regiments should be strict. The 140th infantry brigade was slow to move, resulting in the artillery position being occupied by the German army, and the Anqiu feyev division of the second echelon suffered heavy casualties. I suggest that the brigade commander be severely punished. What''s your opinion? "


    Zaborozzi nodded and said decisively, "Comrade commander, I agree with you. I suggest that the special service section should be sent immediately to the 140th infantry brigade to exercise battlefield discipline on the brigade commander and let the Deputy brigade commander act as the brigade commander temporarily. Chief of staff, do you have any comments? " His last words were addressed to stilimacher.


    Stilimach immediately replied, "I have no opinion. I''ll do it according to the proposal of the military Commissar."


    When meletzkov heard zaborozzi say this, he was obviously stunned for a moment, and then nodded his head in agreement. According to my analysis, the severe punishment proposed by meletskov was just dismissal and sending to the military court. I didn''t expect that zaborozzi directly proposed to shoot the brigade commander on the spot, which was obviously unexpected. However, as soon as he proposed the severe punishment, he pleaded for the brigade commander, It is bound to affect his prestige in the headquarters, and can only make mistakes right.


    Meletskov told semunov: "Comrade chief of operations, this task should be carried out by lieutenant turchinov, chief of the special service section. For the sake of safety, let him take a few more people." When he said this, he might think that I escaped from this man''s hands not long ago. He was afraid that I would have any idea and even gave me a special smile.


    More than an hour later, turchinov called and said that they had found the 140th infantry brigade and had shot the brigade commander on the spot according to the order of the headquarters of the front army, so that the Deputy brigade commander would temporarily take the post of brigade commander.


    The person who should have been shot was killed, and the troops that should have been deployed were all in place. However, the five kilometer defense zone was still like a natural moat in front of the attacking troops of the front army of warholf.


    As the only remaining Artillery Force of the front army was destroyed by the German army, the heavy artillery of Leningrad''s front army and the naval guns of the Baltic Fleet had to be relied on to provide the necessary artillery support for the army in the subsequent ground attack. Because of the distance, the artillery could not effectively destroy the German defensive positions. Although the troops on the left and right sides of the highland repeatedly launched a tenacious charge, they were still unable to advance. The German army repulsed every attack of our army.


    Just at this time, Colonel semunov, who had just received the phone call, reported to meletskov that general starikov had just called and reported that our fighters, who had been escorting the offensive troops, were disappearing from his view one by one. He asked the headquarters of the front army to contact the Leningrad front army to see what was going on?


    After listening to the report, meletskov immediately told stilimach: "Comrade chief of staff, go and contact the Leningrad front army to see why their air force suddenly withdrew from the battlefield?"


    When stilimacher went to make a phone call, I had a bad feeling in my heart. According to my experience, once the fighters of Leningrad front army withdraw, it is equivalent to giving up the air supremacy of the battlefield. After the German Air Force regains the air supremacy, our offensive troops will become the target of the enemy''s attack, so we don''t wait for them to get close to the position, It will be defeated by the German air force.


    After making a phone call, stilimach came back to report to meletskov and said, "Comrade commander, I have contacted the Leningrad front army. Now the German army is sending out air force to carry out fierce air strikes on their heavy artillery positions and the Baltic Fleet, so we have to transfer our fighters back to defend these important targets."


    After hearing this, meletskov said with disapproval: "even without the support of Leningrad Air Force fighters, we can break through the German defense zone. Comrade chief of staff, order the troops to speed up the attack and get close to the Neva River as soon as possible, so that the Neva group of Leningrad front army can cross the river to meet us. "


    When I heard this, I could not help but step forward and summon up courage to say to meletskov, "Comrade commander, I want to remind you that the situation is very unfavorable to our army."


    After listening, meletskov frowned and asked, "why?"


    "With the withdrawal of the Air Force fighters of Leningrad''s front army, it is tantamount to ceding the air supremacy of the battlefield to the Germans. Once their fighters bombard our army indiscriminately, our offensive troops will soon be bombed


    After listening to this, meletzkov thought about it. Maybe he thought I had a point, so he asked, "what do you think we should do?"


    "Now we have two options. One is to let the troops withdraw from the fighting immediately to avoid greater losses."


    "Withdraw from the fighting?" Meletzkov shook his head unequivocally and said: "it seems that we are going to join the Leningrad front army in a few kilometers. At this time, we will withdraw from the battle. Not to mention Comrade Stalin''s failure, even the commanders and fighters of the group army who are fighting fiercely will not agree. What''s the other option? "


    "Let the Neva group of Leningrad''s front army immediately cross the river and attack from behind the German army. If the two front armies attack each other, the German defense system will be disrupted. In this way, it is possible to achieve the goal of the two armies joining forces. " At the end of my speech, stilimacher went on to say, "Comrade commander, I think major oshanina has a point. Judging from today''s war situation, the Germans are constantly mobilizing troops along the Neva River to strengthen the defensive zone in front of our front army." When steglimacher finished speaking, meletskov did not immediately express his position. Instead, he asked zaborozetz, "Comrade military commissar, what''s your opinion?" Zaborozzi also felt that the current situation was not good, thought about it, and then replied: "I also think we should let the Leningrad front army launch the river crossing operation immediately, otherwise our front army offensive troops without air supremacy and artillery support will not be able to break through the German damned five kilometer defense zone." Seeing that everyone''s opinions were unified, meletzkov also made his final decision. He said decisively, "well, since everyone''s opinions are unified, I''m going to call Comrade Stalin and ask him to let the troops of Leningrad''s front army immediately launch a river crossing operation to coordinate our army''s offensive."

 Chapter 396

    When meletskov got up to make a phone call, all the people in the headquarters were busy except for me, a combat staff officer who made soy sauce. In the past, when meletskov called the supreme commander, the people in the room tried to keep quiet. In this way, as long as I stood a little closer to him, I could clearly hear the dialogue between him and Stalin. At the moment, the headquarters is as busy as a vegetable market. The officers who come to deliver war reports to their superiors come and go, and the reports and conversations between superiors and subordinates are endless. It''s obviously impossible to listen to the contents of the phone calls. So I have to stand in front of the map and chat with two other colleagues in the combat department.


    Meletzkov''s phone call lasted at least half an hour, and he walked back to the table with a serious look on his face. Straglimacher, who had just received a stack of war papers, immediately put his war papers on the table and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what does Comrade Stalin say?"


    Although stilimach''s voice was not high, as soon as he spoke, the room became quiet. Everyone turned their eyes to meletskov and waited for his reply.


    Meletzkov slowly sat in his seat, asked zaborozzi, the military commissar sitting next to him, asked for a cigarette, lit a cigarette and said slowly, "Comrade Stalin has just agreed to the plan of letting Neva group of Leningrad''s front army cross the river. However, due to their insufficient preparation in advance, the equipment for crossing the river was seriously insufficient, and the assembly of troops was not completed, so they were unable to carry out the crossing operation within five hours. In other words, the cooperation of Leningrad''s front army will at least wait until after seven o''clock in the evening. "


    "What? We have entered the third day of the battle of sinavino, but the Neva group, which is ready to join us, is not ready for the troops and the river crossing vessels? " "What are the commanders of Leningrad''s front army doing these days, watching on the other side of the Neva?" he asked in surprise


    "Comrade chief of staff, don''t talk about these things that are not conducive to unity. Perhaps in their mind, they never thought that our troops outside Leningrad could help them open the siege of the Germans. " Meletzkov stopped stilimach from complaining. He stood up and said to the military commissar, "Comrade zaborozez, I''ve given you and the chief of staff the headquarters. I''m going to the front-line troops."


    Zaborozzi stood up and said with concern, "commander, I''m going to arrange the security forces for you."


    "Thank you, comrade military Commissar. Not too many people. A platoon of guards is enough. "


    Meletzkov put the big cornice hat on his head, stood up and looked left and right. Then he pointed to me standing by the wall and said, "Rita, you go to prepare first and accompany me to the headquarters of the Eighth Army later."


    I quickly agreed, turned away from the headquarters, and went straight to the room where the combat office was. When I opened the door, I saw a busy scene in the room. Some of the more than ten staff officers were on the phone, and some were sorting out the war reports. They were very busy. I stood at the door for a while, grabbed a captain''s staff officer who was going out, and asked, "Comrade captain, where is the weapon?"


    "Weapons?" The captain was stunned when I suddenly asked, then he looked at the holster around my waist and said, "don''t you have a pistol on you?"


    I don''t think he understood me. He quickly explained, "I''m going to accompany the commander to the front line. If I only carry a pistol, I''m not sure. Are there any long weapons in the combat department? No submachine guns, no rifles. "


    After understanding what I mean, the captain spoke to Nunu in the corner and said, "go there and have a look. Submachine guns and rifles are available. You can choose whatever weapon you want." With that, he sidled out of the room from me.


    I went to the gun rack in the corner of the room and saw the submachine gun and rifle on it. After thinking about it, I thought I''d better take the submachine gun. At least when I encounter the enemy, I won''t lose anything in firepower. After I put the gun on my shoulder, I opened the wooden box next to me, took a round drum from it and put it in my briefcase.


    I went back to the gate of the headquarters with my gun on my back and was about to go inside when I met semunov who was going outside. When he saw me, he blocked my way and said, "comrades commander, chief of staff and military commissars have all gone to the door. Please go to them as soon as possible."


    I turned around and trotted outside. In the three days since the launch of the campaign, I have never left the headquarters except for eating and going to the toilet. Now suddenly out of the door, the outdoor strong sunlight immediately stabbed my eyes. I closed my eyes, blocked my eyes with my hands, stood in the same place for a while, and then I opened my eyes again after I felt that I had adapted to the light outside. A jeep and two trucks were parked at the door. Meletzkov, the chief of staff and the military commissar were standing beside the jeep and talking. Under the other two trucks, there are a group of soldiers, who should be the guards for us.


    At this time, an officer came up to me, saluted me and said politely, "Hello, major oshanina. I didn''t expect that we would meet again so soon."


    I took a close look at the officer in front of me, and my heart beat faster. This officer was no other than lieutenant turchinov, the chief of the secret service section who nearly shot me. However, I soon stabilized my mood. After all, with the care of meletskov, Zhukov, fijiuningsky and others, he did not dare to do anything to me. To tell you the truth, although I want to shoot him immediately, I still have to deal with him now. As the saying goes, many friends, many roads, many enemies, many walls. Although turchinov''s rank is lower than mine, I can''t easily offend the people in the Ministry of internal affairs, because I may be in their hands again. If they intend to deal with me, then I will be in danger again.


    I tried to squeeze a smile on my face and said politely, "Hello, Lieutenant turchinov. I didn''t expect to meet you here again. Where are you going? " Perhaps he didn''t expect that I would be so polite to him. He hesitated for a moment and replied with a smile: "I''ve been ordered to protect the commander to go to the eighth group army headquarters. Major, do you pass with the commander? "¡° Rita, "just then, meletskov, standing by the jeep in the distance, suddenly called out to me," what are you still standing there doing? Come on, we''re going to start I quickly said to turchinov for this reason: "yes, comrade lieutenant, you guessed very well. Comrade commander specially asked me to accompany him to the headquarters of the eighth group army. I''ll go first. I''ll see you later. " With that, he trotted toward meletskov without looking back. I ran to the jeep, opened the left door behind, and made a gesture of invitation to meletzkov, who was saying goodbye to the chief of staff and the military Commissar. Meretzkov gave them a few more words of advice before they got into the jeep through the open door. I closed the door and was about to go around from the back of the car to the co pilot''s seat when meletzkov stopped me. He told me, "Rita, please come to the back, too." I looked back at stilimach and zaborozzi, who were standing next to me. Seeing that they didn''t express any objection, I clenched my teeth, opened the door and sat down beside meletzkov. The headquarters of the eighth group army is only ten kilometers away from us. Although it''s not far away, we can''t speed up because we are driving on the road of shuchaipu. After driving for a long distance, meletzkov suddenly said, "Rita, do you know why Comrade Stalin asked you about the battle arrangements on the phone these times?" I haven''t really considered his question. I only thought that Stalin asked me to report my next deployment to him as commander of the front army every time. As for why he asked, I haven''t really thought about it carefully. Unable to answer meletskov''s question, I had to shake my head honestly to show that I didn''t know. Meletzkov didn''t sell the key either. He said frankly, "Comrade Stalin asked you to serve as a combat staff officer in my headquarters. His real intention is to let you accumulate some experience as a staff officer and to see how our senior commanders command large-scale campaigns. Don''t underestimate your short experience in the headquarters of the front army. You will benefit a lot in the future. " Listen to him, I''m silent. I understand that he must be right to say so. After all, his age and experience are there. He has crossed more bridges than I have walked. I can''t reach the height of the problem. We soon saw the marching troops on shuchai road. Because the forests on both sides were muddy, the infantry could only walk on the narrow firewood Road, and our speed slowed down immediately. There was a convoy carrying the wounded. In front of the convoy were several trucks, followed by a long train of carriages. Our driver drove to the log platform paved on the side of the road to make way for the wounded convoy. Meletskov poked his head out of the window and asked aloud, "Hey, comrades, what part of you are?" A truck just passing by stopped. The driver pointed out his head and said, "report to general, we are from the transport team of the 8th group army. We are transporting the wounded of the 19th division of the guards to the front army hospital. Please give us your instructions!" Meletzkov waved his hand and said, "go on."

 Chapter 397

    The convoy was composed of seven trucks and more than 50 carriages. Due to the poor road condition of shuchai Road, it took ten minutes for the convoy to finish. Meletskov''s face darkened as he watched the motorcade pass by the jeep. When the jeep was back on the road, he sighed, leaned back and closed his eyes.


    I know that he must be thinking about something at this time. I don''t want to disturb him. I turn my head to one side and look at the troops on the road.


    After driving for another half an hour, I couldn''t help asking the driver softly, "Comrade driver, how long will it take us to get to our destination?"


    Without looking back, the driver replied, "Comrade major, there should be five or six kilometers left."


    Hearing my conversation with the driver, meletzkov opened his eyes and said, "Rita, this is the battlefield. Listen to the guns outside."


    I listened, and the sound of the gun, which was covered by the sound of the motor, became clear. The sound of gunfire did not come from one direction, but from all directions. We can see that fighting is happening everywhere in this area.


    At this moment, the driver suddenly made an emergency brake. Under the huge inertia, meletzkov and I could not help but rush forward, then lean back and hit the back of the chair heavily.


    "What''s the matter? Why did you stop?" Meletzkov scolded the driver harshly.


    The driver pointed to the outside of the car and said wrongly, "Comrade commander, you see, there are airplanes in the sky. It''s German airplanes."


    Meletzkov only looked out of the car window, then yelled, "it''s an air raid. Get out of the car." After shouting, he opened the door and jumped out.


    Seeing that he had got out of the car, I did not hesitate to open another door and get out of here. As soon as he got out of the car, he heard meletskov shouting in his voice: "air raid siren, everyone go to the forest."


    I was afraid that his voice was too small for most of the commanders and fighters to hear, so I helped him shout: "air raid siren, air raid siren, everyone go to the forest." Then, the driver who just got off the bus joined our shouting team.


    The officers and men who were close to us quickly jumped down the shuchai road and hid in the nearby forest. But there was still a long line ahead, walking along shuchai road. They didn''t hear us at all.


    Turchinov, who was working as a security guard behind him, came with a few soldiers in a hurry. He asked aloud from a long distance, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter?"


    "Air raid, comrade lieutenant." I answered meletskov ahead of him, and told him, "take some soldiers to the front immediately, and inform the commanders and fighters of air defense."


    After listening, turchinov stood still. Seeing this scene, meletzkov said with some displeasure, "Comrade lieutenant, what''s the matter with you? Didn''t you hear the order from major oshanina? Take people to the front immediately, and let the marching officers and men go into the forest to avoid the air attack. "


    Turchinov agreed. After raising his hand to salute, he took several soldiers under him and ran forward quickly. While running, he cried out: "air raid siren, everyone hide in the forest."


    The marching officers and soldiers in front of them soon noticed the difference behind them, but they looked back and saw several people shouting "air raid warning" while running. They immediately left the road and ran to the forests on both sides.


    Seeing that the commanders and fighters were evacuating, I ran to the forest with the driver one by one carrying meletskov. He is the commander-in-chief of the first army. His safety is the most important thing. We can''t let him have any weakness in the German air raid. Otherwise, the army will be in a mess.


    As soon as we ran in the muddy forest, the German planes began to bomb and strafe the firewood road. Listening to the explosion outside the forest, and looking at the fire and smoke rising from time to time, I could not help but fear that if I had run slower, I might have been killed by the German plane.


    The German air raid lasted for more than ten minutes. Several enemy planes finished dropping bombs and random bullets, but they were unwilling to circle over the forest again, and then turned around and flew to the West.


    Meletskov looked up at the enemy plane leaving, then waved his hand decisively and said, "it seems that the German plane flew away. Let''s go. Let''s get back to the car. We need to get to the temporary headquarters of the 8th Army as soon as possible. "


    I followed him and the driver, and walked out of the forest. When we got out of the forest, we saw that the jeep we were riding was burning, followed by two trucks, one of which was also burning, and the other truck overturned on the side of the road with four feet. Turchinov was carrying the wounded out of the carriage with people.


    Seeing his car burning, the driver couldn''t help shouting, "my car!" Then he ran towards the burning jeep.


    "Stop!" No sooner had the driver run far than meletskov stopped him at the back.


    Almost at the same time, the jeep made an earth shaking noise, and the body was torn apart by the exploding fuel tank. And turchinov are rescuing the wounded soldiers, many of them were hit by flying debris, screamed and fell down.


    The three of us stood there, staring at the jeep surrounded by fire and smoke. After a long time, meletskov said, "since there is no car, we have to walk to the 8th Army. There are five or six kilometers left, and we can reach our destination in about two hours. "


    Walking out of the forest, I looked around and was shocked. Let alone the explosion of the jeep, even if it was intact, I couldn''t move on. In the air raid just now, the bombs dropped by the German planes broke many sections of shuchai road. On both sides of the road, from time to time, you can see the officers and soldiers lying in a pool of blood. From the forest out of the officers and men, some people are busy to rescue the wounded, others, are holding branches in desperately hit the burning bundle of firewood.


    Turchinov ran to us solemnly. It is said that he saluted and said, "Comrade commander, the vehicles have been destroyed. It seems that we can only walk the rest of the way."


    Meletskov asked with concern, "Comrade lieutenant, how are the casualties in the secret service?"


    Turchinov replied with a bitter face: "15 people were killed and 11 were injured, of which 5 were seriously injured."


    Meletzkov looked at his watch and told him, "leave two soldiers to take care of the wounded. You take the rest with me."


    "But Comrade commander, two people may not be able to take care of so many wounded people."


    "Why are you so stupid? When you meet the retreating wounded team later, just let them take your wounded men with you by the way."


    "I see, comrade commander. I''ll arrange it now."


    Five minutes later, ten of us set out again. This time, for the sake of safety, turchinov took us through the forest. Looking at the muddy road, meletzkov could not help frowning and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, how long will it take us to get to the headquarters of the Eighth Army?"


    Turchinov, who led the way in front, looked back and said as he walked: "please rest assured, comrade commander, we are walking a small road. We can reach general starikov''s headquarters in half an hour at most."


    Under tulchinov, we arrived at general starikov''s temporary headquarters in the forest. Several sentinels on duty at the gate saw a group of us walk past, immediately hid behind the sandbag, nervously pulled the bolt of the gun, and yelled at us: "stop, command!"


    Turchinov quickened his pace and answered to the nervous sentinels in a loud voice: "how can we from the headquarters of the front army know the command of your 8th Army? It''s just nonsense."


    "Who are you? Comrade lieutenant. " One of the Sentinels leaned out of the back of the fortification and asked aloud.


    "I''m lieutenant turchinov, chief of the secret service." After he identified himself, he ordered the sentry loudly: "you should report to general starikov that the commander of the front army is coming."


    The sentry didn''t dare to neglect him. He stood up straight, put his rifle on his shoulder, turned around and ran to the earth house type bunker not far away. It seemed that it was the temporary headquarters of the Eighth Army.


    Little effort, the sentry came out of the bunker, followed by a group of commanders. I saw that there was starikov in the team. I quickly turned back to meletzkov and said, "Comrade commander, it''s general starikov, commander of the eighth group army. I''ve brought people to meet you in person!"


    "Come on, let''s go." With these words, meletskov turned his back to the group of commanders.


    Starikov and his commanders came to meletskov and stood at attention to salute. On behalf of everyone, starikov also reported: "Hello, comrade commander of the front army. Major general starikov, commander of the eighth group army, and the staff of the headquarters come to welcome you and wait for your orders. "


    At the end of my eyes, I found that behind starikov, I was standing at the commander of the Fourth Army of the guards, general Gagan. I am very curious about how he appeared here. At this time, he should stay in his headquarters and command his troops to cooperate with the 8th group army to attack German positions.


    Meletzkov also obviously saw Gagan standing in the team. Instead of being polite to starikov, he simply said, "go to your headquarters first." With that, he took the lead in walking towards the temporary headquarters.


    At the headquarters, he went straight to the wooden table and sat down. He picked up the map on the table and looked at it. Starikov and Gagan stood behind him honestly, not daring to let out the atmosphere.


    After looking at the map for a while, meletzkov pushed it aside, looked at starikov, and said, "general starikov, tell me about the war now? I want to know, when will your troops take over the heights of sinavino? "


    As for meletskov''s question, starikov seemed a little nervous. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat that did not exist on his forehead, and said in embarrassment: "Comrade General, I think conquering the Highlands is a difficult task under the current situation."


    Meletskov raised his eyebrows. Unexpectedly, he did not lose his temper. Instead, he asked calmly, "Comrade General, tell me your reason."


    "Report to the commander, our group army lost the support of the artillery of the front army and fought very hard in the battle of attacking the highlands. Although the Leningrad front army and the Baltic Fleet provided us with artillery support, their artillery attack failed to destroy the enemy''s defense system because of the long distance and low shooting accuracy. When we launched the attack, the Germans hid behind these intact fortifications and shot at us madly. The casualties of the infantry who carried out the impact were very large, and the troops completely lost their assault capability in a very short period of time. "


    Meletzkov turned his eyes to Gagan, who was standing beside him. He asked sternly, "general Gagan, what do you do when you go to the headquarters of the Eighth Army instead of staying in your headquarters to command the troops?" General Gagan, speechless when asked, turned to starikov beside him, hoping that he would come out and say something good for himself. Starikov immediately understood and immediately defended Gagan: "Comrade commander, general Gagan came to the front in person in order to command the troops better. Because his headquarters haven''t settled down for the time being, he has to stay in my headquarters for the time being. "¡° So it is. " Meletzkov suddenly realized, and then asked Gagan, "I''ll ask you, where have your troops arrived? When can we attack the Germans? " Gagan stammered: "Comrade commander, you don''t know something. The troops received the order too late, and the assembly delayed the time. When they were ready to rush to the front line, they found that there were not enough transport vehicles, and they had to rely on the commanders and fighters to walk for more than ten kilometers. The road is not easy to go, but also suffered from German air strikes, so the troops have not reached the designated position. " Meletzkov slapped the table angrily, stood up and yelled, "what? How long have you been under orders? All the troops have not entered the designated position up to now. I tell you, if your department''s slow action affects the process of subsequent campaigns, you''ll wait to go to the military court. " As soon as meletskov said this, the atmosphere in the headquarters suddenly became depressed. Just then, I saw a staff sergeant come in with a cup of hot tea on a tray. After seeing the situation in the headquarters, I hesitated. I didn''t know whether I should quit or continue to deliver the tea to meletskov. I suddenly had an idea. I went up and picked up the tea cup from the tray. I waved to the soldier to leave. Then he took the tea and went to meletskov. He carefully put the tea in front of him and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, you must be tired after such a long journey. Have a cup of tea first and have a rest!" Seeing that I came out to ease the atmosphere at this time, starikov quickly went down by the steps. He bent down and said to meletskov with a smile: "yes, comrade commander, you must be tired after such a long journey. Have a cup of tea first, have a rest, and talk about attacking the Highlands later. Do you think so? " Although meletskov was angry just now, after my agitation, and starikov said good things with a smiling face, he snorted heavily, sat down and took a sip of his tea cup. When he adjusted his mood, he continued to ask starikov, "Comrade General, when are you going to attack again?" Starikov hesitated for a moment and replied, "Comrade General, in today''s battle, the 19th division of the guards has been disabled. At present, there are only more than 700 people left in the whole division. We must replenish our forces before we can launch another attack." Meletzkov glared at Gagan and said indignantly, "the troops of the Fourth Army of the guards are not in place yet. What can I do for you?" Then he asked Gagan, "you''re in the 8th Army. Who''s in command in the army headquarters?"¡° Report to commander, "Gagan said, straight and respectfully," major general rogensky is the deputy commander. Major general rogensky is commanding the troops. " Meletzkov looked down at his watch, looked up and said, "major general starikov, I''ll give you another hour. An hour later, I''d like to see the 8th Army launch a new attack on the highlands. And you, major general Gagan, if your troops have not reached the designated position when starikov''s troops launch an attack, you will lose your position as commander and be taken to the military court. "

 Chapter 398

    After hearing the ultimatum issued by meletskov, general Gagan did not dare to neglect it. He rushed to the telephone and called his army headquarters, asking the left behind deputy commander roganski to urge the troops to speed up the March and strive to arrive at the designated place within the specified time, so as to ensure that his position would not be removed by the higher authorities due to the slow action of the troops.


    But general starikov stayed where he was. He stood motionless at the table, looking down at the map of the sinavino highlands on the table, frowning.


    Meletzkov noticed his abnormality, looked up and asked, "general starikov, do you have anything else to say?"


    Starikov first pointed to the starting point of our attack on the map, then moved his finger to the position of the German defensive position on the high ground, and said, "Comrade commander, please see, the starting position of our attack is about two kilometers away from the German first line of defense. Without the cover of artillery fire, in such a long impact distance, The German will send out air force to fly over our battle formation for bombing, and the terrorists in the positions will pour shells and mortars on our attacking troops, causing heavy casualties. In a vast minefield in front of the German position, the engineers of our group army, in order to open up a channel for the infantry in previous attacks, almost all of them died under the enemy''s muzzle in demining. "


    After listening to starikov''s explanation, meletzkov pondered for a while and asked, "when the troops attack the Highlands, can''t they get any artillery support?"


    Starikov thought for a moment and replied, "although the Leningrad front army and the Baltic Fleet can provide us with artillery support, there are limits to this support. Because the enemy has the air supremacy, as soon as our army launches the artillery, the enemy''s aircraft will fly to the artillery position or the docking position of the ship to carry out crazy air strikes. At this time, artillery support had to be cancelled. The infantry of our army who attacked the German solid fortifications, because there was no artillery cover, would pay a huge sacrifice every time they went further. The attacking troops soon lost their ability to continue to attack because of heavy casualties. "


    Meletzkov got up and walked quietly around the room with his hands behind his back.


    I stood by, my brain was also spinning rapidly, thinking about how to provide the necessary firepower cover for our offensive troops? It is unrealistic to send artillery troops from other places to take part in the attack. First, the road is too far. Under the current road conditions, without four or five hours, the artillery can not reach the designated position. In addition, even if the artillery arrived at the front line, without shells, the artillery was just a device, and it could not complete the task of providing firepower support for infantry.


    Meletzkov, who was pacing in the room, stopped, turned to starikov and asked, "what''s the situation of our artillery position occupied by the German?"


    "Comrade report commander, I sent a regiment of troops to counter attack the artillery positions. After fierce fighting, I recaptured our artillery positions," he said Seeing what else meletzkov wanted to ask, he immediately added: "although we recaptured the position, the Germans moved all the mortars before retreating, and the heavy artillery that could not be moved was destroyed by them."


    On hearing starikov''s reply, meletzkov asked in disbelief¡° All blown up? Not a gun left? "


    Starikov replied in the affirmative, "yes, comrade commander. After our army recaptured the artillery position, I personally went to check. The mortars were transferred, and the rest of the heavy guns were blasted into a pile of scrap iron. "


    There was a look of disappointment on meletzkov''s face when he heard that. At this time, it suddenly occurred to me that since we entered the headquarters, starikov only mentioned that the troops had no artillery cover, no air supremacy, and no tanks at all. So I asked tentatively, "general starikov, I want to ask you something."


    "Major oshanina, what''s the matter? Just ask


    "How many tanks are left in the 8th Army?"


    "Tank?" When starikov heard my question, he frowned and thought for a while, then said in an uncertain tone: "there are 37 tanks left in the whole army, all of which are now parked behind the starting position of the infantry."


    When meletzkov heard me mention tanks, his eyes lit up and he said to starikov, "since you still have dozens of tanks, you can let them provide artillery support when infantry attack."


    Starikov shook his head with a bitter smile and said, "Comrade commander, you don''t know something. All the rest are heavy tanks. These tanks usually carry very few shells. They are all used up on the first day of fighting. "


    Heavy tanks, heavy artillery shells, I repeatedly thought about these two things in my mind. Suddenly, I had a flash of inspiration and came up with a fantastic way. Of course, this method was not my initiative, but a post I saw in the military forum later. So he said to them, "two commanders, please don''t worry. I''ve come up with a way to provide artillery support for infantry."


    When they heard me say this, they were stunned and looked unbelievable. After a while, meletskov said with half faith, "Rita, do you really think of a way?" Seeing that I nodded with a smile, I hastened: "what''s the way? Let''s hear it. "


    After I asked them to sit down with general Gagan, who had just returned from the phone call, I said, "comrades, although our artillery positions were destroyed by the Germans, there are still many shells left. As far as I know, these shells are used by 152 mm caliber howitzers, and the guns of kV tank are also 152 mm caliber. We can let the tanks use these shells to provide the necessary artillery support for the artillery¡° What? " Starikov almost jumped up when I said that. He pointed at me with a look of hatred on his face and said, "major oshanina, do you know what you''re talking about? Do you have military common sense? Can heavy howitzer shells be used for tanks Hearing his criticism, I tried to recall the post I read later. I remember that Zhukov himself ordered kV tanks to use howitzer shells because of the shortage of heavy tank shells. Thinking of this, I looked at the generals in front of me, nodded vigorously, and answered earnestly, "comrades general, I think our kV tank can use heavy howitzer shells." Starikov stood up angrily and tried to continue criticizing me. As a result, he was held by meletskov. The commander said slowly, "general starikov, don''t remember to draw a conclusion first. As for tanks, we are all laymen. You''d better call the professionals to inquire. "¡° Professionals? " Starikov was stunned at first, and then recovered. So he nodded and said, "Comrade commander, you''re right. I''ll call the tank brigade to ask." When starikov called the tank brigade, my heart was in my throat. I was listening to the conversation between him and the commander of the tank brigade I want to ask, can the shells of 152 mm howitzer be used in our kV Tank? what? You don''t know? What do you do for food? Thanks to you or the chief of staff of the brigade, you don''t even know this. Let someone who understands speak to me. " With these words, starikov fell silent. I looked nervously at meletskov at the table, trying to get some support from him. I didn''t expect that he didn''t even look at me. Instead, he looked sideways at starikov who was on the phone. After a while, starikov continued: "Hello! who are you? Oh, it''s the brigadier. I want to ask you, can your kV Tank use 152 mm howitzer shells? What, theoretically?! I don''t want your theory. I want to hear your exact answer. Can it be used? Yeah, I see. In this case, you immediately send trucks to the artillery positions and pull back all those shells. " After hearing his words, my heart fell to the ground. It turns out that tanks can really use howitzer shells. Starikov put down the phone, came over and reported to meletzkov, "Comrade commander, I just asked the commander of the tank brigade, he said that kV tanks can use howitzer shells, I have ordered him to send people to pull shells." Meletzkov raised his right hand, pressed it down, motioned him to sit down, and then asked, "since the tanks have replenished their shells, how do you plan to let them cooperate with the infantry attack?" Starikov, sitting in his seat, pointed to the area where the infantry had gathered and reported: "Comrade commander, I intend to deploy tanks here and let them bombard the enemy''s positions with artillery fire. When the enemy''s surface positions are destroyed, I will order the infantry to charge." For his plan, meletskov did not say yes or no, but looked up at me and asked, "Rita, tell me what you think." I looked at meletskov and said without squinting: "Comrade commander, let the tanks take the lead in attacking the German positions, use artillery fire to destroy the most dangerous fire points after approaching, and cover the infantry to occupy the high ground." Starikov once again attacked me discontentedly: "major oshanina, I remind you again. German artillery and mortar companies were deployed on the Highlands, and there were seven or eight anti tank guns per square kilometer. If the tanks attack rashly before our infantry occupy the position, they will be targeted by the enemy artillery and destroyed one by one. "

 Chapter 399

    In the face of starikov''s censure, I was unusually calm. When he finished venting his anger, I gave him a polite smile and said: "Comrade General, you are right. Tanks without infantry cover will definitely become the targets of German anti tank guns and anti tank men in attack..."


    Starikov listened to me, snorted and said angrily, "since you know, why do you want our tank soldiers to die?"


    Meletskov was used to my ingenuity. He didn''t show any surprise. He just nodded at me and motioned me to go on.


    Encouraged by meletskov, I was more confident and had a stronger smile on my face. I said with confidence: "Comrade commander of the group army, the reason why I proposed to let the tank troops attack the Highlands is that these kV heavy tanks are indestructible. Although they are slow, the German''s 50 mm Pak 38 anti tank gun, It''s of no use to these giants. "


    "Comrade major," a strange voice suddenly rang out behind me. I turned around and saw a middle-aged Colonel standing behind me. He asked solemnly, "I don''t know who has no military common sense so that you have the wrong idea that the German anti tank artillery can''t damage our tanks. You know, in the past three days of fighting, our group army has retreated hundreds of T-26 and T-34 tanks by anti tank artillery alone. " After that, he stepped forward and reported to meletskov, "Hello, comrade commander of the front army. The chief of staff of the eighth group army, Col. gorovchner, reports to you and is at your command. "


    Meletzkov stood up, reached out his hand to the colonel, and asked with concern, "Col. golovchner, I have been at the headquarters for so long, and I haven''t seen you. I was just about to ask general starikov about your whereabouts when you showed up. I said, "where did you come from?"


    The Colonel replied, "Comrade report commander, I just came back from the offensive position on the south side of the highland. At present, the troops are resting. When the time is right, we will launch another attack. "


    Meletskov asked with great interest, "chief of staff golovchner, how is the mood of the army?"


    When the chief of staff heard the greetings from the commander of the front army, he shrugged his shoulders and replied, "what''s more, the commanders and fighters are full of fighting enthusiasm. Although we have been frustrated in launching several attacks on the Highlands, the commanders and fighters are in high spirits at the thought that they will soon be able to join the comrades of Leningrad''s front army and break the siege of the city by the bandits. As long as they are ordered by their superiors, they will be able to fight new battles at any time. "


    While they were talking, I noticed that Col. gorovchner''s boots were covered with mud, and the back of his uniform was wet. I knew that he had just returned from the position.


    Meletskov said a word to the chief of staff, then turned his eyes to me and asked strangely, "Rita, why did you stop and go on. We''re all waiting to hear from you. "


    Because I had meletskov''s support, the Colonel around me said nothing more. Instead, he went to starikov''s side and bent down to report something to him in a low voice. As soon as he said a few words, starikov interrupted him and said, "Comrade chief of staff, we''ll talk about these things later. Please sit down and listen to major oshanina."


    Col. gorovchner didn''t know where I came from, and the two commanders spoke for me. But in this case, he was not easy to ask, so he had to sit next to starikov with questions.


    After everyone was seated, I coughed gently, cleared my throat, and began to talk about the brilliant achievements of kV heavy tank: "comrades, when I was working in the Western Front Army, I saw the performance of kV heavy tank in the battlefield mentioned in our army''s war report and captured German intelligence.


    On the second day after the outbreak of the war, a fierce battle broke out between our kV tanks and German tanks in Lithuania. At that time, the 2nd tank division, which had kV tanks, was ordered to follow the 12th mechanized army to the direction of the dobisa River to block the German army which was advancing along the main road of chilkit chavilia street.


    The 2nd tank division encountered the 6th armored division of the advancing German 2nd Armored group on the avenue of chevalia. The division commander, major general Solia rynchin, ordered the troops to launch on the spot. 80 BT fast tanks in battle formation, supported by 20 kV tanks and T-34 tanks, launched a fierce attack on the German armored forces. After a fierce battle, most of the German tanks were destroyed, and the rest had to withdraw from the battlefield.


    In order to get rid of the remaining tanks, the German army used artillery to attack our tanks. A 150 mm German howitzer hit a kV Tank of our army at a distance of 100 meters, and our tank stopped immediately. Just when the German artillery was overjoyed and ready to aim at another tank of our army, the bullet hit kV Tank started again, flattened the howitzer in front of the stunned German artillery and continued to attack.


    After the end of the battle, the division counted the results. In this street battle, the 2nd tank division destroyed 40 German tanks, crushed and destroyed 40 German guns of 37mm and 105mm.


    There is another more interesting phenomenon in our army''s war report: the vast majority of kV tanks do not carry shells at all. The reason why they attack is that they specially crush German artillery because of the advantage of thick armor and not easy to be destroyed. "


    At this point, although the faces of the commanders sitting at the table all showed surprise, Col. golovchner interrupted me without hesitation. He shrunk his mouth and said unconvinced: "Comrade major, I know general solyananchin, the commander of the 2nd tank division. He is a commander with rich combat experience, It is not difficult for him to use hundreds of tanks to attack German tanks in the process of moving and win. After a kV Tank was shot, it also destroyed the German artillery. It doesn''t mean anything


    After listening to what he said, meletskov said with a smile, "don''t worry, Colonel golovchner. Listen patiently to major oshanina''s speech. The highlights are still to come. You go on The last sentence is to me.


    Seeing that everyone was all ears, I continued: "the 2nd tank division left the battlefield before noon, in order to join the 12th mechanized army fighting in northern rasyania. As the division almost used up all its ammunition and fuel in the morning''s battle, many old tanks also broke down one after another. In order to redistribute spare ammunition and fuel and carry out maintenance, general solyananchin ordered his troops to march up the dobisa River to find a relatively safe environment. Shortly after they left, the German 6th armored division occupied lasyania and quickly built two bridgeheads on the dobisa river. One is the northern bridgehead in ludville, and the other is in the far lower reaches of the dobisa river. Each of them is defended by an armored battalion equipped with light tanks.


    General Kuznetsov, the commander of the northwest front army at that time, immediately ordered the troops to take back the city when he knew that lasyania had been lost. In order to break these bridgeheads, the 2nd tank division prepared to fight back. In order to cut off the link between the German army in rasyania and the German army by the river, division commander Solia rynchin dispatched a well armed Kv2 tank and an infantry unit to attack.


    On the afternoon of June 23, the armored battalion of the northern bridgehead insisted that our army would launch an attack from behind them, so it allocated part of the anti tank guns of the 41st tank destroyer battalion and the 105mm howitzer of the 76th artillery battalion to defend its south side. At this time, Kv2 and the infantry unit stepped in, cut off the contact between the battalion and the main force, and isolated it on the side of the bridgehead.


    In the early morning of June 24, German rescue forces set out from the city of lasyania, trying to join the bridgehead separated by our tanks. The Kv2 tank first destroyed 12 German trucks, which blocked the way to the two bridgeheads. At the same time, the main force of the 2nd tank division was engaged in a bloody battle with the German forces in the northern bridgehead. After receiving the report of the first victory of the Kv2 tank, the 2nd tank division''s morale rose sharply and the offensive further strengthened. The German 6th armored division immediately called the friendly ace 1st Armored Division to carry out side attack on the Kv2 tanks blocking the road.


    On the afternoon of the 24th, the 1st Armored Division sent six brand-new 50 mm Pak 38 anti tank guns and selected gunners to move forward to Kv2, set up a position at a distance of 550 meters, and fired fiercely. The German army fired seven shots, with a 100% hit rate and zero damage. Kv2 then destroyed all six guns.


    The German Army decided to use larger guns. An 88mm gun from the 298th anti-aircraft artillery battalion in the suburb of rasyania was carefully camouflaged and towed by a tractor to approach Kv2. In order not to be found by our army''s tanks, the Germans hid behind the wreckage of the truck and slowly moved forward, but the Kv2 tankers used their intuition to follow them all the time. When it was close to 900 meters, the German artillery stopped and began to lay positions. At this time, the Kv2 tank, which was already ready to go, opened fire decisively and destroyed the German artillery and tractor successively. Nearby German troops rushed up to try to drag the wounded soldiers to safety, but they were knocked down one by one by machine guns on Kv2 tanks.


    On the night of the 24th, a German contingent of the 57th armored Engineering Battalion crawled forward in the darkness and blasted the Kv2 car body with double the usual amount of explosives. As a result, after the violent explosion, our Kv2 tanks were not destroyed. The tankers machine gun fired fiercely at the enemy. The German army was unable to raise its head and had to climb back along the original road. When our army tankers stopped shooting, a German engineer quietly climbed over to confirm the explosion effect and found that although the explosive broke the track, it had no effect on the armor. Before leaving, the engineer blasted the 152 mm artillery of the Kv2 tank with a small explosive package, but the same effect was very little.


    At the same time that the 6th German armored division was turned around by a Kv2, there was a large-scale tank battle between the 1st German armored division, the 12th Soviet mechanized army and the 2nd tank division, who came back to reinforce from the East. As the elite of the German army, the 1st Armored Division is equipped with better tanks No. 3 and No. 4, but it is also unable to shake the armor of kV tanks. A soldier of the 1st Armored Regiment of the division described as follows: "on June 24, we encountered terrible Kv1 and Kv2 tanks on the road leading to Leningrad. We even started shooting from 800 meters, but we didn''t respond. Until 50 meters away, our shells were still flying. The kV Tank didn''t look at us at all and drove past us to attack the infantry. As a result, we have to turn around and catch up! It''s not until 30 meters away that we can use pzgr40 tungsten core armor piercing bullets to break some of them from the back! "


    Although our commanders and fighters were very brave, our tank division was mostly old BT tanks and T26 tanks, and the German Sixth Armored Division was also equipped with artillery and tanks to attack each other in the Highlands, so our army was defeated in the evening of June 24.


    I learned from the captured German intelligence that a total of 29 Kv1 and Kv2 tanks of our army were destroyed, but most of them were trapped in soft and wet areas and other technical reasons. One of them was hit by more than 70 guns without consistent wear! The 37mm anti tank guns of the 37th tank destroyer battalion of the 113th Panzer projectile regiment of the German army were completely destroyed. "


    Hearing this, general starikov couldn''t help interrupting and asked, "major oshanina, what happened to this brilliant Kv2 tank?"


    I sighed and went on with some regret: "because our army failed in the battle with the German army, we had to withdraw from the battlefield. As a result, the German Sixth armored division sent a tank platoon from the bridgehead to the intersection where the lonely Kv2 was stationed and hid in the bush. At this time, on the other side of the crossroads, the German army transported another 88mm anti-aircraft gun from the city of lasyania. In order to distract our tank soldiers, the German tanks kept firing at it from the back. The 88mm gun in the front took the opportunity to enter the position and hit the Kv2 tank for six consecutive times. Our tanks did not burn after the smoke had cleared. The German tank soldiers thought our tanks had been destroyed and jumped down to confirm the results. However, to their dismay, only two of the six 88mm shells broke through Kv2''s armor. In addition, they confirmed seven shallow pits, all of which were left by 50mm shells, while none of the 37mm shells left any pits. Just as the German army finished the inspection and was ready to board Kv2, the tank turret began to rotate! The German tank soldiers had to run with the turret to avoid being shot by our army''s machine gun. Finally, the canopy of Kv2 turret without ammunition was pried open by German engineers, and the tank soldiers in the car were killed by grenades thrown by the enemy. "


    After I told the story in the post from the military forum of later generations, all the people were silent. I don''t know whether they felt sorry for the failure of our army or for the sacrifice of the tankers.


    After a long time, meletskov asked, "what do you think after listening to major oshanina?"


    Starikov looked left and right, then hesitated and said, "senior general, if what major oshanina said is true, then the plan she just proposed to use kV tanks to open the way and cover the infantry to attack the Highlands is still feasible in my opinion." At this point, he turned around and asked golovchner, "what do you think? Comrade chief of staff. "


    Golovchner thought about it and said with some worry: "at present, our kV tanks have no ammunition. Even if they rush to the German position and can crush those guns, they are still helpless for those solid fortifications."


    When he heard that the chief of staff of the group army was worried about the lack of ammunition for the tanks, meletzkov laughed. He raised his voice and said to golovchner, "Comrade Colonel, you don''t have to worry about the lack of ammunition for the tanks. We have solved this problem in the discussion just now."


    "The ammunition of kV tank is solved?" Gorovchner asked starikov incredulously, "Comrade commander, is this true?"


    Starikov nodded hard and said with certainty, "yes, comrade chief of staff. Before you came back, major oshanina had proposed to use the heavy howitzer shells destroyed by the Germans on our kV tanks. "


    "Can you give the howitzer shells to the tank?"


    "I''ve called the commander of the tank brigade to confirm. He said the shells of the two are common."


    After listening to starikov''s words, golovchner suddenly stood up and said with some excitement, "great, comrade commander, since the ammunition problem of the tank has been solved, we can launch a new attack on the Highlands soon."


    Meletskov asked with a smile, "Comrade Colonel, I''d like to hear about your plans."


    Golovchner straightened up and said with confidence: "Comrade General, I plan to let the tank troops attack first. When the tank goes through the minefield and opens the passage for the infantry, the infantry will attack again. At this time, the tanks stopped at the front and destroyed the German solid fire points one by one with artillery fire to cover the infantry attack on the highlands


    After listening to him, meletskov said half jokingly to him, "Comrade Colonel, are you not afraid that our tanks are parked in the front and are being targeted by German anti tank guns and anti tank men?"


    Golovchner laughed a few times with embarrassment, then straightened up again and asked meletskov seriously, "Comrade General, will you allow me to command this attack at the front?"


    Meletzkov glanced at starikov. Seeing that the latter nodded slightly, he rushed to golovchner with a smile and said, "go, Colonel. Your commander and I will stay in the headquarters and wait for the news of your victory. "


    Gorovchner replied loudly, "please rest assured, comrade commander, that I will complete the task." With that, after saluting, he walked out of the headquarters with great strides.

 Chapter 400

    Col. gorovchner left the headquarters and sat around the conference table, leaving only three men, meletskov, starikov and Gagan. Because of the coming battle in the Highlands, starikov seems a little excited. However, Gagan was very nervous because he didn''t get the report of his troops arriving at the designated position and worried about losing his job. He kept wiping the sweat from his forehead.


    Meletzkov looked at starikov and asked flatly, "Comrade starikov, apart from the plan to attack the Highlands, are you sure of the attacks in other areas? When do you think our troops on both sides of the highland will be ready to attack? "


    When starikov heard meletskov''s question, he stood up, straightened up and answered in a loud voice, "report commander, although several divisions of our group army have been greatly reduced in these three days of fighting, the morale of their commanders and fighters is very high. As long as general Gagan''s troops are strengthened, they can immediately attack the enemy face to face."


    Meletzkov pointed and calculated: "in an hour or two, the Neva group of Leningrad''s front army will launch a river crossing operation, if the attack on the two wings of the Highlands can be launched earlier. In the process of crossing the river, the German resistance they encountered would not be so strong, and only after landing could they quickly advance to the enemy''s defense in depth and realize the reunion with our front army. "


    When he said this, his tone did not fluctuate at all. It seemed that he was just talking about a common thing with his friends. However, I listened to it closely. He was implying that starikov must launch an attack immediately, disperse the German defense forces, and ensure the success of Leningrad''s front army''s crossing the river.


    When Gagan heard these words, he couldn''t sit still any more. He quickly stood up and said to meletskov in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, please don''t worry. I''ll call the army headquarters to urge them to speed up the March and try to reach the designated position as soon as possible."


    Meletzkov nodded and said, "go ahead, let Comrade rogensky tell the troops to speed up the March. If they enter the position earlier, we can attack the enemy in front of us earlier."


    When Gagan went to make a phone call, meletzkov and starikov began to talk in a low voice, because they were so far apart that I couldn''t hear what they were saying. However, since they were talking in a low voice, maybe they didn''t want outsiders to know something, so I stood in the same place and didn''t move.


    General Gagan soon returned from the phone call. He stood in front of meletskov and reported: "Comrade commander, I have just spoken with Comrade rogensky. He said that the whole brigade of the 140th brigade has reached the south side of the highland and will join the remnants of the 19th division of the guards. After a little rest, we can launch an attack on the highland."


    Meretzkov snorted and said with some displeasure, "the 140th brigade is really fast. Look for yourself. How many hours did they walk on the road? If they had not been slow, our artillery positions would not have been destroyed by the Germans, and the headquarters of the front army would not have sent special service officers to enforce battlefield discipline against the brigade commander. "


    Gagan was speechless when he heard what meletskov said. He stood in the same place and wiped his sweat. Seeing his action, I can''t help but despise him in my heart. Thanks to you, you are still a great general. When the superior leaders say a few words to you, you are scared into a cold sweat.


    Perhaps seeing that the atmosphere in the room was too awkward, starikov quickly came out to make a comeback: "Comrade commander, please come here and let''s study the next action of our group army." Then he got up and went to the wall, opened the curtain and showed the map inside. I saw meletskov and Gagan both standing in front of the map, so I also stepped forward and approached the map.


    Starikov, holding a stick, pointed to the map and said to us, "please see, the sinavino highland is the only commanding point in this area. You can observe the situation of several kilometers with a telescope on it. If we don''t take this place, but directly walk around from both sides, the attacking troops will be killed by the German artillery from the highlands, It caused heavy casualties. At present, the two lines of defense built by the German army on the southern hillside are the first targets to be captured by our offensive troops. Because the artillery of our front army was destroyed by the German army, and the artillery of Leningrad front army and Baltic Fleet could only hit the north slope of the highland, but they could not do anything about the fortifications of the south slope. As a result, the German Fortifications on the highland survived under the seemingly fierce artillery bombardment of our army, but when the infantry launched a charge, The Germans would hide behind the intact fortifications and shoot as hard as they could. "


    Meretzkov said with disapproval: "when our kV tanks rush up, these solid fortifications will be destroyed one by one, and then the infantry will rush up again to seize the German positions. When the highland is completely occupied, we can attack the northern part of the highland in depth with the captured artillery from above


    Holding the stick in both hands, starikov said to meletskov, "Comrade commander, it is the most ideal result to capture the high ground and then bombard the enemy from a commanding position. But we still need to fully consider how we should deal with the failure of the attack on highlands. "


    "What do you think? Let''s hear it. "


    "At present, the infantry attacking the highlands are only a remnant regiment of the 19th division of the guards and the 140th infantry brigade that has just arrived. Their strength is a little weak, so they need to be replenished to increase their attack strength."


    "You say, where can I find reserves to supplement and strengthen these troops on the south side of the highland?" Regarding meletskov''s question, starikov looked at Gagan and replied, "in addition to redistributing the forces of the fourth close guard army, I ask you to give me the command of the second shock group army. You know, although they are called a group army, they actually have only one division and one brigade. "¡° How do you plan to adjust the deployment? " Starikov raised his explanation stick again, pointed to the map and said, "Comrade commander, please see, I transferred the 327th division of the 2nd shock group army to the offensive position on the south side of the highland and handed it over to the commander of the group army, Col. golovchner. The infantry brigade of Colonel zhizolifu, as well as the 259th infantry division of the 4th guard, and the 22nd, 23rd and 32nd infantry brigades, were strengthened to the 3rd Infantry Division of the guards on the left side of the highland. On the left side of the highland, the 24th division of the guards, strengthened by the 33rd, 53rd and 137th brigades of the 4th Army of the guards, rapidly advanced to the defense depth. The 265th infantry division, which was originally fighting with the 24th infantry division of the guards, was on standby on the south side of the highland as a reserve of the group army. " When I heard starikov''s explanation, I could not help frowning slightly. I said that where there was a conflict between his plan and the orders issued by the front army, now the war is in chaos. It is impossible to mobilize the troops as usual. His adjustment may make the army tired. However, meletskov did not speak, and my little combat staff officer had no voice. As for my worries about these problems, I can only think about them in my heart, and no one will listen to them. Just then, several telephones in the room rang at the same time. Several staff officers who had been busy answered the phone and called out: "Comrade commander of the front army, your phone number!"¡° Comrade commander of the group army, your phone number! " Meletzkov and starikov each went to their own phone and took the phone from the staff. After a few simple words, both of them had a look of joy on their faces. They didn''t have much time. They came back after calling. Although they are trying their best to control their emotions, from the angle of their slightly upturned mouths, I know that the phone is good news. As expected, meletskov said with a smile: "comrades, I have good news. Just now I received a phone call from general govolov, commander of Leningrad front army. He said that after a short period of artillery preparation, the commanders and fighters of Neva group had begun to cross the river and launched an attack on the German defensive position on the South Bank of Neva River."¡° Wula General Gagan couldn''t help cheering at the good news. Starikov patted him on the shoulder and jokingly said, "I said, comrade general, why are you so upset? You are so excited when you hear only one good news. If you hear more good news, are you going to celebrate here with vodka?" General Gagan laughed with embarrassment and asked, "Comrade commander of the group army, do you have any good news for me?" Starikov nodded and said with certainty, "yes, comrade Gagan. The phone call just now was from my chief of staff, golov chner, who said that our kV tanks had launched an attack on the highlands. Although on their way forward, they were subjected to heavy artillery fire from the highlands. These tanks, as major oshanina said, are indestructible. " At this point, he gave me a friendly smile, and then said: "when the smoke of gunfire dispersed, the chief of staff saw our tanks continue to advance towards the German position." When I heard that the kV Tank was not afraid of the German artillery, I was relieved. I didn''t expect that a post of later generations could be used in this situation. I asked tentatively, "Comrade General, did our infantry attack?"¡° Of course, when the chief of staff saw that the German artillery could not pose any threat to our tanks, he had ordered the infantry of the 19th division of the guards to launch an attack to assist the tanks in seizing the German positions. The 149th infantry brigade is still resting, but it will be able to fight soon

 Chapter 401

    The excitement shown by meletskov and starikov is very short-lived. After all, the Neva group of Leningrad''s front army began to cross the river, and the highland battle under the command of gorovchner was only the beginning. They had more important things to do.


    Starikov asked the signalman to move several important telephones to the conference table. In this way, he and meletskov can receive the reported battle reports by telephone and give orders to the subordinate troops in time without moving their positions.


    Meletskov talked with the chief of staff of the headquarters of the front army, stilimah, and the military commissar zaborozetz, telling them the good news that Neva group began to cross the river and was ready to take over the shock troops of the Volkhov front army. At the same time, he reminded them to keep good communication with the headquarters and its subordinate troops, and once there was any important military information, Be sure to call the 8th Army Command in time to inform him.


    General starikov, on the other hand, talked to his men and gave them a series of orders. For example, if the 19th division and 140th infantry brigade of the guards were frustrated in attacking the Highlands, which unit should take over the offensive task. If the highland is conquered by our army, which army should take over the defense.


    I was standing not far from them when they were on the phone. Although I frown at some orders, I know that when the troops are transferred in this way, the combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced due to the exhaustion of the commanders and fighters when they are forced to take the designated position after the army. Without a certain period of rest, they will not be able to play their due role in the fierce battle. But these thoughts are my flash. I am very clear about my identity. In such a large-scale conference, I am not qualified to express any opinions before my superior commanders ask me for opinions.


    At this time, meletskov, who had finished the call, suddenly asked Gagan, who was sitting beside him: "Comrade General, I want to ask you, how many special class shooters are there in your army at present?"


    General Gagan may not have thought that meletskov would suddenly ask this question. He seemed a little flustered. Then he hesitated and said, "report to general, there are probably 50 or 60 commanders and fighters in our army who can be called super class shooters at present."


    Upon hearing his reply, meletskov frowned and said with displeasure, "Comrade Gagan, as early as the end of June, in order to prepare the front army for the attack, we held a meeting of special class shooters, which required that after the campaign was launched, the number of special class shooters should at least reach the standard of 50 per brigade and 100 per division. But what about your fourth army? Seven infantry brigades and one infantry division can only provide 50 or 60 special class shooters. It seems that you didn''t accomplish the tasks assigned by your superiors very well. I don''t know whether it''s your ability or whether you didn''t pay attention to the command of the front army. "


    In the face of meletskov''s reproach, Gagan became even more flustered. While wiping the sweat on his forehead, he defended himself: "Comrade commander, you know that more than half of my troops are recruits. They have only undergone a short period of military training. On the battlefield, it''s good to aim at the enemy and shoot the bullets. As for where the bullet went, only God knows. And it''s not a matter of time to train top scorers. It takes a long time for them to grow up


    Meletskov said with a gloomy face: "Comrade Gagan, in the fight tonight, or later, we need these super class shooters to show their power, but you told me that it will take time to train them. You know, now we are fighting with the Germans, we don''t have so much time, let you slowly cultivate the super shooter


    General starikov, who had just finished the phone call, heard what the commander of the front army said. He quickly put down the phone and said a good word for his old friend to resolve Gagan''s embarrassing situation: "Comrade General, the situation of general Gagan is understandable. After all, his recruits were factory workers, collective farm workers and even young students studying a few months ago. They don''t have systematic military training. It''s impossible to select enough super shooters from them


    On hearing starikov''s defense for Gagan, meletzkov did not retort. Instead, he asked mildly, "general starikov, how many super class shooters can you draw from your army?"


    It was starikov''s turn to be embarrassed this time. He replied in distress: "Comrade commander, as you know, my group army has been fighting continuously since the beginning of the campaign. The troops have been greatly reduced and may not be able to provide you with enough special class shooters."


    When I heard that they repeatedly mentioned the word "super shooter", I immediately thought of the sniper. I thought that meletzkov intended to let these sharpshooters kill the German commanders and the artillery, so as to reduce the combat effectiveness of the German army.


    But before I could figure this out, the phone on the desk rang. It was stilimacher calling from the headquarters of the front army. He reported to meletskov: "Comrade commander, according to the information from the Leningrad front army, the 55th army is participating in the river crossing battle. The 43rd infantry division and the 268th infantry division crossed the Neva River from left to right and launched a fierce attack on the dubrovka district on the West Bank of the river. In front of them was a German SS division. In order to block the Neva group that came to join us, the Germans sent out a large number of tanks and planes to bombard the attacking troops. The fighting was very fierce. Our army has to make great sacrifices every step forward. "


    Meletskov put down the microphone and said in a heavy voice: "comrades, the current situation is very serious. The troops of Leningrad Front Army crossing the Neva River to meet us are blocked by German tanks and aircraft guns. It seems that in order to realize the joint division of the two armies, we still need our front forces to strengthen their offensive strength. "


    Just then, the phone in front of general starikov rang. He picked up the phone and listened for a while. He got excited. He said excitedly, "well done! Chief of staff. To keep the troops moving forward, we must seize the high ground, and then bombard the German defense depth with artillery fire, so as to reduce the pressure on the river crossing troops. "


    Putting down the phone, he immediately reported to meletskov, "good news, comrade commander! My chief of staff has just reported to me that the 19th division of the guards, under the cover of tanks, has captured the first line of defense in the sinavino highlands. At present, the commanders and fighters are continuing to rush to the second line of defense. The 140th infantry brigade is entering the first line of defense, preparing to take part in the final attack on the Highlands except for a small number of troops leaving repair works. "


    "Great!" For this sudden good news, Gagan lost no time to jump out and applaud. At the same time, he suggested to meletskov: "Comrade commander, do you think we should report this result to Comrade Stalin immediately?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." General starikov also echoed: "at present, the campaign is in a stalemate. We should immediately report such good news to the supreme command."


    As for the two men''s proposal, meletzkov hesitated: "our troops have just won the first line of defense, and they are in a hurry to report victory to Comrade Stalin. If our offensive forces are blocked by the second line of defense and make no progress, comrade Stalin will criticize them. "


    As soon as they spoke, they were speechless. As we all know, what meletskov said is reasonable. Although the attack of the 19th division of the guards is going smoothly, no one can tell what will happen next. Stalin is very eager for a victory, but if anyone dares to deceive him and lie about the military situation, he will surely be enraged. At that time, he will be dismissed, or he will go to the military court.


    After a long time, meletzkov said mildly, "general starikov, I''ll talk about reporting victory to Comrade Stalin later. What you need to do now is to keep in close contact with colonel golovchner and keep abreast of the progress of the battle on the highlands. "


    Time passed in our uneasy waiting. When the phone in front of general starikov rang again, he quickly grabbed the phone and said in a loud voice, "chief of staff golovchner? I''m starikov. How''s it going? The position has been taken. It''s great! Chief of staff, you are so wonderful! I want to thank you and the commanders and fighters of the 19th infantry division of the guards. "


    At this point, meletzkov had already come around him from the other side of the table and asked in a low voice, "have our troops occupied the high ground?"


    Starikov did not care to cover the microphone, so he replied loudly: "yes, comrade commander, the 19th division of the guards, under the cover of tanks, has occupied the second line of defense of the German army, and is now cleaning up the remnant enemy."


    "Give me the phone." With these words, meletskov took the microphone from starikov''s hand and said in a loud voice, "Hello, comrade golovchner, this is meletskov. I congratulate you, Congratulations! When I report the victory to Comrade Stalin, I will point out that you personally came to the front and led the 19th infantry division of the guards to capture the sinavino highland occupied by the German army. You made immortal contributions to the meeting of the two front armies and breaking the siege of the German army on the city. At the end of the campaign, I will ask for your credit and ask Stalin to give you the honor you deserve. "


    When he heard that meletskov said that he would personally ask for credit for Col. gorovchner, general starikov was also very excited, because the honor of the 19th guard Division also had his share of credit.


    But golovchner''s next report threw a basin of cold water on his head, making his expression serious. The chief of staff of the group army hesitated to report: "Comrade General, although only two kV tanks involved in the attack were destroyed by German artillery fire, the rest also broke down one after another, unable to continue to open the way for infantry. At present, these tanks are all parked on the high ground as fixed battery."


    "I see, comrade colonel. At present, what you have to do is to take the time to rest the troops and reinforce the fortifications to prevent the possible German counterattack. "


    Putting down the phone, he called starikov and Gagan back to the map and began to assign combat tasks to them. I listened carefully to every word he said and learned something useful from it. From the heart, meletzkov is a commander with rich combat experience. Although he is not as capable as Zhukov in commanding battles, his platoon and array arrangement is absolutely in line with the standard of the command course taught in the Military Academy of vorongze.


    After the deployment of the two men, he called the commander of the Leningrad front army, govolov, and told him that the troops of the Volkhov front army had occupied the sinavino highland and were preparing to launch a deep attack on the German defense from three directions at the same time, in order to coordinate the battle of Neva group in dubrovka district.


    Next, meletzkov and govorov further studied the specific issues such as the movement route of the troops, the time sequence of launching attacks and the artillery cooperation.

 Chapter 402

    On the news of seizing the sinavino highland, meletzkov, after finishing his call with the commander of the Leningrad front army, gorvolov, informed stilimah and zaborojez of the left behind front army headquarters by telephone, and asked them to report the good news to the supreme command.


    Shortly after the victory report was reported, a communications staff officer came to meletskov with a telegram and handed it to him after standing at attention.


    Meletzkov took the telegram and looked at it a few times. He had a tight face and a smile. He happily said to the three of us, "it''s the commendation telegram sent by Comrade Stalin himself. I''ll read it to you: in order to commend the guards after reading the telegram, he said excitedly to starikov:" Comrade starikov, we should tell the troops the good news immediately, This will boost the morale of our army. "


    Starikov agreed, picked up the phone in front of him, shook the handle a few times, then said to the microphone, "I''m Group Commander starikov, get close to the guard." is this true? Comrade commander. " Although this is what starikov said, gorovchner obviously still can''t believe it, so he made a special inquiry.


    "Of course it''s true. It''s a congratulatory telegram from Comrade Stalin himself."


    "Great, comrade commander." Before starikov finished, golovchner said, "I''m going to ask the staff to inform the commanders and fighters of the 19th infantry division of the guards of this good news."


    "Wait a minute, my chief of staff." Stalikov stopped the chief of staff who wanted to hang up and finished what he had just said. "In the commendation telegram, comrade Stalin decided to award you the red flag medal and promote you to the rank of major general."


    Golovchner was stunned by the news and did not make any sound for a long time. As for starikov, he thought he hung up the phone and repeatedly fed him. After hearing the response from the opposite side, he asked with concern: "Comrade chief of staff, how do you deploy the troops on the Highlands?"


    "Report to commander, after the 19th division of Jinwei conquered the highland, because of heavy casualties, there was only one battalion left in the division. I asked them to withdraw and rest. At present, it is the 140th infantry brigade and an incomplete regiment of Colonel anchufiev who defend the highlands. "


    "I know, let them rush to repair the fortifications immediately to prevent the possible German counterattack." After stalikov hung up the phone, he simply reported the situation reported by gorovchner to meletskov again.


    After listening to the report, meletskov did not say anything. Instead, he went straight to the wall, stood in front of the map with his hands behind his back, looked at the enemy situation on the map, and thought quietly.


    After standing in front of the map for nearly five minutes, he turned around and asked Gagan, who was standing side by side with starikov, "general Gagan, are your troops in place?"


    Gagan hesitated for a moment, and then cautiously replied: "Comrade commander, you know, the south of sinavino is full of forests and swamps, and there is no suitable road for marching, so our troops have to lay roads in the marching, so the speed of marching will inevitably be affected."


    Meletskov waved to me, and I trotted over and asked, "Comrade commander, what can I do for you?"


    "Go and get lieutenant turchinov." After he gave me orders, he turned his head to starikov and said, "general starikov, now you can order the troops on both sides of the highland to attack the enemy''s defense depth. At the same time, you can order the tank troops on the highland to destroy the threatening fire points on the enemy''s position as much as possible with artillery fire, so as to reduce the casualties of the attacking troops."


    I walked out of the headquarters and saw turchinov and several secret service soldiers standing outside. I went up to him and said politely, "Lieutenant turchinov, comrade general, please come in."


    Turchinov looked back at the soldiers around him, and then asked, "do you want me to go alone or take the soldiers in?"


    "The general didn''t say that. I think it''s enough for you to go in alone."


    Turchinov followed me into the headquarters and came to meletskov. He passed me, stepped forward and saluted meletskov: "Comrade General, chief of the special service section, Lieutenant turchinov, has been ordered to come and wait for your order."


    Meletskov pointed to Gagan and said, "because general Gagan has delayed the fight, I have removed him from the post of commander of the Fourth Infantry army of the close guard. Now you take him down and find someone to take care of him. After the end of the campaign, he will be sent to Moscow and submitted to the military court. "


    As soon as meletskov''s words came out, not only turchinov was stunned, but I was stunned. Even those staff who were busy were stunned. The room suddenly became silent.


    However, turchinov, who was supposed to do this kind of job of arresting people, soon regained his calm, went to Gagan, bent slightly, reached out and made a gesture of invitation, and politely said, "general Gagan, please, let''s get out of here."


    General Gagan looked at starikov for help, but the Group Commander just shrugged helplessly, spread his hands out and made a helpless gesture. Gagan sighed and had to follow turchinov out dejectedly. When he got to the door, he stopped and looked back at the headquarters again. Then he straightened out and walked out of the headquarters as if he had made up his mind.


    Meletskov then called stilimah and said, "Comrade chief of staff, general Gagan has delayed the battle and affected the course of the campaign. I have dismissed him on the spot. The post of commander of the fourth infantry unit of the guards will be replaced by major general rogensky, deputy commander. You will immediately assign this appointment to him. "


    It has to be said that meletzkov''s move is still very effective. Two hours later, general logansky, the new commander of the Fourth Infantry army of the close guard, called in person and told him that the whole army had entered the designated position.


    As it was getting late at this time, the attacks of both the warhoff front army and the Leningrad front army came to an end for the time being. According to the reported war reports, the 3rd, 24th and 265th infantry divisions of the 8th group army, which attacked from both sides of the Highlands, were wedged into the German defense about two kilometers deep, only three kilometers away from the Neva River.


    However, the attack of Leningrad''s front army was not smooth. Although after the successful crossing of Neva River, the two divisions'' troops and the German troops defending dubrovka District fought to the death, because the German army had strong fortifications, powerful artillery and aviation, our army, which was short of heavy weapons, barely captured the first line of defense of the German army after making great sacrifices, However, they were defeated by the German counterattack before they had a firm foothold. Several thousand officers and men of the two divisions could only return to the valley by the Neva River.


    At midnight, the supreme commander in Moscow called in person. On the phone, he said sternly to meletskov: "Comrade meletskov, the situation of Leningrad''s front army is very bad now. If the situation continues, thousands of commanders and fighters crossing the Neva River will either be driven down by the German army or destroyed by gunfire, so you must go to the front army of Volkhov tomorrow, that is, in the early morning of July 20, There should be no hesitation in launching a deep defensive attack on the German army. After your attack begins, the forces of Neva group will cooperate with you and attack from the German rear. "


    After receiving the phone call, meletzkov began to deploy tomorrow''s offensive. He ordered general starikov to immediately issue an order that the troops of the eighth group army launch a fierce attack on the enemy face to face at 4 a.m., in order to coordinate the friendly forces of Neva group trapped in the valley by the river.


    However, the plan couldn''t keep up with the change. As soon as it was dawn, the sound of guns came from outside. Hearing this, I couldn''t help but be stunned. I said in my heart, where are the artillery firing? The artillery of the volhoff front army has no more shells, and it is impossible to provide artillery cover for our offensive troops. Could it be that the heavy artillery of Leningrad''s front army and the naval guns of the Baltic Fleet were firing in order to cooperate with the action of double attack?


    Just as I was daydreaming, the phone on the desk rang. Because I was close, I grabbed the microphone at any time and said politely, "Hello, this is the headquarters of the eighth group army."


    From the microphone came the flustered voice of chief of staff golovchner: "is it major oshanina? Please put general starikov on the phone


    I handed the phone to starikov and said, "Comrade General, your phone number. It''s general golovchner, chief of staff of the group army. "


    Starikov said thank you, took the phone, only heard a few words, then asked back in dismay: "chief of staff, what do you say? Say it again After listening to the chief of staff repeat, starikov''s face darkened. After he hung up, he went up to meletskov and solemnly reported, "Comrade commander, the situation has changed. My chief of staff has just called to say that the German army is bombarding the heights of sinavino with heavy artillery fire, and our officers and men are unable to move in the trenches because of the artillery fire. It seems that today''s attack plan has to be cancelled. "


    After listening to this, meletskov''s face became overcast and overcast. After a long time, he said, "Comrade starikov, please call Comrade gorovchner again and ask how the situation is now?"


    Starikov agreed and reached for the phone on the desk, ready to call his chief of staff. Unexpectedly, the phone rang first. He grabbed the microphone and put it to his ear. "I''m starikov, chief of staff? How are you doing there? "


    The voice in the microphone is very loud, even if I stand a few steps away, I can hear it clearly: "Comrade commander, the situation is very bad. At the same time of shelling, the German army sent out planes to carry out air strikes on the highlands. The enemy''s bombers blasted off the kV tanks which were used as fixed batteries, and the heavy artillery bombarded the area where our army had assembled desperately. At present, my command post has lost contact with the highlands. "


    "Keep in touch with highland. If you have any new information, please report to me immediately." Starikov put down the phone and just wanted to report to meletskov, who waved his hand and said, "I heard it. It seems that the German Army wanted to recapture the Highlands, so it would send out air force and artillery to carry out indiscriminate bombardment in an attempt to annihilate all our troops in the position with powerful firepower. "


    "Comrade General," starikov asked cautiously, "you see, the German artillery and air strikes are so fierce. Do you think it is necessary to withdraw the troops from the Highlands first, so as not to cause more casualties?"


    Meletzkov immediately shook his head and denied his proposal: "no, the enemy''s artillery fire is too fierce. At this time, withdraw the troops from the position. If there is no solid fortification to cover the troops, they may be completely annihilated."


    The successive reports of war are all bad news. Although the commanders and fighters of Neva group were very brave, they attacked again and again, leaving a mountain of corpses in front of the German defensive positions, and could not make more progress at all. At noon, in order to strengthen the attack and break through the German solid defense line, the Leningrad front army ordered the 86th infantry division and the 11th infantry brigade to cross the river and fight. However, the intensive offensive formation, under the heavy German artillery attack, the casualties of our army rose sharply, and the army had to return to the valley again in the end. The Germans poured thousands of bombs and shells on the highlands of sinavino. It seems that they want to erase this place from the earth and turn all living creatures into ashes. Under such a powerful fire, the temporary reinforcement works were torn to pieces one by one like toys, and the officers and soldiers hiding in them suffered heavy casualties. The attack of Neva group failed, and the heights of sinavino were in danger. The two front armies joined forces to break the German plan of besieging the city, like a beautiful soap bubble.

 Chapter 403

    In the face of such a bad situation, meletskov was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. He walked back and forth in the headquarters without saying a word. The staff officers and signalmen who were making phone calls and sending telegrams also deliberately lowered their voices, so as not to affect the thinking of the commander of the front army and bring about disaster.


    The most anxious is the commander of the eighth group army, starikov. He watched meletskov keep walking around the room without any sign of stopping. He could not help raising his voice and loudly reminded the other party: "senior general, the situation in the sinavino Highlands is very dangerous at present. You need to find a way as soon as possible. Otherwise, before the German artillery stopped, all our officers and men on the Highlands would have died. "


    When he heard what starikov said, meletzkov slowed down and walked back and forth in the room. Then he came to starikov, stopped, looked up and asked, "Comrade starikov, do you have any good way to face the current situation?"


    Starikov obviously didn''t expect that meletzkov would suddenly ask him this question. He was stunned for a moment and then replied, "we should immediately send the reserve team to the high ground, and we must hold the position."


    "Reserves?" When meletskov heard the word, he sneered and said in a sarcastic tone, "my general, do you still have reserves in your hand? You know, at the moment, the Germans are pouring thousands of bombs and shells onto the high ground. Even the heavy tanks that can''t be damaged by anti tank guns are smashed by the enemy''s high explosive bombs. Even if there is a reserve, in such a dense artillery fire into the position, do you think the flesh and blood of the commanders and fighters is indestructible? It will not help but increase unnecessary casualties. "


    Starikov asked in some confusion: "Comrade General, what should we do? You know, after the German bombing and shelling, infantry will be sent out to attack the highlands. The terrain on the north side of the highland is flat and there is no danger to defend. If we don''t replenish the garrison, we can''t defend the position only by the troops with heavy casualties. "


    Meletzkov turned his head to me, spoke to me and said, "Rita, I know you have a lot of ideas. Do you have any good suggestions? "


    I nodded hard and answered, "Comrade General, I have a way. Please see With that, I went to the side of the map, picked up the stick leaning against the wall, lit the sinavino highland on the map, and continued: "senior general, general starikov, from the current situation, the German army intends to consume our troops on the highland with aerial bombs and shells, and then they will send infantry to attack, He tried to recapture the Highlands occupied by our army at one stroke. What we can do now is to immediately contact General govolov, commander of the Leningrad front army, and ask them to support us with heavy artillery and naval guns to suppress the German artillery positions. At the same time, we should also ask the air force of Leningrad front army to send out fighter planes to drive away enemy bombers from the current fighting area, so that they can no longer pose a threat to our ground forces. The next thing we need to do is to order the 3rd, 24th and 265th infantry divisions of the guards on both sides of the highland to immediately feint at the enemy''s positions, so that the German forces on the north side of the highland can not mobilize enough forces to take part in the attack. " With that, I leaned my stick against the wall again.


    Meletzkov nodded with satisfaction and said, "your suggestion is quite right. I''ll call general govolov, commander of Leningrad''s front army, and Admiral tributz, commander of the Baltic Fleet, and ask them to immediately suppress the German artillery positions with heavy artillery and naval guns." He raised his legs and went to the conference table, where he was going to contact the Leningrad front army by telephone. His hand touched the phone, did not immediately pick up the phone, but turned to ask me: "after the bombing and shelling of the commanders and fighters on the Highlands, the number of survivors will not be too many, there will be a serious shortage of defensive forces, where should we draw forces to supplement them?"


    I went to meletskov and said, "senior general, the 140th infantry brigade and the 327th division regiment on the highland are estimated to have lost all their lives. It is very difficult for them to hold on to the highland. The 19th infantry division, which had completed the task of conquering the Highlands, also suffered heavy casualties and was in urgent need of additional troops, weapons and ammunition. It was also unable to complete the task of defending the highlands. I suggest that the 22nd, 23rd and 137th infantry brigades of the 4th Army of the close guard, originally assigned to the left and right wings of the highland, be sent to the highland. They have not gone through combat, and the organizational structure of their troops is complete, so they can hold fast to the high ground. "


    "Chief general, I''m going to call general rogensky and ask him to give orders to the three brigades. Let them get close to the high ground and prepare to take over the defensive positions of the 140th infantry brigade and the 327th division." With that, starikov came to the table and was ready to call the headquarters of the Fourth Army.


    "Please wait, Comrade General." I saw that he had picked up the receiver and quickly stopped him.


    Starikov saw me stop him from calling, looked at me blankly and asked, "do you have anything else to add? Major oshanina. "


    "Yes, Rita. Do you have anything left to say? " Meletzkov also asked.


    Although the ideas in my mind are beneficial to the war situation, it would offend people to say them. At least starikov, who is standing in front of me at the moment, will hate me after listening to my new suggestions. However, for the sake of the overall situation, I hesitated again and again, but still summoned up the courage to say, "senior general, since the 4th and 6th guard armies belong to two different command systems, the coordination between them will be very poor during the operations of large regiments, which may lead to the delay of fighters. In order to improve the current situation of command, I suggest that a commander with a higher rank be replaced to command the troops. "


    As soon as I said this, I saw that starikov''s face turned black immediately. He glared into my eyes, almost spewing fire. If it wasn''t for meletskov, he would have been smoking.


    As for my proposal, meletskov lowered his head for a moment, then raised his head, frowned and asked, "Rita, who do you think should command these two armies?"


    "Comrade General, our troops participating in the battle of the siniavino bulge are divided into three echelons. The first echelon is the eighth group army under the command of general starikov, and the second is the second assault group army under the command of lieutenant general krakov. "When referring to krakov, I specially emphasized the two words of lieutenant general rank," the third echelon is the Fourth Infantry army under the command of general Gagan. Of the three commanders, general Krakow has the highest rank. I think it is appropriate for him to assume the position of front-line commander of the offensive forces. "


    After listening, meletskov did not say yes or no, but looked at starikov and asked, "Comrade starikov, what do you think of major Rita''s opinion?"


    Meletzkov threw the question directly to starikov, making his face red and white. He was silent for a long time before biting his back teeth and saying, "I think major oshanina''s proposal is correct at this stage. It will greatly improve the current situation of poor coordination and ineffective command between the troops by handing over my sixth army and general roganski''s Fourth Army to general krakov. "


    Seeing that starikov didn''t express any objection, meletzkov directly called the headquarters of the front army, and stilimach, who answered the phone, said: "Comrade chief of staff, please inform general Krakow of the second shock group army immediately and ask him to rush to the temporary headquarters of the eighth group army immediately."


    After receiving this puzzling call, stilimacher was obviously stunned, and then asked in surprise, "Comrade General, may I ask why you called general krakov to the provisional headquarters of the Eighth Army?"


    Because of the time constraint, meletzkov did not behave politely with stilimach. He said frankly, "I intend to adjust the command of the forward forces, and I intend to hand over all the 4th and 6th guards to him. When you call to inform him, tell him to come as soon as possible. Time is running out. "


    Then he called general govolov and Admiral tributz, commander of the Baltic Fleet, and asked them to support us with artillery and air force to defend the heights of sinavino.


    As soon as the conversation with Leningrad''s front army headquarters was over, Stalin''s call came back. He yelled angrily on the phone, "Comrade meletzkov, what''s the matter? Why are tens of thousands of officers and men of Neva group still trapped in the valley of Neva River? Have you ever let your troops attack the depth of German defense? "


    On hearing Stalin''s fury, meletzkov could not help shivering. Others may find it strange that a man who has been in the army for decades should be frightened by the words of the supreme commander. Only I can understand that meletzkov was arrested by the Ministry of the interior in late June 1941. He was tortured by the Ministry of the interior, forcing him to admit that he joined forces with vannikov, Kulik and Pavlov in an attempt to launch a coup. Although he suffered from the abuse of waste people, and was broken a few ribs, but he always gritted his teeth, did not admit to his frame. It was not until September that Stalin, who lacked a good enough commander, thought of him that he was released and sent to Leningrad.


    It took quite a while for meletzkov to return to normal, his mood returned to stability, and he clearly reported to Stalin: "report to Comrade Stalin, at present, the German army is using bombers and cannons to pour thousands of bombs and shells onto the heights of sinavino, in an attempt to destroy our army with powerful firepower, and then recapture the heights."


    "What measures have you taken?" Stalin''s voice, the smell of gunpowder is still very strong.


    "At the suggestion of major oshanina, I called general govolov of Leningrad''s front army and Admiral tributz, commander of the Baltic Fleet, to ask them to suppress German artillery positions with artillery fire and send out Air Force fighters to drive German bombers out of our combat area. At the same time, I also intend to order the troops on both sides of the highlands to immediately attack the defense depth of the German army, so as to restrain their defense forces and prevent them from dispatching more troops to participate in the battle for the highlands. "


    After listening to meletskov''s reply, Stalin''s voice softened a lot: "this kind of deployment is good. It seems that Rita still has some skills."


    "Comrade Stalin," meletzkov looked at me and added, "major oshanina also suggested that, in order to improve the command of the troops, the 4th and 6th guard armies belonging to different systems should be handed over to lieutenant general krekov of the 2nd shock group army." At this point, he insisted to Stalin: "it''s a bit condescending to let her be a combat staff officer. I think she should be given a more important position."¡° Comrade meletskov, please tell Rita. She said that her analysis was correct. After further analysis by the supreme command, the German attack target in the southern region was indeed Stalingrad. Let her be ready and ready to go to a new job. "

 Chapter 404

    Meletzkov had just finished his call with Stalin when a staff officer came up and handed a telegram to him. He read the phone, his face showing the excitement rarely seen since the beginning of the battle. He went to starikov, who was standing in front of the map and was concentrating on studying the situation of the two armies. He handed him the telegram and said: "the telegram from Leningrad''s front army, the fighter formation of the air force has set out. It is estimated that it will arrive at the battlefield in a few minutes. The naval guns of the Baltic Fleet braved the crazy air raid of the Communist air force to suppress the German artillery who were shelling the heights of sinavino. You call the chief of staff, gorovchner, and ask him what''s going on there? "


    Starikov agreed, went to the table and contacted the front headquarters by telephone. As soon as the phone was put through, he asked aloud, "Hello, chief of staff, what''s the situation there?"


    "Report to the commander that the German artillery bombardment of the Highlands has stopped. Our fighters are fighting the enemy planes circling, dropping bombs and strafing over the highlands. Just now I saw through the telescope that a fighter pilot of our army was very brave. After he was wounded by a bullet, he did not withdraw from the battle immediately. Instead, he bravely ran into the enemy''s plane and died with the enemy. "


    After listening, starikov nodded his head and said, "I will report the pilot''s deeds to the commander of the front army and ask him to give this hero the honor he deserves. Have you got in touch with highland? "


    When meletzkov heard starikov mention himself, he whispered to me, "Rita, what''s going on?" I quickly repeated what I just heard. After hearing this, he nodded and said, "I''ll contact General govolov, commander of Leningrad''s front army, and ask him to give this hero the honorary title of pilot."


    As meletskov spoke, I stood up to hear the voice coming from the microphone: "the telephone line between my headquarters and the highland was broken several times by heavy German artillery fire. In order to keep the contact with the Highlands uninterrupted and the orders could be sent to the troops in time, I had to send signalmen between the two places. At present, more than 20 officers and men of the communication company have died on the hillside. Comrade commander, I have something else to tell you. "


    "What''s the matter? Go ahead, chief of staff. "


    "After being shelled and bombed by the German army, the defenders on the Highlands have been killed and injured. If the Germans launch a counterattack at this time, the positions we have painstakingly seized will fall back into their hands. "


    "Wait a minute. Don''t hang up. I''ll discuss with the senior general to see where to transfer troops to you." At this point, starikov looked up at meletskov not far away, waiting for his reply. Meletzkov also heard the words of chief of staff golovchner, thought for a moment, and said faintly: "let the troops of the 19th division of the guards go up first. Although there are not many people, it is still OK to block the German counterattack once or twice. At the same time, the 22nd, 23rd and 137th infantry brigades were urged to enter the highlands to take over the defense, while fortifying fortifications to cope with the German counterattack on a larger scale. " After listening to this, starikov immediately relayed meletzkov''s order to chief of staff golovchner verbatim through the microphone.


    At this moment, a voice calling for a report came from the door. I followed my steps and saw lieutenant general krakov, who had met for a long time, walking into the headquarters. He went up to meletskov, raised his hand to salute after standing at attention, and reported: "report general Comrade, commander of the second shock group army, kraikov, has been ordered to report to you and wait for your instructions."


    After meletzkov raised his hand to salute him, he asked him to sit down and began to introduce the situation to him: "Comrade krakov, time is running out. I won''t say more polite words. In order to strengthen the unified command of the troops, major o''shanina proposed that the Fourth Infantry army and the sixth infantry army of the guards should be under your command. This proposal has been reported to the supreme commander in chief and approved by the Supreme Commander himself. I wonder if you have any objection to this new appointment? "


    When I heard meletskov''s last sentence, I couldn''t help laughing and joking. It''s all agreed by the Supreme Commander himself. Who has the courage to object? Besides, it''s a good thing to let krakov be the commander of the former enemy, and he won''t object.


    Krakov was a little surprised to hear the news. He turned to look at me, then turned to meletzkov and said, "I have no objection. I firmly obey the orders of my superiors." After a few simple words, krakov took over the command of the army.


    Starikov stepped forward, saluted Krakow and reported, "lieutenant general, starikov, commander of the eighth group army, reports to you. I''m at your command."


    Krakov nodded and said, "Comrade starikov, please quickly convey this appointment to commanders at all levels, so that when I command them, they can carry out my orders to the letter."


    When starikov went to call his subordinate troops, I also stepped forward and raised my hand to salute kraikov: "report commander comrade, major oshanina, combat staff officer of the front army command, report to you and wait for your order!"


    "Operational staff?" Krakov looked at me suspiciously, then turned to meletzkov and asked, "senior general, I remember that when the last battle preparation meeting was held, this female major from my second shock group army, or the acting division commander of the 378th infantry division, how did she become a combat staff officer now?"


    Meletzkov replied vaguely, "this is an order given by Comrade Stalin himself to be a combat staff officer in the headquarters of the front army. Maybe it''s to let her accumulate experience as a staff officer." After listening to meletskov''s reply, general Krakow looked at me with great interest and asked, "major oshanina, I''d like to know. Can you comment on the ongoing battle?" For a moment, I didn''t know how to answer Krakow''s question, so I turned my eyes to meletskov. He gave me a smile and said encouragingly, "come on, Rita. I also want to know what mistakes I made in this campaign. " Now that he has said so as commander of the front army, I will give up my scruples and say my true opinion directly: "this campaign is far from the original target of our campaign from the current situation. First of all, we made mistakes in planning. It is a big mistake to attack the German fortified area at the same time when the two front forces that should have cooperated did not attack at the same time. In this way, it is not only possible for the Germans to concentrate their forces on the attacking forces of the two front forces, but also to lose the abruptness of the attack of the later attacking forces, giving the Germans in front of them time to strengthen their defense. Secondly, in terms of tactics, the coordination between the troops is poor, and the orders of the superior commanders can not be carried out well in the troops. For example, the unit of the fourth close guard army can not arrive at the designated position late, which is the most prominent example. In addition, the campaign was launched too hastily, and there was a serious shortage of weapons and ammunition. Due to the lack of artillery shells, the artillery that should have been provided by infantry had to play the role of spectators after the campaign was launched. " Having said these two points, I closed my mouth and waited for krakov''s response. After hearing this, he closed his eyes and thought for a while. Then he opened his eyes and looked at me and said, "major oshanina, what you said is reasonable. Let me ask you if you are interested in returning to the second shock group army. I can let you take the post of commander first. " Before I could speak, meletzkov had interrupted him: "general Krakow, your idea is impossible. Just now Comrade Stalin said on the phone that major oshanina will be transferred to Stalingrad soon. "¡° Stalingrad? What did Comrade Stalin send major oshanina there to do? " As soon as krakov finished his sentence, he suddenly thought of something and was shocked. Then he tentatively asked, "Comrade General, do you mean that the Germans may launch an attack on Stalingrad in the near future?" Meletzkov waved his hand and said, "it''s not possible, it''s certain. Well, let''s not talk about that. General Krakow, you should start to deploy the troops quickly. " Just as krakov and starikov were giving orders to the troops by telephone, the telephone in front of meletzkov rang. When meletskov picked up the receiver, I heard a familiar voice inside: "Comrade meletskov? I''m Zhukov. " Hearing this name, I couldn''t help feeling a little excited. My nose was sore. If he hadn''t sent fijiuningsky to save me, I would have died. Meletzkov quickly got up from his seat and politely said, "it''s me, comrade deputy commander. Hello. Do you have any instructions? " Instead of being polite to meletskov in the microphone, Zhukov said frankly, "Comrade meletskov, I just read the war situation report of the front army of Volkhov. Here, I would like to remind you that during the attack, you put the reserve team too far ahead. As a result, the second and third echelons of the army have actually become the first echelon, which is easy to cause serious losses to the army. In addition, for the use of the reserve team, I suggest that you should not invest in every corner of the whole front, but in the most critical area at the critical moment, so as to achieve the greatest results. My opinion is over. Good luck to you With that, Zhukov hung up.

 Chapter 405

    After meletskov got on the phone, he came to the big map on the wall without saying a word and looked up at the map. After a while, with shaking hands, he took out a cigarette box from his pocket, lit a cigarette in his mouth, and then looked at the map. His abnormal behavior was seen by me not far away. I guess he might be pondering what Zhukov said just now.


    I also stare at the map on the wall, looking at the red and blue arrows crisscrossing on the map, and I feel sincere admiration for the German commander who is facing us. The German commander-in-chief, who was promoted to marshal by Hitler, was far superior to meletskov in command ability. Although the German army was caught unprepared by the sudden attack of our army, under his command, the German army quickly stabilized and tenaciously resisted the fierce attack of our army.


    The reason why our army made rapid progress in the early stage of the campaign was that the sudden launch of the campaign caught the Germans off guard. Second, the heavy artillery of Leningrad''s front army and the naval artillery of the Baltic Fleet are used to increase artillery support for the troops who attack the fortified positions; There are also fighter planes of the air force over the battlefield to provide the necessary air cover for the troops.


    In a short period of two or three days, marshal tricheller discovered the fatal weakness of our army from the way we attacked. He decisively sent bombers to air attack the heavy artillery of Leningrad''s front army and the Baltic Fleet, forced the formation of fighter planes serving as cover for the ground offensive forces to fly to the air attack area to protect the artillery position and fleet of Leningrad''s front army, and was forced to give up the air supremacy of the battlefield.


    It has to be said that tricheller''s drastic tactics just hit seven inches above the front army of warhoff. Without air supremacy and artillery cover, our troops began to make no progress in attack. In addition, the German reinforcements are constantly coming to the war area, and the situation on the battlefield is developing to the disadvantage of our army. The attacking troops of the volhoff front army were blocked near the heights of sinavino, while the troops of the Leningrad front army from the other direction were still trapped in the narrow landing site on the Neva River. The meeting of the two front armies became an unfinished task.


    After krakov and starikov gave the order, they came to meletskov''s back. They saw the commander of the front army looking at the map, pondering and waiting patiently without speaking.


    Meletzkov dropped the cigarette end on the ground, crushed it with his toes, turned around, looked at the two generals standing in front of him, and slowly asked, "general Krakow, what are you going to do to keep the high ground?"


    Krakov looked at the map on the wall and said, "the northern slope of the sinavino Highlands is gentle and sparse, so it''s easy to attack but hard to defend. The front of our army''s defense is so wide, but at present there are only the remnants of the 19th infantry division and the 140th infantry brigade of the guards on the high ground. It''s a bit hard to hold the position. I have ordered the 22nd, 23rd and 137th infantry brigades to speed up their march and get to the high ground as soon as possible. At the same time, I also ordered the brigade commanders to repair and reinforce the fortifications on the high ground immediately after the troops entered the position. "


    When meletzkov didn''t say a word, starikov took it over. He said with an unnatural smile, "general Krakow, you don''t know. We gave orders to the commanders of these troops a few hours ago. It''s not that the commanders and fighters are not active in carrying out the orders issued by their superiors, but because the damned forests and swamps have greatly slowed down the marching speed of the troops. So far, they have not been able to enter the positions. "


    My heart began to murmur when I heard starikov say so. Did he imply that meletzkov''s decision to withdraw Gagan was wrong.


    Meletzkov obviously recognized the voice of starikov, slightly frowned and said: "at present, as long as the surviving commanders and fighters on the Highlands can block the first wave of German offensive, then the reinforcements can arrive."


    A staff officer came over without our awareness. He suddenly called out a report, which made us all startled. "What can I do for you?" starikov asked the staff officer with some dissatisfaction


    The staff officer quickly saluted him and nervously replied, "I just received a call from chief of staff golovchner from the front line. He said that the highland was under fierce attack by German infantry. Due to the shortage of manpower, a lot was broken through and the soldiers were engaged in a white-edged battle with the enemy who broke into the field. Seeing that the situation was not good, the chief of staff immediately took all the personnel of the command post to the high ground to fight. "


    "Nonsense! It''s nonsense Meletzkov said angrily to the staff: "you call the front command post immediately, and say it''s my order to ask chief of staff golovchner to withdraw from the high ground. Be sure to tell him that he is the chief of staff of the group army, and his position is in the temporary command post on the south side of the highland to direct the fighting, rather than being like a company commander, carrying soldiers and German bayonets. "


    The staff officer agreed. Just as he was about to run back to make a phone call, meletzkov called him back and sternly told him, "you should contact the commanders of the 22nd, 23rd and 137th infantry brigades again and ask them to speed up their march. You must enter the sinavino highland within half an hour. Otherwise, I will send the special service section to enforce the battlefield discipline for all the commanders above the regiment level." Seeing that the highland which is related to the victory or defeat of the campaign is in danger, and those reinforcements have not been able to enter the position yet, even meletskov, who has a good spleen, is in a hurry, so he will give such a death order.


    After the staff left, general krakov pointed the north side of the highland with a explaining stick and said to meletzkov, "senior general, I think it is necessary for us to build another line of defense on the north slope after the German attack is defeated. In this way, when the troops of the first line of defense are attacked by German infantry, the second line of defense can also provide them with the necessary firepower support. "


    Meletskov looked at the map for a long time, frowned slightly and said, "I think it can. After the new line of defense is repaired, minefields should be laid in front of the positions. However, if such work is carried out within the range of the enemy, the casualties of our troops will certainly not be small. "


    "There is no way, senior general. We have no choice. " "In any case, laying mines in front of the position can increase the probability of our army holding the position," krakov said with a gloomy face


    After krakov finished, several people were silent, and they were all racking their brains to think about what to do in order to reduce the sacrifice of troops in building new defense lines and laying mines.


    Seeing that the three men were all worried, I felt it necessary to tell them what I had in mind for reference, so I said, "Comrade commander, I have an idea that we can make the army build new fortifications as soon as possible and reduce unnecessary casualties."


    Hearing what I said, the three of them were immediately in front of their eyes. The impatient krekov urged: "major oshanina, since you have a good idea, let''s talk about it."


    "Three general comrades," I went to the map, picked up the explanation stick again, pointed to the north of the highland and said, "before our army captured the highland, we had received artillery support from the Leningrad front army and the Baltic Fleet."


    "We all know that, but what does it have to do with your suggestion?" Starikov interrupted me.


    "General starikov, don''t talk. Listen to major oshanina." Meletzkov sternly stopped his interruptions, nodded at me and said, "go on."


    "Because they were located on the north side of the highland, almost all the shells fell on the north slope when they provided artillery support for our troops attacking the highland. In this way, there will be dense craters here. "


    "What? Comrade major, please wait a moment This time, krakov planned my words. He turned to meletzkov and asked, "when our army attacked the Highlands, it was the Leningrad front army and the Baltic Fleet that provided artillery cover. Is this correct? Comrade General. "


    Meletzkov didn''t know why krakov suddenly asked this question. Although he was confused, he nodded vigorously to show that it was true.


    Krakov took the explanation stick from my hand, lit the map and confidently said to meletkov, "senior general, I think I understand what major oshanina means. She wanted to say that because of the shelling of our army, there are dense craters on the north slope. The troops in charge of building fortifications can use these craters to connect them together, so that a new trench can be formed soon. am I correct? Comrade major. " His last sentence was specially for me.


    I nodded and agreed: "yes, Comrade General. That''s how I think about it. "


    Meletzkov looked at the map carefully again, narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "in that case, comrade Krakow. You give an order. As soon as the German attack is repulsed, you will send troops to the north slope to repair the fortifications. "


    At this time, the staff officer who disturbed us just now ran over again. He came to meletskov and raised his hand to salute him. He reported: "senior general, the front line of our army has just called, and the German attack has been repulsed by us. The commanders and fighters of the 137th infantry brigade are taking over the defense from the 19th and 140th infantry divisions of the guards. "


    Starikov got excited when he heard that the troops had entered the highland. He said in a loud voice, "great, the reinforcements have finally arrived at the highland, so our defense forces will be greatly strengthened."


    "How is chief of staff golovchner?" Meletzkov did not ask about the war situation, but concerned about the commander who had just run to the front in person.


    The chief of staff bowed his head and replied, "Comrade chief of staff was wounded in the battle."


    "What?" When starikov heard that his chief of staff was injured, he rushed up, grabbed the chief''s collar and asked aloud, "is the chief of staff injured? Where is he now and how is his injury? " Maybe he was so hard that his collar turned red and he couldn''t say a word.


    Krakov came forward to rescue the staff from his hands and said in a low voice, "Comrade starikov, don''t worry. Let the staff talk to you slowly."


    The staff officer who broke free from starikov bent down and coughed violently. After a while, he hesitated and said, "the forward command post reported that the chief of staff was stabbed in the abdomen by a bayonet in a white-edged war with the Germans. After the first aid of the military doctor, it''s no big problem. At present, the chief of staff is being sent to a hospital in the rear. "


    When he heard that chief of staff golovchner was wounded and was evacuated, starikov was a little upset. After walking back and forth in the room for a few times, he said to meletskov in a roar: "Comrade General, the troops on the highland have many numbers. There is no unified command. It''s easy for the troops to fight on their own. Now that the chief of staff is injured, we need to send someone to take over the command position immediately. "


    As soon as I heard that I had to send someone to command many troops on the high ground, my eyes suddenly brightened, and my heart said that my opportunity had come, and meletskov would send me to this position. Thinking of this, he straightened up and coughed hard to attract meletskov''s attention. My cough not only attracted meletskov''s attention, but also krekov and starikov''s eyes on me. After looking at each other for a few eyes, they seem to have reached a consensus in a short time. When meletskov saw the other two nodding, he said to me, "Rita, I remember that you had the experience of commanding the guard division and the group army. You went to the high ground to integrate several units that were not under each other''s command and command them to guard this high ground that is very important to us. I believe that with your ability, you can do it completely. " Meletskov had just said this, but the telephone on the desk rang untimely, interrupting the words behind him. If the other phone rings, he may continue to talk, but the one that rings is the one that can contact the Supreme Command and the headquarters of the front army. He had to swallow the words back, went to pick up the receiver and politely said, "Hello, I''m meletskov. Where are you? " The voice from the microphone was heard not only by meletskov, but also by me: "Comrade report commander, I''m chief of staff stilimach. Just after receiving the notice from the supreme command, major oshanina was transferred to the new Stalingrad front army, and her superior asked her to report quickly. Do you want her to come back to little Visera immediately. I''ll pick her up in an hour. "¡° I see. I''ll arrange it. " Meletzkov finished the call, silent and deep in thought, holding the phone hand for a long time did not let go. I knew that I was about to be transferred to the front army of Stalingrad, and I felt a little sorry that my position as a front commander in the heights of sinavino would be ruined. After a long time, meletskov raised his head and said, "the plan has changed, because major oshanina is about to be transferred, and the position of Frontier commander in the heights of sinavino can only be assigned to someone else." At this point, he turned to starikov and said, "Comrade General, it''s up to you to take up this position. Do you have any comments? " Starikov quickly came to attention and answered firmly, "please rest assured, senior general. I promise to finish the task well. As long as I''m on the high ground, I won''t let the Germans recapture it. When a man is in the position, he vows to live or die together with the position. " After listening to starikov''s determination, meletzkov turned to me and said, "Rita, I''ll arrange for someone to take you back to the village of little Visera. The front army of Stalingrad will pick up your car. It''s about an hour away." With that, he cried out to the outside, "Lieutenant turchinov!" With his shouts, turchinov ran into the headquarters, came to him and saluted him: "general Comrade, chief of the special service section, Lieutenant turchinov is ordered to come and wait for your order!" Meletskov pointed to me and said, "I have just received an order from the higher authorities to let major oshanina rush back to the village of little Visera where the headquarters of the front army is located. I''ll give you the task of escorting her back. " To tell you the truth, I was still flustered when I saw turchinov appear in front of me, but since he escorted me back to the headquarters, I can''t be too indifferent to him. So I went forward and said, "Lieutenant turchinov, it''s getting late. Let''s start early." Turchinov nodded, saluted meletzkov again, turned and walked out. I went up to meletskov, saluted him solemnly, and then said, "Comrade commander, I''m leaving. Please take care!" Meletzkov also saluted, nodded and said, "be careful on the way." After saluting krakov and starikov one by one, I turned and followed turchinov out of the headquarters.

 Chapter 406

    After turchinov and I walked out of the headquarters, he looked up at the sky, then turned to me and said, "Comrade major, follow me!" With that, he went to the forest opposite the road.


    As there was a precedent that someone from the secret service took me to the forest to be shot a few days ago, I had a strong resistance to going into the forest with the people from the interior department. I stopped at the edge of the forest and asked turchinov warily, "Comrade lieutenant, what are you taking me to the forest for?"


    Turchinov looked at me blankly and asked, "Comrade major, are you going back to the headquarters of the front army in the village of little Visera? We''re going to the parking lot. "


    When I heard that I was going to the parking lot, I felt a little more confident. I laughed at myself for being a soldier of all kinds. Meletskov specially ordered him to escort me back to the headquarters of the front army. Even if he had the courage, he would not dare to embarrass me any more.


    After walking for a while, I saw seven or eight vehicles covered with camouflage nets in front of me, which is probably the parking lot that turchinov said. There were several sentries with guns walking back and forth in the parking lot. Seeing us passing by, a sentry immediately came to meet us and asked, "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"


    Turchinov snorted and replied arrogantly, "I''m turchinov, chief of the secret service section of the front army. I have an urgent task to rush back to the headquarters of the front army and come here to find a car."


    After listening to his identification, the sentry immediately yelled at the parking lot: "Comrade lieutenant, please come here. There is a commander of the interior department who wants to use the car." As he yelled, a second lieutenant got out of a truck on the edge of the parking lot and trotted all the way to us. He raised his hand to salute me and turchinov and reported, "Comrade commander, I''m the second lieutenant on duty. Do you want to use the car?"


    Turchinov nodded and said, "yes, we need to go back to the front command immediately. Can you help us find a ride?"


    The second lieutenant shrugged his shoulders, shook his head and said, "I''m sorry, comrade lieutenant. At this time, I can''t find a free ride to the headquarters of the front army."


    "Can''t you find one?" turchinov asked


    "None, comrade lieutenant." However, when the second lieutenant saw tulchinov''s disappointed look, he added: "but if you can drive, you can drive one directly back to the headquarters from here."


    Turchinov asked incredulously, "Oh, comrade lieutenant, do you have a car available here?"


    "Yes, please follow me." The second lieutenant took us to a corner of the parking lot, pointed to a small jeep with two doors and said, "Comrade lieutenant, this is the car. It''s just full of gas. If you can drive, you can go straight back to the headquarters. "


    Turchinov was not polite either. He opened the door and sat down in the driver''s seat. He looked out and said to the second lieutenant, "I said, comrade second lieutenant, how can I drive without a car key?" The second lieutenant hurriedly took out a bunch of keys from his pocket, selected them for a while, took down one and handed it to turchinov.


    When I started the car in tulchinov, I went around the back of the car to the other side, opened the door, got on the car and sat next to him. After the car started, turchinov said thanks to the second lieutenant. As soon as he stepped on the gas, the door started along the simple dirt road in the forest.


    Sitting side by side with a man who almost killed himself, starting a journey of several hours, no one would be happy. After the car started, I turned my head aside and focused on the scenery outside the window.


    After driving for more than an hour, turchinov may feel that the atmosphere in the car is too embarrassing, so he began to talk to me on his own initiative: "I said, major oshanina."


    Although I didn''t want to talk to him, since others had already spoken, I couldn''t ignore him, so I turned my head and asked with a smile, "Comrade lieutenant, what''s the matter?"


    As he tried to drive smoothly, he said apologetically, "I''m sorry about last time. As you know, everything I do is within my authority. "


    Listening to him say that, although I still have some feelings against him, my impression of him is much better. I pretended to be magnanimous and said, "Comrade lieutenant, I understand what you said. Now that the matter is over, please don''t take it to heart


    After a few simple words, the hatred between us was resolved, at least on the surface. Turchinov and I also started a chat with each other. Our topic has been around the battle today. From what he said, he knows nothing less than the busy staff in the command department. It seems that the interior department''s eyes are everywhere. I should be more careful in the future, so as not to know how to die.


    Then, I don''t know how to talk about the 140th brigade commander. When he mentioned the brigadier who was shot by him, he still had an expression of indignation: "at that time, when I received the order and went through all kinds of hardships to find the 140th infantry brigade, the troops were marching on the muddy road. However, the brigadier was sitting in his jeep, waiting for the soldiers to pave the road for him because he was afraid of soiling his newly polished boots, I didn''t think that such delay would delay the fight. So I went over and pulled him out of the car, announced the order of the front command, and shot him in the head. "


    After listening to him finish the process of executing the brigade commander, I also feel that the brigade commander should be damned. Just because he was afraid of soiling his boots, he dared to ignore the command and delay entering the designated position.


    When the conversation between us became casual, he couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade major, is it an urgent task for you to rush back to the headquarters of the front army?"


    As for his question, I hesitated for a moment, thinking that if I told him that I was going to be transferred to the new Stalingrad front army, would it be a leak? But after a short time, I still intend to tell him the truth. After all, he is from the interior department. Even if I don''t tell him, he will soon know¡° Just now the Supreme Command called general meletzkov and transferred me to work in the front army of Stalingrad. "


    "Stalingrad?" Turchinov exclaimed in surprise: "will the city named after the Supreme Commander also be besieged by the Germans?"


    I have to admit that turchinov, an officer of the Ministry of interior, had a very keen judgment. Just hearing that I was going to be transferred to Stalingrad, he guessed the possible danger to the city. Although I knew that the battle of Stalingrad was imminent, I couldn''t tell him what was going to happen, otherwise I would become a god stick. So I just answered vaguely, "from the current situation, we can''t rule out the possibility of German attacking Stalingrad."


    Unconsciously, the village of little Visera appeared in front of us. Turchinov gently touched me with his arm and reminded me, "Comrade major, you see, the headquarters of the front army is here. There''s a jeep parked at the checkpoint at the entrance of the village. Isn''t it coming to pick you up? "


    I looked at the entrance of the village, but no, as he said, next to the checkpoint, there was a two door jeep, a captain in a helmet, smoking with his back against the body. Seeing that our car was heading towards the village, he threw his cigarette butt on the ground, stepped on his feet, pulled the hem of his uniform, and came to meet us.


    The captain walked more than ten steps forward, stopped, raised his right hand in white gloves high, and motioned us to stop. I quickly told turchinov: "Comrade lieutenant, park the car by the side of the road. Maybe he really came to pick me up."


    When the car was quite stable, I opened the door and jumped out of the car. I was just about to ask the captain if he had come to pick me up. Unexpectedly, he first asked tentatively, "is it major oshanina?"


    "Yes, I''m o''shanina. Who are you


    The captain came up to me, saluted at attention and said, "Hello, comrade major. My name is aratori. General Zhukov sent me to pick you up After that, he made a gesture of "please" with his side: "your car will stop at the checkpoint, please follow me, we will start immediately."


    "Wait a minute, Captain alatory." I stopped the captain, who was going to lead the way, and murmured, "shall we start now? I''m going to go back and pack some things before I leave. "


    The captain stopped, stood straight in front of me, and said solemnly, "Comrade major, I have been ordered to send you to general Zhukov''s headquarters at seven o''clock tomorrow morning. It''s six o''clock in the afternoon. We have to catch more than 700 kilometers of road in 13 hours. If we don''t hurry up, we won''t be able to reach our destination on time. "


    I have a deep understanding of laomaozi''s rigid attitude. I know that since the captain has received the order to send me to my destination before seven o''clock, he will carry it out to the letter. It''s more than 700 kilometers away, and the road condition is bad. If I delay in the village for a while, the captain will regard the Jeep as a formula car in order to be in a hurry. When I arrive at my destination after more than ten hours of bumping on the road, it will be smashed.


    I turned to turchinov, who was still in the jeep, and said, "Comrade lieutenant, please go back and tell the commander that I''m going out with the man who picked me up. Thank you for driving me back. "


    Captain alatoli''s car really has the style of formula one. After driving for less than two hours, I never got carsick. I got carsick. When I was tumbling in the window, he just gave me a casual look and continued to drive the jeep on the bumpy dirt road.


    Zhukov''s headquarters is located in the city of Ryazan, southwest of Moscow. When the jeep stopped in front of a three story marble building, Captain alatoli turned and told me, "Comrade major, general Zhukov''s headquarters are here."


    I said in my heart that it had finally arrived. If it didn''t arrive again, I would be broken up. When I pushed the door open, I felt my feet softened as soon as I touched the ground. I was afraid that it would be embarrassing to fall in public, so I squatted down beside the car and took a deep breath with my head in my arms.


    When it was relieved, Captain alatory came over, pulled me up and urged me in a low voice: "Comrade major, let''s go. General Zhukov is still waiting for you."


    With his help, I walked into Zhukov''s office building. After walking in the corridor, he took me up the second floor. There was a table by the stairs, behind which sat a famous major without a military cap. When he saw aratori helping me up, he quickly stood up and asked with concern, "is it major oshanina?"


    I replied feebly, "yes, I am oshanina."


    "Come in, please! Senior general has been waiting for you all night. " Then the major turned and opened the door behind him.


    As soon as the door was opened, I heard Zhukov''s familiar and dignified voice: "Comrade major, what can I do for you?"


    The major immediately straightened up at the door and reported, "Comrade General, major o''shanina is here."


    "Ask her in."


    The major agreed, came out of the room, stood at the door with his body on his side, made a gesture of invitation to me, and said, "major o''shanina, please come in."


    I broke away from alatory, arranged my uniform, took a deep breath, and walked into the room.


    The room was not big. There was a wooden table in the middle. Zhukov, who I knew well, was sitting at the table studying maps. Hearing someone enter the door and looking up to see me, he quickly stood up and welcomed me. At the same time, he extended his hand to me and said happily, "Rita, you''re here! Nice to see you again. "


    Although Zhukov showed great enthusiasm, I didn''t immediately shake hands with him. Instead, I raised my hand to salute him after standing at attention. According to the regulations, the report said, "report general Comrade, major oshanina is here at your command, waiting for your instructions."


    Instead of paying back, Zhukov pulled my hand down from my forehead, held it tightly in his hand, and said in a low voice, "Rita, I''m relieved to see you alive." At this point, he paused for a moment, and then said, "I got the news too late, so I didn''t send someone to rescue you in time, which made you aggrieved."


    When I heard Zhukov''s words, I could not help but feel my nose ache and tears almost burst out of my eyes.


    Zhukov asked the major outside to close the door, pulled me to the table, pointed to the map on the table and said to me, "Rita, I heard that you told general meletzkov a few days ago that the target of German attack on the south line was not oil in the Caucasus, but Stalingrad. Now, facts have proved that your judgment is completely correct. The German troops are constantly rushing towards the Don river, and our troops are constantly moving to the area. I think we''re going to have an unprecedented battle with the Germans here. "


    As soon as he talked about the war, Zhukov became excited. He said to himself, "now we know that in the south of the Soviet German battlefield, from Orel to Sevastopol, it is the German southern army group. At present, it is divided into "a" group and "B" group. Their task is to annihilate all our troops on the West Bank of the Don river.


    At present, the deployment of the two army groups is as follows: "a" army group is under the command of Marshal William Liszt. It has the first tank army, the 11th and 17th field army and the 8th Italian army.


    The "B" group is under the command of Marshal von bock. It has the fourth tank group army, the second and sixth field group army, and the second Hungarian group army. In addition, the Romanian third army is coming day and night.


    At present, our 62nd, 63rd and 64th army groups have set up new lines of defense along the Don river, preparing to stop the German attack here. "


    He stopped, looked at me and said, "Rita, I''m going to send you to one of the army groups. I remind you that when you get to the grass-roots units, you will face great danger. If you don''t want to go, I can leave you in my headquarters. "


    Almost without thinking, I replied, "Comrade General, I''d like to go to the combat forces."


    My answer seemed to have been expected by Zhukov. He nodded with satisfaction, and then asked, "which group army do you think of?"


    The battle of Stalingrad was not only the main turning point of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union in the Second World War, but also the achievement of trakov''s prestige. Since Zhukov asked me which army I would like to go to, of course, I did not hesitate to choose trakov''s army, so I did not hesitate to reply, "senior general, I want to go to the 62nd army."


    "62nd army?! Are you sure? " When Zhukov heard my choice, he asked me a question. Seeing that I nodded in affirmation, he continued: "major general kolpakchi, commander of the 62nd group army, is a commander with rich combat experience. If you go to him, with your ability, you should be able to stand out very soon."


    How could it be major general korpakchi, not lieutenant general trakov? But I clearly remember that during the battle of Stalingrad, the 62nd army was under the command of trekov. How did it become someone else? Thinking of this, I hesitated to ask Zhukov, "Comrade General, isn''t the commander of the 62nd Army General trakov?"


    "Trakov, he''s now deputy commander of the 64th army. In May, he was appointed deputy commander of the reserve army in Tula by the supreme command. After the army was reorganized into the 64th group army last month, it has gone to the Don river front. "


    When I heard that trakov was not in the 62nd group army, but in the 64th group army as deputy commander, I was immediately dumbfounded. I finally wanted to make contributions with the future marshal, but I found the wrong place. However, since I have already said what I said, if I want to go back on my words, it is estimated that even if Zhukov promised to change the army for me, his good will for me would be greatly reduced.


    Zhukov didn''t notice my depressed expression and continued to introduce the situation of the 62nd Army: "according to the pre War deployment, the 62nd army should organize defense at the front lines of kretskaya, kalmekov, surovigino, peshelskaya and suvolovsky on the right bank of the Don river. The headquarters is located in carmesh village on the left bank of the Don river, about 60 kilometers away from the troops. "

 Chapter 407

    When I knew that I had chosen the wrong army, I was so sorry that I was so green that I wanted to slap myself in the face. As a passer-by, I am very clear that the whole city of Stalingrad is a huge mill of flesh and blood. There will be millions of soldiers and civilians who lost their lives during the campaign and chose the wrong troops and commanders. It is unknown whether they can save their lives, let alone make contributions. At the thought of this, I feel extremely depressed.


    Zhukov was speaking vigorously. He found that I didn''t have any response here, so he stopped and looked around. Seeing that I was out of my wits, his face sank and he asked unhappily, "what''s the matter with you, Rita? Why are you so listless?"


    Of course, I couldn''t tell him that I was so depressed because I found out that I had chosen the wrong army. I could only force myself to be happy and perfunctory. He said, "senior general, I''m sorry. Maybe I''m a little dizzy because I''ve only been in the car for more than ten hours. But it doesn''t matter. Please go on


    Zhukov asked me to sit down at the table, poured a cup of hot tea in front of me, and then continued to introduce the situation of Stalingrad to me: "on July 16, about a battalion of German troops entered the cherneshevskaya morozovsksk region. The next day, the vanguard of the 62nd army, who had just arrived here, immediately launched an attack on the enemy and successfully repulsed them, preventing the German plot to set up an offensive starting position in this area. "


    I took my cup, sipped it gently, looked at the map and asked Zhukov, "senior general, I want to know how many troops are there in the 62nd army?"


    Zhukov picked up a notebook on his desk, opened it, just looked at it casually, and quickly replied, "before July 16, the 62nd group army had five infantry divisions, three cannon regiments, seven anti tank annihilator regiments, one mortar regiment, four rocket artillery regiments, one rocket artillery regiment, one antiaircraft artillery regiment, one Zhouqiao battalion, and three engineering barracks. In order to enhance the combat effectiveness of this army, the Supreme Command transferred the 131st infantry division of Col. jahua, the 112th infantry division of Col. Sologub and the 196th infantry division of Col. avelin into the combat sequence of the group army on the 17th. "


    If we hear that there are eight infantry divisions and so many artillery regiments to launch an attack, our strength may be a little weak, but it is more than enough to fight a defensive battle. Thinking about this, I felt a lot more at ease. I put down my tea cup, stood up and asked Zhukov, "Comrade General, shall I go to the 62nd army now?"


    Zhukov waved his hand and said, "don''t worry. You must be tired after a night''s drive to the headquarters. Go to rest first. I''ll leave in the afternoon. I''ll let captain alatoli take you to the post." After that, without waiting for me to make a statement, he went to the door, opened the door, and said to the major on duty outside, "Comrade major, please take Comrade o''shanina to have a rest and call her when you leave in the afternoon."


    The major agreed, went to the door, nodded to me in a friendly way, and said politely, "major o''shanina, please follow me. The rest room is nearby."


    After I went out, I turned to say goodbye to Zhukov. He took my hand and said, "Rita, go and have a rest. I''ll let captain aratori call you in time. You can go straight ahead later. You don''t have to say goodbye to me. "


    I understood that he was too busy to be distracted by such trivial matters, so I nodded understandably. After releasing his hand, I saluted again and then followed the major to the nearby lounge.


    Because the road from Leningrad was so bad, and aratori''s car was driving too fast, I couldn''t rest at all. Now I finally came to a place where I could sleep, and my sleepiness also came up. I went to bed with my clothes. In a few minutes at most, I went to sleep.


    When I was sleeping soundly, I felt that someone was shaking my body hard. At the same time, I kept shouting: "Comrade major, wake up! Comrade major, wake up


    I hazily opened my eyes and saw a chubby female soldier standing in front of me with an anxious look on her face. When I woke up, her face immediately brightened. Before I could speak, she said, "Comrade major, Captain alatory is waiting for you outside. I''ve been ordered to call you. He said, "please hurry up. We''re going to start soon."


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was already one o''clock at noon. That is to say, I had slept for five hours unconsciously. I quickly sat up and said politely to the female soldier, "thank you, comrade soldier."


    The female soldier said, "you''re welcome. This is what I should do." Then he pointed to a small door beside him and said, "Comrade commander, I''ll tell captain alatory that you''ve got up. That''s the bathroom. Go wash first. " Then she opened the door and went out.


    As soon as the female soldiers came out of the room, I immediately got out of bed and went to the bathroom next to them to wash. Back in my bedroom, I looked around and saw that I didn''t pull anything down. Then I opened the door and walked out.


    Aratori and his jeep were parked at the door. As soon as I got into the co pilot''s seat, the car started.


    With yesterday''s lesson, shortly after the car started, I specially told him, "Comrade captain, if the road condition is bad, the car should not drive too fast. Yesterday, I bumped on this car for more than ten hours, and it almost broke me up. "


    With a slight blush, aratori replied, "don''t worry, comrade major, it won''t happen again as it was yesterday. Although it is 600 or 700 kilometers away from Stalingrad, the road is relatively complete as a whole because it is rarely bombed by German planes. "


    "When will it arrive?"


    "It''s one o''clock in the afternoon, and it''s estimated that we''ll be able to get to Tambov by five o''clock. We took a break there, had some food, refuelled the car, and then went on to Stalingrad. If there is no accident, we will be able to reach the headquarters of the 62nd army in kamesh village at about two o''clock in the morning. "


    The road to the south is indeed easier than that from Leningrad to Moscow. Perhaps, as the captain said, it is seldom attacked by German planes, so the integrity of the road and the smooth traffic can be maintained.


    Around ten in the evening, we passed a small city. I can''t feel the atmosphere of war here. I can even see people shopping and children playing on the street.


    Alatory stopped at the door of a food store and said to me, "Comrade major, please wait for me for a while. I''ll go in and buy something to eat, so that I won''t be hungry on the road and can''t find something to eat later."


    When alatory went shopping, an old lady stopped by the car. She looked at me in the car and asked curiously, "Comrade soldier, where are you going?"


    To the old lady''s question, I got out of the car and politely replied, "go to Stalingrad."


    "Stalingrad, it''s less than 200 kilometers from here. It''s only a few hours'' drive."


    I looked around and looked at those carefree pedestrians on the street. I couldn''t help asking the old lady curiously, "Why are people so idle that they don''t build fortifications in the city? Are they not afraid of the Germans coming? "


    "The Germans are here?" When the old lady heard me say this, she suddenly became serious: "Comrade soldier, do you have such an idea? To put it better, this is a ridiculous idea. To put it worse, it is a manifestation of defeatism. You know, we have so many troops. Even if the Germans are fierce, they will be blocked by our troops. They don''t want to get to this city. " Then the old lady walked away, leaving me in a daze.


    Fortunately, at this time, alatory came back from shopping and asked me to get on the bus, so I was liberated from the embarrassing situation.


    After the car started, I repeated the conversation with the old lady to alatory. I didn''t expect that alatory said with disapproval: "Comrade major, this is not strange. Even the Supreme Command recently confirmed that the Germans would attack Stalingrad. It is not surprising that ordinary people do not understand the situation. "


    "But, comrade captain, you see, there is no defense in this city. Once the Germans fight, they can almost take the city without a fight. "


    "Comrade major." Alatory''s face became gloomy. He said in an emphatic tone: "although I don''t know why there are no military facilities in this city, even ordinary citizens won''t watch the Germans occupy their own city. They will spontaneously arm themselves and fight against the aggressors who are armed to the teeth until the last moment."


    I wanted to argue with him, but he didn''t understand the historical development in the future. There was no point in arguing with him, so I closed my mouth and looked at the scenery outside the window.


    Aratori told me that if things go well, we can get to carmesh village at 2 a.m. I didn''t expect our car to enter carmesh village before a little bit.


    There was a checkpoint with fortifications at the entrance of the village. We saw our car passing by. A soldier with a submachine gun and two signal flags in his hand walked out of the bunker, waved the flag desperately and ordered us to stop. After driving a little further, alatory parked his car on the side of the road. After the fire was turned off, he took out a cigarette and lit it. He quietly waited for the soldiers on duty to come and check.


    The flag speaking soldier, with two other soldiers, came to alatory. After looking inside the car, he asked warily, "Comrade captain, where are you from?"


    "I''m from the western front command. Here''s my identification." With that, he took out his certificate from his coat pocket and handed it to him. I paid special attention to the soldier''s rank and found that it was a sergeant. The sergeant took alatory''s identification, looked at it, gave it back to him, and continued to ask, "what are you doing here?"


    Aratori pointed to me and said, "I was ordered to send this major oshanina to the 62nd army headquarters. Where is your headquarters? I need to see major general kolpakchi immediately. "


    "You two, go and remove the roadblock." After giving the order, the sergeant grabbed the door, stood on the pedal, and said to alatory, "Comrade captain, drive. I''ll take you to the headquarters of the group army."


    Under the guidance of the sergeant, our car soon stopped in front of a stone building. The sergeant jumped off the pedal of the car, went to the guard on duty at the door and said a few words. Then he turned to us and called, "Comrade commander, this is the headquarters of the group army. You can go in."


    When I got out of the car and walked inside with aratori, I was still muttering that the security work of the headquarters was so bad that the sentinel at the gate put us in without even asking us. If we were a special forces unit sent by the German, we would easily lose the headquarters. Aratori, who had obviously been to the place, came to the door of an open room with great skill and raised his voice for a report. When we were called in, alatory turned to me and said, "come on, comrade major, let''s go in. Major general kolpakchi and his military commissar are in it. "

 Chapter 408

    When I walked into the headquarters, I saw five or six commanders standing around the wooden table. No one looked down at the map on the table. Instead, they all looked at captain alatory and I who had just entered the door.


    My eyes quickly swept over their badges. Judging from the ranks of several people, except for a major general, the rest were either colonels or political workers. I guess the general in front of me should be my new boss, commander kolpakchi.


    Without waiting for me to make any action, Captain alatory had stepped forward first, raised his hand to salute the general, and reported with a smile: "Hello, commander kolpakchi, Captain alatory of the Western Front Army reports to you and is waiting for your order."


    General kolpakchi went up, took alatory''s hand, and said with a smile, "Comrade captain, we meet again. Why do you come to me today when you have time? Is there any command that general Zhukov wants you to convey? "


    Captain alatory shook his head like a rattle and replied, "Comrade commander, I''m not here to give you any orders today. I''ve been ordered to send a new adjutant to report to you."


    "My new adjutant?! I don''t know who it is? " Asked general kolpakchi with great interest.


    Alatori pointed to me and said, "Comrade commander, this is the female commander, major oshanina." When I heard that aratori introduced me to the commander, I didn''t dare to neglect him. I quickly stepped forward to the general, raised my hand to salute him, and reported respectfully, "report commander comrade, major o''shanina has been ordered to report to you and wait for your order."


    The tall and well proportioned general looked me up and down, and asked with a complicated expression, "Comrade major, are you the adjutant sent by general Zhukov to me?"


    When I heard him ask this question, I couldn''t help but be stunned. It seemed that he was not willing to accept me. However, this idea just flashed through my mind. I still stood upright and answered his question seriously: "Comrade commander, comrade Zhukov sent me to the 62nd army to assist you in commanding the battle. As for the specific position, the senior general has specially explained that I will follow your arrangement. "


    After listening to my reply, kolpakchi muttered, "I asked general Zhukov to send me an experienced commander. Unexpectedly, he sent me a female commander." At this point, he walked around me and said thoughtfully, "Comrade major, if you are a male commander, maybe I will not hesitate to send you to the post of commander or battalion commander. But you''re a woman. It''s a headache to give you a job. "


    Colpakchi then turned to look at alatory and asked him with a smile, "Comrade captain, what''s the position of major oshanina in your headquarters, typist or confidential secretary?" As soon as his words came to an end, there was a lot of laughter in the room.


    I can''t help being anonymous when I hear kolpakchi say that. Isn''t that a shame? As soon as he wanted to retort, aratori saw that I didn''t look good, so he rushed to reply, "Comrade commander, you are mistaken. Major oshanina is not from our headquarters. When I arrived the day before yesterday at the front army of volhoff in the village of little Visera to pick her up, she was staying in the headquarters of the eighth group army with general meletzkov. I heard from general stilimach, chief of staff of the front army, that general meletzkov appointed her as the front commander of the sinavino Highlands, ready to let her lead the troops to attack the German defensive positions. After receiving her, I arrived at the western front command in liangzan overnight. After Comrade Zhukov summoned her, he ordered me to send her to your headquarters. "


    There are some things that can be said by an outsider, which are far more effective than what I say by myself. At the end of aratori''s words, the sarcasm on colpakchi''s face disappeared, replaced by a dignified expression. He looked back at me and asked seriously, "Comrade major, what position have you ever held in the army?"


    When I heard korpakchi''s question, I answered faintly, "I joined the army after the outbreak of the patriotic war. During my stay in Moscow, I served successively as monitor, platoon commander, company commander, battalion commander, division commander of the close guard division, chief of staff of the group army, etc; In Leningrad, I served as battalion commander and acting division commander. "


    After listening to my brief introduction, kolpakchi was obviously stunned for a moment, then nodded and said reluctantly: "your experience is quite rich. It seems that Comrade Zhukov sent you here for a certain reason. I hope you can also show your magic power in the 62nd army." With that, he began to introduce me to several commanders in the room. He first pointed to a political worker with a shaved head and dark eyebrows and said, "this is Comrade gurov, member of the Military Commission of the group army and political commissar of the division level."


    I immediately saluted gurov and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade military Commissar."


    Then kolpakchi pointed to a tall colonel and said, "this is the commander of the 33rd infantry division, Colonel farnasiev. The political worker next to him is Comrade Li Xianke, his political commissar. " I quickly raised my hand to salute them.


    "This is colonel koida, commander of the 184th infantry division, and his political commissar, mashkov."


    "This is colonel harchenko, commander of the 192nd infantry division, commissar Smirnov."


    After introducing me to the commander in the room, kolpakchi yelled out: "shamikov."


    With his shouts, a young captain ran in from outside the house. The captain came to him and raised his hand to salute him: "Comrade commander, commander of the combat department, Captain shamikov has been ordered to come and wait for your order."


    When I heard the captain''s identity, my first thought was that kolpakchi would assign me to the combat office to be a combat staff officer in charge of giving orders. Unexpectedly, the facts soon proved my guess wrong. He told the captain, "shamikov, take this captain alatoli to rest."


    When shamikov and aratori came out of the headquarters, he returned to the table, supported the edge of the table with both hands, and said solemnly to several commanders, "well, comrades, we have already met the new major oshanina. Next, we will continue to discuss the defense deployment of the regiment army." Speaking of this, he waved to me: "Comrade major, what are you still doing there? Come and look at the map together."


    I went to the table, stood not far from korpakchi, and quietly listened to his assignment: "the German army launched an attack on the defense lines of our group army and the 64th group army on July 17. As most of the troops have not yet entered the defensive position, we have not reached the target of our tenacious fight. On the 19th, German troops broke through our defense line and poured into the great bend of the Don river.


    The right wing of our group army''s defense line has been broken through in the areas of kretskaya, yefstratowski and kalmekov. After putting in new fighting forces, the German army began to attack manoyilin and mayorovsky, and then went up to buzinovka by way of pratonov. Today, in the early hours of July 22, the vanguard units of the German motorized 3rd and 60th divisions have approached the river Dunn in the gobinskaya and skovolin areas


    I''ve never been to Stalingrad, and I''ve never seen a map of this area. Listening to the strange and obnoxious place names spoken by kolpakchi is like listening to the book of heaven. I can''t understand what he''s talking about.


    Korpakchi didn''t find my difference and continued to say: "in view of this situation, I decided to use the strength of the 13th tank army and the 33rd infantry division of the guards to counter attack the German offensive forces, resolutely restore the original situation of the 33rd infantry division of the guards'' defensive zone, and then restore the original situation of the whole right wing of the group army." At this point, he looked up at Colonel fanasiev and asked, "Comrade Colonel, do you have any questions?"


    Colonel farnasiev shook his head and said, "Comrade commander, please rest assured that the 33rd infantry division of the close guard will complete the anti assault task, drive away the Germans who occupied our army and restore our original defensive positions."


    Kolpakchi raised his hand, looked at his watch and said, "the time for the implementation of the anti assault is set at 10 am this morning. You only have eight hours to prepare."


    Fanasiev stood at attention and answered in a loud voice, "please rest assured, comrade commander. I promise to finish the task well. I''ll go back to the army and deploy the anti assault."


    When the other commanders left one after another, I was the only one left in the room with kolpakchi and gurov. At this moment, Captain shamikov, who had just sent aratori to rest, came in in a hurry, handed a report to kolpakchi, and said anxiously: "Comrade commander, according to the reconnaissance information just received, there is a tank unit of the German army gathering in the west of kretskaya, and it is possible that it will attack our army''s position after dawn."


    "What? How many tanks are there in German tanks Kolpakchi was shocked after hearing the report of shamikov. He came to the map, pointed the position of kretskaya with his finger, and said to gurov beside him: "Comrade military commissar, if we let the German tanks rush to kretskaya, then our anti assault team may be cut off. We must find a way to block the German tanks."


    "How to stop it? Comrade commander. " Gulov said in a low voice: "at present, our troops in this area are almost all light troops, not to mention tanks and artillery, and there are not many mortars. If we want to block the German tank troops. Well, it''s very difficult, comrade commander. "


    Kolpakchi frowned at gurov''s words, staring at the map and thinking about the solution. After a while, he raised his head and asked shamikov, "Comrade captain, do you know where to find an anti tank unit?"


    As a combat staff officer, shamilov should be quite familiar with the deployment of troops. As for the commander, he shook his head vigorously and said, "Comrade commander, it''s a pity that there is no organized anti tank unit near kletskaya." Seeing the disappointed expression on kolpakchi''s face, he immediately added: "although there are no formed units, there are still sporadic small units."


    After hearing what shamilov said, kolpakchi''s face brightened. He asked after him, "Comrade captain, do you know where to find these scattered small troops?"


    Shamilov stood up straight and replied, "Comrade report commander, in the headquarters of the group army, there is an anti tank company of the 84th regiment of the 33rd infantry division of the close guard. Because of the heavy casualties in the battle, there are only ten people left in the company."


    "Comrade captain, you are going to call their commander. I have a task to give him."


    When shamikov left, gurov asked korpakchi with some worry: "Comrade commander, you are not going to use ten people to resist the German tanks. If you know this strength, a German tank shell can blow them all up. "


    Kolpakchi said with a bitter smile: "no way, now we have to put everyone who can fight into the fight, so as to stop the fierce German."


    "And you''re going to send someone to lead this little unit?"


    "I''m going to send captain semikov. He used to be a company commander in the army, commanding such small-scale battles. He has a lot of experience."


    "But don''t forget, he is also an excellent staff officer. At present, there is a great need for a large number of talents like him in the headquarters of the group army. Once he is killed in the battle, it is difficult to find a suitable person to take over the work he is responsible for. "


    Gulov''s words made kolpakchi hesitant. At this time, I found that I had a chance to show myself. Although the number of anti tank company was a little less, it was more than enough for ambush. If it''s regular warfare, maybe I''m a little inexperienced, but when it comes to guerrilla warfare, that''s what I''m good at. Thinking of this, I stepped forward and said to kolpakchi, "Comrade commander, if you can trust me, I am willing to lead this small force to stop the German tank troops."


    "What? What are you going to do After listening to me, kolpakchi was stunned and then rejected my request without hesitation: "our men are not dead yet, and it''s not your turn to carry out such a dangerous task."


    "Comrade commander," I said firmly, "I have carried out many similar combat missions, and each time I have successfully completed the tasks assigned to me by my superiors. As for the gender issue you mentioned, it''s during the war. There are only soldiers and commanders in the army. There is no distinction between men and women. Besides, I have never regarded myself as a weak woman. "


    After listening to me, colpackge was silent. After a while, gurov said, "Comrade commander, I think major oshanina''s proposal is worth considering. If she can become a commander valued by Comrade Zhukov, there must be something extraordinary about her. I personally think that if she is allowed to serve as the commander of the small unit, she will be able to complete this task very well. "


    Seeing that gurov also stood up to speak for me, kolpakchi no longer insisted, reluctantly nodded his head and agreed to send me as the commander of this small force.


    At this time, shamikov came in with a lieutenant officer and reported to kolpakchi, "Comrade commander, I have brought the commander of the anti tank company."


    The lieutenant stepped forward, stood side by side with shamikov, raised his hand to salute, and reported: "report to commander comrade, Lieutenant Peter borotto, commander of anti tank company of 84th regiment of 33rd infantry division of close guard, report to you and wait for your order."


    "Comrade lieutenant, come to the table." Kolpakchi called the company commander to the table, pointed to the map on the table and said to him: "according to the intelligence, there is a German tank unit that may rush to the kretskaya area during the day. I order you and your company to stop them at all costs and buy time for our fortifications. "


    "I see, comrade commander. We promise to finish the task." Lieutenant Peter agreed very readily, and then asked, "I don''t know how many people we can add to our company?"


    "To add? Sorry, comrade lieutenant. There are no supplements you want, none of them. " "This task can only be accomplished with your existing forces," colpakchi said with some regret


    Lieutenant Peter''s smile froze on his face. It took him a long time to recover. He was surprised and said, "just a few of us, to stop the attack of German tanks?"


    With a frown, colpackard asked, "Comrade lieutenant, how many people are left in your company?"


    Lieutenant Peter wiped his sweat and answered honestly, "there are still ten people left in the company. Besides six wounded, there are four fighters including me."


    "What, only four fighters?" This time it''s kolpakchi''s turn to be surprised.


    I heard Lieutenant Peter say that there are only four people left in the company, and my heart sank. These are the only people who are going to block the German tanks. Isn''t that a way to kill themselves? I''m a little sorry that I was too impulsive just now. I didn''t find out the situation, so I jumped out and offered myself.


    Colpakchi walked back and forth in the room with his hands on his back. Military commissar gurov''s eyes moved with his body. After a while, he asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, the strength of the enemy and ourselves is too great. It''s unrealistic for them to block the German tanks. Do you think we can consider canceling this operation? "


    Kolpakchi waved his hand and did not stop. He said with some embarrassment, "Comrade military commissar, let me think about it again."


    Kolpakchi is in a dilemma, and my brain is fighting between man and nature. I don''t know how to choose. There is such a great disparity between our strength and that of the enemy that it is almost impossible for us to come back alive if we are to carry out our tasks. People are dead, even if the superior left a good impression and what use. However, I have just asked kolpakchi to withdraw. If I want to withdraw, I will not be able to work in the 62nd army.

 Chapter 409

    Kolpakchi walked back and forth in the room for several more times, and finally stopped. He suddenly turned his head and said to gurov, "Comrade military commissar, in a few hours, the counter assault of our troops will begin. If we don''t stop the German tank troops and let them rush to the kretskaya area, the flanks of the troops participating in the counterattack will be attacked. In this way, our counterattack may fail. "


    Gurov just thought for a moment, then nodded and agreed: "Comrade commander, what you said is reasonable. In order to ensure the victory of the counterattack, someone really needs to stop the German tank force." Speaking of this, gurov said to me with a smile: "Comrade major, you have also heard the counterattack plan we discussed with several teachers. In order to ensure the success of this counterattack against the German army, as a military commissar of the group army, I ask you to stop this German tank unit for more than two hours. Major oshanina, do you have any questions? "


    I thought in my heart, it''s over. It seems that I''m doomed this time. I blame myself for being quick witted. I didn''t even know my state clearly, so I jumped out and grabbed this mission without hope of survival. Now that the commanders and senior officials of the group army have reached a consensus, it''s too late for me to repent. I immediately stood at attention and reported, "senior officials, I promise to complete the task."


    Colpakchi then said: "major oshanina, I know you have too few people. To let you resist the Germans is to let you die, but there is no way. In order to ensure the success of the counterattack, there must be sacrifice."


    When I heard him say that, the corners of my mouth twitched, and my heart said that even if someone wanted to sacrifice, I could not make such unnecessary sacrifice. I only have four or five people. It''s impossible to block the attack of German tanks. But now that the commander has given the order, I have to obey.


    Colpakchi called Lieutenant Peter to his side and asked him where he planned to deploy.


    Lieutenant Peter pointed to a point on the map and said, "Comrade commander, on the way to the kretskaya area, there is a hill with high slopes and dense forests. I intend to set our blocking position here."


    As korpakchi lowered his head to study the map, gurov also looked over. They looked at each other for a long time, then looked up at each other. Gusev nodded and said, "Comrade commander, I think their blocking positions are well chosen. They can take German tanks by surprise."


    Colpakchi specially told me, "Comrade major, you are not familiar with the terrain. As for where to set up a position, it''s up to lieutenant Peter." After hearing my response, he told Lieutenant Peter, "Comrade lieutenant, major oshanina is your superior. After the battle begins, you must obey her command."


    "Comrade commander, please rest assured that I will obey the order of the major."


    Korpakchi nodded with satisfaction, called shamikov over, and said to him, "Comrade captain, go to the ammunition depot and help them prepare the necessary weapons and ammunition."


    Seeing that kolpakchi had deployed everything, I asked: "Comrade commander, can I leave now?"


    He nodded and said, "major, get ready. Good luck and hope you all come back alive. "


    I tried to squeeze a smile on my face that was uglier than crying, and replied, "please rest assured, comrade commander, as long as one of us is alive, we will try our best to stop the German tank army." With that, I turned and shook my head at Lieutenant Peter and said, "Comrade lieutenant, let''s go!"


    Lieutenant Peter took me outside their house and called out all the people who could breathe. As soon as I saw the soldiers standing in front of me, my heart was cool. With Lieutenant Peter, there were only four people.


    Lieutenant Peter didn''t notice my change of expression and enthusiastically introduced his men to me: "Comrade major, this is Sergeant Gregory samoylov, Sergeant Alexander berekov and Sergeant Ivan aleynikov. The lads were brave in the first two days of fighting and they were all good


    I didn''t speak, just nodded to show that I knew.


    Lieutenant Peter yelled at several people: "brothers, just now general kolpakchi told me that a German tank unit will rush to the kretskaya area after daybreak. The order I received was to immediately build fortifications on their way and stop them at all costs. "


    "I said Comrade lieutenant," interrupted the older sergeant berekov, reminding him, "we said it was a company, but there were only four people. It''s impossible for us to stop the German tanks. "


    "If you can''t stop it, you have to stop it!" Lieutenant Peter said firmly, "this is an order from the superior. We must do it to the letter."


    "But, comrade Lieutenant..." berrykov wanted to defend himself, but he was rudely interrupted by Peter. He pointed to me and said, "the commander sent this major to carry out this order with us. You have a good look, a female commander knows that this is the action of death, or come without hesitation. Are you men inferior to women? "


    The short corporal aleynikov looked at me and asked in disbelief, "Comrade major, do you really want to join us in the fight against German tanks?"


    "Yes, comrade corporal." I looked at the young face in front of me and politely replied, "the lieutenant is right. I will fight side by side with you." What else did berekov want to say? When he saw me say that, he closed his mouth.


    At this moment, a truck came unsteadily towards where we were standing. Captain shamikov leaned out of the window of the co pilot''s bridge, waved his arms at us desperately, and cried out, "Lieutenant Peter, Lieutenant Peter."


    Peter saw the approaching truck, came up to me, touched me with his arm and said, "Comrade major, it seems that captain shamikov has brought us the equipment."


    I smile and say, "come on, Lieutenant Peter, let''s go and see what Comrade captain has prepared for us."


    After the truck stopped, shmikov jumped out of the car, ran to me, saluted and reported, "Comrade major, all the equipment you need are ready. Please accept it."


    I went to the side of the truck, reached for the baffle on the side of the car, stepped on the tire with one foot, and stood up with the help of my arm. When I looked into the carriage, there were four bulging backpacks, four long anti tank guns, five engineering shovels, five raincoats, one submachine gun and two round drums.


    I reached for my submachine gun, put it on my shoulder, and jumped out of the car. He went up to shamikov, nodded at him and said, "thank you, comrade lieutenant." Then he called Peter, who was standing on one side: "Lieutenant Peter, what are you doing in a daze? Take your men to the car quickly!" Peter quickly agreed and asked the other three to get on the bus.


    After I got into the cab, the driver asked me, "Comrade commander, where are we going?"


    I turned to the back and yelled, "Lieutenant Peter, tell the driver where our car is going."


    Lieutenant Peter leaned down from the car and said to the driver, "drive into the mountains west of cletskaya."


    The driver promised to drive the truck to the designated place.


    Half an hour later, the truck moved from the open plains into the rolling hills. Suddenly someone was slapping the top of the bridge with his hand. Then I heard Lieutenant Peter''s familiar voice: "Hello, comrade driver, stop by the side of the road here." The driver nodded in silence, stepped on the brake and pulled over steadily.


    I opened the door and stepped out of the truck when Peter and the four of them had already got out of the car and were lining up by the side of the road. Although Peter had only three subordinates, he still called the order solemnly: "stand at attention, at ease! To the right, count


    At this time, the driver poked his head out of the window and asked, "Comrade commander, what can I do? Will you stay here and wait for you? "


    I waved to him and said, "no, comrade driver, it''s none of your business here. You''d better go back to the headquarters."


    Sending the driver away, I went up to Peter and asked him, "Comrade lieutenant, where shall we go next?"


    "Go up the mountain!" Then he picked up a large backpack on the ground, carried a long anti tank gun and headed for the mountain. The other three soldiers carried their bags and guns on their backs and followed him up the mountain.


    We walked in the mountains for about ten minutes. He suddenly stopped, turned to me and said, "here we are, comrade major." Then he gave orders to his men: "everyone find a place, dig individual bunker."


    I stood in the same place, watching the four people throw their backpacks aside, bend down and start digging with the engineer shovel. I asked Peter curiously, "Comrade lieutenant, why are you digging here?"


    Peter stopped his work, pointed to the foot of the mountain and said to me, "Comrade major, look at the terrain nearby. Except for this hill, there is a lot of open land around. If we set up our intercepting position on the open plain, the German tanks will be able to get rid of us with only a few shells. But the situation is different if we set up the blocking positions on the hills. The mountains are high and the forests are dense. It is not easy for the German tanks to find us. In this way, we have a greater chance of successful blocking. "


    I raised my telescope to look at the terrain, and found that, as he said, except for this hill, there are many plains around. It''s really a good choice to set up the position here. I looked to the East and saw the flag of our army flying on the defensive position two or three kilometers away. It seems that there are still a large number of defensive troops.


    After seeing the terrain, I crouched down and said to Peter, who was digging a shelter, "Comrade lieutenant, I have an idea."


    As he dug up the shelter, Peter panted, "Comrade major, let''s hear what you think."


    I pointed to the north side of the hill and said, "after dawn, German tanks will pass through the open area in the north and attack our troops in the East. My idea is that when the German tanks appear, we should hide and not shoot for the time being. We''ll shoot when they''re on the move shelling our positions. It''s not easy for German tanks to find us under the cover of the explosion of shells. "


    Peter stopped his work. He stood in the pit with his shovel in his hands and thought about it. Then he nodded his head and agreed: "Comrade major, your suggestion is good. We''ll do as you say."


    Peter and his three men were very quick, but in five minutes, they each dug out a shelter more than half a person deep. Peter pointed to the bunker he dug and said to me, "Comrade major, you can use this bunker. I''ll dig another one."


    I just wanted to say no, but he had already jumped out of the bunker. After walking two or three meters to the side, he bent down and began to dig a second bunker. I can only thank him, jumped into the bunker, picked up the raincoat from the pit, spread it in the pit, and lay down.


    Lying on the raincoat, I closed my eyes, hoping to have a rest. After all, I haven''t slept much these days. Maybe it''s because I''m too tired. After a while I lay down, I fell asleep.


    When I was asleep, I felt someone shaking my shoulder and a low voice calling me: "Comrade major, comrade major, wake up."


    I was suddenly awakened from my dream. My heart was beating all the time. Seeing that it was lieutenant Peter who woke me up, I asked a little unhappily, "Comrade lieutenant, what''s the matter?"


    "Comrade major, it''s German. Their tanks are coming in our direction


    German, tank. These two words remind me that I was sleeping on the battlefield. Suddenly, the drowsiness left behind was startled and disappeared. I sat up in a hurry and asked nervously, "where are the German tanks?"


    Peter pointed to the northwest and said, "Comrade major, look at the dust on the plain over there. It''s German tanks coming towards us."


    I turned over, lay down in the bunker, raised my telescope, and looked in the direction of the dust. Sure enough, many German tanks were in battle formation, coming fiercely.


    "There are 30 tanks in total," berekov said excitedly after counting them first. "There are four of us here. Each brother can divide them into seven tanks. The other two tanks will fight whoever moves fast." I couldn''t hear the slightest fear from his tone, as if he was not going to fight German steel giants later, but just a few rabbits in the mountains.


    German tanks in battle formation are getting closer to our hills. Looking at the enemy''s tank on the open ground in front of him, the impatient berekov turned and asked Peter, "company commander, shoot?"


    Peter waved his hand and said, "wait a minute. When these gangsters fire on our defensive positions, we''ll shoot again, so that they won''t find us hiding on the hills."


    At the front was a T-3 medium tank, with a T-4 tank on each side, followed by a group of T-2 light tanks. The tank soldiers in the uniform of black tank soldiers didn''t find our position on the hill at all. The top covers of several tanks were open, and some tank soldiers leaned out and stood there.


    At this time, the leading T-3 tank opened fire on our army in the distance, and then the other tanks opened fire one after another. I yelled at Peter next to me, "Lieutenant, it''s time to fire!"


    Peter yelled, "everyone, fire freely!" With that, he aimed at the leading T-3 tank and pulled the trigger. After a loud gunshot, the tank smoked, and then began to slow down. After driving a few meters, it stopped. The tank soldiers inside opened the hatch in a hurry and climbed out one after another.


    Then, berekov, who was the most noisy just now, fired a shot at a Y-2 tank. The armor piercing incendiary bomb with steel core accurately hit the tank tank, and the German tank immediately caught fire.


    Seeing Peter and berekov''s two shots, they destroyed two German tanks. Next to them, Sergeant samoilov and corporal aleynikov were not outdone. They aimed at the two T-4 tanks and pulled the trigger. After five or six shots, the two type 4 tanks were lying on the ground and burning.


    Looking at the tank soldiers in black escaping from the destroyed tanks, I really want to call them one by one with the guns in my hand. Unfortunately, the submachine guns can''t hit 300 meters away, so I can only watch them escape on the way back.


    When the tenth tank was destroyed by us, the German army finally found that there was a dangerous enemy hiding on the hill to their right, so they turned their guns and began to fire on the hill.


    When the first shell fell and exploded 50 or 60 meters away from us, I immediately yelled at Peter: "Comrade lieutenant, let''s move quickly, or the German artillery will destroy us all."


    Lieutenant Peter answered, jumped out of the bunker, picked up the antitank gun, carried the big rucksack, and yelled, "all of you, come with me." After shouting, he ran to the west side of the hillside. I didn''t care about the others, and I ran after him with my submachine gun.


    As soon as we ran out, several shells fell on the hidden place and exploded. The big tree with thick bowl mouth was broken by the waist, and the flying shrapnel rattled on the nearby tree trunk.


    We ran out more than 100 meters and found a new place to hide. Looking at the old position which had been bombed into a sea of fire, berekov wiped the sweat on his forehead with his hand, and then said fearfully, "fortunately, we moved in time, otherwise we would all be buried in the sea of fire now."


    Lieutenant Peter squatted beside me and asked me, "Comrade major, what shall we do next? Continue to fight or retreat? "¡° Is there any ammunition left? " Lieutenant Peter raised the rucksack and replied, "there''s more ammunition."¡° That''s good! " Since we had enough ammunition, we didn''t have to retreat, so we could continue to fight. So I told them, "everyone spread out, find a place to hide, and continue to shoot at the German tanks. Remember, after five rounds each, we''ll move. Do you understand? "¡° Understand All the people answered in unison. For the next few hours, we were like snipers, shooting a few shots and changing places. Because the German tank troops did not have the cooperation of infantry, they could only bombard the hills with gunfire in the face of the fire of our anti tank hands. The cat and mouse game didn''t end until five in the afternoon. The German tanks, which had run out of shells, retreated, leaving only 17 burning tanks at the foot of the hill.

 Chapter 410

    It was a task that I thought I would die, but I didn''t expect it would end like this. Looking at the burning or wrecked German tanks on the hillside, I found that I couldn''t calm down for a long time. You know, this is the largest tank army in the world. It was almost wiped out by us mobs. If I didn''t see it with my own eyes, I can''t believe it''s true.


    Lieutenant Peter and three of his men stood near me, enjoying their masterpieces. Among them, corporal aleynikov said uncertainly: "my God, comrade commander, are we really responsible for killing these German tanks? How can I feel so unreal? "


    After listening to his words, my heart says that you don''t think it''s true, and I still don''t think it''s true. Four infantry, with four anti tank guns, killed more than a dozen German tanks in half a day. Moreover, he was bombed by German tanks for several hours, and he was not hurt at all except his face was blackened by the smoke. No one would believe that it was true. It was just a fable.


    We stood on the hill and enjoyed our masterpiece for a long time. Lieutenant Peter couldn''t help asking me, "Comrade major, where are we going next? Or stay here and continue to block the German tanks tomorrow? "


    Listen to his tone, but also want to stay to fight German tanks, I was surprised. The reason why the German tanks suffered such a big loss today is that they were not covered by infantry from the beginning to the end. When the German army appeared tomorrow, we would not even talk about coordinated operations. We are not enough to plug our teeth for others. So I quickly waved my hand and said, "Lieutenant Peter, our mission has been completed, so we don''t have to stay here anymore. Let''s set out now and go back to the headquarters of the group army. "


    Peter agreed, and then gave orders to his men: "all have guns on their shoulders, turn right and walk together." His subordinates followed his command, carrying the long anti tank gun on their left shoulder, carrying the empty backpack in their right hand, and striding down the hill.


    When I was walking at the back of the team, I suddenly found a strange phenomenon: when they went up the mountain, they carried the anti tank guns on their right shoulder. How could they go down the mountain, they all changed to their left shoulder? Is it stipulated in the military regulations that when carrying anti tank guns up and down the mountain, they must carry them in different positions?


    With this question, I caught up with Lieutenant Peter in front of me. In order to avoid asking too abrupt questions, I had a little chat with him first, and then tentatively asked: "Comrade lieutenant, I think you carry the anti tank gun on your right shoulder before you go up the hill. Why do you carry it on your left shoulder when you go down the hill?"


    Peter gave a wry smile and replied, "Comrade major, you don''t know that the recoil of the anti tank gun is too strong. We played a day today, the right shoulder is almost swollen, can not carry, can only change to the left shoulder


    It turns out that''s what happened. I naively thought it was the regulation. I forgot that the huge recoil force of the anti tank gun would cause harm to the users. I chuckled twice and was about to continue talking. Suddenly, berekov''s alert voice came from the front: "attention, it seems that someone is coming up the hill."


    "Spread out, cover up!" After hearing the warning, Peter gave the order reflexively.


    I hid behind the low bush and observed the situation in front from the crevice. In a short time, more than a dozen soldiers with helmets and guns were walking slowly up the hill in a scattered formation along the forest path.


    Although these people were all in our uniform, they didn''t immediately jump out to contact them. They continued to hide in place, waiting for orders from lieutenant Peter and me.


    These soldiers are getting closer to us. Recently, the top soldiers are only ten meters away from us. Then Lieutenant Peter suddenly pointed to the crowd below and excitedly said to me, "major, do you see that? The leader is military commissar gurov. They must have come to us. " At this point, he stood up from the invisible place. In order to prevent misunderstanding, he did not rush down immediately, but stood in the same place, waving his hands desperately and shouting: "Comrade military commissar, I''m Peter, we''re here."


    The troops who were searching and advancing stopped, and the muzzle of the gun pointed at Peter who was dancing. I was still hiding behind the bushes. When I saw this scene, I couldn''t help worrying about Lieutenant Peter. I was afraid that a soldier might pull the trigger and cause a chain reaction and shoot him to death.


    Fortunately, what I was worried about didn''t happen. After a while, a political worker, surrounded by several soldiers with submachine guns, came to us. This time, I can see clearly that it''s no one else. It''s the military commissar guloff whom Lieutenant Peter called just now. It seems that they didn''t regard us as cannon fodder. They sent people to support us. Moreover, they were led by the military commissars who were very heavy in the group army.


    I quickly stood up from behind the Bush, patted Peter, who was still waving his hands, and said with a smile, "enough, comrade lieutenant, stop waving. They all see us." With that, I stepped over Peter and trotted all the way to meet guroff.


    I ran to gurov, stifled my excitement, and loudly reported: "report, comrades of the military commissar, major oshanina, to you that we have successfully completed the task of intercepting the German tanks and annihilated 17 German tanks. Our army has no casualties. At present, the troops are on their way back to the headquarters of the group army. Please give us your instructions! "


    Gulov raised his hand and said, "at ease, no casualties. I''m afraid you can''t withstand the German attack, so I specially brought a company to support you." At this point, he was shocked and asked in an unbelievable voice, "Comrade major, what did you say just now? You annihilated 17 German tanks. Is that true? Have the results been confirmed? "


    In the face of his continuous questioning, I replied with a smile: "report to the military commissar, the destroyed German tanks are burning in the open land on the north side of the hill." Speaking of this, I lowered my voice and said mysteriously, "but if you want to see it, you should move faster, or it will burn out."


    Gurov listened to me, laughed, waved his hand and said, "come on, everyone, follow me to the hills and see the German tanks destroyed by our heroes." With that, he walked along the path to the top of the hill.


    As he walked so fast, I almost had to trot all the way to keep up with him. Behind me was lieutenant Peter and his three men, and behind me was the soldier of the infantry company that gurov had brought to reinforce us.


    At the top of the slope, Gusev looked at the burning tanks in the open field and counted them with great interest. When he finished counting, he found that it was exactly the same as the number I reported to him, and excitedly said to me, "Comrade major, you and your soldiers have made great contributions. When I get back to the headquarters of the group army, I will report to the higher authorities and ask for credit for you. "


    "Thank you, comrade military Commissar. In fact, I didn''t do anything in this battle. These tanks were destroyed by Lieutenant Peter and his three soldiers. " I don''t mean to be modest, but to be honest. The distance between our hiding place and the German tanks is three or four hundred meters. The submachine gun in my hand can''t hit that far in any case.


    "You should be rewarded for your meritorious conduct."


    When gurov finished, I asked cautiously, "Comrade military commissar, our blocking task has been completed. Can we withdraw to the headquarters of the group army?"


    "Come on, comrade major." Gurov kindly said: "since the task has been completed, let''s go back together."


    Twenty minutes later, gurov and I sat side by side in the back of the jeep back to the headquarters of the group army. After chatting with him, I asked him curiously, "Comrade military commissar, is the counterattack against the German army going well today?"


    Unexpectedly, he shook his head and said, "the counterattack made this morning has been delayed?"


    I was surprised and asked, "why is that?"


    Gurov took off his big hat, touched his big bald head with his hand, and said with some helplessness: "during the day, we learned from the supreme command that the former commander of the 64th army, lieutenant general gordov, was officially appointed commander of Stalingrad''s front army. His first order after taking office was to postpone our counterattack by one day, saying that the newly formed 13th tank army would be sent to cooperate with the operation tomorrow. "


    After hearing what he said, I said with some worry: "if the attack is delayed for one day, doesn''t it give the Germans time to reinforce their fortifications? In this way, we will pay a greater price for tomorrow''s counterattack. "


    After putting on his hat again, gurov said flatly, "we need the cooperation of the 64th army in the attack tomorrow. But where are their troops? Many troops have just arrived at the railway station through railway transportation from Tula. At present, they are on the way from the railway station to the position. It is still unknown when they will arrive.


    Originally, according to the original plan of the front army, the 64th group army should send the 66th marine brigade and the 137th tank brigade to move along the right bank of the Don river towards the town of zimliangskaya. Their task is to attack the flank and rear of the German army and destroy the German army group crossing the Don river there. According to the order, this force should be assembled in the town of suvorovsky on the evening of July 22. However, due to the fact that the bridge near lower kirskaya can not bear the weight of the tanks, the medium and heavy tanks of the tank 137th brigade can not cross the Don river. At present, only one motorized infantry battalion and 15 light tanks of the tank brigade have reached the designated position. "


    When I heard him talking about the 64th army, I couldn''t help thinking of general trakov, who was brilliant in the battle of Stalingrad. I didn''t know when I would meet him. I just wanted to follow gurov''s words for a few words. Suddenly, I found that what gurov told me was all the top secrets of our army. Isn''t he afraid that I will leak them? There''s only one kind of person who won''t let out the secret. That''s the dead. Is gurov going to kill me later? At the thought of this, my forehead broke out in a cold sweat.


    Guloff saw my abnormality, but he didn''t think that I was thinking wildly. He thought it was the complicated enemy situation that made me panic. He then said, "Comrade major, what I just told you is all important secrets of our army. The reason why I want to let you know this openly is that you are the adjutant of commander kolpakchi. Only when you understand this can you better assist the general in his work. "


    I put down the big stone in my heart, nodded and expressed my determination to gurov: "Comrade military commissar, please rest assured that I will assist the commander in his work."


    Then our jeep stopped at the gate of the headquarters. After getting out of the car, I followed guroff and went in. As they passed the gate sentry, they stood at attention and raised their hands to salute us.


    As soon as I entered the headquarters, I heard gurov exclaim: "my God, is that you? Vasili Ivanovic, what''s the matter with you? Are you hurt? " After listening to gurov''s warning, I found that in addition to commander kolpakchi, there was also a thin and serious general sitting at the table. Now when I see a commander who is higher than me, my first reaction is to look at other people''s ranks. This general with a thick bandage on his head is actually a general. I immediately muttered in my heart, who is this? Is it lieutenant general gordov, commander of the front army? The injured lieutenant general shook his head and said with a bitter face, "Oh, forget it, my plane was knocked down by German fighters." Surprised, gurov stepped forward and asked with concern, "what''s the matter? Let''s hear it. " The general said: "this morning, our group army troops were ordered to move to suvolovsky town. I decided to fly along the front line of the group army to see our defensive positions from the air. I didn''t expect to encounter a German d-88 as soon as I got to the southeast of surovigino. The Y-2 I was on was unarmed, while the enemy aircraft was equipped with artillery and machine guns. German air robbers attacked me nearly ten times. Our plane seems to be about to be smashed by enemy fire. Below is the open grassland, landing will become a fixed target, immediately hit by enemy aircraft. Our aircrew fixed the position according to the sun and flew East in a hurry, hoping to find a small village or a small forest so as to get rid of the enemy plane temporarily. But the grassland was empty... I can''t remember how many times our plane fell to the ground and broke into two pieces after the enemy''s attack. Before the plane crashed, the pilot skillfully manipulated the plane, so after the crash, the pilot and I were relatively safe. We were just thrown out of the cockpit. I hurt my forehead, hurt my chest and spine, and bruised the pilot''s knees. And the German pilot saw our plane smoking, probably thought we were finished. After a circle in the air, he flew West and disappeared on the horizon. Next, we were lucky to meet captain shamikov, who was on a mission nearby. He led people to save us and personally escorted us to your group headquarters. " After listening, gurov took off his hat, wiped his sweat, and even said, "it''s too dangerous." Then he turned to me and said, "major oshanina, I''d like to introduce you to general Vasili Ivanovich trakov, deputy commander of the 64th army."

 Chapter 411

    Trekov?! This general with bandage on his head is actually my favorite trakov. I quickly stepped forward, forced to bear the excitement in my heart, raised my hand and saluted: "Hello, deputy commander! Major o''shanina reports to you that... "At this point, I''m stuck. I don''t know whether to say" nice to meet you "or" waiting for your instructions ". Two sentences, each sentence can be said, but each sentence seems not suitable. Trekov''s rank is higher than mine. It seems that putting him in a level position by saying "nice to meet you" may make him unhappy. It''s even more inappropriate to say "wait for your instructions". He just said with a wry smile: "Comrade General, soon after my troops were deployed, general gordov came to the headquarters with the written order of the Supreme Command and became the commander of my 64th army. After he took office, he checked all my orders. He did not make any major changes to the allocation of the first echelon. He approved and ordered the implementation. However, he made major changes to the configuration of the second echelon of the group army. He ordered that the 112th infantry division not be placed at the junction of the 62nd and 64th army, but be transferred to the periphery of the Stalingrad line, that is, smoldering the meishkov River, from the village of Rogowski to the village of gromoslavki; The 66th brigade of the Marine Corps, the 137th brigade of the tank corps and the Cadet regiments of the military academies were transferred to the Aksai River, the left wing of the group army. Chief general, I know you are looking at the map. You see, general gordov''s decision has transferred all the reserves of the group army to the left bank of the Don river, and thus our group army''s defensive position to the west of the Don river has lost its second echelon and reserves. " Zhukov is very helpless about his complaint. Although he is the deputy commander in name, he belongs to two different front armies. He can''t express his position on some things, otherwise he will be suspected of interfering in the command of friendly forces. He pondered for a moment, then told trakov: "I know. I will study with general gordov as soon as possible about the lack of reserves. I will let you know when I have the result."

 Chapter 412

    After the conversation between trakov and Zhukov, he just sat on the chair beside the phone and didn''t say a word. He was so dejected that kolpakchi and gurov didn''t answer the questions around him.


    I just stood by and heard his conversation with Zhukov. As a front-line commander, he had foreseen the cruelty of the battle, so he tactfully proposed to Zhukov that he hoped to restore the group army''s defensive position on the West Bank of the Don river. In fact, when he heard the good news, kolpakchi was also very excited. He came up to me, took the initiative to shake hands with me, and said, "major oshanina, I congratulate you. It''s a great honor to be rewarded by the Supreme Commander himself. " At this point, he asked gulov: "Comrade military commissar, I don''t know when the commander of the front army will send the medal?"


    "General gordoff said the medal would be sent overnight. At the same time, he also suggested that we hold a short commendation meeting to publicize the heroic deeds of major oshanina and several of them in the whole army. "


    "Commendation meeting?! Where should we hold this commendation meeting? " Colpakchi rubbed his hands and walked back and forth in the room, mumbling about the commendation meeting.


    At this time, trakov said: "I said, general korpakchi, your anti assault operation has been postponed to 10 a.m. tomorrow? I suggest that we hold a brief commendation meeting here before the start of the counterattack, so that all the participating troops can send representatives to show them the brilliant achievements and the supreme glory of major o''shanina and her subordinates, so as to stimulate the morale of the participating troops. What do you think of my proposal? "


    On hearing this, gurov clapped his hands and said, "this proposal of Comrade trakov is good. It not only achieves the purpose of commending heroes, but also effectively improves the morale of the army. This will be of great help to the attack tomorrow morning


    As he was about to answer the question, colpacchi turned his head and found that I was still standing beside me like a nail. He quickly called shmikov in and told him, "Comrade captain, major o''shanina has been in a hard time these days. Today, she has been fighting for another day. She should be very tired. Take her to have a rest."


    Shamilov promised, took me out of the headquarters, came to a nearby house, pointed to the house and said to me: "Comrade major, the owner of this house has been evacuated, but the things in the house are quite complete, and you can live here. You can stay here for the time being tonight."


    I said thanks to him. Just as I was going to push the door in, he said at the back, "I''ll call you before the commendation meeting starts. You don''t have to worry about being late."


    I went into the room and looked at the sheets on the bed and the neatly folded quilts. Some of them were washed and turned white. They should be the things of the original landlord. He might have left in a hurry, so he didn''t have time to take them away. I went to the bed and sat down. I took off my boots and lay on the bed. I pulled over the quilt and covered myself. It wasn''t long before I fell asleep.


    I was sleeping soundly when I heard the bugle outside the window. I felt that it was familiar, like a collection number. When I think of the assembly, I suddenly think of the commendation meeting to be held this morning. I quickly get out of bed, put on my boots and run out.


    As soon as I opened the door, Captain shamikov was trotting towards me. I guess he should have come to wake me up. He immediately took the initiative to greet him: "Hello, Captain shamikov."


    As soon as he looked up and saw that I was standing at the door, he said with a smile: "good morning, comrade major. I was going to wake you up, but I didn''t expect you to get up first. The officers and men attending the commendation meeting are gathering. Let''s go now. Don''t be late. "


    Captain shamikov took me to the place where the commendation meeting was going to be held. There were two or three hundred people gathered here and they stood in four squares. I asked shamikov in a low voice, "Comrade captain, where do these commanders and fighters come from?"


    Shamikov replied in a low voice: "some of them are the staff of the group army headquarters, the rest are all the representatives of the troops who are going to participate in the anti assault operations today, and the five of us who are going to cooperate with us in our operations today. After shamikov, who is leading the way, we quickly come to the decorated Colonel ruhle.


    Colonel ruhle looked at the medal on my chest and said with approval, "Comrade major, oh no, it''s comrade commander now. It seems that you have done very well in the battle. You already have several medals. "


    When he hung the new red flag medal on my chest, I raised my hand to salute him and habitually called out: "serve the Soviet motherland!"


    Next, Captain Peter, who had been awarded the medal, raised his hand to salute Colonel ruhle, just like me, and called out, "serve the Soviet motherland!"


    After the brief award, gurov came out to speak again, and all five of us stepped back and stood in a line not far behind him. After looking back at us, gurov said in a loud voice to the commanders and fighters in front of us, "Comrade commanders and fighters, in a few hours, we will launch a counter attack against the bandits. In combat, we should exert our brave and indomitable fighting spirit to drive the enemy out of our original positions and complete our glorious task of counterattack. At the same time, we should not be afraid of sacrifice or fatigue, and we should thoroughly and simply annihilate future enemies in continuous combat! " At this point, he raised decibels: "members of the Communist Party, members of GQT, carry forward your vanguard role and resolutely eliminate the enemy! Comrades, it''s time to make contributions. Look at these commanders and fighters standing in front of you. They are your examples! Comrades, fight bravely, march forward and destroy all the enemies you see! "


    The commanders and fighters were excited by gurov''s words. As soon as his words fell, the slogan of "Wula" sounded in the queue!

 Chapter 413

    The commendation meeting was very brief. Colonel ruhle from the headquarters of the front army gave us a medal. Military commissar gurov gave us a brief speech, and the representatives of the troops who came to the ceremony dismissed and went back to their respective troops.


    When group commander korpakchi passed me, he stopped and said to me, "major oshanina, no, it''s commander. You come with me. We''ll go to the forward observation post, where I will direct today''s counterattack. " Before I could answer, he turned to the man standing by and said, "and you, comrade captain, come with me, too."


    After we agreed in a loud voice, shamikov and I quickly followed the commander of the group army and walked towards the distant motorcade.


    Kolpakchi and gurov walked to a jeep, stopped, chatted briefly, and shook hands to say goodbye. Korpakchi opened the rear door of the jeep and sat in. Gurov stood beside the jeep and did not move. It seemed that he was in charge of the group army headquarters.


    I looked around to see where trakov was. However, after searching in the crowd for a long time, I didn''t see the familiar figure. It is estimated that he left here last night. Just when I was disappointed, Captain shamikov called to me: "Comrade commander, let''s get in the car."


    I said yes and walked to the car colpakchi was in. After two steps, shamikov stopped me and asked strangely, "Comrade commander, where are you going?"


    I don''t know why he suddenly grabbed me, so I pointed to colpakchi''s car and said, "Comrade captain, didn''t you let me in? I''m just getting ready to get on. "


    Unexpectedly, shemikov pointed to a jeep nearby and said, "yes, I just told you to get on the bus. The car is here. Why do you go ahead? It''s the commander''s car. "


    Listening to what he said, I immediately felt a heat on my face. The main reason is that I have been sitting in the same car with the leader for so long that now I have formed the habit of going to the leader''s car as soon as I hear about getting on the bus.


    Our convoy consists of six jeeps and two trucks. Except for the commander himself, the rest are staff officers at all levels. On the truck are the security forces of the headquarters.


    The forward command is set up on a hill with high mountains and dense forests. In order to ensure that the commander in command of the battle can know the situation of the battlefield in time, the command built by the engineering forces is not only hidden, but also has a wide field of vision. Standing in the headquarters, you can have a panoramic view of the great plains under the hills.


    The staff officers are well-trained. Less than 10 minutes after their arrival, the communication with the troops has been kept unblocked, which not only enables korpakchi to see all kinds of intelligence in time, but also enables the energy source to continuously give orders to the troops.


    At ten o''clock, three artillery regiments assigned to the 33rd infantry division of the guards began to fire at the German positions. The German positions on the bare plains were soon shrouded in smoke and fire.


    Colpakchi held up his telescope and looked at the German position that was being ravaged by our artillery. After a while, he moved his telescope away from his eyes, raised his hand and looked at his watch. He turned his head and told shamikov standing behind him: "Comrade captain, call the commander of the 13th tank army. It''s his tank army''s turn to attack." With a loud promise, shamikov turned to call the friendly army.


    Kolpakchi raised his telescope again and enjoyed the performance of our artillery. He kept whispering: "great, brother artillery, great! Move the artillery to the right. There''s another German firepower. Destroy it! That''s great. I really killed that fire spot! "


    While colpakchi was talking to himself, I was also standing beside him, holding a telescope to observe the enemy situation. Contrary to his exultation, my heart sank as I watched. After attacking the first line of defense of the German army, our artillery did not extend their firepower, but slowly gnawed at each trench, trench by trench. It seems that they can clear away the German troops from the position little by little, but in fact, they let the German see clearly that the rear of the position is safe, and it is the most appropriate place to avoid shelling. When the trench in front was shelled, except for a few observation posts, the rest of them ran to the rear positions and returned when the shelling was over.


    All of a sudden, I heard kolpakchi exclaim excitedly: "great, our tank troops are out, the German artillery positions will not be able to stop our torrent of steel." After shouting, he issued an order to the 33rd division of the guards through shamikov: "Comrade captain, call the commander of the 33rd division of the guards, Colonel farnasiyev, and order him to send the 83rd regiment immediately to follow the tank troops to seize the German position."


    I moved the camera to the East and saw more than 100 tanks of our army in battle formation, rushing towards the German position. Because the dust is too big to see whether there are infantry following. However, judging from the situation on the battlefield, I think that if there is no accident, these tanks alone will be able to defeat the German troops in the position, and then all the Germans will be annihilated when the close guard infantry follow them.


    Our speeding tanks soon approached the German position, and our artillery stopped firing. At this time, the fire points on the German positions revived. Not only mortars, machine guns, rifles and submachine guns were firing, but also anti tank guns were firing at our tanks.


    Several tanks rushed to the front and were soon hit by bullets, caught fire and forced to stop. The tank soldiers in black uniform got out of the burning tank and ran in the direction of coming. With the exception of a few lucky ones, most of the tank soldiers ran not far away and were hit by evil German bullets and fell on the battlefield. If the tank continues to move forward, it should soon be able to reach the German position. But at this time, a surprising scene happened, our tanks stopped attacking. Some tanks drive backward directly, others turn around in the same place and drive in the same direction. Kolpakchi was stunned and asked someone to bring a telephone. He grasped the microphone and asked the commander of the tank army, "Comrade General, what''s wrong with your tank army? Why stop attacking? " The other side replied loudly, "Comrade commander, we can''t get through the front position without the support of infantry."¡° Stop the retreat, Comrade General. Order your troops to stop, stop immediately, stop where they are, use tank guns to suppress German fire, and my infantry will be here in a minute Kolpakchi roared angrily¡° General kolpakchi, "the commander of the other side didn''t pay any attention to the commander of the group army. He said to himself," I repeat, without the support of infantry, my troops can''t pass through the front position. We will stop attacking until your infantry get together. "¡° Asshole! You big jerk! You''re going to ruin this counterattack. I want to reflect what you have done to the commander of the front army and take you to the military court. " After roaring, colpakchi swung the microphone down and quickly walked to the observation port to check the situation of the battlefield. The tanks on the battlefield stopped retreating and stopped about one kilometer away from the German army''s position, firing at each other''s anti tank guns. As soon as a tank of our army was hit by smoke, the anti tank gun that fired the shell was hit by one or several tank shells at the same time and was blown apart. More than ten minutes later, the infantry of the 83rd regiment of the guards finally arrived, and the tank troops launched a new round of attack. However, they did not open the way for the infantry in the front, but followed the infantry, slowly moving forward, from time to time using artillery to provide artillery support for the attacking troops. The German mortars in the trenches, facing the dense attack formation of our army, began to show their magic power. Every mortar shell landed in our army''s formation and exploded, several or even more than a dozen commanders fell down. Although I participated in the more bloody and cruel battle of sinavino a few days ago, I almost always stayed in the headquarters. I just learned about the progress of the battle through the war reports. No matter how heavy the casualties of the troops were, they were just boring numbers to me. Now I see one fresh life after another disappearing in front of me. Seeing all this, my heart is like a knife, but there is nothing I can do. This is war. I peeked at colpakchi next to him. He was livid and gritted his teeth. I knew that if conditions allowed, he would shoot the general of the tank army himself. It was his indecision and retreat that made our infantry pay such heavy casualties. As I was thinking about it, kolpakchi put down his telescope and gave an order to shamikov: "Comrade captain, call Colonel harchenko of the 192nd infantry division, and order his troops to attack immediately from the existing position, flank the right wing of the German army, and ensure the attack of the 33rd guard division is smooth. In addition, let Colonel fanasiev put the 84th and 85th regiments into combat. " Although the 83rd regiment of the attacking guards suffered heavy casualties, the officers and men had already rushed into the first trench and started a close battle with the German troops. Our tanks moved slowly to the side of the trench, cleared the exposed fire points with artillery fire, and covered the positions occupied by infantry. Seeing that the infantry were seizing the position, kolpacki was relieved. He put down his telescope, lit a cigarette, turned and asked shamikov, "Comrade captain, have all the orders been sent out?" "Yes, comrade commander. Capt. halchenko and Capt. fanasiev have said that their troops have long been ready for your order to attack. No, just after the phone call, their troops began to attack. "

 Chapter 414

    The position was finally captured by our army, but the price was huge. At least more than 30 tanks of the 13th tank army were destroyed by the German army, and the 83rd infantry regiment of the close guard was also disabled. I carefully observed the newly recovered position with binoculars and found that there were no more than 200 figures moving on the position.


    General kolpakchi also saw what I saw. He hesitated and asked someone to call Colonel farnasiyev, commander of the 33rd division of the guards. When he got on the phone, he asked frankly, "Comrade Colonel, when will your 84th and 85th regiments arrive at the positions that will be recovered?"


    Colonel farnasiyev was stunned by his question, and then he replied, "report to commander, my other two regiments are in a hurry. It is estimated that they will arrive at their destination in a few minutes."


    "Please urge them to speed up their march. Now the 83rd regiment is almost finished. If the Germans want to counter attack at this time, they will not be able to withstand it. " After that, kolpakchi called the tank army again. Although he had a quarrel with the commander of the army just now, he tried to speak to each other in a friendly tone: "Hello, Comrade General. I''ve just sent a new regiment to occupy the offensive position. Can your troops continue to provide artillery cover for the infantry attack? OK, OK, I''ll call you again before the attack


    After putting down the phone, he stopped captain shamikov, who was just passing him. Without a word, he took out a packet of cigarettes from his coat pocket and lit one of them. Then he walked out of the headquarters. It seemed that he took the opportunity of smoking and went out to relax.


    Seeing kolpakchi''s back disappearing from the gate of the headquarters, I quietly asked shamikov, "Comrade captain, I want to ask who made this battle plan?"


    "Who else? Of course, it''s comrade commander. " Perhaps shamikov thought that my question was superfluous, because his voice was inevitably a little impatient. "Comrade commander, in the Military Academy of vorongze, was trained by a large regiment, and he was very handy in making such a combat plan."


    I don''t have so much scruples about a commander whose rank is lower than mine. I pointed to a distant position and said to him, "Comrade captain, you see, the fortifications built hastily on the great plain without danger can''t stop the attack of the German army with air supremacy and tank superiority except for increasing unnecessary casualties."


    Shamikov also took out a cigarette and held it in his mouth. He asked me thoughtfully, "Comrade commander, where do you think our defensive position should be built?"


    I stamped my position with my foot and said, "if the fortifications are built on this hill, when the German troops want to pass through the open land under the hill, we can take advantage of our firepower and kill them with guns. In order to pass smoothly from here, the Germans would certainly concentrate their forces to attack the positions on the hills. I think you can see clearly the terrain of this hill. The mountains are high and the forests are dense. It''s easy to defend but difficult to attack. If the German army wants to attack, it''s bound to pay a heavy price. "


    Instead of arguing with me, shamikov could only hum a little and go straight to his work, leaving me alone. Looking at the figure of the combat staff officer who left, I could only laugh and continue to raise my telescope to observe the situation of the front position.


    With the arrival of the 84th and 85th regiments, the officers and men of the 83rd regiment began to withdraw from their positions and move to the rear. I made a special count. There are only less than 100 people left in the regiment. Except for seven or eight officers, the rest are soldiers. It seems that commanders at all levels have died in the battle just now.


    Seeing this scene, my heart can''t help sinking. How long did it take to fight? You know, the German army was just passively defending. They didn''t even send out long-range artillery, tanks and airplanes. Our regiment with artillery support and tank cover almost ran out, and all the commanders in the regiment were almost killed. I secretly congratulated myself that I didn''t take part in the attack in the combat forces, otherwise I might have become one of the dead at the moment.


    Just looking at it, a voice of kolpakchi suddenly rang out in my ear: "Comrade commander, I see you have been holding up your telescope and haven''t put it down. I believe you have a certain understanding of the situation on the battlefield. Do you have any ideas about the next battle?"


    I quickly put down my telescope, straightened up and reported to kolpakchi, who did not know when he would come back to me: "report commander, we should attack the next German defense line quickly when our army has just won and our morale is booming. Taking advantage of the cooperation between our army and the army, we quickly organized our troops to attack forward, and seized the German positions with lightning speed, so as to achieve the purpose of this counterattack. "


    "Bu Tan cooperation?! How can infantry and tanks cooperate? Every time we attack, our tanks are not always in the rear of the infantry to provide them with firepower cover. Is that what you call the cooperation between infantry and Tanzania? "


    As for general korpakchi''s doubts, I could understand that the tactics I said had hardly been used in the Soviet army at this time, so it was understandable that he could not understand them. So I explained to him, "Comrade commander, what I said is a little different from what you said. During the attack, the tank opens the way in front, and the infantry charge behind the tank in the unit of squad or platoon. The advantage of this is that the tanks can clear the big threat fire points and solid fortifications for the infantry, and the infantry can help the tank troops eliminate the enemy''s anti tank hands. "


    After listening, colpakchi put his hands on his chest and lowered his head to meditate. At this time, shamikov came up to him, just wanted to call him, I waved my hand to stop, I told him in a low voice: "Comrade captain, please wait, comrade commander is thinking about the problem, don''t disturb him." Although my voice was very low, it still startled kolpakchi. He turned his head and asked shamikov, "Comrade captain, what''s the matter?" "The commander, the commander of the tank army and the commander of the 33rd division of the guards called one after another to say that the troops are ready. When can you launch an attack?" he said Korpakchi did not answer immediately, but said to shamikov: "Comrade captain, just now lieutenant commander oshanina made a suggestion to me, saying that in the attack later, tanks can be used to fight in the front, and infantry can charge behind in class or platoon, so that when attacking, tanks can clear the obstacles on the attack road for infantry, And the infantry can also eliminate those annoying anti tank players. She calls this attack method "cooperation between infantry and tankers". What''s your opinion From the tone of kolpakchi and shamikov''s speech, the friendship between them is not shallow. After pondering a little, shamikov immediately replied, "Comrade commander, I think there is some truth in this way of playing. As for whether it is applicable, let the 33rd division and the 13th tank army of the close guard try it in the next battle. " Korpakchi nodded with satisfaction and said, "in that case, you should call the commander of the tank army and Colonel farnasiev and ask them to try this new type of coordinated operation between the tank army and the tank army." The new attack was launched five minutes later. More than a dozen tanks of the tank army opened the way in front of them. Behind each tank, a group of infantry with various weapons launched an attack on the German position. However, it is not so easy to say but it is not so easy to do. At least when troops who have never coordinated operations suddenly use such tactics, chaos will inevitably arise. After several tanks were destroyed by the German anti tank artillery, the infantry following the tanks also stopped. They did not know to continue to attack, nor did they know to lie down and shoot on the spot. They huddled together in the same place and became the targets of German mortars and machine guns. Looking at groups of commanders and fighters, who were blown up by German shells and knocked down by machine guns one by one, kolpakchi was in a hurry. He threw his telescope on the ground, turned around, grabbed my collar, pointed to the battlefield in front of him, and roared angrily: "commander oshanina, open your eyes and have a look, That''s what you''ve put forward with the bullshit butan synergy theory. You see, the commanders and fighters are in a mess on the battlefield at the moment and become the targets of German massacres. You have to pay for all this. " I forced my collar out of his big hand and gasped for breath to reply, "Comrade commander, the tactics I put forward to you are the most advanced at present. The reason why our army is in chaos at the moment is that the infantry and tanks have never practiced this kind of tactics, and even the commander of the Army knows nothing about it. The order the soldiers received was to charge behind the tank. Once the tank was destroyed, they didn''t know what to do. They only knew to stand in a daze. Only in this way could they become the targets of the Germans. " Before I finished, kolpakchi turned around and ordered shamikov: "call the commander of the tank army and ask him to put all the remaining tanks into battle. We must destroy the mortar positions and machine gun fire points of German positions as soon as possible to cover our infantry to seize positions. Well, that''s all. Don''t hesitate. Go and make a phone call After shamikov left, kolpakchi glared at me again and said, "Comrade commander, I''ll settle with you after the battle is over." With that, he went to find a new pair of telescopes and continued to observe the fighting outside. Although I felt that my future was uncertain, I did not dare to leave without permission. I still stood where I was, holding up my telescope and looking at the tenacious attack of our army on the German position.

 Chapter 415

    After a short period of confusion and heavy casualties, the rest of the officers and men who were in a mess in front of the enemy''s positions finally recovered. Some of them fell down on the spot to shoot, and some of them joined the infantry line that was following the tanks to continue the unfinished attack.


    Although there are still many problems in the cooperation between tanks and infantry, it is not impossible for our army to conquer the German positions lacking sufficient anti tank forces.


    When he saw our infantry rush into the trench and engage in close combat with the Germans, colpakchi''s straight face softened and his mouth turned up slightly. It can be seen that he was very satisfied with the result.


    More than ten minutes later, our officers and men finally regained this position that originally belonged to us after dogged fighting and heavy sacrifice.


    Shamikov came over and reported to korpakchi: "Comrade commander, the commander of the 33rd division of the guards, Colonel farnasiev, called and said that the German position had been occupied by the 84th and 85th regiments. He asked for your next action."


    Colpakchi put down his telescope and turned to answer the phone. After two steps, he suddenly stopped, turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, I don''t think you are suitable to work in the headquarters of the group army. When the battle is over, the 33rd division of the guards will withdraw to Stalingrad for a rest. In this battle, the organizational structure of the 83rd regiment was almost destroyed. When it was rebuilt, a large number of grass-roots commanders were needed, and then you would go to the regiment to take up the post... "Speaking of this, he stopped, perhaps thinking about what position to assign me. I didn''t dare to interrupt. I had to wait for his decision quietly. He thought for a while, as if determined to say: "for the time being when a deputy head of it!" With that, he raised his leg and went to the telephone.


    I dare not raise any objection to his decision. I regret that I shouldn''t have given him any idea of cooperation just now. After all, I am only his adjutant, not the chief of staff. Besides faithfully carrying out his orders, I am not qualified to offer advice for him. This is an insurmountable bottom line. But I didn''t know the superiority of heaven and earth, so I gave directions at will. As a result, I was sent to the grass-roots units.


    Korpakchi was in a high mood when he talked to Colonel farnasiev because his troops recovered their lost ground. From time to time, he could be heard laughing heartily. Seeing that he was in such a good mood, I was still a little depressed. It seemed that I saw a glimmer of dawn. I surmised in my heart that maybe he would cancel the order to send me to the 83rd regiment after calling.


    Maybe it''s because I''m in such a good mood that I can''t stop calling korpakchi. The war outside is basically over, so I don''t have to stand at the window to observe the war. I look around and see that there are many new war reports on the wooden table in the middle of the room, so I go over and pick them up to read.


    After korpakchi finished his conversation with fanasiev, he went to the wooden table and ignored me. Instead, he bent over the map for a while and suddenly raised his head and asked shamikov sternly, "Comrade captain, where is the 192nd division of Colonel harchenko? How was their attack on the flank of the German army? Did they repel the enemy? Why hasn''t it been reported for so long? "


    On hearing his question, shamikov quickly stepped up and respectfully reported: "Comrade report commander, I called Colonel harchenko half an hour ago. He said that the troops were attacking and the soldiers were very stubborn."


    "Where is it? Be specific. " "Where are the troops attacking?" colpakchi asked unhappily


    "In the region of kacharinskaya." Shamikov''s reply was halting, and it seemed that he did not understand the specific situation.


    I quickly stepped forward and said aloud, "Comrade commander, please allow me to report to you."


    Colpakchi took a look at me and said faintly, "come on, commander oshanina."


    I recalled what I had just seen in the war report in my mind and answered with confidence: "Comrade commander, after receiving the order, Colonel harchenko immediately sent the 427th and 676th infantry regiments to attack the front German position under the cover of the 298th artillery regiment.


    When the attack was frustrated, the two infantry regiments retreated to the starting position of the attack. Colonel harchenko sent the 753rd infantry regiment and the students of the Nalchik Infantry School and the ulipinsk infantry to continue the attack.


    Half an hour ago, the 427th regiment resumed fighting after replenishing the cadets of the 3rd Infantry School of ordzhoniqize, the 3rd Infantry School of grozney and the Zhitomir Infantry School.


    Comrade commander, we have only received so many war reports from the 192nd division for the time being. I''m done with the report. "


    After listening to my report, kolpakchi asked shamikov with half confidence: "Comrade captain, is that so?"


    "Comrade report commander, we have received a lot of war reports, but I haven''t had time to read them. But I think what major o''shanina reported is true and credible. "


    Kolpakchi looked at shamikov in displeasure, then looked down at the map, and then raised his head and issued a new order: "Comrade captain, you should immediately call the commander of the 184th division, Colonel koida, and ask him to put the troops into battle immediately. We should solve the enemy in this area as soon as possible and rebuild new fortifications. "


    Without waiting for shmikov to call, the situation changed unexpectedly. Standing at the window as an observation staff officer suddenly cried out: "enemy plane! Air raid warning Almost at the same time as the staff officer yelled, there was a violent explosion outside. Colpakchi darted to the window, grabbed the telescope in the staff officer''s hand, raised it in front of him, and nervously looked out at the battlefield. I followed him and came to the window. I raised the telescope around my neck and looked at the position which was not long taken down by our army. At the moment, the position was shrouded in smoke, and German bombers circled over the position, dropping bombs and strafing. As the bombs fell on the positions and exploded, the firepower points that our army was building were destroyed one by one, and the human limbs and weapon parts were lifted into the air by the air waves and fell in pieces. The tanks of the 13th tank army also became the focus of German aircraft bombing. Some tanks were overturned by the blast, some were directly hit by the bomb, and the body of the turret was burning. Kolpakchi was furious when he saw this scene. He cried out, "Captain, call the commander of the front army quickly and ask him to send out the air force to cover our troops. If it''s too late, the 33rd division of the guards in the position will be destroyed." When I heard the order from kolpakchi, I could not help frowning slightly. At this time, I thought whether it would be too late to ask our air force to go out. Even if commander gordorf agrees to send out air force support, it will be at least ten or twenty minutes before our fighters arrive at the battlefield. At that time, our troops on the battlefield will be disabled. If our position is on a hill, even if the German forces launch a counterattack, even if our forces are small, we can at least withstand it for a while. But in the open area where there is no danger to defend, it is impossible to defend only by the remaining troops in the position. I didn''t expect to worry about more and more. Before our air force arrived, the German long-range artillery began to bombard our positions. At the same time, their infantry also launched an attack under the cover of tanks. Seeing that our army suffered a lot of casualties under the double attack of German aircraft and artillery, and the surviving commanders and fighters were also suppressed in the broken trenches by the enemy''s powerful firepower, unable to carry out effective defense, my heart could not help but raise my voice. The position that I finally won would not be lost to the Germans so soon, would it? I was worried, and kolpakchi was even more worried. He kept giving orders to the staff in the room: "call the commander of the 147th and 181st divisions quickly, and ask them to send troops to reinforce them immediately. The position they just won back must not be thrown to the Germans."

 Chapter 416

    Hearing the order from kolpakchi, shamikov, who had already picked up the receiver, was stunned and reminded him in a low voice: "Comrade commander, the 147th and 181st divisions are our reserves. Do you want them to fight so early?"


    "You don''t see when it''s going to be and what reserves you''re going to have," colpakchi said, waving impatiently. If the German forces break through the region of kacharinskaya, they will quickly advance to the edge of the Koska River and form a situation of encircling the right wing of the 62nd army. "


    Hearing what korpakchi said so seriously, shamikov didn''t insist on his opinion either. He shook the handle of the telephone a few times and said to the microphone, "I''m group army headquarters. Connect me with major general walshin, commander of the 147th division." After a while, the phone rang, and shamikov raised his voice and said, "general walshine? I''m captain shamikov, the operational staff officer of the group army. The commander ordered that your division immediately... "


    As soon as shmikov said this, korpakchi, who had been pacing back and forth in the room, suddenly came to the table and hung up. Not only did the client, shamikov, look at korpakchi blankly, but even I, who had been doing nothing beside me, stared at the commander strangely. I don''t know why he suddenly interrupted shamikov to give orders to his subordinate troops.


    Colpacci''s hand on the phone did not move. He frowned and said solemnly, "the battle has just begun. The reserves can''t move!"


    "However, comrade commander, if we do not support the 33rd division of the guards, they will not be able to hold the present position," murmured shamikov, holding the microphone


    Instead of answering his question, kolpakchi took the microphone from his hand, shook the handle a few times, connected it and said, "operator, connect me with colonel harchenko of the 182nd infantry division."


    When he got through, he asked sternly, "Comrade Colonel, I want to know when your 192nd Division will be able to break through the front German defensive position?"


    Harchenko answered in a flustered way: "Comrade commander, I have done my best. Because of the strong fortifications in the German defense area, my three infantry regiments launched seven successive charges without success. "


    Korpakchi interrupted harchenko''s complaint and ordered in an unquestionable tone: "since the first seven times have failed, then you immediately organize the eighth attack. Comrade Colonel, I don''t care what you do. Within an hour, I must see your troops in my sight, or you will lose your rank as a colonel. "


    Although kolpakchi once showed panic just now, as a commander with rich combat experience, he returned to normal in a short time and began to give orders to his troops again. After the call with harchenko, he got through to the commander of the 33rd division, Colonel farnasiyev.


    As soon as he got on the phone, he asked frankly, "Colonel farnasiev, what''s the situation with your division?"


    Fanasiyev quickly reported: "Comrade report commander, according to the report of the 85th regiment holding the western position, the German infantry are approaching the position they are holding under the cover of tanks. Due to the fierce air raids and artillery fire of the enemy, they are unable to organize effective resistance. At present, the eastern position of the 84th regiment has not been attacked by the German army. The officers and men are repairing the fortifications and preparing to fight well with the German here. "


    When I heard Colonel farnasiyev say that the East and the West positions were two positions, I was slightly stunned at first. Then I remembered that our counter offensive was from east to west. The first line of defense we conquered was now the east position, and the second position we conquered was naturally the West position.


    After hearing this, korpakchi only told farnasiyev, "Colonel, you should call the head of the 85th regiment and ask them to hold on. I will support them soon." Then he hung up.


    After this call, he dialed another one and said, "Comrade military commissar, the newly occupied position of the 33rd division of the close guard is being attacked by German air raids and heavy shelling. At the same time, the enemy infantry are approaching them under the cover of tanks. They are now in need of assistance. Please order the artillery regiment to fire immediately and stop the German army in front of the western position! Yes, don''t hesitate, fire at once


    Just as kolpakchi was on the phone, the staff officer who was watching at the window suddenly exclaimed in surprise: "the Germans are about to enter our position."


    I went to the window two steps, raised my telescope and looked at the battlefield. I saw that the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, had advanced to less than 100 meters away from the position. For fear of accidental injury, the German artillery had stopped shooting, and the air force circled our position for a while before flying away one after another.


    At the moment, the ground of our army is full of smoke and fire, but no one can be seen. Seeing this scene, my heart can''t help sinking. What''s the matter? Are the officers and men of the 85th regiment still shooting? Did they all die?


    At this moment, our artillery opened fire, and groups of shells whistled through the air, and accurately fell into the German attack line in front of our army. For a moment, the open area full of German infantry and tanks was blown into a sea of fire, shrapnel and mud splashed.


    Colpakchi also went to the window, picked up the telescope to enjoy the masterpiece of our artillery. After looking at it for a while, he moved his telescope away from his eyes and turned to shamikov and said, "Comrade captain, call the military commissar and let the artillery fire extend. We must completely destroy the attacking enemy." Shamikov agreed excitedly and turned to make a phone call. Because of the unexpected attack of our artillery, the German army''s first attack failed. As soon as the German army retreated, the surviving officers and men in the western position got out of the ruins and rushed to repair the fortifications. As the German troops retreated, kolpakchi''s face beamed. But without waiting for him to laugh, shamikov reported a piece of bad news to him: "Comrade commander, I just received the news that the German army launched a fierce offensive against the 184th and 192nd divisions of our group army." "What''s the status of the war now?" colpacci asked unhappily Shamikov shook his head and answered bitterly, "Comrade commander, the situation is very bad. According to the latest war report, the German motorized 3rd and 60th divisions were the main forces of this attack. Ten minutes ago, they just destroyed the division headquarters of our infantry 184th and 192nd divisions in the upper buzinovka area. As the whereabouts of the two division commanders and the personnel in the division headquarters are unknown, the command systems of the two forces are in chaos. Except for a few troops who insist on fighting in place, most of the remaining troops are retreating to the golubinski and nabatovsky area. " It''s a bit difficult to hear the word "retreat" mentioned by shamikov. I think the situation is much more serious than what he said. The troops did not retreat in an orderly manner, but in a rout. Just then, the phone on the desk rang. Shamikov picked up the phone, listened to it, immediately handed it to korpakchi and said, "Comrade commander, it''s general trakov." Trekov''s call. Why did he call at this time? In order to find out what was going on, I took advantage of kolpakchi''s passing to pick up the microphone and quietly moved two steps towards him so that I could hear the conversation between him and trakov¡° Hello, Vladimir Yakovlev Trikov unexpectedly called kolpakchi''s father name and real name on the phone, and my heart could not help but feel tight when I heard that. My heart said, what''s the matter? Otherwise, trakov would never have used such a formal term for korpakchi. Kolpakchi was stunned to hear that trakov called him, and then politely asked, "Hello, Vasili Ivanovich! You are calling at this time. What can I do for you¡° Comrade commander of the group army, "trekov said coldly," I want to report you some unfortunate news. In the German telegram we just intercepted, they said that they had made great achievements in the battle in the upper buzinovka area, defeated the 184th and 192nd divisions of our army, and killed the commander of the 192nd division, Colonel harchenko. "¡° What? " When kolpakchi heard the news, he almost jumped up, his breath became short, and he said repeatedly, "it''s impossible. You know, I talked to Colonel harchenko on the phone an hour ago. The news you got must be a rumor deliberately spread by the German army, whose purpose is to shake the morale of our army."¡° General korpakchi, "trikov interrupted before he finished, saying sternly," the right wing of our group army is now taking over the rout of the 184th and 192nd divisions, and has caught fire with the German vanguard. I suggest that you immediately give up the positions you occupied in today''s anti assault battle and let the troops withdraw after dark. Move quickly, or you will find that the army has been surrounded by the German army after daybreak tomorrow. At that time, what you are facing is not how to consolidate the occupied positions, but how to organize the troops to break through. " Colpakchi put down the phone and slumped on the stool, staring at the map in front of him. Shamikov and I stood by his side, quietly waiting for his final decision. After a long time, kolpacki looked up as if he had made up his mind and said weakly to shamikov, "Comrade captain, you''re going to call Colonel farnasiyev and ask him to give orders to the troops. In any case, you should hold on until the evening. After dark, the troops quietly withdrew and returned to the offensive starting position in the morning. " Shamikov agreed and turned to make a phone call.

 Chapter 417

    After making this difficult decision with a dignified expression, colpakchi seemed to be drained of all his strength. His shoulders collapsed, his body leaned forward, his eyes staring at the map in front of him in a daze. Seeing his dejected look, I had the heart to persuade him. But just as I was about to raise my foot, I could not help but recoil when I thought of the scene when he had just grabbed his collar and almost been beaten.


    He sat for a long time, then took out a cigarette box from his pocket and put a cigarette in his mouth. Maybe he was too excited. His hand trembled and even struck a few matches, but he couldn''t light the cigarette. At this time, I can no longer stand idly by. I quickly summoned up the courage to go over, took the matchbox in his hand, drew a match from the box, struck it and came up to him. When he saw that the person who struck the match was me, he was stunned, but he put his cigarette together and asked me to light it for him.


    After the cigarette was lit, he only took two puffs, then threw the end of the cigarette on the ground and stamped it out with his feet. He looked up and said to me, "commander o''shanina, do you know that the evacuation order I made is correct?"


    I nodded hard and said sincerely, "Comrade commander, I think you have made the right decision."


    "Why? Let''s hear it. "


    "At present, the positions occupied by our army are located on the bare plains, and there is no danger to defend. You know, in order to hold such a wide position on the front of the defense, we must send in a large number of troops. For the Germans, the number of people we have is not worth mentioning in the face of their air supremacy and powerful weapons and equipment. If they want to reoccupy these positions, they don''t even need to send out ground forces to attack. They just need to send air forces or arrange artillery positions on the surrounding hills to bombard our positions wildly and indiscriminately, so as to achieve the goal of destroying the positions occupied by our army. "


    He listened to me, nodded thoughtfully, and said, "you are very reasonable. To let the troops stay in the open field is to let them die. However, as you can see, this position was attacked by us at great sacrifice. I''m not reconciled to giving it up for nothing. "


    Before I could answer his question again, shmikov came over and reported: "Comrade commander, just received a call from Lt. Col. tarantsev. His 102nd naval infantry brigade has entered the preset position on the Bank of the Koska river. They are taking in the routs of the 184th and 192nd divisions while fighting against the German vanguards who have burst into the area."


    "Comrade captain, have you asked him about the details of captain harchenko''s sacrifice?"


    I can''t help but wonder how a commander of the 192nd division, a lieutenant commander from the Navy, could know when he died. But I know it''s not the time to ask questions, so I listen to the next two people.


    Shamikov replied, "I asked. Lt. commander tarantsev reported that he had heard that German motorized troops had rushed to upper buzinovka, where the division headquarters was located. He immediately took the troops to reinforce them. I didn''t expect that it would be a bit late to catch up. By the time they arrived, the German motorized troops had already destroyed the headquarters of the 184th and 192nd divisions. The personnel of the headquarters of the two divisions were missing. He could only lead the troops to go while fighting, and take in the scattered commanders and fighters along the road, and return to the preset position by the Koska River to block the German advance. "


    "Lt. Col. tarantsev is doing the right thing." Korpakchi nodded approvingly, and then told shamikov: "you''re going to call lieutenant commander tarantsev and ask him to take over the position of commander of the 192nd division immediately. At present, he has three things to do: one is to organize active defense and resolutely prevent the German motorized forces from continuing to advance towards the Koska River; 2¡¢ Gather as many scattered units of the 192nd division as possible; 3¡¢ Immediately send someone to look for Colonel harchenko and bring his body back. That''s all my orders. You can convey them! "


    When he talked about the recovery of Colonel harchenko''s body, I happened to find a crystal tear falling down his cheek. Perhaps he found that I was watching him. He quickly raised his hand to wipe away the tears on his face, turned to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, I have decided to let the 85th regiment set up their defense on this hill after they withdraw from the position in the evening. In this way, they can be caught unprepared when the German army passes through the hill without any precaution. "


    After that, he personally called the commander of the 33rd division, Colonel farnasiev, to arrange for the 85th regiment to be transferred to the hill where the temporary headquarters is located, and prepare to teach the arrogant German a lesson tomorrow.


    After phoning fanasiev, he called gurov again and issued a new combat order: "Comrade military commissar, the current situation is very unfavorable for us. The 33rd division of Jinwei has suffered heavy casualties and is unable to hold the existing position any longer. I have ordered them to withdraw after dark and build a new defensive position on the hill where the headquarters is located, Stop the German troops passing under the hill. In addition, the 184th and 192nd divisions were defeated, and the commander of the 192nd division, Col. harchenko, was killed. I have ordered the commander of the 102nd naval infantry brigade, Lt. Col. tarantzev, to take over the post of the division commander and fight with the German vanguard at the preset position on the Koska River. Now I order: the 1103rd, 1105th and 1158th regiments of the cannons will open fire immediately to stop and shoot at the German troops attacking the Koska River position of our group army. These bandits must not rush into our position. "


    "I see, comrade commander." Gurov replied very simply: "I will immediately give orders to the three artillery regiments to provide the necessary artillery support for our troops guarding the Koska River position. In addition, I suggest that the 508th and 552nd regiments of the anti tank annihilating artillery be transferred to the Koska River position to strengthen the anti tank forces there. "¡° You have a good idea, comrade military Commissar. Then do as you say! " He hung up and looked down at the map on the desk. After returning from the phone call, shamikov said, "Captain shamikov, you can call Colonel jahua of the 131st division and Colonel Sologub of the 112th division, and ask them to draw out a regiment to reinforce the Koska River defense position."¡° Comrade commander, is it necessary to send more reinforcements? We should know that the Koska River defense line is not only defended by major general walshin''s 147th division and major general Novikov''s 181st division, but also strengthened today by the residual troops of the 102nd naval infantry brigade and the 192nd division. The existing forces are fully capable of holding the position. " I looked at shamikov white and said to myself that you, as a captain, dare to give directions in front of the commander of the group army. Be careful to be scolded later. However, kolpakchi seems to be very tolerant of shamikov. He just explained, "Comrade captain, you are quite right. But we have to prepare for the worst. After defeating the 184th and 192nd infantry divisions, the two motorized divisions of the German army have approached the Koska river line. " He pointed at the map with his hand¡° Our army is bordered by the right wing of the 64th group army. Although there is the 229th infantry division deployed by trakov here, as far as I know, the front of the division''s defense is nearly 15 kilometers, but there are only five battalions on the position, and the other four battalions are still marching on the road. In the depth of the division''s defense, although the 21st brigade of tanks is deployed, the number of tanks in the brigade is very small. There are only 5 KB heavy tanks, 9 T-34 tanks and 20 T-60 tanks in the brigade, which can''t compete with the German tank troops at all. "¡° I see. Comrade commander, I''ll call right now. " I was surprised to find out from kolpakchi''s command that he was also a commander with rich combat experience and excellent command ability. He could not only remember all kinds of place names that were difficult to remember, but also knew all the units of the group army like the palm of his hand. When he gave orders, he did not look at maps and read notebooks like other commanders. I always wanted to go to trakov, so I didn''t pay attention to a commander with outstanding ability around me. Although the counterattack he personally directed did not achieve the desired results today, it was not his responsibility, but the uncoordinated action of the newly formed 13th tank army and its failure to cooperate well with the infantry attack. As it was getting dark, kolpakchi raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he said to shamikov, "Comrade captain, when the 85th regiment comes, you will be responsible for contacting their commander and choosing the right position to build a new fortification." After he agreed, he asked with concern, "Comrade commander, are you planning to go back to the headquarters of the group army?" Kolpakchi shook his head and said, "the headquarters won''t go back for the time being. I don''t trust the kosca River defense. I expect that at dawn tomorrow, the German forces will concentrate their superior forces to launch a fierce attack on our positions. I will go there to command them myself. " "Do you want me to accompany you?" he asked Colpakchi shook his head again and said, "this time, I''m going with commander oshanina. You will stay in the 85th regiment as a liaison officer. If you have any latest information, please report it to me at any time. " Then I shook my head and said, "come on, comrade oshanina, come with me to the kosca River defense." I walked out of the headquarters behind korpakchi, and heard shamikov say in a loud voice, "everyone pack up quickly, and then go with the commander to the Koska River defense line."

 Chapter 418

    We went down from the south side of the hill to the parking lot. Colpackge went to his own jeep, opened the back door and went in. I looked around and saw that the jeep I was sitting in was at the end of the team. I turned around and walked in that direction.


    Within a few steps, I heard colpakchi calling me from behind. I quickly stopped, turned and trotted to his side, politely asked: "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"


    He poked his head out of the car window and asked, "I said, commander o''shanina, where are you going?"


    I pointed to the back and answered honestly, "report to the commander, my car is at the end of the team."


    "That car is for captain shamikov. You can go with me in my car."


    I quickly promised, opened the door of the front passenger''s bridge and sat in.


    Seeing me get on the bus, the driver smiles and nods to me. Instead of driving immediately, he turns to ask korpakchi, "Comrade commander, when can we start?"


    "When all the staff in the headquarters come down, we''ll go." With that, colpakchi leaned back in his chair and began to close his eyes.


    However, the staff didn''t make us wait long. They soon loaded all the communication equipment and various documents they were carrying. When a staff officer came to report that he was ready to leave at any time, he opened his eyes and said to the driver, "drive!"


    On the way to the Koska River defense line, kolpakchi sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. The driver was driving with his heart. I couldn''t find anyone to talk to, so I had to look out the dark window in a daze.


    After nearly an hour''s driving along the rough road, the jeep took a turn to the right. With the help of the light, I saw a temporary checkpoint at the intersection in front of me. On both sides of the road were simple fortifications piled up with sandbags, in which two soldiers in steel helmets were on guard with machine guns pointing to the road.


    Seeing our motorcade passing by, two soldiers came out of the inspection station, raised their hands, stopped our car, and asked aloud, "standing there, which part are you from?"


    I turned my head and looked at colpakchi in the back row. He opened his eyes and said to me, "commander oshanina, go and negotiate with them and see what part of them they are?"


    With a promise, I pushed the door open and went down. For my sudden action, the soldiers at the checkpoint were very nervous. Two soldiers standing in front of the car pointed their guns at me. Even the sound of pulling the bolt came from the simple fortification.


    I walked up to the two soldiers. With the help of the lamp light, I could see the soldiers standing in front of me. They were wearing black uniforms. From their open collars, I could clearly see the sea soul sweaters inside. Although they were wearing helmets, they didn''t wear navy caps with streamers, but I''m sure they belonged to the Navy infantry. So I asked with a smile, "Comrade soldier, are you from the Navy infantry brigade?"


    The two navy soldiers did not answer my question. After looking at each other, one of them, obviously with a higher rank, tentatively asked, "Comrade commander, which part are you from? What are you going to do in our line of defense? "


    "I''m lieutenant colonel oshanina, adjutant to group command, and I''m accompanying commander General kolpakchi to the Koska River defense." After indicating my identity, I asked, "which division''s defense area is this?" The reason why I ask this question is that when I heard the dialogue between korpakchi and shamikov just now, I know that there are several divisions of the group army in the Koska River defense line. We have been driving for a long time without knowing which division''s defense has come.


    When I heard that the commander was on the jeep, the soldier with high rank looked into the jeep sideways and immediately stood at attention, saluted me and respectfully reported: "report commander, we are from the 102nd naval infantry brigade, belonging to the 192nd infantry division. If we go a few hundred meters ahead, we will be our brigade headquarters, brigade commander... No, we are now division commander, Comrade division commander and several other friendly commanders are having a meeting in it. "


    At this time, kolpakchi also pushed open the door and came down. Two navy soldiers quickly raised their hands to salute him. He nodded and asked, "Comrade soldier, are you a subordinate of commander tarantsev?" After hearing the soldier''s loud reply, he ordered the soldier, "get in the car and take us to the headquarters."


    After korpakchi and I got on the train one after another, the soldier waved his hands in the direction of the checkpoint and yelled, "move the roadblock!" After shouting, he went to the driver, stepped on the pedal and stood up. The whole person hung outside the car door to show us the way.


    On the way to the headquarters, we met two patrol teams and stopped us to ask for the password. Fortunately, the soldiers who led us knew the password, so we could come to the headquarters without obstruction.


    Two sentinels stood at the gate of the headquarters. Seeing the arrival of our motorcade, they came to check with guns. At this time, the soldiers who led the way jumped out of the car and went to the sentinels. They first gave the order and then showed them our identity. The sentry put the gun back on his shoulder and went outside our car to salute.


    After korpakchi got off the bus, the soldier who led the way ran back to him and said, "Comrade commander, the headquarters is here. Do you want me to go in and call the brigade commander out to meet you?" Colpakchi waved his hand and said, "no, I''ll go in myself. Comrade soldier, now you should go back to your post. Thank you for leading us Then he reached out and shook his hand with the soldier. After releasing his hand, he waved his head to me. "Come on, commander oshanina, let''s go to the headquarters." I followed colpakchi into the headquarters. In the middle of this narrow room, there is a big wooden table. Seven or eight commanders are puffing around the table. The whole room is filled with smoke. Although there are a steam lamp on each side of the wall, the light in the room is still dim¡° Hello, comrades in command As soon as kolpakchi stopped, he called out to the people in the room. When people in the room heard colpakchi''s voice, they all stood up and came over from the table to salute him. For a moment, the room was as busy as a vegetable market. After everyone said hello, colpark wizard pulled me in front of the crowd and introduced me to everyone, saying, "this is my adjutant lieutenant colonel o''shanina." Seeing that the adjutant of the commander was a woman, all the commanders on the scene were stunned, staring at me in a daze, and no one spoke. Seeing this, kolpakchi shrunk his mouth and pointed to the commander in front of him to introduce him to me: "this is major general walshin, the commander of the 147th division. Next to him is Comrade Kotov, his political commissar."¡° The 181st division commander, major general Novikov, and his political commissar, comrade Lu Jianke. "¡° This is the commander of this headquarters, the 102nd naval infantry brigade, and now the commander of the 192nd division, Lt. Col. talanzev. " When colpakchi introduced a commander, I raised my hand to salute him and said hello politely. After all this, kolpakchi went to the table and sat down, and asked the rest of the commanders to take their seats. I knew that in this case, I was not qualified to sit, so I obediently came to the wall, stood with my back against the log wall, and honestly acted as my spectator. "Before I came, what were you talking about in the meeting?" kolpakchi asked after glancing at all the commanders present¡° Comrade report commander, "Lieutenant Commander talanzev stood up and replied," we are studying the division of our respective defense areas. " When he heard this, kolpakchi frowned slightly and looked unhappy. Then he asked in a stern tone, "isn''t the defense area of the Koska River defense line divided long ago? Why don''t you deploy your forces according to the areas divided by the group army, but study the re division of defense areas here? " General walshing of the 147th division stood up and said, "Comrade commander, you don''t know that the front of our division and 181st division is too wide. Now there is a new 102nd naval infantry brigade. We are planning to deploy them at the junction of the two divisions. If the frontiers of our two divisions are shortened, more troops can be put into the defense depth. In this way, we will be more confident of blocking the German attack. " At this time, the staff who came with us walked into the headquarters one after another, saluted kolpakchi and began to be busy. The communication staff put several leading telephones on the wooden table. However, the original telephone on the table was picked up by a staff officer. It seems that he is going to take it away. Tarantsev looked at them blankly and asked the communication staff who took the phone: "staff officer, you took my phone away, how can I command the army?" Instead of answering his question, the staff officer with the phone in his hand looked at colpakchi. Kolpakchi quickly stood up and explained to tarantsev, "Comrade commander, I plan to set up the new temporary headquarters here. You can''t let me command the whole group army with brigade level telephone lines, can you? When we finish the meeting, you''ll find a place nearby and move your headquarters there. " With that, he waved to the staff officer, indicating what he should do, not to talk to tarantsev. Taranzev saw that the commander said so, so he had to smile bitterly and sit down again. Unexpectedly, as soon as he sat down, kolpakchi asked him, "Comrade tarantsev, have your troops entered the new defense area?" Taranzev quickly stood up again and replied, "report, comrade commander, all the officers and men of the 102nd naval infantry brigade have entered the designated position an hour ago. The defeated troops of the 192nd Division will enter the position at dawn after being taken in and reorganized. "

 Chapter 419

    Next, the two generals complained to kolpakchi one after another, saying that the division''s troops were limited, and the front of the defense line was too wide, which was not conducive to defense. They hoped that the commander could understand his difficulties, compress his defense area, and send effective troops to defend the junction of the two divisions.


    Kolpakchi pushed the phone on the desk aside, asked for the map from one of the staff officers, spread it out on the desk, looked at it, frowned and said, "general walshing, your 147th division is in the south of the defense line, and the front of the defense line is 12 kilometers. And you, general Novikov, your 181st infantry division, are in charge of the north side of the line of defense, with a width of 17 kilometers. I want to ask, "how are you going to compress the defense?"


    General walshing was obviously familiar with colpakchi, so he spoke casually: "Comrade commander, I want to move my defense line five kilometers south, so I can put more reserves in the defense depth."


    "Yes, comrade commander." General Novikov went on to talk about walshin: "I think my division should also move three to five kilometers north, so as to increase the strength of defense."


    "General walshing, step back five kilometers. You step back three to five kilometers. In this way, there will be a gap between your two divisions, which is eight to ten kilometers wide. " At this point, colpakchi slapped the table and yelled angrily, "I''ll ask you, who should defend this gap?"


    Colpakchi''s anger scared the two generals into silence. After a long time, Lt. Col. talanzev finally replied, "Comrade commander, before you came, the two generals were discussing with me that I should place the 192nd division at the junction of the two divisions."


    "Comrade commander, what do you think?" Asked colpackge.


    "In fact, since the afternoon, my 102nd naval infantry brigade and the remnant of the 192nd division have been in this area. At present, the width of the front of the defense is eight kilometers, "talanzev answered mechanically without thinking about korpakchi''s question," my troops, here in the afternoon, had a fight with the German vanguard. "


    "Ah, commander tarantsev, your troops have long been deployed at the junction of the two divisions." After the eyes of kolpakchi swept over the political commissars of the two divisions, he said in a loud voice: "I say, comrades, are you meeting here to change the area actually controlled by the 192nd division into their official defense area?"


    The two teachers looked at each other and did not dare to speak. Kotov, the political commissar of the 147th division, was more courageous. He stood up and explained to korpakchi: "Comrade commander, before the forces of lieutenant colonel tarantsev entered the junction of our two divisions, we had only about two battalions in this area. If the Germans attack fiercely, they will not be able to defend it at all. "


    I found that after listening to Kotov''s explanation, kolpakchi was trembling with anger, but he was trying to restrain himself so as not to say anything too much out of excitement. He took out a cigarette box from his pocket and took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. Without waiting for him to take out the match, major general walshin next to him had already put the striking match in front of him.


    Kolpakchi looked at him, lit his cigarette with a match, took a puff, and then said slowly, "at present, the only combat force in the 192nd division is the 102nd naval infantry brigade of commander tarantsev. The rest of the troops are still in the process of reorganization. If they want to defend such a wide line of defense, their strength is not enough. So I decided to move the 147th division three kilometers south and the 181st division two kilometers north. The five kilometers between your two divisions will be defended by tarantsev''s troops. "


    As soon as his words were over, general Novikov stood up and said in a pleading tone, "Comrade commander, could you reconsider that even if our division moves two kilometers northward, the defense front still reaches 15 kilometers."


    Without waiting for him to finish, colpakchi interrupted his words behind him and said sternly, "this is my order. It''s not allowed to be discussed. You can carry it out." At this point, he raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he said, "it''s getting late. All the commanders go back to your respective troops. Maybe there will be a fierce battle waiting for us tomorrow."


    Now that the commander had ordered them to leave, the commissars were embarrassed to stay. They stood up to salute kolpakchi and left the headquarters in twos and threes.


    At four o''clock in the morning the next day, just after dawn, colpakchi woke me up and took me to the observation post. Before leaving the headquarters, he told the communication staff to take the telephone line to the observation post as soon as possible, where he would command the troops today.


    When I got out of the headquarters, I looked around and found that the headquarters was on the hillside of a hill, and the observation post we were going to visit was on the top of the hill. Without saying a word, colpakchi walked down the path to the top of the mountain, and I followed him.


    When he reached the top of the mountain, kolpakchi bent down and walked to the observation post half buried in the ground. After entering the door, he repeatedly told the staff who followed him to hold the telephone line as soon as possible. Then he came to the observation port and raised his telescope to observe the situation outside.


    Because the commander didn''t arrange any specific work for me, I''m just an idle person in the headquarters. Anyway, I''m also idle. So I went to the window to observe the defense system of our army''s Koska River, just like korpakchi.


    From the heart, the defense system along the Koska river is very perfect. Outside the first line of defense, there were anti tank trenches, wooden piles with barbed wire, and large minefields. Even under the cover of tanks, it took a lot of trouble for the German infantry to rush forward. The second line of defense is equipped with anti tank gun positions and mortar positions, which can block and shoot German tanks and infantry outside the first line of defense, and use firepower to inflict heavy damage on the enemy.


    This area is guarded by the 102nd naval infantry brigade of lieutenant colonel tarantsev. In my impression, the combat effectiveness of the Marine Corps is far stronger than that of the army. In the old Soviet movies, at every critical moment when the army can''t stand it, the naval officers and men sent to reinforce always have the ability to turn the tide and turn the war around. So at the moment, I saw the Navy officers and men walking back and forth in the trenches, not worried that they could not hold the position.


    The German attack officially began at 9 a.m. However, it is strange that they did not bombard with artillery in advance. Instead, they directly attacked our positions with 15 tanks as the forerunners and a battalion of infantry following them.


    Seeing the German army''s dispatch, not only I was stunned, but also kolpakchi, standing nearby, said in a strange tone, "what''s the matter? Without the cover of aircraft and artillery, the German Army wanted to use these tanks and hundreds of infantry to attack our fortified defensive positions


    "Yes, comrade commander." When I heard him say this, I did not have to worry about it any more, and boldly expressed my speculation: "will the German attack be just a feint? Do they want to break through our positions in other directions? "


    Without waiting for kolpakchi to answer, a staff officer came up and reported, "Comrade commander, Captain shamikov''s phone call. He said he had military information to report to you."


    Colpakchi waved his head at me and said, "Lieutenant oshanina, come here and listen to captain shamikov." With that, he went to the table, picked up the microphone on the table and said in a loud voice, "Captain shamikov? I''m kolpakchi. What''s the situation there? "


    "Report, comrades commander," sermikov''s voice came from the microphone, and the sound of guns could be heard at the same time. "The German army is attacking the 85th regiment''s line of defense. The commanders and fighters showed great tenacity and beat back the enemy''s five charges in an hour. "


    "Well done, comrade captain!" Kolpakchi praised him, and then asked, "do you know the number of the German army?"


    "Judging from the documents on the corpses of German soldiers and tank soldiers left on the battlefield, they belong to the 113th infantry division and the 16th tank division of the German army."


    "How are your casualties?" Colpackge asked again with concern.


    "The first battalion has almost run out, and the commander has just put the second battalion into position. The Third Battalion, as a reserve, is assembling on the hill. "


    "I see. Comrade captain, please tell the commander of the 85th regiment that we should make rational use of our forces and hold down the German forces for as long as possible so that they can not concentrate their forces on raids in one direction. "


    "Yes, comrade commander, I will certainly convey your message to the commander." Speaking of this, Shemi cofton hesitated for a moment and said, "I don''t know when the reserve team sent to us will arrive?"


    "The reserves," korpakchi hesitated for a moment, and then said resolutely, "I''ll transfer two regiments to you right away from the 196th division of Colonel avelin, and I expect to arrive after dark. You must hold on until dark and never let the German army occupy your position. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." "We will be like nails, firmly nailed to the position, and never step back," he said aloud


    When talking to shamikov, the sound of guns came from outside the observation post. I quickly went to the window and raised my telescope to see what was going on.


    The German tanks, which opened the way for the infantry, fired while they were moving. The shells fell on the front and back of our trench and exploded. Because the number of tanks was too small, the damage to the garrison in the trench was not great.


    When the German Army started firing, the artillery of the second line of defense of our army was not outdone. Mortar and anti tank guns opened fire together. The shells fell in the German army''s line and exploded. The flying mortar shells cut down the soldiers near the explosion point. The tanks hit by armor piercing shells stopped moving and burned in situ.


    The German army suffered only a few minutes of attack and immediately turned around and began to flee.


    Seeing this scene, I could not help but frown and say what was the matter. When did the German army, known as the first army in the world, become so vulnerable, only to receive a few shells, and then retreat in a panic?


    At a time when kolpakchi and I were puzzled, another staff officer came to report: "Comrade commander, commander of the 229th division of the friendly neighbor, Colonel sarien, called and said that the German army was launching an attack on the 783rd regiment stationed at the 79th state farm in the middle of the division. Because of the shortage of troops, it was very difficult for them to stop the crazy attack of the German army, so they asked us to provide the necessary assistance. "


    "The 79th state farm," kolpakchi said to me after finding this position on the map, "once the German army captured this farm, it would attack the nearby highland 155. Once the highland was lost, the German army could drive straight into the 64th army headquarters in lower kirskaya. But where should we send troops to support them? You know, it will take time for the troops to gather. Maybe by the time the reinforcements arrive, they will have been attacked by the Germans. " Seeing kolpakchi''s anxious expression, I suddenly had a flash in my mind. When the German attacked the Koska River defense line yesterday, didn''t he order to support the defenders with artillery fire? We can do the same today. Think of here, I also no longer hesitate, will own idea simply said out. On hearing this, kolpakchi nodded again and again, and immediately ordered the staff officer: "call the military commissar and ask him to order the cannon regiment to open fire on the friendly neighbor''s 155 highland to stop the German offensive troops."

 Chapter 420

    After receiving the order, the staff officer turned to call gurov of the left behind headquarters. After a while, I heard the staff officer clearly saying, "Hello, comrade military Commissar. We have just received a call for help from the commander of the 229th division of our friendly neighbor, Colonel sahren, saying that the German army is attacking the 79th state farm defended by the 783rd regiment in the middle of the Department. The commander ordered the three artillery regiments of the group army to immediately provide artillery support to the division and stop the German offensive forces. "


    Speaking of this, the staff officer suddenly covered the microphone and asked korpakchi, "Comrade commander, comrade military commissar, do you want the rocket artillery regiment on standby to fight?"


    Colpakchi held up his telescope and said without looking back: "let the 4th and 5th regiments of the close guard Rockets go into battle, and the 47th and 83rd regiments continue to stand by." After a pause, he added: "let comrades of the military commissar contact the head of the 783rd regiment and ask them to provide firing parameters for the artillery. At the same time, let their troops pay attention to concealment, so as not to be injured by our artillery fire. "


    The staff officer agreed and said to gurov in a loud voice: "Comrade military commissar, as the commander has said, please contact the head of the 783rd regiment and ask them to provide accurate firing parameters for the artillery regiment. At the same time, let the troops pay attention to concealment and avoid being injured by our artillery fire."


    At this time, kolpakchi suddenly whispered in my ear: "commander oshanina, why do you say that the German army only used such a small number of troops to attack us, and retreated after a little contact?"


    This question of kolpakchi has stopped me. Yes, the German vanguard attacked this area yesterday. Even if they failed yesterday''s attack, it is customary for them to launch a fierce attack on our position today by virtue of their advantages in aircraft and tanks. How can they just send small troops to fight and withdraw? Is there any conspiracy?


    Before I could come up with an answer, the staff officer came up to kolpakchi and whispered, "Comrade commander, general trakov of the 64th army is calling for you."


    Korpakchi put down his telescope, went to pick up the receiver, and called trikov in his father''s and Ben''s name: "Hello, Vasili Ivanovic! You call at this time. What can I do for you? "


    "Thank you, Vladimir Yakovlev!" Trakov also used the honorific title to korpakchi on the phone. "I just received a call from the commander of the 229th infantry division, Colonel sarin, saying that his troops, supported by your powerful artillery, had beaten back the enemy''s crazy attack."


    Colpackge said with a smile, "old man, we are friends. Since you have encountered difficulties there, it is natural for you to be supported. "


    "What''s the situation there?" Trekov asked.


    Holding the microphone, kolpakchi glanced at the outside and said with disapproval, "just now a small German army came to attack. After being attacked by our artillery, it has retreated in dismay. Now it''s calm outside."


    After listening to this, trikov was silent for a while, and then said slowly, "I suggest you be on your guard. The German army will retreat after a fight like this. There must be some conspiracy."


    After putting down the phone, kolpakchi came to the window again, picked up the telescope, looked out, and said to himself, "did the German turn the main direction of attack to the 64th army, so our position is so quiet?" At this point, he turned to the staff officer and said, "call the 147th and 181st divisions and ask them what''s going on there?"


    The staff officer returned soon after the call and reported: "Comrade commander, I have called general walshin and general Novikov, and they all reported that they could not see an enemy in front of the position."


    Colpacci put down his telescope again, frowning and thinking. After a while, he went to the table and looked down at the map on it. He stared at the map for ten minutes, and when he looked up again, I saw a little more gloom on his face.


    He stood up slowly and told the staff on standby: "combat staff, you should contact the combat Office of the headquarters of the front army immediately, and learn about the enemy''s movements in other defensive areas from them."


    Soon the staff officer came to report: "report commander, I have just received a notice from the combat Department of the front army that the defense areas of the 63rd and 64th army are being attacked by the German army. The remnants of the 28th, 38th and 57th group army were defeated by the 4th group army, which was just transferred back from the Caucasus by the German army, and are retreating towards Stalingrad. "


    When I heard this, I wondered whether the German army was carrying out the tactics of breaking through one by one. Three group armies had been repulsed. If the 63rd and 64th group armies were defeated again, with their strength, they could encircle and finally annihilate the main force of the 62nd group army in the Koska line.


    Thinking that the group army might be encircled, I can''t help but get nervous and remind kolpakchi: "Comrade commander, I think the Germans have a conspiracy."


    Cole pakchi, whose attention has never left the map, said without looking up: "what plot? Let''s hear it. "


    I quickly went to the table, pointed to the map on the table where our army was, and said, "Comrade commander, please have a look. The 64th group army is on the left wing of our department. Once the German forces defeat them, they can take advantage of the situation to advance to the Bank of Kiel, which will cut off our retreat and form a encirclement. " With that, I stare nervously at colpakchi, waiting for him to make a decision. Colpacci nodded, picked up a red and blue pencil, pointed to the map and said, "Comrade oshanina, you have a point. If the 64th army, which borders on us, is defeated, we will become an isolated army. In this way, the German army can attack us from both the front and the flank at the same time, making us unable to look at each other head and tail, and finally encircling and destroying us in the defensive position on the Bank of the Koska river. " Here, he threw his pencil on the table, stood up straight, and again told the staff: "the combat staff, call general walshing of the 147th division, and ask him to immediately send a regiment to move southward, go out to the 155 highland, and reinforce the 229th division." Looking at kolpakchi giving orders in the headquarters, I feel a little lost. From the beginning of the battle of the siniavino bulge to the present Don River defense, I am just a dozen soy sauce characters, and I have nothing to do in the headquarters. When the war situation is favorable to our army, those happy commanders will occasionally ask for my opinions; But once the war situation is repeated, I become a transparent person in the headquarters. If I don''t take the initiative to speak, no one will talk to me. After the troops of the 147th Division set out, kolpakchi asked the combat staff to call each division every half an hour to ask if there was any German movement in front of the position. The information in the newspapers of all divisions is the same: the front of the position is very calm, and no German can see it. Just as korpakchi was worried about the complicated situation in our defense area, Colonel Saren, commander of the 229th division of our neighbor, called. When colpakchi answered the phone, I clearly heard the Colonel say excitedly on the phone, "Comrade commander, thank you so much. Today''s German attack on the 79th state farm defended by the 783rd regiment of our division has been completely smashed by us due to your strong artillery support and the subsequent support of the 147th infantry regiment. The German troops, who have suffered heavy losses, have retreated to the West in dismay. " With a happy smile on his face, colpakchi asked calmly, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the result?"¡° After counting the results, nearly 600 soldiers were killed and 11 tanks were destroyed in the defensive area of the 783rd regiment alone. "¡° Well done Kolpakchi praised the other side, and then added: "since the German army has retreated, let the 147th division return as soon as possible. I am worried that the German army may soon launch an attack on our defensive area." Before colpakchi''s voice fell, there was the rumble of guns outside the house.

 Chapter 421

    Colpakchi throws his microphone on the table, darts to the window, raises his telescope and looks out.


    I also went to the window and looked into the distance. I saw that our first line of defense was being heavily shelled by the German army. Looking at the position filled with smoke, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. The clock had already pointed to five o''clock. My heart said that the German commander was really immoral. He didn''t attack early and didn''t attack late. He chose to attack during the time when the commanders and fighters ate.


    I just thought in my heart that the most active staff officer had already said out loud what he thought: "Comrade commander, the German went too far and chose to attack when our commanders and fighters had dinner. With such a shelling, the casualties of the commanders and fighters who gather to eat together in the position must not be small. "


    With his binoculars in his hands, korpakchi looked at the blazing front in the distance and said solemnly, "this German commander is not simple! After he failed his exploratory attack in the morning, no matter how fierce he played in the rest of the area, he kept still and let us mistakenly think that this is not their main attack direction. In the evening, our commanders and fighters, who had been nervous for a day, thought that the enemy would not attack again, so they relaxed their vigilance. The other side seized the opportunity when our defense was lax, launched a sudden attack, and attempted to capture our troops'' positions at one stroke. "


    With that, kolpakchi went to the table and spoke to the commander of the 192nd division, taranzev, by telephone: "Comrade commander, the German army is shelling your position. Maybe the next step is to cover the infantry charge with tanks. I ask you, can your troops hold the position? "


    Taranzev replied loudly, "please rest assured, comrade commander. The men I deployed in the first and second lines of defense are all highly effective sailors. They will certainly be able to block the German attack."


    "Commander, come and see, the German ground forces are coming!" While colpakchi was on the phone, the operations officer suddenly exclaimed, "there are tanks, there are infantry."


    I raised my telescope and looked at the dusty place in the distance. The German tanks were no longer as sparse as they were in the morning, but at least hundreds of them. They were divided into five columns and were rushing towards our army. Further away, there was a dense line of infantry, following the tanks and pushing towards us.


    Instead of paying attention to the fussy operational staff, kolpakchi continued to tell tarantzev on the phone: "Comrade commander, tell the sailors to be calm. When the enemy approaches, don''t rush to hit the tanks first. Let them drive into the minefield and let the anti tank mines collect them. If there is a tank coming through the net, order the anti tank guns of the second line of defense to open fire and aim directly. And don''t be polite to the enemy''s infantry. Let the heavy and heavy machine guns fire at them together. Beat them hard and let them have a good taste of our strength. Do you understand? "


    I can''t help but laugh to hear that kolpakchi teaches tarantzev as a teacher teaches pupils. Since others can become a lieutenant colonel, they must have rich experience in fighting. They know how to fight naturally. Do you need to teach them so carefully?


    When the German tanks approached our first line of defense, the shelling stopped. As the troops had been ordered by tarantzev not to open fire for the time being, the anti tank mines and the anti tank guns of the second line of defense were used to clean up the German tank troops, so the position shrouded in gunsmoke seemed very quiet.


    German tanks entered the minefield one after another, and then in the front of our army, suddenly puffed up a bunch of plumes of smoke, rising into the sky in different attitudes. This is the smoke of the German tanks after the explosion of anti tank mines. Immediately after that, the artillery of the anti tank artillery regiment of the second line of defense also opened fire one after another. The artillery shells landed in the tank line and exploded, not only causing one or several tanks to catch fire and burn.


    Although there were minefields and anti tank artillery barrage, there were still many tanks flying over the trenches of the first line of defense and rushing towards the second line of defense.


    At this time, dozens of sailors jumped out of the first line of defense, holding the burning bottles in their hands, and chased after the tank''s buttocks. After running for some time, they threw out the burning bottles in their hands one after another. Because of the speed of the tank, only a few of the flasks hit the tank, and most of them fell to the open space. As soon as they finished throwing the flask, the sailors turned and ran into the trench.


    Although German tanks were not covered by infantry, their combat effectiveness could not be underestimated. I saw that some people used flasks to blow up tanks, which had not yet crossed the first line of defense. They used tank guns and machine guns to shoot at the sailors who left the trench. As soon as many sailors turned around, they were hit by machine gun bullets, or knocked down by explosive shrapnel, and fell on the hot land of the motherland. At last, less than one of the platoon soldiers returned to the trench safely.


    As the German infantry approached the front, the silent points of fire in the position opened fire fiercely at this moment. Dense bullets immediately knocked down groups of German soldiers.


    If we only continue to fight like this, our army will have no problem keeping the first line of defense. But just then, the German plane arrived. German tanks, perhaps to prevent accidental bombing, retreated to the back of the first line of defense, only bombarding our positions with artillery fire.


    As soon as the planes hovering in the sky find that their infantry are suppressed by our machine gun fire or artillery, they will dive down from high altitude and bombard our ground fire points and artillery positions in turn.


    After more than an hour of fierce fighting, the German army captured our first line of defense at the cost of 20 tanks and more than 400 soldiers. Seeing this scene, kolpakchi hit the windowsill with a fierce blow and cursed the new commander of the 192nd Division: "Damn, this damned tarantsev, he has repeatedly assured me that the most elite and effective sailors are deployed in the front, and there is no problem in holding the position. But now? It took the Germans just over an hour to conquer the positions that our army had built with solid fortifications. " At this moment, the staff officer yelled again: "Comrade commander, you see, in the right front, there are our officers and men withdrawing from the position." I raised my telescope and looked in the direction of the staff officer''s finger. In the northwest corner of the first line of defense, a group of soldiers ran out of the trench in disorder and ran to the second line of defense. As soon as they ran 50 or 60 meters, the machine guns of the German infantry who occupied the position opened fire wildly, and the mortar shells roared down in their line. Dense bullets and flying shrapnel made the retreating sailors fall down. The rest of the people also stopped, under the command of a commander, quickly lying down in place, or hiding behind the destroyed tank, began to organize resistance. More than twenty German soldiers ran out of the trench and rushed towards the sailors under the cover of machine guns and mortars. The combat effectiveness of these sailors seems not weak, and their shooting skills are also good. After a burst of shooting, all the soldiers who left the trench fell under their guns. At this time, a German tank came to the trench and fired at the most powerful position. I could clearly see that several soldiers were lifted high into the air by the blast, and then fell heavily. The commander saw that the enemy''s tanks were powerful and did not dare to fight. He asked his soldiers to continue to retreat to the second line of defense. But more and more tanks fired at them. One after another, tank shells exploded among them, and the shrapnel cut them down mercilessly like a flying scythe of death. Seeing that it was impossible to retreat safely to the second line of defense, the commander ordered the soldiers to lie on the ground and shoot doggedly at the enemy in the trench. But because of the great disparity between the enemy and us, the sailors kept dying, leaving only the commander alone. He collected hand grenades from several sacrificial soldiers and tied them together with bandages. Then he stood up abruptly and rushed towards the enemy''s position with bundles of hand grenades in his arms. It''s a pity that he was hit by the enemy''s dense bullets before he took a few steps. As he was rushing forward, he shook his body a few times and fell to the ground. Seeing the loss of the first line of defense and the heroic sacrifice of the sailors, kolpakchi was furious. After connecting tarantsev''s phone, he ordered in an unquestionable tone: "Comrade commander, I order you to immediately organize the troops to fight back and take back the first line of defense for me, take it back!"

 Chapter 422

    Ten minutes after tarantsev''s ordeal from korpakchi, I followed one of the soldiers assigned by korpakchi to the trench of the second line of defense. In the attack just now, almost two company officers and soldiers were sacrificed, which had some impact on the morale of the troops. Tarantsev personally came to the trench to speak to the soldiers who were about to attack, so as to achieve the purpose of boosting morale. As I passed by, tarantsev''s speech was drawing to a close, and he only heard his last words: "fight bravely, comrades! Please remember that glory belongs to those brave soldiers in the battle! Fight, fight to the death with the enemy, brave soldiers! Let the banner of your glorious victory fly high forever!... " His speech ended with the "Wula" of the soldiers. I went up to tarantsev, raised my hand to salute him and said politely, "Hello, sir. Lieutenant commander o''shanina is here to report to you, at your command Taranzev was stunned when he saw me appear in front of him, and then explained: "Comrade commander, I''ll explain to you that the troops have been assembled and can fight back at any time. I''m mobilizing them just now. Please go back and report to the commander. We will certainly take back the position. " After hearing this, I immediately understood that he had misunderstood me. He must have thought that I was sent to supervise the battle by kolpakchi, so he was busy reporting to me. I waved my hand and explained to him¡° Sir, I think you are mistaken. Comrade commander sent me to your division, not to urge you to fight. " He looked at me suspiciously and asked, "Comrade oshanina, since you are not here to supervise the war, what are you here to do?"¡° I''m assisting you in your counterattack. "¡° To assist my counterattack? " Taranzev still asked blankly, "how can I help you?"¡° I will attack with your troops and command them to seize the enemy''s position! "¡° what? Are you going out with the troops? " Hearing this, tarantsev shook his head like a rattle. "How can you, a woman, charge with the army? No, absolutely not! "¡° Sir, this is the order of the commander. According to the regulations, orders from higher authorities are not allowed to be discussed and can only be carried out. " I replied faintly¡° Yes Tarantsev said helplessly. Then he waved to the distance, and soon two commanders came running along the trench. Judging from their uniforms, they were all sailors. They should be tarantsev''s family. The two commanders ran to tarantsev, raised their hands and asked, "Comrade brigade commander, what else do you have?" My guess was right. These were officers from the 102nd naval infantry brigade of tarantsev.

 Chapter 423

    I specially glanced at the ranks of the two men''s collars, a captain and a captain. Their ranks are not as high as mine. It seems that when they fight later, they will all obey my command.


    Talanzev pointed to me and introduced them to me. "This is lieutenant commander oshanina of the headquarters. She will be responsible for this counterattack. You should follow her command decisively."


    After listening to tarantsev''s introduction, the two officers gave me an unexpected look. Then, the captain tentatively asked in an uncertain tone: "Comrade brigade commander, you mean that this commander is here to command our operations, am I right?"


    "Yes, comrade captain." I knew in my heart that if these people could not be convinced of me as soon as possible, it would be troublesome not to listen to my command on the battlefield later. So I took over the conversation before tarantsev spoke, "you heard me right. I came to command the counterattack on the order of the commander of the group army. But you don''t have to worry that I will become a burden to you. I have participated in many cruel battles and have rich fighting experience. " At this point, I stopped for a moment, pointed to my own badge and chest medal, and then said: "my rank and medal were obtained in the battle."


    After hearing what I said, the two officers glanced at each other from my badge and medal, with relaxed expressions on their faces.


    At this time, commander tarantsev coughed and drew everyone''s attention back to him. He asked me steadily, "Comrade commander, I''d like to ask, how do you plan to fight the attack later?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." The captain echoed: "you must have seen the attack just now. The German army sealed the road of our attack with more than a dozen light and heavy machine guns, and our commanders and fighters could not rush up. "


    As for how to attack, I thought about it on the way here. I pointed to the German position and said, "it''s about five or six hundred meters from us to the German position."


    "Comrade commander, the exact distance is 620 meters." The captain, who had not spoken for a long time, suddenly broke in and said, "if we still charge like we did just now, we will die before we reach the enemy''s position."


    After thanking the captain, I went on to say, "my plan is that the troops will first charge in a loose offensive formation. When they rush to the middle of the two positions, they will let the soldiers hide in the craters. With the dense craters of shells and bombs, they will cover the enemy positions alternately. When it''s only 20 or 30 meters away from the trench, let the soldiers throw grenades to destroy the fire points that pose a great threat to us. "


    After listening to my plan, tarantsev nodded and said with satisfaction, "Comrade commander, although your fighting method takes time, it can greatly reduce the casualties of the troops and increase the probability of seizing the enemy''s positions." Speaking of this, he raised his head to the two commanders and said, "what are you still doing in a daze? Go and call up the platoon leader of your company to convey the commander''s playing style, so that every soldier can have a clear idea."


    After the two commanders left, tarantsev patted me on the shoulder and said with concern, "Lieutenant Commander oshanina, the danger of this attack is too great. If you want to go back, I''ll go to the commander to intercede for you before you attack."


    For his concern, I was very moved, but at the moment I was in a dilemma. Who let me talk so much that I would jump out of the court and bravely ask to command the counterattack in front of kolpakchi.


    I gave a wry smile and replied, "Comrade division, I have participated in such battles many times. Although they are dangerous, they have all won in the end. I believe this counterattack will also win." In order not to make the atmosphere too dull, I intentionally changed the topic, "are all the attacking troops sailors?"


    "No, there''s only one company. The rest are the original infantry of the 192nd division."


    "Comrade brigade commander, everything is ready!" Hearing the captain''s cry in the distance, tarantsev reached out to me and said sincerely, "well, comrade commander, I wish you good luck! You must come back alive


    The captain and the captain saw me trot to them along the trench, pulled out the pistol from the holster at their waist, raised it high above their heads, and cried out: "comrades, for the motherland! For Stalin! Come with me After shouting, he climbed out of the trench with his hands and feet and took the lead to rush to the opposite side.


    I pulled out my pistol and just wanted to shout like them, but I saw that the commanders and fighters in the trench, after shouting "Wula" in unison, were all climbing out of the trench with their hands and feet, just like the two commanders. I looked around awkwardly and saw that everyone was running outside the trench. No one noticed me at all. I quickly put my pistol in the holster and followed them to climb outside the trench.


    My orders were faithfully carried out, and when the offensive troops were two or three hundred meters away from the opposite position, they scattered and hid in those dense craters. After hiding in the crater for a while, the soldiers saw that there was no movement from the enemy, so they jumped up, jumped out of the hiding crater, ran for a few steps, and quickly jumped into another crater.


    The German position was originally silent. Seeing that our commanders and fighters did not attack in a neat line as they had just done, they gradually approached their position by relying on numerous craters. They were so flustered that all the heavy and heavy machine guns were on fire.


    When we are far away, the enemy''s machine guns pose little threat to us. When we got close to 100 meters, the dense fire network of enemy machine guns put our soldiers in the crater and couldn''t lift their heads. I saw a few brave sailors, jumping out of the crater, carrying rifles and bravely rushing towards the enemy''s position. The German army immediately found them. A machine gun with a sudden fire turned around and shot them wildly. In just ten seconds, they were all knocked down by dense machine gun bullets. I peeked out of the crater and saw a tank with broken tracks ten meters away from my left front. I quickly climbed out of the crater and crawled to the tank. It was not until I got under the chassis of the tank that I breathed a sigh of relief. This position has a wide field of vision and is not easy to be hit by stray bullets. I can safely hide until the end of the battle. Just then, I heard a whistle coming from the side. I looked at it curiously. It turned out that the sound was from the captain hiding in the crater beside the tank. With his whistling, the whole position was filled with the whistling of rifle fire and machine gun fire. Seeing that the whistles were made by the sailors, I couldn''t help frowning and said in my heart, when do you still have time to whistle. I''ll never forget what happened next. The sailors who were hiding in the crater took off their helmets one after another, took out their caps without eaves and streamers from their arms, put them on their heads, put their guns in the crater, took out their grenades and held them in their hands. With another whistle, the two sailors, shaking hands with grenades, jumped out of the crater and rushed toward the enemy''s position. Unfortunately, within a few steps, the enemy''s machine gun shot a series of bullets arrived. The wounded sailor, by virtue of inertia, rushed forward a few steps, and then fell into the crater. Looking at his comrades in arms, a sailor was red eyed. He suddenly stood up, pulled the string of the grenade, and rushed up with the "sizzling" smoking grenade. Just half way out, boom. In a cloud of smoke, the living people instantly disappeared from my sight. Although three sailors were killed in succession, they did not make the surviving sailors feel timid. More sailors jumped out of their hiding places, holding grenades and rushing towards the enemy''s positions one after another. Most of the sailors, before they reached the position, fell at the gunpoint of the German army. There were also a few lucky sailors who, under the cover of the crater, quickly approached the German position, then pulled the string of the grenade and jumped into the trench. After a loud noise, an enemy''s firepower point was destroyed.

 Chapter 424

    With the captain''s every whistle, seven or eight sailors would rush out from different hiding places, holding grenades, and bravely rush towards the enemy''s position. However, because the enemy''s firepower was too fierce, at most one sailor could jump into the trench and die with the German army. The rest of them were not far away and were knocked down by dense bullets.


    Fight for your life with your life, kill one thousand enemies and lose eight hundred. I was stunned to hide under the tank by the unprecedented desperation of the sailors!


    I looked back at the infantry with difficulty. They all stayed in the crater, put their guns on the edge of the crater, and fired against the Germans in the trench. I don''t think they will come out of their hiding places if all the fire points in front of them are not destroyed.


    I''m afraid that according to the current way of playing, it won''t be long before all the sailors will die. From charging to now, I haven''t seen the captain''s shadow, only the captain hiding in the crater beside the tank. I turned my head to remind the captain not to fight like this any more, or even if we win, it will be a terrible victory.


    I yelled at the captain twice. Maybe the gunfire on the battlefield was too loud for him to hear. I was about to shout again, but he jumped up and ran forward with a grenade. I was shocked to see that if he died, the attacking troops would be leaderless. Fortunately, after only a few steps, he jumped into a crater.


    The way the sailors played their lives scared the Germans in the trenches. In order to prevent the position from being occupied by our army, forty or fifty German soldiers, driven by the officers, jumped out of the trench and rushed towards the sailors with guns.


    As they were jumping over a crater one after another, a wounded marine stood upright and resolutely pulled the grenade in his hand. With a loud bang, the German soldiers around the crater uttered a wail, either dead or wounded, and more than a dozen soldiers collapsed around the crater. The infantry soldiers, who had been hiding in the crater and shooting, also pointed their guns at the German soldiers who came out to die. With a crackle of fire, more than a dozen German soldiers fell under the muzzle. The rest of the soldiers panicked, turned around and ran to the trench. No matter how fast a man runs, he can''t run faster than a bullet. Of the more than 40 German soldiers who attacked, only two escaped back to the trenches.


    Taking advantage of the chaos, the infantry jumped out of the crater and charged the German army. After rushing to the place less than 30 meters away from the trench, the sparse firepower on the German position became dense again, and the infantry hid in the crater one after another. I also crawled out from under the tank, covered by craters and scattered bodies, and slowly climbed forward.


    I climbed to about 30 meters away from the trench and was found by the German army. A machine gun that was shooting wildly was turned around and focused on me. A long string of machine gun bullets flew in and splashed the soil around me. In order to avoid bullets, I quickly rolled to the right and into the next crater.


    There was an infantry soldier in the pit. He was lying on his stomach. Suddenly, he saw a man fall from the top and almost hit him. He was startled and almost instinctively pointed his rifle at me. When he saw clearly the rank on my badge, he quickly put away his gun, squatted down to salute me, and loudly reported: "Comrade commander, the German firepower is too fierce, we can''t rush through at all."


    Listen to the bullets whizzing past the pit top, I know what the soldier said is correct. It''s a pure death to rush forward at this time. When I looked down and saw the grenade hanging on the soldier, I had an idea and quickly told him: "the German firepower is too strong, so hard charging is definitely not enough. However, we are only tens of meters away from the trench. It should be no problem to throw grenades and blow up the enemy''s machine guns. "


    The soldier didn''t talk nonsense, and answered "yes" loudly Pull out a grenade with a wooden handle from your waist and pull the string when you stand up straight. I just wanted to remind him to pay attention to the German machine gun. He had fallen flat on his back in the crater. The head and chest have been shot in more than ten places, and they are bubbling with blood.


    I was squatting in the crater, and when I saw that the German fire was so fierce, I fell down beside the bloody bodies of the soldiers in a hurry. Just lying down, the strong smell of blood to my nostrils, let me feel sick. The blood of the soldiers came and soaked the soil under me. Lying with a dead man, I can''t help but feel fear. I''m afraid that the German is rushing to me and shooting me from a commanding position.


    However, the fear was only temporary. After all, it was not the first time for me to go to the battlefield. I soon recovered my peace. I lie in the pit and think quietly. If I don''t kill the machine gun opposite, I can''t escape the fate of head bursting as soon as I stand up. I have to find a way to leave here.


    I pulled out my pistol and leaned out to shoot twice. Later, I thought that the killing effect of the pistol was too small for such a long distance. Maybe I didn''t kill the other party. The other party killed me first. I put the gun back in the holster and went to pick up the rifle that the soldier had thrown aside. Just picked up the rifle, but accidentally saw the grenade on the ground, the heart said that in this case, the grenade is more effective than the gun. So I changed my mind. I put my rifle aside and collected the grenades on the soldiers and at the bottom of the pit.


    I lie down in the crater and try to drop the bomb. I find that as long as I lie down, I can''t take advantage of it. If I don''t grasp the strength well, I may even be unable to throw the crater. It seems that the best way to avoid being killed by a grenade is to stand up and throw it. But looking at the remains of the soldiers lying nearby and listening to the bullets whizzing overhead, I gave up the idea of standing up.


    Because the soil under my body was wet with blood, I felt very uncomfortable lying down. I turned over to the right and lay on my back in the pit. Looking at the wisps of smoke floating in the sky from time to time, I suddenly had an idea that I could drop the grenade lying on my stomach instead of taking advantage of it. I could try to drop the grenade lying on my stomach. As soon as I threw it back, the grenade would fly out.


    Thinking of this, I picked up a grenade, pulled the string and threw it back without thinking about it. The smoky wooden handle grenade, drawing an arc, rolled in the air and flew out of the crater.


    After a while, there was the explosion of the grenade. I estimated that it was 20 meters away. As the German machine guns are still clattering, I know that the blind bombing just now did not achieve the effect I wanted.


    I picked up the second grenade and carefully recalled the position of the German machine gun I saw before I entered the crater. After taking a deep breath, I suddenly pulled the grenade and threw it back.


    After the grenade exploded, the German machine gun fire stopped. I thought in my heart, this is really a blind cat meets a dead mouse. I didn''t expect that my grenade will also cost the enemy''s firepower. Thinking of this, I just wanted to stand up, and the German machine gun clattered again. When I heard that the German machine gun continued to fire, my heart suddenly cooled. It seemed that the grenade could not destroy the enemy''s firepower.


    I took a look in front of myself, and there were three grenades. I took out the first aid kit from my body, tied the three grenades tightly together with bandages, and prepared to throw them all at once. At such a time, if I continue to throw out one by one, it is bound to attract the attention of the German army. At that time, they will do the same thing and throw a few grenades in. I will wait to be blown to pieces.


    After binding the grenade and connecting several leads together, I tried. It is impossible to throw dozens of meters with one hand. I can only throw it with two hands. I hold my breath, pull the string with my right hand, then hold it in both hands and throw it back with a sucking force. That gesture is like a bride throwing a flower ball. The only difference is that she throws a blessing while I throw a death.


    After a loud bang, the German machine gun was dumb again. Although the machine gun was no longer firing, I did not dare to act rashly. I still lay in the pit and did not move. I was afraid that as soon as I leaned forward, the German machine gun opened fire again. It was strange that I was not screened at that time.


    It wasn''t until the sound of "ula" outside that I was sure that the grenade had destroyed the German firepower. Looking at the commanders and fighters constantly jumping over my head, I wanted to stand up, but I found that I was weak and couldn''t stand up at all.


    When the battle for the trench was going on, I lay still in the crater. Until the end of the battle, when the captain himself brought people to clean the battlefield, he found me in the crater.


    The captain jumped into the crater, crouched down and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, are you injured?"


    I shook my head and said with a bitter smile, "I''m ok, but I can''t stand up. Please give me a hand Then I reached out to him.


    After he pulled me up from the ground, he raised his hand to wipe my sweat and said with a lingering fear: "Comrade commander, I saw you lying in the crater with blood all over your body and still. I thought you were sacrificed."


    When I heard him say that, I looked down. No, his clothes were full of the soldier''s blood. No wonder the captain was worried. Instead of explaining, I asked, "have you captured the position?"


    The captain nodded his head and replied, "report, comrade commander, the position has been taken down. Because there were too many casualties during the attack, commander tarantsev sent me two more companies, so that we would have enough troops to hold the position. "


    When he talked about the heavy casualties during the attack, I think it mainly refers to the sailors. Thinking of the amazing scene just now, I can''t help but teach him a lesson: "Comrade captain, although we have recaptured the position, you should also see that our casualties are too large. We should know that if a commander is careless on the battlefield, how many lives will be sacrificed needlessly. This is not careless at all. Fighting is not risking the lives of soldiers. Our soldiers are not ordinary people. I''ll trade ten Krauts for one of our soldiers. I''ll never trade them. What kind of thing is a German? It''s worth our soldiers'' lives. You must accept the experience and lessons of this battle, and use your brain more in the future, so as to achieve the greatest results at the least cost. "


    The captain blushed at my criticism. When I finished speaking, he bowed his head and said with embarrassment, "I understand, comrade commander. Thank you for your instruction. I will firmly remember the experience and lessons of this battle."


    Just as he was talking, the captain, surrounded by several sailors, came running. I saw his right arm wrapped in bandage, hanging in front of his chest, it seems that he also hung in the battle just now.


    He came to us and saluted with his uninjured left hand. He reported: "Comrade commander, all the Germans in the position have been eliminated. Please go to the command post first and have a rest."


    The captain''s face returned to normal at this time. He asked the captain, "do you know the German number?"


    The captain nodded and replied, "all clear, comrade commander. The Germans who occupied the position belonged to the 60th motorized division. In the battle just now, it has been completely eliminated by us and there are no prisoners. "


    After hearing this, the captain showed a happy expression on his face. Then he turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, please! Go to the command post in the position first to have a rest and report the good news to the commander by the way. "

 Chapter 425

    As I followed them to the trench and passed by the bodies of our soldiers and German soldiers who had not had time to clean up, I couldn''t help recalling the thrilling fighting scenes I had just witnessed.


    It was getting dark. Although we took back the position from the German, the fighting did not stop. Fierce gunfire was constantly heard from the north and south sides of the position. It was the German army attacking the lines of the 147th and 181st divisions on both sides of the 192nd division.


    As soon as I entered the command post, I smelled a strong smell of blood. Several sailors were cleaning up the place. They carried away the bodies of the German soldiers who had been killed, and then found water to wash away the blood stains on the tables and chairs.


    The captain put down a clean stool in front of me, and then politely called me: "please sit down, comrade commander, you must be tired. Sit down and have a rest. I think the soldiers should be able to clean it up soon. "


    Instead of sitting down immediately, I politely said to the wounded captain, "Comrade captain, you''d better take this seat. After all, you are the wounded."


    Unexpectedly, the captain repeatedly waved his hand and said, "no, no, I won''t sit. You''d better sit!"


    We gave in to each other for a long time, but at last no one sat down. Fortunately, the sailors had cleaned up the command post, and the three of us sat down around the table.


    The captain took out a map from his briefcase, spread it on the table, looked at me and asked, "Comrade commander, what shall we do next?"


    I glanced at the map and saw that it was the defense map of the 192nd division. I quickly found our position on the map and pointed to the captain and said, "Comrade captain, in addition to letting the soldiers take the lead in fortifications, we should also organize people to dig anti tank trenches and lay minefields, so that when the enemy attacks again, we can be sure to block them."


    After hearing this, the captain nodded and said thoughtfully, "the fortifications have already been repaired. Only a few sections of the anti tank trench were blown down, and it won''t take much time to repair. The most troublesome is the minefield. After the enemy''s shelling and bombing, almost all the infantry mines and anti tank mines in the minefield have exploded. We need engineers to mine again. "


    Just as we were talking, the messenger in charge of restoring communication had brought in the telephone line again. As soon as the captain saw it, he quickly stood up and said, "Lieutenant, Captain, I''ll call the brigade commander and ask him to send an engineering battalion to support us."


    The captain didn''t answer him immediately. Instead, he looked at me and saw that I nodded slightly. Then he said to the captain, "OK, you''ll call the brigade commander and report our situation to him. At the same time, you''ll ask the engineering battalion to help us mine."


    Commander tarantsev got through quickly. He readily agreed to our request. Finally, he told the captain that he had received an order from commander General kolpakchi to rush back to the headquarters immediately.


    Hearing this order, the captain said with some regret: "Comrade commander, I thought we could continue to fight side by side, but I didn''t expect that the commander personally ordered you to go back to the headquarters. What a pity!" At this point, he held out his hand to me, "but the orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed and can only be implemented unconditionally, so we can only say goodbye now, comrade commander. Good luck!"


    When I shook hands with him, I asked with some embarrassment, "Comrade captain, may I ask, what should I call you?" To be honest, I still don''t know the names of the captain in front of me and the captain sitting there. I''m going to leave soon. If I don''t ask, I don''t think I''ll have any chance in the future. Once I leave, I may say goodbye to them. We should know that in the brutal battle of Stalingrad, not to mention captains and captains, even colonels and major generals were often precarious.


    The captain laughed and replied, "Comrade commander, my name is Oleg." Then he pointed to the captain next to him, "this is my deputy battalion commander yeffim."


    After hearing their names, I laughed and said, "they are all good names¡® The meaning of Oleg is sacred¡® Yeffim is kind-hearted I raised my hand, looked at my watch and said to the captain, "Captain Oleg, it''s getting late. I should go back to the headquarters."


    Yefim stood up and said, "I''ll arrange two soldiers to escort you back." After that, without waiting for my opinion, he ran to the door, called two sailors in, and told them: "listen, I''ll give you a task to escort the commander back to the headquarters safely. Do you understand? "


    The two sailors snapped to attention and answered in a loud voice, "please rest assured that the battalion commander and deputy battalion commander will complete the task."


    Escorted by two sailors, I returned safely to the headquarters in kolpakchi last night.


    When I went into the headquarters, I wanted to report to kolpakchi immediately, but when I saw that he was on the phone, I stood by the wall without saying a word, waiting patiently for him to finish his call.


    After a few words, I realized that the call was from general walshing of the 147th division. He was complaining to the commander that the regiment sent to reinforce the 229th division had been raided by German tanks on the way back. Due to the lack of enough anti tank weapons, after a short period of fighting, the army was defeated by German tanks, and then surrounded and annihilated by a large number of German infantry. As a result of the division''s line of defense, because of the transfer of a regiment, the defense force is weak. At present, the first line of defense is also occupied by the German army.


    Hearing the bad news, kolpakchi was furious and yelled at each other: "what, you lost your position to the Germans. Comrade general, I warn you, this is a crime. I command you to immediately organize forces to take the position back to me. " With that, he hung up the phone angrily. He turned to find me standing on one side, looked me up and down, and asked with concern, "why, commander o''shanina, are you injured?" I didn''t expect that he didn''t say coldly like other senior commanders: you''re back. And then there''s no more. It''s about whether I''m hurt or not. I was slightly stunned. I quickly stepped forward and reported: "Hello, comrade commander, lieutenant commander o''shanina. I have finished the task of assisting the 192nd division to recover the position. I''m here to report to you and wait for your order." After the report according to the regulations, I said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, thank you for your concern. I''m fine. I''m not hurt. I''m covered in the blood of other soldiers. " Before he could speak, the telephone on the desk rang. This time it was general Novikov, division commander of 181st division. As soon as the phone rang, kolpakchi asked with a smile, "Dear general, have you brought me any good news?" After a moment''s silence, the other party replied, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. I think what I brought you is bad news. Ten minutes ago, the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, had captured the first line of defense in our division''s defensive zone. At present, the enemy is pouncing on the second line, and our commanders and fighters are engaged in a fierce battle with them. " After hearing the bad news, colpakchi pursed his lips, and his round face was particularly firm. After a long time, he said, "general Novikov, I order you to hold the second position at all costs. When it''s dark, we''ll organize our troops to counter attack, and we must take back the lost positions. " After putting down the phone, kolpakchi walked back and forth in the room with his hands on his back for several times, then picked up the phone again and contacted gurov who was staying in the group army headquarters: "Hello, comrade military Commissar." Gurov also said politely, "Hello, comrade commander of the group army."¡° I''d like to ask, "when will the reinforcements sent to the Koska River defense reach the designated position?"¡° The regiments you dispatched were heavily attacked by German planes shortly after they set out. In order to avoid unnecessary losses, I ordered them to stand by for the time being and wait until dark. It is estimated that around 4 a.m., the reinforcements will be able to reach the designated position. " Then kolpakchi called captain shamikov, who stayed in the 85th infantry regiment. As soon as he got on the phone, he asked with concern, "Comrade captain, what''s the situation over there?" The captain''s voice was a little hoarse: "report to the commander, after a day''s fighting, there are only less than 50 people left in the 85th infantry regiment. At present, their positions are taken over by two regiments sent by Colonel avelin''s 196th division. " Colpakchi was not interested in the number of casualties at all. He asked straightforwardly, "what''s your result?"¡° In front of our position, there are 37 destroyed tanks and armored vehicles, and the bodies of nearly 800 German infantry¡° Can you still hold on? " Hearing this question, the captain hesitated for a moment, and then replied, "yes, comrade commander, as long as we have enough troops, I want to hold the position on the hill, there should be no problem."¡° In this case, comrade captain, let''s continue to fight. If you have anything, please contact me in time. " I didn''t expect that when the three divisions of the Koska River defense line were defeated, one of the troops left behind by kolpakchi''s whim actually achieved great results. It seems that he really has some real skills to be the commander. Kolpakchi then called more than a dozen artillery regiments of the group army to inquire about their artillery supply, and gave them tomorrow''s operational orders. When I saw him smoking at the table after calling, I thought today''s work should come to an end. Unexpectedly, he put out his two or three puffs of cigarette in the ashtray, picked up the phone again, and said in a loud voice, "I''m commander kolpakchi. Connect me with the 160th pontoon camp and let their commander answer the phone." Zhouqiao camp? When I heard this number, I was stunned. I didn''t expect that there was Zhouqiao battalion in the establishment of the group army. But when the commander calls their commander at this time, what tasks will he give them? They''re not going to take the pontoon, are they?

 Chapter 426

    I didn''t expect that I was right.


    He said to the commander of Zhouqiao battalion, "Comrade captain, I order you to build three floating bridges on the Koska River overnight. One of them should be able to pass tanks and other heavy technical equipment. Do you understand? what?! There are difficulties. We are short of manpower and materials. " At this point, he stopped, as if listening to the other party''s report. After a while, he suddenly raised his voice and said in an indisputable tone: "Comrade battalion commander, I need to remind you that these are your problems. You should try to solve them yourself. On the contrary, I will see the floating bridge on the Koska River after dawn tomorrow."


    After calling Zhouqiao camp, korpakchi sat down at the table, asked me to sit down, and said in an appreciative tone, "commander oshanina, I saw your performance in the battle today through the high-power telescope. Yes, you did very well. You were very brave. You even used a grenade to blow up one of the most dangerous machine guns of the enemy. It''s not easy for a male soldier to do that. "


    Just as colpakchi was full of praise for me, the phone on the desk rang. When the commander picked up the phone, I couldn''t help complaining to the people who called. My heart said that I was praised by my new superior, but you came to make trouble. Don''t let me meet you in the future, otherwise I will wear shoes for you as long as I have the chance.


    Unexpectedly, as soon as he heard the other party''s voice, kolpakchi stood up, straightened up and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade commander of the front army."


    "General kolpakchi," general gordov said frankly instead of being polite to him on the phone, "I''m calling you at this time because I have good news for you."


    "After several days of preparation, the headquarters of the front army has now assembled a considerable number of troops. At the same time, the reserves of the Supreme Command have also arrived, including the newly formed 1st and 4th group armies of tanks, the 126th, 204th, 205th, 321st, 399th and 422nd divisions of infantry, as well as other arms. "


    When he heard that there was a new reserve team, colpakton was overjoyed and asked, "general gordov, I don''t know which divisions will be added to my 62nd army? As you know, during the two days of fighting, the troops have been greatly reduced. "


    General gordov thought for a moment and replied, "well, I''ll transfer major general hasin''s 23rd tank army, and Colonel Travnikov''s 399th far east red flag infantry division, and Colonel kazarzev''s 87th Infantry Division to you."


    After listening to gordoff''s words, kolpakchi''s face showed a trace of disappointment. He sighed and said, "commander gordoff, can you give me more troops? As you know, the defense zone of our group army is so wide that we can''t do without enough troops. Give me two more teachers, even one. "


    Listening to the bargaining between korpakchi and gordov, I can''t help laughing, saying that you think that the commander of the front army will become a soldier by sowing beans. You can give you several divisions if you want, and your request will certainly be rejected by him.


    After listening to korpakchi''s request, gordov said, "no, general korpakchi, I can''t agree with your request. We need to know that our several army groups deployed in the Don River defense have been reduced in recent battles, and they also need to be supplemented by reserves."


    After the call with gordov, korpakchi called gurov of the left behind headquarters. Unexpectedly, the officer who answered the call reported that Comrade military commissar had received the order from the higher authorities to firmly guard the Koska River defense line. He was not at ease with the current situation, so he rushed to the Koska River defense line with the reinforcements.


    Colpakchi put down the phone and said to me with a bitter smile, "commander oshanina, do you hear me? The comrades of the military commissar are worried that this line of defense can not be defended, and they have already rushed to us in person. "


    When I heard that gurov was coming, I said that since the military commissar was coming, several division commanders had called to study how to strengthen the defense of the Koska River region. Thinking of this, I suggested to kolpakchi, "Comrade commander, I propose that several division commanders of the Koska River defense line be called to the headquarters to sit together and discuss how to beat back the German attack on the defensive zone."


    After listening to this, kolpakchi thought about it, nodded and agreed: "well, you have a point. I''ll call some teachers and ask them to come over for a meeting. At the meeting, we should let them understand that we must defend the Koska River defense line at all costs, otherwise, the German army can cross the Don River calmly and go straight to Stalingrad. "


    At two o''clock in the morning, the military commissar gurov, who started with the reinforcements, arrived, and then several division commanders from the defense area arrived at the headquarters one after another.


    After a brief greeting, everyone will sit down. Because the table in the headquarters was too small, kolpakchi and gurov were forced to huddle on a bench. Major general walshin and major general Novikov were sitting on his right. On the left were Colonel farnasiev and lieutenant commander tarantzev. On the opposite were the commander of the 131st division, Colonel jahua, and the commander of the 196th division, Colonel avelin.


    The first speaker was Colonel farnasiev, who pointed out to the point: "Comrade commander, I don''t think we can continue to fight like this any more. Although the German attack was defeated by us, the casualties of our army are too great. In just two or three days, the 33rd division of my close guard lost nearly 8000 casualties, which can be said to have completely lost its combat effectiveness. "


    Gulov was shocked by what he said, and asked in an unbelievable voice: "ah, Colonel farnasiev, how many casualties did the guards have? Are you not mistaken? " With a wave of his hand, farnasiyev replied positively, "Comrade military commissar, you can''t be wrong. My 83rd and 85th regiments have almost run out. At present, the 84th regiment with complete organizational structure has less than 200 people left." Major general walshin continued: "in today''s battle, our division''s personnel have been greatly reduced. A regiment sent to reinforce the 229th division of Youlin was attacked by the German armored forces on its way back to Jianhe, and the whole army was destroyed. The two regiments in the remaining positions also suffered heavy casualties under German artillery and aircraft bombardment. If we don''t send more reserves, it''s still a question whether we can hold the position tomorrow. " Major general Novikov, division commander of 181st division, also said: "yes, the German army firmly holds the air supremacy. When our artillery fire to suppress the enemy''s attacking forces, it will attract the enemy''s heavy bombardment." korpakchi interrupted them and said impolitely, "well, don''t go far. Let''s talk about how to strengthen the defense of the Koska River defense line, We must resolutely block the German attack. Just now, general gordov, commander of the front army, called me and said that the tank army and infantry division that have been added to our group army will be able to enter our defense area within two days. " Fanasiev once again took the lead in saying: "Comrade commander, can we give priority to replenishing the 33rd division of the guards? You know, my troops are still stationed in several key positions. As long as they supplement the reserves for me, I will be able to hold these places firmly. " Gulov was very satisfied with his statement. He nodded and said, "don''t worry, comrade farnasiev. I will supplement the reserve team for you tonight, but you have to promise me that you must firmly hold the position." Fanasiev stood up and answered in a loud voice: "please rest assured, comrades of the military Commissar. As long as there is still one person alive in the 33rd division of the guards, he will definitely be nailed to the position like a nail. He will never step back." After calling Colonel farnasiyev to sit down, gurov turned to discuss with korpakchi and said, "Comrade commander, I suggest that the infantry regiment of the infantry school directly under the group army be put under the command of the 33rd division of the guards. Do you have any different opinions?" "No," korpakchi agreed almost without thinking. In this way, after the meeting, I will send these infantry regiments to the defense area of the 33rd division of the guards. "

 Chapter 427

    The temporary military meeting lasted two hours.


    As an onlooker, the more I listen, the more I frown. The so-called "strengthening defense" means simply deploying the newly transferred troops to the positions where there is a shortage of troops. There is no suggestion that the troops should be moved to the two wings of the German army, and when they attack our army, they should be severely hit from the flank.


    When I think of the 100000 troops of the group army in the trenches, waiting for the German bombs and shells, I can''t help worrying about whether I can hold the Koska river line.


    After several division commanders left, Kolpak said to gurov, "Comrade military commissar, before you come here, I personally gave the order to the commander of the 160th Zhouqiao battalion to build three floating bridges on the river overnight, one of which should be able to pass tanks and other heavy technical equipment."


    "What, a floating bridge?" Gurov asked puzzledly, "what are your plans to build a floating bridge on the river behind us at this time?"


    "Comrade military commissar, I think so. At this time, I ordered Zhouqiao camp to set up a floating bridge, in order to... "Colpakchi said here. He turned his head and found that I was still standing straight against the wall. He asked me strangely, "commander o''shanina, what are you doing standing here?"


    My heart said I was your adjutant, you did not speak, I dare to leave? But I have to say respectfully, "Comrade report commander, I can''t leave without your permission."


    Colpakchi waved his hand impatiently and said to me, "it''s none of your business here. Go back and have a rest."


    As I was about to leave, gurov, who was sitting there, found the blood on me by accident and asked with concern, "commander o''shanina, are you hurt?"


    I looked down at the bloodstain on my uniform and just wanted to answer gurov. Unexpectedly, kolpakchi had already said, "comrades of the military commissar, don''t worry, lieutenant commander oshanina is not injured. She is covered with other people''s blood." At this point, he waved at me and urged me to have a rest. I have something important to discuss with the comrades of the military Commissar


    After listening to korpakchi''s words, gurov could not say anything more. He could only politely say to me, "Comrade oshanina, you are not needed here for the time being. You''d better find a place to rest."


    I think they are going to discuss some important military information in private. There are outsiders in the room, and it''s hard to say a lot, so they can''t wait to send me away.


    Since I''m not popular here, I''d better leave early. I saluted them, turned and strode out.


    As soon as I walked out of the headquarters, I met the most active combat staff officer in the daytime. As soon as he saw me, he asked frankly, "Comrade commander, have you finished the meeting in the headquarters?"


    I just wanted to ask you, didn''t you see those teachers leave? It suddenly occurred to him that just before the meeting, for the sake of confidentiality, the staff officer and the staff officer in charge of communication were all banished to other shelters, so it''s not surprising that he didn''t know whether the meeting was over or not. I said, "the meeting has already ended, and several division commanders have returned to the army."


    "Where are you going?"


    "The commander asked me to have a rest. Do you know where I can have a rest?"


    The staff officer shook his head and said, "the shelters here are almost all headquarters or communication rooms at all levels. There is no suitable place. If you want to have a rest, I suggest you go to the car. No one will disturb you there. "


    I nodded and said thanks to him. Just as I was about to leave, he stopped me from behind. He ran over and looked me up and down and said, "Comrade commander, your uniform is full of blood. There is a new suit of military uniform in my luggage. Please pick it up and put it on first


    The staff officer took me to a jeep, opened the door and asked me to get on. Then he picked up a bag from the co driver''s seat, took out a military uniform from it and handed it to me, saying, "the dress may be a little big, so you can make do with it. It''s getting late. You can have a rest. I''m on duty tonight, so I won''t accompany you. "


    Before I could thank him, he turned and left.


    I closed the door, changed my clothes, and reclined in the back of my chair.


    Because I couldn''t sleep well in the car, I tossed and turned and couldn''t sleep. I just barely fell asleep until dawn.


    I didn''t expect that I was awakened by the roar of gunfire just after I fell asleep. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was only five o''clock in the morning. At yesterday''s meeting, we only discussed how to defend and did not mention the issue of attack. It is estimated that the German attack has begun again.


    I quickly pushed the door open, jumped out of the car and trotted to the headquarters. Since the German army began to attack, the headquarters must be very busy. At this critical moment, if my adjutant of the commander was not present, it would be worse.


    When I ran into the headquarters, kolpakchi was on the phone while gurov was sitting at a table looking at the map. I went to gurov and asked in a low voice, "Comrade military commissar, what''s the matter? Which defensive area did the Germans attack again? "


    Gulov looked up at me and replied, "the gunfire is coming from the left side of our defense zone. The commander is calling general walshing of the 147th division to find out if his defense zone is being shelled by the German army." Just then, kolpakchi put down the phone, looked at gurov, waved his head and said, "Comrade military commissar, I just asked general walshin. He said that his position was very calm. He neither suffered from German artillery nor found German ground troops." Gurov frowned and thought about it, then tentatively asked, "Comrade commander, listen to the direction of the gunfire, is it Comrade trakov''s defense area that is being shelled by the German army?"¡° Well, it''s quite possible. Yesterday, the German army launched an attack on the defensive area of the 229th division. Later, I sent a regiment of the 147th division to support them and provided them with enough artillery support. I''ll call trakov and ask him what''s going on there The communications staff quickly got through to trakov, and korpakchi said, "Hello, trakov? I''m colpakchi. Where are you now? "¡° Hello, general colpakchi. I''m now in the observation post ten kilometers northwest of lower kirskaya. "¡° Have you been attacked by German artillery? "¡° Yes, the German army is bombarding the defensive position of the 783 regiment of the 229th division of our group army. I guess they want to break through from here and go straight to the Kiel river¡° Have you taken any measures? Comrade trekov. "¡° Because the infantry reserves are all east of the Don river, I can''t strengthen the 229th division at present, but I have sent two independent tank battalions to reinforce them. "¡° OK, keep in touch. If you need us, please let us know. We will do our best to support your troops as much as we can. " I didn''t expect that the situation was more serious than I thought. Half an hour later, trakov took the initiative to call korpakchi and report the war situation: "old man, the situation seems to be a bit bad. After the enemy''s artillery preparation and air attack, the infantry charged under the cover of tanks. From my observation post, we can see that there are more than 80 tanks under the cover of artillery and mortars attacking our army. I analyzed that their main target should be the dairy defended by the 1st Battalion of the 783rd regiment. "¡° Don''t worry, comrade trakov. I''ll let the artillery fire immediately to stop the enemy. " Hang up the phone, kolpakchi can''t wait to ask gurov: "Comrade military commissar, how many artillery units can we put into battle?" Gurov looked up at him, sighed, and replied, "at most one artillery regiment can be put in."¡° What, only one artillery regiment? " Kolpakchi exclaimed in surprise. His exclamation alarmed the staff in the headquarters, but after they looked back at him, they went on their own. Gulov said helplessly: "in yesterday''s battle, the positions of two cannon regiments were attacked by the German army, and the artillery was almost lost. And the surviving regiment also ran out of shells in the battle. Fortunately, last night we took the time to add a part of it. Otherwise, even this regiment would not be able to fight now. "

 Chapter 428

    There was no expression on kolpakchi''s face. From my point of view, it was a bit gloomy in the past, and I could see that his mind was heavy. I quietly looked at the Group Commander, and suddenly felt that he was not so good as a commander and was under great pressure. In my opinion, what should I do in the current situation? I''m really at a loss.


    Kolpakchi sat at the table, looked down at the map, pondered for five minutes, looked up at gurov, and said decisively: "Comrade military commissar, I suggest that the 112th infantry division of Colonel Sologub be transferred immediately, so that they can quickly rush to the left wing of the group army to strengthen the 229th Division of the 64th regiment. Otherwise, once their positions are lost, our left wing will be exposed to the enemy, and we will be in danger of being surrounded at any time. "


    When I heard the arrangement of kolpakchi, I nodded to myself. I didn''t expect that the commander''s overall view was very strong. He also knew the truth that his lips were dead and his teeth were cold. In the face of the German attack on his neighbor''s troops, he didn''t stand by, but took the initiative to send troops and provide necessary artillery support.


    After listening to him, gurov said with a bitter smile: "Comrade commander, I think what I''m going to say next is really bad news for you. The 112th infantry division of Colonel Sologub was transferred from our group army to the battle sequence of the 62nd group army by commander gordov at 5 pm yesterday. "


    "What? Is that true? " Kolpakchi was surprised and asked with half confidence, "Comrade military commissar, the people in the headquarters of the front army are not mistaken, are they? You know, although the 112th division used to belong to the battle sequence of the 64th group army, it belonged to our group army on the 17th of this month. At such a time, why did you assign this division to the 64th army? "


    Gurov shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly, "Comrade commander, you know that this is an order. According to the regulations, orders from higher authorities are not allowed to be discussed and must be executed unconditionally. "


    After a moment''s pause, colpakchi rose abruptly, took off his cornice cap, threw it heavily on the table, and said angrily, "nonsense, it''s nonsense. Today he is assigned to this group army, and tomorrow he is assigned to that group army. I don''t know what he thinks in his mind. He lets thousands of commanders and soldiers of a division run around all day. Before they fight, the soldiers are exhausted. "


    "Comrade commander," gulov promptly stopped korpakchi''s complaint, looked left and right, and then said in a low voice, "others are now the red men in front of the supreme commander. We all know that his orders are wrong, and we can only implement them with a stiff head. Have you forgotten that when Comrade trakov was in our headquarters two days ago, he complained to general Zhukov about commander gordov''s transfer of him from the junction of our two army groups as the 112th division of the reserve? "


    Korpacci did not speak. Although he had a lot of opinions on gordov, the commander of the front army, he also understood that the superior could not afford to offend him. After a moment of silence, he said, "Comrade military commissar, what about the defense area of the 229th division? Although they are not members of our group army, if we stand by and allow the enemy to defeat or annihilate them, then the left wing of our group army will be completely exposed to the enemy. "


    Gulov frowned when he heard what korpakchi said. He obviously realized that it was troublesome. If it was not handled properly, our army might be doomed.


    After a while, gurov said as calmly as possible, "Comrade commander, I think you''d better call Comrade trakov and ask him how things are going there. At the same time, I also ordered the cannon regiment to provide artillery support for the 229th division to intercept the German attack. "


    Kolpakchi thought for a moment and nodded his agreement, so gurov got up and called the artillery regiment, while kolpakchi stayed at the table and dialed trakov. He asked with concern, "Comrade trakov? I''m colpakchi. What''s the situation over there? "


    "It''s not very good, comrade kolpakchi." Trekov said anxiously: "the enemy''s offensive troops have wedged into our defensive position, reached the height of 155, and captured the 79th state farm. At the same time, the 229th division, located near the 155 highland, was also attacked by the German detachment. The division commander, Colonel sarin, has moved quickly with the division headquarters. At present, we have lost contact with the 783rd infantry regiment and the 2nd Battalion of the 804th infantry regiment. "


    "Comrade trakov," korpakchi said difficultly, "do you think the 229th division can hold the existing defense line? As an old friend and comrade in arms, I hope to hear from you. "


    As for his question, trekov was silent for a long time before he replied, "it''s very difficult, old man. At present, there are only four battalions of the 229th division in the fighting area, and there is neither artillery cover nor air force support. It is almost impossible to hold the position. However, under the indomitable resistance of the soldiers, it can effectively slow down the enemy''s advance speed. "


    Kolpakchi''s face changed greatly: "if the 229th division can''t hold the position, the flank of our group army will be completely exposed in front of the enemy." At this time, gurov, who had finished the call, went up to him and nodded, indicating that he had given the order to the cannon regiment. Kolpakchi continued: "in order to ensure that the defense line does not collapse, I will provide you with the necessary artillery support. But whether you can hold the position depends on when you can put the reserve team into battle. "


    Just as the 64th army''s defensive zone was in full swing, Captain shmikov called kolpakchi and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, the German army concentrated 30 guns and 150 tanks and began to bombard our defensive position fiercely. After an hour of shelling, their fire began to extend and continue to suppress my deep position. At the same time, the infantry, under the cover of tanks, began to charge the positions on the hills. "¡° What''s the situation now? " Asked colpackge anxiously¡° Due to the heavy artillery fire of the German army and the fact that our army has not received any effective artillery support, we are now suffering heavy casualties. We have to give up the two lines of defense at the foot of the mountain and the hillside and retreat to the last line of defense on the hill. " When gulov heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting and asked, "Comrade commander, how many people are left?" Colpakchi quickly repeated the question through the microphone: "Comrade captain, how many people are there left? Can you hold the position? " Shamikov was silent for a moment and replied, "we still have two complete battalions with a total force of about 1000 people. Because of the narrow area in front of the last line of defense, only two companies can be deployed at most at a time, so the enemy and us can only adopt the tactic of increasing troops step by step, one company, or even one platoon, to fight. I don''t think it''s a big problem to persist until dark. " Korpakchi covered the microphone, turned his head to gurov, and asked for his opinion: "Comrade military commissar, Captain shamikov, their troops contain an infantry division and a tank division of the German army. Do you think we should give them more troops and let them continue to fight? " Gurov shook his head and said, "Comrade commander, I think it''s better for them to withdraw from their present positions after dark. There, we put in three regiments, with a total force of 8000. But as you have just heard, shamikov said that there are still 1000 people left in the position, and I estimate that there are also many heavy and heavy casualties. In just one or two days, 7000 people were injured and killed, which is too large a proportion. Instead of sacrificing precious troops in such a war of attrition, it is better to withdraw them and strengthen more important defensive areas. " After listening, korpakchi moved his hand away from the microphone and decisively gave an order to shamikov: "Comrade captain, you must firmly hold the position now, and you can''t let the enemy move forward. After dark, we will quietly withdraw from our positions and rush to join us. " In the afternoon, trakov took the initiative to call and inform korpakchi of the war situation: "after the German tanks broke into our defense line, they met with the tanks that our army rushed to reinforce. After a fierce battle, our heavy tanks withstood the impact of the enemy, but the light tanks lost a lot, and the rest retreated along the valley. The infantry situation was not good either. The head of the 783rd regiment died in the battle, the political commissar was injured, and the troops retreated eastward under alternate cover. Colonel sarren put the two battalions that the 804th regiment had just arrived into battle, trying to stop the enemy''s attack. But their attack was blocked by German tanks. Half an hour ago, they were attacked again by enemy infantry and tanks. Because they didn''t have time to dig trenches, they couldn''t withstand the enemy''s attack on the open plain. They were forced to give up two highlands 161 and 156 to retreat from savinsky village on the right bank of the Qier river. I have given orders to Colonel sarren to have these two battalions fortified in the village to cover the flanks of the 62nd army. " Listening to their conversation, I could not help nodding my head. I said that these senior commanders had a strong overall view. They didn''t just focus on their own three-thirds of an acre, and they were always paying attention to the defense zones of the neighboring troops. As soon as you see the other party in danger, you can respond in time and provide the necessary support for the other party.

 Chapter 429

    Kolpakchi walked back and forth in the headquarters with his hands behind his back, as if talking to himself or asking gurov: "no matter how you look at it, a newly formed army like the 229th division can''t compete with the powerful Germans at all. Can two infantry battalions without anti tank weapons defend savinsky village? Impossible, impossible. "


    Gurov''s eyes have been moving with korpakchi. He tried to take on: "Comrade commander, although the 64th army is adapted from the reserve army, under the leadership of an excellent commander like Comrade trakov, they can fully undertake the combat task of a region. The potential combat capability of the army can only be fully demonstrated in the cruel battle. In addition, the weaponry of the 64th group army is better than that of the general army, and its combat effectiveness is not small at a critical moment. " At this point, he found that kolpakchi had stopped to listen, and stopped at the right time.


    Instead of commenting, colpakchi beckoned me to his side. I stood by the wall like a stake for a long time, but they didn''t notice me. Now the commander called me. I didn''t dare to neglect him. I quickly ran forward to him and politely asked, "Comrade commander, do you have any orders?"


    "Comrade oshanina, the situation of the friendly troops is very bad now. What do you think we should do?" colpakchi asked


    The question of kolpakchi makes me feel a little confused. I don''t know how to answer it. I don''t know if he really asked me for advice, or just casually asked. I was worried that the situation the other day would reappear, so I turned my eyes to gulov, who was sitting next to me. Unexpectedly, he also said: "Comrade o''shanina, talk about your ideas. Don''t worry. Even if you are wrong, we won''t blame you."


    Since gurov had said that, I couldn''t hesitate any more, so I looked at korpakchi and said, "Comrade commander, I think we should provide the necessary support for the 229th division."


    After listening to my non nutritive reply, kolpakchi snorted and said impolitely, "it''s easy to say the necessary support. What kind of support method? We don''t have any extra troops to mobilize. The only thing we can do is to provide them with limited artillery support. "


    "Comrade commander, we still have an army that has not been put into combat so far. At this time, they can be put on the stage. "


    "There''s another army. What army?" Korpakchi turned to look at gurov and asked, "Comrade military commissar, do you know which army commander oshanina is talking about?"


    Gurov shook his head blankly and replied, "I don''t know."


    Kolpakchi looked at me again and said, "tell me, comrade oshanina, I really want to know which army in the group army has never been in combat."


    "Yes, comrade commander." I have been staying in the headquarters these days, doing nothing, occasionally turning over war reports and important documents, so I have a general understanding of the forces under the control of the group army¡° The 110th battalion of the independent rocket launcher of the close guard has never participated in any combat since it was incorporated into our group army, so I suggest that they provide artillery support for the 229th infantry division. "


    "Comrade commander," he said anxiously, "in yesterday''s battle, we used three cannon regiments and two close guard rocket artillery regiments to provide artillery support for the friendly forces. Although the enemy''s attack was effectively restrained, the artillery forces also suffered heavy losses due to the heavy bombing by German aircraft. If we put this close guard rocket battalion into battle again today, how can we ensure that they will not be lost due to the enemy''s air attack again? "


    "Comrade military commissar, please rest assured." I answered with confidence: "the anti-aircraft task of this rocket battalion can be completed by the 1259th antiaircraft artillery regiment. At present, they are fully equipped and have high morale. They are sure to complete the task successfully."


    After they exchanged their eyes, korpakchi nodded and said, "Lieutenant Commander o''shanina, it seems that your adjutant is quite competent and knows the troops in the battle sequence of the group army like the back of his hand. Well, just as you say. Comrade military commissar, please contact the artillery battalion and antiaircraft artillery regiment, and let them fight as soon as possible. "


    One hour after the rocket battalion was put into battle, trakov called again to inform kolpakchi of the latest battle report: "just now the German army put two more tank groups into battle. A group of about 40 tanks pursued two battalions retreating towards the banks of the cheir river; Another group of tanks rushed to lower kirskaya in an attempt to break through the position of the 214th division, which was defending the area. As your artillery bombarded the German troops in this area, the attacking enemy suffered heavy losses and had to return to the starting position. "


    "It''s very good that you can rush to repair the fortifications and transfer troops from other areas to strengthen your defense while the enemy is retreated," korpakchi said. By the way, comrade trakov, if I remember correctly, your headquarters seems to be in the lower kirskaya region. Pay more attention to safety. "


    "Don''t worry, old man." Trekov confidently said: "if you can kill me, the bullets of trekov have not been made yet. We will surely wipe out all the enemies who attack."


    In the afternoon, although the defensive zone of our group army was calm, the German army strengthened its attack on the trokovs. Soon the bad news came that the line of defense of the 229th division had been broken through, and the enemy was rushing towards the Qier River, advancing towards the junction of the 62nd and 64th army groups. Because of the military emergency, trakov had to transfer the 66th marine brigade and a part of the 137th tank brigade, which had originally planned to bypass the flank of the German offensive forces, back to strengthen the defensive area of the 229th division. As there are two German divisions in front of the defensive zone of our group army, the defenders on the position can not be easily mobilized, so as not to be taken advantage of by the German army. As for the situation faced by trakov, kolpakchi and gurov are very anxious. But we can only watch the fighting situation of the friendly forces develop in a direction that is not conducive to our army. The hope of victory is always generated in despair. When korpakchi and gurov, the two top commanders of the group army, thought that trakov''s defeat was inevitable and that our left wing would be exposed to the German offensive forces, the situation changed unexpectedly. Our fighter planes appeared in the sky of the battlefield. The fighter planes drove away the enemy planes that bombed our army first, and then the bombers that arrived there bombed the German attack line fiercely. He saw that our air force had firmly grasped the air supremacy of the battlefield, and immediately ordered the troops in the defensive area to launch a full line counterattack against the retreating German army.

 Chapter 430

    Just as the line of defense of the trokov troops was in danger, general walshing, commander of the 147th division, called to say that his division''s defensive positions were being attacked by the enemy.


    After hearing this, korpakchi''s face changed a little. His fingers were beating uneasily on the wooden table. After a while, he suddenly stood up, grabbed the big cornice hat on the table, put it on his head, and said to gurov, "Comrade military commissar, I''ll give you the headquarters. I''ll go to the 147th division to have a look." Then, without waiting for guloff to say anything, he pointed to me and said, "commander oshanina, you''re going with me."


    Sitting on the jeep heading for the 147th division headquarters, I kept murmuring in my heart: "when Zhukov was commanding a battle, he stayed in the headquarters, learned about the war situation through telephone and telegram, and then issued orders to the troops. He was a commander who planned strategies to win a thousand miles. Like meletskov, kolpakchi immediately took a group of people from the headquarters to the front line to direct the battle in person as long as the enemy situation was unfavorable to our army. This is probably the different command styles among senior commanders. "


    After driving for more than ten minutes, the jeep stopped at a trench covered with camouflage net. After the driver stopped the car, he turned to kolpakchi, who was sitting in the back seat, and said, "Comrade commander, the division headquarters of the 147th division are here."


    Listening to the driver talking about the place, I didn''t dare to neglect. I quickly pushed the door open, jumped out of the car, went around the back of the car to the back door on the other side, and opened the door for kolpakchi.


    After getting out of the car, kolpakchi said thanks to me and stood there for a while. After several guards from the two jeeps behind arrived, he took us down to the trench through a gap.


    As we walked along the trench, the officers and men we met stopped their work one after another and raised their hands against the trench wall to salute kolpakchi.


    More than ten meters away from the command post of the division, the commander of the division, general walshin and political commissar Kotov, who got the news, came out from the command post with a group of staff. Seeing that korpakchi came to his own defense area in person, walshing was surprised to ask, "Comrade commander, how did you come here in person?"


    "What''s the situation, sir?" colpakchi asked


    "We beat back the enemy''s two attacks." Just now, there was another rumble of artillery in the distance. One kilometer away, a small hill was being attacked by the enemy''s artillery. A firing bomb fell on the ground of our army and exploded, puffing up black puffs of smoke.


    Seeing that the enemy''s shelling started again, walshin immediately called kolpakchi: "Comrade commander, it''s not safe outside. We''d better go ahead to the command post."


    Colpakchi did not speak, but nodded in agreement. Seeing that the commander entered the division headquarters, walshing followed a large group of people. I wanted to go in, but when I went to the door, it was too narrow. A dozen people could not turn around when they stood inside, so I stepped back consciously.


    I looked up at the camouflage net on the top of my head and felt that such camouflage should not be easily found by the German army. So I found a position with a wide field of vision in the trench and raised my telescope to look at the position in the distance.


    The enemy''s shelling became more fierce, the shells fell and exploded, and the whole position was covered with dust. Seeing this scene, I can''t help but worry about the commanders and fighters in the position. They didn''t get the artillery support of our army. They had to hide in the fortifications and be beaten passively. The casualties were certainly not small.


    However, the enemy''s artillery bombardment was soon over. After the smoke of gunpowder was dispersed, it was clear that the enemy''s infantry, under the cover of tanks, were advancing slowly towards our position. There are hundreds of corpses and several burning tanks lying in front of our positions. It can be seen from the previous results of our commanders and fighters.


    When the enemy was only 50 or 60 meters away from the position, the rifles and machine guns on the position opened fire together, and the dense fire net blinded the enemy who rushed up. The soldiers in the front row fell down one after another, and those in the back fell down on the spot and fired. The tank stopped at the same place, slowly rotating the turret, and from time to time fired a shell at the powerful position on the ground to cover the attack of the infantry.


    As several tanks serving as cover missions were successively destroyed by our anti tank guns, the enemy soldiers lost the courage to continue to attack and got up from the ground one after another and retreated to the starting position just now.


    Just then, I heard someone call me next to me. I turned around and saw that it was a guard soldier from the headquarters. When he saw me and noticed him, he quickly said, "Comrade commander, the commander asked you to go to the command post of the division."


    I followed the soldiers back to the command post. As soon as I entered, I found that there were fewer people in the room. Except for korpakchi, walshine and Kotov, there were only two or three staff officers left. I went to kolpakchi, who was sitting at the table looking at the map. I raised my hand to salute him. According to the regulations, I reported, "Comrade commander, lieutenant commander o''shanina has been ordered to come and wait for your order."


    Colpakchi looked up at me and asked, "commander oshanina, where were you just now?"


    I didn''t dare to hide it. I honestly replied, "I had too many people in the command post, so I went to the trench to find a place with a wide field of vision, where I watched the whole battle."


    "What do you think after reading it?"


    "I found something wrong with the enemy of this attack."


    "What''s wrong?" colpakchi asked with interest? What''s wrong? Let''s hear it. "


    "The combat effectiveness is too weak. It can be said that it will be defeated at one touch. I''m worried about whether they have any conspiracy to make us think that their attack is vulnerable. When we relax our vigilance, we will use our powerful forces to pounce on them and seize the position of our army at one stroke. "


    After listening to this, kolpakchi laughed, which made me confused. I don''t know why he laughed. After laughing for a while, he said with disapproval, "commander o''shanina, you are worried too much. There will be no conspiracy. These enemies are weak in fighting capacity. "


    I think I heard it wrong. If the German army is weak in fighting capacity, they can still make trakov''s troops run away in a mess. Doesn''t this mean that our troops are all a temporary mob, even more vulnerable?


    Just when I couldn''t figure out the answer, it was general walshing who solved the riddle for me: "Comrade commander, do you think the combat effectiveness of this enemy is a little too low?" At this point, he deliberately stopped for a moment, saw me nodding, and then said: "because the attack on our army is not German at all."


    "Not German?"


    "Yes, the enemy we are facing is a Romanian division."


    "Romanian division?" It suddenly dawned on me that no wonder my combat effectiveness was so weak. It turned out that it was the army of the servant country. I used to fight with the French volunteers in the battle of borojino. At that time, I felt that their combat effectiveness was weak. I didn''t expect that they would be vulnerable to another country''s army here. I look forward to the chance to fight against the famous Italian troops in the battle of Stalingrad, which will begin soon, to see if their combat effectiveness is as weak as the legend.


    Just as he was talking, a lieutenant rushed into the command post in a hurry. Without even calling for a report, he excitedly said to walshin, "Comrade division commander, plane, our plane!"


    Walshin looked at the Lieutenant with displeasure and said coldly, "Comrade lieutenant, what is it worth your making such a fuss? Don''t you see Comrade commander here?"


    The lieutenant then saw kolpakchi sitting in the room. He quickly raised his hand to salute and explained, "Comrade commander, I''m sorry I didn''t see you just now. I came to report it as soon as I saw our fighters appear in the sky. "


    "What, our fighters?" Korpakchi showed an unbelievable expression. No wonder it has been fighting for several days. The air support that general gordov, commander of the front army, said did not appear. As a result, the air supremacy of the battlefield was ceded to the Germans. In the absence of air cover, some of the battles we can win have to end in failure. No one in the command post spoke. They were all listening. Soon, we all heard a clear roar of aircraft motors coming in from the outside.


    Colpakchi stood up and darted out of the command post. Seeing that the commander left the command post, the rest of the people were unwilling to fall behind and rushed out one after another.


    Standing in the trench, I looked up through the camouflage net above my head and saw dozens of fighters in neat formation flying over our trench.


    Our fighters gradually lowered their flight altitude and dived to the enemy''s starting position. When a bomb goes down and lands on the enemy''s tank, the tank becomes a pile of burning scrap iron; In the infantry line, more than ten or twenty soldiers were blown to pieces. If a row of machine gun sweeps down, the enemy hiding in the position can be beaten up.


    "That''s great. The guys in the air force are really good. They''ve done a great job!" When political commissar Kotov saw this exciting scene, he couldn''t help shouting excitedly. The rest of them didn''t speak, but there was joy on their faces.


    At this time, a staff officer came out of the command post and squeezed directly in front of kolpakchi. After raising his hand and saluting, he reported: "Comrade commander, just now the military commissar called and said that general trakov''s troops had launched a full line counterattack after being supported by our air force."


    "Comrades commander," walshin asked excitedly, "what should our division do and attack?"


    Colpakchi looked at him with a smile and said faintly, "my division commander, what else can you do? Don''t go and order our troops to fight back." At such a time, in the face of such a favorable fighter, any commander will not hesitate to fight back immediately.


    General walshin promised, but without any respect, he turned and ran to the command post. The people around him stepped back and gave him a passage. Kotov smiles and shakes his head. He goes up to korpakchi, raises his hand and says in a very formal tone: "Comrade commander, political commissar Kotov of the 147th infantry division reports to you that the troops are ready to charge the enemy face to face and wait for your orders!"


    "Go ahead, comrade political commissar." "Now it''s our turn to teach the enemy a hard lesson. You must teach them a profound lesson that they will never forget," colpakchi said with a smile


    A few minutes later, with the loud charge, a team of soldiers with weapons jumped out of the trench, shouting "Wula" and rushed to the enemy. Our warplanes hovering over the battlefield cooperated with the counterattack of the 147th division very well. They dropped bombs on the enemy''s attacking positions and used machine guns to strafe those disordered infantry, destroying the enemy''s resistance and opening up the way for our army''s attack. Our army''s grass-roots commanders soon saw the way, knew that the fighters were covering our army''s counterattack action, and immediately directed the troops to rush toward the area where the plane focused on bombing. The Romanian division''s offensive position was originally simple and crude, with only one or two temporary trenches, which could not resist the strong fortifications of our army. After a little resistance, the whole front collapsed, and the soldiers jumped out of the trenches and ran to the back. Those who were slow were either killed on the spot by our commanders or soldiers, or they were captives.

 Chapter 431

    Looking at the dramatic transformation of the offensive and defensive war in front of me, I can''t help but be happy. Such a battle is more appropriate than a battle. Romanian soldiers, just like the blue army arranged by the exercise headquarters, after the artillery preparation, followed the tanks and launched an attack on the intended target. When they met with a block, they made a little counterattack and then hurried to retreat.


    However, our army held fast to its position and fought back several waves of enemy attacks. Then, with the support of the air force, we launched a full-scale counter offensive. At present, the enemy, as is common in exercises, is being wiped out by our army bit by bit.


    The 147th division''s counterattack achieved great success, annihilating a whole regiment of the Romanian division, capturing more than 400 soldiers, and seizing many heavy weapons such as tanks and artillery.


    The counterattack of trakov''s troops also achieved the expected goal. The troops of the 783rd and 804th regiments, strengthened by the 66th marine brigade and the 137th tank brigade, also fought bravely in subsequent battles. When the occupied German troops were annihilated by our air force, they soon recovered the 79th state farm and the former headquarters of the 229th division, the 155 highland, and consolidated their positions.


    Seeing that the line of defense of the 147th division was calm again, kolpakchi was relieved to take us back to the headquarters of the group army. After all, the focus of our defense is still on the area defended by the 192nd and 181st divisions. Although the German army has not moved all day, no one can tell when they will launch a sudden attack.


    Seeing us coming back, gurov, who was staying in the headquarters, just stood up and did not wait for him to speak. Kolpakchi had already asked in advance: "Comrade military commissar, what''s the situation here?"


    Gurov shook his head and said, "it''s calm. There''s no sign of any attack from the German on the other side."


    Because of the sudden attack of the German army yesterday evening, our army suffered heavy casualties, so the careless kolpakchi also became cautious. He also told repeatedly: "comrades of the military commissar, tell the troops below to be on guard against another sudden attack by the Germans."


    Seeing his picture of being bitten by a snake for ten years, I couldn''t help telling him that since the Germans didn''t attack at this time, they would not attack again. You know, although the Germans caught us unprepared yesterday and once occupied the position of the 192nd division, their attack ended in failure. The German commander is not a fool. Yesterday''s raid had no effect. Today, with the same tactics, the raid may turn into a strong attack at any time, which the other side does not want to see.


    I summoned up the courage to tell kolpakchi my judgment. Unexpectedly, he took gulov to study the map on the table first. Looking at their attentive expression, I couldn''t disturb them either. I went to the staff of the wall to read the war report.


    The familiar combat staff officer saw me, nodded politely and asked in a friendly way, "coming back, comrade commander."


    "I''m back."


    The operational staff seemed to see my plan, handed me a stack of war reports and said, "these are the latest war reports."


    After receiving the war report and thanking him, I asked in a low voice, "Comrade staff officer, what''s new?"


    The operational staff looked around and saw that both the commander and the military commissar were looking at the map. They approached me and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, I tell you that the position where Captain shamikov is located has been lost."


    "Ah?" When I heard this news, I was so surprised that I immediately lowered my voice and asked, "Comrade staff officer, what''s the matter?"


    "In the afternoon, the German forces concentrated their superior artillery fire on their hilltop positions in shamikov, and then charged with infantry. As the enemy''s artillery fire was too fierce, all the surface positions of our army on the top of the mountain were destroyed, and the enemy soon rushed to the top of the mountain. The surviving soldiers of our army rushed up to fight with them and beat them back seven times. But in the end, with the exception of a small number of officers and men who successfully broke through the encirclement, the rest died with honor. "


    "What about shamikov? How about captain shamikov? " Hearing the bad news, I can''t help worrying about the captain who I''ve only known for a few days.


    "Captain shamikov is OK. He was slightly injured. He rushed out of the enemy''s encirclement with a dozen soldiers. It was not long before you and the commander came back that he came to the headquarters and reported the war situation to the military commissar comrades. "


    Speaking of Cao Cao, I was talking with the combat staff about captain shmikov. Unexpectedly, he appeared in the headquarters. He had no hat, a thick bandage on his forehead, and his military uniform was tattered and dusty. He went up to colpakchi, raised his hand to salute, and then said with a look of shame, "report commander, I''m back!"


    Colpakchi looked him up and down, went over, put his hands on his shoulders, and asked with concern, "Comrade captain, are you hurt?"


    Shamikov replied: "the enemy''s shell hit our shelter, and I was hit on the head by the falling wood. Just now, the military doctor has checked and said that there is a slight concussion. "


    "Where are the positions? Didn''t I ask you to hold on until dark? Why did you come back at this time? " Knowing that shemikov''s injury was not serious, kolpakchi was concerned about our position in the German rear.


    Shamikov lowered his head and said, "I''m sorry, comrade commander, I didn''t finish the task you gave me. Because the enemy has absolute superiority in artillery and air force, under their powerful firepower attack, our defense fortifications on the ground have been completely destroyed. Although the soldiers showed great tenacity and fought to the death with the enemy who rushed to the position, because of the great disparity of strength, we finally had to withdraw from the battle and break through. "¡° How many members of the three regiments have highlighted the encirclement? " Asked colpakchi nervously. We should know that in that position, our army has put in a division of nearly 8000 troops. If we can highlight more commanders and fighters, we can deploy them in important defensive areas,. So it''s normal for colpakchi to lose his manners at this time¡° I brought 17 soldiers out from the east of the hill, while the other two commanders each brought a company of soldiers to break through the encirclement to the South and West. Up to now, there is no news of them, and I don''t know if they have come out. " After listening to the report of shamikov, I secretly calculated the number of surviving troops. The two companies, with a total of 200 people, are now missing. It is estimated that they are in danger. That is to say, of the 8000 men in that position, there are now captain shamikov and his 17 men. Our army''s casualties are the second. As soon as the positions they held were lost, the German troops restrained would have no worries. They could turn around and concentrate their superior forces to launch a fierce attack on our defense zone. This is the most painful thing.

 Chapter 432

    A telephone beside me rang. Because it was so close, I picked up the phone and said politely, "Hello! This is the 62nd army command. "


    The other side was silent for a moment, and then came a familiar voice: "are you major oshanina?"


    When I heard that the other party called me major, I was stunned. I thought that this person should be someone I knew, because he only heard my voice and said my name correctly. I answered somewhat unexpectedly, "yes, comrade commander, I''m o''shanina. Who is calling, please


    "I''m vasilevsky. I have something urgent to ask for general kolpakchi. Is he in the headquarters?"


    It turned out that the caller was general vasilevsky, chief of the general staff. He and I met at the headquarters of meletskov long before the start of the battle of sinavino. No wonder he could accurately name me. I quickly straightened up and said respectfully, "Hello, chief of general staff. The commander of the group army is in the headquarters at the moment. Please wait a moment. I''ll ask him to answer the phone


    After that, I covered the receiver and called kolpakchi, who was talking to shamikov: "Comrade commander, your phone."


    Korpakchi stopped talking with shamikov, walked up to me, took the phone, and habitually asked, "Comrade commander, who''s calling?"


    I quickly lowered my voice and said, "the call is from the chief of general staff."


    "Chief of staff?" Korpakchi raised his eyebrows and asked uncertainly, "it''s a call from vasilevsky."


    "Yes, comrade commander. It''s general vasilevsky, chief of the general staff


    Maybe I was surprised that I was so familiar with the name and rank of the chief of general staff. Before putting the microphone to my ear, kolpakchi looked at me strangely. Then he said to the microphone with a smile: "Hello! Dear Alexander Mikhailovich Commanders of such age as vasilevsky and general korpakchi were close comrades in arms, so they used to use their father''s name and their real name¡° I just learned this morning that you are going to work in the front army of Stalingrad. I didn''t expect you to arrive so soon. "


    "It''s a tough situation, general korpakchi." He did not expect that vasilevsky would be polite to him, so he said frankly: "the Supreme Commander himself asked me to tell you that the enemy''s purpose of taking Stalingrad as the target of attack is not only to seize the rich food, fuel and other industrial resources in the region, but also to have their sinister political purpose. After conquering the city named after the supreme commander, they tried to use their propaganda tools to exaggerate the image of our country''s failure, and publicize such myths as "the Soviet Union is vulnerable and will soon be occupied" and "the German army is invincible", so as to serve as cannon fodder for their war for a long time, Now, the soldiers of Germany and its servant countries, who are gradually tired of war, are emboldened to let this evil war continue


    It was not easy to wait until vasilevsky fell behind in his speech. Kolpacki interrupted and said, "Comrade chief of general staff, the troops assigned to us from the base camp have not entered the designated position. We do not have enough strength to fight back against the enemy."


    "I know that, comrade kolpakchi." Vasilevsky said politely: "no one has talked about that the German will suddenly choose Stalingrad as a new attack target. The supreme command has incorporated almost all the troops in the reserve forces of the base camp into Stalingrad''s front army, and it will take time to deploy these new regiments to the designated areas. As you know, the transportation of troops, especially heavy equipment, can only be completed by railway. At present, many troops have just finished boarding, and it will take them a few days to reach the designated assembly area. "


    Korpakchi understood that vasilevsky did not make this call to talk about the past with him. There must be some important tasks assigned to him, so he did not beat around the Bush and asked directly: "Comrade chief of general staff, are you calling at this time? Do you have any tasks to assign to the 62nd Army?"


    "Yes, for us now, time is precious. If this period of time is delayed or missed, the fierce enemy may break through our line of defense, cross the Don River and build a firm position on the right bank of the river. At that time, it will not be so easy for us to drive the enemy away from our positions. "


    "Comrade chief of the general staff, I would like to ask, I don''t know what kind of troops the headquarters of the front army can supply to our group army?"


    "At present, the base camp has no reserves available in this area, except for the tank 1st and 4th Army which are not yet ready. After my discussion with general gordov, I think the only thing we can do now is to use these two tank armies that are being formed. However, I just got in touch with the commanders of the two army groups and learned that it will take at least two days and nights for the tank 4th Army Group to arrive at the location of you and trakov. However, the current situation on the front line does not allow us to wait so long. I decided to let the first group army of tanks rush to the Koska River defense line overnight. Tomorrow morning, your group army will cooperate with the tank troops to carry out anti assault. But... "At this point, vasilevsky stopped and seemed to be hesitant about something.


    "But what? Chief of the general staff, what are you worried about? "¡° I am worried about whether the bridge on the Koska River can bear the weight of heavy tanks and let the tank army pass safely. I suggest that you immediately let the engineers and Zhouqiao battalion set up a floating bridge on the river so that the tank troops can pass through After hearing what vasilevsky said, kolpakchi laughed and said, "chief of general staff, please rest assured that I have already ordered Zhouqiao battalion to build three floating bridges on the river, and ordered them to have at least one heavy technical equipment that can pass tanks. At present, the floating bridge has been erected, so there is no problem for the first group army of tanks to cross the Koska river safely." Vasilevsky was stunned for a moment, and then he laughed happily: "general korpakchi, it seems that you are quite prescient. You actually built a floating bridge on the river ahead of time. It seems that tomorrow''s counterattack will not be easy without victory. In that case, I wish you good luck in advance. Remember, when the commander of the 1st group army of tanks comes to you, give me a call If kolpakchi didn''t talk about the floating bridge to vasilevsky, I would have forgotten hearing him give orders to Zhouqiao battalion, but I don''t think he had any foresight to build a passable bridge for a tank army that is still under construction on the river. I guess that the reason why he wanted to build a floating bridge may be to provide an escape route for the group army when the war situation is unfavorable. After seeing korpakchi''s phone call, gurov, with a happy look on his face, immediately asked, "Comrade commander, what did the chief of general staff say on the phone?" "Comrades of the military commissar, it''s good news. Comrade vasilevsky told me that he would immediately send the newly formed 1st tank group army to strengthen us, and that he planned to carry out anti assault against the German army in the defensive zone of our group army tomorrow. " After hearing this, gurov clapped the table excitedly and said in a loud voice, "great, with the support of the tank group army, we will surely be able to make those invincible Germans run away in a panic." At this point, he turned his head and looked at shamikov standing beside him, and said, "Comrade captain, what are you still doing here? Call several division commanders immediately and ask them to rush to the headquarters immediately for a meeting." After two steps, shamikov stopped and asked, "comrades of the military commissar, I don''t know which division commander to inform?" Kolpakchi thought for a moment and said, "Colonel farnasiyev of the 33rd division, major general walshin of the 147th division, major general Novikov of the 181st division, Colonel koida of the 184th division, and lieutenant commander tarantsov of the 192nd division. Just call these five commanders first and ask them to put down their work and come to the headquarters for a meeting immediately. "

 Chapter 433

    As the defensive area of our group army was calm, several division commanders soon arrived. Korpakchi and gurov exchanged greetings and shook hands with several subordinates one by one. After everyone sat down, the meeting began.


    Gurov took off his hat, showed his big bald head, with a smile on his face, and said in a loud voice, "some teachers and comrades, maybe you think it''s very strange that the commander and I are so late, why do we call everyone to the headquarters?" When he said this, he deliberately stopped to observe everyone''s expression. Seeing that several teachers were staring at him, he said without a hurry: "the Germans have been rampaging in our defensive area these days. Now it''s our turn to teach them a lesson."


    "The commissar is right. I just received a call from general vasilevsky, chief of the general staff. He will send the newly formed 1st group army of tanks to our defense area tonight and cooperate with us in the anti attack against the German army tomorrow," korpakchi added The tone of his speech was the same as usual. When he mentioned political commissar, I remembered that gurov was not only a military commissar, but also a political commissar of the group army.


    Colonel farnasiyev hesitated for a moment and said, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what the combat effectiveness of the newly formed tank group army is? You know, the last time our division carried out anti assault against the Germans, it was the newly formed 13th tank army that cooperated with us. As a result, because of poor cooperation, although we finally captured the German position, we still paid a lot of unnecessary sacrifices. "


    "The last time we carried out the counter assault, we adopted the tactics of coordinated operation between infantry and Tanzania. As the troops had not practiced this new tactics in advance, there was confusion in the fighting and some unnecessary casualties were caused," colpacci said At this point, he turned to see me standing beside the wall with captain shamikov, and then said, "but from the actual effect, this tactic is very effective. So I still intend to use this tactic in the counterattack tomorrow. Colonel farnasiyev, when you go back, immediately call up the commanders and fighters who participated in the last battle, sum them up, and then let them pass on their valuable combat experience to the commanders and fighters of other troops. "


    Fanasiev quickly straightened up his upper body and said, "please rest assured, comrade commander. I will deploy immediately when I go back, and guarantee to complete the glorious task assigned to me by my superior."


    Novikov asked, "Comrade commander, in which division will the anti assault tank army be deployed?"


    Kolpakchi pondered for a moment, and replied: "at present, the German army has a tank division and two infantry divisions in the front of the 192nd division. If we don''t destroy this enemy, our assault is not going to win. Therefore, the task before us is to detour back to the two wings of the enemy and hold the enemy down from the flanks so that they can not put all their forces into the front battlefield. This task is to be completed by your 181st division. Then, we also need to pay attention to the left wing of our army. Although the counterattack of trakov and our 147th Division has achieved certain results in this afternoon''s battle, we still need to prevent the German army from continuing to choose this place as a breakthrough point. General walshing, the task of your division tomorrow is to ensure the safety of our left wing. "


    Major general walshin quickly agreed: "yes, comrade commander, please rest assured that as long as my 147th division is here, the Germans will never be allowed to move forward."


    Korpakchi looked at taranzev and said, "Comrade commander, tomorrow''s battle depends on your 192nd division to play the leading role. Is there any problem?"


    Taranzev quickly got up from his seat and answered in a loud voice, "report to commander, please rest assured that the commanders and fighters of the 192nd division are confident of completing all the tasks assigned to us by our superiors."


    Colpakchi looked at him, nodded with a smile, reached out and patted him twice on the shoulder, seemingly intending to say a few words of encouragement. At this time, a staff officer came in from the outside and reported to him, "report commander comrade, general Moskalenko, commander of the first group army of tanks, has arrived and is waiting for you outside."


    After hearing the staff officer''s report, kolpakchi turned to gurov and said, "comrades of the military commissar, comrades of the tank soldiers are coming so fast. Let''s meet him." After that, he said to some of the teachers, "you are still in a daze. Follow me outside to welcome the commanders of the friendly forces."


    A group of people rushed out of the headquarters behind kolpakchi and gurov. Not far from the door, there was a jeep. Beside the jeep stood two commanders, a major general of medium height, and a major with the same height as him. It looked like his adjutant.


    Seeing a group of us coming out of the headquarters, the general immediately welcomed us. After his eyes swept through the crowd, he directly extended his hand to korpakchi and said, "is it general korpakchi, commander of the 62nd army?"


    Kolpakchi stepped forward, took each other''s hand, shook it hard and said, "yes, I''m kolpakchi. You must be general Moskalenko, commander of the first group army of tanks. Welcome After that, he released his opponent''s hand, put his body to the side slightly, pointed to gurov beside him, and said, "Comrade General, let me introduce you. This is Comrade gurov, political commissar and military commissar of the group army."


    Gulov raised his hand to touch his big bald head, then reached out to shake hands with Moskalenko, said with a smile: "Hello, comrade general, we have been looking forward to your arrival. Well, don''t stand outside. Go to the headquarters first and have a rest. " After releasing his hand, he put his body aside and made a gesture to the inside. Back in the headquarters, kolpakchi asked everyone to take their seats. The accompanying adjutant came to me and shamikov, asked in a low voice, shook hands with each other, and then, like us, stood by the wall to listen to the military meeting. Kolpakchi asked Moskalenko frankly, "Comrade General, can you tell us something about your troops?" General Moskalenko nodded and said, "well, our group army has just been formed, and there are only 227 tanks of various types. After replenishing the ammunition and fuel, they are moving towards the Koska River defense line." At this point, the general hesitated and said, "but it''s not enough for the tanks to enter the starting position tonight and only rely on a bridge on the river." Colpakchi said with a smile: "Comrade General, you don''t have to worry. In addition to the bridge you see, we also set up three floating bridges on the river to let your tank army pass smoothly." There was a smile on general Moskalenko''s face. He asked excitedly, "this is very good, comrade commander. I don''t know where the three pontoons are?"

 Chapter 434

    Seeing the anxious appearance of general Moskalenko, gurov, who was sitting beside him, said with a smile: "I didn''t expect that our tank general was an acute man. Don''t worry. First sit down and have a cup of tea, and then listen to the introduction of the commander."


    Kolpakchi echoed: "yes, comrade Moskalenko, you''ve come all the way here. You don''t even have a cup of tea, so you have to go to work. If it''s spread, people will think that after listening to kolpakchi''s introduction, Moskalenko''s face is relatively relaxed. He looks me up and down, My eyes focused on the position of my rank and medal again. I put the teapot on the table and said leisurely, "I can''t see, comrade commander, you are really not simple. You have made so many contributions and won several medals." His words sound like praise, but there is a trace of irony in his tone.


    With a stiff smile, I turned back to the wall and scolded the tank general in my heart. I didn''t know you, let alone offend you. I took the initiative to pour you tea. I didn''t say it, but it also attracted your sarcasm.


    Looking at this black haired tank general who is studying the map with kolpakchi, I feel vaguely familiar, and his name sounds familiar. It seems that I have seen him somewhere before.


    It was very quiet in the room, and kolpakchi''s voice clearly floated into my ears: "Comrade General, the bridge you came to is at this position, five kilometers north, where we set up the floating bridge. The pontoons are one kilometer apart. Although they can pass tanks and heavy equipment, for the sake of safety, I suggest that your heavy tanks pass through the pontoon in the middle, because I ordered Zhouqiao battalion to set up a pontoon that can pass tanks in advance. This pontoon is undoubtedly the strongest. "


    Moskalenko asked, "where will the tanks assemble after crossing the river?"


    Colpakchi pointed to a point on the map and said, "Comrade General, after crossing the river, some of your tank group troops will stop in the woods near our headquarters and stand by. The rest will be divided into two routes. They will respectively go north and south around our highland and enter the line of defense of the 192nd division here."


    "When will the battle begin? In what direction will our group army carry out the assault after the attack? " Although Moskalenko was very angry with me, he was very serious when discussing the battle plan with kolpakchi.


    "The attack will start at five o''clock tomorrow morning. When the rocket artillery group bombards the enemy''s position for an hour, your tank army will attack the area. According to our scout''s report, the enemy''s defensive section in this area is 17 kilometers wide and 30 kilometers deep. The task of your tank group army is to attack from the east to the west to defeat the enemy in this area, and then our infantry will rush up to encircle and annihilate them. "


    "All clear, comrade commander. Next, you will arrange a guide who is familiar with the road for me to meet the tank troops coming here with my adjutant. "


    Colpacci nodded and said, "no problem. I''ll arrange for someone to do it right away." At this point, he waved in our direction. I thought he was calling me. I was just raising my legs to get there. I didn''t expect that he was really calling shamikov: "Hey, comrade captain, come here."


    I can''t help laughing bitterly when I look at the captain walking towards colpakchi. Since the last time I proposed to him that we should cooperate with each other, I was gradually marginalized in the headquarters. Perhaps for kolpakchi, an obedient subordinate is far more attractive than a competent subordinate, not to mention that this obedient subordinate has some abilities.


    Captain shamikov came to him, stood at attention and asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, what instructions do you have?"


    "Comrade captain, I''ll give you a task now. You and the adjutant of general Moskalenko will meet our tank troops, guide them to cross the Koska River smoothly and enter the attack position of tomorrow as soon as possible. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander. I promise to finish the task."


    When he heard that kolpakchi had arranged the guide, Moskalenko also called his adjutant to come, but he was very strict with his subordinates: "Comrade major, I remind you that all the tanks of the whole army must enter the position before 3 a.m. tomorrow, otherwise, I will shoot you. Do you understand? "


    Moskalenko''s words startled all the people present, and the orders he gave were too severe. When the Group Commander like kolpakchi warned his subordinates that they could not complete the task, he just wanted to send them to the military court or remove them from their posts. However, the tank general did not hesitate to choose the third one, shooting.


    However, the major seemed to be used to Moskalenko''s way of doing things. He agreed lightly: "I understand, comrade commander, I promise to complete the task."


    When Captain shamikov and major left, I suddenly had an impression of this general who spoke rudely and acted impulsively. In 1953, he actively participated in the crackdown on belia group, broke into the meeting with a gun, subdued the arrogant belia personally, and took charge of it, And then sent his men to shoot general Moskalenko, belia''s Moscow air defense commander? In 1957, when Khrushchev overthrew Marshal Zhukov, he acted as Khrushchev''s pawn and, together with konev, demoted Zhukov to pieces. He even listed the evidence of Zhukov''s military conspiracy, marshal Moskalenko, commander of the Moscow military region?


    The general''s resume in my mind is all history books from later generations. His comrades in arms once commented on him, saying that he was a tough man and famous for his explosive temper. He was often angry when commanding battles. He not only cursed the enemy, but also threatened to shoot the weak officers. Sometimes he even called the timid "the enemy of the people". In addition, there is a tendency to hate civilian personnel, which is a typical Russian warrior. It''s no wonder that when there are female officers like me in the headquarters, they will sneer. After discussing the details of tomorrow''s battle, korpakchi and Moskalenko picked up the phone, called general gordov and reported to each other, "Hello, comrade commander of the front army. I''d like to report to you that general Moskalenko, commander of the 1st tank army, has arrived at my headquarters. At the just concluded military meeting, we discussed the specific details of the counter attack to be carried out tomorrow, believing that such a counter attack can be successful. " Perhaps because of gordov''s praise, kolpakchi had a rare smile on his tense face. After he put down the phone, he went back to the table, held his hand on the edge of the table, and said to everyone, "comrades, our counterattack plan has been approved by commander gordov. He also promised to provide the necessary air support to our offensive forces tomorrow. "¡° That''s very good, comrade commander. " Today, general walshin, who has tasted the benefits of air to ground cooperation, said excitedly: "as long as the air supremacy of the battlefield is in our hands, the anti assault implemented tomorrow will surely win." Taranzev then confidently said, "yes, comrade commander, as long as we have the air supremacy over the battlefield, then the Germans opposite our army should not be worried."¡° Please rest assured that we will complete the counterattack task tomorrow. " The other teachers agreed. Seeing everyone''s enthusiasm, I know what''s going on. Although the other division commanders were not present in the afternoon''s counterattack except general walshing, they must have learned how the battle was won through their own channels, so they are full of confidence in the anti assault to be carried out tomorrow. Kolpakchi looked at his subordinates with a smile. After they all expressed their opinions in turn, he said, "I''m relieved to see that everyone is full of confidence in tomorrow''s battle. It''s late now. You should go back to the army to prepare. It''s over With his voice, several teachers stood up together, saluted him, turned around and walked out of the headquarters.

 Chapter 435

    Not long after the teachers left, trakov took a commander into the headquarters.


    Seeing that trakov came towards him with a smile, kolpakchi, who was talking to Moskalenko, stood up and warmly called: "Comrade trakov, you are here!", Then he took a few steps forward. Gurov and Moskalenko, with their backs to the door, heard that it was trakov, and stood up to greet him politely.


    After shaking hands with korpakchi, trakov went up to Moskalenko, took his right hand, shook it hard and said, "welcome, general Moskalenko. With the support of your troops, tomorrow''s counterattack will achieve great results. "


    Moskalenko obviously knew trakov, he also said with a smile: "when our tanks attack, we still need the cooperation of your infantry. You know, when we break through the enemy''s defensive positions, our tanks can''t cross the trenches without infantry. There are usually German anti tank men in ambush there. "


    Trikov leaned over to reveal the commander behind him and said, "general Moskalenko, I''d like to introduce you to general Browder, the artillery director of our army." Hearing his introduction, the major general saluted Moskalenko with a smile and said politely, "Hello, general Moskalenko."


    Moskalenko shook hands with his opponent and said politely, "Hello, general Browder."


    After a brief greeting, trakov and general Browder sat down at the table. I quickly poured two cups of hot tea and put them down in front of them. When trakov took over the teapot, he said to me with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, I heard that you are doing well here. A few days ago, when commanding the counter offensive, you personally blew up one of the enemy''s firepower points."


    I know in my heart that on such an occasion, it would make people feel like they are bragging about their performance in battle, and it would arouse the disgust of several other commanders. So I just gave him a polite smile, didn''t say a word, and went back to the wall.


    Since the commanders here have known each other, they speak casually. Moskalenko said: "general trakov, our tank group army will mainly cooperate with the 62nd group army in counterattack tomorrow. After the artillery preparation of the group army is over, we will quickly attack from the position of the 192nd division and go straight into the defense depth of the enemy. Your troops are deployed on the left wing of the 62nd group army. Judging from the battle reports of the past two days, the enemy has found the junction of your two group armies and regarded it as an important breakthrough. I want to know, after tomorrow''s counterattack, if the enemy launches another fierce attack on that area, can your troops hold the position? "


    This question is very sharp. It''s a question of trekov''s ability. I can''t help but feel a little more disgusted with Moskalenko. As the focus of attention, trakov''s face became cloudy and sunny, the people around him did not speak, and the room became silent.


    After a long time, trakov said slowly: "general Moskalenko, please rest assured that although the defense line of the 229th division was frequently attacked by the German army in the past two days and was once broken, we have taken necessary measures to strengthen the defense in this area. I have ordered the 112th infantry division of Colonel Sologub to cross the river at night, and I have assigned them the task of occupying the defensive area from the old maximovsky along the chil River to its mouth, and keeping in a favorable position. The junction of the 62nd and 64th army must be protected quickly and reliably, and the enemy''s assault on the flank and rear of the 62nd army must be prevented. At the same time, a part of the 66th marine brigade, together with an artillery battalion, was transferred to the northwest of lower kirskaya as the second echelon of the 229th infantry division. "


    After listening to trakov''s deployment, without waiting for kolpakchi to express their opinions, Moskalenko nodded and said, "from your deployment, you can block the German attack and contain their forces in a short period of time, and gain precious time for our counter attack. I think you can still do that."


    When I heard Moskalenko say that, I couldn''t help but despise him even more. I said that you are not the commander of a tank group army. What can you do? In fact, it is under the command of general korpakchi to cooperate with the 62nd group army in the counter offensive. What qualifications do you have to direct the deployment of a commander of such a level as trakov. I leaned back against the wall, looked up and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, lest I could not help slapping the general.


    In fact, not only me, but also general Browder and Gusev, who are sitting next to trakov, don''t look good. However, because they are discussing the details of the anti assault to be carried out tomorrow, it''s not easy to get angry with Moskalenko.


    Colpakchi accidentally looked up and saw me standing by the wall. He was afraid that he would not let me see such an embarrassing situation, so he told me, "commander o''shanina, it''s none of your business here. Go and have a rest."


    To tell you the truth, I want to get angry when I see Moskalenko now. Since kolpakchi asked me to leave, I will not stay any longer. After saluting a few people, I turned and walked out of the headquarters.


    Walking out of the headquarters, I looked at the sky. Although it was late, it was just dark. There are several houses nearby, all of which are the command posts of the 192nd division. I can''t find any empty rooms. If I want to have a rest, I have to go back to the jeep to sleep.


    I walked slowly towards the location of the jeep. I saw that I was about to reach the location of the jeep. Suddenly, I heard the voice of men and women talking. I stopped and listened carefully. Only listen to the man said: "dear nadani, you are my sky, you are my moon, you are my indispensable air..." then the woman said: "my sea soul, I love you! You''re my sea, you''re my sun, you''re me... "When I heard that, I couldn''t help getting goose bumps all over my body, and I''m going to fight soon. You''re still hiding here to talk about love. It''s just playing around. Thinking of this, I coughed heavily. With my cough, the woman let out a light cry: "no, someone''s coming. Honey, I''ll go first. I''ll get in touch with you another day. " Then I saw a woman health worker running out of the back of the jeep and running away without looking back. I took another two steps forward and asked sternly, "who''s behind the car?" A soldier in a navy uniform and a brimless Navy cap came out and walked up to me with his head down. He was a little embarrassed and said, "Comrade commander..." before he finished, I interrupted him and said coldly, "Comrade Navy, it''s late. There will be fighting tomorrow. Go back and have a rest early. " The sailor who thought he would be criticized by me was stunned for a moment, then happily agreed and quickly ran in another direction. I looked at the back of the sailor, shook my head with a smile, opened the door and got into the jeep.

 Chapter 436

    It was just dawn when I woke up from my sleep and looked at my watch. It was just half past four. Thinking about the anti assault to be carried out today, I quickly pushed the door to get off and ran to the headquarters.


    Go to the door, just to see korpakchi, gurov and Moskalenko, they go out. As soon as he saw me, kolpakchi said in a loud voice, "commander oshanina, you''re just in time. I''ll send someone to call you. Come with us


    I looked blankly at the three commanders in front of me and asked, "Comrade commander, where are we going?" My heart said that the attack is about to start, you will not take people to the front inspection at this time, will you?


    "Where else?" "Of course, go to the observation post on the west side of the hillside. Do you still want to stay in the headquarters where you can''t see anything?" said colpakchi With that, he lifted his legs and left.


    I didn''t dare to say a word, so I could only follow the three people honestly and go to the observation post on the west side of the hillside. After a short walk, I looked back and saw that there was a large group of staff officers and Guard soldiers behind me. The leader was captain shamikov.


    When we entered the observation post, the guard soldiers were on guard in the trenches, while the staff officers swarmed in. Some were hanging maps on the walls, and some were laying communication lines. People come and go in the observation center, and it becomes very lively.


    After the staff had arranged the command post, except for a few communications staff, and two operational staff, I and shamikov, the rest withdrew from the observation post. From the layout of the room, kolpakchi can understand the war situation and assign tasks through telephone, telegram, telephone and so on; Moskalenko, on the other hand, has only one telephone, and his deputy acts as a temporary operator.


    The shelling started just in time at five in the morning. As the cannons regiment was completely lost in the battle of the previous two days, the 47th and 83rd regiments of the close guard rockets, which had been snowed by kolpakchi and gurov, and the 110th battalion of the close guard independent rockets, which had been put into battle yesterday, were carrying out the artillery mission today.


    The rocket path flew over our observation post. After drawing arcs in the air, it landed on the German position in the distance. Then there was a roar one after another.


    As the shelling was going on for an hour, I saw colpakchi and the three of them standing in the observation hole with their binoculars in high spirits. I didn''t want to disturb them easily, so I walked to the table and looked at the papers lying on it.


    The document clearly records the establishment of general Moskalenko''s 1st tank group army. I thought that this army had only one tank army and several logistic units. After reading it, I found out that the 1st tank group army had the 13th and 28th tank armies, the 131st infantry division, two anti-aircraft artillery regiments, an anti tank artillery regiment and the 168th tank brigade. Among them, the 13th tank army suffered heavy casualties when it cooperated with the 33rd guard division in the offensive and counterattack a few days ago. At present, there are only less than 50 tanks left in the army.


    After the shelling, kolpakchi turned to shamikov, who was standing in the room like a nail, and said, "it''s almost time, comrade captain, send the attack signal to the troops."


    With a promise, Captain shamikov turned and walked out of the observation post.


    With the three red signal missiles flying into the air, the tank group hidden in the position of the 192nd division, with full power, along several roads opened up by the engineers, moved towards the enemy''s position. Following them were thousands of officers and men of the 192nd and 131st divisions.


    The Germans, who have always held the initiative in the battlefield, probably did not expect our army to carry out the counter attack again at this time, so they were caught off guard by us. It was not until our tanks approached their line that they began to fight back. Artillery and machine guns fired on the approaching tanks and on the running commanders and fighters. However, it was too late at the moment, and our shock troops were close to the first German trench.


    Seeing that our counterattack was going well, kolpakchi patted the tank group commander on the shoulder and said excitedly, "great, comrade Moskalenko. Your tank group army is really excellent. You see, they are close to the enemy''s position. In a minute or two, our tanks will be able to cross the trench and advance to the depth of the enemy. The enemy in the trench will be left to the infantry behind to solve it. "


    I thought moscalenko had to go along with colpakchi''s voice, but he said impatiently: "too slow, too slow! Comrade kolpakchi, the attack speed of the troops is too slow! " With that, he turned to his adjutant and said, "tell the commanders of the 13th and 28th tank armies to speed up their attack."


    Kolpakchi, who was left in the air, looked awkwardly at gurov and shrugged his shoulders, as if he felt helpless for Moskalenko''s inhuman performance.


    Our army''s anti assault battle lasted from morning to noon. As the fighting area is farther and farther away from the observation post, the progress of the battle can not be observed through telescopes at all. They can only leave the observation hole and return to the table. According to the battle reports sent back by telephone and telegram from the front-line troops, they can understand the offensive information of the troops and command the battle of the troops.


    The 131st infantry division, which was attacked by the 13th tank army, wedged into the enemy''s defense line for seven kilometers. Due to the fierce counterattack of the 16th German tank division and the 113th German infantry division, the attack was stuck. However, the 192nd infantry division, which was attacked by the 28th tank army, went smoothly. As the German army had to divide its forces to defend and detour back to the 181st division on its flank, the forces of the front defense became weak. So the forces of lieutenant colonel tarantzev broke through the German defensive positions in golubinsky and little nabatovsky, The soldiers of the 427th regiment once occupied the headquarters of the original 192nd division and successfully recovered the remains of the former division commander, Colonel zaharchenko.


    On the whole, the results of the morning were not bad. Before our powerful offensive, the enemy was forced to give up several offensive starting positions and retreated seven to ten kilometers to the West.


    As I stood behind kolpakchi and watched him mark the map on the table, shamikov came running in a panic. He came to colpakchi and said solemnly, "Comrade commander, something''s happened."


    "What''s the matter, comrade captain?" colpackard asked without looking up


    "Just now, Colonel farnasiyev, commander of the 33rd division of the close guard, called and said that he found the enemy tank troops in the southwest of our army''s position. They were rushing northward and detouring to the rear of our counterattack troops. It seems that they want to separate the counterattack troops from the defensive positions."


    Colpakchi was so surprised that he came to the observation hole, raised his telescope and looked out. Gurov came up to him and raised his telescope.


    After looking at it for a while, colpacci said, "commissar, do you see it? The German tanks are coming from the southwest. It is estimated that they want to march forward from the position of the 33rd division of the guards and detour back to the rear of our counter forces. "


    "Do you have any good ideas? Comrade commander. " Instead of expressing his views casually, gurov humbly solicited kolpakchi''s opinions.


    "After the 192nd Division launched the attack, the 33rd division of the close guard, which had just been supplemented, took over their defense. Comrade military commissar, as you know, the new recruits are almost all new recruits. They are not only lack of training and combat experience, but also lack of ammunition. Such troops may be mediocre in defense, but it''s an impossible task for them to block the attack of the enemy''s tank troops. "


    Just when they were at a loss, Moskalenko walked up to them, raised his telescope and looked at them for a while, then said lightly: "the enemy only has more than 30 tanks, so it''s not a big concern. Two comrades in command, don''t worry about it. Our troops can wipe out all these enemies. "


    Although the tank commander said confidently, gurov still asked in a dubious way: "really? Comrade Moskalenko. "


    Moskalenko laughed and did not speak. He turned to the phone, took the call from his adjutant, and cried out, "it''s time, Colonel Rogin. You immediately lead your tank brigade to attack from the flank of the enemy''s tank troops, and you must destroy the enemy''s tank troops. "


    After putting down the words, he went back to the observation hole and said with a smile to kolpakchi and gurov who were dazed: "two commanders, I have ordered the 168th tank brigade to attack. I believe that before long, the dozens of German tanks you just saw will turn into piles of burning scrap iron. "


    Kolpakchi laughed, stepped forward, slapped Moskalenko on the shoulder, and said in a loud voice, "I don''t see, comrade general, you still have such a reserve team. I believe that their sudden attack will take the German armored forces by surprise. "


    When I heard that there was excitement to watch, I quietly came to the observation hole and raised my telescope to look at the battlefield. There were more than 30 German tanks in attack formation, driving from the south to the north in a fierce manner, turning a big bend a few hundred meters in front of our army, heading west in an attempt to encircle our rear.


    At this time, the 168th brigade of tanks lurking in my position attacked, and more than 50 tanks also launched a battle formation and rushed towards the German tanks in the north. When the tank was about to cross the first trench of our army, about a dozen tanks in front opened fire on the way. The roaring shells landed in the German tank line. Several of them were shot outside the last tank. The flaming tank drove forward for a certain distance and then stopped. The tank crew rushed out of the tank one after another and fled in all directions.


    After at least half of the German tanks started to fire, the enemy found our tanks suddenly coming out behind them and tried to turn around to compete. However, it was too late. The tank soldiers of the 168th brigade, like shooting targets, turned all the remaining tanks into burning scrap iron.


    Seeing the one-sided fighting, kolpakchi, gurov and Moskalenko were too happy to close their mouths. Moskalenko was even more excited. He picked up the phone again and exclaimed excitedly: "Colonel Rogin, what a beautiful job. You have annihilated all the German tanks, and you have not suffered any casualties. I will give you credit. When the battle is over, I will personally honor the heroic tank soldiers of the 168th brigade. "


    If today''s battle is ended at this time, this hasty anti assault operation will undoubtedly be a success. However, when the 168th tank brigade finished cleaning the battlefield and turned around to return to the position, another German tank army suddenly appeared in our view and rushed to the flank of the 168th brigade.


    Seeing the new German armored forces, the officers and men of the 168th tank brigade did not panic. They turned around and formed a new battle formation and bravely met them.


    Just as the two tanks were approaching at high speed, the roar of planes came from the air. We collectively looked up to the sky and found that it was several German planes. After they flew over our tank line, they began to dive and drop bombs. The bombs falling from the sky landed in the tank line. The tanks in the front were either hit by the bombs, exploded and caught fire, or overturned by the blast of the bombs. The remaining tanks were doing evasive actions, In order to avoid the bombs dropped by enemy planes, the attack formation was immediately in chaos.


    Moskalenko saw this scene, immediately red eyed, rushed to the adjutant in front of him, grabbed the microphone, and cried out: "Colonel Rogin, follow my command! Follow my lead! Forward, only forward, close to the German tank attack, the only way to avoid the German aircraft attack. forward! Brothers, we have no way back. Move on! Attack the enemy''s tanks! Attack Only in the open area covered with craters, our tanks rushed to the German tanks at high speed, and fired at the enemy at the same time. When the enemy''s tanks were hit and caught fire, our tanks were also destroyed by the bomb fire of the enemy plane and the enemy''s tank shells. As the saying goes, misfortune never comes alone. Just when our tanks and German tanks were fighting inextricably, shamikov came to report an unfortunate news: "Comrade commander, it''s not good. Just now, general walshing called. He said that a large German army was rushing towards Karachi. After a short period of resistance, the troops of the 229th and 112th divisions have given up their defensive positions and started to withdraw. At present, the troops of the 64th group army are crossing the river at the Karachi ferry, preparing to withdraw to the other side of the river. " Korpakchi grabbed the collar of shamikov and said, "Captain shamikov, if you lie about the military situation, I''ll shoot you." "Comrade commander, it''s all true. After receiving a call from general walshine, I called our observation post there to verify. They reported that the troops of the 64th group army had begun to withdraw completely and were now crossing the chil river. "

 Chapter 437

    Korpakchi pushed shamikov to the side, turned around, put his hands on the table, gasped and scolded angrily: "what the hell is this trakov trying to do? Didn''t he know that with the withdrawal of his troops, the left wing of our group army would be exposed to the Germans? "


    After being pushed by kolpakchi, shamikov stepped back and hit the log wall heavily. Hearing the loud bang, I could not help shivering in my heart. My heart said that the crash was not light. But shamikov just frowned and didn''t even snort. Then he straightened up and stood against the wall.


    Moskalenko was so angry that he slapped the table hard and said angrily, "Damn it, this trakov is so hateful. I also asked him yesterday if he could hold his position and protect our flanks. At that time, he also vowed that the troops in the area had been strengthened, even if it was not solid, but it could at least make the Germans unable to move forward. But what is the reality? Our troops are carrying out counter attack against the enemy in front of us. Just when it goes well, trakov quietly orders his troops to retreat, exposing our flanks to the Germans. In this way, all the achievements we have made today may come to nothing. " Then he called out to the microphone, "Colonel Rogin, move on, move on! Quickly rushed to the German tank line, the enemy''s aircraft will take us, there is no way


    Even gurov, who has always been a good-natured man, was not willing to be outdone and said, "what trikov did is to make a hole in us. Today, it''s a small matter that the victory has come to nothing. What I''m worried about is that the troops will be surrounded by the Germans. " At this point, he stopped for a moment. Seeing that everyone''s attention was focused on him, he continued: "we should report this matter to the commander of the front army and the chief of the general staff immediately, and ask them to give an order to trekov, so that the 64th army would immediately stop withdrawing and stay in the original position to fight against the German attack, To ensure the safety of our army''s flanks. "


    Colpakchi pondered for a moment in a low voice, turned to Moskalenko and asked, "Comrade Moskalenko, what''s your opinion?"


    Moskalenko said solemnly: "Comrade commander, I agree with the suggestion of comrades of the military commissar that we should report to the higher authorities the cowardly behavior of trakov, who ignored friendly forces and fled in the face of battle. We should not only report to the commander of the front army, general gordov, and the chief of the general staff, vasilevsky, but also to the deputy commander, general Zhukov, and the Supreme Commander himself. We are going to take all those cowards who are afraid of death to the military court. "


    When the three men denounced trakov, I murmured in my heart that trakov would not be so unbearable. You know, the battle of Stalingrad was his battle of fame. If he had made the low-level mistake of seeing the enemy too strong and ignoring the withdrawal of friendly forces at the beginning of the battle, there would have been nothing wrong with him at the end of the battle. It is estimated that he would have been sent to the military court for execution, There is no chance to be a future marshal. As gurov picked up the phone and was ready to call gordov and vasilevsky, I stepped forward and called timidly, "Comrade military Commissar."


    Gulov held the receiver, frowned and asked, "what do you want to say, commander oshanina?"


    I firmly believe that trakov can''t make a sudden escape. If gulov and kolpakchi are allowed to report to their superiors at this time, plus Moskalenko''s proof, no matter how good the relationship between trakov and his superiors is, it is estimated that trakov will not escape the fate of being dismissed and investigated. If the war is stable, whether trakov is dismissed or not has little influence on us. But at this time, our left-wing friendly forces are in chaos, and the defense line is in danger of being broken through. At this time, we must have a commander like trakov to stabilize the morale of the army and ensure that the front line is not broken through.


    I looked at gurov and said what I really thought: "Comrade military commissar, although I haven''t been in touch with general trakov for a long time, I don''t think he is the kind of person who leaves friendly forces behind and leads the troops to retreat without authorization in case of danger. I think there may be some misunderstanding. Do you think it''s time to call general trakov and find out what happened? "


    When I said this, gurov hesitated and turned his eyes to kolpakchi. Kolpakchi and he looked at each other, turned to Moskalenko and asked, "do you think we should call and ask trakov? Kiril semunovic. "


    Moskalenko was still holding a microphone in his hand, but there was no sound coming out again. I don''t know whether it was a communication failure or the tank of Colonel Rogin who was talking to him was destroyed. When he heard kolpakchi''s question, he said angrily, "Comrade commander, this is a matter between you and the 64th army. You can handle it by yourself. You don''t need to ask my advice."


    Kolpakchi hesitated for a moment, and finally made up his mind and said, "well, I''ll call trakov first and ask him what''s the matter. Why didn''t I say hello and order the troops to retreat without authorization?" He picked up the phone, shook the handle a few times, and said in a loud voice, "connect me to the forward observation post of the 64th army and speak to trekov."


    When korpakchi was on the phone, Moskalenko, who lost contact with the 168th tank brigade, threw the words to the adjutant with a black face. He went back to the observation hole and raised his telescope. From his position, he could clearly see the fighting between the two tanks.


    When trakov got through, a husky voice came out of the phone: "Hello, is that general korpakchi? What can I do for you? "


    "General trakov, I want to ask you to explain why you ordered the 64th army to withdraw without even saying hello to us? Do you know that your withdrawal will expose the left wing of our group army to the Germans? "


    "General korpakchi," trekov replied in a smooth tone, "the enemy concentrated their superior forces today and, under the cover of aircraft and artillery, rushed down to kirskaya in an attempt to seize the Don river ferry and kirskaya river ferry at the same time. I ordered the 66th marine brigade to stay where they were and stop the enemy. Under the strong fighting of the sailors, their attack was repulsed. At that moment, our troops on the right bank of the Don River and the kier River were ordered to retreat, so they gave up their positions and rushed to the ferry. When I learned the news, I immediately sent artillery director general Browder, combat director lieutenant colonel sidolin and group army engineering service director Colonel brillouv to all the ferries to stop the people and vehicles rushing to the ferries and let them return to their positions. "


    Putting down the phone, kolpakchi breathed a sigh of relief and explained to trikov: "Comrade trikov and I are old comrades in arms for more than ten years. He is a brave and experienced commander. I believe that he will not give orders to withdraw troops from the position without authorization." Speaking of this, he paused for a moment. Seeing that Moskalenko was still observing the battlefield, he said to gulov, "Comrade military commissar, I will give you and general Moskalenko command here. I will go to trakov immediately."


    Gulov may have been used to korpakchi''s commanding style for a long time, but he didn''t stop it. He just nodded and said, "Comrade commander, the war is very fierce there. You should pay more attention to safety! How many people are you going to take? "


    Korpakchi spoke to me and shamikov and said, "there are too many people and too many targets. It''s easy to be found by enemy planes. Let lieutenant oshanina, Captain shamikov and I go and take some more guards."


    Eight of us, in two jeeps, braved the enemy''s air attack and arrived at trakov''s observation post in lower kirskaya an hour later.


    In addition to trakov and a few signalmen, there was not even a sentry at the gate of the observation post. If the small German troops sneaked in at this time, they would definitely block trakov in the observation post and capture him alive.


    He shook hands with kolpakchi and said in a hoarse voice, "Comrade kolpakchi, how are you here?"


    Korpakchi also ignored the greetings and asked frankly, "Comrade trakov, what''s the situation here?"


    Trakov replied with a bitter face: "it''s very bad. I just received intelligence that because of the fierce bombing of the ferry by enemy planes, general Browder, Lieutenant Colonel sidolin, Colonel brillouv and other officers of the group command who I sent to the ferry to command the troops have all died. The tanks of the enemy''s vanguard troops are only four kilometers away from the ferry. Once they reach the river, those troops crossing the river are in danger of being destroyed. "


    "What measures have you taken?"


    "I''ve transferred two battalions and one artillery battalion from the 66th marine brigade," he said, pulling kolpakchi to the observation hole and pointing out, "they''re deployed in the northwest line of the observation post. That''s all the troops I can mobilize at the moment. "


    Kolpakchi raised his telescope and looked at it. With a worried face, he asked, "Comrade trakov, it''s an open area. There is not even a trench. Can the artillery battalion be deployed there to resist the enemy''s attack?"


    Trikov replied with a wry smile: "there is no way. The guns of the artillery battalion are towed by mules and horses. After a long journey, the horses are very tired. It took the artillery soldiers nine oxen and two tigers to deploy the guns in place."


    "Trikov, what''s the combat effectiveness of this naval artillery battalion? If they can''t stop the enemy''s attack and let the tanks rush to the river, your 64th army''s troops at the ferry will be completely destroyed. "


    At this time, a staff officer came over and reported to trikov, "Comrade commander, Lieutenant datliyev of the artillery battalion called and said that the artillery battalion has been deployed and can be put into battle at any time. The lieutenant also said that as long as there is one person in the artillery battalion, the German will never break through their defense line. "


    Then there was a violent explosion outside, and trakov said lightly, "this must be the beginning of the German attack."


    I followed them to the observation hole, raised my telescope and looked at the smoke. There were only about 20 German tanks in formation one or two kilometers away, stopping at the same place and firing at our artillery positions.


    Although the shells fell on the artillery positions and exploded, and puffed up smoke columns, our artillery kept silent and did not rashly return fire. When the German tanks saw that our army did not fight back, they increased their horsepower and rushed up.


    When the local people''s tanks were four or five hundred meters away from the artillery position, the artillery, who had been silent, began to shoot decisively. After the first round of firing, two tanks with broken tracks whirled around in the same place in thick smoke, and the rest continued to rush forward.


    From time to time, the advancing tank was hit by our artillery shells, moving forward for a certain distance with smoke and fire, and then stopped. But the enemy''s tank shells fell on the bare artillery positions, and the flying shrapnel knocked down the artillery soldiers. When the German tanks approached the position, there were only two or three guns left that could be fired. The rest were either damaged or the Gunners were killed. When the enemy''s tanks rushed to our army, the surviving artillery soldiers rushed up with anti tank grenades and flasks and died with the enemy''s tanks. The battle lasted nearly an hour. The artillery of the marine brigade held the position tenaciously. The German army left 12 destroyed tanks and retreated in ashes. When the enemy tanks disappeared from our sight, trakov called the artillery battalion commander in front of us. As soon as the phone rang, he said with a smile, "well done, Lieutenant datliyev. I saw with my own eyes that you fought back the enemy''s attack tenaciously to ensure the safety of the troops crossing the river."¡° Serve the Soviet motherland¡° good job! Comrade lieutenant, you and the officers and men in your camp are good. I''m going to give you credit and honor. How about the casualties in the army? " Lieutenant datliyev replied in a heavy voice: "report, comrade commander, the casualties in the army are very high. Two thirds of my company''s casualties left three guns; Lieutenant rozhkov, commander of the second company, was injured and half of the officers and men died; Three successive deaths of lieutenant tatliyev... "Wait a minute, comrade lieutenant." When trakov heard this, he interrupted him and asked, "aren''t you lieutenant datliyev? What the hell is going on? You''re confusing me. "¡° Comrade commander, company commander and I are brothers. My brother died in the battle just now. " Trekov was silent. After a while, he said, "I understand, comrade lieutenant. Immediately organize people to repair fortifications to cope with the possible attack of the German army tomorrow. If you want to avenge your brother, you need to destroy more Germans. Do you understand what I said? "¡° Yes Lieutenant datliyev promised loudly: "I will immediately organize people to build the fortifications. As long as the Germans come back, I will make them pay the price."

 Chapter 438

    Looking at the burning battlefield in the distance, kolpakchi asked anxiously, "Comrade trakov, I think the investigation of who gave the troops the retreat order can be delayed a little. At present, the first thing we should do is to immediately issue an order to stop the troops crossing the river, organize defense on the right bank and support the two wings on the bank. "


    "You have a point. I''ll use all the communication equipment in the observation station to give the order to the troops." With that, trikov told his first communications staff to inform the troops of their decision to stop crossing the river and organize defense on the spot through radio and telephone.


    Seeing that the staff of the observation station were busy, trakov could not help mentioning the old story again: "kolpakchi, tell me, who will give the order for the troops to withdraw?"


    When kolpakchi heard trakov''s question, he frowned and tapped his fingers on the table. He seemed to be trying to figure out how to answer it.


    Seeing that korpakchi was slow to speak, shemikov could not help but step forward and said to trikov, "Comrade General, can I have a word?"


    If someone suddenly comes out to talk like this, trakov may not give each other a good look, but shamikov once saved his life, and the relationship between them is different. He nodded at shamikov and motioned to the captain to continue.


    "I think it might be the Germans who sneaked into the rear of our army, dressed up as our army, and then gave this fake order to the army," said shamikov


    Unexpectedly, as soon as this hypothesis of shamikov came out, trakov shook his head and denied his inference: "Comrade captain, this may not exist. Even if the Germans give false orders, at most, the grass-roots commanders are deceived. After receiving the false orders, one or two companies withdraw from the fighting. I believe that. However, the troops now withdrawing from the position are not one or two companies, but a division and two brigades, including a tank brigade. It proves that the person who conveyed the order directly conveyed the order to the Division brigade commander, and the person who received the order was familiar with the other party after all, otherwise they would never withdraw from the battlefield in the most fierce war. "


    "As long as we can get in touch with the senior commanders in the retreating forces, we can find out who actually gave this ridiculous order," interrupted korpakchi, who had not spoken


    Just then, a staff officer came running from outside the observation post and exclaimed excitedly: "report to commander, we have contacted major general biliukov, the commander of the 214 division. He has ordered the troops to stop crossing the river and quickly return to the original defensive position."


    Hearing that a senior commander of the river crossing force was contacted, trakov breathed a long sigh of relief and then asked, "where is general biliukov?"


    "After he received the new order, he was rushing to us with the political commissar of the division, soboli. It is estimated that he will arrive in ten minutes."


    While waiting for the arrival of bilukov and his political commissar, gurov called the observation post. As soon as he got through, he asked korpakchi with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the situation over there?"


    "The enemy''s attack has been repulsed, the artillery of the marine brigade is building fortifications, and the troops who are flocking to the ferry are returning to their positions one after another. What''s the situation over there, comrade military commissar? " Colpakchi replied.


    "At present, the enemy''s counter attack has been restrained by our army, and the defense line is still stable in the actual control area at noon. I let the troops fortify overnight to cope with the possible German counterattack tomorrow. "


    "Comrades of the military commissar," korpakchi hesitated for a moment, but could not help asking, "I want to ask, how is the 168th tank brigade?"


    Gurov was silent for a moment, sighed, and said, "Oh, don''t mention it. After defeating the German tanks, there were only three tanks left in the brigade. The tank of brigade commander Colonel Rogin was destroyed by the shell, and he was also seriously injured. After simple treatment, the military doctors have taken him and the seriously injured soldiers to Stalingrad through the pontoon."


    Just then, the division commander and political commissar of the 214th division arrived. As soon as they entered the observation post, the major general said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? My troops are doing well in their positions. Why did they suddenly order us to withdraw and cross the kier River to build a new line of defense? "


    Trakov looked at him in surprise and said, "general biliukov, when did I give an order to retreat? You know, if I had to order the troops to retreat, I would not have stayed in this observation post. If there are no troops in front to block, the enemy''s tanks will only take a few minutes to rush in front of the observation post. "


    "But Comrade commander, this withdrawal order was indeed issued by the headquarters of the group army."


    "What? General biliukov, what did you say? Is the order from the headquarters of the group army? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." General biliukov said, took a neatly folded piece of paper from his pocket, handed it to trakov, and said, "look, this is the written order of the group army command for us to withdraw. The order was sent by the communications staff of the headquarters in person. "


    "Who signed the order." After receiving the document, trakov did not open it immediately. Instead, he asked frostily. Bilukov was startled by his expression, but he replied honestly: "Comrade report commander, it is colonel Novikov, chief of staff of the group army, and Abramov, member of the Military Commission and political commissar of the division level who signed the order." After listening to this, trikov slapped the table fiercely, bit his back teeth and said, "confused, who gave them the right to order the troops to retreat at will at the most critical moment of the war without my permission." At this point, he gave a pause and ordered a staff officer: "connect me with the headquarters of the group army immediately. I want to talk to the military Commissar." When he got through to Abramov, trakov said in a blunt tone, "Comrade military commissar, I''d like to ask Wen, why do you give an order to the troops to withdraw?" The other party recognized trikov''s displeasure and explained to him, "Comrade commander, this is the situation. I received information that the Germans, with the advantage of the air force and artillery, under the cover of tanks, rushed down to kirskaya. As you know, our troops are reorganized from the reserve forces. Most of the soldiers are new recruits and lack of combat experience. In order to avoid the end of the whole army after the troops are surrounded, after discussing with the chief of staff, Colonel Novikov, I decided to let the troops quickly cross the river before the enemy''s encirclement is formed, and then quickly establish new defensive positions after crossing the river. So we sent orders to the 214th infantry division, the two marine brigades and the 137th tank brigade to withdraw to the left bank of the Don river through the radio station "Do you know, comrade military commissar?" he said with a gloomy face? Is it because of the wrong order you sent out, how much did we pay? One division and three brigades withdrew from their positions at the same time, and tens of thousands of people poured into the Don River and the kier river ferry. In order to stop the flow of people and motorcade to the ferry, I sent General Browder to take my staff to the ferry. The enemy plane found the ferry was crowded with people and cars, and then carried out a fierce bombing of the ferry. In the enemy''s bombing, general Browder, Lieutenant Colonel sidtorin, Colonel brillouv and many other commanders of the group command all died with honor. " At the end, trakov''s voice choked. With that, he hung up decisively without waiting for the other party to speak. After putting down the phone, trakov looked at bilukov and his political commissar standing in front of him, stabilized his mood, and asked, "Comrade General, in the air raid just now, how many casualties did your troops have?" With a twitch in the corner of his mouth, biliukov replied, "report to the commander, there is a regiment with a large number of casualties. One third of the soldiers were killed and the regiment commander and political commissar were killed. There is only one deputy battalion commander and seven company commanders left in the four battalions."

 Chapter 439

    Trikov looked at the two division commanders standing in front of him with a solemn expression. He slowly raised his hands, put them on the shoulders of bilukov and soboli, and said in a hoarse voice, "go back and set up the defense. Remember to hold the position at all costs and never let the enemy approach our ferry, The danger of the enemy''s attempt to attack Stalingrad from the lower chilskaya area should be completely eliminated. Do you understand? "


    Biliukov nodded vigorously and said, "I see. We must hold the position." After that, he looked around at the commissar and said, "Comrade commander, I want to ask you one more thing."


    Trekov took his hand off their shoulders, looked at him and asked with interest, "come on, sir, what do you want to hear from me?"


    "Comrade commander, as you know, the commanders of that regiment are almost dead and wounded. Without the command of the commanders, the troops can''t fight. Do you think you can give me some more commanders?"


    Trekov looked at the sparse staff of the observation post, then sighed and said, "general biliukov, can''t you see that? I don''t have a spare commander here. " From my heart, this request is not too much, but the timing is not right. You know, a few hours ago, trakov had just lost a large number of commanders. There were not enough staff around him, and there were no redundant people to act as grassroots commanders.


    Biliukov''s eyes glanced at me and shamikov. Then he nuzzled at us and said, "Comrade commander, isn''t there a commander available?"


    Trikov turned to look at it, and his eyes lit up. He said to korpakchi with a gentle smile, "old man, I want to discuss something with you. Can I borrow one of your subordinates? You know, general biliukov''s division needs a commander who can be a commander. "


    When trakov and korpakchi were talking, I turned to look at him and thought that he was the best choice for the commander. A few days ago, he stayed in the enemy''s rear with a troop and fought tenaciously, leading a large number of enemy troops who tried to attack the Koska River defense line. In addition to his rich combat experience, he was also trakov''s life-saving benefactor.


    As for trakov''s request, korpakchi almost agreed without hesitation. He said generously, "well, dear Vasili Ivanovich, I don''t think I can find any reason to refuse your request."


    "Dear Vladimir Yakovlev, it''s very kind of you. I knew you wouldn''t refuse my request. Well, let lieutenant commander oshanina be the commander of general biliukov''s division. "


    When he heard that trakov chose me, korpakchi''s smile froze on his face. He asked incredulously, "excuse me, comrade trakov, who did you choose? Can you repeat that?"


    Trikov said with a smile: "Lieutenant Commander oshanina, as far as I know, she has rich combat experience and has held many important positions in the army. I believe she is fully qualified for the position of commander in chief."


    I looked at kolpakchi''s embarrassed face and prayed in my heart: Comrade commander, please don''t agree to trakov''s request. I''m not a panacea. I''ll wipe it where I need it. Two days ago, I took part in the counterattack. If I hadn''t been hiding under the tank, and then I happened to blow up the German firepower, I would have been one of the dead.


    While korpakchi was thinking, biliukov was worried. He wanted to ask trakov to arrange a commander with combat experience to serve as the commander. Unexpectedly, trakov chose me. He reminded trakov in a low voice: "Comrade commander, what I need is a commander with rich combat experience. But you have assigned me a female commander. Is she competent for the post of commander? "


    Trikov waved to me to let me pass him, then turned around, still smiling gently, patted bilukov on the shoulder thoughtfully, and said, "Sir, do you know the eighth guards division?"


    General biliukov nodded his head and said, "I know that it was general Panfilov''s 316 infantry division. Because of his outstanding fighting spirit and great achievements in the battle of defending Moscow, it was renamed as the 8th guard division. What impressed me most was krochkov, the division''s first-class political instructor. Before his sacrifice, he cried out: "although Russia is big, we have no way back, because Moscow is behind us." Every commander in the division knows his famous saying. "


    Trikov said with a smile: "Comrade biliukov, maybe you don''t know that oshanina and krochkov fought side by side. At that time, one of them was the battalion commander and the other was the political instructor. In addition, after the 316 division was awarded the honorary title of the eighth division of the guards, the first division commander was lieutenant colonel o''shanina. " My experience of fighting side by side with krochkov changed bilukov''s view of me. When he heard that I was the first division commander of the eighth division of the guards, he was stunned.


    Sopholli, the political commissar of the division who had never spoken, came up to me, took the initiative to extend his hand and said in a friendly way, "commander o''shanina, welcome to the 214th infantry division."


    Now that I was in a dilemma, I had to shake hands with him with a smile. I said that in this situation, going to your 214 division would be death. After shaking hands, I turned to kolpakchi next to me, hoping that he would reject trakov''s offer, so that I could stay in the 62nd army headquarters. I didn''t expect that korpakchi misunderstood me. Maybe he thought that when trakov proposed to let me work in the 64th army a few days ago, I was a little excited. When he invited me again today, I would like to go very much, so he generously made a favor: "Comrade trakov, since commander oshanina has no objection, I will send her to the 214th division for the time being. But I''ve agreed with you in advance that once there is a suitable candidate, she will come back to my 62nd army immediately. "¡° OK, that''s a deal. Thank you for your selfless assistance. " After shaking hands with korpakchi again, trikov turned to liukov and said, "Sir, what are you still doing here? Take commander oshanina back to the division quickly. You should also seize the time to deploy your defense and prepare to resist the German attack tomorrow. "¡° Yes Biliukov agreed, and then said to me, "commander oshanina, let''s go." Seeing that everything is irreparable, I really want to cry without tears. I can only try to squeeze out a smile and salute and say goodbye to trikov and kolpakchi.

 Chapter 440

    He turned to korpakchi and said, "Dear Vladimir Yakovlev, let''s go and see them off."


    "OK, let''s go," he nodded


    So, trakov and kolpakchi took us all the way to the jeep near the observation post, and then they shook hands with us one by one. The driver had been waiting by the bus for a long time. When he saw that his teacher and political commissar were going to get on the bus, he quickly opened the back door for them.


    After saluting trekov and kolpakchi again, I turned to open the front passenger''s door and went in. As soon as I closed the door, biliukov told the driver to drive. I looked in the rear-view mirror outside the window and saw that the car was far away, and that they were still standing there.


    After driving for five or six minutes, I heard biliukov in the back row say, "Comrade political commissar, I''ll go back to the division headquarters first, and you''ll accompany lieutenant commander oshanina to the 678 regiment." After the taciturn commissar agreed, biliukov told the driver, "driver, put me down outside the division headquarters."


    The jeep stopped outside the division headquarters. After getting out of the car, division commander biliukov waved to us and turned to enter the headquarters. Our car moved on again. The command post of the 678th regiment was not far from the division headquarters. It was not long before we arrived.


    The driver stopped his car near a trench. After he put out the fire, he turned to soboli and said, "Comrade political commissar, here we are." With that, he pushed the door and got off, ran to the back and opened the door for the Commissar. Seeing that the driver had got off the bus, I pushed the door open and got off the bus. Standing in the same place, soboli came over.


    Sopolis led me along the trench, and saw the officers and men who were working on the shovel to reinforce the work. They saw us in the past. They stopped their work in a hurry, stood straight on the back of the ditch, and raised their hands to salute us. After we passed, they bent down and continued to work.


    At the gate of a hidden headquarters where two soldiers were on guard, soboli stopped and asked the saluting sentry, "Comrade soldier, who is in the headquarters?"


    "Report to the commander." The sentry he asked answered nervously, "it''s the deputy battalion commander and several company commanders. They are having a meeting in there."


    Soboli looked back at me, shook his head and said, "Comrade commander, let''s go in." Then he stepped forward to lift the thick curtain and took the lead in. I also quickened my pace and followed him into the headquarters.


    There was a wooden table in the middle of the headquarters, surrounded by seven or eight officers. When they saw us coming, they were stunned at first, and then rushed to us, raising their hands to salute us. I have a look. The first one is a captain, which should be the surviving deputy battalion commander of the regiment. The commander behind him is either a captain or a lieutenant. It seems that he is the company commander of each company.


    Soboli raised his hand to return a salute and said with a smile: "Hello, comrades commander, nice to see you again. Let me introduce you. This is your new leader. " Then he turned to one side of his body and let me go to the front. "Lt. o''shanina is the acting commander personally appointed by commander trekov."


    I stepped forward and said hello to the commanders with a smile: "Hello, comrade commander. I''m lieutenant commander oshanina, adjutant to general korpakchi, commander of the 62nd army, and commander trakov seconded me to your regiment as acting commander. "


    As soon as my voice dropped, I heard two officers standing together muttering in a low voice: "why does the superior send a woman to be the commander? Is it because she is beautiful?"


    "Yes, what''s the use of being beautiful? What we need here is a commander who can direct the war, not a beautiful girl."


    Since I left Moscow, I have been doubted and ridiculed by my superiors ever since I left Leningrad front army. Today, I was sent to the 678th regiment as head of the regiment. Unexpectedly, some people questioned my ability. As my future subordinates, they did not dare to challenge me face to face and had to express their views in private.


    I glared at them fiercely, thinking that after the political commissar left, I would find some commanders who would destroy them and deal with them well. Soboli also heard their whispers. He frowned slightly, coughed and was ready to speak.


    At this moment, the captain came up to me and said excitedly, "Rita mushdakova, is that really you? I didn''t expect to see you here! "


    The captain spoke very politely to me. He used all honorifics. He also called out my real name and my father''s name. He was already someone I knew. I carefully looked at this familiar face, and I felt very familiar. In a hurry, I just couldn''t remember where I had seen it.


    Maybe I found that I didn''t recognize him, and there was a trace of disappointment on the other side''s face. He stepped back, took off his hat, spread out his hands and asked aloud, "don''t you recognize me? Lt. oshanina, this is Lukin. Have you forgotten the past events of reconnaissance behind enemy lines, independent battalion and railway station? "


    Reconnaissance behind enemy lines, independent battalion and railway station, these three seemingly unrelated words, immediately awakened my sleeping memory. I was so excited that my eyes were filled with tears. I rushed to him, grabbed his shoulder, shook hard and said, "it''s you, Lu Jin, a company commander of independent battalion." If he was still in his winter uniform, I would have recognized him.


    "Yes, comrade commander, it''s me." When he said this, his eyes were red¡° What the hell is going on? Comrade commander, you have confused me. " Soboly looked at it in bewilderment and asked. I quickly released my hands, wiped my eyes, tried to squeeze out a smile and said to soboli, "sorry, comrade political commissar, I met an old subordinate here. I thought he died. I didn''t expect to meet him here, so I''m a little excited. Please forgive me. I''m so happy to see him I was afraid of being interrupted by soboli. I spoke so fast that I was a little incoherent¡° Can you tell me what''s going on? " Asked soboli in a friendly manner¡° Please allow me to report to you, comrade political commissar. " Lukin stood upright in front of soboli and reported to him respectfully¡° Go ahead. "¡° During the period of the Moscow defense war, I went deep into the enemy to carry out reconnaissance and sabotage tasks with Comrade lieutenant colonel. On our return, we gathered hundreds of scattered officers and men to form a temporary independent battalion. Shortly after the establishment of the independent battalion, our commander led us to ambush a German company and annihilate it at a very low cost. Later, we went to volokoramsk to cooperate with the 316th division to eliminate the German troops attacking the station and defend this heroic city. "¡° Captain Lukin, "there was a timid voice in the crowd. I went along. It turned out that it was one of the officers who had just talked about me. He asked," is this female commander oshanina, the commander of the eighth division of the guards? " I looked at the officer, nodded and said, "yes, I used to be a division commander of the eighth division of the guards." The officer pushed aside the left and right commanders, walked up to me, stood at attention, saluted me and said, "Hello, comrade commander. Captain Slaven reported to you that I didn''t know your identity just now. I talked about you in private. Please forgive me Seeing that Slaven confessed his mistake to me, I couldn''t investigate his impolite remarks any more, so I had to put on an air of indifference and say, "Comrade captain, don''t worry about these little things, don''t apologize to me." Seeing that I had known each other with the commanders of the regiment, and even met an old subordinate, soboli raised his hand to look at his watch and said with ease, "Lieutenant Commander o''shanina, since you and the commanders of the regiment have known each other, I''ll go back to the headquarters now."¡° Comrade political commissar, "Lu Jin asked politely," don''t you have a cup of tea before you leave Soboli waved his hand and said, "no, there are still many important things to deal with in the division headquarters, so I won''t delay here any more. Good luck to you, Soboli wanted to go back to the division headquarters. I sent him to the jeep specially. Although we came in the same car just now, there was no communication on the way. Before he left, he said to me, "Comrade commander, I will give you this regiment. I hope you can lead them to make great achievements in the future. I have faith in you. "

 Chapter 441

    I was very excited after hearing that. I didn''t expect that this taciturn commissar would believe me so much.


    I held his hand and said, "Comrade political commissar, please rest assured that as long as I am the head of the 678th regiment, I will be able to hold our position firmly. I assure you that as long as there is one person in the position, we will never let the Germans break through our line of defense. " Since others appreciate me so much, I must show my determination, but I can''t say too much, otherwise it will be empty. I''ve been in the army for more than a year, but I still have a point in my mind about how to speak to my superiors and how to handle them properly.


    Soboli nodded his head with satisfaction and said to Lu Jin and me: "your regiment has suffered a lot of casualties in today''s air raid. Due to the loss of all the commanders, the army is now in the stage of chaotic command and low morale. I hope you can select excellent fighters as new commanders at all levels in the company as soon as possible, so that the army can quickly restore its combat effectiveness."


    For his proposal, not only I nodded, but also Lu Jin and his commanders nodded.


    Soboli added: "although the time is a little short, in order to ensure the safety of the defense line, this work must be carried out as soon as possible. Whether our division''s defensive area can be held or not needs our joint efforts. "


    I took his words and said, "please rest assured, I will go back to handle this matter, strive to re appoint new commanders in the company within the shortest time, improve the command system of the army, and restore the combat effectiveness of the whole regiment. However, I don''t think we can simply stay in the position and wait for the enemy to attack. We should still take some measures to achieve the purpose of active defense. " I''m saying this with a purpose. I want to test soboli''s attitude and see what kind of person he is.


    Hearing this, soboli said with a smile, "active defense? Comrade commander, your statement is quite novel, but I would like to remind you that the task of your regiment is to hold on to the existing positions. Don''t try anything new. If something goes wrong, it will go to the military court. "


    Soboli''s words completely broke my mind. It was clear that biliukov''s and soboli''s tactical ideas were quite conservative. According to their meaning, all the commanders and fighters of the 214th division should seize the time to repair and finish the work, and then quietly stay in the position, waiting for the enemy to bombard them with planes.


    After returning to the regiment headquarters, I first found a seat facing the entrance, raised my head and said to several commanders standing in the room, "comrades commanders, what are you still doing? Please sit down quickly." Then I raised my hands and pressed them down, indicating that everyone would sit down.


    After everyone was seated, I leaned over and said to Lu Jin, "Comrade captain, tell me something about the regiment."


    Lu Jin shook his head with a bitter face and said, "Comrade commander, the situation is very bad. As a result of the German air attack at the ferry, the casualties of the troops were very large. The commander, political commissar and commanders of several battalions all died, leaving us a few commanders above the company. " At this point, he turned his head to the other commanders at the table. Seeing that he was looking at himself, the commanders quickly nodded their heads, indicating that he was absolutely right.


    I nodded slightly and said softly, "Comrade Lu Jin, I know what you said. What I want to know now is, in view of the current situation of the army, what measures have you taken? "


    "After we returned to our positions, we reorganized the troops according to the actual situation of the troops. This matter is in the charge of Captain Slaven, commander of the seventh company. He should report the specific situation to you. " After that, he turned his head to Slaven and said, "Captain, report the situation of the reorganization of the army to the commander."


    Slaven stood up, straightened up, and reported to me in a loud voice: "Comrade report leader, we reorganized the remaining units because of the heavy casualties and the loss of many organizational units. There are seven infantry companies, guard platoon, engineer platoon, reconnaissance platoon, health platoon and communication platoon. Except for captain Lukin and you, the rest of us here are company commanders from company one to company seven. "


    After listening to his report, I nodded with satisfaction, saying that Lu Jin had considered it very comprehensively and had prepared a guard platoon, so that the safety of the regiment headquarters could be guaranteed. I praised, "Captain Slaven, good job! Is there any urgent problem to be solved? "


    Slaven nodded and said bitterly, "Comrade commander, there is really an urgent problem to be solved. Our division is adapted from the reserve forces. Most of the soldiers are recruits and lack training and combat experience. " At this point, he stopped for a moment. Seeing that I was nodding to show that I was listening, he continued: "our weapons and equipment are seriously insufficient. Many soldiers don''t even have guns. If they don''t have weapons, unarmed soldiers can''t stop the bandits who are armed to the teeth."


    When I heard that many soldiers were unarmed, I could not help frowning and asked Lu Jin in a low voice, "Captain, what''s the matter? You have been in the position for several days. Why are so many soldiers not armed? "


    Lu Jin said in a low voice: "Comrade commander, when our division is transferred to this area, the Quartermaster department once said that after we arrive at the defensive zone, there will be special personnel in the logistics department to replenish our weapons and ammunition. As a result, when we got here to inquire, the weapons and equipment originally prepared for us had been allocated to other infantry divisions. For this reason, the division commander once went to the headquarters of the group army to find general trakov, and the commander promised to supplement it for us as soon as possible. "


    After listening to what he said, I could not help humming coldly, saying that as soon as possible, with Lao maozi''s efficiency, we would not be able to get the arms rationed for half a month. You can''t wait to see the battle coming. You have to think of your own way. Since I just came to the 64th group army and didn''t know much about everything, I humbly asked Lu Jin, "it seems that we can''t expect to wait for the group army to replenish our weapons and equipment in the short term. Comrade captain, do you have any good idea? " Lu Jin said with a smile: "Comrade commander, according to the report of the reconnaissance platoon, five kilometers to the northwest of our army, the enemy has a place to store supplies, where a lot of weapons and ammunition are stored. I originally wanted to send someone to blow up this batch of ammunition overnight, but now I''ve changed my main idea. I plan to send troops to sneak attack after dark, seize this batch of ammunition from the enemy''s hands, and transport it back to arm our troops. What do you think of the plan? " From captain Lu Jin''s confident eyes, I suddenly realized that the tactical ideas I had instilled into several of their company commanders had taken root in their minds. Tonight''s night attack was the best time for a small trial. I laughed. I am sincerely happy for captain Lukin. He is no longer bound by the common sense he learned in the military academy, and can adjust his combat deployment in time according to the specific situation. This is the result I am happy to see. Although I accepted his plan in my heart, I wanted to know more about the details, so I asked with great interest, "Captain Lukin, I want to ask two questions. First, which unit are you going to send to carry out the night attack? Second, how to transport the arms back after they have been seized? " Lu Jin looked at the standing Slaven and said, "I''m going to give this task to captain Slaven''s seventh company. His company has many veteran soldiers and rich combat experience. I believe he will be able to complete this task excellently. Comrade captain, do you have any confidence in completing this task With a smile on his face, Slaven said confidently, "please rest assured that the seventh company will complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors."¡° How can the arms be brought back? " Thinking about the transportation of the mountain of arms, I couldn''t help asking again¡° There are many soldiers in my company who can drive. At that time, let them use trucks to transport arms and try to transport more back. The rest of the arms can''t be cheap for nothing. I''ll let the soldiers blow up all of them. "

 Chapter 442

    Although Lukin and Slaven are full of confidence in the night attack, I still feel insecure. After all, this is my first battle since I arrived in the 64th army. If I win, I will certainly be famous and improve the morale of the troops; But if I fail, I will lose my reputation, and the end result is to go back to the 62nd army as a combat staff officer.


    To be on the safe side, I specially asked, "Captain Lukin, did your scouts provide a detailed map of the enemy''s logistics camp?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Lu Jin said and pushed a one foot square piece of paper on the table to me. When I saw the map, it turned out to be a topographic map drawn with a pencil. Lu Jin pointed to the drawing and said to me, "look, this is the sketch that the Scout brought back. It can be seen from the picture that the Germans did not pay attention to the camp where they stored their supplies, which was a little far away from their main force. In front of the logistics camp is the Garrison''s tent, and trucks full of weapons and ammunition are parked behind. The number of the garrison is not large, only about 100 people. There are mobile sentries around the camp. "


    Looking at the rough but detailed map in front of me, I asked suspiciously, "Captain Lu Jin, if I remember correctly, you have just returned from the ferry. Even if you sent scouts to scout, you can''t report the information so soon. Isn''t there any fraud in it? "


    As for my suspicion, Lu Jin said with a shy smile: "Comrade commander, you don''t know something. In fact, before our regiment received the order to retreat, it sent reconnaissance personnel to sneak into the enemy''s rear to carry out reconnaissance tasks. When we exited the defense line from the ferry, the soldiers who went out for reconnaissance just returned. That''s why we have this map in front of you. "


    It seems that even if I don''t come, they will launch an attack on the enemy''s logistics camp tonight and seize weapons and ammunition to arm the unarmed soldiers. I stared at the map and asked Lu Jin, "Comrade captain, have you considered how to ensure the safe evacuation of the convoy transporting ammunition after completing the attack? You know, if a truck full of ammunition is found, it will be completely destroyed if it is bombarded by German artillery


    Lu Jin was slightly stunned by my question for a moment, and then he said, "Comrade commander, what you said is very reasonable. If the motorcade is attacked by gunfire on the way back, it will be hard to retreat completely. What do you think? Tell me about your plan He said the last sentence to Slaven.


    Slaven put his head together and looked at the map for a long time. Finally, he pointed to the logistics camp and said, "it seems that we have to take risks. It''s only five kilometers from the camp to our position. If we have enough power, we can reach the position in a few minutes. In such a short period of time, even if the German army is aware of it, there is no time to determine the location of the artillery, and our chances of successful escape are still very high. "


    Seeing that the details of the night attack were almost perfect, I didn''t criticize any more. Instead, I told Lu Jin, "Comrade captain, remember to inform the troops at the front of the line to pay attention to identification when taking back the trucks. Don''t fight with your own people." Having said that, I looked up at the commanders present, waved and said, "the meeting is over. Let''s go back to our respective troops. Captain Lukin stayed


    Lu Jin, who had stood up and wanted to leave with other commanders, stopped and sat down again.


    After all the people in the command post left, I began to reminisce with Lu Jin: "long time no see, comrade Lu Jin. Are all the injuries healed?"


    Lu Jin laughed sheepishly and replied, "Comrade commander, thank you for your concern. My injuries are all healed. During the station defense, sapochuk and I were seriously injured and sent to the military hospital in yujanaya. Fortunately, we both survived. My injury recovered quickly, and in less than half a month, I was able to walk on the ground. And sapochuk''s luck is almost the same. Although the shrapnel in his waist is taken out, he needs to be cultivated in bed. Seeing me walking around, he can''t move, so he lies on the bed and scolds people every day. "


    I nodded and said softly, "Lukin, I met lesdayev a few months ago. He took the initiative to tell me about you and sapochuk. I feel very happy to meet you here again today." At this point, I looked up at the roof, sighed softly, and said to myself, "if only three company commanders of independent battalion could appear in front of me at the same time one day."


    "There is a chance, comrade commander." Lukin said: "lesdayev is now a major in the Moscow garrison command, and sapochuk has become a company commander in the 54th army of fejiuninsky."


    "What? I beg your pardon? Please repeat. Did you just say sapochuk was in the 54th army? " What Lu Jin said suddenly really shocked me. "I also worked as a combat staff officer in the 54th army for a period of time. When did sapochuk go? "


    Lu Jin thought about it and replied, "it''s about May this year." Maybe I was afraid that I didn''t understand, and I specially explained: "after we were discharged from the hospital, we were assigned to the reserve force. A few months ago, the Supreme Command transferred troops from the reserve army to supplement the warhoff front army, and sapochuk''s regiment was transferred away. "


    When I heard that sapochuk went to the 54th army only after May, I was a little disappointed: "at that time, I had been transferred to the 2nd assault army as battalion commander." We were talking about the past when the telephone on the desk rang. Lu Jin picked it up and listened to it for a while. He immediately stood up and straightened up. Then he handed me the microphone and reminded me in a low voice: "chief, it''s the call from the commander of the group army." I took the microphone, and as soon as I heard trakov''s hoarse voice, I said with a smile, "Hello, comrade commander of the group army. This is lieutenant commander o''shanina. Do you have any instructions? " "What''s the matter, comrade commander?" trekov asked. "Have you met your men?"¡° Yes, I''ve just assigned them a combat mission? "¡° Combat mission?! What combat mission? " Trekov asked, puzzled by what I said¡° Comrade commander, as you know, our regiment is newly formed. Besides inadequate training and lack of combat experience, the soldiers are also seriously short of weapons. When the enemy attacks us fiercely tomorrow, you can''t let our soldiers fight the enemy armed to the teeth with bare hands, can you¡° Are you going to attack the enemy''s logistics camp and take weapons to arm the army? " In the end, he is worthy of being a commander. Judging from the problem, he is more comprehensive than us. Although I haven''t said anything about combat tasks, he has already made a guess. He said unhappily, "it''s just a mess. Have you reported such a big action to the division headquarters?" When I heard that, I was in a cold sweat. No, I was chatting with Lu Jin. I even forgot what I had reported to the division headquarters. I quickly explained, "Comrade commander, I was planning to report to the division headquarters, but I didn''t expect that you called first." At this point, I raised my hand to wipe the cold sweat on my forehead, and then said, "I sent troops to capture the enemy''s supplies, but not to attack by force, but to attack by stealth in the dark. We have made careful arrangements, and the chances of success are still very high. " Trekov was silent for a moment, then said, "well, I''m sure you''ll make it. However, I still want to remind you that such a big military operation should be reported to your superior general biliukov immediately, otherwise, if something goes wrong, it will be the trial of the military court waiting for you. " With that, I hung up without waiting for me to speak. Putting down the phone, I weighed the plan of action over and over again, and told Lukin: "call captain Slaven, the seventh company commander. I have something to tell him." When I got through to Slaven, I said to him in a loud voice, "Comrade captain, the success of tonight''s operation depends on how you direct it. Remember, your mission is to attack by stealth, not by force. Use your brain and think about what you can do to destroy the enemy''s Guard troops without disturbing the nearby enemies. The later you are found by the enemy, the higher the chance of successful escape. Well, that''s all I have to say. Good luck

 Chapter 443

    I took the trouble to tell captain Slaven that he would screw things up. After all, I sent troops to attack without asking for instructions. If we can win, everyone will be happy, and Mr. bilukov will not say anything; If I fail, then I have to bear the responsibility. What is waiting for me is the fate of being dismissed and investigated.


    Seeing that I repeatedly told Slaven, Lukin standing beside me could not help laughing. Maybe he thought I was too cautious. But I can''t be cautious about this kind of thing. The success or failure of this action is related to my future and destiny.


    When I put down the phone, Lukin laughed and comforted me and said, "don''t worry, comrade commander. According to what I know about captain Slaven, he will be able to complete this mission successfully."


    I really appreciate Lu Jin, an old subordinate. He is not only brave in war, but also intelligent. The original ambush was planned to be launched by the troops lying in ambush on the south side of the road. After driving the enemy to the north side of the road, he led the troops to attack from the enemy''s rear. As a result, I didn''t expect that those Germans didn''t retreat in a hurry after our sudden attack, but stayed on the road, relying on trucks to continue to resist. Seeing that the situation of the enemy had changed, instead of being indecisive, Lu Jin decisively led his troops to launch an attack, and he fought back and forth with us, completely annihilating the German ambushed. In view of this, I have great confidence in him. Since he said that the night attack mission can be successfully completed, it is very likely that the mission will be successfully completed.


    Just now, trikov told me to report the operation to the division headquarters on the phone, so he picked up the phone and prepared to report the dispatch of troops to the division commander, general biliukov. When the phone was connected and general biliukov''s voice came out of the microphone, I covered the microphone with my hand and asked Lukin again, "Comrade captain, are you sure the operation tonight will be successful?"


    The reason why I ask again is because caring is chaotic. I really have no idea whether the night attack tonight can achieve the desired effect. Seeing Lu Jin''s resolute nod, I moved my hand away from the microphone and politely said to the microphone, "Hello, sir. I''m lieutenant commander o''shanina, acting head of the 678th regiment. "


    "Hello, comrade commander. Call me at this time. What can I do for you? " Bilukov did not show any politeness to me. He asked directly.


    "Sir, I want to report a situation to you. After I got to the regiment, I found that many soldiers were unarmed


    "Yes, comrade commander. I understand what you said. You know, our division has just been adapted from the reserve force. It''s normal that there are not enough weapons. " Without waiting for me to finish, bilukov interrupted me and said to himself, "when the weapons and equipment supplied to our division by the logistics Quartermaster arrive, I will give priority to your regiment."


    "But, sir. If the soldiers don''t have weapons, they can''t fight the enemy who is armed to the teeth. "


    Perhaps dissatisfied with my complaints, bilukov said with some displeasure, "commander oshanina, what are you going to do? I don''t have any extra weapons in my hand now, and I can''t supply them to you. "


    I hesitated for a moment, and finally told him honestly about the plan of the night attack tonight: "Sir, comrade, I plan to send a company to attack the enemy''s logistics camp and seize weapons from the enemy to arm our soldiers."


    After listening, biliukov was stunned for a moment, and then said in surprise, "commander oshanina, what do you say? Are you going to send troops to attack the enemy''s logistics camp? Did you make a rash decision? You know, the German army always defends the material camp where weapons and ammunition are stored tightly. If you want to capture the enemy''s camp and seize their weapons with just one company, it''s impossible. No, I don''t agree with your plan. Cancel the attack immediately after dark. "


    "Comrade division," I was not sure about the night attack tonight, but when I heard that from biliukov, my attitude became firm. The more you said no, I still had to carry out the night attack. But without his consent, no matter what the final result, I would leave an impression of no superior in his mind, so I patiently explained to him: "according to the report of the sent scouts, the enemy did not pay attention to the logistics camp, the location was far away from the main force, and the number of Guard troops was not many, only about 100 people, This just gives us an opportunity. As long as our troops don''t make much noise during the sneak attack, and without disturbing the main force of the enemy, we can annihilate the garrison guarding the logistics camp and quietly transport back the enemy''s weapons and ammunition to arm our commanders and fighters. "


    "I''m glad you can think of that." After praising me, bilukov went on to say his reasons for opposition: "but have you ever thought that, even if the logistics camp is far away from the main force of the enemy, you can think of sneak attack, can''t the Germans think of it? In addition to the garrison in the camp, they are expected to have observation posts nearby. If we can''t destroy the garrison in the camp in a short time and expose the target, the reinforcements near the German army will arrive in time. At that time, not to mention seizing the enemy''s weapons, it will be our army''s sneak attack troops. If we are careless, we will lose the whole army. "


    I could not help nodding when I heard such a remark from biliukov. He was so thoughtful that I could not help looking up at him. As I was about to continue my defense, I suddenly saw Lu Jin gesturing to me. It seemed that he had something to say. I quickly covered the microphone again and asked in a low voice, "what''s the matter? Comrade captain. " Lu Jin also replied in a low voice: "Comrade commander, is it the division commander who does not agree with our night attack?" I didn''t speak, just nodded gently¡° Please tell the division commander that it is captain Slaven who is going to carry out the mission. He and his company have rich experience in night attack. " At this point, Lu Jin lowered his voice again and said in an almost inaudible voice: "there are more than a dozen soldiers in the company, who are from the independent battalion. They have rich combat experience." Originally, I wanted to ask a few more questions. At this time, biliukov''s impatient voice came from the microphone: "Hello! Hello! Comrade commander, what are you doing? Why don''t you say something? Did you hear what I just said? I now order you to cancel tonight''s operation immediately. " I pondered for a while and felt it was necessary to gamble now, so I said slowly: "Comrade division, the night attack troops have already started. If they are allowed to withdraw now, it will cause a fatal blow to the low morale of the regiment. Please believe me, I have rich combat experience, according to my feeling, tonight''s operation will be successful. " At this point, looking at the anxious look on Lu Jin''s face in front of me, I suddenly remembered what he had just said, and quickly added: "the operation tonight is under the command of Captain Slaven, the seventh company commander." When he heard me talking about Slaven, biliukov was silent. After a moment, he said, "well, I agree with your plan for the night attack, but I still think it''s too risky. Well, in order to be safe, you have to send troops to meet them and make sure they can return safely after completing the night attack plan. "¡° Yes Hearing that he finally agreed to my plan, I happily agreed, "please rest assured, sir. I''ll arrange it right away. You''ll wait for our success." When I hung up the phone, I sat down on the stool with a sigh of relief, raised my hand to wipe the sweat on my forehead, took a sip of the tea from Lu Jin, and then said, "Comrade captain, the division commander has agreed to our plan of night attack. However, he put forward a condition that in order to ensure the safety of the night attack forces, we should send a force to meet them and ensure that they can return safely after completing their tasks. " Lukin nodded slightly and said, "no problem. I''ll call the company commanders of the first and second companies and ask them to set out to meet captain Slavin immediately after the explosion in the enemy''s logistics camp." When Lukin picked up the phone to call the two company commanders, it suddenly occurred to me that the division commander had changed his mind and agreed to our plan after hearing the name of Slaven. It was really strange. So I asked curiously, "Lukin, why do you want me to tell the division commander that the attack tonight was under the command of Captain Slaven?" Lukin gave me a smile and said, "because captain Slaven is the son of the division commander."

 Chapter 444

    I was surprised at the news that Captain Slaven was the son of division commander biliukov. A general who is a division commander does not use his authority to put his son to the headquarters of the group army or even the headquarters of the front army with high safety factor as a staff officer, but to the most dangerous combat forces. Because I heard that my son was the commander of the night attack, I resolutely changed my mind and agreed to our combat plan. To know whether the attack at night will succeed or not, it is still an unknown number. The commanders and fighters involved in the operation are faced with a narrow fate. When I think of this, I feel a little more admiration than liukov.


    While I was thinking about it, Lukin had already dialed the company commander of two companies in a row and was giving them the task of answering Slaven. He spoke to the microphone for a while, then raised his head to cover the microphone and asked me, "Comrade commander, the second company commander wants to talk to you. Do you want to answer or not?"


    I nodded and said, "OK! I''ll talk to him and see what''s up with him. " After that, I took the microphone from his hand and put it in my ear. I said to the microphone with a smile: "Hello, company commander. I don''t know what you want to see me about? "


    "Hello, comrade commander." He addressed me respectfully, and when I heard his voice, I remembered that he was the officer who was talking about me behind my back with Slaven. He asked timidly, "I have a situation to reflect to you, OK?"


    "Certainly, comrade company commander." Because I can''t remember his rank, I can only call him his position, "if you have anything, just say it, and see if I can help you."


    "Well, comrade commander." After getting my permission, the little company commander summoned up his courage and said, "just now, Captain Lukin called me and arranged for our company and the first company to meet captain Slaven''s troops. However, nearly half of the soldiers in our company are unarmed at present."


    "What, half the soldiers are unarmed?" I frowned and said, "that means you can only send half of your men to meet captain Slaven tonight?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." After finishing this sentence, the second company commander asked anxiously, "I don''t know when the regiment will be able to supply our company with weapons and ammunition?"


    When I heard the second company commander''s question, I thought for a moment, then said to him with a smile: "company commander, don''t worry. After captain Slaven''s troops have completed the attack and brought back the enemy''s weapons and ammunition, I will quickly replenish the missing weapons and ammunition for each company. At that time, the first and second companies in charge of the mission will have the priority to choose weapons. "


    As for my promise, the second company commander vowed: "thank you for your understanding. Please rest assured that our company will complete the task."


    When I heard him say this, I felt more secure. I nodded and said, "as long as you can successfully complete the task, everything is easy to say."


    At eleven o''clock in the evening, Slaven and his company set out in the dark. After receiving a call from a company commander who was on guard at the front, Lukin took a long breath and said, "well, it''s up to captain Slaven whether the operation can be successful tonight. All we can do is wait. "


    The clock pointed to 12 o''clock. Just as Lu Jin and I were walking around the command post like ants on a hot pot, the telephone on the desk rang. I picked up the receiver and said, "Hello! This is the 678th regiment command post. "


    "How do you do, commander o''shanina!" General biliukov''s voice came from the microphone. He asked a little hesitantly, "I''m calling you to ask if there''s any news from the night attack troops?"


    "I''m sorry, Comrade General." As for his question, I was a little embarrassed to say: "so far, we have not received any news from the seventh company. And there was silence on the other side of the enemy, and there was no gunfire for the time being. "


    "So it is. I understand. Since it is calm outside, it proves that their actions have not been discovered by the enemy. I''ll stay by the phone tonight and report to me as soon as they get back. " After he said these words and heard that I gave him a promise, he hung up.


    As soon as biliukov''s phone was put down, trakov''s phone came one after another. He asked sternly, "commander oshanina, have the night Raiders arrived at the enemy''s camp?"


    I replied with a wry smile, "report commander, it''s been an hour since the night attack troops started, but we still haven''t received any information about them. As you know, our regiment is a newly adapted regiment. We don''t even have enough ordinary communication equipment such as telephones, let alone advanced products such as walkie talkies. "


    "All right, comrade oshanina." Trikov interrupted me in time and said with a smile: "don''t call me poor. You say your regiment has communication equipment. Which army of my regiment doesn''t lack these things? If the logistics department doesn''t give me something, I can''t add it. As for weapons, you can only supplement them by yourself. When there is news from the night attack troops, give me a call and I''ll wait for your report in the observation post. "


    After talking with trakov, I learned that in addition to us, general biliukov of the division headquarters and trakov in the lower kirskaya forward observation station were waiting for news of Slaven''s night attack. The former is because the commander of the night attack is his own son, worried about his safety and unable to sleep at night; And trekov, because he was really worried about me, he was worried that there would be some mistakes in tonight''s action, so he stayed by the phone, waiting for the result of our fight.


    Although I knew the terrain of the German logistics camp at the time of the meeting just now, I still put the sketch on the table again to deduce the operation route of the Slaven troops with Lukin. At the end of the rehearsal, I was surprised to find that as long as they move quickly, they should be able to retreat before the nearby German troops react. Just after the deduction, the telephone on the desk rang. As soon as I saw that it was the telephone that contacted the army and regiment headquarters below, I guessed that it might be related to the night attack troops. I picked up the microphone and said in a hurry, "I''m commander o''shanina. What''s the situation? Please say¡° Report to the head of the group The excited voice of the second company commander came from the microphone, and he excitedly reported: "Slaven, they''ve come back, and they''ve brought back 20 trucks of ammunition."¡° What? " I didn''t believe the operation was so smooth, so I asked: "company commander, are you sure Slaven''s men drove the truck back?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " The second company commander replied in a positive tone: "I know many of the soldiers driving. I''m arranging for the soldiers to unload."¡° How many people are back? "¡° Each car was a driver and a escort, and a total of 40 people came back. " When I heard that there were only so many people coming back, my heart suddenly cooled. Just now, I learned from Lukin that there were seven infantry companies in the regiment, each of which had more than 150 people. Now there are 40 people coming back. Doesn''t that mean that Slaven''s company has almost run out? Because he didn''t mention Slaven in the report, my heart couldn''t help but raise to my throat. My heart said that Slaven won''t sacrifice, right? "Where''s captain Slaven, the seventh company commander?" I asked After a moment''s silence, the second company commander replied: "report to the commander, I asked the returning soldiers. The soldiers said that Captain Slaven was still in the logistics camp. He asked the soldiers to pull the 20 trucks of ammunition back to our army, and then empty the trucks to continue to pull the ammunition. There are enough weapons and equipment for two regiments in the logistics camp. " It''s nothing to hear of Captain Slaven. I feel a lot more at ease. Hearing that there are more weapons and ammunition stored in the camp, I can''t help but feel excited. If so much ammunition is pulled back, the equipment level of our regiment can be upgraded, so I ordered the second company commander: "comrade company commander, after the truck is unloaded, send two platoons of soldiers and empty cars back to the logistics camp to help captain Slaven carry weapons and equipment. You lead the team yourself. "

 Chapter 445

    As soon as I put down the phone, Lukin immediately asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? Is captain Slaven back after completing the task?"


    I said to him with a smile: "just now, the second company commander called and said that Captain Slaven had occupied the enemy''s logistics camp and successfully transported back the ammunition of 20 trucks."


    When he heard the good news, Lukin immediately grinned and said, "is captain Slaven back?"


    I shook my head and said, "no, Captain Slaven didn''t come back. He still has the camp. According to the commander of the second company, Slaven asked his men to return empty immediately after unloading the ammunition from the truck and continue to carry the remaining ammunition. There''s a stockpile of ammunition there that can arm two regiments. It''s a pity to blow them up. "


    "I heard that you just ordered the second company commander to take people to help Slaven carry the ammunition. The number of the two platoons is a little less. We should send more people to them."


    I thought he was right, so I didn''t object. I nodded and said, "OK, since you think more people should be sent, I''ll leave it to you. Let the third company and the fourth company be transferred to the position of the second company to help unload the vehicles. The fifth company will continue to guard the position. The sixth company and the second company will return to the logistics camp in an empty car and move back all the enemy''s weapons and ammunition together with Captain Slaven''s seventh company. "


    When Lu Jin picked up the phone and was ready to give a task to the following company, he reminded me: "Comrade commander, do you think it''s time to report to the division about captain Slaven?"


    When he said that, I raised my hand and patted my forehead and said to myself, "Captain Lukin, if you don''t tell me, I really forgot. This matter should be reported to the teacher immediately to make him happy. "


    At this time, there was a voice calling for a report outside the command post. I was stunned. Who would it be so late? Because Lukin was on the phone, I yelled out, "come in!"


    A thick curtain picked, into a big soldier wearing a helmet. As soon as he saw this man, Lu Jin covered the microphone and asked strangely, "Sergeant Gerhardt, didn''t you follow captain Slaven to attack the enemy''s logistics camp? Why are you here? "


    This soldier, who was supposed to be in the logistics camp, appeared in the regiment command post for no reason. I felt a little uneasy. Did this boy want to surrender to the Germans and come to the command post to kill us in order to surrender his name? Thinking of this, my hand unconsciously touched the holster.


    However, I soon found out that it was a false alarm. Sergeant GA zhuiqi said to Lu Jin with a smile: "Comrade captain, I came to the regiment headquarters to report the night attack to you on the order of the company commander."


    I took my hand off the holster, straightened up, and looked at the sergeant who was smiling at captain Lukin, coughing heavily. Hearing my cough, Lu Jin regained his mind and said to GA zhuiqi: "sergeant, this is the new commander. Please report your situation to her."


    After listening to Lu Jin''s words, GA zhuiqi found that I was still standing by. He quickly saluted me and reported: "Comrade commander, Sergeant GA zhuiqi has come to report the fighting situation to you under the order of the company commander. Please give us your instructions!"


    I looked at him and said faintly, "sergeant, tell me about your fighting intelligence."


    GA zhuiqi agreed and began to tell us about the night attack tonight: "after 40 minutes of rapid march, we approached the enemy''s logistics camp. At that time, it was getting late, and almost all the defenders went back to their tents to sleep. There were only four sentinels on duty in the huge camp.


    Before departure, the company commander once told us that we should be wise and not attack by force. So instead of shooting rashly, we sent four soldiers to sneak to the sentinels and kill them one by one with daggers.


    After cleaning up the enemy''s sentries, the company commander sent us a signal again, four people in a group, each in charge of an enemy tent. When everyone was ready to take their place, the company commander gave an order, and the soldiers who were ready to go rushed into the tent one after another, killing all the sleeping Germans with daggers.


    After destroying the enemy in the camp, we came to the open field where the weapons and ammunition were piled up, enough to equip two regiments. When we found 20 trucks full of ammunition, the company commander changed his plan and decided not to blow up the remaining ammunition, but to send them back in batches to arm our soldiers. "


    After listening to all this, I went to him, raised my hand and patted him on the shoulder, and said with approval, "well done, you''re all good! Sergeant, there''s nothing for you here. Go back and have a rest first. "


    When the sergeant left, I had already figured out how to report to my superiors. After dialing bilukov, I respectfully said, "Hello, Mr. division! I''m lieutenant commander o''shanina, acting head of 678 regiment. I''m sorry to disturb your rest so late... "


    "Well, comrade commander, don''t make such polite remarks." Biliukov impatiently interrupted what I wanted to say later and urged: "is there any news from the night attack troops?"


    Although I couldn''t see it from the other side, I nodded and said, "yes, sir. Captain Slaven led his company and successfully captured the enemy''s logistics camp. At present, 20 trucks of ammunition seized have arrived in our regiment''s defense area. "


    "Are there any casualties in the army?" Bilukov was concerned about the life and death of his son, so he asked the safety of the soldiers first, regardless of the outcome of the war¡° Report to the division commander that there should be no casualties in captain Slaven''s forces. " I reorganized what GA zhuiqi had just said in my mind and continued to report: "because they adopted the tactics of sneak attack, after killing the enemy sentries, they sent people to sneak into the enemy''s tent and killed the sleeping enemy with daggers. The whole operation didn''t shoot a single shot. It was all a fight with cold weapons. I believe the nearby enemies should not be disturbed. "¡° Is captain Slaven back? " As a father, bilukov is very concerned about the safety of his son¡° No, sir. Captain Slaven is still in the logistics camp Surprised, bilukov asked, "didn''t the night attack end successfully? Why did he stay in the camp and not come back? " At the end of the day, he almost lost control of his emotions. I knew that he was concerned but confused. He quickly comforted me and said, "don''t worry, sir. Please listen to my explanation. The reason why the captain stayed in the camp was that he found that there were weapons and ammunition that could equip two regiments. Instead of blowing them up in vain, he had better bring them back to arm our commanders and fighters. So he only sent 40 soldiers to escort 20 trucks of ammunition back to our regiment''s defense area. At the same time, he also ordered the soldiers to return to the camp again after unloading, to pull back all the remaining materials. " Bilukov''s mood gradually stabilized. He asked in his usual tone, "Comrade commander, I want to ask if you have taken any measures after you got this information."¡° Yes, sir In order to reassure him, I quickly repeated the arrangement, "I ordered the third company and the fourth company to rush to the defense area of the second company to help unload the truck. After the car is unloaded, the officers and men of the second and sixth companies will take the empty car to the logistics camp to help captain Slaven transport all the remaining materials back. The first company is located two kilometers away from our military base. Their responsibilities are to take on the guard duty and to be ready at any time for the safe return of the seventh company. As for the remaining five companies, I asked them to stay in the position and take on the guard duty. "¡° Good! Good After listening to my deployment, biliukovlian said two good words, and then happily said: "Comrade commander, your deployment is very comprehensive. Let''s carry out it like this. Good luck At the end of the call with bilukov, I was considering whether to call trakov when he called first. He asked in a hurry, "Lieutenant Commander oshanina, have you heard from the troops on the night attack? Why hasn''t I received any report on this operation after such a long time? "

 Chapter 446

    I said with a smile: "Hello, comrade commander. I just received the information from captain Slaven. After reporting to Mr. biliukov, I was just about to call you. I didn''t expect that your call came first. " I''m skillful in saying this. It''s not that I don''t report to you, but after I get the information, I can''t break the rules and report it level by level according to the regulations. Besides, there is a father son relationship between biliukov and Slaven. I have to report the information to him first in terms of feelings and reason.


    Fortunately, trekov did not care about these, but asked with concern: "o''shanina, tell me about it. What''s the situation? Has the enemy''s logistics camp been taken down? What are the casualties of our army? "


    I replied, "please rest assured, commander. According to the information just obtained, Captain Slaven''s company has successfully captured the enemy''s camp and successfully transported 20 trucks of ammunition back to our army. As for the casualties, I haven''t got the captain''s report on this for the time being. "


    "No casualties?! Comrade o''shanina, is this not wrong? You know, there are more than 100 enemies in the camp. Even if our soldiers can fight again, small casualties are inevitable, right Trakov has no doubt about captain Slaven and their successful capture of the enemy''s camp, but he can''t believe that there are no casualties. Is it normal for our army to pay a heavy price to attack the enemy?


    Although he was dissatisfied with trikov''s problem, he had to explain respectfully: "Comrade commander, Captain Slaven made a sneak attack on the enemy''s camp according to my plan. During the whole battle, our army did not fire a shot. The soldiers rushed into the tent and killed all the sleeping enemies with daggers. Under such circumstances, it is entirely possible that there will be no casualties in our army. "


    "Well, since you say so, I''m relieved. Call me when there''s new news. " Then he hung up.


    I put down the phone and saw that Lukin was still holding the phone. I thought he was giving orders to several companies below. He went to his side and asked in a low voice, "Comrade captain, have all the orders been passed on?"


    Lu Jin quickly covered the microphone and reported to me: "chief of the report, company three and company four have arrived at the unloading site, and the ammunition on the truck has almost been unloaded. The commanders of the third company and the fourth company asked for instructions. After unloading, what is their task? "


    I stared at the map on the table not far away and told him, "let them go through the traffic ditch and transfer all their ammunition to the second line of defense. After the transfer, count the ammunition and see what''s in it. "


    Lu Jin asked in a low voice again, "how to deal with it after counting?"


    I thought about it, said: "temporarily stacked in the trenches, until the second company back, and then the ammunition issued down." Then I went back to the table and sat down.


    Lu Jin nodded, then said to the microphone: "the commander ordered that you two companies transfer the ammunition to the second line of defense of our regiment after completing the unloading task. At the same time, count the captured ammunition and report the results to the regiment headquarters. Do you understand? "


    He finished the order, put down the phone, came to me, just want to talk, the phone rang again. We looked down and saw that it was Lu Jin who hung up the phone. Lu Jin frowned slightly and muttered, "didn''t I just give you the order? Why did you call again? " Then he picked up the phone and asked, "I''m captain Lukin. Where are you?"


    I didn''t expect that after listening to two sentences, he quickly covered the microphone and said to me in some surprise, "company commander of the third company reported that Comrade division commander has gone to them. What shall we do? "


    "What?" Hearing the news, I jumped up from the stool and said, "what did you say? Has the teacher gone to the front? "


    Lukin nodded hard and said, "yes. Comrade commander, what should we do? "


    "What to do? What else can we do? Of course, I went to the front to see my teacher. " I didn''t reply angrily. At the same time, I said that general biliukov was too worried. Captain Slaven''s troops haven''t come back yet. What do you do when you run to the front? If there is an enemy sniper lurking near the position and finds you, don''t you take you as a sniper target?


    Seeing that Lukin put down the phone, I waved my head at him and said, "let''s go! Comrade captain. "


    When I opened the curtain, I felt that it was dark and I couldn''t see anything clearly. I quickly closed my eyes and stood still. As I suddenly stopped, Lukin, who was following me, didn''t react and suddenly bumped into me, which made me stagger. He quickly held me and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, are you ok?"


    I shook my head and said, "I''m ok. Just came out of the bright room and couldn''t see the road outside After talking for a while, I thought that my eyes had adapted to the surrounding light, so I opened my eyes, raised my legs and went on.


    Lu Jin crossed me to the front and said to the soldiers who were staying in the trench, "comrades soldiers, come here and follow me to the position of the second company." At his command, the soldiers straightened up, put their rifles on their shoulders and trotted over to follow us.


    Not far out, we saw the soldiers of the third and fourth companies carrying an ammunition box, coming towards us along the traffic ditch. Seeing the ammunition moving team coming, we quickly turned into a column, making way for them by sticking to the trench wall. We didn''t continue to arrive at the second company until the ammunition handling team had passed. When we arrived at the position of the second company, Lu jinla asked a soldier about it and found out that the second company commander had taken his two platoons and the sixth company to the logistics camp with the unloaded ammunition truck. The third and fourth company commanders are staying in the company command post to chat with the teachers who arrived here. Walking to the gate of the company command post, I saw two sentinels standing guard at the gate. I asked the left one in a low voice: "Comrade soldier, is Comrade division commander in it?" The soldier looked me up and down vigilantly, then stood at attention and said, "you must be commander o''shanina, right? The teacher is in. Please come in I let the following guards stay where they are, and then I took Lukin to the gate of the command post. I stood in front of the thick curtain, took a deep breath and yelled, "report!" Soon, a majestic voice came from the command post: "come in!" I lifted the curtain and strode into the command post.

 Chapter 447

    Major general biliukov, the division commander, was circling around the wooden table in the middle of the command post. His stride was very big and slow. The two company commanders of the third company and the fourth company straightened up and stood with their backs against the wall. They did not dare to let out the atmosphere, and their eyes turned with the movement of biliukov''s body.


    I also stood on my body and raised my hand to salute. According to the regulations, the report said: "Comrade division commander, acting commander of the 678th regiment, Lieutenant Colonel o''shanina, has been ordered to come and wait for your order!"


    Biliukov stopped, looked at me and said with a smile, "Comrade commander, you came here by yourself. I didn''t order you to report." With that, he went to the table and sat down. At the same time, he made a sign to Lukin and me, "don''t stand, sit down!"


    After Lu Jin and I sat down opposite him, I saw that the two company commanders were still standing there like fools, and said to them, "two company commanders, what are you doing there? Go back to the army. After counting the weapons and ammunition, give me a call


    Two company commanders came up to me and promised to raise their hands. After saluting me, they did not put down their hands. Instead, they turned to bilukov and asked cautiously, "Comrade General, will you allow us to leave?"


    Biliukov looked at me, then laughed and scolded them: "your commander has ordered you to go back to the army? What else do you want me to do? Let''s go. Let''s go. Don''t stay here


    The two company commanders and division commanders should also be acquaintances. After laughing twice, they put down their raised right hands and turned to leave the company headquarters.


    After the two company commanders left, Lukin asked bilukov, "Comrade commander, are you worried about the safety of Slaven when you come to the front so late?"


    Bilukov took a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket, took one out of his mouth, and handed us the packet. Lukin and I both waved our heads to stop smoking. After taking back the cigarette case, bilukov took a match and lit the cigarette. After taking a deep breath, he nodded slowly and said, "yes, comrade Lu Jin, you also know about my family. I have three sons who joined the army after the war broke out. Two sons have been killed in the battle to defend Smolensk, and the rest, the youngest son, was wounded in the battle to defend Moscow. Although commander o''shanina said he was OK on the phone just now, I didn''t feel secure when I didn''t see him, so I rushed over overnight. Today, I came here not as a teacher, but as a father. I just want to wait here for him to come back safely. I hope you can understand my feelings at this moment. " When he said this, his eyes could not help reddening.


    I could not help but be moved to see the true feelings of this beloved general. I quickly comforted him and said, "Sir, please don''t worry. Based on the information we have, Captain Slaven didn''t disturb the nearby enemies after they attacked the enemy''s logistics camp. Therefore, they can successfully transfer a large amount of ammunition. Now I have sent two more companies to help the seventh company carry ammunition. On their way back, I also arranged a company to take care of them. Here, I want to assure you that Captain Slaven will return safely. "


    After hearing this, general biliukov nodded again and said, "commander oshanina, although we haven''t been in touch for a long time, according to my understanding of you, I have full confidence in what you said."


    For the trust of bilukov, I gave a wry smile and said that this teacher is really not simple. He sent his three sons to the battlefield. Since there have been two sacrifices, there is nothing wrong with the only son. Looking at the general sitting in the command post waiting for him, I think that the commander in my position in the U.S. Army will not hesitate to send a team of people to perform a Russian version of "Saving Private Ryan".


    As soon as I finished persuading bilukov, Lukin continued to persuade him while the iron was hot: "Sir, please rest assured, Captain Slaven is very smart. Even in any danger, he can come back safely."


    Biliukov couldn''t help laughing: "OK, you two don''t comfort me. I also know that nothing will happen to Slaven, but I can''t put it down in my heart, so I came here to have a look. " Then the telephone on the desk interrupted our conversation.


    Lu Jin reached out and picked up the phone. I didn''t get close, but in the quiet command post, I heard Lu Jin''s conversation clearly. The phone call was from the third company commander. He seemed to be in a good mood. As soon as he got through, he excitedly said, "report to Comrade captain, the statistics of the ammunition just brought back."


    "Tell me, what do you have?"


    "In addition to rifles, submachine guns, machine guns and pistols, there are also ten mortars, all German equipment."


    "All right, I''ll report to the chief right away." At this point, Lu Jin covered the microphone, repeated what the third company commander had just said to me and bilukov, and asked for instructions: "Comrade commander, what should we do next?"


    After a few taps of my finger on the table, I replied, "distribute the weapons and ammunition to the troops at once. Remember, we need to let the commanders and fighters who are equipped with German style equipment quickly get familiar with the weapons in their hands. Only in this way can we have a better chance of winning. "


    After saying this, I remembered that there was a general with a much higher rank than me sitting opposite me. He said with a smile: "Comrade division, do you think this arrangement is suitable for me?" Biliukov nodded and said approvingly, "well, commander oshanina, you are very considerate. The captured German style equipment is not simply delivered to the commanders and fighters. They should be quickly familiar with their own weapons so that they can fight easily. " Seeing that biliukov agreed with me, Lukin quickly let go of the microphone and conveyed my order to the third company commander word for word. When I watched Lukin deliver the order to the army by telephone, I caught a glimpse of biliukov from the corner of my eye. He raised his hand and looked at his watch. I knew that he was very anxious now, and he had some help in his heart. However, he lacked sufficient communication tools, let alone Slaven who was staying in the logistics camp. He could not even contact the company who was on guard or responding to the task one or two kilometers away from the position. I''m considering whether I should send some soldiers to know the specific situation, so that general biliukov won''t be as restless as ants on the hot pot. At this moment, a hoarse voice came from the door: "ha ha, there are so many people here. Not only commander oshanina is here, but even general biliukov has come to this command post."

 Chapter 448

    As I turned my back to the door, I couldn''t see anyone at the first time. As I was about to turn to see who was coming, bilukov, who was sitting opposite me, stood up, raised his hand, saluted and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade commander. It''s so late. How can you come to my teacher at this time? "


    Oh, my God, it was Tchaikov. I didn''t dare to neglect him. I quickly stood up, turned to salute him, and politely said, "Hello, comrade commander, welcome to the 678th infantry regiment to inspect the work."


    Trikov nodded at me with a smile, then went to bilukov''s side, stretched out his hand to shake with him, and asked with concern: "Comrade General, I know you don''t trust your son''s comfort, so you come to the front command post, do you?"


    "Comrade commander, as you know, my other two sons died in the battle of Smolensk," he said with a somewhat embarrassed smile


    Trakov patted him lightly on the shoulder with his empty left hand and said with deep feeling: "yes, comrade biliukov, after the outbreak of the war, millions of commanders and fighters gave their precious lives in order to protect our motherland." At this point, he suggested in a low voice: "when Slaven comes back this time, I want you to consider carefully whether he should be transferred to the military institutions in the rear. After all, you only have such a son left."


    Trakov''s suggestion may have been well thought out, but after listening to it, bilukov shook his head and said, "thank you for your kindness. Since Slaven is a soldier, his position should be on the battlefield. Even if he died, it would be glorious. I can''t transfer him to a safe place to work just because he is my son, which is very unfair to other ordinary soldiers. "


    Seeing that biliukov''s attitude was so firm, trakov could only say: "well, since you have considered it well, I will not advise you any more. Everything will be done according to your idea. But since I''m here today, I''ll stay here with you and wait for your son''s return. "


    Biliukov shook his head in a hurry and said, "no, comrade commander, I really don''t need it. You have more important things to do. Don''t stay here with me. "


    Trekov said with a smile, "yes, comrade general, I must stay. It''s early in the morning now, and I think they will all come back soon. You know, I''m not only waiting for your son with you, but also for the commanders and fighters who have wiped out the enemy and are about to triumph. "


    After he and bilukov sat down one after another, he raised his right hand and made a sign to me to sit down. When he saw me sitting down, he said to Lu Jin who was standing next to him, "this is captain Lu Jin. Since you are all acquaintances, don''t be so restrained. You can sit down, too."


    Lukin''s face brightened when he heard that trakov accurately called out his name. He quickly agreed and sat down next to me.


    After everyone was ready, trakov looked at Lu Jin and said, "Comrade captain, I heard your commander mention you before, saying that you are brave in fighting and have a high command level. He once suggested that when conditions are ripe, you should command a regiment alone. At that time, I also doubted your ability. After all, you are only one of the many battalion commanders of the 678th regiment. If you are promoted to the position of commander, I am afraid many people will be unconvinced, so they have not given him a definite answer. "


    When trakov said these words, Lu Jin, who was confused, looked at me blankly, as if to ask when I was speaking to the commander. And I''m also confused. To tell you the truth, before I came to this regiment, I didn''t know that Lu Jin was serving as the deputy battalion commander here. How could I recommend it to trikov?


    Trekov may have seen our doubts, and quickly explained: "Captain Lukin, it''s not lieutenant commander oshanina who proposed you to be promoted to commander. It''s the old commander who died in the air raid."


    After listening to his explanation, Lu Jin and I suddenly realized. Trekov continued: "Captain Lukin, I have received a report that you planned this operation. Even in the daytime, the scouts were sent to conduct a detailed reconnaissance of the enemy''s logistics camp, in order to prepare for destroying the enemy''s camp in the dark. To tell you the truth, I''m against this plan. It''s too risky. It''s almost like death to use a group of poorly trained, inexperienced and poorly equipped soldiers to attack the logistics camp guarded by the armed enemy. " At this point, he pauses and smiles, "but at the moment, what I want to say is: Comrade captain, you are good!"


    Lu Jin''s face was very flat and didn''t show any complacency. He was still staring at him and listening to his instructions. Trikov finally glanced at me and said, "Captain Lukin, if you can achieve good results in the next battle, I will directly promote you to the head of the 678th regiment."


    It''s said that trekov wants Lu Jin to be the team leader. How can I be the acting team leader? So I said half jokingly, "Comrade commander, it''s not proper for you to do so. Now I''m still the acting head of the 678th regiment. You can''t wait to make captain Lu Jin the head of the regiment. If he becomes the head of the regiment, where should I go?"


    Trikov and bilukov looked at each other, then burst into laughter. After laughing for a while, trakov looked at bilukov and said, "Comrade General, our heroine is worried." Then he said to me solemnly, "Comrade oshanina, after all, you are seconded from the 62nd army. After these days of fighting, you will go back to general kolpakchi''s headquarters." Just as he was talking, the telephone on the desk rang again. Lu Jin grabbed the phone and listened to it for a moment. He was so excited that he didn''t even have time to put down the phone. He excitedly reported to us: "report commander, division commander and regimental commander. According to the report of the frontier observation station, they observed that a motorcade was coming towards the position of our army. Since the company in charge of the response did not issue a battle alert, they have reason to believe that this is captain Slaven and they are back. " When he heard that his son had brought his team back, general biliukov couldn''t sit still any more. He stood up abruptly and couldn''t restrain his excitement. He said in a loud voice, "what are you doing here? Let''s go! Let''s meet the victorious commanders and fighters together. "

 Chapter 449

    Seeing that the division commander biliukov stood up, Lukin and I did not dare to neglect him. We immediately stood up and prepared to go out to meet captain Slaven and his family when trikov got up again. I didn''t expect that trikov didn''t move. He reached out and grabbed bilukov, who was going to walk out. At the same time, he raised his head and said to both of us, "wait a minute, don''t hurry. You two sit down first." Bilukov, who was held by him, asked in surprise: "Comrade commander, the troops who participated in the night attack have come back. Why don''t we go out to meet them?" Trikov turned to liukov and said, "Comrade General, don''t be impatient. At this moment, there was a voice calling for a report at the door. I recognized Lukin''s voice and whispered to trekov and biliukov: "commander, division commander, Lukin has brought our hero here." Trekov said, "let them in." I nodded and stood up, facing the direction of the entrance with a solemn cry: "come in!" As soon as the curtain of the door was picked, Lu Jin came in first, followed by several officers of the rank of lieutenant. As soon as I saw it, I could see that the captain standing next to Lukin was Slaven. He was carrying a brand-new German submachine gun across his chest, which was supposed to be the spoils of the night. The commanders of the first company, the second company, the third company, the fourth company and the sixth company were closely followed. Lu Jin raised his hand to salute us and said, "report to the commander, division commander and regimental commander. I have been ordered to bring captain Slaven and several company commanders of the regiment who have returned triumphantly, waiting for your instructions." When Lukin finished his report, he turned and winked at captain Slaven next to him. Slaven immediately understood, stepped up and raised his hand to salute us: "report to commander, division commander, commander of the seventh company, Captain Slaven, after completing the night attack mission, has come here to report to you and wait for your orders!" Although there are two commanders who are higher than me in the room, they can''t give orders to me. So I went to Slaven and asked with concern, "Captain Slaven, have all the troops come back?" Slaven nodded vigorously and replied excitedly, "report leader, comrade, you are all back. Except for a few minor injuries, no soldiers died. We made a lot of money in this operation. In addition to the 20 trucks of ammunition we brought back earlier, we brought back another 40 trucks this time. Our soldiers carried back the ammunition that could not be loaded by trucks. This time, we completely emptied the enemy''s logistics camp. "¡° Isn''t there only twenty trucks? Where are there twenty more? " I heard that there were 40 trucks. I couldn''t help but ask curiously¡° Report to the commander, after we occupied the enemy''s camp, I asked the soldiers to change into German uniforms and continue to patrol the camp pretending to be the enemy. As soon as the first batch of ammunition left, an enemy convoy came. I sent soldiers who knew German to interrogate, and then I knew it was ammunition. When I saw that they were few, I was not polite enough to capture all these enemies. "¡° Well done, comrade captain Trekov didn''t know when he came to me. When he heard Slaven''s brilliant achievements, he couldn''t help praising him loudly. "Your outstanding performance deserves to be rewarded. I will soon personally award you the meritorious service you deserve. " At this point, trikov turned to me and called, "Lieutenant o''shanina." I quickly agreed: "Comrade commander, what can I do for you?"¡° Distribute the ammunition immediately, and organize the soldiers to quickly get familiar with the use of these German equipment. After all this, let the soldiers have a rest. I reckon that the enemy will not give up for such a big loss. Tomorrow, he will surely take crazy revenge on us. You should be prepared to deal with it. " When I heard what trakov told me, I quickly replied, "please rest assured, commander. I will arrange people to do these things immediately, so as to ensure that the whole regiment will be in the first level combat readiness before dawn." At this time, bilukov came over and stood in front of his son, staring at each other. Just when we thought the father and son would give us a big hug, bilukov put his hands on Slaven''s shoulders and slapped them hard, with a happy smile on his face. Then he took his hand back, stepped back, turned to trekov and said, "Comrade commander, let''s go." When the two leaders left, I didn''t talk nonsense. I just told them, "everyone has listened to the commander''s orders. You immediately go back to the troops, distribute ammunition to the soldiers, quickly familiarize yourself with German equipment, and prepare for tomorrow''s battle. Do you understand? " The commanders in the room roared in unison: "I understand!"¡° Dissolution

 Chapter 450

    On the way back to the regiment headquarters from the company headquarters, I couldn''t help laughing at the performance of biliukov just now. I said to Lu Jin with a smile, "Comrade captain, we are really interesting. Because we are not sure about the safety of our son, we went to the front command post and sat for several hours. But when he saw his son''s safe return, he didn''t say a word. He just patted the child on the shoulder and left


    Lu Jin also said with a smile: "yes, I was surprised by the situation just now. I thought that when they met, they would give a hug first, and then the teacher would say a few words of encouragement to captain Slaven. I think when the teacher patted on the shoulder, Slaven, as a son, understood what his father wanted to say


    I would like to continue to say: This is probably the heart has a sense of it. When I was about to say it, I suddenly thought that Russia didn''t seem to have this idiom, so I closed my mouth and just laughed a little.


    When he was about to enter the regiment headquarters, Lu Jin asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, does the deployment of the army need to be adjusted?"


    After thinking about it, I shook my head and said, "no, I''d better follow your original plan. The first, second and third companies stick to the regiment''s first line of defense, the fourth, fifth and sixth companies are in the second line of defense, and the seventh company and the guard platoon are deployed near the regiment headquarters. "


    I opened the curtain and walked into the regiment headquarters. Lu Jin followed me and looked around. He was a little embarrassed and said, "sorry, comrade commander, the headquarters is so simple that there is not even a marching bed. I can''t even find a place to rest for you."


    I waved my hand and said, "Comrade captain, you don''t have to worry about this. I can sleep on the table for a while." Speaking of this, I raised my hand and looked at my watch, and told him: "Comrade captain, you should keep an eye on the issue of distributing weapons. It''s two o''clock in the morning, and it''s more than two hours before dawn. Before dawn, you must let the commanders and fighters who are familiar with the use of German equipment enter their respective combat positions."


    When Lukin left, I looked around by the dim light in the room. The headquarters was empty. Besides the wooden table in the middle and several stools beside the table, there was a gun rack with two rifles on it beside the wall. I went to pick up both rifles, pulled the bolt and looked. Seeing that there were bullets in them, I took one and went back to the table. As soon as I put my rifle on the stool within reach, I fell on the table and began to sleep.


    I don''t know how long later, a burst of gunfire woke me up. I sat up straight, rubbed my eyes, raised my hand and looked at my watch. At five o''clock in the morning, the German army could not wait to launch an attack. I grabbed the gun and wanted to go out to have a look, but before I went out, I was stopped by Lu Jin, who came in. He said: "Comrade commander, don''t worry, the Germans are attacking the defensive area of the 229th division on the right wing of our regiment. I have issued a combat alert to the troops, and the first and second companies in the first line of defense have entered a combat state. "


    "Have we found the enemy in the front of our regiment?" I asked. I was always worried that the enemy would launch a crazy attack on our position when they found out that we had captured their camp.


    "No, not a single enemy."


    "What? No enemy? " I can''t believe Lukin''s answer.


    "Yes, comrade commander." Lukin gave me a positive answer: "yesterday, after our army retreated, the German army once occupied our position. When we were ordered to return to the defensive position, the German army had withdrawn, and I think they probably did not find our regiment reoccupying the position at all. "


    "Where can I see the frontier?" I asked.


    "Are you going to observe the frontier?" Lu Jin was stunned at first. Then he came back to himself and said, "Comrade commander, please come with me. I''ll take you to the observation post, from which you can see clearly all the defensive positions of our regiment. "


    Lukin led the way, and I followed him with my rifle and went south along the trench. After about two or three hundred meters, we entered an observation post built in a trench, where two soldiers were observing the enemy''s situation. When Lu Jin and I came in, we stopped our work and stood up to salute us.


    Lu Jin asked the two soldiers, "what''s the situation?"


    The eyes of the two soldiers swept over Lu Jin and me, as if hesitating to report to Lu Jin. Lu Jin saw that they didn''t reply. He frowned and wanted to get angry. However, he found their eyes on me and immediately understood why they didn''t respond. He said, "this is commander o''xia Nina. Please report to her."


    After listening to what he said, a soldier came up to me, saluted and reported, "report, comrade commander, there is no trace of the enemy in front of our regiment."


    I nodded, went to the observation hole, raised my telescope and looked into the distance. This observation post is located in a wide field of vision, from which we can clearly see the two lines of defense of our regiment. The front of the position is calm, and even no one can be seen in the distance. Maybe the Germans thought that this area was not guarded by our army, so they didn''t send troops to attack our regiment''s position.


    Looking at the crowd of officers and men, I could not help frowning. Such a dense formation was crowded in the simple trench. If it was attacked by German artillery, it would cause heavy casualties. Seeing this, I put down my telescope, turned around and called Lu Jin to come over, and asked him seriously, "Comrade captain, are there any bunkers like gun holes in our army positions?"


    Although Lu Jin didn''t understand why I asked, he nodded and said, "yes, although there are no solid fortifications in our positions, there are still many hidden departments that can garrison troops." I asked him to come to the observation hole, pointed to the trench in the distance and said to him, "Comrade captain, come and see. Hundreds of officers and men are crowded in the narrow trench, even it is difficult to turn around. If they are found by the enemy''s reconnaissance plane and attacked by the enemy''s artillery, our casualties will be absolutely no small. " Lu Jin raised his telescope and looked at it for a moment. He blushed with shame and quickly explained to me, "Comrade commander, you know that almost all the regiments are new fighters, and they lack enough fighting experience..." I raised my hand to interrupt him and said, "Comrade captain, you should call several company commanders in the front position immediately, Let each of them keep a platoon on guard, and the rest of them go back to the shelter first, and then come out when the battle starts. " Lu Jin agreed and ran to the side to make a phone call. A few minutes later, Lu Jin returned to me. After wiping the sweat on his forehead, he reported to me, "Comrade commander, the order has been given to the army." Almost at the same time as he reported, the number of people in the trench began to decrease slowly. Only a few minutes later, the originally crowded trench became a little empty. The soldiers who continued to stay in the trenches lined up, each defending a distance of about three meters. Seeing the loose defensive formation in the trench, I nodded with satisfaction and said, "it seems that one company on each line of defense is enough, and the remaining two companies can be used as reserves to fight at the right time." Lu Jin and I had been standing in front of the observation hole for two or three hours. Although there had been fierce gunfire on both sides, there was still no movement in front of our regiment''s position. I couldn''t help losing patience. I thrust the telescope into Lu Jin''s hand, went to the only stool in the observation center, sat down, and asked the soldier standing straight beside me: "I said, comrade soldier, do you have water? Give me a drink. " The soldier said, "Comrade commander, please wait a moment. I''ll pour water for you." Then he ran out of the observation post. Looking at his back, I casually asked Lu Jin: "Comrade captain, what''s the matter?" Lu Jin didn''t put down his telescope, shook his head with his back to me, and replied, "there is still silence in front of the position, and no one can see it. Has the enemy really forgotten our place?" Bored, I looked out of the door and saw the soldier who had just left, with a teapot in one hand and two teapots in the other hand, walking towards the observation station quickly and calling Lu Jin: "OK, comrade captain, take a rest, have a cup of tea and then continue to observe." Lu Jin put down his telescope, turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, please wait a moment. I''ll see it for the last time. If there is no enemy, I''ll go and drink water." Then he picked up the telescope and looked out. At the same time, he kept saying: "no, nothing, no enemy." At this point, he suddenly fell silent. After a moment, he suddenly raised his voice and cried out: "the enemy is the enemy''s motorized troops!" Hearing his cry, I jumped up from the stool, rushed to the observation hole, grabbed my telescope from his hand, and asked: "where is the enemy?" Lu Jin pointed to me and said, "Comrade commander, look in a little direction. The enemy is there." I followed his direction and saw dust in the distance. It seemed that a mechanized army was marching at a high speed. Because the dust was too high, it affected my sight and I couldn''t see the size of the enemy. I quickly told Lu Jin: "Comrade captain, you should call the company commanders immediately to make them ready for battle, The enemy is not allowed to fire casually until they are within 100 meters of the position. Go I''m so anxious to give orders to Lukin because we don''t have enough anti tank weapons, not to mention anti tank guns. The whole regiment has only a few hundred flasks and anti tank mines, not even an anti tank gun. If the target is exposed too early, the enemy''s tanks only need to stop a few hundred meters away from the position to bombard our army leisurely.

 Chapter 451

    As time goes on, the enemy troops are getting closer and closer to our regiment''s position. I can see clearly the size of the troops. There are three tanks in front, more than 20 three wheeled motorcycles in the middle, and two tanks at the end of the motorcade. It is strange that the German troops did not set up an offensive formation, but just an ordinary marching line.


    Seeing this scene, Lu Jin put down his telescope and said to me, "Comrade commander, it seems that these damned Germans should be passing by. They didn''t find us. What should we do?" When he spoke, he kept his voice very low, as if he was afraid that the German on the other side would hear him. In fact, even if he opened his voice and yelled at such a distance, the German could not hear him at all.


    After seeing clearly the scale of the enemy''s troops, I was immediately relieved. The enemy had three people on a motorcycle, and only a few people were able to make a full calculation. The only headache is that they have five tanks. It''s not easy to wipe them out in a short time.


    Looking at the moving German troops, I told Lukin: "Comrade captain, call the three company commanders of the first line of defense, let them be ready to deal with the tank''s flasks, put the enemy closer and fight again, and strive to annihilate the enemy in the shortest time. After annihilating the enemy, let them lay anti tank mines in front of the position immediately, so as to prevent the German infantry from attacking again under the cover of tanks. "


    Instead of driving directly to our position, the enemy''s small forces passed 50 meters in front of the position. More than 20 motorcycles lined up in two columns like a military parade and drove along the front edge leisurely, just like a living target.


    Seeing such a good fighter, I just wanted Lukin to order forward fire. At this moment, several machine guns on the ground of our army suddenly opened fire, shooting at the motorcyclists who had completely forgotten their guard. I saw clearly that the motorcyclists fell off their seats one after another, and the motorcycles that had lost their drivers suddenly collided. Some of the soldiers sitting in the back seats and sidecars were killed by random guns; Some were knocked out of the sidecar by the huge inertia and fell heavily on the earth. The soldiers who survived immediately fell down on the spot, or hid behind motorcycles and fired back at our army.


    At the sound of the gunshot, the five tanks in front of and behind the motorcycles soon found something strange. They quickly stopped, turned the turret and fired at our army. With the fall of the tank shells, the mud pillars in front of and behind the trench were blown up by the shells. I don''t think so. I''m afraid that with these tanks, there''s no way to take our army''s position. Besides, I''ve already evacuated the main force of the position and concealed it. Even if you have all the shells, it won''t cause us much casualties.


    Just when I was complacent, there was a violent explosion in the middle of the position, and then thick black smoke came out of the trench. Several soldiers covered with fire climbed out of the trench and ran around. A few of them were soon overturned by the explosion of shells, and the rest of them were not far away. They were lying on the ground, and then they were burning, but they never got up again.


    "What''s going on?" I couldn''t help shouting out.


    "It''s a flask. Comrade commander, it was the burning bottles piled up in the trenches that were hit by enemy shells. It''s a two company lot After explaining to me, Lukin immediately grabbed the phone, shook through the front line and yelled, "Hello! Hello! Hello! This is captain Lukin. Get me a company commander. A company commander? You immediately organize the soldiers in the company to attack and kill the three tanks on the left with the burning bottle. "


    "And the two on the right." I gave him a quick reminder.


    Lu Jin seriously shook the phone of the third company, and decisively ordered: "third company commander? I''m captain Lukin. I order you not to stay in your position any more. Send out soldiers immediately to kill the two German tanks in front of your position. "


    After Lu Jin finished calling, I said to him with some worry: "Comrade captain, just now there was an explosion in the defense area of the second company. I don''t know how their casualties are. Please call the second company commander."


    Lu Jin nodded, dialed the second company, and asked in a friendly tone: "second company commander? I''m captain Lukin. What happened to the explosion? "


    In the microphone came the anxious voice of the second company commander: "report, comrade captain, the burning bottles we piled up in the trench were hit by enemy shells, which caused explosion and fire. There were casualties in two classes of soldiers. At present, we don''t have many people left, but the German infantry on the opposite side has not been completely eliminated. Do you want to transfer out the troops of the concealment department


    Lu Jin did not immediately answer his question, but turned to me, I said without thinking: "the trench is too narrow, if too many troops are crowded together, the enemy''s artillery fire will cause us heavy casualties, let him transfer another platoon to the position."


    Lu Jin immediately repeated my order: "the commander said, don''t put too many troops in the trench, you can transfer another platoon from the shelter to enter the position."


    Once connected to the command, they immediately took active action. The two soldiers climbed out of the trench, holding a burning bottle in one hand, bent over and ran quickly to the enemy''s tank. Their action was soon discovered by the enemy''s tanks. One tank turned its muzzle and fired at two soldiers. A tank shell hit them impartially. After a loud bang, the two living soldiers were blown to pieces, and the broken burning bottle fell to the ground, suddenly burning violently.


    Seeing the failure of the first attack, two more soldiers climbed out of the trench, bent down and continued to rush towards the enemy''s tanks. A German hiding behind a motorcycle, carrying a submachine gun, strafed two soldiers from the side. One soldier was caught off guard and was hit by an enemy bullet. After making a turn in the same place, he fell to the ground. And another soldier, just rushed to the burning area, another shell landed near him, exploded, shrapnel everywhere, mud splashed, his body suddenly stopped, powerless to release the burning bottle in his hand, backhand covered his back, and fell straight down. When I saw this scene, I was really worried. The position was 50 or 60 meters away from the enemy''s tank. The burning bottle couldn''t be thrown that far, and there was no anti tank gun, so I had to send someone to rush to blow it up. But in this way, even if all the enemy''s tanks are destroyed, it is estimated that the commanders and fighters in the position are almost dead. That''s what I think. Lukin next to me has the same idea. But after the soldiers of the third and fourth groups who went to bomb the tanks died one after another, he couldn''t help but remind me in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, we can''t fight like this any more. If we continue to fight like this, all the people in our positions will die. When the enemy''s large forces attack, there will be no living people in the position. How can we fight this battle and how can we continue it? "

 Chapter 452

    The tank still didn''t move. It stopped at the same place and fired with guns and machine guns. The second company suffered a lot of casualties due to the explosion of the burning bottle. Several machine guns that had made the enemy in a mess were dumb. Seeing our firepower weakened, the enemy infantry were no longer as chaotic as they had just started, and they gradually ran into the safety zone behind the tanks.


    Looking at the swaggering German tanks in front of the position, I couldn''t help frowning and thinking bitterly: if only there were a few anti tank guns, none of these light tanks could escape. Unfortunately, now the distance is too far, the soldiers in the trench can''t throw the burning bottle so far; If they attack rashly, they will be killed by German tank guns, machine guns and infantry firepower, causing heavy casualties.


    Lu Jin gently touched my arm beside me. When I turned to look at him, he handed me the telephone receiver and reminded me in a low voice, "it''s from my teacher."


    "Lieutenant oshanina," said general biliukov in a voice of impatience and anger, "what''s the matter with you? I have heard from the observation center that the Germans only have five tanks and dozens of infantry in front of your positions. What do more than 1000 people in your regiment do for food? Why haven''t they been eliminated so far? "


    I quickly explained to him in a low voice: "Sir, please listen to me. The reason why the enemy can''t solve this problem is that their five tanks pose too great a threat to us. We are short of anti tank weapons, so we can''t destroy them in a long distance. Several times we sent soldiers to bomb tanks with burning bottles, but we failed! "


    "Comrade commander, how to fight is your business. I just want to know when you can wipe them out." The division commander said in an indisputable tone: "it''s really strange that there are only dozens of German infantry, and thousands of people in your regiment have trampled them to death."


    "Comrade division commander," I was afraid that he would hang up in a rage. I hurriedly interrupted what he said behind him and made a request to him: "can the Division provide a batch of anti tank guns for our regiment?"


    "What, you want more antitank guns? To tell you the truth, commander oshanina, the whole division is only equipped with 20 anti tank guns, which have already been distributed to all regiments? "


    "But we don''t have any in our regiment, sir. You can''t favor one over the other! You know, if we had anti tank guns, these five light tanks would have been killed long ago. Now, because of the lack of anti tank weapons, I can only send soldiers to rush up and bomb the enemy''s tanks at the risk of their lives. There are a lot of casualties. Not to mention, they may not be able to kill the enemy''s tanks. "


    After listening to my complaints, biliukov was silent for a moment, and then said, "there are three anti tank guns in the division. I''ll send someone to send them to you right away."


    "Three are too few, sir. Can we give two more?" I saw that he promised to provide our regiment with anti tank guns, but I couldn''t help taking the opportunity to offer some conditions.


    Unexpectedly, biliukov said: "no, there are only three. If you don''t want them, I''ll give them to other regiments."


    "Three is three, sir. Please send someone to say it. As soon as the anti tank gun arrives, I promise you that I can wipe out all the enemies in front of the position in less than ten minutes. "


    "Commander oshanina, these three antitank guns are not for nothing." Biliukov''s tone suddenly became more relaxed. "Your regiment seized so many weapons and ammunition from the German army last night. You are as rich as a rich man. You need to exchange one battalion''s ammunition."


    When bilukov said that, my jaw almost hit the ground. What? Three anti tank guns need to be replaced with weapons and equipment of one battalion. My heart says that this division commander is really black. He is even more traitorous than a unscrupulous businessman. I almost blurted out that I would not change it, but after thinking about it, I held back. After all, our regiment could not use up all the ammunition we had seized. We might as well give it to bilukov to arm the unarmed troops in the division. I took a deep breath, and when I was in a stable mood, I replied, "I understand, comrade division commander. I will send the ammunition to the division headquarters as soon as possible."


    "Good. I''ll send someone to take over the weapons." At this point, biliukov''s tone suddenly became severe. "I remind you, comrade commander, that we must solve the battle within half an hour, or our position will be in danger when the enemy''s big troops arrive."


    After the call with bilukov, my mood became irritable. As soon as I put down the phone, I said to Lu Jin in a hurry, "Comrade captain, you call the third company commander and ask him why he didn''t send someone to bomb the tank just now?" I was angry with my teacher and wanted to find a place to vent my anger. Unfortunately, the third company commander became a victim.


    "The third company commander? I''m captain Lukin. The commander asked you, "why didn''t you send someone to attack just now?"


    The third company commander who answered the phone hesitated and said, "report to Comrade captain, I see that the enemy''s firepower is too fierce. Even if the soldiers go out, they will only die in vain, so they cancel the attack plan."


    Hearing what the third company commander said, I was furious and raised my voice. Lu Jin said, "Comrade captain, tell the third company commander to send someone to attack immediately and kill the two German tanks in front of his position. If you dare not attack again, I will send someone to enforce the battlefield discipline immediately." Maybe it''s because I''m too excited. I''m a little hoarse.


    When I heard that I was furious, some of the three company commanders who were passive in avoiding the war did not dare to neglect me. They quickly sent two groups of soldiers out of the trench with burning bottles and rushed to the enemy''s tanks. Then they were all knocked down by the enemy''s bullets and shrapnel in the open field. The two soldiers in the third group learned from the failure of the first two groups. After climbing out of the trench, they did not bend down to rush at the enemy''s tanks, but fell down on the spot and crawled to the enemy''s tanks. The machine guns on the enemy''s tanks kept beating. Because the two soldiers were very smart, they crawled forward for more than 20 meters and were still safe. Watching them climb forward for another ten meters, they can throw the burning bottle into the enemy''s tank. My heart beat faster. At this time, the tank next to a rush of soil, sounded a low explosion¡° What''s going on? Where is the shooting? Is it division headquarters that supports us with artillery fire? " This thought flashed through my mind¡° Comrade commander, look at the enemy''s tanks. " Lukin also saw the shell beside the tank explode, excitedly said to me: "see? It must have been fired by seven companies. "¡° Seven companies? " I frowned and asked Lu Jin without looking back: "Comrade captain, you said seven companies fired guns. Where did captain Slaven get the guns, and where did he find the artillery? " While speaking, several shells fell around the enemy tank and exploded. The shock wave of a shell explosion lifted out a soldier hiding behind the tank. After a beautiful forward somersault in the air, the soldier fell heavily on the earth, and then did not move¡° Comrade commander, have you forgotten that there was an artillery company in our original independent battalion? " Seeing my blank face, Lu Jin quickly explained to me: "in the battle at the station, many artillery soldiers were injured and sent to the military hospital. After recovering from the injury, they were incorporated into the reserve army in the outskirts of Moscow. When we reorganized into the 64th army this time, these artillery troops were incorporated into general biliukov''s 214th division. Coincidentally, they were all in captain Slaven''s company I''m a little impressed by what Lukin said. He told me last night that there were many independent Battalion soldiers in Slaven''s company. They were artillery soldiers. I put down my telescope, turned around and asked, "but where did they get the gun?" Lu Jin looked at me with wide eyes and said in surprise: "Comrade commander, do you forget that we captured ten mortars from the enemy''s logistics camp last night. During your rest, I decided to assign all these mortars to Slaven company, and at the same time, I picked out the original artillery and made up a new mortar platoon. " I laughed and did not speak. I raised my telescope and continued to observe the situation on the battlefield. Slaven''s mortar platoon directly aimed at the tanks in front of the third company. The shells landed around the tanks one after another and exploded, making the soldiers hiding behind the tanks cry and howl. Although the effect of mortars on tanks is not good, the dense shrapnel makes the enemy''s tanks jingle, and the smoke from the explosion seriously affects the sight of tankers. The two soldiers seized the favorable opportunity, jumped up from the ground, rushed forward a few steps, and threw the burning bottle at the tank. The flask fell on the tank''s armor and smashed. The liquid in it flowed quickly on the body. Then the tank burst into flames and began to burn. The two soldiers who finished the task immediately turned around and ran to our army. A few meters away from the trench, a soldier was hit by a bullet from the machine gun on the other side of the tank. He rushed forward with inertia and fell in front of the trench. And another soldier quickly a fish jump, directly into the trench. Soon the soldier leaned out again, with the help of other comrades in arms, dragged the soldier who fell in front of the trench into the trench. Seeing that the tank on one side was killed, I gasped and asked Lukin to call Slaven for me. While waiting for the phone call, I saw another two soldiers sent by the first company. They also learned from the soldiers of the third company. As soon as they got out of the trench, they immediately fell down on the spot, and then crawled to the enemy''s tanks. As soon as the seventh company got on the phone, I said in a loud voice, "well done, Captain Slaven, let the artillery platoon fight like this. Now I order you to turn their guns around and fire at the three German tanks on the left side to cover the company to complete the task. "

 Chapter 453

    With the successful experience just now, the mortar platoon''s second round of shelling was fast and accurate, and soon enveloped the enemy''s tanks and the remaining infantry in the smoke of gunfire. A company of soldiers will not let go of such a good fighter plane, they quickly jumped from the ground, ran a few steps, and then threw out the burning bottle in their hands.


    Just as the enemy''s three tanks were surrounded by raging fire, a loud bugle sounded on the company''s position. With the sound of the charge, first hundreds of soldiers from the first company clambered out of the trench and rushed forward. Then the soldiers from the second and third companies also climbed out of the trench and rushed to the remaining enemies with guns.


    After the fierce battle, there were only seven or eight people left in front of the position. In the words of division commander biliukov, we hundreds of people rushed up in a swarm and trampled them to death even with our feet. However, the surviving Germans, whether hiding by motorcycles or behind tanks, saw our soldiers rush past, threw down their weapons and raised their hands high.


    Just a few minutes later, the battle was over. The soldiers escorted the prisoners to the trench, leaving behind tanks and motorcycles still burning. In this battle, none of the enemy could escape.


    Biliukov''s call came back at this time. He said happily, "well done, comrade commander. I saw everything that happened on the battlefield in the division observation center. Well done! I congratulate you on your complete annihilation of the enemy. "


    When I heard bilukov''s praise, I bit my lips with a bitter smile, and all kinds of tastes came to my heart. Xin said that the teacher''s attitude changed too quickly. He scolded me half an hour ago and praised me in a twinkling of an eye. Fortunately, the battle was won, otherwise, what he said on the phone at the moment is probably a threat to send me to a military court.


    However, since the division commander called to praise our regiment, I would also like to say a few words: "thank you for your praise. Our regiment will tenaciously defend its position and never let the enemy move forward." At this point, I''d like to introduce the topic to Slaven. After all, when the division commander called, he was more or less concerned about his son. "In fact, in the battle just now, Captain Slaven made a great contribution."


    When I said this, general biliukov was stunned for a moment, and then asked in doubt, "have you made a great contribution? What great achievement? Commander o''shanina, I''m confused by you. Would you please tell me what''s going on? "


    I know in my heart that when people find something in common, they will suddenly become friendly, and what general bilukov and I have in common is captain Slaven. I reported to the other side: "Comrade division commander, in the battle, because we lacked enough anti tank weapons, we were unable to eliminate the enemy''s five tanks for a long time, and the battle went into a stalemate. At this critical moment, Slaven directed the mortar platoon of the seventh company to fire decisively. They aimed at the enemy''s tanks and shot, killing the infantry hiding behind the tanks with shrapnel. The smoke from the explosion blocked the sight of the enemy''s tank hands, and the soldiers who covered the attack successfully destroyed all the tanks. Only in this way can we win the final victory. "


    When bilukov heard his son''s brilliant deeds, he laughed twice and said, "I don''t think this boy knows how to be flexible. But you can''t get used to him, or he will be proud. Well, I have other things to say, so much. Remember to send the equipment of the battalion I want earlier. Good luck Then he hung up.


    Put down the phone, I stood in front of the observation hole, overlooking the position. Half of the officers and men of the three companies were nervously repairing the fortifications in the trenches. The other half, carrying the remains of the heavy wounded and the martyrs, helped the mobile light wounded and came along the traffic ditch to the second line position. I carefully studied the number of people in the trench, and the number of casualties actually reached more than 100. Thinking of this, my heart contracted for a moment. I only fought a small-scale battle with the enemy and lost a company. If I fought with the German army with air force artillery and tanks to cover the attack, how many people would be left in my regiment?


    I stood in the same place for a while, thinking that I should call seven company commander Slaven. After all, in the battle just now, his mortar platoon made a great contribution. It''s a bit unreasonable not to praise him. So I called Slaven, and I said to him with a smile, "Hello, comrade captain."


    Slaven recognized my voice and said politely, "Hello, comrade commander. Captain Slaven reports to you and is at your command


    "Well done, comrade captain." I don''t want to talk nonsense. I said frankly, "in the battle just now, you and your mortar platoon performed very well. Thanks to your decisive action, we have successfully inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, and only in this way can we win the final victory. Work hard and I will recommend you to a higher position at the right time. "


    Hearing the pie I drew for him, Slaven''s voice trembled. He said, "thank you! Thank you, commander! Please rest assured that I will lead my company to make new contributions in future battles. " At this point, he stopped for a moment and asked tentatively, "when the enemy attacks again, what is the mission of our company?"


    Hearing this, I was silent and began to think about how we could hold the position if the enemy really launched a strong attack on our regiment? Maybe it''s because I think too much and forget that I''m making a phone call, so I''ve been holding the microphone in a daze. Finally, Lukin grabbed my arm and shook it a few times. I woke up and heard Slaven''s anxious voice: "Hello! Hello! Comrade commander, are you still there? Please speak, please speak


    I was embarrassed to smile at Lukin, and then I replied to Slaven who called me and said, "Comrade captain, I''m sorry, I was thinking about the problem just now. I was so absorbed that I forgot I was talking to you. If the enemy attacks again, I think they will send planes to blow up the artillery first, and then the infantry will pounce on our position under the cover of tanks. Comrade captain, your seventh company is the reserve of the whole regiment. We should let the commanders and fighters pay attention to concealment, and do not expose their targets casually, so as to avoid unnecessary casualties. "¡° Comrade commander, I even have a mortar platoon. You know the platoon leader, Sergeant Gerhardt, who I sent to report to you last night. I think the mortar platoon can provide firepower cover for the troops in the front after the new battle starts In my meditation just now, I have thought about how to use this mortar platoon. Now that Captain Slaven has asked me, I will tell him what I think: "Comrade captain, the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. We should know how to act according to circumstances. When the enemy''s infantry under the cover of tanks attack our army, the targets of the mortar platoon are no longer the enemy''s tanks, but the infantry following the tanks. Tanks without infantry cover are not afraid even if they break through our defense lines. The soldiers in the trenches will kill them all with burning bottles. " Originally, I wanted to teach him the tactics of Xu Jin in barrage. On second thought, it was an offensive tactic, but now we are on the defensive. We can''t use it for the time being, so we gave up the idea. Just after calling captain Slaven, I didn''t expect that trakov''s call came in again. After the call, he asked with some dissatisfaction: "Comrade o''shanina, why do you always get through?"? You know, I''ve been calling you for ten minutes. " Hearing the complaint of trakov, I quickly explained, "report to commander, since the battle has just ended, I want to report the results to the division commander, and at the same time convey new combat orders to the troops below." Trekov didn''t tangle with me about why I couldn''t get through the phone. He asked with concern, "I heard general biliukov report that your regiment just fought a war with the Germans and won. What''s the result? " I quickly covered the microphone and said in a low voice to Lu Jin in front of me, "Comrade captain, the commander asked how our regiment''s achievements were? How can I answer him? " Lu Jin handed a piece of paper to me like a magic trick, and said with a smile: "Comrade commander, I''m ready. This is the result of the battle just counted out." Seeing that Lukin was so well prepared, I released my hand covering the microphone and reported to trekov according to the above: "report commander, in the battle just now, our regiment destroyed 5 German light tanks, 21 motorcycles, killed 75 enemies and captured 11 people. The result report is over, please give us your instructions! " After listening to this, trikov gave a satisfied hum and asked, "are there any casualties in our army?" Seeing the number of our army casualties on the paper, my heart twitched. I didn''t expect that it was more than I estimated. Trekov didn''t hear my answer. He immediately urged in the microphone, "what''s the matter? Commander o''shanina, why don''t you talk? " After biting my teeth, I reported the real casualty data to trikov: "report commander, our army has killed 67 people and injured 125 people, 28 of whom need to be sent to the rear hospital for operation." Trekov was stunned when he heard the data, and then asked curiously, "Why are there so many casualties?" I explained to him, "Comrade commander, when the enemy tanks shelled our army, the place where the second company stacked the burning bottles was unfortunately hit by the shells, causing heavy casualties to the company. The other casualties are the soldiers who went out to blow up the tanks. " As he was talking to trakov, there was a loud noise outside the observation post, and then the earth above the ceiling was blown down from the crevice of the log. Trekov raised his voice and asked, "commander oshanina, what''s the matter?" I shook my head, shook the dust off my helmet, looked at the smoke rising from the positions outside, and listened to the sound of explosions. I calmly reported to trikov, "Comrade commander, it seems that the enemy is ready to attack our positions. Their artillery are shelling our positions. The noise you just heard was that an enemy shell landed next to the observation post and exploded. "¡° Commander oshanina, since the enemy is attacking again, you and your soldiers should teach them a good lesson. Be safe and good luck

 Chapter 454

    I told Lu Jin: "Comrade captain, call the company commanders of each company and ask them to pay attention to concealment. In addition to the observation posts, the rest of the people in the position should withdraw to the concealment department to avoid unnecessary casualties as far as possible."


    In the air raid yesterday, the commanders of the regiment were killed and killed, so at present, the regiment has cancelled the battalion level organizational system. Every order I give is directly given to each company commander through Lu Jin.


    Two more shells landed near the observation post and exploded. In the roaring explosion, the earth on the roof was shocked and fell. Lu Jin looked at the roof with some worry, and then persuaded me: "Comrade commander, it''s too dangerous here. Let''s find a safe place to hide and come back after the enemy''s shelling."


    Although there is a lot of dust on my helmet and shoulders, I''m too lazy to dust them. Anyway, the soil on the roof will fall down later. Even if it''s cleaned, it won''t be long before it falls all over again. I waved down Lukin''s offer. I pretended to be calm and said: "Comrade captain, don''t be nervous. The enemy''s artillery is shelling our regiment''s position. These shells that landed outside the observation post should have been accidentally missed by the enemy. We won''t be in any danger if we stay here."


    After listening to my farfetched reason, Lu Jin grinned helplessly: "well, since the chief said it''s safe to stay in the observation center, I''ll stay here with you."


    In order to ease his nervousness, I said with a smile: "Captain Lu Jin, I really don''t have to worry. It''s not the first time I''ve been on the battlefield. Although I''ve been injured several times, it doesn''t matter. You see, I''m standing right in front of you now? "


    The enemy''s shelling did not last long. Half an hour later, as soon as the enemy''s shelling was over, the enemy''s offensive troops appeared in my field of vision. Ten German tanks came to our position, and the German soldiers in helmets trotted behind them.


    As the enemy''s shelling stopped, the officers and men hiding in the hideout returned to the trenches one after another. Lu Jin asked me, "Comrade commander, how should we fight the next battle?"


    Looking at the enemy tanks and infantry approaching the position, I slowly said to Lukin, "Comrade captain, tell the three company commanders of the first line of defense not to rush the enemy tanks first, but to let them rush forward. When they rush through our first line of defense, they will immediately fire a torch to wipe out the infantry following. As for the coming tanks, they will be handed over to the troops in the second line of defense. Do you understand my orders? "


    Lu Jin readily agreed and began to call the company commanders: "I''m captain Lu Jin. Connect me with the company commander. A company commander? " He yelled to the microphone: "the commander orders that the troops of the first line of defense should not take care of the enemy''s tanks. Just let them rush forward. After they rush through the trench, you can fire decisively and destroy the enemy infantry behind the tanks. Do you understand me? Good. Now that you understand it, you''ll give the order to the second company and the third company at once. "


    After the call, he then called the commander of the fourth company.


    "Fourth company commander, is that you?" Lu Jin gave an order to the company commanders through the microphone: "commander''s order, after the enemy''s tanks rush through the first line of defense, you should quickly send out the battle, use the traffic trench to approach the enemy''s tanks, and use the burning bottle to destroy all these tanks without infantry cover. Do you understand? OK, just understand. You should immediately convey this order to the company commander of the fifth company and the sixth company, and let them act together with your company. "


    As the frontier received my order to let go of the enemy''s tanks and only hit the infantry behind, no one fired when the enemy''s tanks came close to the trench. Ten German tanks in battle formation smashed through the burning remains of motorcycles in front of the position, smoothly crossed the first trench of our army and sped forward at full speed.


    The enemy''s infantry is small, 150 or 60 in a company, but they are obviously veterans with rich combat experience. As soon as the gunfire in the front of our army rang out, they fell to the ground one after another and fired back. Several German machine gunners quickly seized a favorable position and established a machine gun position. Then several machine guns opened fire at the same time. The commanders and fighters in the position facing them were forced into the trench by the fierce machine gun fire and could not look up.


    I turned to Lu Jin and said, "Comrade captain, connect me with Captain Slaven, commander of the seventh company."


    After that, I observed the enemy tanks that broke through our army. I saw the car rushing in front of me. Suddenly a fire burst out on the body of the car. After driving a certain distance forward, I slowly stopped and began to burn in the same place. I looked left and right with the telescope and found no soldiers near the tank. Who broke the tank?


    Just thinking about it, another tank caught fire and burned. After a few steps forward, it plunged into the traffic ditch beside it. When I saw that there were still no soldiers of our army around, I remembered that the division commander sent us three anti tank guns, and Lukin was equipped with four companies. These two destroyed tanks should be their masterpieces.


    Seeing that two tanks were destroyed in succession, the remaining tanks became cautious. They slowed down and fired at our second line of defense.


    Lukin put the receiver in front of me and said, "Comrade commander, Captain Slaven''s call is through."


    I took the microphone, and without politeness, I said directly to Slaven, "Comrade captain, order the mortar platoon to open fire and destroy the enemy''s machine gun position. After that, fire at the enemy''s dense area and kill them in large quantities. Remember, don''t hurt yourself by mistake. "¡° Please rest assured, I will order the mortar platoon to fire immediately. " Slaven yelled back in the microphone. When I looked out again, the number of destroyed German tanks in front of the second position had increased to five, and the remaining tanks quickly stopped moving forward and started shooting at random. Lu Jin handed the microphone to me again, and the report said, "Comrade commander, it''s the teacher''s phone."¡° How are you doing there? Commander o''shanina. " Biliukov''s dissatisfied voice came from the microphone: "I heard the observation report that the enemy''s tanks have broken through the first line of defense of your regiment and are stopping to bombard the second line of defense. What''s the matter? Why did the enemy''s tanks break through our lines? " As for his reproach, I calmly and clearly reported to him: "report to Comrade division commander, because our regiment lacks anti tank weapons, so when the enemy attacks, I specially order the troops on the front line to let go of the enemy''s tanks and only attack the infantry behind. And the tanks that break through our line of defense, because there is no infantry cover, our troops in the second line of defense can wipe them out. " At this point, I raised my telescope to look out, and then said, "the enemy has a total of ten tanks. At present, more than six tanks have been destroyed in front of the second line of defense of our regiment, and the remaining four are firing aimlessly at our positions. I see some soldiers carrying burning bottles are quietly approaching these tanks through the traffic trench. I believe they will be wiped out before long. "¡° Well done, comrade oshanina. When the battle is over, remember to call me right away. " With that, there was no sound in the microphone. I handed the microphone back to Lukin and said to him, "Comrade captain, I''m sorry, I turned you into my signalman today. I will continue to stay in the observation post. You should go to the seventh company immediately and command the mortar platoon to bombard the enemy''s infantry. You must annihilate the attacking enemy in the shortest time Under the precise attack of mortar, the German machine gun position was destroyed. Lukin also directed the mortar platoon to bombard the recalcitrant German infantry. One after another, the shells fell on the German soldiers lying on the ground and exploded. The blast pulled one soldier after another out of the ground, threw them high into the air and fell heavily on the ground. I saw that the ten German tanks were in various positions in front of the second line of defense, and the German infantry in front of the first line of defense also suffered heavy casualties under the attack of artillery fire. It seemed that it was time for the troops to attack, so I asked the newly arrived signalman to connect me with a company. As soon as I got through, I yelled into the microphone, "is it a company commander? I''m lieutenant commander o''shanina. Did you see that? The ten German tanks that rushed through your trenches were destroyed by the second line of defense. Don''t hesitate any more, lead your company to attack, and kill all the Krauts in front of you. " With my command, the forward position soon rang out the sound of the bugle, which was suppressed by the sound of guns. With the sound of the bugle, the officers and men in the trench climbed out of the trench one after another, shouting and rushing towards the enemy. After a short battle, except for a few soldiers who escaped, the rest were either killed or obediently raised their hands to surrender and became prisoners of our army. At the end of the battle, I was relieved. After receiving a call from a company commander to report the results of the battle, I called bilukov and excitedly reported to him: "Hello, comrade division commander! I''m lieutenant commander o''shanina. All the enemies who attacked our troops have been eliminated. In the battle just now, we destroyed ten enemy tanks, killed 127 soldiers and captured 25. "¡° Do you know the name of the enemy? "¡° After interrogation, it can be determined that they are all from the 71st German infantry division. "¡° All right, comrade commander. Well done. I will report this result to the commander immediately. I remind you, you can''t be proud. Let the soldiers take the time to reinforce the fortifications and be ready to repel the enemy''s attack again. "

 Chapter 455

    Through the battle just now, I suddenly felt that it was inconvenient for me to directly command the company beyond the battalion level organizational system. Although the regiment suffered heavy losses in yesterday''s air raid, after all, there are still seven companies with thousands of people. If it is a relatively easy fight just now, I can directly command each company. But if the war is fierce, I''ll call again and give orders one by one, it''s easy to delay the fighters, so it''s urgent to restore the battalion level organizational system.


    Holding the battle report recording the number of casualties of our regiment in my hand, I was thinking about how to allocate the existing seven companies to the new battalion. I was so absorbed in my thoughts that Lu Jin, who came back from the seventh company, stood beside me for a long time, but I didn''t notice it.


    Later, it was Lu Jin who coughed gently beside me, which turned my attention away from the war report. I looked at Lu Jin, who was black with smoke. I couldn''t help laughing. I pointed to his face and said, "Comrade captain, wipe your face. It looks like a coal worker."


    Lu Jin also laughed, raised his hand to wipe his face and asked, "Comrade commander, what are you thinking? I''ve been standing by your side for so long, and you didn''t find me. "


    I handed him the battle report in my hand and said, "this is the battle report I just received. After two battles, the second company suffered the most casualties, with more than two thirds of the casualties. At present, there are only more than 60 people left."


    Lu Jinbian listened to me and looked at the war report. After a few eyes, he frowned and said, "Comrade commander, do you mean to add up the second company as soon as possible?"


    I shook my head and said, "we have no reserves at all except for the seventh company to supplement the company with heavy losses in front of us. What''s more, the next battle will be more cruel. The seventh company can''t be used casually. "


    Lu Jin was confused. He hesitated for a moment and asked tentatively, "what do you mean?"


    "The second company and the fifth company were replaced. The fifth company only suffered more than a dozen casualties, and there are more than 140 people in the whole company. If they are transferred up, we can enrich the defensive strength of the first line of defense." When I said this, I suddenly thought of rebuilding the battalion level organizational system, and added, "in order to facilitate the command, I intend to restore the battalion level organizational system in the regiment."


    "Restore the organizational system at the battalion level?" Lu Jin could not help but be stunned, and then asked: "how to recover?"


    Before Lu Jin planned my thoughts, I had a preliminary idea. Now that he asked, I said it all out: "at present, the first company, the third company and the fifth company in the first line of defense form a battalion, and the battalion commander is a company commander; The second company, the fourth company and the sixth company of the second line of defense form the second battalion, and the battalion commander is the second company commander; The seventh company is under the direct command of the regiment headquarters. "


    After listening to my new marshalling plan, Lu Jin nodded and echoed: "Comrade commander, organize the existing troops into two battalions, and convey the orders to the battalion level, and then from the battalion level down. This marshalling plan is very appropriate, and I agree with you."


    Seeing that Lu Jin didn''t object, I felt more secure. I told him: "then you can call and convey this matter to several company commanders below."


    As soon as captain Lukin had passed on the matter of establishing a battalion level organizational system to the company below, the phone call from division commander biliukov came in again. "Commander o''shanina, I want to inform you of an important thing. You have to prepare yourself first," he said in a hurry on the phone


    His words made my heart tighten. My heart said what it was. Even the calm teacher became so panicked. "The situation has become more complicated. I have just received a call from the commander saying that about 5000 of the broken up remnants of the 57th group army are rushing to the ferry behind your regiment''s line of defense," biliukov said. According to the reconnaissance, the German troops pursuing them are also moving towards the defense area of your regiment. It is estimated that they will arrive in half an hour. Now your regiment''s task is to hold fast to its present position, block the enemy''s possible attack, cover the 57th group army to cross the Don river safely and build a new defensive position on the left bank. "


    It''s said that it''s the task of covering the troops to cross the river. I didn''t care too much about it. Anyway, there are only a few thousand people. If we move fast, maybe we can all cross the bridge on the river and reach the left bank of Don River in half an hour. Therefore, he replied with disapproval, "please rest assured that our regiment will resolutely block the German attack and cover the friendly troops to cross the Don River smoothly."


    Perhaps biliukov recognized from my tone that I didn''t pay attention to the enemy, and quickly added, "commander oshanina, the enemy is coming. You can''t underestimate the enemy. You know, in the morning''s air raid, the enemy planes had blown up the bridges on the Don river. At present, thousands of officers and men crowded by the river lacked enough crossing equipment, and they could not cross the river for several hours. This requires your regiment to carry forward the spirit of fearing neither hardship nor death, fight tenaciously with the enemy, beat back the enemy''s attack, and cover our troops to cross the river. "


    After listening to biliukov''s words, I suddenly became nervous and my heart beat violently. My heart beat my chest and seemed to want to jump out of it. I extremely reluctantly laughed and replied, "please rest assured, sir. As long as there is one person in our regiment, I will firmly hold the field."


    Biliukov said with satisfaction: "very good, comrade commander. I hope your performance will be as beautiful as you said. I repeat the order, hold the line at all costs! "


    I quickly straightened up and repeated aloud, "yes, sir. Hold on to your position at all costs! " I handed the microphone to Lu Jin and said solemnly: "the division commander called and said that the enemy might launch a fierce attack on our regiment''s position soon. Let''s get ready. At the same time, he ordered us to hold the position at all costs and cover the friendly troops to cross the river. You order battalion one to lay anti tank mines in front of the position immediately. We lack enough anti tank weapons, so we have to rely on mines to blow up enemy tanks. By the way, tell a battalion commander to bury all the anti tank mines in the road where the tanks have just passed, so that the probability of bombing the enemy''s tanks is higher. " Taking advantage of Lu Jin''s phone call, I sat down in the corner, poured the north tea by myself, and considered how to deal with the coming brutal battle while drinking. Before long, the sudden ringing of the telephone broke my train of thought. I frowned and looked at Lu Jin who answered the phone. In my heart, I secretly scolded the caller for not knowing what to do, not calling early or late. Just when I was thinking about the problem, I called and interrupted my train of thought. Later, I had to scold him. Unexpectedly, Lu Jin directly handed the microphone to me and said in a low voice, "it''s the teacher''s phone." Didn''t you just call the teacher? Why did you call again? Although I feel a little dissatisfied with the frequent calls from my teachers, I still have to smile and politely ask, "Hello, comrade teachers! Would you like to call me at this time? Do you have any new instructions? " Instead of being polite to me, bilukov said directly, "commander oshanina, I''ve just received an order from the commander. He asked our division to cross the river with the remnants of the 57th group army and build a new defensive zone on the left bank of the Don river. "¡° what? Our division crossed the river with the 57th army? " Hearing this news, I can''t help but be surprised. Soon after receiving the order to hold the position and cover the friendly troops crossing the river, the new order to let us cross the river came again. Isn''t this a pastime? I asked cautiously, "Comrade division, didn''t you just give me the order to hold the position? You know, we are fortifying the fortifications to prepare against the German attack. " Biliukov said coldly: "Comrade commander, orders from higher authorities are not allowed to be discussed. Since Comrade commander ordered our division to cross the river, we should carry out the order. If the enemy comes to attack, you must resolutely block them. As soon as the friendly troops are about to cross the river, your regiment will immediately withdraw from its position and rush to the river crossing. "¡° What if the enemy catches up? " When I heard that I was going to retreat under the enemy''s eyes, I could not help feeling a little flustered. If the troops were attacked during the retreat, they would be completely defeated, and then they would be defeated like a mountain¡° Do you want me to teach you how to retreat? " Biliukov said impatiently, "just fight and retreat, and cover the withdrawal position alternately."

 Chapter 456

    A new round of German attack began in the evening. In order to capture the position of our regiment, the enemy used a large-scale artillery group, the shells fell on the defense line like raindrops, and our army suddenly fell into a sea of fire.


    As the two lines of defense were shrouded in smoke, the situation of the front positions was not clear at all. I frowned and said to Lu Jin, "Comrade captain, please contact the first battalion and the second battalion by telephone to see what''s going on in the position?"


    Lu Jin picked up the phone and yelled a few times, then raised his head and told him, "Comrade commander, I can''t get in touch with you. Maybe the telephone line has been blown off."


    I glared at him and said sternly, "what are you still doing here? Send someone to repair it immediately. We must resume contact with the frontier in the shortest time."


    Lu Jin promised to run to the gate of the observation station and called out twice. Soon a second lieutenant came to salute him and asked, "Hello, comrade captain, do you have any instructions?"


    Because the gunfire was too loud, Lu Jin had to shout out: "Comrade lieutenant, the telephone line leading to the forward position of the observation post may have been broken by the shell. You immediately send someone to check the line, be sure to restore the communication with the frontier in the shortest time. Go ahead. "


    After the second lieutenant left, Lu Jin came to me and said, "Comrade commander, I have given an order to the platoon leader of the communication platoon to send someone to repair the line immediately and resume communication with the front position as soon as possible."


    Two minutes later, a signalman ran into the observation post and reported to Lu Jin, "Comrade captain, the second lieutenant asked me to report to you that the telephone line has been repaired and can talk to the commander at the front line."


    When Lukin got on the phone, he yelled, "a battalion commander? This is captain Lukin. Report on your battalion? "


    A battalion commander yelled at the top of his voice: "report to Comrade captain, the situation is very bad. The enemy''s artillery fire was too fierce, and several concealment units were destroyed. Although statistics are not available for the time being, I think the casualties are still very large. "


    "Tell the soldiers to pay attention to concealment and minimize unnecessary casualties. Hello! Hello Lu Jingang said two words, and there was no sound in the microphone. I called out repeatedly: "Hello, battalion commander, battalion commander, can you hear me?"


    Seeing this, I couldn''t help frowning and said unhappily, "what''s the matter? Has the telephone line been blown off again?" Lu Jin quickly put down the phone, rushed to the door of the observation station again, and yelled to the outside: "come on, check the line quickly to see if the line is broken again."


    Just then, an enemy shell landed near the observation post and exploded. The air wave made the dust on the roof fall like rain, so that I had to close my eyes to avoid being fascinated by the dust. Before I opened my eyes, I heard someone shouting: "Comrade captain, what''s the matter with you? Where did you get hurt? "


    I quickly shook my head and shook off a lot of dust on my face. Then I tried to open my eyes and look at the door. I saw a soldier helping Lu Jin up from the ground. I went over and saw the blood on Lu Jin''s face. I quickly asked with concern, "Comrade captain, are you injured?" The soldier and I helped him to sit down in the corner, and then called to the soldier, "Comrade soldier, go and call the health worker."


    After the soldiers left, I asked again, "Lu Jin, don''t you mind?"


    Lu Jin waved his hand and said with difficulty: "Comrade commander, I''m ok, but I''ve got shrapnel on my head and I can''t die. The soldiers of the communication platoon have gone to repair the lines, and I believe they will soon be able to resume communication with the frontier. "


    There was a voice calling for a report from the door. I looked up and saw that it was a male health worker. I quickly raised my hand to greet him: "come here, comrade soldier. The captain is injured. Bandage him quickly. "


    The hygienist squats down in front of Lu Jin, opens the medicine box, and takes out a pile of bottles and a roll of bandages. When he cleaned the wound with alcohol, Lu Jin bit his teeth in pain and snorted, which scared me to remind the health worker nervously: "take it easy, don''t hurt the captain."


    The hygienist who was cleaning the wound listened to me and stopped his work. Lu Jin saw that he was nervous, comforted him and said, "don''t worry, comrade health worker. I can stand it. Go on."


    After cleaning the wound and applying iodine wine, the health worker bandaged Lu Jin''s forehead. As a result, he stood up and reported to me, "Comrade commander, the captain''s head was only scratched by shrapnel. After treatment, it''s all right."


    I nodded with satisfaction, waved to him and said, "thank you, comrade soldier. It''s none of your business here. Go back first. "


    When I got through to the front line again, I asked a battalion commander, "battalion commander, what''s going on with the enemy?"


    The first battalion replied in a loud voice: "Comrade report leader, according to the report of the observation post, the enemy has been bombarding our position with artillery fire, but no trace of the enemy has been found in front of the position."


    "Continue to observe and report to me whenever you have any information." Then I hung up.


    I didn''t expect that as soon as I put down the phone, biliukov called again. He yelled and asked, "commander oshanina, what''s the situation over there?"


    "Very bad, comrade teacher." With a sad face, I replied, "the enemy is shelling our regiment''s positions continuously. Although we can''t count the casualty data for the time being, I estimate that the casualties caused by the enemy''s shelling are not small."


    "I now give you the latest order. Once the enemy''s shelling is over and there is no attack from the enemy''s ground forces, you will immediately lead the troops to withdraw from the position and set up a new defensive position two kilometers later to cover the troops crossing the river." Biliukov''s constant change of orders made me dissatisfied, but I didn''t dare to complain to him, so I could only say politely: "Comrade division, it''s very difficult for the troops to withdraw quickly because of the heavy casualties. Because it will take a lot of time to transfer the wounded. When we withdraw to the new defensive area, it is estimated that the enemy''s large forces will rush on. If our regiment has no fortifications, it will not be able to stop the enemy. I suggest that the troops should stay in the existing area and continue to fight against the possible attacks of the enemy, so as to gain valuable time for the troops crossing the river. " Biliukov was silent for a moment and said, "Comrade oshanina, there are a group of political workers sent from the base camp by the river. They need to cross the river as soon as possible. If your regiment continues to hold on to its present position, the enemy''s troops may completely bypass your defense area and go straight to the river. Then these political workers with little combat effectiveness will be in danger. " To tell you the truth, I don''t like political workers very much. In my mind, they belong to the role of being less successful than failing. Now I want my troops to retreat to the open area where there is no danger to defend, to build a new line of defense and to cover them to cross the river. From the bottom of my heart, I am very reluctant. Perhaps after hearing that I had not responded, biliukov said in a more emphatic tone: "Comrade oshanina, maybe you don''t know the details of these political workers, then I will tell you frankly. They were called from all the frontier regions and prefectures of the country. Among them, there were more than 500 senior officials and department directors of the District, prefectural and municipal Party committees, as well as secretaries from collective farms and factories and other party workers. Among them are the staff members of the Central Committee, comrade kirilov and Comrade kruglov, and the Deputy people''s committee member of the state farms of the Russian Federation, Mr. stubov. They came to the group army to strengthen the political departments and form a strong core of the party in the group army. Once something happens to them, it will be an irreparable loss for us. At that time, don''t say it''s you. Even general trakov and I may be taken to military court. " Biliukov''s words scared me out in a cold sweat. It turns out that it is so important for us to cover the people crossing the river. It seems that we can only carry out the order unconditionally. So I bit my lip and reluctantly replied, "please rest assured, sir. After the enemy''s shelling is over, I will order the troops in the front to withdraw from the position and rush to a new defensive position to build a defensive position. And I will lead the seventh company and the guard platoon to stay and cover the retreat of the troops. " When I heard the name of the seventh company, biliukov was silent for a moment, and then said decisively, "well, we should build a defense position by the river as soon as possible to cover the political workers to cross the river safely. Finally, I wish you good luck and remember to come back alive! "

 Chapter 457

    The German bombardment lasted a full hour.


    As soon as the enemy''s shelling was over, before I got through to the front line, trakov called. His voice was a little anxious: "is it Comrade oshanina? I''m trekov


    I said politely, "Hello, comrade commander."


    "Have you received the order from general bilukov?" trekov said


    I replied, "yes, I have received an order from the division commander that our regiment withdraw from the existing positions, withdraw two kilometers, build a new position, and cover the political workers from the base camp to cross the river. At present, the enemy''s shelling of our regiment''s positions has just ended. I intend to observe for a while. If the enemy does not launch a ground attack, I will order the forward forces to withdraw from their positions one after another and rush to new defensive areas to build defensive positions. "


    "Is there a lot of casualties in the army?" trekov asked


    I don''t know how to answer this question. Under the heavy artillery fire just now, even if we can''t make statistics, we can guess that the casualties of the troops will never be less. Hearing that I kept silent, trekov on the other end of the phone also kept silent. Maybe he knew that his question was unnecessary.


    I took a deep breath and replied, "Comrade report commander, we haven''t contacted the frontier yet. During the German artillery bombardment of our position, the telephone line between the observation post and the front line was repeatedly broken, so our communication was repeatedly interrupted, so that I could not accurately and timely grasp the situation of the troops. " At this point, I hesitated a little, but I said what I really thought in my heart: "Comrade commander, I think it''s probably the best choice to stay and stick to the present position with the current strength of our regiment."


    Trekov, listen to me, he didn''t speak.


    I went on to say, "the troops suffered a lot of casualties in the shelling just now. The presence of a large number of casualties will slow down our retreat. Perhaps before we arrived at the new position, the enemy who came to attack had already come to the river. Can you give me the task of covering the political workers to cross the river? According to the soldiers'' instructions, I came to the battalion command post. When I entered the shelter, the second battalion commander was shouting with his telephone desperately. Seeing me enter, he left the telephone and saluted me: "Hello, comrade commander. How did you get here? "


    I also saluted and asked, "second battalion commander, how are the casualties in your battalion?"


    The commander of the second battalion immediately replied, "Comrade commander of the report, the casualties of the troops have just been counted out. Nearly 200 people have been killed and nearly so many fighters are left."


    I don''t talk nonsense with him either. I directly ordered: "second battalion commander, just received the order from the superior, our regiment will withdraw from the position immediately. Go to the river Dayton to build a new defensive position and cover the crossing of friendly troops. You will immediately organize the transfer of troops and go to the regiment observation station to find captain Lu Jin to accept the task. "


    The second battalion commander was used to obeying orders and readily agreed to withdraw without even asking why.


    When he heard that I was going to the first battalion''s position next, he could not help being nervous and quickly persuaded me: "Comrade commander, there may be unexploded shells on the way to the first battalion. If you go there, you will be in danger. Let me send a correspondent to give you the order. "


    I waved and said firmly, "second battalion commander, you don''t have to worry about my safety. Organize the troops to retreat immediately."


    On the way to the first line of defense, I thought that more than 200 people from the second battalion, together with the seventh company and the guard platoon, could make up 500 or 600 people. As long as there are 100 people left in the first battalion, our regiment would be barely enough to fight a blocking battle. However, all the ammunition stored near the regiment headquarters could not be transported away. It seems that we can only blow up all the ammunition when we leave. We must not be cheap.


    As a result, when I came to the first battalion, I found that the situation was much worse than I thought. As a result of the enemy''s heavy shelling, the trenches here have been razed to the ground, the whole position can not see a moving figure.


    I stopped and anxiously yelled at the empty position, "is there anyone else? Is there anyone else in the position? "


    The guards behind me also called out in unison: "is there anyone else? Is there anyone alive? "


    With our shouts, the surface soil on the ground moved. With little effort, more than a dozen soldiers came out of the ground. Seeing some comrades in arms, the guards ran up one after another to help them get out of the soil.


    A few minutes later, in front of me, more than 40 soldiers lined up in two neat rows. On the left side of the line stood the former company commander, now a battalion commander. I went to him, looked at the bandage on his head, and asked with concern, "battalion commander, are you seriously injured?"


    Unexpectedly, he replied loudly: "chief of the report, the rest of the first battalion are here. I assure you that as long as there is one man in the battalion, the enemy will never be allowed to move forward. "


    At this time, the sergeant standing next to him told me in a low voice: "Comrade commander, the battalion commander''s ears have been deafened."


    After listening to the soldier''s explanation, I couldn''t help but be stunned. Only then did I understand why a battalion commander just answered the wrong question. I said to the sergeant, "I order the first battalion to withdraw from the position immediately, and the whole battalion will turn to the river Dun to accept the new combat mission."

 Chapter 458

    Looking at the back of a battalion''s officers and soldiers leaving, I couldn''t help thinking, is this really the only person left in a battalion? At this time, a soldier in the guard platoon next to me asked me carefully: "Comrade commander, shall we go back to the observation post?"


    I glared at the soldier and said, "go back to the observation post, stay and continue to look for any surviving soldiers." Speaking of this, I glanced at the soldiers around me and said in a loud voice, "what are you still doing here? Don''t look for it soon!"


    When the soldiers around saw that I was angry, they agreed in good order, and then they scattered one after another, shouting along the bombed trench: "anyone else? Is there anyone else? "


    I sat on a mound and looked at the soldiers who were looking for survivors along the collapsed trench. I still had a sense of fluke in my heart. Although there were only three companies in the first battalion, these companies were reorganized after the enemy planes attacked the river. The number of the companies was nearly double that of the normal companies. There were more than 40 people left in the 400 strong battalion, I didn''t want to believe that, so I ordered the soldiers in the guard platoon to search for survivors.


    After half an hour''s search, the soldiers began to return one after another. When they passed me, they all cried and shook their heads, indicating that no survivors were found. Seeing more and more security platoon soldiers returning without success, my heart sank a little bit, thinking that my first battalion was over?


    At this time, a soldier came up to me and stood at attention to salute. He panted and said, "Comrade commander, Captain Lu Jin, please go back to the observation post immediately. The division commander has an important call for you."


    I stood up and saw the trench buried by the floating soil for the last time. I had no illusions about finding the survivors. As soon as I gritted my teeth and stamped my feet, I said to the soldiers in the guard platoon around me, "let''s go back to the observation post." Then I turned around and followed, and told my soldiers to follow me to the observation station.


    As soon as I got to the gate of the observation post, I saw Lukin and Slaven coming out. I was stunned to see Slaven appear here. However, since Lu Jin sent someone to inform me that the division commander would call me, there must be something important to order, so he didn''t care to ask why he was here. He asked Lu Jin straightforwardly, "Comrade captain, does the division commander have a call for me?" Then he went to the observation center.


    Lu Jin nodded and followed me as I walked into the room, saying, "yes, comrade commander, the division commander just called to ask our regiment to withdraw from the position immediately and go to the Dun River to deploy."


    Hearing this inexplicable order, I could not help but stop and asked anxiously, "our regiment is going to withdraw. What should we do when the enemy comes?"? You know, a few hundred meters behind our observation post, there are still many regiments of weapons and equipment. Are they all given to the Germans for nothing? "


    Lu Jin replied with a wry smile: "that''s what the teacher ordered. As you know, orders from higher authorities are not allowed to be discussed and can only be executed unconditionally. "


    I said, "I''ll call my teacher and ask what''s going on?" Speaking of the orders issued by biliukov, I was full of fire. First, I ordered our regiment to hold the position at all costs, and then ordered us to withdraw from the position after fighting. Now, I can''t see the shadow of the attacking enemy, so I ordered us to withdraw to the new defense area.


    "Comrade division commander, I want to ask why we have to order our regiment to withdraw from the position at this time. We should know that as soon as the enemy''s shelling is over, perhaps the enemy''s infantry will soon attack under the cover of tanks." As soon as I got on the phone, I complained to bilukov.


    "Lieutenant Commander o''shanina, this is an order issued by the commander of the group army. We are not allowed to talk about it. We must implement it immediately and unconditionally." Perhaps he felt that his tone was too stiff. When bilukov said this, he stopped for a moment and continued to say in a relatively mild tone: "your regiment only needs to persist until dark, even if it has completed the task, and then follow those troops across the Don River to find a suitable position on the left bank of the river to build a defensive position."


    "What about the seized weapons and ammunition?"


    Biliukov was silent for a moment and replied, "I''ll send a battalion to take over your defense area immediately. You ask captain Lukin to stay and take charge of the handover of weapons and ammunition."


    Seeing this, I could only reluctantly promise: "I understand, sir. I asked Comrade Lu Jin and the guard platoon to stay, and then I took the seventh company to the Dun River to join the main force of the regiment. "


    Putting down the phone, I called Lu Jin in front of me and said, "Comrade captain, the division commander said to send a battalion to take over our defense area immediately. You stay with the guard platoon to contact them and hand over the weapons and ammunition we seized. Do you understand? "


    Lu Jin nodded vigorously and said aloud, "please rest assured, commander. I promise to finish the task."


    When Slaven and I left the observation post, I couldn''t help asking, "Comrade captain, what do you do when you come to the observation post instead of commanding the troops in your position?"


    Slaven laughed sheepishly and replied, "Comrade commander, when you were away just now, Captain Lukin called me and asked me to accept the task at the observation station. After ordering me to withdraw from the first and second battalions, I led the seventh company to stay behind. The regimental political commissar saluted me and then extended his hand to me. He held one hand with me and patted the other hand on the back of my hand. He said with a smile, "Comrade o''xanina, you may not know me yet. Let me introduce myself. I''m kirilov from the Central Committee. I''m the new director of the Political Department of the 62nd army. "


    I felt a little uncomfortable with his intimacy, but it was not easy to get rid of his hand, so I had to smile awkwardly and say, "sorry, comrade political commissar of regiment level, I didn''t seem to have seen you before. I don''t know how you recognized me?" Kirilov replied, "you''ve been to the Kremlin twice before, and that''s when I met you. You know, there are not many female officers in the army. Besides, I have been informed that you will lead the troops to cover our crossing. So I recognized you as soon as you showed up. "

 Chapter 459

    After kirilov released my hand, he leaned aside and introduced to me the two political workers behind him, who were about the same height and weight. He said, "Comrade oshanina, I''d like to introduce you. These two are my deputies, kokunov and rogulev. They used to be government workers in the Eastern District of Moscow, Kokunov, the infantry guard to be sent to reconstruction soon, looked like a shy man. He just gave me a polite smile and gave me a little shake.


    Compared with kokunov''s reticence, rogulev is obviously much more active. He took my outstretched hand in both hands and shook it vigorously. "Hello, comrade commander. I''ve heard about your brilliant achievements in the war of defense in Moscow. I didn''t expect to see you here. It''s really my honor. "


    For rogulev''s praise, I was a little embarrassed to laugh twice. Then I looked at kirilov and cleverly changed the topic: "Comrade kirilov, why haven''t you crossed the river yet? You know, our mission is to cover you and your companions to cross the Don river safely and go to the other side of the river. "


    "Comrade commander, I also want to cross the river at once." Kirilov replied, frowning discontentedly, "but do you see what''s going on by the river? After the bridge on the Don river was blown up by enemy planes, only a dozen motor boats could cross the river. As a result, the enemy planes bombarded and strafed the ferry all the time during the day, sinking seven or eight boats. After another boat was hit by the bomb, the crew struggled to drive the boat back to the wharf, but as soon as they got to the shore, it sank in the water. Now we can only rely on the remaining ten motorboats to transport the river''s officers and men bit by bit across the river. "


    Hearing what he said, I asked curiously, "are there many casualties in the army?"


    Kirilov nodded hard and said solemnly, "yes, the casualties of the troops are very large. In the two days yesterday and today, at least eight or nine thousand of our officers and men died by the river, not counting the soldiers who sank in the river with the ferry in the process of crossing the river. "


    Although I had known for a long time that there were heavy casualties in the army, I was surprised to hear kirilov say so, and I couldn''t help asking, "Why are there so many casualties?"


    Kirilov explained bitterly: "he lost his organic troops and became a mess by the river. He became the target of enemy bombing. Especially after the bridge was blown up, the soldiers had to cross the river by ferry. As soon as they saw a boat entering the wharf, they all crowded over and rushed to the ferry. You know, the ferry must be slow. When the enemy plane found out this, it was like shooting at a target, strafing and bombing the troops who were boarding. Some of the officers and men who escaped the enemy''s air attack by the river died in vain in the process of boarding the ship. "


    I looked up at the sky. It was getting dark. According to the order, as long as these political workers crossed the Don river, our regiment could withdraw and cross the river. Thinking of this, I urged kirilov to say, "comrades of the political commissar of the regiment, it''s dark and tired. You and your comrades should cross the river as soon as possible."


    Unexpectedly, he shook his head and said, "Comrade commander, I can''t cross the river yet?"


    "Why?" I asked, puzzled.


    "Now the officers and men along the river are all pulled down from the front. There is no unified command and their morale is very low. At such a time, my comrades and I should stay, contact with these officers and men, sit down and talk with them, boost their morale and rebuild their confidence in winning. "


    I have also participated in the conversation between senior generals and junior commanders and soldiers. I know that senior generals can boost the morale of their subordinates by having heart to heart talks with their subordinates. From my heart, kirilov''s action is understandable, but at the moment, I am very anxious for them to cross the river earlier, so that when our regiment finishes its task, we can go to the other side of the river together. Otherwise, as soon as dawn comes, our regiment will be in the open land with no danger to defend, and will bear the double attack of the enemy''s artillery and air force, and it will not be so easy to cross the river at that time.


    "Comrade political commissar of the regiment level," I suggested to him with a glimmer of hope, "you can cross the river first. As for the work of heart to heart talk with the soldiers, you can leave it to other political workers."


    "No, comrade oshanina." I didn''t expect kirilov to reply with a smile: "I''m a commander. At such a dangerous time, I should set an example. How can I leave my subordinates and escape to a safe place first? If I run away, will they still trust me when I do advocacy work to the soldiers in the future? " Seeing what else I wanted to say, he quickly raised his hand to stop me, and then said, "Comrade commander, I know that you are kind-hearted and for my good. But at this time, I really can''t leave. Please don''t mention it any more. "


    After hearing what kirilov said, I couldn''t continue to persuade him. After a few words, I returned to our regiment.


    At this time, Lu Jin, the second battalion commander and Slaven had already dug a trench and built a simple command post in the trench. Seeing me back, Lu Jin came out with them and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the situation along the river?"


    With a wry smile and shaking my head, I replied, "it''s not good, comrade captain. Thousands of officers and men from various forces gathered by the river, but there were only less than ten motor boats transporting on the river. The political workers we are going to cover crossing the river are all newly added to the 62nd army. They are maintaining order by the river and encouraging the soldiers to improve their morale. I proposed to Comrade kirilov, the regimental political commissar of the team leader, that he should cross the river first, but he also rejected my proposal. "


    Lu Jin asked, "what is the mission of our regiment?"¡° What else can I do? " I said angrily: "carry out the orders of the division, hold fast here and prevent the enemy from advancing towards the river. Remember, let the soldiers dig more holes in the trenches, so that they can reduce the casualties when they are bombarded and attacked by the enemy. " Seeing the second battalion commander and Slaven standing in the room, I suddenly thought of the first battalion commander and asked Lu Jin, "by the way, where is the first battalion commander? I haven''t seen him since I came back? " Without thinking, Lu Jin replied, "I saw a battalion commander and they didn''t have many people left, so I ordered him to stay in the original position and help the troops to carry ammunition to the division headquarters."¡° How is his injury? "¡° It''s no big deal. It''s just that the ears are deafened by the shells. It''s estimated that it will take some time to get back to normal. "¡° What about the fortifications? "¡° Comrade commander, please allow me to report to you. " The second battalion commander stood up and volunteered to report to me. After I nodded my head, I said, "we have dug two trenches, and two companies are placed in each trench. When the current side is in a tight situation, the troops behind can reinforce through the movement of traffic trenches."¡° Well done, comrade captain, well done¡° Comrade commander, "said Slaven," what shall we do next? " I sighed and said helplessly, "what else can we do in this situation? The only thing we can do is wait. After all the troops by the river have crossed the Don river, we will also cross the river and build a new line of defense on the left bank of the Don river. "

 Chapter 460

    Complaining is complaining. After several subordinates have finished complaining, what they should do next has to be done.


    I called the second battalion commander to him and said, "second battalion commander, we don''t know when the enemy will come at present. Even if the fortifications are repaired, we can''t take it lightly. We should strengthen our guard so as not to be attacked by the enemy." At this point, I can''t help glancing at Slaven. You know, the captain successfully attacked the enemy''s logistics camp two days ago and seized a large number of weapons and ammunition. Our troops can attack the enemy secretly, but the enemy''s attack on us must not be allowed.


    The second battalion commander quickly replied, "please rest assured, commander. In addition to the fixed sentry posts, I have also sent a mobile sentry team in the two trenches."


    "Well done, comrade captain." Lu Jin praised him, and then asked, "is it Shuanggang?"


    The second battalion commander nodded and replied, "Comrade captain, you are absolutely right. The Sentinels I arranged are all veteran soldiers with rich combat experience. You can rest assured."


    Seeing that Lu Jin nodded his head with satisfaction and wanted to continue to say something, I interrupted him and told the captain in an indisputable tone: "second battalion commander, double posts are not enough. We need to send squad posts and the strongest ones."


    The second battalion commander''s face was in a dilemma, and Lu Jin rushed to help him out: "Comrade commander, you should know that the soldiers have been very tired after continuous fighting. If so many people are deployed on duty again, the soldiers will not be able to recover quickly from fatigue."


    "Comrade captain," I said very impolitely, "I want to remind you that the mission of our regiment is to stay here and cover the friendly troops crossing the river. If, because of our negligence, the enemy''s sneak attack succeeds in the middle of the night and our regiment is defeated, it''s a small matter. But what about the thousands of officers and men by the river? We should know that after repeated attacks by the German army, the command system of these troops was out of order and the organizational system was in disorder. In the face of the enemy''s attack, they could not organize limited resistance at all. If, for our sake, the enemy pours on the river and waits for the commanders and fighters, it will be driven down the river or completely destroyed. "


    After listening to my speech, Lu Jin nodded thoughtfully and echoed: "Comrade commander, what you said is reasonable, but I didn''t think it well." Then he ordered the second battalion commander: "Comrade captain, did you hear the commander''s order? Go back immediately to strengthen the sentries on duty, and ensure the safety of the positions. "


    After seeing the second battalion commander leave, I asked captain Slaven, who was still standing in the room, "Comrade captain, how are your company''s casualties in the daytime fighting?"


    Slaven quickly replied: "Comrade report leader, in the second wave of the enemy''s attack, the mortar platoon exposed the target and attracted the bombardment of the enemy''s tank guns. One gun was destroyed and four soldiers died. As for the infantry, because they are well concealed in battle, there are no casualties. "


    "Very good!" I praised him first, and then ordered, "Captain Slaven, when you go back, immediately take two shifts out of the company, and then deploy them in the crater between the two trenches. Remember, once our army is attacked by the enemy, let these two squads quickly fight to support the attacked area. "


    Slaven straight body promised: "please rest assured, comrade commander, I immediately go back to the layout, the strongest class sent out to carry out this glorious task." At this point, he paused for a moment and then tentatively asked, "will you allow me to leave? Comrade commander. "


    I nodded at him, waved my hand and said, "go. Whether our regiment can complete the task assigned to us by our superiors and successfully withdraw to the left bank of the Don River depends on the second battalion and your company. "


    As soon as Slaven left, Lukin immediately asked, "Comrade commander, when do you think our regiment will be able to cross the river?"


    The question of Lu Jin immediately reminded me of thousands of officers and men on the riverside and several few boats that were awesome enough to predict what would be expected of our regiment crossing the river before daybreak. In the face of unfavorable situation, I did not hide Lukin''s intention. I said to him with a bitter smile: "Comrade captain, the bridge on the Don river was blown off by German planes, and the troops on the river had to rely on a few slow-moving motor boats to cross the river. Fortunately, comrade kirilov, political commissar at the regiment level, director of the Political Department of the 62nd army, and his colleagues are commanding the river crossing operation. In this way, the river crossing wharf crowded with thousands of officers and men is not so chaotic. However, judging from the current speed of crossing the river, we will not be able to reach our regiment before dawn, so we should be prepared to stick to it for a long time and be ready to fight the enemy to the death at any time. "


    After listening to what I said, Lu Jin took the initiative to say: "Comrade commander, let me supervise the implementation of the order you just issued. If your orders can''t be carried out seriously, the consequences will be unimaginable. It''s getting late. Please stay in the command post and have a good rest. I''ll go to the company


    Seeing that Lukin was about to leave, I quickly stopped him: "Comrade captain, please wait a moment."


    He stopped, turned to look at me and politely asked, "Comrade commander, what else can I do for you?"


    "Take a few people from the guard platoon and go to the river and stare. When the troops there are almost finished, report back to me immediately. "


    "I see. I''ll deploy it right away."


    When I was the only one left in the room, I looked around. The room was empty, and there were several new wooden benches in the corner. I moved the wooden stool to the wall, sat down with my back against the mud wall, and began to close my eyes.


    Although no one bothered me, I didn''t sleep soundly. I always felt that several guards sent out would come back and report to me later that all the troops by the river had crossed the Don river, and the motorboat that took us across the river was stopping waiting by the river.


    Time passed little by little when I was half asleep and half awake, but when I heard the voice calling for a report from outside the command post, I jumped up from my stool and looked at my watch. At five o''clock in the morning, the people who came at this time probably brought me news about the troops by the river. I stood out with my hands behind my back, and then I called out with dignity, "come in!"


    The first one who came into the room was Lu Jin, who was followed by a young soldier. Although he was looking at his face, I guess Lu Jin sent him to the river to observe the situation of crossing the river. After they saluted me, I looked at Lu Jin and asked, "Comrade captain, what can I do for you?"


    Lu Jin took a look at the soldiers around him, and then reported to me: "Comrade commander, the soldiers I sent to observe the situation of crossing the river have come back to report that the troops by the river have almost finished crossing the river, leaving only a dozen political workers of the 62nd army. Do you think it is necessary to report the situation to the division headquarters immediately? "


    It seems that I didn''t guess that Lu Jin''s soldiers were sent to the river to understand the situation. Although Lu Jin reported that the troops by the river had basically crossed the river, I was still a little uneasy, so I asked the soldier for confirmation: "Comrade soldier, you said you saw the troops by the river have basically crossed the Don river, and there are only a dozen political workers left. Is what you said true?"


    The soldier nodded in affirmation and replied, "yes, comrade commander. After seeing all the troops by the river board the ship, I went to the dock and chatted with the rest of the political workers for a while. Only then did I know that they were political workers transferred from all over the country and were ready to fill in the troops of the 62nd army. "


    After listening to the soldiers'' words, I knew that the troops by the river must have crossed the river. Next, it''s our turn to cross the river. However, before leaving the position, we should ask the division headquarters for instructions. I asked Lu Jin, "Comrade captain, where can I call the division headquarters?"


    Lu Jin turned his head and yelled out: "Messenger, bring in the telephone line." With his shouts, the two signalmen entered the command post one after the other. The one in front was holding a telephone, and the one behind was holding a long telephone line.


    Lu Jin took the phone from the signalman, shook through the division headquarters and handed me the microphone. As soon as I heard biliukov''s voice coming from inside, I quickly said, "Hello, sir! I''m lieutenant commander o''shanina


    "It''s you, comrade commander." Biliukov said slowly, "what''s the situation over there? Did you find the enemy at the front of the position? How many of our troops are still waiting to cross the river? "


    After hearing these questions, I quickly answered: "report to Mr. division commander, according to the report of the soldiers who went to reconnoiter, all the troops staying by the river have crossed the Don river, and only a dozen political workers of the 62nd army are left on the dock. The front of our regiment''s position was calm, and no enemy was found. "


    "In that case, take your regiment across the Don River as soon as possible and build a new defensive position on the left bank of the river."


    With the permission of our teachers, our retreat was justified. I put down the phone and immediately ordered Lu Jin: "Comrade captain, you lead the second battalion commander and his troops to withdraw from the position first, go to the riverside wharf, board the boat and cross the river. The seventh company and I will stay in the position, and we will withdraw from the position after the second battalion leaves safely. "


    Lu Jin hesitated for a moment, and then persuaded me: "Comrade commander, you and the second battalion should withdraw first, and I and the seventh company should stay behind."


    I waved my hand and said decisively, "Comrade captain, don''t say more. This is an order. Go and carry it out."


    Seeing that my attitude was so firm, Lu Jin did not insist any more. He had to salute me and left the command post with several soldiers.


    After several battles in our regiment, there were not many people left. As soon as the second battalion withdrew, there were less than 200 people left in the position. Seeing that there are only a few people left, my heart became uneasy. I was afraid that the Germans would launch an attack at this time. We would not be able to stop them if we lacked enough anti tank weapons.


    Fortunately, we stayed in the position for more than an hour, but we still didn''t see the shadow of the enemy. At this time, Lu Jin sent someone to report that they had boarded the ship, and the ferry was carrying them to the other side. Let''s get to the dock as soon as possible.


    Knowing that Lukin and his family had successfully left, I breathed a sigh of relief and immediately told Slaven to let the seventh company, the guard platoon and the engineer platoon gather together and quickly rush to the riverside wharf to cross the river.


    When we got to the river, we saw two ferries on the wharf from a distance. As we approached the dock, two political workers came up to me. With sharp eyes, I recognized kokunov and rogulev.


    They came to me, raised their hands and said, "Hello, comrade commander, we meet again."


    As I raised my hand in return, I asked strangely, "Comrade kokunov, comrade rogulev, the troops by the river have crossed the river. Why are you two still here?" Rogulev took over and said, "Comrade oshanina, it''s comrade kirilov who asked us to stay and meet you. It''s getting late. Get on the boat quickly. In a little while, it''s time for the enemy''s plane to come. " Entering the dock and looking at the two ferries berthed on the shore, I pointed to the one on the left and said to Slavin, "Comrade captain, you take seven companies to this ship, and I and the guard platoon and engineer platoon will take the one on the right." The boarding proceeded very quickly, and within ten minutes we set out. There were only 70 or 80 people on my boat, and kokunov was also on this boat. As there were weapons and ammunition piled up near the railings, we all had to stand in the middle of the boat. When the ferry was sailing to the other side, I looked into the air with worry from time to time. I was afraid that the enemy plane would suddenly come out. I didn''t expect to be more and more afraid of something. Several soldiers standing near the boat suddenly cried out: "look, the plane is the enemy''s plane. Air raid, air raid alert With the loud shouts of these soldiers, the ship suddenly turned into a mess.

 Chapter 461

    "Don''t panic, don''t panic! Calm down, everyone Just as I was scared out of my mind by the sudden emergence of the enemy plane, like the soldiers around me, there came the shouting of kokunov.


    With his cry, the chaos in the cabin gradually calmed down, and all the officers and men were staring askew at the enemy plane circling in the air. When I saw the enemy plane skimming over the ferry, I also took a special look at the ferry with seven company. Although the ferry carried more people, it was faster than us. Now it has pulled us down more than 100 meters.


    I pushed to kokunov''s side, looked at the enemy plane circling in the sky, and asked with some worry: "Comrade instructor I, do you think the enemy has a chance to bomb us?"


    Kokunov''s facial muscles twitched violently, and then pretended to reply calmly: "Comrade commander, you are the commander, the soldiers are watching you, if you are panic, then the morale of the army will be affected." At this point, he whispered in a low voice: "at this time, we can only let fate decide. We hope that the ferry can successfully reach the left bank before the enemy plane blows us down."


    When I heard what he said, my heart suddenly cooled. Looking at the surging river outside, I thought that if our ferry was bombed, it would be all over. You know, this is the center of the Don river, the deepest part of the water. If the ferry was sunk, all the people on board would have to go to the bottom.


    After circling in the air for several times, the enemy plane dived down to our ferry. The machine guns on board were blazing wildly. A long string of bullets penetrated the ceiling of the ferry and ploughed through the crowd. In a cry of surprise, seven or eight soldiers fell into the cabin with blood all over them without a snort.


    Seeing this, the cabin was in chaos again. Just as I was scared out of my mind by this emergency, kokunov''s voice rang again: "comrades, calm down, calm down, don''t panic! Don''t panic! " I turned to look, and found that he climbed onto the ammunition box, stood with his hands on the ceiling, and yelled at everyone: "comrades, don''t panic, stay where you are. As long as the ship berths, the enemy plane can''t take us."


    In the critical situation of being strafed by enemy planes, it takes courage and tact to dare to stand on the most dangerous ammunition box and calm the morale of the army. Although I have never liked any political workers, many of them deserve our respect and admiration. Kokunov is undoubtedly one of them.


    Seeing kokunov standing on the ammunition box calmly giving orders, the soldiers in the cabin were no longer in a panic, but began to help the health workers rescue the wounded soldiers. The bodies of several soldiers who died on the spot were carried to one side, and the health workers squatted beside the wounded. After a simple debridement, they began to bandage the wound.


    The order on board had just been restored. Before we could catch our breath, the flying enemy plane circled in the air and dived down from the right side again, shooting our ferry with airborne machine guns. Fortunately, this time, the bullet missed. It flew over the ceiling and hit the river on the left side of the boat.


    Looking at the climbing enemy plane, my heart beat faster. I felt that my throat was dry and my sweat was pouring out. In my heart, I prayed secretly that the enemy plane would leave and stop turning around to attack us. Otherwise, the torrential Don river would be our burial ground.


    In a short time, the enemy plane turned around again in the air and dived down to our ferry for the third time. This time, instead of strafing with the machine gun, the enemy plane dropped a bomb directly. The bomb didn''t hit the ferry, but exploded near the boat, raising a water column more than ten meters high, and the cold water poured all over us. Kokunov, standing on the ammunition box, might have been lifted down by the air wave if he had not grasped the iron pipe of the ceiling tightly.


    I stared at the enemy plane which was pulled up again after the bomb was dropped, and thought bitterly: "if only there were some anti-aircraft machine guns on the ship, then the enemy plane would not dare to attack the ferry so recklessly."


    Seeing the enemy plane turning around and diving down again, I couldn''t help asking aloud, "Comrade kokunov, the enemy plane is coming again. What should we do?" At this time, I don''t care to maintain any image, and I don''t care whether it will cause panic among the officers and soldiers on board, because at this moment, we are just a bunch of lambs to be slaughtered.


    Kokunov did not answer me, but looked at the enemy plane with his eyes on fire. If his eyes were lethal, the enemy plane would have been blown up in the air. A moment later, I heard him curse fiercely: "damn German, you''d better fall into the river."


    But the enemy plane didn''t fall into the river. On the contrary, the bomb dropped on the front of the ferry and exploded, smashing the bow of the ferry. In front of the powerful blast wave, I fell back together with the officers and men in the cabin and fell heavily in the cabin. Soon, the ferry began to lean forward, and the cold water quickly poured into the cabin.


    I just got up from the deck of the cabin, most of my body was submerged in the water. At this time, I didn''t care about others, and I tried to swim out of the ferry. Everyone who has studied physics knows that when a ship sinks, it will form a vortex. If it is involved in the vortex, I am afraid it will not have a chance to escape.


    Just after leaving the ferry, the ferry was hit by another bomb, which accelerated the sinking speed of the ferry. In less than two minutes, the boat completely disappeared under the water. Only the ship debris scattered on the water was still burning, and there were some officers and soldiers who were lucky to escape, just like me, struggling to float and sink on the river. I didn''t expect that the ferry sank, and the damned Krauts would not let us go. They dived down again to shoot the officers and men floating on the river. I held my breath and dived to the bottom. Bullet after bullet came back and forth, drawing water lines under the water, which scared me to dive as deep as possible to the bottom of the river. If I didn''t dive deep enough, I felt I couldn''t hold it. If I stayed underwater, maybe the bullets of the enemy plane didn''t kill me. I had drowned because of lack of oxygen. I used both hands and feet to pull on the ground first, and my body quickly ran to the surface of the water. When I float on the water, I deeply realize that when you breathe normally, you don''t seem to feel the air. But once we lose the possibility of breathing, we immediately realize the significance of a breath of fresh air to us. After the enemy''s successive strafing, there are few living people on the river. The enemy may not want to waste bullets any more and fly to the distance. I looked in the direction and swam to the left bank of the river. Swimming in the pool and swimming in the river are two completely different concepts. I can swim hundreds of meters in the swimming pool, not to mention in the turbulent Don river. Not long after I swam forward, I felt that I was not strong enough and moved more and more slowly. Then I felt that my body began to sink slowly. I thought sadly: am I going to drown in the river today? When the river drowned my ears and nose, suddenly someone grabbed my arm and pulled me to swim forward. I turned to the right, and the first thing I saw was the familiar face of kokunov. On the left, there is a young sailor. With their help, I swung my legs as hard as I could, following them across the river. More than ten minutes later, kokunov and the sailors dragged me ashore in a deserted place. I feel weak all over. As soon as I step on the solid ground, I will collapse on the ground. I looked up at kokunov and the sailors sitting next to me and expressed my thanks to them: "Comrade kokunov, thank you. If it wasn''t for you, I would have been drowned in the Don river. I didn''t expect that your water is so good. " Kokunov replied with a smile: "Comrade commander, you are welcome. Fortunately, we are still alive." I turned my face to the other side and said to the young and handsome sailor, "and you, comrade sailor, I sincerely thank you. If it wasn''t for your help and Comrade first-class instructor, I would sink at the bottom of the river now." Unexpectedly, the sailor blushed and said, "Comrade commander, don''t be so polite. You know I''ve met you. How can I let someone I know sink to the bottom of the river beside me?" I gazed at the face of the sailor and tried to recall where I had met him. But after thinking for a long time, I still had no impression. Since there were thousands of people I had met, it was impossible for me to remember everyone''s appearance and name, so I couldn''t help asking, "have we met before? But I have no impression at all The sailor said sheepishly, "Comrade commander, I''m from the 192nd infantry division. I once participated in counterattack with you. You will never remember me. But I happened to meet you one night when I was dating my girlfriend, Natasha, the health worker. At that time, because you would criticize me, I didn''t expect that you just said lightly that you would fight tomorrow, so I left. " When the sailors said this, I immediately remembered the numb dialogue I heard outside the headquarters of the 62nd army that night. Women are men''s sky, moon and indispensable air, while men are women''s sea and sun. Thinking of this, I couldn''t help smiling and asked curiously, "Comrade mariner, how can you be here?" The sailor replied, "Comrade commander of the report, in order to escort the personnel of the political department across the river safely, the superior has transferred some personnel from our sailor brigade, and I am one of them." I said, "where is your Natasha?" The sailor replied, "she is still in the health team of the 192nd division, but we haven''t seen each other since the recent fierce fighting." Just then, kokunov suddenly said: "it seems that some troops are coming towards us. They should be looking for us." With that, he stood up, waved his hands desperately, and cried out: "Hello! Come here, we are here. "

 Chapter 462

    I didn''t expect that it was captain Lukin who led the search. Hearing kokunov''s cry, he came quickly with several soldiers.


    Seeing me lying on the ground, he was obviously surprised. He came to me in a hurry, squatted down, and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, how are you? Are you not hurt?"


    I sat up with my elbow, tried to squeeze a smile on my face, and weakly answered him, "I''m ok. I''ve just swam from the river and I''m a little tired. I''ll have a rest for a while. By the way, comrade captain, has the ship of the seventh company carrying Slaven safely landed? "


    Lukin nodded hard and replied, "here we are. Slaven''s seventh company has landed safely. I saw that your ferry was sunk by the enemy plane. I was worried about your safety, so I took several soldiers to search along the river


    Lu Jin''s concern for me was beyond expression. I nodded and wanted to say a few words, but I couldn''t speak. I just felt that my nose was sour and tears were about to burst out of my eyes. Just then, a voice of kokunov rang out: "Comrade captain, have you seen the people from the Political Department of the 62nd army?"


    Lu Jin Leng for a moment: "the Political Department of the 62nd army?" Then he suddenly realized and said, "Oh, first-class instructor, are you talking about a group of political workers led by the political commissar of the regiment?"


    Kokunov nodded and said, "yes, comrade captain. The regiment level political commissar leading the team is Comrade kirilov, the new director of the Political Department of the group army. "


    Lu Jin said: "the regimental political commissar was on the shore. When the first-class instructor who was with the seventh company got off the ship, they moved eastward collectively." Seeing that kokunov raised his legs and wanted to go, he quickly added: "they took a bus more than half an hour ago. I guess you can''t catch up."


    Seeing that kokunov was in a dilemma, I suddenly had an idea that the former commander and political commissar were killed in an air raid by the river. Now I act as the commander, but the post of political commissar is still vacant. From the performance of kokunov on the ship just now, it is more than enough to hold this post, so I took the initiative to put forward to him: "don''t worry, comrade kokunov, Since the political commissars of the regiment have left, you can''t catch up with them now. It happens that I still lack a political commissar here. Why don''t you stay in my regiment for the time being and act as my deputy? "


    After listening to this, kokunov hesitated and said, "Comrade commander, this may not be appropriate. You know, I''m just a level one instructor. According to the level, I can only serve as the political deputy battalion commander in the battalion at most. "


    I waved my hand and said carelessly, "Comrade kokunov, don''t worry. I can report this to the higher authorities. You know, although I am now the commander of the 64th group army and the adjutant of general korpakchi, commander of the 62nd group army, I believe that no matter which commander I am, I will not refuse to let you, an excellent political worker, serve as the political commissar of the 678th infantry regiment. "


    Kokunov listened to me and did not show any affectation. He only pondered for a moment and agreed: "well, comrade commander, I''ll stay in your regiment first. When I have a chance, I''ll report back to the 62nd army."


    Seeing that kokunov agreed to stay, Lu Jin said to one side: "Comrade commander, comrade political commissar, the river is not safe. The enemy plane can''t tell when it will come again. Let''s go back to the regiment first." Then he reached out to help me.


    I stood up with his help and tried to walk a few steps. Although my legs were still a little weak, if I walked slowly, the problem was not big. After a few steps, I turned around and saw that the sailor who saved me was still standing in the same place, so I yelled at him: "Hey, I said sailor, what are you still doing there? Come quickly and come with us


    The sailor grinned and trotted after him.


    In the process of returning to the station, I asked Lu Jin in a low voice: "Comrade captain, how many soldiers in the guard platoon and engineer platoon have landed safely?"


    Lu Jin replied with a dejected look: "because after your ferry was sunk, the enemy planes kept diving and shooting at the survivors, so in the end, only seven soldiers succeeded in landing on the left bank."


    Although I was psychologically prepared for such a result, when I heard what Lu Jin said, I still felt a little uncomfortable. There were only a few people left in the two rows of 70 or 80.


    Our regiment is stationed in an unknown small village by the Dayton river. The village is not big and has only dozens of families. Perhaps because the village was too small, it was ignored by the enemy''s air force. Although it was only two or three kilometers away from the river, there was no sign of being attacked by enemy planes.


    However, because the village is close to the main road leading to Stalingrad, the wooden walls on both sides of the village road are covered with all kinds of propaganda slogans: "comrades! If you don''t stop the enemy in Stalingrad, the enemy will break into your home and destroy your hometown! "


    "We must destroy the enemy in Stalingrad!"


    "Commanders and fighters, the motherland will never forget your contributions!"


    "Mother motherland will not let your relatives live in dire straits!"


    The regiment headquarters is located in a wooden house in the village. Far away, I saw a group of people standing outside the door. Seeing that we were coming back, those people immediately welcomed us. Captain Slaven, who was crossing the river with me just now, was no one else.


    Slaven and the group of commanders came up to me, stopped, and then raised their hands in order to salute. Then Slaven said excitedly on behalf of everyone: "Hello! Comrade commander, it''s great to see you come back safely. " I raised my hand for a change of salute, then extended my hand to Slaven and asked with concern, "Comrade captain, what''s the situation of your seventh company? Are there any casualties when crossing the river?" Slaven shook his head and replied, "Comrade commander of the report, as the enemy plane only attacked the ferry you were on, but ignored us, there were no casualties in the process of crossing the river." When I shook hands with the second battalion commander beside Slaven, I also asked him, "second battalion commander, how was your situation when you crossed the river? Did the commanders and soldiers cross the river safely?" The commander of the second battalion nodded his head and said, "Comrade commander, our second battalion crossed the river with Captain Lu Jin. Because the enemy planes had not been dispatched at that time, we did not encounter any danger in the process of crossing the river." After shaking hands with the commanders on the scene one by one, I put my body aside, pointed to kokunov and introduced to you, "comrades commanders, I''d like to introduce you. This is Comrade kokunov, a first-class instructor from Moscow. Now he is the acting political commissar of our regiment."

 Chapter 463

    Walking into the cabin, which is the headquarters of the regiment, I saw that the layout inside was extremely simple. Except for the map on the table, there was not even a telephone.


    Seeing this scene, I couldn''t help frowning and asked Lu Jin unhappily, "Comrade captain, what''s the matter? How can we contact the division headquarters because the headquarters is so simple and crude that we don''t even have a telephone?"


    Lu Jin''s face is red, murmuring: "Comrade Shi, our regiment lacks enough communication equipment, not to mention important telephones, and even the telephone has not left a few, and then with the wide don don" between the division and the division, the communication platoon soldiers can not set up telephone lines at all.


    Before he finished complaining, I interrupted him: "Comrade captain, you mean, in a sense, we have completely lost contact with our superiors."


    Lu Jin nodded hard and replied, "I think so, comrade commander."


    "In that case, let the troops have a good rest in the village. When the division headquarters and other troops cross the river, we will contact them again. "


    Listen to me, Lukin and Slaven are indifferent to each other. Lukin nervously reminded me: "Comrade commander, this is not good. You should know that the order given by the division headquarters to our regiment is to build fortifications on the left bank of the Don river, not to carry out rest."


    I snorted softly and said with disapproval: "Comrade captain, although we are a regiment in name, in fact, our total strength is only 600 or 700, and most of them are new fighters who are not trained enough and lack combat experience. Where do you think we can build fortifications to guard the wide left bank of the Don river without the cooperation of friendly forces?"


    Lu Jin was speechless by me. He opened his mouth and swallowed what he wanted to say.


    I thought that if Lu Jin didn''t speak, there would be no one to speak, but I forgot that there was still a new political commissar in the room. Kokunov came up to me and said, "Comrade commander, I think the captain is right. Since our task is to build fortifications on the left bank of the Don river, we should carry out this order from our superiors to the letter." At this point, he turned to ask Lu Jin, "by the way, comrade captain, when I was on the road just now, I forgot to ask you what position you held in the regiment?"


    Lu Jin blushed, coughed and said, "Comrade political commissar, I used to be the deputy battalion commander, now I am..."


    "Captain Lukin is the chief of staff." Before Lukin could finish what he said, I had given him a new identity. The reason why I suddenly said that was because Lukin''s identity was so embarrassing. As early as I took over, the soldier straightened up, raised his hand to salute me and said aloud, "Hello, comrade commander. I''m sorry to disturb your sleep, but I''ve been ordered to see you


    "By orders, by whose orders?" When I said this, I was extremely upset. I thought that the only one who could send someone to disturb me at this time was Lukin and kokunov. Lukin didn''t deal with me for a day or two. He would never send someone to come to me when I was resting, but political commissar kokunov couldn''t tell. Thinking in my heart, I asked unconsciously, "are you sent by political commissar kokunov?"


    "Kokunov?! Who is kokunov? I don''t know! " The sergeant replied with a blank face.


    "It''s not kokunov. Who told you to come?" I just want to find out which one in the regiment doesn''t have eyes. He dares to send someone to disturb me when I sleep.


    "Report, commander. I''m general trakov''s driver. He asked me to call you. He is waiting for you in the jeep outside at the moment


    "It''s the commander When I heard that trakov was coming, I jumped out of bed excitedly. I grabbed the sergeant''s shoulder and asked, "is that true, Sergeant? General trakov is waiting for me at the door?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." The sergeant replied with a smile.


    "Let''s go, sergeant. Don''t let the commander wait." With that, I couldn''t wait to go outside. As I walked, I thought that since trakov had all crossed the Don river, there must be a lot of troops coming with him. With these troops, I would be more confident in guarding the left bank of the Don river.


    I didn''t expect to walk out of the room and see that there were only three jeeps outside. My heart suddenly cooled. I stopped, turned around and asked the driver who was following me, "Comrade sergeant, are you coming to these three cars?"


    The sergeant nodded and said, "yes, comrade commander, the main force of the group army is still on the other side of the river, fighting the enemy tenaciously. And we are going to Stalingrad with our commander. "


    As he spoke, the back door of the jeep in the middle was pushed open. Trekov showed half of his body from the inside and yelled at me, "Comrade oshanina, come here."


    I quickly ran to him, raised my hand to salute, said with a smile: "Hello, comrade commander, I''m glad to meet you here."


    "Comrade oshanina, you immediately transfer the command of the regiment to your deputy, and then follow me to Stalingrad." At this point, trikov suddenly remembered something, frowned and asked, "I remember that almost all the intermediate commanders in your regiment died. Is there a suitable person to take over your command?"


    I nodded and replied, "report commander, in addition to me, the regiment also has chief of staff, Captain Lu Jin, and first-class instructor of the political commissar, comrade kokunov."¡° Chief of staff and commissar of the regiment, when did you have so many commanders in your regiment? "¡° Comrade commander, when I took over the command of the 678th regiment, Captain Lukin was the commander with the highest rank among the surviving commanders in the regiment. If I didn''t go, maybe general biliukov would appoint him as the commander. As for Comrade kokunov, he was originally a political worker transferred from Moscow to the 62nd army. When crossing the river with our regiment, the ferry was sunk by the enemy plane and lost the team. Since the commanding force of the regiment was too weak, I decided to leave him in the regiment and let him serve as the political commissar temporarily. At the same time, I let captain Lu Jin serve as the chief of staff of the regiment. " Trekov waved his hand and said, "OK, needless to say. Who do you think is more suitable to take over the command of the regiment? "¡° Captain Lukin Since trikov asked, I might have to speak to someone close to me, "Comrade Lu Jin has strong command ability, and he has been in the regiment all the time. All the members of the regiment are very familiar with him. If he is allowed to take over my command post, it will not have any adverse effect on the command of the regiment. "¡° If you say so, do as you please When trakov said this, he turned to the jeep behind him and yelled, "Comrade captain, come here for a moment." With his shouts, a captain got out of the car from the co pilot''s position and ran to him. After standing at attention, he respectfully asked, "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"¡° Comrade captain, you stay here and wait for the chief of staff, Captain Lukin, to come back and tell him that I have handed over the commander of the 678th regiment to him. When the order is over, you''ll come back quickly. " When the captain gave a loud promise, trakov looked at me and stood in front of him. He waved his head and said, "o''shanina, what are you still doing? Get on the bus quickly. We''re going to Stalingrad immediately." I answered quickly, went around the front of the car, opened the front passenger''s door and got on the jeep.

 Chapter 464

    As soon as the car started up, I saw in the rearview mirror that trikov leaned back and began to shut his eyes. The car was silent. The driver''s eyes were fixed on the front and he was driving with all his attention.


    After looking at the scenery outside the window for a while, I couldn''t help but ask the driver in a low voice curiously, "Comrade sergeant, how long will it take me to get to Stalingrad?"


    The driver shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly, "it''s hard to say, comrade commander. It depends on whether the road conditions are good or not and whether we will be bombed by enemy planes. If everything goes well, we should be able to get to Stalingrad in five hours. "


    "Comrade oshanina." Trekov said suddenly.


    I quickly turned back and saw that trakov was still recuperating with his eyes closed and his back against the chair. I was wondering if I had heard it wrong. He called me again: "Comrade o''shanina."


    I quickly agreed: "Comrade commander, I''m here. Do you have any instructions?"


    Trekov still did not open his eyes, said to himself: "maybe you are very strange, you stay well in the front-line forces, why I will let you transfer the command of the regiment to the deputy, and let you go to Stalingrad with me."


    I can''t guess why trikov did this, so I have to shake my head. Just after two shakes, I suddenly remembered that trekov closed his eyes and couldn''t see me shake my head. He said honestly: "Comrade commander, I really can''t think of it."


    "When general Zhukov called me yesterday, he specifically mentioned you."


    "General Zhukov!" Hearing this familiar name, I was a little excited. "What did he say about me?"


    "Zhukov said that you were brave in battle and showed great bravery on the battlefield. And you can think of things that others can''t think of. But according to his observation, he found that you still have a lot of dissatisfaction


    When I heard that from trakov, my heart beat faster. I was very concerned about my impression in Zhukov''s eyes, so I asked nervously, "I don''t know what the senior general said about my unsatisfactory performance?"


    Trekov opened his eyes, looked at me and said, "he said that you are lacking in ability, lack of overall view, and are not suitable for the position of top leader. Let you be a company commander, battalion commander or even commander in chief, you are competent. But when you are a commander of a division or even higher level, your lack of ability will be exposed. "


    When I heard what Chukov said, my heart was cold. I didn''t expect that after working hard for a long time, Zhukov still got a comment on my lack of ability and overall situation.


    When I was depressed, trakov continued: "Comrade Zhukov analyzed that the scale of this campaign will not be small, and it will last for a long time. In such a long time of battle, it is entirely possible to cultivate an incompetent commander into an excellent commander in our army. In order to train you, comrade Zhukov specially asked you to work in headquarters at all levels. I hope that when you work in these places, you can learn useful things from senior commanders and accumulate necessary experience for you to take up higher positions in the future. "


    What I heard from trakov was a hint that I would have a chance of promotion through this battle. Listen to him say so, originally the mood of haze suddenly become clear.


    "Do you understand?" Seeing my hesitation, trekov asked, staring at me.


    I hastened to straighten my chest and answered aloud, "I understand, comrade commander."


    Trekov nodded with satisfaction and said, "good, just understand. Make good use of the opportunity that this campaign brings you. I believe that in the near future, you will become general oshanina from commander oshanina. "


    Trekov''s words are so clear that if I don''t understand them, I''ll have a bad IQ. However, I can''t help but feel excited when he said that. During the Moscow defense war, I was promoted directly from lieutenant commander to major general. This time, the war has just begun. I was already a lieutenant commander, so I''m not far away from the general.


    After a while, I asked trekov curiously, "Comrade commander, what''s the situation on the other side of the river?"


    "All day yesterday and this morning, our group army''s fighting operations were mainly concentrated on the right wing, namely, the greater osinovka, yelitsky and upper chilskaya areas. The enemy tried to break through the battle formations of our 229th and 112th divisions from this area, and then made a surprise attack to the northeast, around the rear of the 62nd group army, surrounded the friendly forces, and approached the Don River ferries in the areas of Rogowski and Karachi.


    Yesterday, I had been at the observation post in a highland north of the reichikovsky railway crossing, maintaining direct contact with the 229th and 112th division commanders, as well as with other units through the group command.


    The battle is in a stalemate, with each side winning or losing. The forces of the 51st German army, strengthened by tanks, attacked our defensive positions. Yesterday, nearly 100 tanks attacked the ground defense of the 112th division, while our army only had 10 tanks sticking to its position. However, the 112th division not only repulsed the enemy''s heavy attack, but also launched counter attacks several times. "


    It turned out that the enemy''s focus of attack yesterday was directed at the 112th and 229th divisions of our regiment''s right wing. Therefore, the attack on our regiment''s defensive area would have been less thunderous and less heavy rain. If it had not been for the heavy losses caused by the enemy''s artillery bombardment in the later stage, we would have almost won the battle yesterday.


    "What are you thinking, o''shanina?" Trekov''s voice made me wake up in my meditation. I only felt hot on my face for a moment. Then I turned away from the topic and said, "Comrade commander, the group army in combat condition suddenly retreated the day before yesterday. Have you found out the specific reason?" As soon as I finished speaking, I found that I had said something wrong. I was a subordinate of trakov, but I was questioning him in the tone of a superior. I was in a cold sweat. Fortunately, trakov didn''t care about this. He patiently explained to me, "the reason has been found out. At that time, I was at the observation post of lower chilskaya, while I was staying at the headquarters of the group army in irimian chilsky, where Novikov, the chief of staff, and Abramov, the military commissar and division political commissar, saw the enemy''s fierce offensive, Fearing that the fighting troops would be encircled, without asking me for instructions, he issued a radio order to the 214th infantry division, the two marine brigades and the 137th tank brigade to retreat to the left bank of the Don river. It was when I returned to the headquarters of the group army last night that I learned of this situation. " At this point, he couldn''t help a long sigh. I understand the reason why he sighed. Because of this order, thousands of officers and men crowded to the river dun. After crossing the river, they were heavily attacked by enemy planes and suffered heavy casualties. General korpakchi, commander of the 62nd group army, was aware of this situation. For a time, he thought that trakov''s troops had been defeated by the enemy. He personally took captain shamikov and I to trakov''s observation post to learn about the situation. As a result, I was seconded to the 64th group army to temporarily act as the head of the 678th group army. Seeing his loss, I immediately flattered him and said, "Comrade commander, as far as I know, although the enemy broke through the first line of defense of our group army in many areas, under your command, the commanders and fighters of the group army showed great bravery. They fought bravely with the enemy and blocked the way to the chil River and the Don river. Judging from the current situation, the danger of the enemy directly attacking Stalingrad from the lower kirskaya area has been eliminated. " Trekov nodded and asked me, "commander oshanina, did your regiment cross the river well? How many people are still in the army? " After a moment''s silence, I replied, "report to the commander, our regiment was heavily shelled by enemy artillery before it withdrew to build a new fortification by the river, with more than half of the casualties. When crossing the river this morning, the second battalion and the seventh company passed the Don River smoothly, but the ferry I was on sank because of the enemy''s bombing and strafing. The guard platoon, engineer platoon and sailors on the ferry used to be more than 100 people. In the end, only about 10 people successfully boarded the left bank of the Don river. " After listening to me, trikov looked me up and down, nodded and said, "Comrade oshanina, the ferry was sunk. You can still get out of danger. I have to say, you are so lucky."

 Chapter 465

    It was dark when we got to Stalingrad.


    Although Stalingrad had not been attacked by the German army at that time, the streets were full of bunkers made of sandbags and wood, tripod iron frames for anti tank, anti-aircraft guns on the roof pointed to the sky, gray anti-aircraft balloons floated over the city, and the windows of the buildings on the street were pasted with anti shatter strips.


    On both sides of the road, in addition to the heavily armed patrols, we can see ordinary people in twos and threes from time to time. From their indifferent expressions, I guess that in their hearts, they must think that those German troops who are rushing to the Don River Valley will be blocked by our troops and will not affect their lives at all.


    "Comrade commander, you see," trekov''s driver saw the happy pedestrians on the roadside, and shared the same view with me, "the residents here are very calm, as if they are not worried that the enemy will approach our heroic city."


    Trekov looked out of the window and said with emotion, "yes, although our army is fighting fiercely with the enemy in the Don River Valley, there is no obvious panic atmosphere in the city. For the residents of the city, this is understandable in Chengdu. It''s hard for the citizens of Stalingrad to believe that their city will soon become a battlefield of fierce fighting. They don''t believe that our army can''t stop the enemy in the Don river. "


    After a series of checks, our car arrived at the headquarters of the front army.


    After we got out of the car, trakov ordered the others to stay where they were and wait for him. Then he took me into the headquarters.


    As soon as he entered the building, a short, fat general came up to him. As soon as he saw him, he immediately opened his hands and said to him excitedly: "Hello, dear Vasili Ivanovich, welcome to the headquarters of the front army."


    Trikov also smiles and greets each other: "Hello, general nikishev." Then they gave a warm hug.


    After they separated, trikov took the initiative to introduce the general and me to each other: "Comrade oshanina, let me introduce you. This is major general nikishev, chief of staff of the front army. Comrade general, this is lieutenant colonel oshanina, who was sent by Zhukov to the 62nd group army to serve as an adjutant to general korpakchi. However, she is now transferred to work in my 64th group army, and she once acted as a commander not long ago. "


    When I heard that the chief of staff of the front army was in front of me, I immediately raised my hand to salute and respectfully said, "Hello, comrade general, nice to meet you."


    Nikishev just nodded to me and said, "Hello, commander oshanina." Then he said to trakov, "come on, dear Vasili Ivanovich, the commander is still waiting for you. He''s swearing at the headquarters when he sees that you''re late. "


    We soon came to gordov''s office. The door was not closed tightly. We could hear a loud voice roaring. The group of commanders outside who were waiting for the audience looked very serious. Obviously, they were worried that they would suffer the same fate when they entered the room.


    A lieutenant on duty at the door, seeing our arrival, got up to welcome us. After saluting nikishev, he said in a low voice, "chief of staff, the commander is swearing. Look, are you going in later?"


    Nikishev waved his hand and said, "don''t worry, comrade lieutenant. General trakov, whom the commander has been waiting for, has arrived. I have been ordered to bring Comrade trakov to see the commander immediately after he arrives. This is urgent."


    After listening to nikishev''s words, the lieutenant had no choice but to say, "well, chief of staff, I''ll go to ask you for a report." With that, the lieutenant turned, pushed the door open, went in, and closed the door with his backhand. After a while, the door was opened. The lieutenant came out of the room, came to us, made a gesture of please, and said, "please, chief of staff. The commander said he would see general trakov immediately."


    I wanted to stay at the door, but trekov waved his head at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, come in. There are some things you need to know."


    There are two commanders standing in the room. One is a young major general. Judging from his uniform, he should belong to the air force. Another gray haired old general, needless to say, may be general gordov who has been waiting for trakov.


    Seeing that trakov and nikishev both raised their hands to salute the old general, I was more sure of my own judgment and saluted the general just like them.


    Gordov took a look at me, put a face on his face, and scolded trakov: "Comrade trakov, I called you to the headquarters because I wanted to discuss something important with you. Why are you so late? Without my permission, I brought a female commander to my office. When will even women in our army be able to participate in decision-making? "


    Gordov''s words were very serious, which immediately made me feel extremely embarrassed. If he was not the superior, maybe I would turn around and leave immediately. I looked up at trakov and saw that he still kept his face and calmly responded to gordov''s censure: "Comrade report commander, this is lieutenant commander oshanina. She was sent to the 62nd army by general Zhukov and is currently seconded to work in my army. As far as I know, comrade Zhukov sent her to the front army of Stalingrad with the consent of the Supreme Commander himself. "


    When he heard that trakov carried out the supreme commander and Zhukov, gordoff did not continue to struggle with the details. Instead, he turned the topic, pointed to the major general in the room, and introduced him to him: "Comrade trakov, I''d like to introduce you. This is the commander of the eighth group army of the air force, major general heliukin of the air force." Trekov reached out to the other side and said in a friendly way, "Hello, general kheliukin. I''m trekov, commander of the 64th army. Nice to meet you." After the two sides got to know each other, gordov went on to say to us, "comrades, at present, the enemy has fallen into the defensive position of our army. You should cooperate well and strive to annihilate them in the shortest time." As soon as gordov said this, trakov broke in and said, "Comrade commander, I have different opinions. At present, the enemy''s forces are too strong, but our forces are still at a disadvantage compared with them. It''s unrealistic for us to launch a war of annihilation in a short time... "Unexpectedly, gordov interrupted the words behind trakov and said impolitely:" Comrade trakov, I know no less about the front line than you! I have called you here to explain why the right wing of the 64th army retreated across the cheir river? "¡° It''s a last resort to retreat Trekov replied, "we didn''t have time to deploy the whole army. Only half of the 229th division took part in the defensive war... "Gordoff didn''t let trikov finish, so he snapped," give me a written report! In writing Seeing that things have become such a state, trikov has no choice but to ask gordov: "Comrade commander, will you allow me to rush back to the army now? In that case, I can write detailed written reports based on operational maps and documents. " Gordov waved impatiently and said, "go ahead and hand in the report as soon as possible." With a loud promise, trakov turned around and planned to take me away. At this moment, gordov stopped him again and said sternly: "general trakov, I remind you that Comrade Stalin issued Order No. 227 on July 28, pointing out that if we want to save the situation and defend the motherland, we must establish strict order and iron discipline in the army... The panicked and the timid should be shot on the spot. From now on, every commander, Red Army soldier and political worker should abide by this iron discipline: no one is allowed to step back without the order of the supreme command. " Trekov nodded and replied, "yes, comrade commander, I have also received this order, and I will immediately convey it to the army."¡° It is necessary to convey Comrade Stalin''s orders. But what we have to do now is to transfer your troops who have withdrawn from the Qier river back to the front position. If any commander does not carry out the order, he will not be sent to the military court and all of them will be shot on the spot. "

 Chapter 466

    Trikov saluted gordov with a livid face and turned to walk out. I didn''t dare to neglect. After saluting the three generals in the room, I went out immediately.


    Gordov''s call is really a little puzzling. He called trakov from the front line to Stalingrad without saying anything else, just to ask why he allowed the troops to retreat. What he could have done on the phone was to ask his subordinates to give up their work and come to the headquarters for reprimand. It was so boring.


    I walked out of gordov''s office behind the angry trakov. The commanders who were still waiting outside the door gave us sympathetic eyes. It is estimated that these people have suffered the same fate.


    Trekov walked out of the headquarters without saying a word. As soon as he got into the jeep, he ordered the driver with a gloomy face: "drive, and go back to the observation post of chilskaya immediately."


    I saw in my rearview mirror that as soon as he got on the bus, I closed my eyes, leaned against the back of the chair and closed my eyes. I was also secretly relieved. After all, I just saw the embarrassed look of trikov being reprimanded. Persuasion, in front of the driver, a lot of words are not convenient to say; I don''t want to persuade you. It seems a little unsatisfactory. Now that he has closed his eyes, I have avoided the embarrassing situation of persuading or not persuading.


    Our car is going out of the car. I''m going to wait for trikov to calm down and ask him about my next plan. Unexpectedly, as soon as we arrived at the first checkpoint, we were stopped. One of the captains in the first car got out of the car and said a few words to the people in the inspection station, trotted to our car, raised his hand to salute, and reported to trikov: "report to commander, we are stopped by the soldiers at the inspection station. Although I have shown our identity and the necessary documents, they still refuse to let us pass. "


    On hearing the captain''s report, the closed eyed trakov opened his eyes, pushed the door open and went down. He scolded the captain and said, "Comrade captain, didn''t you tell them that we need to go to the front line immediately?"


    The captain replied bitterly, "Comrade commander, I have said all this, but the sergeant in charge of the checkpoint said that he was ordered to stop us."


    Seeing that trakov was angry with his subordinates, I quickly pushed the door open and got out of the car. I went to trakov''s side and said in a low voice¡° Comrade commander, let me handle this matter. I''ll go and ask what''s the matter? "


    Trikov nodded slightly and said, "go ahead and ask why the checkpoint stopped us. Remember, have a better attitude. Don''t get angry with the soldiers. They are expected to follow orders. "


    After listening to trekov''s words, I couldn''t help getting a little nervous, especially when I heard the last sentence, I began to think about what it means to act under orders, which means that their actions have been authorized by their superiors. They were ordered to stop our car. Was it because gordov suddenly wanted to investigate the unauthorized withdrawal of trakov''s troops and wanted to send someone to arrest trakov, because he was afraid that he would run away, so he ordered the checkpoint along the way to stop us? This thought made my legs soften. Some of them don''t want to go. They have volunteered to ask for their lives in front of trikov. It will leave a bad impression on him to retreat at this time.


    I walked up to several soldiers at the checkpoint, glanced at them, finally looked at the soldier with the highest rank, and asked seriously, "sergeant, why do you want to stop our motorcade? You know, it''s general trakov in the car. He needs to go back to the front line immediately to command the battle. "


    The sergeant saluted me and politely replied, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. I''m also under orders."


    "By orders, by whose orders?"


    "It''s an order from the garrison headquarters, comrade commander." The sergeant respectfully explained, "the order says that the checkpoints along our way, after seeing general trakov''s motorcade, must keep them temporarily."


    "Do you know why?"


    The sergeant shook his head and said, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. I don''t know. I just follow orders."


    "Chief, maybe what you have received is the order forged by the saboteurs. I suggest you confirm it with your superior immediately, so as not to delay our business."


    Listen to me, the chief hesitated, pondered for a moment, and replied, "Comrade commander, please wait a moment, I''ll make a phone call." After I nodded permission, he turned and ran into the roadside guard box, picked up the phone and began to dial.


    The staff sergeant put down the phone and trotted all the way. He came up to me and said solemnly, "report commander, I just called to confirm that the higher authorities have indeed issued an order asking general trakov to leave. Not only my checkpoint, but all checkpoints in the city have received the same order. That is to say, even if I let general trakov pass, he will be stopped at the next checkpoint. "


    "Do you know why?" I asked the same question a second time.


    Fortunately, this time, the sergeant did not answer that he didn''t know. Instead, he truthfully replied, "Comrade commander, I just asked that the headquarters of the front army had an order to convey to general trakov. Because he was afraid that he would not be able to contact him on the road, he had to let the checkpoint hold him temporarily. At present, the chief of staff of the front army is rushing here with orders. "


    Knowing why the checkpoint was blocking us, I went back to trakov and reported the matter to him as it was. After listening, trikov frowned and said to himself, "what''s going to happen? You know, commander gordorf didn''t say anything when he was in the headquarters just now. " When he said that, seeing me standing upright in front of him, he quickly said with a smile, "don''t be nervous, comrade oshanina. There should be no big deal. Let''s go back to the car and wait." In our anxious waiting, a jeep came along our way and stopped not far from us. The door opened and several people came down at the same time, including major general nikishev, chief of staff of the front army, a tall major general and a school level officer. Nikishev and the general came towards us, while the school officers went to the checkpoint. Trekov and I opened the door, got out of the car, and met nikishev. "How do you do, general nikishev?" he said aloud. I didn''t expect to see you again so soon. " There was an ugly smile on nikishev''s face, and he said in a strange tone, "yes, general trakov, I didn''t expect to see you again so soon." After that, he leaned slightly, pointed to the major general beside him and said to trikov, "come on, comrade trikov, I''d like to introduce you to general shumilov, the new commander of the 64th army. General shumilov, this is your deputy, general trakov, deputy commander of the group army. " When nikishev said that, I knew that trakov was only the deputy commander. Just when I was surprised, nikishev went on to say, "general shumilov, as you know, the commander of the 64th army turned out to be general gordov. Less than one day after he took office, he was called to Moscow by the Supreme Command and was soon appointed commander of the 64th army. Therefore, the work of the 64th army has always been in the charge of deputy commander, comrade trikov." I thought trikov would be a little embarrassed. Unexpectedly, after listening to the introduction, he still looked indifferent. He also saluted general shumilov very generously. Then he extended his hand and said politely, "Hello, comrade commander. Welcome to the 64th army. " Shumilov also smiles, shakes his hand with trikov, then turns to nikishev and says, "chief of staff, thank you for sending me here. Please go back. I''ll be Comrade trakov''s car and go back to the front line together. " Nikishev nodded, shook hands with them one by one, and turned back to his car. By this time, the checkpoint had received the order from nikishev''s subordinate, the school level officer, to remove the obstacles at the intersection and let our motorcade pass. I''m still in the co driver''s seat of the trakov, so I can hear the conversation between the two commanders in time. "What''s our next task, comrade commander?" trekov asked Shumilov said: "according to the operational order designated by the headquarters of the front army, we will carry out a surprise attack on the enemy at 2 am on the 29th, together with the 62nd group army, to annihilate two enemy groups in the upper buzinovka and Qier River areas. In order to achieve this goal, we will use the new reinforcement to our infantry 204 division and tank 23 army

 Chapter 467

    To his surprise, trakov said coldly: "with his shouts, a second lieutenant in a cornice hat ran out of the building. When he saw two generals standing at the door, he saluted them and said," Hello, general, what can I do for you? "


    Trikov raised his hand and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, I''m trikov, deputy commander of the 64th army. This is general shumilov, commander. We need to contact the headquarters of the front army in case of emergency. Can you call the headquarters directly? "


    The second lieutenant nodded his head and replied, "yes, comrade general, but only to the duty room of the headquarters of the front army."


    Hearing what the second lieutenant said, shumilov could not wait to say, "then take us."


    The second lieutenant hesitated and said, "Comrade General, you should know that the air defense headquarters here does not allow outsiders to use the communication equipment here without the authorization of the superior."


    "Comrade lieutenant, I remind you that we have something important to contact the headquarters of the front army immediately. If we are delayed, can you take the responsibility?" he said


    The second lieutenant was even more hesitant when he heard what trakov said. For him, there are two generals on the one hand, and there are no rules that can be violated. Any choice may bring trouble to him. Seeing the embarrassing scene, I quickly stepped forward, put my hand around the shoulder of the second lieutenant, and said in a friendly way, "Comrade second lieutenant, I know it''s very difficult for you, but we really have something very important to contact with the headquarters. You can accommodate yourself. If the higher authorities blame it, we will testify for you. "


    When I took the second lieutenant''s shoulder, his face turned red with shame. After listening to what I said, he hesitated for a moment. At last, he gritted his teeth and stamped his feet, and said, "OK, that''s it. General, please follow me Then he made a gesture of invitation to them.


    The second lieutenant gently broke free of my arm and led the way to the building. Trekov and shumilov followed. As he passed me, trakov whispered, "well done!" Then go inside.


    When I heard trakov''s praise, I grinned silently and followed them.


    The lieutenant led us to a spacious office, which had no furniture except a huge desk and a few chairs. The second lieutenant pointed to a telephone on the desk and said to trikov, "Comrade General, this telephone can communicate with the duty room of the headquarters of the front army."


    Trekov went straight over, picked up the phone and was ready to make a call. But shumilov found a chair to sit down, leaned back, looked up and asked the second lieutenant, "Comrade second lieutenant, it''s very cold here. We didn''t see many people all the way in."


    The second lieutenant replied, "report, comrade general, our headquarters has just been requisitioned and has not yet been put into use. As you can see, except for a few soldiers on duty, there is no one else. Comrade general, I have other things to do. Will you allow me to leave? "


    Shumilov nodded and said politely, "go ahead, comrade lieutenant. We''ll leave after we call. "


    When the second lieutenant left, trakov called the duty room of the headquarters of the front army. He said, "Hello, I''m general trakov. I have something important to contact with the chief of staff, general nikishev."


    After hearing this, the staff in the duty room politely replied, "Hello, general trakov. General nikishev was out just now. Please wait a moment. I''ll see if he''s back? "


    With little effort, general nikishev''s voice came out of the microphone. He said with a smile, "Comrade trakov, we haven''t been separated for a long time. Why did you call me so soon? Have you returned to the front line?"


    Trikov laughed twice and said, "chief of staff, I''m in such a hurry to call you because I have something important to ask you."


    "What''s the matter? Go ahead. "


    "I don''t know where the 204th infantry division and the 23rd tank army assigned to our group army by the front army are? You know, general shumilov and I knew nothing about the location of these two troops. In 24 hours, our group army and the 62nd group army are going to carry out counter assault against the enemy. At the moment, there are still two troops missing. How can we fight this battle? "


    Nikishev was silent for a moment, and then replied: "the last information received by the headquarters of the front army is that these two troops are near the Don river. I suggest you go to the area between the Don River and the Liska River to find these two troops. Comrade trakov, as an old friend, I would like to remind you that general gordov is very angry with you for allowing the troops to withdraw without authorization. If this counterattack fails again, you will be in great trouble. "


    Trikov nodded to the phone and said, "thank you for your relationship, nikishev. I''ll find these two troops as soon as possible." Then he hung up.


    When shumilov saw that trakov put down the phone, he also stood up. The phone was loud just now. He didn''t need trakov to introduce the situation. He had a clear idea. He shook his head and said, "come on, comrade trakov. I''ve heard what he said just now. We don''t have much time left. We should go to our troops."


    Leaving Stalingrad, the driver could not help speeding up because there was no enemy aircraft in the air. In order to find the lost troops as soon as possible, as soon as he met the scattered small troops on the road, he stopped to ask what part of the other party was, and then asked them politely if they knew the whereabouts of the 204th infantry division and the 23rd tank army. In this way, we spent the whole night on the open grassland and searched for another morning. It was not until noon that we met a convoy escorting the wounded to retreat. From their mouths, we knew that there was a tank troop stationed in zherkov area, which might be what we were looking for. So our motorcade went to zherkov without stopping. In a farm there, I saw a long line of tanks. When we saw our car, several soldiers came up on motorcycles, stopped us and began to check our identity. Trekov pushed the door open and went down. "What part of you are?" he asked The other side looked at trakov''s rank and replied respectfully: "report general, we are a tank brigade under the jurisdiction of the 23rd tank army. Who are you, please? "¡° I''m general trakov, deputy commander of the 64th army. Commander General shumilov is in the car. Is your brigadier in? I want to see him immediately. " The tank soldiers led us to the brigade headquarters. The commander of the tank brigade was a colonel with a beard. He was sitting at the table drinking tea when he saw his subordinates leading two generals coming in and stood up to meet them. After indicating his identity, trakov asked: "Comrade brigade commander, why do your tanks line up like a parade on the roadside? Are you not afraid of being bombed by enemy planes?" The brigade commander''s face was red. He answered, "Comrade deputy commander, my troops have arrived here for two days, and what orders have not been received, they can only stay here." Let''s get the troops moving now. By the way, where is your military headquarters? "¡° Report to Comrade General that the military headquarters is located in the Shengli state farm in October. "¡° Show me where the Shengli state farm is in October. " He took the map from the table and handed it to the commander. Then our motorcade went to the "October victory" state farm to find the headquarters of the 23rd tank army. As the car passed a small village, trakov suddenly called out to the driver, "stop, pull over." After the car stopped, general shumilov opened his eyes and asked, "to the state farm?" Trekov shook his head and said, "not yet. This is vorokinsky village, the headquarters of the 62nd army. Let''s go to see general korpakchi and discuss with him the details of tomorrow''s anti assault." The Sentinels on duty at the gate of the headquarters of the 62nd group army, seeing our arrival, took the initiative to come up and greet us without waiting for trekov to ask, "Hello, general trekov, the commander is in. Please come in." As for me, they are more familiar with me. After all, I was a deputy commander in this headquarters for a period of time, so when I entered, the sentry nodded to me and said hello. On the contrary, shumilov was inadvertently ignored. When we walked into the headquarters, colparke had just finished a phone call. Judging from his expression, the content of the call was not pleasant. "How do you do, general kolpakchi?" trekov called to him As soon as kolpakchi, who was originally sad, saw that it was trakov, he was immediately overjoyed. He quickly came up to shake hands with him. Fortunately, he asked strangely, "Comrade trakov, how can you come to my headquarters today when you are free?"¡° I''m looking for two separated troops, passing by your headquarters, so I''d like to say hello to you and discuss the details of tomorrow''s operation by the way. " Korpakchi called trakov and sat down. As soon as he looked back, he saw me standing next to him, with a surprised expression on his face: "isn''t this comrade oshanina? Aren''t you working as a team leader? Why did you come here with Comrade trakov?" I quickly replied, "Comrade report commander, I have transferred the post of head of the group to someone else. I went with general trakov to the headquarters of the front army in Stalingrad to accept the mission and just came back. " Kolpakchi''s eyes fell on shumilov, who had been ignored all the time, and asked trekov in surprise: "Comrade trekov, who is this general? I''ve never seen it before. Is it your new deputy? " "General korpakchi, I forgot to introduce him to you. This is general shumilov, the commander of our army group," he explained Kolpakchi gave trekov a sympathetic look and then asked sumilov to sit down. Next, kolpakchi entertained us with that rich lunch, and at the same time, he and the two commanders began to formally discuss the joint military operation in the early morning of tomorrow.

 Chapter 468

    During the meal, general shumilov, who had been silent for a long time, said slowly, "general korpakchi, I want to ask you, in the early morning of tomorrow''s counter attack, trakov and shumilov walked quickly to the jeep parked outside the village without saying a word. I followed behind them, thinking back on what colpakchi had said just now, and asking myself, although the counter assault formulated by the headquarters of the front army is a bit out of date, if I am in colpakchi''s position, will I refuse the deployment of the superior like him, or will I ignore all the wrong orders of the superior? Before I could come up with a plan, we had already come to the jeep. Trekov patted me on the shoulder and asked unhappily, "o''shanina, what are you doing? Hurry up and get on the bus."

 Chapter 469

    Our jeep shifted its head outside the village and headed for the Don ferry.


    When the ferry appeared in our vision, shumilov, who had been silent for a long time, finally asked a question of his concern to trekov: "Comrade trekov, I have a question for you."


    Trikov said very politely: "Comrade commander, if you have any questions, just ask. As long as I know, I will say everything."


    "When I was at the headquarters of the front army, I heard that during the fighting a few days ago, all the troops of our group army suddenly withdrew from the fighting, and tens of thousands of troops flocked to the Don river ferry. In order to stop the troops from crossing the river, you sent General Browder to stop it. As a result, he died under the enemy''s air attack. Is that so? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Trekov replied in a low voice.


    "I want to know, who gave this wrong order?" Shumilov''s tone became severe.


    When I heard the conversation in the back row, I quickly looked out of the window, pretending I didn''t hear each other at all, so that no one would ask for my opinion later, and I didn''t want to get involved in the conflict between their senior management.


    After a moment''s silence, trakov said with difficulty: "the order is that Colonel Novikov, chief of staff of the group army, and Comrade Abramov, military commissar and political commissar of the division, without my consent, sent out the order to retreat to the left bank of the Don River to the 214th infantry division, the two marine brigades and the 137th tank brigade through the radio station."


    "Damn it Shumilov gave me a hard blow on the back of the chair behind me and said angrily, "their mistakes are unforgivable. We should immediately report them to the higher authorities, investigate their responsibility and send them to the military court."


    "Comrade commander, the first thing we should consider now is how to recover the bad consequences of this wrong order, contain the enemy''s crazy offensive, and prevent them from approaching Stalingrad," trikov said faintly


    When shumilov heard what trakov said, he unexpectedly didn''t reply, so they were silent.


    When the bus arrived at the ferry, it was just catching up with a troop landing. The jeeps in front of us honked their horns desperately. The commanders and fighters quickly walked to both sides of the road and made way for our motorcade to the wharf.


    Three jeeps drove onto the barges at the dock in turn. After the car stopped, the barge was towed by the motorboat to the right bank of Don river. Trekov and shumilov pushed the door open and got out of the car. They stood next to the car, smoking and pointing to the right bank of the Don river.


    When I saw the two leaders getting off the bus, I was embarrassed to stay on the bus. I pushed the door open and got off the bus and went to the side of the boat. Seeing the turbulent rolling river, I can''t help but feel a lot of emotion. I think that if it wasn''t kokunov and the sailor who saved me that day, I would have drowned in the Don River nine times out of ten. Thinking of this, I couldn''t help looking up at the sky. I was afraid that another enemy plane would come out of the cloud.


    When the enemy plane didn''t come, trakov and shumilov came to me. Shumilov asked with concern: "Comrade oshanina, is this your first time to cross the Don river? I think you''ve been standing here for a long time


    Without waiting for me to speak, trikov had already rushed to help me answer: "Comrade commander, just yesterday morning, lieutenant commander oshanina and her regiment troops, after completing the task of covering the friendly troops crossing the river, braved the air raid of the enemy aircraft, crossed the Don river, and built Fortifications on the left bank of the river."


    "Is that so? Commander o''shanina. "


    Hearing shumilov''s question, I quickly straightened up and answered in a loud voice, "yes, comrade commander. Most of the troops of our regiment successfully crossed the Don river. Half way through the river, my ferry was bombed and strafed by enemy planes and was unfortunately sunk. Fortunately, I was saved by a good water soldier, so I can stand in front of you and report to you. "


    Shumilov put his hand on my shoulder, patted me twice and said, "good job, comrade commander." With that, he turned to the jeep.


    The car went ashore and quickly drove to the headquarters of the group army in irimian - chilsky. As there was no enemy aircraft disturbance, we arrived at the headquarters in only half an hour.


    Walking into the headquarters, I saw several commanders around a map on the wall, studying something. Trikov strode forward and yelled at them, "Hello, comrades commanders."


    When the commanders heard his voice, they turned their heads and found that the man who came in was trikov. They all came up to greet him and saluted him. After a few words of greeting, he pointed to shumilov standing behind him and said, "comrades, I''d like to introduce you to general shumilov, the new commander of the group army."


    "The new commander?" A famous Colonel asked in surprise, "Comrade General, are you no longer the commander of our 64th army?"


    Trikov glanced at the commander and said faintly, "Colonel Novikov, have you forgotten that the commander of our group army is general gordov. Since he became the commander of the front army, there has been no commander in the group army. I am the deputy commander in charge of the army. Today, the higher authorities have sent us a new commander. In the future, everyone will obey his orders. Do you understand? " Speaking of the last sentence, he raised his voice intentionally.


    "I see!" The commander in the room replied collectively.


    On his first day in office, shumilov was sure to have a few words with you. After trakov introduced his identity to you, he asked you to sit around the wooden table and began his first meeting with the 64th army.


    When he saw that all the people were seated, he stood up, took out a document from his briefcase, and said solemnly to everyone, "comrades in command, the people''s Commission for national defense of the Soviet Union issued Order No. 227 signed by the Supreme Commander himself on July 28, 1942. The order is extremely clear and candid about the complexity and danger of the current situation. Now, I''ll read this order to you Then he began to read the famous command No. 227 aloud in a cadenced voice


    "Regardless of the heavy losses they have suffered, the enemy has put more and more new troops into the battlefield. They are approaching the hinterland of the Soviet Union step by step, and they are constantly occupying new areas. They ravaged and destroyed our cities and villages. They raped women, plundered property and killed people.


    Fighting is taking place in Voronezh and the Don region, at the gate in the south near the north Caucasus. The German occupation forces are rushing to Stalingrad and Volga River in an attempt to occupy the Kuban River region and the north Caucasus at all costs and seize the oil and food resources there.


    The enemy has occupied voloshlovgrad, starobelsk, rossoshi, kupyansk, waluyiki, new cherkask, Rostov on the Don and half Voronezh... After the loss of Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic coastal area, Donbas and other areas, our territory has been greatly reduced, and therefore our personnel Grain, steel and factories are also reduced. We have lost more than 70 million people, a grain producing area with an annual output of more than 800 million pute of grain and a production capacity of more than 10 million tons of steel.


    Now, we have lost the advantage of human resources and grain reserves. To continue to retreat means to commit suicide, which means to destroy our motherland.


    From now on, every inch of land we give up will greatly strengthen the enemy''s advantage, greatly weaken our defense and weaken our motherland. Therefore, we must fundamentally put an end to such arguments as "we can retreat endlessly" and "China has a vast territory, a large population, abundant products and inexhaustible supplies of food". These arguments are harmful and wrong. It will weaken our fighting spirit and increase the prestige of the enemy. Because if we don''t stop retreating, we will lose food, fuel, steel, raw materials, factories and railways. The conclusion is that it''s time to stop retreating. Not a step back!


    This should be our main slogan at the moment. We must persevere in every position, every inch of Soviet territory, and do our best to defend it until we shed as much blood as possible.


    Our motherland is in a difficult period. We should stop retreating, and then beat back and crush the enemy at any cost. The Germans are not as powerful as some of the panickers think. They have become the end of the storm. If we stand up to the enemy''s assault now and in the next few months, we will be sure to win.


    Can we withstand the enemy''s assault and drive them back? can. Because now the production of our rear factories is advancing by leaps and bounds, and our front lines are getting more and more airplanes, tanks, artillery and mortars.


    So, what are we short of? What we lack is iron order and discipline in all our troops. This is our current Achilles'' heel. If we want to save the situation and defend our motherland, we must establish extremely strict order and iron discipline in our army


    Panic and cowards should be shot on the spot. From now on, every commander, Red Army soldier and political worker should abide by this iron discipline: never step back without the command of the supreme command. "


    After reading the order, shumilov turned his head and said to trekov, who was sitting beside him, "general trekov, please say a few words." With that, he sat down and took a sip of the tea from the orderly.


    Trikov stood up, looked at the people present seriously, and then said, "comrades, never step back!" We have mentioned such slogans before. However, there has never been such a document as to tell the whole staff, not only the commanders of the Red Army, but also the ordinary soldiers about the difficult situation of our country. This order is actually a letter to all the people of the Soviet Union. Because the Red Army is the people''s army, a multi-ethnic soldier of all the Soviet people. The party and the Soviet government frankly told the people of the country''s difficulties, which could not but arouse a warm response from the people of the whole country. It will certainly bring positive results. Every soldier and commander deeply felt his responsibility to the motherland and the people. Indeed, we have no way back. " At this point, trakov stopped for a moment and turned his eyes to the political worker here. "I repeat once again that no one is allowed to give an order to withdraw in future battles without the permission of me and the commander. I''m finished


    Next, shumilov ordered a few more people to talk about their views on the order. The commander, who was named, stood up tremblingly, followed the tone of the commander, yelled several slogans to make the troops never retreat, and then sat down again.


    After the meeting, trikov said to shumilov in a deliberative tone: "Comrade commander, from the current situation, the left wing of our group army has been gradually surrounded by the enemy from the south. We should immediately investigate the situation in the southern part of the group army and take necessary measures on the spot. "


    Shumilov pondered a little, then nodded and agreed. He said, "OK, comrade trakov, don''t worry. If you have anything, you can call me or send me a telegram. You can deploy your defense according to the specific situation. You don''t have to ask the headquarters of the group army for instructions. You have absolute command on the front line. "


    After a simple preparation, trakov took me out. We were accompanied by adjutant captain Klimov, herald lewood sidolin, driver kayom kalimulin and Vadim sidorokov, and several signalmen. We set off South in three jeeps, one of which carried a radio station.


    On the way, passing a village called shangluberinei, trekov asked us to hear the car next to the soldiers standing guard outside the village. After the car was stable, a soldier with a gun on his back came to our car, stopped in front of the car, bent over and looked into the car. At the same time, he asked, "comrades, which part are you from?"


    I pushed the door open and went down. Just as I was about to speak, I didn''t expect that the soldier had raised his hand to salute me and said to me with a smile: "Hello, commander o''xia Nina, how did you come to the division headquarters?"


    "Division headquarters? Is it general bilukov''s 214 division? " Behind him came the voice of trakov. I turned to see that he had pushed the door open and got out of the car.


    "Yes, Comrade General. The teacher is in his headquarters. Shall I take you there? " The sentry was very smart. Seeing a general coming down from the car, he immediately guessed that he was looking for a division commander, so he asked to be a guide.


    When we went to the village headquarters together with the sentry, I took a chance and asked the sentry in a low voice, "Comrade soldier, do you know me?"


    The sentry nodded and replied, "yes, comrade commander. I once accompanied my teacher to the 678th regiment, where I met you. "


    In the division headquarters, I met general biliukov again. After the conversation with trakov, he came up to me, shook hands with me, and smacked my right shoulder with his left hand. He joked, "commander oshanina, I gave you the 678th regiment and my son, but now you''re leaving them behind and running to the headquarters of the group army."


    I smile at this kind teacher, just want to say a few words, trakov has impatiently urged: "general biliukov, quickly report the situation of your division."


    Biliukov restrained his smile and said solemnly: "Comrade commander, the situation is very strange. On the whole left bank of Don River defended by our division, from lower chilskaya to gorotskaya, it is calm and suspicious. The enemy did not even try to cross the Don river by force, nor did they carry out active reconnaissance. This negative attitude of the enemy makes me feel very strange. "


    "Yes, Comrade General. Before the storm, it was very calm. " Said trekov.


    Just then, there were several explosions outside, and trekov frowned and asked, "what''s going on? Comrade General. Don''t you say the defensive zone is quiet? What''s the matter with the shelling? The enemy''s shells are all near your headquarters. "


    Biliukov shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "Comrade commander, this is the enemy''s cold artillery. Every day, it will fire dozens of shots at us, but usually there will be no casualties."


    In order to avoid the enemy''s shelling, we had to stay in general biliukov''s division headquarters. After a little calm, we bid farewell to biliukov and headed south.


    After getting on the bus, the driver turned and asked, "Comrade commander, where shall we go?"


    "Our next stop is the village of gnerlovsky, where the 29th Infantry Division is located."


    We soon got to the village of gnerlovsky. When our car was stopped at the entrance of the village, the sentry on duty called the officer on duty of the division headquarters to inform him of the arrival of general trakov.


    In a short time, the commander of the 29th division, Colonel klobkin, with several staff officers, respectfully led us to the division headquarters.


    After a brief greeting, trakov asked klobkin, "Comrade Colonel, report the deployment of your division."


    Like a pupil, klobkin stood straight in front of trakov and answered earnestly, "Comrade report commander, my 29th division is located along the Aksay River, from gorotskaya village to new aksayski village, facing south. To the north of our division, along the Don river, was the defensive zone of the 214 th division. To the south of our division, from potunginskaya to kurmoyarskaya, it was defended by an independent cavalry regiment with a group army. Because of the shortage of troops, the left wing of our division was not fortified. "


    Trekov went to the map on the wall, looked at it for a while, then lit a place and asked klobkin, "Comrade Colonel, does this place seem to have an army? What part is it? "


    Klobkin went over and looked at it. He quickly replied, "report, comrade commander, this is the unit of the 118th fortification area. They are launching and preparing to defend along the line of the river meshkovka. But it''s in the rear, north of the Aksay river. As we are not affiliated to each other, I have no right to mobilize their troops. "¡° Don''t worry about that, comrade colonel. I''ll go to their commanders tomorrow and try to get them to deploy some troops to strengthen your division''s left wing. "

 Chapter 470

    In the evening, we stayed with me and stopped several passing commanders and fighters to ask them where the commanders were, but they could not tell why. It took me a lot of effort to find a dejected major in the crowd. I grabbed him by the shoulder excitedly and asked excitedly, "Comrade major, are you the commander of the 208th infantry division?"


    He looked at me, not even polite, just nodded and said, "yes, what can I do for you?"


    I didn''t care about his attitude and asked, "where is your division now?"


    Unexpectedly, he sat down on the ground and said, "I don''t know."


    Seeing his virtue, I gave him a kick and asked in a voice: "what? You don''t know, aren''t you from division 208? What about your troops? Where are the teachers and commanders? "


    Unexpectedly, he covered his face and began to cry. "It''s over, it''s all over. When the military train carrying our division just got off the train at kojernikovo station, it was suddenly attacked by German planes and tanks, causing great losses to the troops. Fortunately, the troops are retreating along the railway. No one knows where the division commander and the regiment commander are. "


    When I came back to trakov, I told him the bad news. He was silent for a long time, then called me: "get in the car." After I got on the bus, I told the driver, "go to nebekovo and let me have a look. Maybe we can meet the army we are looking for there."


    Our car soon arrived near the station where nebekovo would pass. I saw troops digging trenches from a distance. I quickly turned back and said to trikov, "Comrade commander, there are troops digging trenches in front of us. I''ll ask what part of them are."


    With trekov''s permission, I got out of the car and trotted to the commanders and fighters. Our arrival has already attracted the attention of those commanders and fighters. When we saw that we were running towards them, a captain immediately came to me and asked loudly from a long distance, "Comrade commander, which part are you from?"


    I went up to the captain and said to him, "Comrade captain, I''m from the 64th group army. I accompany general trakov, commander of the group army, to look for the 208th division. Do you know where I can find this army?"


    The captain replied, "Comrade commander, we are from the 208 th division. Because our troops were attacked by enemy air raids and tanks, we lost a lot. I spread out the battalion into a line of scattered troops, facing south, and began to build bunkers to prepare for the battle. "


    "Do you know where the division headquarters or the League Headquarters are? Comrade captain. " Trekov didn''t know when he came behind me and asked the captain.


    The captain shook his head and said, "Comrade General, I don''t know where the division headquarters or regiment headquarters are. However, I learned from those who had retreated from the south that there were German tanks in kojernikovo, so I decided to occupy the defensive position to fight against the enemy''s attack. "


    "Good job, comrade captain." Trekov praised his practice and ordered him to stop the retreating soldiers and strengthen the defensive force.


    After getting back on the bus, trakov said to the driver, "go to the chilekov station, where I think we may find the division headquarters or regiment headquarters of the 208 th division."


    As we approached the station, we saw several military trains parked here. A lot of troops are getting off here.


    Seeing this scene, trakov said excitedly, "look, comrade oshanina, I think this is the unit of the 208 th division. Let''s go and have a look. "


    We walked into the station and asked a few officers and men casually. It was the unit of the 208 th division. Although the news of the destruction of the four military transport trains in kojernikovo has not yet reached here, the railway subgrade and the surrounding areas of the trains are full of people, luggage scattered everywhere, cooking smoke and chaos.


    Trekov and I trudged into the station office and found the station''s military commander, a major battalion commander. Trikov gave him a brief account of the situation in the South and ordered him to send stronger troops to guard the two highlands near the village of nekovo. Meanwhile, the rest of the troops were quickly transferred away from the station, waiting for further instructions.


    After giving these orders, trakov took us by car to the dairy farm two kilometers west of chilekov railway station, where he was going to set up a temporary headquarters.


    After arriving at the dairy farm, the adjutant krimov just arrived here. He is commanding the communication troops to set up radio stations and prepare to contact the headquarters of the front army. Trikov ordered krimov: "adjutant, after the radio station is set up, immediately call the headquarters of the front army. The code name is" akustik. "


    It''s noon, and the sky is clear. In the town of dairy farm, besides us, there are troops of the 208 th division. Trakov never bothered to inquire about the whereabouts of the division headquarters from these commanders and fighters, but he got nothing.


    Ten minutes later, Klimov reported to trikov that he had contacted the headquarters of the front army. When trekov and I went to the temporary headquarters, there was the roar of aircraft motors in the sky. I looked up and saw that there were three groups of 9-plane planes in the sky, coming straight to us from the north. From the appearance, these planes are all our own.


    Trekov and I had just entered the headquarters when there was an explosion outside. I rushed to the window and looked out. I saw the planes bombing the train station and the military vehicles parked there. A fire broke out in the car and station buildings. A fierce flame rapidly spread from one building to another.


    I turned and yelled at trikov, "Comrade commander, it''s our plane bombing the station. It''s our plane bombing the station." Trekov ran to the window and looked at it. Then he rushed back to the radio station and ordered the radio operator to send a message in clear code: "at the chilekov station, our plane is bombing our own army line!..." When the operator sent out the alarm signal, I found another nine plane formation flying from the north and began to drop bombs into the town. Then, they formed a circular formation and began to dive and strafe in turn. Just as I was staring at the scene outside in a daze, trakov suddenly jumped on me and knocked me to the ground, and then a bomb exploded outside our house. The brick and concrete structure of the house could not withstand the blast wave, and the roof collapsed first. Fortunately, trekov and I were leaning against the wall, and the beam slanted against the wall, forming a safe area. Trekov and I were safe. But the operator was not so lucky, he was killed on the spot, our radio station was also damaged, we lost the means of contact.

 Chapter 471

    Although the bombing was still going on, Klimov saw that the headquarters had collapsed and rushed in from the outside with the guards. As soon as he entered the room, he cried out: "Comrade commander, where are you?"


    Hearing kremov''s voice, trekov, who was huddled in the narrow space with me, rushed out and yelled, "Captain kremov, I''m here."


    Just after two shouts, crimov''s excited voice came from outside: "comrades, the commander is here. Two more people, move this floor away. " Soon, someone called the number and began to lift the floor over our heads. With everyone''s shouts, the floor was slowly raised, revealing one that could bend through the gap.


    Klimov put his head in and said breathlessly, "Comrade commander, the floor is too heavy for us to lift without tools. Do you think you can get out of this crack? "


    Trekov bent over, made a gesture with his hand, turned to me and said, "o''shanina, no problem. We can get out of such a big gap."


    I was a little far away from the crevice. I was relieved to hear that he could go out. I hastened to urge him: "Comrade commander, go out first. The floor is too heavy. It''s been a long time. I''m afraid the captain and they can''t hold it


    Trekov agreed and crawled out of the crack with his hands, feet and ground. Then I heard him outside shouting, "OK, o''shanina, you should climb out quickly, too."


    As soon as I got out, crimov and several soldiers could not support me any more. As soon as I let go, the floor fell back to its original place again, and the dust rose all over the sky. Crimov and others were choked and coughed violently. Seeing that the damaged headquarters couldn''t stay any longer, trakov yelled, "everyone go outside." After shouting, I covered my mouth and nose with my hand and rushed out of the headquarters. I didn''t dare to neglect him and ran out with him.


    After trekov ran to the street, no matter our plane was still hovering over the town, he stood in the middle of the road like a fool, staring at the burning station. I looked up at the plane in the sky, grabbed his arm and pulled it aside. At the same time, I advised, "Comrade commander, it''s dangerous here. Let''s find a place to hide."


    I didn''t expect that trekov''s leg was rooted. I didn''t pull it twice. A series of coughs came from behind. I turned to see that it was Klimov and several of them rushed out. Seeing them, I was like seeing a savior. I yelled at them: "Hello, comrade captain, you guys, come here and take the commander to a safe place."


    When they heard me yelling, Klimov and they ran over, put trekov on the rack and dragged him into a complete building nearby. After they carried him through the unit door, I saw the words "air raid shelter goes from here" on the wall, so I went into the building. But I didn''t go into the air raid shelter. Instead, I stood in the door and looked at the fighters flying in the air.


    The bombing ended in half an hour. After dropping the bomb and firing all the airborne bullets, our plane circled over the station and town several times, then reluctantly flew to the distance to report their brilliant achievements to the higher authorities.


    After seeing the plane leave, I went to the air raid shelter to report to trikov that all the planes of our army had flown away.


    After leaving the shelter, despite our dissuasion, trakov must go to the station to check the situation after being bombed. We couldn''t persuade him, so we had to agree with him and follow him to the station.


    Walking into the bombed station, a heat wave came head on. Not only the buildings on both sides of the station are burning, but also the military train cars overturned by bombs are burning. The wounded, who were not rescued, tumbled on the ground, and their screams, groans and calls were heard all the time. The bodies of the soldiers who died miserably in the air raid were lying on each other''s pillows. So many officers and men have just arrived at the front line from far away Siberia, and they are killed or injured by their own planes before they see the enemy. This scene is very sad.


    Seeing this scene like purgatory on earth, trikov gritted his teeth and said, "Comrade captain, go and find the military commander at the station. I want to ask him why he didn''t carry out my order to evacuate the troops from the station so quickly that so many soldiers died in vain. " Crimov silently saluted and left with the two soldiers.


    After a while, Klimov came back and reported to trikov, "Comrade commander, I have found the military commander."


    "Bring him here." Said trekov, sullenly.


    After listening to what trakov said, Klimov answered with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, he can''t come. I suggest you go and see for yourself."


    Trekov snorted and said discontentedly, "even if he is injured, I will hold him responsible."


    Under the leadership of Klimov, we walked along the road full of craters and soon came to the military office. The military office, like other buildings, is surrounded by fire. Trakov looked around. Except for the soldiers who passed by occasionally, he didn''t see the military commander he knew. So he asked Klimov, "Comrade captain, where are the military commanders you mentioned?"


    Klimov pointed to the ground and said, "Comrade commander, he is here." I looked down and saw the military commander just now. He was lying on the ground with blood all over his body, motionless. I crouched down and looked at his wound carefully. I found that his carotid artery had been cut off by a piece of shrapnel. It seemed that the man had not been saved for a long time.


    I stood up, looked at the chaos around me, sighed, walked up to trekov and said to him, "Comrade commander, it''s too dangerous here. Maybe we''ll get enemy planes later. Let''s get out of here first."


    Our party just left the station and got into the car parked outside. Before getting on the bus, Klimov specially ran over to ask for instructions from trakov: "Comrade commander, where are we going next?"


    After pondering for a moment, trakov replied, "our motorcade is going along the railway. When we get to the stations and meeting stations along the way, we have to find the headquarters of the 208th division. I don''t believe it. In addition to the division headquarters with hundreds of troops directly under it, if you don''t say it, it will be gone. "


    After receiving a clear order from trakov, Klimov took the whole team to drive eastward along the railway, looking for the lost 208 division headquarters.


    Until the evening, we still did not find the division headquarters of the 208 th division. I turned around and asked trekov, who was sitting in the back row, "Comrade commander, it''s dark. Shall we find a place to settle down? Otherwise, we may break into the enemy''s defensive area. "


    Trekov took out the map, spread it on his lap, looked at it with his flashlight for a while, then pointed to a position and said to the driver, "we''ll get to biliukovsky''s stop after driving about two kilometers. We''ll stay there tonight."


    The driver nodded and honked the horn twice. As soon as the horn went off, the tail lights of the car in front flashed twice. The driver turned to trikov and reported, "Comrade commander, your order, Captain Klimov. They already know that they will stop at the passing station." Seeing this kind of interesting contact information makes my worry disappear. In this way, I don''t worry that after we stop, crimov''s car will go a long way.


    Our motorcade was stopped near the passing station of bilukovsky. After getting off the bus, Klimov negotiated with the soldiers who were blocking the road, turned around and trotted all the way to us. When he came to the front of the bus, he couldn''t even salute, so he excitedly reported, "good news, comrade commander, I found the headquarters of the 208 th Division."


    When I heard Klimov say that, I was relieved. It was really a waste of time. We didn''t have to rush around like headless flies. Upon hearing that he had finally found the 208 division headquarters, trikov quickly opened the car door and got off the car. He excitedly asked, "Comrade captain, where is the 208 division headquarters?"


    "Comrade commander, it''s in the meeting station."


    "Take me to see it." At the moment, trikov didn''t talk about any manners. He didn''t even pay attention to Klimov, so he walked quickly to Huirang station.


    There were more than ten soldiers standing in front of the car. Seeing a general walking towards them in a hurry, they all stood at attention. A staff sergeant welcomed him and said politely, "Hello, Comrade General. Are you going to see your teacher? "


    "Yes, chief. Where is he? I want to see him at once. "


    The staff sergeant did not dare to neglect us. He quickly led us to the division headquarters in Huirang station.


    At the moment, the division commander, who had already received the news, was standing at the door with a group of people from the headquarters to meet us.


    Trikov came up to them without any politeness, and said, "I''m the commander of the 64th army. Which of you is the commander of the 208th division?"


    The colonel at the front of the line immediately stepped forward two steps, saluted trakov, and reported: "Comrade commander, commander of the 208 infantry division, Colonel voskoboynikov, report to you and wait for your order." Seeing that trakov nodded slightly, he continued: "please allow me to introduce you to the members of division headquarters. This is the political commissar, chief of staff and director of the Political Department of the division. "


    Before he finished his introduction, trakov walked impatiently through the crowd and straight into the headquarters. The division commander saw that trikov had entered the headquarters, and quickly took a group of people with him.


    When all the people outside entered the headquarters, trakov looked at voskoboynikov discontentedly and said coldly, "Comrade Colonel, why did your division break away from the army and run hundreds of kilometers away from the army? And this afternoon, when the troops of your division got off at chilekov railway station, they were mistakenly bombed by our plane, causing heavy casualties and sacrificing about one regiment''s strength. "


    Voskoboynikov''s face turned pale when he heard the bad news. His voice trembled and he asked, "Comrade commander, is this all true?"


    His whole body trembled at the sight of trekov''s affirmative nod. I can see that he was greatly stimulated because of the bad news. After all, so many of his troops died under the bombing of his own planes without any reason. As the military commander of his troops, he didn''t feel extremely painful.


    "Comrade General," he murmured to trikov after a long time, "I don''t know what''s going on. I can''t explain these unnecessary sacrifices to my subordinates."


    "I think the reason for this is that the troops who just arrived didn''t get air cover in the unloading area," he sighed. The headquarters of the front army failed to guarantee the smooth implementation of the operation, let alone inform the air force. And our military plane, which was ordered to attack, took the commanders and fighters on the station as Germans, so that there would be this accidental bombing. "


    We stayed here for a few hours. After voskoboynikov calmed down, trakov called the political commissar, chief of staff and director of the Political Department of the division and gave an order to the four of them. They immediately contacted the troops scattered from nebekovo to rutovo and abganerovo, That night, he led them across the Aksay River, occupied the defensive positions in the front line from Antonov town to rutov village, and sent strengthened patrols in front of the army''s defense line and on the left wing.


    In the end, trakov told them, "you should strengthen the reconnaissance and find out the direction and intention of the main German forces in this area. According to the information we have, I estimate that the German army will not entangle with our troops deployed along the railway in the kojernikovo area. They will make a deep detour through the town of plodovitoye and jinguta, and the enemy''s tanks may come from the West. In this direction, the kojelnikovo region is facing a "big challenge"


    We arranged for the 208 division and drove back to the temporary headquarters overnight. Fortunately, when the moon is bright, we can run on the grassland without driving the car headlights. We don''t have to worry about being found by the enemy.


    Near an intersection 10 kilometers south of gnerlovsky, the leading car in front stopped, and our car also stopped immediately. Seeing that crimov got out of the car and ran towards us, I quickly opened the car door, jumped down and asked him, "Comrade captain, what''s the matter? Why did you stop?"


    The captain came up to me and answered in a low voice, "I see cavalry on the grassland ahead."


    I looked back at trekov, who was reclining on the back of his chair, and asked in the same low voice, "how many people are there?"


    "I saw seven or eight cavalry. I don''t know if there are hidden sentries. Comrade commander, what should we do? "


    I pointed back and said, "Comrade captain, you take a class of soldiers to take a truck to have a look. Judging from the recent fighting, the Germans have no cavalry. What you see may be our scattered troops. Be careful. Don''t get me wrong. "


    "Yes The captain promised and ran back. Came to a truck, he jumped on the driver''s side of the pedal, body hanging on the door, directing the car forward.


    When the truck passed us, he woke up. He pushed the door open and came out to me. He looked at the truck and asked, "o''shanina, what''s the matter?"


    "Several cavalry were found on the grassland ahead. I asked captain Klimov to bring a class of soldiers to meet them and see what part they were." When I saw trakov standing outside, my heart suddenly became uneasy. Although I thought it was my own people who appeared opposite me, if there was a misunderstanding, a fire broke out and trakov was injured by stray bullets, the process of the battle of Stalingrad would change. So I advised trakov: "Comrade commander, it''s too dangerous outside. You''d better go back to the car."


    He just waved his hand and said, "I think your analysis is very correct. Our cavalry should be in front of us. I''ll wait for Klimov here and see which cavalry is on the opposite side. "


    "Stop! Who is it? " In the distance came crimov''s cry.


    The other side answered, no accident happened.


    Soon several cavalry came to us under the guidance of Klimov.


    A cavalry Sergeant dismounted and reported to trakov that they were the reconnaissance team of the 255 independent cavalry regiment, which had been withdrawn from the town of upper kurmoyarskaya. From early in the morning, the enemy began to cross the Don River on a large scale there.


    After hearing the news, trakov was surprised, and then said to the sergeant, "tell your commander, I, general trakov, commander of the 64th group army, order him to conduct reconnaissance in front of potunginskaya and upper yabulochne, to monitor the enemy''s actions. The enemy may enter here from the kojernikovo area. If there is any change in the enemy''s situation, let him keep in touch with me through the 29th division headquarters in the village of gnerlovsky. "


    After a few cavalry left, we came to the village of gnerlovsky overnight.


    When we went into the division headquarters, we found that they were packing up and ready to leave. Trikov went up to division commander klobkin and asked in a loud voice, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the matter? Why didn''t you report to me that the army is about to start?"


    Klobkin looked at trakov and said with a bitter smile, "Comrade commander, I''m sorry. Our division has received an order from the headquarters of the front army, asking us to move eastward from the defensive area to the abganerovo station area."


    "What''s the matter? Why are you ordered to move? " Trekov asked, puzzled.


    "General trakov," klobkin explained patiently, "the head of the front army has learned that the Goth''s 4th tank group army is starting from kojelnikovo and rushing to Stalingrad from the south, so he decided to turn the front of the 64th group army to the south to meet the 4th tank group army. In this way, my division should cover the actions of the 64th army from the south. "


    When he heard that the order was directly issued by the headquarters of the front army, he could not change it. He could only keep silent about the deployment of the 29th division. However, he held out his hand to klobkin with great grace and said in a friendly way, "good luck to you and your troops, Colonel klobkin!"

 Chapter 472

    When klobjing and the division left the headquarters, we stayed in the village of gnerlovsky.


    In the early morning, we were awakened by the rumbling explosion from outside. I used to sleep on the table. When I was awakened by the explosion, I sat up straight and listened to where the sound came from. As soon as he got out of bed, he couldn''t even care to put on his boots. He rushed to the door with a lunge and yelled out, "Klimov, Captain Klimov, where are you?"


    With trekov''s shouts, Klimov rushed in from the outside, gasped for breath, saluted trekov, and respectfully asked, "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"


    Trekov pointed to the outside and asked, "what happened to the explosion outside? Where did it come from?"


    Klimov habitually looked out and then replied, "Comrade report commander, the troops of the 29th Infantry Division are advancing slowly eastward along the river bank of Aksay. They are being bombed and attacked by enemy planes."


    "What? The 29th division was also bombed. " When trekov heard the news, he ran out without saying a word. I was stunned for a moment, and immediately realized that what trikov thought was that the 29th division was being attacked by our air force again, and quickly chased out.


    Klimov ran out behind me. He explained to trikov, who was looking up his telescope into the sky: "Comrade commander, it was the enemy''s aircraft that attacked the 29th division, not our air force."


    When I heard that the plane attacking our army was a German plane, I could not help but feel relieved. If it was bombed and strafed by the enemy''s plane, it could be accepted. If it was mistakenly bombed by one''s own plane again, the commander of the aviation force could be removed from his post for investigation.


    Raising the telescope and looking forward, we can see that the planes circling and diving in the sky are all German planes. With every dive of the plane, the aerial bomb accurately landed in the marching line and exploded. The roaring sound of explosion was particularly clear on the wide grassland. Looking at so many corpses and burning truck wrecks on the river and grassland, I feel sad, but I can do nothing about the situation they are facing. Without the cooperation of air force and air defense forces, our dozens of people will rush through and die in vain.


    Klimov was a clever adjutant. He didn''t know what to do. He went back to the headquarters, took out trakov''s boots and asked him to put them on. He whispered: "Comrade commander, let''s go back to the headquarters first. As for the troops of the 29th division, let the front army send air troops to support them."


    When the 29th division withdrew, we were left with a communication class, including a radio station. After listening to what krimov said, trikov immediately told him, "Comrade captain, bring the radio station to the headquarters. We will contact the headquarters of the front army immediately and ask for the support of the air force."


    Without waiting for the radio to call the headquarters, Sergeant sidtorin came in with a skinny old major. As soon as he entered the door, sidtorin reported to trikov, "Hello, comrade commander. This commander is from the 255 th independent cavalry regiment. He said he would see you immediately if he had something important


    After listening to the messenger, the major stepped forward and reported, "Comrade commander, major tualev, commander of the 255 th independent regiment of cavalry, reports to you that the cavalry regiment has been ordered to take over the defense of the 29th Infantry Division. I''m at your command. Please direct the next step."


    Looking at the old major, trekov, standing at the table, showed a smile on his face. He warmly called each other: "Comrade major, don''t stand there, come to me."


    After tualev stood at the table, trakov pointed to the map on the table and began to assign tasks to him: "Comrade commander, immediately send your regiment to take over the lot left by the 29th division, including the two areas of josovsky and gnerlovsky."


    The major looked at the picture and said with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, the defense area you assigned to us is 15 kilometers wide, while my regiment has only 1000 people now. Obviously, the defense force is not enough."


    Trikov seemed to have expected that the major would say so. He quickly comforted him and said, "Comrade major, I also know that it is difficult for a cavalry regiment to defend such a wide area, but we have no other troops. Besides, it seems that the enemy does not intend to attack us in this area, because they are moving their troops to the Northeast near the railway to cover their main force from the West.


    According to the Scout''s report, the enemy troops crossing the Don river near the town of upper kurmoyarskaya are also moving northeast, leaving only weak cover troops in the Aksay river. It is obvious that the purpose of the enemy''s maneuver is to ensure the safety of the left wing of its main force. And its main force is starting from kojelnikovo, bypassing the railway from the southeast to attack Stalingrad. "


    Hearing what trikov said, the young principal breathed a sigh of relief and tentatively asked, "Comrade commander, can I understand that our cavalry forces are weak enemies in front of us, and they will not attack us on their own initiative. What our regiment has to do is to guard against the infiltration of small enemy forces in this defensive area. "


    "Absolutely right, comrade major. That''s it." Trikov looked at the major with a smile on his face. In order to reassure him completely, he gave him another reassurance: "according to the report of the scouts, you will face the Romanian army. You also know that the combat effectiveness of the servant army is not worth mentioning."


    I can see from the relaxed expression on the major''s face that he is completely relieved. The major straightened up and asked cuikov, "Comrade commander, do you allow me to deploy troops?"¡° Go ahead, major. Good luck Shortly after the major left, the station contacted the headquarters of the front army. Speaking to us was general nikishev, chief of staff of the front army. He apologized to trakov in a low voice in the microphone and said, "Comrade trakov, please apologize for me to the commanders and fighters of the 208 infantry division. Due to our negligence in our work, we bombed our own ranks by mistake and caused unnecessary casualties. We have dealt with the relevant responsible persons seriously and sent them all to the military court. " Trikov only gave a vague answer, then said frankly, "Comrade chief of staff, our 29th Infantry Division was attacked by enemy planes while marching eastward along the Aksay River, and the troops suffered heavy casualties. I request the headquarters of the front army to send Air Force fighters immediately to expel German aircraft in this area and cover the smooth transfer of troops. "¡° I see. I''ll arrange for it right away. " Then nikishev lowered his voice and told the people around him. Soon after, his voice came out again in his ear: "well, comrade trakov, I''ve ordered someone to inform the air force. Do you have any enemy information to report to me? "¡° Yes, chief of staff. " "According to the intelligence analysis I got, the enemy''s main forces began to move to the northeast. Obviously, in order to attack Stalingrad from the south, the enemy is trying to insert into the flank and rear of the whole Stalingrad front army. In this way, our army''s transportation and supply lines will be cut off." Nikishev listened and was silent for a moment. Then he said, "Comrade trakov, please wait a moment. I''ll report this to the commander." After about five minutes, nikishev''s voice came from his ear again. He said firmly, "Comrade trakov, the commander orders that you should firmly hold the position along the Aksay river with your existing strength. In order to strengthen your firepower, the front army will deploy two Katyusha rocket artillery regiments nearby to you. " At the end of the call with the front army, trakov began to give orders to the troops to defend tenaciously in the Aksai river area. And check the artillery and mortar combat readiness. At the same time, in order to avoid the sudden attack of the enemy, trakov also sent reconnaissance personnel to all directions. The front-line combat forces are the 138th Infantry Division under the command of Col. lyudnikov and the 157th Infantry Division under the command of Col. kuropatenko. They will tenaciously block the enemy''s advance by virtue of their existing positions when the enemy launches an attack. As reserves, the 154th marine brigade and two Katyusha rocket artillery regiments have just been assigned to us. After careful camouflage, they hide in the valley and are ready to give the enemy a thunderbolt at the right time. That evening, the enemy began to attack. Among the troops involved in the attack were not only the Germans, but also the Romanian troops of the vassal state. Their attack was at the junction of the two divisions, lyudnikov and kuropatenko. In the 8 km wide front of our army''s defense, the enemy''s offensive troops, under the cover of tanks, fiercely attacked our army. Due to the shortage of troops, poor equipment and lack of effective anti tank weapons, the defensive positions were broken through by the enemy in only half an hour, most of the defenders were sacrificed, and the rest of the commanders and fighters were defeated. The enemy infantry crossed the Aksai River, leaving some troops to build beachhead positions and prepare to cover the tanks crossing the river. The rest of them continued to advance and rushed to our second line of defense. Trekov and I are standing in the newly built observation post. We can keep abreast of what is happening on the battlefield. Seeing the rapid advance of the German army, I can''t help but feel anxious. If we don''t stop them, they will rush to the observation post in half an hour, and trekov and I will be captives. When I looked at trakov, who was watching the enemy with a telescope, I found that he was still calm, as if he was only conducting an exercise on the hot battlefield outside.

 Chapter 473

    Trikov looked at it for a while, put down his telescope, turned to crimov and called out, "Comrade captain, inform division lyudnikov and division kuropatenko, and let them quickly withdraw the troops from the junction of the second line of defense to the third line of defense. Remember, you must tell them to stop the attacking enemy at all costs in front of the third line of defense. "


    To tell you the truth, I really don''t see the secret of this deployment. The third line of defense is only two kilometers away from our observation post. Once it is broken through, the enemy''s tanks will be able to drive in front of our observation post.


    "We pretended to give up our position and attracted a large German army to cross the river. When they have a large number of troops concentrated in one place, they can use hidden rockets to attack them intensively. "


    After listening to trekov''s words, I nodded thoughtfully, saying that I could really learn a lot of useful things from these army commanders in trekov. If I had been in command, maybe the tactics I would have adopted would have been to continuously put the reserve forces into the front line to fight against the enemy. After dark, I would have sent small teams to attack the enemy''s camp, so as to weaken the enemy.


    The successful breakthrough of the Germans from the junction of the two divisions greatly stimulated their companions in other areas. They thought that the tactics and campaign methods used by the friendly forces were perfect, so this operation was a repetition of the old technique. First, aircraft bombardment, then artillery bombardment, then infantry, followed by tanks, launched wave after wave of fierce attacks on the first line of defense of the two divisions.


    Because of our tenacious resistance, the German crazy attack was blocked. After dark, the enemy stopped attacking.


    At this time, Klimov reported to trikov: "Comrade commander, according to the reports of our scouts and observation posts, they found that a large number of enemy infantry, artillery and various vehicles had gathered in the front of our defense, especially in the Popov valley. It is estimated that they intend to launch another fierce attack on our front after dawn."


    Trekov looked at the information sent by the adjutant, thought for a while, and then said to himself, "I have guessed the enemy''s intention, but I won''t let them succeed. I will use my actions to destroy the enemy''s attack." After that, he asked me, "Comrade oshanina, can the telephone left by the 29th division work?"


    I looked at the messenger who was on the phone. I nodded and said, "I think it can be used, comrade commander."


    Trikov told me directly, "Comrade oshanina, first call the head of the rocket artillery regiment and ask them to bombard the assembled forces on the enemy''s starting position with artillery fire at two o''clock in the morning. Then call the commander of the 154th marine brigade, and when the shelling is over, drive the enemy infantry across the Aksay river with rapid counter attack. "


    When I passed on trakov''s order to the marine brigade and the rocket battery, I felt a little uneasy. I said that the enemy would be so honest and crowded in the established beachhead and let our artillery attack?


    Although the enemy stopped attacking after dark, they did not rest. Instead, they were taking advantage of the armistice to transport troops to the front edge through the breach. Perhaps in today''s battle, the enemy''s attack was too smooth. They were careless. The car was driving with its headlights on, and they were not afraid of our plane at all. The floating bridge on the river had just been erected, and the tank troops who had been waiting by the river began to cross the Aksay River from the floating bridge one after another.


    At this time, Mr. lyudnikov and Mr. kuropatenko came to the headquarters together. As soon as he entered the door, Mr. lyudnikov said in a hurry: "Comrade commander, why did you order us to withdraw. Although we didn''t perform well in the battle some time ago, we were repulsed by the enemy. But the commanders and fighters are holding a breath in their hearts and want to use this battle to prove our ability with practical actions. "


    Trikov beckoned them to sit down and told them with a smile, "two teachers, please be calm. It''s also on purpose that I asked you to retreat. " At this point, he looked up at me and said, "tomorrow''s attack plan will be introduced to you by the chief of staff."


    I quickly stood up, pushed the map on the table to them, and explained, "two division commanders, the reason why Comrade commander asked you to retreat in the evening is to let the enemy troops cross the Aksai River in large quantities. As it was already dark when crossing the river, the enemies who were not familiar with the terrain did not dare to move on and could only gather by the river. The commander has ordered two rocket artillery regiments hidden in the mountains to carry out heavy shelling on the enemy assembly area at two o''clock tomorrow morning. At the end of the shelling, the long standing marine brigade will quickly attack and drive the enemy across the Aksai river. "


    After listening to me, Mr. lyudnikov and Mr. kuropatenko looked at each other, then stood up at the same time, and couldn''t wait to ask trakov, "Comrade commander, what are the tasks of our two divisions?"


    Trikov looked at them for a moment with a smile, then said calmly, "since you are eager to fight. Well, I agree. When the shelling stops, your two divisions will attack from the present position at the same time to counter the enemy in an all-round way. "


    The two division commanders agreed excitedly, asked for some details, and could not wait to go back to the troops to arrange the preparations for the counterattack.


    This move of trakov can be called a magic stroke. The enemy who was dazzled by the victory did not expect that our army would suddenly launch a counterattack. At two o''clock in the morning, hundreds of rockets of our rocket artillery began to fire at the area where the enemy had gathered forces. Trekov and I stood on the high ground and saw that the area where the enemy had gathered was blown up into a sea of fire. First the enemy infantry, then the logistics and artillery, crawled out of the valley and the shelter and fled for their lives. As soon as the shelling stopped and the loud bugle sounded, the army of the marine brigade, division commander lyudnikov and division commander kuropatenko charged from their own positions towards the enemy. After a little resistance, the enemy fled south in a panic. As a result of the excellent command of trakov, our troops hardly lost anything, and they severely damaged the enemy''s large forces. A large number of people were killed, wounded and captured. We also seized a large number of rifles and machine guns as well as eight cannons. When reporting the fighting situation to the headquarters of the front army, trakov said excitedly: "Comrade chief of staff, through this battle, I can clearly see that although this army was gathered in the retreat, they did not lose their fighting spirit. They are still brave in fighting. They are united in attack and calm in meeting the enemy. And this is the most valuable. In this way, we not only stopped the enemy''s attack, but also gave them a good beating. " At the end of the conversation, nikishev suddenly said, "Comrade trakov, I forgot to tell you. General korpakchi of the 62nd army, I hope you can send his adjutant, Lieutenant Colonel oshanina back. He needs grassroots commanders with rich combat experience. " In this way, I was sent back to the 62nd army because of a remark made by nikishev, chief of staff of the front army. Trekov sent the driver named sidorokov to drive me back to the headquarters of the 62nd army overnight. The officer on duty with the sentry at the gate was captain shamilov. When he saw me coming, he raised his hand and saluted me. Without stopping me, he let me into the headquarters of the group army. When I walked into the headquarters, I saw that the wooden table was full of people. I was having a military meeting. Kolpakchi saw me at a glance and said to me, "Comrade oshanina is back. We are having a meeting. Please sit down and listen." Point to the side at any time and say, "you just sit there." He was referring to a position on his left side near the wall. I didn''t care about it. I went over and sat down. When I sat down, I nodded and laughed at the military commissar gurov. It was a greeting. After I sat down, kolpakchi continued to say to the commanders on the scene, "comrades, the situation is very bad. The line of defense of the 64th group army on our left wing was broken through, and the enemy came round from our South and surrounded the main force of our group army. " Hearing the news of the encirclement of the troops, my heart beat faster. I secretly said that I was so unlucky. I arrived at another encircled army, and I don''t know if I can successfully break through the encirclement. I looked left and right, and the commanders on the scene were calm, as if they had known the sad news for a long time. At this time, a noise came from the door, which interrupted colpakchi''s words. He looked at the door unhappily and asked in a loud voice, "what''s the matter outside?" The first person to enter the headquarters was captain shamikov. After saluting kolpakchi, he said awkwardly, "report to Comrade commander, there is a general outside who wants to break in and I stopped him. The soldiers he brought had a fight with our sentries and handed over our guns. "¡° Who is so bold as to hand over our sentry''s gun? " Colpacci clapped his case and snapped¡° Yes, general colpakchi With the sound, a fat general came in, and he was followed by four soldiers with submachine guns¡° It''s you, general lopagin. I don''t know what kind of coaching you have here? Why hand over our sentry''s gun? " Colpakchi obviously knew the general, but his tone of questioning was still severe. General lopagin came up to korpakchi, took off his hat, showed his light yellow hair, and looked very peaceful. He said slowly, "general korpakchi, I have been ordered to take over the command of the 62nd army." Then he took out a document from his briefcase and handed it to kolpakchi. Colpackge took a look at the papers and fell to his seat. After a while, he said feebly, "comrades, I''d like to introduce you. This is general lopagin, the new commander of the 62nd army." Four soldiers who had been standing behind lopagin came up and politely said to korpakchi, "Comrade General, we are members of the people''s Committee of the interior. Please come to us."

 Chapter 474

    When they heard that general lopagin was accompanied by the people''s Committee of internal affairs, all those who attended the meeting were stunned. They did not understand why the group army commander was changed immediately during the war. Some of them raised their heads and took a sneak look at kolpakchi to see his reaction. Unfortunately, general kolpakchi, the former commander of the group army, just sat in his position in a daze without saying a word. A moment later, all the people present reached a consensus. In such an extraordinary period, it''s better not to speak easily, so they all sat in their respective positions and were silent. The quiet atmosphere in the headquarters became tense.


    After a while, kolpakchi stood up slowly. Instead of looking at gulov, the military commissar sitting next to him, he scanned the commanders who attended the meeting and said slowly, "Comrade commander, the superior has sent you a new commander, general lopagin. He is a commander with rich combat experience. I believe that under his leadership, you will be able to reverse the current unfavorable situation and stand out from the enemy''s encirclement. "


    I can see that colpakchi is trying to control his emotions, trying to keep calm before he is under his old part, but I can still hear his excitement in his voice.


    When kolpakchi was taken away by the interior department, lopagin sat down in the middle of the room, glanced at all the commanders present, and then asked gurov, "Comrade military commissar, what are you discussing?"


    Gurov put his head close to him and replied, "we are discussing which army should be left by the group army to cover the main force''s retreat from the floating bridge on the Koska river."


    Lopagin''s face darkened. He grabbed the military map on the table, pulled it in front of him, then pushed it in front of gurov, and said in an impolite tone: "Comrade military commissar, where is the pontoon over the Koska river? Show me. "


    Gurov tilted his head and looked at it, then pointed to a position with his finger and said, "Comrade commander, we have built three pontoons here. The original purpose is to facilitate the reinforcement of mechanized troops to cross the river from here, but from the current situation, there is no reinforcement. We were just discussing which division would stay for the task of blocking and covering, and the order of the other divisions crossing the river. "


    After hearing this, lopagin said: "Comrade military commissar, you need to arrange your staff to blow up all the three pontoons."


    "What? Comrade commander, as soon as the pontoon blows up, our retreat will be completely cut off. "


    After listening to gurov''s words, lopagin glared his eyes and said, "I remind you, comrade military commissar, comrade Stalin just issued Order No. 227 two days ago, asking the commanders and fighters to hold their positions and not to retreat. But look at you, the enemy is approaching the Koska River step by step, trying to cross the river and join the German forces in other directions. Your consideration is not how to block the enemy, but how to retreat. " At this point, he smashed his fist on the table. "It''s a crime. I will never allow it. Without the order of the superior, the troops of the group army are not allowed to retreat. It''s urgent to blow up the bridge. Comrade military commissar, please send someone to do it now. "


    Seeing that lopagin''s attitude was so firm, gurov couldn''t refute it in public, so he called captain shamikov who was still standing in the room and told him, "Comrade captain, you should call the battalion commander of Zhouqiao battalion immediately and ask them to dismantle the pontoon immediately."


    I didn''t expect lopagin to remind him seriously: "Comrade captain, when you call the battalion commander of Zhouqiao, tell him that it''s blowing up the bridge instead of withdrawing it. This is the order of the Group Commander. This order can''t be changed."


    After listening to what lopagin said so seriously, shamikov looked at gurov in embarrassment. Gurov looked at lopagin beside him, then turned his face and nodded to shamikov with a bitter smile. Shamikov saluted this time, turned and went out.


    It was only after LOPA jingliwei that we got back to business. He asked gulov, "Comrade military commissar, how many divisions of our group army have fallen into the encirclement of the Germans?"


    Gurov was very familiar with the number of the troops, and almost without thinking, he replied: "Comrade commander, the troops that we are surrounded by the enemy are the 33rd division of the close guard infantry, the 399th, 196th, 181st and 147th divisions of the infantry, and the 229th division of the infantry of the 64th group army."


    After hearing this, lopagin nodded his head, raised his hand to the headquarters, and said, "I don''t know the commanders who came to the meeting today. Please introduce them to me next to each other."


    So gurov began to introduce from the right side of lopagin: "these two are Colonel farnasiev, commander of the 33rd division of the guard infantry, and political commissar rishenko. Since the formation of the group army, they have been in the organizational structure of our group army, participated in many important battles, and achieved great results. " When the military commissar said his name, fanasiev and the political commissar quickly stood up, straightened up, saluted lopagin and sat down again.


    "Colonel Travnikov, commander of 399th infantry division, political commissar doroshenko. Their division was transferred from the Far East to our group army on July 28. "


    "Commander of the 196th infantry division, Colonel avirin, political commissar, zheramsky. Their troops joined the fighting sequence of our group army on July 17. "


    "Major general Novikov, commander of the 181st infantry division, and political commissar lukenko, have been in the battle sequence of the group army since the formation of the group army."¡° Major general walshin, commander of the 147th infantry division, political commissar Kotov. " When gurov introduced the numbers of the troops and their commanders, I heard the new numbers, but at the same time, some familiar ones were missing. I whispered to a staff officer of the headquarters who was sitting next to me, "Comrade major, why is there no 192nd infantry division of lieutenant commander tarantsev?" The major''s staff officer looked around and answered in a low voice, "Comrade commander, you don''t know. Lieutenant Colonel tarantsev, who was seriously injured in the fighting a few days ago, has been sent to the military hospital in Stalingrad. His replacement is colonel zhulavrov. The division suffered heavy casualties in the fighting two days ago and has been ordered to retreat and recuperate. " I heard that tarantsev was seriously injured. I couldn''t help it. Although I covered my mouth in time, the sound was heard by lopagin. He turned his head and looked in my direction. At a glance, he found me sitting in the middle of the male commander. Then he pointed to me and asked gurov, "Comrade military commissar, who is this female commander? Why did she appear at such an important military meeting? " Without waiting for gurov''s reply, I stood up, straightened up and reported to the new Commander: "Comrade report commander, I''m lieutenant commander oshanina, who used to be an adjutant of commander korpakchi in the 62nd army. Later, he was seconded by general trakov to the 64th army as commander at the regiment level. Today, he just returned after completing his mission, just in time for the military meeting held in the headquarters, so kolpakchi asked me to stay and listen in. " I thought lopagin would say a few words, but after listening, he just raised his hand and pressed down, saying, "since you''re here, please sit down and continue to listen." Gulov, who was sitting beside him, was worried that lopagin would make trouble for me. He seemed a little restless. Seeing that he was so relaxed, he passed the test, and his face also regained a relaxed expression. Lopagin said in a loud voice, "comrades commander, after the introduction of comrades of the military commissar, I have known each other. What we need to do next is to quickly return to the army and make a good defense deployment. We should tell the commanders and fighters that even if there is only one person left in the battle, they should firmly hold on and never step back. OK, I''m done. It''s over The division commanders stood up in unison, saluted the commander and the military commissar, and then turned to leave. And I sat in a daze and thought bitterly, "it''s over. Blow up the pontoon, and the retreat of the army will be gone. If we have to fight against the dominant German army in the position, these tens of thousands of troops will soon be exhausted. "

 Chapter 475

    When the commanders left, I got up and went to gulov and lopagin. After raising my hand to salute them, I respectfully asked, "Comrade commander, comrade military commissar, how do you plan to arrange my work?"


    Lopagin looked up at me and touched gurov with his shoulder: "I said, comrade military commissar, it''s up to you to arrange the work of commander oshanina. I came here with my own adjutant. "


    Lopagin said that he had brought an adjutant. The implication was that as long as I was not allowed to be an adjutant, gurov could arrange any position for me. Gulov looked down for a moment, then raised his head and said, "Comrade oshanina, in the encircled army, there is also" group army headquarters?! Which group headquarters? " Asked the sergeant, standing still.


    "62nd army command."


    "I''m sorry, comrade commander," the sergeant said stiffly, "our division belongs to the battle sequence of the 64th army. General korpakchi has no right to command us."


    Seeing this old-fashioned sergeant, I was very angry and funny. Just as I wanted to scold him, the driver sidorokov took the lead and said, "Hey, sergeant, maybe other people don''t have the right to direct you, but this sergeant has the right. Do you know why? In addition to her duties in the 62nd army, she is also the chief of staff of the interim command appointed by general trakov. " Seeing the sergeant''s surprised expression, he said with pride, "I sent her back to the 64th army on commander trekov''s order."


    With sidorokov''s help, the sergeant''s attitude became better. He saluted me and said, "Comrade commander, the division headquarters is in the middle of the mountain, and the car can''t drive up. Please get out of the car and I''ll take you up. "


    I got out of the car, waved to sidorokov, and said with a smile, "Comrade driver, I''m all right. Please go back. Thank you for sending me back so far."


    The sergeant took me up the mountain path and asked me, "Comrade commander, do you think we can stand out?"


    "Of course, comrade sergeant." Without thinking, I replied, "in terms of the strength of the 229th division, it is not a problem to break the enemy''s encirclement and successfully stand out."


    Not far ahead, I saw a cave in front of me. The signalmen were busy stringing. The sergeant took me to the guard at the entrance of the cave, whispered a few words to him, then went back to me and said, "Comrade commander, I can only see you here. Mr. and Comrade are inside. Please go in. "


    When I went into the cave, I saw that the cave was not small. Even if there were more than twenty people standing there, it seemed very spacious. A middle-aged man stood in front of the table, pointing to the map spread on it, and assigned tasks to several commanders standing around.


    I went forward, raised my hand and said in a loud voice, "Hello, Mr. teacher! Commander o''shanina reports to you that I have come to report to you on the order of Comrade gurov, military commissar of the 62nd group army, and I am waiting for your instructions. "


    Colonel sarin looked up at me for a moment, then burst into laughter and said to the commanders around him, "comrades, do you know who she is?"


    People looked at me and shook their heads, saying they didn''t know me.


    Colonel sahren came around the table, reached out to shake hands with me, and said to everyone on his side, "I''d like to introduce you to lieutenant commander oshanina, who was acting as the head of the 678th regiment of the 214 division some time ago. On the night she took office, she sent an army to attack the German army''s logistics camp. With almost no casualties, she destroyed the enemy''s garrison and seized enough weapons and ammunition to arm the two regiments. "


    After listening to his introduction, everyone suddenly realized that they all came up to shake hands with me.


    After a simple greeting, we went back to the table. I looked at the map spread out in front of me and asked Colonel Saren, "what are you discussing, sir?"


    "What else can we discuss?" A major was not angry to say: "research from where to break out."


    Sarin continued: "we have only four battalions left in our division, and the ammunition has not been replenished for a long time, so we plan to break through at the right time."


    I looked up at Saren and asked, "Comrade teacher, which direction do you plan to break through?"


    The Colonel pointed to the map and said to me, "commander oshanina, I plan to let the troops cross the 147th division''s defenses, cross the river from the pontoon over the Koska River, and then turn south to cross the Don River and retreat to Stalingrad."


    I sighed and said with regret, "Comrade teacher, this plan of breaking through the encirclement will not work."


    "Why?" Sarin asked in surprise.


    I pointed to the location of the original pontoon, scanned every commander present, and said, "comrades, maybe you don''t know that an hour ago, general korpakchi, commander of the 62nd army, was dismissed and arrested. General lopagin took over the post. The first thing he did after he took office was to order Zhouqiao battalion to blow up all the floating bridges on the Koska River, so as to prevent the troops of the group army from withdrawing through the floating bridge without authorization. "


    "Ah As soon as my voice fell, there was a sound of air-conditioning in the room. Sarin looked at the map seriously for a long time, then slowly said: "our division is short of troops and ammunition. If we don''t find a way to break through and continue to fight, we will either be destroyed or captured by the enemy." Since I was sent to the 229th division by gurov, my fate is closely related to them. I don''t want to be a prisoner or die here, so I have to actively find a way. Looking at the map, I asked Saren tentatively, "Comrade division commander, if we do not break through the defensive area of the 62nd group army, but break through from other directions, which direction do you think we should choose?" Sarin looked at it, then pointed to the south side of the map and said, "I think we should take the risk to stand out from the front of the enemy and go straight to the Dun river. There should be our 64th army troops there. After we join them, we will take a ferry from the pier of the Dun river ferry to the left bank of the Dun river." I looked at the route he pointed out and it seemed to be workable, so I nodded and said, "Sir, I agree with your proposal. However, in order to ensure the success of the breakthrough, the operation should be carried out at night. It''s too late tonight. We have to wait until tomorrow night. But what worries me is whether our troops can withstand the crazy attack launched by the enemy in the daytime. "

 Chapter 476

    A lieutenant commander, listening to me, retorted somewhat displeasantly: "Lieutenant Commander oshanina, I trust my soldiers. As long as there is one person left, they will never let the enemy move forward. I believe they can stop the enemy."


    "This is Comrade gogoly, the commander of the 804th regiment. During this period of fighting, his regiment has been very tenacious and has fought back countless attacks launched by the enemy," said Colonel sarin


    When I heard the name of 804 regiment, I immediately thought that I had heard trakov say that two battalions of this regiment were attacked by enemy infantry and tanks as soon as they entered the battle. Because they didn''t have time to dig trenches to escape and couldn''t withstand the enemy''s attack, they were forced to give up two highlands 161 and 156 and retreat to savnsky village on the right bank of the Qier river. When I think of this, I can''t help worrying about whether the 229 Division will be able to withstand the enemy''s crazy attack in the daytime tomorrow.


    At this time, a captain in a marine uniform frowned and said, "Comrade division, I also believe that with the brave and indomitable fighting spirit shown by our commanders and fighters, we can stop the enemy''s crazy attack. But we are running out of ammunition. Now there are less than ten bullets per gun. If we don''t replenish the ammunition for the soldiers, we will have to fight for bayonets with the enemy. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade captain. I''ll supply ammunition for your battalion." After comforting the captain, Colonel salen quickly introduced him to me and said, "this captain is from the 66th marine brigade. In yesterday''s battle, the 66th marine brigade was forced to retreat south after dogged fighting. Because the battalion of the captain wanted to cover the retreat of the whole brigade, it was surrounded by the enemy and retreated into our division''s defensive area. "


    I gave the captain a polite smile, and then asked SA Ren, "Comrade division commander, how wide is your division''s defensive front?"


    SA Ren pointed to the map and said to me, "our division''s defensive position is on this mountain. If the enemy wants to attack, the front line can only expand a company''s forces at most, and the slope of the hillside is steep, so tanks can''t drive up." I was relieved to hear that the enemy''s troops were limited every time and that the tanks couldn''t get on.


    I didn''t expect sarin to add: "the enemy''s forces are limited every time, and we can''t deploy too many forces in the positions. Otherwise, so many people will be crowded in the narrow trenches, and the enemy will bombard us for a while. Without waiting for the attack, we will be able to recoup most of our troops. "


    Commander gogoli also added: "Comrade division commander, there is another problem. Now, in our division''s defense area, there are more than a dozen serial numbers of various units. Because they were not subordinate to each other before, it is easy to cause confusion in command when fighting. Commander o''shanina, you are from the headquarters of the group army. Do you have any good idea? "


    I recognized that Gogol meant to make trouble, but I didn''t care with him. What he worried about was really nothing for a passer-by like me. I said lightly, "Comrade commander, this is a small problem. You don''t have to worry about it. In order to avoid command confusion caused by multiple organizational systems in combat, I suggest that all units be reorganized into a number of companies, one company by one, and put into combat. Because we haven''t held fast for a long time, I suggest that every company, no matter what the casualties are, only fight for two hours and then withdraw to the back to rest. The company commander will stay as an adviser to the later company commander. In doing so, we not only avoided confusion in command, but also preserved a number of backbone fighters in each company. As long as there are backbone fighters, we will be able to quickly form combat effectiveness after being supplemented and rehabilitated in the future. "


    When I finished, there was a complete silence in the cave, and I felt that all the people, including Colonel sarren, Lieutenant Colonel gogoly, and the captain of the Navy, were watching me. I''m a little embarrassed by them. I don''t know what to do. After a while, I coughed awkwardly and asked tentatively, "why, am I wrong?"


    Saran slapped the table and cried out, "great, commander o''shanina, your advice is great. In this way, our troops not only have the necessary combat experience, but also maintain the backbone of the fighting. Even if we withdraw to the rear and replenish all the new recruits when we rest, our troops will be able to form combat effectiveness in a short time. "


    "Yes, sir." Just now Gogol, who made trouble for me, echoed: "this proposal is really wonderful. I''ve fought many battles, so why can''t I think of such a good way. Lieutenant commander o''shanina is worthy of being from the headquarters of the group army, and the command level is high. "


    In the face of flattery, I tried to keep smiling. In fact, my heart was full of shame. I shamelessly plagiarized the tactics of the future volunteer army.


    The commanders who attended the meeting left one after another and went back to the army to regroup. When there were only two people left in the cave, I felt dignified again.


    Sarin found me abnormal and asked with concern, "Comrade o''xanina, what are you thinking about, you look like you are full of worries?"


    When I saw that Saren was not an outsider, I didn''t hide from him. I told him my worries frankly: "Sir, I''m worried about two things now. One is about breaking through. I think we should inform the commander of the 147th division before breaking through. Otherwise, as soon as we break through the encirclement, his left wing will be empty. If the enemy drives straight in and attacks them on both sides, they will be in danger of being annihilated. "


    After hearing this, Saren said, "well, you have a point. What''s the other thing? "


    "The war is coming, but the 62nd group army is changing generals. This is a big taboo of military strategists. The new commander, lopagin, knew the situation of the army, so he gave the army a dead order not to retreat. At the same time, in order to prevent the army from withdrawing without authorization, he blew up the pontoon and cut off the only way for the group army to retreat. By doing so, the troops that had been besieged on three sides had to fight against each other. In the end, it is still unknown how many officers and men can successfully stand out from the encirclement. "


    "Is that what you''re talking about?" Saren asked in a puzzled way, "you are not the commander of the group army. You can''t object to his orders."


    I quickly waved my hand and replied, "no, the second thing I want to say is not this. What I want to say is general kolpakchi. After all, he has been commanding the troops for three weeks. Under his command, our troops have seriously damaged and delayed the enemy''s attack. He knows the troops of the group army, and the commanders and fighters below also know him. If the news of his dismissal and arrest spreads, it will be a fatal blow to the taxi air of the army. "


    "What are you going to do?"


    "I''m going to report this to my superiors. For the time being, I''ll let general kolpakchi stay and continue to command the troops. After the troops successfully jump out of the encirclement, cross the Don River and enter a new defensive zone, I''ll consider how to deal with him."


    I didn''t expect that Saran would sneer after hearing what I said. He said impolitely, "Comrade commander, who are you? Zhukov or Timoshenko? It''s your turn to decide whether a group army commander will go or stay. To tell you the truth, kolpakchi was dismissed and arrested. It was absolutely with the permission of the supreme commander. Do you think your opinion can influence the decision of the Supreme Commander himself? "


    After listening to what Colonel salen said, I knew I was taking things for granted, and I couldn''t help getting depressed. I felt as if my body had been pulled out of my spine and I was sitting on the bench by the table.


    Seeing my lost look, sarin came over and patted me on the shoulder, comforted me and said, "Comrade o''shanina, I know you are also kind, but you and I are too low-level to do many things."


    Although kolpakchi had scolded me before, I didn''t want to see him come to such an end, so I asked reluctantly, "Comrade teacher, is there really no way out?"


    Sarin pondered for a moment, then said with regret, "if we can contact General trakov and let him go out and beg for mercy from the headquarters of the front army, this may have a better chance."


    Hearing him mention trekov, my heart suddenly lit up hope, I suddenly stood up and asked excitedly: "Sir, do you have a telephone here? I have commander trakov''s call code. I can talk to him directly. "


    I was just a fluke to ask casually, but I didn''t expect that Saren really had a telephone here. The messenger put the phone on the desk and started calling trakov according to the call code I provided.


    He soon got in touch with trakov. He asked strangely, "I''m trakov. Where are you?"


    Saren took over the conversation and answered in a loud voice: "Hello, comrade commander. I''m the commander of the 229th infantry division, Colonel sarin. I''m glad to be in touch with you. "


    "It''s you, comrade colonel. What''s the situation there? "


    "Very bad, comrade commander. Our division is surrounded by the enemy. I''ve just discussed with lieutenant commander o''shanina, and we''re going to lead our troops to break through the encirclement to the South tomorrow evening, and then we''ll go to the ferry to the left bank of the river. "


    "What, o''shanina, why is she with you? I had her sent to 62nd army headquarters. You ask her to come and talk to me. "


    I took the headset from sarin and listened to the familiar voice inside. My nose was a little sour. I took a deep breath and tried to make my voice steady: "Hello, comrade commander, I''m oshanina."


    "I said, comrade oshanina, didn''t I send a driver to take you back to the 62nd army headquarters? Why did you appear in the division headquarters of the 229th division? "


    "Comrade commander, this is the situation. When the driver took me back to the headquarters, he was just in time for commander kolpakchi to hold the last military meeting... "


    "What? I beg your pardon? What was the last military conference? " Before I finished, trakov couldn''t wait to interrupt me, asking, "what''s the matter? You''ve confused me. Don''t worry. Tell me slowly. "


    I quickly told him what had happened after I returned to the 62nd army headquarters. Finally, I mentioned the case of kolpakchi.


    After listening, trikov was silent for a moment, and then asked faintly, "o''shanina, how do you want me to help him?"


    As for this matter, I have already had a thorough consideration, so I went straight to the point and said, "Comrade commander, if I go to ask general gordov, commander of the front army, about general korpakchi, I don''t think there will be any result. I think you should report this to general Zhukov and ask him to make a decision. " The reason why I don''t recommend trikov to ask gordov is that I think he is a headstrong and unsustainable little old man, and he is not as reliable as Zhukov in Moscow.


    Trekov agreed to my proposal, and then said, "I''ll report to Zhukov about korpakchi in a moment. I hope he can help. As for your breakthrough action tomorrow night, you must report to the 62nd group army command in advance. Otherwise, when you withdraw from the battle, the 147th division next to you will not know, and the empty defense line will be exposed in front of the enemy, and the troops may suffer heavy losses after a sudden attack. " Without waiting for me to say anything, he added, "good luck and bring as many troops as you can." The call was then interrupted.


    The next morning, sarin and I were having breakfast in the cave when we heard the fierce gunfire outside. The enemy''s heavy guns and tank guns were on the other side of the hill where we were. Sarin put down his breakfast and said to me, "come on, comrade commander, let''s go to the observation post on the top of the mountain."


    Before we got out of the command post, the telephone on the desk rang suddenly. SA rushes to the table, grabs the phone and says in a loud voice, "I''m Colonel SA Ren. What''s the matter?"


    The phone call came from lieutenant colonel gogoly, who reported in the phone: "Comrade division, without artillery preparation, about a company of infantry under the cover of more than 20 tanks launched an attack on our position."


    "You must stand firm and never allow the enemy to move forward." Sarin yelled at the microphone. Before he spoke, his words were covered by the rumbling of the motor of the plane.


    A communication soldier stood at the door, looking up at the sky, and kept counting: "one, two, three, four... Eighteen, nineteen. My God, the Krauts really look up to us. They sent so many planes. "


    Sarin and I went to the entrance of the cave and saw that many German planes circled over the hill and then dived to the position on the other side of the hill.


    Sarin looked at me and asked, "Comrade commander, do you dare to go to the observation post on the top of the mountain with me?"


    "Come on, go to the top of the mountain and have a look." I know it''s dangerous to go up the mountain, but I can''t show weakness in front of sarin. Even if there is a sea of fire ahead, I can only go through it with a stiff head.


    We came to the observation post at the top of the mountain along the mountain path. From here, we can clearly see that the enemy tanks are stopping at the foot of the mountain, firing tank guns at the position halfway up the mountain. One after another, they dive to the position, dropping bombs and strafing, and the exploding bombs and shells puff up black smoke one after another.


    At this time, the phone rang in the observation center. Sarin picked up the phone and asked, "Colonel sarin, did the enemy launch a fierce attack on your defense area?"


    I stood by and heard that the caller was military Commissioner gurov, who was very polite to Saren. Saren also wanted to say: "Hello, comrade military Commissar. You can rest assured that although the enemy''s offensive is fierce, it is not so easy to break through our defense line. We''re going to make sure they''re going to have a head injury here. "


    "I can''t be careless! The enemy will not be willing to fail. After their attack fails, they will soon launch a more violent attack. " Gurov kindly reminded him, "in addition, your division does not belong to the organizational system of our group army. If you have the opportunity, I suggest you take your troops to stand out and reserve more seeds for our front army."


    After hearing gurov''s words, sarin was silent for a moment, and then said loudly in front of the microphone: "please rest assured that before we break through, we will resolutely block the enemy''s position and never let them move forward."


    His confident voice clearly satisfied gurov. The other side was silent for a moment, and said: "before you break through, you must communicate with the 147th division, so that they can prepare in advance, so as not to encounter the enemy''s sneak attack."


    "I see. Our division must contact friendly forces before breaking through."


    "Good luck, then!" With that, gurov hung up.


    At this time, gogoly reported by telephone that the enemy''s first charge had been repulsed, infantry and tanks were retreating, and planes in the air had flown to the defense area of the 62nd army. The company in the position suffered more than half of the casualties. He asked if he could use this short time to exchange guards?


    Saren held the microphone in his hand and asked me, "Comrade commander, do you think it''s appropriate to change the guard at this time?"


    I quickly nodded, said with a smile: "let the company commander stay in the position, the troops withdraw, for a new company up."


    After listening to this, Saren said to the microphone like a messenger: "Comrade commander, change your defense. Remember to keep a secret and don''t let the troops suffer unnecessary casualties during the change of defense."


    Shortly after the change of defense, the enemy began to bombard our positions with heavy artillery. After the retreated tanks and infantry adjusted their formation, they began to charge for the second time. More than ten minutes later, gogoly called again. He said in panic: "due to the lack of ammunition, we can''t stop the enemy''s attacking troops. The enemy''s infantry have rushed into the trench and are fighting for bayonets with our soldiers."


    Sarin roared at the microphone: "you idiot, send another company immediately. We must drive the enemy out of the trench or destroy them on the spot, otherwise we will not be able to hold out until dark."


    In a short time, we can see through the telescope that after the new forces entered the positions, the soldiers used submachine guns and rifles to wipe out all the enemies who rushed into the trenches. Only after dark did the enemy''s attack stop completely. During the day, we repelled more than 20 enemy attacks. More than a dozen companies fought one round, and some even fought two battles in their positions. Seeing that the enemy did not attack, sarin quickly organized troops to transport the wounded and collect the weapons left by the German army in front of the position to supplement our commanders and fighters. After all this, it''s already midnight. The army''s breakthrough began. The battalion of the marine brigade was responsible for the task of opening the way. Next came the 804 regiment of Colonel gogoly. Sarin and I, with the rest of our troops, walked slowly as guards of the whole division.

 Chapter 477

    After walking for more than an hour, there was no contact with the enemy. Seeing the roadside scenery become familiar, I feel more relaxed. I turned to sa Ren, who had been walking all the time, and said, "Comrade division commander, if you go further about two kilometers, you can reach the defensive position that our regiment built some time ago. I hope that position is still in our hands, so that our division can cross the Don river safely."


    Just then, a sailor came running in front of us. He stopped not far away from us. From time to time, he grabbed the passing officers and soldiers and asked, "do you know where the division commander is? Do you know where division leaders are? "


    Without waiting for me to speak, Colonel Saren met him and asked, "mariner, I''m commander, Colonel Saren. What can I do for you?"


    The sailor saluted Saren and respectfully reported: "Comrade division commander, our scouts have found our army''s defensive position in front of them. After crossing the position, we can go forward for another two kilometers to reach the ferry terminal of the Don river. Comrade captain asked me to come back and report to you, asking whether to join the friendly forces or not. "


    After hearing this, sarin slapped the sailor''s helmet excitedly and said with a smile: "Comrade sailor, go back and tell your battalion commander what you can ask for. Let him take people to join the friendly forces immediately and hold the position together. Once our troops pass, we can break through successfully."


    The sailor laughed sheepishly, then raised his hand to salute Saren, turned and trotted away.


    "That''s great, comrade o''shanina. If we go a few kilometers further, we will successfully stand out from the enemy''s encirclement."


    When I heard that, I could break through immediately, and the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. I went to the side of the road, found a fallen tree trunk and sat down. At the same time, I said to Saren, "Sir, you are tired after walking so long. Come and have a rest first."


    SA Ren was not polite, so he sat down beside me directly. Then he called the officers and soldiers nearby: "Hey, comrades, everyone is tired. Let''s sit down and have a rest."


    On hearing his orders, the staff officers, the signalmen and the male health workers who carried the wounded behind us all went to both sides of the road, put down their communication equipment or the wounded and sat on the ground.


    SA Ren took out a box of cigarettes from his pocket, handed it to me and asked tentatively, "do you smoke?"


    I waved my hand and said, "thank you, sir. I don''t smoke." Seeing that he pulled out a cigarette and held it in his mouth, he was ready to light it with a match. He stopped him immediately: "Sir, I advise you not to smoke, it''s easy to expose your target."


    SA Ren hesitated for a moment, and finally put the cigarette back into the cigarette box, and said, "you''re right. Let''s wait until we break through successfully."


    Just then, suddenly came the sound of guns. We stood up and saw that the fire in front of us was shining, which dyed half of the night sky red. On our way, it seemed that a burning flame mountain suddenly appeared.


    Sarin stared at the front and said in surprise, "my God, what''s going on?"


    I grabbed him by the arm and hastily said, "come on, comrade colonel. Let''s go over and see what happened."


    We passed through the middle of the line and came to the vanguard camp. We saw the captain of the marine. As soon as he saw us appear, he quickly met us and reported to us, "comrades of division commander and commander, maybe our breakout was discovered by enemy scouts, so they blocked our way forward with intensive artillery fire. In order to prevent unnecessary casualties, I have ordered the troops to stop advancing. "


    "You are right, comrade captain." I praised the captain, and then asked Saren, "Comrade division commander, what should we do next?"


    Sarin looked at the dense artillery blockade in front of him, thought for a moment, and resolutely ordered: "the troops should rest in place, wait until the enemy''s artillery is sparse, and then pass quickly."


    We have been waiting here for 20 minutes, but the enemy''s artillery has not weakened. It seems that they are firing dozens of guns in a cross fire. Sarin looked at his watch, gritted his teeth and said to me, "commander oshanina, we can''t wait like this any longer. If the enemy perceives that we have left our position and come after us, we will be in danger. " With that, he called to the captain standing not far away, "Hey, comrade captain, come here for a moment."


    The captain ran to him, raised his hand to salute him, and politely asked, "what instructions do you have, sir?"


    Colonel Saren pointed to the front of the artillery fire and said, "Comrade captain, I think the enemy''s artillery blockade line is only more than 200 meters wide. You can send a platoon to try to rush through and see if you can use the gap between the artillery fire."


    Seeing that the captain went to arrange the troops to attack the blockade line, I asked Saren with some worry: "Comrade division commander, even if the platoon that tried to attack the blockade line successfully reached the safe area, it can''t prove that we can all pass the death line smoothly. You know, there are slow-moving health teams and signalmen behind us. With their marching speed, they are all sacrificed, It doesn''t have to be able to rush through. "


    When his kung fu was not enough, the captain of the marine came back in person. He bowed his head and replied in shame, "I''m sorry, comrade division. The shock operation just now failed. A platoon of soldiers had just crossed half the distance when they were all killed in the artillery fire. "


    When I heard that the impact failed, all the soldiers of a platoon died. My heart was bleeding. So many battles were gone. Look at the watch. It''s already one o''clock in the morning. It will be daybreak in three hours. If we don''t pass this blockade line, we will be wiped out by the powerful enemy under our own eyes after daybreak.


    I was worried. Sarin was more anxious than I was. He rolled his sleeve, took a rifle from the soldier beside him, and said to me in a loud voice, "Lieutenant Commander o''shanina, the troops will be handed over to you. I''ll go ahead and have a look. "


    I quickly grabbed him and asked nervously, "Comrade teacher, you don''t plan to take people to rush in person, do you?"


    "I don''t believe I can''t rush through!" Sarin said angrily.


    Then he raised his legs to leave. I stopped him and said, "Comrade division commander, you are the head of a division. Your duty is to lead the soldiers to jump out of the encirclement of the enemy smoothly, instead of risking their lives like a soldier."


    At this time, commander gogoli of the 804th regiment also came over. He heard the conversation between sarin and me, and quickly said, "Comrade division commander, commander o''shanina is right. You are division commander. You have no right to leave the commanders and fighters of the whole division and take risks with your own life. Well, I''d better take someone to rush. "


    In front of him, Colonel sarin had not yet persuaded him. I didn''t expect that commander gogoli would make trouble again. I reached out to stop them and said firmly, "stop, not only Colonel sarin can''t go, but also you, commander gogoli."


    After they were stopped by me, they asked in unison, "we are not going, so who should go? Are you going? You know, the men of the 229th division are not dead, and it''s not a woman''s turn to take risks for us. "


    I didn''t answer them right away. Instead, I took them by the arms and took them to the side of the road. When I got to a position where there were few people, I said my plan: "Sir, commander gogoly, I wonder if you have noticed where the shells came from?"


    Listening to me, sarin and Gogol were stunned for a moment, and then they pointed in the same direction together. Gogol said, "I noticed that the shells came from that direction." At this point, he stopped for a moment, and then said, "I estimate that the enemy''s artillery position is only two or three kilometers away from here."


    "It''s a good choice to take out the enemy''s artillery positions." Colonel sarin thought and said, "who should be sent?"


    I looked at the direction they were pointing to, which was the direction of the 678th regiment''s garrison in the past, so I said, "well, since you have seen the location of the enemy''s artillery, I''ll take people to take it away, so that our division''s troops can smoothly pass the blockade line in front of us."


    Gogoli wanted to speak, but sarin raised his hand to stop him. He thought for a while and waved his hand: "OK, that''s it." Then he called out to the captain, "Comrade captain, come here for a moment."


    The captain ran in front of us again. Before we could speak, he began to show his determination: "Sir, please let me take another charge. I promise to finish the task."


    Sarin waved his hand and interrupted him, saying: "Comrade captain, I have a task to give you, but I don''t want you to take the risk of attacking the enemy''s artillery blockade."


    The captain asked cautiously, "Comrade division commander, I don''t know what task it is?"


    Sarin pointed to me and said, "take your battalion with lieutenant commander oshanina, take the enemy''s artillery position away, and cover the division''s main force through the enemy''s blockade line. Do you have the confidence to finish the task? "


    After receiving this task, the captain immediately beamed with joy and answered firmly, "please rest assured, sir. I promise to complete the task you assigned me and cover the main force of the division to break through."


    "Well, don''t delay. Let''s go now."


    The captain and I, with a battalion of Marines, made a rapid advance towards the former defense area. Because the speed of the sailors'' march was too fast, I had been walking in the front of the team. Within half an hour, I had slowly fallen behind the team. If the captain had not sent two soldiers to carry me away, I would have fallen behind.


    An hour later, we approached my former observation post and saw the enemy''s artillery position from a distance. The enemy is concentrating on blocking our only way to break through the encirclement with artillery fire, and has not noticed the arrival of our troops at all. Seeing this scene, I couldn''t help but be overjoyed. I speeded up and ran to the front of the team. I said to the captain who led the team, "Comrade captain, the enemy''s artillery position is in front of us. When we quietly approach, we will launch a surprise attack immediately. We must take the enemy by surprise."


    The captain promised to turn around and order the troops to speed up the March. I was so tired that I could hardly walk, but when I saw that the victory was in sight, I was so excited that I went with the captain, but I was not pulled down by him.


    In less than five minutes, our troops quietly approached the enemy''s position. In order to prevent being found by the enemy, the captain let the soldiers lie down and crawl towards the enemy''s artillery position. In the flash of the shell, I clearly saw the enemy''s line of more than 20 guns. Without the cover of the guard troops, the enemy artillery did not notice our arrival at all, and continued to fire at our troops.


    Seeing that I was close to the enemy for one hundred meters, my heart beat faster. I pulled out my pistol from my waist, stood up abruptly, shot into the sky, and then yelled, "brothers, follow me! Go ahead


    As soon as my voice fell, the captain next to me also called out in a loud voice: "go on, brothers, wipe out all the enemies!"


    Under our leadership, the soldiers rushed to the enemy''s artillery positions with shouts. The soldier in the front row with the submachine gun held the butt of the gun to his waist and shot as he charged. The bullets rattled the baffle of the cannon. The soldier with a rifle, after a shot, did not care to pull the trigger, but directly took out his grenade, pulled the string and threw it at the enemy. After a series of grenade explosions, the enemy''s artillery positions immediately shrouded in smoke. Where did the enemy''s artillery see such a formation? They were so scared that they dropped their shells and fled everywhere.


    Within minutes, the battle was over. Half of the enemy''s artillery were killed and half were taken prisoner, while all their artillery were captured by us. The captain and I leaned against a big gun, happily giving orders to the soldiers, commanding them to count and capture, treat the wounded and take care of the prisoners.


    Seeing that he was almost busy, the captain asked me with a smile, "Comrade commander, shall we blow up the cannon now?"


    "Blaster?" I looked at the mountain of shells piled up on the ground and asked, "why do you want to bomb now? Don''t you see so many shells piled up on the ground?" With these words, I couldn''t help sweating. Fortunately, the grenade thrown by the soldiers just now didn''t detonate the enemy''s shells, otherwise the shells killed by the soldiers would be enough for us to die with the enemy.


    "We can blow up the shells together."


    "Comrade captain," I looked at the captain and said with a smile, "it''s a pity that so many shells have been blown up. I''m going to leave them all in Germany."


    "For the Germans?" The captain was confused. He frowned slightly. When he refuted me, his tone was a little discontented. "Comrade commander, do you mean to leave so many shells to the Germans, so that they can use them to hit us at the right time?"


    I didn''t want to talk to him much. I just told him, "Comrade captain, are there any soldiers who have been artillery soldiers in your camp? Call them all here. "


    The captain didn''t know what I was going to do, but since I gave the order, he could only carry it out unconditionally. In a short time, he came back with more than 40 commanders and fighters. After stopping the small unit, he led a lieutenant to me and said, "Comrade commander, this is lieutenant rozhkov. He used to be an artillery soldier. Because our artillery was lost in the battle, he became an infantry soldier." Then he pointed to the group of soldiers who followed him and added, "these soldiers used to be artillery."


    I looked at the artillery soldiers with great interest, and then looked at the handsome artillery Lieutenant standing in front of me. With a smile, I asked, "Comrade lieutenant, can you operate German guns?"


    The lieutenant looked at the cannon behind me, nodded and confidently replied, "no problem, comrade commander. Although we are not proficient in using our own guns, we will not make too much error in hitting the target. "


    Hearing my conversation with the lieutenant, the captain was surprised and asked, "Comrade commander, you are not going to let us transport all these guns back, are you? You know, we can''t get these heavy guns back without trucks. "


    I waved my hand and said with a smile, "Comrade captain, you think too much. How can this be possible. You know, I don''t plan to get these cannons back. Even if they are all shipped back, I can''t take them across the Don river. In the end, they either blow up or leave them to the Germans. I don''t want to do such a stupid thing. I just saw that there were so many shells left. If they were all blown up, it would be a bit too wasteful. It would be better to make use of them and hit them to the enemy''s positions with cannons, so that they would feel like being bombarded. "


    "Excellent, comrade commander, you are excellent!" The captain heard what I said, and immediately exclaimed excitedly, "don''t worry, we''ll finish all these shells in one shot, and let the Germans taste their own shells."


    "Comrade commander," although the captain was a little complacent, Lieutenant rozhkov kept the necessary calm. He reminded me, "without coordinates, I don''t know where to shoot."


    "It''s easy to do. Here''s a map of the enemy. It should have the artillery targets you want." With that, I took out a map from my briefcase and handed it to rozhkov.


    Rozhkov took the map and looked at it with his flashlight. Then he cheered and said, "it''s wonderful, comrade commander. The enemy''s deployment is clearly marked on this map. I know where to shoot."


    "In that case, comrade lieutenant, you muster the artillery quickly." After giving orders to rozhkov, I said to the captain, "Comrade battalion commander, first arrange some people to take these prisoners away, so as not to affect the speed of our retreat."


    The captain arranged a captain to escort a company''s forces to leave the captured artillery. The remaining soldiers assisted the artillery selected by lieutenant rozhkov to turn one head and aim at the enemy''s position.


    Then the artillery in rozhkov''s command, began to aim, loading shells. While rozhkov was holding the command flag high, I asked curiously, "Comrade lieutenant, where is the first target?"¡° The tank camp in the valley ahead. " With these words, rozhkov issued orders to his subordinates in a loud voice: "listen to my command, prepare!" Then the command flag swung down and yelled, "let go!" With his command, more than 20 guns fired at the same time, like a huge thunderbolt in my ear, which shocked me to sit on the ground. When our cannons had entered the third round of firing, I recovered and slowly got up from the ground. Looking at the valley in the distance, I saw that the fire was shining, which made the valley red like a volcano eruption. It seemed that under such artillery attack, the enemy''s tank troops were finished.

 Chapter 478

    It took a full hour for lieutenant rozhkov and his artillery to clear all the shells. According to my estimation, this round of shelling destroyed at least one tank camp and two infantry camps of the enemy. In this way, the enemy''s attack on the 62nd army will be much weaker after dawn.


    As for the cannons that have run out of shells, naturally they will not be left to the enemy. They are artillery soldiers. Naturally, they know better than me how to destroy these cannons. So I gave the task of bombing cannons to him and his subordinates.


    The marine captain and I withdrew from the artillery position with our troops. Almost a kilometer after we walked out, there was a clear explosion behind us. Without looking back, I knew that it was lieutenant rozhkov and his subordinates.


    The captain came up to me and asked in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, when the artillery was shelling the enemy''s position just now, why didn''t you send a guard post? Aren''t you afraid that the enemy would attack us?"


    I laughed and said, "Comrade captain, your worry is unnecessary. The enemy is camping in unfamiliar areas. They dare not go out at night. They are afraid that they will encounter our ambush. It is because I have found out the law of the enemy that I dare to stay after occupying the artillery position and direct our artillery to bombard their camp. " Although I was full of confidence, I still had some fear in my heart. I didn''t know that it was because I was shocked by the huge gunfire and my brain became slow. I forgot to set up guard posts in the position.


    At dawn, our small surprise unit, after more than an hour''s March, successfully arrived at the river. The captain, who was walking beside me, suddenly pointed to the ferry pier in the distance and exclaimed in surprise: "Comrade commander, look, it seems that Colonel sarren is waiting for us on the pier."


    I followed the direction of his fingers and saw a group of people standing on the dock, including the figure of Colonel sarren. Seeing that Colonel salen didn''t cross the river with the troops, but stayed at the dock waiting for us, he felt very hot and urged the captain: "Captain, let the soldiers speed up, let''s go and join the colonel and them."


    The captain promised, though he turned his head and yelled at the back, "all of you, listen to my order, speed up and get to the dock as soon as possible."


    Our troops advancing towards the wharf have long been discovered by the people on the wharf, and sarin himself brought a group of people to meet us. When the distance was only seven or eight meters, the teams on both sides stopped. Then the captain and I set out to walk to sarin. After we stopped in front of sarin, I held back my joy and raised my hand to salute sarin. We reported to you that we had successfully completed the task of destroying the enemy artillery and returned smoothly. I''m at your command. Please direct me to the next step. "


    "At ease!" Sarin came forward, reached out his hands and grabbed the captain''s arm and me respectively. He said with a smile: "good job, commander comrades, you are all good. It is precisely because of your tenacious and decisive actions that the main force of the division successfully highlights the enemy''s encirclement. "


    After that, he made a fist with his left hand and hit the captain''s chest twice. Then he took up his right fist. When he was ready to hit my chest, he hesitated for a moment and turned his fist into a palm and patted me twice on my left shoulder. Then he said, "well, now that you are all back safely, let''s hurry to cross the river. Otherwise, it will not be so easy to cross the river when the enemy''s plane arrives at dawn. "


    Sarin and I were crossing the river on the same ferry. Sarin said with great interest: "Comrade oshanina, you are really not simple. I heard from the sailors who were escorting the captives in advance that you let our artillery attack the Germans with German cannons. What a beautiful job! What''s the result, can you tell me? "


    The honorific name that sarin used for me made me feel very uncomfortable, so before answering his question, I first proposed: "Sir, comrade, please don''t use" you "to call me any more, OK? We still use the term "you" to describe each other, which seems to be less original. "


    "That''s very kind. I''ll call you" you "later." SA Ren is not a hypocritical person, since I said so, he agreed without hesitation.


    Then I slowly answered the question he had just asked: "Comrade Colonel, after occupying the enemy''s artillery positions, we seized more than 20 guns and a large number of shells. At that time, I thought it would be a bit wasteful to blow them up like this. So he got an idea and asked the captain to pick out the artillery soldiers in the water camp and form a temporary Artillery Force. According to the enemy camp marked on the captured map, he adjusted the shooting coordinates and taught the enemy a lesson. As for the results, because there is no statistics, I can''t give you accurate data. I can only say that at least one tank camp and two infantry camps were destroyed by our artillery fire. I estimate that at least the strength of the enemy''s attack on the defensive positions of the 62nd group army will be greatly weakened today. "


    After listening to me, sarin raised his thumb and said, "Comrade o''shanina, you are so kind. I think that even if an experienced commander is replaced to do it, he will never do it better than you. According to our usual practice, after destroying the enemy''s artillery positions, we may move quickly after blowing up the enemy''s artillery, and we will never achieve the results you have achieved. "


    The main force of the 229th division had long been led across the river by the commander of the 804 regiment, Lt. Col. gogoly. Now they were gathering on the left bank of the Don river. Seeing us disembarking, Gogol ran over and asked Saren for instructions: "Comrade division commander, commander of the 804th regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Gogol reported to you that after several hours of rest, the soldiers have recovered their strength. Please direct the next action."


    Sarin did not answer him immediately, but looked at me and asked, "commander o''shanina, what do you think our division should do next? Stay where you are, or move to Stalingrad? "


    My heart said that you didn''t throw the hot potato to me, Stalin just issued the No. 227 order, you dare to commit a crime against the wind, and withdraw to Stalingrad with the troops protruding from the encirclement. It''s not your own death. However, since he asked this question, I didn''t know how to answer it, so I chose the way of handing over the contradiction: "Sir, I think you should report to commander trakov and listen to his opinions."


    SA Ren listened to me and nodded: "it''s reasonable. I''ll contact the commander and ask him for the next action." With that, he was ready to call the signalman to come and put the radio station by the river to contact the headquarters.


    I quickly stopped his action and persuaded him: "Comrade division, it''s already daybreak. Maybe the enemy plane will come soon. So many of our troops are crowded by the river, so it''s easy to be the target of the enemy plane''s attack. Let''s go a little further and we''ll be the defensive area of the 678 regiment of the 214 division. Let''s take our troops there to hide and then contact the headquarters. "


    Sarin took my advice and gave gogoli the task of assembling troops. With a few security guards and signalmen, he followed me to the defense area of 678 regiment.


    After walking for a short time, I saw the village where the regiment headquarters was located. At this time, a few people came out of the village and walked slowly towards us. Although they were far away and could not see the appearance of the people, I could still guess that they were Lu Jin.


    As we got closer, the people on the opposite side obviously saw us clearly, quickened their pace, and almost trotted over. As they got closer and closer, I also saw that it was Lukin, Slaven, acting commissar kokunov and several soldiers.


    Several people ran to me, raised their hands to salute, and called out: "Hello, comrade commander."


    SA Ren saw this scene, slightly stunned for a moment, then pointed to them and asked me: "Comrade o''xia Nina, is this your original subordinate?"


    "Yes, sir." I went up to them, turned to sarin and said, "please allow me to introduce you. This is the acting commander of the 678th regiment, Captain Lukin, acting political commissar kokunov, and the seventh company commander, Captain Slaven. " Then I pointed to sarin and introduced them to Lukin, saying, "this colonel is the commander of the 229th division, Colonel sarin."


    Lukin and kokunov stepped forward, saluted sarin and politely said, "Hello, comrade colonel. This is not a place to talk. Let''s go back to the league. "


    I took Slaven aside and told him, "Captain Slaven, I want to ask you something."


    Slaven agreed unambiguously: "please command me, commander. I promise to finish the task."


    As for his response, I nodded with satisfaction and told him, "the 229th division is coming soon. There are about a thousand soldiers and dozens of German prisoners. You are responsible for bringing them to our defensive positions. After that, take the 804th regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel gogoli, to the regiment headquarters. "


    Slaven quickly straightened up and answered loudly, "please rest assured, commander. I promise to finish the task well."


    I went to sarin''s side and said to him, "Comrade division, I have arranged for someone to meet the troops. He will take the troops to a safe place and hide them. When the troops are settled, commander gogoly will go to the village."


    As soon as he entered the cabin, which was the headquarters of the regiment, sarin couldn''t wait for the messenger to set up the radio station and began to contact trakov. We''re lucky to get in touch with trakov.


    Trikov heard that it was Colonel sarin''s voice and immediately asked, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the matter with the troops? Have they jumped out of the enemy''s encirclement?"


    Saren was in a good mood. He replied with a smile: "please rest assured, comrade commander. The remaining 1000 people in the division have successfully highlighted the enemy''s encirclement, crossed the river and entered the defense area of the 678th regiment."


    "How''s Colonel o''shanina?" When trekov heard that the troops had successfully broken through, he suddenly asked me.


    "She''s very good. In this breakthrough, she made great achievements."


    "Made a great contribution? What''s going on, comrade Colonel. You''re confusing me. "


    "Well, comrade commander." Sarin is not a man who is greedy for merit. He reported to trikov about how I led the troops to take away the enemy artillery positions when we were found by the enemy''s scouts in the process of breaking through.


    After listening, trakov didn''t say anything extra. He just said, "let oshanina come and talk to me." After listening to this, Colonel salen did not dare to neglect him and quickly handed me the words.


    I took a deep breath and said politely, "Hello, comrade commander."


    "Well done, o''shanina, you are so good. I want to know what you did after you took off the enemy''s artillery position? " Just now, Colonel sarin simply mentioned that I would take people to take off enemy artillery positions. He was not clear about how to take them off. This report aroused trekov''s curiosity, so he asked me this client.


    "Comrade commander, this is the situation." I sorted out my thoughts and reported to trikov like a story, "because when we approached the enemy''s position, we were not found by the enemy''s artillery, so our attack was very smooth, and we captured the enemy''s position at a very low cost. It''s a pity to see that all the cannons and shells have been captured by us and blown up rashly. So I ordered the commander of the Marine battalion to draw out the former artillery from the camp and form an artillery unit to turn the muzzle and fire towards the enemy''s camp. Because we set the firing data according to the captured map. Although we can''t count the results, I estimate that after one hour''s shelling, at least one tank camp and two infantry camps have lost their combat effectiveness. I believe their attack power against the 62nd army will be weakened today. "


    "Well done, comrade oshanina." After hearing this, trakov said excitedly, "I will ask for your credit from the headquarters of the front army, and report this matter to the supreme command at the same time. By the way, do you have any requirements? As long as I can do it, I will meet your request. "


    I turned my head and looked at the nearby Colonel sarren, and then at Lukin and them. Then I resolutely asked, "Comrade commander, what is the next task of our army? Will you stay on the left bank of the don, or turn to Stalingrad? "


    Trikov was silent for a moment and said slowly: "it is obviously unrealistic for you to withdraw to Stalingrad now. You should know that the 62nd army is still surrounded by the enemy. If they break through the encirclement, they need troops to take over. You''d better stay in the garrison of the 678th regiment and merge the regiment of captain Lukin into the 229th division of Colonel sarren. "


    "However, we are short of troops and ammunition. It may be difficult for us to take on the task of breaking through the encirclement of the 62nd group army." At this critical juncture, we can only tell trikov the truth, so as not to finish the task in the future.


    As soon as I finished speaking, Colonel sarren came over and took the message from me. He said to trikov sincerely, "Comrade commander, comrade oshanina is right. If our troops are attacked by the enemy, they will not be able to withstand. I don''t know if you can provide us with a reserve team and replenish our ammunition?"


    "Comrade Colonel," said trakov in a tone of displeasure, "I have no reserves. I have only a few signalmen around me now. Do you want me to send them all to you?"


    After listening to what trakov said, Colonel sarin got a little flustered and quickly explained, "Comrade commander, I don''t mean that. After a long time of fighting, our commanders and fighters have almost consumed their ammunition. Today, before crossing the river, I asked the 804th regiment to transfer to lieutenant colonel gogoly. According to the statistics, soldiers generally have only two or three bullets in their guns. If fierce fighting breaks out, the soldiers can''t compete with German tanks with bayonets. "


    After listening to sarin''s complaint, trakov''s tone slowed down and said: "about ammunition, I can report to general nikishev, chief of staff of the front army, and ask him to quickly assemble a batch of ammunition for you. As for the soldiers, you have to think of your own way. "


    "Comrade commander, please try to find a way in any case to supply me with additional personnel."


    "Well," trekov said, perhaps upset by him, and gave him a straightforward idea: "you and your division will stay in the defensive position by the river dun. All the scattered troops passing through your defense area, whether they are the 62nd or 64th army, you will leave them behind and add them to your troops. In this way, it won''t be long, Your division will be full. "


    "Comrade commander, your suggestion is very good. I''ll order you to carry it out immediately." Hearing this idea, sarrenton got excited. "I believe our division will be back to its original size soon."


    After the call with trakov, commander gogoly arrived just in time. As soon as he entered the door, he asked aloud, "Comrade division commander, have you contacted the headquarters of the group army? What is the next task of our division? "


    Saren was talking to Lu Jin and his new subordinates with a smile. Hearing Gogol''s question, he turned to him and said, "commander, you''re here. Just now, the commander assigned a task to our division. I want you to convey it to us


    "Don''t know what command?"


    "The commander said that because he didn''t have any reserves on hand, it was up to us to find a way to replenish our troops."


    "Do it yourself?" Gogol rolled his eyes and said, "if the superior doesn''t send a reserve team, where can we find someone to supplement the troops?"


    Sarin walked over, raised his hand and patted his big cornice hat. He said, "how can you be a dead brain? If the superior doesn''t send a reserve team, you won''t think of your own way."


    Gogoly mumbled, "what can I do?" Her face showed the expression of a lady¡° As the commander said, from today on, our division will be a temporary reception team. All the troops passing through our defense area, no matter they are from the 62nd or 64th group army, will remain and be incorporated into our division. Do you understand? " After listening to what Colonel sarin said, Gogol immediately brightened his eyes and said excitedly, "is that really what the commander said? That''s great. I''ll send it to the army right away. " With that, he turned and ran out of the headquarters. Before we could recover, he jumped in from the door, raised his hand to salute Saren, and ran out again. His funny performance immediately caused a lot of laughter.

 Chapter 479

    When it was getting dark, the telephone in the headquarters rang. Colonel sarin, who had been busy with the work of reorganizing the army for a day, was lying on the bench beside the wall sleeping. I was afraid to disturb his rest, so I grabbed the phone and asked in a low voice, "what''s the matter?"


    The phone call was from captain Slaven. He was appointed as the new Slaven by Colonel Saren in the afternoon. After saluting Saren, he reported: "Comrade division commander, this is the special commissioner from the headquarters of the front army." I heard that it was the special commissioner of the front army. SA Ren quickly stood up, and I didn''t dare to neglect him. Then he stood up and welcomed him.


    The political worker raised his hand to salute Colonel sarin and said politely, "Hello, Colonel sarin. I''m panqinke, political commissar of the battalion level of the Political Department of the front army. I came to serve as an infantry and water soldier. I laughed with embarrassment and replied, "this rank was awarded personally by Comrade kokunov, political commissar of the regiment. He said that when I crossed the river, I showed my due bravery and tenacity. "


    Although the reasons for promotion mentioned by the marine are common, if I didn''t leave the 678th regiment, I would give him a promotion. After all, he is my life-saving benefactor.


    The sailor then said, "I heard that you were transferred to the headquarters of the group army. I thought I would never see you again. I didn''t expect you to come back again."


    When I heard him say that, I thought, it''s true that he was taken away by trakov just after crossing the Don river. After running around for several days, he finally made a big circle and returned to the defensive area of the 678th regiment. Looking at the young sailor in front of me, I suddenly remembered that I had known him for so long, but I didn''t know his name, so I pretended to be very casual and asked, "Comrade sailor, I don''t know how to call you?"


    "Kruglov," the sailor quickly replied, "you can call me kruglov."


    "Well, Sergeant kruglov, I''ll call you by your name later."


    "No problem, comrade commander." Kruglov, who was chatting with me, seemed very happy.


    "Comrade sergeant, if the enemy lands from the ferry pier, can you stop them?"


    Almost without thinking, kruglov replied, "no problem, comrade commander. I''m sure our soldiers can stop them. Even if we fight to the last man, we will never retreat. "


    Just when I was about to have a chat with kruglov, a timid girl came from my head: "excuse me, do you know how to get to the division headquarters?"


    Kruglov and I both looked up and saw a slim, handsome woman with a first aid kit looking down at us. Behind her stood a dozen soldiers dressed as health workers, half of whom were female soldiers.


    Before I could speak, kruglov, who was beside me, screamed, "ah! My dear nadani. " Then he climbed out of the trench with his hands and feet, and pounced on the woman who asked.


    I watched kruglov rush to the front and back of the woman''s door, stop abruptly, and murmur, "is that you? Honey, my Natalie When I heard the sergeant calling out her nickname again, I knew that she was Natasha who I saw with kruglov that night by the jeep.


    "Yes, my sea soul, it''s me. Your Natalie. " The female health worker tried to act as if nothing had happened, but she still couldn''t help it. Her eyes turned red and her tears flowed out. "Kruglov, I didn''t expect to see her alive. It''s really great!" She burst into kruglov''s arms crying, thumped kruglov a few times, then hugged the sailor tightly, and began to cry in his arms. Kruglov also held her tightly, did not speak, let her cry. Although there were more than a dozen people standing next to them, and many soldiers in the trenches came to watch me, no one said anything, because we all knew how difficult it was for lovers to meet again in the battlefield of life and death. We all knew that Natasha needed a process of venting, and crying would be better.


    After holding each other for a long time, Natasha stopped crying, looked up at kruglov standing in front of her and asked tentatively, "honey, is this true? I''m not dreaming, am I? Are you really holding me? "


    Kruglov nodded hard and replied, "yes, dear Natalie, it''s not a dream. We''ve met again." Then he bent down to kiss Natasha on the forehead. Natasha raised her head and put her lips up. They met without accident and began to kiss.


    I put my hands across my chest and watched with interest what was going on without interrupting their thoughts. I don''t know which naughty sailor whistled and cheered. Whether it was the health workers or the sailors in the trenches, everyone cried out in unison: "bitter! Bitter! It''s hard It''s like a wedding when the guests want the bride and groom to kiss.


    Before the end of their kiss, there was a discordant voice from the trench: "Hey, I said, what do you all gather here to do? Go back to your respective posts, dig what you should dig, patrol what you should patrol. Stay here, and be careful I''ll lock you up. "


    The sailors in the trench stopped cheering and scattered. Kruglov and Natasha also quickly separated and stood in the same place. When the sailors in the trench were almost scattered, I realized that it was the captain who was shouting. At this time, the sailors who blocked us were almost gone. The captain also saw me and trotted over. He raised his hand and asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, how can you come to inspect the position without saying hello? My men are not troubling you, are they I waved to him and said, "you''re welcome, comrade captain. I just walk around." With that, I looked up at kruglov and Natasha, who were still standing outside the trench. I couldn''t help being angry and funny. I quickly yelled to him, "Hey, sergeant, please take your Natasha down." Kruglov helped Natasha down the trench. I pointed to the two men and said to the captain, "Comrade captain, your men are not easy to meet his lover in the battlefield. When they are about to tell each other their love, they are interrupted by you. Tell me what to do? " In the face of my accusation, the captain looked at them, lowered his head and said with embarrassment, "I''m sorry, comrade commander, I''m wrong."¡° If you are wrong, you must be punished. " I said rudely¡° At your disposal. " I know I''m a bit unreasonable, but the captain has no temper in front of me. I didn''t immediately say how to punish him. Instead, I pointed to the health workers who were still standing outside the trench and said, "Comrade captain, they are going to report to the division headquarters. Send someone to take them there." The captain agreed and immediately called a sailor to take the health team to the division headquarters to report. After the sailors left with the health team, I said to the captain, "take me to your command post." The captain didn''t dare to object to my command, so he could only honestly agree. He took one side of his body and made a gesture of invitation. He said helplessly, "please, comrade commander." Then he walked along the trench. I said to kruglov and Natasha, who were still standing by, "what are you doing? Come with me Soon we came to the captain''s command post. Maybe it''s because of the new one. There''s nothing in it except a wooden table, a few benches and a telephone on the table. I asked the captain, "Comrade captain, why is your command post so crude?" The captain replied, "the command post has just been repaired. It hasn''t been put into use yet." I nodded with satisfaction and said to the captain, "OK, I''ll announce your punishment now." The captain looked at me nervously and said, "Comrade commander, I''m waiting for your instructions." I pointed to kruglov and Natasha who came in with me and said, "My punishment to you is to lend them this command post for an hour." At this point, I also turned to kruglov and asked jokingly, "Comrade sergeant, is one hour enough?" Hear me to ask so, two people immediately made a big red face. Without waiting for their reply, I pulled the captain, who was laughing so much that he couldn''t stand up beside me, and said to them, "Comrade sergeant, I''m in charge of this matter. Let the captain lend you the command post for one hour. It''s a rare opportunity. You can seize the time. " The captain and I have just come to the outside of the command post. I restrained the smile on my face and said to the captain, "Comrade captain, go to find two soldiers and stand guard in the trenches on both sides of the command post. Stand a little farther away and don''t let anyone disturb them. It''s not easy for them to fight so cruelly now. Maybe... "Maybe I haven''t finished. But I can see from the captain''s face that he understands what I mean. The captain solemnly saluted me and replied, "please rest assured that you will complete the task you gave me. I believe every Marine will remember what you have done for us. "

 Chapter 480

    After dark, I was surrounded by Saren and panchenko to see the latest layout plan. Suddenly, the telephone on the desk rang. Saran reached for the microphone and said aloud, "Hello, this is colonel saran."


    The voice of the captain of the marine came from the microphone: "report to the division commander, there is something on the other side of the Don river. Come outside and have a look. The enemy is burning our village."


    After hearing this, saran threw the phone away and said to us, "let''s go out and have a look."


    When we came out with colonel sarren, the streets of the village were crowded with people, because there was no one to speak and it was very quiet. Everyone looked breathlessly at the burning place on the other side of the Don river.


    I stood on a stump in front of the headquarters and looked West. In the dark night, even without binoculars, you can see dozens of fires on the other side of the river. The light of the fire varies from large to small. Some look like densely populated settlements, and some look like smaller villages. Some of the fires have begun to weaken, and the light has become dim, like the burning buildings have been burned out; Some just like the fire time is not long, the dark red flame in the dark sky jumping.


    Seeing this scene, panchenko, who was standing beside me, said in a low voice with gnashing teeth: "these damned German robbers, I really want to take a company to the other side of the river immediately and kill them all."


    Sarin came over with a gloomy face and waved his head at us. He said angrily, "Comrade political commissar, o''xia Nina, come in with me."


    We followed SA Ren into the headquarters. SA Ren raised his hand and pressed down, and said to us, "all sit down."


    After we all sat down, Saren looked at Pan Qinke and asked, "Comrade political commissar, what do you think?"


    Panchenko said angrily: "these damned Krauts, with their fire, have destroyed the labor of many generations of our people, and how many people will be homeless!"


    Panchenko talked endlessly, but sarin was obviously not interested in what he said. He turned to me and asked, "o''shanina, what do you think?"


    The Germans will not set fire to villages and residential areas for no reason. It may be their intention. I thought about it for a moment, and then replied, "Comrade division, I think the enemy may be going to cross the river."


    Sarin listened, nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "tell me your reason."


    "The reason why the enemy set fire to villages and residential areas on the other side of the river should be to prevent our sporadic small units or guerrillas from taking these places as hiding places. Once our troops exist in these places, they will attack the enemy''s camp and destroy the enemy''s traffic lines at the right time. In order to concentrate our forces on attacking us, as long as the enemy sets fire to the villages, there will be no worries in the future. "


    As for my analysis, sarin agreed. He said, "Comrade oshanina, you are right. I think so too. It seems necessary for us to strengthen our defensive forces along the river to cope with the enemy''s attack at any time. How many troops have crossed the river recently? "


    I shook my head and said, "the troops crossing the river today are all small units that have been defeated. There are seven or eight less, but there are only a dozen more. There are no battalion level units. "


    "Are there any officers in the army?"


    I shook my head again and replied, "no, comrade division commander, no officer. According to the report of lieutenant colonel gogoly, who took them in, only a few staff sergeants had the highest rank. All the officers had died bravely in the battle with the enemy. The German army easily defeated the troops that had lost their command. "


    "Call gogoly and ask him to quickly distribute the soldiers to the army, distribute weapons and ammunition for them, and prepare for tomorrow''s battle."


    "OK, I''ll call right away."


    The next morning, the German attack on us began.


    Their cannons began to fire first, and dense shells fell on the positions by the river and the river near the bank. The rolling Don river was suddenly splashed with waves, raising high water columns one by one. Then the enemy''s fighters also appeared in the sky, like crows hovering in the sky of our army, bombing and strafing along the river. In an instant, the broad defensive position by the river was full of flames and smoke, just like a fog out of thin air.


    Saran and I were standing in the newly built observation post half buried underground outside the village, observing the situation of the shore position with binoculars. Seeing that the front position was covered by the smoke of gunpowder, Saren immediately ordered the signalman: "call the captain of the front marine and ask what''s going on in the position?"


    The signalmen did not dare to neglect, but quickly contacted the frontier by telephone. We were lucky. The telephone line from the observation post to the front command post was not broken by the shell or bomb. Soon, the captain screamed: "Hello, comrade division? The enemy is shelling and bombing our positions, but please rest assured that except for a few observation posts, the rest of the soldiers are hidden in the gun holes, and the casualties of the troops are not great. "


    "Well done, comrade captain." After praising the captain, Colonel sarin told him, "remember, once the enemy begins to cross the river, you must immediately order the troops to enter the position."


    "I understand." The captain answered loudly, and at the same time expressed his determination to Saren: "please rest assured, comrade division commander, as long as there is one person in our navy camp, we will never let the enemy pass through our position."


    The shelling and bombing lasted for half an hour. After the shelling stopped, the enemy planes circling in the air left one after another.


    As the smoke on the position became thin, I could see that the enemy on the other side had boarded the ferry on the wharf and came towards us. Dozens of tanks lined up on the shore, and the black muzzle pointed to our position.


    Sarin put down his telescope, sighed and said: "it seems that all our troops on the right bank of the Don River have been destroyed. The commanders of these troops really didn''t know how to destroy the ferries and let the Germans seize all these boats. That''s good. They can take our ferry and cross the river to attack us


    Although I did not answer his words, I had no confidence in whether I could withstand the enemy''s attack.


    Sarin suddenly said, "Comrade oshanina, do you think we should order the artillery company to open fire and use the artillery to sink the enemy, people and ships together?"


    I quickly waved my hand and said, "Comrade division, if we use mortars to attack moving ferries, the hit rate is not high. Not to mention, it is easy to attract the enemy''s heavy artillery to fight back. You know, our artillery companies are all light mortars, but they can''t compete with the enemy''s heavy artillery. Once the artillery companies are exhausted, our division will no longer have heavy firepower. In my opinion, the artillery company should wait until the enemy''s Ferry comes to the dock, and then concentrate its firepower to bombard the enemy who is disembarking, so as to inflict heavy casualties on them. "


    After thinking about it, Colonel sarin nodded and agreed with me: "you''re right. The artillery company should not fight too early. Let''s wait for the enemy to land before firing."


    Ten minutes later, the enemy''s Ferry finally got on the pier of the ferry. Seeing that the enemy began to get off the ship in disorder, saran''s face showed a smile, turned to me and said, "o''shanina, I think the time is almost right. You go to call the artillery company and let them fire immediately to teach these Germans a lesson."


    I agreed. I went to the phone, grabbed the phone, shook the handle twice, heard rozhkov''s voice in the microphone, and immediately ordered him: "Lieutenant, it''s your turn to go on the stage. Aim at the enemy on the dock and fire. Let them go to hell."


    On hearing the order to let the artillery company fire, rozhkov agreed excitedly, and then hung up.


    When I went back to the observation hole and raised my telescope to look at the dock, the artillery company''s shells were already roaring towards the enemy on the dock. Then, one after another, it fell into the dense enemy group and exploded, sending up large groups of black fireworks. The enemy screamed in alarm and ran to both sides of the dock in a disorderly way.


    The German soldiers who had just escaped from the dead wharf to the left and right did not wait for them to catch their breath. The shells landed on both sides and drove them back to the middle of the wharf. In order to avoid the fatal shelling, the German soldiers dragged their guns and fled to the front position of our army.


    When they ran only forty or fifty meters away from the position, the heavy and heavy machine guns on the forward position suddenly opened fire together and swept across the middle of the enemy. The enemy was beaten so that they cried and howled. Some of them left dozens of corpses and looked at the wharf and fled.


    Seeing the enemy fleeing, the sailors on the position jumped out of the trench with weapons and rushed to catch up with them with shouting. Under the attack of rifles and submachine guns, the enemy was knocked down a lot.


    Sarin saw this scene and exclaimed excitedly: "good boy, good boy, work harder and drive all the Krauts to the river to feed the fish."


    I''m not as optimistic as he is, and I don''t care to ask him. I run to the phone, pick up the phone and call the captain. As soon as I got through the phone, I immediately said to the captain in a stern tone, "Comrade captain, I order you to let the troops withdraw from the position immediately. It will be too late if it is too late!"


    Although the captain was at a loss, he replied honestly, "I understand, comrade commander. I''ll order the trumpeter to blow the trumpet to stop the pursuit."


    When he heard that I gave the order to stop the pursuit to the army without authorization, Colonel sarin was not happy. He came up to me, slapped his telescope heavily on the table, and then asked me sternly, "commander oshanina, why? Who gave you the right and who allowed you to stop the pursuit? Don''t you see that the soldiers are going to drive the enemy into the river soon? "


    In the face of his fury, I straightened up and replied, "Sir, I know you can''t listen to what I''m explaining to you now. I ask you to go back to the observation hole and observe calmly for five minutes, then you can understand why I ordered the troops to stop pursuing. "


    In the face of my humble attitude, sarin just glared at me, then picked up the telescope and walked back to the observation hole. I didn''t care about his bad attitude, so I followed him back to the observation hole.


    I knew in my heart that my sudden order was not a whim. The dozens of tanks stopped by the enemy on the other side of the river are not ornaments. They will not watch their infantry being destroyed by us. They will certainly provide artillery cover for their troops.


    When I raised my telescope again, I saw the pursuing sailors returning to their positions one after another. However, without waiting for all the people to enter the fortification, the tanks on the other side started shelling, and some soldiers who fell behind were immediately engulfed by the gunfire.


    Seeing the intensive and fierce shelling of German tanks, sarin was stunned. After a while, he regained his mind, gave me a thumbs up, and said with emotion: "o''shanina, you are really amazing. You can even guess that the enemy''s tanks will bombard our pursuit troops. Fortunately, you gave the order to retreat in time and let the sailors withdraw to their positions. Otherwise, the whole army may be destroyed. "


    I gave a little smile and said modestly, "Sir, it''s nothing. I''ve only been dealing with the Germans for a long time, so I''m familiar with their way of playing, so I just found out the enemy''s plot in time. "


    "What''s next?" At the moment, sarin showed great trust in me and began to ask me about the next action of the army.


    Now that he asked me, I said bluntly, "the artillery company has exposed its target in the battle just now. We should let them transfer their positions immediately. In addition, call the captain of the marine and ask him to hide the rest except for a few observation posts. In my judgment, the enemy''s planes will soon bomb our positions again. "


    "All right, do as you say. I''ll give an order to the troops. "


    A few minutes later, four enemies appeared in the sky. As soon as they got close to the front of our army, they quickly dispersed and began to circle over the position. It seemed that they were coming straight at the front of our army.


    After circling for several circles, the enemy planes began to lower their altitude, changed their formation again, formed a column, followed by a dive, and dropped bombs on our army. As the bomb landed and exploded, the front positions were filled with smoke and smoke.


    After the first round of enemy bombing, seeing that our army had no air defense firepower on the ground, we became more and more courageous and lowered our altitude continuously. From my point of view, they are almost flying close to the ground.


    When sarin saw the enemy planes shooting and dropping bombs above my position, he was so angry that he smashed them on the log wall and said, "damn German, bullying me, I dare to be so arrogant without air defense firepower. Another day, I''ll ask the commander for an air defense unit to bring you all down. "


    Seeing the enemy''s planes flying around our army like they were in a state of no man''s land, I hated them, but I couldn''t do anything about them.


    Just at this time, a dive of the enemy aircraft just pulled up, the fuselage suddenly flashed a big slip of dark red fire, and then emitted a thick black smoke. Dragging a long belt of smoke, the enemy plane staggered to the other side and plunged into the tank line on the other side. After a loud bang, a cloud of smoke rose. When the smoke cleared, I saw that a tank had become a burning scrap, and the two adjacent tanks were also overturned by the explosion.


    "Great! How wonderful When he saw the crash of the enemy plane, Colonel sarin even claimed a German tank at the same time. He couldn''t help cheering like a young man. Then he urged me in a voice: "Comrade oshanina, you call the captain of the Navy and ask what''s going on? Who brought down the enemy plane? I''m going to give credit to this hero. "


    I nodded with a smile and said, "OK, sir. I''ll call the captain right away and ask what''s going on."


    After dialing the phone, I said to the captain with a smile: "Comrade captain, I congratulate you on your good fight. You even shot down the enemy''s plane without air defense firepower. Comrade division commander said that he would personally ask for credit for the hero who defeated the enemy plane. Comrade captain, do you know who shot down the enemy plane? "


    The captain was very happy when he heard my praise. He replied excitedly, "report, comrade commander, the plane was shot by sergeant kruglov. As he watched the enemy planes dropping bombs and strafing over our battalion''s position, he was very angry. So he took advantage of the enemy''s dive and fired at the enemy''s plane with the anti tank gun that was distributed to our battalion yesterday. I didn''t expect that the boy had such good luck that he even knocked down the enemy plane. "


    "Well done, comrade captain. All your soldiers are good."


    When I put down the phone, I reported to Colonel Saren, "Comrade division, I have made it clear. It was sergeant kruglov of the Marine battalion who got off the plane


    "You are not right, comrade commander." At the door came panchenko''s voice, who was hurrying into the observation post, adding, "I think that in such an extraordinary period, heroes like kruglov should be commended. I think the rank of sergeant is too low. He should be promoted to officer. "


    Although I don''t like political workers like Pan Qinke, I can''t find any reason to oppose his proposal, so I seconded: "I agree with the political commissar. And you, Mr. teacher. " In order to show the importance of this matter, I specially used honorifics for sarin.


    SA Ren looked outside with a telescope, nodded and said, "I also agree with the political commissar. In that case, I''ll promote this Crewe... Crewe what? "


    "Kruglov." I hastened to remind him in a low voice¡° Yes, it''s sergeant kruglov. I want to promote him to second lieutenant Said Colonel salen carelessly. In this way, kruglov, who was a private a few days ago, became a second lieutenant just a few days after he became a sergeant of kruglov because he had captured an enemy plane. The speed of his promotion is somewhat similar to that of me at the beginning.

 Chapter 481

    One of the enemy planes was shot down, and the remaining three quickly rose to a certain height and began to circle in the air. Perhaps it was because they saw their companion''s plane suddenly shot down without warning, which made them feel so scared that they flew over the Don river for a long time, and did not dare to dive, bomb or strafe at our positions any more. The three planes circled in the air for a few minutes and finally turned around and headed south. Colonel salen looked out and said with ease, "the enemy''s plane has finally flown away. Political commissar, o''shanina, let''s go. Let''s go to the front and see the sailor who got off the plane. " When I saw panchenko nodding in agreement, I didn''t object. I followed them silently and walked along the traffic ditch. After all, just after the end of a battle, the presence of senior commanders on the battlefield is also a boost to the morale of the commanders and fighters. We quickly passed the "guard division?" Hearing this honorary title, Saren was very excited, and his voice changed a little bit. "Please rest assured that our division will strive for this glorious title." After drawing a big pie for Colonel sarren, trakov began to ring the alarm for him: "Colonel sarren, the besieged troops of the 62nd army, has lost contact with the headquarters of the front army, and their fate is uncertain. What I want to tell you is that new and more severe tests are still ahead. As the enemy has the advantage in the number of aircraft and tanks, the situation on the battlefield will become more and more critical and worrying. You have to be mentally prepared for any test. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander. "

 Chapter 482

    The German army, unwilling to lose, would launch a fierce attack on our defensive positions every day.


    Before crossing the river, the enemy infantry usually bombarded our army''s front positions with more than a dozen planes, and then the enemy artillery began to bombard them. When our commanders and fighters were hit by the enemy''s powerful firepower and were hiding from air raid and shelling in the air raid shelter in the trench, the enemy infantry who took part in the attack boarded the ferry on the other side and drove to us. The enemy''s artillery would not stop shelling until the ferry approached the dock to prevent accidental injury.


    The fierce defensive battle has been going on for a week. Our navy officers and men charge seven or eight times a day to retreat from the enemy. Although the front position has been repeatedly contested for many times, and many areas have been scorched by the enemy''s bombs and shells, our surviving sailors still stick to the position tenaciously.


    Because the village was bombed by enemy planes, it was in ruins. So our headquarters had to move back two kilometers and set up on the back of a small hill. The engineer troops dug four earth holes, one for the division headquarters, one for the communication room, and the remaining two for the temporary housing of the Division staff.


    Although the hill was also bombed and shelled by enemy planes, many bombs and shells fell, the headquarters was still safe because of the good terrain.


    This morning, Saren and panchenko and I were studying in the headquarters which unit to transfer to exchange defense with the sailors in the front line positions. There was another violent explosion outside. Panchenko looked out of the cave, and then said with deep feeling: "Comrade Colonel, they have been very brave these days since we passed on commander trakov''s words to the following commanders and fighters. Although the enemy repeatedly crossed the river to attack our army, the battle was cruel and fierce, but the enemy did not move forward. As you can see, the enemy''s river crossing troops were killed by us alone, at least more than 2000 people. "


    After listening to panchenko''s words, I could not help grinning silently. I said in my heart that this pie painted by trakov is really the right medicine for these Soviet soldiers who are eager for honor. In order to get such a great honor, no one will complain even if the commanders and fighters pay their precious lives for it.


    At this time, the telephone rang on the desk. Sarin picked up the phone and said in a loud voice, "this is colonel sarin. Do you have anything to report?"


    The other side yelled at the top of his voice, "report to the commander, comrade division. I''m lieutenant kruglov, the commander of the Navy company. Under the cover of the planes and artillery, the enemy has begun to attack us again." As the Navy captain was wounded on the first day and sent to Stalingrad, the heavily wounded navy camp was reduced to a company. As the second lieutenant who was promoted not long ago, kruglov, the highest rank in the company, took the post of company commander.


    "Don''t worry, comrade lieutenant." SA Ren said in a smooth tone: "the enemy is attacking every day. What''s to make a fuss about. When the enemy''s planes and artillery bombarded us, we still followed the old rule of leaving a few observation posts, and the rest of us hid in the gun holes. When the enemy''s infantry land, you can enter the position and start fighting back. "


    When I heard what sarin said, I was also a little dissatisfied with kruglov. It seems that the commanding level of a commander like him, who was promoted directly by a soldier just now, is really not good. At the critical moment, before the enemy landed, he was in a mess.


    While thinking wildly, I overheard another sentence after him: "Comrade commander, today''s situation is a bit special. In addition to ferries carrying soldiers across the river, there are also a large number of rubber boats on the river, which are rowing towards the left bank of the river. "


    "What, rubber boat?" After listening to this, Colonel salen was shocked. "No way, comrade lieutenant, you must have read it wrong. You know, on the Don river, which is as wide as two kilometers and the current is very fast, except for ferries, rubber boats can''t paddle over


    "It''s true, sir." Kruglov replied excitedly: "I am absolutely right. The whole river is full of rubber boats. Although the speed is slow, they are approaching us little by little."


    Colonel salen threw the phone on the table and said to panchenko, "Comrade political commissar, the division headquarters will be handed over to you. Comrade oshanina and I will go to the observation post above." Then he waved his head at me and ran out first.


    The new observation post is located under a huge rock on the hill, which has a wide view and is also conducive to hiding. As soon as I entered the observation post, I couldn''t wait to raise my telescope and look towards the Don river. On the wide river, hundreds of rubber boats were rowing towards the left bank. Due to the rapidity of the current, most of the rubber boats have deviated from the position of the wharf and been washed downstream.


    Seeing this scene, I couldn''t help but feel very anxious and said to sa Ren: "Sir, you see, the enemy''s rubber boat was washed downstream by the current. Once they land, they can easily detour back to the flank of our division and attack lieutenant kruglov''s troops in front and behind the troops landing at the dock. "


    Sarin put down his telescope, nodded and said, "you have a good point. It seems that the enemy will surely win our position today. You see, in addition to landing downstream and making a detour from the south to the back of our first line of defense, their troops also blocked the open space between the second position and the first line of defense with intensive artillery fire, so as to prevent us from transferring troops from the second line of defense to reinforce the front. "


    "Comrade teacher, what should we do next?" I asked calmly.


    Sarin bowed his head for a moment and then told me, "call captain Lu Jin of the 678th regiment and ask him to send a battalion to move south quietly to stop the enemy landing downstream. Commander gogoly of the 804th regiment was ordered to withdraw his troops to the hill where the division headquarters was located to build a new position. "


    "Take Colonel gogoly''s regiment down to the hills to build a position?" I''m afraid I''ve heard it wrong, so I asked¡° What about the positions vacated by the 804 regiment? "


    "Let the troops of 678th regiment withdraw and enter the position of 804th regiment. At the same time, the 783rd regiment was ordered to strengthen vigilance to prevent the enemy crossing the Koska River from rushing in from the north. "


    Although I didn''t understand a series of orders issued by him, I carried them out to the letter. I called the three commanders and conveyed the orders of sarin to them one by one.


    After I gave all the orders, sarin suddenly asked, "commander o''shanina, do you know why I gave such an order?"


    I really don''t understand his orders. Isn''t it to let the enemy land smoothly and set up beachhead positions by the river? If the enemy has a firm foothold, we are not sure to hold the area. Hearing this, I just looked at him blankly, shook my head and said, "Sir, I don''t understand your purpose. I know that as soon as the enemy gets on the left bank and establishes a solid beachhead, more infantry and tanks will be transported from the other side of the river. After they are assembled, we can''t stop them with our existing equipment. "


    While speaking, the enemy''s canoe troops had already approached the middle of the river. Suddenly, I had an idea, thought of a countermeasure, and said to sarin: "Comrade division, I have a way to deal heavy damage to the German troops who are crossing the river."


    After hearing this, sarin looked at me with great interest and asked curiously, "what can I do? Tell me."


    I pointed to the canoes in the river and explained to him, "the enemy''s rubber boats are slow to move. We can order the artillery company to fire and use mortars to kill the German troops crossing the river."


    Looking at the dense canoes on the river, sarin hesitated and said: "the enemy''s formation is very dense. I also believe that mortars can kill them a lot. But once the artillery is fired, the location of our artillery company will be exposed, which is bound to attract the bombing of enemy planes and the bombardment of long-range heavy artillery. If the artillery company runs out, it will be difficult for us to fight in the future. "


    It is undeniable that sarin''s worries are also reasonable. Without artillery, we would suffer a little in the next battle. But I don''t feel comfortable when I look at those rubber boats that are moving slowly and like targets. After careful consideration, I think Saren suggested, "Comrade teacher, how about this. The artillery company was ordered to fire. After each gun fired five rounds, the position was immediately transferred. Even if the enemy finds our artillery company, they can''t find their exact location. "


    After listening to my suggestion, saran nodded with satisfaction and said frankly, "well, since you say so, do as you say. Remember, Lieutenant rozhkov must be told to move immediately after his artillery company has fired five rounds. The artillery company is the treasure of our division. We can''t afford to lose it. "


    Less than five minutes after my order, the artillery company opened fire.


    The mortar shell roared into the enemy''s rubber boat line. Soon one after another high water column rose from the enemy''s rubber boat line, some of the boats full of soldiers hit by the shells, human body and rubber boat fragments mixed together and blasted into the sky. Fortunately, the soldiers who were not bombed were so scared that they had to stick close to the rubber boat and paddle desperately, hoping to reach the shore as soon as possible to avoid the artillery attack of our army.


    Looking at the smashed rubber boats one by one and the bodies floating on the river, saran exclaimed excitedly: "great, our artillery soldiers are really great! Comrade o''shanina, you see, after only a few rounds of fighting, at least a quarter of the enemy''s rubber boats were killed. "


    Compared with sarin''s ecstasy, I still keep a clear mind. Even if the enemy''s rubber boats are half destroyed by our artillery fire, the remaining soldiers are still a force that can not be ignored after landing.


    As soon as the enemy''s shelling stopped, the enemies on the rubber boats and ferries came ashore one after another and charged against the position of the kruglov company.


    When the enemy was 50 or 60 meters away from the water position, there was still no movement on the position. Seeing the big crater with small crater and the blackened position, my heart was pulled up and I thought: what''s the matter? Why didn''t they fight back, kruglov? Did they all die under the double attack of the enemy''s bombing and shelling?


    The German soldiers in helmets, bent over with guns, had slowed down and approached the trench carefully. At this moment, two machine guns roared on the front of the position and knocked down more than a dozen German soldiers. Then dozens of grenades flew out of the trench and landed in the enemy''s line and exploded. In the sound of explosions, the enemy who suffered heavy casualties was scared to flee. Dozens of sailors stood up in the trench, shooting at the enemy with their submachine guns and rifles. The enemy fled in confusion, fled back to the place where they had just started, and bent on the river to fight back to the sailors.


    Although the enemy''s attack was beaten back by us, I can see that the casualties of the Navy company were not small. As long as the enemy launches another attack, they will be almost wiped out.


    At this time, Lu Jin called the observation post and reported to me, "Comrade commander, the South guard force has been sent. It''s captain Slaven''s Fourth Battalion. The main force of the regiment also followed your order and all retreated into the position of the original 804 regiment. "


    I silently put down the phone and looked at the position of the water company hanging alone by the river. I felt very sad. I watched helplessly that these dozens of water soldiers were already in the situation of no reinforcements. Once they ran out of ammunition, all that was waiting for them was the fate of the whole army.


    Maybe the German army was scared by us. After retreating to the river, they fired a few shots at random and then stopped shooting. Although they had no sign of continuing to attack, there was no sign of their retreat. Hundreds of soldiers were lying on the river, as if waiting for something.


    My worries soon became reality, and several barges with tanks appeared in my view. I immediately understood that the Germans were waiting for their tanks to cross the river instead of retreating. For our army which lacks anti tank weapons, a certain number of tanks is enough to defeat us.


    Thinking of this, I once again proposed to Saren: "Comrade division commander, I suggest that the Navy company be withdrawn from the front position immediately."


    "Why?" Sarin put down his telescope, looked at me and asked.


    "At present, there are heavy casualties in the Navy company. There are only a few dozen people left in the company. In addition, their positions are dilapidated, and they can''t stop the attack of infantry covered by tanks. If they retreat into the second line of defense, they can rely on relatively complete fortifications to block the enemy''s attack and buy time for the division''s main force to build new fortifications. "


    Saren thought about it, then nodded and said decisively, "OK, do as you say. The communication trench between the second and third lines of defense has not been damaged. If the company can not stop it, Captain Lukin can be ordered to send troops to reinforce it. "


    With sarin''s permission, I called kruglov. As soon as I got on the phone, I couldn''t wait to say, "Comrade lieutenant, I''m lieutenant o''shanina. I order you to immediately lead the rest of the soldiers to withdraw from the position, to the second line of defense, and to organize a new defense there. "


    Kruglov listened to me and was silent. Hearing his voice, I was a little worried and cried out: "Hello, comrade lieutenant, can you hear me? Why don''t you talk? "


    He slowly replied: "Comrade commander, we have sacrificed hundreds of brothers here, and their flesh and blood have been integrated into the land under my feet. But you gave me such an order at this time. No, I can''t retreat, and my conscience won''t allow me to


    Listening to what they said, I immediately became infamous and roared at him angrily: "Comrade lieutenant, the commander''s orders are not allowed to be discounted. I order you to lead the rest of the soldiers down immediately. Immediately, immediately. " After roaring, I angrily put down the microphone.


    Fortunately, kruglov didn''t have the courage to disobey my orders. A few minutes later, he withdrew from the trench with dozens of soldiers, using the craters everywhere to cover the retreat to the second line of defense.


    Without waiting for them to retreat into the second line of defense, the barge carrying tanks had already landed on the dock, and several medium-sized tanks slowly drove ashore from the barge. Fortunately, these tanks did not immediately cover the infantry charge, but assembled on the shore.


    As time went on, the enemy landed more and more infantry and tanks. In terms of numbers, the number of infantry has reached two battalions, and the number of tanks has increased to 28.


    Although the enemy is still transporting soldiers and tanks to the left bank, three tanks have already stormed towards our second line of defense, followed by about a company of infantry.


    As the enemy''s tanks got closer, several sailors crawled out of the trench. They crawled forward and hid in several craters in front of the position. Judging from their actions, I immediately understood that they wanted to destroy the enemy''s tanks with flasks or anti tank grenades when the enemy''s tanks approached.


    The front tank passed by the latent soldiers. A soldier quickly stood up and smashed a burning bottle on the body of the tank. The tank was immediately surrounded by fire. After driving for a certain distance, it tilted to a crater and stopped. Then the top cover of the turret was opened, and several men in black tank uniform were drilled out. As soon as they jumped out of the tank, they were knocked down by the machine gun on the position.


    Seeing the second tank approaching, a sailor could not wait to jump out of the crater and rush up with an anti tank grenade. Before he lifted the grenade, the German infantry behind the tank opened fire with their weapons. The dense bullets beat the soil around him like a pot. The water soldier''s body shook and fell into the crater on his back.


    The tank rolled over from the crater, and suddenly there was a dull sound. Then a large cloud of smoke rose from the body, and the tank stopped on the crater. Although I didn''t see what happened just now, I guess it must be that before the sacrifice of the sailors, they played the strings of the grenade and died with the enemy''s tanks.


    The sight of two tanks in a row greatly inspired the sailors. The rest of the sailors jumped out of the tank and threw grenades and flasks at the remaining tank and the enemy infantry. After a few dull explosions, the rest of the tank was disbursed. After dozens of soldiers were killed and wounded, the infantry retreated. The sailors'' tenacious fighting angered the enemy. After they got a new supplement, they launched another attack. By this time, there were as many as thirty German tanks. They were driving in front, followed by thousands of infantry, swarming towards the position of the sailors. There was a faint roar of aircraft motors in the air. I raised my telescope and found that a large number of fighters were coming from the West. It was obvious that they were enemy planes. Needless to say, they are here to bomb our army. I think that the number of sailors in the company is very small. If it is bombed again by the plane, it will almost be completely destroyed. So after consulting Colonel sarren, I ordered kruglov to immediately lead the company to retreat to the third line of defense through the traffic trench. Seeing that the enemy was powerful, kruglov, after receiving my order, did not dare to neglect him. He quickly led his men to the third line of defense along the traffic ditch to join with Lukin''s troops. Not long after they left, German tanks and infantry arrived at our second line of defense. After the enemy''s tanks crossed the trench, they stopped and waited for the infantry to clear their positions. The enemy planes have reached the sky above the battlefield. I roughly counted that there are at least 30. If we take turns to drop bombs, it is estimated that the position of the second line of defense will soon be razed to the ground. At this moment, the enemy''s planes scattered in the air, changed their formation, and then dived down one by one, throwing bombs and strafing at the German troops who occupied our positions. This sudden change not only shocked me and Colonel sarren, but also the German soldiers in the position. So that when the first wave of bombs fell, they had not made any response, they were blown up. After the enemy planes were pulled up, they did not leave. Obviously, they took the troops on the ground as our troops, then dived down, continued to bomb and strafe, and bombed their own infantry and tanks. At this time, the German infantry on the ground recovered, they fired dozens of white flares into the sky, which means: "our own people, our own people." However, the enemy planes were not good at giving up. They continued to bomb for half an hour until there were no bombs. After seeing that the enemy plane, which had dropped all the bombs and machine gun bullets, climbed up again, formed a new formation in the air and flew away. Colonel sarren, who had been watching with me all the time, finally burst out laughing and scolded: "damn German, you also have today. You''ve got a taste of being bombed. " After laughing, he waved his hand to me and gave an order decisively: "Comrade o''shanina, call captain Lukin and lieutenant colonel gogoly immediately, let them attack all the way, and drive the enemy to the Don river for me."

 Chapter 483

    The loud bugle sounded, and the commanders and fighters of the two regiments jumped out of the position, shouting passionate slogans and pounced on the enemy with heavy casualties and chaos.


    After the German aircraft''s heavy bombardment, the original steel giants, now turned into a pile of scrap iron, burning in the broad battlefield. The end of the infantry of the two battalions was even more miserable. When the plane bombed, except for the troops of more than one company who entered the trench, the rest were exposed in the open land. When the German plane bomb fell from the sky, many people had not recovered. As soon as the bomb that could not distinguish between the enemy and ourselves exploded, the German soldiers near the explosion point were all bloody and crying. As soon as his plane flew away, before the German soldiers with heavy casualties began to treat his wounded, they saw the mighty Soviet commanders and fighters rushing towards them. The German soldiers who survived were scared out of their wits and gave a shout. Suddenly, people who could still move climbed out of the trenches or craters and rushed to the river.


    Just now, when I gave orders to the two infantry regiments, I also made a call to lieutenant rozhkov of the artillery company, ordering him to measure the distance, block the enemy''s retreat with artillery fire, and cooperate with the counterattack forces to eliminate the enemy as many as possible.


    Without waiting for our infantry to rush up, the mortar shells of the artillery company had accurately landed in the middle of the enemy''s line. In the open area full of craters, black smoke suddenly rose, which made the enemy turn upside down. After our infantry rushed up, they used their machine guns, submachine guns and rifles to sweep at the enemy, just like hunters hunting a group of rushing prey.


    I calmly watched the commanders and fighters who rushed to the enemy like tigers down the mountain, and did not issue any more orders to stop the pursuit and return to the position, so as to prevent them from being killed by the enemy''s long-range artillery fire, because the German tanks used to suppress us on the other side had been blasted into a pile of scrap iron by their own planes shortly after crossing the river.


    Under the attack of our infantry firepower and artillery fire, these enemies who lost the cover of planes, tanks and artillery should not cry and cry. Except for a few who jumped into the river to escape, the rest were wiped out on the wide plain on the left bank of the Don river by highly motivated commanders and fighters.


    "Yes, yes, yes, that''s the way to fight this battle!" Seeing our army''s one-sided victory, Colonel sarin could not help shouting excitedly.


    However, the enemy''s reaction was not slow. When our soldiers collected weapons and ammunition from the enemy''s corpse, and just returned, he raised his right hand and shook it with me, then immediately released it. He was a little embarrassed and explained to me, "Comrade commander, you know, I''m the driver of Comrade commander. Sometimes I accompany him to some dangerous places to take part in one or two battles, That''s how I got my rank. "


    Just as he was talking, the driver''s face suddenly changed. He looked out of the window and said, "Damn, there are enemy planes in the sky. Comrade commander, you have a firm seat. I want to get rid of this damned enemy plane as soon as possible. " With that, as soon as he stepped on the gas, the jeep speeded up.


    Our jeep, which was driving at high speed on the uneven road, was soon found by the enemy plane. The enemy plane began to dive and drop bombs on us. From time to time, the bombs exploded on both sides and behind the car. The mud of the flying shrapnel clattered on the car body, making the tarpaulin clatter.


    When the enemy plane dropped the bomb and failed to do anything about us, it circled over us a few times before it reluctantly flew away. Seeing the enemy plane disappear from our view, the driver and I were both relieved.


    After five or six hours on the road, we finally made it to Stalingrad. Compared with the last time, there are more fortifications, more patrols, more checkpoints and stricter inspections in the city. However, there are still as many pedestrians on the street as before, which gives me the feeling that although the war is coming, the relevant departments have not done the work of evacuating residents at all.


    The driver pulled me to the building where the headquarters was, and then said to me, "here we are, comrade commander."


    I leaned over and took the submachine gun from the back seat, reached out to shake him, and politely said, "thank you, chief. Thank you for bringing me here." Then he opened the door, got out of the car, waved to him and walked to the building.


    When entering the door, a second lieutenant on duty came up, stopped me, saluted me and politely asked, "Hello, comrade commander, what can I do for you?"


    I hastily returned a salute and replied, "Comrade lieutenant, I have been ordered to report to the headquarters of the front army."


    "Do you have a military card and a business card?"


    I took out my military card from my pocket and handed it to him. At the same time, I explained, "I came here immediately after receiving the telegram from the headquarters of the group army. I didn''t have time to apply for a business trip card."


    The second lieutenant opened the soldier''s card, looked at me against it, waved his head and said, "Comrade commander, please follow me. I''ll call my superiors to confirm. " I didn''t object to his proposal. I just nodded and followed him to the building.


    The second lieutenant led me into the building and into a duty room on the left. He picked up the phone on the desk, shook the handle and said in a calm voice, "Hello, I''m the second lieutenant on duty at the door. Please connect me with general glikov, deputy commander of the front army." Because I was far away, I didn''t know what the general glikov who answered the phone said. Anyway, the second lieutenant replied, "yes, yes, I understand, Comrade General."


    When I put down the phone, the second lieutenant came up to me, handed me the military card and said politely, "Comrade commander, I have confirmed that commander gordov himself ordered you to come back. His office is at the end of the corridor on the second floor, where you can see him. "


    I took the military ID card, said thanks to the second lieutenant, and planned to turn and leave. Unexpectedly, he was stopped by the Second Lieutenant: "Comrade commander, please wait a moment."


    I looked back at the second lieutenant in doubt and asked, "Comrade second lieutenant, what else can I do for you?"


    The second lieutenant pointed to the submachine gun I was carrying and said, "according to the regulations, you have to hand over your weapons first." I knew it was a rule, not that the second lieutenant wanted to make trouble for me, so I handed over my submachine gun.


    "And your pistol." Added the second lieutenant.


    Without saying a word, I opened the holster, drew the pistol and handed it to the second lieutenant.


    The second lieutenant put his pistol and submachine gun in a cabinet on his desk, took out a notebook from his briefcase, looked through it, scrawled two lines on it with a pencil, then tore it off and handed it to me, saying, "Comrade commander, please keep the receipt. When you come out, come here and get your weapon back."


    I went up the stairs to the second floor and down the corridor. Along the way, I met several commanders in a hurry. They looked up at me and saw that my rank was higher than theirs. They didn''t stop. As they walked forward, they raised their hands to salute me.


    Seeing this scene, I can''t help feeling that the headquarters of the front army is really no better than the headquarters of the group army. Here, I am a stranger, and no one knows me at all.


    Outside the office at the end of the corridor, at a square table, sat a baby faced lieutenant. Seeing me walking towards him, the lieutenant stood up and asked coldly, "what can I do for you? Comrade commander. "


    I went up to him, stopped, and said with a smile, "Hello, comrade lieutenant. I have been ordered to report to the commander. May I see him now? "


    The lieutenant looked at me and said, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. I didn''t receive any notice that someone would report to him. So if you want to see the commander, you must make an appointment according to the regulations. Please leave your name, rank and position, and what''s important to see the commander. Then when the commander has time, he will arrange to meet you. "


    The tone of the Lieutenant''s speech was entirely business like.


    Knowing that it was useless to argue with the officer on duty, I shrugged my shoulders and wrote down my name, rank and the reason to see the commander on the register he handed me. After filling in all this, I returned the registration book to the lieutenant and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, where should I go to wait for news? You know, I just arrived in Stalingrad a few minutes ago, and there was no place to live


    Although the lieutenant was old-fashioned, he was still warm-hearted. He picked up the phone, dialed a number and said to the microphone, "Hello, it''s me. There is a female commander who wants to see the commander, but she has no appointment. Now she has to find a place to wait for the commander''s interview. Can we arrange it with you? "


    After getting permission from the other party, the lieutenant put down the phone and said to me with a smile, "Comrade commander, go to the first floor, go down the stairs and turn left. The second room is the rest room, where you can wait for the reception of the commander."


    After thanking the lieutenant, I turned to leave. I didn''t expect to see a short, Round faced, shaved general just walking a short way. I quickly let him to the side to make way for him, at the same time straighten up to salute him.


    The general raised his hand to return a gift and walked past me in no hurry. All of a sudden, he stepped back, stopped in front of me, looked me up and down, and asked, "who are you? Comrade commander. "


    When I heard the general ask me this question, I glanced at him again. After confirming that it was not the general gordov I was looking for, I respectfully replied, "report to general Comrade, commander oshanina. I have come to the front army headquarters to report to commander gordov on the order of commander trakov."


    At this time, the lieutenant on duty came up, saluted the general and said, "Hello, comrade deputy commander of the group army, the commander has been waiting for you for a long time. He ordered me to go in as soon as I see you without informing me. "


    After listening to the introduction of the lieutenant, I realized that the general in front of me was general glikov, deputy commander of the front army. So he raised his hand again and said, "Hello, general glikov."


    Glikov gave me a forced smile. His smile was arrogant. He took the initiative to extend his hand. He shook it with me and immediately separated. He said, "nice to meet you, comrade commander." Then he waved his head to the lieutenant and said, "come on, comrade lieutenant, take me to the commander himself."


    Seeing the lieutenant push open the door, respectfully invite glikov in at the door, and carefully pull the door, I turned around and went on, intending to wait for gordov in the downstairs lounge.


    I didn''t expect that as soon as I got to the top of the stairs, the lieutenant on duty came up from behind and stopped me at the same time¡° Commander o''shanina, please stay. Comrade commander has orders. Please go to his office immediately


    I went into gordonev''s office and saw the gray haired general again. When I saluted him, he told me to sit down, looked at me with a smile and asked, "I said, commander o''shanina, didn''t I transfer you to general korpakchi''s 62nd army? How could you be in the 229th division of the 64th army? " General glikov, sitting on one side, heard the commander''s question. He raised his eyebrows and looked at me with interest, waiting for me to answer the commander''s question. Knowing that I was able to enter commander gordov''s office so smoothly, general glikov played a very important role, so he gave him a polite smile before answering, "report to commander, the day I returned to the 62nd army, I was just in time for general lopagin to take over the post of general korpakchi." At this point, I pause to see if gordov has anything to add. Sure enough, gordoff finished, nodded and said, "yes, I ordered lopagin to be commander of the 62nd army. Go on¡° After general lopagin took over the post of commander, the first order he gave was to blow up the floating bridge on the Koska River, so as to prevent the troops from withdrawing without permission. After the meeting, I was sent to the same encircled 229th division by Comrade gurov, military commissar of the group army. In this way, less than an hour after I returned to the 62nd group army, I was sent to the 64th group army again. "

 Chapter 484

    Gordoff went around the table and sat down in the comfortable armchair behind the desk. Then he leaned back, leaned on the back of the chair, raised his hand and pressed it down. He said with a pleasant face, "Comrade oshanina, stop standing and sit down."


    Seeing gordolf speak to me in such a friendly manner, I feel like I''m dreaming. You know, last time trekov and I walked into his office and saw him scold trekov. At the moment, he is not so much a commander of the front army as a kind old man. Since he asked me to sit down again, I''m not polite. I walked in front of the long wooden chair opposite him, turned and sat down, legs together, hands on my knees, straight body, maintain a serious posture.


    Gordov looked at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, please go on. According to the report given to me by general trakov, the 229th division gave heavy damage to the enemy when it broke through. What''s the matter? Comrade deputy commander and I are eager to know what happened. Can you tell us? "


    Since gordolf gave me a chance to sing praises for myself, I would not waste it foolishly. So I said with a smile, "Comrade commander, this is the situation. After repelling the enemy''s attack during the day, we quietly began to break through that night. When our troops moved to the defensive position only one or two kilometers away from the river, they were found by the enemy''s scouts. They called for artillery support and bombarded our necessary passage with artillery, forming a death line. "


    Originally, he was sitting on the other side of the table, leaning back on the back of his chair, half closed his eyes, and casually asked deputy commander glikov, when he heard that we were intercepted by gunfire, he suddenly opened his eyes, leaned forward slightly, and curiously asked, "the enemy has set up a death line on your way with gunfire. How did you get through? Did you break up the troops into parts, disperse them and rush through? " At this point, he shook his head vigorously and immediately denied what he had just said, "if the artillery fire is fierce, even if it is scattered, the casualties of the troops will not be small."


    "Comrade deputy commander," I looked at him and said politely, "as soon as I saw the death line formed by the enemy''s artillery fire, the division commander, Colonel sarin, tentatively sent out a platoon of soldiers to try to see if they could pass smoothly." At this point, I stopped for a moment, sighed, and continued with regret, "as a result, these soldiers were all sacrificed under the enemy''s artillery fire before they reached half the distance."


    "How did you get through the blockade later?" Compared with the steady general gordov, the deputy commander glikov was obviously a little impatient.


    "When Colonel sarin saw that all the soldiers who tried to attack had died, he immediately turned red. At that time, he wanted to transfer the command of the army to me, and then he rushed forward with the soldiers himself. I stopped him in time. "


    "What happens when you stop?" This time it was general gordov.


    "Comrade commander," I quickly replied, "after stopping the colonel, I told him that according to my observation, the enemy''s artillery position should not be far away from where we are. As long as a small unit is sent to take off the enemy''s artillery position, then the death blockade line in front of us will not exist."


    "If I guess correctly, the commander of this small unit must be you, comrade oshanina." Asked deputy commander glikov kindly.


    I nodded at him and replied with a smile, "Comrade deputy commander, your guess is absolutely correct. I led the soldiers of the water barracks to sneak into the vicinity of the enemy''s artillery position. Unexpectedly, I found that the enemy''s artillery was not covered by infantry. So I launched a surprise attack, annihilated the enemy''s artillery and captured all the artillery. At that time, the commander of the naval battalion suggested that I should immediately lead my troops to transfer after blowing up all the enemy''s artillery, go to the river and join the main force of the division, and then cross to the left bank of the Don river. "


    "Did the guns blow up?" Glikov asked slowly.


    "Certainly, comrade deputy commander." I laughed. "But before the bombing, I found a lot of shells in the enemy''s position. I said in my heart, since there are so many shells left, don''t waste them and give them back to the Germans. He ordered the battalion commander to transfer the soldiers who had been artillery from the water camp, turned the muzzle, and shelled several enemy camps according to the marks on the captured map. Although it is impossible to count the results, according to my estimation, at least one tank camp and two infantry camps of the enemy were destroyed by artillery fire after the artillery attack. "


    "Well done, commander o''shanina." Gordov sat up straight, folded his arms on the table, and said to me with a serious face: "there is no denying that your shelling effect is very obvious. According to general lopagin''s report to me, the enemy''s attack in the daytime was not covered by tanks at all except for the short-term artillery preparation. Our troops easily defeated the enemy''s charge. "


    With that, he stood up with his hands on the table and said to me solemnly, "commander oshanina, do you know why you were suddenly recalled from the front to the headquarters of the front army?"


    Seeing that the commanders all stood up, I couldn''t continue to sit. I quickly stood up, shrugged my shoulders and replied, "Comrade commander, I don''t know very well. It seems that I was asked to go back to the headquarters of the front army to report to you."


    Gordov chuckled twice and said, "although you are sent to our front army by Comrade Zhukov, you have no specific position in the army. What position can you describe?"


    "Then why did you call me back to the headquarters of the front army?"


    "I received a call from the Supreme Commander himself this morning, in which he mentioned you. It is said that long before the enemy pounced on the Don River Valley, you pointed out that the enemy''s attack target was Stalingrad, where we are. " At this point, he turned to glikov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, from the current situation, the enemy wants to capture our Stalingrad. However, our hundreds of thousands of troops deployed between the Don and Volga rivers are not vegetarian. Even if they sacrifice their own lives, they will not let the enemy move forward. They will certainly smash the enemy''s attempt completely. "


    When I heard gordov mention Stalin, an idea flashed through my mind subconsciously. Did you recall me to Stalingrad, that is, let me abide by Stalin''s early orders and stick to the mamayev post? It''s a pity that the second lieutenant training team promised by general meletskov has not been given to me. Otherwise, with these junior commanders who are experienced in many battles and have rich combat experience, plus the troops that have been supplemented to me, I can train an elite division.


    I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn''t hear gordoff yelling at me. It was not until he coughed heavily that I woke up. I straightened up and looked at him nervously and said, "Comrade commander of the front army, Lieutenant Colonel o''shanina is waiting for your instructions."


    Gordov restrained his smile and said to me, "according to Comrade Stalin''s order, let me transfer a division from the reserve team of the front army to your command. Your task is to lead this army to guard the mamayev post. Of course, the symbolic significance of your presence there is far greater than the practical significance. According to my analysis, it is impossible for the enemy to break through the defense line composed of hundreds of thousands of troops and approach Stalingrad. In this case, mamayev post is a relatively safe place. "


    After listening to gordolf''s words, my good impression on him has suddenly dropped to negative. I''ve never seen such a conceited commander before. He is still blindly optimistic that the enemy will never get to Stalingrad. I doubt very much that his commander of the front army is only a flatterer.


    I looked at the gray haired commander in front of me and asked calmly, "Comrade commander, may I ask what position I will take?"


    Gordov replied, "after consulting with the deputy commander General glikov, I decided to let you be the commander of the 35th division of the guards. The division is now coming to Stalingrad from Siberia by train. If it goes well, the troops will be assembled in a week. "


    Jin Wei Shi, actually let me be the teacher of Jin Wei Shi. I can''t believe it''s true. You know, although they are the same division, both the equipment and combat effectiveness of the close guard division are far better than the ordinary division. I secretly pinched my leg, and the pain made me understand that it was all true. I


    Looking at gordov, I asked calmly, "Comrade commander, do you have any information about the division? I want to know my troops first. "


    Goredov waved his hand and said, "although I have no information, I can tell you something about the division. At present, because there is no formal division commander, the division is temporarily under the command of the deputy division commander, Colonel dubiyanski. The political commissar is the regimental political commissar, lixiqijin. They are both old commanders with more than 20 years of Party and military experience. When you get to the division, you should make good relations with them, so that you can command the troops well. "


    I hastily promised: "yes, comrade commander, I will live up to your expectations."


    Just as I was thinking about whether I should say goodbye to him, the door was pushed open without warning, and general nikishev, chief of staff of the front army, burst in with a telegraph. He went to the table and, without paying homage to gordov and glikov, handed the telegram to gordov. At the same time, he said in a low voice, "Comrade commander of the front army, something is wrong."


    Gordov took the newspaper, picked up the reading glasses on the desk, put them on, and looked down at the contents of the paper. After a quick scan of his eyes on the paper, he slapped the telegraph paper heavily on the table and said angrily, "fool, what a super fool. Thanks to him being a general for so many years, do you know how to command the troops! Only a few days after he took office, fifty or sixty thousand troops were destroyed by him. " After roaring, he walked back and forth in the room with his hands on his back.


    I heard glikov ask nikishev in a low voice, "Comrade chief of staff, what''s the matter?"


    Nikishev looked at me. Although he knew me, he said in a low voice: "Comrade deputy commander, just received the telegram, the coaska River defense line of the 62nd group army was occupied by the enemy, and several divisions of the defensive position were all destroyed. Because the floating bridge built by Comrade kolpakchi on the river was destroyed by general lopagin, the troops could not break through the river. According to intelligence, in addition to the successful breakthrough of less than 1000 people, the remaining tens of thousands of troops were either killed or captured. "


    "Where is lopagin now?" Glikov asked.


    Nikishev shook his head and said, "it''s not clear. Some people say that he died. Others say that before the enemy broke through our defense line, under the cover of several guards, he crossed the Koska river with simple crossing tools and retreated eastward."


    Gordov returned to his desk and sat down. His face was solemn and his eyes swept over the three of us. He just showed the dignity that a commander of the front army should have. Suddenly, he patted the desk and announced in a loud voice: "I decided to remove general lopagin as commander of the 62nd Army immediately, Let general trakov, deputy commander of the 64th army, take his place immediately Does general glikov have anything to add? "


    Glikov shook his head and said he had nothing to add.


    Gordov nodded and ordered nikishev to say, "Comrade chief of staff, call the 64th army headquarters immediately and ask them to inform trikov and go to the 62nd army headquarters immediately to take over the command of lopagin."


    Nikishev agreed. Just as he wanted to turn around and leave, he was stopped by gordov. He pointed to the phone on the desk and said to the chief of staff, "don''t leave. Just call general shumilov on my phone and ask him to quickly convey my orders to trikov."


    Nikishev picked up the phone, dialed a number and said, "I''m general nikishev, chief of staff of the front army. Please connect me with general shumilov, commander of the 64th army." The phone call to the 64th army soon got through, and he said, "is that general sumilov? I''m nikishev, chief of staff. I now give you the latest command of the commander: let general trakov go to the 62nd army immediately and take over the command of the army from general lopagin. "


    General shumilov''s deep voice came from the microphone: "Comrade chief of staff, I regret to report to you. Trakov is missing and has lost contact with our army headquarters. "


    "What, is trekov missing?" Gordov also heard shumilov''s words, snatched the microphone from the chief of staff''s hand, and asked aloud, "what do you say, trakov is missing?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Hearing the voice of his immediate superior, shumilov honestly replied, "after we lost contact with trakov, some troops found that his vehicle was destroyed on the grassland, with charred bodies on it. Because the commanders and fighters don''t know trakov, I''ve sent the staff who are familiar with him to identify the body. "


    Upon hearing the news that trakov might have died, gordolf growled: "general shumilov, I believe that with trakov''s wit, it''s not so easy to die. Your people must have made a mistake. I now order you to immediately send someone to the grassland to look for trikov, live to see people, die to see the body.


    After putting down the phone, gordov sat down in his chair with a face of dismay. He had no energy any more. He didn''t move a point for a long time. After a while, he regained a little spirit, shook his head and said, "general glikov, what do you think of this matter? You know, if trakov dies, we can''t find a suitable person to take over the command of the 62nd army for the time being."


    Seeing glikov''s silence, I quickly cut in and said, "Comrade commander, please allow me to say something."


    Gordov looked up at me and said, "what do you want to say?"


    "Comrade commander, I don''t think general trakov made any sacrifice. Maybe he lost contact with us temporarily because of communication equipment failure. I believe he will be able to contact us soon through communication tools of other troops."


    "Are you sure?" Asked gordov suspiciously.


    I answered with great certainty: "the last time general trakov and I left the headquarters of the front army, we encountered the situation of communication equipment failure and loss of contact with the army. I think it''s a similar situation this time. I can guarantee that general trakov will return to the army safely. " I''m kidding. If trakov had died at this time, the battle of Stalingrad would have been a different ending.


    Gordov pulled out two cigarettes from his cigarette box, threw one to glikov and held the other in his mouth. He sat behind his desk, smoking and meditating without saying a word. He did not speak, nor did general glikov. He just smoked. Seeing that the two commanders did not speak, I was even more afraid to express any opinions and could only keep silent.


    Seeing that a cigarette was finished, gordolf pressed the cigarette end out in the ashtray. As if he had made great determination, he waved his hand and said, "well, since lieutenant commander o''shanina said so confidently, I believe that trakov has lost contact with us. I will urge general sumilov to increase the scope of his search, Find trakov''s whereabouts as soon as possible... General glikov, anything else to add? "


    Glikov shook his head again, saying he had nothing to add.


    Gordov then turned his eyes to me again. After taking a look at me, he said to nikishev: "Comrade chief of staff, I have officially appointed lieutenant colonel oshanina as the commander of the 35th division of the guards. Take her downstairs to find a room to serve as a temporary division headquarters


    Nikishev looked at me and said with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, do you need to equip commander oshanina with staff at all levels of the division headquarters? You know, the officers and men of the 35th division are still on their way to Stalingrad. " Gordolf waved his hand and said, "no equipment. She''s just here for a few days. When the vanguard of the 35th division arrives, she will be able to take office directly. "

 Chapter 485

    After saluting the two commanders, I went out with nikishev. I know that I can''t pass side by side with the chief of staff of the front army, so I deliberately fall behind and follow him.


    Before I got to the stairs, three commanders came up face to face. Before I could see the rank of the people who came, nikishev flashed aside and raised his hand against the wall to salute each other. When I saw nikishev, people always saluted him. I immediately realized that he was a person of higher rank than him. He also leaned against the wall, straightened up and raised his hand to salute.


    The remaining light of my eyes moved with the three people. In a few seconds, I found that there were three generals. No wonder nikishev had to step aside to salute. The three men came to us and stopped. The round faced and burly lieutenant general in front of us didn''t even give a gift. He asked nikishev impolitely, "chief of staff, is the commander in his office?"


    "Yes, comrade commissioner. The commander and the deputy commander are in the office. You can see them when you go in. " In Stalingrad''s front army, nikishev, as the chief of staff, is also a high-ranking man. But I feel that he seems to have an inexplicable fear of the general, and his voice is a bit out of tune.


    The general nodded. Without even looking at me, he turned to the two generals behind him, waved his head and said, "comrades, let''s go. General gordoff is waiting for us in his office."


    As the fat general walked steadily towards gordov''s office, nikishev took a long breath and said to me in a low voice, "commander oshanina, let''s go."


    I quickly followed nikishev, ready to go up the stairs. Suddenly I heard a familiar voice behind me calling, "Hello, please wait a moment." I looked at the empty corridor ahead and knew it was us, so I stopped, turned around and looked curiously at the three generals opposite.


    A shorter general took a step forward and asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, are you o''shanina?"


    Hear the other side call out my name, I can''t help a Leng, the heart says this is who ah, how does he know me?


    With my confirmation, the general stepped in front of me, raised his hand, saluted me and said excitedly, "Hello, comrade division. Nice to see you again. Are you all right? "


    Sir, when I heard this address, my first reaction was that the commander of the 35th division of the guards had arrived? Otherwise, how can you call me teacher. So I took a look at his rank and found that he was a major general. I asked politely, "Comrade General, are you the commander of the 35th division of Jinwei?"


    When I asked this question, the general was stunned. He was a little confused and said, "the 35th division of guards?! Whose army is that? I don''t think I''ve ever heard of it. "


    This time it was my turn to be confused. I asked in a misty way, "Comrade General, didn''t you call me division commander just now? I''m the new commander of the 35th division. I thought you were my colleague. I''m sorry. I made a mistake. "


    The general stepped back, took off his hat, spread out his hands, and said helplessly: "Mr. division, you really don''t know me?" Seeing me shaking his head repeatedly, his face became a little embarrassed. He coughed and said, "think about it carefully. In the battle of Moscow, your plan to attack Taiyangshan city was made in my regiment. I am the head of 1073 regiment... "


    "Chisgakov!" When he mentioned the 1073 regiment, I suddenly remembered who he was. I rushed over, grabbed his arms, shook them vigorously, and exclaimed excitedly, "it''s you, Colonel chisjakov, the leader of the 1073 regiment."


    Chisgakov grinned and said, "it''s me, sir."


    "General chisgakov, who is this female commander?" The burly general came and asked chisgakov sternly.


    I quickly released chisjakov''s arm and stepped back. Chisgakov pointed to me and introduced to the lieutenant general, saying, "Comrade General, please allow me to introduce you. This female commander is oshanina, the first division commander of the eighth division of the guards. She was promoted to major general by Comrade Stalin because of her outstanding military achievements. " Then he pointed to the lieutenant general and introduced himself to me: "Comrade division commander, this is lieutenant general Yeliao Menko. He is now the acting commander of the first group army of the guards. "


    Although I don''t know general yelomienko, I also know that since he can make general nikishev feel scared, he must be a powerful role. I quickly raised my hand to salute him and say hello to him: "Hello, general yelomienko."


    Yeliao nodded and said politely, "Hello, comrade commander. I''ve heard about you. I know that you were demoted because you ordered your subordinates to execute the prisoners who surrendered. " I feel a little embarrassed to hear the other side''s understatement of my past in public.


    I didn''t expect that general yeliaomenko went up and slapped me on the shoulder, almost making me sit on the ground. He laughed brightly and said aloud, "well done, comrade o''shanina. These damned Krauts are not human beings. They''re just two legged animals. If it had been me, I would have given the same order. "


    Speaking of this, he stepped back a little and asked another general who was born after his birth to introduce him to me, saying, "Comrade o''shanina, let me introduce him to you. This is major general Krylov, chief of staff of Binhai group army. Because of his rich experience in barricade and street fighting, he was sent to the 62nd group army by the supreme command as chief of staff."


    "Hello, comrade oshanina. I''ve heard of you, too. You are really not simple. You can be regarded as the best among the new commanders. "


    I dare not claim to be an outstanding person, especially in front of this future boss. I dare not trust him. I said modestly: "Comrade General, you flatter me. I''m ashamed."


    After a few more greetings, Yeliao myenko waved his hand and said, "well, let''s talk about it here today. Two general comrades, we have to rush to see the commander of the front army." Later, he said to nikishev in the stern tone of his superiors to his subordinates, "Comrade chief of staff, there''s nothing more to do. Go ahead." With that, he walked steadily towards gordov''s office, blind to everyone''s eyes.


    General nikishev took me to a room on the first floor and said, "Comrade oshanina, this is your temporary division headquarters." Then he pushed the door open and went in.


    When I came in, the layout of the room was very simple. There is a rectangular wooden table in the middle of the room. There is a bench on each side of the table, and the single wooden bed in the corner is all the furniture. There is no battle map on the wall and no telephone on the desk. It is more appropriate to say that it is the rest room rather than the division headquarters.


    Nikishev probably saw the disappointment on my face, went straight to the table and sat down, and asked me to sit opposite him. Then he said apologetically, "Comrade oshanina, to tell you the truth, it''s unknown when the 35th division of the guards will arrive, and which combat direction will be put into after arriving, so the commander arranged you to have a rest here. In order to be afraid of gossiping, it was announced that this is the division headquarters of the 35th division of Jinwei. In fact, you should also understand that from now on until you take office in the division, there are not necessarily reports from your subordinates. "


    Listening to what he said, I nodded busily and replied, "yes, chief of staff, I understand. Thank you and the commander of the front army for thinking so carefully for me. " I hope he will leave immediately after listening to me, so that I can have an early rest.


    I didn''t expect nikishev to sit in the distance and didn''t move his nest. Instead, he asked me curiously, "have you seen general yelimenko before?"


    I shook my head and said, "I''ve never heard of his name." Speaking of this, I suddenly remembered that nikishev seemed to be afraid of yelimenko, so I asked politely, "what''s the matter? Comrade chief of staff, is general yeliaomenko not easy to get along with? "


    Nikishev snorted coldly and said, "it''s not just that it''s not easy to get along with. General yelimenko has always been keen on educating his subordinates."


    "Boxing education?" Nikishev''s words aroused my curiosity. I couldn''t help asking him curiously: "Comrade chief of staff, what''s the matter? Let''s hear it." I saw him carefully look at the door, and immediately understood what he was worried about. I quickly got up and closed the door. Then I said with a smile, "well, chief of staff, the door is closed. In this way, no one can hear our conversation. You''d better tell me about general yelomienko in detail. Maybe I will deal with him in the future."


    Nikishev hesitated for a moment. At last, it was not easy to brush my face, so he gritted his teeth and said, "OK, I''ll tell you something about general yelimenko, but you have to promise me that you can never mention it to anyone."


    I quickly raised my right hand, palmed forward, swore to him: "I promise Comrade Stalin that I will never tell anyone what general nikishev told me tonight, otherwise, I will be blown to pieces by bombs falling from the sky when I go out."


    Nikishev was amused with laughter by my unique way of swearing. After laughing, he said: "at the beginning of the war, general yelimenko was the deputy commander of the Western Front Army, and once commanded the troops to participate in the battle of Smolensk. Then he took up the post of commander of the Bryansk front army, taking on the task of covering Moscow''s approach from the southwest.


    I was working in the base camp at that time. One day, I saw the complaint written by the military commissar of the 13th group army to Comrade Stalin. He wrote this: on the evening of September 18, 1941, I was in the front position of the front army and returned to the combat team with general yevremov, so as to formulate the next attack plan. The commander of the front army, yeliaomenko, and the member of the Military Commission, magepov, also came here. In front of all the commanders, the following farce was performed. Yelomienko began to accuse the Military Commission of being timid and betraying the motherland. As for his rude accusation, I retorted on the spot that you should not say so much. However, without saying a word, Yeliao Menko rushed towards me with a fist. He punched me in the face several times and threatened to shoot me. I said that he could shoot me, but he had no right to insult the personality of a member of the Communist Party and a representative of the Supreme Council. At that time, yelomienko pulled out his pistol and put it on my forehead. Fortunately, deputy commander yevlemov stopped him in time and didn''t let him shoot. After yeliaomenko was stopped, he was extremely unwilling. He pointed to yevlemov and swore hysterically, saying that he would shoot all the commanders in the headquarters. When he calmed down a little, he began to boast that Comrade Stalin agreed that he would beat several commanders of the group army, even if he beat one of them to death. When he sat down to have dinner, yelomienko forced yevlemov to drink with him. But when the latter showed that he didn''t want to drink, he began to scold again, saying that yevlemov was deliberately against him and was not qualified to be his deputy, especially because this deputy didn''t persuade him at the right time, As a result, he can''t hit those army commanders in the face at will. "


    After listening to nikishev, I can understand why he is so afraid of yelimenko. It turns out that this general has such a bad record before. Then I asked curiously, "Comrade chief of staff, what did Comrade Stalin do after he received this statement?"


    Nikishev shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "after reading this statement, comrade Stalin just told yelimenko the content of the statement and asked him to give an explanation, but his position as commander of the front army remained unchanged. As for the deputy commander yevlemov, he was sent to form a new 33rd army. "


    Hearing Stalin''s defense of the general, I could not help frowning and asked cautiously, "Comrade chief of staff, according to your understanding, what is the command level of yeliomenko?"


    Nikishev snorted again and said with disdain, "before the Kiev war, many senior generals of our army, even general Zhukov, thought that Kiev could not be defended. The flanks of the southwest front army were in danger of being encircled. At this time, comrade Stalin went to yeliomenko and asked him, "if I assign the central front army to you and give you some artillery reserves, can you block goodrian and cover the flanks of the southwest front army?" At that time, yelomienko said with his boundless confidence: I can not only stop goodrian, but also eliminate him. "


    "As a result, is goodrian blocked?"


    Nikishev frowned and looked at me up and down after hearing this. He said with some displeasure, "Comrade oshanina, you should have been in Moscow at that time. Don''t you know if our army blocked goodrian?"


    As soon as he reminded me, I remembered that, yes, I had already arrived in Moscow at that time, and I took a small army to sneak into the enemy''s rear to carry out the mission. When hundreds of troops were gathered, I once had the idea of leading troops to capture Tolstoy manor and capture goodrian alive. I blushed and said with embarrassment, "I''m sorry, chief of staff. If you don''t tell me, I forgot that I had followed general Zhukov to Moscow at that time. Please go on


    "Facts have proved that yelimenko''s self-confidence is groundless. The blitz of the Bryansk front army led by yelimenko stopped only after more than ten kilometers, which did not cause great obstacles to goodrian. However, goodrian''s tank group was directly behind the southwest front army, resulting in our army''s disastrous defeat in the battle of Kiev. Six army groups were annihilated and all the commanders, political commissars and chief of staff of the southwest front army were killed. " Nikishev said bitterly, "what''s worse is that two weeks after the submission of the military commissar''s statement of the 13th army, goodrian led his powerful tank group northward and gathered up the front army of yelimenko in the battle of Bryansk."


    I was surprised that Stalin didn''t investigate such a serious loss to the army due to the wrong command. This is a miracle. I asked curiously, "how did general yelomienko escape from the siege?"


    Nikishev snorted for the third time and said, "he''s lucky. While breaking through the encirclement, he was hit by a stray bullet from the enemy and was seriously injured. Comrade Stalin sent a plane to pick him up from the encirclement. On the way, the plane was shot down by the enemy''s plane and fell head on to the side of a village. Our commander was saved by the collective farm officials when he was head down and half frozen to death. Perhaps it was because he looked so pitiful that Comrade Stalin did not hold him responsible for his defeat and went to the hospital to see him in person. But a defeat is a defeat, and we have to punish it. When he was discharged from hospital in December, he was officially removed from the position of commander of the front army and appointed as commander of the fourth assault group army being formed. "


    After listening to nikishev''s story, I have a preliminary understanding of general yelimenko, but also a little more worried.


    Nikishev stood up and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, trakov told me privately that you asked him to come out and intercede with Zhukov for the sake of general korpakchi. Trakov said that his relationship with Zhukov was general. Although he asked Zhukov for love for korpakchi, it was not clear whether there was any effect. By the way, the next door is the telecommunication room. I''ll go over and say hello to them later. You can use the communication equipment inside to contact General Zhukov. " Then he got up, opened the door and went out.


    I knew in my heart what general nikishev was alluding to, that is, asking me to call Zhukov and plead for kolpakchi. Although I have a good relationship with Zhukov, the identity gap is too big. If he doesn''t call me, I''m not qualified to call Zhukov. That is to say, people like trakov know that I have a good relationship with Zhukov, so they place their hope of intercession on me. Strictly speaking, not to mention my little lieutenant commander, even if he is a lieutenant general like trakov, if he wants to call Zhukov, he must have something important to do, and he can''t call him if he wants to.


    Maybe if I contact Zhukov directly to intercede for korpakchi, Zhukov may try to make use of his power in his past friendship and give korpakchi a lighter punishment. But I can''t do it. Once I can do it, twice I can do it. But after three or four times, Zhukov will be disgusted. From then on, there will be no friendship between him and me. Zhukov is the deputy commander, and I''m just a commander who makes soy sauce everywhere. I''m not equal to him. Even if Zhukov has always taken good care of me and appreciated me, I can''t be without self-knowledge.


    I can''t make a plea call for colpakchi. Having made up my mind, I got up, went over and closed the door. Just as I was unpacking my belt, there was a knock at the door. At the same time, someone was asking aloud, "is lieutenant commander o''shanina there?" I quickly untied the belt to re fasten, went to open the door. Outside the door stood major general Krylov, whom he had just met upstairs. He looked at me with a smile and asked politely, "commander oshanina, am I not disturbing you?" I was a little surprised by the visit of the new chief of staff of the group army. I quickly put aside my body and made a gesture of invitation: "of course, I didn''t disturb you. Comrade general, don''t stand at the door. Please come in quickly. "

 Chapter 486

    On the surface, I am enthusiastic about him, but in my heart, I don''t think so. I will ask for something from others. I knew in my heart that this group army chief of staff, who had only met for one time, did not come to me to learn from me. Krailov welcomed him, extended his hand to him, and introduced himself: "Hello, general kolpakchi. I''m krailov, the new chief of staff of the group army. Nice to meet you. " I was wondering if I should go up and say hello to kolpakchi, who had come up to me. He reached out and patted me on the shoulder. He wanted to say something, but he didn''t want to say it. He just added some strength in his hand, nodded at me, and then turned away. Looking at his back, I knew that everything was silent. For me to rescue him this time, he sincerely appreciated me. Although he didn''t say a word, his actions have told me that he will keep some things in mind. General Krylov took a few steps up the steps, and when he saw that I was still standing in a daze, he stopped and turned back to call me: "Hello, I said, commander o''shanina, what are you still standing there in a daze? Come on up quickly. When korpakchi meets the commander, we''re going to the front. " When the three of them went up to the second floor to find general gordolf, I went to the gate, found the officer on duty, gave him the receipt of the gun and asked him to help me take it out. The officer on duty took the receipt and looked at it. Then he turned and walked into the duty room. He took out the submachine gun and pistol and gave them to me. At the same time, he asked with a smile, "Comrade commander, do you want to go back to the front line?" I put the pistol in the holster, slung the submachine gun on my right shoulder, and answered faintly, "Comrade officer, this is a military secret. I can''t tell you casually." The officer saw that I didn''t want to say more. He raised his hand and saluted me. Then he went out on duty.

 Chapter 487

    I saw Krylov and kolpakchi. They didn''t come down, and they didn''t stay in the building. They walked out and came to the street.


    On both sides of the street, I can see pedestrians walking happily. From their faces, I can''t see any tension and fear. Perhaps the superior did not make the decision to evacuate the residents in the city, giving them the illusion that the enemy could not approach the city named after the Supreme Commander himself, so they still kept their unchanging habits.


    At the crossroads, there was a fortification built with sandbags and rails. Except for two soldiers standing guard with guns nearby, I didn''t find any sign of anyone moving in the barricade. I also saw several big iron tripods. Maybe the soldiers on duty thought they were too inconvenient to affect the traffic, so they were moved to the roadside.


    At this time, a jeep and truck came and slowly stopped outside the headquarters. Seeing the soldiers on the truck jumping down with their hands on the baffle, I suddenly had an idea. Is it that these soldiers are responsible for protecting kolpakchi and going to the front line?


    Just as I was thinking about it, there was a voice calling me at the gate. Turning around, it was krailov, chief of staff of the group army. He said loudly, "Hey, I said Comrade o''shanina, you didn''t say a word, and then you ran to the door. I went to your division headquarters to look for you."


    I quickly ran to him and explained in a low voice, "chief of staff, I''m sorry. I just went to the duty room to pick up the weapons I left there. I don''t know when you will come out, so I''ll come outside for a breath."


    "Come on, don''t talk about it. Get on the bus. We have a long way to go." At the moment, kolpakchi is different from the moment when he was released. He has changed into a new uniform and shaved his beard. He looks very energetic.


    Because there was only one jeep, kolpakchi and Krylov opened the door and sat in the back of the car, while I took the seat next to the driver. When we were all seated, the driver turned his head and asked korpakchi, "Comrade commander, where are we going?"


    Kolpakchi''s eyes looked at the chief of staff sitting next to him. Krailov quickly told the driver, "drive west after you get out of the city and keep going in the direction of Don river. As for where to stop, I''ll tell you."


    The jeep drove out of the city along the road. Through the rear-view mirror, I saw krailov spread out a map and pointed to the drawing to explain to kolpakchi: "Comrade commander, according to the information, there are our troops in this area, about three divisions, all newly assigned to the 62nd army, because the commander and political commissar are trapped in the encirclement, So these are under the command of the new director of the political department for the time being. "


    When I heard about the director of the political department, I immediately thought of the group of political workers I met by the river crossing. I couldn''t help turning around and asked curiously, "Comrade chief of staff, is the director of the Political Department of the group army Comrade kirilov from Moscow?"


    Kolpakchi looked at me and asked curiously, "Comrade oshanina, do you know Comrade kirilov?"


    I nodded hard and answered, "yes, comrade commander. When I was the head of the 678 regiment in the 214 division, I received the task of covering the Political Department of the group army led by Comrade kirilov to cross the Don river. That''s where I met him. In addition, his first-class instructor, kokunov, is currently acting as the political commissar of the 678 regiment. "


    After listening to this, krailov asked with great interest, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think of these political workers in the Political Department of the group army?" Then he stared at me, waiting for my reply.


    His words really stopped me. I hesitated for a moment and answered carefully, "I believe that they can play an exemplary role in all aspects of the group army."


    "Believe it, comrade commander." Asked kreilov, still reluctantly.


    Just when I was in a dilemma, colpakchi suddenly gritted his teeth and scolded: "damn German!" It immediately distracted krailov''s attention and saved me from the embarrassing situation.


    "What''s the matter? Comrade commander. " Krailov asked korpakchi, puzzled.


    Kolpakchi pointed forward and said angrily, "you see, our troops going to the front line were bombed by enemy planes on the way again."


    I followed the direction of his fingers to see, only in front of the road, there are two burning tanks in the black smoke, next to the tank lying half burnt body of tank soldiers. There were also fragments of trucks destroyed by the explosion on the road, and the broken bodies of our soldiers were scattered all around.


    "Comrades commander," said kreilov, biting his back teeth, "we''ll take revenge."


    After passing this area, which had just been bombed, everyone''s heart became heavy. No one on the bus spoke and fell into a terrible silence.


    It''s getting dark. Colpakchi, sitting in the back row, suddenly gave a strange order: "Comrade driver, turn off the lights." This is not only the driver, but also me. In this country where all vehicles have to turn on their headlights when driving on sunny days, what''s the point of turning off the lights when it''s dark?


    When I was daydreaming, the driver had completely turned off the lights. Fortunately, there was a moon in the sky and we could see the road clearly without affecting our driving speed. Kolpakchi said slowly: "it''s dark. If we drive on the car lights again, it''s easy to be found by the enemy''s scouts. If they call for artillery fire to intercept us, we''ll be finished."


    After driving a little further, Krylov asked the driver to drive the car off the roadbed. Guided by the compass, our car drove northwest. I heard krailov say to kolpakchi, "Comrade commander, drive down this direction, and about 15 kilometers further, you will find our troops."


    Just at this time, I suddenly found a light in the distance and yelled at the driver: "stop, stop The driver didn''t know where to go, but he stepped on the brake. I didn''t care what I said to korpakchi. I pushed the door open and got out of the car. After running for more than ten meters, I raised my telescope and looked at the light.


    In the distance, a group of people were digging trenches in a hurry under the illumination of several steam lamps. In the light of the light, the shovel flashed mud out of the trench. Because I couldn''t see anyone, I couldn''t be sure whether the man digging the trench was his own or German.


    "What''s the matter? Commander o''shanina. " Colpackge came up and asked.


    I quickly put down my telescope and answered him, "Comrade commander, I found that there were troops digging trenches in the distance, so I asked the driver to stop and come down to have a look."


    "You are quite right!" After praising me, colpakchi took the telescope in my hand and looked in that direction. At the same time, he asked, "do you see clearly whether it''s your own people or the enemy?"


    I shook my head and said, "I''m sorry, comrade commander, I didn''t see the man digging the trench, so I can''t be sure whether it''s my own man or the enemy."


    Krailov murmured discontentedly: "how can this happen, comrade commander? I think you''ve been looking here with your telescope for a long time, but you can''t even see what part of the trench digger is."


    "Chief of staff, don''t blame oshanina." Kerr Pa Keki solved the fence for me in time. "I saw only the shovel of digging, but none of the trenches could see it."


    Just then, a soldier ran over and reported to kolpakchi, "report to commander, we found several people approaching about 200 meters to the left of the motorcade."


    "Who?" Colpacci asked, putting down his telescope.


    The soldier shrugged and said in an uncertain tone, "it''s too far to see clearly. Anyway, it''s either the enemy or our own people."


    This response made colpakchi laugh angrily: "on the battlefield, the people we meet are either our own or our enemies. If we don''t distinguish ourselves from the enemy first, we may not know how to die. Let''s go and have a look. "


    When I got back to the jeep, I found that the soldiers on the truck got out of the jeep and put a guard around the jeep. Seeing us coming, a man who looked like a commander came running. Running to the front, I saw that it was a second lieutenant. He reported to kolpakchi, "Comrade commander, there are four people here. Although they were too far apart to see clearly, they could still vaguely recognize that one of them was a prisoner, and they were escorted this way by three other men. "


    "Commander o''shanina," colpakchi gave me an order without hesitation, "you take five soldiers to the front and have a look. If the prisoners are our own, bring them here. If it''s the enemy, "he said with a violent downward wave of his hand," kill them all. "


    "Yes I promised, and then said to the commander who had just reported his work, "Comrade lieutenant, bring four soldiers with me."


    We quietly came to the four men''s road and laid an ambush. I whispered to the second lieutenant, "Comrade second lieutenant, if you find your own people later, please contact them and try not to misunderstand them. If it''s the enemy, kill them all. Remember, don''t shoot as much as possible, because there is an army nearby, and we still don''t know. If the gunfire leads them here, they will be in trouble. "


    Soon, those people came into our sight. At the front was a German soldier with a submachine gun on his chest and a helmet. The two German soldiers behind him held the submachine gun in their hands and walked along a ragged man. The captured commander, with his right hand clasping his left wrist, limped and staggered forward. The German soldier next to him, from time to time, stabbed him with the barrel of a gun and growled a German I couldn''t hear.


    As they got closer and closer, I suddenly gave the order, "go ahead."


    At my command, the commanders and soldiers who were ready to go jumped up and waved their daggers at the three German soldiers. The soldiers suddenly jumped up and scared the three German soldiers. Before they recovered, the sharp dagger had passed their necks. Then they all covered their necks and fell to the ground without saying a word.


    Seeing that the commanders and fighters had solved the battle cleanly, I quickly stood up, went over to hold the shaking commander and fighters, and asked with concern, "are you OK, comrade?"


    "Is that you, commander o''shanina?" I didn''t expect that after the wounded commander saw me, he cried in surprise.


    "Who are you?" With the help of moonlight, I looked at the commander in front of me and asked, "how do you know me?" He grinned at me with a bloody swollen mouth and replied, "Comrade commander, you don''t recognize me? I''m general trakov''s adjutant, Captain kerimov


    "Captain Klimov?! It''s you. " I exclaimed in surprise and then asked, "what''s the matter? Where is Comrade commander? How could you be captured? "


    "It''s hard to say, comrade commander. By the way, can you take me to see your superior? I have important information to report to him. "


    "Come on I yelled at the soldier standing next to me, "help the captain to the car."


    With the help of two soldiers, Captain Klimov came to the jeep. When kolpakchi saw us helping a man back, he probably understood eight or nine points. He asked Klimov, "what part are you from?"


    Klimov broke away from the support of the two soldiers, straightened his body with difficulty, raised his hand to korpakki, and then respectfully reported: "report to general korpakki, I''m captain Klimov, the adjutant of commander trakov."


    "My God, Captain crimov, it''s you After hearing his identity, kolpakchi was surprised. He quickly came up to help him and asked with concern, "what''s the matter? Where is Comrade trakov? " After that, he called two soldiers to come and helped the captain to the pedal of the jeep.


    The captain took a breath and said, "during the day, I followed commander trakov outside to inspect the troops. On the way, I met the enemy''s air attack. After the tire of the jeep on which the commander was riding was blasted by the machine gun of the enemy plane, two soldiers and I pulled him down from the jeep. As soon as we ran out, the jeep was destroyed by the bomb dropped by the enemy plane. We have lost all our vehicles and communication equipment, and we can only follow the direction of the compass to go where we want to go. As a result, a few kilometers away from here, and the enemy''s search forces encountered, fighting. In the battle, most of the guards and staff members were killed, and I was stunned by the explosion of grenades. When I woke up, I found myself captured by the enemy. "


    "Do you know where general trakov is?" Krylov came over, grabbed captain krymov by the collar, and asked fiercely, as if to swallow him.


    The captain nodded difficultly and replied, "I think I know. During the retreat, the commander told us a gathering place, saying that once it was scattered, we would go there to meet. "


    Kolpakchi took out the map from the car, spread it out in front of kerimov, pressed the flashlight, and couldn''t wait to ask, "show me where it is."


    Klimov''s fingers move around on the map. Just as kolpakchi shows his impatience, he points to a place decisively and affirms: "it''s in this village."


    After having a look at it, kolpakchi put the map away, and then said, "immediately, let''s go." Because of Klimov''s serious injury, korpakchi was afraid that he would be uncomfortable sitting in the jeep, so he asked the soldiers to carry him into the truck compartment.


    Guided by the compass, our team spent nearly an hour outside a small village, and kolpakchi asked the driver to stop. Looking at the dark village, kolpakchi said to himself, "why is it so dark everywhere? Is trekov here?"


    I volunteered and said, "Comrade commander, I''ll take some people to have a look."


    Korpacki nodded and said, "well, anyway, trekov knows you. If he sees you, he will come out to see you even if he hides. When you enter a village, you should be alert and pay attention to your own safety. "


    I took the second lieutenant and four soldiers to the village. This is a very small village. There are only about twenty wooden houses. A muddy road passes through the middle of the village. I stood in the middle of the road, looking at the wooden house without any light. I had no illusions about whether trakov was hiding here.


    The second lieutenant came up to me and asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, what shall we do?"


    I looked around, pointed to the wooden house beside me, and said, "no way, we can only take our chances. We can find commander trakov room by room." With that, I took the lead in walking towards the wooden house.


    When I came to the wooden house, my hand just touched the wooden door. Suddenly, a low voice came from inside: "Hello, who''s outside? Soviet or German? "


    When I heard that the people in the room were speaking Russian, I felt a lot more confident. I raised my hand to stop the second lieutenant who was going to push the door. I said to him, "we are from the 62nd army. Which part are you from?"


    Hearing my voice, the people inside became excited: "it''s commander o''shanina. I''m sidtorin! Do you remember me


    "Cedorin?" Hearing this name, I was overjoyed. This man was trakov''s messenger. He knew about trakov''s whereabouts nine times out of ten. He quickly asked, "yes, I''m lieutenant commander oshanina. Are you the messenger sidtorin?"


    The wooden door opened from the inside, and sidtorin appeared in front of me. He grabbed my arm and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, I thought I was dead. I didn''t expect to see you again. It''s so good." Although the herald was an acquaintance, it was obviously not the time for reminiscence. I asked him quickly, "Comrade sidtorin, do you know where the commander is?"¡° I''m here, comrade oshanina. " As soon as trakov''s voice fell, his figure appeared at the door.

 Chapter 488

    Watching trakov walk out of the cabin, the stone hanging in my heart falls to the ground. As long as he is safe, the course of history will not change. Under his command, the Soviet army will eventually win the battle of Stalingrad.


    Trekov came up to me, reached out to me and said, "Hello, comrade oshanina. Nice to meet you here. "


    I didn''t shake hands with him immediately. Instead, I raised my hand to salute him. Then I reached out and took his hand. At the same time, I politely said, "Hello, general trakov. I''ve been ordered to look for you. I''m relieved to see that you''re safe. "


    He was a little surprised and asked, "have you been ordered to look for me? On whose orders? How did the superior know I had an accident? Comrade commander, what''s going on? Tell me about it. I''m confused by you. "


    I have no need to hide this series of questions raised by him, but some of them are too complicated to be explained in a few words. So I sorted out the whole process in my mind and answered him, "Comrade commander, this is a bit complicated. Please listen to me and tell you slowly." Seeing that trakov nodded, I went on to say, "the headquarters of the front army refused to carry out the counter offensive order given by the superior because general lopagin resisted first; Then, due to poor command, the main force of the 62nd army was severely damaged by the enemy. So he made the decision to cancel his group commander and appoint you to take over his post at the same time. "


    "General gordoff asked me to take over as commander of lopagin? Is that true? " Trikov couldn''t believe the sudden order was true.


    I nodded hard and said with certainty, "Comrade commander, yes, I happened to be in their office when commander gordov and deputy commander glikov made this decision. Just when I wanted to send this appointment to the army, I unexpectedly received a report from general shumilov that I had lost contact with you for five hours. The search team found your jeep blown up by enemy planes on the grassland. There were two charred bodies on the jeep. It is suspected that you have been killed. "


    Listen to me, trikov nodded and echoed, "yes, we were attacked by enemy planes on the grassland, and jeeps and communication equipment were lost. If it wasn''t for adjutant kerimov who forced me to get out of the car, I would have had an accident. Alas, we later met with the enemy''s small troops and were scattered. Only I and the herald sidtorin withdrew to this village. I don''t know what happened to them later? "


    Hearing that he was so concerned about the safety of his subordinates, I immediately comforted him and said, "Comrade commander, don''t worry. Captain Klimov is still alive. He was wounded in the battle and happened to meet us. In a word, he has been saved. "


    With a long sigh of relief, trakov said, "I''m relieved to know that he''s OK. By the way, you haven''t finished just now. When the commander of the front army heard that I was missing, how did he react? "


    "The commander was very worried when he heard that you were missing. He ordered general shumilov to send people familiar with you to the scene to identify the body; At the same time, send more troops to the grassland to find your whereabouts. Later, when I left the office, a new chief of staff of the 62nd group army, general Krylov, arrived. Under the mediation of general Krylov and chief of staff nikishev, general gordov agreed to release general korpakchi and let him temporarily act as commander of the group army until he found you. "


    Hearing the name of kolpakchi, trekov immediately asked, "where is general kolpakchi?"


    "Just outside the village."


    "Take me to him quickly."


    As trekov and I walked out of the village side by side, I continued to say to him, "we ran into captain kerimov on the prairie by accident." Speaking of this, I looked left and right, and found that the soldiers were a long distance away from us, so I lowered my voice and said, "the captain was wounded and captured in the battle. At that time, the Germans were escorting him to their camp. I took people to save him. From his mouth, we know the assembly place you agreed in advance, so we came to look for you. "


    Trikov raised his hand and patted me lightly on the shoulder. He said with feeling, "Comrade oshanina, thank you on behalf of the captain."


    When we got to the entrance of the village, kolpakchi and Krylov, who had been waiting outside, had already got the news and came to meet us. They met and saluted each other, then hugged each other tightly. I walked away from them wisely and went back to the jeep to wait.


    After more than ten minutes, the three returned to the jeep. Trakov first ran to the truck in the back, visited captain Klimov lying there, and then got on our jeep. They crowded in the back with kolpakchi.


    Before driving, the driver asked as usual, "Comrade commander, where are we going next?"


    Both korpakchi and krailov set their eyes on trakov, waiting for him to give orders. After all, he is the nominal commander of the group army. He told the driver, "go to the 64th army headquarters."


    The driver looked at him and said, "sorry, comrade general, I don''t know where it is."


    "Drive to the northwest first, and the headquarters of the 64th army is located in a depression 10 kilometers east of zeta."


    The driver promised, "I see, comrade commander." And then we started the jeep.


    With the goal, you know the rest of the way. The jeep adjusts its head at the entrance of the village and drives toward the place that trikov points out.


    After driving for more than two hours, it''s already dawn. Colpakchi, sitting in the back row, raised his hand and gently patted the driver on the shoulder. The driver was shocked and seemed to be startled. Then he respectfully asked, "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"


    Without consulting others, colpakchi told the driver, "stop somewhere in front. We''ll go down and have something to eat."


    Krailov immediately echoed: "general korpakchi is right. Comrade trakov may not have eaten all day. Let''s stop to eat before we leave." Then he specially asked for the opinions of trekov, "Comrade trekov, what do you think?"


    "I have no objection."


    After driving forward a bit, I saw a burned black T-34 tank. I pointed to it and said, "Comrade driver, stop by the burned tank."


    The driver nodded, drove to the side of the tank and stopped.


    After the driver got out of the car, he took a stack of newspapers from the car and asked me to help him lay them on the floor. When we were laying the newspapers and setting the food, I heard krailov asking, "comrades commander, what''s the matter with this tank? Was it destroyed in the battle with the enemy? "


    Then I heard trakov''s voice: "chief of staff, you see, there are no signs of fighting around here. This tank should have been blown up by enemy planes."


    By this time, we had all the food ready. The driver whispered to me, "Comrade commander, you can call the generals over for breakfast."


    I nodded, then stood up and yelled to the three generals who were still circling around the tank, "comrades, breakfast is ready. Come and eat."


    After the three people sat down around the newspaper, trakov saw that I was still standing next to him and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, what are you still standing for? Please sit down and eat with us." I gave him a smile and sat down next to him.


    After the driver pried open the can of fish with a dagger, he automatically stepped aside. Kolpakchi said to everyone: "comrades commander, are you hungry? Start eating. Although the food here is a little less and a little less, it''s better than nothing. After you''ve eaten, we''ll be on our way. "


    Trekov put a piece of enema into the corner of his mouth. As he was about to chew, he suddenly stopped and stared at a place in front of him. As soon as I swallowed a piece of bread, I found something strange about trekov, so I looked curiously in the direction of his eyes. If you don''t look at it, you almost spit out the bread you just swallowed. It turned out that in the grass only one meter away from us, the arm of this charred and blackened man was erect.


    Looking at me and trakov staring at the front in a daze, sitting opposite us, kolpakchi put a small fish into his mouth and asked vaguely: "Hey, I said Comrade trakov, what are you looking at?" Then he turned his head to look. It didn''t matter. He vomited the fish out of his mouth and began to retch.


    Krylov, who was sitting next to him, said discontentedly, "I said, general korpakchi, this can of fish is just not to your taste. Don''t waste it like that!"?! What are you all looking at? Are you so absorbed in it? " Then he turned to look. After seeing it, his reaction was no less than that of colpakchi. He jumped up from the ground and vomited out all the food in his mouth.


    Trikov stood up and said faintly, "comrades, I guess you all have no appetite. Come on, let''s go to the headquarters of the 64th army. " Then he took the lead and went to the jeep.


    After another section of driving, a track appeared on the grassland. Trekov said to the driver, "just drive along the railway. A few minutes further, you can get to the 74th passing station, which is not far from the headquarters of the group army."


    It wasn''t long before I saw hundreds of officers and men running north along the railway, looking like they were running for their lives. I quickly turned to trikov, who was in the back row, and said, "general trikov, we have troops in front of us. I don''t know if they have met the enemy. They are retreating to the north in disorder. "


    Trikov looked out of the window and got angry. "What the hell is going on? There''s no gunfire outside, no pursuers behind. What are they running about for? Driver, drive in front of them and stop them all


    The driver promised, stepped on the gas, and the jeep sped up, rushed past the soldiers, then turned in front of them and stopped steadily.


    Trekov jumped into the car, pulled out his pistol, fired several shots into the air, and yelled, "stop, stand here for me!" Because of the large number of disorderly soldiers, the noise of guns and shouts was drowned out. When I saw something wrong, I raised the muzzle of the submachine gun and pulled the trigger in the air.


    A series of gunshots stopped the soldiers from running away. They stood in the same place one by one, looking at the three generals standing in front of them without saying a word. Trekov stepped forward and yelled, "I''m general trekov, commander of the 64th army. What part of the army are you? Who''s in charge, out! "


    A sergeant stepped out from the soldiers who were standing in front of him, raised his hand and reported to trikov, "Hello, Comrade General. We are soldiers of the lyudnikov division. Just now our position was attacked by the enemy, and the commanders died. We didn''t know what to do, so we pulled out. "


    After hearing this, trakov called out to the soldiers, "I order you to stop your retreat and build fortifications here. As for the commander, I''ll send it to you soon. "


    In this way, the troops who had fled were stopped by trakov and began to dig trenches on the east side of the railway.


    We came to the military headquarters of the 74th meeting station. Inside, a political worker sat behind his desk and was making a phone call. When he saw us coming in, he quickly put down the phone and stood up to salute: "report to the commander comrades, the 74th meeting will let the military commander..."


    "All right, no report." With a wave of his hand, trakov interrupted him and asked him, "Comrade commander, can you contact Colonel lyudnikov''s division headquarters here?"


    The commander nodded and replied positively, "yes, general trakov."


    When he called out his name, trikov was stunned for a moment and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, do you know me?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." The commander replied, "I''ve seen you before. Moreover, half an hour ago, I received a phone call from the headquarters of the 64th group army, saying that I will report to you as soon as I find your trace. "


    Trekov nodded and said, "I see. Comrade commander of the military movement, you should immediately call Colonel lyudnikov and ask him to send a commander to the 74th meeting station to command the soldiers who are building fortifications. Tell him to stick to that position. "


    When he came out of the military commander''s office, trikov suddenly asked me, "Comrade oshanina, did you get anything from going to the headquarters of the front army?"


    I appropriately showed a face of excitement, just right to say: "yesterday I went to the headquarters of the front army, and I gained a lot, and I also felt a lot. However, I still feel very kind when I come back to the front-line troops, especially when I stand in front of you again, commander. I feel very secure and at ease. "


    Trikov laughed, pointed at me with his finger and said, "you o''shanina, I didn''t expect that you are so familiar with flattery. Come on, let''s go back to the headquarters of the 64th army. "


    When we entered the village where the headquarters of the 64th army was located, the Sentinels at the entrance of the village saw that trakov appeared and immediately exclaimed excitedly, "general trakov is back, general trakov is back." With his shouts, many officers and soldiers poured out from the houses on both sides, and they all welcomed him.


    When we went to the village, trakov stopped to shake hands with the soldiers on the side of the road and had a chat. I couldn''t help feeling that he had a high reputation in the army.


    Shumilov, who got the news, came with a group of commanders. As soon as he met, his left hand put on trakov''s right shoulder. At the same time, his right hand clenched his fist in trakov''s chest and hammered hard twice. He said angrily, "hell, you guy, you''ve gone there, causing everyone to worry about you." Then they hugged each other.


    When they were separated, shumilov yelled at the distance: "signalman, call general nikishev, chief of staff of the front army, and tell him that general trakov has found it and returned to the headquarters safely."


    Next, trakov began to introduce the commanders present to us: "general korpakchi, general Krylov, I''d like to introduce to you. This is general shumilov, commander of the group army, comrade Abramov, military commissar of the group army, and chief of staff, Colonel Raskin."


    Then he took kolpakchi and krailov and introduced them to the commanders of the 64th Army: "let''s get to know each other. This is the acting commander of the 62nd army, general kolpakchi and the new chief of staff, general krailov. From today on, our two army groups will fight side by side to defend our great Stalingrad. "


    After hearing his introduction, shumilov quickly pulled him aside and asked in a low voice, "Comrade trakov, I heard that you have taken over the post of general lopagin as commander of the 62nd army? Why did the commander become general kolpakchi again, and he was dismissed and investigated? "


    Trikov also said in a low voice: "listen to Comrade oshanina, when the commander of the front army was going to make this appointment, he received your report that I was missing on the battlefield. General gordov had no choice but to release general kolpakchi temporarily and let him take my place temporarily. It is said that when I return to the 62nd army, he will hand over the command of the army. "


    "What''s your plan? Comrade trekov. " Shumilov asked with concern, "do you want to stay in the 64th group army as deputy commander or go to the 62nd group army as commander immediately?"¡° Comrade shumilov, I have considered that I still have a lot to do in the 64th group army, so the date of taking office in the 62nd group army should be postponed, and I will take up my post after this is done. You will immediately arrange for people to escort kolpakchi and Krylov to find the headquarters of the 62nd army. "

 Chapter 489

    Shumilov agreed to trekov''s request: "no problem. I''ll draw a company from the guard camp and escort general korpakchi to their destination." After that, he went up to kolpakchi and said in a friendly way, "general kolpakchi and general Krylov, since they came to us, I thought that trakov would be so frightened that the artillery commander would faithfully carry out his orders. Unexpectedly, he still said," I''m sorry, deputy commander, I can''t carry out your orders, The troops are running out of shells¡° Bang This time it was no longer a slap in the face, it was a shot. Trikov pulled out his pistol and fired at the head of the artillery commander. With the sound of the gun, the commander fell to the ground, startling the surrounding artillery soldiers. Trekov put the pistol in the holster and asked aloud, "who else is the commander?" A major came over cautiously, saluted and reported, "Comrade deputy commander of the report, I''m the chief of staff of the artillery regiment. Do you have any instructions?" Trekov pointed to the dusty place in the distance again, and ordered in a loud voice, "I command you to load the shells immediately and shoot at the enemy!"¡° Comrade deputy commander, which target to hit? "¡° Aim at the enemy''s tanks and fire

 Chapter 490

    The chief of staff of the artillery regiment did not dare to neglect him. He quickly agreed. He quickly ran to the front of the line and gave orders in a loud voice: "artillery regiment, listen to my command, all of you enter the gun positions and take your positions."


    With the command of the major, the artillery who had been in the position quickly entered their respective positions. The major raised his telescope and looked at the enemy line in the distance. He raised his right hand high and cried out, "armor piercing bullets." Almost at the same time as the command was issued, the right hand swung down sharply.


    Dozens of guns issued a roar in order, the shell whistling out of the barrel flew to the distance, landed in the enemy''s line and exploded. From the telescope, I can see that although most of the shells fell around the enemy tanks and exploded, three tanks were hit by armor piercing bullets, and the body of the tanks had caught fire, and the tongues of fire were jumping happily in the rolling black smoke.


    The trucks that followed the tank stopped, and the German soldiers jumped out of the trucks in a hurry, scattered, trotted behind the tank and rushed in our direction.


    "Attention, all!" "Reload, aim at the front tank, fire, use armor piercing bullets. Distance, two kilometers, ruler... "He pauses a little, then breathes out his breath and yells," let go! "


    The rumble of guns covered all the sounds around. The armor piercing shells flew to the smoke in the distance and to the tanks in front of the enemy line. After more than 20 shells fell to the ground and exploded, shrapnel flew everywhere, and the flame of explosion was flashing. The five leading tanks emitted black smoke. After driving for a certain distance, they stopped in the same place and began to burn.


    When I was looking at it, I felt that someone beside me patted me on the shoulder. I turned around and saw that it was trekov. He pointed to the infantry position and yelled something to me, but my ears were shocked by the high decibel gunfire. I couldn''t hear what he said clearly. Just wanted him to say it again, he had already run to the infantry position.


    I realized that he wanted me to go back to the infantry position with him. Just after two steps, he suddenly saw the body of the artillery commander who was lying in a pool of blood. He immediately understood why Zhukov had said such a strange thing to me on the phone yesterday. You know, it''s an extraordinary time. In troubled times, he used heavy allusions. He was worried that I would be disobeyed in the name of battlefield when I contradicted the unreasonable superior, I will die in vain when I die. There is no place to cry out for injustice. Thinking about this, I added some gratitude to Zhukov. At the same time, I quickened my pace and chased after him.


    Back in the infantry position, trakov jumped into the trench, and the soldiers of the guard company who had been waiting by the car also jumped into the trench. Trekov looked back at me, shook his head and said, "come with me!" Although my hearing has recovered, I still feel like a ball of cotton in my ear. Trakov''s voice is almost inaudible. If he didn''t walk forward again, I still can''t guess what he said.


    Under the guidance of the soldiers, we came to the command post. As soon as I entered the gate, I found that the so-called command post was actually a narrow trench. It was only one meter wide and five or six meters long. It was difficult for people to turn around in it. There was a captain sitting in front of him. A lieutenant was standing on his side. They were talking. Seeing us coming in, he stood up, raised his hand and said, "Hello, general! Do you have any instructions? "


    Trekov looked them up and down, and asked slowly, "I said, which army are you two from?"


    The lieutenant preempted and said, "report general, we are under the command of Colonel lyudnikov. Yesterday, he received an order from general trakov, deputy commander of the group army, to let us both come here to take over the unit without commander."


    "I''m trekov." After showing his identity, trakov looked out from the observation port of the command post and asked the two commanders sternly, "the enemy troops are attacking here under the cover of tanks, trying to seize the 74th passing station. What''s your plan?"


    The captain waved his fist and said firmly, "Comrade General, what else can we do? Fight. As long as the enemy dares to approach our position, we will teach them a lesson with our weapons. "


    Trikov beckoned to the captain, asked him to come to him, pointed to the enemy attack line that was being ravaged by our artillery, and said to the captain, "Comrade captain, you see, the enemy''s tanks have been severely attacked by our artillery. The infantry behind them are now in chaos. If they can take this opportunity to attack, they will be defeated. "


    After hearing this, the captain said with some embarrassment: "Comrade deputy commander, this may be a bit difficult. You know, we only have 200 people now. If we want to launch an attack on the enemy, it''s just like..."


    In the middle of the captain''s words, he stopped. Trekov immediately took over the topic and said coldly, "Comrade captain, are you worried that these two hundred people will rush up to the tiger''s mouth?"


    After hearing this, the captain did not deny it. He nodded his head and agreed.


    Seeing the captain politely saying that he can''t carry out the orders given by trakov, I can''t help but worry about him. You know, the artillery commander just now is better than him. He''s just a captain, but others are lieutenant colonel. Trakov doesn''t mean to die. But he didn''t get angry. He pointed to the outside and said to the captain, "Comrade captain, look outside. The enemy''s tanks are badly beaten by our artillery. Those infantry who have lost their tank cover have lost their fighting spirit. As long as we have a counter charge, we can defeat them."


    At this time, a loud charge came from the outside, and then there was a cry that was suppressed by the sound of guns. Trikov frowned and asked, "Comrade captain, what''s the matter? Where did the troops begin to attack? "


    The captain''s head shook like a rattle: "I don''t know, you know I haven''t given any orders to the troops, they won''t attack without authorization."


    A report came out of the door. The captain called out, "come in!" Finish saying, from our side side body walked to the door.


    A soldier came in outside the door, raised his hand to salute and reported to the captain, "report to the captain, the infantry unit of the division headquarters, under the cover of the tank battalion, launched a charge against the enemy. Comrade lieutenant, let me ask for your advice. What should we do? Will you continue to hold your position, or will you attack with the troops of the division headquarters? "


    The captain waved his hand and said in a loud voice, "go back and tell the lieutenant, blow the charge, we''ll attack all the way."


    After the soldiers left, the captain turned around and saluted trikov, saying, "Comrade deputy commander, since the main force of the Division has already launched an attack, we will follow suit and the position will be handed over to you."


    I went outside to arrange security connection for defense. After that, I returned to the command post and stood at the observation port with trakov to look out. The enemy''s attacking troops were overwhelmed by our artillery. Now when I saw our tanks and infantry launched a counter charge, I was immediately flustered. I roared and stepped up the accelerator and turned around to escape. Seeing that the tanks that covered them all fled, large groups of German infantry began to flee.


    The assault speed of our army''s tanks was very fast. In just a few minutes, they broke into the enemy''s line, let go of the infantry who ran around, and chased the butt of the enemy''s tanks. A few slow running tanks, soon out of the smoke, stopped at the side of the road and began to burn. The infantry, who followed, used their machine guns, submachine guns and rifles to attack the enemy, and the defeated enemy was knocked down one by one.


    Just as our army gradually gained the initiative in the battlefield, groups of enemy planes appeared in the air. They dived at our charge team, dropped bombs and strafed, effectively preventing our army from pursuing. Several other tanks were either torn apart by the bomb or overturned in the crater by the blast.


    Although many tanks were destroyed and hundreds of commanders and fighters fell under the fire of the enemy planes, they did not return immediately. Instead, they were lying on the ground or hiding in craters to shoot at the enemy.


    When the enemy ground forces, which had been defeated, saw their fighters coming to help them, they also stabilized their position, pressed back on them, and launched counter fire with tank shells and infantry fire.


    The tank shells of both sides roared out of the guns and flew to the other side''s position. In the sound of explosions and machine gun fire, from time to time the enemy''s or our tanks were destroyed, and from time to time the soldiers or soldiers of both sides fell in a pool of blood.


    Seeing this scene, trikov clenched his teeth tightly and smashed his fist on the earth wall. He said indignantly, "damn the Germans, if they don''t have the air supremacy, our troops will charge again, and they will be completely defeated."


    After the enemy planes bombed on the battlefield, they turned around and bombed our artillery positions and the 74th passing station. The bomb roared down from the sky, landed nearby and exploded, which made the earth above us fall continuously. In a short time, trekov and I became disheartened.


    Trekov shook his head, shook off the mud from his hat, and then said to me, "o''shanina, let''s go to the division headquarters of lyudnikov. I think the enemy is trying to seize this meeting station today. We must firmly hold on here."


    At the risk of being hit by enemy bombs or airborne machine guns, we bent over and trotted to the division headquarters of lyudnikov. On the road, I clearly saw that the artillery position was unfortunately hit by the enemy''s bomb, and half of the position fell into a sea of fire. I don''t know how many officers and soldiers on the position will survive when the battle is over.


    When we ran into the headquarters of lyudnikov''s division, we startled him. He rushed to meet him. He didn''t even care about the military salute, so he asked in a hurry, "Comrade commander, how did you come here?" Seeing that we were covered with dirt, he asked with concern, "where are you from? No injuries? "


    Trikov brushed the dust off his shoulder and said with disapproval, "I came from the position near the 74th meeting. All the commanders and fighters in the position have participated in the attack."


    "Isn''t that position unguarded?" Lyudnikov became nervous when he heard what trakov said. "It''s not good if there''s no one to guard. In that case, the enemy can pass by at any time to occupy and make way." Then he began to shout out to his men, "come on! Come on


    Trikov stopped his fussy action and said lightly, "you don''t have to worry about that position. I''ll send a guard company to guard there. The enemy can''t sneak past."


    A soldier had already run in with lyudnikov''s cry, saluted the colonel and asked, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"


    Lyudnikov waved his hand and said, "it''s OK. You go out."


    The soldier turned and left without saying a word.


    Lyudnikov asked trakov to sit down, brought him a cup of hot tea, and began to complain: "Comrade commander, I don''t know when our fighters will be able to go out? You see, without air supremacy, our anti shock action will not succeed. If the enemy plane had arrived five minutes late just now, I believe we would have completely defeated the enemy who came here. "


    "I also want to know where our air force is. Without air supremacy, even if we have more tanks and artillery than the enemy, it is useless. As long as they have a round of bombing, the charge we have managed to organize will be repulsed. "


    Both of them were silent. I could only stand beside them foolishly and didn''t dare to speak.


    After a while, trikov took a sip of tea. As he put down his cup, he asked, "Colonel lyudnikov, do you have any reserves in your hand now?"


    Lyudnikov nodded and replied, "there are still two guard companies. I don''t know which position the commander plans to send them to."


    Trekov replied without thinking, "send them to the station 74. From today''s situation, the target of the enemy''s attack is to give way. If the enemy seizes the passing station, then the troops transferred from our army will not be able to complete the assembly by railway. "


    Lyudnikov didn''t immediately respond to trakov''s order. After pondering for a while, he tentatively said: "Comrade commander, the enemy is currently engaged in fierce fighting with our counter attack forces. In a short time, they should not be able to launch a charge against the passing station. Well, I''ll call the military commander and ask him about the deployment there, and then decide whether to send the two companies to the meeting station. "


    Seeing that trikov nodded slightly, lyudnikov quickly picked up the telephone on the desk, dialed it and said aloud, "is it the military commander? This is colonel lyudnikov. What''s the situation there? Have you found any trace of the enemy? "


    The commander replied politely, "report, comrade Colonel, according to my observation, the enemy has no possibility of attacking the passing station for the time being. At present, I have ordered the Security Council to let the soldiers from the two platoons of the station enter the position, and have made all preparations for fighting, ready to inflict heavy damage on the enemy at any time. "


    Lyudnikov said, "well done, comrade commander of the military transport." Then he hung up the phone and said to trikov, "Comrade commander, the military commander has ordered the Security Council to let the troops directly under the station into the position. I believe they can resist the enemy''s attack in a short time. In this way, we don''t need to send these two companies to the meeting station for the time being. Instead, we will leave them and use them in more important areas. "


    From time to time, the war reports on the front line were reported to lyudnikov by telephone. After lyudnikov answered the phone, he reported the war to trikov word for word.


    With the departure of the enemy plane, the battle between the enemy and US started between the tanks of the two armies, and the infantry of both sides did not charge against each other. A few hours later, as the tanks on both sides were exhausted, the battle went into a stalemate.


    Lyudnikov asked trakov, "Comrade commander, at present, the ammunition consumption of both sides is very large, and the morale is also beginning to decline. Do you think you want to order the troops to withdraw temporarily for rest?"


    Trekov shook his head and said firmly, "no, we can''t withdraw. We are tired, so is the enemy. Once we retreat, if the enemy comes up from behind, our troops will break up. "


    "What should we do?"


    Instead of answering him, trakov turned to me and asked, "commander oshanina, what are you going to do if you''re a commander?"


    "Put two companies as reserves into position immediately. The enemy is exhausted. They can''t stop our new force. I believe that as the reserves enter the battlefield, the enemy will be defeated by us. "


    "Are you sure these two companies can achieve the effect you said when they put into the battlefield?" Trekov looked at me and asked seriously.


    I nodded without hesitation. Now that both the enemy and us are at the last moment, the input of this new force is bound to become the last straw to defeat the German camel.


    Seeing that I was particularly sure, trakov nodded with satisfaction, turned to lyudnikov and said, "in that case, comrade Colonel, you can send these two companies to attack."


    Lyudnikov sighed helplessly and said, "well, I''ll give orders to the troops now."


    He picked up the phone, did not wait for the handle, a commander rushed in. As soon as he saw it, he knew that he had come from the battlefield. His face was black, his whole body was sweating, and he was gasping.


    When lyudnikov saw him, he put down the receiver, walked from the table to the commander and asked, "what''s the matter?"


    The commander looked happy and exclaimed excitedly, "report to our division commander, reinforcements, reinforcements, our reinforcements are here!"


    "Reinforcements!" Not only surprised lyudnikov and me, but also trekov jumped up from his seat, came to the commander with a lunge, grabbed him by the shoulder, and asked aloud, "what reinforcements, where did they come from?"


    The commander shook his head and replied, "report, comrade general, I don''t know what part they belong to. Anyway, they just got off the military line in the meeting station, and the leading forces have already launched a charge to the area where the enemy and us are deadlocked. "

 Chapter 491

    "Who are you? Comrade commander. " Trekov asked coldly.


    I habitually looked at the other party''s badge and found that it was actually a battalion political commissar. It seems that he was either the political commissar of the division or the director of the political department. Thinking of this, I couldn''t help looking at lyudnikov standing on one side.


    When lyudnikov asked about it, he just wanted to make an introduction. The commander had straightened up and saluted him. He replied in a loud voice, "Comrade deputy commander of the report, I''m jitov, political commissar of the battalion level. Now I''m the political commissar of the 138th division."


    After turning around him with his back hand, he suddenly asked, "since you are the commissar of the division, where have you gone since you don''t stay in the headquarters to fight with colonel lyudnikov?"


    "Report, comrade deputy commander, I have been ordered to lead the troops to carry out counter assault against the enemy," Titov replied loudly


    "Since you are leading the troops to carry out counter assault, how can you leave the troops behind and run back alone?" Trekov was obviously questioning.


    Titov''s body was still straight, and he replied humbly: "Comrade commander, on the battlefield, the tanks of the enemy and us were all lost, and our infantry, like the enemy''s infantry, were exhausted and unable to attack. I came back to the division headquarters because I thought that there were still two company reserves in the division. If they were put into combat, the stalemate on the battlefield would be reversed at one stroke. "


    Trikov''s tense face eased down and asked kindly, "commissar jitov, it''s like transferring the reserves. You can make a phone call. You don''t have to run back to the headquarters yourself."


    "Comrade commander, please allow me to explain to you." Titov calls trakov deputy commander, while lyudnikov habitually calls him commander. After seeing trekov''s nod, lyudnikov went on to report: "our division has no other communication equipment except a radio station and a small number of telephones at present. Most of the time, we have to convey orders to the lower level, and we can only let the signalmen carry orders to inform the troops. " Speaking of this, he lowered the volume and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, can you supply some communication equipment for our division?"


    Trekov shook his head with a wry smile and said, "I want to not only supply your division with communication equipment, but also supply you with weapons and ammunition, and even send you a reserve team. But I can''t do it. At present, a considerable part of the logistics supply of the group army is still on the train from Tula to Stalingrad. It is still unknown whether it can be transported smoothly. "


    After trakov finished, the headquarters fell into a brief calm.


    Seeing that several people were speechless, I quickly stepped forward and said to trikov, "Comrade commander, let''s go outside and have a look. Maybe our troops have repulsed the enemy."


    "Yes, yes, yes, comrade commander, let''s go out and have a look." Lyudnikov saw that I had relieved him, looked at me gratefully, and echoed.


    "Come on. By the way, let''s see which army just arrived by train. "


    When we went out of the division headquarters, came to a nearby hillside, and looked at the battlefield with binoculars, we found that the battle was over. The enemy''s tank troops have been completely annihilated, and dozens of abandoned tanks are smoking in the grassland. As for the infantry, there were not many people who escaped. Most of them were either killed or captured by our army. At the moment, our officers and men are cleaning the battlefield, some are collecting weapons and ammunition from the enemy, some are treating the wounded.


    After looking at the battlefield for a while, I turned my telescope to the location of the artillery position, where the smoke of gunpowder filled the air. There were only four or five intact cannons left on the position, and there were not many people around. This shows how heavy the casualties of the artillery regiment were in the air raid just now.


    At this time, jitov suddenly pointed to the distance and yelled: "Comrade deputy commander, look, someone is coming, maybe the commander of that army."


    I looked in the direction of his finger and saw a group of soldiers coming towards us. A few people in front of them were wearing big eaves hats. At a glance, they knew that they were commanders, followed by a group of soldiers wearing helmets. Without saying a word, trikov put the telescope away, took it in his hand, and went down the hill to meet the soldiers.


    As the group of soldiers approached, I could see clearly that a major general was walking in the front, a colonel in his left rear, and a political worker in his right rear, followed by Guard soldiers.


    They stop in front of trekov, and the three commanders raise their hands to salute him. After giving a salute, trakov politely asked, "I''m deputy commander of the 64th army. Mr. trakov, general, what part of the army are you from?"


    The major general straightened up, his hands drooping naturally, his fingers sticking to the seams of his trousers, stepped forward and replied, "general trakov, we are from the 98th infantry division. I''m major general grazikov Then he leaned aside, pointed to the two commanders behind him and said, "this is chief of staff, Col. Xie Liaojin, political commissar Tarkin."


    After shaking hands with the three of them in turn, trakov introduced us. He started with lyudnikov: "this is colonel lyudnikov, the commander of the 138th infantry division. Next to him is Comrade Titov, his political commissar." But when he introduced me, he stopped for a moment and seemed to be thinking about what identity I should be given. After a while, he said slowly, "this lieutenant colonel o''shanina is temporarily the chief of staff of the group army."


    After shaking hands, grazikov and lyudnikov came to me and said in a friendly way, "Comrade commander, I didn''t expect you to hold such an important position in the headquarters of the group army at such a young age."


    I didn''t know how to reply him, so I had to smile at him.


    After we got to know each other, we went back to the division headquarters of lyudnikov. Trikov asked curiously, "general gorazkov, how did your division suddenly appear in the 74th meeting station? Is there any combat mission? "


    Gorazkov nodded and replied, "yes, comrade deputy commander. Our division received an order from the higher authorities. The whole division took the military line and rushed to the Dun River to assist the 112th infantry division of the 62nd group army to attack the German troops who had built Fortifications on the left bank of the Dun River and destroy them or drive them across the Dun river. "


    "Wait a minute, Comrade General." "What did you say just now, the 112th division of the 62nd army? You know, this division belongs to the combat sequence of our 64th army. "


    Gorazkov took off his hat, raised his hand to touch the back of his bare head, and said awkwardly, "Comrade deputy commander, that''s what I was ordered to say. Originally, our division was subordinate to the 64th group army, but when the army boarded the vehicle, it received an order saying that we had been assigned to the 62nd group army. "


    After hearing this, trakov''s face changed greatly, and he walked back and forth in the room without saying a word. After walking for a while, he stopped, turned around and asked lyudnikov, "Comrade Colonel, can your division''s radio contact the headquarters of the group army?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Lyudnikov immediately gave a positive answer.


    After contacting shumilov, trikov asked hastily, "Comrade commander, why is the 112th division in the 62nd army?"


    Shumilov quickly comforted him and said, "don''t worry, comrade trakov. Listen to me. After you left, we received a phone call from the headquarters of the front army, saying that in order to facilitate command, the headquarters decided to assign the 112th and 229th infantry divisions and other units originally belonging to our group army to the 62nd group army. At the same time, we will allocate other newly formed forces to our 64th army. "


    "I just met with major general gorazkov, the commander of the 98th division, and learned from him that they were going to rush to the Dun River to coordinate with the 112th division. The two divisions attacked each other from left to right to destroy the enemy who occupied the left bank of the Dun river. Is that so? "


    "Yes, comrade trekov." Shumilov replied patiently: "this is a death order from the headquarters of the front army. It must be completed today. However, since it is the combat task of the 62nd army, you need not worry about it. After all, you are still the deputy commander of the 64th army, not the commander of the 62nd army. "


    "No, general shumilov." Trekov said firmly, "how can two forces that are not familiar with each other cooperate in an unfamiliar area? I have to go to the Dun River to coordinate and command their operations, so as to ensure that I can complete the orders assigned by the headquarters of the front army. "


    Shumilov was silent for a moment, and then agreed to trakov''s proposal. He also specially told him, "Comrade trakov, you''d better contact Colonel Sologub of the 112th division immediately to discuss the attack time of both sides, so as to ensure the favorable cooperation between them."


    "I see. General shumilov, please don''t worry. I''ll get in touch with Sologub."


    "In that case, I wish you good luck! General trakov, take care


    After interrupting the communication with shumilov, trakov gave the call code of the 112th division to the signalman and asked him to contact the division headquarters of the division.


    Soon Sologub''s low voice came out of the microphone: "Hello, this is Mr. Sologub, Colonel. Where are you?"


    "Hello, comrade Colonel, I''m trekov," trekov said aloud


    "Comrade General, do you have any instructions?" Sologub asked politely.


    "Comrade Colonel, where are your troops?"


    "On the right bank of the don, Comrade General."


    "What?" After hearing this, trikov was surprised and asked, "if you want to carry out the order to attack the left bank German army, don''t you want to cross the Don river by force?"


    "Absolutely right, Comrade General."


    "Are there enough ships?" Trekov asked with concern.


    "We didn''t collect many boats. Because they were all small boats, we could only transport infantry. The rest of the heavy guns and trucks were left on the right bank."


    "When are you going to attack?"


    "In about an hour. During the attack, my artillery director, Colonel godlevski, will provide us with the necessary artillery support for the attack. "


    "Listen, Colonel Sologub." Trekov said eagerly, "I will take the 98th division with you to the river Don as soon as possible and attack the German troops on the left bank of the river Don with you. I beg you to let the artillery fire take a longer time to prepare, try to use the artillery fire to destroy the enemy''s resistance and reduce the casualties of troops crossing the river. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander. I will carry out your order firmly."


    As soon as the communication with Sologub was over, trakov urged gorazkov: "Comrade General, please urge your troops to get on the train as soon as possible, take the military train along the railway line and get to the Dun River as soon as possible, and attack Col. Sologub''s forces from left to right, so as to wipe out all the German troops on the left bank."


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander, I''m going to deploy it now." Gorazkov gave a loud promise and left the division headquarters with his two deputies.


    After gorazkov and them left, I asked trakov softly, "Comrade commander, what shall we do?"


    "Go back to the car. We drove to the Dayton River by car, and then we found a high ground where we would set up the command post and command the two divisions to fight together. "


    As a result of trekov''s urging, the driver drove very fast. In less than 40 minutes, we followed the railway to the place only three or four kilometers away from the Don river. Here, the railway leading to the Don river railway bridge has been blown off. At least a few hundred meters long railway track has become a twisted twist. It seems that the 98th division''s troops have to get off and walk after they arrive here.


    We climbed up a nearby hillside. There were craters on the top of the hillside. Trekov jumped into a crater more than half a person deep, looked left and right, and said, "the view here is wide. The temporary headquarters is here."


    I couldn''t help looking up in the air when I saw that trakov had set up the command post in the crater. I was afraid that the enemy''s plane would appear in the sky at this time. Trikov looked at my absent-minded look and said with some displeasure, "o''shanina, what are you looking at? Don''t let the messenger move the telephone here soon." I quickly convergence mind, a loud promise, run downhill to find still stay in the car signalman.


    After our headquarters were set up, the force crossing operation of the 112th division began.


    First, the artillery of the 112th division fired at the German position on the left bank. I don''t know why, each gun only fired a few shells, then stopped shooting, and then the infantry of the division began to force action.


    I saw through the telescope that the equipment for infantry to cross the river was really poor. Except for two or three ferries full of commanders and fighters, the rest of the soldiers were forced to cross the river with wooden rafts and a few door panels tied together. Seeing this scene, my heart was half cold. I said, Colonel Sologub, don''t you want your department to come down and die? A few machine guns were mounted on the ferry, which could suppress the enemy''s firepower to a certain extent. However, the wooden rafts and door panels that the soldiers rowed by hand were the living targets without any self-defense ability. As long as the German guns fire at the same time, your troops will almost die before crossing the river.


    As soon as I thought about it, the German artillery on the left bank opened fire. The roaring shells landed in the dense forced crossing line and exploded. Water columns burst into the sky. From time to time, wooden rafts and door panels, together with the officers and soldiers on them, were blown to pieces. Some rafts were broken up, and the officers and men fell into the rolling Don river one after another. They were swept down by the turbulent river.


    "What are you doing, Colonel Sologub? Why don''t you fire? Are you going to keep your heavy guns? We don''t need artillery to suppress the enemy''s artillery. They can annihilate all our troops crossing the river just like shooting at a target! I command you to fire immediately! Get all the shells out


    Unexpectedly, Sologub''s anxious voice came from the opposite: "Comrade commander, it''s not that I don''t let the artillery fire, our shells are all finished. Don''t worry, even if there is no artillery cover, I promise to complete the task. I''ll get on board immediately and lead the soldiers to the left bank. " With that, the call was terminated.


    Trekov held the microphone without any sound and looked ahead. He looked into the distance at the fiery Don river. Inadvertently, a crystal tears, along his cheek down to the jaw.


    Just then, the whistle of the train came from the foot of the mountain. I turned around and saw that the train full of 98th division troops was coming in our direction. I quickly called to trikov: "Comrade commander, you see, the 98th division''s troops are coming. As long as they attack from the enemy''s rear, they can surely cover the 112th division''s successful landing on the left bank and wipe out the enemy."


    Five minutes later, gorazkov and his political commissar ran up the hill breathlessly and stood on the top of the crater to salute trekov: "Comrade General, the 98th Division has arrived smoothly. At present, the deputy division commander is assembling troops. It is estimated that in ten minutes, he can launch an attack on the enemy."


    "That''s great," trakov said. After two steps, he jumped out of the crater and pointed to gorazkov in the distance?, At present, the 112th division is crossing the river by force. Because all their shells have been fired, the artillery can not provide the necessary artillery cover for the infantry crossing the river, and can not suppress the artillery fire of the enemy on the left bank, so that the troops crossing the river suffer heavy casualties. "


    Gorazkov took the telescope in trakov''s hand, looked at it, and then said firmly: "please rest assured, comrade general, I will personally lead the troops to attack. I must occupy the enemy''s Riverside position as soon as possible and cover the smooth landing of the 112th division." Then he turned to his political commissar and said, "Comrade political commissar, you should immediately spread out the artillery of the division under the hillside to bombard the enemy''s positions and relieve the pressure of the troops crossing the river."

 Chapter 492

    Gorazkov, who accepted the mission, returned the telescope to trikov. After saluting, he and his political commissar walked down the mountain together. And trekov and I jumped back into the crater that served as a temporary command post.


    Smelling the faint smell of blood in the smoke of gunpowder blown by the river wind, I watched the enemy''s shells constantly fall in the middle of the river crossing team. From time to time, they smashed the brave soldiers and their boats, raised the fragments of ships and human limbs and arms high into the air, and scattered them in the torrent of the Don river. Fortunately, the river crossing equipment that was not hit by chance was also not easy to worry about. The weak rafts or door panels also burst into the sky from time to time, and the water column overturned. After the soldiers on them fell into the water, except for a few people who grasped the wooden board or broken wood and continued to float on the water, the rest were swept away by the turbulent river water. Seeing this scene, my heart can''t help pulling.


    Just when I was worried about the fate of the 112th division crossing troops, a loud slogan came from the hillside: "speed up the March, quick! Come on! Run


    "Left left left right left!" A neat young man followed by the sound of Qi''s footsteps. Hundreds of pairs of boots on the ground covered the sound of guns in the distance. A large group of armed soldiers, led by the commander, ran down the hill. Although I don''t know their combat effectiveness, I know that they have been strictly trained from their uniform pace and slogan.


    "Look! Comrade commander. " I quickly called trakov, pointed to the troops passing by from the hillside and said excitedly, "look, our troops are coming up."


    Trikov looked at the troops passing by from the hillside, with a happy smile on his face. He nodded slightly and said with satisfaction, "general gorazkov''s troops look good. I hope we can fight later. Don''t let me down."


    The troops came to the front of the hillside. With a command from the commander, the troops stopped, then turned left in unison, and the whole team faced the direction of the Don river. A commander ran out from the far right of the line and came to the front of the line. Because the distance is not far, I can see that the commander is Xie Liaojin, the deputy commander of the 98th division, without a telescope. I wanted to hear what he would say to his men, so I put my hands on the edge of the crater, leaned forward and listened.


    "Comrades! Our division has been ordered to cooperate with the friendly forces in fighting and to wipe out all the enemies who have occupied the left bank of the Don river. " Speaking of this, he leaned slightly and pointed to the direction of the Don river behind him. "Our friendly forces are now crossing the wide Don River under the fierce fire of the enemy. Because they didn''t have the support of artillery fire, and they didn''t have enough crossing equipment, they suffered heavy casualties in the process of crossing the river. We can''t watch them being destroyed by the enemy, so we must help them, launch an attack immediately from behind the enemy, attract the enemy''s attention and relieve the pressure on the attacking troops. Do you have the confidence to finish the task? "


    "Yes!" The commanders and fighters were shouting in unison.


    Colonel Xie Liaojin nodded with satisfaction, turned his head and called out to the line: "the flagman is out of line."


    With his shouts, a soldier carrying a flag at the far right of the line trotted to him. Then solemnly shook the 98th division flag, let the glorious flag fly in the wind.


    Xie Liaojin stepped forward, bent down, devoutly held up a corner of the flag with both hands, and affectionately kissed it.


    There was a moment of silence in the whole team, and everyone watched the Colonel''s every move in silence.


    Xie Liaojin stood up straight, raised his fist, and solemnly vowed: "for the glory of the 98th infantry division, we swear!"


    "We swear!" The commanders and fighters raised their fists just like him.


    "We are invincible Xie Liaojin took the lead in taking the oath.


    "We are invincible The commanders repeated his oath.


    "Vow to drive the German aggressors out of the border and let the flag of victory fly over the Soviet Union forever!"


    "Flying forever!"


    At the end of the oath, the Colonel pulled out his pistol, raised it high above his head, and once again cried out, "all spread out in a scattered formation and march towards the Don river!"


    The troops at the foot of the hillside quickly spread out, forming a line of 78 or 80 people, each with an interval of about five meters. The commanders and fighters, armed with rifles, submachine guns and machine guns, strode forward with their heads held high. Xie Liaojin and the flagman walked shoulder to shoulder at the right end of the team.


    "This is a good Colonel sherokin." Trekov didn''t know when to stand beside me, and he also bent over to watch what happened at the foot of the hill. "He didn''t launch an attack immediately after the troops entered the offensive position, but first encouraged the morale of the officers and men with honor, and then launched the attack. I don''t think the enemy can stop them. "


    I raised my hand, looked at my watch, turned to the back, and said to myself, "didn''t general gorazkov mean to let the artillery provide artillery support for the infantry immediately? Ten minutes have passed since then. Why hasn''t the gun been fired yet? "


    Trikov said with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, you are too impatient. It will take more than half an hour at the fastest to unload the artillery from the army and build a good artillery position. "


    "Half an hour?" I looked at the formation of the scattered soldiers who were marching towards the enemy''s position, and I could not help worrying and said, "for such a long time, Xie Liaojin''s troops have almost entered the range of the enemy''s rifles, and there will be no small casualties at that time."


    The situation was much worse than I expected. The attacking troops were discovered by the enemy within 500 meters. In the loose line of attack, suddenly puffed up a column of smoke, it is the enemy with mortar bombardment. Our team braved the enemy''s artillery fire to advance. After the shell exploded, shrapnel flew everywhere, knocking down our commanders and fighters from time to time, but soon the people behind them quickened their pace to make up for the position above.


    Although the enemy''s artillery fire caused a lot of casualties to our troops, there was no sign of any stagnation in the speed of the whole army''s advance. In a twinkling of an eye, we had already passed half the distance and entered the range of the enemy''s heavy machine guns.


    The enemy''s heavy machine guns fired. Walking in the front row of the commanders and fighters, in the dense rain of bullets, shaking down a large area. Even the flag fell down, but it was soon put up again. The commanders and fighters behind did not stop, and continued to make great strides forward.


    Just then, I heard the sound of cannonballs coming out of the back of the hillside, and then countless cannonballs roared over our heads and flew to the enemy''s positions. Black plumes of smoke suddenly rose from the enemy''s positions, with weapon parts and human limbs flying into the sky. The machine guns that used to shoot wildly were suddenly dumbfounded.


    Seeing that our artillery was on the offensive, Col. Xie Liaojin issued an order in time, and the officers and men made a trot charge instead of a big step forward, and quickly rushed to the enemy''s defensive position. Because the position mainly defends the direction of Don river, and the defense on the opposite side is weaker, the commanders and fighters quickly rushed into the trench and started close combat with the enemy inside. When the artillery observer saw that our army had broken into the position, he sent out a signal in time to let the artillery fire.


    I turned my eyes from the position that the enemy and us were fighting for to the surface of the Don river. To my surprise, I found that several ferries were approaching the shore, followed by a large number of rafts. On the front ferry, there was a flag. Although it was too far to see clearly, I estimated that it was the flag of the 112th division.


    Heavy and heavy machine guns were mounted in front of the ferries. As they drove, they fired fiercely at the enemy positions on the shore, using fire to suppress the enemy''s fire points and cover the troops crossing the river. Although the enemy was attacked by us from front to back, it is obvious that they will not wait to die, and their resistance is still tenacious. They even bombarded our ships on the Don with mortars.


    The ferry with the flag was about to go ashore, but unfortunately it was hit by a shell, and the front half of the ship was immediately surrounded by smoke and fire. Then I saw some people with fire all over them rush into the river from the side of the boat, trying to put out the burning fire. Unfortunately, the officers and men who jumped into the river became the targets of the enemy''s machine guns on the shore. After several struggles, they sank to the bottom of the river or were washed away.


    For fear that the artillery might hurt his own people, trakov ordered our artillery to stop firing. Gorazkov, commander of the 98th division, led another unit and rushed to the front line to fulfill his promise to trakov.


    With the expansion of the positions occupied by the 98th division''s commanders and fighters, the enemy''s resistance became weaker and weaker. The officers and men who crossed the river were able to get on the left bank smoothly, and also rushed into the enemy''s position to eliminate the remaining enemy with the friendly forces.


    When the gunfire on the shore gradually subsided, trakov breathed a sigh of relief and said, "thank God, we have finally wiped out all the enemies on the left bank." Then he ordered the signalman squatting in the corner of the crater: "signalman, contact commander General shumilov immediately and tell him that after the tenacious fighting of the 98th and 112th divisions, we have completely annihilated the German troops on the left bank. The battlefield is being counted, and the specific results will be reported after counting. "


    Now that the battle is over, trakov will definitely go to the battlefield to inspect. However, we didn''t have to walk like the commanders and fighters for such a long distance. Instead, we took a jeep, so it only took us a few minutes to get there.


    As soon as trikov got out of the car, he saw general gorazkov and Col. seryokin coming to meet us. He walked quickly, took gorazkov''s hand, shook it hard and said, "good job, general gorazkov. The officers and men of the 98th division are all good. Because you launched the attack in time, you can achieve such a great victory in such a short time. "


    Then he extended his hand to Xie Liaojin and said with admiration, "Comrade Colonel, your way of boosting morale is very effective. Do well, fight a few more such battles, and you will have a chance to get a higher rank. "


    I also went up to shake hands with the two commanders one by one. After shaking hands, I reminded trikov, "Comrade commander, should we go to the 112th division?"


    "You are right, comrade oshanina." Perhaps because of the victory, trakov was in a very good mood at the moment. "Come on, let''s go to the 112th division and see Colonel Sologub. General gorazkov, Colonel shariokin, you two should join us


    We walked along the trench, past the bodies of our soldiers and enemy soldiers who had not had time to clean up. Trikov walked forward without squinting, but I slowed down unconsciously. Seeing the corpses almost full of trenches, I can imagine how cruel the battle was.


    As he walked, trakov suddenly cried out, "Hey, isn''t that Colonel mikhalisin?"


    A tall, middle-aged Colonel came to us, stood still, raised his hand to trikov, and politely said, "report commander comrade, lieutenant commander of the 112th division, Colonel mikhalisin, report to you that the troops are cleaning the battlefield, please give instructions!"


    Trekov waved his hand and said, "please go on."


    "Yes Mihalisin gave a loud promise, and then told the men standing around: "continue to clean the battlefield."


    When he finished his assignment, trikov asked, "Comrade deputy division commander, where is your division commander, Colonel Sologub?"


    Mikhalisin bowed his head and replied in a low voice, "report to commander, the division commander was seriously injured while crossing the river."


    "What?" With an unbelievable expression on his face, trakov yelled at mihalisin, "how could he be seriously injured?"


    "When crossing the river, the ferry he took was hit by the enemy''s shells, and he was hit by more than a dozen shrapnel. It was impossible to save him. We put him in a shelter, not far from here. Comrade commander, do you want me to lead the way? "


    "Come on, take me there at once." Trekov urged.


    We soon came to a spacious and humid shelter and saw the famous commander lying on several raincoats on the ground.


    A health worker who was bending over to treat him heard someone come in and asked without looking back, "is the stretcher coming?"


    "Comrade health worker, how is he?" Trekov asked, standing behind him.


    The hygienist turned to look at trikov, quickly stood up, raised his hand to salute, and nervously reported, "Comrade General, I''m the hygienist in the division. Please forgive me. I didn''t know you were here


    Trekov waved his hand and asked with concern, "how''s Colonel Sologub?"


    "Comrade General, I''m not sure." The health worker said incoherently, "he seems to be breathing for a while, but not for a while... If we can operate on him now, he should still be saved."


    "Where are the military doctors?" Trikov asked coldly, "Comrade health man, if you know where he is, go and get him immediately, and operate on the Colonel here."


    "Comrade deputy commander," Col. Xie Liaojin came up to him and said on his own initiative, "there are military doctors in our division. I''m going to invite him here." With that, after seeing that trikov nodded and agreed, he turned and left the shelter.


    "Comrade General." Mikhalisin came over and explained in a low voice: "in order to boost the morale, the division commander personally boarded the ferry to direct the crossing. In order to be easy to identify, he also had the flag inserted in the bow of the ship. When the soldiers across the river saw the flag, their morale was boosted. When the division commander''s ship was about to dock, it was unfortunately hit by the enemy''s shells. "


    "Is there any help? Comrade health worker. " Trekov asked, looking at the hygienist. There seemed to be hope in his heart that Colonel Sologub was alive, but temporarily unconscious.


    The hygienist shook his head, bit his lip and said, "Comrade General, he was shot in the chest. The shrapnel went into his chest and broke the whole chest. And the part below the knee of the right leg was also destroyed by the shell. It lost too much blood and couldn''t be saved. "


    Ignoring the hygienist, trikov squatted down beside Sologub, looked at his smoke blackened face, and whispered, "Colonel Sologub, we have wiped out all the enemies on the left bank of the Don river. You have to stand up and don''t die. There will be many combat tasks in the future. You must survive. Your division is still waiting for you to command. Do you hear me


    Sologub was still lying on the ground, motionless.


    With a sigh, I stepped forward, squatted next to trekov, and looked carefully at Sologub lying on the ground. Only his right leg below the knee are not wrapped with bandages have been red with blood. The chest was also covered with bandages stained red with blood.


    At this time, Xie Liaojin''s voice came from the door: "Comrade commander, the military doctor is coming."


    Trekov quickly stood up and urged, "come in and help Colonel Sologub with the operation."


    A military doctor with a suitcase squatted down beside the colonel, looked into his eyes, reached out and touched his carotid artery, then stood up and shook his head disappointedly and said to trikov, "sorry, comrade general, the Colonel has died."


    Trikov grabbed the military doctor by the collar and said in a loud voice, "what do you say? If you don''t have a good examination, you say he died. If you talk nonsense again, I''ll shoot you. "


    "Why am I talking nonsense, comrade general," said the military doctor angrily¡° You see, his breath is gone and his pulse is gone. And now the blood is coming out of your mouth, you see. "


    But trakov was no longer willing to see Colonel Sologub''s face. His limbs trembled and his throat choked. After a long time, he finally said, "Colonel mikhalisin, please find some soldiers to carry out the remains of division Sologub, find a suitable place and bury him. On the banks of the Don where he died. "


    Then he turned to me and said, "report to commander shumilov that the commander of division 112, Colonel Sologub, had died in the battle. Please arrange a new division commander as soon as possible."

 Chapter 493

    I didn''t speak. I just raised my hand to salute, and finally looked at Sologub''s body on the ground. Then I turned and walked out of the hiding place.


    I walked back along the trench, and from time to time I met the officers and men who were carrying and supporting the wounded. The commanders and fighters all stopped, leaned over, leaned back against the trench wall, raised their hands to salute me, and they didn''t move on until I passed.


    I don''t feel too sad about the sacrifice of Colonel Sologub. I''ve seen too much life and death since the war. During the war, human life was as cheap as grass, not to mention a colonel, even a general might die. In the brutal battle of Stalingrad, Sologub was not a sacrificial colonel. As soon as he was about to raise his hand to salute, trakov stepped forward, took his hand, and warmly said, "Hello, our Soviet hero, nice to meet you here." After shaking hands, he turned to us and said, "maybe you don''t know him yet. This is a hero of the Soviet Union. In addition to lieutenant colonel mikhalisin, the deputy division commander of the 112th division, general gorazkov and Colonel shariokin all came forward one by one to shake hands with him and pay homage to him. When they had finished shaking hands, I came forward, reached out and shook hands with him, and said politely, "Hello, Colonel godlevski. Nice to meet you."


    "You are not simple, comrade commander." Goderevsky took my hand and said in a friendly way: "although I have never seen you before, I have long known you. The fact that you and four soldiers beat back the enemy''s tank troops has greatly inspired the morale of all the officers and men of our division. "


    I don''t think much of what he said. When I was fighting tanks, I was still in the headquarters of the 62nd group army as an adjutant of general korpakchi. At that time, the 112th division was assigned to trakov''s group army from the battle sequence of the 62nd group army. It was too far fetched to talk about boosting morale. But since he talked about it, I couldn''t be too cold, so I laughed at him.


    Unexpectedly, he misunderstood that I was being modest. He patted me on the shoulder with his left hand and turned to the left and right commanders and said, "you see, comrade lieutenant colonel is so modest. He has made such a great contribution, but he is not willing to show off at all. It''s really a rare good commander!"


    Before he could go on, trakov interrupted him and said, "Comrade Colonel, you have to be prepared. I have bad news for you."


    When he heard what trakov said, godlevski''s smiling face became serious. He said with a straight face, "Comrade commander, please tell me!"


    "Your division commander, Colonel Sologub, died in honor while crossing the river?"


    "What?" When he heard the bad news, godlevsky was shocked. His face showed an incredible expression. He grabbed mikhalisin''s arm, shook it hard, and asked aloud, "Comrade deputy division, is general trakov telling the truth?"


    Mikhalisin''s eyes turned red. He nodded slightly to show that what trikov said was true. At the same time, he added: "the ferryboat on which Comrade division took was hit by the enemy''s gunfire when it was near the shore. The explosion of the shells caused the death of the ammunition. There were more than 200 people on board, and less than 50 survived. "


    The deputy division commander and the artillery chief of the 112th division were talking about Sologub''s sacrifice. Trikov quietly pulled me aside and asked in a low voice, "o''shanina, have you reported Sologub to shumilov?" Seeing me nodding, he then asked, "who has he appointed to take over the position of commander of Colonel Sologub?"


    When I heard trekov''s question, I said with some embarrassment: "Comrade commander, it''s comrade sheljiuk, the military commissar of the group army who talked to me. After listening to my report, he said that now the 112th division no longer belongs to the combat sequence of our group army, and they have no right to decide the new division commander."


    After hearing this, trikov slapped his forehead with his palm and scolded in a low voice: "confused, confused!"


    Trekov''s words made me feel very embarrassed. I should have reported it to him in time when I came here just now. As a result, I was busy watching the artillery equipment crossing the river and forgot about it.


    Trikov looked up and saw that I was blushing. He gave me a light smile and explained to me, "o''shanina, don''t be so thoughtful. I''m not talking about you, I''m talking about myself. I am so confused that I should have forgotten such an important thing as to put the 112th division in the 62nd army. "


    Hearing that the commander was apologizing to me, I quickly said, "Comrade commander, I am also wrong about this matter. I should have reported it to you as soon as I saw you


    After godlevski and mikhalisin finished talking, they came to trakov. Qi Qi raised his hand to salute him and asked in one voice, "Comrade commander, who is the new teacher of our division?"


    Trekov spread his hands out, shrugged, and said, "I''m sorry, comrades, I don''t think I can answer your question. Since your division and the 98th division have been assigned to the fighting order of the 62nd group army from today on, I, the deputy commander of the 64th group army, have no right to appoint new division commanders. "


    Mihalisin asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, what can we do? Without a division commander, the troops would be scattered, and their combat effectiveness would be affected... "Comrade commander, comrade commander!" At this moment, a familiar cry came from a distance. I turned to look around and saw the herald sidtorin running towards us. Seeing that sidtorin was running so fast, I guessed that there might be some urgent order to give to trikov, so I said to trikov, "Comrade commander, you see, the messenger sidtorin is running here. It seems that there is some important order to give to you." Trekov nodded in agreement with what I said. Sidtorin came panting in front of us, raised his hand to salute trikov, then handed a piece of paper to him, panting and saying, "Comrade commander, the telegram we just received from the headquarters." Trakov took a look, then turned to goderevsky and mikhalisin, who were standing nearby, and said, "I just received a telegram from commander shumilov, who said that he had just contacted general korpakchi, acting commander of the 62nd army, about Sologub''s sacrifice at school. Now, colpakchi has appointed Colonel yermorkin, the deputy chief of staff of the headquarters, as the new division commander of the 112th division. At present, the colonel is on his way here. You should seize the time to do a good job in reception. " After they agreed, mikhalisin asked, "Comrade commander, would you like to stay and wait for the new teacher?" Trekov waved his hand and said, "I have other things, so I won''t stay here. Good luck to you Then he shook hands with the four commanders of the two divisions one by one and took me to the jeep in a hurry. On the way, I asked curiously, "Comrade commander, where shall we go next?"¡° According to commander shumilov''s orders, we will immediately rush to the 229th division and urge the withdrawal of Colonel sarren''s troops and the 66th marine brigade. "¡° Aren''t these two troops playing very well? Why retreat? " I don''t know about other troops. I stayed in the 229th division two days ago to command the troops with sarin. In front of us, the enemy''s attacks were beaten back again and again, and the division still had the strength to persist for a longer time¡° The present situation is very unfavourable to us, comrade oshanina. " After getting on the jeep, trakov patiently explained to me: "next, we have to face more brutal battles. In this way, we need troops with combat experience to quickly build fortifications along the Volga River to prevent the enemy from quickly approaching Stalingrad." For the first time, I heard from trakov the defensive position of Volga River. It can be seen that the Soviet Army''s resistance in the Don river valley ended in failure. They will gradually retreat from the existing position, enter the new position of Volga River while fighting, and continue to fight with the enemy. As we were about to reach the 229th division, we heard a lot of gunfire coming in front of us. He urged the driver to speed up and get to the division headquarters as soon as possible. The division headquarters was set up on a small hill full of trees. When we arrived at our destination, we found that the division headquarters had been transferred. We did not see sarin, but bandulin, the director of the political department who stayed behind to command the army after it was cut off. Listen to him, the main force of the division and the 66th marine brigade had withdrawn an hour ago, At present, only one battalion and another company are left to take up the blocking task¡° Where is the most intense gunfire? " Trekov asked anxiously¡° Report to commander, "bandurin replied," it''s an unknown highland in front of us. One of our companies is blocking the enemy. If they fail there, the enemy will pounce on us. "¡° Let''s go to the top of the mountain and have a look. " Bandurin had intended to dissuade him, but seeing his serious expression, he opened his mouth and swallowed it back. We came to the observation post on the top of the mountain and looked at the Nameless Highland in front of us with binoculars. Due to the bombardment of the enemy''s cannons and tank guns, the opposite position was shrouded in a thick smoke of gunpowder, and nothing could be seen at all. When the enemy''s shelling stopped, the enemy infantry gathered near the hillside and charged. From the telescope, I could see that on the position surrounded by fireworks, not only could I not see a figure, but also I could not hear a shot. Even when the enemy''s forward troops had approached the hillside carefully, there was still no movement. See this scene, I can''t help but hold a sweat, heart said the position of the commanders and fighters will not be sacrificed, right? I''m worried, and so are trakov and bandurin. Trikov even gave an order to bandulin: "Comrade bandulin, when the enemy reaches the top of the mountain, he immediately orders the heavy and heavy machine guns on our position to open fire, and we must use fire to fight the enemy down."

 Chapter 494

    Bandulin hesitated for a moment when he heard trakov''s order. Then he resolutely picked up the telephone hanging on the wall and repeated his order. He ordered the other party to gather the heavy and heavy machine guns of the whole battalion immediately. When the enemy troops reached the top of the mountain, they would open fire.


    Looking at the empty position on the hillside hundreds of meters away, I said that even if the heavy and heavy machine guns were used to shoot the enemies who climbed the high ground and beat them to death, they would not be able to be driven down from the position without sending troops. When it comes to sending troops in the past, when I look at the open area between the two hillsides again, I can''t help laughing bitterly to myself. The enemy is not blind. When we see our troops in the open area, we don''t have to use big guns and tank guns. In that way, how many of our reinforcements can safely reach the opposite hillside? It''s really hard to say.


    When I was upset, trakov suddenly asked, "what do you think? O''shanina. " Listen to his tone, it seems that he intends to test me.


    I pointed to the opposite hillside, some reluctantly said his own words: "Comrade commander, please see. Although the hillside is lower than this side, and our heavy and heavy machine guns can do great damage to the enemy occupying the position, it seems impossible to drive them down from the position. "


    Trekov raised his telescope and looked at the opposite hillside again. After putting down his telescope, he pointed to the open space between the two hillsides and said in embarrassment, "I know what you mean. You can see that this open space is hundreds of meters wide. If you send troops to reinforce it, you will be killed by German artillery."


    For trekov''s analysis, I just nodded and didn''t say a word. I know that once we open fire, it is bound to attract the enemy''s revenge. Soon, the enemy''s shells will fall on us.


    "Comrade commander," bandurin called out to trikov just as we were at our wits'' end, and reminded him, "look, the enemy will soon climb to the top of the hill."


    "Comrade o''shanina, we can''t care so much now. We can eliminate as much as we want." With that, he resolutely said to bandulin, "Comrade bandulin, give orders to the troops."


    Bandurin picked up the phone that time, shook the phone and said in a determined tone: "Comrade major, order the soldiers to prepare for battle. As soon as the enemy reaches the top of the mountain, he will immediately open fire."


    At this moment, trikov, who had been staring at the enemy on the opposite hillside, suddenly yelled: "wait a minute, comrade bandulin, don''t shoot. There are still our men in the position." Then he raised his telescope, looked over there, and said, "yes, it''s our people, at least a dozen people."


    Hearing what trakov said, I quickly raised my telescope and looked over. There were many floating soil moving on the flattened position on the top of the mountain. It seemed that some buried people were looking outside.


    The fast-moving enemy was only ten steps away from the top of the mountain. At this time, a soldier covered with soil jumped up from the ground and rushed into the middle of the enemy like lightning. Then there was an explosion. When the smoke dispersed, I saw that the soldier had disappeared, and several German soldiers fell around a newly formed crater.


    At this time, only heard a roar from the position, and then the officers and men who climbed out of the clay threw their grenades one after another. The grenade fell in the middle of the enemy and exploded, sending up a lot of smoke, which made the enemy cry, turn around and run down the hill. More than 20 officers and men rushed down with weapons.


    "Well done, these soldiers are wonderful!" Trikov took a picture of bandurin standing beside him and said excitedly, "these soldiers are good. When the battle is over, I will personally honor them."


    As soon as trakov''s words came to an end, the enemy''s tanks stopped at the foot of the hillside and started firing towards our army field on the top of the mountain. One after another, tank shells landed in the pursuit line and exploded. Looking at the flying shrapnel, our soldiers were knocked down one by one, my heart suddenly sank. Although I didn''t say it, I knew in my heart that none of these commanders and fighters would be able to withdraw.


    Sure enough, within a few minutes, almost all the 20 officers and men who attacked fell into the enemy''s fire. The German soldiers, who had just been driven down the mountain by the soldiers, turned their heads and rushed to the top of the mountain.


    "Comrades commander," bandulin saw this situation and asked trikov again, "do I order the heavy and heavy machine guns to be ready to fire as soon as the enemy gets to the top of the mountain?"


    Trekov pondered for a moment, and finally nodded to agree. At the same time, he said helplessly, "well, let the machine gunners be ready, ready to fight."


    Bandurin agreed loudly, and then gave the battle order to his battalion commander by phone.


    Seeing the enemy''s infantry approaching the hilltop position again, I sighed. My heart said that as long as the light and heavy machine guns on our position fire, we will destroy many enemies, but it will soon attract the enemy''s retaliation. We are equal to using the light and heavy machine gun troops to match the enemy''s infantry. We can only see who will achieve more in the end.


    Just when I was disappointed, another 20 or 30 natives jumped out of the floating soil. Some of them were armed with bayonet rifles, some were carrying light machine guns with large disks, and some were holding grenades. They rushed to the enemy with a shout. The German soldiers, who had been frightened by our grenades just now, let out a cry and turned around to run back. Before they ran far away, our brave soldiers had caught up with them and let the tanks under the hillside rotate the turret in vain, but they did not dare to fire easily, so as not to hurt their own people.


    Just then, there was the roar of airplanes in the air. A soldier ran into the observation post from the outside and exclaimed excitedly: "report to the commander, comrade, the plane is our plane!"


    Soon, a flying formation of nine planes appeared in our view. When they got to the battlefield, they quickly adjusted their formation, one by one dived and dropped bombs on the enemy tanks at the foot of the mountain, and strafed the German soldiers all over the hillside with airborne machine guns.


    There was a sudden jubilation in our position.


    After hearing the cheers from outside, trakov breathed a long breath and said to bandulin, "the enemy seems to be retreating. You immediately order the troops to attack. You can destroy as much as you can."


    Bandurin immediately picked up the phone and excitedly said to his men, "Comrade major, it''s time. In addition to leaving one company on guard, the other two companies immediately attacked and cooperated with the troops on the hillside to wipe out the attacking enemy. "


    The enemy was disrupted by the sudden air attack. When the tanks at the foot of the hillside were blasted into scrap iron, the remaining infantry lost the courage to continue fighting. When they saw the two company''s commanders and fighters coming down the mountain like tigers, they were scared out of their wits and began to turn around and run away.


    Seeing that the victory of our army has been decided, trakov said to bandulin, "Comrade director of the political department, you stay in the position. I''ll go to the front to have a look. I''ll personally go to the company after the cruel battle and lead them to withdraw from the position."


    Bandurin also asked with concern: "Comrade commander, do you need me to send you a guard team?"


    Trekov waved his hand and said, "no, when I came, I brought a guard company with me. They just went with me."


    When trakov went down the mountain, he didn''t walk fast at first. I didn''t expect that his pace was getting faster and faster. The guards and I couldn''t even keep up. When we walked up the hillside just now, I saw that the blackened craters on the hillside were getting denser and denser. Near the top of the mountain, it was completely empty soil ploughed by gunfire for several times, and I could not see what the original fortification looked like.


    At the moment, there was silence on the top of the hill. For our arrival, there is no one to come out to welcome us.


    Trekov stood on a slightly higher mound, anxiously shouting, "anyone else?"


    There was no response.


    I quickly followed in shouting: "anyone else?"


    There was still no response.


    Dozens of soldiers of the guard company also followed and yelled: "is there anyone else?"


    With their shouts, a weak voice came from a nearby crater: "I''m here."


    Trakov made a lunge and jumped into the crater. I was afraid that he was in any danger, so I called two soldiers to follow him.


    When I went to the crater and looked inside, I saw that trakov was holding one of the soldiers up. I immediately ordered the two soldiers to help. Two soldiers jumped into the crater, one left and one right, carrying the soldier out of the crater. As soon as he came out of the crater, he saw me standing in front of him. He looked down at my rank, quickly broke away from the soldiers who helped him, and raised his hand to salute me.


    I looked up and down at the soldier. He was tall, his uniform was tattered, his face was black and his eyes were red. After I raised my hand to return the salute, I learned from those leaders, patted him on the shoulder, praised him and said, "good job, comrade soldier. You and your comrades in arms are good. Because of your tenacious fighting, the enemy has never been able to move forward. "


    "Comrade o''shanina, that''s right!" Trekov also climbed out of the crater, just heard what I said, and lost no time to praise me. After that, he went to the soldier''s side, looked up at him and said, "comrades of the soldiers, you are all good


    When the soldier saw that another general appeared in front of him, he was startled and wanted to raise his hand to salute, but he was stopped by trakov. "How many people are left in your company?" trekov asked with concern


    The soldier looked around for a moment and answered with some embarrassment: "report to general, I have 150 people in my company. Now I guess I am the only one left."


    Trekov sighed, patted him on the shoulder and said kindly, "Comrade soldier, your task has been completed successfully. Go back to the back and have a rest first." After that, he told the two soldiers standing beside him, "you two, take him to Comrade bandulin, and ask the health officer to examine him, and then let him have a good rest."


    Two soldiers agreed loudly and helped the survivor down the hill.


    I stood on the hillside and looked down. From the top of the mountain to the foot of the mountain, the whole hillside was strewn with corpses, including the corpses of both the enemy and our soldiers. More than ten meters away from where I was standing, there were several craters still smoldering with broken bodies of soldiers lying in the middle and piles of German bodies lying around the craters.


    Trekov came up to me, looked at the scene on the hillside, and said with emotion: "these are our soldiers. In order to defend our great motherland, they will fight to the last moment of their lives!..."


    Just as trikov was about to continue to express his feelings, Sergeant sidtorin panted up the hillside and came to trikov. After saluting, he reported, "report commander, the headquarters is calling."


    Trekov looked at the soldiers cleaning the battlefield at the foot of the mountain and said without looking back, "o''shanina, read me the telegram."


    When I received the telegram from sidtorin''s hand, I gave him a friendly smile. Then I went back to trikov and began to read the telegram for him: "Comrade trikov, the 229th division and the 66th marine brigade have withdrawn to the designated position. After finishing the blocking task, you and the rear army immediately rush to the assembly site to join them. The military commissar of the group army, sergeuk


    After listening to me read it, trakov took the telegram from my hand, looked at it again, then looked down the mountain with infinite attachment, and said with regret, "it''s a pity that so many soldiers have died. We have no time to bury their bodies, so we are going to retreat." At this point, he turned and ordered sidtorin standing at the back door: "sidtorin, you go down to the two company commanders and ask them to stop cleaning the battlefield and immediately lead the troops to withdraw."


    Half an hour later, we began to retreat.


    The truck used by the soldiers of the guard company was vacated to transport the wounded of the 229th division. Like ordinary infantry soldiers, they walked behind the convoy and slowly retreated eastward.


    Trakov called bandulin into our car and was ready to go together. I didn''t expect that when the driver was about to drive, our car was stopped by several soldiers. I saw a sergeant with bandages on his head. He was so excited that he tried to rush to our car. Behind him, a soldier pulled his arm hard. The other two soldiers stood in front of him side by side, with a second lieutenant standing beside him, as if trying to persuade him.


    See this scene, my heart can not help a tight, the heart said, did encounter mutiny? Thinking about this, I could not help but hold the submachine gun in my hand and put my finger on the trigger. I was ready to wait for the soldier to rush to do something wrong, so as to shoot decisively.


    The movement in front of the car startled trakov and bandulin. Trikov frowned and said to me, "o''shanina, go and see what happened."


    "Yes I promised and pushed the door open. Just as I was about to get off the bus, I heard bandulin in the back row say, "Comrade commander, I''ll go and have a look. After all, these are all my subordinates."


    With bandurin, I have more confidence in properly handling this matter. I was carrying a submachine gun, strided to them, and asked aloud, "who can tell me, what''s going on here?"


    The second lieutenant, who was standing beside him, immediately called out, "stand at attention!" The three soldiers who were blocking the sergeant quickly let go, turned to attention and saluted me with the second lieutenant. The sergeant sat down on the ground and began to cry.


    "What''s the matter?" I looked at the sergeant on the ground with disdain and turned my attention to the second lieutenant.


    "Report to lieutenant oshanina," the second lieutenant replied politely. "Well, the sergeant took part in today''s blocking battle. Shortly after the battle began, he was sent off the position because of his injuries. When he saw that the officers and men of their company had died, and that the body had not been buried, and that the troops were about to move, he began to cry, saying that his company commander and so many comrades in arms had died here, and he could not leave them behind. "


    "Chief, you are a man, not a woman. Don''t sit on the ground and cry. Stand up for me." Bandurin came up to me and said sternly to the chief who was sitting on the floor crying.


    The sergeant quickly stood up, saluted me and bandulin, and said in a choking voice, "report commander, all the officers and men in my company died here, and they didn''t even have time to bury their bodies. I can''t leave them and run back. I want to stay. Even if I die, I will die with them. "


    When I heard the sergeant say this, I felt my nose was sore and tears welled up. I went up to the sergeant, put a hand on his shoulder and said to him, "sergeant, your comrades in arms will not shed blood in vain. Retreat. It''s an order from our superiors. Our temporary retreat is to replenish, recuperate and restore the fighting capacity of our troops. I believe that we will fight back soon, and then you will have a chance to avenge your comrades in arms. "


    "Lieutenant oshanina," the sergeant said in a loud voice, wiping tears from his face, "I believe what you say. I will obey the order and follow the troops back."


    I feel a little relieved to see that the chief is no longer at the top. But then I asked curiously, "Comrade sergeant, do you know me as well as the second lieutenant?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." The sergeant and the second lieutenant said with one voice, "we know you, because you have fought side by side with our brave division commander, Colonel sarien!"


    As I was walking to the jeep side by side with bandulin, he whispered to me, "Comrade commander, you are not easy. In a few words, you convinced the excited chief. Have you ever considered switching to a political worker? "


    Political workers?! I''m kidding. What I dislike most is political workers. If I''m one of them, it''s better to kill me. However, these words can be said in my mind, but I can''t say them. So I said to bandulin vaguely, "Comrade director of the political department, I still like to be a commander in the fighting forces."


    When we got on the bus, trikov saw bandulin look disappointed and asked him curiously, "Comrade bandulin, what''s the matter? You look down and down. " Bandurin replied with a bitter smile: "Comrade commander, I wanted to persuade lieutenant commander o''shanina to become a political worker, but she refused." After hearing this, trikov laughed and said, "I still think oshanina is more suitable to be a commander in the fighting forces than a political worker." When our jeep passed by the officers and men, they stood in a very neat line on the side of the road and raised their hands to salute our jeep.

 Chapter 495

    After a distance, I heard trakov and bandulin chatting in the back like two old friends.


    Trakov asked tentatively, "Comrade bandulin, I have been to the 229th division several times before, but I have never met you. Are you transferred to the new division?"


    This question of trekov also aroused my curiosity. Some time ago, when I was in the 229th division, I found that there was only one commander at the division level, Colonel Saren, not to mention the director of the political department, not even the political commissar of the division. Later, he met pan Qinke, a political commissar at the battalion level from the Political Department of the front army, and there was a temporary political commissar in the division.


    Bandurin was silent for a moment, and replied: "Comrade commander, I am an old comrade in arms of Saren division commander. As early as he was the commander, I was the director of his political department. When our division received the order from the supreme command, many troops had not yet gathered up. In order not to delay the fight, after studying by the division''s Party committee, it was decided that the division commander, comrade Saren, would take five battalions to the designated positions first, while the division political commissar, comrade truning and I, would wait until the remaining four battalions were assembled, and then rush to the battlefield to join the division commander. "


    Trikov nodded and said thoughtfully, "well, I understand this situation. When the 229th division entered the battlefield, the whole division had only five battalions, but it was weak to defend an area with a width of 15 kilometers. If all the nine battalions arrive at the same time and are equipped with enough anti tank forces, your division will be able to stand firmly in a favorable position, reliably protect the junction of the 62nd and 64th army, and stop the enemy from carrying out assault on the flanks and rear of the 62nd army. "


    Bandurin replied with a wry smile: "our division was deployed in the direction of Kharkov at that time to prevent the enemy forces in the region from attacking Moscow northward, but no one expected that the enemy''s real target of attack was Stalingrad. After the division started with five battalions, it took us two days to gather the remaining four battalions. When the troops are ready to set out, the military commander in charge of railway dispatching tells us that because there are many troops going to the Don River Valley, and because the enemy''s planes are constantly bombing the railway lines, our division will have to wait at least a month if it wants to take a bus. The military situation is so hot that we don''t have time to wait for a month, so we have to walk to the battlefield here. Although we were in a hurry, it took us nearly ten days to get to the battlefield. By this time, the division had left its original fighting position, crossed the Don River and retreated in the direction of Stalingrad. So we crossed the Don river again, listened along the road, found the division headquarters, and joined up with colonel sarren


    "Comrade bandulin," I heard here, and I couldn''t help asking, "I was in the 229th division a few days ago. At that time, a special commissioner came from the Political Department of the front army and was appointed as the acting political commissar by Colonel sarin. Where has he gone now?"


    Bandurin looked at me and said, "commander o''shanina, you''re talking about Comrade panchenko, political commissar of the battalion?" Seeing that I nodded in affirmation, he went on to say, "after Comrade turnin and I returned to the division, the political commissar was naturally turnin, and pan Qinke, the acting political commissar, became the deputy political commissar of the division."


    After listening to the arrangement made by Colonel salen for panchenko, I felt a little more friendly towards him. At least he was not a bridge breaker. I immediately felt close to him psychologically.


    "Comrade bandurin," trekov said again, "since you have known Colonel sarin for a long time, can you tell me your personal opinion of sarin?"


    Bandurin nodded his head and said, "yes, comrade commander. Anyway, we have to build a car for a long time. Let me tell you the story between me and Colonel sarren.


    In the second half of 1939, I graduated from the Military Academy of vorongze, and I was assigned to his regiment. At that time, Mr. Saren was just a commander in chief of a lieutenant colonel. To him, I was a political worker who had no working experience or combat experience, and could only talk. So when I reported, he only took a look at the letter of introduction, then turned to ask troupe political commissar truning sitting next to him: "Comrade political commissar, is there any vacant position in our regiment?"


    Trunin was still friendly. After shaking hands with me, he replied that the Third Battalion had just finished replenishment, and there was a lack of political deputy battalion commander, so Comrade bandulin could take the post.


    After listening to this, comrade Saren read me for a long time and reluctantly agreed to the political commissar''s proposal. So in this way, I went to the third battalion as the political deputy battalion commander. Less than half a month after I arrived at the camp, my troops were transferred to Leningrad to take part in the battle against Finland.


    Commander, you should know that the winter in Finland is very long and cold. It is windy and snowy. The temperature is below - 30 ~ 40 ¡æ all the year round. When the war broke out, it was the shortest day in the whole year, and the long night greatly restricted the exertion of our army''s aviation superiority. At the beginning of the war, there was a heavy snow. The snow in the war zone was as deep as one meter, which brought great inconvenience to our army''s operations, but provided an opportunity for the Finn army, who was good at skiing, to show their skills. "


    When he heard this, trakov raised his hand and interrupted his words. He said impatiently, "what''s the terrain like in Finland? We all know in our hearts that I once commanded the army in the Sufen war. You''d better get to the point. "


    "The mission of our regiment is to attack the Mannheim line of defense in the Karelia isthmus. As the enemy line of defense has a complete fortification system, it is composed of three defensive zones about 90 km deep. Relying on natural obstacles such as lakes and swamps, each defense zone has built a large number of permanent launching fortifications and civil fire points, and there are nearly a thousand underground bunkers, which are connected by trenches and traffic trenches. In the face of today''s strong fortifications, which are easy to defend and difficult to attack, several attacks launched by our regiment before and after failed, on the contrary, there were many casualties. When the first and second battalions were frustrated again and forced to retreat, the Finnish army on the defense line took the opportunity to launch a counter assault, trying to break through our position at one stroke. At this time, I rushed up with the newly formed Third Battalion and started a close combat with the enemy. After a fierce fight, we completely annihilated the enemy.


    While cleaning up the battlefield, sarin and drunin came to us and praised the achievements of our battalion. At this moment, I saw a smile on his face for the first time. After this battle, my work has changed from rescuing the wounded, transporting materials and cleaning the battlefield to political propaganda for the whole battalion, and I am qualified to participate in the formulation of combat plans. "


    "Colonel sarin is a hero who has made many achievements in war, but he also has many shortcomings. I''ve heard more than one person say that he''s hot tempered and difficult to get along with. " Trikov couldn''t help but cut in again and expressed his opinion on sarin.


    "Yes, comrade commander. After arriving at the regiment, I heard many people say that he was eccentric, but after I got close to him, I found that he still had many advantages. Although he was sometimes very rude, he often flew into a rage at his subordinates when he made a battle plan. But when things are over, he will make his bloody subordinates apologize.


    In battle, he also has shortcomings. As long as in the war, when the situation ahead is not good, he will say to trunin, "Comrade political commissar, I''ll leave it to you. I''ll go to the front line to have a look." After that, he took a few guards and ran to the most fierce and dangerous place in the battlefield, even exchanged fire with the enemy face to face.


    It is undeniable that his operational characteristics will naturally add infinite strength and courage to the front-line commanders and fighters, and enable them to stabilize the most dangerous positions, or make our army break through the most difficult positions. However, he forgot that he was a commander and should stay in the headquarters to coordinate the overall situation instead of fighting like ordinary soldiers. His shortcoming is not obvious when he is a platoon leader; When he commands a regiment or division, it will become more and more dangerous. We need to know that once he has any accident in the battle, the troops will have no leader and the command will be paralyzed, which may destroy the important mission entrusted to us by the superior. "


    After hearing this, trikov nodded unexpectedly, and then said, "Comrade bandulin, you are quite right. You know, in the fighting some time ago, there was such a bitter lesson. When the enemy broke through the division''s line of defense and approached his division headquarters, the commander of the 192nd division, Colonel zaharchenko, did not listen to his subordinates'' advice and quickly withdrew. Instead, he wanted to stay and fight with the enemy. As a result, when he left the division headquarters, he was found by the approaching German tanks. His jeep was hit by shells, and he died on the spot. The 192nd division, which lost its command, was soon defeated by the enemy. If the 62nd army had not had strong fortifications along the Koska River, it would have been completely destroyed. "


    When it comes to Zahar Qinke''s sacrifice, bandulin also sighs. He says with emotion that when he returns to the division, he must persuade Colonel Saren to take risks in the front line.


    The conversation between them gave me some inspiration. I''m considering that since the Mannerheim defense line was able to inflict heavy damage on the powerful Soviet army in the Sufen war, if we build such a defense line in Stalingrad City, we can not only inflict heavy damage on the enemy, but also preserve as much as possible the productive capacity of our army.


    Just thinking about it, I heard bandulin at the back asking: "Comrade commander, I saw that your messenger looks very young. He should not be 18 years old."


    This topic once again aroused my curiosity, because in my eyes, sidtorin is just a child who didn''t grow up, but why did trakov use him as a messenger? You know, there are more experienced and flexible fighters than seedolin. I didn''t expect that as soon as trakov spoke, I knew that his choice was right. If it was me, I would do the same.


    He only heard trakov say leisurely: "Comrade bandulin, the name of Herald sidolin is levolid tymofeevich sidolin, 16 years old this year." At this point, he looked at what bandulin wanted to say. He raised his hand to stop him, and then went on, "his father''s name is jimurphy sidolin, and he is the combat director of my 62nd army command. Before the war, I knew lieutenant commander sidolin when he was still a combat staff officer in the headquarters of the Belarusian military region. "


    Timothy seedolin, chief of operations, I linked this name with my position, and I immediately understood who trakov was talking about. It turned out that it was the commander seedolin who died when he went to the Don river ferry with the artillery director Brad to stop the troops from collapsing.


    "16-year-old levolid tymofeevich sidolin asked his father to take him to the front line after the war broke out," trakov said in a deep tone. His father, through his own relationship, made him a private soldier in the guard company of the headquarters of the group army. Because I have seen their father and son together many times, and they look very similar to each other, so I remember him. He''s brave, he''s good at shooting, and he''s done a great job every time.


    At noon on July 26, commander sidtorin died at the ferry crossing. That night, little sidtorin came to the command post to see me. As soon as he saw my face, he immediately reported, "Comrade commander, the remains of commander sidtorin have been transported and are now parked outside the command post."


    I knew that lewood was the son of lieutenant colonel seedolin. When I saw him appear in front of me, I had mixed feelings. I didn''t know what to say to him. Konstantin kirikovich Abramov, a member of the Military Commission and political commissar of the division, who was sitting next to me, turned his head and said coldly to him, "Comrade private, hand over the remains of lieutenant colonel sidolin to the commander of the security company of the headquarters and ask them to dig the grave and prepare other things for the band and the funeral."


    Because Abramov didn''t know lewood before, let alone the father son relationship between him and lieutenant colonel sidtorin, he couldn''t understand the young man''s mood at the moment, so his speaking attitude was very stiff. I saw little sidorin pursing his lips tightly, tears swirling in his eyes, but he tried to control his emotions. Instead of making himself cry, he saluted Abramov and turned away. It was not until lewoled left that I was relieved from my grief and told Abramov sternly: "Comrade military commissar, your attitude towards Comrade private is not correct."¡® Why do you say that, comrade trekov? " Abramov, confused by what I said, asked in a puzzled way¡® Because the private soldier just now is the son of lieutenant colonel sidtorin! " After hearing what I said, Abramov looked at me with wide eyes. In an unbelievable tone, he asked tentatively, "really?" When he heard my affirmative answer, he gave a cry of surprise and ran after lewood. When commander sidolin came back from the burial, Abramov offered to let little sidolin serve as his guard, but I refused. I said I would take good care of his son for the sacrificed commander. The next day, I went to my observation post by car. When I passed the cemetery where commander Theodore Lin was buried, I saw little Theodore Lin lying on the ground, crying very sad. I quickly asked the driver to stop, opened the car door and yelled at him without thinking: "Red Army soldier sidtorin, get on the bus immediately and follow me! Take your submachine gun and more bullets! " Hearing my cry, little sidtorin jumped up from the ground, dusted off the dirt, straightened his uniform, and ran quickly to carry out the order. Soon he came back with his submachine gun and got on my jeep. We chatted on the way, and I learned that his mother had been evacuated to Siberia. I asked him carefully, "sidtorin, do you miss your mother?" Seeing his shy nod, I asked, "do you want me to let you leave the army and go to the rear to find your mother?" I didn''t expect that when he heard me say that, his eyes burst into tears. I knew at that time that I had made a mistake and touched the young man''s pain. After wiping a handful of tears, he firmly said to me: "Comrade commander, I will not go. Even if you drive me away from here, I will not leave the front line. I want to avenge my father and other soldiers who died. " Since then, little sidtorin has been my messenger, and he has never left me again. He is more mature than his peers. Even in battle, he is brave and happy. Only in the dead of night, he would still quietly shed tears for his father... "When listening to the story of little sidtorin told by trikov, I felt my nose began to sour again. I quickly turned my head to look out of the window, pretended to be careless, and raised my hand to wipe away a drop of tears from my cheek. As soon as I wiped away my tears, I heard a clear sob coming from the side. Turning around, I saw the driver holding the steering wheel in one hand and wiping his face with the other hand. Trekov''s voice rang from behind: "you should all remember that as long as the war is not over, our relatives and friends may leave us at any time for various reasons. So we must defeat the bandits and drive them out of our country. Only in this way can our relatives and friends enjoy their peaceful life. " There were people fleeing on the roadside. This was the first time I saw the evacuees after I crossed. I saw them supporting the old and carrying the young, they were trudging along the potholes of the road. There are no young men in it. They are all elderly people, women and children. Some of them are carrying packages, some are carrying suitcases and some are holding children. They are walking along with difficulty. Especially those elderly people, with the help of others, walk and stop. They can hardly walk far, so they have to stop to have a rest. If there is no faint rumble of guns, it is estimated that they really do not want to move forward.      When I saw the tragedy of the refugees, I couldn''t bear it. I turned back and asked trekov, "Comrade commander, do you need to help them? Even if it''s just a ride for a few people. " Did not expect that trekov directly shook his head and denied: "no, commander oshanina, we still have important tasks to carry out, we can''t delay our journey because of them." At this point, he looked outside, sighed and said, "for them, I can only express sympathy. We can''t help it."

 Chapter 496

    Our jeeps slowed down and drove among the refugees. I didn''t expect that more than ten kilometers later, there was still an endless stream of refugees on both sides of the road.


    I turned and looked back. Trakov was reclining, his back in his chair, his eyes closed, and bandulin was looking out the window. I looked back out of the window. On the dusty roadside, the refugees were so tired and slow, as if they were stuck in the land. Seeing this scene, I could not help but ask in a low voice, "Comrade bandulin, do you know where they are retreating?"


    "Where else?" Bandurin said solemnly, "evacuate to Stalingrad, of course."


    Stalingrad, as soon as I heard the name, I could not help but feel a thump and worry about the future fate of these refugees. You know, in my known history, in order to prevent panic, Stalin issued an order not to evacuate Stalingrad citizens, which eventually led to the loss of precious lives of hundreds of thousands of citizens.


    Driving a few kilometers further, the refugees on the roadside became sparse. I just wanted to ask the driver how far to get to the destination, but I heard him shout excitedly: "look, it''s our army."


    I follow the direction of his fingers to see past, only next to the fork in the road, is marching an army. In the front is a bright red flag guide, behind is a neat four-way column, those carrying briefcases and pistols of the commanders, are walking on the left side of the team.


    I heard bandurin suddenly yell in the back, "Comrade driver, stop at the fork in front." After the driver nodded his consent, he said to trikov, "Comrade commander, it''s the first battalion of the 804th regiment of our division. Thank goodness they''re here at last. "


    After our jeep stopped at the intersection, trakov and bandurin got off the bus. Seeing that the two commanders got out of the car, I could not stay in the car any more, so I had to get out of the car and stand on the side of the road with them, waiting for the arrival of the team.


    The commander of the opposite team found us from a distance, quickly stopped the team, trotted to us, raised his hand to salute, but hesitated. It seems that he knew bandurin, but there was a general standing next to him. He didn''t know who to report to.


    Fortunately, bandulin released the siege for him in time, pointed to trakov and said, "Comrade captain, this is general trakov, deputy commander of the group army. Please report to him."


    After the captain raised his hand to salute again, he reported to trikov, "report to deputy commander comrade, Captain Fei of the first battalion of the 804th infantry regiment reports to you that our battalion is going to the assembly site to join the division headquarters after a long journey. At present, the whole battalion is fully loaded and ready to fight. Please give instructions! "


    Trikov nodded with satisfaction and said, "good job, comrade captain. We are going to fight a big battle next, and we need a new force like you. Well, you take the troops and move on. We''ll see you later. "


    The captain went back to the line and yelled the order. The team that had stopped was marching forward with neat steps. As they passed us, the officers and men all looked at us in unison. With a smile, trakov raised his hand to his forehead to salute the officers and men of the army.


    Standing behind trekov, I calmly observed the soldiers marching in front of us. Although they were all tired and tired, when they passed us, they all walked with their heads held high in order to show their high morale.


    At ten o''clock in the evening, we arrived at the division headquarters of the 229th division. Knowing our arrival, the commander, Colonel Saren, came out with a group of his subordinates.


    After introducing his political commissar to trikov, sarin came to shake hands with me and said in a friendly way, "Lieutenant Commander oshanina, I didn''t expect that we would meet so soon? How about this opportunity to stay in our 229th division? "


    I didn''t expect that trikov''s ears were sharp. He immediately heard what sarin said. He came over and said solemnly, "Colonel sarin, I warn you, don''t take the idea of lieutenant commander oshanina. She is the chief of staff of our group army command."


    Hearing what trikov said, Saren said with a smile: "Comrade commander, I''m just joking. Don''t take it seriously. Don''t stand outside. Come on in


    As I was preparing to enter the division headquarters, I saw the shadow of captain Lukin in the crowd who welcomed us. I nodded to him, and then followed Colonel sarren into the division headquarters.


    As soon as he entered the door, political commissar truning asked the serviceman to bring tea and some food for trekov and me. He was a little embarrassed and said, "Comrade commander, when I first met you, I should have treated you well. Unfortunately, the division headquarters can''t find anything good, so we have to let you pay attention to eating."


    With a wave of his hand, trikov said, "Comrade political commissar, it doesn''t matter. I can understand. After all, it''s during the war. It''s good to have food."


    Just then, a commander came in from the outside and handed a piece of paper to Colonel sarren. After reading it, Colonel sarin pushed the paper in front of trakov and said, "general trakov, please see, this is a telegram from the headquarters of the group army. Let me go to the headquarters immediately and say that there is an important combat mission."


    Trikov picked up the paper on the table, looked at it, nodded, and said, "since there is a combat mission, let''s go together."


    In this way, when he arrived at the headquarters of Colonel salen, he didn''t even sit on a hot stool and had to rush to the headquarters of the group army. He said it was an important combat task, but whether shumilov had considered that all his troops were beaten by the German army, and he didn''t know what else to do.


    When we arrived at the headquarters of the group army, almost all the people who should have come came. After listening to their introductions, I was surprised to find that in addition to Colonel sarren of the 229th division, there were also division commander biliukov of the 214 division, Colonel lyudnikov of the 138 division, Colonel kuropachenko of the 157 division, senior colonel vosliboynikov of the 208 division, division commander klobkin of the 29th division, and colonel Smirnov of the 154th marine brigade, And the commanders of the 66th marine brigade and the 137th tank brigade.


    Seeing so many heavyweight commanders coming to the military meeting tonight, I immediately put down my contempt for shumilov. It seems that he has made a lot of preparations in advance for this battle. Otherwise, it would be impossible to use the six infantry divisions, two marine brigades and one tank brigade in a complete set at one time.


    When everyone was seated, it was Colonel Ruskin, chief of staff of the group army, who was responsible for explaining the combat mission. He got up from the table, took off his cap and put it under his left armpit. He used his hand as a comb to trim his hair. Then he put on his cap again and went to the map on the wall.


    He picked up the stick leaning against the wall, lit the map and began to explain: "Comrade commander, according to the report of the scouts and the interrogation of the German prisoners, we know that the enemy has transferred their fourth group army of tanks back from the Caucasus direction and put them back into the direction of Stalingrad."


    When people here heard that the fourth group army of German tanks had been transferred back, they could not help but look worried and began to whisper.


    Seeing the tumult below, the expression on Colonel Ruskin''s face became more serious. He tapped the map with his stick and said aloud, "be quiet, please be quiet, comrade commander." But his words didn''t seem to play much role. The whispering below didn''t disappear immediately, and it continued.


    "Pa!" With a loud noise, trakov clapped his desk and yelled, "be quiet! Don''t you know it''s a meeting? No more talking. " Although trakov was only the deputy commander, his prestige far exceeded Ruskin''s. as soon as he opened his mouth, all the people in the room closed their mouths. Seeing that the house was quiet, Cui said, "chief of staff, go on."


    Raskin looked at trakov gratefully, and then went on to say: "at present, the troops of our group army have temporarily organized new defensive positions along the line of renok spardanovka orlovka, relying on the villages, and are ready to turn this area into an obstacle that the enemy can''t overcome. The two regiments of the 371st division of the 4th Infantry of the German army have approached the renok area. Because of their rapid progress, they have become isolated from their main forces. The nearest friendly force to them was the Romanian Sixth Army near orlovka, 40 kilometers apart.


    Our group army will counter attack the enemy, targeting two regiments of the 371st German division. According to the intention of the command''s operational plan, we will concentrate all our forces to fight a war of annihilation, and strive to annihilate the German forces of the two regiments in the shortest possible time. The first echelon is the 214th division of bilukov and the 229th division of Colonel sarren; The second echelon is... "


    Before Raskin finished, someone raised his hand. Raskin looked at each other and said politely, "what do you want to say, Colonel klobkin?"


    Colobjin, the commander of the 29th division, stood up, looked at the map and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, I want to ask, if our army is carrying out counter assault against the enemy, and Romanian troops attack us from the flank, what should we do?" As soon as klobkin''s words came out, it was like throwing a handful of salt in a boiling oil pan. Suddenly, the frying pan exploded and the room was in a mess.


    I think klobkin''s statement is very reasonable. Although Raskin didn''t finish his words, I can also guess that their deployment was nothing more than leaving a small number of troops to monitor the Romanian troops, and the rest of the troops gathered to attack the two German regiments, eating each other first at all costs. However, I am very clear about the current situation of the group army. Although there are so many numbers, how many troops can really fight? What should we do if we can''t eat each other''s food and the battle is stuck?


    In the face of the noisy scene, Colonel Ruskin seemed a little at a loss. Just when trakov was about to make a scene, shumilov stood up first. After all, he was the commander of the group army, and everyone was very scrupulous about his identity.


    Shumilov stood up, went to the map, took the explanation stick from Colonel Raskin''s hand, pointed to the location of Romania on the map, and explained his own idea to everyone: "comrades commander, I know you are worried about the army of servant country. According to the reconnaissance, the army is not full. After a long time of fighting, there are only about 6000 people left, which can be said to be a negligible force. Therefore, we don''t have to worry about being attacked by the German troops when they attack them. "


    "Comrade commander, comrade commander is right." Raskin lost no time to add: "we will concentrate our forces against the strong enemy. Once the strong enemy is eliminated by our army, the weak enemy will be frightened and even retreat without fighting."


    When Raskin said that, after all, it was the Soviet Army''s usual way to fight a strong enemy first and then a weak one. When we thought about it, we were relieved and did not express any objection.


    At this time, I was thinking that the Chinese and foreign fighting methods were really different. If I had changed my command, I would have concentrated my forces to eat the Romanian troops first, solve the battle, and then turn my head to fight the German troops. Thinking of this, I couldn''t help laughing.


    My laughter was heard by Colonel smirlov of the marine brigade who was sitting next to me. He frowned and asked, "Comrade commander, what are you laughing at? Do you have any different views on the commander''s military deployment? "


    Sitting next to him was Mr. biliukov. Hearing the captain scolding me, he quickly came out to help me out: "don''t hurry to say that, Colonel smirlov. Maybe lieutenant commander oshanina has some good ideas."


    Trekov might have heard our conversation, too. He got up, went up to shumilov and whispered a few words in his ear. Shumilov looked at me, then nodded slightly. Then he announced in a loud voice: "comrades in command, now I would like to invite commander o''shanina, chief of staff of the group army, to tell you about her wonderful ideas."


    Seeing that everyone''s eyes turned on me, I knew I couldn''t avoid it, so I stood up, straightened my uniform, and strode to the map. After saluting shumilov and trakov, he turned to salute the commanders present.


    After all this, I picked up the explanation stick, pointed to the position of the Romanian army, and threw out my plan: "I think the main attack direction of the group army tomorrow should not be the two isolated German regiments, but the Romanian army. We should concentrate the forces of two or three divisions and eat them first... "


    As soon as we said that, the following sentence floated up: "Comrade commander, if we attack the Romanian army and the German army reinforcements, what should we do? You know, when the German army was attacked, Romanian troops probably stood by. On the other hand, when Romanian troops are attacked, the German troops will certainly come to reinforce us. At that time, our retreat may be cut off by the German troops, and it is obvious that we are in a dilemma of front and back attack. "


    "Yes! If the German reinforcements, our offensive forces will be surrounded


    "It''s too risky. In this way, the anti assault plan may fail."


    His words immediately aroused a chorus.


    Instead of knocking on the wall with a stick like Ruskin, I turned my hand behind my back and looked at you quietly.


    Trikov stood up and pressed down. After everyone was quiet, he said solemnly, "comrades commander, lieutenant commander oshanina is a commander with rich combat experience. I will not say much about her command level among the commanders present. Please keep quiet and listen to her all her intentions before you express your own opinions. Do you understand? "


    The commanders sitting below answered neatly, "I understand!"


    Trikov nodded with satisfaction, turned to me and said, "commander oshanina, go on. Don''t worry, no one will interrupt you this time! "


    I gave trakov a little smile, then said with a smile: "just now, some commanders questioned: what if we were attacking the Romanian troops, and the German troops would reinforce us? My answer is, "I can''t get it!" After that, I didn''t see what your expression was, so I turned around and pointed to the map with a stick and said to you, "comrades commander, please look at the renok area where the German troops are stationed and the orlovka area in Romania, with an interval of 40 kilometers. It''s a good place to set up ambush in this hilly area with a lot of hills. We ambush the next army here in advance. When the enemy''s reinforcements attack, we will attack decisively and destroy them.


    My plans for tomorrow''s operations are as follows: first, the 138th and 157th infantry divisions and the 137th tank brigade are the main attack units, responsible for attacking the Romanian army, and the 66th marine brigade is the reserve; 2¡¢ The 154th marine brigade and the 29th Infantry Division ambushed the German troops on the line from renok to orlovka; 3¡¢ The 214 and 229 divisions continued to be deployed in the renok area, which constituted a deterrent to the German forces in the area and made them afraid to send all their forces to rescue the Romanian army. The 208 division, as the general reserve, is under the direct command of the headquarters of the group army. I''m done. Thank you After I salute you, I put down the explanation stick, went back to my position and sat down again.


    My battle plan immediately aroused controversy. My familiar teachers, such as bilukov, Saren, lyudnikov, kuropatenko and kolobkin, firmly supported my plan. The unfamiliar commanders, however, put forward different views, especially the commander of the marine brigade, Colonel smirlov, who said cautiously: "this plan of lieutenant colonel o''shanina sounds very good, but when you think about it, there are still many shortcomings. If the German troops are attacked in Romania, instead of reinforcement, they will concentrate all their forces to attack renok, what shall we do? You know, we don''t have any solid fortifications in this area. We can''t withstand the fierce attack of the enemy. " As soon as Colonel smirlov''s words came out, everyone fell into silence again, knowing that what he said might be completely existent.

 Chapter 497

    Trekov stood up and did not speak. He just glanced over everyone in the room. When he saw me, he gave me a smile. When everyone''s attention was focused on him, he bowed his head and asked Abramov, "Comrade military commissar, you have just heard the battle plan put forward by lieutenant colonel oshanina. Well, now we should discuss it. Please tell us what do you think of her combat deployment and what are the loopholes? "


    Abramov also stood up, supported the edge of the wooden table, leaned forward slightly, and said with a smile, "Comrade commander, I think the plan proposed by lieutenant colonel oshanina is too fanciful." As soon as his words came out, there was an uproar in the room, and the commanders began to whisper again. As soon as trikov raised his hand, he calmed down the voice in the room. Then he politely said to Abramov, "Comrade military commissar, please go on."


    Abramov nodded and continued: "as we all know, what we have always emphasized is to fight the strong enemy first, so as to deter the weak enemy and realize the ultimate combat intention. But what about Comrade oshanina? But she absurdly put forward the way of letting the strong enemy go and fighting the weak enemy first. According to the common sense of commanders we have learned in various military academies, the plans put forward by lieutenant colonel oshanina are all wrong and unrealistic, so I don''t think it''s necessary to discuss them at all and continue to carry out the original combat plan. " Then he nodded to shumilov and trakov and sat down.


    When I heard that my operational plan had been totally rejected, I felt quite disappointed. We should know that the strategy of fighting a weak enemy first has proved to be very effective when the enemy is strong and we are weak. In addition, I have also added the element of encircling support to the whole plan. In this way, the probability of success of the whole plan will be greatly improved.


    Trakov did not deny Abramov''s statement, but turned his eyes to another military commissar, sergeuk. With a smile, he asked, "Comrade sergeuk, military commissar, what do you think?"


    Sergeuk got up and looked at me, and said friendly: "although I don''t have much time to deal with lieutenant commander oshanina, I have the impression that she is a brave and experienced commander. I''m finished Sheldyuk immediately sat down. In his speech, he did not say a word about the plan I proposed, neither negating nor supporting it, which is tantamount to abstaining in disguised form.


    Trekov turned his eyes to Raskin, chief of staff. Without waiting for him to speak, Colonel Raskin had already stood up and answered, "Comrade deputy commander, I think the combat plan put forward by lieutenant colonel oshanina is very appropriate."


    After hearing this, trikov was stunned and asked, "why? Can you give me your reasons? "


    Raskin glanced at commander shumilov, who was sitting in the middle. Seeing that he was just looking at himself with no expression, he boldly said, "just now, comrade military commissar was right. It is our army''s consistent combat style to only fight the strong enemy, not the weak enemy, and to deter the weak enemy by fighting the strong enemy. At present, the Germans have mastered our usual way of fighting. If we only fight the German army instead of the Romanian army in tomorrow''s counterattack, once we can''t eat the enemy, the battle may fall into a stalemate. When their reinforcements arrive, we may fall into a encirclement. So I suggest that in tomorrow''s battle, commander oshanina''s battle plan be adopted. "


    When I saw captain Ruskin sitting down, trakov still didn''t express any opinions. I couldn''t help but start to panic. I secretly said what trakov was doing. It was clear that you had to consult with shumilov to decide what you could do, but in front of so many people, you had to ask for the opinions of the main members of the headquarters one by one.


    Trikov bent down to get close to shumilov, whispered a few words to him, stood up straight again, looked at the division commanders in front of him, and asked, "all division commanders and brigades, you can talk about the battle plan designated by the group army and that of lieutenant colonel oshanina."


    As soon as trikov''s words were finished, the first one to stand up was general biliukov. He was the highest ranking of these division commanders and brigades. He was the first to speak, and no one else would have any opinions. With a smile on his face, he said, "comrades commander, lieutenant commander o''shanina once held the post of commander in my division. To tell you the truth, when she first came here, I looked down upon her very much. I felt that for female commanders, the logistics department was the most suitable position. Coming to the front line not only helped, but even made trouble. Originally, I wanted to refuse, but because she was arranged by commander trakov himself, I had to accept her with a stiff head. " His words caused a light laugh in the room.


    I also gave a wry smile and said that when I first went there, I guessed that general biliukov was a little reluctant when he arranged for me to be the commander. If it wasn''t for trakov''s forced arrangement, I would have been rejected by him.


    Bilukov added: "I didn''t expect that on the first night when she took office, she did something that I didn''t expect. She sent an army to attack the German logistics camp at night, annihilated the garrison without any casualties, and seized enough weapons and ammunition to arm the two regiments. "


    "I can prove that general biliukov reported this to me when he received the equipment." Trikov lost no time to stand up and witness for me.


    "I''d like to say a few words," said Colonel sarin, the commander of the 229th division, with a smile on his face. "Lieutenant Commander oshanina arrived at our division just in time for us to jump out of the enemy''s encirclement. On the night of the breakout, our course of action was found by the enemy''s scouts, who drew artillery fire and blocked our only way to break out. At this time, it was commander o''shanina who volunteered and led the troops to take away the enemy''s artillery position. Later, she transferred out the former artillery commanders and fighters, turned the muzzle and fired at the enemy''s camp, destroying several enemy tanks and infantry camps in a row, greatly weakening the enemy''s attack on the 62nd army after dawn. "


    Then, Col. lyudnikov, Col. kuropatenko, and klobkin, who had dealt with me, all spoke in support of my plan. The commander of the marine brigade, Colonel smirlov, who had originally raised his objection, saw that there were so many heavyweight commanders, and he did not stubbornly hold his own views, but chose to be silent.


    After seeing that all the people who could speak had spoken, trekov made a concluding speech: "after listening to the speeches of many commanders just now, I have deep feelings. It seems that everyone is in favor of adopting the new combat plan put forward by lieutenant colonel oshanina." At this point, he stopped for a moment, bowed his head and asked shumilov, "Comrade commander, do you think we should report this combat plan to the headquarters of the front army?"


    My heart beat faster when I heard what trakov said. You know what they are going to adopt is my combat plan. If I can win this battle, I will become famous in the first World War. It''s better than going to the post of temporary guest leader and division commander and fighting more than ten vicious battles.


    Unexpectedly, shumilov thought about it, but shook his head and said, "no, comrade trakov. Our operational plan has been reported to the headquarters of the front army and can not be changed at will. "


    Although he was a little anxious to hear that, in order not to affect shumilov''s image in front of his own department, trikov tried to control his emotions and said in a smooth tone: "Comrade commander, this plan of lieutenant colonel oshanina is obviously better than our original plan of operation. I suggest that the plan should be reported to the headquarters of the front army immediately and asked to be decided by commander gordov. "


    Shumilov sat still and said, "Comrade trakov, you have known general gordov for more than ten years. Do you think he is a flexible man?"


    After hearing this, trakov was silent and sat in his seat for a long time.


    Shumilov looked at him, then stood up and said, "although the new plan sounds good, it is unlikely that it will be approved by the headquarters of the front army. Let''s carry out tomorrow''s counter attack according to the original plan. Colonel Ruskin, go on and finish the original plan


    Ruskin agreed, got up and went to the map. Just as he was about to begin the deployment, trakov stood up and raised his hand to stop him: "Colonel Ruskin, wait a minute." Then he turned to shumilov and said, "Comrade commander, I ask you to report commander oshanina''s operational plan to the headquarters of the front army and general Zhukov respectively. After they all reply, we can decide which operational plan to adopt, OK?"


    After hearing this, shumilov pondered for a while, raised his hand, waved to Ruskin, and said, "Comrade Colonel, come here. Now go to the communication room next door and report the operational plan of lieutenant commander oshanina to the headquarters of the front army and general Zhukov respectively, as general trakov said. When you get a reply, come back and report to me. "


    Ruskin agreed, turned and walked out of the headquarters to the next communication room.


    Seeing that shumilov adopted his own opinion, trakov let out a long breath, then waved to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, come here and explain your fighting ideas to us again."


    I went to the map again, picked up the explanation stick, and told a group of middle and senior commanders about my combat plan: "Dear commanding comrades, please have a look. First of all, the deployment I have just made is based on the positions of the divisions on the map. The advantage of this is that the troops do not have to travel long distances to get to new locations, and they can maintain their physical strength to cope with the coming brutal battles. Secondly, the troops responsible for attacking the Romanian army will take the 137th brigade of tanks as the leader to launch the attack, followed by the 138th and 157th infantry divisions. After the tanks break through the enemy''s positions, our infantry will rush in again and wipe out the enemy completely. Third, the 214 and 229 divisions deployed in renok area can not carry out passive defense either. They can send small troops to launch feint attacks to contain the front German forces. In this way, when they reinforce the Romanian army, they will not send all their troops. Fourth, the 154th marine brigade and the 29th Infantry Division, which are responsible for ambushing the enemy''s reinforcements, immediately split into two routes after completing the task of ambushing, advancing to renok and orlovka respectively, to reinforce the friendly forces who are fighting there. "


    Looking at the red and blue arrows on the map, shumilov frowned and asked, "even if the German army in renok is divided into half, there is still one regiment left. Can we eat them?"


    I nodded and said with certainty, "Comrade commander, I think our troops are fully capable of accomplishing such a task."


    Shumilov turned to trikov and said, "Lt. Col. oshanina is right, but I don''t know what will happen after the fight. Comrade trakov, we are here waiting for a reply from our superiors. If the new operational plan is rejected, then we will carry out it according to the original plan. "


    When I heard what shumilov said, I couldn''t help but sweat. To know the battle plan reported by the commander of the group army and the plan proposed by an ordinary officer, the superior usually adopts those plans of high-level commanders, because in their minds, the higher the level, the more comprehensive the problems will be.


    Time in the long wait a little bit in the past, the longer the waiting time, my mood becomes more and more uneasy. Just when I was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, the chief of staff, raskinhing, rushed in and handed a telegram to shumilov. At the same time, he said in a low voice, "report to commander, the headquarters of the front army is calling. The new plan will not be adopted, and the anti assault action will be carried out according to the original plan."


    Shumilov pushed the telegram to trekov and said in a smooth voice, "look, comrade trekov, this is the reply from the headquarters of the front army. No matter how reasonable the new plan is, general gordov will stick to the original plan


    After reading the contents of the telegram, trakov turned to look at me and said helplessly, "Comrade oshanina, there''s nothing for you here. Go back to your seat."


    When I heard him say that, my heart sank, and I was rejected. After I promised, I leaned the stick against the wall and turned back to my seat. Colonel smirlov, sitting next to me, saw that I was dejected. He raised his hand and patted me gently on the shoulder. He said in a friendly way, "commander o''shanina, I think your plan is quite good and feasible. Although this time did not use, but you do not lose heart, I think there will be opportunities in the future


    My eyes were fixed on Ruskin who was explaining the battle plan in front of the map. Although I saw his lips moving, I couldn''t hear a word he said.


    When he put down the explanation stick and stood upright in front of the map, shumilov left his seat and walked in front of him, then turned to face us and made the final speech: "comrades, are the tasks clear?"


    "Clear, comrade commander." The present Division brigade commander replied in unison.


    "Now that it''s clear, you''ll go back to your respective units and set up tomorrow''s counterattack."


    As soon as shumilov finished, all the commanders stood up in unison. Seeing that everyone stood up, I was embarrassed to sit again, so I stood up. When they were heard shouting "yes" in order At the same time, I also followed a whisper.


    Just as everyone was about to leave, an officer came in in a panic and called out, "report to the commander, the emergency telegram from the headquarters of the front army!"


    Hearing the word "emergency telegram", the commanders who were going out stopped one after another, hoping to know in time what important orders the headquarters of the front army had to give.


    Shumilov took a look, his face changed, and he gave the telegraph paper to trikov. Trikov took it and looked at it only a few times. He was very happy. He raised the telegram in his hand and said, "comrades, please return to your position for a while. I have something important to announce."


    In this way, except for trakov and shumilov, all of them returned to their positions, waiting for trakov to announce the so-called important things.


    "Comrades, the headquarters of the front army has just sent us a telegram saying that it has passed the operational plan formulated by lieutenant commander o''shanina, and that the anti assault after dawn will be based on the new plan," he said in a loud voice


    Hearing the news, everyone was like a frying pan. It''s really strange that in the telegram from the headquarters of the front army just now, they are still opposed to the new operational plan. How long has it been? It''s really confusing to hear another telegram with opposite opinions.


    Some impatient people asked anxiously: "Comrade commander, did the headquarters of the front army oppose the new plan just now? How did it turn into agreement in a twinkling of an eye? What''s the matter? "


    "Yes! Yes! Comrade commander, tell us what''s going on? " A large group of people who can''t figure out the state are echoing.


    Shumilov looked at the officer standing next to him with an iron blue face and asked in a blunt voice, "what''s the matter? Why did you receive two telegrams with different contents from the headquarters of the front army in such a short time? "


    The communication officer was frightened by shumilov''s attitude. He timidly replied, "there is another telegram from Moscow, which was sent by general Zhukov himself."


    "You fool, don''t show it to me." Shumilov roared angrily at the other side. I think if there were not so many people present, the communication officer might have been beaten by shumilov.


    The communication officer opened the folder in his hand, took out another telegram from it, carefully handed it to shumilov, and then stood upright and honest.


    After reading the telegram, shumilov handed it to trakov and said, "Comrade trakov, I understand everything. Our new plan was rejected by the headquarters of the front army, but it was approved by general Zhukov. I think it was the senior general who personally talked to general gordov to persuade him to carry out the counterattack according to the new plan. If so, it can explain why we received two telegrams with very different contents in such a short period of time. " With a knowing smile on his face, trikov nodded and said, "Comrade commander, you are right. Now that the headquarters of the front army has agreed to the operational plan of lieutenant commander o''shanina, our counterattack will be carried out according to the new plan. "

 Chapter 498

    Seeing that his battle plan had been adopted, he felt inexplicable guilty after a brief euphoria. Fighting is not a joke. As soon as the guns go off, there will be casualties. It can be said that the life and death of tens of thousands of people are in my hands. Thinking about this, I suddenly feel unprecedented pressure.


    Trikov specially stopped me and said very kindly, "Comrade oshanina, general Zhukov said in the telegram that this counterattack will be under your full command."


    When I heard that this heavy burden was on my shoulder, my heart became more and more uneasy. I was a little nervous and said, "general trakov, I think this counterattack should be under the command of you and commander shumilov. I''m only suitable to make some suggestions for you."


    Trikov said with a smile: "oshanina, what''s your ability? Other people don''t know. Don''t Zhukov know?"?! Since he is bold enough to give the troops your command, you must not be in the middle of this. You has the final say in the battle of the day. I am the assistant commander of Sumi Love. In a word, you can do as you wish. "


    I glanced at shumilov, who sat at his desk with a blank face, looking down at a document in front of him, as if he had not noticed what I was talking to trakov. I looked back at trakov and asked cautiously, "general trakov, don''t you worry about me commanding the troops?"


    Trekov shook his head and sighed: "it''s strange to say that I don''t worry. If it wasn''t for the fierce words of general Zhukov in the telegram, I and..." he said here. He turned to look at shumilov, and then said, "commander shumilov and I won''t accept this order?"


    "General trakov, do you know why the senior general did this?" Although I vaguely think Zhukov means to cultivate me, I can''t understand why he did it. After all, in the current situation, it''s a bit too risky to do it anyway.


    Trekov patted me on the shoulder and said, "don''t you see that? The reason why general Zhukov sent you to Stalingrad is to train you well and lay a good foundation for taking up a higher position in the future. What you lacked in the past was your qualifications and prestige. But now, as you have served in so many units, you are gradually accumulating your qualifications and increasing your prestige. It is also a test for you, senior general, to let you command the army alone this time. If you succeed, naturally, your prestige will soar in the shortest time; However, if you fail, I think your official career may stop here. Even if you continue to stay in the front line and serve as a division commander at most, you will almost reach the top. "


    Listening to trekov''s words, I''m more and more confused. After hesitating for a long time, I said cautiously, "general trakov, although I used to be the chief of staff of the group army, and I have also commanded divisions and regiments, I have never had the experience of commanding the whole group army alone. I''m afraid I can''t do it well myself."


    "No one is born to be a leader. He will not go to school. Besides, comrade trekov and I will check for you tomorrow." Shumilov put down his papers, got up and came over. He said to me, "it''s not difficult to be a commander. First of all, you have to find out what the responsibilities of a commander are? It''s to point at the place you want to capture on the map with your hand, and then order the Department to take it down. As for how to win and how the casualties of the troops are, they are all the things that the commanders should worry about. You just need to grasp the overall direction. If you can''t grasp the big and let go the small, then you can''t grow into a good commander. "


    After listening to shumilov''s words, I immediately had the confidence and a little more confidence in the battle of the dawn. I quickly straightened up and expressed my determination to him and said, "please two commanders rest assured that I will command the battle of tomorrow and give the Germans a lesson that will never be forgotten."


    Trekov and shumilov both nodded and said with satisfaction, "yes, it seems that you are in a high fighting mood now. We are looking forward to seeing your performance in the next battle."


    I pretended to be aggrieved: "two comrades, after fighting, you can give me more advice. If you see anything wrong with me, remind me in time. "


    Trekov nodded, took over my topic and said, "come on, don''t complain. Go to bed early." Then he turned his head and called to Raskin, chief of staff: "Comrade Colonel, please come here."


    Raskin was talking to a staff officer at the door. When he heard trakov calling himself, he ran over and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, what''s your instruction?"


    Trekov pointed to me and said, "Comrade Colonel, go and arrange a place for lieutenant commander o''shanina to have a good rest. She''s been running around all this time. She''s very tired."


    Raskin nodded, then came up to me and said politely, "Comrade commander, please come with me. I''ll take you to the village to find a place to live."


    Raskin took me to a house a little far away from the headquarters and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, this room is the residence of the female soldiers of the communication team and health team of the headquarters. You will have a rest here for a night."


    Seeing the place he arranged, I politely thank him. After he left, I pushed the door open and went in.


    There were three beds in the room. One of them was a female soldier in white underwear. Seeing me enter the door, she sat up from the bed and asked warily, "who are you? Comrade commander. "


    Instead of answering her question immediately, I went to the bed opposite her and stopped to ask her, "is this bed taken, please?" Seeing her shaking her head, I sat down on the bed board, leaned my submachine gun on the bedside, and began to take off my armed belt. Then I answered the female soldier''s question, "I''m lieutenant commander oshanina, chief of staff of the group army command. I don''t know what to call you?"


    After listening to my identity report, the female soldier jumped out of bed, stood barefoot in front of me, raised her hand to salute and reported, "Hello, commander. I''m garka, the hygienist. I''m waiting for your instructions! "


    I looked at the petite soldier in front of me, raised my hand and pressed it down. I said, "Comrade garka, don''t be so polite. Sit down. I''m here to stay. If you are always so polite, I''m sorry to come again. "


    With a smile, garka went forward, took the harness and briefcase I had taken off, hung them on the wall beside my bed, then went back to her bed, sat down and looked at me with a smile.


    I took off my military uniform outside and left only my underwear inside. I sat face to face with her and chatted, "garka, how many people live in this room?" I asked because I was worried that there were three people living in the house. If the other two people came back in the middle of the night, they would not be able to live.


    "It''s just Lisa and I. she''s a messenger and usually comes back in the middle of the night," she replied


    "Is the health team busy?"


    Garka shook his head and said, "there are very few battles in the headquarters, so there are basically no patients. Even if the wounded from other troops come here and stop for a few hours at most, they will be transferred to Stalingrad. "


    Just then, the door was pushed open, and a woman soldier swaggered in. She went straight to garka''s bed and sat down. She sat down beside garka and asked me, "Hey, comrade soldier, are you new here?"


    I didn''t care about her attitude. I nodded and answered faintly, "yes, I''m here today."


    Garcara pulled her sleeve to remind her, but the woman soldier ignored her and continued to ask, "what do you do? A signalman or a health worker? "


    "No, I''m the new chief of staff."


    As soon as the voice fell, the female soldier jumped up from the bed and stood straight in front of me. Her hand, which was raised to her forehead, was shaking violently, and her mouth was shaking. She said, "report commander comrade, communication soldier Lisa, I don''t know your identity. Please forgive me."


    I laughed, got up, walked over, pulled her hand off her forehead, and whispered, "Comrade Lisa, I''m just staying here for a few days. Don''t be too restrained." After I asked Lisa to sit down, I stepped back and sat down by my bed again, chatting with them.


    Just then, the door was knocked, and a voice of a male soldier outside was shouting: "commander o''shanina, do you hear me? Commander o''shanina. "


    I quickly got up and went to the door, facing the outside, asked: "who is outside, what''s the matter?"


    The male soldier outside stopped knocking on the door and reported, "Comrade commander, general trakov, please go to the headquarters immediately."


    "I see. You report to general trakov that I''ll be there in a minute


    By the time I ran to the headquarters in full arms, trakov had been waiting in the jeep at the gate for half a day. See me run past, push open a car door, lean out half body from inside, shout: "o''xia Nina, get on the car quickly."


    After the car started, I asked trekov curiously, "Comrade General, what''s the matter?"


    Trakov replied solemnly: "just received a call from Colonel lyudnikov, saying that in the process of troop mobilization, when passing through a small village, hundreds of refugee bodies were found outside the village, which seemed to be slaughtered."


    "Massacre?" I was startled and asked casually, "has the enemy bypassed our line of defense and come back to our rear?"


    Trekov shook his head and said in an uncertain tone: "from the situation reported by Colonel lyudnikov, it doesn''t look like a large army, maybe it''s a small German army with dozens of people. They happened to meet this group of retreating refugees and killed them all in order to prevent their whereabouts from being leaked. "


    The site of the accident was not far from the headquarters, no more than ten kilometers away. Our jeep arrived soon. Trucks loaded with 138 and 157 division soldiers stopped at the roadside, forming a long line of several kilometers. Our jeep drove along the motorcade and soon saw a village. Under the light, we could see that many people were busy. It should be that the soldiers were converging on the remains of the refugees.


    Lyudnikov and kuropatenko, who were commanding soldiers at the edge of the village, saw a car coming towards them and immediately guessed that it was trakov. They all came up to greet them and stopped in front of the car to salute.


    After getting out of the car, trikov saluted the two teachers and asked, "Col. lyudnikov, Col. kuropatenko, why did you stop the motorcade? When are you going to get the troops into the attack position? "


    Lyudnikov and trakov should be familiar with each other. He took over the topic and said, "report to commander, I''m ordering the soldiers to hold back the bodies of the refugees who were killed. I''m going to go on after burying them."


    With these words, we have come to the village. At the sight of the mountains of corpses, trakov stood still, speechless, with fire in his eyes.


    When I saw this scene, I was very sad. Looking at the soldiers who were carrying corpses, I had a sudden idea in my heart. I thought of a way to boost my morale. I quickly turned to lyudnikov and kuropatenko and said, "two division comrades, I ask you to immediately order each truck to send a soldier to come here."


    Lyudnikov looked at me and asked, "Comrade commander, what''s your purpose?"


    "Cut the crap, comrade colonel." Trekov gritted his teeth and said, "don''t you know that the orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed and can only be carried out? Do as commander o''shanina says immediately. "


    Lyudnikov and kuropatenko reluctantly agreed to turn around and leave. I quickly stopped them.


    "Is there anything else? Comrade commander. " Asked lyudnikov coldly.


    I pointed to the soldiers who were carrying the corpses and said, "let the soldiers leave first, and order the motorcade stopping at the roadside to start immediately. Those soldiers who have been transferred, when trucks pass here, just let them out of the car. " After listening, lyudnikov and kuropatenko asked the soldiers to stop working immediately and leave with them.


    The soldiers, who had been summoned, formed a neat line by the side of the road. When the others came, I went to the front of the queue. Looking at the angry eyes of the soldiers and the grinding teeth of hatred, I pointed to the remains of the refugees and said to them in a loud voice: "comrades, do you know who these dead people are?"


    The whole team was quiet and there was no answer.


    I went on to say, "these are the common people of the Soviet Union who were brutally killed by the aggressors on their own territory. As a soldier, we should be ashamed because we can''t defend them... "


    At first, the soldier standing in front of me was quietly wiping tears. At this time, someone was already sobbing.


    "Who is crying?" I yelled, and I scanned the hundreds of officers and men standing in front of me. "Today, what these people need is revenge, the blood of the enemy, not our tears."


    My cry stopped the crying in the line.


    I gritted my teeth and said, "now that they have come to our land to do evil, they will pay the price of bleeding. I ask you, in the coming battle, to use your weapons to avenge these dead people and eliminate the bandits. Can you do it? "


    "Yes Hundreds of throats roared in unison, "resolutely avenge our common people!"


    "Resolutely eliminate all evil bandits!"


    After everyone''s slogans were finished, I continued to shout: "now, let''s act immediately and bury the bodies of these killed people. We can''t let their bodies be exposed."


    Since lyudnikov left behind his division commissar Titov, I gave him the responsibility for burying the body and returning the troops. Then I and trakov drove back to the headquarters.


    On the way, trakov said with deep feeling: "Comrade oshanina, I think what Comrade bandulin said is reasonable. Maybe you should be a political worker, because you know how to cheer up the soldiers and boost their morale. Originally, I was a little worried about the counterattack after dawn. Now it seems that it is not a big problem to solve the Romanian army with the troops of lyudnikov and kuropatenko. "


    I gave a wry smile and replied, "Comrade General, I can play a guest role as a political worker once in a while. If I am allowed to be a full-time political worker, I think I am not qualified for this job. I am still willing to command the troops and fight with the enemy at the front line." It''s true that I say so. At least I know who my enemy is on the front line. In the rear organs, I may lose my life for no reason. After all, the last time I was in Moscow, Colonel bezikov and I almost died in the Ministry of interior because of Stalin''s stand in.


    The jeep pulled up to the gate of the headquarters, and trekov and I got out. Trekov was afraid that I couldn''t see the road when I went back, so he asked the driver to give me a flashlight. After thanking the driver, I went back with the help of the flashlight.


    When I came to the wooden house where I lived, I was relieved and said, "thank God, I''m back at last.". Then he pushed the door open and strode in.


    Maybe the sound of pushing the door was too loud. Just as I entered, a scream came from the room. Then someone asked warily, "who is it? Who''s at the door? "


    I was startled by the scream, and then I flashed the flashlight at the sound. In the light, I saw the most beautiful scene. Garka and Lisa were lying naked on the bed, their legs entangled. I quickly turned off the flashlight, pulled the door, walked to my bed with my memory, and said, "I''m lieutenant commander o''shanina. I''m sorry, I opened the door so loudly that I woke you both up. Go on sleeping. " Like a thief, I came to my bedside, leaned my submachine gun to the bedside, and I lay on the bed with my clothes.


    Tired for a day, I wanted to close my eyes and go to sleep. As a result, I was thinking about the Xiangyan lens I saw just now and couldn''t sleep. After a while, I heard someone get out of bed quietly and walk outside. After a few steps, I heard the sound of going to bed again. Although I didn''t open my eyes, I understood that Lisa had quietly returned to her own bed. I lay in bed for more than an hour and couldn''t sleep. Since I couldn''t sleep, I simply got up, picked up the submachine gun placed by the bed and went out. I was ready to go to the headquarters first and discuss with them about how to improve today''s combat deployment.

 Chapter 499

    As soon as I entered the headquarters, I immediately felt the tension before the war.


    Originally in the communication room next door, it seems that all of them have moved to the headquarters. A long table was set up along the wooden wall. Several communication staff officers were sitting around the table, guarding a military telephone, so that they could contact several divisions at any time. Two telephone operators, in the corner near the map, wearing earphones, are on standby.


    Just now, on the wooden table where the commanders were sitting at the meeting, there was a high-frequency telephone and a military map. The chief of staff was leaning over the table and staring at the map. It seemed that they were still further confirming the battle plan and finding out the possible omissions.


    I went to the table and coughed softly. Raskin raised his head, moved his eyes from the map to me, nodded at me and said faintly, "commander o''shanina, you''re here!"


    I looked left and right. In the headquarters, except for Colonel Raskin, communications staff officer and newspaperman, I didn''t see the figures of trakov, shumilov and military commissars. So I couldn''t help asking, "chief of staff, commander, they''re not here?"


    Raskin looked up at his watch and said, "it''s three o''clock. Our attack time is set at four in the morning. That is to say, commander, they will return to the headquarters before four o''clock. " Then he looked down at the map.


    Although Colonel Ruskin did not say where they had gone, I knew in my heart that they must have gone to rest. After all, people are not machines, and sometimes they are tired.


    Since they haven''t come yet, I just take this opportunity to study my deployment with the chief of staff. Standing next to the chief of staff, I leaned down and humbly asked, "Comrade Colonel, do you think there are any omissions in my deployment?"


    Raskin pointed to the renok area on the ground and said without hesitation: "I think the two German legions that are placed here are the most worrying. What if they let us eat the Romanian army and concentrate our forces to attack the 214 and 229 divisions directly? Although we have two divisions in name, you should be as clear as I am about the number of troops that can be used. In the face of the enemy''s crazy attack, I am afraid that the troops of general biliukov and Colonel sarren will not be able to withstand it. "


    What Raskin said sounded reasonable and made me waver in my plan. But on second thought, I think what he said is right and correct. Right? It''s because the enemy, through aerial reconnaissance, knew that our army had no solid fortifications in this area, so they dared to let the two regiments'' troops wedge into our defense zone. No, according to the original operational plan, our army will be divided into several echelons and attack the enemy in turn. Once the attack is frustrated, the enemy will still launch a crazy counter attack on us.


    "Colonel Ruskin, don''t use your judgment to influence the confidence of lieutenant commander oshanina." Trekov didn''t know when he came to the door. When he heard my conversation with Ruskin, he couldn''t help interrupting. With that, he marched into the headquarters, followed by general shumilov and two military commissioners. When they saw the commander coming, the communication staff and the radio operator sitting in the room stood up and raised their hands to salute them.


    After calling shumilov and the military commissar to sit down, trikov took off the big cornice hat on his head, used his hand as a comb to trim his hair, and solemnly and calmly told the staff, "try the line."


    Although trakov was only the deputy commander of the group army, because he stayed in the army much longer than shumilov, his prestige was also high. With his order, the staff immediately shook the phone and called outside to check whether the line was normal. Soon they put down the phone one after another and reported one by one: "report to deputy commander, the line is unblocked."


    Trikov sat down in his position, turned to shumilov and said, "Comrade commander, what we can do next is to sit here and wait patiently for the attack time."


    Shumilov nodded, and without saying anything, he lowered his head and began to look at the map.


    Trikov looked at Ruskin, who was frowning at the map, and said jokingly, "Hey, chief of staff, why do you always frown? If you do this, you will become a little old man by the end of today''s battle. " His words immediately attracted a few colleagues around the light laughter.


    Raskin sighed after hearing this and said: "general trakov, I always feel that the feasibility of the implementation of lieutenant colonel oshanina''s plan is not high. At least the 214 and 229 divisions on the left may encounter danger when the battle is going on."


    Trekov waved his hand and stopped what he said: "Comrade chief of staff, you don''t need to say that. Since lieutenant commander oshanina''s counterattack plan was approved by general Zhukov himself, it proves that the Supreme Command approved the plan. If the counterattack plan formulated by o''shanina is successful, then she will have the opportunity to take on a more important position. "


    From what trakov said, I could hear something implied. You should know that my previous promotion was too fast, which led to my unstable foundation, coupled with my shallow qualifications, which were enough to become a stumbling block on my way forward. Or in other people''s eyes, or even in trakov''s view, my promotion depends more on luck than ability. Now that I have such a good chance, it can be regarded as the most severe test for me.


    After a while, trakov looked up at his watch and nodded to Raskin. Raskin immediately ordered the communications staff to "connect the command posts of the divisions immediately."


    The communications staff quickly reported that they were ready and that the commanders of the divisions and brigades were waiting for orders to attack. Trekov then turned his eyes to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, all the offensive units of the group army are ready and waiting for your order to attack."


    I nodded nervously, went to the communication staff, took a deep breath, stabilized my mood, and said aloud, "attack!"


    The communications staff agreed, and immediately conveyed my words to the commanders of the divisions and brigades.


    The unbearable wait was over and the battle began.


    After giving the order, I went back to the wooden table and wanted to command through the map. To tell you the truth, it was the order given by the communication staff just now. It''s not like giving orders. It''s like spreading messages for others. There''s no momentum at all.


    Because we are too far away from the battlefield, we can''t hear the roar of guns even though we have given the order to attack. The next thing we can do is to wait for the war reports sent back by the front forces. Then we can grasp the progress of our army according to these war reports, and further adjust our deployment according to these information.


    Before the battle started, there was no accident, which satisfied me. Before the attack, I was concerned about whether the battle could start smoothly, and after that, I was concerned about how to win.


    It took at least twenty minutes to get a call from Colonel lyudnikov. In the phone, he excitedly reported: "report to commander oshanina, our division''s troops have broken through the enemy''s first line of defense under the cover of tanks, and are now advancing towards the second line of defense."


    "How are the casualties in the army?" First of all, I asked about the casualties of the troops, because it has a bearing on whether the division can continue to fight


    "Because the enemy didn''t have strong fortifications, we easily broke through the enemy''s lines, and the casualties were almost negligible. Now the enemy is fleeing, and our officers and men are following us. "


    "Well done, comrade colonel." I praised him first, then reminded him: "control the speed of attack, don''t eat the enemy too fast. In that case, we will not be able to mobilize the German forces in renok


    "Yes, comrade commander." Lyudnikov responded very readily.


    I put down the receiver and asked the communications staff to take the phone away. Then I made a few strokes in orlovka with red and blue pencils and reported to them: "according to Colonel lyudnikov''s report, his troops have defeated the defenders of the enemy''s first line of defense and are developing in depth. In order for the Romanian army to send a distress signal to the German army, I have asked Col. lyudnikov to slow down the attack speed in order to transfer to the German army. "


    After listening, trekov nodded and said, "I agree with you. If the Romanian army is annihilated by us too soon, the German army will give up the rescue of the friendly army and concentrate on attacking the renok area. In that case, our troops in the area will be in danger. "


    From the beginning of receiving lyudnikov''s battle report, the battle reports of the troops were put on the table like flowing water. The 214th and 229th divisions in renok sent small companies to harass the German army. As soon as the German attacked, they retreated. As soon as the German army withdrew, they immediately entangled them again, which made them very upset.


    Then the good news that I had been looking forward to finally came. The telegraph operator sent a phone call from the scouts, saying that the German army had sent out almost two battalions of infantry, taking trucks, under the cover of three tanks and seven armored vehicles, heading for the orlovka area.


    Seeing the telegram, shumilov slapped the table excitedly and said in a loud voice, "that''s great! Commander oshanina''s fishing plan is successful. As long as the German reinforcements enter our ambush circle, then our army can launch a full-scale attack in renok area. "


    The battle proceeded according to my imagination, and the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. I immediately called Colonel lyudnikov and told them, "Comrade division, the German reinforcements are moving towards you. It is estimated that they will enter our ambush circle in an hour. I want to ask you, when will you be able to end the fighting and send troops to renok? "


    "Renok area?" When lyudnikov heard this place name, he was obviously stunned for a moment and asked, "isn''t there a 214 division and 229 division?"


    "Yes, comrade Colonel, you are right. These two divisions are responsible for frontal attack. I hope you and Col. kuropachenko''s troops will leave the 66th marine brigade to clean up the battlefield after the battle is over, and your two divisions, together with the 137th tank brigade, will quickly turn south, join the 29th division and the 154th marine brigade that ambushed the German reinforcements, and then quickly rush to renok to encircle the remaining German troops. "


    "I see, comrade commander."


    Before I hung up, I suddenly remembered something and asked, "Comrade Colonel, how is the morale of the army?"


    "Comrade commander, please rest assured that the commanders and fighters are full of fighting passion. When we meet the enemy''s stubborn resistance and our attack is frustrated, there are always soldiers standing up and shouting: comrades, brothers, don''t forget our compatriots who were killed by the enemy. We will avenge them and sacrifice them with the enemy''s blood. With such a shout, the officers and men who were unable to move under the enemy''s firepower stood up bravely one after another and rushed forward, whistling, and then the enemy was defeated. Comrade commander, the effect of your pre war agitation last night is really wonderful! "


    Trekov obviously heard what lyudnikov said. When I put down the phone, he raised his hand and patted me on the shoulder, praising: "Comrade oshanina, you did a good job. I didn''t expect that your encouragement last night really mobilized the enthusiasm of the commanders and fighters."


    Chumilov and the two military commissars were puzzled by his words and asked what was going on. So trakov told them all about what happened last night and heard shumilov, sheldyuk and Abramov give me a thumbs up.


    Colonel klobkin of the 29th Division also called trakov soon. He excitedly reported on the phone: "report commander, after the enemy reinforcements entered our ambush circle, I decisively ordered the troops to open fire. Under the powerful fire of us and the 154th marine brigade, many enemies were killed in trucks without even coming back. When we destroyed the tanks and armored vehicles that covered the convoy, the commanders and fighters had rushed onto the road and were engaged in close combat with the enemy. "


    "That''s great, Colonel klobkin." Trekov exclaimed excitedly, "how much time do you think you''ll have to solve the battle completely?"


    "Twenty minutes, comrade commander. In half an hour at most, I can completely eliminate the enemy on the road. "


    "That''s great, comrade klobkin. After annihilating the enemy, let the marine brigade stay to clean the battlefield. You immediately take your soldiers back to renok in an undamaged truck and cut off the retreat of the German army. By the way, the troops of lyudnikov and kuropatenko will soon be able to wipe out the Romanian army in front of them, and then they will rush to renok to join you. Remember to ask the marine brigade to clear the road so that we can get through in a convoy of commanders and fighters. "


    When trakov put down the phone, I felt completely at ease. Although there were German regiments and battalions in renok, they had become turtles in a jar. When the other divisions arrived, they had no way back.


    Seeing that the effect of the combat deployment was almost achieved, I picked up the phone, called bilukov and sarin at the same time, and said to them, "general bilukov and Colonel sarin, I have two good news for you. First, the Romanian army has been severely damaged by the forces of lyudnikov and kuropatenko, and it is only a matter of time before it is completely annihilated; Second, the German troops who went to reinforce the Romanian army were basically wiped out. Soon the 29th, 138th and 157th divisions will rush to renok to encircle and annihilate the German army with you. Now I order you to immediately attack the German troops in front of you. You must restrain them and do not let them escape. "


    The all-round attack launched by the 214 and 229 divisions is the final battle of today''s battle. Whether the enemy troops can be completely annihilated depends on how well the two divisions fight.


    At the beginning, the fighting went well. Because the German army of the first line of defense thought that it was another harassing force and did not take it to heart. It was because they underestimated the enemy too much that the first line of defense changed hands in an instant when they were attacked by several battalions of our army.


    The next battle became more and more cruel. In order to ensure that the enemy would not be eaten by our army, the enemy sent out the air force to bomb and strafe our offensive troops. Our attack fell into a state of stagnation.


    Soon the bad news of the war came. A telegraph operator ran over and said with a nervous look: "Comrade report commander, the 678th regiment was bombarded by enemy planes in turn during the attack, causing heavy casualties. The regiment commander was injured and the political commissar died. Captain Slaven, the fourth battalion commander, is commanding the troops instead of the regiment commander. "


    When I heard that the army''s attack was blocked and captain Lu Jin was injured, I was shocked. I secretly said that this was the second time he was injured. God bless him, he must be OK.


    I went up to the operator and said, "let me talk to captain Slaven." Then he took the transmitter and headphones in his hand. He put the earphone to his ear, raised the transmitter in one hand and said aloud, "Comrade Slaven? I''m lieutenant commander o''shanina


    In the earphone first came the violent gunfire, then came the familiar voice of Slaven: "Hello, comrade commander, it''s me, what''s your instruction?"


    "Comrade captain, you are right! Let the attacking forces disperse and use the crater to approach the enemy''s position step by step. Remember that your task is to entangle the enemy at all costs, so that they can not easily escape from the battlefield, and when the friendly forces arrive, wipe them out. " Speaking of this, I turned around and asked trakov and shumilov, "comrades commander, what else do you need to add?"


    Trekov shook his head and said, "no!"


    Shumilov nodded in complete agreement. So I simply added, "go ahead now, comrade captain." After returning the transmitter and earphone to the operator, I went up to them and nervously said, "comrades, the situation has changed. If we can''t get air force support, today''s attack may fail. We will not be able to wipe out the enemy completely even though we have paid a lot of casualties. That will be a bit more than we have gained. " Without talking to trikov, shumilov stood up and said decisively, "I''m going to call general gordov and ask him to send the air force to support us."

 Chapter 500

    Shumilov picked up the high-frequency telephone on the desk and dialed a number. When a voice came out of the receiver, he immediately said, "is it the duty room of the headquarters of the front army? I''m "Comrade colonel." after shumilov finished, I asked klobkin a question of my own concern: "your troops were not attacked by the enemy on the way in?"¡° Yes, comrade commander Klobkin simply replied: "because we had been attacked by the enemy some time ago, I have some experience in air defense. As soon as I saw the enemy aircraft appear, I immediately asked the commanders and fighters to get out of the car to avoid the enemy''s air attack. In the end, there were few casualties, except for a part of the cars¡° Well done, comrade colonel After I praised him, I went on to say, "tell the commanders and fighters that the opportunity to make contributions is just around the corner. Whether they can grasp it or not depends on themselves."

 Chapter 501

    "Yes, comrade commander." "I will tell the officers and men that our battle is not only for the protection of our motherland, but also for the honor of our soldiers," klobkin said solemnly


    Then, I heard him tell the people around me in the earphone: "you go to inform the commanders below that the opportunity to build meritorious service is in front of all of us. Whether we can build meritorious service depends on their respective performance." The man who was told by him agreed excitedly, and then I heard a rapid sound of footsteps gradually go away.


    Seeing that Colonel klobkin understood what I meant, I politely said, "good luck to you!" Then he was cut off.


    Seeing that I had finished my assignment to kolobkin, trakov and shumilov went back to the table and sat down one after another, chatting with the two military commissars, serdyuk and Abramov, who were sitting there and kept silent. To tell you the truth, the four leaders of the group army are doing very well today. Except when the air force was mobilized, the two principal and Deputy commanders called the headquarters of the front army and the air force, they almost kept silent for the rest of the time. They were completely relieved and boldly asked me to direct the battle.


    I grabbed the belt around my waist with both hands and began to circle around the wooden table. The victory or defeat of this battle is no longer my main concern. What bothers me is that the German army not only has more tanks and artillery than us, but also their air force firmly holds the air supremacy on the battlefield. In today''s battle, if our army is not the main attacker and has the advantage of military strength, it may be our army that is finally annihilated.


    While turning around, a communications staff officer stood up after receiving a phone call and reported to me, "Comrade commander, according to the report of the frontier observation station, our fighters have arrived over the battlefield and launched a fierce air fight with the enemy. As the enemy''s air raids have stopped, our participating forces have speeded up their attack. "


    The good news gave everyone a sigh of relief. I asked again. After verifying the accuracy of the information, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I told the radio operator, "immediately get in touch with two division commanders lyudnikov and kuropatenko, and ask where their troops have arrived?"


    With a loud promise, the operator picked up the transmitter and began to shout. Because the communication equipment carried by lyudnikov was destroyed in the air raid, only the 157 division of the two divisions had a telephone, so the operator called the communication code of the kuropatenko division.


    I didn''t expect that the operator was almost hoarse and didn''t get a reply from the other party. My heart suddenly raised to my throat. My heart said that lyudnikov and kuropatenko would not be so unlucky. They had just been hit by an air raid, but now they can''t get in touch. They won''t be hit by anything again, will they?


    Seeing that we couldn''t get in touch with the 138th and 157 divisions, trikov and shumilov couldn''t sit still, and they came to the telephone side by side. "Keep calling until you get in touch with them," trekov yelled at the operator The operator quickly nodded and sped up the call.


    Shumilov stood beside trakov with his hands behind his back and said anxiously, "Comrade trakov, do you think these two divisions will encounter any accident?"


    Trekov looked at the calling operator, then turned to me, raised his chin to me, and asked, "what do you think, comrade oshanina?"


    Although I feel like 15 buckets of water at present, I still reply calmly, "two comrades, I can''t get in touch with the 157 th division. Maybe it''s because they are marching and the radio is not on."


    "Commander oshanina," compared with trikov''s calmness, shumilov was obviously a little uneasy. He asked in a hurry, "are you sure you can''t contact the two divisions because they are marching and the radio is not on?"


    I was a little too full of words just now. When shumilov asked, I could only reply with a stiff head: "yes, comrade commander, I can almost conclude that this is the case."


    Shumilov shriveled his mouth and asked in disapproval: "is this really the case? Comrade commander. "


    "Comrades commander," trikov said in a more affirmative tone, coming forward to help me out in time, "I think lieutenant commander o''shanina has a point. You think that the enemy''s air raid was so fierce just now, lyudnikov and kuropatenko are safe and sound. Now that the German planes have left the battlefield and there is no long-range artillery to support their infantry, the reason why we can''t get in touch with these two divisions is that the radio is not turned on during the March, so we can''t get in touch for the time being. At present, all we can do is to wait, wait for kuropatenko and contact us when they start up... "


    Trekov just said this, the voice of the operator suddenly became shrill with excitement: "yes, yes, I''m the group army command, I''m the group army command." Then the operator turned around and excitedly reported to me, "Comrade commander, we have contacted the 157 th division."


    I grabbed the earphone and transmitter handed to me by the operator and said aloud, "Hello! Hello! Hello! I''m lieutenant commander oshanina. Are you Colonel kuropatenko or Colonel lyudnikov? "


    Colonel lyudnikov''s familiar voice came from the earphone. He said slowly, "report, comrade commander, the radio was not turned on just now because we were marching. At present, our two divisions have reached the designated position, and the vanguard troops have exchanged fire with the enemy. "


    "How many troops of the two divisions are in place? Two regiments or three regiments? " I''m afraid that the trucks of their two divisions lost too much in the enemy''s air raid just now, which will affect the time for most of the commanders and fighters to enter the battlefield.


    "More than that, except for two or three battalions still on their way, the rest of the commanders and fighters have entered the battlefield and are waiting for you to give them orders, and they will rush down to the enemy like tigers."


    "Didn''t you say that many trucks were damaged by enemy planes in the air raid? How can you and Colonel kuropatenko put so many troops into the battlefield at one time? "


    "Well, comrade commander. In the course of advancing to the battlefield, our troops met the 137th brigade of tanks coming from behind. After our negotiation with the tank brigade commander, some of the walking commanders and fighters took tanks and some took trucks transporting ammunition and fuel to advance rapidly. In this way, most of our troops arrived at the battlefield almost at the same time. "


    "The tank brigade is coming up too?" I didn''t expect that this tank brigade, which was not included in my plan at all, gave me a big surprise. I stabilized my mood for a moment and said to lyudnikov, "Comrade Colonel, don''t hesitate. Immediately put you and Colonel kuropatenko''s troops, as well as the tank brigade, into battle. The action must be fast and fierce, and the enemy must be completely eliminated in the shortest time."


    Lyudnikov still replied calmly: "I see, comrade commander. I''m going to convey your order to both of them. "


    "Wait, comrade colonel." When I heard his lazy voice, I felt a little uneasy. When I felt that he was going to interrupt communication, I called him again.


    "Is there anything else I can tell you?" From the earphone, I could hear that lyudnikov''s tone was perfunctory.


    "Colonel lyudnikov, it depends on whether your attack is quick and decisive to wipe out this isolated and deep German army. Tell the soldiers that the opportunity to make contributions is in front of them. Whether they strive for their own honor depends on their own efforts. " Having said that, I deliberately stopped for a moment, turned my head and looked at trekov and shumilov standing next to me with a guilty heart, and then said mysteriously, "according to reliable information, after the victory of this battle, the supreme command may choose one of the troops to be awarded the honorary title of the guard division. Think about it, comrade colonel. It''s a great honor. "


    "Guard master!" Lyudnikov''s breathing became thick and heavy. It seemed that he was greatly stimulated by the honorary title. Then I heard him and the people next to him whispering, because the voice was too small, I didn''t catch what they were saying. After a long time, his breathing gradually returned to normal. He coughed gently and said in a firm tone, "please rest assured, commander. The 138th, 157 and 137th tank brigades will do their best and never let an enemy escape."


    "Well done, comrade colonel." Seeing that my method worked, I could not help but feel relieved, but I tried to keep calm and said as if nothing had happened: "now that I understand, I''ll take action immediately. I wish you good luck again


    When I put down the earphone and the transmitter, trakov laughed and pointed at me with his finger and said, "oshanina, you are so brave. You dare to cheat them that the outstanding troops will be promoted to the guard division. You are not afraid to wait for the end of the battle. When they find out that they have been cheated, they will come to you to settle accounts."


    "Two comrades, I think lieutenant commander o''shanina has done a good job." The military commissar sergeuk, who had been sitting at the table and didn''t speak, stood up and said good things for me. "It''s also a way to boost morale. As long as the news reaches the ears of the commanders and fighters, the combat effectiveness and morale of the troops will be greatly improved. "


    Trikov folded his hands in front of his chest, bowed his head for a moment, then raised his head and said with certainty: "if lieutenant colonel oshanina''s method can really improve the morale and combat effectiveness of the troops, we can really make a request to the higher authorities to promote the troops with outstanding achievements to the guard division." At this point, he raised his hand, looked at his watch, and continued: "I think the battle will be over soon. I want to go ahead and have a look."


    "I''ll go with you, Comrade General." Although this battle is under my command, I have been talking on paper all the time. What I have learned through Telegraph and telephone is not as true as what I have seen with my own eyes.


    Trekov didn''t object, but said to shumilov, "Comrade commander, I''ll leave it to you. I''ll go to renok with lieutenant commander o''shanina."


    Shumilov looked at me and nodded in agreement: "OK, I agree. I''ll leave it to you. You should be more careful when you go out and pay attention to safety. "


    Trekov nodded and walked out with his legs up. After saluting shumilov and the two military commissioners, I picked up the submachine gun leaning against the table and rushed out.


    As soon as he went out, he saw the little soldier sidtorin standing beside him, looking up and reporting something to him. Seeing me walking by, sidtorin gave me a smile and asked friendly, "Hello, comrade commander! Do you want to go to the front line with Comrade commander? "


    "Yes." I answered him with a smile. Then he turned his head and asked trakov, "Comrade General, private sidtorin, are you going with us?"


    Trekov nodded his head hard. Instead of answering me immediately, he asked sidtorin to find the jeep first. After sidtorin left, he said in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, you should remember that I said last time that I would help lieutenant colonel sidtorin take care of his son, so I would take him with me wherever I went."


    Trekov and I were not followed by many people. There were only two drivers, a messenger, sidtorin, a telegraph operator with a telephone on his back and a dozen security guards.


    As we got closer and closer to the battlefield, the rumble of guns became clearer. As the jeep was moving forward, trakov patted the driver on the shoulder, pointed right ahead and said, "Comrade driver, stop by that hill."


    We got out of the car and went up the hill. The battle is going on tensely. The field of vision here is very wide. Through the telescope, we can clearly see the battlefield filled with smoke and the officers and soldiers of the two armies fighting to death.


    A few shells fell thinly on the open space in front of our hillside, because the explosion site was still a little far away from us, so trekov and I still calmly looked at the distant battlefield with binoculars. To his surprise, sidtorin was frightened. He jumped on him and pulled trekov''s arm behind the hillside.


    Trikov shook his hand, threw little sidtorin away, and roared discontentedly, "what are you doing? Don''t you see that the place where the enemy''s shells landed is far away from us?"


    The enemy''s shells fell on the open space one or two hundred meters ahead of us and exploded, but they did not pose any danger to us at all. With the explosion of the shell, sidtorin jumped in front of and stood behind trikov. Obviously, he was worried about the safety of trikov and was ready to protect him with his body at any time.


    Trekov put down his telescope, pointed to the smoke craters in the distance, and explained to me, "o''shanina, you see, the enemy''s shells are scattered, which proves that their regiment artillery suffered heavy casualties under our army''s attack. Their aimless and random fighting is just a desperate struggle. "


    Just then, on the battlefield filled with smoke, red signal bombs rose to the sky one after another. Originally worried about the safety of trikov, sidtorin, who had been dancing around us, excitedly pointed to the sky and yelled, "commander, commander, look, the sky is our signal bomb. Our final general attack has begun, and the enemy is almost finished. "


    "I''ll make you happy." With a straight face and a slightly reproachful tone, trikov said to sidtorin, "Comrade soldier, although our army has taken the initiative in the battlefield, don''t you hear that the gunfire is still fierce? This proves that the enemy is not willing to fail and is fighting at a loss. He also fantasizes that there will be reinforcements to rescue them. "


    "Comrade commander, do you think the enemy''s reinforcements will come?" Asked sidtorin curiously.


    Trikov touched sidtorin''s helmet, raised his chin to me and said, "well, you can ask lieutenant commander o''shanina for advice. You know, today''s battle is under her command. General shumilov and I are fighting for her. "


    Seeing that sidtorin came up to me, without waiting for him to ask, I took the initiative to explain to him with a smile: "sidtorin, you don''t have to worry. According to my analysis, the enemy''s reinforcements will not come at least today."


    "Why?" Although this question was asked by sidtorin, from the expression of trakov, he also wanted to hear the answer from my mouth.


    "According to my judgment, the enemy''s fourth tank group army has just been transferred back from the Caucasus. After a long period of uninterrupted March and fighting, they consume a lot of materials, so they have to stop and find a suitable place to replenish the badly needed ammunition and fuel. And the two regiments, which are deeply isolated, should not carry much ammunition, otherwise our troops would not fight so easily. "


    "O''shanina, what do you think of what might happen next?"


    Trikov''s question was another temporary investigation. So before I answered, I thought about what I wanted to say in my mind, and then I said: "Comrade commander, this is what I thought: first, after the battle is over, in addition to leaving a few troops to clean the battlefield, the rest of the troops will quickly return to the original defense area and build fortifications, In order to fight against the enemy may launch a larger offensive. Second, we need to make a request to the higher authorities to strengthen the necessary air defense forces for our group army, so that we can make the enemy planes have scruples and dare not attack us as recklessly as they are now. I think of these two points now. I''ll report the rest to you when I think of it. "


    "Well said!" Trikov said aloud and patted me on the shoulder. "Oshanina, after this battle, I believe that commanders at all levels of the group army will have a higher sense of identity with you. I intend to propose to the higher authorities that you be formally appointed as deputy chief of staff of the group army."


    Although the deputy chief of staff is not as famous as the former chief of staff and division commander of the eighth division of Jinwei in the 20th group army, at least you don''t have to worry about being sent to various grass-roots units to take the post of temporary commander, brigade commander and division commander. Hearing the distant gunfire gradually thinning down, trakov breathed a sigh of relief and said, "the battle is coming to an end. Let''s go, o''shanina. Let''s go to the battlefield. " With that, he strode to the jeep at the foot of the hill.

 Chapter 502

    Trekov and I got into the jeep, but sidtorin didn''t follow me. Instead, he stood in front of the jeep with open arms. Trikov gave a wry smile and said to himself, "what do you want to do today, boy?" Then he pushed the door open and got out of the car. Seeing that trakov got out of the car, I couldn''t stay in the car, so I had to push the door open and get out of the car from the other side.


    I followed trikov and approached sidtorin. Trikov bent down slightly and asked softly, "Hey, private sidtorin, what do you want to do when you arrive? Why are you blocking my way?"


    Sidtorin said with a puff of breath: "Comrade commander, did you not hear the guns on the battlefield and have not stopped? Now in the past, it''s too dangerous. You''re in a jeep, not an armored car


    Trikov raised his arm and slapped sidtorin''s helmet. Then he scolded angrily, "be your messenger and mind your own business." With that, he turned to the jeep.


    Seeing sidtorin standing in a daze, I quickly gave him a hand and said in a low voice, "sidtorin, don''t make the commander angry. Listen. Let''s get on the bus and go to the battlefield. "


    Originally, sidtorin helped the crooked helmet, shrunk his mouth, and showed a look of crying. Listen to me, he quickly clenched his lips, nodded his head, obediently followed me, got on the jeep, and sat in the co driver''s seat.


    Seeing that we were all on the bus, trikov immediately told the driver, "look along the road, let''s go to the battlefield."


    The driver quickly promised: "understand, comrade commander." As soon as we stepped on the gas, our car looked forward.


    Soon, we entered the battlefield where the gunfire had not stopped. The two sides of the dirt road had been soaked with blood, and there were lots of corpses everywhere, including the enemy and our soldiers, as well as the wounded who were still struggling and whining when they fell to the ground. Fortunately, I saw three or five groups of health workers treating the wounded in the pile of corpses. It is estimated that the wounded in our army will be treated soon, while whether the wounded in the German army can be saved depends on their luck.


    Seeing a large group of soldiers gathering in front of him, trakov quickly told the driver, "Comrade driver, stop people in a crowded place." The driver agreed, and the jeep stopped near the crowd. As soon as the car stopped steadily, without waiting for trekov''s command, sidtorin opened the door and got out of the car. He ran to find some soldiers standing on the side of the road with their backs to us and asked, "which part do you belong to? Where is your commander? "


    The soldiers he asked looked down at him and saw that it was a child. They thought he was making trouble, so they ignored him and continued to chat on their own.


    Seeing that herald sidtorin was left out in the cold, trekov''s face turned angry. Seeing that he was about to get angry, I quickly took him by the arm and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, leave this matter to me." Trekov looked at me, then at the soldiers outside, and nodded slowly.


    With permission, I quickly pushed the door open and got out of the car. I carried the submachine gun and walked towards the soldiers. At the same time, I asked in a loud voice, "Hey, comrades of the soldiers, what part are you? Where is the commander? "


    Hearing a woman asking them, several soldiers turned around in unison. Originally, they all had casual expressions on their faces. When they saw my rank, they straightened up and raised their hands to salute me: "Hello, commander! Do you have any instructions? "


    After I raised my hand to return the salute, I asked, "comrades soldiers, please take a moment! Which unit are you from and where is your commander? "


    A soldier looked left and right, then summoned up his courage and took a step forward. The report said: "report, comrade commander, we are from the 1st Battalion of 804th regiment of 229th infantry division, and the battalion commander is captain Feiding."


    Hearing the soldier say so, I nodded and said, "well, I once met your battalion commander. Where is he now?"


    The soldier pointed forward along the road and said, "go along this road for about two kilometers. There is a temporary headquarters. The battalion commander is there to see the division commander."


    "Thank you, comrade soldier." With that, I said to sidtorin, who was still standing beside me: "Herald sidtorin, what are you doing here? If you don''t get on the bus soon, we will be on our way again."


    When I was about to get on the bus, I heard someone behind me asking the soldier who had just answered my question: "Hello, I said, who is this female commander?"


    "My God, don''t you even know her? You know, she''s in charge of our fight today. "


    "She''s commander o''shanina?! I didn''t expect her to be so young. "


    For such comments, I just smile and close the door. Sitting next to him, trikov must have heard the comments of the two soldiers. He laughed at me and said, "o''shanina, after today''s battle, your fame has greatly increased. I''m afraid few people in the whole army will not know you."


    Hearing his praise, I couldn''t help picking up the corners of my mouth and grinning. Can always maintain a personal image in front of the superior, can not be too complacent. So I forced myself to smile and said, "fortunately, with the help of you and general shumilov today, I persuaded general kheliukin to send out the air force. If it had not been for our air force''s enemy planes to drive away from the sky of the battlefield, our troops would still be in a bitter battle at the moment. Perhaps in the end, many of the besieged German troops would have broken through. "


    After listening to my kind words, trikov gave a slight smile and then said to me, "o''shanina, although you have won this battle, you can''t be proud. An excellent commander should not only think about the outcome of one or two battles, but also consider the overall situation of the whole campaign. He should know how to think about some problems from the height of a campaign. According to my judgment, the scale of our battle with the enemy near Stalingrad is absolutely not small, and it will not end in a month or two. In the future, you will experience more and more cruel battles. "


    After listening to these words, I can''t help but admire him deeply and admire his foresight. You know, not only in the group army, but also in the front army and the supreme command, we all stubbornly believe that the goal of the German army is Caucasian oil, not Stalingrad. All the enemy''s recent military operations in the Duhe and Volga river basins are just to cover up their plot to seize the oil fields in the Caucasus.


    Under the guidance of our commanders and fighters along the way, we soon came to the joint headquarters. The reason why it is said to be a joint headquarters is that the commanders of all divisions who participated in the battle today are all concentrated in this headquarters with a total area of 40 square meters. This used to be the German headquarters. The roof was half removed by our artillery shells. Although the room was full of broken wood and bricks, it could hold so many of us.


    Before we came in, we heard the noise inside, as if we were discussing something fiercely. As soon as we entered the door, the sharp eyed general biliukov found us, and then brought a group of division commanders and political commissars to salute us. He reported that "commander comrade, commander oshanina, welcome to the front line for inspection."


    Trekov shook hands with him and asked, "general bilukov, what''s the situation now?"


    Biliukov stopped and replied, "report to commander, our army has completely controlled the battlefield, the enemy has been completely annihilated by us, and the soldiers are cleaning the battlefield and consolidating their positions. In a few minutes, all the troops except our division and the division of Colonel sarren will set out to return to their original positions. Please rest assured! "


    Trekov nodded and then asked, "before I came in, I heard there was a lot of noise inside. What are you talking about?"


    Biliukov turned to look at the crowd, beckoned to one and said, "commissar jitov, please tell the commander what''s going on."


    The political commissar of the 138th division, who trekov and I both knew, jitov, with a small wooden box in his arms, squeezed out of the crowd. When he came up to us, he put the box under his left armpit, raised his hand to salute trikov, and said, "report to commander, please allow me to show you something."


    Seeing that trikov nodded and agreed, jitov opened the lid of the wooden box and handed it to trikov. Trekov looked inside, then took out a half burnt hard card and examined it carefully. I''m going to step up curiously to see what''s in trakov''s hand.


    Trikov looked over and over for a while, and asked jitov in a puzzled way, "I said, commissar jitov, what is this?"


    "Regiment certificate, comrade commander." With one hand, Titov held the box, and the other hand took the hard paper from trakov''s hand. He said in a loud voice, "this regiment Card No. 13145761 belongs to corporal Nikolay borodushin, a 19-year-old member of the Communist Youth League from Saratov. He went to the battle with this regiment card, but unfortunately stepped on the enemy''s mine and died bravely."


    Titov put the broken group card into the wooden box, took out another group card which had been burned on all sides, and told us in a loud voice: "the owner of this group card is Sergeant Peter frashenko, a Ukrainian soldier and tank hand. The young soldier joined the Communist Youth League of Lenin in the Soviet Union a few days before he died. The League card was issued to him on the battlefield. When attacking the enemy''s position, frachenko''s tank was unfortunately shot and caught fire, but he still insisted on fighting until the last moment of his life. When we found his body, we found dozens of corpses lying around his chariot. "


    Jitov took out the third regiment card, which was covered with blood and had a blackened bullet hole in the middle. He said: "this one belongs to kisham amanruolov, a young soldier from Kazakhstan. He went to fight with the regiment card and charged to the enemy''s position. Unfortunately, he was hit by the enemy''s evil bullet and died with honor."


    "And these two regiment cards, belonging to private Vasili butov and corporal Alexander oleniechev, have been shot through. These two members of the Communist Youth League were the first to rush into the enemy''s position when our division attacked the last line of defense of the Communist aggressors. Unfortunately, they were hit by the enemy''s bullets and died at the end of the battle. "


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Trikov silently watched Titov tell you one story after another, and nodded his head thoughtfully. When jitov''s words came to an end, he took over the topic and said: "Comrade jitov is quite right. There are a large proportion of young people in the group army and a large number of League members. Our political workers should vigorously publicize these heroic deeds in the army and tell every soldier that the League card is a glorious flag, and League members and young people should be guided by it, Fight bravely. "


    At this time, the herald sidtorin came in from the outside, came to trakov''s side, and whispered to him, "Comrade General, the commander wants to talk to you."


    Trekov nodded and said, "I see. I''ll be right there." When sidtorin turned and left, he said to everyone, "I''m sorry, I''m going to contact General shumilov. You can keep busy." Then he turned and left.


    Since he didn''t ask me to go with him, I naturally didn''t have the cheek to go out with him and listen to what he and shumilov said on the radio. Instead, I stayed to chat with you.


    As soon as trikov left, without waiting for some of my familiar division commanders to come over, bilukov had already preempted me and said, "commander oshanina, your battle plan is really wonderful. We haven''t fought such a war of total annihilation for a long time." At this point, he turned around and looked around, and then said, "although the casualties are a little big, it''s worth the price to defend our great motherland. Do you think so? "


    "Yes! General biliukov is right. "


    "No matter how much we sacrifice to protect our country, we have no complaints."


    Biliukov''s words immediately aroused everyone''s resonance, and people around him echoed him.


    I raised my hand and pressed it down. I said in a loud voice, "please be quiet and listen to me." Seeing that I had something to say, the room suddenly quieted down. I raised my voice and said, "comrades, although we have won the battle today, we can''t be complacent. The real battle may be tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. The real test is coming. The enemy is absolutely not willing to suffer such a failure. They will soon retaliate. We must resolutely resist the enemy''s shelling, air raids and the repeated counter attacks of the ground forces. "


    "Commander o''shanina, you can rest assured of all this." Colonel lyudnikov''s voice came from the crowd. He stepped forward and squeezed out of the crowd, with a kind smile on his face. "Our division has experienced many battles now. They have all kinds of means to defeat the enemy, and they will certainly be able to withstand the enemy''s crazy counter attack."


    When lyudnikov said this, the scene suddenly became lively again. Several division commanders were unwilling to fall behind and explained to him one after another: "Colonel lyudnikov, you can''t just say your division, our division is not bad either. In today''s battle, our 229th division was the first to break through the enemy''s defense line, and the soldiers also killed the German colonel, None of the rest of the regimental officers escaped the net. "


    "Our 29th division played very well today! It was our division and the 154th brigade that destroyed the German reinforcements from renok to reinforce the Romanian troops. After the enemy''s ambush, we rushed to renok to join you, blocked the way for the Germans to escape, and made great contributions to the total annihilation of the enemy. "


    "Our 157th Division..."


    "Our tank 137th brigade..."


    One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and the commanders who were unwilling to be outdone expressed their opinions one after another, desperately striving for more honor for their troops. Because it was so noisy that trakov came in and no one noticed. It wasn''t until he yelled a few words that everyone became quiet.


    Seeing the commander back in the room, everyone immediately calmed down, stood in the same place, straightened up, and looked at trikov, waiting for him to say what he wanted to say.


    With a smile on his face, trakov said: "comrades, today we have completely annihilated two German regiments and the Romanian army, and the results have been reported to the headquarters of the front army and the supreme command. For the brilliant results achieved in this battle, our group army was commended by the superior. "


    Before he finished, a burst of warm applause interrupted his later words.


    It took a long time for the applause to stop.


    "There''s another piece of good news for you," he said in a loud voice. Because of the bravery and tenacity shown by the 138th infantry division of Colonel lyudnikov in the battle and the great achievements he has achieved, the supreme command has decided to confer the title of honor on the 70th close guard division of the division. "


    After trakov''s words, the room suddenly fell into silence, dozens of commanders, except for me and trakov, were all stunned. I thought I was just saying that casually. I didn''t expect that the Supreme Command really awarded the title of a close guard division. However, in this way, my prestige in the lyudnikov division would be even higher.


    After a while, lyudnikov tentatively asked trakov, "Comrade commander, what you said is true?"


    "Really


    "No kidding?"


    "No! I''m not going to make fun of this kind of thing. "


    Although he got a positive answer from trakov, lyudnikov put his finger into his mouth and bit it hard. Then he yelled, raised his hands and cheered excitedly: "Wula!"


    "Wula! Wula!! Wula Around the commanders were also infected by his emotions, followed by cheers.


    When the cheering was over, everyone came forward to shake hands with lyudnikov and congratulated him. As I shook hands with him to congratulate him, he whispered to me, "thank you, commander o''shanina. Your kindness to our 138th Division will always be remembered by the commanders and soldiers of the whole division. " For his kind words, I just smile and nod, then let go of his hand.


    When I came back to trekov, his face became more serious, his head leaned slightly towards me, and he said in a low voice, "oshanina, I have bad news for you. Unfortunately, your application for promotion to deputy chief of staff of the group army was rejected by the headquarters of the front army. Shumilov asked the chief of staff nikishev why he was rejected, and the reply he got was that general Zhukov himself gave instructions. "

 Chapter 503

    I learned that my promotion application was rejected, and that general Zhukov, who had been taking special care of me, personally rejected it. When I heard that, I was shocked.


    "Comrade commander, this is impossible!" Bilukov, who was standing next to us, was very surprised when he heard trakov''s words. He couldn''t help but put in a word.


    "Yes, general biliukov." Trikov looked at bilukov and said with certainty: "general shumilov, commander of the group army, has personally verified this matter with nikishev, chief of staff of the front army. He can''t be wrong."


    Biliukov looked around at the excited and forgetful commanders, tilted his head and said, "Comrade commander, let''s go outside and have a chat." He and trakov took a few steps. When they turned their heads, they found that I was still standing in a daze. They quickly came over to take my shoulder and said with a smile, "come on, commander oshanina. Don''t stand here in a daze. Let''s go outside together. I have something else to say to you."


    Out of the headquarters, bilukov did not stop, but directly pulled me and trekov into the car. After he finished the front co pilot position, he politely said to the driver, "driver comrade, are you tired after waiting outside for so long?"


    The driver glanced at his rank, straightened up and replied, "report to general, I''m not tired."


    Bilukov saw that the driver''s reaction was slow, but he didn''t understand the important meaning of his words in time. He had no choice but to wave to the driver and said angrily, "Comrade driver, I suggest you go to a place to have a cigarette first, and then come back when I call you."


    Instead of answering him immediately, the driver turned to look at trakov in the back row. Trekov nodded to the driver and said, "Comrade driver, since general biliukov has asked you to leave for a while, you can go to other places for a while."


    The driver agreed, pushed the door open, jumped out of the car and trotted away.


    Seeing the driver disappear from our sight, biliukov went back to business and began to analyze with us why Zhukov rejected my promotion application. He said slowly, "Comrade commander, this is how I think about this matter. In fact, it''s not a bad thing that lieutenant commander o''shanina''s promotion application was rejected. On the contrary, it''s a good thing. "


    "What? What did you say? General biliukov, did you make a mistake that oshanina''s promotion application was rejected, and you even said it was a good thing? " Trekov may have been holding fire since just now. When bilukov said that, he couldn''t help but attack him.


    Biliukov''s face is still a calm expression. After raising his hand to stop the excited trakov, he began to analyze the cause and effect to us. He only heard him say slowly: "Comrade commander, don''t worry and don''t get angry. Let me explain to you slowly."


    "Come on, I''ll sit here and listen to you." Trekov replied angrily.


    "If I remember correctly, after the establishment of the 64th army, the first chief of staff was Colonel Novikov?"


    "Yes, when the group army was first established, it was indeed Colonel Novikov who took the post of chief of staff of the group army. Later, because he issued a wrong operational order, he was dismissed and sent to the military court." At this point, trikov suddenly froze. After a long time, he continued: "do you mean that general Zhukov does not agree to be promoted to lieutenant commander oshanina because he is afraid that he will repeat the mistakes of the former chief of staff?"


    Biliukov didn''t speak, but nodded to approve of trakov''s statement.


    He patted the back of the chair in front of him and said excitedly, "no wonder, no wonder. Let me just say that Zhukov has a close relationship with lieutenant colonel oshanina. Most of the time, Zhukov supports her, so she can get to the present situation. Zhukov is happy to see her promotion. How could he oppose so much? It was for the sake of organizing lieutenant colonel oshanina that she encountered similar problems. General biliukov, you have a good analysis. Nine times out of ten things are the situation you just mentioned


    After that, he raised his arm and patted me on the shoulder, comforting me and saying, "commander oshanina, don''t be depressed any more. You didn''t hear general biliukov say that general Zhukov rejected your promotion application out of his love for you. As I said just now, this battle with the enemy near Stalingrad will not be finished in a month or two, and our troops may still retreat passively to the rear. If the commander in chief investigates the responsibility, the leaders of the group army will surely be held responsible and will be severely punished. "


    After listening to bilukov''s analysis and trakov''s words from the bottom of my heart, my mind was immediately balanced. Although the name of the deputy chief of staff of the group army sounds good, he does not have much real power. He is just the echo of the commander and the chief of staff. He might as well continue to be my chief of staff.


    Trikov raised his hand, looked at his watch, and said to biliukov, "Comrade division commander, go back and tell the commanders to take the troops back to their respective defense areas immediately, occupy the positions and rush to repair the fortifications, and arrive at the headquarters of the group army at 7 p.m. to participate in today''s battle summary." Seeing that biliukov pushed the door open and wanted to get off, he added: "as long as the military officers of all divisions and brigades come to attend the meeting, the political workers will be OK."


    On the way back, I saw groups of German soldiers holding their heads in both hands, escorted by the soldiers, heading east. He couldn''t help but ask trekov curiously, "Comrade commander, where will these prisoners be taken?"


    Trekov glanced out of the window and said with disdain, "where else can I go? Stalingrad, of course. "


    I was a little surprised and asked, "it''s still more than 200 kilometers away from the city. I won''t let them walk like this."


    Trekov shook his head and said, "about ten kilometers eastward from here, there is a meeting station. Usually when the prisoners are escorted there, they will be sent to Stalingrad by military line."


    Although the troops I led in the past had captured many prisoners, I always sent people to send them to the higher authorities after they came back, and I never cared about their whereabouts again.


    Back at the headquarters of the group army, shumilov, military commissar sergeuk and chief of staff Raskin were studying around the map on the table. Seeing us enter the door, shumilov stood up straight, nodded at trikov and said politely, "Comrade trikov, you are back."


    "Back, comrade commander. What are you studying? "


    "Comrade trekov, come and have a look. Although we have won today''s battle, with the character of the enemy, we are not willing to lose. We are sure to retaliate. They are sure to concentrate their superior forces on our positions in a short period of time. "


    "You are quite right, comrade commander. What you are worried about, lieutenant commander o''shanina has just mentioned to those teachers. I believe you all know what you are worried about now. "


    "Two comrades, do you need to call those teachers immediately?" Chief of staff Raskin asked.


    Trekov waved his hand to deny his proposal, and explained: "before I returned to the headquarters, I had informed the military commanders of all the combat units to come to the headquarters in the evening for a combat summary meeting." At this point, he looked around and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, where''s comrade Abramov, military Commissioner?"


    "The front army has just sent a batch of materials to our group army. Abramov is responsible for the logistics of the group army, so he took people to receive the materials."


    "Since Comrade Abramov is not here, I''ll tell Comrade serjiuk about this. Anyway, he is also a military commissar of the group army and is responsible for the political propaganda of the army."


    "General trakov, do you have any instructions?" When sheldyuk heard trakov mention his name, he got up from his seat and asked politely.


    "Well, comrade military commissar, I want to talk to you about political propaganda." Trekov walked around the table to him and told the military commissar the story of the regiment certificate we had just heard.


    After hearing this, serjiuk clenched his fist, waved his fist, and said aloud, "great. I''ll ask the Political Department of the group army to sort out their heroic deeds immediately, and then print and distribute propaganda tabloids to let every commander and fighter of the group army know about them, so as to boost their morale and gather the combat effectiveness of the army through propaganda."


    After sheldyuk left, trakov told Ruskin: "chief of staff, there will be a meeting here later. All irrelevant people will go out."


    The unrelated people in trakov''s words refer to the communication staff who came to the headquarters to answer the phone today. Raskin, as one of his subordinates, was naturally able to understand what he said and hasten to clear the site.


    The summing up meeting of the battle is scheduled for 6 p.m. Half an hour before six o''clock, the commanders of divisions and brigades of the participating troops arrived one after another. Since they went back to rest, I was in charge of reception for the time being.


    Maybe it was a great victory today, so every commander came with a happy face. When you shake hands with me, in addition to saying hello, you have to say a few more words.


    Lyudnikov and kuropatenko are together. When lyudnikov shook hands with me, he also repeatedly expressed his thanks to me for winning so much honor for their division, which could wash away the humiliation of their early defeat.


    When he shook hands with kuropatenko, he said to me with a straight face: "commander o''shanina, you are not interesting enough."


    "Why do you say that? Comrade teachers. " What he said confused me.


    "Our division and lyudnikov''s division have been fighting side by side. We can say that we have fought and achieved the same results as them. Why is it that only one of their divisions was promoted to the guard division, while our division didn''t get any honor? "


    When I heard that he mentioned the guard division, I knew that he was joking. I quickly replied, "Comrade Colonel, there are still some battles to be fought in this battle. If your division performs well next time, I will fight for it from the higher authorities, so that you can also be promoted to guard division."


    "That''s great, commander o''shanina." Kuropachenko may be so casually said, did not expect that I actually gave him a solemn promise, he suddenly excited voice all expressed the tone, "I really don''t know how to thank you, just give you a gift." With that, he drew his legs together and straightened up, and saluted me solemnly.


    After hearing that I promised kuropatenko that I would fight for the number of guards for his division in the future, the rest of the division commanders and brigades gave up and rushed to surround me in the middle, urging me to fight for the glorious number of guards at the right time.


    Seeing that I was besieged, bilukov came to help me out. He pushed aside the commanders who were crowded in front of me and yelled at them: "comrades commanders, what are you doing? Can''t you see that this is the headquarters of the group army? It''s noisy. What''s it like? "


    They all shut up and began to walk to their seats. I saw the commanders around me disperse. I just wanted to catch my breath and thank bilukov by the way. I didn''t expect him to say: "commander o''shanina, you''ve been a regiment commander under my command. If you want to be promoted to the guard division in the future, you can''t forget my 214 division!"


    When people around him heard what biliukov said, they burst into laughter. Some people also said loudly, "general biliukov, you have to fight for the promotion of the close guard division by your own strength. You can''t say that human feelings go through the back door."


    Just as everyone was laughing and laughing, a stern voice came from the gate of the headquarters: "comrades, please be quiet. Comrades of the commander and deputy commander are here. " Hearing this voice, there was a complete silence in the headquarters. All the people stood upright and waited for the arrival of the conference host.


    After trikov, shumilov and Raskin came to their seats and sat down, trikov raised his hand and pressed down, saying, "comrades, don''t stand, all sit down. We''ll have a meeting now."


    At this summing up meeting, we did not talk too much about the process of winning, but discussed some problems existing in the fighting.


    After listening to the speeches of several division commanders, trikov stood up again and began to talk about some of his views on the current war situation. I quickly took out a pen and paper from my briefcase and began to record, so as to accumulate my experience. We all know that our troops have been forced to retreat under the powerful attack of the enemy since the fighting started in July. But the defeat in the battle did not make us lose our fighting spirit. Here, I boldly predict: one day, these invincible German marshals will become the defeated generals of our army. "


    As soon as trikov said that, he was interrupted by warm applause. I quickly put the book and pen on my lap and clapped with you. It wasn''t until trakov raised his hand and pressed it down that the applause stopped.


    "To a large extent, the enemy''s superiority was due to the fact that our army units had not yet formed a combat formation when they launched the attack," he added. If we have two or three days to organize our defense after we reach the designated position. The enemy can never easily break through the defense of our group army if they form combat formations according to regiments and battalions, repair trenches and bunkers, organize fire coordination and communication, replenish ammunition and organize logistic supply.


    When the German army was preparing for the artillery fire on the defensive area of our group army, I stayed in the observation post close to the front line and noticed their tactical weakness: their artillery and mortar firing points were scattered, and they only fired at the front line instead of in depth; There is also a lack of extensive firepower maneuver in combat.


    During my years at the Military Academy of vorongze, I studied many German battles on the Western Front during the first World War. I understand the German generals'' views on the role of artillery in future wars (such as Bernhard''s ideas). Therefore, in the first few days of the battle in the Don river area, I thought that the enemy artillery would perform orthodox coordinated actions: accurate slow entry barrage fire, fast lightning like fire maneuver and artillery maneuver. But this is not the case. I was disappointed to see that the enemy artillery still used the old method, slowly gnawing one trench after another with artillery fire.


    If we have a deeper defense depth configuration and do not add anti tank reserves, we can not only contain the enemy''s attack, but also kill the enemy in large quantities.


    German tanks dare not charge without the cooperation of infantry and the support of air force. I read in foreign newspapers that the German tank soldiers were brave, resolute and swift. But this time on the battlefield, I didn''t see these characteristics of the enemy.


    The advantage of German infantry was that their submachine guns had good performance and strong firepower. However, I did not see them show rapid movement and bold attack on the battlefield. Because the German infantry had enough ammunition, they did not hesitate to use bullets when they attacked, but they often fired blindly in order to embolden themselves.


    The German front was easy to observe, especially at night, because there were many tracer bullets and various colored flares flying over it. The enemy seems to be afraid of the dark, or they may feel lonely without shooting. The enemy''s maneuvers are also easy to monitor because their motorcade always has its headlights on when driving on the grassland.


    In combat, the enemy''s air force has the best combat capability, and the contact and cooperation between the enemy''s air force and ground forces are well organized. We can feel that the German pilots are familiar with the tactics of the German army and our ground forces. As long as the enemy infantry is suppressed by our artillery or machine gun fire, the German aircraft will come soon. The dive bombers formed a circular formation and bombed our battle formation and artillery positions in turn.


    The above is my preliminary conclusion of studying enemy tactics. I hope that all commanders here will also learn to observe the enemy and study their strengths and weaknesses. Be familiar with their habits, so that you can know yourself and the enemy. I''m finished


    As soon as trikov finished his speech, there was another round of thunderous applause. With their applause, everyone agreed with his brilliant summary.

 Chapter 504

    After listening to trekov''s comments on the German army, I admire him even more. You know, I have heard many commanders'' comments on the German army, including the leaders of the group army and the front army, but only trakov can speak so thoroughly. No wonder there are so many commanders who have attended the vorongze Military Academy in the army and have rich combat experience. But in the end, it is rare to become such a world-famous commander as trekov.


    When I heard about the Military Academy of fulongzhi, I couldn''t help but feel excited. I thought that when the time was right, I should apply to my superior for further study in this Soviet military academy. I have heard others say that the length of schooling in this school is three years: in the first year, I will study basic tactical theory and regiment offensive and defensive tactics; in the second year, I will study division tactics and command; in the third year, I will study group army campaign theory and command; and two or three months before graduation, I will also study front army campaign and other related knowledge. However, this is a time of war, which should be greatly shortened. Maybe I can return to the front line in about half a year. At that time, my campaign, tactics and military technical literacy will be improved. If I become an excellent synthetic army commander with independent thinking ability and problem-solving ability in the eyes of superior leaders, I may be entrusted with heavy responsibilities.


    When I was just daydreaming, I suddenly felt that the room became quiet. I quickly waved my head to gather my mind and looked into the room. I saw that all the army officers sitting below were still, staring at trikov standing in front of me.


    I was a little curious about how all of us suddenly became like this. I quickly touched the tank brigade commander next to me with my arm and asked softly, "Comrade brigade commander, what''s the matter? Why is everyone suddenly quiet? "


    The tank brigade commander''s eyes were still fixed on trakov, but he just tilted his head and replied in a low voice, "Comrade deputy commander, just received some telegrams, and his face changed greatly after reading them. We all speculate that there may be any instructions from the higher authorities. Now we are waiting for the deputy commander to announce it. "


    Trakov, with a telegram in his hand, scanned everyone in the room with cold eyes and said in a loud voice, "comrades, I have just received a telegram from the headquarters of the front army. I have something important to inform you. Here, I''ll read it to you


    Judging from trakov''s expression, something happened that made him unhappy. In addition, he just said that there was an important announcement. We could not help whispering: what''s the matter? Our group army has just won a big battle today. Even if the headquarters of the front army does not commend us, it will not send a telegram to criticize us for doing something wrong there.


    Trekov coughed heavily, and the whole headquarters was quiet. Trikov picked up the telegram in his hand and read: "according to the latest instructions of the supreme command, from August 13, the former Stalingrad front army was divided into the southeast front army and the Stalingrad front army. The two front armies were under the unified command of general yelomienko. General gordov, the former commander of the front army, was changed to the deputy commander of Stalingrad''s front army; General Golikov, former deputy commander of the front army, was changed to commander of the southeast front army. This letter of appointment shall take effect from now on. " After reading the telegram, trakov looked at the people in the room and asked, "if you have any opinions, you can talk about them."


    "Comrade deputy commander," as soon as his voice fell, a famous lieutenant commander raised his hand to ask a question. I looked at the other side and found that I didn''t know him. Maybe it was the subordinate of the division commander. After getting permission from trakov, he asked in a loud voice, "now it''s divided into two front armies, so who is in charge of our group army?"


    "Comrade commander," shumilov said slowly, sitting in his position, "according to the newly divided east war sequence, we and the 62nd group army belong to the southeast front army, and are under the command of general yelimenko and general Golikov."


    After listening, the commander whispered a few words to the people next to him, and then asked, "how are our defense areas divided?"


    Trekov whispered to Ruskin, "Comrade chief of staff, it''s up to you to answer this question to the commander." Then he sat down directly.


    Raskin went to the map, pointed at it with a stick and said in a loud voice, "Dear commanders, please look at the map. After a month of fierce fighting, to the west of the don, there are no more of our troops. At present, the war in the direction of Stalingrad has moved eastward to the area between the Volga River and the Don river. According to the information we have, the main forces of the 6th group army of Paulus and the 4th group army of Goth tanks of the German army both directed their attacks at Stalingrad. Now, the common task of these two enemy armies is to encircle the troops of our Stalingrad front army and the southeast front army and go out to the Volga River in order to seize Stalingrad. "


    This change in the enemy''s situation was unexpected. I can see it from their eyes and facial expressions. General biliukov''s face was surprised, and his eyes seemed to say: is the enemy coming so soon? His eyes were fixed on the map, and he seemed to be thinking about how to deal with the unfavorable situation. Colonel lyudnikov''s eyes were closed, his mouth was moving, and he seemed to be talking to himself. With a smile on his lips, Col. kuropachenko seems to be happy to find an opportunity for his division to be promoted to guard division.


    Colonel Raskin continued: "the current task of our group army is to build positions and fortify fortifications overnight in the area recovered today, and to establish a defense system along renok spardanovka orlovka, so that the defense positions temporarily organized by the villages become an insurmountable obstacle for the enemy."


    "But Comrade chief of staff, the soldiers are very tired after fighting in the daytime. If they are allowed to repair fortifications overnight, I''m afraid they will not be able to bear it." A lieutenant commander, who did not know which unit, expressed his concerns directly.


    "Comrade commander," said trikov solemnly, sitting in his seat, "if the enemy launches a crazy counterattack against us tomorrow, do you think the commanders and fighters without solid fortifications can block the enemy''s attack?" At this point, trikov could not help but stand up, pointed to Colonel sarren, and looked at the lieutenant colonel. He continued: "the combat effectiveness of the 229th division of Colonel sarren is among the best in the group army. When they entered the battlefield, they were forced to retreat because there were no fortifications under the attack of the enemy tanks. Comrade commander, do you think your army''s equipment and combat effectiveness are better than that of the Colonel''s army? "


    The lieutenant commander waved his hand and replied with embarrassment: "there is a big gap between our troops and those of Colonel sarren. I''m sorry, comrade commander. I''m wrong. As soon as I got back to the army, I immediately arranged for the soldiers to repair the fortifications. "


    Trekov didn''t talk to him, just nodded silently and sat down again.


    Raskin, after explaining the current situation of the enemy and ourselves, went to trakov and shumilov. After talking with them in a low voice, he stood up straight and said to everyone in a loud voice, "comrades commander, what problems and difficulties do you have? You can take the time to raise them. If Comrade commander can solve it for you, it will be solved immediately. "


    Maybe trekov''s words about the commander were so heavy that no one dared to answer after Raskin finished. I looked around and saw that all of us were sitting in a serious state, not talking and laughing. I was afraid that I would become an outsider. Seeing that no one was speaking, I stood up and said aloud, "Comrade chief of staff, I have a problem."


    Even trekov and shumilov were surprised to see that I stood up, not to mention Raskin. "What do you want to say, commander oshanina?" asked Colonel Ruskin curiously


    "Two comrades in command, chief of staff, all the commanders present here, Hello After politely greeting the people present, I went on to say my theme: "apart from the shortage of ammunition, communication is still a weak link in our army, and the communication equipment of each army is pitifully scarce. Just like the two divisions of Col. lyudnikov and Col. kuropatenko, there are only two radio stations. On the other hand, the radio station of lyudnikov division was lost during the March due to the enemy''s air attack, so that they lost contact with the group headquarters for a period of time.


    All German troops have been equipped with radio stations, while our army still relies on wired telephone. The telephone often breaks down, so we have to send officers to contact us everywhere. It is very difficult to command the troops scattered on the open grassland in this way.


    Under the increasing pressure of the enemy, our army was forced to retreat. Often, when orders printed with the word "urgent" were sent to the army, the villages and towns required to be guarded in the order were lost; Sometimes even the troops assigned to carry out the orders are dead in name..


    There is another thing that I think general trakov and the commander of the 208 th division, Col. vosliboynikov, are very aware of. At that time, the division''s troops were alighting from the military train at the chilekov railway station when they were accidentally bombed by our plane. Because the telephone we carried was destroyed by the bomb and we lost the means of communication with the air force, we could only watch our army''s planes dive, drop bombs and strafe at our infantry comrades, but there was nothing we could do. "


    When I said that, Colonel vosliboynikov, commander of the 208 division, turned red in his eyes and began to sob in spite of his image. His face was pale and his voice trembled. "Comrades commanders, Lieutenant Colonel oshanina is right. Our army''s aircraft sent out two nine aircraft formations, formed a circular formation, and began to dive and strafe at our division''s commanders and fighters. How many Red Army soldiers were killed or wounded by their own planes as soon as they came to the front line without seeing the enemy When the soldiers asked me why I was attacked by my own planes, I couldn''t explain to my subordinates the reasons for these unnecessary sacrifices. " At this point, he finally could not help crying.


    Trekov stood up again and said with some helplessness, "what lieutenant commander oshanina said is what I saw with my own eyes. It''s true. Later, after reporting to the headquarters of the front army, we learned that the reason for this incident was that the unloading area just arrived was not covered by air, and the headquarters of the front army neither guaranteed the smooth implementation of the operation nor informed the air force, which led to this tragedy. "


    At first, I thought that most of the commanders here knew about it, so when talking about the communication equipment, I mentioned it by the way. Unexpectedly, it was the first time that everyone heard about it, and there was another uproar at the scene. Some people even cried out: "comrades commanders, the fighting blood of our infantry should not be shed in vain. We should send all those damn airmen and their commanders to the military court."


    "Yes! Blood can''t be shed in vain, blood must pay for blood!... " In the case of excitement, if someone takes the lead, the scene will soon get out of control. Seeing everyone in a noisy mess, I was at a loss. I didn''t know whether to let them go or stop them in time. At this time, only listen to the "bang" sound of a gun, in the room noise appears particularly crisp. Everyone was quiet, and his eyes turned to the location where the gun rang. He slapped a pistol with smoke at the muzzle on the table and said angrily, "look for yourself, are you still like an intermediate commander in the army? I think you all look like shrews swearing. Watching my subordinates die, don''t I, the deputy commander, feel sad? Even if you go and shoot all those airmen now, can those dead soldiers survive? " Seeing that the room was completely quiet, he reinserted the pistol into the holster and told Raskin next to him: "chief of staff, give them assignments." I have seen trakov pull out his gun twice these days. The first time he pulled out his gun and killed the cannibal commander. The second time he just shot in time to stop the chaos in the headquarters. It can be seen that he is a very decisive man. Raskin went back to the map and began to lay out defense areas for the divisions: "the 214 division was responsible for building fortifications in the renok area, and the 229 division was responsible for building a second line of defense five kilometers behind the division; The 154th marine brigade and the 29th Infantry Division in the spartanovka area built defensive positions that could resist the enemy''s attack by relying on seven or eight small villages and large forests; The 70th guard division, the 157th infantry division and the 66th marine brigade built two lines of defense in the orlovka area. As a unit directly under the group army, the 208 th Division continued to maintain its original base. The above is the defense deployment of divisions and brigades. Please start the defense deployment as soon as you get back to your troops. " When Raskin finished speaking, shumilov stood up, scanned the whole room, and then said, "the task has been explained. Comrades, all of you, go back to your respective units and make arrangements. It''s over With his "end of the meeting", the commanders present stood up, raised their hands to salute him, turned around and walked out of the headquarters one after another, and rushed back to their troops to deploy new defenses. When the commanders who came to the meeting were almost gone, trikov came to me, sighed and criticized me: "Comrade oshanina, who let you say that the 208 th division was mistakenly bombed by our army plane. You see, it almost won''t end today. "¡° I''m sorry, comrade commander. I''m wrong. " I knew that I was a little too reckless in doing this today, so I quickly bowed my head to trikov to admit my mistake. Trekov waved his hand and said, "forget it, just say it. You''ll know sooner or later. However, you should remember that you must not make similar mistakes in the future. Next, you will accompany me on a special mission. "¡° Comrade general, may I ask what it is? "¡° Let''s talk about it in the car! " With that, trakov lifted his legs and walked out of the headquarters. When we got on the jeep and saw that only the driver and herald sidtorin and trakov, besides us, were on the jeep, he said to me, "we are ordered to remove lopagin this time."¡° General lopagin? Commander of the 62nd army? " When I heard the name, I was surprised and asked, "he has long been dismissed from his post, and the headquarters of the front army has temporarily sent General kolpakchi to take his place?" With a wry smile, trakov replied, "korpakchi took over the command of several new and cutting-edge divisions under the command of the Political Department of the group army. And the original troops are nominally under the command of general lopagin. "¡° A group army now has two commanders. In this way, the command system of the army will fall into chaos, and the commanders and fighters will have no idea what to do and who to listen to. " After listening, I said anxiously¡° It''s very chaotic now. " Trekov said melancholy¡° In order to ensure that the 62nd army will not be defeated by the German army, I think the commander should be replaced immediately. " When I said that, I found that what I said was nonsense. Trekov just said that we were going to carry out the task of removing the command of lopagin¡° According to the intelligence transmitted by the front army, the situation of the 62nd army is very bad. In addition to the part of the army under korpakchi''s command still fighting tenaciously with the Germans, the original 62nd army has been basically defeated. In the process of retreat, the troops were constantly scattered and gathered again, and gathered and scattered again. If we go late, I think these divisions will be cancelled. "¡° Where is general lopagin''s headquarters at the moment? " I asked, taking the map out of the bag that hung on the front back and spreading it out on my legs. Trekov looked at it with a gloomy face for a moment, then pointed to a place and said with certainty, "here it is, the village of welgach. According to intelligence from the front army, general lopagin''s temporary headquarters is located here. "

 Chapter 505

    When trakov told us where we were going, I rolled up the map and stuffed it into the map bag. At the same time, I told the driver, "Comrade driver, let''s go to the 62nd army headquarters in weljiaqi village."


    The driver nodded and replied in a low voice, "yes, comrade commander."


    With the map in place, I looked out of the window and thought about the special mission we were going to carry out. At this time, I really realized how much love Zhukov showed me when he rejected my promotion application. The brutal battle of Stalingrad has just begun, and our army is in a very disadvantageous position. In order to reverse this unfavorable situation as soon as possible, today''s supreme command has imposed a particularly heavy punishment on the commanders below, not to mention the division commanders and brigade commanders in the troops below, even the chief of staff and even the commanders of the group army. According to the preferences of the Supreme Commander himself, they say that they should be replaced or even sent to the military court directly.


    Maybe it''s because I''ve been looking out of the window and not talking. Trekov asked with concern, "what are you thinking, o''shanina?"


    I take my eyes back from the window, try to squeeze a smile at him, want to find a relaxed topic to chat with him. As he was about to open his mouth, it suddenly occurred to him that the purpose of our visit was to remove his old comrade in arms. At this time, some words could not be said casually in front of him. After a moment''s hesitation, I asked, "Comrade commander, I heard that you mentioned at the meeting today that you had studied in the Military Academy of vorongze. Is that true?"


    Trekov nodded hard and said, "yes, I studied at the Military Academy of vorongze for three years. At present, in the Stalingrad front army, not to mention the commanders of the group army, many of the division commanders, brigadiers and even commanders of the following troops, like me, graduated from the volongzhi military academy. O''shanina, why do you suddenly think of asking this? "


    "Comrade commander," I said tentatively to him, what I had in mind, "is the Military Academy of vorongze still recruiting students? If it''s possible, I''d be very happy to go to the college for some time. "


    "You want to go to the military academy in vorongze now?" There was a slight displeasure on trekov''s face when I said that.


    I think he misunderstood me and quickly explained: "Comrade commander, I think you have a misunderstanding. I really want to improve my campaign, tactics and military technology level at the Military Academy of vorongzhi, but not now. We have to wait until we win the battle in front of us."


    Trikov''s face softened, and he said with a kind face, "that''s good. As soon as the battle is over, I''ll arrange for you to study at the Military Academy of vorongze. I know a lot of instructors in the college. They can take care of you then. "


    After thanking him sincerely, I changed the topic in time: "Comrade commander, are you familiar with general lopagin?"


    "Yes," said trekov, with a gloomy look, "I knew Comrade lopagin before the war. I always thought he was a strong and decisive commander. I didn''t expect that since he became commander of the 62nd army, he had behaved so badly that he not only repeatedly disobeyed the orders of the front army, but even the orders of the supreme command. You know, today I was ordered to carry out the task of removing him from his post. I feel very sad... "


    Just then, the jeep slowly stopped. As soon as the car stopped, I asked the driver in the front row, "Comrade driver, have we arrived at weljiaqi village?"


    "Report, comrade commander, we haven''t arrived yet." The driver replied without looking back.


    Listening to the driver''s words, trakov asked impatiently, "then why do you stop? Don''t you know we have something urgent to get to the 62nd army headquarters as soon as possible?"


    The driver looked back and said wrongly, "report, comrade commander, a team of tanks are coming forward. Because the road is too narrow, I purposely stop by the side of the road to make way for them. "


    "Tank? What tank? " Trekov opened the door, got out of the car and walked to the middle of the road.


    Seeing that trakov got out of the car first, I pushed the other side door and got out of the car, standing on the side of the road and looking forward. I saw a team of about 30 tanks in front of us, driving towards us along the road, with high dust behind them.


    Maybe we were found standing on the side of the road, and an armored car in the queue sped up towards us. More than 20 meters away from us, the armored car stopped, then the door opened and a general without a military cap came down. Seeing his black hair, I immediately recognized the person I knew, general Moskalenko, commander of the first group army of tanks.


    Seeing him coming towards us, trekov quickly welcomed him, and I trotted with him. They stopped two or three steps apart, saluted and shook hands, then hugged each other tightly. After the separation, I quickly stepped forward and raised my hand to salute moscalenko.


    Moskalenko nodded to me, turned and asked trakov, "Comrade trakov, what are you doing here? Is it going to the village of welgache to find general lopagin? "


    Trikov nodded. Now that the other party had guessed where he was going, he would no longer hide anything from him. Instead, he told him the truth: "yes, I went to weljaqi village and was ordered to remove the command of Comrade lopagin of the 62nd army and take over the rest of his troops."


    "The rest of the army!" Moskalenko said in a sarcastic tone: "general lopagin can command no more than 100 troops. It''s the same whether you take over or not."


    "What, less than a hundred people left?" Trekov was startled by the data and asked in surprise, "Comrade Moskalenko, what''s the matter? Didn''t the front army tell me that there are still tens of thousands of divisions?"


    Moskalenko sneered twice and asked, "Comrade trakov, do you know lopagin?"


    Trekov nodded hard and replied, "yes, I knew him long before the war. In my impression..."


    Moskalenko interrupted him and said: "Comrade lopagin before the war, don''t mention you, even I know very well, but now..." he pauses for a moment and continues with regret, "he has become so unrecognizable to me."


    Upon hearing this, trakov said to him in a relatively calm tone, "general Moskalenko, I hope you will be very responsible and sincerely tell me what you think of general lopagin."


    The tank troops passed us, and all the sounds were covered by the roar of huge motors. Both trakov and Moskalenko remained silent at this moment, waiting for the tank troops to leave.


    "Comrade trakov, I can''t hide it from you," Moskalenko said bitterly after the tanks passed. "The former general lopagin gave people a feeling of confidence and victory, which is why he was appointed commander of the 62nd army. But now, he gave me the impression of panic and depression. When I met him yesterday, he and his headquarters were being pursued by German infantry, so I rescued him. Here, you see, it''s the tank unit that just passed. It''s my 158th tank brigade. In yesterday''s battle, the tracks of four tanks were interrupted by German anti tank guns, so I left these tanks in the defensive positions to the west of the village as fixed turrets to provide the necessary artillery support for the infantry holding the positions. "


    "General Moskalenko, where are you going?" trekov asked stiffly, biting his lip


    Moskalenko shrugged his shoulders and replied, "who knows, anyway, the order is to go east to Stalingrad, to find a place to supplement, and then to fight again." At this point, he raised his hand, looked at his watch, and urged, "it''s getting late, comrade trakov. I suggest you rush to the headquarters as soon as possible, or the Germans will come again later."


    Moskalenko shakes hands with trakov to say goodbye, turns to get on the armored car and leaves. Trekov stood silently by the side of the road, staring at the distance as if thinking about something. I didn''t disturb him. I just stood quietly behind him.


    He turned his head, looked at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, let''s go. We are going to the headquarters of the 62nd army. No matter how many people are left, we can bring back as many as we can."


    We soon arrived at the village of welgiach, which had been blown up in ruins by German planes. In front of a civilian house that has not yet collapsed, we saw a sentry standing guard and two jeeps that have been parked. It is concluded that the headquarters of the group army is located there.


    The sentry saw me and trakov get off the jeep and straighten up to attention.


    Without waiting for trekov''s command, I went up to the sentry and asked, "Comrade soldier, is the commander here?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." The sentry glanced at my rank and trekov''s, and reported respectfully¡° It''s packing up and ready to move right away. "


    When we walked into the house that had not yet completely collapsed, lopagin was facing us with his back. He was directing the signalmen to dismantle the telephone line and the radio station, so that he didn''t notice our arrival at all. Although in my eyes, the actions of these signalmen have been very sharp, lopagin also urged: "hurry up, hurry up, comrades of the soldiers, your actions are too slow."


    Trekov and I stood at the door for a while, looked around the large dilapidated house, then walked straight behind lopagin and asked coldly, "general lopagin, where are you going?"


    Lopagin was startled by trakov''s voice. He turned around and found that it was trakov standing behind him. He weakly replied, "where else can I go? Comrade trakov, as you can see, the enemy is not far away from us. It may arrive soon. I will take the troops to move. "


    "Troops!" Trekov snorted coldly, "I was just about to ask, where are your troops? You know, there are more than 80000 troops in ten divisions under your command. I didn''t see them on my way here. Where did they go? Well


    Looking at trakov''s stern expression, lopagin tried hard to smile, but his smile was unnatural. He stammered: "we should know that our troops and technical equipment are inferior to those of the enemy..."


    Before he could finish his defense, trikov interrupted him and announced coldly, "general lopagin, I''ll officially inform you now. You have been relieved from your post as commander of the 62nd army. I will take your place. "


    Hearing the news, lopagin stood in a daze. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but he didn''t say a word. Those originally busy signalmen were stunned when they heard that lopagin had been relieved of his post. They all stood in a daze.


    I coughed and went up to them and yelled, "what are you still standing for? Do you want to leave all these precious communication equipment to the Germans? " When I said that, the signalman quickly picked up his things.


    At the moment, lopagin seemed to be a teenager, hunched down. He asked weakly, "general trakov, what are you going to do with me?"


    "You should go to the front command in Stalingrad at once, where someone will tell you what to do?" Trekov replied stiffly, and then asked, "is there any other commander in the headquarters?"


    The dejected lopagin shook his head and answered with a gloomy face, "no, I''m left alone. In addition to these signalmen, there is about a platoon of troops on the defensive position in the west of the village, as well as four heavy tanks with damaged tracks. If they are attacked by the enemy, they will be able to withstand it for a while. "


    "Come on, general lopagin, I''ll have my messenger sidtorin accompany you to Stalingrad. As for the soldiers in those positions, I will take them to join general colpakchi''s forces. " Then he yelled at the door, "private sidtorin, come in."


    With his shouts, little sidtorin came in quickly, raised his hand to salute trikov, and asked, "Comrade commander, sidtorin has been ordered to come and wait for your instructions!"


    "Sidtorin," trikov pointed to lopagin and said to sidtorin, "your task is to escort general lopagin to Stalingrad."


    "And you? Comrade commander. " "Four of us will come out this time," he asked anxiously. "If I leave, who will protect you?"


    I went to him, took sidtorin''s shoulder, raised his submachine gun, comforted him and said, "sidtorin, don''t worry. Although you want to leave, I''m still here. You know, I''ve been to the front line and fought many battles in person. I''m very competent in such small matters as protecting the safety of the commander. "


    Sidtorin looked at trekov and me, and finally decided to say to me, "well, comrade commander, I''ll give you the safety of the commander." Seeing that I nodded to him, I went to lopagin''s side, stretched out my hand, made a gesture of invitation, and politely said, "Comrade General, please!"


    After lopagin left, seeing that the signalmen were almost ready, I urged trakov: "Comrade commander, it''s time for us to leave. It''s too close to the enemy here. Maybe they''ll come up at any time. " As soon as the words fell, there was a fierce gunfire outside.


    At that time, I wanted to slap myself hard. It''s really crow''s mouth. The good ones don''t work, the bad ones. As soon as I said that the Germans were coming, they called. Listening to the gunfire outside, I don''t know if we can evacuate safely.


    Trekov quickly asked the signalmen, "any of you who are familiar with the position in the west of the village, take me to have a look immediately."


    A signalman with a walkie talkie on his back came out of the crowd, raised his hand and reported to trikov, "report to commander, my walkie talkie can directly contact the tanks in the position."


    After hearing this, trikov was overjoyed. He immediately ordered the signalman to contact the tank soldiers in the position immediately


    The signalman said with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, we have only one platoon of infantry and four tanks in our position. We may not be able to hold the enemy for long. It''s not like this. We can leave by car and get in touch with them on the way. "


    Hearing the proposal of the signalman, I quickly echoed: "Comrade commander, this soldier is right. Let''s move first, and then contact the position on the way."


    "But..." as soon as trikov wanted to say something, I interrupted. I grabbed the conversation and said, "nothing. But you are the commander of the group army. If anything happens to you, we will lose a lot. Now don''t say anything, just listen to my arrangement. All of you, get on the jeep and get out of here. Don''t hesitate, everyone. Carry out it immediately. " In this way, a group of us surrounded trakov and got on the jeep at the door.


    When I got on the bus, I found that the jeep was really big. Trakov was sitting in the co driver''s seat, and five signalmen and I were facing each other in the back. It didn''t seem crowded at all.


    I quickly got in touch with the tank soldiers in the position. Wearing earphones, I said loudly to the transmitter, "I''m commander o''shanina, chief of staff of the group army. Who are you?"


    Soon a low voice came from the earphone: "Hello, comrade commander. This is lieutenant yambekov of the 158th heavy tank brigade. Do you have any instructions? "


    "How many troops of the enemy are attacking you?"


    "Report Comrade commander, the enemy has sent out 30 tanks and a motorized infantry, and they are launching a fierce attack on our position." "In the face of the enemy''s attack, we won''t be able to resist it for long, so I suggest that the headquarters of the group army be transferred immediately," Lieutenant yambekov yelled Just as he was talking, he heard a loud bang from the earphone, and then there was no sound.


    I yelled a few more words at the transmitter, but there was no reply. So angry that I took off my earphone, threw the transmitter to the messenger, and said angrily, "Comrade soldier, check immediately to see if the walkie talkie is broken." The signalman took it over and tried to listen to it. He immediately replied, "report commander, the walkie talkie is good. Maybe the signal is bad, so the communication between the other party and us is interrupted." Cui KOV, who was sitting in the co pilot''s seat, heard what I said and immediately told the driver, "Comrade driver, find a higher hillside and drive up. We need to immediately resume contact with the position."

 Chapter 506

    The driver seemed to be a veteran. After getting the order from trakov, he promised low and stepped on the gas. The jeep darted forward. The speed of the car increased, and the car became extremely bumpy. The signalmen quickly carried the communication equipment on their bodies, so as not to be damaged.


    In less than five minutes, we drove to the top of a hillside. After the driver had stabilized the car, he confidently said to trikov, "report to the commander, this hillside is about three kilometers away from the position in the west of the village. The battlefield can be clearly seen here, but it is not easy to be found by the enemy. "


    Before he could finish, trakov could not wait to push the door open and jumped down. The signalman opposite me asked the driver mischievously, "what if the enemy finds out?"


    The driver rolled his eyes and said angrily, "even if the enemy finds out, it doesn''t matter. It will take at least ten minutes for their tanks to get here from the battlefield. By that time, we will have run out of sight."


    "Stop chatting, comrades of the soldiers, move down the communication equipment as soon as possible. The commander is still waiting for us. We should resume contact with the position as soon as possible." I was afraid that they would not finish talking, so I stopped them in time, got out of the car first and came to trakov''s side.


    We stand in a position with a wide field of vision. We can clearly see the situation on the battlefield with a telescope. There were four or five damaged German tanks far away, emitting thick black smoke, while the remaining 20 or so intact tanks set up their positions several hundred meters away from our army, supporting the charging infantry with artillery fire.


    Our army''s defensive position has only one trench, which is engulfed in an instant by the smoke of tank shells, so that we can''t see the situation in the trench at all. Fifty or sixty meters behind the trench, there were four tanks of our army. They were fighting back fiercely with tank guns.


    "Comrade commander, we are in touch with the position." The messenger carrying the walkie talkie came to me and handed me the earphone and the transmitter.


    I put down my telescope, put on my earphone, and began to shout to the tank soldiers: "Lieutenant yambekov, Lieutenant yambekov, I''m lieutenant oshanina. If you hear me, please answer! If you hear me, please answer


    After a moment''s silence, the voice of lieutenant yambekov came from the earphone again: "Comrade commander, I hear your voice."


    "What happened just now? Why is the communication interrupted?" I was also thinking about the sudden interruption of communication just now, so I couldn''t help asking.


    "Report to commander, just now our tank was hit by enemy shells and the radio station was damaged, so we lost contact with you. Now the station has been repaired and can be used normally. "


    "Comrade lieutenant," looking at the smoke filled battlefield, I asked with concern, "which tank are you in?"


    "I''m in the first one, the first one on the left." He reported his position accurately.


    I quickly raised the telescope around my neck and looked at the position he said. Our tanks are lined up. Except for the first heavy tank on the left hand, the rest are all common T-34 tanks. They are firing at the German tank line. Perhaps the enemy found that the heavy tank was the biggest threat to them, so they concentrated at least eight tanks to bombard lieutenant yambekov''s tanks. However, the armor of this kV heavy tank was Pishi. Although it was hit by German shells from time to time, there was nothing on the tank body except a few pits when the smoke of gunpowder dispersed. The German tanks were not so lucky. After being hit by the shells of our tanks, they either caught fire or were directly removed from their turrets. With little effort, another seven or eight German tanks were reimbursed by our tanks.


    "Well done, comrade lieutenant." I praised him in a loud voice, "you must make good use of the advantage of your tanks'' thick armor to kill all the enemy tanks on the opposite side."


    Unexpectedly, after a moment''s silence, Lieutenant yambekov said in embarrassment, "Comrade commander, we can''t last long. I suggest you withdraw as soon as possible."


    "Retreat?! Why do you say that, comrade Lieutenant? " As for the suggestion of lieutenant yambekov, I asked strangely, "don''t our tanks have an advantage in the battlefield? I see that the enemy''s tank shells hit your tank body, and there is almost no threat. Why do you say that they can''t be stopped? "


    Lieutenant yambekov replied bitterly, "Comrade commander, we don''t have many shells and we won''t be able to support them for long. Once the shells are gone, the enemy can easily get rid of us. "


    "Can you get out safely?" I asked anxiously when I heard the Lieutenant''s dilemma.


    After a moment''s silence, the lieutenant replied difficultly, "Comrade commander, I don''t think it can be done. Our tanks were left to serve as temporary turrets when they broke down or their tracks were broken. What we can do is wait until the shells are finished, then fight with the infantry who rush up, and finally die with the tanks. "


    By this time, the German infantry had solved our trench. In order to prevent accidental killing, the German tanks stopped shooting and rushed towards the trench with a bang of gas. Our tanks speeded up their shooting, trying to separate German tanks from their infantry and relieve the pressure on our soldiers who held their positions.


    At first glance, the German infantry were well-trained. They were in groups of three or five, using craters alternately to cover their charge towards our trenches. In contrast, our soldiers are not only few, but also far less effective than the Germans. Many people stand up straight and are knocked down by the enemy''s bullets as soon as they get one or two shots. As the number of our soldiers in the position became less and less, the German infantry began to rush into the trenches one after another and launched close combat with our soldiers.


    Seeing that the situation was not good, in addition to the fact that lieutenant yambekov''s tanks were still shooting at the approaching German tanks, the other three tanks had adjusted their muzzle and began to bombard the soldiers who were rushing to the position.


    Just after firing a few guns, German tanks retaliated. More than a dozen tanks opened fire together, and three tanks were enveloped in smoke in an instant. After the smoke was thinned by the wind, I could see that the three tanks had been enveloped by fire and black smoke, and only the heavy tank of lieutenant yambekov was left in the battlefield.


    After destroying a German tank approaching the trench, the Lieutenant''s tank stopped firing completely. As my commanders and men in the trench were all dead and wounded at this moment, the German infantry surged up, jumped into the trench one after another, and began to remove the remaining strength of our army.


    Seeing that the heavy tank had stopped firing, trakov put down his telescope, turned his head and asked harshly, "commander oshanina, what''s the matter with them? Why don''t we fire? The enemy infantry has poured into the trench. In a few minutes, the German tanks will cross the trench and attack the small village we just left. "


    "Lieutenant yambekov," I asked calmly, trying to control my emotions, "Comrade lieutenant, why don''t you fire? Is it all shells


    "Yes, comrade commander, we have run out of shells." Lieutenant yambekov replied quickly, and then added, "but we still have thousands of bullets in the car, so we can teach the damn Krauts a lesson."


    I was very satisfied with his answer, so I told him to say, "Comrade lieutenant, calm down and wait for the enemy to enter your fire range before firing, so as to kill them as much as possible."


    "Yes, comrade commander." Lieutenant yambekov replied politely.


    After clearing the trenches, the German infantry crawled out one after another and ran towards our tanks with guns. After running more than 20 steps, they jumped into the crater one after another and watched the non smoldering tank with vigilance.


    After a while, a five man German combat team jumped out of the crater and quickly approached the tank under the cover of the dense craters. With more than ten meters left, a German soldier leaned out of the crater, picked up his submachine gun and opened fire at the tank.


    Listening to the clear gunfire from the earphone, I''m afraid that any soldier in the tank can''t control it. If he shoots without permission, he will be exposed ahead of time. The enemy''s hidden position is very good. Even if they shoot, they won''t kill many enemies. So I nervously told him: "Comrade lieutenant, the enemy is just shooting tentatively. They don''t find you at all. Don''t shoot until the enemy gets closer."


    "Yes, comrade commander." The lieutenant replied with a smile, "we are ready to fire when more enemies come into our firing range. Even if you''re going to die, you have to pull a few more people on your back. "


    Although his words were full of pride, I felt sad when I heard them.


    After hitting a magazine, seeing that there was no reaction in the tank, the German stood up straight, put on a new clip as if no one else, walked out of the crater with the rest of the fighting team, passed the tank calmly and walked towards the village.


    Seeing that the combat team passed our army''s behemoth safely, the German soldiers who were hiding in the crater climbed out of the crater again, arranged their formation, and followed the combat team to the village.


    As dozens of Germans slowly passed by the tank, a long firecracker burst out from the shooting hole behind the turret. Almost at the same time, a clear sound of shooting came from the earphone. At the same time, a soldier was shouting: "the German should die, you all go to hell with me."


    In a neat line, the dozen German soldiers in the middle fell on both sides before they could recover. The rest of the German soldiers who were not affected were scared away. Some of them lay down beside the tracks and hid in the dead corner of the shooting; Some fish jumped into a nearby crater and buried themselves low to avoid being hit by machine gun bullets.


    "Good!" Trekov couldn''t help cheering up. When the surrounding signalmen saw that our tanks opened fire and knocked down so many enemies, they also talked excitedly.


    After all, the German army was well-trained. Before they could get into our range, the soldiers responded quickly. They fired at the tanks from different directions. I saw a piece of sparks on the surface of the tank. I didn''t pay any attention to the enemy''s shooting on such a scale. You know, this kind of heavy tank can''t even pierce the enemy''s anti tank guns, let alone ordinary bullets.


    After shooting for a while, the German army found that there was no effect and stopped shooting in vain. Two clever soldiers, holding grenades, quietly climbed up from the other side of the tank. Looking at the grenades in their hands, I immediately understood what they were trying to do. I was so anxious that I yelled at the transmitter: "Lieutenant yambekov, some Germans have climbed up the tank. They have grenades in their hands. I repeat, they have grenades in their hands. They want to put grenades through the hatch and blow you all up. "


    Lieutenant yambekov''s voice came out of the earphone calmly: "understand, comrade commander, their plot will not succeed. I will teach them a lesson."


    The turret slowly turned and squeezed the two German soldiers who were not stable on the car body. Then, the front of the turret opened fire, and the two machine guns in front and behind opened fire on the enemy. From the headphones, I can clearly hear the sound of machine gun fire, vaguely mixed with the German scream.


    Although the German infantry had nothing to do with our tanks, it did not mean that their tanks had nothing to do with them. More than a dozen German tanks crossed the trench and slowly approached lieutenant yambekov''s heavy tank.


    Seeing this scene, I cried out again: "Lieutenant yambekov, do you see that there are more than a dozen tanks approaching you, approaching you."


    Lieutenant yambekov calmly replied, "I see it, comrade commander. It''s a pity that there are no shells, otherwise I can kill them all like shooting at such a short distance. "


    When I heard the lieutenant say that, I couldn''t help sighing. If they had known that, they should have left a few shells and knocked them out one by one when the German tanks came near.


    With a serious face, trakov came up to me, reached for my earphone and transmitter, and said in a loud voice, "Lieutenant yambekov, I''m general trakov. I''ve seen your performance on the battlefield today with my own eyes. I''d like to say that you are really good


    "Comrade General," because trakov didn''t explain his position to the lieutenant, because the lieutenant only called him his rank politely, "please rest assured that we will fight to the last moment of our lives, and would rather die than be captured by the Germans."


    The German tanks stopped only 20 meters away from yambekov''s tanks, with more than a dozen Black Muzzles pointing at the tanks still firing. Those German infantry who had been hiding nearby, in order to prevent being injured by their own shells, they fled from their hiding places one after another. In the shooting corner of the better point, successfully escaped to a safe place; Those who were in range were knocked down by random guns as soon as they got together.


    German tanks and other infantry were almost evacuated. After a pause, they fired at lieutenant yambekov''s tanks. Our tanks were covered in smoke and fire. Trekov pulled the earphone from his ear and held it in his hand. It was estimated that the explosion was too loud for him.


    As the smoke dispersed, the tank had changed beyond recognition, the canopy of the turret had been lifted, and the body was still emitting bursts of black smoke. Although kV Tank''s armor is thick, it can''t stand the bombardment of more than ten tanks in such a short distance.


    "Comrade General, are you still there?" Lieutenant yambekov''s weak voice came from his headphones.


    "I''m still here, comrade lieutenant." Trekov put one side of the headset close to his ear and said aloud to the transmitter, "are you all right?" In order to hear what the lieutenant said at the last moment of his life, I pasted it and could hear the voice of the lieutenant from the earphone on the other side.


    Lieutenant yambekov said intermittently, "Comrade General, two soldiers have died and the rest have been injured. I don''t think we can support them for long." At this point, he stopped. After a few breaths, he continued, "goodbye, comrades, don''t forget us..."


    Hearing this, I couldn''t help it any more. I grabbed the transmitter in trakov''s hand and said in a loud voice:¡°


    Comrade lieutenant, we will always remember you. " Speaking of this, I can''t help but think of the two words in front of the tomb of the unknown martyr, and read them out loud: "no one knows your name, and your achievements will last forever!"


    When lieutenant yambekov heard what I said, he couldn''t help but get excited: "no one knows your name. Your achievements will last forever! Comrade commander, it''s very kind of you to say that. We are dead with no regrets to hear that. " After the sound was interrupted for a moment, the inspiring words of "Internationale" came from the earphone: "this is the last struggle!..."


    At this moment, the enemy''s tanks fired again. After the deafening explosion, the headphones could no longer hear any sound.


    Trekov returned the earphone and transmitter to the messenger, and said excitedly, "Comrade oshanina, remember them, remember these brave tank soldiers. When the war is over, we will set up a monument for them here, so that future generations can remember them. " Then he walked to the jeep.


    As he opened the door, he turned back to me and said, "what you said just now is very good. No one knows your name. Your achievements will last forever! This must be engraved on the monument of those heroes. " After that, he waved his head to me and said, "get in the car. We''ll get out of here right away."


    Seeing me sitting in the back of the car, the signalmen began to get on one after another.


    I heard two signalmen whispering. One said, "Hey, I think I heard the tank soldiers singing the Internationale before they died."


    Another disdained to say: "what" the Internationale ", I heard clearly, clearly singing" the national anthem. "


    I glared at the two signalmen discontentedly, coughed and taught them, "what''s the difference? You know, our national anthem is the Internationale. "

 Chapter 507

    Sitting in the jeep, I leaned my head back against the back of the chair and closed my eyes. I didn''t take the boring argument between the two signalmen to heart at all. In my mind, Lieutenant yambekov''s last words were echoed all the time: "goodbye, comrades, don''t forget us..."


    Just then, the jeep suddenly jerked and stopped. Originally I didn''t care, but the car stopped for a long time, still in the same place. Then I heard the impatient voice of trakov: "Comrade driver, what''s the matter?"


    "Comrade commander," the driver replied somewhat stiffly, "there seems to be something wrong with the car. I''ll go down and have a look." Then I heard the door open. I quickly opened my eyes and saw that the driver had got out of the car, while trakov was still sitting in the front row. I quickly asked, "Comrade General, what''s the matter?"


    After taking a look at the driver who lifted the front cover of the car, he turned to me and said, "there''s something wrong with the car. The driver has got off the car to repair it." With that, he also pushed the door open, leaned out half of his body and asked sternly, "when can the trouble be eliminated?"


    Hearing his question, the driver replied in a hurry: "Comrade commander, there is something wrong with the carburetor. Please wait for a moment. It can be solved in five minutes at most."


    Trekov raised his hand, looked at his watch, saw nothing, and sat back in his place.


    The driver said five minutes, but at least two five minutes passed, and the car''s fault has not been eliminated. Tired of waiting, trikov pushed the door open again and leaned out. But before he could ask the driver, a cry came from the outside: "air raid siren, all of you get out of the car."


    Upon hearing the cry, trikov quickly turned around with his hand on the door and yelled at us, "air raid, all of you get off the car and find a place to hide."


    When I flurried out of the car, I found that not only the people in our car came down, but also the people in the jeep behind. I was a little flustered to see that there was no place to hide in the bare plain around the dirt road. Heart said so many people crowded together, as long as the sky dropped a bomb down, we can all reimbursement.


    When we were in a panic, I inadvertently looked up into the air, and my heart fell to the ground. He quickly walked up to trakov and said to him in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, don''t worry. It''s the enemy''s reconnaissance plane."


    Trikov also looked into the air and yelled at the messengers running around: "comrades, don''t panic. It''s the enemy''s reconnaissance plane. There are no weapons on the plane."


    Hearing that it was an unarmed reconnaissance plane, most of the signalmen stopped and looked up at the enemy planes in the sky. The enemy''s reconnaissance plane suddenly lowered its altitude and flew low over our heads, so we had to lower down to avoid. At this time, a signalman who used to sit in the back car started to run to the plain.


    Seeing the signalman running away, a signalman sergeant stood up and yelled at the man''s back: "Hey, where are you going? You fool, where are you going? "


    Unexpectedly, after the sergeant yelled for a long time, the signalman continued to run forward. At this time, a corporal rushed out of the slash and yelled at the back of the timid signalman in a language I didn''t understand. With his cry, the soldier stopped and turned to look at us. Seeing his subordinates stop, the corporal shouts out a few words in a foreign language I don''t understand, the soldier''s mood becomes stable and walks towards us.


    I went to the corporal and asked him curiously, "Comrade corporal, where are you from?"


    When the corporal heard me ask him, he immediately raised his hand to salute him and answered in slightly stiff Russian: "report, comrade commander, I''m from Kazakhstan." at this point, he pointed to the distant soldier and explained to me, "the soldier and I are from the same village. When the sergeant called him just now, he didn''t stop because he didn''t understand Russian at all."


    As he was talking, there was a loud noise in the distance. I turned my head and looked at the place where the explosion sounded. I saw that the soldier covered his chest with his hands and walked forward in pain. After a few steps, he fell to the ground and did not move any more. From the dark earth pit behind him, he stepped on a mine.


    The corporal saw that his fellow countryman fell into a pool of blood and cried out. He rushed in regardless. The rest of the signalmen wanted to rush in, but the sergeant stopped them. He yelled at his subordinates, "comrades, no one is allowed to pass. There is a minefield ahead."


    The signalmen wanted to rush past, but when they heard the sergeant say that there was a minefield in front of them, they all stopped and stood in the same place anxiously looking at the sergeant who rushed into the minefield.


    The corporal rushed to the signalman''s side, bent down and squatted beside him. After checking, he picked up his body in both hands and walked towards us step by step. Looking at him getting closer and closer, I stared at his feet nervously. I was afraid that he would be unlucky and step on a mine buried by our army.


    But I''m still a corporal. I''m very lucky. I''m coming to us soon, and I don''t hear the explosion of Mines again. When he was only five or six meters away from us, the sergeant met him with several signalmen, took the soldier from the corporal''s hand, and carried him to the open space with all hands and feet.


    "How is he?" Trekov came over and asked with concern.


    The corporal shook his head and replied miserably, "Comrade commander, his chest has been blown out, all, all! The whole person has gone


    Although I saw the signalman lying on the ground motionless, and his upper uniform had been infiltrated by blood, I still planned to have a try, so I told the staff sergeant, "Comrade staff sergeant, please ask who has a first aid kit. Help him to wrap it up and carry it to the back car. When we get back to the headquarters of the group army, we can find the military doctor there. "


    The driver of our jeep went up to trakov and reported to him, "Comrade commander, the car has been repaired. Please get in the car."


    Trekov nodded and turned straight to the jeep. I said to the signalmen who were dressing the wounds of my comrades in arms, "comrades, get your comrades into the car quickly, and we should rush back to the headquarters as soon as possible."


    Sitting behind trekov, I thought of the signal soldier who was still alive and dead. Suddenly, an idea came into my mind. So he quickly asked the front row of trikov: "Comrade commander, are there many troops from Asia in our group army?"


    Trikov turned to look at me, nodded and asked in surprise: "the troops that were supplemented in the later period almost all came from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia and other places, all of which are in Asia. What are you doing for this? "


    I quickly expressed my worry: "Comrade commander, the soldier who stepped on the mine just now is from Kazakhstan. I''ve just found a very serious problem with his injury. "


    "What do you mean, o''shanina?" trekov asked, probably seeing my serious face? What do you want to say to me? "


    "Comrade commander, by serious problems, I mean that many of the commanders and fighters from these places don''t understand Russian, and they can''t understand the orders we give them!"


    "What? I don''t know Russian! " When I said that, trakov jumped straight out of his seat and hit his head on the ceiling. He held up the crooked cornice hat and said in an unbelievable voice, "no, most of the commanders and fighters from Central Asia don''t know Russian!"


    "Yes, comrade commander." The staff sergeant sitting next to me took over the topic, "please allow me to report to you. It''s hard to work with these fighters from Central Asia. Communicate with them because language difficulties and the resulting misunderstanding make things worse. In addition to their lack of understanding of modern technology, they are more likely to be confused or even scared out of their wits by air strikes. "


    After listening to the sergeant''s words, trikov nodded thoughtfully and said, "what you said is really a problem. If half of the commanders and fighters can''t understand Russian, the orders issued by the superior can''t be well implemented."


    The sergeant waited for trikov to finish, hesitated for a moment, summoned up courage and said, "Comrade commander, there is one more thing I want to report to you."


    When I heard that the sergeant was going to report to trakov, I couldn''t help but glare at him. I wanted to report intelligence to the commander of the group army without looking at your identity. I wanted to see how you were scolded by trakov later. Seeing the sergeant''s bloody uniform, I thought of the scene when he was carrying his wounded comrades. I couldn''t help hesitating. I don''t know if I should help him when he is reproached by trakov later.


    He frowned and said impatiently, "if you have anything to say, don''t stammer."


    The sergeant agreed and began to report: "Comrade commander, this is the situation. A week ago, I was in the 284th division, half of which were soldiers from Tatars. Because of the language barrier, the political workers in the division conducted political propaganda to them, which became casting pearls before swine. Because their indoctrination was not successful, many people did not know what the war was for. In this case, there are wavering elements. "


    "Shakers?! What wavering elements? " The sergeant''s words aroused trekov''s curiosity.


    "Comrade commander, I''ve heard of this. I''d better give you a detailed report." When I heard the sergeant say the beginning, I immediately knew what he was going to say and quickly took over the topic. After all, some words he said were not very appropriate. As for the sources of the news, they all came from later military forums. After seeing trekov nodding, I continued: "because many soldiers do not understand the significance of the war, and they can not communicate with their superiors, there are wavering elements who are greedy for life and afraid of death. A Tatar of the 284th division decided to run away because he felt his future was uncertain. He took advantage of the darkness to climb out of his position and toward the German position. But his bad luck, lost his way in no man''s land, the deserter did not notice, and climbed to the 685th regiment position. Seeing a bunker in a command post, he went in. He thought that he had reached his destination, and that the commander staring at him strangely must have been disguised by the German. The Soviet uniform he was wearing was just a disguise, so he immediately declared to the commander standing in front of him that he had come to surrender. Because the commander couldn''t understand what he said, he got an interpreter to understand what he said


    "What happened?" Trekov asked curiously.


    I shrugged my shoulders and replied, "what else can I do? I''m shot, of course. You know, this is a crime of treason. The punishment for them is to shoot them directly. "


    "Commander, comrade commander is absolutely right. It is true." The chief quickly added.


    Instead of pestering over language, trakov changed the subject and asked, "sergeant, do you know command 227 issued by the supreme command?"


    The sergeant nodded hard and replied, "yes, comrade commander. The order says no step back! "


    Following his words, trakov asked, "sergeant, do you know what your army did to those who withdrew without permission after this order was issued?"


    The sergeant hesitated when he heard this question. I can see from his expression that he obviously knew a lot of things. After all, he had been in the group army headquarters for a period of time and probably knew a lot of inside information, so he encouraged him to say, "come on, sergeant, just report the real things you saw or heard to Comrade General. Even if you are wrong, Comrade General will not blame you. "


    "Lieutenant Commander o''shanina is right. Sergeant, just say whatever you want. " Trekov echoed me in time.


    With our permission, the sergeant became more courageous. He said clearly: "since the promulgation of order 227, many wavering elements and deserters have been executed in the group army, but some of them have been killed by mistake."


    "Wrong killing?! There was a case of manslaughter in the group army. " When trekov heard the word, his eyebrows stood up. Seeing his frightening expression, the sergeant closed his mouth and did not dare to talk nonsense.


    I hastened to encourage the Staff Sergeant: "don''t be afraid, you just need to tell the truth."


    With my encouragement, the sergeant continued to say: "as far as I know, a 19-year-old lieutenant of the 196th Infantry Division was shot through in the palm of his left hand by a submachine gun during the battle. When he was bandaged in the medical center, someone reported to his superiors that the lieutenant had hurt himself in an attempt to become a deserter. Then he was arrested and quickly shot in front of the other commanders of his troops. "


    "Anything else? You go on Trekov said with a frosty face.


    Seeing the sergeant''s trembling and indecision, I knew that he did not dare to report more to trikov, otherwise he might be killed himself, so I took the initiative to say, "Comrade commander, I happen to know something happened in the 64th army. Now I take this opportunity to report it to you." At this point, I stopped for a moment and turned to look at the sergeant beside me. I saw a grateful look on his face. I looked back and continued to say to trikov, "in a regiment of the 204 th division, after the battle, the commander found two soldiers missing when counting the number of soldiers. Because of the fierce fighting, it is difficult to define whether the two soldiers died or became deserters. Unexpectedly, the head of the regiment and the political commissar of the regiment insisted that the two soldiers had become deserters and gave the company commander an order to severely punish the platoon leader of the platoon where the deserters were. This young platoon leader, who has been in this regiment for only a few days, can''t even recognize the soldiers under his command. How can he know about the two missing soldiers? But regardless of the actual situation, the company commander resolutely carried out the order of the superior. He took the instructor to the trench and shot the platoon commander in the head


    "Asshole, asshole." After a few deep breaths, trakov asked, "o''shanina, is there anything else? Keep talking to me. "


    I tried hard to recall what I saw in the post. Although I remember most of the content, many things haven''t happened yet. If I say it now, I will become a god stick. So I had to say vaguely: "specific things, I don''t know. But you also know that I have been in many troops, and I have dealt with those troops who have retreated from the front line. From their words, I know that some of the executed commanders and soldiers were arrested by the people of the Ministry of interior just because the troops were defeated and complained a few words. The reason is that they were defeated by the Soviet Union. When they are executed, it is usually claimed that there is a lot of evidence that they plan to betray the motherland and surrender to the enemy. "


    After hearing this, trakov sighed and said, "in this cruel battle, we can''t tolerate cowardice. We can''t give it any living space. Comrade Stalin once quoted Lenin''s words to warn all the commanders and soldiers and the common people that those who do not try their best to help the Red Army and those who do not obey the Red Army''s orders and discipline are traitors and must be eliminated mercilessly. In order to ensure the victory of this war, all "tenderness" is unacceptable. Just as the front-line forces are always at risk of being killed by their own guns or planes, there must be improper law enforcement in military trials. "


    Originally, I would say a few good words for these unjustly killed officers and soldiers in the future, and take warning to ensure that there will not be so many unjust cases in the future. I didn''t expect to say such a thing from his mouth, which made me feel a little chilly.


    When he heard that I didn''t speak, trakov turned to me and asked, "commander oshanina, what are you thinking? Is what I just said wrong? " I''m not going to do such a stupid thing by accusing trakov of his mistakes in front of him. Otherwise, how can I hang out with him in the future. I had to follow his meaning and said against my heart: "Comrade commander, I''m thinking that you have a good point. It is very difficult to carry out this extremely cruel discipline, but only by doing so can we ensure our final victory. "

 Chapter 508

    A few kilometers away from the headquarters of the group army, we saw a large number of troops on the grassland in the distance. From their drooping flags and tired steps, as well as the scattered formation, I immediately judged that this was another German defeated and retreating army.


    He looked in that direction for a while and then told the driver, "Comrade driver, drive over." The driver nodded, swung the steering wheel and drove towards the defeated army.


    Seeing the jeep coming, the retreating commanders and fighters flashed to both sides to make way for our car. After the jeep went a little further, trakov ordered the driver to stop.


    After I got off at trekov, I got off. I went up behind trekov and, like him, stood by the car without saying a word, quietly watching the officers and men who were powerless to walk past us. I saw that there was a tank in the crowd in the distance. The tank obviously had no fuel. Several tank soldiers climbed out of the hatch, looked around for a while, jumped off the tank and mixed into the infantry.


    I was about to point out the abandoned tank to trakov when a clear shot came from the side. The sound of the gun suddenly made my nerves nervous. Although there were our commanders and fighters all around, I still grasped the submachine gun in my hand and looked around warily to find out the location of the gun. But the officers and men didn''t respond to the gunfire. They just gave us a blank look and continued to drag their tired feet forward.


    Trekov heard the shot, looked on both sides, and walked forward without hesitation. I thought he was going to find out why the tank soldiers abandoned their tanks, so he followed up with his submachine gun.


    We walked a distance through the crowd. Before we got to the tank, there was another shot. Trakov stopped, looked left and right again, then turned left and pushed out of the crowd. As soon as I stepped out of the crowd, my vision suddenly brightened, and I saw a group of people standing on the grass in front of me. Without any intention, trakov led me to them.


    After walking towards them for two steps, I was startled to hear another gunshot. After a quick examination, I found that a row of soldiers with boat shaped hats were standing there with their hands tied back and their heads lowered. Five or six officers and soldiers of the interior department were standing behind them. An officer like man, holding a pistol, walked to the back of a soldier in no hurry, He raised his gun and aimed it at the back of his head, ready to pull the trigger.


    At this moment, trikov roared angrily, "stop! Stop it


    Hearing the voice of trakov, the interior officer did not turn around, but turned his head. The pistol was still on the back of the soldier''s head. After looking up and down trakov, he asked in surprise, "Comrade General, do you have any instructions?"


    "What are you doing?" Trekov asked sternly as he quickened his steps towards them.


    As I walked down behind trakov, I saw on the ground to the right of the soldiers standing in the row, several soldiers'' bodies were lying on the ground. It seemed that they all died under the gun of this officer. The sound of the gun we heard was that he was shooting these soldiers.


    Trikov came up to him, pulled the gun away from the back of the soldier''s head, looked at his rank on his badge, and asked discontentedly, "Comrade lieutenant, what''s going on here?"


    The second lieutenant put the pistol in the holster, even disrespectfully, and said, "report to the general, we are shooting the cowards. These cowards from Kazakhstan left their weapons to the Germans when they retreated."


    Hearing the conversation between trakov and the second lieutenant of the interior department, the soldier who was almost shot turned his head and begged in poor Russian: "please, don''t kill us. We will make atonement. We will make atonement. "


    When we heard that someone was begging for mercy, the remaining soldiers turned around and said to us in stiff Russian, "please, please! All right


    Trekov raised his hand, pointed to the soldiers, and said to the lieutenant, "let go of all their hands."


    The second lieutenant turned to look at the soldiers who almost became the souls of the dead, and the subordinates who began to be released by them. He said to trikov discontentedly, "Comrade General, you don''t have this right. I''m the leader of the internal affairs department''s supervision team."


    "And I, trakov, am the commander of the group army. I need soldiers for the patriotic war. I can''t watch you kill them all." For the second lieutenant''s protest, trakov directly raised his identity to suppress him. Although he didn''t show any obvious anger, the fierce look between his eyebrows made the interior lieutenant who wanted to continue to say something scared. He opened his mouth to trikov, but he didn''t dare to speak, so he had to watch his subordinates let the soldiers go.


    Seeing the back of the soldiers who left us after thanking us again and again, trikov slowed down and said to the second lieutenant, "Comrade second lieutenant, let me remind you again, don''t kill people casually." Then he said to me, "come on, commander oshanina, let''s go back to headquarters."


    We just walked out a few steps, and we heard the second lieutenant roar unconvincingly in the back: "I''m going to report to the superior and accuse you of such abuse of power."


    Trekov stopped, turned his head, looked at the notorious Lieutenant with scornful eyes, snorted softly, and went on.


    While in the car, trekov said to me thoughtfully, "o''shanina, you were right. Many soldiers from Central Asia do not know Russian, so it will be very difficult for political workers to communicate with them, and they can not effectively overcome the fear of facing the enemy. After going back, I will have a good talk with general shumilov and two comrades of the military commissar to see if we can find an effective solution to this problem. "


    When we went back to the headquarters of the group army, we found that in addition to commander shumilov, military commissar sheldyuk and Abramov, and chief of staff Raskin, there was also a lieutenant commander in the room with no military cap and bandage on his forehead. The first impression that the lieutenant commander gave me was not that he was here to report his work, but that he was sent here for trial, because behind him stood a lieutenant in the interior department wearing a blue cap and two soldiers with submachine guns.


    "Comrade trekov is back." Seeing us coming in, shumilov quickly got up from his seat, shook hands with trikov, and asked with concern, "how are things going?"


    Trikov nodded and replied in a low voice, "Comrade commander, I have been ordered to remove general lopagin from his post, and to have messenger sidtorin take him to the front army headquarters in Stalingrad."


    "How many troops have you brought back?" Shumilov asked directly.


    Trekov shook his head and said bitterly, "Oh, forget it. Lopagin, the black sheep of the family, has ruined tens of thousands of troops. When I got to him, there was only one platoon and a dozen signalmen left. Later, when the enemy attacked, all the officers and men of this platoon had died in honor to cover our retreat. "


    Shumilov was startled by trakov''s words, and his face showed an incredible expression: "tens of thousands of people are gone?"


    "Yes, it''s all gone." Without thinking, trakov gave him a positive answer.


    As they spoke, they unconsciously came to their seat. Before sitting down, trikov pointed to the commander and asked, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with this commander?"


    Standing straight behind trakov, I heard shumilov say in an angry voice, "this is Lieutenant Colonel Gorman, the head of the 1077th antiaircraft artillery regiment. He knows that the Supreme Command''s order No. 227 once said that troops are not allowed to retreat in battle. However, he defied orders and allowed more than 30 soldiers to flee the battlefield without authorization. As a result, most of those deserters were shot and killed by the supervision team under the command of lieutenant sharov, and the remaining five deserters were also arrested and will be executed soon. "


    After listening to this, trikov slapped the table angrily and said in a loud voice: "for those deserters who are afraid of death, we must not be soft handed and shoot as many as we can catch. This lieutenant commander Gorman can''t be spared. He will be sent to the military court immediately. "


    Shumilov, after listening to trakov''s statement, nodded with a smile, turned to serdyuk, who was sitting on his right, and said, "Comrade serdyuk, just before Comrade trakov came back, we discussed whether to transfer the commander to the military court. You are the only one who opposes it. Now that Comrade trakov is back, he also resolutely says that he wants to send the commander to the military court. Do you have any comments? "


    Sheldyuk sighed. As soon as he wanted to say something, he suddenly caught a glimpse of me standing behind trekov. With a flash in his eyes, he quickly proposed to shumilov: "Comrade commander, I suggest you ask commander oshanina about this matter again. What do you mean? "


    I''m a little nervous about sheldyuk''s sudden move to pull me into the water. I don''t know the whole story of the antiaircraft artillery commander''s letting his men become deserters. How can I express my position? I prayed to myself that shumilov would never agree to sheldyuk''s proposal, otherwise I would not know what to do.


    Shumilov''s face was embarrassed by sheldyuk''s proposal. It seemed that he wanted to refuse and was afraid of hurting the face of the military Commissar. After hesitating for a moment, he turned his head to trakov and asked, "Comrade trakov, what do you think?"


    Trikov turned to look at me, nodded and said, "since comrades of the military commissar say so, let''s ask for comrades o''shanina''s opinions." At this point, he turned, looked up at me and asked sincerely, "o''shanina, talk about your opinion on this matter."


    I looked at the elderly lieutenant commander, only to see his face blackened by smoke, showing not panic expression, but an indescribable look of pain. I don''t think he should be a greedy person. This may not be as simple as I heard. It must be something else.


    I took a deep breath and said, "Comrade commander, please allow me to ask this commander what happened at that time, OK?"


    Seeing shumilov and trakov nodding in agreement, I strode up to the commander and gazed into his eyes. Looking at the endless sadness in his eyes, I took a deep breath and asked, "commander Gorman, can you tell me why you want dozens of your men to withdraw from the battle?"


    Commander Gorman''s mouth twitched a few times, and suddenly burst into tears: "my girls, I''m sorry for you. I killed you."


    All the people in the room were startled by his sudden cry. While everyone was staring at him, the lieutenant sheroff standing behind him raised his arm and hit him heavily on the back. The commander was beaten to stagger, and the cry stopped abruptly.


    Although I think there is something else hidden, the performance of the commander made me feel a little dissatisfied with you. When I saw him wipe the tears from his face with his hands, I asked unhappily, "commander Gorman, please answer my question. Why do you want to let dozens of soldiers out of the battlefield?"


    Commander Gorman wiped away his tears, straightened up and said, "report commander, there is a women''s anti-aircraft artillery camp of 300 people in my anti-aircraft artillery regiment..." when I heard about the women''s anti-aircraft artillery camp, my heart suddenly thumped, and I immediately understood why there were more than 30 deserters. He continued: "originally, our regiment was for air defense, but we found that more than 100 tanks of the enemy were coming towards our position. I decisively ordered the women''s anti-aircraft artillery battalion to fire anti-aircraft guns at the tanks. After a fierce battle, the anti-aircraft guns of the whole battalion were destroyed by the enemy''s fire, leaving only more than 30 women soldiers. Comrades in command, if all the male soldiers of the regiment and I have died, we will never have any complaints. It is worth the price to defend our motherland. But these women soldiers are still teenagers. A month ago, they were all students in Grade 10. I couldn''t watch them die on the battlefield, so I ordered the remaining women soldiers to leave the battlefield immediately and go back to Stalingrad. Unexpectedly, they did not sacrifice under the enemy''s artillery, but they died under the muzzle of those overseers. " With that, Colonel Gorman covered his face and began to cry again.


    When I heard that more than 30 young female soldiers were killed by lieutenant sharov and his subordinates behind the lieutenant commander, I rushed to shine on him with a loud slap in the face. At the same time, I scolded: "you damn beast."


    Sharov was slapped in the face by me. After a while, he immediately reached for his gun. Before he could get the gun out, I grabbed the handle of the submachine gun and swung it up to his chin. The two soldiers next to him took the loss of their lieutenant and quickly turned the gun at me. Lieutenant Gorman quickly stood to my right and blocked the muzzle of the two soldiers for me.


    At this moment, there was a loud bang. Trikov clapped his desk and yelled, "what are you going to do? Do we fight with each other? This is the headquarters of the group army, not the place where you use knives and guns. Put down your guns. "


    Hearing this, I quickly put away my submachine gun, put it on my shoulder again, and stepped back. Lieutenant sharov, seeing that he was free from my threat, waved to the two soldiers and asked them to put away their guns.


    When shumilov heard the truth, he was very angry. He quickly walked up to lieutenant sheroff and asked angrily, "Comrade lieutenant, why didn''t you just tell us that the deserters you killed were all young women soldiers?"


    Shirov said with disapproval: "Comrade commander, I am the leader of the supervision team. My duty is to eliminate those deserters. Now that they have left the battlefield, they are deserters. I don''t care whether they are men or women. "


    Shirov''s arrogant attitude made shumilov tremble with anger. He pointed to the lieutenant from the Ministry of interior and was too angry to speak.


    Abramov, a military commissar who had not spoken for a long time, got up and went to the door, shouting to the outside, "come on, come on!"


    With his shouts, five or six sentinels at the door clattered in. After saluting Abramov, the second lieutenant asked politely, "Comrade military commissar, do you have any instructions?"


    Abramov pointed to the three of them with his hand and said to the sentry, "take their guns down, take them out and shut them up. We will deal with them after we have consulted the headquarters of the front army. "


    Although the Ministry of internal affairs is a unit that makes people turn pale, they are now on our territory, and they are very weak. For our soldiers, they are just a group of lambs to be slaughtered. Several sentinels agreed, rushed up immediately, handed in their guns, and twisted their arms to escort them out.


    Seeing that the people in the interior department were taken away, shumilov''s mood stabilized. He patted commander Gorman on the shoulder and said in a friendly way, "commander Gorman, you are wronged. Please sit down."


    After the group commanders were seated, I sat down side by side with colonel Gorman.


    Trikov looked at me and reproached me in a tone of hate: "Comrade oshanina, I want to criticize you severely. You are so impulsive. How can you beat the people in the interior department and point a gun at them? You know, just a word from them can put you in a hopeless situation. "


    Shumilov raised his hand and patted trakov on the arm, persuading: "Comrade trakov, don''t be so excited. Lieutenant commander o''shanina is young and impulsive. What''s more, the people in the Ministry of internal affairs did something wrong today. They killed dozens of young girls without asking for any details. It''s too much. I want to report this matter to the headquarters of the front army immediately, so that they can seriously deal with these supervisors. "


    When shumilov finished, the chief of staff Raskin asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, just now lieutenant sheroff said that there were five girls in their hands. You see, should we send someone to rescue them at once? If it''s a little later, they may be worried about their lives. " Sheldyuk nodded approvingly and proposed again: "I agree with the chief of staff. I suggest that the task of rescuing female soldiers should be carried out by lieutenant commander o''shanina. "

 Chapter 509

    Sheldyuk''s proposal has just been put out, but it hasn''t been waiting for others to make a statement. All of a sudden, a staff officer rushed into the headquarters. He came to Colonel Ruskin''s side, leaned down and whispered something. Raskin''s face changed greatly after hearing this, and then he got up and quickly came to shumilov and said something.


    Shumilov''s face changed. He hesitated for a moment and didn''t say anything. He frowned and looked at trekov a few times. Then his eyes turned and fell on me.


    Seeing shumilov''s eyes resting on me, I suddenly felt an unknown feeling. What happened to the rescue of female soldiers? When I think about it, my heart beats faster.


    Shumilov was silent for a moment and began to speak. He said solemnly, "comrades, something has happened. As soon as they were taken away from the headquarters, they were seen by his men, and they rushed up with machine guns and surrounded our soldiers. Now the two sides are at each other''s throats, and there is the possibility of an exchange of fire at any time. What should we do? "


    As for what is going to happen outside, although shumilov told the commanders on the scene, his eyes were always looking at me. I thought that this matter had something to do with me. Maybe shumilov was going to push me out to solve it. Sure enough, as soon as I thought so, shumilov had said to me, "commander oshanina, I''ll leave this matter to you. Can you handle it?"


    Shumilov said that, which is tantamount to giving me a dilemma. Promise to go and negotiate with these soldiers in the Ministry of interior. They may fight and lose their lives in vain; If you don''t agree to go, it may be safe for the time being, but my image in the eyes of several group army leaders will be greatly reduced.


    Upon hearing that shumilov had handed me such a dangerous matter, trikov could not help persuading him and said, "Comrade commander, I don''t think it''s appropriate for commander o''shanina to come forward in this matter. She is too young and a female commander. The officers and soldiers of the interior department who have eyes above the top will not buy her. I think it''s better to change people. If I really can''t find the right person, I''ll go out and solve the problem. "


    Originally, I was still hesitating to consider whether I should go to the scene. After hearing his words, he made up his mind decisively. Since he cared about me so much, I couldn''t be looked down upon by him. After all, this was because no one in the team answered, but everyone''s eyes focused on the medal on my chest without exception. I saw that everyone''s attention was attracted by me, so I continued: "I''ll tell you the story of this medal."


    "Comrade commander, we still have important tasks, but we don''t have time to listen to your stories about medals." Sharov didn''t know what I would say next, so he couldn''t help saying something to stop me.


    I glared at him fiercely and said impolitely, "Comrade lieutenant, don''t you know that when the superior is talking, the inferior can''t interrupt casually?" Although I have never done anything to suppress people by rank, today I will make an exception for these people in the interior department.


    After seeing the honesty of lieutenant sheroff, I began to tell my own story: "comrades, after obtaining the warrant officer''s familiarity with the local terrain, he took us to the enemy''s only way ahead of time by taking a small path, and prepared to capture or destroy the Germans as soon as they arrived.


    Unexpectedly, when the enemy appeared in front of us, we were surprised to find that the enemy was not two, but sixteen, and all of them were fully armed


    "My God "There are only six of you, and five of them are women. Can you deal with them?" cried an interior department soldier in the front row


    "Be quiet!" Sharov interrupted his subordinates, but my story obviously aroused his interest. He asked curiously, "Comrade commander, did you stop the enemy in the end?"


    I continued to talk in accordance with my own way of thinking: "seeing that the enemy has more people and better equipment than us, the brigadier called me aside and said boldly: we only have five women and one man. How can we deal with these 16 German ghosts armed to the teeth. Now, if we can have a machine gun full of bullets, jagjarov style, or three submachine guns, plus three skilled male soldiers, then we can be sure to use the terrain to block the enemy here... If you five want to go immediately, if you want to find a way to survive, you have to go far away.


    At that time, I refuted him and said, "no, comrade brigadier. We are soldiers. We can''t leave here. We will fight side by side with you.".


    At that time, he was in a hurry and started a fire at me, saying: fighting is not a woman''s business, you should do what you should do.


    I asked him again, can you stand in the way of the Germans, 16 Germans equipped with submachine guns?


    He was speechless. In the end, they agreed to send a soldier back to report the news, and the rest stayed to fight with him. "


    "Comrade commander, what''s the final situation like? Are you blocking the Germans? " This time, it was the soldiers of the guard company who were standing in the back row.


    I gave the soldier a smile and answered positively, "of course, it''s blocked, comrade soldier." Then my face said again, "but we also paid a heavy price. Brigadier vaskov and I were injured, and the remaining four girls died. But the enemy couldn''t move forward. They were blocked by us. Not only was it blocked, but eleven of them were wiped out by us, and the remaining five were our captives.


    For my bravery in battle, marshal voroshlov personally awarded me a red flag medal and a medal for bravery. Let''s have a look at these two. " In order to let you see more clearly, I also specially put up two medals¡° Comrade commander, you are so wonderful¡° Yes, it''s amazing My story excited everyone to talk about it. I raised my hand and pressed it down. When everyone was quiet, I went on to say, "comrades, what commander Gorman did today is the same as what brigadier vaskov did at the beginning. They said the same thing: I can sacrifice, my comrades in arms can sacrifice, but I can''t let you sacrifice, because you are women and should be protected by us. " In fact, what I''m going to say later is not what Gorman or vaskov said, but what I often hear from those Russian men in later generations¡° Lt. Col. Gorman can do it. He shouldn''t be sent to court martial. He''s a hero. He''s a hero It was the soldiers of the guard company who saw Gorman escorted to the headquarters by lieutenant sharov¡° Colonel Gorman is good! " These are the officers and men of the 208 th division. Seeing the attitude of everyone, sharov did not dare to adhere to his original point of view any more. He bowed his head to me and admitted his mistake: "Comrade commander, I''m wrong. I hope I can have a chance to make up for this mistake. " Seeing that sharov had bowed his head to me to admit his mistake, I pushed the boat forward and said, "Comrade lieutenant, aren''t there five other women soldiers who have been detained by you? If you want to atone, let them go. " Sheroff nodded quickly, called a ministry and said, "go to the truck and bring the five girls. Remember, untie them first, and then come back. Have a better attitude. "

 Chapter 510

    After the soldier left, sharov came into my side and assured me in a low voice: "Comrade commander, I promise you that as long as it is within my ability, no more female soldier will be hurt."


    He made a solemn commitment to me, let me add a bit of favor to him. Now that he has admitted his mistake to me and made concessions, I have to express myself. Although just now military commissar Abramov said that after detaining them, he would ask the headquarters of the front army for instructions on how to deal with them, but from my understanding of the Ministry of internal affairs, this matter will come to an end in the end. Instead of having to let them go after a long time, it''s better to let them go now. I said to him in a friendly manner, "Lieutenant sharov, when the women come, you can take your men and leave."


    "Can you really leave?" "What if commander shumilov and they''re going to investigate?" he asked in disbelief


    "I''ll take care of it." Because it was military Commissioner Abramov, not commander shumilov, who just ordered the soldiers to surrender their weapons. It can be seen from this that shumilov did not have the courage to fight against the Ministry of internal affairs. I let sharov go on my own initiative. When I went back to report to him, he would not say anything.


    He didn''t have much Kung Fu. The soldier sent by sheroff to take the women soldiers came back and followed five women soldiers who were not wearing military caps and were obviously in shock behind him.


    Seeing the women soldiers coming, I quickly carried the submachine gun to meet them and comforted them as soon as possible. When I was still a few steps away from them, suddenly, "ah ~ ~" a scream came out. With her cry, several female soldiers fell to the ground, and then they hugged each other and began to cry.


    They this cry, pour I cry Leng, this is how to return a responsibility?


    Not only me, but also the officers and men around me, no matter they were from the Ministry of interior, the guard company or the 208 division, all looked at each other and asked in a low voice, "what''s the matter? Why do they cry? "


    I took another two steps forward and leaned over to pull the arm of the female soldier nearest to me. I didn''t expect her to shake her arm out of my hand and cry louder and louder.


    I don''t understand why she was so afraid of me. She sighed and reached for another woman soldier. The woman soldier with beautiful short blonde hair found that I was going to catch her, so she quickly released her arm around her companion, sat down on the ground and stepped back with her hands and feet. At the same time, she cried in a terrified voice: "go away, you go away! Please, don''t, don''t kill me


    To kill you? Why kill you? This female soldier''s cry made me stunned again, so I kept the posture of bending over, one hand holding a submachine gun, and the other hand stretching out to pull people.


    I only kept this posture for a moment, then I stood up straight, looked down at the female soldier sitting on the ground, and said to her with a straight face: "little girl, why do you say I will kill you? You know, I''m here to save you


    The female soldier was originally curled up in a ball, holding her legs tightly in her hands. When I asked her, she pointed a finger at me and said, "Comrade commander, why are you still holding a gun when you say you won''t kill us?"


    When I looked down, I forgot that I was still carrying a submachine gun in my hand. No wonder these women soldiers were so afraid that they might have been killed by their companions. I quickly bent down and put the submachine gun under my feet. In order to reassure them, I even took out the pistol in the holster and put it on the ground. Then he stepped back, spread out his hands and said kindly, "little girl, you see, I have no weapons on me."


    Seeing that I put all my weapons on the ground and kept a certain distance, the female soldier''s vigilance relaxed. She tentatively asked, "Comrade commander, do you say you are here to save us? That means we''re safe and we won''t be shot? "


    I didn''t speak, I just nodded hard.


    "Comrade female commander." The female soldier yelled, jumped up from the place, threw herself into my arms and burst into tears.


    I gently patted the back of the female soldier, comforted her and said, "well, little girl, you''re all right. You''re all safe. I''ll protect you well." With that, I earned it out of her arms. Looking at the young soldier in front of me, I wiped her tears painfully, just like I did to my child.


    The female soldier wiped her tears and caught a glimpse of the neat team standing next to her. She could not help getting nervous again. She grabbed my arm with both hands and asked warily, "comrades of female commanders, what do they do, not come to shoot our execution team?"


    "Come with me, little girl." I put my arm around her shoulder and walked towards the line. In the process of walking, I can clearly feel the female soldiers trembling with fear because of nervousness.


    I and the blonde soldiers came to the front of the team. After scanning the faces of hundreds of officers and soldiers, I said in a loud voice, "comrades, you all see it. The female soldier standing in front of you is still a student who has just left school. I ask you to care for them like your sisters, even if you sacrifice your own lives, but also to ensure their safety, because they are future mothers, and the hope of our country lies in them. Can you do it? "


    After a short silence, there was a rare cry in the team: "Comrade commander, we can do it!"


    Then the cry grew louder and more orderly, and almost everyone was shouting, "we can do it! We can do it! "


    I raised my hand to stop the shouting, and then gave them an order: "disband!" Because their existence will make these five girls feel scared.


    Lieutenant sharov came up to me, raised his hand to salute me, and politely said, "Comrade commander, my men and I are leaving. I hope we have another day to see each other."


    I also politely smile, politely said: "Comrade lieutenant, good luck to you!" Then he reached out to him.


    After the commanders and soldiers dispersed, the other four women soldiers came slowly. I went to pick up my gun, put the pistol in the holster, slung the submachine gun on my shoulder, and then asked the blonde, "what''s your name?"


    "Report female commander comrade, my name is Vera!" Her courage was obviously a little bigger than just now. She pointed to the woman soldier who had just screamed and introduced to me: "this is garka."


    After a large number of ups and downs, I couldn''t help saying to myself, "like, really like, really like?"


    "Comrade commander, what''s so similar?" Vera asked strangely.


    I coughed quickly and explained to her, "there was a female soldier in my former class named jiaerka. She was about the same as her. She was also small, with black hair and a lot of guts."


    "Female commander comrade," the garka in front of me asked curiously, "what happened to the garka, the woman soldier with the same name as me


    "Sacrifice. She was killed in a encounter between us and the Germans. She was shot by the enemy and killed by a bullet. " In fact, the timid garka I know was frightened by the enemy and killed by the German from behind when he ran and screamed on the battlefield. But in front of strangers, I still want to maintain the image of Rita''s comrades in arms.


    "What''s your name?" I asked the long chestnut haired soldier who had just broken free of my arm.


    The female soldier immediately stood at attention, saluted me and reported to me in a proper way: "report, comrade commander, my name is nagia. Sorry, I just... "


    I raised my hand and waved, intending to make the apology she was going to say later, and said, "don''t always call me commander. It''s too awkward. You can call me Rita or oshanina." With that, I turned my eyes to the other two women soldiers.


    The two women soldiers immediately stood at attention and reported, "soldier Lyudmila, soldier wonia."


    I carefully looked at the five women soldiers and said that the tenth grade in Russia was equivalent to the senior two in China. They were all 17 or 18 years old, but they became soldiers defending their country. I almost lost my life just after I went to the battlefield. Alas, I can''t help it. This is war.


    I waved my head at them and said, "don''t stand here in a daze. Come with me."


    From finding herself out of danger, Vera is the latest to recover. On the way, she has been chirping to me with different questions.


    "Rita, when you were a soldier, were you infantry?"


    I shook my head and answered patiently, "Vera, it''s not infantry. I''m in the anti-aircraft artillery force, just like you. The only difference is that you are antiaircraft gunners and I am antiaircraft gunners. "


    "Have you ever shot down an enemy plane?"


    I nodded hard and answered in the affirmative, "yes, I''ve taken off several German planes."


    "Wow, Rita, you are wonderful!" When Vera heard me say this, she screamed and asked, "but how did you become an infantry soldier and a commander?"


    "Yes, Rita, tell us about it." Vera''s words aroused the response of other female soldiers.


    I didn''t immediately satisfy their curiosity. After all, with my experience, not to mention just a few minutes, I couldn''t finish talking for three days and three nights. I digged off the topic and said, "it''s a long story. It''s not clear in a few words. I''ll talk to you slowly when I have time."


    Seeing the disappointed look on the faces of several female soldiers, I changed the topic to distract them: "do you know why I can rescue you in time?"


    "Why?" The women soldiers asked back with great cooperation.


    "Of course it''s because of your antiaircraft artillery commander, Lieutenant Colonel Gorman."


    "Colonel Gorman! Is he still alive? " Vera exclaimed excitedly again. She also touched the nearby garka with her arm and said triumphantly, "do you hear me? Garka, Rita said our chief is still alive


    Garka could only hum twice and didn''t answer her.


    Vera explained to me, "Colonel Gorman was a good man when the enemy came at our position. The lieutenant commander came over and said, "we are the future mothers. We should keep our lives and let us leave the position immediately and go to the rear."


    "At that time, more than 30 sisters left the position together, but now there are only five of us left, and the rest were killed by the supervisor." Nagiya said this suddenly and wiped away her tears.


    Nagia''s words made the other four women soldiers cry.


    I was just about to comfort them when I saw that the staff officer who informed me was running towards the headquarters. I guessed that he might have something to look for me, so he went out to the staff.


    When I was a few steps away from the staff officer, I raised my voice and asked, "Comrade captain, what can I do for you?"


    The staff officer nodded, quickly came to me and said in a hurry, "Comrade commander, general trakov asked me to tell you that after the women soldiers are rescued, take them to the anti-aircraft machine gun company of the headquarters."


    "AA machine gun company?" I also heard for the first time that there were air defense units in the headquarters of the 64th group army. I asked, "Comrade captain, where is the anti-aircraft machine gun company?"


    "Please come to me and I''ll take you." The staff officer replied politely, then turned and left.


    I quickly turned to the girl soldier who was still far behind and called, "girls, hurry up, I''ll take you to the new fighting post."


    The staff officer soon took us to a camouflaged air defense position, lifted the camouflage net outside and revealed an anti-aircraft machine gun. He patted the body of the gun and said to me, "Comrade commander, this is the anti-aircraft machine gun. Can you use it?"


    I went forward with a smile, stroked the sound of the gun, and said to the staff and the women soldiers, "you see, this is a 14.5 mm quadruple anti-aircraft machine gun, which is composed of four 14.5 mm anti-aircraft machine guns. It is a combination of gun body, sight glass, gun rack and four-wheel double axle car seat, which is towed by car when moving."


    When I finished, I took hold of the gun body, stood up, sat in front of the sight, skillfully manipulated the machine gun, and continued to explain to them: "this kind of anti-aircraft machine gun has a firing rate of 600 shots per minute, an effective range of 2000 meters, and can also be fired flat. In the Pulkovo highland of Leningrad, I used flat fire to eliminate the enemy who detoured back to the highland. The machine gun is equipped with two cartridges, each containing 150 rounds of ammunition. "


    As I explained, the women soldiers listened carefully. When I turned the machine gun a few times, Vera asked, "Rita, can I have a try?"


    I nodded, got down from the seat of the AA machine gun, and let Vera sit in the seat of the manipulator. It has to be said that Vera learns things very quickly, except that she is a little unfamiliar at the beginning, she will soon be able to operate skillfully. He turned the machine gun, gun body with Vera''s rotation, oblique aiming at the front.


    The staff officer saw that the women soldiers had begun to try to operate the anti-aircraft machine guns, so they didn''t stay any longer. After quietly saluting me, they turned and left.


    After all the female soldiers tried to operate it, I began to explain the main points: "comrades, we all operate this antiaircraft machine gun and have a certain understanding of its performance. I remind you, in the battle, please lower the elevation of the machine gun, when the enemy dive toward your muzzle, shoot head-on! Do you understand? "


    "I see!" Five female soldiers answered neatly.


    Then Vera said cheerfully, "Rita, I thought the same thing when I was operating the machine gun."


    I nodded and said, "you five are members of the women''s anti-aircraft machine gun class in the new town from now on." At this point, my eyes swept over the faces of five people, and finally stayed on Vera''s face. I pointed to Vera and said, "Vera is your monitor."


    "Comrade commander," Vera, perhaps because of nervousness, did not call my name, but directly called my rank, "the five of us joined the army together, but I have never led others!"


    "It doesn''t matter if you haven''t led others. Learn from now on." I encouraged her with a smile and said, "before I became an officer, I was just a monitor. OK, you keep practicing. I''ll go first. Good luck to you With that, I left the air defense position under the supervision of five female soldiers.


    When I went back to the headquarters, I saw that the antiaircraft artillery commander, Lieutenant Colonel Gorman, was no longer there, while trakov, shumilov, sheldyuk, Abramov and Raskin were gathered around the table, studying something.


    I stepped forward, raised my hand and said aloud, "report to commander, lieutenant commander o''shanina..."


    Before I finished, trakov had raised his hand to interrupt me, and waved me over: "your business will be discussed later. Come and have a look first."


    I went to the table and found out what they were talking about. Judging from the distribution of forces on the map, there are 64th army units everywhere in the wide position between the Don River and the Volga River Basin, but in fact, less than one-third of the army units can be commanded by the army. What they are discussing at the moment is how to gather up these troops scattered within hundreds of kilometers as soon as possible.


    "Lieutenant Commander o''shanina, where''s the interior?" When I was looking at the map, I suddenly heard a familiar voice asking me. Looking up, I found that it was no one else. It was the military Commissioner Abramov who ordered the arrest.


    I immediately stood at attention and reported, "report to Comrade military commissar, I have asked lieutenant sharov and his men to leave after resolving the conflict and rescuing the female soldiers." Before Abramov spoke, I heard another voice: "Comrade military commissar, I think lieutenant commander oshanina is right. Under the present circumstances, we should not offend the people in the Ministry of interior, otherwise we will cause trouble." I looked at the speaker and found that it was commander shumilov who helped me to say good things. It seems that the decision I just made is still correct. At this time, he said, "let''s not talk about the useless work. I suggest that we hand it over to the chief of staff, comrade Raskin. Are you all right? "¡° No problem. " First of all, shumilov. Then sheldyuk and Abramov also expressed their support for trakov''s proposal.

 Chapter 511

    When Raskin saw that the leaders of the headquarters agreed with trakov''s proposal and asked him to recruit the scattered soldiers, he readily accepted the order and asked, "Comrade commander, during the period when I am not in the headquarters, who should be responsible for my work?"


    Shumilov looked at me and said, "Lieutenant Commander oshanina is the chief of staff of our group army. You can hand over the work to her." After speaking to Raskin, shumilov said to me, "Comrade oshanina, go and hand over with colonel Raskin. During his absence from the headquarters, you will act as the chief of staff."


    When I followed Raskin out, trakov suddenly looked up and said, "Comrade chief of staff, do a good job and finish this task. I''ll give you a great credit. Maybe before the end of this campaign, you are no longer a colonel, but a general. " Trakov''s words immediately caused a lot of laughter in the headquarters.


    Raskin''s mouth turned up when he heard what trakov said. It seemed that he was also eager to become a general.


    I thought to myself that if Raskin became a general, he would not be called captain Raskin, but general Raskin. To be exact, it should be major general Raskin. At the thought of major general Raskin''s name, I suddenly felt very familiar. It seemed that I had heard it somewhere, but I couldn''t remember it in a hurry.


    When I followed Raskin into a low wooden house, I suddenly remembered why I had such a familiar feeling. It turned out that Raskin was still a famous person who wrote a lot in history. A few months later, the chief of staff of the group army, who was leading the way for me, became the surrender representative sent by the Soviet army. He stood majestically in front of German Marshal Paulus, made his identity known, and announced with a loud voice: "I have been ordered to come to accept the German surrender and take you all captive!"


    I didn''t expect that I was lucky enough to become a colleague with this famous man, and I will take over the work for him in a short time. I don''t know if I will have the chance to accept Paulus'' surrender with him in a few months. Thinking of this, I can''t help but put a smile on my face.


    "What are you laughing at, commander o''shanina?" Raskin''s voice pulled me back from my wishful thinking, and I quickly calmed down and replied, "Comrade chief of staff, I''m thinking about how to do the work you handed over to me." See his eyes flash doubt, I quickly waved a smile: "I really want to work things, you don''t guess."


    After that, I had a chance to observe the wooden house I was in. I found that it was a reference room reconstructed from a bathroom. There were several big bathtubs piled in the corner, and there were all kinds of documents on the long wooden table where I drank tea and ate refreshments.


    Raskin picked up a folder from his desk and handed it to me. At the same time, he said, "the establishment of the front army has changed a lot recently. You should have a good understanding of it first, so that you can give correct advice to the commanders of the group army when discussing campaign operations." After the documents were handed over to me, he clapped his hands again. When the staff in the city focused their attention on him, he solemnly announced to you: "Dear staff, please pay attention. I''m going to go out to perform important tasks recently. During my departure, lieutenant commander o''shanina will take my place temporarily. You have to ask her for instructions and report anything. Do you understand me? "


    "I understand." Five or six staff officers in the room answered in unison.


    After captain Ruskin left, I took the folder he gave me and went to a place near the door where the light was good. I found a small wooden stool and sat down. I carefully read the latest documents about the formation of the front army.


    It is mentioned in the document that from August 13, the former Stalingrad front army was reorganized into the southeast and Stalingrad front armies under the unified command of general vasilevsky, chief of the general staff. The commander of the southeast front army is general yeliaomenko, and the deputy commander is general Golikov, the former deputy commander of the front army. There are the 51st, 57th and 64th army groups, as well as the 1st, 13th and 8th Army groups of tanks.


    Under the command of lieutenant general gordov, Stalingrad''s front army consists of the 21st, 62nd and 63rd army groups, as well as the 4th, 28th and 16th army groups of tanks.


    As vasilevsky is the chief of the general staff, he has to stay in Moscow most of the time, so the actual command of the two front forces is still in yelolmenko''s hands. In order to strengthen the political power of the front army, the supreme command also sent Nikita sergeyevich Khrushchev, who used to be the first Secretary of Ukraine, to serve as the military commissar of the front army.


    After reading this document, I can''t help sighing to myself. In more than a month since the beginning of the campaign, the ownership of the army has always changed. Today in this group army and tomorrow in another group army, even division level commanders have been confused, let alone grassroots commanders. However, the only thing that interests me is that someone who can replace Stalin has appeared. If you have the opportunity, you must contact him to make a good impression on him and lay a good foundation for your future development.


    I carefully put this document aside and began to read the recent war reports of the group army. Time passed by a little bit, but I was so absorbed in it that I didn''t even notice it. When a staff officer came to interrupt me, I subconsciously looked at my watch and found that it was already seven o''clock in the evening.


    The staff officer politely reported to me, "Comrade commander, there is a female soldier looking for you outside."


    "Female soldier?" I didn''t recover for a moment, subconsciously asked: "did she say her name?"


    The staff officer replied, "she said her name was garka."


    Garka, is it garka, the hygienist who shared a room with me the other day? I put the paper in my hand on the table next to me and asked, "is it a female health worker?"


    The staff officer shook his head and said, "I don''t think so. You know, I know almost all the female health workers in the health camp of the group army, but I''ve never seen this female soldier."


    I stood up, stretched, politely thanked the staff, and went out to see who was looking for me.


    At first glance, I found that it was not the female health worker garka, but the female antiaircraft artillery garka who was rescued by me today. There were too many people with this name, which confused me. I went over, took the little soldier''s hand, and kindly asked, "dear garka, you come to me. What can I do for you?"


    "Yes, Rita," she replied, nodding vigorously


    "What''s the matter?"


    Garka hesitated for a moment, then replied, "Rita, you''ve given us combat posts, but you seem to have forgotten to give us accommodation."


    As soon as I heard that they didn''t have a place to live at night, I could not help patting my forehead. I was so careless. These young girls couldn''t let them live together with the men soldiers. I said, "garka, let''s go. Take me to you."


    Garka and I hurried towards the air defense position. After a short walk, I saw a group of people around the air defense position in the distance. I couldn''t help slowing down and asked garka around me, "how can there be so many people in your position? What do they do? "


    Jiaerka looked at it and replied, "Rita, they are all male soldiers of the AA machine gun company. They know that some of our female soldiers have come to make up with each other."


    I looked at my watch, then raised my hand to look at the still bright sky, and muttered: "it''s just nonsense. In case the enemy''s plane comes to air raid at this time, so many people are crowded together, it''s not a live target." So he quickened his pace and walked towards them.


    Twenty or thirty meters away, I heard a clear song coming from the crowd. It was a female soldier singing "path":


    "A path is long and winding


    All the way to the misty distance


    I want to follow this slender path


    Go to war with my love


    I want to follow this slender path


    Go to war with my love


    Snowflakes covered his tracks


    No steps, no songs


    ¡­¡­¡±


    Hearing the song, garka said excitedly to me, "Rita, do you hear me? This is Vera singing. She''s the best singer in school. "


    As soon as the song was finished, the men clapped their hands together. As soon as the applause stopped, someone yelled, "girls, sing another song."


    Willa''s voice rang out: "no, I''ve already sung a song. Now it''s your turn to sing."


    "Yes, yes, we agreed to sing a song at the same time. Now it''s your male soldier''s turn to sing."


    For the women''s request, immediately a male soldier replied: "brothers, it''s just singing. Can we lose to these girls?"


    "No!" The male antiaircraft machine gunners collectively replied.


    "Well, let''s sing a song of the Communist Youth League. Let me start. Listen! The bugle of battle sounded. Ready, sing


    The men sang the song of the Communist Youth League in order


    "Listen, the clarion call of battle


    Put on your uniform and take up arms


    The Youth League members gathered and set out on the journey


    Unite as one to defend the country


    Goodbye, dear mom


    Please kiss your son goodbye


    Goodbye, mom. Don''t be sad


    Wish us a safe journey


    Goodbye, dear hometown


    The victory star will shine on us


    Goodbye, mom. Don''t be sad


    Wish us a safe journey


    All that we love freely


    Better die than give up to the enemy


    The members of the Youth League set foot on the journey armed


    Unite as one to defend the country


    Goodbye, dear mom


    Please kiss your son goodbye


    Goodbye, mom. Don''t be sad


    Wish us a safe journey


    Goodbye, dear hometown


    The victory star will shine on us


    Goodbye, mom. Don''t be sad


    Wish us a safe journey


    Originally, I stopped them, but when I heard the soldiers begin to sing, I gave up the idea. As far as I can remember, in the brutal battle of Stalingrad, the average survival time of soldiers was no more than 24 hours, while the average survival time of most grassroots commanders was only about three days. Since they are so happy now, let them continue to be happy. No one knows whether they can live in this world tomorrow. So I stood at the back of the line and listened to them sing.


    After the male soldiers finished singing, just as they were coaxing the female soldiers to sing the next song, a male soldier inadvertently looked back and saw me, and immediately yelled: "the commander is coming, all stand at attention."


    With his shouts, the men who surrounded the air defense positions quickly calmed down and stood upright like a telegraph pole.


    Garka and I crowded up to the women soldiers, smiling at the men soldiers who stood upright and asked, "soldiers, I was very happy to hear you sing just now. Why did you stop? Go on


    The men looked at each other, and no one dared to speak first. Or active Vera took the lead to open a mouth: "since you do not want to sing, then you go."


    Seeing that the female soldiers had ordered them to leave, the male soldiers didn''t want to. It was not easy for them to meet a few opposite sex on the battlefield and chat with each other. They were really unwilling to leave. A lieutenant came out of the team, raised his hand in front of me, and said, "report to lieutenant commander, I''m Lieutenant skinning, the commander of the anti-aircraft machine gun company. Would you please sing a song for us all?"


    With this Lieutenant taking the lead, the soldiers below immediately echoed: "yes, please sing a song for us." Then there was thunderous applause.


    Seeing everyone''s kindness, I raised my hands and pressed them down. After the applause completely subsided, I said aloud, "well, since you want to hear me sing, I''ll sing a song for you." At this point, I deliberately stopped for a moment, pretending to be thoughtful and said to myself, "but what song should I sing?"


    "The path!"


    "Light!"


    "Red plum blossoms!"


    The male soldiers immediately called out a series of song titles, and even asked me to sing "holy war".


    I laughed at them and said in a loud voice, "I''ll sing you a new song" night outside Moscow "today."


    When I heard the title of the song, no matter male or female soldiers, they immediately whispered to each other: "I haven''t heard this song, have you heard it?"


    "I haven''t even heard the name of the song. Is it a new song I just created?"


    I heard what they said. It''s right to say that I haven''t heard it. You know, this song was only published in 1956. You''re lucky to be able to hear it more than ten years ahead of time with the light of me as a pacer. After clearing my throat, I sang "night outside Moscow":


    "It''s quiet in the garden at night


    Only the wind is singing


    How good the night is, how happy the heart is


    On this charming evening


    How good the night is, how happy the heart is


    On this charming evening


    The river flows quietly and turns the waves slightly


    Silver moonlight on the water


    A light wind came singing


    What a quiet night


    A light wind came singing


    What a quiet night


    My sweetheart is sitting next to me


    Look at me silently, no sound


    I wanted to talk to him, but I was embarrassed


    How many words to keep in mind


    I wanted to talk to him, but I was embarrassed


    How many words to keep in mind


    The night is going by and the sky is bright


    Best wishes to you girl


    I hope you and I will never forget from now on


    Night outside Moscow


    I hope you and I will never forget from now on


    Night outside Moscow


    As soon as I finished singing my song, the soldiers immediately applauded. Some soldiers whistled and yelled: "it''s so wonderful, comrade commander, have another one! One more! "


    I waved my hand and said to everyone, "OK, I''ll sing this song. I''ll leave the rest of the time for you to sing heartily." Then I went up to lieutenant skinning and said to him in a low voice, "company commander, come with me. I have something to tell you."


    When we got out of the crowd and came to the back of the line, the female soldiers sang other songs in the cheers of the male soldiers. I looked at the happy crowd and said to the lieutenant, "comrades of the company commander, the soldiers are in a high mood."


    Lieutenant skinning nodded and said, "yes, comrade commander, the arrival of these women soldiers immediately boosted the morale of the soldiers. It seems that we should ask the superior to send more women soldiers to us."


    Instead of taking up his topic, I said directly, "comrade company commander, I have something to tell you when I call you out alone." Skinning quickly straightened up, came to attention and said respectfully, "Lieutenant skinning is waiting for your instructions." I pointed to the crowd and said to him, "comrade company commander, these five female soldiers are new here and have no place to live at night. You should arrange for them as soon as possible, so that they can''t find a place to sleep at night. " Steining quickly and loudly replied: "Comrade commander, please rest assured that I will arrange to make room for them in the best shelter."¡° Well done, comrade lieutenant After I praised him, I turned around and left. At the same time, I left behind a sentence: "let the soldiers not play too late and have a rest early. Maybe they will have combat tasks tomorrow!" I looked at my watch again. At eight o''clock, I was going back to the reference room to continue reading the war report, but I was stopped by the captain''s staff officer. He said to me anxiously: "Comrade commander, I have found you. Just now general trakov asked me to come to you and said that there was something important to tell you. Hurry up and follow me to the headquarters. It''s estimated that Comrade General will have to wait for such a long time. " I walked into the headquarters and saw that there was only trakov, and the rest of the leaders were not there. Seeing me come in, trakov asked with an unhappy face, "o''shanina, where have you been? Why are you here now? " Seeing that trikov was going to get angry, I quickly took an attitude and replied respectfully, "report deputy commander, I just went to arrange accommodation for the women soldiers rescued today, so I''m late. Please forgive me!" Trekov waved his hand and said, "don''t talk about that. Come here and see how we can strengthen the defense of renok, spardanoka and orlovka."

 Chapter 512

    Although the commander of the 64th army was general shumilov, trakov was only the deputy commander. But in my sense, trakov is more like a commander. Most of the time, he gives orders, and shumilov is almost a soy sauce player. The reason for this phenomenon may be that before the formation of the group army, when it was still a reserve force in the base camp, it was always under the leadership of trakov. Therefore, his prestige among the commanders and fighters was far higher than that of shumilov.


    Hearing that trakov said to strengthen the defense forces in the renok orlovka area, I couldn''t help but ask curiously, "Comrade commander, does our group army have two or three divisions and brigades in each section of the above area? Can''t so many of our troops hold the existing line of defense? "


    With a slight sigh, trakov said helplessly: "although these troops have been strengthened to a certain extent, their combat effectiveness has been weakened instead of enhanced because they have been supplemented by new recruits. In the days to come, we will face more brutal battles. I know you have many ideas. Do you have any good ways to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops in a short time? "


    Staring at the serial number of 229th division in renok area on the map, I said thoughtfully, "Comrade commander, during the day before I followed Colonel sarren to break through the enemy''s encirclement, I used a new tactic on the battlefield: wheel Warfare!"


    "Wheel fight?" "It''s the first time I''ve heard that," he asked. Tell me more about it. What''s going on? "


    The wheel fight, which was created in Shangganling and developed in the two mountains wheel fight, is still unknown at the present stage. In order to make this tactic available and popularized in advance, I began to spare no effort to publicize it to trikov: "at that time, I found that after the cruel battle, there were many numbers of troops under Colonel Saren, In order to avoid the command confusion caused by multiple organizational systems, I suggest to the colonel to take a wheel fight, one company by one to fight. No matter what the casualties are, each company will fight for only one day, and then withdraw to rest. The company commander will stay, as the consultant of the later company commander, and so on. In this way, we can not only avoid confusion in command, but also keep a number of backbone fighters in each company. Once new recruits are added to these companies, their combat effectiveness will increase rapidly. "


    "What''s the effect of this tactic?" trikov asked faintly as he wrote in his book


    I quickly nodded vigorously, replied: "the effect is not bad. At that time, we only needed to hold on to that position for one day, so every company would retreat and recuperate after only one battle. As for the combat effectiveness of Colonel sarren''s troops, you must have seen it in this counter attack. "


    Trekov nodded approvingly and said, "we have fought and improved the combat effectiveness of our troops, but at the same time we can retain a number of valuable combat backbones. Good, good, this kind of play is really good! " After finishing his last stroke, he looked up at me and asked, "is there any other way?"


    After thinking about it, I went on to say: "because the German army attacked too fast in the early stage, their armored forces are now facing the situation of no fuel and ammunition, and the soldiers are extremely tired. Therefore, they will not launch a large-scale attack on the defense area of our group army in two or three days. We can take advantage of this favorable opportunity to organize small teams to carry out uninterrupted night attacks on the enemy, so as to consume the tired enemy and gain time for the main force to adjust its deployment and prepare for large-scale counterattack. "


    I thought that after I finished speaking, trakov would express his own opinions and point out the advantages and disadvantages of this kind of fighting to me. Unexpectedly, he asked, "is there anything else?"


    It seems that the tactics I put forward have aroused trekov''s interest, but they are not comprehensive enough. That''s why he asked. Instead of answering his question immediately, I bowed my head and pondered, trying to recall the information I had seen in the afternoon.


    Seeing that I didn''t respond, trekov was a little worried and urged: "besides the two methods of wheel fight and night attack, are there any other ideas?"


    In the short time just now, I have worked out a detailed plan in my mind based on the information I have learned in the afternoon. I said to trikov with a smile, "Comrade commander, I have a plan to report to you."


    "Plan?" Trekov looked at me in surprise, reached out to me and asked, "what''s the plan? Let''s hear it. "


    After I sat down next to him, I moved the map in front of him, pointed to the defense areas of each division, and introduced to him, "Comrade commander, please see, whether it is the renok area defended by the 214th infantry division and the 229th infantry division, or the orlovka area defended by the 70th close guard division and the 157 infantry division, except for a few hilly areas, almost all of them are grasslands, In order to block the German attack for as long as possible, we must increase their defense depth. The terrain of the spardanovka area is much more complex. Solid fortifications can be built on 158 and 165 Highlands in this area. If we put the focus of the group army''s defense here, we will not only consume a lot of enemy forces, but also relieve the pressure on the troops defending Stalingrad. "


    Trakov tilted his head and stared at spardanovka on the map. He looked left and right for a long time and didn''t speak. After waiting for a long time, he took a cigarette in his mouth, lit it, took a deep breath, and finally said, "tell me about your plan!"


    I pointed to spardanoka and said to him, "Comrade commander, in order to strengthen the defense system in this area, I want to organize a large number of people to excavate tunnels on the basis of the existing fortifications in 158 and 165 highlands. The tunnel can not only store materials, but also become a shelter for the commanders and fighters to defend air and artillery. The garrison mainly relies on the tunnel and uses the existing fortifications on the position to defend. Restricted by the terrain, the enemy''s tanks can only provide artillery cover for the attacking troops at the foot of the mountain. Without tanks directly participating in the attack, we can quickly eliminate those infantry going up the mountain. "


    "If the enemy attacks the mountain with superior forces and occupies our position, what should our troops do? Is it to retreat into the tunnel and wait to be beaten passively and be wiped out by the enemy bit by bit? " Trekov is worthy of being an experienced commander who pointed out the disadvantages of tunnel operations.


    After saying his worry, trakov yelled out: "come on!" Then he told the staff who came in: "Comrade staff, go and call commander shumilov, as well as the military commissars serdyuk and Abramov, saying that trakov has something important to discuss with them."


    After the staff officer left, he might have seen a disappointed expression on my face and specially comforted me by saying, "Comrade oshanina, I think your plan is operational to a certain extent. We will discuss it together when commander shumilov arrives."


    The staff officer''s action was quite fast. In less than five minutes, shumilov, serdyuk and Abramov arrived one after another. At this time, I certainly dare not sit still in toda and quickly get up to salute the three of them.


    Shumilov walked up to trakov and asked strangely, "Comrade trakov, you are in a hurry to call us here. Is there anything important?"


    After several people sat down, trakov highlighted some of the suggestions I just made, especially the excavation of tunnels in the 158 and 165 highlands of spardanovka.


    After trikov finished, after the three men who had just arrived looked at the map for a long time, sergeuk took the lead and said, "Comrade oshanina, I want to ask a question: what should our troops do if the enemy occupies our fortifications? Should we retreat into the tunnel or continue to retreat into Stalingrad? If you retreat into the tunnel, you may be blocked in the tunnel by the enemy and wiped out little by little, as general trakov worried; If we withdraw from Stalingrad, the goods we hoard in the tunnels will not be cheaper for the Germans? "


    "Yes, I also think the things that comrades of the military commissar are worried about are very reasonable." Shumilov immediately echoed serdyuk''s statement.


    Seeing that the four giants of the group army were all here and waiting for my answer impatiently, I said all my thoughts calmly: "commander, deputy commander, two comrades of the military commissar, I now give you a detailed introduction of my thoughts.


    I think that in the future, the garrison will mainly rely on the tunnels and use the existing fortifications on the positions to defend. As for what comrades of the military commissar are worried about is where our troops will withdraw after the enemy has occupied our positions, I can give you a clear answer: withdraw into the tunnel.


    Of course, holding fast to the tunnel is only a means that must be taken when the surface position is lost in order to preserve the living strength, exhaust the enemy and gain the necessary time for counterattack preparation. In addition, we must persist in the struggle for a certain period of time when the conditions of personnel and materials in the tunnel permit and the communication with the superior is smooth. We must seize the opportunity to replenish the fighters and materials needed in the tunnel in a timely manner. We must also have the strong support of the tactics, firepower, material and spirit of the troops in depth.


    At the same time, the tunnel troops should also actively organize small-scale sneak attacks, strong attacks, harassment and other combat activities by taking classes and platoons as units to counterattack or contain the enemy occupying the surface positions. The troops in depth should organize snipers or artillery to suppress the possible destruction of the pit crossing by the enemy, so as to effectively protect the integrity of the tunnel.


    As for the basic method of restoring the surface position, it is to organize a strong counterattack. The specific way can be that the troops in the tunnel cooperate with the reinforcements we sent, and cooperate with each other; You can also move the troops into the tunnel in advance, and then rely on the tunnel to launch a counterattack.


    Of course, our counterattack against surface positions may not always be effective, so we should educate the troops who persist in fighting in the tunnels to have sufficient ideological preparation and sufficient material to repeatedly fight for positions, so as to ensure that our positions become an unbreakable fortress. "


    After listening to my words, four people are stunned, four pairs of eyes staring at me, see me a little embarrassed to lower the head.


    With a loud bang, I looked up and saw that it was schumilov who was applauding my plan: "genius, commander oshanina, you are a genius. If the plan you just mentioned can be put into effect immediately, I believe that the enemy''s offensive will be effectively restrained by our troops in the spartanovka area." At this point, he turned and asked trekov, "Comrade trekov, what do you think?"


    "It sounds attractive, but it''s not that easy to implement." Trekov hesitated for a moment, but he poured cold water on all of us. "I believe you all know how much work is needed to excavate tunnels. If we excavate on the two highlands of 158 and 165, we can''t finish it in ten days and a half months. After the completion of the tunnel, it will take another three or five days to transport materials inside. Do you think the enemy will give us such a long time? "


    Trakov''s words suddenly made everyone silent, because they all knew what he said was the truth. Although I think what trakov said is reasonable, I still don''t want to give up easily. After all, I am copying a "Shangganling" for Stalingrad. Once it can be put into practice, it will become an impassable gate for the German army.


    After a long period of silence, it was sheldyuk who first broke the silence in the headquarters: "although what Comrade trakov said is true, I think we should try the plan of commander oshanina. After all, such a defense system is far beyond our common understanding with the enemy. Even if the enemy invades the surface positions of our army, a large number of troops are bound to be trapped in this area. In this way, the pressure of the garrison in Stalingrad will be greatly reduced. "


    At the end of serjiuk''s speech, Abramov said carefully, "yes, I agree with Comrade serjiuk. Although our existing engineering force can''t complete two high ground tunnels at the same time, we can choose one for construction. We can finish the rest step by step in the interval of fighting. "


    After listening to the two military commissars, trakov did not express his opinions again. Instead, he asked sumilov, "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"


    Shumilov was sitting in his own place, staring at the map on the table, with a pencil in his hand. After hearing his question, he threw his pen on the table, leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Seeing that the commander was thinking about the problem, no one bothered him. He just looked at him silently and waited patiently for his reply.


    After a while, shumilov opened his eyes, sat up straight, glanced over everyone, and said, "I think this matter should be reported to the headquarters of the front army immediately to see the opinions of commander yelimenko and deputy commander Golikov." Hearing shumilov say so, my heart is half cold. It seems that he is a indecisive commander. He can''t do anything under his command. If I have a chance, I''d better find a way to change my job.


    Shumilov grabbed the phone on the table, dialed a number and politely said, "I''m general shumilov, commander of the 64th army. Please transfer me to Comrade commander of the southeast front army. I have something important to report to him immediately."


    The operator also said politely, "general shumilov, please wait a moment. I''ll connect you with general glikov, deputy commander of the front army."


    After a short wait, general Golikov''s familiar and strange voice came from the microphone: "is that general shumilov? I''m glikov. Is there anything important to call me so late? "


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander of the front army." Shumilov replied politely: "we were just studying how to strengthen the defensive forces along the line of renok spardanovka orlovka."


    "What''s the result of the research?" Golikov asked coldly, perhaps dissatisfied with shumilov''s disturbing him at such a time.


    Shumilov did not care about his indifferent attitude. He told Golikov the plans I had just made. At the end of the day, he repeatedly stressed the importance of digging tunnels in the existing defensive positions, and added: "this plan of lieutenant colonel oshanina is to use tunnel struggle and small team counterattack as the main means to consume the tired enemy, It will gain time for the main forces of the group to adjust their deployment and prepare for a large-scale counterattack. "


    Golikov did not immediately express his position after hearing this, but his attitude towards shumilov was much more relaxed. He said cautiously: "general shumilov, please wait a moment. I will report this plan to commander yelimenko immediately and ask for his opinions. I''ll call you when he has specific instructions. " Then he hung up without waiting for shumilov to speak.


    In the waiting for more than ten minutes, all five of us were staring at the phone on the desk. I''m looking forward to the phone ringing earlier, but I''m afraid it will ring. When the telephone rings, I can know whether my plan is approved in the headquarters of the front army; They were afraid of the phone ringing, but they were afraid of being rejected directly by their superiors. The Soviet army had no experience in relying on tunnels for defense. It''s hard to say whether they could accept the way of fighting that appeared more than ten years later.


    So when the phone on the desk rang again, I was so nervous that I could hardly breathe. I covered my chest with one hand and supported the edge of the table with the other, gasping heavily. Trikov patted me on the back and asked with concern, "what''s the matter with you, o''shanina?"


    I tried to squeeze a smile on my face and answered him calmly: "Comrade commander, I''m nothing but a little nervous."


    Golikov''s reply on the phone was also quite concise: "general shumilov, commander yelimenko, after listening to your plan, only said two words: absurd and confused!" Then he hung up. Shumilov put down the phone and said to me with an iron face: "Comrade oshanina, I''m sorry, your plan has been rejected by the commander of the front army."

 Chapter 513

    After hearing this, sheldyuk said with regret: "has the plan been rejected by commander yelomienko? It''s a pity. I think it''s a pretty good plan. We should at least try it. We should know that once we succeed, it will greatly boost the morale of our army. "


    Shumilov didn''t take serdyuk''s words, but turned to look at Abramov next to him. As a military commissar of the group army, shumilov obviously believes in Abramov, who has been in the army for a long time, rather than serjiuk, who has just been promoted from a local leadership position to the army. He smiles and asks, "Comrade Abramov, what do you think of this matter?"


    I turned to trakov to see how he would react. I didn''t expect to see him sitting at the table without saying a word, staring at the map thoughtfully, and turning a deaf ear to the people around him.


    On shumilov''s question, Abramov was silent for a moment before he said cautiously: "since general yelimenko denied this plan, there must be his reason. According to the regulations, the commander''s orders are not allowed to be discussed. Since the plan has not been adopted, I don''t think we should continue to dwell on this issue. "


    As soon as Abramov finished speaking, trakov turned his attention away from the map. He looked at shumilov and said slowly, "I just studied the map and figured out why commander yelimenko denied this plan."


    "Why?" When he said that, shumilov asked immediately.


    "You all see," trekov and others, when they all looked down at the map, pointed to the group army''s current renok orlovka defense line and explained to the public, "our current defense line, renok and orlovka, has only a few hills and is surrounded by broad grasslands, so it is impossible to build solid fortifications, If we want to delay the German attack for as long as possible, we can only increase the defense depth of these two areas. The situation in spardanovka is different. It is almost a mountainous area. On the two highlands 158 and 165, there are fortifications built by the 29th Infantry Division and the 154th marine brigade respectively. Theoretically speaking, it is indeed desirable to excavate tunnels on the existing positions of spardanoka and rely on them to engage in positional warfare with the enemy. But... "Trekov stopped, and his face became very serious.


    "But what? Comrade trakov, can you finish it all at once? Don''t worry us When he heard what trakov said, he didn''t say it. Sheldyuk became a little impatient.


    "Yes, comrade trakov, let''s be frank. I want to know what you are worried about? " Shumilov also asked.


    "If the enemy can''t break through the tunnels built in our spartanovka area for a long time, they will turn the direction of attack to renok and orlovka. Once they break through the defense of these two areas, they can detour back to the rear of spartanovka and encircle the 29th division and 154 brigade here. How long can the troops in the enemy''s encirclement last, even if they can contain some of the enemy''s troops? "


    After listening to trakov''s analysis, sheldyuk, who had supported me, also became a little shaken. He looked up at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, if the troops who hold fast to the spartanovka area are surrounded by the enemy, how long do you think they can last?"


    Before I put forward this plan, I took into consideration the situation that the troops might be besieged. Since serdyuk asked, I also answered without hesitation: "Comrade military commissar, general trakov is quite right. Once the defense lines of our group army in renok and orlovka are broken through, the defenders in spardanovka will fall into the encirclement of the enemy. If they have enough material and are supported by the air force and artillery, they will be able to support for a month or two in the enemy''s encirclement. "


    "A month or two?" "How can you be so sure, commander oshanina, that our troops can stay surrounded by the enemy for such a long time?" trekov asked in disbelief


    "Yes, Comrade General. The advantage of having a tunnel is that even if the surface position is lost, we can withdraw our troops into the tunnel and fight with the enemy tenaciously. In this way, we can not only save our living strength and exhaust the enemy, but also gain the necessary time for our future counterattack preparation. "


    "Report!" We were discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the tunnel when a report came from the door.


    I walked quickly to the door and saw a staff officer with a folder standing outside. I asked in a low voice, "what''s the matter, staff officer?"


    The staff officer took out a telegram paper from the folder and handed it to me. The report said: "Comrade commander, I have just received a telegram from the 29th Infantry Division saying that there is something wrong with the enemy in front of their line of defense."


    I took the telegram, the staff officer raised his hand and left. I looked down at the contents of the telegram, then walked quickly to them, and cried out: "Comrade commander, Colonel klobkin of the 29th Infantry Division sent a telegram to report that the enemy was moving in his front."


    "Be more detailed!" Shumilov took the telegram, read it or not, handed it to trakov, and then asked me directly, "what''s going on?"


    Although I have only read the contents of the telegram once, I have kept them in mind and quickly replied, "Comrade commander, this is the situation. Col. klobkin reported that the German army used trucks to transport troops to other directions in broad daylight. Although it was dark now, the sound of car motors on the enemy positions could still be heard in the front. The Colonel sent a telegram to ask if the enemy had any reinforcements in other parts of our army. "


    After reading the telegram, trakov handed it to sheldyuk and Abramov, spoke to shumilov in a low voice, stood up, looked at me and asked, "what do you think, o''shanina?"


    In fact, after reading the telegram, I kept thinking about this question. Why did the German army move in a swaggering manner during the day and continue to move in the evening? Were they really ready to change the direction of attack? When I heard trekov ask me, I pondered for a moment and said, "Comrade commander, I think we should call Col. klobkin immediately and ask him to send scouts to come close and see what the enemy is up to."


    Shumilov couldn''t help laughing and said, "Comrade oshanina, in your estimation, what do you think the enemy will do?"


    To tell the truth, I suddenly had this idea in my head. I was scared out in a cold sweat. I secretly cried that it was not good. I quickly and seriously reported to shumilov and trakov, "two comrades, I have an unknown premonition now. On the surface, the enemy is withdrawing troops in a big way, but in fact they are increasing troops secretly. During the day, a small number of soldiers are transported to other places by truck, while a large number of troops are transported at night. It is obvious that this is a trick of attacking the West from the East. They are to wait for us to relax vigilance, suddenly launched an attack on spartanovka. Once the defense in the spartanovka area is broken through, there will be no danger from the heights 158 and 165 to the headquarters of the group army. German tanks can appear at the gate of the headquarters in a few hours. "


    After listening to my analysis, shumilov''s smile suddenly froze on his face, and even trikov frowned. It took a while for them to look normal. Shumilov picked up the high-frequency telephone on his desk, dialed the code and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, your analysis is very reasonable. I''ll call Colonel klobkin and ask him to send effective scouts to approach the enemy''s position for reconnaissance and find out what''s going on."


    As soon as he got through the phone, he didn''t care to talk to klobkin about the past. He told him directly, "Comrade Colonel, I''m shumilov. Now I order you to send effective scouts to approach the enemy''s positions for reconnaissance and find out what''s going on."


    "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? I''m confused. " Klobkin was confused by the order of shumilov.


    Trekov took the call from shumilov and said solemnly, "this is trekov, Colonel. According to the analysis of acting chief of staff lieutenant colonel o''shanina, the enemy may be carrying out a ruse of attacking the West from the East. During the day, under your eyes, they will transport a small number of troops to other places by truck, and after dark, they will transport a large number of soldiers to the positions. The order the commander gave you just now is to find out whether the analysis of commander o''shanina is accurate. It''s getting late. Send someone to carry it out immediately. "


    As soon as trikov put down the phone and was talking to shumilov, the high-frequency phone on the desk rang. I was surprised to see that the phone kept ringing. My heart said that klobkin''s efficiency would not be so high. He called to report the situation just two minutes after I finished the call with him.


    Trekov picked up the phone and said in a loud voice, "I''m trekov. Where are you?"


    A slow voice came from the microphone: "Comrade trakov, I''m Golikov."


    "Hello, comrade deputy commander of the front army!" Trekov quickly straightened up and said politely.


    "In the proposal you submitted just now, commander yelomienko only said two words: absurd and confused. I''m afraid you don''t understand, so I''m calling to explain to you and Comrade shumilov. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, please tell me. I''m listening."


    "Absurd" refers to the plan proposed by your acting chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel oshanina. On the surface, it looks impeccable, but she didn''t think that if the enemy broke through from both wings, and then detoured to the rear of spartanovka section to encircle our garrison, it would be useless to have a solid position like the Maginot line of defense. "


    "What does muddleheaded mean?" Before Golikov finished, shumilov asked impatiently.


    "Muddle headed, general yelomienko means that since this plan is not desirable, you, as commander, did not reject it on the spot, but reported it solemnly. What is muddle headed?"


    After trikov hung up, shumilov couldn''t help laughing bitterly and said to himself, "I didn''t expect that in the eyes of commander yelimenko, I have been classified as a kind of old fool." At the moment, trikov held the edge of the table in both hands and looked down at the map. He seemed to be thinking about something, but he didn''t care to answer schumilov''s words.


    Sitting next to him, serjiuk and Abramov could not help laughing after listening to shumilov''s words. Serjiuk also joked: "Comrade commander, general yelomienko may not say that you are old muddleheaded, but that the main leaders of our group army are muddleheaded. You know, this plan was submitted to the headquarters of the front army only after we agreed to it. "


    When several people were laughing and laughing, trekov, who had been silent, suddenly said, "I think we should report oshanina''s plan directly to Comrade Zhukov."


    As soon as trakov''s words came out, the room became quiet. Listen to him say so, my heart beat quickly again, heart said, can things have a turn for the better? You know, the battle plan I put forward two days ago was rejected by the headquarters of the front army. Unexpectedly, it was reported to Zhukov and passed. Only in this way can we have a great victory in the total annihilation of two German legions and one Romanian army.


    "What do you think? Let''s talk about our own opinions. " Trikov saw that everyone did not speak, so he could not help but hasten.


    "I agree with Comrade trakov''s proposal. You know, a few days ago, comrade oshanina put forward a combat plan. After reporting it to the headquarters of the front army, it was denied by the then commander General gordov. Later, it was decided by general Zhukov himself that the combat plan was implemented. The final facts prove that the plan of Comrade o''shanina is perfect, otherwise we would not have won such a big victory. " The first thing that echoed trakov was sheldyuk, who always liked me.


    Then Abramov made a statement: "I agree with Comrade trakov."


    Seeing that everyone agreed with trakov''s proposal, shumilov had no choice but to say, "well, since everyone''s opinions have been unified, I''ll call general Zhukov and report the plan proposed by Comrade oshanina to him."


    Shumilov called Zhukov, and after a brief conversation, he carefully reported my proposal in detail.


    After hearing this, Zhukov just asked: "have you submitted your plan to the headquarters of the front army? What''s the reply from commander yelomienko? "


    Shumilov quickly replied, "chief General of the report, after our plan was passed within the group army, it was reported to the headquarters of the front army in time. As a result, commander yelomienko answered our plan in two words. "


    "What word?"


    "Ridiculous! Confused


    "Ridiculous! Confused Zhukov repeated these two words with great interest, and then said with a smile, "I understand what general yelomienko means. It''s ridiculous to say that before you reported the plan, you didn''t expect that the common tactic of the German army was to like the two wings detour. Even if your fortifications in the spardanovka area are comparable to the Maginot line, once surrounded by the enemy, this line of defense will lose its original meaning. I think general yelomienko''s concerns are justified. "


    My heart sank when I heard Zhukov say that. Did Zhukov agree with yelimenko and intend to deny my plan? I didn''t expect that when I was on the verge of despair, I heard Zhukov say: "with my understanding of Comrade Lida, her plans usually come up with new ways, which often have unexpected effects. Since this plan is put forward by her, let''s carry it out. I''ll call him myself from yelomienko. "


    Hearing that our plan had been passed by Zhukov, shumilov was immediately overjoyed and repeatedly said thanks to Zhukov: "thank you, general! Thank you, general! That''s great. "


    "I know more about the terrain of the spardanovka area. The two highlands 158 and 165 are almost rock. If we want to complete the excavation of the tunnel as soon as possible, we need a lot of explosives. I will transfer them from the 57th army behind you. Are there enough engineers? Do you need me to transfer another part to you from other places? "


    "Thank you, general." Shumilov replied with a smile, "there are two engineering regiments in our army. It''s enough to cope with such projects. There are too many people. Anyway, they can''t be carried out. In case of enemy air attack or shelling, they will cause unnecessary casualties. As long as there''s enough explosives, I think the tunnel will be completed in two or three days. "


    "In that case, I wish you good luck! By the way, say hello to Rita for me! " Zhukov finished and hung up.


    Zhukov passed our plan. In less than 10 minutes, yelomienko called in person to express his support for the plan we just reported, and offered to provide us with five tons of explosives for digging tunnels after dawn.


    While trakov and shumilov were studying the distribution of the Corps, Colonel klobkin called us. As soon as the call was made, he could not wait to report to Cui KOV who answered the phone and said, "Comrade deputy commander, after receiving the call from the headquarters of the group army just now, I immediately sent three five person reconnaissance teams to approach the enemy''s positions for reconnaissance. I didn''t expect that the enemy''s defense was tight. When a group approached the enemy''s position, they entered the minefield by mistake and all of them were killed; The other group was found by the enemy''s latent sentry. After a fierce exchange of fire, except one of the wounded was withdrawn, all the others died bravely.... "


    "Comrade klobkin, I don''t want your casualty figures." "I just want to know if you know the situation of the enemy''s position. Do they transport a small number of soldiers in the daytime and a large number of troops in the evening, as commander o''shanina analyzed


    After a moment''s silence, klobkin replied loudly, "absolutely right, comrade deputy commander." When I heard him say that, the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. It seems that my guess is still correct. I only heard the Colonel say, "the team approaching the enemy position found that there was probably a battalion entering the position."¡° Wait a minute, "said trakov, turning over his notebook on his desk." there were two German battalions in front of your position. One company was transferred during the day, and then one battalion was transported back at night. In this way, you will have the strength of an enemy regiment in the front of your division. "¡° Well, comrade deputy commander. "¡° OK, I see Trakov specially reminded klobkin that, "Comrade Colonel, the defense area of you and the marine brigade may be the focus of the enemy''s attack in the next stage. You need to strengthen your defense."¡° Understand Klobkin confidently replied, "please rest assured, comrade deputy commander, that we will hold fast to our position and never let the enemy move forward."¡° Comrade Colonel, I remind you that you can''t take it lightly. " After reminding kolobkin, trakov informed him that he was going to send an engineering regiment to the spartanovka area. "In order to strengthen the fortification in the spartanovka area, the group army will send two engineering regiments to your place and dig tunnels overnight. You should arrange people to take care of them. Don''t misunderstand them, There is a fight between our own people. "¡° Yes, make sure you get the job done. "

 Chapter 514

    In the early morning, I was awakened by the sudden battle alarm and the sound of dense anti-aircraft machine gun fire. I turned over and jumped out of bed, grabbed the submachine gun beside the bed. I didn''t even care to wear my military uniform. I rushed out of my house barefoot in my underwear. Rushed outside, I nervously looked at the sky, to determine which direction to run.


    Although the anti-aircraft machine guns clattered incessantly on the air defense position, there was no scene of the enemy''s planes flying all over the sky like locusts in my imagination. After careful observation for a long time, I found that there was only one enemy reconnaissance plane hovering over the village where the headquarters was located.


    Seeing a false alarm, I went back to my room to get dressed. While I was dressing, I scolded those idiots in the anti-aircraft machine gun company in my heart, just a reconnaissance plane. Is it worth using so many anti-aircraft machine guns to shoot? In this way of fighting, the enemy''s fighters and bombers would be flying over in a very short time.


    Dressed and booted, he came out again with his submachine gun and found that our anti-aircraft machine guns had stopped shooting and the enemy''s reconnaissance plane had disappeared. When I was walking towards the air defense position, I looked up and worried to the sky from time to time, fearing that the enemy''s bombers would suddenly dive down from high altitude.


    When I went to the women''s antiaircraft machine gun position, I found that the company commander, Lieutenant steining, was standing here, angrily lecturing to several women soldiers: "ladies, you are not the air defense forces only today. Can''t you recognize the enemy''s bombers and unarmed reconnaissance planes? Maybe the enemy didn''t find us at all. You opened fire without asking for instructions and exposed the target. If you invite a large number of enemy planes to bomb the headquarters of the group army, can you bear the responsibility? "


    On the way here, I guessed that the anti-aircraft machine gun was shooting at the enemy''s reconnaissance plane. It was probably the female soldiers who did it. I didn''t expect to come over and have a look. It was really them. I wanted to criticize them, but when I saw that they were being criticized, I changed my mind. I stopped and stood by the air defense position, quietly watching skinning criticize them.


    My arrival was soon discovered by the women soldiers, and the eyes of several people couldn''t help looking at me. Skinning, who was lecturing, found that the women soldiers didn''t listen to him, but looked to the side. He quickly turned around and saw that I was standing behind him. He quickly turned to salute and said in a flustered way: "report, comrade commander, I''m criticizing the women soldiers."


    "Why criticize them? Have they done something wrong?" I''ve heard steining criticize them, but I still know it.


    Skinning didn''t know I was teasing him. He quickly and seriously reported to me, "Comrade commander, I want to report to you today''s fighting. In the early morning, an enemy reconnaissance plane flew over us. The female soldiers may be too nervous to confirm the enemy''s plane, so they issued a battle alarm in a hurry and fired at the enemy plane in the air without authorization. After receiving the alarm, the nearby air defense positions also fired at the air one after another. As we all fought aimlessly, we not only failed to beat down the enemy''s planes, but also exposed the position of our air defense positions. "


    I couldn''t help laughing when I looked at the serious appearance of the lieutenant, but I still tried my best to control my mood and continued to ask: "Comrade lieutenant, what''s the final result of the anti-aircraft machine gun company? Did you bring down the enemy plane? "


    "After five minutes of shooting, the enemy''s plane was scared away by our intensive machine gun fire, but we consumed a lot of ammunition, with an average of one clip per gun position," he said. And the female soldiers, "he said bitterly, taking a look at the five girls who were standing upright," maybe they were too nervous, and they used three bullets. "


    Three clips, this figure still makes me secretly surprised, one clip is 150 bullets, three clips is 450 bullets, these girls are really wasteful. According to their disorderly fighting, it will not be long before the ammunition of the anti-aircraft machine gun position near the headquarters is used up.


    Seeing that I was listening to him in silence, steining added, "Comrade commander, I''m worried that they will bring German planes to bomb."


    I can''t keep silent when I heard what skinning said, but in front of the women soldiers, I still want to save some face for them: "Lieutenant skinning, it''s war time. Are you a veteran afraid of the enemy''s bombs? I suggest that if you encounter this situation in the future, the first thing you should do is to praise these girls. After all, they did not run away in a panic when they found the enemy plane, but bravely hit the enemy plane with machine guns. "


    Seeing that I was so protective of the female soldiers, skinning had no choice but to agree: "I understand, comrade commander, I will follow your instructions." After a pause, he asked hesitantly, "Comrade commander, will you allow me to leave? I need to visit other air defense positions. "


    I waved to him to leave. He just walked two steps, I suddenly thought of another thing, then stopped him. Steining stopped and asked in surprise, "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"


    "Do you know how to set fire?" Although I have put forward this concept before, I don''t know whether steining knows it, so I have this question.


    "Set fire?" Skinning looked at me blankly and then shook his head.


    It seems that he didn''t understand the meaning of this term, so I patiently introduced to him: "in air defense operations, the fire of antiaircraft machine gun or antiaircraft artillery, within the effective fire range, fires at a group or a target at the same time. It can increase the density of firepower and provide the probability of hitting the target.... "


    After I finished what I knew, I found that skinning was standing in a daze, with an incredible look on his face. I went up to him, raised my hand and waved it in front of his eyes. At the same time, I called out, "Hey, comrade lieutenant, what''s the matter with you? Why are you so stupid? "


    Skinning recovered, gave me a thumbs up, and said repeatedly, "Comrade commander, you are so amazing that you can come up with such a wonderful way. Don''t worry. I''ll arrange it right now, so that every soldier can master this kind of fighting method, and ensure that the enemy''s plane will never come back. "


    After skinning went away, I went back to the women''s air defense position. Seeing me back, Vera quickly raised her hand to salute me, and took the initiative to admit her mistake: "I''m sorry, Rita, we were wrong."


    Just now, in front of skinning, I was afraid that I would hurt the self-esteem of the female soldiers, so I intended to defend them. Now only a few of us are present. There are some important things to be said, so as not to make similar mistakes again. I snorted and criticized them discontentedly: "Vera, although you have only been antiaircraft Gunners for a short time, you were antiaircraft Gunners before. Can''t you tell the enemy''s reconnaissance planes from fighter planes and bombers? Today''s attack has exposed the target, and may have brought in the enemy''s bombers. "


    Hearing my criticism, Vera blushed and bowed her head in silence. At this time, another voice suddenly rang out: "sorry, Rita, it has nothing to do with Willa, it''s all my fault. I was too nervous when I found the enemy plane, so I issued a battle alarm. When everyone rushed to the gun position, I took the lead in firing again. "


    I turned and looked. It was garka. I criticized her impolitely and said, "garka, remember, never again. On the battlefield, it may be because of your negligence or lack of calmness that your comrades in arms may die. Do you understand? "


    "I see, Rita." She answered in a low voice with her head down.


    "And you? Do you understand? " I asked, looking back at the other four girls.


    "I see." The four answered me neatly.


    Seeing that the women soldiers had understood what I meant, I didn''t stay any longer, so I rushed back to the headquarters.


    As soon as I entered the headquarters, I received two telegrams from the staff. One was sent by the 29th division commander, Colonel klobkin. He reported that the engineering regiments sent by the group army had reached two heights 158 and 165 respectively, and were digging tunnels with explosives. The other was sent by the commander of the 229th division, Colonel sarin, who reported that the situation of the enemy in front of their positions had changed.


    After reading the two telegrams, I did not dare to neglect them. I quickly went to shumilov, who was talking with trikov, and handed the two telegrams to him. After reading the telegram, shumilov handed it to trikov, raised his head and asked me, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think of these two telegrams?"


    When shumilov asked, trekov, who was reading the telegram, couldn''t help looking up at me. I hastened to reply, "Comrade report commander, the situation reported in Colonel sarren''s telegram is somewhat strange."


    At this time, trikov also finished reading the contents of the telegram. He put the telegram paper on the table, grabbed it in front of shumilov and asked, "listen, what''s strange?"


    I picked up Colonel sarren''s telegram and read it: "the enemy trucks soldiers into the position in the daytime, and still can hear the voice of the enemy''s troop carriers in the evening." After reading, I put the Telegraph on the desk and said, "it''s strange here. The two commanders may remember last night''s telegram from Colonel klobkin. He said that the enemy carried the soldiers away by truck and the operation lasted until evening. As a result, after reconnaissance, it turned out that it was a trick of the enemy. During the day, they carried away a small number of soldiers, but at night, they quietly brought more soldiers to the positions. However, the situation reflected in the telegram of Colonel sahren is just the opposite. It is also a trick of the enemy to paralyze us. They deliberately transport troops to positions during the day, but quietly transfer a large number of troops to other directions at night. It''s just to make us misjudge that they will attack from the renok area, and that they will deploy troops from other areas to strengthen here, so that they can find the weak area to break through our defense line. "


    Maybe it was my accurate speculation last night that made shumilov have a sense of trust in me. He nodded and said to trekov, "Comrade trekov, I think oshanina''s analysis is very reasonable. What do you think?"


    Trikov''s fingers were tapping on the table. After listening to shumilov''s question, he quickly stopped his little action and replied, "Comrade commander, I have the same opinion as you. I also think that oshanina''s analysis is very accurate. But how can we confirm our conjecture? "


    Shumilov raised his chin to me and said, "o''shanina should answer this question."


    Since the commander trusted me so much, I couldn''t hide myself. I quickly said what I thought in my heart: "two comrades, I think so. Since the enemy is playing the trick of "fake increase and real transfer" in front of us, we should make good use of this opportunity to teach them a lesson. "


    "What''s the lesson?" Trekov asked curiously.


    "Let Colonel sarin send small troops to harass the enemy''s positions with the company as a unit. If the enemy really increases its troops, they will take the opportunity to launch a counterattack; If the troops are really reduced, they will stay in the trenches and dare not leave their positions at will. "


    "Well, it''s a good idea. You can try it." First of all, shumilov agreed. He turned to trakov and said, "Comrade trakov, it''s up to you to call Colonel sarren."


    When trakov called Colonel Saren to arrange the task, I couldn''t help feeling to myself. During this period of time, trakov and shumilov almost always asked for my opinions when they worked out the battle plan, and most of the time, they were mainly me. I don''t know whether they are looking at Zhukov''s special care for me or taking the opportunity to cultivate my command ability?


    Before trikov finished his call, another staff officer came in and reported to me, "Comrade commander, there are a number of prisoners coming from outside. They are soldiers from the 70th division of the guards. Come here and have a look."


    I whispered to shumilov about the captives, and then the staff officer left the headquarters in a hurry.


    Walking to the edge of the village, I saw hundreds of German prisoners coming towards us. Among the captives, except for a few who were in good health, the rest were the wounded. Some of them had bandages on their heads and arms, some had injuries on their feet, and they used a thick branch as a crutch to limp. The soldiers, armed with bayonet rifles, bravely walked around the captives. Once they saw anyone walking slowly or trying to leave, they would hold up their bayonets and yell loudly.


    "What are these prisoners doing in the headquarters of the group army?" I turned and asked the staff next to me.


    The staff officer replied, "we need to understand the enemy''s distribution of forces and the next deployment of operations by interrogating the prisoners."


    Just as the captive team came to the entrance of the village, four enemy planes suddenly appeared in the sky. After circling in the sky, they dived down and shot at the village behind me. Bombs roared down on the open space of the village and around the house, sending out earth shaking explosions.


    As soon as the German prisoners saw their own planes dropping bombs and strafing, they let out a cry, and the whole team was in a mess. Some people hold their heads tightly and fall on the ground directly; Some directly kneel down on the ground, looking up at the sky, hands constantly cross; Some ignore it and run far away.


    The escorted soldiers yelled at the escaped prisoners. Unexpectedly, the more they yelled, the faster they ran. In this case, the escorted soldier did not hesitate to shoot at the escaped prisoner.


    Nearly a third of the escaped prisoners were unhurt. Under the intensive firepower of the soldiers, some prisoners only ran a few meters away and saw the people around them were penetrated by bullets. Their bodies fell to the ground and blood splashed in the air. They were so scared that they quickly stopped and squatted down with their heads in their arms.


    Seeing that these soldiers from the 70th division of the guards could cope with the captives, I quickly turned to the staff and said, "go to the headquarters as soon as possible and cover the commander. They will withdraw to a safe place."


    "Comrade commander, where are you going?" After accepting my assignment, the staff officer couldn''t help asking another question.


    "I''ll go to the AA company and drive the enemy''s planes out of the village as soon as possible, otherwise we will suffer heavy casualties." With that, I started running towards Vera''s air defense position.


    When I rushed to Vera''s gun position, their anti-aircraft machine guns were firing fiercely.


    Looking at the bullets they shot, there must be no threat to the enemy''s aircraft. I rushed forward, and one of them dropped garkara, who was sitting in the position of the aiming hand, and sat down in the seat of the aiming hand. I quickly shake the handle, through the mirror, quickly lock the target.


    "Rita, ammunition''s loaded." I heard a loud report from someone nearby.


    I nodded calmly, looked through the gun mirror, firmly locked a diving bomber, then stepped on the gun button, the machine gun trembled, fired dense bullets into the air, and suddenly pulled out long black smoke behind the tail of the enemy plane which was diving towards us.


    "Yes! Hit it The women soldiers around me cheered when they saw this scene.


    Then, there was a loud noise in the air. The enemy plane that I hit exploded and disintegrated in the air. It became pieces of debris and floated down. And our artillery position was also found by the remaining enemy planes. Two planes circled in the air and then dived ferociously towards us.


    "Danger, lie down!" I yelled at the girls. After that, I jumped out of my seat and ran outside.


    As soon as I ran a few steps, I heard the sharp whistling of the bomb falling from the sky behind me. I quickly jumped forward, held my head in both hands, and fell on the ground.


    "Boom" a loud noise behind me, and then some messy things and the soil crackled on me, especially a stone on the helmet, hit my eyes black, eyes with stars, almost fainted. When I get up, I turn and look back. I saw that the original air defense position had been bombed into a black crater. The anti-aircraft machine guns in the crater had become a pile of scrap iron, while several female soldiers were lying in the vicinity of the crater, motionless.

 Chapter 515

    Despite the fact that the enemy''s plane was still raging in the air, I almost cried and rushed to the women soldiers who fell to the ground.


    The nearest one to me was black haired garka, whose uniform was red with blood. After my examination, I found that a piece of lethal shrapnel had cut her throat. She didn''t even have the chance to say goodbye to us, so she was taken away by death.


    I can see that if it goes on like this, it will become my commendation meeting. I quickly asked, "by the way, why don''t you see two military commissars in the headquarters? Where have they gone?"


    Shumilov went to his seat and sat down. He replied, "after the bombing, comrade serdyuk went to inspect the troops near the headquarters to learn about the casualties of the troops. And Comrade Abramov, take people to meet the convoy of explosives. "


    Trekov beckoned me to his side. He pointed to the map on the wall and said to me, "just now Colonel sarin sent a telegram saying that two companies had been sent out to harass the enemy positions. The enemy''s performance is very strange. In the face of our attack, the enemy is not willing to leave the position at all except to return fire with mortars and machine guns. "


    Hearing what trakov said, I asked tentatively, "Comrade General, do you mean that the enemy is really sending troops from renok area to strengthen the spartanovka area, trying to break through our defense line from here?"


    "It seems so." Trekov gave me a positive answer.


    Shumilov, who was sitting at the table, also turned and asked, "o''shanina, what do you think we should do next?"


    Instead of answering schumilov''s question, I said with a smile, "comrades commander, I think you two are well aware of our army''s next move, aren''t you?" I don''t think I have a detailed plan in mind, but I think I''ve been in the limelight too much recently, so I should keep a low profile appropriately.


    After listening to me, shumilov didn''t ask any more questions, but said to trikov: "Comrade trikov, when I wanted trikov to make a phone call, I saw a staff officer appear at the door. Knowing that he must have something to say, he trotted over. Before and after I came to him, I asked in a low voice, "what''s the matter?"


    The staff officer handed a telegram, and the report said, "Comrade commander, it''s a telegram just arrived from Colonel klobkin."


    I nodded, took the telegram from him, and waved to him to leave.


    The report in klobkin''s telegram is very brief. That is to say, during the construction of highland 165, the XPCC, after blasting a huge rock, unexpectedly found a closed cave behind the rock. At present, people have been sent in for reconnaissance, and the results will be reported later.


    Seeing this news, I was immediately overjoyed. Since there is a cave on Highland 165, it only needs a little improvement to become a tunnel that can store a large number of soldiers and materials. As long as the materials are sufficient, the enemy''s offensive forces can be firmly attracted near the highlands.


    Shumilov''s eyes were sharp. He saw that I was smiling when I read the telegram. He asked in a loud voice in the distance, "commander o''shanina, what are you laughing at? Is there any good news?"


    I came up to him with a telegram and said with a smile, "Comrade commander, it''s a telegram from Colonel klobkin. He reported that the engineering regiment accidentally found a cave during construction. "


    "What? Found the cave? " Shumilov was overjoyed and said, "this is really good news."


    When trakov heard that he had found a cave on Highland 165, he said to the other end of the phone: "OK, that''s it. I''ll call you again if there''s anything else After putting down the phone, he took the telegram in shumilov''s hand and looked at it carefully.


    After reading for a while, he threw the telegraph paper on the table and said to shumilov, "Comrade commander, this is good news. If the cave space is large enough, we only need a little transformation to make it an unbreakable fortress. If there are enough troops, materials and water, our troops can fight here for a long time. "


    When I heard that trakov mentioned the water source, I couldn''t help nodding my head secretly. After all, it''s worthy of being a famous general. Considering the problem is comprehensive. We should know that no matter how many soldiers are holding fast to the fortress and how much materials are prepared, if there is no water supply, it will not last long. Brest fortress, if not for lack of water, may be able to hold on for a long time under the strong attack of the German army.


    Listening to trikov and shumilov chatting for a while, I couldn''t help but feel a little anxious before the staff came to send a new telegram. I went to the door and wanted to go to the communication room to ask if there was a telegram from Colonel klobkin, but trekov stopped me from behind: "o''shanina, where are you going?"


    I stopped and said, "comrades commander, I''ll see if there''s a telegram from Colonel klobkin. It''s been more than ten minutes. If there''s any news, it''s time for the telegram to arrive."


    Trekov waved his hand and said, "don''t bother. The high-frequency phone here can talk to klobkin directly." With that, he picked up the phone on his desk, dialed a number and said, "operator, this is trakov. Connect me with colonel klobkin, the 29th division commander."


    Looking at the high-frequency telephone that trikov is using, I can''t help but talk in secret. My heart says that if the group army wants to contact the superior or the troops below, it can be done through the high-frequency telephone. The troops below, even the division level headquarters, can only contact the headquarters of the group army by telegram rather than by telephone. If communication conditions are not improved in future battles, our troops will miss many fighters. After talking to klobkin on the phone, trakov first made fun of him, and then turned to the main topic: "Colonel klobkin, has the reconnaissance result of the engineering regiment come out?" Klobjing reported in a joyful voice: "report, comrade deputy commander, after the reconnaissance of the engineers, we found that this cave was originally an ammunition depot built hundreds of years ago. A large number of rusty muskets, hundreds of barrels filled with gunpowder, and a few meals of moldy flour were found inside. After my research with the political commissar and the Corps, we all agreed that we could put two regiments of troops in this cave and enough materials to use for more than half a year. " Schumilov, obviously like me, heard the contents of the kolobkin report. He said to trakov happily, "Comrade trakov, please tell the Colonel that I will arrange a convoy to deliver enough military supplies to them as soon as possible." Trekov nodded and said to the receiver, "Comrade Colonel, did you hear what the commander said? We will deliver the materials you need to you as soon as possible. But I want to ask, if you really put the two regiments on the high ground 165, how long can you stay in this new fort? " Klobkin was silent for a long time before he replied in an uncertain tone: "if our division can get the firepower support of the air force and long-range artillery in the battle of defending highland 165, I think it''s no problem to persist for two to three months."¡° It won''t be that long, Colonel klobkin Shumilov took the call from trakov and said confidently, "our fight with the Germans under Stalingrad will last for a month at most. As long as you can hold on for a month, you will win! " Trekov looked at me and asked, "o''shanina, is there anything you want to say?"¡° Water Although trakov mentioned the water source just now, I can''t help but remind him again: "please ask Col. klobkin to pay attention to that there must be enough water in the tunnel, so that our officers and men won''t lose their fighting capacity because of hunger and thirst." When shumilov heard what I said, he quickly reminded klobkin: "Comrade Colonel, lieutenant commander oshanina said that we should stick to the tunnel and ensure that there is sufficient water. You must not neglect this."¡° Please don''t worry, commander, "klobjing swore," I will make sure there is enough water in the tunnel. "¡° By the way, "shumilov hesitated for a moment, but he still asked," is the excavation of the tunnel in the 158 highland stationed by the marine brigade going well? Have you found caves in them? "

 Chapter 516

    Before trekov put down the phone, I saw the telegraph staff go into the headquarters again and greet him.


    I thought what he sent was a follow-up report on the discovery of the cave in the coloburging report, so I asked with a smile, "Comrade staff, have you brought us any good news?"


    The staff officer replied solemnly, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. I''m afraid I''m going to disappoint you. Because this telegram was sent by general kolpakchi of the 62nd army. The German army is attacking the junction of our two army groups. The 98th infantry division of major general barinov, who held fast to the area, had retreated after fierce fighting because the enemy forces were too strong. "


    Hearing this news, not only me, but also trakov and shumilov turned pale. I didn''t expect that the situation was so serious. If our junction with the 62nd army was broken, the German army would be able to detour from the north. It would not only cut off our retreat to Stalingrad, but also make us lose the opportunity to replenish our troops and supplies. In that case, it''s a question whether we can retreat completely, let alone stick to the existing defense line.


    When I heard the name of the commander of the 98th division, I was stunned for a moment. I said in my heart that the original commander was not major general grazikov. How could he be replaced by major general balinov? Was he dismissed because of his defeat? It''s not supposed to be. Last time I followed trakov to the Dun River to command the counterattack war, the division''s performance was very eye-catching. How could it be that the division commander was replaced in a twinkling of an eye?


    Trekov saw me talking to myself, and his face sank. He cried out discontentedly, "commander o''shanina, why are you always absent-minded and thinking?"


    When I was called out by trakov, I immediately regained my mind and explained, "report to general, I''m thinking about how the 98th division commander has changed? You know, during the last fight against the Don river, general grazikov, the division commander, and Xie Liaojin, his deputy division commander, performed very well


    "I knew they were doing well, and when I reported the post-war summary, I truthfully introduced their heroic performance to the then commander of the front army, general gordov. Since there was no division commander in the 35th division, the commander of the front army transferred grazikov to the division commander. At present, this division is responsible for the defense to the north of Stalingrad, and its headquarters are stationed at mamayev post. "


    When I heard the title of the 35th division, I couldn''t help picking my eyebrows up. If I didn''t get sent to the front, I would be the commander of the 35th division. Now I''m very disappointed to hear that my position has been replaced by someone else. But on second thought, general grazikov is a commander who has experienced many battles, and it may be more suitable for him to command this army than me.


    "Comrade trekov, what shall we do?" Shumilov ignored my gaffe and directly asked trakov how to deal with the current unfavorable situation.


    Trikov scanned the map and gave me a direct order: "commander oshanina, record the order: Colonel kuropatenko''s 157th infantry division, 66th marine brigade, under the cover of the 137th tank brigade, immediately counter attack the German side that wedged into the junction of the 62nd army and me. It is imperative that this enemy be severely damaged and, if conditions permit, resolutely annihilated. In addition, after the restoration of our army''s original positions, the tank brigade and the marine brigade returned to their original positions, while the 157 th division left repair fortifications to prepare for long-term resistance to the enemy''s attack in the area. "


    Trakov spoke very fast. My recording speed could not keep up with his speaking speed at all. I could only choose important content and write a few strokes. Anyway, I just knew what to write. After recording his order, I asked: "Comrade General, since the 157 th division, the 66 th brigade and the 137 th tank brigade have been transferred, will the harassment of German positions continue?"


    After listening to my question and thinking about it for a while, trakov simply replied, "let Col. lyudnikov continue to send troops to harass the German positions and try to contain the enemy force, so that they will not send troops to reinforce the enemy who is wedged into the breach. In that case, our battle will be difficult."


    I quickly went to the communication room next door, found the communication staff officer, repeated the order given by trakov to him, and asked him to send telegrams to the 70th guard division, the 157th infantry division, the 66th marine brigade and the 137th tank brigade immediately, so that they could act according to the order.


    The troops in the orlovka area have been in a state of combat readiness. It took less than half an hour for one division and two brigades to complete the assembly and open to the battlefield.


    By the time the battle started, trakov had already contacted the acting commander of the 62nd army, korpakchi, through a telephone that had just been moved into the headquarters. "Vladimir Yakovlev, I have sent troops to attack the flank of the German army wedged into the junction. Please order the 98th division to launch a counterattack immediately and cooperate with our group army," he said in a loud voice


    Unexpectedly, kolpakchi sighed and regretfully replied, "I''m sorry, Vasili Ivanovich. I''ve lost contact with the 98th division headquarters. I can''t give them combat orders for the time being."


    After hearing this, trikov was shocked and asked, "how could this happen? Was the 98th division defeated by the Germans? "


    "According to the forward observation, before the attack, the enemy carried out heavy shelling on the headquarters of the 98th division. It was at that time that we lost contact with major general barinov." "Perhaps the division headquarters was destroyed by the enemy''s artillery fire, and the troops without command could not stop the enemy''s attack," said korpakchi with a heavy tone


    When schumilov pointed at the map with a red and blue pencil, he was so angry that he slapped the pencil heavily on the table and said angrily, "nonsense, it''s nonsense. Before the beginning of the war, a division headquarters was taken away, and thousands of officers and soldiers were defeated by the enemy without command. How could that be? "


    Trikov took a look at the Furious shumilov and said with a bitter face to the transmitter, "general korpakchi, you''d better try to keep in touch with the 98th division. Without them to contain the enemy, it would be very difficult for us to achieve great results in the raids launched from our flanks. "


    After handing over the earphone and the transmitter to the telegraph operator, trikov said to shumilov with a displeased face: "I have dealt with the commanders and fighters of the 98th division. They are all very tenacious in the battle. How can we change a division commander so that the army won''t fight?"


    Shumilov waved his hand and said, "never mind the 98th division, ask Colonel kuropatenko when they can attack the enemy''s flanks to cover the retreating 98th division and consolidate their position."


    I immediately told the radio operator to call Colonel kuropatenko of the 157 th division, intending to ask where their troops had arrived. Did not expect, but repeatedly unable to contact. Seeing that the troops could not be contacted, not only shumilov but also trakov was worried. He did not angry to order the operator: "continue to contact, keep calling."


    More than ten minutes later, the operator handed the earphone and transmitter to trikov and excitedly reported: "Comrade commander, we have contacted Colonel kuropatenko."


    When trakov heard kuropatenko''s voice in his headphones, he immediately asked in a discontented tone, "Comrade Colonel, why don''t you keep in touch with the headquarters of the group army?"


    From the earphone came the voice of Colonel kuropatenko, who was suppressed by the fierce gunfire: "Comrade commander, we have been fighting all the time. Because we can''t find a suitable place to set up a radio station, we didn''t get in touch with the headquarters in time."


    "Report on your progress in the fight," he said simply, ignoring the conversation


    "Report to commander, after the tank brigade launched its attack, it quickly cut the German troops wedged into our defense line into two sections. At present, we are dividing our forces into two routes and launching an attack against the enemies on both sides of the East and the west at the same time. As the enemy''s fire was very heavy, our troops suffered a lot of casualties in the attack. "


    "Quickly occupy the position and consolidate it."


    "I see. I''ll do it immediately."


    Half an hour later, kuropatenko reported once again that a newly occupied position had been taken back by the enemy because of the fierce artillery fire and the intensified counter offensive. Only five people came back from a company holding the position, three of whom were injured.


    "Comrade Colonel, immediately organize troops and continue to attack the enemy under the cover of tank troops. We must take back the position, take it back!" Trekov yelled at the microphone as loud as he could.


    According to the information from kuropatenko, we know that the positions are being contested one by one. Just when I was worried about the stalemate in the battle, an unexpected turn of events occurred in the war situation. Kuropachienko excitedly reported: "Comrade commander, it seems that the troops of the 62nd group army launched a counterattack, and the enemy in the East began to flee."


    "Great, comrade Colonel!" Trikov''s mood was also a little excited. "We should meet with the friendly forces as soon as possible, eat up all the enemies, and then turn around and wipe out the enemies in the West."


    Trakov then contacted korpakchi by high-frequency telephone: "Comrade General, my subordinates have just reported to me that your troops are fighting back against the enemy. The enemy between our two troops can''t support it."


    "Vasili Ivanovic, I got a report half an hour ago that general balinov, the commander of the 98th division, was seriously injured in the battle just now, and the troops were temporarily under the command of the deputy division commander, Colonel seryokin. As their troops were defeated in the battle, Col. seryokin is now gathering up his troops and is unable to cooperate with you for the time being. So I sent Col. yermorkin''s 112th division to the battlefield. "


    I heard it nearby. Well, both the 98th and 112th divisions belonged to the battle sequence of the 64th group army before they were assigned to the 62nd group army. Although the former division commander of the 112th division was killed, it was Colonel yermorkin who had rich combat experience who took over the post of division commander, so the army still maintained its original combat effectiveness. The 98th Division also had a new division commander, and its combat effectiveness was greatly reduced. It seems that there are really a lot of soldiers and a lot of soldiers.


    With the participation of the 112th division, the balance of victory quickly fell to our army. One hour later, kuropachenko reported to us that the battle had been successfully ended, that the two German battalions wedged into our line of defense had been completely annihilated, and that the position being recaptured by the 157 division was now fortified.


    Now that he''s won, trakov''s on the phone with kolpakchi.


    Kolpakchi asked curiously, "Comrade trakov, I want to ask why when the enemy attacks your preset positions, sometimes even if the casualties are heavy, it is difficult to capture your positions?"


    "It''s also very simple to say that when the enemy started shelling, except for a few observation posts, the rest of the officers and men were hidden in the fortifications," trikov said lightly. As soon as the enemy''s artillery stopped and the infantry began to attack, they would jump out to stop the enemy. "


    "Comrade trakov, I know this play was first thought up by lieutenant colonel oshanina," korpakchi said. But the question is, we all play this way. Why have our fortifications been destroyed by artillery fire, but your fortifications have not been destroyed? "


    "Perhaps there is a difference in the construction of fortifications." Perhaps at this time, trikov thought of the tunnel works I had repeatedly recommended, and replied vaguely, "in fact, we also used some methods. For example, in terms of military strength, the former is light and the latter is heavy, and in terms of weapon configuration, the former is heavy and the latter is light. It is also necessary to retreat and fight back decisively to recover some lost positions... "


    When trekov got off the phone, he called me up to him and said, "o''shanina, get ready. Let''s go to Colonel klobkin''s and see how his tunnel is going."


    When shumilov heard what trakov said, he nodded and said, "I''m here to take charge of the whole situation. You can go to the front line with confidence. If this tunnel is really as effective as commander o''shanina said, we can promote it in the whole army. Having a solid fortification can not only kill the enemy in large quantities and slow down their attack speed, but also reduce unnecessary casualties of our army. "


    This time, apart from trekov and me, there was only a messenger, sidtorin, and a driver. Without prior notice, our jeep arrived near highland 165 in spardanovka before it was discovered by the patrol of the 29th division.


    A sergeant stood in the middle of the dirt road, waving his hands to stop us. There were seven or eight soldiers with all kinds of weapons on the side of the road. The driver slowed down and looked at trakov, waiting for his final instructions. Trakov looked at the soldiers outside and said nothing. He just nodded to the driver. The driver immediately pulled over to the side of the road.


    The sergeant trotted over, slightly bent over to look into the car, then went to the driver''s window and politely asked, "which part are you from?"


    Without waiting for the driver to speak, sidtorin, who was sitting in the co driver''s seat, said aloud, "I said, sergeant, don''t you see general trakov sitting in the car?"


    The sergeant stooped to look back again, stood up straight, stepped back and raised his hand to salute: "Hello, deputy commander."


    Trekov pushed the door open, leaned out and asked the sergeant, "Comrade sergeant, where is your division commander, Colonel klobkin?"


    The sergeant quickly turned to the hill behind and said in a loud voice, "report, deputy commander, the division commander is checking the construction of the tunnel works on Highland 165."


    "Get in the car and take us there!" With these words, trakov drew back and closed the door.


    Although trakov asked the sergeant to get on the bus, he couldn''t really get on the bus. He grabbed the door, stepped on the pedal and stood outside the driver''s door to show our driver the way.


    We got out of the car more than 100 meters away from the cave. Before we reached the cave entrance, klobjing, who had been reported by the subordinates, came out of the cave. Still far away, he warmly said hello to trikov: "Hello, comrade deputy commander, how do you think you are coming to our division''s defense?"


    "I''ve come to you to see how the tunnel works are going," trekov replied, understatement


    Hearing that trakov was coming to inspect the fortifications, klobkin said excitedly, "it''s almost finished. Comrade deputy commander, please follow me. I''ll show you the way."


    We followed him into a cave more than one person high and five or six meters wide. Walking along the wide passage for more than 100 meters, the vision suddenly becomes clear. It''s just a wide underground square. Even if a group of people stand here, it won''t be too crowded. With the help of a few steam lamps hanging on the wall of the cave, I can see that in a corner on the right, there are hundreds of big round wooden barrels, which should contain the gunpowder reported by klobkin on the phone. In the corner on the left is a pile of white cloth bags, which may be moldy flour.


    "Deputy commander, what you see is only the first floor. There is also a warehouse of the same size and seven or eight passageways extending in all directions below. After a day''s hard work, the engineers have connected two of them to our positions. "


    Trakov looked at all this with great interest and asked klobkin excitedly, "Comrade Colonel, do you know why there is an underground Arsenal here?"


    "It''s all figured out." Klobkin said. He took an old looking big book from the officer next to him. He patted the dust on it. After turning a few pages, he handed the opened book to trikov and continued: "Comrade deputy commander, you see, there is a record on it: in order to merge Chechnya into the territory of the Russian Empire, the Tsar took a picture of Chechnya, And the Persian and Ottoman empires who tried to get their hands on it. This armory was built secretly by an army of Czarist Russia. If we don''t dig the tunnel, it''s estimated that the armory will still sleep on this hill in silence. "


    Trikov took over the book, turned it over, and asked, "Comrade Colonel, if you can stick to it in this cave, how long can you stick to it?" Klobkin quickly straightened up and confidently replied, "as long as there are two regiments of troops and sufficient supplies, I can stay here for at least three months."

 Chapter 517

    Trekov looked around, nodded and said, "when the enemy is attacking, don''t put too many troops in the front position, so that the trenches won''t be overcrowded and suffer unnecessary casualties under the enemy''s artillery fire. Since this cave is so spacious, move in the necessary weapons, ammunition and grain as soon as possible, so that even if the enemy encircles you, you can continue to fight with the favorable terrain here. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander, we will carry out the work of transporting materials as soon as it gets dark."


    When they were talking, my heart kept murmuring. Has my arrival made history deviate? First, korpakchi, commander of the 62nd group army, was dismissed on August 3 in later history, and was replaced by lopagin; A month later, trakov replaced lopagin. But now, although kolpakchi''s post of commander was replaced by lopagin, and trakov, as the representative of the front army, dismissed lopagin, he did not take the post of commander of the 62nd army, which was temporarily represented by kolpakchi who was just released.


    Besides the mamayev post, I have never heard of any highland battle between the Soviet and German armies near Stalingrad. In view of the present situation, if enough weapons, ammunition and grain were stored in the cave, even if they were left alone behind the enemy, they would be able to hold on for quite a long time.


    Just as I was daydreaming, trakov patted me on the shoulder and said, "o''shanina, we''re going to take a look at the position. Why are you still standing here?" I looked up and saw that klobkin and his men were walking far away. They quickly gathered their mind and followed them out.


    The passage to the position is very narrow, only one person is more than one meter wide. If they meet face to face, they have to lean sideways to pass. I heard trekov, who was walking in front of me, ask, "Comrade Colonel, are the other passageways leading to the positions so narrow?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." I heard klobkin simply reply, "because the rock here is too hard, we can''t widen the original passage in a short time. But it''s also good. Even if the enemy rushes in by chance, their forces will not be able to expand, and our soldiers will easily wipe them out. "


    We left the cave and went into the trenches. I looked at the dozen or twenty staff officers who were crowded around trakov and klobkin. I could not help frowning. When the commanders were so crowded together, were all the observation posts on the enemy''s positions blind? If they find out, and a few shells fly by, trakov and klobkin will be here.


    Thinking of this, I pushed hard to the side of trikov and reminded him in a low voice: "Comrade General, don''t you think there are too many people accompanying us to inspect?"


    Trikov looked around and saw the staff and guards crowded around him. He immediately understood what I was saying. Then he told klobkin, "Comrade Colonel, you can take two people around with us, and the rest will go back to their respective combat posts."


    Klobkin understood and quickly sent away all the redundant people around him, leaving only two staff officers. He led us along the trench. After a short walk, I saw a small hole more than half a person high on the wall of the traffic ditch. It looked like a gun shelter built by soldiers. I quickly pointed it out to trikov.


    Trekov quickly called kolobkin, who was walking in front of him, and went into the hole to check himself. After a while, he crawled out of it and said happily, "Comrade Colonel, your work is well done. Although this blast hole can only hold two or three people, they are all dug obliquely and very deep. Even if the heavy shells do not hit directly, they can not destroy such fortifications. "


    With a simple and honest smile, klobkin said modestly, "in fact, this work is not my invention, but the credit of lieutenant colonel o''shanina."


    "My credit?" What he said confused me and made me at a loss. I was puzzled and asked, "Comrade Colonel, it seems that I didn''t come to your division to instruct the soldiers how to dig fortifications?"


    "Yes, comrade Colonel, what''s the matter? I''m confused by you. " Trekov also asked curiously.


    In the end, it was klobkin who solved the mystery: "many of the new soldiers in my division have been in the army under the command of lieutenant commander o''shanina. According to them, comrade commander o''shanina has many strict requirements for the construction of fortifications. It is precisely this strict requirement that the casualties of the troops under her command in all previous battles are far lower than those of the friendly forces. "


    "So it is!" After listening to this, trakov suddenly realized that he had just visited the fortifications and then expressed his views: "Comrade Colonel, I think you may have noticed a problem, that is, how to offset the enemy''s fire advantage under the condition that our equipment conditions have not been fully improved. Today, after reading your new fortifications, I feel that a solution has finally been found to this problem. Your fortifications, with caves as the main body, are connected with our army''s surface positions through several channels to form a complete defense system. If the enemy doesn''t attack, it will. Once they attack, we can let them have no return. "


    When trikov finished, klobkin nodded and replied, "Comrade deputy commander, you are right. We must, in accordance with your instructions, turn the fortifications here into an impregnable underground fortress and a gate that the enemy can never cross. "


    Just then, there was a shrill whistling in the sky¡° No, it''s the enemy''s shelling Cried klobkin, throwing trakov to the ground, and I squatted in the trenches.


    A shell exploded in front of the trench and was slapped on my helmet by the mud raised by the waves. Then there were shells exploding near the front and back of the trench, and the soil was thrown into the trench.


    Klobkin got up from trakov and asked with concern, "Comrade deputy commander, are you ok?"


    Trekov spat on the dirt and jokingly said, "I was not killed by the shell, but I was almost crushed by you."


    "Let''s go back to the tunnel." I yelled at both of them.


    "Come with me!" he cried Bend over and run to the entrance of the tunnel.


    We entered the cave along the passage, the rumble of guns was separated by the thick mountain, and became slightly inaudible. Our voice returned to the normal tone, and we didn''t have to roar any more. For this sudden shelling, klobkin felt obliged to explain it to trikov, so he said: "it may be that the explosion with explosives was too loud when excavating the tunnel today, which shocked the enemy, so this sudden shelling happened."


    Trekov didn''t blame him at all. After looking up, he said with a happy face: "I didn''t expect that the mountain above this cave was so backward, and the enemy''s shells hit on it, and it didn''t have any effect at all."


    Klobkin echoed: "yes, comrade deputy commander. If the enemy wants to seize this position, unless the whole mountain is blown up, no matter how much steel they pour, it will not help. "


    Trokov and I were escorted out of the tunnel by klobkin. Sidtorin, who had been waiting outside, immediately came up and asked, "Comrade General, shall we go back to the headquarters now?"


    Seeing the herald talking to trakov, klobkin pulled me aside and asked quietly, "commander oshanina, what do you think the enemy will do to attack our tunnel?"


    I took a look at trikov, who was still talking to sidtorin, and replied, "the entrance of the tunnel will be the focus of contention between the enemy and us after the surface position is lost. What the enemy can do is to fire at the entrance of the tunnel with recoilless guns, blast with explosives, and throw grenades into the tunnel. You only need to have the position to take countermeasures, the enemy''s means of attack will not work


    Klobkin nodded hard, wiped the sweat on his forehead and said gratefully, "thank you very much, comrade commander. Now that we know the means the enemy may employ, we have a way to dissolve them one by one. "


    To reassure him, I added, "don''t worry, Colonel klobkin. The army won''t leave you alone. When the enemy attacks the tunnel, you can ask the headquarters for help, and then you can be provided with the necessary artillery or air force support. "


    Seeing him take a long sigh of relief, I can''t help but continue to say: "of course, you can''t defend passively in the tunnel. You should use the night to organize small teams with platoon as the unit to attack the enemy''s sentry posts and blow up the enemy''s fortifications, so that the enemy can''t eat well and sleep well. When they are exhausted, their attack on us will be greatly weakened."


    After talking with sidtorin, trikov turned to find me talking with klobkin and said to me, "Hello, o''shanina, what are you talking about? Come on, we''re going to start."


    I wanted to talk to klobzin a little more. Seeing that trakov was urging me, I didn''t dare to delay. After a few words, I quickly ran to trakov.


    On the jeep we went back, trakov was in a better mood than ever before. He said with deep feeling: "o''shanina, it seems that the function of this tunnel can''t be underestimated. Maybe they can really become the nightmare of the enemy. When I get back to the headquarters, I will report this experience to the headquarters of the front army, hoping to popularize it in the whole army. "


    I also nodded and said thoughtfully, "yes, I don''t know about other places. Anyway, we can seize the time to build tunnels and Fortifications on the mamayev post before the enemy reaches the city of Stalingrad."


    I didn''t expect that I was interrupted by trekov just half way through. He lowered his voice and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, I remind you that your remarks just now are very dangerous. If you are heard by the people of the interior department, you may be sent to the military court."


    What did I say? What did I say? It seems that there is nothing against the ban. Even if the people in the interior department heard it, they could not send me to the military court for no reason.


    Seeing that I was still looking at him innocently, trikov couldn''t help asking, "o''shanina, don''t you know what you said wrong?" Seeing that I shook my head repeatedly, he said bitterly, "you just mentioned building fortifications at mamayev post. You know, if anyone mentions building Fortifications on mamayev post, it means that the enemy may approach the city named after the Supreme Commander himself. Well, to put it better, it''s a ridiculous idea. To put it worse, it''s a manifestation of defeatism. Don''t you see in your recent briefing that many soldiers, including some civilians, were executed by the Ministry of the interior for treason because they boasted about the speed of German advance in our territory and our army was forced to retreat? "


    After listening to trekov''s words, I was scared out in a cold sweat. Is there any reason? I just said a few words from a military point of view, and I fell into a false accusation. Fortunately, trekov heard it. If the people in the interior department heard it, wouldn''t my theory of retreating when necessary, exchanging space for time, and complaining about ineffective commanders also be charged with treason? This is because I am trying to glorify the German people and discredit the leaders of the party, the state and the Red Army. Because of his words, my mood was greatly affected, so that when I returned to the headquarters of the group army, I was still in a state of depression and restlessness. When shumilov saw trakov coming back, he was a little excited and said, "Comrade trakov, you are back. I have good news for you¡° Good news? " Trekov, who was pouring tea with the quilt, looked at shumilov with a happy face and asked tentatively, "did the front army send us a reserve team?" Shumilov nodded hard and replied, "yes, there are 20000 people."¡° 20000 people? " Trekov was startled by the number. His hands trembled and he spilled a lot. I quickly took a rag to help him clean the tea on the table. Trekov put the cup on the table, shook the tea off his hand, went to grab shumilov''s arm, and asked anxiously, "did the front command really add so many people to us?" Shumilov first nodded, then sighed and said, "although there are 20000 people, there are not many soldiers with real combat experience." Trikov took the tea I gave him and said, "I''m not afraid of all the recruits. If we disperse them into various units and fight two battles, we will become veterans with combat experience. " With a wry smile, shumilov handed a document to trikov and said, "look, my old man. When you''re done, you''ll understand everything. " Trekov took a sip of tea, put the cup on the table, and then took shumilov''s paper. After looking over it, he frowned and said to himself, "of the 20000 people, except for 500 soldiers and grassroots commanders from the punishment camp, the rest are all prisoners through labor from Gulag concentration camp. Who came up with this idea? How can these people be crammed into the army? " Instead of handing it to me, shumilov put it in front of him, folded his hands and pressed it with his elbow. From his subtle action, I guess it must be an extremely important document. Except for him and trakov, I have no right to read it. Shumilov said to himself: "I was very excited when I heard that we would be added 20000 people. I didn''t expect that the headquarters of the front army specially stressed that after these people arrived, they could not be added to our existing troops. Instead, they would set up an independent force to be specially used in the most dangerous areas. "¡° Yes "And they can''t be supplied with enough weapons. Do you want them to fight with the Germans armed to the teeth with their bare hands?" he said With that, he smashed his fist on the table and shook the teacup out¡° Comrade trakov, don''t get excited. " Seeing that he was so excited, shumilov quickly comforted him and said, "I think the meaning of the higher authorities is to use these 20000 people as cannon fodder and put them in the most dangerous area to consume German ammunition."¡° Consume ammunition Trakov said in a sarcastic tone: "not to mention 20000 people, even two million people, German bullets can kill them all."¡° Calm down, comrade trekov. Please keep calm! " Shumilov took a wary look at me and persuaded trikov: "since this is the order of the superior, we are not allowed to discuss it in private. We can only implement it unconditionally. Are you right? Comrade oshanina. " His last sentence, actually asked me directly. After a moment of confusion, I immediately pretended to be confused: "what do you say? Comrade commander. As you can see, I was wiping the tea on the table. I didn''t hear what the two commanders said. " I said this because they were discussing military secrets. I heard their conversation untimely. At the moment, I was worried about whether shumilov would kill me on a whim. Trakov waved his hand down and said, "come on, comrade shumilov. It doesn''t matter if oshanina knows about this matter. She is now the acting chief of staff of the group army and will still contact these soldiers. It''s better to figure out how to arrange these soldiers in advance than to make a mess at that time. " At this point, he turned to me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, I seriously ask you, how do you think these soldiers should be resettled?" Seeing trikov speak for me, the expression on shumilov''s face became relaxed. He agreed: "yes, commander o''shanina, talk about it. It doesn''t matter if it''s wrong."

 Chapter 518

    I didn''t dare to answer their questions right away in the face of triskov and shumilov with their brows tightening. Although I have a comprehensive understanding of the Gulag concentration camp from the book network of later generations, at this time, under the strict confidentiality mechanism of the Soviet Union, it is still a secret organization unknown to the public. If I answer their questions casually, it will arouse their suspicion. In that case, some things are difficult to explain.


    Seeing that I didn''t speak, shumilov urged, "what''s the matter, commander oshanina. Why don''t you answer our question? What are you thinking? "


    Up to now, it is obviously impossible not to answer their questions. I took off my helmet, cut my hair with my hand, pretended to know nothing and asked, "comrades, what is Gulag concentration camp? Is it the place where the Germans hold our prisoners of war? "


    When I said that, they could not help laughing bitterly. Shumilov made a gesture to trikov and said cautiously, "Comrade trikov, you''d better answer this question of oshanina."


    Trakov said to me with a bitter smile: "o''shanina, how to say, Gulag is the branch operation Department of the Ministry of interior in charge of the labor reform camp and supervising the prison service and transportation of prisoners. Gulag concentration camp is the labor punishment camp under the jurisdiction of the people''s Committee of internal affairs. "


    Although trakov only briefly introduced what happened to Gulag, and did not mention the composition of the people engaged in forced labor, I was particularly clear in my heart that except for a few political prisoners, most of the people who were imprisoned in the concentration camp were arrested and locked up for absenteeism, theft, or anti-government jokes.


    I quickly pretended to be suddenly enlightened, took over his topic and said, "Oh, I see. That is to say, those who come out of Gulag concentration camp are mainly dangerous criminals. "


    Shumilov nodded gently and said, "that''s about what you mean. The superior''s consideration is still reasonable. If they are scattered and organized into companies, it may become an unstable factor in the army. "


    Sometimes I can''t understand Lao maozi''s contradictory way of thinking, so I asked, "since they are not factors of stability, why are they still sent to our troops?"


    Shumilov stood up straight, waved his fist, and said sternly: "in the face of our motherland''s survival, the leaders of the Ministry of internal affairs decided to give them a chance to commit crimes out of consideration of humanity. Let them make atonement with their lives and wash away their crimes with their blood. "


    Shumilov''s words make me feel confused. At the moment, his image in my eyes is not like the commander of the group army, but more like those inhuman political workers at the beginning of the war.


    When shumilov finished, trakov brought up the old story again and asked, "o''shanina, you already know what happened in Gulag concentration camp, but you haven''t answered my question. How should we arrange these people from the concentration camp?" When he heard these prisoners from Gulag, he used the word "personnel" instead of "criminal". Listening to him, I knew that he had sympathy for these people.


    For these people from Gulag concentration camp, we should not only guard against them, but also use them to the most dangerous areas. How to resettle them is really a headache. I took off my helmet again, cut my hair with my hands, and said to myself, "what can I do? We can''t give each of them a rifle, let them charge towards the enemy''s position... "


    "That''s a wonderful idea," shumilov exclaimed before I finished. "That''s a wonderful idea of lieutenant colonel o''shanina. Organize these prisoners, each firing a gun, and let them charge towards the enemy''s position. "


    "But most of these people have not received military training. Once they meet the enemy''s blocking fire, I dare say that most of them just drop their weapons and turn around and run away." Trekov immediately pointed out the shortcomings of the plan to shumilov.


    Shumilov walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, and suddenly said excitedly, "yes, add machine guns to the back of the attack line and put them on the supervisor team. As soon as they retreated, the overseers fired mercilessly at them with machine guns. We just want to let them know that attack is death, and retreat is death. Rather than die ignominiously at the muzzle of one''s own gun, it''s better to rush up bravely against the bullets of the enemy. That way, there will be a ray of life and the possibility of becoming a hero. "


    I didn''t hear what trakov said very clearly. I thought of the disastrous attack organized by the Japanese death squads near liuban. Although they won in the end, the death squads also lost their lives. Then I thought of the scene in "soldiers in the city", in which the group of recruits who had just put on military uniforms, carrying no bullet rifles, rushed to the enemy''s position without hesitation, and all died at the muzzle of their own when they retreated after the attack was frustrated.


    Thinking of this, I couldn''t help but slap myself in the face and scold myself secretly: if I don''t put forward a good suggestion, I just have such a bad idea. If this method of fighting is promoted in the front army, tens of thousands of people will die in vain because of my suggestion.


    What happened to me startled trakov and shumilov. They asked me strangely, "o''shanina, what are you doing slapping yourself?"


    I quickly put on my helmet, rubbed my face with my hands, tried to squeeze out a smile and said, "I''m killing mosquitoes. Just now, a mosquito stopped on my face."


    Shumilov said, and then asked trekov with great interest, "Comrade trekov, what do you think of my proposal just now? Should we sort out what we have discussed and report it to the headquarters of the front army? "


    Trikov bowed his head for a moment, nodded in agreement with shumilov''s opinion: "Comrade commander, I agree with your proposal, so I will report it to the headquarters of the front army."


    My heart was bleeding when I heard that they had decided such an important matter in a few words. I just said that, but I didn''t expect to arouse shumilov''s interest. However, what the two commanders have decided is not something I can stop, so I can only stand by and watch them report the new plan.


    When shumilov heard general yelimenko''s low voice in the microphone, he said excitedly: "Hello, comrade commander of the front army, I''m shumilov, commander of the 64th army."


    When yeliaomenko heard that he had reported himself, he just said faintly, "Oh, it''s comrade shumilov. Call me so late. Is there anything important? "


    "Well, Andre Ivanovich, comrade trakov and I have just come up with a way to settle the prisoners from gulag."


    "Tell me what to do." Yelomienko said, still lukewarm.


    "Give each of them a rifle and order them to charge the enemy''s positions. Of course, we also consider that these people do not have special military training. When they really go to the battlefield, they may turn around and run back. Therefore, we plan to mount machine guns and deploy supervision teams at the rear of the attack team. If they turn around and run back, they will use machine guns to sweep away the cowards, Force them to continue to charge the German position. "


    "Nonsense, it''s nonsense." When yelimenko heard this, he said angrily, "do you think that if they put machine guns behind them, they will attack the Germans without hesitation? What should we do if they surrender to the Germans on the battlefield? Don''t think that the machine guns you set up can decide the battle. If the Germans accept their surrender, they can send armored forces to protect them. "


    Yelomienko''s words, like a bolt from the blue, made shumilov stupid. He obviously thought of this at the moment. After a moment''s gaffe, he suppressed the shock and slowly recovered his calm. He tried his best to keep a calm attitude. He reluctantly laughed and wanted to say something, but he still swallowed it back.


    Hearing that there was no voice from him, yelimenko said in a loud voice, "Comrade shumilov, why don''t you speak? Am I wrong?"


    "You are right, comrade commander of the front army." Shumilov put down the phone after finishing the sentence with difficulty. Then he said to trekov standing beside him, "Comrade trekov, our proposal has been rejected by the commander of the front army."


    Trikov waved his hand and said, "if you veto it, you can veto it. Are there few plans recently reported by our group army that have been vetoed by them. Let''s continue to discuss how to settle these people. "


    Hearing that the inhuman plan was rejected, I could not help but feel relieved. I quickly stepped forward and reported, "comrades, two commanders, I have a suggestion. I don''t know whether I should say it or not."


    Shumilov sat in his seat feebly, and said feebly, "Comrade oshanina, just let me know what you think."


    "Comrade commander, you said just now that the headquarters of the front army does not allow these people from the Gulag concentration camp to be directly assigned to the existing units, but can only organize another team. Is that right?" I finally took this opportunity to ask a question in my mind.


    As soon as my question came out, shumilov and trakov looked at each other, then nodded at the same time and said in one voice, "yes, that''s what the front command asked."


    Trekov listened to my question and asked with great interest, "o''shanina, what do you think of that?"


    I laughed and replied, "there''s one idea. I don''t know if it''s good. Since our superiors have asked us to allocate these 20000 people to the existing units, we will organize them into transport teams. "


    After listening to this, trakov chuckled and asked: "twenty thousand people have become transport teams. Is the scale of this transport team a little too large?"


    "Yes, it''s not convenient to manage a transport team of 20000 people." Shumilov immediately echoed.


    When they finished, I said, "I mean, this transport team is only nominal. After we assign them to divisions, we let them transport materials when there is no war; As soon as there is a fight, they will be given weapons to participate in the fight. In this way, we did not disobey the orders of our superiors, but also provided additional troops to the divisions. I don''t know what the two commanders think of this matter? "


    "That''s a good proposal. I agree." First of all, it was trekov who agreed.


    After thinking for a long time, shumilov hesitated and said, "Comrade trakov, do you need to report this plan to the headquarters of the front army?"


    When I heard what he said, my heart could not help hanging up, and I had to report it to the headquarters of the front army. Maybe, just like the proposal just now, it was directly rejected by you. Fortunately, trikov stopped him in time: "we don''t know the effect of oshanina''s proposal before it is implemented. We can''t report it to the headquarters of the front army casually to avoid being rejected again." At this point, trakov changed the subject and asked, "when will the recruits arrive?"


    Shumilov raised his hand, looked at his watch, and replied, "their vanguard troops should have arrived. I asked the commanders to go to the division headquarters of the 208 division when they arrived. I will send someone to see them."


    "Then I''ll see for myself." Trekov was a very aggressive character. He said he was going. He waved his head at me and said, "commander o''shanina, come with me."


    Although the unit of the 208 th division is responsible for the security of the headquarters of the group army, its headquarters is in another village five or six kilometers away from the headquarters.


    We are four people in another car this time. Before we get on the bus, I specially remind Cui KOV: "Comrade commander, it''s dark. I''m afraid it''s not safe on the road. Do you think we should take more people with us?" I''m not worried about the Germans, but about the 20000 prisoners who are coming. If they mutiny, they can kill us all with their bare hands.


    Unexpectedly, trikov waved his hand again and said confidently, "no, it''s not safe to have many people and big goals. What''s more, we are going to the division headquarters of the 208 division. There will be no danger in our own territory. "


    When we arrived at the village where the 208 division headquarters was located, the sentinel on duty at the entrance of the village stopped our car.


    Seeing the soldiers standing in front of the car and the obstacles in the middle of the road, the driver put forward his head impatiently and said, "Hey, comrade soldier, on the bus is general trakov from the group army headquarters. He has an urgent matter to see Colonel wosley boynikov. Let''s get out of the way quickly."


    Unexpectedly, after the driver''s words were finished, the guard who blocked the way didn''t respond at all. Even a corporal came to the car and said, "sorry, comrade driver. The village is under martial law. No one is allowed to enter or leave without the order of the teacher. "


    "What do you say, comrade corporal?" I pushed the door open, jumped out of the car, went around the front of the car, went to the corporal, and asked aloud, "no one is allowed to go in and out, which means that the miscellaneous people are not in this range. The commander of the group army is not in this range. We need to order your people to get out of the way. We still have important things to find your division commander."


    "I''m sorry, comrade commander." The corporal glanced at my rank and said with great personality, "no one is allowed to enter the village without the order of the division commander. Even if the commander of the group army comes, it is no exception. "


    "What do you say? I''ll say it again," I said aloud, pointing to the corporal''s nose angrily. "More nonsense, can I smoke you?"


    "No one can enter the village without the order of the teacher."


    "Lieutenant oshanina," I said as I was getting angry with this petty officer who had no brain, and was about to raise my hand to smoke him, trikov pushed the door open and got out of the car. He came up to us and said, "don''t be angry, petty officer. You''re right." Then he turned to the corporal and said, "Comrade corporal, I''m deputy commander of the group army, trakov. I have something important to ask your division commander, Col. vosliboynikov. Please inform us."


    Seeing a general standing in front of him, the corporal immediately stood at attention and respectfully replied, "Hello, Comrade General. Just a moment, please. I''ll call right away. " Seeing trikov waving his hand at him, he quickly turned around and trotted all the way into a small post Pavilion at the entrance of the village, probably calling his superior.


    In less than two minutes, the corporal ran out of the guard box and asked the soldiers on duty to remove the obstacles in the middle of the road. When he came to our front and back, he raised his hand again and said, "Comrade deputy commander and Comrade division commander are waiting for you in the division headquarters." At this point, he leaned over, pointed to the road in the village and said, "please drive along this road, turn right at the second road and see a big wooden house, which is the division headquarters."


    Of course, it was impossible for division commander vosliboynikov to wait for us in the division headquarters. When our car was tens of meters away from the headquarters, the Colonel came up with a large group of people. Seeing that our car stopped, he went to the window on the other side of trikov''s car and said in a loud voice, "Comrade deputy commander, commander of the 208 infantry division, Colonel vosliboynikov, has come to report to you and is waiting for your instructions!"


    Trekov pushed the door and got out of the car, reaching out to him. While shaking hands, I heard trakov ask him in a low voice, "Comrade Colonel, are those people here?"


    Vosliboynikov also replied in a low voice: "there are more than 200 people coming. I have put them in the barn in the north of the village. More than a dozen commanders are waiting for you in the headquarters."


    "Go and have a look." When I walked into the division headquarters and saw more than a dozen commanders inside, I found at a glance that only two were political workers sent by the higher authorities, and the rest were prisoners from Gulag concentration camp, because although they were all wearing new military uniforms, when I looked carefully, I could see that they were skinny, with twinkling eyes and extremely restrained behavior. Sure enough, I heard vosli boynikov call the two political workers and introduce them to trikov, saying, "these two comrades are from the Political Department of the front army. They brought the team here."

 Chapter 519

    Two political workers, armed and armed with submachine guns, when they heard that Colonel vosliboynikov introduced them to trakov, went forward to salute him and reported their identities.


    The little Hu Zi of medium build on the left said: "Hello, Comrade General. Clavchuk, political commissar of battalion level, reports to you and is waiting for your instructions."


    When he finished, the tall and thin man on the right said, "Hello, comrade general, deputy battalion political commissar shushkovich, report to you and wait for your order."


    After shaking hands with them one by one, trikov asked with concern, "you''ve had a smooth journey, haven''t you been attacked by the enemy?"


    Clutching trakov''s hand in both hands, kraftchuk replied, "thank you for your concern, general. Because we all rest during the day and March at night, there is almost no loss of personnel."


    "Where are the troops?"


    "Report to general, it''s about fifteen kilometers away. At the current marching speed, we should be able to reach the designated position at dawn. "


    Trekov let go of his hand, went to the table and sat down. Then he asked, "how many people in this unit are equipped with how many weapons?"


    Kravchuk turned to look at shushkovich next to him. He nodded in affirmation and then replied, "except for the troops of the two battalions escorting them, the rest of them are unarmed."


    Hearing what he said, trekov jumped up from his seat. He was surprised and asked, "twenty thousand people are unarmed. What if they encounter a German on the road? Do you think our unarmed soldiers can defeat the enemy armed to the teeth? "


    "Comrade General," shushkovich, who had not spoken for a long time, took over the conversation and said coldly, "when we set out, our superiors had orders. Once we met the situation you said, our escorted soldiers had the right to shoot and get rid of all these people, so that they would not be captured by the Germans or surrender to the enemy."


    Shushkovic''s words surprised me in a cold sweat. Twenty thousand people said that they would kill all of them without mercy. It''s so rash. At this time, I also want to understand why, when we arrived just now, our division commander, Colonel wolsley boynikov, brought people out to meet us, while these ten people stayed in the headquarters. At first, I thought they didn''t give trekov face, but now I understand that it was these two battalion level political commissars who were worried that the other ten soldiers from the punishment camp or Gulag concentration camp would take advantage of the opportunity to escape and stay to take care of them.


    With a straight face, trikov looked at the commander standing by the wall in his new uniform and asked kraftchuk, "comrades of the political commissar at the battalion level, who are they?"


    Kraftchuk looked back, shrugged and replied, "who else, Comrade General. These people were all drawn out of the correctional camp. As they had served as grass-roots commanders in the army, they were temporarily awarded military ranks to command the prisoner''s army. The prisoners were divided into two hundred teams of one hundred, ten of them in charge of twenty teams. "


    "What about the two hundred people in the north of the village?" Hearing that these people were all officers from the punishment camp, I could not help but arouse my interest in the two hundred people in the north of the village. So without waiting for trikov to speak, I asked in a hurry, "are they all soldiers from the punishment camp who have combat experience?"


    Kraftchuk didn''t answer my question. He just looked me up and down, opened his mouth, and swallowed what he wanted to say. He may want to ask me what my identity is, but seeing that trakov didn''t blame me for speaking first, he became hesitant..


    When he was in a dilemma, trikov said: "Comrade political commissar at battalion level, this is lieutenant commander oshanina, chief of staff of our group army. She is currently acting as chief of staff. These matters are under her jurisdiction. You can report them to her."


    With the help of trakov, Kravchuk did not dare to disobey his orders, so he had to say: "yes, comrade commander, those two hundred people are soldiers from various punishment camps. Because they have participated in the battle and have certain combat experience, their superiors let them take the post of captain to manage the prisoners who have never experienced military training."


    I had neither good nor bad feelings for the ten soldiers from the correctional camp who stood against the wall. I raised my chin at those people and told kraftchuk, "comrades of political commissars at battalion level, let them come and report to the commander."


    Kraftchuk agreed, turned to wave his hand at the men, and said in a bad manner, "Hey, you guys, come here quickly and report to Comrade General."


    The ten commanders stepped forward two steps, came to trikov, raised their hands, and stood still.


    With his hands behind his back, trakov went from the right side of the line to the left side, and then from the left side to the right side. Looking at them, he asked with great interest, "comrades, why don''t you talk? Who''s going to take the initiative? Let''s first report your life, rank, and the reason for being put in the camp. "


    After hearing what trikov said, the ten commanders stood still like ten wooden piles. Seeing that no one was speaking, trikov pointed to the rightmost captain and said, "Comrade captain, let''s introduce ourselves from you."


    The tall and thin captain stepped forward and said aloud, "Captain shejerikov, Russian. The former commander of the 34th motorized infantry brigade was captured in the battle of Kharkov in May. In June, several soldiers and I escaped from the enemy''s custody. But when I went back to the army to report back, I was arrested as a deserter and sent to the punishment camp of the 149th special brigade. " Hearing the captain say that he was sent to the punishment camp because he had been captured, my heart beat faster. If the people in the interior department knew about my liuban''s capture, what fate would be waiting for me, whether I would be sent to the punishment camp or punished on the spot. I was in a cold sweat when I thought about it.


    Then the Yellow haired captain next to the captain reported: "Captain Oleg, Belarusian, a former company commander of the 51st army. Because after the army was defeated in the Don river, several soldiers in the company surrendered to the Germans. Because of this, I was arrested by the Ministry of interior and sent to the punishment camp. "


    After hearing this, trakov didn''t express any opinions. He said to another black haired captain next to the captain, "it''s your turn, comrade captain. What''s the reason why you were sent to the punishment camp?"


    After a wary look at Kravchuk and shushkovich, the black haired captain stepped forward and said cautiously: "Captain kosja, Ukrainian, former commander of the 79th infantry division. In July, because three soldiers of the 178th infantry regiment deserted, the Ministry of interior ordered them to be arrested and shot. As a result, the lieutenant who carried out the order went to the nearby residential area and arrested three civilians to make up the number. I found them and stopped them. Later, the Ministry of the interior said that it was dangerous tenderness, so it arrested me and sent me to the punishment camp. "


    Standing in front of the fourth commander, who apparently looked like a central Asian, trekov asked, "what about you, comrade lieutenant, and why were you arrested?"


    The captain also stepped forward and reported: "Comrade General, Captain Gaidar reported to you that I am from Kazakhstan, originally the commander of the 302 infantry division of the 51 group army. Because one of the recruits in the camp was reported by his colleagues, saying that he once said, "if I go to the front line, I will be the first to surrender to the German army.". During his interrogation by the Ministry of the interior, he confessed to having five accomplices and gave their names. " At this point, the captain pauses, shrugs and says, "I''m one of them, so the others are executed, and I''m sent to the camp."


    After listening to the experience of the four commanders, I can''t help but get angry. They were all put into the punishment camp for some unwarranted charges. The Ministry of internal affairs is destroying the Great Wall by itself. Because I was angry, I didn''t hear the self introduction of the following commanders clearly.


    After the ten commanders had introduced themselves, trakov returned to the table and sat down. He said to the two political workers standing beside him, "Comrade krafchuk and Comrade shushkovich."


    They quickly came to trikov, straightened up and asked respectfully, "Comrade deputy commander, do you have any instructions?"


    Trakov waved at them and said, "now that you have sent some of the main commanders here, your mission will be completed, and now you can go back to Stalingrad."


    Hearing what trikov said, the two political workers were immediately flustered. Krafchuk said with a strong attitude: "Comrade deputy commander, our task is to take care of them, so as not to..."


    "In case of what?" Trikov got up on the table and said angrily, "didn''t you hear what they said just now? Such excellent commanders, do you even suspect that they will surrender to the enemy? "


    Kraftchuk said reluctantly, "Comrade General, maybe you have a point, but we have orders to supervise the officers from the correctional camp and the prisoners from the Gulag concentration camp. We will not leave until their bodies are completely destroyed. "


    After a heavy snort, trakov sat down again and stared at the two political workers in front of him without saying a word.


    Silence is a common way for leaders to show their authority and exert pressure on their subordinates, because as subordinates, facing superiors who can decide their own destiny and future, they will inevitably have the psychology of speculation and anxiety. Although the two political workers began to maintain a leisurely attitude and continued to wait patiently for trakov to change the order.


    But as time went on, trakov remained silent, and the two men were obviously unable to bear it. Sweat came out on their foreheads. After looking at each other, kraftchuk bowed to trakov to admit his mistake. He said in a low voice: "since the deputy commander has given the order, we will carry it out as subordinates. But there''s no basis for words. If you want to give us a written order, we can go back and do the work. "


    Trikov nodded, asked for a pen and paper from Colonel vossley boynikov, wrote down the order for Kravchuk and shushkovich to return to Stalingrad, and finally signed his name. When he gave the order to kraftchuk, he specially told him: "Comrade kraftchuk, when you leave later, take those commanders from the warehouse in the north of the village with you."


    "Ah?" Kraftchuk had a big meal when he heard the order. He asked in a puzzled way, "Comrade deputy commander, why did you take them away?" Not only kraftchuk is confused, but I am also puzzled. If we have hundreds of experienced commanders, we can save a lot of things when we command this 20000 prisoner team in the future.


    Trikov chuckled, looked at him with calm expression and firm eyes, and said, "Comrade political commissar of battalion level, how can I let you take these valuable commanders back? I''m asking you to take them to take over the prisoners that are coming. Remember, when these commanders take over the troops, let them take all the people to the forest in the east of the village to hide. "


    After the two political workers left dejectedly, trakov said to the ten commanders, "comrades, from now on, you are members of the 64th army. As for the nickname, "he frowned and thought for a moment, then said decisively," from right to left, they will be organized into new regiment one to new regiment ten. Captain xijerikov will be the head of new regiment one; Captain Oleg is the head of the new second regiment; Captain kosga was the head of the new third regiment; Captain Gaidar is the head of the new fourth regiment... "


    When trikov announced the names of the troops and their commanders, Captain xijerikov asked with a wry smile, "Comrade General, will we be used as cannon fodder and sacrificed in the battle?"


    Trikov could not help hesitating when he asked so suddenly. In a hurry, he did not know how to answer the question. Seeing the despairing expression on the captain''s face, I quickly stood up and said, "Comrade captain, you think too much. You are also a member of our 64th army. We will never sacrifice you as cannon fodder. But you also know that your identity is quite special, so according to the order of the superior, you will be organized into an independent force, using your principles: move in the most dangerous direction; We are not afraid of sacrifice. I hope you can all remember that you are fighting not only for your motherland, but also for your freedom and honor! " At this point, I deliberately stopped for a moment, glanced over their faces, then raised my voice and asked, "do you understand?"


    "I understand!" Ten people answered in unison.


    Trekov came up to me, patted me on the shoulder and said with approval, "o''shanina, I''m very relieved of your command ability. Now you can select a few of these ten commanders and let them be under your command to form an independent division. You can serve as the division commander and take office now. Don''t worry, I''ll equip you with enough weapons and ammunition to train them well. Maybe they can be used in future battles. "


    I feel trekov''s concern and ardent hope for me. I also know that trekov has placed high hopes on me after his sincere words, hoping that I can quickly grow into an excellent commander in this campaign. He asked me to be the commander of the new independent division because I have almost played the role of soy sauce since I went from Leningrad to Stalingrad. Although I have been in the headquarters of the two group armies, I have also served as the head of the group army. Unfortunately, I have no real power. I am tied up in doing things. I am constrained everywhere and can''t show my military ability. Now as an independent division commander and a real leader, I have the space to show my strength.


    I looked at the ten commanders in front of me again, pointed to Capt. chejerikov, Capt. Oleg, Capt. kosja and Capt. Gaidar with my hands, and said to trikov, "Comrade commander, give me four of them. With the strength of four regiments, I can give them the power of four divisions. "


    At my words, there was a happy smile on trakov''s face. When I inadvertently looked at my four new subordinates, I looked at their faces with disdain. I smile and don''t care with them. Anyway, there is a long way to go. As long as they are alive, they will recognize my command ability.


    When I was secretly proud, I suddenly remembered something and asked, "Comrade commander, if I am going to be the commander of the independent division, who will be the chief of staff of the group army? You know, Colonel Ruskin is still outside gathering up the scattered troops. "


    Trekov waved his hand and comforted me, saying, "you don''t have to worry about this. Today commander shumilov and Colonel Ruskin have a phone call. He will be back to the headquarters at noon tomorrow at the latest. Then we will have the chief of staff again." After that, he said with some regret: "I wanted you to choose more troops just now, but I didn''t expect you to choose four regiments. Then I will take the remaining six regiments."


    "Comrade commander, how do you plan to use these six regiments?" Although I have never met these soldiers from Gulag concentration camp, I am also worried about their unknown fate.


    "When the transport regiment uses it," trekov said to me in a low voice, "Colonel klobkin''s tunnel doesn''t need to store a lot of supplies. I''ll let the soldiers of these six regiments transport supplies."


    When trikov finished, he saw that the ten commanders were still standing upright, so he told them, "well, comrades, don''t stand there foolishly. Let''s all find a place to sit down and have a rest. As soon as it gets light, we will go to the forest to receive the troops from afar. "

 Chapter 520

    Before dawn, trekov and I got a call from shumilov. I could tell from his voice that he was a little panicked. He asked conventionally, "Comrade trakov, when will you be able to return to the headquarters of the group army?"


    "What''s the matter?" Trekov asked cautiously, looking at the large group of commanders sitting around him.


    "It''s hard to say on the phone. You''ll go back to the headquarters with commander o''shanina immediately. I have something important to discuss with you." Then he hung up.


    Trikov stood up and said to Colonel vosliboynikov, who was sitting opposite him, "Comrade Colonel, lieutenant commander oshanina and I are going to go back to the headquarters immediately. I''ll leave it to you to take over the team later."


    The Colonel quickly stood up, straightened up and replied loudly, "please rest assured, deputy commander. I promise to finish the task you assigned."


    Trikov nodded with satisfaction, then turned to me, swung his head aside, and said, "come on, comrade oshanina, let''s go back to the headquarters."


    Back at the headquarters of the group army, shumilov was walking around the room with his hands behind his back, while the two military commissars were sitting at the table, smoking. The whole room was full of smoke, and the ashtray made of tins on the table was full of cigarette ends.


    As soon as he saw him meet, shumilov came up like a straw, grabbed him by the arm, pulled him to his seat and said in a hurry, "Comrade trakov, you''re back. Something''s wrong." Two military commissars also pressed out their cigarettes and stood up to say hello to trikov.


    Trikov gently broke away from shumilov''s hand and asked, "Comrade commander, tell me. What''s the matter with you in such a hurry to call me back to the headquarters?"


    "Comrade trakov, you see," shumilov said to him, leaning down and pointing to the map, "as soon as he got the information, an enemy force bypassed our renok line from the South and made a detour to our junction with the 51st army. In this five kilometer gap, there was originally a company of the 51st group army defending here. Who knows that the company commander saw that the enemy was powerful and didn''t fire a shot, so he took his troops and fled. "


    When shumilov said this, trikov slapped the table angrily and yelled angrily: "you should call the commander of the 51st army immediately, and catch this coward who is afraid of life and death and flees in the face of battle and shoot him!"


    Sheldyuk took over the topic and said: "just now, the commander of the 51st group army has been executed on the spot by the supervisor of the Ministry of interior. Now we have to consider how to solve this small enemy force wedged into our rear. "


    Trikov drew a cigarette from the cigarette box on the table, lit it, took two puffs, pressed it out in the ashtray, and resolutely said, "comrades, from the present situation, the enemy wants to encircle and destroy us at all costs. From our side, we can''t just defend ourselves, we can''t just let the 51st army destroy this enemy. We have to seize the opportunity to fight back, you remember solov once said: it''s amazing to win. We should counterattack, take the initiative and mess up the enemy. How about a surprise attack? "


    "Surprise troops?" "What do you mean, comrade trakov?" shumilov asked


    Trikov pointed to the map and said, "it''s very simple. Let general biliukov''s 214th division send a regiment under the cover of tanks and immediately move out. When the enemy''s foothold is not stable, it will launch a sudden attack on them and wipe them out completely and cleanly."


    After listening to trakov''s plan, Abramov tentatively asked: "should we inform the 51st army and let them also send troops to cooperate. If they attack each other in two ways, they have a better chance of winning."


    Trakov waved his hand and directly denied Abramov''s proposal, explaining: "if the two army groups fight together, the chance of winning is higher, but it''s too time-consuming. And now what we need most is time. When the enemy gets a firm foothold at dawn and there are planes to help us, our offensive forces will suffer heavy losses. " At this point, he picked up the phone from the desk and called general biliukov.


    As for trikov, without the permission of the commander, he issued orders directly to the following division commander. Not only the two military commissars had a common expression, but also shumilov acquiesced. It seems that in everyone''s mind, they all regard trakov as the real group commander.


    When biliukov''s voice came out of the microphone, trakov didn''t show any politeness to him. He said frankly, "general biliukov, I have a mission for you. Do you have the confidence to finish it? "


    Without hesitation, bilukov said, "Comrade trakov, please rest assured that no matter how difficult the task is, our 214 Infantry Division will guarantee to complete it."


    "Well, since you are so confident, it''s right to give you the task." On hearing biliukov''s reply, trakov''s face showed a happy smile, and he continued, "Comrade biliukov, listen, not long ago, a German army bypassed the lines of your division and the 229th division, detoured back to our junction with the 51st army, and occupied a position. Your task is to attack the unstable enemy immediately under the cover of tank units, and we must eliminate them cleanly. "


    "Comrade trakov, please rest assured that as long as our 214 division attacks, we will never let this enemy escape. You will wait for our good news." Bilukov said confidently.


    Trikov nodded with a smile and said, "well, general biliukov, I''ll wait for the news of your victory. You muster your troops as soon as possible, and I''ll send my messenger, sidtorin, to you as a guide. "


    Shortly after the order was given, the chief of staff, Colonel Ruskin, who had expected to return in the afternoon, appeared at the headquarters. As soon as he saw that several major leaders of the group army were present, he immediately came forward to salute and reported, "report commander, deputy commander and military commissar comrades, I have completed the task of gathering the rout troops and I will come back to report to you."


    When shumilov saw the chief of staff coming back, he was also a little excited. He quickly asked, "Comrade Raskin, is everything going well when you go to collect the rout troops this time?"


    Raskin nodded his head vigorously and answered excitedly, "yes, comrade commander, the task has been completed very smoothly. Most of our scattered troops were hidden in the valley or some small villages. When they learned that we were going to take in small troops, they came to report to us one after another. This time, I have gathered more than 2000 soldiers with combat experience. "


    "More than 2000 soldiers!" "It''s good that you can take in so many people in a short period of time. These commanders and fighters can form another regiment," he said absently


    Sheldjukla stayed in Ruskin and asked himself the question he was interested in: "are there any political workers and grassroots commanders in the troops he took in?"


    Raskin shook his head and said regretfully, "I''m sorry, comrade military Commissar. There are really no people you care about. You know, after the troops of these commanders and fighters were defeated by the Germans, they broke out in small groups and lost contact with their superiors. "


    "By the way, comrade Ruskin, come here. I have a task for you." When trakov saw Raskin talking with sheldyuk, he suddenly thought of the 20000 recruits in the 208th division. He called Raskin over and said, "Comrade Raskin, the headquarters of the front army has supplied us with 20000 recruits. They are now in the forest near the headquarters of the 208th division. You should hurry to contact the commander of the division, Colonel vosliboynikov. In addition to the independent division of lieutenant colonel oshanina, there are six other regiments. You take them all back to the headquarters of the group army. "


    "Independent teacher? What kind of independent teacher? " Raskin asked in a confused way.


    "Yes, comrade trekov, what''s the matter?" Not to mention that Raskin didn''t know the state, even shumilov asked blankly, "when was the independent division formed? How can I not know?"


    Trikov waved to shumilov and said, "Comrade commander, I''ll explain to you later about the independent division. The priority now is to let Comrade Raskin go and bring back the more than 10000 recruits first." Then he urged Raskin: "chief of staff, don''t dally. Go to the 208 division. Maybe the commander, Colonel vosliboynikov, is in a hurry. In addition, pull a batch of weapons and ammunition from the reserve warehouse of the group army to the independent division. If they don''t have weapons, they can''t fight this battle. "


    After Raskin left, trikov explained to shumilov, "there are 20000 new soldiers, of which 8000 have been selected to form an independent division, and commander oshanina will be appointed as the division commander."


    Shumilov looked at me and asked trikov in a tone of disbelief, "Comrade trikov, do you think lieutenant commander oshanina is qualified for this position?"


    Shumilov said that, which made me look very embarrassed. I wanted to explain, but I was afraid to make the commander unhappy, so I had to keep silent for the time being. Fortunately, trikov came out in time to help me out: "Comrade shumilov, I highly recognize the commanding ability of lieutenant commander oshanina, and I also think she is the best candidate for this position."


    When he heard that, shumilov had no choice but to nod his head and said, "well, comrade trakov, since you have so much confidence in lieutenant commander o''shanina, I believe in your vision and let her be the military commander of this newly formed army. Besides, do you need to send political workers to this unit? "


    Trekov shook his head and directly rejected shumilov''s proposal: "this is not necessary. I believe that with the ability of lieutenant colonel oshanina, she can lead this army well."


    As he was speaking, a communications officer came running in from the outside. He held up a telegraph and yelled: "Comrade commander, it''s a telegram from general biliukov, the commander of the 214th division." I went up to receive the telegram from the staff officer. Before I could read it, I handed it to trakov.


    After reading the telegram at a glance, trakov handed it to shumilov and excitedly said to us, "general biliukov is good. His troops have defeated the German troops that detour back to the rear of our army. They are now pursuing the remnant enemy."


    With these words, seeing that the communications staff officer was still standing at the door, he waved for him to come over and said, "staff officer, call general biliukov back: we must wipe out all the enemies and don''t let any of them run away."


    After recording the order, the staff officer raised his hand to salute him and then turned to the telegraph room.


    Mr. biliukov acted quickly and called again half an hour later to report that the enemy had been completely annihilated. Most of the enemy had been killed in the battle. Seeing that the rest of them were desperate, they were forced to lay down their arms and surrender to our army.


    When he learned that our army had completely annihilated the German troops who had been returning to the rear, he grinned silently. Then he went forward and reported to trakov, "report deputy commander, I have brought back 12000 new fighters. In order to prevent exposing the target from being attacked by enemy planes, I''ve scattered them in nearby valleys and forests. At the same time, due to the rush of time, it is impossible to provide all the weapons and ammunition required for the independent division''s troops in a short time, but only a part of the weapons and ammunition has been replenished first, and the rest will be replenished in two to three days. "


    Trikov nodded with satisfaction and praised, "well done, comrade Ruskin." Then he came up to me and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, it''s up to you. Go and take over your own troops quickly."


    I stood still and said to him in embarrassment, "report to deputy commander, I don''t know where to find my own troops."


    As soon as he patted his forehead, trikov called out: "Oh! If you don''t, I''ll forget about it. " Then he yelled out, "sidtorin, where''s sidtorin?"


    When I heard trakov calling his Messenger, I knew that he wanted little sidtorin to be my guide. I immediately reminded him and said, "sorry, comrade deputy commander, I want to remind you that sidtorin was a guide for general biliukov to fight those Germans who detour back to the rear of our army."


    Trikov chuckled and said to himself, "look at my memory, I forget such an important thing. Let''s go. I''ll take you to my jeep and let the driver take you


    I followed trakov outside and saw his jeep not far away. Seeing us coming out, the driver came out of the car and saluted us. Trekov stepped forward and whispered something to the driver. I saw the driver nodding, guessing that trakov might be telling him where to take me.


    Sure enough, trikov turned to me and said in a loud voice, "commander oshanina, get in the car. I''ve told the driver where I''m going, and he''ll take you there. " After thanking trekov sincerely, I got on his jeep.


    After the jeep had been driving for more than ten minutes, trekov''s driver pulled me near a forest. Looking out of the window, I saw an army standing in a neat line on the edge of the forest in the distance.


    The jeep stopped more than ten meters away from the team. The driver turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, when we get there, general trakov will tell me to send you here."


    When I got out of the car, Captain xiejerikov came over, saluted and yelled: "report to Mr. commander, Captain xiejerikov, head of the new regiment, report to you. All the commanders of the independent division have assembled and are waiting for your instructions!"


    After I returned the salute, I glanced at the team with satisfaction and said, "very good, all at ease!"


    Shejerikov replied, "yes!" He turned around and ran to the team, shouting: "all of you, listen to my command, relax!"


    I went to the front of the team and looked at the commanders standing neatly. I had mixed feelings. These 80 commanders were all the commanding force of my independent division.


    I waved to everyone, said with a smile: "Hello everyone!"


    I didn''t expect that all the people were standing in the same place like wooden piles, looking straight at each other, but no one answered me, which made me feel a little embarrassed.


    I had to shout to the leaders at the end of the line, "Captain chejerikov, Captain Oleg, Captain kosga, Captain Gaidar, come out!"


    As I yelled, the four stepped out of the line and stood in a neat line in front of me. Their eyes were fixed on me, silent, waiting for my further orders.


    I went up to captain shejerikov, looked at his belt and pistol, and asked, "Comrade captain, how many weapons have the chief of staff of the group army distributed to you?"


    Shejerikov replied in a loud voice: "Comrade report division commander, Colonel Raskin, chief of staff of the group army, distributed US 84 pistols, 1000 rifles and 20 light machine guns. But there are too few bullets. On average, there are only five bullets per rifle and only 20 bullets per machine gun. "


    I could not help frowning a little when I heard that such a little weapon had been distributed. I said to myself that Colonel Ruskin was so stingy and that such a little weapon was enough. Although it was just said that it would be added one after another the day after tomorrow, I can''t believe his words. Maybe he will forget about it when there are many things tomorrow. No, I''m going to find trakov tomorrow and ask him to send us more weapons and ammunition, at least twice as much as now.


    But in the presence of these commanders, I still have to maintain the image of the headquarters of the group army. I coughed as if I were talking to myself and explaining to them: "the group army has added 20000 people this time, but it can''t give you so many weapons at once, so you should understand more. Bread, there will be; Milk, there will be; There will be everything. "


    "Comrade division," Captain shijerikov took over my topic and asked, "what shall we do next?"¡° What else can we do, of course, is to train your soldiers! They are all civilians without any military training. If they fight like this, don''t they let them die in vain? Do you understand what I said? "¡° I see! " Not only the four commanders in front of me answered my questions in unison, but also the 80 company commanders behind them answered me in unison.

 Chapter 521

    If I direct eight or 80 people, I can do it easily; It''s hard to command 800 people; If it''s 8000 people, it''s hard to catch them. In order to manage the independent division well, the first thing I have to do is to accept the 84 commanders in front of me, so that they can sincerely accept me, so as to convey my orders to every soldier in the division.


    But judging from the situation just now, except for the four regimental commanders, the remaining 80 company commanders did not have the slightest sense of identity with me. This is the most troublesome thing for me.


    I walked back and forth in front of the line, looking at the captains, wondering what to say to the commanders coming out of the camp. At this moment, there was a discordant voice in the queue: "Comrade division, I heard that the higher authorities are going to treat us as cannon fodder and let us go to the battlefield to die. Is there such a thing?"


    His words caused an uproar. Although dozens of commanders stood still, they were whispering to each other and discussing the truth of the matter fiercely. Although the queue was as noisy as a vegetable market, the four leaders did not join in the discussion. They stood upright and did not squint.


    I stood in front of the line and raised my right hand high to signal silence. After all, they are all commanders. Their discipline is better than that of ordinary soldiers. When I see my hands raised high, the voice of the team gradually decreases, and soon it is completely quiet.


    Seeing that no one spoke, I gave a sneer and said discontentedly, "comrades of commanders, look down and see what you are wearing." Speaking of this, I stopped for a moment to observe everyone''s reaction. Seeing that most people instinctively look down at their military uniforms, I then said aloud, "what you are wearing is not civilian clothes, but military uniforms representing your own identity. Since we are soldiers, we must have the consciousness of protecting our country. In order to protect our great motherland and our people, we will sacrifice our lives. "


    After I said these words, someone in the team said loudly: "Comrade commander, we are not afraid of sacrifice, but we don''t want to bear the indelible reputation when we die in the battlefield."


    "Yes, we can''t die on the battlefield like this."


    "We demand the restoration of our reputation!"


    A stone stirred up a thousand waves, and the unknown commander''s words immediately aroused the support of the vast majority of the commanders present. Looking at everyone''s fierce situation, I know that if we don''t stop it quickly, the scene will be out of control. Thinking of this, I raised my right hand again to signal everyone to keep quiet.


    When the team was silent again, I said to them in a loud voice: "comrades commander, I ask you, look at me, look at my eyes!" Although everyone didn''t understand what I said, all the people turned to me. I bravely looked at them and said sincerely, "no matter what reason you were sent to the punishment camp before. But now you stand here and become my subordinates, and your own lives will begin anew. As your teachers, as long as you don''t be greedy for life and fear death, run away or defecte to the enemy on the battlefield, no matter what happens, I will defend you. "


    After my words, there was still silence in the team. I''m not happy to see your reaction. You didn''t react at all. When I was about to get angry, I suddenly thought that these people had just been released from the punishment camp. It''s normal not to believe me.


    I took a deep breath, calmed down my excited mood, tried to keep calm, and said: "today is the first time that I have met you. I can understand that we can''t establish mutual trust in a short time, and I don''t blame you. Just now someone in the team said that our division''s commanders and fighters would become cannon fodder and be sent to the most dangerous area by the superior to die in vain. As for your worries, I can tell you very clearly that the battle of Stalingrad will be an extremely cruel battle. Not only us, but all the people in Stalingrad, from the generals in important positions to the ordinary soldiers, may be killed. " When I said this, I found that the expression on everyone''s face became dignified. "What I want to tell you is that this battle is of great significance to us. We are fighting not only for our motherland, but also for our military honor!"


    At first, I felt that my words were so plain that they would not resonate with everyone. Unexpectedly, as soon as the voice fell, Captain xiejerikov took the lead in shouting: "Wula!" Then Oleg, kosja, Gaidar and other three commanders also followed suit and called out: "Wula! Wula


    With the four of them shouting, the commanders in the queue also cried out in unison: "Wula! Wula!! Wula The voice of 84 throats was neat and rhythmic. I couldn''t help but feel excited when I heard it.


    After the team calmed down again, I continued: "now, I''d like to talk about the establishment of independent divisions. The Division has four regiments under its jurisdiction. The regiment directly commands the company, with no battalions in the middle. The first group was headed by Russian captain shejerikov, who was in charge of 20 commanders of the first, second and second platoons; The second commander was captain Oleg from Belarus, and the commanders of the third and fourth platoons were under his command; The third commander was captain kosja, a Ukrainian, who commanded the commanders of the fifth and sixth platoon; The fourth commander is Gaidar from Kazakhstan, who commands the commanders of the 78th and 78th platoons. "


    Shijerikov asked me, "Sir, what is our next task?"


    After pondering for a moment, I replied: "the first, second and third regiments organize troops for training, and the fourth regiment is responsible for building barracks in the forest."


    "Excuse me, what is the training subject of the army?" The question was raised by the third commander, Captain kosga.


    "It''s not necessary to train in line." I looked at the neat lines deep in the forest and said, "the soldiers from the Gulag concentration camp are more orderly than the recruits who have been training for two or three months. You mainly train them how to shoot and basic tactical movements, which can be used in combat. " At this point, I waved to you and said, "disband, everyone, go back to their company, get familiar with their subordinates, and seize the time to carry out training. Maybe our division will fight in some time."


    The commanders in the queue agreed loudly and then disbanded. Then they surrounded their respective commanders. One was to get to know each other, and the other was to ask for instructions on the training subjects to be carried out later. From the fact that they don''t glance at me from time to time, I guess that they may still be asking their respective commanders to apply for more weapons to arm their companies so as to increase their combat effectiveness.


    In the middle of the uproar, a jeep came and stopped not far from me. The door opened and a lieutenant jumped out. He looked around for a moment and ran to me without hesitation. Although looking at the lieutenant is a strange face, but I still understand that there may be important things to find me.


    I went to meet the lieutenant and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, are you here for me?"


    After standing at attention, the lieutenant politely asked, "is this lieutenant commander o''shanina?" Seeing that I nodded and admitted, he continued, "I''m the combat staff officer of the 208 division. There''s a call for you in the division headquarters. The division commander, Colonel wolsley boynikov, specially asked me to call you."


    After listening to the staff officer''s remarks, I thought that at the right time, we should ask trakov to equip our division with communication equipment. Otherwise, if we rely on people to convey orders, we may miss our fighters. I asked the staff tentatively, "Comrade lieutenant, do you know what you want me to do?"


    The staff officer shook his head and said, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. My rank can''t know the content of the phone. Please leave immediately and follow me to the division headquarters. "


    I nodded, turned to look back, and saw the commanders scattered one after another. With his back to me, xijerikov stood in the same place, his hands akimbo, watching his men leave. I yelled at him in a loud voice, "Captain chejerikov, come to me."


    The captain heard my cry and looked back. He saw that I was waving to him. He trotted to me and asked in a low voice, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"


    I waved my head at him and said, "get in the car and follow me to the division headquarters of the 208 th division."


    "Yes, I follow your instructions!" With that, he quickly ran to the jeep and opened the back door for me.


    When I came to the division headquarters of the 208 th division, Col. vosliboynikov and his staff were busy. When I came in, I pointed to a telephone on the table in the corner and said, "Lt. commander oshanina, it''s general trakov who called you personally and said that there is an important combat mission. Now that you are here, give the general a call and go back. "


    After thanking the colonel, I picked up the phone on the desk, shook the handle a few times, heard the voice of the operator in the microphone, and said to her, "Comrade operator, please connect me with the headquarters of the group army."


    The phone soon got through. Inside came the voice of the chief of staff, Colonel Ruskin. He said in a loud voice, "this is the headquarters of the group army. Where are you?"


    I quickly said: "Hello, comrade Colonel, I''m lieutenant commander o''shanina..."


    Before I finished, he had interrupted me and said hastily, "Comrade commander, why did you call so late? General trakov has something urgent for you. You wait!" With that, I heard him calling for trekov to answer the phone.


    Soon, trakov''s voice came out of the microphone: "commander oshanina, you''re here at last. I''ve been waiting for you for more than half an hour."


    "Comrade General," I quickly explained, "there is no communication equipment in the division. It''s a little far from the headquarters of the 208 division. I came as soon as I received the order."


    "Well, don''t say that." Trekov said to himself, "I have an important combat task to give you. Listen carefully."


    Trikov''s words made my heart thump. As soon as the army was established, it had not been put into training, and the soldiers did not even have weapons in their hands, they had to arrange important combat tasks. Didn''t they let us die. But he had to say respectfully, "Comrade General, I''m waiting for your instructions."


    "Do you have a map in your hand?" Trekov asked.


    I covered the microphone and wanted to ask Colonel vossliboynikov if there was a map. As soon as I turned around, I saw that the staff officer who had just come to meet me was standing not far away and waved to him.


    The staff officer came to me and asked politely, "Comrade commander, what instructions do you have?"


    "Is there a map here?" As soon as the words came out, I found that they were not very accurate. There was a big map in front of the colonel who was studying with his subordinates. I was afraid that the staff officer would run over and take that map, and quickly explained, "Comrade lieutenant, do you mean there is any extra map?"


    The staff officer looked at me and continued to ask, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what area map you want?"


    I quickly removed my hand from the microphone and asked trekov, "Comrade General, what''s the map of the area?"


    "A map of the orlovka area."


    I quickly repeated what trakov had said to the staff: "I want a map of the orlovka area."


    "Yes, just a moment, please!" With that, the staff officer turned and left the division headquarters.


    While waiting for the staff to take the map, I began to complain to trikov: "Comrade General, our division now needs not only a lot of weapons to arm the soldiers, but also necessary communication equipment..."


    "Come on, come on," trikov laughed at me. He joked, "when you were running around with me before, I didn''t see you talking so much. Why do you keep asking me for this and that as soon as you become a teacher. You know, I''m not Aladdin''s lamp. I can''t satisfy all your wishes. "


    "But if you don''t have weapons, you can''t let my soldiers fight with the enemy barehanded." I don''t need communication equipment for the time being, but I can''t do without weapons. Even if the superior can''t distribute any heavy weapons to our division, at least every soldier should have weapons.


    At this time, the staff officer hurried in from the outside and handed me a map: "Comrade commander, this is the map you want."


    I nodded to the staff officer with a smile and said to trikov, "Comrade General, here is the map. Please give me your order."


    "Five kilometers from the front of the 70th division, there is a residential area which has been occupied by the German army. The first operational order I gave to your division was to try every means to get this settlement back from the enemy. "


    "What should we do after taking back the residential area? Is it to keep it?" Looking at the map, I asked seriously, saying that the enemy can take this residential area as the starting point for attack, but if we want to defend this residential area far away from our army''s defense line, we must invest a lot of troops, otherwise we will be easily cut off from the rear by the enemy.


    "No, your division''s task is to seize this settlement from the enemy." After giving a simple order, trakov took the initiative to ask for my advice: "o''shanina, how are you going to fight?"


    Looking at the residential areas on the map, I said carefully: "Comrade General, this kind of battle for residential areas has ruled out the possibility of using large troops. Therefore, only a small number of infantry and a small number of artillery and tank fire support can be put into the battle. I plan to deploy troops, organize small and capable teams, attack the enemy with swift and violent assault, and take back every building occupied by the enemy. "


    "Well, comrade oshanina, your idea is good." "When the settlements are recaptured, you can sum up these useful experiences and promote them in the street fighting in Stalingrad in the future," he said with approval


    I can''t help frowning slightly when I heard that. I didn''t expect that trikov realized that we couldn''t stop the enemy''s crazy attack. The battle would start in Stalingrad sooner or later. He had already prepared for the future street battle.


    At this moment, behind him came the voice of Xie jerikov: "Sir, I have a personal opinion. I don''t know whether to say it or not?"


    "O''shanina, who is speaking beside you?" Trekov asked rudely in the microphone.


    "Comrade General, the commander of the army, is captain xiejerikov. He wants to talk about his views on this battle. I think we should listen to his opinions as a commander with rich combat experience. " I was afraid that trekov would blame Sergey reekov for breaking in and saying good things for the captain.


    "Let him talk. I''m listening." Trakov said angrily. Although I didn''t blame the captain in my face, I could hear a trace of dissatisfaction from his tone.


    The captain didn''t care about this. He said to himself, "in the battle for the settlement, the first thing we should pay attention to is the number of troops used. If the enemy has just occupied the residential area, it will be too late for them to build fortifications and build solid defenses. In this case, small units can be used to operate independently. If the enemy has occupied the area for one or two weeks, and uses solid fortifications and well-equipped firepower network to protect its defense, then it is very unlikely that small units can fight independently and achieve success, Small units can only be used as sharp knives of large units.... "


    Before the captain finished, trakov had already clapped his hands and said "yes" in the microphone. He excitedly said to me, "o''shanina, I didn''t expect that there are talents in your men. Please tell him that if we succeed in seizing the settlement, I will personally promote him to the rank of major and appoint him as the deputy commander of the independent division. " At this point, he stopped for a moment, changed the subject and asked, "when do you think your division will be able to fight?"


    Instead of answering immediately, I turned to the captain and saw that he held out three fingers at me, so I replied decisively to trekov: "Comrade General, please give me three days. Three days later, the trained commanders and fighters will be able to fight. "¡° Well, three days, three days! " "Tomorrow I''ll send someone to transport the rest of the weapons to your division. In addition, in about an hour, the communication equipment provided for your division will arrive, and you will be left to receive it. "

 Chapter 522

    Although trakov said that in an hour, vehicles carrying communications equipment would arrive at the 208 division. As a result, I waited for more than three hours and didn''t see the team he mentioned.


    After a meeting with his subordinates, Colonel vosliboynikov came to talk to me. After a few words, some subordinates came in to report their work to him. He had to smile apologetically at me and leave me and captain chejerikov to continue his work.


    When I was bored in every way, the kind-hearted staff officer rushed in and said to me with a smile: "Comrade commander, the team you are waiting for is coming. It''s stopping outside now."


    After listening to the staff officer''s report, my chief sighed with relief and said, "thank God, the convoy sent by general trakov has finally arrived. Thank you, comrade lieutenant Then I turned around and said to the man standing next to me, "come on, comrade captain, let''s see what Comrade General has prepared for us."


    Although the staff just told me that there was a motorcade outside, I was not in the mood. I thought that at most there were two or three trucks, one for communication equipment and the other for food. I didn''t expect to go out to have a look, which scared me. On the street outside, there were at least 20 trucks parked, which was a real motorcade.


    Shejerikov was as surprised as I was when he saw such a huge motorcade. He asked curiously, "Sir, what''s on the car? Why are there so many trucks?"


    I shrugged and chuckled. "I didn''t expect general trakov to send me so many trucks. As for what''s on it, just go and have a look. "


    I walked toward the front car, still far away, and asked aloud, "Hello, I said who is in charge?"


    As I yelled, the front passenger''s door opened and a young soldier jumped out of the car. Seeing the coming soldier, I stopped and stood in the same place, looking at him with a smile.


    The soldier came to me, raised his hand to salute, and reported: "report to commander oshanina, private sidorin. I''m on the order of general trakov, leading the transport team to report to you and wait for your order."


    I put my hand on his shoulder and asked with concern, "sidtorin, you''re back. In the morning, he served as a guide for general biliukov to fight the Germans. Was he not hurt? "


    Sidtorin shook his head vigorously and said, "no, comrade commander, I''m still smart. The bullet can''t hit me."


    I looked at the long motorcade and asked him curiously, "sidtorin, general trakov has sent me so many trucks. What are they loaded with?"


    Instead of answering me directly, sidtorin said mysteriously, "don''t worry, comrade commander. Don''t be impatient. The answer will be announced soon." At this point, he turned and ran to the motorcade, while shouting: "communication class and security class listen, get out of the car immediately and come to me."


    With his shouts, I saw soldiers jump from several cars behind. Soon they were in two neat rows near the head car. I secretly counted ten people in each row, just twenty people.


    At this time, sidtorin came back to me and reported excitedly: "report, comrade commander, the security and communication classes of the division headquarters of the independent division have assembled. Please review."


    Security and communications. What''s going on? Trakov only said that he provided communication equipment for our division, but did not say that he also sent the communication soldiers responsible for operating the equipment. I went over with doubts and stopped in front of the queue. I found that most of the two rows of soldiers standing in front of me were female soldiers.


    Just when I was in a daze, a slender female soldier came out of the first row. She gave me a serious salute and reported dryly: "Comrade commander, Sergeant razumeyeva, the monitor of the communication class, reports to you that the newly established communication class of the independent division has assembled and is waiting for your orders."


    After I saluted her, I politely said, "please be in the line." Then I looked over her to the second row. When I saw three acquaintances in the line, I asked aloud, "who is the monitor of the guard class?"


    After a short silence, the blonde soldier I knew strode up to me, raised her hand to salute, and solemnly reported, "report to Comrade Lida. Willa, the monitor of the guard class, reports to you. The whole class is assembled and waiting for your orders."


    "Aren''t you an antiaircraft shooter? Why did you suddenly become the monitor of my guard class?" I raised my hand and asked Willa who was standing in front of me curiously.


    When Vera saw that I was kind-hearted, she boldly replied, "Rita, that''s right. In the afternoon, general trakov called me, nagia and wonia. He said that your old acquaintance, lieutenant commander oshanina, needed help there. Don''t be an antiaircraft shooter. Let''s all work as security guards for her. So the three of us became members of your security class, I was also appointed monitor


    When Vera returned to the queue, I raised my hand to look at my watch, and then said to everyone, "it''s getting late. We need to go back to the division as soon as possible. All of you. Listen to my command: attention, turn back, get in the car


    After seeing all the soldiers get on the bus, I said to sidtorin and chejerikov, who were still standing beside me, "sidtorin, you''d better get on the bus and be a guide for the driver. Comrade captain, you get in the second car. "


    After listening to my arrangement, they asked with concern, "what about you?"


    "I''ll take a car with the women soldiers and talk to them by the way."


    The women soldiers were sitting in the carriage of the second car. Seeing that I was going to get on, several women soldiers reached out to me. I grabbed one of them and climbed into the carriage.


    While the car was driving, I sat talking with sergeant razumeyeva on the opposite side, and I asked, "sergeant, what kind of communication equipment have you brought in this time?"


    "Report to lieutenant commander," said razumeyeva, who was about to stand up and salute. I quickly waved her hand and motioned her to sit down and answer my question. "They are all newly added telephones. These girls are all operators." Then she began to introduce me to the members of the communication class, "corporal Najia, corporal guliyayeva, private Taya, private Liuba, private Lena, private kraftya, private Shula." Every time she said a name, I nodded to the girl.


    After she introduced the communication class, I also told her the current situation of the independent division: "sergeant, the independent division now has four regiments, and the division headquarters will be with one regiment. In this way, your communication class will be divided into four groups to ensure that each regiment has a telephone, so as to keep the communication between the regiments smooth. Is that all right? "


    Razumeyeva readily agreed: "no problem, wait until the place, I will immediately allocate manpower."


    The motorcade didn''t drive long, because it was about to reach its destination, and the speed gradually slowed down. Soldiers on guard with guns outside the forest, seeing our motorcade approaching, immediately gave an alarm. Then a group of people rushed out of the forest and trotted towards our motorcade. When approaching the motorcade, they stopped, raised their hands to stop the motorcade, and asked aloud, "stop, which part are you from?"


    The motorcade stopped steadily at the side of the road. In order to prevent misunderstanding, no one got off the car after the car stopped steadily. Only captain xiejerikov pushed the door open and jumped out of the car to greet the soldiers and negotiate with them.


    Seeing that all the captains got out of the car, I couldn''t stay in the car any longer, so with the help of my girls, I left the car and walked towards them with submachine guns.


    After a few steps, Xie jerikov came with a man in a hurry. I fixed my eyes on it. It turned out that it was captain kosga, the third commander. As soon as kosja saw me, he couldn''t wait to say, "Comrade commander, you are back. I haven''t seen you and captain chejerikov for such a long time, but we are worried. We are going to send someone to the division headquarters of the 208 th division to look for you. " His voice was particularly respectful, with a clear sense of concern.


    "We came back late because we were waiting for the convoy of supplies." Although I, as his superior, could not explain anything to him, I simply explained the reason for his concern for us.


    "So many trucks?" Looking at the long motorcade, kosja was still a little surprised. However, seeing my indifferent expression, he quickly took the initiative to say, "Comrade division commander, you and captain xiejerikov, please go back to the headquarters of the first regiment to have a rest. I''ll give it to you here. I''ll arrange someone to unload the car."


    "Communication class, guard class get off!" After accepting cosga''s kindness, I yelled at the car.


    The girls and boys who had been waiting for a long time in the car heard my command and jumped out of the car one after another, and quickly formed a line in front of me. I looked at the soldiers and nodded with satisfaction. Captain xijerikov came over and gave orders instead of me: "everyone, listen to my command: stand at attention, turn left and walk in unison."


    When the soldiers of the guard class and the communication class walked to the forest with neat steps, I also quickly followed them. At the same time, I asked Xie jerikov, "Comrade captain, where is the headquarters of the first regiment, do you know?"


    Shejerikov nodded his head and replied, "yes, Captain kosja has just told me where the regiment headquarters is."


    After entering the forest, walking about 200 meters to the East, a big log house appeared in front. Xiejerikov quickly pointed to the wooden house and said to me, "Sir, you see, that''s my regimental headquarters."


    There are two soldiers on guard at the gate of the regiment headquarters. They obviously knew captain shejerikov. Seeing us approaching, they not only didn''t stop us, but also came up to salute the captain and reported, "Comrade commander, this is the newly built regiment headquarters. Please go in and have a rest."


    After politely thanking the two soldiers, the captain said to them, "go to your company commander and ask him to send someone to bring all the leaders of the second and fourth regiments here. It is said that the division commander will hold an important military meeting soon, and no one can be absent. "


    The soldiers of the communication class and the guard class all stopped at the door, and only me and chejerikov went into the cabin. As soon as I came in, I found that it was quite spacious. There was a big new wooden table in the middle of the room. There were four benches around the table. On the left and right walls, there was a steam lamp, shining brightly on the whole room.


    I sat down at the table, looked at the bare table, and said with a little regret, "it''s a pity that there isn''t even a map here. How can I explain it to the leaders later in the meeting?"


    Just then, he walked into xidolin from the door. Holding a picture bag in his hand, he took over my topic and said, "Lieutenant Commander o''shanina, I''m afraid you don''t have a map here, so I''ve specially asked me to bring you some."


    "Thank you very much, comrade soldier." He took the bag from sidtorin, opened it, drew out the map and spread it carefully on the table. After careful examination, he said to me, "the map given to us by Comrade division commander and deputy commander is from the orlovka area, which is suitable for us."


    As soon as his voice fell, Captain kosga''s voice came from the door. He said in a loud voice, "Comrade division commander, the group army has equipped us with four telephone sets. Now we can ensure the smooth communication between several regiments." When he entered the room, he was followed by several soldiers carrying the telephone. They carefully placed the telephone in the corner and then turned away.


    Seeing the four telephones in the corner, I rushed to the door and yelled, "sergeant razumeyeva, please come in."


    With my shouts, razumeyeva walked into the headquarters, raised her hand to salute me, and politely asked, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"


    I pointed to the radio station on the ground and said to her, "sergeant, all the phones are here. You immediately assign the communication class and send them to each regiment. "


    "Yes The sergeant made a loud promise, turned and walked out of the room.


    She left the room with her forefoot, and captain Oleg, the second commander, and captain Gaidar, the fourth commander, walked in side by side. As soon as they saw me, they raised their hands and saluted again. The report said, "Mr. reporter, the second (fourth) commander Oleg (Gaidar) has been ordered to come and wait for your instructions."


    I just pointed to the bench beside the table and said, "two leaders, come and sit down. Now that all the people are here, let''s have a meeting. " After they sat down, I went on to say, "our superior has given us an important combat order. Let captain chejerikov, the first commander, introduce the specific situation to you."


    Captain shejerikov, who was named by me, stood up, put his hands on the edge of the table, and said to all of you, "comrades, the group command has issued a combat order to our division, ordering us to seize a German occupied settlement near the orlovka line."


    With that, the other three commanders were surprised. First of all, Captain Oleg asked a question: "Comrade division commander, we should know that our troops are short of weapons and our soldiers have no time to train. In my opinion, it is inappropriate to transfer such forces to combat missions. "


    "Captain Oleg is right. Isn''t that for us to die?" Continued captain cosgah in a huff.


    Gaidar was obviously more rational than the other two commanders. He raised his hand to stop kosja from going on, and then expressed his own opinion: "two commanders, please be calm. Don''t you see that the division commander and captain xiejerikov are calm? I think they must have a good idea of this mission. Let''s listen to what they say. "


    After listening to Gaidar''s words, I can''t help but give him a thumbs up, just a few words, put the possible out of control situation in the bud. Later, we will see how he performs in the battle, so as to decide whether he can be entrusted with a heavy task.


    I looked at captain chejerikov and said to him with a smile, "Comrade captain, you''d better tell me."


    Shijerikov nodded and said to his colleagues, "comrades, as this battle is for residential areas, only a small number of infantry and a small number of tanks and artillery that can provide supporting firepower can be put into operation.


    Just now, in the 208 th division headquarters, the division commander once reported to general trakov that, according to the characteristics of this battle, he would organize a commando team to attack the buildings occupied by the enemy with sudden and rapid attack, recapture every building occupied by the enemy, and destroy the enemy garrison troops stationed inside. "


    Gaidar asked curiously, "Comrade shijerikov, how can we fight specifically?"


    It''s been several hours since I received this order. I guess that chejerikov already has a complete plan in mind, so I didn''t make any comment. I just stare at him and wait for him to tell me his battle plan.


    If not as I expected, Captain xiejerikov had a good idea of the attack. He said confidently: "we organized a commando team with 10-20 people in each team, equipped with light weapons: rifles, submachine guns, grenades, daggers, engineering shovels or axes, and under the command of a commander. They took the lead to rush into the building and fight independently in it to eliminate those enemies who pose the greatest threat to our army. Of course, they don''t fight alone. In the back, we have a support team composed of 80 soldiers to coordinate their actions.


    When the commando team successfully breaks into the building, the commander will immediately give the order to the support unit to follow the commando team and break into the building from all directions at the same time. After breaking into the building and seizing the enemy''s firepower, immediately build fortifications, organize the suppression of the enemy''s firepower, and smash any attempt by the enemy to reinforce the garrison. In terms of equipment, support units should be equipped with heavy weapons: light machine guns, heavy machine guns, anti tank guns, mortars, anti tank guns, pickaxes, explosives, etc. Within the formation of the support unit, engineers, snipers and other professional arms that can effectively coordinate operations in combat must be included. "

 Chapter 523

    After captain shejerikov finished, I did not express any opinions. Instead, I turned my eyes to the three commanders present and carefully observed the expressions on their faces.


    Gaidar was staring at the map on the table, as if considering the feasibility of the plan that shejerikov said.


    After Oleg and kosja looked at each other, Oleg asked a question: "Captain xijerikov, according to what you just said, from the number of offensive troops, a shock unit plus a support unit is exactly the strength of a company. Is my understanding right? "


    Shejerikov nodded to agree with Oleg.


    Oleg quickly asked, "do you think our existing company is competent for the task you just mentioned?"


    Shijerikov shook his head slowly and replied seriously: "Comrade Oleg, I can tell you very responsibly: No, at least at the present level of the division''s troops, not to mention that one company can''t produce a ready-made commando, even four or five companies can''t. So we should ask every platoon, every class and every soldier to learn shock tactics, which will be the focus of our training in the next few days. "


    When xiejerikov finished speaking, Gaidar turned his attention away from the map, looked at me and said, "Comrade division, I want to ask you a question, what is the purpose of the group army command to seize this residential area? You know, from the map, the residential area is five kilometers to the west of our defense line. There is no danger around it. Even if it is captured, it is not easy to keep it, because the enemy''s offensive forces can easily cut off the connection between our defensive forces and the main force. "


    I have to say that when Gaidar''s question came to the point, several team leaders turned their eyes to me and quietly waited for me to say the answer. Gaidar would raise such a question, which I had expected for a long time. After all, they were all released from the punishment camp, and they didn''t know the current war situation. To say the least, even if they stay in the army all the time, at their level, it is impossible for them to understand the operational intention of the group army leader. All they can do is to command the attack or transfer of the army according to the orders given by their superiors.


    But now that they are my commanders, I want to let them know the real combat intention of the group army. So I stood up, leaned forward, pointed to the map and said to them, "you see, the group army has built fortifications along the renok spardanovka orlovka line, relying on villages and hills. According to the intelligence we have at present, the enemy is gathering heavy troops in the spardanovka area in an attempt to break through the defense line of our army. "


    "But, sir, what does this have to do with our seizing of residential areas?" Asked cosga, puzzled.


    "As we have built new Fortifications on the two highlands of 158 and 165 in spardanovka, if the enemy attempts to break through in this area, it is bound to pay a heavy price. Once the enemy''s attack here is frustrated, according to their usual way of playing, they will certainly turn their attack to the areas of renok and orlovka. These two areas are plains, and there is no dangerous terrain to defend. With their superior troops and weapons, the enemy can completely break through our army''s defense. In this way, they can detour back to spartanovka, surround our defenders here and annihilate them. Aware of the enemy''s sinister intentions, the head of the group army ordered the troops in renok and orlovka''s defensive areas to attack actively to contain the enemy in front of them, so that they could not mobilize their forces to gather in the spardanovka area, disrupt the enemy''s plans, and gain precious time for our army to accumulate strength to carry out the counter offensive. " At this point, I deliberately stopped to observe everyone''s reaction. When I saw that their faces were full of understanding, I went on to say, "our division''s attack on the residential areas is only a small part of the whole containment operation of the group army."


    After listening to me, Xie jerikov first said, "I understand, sir. In the next three days, the focus of our training for the soldiers should be to teach them how to seize the buildings occupied by the enemy. "


    "You''re right, comrade captain." I expressed support to him in public in time, "then you are responsible for the training of the whole division. All three of you are under the command of captain chejerikov. Do you understand? " The last sentence, I was looking at the other three commanders asked.


    "I understand!" The three regimental leaders stood up and answered neatly.


    I turned around and asked kosga, who was in charge of unloading just now: "Comrade captain, what are the things carried by the motorcade that just came back with me?"


    Kosja had just sat down and listened to my question. He quickly got up again and replied respectfully, "Mr. reporter, there are twenty trucks coming. In addition to two vehicles carrying soldiers and one vehicle carrying communication equipment. The remaining 17 vehicles, except for five, transport grain. The rest are all kinds of weapons and equipment, including 200 cases of grenades... "


    "My God, two hundred cases of grenades! That''s great Shijerikov couldn''t wait to interrupt kosja and said excitedly to me, "Comrade division, grenades are indispensable weapons for soldiers to attack. When attacking from a distance, the smoke produced by grenade explosion can shield the enemy''s vision; When we get close to the building where the enemy is, the soldiers will throw grenades through the window, and then the enemy hidden inside will be killed. "


    I can''t help but feel a movement when I hear that xiejerikov''s words are so organized. His talent has been praised by trakov. At the same time, I plan to promote him to deputy division commander after completing this task. I might as well give him the command of this battle and let him make a war plan. By the way, I''ll see what his ability is.


    Thinking of this, I did not hesitate any more and said decisively, "comrades, I plan to let captain chejerikov make the battle plan and direct this battle. Do you have any different opinions?"


    After my words, four people were silent. After a while, Captain kosga took the lead in saying, "I agree with the teacher''s proposal, no problem."


    "I don''t have a different opinion either." Then came captain Oleg.


    "I don''t mind either." It was captain gedar who made the final statement.


    Xiejerikov came up to me, lowered his voice and said, "Comrade division, is this suitable? You know, I''ve only been a battalion commander before. I''m afraid I can''t command a division. "


    I took a look at him, waved to him and said, "needless to say, I believe you. What time has the final say what time to train and when to attack, you will have the final say. That is to say, you are fully responsible for the command of the division. "


    I was so simple a few words, actually let the light in his eyes flash, seems to have a heart of admiration for me. After a short loss, he soon regained his composure. He straightened up and said to the other three commanders in a calm tone: "next, comrades, let''s continue the meeting.


    First of all, we all know that even if the commanders have brave commandos, if they don''t make full preparations for the attack, it''s useless to win. Our assault should be carefully prepared and every detail must be taken into account. The study of assault targets and the designation of assault plans are the two elements of preparation.


    Secondly, time and suddenness are two extremely important factors for the successful maneuver of the commando. What every commander of a commando team should learn is how to make use of such factors as time and suddenness. It is of decisive significance in the battle to capture settlements, especially in the close combat that may take place in cities in the future. " At this point, he stopped for a moment and looked at captain gedar, who was sitting opposite him. "Comrade gedar."


    Gaidar quickly stood up and asked respectfully, "Comrade xijerikov, do you have any instructions?"


    Before speaking, shejerikov looked around and looked at the ceiling. Then he said, "Comrade gedar, judging from the headquarters of your regiment, there should be architectural engineers in your regiment?"


    Gaidar nodded his head hard and answered positively: "yes, there are about a dozen architectural engineers, including two famous architects, and their houses and sculptures in Stalingrad. Shall I call them all here? "


    Why did chejerikov suddenly ask architectural engineers that we don''t need to repair works at all? Although I can''t understand it, since I keep silent, I watch them quietly, waiting for the final answer.


    Shejerikov waved to Gaidar and said with a smile, "architects don''t have to. They are our country''s precious wealth. When the war is over in the future and we rebuild our homeland, we still need their advice. Comrade Gaidar, after the meeting is over, you go back to select some clever soldiers, organize a reconnaissance team, and equip a construction engineer to set out to scout near the residential area we are going to attack.


    Remember, let the scouts know the following information: the type of residential buildings, the thickness of floors and walls, whether there are basements, where the entrances and exits are, the nature of fortifications built by the enemy, the location of concealed shooting holes, the location and shape of obstacles, and whether the enemy garrison at the firepower support point has access to other friendly forces. "


    "Comrade captain, maybe our scouts can''t get close to the residential area at all, and can''t provide the information you need," Gaidar said with a look of embarrassment


    Shijerikov said confidently: "Comrade gedar, the reason why I asked you to deploy an architectural engineer in your reconnaissance team is to let him observe the buildings in the residential area. You should know that any professional architectural engineer can answer most of my questions just by looking at the appearance of the building.


    With this information, the commander in command of the commando can quickly find out the disposition of the enemy''s firepower points, its strafing sector and its dead angle. If we don''t know the daily life of the enemy''s garrison and the firepower killing effect of the adjacent buildings during reconnaissance, then we can''t say that our understanding of the attack target is complete. And the complete information will undoubtedly have a direct impact on how we choose the most favorable assault time. "


    After giving Gaidar the assignment, he ordered Oleg sitting on the left: "Captain Oleg!"


    "Here it is When the Captain stood up, he gave a loud promise, and then politely asked, "Comrade captain, do you have any instructions?"


    "If I remember correctly, there are more than 100 veterans with combat experience in your regiment." Chejerikov was not polite either. He asked directly.


    "Exactly, comrade captain." Oleg replied, "there are 300 officers and men from the correctional camp in the division. Apart from 84 commanders including us, there are 216. There are 23 members in one regiment, 47 members in three regiments, 31 members in four regiments and 115 members in our regiment. "


    After hearing the data reported by Captain Oleg, I am very grateful to trakov. Among the 20000 additional soldiers, only 500 experienced commanders and fighters, and he added 300 of them to my independent division. If I can''t successfully complete the task he assigned to my division this time, I will have no face to see him in the future.


    I soon drew back my mind and continued to listen to shejerikov: "the tactics of the commandos are based on the quick action, excessive bravery and initiative of every soldier. For the commandos, the most flexible tactics must be adopted, because suddenly after the enemy''s fortified buildings enter the intricate rooms occupied by the enemy, the commandos will encounter a series of unexpected situations. The enemy may turn to counterattack in the building. But if the commandos are all veterans, then don''t be afraid! Because we have seized the initiative, it is in our hands. We will fight fiercely with grenades, rifles, submachine guns, daggers and shovels. The fighting in the house is fierce, so we should be ready to deal with the accident at any time and don''t take it lightly. "


    Oleg heard what shejerikov said and answered in a loud voice: "please rest assured, comrade captain, we will gather the veterans tomorrow, and then equip a strong new recruit to form a number of commandos. New and old with joint training, so that commandos can form combat effectiveness in a short period of time


    Shejerikov nodded with satisfaction, then said to the eager cosga, "Captain cosga."


    Cosga almost jumped up from the stool, raised his hand and said aloud, "here! Comrade xiejerikov, Captain kosja reports to you. I''m waiting for your instructions! "


    I couldn''t help laughing with joy when I heard that xijerikov ordered the three commanders in a clear and orderly way. It seems that it is a wise move for me to hand over the command to sjerykov. His participation not only corrected several loopholes in my original plan, but also put forward many refreshing suggestions. In my opinion, it is his supplement that makes the whole plan more perfect. Although without his participation, the plan may not have failed, but as a commander with rich combat experience, his grasp of combat details and adjustment of key sequence played a finishing role, which immediately made me feel bright in front of my eyes. I can''t help feeling to myself that he is a grass-roots commander who has been in the army for more than ten years. Since he can be transferred from the punishment camp and entrusted with heavy responsibilities by the people of the Ministry of interior, it proves that he is really outstanding.


    The war meeting soon ended. Xie jerikov turned to me and asked for instructions: "Comrade division, after the meeting, can we finish it?"


    Seeing that everyone''s eyes were looking at me, I quickly stood up and said to them, "leaders, wait a moment. I have something to announce. From now on, my division headquarters will be set up in the regiment headquarters of the first regiment. If the regiments have anything to report, they can directly contact me by telephone or telephone. "


    "Comrade division," cried captain Oleg, "but there is no communication equipment in my regiment!"


    "Don''t worry, there will be communication equipment and communication soldiers." After I comforted him, I yelled to the outside, "sergeant razumeyeva!"


    With my shouts, razumeyeva, who had been waiting for a long time, strode into the headquarters. He raised his hand to me and stood quietly at the door.


    I introduced to the four commanders: "comrades, this is sergeant razumeyeva, the monitor of the communication class sent by the headquarters of the group army. She will distribute her subordinates and corresponding communication equipment to the regiments. " At this point, I looked at razumeyeva again, raised my voice and asked her, "are you ready? Comrade sergeant


    "Report to Mr. division chief, the communication class has already been ready."


    "Good! Then you''re going to assign people to the regiments now. "


    Razumeyeva agreed, put her body slightly to one side, and yelled out: "corporal Najia, corporal guliyayeva, private Taya, you three come in." The female signalman named by her came in quickly. As soon as she entered the door, she stood in a neat row beside her.


    Razumeyeva kept giving orders: "Najia, take a male soldier, one telephone and ten telephones to captain Oleg''s second regiment; Corporal guliyayeva, you also take a male soldier, with a telephone and a telephone, to captain kosga''s third regiment; Private Taya, you and the men are going to report to the fourth regiment in gedar with their phones and telephones. The rest of the signalmen will stay with me in captain shejerikov''s regiment. "


    When listening to razumeyeva''s orders, I couldn''t help nodding. During the period when she stayed outside, she didn''t have a spare time. She found out the establishment of the independent division so quickly that she didn''t even have the wrong name of the head of each regiment.


    Seeing that she had finished the assignment, I urged Oleg, kosja and Gaidar: "Hey, comrade commander, what are you still doing? Why don''t you take the signalmen back to your regimental headquarters as soon as possible? "


    The three agreed to move a telephone in the corner first, and then left with the female soldiers assigned to their regiment.

 Chapter 524

    As soon as the three commanders left, after sending me the map, xidolin, who slipped out of the headquarters, entered the commander again. He took off his helmet and came to me with it in his hand. At the same time, he asked with a smile, "Comrade commander, have you finished your meeting?"


    I reached out and touched his head with short hair lovingly. I asked with a smile, "you little guy, I didn''t see when you ran out just now."


    "After I gave you the map bag just now, I saw you and the captain studying the map wholeheartedly. They didn''t dare to disturb you, so they went out quietly." At this point, he suddenly exclaimed, which startled me, "by the way, comrade commander. Before I came, general trakov told me that you should contact him as soon as you arrive at the independent division


    "You little fellow, why didn''t you say it earlier? If you miss something important, I won''t let you." He raised his head, closed his eyes and put on a posture of letting me handle. I patted him twice on the face with my hand. Then I turned around and told razumeyeva, who was still standing at the door, "sergeant, please install the phone. I want to talk to general trakov."


    When I heard that I was going to talk to the deputy commander of the group army, razumeyeva quickly called in several female signalmen from outside to cooperate with her in debugging and installing the telephone.


    While the female soldiers were installing the telephone, I took sidtorin to sit down at the table, bent down and asked him with concern, "sidtorin, how do you plan to arrange your stay in the independent division or return to the headquarters of the group army?"


    "General trakov said," sidtorin looked up at me and said, "let me stay with you and be your messenger. You don''t think I''m young, but I''ll give you a message and an order to make sure I can''t miss you. "


    Although I need a lot of people now, I don''t want to keep sidtorin here. After his father died, trakov left him with him as a messenger to take care of him better. But it''s a bit unreasonable to send him to my division. I don''t think it''s good to say that one day, my Division will be completely destroyed, and the child''s safety will not be guaranteed. I think he should go back to the group army headquarters, which is safer than staying in my division.


    At this time, razumeyeva reported to me that the installation and commissioning of the telephone had been completed, and she had contacted the communication room of the group army headquarters. I went over, took the earphone and the transmitter from the sergeant''s hand, and said in a loud voice, "Hello, I''m the commander of the independent division, lieutenant commander oshanina. Please help me find general trakov."


    The opposite operator politely said, "Hello, comrade commander. General trakov is right beside me. Just a moment, please. I''ll ask him to talk to you After a short silence, there was a voice from the earphone: "Hello, is that oshanina?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, it''s me."


    "Why did it take so long to get in touch with me?" Trekov said this, perhaps because of looking at his watch, and then I heard him say, "I''ve been waiting for you for more than half an hour."


    I took a look at little sidtorin, who was sitting at the table and looked pitifully at me. Instead of saying what he almost forgot to remind me of, I took the initiative to admit my mistake to trikov: "sorry, comrade commander, I just called a meeting of several commanders to study the fighting for a few days. I forgot to contact you for a while. Please forgive me


    "Well, let''s not talk about that." Trakov said generously, "did your meeting come to any conclusion?"


    "We have the result, comrade commander." With a correct attitude, I replied, "you already know the tactics of commando plus support unit proposed by Captain chejerikov. At the meeting, comrade Lieutenant taught the other three commanders how to use this method of warfare. "


    "This kind of tactics sounds very good, but it''s hard to say how effective it is in combat. It''s only through combat." From the tone of his voice, I can tell that he still lacks confidence in this new method of war. However, I still have the same feeling about his doubts. I remember that at the end of last year, a cavalry division of the 16th group army attacked several residential areas. Although the residential areas had been razed to the ground by our army''s artillery fire, it still fought with the German army for several days and finally managed to capture these strategic points.


    "Comrade commander," in order to prevent him from changing his mind because of his vacillation, I took the initiative to report to him and said, "I asked captain chejerikov to preside over the combat meeting, and he gave detailed division of labor to several commanders. For example, the second regiment with more veterans, on the basis of the original veterans, combined with some new recruits, formed several commando teams to undertake the offensive task after three days; Captain shejerikov asked the fourth regiment to deploy personnel to organize a reconnaissance team, and a construction engineer was assigned to accompany the team to carry out detailed reconnaissance tasks on the residential areas. "


    When trekov heard this, he interrupted me and asked, "what does the reconnaissance team do when it comes to reconnaissance? Do they still want to build fortifications and fight a positional war with the enemy under the guidance of engineers when they encounter the enemy? "


    When I heard that trekov, who was in a high position, did not understand why the reconnaissance team had to be equipped with engineers, I admired him a little more. I looked around and found that there was no one in the headquarters except me, razumeyeva and sidorin. Captain xijerikov didn''t know when to leave the headquarters.


    In order to make trikov understand what happened, I patiently explained to him, "Comrade commander, please listen to my explanation. Here''s the thing. In order to capture the residential area occupied by the enemy, we must carry out reconnaissance on the area, to understand the type of buildings in the residential area, the thickness of floors and walls, whether there are basements, where the entrances and exits are, the nature of the enemy''s fortifications, the location of concealed shooting holes, the location and shape of obstacles, etc. As there is open land near the residential areas, it is unlikely that our scouts will come near for reconnaissance. In this case, we need a construction engineer who is familiar with all these things. He is an expert in these things. Maybe he needs to have a general look, and then he can provide us with the information we need. "


    "That''s right. Captain chejerikov is really good. He is very comprehensive and has a good overall view." After hearing this, trakov couldn''t help praising captain jerichov. "If I knew he was so capable earlier, I would have left him in the headquarters as a staff officer."


    "Comrade commander," I said jokingly, "if not, I will let him come to you as a staff officer, and you will come to the independent division to replace him as the head of the regiment." Although it''s a joke, it''s only when I''m so familiar with trekov that I dare to say it without scruple.


    After listening to this, trakov burst out laughing. After the laughter stopped, he said solemnly, "Comrade o''shanina, I sent sidtorin to be your messenger. Promise me that I will take good care of him and ensure his safety."


    If trikov didn''t mention sidtorin, I might have forgotten about it. Since trakov mentioned it first, I quickly went on to say, "sorry, comrade commander, I can''t keep sidolin here. I''d better let him go back to you."


    "Why?" Trekov, who was rejected directly by me, asked back a little displeased.


    "Comrade commander, please listen to me," I said impolitely to sidtorin, who was sitting at the table with my transmitter down. "Sidtorin, you go out first and come back when I call you." Sidtorin didn''t know why I would let him out, but he just got up and left. Seeing that the figure of sidtorin disappeared from the door, I went on to say: "Comrade commander, you know better than I do about the current situation. The independent division may be completely wiped out one day. I can''t guarantee the safety of little sidtorin. I still think we should let him go back to the headquarters, to your side, so that his safety can be guaranteed, so as to give an account to his father who died. "


    My words made trikov silent, so that he didn''t speak for a long time. I know that he is thinking, but also kept silent, quietly waiting for his reply. After a long time, he said: "well, let him return to the headquarters with the transport team."


    I just promised, but before I could say anything more, I heard him say in a low voice, "thank you, o''shanina. On behalf of the sacrificial Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Lin, thank you." Then he coughed and said, "do you have anything else to report to me? If not, that''s the end of today''s call. "


    I pondered for a moment and then said, "Comrade commander, I wonder if the rank of the commander in the division should be adjusted properly. You know, I have four commanders, and the highest rank is captain, one of them is captain. As for the company commanders below, their ranks are even more disordered. Except for a few captains, the rest are either lieutenant or second lieutenant. "


    "The question of rank will be discussed after your division has recovered the residential areas. Well, that''s all for today. Good luck With that, he cut off the call with me.


    I went to the door and yelled at the dark forest, "sidtorin, where are you? Sidtorin, where are you? "


    With my shouts, sidtorin rushed out of the darkness, ran to me and said solemnly, "Comrade commander, private sidtorin has been ordered to come. Please give me your instructions!"


    "Sidtorin," I put my hands on his shoulders and said to him in a friendly way, "I have just discussed with Comrade commander that it is not safe here. You''d better go back to the headquarters and go back to general trakov!"


    "Don''t drive me away, comrade commander, please!" Sidtorin clasped my waist tightly and pleaded, "I''ll finish every task you give me. Don''t drive me away, OK?"


    Although I like sidtorin very much, his life and safety will not be guaranteed if I stay in my independent division with uncertain future. So I gritted my teeth and said, "sidtorin, this is an order. There is no room for discussion. You must implement it unconditionally!" With that, he forcibly opened his hands around my waist and yelled at the distance, "guard class, where are the soldiers in the guard class?"


    Just after two shouts, Vera, the monitor of the guard class, and two male soldiers appeared in front of me. After she raised her hand to salute me, she politely called my rank instead of my nickname: "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"


    I pointed to sidtorin, who was standing in front of me wiping tears, and told her to say, "Vera, on the order of the higher authorities, I want to send this little soldier back to the headquarters of the group army immediately. I now order you to take him to the convoy and let him go back to headquarters with the convoy. "


    Vera waved her head to the two men. The men immediately stepped forward and held sidtorin''s shoulder. I don''t want to see sidtorin leave, lest I can''t control myself and turn around and go to the headquarters. At this moment, sidtorin yelled in a heartrending voice behind me: "Comrade commander, don''t drive me away, I want to stay with you!"


    With his cry, my heart suddenly twitched, but I still tried to control my emotions, waved to the back and said drily, "what are you still standing here doing? Carry out the order immediately and send him away. " With that, I trotted into the headquarters without hesitation.

 Chapter 525

    Sidtorin walked forward, and shejerikov went back to the headquarters. As soon as the captain came in, he took the initiative to report to me and said, "Comrade division commander, I just went to the forest and looked at the barracks built by the fourth regiment."


    I asked casually, "how many people can the barracks built by the fourth regiment hold?"


    Shejerikov said with emotion: "Captain gedar''s men are really not simple. In just one afternoon, they have completed all the barracks that should be built. At present, all the officers and men of the division have been living in the new barracks. "


    "What?! All set up? " After a moment''s absence, I looked around the headquarters again, and then said in disbelief, "Captain gelda''s men are really talented. In such a short time, all the barracks have been built." I thought it would take ten days and a half months to build the barracks, but I didn''t expect it would be completed in half a day.


    Seeing that I kept looking at the headquarters where we were, xiejerikov realized that I was a little wrong. He coughed quickly and explained, "Comrade division, with such a strong headquarters, Captain Gerda has only built four, which is exactly the headquarters of our four regiments. As for the barracks where the soldiers live, they are much more humble. They can barely shelter themselves from the wind and rain. When they have a chance in the future, they can build better barracks for them. "


    Hearing this, I muttered to myself that there would be no chance to rebuild the barracks for the soldiers. Maybe one day we would be transferred to other areas to fight. No matter how well the barracks were repaired, they would have to be abandoned. I turned the topic around and asked with concern, "Comrade captain, have you arranged the accommodation for the communication class and the guard class?"


    "It''s all arranged." The captain nodded his head and replied, "I put them in a temporary barracks to the west of the headquarters. Because there are no spare rooms, I have to let the soldiers of two classes live together." At this point, he stopped to observe my expression. Seeing that I didn''t express my opinion on the mixed use of men and women, he went on to say, "Captain Gaidar has fully considered the problem of air defense when building the barracks. Even if the enemy''s reconnaissance plane flies over the forest, it won''t find our camp."


    When I heard the men and women soldiers crowded in a barracks, although I didn''t express any opinions, I was still worried about where I lived. To his surprise, Captain xiejerikov, who knew how to observe words and expressions, said in advance: "Comrade division, it seems that you can only spend the night in the headquarters tonight. But don''t worry, I''ve got the soldiers ready for you. " With that, he turned to the outside and yelled, "come on, bring the bed in." With his shouts, two men came in carrying a wooden bed and put it down in the corner far away from the door.


    After the two men left, xiejerikov said to me, "Comrade division, I have put two sentries at the door. No one can go in and out freely. You can rest assured and have a good sleep. In addition, I live in a tent not far from the headquarters. If you have anything to do, just shout and I will appear in front of you immediately. It''s getting late. You''d better rest early. " With that, he raised his hand and left.


    I watched the captain''s back disappear from the door, and then I looked at razumeyeva, who was still sitting in front of the telephone with headphones. He went up to her and asked, "Comrade sergeant, nothing should happen at night. You''d better go back to the barracks and have a rest."


    The sergeant took off his earphone, stood up and said to me, "according to the regulations, in order to ensure the smooth communication of the headquarters, the communication equipment used must be on duty 24 hours a day."


    Since she had to be on duty, I didn''t force her, just told her: "if there is anything, please wake me up at any time." With that, I went to the new bed, ready to go to bed.


    Although I had said that, I didn''t expect that it would become a prophecy. In the middle of the night, when I was sleepy, I felt that someone was shaking my body. I tried to open my eyes and saw that it was razumeyeva. I asked weakly, "Comrade sergeant, what''s the matter?"


    "Comrade division," razumeyeva said hastily, "general trakov is calling for you to speak to you."


    I was startled to hear razumeyeva say that it was trekov who wanted to talk to me. My heart said that it was so late to find me. Was there any accident? It can''t be that little sidtorin didn''t go back to the headquarters with the team. Did trekov ask me for a crime?


    As soon as I put on my headphones, I heard trakov''s cold voice: "o''shanina, what you''ve done!"


    In the silent night, trekov''s voice was like a cold wind, which made me shiver.


    I carefully explained to him, "Comrade commander, is it that sidtorin has not returned to the headquarters? You know, I asked the soldiers of the guard class to take him into the car. Didn''t he want to go back to the headquarters and jump back on the way? "


    "What are you talking about, sidtorin is by my side. I''m talking about other things. " There was a stern voice from the headphones.


    "Comrade commander, what are you talking about? I really don''t know. " I asked back with a guilty conscience. After asking this sentence, I kept muttering in my heart. I didn''t seem to have done anything wrong. When I reported the counterattack plan to him before I went to bed, I was praised by him. How long did it take? Why did I get angry at me inexplicably?


    "I ask you, what happened to the dozen deserters of your division?" Asked trekov, slapping the table.


    "Deserter?! What deserter? Comrade commander, you have confused me. " I''m really at a loss. It took less than a day for the independent division to be established. How could there be deserters?


    "Good! Good! Good!! You don''t admit it "The deserters who were caught by the internal affairs department''s overseers all admitted to being independent divisions," he said, gritting his teeth


    "Comrade commander, I don''t know anything about deserting soldiers if you don''t say it." I said drily to the transmitter, "can you tell me what''s going on?"


    "Well, I''ll tell you. Five minutes ago, the commander of the 70th division of the guards, Colonel lyudnikov, reported to me that the inspector general of the Ministry of internal affairs had found more than a dozen sneaky soldiers in his area. When he went up to stop them for examination, he found that they had no identification on them. When the soldiers of the Ministry of interior also executed them as deserters on the spot, several of them pushed down the soldiers around them and fled to the wilderness. The soldiers of the Ministry of interior shot decisively, killing two people on the spot and injuring five people. The rest of them were captured, but one escaped. "


    "How did the interior know these deserters were from the independent division?"


    "The gunfire alerted the patrol of the guard division. When they arrived, they joined the people of the interior department and escorted the remaining deserters back to the division headquarters of the guard division. When lyudnikov and the team leader interrogated them together, they voluntarily admitted that they were soldiers of the independent division. "


    Trekov''s words made me crazy. For this sudden accident, I was not prepared at all. I didn''t know how to deal with such a crisis. However, after a moment of confusion, my mood stabilized and I said in a calm tone: "Comrade commander, I suggest you go to the division headquarters of the 70th division of Jinwei with me to find out what''s going on. You know, after all, since the independent division has just been established, it is inevitable that there will be a mix of good and bad people, and that there will be a few people who are greedy for life and afraid of death. "


    Listen to me. After a pause, trakov said, "well, since it''s happened, it''s no use complaining about you. But you will come to the headquarters of the group army immediately, and I will go to the orlovka area with you. " With that, trakov ended the call directly to show his extreme dissatisfaction.


    I returned the headphones and the transmitter to razumeyeva, went to the door, and raised my voice in the distance, shouting, "Captain chejerikov! Captain chejerikov After two shouts, the captain must have heard me. I turned and went back to the room to get my submachine gun. I was ready to leave after the captain came to explain.


    Captain xiejerikov, who was not dressed in a uniform and did not wear a military cap, rushed into the headquarters and asked nervously, "what instructions do you have, sir?"


    I sat on the stool and said angrily, "Comrade captain, do you think it''s good for me to wake you up in the middle of the night?" As soon as the words came out, I realized that my attitude towards the captain was too stiff. After all, it had nothing to do with him. I didn''t need to be angry with him. So I took a deep breath, calmed down my mood, and said slowly, "there was an accident. The internal affairs department''s supervision team caught more than ten deserters. After interrogation, they found that they were all soldiers of our division."


    "Deserters?" When he heard the news, he had the same incredible expression on his face as I had. After a moment''s confusion, he asked solemnly, "Comrade division commander, which regiment is the deserter?"


    I shook my head and said, "I don''t know. I''m going to the headquarters of the group army immediately, and I''ll go to the overseer''s team with general trakov to find out what''s going on. " Then I looked up at him and said, "Comrade captain, after I leave, you will be in charge of the division''s work for the time being."


    The captain nodded and said nothing to show his loyalty. Instead, he asked, "it''s so late. Are you safe on your way to the group army headquarters alone? Otherwise, you''d better take the guard class With that, no matter whether I agree or not, I ran to the door and told the sentry a few words before returning to chat with me.


    He asked me in detail what trikov said, and then analyzed it to me and said, "Comrade division, I think there may be some misunderstanding about deserting, but I can''t figure out the specific reason in a hurry. I think you should get to know this matter as soon as possible after meeting with general trakov. If we go late and the people of the interior department shoot all these so-called deserters, then everything will be unclear. "


    I was talking to sjerykov when a report came from the door. Shejerikov turned to the outside and yelled, "come on in, comrade Willa."


    As soon as his voice fell, Vera, my monitor of the guard, appeared at the door armed. Shijerikov explained to me, "Comrade division, I asked the guard class to assemble. It''s too late. It''s not safe on the road. Let them accompany you to the headquarters of the group army. "


    I didn''t say anything. I picked up my submachine gun and went out. When I passed Willa, I gently took her shoulder and took her out.


    Originally, I thought we had to walk to the 208 division headquarters to find the car. I didn''t expect that as soon as I got to the edge of the forest, I saw a truck parked outside. I turned my head and pointed to the truck and asked Willa: "Willa, how can there be a car here?"


    Vera looked in the direction of my finger and said, "Rita, you''re talking about this truck! When the soldiers and I sent seedolin over, we saw that the car was out of order. The driver was repairing it. Maybe it has been repaired by now. "


    "Vera, go and see if the driver is in?" I said to Vera, "if the driver is there, we can go to the headquarters instead of walking." Willa readily agreed and ran to and fro.


    I saw her run to the cab of the truck, clapping her hand on the door, and asking aloud, "Hello, is there anyone in the car?"


    As soon as she took a few shots, the car''s glass was rolled down. The driver poked his head out of the window and asked unhappily, "Hey, female soldier, what are you yelling at in the middle of the night?"


    "Comrade driver, we have an urgent matter to requisition your truck." Vera said solemnly.


    Unexpectedly, the driver waved his hand and said, "no, no, don''t disturb my sleep until dawn."


    Seeing Willa hit the wall, I quickly walked over, looked up at the driver in the bridge, and said softly, "Comrade driver, I''m commander of the independent division, lieutenant commander o''shanina. We have something urgent to rush to the headquarters of the group army. Can we give you a lift?"


    The driver saw that I was talking to him. He was so scared that he quickly pushed the door open and jumped down. He stood up and saluted me. I had to say a few words when I saluted, but I was too scared to say it.


    I didn''t pay attention to him. Instead, I waved my hand to the soldiers in the guard class behind me and ordered loudly, "guard class, listen to my command, all of you get on the bus." With that, I went around the front of the car, opened the front passenger''s door and got on the car.


    Seeing the driver standing under the car foolishly with his hands raised, I immediately yelled to him, "Hey, comrade driver, when are you going to stand there? Come on up, we are still waiting for you to drive."


    The driver agreed and scrambled to get on. Because of nervousness, the truck started after several fires.


    Our car passed through the 208 th division and was stopped by the soldiers who set up the checkpoint. Seeing the soldiers at the checkpoint coming towards our truck, I poked my head out of the window and just wanted to say something. Unexpectedly, the soldier who took the lead turned back and said, "move the roadblock!" With that, he stepped back and raised his hand to salute us.


    For such a reasonable soldier, I felt good. I not only gave him a gift, but also said to him, "thank you!" Waiting for the bus to leave for a long time, I suddenly remembered that the soldier just now was a bit like the corporal who was pointed and scolded by me at the entrance of the village last time. It seems that I left a deep impression on him.


    Although the truck was stopped by the checkpoint several times on the way to the headquarters, the soldier who came to check the ID saw that I was sitting in the bridge and didn''t even look at the ID, so he waved to let me go.


    When our car arrived at the group army headquarters, I saw a man anxiously walking up and down beside the jeep parked outside the headquarters. In the bright moonlight, I recognized trakov from his figure.


    I asked the driver to stop the car, push the door open, get out of the car and run to trakov. Before I could speak, trakov had seen me. He looked at the truck behind me and asked, "your guard team is in the car."


    I quickly nodded.


    He waved to me and said, "get in the car. We''ll start at once."


    Seeing trakov get on the bus, I yelled to the truck driver, "follow our car." Then he turned and got on the jeep.


    In addition to the driver and trakov, the co driver in the car is sidtorin, who was forced back by me a few hours ago. When he saw me get on the bus, he snorted heavily, turned his head aside and put on a posture of ignoring you.


    After the car started, trakov sighed and said to me, "o''shanina, you''re in big trouble. As the chief military officer, you are responsible for the deserters in the army. If the superior wants to investigate, you may be dismissed or demoted, or you may be sent to a military court. "


    Listen to trikov said, my heart can not help but accelerate, did not expect a few deserters brought me so much trouble. I''ve been a teacher for less than a day. If I want to withdraw, I don''t care. But it''s less than a month since I got the rank of lieutenant commander again. If I''m demoted to major or lower, it won''t be so easy to be promoted in the future.


    Just when I was worried about gain and loss, I heard trekov say, "Hey, private sidtorin, you and lieutenant commander o''shanina are old acquaintances. How come you don''t even say hello to each other?"


    After being criticized by him, sidtorin reluctantly nodded to me and said in a low voice, "Hello, comrade commander, nice to see you."


    I tried to squeeze a smile out of my face and smile at sidtorin. But before I said anything, sidtorin turned his head again and didn''t see my smile which was worse than crying.


    Trekov sighed again, leaned back and began to close his eyes. I looked out of the window and thought about how to deal with the deserters who brought me trouble when I arrived at the 70th division of Jinwei.


    After driving for more than half an hour, the car finally arrived at its destination. Ryudnikov, who had been waiting there for a long time, warmly welcomed the three of us into the headquarters.


    As soon as trakov sat in his seat, he couldn''t wait to ask, "Colonel lyudnikov, where are the deserters?"


    Lyudnikov said, please wait a moment. Then he picked up the phone on the desk, shook the handle a few times, and said in a low voice to the microphone: "Hello, comrade captain, general trakov, deputy commander of the group army, and lieutenant commander oshanina of the independent division are here. Please bring those deserters over. Thank you


    Judging from the tone of lyudnikov''s speech, I know that he is calling an officer in the Ministry of interior. Otherwise, could he, as a captain, have used such a polite tone to call a captain?


    After a short time, a captain in a blue cap came in from the door. He came in and looked around. When he saw trakov sitting at the table, he did not salute, but nodded slightly. Then he turned aside and said to the outside, "bring up the deserters!"


    At his command, four or five interior ministry soldiers with submachine guns and a dozen unarmed and dejected soldiers came in. One of the soldiers in the middle was obviously injured in his leg. With the help of two comrades in arms, he jumped in with one right foot.


    When the soldiers stood in a row with their backs against the wall, the interior captain swaggered to the table and sat down. He asked trekov, who was sitting opposite him, "Comrade General, these are the deserters we captured. What are you going to do with them?"


    Trikov gave him a scornful look. Instead of answering his question, he turned to me standing next to him and asked, "commander oshanina, what part of them are they and why do they want to be deserters?"


    I nodded silently and came to the soldiers. Before I spoke, from their skinny bodies and their new military uniform, I could judge that they were soldiers of the independent division without hesitation.


    After glancing at the twelve soldiers standing in front of me, I tried to ask in a flat tone, "which one of you can tell me which regiment of the independent division are you from?"


    In silence, the twelve soldiers looked down at their feet, and no one looked up to answer my question.


    For their silence, let me feel particularly indignant, I raised my voice and said angrily: "I am the independent division commander, commander o''xia Ningna, I ask you again, who can tell me, which regiment are you?"


    Listening to my identification, the soldier with the injured leg in the middle raised his head and asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, you are really the division commander of the independent division."


    "Yes." It was not easy to see someone answer my question, and my tone became stable again: "Comrade soldier, can you tell me which regiment you belong to and why you want to be a deserter?"


    "Comrade division commander, we are not deserters!" Cried the wounded soldier.


    "We are not deserters!" Then the two soldiers who supported him cried out.


    "Comrade division, you are here. Only you can prove that we are not deserters."


    "Comrade division commander, you can testify to us that we are not deserters, but come out to carry out orders..."


    More than a dozen soldiers yelled at the same time, and the headquarters was in chaos. The soldiers guarding them all around yelled at them, "be quiet, be quiet, keep quiet for me!"


    I raised my hands and pressed them down, and the cries of the soldiers stopped. When the headquarters calmed down again, it occurred to me that in the chaos just now, someone was shouting that they were not deserters, but came out to carry out the mission. Did captain Gaidar of the fourth regiment send them to spy on the enemy''s situation in the residential areas, and they were mistaken by the people of the Ministry of interior for deserters? Thinking of this, I pointed at the wounded soldier and asked tentatively, "are you all from the fourth regiment?"


    "Yes," the twelve replied neatly, "the chief is captain gedar."


    Hearing that they said it was from the fourth regiment, I already understood that it was a misunderstanding, so I asked them clearly, "what are you going to do?" After asking, he turned his head to look at trakov sitting at the table. He looked at the captain of the internal affairs department with an iron face. I think he thought of the same thing as me.


    The wounded soldier leaned his back against the wall and reported to me, "report, comrade division commander, we went to the enemy occupied residential areas for reconnaissance on the order of Captain Gerda, the commander. As a result, we met the interrogation of the Ministry of internal affairs on the way. Because we couldn''t get out the documents, they said we were deserters, and they even shot us all. "


    "Nonsense, it''s nonsense!" Trikov clapped his hands and attacked the captain: "Comrade captain, this is what you call a deserter. You should know that they were ordered to carry out reconnaissance missions, but they were arrested by you as deserters. If they miss the plane, can you bear the responsibility? "


    Without waiting for the captain to speak, he turned and scolded lyudnikov: "Comrade Colonel, I''m very disappointed with you. The Ministry of internal affairs said that they were deserters, and you did not personally interrogate them, but you reported to me that you had caught the deserters of the independent division. " Then he told him: "you should arrange your men immediately and take these soldiers to rest. If you have anything to do, wait until dawn."


    When trakov was in the back, I pushed away the soldiers in charge of the interior department, went to the wounded soldiers, grabbed his collar and asked, "who are you building engineers?" The wounded soldier shook his head nervously and said incoherently: "Comrade division commander, there are no engineers here. The engineers are not here." When I heard that the engineer was not here, I was scared out in a cold sweat, because I heard that two people were shot and killed by the soldiers of the Ministry of interior. The engineer is not one of the dead. I bit my back teeth and asked fiercely, "where is the Engineer? You''re not going to be shot, are you The wounded soldier shook his head again and said, "no, the engineer ran away in the confusion." When I heard that the engineer was safe and sound, I let go of the wounded soldiers and went back to trikov''s side to ask him what to do next. Unexpectedly, the captain was arguing with him. He said to trikov reluctantly, "Comrade General, many deserters use this reason to deceive the patrol. Don''t be cheated by them." Trikov stared at the captain in front of him, and said, "Comrade captain, I warn you not to talk. They are Scouts of the independent division. They are carrying out secret reconnaissance missions. Because of your mistakes, they not only destroyed their reconnaissance operations, but also caused unnecessary casualties. I''m going to sue you to your superior and ask him to take you to the military court. " The captain seemed a little guilty about trekov''s threat, but he said, "if you want to sue your superiors, go ahead. I''m doing my job. " With that, he stood up and went to his subordinates and said loudly, "let''s go!" Then he led the way out of the room.

 Chapter 526

    Seeing the arrogant captain and his subordinates disappearing at the door, Colonel lyudnikov leaned down and asked in a low voice, "Comrade deputy commander, do you think we need to report this matter to the headquarters of the front army immediately?"


    Instead of answering his question immediately, trakov stared sternly at the door and said nothing.


    After a long time, he sighed softly, looked at the line of scouts standing by the wall, looked up at lyudnikov and said, "Comrade Colonel, let''s arrange for the scouts to have a rest. We''ll wait until daybreak if there''s anything


    Lyudnikov was disappointed with his performance, so he had to say helplessly, "OK, I''ll let them have a rest first." With that, he reached for the phone on the desk.


    "Wait a minute, comrade colonel." I held his hand and stopped him from calling.


    "What are you doing, commander o''shanina?" Lyudnikov, confused by my sudden action, looked at me and asked.


    "We can''t let the scouts rest for the time being. I have a task to assign to them." I drew my hand back and explained to lyudnikov and to trekov at the table why I had just done that.


    "O''shanina, the engineer is missing, even if these scouts are sent to continue the mission. They don''t have the relevant expertise, and they can''t detect the intelligence we want to know. " Trekov may have been a little displeased by my action of preventing lyudnikov from making a phone call, so he flatly refuted my statement.


    "Comrade commander, comrade colonel." I pointed to the Scout by the wall and patiently said to him and lyudnikov, "listen to me, you two. It''s because the key person in the reconnaissance team, the engineer, is missing that these soldiers can''t rest. They should all be sent out immediately to look around for the engineers. You know, it''s not far from the enemy''s position here. The engineer ran away in panic. Maybe he would bump into the German side by mistake. If the Germans catch them, our plan to recapture the settlements will be leaked to the Germans. In order to ensure the victory of the counterattack, we must not let him fall into the hands of the Germans. "


    After listening to my explanation, trikov nodded thoughtfully and said with approval, "Comrade oshanina is right. The engineer must be one of the people who understand the attack plan. If he is really captured by the Germans, it is quite possible for him to reveal our plan to the Germans. " At this point, he stood up and told lyudnikov: "Comrade Colonel, you immediately send the most capable small troops to search for the missing engineer with these scouts. I want to see people alive. Even if I die, I want to see his body."


    I then added, "Comrade Colonel, I suggest you divide the search team into groups of ten and search in several directions at the same time. Each group is equipped with a scout of our division, because not only do they know engineers, but engineers also know them. Only when they see them, engineers will relax their vigilance and follow the search team back obediently. "


    "Sir, comrade!" The wounded soldier leaning against the wall suddenly said, "can I report a situation to you?"


    I quickly walked up to him and asked faintly, "Comrade soldier, if you have anything to say, just say it."


    The wounded soldier came close to my ear and wanted to whisper to me. I quickly stepped back, frowned and said to him, "Comrade soldier, there is no outsider here. If you have anything to say, you can say it in public."


    The wounded soldier blushed for a moment, looked left and right, and said boldly: "report to Mr. division, I think our engineers may have gone to Germany!"


    "What?" His words shocked me. It''s unbelievable that the engineer we entrusted might have gone to the German side after he disappeared.


    "Why? Comrade soldier. Why are you so sure? " First of all, Colonel lyudnikov, who came back to himself, asked the wounded soldier loudly.


    The wounded soldier glanced at lyudnikov''s rank and said mysteriously, "when I was in Gulag concentration camp, I lived in the same shed with an engineer. I once heard him say that he was a top student in the Department of architecture of Technical University of Munich in Germany. After graduation, he worked in Berlin for two years, and later he was ordered to return home."


    "You can''t just say that he will go to Germany. You know, in our country, there are many people who have studied in Germany. As far as I know, except for a few scum who are working for the German people, most of the rest are still on the side of the motherland and fighting tenaciously against the German invaders. " After listening, lyudnikov said with disapproval.


    "Comrade Colonel," seeing that lyudnikov did not believe what he said, the wounded soldier became impatient. He raised his voice and said, "do you know why he was sent to Gulag concentration camp? It was because he had been in Germany for several years and was suspected of collaborating with the enemy that he was arrested by the interior ministry. He was supposed to be shot at that time. Later, someone suggested that he should be locked up first. After defeating the bandits, he and the aggressors should be dealt with together. Only then can he save his life. "


    I can''t laugh or cry at what the wounded soldiers say. Because the engineer had studied in Germany, he was arrested as a suspect of cooperating with the enemy and put into Gulag concentration camp. I believe that he must have suffered a lot of inhuman torture in the concentration camp. He had a chance to escape from his life and was almost killed as a deserter by his own people. Now he is missing in the area not far from Germany. With his proficient German, even if he really goes to the past, he will be accepted there smoothly.


    Thinking of this, I turned to trakov and lyudnikov and said, "commander, Colonel, we can''t delay any longer. Let''s act now. If we really wait for this engineer to run to the enemy, then our plan will be in vain. "


    Trikov nodded, stood up and said to lyudnikov, "Comrade Colonel, take these scouts out and assign them to the search teams. Don''t hesitate and act immediately."


    Lyudnikov agreed and was about to walk out. Suddenly he saw the wounded soldier. He stopped and asked trakov, "Comrade deputy commander, what about the wounded soldier?"


    Trikov rolled his eyes at him and said angrily, "find him a place to rest, and then ask the health worker to bandage his wound. Go ahead and carry it out


    Lyudnikov came to the scouts and said to them, "boys, I think you must be tired and hungry. Well, let''s go out and have some food and tea, and have a rest before we start. Come on, come with me. " With that, he took the lead and went out.


    The scouts clattered closely behind him and went out. The two soldiers who had helped the wounded also left the wounded and went straight out. Seeing that there was no one to help him, the wounded soldier got flustered and cried out: "comrades, brothers, you can''t leave me, I am a wounded man!"


    He cried for a long time, and none of the scouts turned back. Seeing that all his companions had left, he had no choice but to leave the division headquarters with one foot and one hand on the wooden wall.


    When the back of the wounded soldier disappeared from the door, trakov snorted heavily and muttered, "damn Judas!" Listening to him say so, I guess he is disgusted with the wounded soldier who betrayed his colleagues.


    Trekov and I were the only two people left in the headquarters. I felt very uncomfortable when I thought that lyudnikov had asked him for instructions just now about whether he would report the misdeeds of the Ministry of internal affairs to the higher authorities and was politely rejected by him. I deliberately turned my head to one side, pretending to look at the map on the wall, ignoring him.


    "O''shanina, are you still angry that I won''t stand out for the scouts and report the misdeeds of the officers and men of the Ministry of internal affairs to the higher authorities?" Trekov asked suddenly behind me.


    I quickly turned around and looked at him, thinking about how to answer his question. Without waiting for me to speak, he had already said: "as you know, the power of the Ministry of internal affairs is too great, and ordinary people have no way to deal with them. Besides, the supervisor team of the Ministry of internal affairs was set up by the Supreme Commander himself. I can''t help myself. Comrade o''shanina, can you understand my helplessness? " Trekov looked straight into my eyes, with a twinkle of desire to be recognized.


    I looked at him with mixed feelings. I understand that what he said is true. For the officers and soldiers of the Ministry of interior, he is really powerless. I was silent for a while before I responded to him and said, "Comrade commander, I understand your difficulties. I don''t blame you. I''m worried about the missing engineer. I don''t know if the search team can find him


    Trekov thought about it and then said to me, "o''shanina, I don''t have much hope that the search team can find an engineer. Maybe he''s gone. However, our reconnaissance work can not be stopped. We should seize the time to make clear the enemy''s defense situation in the residential areas. "


    With a smile on my face, I tentatively asked: "Comrade commander, since we can''t expect the search team to find engineers, do you need me to go back to the station immediately and bring another engineer?"


    Trekov listened to me, nodded and agreed: "what you said is reasonable. Do as you say. You leave immediately, return to the independent division''s base, and bring two or three engineers. Before the Germans are aware of our reconnaissance operation, we should finish this reconnaissance mission as soon as possible. "


    "It shouldn''t be too late. I''ll start right away." Seeing that it was time to race against the clock, I didn''t dare to delay any longer. After talking to trekov, I hurried back.


    Trekov''s jeep and the truck carrying the guard class were still parked outside. I left the headquarters and rushed to the jeep directly. I opened the door of the co driver''s side and chased sidtorin down. Then I sat on it and urged the driver to drive quickly.


    After the car started, I specially looked back. Fortunately, the truck driver was still smart, and also drove up.


    Although the driver of the jeep drives the car very fast, I still think it''s too slow. I''m afraid that the missing engineer has fallen into the hands of the German. In that case, the difficulty of our reconnaissance will be greatly increased.


    As soon as the car stopped outside the forest, I pushed the door open and jumped down. Without waiting for the guard behind me, I ran to the headquarters of the shejerikov regiment.


    As the guard class was taken away by me, there were no soldiers on duty at the moment at the gate of the headquarters, so I rushed in. Maybe the noise of me entering the door was too loud, which startled both sheijerikov and razumeyeva in the headquarters. The captain even pulled out his pistol and pointed it at me.


    Seeing that it was me, the captain put the pistol back into the holster and asked with concern: "Comrade division, you are back. Are you clear about the deserters? Which regiment is it from? "


    I sat down on the stool, panting for breath, and told razumeyeva: "sergeant, you and the three commanders come in immediately, and let them come here for a meeting immediately. I have an important military information report!"


    While razumeyeva was in contact with the other three operators, I looked up and said to shejerikov, who was standing beside me: "what deserter? It''s the reconnaissance team that captain Gaidar sent to the residential area for reconnaissance. Because they didn''t have a pass, people from the Ministry of interior thought they were deserters, and they shot and killed two soldiers


    Originally, I thought that when I said this, shijerikov would be filled with indignation and attack the internal affairs department. After hearing this, he went to my opposite and sat down in silence, staring at the map on the table in a daze.


    In less than ten minutes, the three commanders who received the notice came to the headquarters together.


    As soon as he entered the door, Captain kosga could not wait to ask on behalf of all the people, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with calling all our commanders in the middle of the night?"


    Instead of answering immediately, I asked them to sit down first. After they were all seated one by one, I stood up and said solemnly, "two hours ago, general trakov told me very angrily through the telephone that the interior department''s supervisors had captured more than a dozen deserters who claimed to be independent divisions in the defense area of the 70th division of the guards. After they were caught, they tried to escape. As a result, two of them were killed and several others were injured by the supervisors. The rest of them were all arrested. Originally, the overseers wanted to shoot them all on the spot. Fortunately, they were found by the patrol of the guard division. They took these deserters to the division headquarters, and their division commander, Colonel lyudnikov, reported the news to general trakov. " When I spoke, I had been observing the expressions of the four of them. No matter when I talked about the 70th division of guards or Colonel lyudnikov, they didn''t react at all. Obviously, they didn''t connect the desertion incident with the reconnaissance unit at all. However, it''s not surprising that they are ignorant. Except for my division commander, they don''t know who the commander of other troops is.


    "What happened after you and general trakov went to the division headquarters of the guard division?" Shijerikov is one of the four commanders who most wants to know the truth. After all, he is one of those who knows why I left in a hurry in the middle of the night.


    With a sneer, I continued: "general trakov and I went to the division headquarters of the guard division, and with the help of the division commander, Colonel lyudnikov, we saw these deserters detained by the overseers. After a careful inquiry, we found out that these so-called deserters were originally Scouts of our division. "


    "Scout?" When Gaidar heard the word, he jumped up from his seat and asked anxiously, "Comrade division, are those scouts I sent?"


    I nodded at him and answered positively, "yes, the so-called deserters are the reconnaissance units you sent to scout the residential areas. Because they had no identification, they were arrested as deserters by the internal affairs department''s supervision team. If it were not for the patrol of the 70th division of the guards, they would have been shot now. " At this point, I couldn''t help slapping the table heavily and yelling at him: "Comrade captain, since you have sent a reconnaissance team to the orlovka area, why don''t you report to me?"


    Gaidar lowered his head in embarrassment. Instead of answering my question, he asked with a gloomy look: "Comrade division, are there many casualties in the reconnaissance unit?"


    I hurled a heavy hum at him and said: "fortunately, only two people were killed and one was injured." Although I have been hearing about several injured people, I only saw that the informant was injured in the leg in the headquarters, and the rest of them were in good condition. So now when I report to my subordinates, I only say that one person was injured.


    Captain Oleg looked at the stupefied shejerikov and dejected Gaidar, got up and asked, "Comrade division, what shall we do next? Do you want to continue reconnaissance or withdraw the reconnaissance unit? "


    I waved my hand and said firmly, "it''s impossible to withdraw. The construction engineer in the reconnaissance unit is missing in the chaos. I have asked Col. lyudnikov to send someone to assist in the search. As engineers are the key to this reconnaissance mission, we can''t sit and wait for the results of the search team. We should send new engineers to go there and then conduct detailed reconnaissance on the residential areas. "


    When he heard that he was sending engineers back, Gaidar stood up and asked me to replace the missing engineer to complete the reconnaissance mission


    "You?" I looked him up and down in disbelief. "Can you do it?"


    Gaidar nodded in affirmation and answered me, "Comrade division commander, I was a construction engineer before the war. Besides building houses, I also participated in the construction of many national defense fortifications. I am confident that I will finish the task well. "


    I kindly reminded him: "Comrade captain, this reconnaissance mission is dangerous, and you may lose your life. You should think it over before you answer me."


    "I think it over. I''m confident that I can finish this task well." Gaidar said firmly.


    "You really think about it, don''t you regret it?" I''ll ask again.


    "Think about it!" Gaidar''s tone is unprecedented firmness.

 Chapter 527

    Gaidar and I are about to leave for the front line. Both the independent division and the fourth regiment need to be temporarily in charge. My eyes swept over the three commanders one by one. Captain shejerikov was the most suitable candidate, but he was absent-minded and obviously out of shape; The second commander Oleg is only a captain. He may not be able to manage the whole independent division. Since the leaders of the two regiments are not suitable, we can only choose the remaining three leaders, Captain kosga.


    I used to cough to attract everyone''s attention. After everyone''s eyes were focused on me, he said straightforwardly, "comrades, Captain Gaidar and I are going to the front. During the period of my absence, all the affairs of the independent division were in the charge of the third commander, Captain kosga. Do you understand? "


    When I asked this question, Captain Oleg was surprised that the temporary person in charge appointed by me, not chejerikov, but kosja. He looked at the captain in surprise, frowned slightly, stood up and replied loudly, "I understand!"


    Cosga obviously did not expect that such a good thing would fall on him. After a moment of surprise, he jumped up from his seat and raised his voice to reply, "I understand!" Then he showed his heart to me with a low attitude, "Comrade teacher, don''t worry, I will seriously complete the task you gave me."


    Their voices startled dejected Xie jerikov. He woke up from the state of absence, stood up in a panic, and replied with a kind of learning: "I understand!"


    I looked at chejerikov discontentedly, turned around and told kosja, "Comrade captain, during the period when I am away, you are responsible for the training of the troops, and you should carry out the training subjects according to the resolution made at the last meeting. At the same time, you need to deploy a group of trusted soldiers, organize more patrol teams, and patrol around the camp continuously. One is to prevent the enemy from sneaking attacks, and the other is to prevent the emergence of real deserters. "


    "How long are you going to leave this time, sir?" kosga asked with concern


    I shook my head and replied, "well, I can''t say it well. Maybe half a day, maybe one day, it depends on the situation of our reconnaissance. Anyway, during my absence, you are fully responsible for everything of the independent division. "


    "Yes, please rest assured, sir. I promise that I will successfully complete all the tasks you have given me."


    I nodded to him and Oleg, and without looking at shejerikov, I told Gaidar to leave the headquarters.


    When we got to the edge of the forest, jeeps and trucks were still waiting for us. When I saw the guard class sitting motionless on the truck, I couldn''t help feeling a trace of dissatisfaction with Willa: the guard class is sent to protect my safety, you''re good, I went to the headquarters to fight back and forth, you and the soldiers of the guard class are still sitting in the car.


    However, because I was in a hurry, I didn''t care about Willa and walked straight to the jeep. Gaidar''s reaction was not slow. He took the lead to open the door for me. When I got on the bus, he closed the door, opened the front passenger''s door and went in directly.


    Seeing Gaidar close the door, I reached out and patted the driver on the shoulder and said softly, "Comrade driver, let''s drive."


    The jeep sped towards the orlovka area. Although there were many checkpoints on the road, the jeep I took was the car of trakov, and the officers and men at the checkpoint knew it well. As soon as we saw our car, we didn''t check it at all. Instead, we moved the barrier to let it go.


    I can''t remember clearly. After passing several checkpoints, Gaidar, who was sitting in the front row, suddenly turned back and said to me, "Sir, there is something I don''t know whether I should tell you."


    Listen to him say so, my eyebrows can''t help picking up, the heart said, is this the time, you still want to retreat? But in front of trakov''s driver, I was not easy to attack. I could only say vaguely, "if there''s anything, just say it."


    Gaidar looked at the driver warily, with an expression of desire to talk and stop. I waved my hand and said with disapproval, "Comrade captain, the driver is a very reliable person. If there is anything, just say it. He won''t let it out."


    Hearing that I had said this, Gaidar said without any scruples: "in fact, just now in the headquarters, I think you have seen captain chejerikov''s abnormal expression. Otherwise, you will not let captain kosja be in charge of commanding the army. You know, there is still a big gap between the two people''s abilities."


    "Why did he suddenly appear this abnormal performance?" I am also very curious about shijerikov''s gaffe and eager to know the real answer.


    "You have mentioned about the Ministry of interior''s supervision team, which may have frightened him."


    "The overseers of the Ministry of the interior!" The driver couldn''t help but cut in when he heard the captain say, "what''s so terrible about them?"


    "Yes, comrade captain. You know, although the governor Corps is subordinate to the Ministry of interior, they only shoot at cowards who are fleeing on the battlefield, and they will not casually kill people. " Although I am disgusted with the supervisors of the Ministry of interior, I still want to evaluate them from a neutral point of view in public.


    Although there were only three of us in the car, Gaidar looked around with vigilance, then lowered his voice and said, "a few days after captain chejerikov was put in the punishment camp, a group of personnel from the Ministry of internal affairs came to take all the people from the captain''s barracks to the open space to shoot them with machine guns in the name of eliminating the vulnerable elements. More than a dozen people were killed on the spot and the same number injured. And the captain, because the person standing in front of him was hit by the bullet, and his body turned around in the same place, then he bumped into him and knocked him to the ground. In this way, he escaped the fate of being hit by the bullet. Originally, he thought that he would die. Unexpectedly, the Gunners of the interior department saw that the machine guns had knocked down all the people. After that, there were no survivors, so they packed up their weapons and left. Only then did the captain get away with one life. "


    It''s the first time I''ve heard about the experience of captain shejerikov, but I still asked Gaidar cautiously, "Comrade captain, who did you listen to about shejerikov?"


    "Listen to who says what." Gaidar said angrily, "I saw all this with my own eyes. Originally, after the execution of captain xiejerikov and his people in the barracks, it was our turn. Fortunately, the officers in charge of the punishment camp came out to negotiate with the personnel of the Ministry of interior, saying that they could send us to the front line and let us use our own blood and lives to clean up the crimes committed against our motherland. In this case, the staff of the Ministry of interior left the camp reluctantly. "


    When Gaidar finished speaking, I quickly straightened out and said to him, "Comrade captain, what you said just now, don''t mention it to anyone in the future, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble." Then I turned around and told the driver, "Comrade driver, don''t tell others what you just heard, or you will be in trouble."


    The person who can become a trakov driver is usually not an ordinary person, and this smart driver is no exception. Hearing what I told him, he pretended to be confused and said, "Comrade commander, I''ve been busy driving. I didn''t hear a word of what you were saying just now."


    When I heard the driver say that, I didn''t finish. I just smile at his back. And Gaidar said the secret of captain shejerikov, also kept silent, the whole car fell into a silence.


    A few minutes later, the speed began to slow down. The driver turned around and asked me, "Comrade commander, it''s almost time for the headquarters of the guard division. Where should I park my car?"


    I looked out of the window and saw that it was only seven or eight meters away from the concealment department where the headquarters was located. I patted the driver on the shoulder and said, "Comrade driver, you can stop anywhere you like. We can walk the rest of the way. "


    The driver readily agreed to stop the jeep at the side of the road. Then he turned back and said to me, "Comrade commander, you can get off."


    When I pushed the door open and got off, I specially said to the driver, "thank you, comrade driver!"


    In accordance with the regulations, the driver answered: "serve the Soviet Union!"


    I went out of the car and looked back at the truck not far behind. I thought to myself whether I should go over and give orders to Vera or they would sit on the truck again. Just as he was hesitating, Gaidar had already passed me and strode towards the truck. At the same time, he issued a loud command: "guard class, all of you get out of the car!"


    I looked at Gaidar''s back, nodded with satisfaction, then turned and walked towards the division headquarters with my submachine gun.


    Just walked more than ten meters, suddenly a man rushed out from the stab. I stepped back, put the submachine gun in my hand, and warily asked, "who?"


    The man stopped, stood in the same place and asked in a low voice, "is it lieutenant commander o''shanina?"


    When I heard that the other party was speaking Russian and also called out my name, I lowered my gun and replied, "yes, I''m oshanina. Who are you? " When I ask questions, my finger is still on the trigger. If anything is wrong, I just lift the muzzle of the gun, and I can shoot the bullets out of the gun in the shortest time.


    The other side still said in a low voice: "Comrade commander, it''s me. Don''t shoot. I have something to tell you Then, without waiting for my response, he came to me.


    When the man came five or six steps away from me, I could finally see his face. When I saw his face clearly, I could not help but be surprised. Isn''t this the arrogant and arrogant captain of the internal affairs department in the headquarters just now? What will he do to me at this late hour, and what will he do to me? Thinking of this, I quietly raised the muzzle of the submachine gun by an inch.


    Unexpectedly, the captain came up to me and stood at attention. At the same time, he raised his hand to salute me and said, "Comrade commander, please forgive me. I''m sorry for what happened tonight. But it''s my duty. I can''t help doing some things. " After that, without waiting for me to speak, he turned and left without hesitation.


    Looking at his back, I was at a loss. What happened? Why did the arrogant captain come to me to apologize? Just as I couldn''t figure it out, Gaidar''s voice rang out in my ear: "Sir, who was that man just now?"


    I gave a wry smile and said, "who else can it be? He is a captain of the internal affairs department''s supervision team. The Scout of our division was arrested by his deserters. "


    "What? It''s him Said Gaidar, reaching to his waist to draw the gun.


    "What are you going to do?" As soon as his gun was pulled out, I found him. I grabbed him by the wrist and stopped him severely. I looked at the captain far away and said to Gaidar in a low voice, "don''t make a fool of yourself. Put the gun away."


    He angrily put the gun back in the holster, and said reluctantly, "did my soldiers die in vain?"


    "If you shoot, your soldiers will really die in vain!" I said coldly, then waved my head at him and said, "the guard team is standing by. You go to the division headquarters for me."


    When I walked into the headquarters, I saw that in addition to trikov and lyudnikov, I unexpectedly found that political commissar jitov was also there. I quickly came forward to salute him and said with a smile, "Hello, comrade political commissar, long time no see. Are you ok?"


    Jitov also saluted, stretched out his hands, grasped my hand tightly, shook it hard and said: "Hello, comrade oshanina, I haven''t seen you for such a long time, I miss you very much!"


    I was chatting with Titov when trikov, who was sitting next to me, suddenly asked, "o''shanina, who is this? Is it the new engineer? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." I quickly released jitov''s hand and went to Gaidar''s side. Although trakov had seen him before, as a general with a lot of skills, it is estimated that he had forgotten this captain. So I specially introduced him to him and said, "this is captain Gaidar, the head of the fourth regiment. He is also a senior architectural engineer, so I brought him back."


    Trekov got up, went to Gaidar, took his hand, shook it hard, and said, "Comrade captain, you probably know what happened from Lt. o''shanina. To tell you the truth, I don''t have much hope that the engineer can be recovered, so the burden of continuing reconnaissance will fall on you. "


    Gaidar straightened his back and answered trekov in a loud voice: "please rest assured, comrade commander. I promise to finish the task."


    When trakov finished, I asked lyudnikov with concern, "Comrade Colonel, how long will it take if the search team is withdrawn and the scouts are called together?"


    Lyudnikov raised his hand, looked at his watch and replied, "it will take at least two hours. It can''t be any faster. You know, the search team is too small to be equipped with necessary communication equipment. If you want to recruit them back, I can only send someone to inform them. "


    "No, not at all!" "Two hours is too long. It will be bright before the reconnaissance troops get close to the residential area," he said. Then they will be found by the enemy''s sentinels and killed one by one like shooting at a target. "


    At this time, Titov stepped forward and asked for instructions from trikov, saying, "Comrade deputy commander, since it takes too long to recover the original reconnaissance unit, we might as well rebuild a new one."


    "New reconnaissance unit?" I have to say that commissar jitov''s proposal is very attractive. It not only makes me excited, but also trekov is considering whether it should be done. Wei Yi pondered, he asked jitov with a serious expression: "Comrade political commissar, who do you think this reconnaissance team should be composed of?"


    Hearing that, Titov immediately volunteered to say, "I''m familiar with the terrain near the settlement. I''ll be the leader of the reconnaissance team. In order not to expose the target, the number of such reconnaissance units should not be too large. As for the players, I think so. This engineer is one. I''ll take two more guards. "


    "No way!" The first one who jumped out against him was division commander lyudnikov. He said with a strong voice: "Comrade political commissar, your combat post is in the division headquarters. You are not going to be a scout near the enemy''s position."


    Trakov looked back at the emotional lyudnikov, did not respond to him, but asked me: "oshanina, how do you think about it?"


    I don''t know why jitov suddenly had this idea of coming out in person. I can only say cautiously, "let''s listen to what the political commissar of jitov said."


    Trikov nodded approvingly and said to Titov, "tell me, comrade Commissar. If you have good reasons, I personally approve you to be the captain of this reconnaissance unit. "


    "Comrade deputy commander..." lyudnikov didn''t expect that trakov would say that. As soon as he began to say a few words, he was interrupted by a wave from trakov. He looked at jitov and asked, "Comrade political commissar, please tell me your reasons. We are all waiting to hear."


    Jitov extended his hand to the side and said, "everybody, please come here." Then he led the way to the map on the wall. When we all stood beside him, he pointed to the map with a stick and said, "to the west of this residential area, there are a large number of forests. Our reconnaissance team can sneak in here at night to spy on the enemy''s defensive positions at a short distance."


    "How far is the forest from the residential area, comrade political commissar?" Gaidar boldly asked, but instead of criticizing him, they turned their eyes to jitov, waiting for his answer.


    "It''s less than 400 meters away." Titov confidently said: "due to the large forest area, if the reconnaissance unit lurks here for reconnaissance, it may be very small to be found by the enemy."


    Hearing that there is a large area of forest less than 400 meters away from the residential area, I can''t help but feel excited and want to see the terrain myself. Only when I have mastered the first-hand information, I will be more confident when I command the battle in a few days.


    Thinking of this, I couldn''t help saying, "since the terrain is conducive to the concealment of the reconnaissance team, I agree that political commissar jitov will lead the team to carry out the reconnaissance mission." Speaking of this, I deliberately pause for a moment, and when everyone''s attention is focused on me, I announce with astonishment: "I will join this reconnaissance team, and join commissar jitov in the reconnaissance mission."

 Chapter 528

    As soon as I said that, I was immediately opposed by everyone except Gaidar.


    "No! No way The first one to jump out and object, as I expected, was trekov. From the perspective of loving me, he expressed his opposition to my wishful thinking with a clear attitude. He said earnestly, "o''xanina, you have to find out your own identity. You are not an ordinary soldier, but a commander. You are the head of a division. How can you go to such a dangerous place and carry out the reconnaissance task that soldiers can accomplish?"


    "Yes, commander o''shanina, comrade deputy commander is right. You have a special identity. In my opinion, don''t go to such a dangerous task. " Lyudnikov also helped trakov persuade me, hoping I could change my mind.


    After a moment''s silence, Titov came back to me, half persuading and half blaming, and said, "commander o''shanina, I can understand your mood. It''s good to fight actively, but we should do what we can. Although I also took part in this reconnaissance operation, it''s different from your situation. I''m not only familiar with the location I''m going to, but also have more than ten or twenty years of combat experience, which is enough to cope with any emergencies that may occur. "


    Even Gaidar''s mouth opened a few times, as if he wanted to say something, but he may think of his own identity. In this situation, he is not qualified to speak, so he didn''t say anything and closed his mouth obediently.


    Several people care and love me, I see in the eyes, remember in the heart. However, because this battle is the first battle after the establishment of the independent division, whether it can win or not is related to the survival of this unit in the future, so I can''t take it lightly. Only when we personally go to the front for reconnaissance can we accurately grasp the enemy''s situation and work out a more practical operational plan.


    I know that in the headquarters, trakov is the decision maker. As long as he is convinced, all the opposition will disappear. I also said to him with a smile: "Comrade commander, as you know, the battle to recover the settlements is the first battle after the establishment of the independent division. I think about what the enemy''s defense is like in the residential areas. What I saw with my own eyes is more detailed and accurate than what the scout reported. I want to go to the forest near the residential area with political commissar jitov tonight, and hide there, and have a good observation during the day. "


    "However, it''s too dangerous for you to go to the enemy''s position for reconnaissance." Trekov''s tone softened when I said that. He didn''t object as strongly as he did just now.


    "Comrade commander, when I visited the army with you some time ago, didn''t I encounter several dangers? Would it be more dangerous to go to the front line for reconnaissance than the enemy situation we encountered at that time? "


    Trekov seemed to be convinced by my words, hesitated for a long time, then choked out a sentence: "o''shanina, do you think about it again?"


    "Don''t think about it any more, comrade commander." I firmly said to trakov, "I have considered it very clearly. I must go in person for this reconnaissance." Speaking of this, I suddenly found that I was a little too hard on trakov. I quickly slowed down and said, "don''t worry, I will come back safely and alive."


    Trekov looked at me with a bitter smile and said, "I believe that. As far as I know, you''ve been seriously injured several times, sometimes even giving people the feeling that you can''t be saved, but up to now, you''re still jumping. Well, since you insist, I''ll agree to your request. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, this..." lyudnikov and jitov did not expect that trikov changed his position so quickly. They opened their mouths to persuade him a few more words, but they were interrupted by trikov as soon as they spoke. Trikov looked at them confidently and said, "I care too, but it''s chaotic. Since Comrade oshanina said she would be safe, she would come back safely. Comrade Titov, make a little preparation, and then we''ll go. It''s only two hours before dawn. "


    I was afraid of a long night, so I quickly took jitov''s arm and dragged him out. At the same time, I urged: "Comrade political commissar, the commander is right. It''s not much time before dawn. If we linger any longer, we''ll be more dangerous than the enemy at dawn. "


    Jitov didn''t expect that I would drag him out of the headquarters suddenly, so he had to look bitterly at trikov and lyudnikov standing in the room, and finally said, "deputy commander, division commander, I''m going to start with lieutenant commander oshanina. Later, I''ll go to the guard company and pick up two smart soldiers to go with me. "


    "Two is not enough, at least five!" Trekov said coldly.


    After a moment''s silence, lyudnikov echoed: "yes, the deputy commander is right. Two are not enough, at least five. Remember, pick all the big ones, so that they can carry commander o''shanina back even if something happens


    As soon as lyudnikov''s words were finished, trakov burst into laughter, and even jitov grinned. I looked at lyudnikov who was concerned about my safety with a smile. Just as I was about to express my gratitude to him, I suddenly remembered another thing. I quickly stopped, released jitov''s arm, went back to trikov and said, "Comrade commander, I forgot to report something to you."


    "What''s the matter?"


    "My guard team, the one you sent me, is waiting outside now. I want them under your command for the time being. When I come back from the reconnaissance mission, you can give them back to me. "


    Trekov nodded without hesitation and said, "well, I''ll send someone to settle them up later. When you get back, I''ll let them escort you back to the independent division."


    "Thank you, comrade commander." With that, I raised my hand to give him a military salute.


    Trekov took my hand, shook it hard, and said with concern, "o''shanina, I''ll be here for you all the time. Promise me to come back alive! "


    Although the scene was a bit of separation, it did not shake my determination. I nodded my head vigorously and replied confidently: "please rest assured, commander, I will come back safely." Releasing trakov''s hand, I took lyudnikov''s hand again and shook it hard.


    Out of the headquarters, when jitov went to the guard company to pick the accompanying soldiers, I came to the position of the guard class. I said to Vera, "Vera, I''m going out on an important mission. Maybe I''ll be back tomorrow night."


    Vera was a little flustered when I said that. She asked nervously, "Rita, if you go. What shall we do then? "


    Willa''s reaction made me feel disappointed with her again. Maybe it was because she was too young. She was not suitable for the position of being independent at all. When I get back, I''ll think about a suitable person to be the monitor of the guard.


    I patted her on the shoulder, comforted her and said, "Vera, don''t worry. General trakov will send someone to settle you. When I come back from my mission, you will accompany me back to the independent division. "


    As he spoke, he heard Titov''s voice from a distance: "commander o''shanina, are you ready? If it''s all right, we should go. "


    I rushed to the direction of the voice promised: "political commissar comrades, ready, I will go right away." With that, I took weilala over, gently hugged her and said softly, "don''t worry, I''ll be back soon."


    I, jitov, Gaidar, and five soldiers from the guard company walked along the traffic trench to the division''s first trench. A lieutenant met me, looked at me, raised his hand and saluted jitov. He reported, "Comrade political commissar, I have received a call from the division headquarters. I have been ordered to meet you."


    Titov shook his head at the lieutenant and said, "time is running out. We''ll talk as we go." With that, he walked along the trench.


    I heard Titov ask, "Comrade lieutenant, what''s the situation?"


    "It''s very quiet in front of the position. There''s no movement. We sent out the latent sentry, also did not find the enemy''s trace in the vicinity. Comrade political commissar, I think it should be safe to cross the frontier at this time. "


    Titov patted the lieutenant on the shoulder and said with satisfaction, "well done, comrade lieutenant. It seems that you have done a good job in preparation. If this task can be successfully completed, I will praise you in public. "


    A little further on, the lieutenant who led the way stopped first. Pointing to the front of the trench, he said to jitov, "Comrade political commissar, in this area, neither the enemy nor we have sent patrols. You start from here, go straight ahead, walk for about an hour, and you''ll get to the forest. "


    "Thank you, comrade lieutenant." Titov shook hands with the lieutenant, then turned around and said in a low voice to us, "all right, comrades, climb out of this trench."


    There are many craters on the road from our trench to the forest. Fortunately, the moon is good and the vision is very wide, which ensures that we did not fall into these craters without lighting.


    During the March, I walked with jitov. Looking at the bright moon in the sky, I can''t help but ask with some worry: "Comrade political commissar, we will not be found by the enemy when we walk on the road like this?"


    Jitov waved his hand and said, "commander oshanina, don''t worry. Although the enemy has occupied the residential area, they seem to be lax in their guard of the nearby area."


    "Why?" Jitov''s words puzzled me. You know, the enemy troops are stationed not far from our defense. If the defense is lax, are you not afraid that our troops will attack them when they don''t expect it?


    Jitov pointed to the north and said with a touch: "Comrade commander, actually it''s about you. Because the Division has carried out your order to use small troops to attack the enemy continuously, now the enemy''s attention has been attracted to the north by our division''s troops. It''s the junction of our group army and the 62nd group army, and it''s also the area where fighting happens most frequently. "


    With these words, we came to the hiding place unconsciously. From the outside, the forest area here is no smaller than that of the independent division. Seeing a forest of this scale, I feel much more secure. Let alone we have only eight people, that is, 80 people. If there is not too much movement, it is not easy to be found by people hundreds of meters away.


    Where we lurked, behind the bushes at the edge of the forest. I''m with jitov, behind the most forward bush; Gedar, with another soldier, lay down behind the Bush on our left; The other four soldiers, however, were hidden further in order to cover our retreat to the depths of the forest in the event of a battle.


    As soon as it was light, I couldn''t wait to raise my telescope and look at the residential area hundreds of meters away. The edge of the settlement is a low colored wooden house, which should be built by the collective farm. A little further inside, there are several brick concrete three story buildings. Maybe there is no fierce battle here, so the windows of most rooms are still in good condition.


    "Commander o''shanina, what do you find?" Titov asked softly next to me, "have you found the enemy''s firepower and fortifications?"


    I shook my head and said, "no one can be seen in the settlement." With that, he handed his telescope to jitov and asked him to come and have a look.


    While jitov was observing the enemy''s situation, I turned and looked at Gaidar, who was hiding nearby. When he found that he was raising his telescope to observe for a while, he put down his telescope and drew a few strokes on a piece of paper; Then pick up the telescope to observe, and draw a few strokes on the paper.


    Looking back at Titov, he found that he was holding up his telescope, concentrating on the settlement. At the same time, his mouth seemed to be talking to himself, and he said to me, "look, these ghosts are so cunning. On the surface, there is no abnormality in the residential areas, but at the top of every building, there are enemy firepower points. "


    "Really? Why didn''t I find out just now I''m a little skeptical that jitov''s seeing it.


    "See for yourself." "When you look at the top of every building, look at the small square holes in the roof. They are not skylights, but shooting holes made by the enemy," he said


    I raised my telescope, carefully looked at the top of several buildings, and found that as he said, several roof tiles were carefully uncovered, revealing a few small square holes. If I didn''t look carefully, I really couldn''t find them. I can''t help feeling to myself that Jiang is still spicy. If it wasn''t for jitov, I would not have found the enemy''s firepower.


    I put down my telescope and humbly asked him, "Comrade political commissar, except for the firepower on the roof. Have you found any other places where the enemy''s firepower is? "


    Instead of picking up my telescope, jitov pointed to the residential area and pointed to me again, saying, "look at the row of low colored wooden houses. If I guess wrong every time, the enemy should dig a single person''s shelter around the wooden house. The settlement is surrounded by open land. Once our army launches an attack, the roof of the enemy''s house and a single person''s bunker fire at the same time, which can form a cross fire network and cause great damage to the attacking troops. "


    After listening to jitov''s words, I looked at Gaidar not far away with some worry. I was afraid that he, like me, would not be able to find the enemy''s hidden firepower. So I handed the telescope to jitov and climbed over to Gaidar.


    I climbed up to Gaidar''s side and asked with concern, "Comrade captain, how''s the observation going?"


    "Comrade division," Gaidar replied excitedly, "I have marked all the enemy firepower points I have observed on the map."


    "Show it to me." Then I reached out to him.


    "Sir, please have a look!" Gaidar handed me his drawings and explained them one by one: "these Krauts are really cunning. On the surface, there is nothing special about this residential area, but their firepower has been built in a concealed position. For example, on the top of these brick and concrete buildings, there are hidden fire points; Besides, around these colored wooden houses, there are also many enemy individual shelters. Once we attack, the enemy''s firepower points fire at the same time, which can form a three-dimensional firepower network and kill a large number of our attacking troops. "


    When I heard what Gaidar said, just like what jitov said just now, I knew there would be no mistake. When I handed the drawing back to him, I told him, "Comrade captain, continue to observe. Mark all the enemy''s firepower points, and you can make them more precise. " With that, he climbed to jitov again.


    Climbing back to jitov, I could not help but say with emotion, "Comrade political commissar, you are really amazing. What you said is exactly the same as what captain Gaidar observed."


    Titov gave me a friendly smile, and then asked gravely, "Comrade oshanina, how do you plan to launch an attack when you have found out the strength and firepower of the enemy in the residential area? You know, according to the current situation of our army, except for a small number of tanks, it is impossible to provide you with enough artillery support! In that case, if you want to attack this residential area, the casualties of the troops will be absolutely inevitable. "


    In fact, I had a detailed plan in my mind just now when I was looking at Gaidar''s drawings. Anyway, there is no outsider now. So I told jitov frankly: "Comrade political commissar, I intend to use the night to gather the offensive troops in this forest. Before launching the attack, fire smoke bombs into the residential areas, rely on the smoke to block the enemy''s vision, let the assault forces quietly approach the residential areas, and then launch a sudden attack, quickly rush into these buildings and fight against the enemy for the buildings. "


    Although I said it very simply, it also made jitov silent for a long time. After a while, he said with a smile, "that''s a good way. In this way, when the troops are assembled, they won''t be killed by the enemy''s firepower. Then use smoke bombs to block the enemy''s view, let the troops quietly approach the residential areas, and then launch a sudden attack. This kind of attack is really novel. "


    As we were talking, we suddenly heard Gaidar''s voice in a low voice: "Comrade division, an enemy armored car has come out of the residential area and is coming towards us!"

 Chapter 529

    Looking at the speeding armored car, I suddenly burst into a cold sweat. Oh, my God, is it the reflection of the telescope lens that was found by the Germans hiding in the residential area? But looking up at the sky, I don''t think it''s like the sun hasn''t come out yet. How can there be reflection?


    After a brief panic, I returned to normal, watching the German armored car coming closer and closer. I put the muzzle of the submachine gun out of the Bush and aimed at the German soldiers sitting in the car.


    When the armored car arrived ten meters away from the forest, it suddenly made a sharp turn and stopped. Because the car turned too fast, the German soldiers in the car were thrown together by the huge inertia. Then I heard the soldiers start shouting. Although I didn''t understand what they said, I guess they were cursing the driver.


    After a while of noise, several soldiers pushed the door open and jumped out of the car. But they didn''t immediately start the battle formation and search the forest. Instead, they huddled under the car.


    Seeing this scene, I can''t help but frown slightly. I think these German guys are so famous that they rush here in an armored car. After getting out of the car, they huddle together to chat. They don''t come to the forest to pick mushrooms in the early morning, do they? If they come to pick mushrooms, they should not be guns, but shovel and cloth bags.


    Just when I was at a loss, I saw another man from the armored car. To be exact, he was pushed down. After his feet touched the ground, he was not stable. Under the action of inertia, he took two steps forward and then fell to the ground. When the German soldiers around saw that the man had fallen and gnawed mud, they burst into laughter, all of them laughing back and forth.


    "Damn the Krauts!" Jitov, who was next to me, suddenly let out a cursing.


    Hearing this curse from Titov, I turned my attention from the German soldiers to the man who fell down. The man sat up with his hands on his back, spat on the dirt, straightened his glasses, and slowly got up from the ground. Then he turned around and yelled at the German soldiers.


    When I saw that the man was wearing our uniform, I instinctively thought that he was a captured soldier. But I couldn''t help shaking my mind when I heard what he said to the German soldiers. Because he didn''t speak Russian, but a language I didn''t understand. Judging from the reaction of those German soldiers who heard his voice and stopped laughing, he should have spoken German. Who is a man who speaks German so fluently and is treated so rudely by German soldiers?


    At this time, an officer in a big cornice cap jumped from the armored car. It was he who pushed the glasses soldier down just now. After he got out of the car, he pulled the hem of his clothes and straightened his cap. Then he strode to the soldier and kicked him in the stomach.


    The spectacle soldier bent down in pain and vomited violently. But he didn''t seem to have eaten for a long time, so he vomited for a long time. He didn''t vomit anything except some water.


    Seeing his masterpiece, the officer laughed triumphantly. With his laughter, the soldiers around him also laughed. After laughing for a while, the officer called a soldier and said something in his ear. Then the soldier came up to the soldier, said something aloud, and gave him a heavy push with his hand.


    The soldier turned, covered his abdomen with both hands, and walked slowly towards the forest. The German soldier followed, with the muzzle of the submachine gun pointed to his back. After more than ten steps, the soldier entered the forest. Seeing that there was no movement behind him, he couldn''t help looking back at the German soldiers. But the German soldier gave him a hard poke with the muzzle of his submachine gun and yelled at him.


    The soldiers continued to walk towards our position, but the German soldiers stayed where they were and pulled open the bolt.


    Hell, the darn Krauts want to shoot our soldiers here. I just thought of this. The Krauts have already fired. Hearing the gunshot, I was so nervous that I almost pulled the trigger.


    After the gunshot, the soldier still stood in the same place and fell down, just shivering. What''s going on? I asked myself, is this German soldier''s shooting so bad, so close to the target can not hit it?


    At this time, there was a series of gunshots. I had a close look. It turned out that the German soldiers were shooting into the sky. After a round of bullets, the German soldiers slung the smoky submachine gun on their shoulders, pointed to the depths of the forest and yelled at the frightened soldiers.


    The soldier with glasses looked back at the soldier, and then walked forward a few steps. He didn''t hear the sound of the gun. He quickened his pace and ran. He ran quickly past me and ran to the depth of the forest.


    The soldier who fired returned to his companions. After a few laughs, a group of people climbed onto the armored car. After all the officers and men got on the train, the armored car turned its head and drove to the residential area. After the German armored vehicle drove into the settlement, it soon disappeared behind several buildings.


    Seeing the far away armored car, my heart suddenly relaxed, and I felt a cold feeling on my back. It must be the cold sweat that soaked all the clothes on my back. I turned over and lay on my back, gasping for breath, so that my heart could return to normal as soon as possible.


    Just as I relaxed, I saw jitov suddenly stand up, bend and run towards the deep forest, where the other four soldiers were lurking. What is he going to do? I think so, sat up abruptly, looking at his far away figure, guess.


    "Comrade division," Gaidar came to me at some time and whispered to me, "the soldier who just ran into the forest is our missing engineer Mikhail yev."


    "What?" After hearing Gaidar''s words, I was shocked. Pointing to the deep forest, I asked uncertainly, "Comrade captain, you said that the soldier with glasses who ran into the forest was the engineer who we sent more than ten search teams to search for all night?"


    "Absolutely right, comrade teacher." Gaidar gave me a positive answer, and then he said worriedly, "it seems that the reason why we can''t find mihayev is because he was captured by the Germans. You know, he is one of the people who knows the attack plan. If he divulges this secret to the Germans, it will be difficult for us to fight in a few days. "


    After listening to Gaidar''s words, my heart can''t help sinking. Judging from the situation just now, the engineer has been in the hands of the German for several hours at least. In such a long time, no matter how long the plan is, it is estimated that he has confessed. However, there are two ways for the German to deal with the useless prisoners: one is to send them to the camp; The second is to drag them outside and shoot them. But the German released him. What''s the matter?


    "What should we do, sir?" Gaidar asked anxiously: "if the battle plan is exposed, do we need to continue reconnaissance?"


    At first, I was a little at a loss about how to deal with such a sudden accident. However, when Gaidar complained to me, I thought of a way to cushion him and quickly comforted him, saying, "Comrade captain, please be calm. We don''t know what happened when the engineer fell into the hands of the enemy. But now political commissar jitov has taken people to chase him. When the engineer is arrested and asked, everything will be clear. "


    Gaidar listened to me so, had no choice but to nod, said: "well, now it seems, it can only be so." With that, he crept back to his hiding place.


    After Gaidar left, I continued to lie on the ground, waiting for the news of jitov. In my heart, I was still thinking about the possibility that the engineer would leak the secret. After thinking about it for a long time, I suddenly changed my mind. It''s no big deal to leak the secret. Many things can''t be changed by people''s wishes. The successful plan will always succeed; No matter how hard you try, you can''t succeed in a plan that can''t succeed. Now that something has happened, we should face it bravely. Evasion can never solve the problem.


    After waiting for about ten minutes, just as I was about to lose patience, a soldier bent down and ran to me. He squatted down and said to me in a low voice, "Comrade commander, political commissar jitov, please come over. We have caught the man who just ran into the forest." When I heard that I had caught the engineer, I quickly got up from the ground, followed the soldier, bent down and ran deep into the forest.


    We walked about one or two hundred meters before we saw jitov standing next to a tree, sitting at his feet at the soldier with glasses. Around the soldier, there were three soldiers with live ammunition. Their muzzle pointed at the soldier, as if to prevent him from jumping up and running.


    I quickly stepped forward and asked in a low voice, "commissar jitov, what''s the matter?"


    Titov pointed to the soldier sitting there and said angrily, "I didn''t expect that the boy''s mouth was hard. After our soldiers caught him and interrogated him here for a long time, he didn''t say a word."


    I looked at the glasses soldier sitting on the ground, waved to jitov and said, "Comrade political commissar, let me handle this." After that, without waiting for jitov to say anything, I went to the soldier, squatted down, raised my hand to remove some leaves from his head, and then asked as if nothing had happened: "engineer mihayev, where did you go last night? We sent a dozen search teams to look for you all night. "


    Hearing that I accurately called out his name, mihayev, who was originally serious, trembled and asked nervously, "who are you and why do you know my name?"


    I hummed softly and said lightly, "since you don''t know me, I''ll introduce myself. My name is o''shanina. I''m the head of the independent division. And you, Mikhail yev, a soldier of the fourth regiment of the independent division, came here to spy on the enemy at the command of captain Gaidar, the commander of the division? "


    "You are the teacher?" Obviously, Mikhail yev has not relaxed his vigilance yet. He tentatively asked, "it''s not because I''m missing that you went out to scout here in person, right?"


    Instead of answering his question directly, I asked, "what do you say?"


    He shook his head hard and said aloud, "I don''t believe it, I don''t believe it. I''m just a prisoner of no importance. No matter I''m missing or dead, no one will care about me. How can the teacher go out to find me in person? "


    "Comrade mihayev, why is it impossible? I said to your regimental commander and company commander that you are all my subordinates. As long as you do not flee in the battlefield because you are afraid of death, or defecte to the enemy, no matter what happens, I will guarantee your safety. " Then I stood up, pointed to jitov and continued, "Comrade engineer, please look up and look for you. In addition to me, there are also division commissars of friendly forces. In addition, your commander Gaidar, who is on a reconnaissance mission at the moment, will come later. "


    Hearing that Gaidar was coming, Mikhail yev brightened his eyes and asked in surprise, "is this true? Comrade captain will be here later? "


    "Yes, it''s true!" I replied faintly.


    When the engineer, who had been in a state of depression, heard that his team leader was coming, he picked himself up, stood up from the ground and took a step closer to me. The soldiers around thought that he had any bad intentions, and they all yelled to stop. I quickly raised my hand to make gestures to several soldiers, let them put down their guns, so as not to accidentally go off the fire.


    After the soldiers lowered their guns, I raised my chin at Mikhail and said with encouragement, "tell me, comrade engineer, while waiting for your commander to come, tell us about your experience of this night."


    Mikhail yev looked warily at the soldiers with guns around him and refused to speak. Seeing that he was still wary of us, I had to turn to jitov and say, "Comrade political commissar, please let your soldiers leave first. They are here, which makes our engineers feel a little nervous." After hearing this, Titov nodded slightly and made a sign to the soldiers. The soldiers put away their weapons and turned to leave.


    After the soldiers left, mihayev began to tell us about his adventures last night: "after the internal affairs department''s supervision team caught us, they said that we had no identification, so we must be deserters. Although I repeatedly explained to them that we were carrying out the reconnaissance mission assigned by the higher authorities, they ignored me in the slightest. Instead, they said that I was sophisticating and trying to cover up the fact that we were deserting with the reason of carrying out the mission.


    The commander decided to execute all of us on the spot because the inspector decided that we were deserters. At this time of chaos, someone knocked down the soldiers of the Ministry of internal affairs around him and ran away. As soon as he ran, the scouts ran around like a bomb. I also took advantage of the opportunity that the captain of the interior department didn''t pay attention and ran away.


    Not far out, I heard a lot of gunfire coming from behind. Because we came out to carry out the mission this time with rifles. Judging from the sound of the guns, it is clear that the machine guns of the Ministry of interior are shooting. At that time, I was scared, and I didn''t care where I was running. I just ran forward with my head buried, deep and shallow


    "How did you get caught by the Germans?" When I heard him say this, I couldn''t help interrupting.


    "In the process of escape, I lost my way and ran to the neighborhood unconsciously. When I saw lights coming out of the colored wooden houses beside the residential areas, I thought it was the local residents who had not evacuated. So I went to knock on the door and wanted to spend the night here. I would try to find a way when it was light. I didn''t expect that as soon as the door opened, I found that the people inside were German. In this way, I was captured by them. "


    "Have they interrogated you?" Asked Titov coldly, his voice so cold that he could not help shivering. I turned to look at Titov and immediately understood why he asked. He wanted to know whether the Engineer in front of me had leaked our attack plan to the Germans.


    "Yes, I have!" Mikhail yev did not hide, and answered us truthfully.


    "What did you say to them?" Although I turned my back to jitov, I could feel his hand on the holster when he asked, and he was ready to draw the gun.


    "The German soldiers who caught me were very surprised when they heard that I could speak German, so they took me to their commander. It''s the officer who kicked me off the armored car today. According to my observation, he is the highest commander in this residential area. "


    "What did they ask you after you were taken to the commander?" This time I asked ahead of jitov.


    "The commander asked who I was and why I was here. I answered him that I was an ordinary citizen. When I was evacuating from the rear, I was separated from others because of the air raid. As a result, I met a retreating army. Because of the serious reduction, they arrested me and added me to the army.


    As for why I came here overnight, it was because I had studied in Germany, and I didn''t want to fight with my former friends, so I escaped from the army at night. As a result, he broke into the German defense area in the wrong situation


    "What did the German commander say after listening to you?" I continued.


    "At first he had doubts about what I said. Later he heard that I had studied in Germany and spoke fluent German, so he reluctantly believed what I said.


    When they took me to the edge of the forest this morning, I thought they were going to shoot me. I didn''t expect that the soldier who shot into the sky told me that because of the grace of the captain, I was free. Let me get out of here and don''t show up again. Otherwise, I will be shot next time I am caught


    After listening to what he said, I found out what the German soldier had been shouting for a long time.


    "Commander oshanina," said Titov, approaching me and whispering, "what to do with him, shoot him on the spot, or take him back to the inspector general of the interior?"

 Chapter 530

    I can''t help shivering when I hear Titov''s cold, emotionless voice. He turned to look at jitov, who was tense and serious. It seemed that he was not joking with me, but seriously asking for my advice.


    I turned my head and looked at mihayev again. He obviously heard what jitov said just now. Seeing that my eyes turned to him, he immediately stepped back nervously, and then asked, "Comrade division, I seem to hear this political commissar say that he wants a gun... To shoot me, right?" Although he tried to keep calm, he could still hear the tone of his voice changing because of nervousness.


    I looked at Mikhail with my back and asked coldly, "shoot you?! Comrade engineer, please tell me why I want to shoot you? "


    I didn''t expect that when I said this, he not only didn''t relax, but also became more nervous. He hesitated for a moment, and then said, "because I was... Captured... By the Germans, and you can see that it was not me... I escaped... But the Germans who took the initiative to release me." With these words, he leaned forward slightly, his arms drooped naturally, his fingers stuck to the seams of his trousers, and his head lowered deeply, so he did not dare to look up at us again.


    Looking at his confession posture, which was obviously formed in the concentration camp, I couldn''t help feeling sad for him. I sighed and comforted him, saying, "Comrade mihayev, I will neither shoot you nor hand you over to the supervisor of the Ministry of interior. I''m here to look for your whereabouts besides reconnaissance. Now that I''ve found you, I''ll take you back to the independent division safely. "


    "Is it true? Sir, are you really not going to shoot me or send me to the internal affairs department? " Mikhail looked up at me and asked tentatively.


    "Yes, comrade engineer." I became a little impatient with his suspicious attitude. I looked at him discontentedly and added: "I repeat for the last time, as long as you don''t run away or rebel to the enemy because you are afraid of death in the battlefield, no matter what happens, I will guarantee your safety." With that, I walked out of the forest without looking back, intending to see if Gaidar''s drawing work had been completed.


    As soon as he walked out, he was stopped by Titov from behind. He ran up to me quickly and said sternly, "commander oshanina, wait a minute."


    I stopped, looked at him and asked, "Comrade political commissar, what can I do for you?" In fact, I asked this question clearly. He stopped me now, not to ask me how the reconnaissance mission was going, but to talk with me about how to deal with Mikhail.


    His voice rose a few degrees, and he said fiercely: "commander o''shanina, what''s the matter with you? Why don''t you deal with this soldier. I remind you that your tenderness is very dangerous. "


    When he said that, my head was big. Isn''t it just that a soldier was caught by the Germans and released again? Is it necessary to go to the top of the line? Originally, I apologized to him, but seeing that he was older than me, I didn''t argue with him for the reason of respecting him. I just kept silent.


    I didn''t expect that he was still a little reluctant. Seeing that I was silent, he thought that I was wrong and his tone became more severe. He said, "Comrade o''xanina, you are the head of a division. You should consider your own identity before making every decision." Speaking of this, he pointed to Mikhail yev in the back and said in an unquestionable tone: "according to order No. 270 of the people''s Commission of national defense, all red army officers and men must fight to the end. If they are captured by the enemy, no matter whether they have resisted in advance, they will be punished as traitors afterwards and sent to the reform through labor camp together with their families. Since he was captured by the Germans, he should be severely punished whether or not he divulges our information to the enemy. Even if we don''t shoot him here, we should hand him over to the internal affairs department. If you don''t deal with him, once you''re reported, you''ll be guilty of covering up, and then you''ll be involved. "


    Hearing this, I felt at a loss. Although I know that his starting point is for my good, I still feel very uncomfortable. You know, I was once captured. Once the people in the interior department knew about this, I would be sent to the punishment camp. Moreover, even if this matter can be concealed from everyone, if jitov reports the matter of Mikhail, I will be punished for being implicated. What should I do?


    Just when I was in a dilemma, Gaidar, who appeared in time, helped me out. He and the soldier trotted up to us. After wiping his sweat, he raised his hand to salute us and excitedly reported: "report to division commander and political commissar, I have completed the reconnaissance task."


    "Is the drawing ready?" I asked hastily to distract Titov''s attention.


    "All right." Gailda said and handed over a drawn map.


    When I took it over, I asked casually, "have all the enemy''s firepower points been marked?"


    "It''s all marked." Gaidar said, pointing to the special symbols on the map.


    "Are they all accurate?" Jitov looked over at the map and asked again.


    Gaidar didn''t say anything, just nodded at us with a smile, indicating that the labels were accurate.


    "Can you show me this map?" Just as I was huddling with Titov to see the picture, Mikhail''s timid voice came from the side.


    "What do you do with the map?" Asked Titov warily.


    Regarding jitov''s query, mihayev explained: "Comrade political commissar, if we observe the residential area from the forest, we can''t see it in many places. Although I stayed in the residential area for a short time, at my professional level, as soon as I passed by the building, I could immediately determine where the German firepower and firing holes were located. "


    I''m very satisfied with Mikhail''s explanation, so I don''t hesitate to hand over the hand drawn map in my hand. I didn''t expect that jitov grabbed my hand and reminded me, "Lt. commander oshanina, this is a military secret. You can''t give it to someone who is suspected of collaborating with the enemy."


    I gently broke away from jitov''s hand and said, "Comrade political commissar, I believe that after reading this map, comrade mihayev can provide us with useful information. If anything goes wrong, I''ll take care of it. "


    My words made mihayev a little excited. He took my map with trembling hands, raised his hand to the eyeglass frame, and began to study it carefully.


    After watching it for two or three minutes, he suddenly raised his head and said to Gaidar, "Comrade commander, there are still many incomplete places on your map. For example, here, "he said, taking the pencil from gedar''s hand, adding a few strokes to the picture," next to this building, there is a brick concrete structure building, which used to be a fire duty room, but now the German army has transformed it into a firepower point, in which there is a machine gun, which can block the way our army rushes to the building with firepower. "


    Looking at the buildings and firepower points he added to the map, I nodded slightly and said that it was not a bad thing that the engineer was caught in the residential area. At least he could observe the enemy''s defensive positions at close range and provide us with these useful information. With a more comprehensive German defense plan, we can pay less when attacking.


    Mikhail yev continued: "and at the crossroads here, the enemy has built several barricades, and an armored vehicle. No matter which line of defense our assault troops approach, they will find it."


    When Mikhail yev and Gaidar were studying and perfecting the map, I pulled jitov aside and said in a low voice, "Comrade political commissar, you can see that too. Mihayev can provide us with a lot of useful information. In this way, our troops can make less sacrifice when attacking the residential areas. "


    Titov didn''t speak, his eyes were looking straight ahead, his expression was indifferent, I couldn''t guess what he was thinking. After a while, seeing that he had no response, I had to say again, "Comrade political commissar, if we win the counterattack with the information provided by Mikhail, then he is a meritorious man and should not receive any unreasonable punishment."


    After hearing what I said, jitov sighed and said helplessly, "well, it''s up to you." With that, he lifted his leg and left. After a few steps, he stopped and said to me, "now that the reconnaissance mission has been completed, let''s stay in the forest and have a rest. We''ll leave after dark."


    I nodded, and then said to him carefully, "Comrade political commissar, do you think you should say hello to those soldiers about today''s incident?"


    Titov snorted and said displeased, "I know how to explain to the soldiers. I don''t need you to teach me." Then he left angrily.


    After jitov went away, Gaidar came up to me and handed me the map modified by Mikhail. At the same time, he said, "Comrade division commander, comrade Mikhail has changed the map. Please have a look."


    When I took the map and looked at it, at least one third of the content was added to it. In addition to a few buildings that we could not see at all, he also added a dozen hidden German firepower points. Judging from the location of the firepower points, we can give heavy casualties to our soldiers who break into the residential areas in combat.


    After reading this picture, I can see why two cavalry divisions attacked several residential areas near Taiyangshan city during the Moscow defense war, but they didn''t fight down for several days. Because of careless reconnaissance in advance, the commander thought that after a certain period of artillery preparation, the enemy''s defense in the residential areas would be destroyed, so that our troops could drive straight in. But actually? After making great sacrifices, our troops managed to break into the residential areas. However, because they were unable to eliminate the remaining enemy in a short period of time, the enemy who was counterattacked was driven out again by internal and external cooperation.


    I gave the map back to Gaidar. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was almost noon, so I told Gaidar, "Comrade captain, it''s almost noon. It''s time for lunch. Give Comrade Mikhail your dry food and water. He may be hungry. We can''t make our hero hungry. "


    With bread in one hand and a kettle in the other hand, mihayev gratefully said to me, "thank you, sir. Your kindness to me, I...... "


    Before he finished, I raised my hand to interrupt his words, and said faintly: "well, don''t say so much. Comrade mihayev, after you have finished eating and drinking water, you can find a place to have a rest. You haven''t slept all night. I think you are sleepy, too. "


    Mikhail yev nodded obediently and went to eat with Gaidar. I looked around and saw that there was a tree with clean surroundings. There were no wild plants such as mushrooms and agarics. There was only a piece of grass. So I went to sit down with my back against the trunk and took out bread from my briefcase to eat.


    After eating, I leaned my back against the tree trunk and closed my eyes. Although I didn''t sleep all night, I didn''t feel sleepy at all. I was thinking about the details of attacking this residential area.


    Just thinking deeply, I suddenly heard a rapid step from far to near. I suddenly opened my eyes and grabbed the submachine gun on the grass. When a soldier ran to me, he stopped for a moment, half squatted and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, no, three Germans have come into the forest!"


    "How far is it from us?" I asked nervously.


    "They have entered the forest and are coming in our direction. I think they''ll be here in three or five minutes When the soldier finished, he ran forward again. It seems that he is going to report to jitov.


    "What''s the matter, sir?" Seeing that the soldiers came and left in a hurry, Gaidar and mihayev, who had been resting not far from me, also realized that something might have happened, so they both ran to ask what happened.


    I quickly waved to them and told them, "there are three Germans in the forest. Please find a place to hide."


    Fortunately, the forest is full of low shrubs, we can easily find a hidden place. As soon as I lay down behind a thick bush, jitov rushed over and quickly fell down beside me. He said in a low voice and hastily, "it''s nearly ten hours before dark. If the enemy finds out, we can''t get back to the line of defense at all."


    "Comrade political commissar, what should we do?" I asked nervously. According to what I meant, anyway, it''s still a few hundred meters away from the residential area. Even if all the Germans who went into the forest were killed, the German army in the residential area would not find it. Now that he said that, I''m a bit at a loss.


    "Be careful not to let the Germans find out. There were only three of them. They didn''t find us. If you want to search for a few hidden people in such a big forest, you have to send a platoon of troops. "


    After a few minutes, three Germans appeared in my view. They saw their rifles on their backs, carrying a bamboo basket in one hand and a shovel in one hand. Seeing them dressed like this, I was deeply relieved. I quickly tilted my head and said to Titov next to them, "Comrade political commissar, do you see what they are carrying? It seems that they are here to pick mushrooms, not to come to us. "


    The Germans stopped about 50 meters away from us and scattered around, searching for mushrooms. In the summer forest of Russia, as long as it rains, countless mushrooms will grow. The more you go deep into the forest, the more the number and variety of mushrooms will be.


    I looked ahead through the bushes and found that there were patches of mushrooms on the grass and at the foot of the trees. Maybe these Germans would come here to pick mushrooms. Thinking of this, I was a little worried. I gently touched jitov with my shoulder and said to him in a low voice, "Comrade political commissar, do you see the mushrooms in front of us? Maybe the Germans will come to us later. Maybe they will find us then. What shall we do? "


    Jitov raised his pistol and said, "don''t shoot. Be careful. If the enemy has to come to die, when they come near, we will shoot them all at the same time. It''s more than 500 meters away from the enemy''s base, and even if there is a lot of gunfire, they can''t hear it. "


    I nodded and simply said, "I agree!"


    But it soon turned out that my worries were unnecessary. Because there are so many mushrooms in the forest, when the Germans came to the place 20 meters away from us, their baskets were full. The three full of joy and laughter, shovel a shovel on their shoulders, carry a basket full of clothes, and go back happily.


    Seeing the enemy''s far away figure, I angrily scolded: "damned Krauts, I hope you will be poisoned to death by poisonous mushrooms later."


    I just said it casually, but I didn''t expect that jitov would specially correct me and say, "commander o''shanina, maybe your wish will come to nothing. On my way here just now, I have observed that the mushrooms here are edible, and no poisonous ones have been found. "


    When I heard jitov say that all the mushrooms here are edible, I had an idea. I immediately suggested to jitov, "Comrade political commissar, it''s still early before dark. Why don''t we take advantage of this time to ask the soldiers to pick some mushrooms, and we''ll take them back to the division headquarters to improve the food?"


    As soon as Titov heard this, he said repeatedly, "that''s a good idea. During this period, everyone is tired of eating dried bread every day. I''ll arrange someone to pick mushrooms and let them improve their food."


    We stayed in the forest until it was dark, then carrying a few bags of fresh mushrooms, we walked towards the guard division''s defense area. But for the sake of safety, jitov took the submachine gun from the soldiers and walked at the back of the whole team. As he walked, he looked back from time to time, wary of possible enemies in the rear. It was not until I stepped on the position of the guard division and saw the lieutenant who took us away from the position yesterday that I breathed a long sigh of relief and said to myself, "thank God, we are back safely at last."

 Chapter 531

    Seeing that jitov and I came back from the successful completion of our mission, trikov just nodded at us and asked faintly, "are you back? Has the reconnaissance mission been completed?"


    "Report, comrade deputy commander," said jitov excitedly. "Political commissar jitov of the 70th division of Jinwei has reported to you that we have successfully completed the task of reconnaissance of the enemy''s residential areas and returned smoothly. I''m here to report to you and wait for your instructions! "


    "Well done! Comrade Titov. " Trikov nodded with satisfaction and gestured to him, "you must be tired after walking for so long. Sit down and have a cup of black tea with honey first."


    Seeing that jitov sat down next to lyudnikov, I also went forward to salute trikov, and loudly reported: "Comrade report commander, independent division commander, Lieutenant Colonel oshanina, I have been ordered to report to you..."


    "Take a moment, please! Comrade oshanina. " I didn''t expect that before I spoke, trikov raised his hand and interrupted me. He asked directly, "have you found the missing Engineer in your division?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." As I said this, I leaned over and wanted to introduce Mikhail yev, the construction engineer behind me. "You see, this Mikhail yev is the missing engineer of our division..."


    I didn''t expect that when I finished the process of finding the engineer, he interrupted me again and ordered coldly: "now that you have found it, you can go back to the independent division as soon as possible. Outside, I''ve equipped you with two trucks so that you and your guard team and reconnaissance team don''t have to walk back to the station. "


    In the face of trikov''s cold attitude, I was a little at a loss, so I had to salute trikov again and asked aloud, "Comrade commander, can I leave?"


    "Go As soon as I turned to leave, trakov suddenly said, "Comrade oshanina, I remind you that there are only two days left to attack the settlement. If you can''t take it down, I won''t be able to help you at that time. You''ll have to go to general shumilov and plead with him yourself. "


    These words hurt my self-esteem and made me feel very embarrassed. At that time, I felt my nose was sore and tears almost came out of my eyes because of my grievance. However, in front of my subordinates, I tried my best to control my emotions. I clenched my teeth and said, "please rest assured that the independent division will complete the tasks assigned by the superior."


    "Then I wish you good luck!" "Now you can leave and go back to your troops as soon as possible," he said in an official voice


    Arriving at the parking place outside the headquarters, Vera, with the soldiers from the guard class and the reconnaissance team, welcomed her and asked with concern, "Rita, what shall we do next?"


    I pointed to the truck that was not far away and gave orders loudly: "the truck in front of the guard class, the soldier of the reconnaissance team, the truck in the back." Then I said to Gaidar in a low voice, "Comrade captain, you and the engineer should also get on the truck in the back. We should go back to the division as soon as possible." Seeing that Gaidar wanted to salute me, I patted him on the arm and urged him to "stop saluting and get on the bus."


    As there was no jeep, I had to get into the bridge of the truck. On the way back to the station, I was thinking about the attitude of trakov towards me, why there was such a big change in the short term, and what unexpected things happened during the period when I left.


    Approaching the defense area of the 208 th division, the road was blocked. Seeing that the car couldn''t pass, the driver stopped the car steadily in the middle of the road. In the dim night, I saw at least twenty or thirty trucks parked on the road ahead. Seeing this scene, I said to the driver unhappily, "Comrade driver, go ahead and have a look. What''s the matter? Why do so many cars stop here?"


    The driver promised, pushed the door open and jumped down. Not long after the driver left, Gaidar, who was in the car behind, ran up to me and asked me strangely, "Sir, what happened in front of me? Why are so many cars parked here?"


    I shook my head and replied, "I don''t know what happened. But I''ve sent the driver to the front to inquire. When he comes back, everything will be clear. " With that, I also pushed the door open, got down from the bridge, stood with Gaidar, and looked anxiously at the motionless motorcade in front of me.


    "Comrade teacher, I have a question that I always want to ask you. I don''t know if it''s suitable?" Maybe it''s too boring to wait for news. Gaidar asked without saying anything.


    "What''s the matter, ask!" I said with disapproval.


    "I think general trakov''s attitude to you today is very different from that of last night. I don''t know if there is something wrong during this day, which will lead to a great change in the general''s attitude towards you. "


    "Comrade captain," when I heard his question, I lowered my face and said with a straight face, "it''s his own business that the commander treats me with. It''s not up to you to care about it."


    Fortunately, at this time, I saw the driver running towards us, and Gaidar escaped from being scolded by me. The driver ran to us, wiped the sweat on his forehead, and said in a loud voice: "report, commander, I have made it clear that the reason why the front motorcade stopped was because there were several aerial bombs dropped by enemy planes on the road."


    "Was the road blown up?" I asked nervously.


    The driver shook his head and replied, "the road is not damaged, but the bomb on the road may explode at any time." Maybe it''s to make a note of his words. His voice just fell, and the fire flashed in the distance, and then there was a loud bang, which made the land under my feet tremble slightly.


    "Look, these bombs don''t know when they will explode, so the drivers dare not drive forward. They are afraid that the bombs will explode as soon as they pass by. People''s sacrifice is a small matter. I''m afraid that the ammunition in the car will explode, which will affect other vehicles. "


    When I heard that the ammunition was transported on the vehicle, I couldn''t help but feel that the ammunition transported by this fleet would not be supplied to us by the superior, would it? Thinking of this, he quickly took the driver and asked, "Comrade driver, do you know where the ammunition was transported?"


    The driver shook his head, a little embarrassed to say: "sorry, comrade commander, I really did not ask."


    Since I can''t get any valuable information from the driver, I have to go to the front and ask myself. I looked at the light ahead, patted Gaidar on the shoulder and said, "come on, comrade captain, let''s go ahead and have a look." With that, he walked forward.


    The two of us walked forward quickly. The truck carriages along the road were covered with tarpaulin, and there were two or three soldiers who were escorting the truck. Because of their duty, they could not get off the bus at will. They could only sit in the car and look up at the area where the explosion happened just now.


    Walking to the front, I saw a truck in the middle of the road, which was overturned and burned to the frame. A large group of people were surrounded by the truck. They were standing there staring at the newly exploded crater in front of them. The power of the bomb was not small. The crater formed by the explosion almost cut off the road.


    I stepped forward and asked aloud, "who are you commanders? Who are you commanders?"


    After a few shouts, a captain squeezed out of the crowd, walked up to me, raised his hand and said, "report to lieutenant commander, I''m the captain of the transportation team."


    I looked at the scattered flames around the crater and asked, "Comrade captain, what''s the matter? Why did the motorcade stop? "


    The captain straightened his cornice cap, pointed to the front and said, "in the daytime air raid, the enemy dropped many time-lapse air bombs on the road ahead. Because we don''t know when these bombs will explode, we can only stop temporarily when we can''t ensure the safe passage of the motorcade. " Then he pounced on the wreckage of the truck and said, "this truck should have been damaged in the daytime air raid."


    "Can you go around from left to right?" I looked around and saw that it was an open area, so I asked the captain.


    "No way," said the captain, shaking his head. "The soil on both sides of the road is too soft. We are all heavy cars. We can''t move as soon as we drive up."


    "What measures have been taken?" I asked in an official voice.


    "I''ve sent someone to the front station to look for engineers." He raised his hand, looked at his watch and said, "the soldiers have been away for half an hour. If there are engineers, they should be able to return in ten minutes."


    I heard that the engineers would come in ten minutes, and I felt more secure. I took time to ask the captain where the convoy was going: "Comrade captain, which unit is this convoy transporting ammunition to?"


    Hearing this, the captain quickly closed his mouth and looked me up and down warily. After a while, he answered vaguely, "Comrade commander, the whereabouts of the motorcade are military secrets. I have no right to disclose any information to you until I know your identity."


    "Comrade captain, this is the commander of our independent division, lieutenant commander o''shanina." Gaidar didn''t like the captain''s face, so he explained my identity to the captain without my permission.


    After listening to Gaidar, the captain quickly saluted me and reported, "Hello, comrade division. Our company was ordered to transport new weapons and ammunition to the independent division. Unexpectedly, when we got here, we were blocked by the aerial bombs dropped by the enemy planes. "


    Hearing that the motorcade was transporting ammunition for us, Gaidar was a little upset. He leaned up to my ear and said, "Comrade division, we should find a way to pass through this place and deliver the ammunition to the commanders and fighters as soon as possible."


    I pointed forward and said helplessly, "don''t you see the power of the bomb that just exploded? It''s such a big crater that we have to slow down when our car goes around. If another bomb explodes at this time, our motorcade will be finished. "


    "What should we do, sir?" Gedar asked anxiously, "although the captain sent for the engineer, does the engineer have someone to help us with the bomb?"


    At this time, there was a flash of fire in the distance, and then an earth shaking explosion came. It seemed that another bomb had exploded. Because I was close to the explosion point this time, I obviously felt the shock wave generated by the explosion, and I was rushed back a step.


    The sudden explosion surprised my heart. I look up to the front, although I can''t see where the rest of the bombs are, but my heart is hanging up. The explosions of these bombs are very irregular. Can the engineers who come to dismantle them guarantee their own safety?


    It wasn''t just my heart that became insecure, it was Gaidar and the captain that got upset. Gaidar walked back and forth in front of me, his mouth still kept saying: "Damn, it''s been so long, why hasn''t the engineer come yet?"


    "Comrade captain, comrade captain." There was a faint cry in the distance.


    Hearing this voice, the captain''s face brightened. He woke up and said, "Comrade commander, it''s the soldiers I sent to find engineers. It seems that our engineers are coming."


    In less than two minutes after we were happy, the two soldiers panted in front of us, raised their hands to salute the captain, and reported, "report captain, we have just arrived at the friendly camp and told them our request for engineers. Unexpectedly, they told us that there were no engineers and that all the engineers were transferred to other areas to build fortifications."


    "Is it?" The captain seized one of the soldiers by the collar and asked viciously, "is there no engineer?"


    The soldier nodded his head hard, thought it was wrong, shook his head again, and replied, "yes, comrade captain, comrades of the friendly army told me that there are no engineers."


    The captain was so angry that he pushed the soldiers hard. He came up to me and said angrily, "Comrade division commander, there are no engineers now. What do you think we should do?"


    "Well, let''s wait for the bomb to blow up." Gedar didn''t wait for me to speak, but he put forward his own opinion first.


    "No way!" I immediately denied his proposal. The explosions of these bombs are irregular. I don''t know that it will take a long time to wait for all these bombs to explode¡° We''re pressed for time. We can''t wait that long. "


    "What then? Comrade teachers. " This time it''s the captain of the Autobot.


    "Comrade commander, I have a suggestion. I don''t know whether to say it or not?" The driver of the truck I was sitting in, I don''t know when he crowded up to me and asked for my opinions.


    "Tell me." Since there are no engineers to deal with the bomb, we have to rely on ourselves.


    "We put the team together and divided it into two teams. One team was responsible for pushing the bomb away from the road with a rope, and the other team was responsible for filling the crater formed by the bomb explosion. What do you think of my suggestion? "


    "That''s a good way to do it." Gaidar touched his chin with his hand and said thoughtfully, "but what advice should we give if the bomb explodes in the process of towing the bomb, but the driver still looked at me and waited for my final decision. To tell you the truth, I think the driver''s proposal has great maneuverability, that is, it''s difficult to control the time of bomb explosion. Maybe when the soldiers take the rope to set the bomb, or in the process of dragging, there may be an explosion. In that case, our soldiers will have a lot of casualties.


    When I was in a dilemma, I suddenly thought of a movie I had seen before. The Germans dropped many time bombs in the city. The bomb said "white sugar". When the hungry and cold residents saw the word, they immediately flocked to grab the so-called white sugar in the bomb. As a result, at this time, the bomb suddenly exploded, causing heavy casualties to the residents. I clearly remember that before the explosion of the bomb, the wind wing at the tail of the bomb suddenly rotated at a high speed, driving the firing pin of the bomb to retract inward, hitting the fuse, and finally causing the explosion of the bomb.


    As soon as I want to understand the explosion principle of the bomb, my mood suddenly relaxed a lot. I said to the three people in front of me, "I have come up with a way. As long as we can fix the wind wing at the end of the bomb and keep it from rotating, the bomb will not explode, so that we can safely transfer these bombs to the roadside."


    As soon as my voice was over, the captain patted his thigh excitedly and said excitedly, "my God, I''ve transported so many bombs. Why didn''t I expect that?" Speaking of this, he confidently said: "Mr. teacher, I''ve given you the task of fixing the wind wings. This small matter can''t defeat me."


    Then the captain called his men together, and Gaidar called in some of the men of the guard class and the strong soldiers of the reconnaissance unit. Dozens of soldiers were divided into two groups. One group was responsible for trapping the bombs with ropes and dragging them to the open field far away from the road; The other group took the time to fill two craters on the road.


    Two hours later, the bombs in the way were removed and the craters were filled. After all this, trucks loaded with weapons and ammunition continued to move towards the independent division.


    In order to get back the time lost in the bomb area, the Autobots drove very fast. Even the driver of my car was complaining and murmuring, "these guys are crazy. At night, when driving at such a fast speed on such a road, if you accidentally bump into a big pit, you will roll over. "


    Fortunately, the driver''s worry didn''t come true. Within an hour, our motorcade arrived near the forest. As soon as we got close to the forest, the motorcade stopped. The driver looked out of the window and said to himself, "what''s the matter? Why did you stop again?"


    I just wanted to make fun of the driver. The driver suddenly turned back and said to me, "Comrade commander, look at it. The captain of the Autobot is here


    I looked out of the window and saw captain Autobot and another man coming shoulder to shoulder. I quickly pushed the door open and got out of the car to meet them. A few steps away, I saw that the captain was also accompanied by an officer wearing a big cornice cap. I guessed that he might be the commander of the independent division, so I stopped and waited for the other party to report to me. Seeing me standing on the side of the road, the commander who came side by side with the captain speeded up and came to me to stand at attention and salute: "Comrade division commander, the commander of the seventh company of the first regiment reports to you and is waiting for your order." I nodded at him and said, "comrade company commander, you should immediately arrange for people to unload all the ammunition on the car, move it to the forest, and distribute it to everyone after daybreak." With that, I turned and looked up at the guard class still sitting in the car, sighed helplessly, and then ordered them: "guard class, all get off!"

 Chapter 532

    I took the guard team and the reconnaissance team into the forest and walked along the forest path to the headquarters.


    There were two burly sentinels at the gate of the headquarters. Seeing such a large group of us coming, they quickly took off their rifles from their shoulders and walked towards us.


    Gaidar said to the sentry angrily, "what do you want to do? Don''t you see the teacher coming? "


    I didn''t expect that a sentinel stuck his neck and said defiantly, "I don''t know any division commander, so I know my commander. No one is allowed to enter the headquarters without the permission of the commander. "


    The sentry''s words made me laugh angrily. I simply shut my mouth and waited for Gaidar to negotiate with him.


    Another sentry put his rifle on his shoulder, touched him with his arm, and whispered, "Hey, I said, you didn''t see such a large group of them. Maybe they are really teachers."


    "Go away! No nonsense. " The sentry glared at his companion and said, "no matter who she is, I won''t let anyone in without the commander''s order."


    The movement outside startled sjerykov, who was in the room. He looked out and saw that it was Gaidar and I. He ran out and grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously. He said repeatedly, "Sir, I''m looking forward to your coming back!"


    Then he went to shake hands with Gaidar, and after a few greetings. He fired at the soldier and said, "what''s the matter? Don''t you see that it''s the division commander coming back? Why don''t you report it and stop them without authorization? "


    The soldier was a little embarrassed. He broke his gun on his shoulder and said with some embarrassment, "she, she was really a division commander!"


    Shejerikov patted the broad shoulder of the sentry and said to me, "these soldiers are all selected by me from the regiment. They are in good health and have excellent military quality. They are very suitable for the security work of the regiment headquarters." Then he said to the sentry in a loud voice, "Damn, I dare to keep the division commander out of the door. I will punish you."


    In fact, I know the captain said that on purpose, so that I would not blame the sentry for his impoliteness. I remember that when Zhukov went to smornie palace to take over the commander of the front army, he was stopped by the guard on duty at the gate. However, Zhukov did not criticize the sentry''s behavior, but praised it. Can''t I learn from my idol and put on a high profile? So I waved to shejerikov and said, "forget it, comrade captain. The sentry is doing his job, and he''s doing it right. " With that, I quickly walked into the headquarters.


    I was followed by Capt. shejerikov, Capt. gedar, and engineer Mikhail yev. The rest, whether they were soldiers of the guard class or members of the reconnaissance team, stayed outside.


    After I sat down, I saw that both shejerikov and Gaidar sat down, while Mikhail stood upright and said to him, "engineer Mikhail, what are you still standing for? Sit down. When we study the map later, we need you to explain it to us. "


    Seeing mihayev sitting next to gedar, xijerikov cautiously asked me, "Comrade division, do you want to invite captain Oleg and captain kosja here, let''s have a meeting?"


    I nodded a little and said slowly, "Comrade captain, go and get in touch with Oleg and kosja and ask if they have time. If so, ask them to come over


    Xiejerikov immediately got up, went to the operator, gave a few orders in a low voice, and then returned to me and said, "Comrade division, I have asked the operator to contact the two commanders. I believe they will come soon."


    I nodded again and took the initiative to start a new topic: "Comrade captain, how was the training of the army going during the period when I left?"


    "We organized 15 commandos, and the same number of support units, to conduct targeted training in the forest during the day," he said. Judging from the effect of training, the new soldiers are not proficient in the use of firearms, and training in this area needs to be strengthened. "


    I waved my hand and said, "don''t worry about it. After we rush into the building, we decide to win grenades, dagger, shovel and so on. The guns are not worth what they use. So in the next two days of training, we will focus on the use of grenades and the use of daggers and shovel.


    At my command, shejerikov and Gaidar stood up and answered "yes" neatly. After they sat down again, shejerikov looked at the engineer Mikhail yev opposite him and asked curiously, "Comrade teacher, is this the missing Engineer?"


    "Yes, comrade captain, it''s me." Mikhayev quickly stood up and replied.


    "Where did you find him?" Asked chejerikov.


    I saw Gaidar move and seemed to want to answer the question. I coughed quickly and said, "we found him in the forest near the settlement."


    "Where does he go and what does he do in the forest near the settlement?" As she said this, she looked up and down at mihayev with suspicion.


    I don''t want too many people to know about Mikhail''s capture by the German army, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble. After organizing some words in my mind, I said without hesitation: "after escaping from the hands of the Ministry of internal affairs, comrade mihayev, in a panic at night, accidentally crossed our defense line and ran to the German territory. He lost his way in the forest not far from the residential area, so he planned to stay there until daybreak, and after seeing the direction, he would find a way to return to our division. I didn''t expect that I met the reconnaissance team participated by Gaidar and me. In this way, he joined us. Is this how it happened? Comrade mihayev. "


    When Mikhail yev heard me say this, he was stunned at first, then nodded his head desperately, and even said, "yes, yes, that''s what the teacher said. I lost my way in the forest. I wanted to wait until daybreak before I could find a way to return to the army. Unexpectedly, I met my division commander and commander Gaidar


    He said this with a look of relief on his face, while gedar, who was sitting beside him, had a look of surprise on his face. Maybe he didn''t understand why I wanted to cover up the truth for Mikhail. Fortunately, he just asked casually and didn''t plan to study deeply. However, he was surprised to hear that I joined the reconnaissance team and went to the front to investigate the enemy situation in person. He nervously asked, "what, comrade division, did you go to the front to investigate the enemy situation in person? How can you do that? You are not an ordinary soldier, but the head of a division. Your safety is related to the life and death of our independent division. If you have any problems, what can we do for the officers and soldiers of our whole division? "


    At the end of his speech, Gaidar echoed him and said, "yes, general trakov, deputy commander of the group army, division commander lyudnikov and political commissar jitov of the guard division were also persuading the division commander, but she was stubborn and had to go to the front for reconnaissance. In the end, general trakov said she couldn''t help but let her go. "


    I''m grateful for their concern for me, but it''s obviously not the time to say these words at this moment. I quickly interrupted Gaidar''s words, looked at the door, and said to shejerikov, "Captain shejerikov, go outside and see how captain Oleg and captain Koska haven''t come yet. Have you been stopped by your sentry at the door again?"


    Xiejerikov listened to me mention this matter, and then he stood up and said, "OK, sir, I''ll go outside immediately. But the sentries outside know captain kosga, and they won''t stop them any more Then he went to the door.


    As soon as he got to the door, he turned to me and said with a smile, "comrades, Mr. division, they''re here, kosja and Oleg."


    As soon as the words fell, the two commanders appeared at the door, raised their hands to salute me, and quickly walked into the headquarters. Oleg entered the room and sat down directly in his seat, while kosja went around the table and came to me. He reached out to shake hands with me and said warmly, "Comrade division, you are back. When you''re away, I''m not at ease all the time. I feel like I''ve lost a backbone. As soon as you come back, I''ll be completely at ease. "


    Cosga''s flattering words immediately caused everyone''s laughter, especially Gaidar pointed to cosga and said: "Hey, I say, Captain cosga, you''re really not easy. You''ve learned to flatter me since I haven''t seen you for more than a day."


    After laughing, shejerikov patted cosga on the back with a straight face and said, "Captain cosga, go back to your position quickly. We''re going to have a meeting."


    After captain kosga was seated, I stood up, took out the map, slapped it on the table, and said to everyone, "this map is the topographic map of residential area drawn by Captain Gaidar and engineer mihayev. Let''s have a look."


    Seeing the reconnaissance map lying on the table, shijerikov, Oleg and kosja stood up one after another, put their heads over and studied the map carefully.


    After a while, I felt that they had almost finished reading it, so I asked, "after reading this map, you can tell me what you think."


    Shejerikov didn''t leave the map. He wrinkled his eyes and said thoughtfully every day: "Sir, I see a thick forest near the residential area. I think so. We can take advantage of the night to move our offensive troops into this forest, and when it''s daybreak, we can surprise the enemy. "


    "Captain chejerikov''s opinion is correct, and I fully agree with it." Captain kosga, who took over the topic, said excitedly: "in the original plan, our troops would attack the enemy''s occupied residential areas from the friendly defense line five kilometers away from the target. In such a long impact distance, our offensive troops will be mercilessly killed by the enemy''s firepower. When they approach the target, they will pay at least half of the casualties. Now with this forest, it''s easy. " At this point, he stopped and seemed to be thinking about something. After a while, he said to himself, "if there is any way that our troops can get closer to the residential areas without casualties, our attack will be very smooth."


    "Comrade captain, don''t worry about that." I said lightly, "before the attack, I will let the friendly forces fire smoke bombs at the residential areas. When the enemy''s sight was blocked by the smoke, our troops quietly approached the residential area. When the smoke is about to disperse, the commandos will attack the residential areas. "


    "That''s a good way. If our commandos can get close to the residential area within 100 meters, they can rush into the residential area with only one dash. First, throw grenades into the occupied buildings and then rush in, using assault rifles, grenades, daggers, shovel and close combat. As long as we occupy one or two buildings, our troops will have a firm foothold and can continue to develop in depth. " Captain Oleg, the second commander, seemed confident when he said these words.


    "From which regiment were the commandos and support units drawn?" I went on to ask, in order to understand the combat effectiveness of these forces.


    "Sir, please allow me to report this problem to you." The one who answered the question was captain kosga, the third commander. I was the temporary commander appointed before I left the station last night. I believed that he could give me a satisfactory answer, so I nodded to him and said, "since that''s the case, you can come back to my question."


    "Yes After giving a loud reply, kosja began to introduce the composition of the commando team to me. He only heard him say, "we have drawn troops from each regiment and organized 15 commando teams and the same number of support units. Among these commando teams, because of the large number of veterans in the second regiment, they account for the highest proportion, with eight troops from the second regiment; Of the remaining seven units, there are three in the first regiment, two in the third regiment and two in the fourth regiment.


    In terms of personnel composition, we adopt the way of combining the old with the new. Each commando is 20, and 8 veteran soldiers with rich combat experience are equipped with submachine guns, grenades, dagger and shovel. There are 80 support units, including 10 Veterans. In addition to the same equipment as the commandos, they are also equipped with two light machine guns, so as to increase the defensive firepower of our army when consolidating the position.... "


    Instead of interrupting him, I listened quietly to every word he said. I can''t help feeling that if I had one or several capable subordinates like kosja and xiejerikov, I could really save a lot of worry. So as soon as kosga had finished, I said without hesitation, "good!" Then he glanced around the faces of several people and said, "I think captain kosga is right. Do you have anything else to add?"


    When I heard this, Oleg, kosja and Gaidar looked at each other, and then answered in a neat way, "no, sir."


    The three commanders all spoke, but they didn''t hear Xie jielikov''s voice. I turned around and saw that he was still staring at the map on the table, so I asked him: "Captain Xie jielikov, do you have any different opinions?"


    Shejerikov looked up at me, first shaking his head, then nodding his head. He asked cautiously, "Comrade division, I want to ask, who will direct this battle?" His words asked everyone what they thought. As soon as they were heard, the eyes of the other three leaders fell on me.


    I smile at several people and say, "what are you all watching me do? I know you all want to command this battle. Originally, I also intend to give the command of this battle to Capt. chejerikov or Capt. kosja. But now it seems that we can''t give command of this battle to any of you. Because this is the first battle of our independent division, which is related to our future destiny. We can only win but not lose, so I decided to command this battle myself. "


    When I said that, everyone''s face showed a collective expression of disappointment. I quickly appeased them and said in a joking tone, "but you don''t want to be lazy. There are so many commandos and support units without a unified command. They are not in a mess when they fight. So I decided, "speaking of this, I deliberately pause to see how people react. Hearing what I said, the four smart leaders guessed that there might be a command position left for them, and they all stood upright in the same place, waiting for me to continue.


    I saw that everyone''s appetite was aroused by me, and then I went on to say, "I decided that fifteen commandos, under the command of Captain Oleg, would be responsible for attacking the buildings occupied by the enemy in the residential areas."


    Captain Oleg didn''t expect such an important task to fall on him. He replied excitedly: "please rest assured, sir. I will command the commando team and take back the buildings in the residential area from the enemy."


    I looked at the other three commanders who were eager to fight, and said calmly, "as for the support unit, I think it''s most appropriate to give it to captain xiejerikov for command." At this point, I looked at the captain and asked, "what do you think? Comrade captain. "


    Xie jerikov''s tense face burst into laughter, and he said repeatedly: "please rest assured, sir, I will command the support team to build solid fortifications in the buildings captured by the commandos, so as to ensure that these buildings will not be captured by the enemy."


    I nodded with satisfaction to his reply, then looked at Gaidar and said, "Captain Gaidar, you and engineer mihayev are familiar with the settlement. Then you will go to the forest with me and command the battle there."


    Seeing that the other three commanders had been assigned tasks, Captain kosga, the third commander, reminded me immediately that he seemed to have forgotten them and said, "what about me, sir? You have assigned tasks to all three of their commanders. What is my task? "


    I took a look at him and said, "Comrade captain, your task is to stay at the camp. You know, in addition to the 15 commando teams, I only need to take five more companies. There are still 60 companies left in the camp. They need someone to direct them. I''ll give you the heavy responsibility. " After that, without waiting for him to speak, I stood up and announced, "this is the end of tonight''s meeting." Kosga looked at me helplessly. Seeing that the matter was irreparable, he had to reluctantly reply, "yes, sir, I will obey your order."

 Chapter 533

    Seeing that Gaidar and mihayev were going out, I quickly stopped them. I picked up the reconnaissance map on the table, went to them and handed it to Mikhail.


    Mihayev took the map in a hurry and asked nervously, "Comrade teacher, do you have anything important to do when you give me the map?"


    I nodded and solemnly told him: "Comrade engineer, take back this map first, and then revise it as soon as possible. Mark the types of buildings, the thickness of floors and walls, whether there are basements, where the entrances and exits are, the nature of the enemy''s fortifications, the location of concealed gun holes, the location and shape of obstacles one by one at the bottom of the map."


    Mihayev nodded hard and answered earnestly, "please rest assured, sir. I will send you the map as soon as I complete the information."


    "It''s not enough to have one map," I specially stressed. "After the information is complete, two more copies will be made. One will be given to the first commander, Captain chejerikov, and the other to the second commander, Captain Oleg. With this information, they can quickly determine the disposition of the enemy''s firepower points, its sweeping fan and its dead angle. The information they know will undoubtedly have a direct impact on our attack. "


    "I see, sir. I will finish the task as soon as possible. " Mihayev replied readily.


    "And you, comrade captain." I saw Gaidar standing by with a bored expression on his face, so I turned to him and said, "when you leave later, take your reconnaissance team back."


    After Gaidar and mihayev left, I said to shejerikov, who was still in the headquarters: "Comrade captain, it''s getting late. You should go back to rest early. When I see my guard monitor Vera, I remember to ask her to take the soldiers back to rest. They have been running for such a long time, and they should be tired, too. "


    After all the people were sent away, I lay back in my own little bed. Although I tried to sleep with my eyes closed, I couldn''t sleep. I''ve been thinking about one thing in my mind. Why is it that after only one night, trakov''s attitude towards me is so different? You know, the deep fighting friendship between trekov and I, which we have experienced many times from death to life, does not change. During the period when I left the defense area for reconnaissance, something unexpected happened at the headquarters of the group army, big enough to change trekov''s attitude towards me?


    If you want to know what happened, you can only ask the people in the headquarters of the group army. Thinking of this, I began to figure out who I could ask about it. The first thing I thought of was commander shumilov. As soon as I came up with this idea, I directly denied it. Based on the friendship and level differences between him and me, if I want to know the truth from him, I think he will avoid talking about it; Military commissar Abramov, I don''t have much contact with him, and it''s very difficult to know the answer from him; Military commissar sheljiuk has a better friendship with me, but he has temporarily returned to Stalingrad and can''t get in touch with him for the time being. Only chief of staff Raskin is left. His rank should know a lot of things I don''t know. If you ask him, maybe you can find out why trekov''s attitude towards me suddenly changed.


    I opened my eyes and looked at my watch. It was already three o''clock in the morning, which was obviously not suitable to disturb chief Ruskin. You know, the war is tense now, and everyone''s string is tight. Raskin would be scared if he knew that I was looking for him in the middle of the night. He would think that something big had happened, and he might even disturb the senior leaders of the group army such as shumilov and Abramov. When he knows that I''m not looking for him to report military information, but to inquire about trekov''s affairs, he will be very angry with me who disturb his sleep. It is estimated that even if he knows what happened to trekov, he will probably say he doesn''t know.


    In the middle of my imagination, I fell asleep unconsciously.


    Sleeping soundly, I felt someone shaking my body. People wake up in a deep sleep, the mood will be very irritable, I am no exception. I closed my eyes and sat up abruptly. I wanted to scold the person who disturbed my dream. Unexpectedly, when I opened my eyes, I found that sergeant razumeyeva, the communication monitor, was standing in front of me.


    I had to put down my anger, raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I asked angrily, "sergeant, you wake me up at this time. What''s the matter?"


    Seeing my dissatisfied face, razumeyeva stepped back and said timidly, "I''m sorry, sir. I don''t want to disturb your sleep, but Colonel Ruskin is online. He wants to talk to you


    "Colonel Ruskin, Colonel Ruskin." I haven''t fully recovered from my sleep, I just mechanically repeated the name twice. I just wanted to ask razumeyeva, who is the holy captain Raskin who disturbed my dream. I suddenly thought of the group army chief of staff, also called Raskin, whom I had been talking about all night. I grabbed razumeyeva''s hand and asked nervously, "sergeant, who are you talking to me just now? Colonel Ruskin, is that Colonel Ruskin, chief of staff of the group army? "


    Razumeyeva nodded, pouted and said wrongly, "it''s him. I won''t wake you up if it''s someone else."


    It was confirmed that it was indeed Colonel Raskin, chief of staff of the group army. I lifted the blanket on my body, turned over and got out of bed. I couldn''t even put on my boots. I rushed to the telephone, put on my earphone, picked up the transmitter and couldn''t wait to say, "Hello, chief of staff, I''m lieutenant colonel oshanina."


    "How do you do, major oshanina." Colonel Ruskin''s voice was steady and didn''t sound urgent at all.


    "Do you have any instructions?" I raised my hand again and looked at my watch. The clock pointed to six o''clock. If it wasn''t something, he would never have contacted me so early.


    "I heard that there was something unpleasant between you and general trakov last night. He was very cold to you. Is that the case?"


    I pretended to be confused and asked, "no, comrade chief of staff. As you know, the relationship between general trakov and me has always been very good. Not only has there not been any unpleasantness before, but there will not be any conflict now or even in the future. He may feel unhappy because I insist on my own way and insist on carrying out the reconnaissance mission, so when he speaks to me, his tone may be a little stiff. "


    Raskin finished listening to me, snorted softly and said, "you have a conscience. No wonder general trakov wants to support you in front of the superior and take all the responsibilities to himself."


    When I heard Raskin say that, my head was buzzing at that time. My heart said that it was over. There was something wrong with trakov. What should I do? Stimulated by the news, my mind was so confused that I didn''t hear what Raskin said next.


    It wasn''t until razumeyeva called me several times that I woke up and asked Raskin, "chief of staff, what''s the matter with general trakov?"


    Raskin, after a moment''s silence, told me in a deep tone, "general trakov has been dismissed. He has just been escorted to Stalingrad by the Ministry of interior."


    "Why?" I asked, biting my lip.


    "There are many reasons for dismissal, such as preventing the internal affairs department from performing special tasks, using Gulag''s prisoners to form an independent force without authorization, and so on." At this point, Raskin stopped for a moment, and then said to me as if he had made up his mind: "I think that his sudden indifference to you after learning that he was about to be dismissed was for the sake of protecting you."


    From Stalingrad on, I always felt confident because of the care of trakov, but for the first time today, I felt a chill in my heart. I thought that if trakov was really sent to the military court and imprisoned, what would be the final outcome of the battle of Stalingrad? It''s really hard to say. So I asked cautiously, "what will be done to general trakov after he is taken back to Stalingrad?"


    "What else?" Raskin said helplessly: "I think nine times out of ten will be sent to the military court, and finally sentenced to imprisonment or something. If someone from above intercedes for him, he may be acquitted, but it is unlikely that he will be restored to his original post. In addition, comrade o''shanina, as a colleague, I feel it necessary to remind you that whether the independent division can succeed in attacking the residential areas this time is related to the fate of whether your army can continue to exist. You must not take it lightly. "


    Trikov was dismissed, and the independent division was immediately in a particularly awkward position. Whether it could survive or not depended on the two-day battle. Originally, I wanted to ask trakov to provide small-scale artillery and tank support for our division before the attack, but now it seems to be in vain.


    Seeing that I didn''t speak, Raskin said, "although general trakov has left, you can ask me if you need anything. I will try my best to do what I can. That''s it. Good luck With that, he broke off the contact.


    I was sitting beside the telephone in a daze when I heard a voice from the door: "good morning, sir! Breakfast is ready for you. Will the soldiers bring it in now? "


    I turned my head and looked at shejerikov standing at the door, nodded at him and said weakly, "bring it up."


    Breakfast is very simple, just two plates of bread, a basin of mushroom soup, and a few fingers thick enema. Looking at the mushroom soup on the table, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. Last night, I brought several big bags of mushrooms to trekov and lyudnikov, but I didn''t even drink the soup. I didn''t expect that today, I was still on my own site, so I drank mushroom soup.


    I asked shijerikov and razumeyeva to sit down for breakfast. As I ate, I asked, "I said, where are these mushrooms picked?"


    Razumeyeva, who was eating bread, replied with an open voice: "Mr. reporter, we are gathering mushrooms in the forest. There are not many mushrooms around here, but the more we go in, the more mushrooms there are."


    I turned to look at shejerikov and asked, "Comrade captain, what are the other commanders doing?"


    After swallowing the bread in his mouth, shejerikov stood up and replied, "they are organizing troops for training."


    Hearing that the troops were training, I pushed the plate in front of me, stood up and said to shijerikov, "come on, comrade captain, let''s go and have a look."


    Shejerikov took me to one of the training points. The commanders and fighters were still in line, and about 100 people were standing there in a neat line. Seeing our arrival, a lieutenant ran over, saluted and yelled: "report to the division commander and commander, the fifth company of the first regiment has assembled and is preparing to start training. Please give instructions!"


    After I saluted the lieutenant, I took a satisfied look at the neat team and said, "train!"


    The lieutenant replied, "yes!" He turned and ran to the team, shouting: "all of you: stand at attention, turn right, unit training begins now!"


    With his password, twenty soldiers were out of the team, five or six of them armed with submachine guns, and the rest of the soldiers were not grenades, shovel or axe.


    Deeply afraid that I could not understand it, xiejerikov pointed to a sandbag fortification dozens of meters away and explained to me, "Sir, please see, the sandbag fortification over there is the target of the soldiers. The soldiers who carried the submachine guns fired first to shovel bags, suppressed the enemy''s firepower, then rushed to the grenade fighters and threw grenades behind the sandbags. Finally, the commandos came in and used the submachine gun, spade and axe to destroy the remaining enemy.


    Standing in the same place, I carefully looked at the wooden piles standing behind the sandbag and asked Xie jielikov, "Comrade captain, why are there some wooden piles behind the sandbag?"


    Semyon Jerry Kopf looked at the direction of my fingers and smiled. "Comrade, those piles are the enemy," he said. "After crossing the sandbags, the soldiers will Shovel them down with spades and axes."


    After listening to his explanation, I didn''t speak, but nodded, and then concentrated on the training of the soldiers. Only a few soldiers with submachine guns rushed out of the line and stopped after a certain distance, or squatted or lying on the ground to pose a shooting posture. Then seven or eight soldiers rushed out, rushed to the vicinity of their comrades in arms, stopped and threw their grenades one after another,. The last ones were seven soldiers who shovel or shovel or axe in their hands. They rushed through the side of their soldiers, climbed over sandbags, waved their tools and chipped the standing piles. However, to my disappointment, none of the wooden piles fell down although they were banging.


    During the training just now, Xie jerikov was beaming. He asked with pride, "Comrade division, is our regiment training good?"


    Instead of answering his question, I ordered him, "Comrade captain, go and call the company commander."


    Although he was puzzled by my reaction, he went over and called the lieutenant. When the lieutenant stood in front of me, my uncontrollable anger finally broke out. I pointed to the Lieutenant''s nose and asked aloud, "Comrade lieutenant, I come to ask you, is that how you train the troops? Are you dancing ballet or acting in a drama? Can the troops trained in this way win a battle when they are pulled up? "


    The lieutenant said with an aggrieved face: "report to Mr. division, we are all trained according to the regulations."


    As soon as I waved my hand, I said angrily, "don''t tell me any rules, but the commander should know how to act according to the rules, instead of doing everything according to the rules. You know, these new soldiers are all civilians who have not received any military training. They have no combat experience. Even if they are more proficient in these tactics, they will be scared to pee when they hear the gunfire on the battlefield. So in order for the troops to really form combat effectiveness, you have to change the existing training methods. "


    The lieutenant took a look at xiejerikov and asked cautiously, "Comrade division commander, how can I change it?"


    I can see that the soldiers trained just now have come back from the sandbags and re listed. Then he told the lieutenant, "you go and call the seven shovel and axe fighters."


    When the seven soldiers stood in a line in front of me, I pointed to the birch tree five meters away and said to them, "soldiers, those birch trees are your enemies. I order you to cut them down. Now listen to my command. Everyone has it. Go


    With my command, the seven soldiers rushed forward, rushed to the birch tree, waved the tools in their hands and cut them off. Although not a tree was cut down, I still yelled out: "OK, stop, all stop!"


    Fearing that the soldiers couldn''t hear me clearly, the lieutenant rushed behind them and repeated my command loudly: "all right, stop, stop!" When the soldiers packed up their tools and went back, I specially observed the seven birch trees under attack.


    When the seven soldiers came back to me again, I went to a tall soldier with an axe in his hand. After calling him out, I asked him seriously: "Comrade soldier, I saw that there were only a few small axe marks on the tree you cut. Why don''t you do your best?"


    The soldier blushed with shame and murmured, "Sir, I''ve tried my best, but I can''t cut it down!"


    With a snort, I pointed to the birch tree and said to him coldly, "Comrade soldier, I order you to try again. Don''t think it''s a birch, think it''s Gulag''s guard. Listen to my command: target, right in front, Gulag''s guard, let''s go


    As soon as I talked about Gulag''s guards, the soldiers who had been a little timid suddenly burst into flames, roared and rushed forward, and slashed at the poor birch tree with an axe. In less than half a minute, the birch tree fell to the ground. The soldier who cut down the birch threw his axe aside, knelt down, covered his face with his hands and began to cry. I walked over slowly, patted him on the shoulder, and said in a soft voice, "Comrade soldier, get in the line." when I faced the seven soldiers again, I felt the murderous spirit from them. For these soldiers from the Gulag concentration camp, they have no good feelings for the Germans, but they also have no bad feelings. Only the guards of the Gulag concentration camp can arouse their fighting spirit of common hatred. I turned my head and said to sergeant and Sergeant standing beside me, "two comrades of commanders, I''ll show you how to train once in person, but I have to see it carefully." I took a grenade from the Lieutenant''s hand and pinned it on the belt. Then I said to the seven soldiers, "follow me. I''ll teach you how to train." In the accommodation of dozens of eyes, I took seven soldiers to the training ground. Before departure, I specially told them: "you should pay attention to my command later. I will do whatever I ask you to do. Do you understand?" The seven soldiers agreed loudly, "I see." When I took the lead in charging forward with my submachine gun, I was still shouting: "when charging, don''t straighten your back, bend your back to rush, otherwise you will become the target of the enemy." Because it''s a demonstration for you, we don''t charge fast. When I was about ten meters away from the sandbag, I suddenly yelled, "lie down!" Then he took the lead to lie on the ground. At my command, there were two or three quick reaction soldiers lying down on the spot, and the rest of them ran forward a few steps before they reacted and quickly fell down. I picked up my submachine gun and pulled the trigger at the sandbag¡° After the "dada dada" gunshot, several sandbags were broken by bullets, and the soil inside was spilled out of the holes one after another. I pulled out the grenade from my waist, pulled the string and threw it out. The grenade tumbled down behind the sandbag, exploded, and then a cloud of earth rose up. I got up and yelled again, "go!" Then he put the butt of the submachine gun on his waist and pulled the trigger desperately. Under such crazy shooting, the bullets in the drum were soon exhausted. But the soldiers were not vague, they had jumped over the sandbags, and wield the shovel axes in their hands to cut down all those wooden posts. Back in front of shejerikov and the lieutenant, I laughed at them and said, "see, we have to train like this. We should treat all training as actual combat, so that the combat effectiveness of the troops can be improved quickly. " The sound of gunfire and the explosion of grenades attracted the commanders of several commando teams trained around them. When they came, they asked the lieutenant curiously what had happened. Seeing more and more commanders gathered, I had an idea. I asked shijerikov to send someone to call over the 20 company commanders and the other three commanders. I have something to say to them. But when the 24 commanders were in two neat lines in front of me, I began to lecture them: "comrades commanders, I just watched your training. To be honest, I''m not satisfied with this kind of training. According to the way you train, the soldiers go to the battlefield, and eight or nine out of ten can''t come back alive. I have just demonstrated the correct training method for the officers and men of the seventh company of the first regiment. You can consult them later. "

 Chapter 534

    As soon as my voice dropped, someone in the team immediately murmured, "we all train soldiers according to the regulations. Is this also wrong? We''re going to have to do something different to upset us. "


    I heard this disharmonious voice, suddenly unknown, immediately to the team shouting: "who is, who is speaking, out!"


    A captain came out and stood in front of me.


    "Which unit are you the commander of?" I asked coldly.


    The captain quickly straightened up and said, "report to the division commander, I''m the commander of the eighth company of the second regiment."


    "Comrade captain, why do you say that my training method is used to upset you?"


    After the captain glanced at me from the corner of his eye, he quickly turned his eyes away, looked straight ahead, and said in a loud voice: "Comrade division, I asked the company commander of the fifth company of a regiment just now. He said that you not only used submachine guns to shoot live ammunition, but also threw a hand grenade with strings. I think in training, it''s enough to train the soldiers'' tactical movements well. There''s no need for them to use live ammunition. When they get to the battlefield, they have plenty of contact opportunities. "


    The captain''s words immediately resonated with the commanders in the queue. My eyes quickly swept over everyone, and I found that all the others, including Oleg, kosja and Gaidar, were talking in a low voice with the people nearby, except for captain xijerikov and the commander of the fifth company of a regiment.


    I raised my hands and pressed down, shouting: "be quiet, comrades, please be quiet!"


    When the team was quiet again, I said to the commanders in a loud voice: "comrades, first of all, I want to let you understand the fact that the battle in two days is the first battle of our independent division, and it is also the battle that determines the fate of the independent division. Everyone is happy to win. Many of you present will even get medals. " At this point, I saw the happy expressions on the faces of several commanders in the team, so I stopped for a moment. After their expressions returned to normal, I continued to say: "if you lose, I''m sorry, the independent division will be dissolved, and your fate is uncertain. The commanders of the group army hope that this battle can be won, and I hope that this battle can be won. You also hope that you can become famous in the first World War and make contributions while making atonement for yourself. The idea is good, but the reality is cruel. It is impossible to win this battle with a force composed of civilians without any military training or combat experience.


    What can we do in this situation? Is it to tell our superiors that we are unable to complete the tasks assigned by them to our division, or do we have to work hard and try to complete the tasks of our superiors? I think I just don''t mean that every commander on the scene knows the answer.


    The reason why we can''t train our troops according to the regulations is that we don''t have so much time. If we want our troops to form combat effectiveness in a short time, we must adopt special training methods to train our soldiers. As I have mentioned just now, most of our soldiers have no military training or combat experience. They only master their skills and tactics, but when they go to the battlefield, they will be scared to death at the sound of guns. Let alone attack the enemy, it''s good not to turn around and run away.


    So I want the soldiers to listen to the sound of gunfire and explosion in the process of training. When they go to the battlefield, they will not be frightened by the enemy''s gunfire, and they will have the courage to face the enemy''s gunfire. Do you understand? "


    Twenty four commanders yelled in unison: "understand!"


    I went on to say, "I''ve made a fool of myself to say that if you go to the battlefield, which army has a bad attack and leads to the failure of the battle, then the superior will hold me responsible, and I''ll hold your commanders on the spot. I''ll do what I say. As for the punishment, all the soldiers who took part in the war should be punished; The commander in charge should not only be dismissed, but also go back where you come from. Do you understand? "


    Twenty four commanders answered neatly again, "I understand!"


    I went up to the captain, looked at him and said, "Captain, do you have the confidence to lead your company to be the first to attack the residential area and tear a hole in the enemy''s defensive position to open a passage for the following troops?"


    After hearing this, the captain pondered, as if weighing the weight of my courage on his shoulder. After a moment, he straightened up and gave me a solemn military salute. He solemnly said, "since the division commander trusts me so much, I will say one word. Even if all the eight companies are destroyed, I will tear up the enemy''s defense line and open the channel for the subsequent troops to attack." Although what he said was not bold words, his tone was firm and courageous.


    I patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction and said to him, "well said, comrade captain, let''s get in first."


    Xiejerikov looked around for a while, and asked for instructions from me on his own initiative: "Sir, do you have any instructions for the next training?"


    "All the commanders and fighters participating in the war must fire live ammunition and throw live grenades. Each commander and fighter must throw at least five grenades and 20 bullets, so that we can have a good feeling of the atmosphere of the battlefield. Remember to tell the soldiers that when shooting and dropping bombs, they should think that the opposite side is the enemy. If you don''t shoot or drop bombs, the enemy''s bullets and grenades will fly by and destroy us. " Thinking of this, I suddenly thought of the devil training conducted by the devil instructor in liuban area, and added: "live firing can be done like this. One group of soldiers hide behind the sandbags, while another group of soldiers shoot above the sandbags, so that the soldiers can feel the taste of bullets flying over their heads in turn."


    Xiejerikov quickly agreed: "yes, sir, I will arrange it now." I looked at chejerikov with satisfaction, directly ordered him to take charge of the next training, then announced the dissolution and turned to the headquarters. Just after walking out, Gaidar, the fourth group leader, came up from behind. He handed me some folded maps and said, "are you free now, sir? Comrade Mikhail yev has some new ideas on how to attack the residential areas. Do you want to call him over to study it? " When I opened the map, I saw that the figure drawn on it was completely different from the sketch I saw yesterday. It seemed that mihayev had carefully redrawn the whole map. The blank space on the right side of the map was also densely filled with all kinds of data I asked him to provide. After looking at it for a few minutes, I closed the map with satisfaction and asked Gaidar, "Comrade captain, where is Comrade mihayev?"¡° Originally he came with me, but because you called us to speak, I asked him to go to the headquarters first. "¡° What are you dawdling about? Let''s go When I came to the headquarters and saw Mikhail yev standing at the door, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade Mikhail yev, why don''t you wait for us in the headquarters?" Mihayev came to salute and said with a mournful face, "report to Mr. division commander, it''s the sentry at the door. He said you are not here, so I''m not allowed to go in." I thought the two sentinels who were on duty at the gate were the same last night. But when I looked at the gate, I found that Vera and another male soldier were standing there. When I took Gaidar and mihayev to the door, Vera and the male sentry saluted me. After I returned the gift, I asked Vera kindly, "Vera, this engineer is here for me. Why don''t you let him into the headquarters?"¡° Report to Mr. division commander, "because it''s in public, Vera doesn''t call me by my nickname, but by my rank." when you''re not in the headquarters, for the sake of safety, I can''t let any stranger in. "¡° Is engineer mihayev a stranger? " Gaidar said a little unconvinced: "didn''t we come back from the 208 division by truck last night? Have you all experienced life and death together? Are you still strangers? " Vera finished listening, white Gaidar one eye, and then eyes straight ahead, no longer pay attention to him. I quickly came out to make ends meet and said to Gaidar, "OK, OK. Comrade Gaidar, don''t blame Willa. She''s responsible. She did the right thing Then he whispered to Vera: "Vera, remember that in the future, in addition to the four commanders, engineers mikheiev can also enter and leave my headquarters at will, without any notice. Do you understand? " Vera nodded her head and said, "I see, sir." I shook my head at Gerda and mihayev and said, "let''s go." Then he took the lead in entering the headquarters. The operator on duty in the headquarters has changed from sergeant razumeyeva to private kraftya. When I came in, I asked her, "kraftya, is there a telegram from headquarters?" Kraftia shook her head and replied very simply, "no, I haven''t received any information since I took over." After we sat down, I looked at Mikhail and asked, "Comrade Mikhail, listen to the captain, you have some new ideas you want to tell me. Now that it''s all right, just say what you think. I''m all ears. " Mihayev stood up, took out another map from his pocket and spread it on the table. I looked at it carefully and found that it was exactly the same as the map gedar gave me. He said with astonishment: "Comrade division, I think it is an unfinished task to seize the residential areas from the enemy with our existing weapons and equipment."¡° Mikhail, what are you talking about? Shut up When Gaidar heard this, he immediately jumped up to stop him from going on. I waved to Gaidar and said, "don''t get excited, comrade captain. Let''s listen to what the engineer said first." Then I looked at mikhaev and said with encouragement, "come on, our engineers, you can tell us what you think. Even if it''s wrong, I won''t blame you."

 Chapter 535

    I know in my heart that it is very difficult for me to make the best preparations for this attack. Therefore, I must widely listen to the rationalization suggestions put forward by commanders and fighters at all levels and adopt them.


    With my encouragement, after reading a lot of building data to Gaidar and me, mikheiev boldly said: "according to my analysis, the wall thickness of these buildings is beyond the penetration of our division''s existing equipment bullets. If we can''t rush into these buildings before the enemy finds us, then the enemy can hide in these buildings and calmly carry out condescending fire on our attacking troops. "


    The conclusion reached by Mikhail is exactly what I am worried about. Although we have an advantage in numbers, the German weapons and strong fortifications are enough to offset this advantage. I nodded slightly and asked him with great interest, "Comrade engineer, do you have any good idea?"


    Mikhail yev looked at Gaidar and said with a smile, "let Comrade captain explain the next content to you. He is a professional, and he speaks more clearly than I do." Then he sat down directly.


    Gaidar stood up, supported the edge of the table, leaned forward slightly, and said politely: "Sir, comrade, I think the most effective way to deal with the enemy''s fortifications is to close the gun and shoot, use the gun fire to destroy the enemy''s firepower points, and cover our commandos to rush into the building. Of course, if we can get the support of tanks, they can fire fiercely at the enemy''s fire counting buildings, effectively support the commandos and speed up the assault speed of our troops. "


    I nodded approvingly and said, "yes, the bayonet on the cannon you proposed is good. It''s worth a try." When I said this, I suddenly remembered that trakov had been dismissed, so it might not be so easy to get weapons and ammunition from the group army as before. As I thought of this key problem, I was not confident enough when I continued to speak. "However, our division does not have any heavy weapons now. It seems that if we want to win a battle, we can only ask for help from friendly forces."


    "What is a bayonet on a cannon?" A familiar voice suddenly rushed out of the door, and then a familiar figure came into the headquarters. Seeing the visitor, I was overjoyed. I quickly stood up to welcome him and asked in surprise, "Hello, chief of staff, how did you come here?"


    Although Gaidar and mihayev did not meet Raskin, they got up to salute when they saw the rank of Colonel on the leader''s badge. Raskin and I shook hands and joked, "Comrade oshanina, I''ve come to see you from the headquarters. I don''t know if you welcome me or not."


    I took his hand in both hands, shook it hard and said, "Welcome! welcome! Of course, welcome! Chief of staff, you are a rare guest. We usually can''t invite you. "


    After the greeting, Raskin glanced over Gaidar and asked with a little vigilance, "Comrade oshanina, who are they?"


    Listening to Raskin''s tone, I seemed to have something to say to me in private. I didn''t want to have outsiders present. I quickly introduced him to Raskin and said, "this captain is Comrade Gaidar, head of the fourth regiment. Next to him is Comrade Mikhail yev, an architectural engineer." After the introduction, I immediately said to them, "Gaidar and mihayev, there''s no business for you here. You two go back first."


    As they left the headquarters, I told the operator on duty, kraftya, "Hey, comrade kraftya, please go and bring our Colonel a cup of hot tea with honey."


    Kraftya got up from the phone, gave a sweet smile to Colonel Ruskin, and quickly ran out of the headquarters.


    When Raskin and I were left in the room, I sat down at the table and asked curiously, "Comrade Colonel, do you have any instructions when you come to our division?"


    Raskin said solemnly, "Comrade oshanina, I came to the independent division this time to tell you the truth about general trakov''s dismissal."


    "Comrade Colonel, what is the reason for his dismissal? I don''t quite believe the reasons you said in the morning. "


    Raskin said with a wry smile: "what can I say about this? The reasons I told you in the morning are just official. The real reason is that general trakov and the new military commissar of the front army had some disputes about the current war last night. Perhaps general trakov''s words were too heavy and direct. As a result, the comrades of the military commissar made a decision to dismiss him in anger. "


    "Who is the new military commissar of the front army?" The establishment and leadership of the front army are constantly changing. I really don''t know who the new military commissar is.


    Raskin said bitterly: "the new military commissar of the front army is former first Secretary of Ukraine, comrade Nikita sergeyevich Khrushchev."


    Khrushchev, when I heard the name, I almost jumped up from the stool. I didn''t expect that the new military commissar of the front army was him. He is an important person I have always wanted to meet. Unexpectedly, as soon as he appeared, he decisively dismissed trakov because of the dispute. If I get close to him later, it will make the people of trakov unhappy.


    At this moment, kraftia came in from outside with a teapot. We quickly shut our mouths so that the girl soldier would not hear what she should not hear. Kraftya, holding the teapot in both hands, carefully placed it on the table in front of Raskin''s face, and said with a smile, "Comrade Colonel, please have tea."


    After hearing Raskin''s thanks to kraftia, I waved to her and said, "Comrade kraftia, I have important work to talk about with the chief of staff. Go out first. By the way, tell the guard monitor Willa at the door that no one is allowed to enter without my permission. "


    After kraftia left, I asked in a low voice, "Comrade Colonel, do you know what they are arguing about?"


    Raskin looked at the door, moved his body to my side, and said in a low voice, "I learned the specific contents of the quarrel from Mr. lyudnikov of the guard division. He said that at first they were still laughing. He didn''t know what Khrushchev had said. Then trikov was furious and said to Khrushchev angrily: our passive situation could have been avoided. If we had judged the situation correctly at that time, we would have smashed their old nest. I always thought that the Germans would attack Moscow. This is the first time that they have been cheated.


    After listening, Khrushchev retorted and said: how can you speak like this? You are the deputy commander of the group army. You are not free to comment on the decision of the supreme commander. "


    After listening to Raskin''s words, I said in a puzzled way: "Comrade chief of staff, I think general trakov is absolutely right. Moreover, even if he said something extreme, he would not be dismissed."


    Raskin took up the teapot, blowing away the heat, and said: "if you really only said the above words, it would not make Khrushchev upset. It''s a pity that general trakov was so angry during the quarrel that he actually uncovered Khrushchev''s scar, which made the other party turn around and sign the order of dismissing general trakov mercilessly. "


    "Can you tell me about the scar?" My curiosity made me want to break the casserole and ask to the end.


    Raskin put down the teapot, hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to say, "OK, I''ll tell you what happened. But you have to promise me a condition. What I say to you is top secret. You can''t tell anyone, otherwise you and I will be in big trouble. " When I said that he would strictly keep secrets, he said in a low voice: "at the beginning of the war, general Zhukov, who was also the chief of the general staff, tried to persuade the supreme commander to withdraw the southwest army in Kiev, so as not to fall into the siege of the German Army. Unexpectedly, when the supreme commander asked Khrushchev for advice, he firmly replied that Kiev could hold on. " At this point, he could not help but snort, "as a result, the nearly one million troops who stayed in Kiev were completely annihilated by the German army, except Khrushchev, bujoni, Timoshenko and 150000 people who successfully broke through the encirclement. Among them, the commander of the southwest front army, general kirponos, chief of staff tupikov, and political commissar burmishenko were the political commissars in the breakthrough. 660000 people, including general Potapov, commander of the 5th group army, were captured.


    Three months ago, the battle of Kharkov was under the command of Timoshenko and Khrushchev. As a result, it was another tragic defeat. The main forces of the 6th, 57th and 9th army groups and the battle group of bobkin were annihilated, 250000 people were captured, more than 600 tanks were lost, and several senior generals such as Lieutenant General Kostenko, deputy commander of the southwest front army, were killed. "


    After listening to Raskin''s inside information, I could not help but be silent. If these failures were replaced by other people''s words, I would have been executed as soon as general Pavlov had been tried by the military court. Only Timoshenko and Khrushchev, who are highly respected by the supreme commander, will be reactivated after hiding for a period of time, even if they are repeatedly defeated. Although they have caused great losses to the country and the army, these things are a restricted area that can not be touched. If anyone has no intention to mention them, they must bear their thunder. General trakov, unfortunately, became such a victim.


    Raskin finished, took a sip of tea from the teapot and said to himself, "honey is too much. It''s a little too sweet." After putting down the teapot, he looked at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, I have finished what I should say and what I should not. I want to hear what you really think


    My fingers were tapping gently on the table, and my brain was thinking quickly. Why did Raskin say that? Did he have any deeper consideration? After thinking about it for a long time, I still think I should tell Raskin my heart. After all, I still have a lot of time to deal with him.


    Determined, I said decisively: "Comrade chief of staff, I think general trakov''s criticism of Comrade Khrushchev is correct. The reason why we lost a large area of our territory after another under the attack of the enemy is not that our soldiers are not brave, nor that our commanders'' tactical command is improper, nor that the enemy is too strong, but that the strategic thinking of the supreme command organization has deviated, which has pushed our army into danger again and again. "


    Before I could finish, Ruskin slapped the table heavily and cried out, "well, well said, well said! General trakov was right. Comrade oshanina, after general trakov left, he repeatedly told me to take care of your division. If you have any difficulties, please let me know. If it can be solved within the scope of my authority, I will solve it for you immediately; It can''t be solved. I''ll come forward to negotiate for you. "


    I was relieved to hear him say that. It seems that I''ve made the right bet just now. Since he asked me to make a request, I would not be polite. So I moved the map on the table to him and explained to him our division''s plan to attack the residential areas with my finger. At the end of the day, I begged him: "Comrade chief of staff, our division does not have any heavy weapons. If we want to attack, we are bound to pay huge casualties. You see, can you provide us with the necessary support? "


    After hearing this, Raskin said with some embarrassment, "the group army also lacks heavy weapons. I think it may not be able to meet your requirements."


    Raskin''s answer had been expected by me for a long time. When I heard him complain to me, I quickly explained, "chief of staff, you misunderstood me. I''m not asking you to provide heavy weapons such as tanks and artillery for our division. We don''t have professionals. Even if we are equipped with these technical equipment, no one will use it."


    "So you mean Raskin asked in surprise.


    "I want you to come forward and coordinate with the 137th tank brigade and the 157 infantry division, so that they can provide one or two tank brigades and artillery companies respectively, so as to improve the necessary firepower support for the key offensive units of our division. What do you think? "


    To my request, Raskin nodded and agreed without hesitation: "no problem. I can make a decision on this matter now. On the day of the attack, I asked the 137th tank brigade to provide five tanks to your division, and the 157th infantry division to send two artillery companies. Is that enough? "


    "Enough, enough!" I thought he would provide me with three or five guns and a tank. I didn''t expect that he was so generous and gave me several times more technical equipment.


    Raskin''s attention was attracted by the faint sounds of shooting and grenade explosion outside. He curiously pointed to the door and asked me, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the matter with the gunfire and explosion outside?"


    "Report to the chief of staff," I said with a smile, "that the troops are firing live ammunition and throwing live grenades."


    "What, live fire and live throw?" Raskin raised his eyebrows and said, "Comrade oshanina, is this necessary?"


    Although I think I have no doubt about my own way of action, I heard that Ruskin said so, without rebuke me, I explained: "Comrade chief of staff, you have no idea. Most of my soldiers are soldiers who have not experienced any military training and have no combat experience. In order to prevent them from being frightened by the enemy''s gunfire after going to the battlefield, I adopted a special training method, using live ammunition training to train their courage. "


    Raskin finished, still complained about me: "you do this, not afraid of causing unnecessary casualties in training?"


    "Comrade chief of staff, no way." I said confidently, "there are only two thousand commanders and men to be trained. They train in different regions with the company as a unit. In every company, there are a certain proportion of experienced veterans. With them, the safety in training can be guaranteed. "


    Raskin looked out the door and said, "otherwise, you''d better take me to the training ground."


    His proposal made me feel embarrassed, because my training method was too original. Maybe he would criticize me on the spot. After thinking about it, I suggested to him, "why don''t I call all the three training commanders and company commanders and let them report the training to you in person?"


    He waved his hand and said firmly, "no, I''ll go to the training ground myself. If I don''t see the training of the commanders and fighters with my own eyes, I''m still not at ease. "


    Seeing Raskin''s resolute attitude, I couldn''t oppose it any more, so I had to reluctantly promise, "OK, chief of staff, I''ll take you to the training ground."


    As soon as Raskin and I walked out of the door, we saw two soldiers with submachine guns outside, chatting around Vera. Seeing us go out, the two soldiers immediately stood at attention, straightened up and put on a posture of waiting for dispatch. Needless to say, these two soldiers must be Raskin''s guards.


    As he walked, Raskin shook his head at them and said simply, "come with me!"


    Vera saw two male soldiers following Ruskin to the training ground. She caught up with me and asked, "Rita, shall I go to the training ground with you?"


    I shook my head and said, "no, you''d better stay in the headquarters. The forest is full of our soldiers. You don''t have to worry about my safety. " With that, I speeded up to catch up with Ruskin.


    Kung Fu is not very good. We arrived at the training ground I just came to, and the fifth company of the first regiment is now carrying out bomb throwing training.


    Ten soldiers with grenades in their hands rushed forward a few steps, then stopped suddenly and threw the grenades forward. Ten smoky grenades tumbled in the air and landed in the newly designated drop zone. All of a sudden, there was an explosion, smoke and fire, and an unfortunate birch fell to the ground in the explosion.


    When a group of soldiers finished dropping bombs, the lieutenant yelled out a command: "after the sixth class finishes dropping bombs, get in the line immediately. The seventh is on the line, ready to drop the bomb With the command of the lieutenant, the ten soldiers trotted back to the line. At the same time, ten soldiers holding grenades came out of the line.


    After the bombing of the fifth company, I heard the lieutenant give orders in a loud voice: "after the bombing training, let''s start shooting training. All of you. Turn right. Class one enters the shooting position, and class six enters the sandbag fortification to hide. " With his command, first two teams of soldiers ran out of the queue, one class with rifles stood in front of the queue, while the other class ran to the sandbag fortification dozens of meters away. I took a furtive look at Ruskin. He looked at the soldiers of the running class without expression. Until he saw the soldiers disappear behind the sandbag, the soldiers with guns squatted down and aimed the muzzle at the sandbag, his face suddenly turned black, turned to me and said seriously: "o''shanina, you promised me that your troops would not be injured in training, but now do you know what they are doing? You actually let our soldiers shoot at their own people. If there are casualties, you will have to go to the military court. You go and order them to stop at once. " Military court, military court again. I found that since I went to Stalingrad, I have heard people threatening to take anyone to military court. In the end, I didn''t see anyone to military court. For Raskin''s tension, I can understand, after all, this training method is too incredible. Without waiting for me to explain, the gunfire had been heard one after another, the bullets whizzed over the sandbag, and several missed shots hit the sandbag, splashing small mud columns on the sandbag. After five rounds, the soldiers stood up one after another. When the lieutenant saw that all the soldiers had put down their guns, he took out a whistle from his pocket and blew it hard. With his whistle, soldiers came out from behind sandbags. When I heard the lieutenant blowing his whistle, I could not help patting my forehead. I found that my consideration was not comprehensive enough. I didn''t think about how to contact the troops when they attacked in the smoke. The second lieutenant''s whistle reminds me that every commando should be equipped with such a simple communication tool. Look at Ruskin again. Since the first soldier appeared in the sandbag, he was nervously counting the number. When all the soldiers came out from behind the sandbags, I heard him take a long breath and say to himself, "thank God! There are no casualties at all. " As soon as I turned around, I saw that I was staring at him. I was a little embarrassed and said with a smile, "I''m sorry, comrade o''shanina, I wronged you just now. I have to admit that although your training method is original, it is effective. It can make soldiers feel the atmosphere of the battlefield. " At this point, he stopped for a moment and continued in a voice that only he and I could hear: "you know, when I first went to the battlefield and heard the gunshot, I was so scared that I peed in my pants." With that, he reached out and patted me on the shoulder. He waved his head to the guard again and said, "Comrade soldier, let''s go back." He took a few steps, then stopped and said to me in a friendly way, "o''shanina, let me remind you. On the day the battle begins, lyudnikov''s close guard division can also provide you with some necessary help. "

 Chapter 536

    The time of two days is fleeting, and the day of decisive battle is approaching unconsciously.


    In order to plan the first battle after the establishment of the independent division, I not only went to the front to carry out reconnaissance in person, but also studied the intelligence we had with several commanders under my command repeatedly and worked out a combat plan.


    In the afternoon, when we are going to attack the residential areas tomorrow, I specially called all the four commanders together and held another pre war meeting to check the preparations for the battle.


    The leaders who came to the meeting, like me, were in a state of special excitement. As soon as he saw me, Captain Oleg, who was in charge of the first attack, couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade division, I''m looking forward to this day. Can you tell me when we will start? "


    "Yes, sir, we have been looking forward to this day." Said Captain kosga, who was walking behind him.


    I raised my hand and pressed it for a few times. I said to them, "sit down first. Let''s have a meeting first. We''ve been waiting for so many days. Can''t we even wait for these hours? " Four people listen to what I say so relaxed, can''t help but smile heartily.


    After they all sat down, I stood up with my hand on the edge of the table and solemnly said, "comrades, in more than ten hours, our division will launch an attack on the residential areas. This is the first battle after the establishment of our independent division, so we should treat it with caution. To call you in this afternoon is to check on the preparations for the battle. "


    As soon as his voice dropped, the impatient Oleg stood up and said, "report to Mr. commander, the 20 commandos are ready. As long as you give an order, you can fight immediately. Captain Oleg, commander of the second regiment, is at your command at any time. "


    Looking at the eager captain Oleg, I laughed silently: "Comrade captain, well done. Whether we can break into the residential area tomorrow depends on the commandos you lead."


    Seeing that Captain Oleg showed his face first, xiejerikov also stood up and said, "Comrade division, our support team is ready to follow the commandos at any time to consolidate the positions occupied by our army."


    "Comrade oshanina, your division''s taxis are very angry!" While talking to several commanders, the familiar voice of chief of staff Raskin came from the door.


    Seeing Ruskin enter the door, I hastened to greet him. After raising my hand to salute him, I was preparing to report the preparation for the battle to him. Unexpectedly, he waved his hand and said with a kind smile: "Comrade oshanina, needless to say, I understand the situation. Let''s go ahead as usual."


    After Raskin sat down, I took the initiative to introduce the army''s attack plan to him. At the end of the day, I took the initiative to put forward to him one of the sufferings the army was facing: "Comrade chief of staff, our division is too far away from the attack site. If the soldiers go on foot, they will be exhausted by the time they get to the hiding place. I don''t know if I have enough physical strength to take part in the attack until dawn


    After listening to me, Raskin pointed to me and said, "I knew you were going to ask me, so I took the initiative to deliver it to you. What else do you want? As long as it''s within my ability, I''ll do it for you. "


    As a matter of fact, I''ve been waiting for Raskin to say that. Now that he has spoken, I''m not polite, so I pointed to him and said, "Comrade chief of staff, I really want a lot of things. First of all, we need to have a convoy to transport our division''s 2000 commanders and fighters to the garrison of the guard division; Secondly, we need a batch of smoke bombs to be fired from mortars to residential areas before the attack, so that the generated smoke can interfere with the enemy''s vision and cover our commandos to approach the target; Third, I hope to see the tanks and artillery you promised last time when you arrive at the garrison of the guard division; Finally, "when I talked about the fourth point, I felt that I had asked too much from Raskin. I began to hesitate whether to ask for another one.


    Raskin said with a very understanding smile, "if you have any more requests, please come forward. I remind you that if you ask me again after today, I can''t promise you so readily. "


    Since his words are all for this reason, I don''t have to worry about it any more. I said directly: "Comrade chief of staff, I don''t know if we can provide us with some walkie talkies that can be carried by individual soldiers, so that I can contact the commander at the front in time in the command division."


    Raskin laughed and said, "I thought you were too embarrassed to mention this to me. Don''t worry, I''ve already prepared for you. " At this point, he stood up and yelled at the door: "Hey, I said, don''t stand at the door, come in." With his shouts, five soldiers came in from the door and quickly lined up with us.


    Raskin pointed to these soldiers and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, they are all the communication soldiers in the headquarters of the group army. At the same time, our superior has allocated us a number of walkie talkies. I will lend them to your division for use in this battle. How are you, satisfied? "


    I looked at the orderly signalmen and the walkie talkie on their back. I got excited and quickly reached out to hold Raskin''s right hand. I was a little out of breath, and even stammered: "thank you, chief of staff. It''s very kind of you. You''ve considered us very carefully."


    Raskin patted me on the back of my hand with his left hand and said, "you''re welcome. That''s what I should do. Because I promised general trakov that I would take good care of you. "


    Hearing him mention trekov, I couldn''t help asking, "how''s general trekov now?"


    Raskin shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don''t know about that. Anyway, people are still in Stalingrad. They haven''t been sent away or taken to military court." Obviously, he didn''t talk too much about these sensitive topics. At this point, he immediately turned away from the topic: "how are you going to distribute these walkie talkies?"


    I nodded, pointed to the signalman and said to several commanders, "the signalman is numbered from left to right from No.1 to No.5. One was assigned to captain Oleg''s commando team; Aircraft two is equipped with a support unit for captain chejerikov; Flight three is following captain gedar. The remaining four and five will stay with me. "


    Speaking of this, I lowered my head and asked Ruskin in a low voice: "Comrade chief of staff, I don''t know when the convoy carrying our division''s commanders and fighters will arrive?"


    "Comrade oshanina, go and gather your troops first." Raskin said calmly, "as for the convoy of soldiers, they have come with me and are now parked outside the forest. Because all the troops needed trucks, I tried my best to collect only 50 trucks. "


    "Fifty?" This number is far beyond my expectation. Although we can''t transport all the troops at one time, we can transport them to the garrison of the guard division in batches¡° Fifty, a lot of them. Thank you, chief of staff. "


    Raskin said with some worry: "if it''s 2000 people, maybe the truck can''t sit down."


    I waved my hand and explained to him, "Comrade chief of staff, we can let half the soldiers ride and half walk. Wait for the truck to transport the officers and men to their destination, and then go back to pick up the officers and men who are still walking. "


    "Well, do as you say." Raskin raised his hand, looked at his watch and said to me, "it''s five o''clock. Is it time to gather your troops and get ready to go?"


    I nodded and began to give orders to the four commanders: "Captain chejerikov, Lieutenant Oleg, Captain gedar, you three go and gather the troops. Remember to let the soldiers take enough dry food for a day. Go After they left, I told the operator on duty, razumeyeva, "sergeant, take these five soldiers out to test whether the walkie talkie is in good communication. Captain kosga, go out and help sergeant razumeyeva


    When Raskin and I were the only ones left in the headquarters, I asked cautiously, "Comrade chief of staff, are you not afraid of the enemy''s air attack when you bring such a large convoy to me in broad daylight?"


    Raskin said with disapproval, "it''s OK. I don''t know what happened these two days. I haven''t seen any enemy planes in the sky. That''s why I dare to come to you in broad daylight with a motorcade. "


    "There are no enemy planes in the sky?" I''ve been training in the forest these days, but I don''t know what''s going on outside. However, in the middle of the war, the enemy plane didn''t come out for a few days. It''s obvious that some big plot is brewing. But these are just my guesses. I can only think about them in my heart, but I can''t say them.


    After a while, Captain kosga and razumeyeva came back and reported to me, "report to Mr. division, communication is smooth."


    Then Oleg also ran in and reported, "Comrade division commander, the commandos have assembled."


    I picked up the submachine gun leaning against the table, turned to Ruskin and said, "chief of staff, let''s go. Let the commandos get on the bus first and follow us to the garrison of the guard division. "


    Raskin said hesitantly, "what about the other troops?"


    I waved my hand and said, "don''t worry about them. The commandos are small, so they gather quickly. The other troops are too many to complete the assembly without an hour. Instead of waiting for them here, we''d better go to the garrison of the guard division and wait for them. " After that, I told captain kosga, who was standing upright, "Comrade captain, after the troops of xiejerikov and gedar are assembled, you should arrange for them to take part in the car and part in the walk and rush to the guard division as soon as possible."


    In this way, Raskin and I took a jeep in front of the road, followed by a team of 15 trucks, marching towards the guard division.


    After a few days in danger, I pointed to the unexploded bombs on the roadside and said to Ruskin with great interest, "chief of staff, you see, those bombs on the roadside were dropped by German planes. At that time, I saw that the convoy carrying materials was blocked by these guys, so I had an idea. I asked the soldiers to find something to jam the wind wings at the tail of the bombs, and then dragged the bombs to the side of the road with ropes. "


    Raskin turned to look out of the window at the bombs, frowned slightly, and said in a low voice, "try to get rid of these bombs as soon as possible. It''s always a threat to put them on the side of the road. Maybe they will explode at any time."


    Our motorcade came to the garrison of the guard division. I asked Oleg to command the troops to get off, and then we went to the headquarters of the guard division with Raskin.


    As we walked into the headquarters, lyudnikov left the table to meet us. Shaking hands with Ruskin, he said solemnly, "Comrade chief of staff, what you want us to prepare is ready." Raskin nodded, and as I shook hands with lyudnikov, he reached out and shook hands with Titov.


    After everyone said hello to each other, Raskin said to me, "Comrade oshanina, before I set out, I asked Colonel lyudnikov to prepare 200 smoke bombs for you. Now he has prepared the smoke bombs you need, and plans to transfer a company from the guard mortar camp to help you release the smoke. "


    Hearing this, I understand why Raskin suddenly said that when he left that day that I would contact the guards, and there would be unexpected gains. It was this thing that he meant. I quickly extended my hand to lyudnikov again to thank him.


    When the night fell, our division''s combat troops all arrived. At the same time, our tank units and two artillery companies were in place. I divided the troops into three echelons: the first echelon was the commando under the command of Captain Oleg, who was responsible for opening the way for the whole army; The second echelon is the support unit of captain shejerikov and the artillery company; The third echelon is the soldiers of the other five companies led by Gaidar and me. As for the tank unit, I have repeatedly told the tank commander that once he hears the direction of the residential area ring, the tank unit will immediately go out and rush to the residential area to provide firepower support for our attacking troops.


    Perhaps there was no war in this area recently, so the enemy also relaxed their surveillance of this few kilometers area and turned their attention to other directions. In this way, it brings convenience to our division. More than two thousand people marched for an hour, and without the enemy''s notice, they successfully entered the several square kilometers of forest next to the residential area.


    In the time of waiting for the dawn, I entered a state of excitement, sitting uneasy, standing uncomfortable, constantly walking back and forth in place, looking forward to the early dawn.


    As the clock points to five, the sky is getting brighter. The commanders who took part in the war surrounded me one after another, waiting for my order to attack.


    I looked at the commanders in front of me. They were Capt. chejerikov, Capt. Oleg, Capt. gedar, Capt. of the mortar company and the artillery company. I raised my hand again and looked at my watch. First, I told the mortar company commander, "comrade company commander, order your artillery to prepare. In five minutes, fire smoke bombs at the residential areas occupied by the enemy."


    After the mortar company commander left, I turned and asked Oleg, "Comrade captain, are the commandos ready?"


    Oleg nodded hard and answered in a low voice, "report to Mr. division, the commandos are ready to attack the enemy''s occupied settlements."


    I nodded with satisfaction and said to him, "well, comrade captain, assemble your troops. As soon as the mortar company starts to fire smoke, you lead the troops towards the settlement. As soon as we get close to the residential areas, we should immediately launch a charge against the buildings occupied by the enemy with lightning speed, and strive to occupy several footholds for our army in the shortest time. "


    Oleg excitedly agreed to "understand" and then turned away.


    "Comrade division commander, what is the task of our support unit?" Shejerikov saw that two people had taken over the task and left, but I had not called his name, so I was a little worried.


    "Don''t worry, comrade captain." Although I was a little impatient, I still wanted to keep calm on the surface. I said to shejerikov calmly, "your support unit is to consolidate the building occupied by Captain Oleg''s commandos. You can start five minutes after his troops leave."


    Shijerikov saluted me with a blank face and turned away.


    I looked at Gaidar and the commander of the artillery company, who were still around, and told Gaidar: "Comrade captain, when our troops begin to attack, you ask your men to help the commander push their guns forward as far as possible. Their guns are small caliber. Five or six people can push them away. "


    Just here, the No.4 radio operator with walkie talkie came to me and reported to me, "Comrade division commander, Colonel Ruskin, chief of staff of the group army, wants to speak to you."


    As soon as I put on the earphone, I heard Raskin''s anxious voice: "Comrade o''shanina, it''s daybreak. Why don''t the troops attack?"


    I breathed into the transmitter, just to explain to Ruskin, there was the sound of mortar shells coming out of the chamber not far away, and I immediately excitedly said to the transmitter, "chief of staff, do you hear me? Our attack began, and the close guard mortars were firing smoke at the residential areas to cover our assault troops approaching the residential areas. "


    Raskin became excited when he heard the gunfire. He said in a loud voice, "great, comrade oshanina. I''ll wait for your good news. Good luck Finish saying, then terminated and my conversation.


    The smoke bomb fell in the residential area and exploded. The gray smoke rose slowly. The residential area that was clearly visible was covered by the smoke. Seeing the shelling begin, the commandos under Oleg''s command, divided into small teams, bent over with weapons, trotted toward the settlement. Looking at their weapons, I can not help feeling ashamed. The soldiers equipped with submachine guns are only 1/3, and the rest of them are shovel and axe, carrying a backpack, all of which are hand grenades.


    The speed of 400 meters is not far. With the speed of commando soldiers, the residential area was approached in less than two minutes. I saw through the telescope that Captain Oleg, in the middle of the line, suddenly straightened up, raised his pistol high above his head, seemed to shout something, and then took the lead in rushing into the smoke. Under his leadership, the figure of 300 commandos also disappeared in the smoke. When he saw that the commandos had disappeared into the smoke, he couldn''t help it. He also waved a pistol and rushed to the residential area. Behind him, a lot of officers and men swarmed in. When shejerikov''s troops approached the settlement, the enemy in the settlement did not respond at all. Whether we had observed the foxhole or the firepower point on the top of the building, there was no movement at all. At that moment, I even thought that all the enemies in the settlement had retreated. Seeing this scene, Gaidar was especially puzzled. He came up to me and asked in a low voice, "what''s the matter, sir? Did the enemy feel that they didn''t mean to hold fast here, and they quietly withdrew without our army''s notice? " When I saw that the smoke was like a huge monster, engulfing most of the troops of shejerikov, my heart was a little flustered. Did the enemy really withdraw. After a short period of confusion, I recovered my composure and gave orders calmly: "the guard mortar company will stop shooting. Captain gedar, come out with me and help the artillery company push the guns near the settlement. " Speaking of this, I couldn''t help saying: "I''m going to have a look at these damned Krauts. Why haven''t they moved so far? Do they go to heaven or go to earth?" Gaidar commanded his men to help the soldiers of the artillery company push small guns and move quickly towards the settlement. I followed with my submachine gun gnashing my teeth, thinking how I would report to my superiors if there were no enemies in the settlement. After a long time of preparation and borrowing troops and equipment from friendly forces, I didn''t expect that I jumped into the air. At this time, the number four operator came to me again and silently handed me the earphone and the transmitter. I stopped, put on my earphone and heard Raskin ask nervously, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the situation? Is the enemy''s resistance fierce? Is our team close to the settlement? "¡° Comrade chief of staff, "I answered helplessly," not only captain Oleg''s commando team has rushed into the residential area, but also captain xiejerikov''s support team. "¡° That''s great. " Before I finished, Raskin exclaimed excitedly: "it seems that we can take down the settlement this morning. Comrade oshanina, I would like to congratulate you in advance. "¡° Comrade chief of staff, "I said with a bitter face," the situation is not what you think. My troops, from launching an attack to rushing into the settlement, have not heard a word from the German troops inside. Maybe they have all retreated. "¡° Retreat?! How could this be possible? Our scouts reconnoitered near the residential area yesterday and saw German troops coming in and out. Since they haven''t moved, you can worry. Maybe there are some traps waiting for you. "

 Chapter 537

    The words of Colonel Ruskin made me uneasy. I worked out the battle plan for several days. I thought I had taken into account all the aspects that should be considered. I didn''t expect that when it came to implementation, I found that there would still be accidents. Just like a boxer who has been ready for a long time, he tries his best to fight, only to find that his opponent is not in the position to fight, and his fist is empty.


    After handing over the earphone and transmitter to the signalman, I stared at the residential area whose outline became clearer as the smoke dispersed. I couldn''t help thinking that the development of the war had completely deviated from my original idea. Where has the enemy gone? It is impossible for them to give up the occupied areas and transfer when the war situation is obviously favorable to them. Are they aware of our possible attack, deliberately evacuating from the residential area, hiding somewhere nearby, and then encircling and annihilating our isolated army under the cover of armored forces and air force after our troops have completely entered the residential area?


    At the thought of the latter possibility, a cold sweat oozed from my forehead. Without time to think about it, I quickly ran to Gaidar''s side and decisively issued an order to him: "order the reserves to stop advancing, dig trenches in the existing area, build fortifications, and prevent the enemy''s possible counterattack."


    Without saying a word, Gaidar quickly ran to the front of his team and raised his hand to stop the army''s further advance. When the infantry began to dig the trench in place, the company commander of the cannon company was also directing his men to line up several light cannons behind the trench.


    I turned my head and saw the operators No. 4 and No. 5 beside me. I could not help but raise my hand and pat my forehead and scold myself for being confused. These two operators can contact the operators entering the residential area. I can fully understand what happened in the residential area through them.


    Thinking of this, I quickly ordered the two operators: "I ordered that operator No. 4 immediately contact operator No. 1, and operator No. 5 and operator No. 2 to ask them what happened in the residential area and why they could not hear anything?" The two operators agreed, then went to one side and began to call their colleagues in the living area.


    After finishing the task, Captain Gaidar ran back to his side, followed by the engineer Mikhail yev. He came up to me and said with a melancholy face: "Comrade division commander, the engineer suggested to me that we immediately send troops to occupy these colorful wooden houses outside the residential areas, dig trenches in the courtyard outside these wooden houses, and build a new defensive position."


    After thinking for a while, I also think that it is necessary to excavate the courtyard of these wooden houses. Besides, there are German individual bunkers inside. As long as these individual bunkers are connected together, they are ready-made trenches. Thinking of this, I nodded with approval.


    The order was quickly passed on, and a company of soldiers marched in a scattered formation toward the cabin area. Looking at the almost uniform rifles in the hands of these soldiers, I can''t help sighing to myself that the equipment of the independent division is really poor. Except for a few submachine guns and machine guns, the rest are rifles. Even with such equipment, there is no guarantee that every soldier in the division can be armed. At least half of the soldiers in the three regiments are unarmed and unarmed.


    Gaidar, mihayev and the commander of the artillery company were all staring at the advancing soldiers, listening to their confused footsteps and looking at their changing formation from time to time. As we were approaching the wooden house, the unique gunfire of German mp40 suddenly sounded in one of the courtyards, followed by the gunfire in several neighboring courtyards, and the dense gunfire was particularly clear in the silent morning. Several fire tongues spraying death licked the attack line of our army, the advancing soldiers fell down, and the rest of the soldiers quickly lay on the ground. The soldier who was digging the trench also fell down because of the sudden gunfire.


    "Hell! These damn Krauts. " Gaidar saw his soldiers fall. He drew out his pistol, waved it and rushed forward. I reached for it, but I didn''t hold it. In this short time, he had bent down and ran to the middle of the attacking team. He yelled and cursed loudly to make the soldiers on the ground stand up and move on. Unexpectedly, as soon as the soldiers got up from the ground, they were knocked down by German bullets, so they had to lie down again. Gaidar was helpless, so he could only lie down in the same place and shoot the German soldiers in the courtyard with pistols.


    Seeing this scene, I roared at the growth of the cannon company: "artillery company commander, fire immediately! Kill all the firepower points in the courtyard! "


    The artillery company commander turned pale and said to me, "Comrade division commander, we are too close to our soldiers. If we fire, we will hurt our own people by mistake."


    If these German firepower points are not destroyed, the morale of our division will be destroyed by German submachine guns. I was unmoved and solemnly issued an order: "comrade company commander, I order you to fire immediately and destroy the enemy''s firepower points."


    The company commander of the cannon company had no choice but to agree. He turned and walked to the artillery position, raised his right hand high and gave orders to his subordinates: "No.2 and No.3 gun positions, target the colored wooden house, and load the high explosive. Ready, let go Almost at the same time, the right hand waved down.


    Two cannons opened fire at the same time. The cannonball roared out of the gun and flew to the enemy''s individual bunker. The 76mm shell landed in the courtyard accurately, not only smashing a German soldier hiding in the bunker, but also toppling the wooden fence and a wall of the wooden house.


    "Good fight!" I clearly saw the effect of the shelling. I yelled out loud, regardless of the buzzing of my ears. I urged the artillery company commander, "comrade company commander, don''t stop, continue to fire!"


    When the artillery was loading, I felt that someone patted me on the shoulder and turned to see that it was operator No. 4. He came close to my ear and said in a loud voice: "Mr. reporter, I have contacted operator No. 1. Captain Oleg is online. He''s waiting to talk to you Then he handed me the earphone and the transmitter.


    "Comrade division, this is captain Oleg." Oleg''s voice came from the earphone.


    "Comrade captain, speak up. I can''t hear you clearly." Just now, the sound of artillery shocked my hearing, so that when I heard Oleg''s voice, my ears seemed to be stuffed with a ball of cotton, and the sound seemed far and light. I walked a few steps towards the forest, and when I saw that I was far enough away from the artillery position, I stopped and asked, "what''s the matter in the residential area, why can''t I hear anything?"


    "After the army entered the residential area, Comrade Shi, two of the German Sentinels were found at the street corner. They apparently had not yet understood what was going on, and were killed by shovel and axe. Then we rushed into building 1, building 2 and building 3, and found only five or ten German guards in each building. When we rushed in, they were still sleeping. Most of them were killed by us in their sleep, so there was no big change in the early fighting. "


    Listening to him saying that there are enemies in the residential area, I feel a lot more calm. I didn''t hear the news from the residential area because our army used cold weapons when fighting. It''s normal that we can''t hear the sound. As long as there is an enemy in the settlement, it will not be a trap set for us by the enemy. I asked steadily, "what are your plans for the next step?"


    "Report to Mr. division, we have occupied buildings 1 to 8 one after another and are preparing to launch a final attack on the remaining nine buildings." Before the attack, in order to accurately understand the progress of the troops, we numbered every building, so as soon as he reported the building number, I knew where the troops were.


    "What''s going on with captain chejerikov?" As soon as I began to ask about the support force, I heard the roar of tanks in the distance. It seemed that our tank unit was coming. I didn''t care to go on. I just said the same thing: "I wish you good luck and finish the task early. I''m waiting for the news of your victory." Then he cut off the communication, threw the earphone and phone to the operator, and quickly ran to the direction of the tank.


    At this moment, the cannon company''s fire has destroyed all the enemy''s firepower points in the wooden house yard. Gaidar has rushed into the wooden house area with his soldiers, searching for the enemy near the burning house.


    Five t-34s stopped near the artillery position. The commander of the tank soldiers jumped down from the first tank and came to me. After raising his hand and saluting, he asked for instructions: "report to the commander, the tank unit has been ordered to come and wait for your instructions!"


    I looked at the young commander in tank uniform in front of me, nodded with satisfaction, pointed to the residential area, and said: "Comrade tank soldier, you left two tanks to guard the artillery position here, and the other three to drive to the residential area to assist the infantry to capture the buildings occupied by the enemy."


    The tank soldiers looked at the residential buildings and said with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, the roads in this residential area are too narrow. The Germans who occupy the buildings can easily throw burning bottles or anti tank grenades at us from the buildings on both sides and kill us easily."


    Seeing the appearance of the tank soldiers pushing, I was a little annoyed. However, because other people came to help our friendly army, I couldn''t get angry with him, so I had to squeeze out a smile, pretended to be understated and said to him, "Comrade tank soldiers, don''t worry, our infantry have occupied many buildings in the residential areas, It can help you eliminate the German anti tank men, and you can drive the tanks in safely and boldly. "


    When the tank soldiers saw that I said so, they could not shirk responsibility any more, so they had to ask in a voice: "Comrade commander, what''s our task?"


    "There are a few German armored vehicles in the settlement, and our infantry don''t have the necessary anti tank weapons. If you don''t help them, in the end, we can only watch these armored vehicles swagger out of our encirclement."


    "No problem, comrade commander." When the tank soldiers heard that they only need to kill a few armored vehicles, they immediately said to me, "we will kill all these German Mouse cages." When he said the mouse cage, I was stunned for a moment, and then I understood that he meant the German armored car.


    When shejerikov contacted me, there was finally a lot of gunfire in the residential area. As soon as I heard the gunshot, I immediately asked shijerikov in a loud voice, "Comrade captain, what''s the matter? Why is there so much gunfire? "


    "Report to Mr. division commander," shejerikov said aloud, "it was Oleg''s commandos who fired at them when they attacked building 11."


    "How''s it going? Did our troops rush in? " I asked with concern.


    After a moment''s silence, shijerikov reported: "the enemy''s firepower is too fierce. Before the members of the first commando team get close to the building, they have all died under the enemy''s cross fire."


    "Don''t stop, keep on attacking!" I can''t help getting a little impatient when I heard that the attack of the commandos was frustrated.


    "Captain Oleg is organizing a second commando, ready to attack again." At this point, shijerikov stopped for a moment, and then said: "Comrade division, I think we need the support of heavy weapons, otherwise no matter how many commandos attack the buildings occupied by the enemy without any firepower, they will be in vain."


    "I''ve sent you tanks," I specially told him, "as soon as the tank soldiers arrive, you go and tell them to use tank guns to blow up the enemy''s fire points and cover our infantry to break into the building."


    "Yes, sir. I''ll go to the commander of the tank unit and ask them to help us attack. If we meet the enemy''s armored vehicles later, our tanks can easily kill them all. " Shejerikov''s reaction was very quick. I just mentioned tank unit. He has considered how to use this unit in the future.


    Hearing the sound of intensive gunfire coming from the residential area, I went back to the company commander of the cannon company and said to him, "comrade company commander, take two guns and follow me to the residential area. Let''s show the enemy what a bayonet on a cannon is


    The company commander called the soldiers nearby and helped the soldiers in the two gun positions to drag the guns to the residential area. On the way, the artillery company commander asked me curiously: "Comrade commander, what is a bayonet on a cannon? This is a novel statement. I heard it for the first time."


    I pointed to the light cannons in front of me and explained to the artillery company commander, "comrade company commander, you see, we push these two gates to the nose of the enemy to shoot, that is to put bayonets on the cannons."


    After hearing this, the company commander suddenly realized and urged the soldiers in front of him: "Hey, soldiers, hurry up, the infantry in front of you are waiting for our artillery support."


    We walked along the dirt road into the residential area, and our soldiers stood guard beside the roadside buildings, indicating that this place has been occupied by our army. We don''t have to worry about the enemy''s bullets flying out of the buildings on both sides.


    At the first crossing, I saw that all the three tanks I had just sent in were standing still. I suddenly nose gas crooked, rushed over, with the butt of the submachine gun hard hit the body of the tank. As I hit, the tank turret hatch was opened, and the tank commander came out from inside.


    As soon as I saw him, I asked angrily, "I said tank soldiers, why don''t you stop and move forward? You know, our infantry are attacking the enemy''s buildings with flesh and blood in front of them. There are huge casualties every minute. Why don''t you support them? "


    Tank soldiers pointed to the front, said helplessly: "Comrade commander, you see."


    I went around to the front of the tank and felt that I had wronged the tank soldiers. There were barricades built by the enemy and two destroyed armored vehicles on the road, blocking the whole road tightly. The tank really couldn''t move forward.


    Since we can''t count on tanks, we just have to rely on the artillery company to provide firepower support. With the help of dozens of us, we carried the two cannons through the obstacle area and continued to push forward.


    More than 100 meters away, I saw a few windows of a building directly opposite, and German soldiers were shooting frantically downward. The soldiers of our army were pressed to the ground by the intensive fire. Some of the remaining people hid behind the buildings or the bunkers made of the soldiers'' remains to avoid the enemy''s shooting.


    At such a close distance, plus the German soldiers'' reckless body out of the window, only a few good marksmen can kill them. But the attacking soldiers have only touched their guns for a few days. It''s good that they can shoot the bullets calmly on the battlefield. As for where the bullets have gone, only God knows.


    I immediately ordered the artillery company commander: "comrade company commander, put the guns here and fire at the enemy''s firepower point."


    The artillery company commander readily agreed and immediately ordered his men to dismount their guns and measure the firing data himself. After the two guns were in place, the artillery company commander yelled: "target, the window on the second floor of the building in front of us, load with high explosives."


    When the artillery reported to him in a loud voice: "report to company commander, loading is complete!"


    Without hesitation, he waved his raised right hand down and yelled, "fire!"


    With two loud blasts, the German corpses, blurring with the shells, fell down from the building together with the broken bricks and stones, and landed heavily on the ground. The firepower in the enemy''s building weakened a lot. The commandos, who had been unable to move due to the suppression of firepower, took the opportunity to get up from the ground and rushed to the building.

 Chapter 538

    The enemy in the building found our temporary artillery position. Without saying a word, a machine gun on the second floor immediately raised its muzzle and fired at us. A long string of bullets came and landed in front of us, splashing mud.


    The commander of the artillery company roared, "hide now." With his shouts, the artillery and ordinary soldiers who had surrounded the cannons scattered one after another. I also crouched down and hid behind the left artillery baffle with the artillery company commander.


    Seeing that the shooting didn''t work, the German army adjusted its angle and continued to shoot. This time, the firing was much more accurate than just now. The bullet hit the baffle of the gun and one of the Gunners couldn''t dodge. Unfortunately, he was hit by the bullet. His body turned a circle in the same place, then raised his hands, head back, trying to maintain the balance of the body, but he failed to enter the wish, after a staggering forward, he fell on the side of the gun body, a large amount of blood flowing down the gun body to the ground.


    The artillery company commander immediately told the soldiers around him: "come on, take him away!"


    With the cry of the company commander, two artillery soldiers immediately bent over and ran to the dead gunner to remove him from the gun. Then one raised his hand and the other raised his foot and carried the body to the corner of the road to lower it.


    The company commander turned to look at the body of his subordinate, turned his head and calmly issued a new order: "loading shells, ready to continue shooting."


    The effect of this round of shelling was not good. Although the two shells hit the building and made two big holes in the wall, they did not destroy the enemy''s firepower points. The German soldier who put the machine gun on the window and shot at us crazily, when the shell exploded, he was so scared that the whole person shrank behind the window and temporarily stopped shooting at us. When he saw that the shell missed his room, he stood up again and continued to fire at us.


    When the company commander saw that he had not hit the target, he yelled at his subordinates: "how come, why did two shells not hit the target? Hurry to load and kill the enemy''s firepower, or our infantry will die."


    In fact, if he didn''t say it, I could see clearly that the fire from the enemy''s upstairs blocked the attack path of our soldiers. Just now, although the soldiers launched another attack when the enemy''s firepower weakened, they were forced back by the fierce firepower of the enemy before they rushed into the building, leaving behind a lot of corpses and the wounded wriggling and groaning. Seeing this scene, I can''t help frowning slightly. At such a distance of tens of meters, the Germans formed a death line with machine guns, submachine guns, rifles and grenades, and our soldiers couldn''t make it.


    After the order of the artillery company commander was issued, the third round of firing was delayed. I was just about to ask what was going on. I heard the old gunner next to me say, "comrade company commander, we have run out of shells."


    All the shells? When I heard the Gunners say this, I was stunned. My heart said that when you entered the residential area, you fired four shells with full calculation. Did you finish all the shells?


    Just want to ask the truth, the artillery company commander has preempted his subordinates: "hell, we came in with ten boxes of shells, how can we finish it?"


    The old gunner replied, "comrade company commander, when we were carrying the cannon over the obstacle just now, our ammunition box was there and we forgot to bring it."


    "What are you doing in a daze? Why don''t you take someone to carry the shell box here?" The company commander angrily scolded: "without shells, our cannon is just a pile of scrap iron, so we can only nest here and let the Germans hit us as targets."


    The old gunner promised to greet a young soldier squatting beside him: "Hey, you come with me."


    Unexpectedly, the young soldier pouted pitifully, kneaded his knees and said wrongly: "comrade company commander, although I also want to move the shell box. But look at my leg. When I was carrying the cannon just now, I was hit by the baffle. Now it''s so painful that I can hardly walk. " After that, he called out again: "ouch, my leg really hurts. Comrade company commander, can you send someone else?"


    "Send someone else?" The company commander''s face was livid. With these words, he pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the young soldier''s forehead.


    Terrified, the young soldier quickly reached for the commander''s hand and begged: "Comrade commander, don''t you see that my leg is really injured. Don''t you have a little compassion? "


    I squatted beside, silent, expressionless looking at the performance of young soldiers. After glancing at me, the company commander said coldly, "compassion is not allowed on the battlefield. I''ll give you two choices, either to get the ammunition box or to die at my gun. There''s no third choice. "


    The young soldier looked at the company commander indignantly and said, "Alas! You''re all a bunch of animals. You don''t have any compassion. Ouch, my leg... "When he moved, he wanted to stand up, but he was held by the old gunner, reminding him:" do you want to stand up and be a German target? Climb over. " With that, the old gunner was lying on the ground, taking the lead and crawling to the direction we came from. The timid soldier sighed and climbed forward obediently.


    There is a T-junction ahead. The building occupied by the Germans is just facing our way forward. If we don''t destroy the enemy''s firepower points and occupy the building, we can''t develop to the two wings. Due to the irregular arrangement of buildings in the residential area, if the building is not in the dead corner of our army''s tank fire, otherwise we don''t have to push the cannons to such a close position to shoot. Just a few cannons from the tank can destroy all the fire points in the building.


    I looked at the troops in front of me who were suppressed by the fire. I roughly counted the number and found that there were only two hundred at most. If you know that Oleg''s commando team and shejerikov''s support team add up to 1500 people, you don''t know where the remaining thousands have gone?


    I looked at the German machine gunner who was shooting madly, and looked at the submachine gun in my hand. I felt that in such a long distance, I didn''t use the submachine gun to kill the enemy. If only I had a rifle. Thinking of rifles, I quickly looked left and right, and saw several soldiers lying on the left side of the wall. They were all infantry who came in with me. The other two were lying there motionless, blood seeped out from their bodies. It seemed that they had been hit by the enemy''s machine gun and had been sacrificed. I saw the rifle of one of the soldiers, which was only three or four meters away from me. So I put the submachine gun on the ground, took advantage of the gap between the enemy''s machine guns, rolled to the side of the rifle, grabbed the rifle and rolled back to the back of the artillery baffle.


    My action frightened the artillery company commander. He repeatedly reproached me and said, "Comrade commander, what are you doing? If anything happens to you, how can you fight this battle? "


    I opened the bolt to check, and saw that the bullets inside were full. I nodded gratefully for the concern of the artillery company commander, and then explained, "we must kill the enemy''s machine gunner, or our artillery will not be able to shoot." With that, I knelt down on one knee, lifted the gun, didn''t even aim at it, and fired at the approximate position. After that, I bent down and pulled the bolt to withdraw the cartridge case.


    The artillery company commander, who had been observing, said with regret: "Alas, it''s a pity that he missed the target. If only he were to the right."


    I quickly raised my body and fired another shot in that direction. After that, I quickly squatted down again.


    "Still missed." The artillery company commander didn''t even look at me. He felt that he was shooting. His face showed disdain, but he still kept at least respect for me: "Comrade commander, I think you''d better stop fighting. It''s too dangerous. I''d better wait for my soldiers to bring the shells and let''s blow them off with cannons. "


    I said to myself, "where was the gun just now?"


    "Comrade commander," without waiting for the company commander to speak, a gunner who was lying in front of me had preemptively answered, "the second shot was next to the gunner, almost hit his left hand, which made him jump. Even the shooting stopped for a moment."


    When I heard the gunner say that, I calculated the shooting angle in my heart. After taking a deep breath, I suddenly raised my body and fired the third shot. When I bent down again, I thought in my heart: after three things, if I can''t hit again, I won''t fight, so that I won''t be disgraced in front of these artillery. I''d better wait for the shells to come and blow them off with cannons.


    Unexpectedly, the gunner who was lying in front of me got up straight from the ground and said in an incredible tone, "my God, comrade commander, you are so powerful that you killed that machine gunner!"


    When I heard the gunner say that, I got up straight and looked forward. I saw that the German machine gunner was lying on the windowsill, and the machine gun that caused us casualties also fell downstairs.


    Seeing that I really killed the enemy''s machine gunner, the artillery company commander gave me a thumbs up and praised, "good shooting!"


    The old gunner and the timid young soldier ran back with a box of shells on their shoulders. Judging from the young soldier''s brisk pace, his leg was not hurt at all. He was reluctant to carry out the task just now, because he was greedy for life and afraid of death. He was afraid that he would be killed by German bullets after leaving the shield of the cannon.


    However, it is obviously not the time to consider who is afraid of death and who is brave. The priority now is to take down the building opposite, otherwise our team will not be able to move forward.


    Since there was no interference from the enemy''s machine gunners, the artillery were able to take aim leisurely, so the remaining firepower points were killed one by one by them like shooting targets.


    Originally, for the sake of safety, the artillery company commander wanted to order the soldiers to fire a few more guns. But when I saw the smoke coming out of the rooms whose walls had been blasted, our soldiers rushed out from the hidden buildings on both sides. When they rushed to the building, they patted the artillery company commander on the shoulder, waved their hands to him and said, "forget it, company commander, don''t let your soldiers waste ammunition any more. The rest of the fighting, let the infantry to solve it. Let''s move on. "


    When we moved forward again, I had the opportunity to count the casualties caused by the German machine gun just now. One artillery soldier was killed, five reserve soldiers were killed and eleven wounded. In a few minutes, we lost nearly two classes of troops.


    The sound of gunfire and explosion in the city became one. At the same time, I could hear the sound of broken window glass falling to the ground. I don''t know if any soldiers would be injured by the broken glass falling from the sky?


    The battle for the remaining buildings is far more brutal than I thought. Our commandos, the enemy in the buildings on both sides of the road, condescending to form an insurmountable fire net with intensive firepower, blocking the way forward for our commandos and support units.


    When the artillery company commander saw this scene, he was also very anxious. He pointed to the enemy''s fire points in front of him and said to me, "Comrade commander, you see, the enemy''s fire points are on both sides of the road. Our shooting angle is not good. Even if we fire, we can''t destroy the enemy''s fire points."


    The soldiers of the commando team rushed forward in groups of three or five, wave after wave, and were knocked down one after another by the bullets fired from the windows on both sides of the road. Looking at the dead bodies of our soldiers and many dying wounded people lying on the street, my heart suddenly tightened. My heart said that if only the mortar company were still here, at least they could produce smoke bombs to block the enemy''s sight and protect our soldiers from approaching these buildings.


    Just when I was very anxious, Gaidar arrived with the guard mortar company I was talking about. Seeing this new force suddenly appeared, I thought I was dreaming. I rubbed my eyes and found that it was the mortars who arrived. I hugged captain Gaidar excitedly and said with a look on my face, "Comrade captain, you''ve come in time."


    After gently pushing away the captain, I went to the mortar company commander, stabilized my emotion, and ordered him: "company commander, immediately fire smoke bombs to the road ahead, cover our army and launch a charge to the building."


    The company commander of the mortar company promised to set up the mortar under the rear headquarters. Gaidar came up to me and was about to speak when he suddenly pointed to a distance and said, "Sir, don''t you see that''s captain Oleg?"


    I looked in the direction of my fingers and saw Oleg coming out of a dilapidated building on the left. He was carrying a submachine gun, wearing a helmet and no military uniform. His bare upper body was covered with bandages, and there was blood under the bandages. Originally, I wanted to blame him for a few words, but when I saw that he was hurt like this, I swallowed his words again.


    After he raised his hand to salute me, he reported without expression: "Comrade division, except for the two buildings in front, the rest of the buildings in the residential area have been captured by our commando."


    "Where is captain chejerikov?" I only saw captain Oleg, who was in charge of the commandos, and captain chejerikov, who was in charge of the support unit. I haven''t seen him yet.


    "In the middle of the battle, an enemy armored car rushed out from the north. The captain guessed that the enemy might have gone to move reinforcements, so he led eight support units around to the north of the settlement to build fortifications. One was to prevent the German army from breaking through in this direction; The second is to prevent possible reinforcements from the enemy. "


    The smog bomb of mortar company exploded in the street, the buildings on both sides were soon covered by smog, and the fire points that were originally shooting also stopped shooting one after another. Seeing this situation, Oleg excitedly said to me, "Comrade division, it''s up to me next. I promise to take down these two buildings in half an hour."


    "Comrade captain, wait a minute." Seeing that he turned around and wanted to leave, I quickly stopped him, took his hand and told him: "pay attention to safety, promise me, you must come back alive."


    Oleg nodded his head, stepped back, raised his hand and gave me a solemn military salute. He solemnly assured me, "Comrade division, please rest assured that I will come back alive." With that, he ran to his men without looking back.


    "Comrade teacher! Sir, comrade A series of rapid shouts came from behind.


    I turned around and saw that operator number four was running towards me from a distance. I haven''t noticed him since we entered the residential area, and I don''t know where he is hiding.


    "What''s the matter?" I asked


    "Comrade teacher! Sir, comrade I don''t know if he didn''t hear my answer, or on purpose, or kept calling me.


    "What''s the matter?" I asked in a raised voice.


    "Sir, comrade... Captain xiejerikov," the fourth operator was out of breath. He was so tired that he couldn''t even listen. "Xiejerikov said that there was an important enemy situation to report to you!"


    I took the operator to a safe place, put on my headphones, and yelled at the transmitter, "Hello, is that captain chejerikov? I''m commander. Lt. o''shanina


    "Comrade division, I''m captain chejerikov."


    "What''s the matter?"


    "Enemy reinforcements, reinforcements are coming!"


    "What? The enemy''s reinforcements? " I was startled by what he said. The enemy came too fast. In less than an hour, their reinforcements arrived¡° What kind of forces is the enemy? "


    "I saw two tanks, an armored car, and about a company of infantry."


    Captain shejerikov''s troops had no anti tank weapons and could not resist the enemy''s charge. I pondered for a moment and then asked, "how long will it take to get to your defensive position?"


    "Ten minutes at most, no more."


    After listening to the report of Xie jerikov, I think the matter is serious. Before the settlement is completely captured here, the enemy''s reinforcements will arrive. If the enemy''s tanks rush into the settlement along this road, our troops will be defeated. We must take measures to put an end to this bad situation.


    As soon as I turned my head, my eyes met Gaidar''s. He asked nervously, "Comrade division, is the enemy''s reinforcements here?"


    I nodded, did not speak, but has acquiesced that what he said is the truth.


    "What shall we do?"


    At this moment, I had figured out the measures to deal with it, and immediately gave him an order: "Comrade captain, you should immediately return to our starting point of attack, take the five tanks that came to reinforce us, go around the residential areas, and rush to the defense area of shejerikov to help them repel the attack of enemy reinforcements."


    Gaidar agreed, and then he called two soldiers and ran south along the road to the settlement.


    After Gaidar left, I called the commander of the cannon company to him and said, "comrade company commander, I order you to let the artillery fire immediately and fire at the fire points just exposed by the enemy. We should clear them all as soon as possible and cover our commandos to rush into the building."


    "Comrade commander," the commander of the cannon company said with some embarrassment, "if we fire, the bricks and stones that have been blasted will be injured by the commanders and fighters below."


    "I can''t take care of that much," I said involuntarily. "If you don''t wipe out these enemies in the buildings as soon as possible, I''m afraid you won''t be able to cry when the enemy reinforcements break through the defense line of captain chejerikov and attack the residential areas. Comrade company commander, stop talking about it and carry out the order. "


    The commander of the cannon company saw that I gave him the order to fire with unquestionable tone, so he had to grit his teeth and stamp his feet, and turned to convey the order to his subordinates. In fact, I don''t know what he was worried about, but if we don''t take the opportunity to solve the problem immediately, and wait for reinforcements to rush in and fight with our troops in the residential areas, the gap between the well-trained soldiers and the soldiers who have been training for two days will be wide. Let''s not say that they can take one as ten. Even if they beat two or three of us, our army will be defeated because of the loss of morale.


    The cannon company''s shelling began. They fired two rounds at the building on the left, then turned the muzzle and fired at the building on the right. As soon as the gunfire fell, the enemy''s firepower point revived, and they fired fiercely on the smoky streets by feeling. Because of the smoke, I can''t see the casualties of the soldiers in this charge. However, with such intensive firepower and the bricks and stones falling from the sky, the casualties are inevitable. However, the only advantage is that because the enemy can''t see our offensive troops clearly, the shooting accuracy is a little bit worse, and the chance of commandos rushing into buildings is much higher.


    After about ten minutes, the sound of shooting and explosion from the smoke became sparse, and I immediately asked the cannon company and mortar company to stop shooting.


    After all this, I listened. Most of the gunshots were from our army using bobosha submachine guns and mosinlagan rifles. It seems that our army has taken the initiative in the building.


    When the breeze dispersed the smoke and made the building show its true colors again, almost all the walls on the side of the street were destroyed by the gunfire, revealing the tattered furniture in the room. The commandos and the soldiers of the support unit who had cleared up the enemy were coming out of the building one after another.


    I went up with two soldiers and cried out, "Oleg, Captain Oleg, where are you?"


    With my shouts, I heard a familiar voice over my head: "Sir, comrade, I''m here."


    I looked up and saw Oleg sitting on the floor on the second floor, next to a soldier who was dressing the wound on his leg. Seeing that he was injured again, I asked with some worry, "Captain Oleg, are you not seriously injured?"


    Oleg waved his hand, grinned and said, "it doesn''t matter. He was scratched by a German bayonet. It''s just bleeding a little bit, but it doesn''t affect walking. "


    When I heard that he was ok, I put a little light on him, raised my head and said to him, "Comrade captain, hurry up and gather all the troops in the city, leaving the necessary left behind troops. The rest will follow me to the north of the residential area to reinforce captain chejerikov. The enemy''s reinforcements are attacking his position."


    "What, the enemy''s reinforcements are coming?" When Oleg heard the news, he was so surprised that he struggled to get up from the ground and immediately called out the soldiers who were still in the building to gather outside.


    Just as I was talking to Oleg, the commander of the cannon company ran up to me and asked for instructions: "Comrade commander, what''s the next combat mission of our company?"


    "Do you have armor piercing bullets?" Although we have five tanks on our side, if we can add another artillery company, it will not only reduce our defensive pressure, but also reduce unnecessary casualties. Why not.


    The company commander thought for a moment and answered me, "Comrade commander, we have armour piercing bullets, but the quantity is not much. There are only two cases."


    "Two cases will be enough." I was worried that he said no. since there are two boxes and two enemy tanks, it''s more than enough, "comrade company commander, take both guns and armor piercing bullets with you immediately. Let''s go to the front and teach the Germans a lesson."


    "Well, I''ll go right away." With that, the artillery company commander turned and ran away.


    At this time, the number four operator came to me again. Seeing him appear, I can''t help frowning. I don''t know what bad news he brought me this time. I didn''t wait for him to speak. I asked in advance, "Comrade telegraph operator, why are you alone? Where is No. 5 telegraph operator? It seems that I haven''t seen him since I entered the residential area. " The corner of the operator''s mouth twitched, and then whispered, "he died. Soon after entering the settlement, he was killed by German snipers. " Sniper, when I heard this word, I was in a cold sweat. Fortunately, I was not found by the sniper, otherwise I might have become the result of the sniper now. The operator handed over the earphone and the transmitter and said, "Comrade division commander, the chief of staff of the group army is on the line. He wants to talk to you." I took the earphone and put it on. As soon as I heard the voice of Colonel Raskin coming from it, I immediately took the initiative to report to him, "report to the chief of staff of the group army. I report to you that after fierce fighting, our division has successfully captured the residential areas."¡° Great, comrade oshanina, great Raskin was overjoyed at the news, praised me repeatedly, and then asked, "is there any enemy escaping?"¡° Comrade Colonel, "I replied with a serious look," during the fighting, an enemy armored vehicle rushed out from the north of the settlement and brought back the enemy reinforcements. "¡° What, enemy reinforcements? " Hearing the news, Raskin''s voice became dignified. He specially asked, "I want to know, what kind of measures have you taken?"¡° As soon as the enemy''s armored vehicle escaped from the residential area, it was discovered by a commander in chief, shijerikov. He immediately took eight small troops around to the north to build a defense line that could not only prevent the enemy from breaking through, but also prevent the enemy from reinforcement. I''m going to take people to that line of defense now and try to repel the enemy who came to reinforce us. "¡° Well done. If you need support, please contact me. I''ll ask the artillery of the group army to provide you with artillery support. Now that the residential area has been taken down, we must firmly guard it until the receiving troops arrive. " When I came to shejerikov''s line of defense, I found that the trench they had temporarily dug was really shabby. The depth was just up to my knees. It was neither standing nor squatting in the trench. Although the captain came with more than 400 people, they were spread out in a trench hundreds of meters long, and each of them had to guard about one meter. The enemy''s reinforcements were standing hundreds of meters away, neither advancing nor retreating, as if they were waiting for something. After observing these indecisive Germans with a telescope for a while, I put down my telescope and asked the man next to me, "Comrade captain, what''s going on with the enemy''s reinforcements?" Shijerikov shook his head with a puzzled look on his face and said, "I don''t know. The enemy''s troops came at us in a fierce manner. Unexpectedly, when they reached their present position, they suddenly stopped advancing. I don''t know what they were waiting for. Do they still have reinforcements coming? " I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was almost noon. I raised my head to shejerikov and said, "Comrade captain, as soon as our tank units arrive, we will immediately organize our troops to fight back, and we must defeat this German army." I don''t know what happened. Forty minutes have passed since I gave the order to Gaidar, but there is still no trace of our tank unit on the battlefield, and the cannons company has not entered the position. Just then the enemy troops began to move. After firing two guns at the same place, the two tanks sped towards our army, and the infantry formed a scattered formation and rushed up behind the tanks. Several tank shells hit accurately, and exploded in front and back of our trench. The air wave of the explosion pulled several soldiers who were not well concealed from the ground, threw them high into the air, and then fell down heavily. When I heard the dull sound of their landing, I knew that these soldiers were either dead or wounded. The tank stopped 100 meters from our position and began to bombard our trench with tank guns to cover the infantry behind. In the face of the fierce German soldiers, some of them were in a panic and started a fire desperately. Suddenly, the gunfire on the battlefield was like peas. Many bullets were fired, but few of them were waiting to hit the target. I could count the German soldiers who fell to the ground with one hand. Shejerikov saw this scene, quickly lifted up and yelled to both sides: "stop shooting, stop shooting. Don''t panic. Don''t panic, everyone. Wait for the enemy to get closer and fight again! "

 Chapter 539

    Hearing the shouts of Xie jierikov, the captains of the support units quickly restrained their subordinates from shooting blindly. With the order, the gunfire on the ground of our army became sparse.


    Although the enemy''s tanks are still shooting at our army''s positions, their infantry have been scared to stop by our shooting just now, and they lie on the ground to shoot back. The combat effectiveness of the German soldiers is far stronger than that of our troops. Although they shot in a hurry, the bullets they fired still caused certain casualties to our troops. From time to time, some officers and soldiers were hit by bullets and turned over in the trenches.


    The short pause of the enemy in the process of attack gave me precious time to adjust my deployment. Risking the bullets whizzing over my head and around me, I raised my body and yelled at sjerykov: "Comrade captain, our soldiers are so bad at shooting that they can no longer waste ammunition blindly. When the enemy comes near, let them shoot with a platoon gun. "


    Shejerikov agreed, and then gave an order to the left and right soldiers: "pass it down, no one can shoot without my order. When the enemy comes near, we will shoot with a platoon gun and blow up with hand grenades. "


    The soldiers around him immediately communicated his orders to his comrades in arms word by word, one by one. Soon the gunfire from the trench stopped. I saw many officers and men take off their backpacks, take out grenades from them and put them in front of them.


    Taking advantage of this opportunity, I looked around, but did not see the shadow of our tank unit. I can''t help being anonymous. What''s captain Gaidar doing? It''s been an hour since he left, and there''s no trace of tank units. Can''t several tanks go around a small residential area in such a long time? Looking back, we can see that in the residential area hundreds of meters away, there are several places with thick smoke. Needless to say, the buildings just bombarded by gunfire are burning. The exit of the settlement was quiet, not to mention the light cannon company, not even the commandos led by Oleg. It seems that we will fight alone in a certain period of time.


    Seeing that our position had stopped shooting, the German army climbed up with fear, and then charged forward with guns. Seeing that the soldiers who ran fast were less than 30 meters away from our position, they could rush to our position with only one sprint. At this moment, they only heard Xie jielikou roar: "shoot!" Then he raised his pistol and fired first.


    The sound of gunfire was an order. The commanders and fighters in the position opened fire together and fired a neat line of guns. Although our army still fired the line of guns as before, it could not pose too much threat to the German army. One of the soldiers who came out of the residential area with me was firing a platoon of guns. Unfortunately, he was shot. As soon as he tilted his head, he lay on the side of the trench and did not move. I grabbed a grenade from his side, pulled the string, raised my hand and threw it out.


    The smoky grenade, drawing a beautiful arc in the air, landed next to a German combat team and exploded. Although the fire and smoke did not kill them, they were so scared that the German soldiers who wanted to charge forward fell on the ground. The grenades I threw seemed to wake everyone up. They roared from the trench and smashed into the enemy''s attack line. A moment later, the grenades exploded in the middle of the German army. One after another, the sound of explosion was deafening. Shrapnel with the smell of death flew everywhere, harvesting the lives of the German army recklessly.


    At this time, shejerikov jumped out of the trench, holding a rifle picked up from the hands of the dead soldiers, waving and calling out to his subordinates: "come on, brothers." With his shouts, dozens of soldiers jumped out of the trench, overtaking sjerykov and rushing forward.


    Not resigned to playing second fiddle, the rest of the soldiers jumped out of the trench, and rushed to the front with a sharp bayonet or a shovel and axe. The German soldier who had seen the ground rise up did not go forward and stab a knife, but a shovel and axe slashed.


    Another soldier I brought out was a little eager to give a try when he saw that the fighting ahead was in full swing. He asked me anxiously: "Comrade division commander, shall we stay here and watch our commanders and fighters fight with the enemy?"


    I looked at him displeased and said, "Comrade soldier, you are my guard now. You must stay where I am. The division commander''s duty is to stay in the rear and command the battle. It''s not to rush into the front like an ordinary soldier. If I die, the troops that lose command may be defeated or destroyed by the enemy. If that happens, will you insist that I take you to the charge? "


    After I taught the soldier a few words, he squatted in the trench honestly and continued to carry out the responsibility of protecting my safety. Seeing this temporary guest guard, I can''t help regretting that I knew I should bring Vera''s guard class. At least, as my guards, they knew what their responsibilities were and wouldn''t give me any advice.


    The German soldiers who had long been dazed by grenades were few left. If their tank fire had not killed our army from time to time, they would have been completely annihilated under the encirclement and annihilation of our superior forces. I didn''t expect another German army to emerge from behind the German tanks. It made me shiver to see the sudden emergence of this army. No wonder the German army stopped advancing just now and did not launch an attack on our position. It turned out that they had been waiting for the arrival of this army.


    The German soldiers roared and rushed to the battlefield where the enemy and us were entangled. Their submachine guns were frantically spitting out their tongues of fire. Under the fierce firepower attack, the people who were covered by the firepower network in the area without shelter fell one by one regardless of the enemy or us.


    As soon as I looked at it, I was in a hurry. According to this way of playing, all my people would die soon. But in the trench, there was only me and another soldier left. Even if we both rushed up, we would die in vain.


    Just when I was very anxious, a German tank was suddenly shrouded by a stream of black smoke. The black smoke just dispersed, and then a dark red flame of more than ten meters was suddenly ejected from the open hatch. The whole tank burned like a burning torch. As the flame got smaller, the barrel of the tank sagged.


    "Is it the German tank that got its barrel pierced when it was firing?" I couldn''t help thinking.


    Before I knew it, there was another explosion between the tank and the German soldiers, which lifted several German soldiers who were shooting wildly into the air. Just then, I heard the sound of shells whistling over my head, and then there were successive explosions in the same area, which made the German soldiers cry.


    "Is it the cannons company?" I thought so. Looking back, I did not expect that the ten cannons of the artillery company were lining up at the exit of the residential area and were firing again and again. And captain Oleg, with a gun and hundreds of soldiers, bent over and ran quickly to me.


    When I saw my reinforcements coming up, I couldn''t take care of the stray bullets flying across the battlefield. I stood out from the trench, waved my submachine gun and yelled, "good job! Oleg, you are good! Hurry up with the soldiers! Go ahead, brothers, beat them hard, beat those German bastards! Come on, brothers


    The gunfire of cannon company and the arrival of the support troops led by Oleg declared the destruction of the German army. After Oleg''s soldiers merged with the troops of shejerikov, there was no organized resistance in the German army, only sporadic soldiers were still fighting. Of course, their tenacious resistance was futile. Under the condition that their troops and firepower were not dominant, the remaining German troops were quickly wiped out by them.


    The remaining tank and armored vehicle, after our cannon company started shooting, may find that the situation is not good for them and have turned around and fled. The cannon company chased the tank for several more rounds, but failed to hit the target. At last, they could only watch them flee the battlefield.


    Half an hour later, the battle was over. While the soldiers were cleaning up the battlefield, shejerikov, Oleg and the commander of the cannon company came to me.


    I didn''t care to ask about the casualties of the army of shejerikov. Instead, I asked Oleg with a straight face, "tell me, comrade captain, why did your army take so long to come to the battlefield to support us?"


    Oleg straightened his back and said, "report to Mr. division commander, it will take time to clean up the remnant enemy in the residential area, gather the troops, help the artillery company to pull the artillery and leave the troops on guard, so we are late."


    After listening to him explain why he was late, I knew he was telling the truth. Even if I had to deal with these things, I would not be able to finish them faster than him. However, he finally arrived before the collapse of our army and joined in the battle of encircling and annihilating the German army.


    I turned my eyes to shijerikov. His face was black and his uniform was full of dust and blood. I asked him with concern, "Comrade captain, how are you? Are you not hurt?"


    For my concern, Xie jerikov''s face showed a happy smile. He grinned and said, "thank you for your concern. I''m fine. I didn''t even scratch my skin."


    Next, I went to the commander of the artillery company, reached for his hand, shook his hand, and said gratefully, "thank you, comrade commander. If your artillery company hadn''t arrived in time, we would have been completely annihilated by the German army at this time."


    "Comrade commander, this is what I should do. I''m at your command at any time." Said the artillery company commander.


    After saying hello to all three people, I suddenly thought of Gaidar, who had never seen anyone. I was furious and said, "who knows the whereabouts of captain Gaidar? I asked him to bring a tank unit to destroy the German tanks here, but I haven''t seen him for several hours now."


    "Can''t he just run away?" The artillery company commander said tentatively.


    "No," said shijerikov in a positive tone, blocking the words behind the artillery company commander in time. "Although I haven''t been with captain Gaidar for a long time, he is definitely not a man who is afraid of death from my understanding of him. He hasn''t appeared up to now. There must be some other reason. "


    "Where is the operator?" Now I am more and more dissatisfied with my performance in this battle. First of all, I took part in such a battle and left the guard class in the station; Secondly, from the beginning of the battle, if the two operators who followed me didn''t take the initiative to find me, I almost ignored their existence. Just like now, when the war is over, if I want to contact Gaidar, I think of asking where the operator is.


    No. 4 operator ran over from a distance, saluted me and politely asked, "Sir, I''m here. Do you have any instructions?"


    "Get in touch with captain Gaidar immediately and ask where he is." After biting my back teeth and saying this, I came back to them again.


    While talking to them, I was listening to the call of operator No. 4 not far away: "No. 3, No. 3, this is No. 4. Please answer if you hear me! Three, three... "


    Oleg took the initiative to report to me and said, "Comrade division, the results of the war in the residential areas have been counted. We killed 147 defenders and captured 11 prisoners. We destroyed two armored vehicles and captured 56 submachine guns and 129 rifles. 183 people were killed and 213 wounded in our army. After interrogation, the prisoners learned that in the early stage of our attack, most of the enemies were still sleeping, and they had not had time to figure out what had happened, so our progress would be particularly smooth. When the enemy recovered, he retreated to the last few buildings and resisted. But our army''s early attack was so smooth that we relaxed our vigilance, which led to the emergence of heavy casualties. "


    After listening to Oleg''s words, I nodded silently, ready to call you to discuss the problems in these battles when I go back to the summing up meeting. I looked at shejerikov and asked, "Comrade captain, what are the casualties of your troops?"


    Shejerikov did not answer me immediately. Instead, he turned and looked in the direction of the battlefield. I also looked in the direction he was looking at, and saw a lieutenant running towards us, pressing his cornice cap with his forehand. It seemed that he was reporting the results to sjerykov.


    The lieutenant came to sergeikov and whispered a few words in his ear. After listening to the Lieutenant''s report, Sergey reekov waved his hand and asked the lieutenant to leave. In a heavy tone, he reported to me, "Comrade division, the results of the battle have been counted. In the battle just now, we killed 311 German soldiers and captured 27. We destroyed a tank and captured 114 submachine guns, 21 machine guns and 138 rifles. More than 500 people were killed and injured in our army, of whom 377 were killed and 135 were injured. "


    When I heard the summary of the casualty data, I couldn''t help sighing. I thought that there would be no heavy casualties in a sneak attack. Who knows that the sneak attack turned into a strong attack, and there was an unexpected blocking battle, which resulted in more than half of the casualties of the participating troops.


    When I heard that No. 4 operator was still calling Gaidar, I said to him impatiently, "Comrade operator, what''s the matter? Why can''t I get in touch with No. 3 walkie talkie?"


    Maybe my attitude is too severe, the operator was scared, his face suddenly rose red, bowed his head, did not dare to return my words.


    Seeing him like this, I was more impatient and asked, "come on, what''s the matter? Even if I''m wrong, I won''t blame you. "


    When the operator heard what I said, he summoned up the courage to reply, "maybe no. 3 telephone was broken in the battle, so he couldn''t get in touch."


    When I heard his reason, I couldn''t blame him any more, so I waved my hand and said, "since I can''t get in touch with captain Gaidar, please help me to get in touch with Captain Ruskin, and I''ll report to him the results we have achieved."


    Raskin was easily contacted. As soon as he opened his mouth, he asked, "Hello, comrade oshanina, do you have any good news for me?"


    Raskin''s words made me feel very ashamed. I said with some embarrassment: "Comrade chief of staff, I may disappoint you..."


    Before I finished, Raskin exclaimed in surprise, "what, comrade oshanina, you''re not telling me that you didn''t take the settlements back from the Germans, are you?"


    "No, comrade chief of staff." I heard some misunderstanding from him and quickly explained: "the residential area has been attacked by us, but then we had another fight with the enemy reinforcements. The Germans were killed 458, captured 38, and destroyed a tank and two armored vehicles. Our army suffered nearly a thousand casualties, which is only a small victory. " It''s not hypocritical of me to say so, but I have won every battle with small casualties. This time I paid such a high price to win. I really feel that I have no light on the surface.


    "Killed 458 German soldiers and captured 38?" Ruskin asked.


    "Yes, comrade colonel."


    Raskin''s voice changed a little when he heard my firm answer. He repeatedly said, "we have recovered the occupied residential areas and eliminated nearly 500 Germans. This is not a small victory, this is a big victory, this is a great achievement! Comrade oshanina, I congratulate you After a pause, he added, "I''ll report the good news to commander shumilov right away. Remember to report the name list of your meritorious commanders and fighters as soon as possible. I think the commander may personally honor them. "


    At the end of the conversation with Ruskin, I said with a smile to shejerikov, Oleg and the artillery company commander in front of me: "three commanders, I congratulate you. Because of your brave and indomitable fighting spirit in today''s battle, the commander of the group army may personally honor you. "


    "Comrade commander personally honored us." The three of them were excited when I said this. They asked incredulously, "is this true, sir? Are you kidding us? "¡° That''s great. That''s great. " Hearing my affirmative answer, the three were as excited as children, shouting and hugging each other. Just as everyone was overjoyed, the operator behind me suddenly pointed to the distance and called out, "Comrade division, look, there is dust rising in that direction. Is it the German reinforcements coming again?" When we heard the operator say this, we all calmed down and nervously looked in the direction where the dust was rising. Chejerikov was even observing with my telescope. After watching for a while, the artillery grew up and called out: "no, it''s tanks. I''ll go back to the company and command the artillery to kill these German tanks that are not afraid of death. " Not long after he ran out, he was stopped by xiejerikov. The captain said lightly, "comrade company commander, don''t be nervous. It''s our T-34 tank. It''s our own." After a pause, he continued, "there are a lot of infantry in the car. Is it captain gedar or not?"

 Chapter 540

    Little effort, the tank full of infantry, passing through the troops cleaning the battlefield, approached us. About ten meters away from us, the tank stopped. When the infantry got out of the car, the top hatch of the tank turret was opened, and two people came out of it. At a glance, I recognized that one was the commander of the tank soldier, and the other was Gaidar, who had been missing for a long time.


    They helped each other jump out of the tank and came to me shoulder to shoulder. I thought Gaidar should be in a state of panic when he missed the plane, but I didn''t expect that the expression of Gaidar and the tank soldiers was full of spring. They came up to me and raised their hands to salute me.


    "Captain Gaidar, and you tank soldier, you still have the face to appear in front of me." I looked at the two men in front of me with anger in my heart. Naturally speaking to them without mercy, I gritted my teeth and said, "my task is to bypass the residential areas and come here to help captain shejerikov block the German reinforcements, But what about you? I didn''t see anyone for several hours. If it wasn''t for the artillery company commander... "I turned to the artillery company commander standing next to me and said with embarrassment," company commander, I''m sorry, I don''t know your name. What should I call you? "


    "Morozov, artillery company commander, Lieutenant Morozov." The commander of the cannon company answered me loudly.


    "Yes, it''s lieutenant Morozov. If the Lieutenant''s artillery company had not destroyed a German tank in time, then the enemy''s reinforcements would have broken through the defense line of captain shejerikov and entered the residential area, driving our troops out of the residential area step by step. "


    As soon as I finished speaking, shijerikov also said sternly: "Captain Gaidar, I want to remind you that if the situation mentioned by the division commander really happens, then waiting for your destiny is not just to return to the punishment camp, you may be sent to the military court and executed immediately."


    Gedar ignored Xie jerikov, but looked at me and said earnestly, "Sir, can you listen to my explanation?"


    "Come on," I said. Although I was dissatisfied with him, I still wanted to find out what happened so that they would not be able to get to the battlefield. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I added, "I''ll give you five minutes to explain this."


    "It won''t take me five minutes, one minute at the most, to make things clear." Seeing that I gave him the opportunity to explain why he was late, Gaidar showed a happy expression on his face. He was a little excited and said, "Comrade division, after receiving your order, I will immediately turn around and go back to find captain pelsky." He was afraid that I didn''t know who he was talking about, and he tilted his head to the tank soldier beside him, indicating that he was talking about the tank soldier beside him. In fact, he was right to do so. I still don''t know the name of the commander of the tank soldiers. I understand. When he said so, I realized that the name of the captain of the tank soldiers was pelsjian.


    "... when I discuss with captain pelsjian to reinforce captain shejerikov, the nearest way is undoubtedly through the residential area. Because the battle was going on fiercely at that time, pelsjian worried that his tank unit would be attacked by the enemy''s anti tank men, so he offered to go around the residential area, so I got on his tank and exited the residential area, Join the other two tanks waiting outside.


    For fear of encountering the enemy''s anti tank men, I took two companies of infantry, some of them in tanks, the rest on foot, and planned to go around the west side of the settlement. As a result, we soon found that we went the wrong way. There was a large area of swamp here. If the soldier on the tank who is not in the open road has sharp eyes, finds something wrong and makes the tank stop, the head car will surely be trapped in the swamp.


    No way, we can only continue to detour westward, hoping to find a way to


    I heard Gaidar Rory say it wordily for a long time, but I didn''t get to the point. Why didn''t I find him such a wordy person before. Looking at the words to let him play freely, he didn''t know when to get to the topic, so he interrupted him coldly: "Captain gedar, I remind you, you only have five minutes."


    On hearing this, pelsjian quickly took over the conversation and said clearly, "Sir, please allow me to report the details of the matter to you." Seeing that I nodded slightly, he continued: "we went around the swamp and drove from the northwest to the position built by Captain shejerikov. Unexpectedly, we met a German patrol on the road. After some fighting, we annihilated the enemy and captured a prisoner.


    From the prisoner''s mouth, we know that there is an enemy camp not far away, in which nearly a thousand people are stationed. Except for the German troops of the two companies, the rest are all Italian troops. "


    "Wait, comrade captain," I heard that they found the Italian army barracks, which aroused my curiosity: "the prisoners didn''t cheat you. Why are there Italian troops stationed here?"


    "I interrogated the captives, and yes, it was the Italian Army''s residence. There were Italian troops of one battalion and German troops of two companies in it," he said positively


    "What kind of action did you take?" As soon as I heard that I had discovered the Italian Army whose achievements and equipment were totally out of proportion, I had an idea in my heart. If only we could find a way to transfer the German troops from the camp. For me, the Italian camp without the German troops is a huge prison camp, but the enemy in it has not laid down their weapons for the time being.


    "We immediately went to the camp that the prisoner said, to find out about the enemy. Unexpectedly, one kilometer away from the camp, we found that the German troops in the camp were on a large scale, rushing to the direction of the settlement. When I saw the enemy leave, I felt that the fighters had arrived. Without the support of the Germans, the Italians would be vulnerable. But to be on the safe side, I asked captain Gaidar to send scouts to the vicinity of the camp. It was found that the German army had been transferred to the direction of the settlement, while only the Italians were left in the camp.


    In the process of scouts'' reconnaissance, the originally backward infantry also caught up. As a result, the number of our infantry reached two companies. As soon as the Scout''s information came back, we immediately launched an attack on the camp. "


    Although I have known for a long time that the fighting capacity of the Italian army is low, I don''t know what the final result will be when they meet my untrained army. So when I heard him say that our army launched an attack on the Italian camp, I still couldn''t help but ask curiously, "what''s your final result?"


    "I used tanks to drive the way, and the infantry followed me and rushed to the enemy''s camp. The enemy had only two sandbag fortifications at the gate, each with a light machine gun. Seeing our tanks rushing towards them, they fired as hard as they could. Machine gun bullets rattled on the tank''s armor, but they couldn''t stop us from advancing.


    Seeing that our tanks were getting closer and closer, the Gunners were afraid to fight, threw down their weapons and ran to the camp. As a result, they were all knocked down by the machine guns on our tanks. After the tanks collapsed the sandbags, our troops rushed into the enemy''s camp. "


    Listening to him say so, I feel more secure. I asked lightly, "did the enemy lay down his arms and surrender to you soon?"


    Peiersjian was surprised by what I said. He asked in surprise, "how do you know, sir? After our troops rushed into the camp, the enemy rushed out of the tent with weapons. I directed the tank unit to fire a few guns at them. After blowing up several leading officers, the rest of them raised their arms above their heads and surrendered to us. "


    "After only a few shots, the enemy surrendered? It''s incredible. " After he said something with emotion, he turned to me and asked, "do you think this is true, sir?"


    I looked him in the eye, then nodded and said, "Comrade captain, you don''t have to doubt it. It''s absolutely true. I remember someone saying that as long as they fight against the Italian army, their morale will rise and their defense line will be broken. And a general who has won Italy twice in a row will be ridiculed. "


    After hearing this, Xie jerikov tentatively asked: "Comrade teacher, I don''t know who said this. Why have I never heard of it?"


    Of course, I won''t tell him that I saw this sentence in the post of later generations, otherwise I won''t be regarded as insane by them. In order to divert his attention, I deliberately mentioned another story: "when Italy attacked Greece, the soldiers unanimously reflected to their superiors that we could not attack because there were Finnish troops in Greece. Mussolini, who received the report, asked Finland''s allies to withdraw from Greece. However, after investigation in Finland, it was found that only three Finnish soldiers and three officers volunteered in Greece, so they replied to Mussolini that there were only six volunteers in the so-called army. Mussolini was very angry and sent a telegram to Finland: "I mean these people!"


    My words made everyone laugh. As soon as the laughter stopped, I asked pelsjian, "Captain pelsjian, where are the prisoners?"


    "Still in their camp, under the care of our soldiers." At this point, peregrine hesitated for a moment, and then continued: "in fact, not all Italians have surrendered. There is still about a company of troops in a corner of the camp, protecting their battalion commander, who refuses to surrender to us. They sent a message that if they want to lay down their arms and surrender, they must ask our superior to negotiate with him before they are willing to surrender. "


    "Since they are willing to surrender only when they see your superiors, I will go to the Italian camp and accept their surrender." Then I went up to perskin, shook my head at him and said, "come on, comrade captain, take me to the Italian camp."


    "Please wait a moment, sir." Shejerikov ran in front of me, opened his arms and stopped me. He said nervously, "I think it''s like a trap. No matter how vulnerable Italy is, it won''t surrender to an army with less people in just a few minutes."


    I''m very happy to hear him say that. First, I''m happy for his concern for my safety; Second, these subordinates no longer blindly obey orders, they already know how to consider problems from many aspects. I said with a smile, "Comrade captain, your worries are superfluous. I read from the war report that in a battle in North Africa, a small number of British tanks charged against the Italian anti tank gun positions. At the beginning, Italy fired back, but after two or three minutes, they suddenly stopped and waved the white flag to surrender... Afterwards, when the British asked the reason, the Italians rightfully answered: the ammunition box was not opened with a crowbar. If you think about it, the so-called most powerful male lion in the desert will surrender at any time to the second and third class troops sent to Stalingrad. "


    "But," shejerikov stood in front of me and continued to try to persuade me, "even if these Italians really surrender. What would you do if you met that runaway tank on the road? " At this point, he took a scornful look at Peregrine and said, "you know, one-on-one, our tanks don''t have to win."


    "Comrade captain," pelsjian, who had been smiling all over his face, was furious when he heard that. He grabbed the captain''s collar, put his face close to him and said, "who insulted our tank soldiers? Say, who is it? "


    Shejerikov was not willing to be grabbed by the collar like this. He struggled as hard as he could and said in a loud voice, "what can you do with me, that''s what I said? Let go of your dirty hands


    "Stop it, stop it all!" Seeing that they would fight again, I quickly stopped them: "what are you doing? You have the ability to fight the Germans, not your own people and your own people! "


    I am angry, two people immediately honest, obediently back a step, but still glare at each other.


    At this time, Gaidar, who had not spoken, came out to make a comeback: "Captain shijerikov, let me say something. Is there a tank and an armored vehicle in the German tank you said escaped When he saw sjerikov nodding his head in affirmation, he continued: "we met the tank you said on the road. Because we returned from the Italian camp at that time, the German tanks didn''t expect to encounter us here, so we killed all the German soldiers in the car before we recovered. You see, "he said, turning to the seven or eight soldiers standing behind him," they are all equipped with German equipment. "


    When I look at them, they are all German style equipment, not only rifles and submachine guns, but also a soldier with a machine gun in his hand. When I look at them, they are unloaded from an armored car.


    As I was about to walk towards the tank, I suddenly remembered an important thing. I stopped and asked Gaidar seriously, "Comrade captain, why didn''t you inform me of your actions in time?"


    In response to my question, Gaidar lowered his head in shame and said, "I''m sorry, sir. Unfortunately, my operator was killed by stray bullets in the battle with the German patrol. Although there is a radio station in captain perskin''s tank, he doesn''t know your call code, so he can''t get in touch with you. "


    I heard him say that, and I understood that another operator was lost in the battle. In this way, we only have No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 operators left. I pointed to the No. 4 operator not far away and ordered him to go with me, operator Then he told shijerikov: "Comrade captain, when I''m away, the troops here will be under your command. Remember, take the time to build up the fortifications in the settlements to prevent the enemy from attacking. "


    Before I got into the tank, perschien wanted me to sit in the tank, but I refused. At last, the operator got into the tank, and Gaidar and I had several soldiers huddled on the tank body. Two soldiers were afraid of standing unsteadily and rolled down from the tank. They even tied themselves to the handle of the turret with backpack belts.


    The driving speed of T-34 was quite fast. It took us less than half an hour to arrive at the Italian military camp. The tank carrying us passed by four tanks placed on the side of the road and drove directly inside. I saw that many tents on the roadside had been pushed down, and groups of Italian soldiers in boat caps were sitting on the ground, surrounded by soldiers of our division.


    Gaidar pointed to a wooden house in the distance and the sandbag fortification outside, and said to me in a loud voice: "Sir, you see, there is the Italian battalion, and their battalion commander is in it."


    The tank stopped fifty meters from the cabin. As soon as Gaidar helped me jump out of the tank, several people came up, led by the engineer Mikhail yev. He raised his hand to me and said, "Comrade division commander, the battalion commander of Italy is in the cabin. He said that as long as we have high-ranking commanders coming, he will surrender."


    "Who can speak Italian here?" I looked at several people standing in front of me and asked the most crucial question.


    No matter Gaidar or mikheiev, they all shook their heads in embarrassment to show that they did not understand.


    Since they don''t understand, how do they communicate with Italians? It''s not a sign, is it? On the battlefield, people may not be interested in gesturing to the enemy. I''m afraid they will shoot directly at you.


    When I was puzzled, mihayev reported: "Sir, many Italians can speak German, so I can communicate with them."


    I took a look at Mikhail, nodded and said, "well, in that case, you can come with me to the cabin and accept the Italians'' surrender to us."


    With that, I handed the submachine gun to one of the soldiers and walked forward with great strides. Gaidar and mihayev quickly followed and walked to the wooden house together.


    On the way, Gaidar was a little uneasy. He asked in a low voice, "Sir, do you think the Italians will suddenly change their mind and lock us up?"


    "No way." I said with certainty: "if they wanted to fight, they would not surrender so easily just now. The reason why this Italian battalion commander wanted to surrender after meeting our high-ranking commanders was to save some face for himself."


    "Sir, I don''t know much about Italians." Mikhail yev also said: "I don''t know if they really want to save face and then ask to surrender after meeting our senior commanders."


    "It must be, that''s right." Just now mihayev didn''t hear what I said about Italy, so I specially told him an allusion: "on June 30, 1940, marshal Balbo, the Italian governor in Libya, was shot down by Italy''s own anti-aircraft artillery over Tobruk in Africa. The Italians, in order to cover up the tragedy that made them lose face, brazenly announced that the marshal was killed in an air battle with the British. All right, comrade engineer, when you get to the place, go ahead and report it. "


    I saw Gaidar and mihayev look at each other and nod. Mihayev then ran to the sandbags and talked to a man who looked like an officer. After a while, mihayev ran back to me and said with a smile, "Comrade division commander, I just asked the Italian officers. He said that their battalion commander was waiting for us in the room. Let''s go in. "


    Led by Italian officers, we passed by the enemy''s sandbags and swaggered into the battalion headquarters. There was a wooden table in the middle of the room with maps, telephones and even a pistol on it. An Italian officer sat behind the table. Seeing us enter the door, he quickly stood up.


    Mikhail yev came forward and began to talk to him in German. After listening for a while, the officer looked at me in surprise. He spoke to Mikhail in German for a long time. Then he walked around the table and came to me.


    After he raised his hand to salute me, he spoke German or Italian, which I couldn''t understand for a long time. Mikhail yev looked at the Italian officer in front of me in a daze. He came to translate for me and said, "Comrade division commander, let me introduce to you. This is Mr. Alfonso, the first-class captain of the Italian battalion commander. He said that his troops are tired of the war and eager to return to their motherland as soon as possible, so he specially surrendered to the Red Army."


    After listening to his high sounding reason, I laughed, put my hands behind my back and politely replied, "Mr. Alfonso, congratulations on your wise choice. You and your subordinates will surely return to your motherland. First of all, please ask your soldiers outside the door to lay down their arms. Otherwise, if there is a misunderstanding with my people and an unfortunate exchange of fire, they may not be able to return to their hometown alive. "


    When I said that, Captain Alfonso immediately said something to the officer who led us through the door. After saluting, the officer turned and ran out of the cabin.


    Seeing what Alfonso had done, I understood that he really wanted to surrender, so I continued to say to him, "Mr. Alfonso, next, please gather all your subordinates, and I will arrange people to escort you to a safe place."


    When we walked out of the wooden house together, the Italian soldiers with live ammunition outside had put down their weapons and were concentrating towards the designated area.


    Gaidar asked me, "what shall we do next, sir?"


    "Comrade captain, you and Comrade mihayev will take a company to stay, and then captain perskin will keep two tanks for you. When the Italians are assembled, they will be escorted back to the residential areas."


    "A company?" Gaidar''s face showed an expression of embarrassment. He pleaded: "Comrade division, can you send me more people. You know, there are seven hundred Italians, and I''m only one hundred. Can we take care of them? "


    I saw a jeep in front of me, which should have been captured by the German army from the Soviet army. I asked mihayev to go to captain perskin and ask if he could help me find a driver to drive me back to the residential area. I don''t want to go back by tank.


    As for Gaidar''s worry, I said with a smile, "Comrade captain, you are worried too much. When the British Army accepted the surrender of a group of Italian soldiers with guns in North Africa, they were too busy collecting the spoils to manage the Italian prisoners, so they yelled at them: "don''t make any noise! Go over there! " Then continue to collect booty everywhere. In the case of no way, in order to find the British army to capture themselves, Italians had to hold their guns on their heads and walk around. In addition, because there were too many prisoners of war, the British army had no time to build a prison camp, so they asked the quartermaster to send raw materials to the Italian prisoners of war and let them set up a prison camp to lock themselves up. "


    Mikhail yev quickly found a driver to come over, not under peresjian, but a subordinate of my division. The jeep pulled up in front of me and I asked the operator to sit in the front co driver''s seat while I sat in the back. Before closing the door, I leaned out and said to gedar, "if you put the Germans and Italians in the same prison camp. The Germans will organize to try to dig a hole to escape from the prison camp, while the Italians will be very cooperative even when the gate of the prison camp is not closed. They will only occasionally go out to harass the lovely girls nearby. "


    At this point, I closed the door heavily, and then told the driver: "drive, comrade driver, let''s go back to the residential area immediately."¡° Comrade teacher, what should we do next? " Operator four turned and asked. Looking at the operator who was not flexible enough and could not understand my intention at all, I could not help sighing, and then told him: "Comrade operator, your task is to contact the group army chief of staff, Colonel Raskin, and tell him the good news immediately." After that, I leaned back, leaned back in my chair and began to close my eyes. In order to fight the battle of recovering the residential areas, I''ve been staying up all night these days. I''m really tired. I need to seize the time to have a good rest.

 Chapter 541

    The accidental capture of the Italian battalion brought a perfect end to our division''s unsatisfactory offensive and defensive battle in residential areas. When I talked to Raskin again, I heard that he wanted to report the great victory of our division to the commander of the group army and the head of the front army. I was so calm that I didn''t have the nervousness and lack of confidence that I had a few hours ago.


    The biggest gain of talking with colonel Ruskin was that, at my request, he agreed to put captain pelsky''s tank unit and lieutenant Morozov''s light cannon company under the independent division. However, the close guard mortar company belonging to the 70th close guard division, which he borrowed from Colonel lyudnikov, must be built immediately.


    In this battle, the main task of the close guard mortar company is to fire smoke bombs at the area we want to attack, and use the smoke to cover the forward assault of the troops. Because they did not carry conventional mortar shells except smoke bombs, they did not take part in the war when they blocked the German reinforcements. Now that Raskin has asked them to return, let them return. Anyway, there are already cannons in the division, which can provide artillery cover for us in battle.


    When I returned to the residential area, shejerikov, Oleg, Morozov and the company commander of the mortar company, who had been informed by the soldiers on duty, were waiting for me at the entrance of the residential area. As soon as I got out of the jeep by pushing the door open, shijerikov came up to me, shook hands with me and asked with concern, "Comrade division, you are back. What''s the situation over there? "


    After shaking hands with him, I called several other commanders in front of me and announced to them in a loud voice, "comrades commanders, I want to tell you a good news. We just captured a complete Italian infantry battalion."


    "Is it true what captain gedar said?" he asked in disbelief, his eyes wide open? The commander of the Italian battalion is really waiting for you to surrender. "


    I looked at him sympathetically, nodded, and then said, "yes, it seems that you have wronged captain Gaidar and captain perskin. What they said is true. The reason why the enemy did not surrender was because he was afraid that his face would be damaged, so he had to find a step down. That''s why he offered to surrender after meeting captain Gaidar''s superior. No, as soon as I arrived at the Italian battalion, I had only a few words with their commander-in-chief Alfonso, and he ordered his men to lay down their arms and surrender to our army. "


    Oleg looked at the distance and asked curiously, "Sir, why are you the only one back? What about captain gedar''s troops and tank units? "


    "Captain Gaidar is counting the prisoners in the camp and is going to escort them directly to the garrison of the 70th guard division later. And captain perskin''s tank unit, they are escorting the convoy of captured weapons and ammunition to this side. It is estimated that they will arrive in about half an hour It was captain pelsken who told me through his car radio that a large number of weapons and ammunition of Italian troops had been seized. So I ordered that these weapons and ammunition be loaded into the truck, escorted by the tank unit and an infantry company, and transported back to the residential area for storage.


    With these words, I specially called the two artillery company commanders to them and said with a smile, "two artillery company commanders, as the division commander of the independent division, thank you very much for your help in the offensive battle." At this point, I raised my hand to salute them. When the two men hurriedly saluted me, I continued: "according to the order of the higher authorities, Lieutenant Morozov''s light cannon company will be formally incorporated into the combat sequence of the independent division from today on."


    "What about me? Comrade commander. " The mortar company commander asked with a worried face, "have my company and I been included in the battle sequence of the independent division?"


    "That''s not true." from the company commander''s expression, I couldn''t judge what he was feeling depressed for. I just told him truthfully: "the chief of staff of the group army said that you only lent it to my independent division for the time being. As soon as the battle is over, I''ll let your company return immediately."


    Listen to me, there was a smile on the mortar company commander''s face. He said yes in a loud voice, saluted me and left.


    I looked at the soldiers who were fortifying the settlement, turned to ask xijerikov, "Comrade captain, how do you deploy your troops?"


    Shejerikov pointed to the soldiers who were busy outside and said to me, "report to the division commander, I''ll let the soldiers of the two companies continue to dig the trench outside the residential area, and prepare to build several firepower points at the same time. In the residential area, "he turned and pointed to the residential area again. Following the direction of his finger, I saw many soldiers cleaning up the rubble and the bodies of soldiers or enemies. He continued," soldiers of three companies are cleaning up, and the rest of the troops, except some of them are on guard, rest in those intact buildings. After all, they are exhausted after a long battle and need enough time to recover. "


    I waved my hand and said carelessly: "let the soldiers rest instead. After all, after staying up all night, they immediately put into the battle, and no one can stand it. I''m tired, too. Help me find a place to rest. "


    Xiejerikov listened to me, quickly reached out and made a gesture of invitation, and said: "Sir, please come with me, the rest place is ready for you." I can''t help but be a little surprised after hearing this. My heart says that the captain is really considerate. Even the place for me to rest is ready in such a short time.


    Oleg and Morozov stayed where they were, while shejerikov led me to the place where I stayed. On the way, I couldn''t help but sigh: "it seems that we didn''t completely destroy the buildings in this residential area, but we did it right. At least we can give soldiers a good rest environment."


    "Yes, because the fighting did not cause much damage to the residential areas, many rooms can be directly occupied, so the soldiers can avoid the hardship of sleeping in the open air," said shijerikov, with a strong nod of his head. And the place you want to go is the company headquarters of the German army. The environment is very good, which is very suitable for you to rest. " With these words, we came to a building. There were two soldiers standing guard outside. Before we entered the building, they raised their hands to salute us.


    The German command post is a suite. On the outside is the commander''s office. On the table in the middle is a German map. Inside is the place where the officers sleep. I looked at the neat bunk, nodded with satisfaction, and then told Sergei reekov, "Comrade captain, I''ll rest here and call me when Captain perskin''s convoy arrives."


    Lying in the comfortable bed of a German officer, I soon fell asleep. After a little sleep, I suddenly dreamt that Gaidar appeared in front of me and excitedly reported to me: "Comrade division commander, we have escorted the prisoners to the base of the 70th division of Jinwei and handed them over to the supervisor of the Ministry of interior. By the way, has the convoy of weapons and ammunition arrived at the settlement? And what''s our next task? "


    As soon as I heard the weapons and ammunition, I suddenly woke up from my dream. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was already past four o''clock in the afternoon. Heart said it''s so late, why don''t you come to wake me up? Hasn''t the motorcade arrived at the residential area? Nothing will happen on the road. After all, it''s not far from the German residence. Thinking of this, I got out of bed, put on my boots, went to the door and opened the door.


    As soon as I opened the door and saw the people standing in the room outside, I was stunned. In addition to Xie jielikov, Oleg, Morozov, and even tank captain peiersjian were there. Seeing that everyone''s eyes were looking at me, I was a little embarrassed. I coughed to stabilize my mood and said hello to everyone: "I didn''t expect that everyone was here. I just slept too deep and didn''t hear you come in." Then I turned my eyes to chejerikov and asked, "Comrade captain, I just told you that you would wake me up as soon as the motorcade arrived at the residential area. But from the current situation, it seems that you haven''t done that


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    I looked at them in a bit of surprise. A few hours ago, xiejerikov and peresjian almost started fighting. Unexpectedly, peresjian still takes the initiative to help xiejerikov. I only said one word for Perls'' flattery: "nonsense!" Having said that, I was moved by their concern for me.


    "The captured Italian equipment is just outside. Would you like to go out and have a look now?" Shejerikov asked me.


    As for his proposal, I nodded without thinking. I have seen the equipment of the German army, Japanese army and US Army, but I have never seen the equipment of the Italian army. I just use today to open my eyes. I waved my hand and said aloud, "let''s go and have a look."


    The Italian equipment transported by the convoy is now on the street outside the building. Near the door are piles of rifles and submachine guns. A little further away are light machine guns and heavy machine guns. A little further away are all kinds of artillery.


    Shejerikov went ahead and began to introduce me to the equipment of the Italian army. He picked up the rifle and said: "Sir, please see, this is the Italian garno m1891 rifle, with a caliber of 6.5mm and six rounds of ammunition clip. It''s a very easy to use rifle."


    Putting down his rifle, he picked up a shorter gun and said to me, "this is the garno m1891 carbine, which is developed on the basis of the m1891 rifle, with a short body. The most obvious feature of this carbine is its own folding bayonet. In the past, it was only equipped with cavalry, but in the past two years, it has also been equipped with infantry. "


    After he put down his carbine, he picked up another submachine gun and gently stroked the body of the gun. He said with some emotion: "this is Beretta m38a submachine gun. It is a very successful submachine gun with double trigger control and single shot and continuous shot."


    Shejerikov looks familiar with Italian guns. He can tell exactly what they are when he picks up any one. When he introduced the guns, I would pretend to nod my head and show that I was familiar with the guns.


    He went to the machine gun, bent down to pick up a light machine gun, and said, "at this time, Breda M30 light machine gun, 6.5mm caliber, has a unique ammunition feeding method, which uses bullet plate for Ammunition Feeding and needs frequent lubrication, so it is not suitable for use in the battlefield."


    After that, he sighed, put down the light machine gun, squatted down in front of a heavy machine gun, patted the body of the gun and said to me, "this is the most successful heavy machine gun in Italy. It''s 8mm caliber, reliable and can be used in any harsh conditions. In addition, the Italian army has also used Fiat Ravelli m1935 and Fiat Ravelli m1914 machine guns, 6.5mm caliber. Because of the high failure rate, there is no large-scale train loading force. "


    At last, we came to all kinds of artillery. Originally, I thought that xiejerikov would continue to introduce me. Unexpectedly, after he made a gesture of invitation to Morozov, he said with self mockery, "Comrade division commander, I''m an infantry. I''m only familiar with the guns used by all kinds of infantry. As for the next artillery, I can only trouble the artillery company commander, Lieutenant Morozov, to introduce you. "


    Morozov walked up to the gun, bowed slightly to me, and said: "Sir, it''s my great honor to introduce these captured guns to you. Next, I''ll give you a brief explanation. " "This is the main support weapon of Italian infantry, 8114m35 mortar," he said


    Then he got up and went to another mortar. After squatting down again, he put his hand on the gun and said, "this is a 45mm brixsa light mortar, which is characterized by its high firing speed and the use of rear feeding."


    After that, he got up and came to me, straightened up and said, "report to Mr. commander, my words are over."


    Looking at the large number of weapons in front of me, I feel headache. Although the number of weapons seized is large enough to arm most of the unarmed soldiers in the division, the caliber of the bullets used in these weapons is different from that we usually use. After the bullets are exhausted, there is no place to replenish them. At the thought of these, the joy of seeing these weapons and ammunition suddenly disappeared. What should I do with these weapons? It''s a waste to destroy it directly; Give it to the superior, but what about those unarmed soldiers in the division? Let''s leave the armed soldiers. What should we do if we run out of bullets? It is impossible for our military enterprises to build a special bullet production line for these hundreds of guns.


    "Comrade division, what should we do with these weapons? Will it be sent to the soldiers or to the group army? " When I was in a mess, shijerikov came to the fire to refuel.


    I looked at him and said discontentedly, "Comrade captain, I would like to leave these weapons to arm our soldiers, but have you ever thought that the calibre of the weapons used by the Italian army is different from that used in our daily life? If we run out of bullets, what should we do and where should we replenish our ammunition? You know, guns without bullets are worse than firesticks. " Hearing what I said, shijerikov closed his mouth and did not dare to express any more opinions.


    After a short silence, Captain pelsken stepped out and said cautiously, "Sir, I have a suggestion. I don''t know whether to say it or not."


    "If you have something to say, don''t hide it." Looking at the way he wanted to talk and stop, I couldn''t get angry, so the tone of his voice was a little heavier.


    Fortunately, perskin didn''t care about my attitude, but he said his thoughts seriously: "Mr. division, you can report this matter to your superiors and listen to their opinions on the disposal of this batch of weapons and ammunition."


    Although this idea is not very good, under the current situation, we can only try this method reluctantly. I took them back to the command post. Before entering the gate, I specially asked the sentry at the gate to call operator 4.


    As soon as the No. 4 operator came in, I told him, "Comrade operator, contact Colonel Raskin, chief of staff of the group army immediately and say that I have something important to contact him."


    Before I could speak, Colonel Ruskin said, "commander oshanina, I''ve seen the prisoners you''ve sent, and I''ve also reported the results of your division to the leaders of the group army and the front army. It was Comrade Khrushchev, the military commissar, who answered the phone. After listening to my report, he repeatedly said, "Lt. commander oshanina is really not simple. He not only recovered the residential areas occupied by the enemy, but also captured an almost complete Italian battalion."


    When I heard that he mentioned Khrushchev, my heart could not help but thump. I waved to sjerikov and several of their commanders, including the telegraph operator, to leave. When I was alone in the room, I asked in a low voice, "chief of staff, have you heard from general trakov?"


    Raskin was silent for a long time before he replied, "not for the time being. But don''t worry. From the analysis of the current situation, maybe Comrade trakov was just temporarily detained, because I didn''t get the news that he was sent to the military court. "


    When I heard that there was nothing wrong with trakov, I was relieved. Then I asked, "by the way, chief of staff, have you interrogated the Italian prisoners? Where did they come from and why did they show up in that camp? "


    "You''ve asked the right person about this. Even if you don''t interrogate the Italian prisoners, I know what''s going on." Raskin said triumphantly.


    "Chief of staff, don''t play the game and tell me the answer quickly, so as not to affect my next battle deployment."


    When I spoke so seriously, Raskin would not hide anything from me any more, but told me all the information he knew: "this is the situation, commander oshanina. Although both Hungary and Romania are allies of Germany, the soldiers of the two countries hate each other and need to be separated from each other so as to avoid internal strife. Therefore, the Italian regiment is put in the middle of them. The task given to these troops by the German army is defense, but considering the limited combat effectiveness of the Italian army, the German army understands that if they want to complete this task, they need to deploy German troops in the camp to strengthen them. "


    After listening to Raskin''s words, it suddenly dawned on me that no wonder there were two German companies in the camp. If they were not completely annihilated by us during the attack on the settlement, we would not know how much we would have to pay to capture the Italian infantry battalion. Although Raskin couldn''t see it, I still nodded my head vigorously, and then said the problem I was facing: "Comrade chief of staff, I have a headache now. I''d like to ask you to give me some advice."¡° Let''s hear it. As long as it''s within my ability, I''ll help you find a way. " Maybe it was because our division won today, so Ruskin was in a very good mood, so he agreed very readily. I hesitated for a moment, but still hesitated to tell the truth: "our division seized a batch of weapons and ammunition in the Italian army camp, originally intended to arm those unarmed soldiers, but because the caliber of these weapons is different from our army''s standard weapons. I''m afraid I''ll run out of ammunition and have no place to replenish it, so I can''t make up my mind. " After listening to this, Raskin burst out laughing, which made me laugh. He said in secret that there was nothing funny about it. There was no way to replenish ammunition. I can''t let the soldiers fight with the enemy with rifles and submachine guns without bullets, can I? Raskin laughed for a while, then stopped and said to me in a steady tone, "commander o''shanina, what should I say about you? You are so wise and confused that you don''t know how to send weapons to the soldiers first, let them be familiar with the use of guns, and then change their clothes after the weapons distributed to you by the group army. " Raskin''s words suddenly made me feel better. Yes, why didn''t I think of such a simple truth? First, let the soldiers who have no contact with weapons use Italian equipment for a period of time. When they use familiar things, maybe the weapons and equipment supplied to our division will be in place, and then they will be replaced. At the end of the call, I called in several commanders and told Oleg straightforwardly, "Comrade captain, you should immediately organize people to reload the weapons and ammunition outside and transport them to our division. Let captain kosga be responsible for distributing to unarmed soldiers. " Without waiting for captain Oleg''s reply, shijerikov had asked first: "but you just said that the calibre of these weapons is different from that of our army''s weapons. Once the ammunition is used up, there is no place to supplement?" Looking at everyone staring at me, waiting for me to say the final answer. I pointed to xiejerikov on purpose and said in a tone of hating iron but not steel: "Comrade captain, you used to be smart and now you are confused. Don''t you think that when the soldiers who get these weapons are familiar with the use of weapons, the weapons and ammunition distributed by the group army to our Division will be in place?" When I said this, people''s faces were suddenly enlightened at the same time. After saluting me, Oleg turned and quickly ran out of the command post and went out to carry out my mission.

 Chapter 542

    As soon as night fell, Colonel Ruskin unexpectedly appeared in the settlement.


    After receiving a call from the sentry on duty at the south entrance, I quickly stopped the meeting in progress and went out with several people, such as xijerikov, Morozov and pereskin.


    Just after walking out, I saw a group of people coming. The two men walking in front of me were very familiar. Although I couldn''t see their faces, I recognized at a glance that the one on the left was Colonel Raskin, chief of staff of the group army. The commander who was a little behind him was captain Gaidar, who I sent to escort the Italian prisoners.


    I quickly ran a few steps to Raskin, raised my hand to salute, and loudly reported: "baogao group army chief of staff, independent division commander, Lieutenant Colonel o''shanina, reporting to you, waiting for your instructions!"


    Raskin stopped in time, saluted me, reached for my hand, shook it, and said excitedly, "Comrade oshanina, I finally see you again. What a beautiful fight you have been directing today


    When Raskin finished speaking, Gaidar behind him stepped forward and reported to me, "Comrade division, I have come back after completing my task and I am waiting for your instructions."


    I looked at the dark area of commanders and fighters behind him, and told him: "first arrange the accommodation for your soldiers, and then come to my command post for a meeting."


    "Command post?" Gaidar asked blankly, "what command post? I don''t know where it is


    I snorted heavily and said, "you don''t know you won''t ask the soldiers on patrol. All the soldiers in the residential area know where my command is." Anyway, I''ll let Capt. chejerikov and Lt. Morozov go and arrange the camp for them. Then I made a gesture to Raskin: "chief of staff, don''t stand outside. Please follow me to the command post."


    Raskin walked into my command post, looked around, and said enviously, "commander oshanina, the environment here is really good. You live in brick houses, and our group army headquarters is still in a wooden house."


    I laughed and joked with him: "chief of staff, if you think it''s good here, I can move out immediately and let you move here to work."


    He ha ha a smile, in time to switch the topic: "o''xia Nina, I come this time, also brought you a few people." With that, he went to the door and said to the outside, "everyone is not in a daze. Let''s all come in and let your teachers have a look."


    Before people from outside came in, I was curious about what people Raskin had brought me. When people from outside came in, I was overjoyed. It turned out that he not only brought sergeant razumeyeva, the communication monitor, but also brought my guard class.


    Ruskin came up to me and said, "what''s up? Commander o''shanina, are you satisfied? I''ve brought your guard team and your communications monitor. In this way, not only will it be more convenient for you to contact the headquarters of the group army, but also your safety in the battle will be guaranteed. "


    I immediately called pelsjian: "Comrade captain, please take my guard class out first. In order to protect the safety of the command post, we will arrange them to live on the first floor."


    After the soldiers of the guard class left, I said to the rest of razumeyeva, "sergeant, from now on, you will stay in my command post and be responsible for the contact with the headquarters of the group army." Then he explained to the No. 4 radio operator standing beside him: "from today on, comrade radio operator, you will be under the command of this sergeant. You must obey her orders absolutely."


    The fourth operator was reluctant to look at razumeyeva, so he nodded helplessly and agreed.


    Razumeyeva asked the soldiers behind him to put the radio on another table beside the wall and asked the No. 4 operator, "how is your communication here?"


    The fourth operator replied, "sergeant, there used to be only three walkie talkies in the residential area, but we later repaired the telephone system left by the Germans, so that the command post can contact the soldiers at each duty point by telephone, and know the enemy situation outside at any time."


    Razumeyeva was inquiring about the communication situation in the residential area to the No. 4 radio operator. I took the opportunity to ask Raskin to sit down at the table and ask about his intention: "Comrade chief of staff, do you have any instructions for coming to me so late?"


    Raskin nodded, took out a folded map from his briefcase, spread it on the table, and said to me: "according to the information provided by the Italian prisoners, five kilometers north of their camp, there is a separate Hungarian infantry battalion, with a total force of 500 people, belonging to the Hungarian second army. You see, "he explained to me, pointing to the map," in the orlovka area, which is the existing defense area of the 70th division of the guards, we once annihilated a Romanian army. Their initial task was to cover the German flanks attacking our defense line, just like the Hungarian troops. The reason why the Italian infantry battalion captured today is deployed between the two forces is that the Germans are afraid that they will fight against each other and make the Italian camp a buffer zone. "


    Raskin''s words have not been finished, but I have guessed the purpose of his trip. When he came to an end, I said in advance, "Comrade chief of staff, do you mean that our division will continue to attack tomorrow and clear up this enemy?"


    "Yes, that''s what the group command means." Raskin said positively.


    Just as he was talking, Xie jerikov, Oleg, Gaidar, peiersjian and Morozov came in one after another. Without the permission of Ruskin and I, five people could only stand there honestly, and no one dared to sit down.


    Raskin got up and walked in front of them. He walked back and forth a few times with his hands on his back, and suddenly announced a shocking news: "Captain xijerikov, Captain Oleg, Captain gedar, I have good news for you. In order to commend you three for your brave and indomitable fighting spirit in today''s battle, commander shumilov proposed that you three be promoted to the rank of major after discussion and approval by the military committee of the group army. "


    As soon as Raskin said this, there was a complete silence in the room. The three people were shocked by the sudden good news, and their faces showed incredible expressions. But I didn''t say anything because I was thinking that my three commanders had been promoted to major. Should I be promoted to a higher level?


    Seeing that no one was speaking, Raskin just shrugged his shoulders and went forward to shake hands with the three new majors one by one, starting with Sergey reekov. At the same time, he said, "Comrade major, I congratulate you!"


    All the people he held in his hands, no matter they were shijerikov, Oleg or Gaidar, answered loudly: "serve the motherland of the Soviet Union!"


    Seeing that Raskin had already shaken hands with three of my subordinates, I couldn''t fall behind. I quickly went forward to shake hands with the three of them and, like Raskin, called each other''s names and congratulated them. So when they shook hands with me, they repeated what they had just said.


    When the procedure was finished, Raskin asked everyone to sit down and repeated what he had just said to me. After that, he looked up at the commanders in front of him and asked habitually, "do you have any different opinions?"


    "A Hungarian infantry battalion." Gaidar said excitedly: "no problem, this task is given to our regiment. I will take two companies and tank units to capture them all tomorrow."


    As soon as Gaidar finished, Captain pelsjian added with great interest: "yes, the number of Hungarian infantry battalion is much less than that of Italian army. As long as our tank unit comes out, the enemy will not be defeated at once."


    "No, the soldiers are very tired today when you go to attack the Italian battalion for a long time." Shejerikov stood up and objected, saying, "I think the task of destroying the Hungarian battalion tomorrow should be completed by the troops led by major Oleg and me. Major gedar, you''d better be responsible for the remaining settlements."


    "Yes, I agree with major shijerikov." Oleg immediately stood up and echoed: "Comrade division, tomorrow''s battle should be finished by major shijerikov and me."


    Seeing that several commanders were fighting for who was going to carry out tomorrow''s battle, Raskin showed a satisfied smile on his face. He said to me in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, your men are eager to fight. If you don''t stop them, they may quarrel all night."


    I felt sorry for Raskin''s words, so I slapped the table hard. Hearing me clapping the table, several commanders who were fighting red in the face immediately calmed down. When everyone stopped talking, I said calmly, "don''t fight. Tomorrow''s battle will be under my command. Major shejerikov, two infantry companies are not enough. You can choose four companies to go with me. Captain perskin''s tank unit is out. Lieutenant Morozov''s cannon company left three guns to help defend the settlement, and the other seven guns followed me. "


    Some people are happy and others are sad about my arrangement. However, since I made the final decision, we all know that this decision can not be changed. Even if there is any dissatisfaction in my heart, I can only keep it in my heart and dare not show it casually.


    Seeing that several subordinates did not express their opinions, I began to offer conditions to Raskin: "Comrade chief of staff, the distance from the residential area to the Hungarian camp is too far. If we soldiers are allowed to walk, it will take us several hours on the road alone. When we arrive at our destination, we must have a rest for a while, and then we can fight after our physical strength recovers. Do you think you can provide us with some necessary help? "


    Raskin looked at me with a smile and asked, "don''t know what I can do for you?"


    "As you heard just now, besides tanks and infantry, there are also seven light cannons. At such a long distance, you can''t let our soldiers push the cannons by hand for more than 20 kilometers, can you? So you have to find a way to provide some trucks for our division, so that we can not only transport troops, but also lead the artillery to March quickly. "


    Raskin thought for a while, and readily agreed to my terms: "well, we are still in the guard division, and we can still find trucks. Tomorrow morning, I''ll ask Colonel lyudnikov to send you some." At this point, he yawned exaggeratively and said, "it''s not early. I''m going to have a rest. Let''s go back and have a rest."


    After the meeting, I asked several commanders to go back to the station to select the best troops and strong generals and form the troops to fight tomorrow. After everyone left, I politely said to Ruskin, "chief of staff, it''s getting late. You can go to the inner room and have a rest."


    Raskin, too, nodded, pushed open the inner door and went in.


    I was worried about the enemy situation in the evening, so I didn''t go to another room to rest. Instead, razumeyeva stayed outside on duty. First, we chatted for a while. When we were tired, we would lie on the table and have a rest.


    At dawn, as soon as the door of the inner room rang, I sat up straight and said politely to Raskin who came out from inside, "chief of staff, are you awake? Did you sleep well last night? "


    Raskin nodded and said, "I haven''t slept so soundly for a long time. Now that you''re up, let''s go out and see how the troops are getting ready? If I don''t see the troops, I''m always worried. "


    Seeing that he was about to walk out with his legs raised, I quickly reminded him and said, "Comrade chief of staff, didn''t you say that you asked Colonel lyudnikov to send us trucks today? Why don''t you call him before you go out? "


    Raskin waved his hand disapprovingly and said, "don''t bother. Before I came here last night, I agreed with lyudnikov to send 20 trucks after dawn."


    We walked out of the residential area to the South and saw that there were five tanks about to take part in the battle, and the tankers were not idle, standing on the tank body, wiping the gun barrel.


    Seeing this, Ruskin waved his head over there and said, "come on, let''s go and have a look."


    As we walked towards the tank, we heard the dialogue of the tank soldiers.


    Only an elderly sergeant who was cleaning the gun barrel said to the sergeant who was smoking on the turret: "Hey, sergeant, I heard we have another attack this morning."


    The smoking sergeant said confidently: "yes, I heard that the target of today''s assault is not the German, but the army of the servant country. You see, yesterday our tank rushed forward and fired two guns at random. So many Italians didn''t come out of the tent and surrender to us. Don''t worry. Today''s battle is estimated to be similar to yesterday''s. as long as our tanks rush, machine guns sweep into the crowd and fire two guns, the enemy will lay down their arms and surrender. "


    "That''s right. As long as we have such confidence, the enemy will surely be defeated by us." Pelsky, who came out of another tank, just heard the sergeant''s words. After praising him, he asked, "how are you all getting ready?"


    "Report to Comrade captain." The staff sergeant stood up straight on the car body and reported, "it''s all ready."


    Pelsjian laughed: "good guys, I''m glad to see that you have such a high morale. I can tell you that today''s battle will be under the personal command of division oshanina. It''s an honor for our tank team to fight with her."


    When I see Raskin looking at me with a smile, I can''t help blushing. This Peregrine is really flattering me in front of his department, which makes me feel a little embarrassed in front of Raskin.


    The sergeant suddenly said, "Comrade captain, I''m a little worried."


    "What are you worried about?" Not only did Peregrine frown, but Raskin''s face also looked unhappy.


    "I''m worried that when we get to the camp, the enemy may have run away. I''m worried that my tank won''t catch up with the escaping enemy." The chief said very calmly.


    The chief''s words immediately caused a lot of laughter.


    When the laughter subsided, pererskin said, "don''t worry, sergeant. Even if the enemy runs away, you can bombard them with tanks. Since they don''t want to be captives, let them go to hell. "


    Pelsjian''s words also caused the soldiers to laugh.


    "Comrade captain," Raskin went forward and said aloud, "your corporal is very angry."


    Peiersjian found us and yelled, "all at attention!" With his command, the tank soldiers, whether standing, sitting or lying, stood up straight and kept a standing position on the tank body.


    Pelsjian jumped out of the tank and ran to us. He came to us and was about to raise his hand to salute. Raskin stopped him. Raskin asked, "Comrade captain, are your troops ready?"


    Upon hearing Raskin''s question, peresjian nodded his head and answered in a loud voice, "report to chief of staff that the tank unit is ready to fight at any time."


    "Very good!" Raskin, perhaps for the sake of improving his morale, made a promise to perskin: "Comrade captain, if you come back after successfully completing your mission this time, I will personally promote you to the rank of captain."


    Raskin''s words aroused the whispers of the tank soldiers. I heard them say, "Hey, do you hear me? The colonel said that if we finish the task successfully, we will promote the captain to the rank of captain


    "Well, if a captain becomes a captain, will our rank be raised one level?"


    Just as I was talking, there was the roar of car motors in the distance. I looked in the direction of the sound and saw a long line of trucks coming towards us. It seemed that the motorcade sent by Colonel lyudnikov had arrived.


    I divided the troops into three echelons: the first echelon was composed of a tank and an infantry company. They were responsible for exploring the way in front of them; Captain shejerikov and I followed with two tanks and two companies of infantry; The third echelon consists of two tanks, an infantry company and a cannon company. Captain shejerikov and I went to the front of the second echelon in our jeep. On the way, xiejerikov said to me carefully, "Comrade division, in fact, you don''t need to go out in person. I''ll be fine in this battle." I waved my hand, interrupted what he said, and said frankly, "major xijerikov, in future battles, we will have the opportunity to deal with the army of other servant countries of the bandits, so we should know their roots and know their bottom, so that we can fight in an invincible position." My words, obviously, failed to convince Xie jerikov. He murmured: "I have heard others say before that the equipment of the Hungarian Army is the worst among the German servants. Since the weapons and equipment are not good, it is estimated that the combat effectiveness will not be much stronger. It may be the same as yesterday''s fight against the Italian army. As long as we fire a few guns and let the tanks guide the soldiers forward, the battle will be over. " When I heard that Xie jerikov was so confident, I suddenly felt a sense of insecurity. I always felt that something was wrong, but I couldn''t think of it. In this way, unconsciously, our troops approached the Hungarian camp. As soon as the driver stopped the car, the commander of the company in front of him ran up to him and said, "report to Mr. division commander, four hundred meters ahead is the camp of the Hungarian Army." Shejerikov and I pushed the door open, got out of the car on both sides and walked forward. I specially asked the company commander, "is there anything wrong with the enemy?" The company commander hastily reported: "the enemy''s camp is located on a hillside. They dug a trench around the camp. When we saw our army appear just now, the enemy has obviously issued a battle warning, and many Hungarian soldiers have entered the trenches. " Shejerikov looked at the Hungarian barracks ahead with a telescope, and then asked, "Comrade division, do you need to wait for our artillery company to arrive and prepare for the fire before attacking?" I took the telescope in his hand and looked ahead. The trenches outside the camp were full of Hungarian soldiers. After observing for a while, I learned how to distinguish their officers and soldiers without any teachers. The men with barrel caps and pistols were officers. And those who wear a Navy cap or German helmet and grass green uniform are undoubtedly soldiers. I carefully observed their guns on the trench. They were almost all rifles. I didn''t even see submachine guns, let alone heavy and heavy machine guns. I put down my telescope and said to the company commander standing in front of me, "comrade company commander, take your troops and follow the tanks to rush to the enemy''s camp once to try the enemy''s reaction." The company commander promised, turned and ran away quickly. Time is not long, stop in the front of the tank, the motor issued a roar, the tail of a jet of black smoke, and then quickly rushed to the hillside. Behind it, a company of infantry soldiers spread out and rushed up, bending over with weapons. Three hundred meters, two hundred meters, one hundred and fifty meters, one hundred meters. As our troops got closer and closer to the enemy''s position, the enemy still didn''t open fire on the position. I don''t know if they were frightened by our attack formation.

 Chapter 543

    The abnormality on the ground of the Hungarian Army was noticed not only by me and chejerikov, but also by the commander of the attacking company. Running in the front of the team, he suddenly slowed down and raised his right hand high to stop. When the soldiers stopped, the company commander took the lead to lie on the ground, and his subordinates also fell down on the spot and fired their guns, pointing directly at the enemy''s trenches.


    The tank moved forward for more than ten meters and stopped. The turret was slowly turning. Suddenly, the body of the tank was stunned, and our tankers launched a demonstration. The shell landed in the trench without bias. The blast raised a Hungarian soldier high. After a beautiful somersault, he fell heavily. After landing, he rolled several times and then did not move. Seeing what happened to his companions, the rest of the Hungarian officers and soldiers were scared into the trenches.


    Seeing that the enemy in the trench was frightened by the shelling of our tanks, the company commander who had been lying on the ground got up again, waved his rifle and took the lead to rush forward. Lying on the ground, the soldiers got up and rushed forward.


    Seeing our soldiers rushing forward, shejerikov, who was watching with a telescope, couldn''t help cheering: "great, our soldiers are rushing up. It''s great! Sir, you see, our troops are about to rush into the enemy''s trenches. At that time, the Hungarians will have to raise their hands and surrender obediently. " He said that he would return the telescope to me. Just when I reached for the telescope, he took it back and raised it in front of me again. He said in surprise, "hell, where the hell is this thing coming from?"


    "What''s the matter? Captain chejerikov. " This is because it is hundreds of meters away from the enemy''s position. Without the help of telescopes, many things can''t be seen clearly. That''s why I asked. Shejerikov''s nerves were so intense that he didn''t even notice that I called him by the wrong rank.


    "It''s a 20 mm anti tank rifle for anti tank hands. Damn, how could Hungarians have this equipment?" His voice did not fall, in front of a sudden burst of beans like dense gunfire.


    I grabbed the telescope and looked forward. The Hungarian soldiers looked up from the trench and were shooting at our attacking troops. In the dense fire of the enemy, our soldiers were knocked down in pieces. The rest of them fell down and fell on the ground to fight back.


    The company commander seemed to have been shot. His rifle was held high and his hand fell down. He took two steps, and his side softened and his gun was thrown aside. Seeing the company commander fall down, I was so nervous that I couldn''t breathe. I didn''t dare to move my eyes away from him for a moment. I seemed to want to know whether he had sacrificed. A moment later, the company commander sat up with difficulty and reached for the rifle beside him. Without waiting for his hand to touch the gun, his head jerked back. After holding this position for a few seconds, he fell on his back and stopped moving.


    In order to cover the retreat of the heavily wounded infantry, our tanks stopped and fired, the tank guns were firing, the machine guns on the turrets were also firing, and the soil in front of the Hungarian positions was splashed.


    Seeing that our infantry began to retreat, Hungarian soldiers were in a hurry and jumped out of the trench in an attempt to take advantage of the victory. Unexpectedly, they were immediately bombarded by our tanks and fired by machine guns, so they had to withdraw into the trench obediently. But they didn''t seem to give up. A few soldiers, each with a bundle of things, jumped out of the trench and rushed to our tank. Before they got close, the machine guns on the tank knocked them down.


    At this time, our infantry almost all retreated to 200 meters away. At such a distance, it is difficult for Hungarian firepower to cause any effective damage to our infantry. Seeing that his cover task was completed, the tank soldiers also backed the tank down the slope.


    Five or six Hungarian soldiers who were not afraid of death jumped out of the trench, but they were all veterans and had much more experience than the soldiers just now. As soon as they left the trench, they fell down on the spot and crawled towards the tank. From time to time, they made one or two rollovers to avoid the machine gun fire from the tank.


    Even so, after they left the trench for 100 meters, there was only one soldier left. At this time, our tanks began to speed up, ready to leave the battlefield quickly. The soldier suddenly raised his hand and threw out a hand grenade. The hand grenade exploded in front of the tank body and sent up a cloud of black smoke. The soldier jumped up from the ground and rushed into the black smoke and approached our tank.


    At the moment when the soldier rushed into the black smoke, I saw that he was holding a bundle of cluster grenades in his hand. It seemed that he wanted to blow up the tank of our army. I couldn''t help shouting out: "Oh, no!" As soon as the words came to an end, there was a loud "boom", and our tanks were shrouded in smoke and fire. When the smoke is gone, we can see that our tank has been destroyed.


    He also saw the scene clearly. He asked nervously, "how are you, sir? See any survivors in the tank? "


    I held up my telescope and looked at the burning tank, praying for a miracle. Maybe my prayer came true. A man came out from the bottom of the tank. Instead of leaving immediately, he helped another man come out and put out the fire on him. Then the two men helped each other and ran towards us stumbling. The infantry who fell behind quickly came forward and helped the two tank soldiers to us.


    When two tank soldiers approached, I saw that they were sergeants and sergeants chatting on the tank in the morning. The sergeant''s injury was much more serious. He could walk a few steps when he left the tank. Now almost four soldiers are carrying him. I went forward and asked the slightly injured sergeant with concern, "Comrade sergeant, are there any survivors in the tank?"


    Hearing my question, the sergeant''s face blackened by the smoke had no expression at all, and his voice said painfully, "no, sir, the rest of the members have died."


    I took his hand and said sincerely, "Comrade sergeant, it is because of your bravery that so many of our soldiers have successfully retreated from the enemy''s position. Thank you! You go back to heal yourself, and let us do the rest. "


    While I was talking to the tank sergeant, shejerikov went to count the casualties without waiting for my orders. After the tank soldiers were helped away, xiejerikov came back to me and said with some frustration: "report to the division commander, the casualties are counted out. There are 59 dead infantry, 2 tank soldiers and 25 wounded. There are only 16 remaining combat personnel in the company."


    At this time, the third echelon of perersian and Morozov also arrived. Seeing the tragedy of our army, they were shocked and asked, "what''s the matter? Why have our troops suffered so many casualties that they haven''t taken down the enemy''s camp?"


    Shejerikov blushed with shame and did not know how to answer their questions. The morale of the troops will inevitably be affected after they have just lost the battle. In this case, it is up to me to take the responsibility. I waved my hand and said, "it''s my fault, because yesterday''s victory was too easy, so I was paralyzed, and the enemy will be as vulnerable as the Italians. Just before the attack, we were not prepared at all, so we launched the attack rashly. " At this point, I turned my head to express my thanks to pelsjian: "thank you, comrade captain!"


    "Thank you?! Why? " Peregrine was confused by what I said.


    "If your tank soldiers had not decisively left behind just now, it is estimated that none of the infantry participating in the attack would have survived and all of them would have to be accounted for in front of the enemy''s positions."


    "What are we going to do next?" Asked chejerikov.


    I looked in the direction of the enemy''s position and said indignantly, "first use tank guns and cannons to bombard the enemy''s position, and then send out infantry to charge." At this point, I asked shijerikov with some puzzlement: "major, what did you just say about the 20 mm anti tank rifle? What''s the matter?"


    Xiejerikov quickly replied: "report, comrade division commander, I just saw a Hungarian soldier with a telescope holding an anti tank gun in the trench, aiming at our tank." At this point, he shrugged and went on to say: "maybe our tank soldiers are quick to respond, and they are the first to blow them off without waiting for the enemy to shoot."


    I looked at a group of commanders around me, clapped my hands, and announced loudly, "OK, all commanders, pay attention. I''ll start to assign the task now. Lieutenant Morozov


    "Here it is Morozov agreed, stood upright in front of me and said in a loud voice, "please give me an order."¡° Immediately find a suitable place to set up artillery positions and bombard enemy positions. "


    Then I called out the name of the next Commander: "Captain perskin!"


    "Here it is The tank captain stepped forward, looked at me without squinting, and said, "I''m at your command!"


    I pointed to an open space ahead and said, "Comrade captain, line up your tank units there. When the artillery company''s shelling is over, it will immediately attack forward to cover the infantry''s attack on the enemy''s camp. "


    The commander of the artillery company and the commander of the tank unit turned to do the preparatory work. Looking at the three remaining company commanders in front of me, I solemnly asked, "who would like to lead the troops?"


    As soon as I said that, a captain came out of the crowd, saluted me and said, "report to Mr. division commander, the eighth company of the second regiment is willing to accept this task."


    I think the captain in front of me looks familiar, but I can''t remember where I met him for a moment, so I can only ask: "Comrade captain, do you want to accept this task?"


    "I don''t know! Comrade division, last time you said that my company should be the first force to rush into the buildings occupied by the enemy in the battle of liberating the residential areas. However, in the battle, our company captured only two buildings that were almost unattended, and our achievements were far from comparable with those of other companies. I don''t know how to explain to the soldiers if we don''t take the lead and make more contributions in this battle. "


    The captain''s eyes were red when he said that. Seeing that his attitude was so firm, I didn''t object to it, so I waved my hand and said carelessly, "OK, I''ll give you the task of leading the way."


    The captain saluted me excitedly and said in a loud voice, "Comrade division, please rest assured that our company will never let you down. We will certainly break through the enemy positions in front of us."


    Morozov''s cannon company soon established artillery positions and began shelling Hungarian camps¡° Boom... Boom... "The shells roared and flew past, raising smoke columns in the position.


    From the beginning of the shelling, I was staring at the Hungarian position. At the beginning of the shelling, they retreated into the trenches one after another to avoid our intensive shelling.


    Seeing that the enemy''s trenches were hollowed out by our shells, I nodded with satisfaction, and told sergeant shijerikov: "Comrade major, let Lieutenant Morozov stop shelling, and then send a signal to captain perskin to let their tanks attack." Then I went up to the infantry captain, patted him on the shoulder and said, "it''s up to you next. Do well, comrade captain. Go


    After saluting me, the captain ran back to his company, pulled out his pistol, raised it above his head, and yelled to his men, "brothers, follow me!"


    The infantry were seen standing in a loose formation behind the four tanks, bending forward and striding forward. I turned the observation lens to the enemy''s trench again, only to see that the Hungarian officers and soldiers who had retreated into the trench had come out again, put their guns on the edge of the trench, and were ready to launch another attack on our attacking troops.


    Pelsjian had rich experience in fighting. When he saw the enemy coming out, the tanks didn''t slow down and fired at the enemy''s trenches while driving. The enemy may not have thought that our tanks would fire when they were on the move, so they were caught off guard. At least more than 30 people were killed in the first two rounds of shelling.


    The commander of the camp seemed to know that his troops holding the trench suffered heavy casualties and immediately sent reinforcements. There are dozens of officers and soldiers are bending over with guns running towards the trench side.


    I quickly ran to Morozov''s side, pointed to the soldiers who were approaching the trench, and said to him in a loud voice: "Comrade lieutenant, order your men to fire directly at the enemy who are coming to reinforce. They must not be allowed to enter the trench."


    Morozov agreed, immediately gave orders to his gunners, and reported a series of parameters. With little effort, the cannons company opened fire, and the shells accurately landed in the middle of the enemy line and exploded, causing the enemy to flee.


    Our attacking troops approached the enemy again, and the enemy began to shoot at our troops regardless of the bombardment of our tanks. Seeing one soldier after another knocked down by the enemy''s bullets, my heart went up to my throat. Especially when I saw that pelsjian''s tank had to slow down when it bypassed the destroyed tank, I gave them a cold sweat.


    Fortunately, there was no danger. After the tank bypassed the obstacle, it continued to rush forward. And the play of the eighth company of the second regiment is also remarkable. The soldiers shot and rushed forward. The experienced soldiers also threw grenades from time to time. With the help of the smoke of grenade explosion, they covered the enemy''s sight and continued to rush forward.


    Almost as the tanks crossed the trench and marched towards the camp, the infantry also rushed into the trench and started a hand-to-hand battle with the Hungarian soldiers who were staying inside. Although their weapons are almost all rifles, they have knives, shovel and axe for assault structures. These are close weapons.


    The Hungarian soldiers who fought hard and were beaten by our shovel and axe, and the rest of them lost the courage to continue to fight. In a few moments, some hands surrendered. One person took the lead and others followed suit. As a result, more than 30 soldiers left in the trench raised their hands one after another.


    As early as the eighth company rushed into the enemy''s trench, shejerikov lost no time in sending another infantry company to reinforce. Seeing that the enemy in the trench had surrendered at the moment, he said to me, "Comrade division, it seems that the enemy can''t stand it. You stay here. I''ll go ahead and have a look."


    "Let''s go together!" I finished, and without waiting for his objection, I strode forward. Shejerikov knew that he couldn''t stop me, so he called the rest of the infantry company to join us.


    The battle moved from the trench to the enemy''s camp. However, judging from the strength of the gunfire, the enemy''s resistance in the camp was not very tenacious. It was estimated that it would take less than half an hour to clear up the enemy.


    I went to the trench and picked up a Hungarian soldier''s rifle from the ground. I looked over and over for a long time, but no matter how I looked at it, I felt very uncomfortable. This rifle added a long straight clip under the magazine, which seemed a little nondescript. I handed the gun to shijerikov and said with a smile, "Comrade major, look at this rifle. It looks really weird."


    Unexpectedly, shejerikov took a look at it, and then replied, "Comrade division, this is not a rifle, it''s a Hungarian M39 submachine gun." Maybe I was afraid I couldn''t understand it, so I specially introduced that "M39 submachine gun adopts integrated wooden butt, and its gearbox is cylindrical. The length of the gun is 1048mm, the length of the barrel is 500mm, and the weight of the gun is 4.6kg, which is larger and heavier than our submachine gun.


    In addition, the mechanical sight of M39 is composed of a V-shaped notch illumination door with an arc-shaped base and a cylindrical collimator, with a range of 50-600 M. At the end of the casing is a knob shaped fast and slow machine, in front of which are engraved the letters "e", "s" and "Z", representing three shooting modes respectively: "e" represents single shot shooting¡® S'' stands for continuous fire¡® Z ''is insurance. M39 is also equipped with bayonet base. After adding double blade long bayonet, the whole gun length can reach 1378mm.


    M39 uses the relatively powerful 9 ¡Á 25 mm Mauser bullet. The mass of the warhead is 8.1G, the average muzzle velocity is 455ms, and the muzzle kinetic energy is 838j, which is 9 ¡Á The kinetic energy of the 19mm balabellum pistol is about 40%.


    M39 adopts double row double entry magazine with capacity of 40 rounds. The design of the magazine seat is quite unique. When it is carried or not in use, the magazine seat can be folded forward to make the magazine stuck in the groove under the armguard. When the magazine is stuck in the armguard, the mouth of the magazine will be exposed, and the elastic dust cover will cover the mouth of the magazine, so as to prevent dust from entering the magazine and causing ammunition feeding failure. " After listening to the introduction of xiejerikov, I nodded and praised him: "Comrade major, I didn''t expect that you know a lot about guns." Xiejerikov said with a shy smile: "Comrade division, before the war, I was a gun Engineer in the military factory, so I have a certain understanding of the guns of various countries."¡° Are all the letters you just said in English? " Although I know that it is not possible to use English letters on Hungarian weapons, I still point to the letters on the guns and ask clearly. "It''s not because of the alphabet, it''s the abbreviation of the Hungarian alphabet," he said, shaking his head Just then, the gunfire in the camp had stopped completely. Xiejerikov said pleasantly: "Sir, listen, the gunfire in the camp has stopped. It seems that the enemy has either been eliminated or surrendered by us." Although I couldn''t see the situation in the camp from the position of the trench, I instinctively looked in that direction, then nodded and said, "come on, let''s go to the camp and have a look." As soon as we got to the top of the slope, we saw the commander of the eighth company and his soldiers, escorting about ten officers in round barrels, flat caps and boots. I don''t know the rank of Hungary, so I don''t know who is the top commander of the camp. Seeing me and shejerikov appear, the eighth company commander''s face showed a happy expression. He hurriedly asked the soldiers to stop, ran to me alone, raised his hand to salute me, and reported: "Comrade division commander, all the remaining enemies in the camp have surrendered to us. These are their commanders at all levels."¡° Good job, comrade captain. You have done a good job After praising the eighth company commander, I asked, "among them, who is the highest commander of the camp?" The captain turned his head to his men and said in a loud voice, "come on, bring their commander here!" With his command, two soldiers pulled a slightly older officer from among the officers and pushed him in front of me. I looked the officer up and down in front of me and asked, "do you know Russian?" Originally, I just asked casually, because in the German army, there are many people who know German, but few who know Russian. I didn''t expect that when he heard me ask, he nodded without hesitation and then said in standard fluent Russian, "yes, I know Russian." It''s easy to understand Russian, so I don''t have to find a Hungarian translator. So I asked, "please tell me your name, rank and position!" My use of "you" here is not honorific, but represents alienation and vigilance¡° My name is Nagy Sandor. You can call me Nagy. My rank is major. I am the commander of the Hungarian battalion. I belong to the Hungarian second army. "¡° Why did you see us appear and organize resistance instead of surrendering? You know, the Italian camp, which we captured yesterday, gave up Asked chejerikov angrily. Nagy took a look at chejerikov and said, "Sir major, I don''t want to make any comment on Italian soldiers. But what I want to tell you is that as a soldier, even though he knows the great disparity between the two sides, he will not surrender to his enemy without fighting. In that case, it''s a shame for a soldier. I''m a soldier. I want to defend my honor by fighting. " With a sneer, I said in a sarcastic tone, "Mr. Nagy, for your ridiculous theory, for your so-called honor, hundreds of soldiers have lost their lives in vain." Speaking of this, I turned my eyes to the eighth company commander and said to him, "I don''t want to see this hypocrite again. Take him and his subordinates away." Just then, shejerikov suddenly pointed to the air and cried, "look, enemy plane!" I looked up in the direction of his fingers and saw two black spots in the air. I was a little nervous. I haven''t seen enemy planes in the air for a long time. How could they suddenly appear today? As we were about to call our troops to pay attention to air defense, the enemy plane was approaching, passing over us and heading east. I just breathed a sigh of relief, and heard someone exclaim: "my God, how can there be so many enemy planes? What do they want to do?" I looked up again, looking at the dark clouds in the sky, my body began to shake. Because I understand that it''s not speechless, it''s a German fleet. Dense enemy planes flew over our sky, and someone suddenly exclaimed, "I see. The enemy planes are flying eastward. Their target is Stalingrad!"

 Chapter 544

    I took off the telescope hanging around my neck, put it into the hand of sergeikov and ordered him: "Comrade major, you are in charge of how many enemy planes there are in the sky." My voice trembled when I said this because I was nervous.


    I grabbed operator No. 4, dragged him aside, and could not wait to tell him, "hurry up, contact the settlement immediately. I have important information to report to Colonel Ruskin."


    At this time, I especially regret that I should have brought razumeyeva and the telephone when I knew I would have found the German aircraft group attacking Stalingrad. In that case, at least I could talk directly with the headquarters of the group army. Now, I can only get in touch with Raskin in the residential area through walkie talkie, and then he will report the enemy situation I reported to the group army headquarters. According to the military practice, after receiving the intelligence provided by Ruskin, the group army headquarters must go through repeated verification in order to be safe before reporting it to the front army headquarters. At that moment, it is estimated that the first wave of bombing of Stalingrad by the German fleet is over.


    When I contacted Colonel Raskin, I couldn''t take care of the greetings and shouted at the messenger: "Comrade chief of staff, I have important military conditions to report to you. In a hurry, please report to the command of the group immediately."


    Raskin was confused by my anxious tone. He didn''t know what was going on. He quickly comforted me and said, "o''shanina, what''s going on? Don''t worry. Speak slowly. I''m listening."


    I looked up at the German fleet passing by like dark clouds and said excitedly: "Comrade chief of staff, I am in the Hungarian military camp now. I see the German bomber fleet flying towards Stalingrad. I repeat, the large-scale German bombers are flying towards Stalingrad. "


    I didn''t expect that when he heard this, he laughed easily and said carelessly, "o''shanina, did you hit the Hungarian camp? You are so excited. How many enemy planes do you see in the sky? "


    I took the transmitter away from my mouth and asked out loud to serge reekov not far away, "Hey, major serge reekov, I asked you to count the enemy planes in the sky. Have you finished counting them? How many are there?"


    Shejerikov put down his telescope, looked at me nervously, and replied loudly, "it''s not finished, but I estimate that the number of enemy planes will not be less than 500."


    When I got the data that chejerikov reported to me, I did not dare to neglect it at all. I quickly reported it to Raskin: "Comrade Colonel, there are at least 500 enemy planes. They are flying to Stalingrad."


    Raskin snorted after hearing this, and said in a tone of disapproval, "calm down, commander o''shanina. According to our military intelligence, the number of enemy planes is less than half of what you said


    Hearing this, I raised the transmitter high without saying a word, and let Raskin, who was wearing headphones, listen to the roar of the enemy''s motor in the sky. After a while, I felt that he had almost heard it. Then I put down my hand and yelled at him angrily and incoherently at the transmitter: "do you hear the sound of the plane flying through the sky? Chief of staff, you can''t always hear the sound of the car motor, can you? Are you deaf? Didn''t you hear the roar of the enemy''s motors? German bombers are flying to Stalingrad. Yes, they are flying to Stalingrad. You said the Germans couldn''t get the 500 airplanes. They got them! "


    "I can''t believe it. It''s amazing!" Raskin, who had heard the sound of the motor of the plane, became nervous. He asked cautiously, "dear comrade oshanina, where do you think the enemy''s planes are going?"


    "Where else? Stalingrad, of course. Didn''t you hear what I said just now? " I yelled at him.


    "But how can I report to my superiors? Can you tell the commander directly that a group of bombers composed of more than 500 planes has been found flying towards Stalingrad? " I thought Raskin would report the incident to commander shumilov immediately after hearing the roar of the plane. Unexpectedly, he said, "you know, it''s a very important thing now. If you provide such information that has not been confirmed by the headquarters of the front army, you may be taken as a panic monger by your superiors and directly arrested by the people of the interior ministry, To court martial. Even if I believe you and report this information to the commander, he will not dare to report it to the headquarters of the front army in time. "


    Raskin''s words made me wake up from my excited state. It seems that he didn''t mean to shirk responsibility and didn''t want to report the incident, but had many scruples. I understand his difficulties very well. As early as the early days of the Moscow defense war, a similar incident happened. The military commissar of the Moscow military region, Jeremy king, received an urgent report from his subordinates, saying that during the routine reconnaissance, our reconnaissance plane found a German mechanized force composed of tanks and motorcycles, bypassing our defense line, attacking Moscow and occupying ikonov, 200 kilometers away from the capital. After receiving the information, in order to be safe, he specially sent the best pilots to check. When the intelligence was confirmed, he issued a combat alert to the podorisk infantry academy and the Lenin military academy, asking their troops to block the enemy''s advance. At the same time, he also informed Stalin and marshal Shaposhnikov, the then general staff. Although he took a series of decisive measures and won the admiration of the Supreme Commander himself, he was arrested by the Ministry of internal affairs on the charge of panic soon after. Otherwise Stalin would get the news and rescue him, and the post of military commissar of Moscow military region would be replaced.


    Maybe I was so preoccupied that Raskin called me several times before I came back to myself. Only his anxious voice came from the earphone: "o''shanina, do you hear me? What''s the matter with you? What''s going on? "


    I hastily replied, "Comrade chief of staff, I''m listening." Speaking of this, I hesitated for a moment, but boldly said what I thought: "Comrade chief of staff, I beg you again, please report this important information to commander shumilov immediately. If we do not attach importance to such information, it is a crime against the motherland and the people. " When I said this, I miss trakov in my heart. If he knew the news, he would not be as indecisive as Ruskin. Instead, he would call the commander of the front army and report the information to the other side without saying a word.


    At my request, Ruskin reluctantly agreed: "well, I''ll try to report this information to commander shumilov. By the way, when do you think the enemy plane will fly over Stalingrad? "


    I looked up again at the sky like clouds of enemy aircraft, according to their flight speed calculation, and then with a positive tone said: "about an hour later, they will arrive over Stalingrad."


    "There''s an hour left. It should be in time. I''ll report to the commander right away. When your task is finished, hurry back to the residential area as soon as possible. Maybe there are some new tasks waiting for you. Finally, good luck to you


    At the end of the conversation with Ruskin, I turned and asked Sergey reekov, who was still looking up at the sky with a telescope: "Hey, comrade major, what''s the date today?"


    "23, August 23." Shejerikov said today''s date almost without thinking.


    When I heard this name, I felt a thump in my heart. My God, today is the day when Stalingrad was bombed. If Raskin''s information can''t be reported to the headquarters of the front army in time, tens of thousands of civilians will die in the German air attack.


    As soon as I thought of this, I was eager to return home, and I was not interested in going to the Hungarian camp. I called chejerikov to my side and told him, "Comrade major, I now order you to stay in the Hungarian camp and be responsible for counting the spoils and arranging for people to escort the prisoners to the headquarters of the group army. After all this, you will rush back to the residential area immediately. Maybe there are new tasks waiting for us. "


    "How many people are you going to take to leave first, sir?" he asked cautiously


    After scanning the four weeks, I found that there were a lot of aftercare matters to deal with. If too many people were taken away, it was estimated that they would be a little busy. I thought for a while and replied, "you have a lot of things to deal with here. You are too busy to deal with the shortage of manpower. Well, I''ll take the crippled company back to the residential area and leave you three companies. At the same time, the artillery and tank units and the telegraph operators will stay.. Remember, when cleaning up the battlefield and counting the seizure, you should send out a warning to all sides, so as not to be suddenly attacked by the enemy. "


    On the way back to the settlements in the jeep, I was particularly heavy at the thought of the German bombers flying towards Stalingrad. Although the Soviet Union officials have always avoided talking about the actual casualties caused by the German air attack on Stalingrad, as a passer-by, I have a certain understanding of this period of history because I have seen relevant reports.


    At that time, the city of Stalingrad gathered hundreds of thousands of civilians who had retreated from the enemy occupied areas. Because Stalin was worried that the large-scale evacuation would cause panic, he issued an order not to allow the evacuation of the residents in the city. In this way, the evacuation work, which had been slow due to insufficient preparation and insufficient ferries, was completely stopped, Only tens of thousands of civilians crossed the Volga river safely and moved to the right bank before the order was given.


    On August 23, the German army dispatched 1200 bombers and 300 fighter planes to carry out a major bombing of Stalingrad. The German air force carried out a round of indiscriminate bombing every 4 or 50 minutes, and each round lasted 10 to 15 minutes. On that day, thousands of tons of bombs were dropped in Stalingrad. During the bombing, the vast majority of residential buildings, hospitals, schools, kindergartens and other civilian facilities in the city were destroyed. Even the oil storage on the Bank of Volga was destroyed. The burning crude oil drifted along the river. From a distance, the Volga River looked like a burning river. After the German pilots returned home, they happily wrote letters to their friends and relatives, saying that Stalingrad had become a purgatory after their bombing.


    As there are still 700000 civilians in Stalingrad who have not been evacuated, 70000 people were killed in the air raid on the 23rd, 140000 people were injured and maimed, and nearly 190000 civilians were killed during the defense war of Zengge Stalingrad, which is the highest death rate in the air raid during the Second World War. However, for fear that telling the truth might shake the morale of the army, the official media of the Soviet Union deliberately concealed the number of the captains, saying that from August 2 to October 10, only 3500 people died in the German air raid, and the dead were women, children and the elderly.


    In order to avoid the tragedy, I try to use my knowledge to change the coming history. I even thought that as long as the headquarters of the front army in Stalingrad can get the information reported by general shumilov in the shortest time, it can issue air raid alarm as soon as possible, let the civilians in the city escape to the air raid shelter, and try to minimize the losses in the air raid.


    As I was so anxious, I repeatedly urged the driver to drive faster and faster. The driver did not dare to neglect, stepped on the accelerator to the end, rushed to the residential area like a whirlwind, and soon left behind the truck carrying soldiers without a trace.


    As soon as the jeep stopped outside the command post, I pushed the door open and jumped out and ran to the command post. As soon as I rushed into the command post and saw Colonel Ruskin, I asked impatiently, "what''s the matter? Comrade chief of staff, have you reported the situation to commander shumilov? "


    Ruskin nodded slowly. I couldn''t help sighing. I sat on the stool and looked at my watch. Fifty minutes had passed. Although there was not much time left, it was enough for most civilians to hide in the air raid shelter. In this way, even if the German army bombed most of the buildings in Stalingrad, the civilian casualties could be minimized.


    Just as he was secretly congratulating himself, Raskin said another startling word, which made me jump out of my seat. With a look of shame on his face, he said to me regretfully, "I''m sorry, commander oshanina. Although I truthfully reported your information to commander shumilov, he also reported it to the headquarters of the front army. However, it is a pity that neither the commander nor the military commissar believed it. They stubbornly believed that it was a rumor deliberately spread by the enemy in order to cause panic in the city. The commander has issued a strict order. Anyone who wants to report this information will be arrested as a spy immediately. "


    After listening to Ruskin''s words, I sat down again. Since the top commander did not believe my information, I would not have any effect even if I reported it a few more times. What should I do? What should I do? At this moment, my mind was blank. Although I saw Ruskin''s mouth open and close, I couldn''t hear what he was saying.


    Report to the higher authorities! This word suddenly appeared in my mind. Since the commander of the front army is not willing to believe my information, I will go over him and report it to someone at a higher level, such as Zhukov. Although I know that if I report to the higher authorities, I will definitely leave a bad impression on the leaders, but now it''s about the life and death of hundreds of thousands of people, what''s the future of my personal honor and disgrace?


    Thinking of this, I suddenly stood up, quickly walked to razumeyeva''s side, and told her: "Sergeant comrade, I will give you a call code, you call immediately."


    When razumeyeva began to call Zhukov''s special radio station, Raskin was startled. He quickly grabbed my arm, pulled me aside, and whispered to me, "o''shanina, you are crazy. You have gone beyond the group army and the front army to report to the deputy commander in chief. If shumilov, yelimenko and Khrushchev know about it, you may be sent to the military court. "


    I looked him in the eye and said, "Comrade chief of staff, if I don''t report this information so that the civilians in Stalingrad can be covered up in time, there will be a river of blood and a lot of corpses in the city. As a soldier, my duty is to protect our country, not only our country, but also our people. I appreciate your kindness, but I will bear all the consequences. "


    After listening to me, he silently released my arm, slowly stepped back, and hesitated to say, "commander o''shanina, maybe you are right. Then, do it according to your original intention. "


    About five minutes later, razumeyeva finally contacted Zhukov. As soon as I put on the earphone, I heard Zhukov''s familiar voice: "Hello, Rita!"


    At the moment of hearing Zhukov''s voice, a sense of intimacy and belonging came to my face. I was flustered for a moment, and said hello to him: "Hello, general Zhukov, I''m glad to hear your voice."


    "In my impression, it seems that you have never used the emergency call code I left you." Zhukov said slowly: "now suddenly use this code, what happened?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." At this moment, I have returned to normal. I briefly reported to Zhukov the enemy situation I had observed. Finally, I specially emphasized: "senior general, I would like to ask you to ask commander yelomienko and military commissar Khrushchev to issue air raid warning in time, so that hundreds of thousands of residents in the city can hide as soon as possible, Avoid unnecessary casualties in air strikes. "


    "Are you sure what you say is true?" Zhukov did not answer me, but asked himself.


    "Yes, Comrade General. It''s all true. " In order to increase the credibility of the matter, I also specially stressed: "you know I used to be an antiaircraft shooter, and I can tell the enemy''s aircraft model at a glance. As for the quantity, I have entrusted one of my subordinates to count it. I think there should be no mistake. "


    "Well, in that case, I will immediately contact yelomenko and Khrushchev and ask them to immediately organize the civilians in the city to hide." Hearing that I was so sure, Zhukov, with his familiarity with me, no longer doubted the truth of the matter and immediately agreed to my request.


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was an hour earlier. I could not help adding in a flurry: "Comrade General, please hurry up. Maybe the enemy plane is approaching Stalingrad now. When the bombing really started, it was irreparable. "


    "Well, I see." Perhaps I was too straightforward, causing Zhukov''s dissatisfaction, his voice showed a trace of impatience, "I know how to do things, you don''t have to teach me." After the call with Zhukov, razumeyeva looked up at me and asked nervously, "Sir, before the enemy planes attacked Stalingrad, do you think the civilians can be evacuated and hidden?" I shook my head and said helplessly, "I don''t know. I have to leave everything to fate." When I returned to the table and sat down, I found that my back was soaked with cold sweat. Holding the edge of the table in both hands, I gasped for breath, knowing that as soon as Zhukov''s call reached the headquarters of Stalingrad''s front army, I would be married to yelolmenko and Khrushchev. Even if the two commanders had a lot of knowledge and didn''t agree with me, they planted a thorn in their heart. As long as they are still in the position of leader of the front army for one day, then I am doomed to have no chance of promotion. Raskin didn''t know when to sit down next to me, patted me on the back, comforted me and said, "o''shanina, don''t worry too much. As long as facts prove that what you have said is true, the commander of the front army and comrades of the military commissar will not blame you any more. " Just then, razumeyeva suddenly turned to me and said, "Comrade division commander, there is a head of the front army who wants to talk to you." When she handed me the earphone and the transmitter, while Raskin didn''t pay attention, she covered the transmitter with her hand and reminded me in a low voice: "it''s comrade Khrushchev, military commissar of the front army, who wants to talk to you. You should be careful. He seems to be angry." I gave her a smile to show my thanks. When I put on the earphone, I just said a word to the transmitter: "Hello, I''m the independent division commander, Lieutenant Colonel o''shanina..." Before I finished, there was a roaring voice in the earphone: "I remind you, commander oshanina, you are just a commander of the 64th army. He is neither a lieutenant general nor the head of the front army. What right do you have to direct the decision-making of the front army? Don''t think that if you move out of Zhukov, people will give you three points. I tell you, no way. No one can change the decision made by commander yelomienko and me. I am now officially informing you that from now on, you will be... "Just now, it seems that something happened in Khrushchev''s office, so that he had to stop before he could say his decision. I seem to hear a faint explosion, and then heard him ask others: "what''s the matter with you, why are you so flustered? And what are you doing breaking into my office with a few people? "¡° Comrade military commissar, "the visitor said breathlessly," enemy planes, hundreds of them have appeared over the city and are bombing our city. Please go to the air raid shelter at once. It''s too late! "¡° Impossible, "Khrushchev still said stubbornly," you must be mistaken where the enemy is going to find hundreds of planes. These are all rumors released by spies in an attempt to shake the morale of our army. "¡° "Come on," the man told his subordinates directly without talking nonsense to Khrushchev, "hurry up and drag the comrades of the military commissar to the basement. Move fast. It''s too late." First I heard the sound of the transmitter and headphones falling on the table. Then I heard Khrushchev''s hysterical cry: "what are you going to do? Let me go. I ordered you to let me go. I''m a military commissar, you can''t take me away from my post... "His cry gradually faded away, but the explosion from the earphone became clearer and clearer. I took off my earphone and put it on the table. I said to razumeyeva feebly, "stop the call, sergeant." Raskin also ran over and asked with concern, "what''s the situation like? What did the comrades of the military commissar say?" I looked at him and said with a bitter smile, "comrades of the military commissar have been dragged to the basement by his subordinates. Now, "I can''t help sighing," it''s too late. It''s too late. The enemy planes are bombing Stalingrad. "

 Chapter 545

    Raskin returned to the headquarters of the group army in the afternoon of that day, leaving me in the residential area to wait anxiously for Khrushchev''s thunder. In fact, when talking to the military commissar of the front army, although he didn''t finish what he said because of the air raid, I can guess that he would say, "from now on, you are dismissed!"


    However, until dark, I didn''t receive any information from the headquarters of the front army. Even the communication from the headquarters of the group army remained silent.


    After calling several of them to hold a battle summary meeting, I completely figured out that what should come should always come, even if I want to avoid it. Anyway, things have happened. As for what kind of fate is waiting for me, I can''t control it. Let''s go with it.


    Early in the morning, I woke up with a quick knock on the door. When I look at my watch, it''s just five o''clock. It''s not quite light yet. I don''t know whether it was razumeyeva or operator No. 4 last night, so I asked out loud and unhappily, "who? Can I help you? "


    People outside may have recognized my dissatisfaction and the knock on the door suddenly stopped. After a while, I heard the timid voice of razumeyeva outside the door¡° It''s me, sir. The commander is online. He wants to speak to you. "


    Hearing that it was the commander who wanted to speak to me, I could not help shivering. If I had to contact me so early, was it the intention to inform me of the punishment decision of the headquarters of the front army? I put on my boots, took a deep breath, went to the door and opened the door.


    Lazumeyeva stopped at the door. Seeing me go out, he quickly raised his hand to salute me and repeated what he said just now: "Comrade division commander, the commander is online, and he will talk to you immediately."


    Seeing the earphone and transmitter of the telephone set on the table, I strode over. Razumeyeva took the lead, grabbed the earphone and transmitter and handed them to me.


    I put on my headphones, blew on my transmitter and said in a loud voice, "I''m lieutenant commander o''shanina."


    Immediately I heard a familiar but unexpected voice: "I''m trekov, commander oshanina. I have an important task to give you." Unexpectedly, it was not commander shumilov who wanted to talk to me, but deputy commander trakov.


    "Comrade commander, is that you?" Suddenly I heard trakov''s voice. I couldn''t believe it, so I asked tentatively, "where are you now?" I said in my heart, how could Khrushchev suddenly change his sex and release trakov so quickly?


    "Where else? Of course, in the headquarters of the group army! " Said trekov aloud¡° O''shanina, I heard from Colonel Raskin that yesterday you saw that the enemy plane was about to attack Stalingrad. The intelligence did not get the due attention of the superior. Instead, you advocated without authorization and reported to general Zhukov by leaping over the level. Is there such a thing? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." I gave trekov a positive answer, and finally said with regret, "it''s a pity that I''m still a little slow. What happened to Stalingrad? Is it a big loss? "


    Trikov sighed and said, "well, how can we say that yesterday''s frenzied German bombing caused huge losses to Stalingrad. After the bombing, there was hardly a complete building in the city. The civilian casualties are even more serious. The civilians killed by the explosion can be seen everywhere. Their broken limbs are scattered everywhere. The young people who are responsible for cleaning up the scene are scared to vomit on the spot. "


    I didn''t want to continue this painful topic, so I asked interactively, "Comrade commander, you just said you have a task to hand over to our division, don''t know what task? Although our division has not been established for a long time, we have fought several battles and the results are quite satisfactory. "


    "It''s because you played well that I confidently and boldly assigned this important task to your division." It seems that trikov forgot that two days before he was dismissed, he did not have the slightest confidence in our division''s ability to capture the enemy occupied residential areas. Now, he plans to use our division as the main force.


    I hesitated for a moment, then asked cautiously¡° General trakov, what mission are you going to send our division to? "


    "Yesterday morning, the enemy suddenly launched an attack in spardanovka. They concentrated their forces to attack the 158 highland, which was held by two battalions of the 154th marine brigade. Due to the fierce fire of the enemy, the battle was carried out in the evening, and all the remaining troops were occupied by the enemy and forced to retreat into the tunnel. I have ordered the 29th division commander kolobkin to organize the troops to carry out counter assault this morning and restore the positions lost yesterday. " At this point, trakov stopped for a moment, accentuated his tone, and continued: "your division''s task is to dispatch a battalion to cooperate with colonel klobkin''s counterattack, and then cooperate with the troops left in the tunnel to recover the 158 heights."


    After listening to trakov''s task, I couldn''t help hesitating. As a division commander, I know better than anyone. To let a group of poorly equipped soldiers without military training attack the enemy''s tightly defended positions is undoubtedly to let them die.


    When he heard that I didn''t reply, trikov was a little anxious and urged, "o''shanina, what''s the matter with you? Why don''t you talk?"


    My reply was somewhat blunt: "Comrade commander, as you know, my troops are poorly equipped and lack sufficient military training. If we want them to take part in such battles, I am afraid they are not competent."


    "Commander oshanina," trikov said coldly in a business tone, "you have to figure out one thing. I''m giving you orders, not discussing with you, so you have to carry it out unconditionally."


    I was a little annoyed by trakov''s attitude, but I couldn''t lose my temper with him. I could only obediently reply, "understand, comrade commander, I promise to finish the task." Speaking of this, I pondered for a moment, and then put forward a condition to him: "Comrade commander, I have a request, I hope you can agree. My troops are poorly equipped. If we use such troops to fight hard with the enemy, we may not be able to achieve the expected goal even if we run out of them. Therefore, I hope you can supplement some submachine guns and machine guns for our division, so as to enhance the firepower of the attacking troops. "


    After listening to my story, trikov laughed and said, "I thought you were going to ask for something. It''s this thing! Don''t worry. I''ll get in touch with colonel klobkin and ask him to give you some more. In another half an hour, the motorcade I sent should be here, and the combat troops will take these trucks to the 29th division. "


    At the end of the conversation with trakov, I went to the door and yelled out, "somebody


    With my shouts, a soldier came to me immediately, raised his hand to salute me, and politely asked, "what instructions do you have, sir?"


    I took a look at him, recognized him as a soldier in the guard class, and told him, "go immediately and call the three major chejerikov, Oleg and Gaidar, and say I have something to look for them." The soldier agreed. As soon as he was about to turn around and leave, I suddenly thought of two more people. I stopped the soldier and told him, "and the commander of the artillery company, Lieutenant molozov, and the commander of the eighth company of the second regiment, Captain Pugachev, also called over."


    After receiving the notice from the soldiers, several commanders came to the command post one after another. After they came in and saluted me, they sat down at the table and waited for me to assign tasks to them.


    When Captain Pugachev entered the command post, everyone was stunned, especially the second leader Oleg turned his head and asked me curiously: "Comrade division, what did you call Pugachev to do?"


    Pugachev heard his head''s words, the whole person was frozen in place, his face showed an embarrassed expression. It''s no wonder that before yesterday, he was still a little company commander. I didn''t even ask his name when dealing with him. But seeing him on the battlefield yesterday made a big difference to me. After he returned to the residential area with the troops, I specially met him and asked his name.


    When I knew his name was Pugachev, I jokingly said that more than 100 years ago, there was a rebel leader named Pugachev, and his troops had been active in the Volga River Basin. Are you not his descendants? At that time, Captain Pugachev blushed. He even said that he had the same name. Although he was also a Cossack, he was not the descendant of the hero.


    At the moment, seeing him in an embarrassing situation, I quickly helped him out and said, "major Oleg, Captain Pugachev was specially called by me. What we discussed at today''s meeting is also related to him." At this point, I turned to Pugachev and said, "Comrade captain, sit down. We will have a meeting soon."


    When I delivered trakov''s order, the commanders in this room were silent. After a while, Gaidar said quietly: "it seems that no matter what our achievements are, the independent division is an Artillery Force. Where there is danger and what is the most difficult task, it will be left to us to complete."


    "Major gedar, you talk too much." Shejerikov impolitely interrupted Gaidar''s complaint and said to himself, "our army, which is composed of soldiers from the punishment camp and prisoners from Gulag concentration camp, is originally used to attack and trap, or to the most dangerous places. Why is it necessary to make these irrelevant complaints. Let me tell you the truth. If the division commander hadn''t been taking care of us all, we would have been closely monitored by the internal and external supervision teams during the war. Let alone retreat, we would have been shot if we charged slower. "


    "Major xiejerikov is right," Morozov also said with assistance, "I heard that in other units, soldiers of this origin in our division were organized into a commando team, and the rear was monitored by the supervisors with machine guns, so that they would dare to attack the enemy. When they were killed in the front, they would immediately make up for it later. After a battle, there will be no survivors in the commandos. "


    Morozov''s words made everyone silent again, because everyone knew that what he said was not alarmist, but bloody fact. After a while, Oleg, the second group leader, asked, "Sir, what should we do?"


    I looked at you, and then said, "I plan to transfer five companies from the settlement to form a special battalion, and the battalion commander will be captain Pugachev."


    When I said my name, Pugachev sprang up from his seat and replied loudly, "yes! I promise to finish the task. "


    I quickly raised my hand, pressed it down, motioned him to sit down, and then said, "in addition to the infantry, I also plan to let Lieutenant Morozov take two cannons with the army, because our division''s equipment is too poor. Without artillery support, our troops will pay huge casualties on the way of attack."


    As soon as my voice fell, Gaidar stood up and asked for a fight: "Comrade division, you asked major xiejerikov to direct yesterday''s battle. Today, let me direct this battle anyway."


    "No, major gedar." Oleg then jumped out and objected: "the day before yesterday, your troops captured the Italian infantry battalion. Yesterday, the troops under the command of major chejerikov annihilated the Hungarian battalion. Today, it''s my turn to command the troops anyway!"


    "Major Oleg, just because you are inexperienced in commanding operations, you should give me major gedar to command such a dangerous battle as today." Shejerikov also stood up against Oleg''s offer.


    When he heard that, gedar quickly echoed: "major shejerikov is right. Major Oleg is inexperienced in fighting. He may not be able to command a battle of this intensity. Comrade division, let major chejerikov and I take command! "


    "Why?" Oleg said unconvinced: "if every time you and major shijerikov go to command combat, then I don''t have the chance to develop combat experience."


    Seeing that everyone was about to quarrel in the command post, I quickly raised my hands and pressed them down. At the same time, I said loudly, "be quiet, keep quiet for me!"


    After everyone calmed down, I continued to assign tasks: "I declare that today''s battle, a special battalion composed of infantry, is under the command of captain Pugachev; The artillery responsible for providing fire cover was under the command of lieutenant Morozov; I''ll be commander in chief, and major Oleg will be my deputy. Shejerikov and gedar stay in the settlements to prevent possible enemy attacks. "


    The commanders here all know that I am a man of one mind and one mind, so after I announced the name list of the fighters, although xiejerikov and Gaidar were not happy, they could only hide in their hearts and did not dare to argue with me face to face.


    Seeing the dejected look on shijerikov''s face, I comforted him and said, "don''t be dejected, comrade major. Judging from the current situation, this battle can''t be finished in a few months. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to take your troops out and show your skills. This time, you should be aggrieved and stay to guard the residential area. You know, this is our foothold now. Once we lose it, we can only cross the defense line of the guard division and the 208 division and go back to our own camp


    He stood up and expressed his determination to me: "don''t worry, sir. As long as Gaidar and I are here, the enemy will not try to take the settlement away from us. "


    After driving for an hour with my troops in a truck provided by trakov, I entered the defense area of the 29th division and met the liaison officer who came to meet us.


    As soon as I got out of the car, I couldn''t wait to ask the liaison officer, "Comrade lieutenant, where is your division commander?"


    "The division commander is on Highland 165, organizing troops to assemble and prepare for a counter offensive against the enemy." Seeing that I wanted to return to the jeep, the second lieutenant stopped me and explained, "Comrade commander, it''s only two or three kilometers away from highland 165. There are mines laid by the enemy on the road ahead. Vehicles can''t pass through. We can only get to highland 165 on foot."


    Hearing this, I made a sign to major Oleg, who had just got out of the back car, to let the troops off. He understood my gesture and yelled at the back, "all listen to my command, get out of the car!"


    The soldiers jumped out of the car one after another, listened to the command issued by their company commander, and began to line up beside the truck. I waved to Oleg again. When he came, I specially told him, "Comrade major, we will reserve a platoon to help Lieutenant Morozov''s artillery carry the guns."


    After all this, I turned to the liaison officer and said, "come on, comrade lieutenant, take me to your division commander."


    The second lieutenant looked at the assembled soldiers and said hesitantly, "Comrade commander, we are not waiting for your soldiers?"


    I waved my hand and said, "no, let''s go to the division command post first. They will catch up soon."


    When I walked into the headquarters of the 29th division in the tunnel of highland 165 and saw me appear, klobkin immediately came up around the wooden table and gave me a bear hug. At the same time, he said excitedly, "great, commander oshanina. As soon as your new force arrives, we will have a better chance of recovering highland 158."


    "Col. klobkin," I said frankly, rather than continuing to talk to him, "tell me what''s going on."


    Klobkin pulled me to the table, pointed to the map above and said to me, "commander oshanina, after the enemy occupied the 158th highland defended by the 154th marine brigade, in addition to strengthening the fortifications on the top of the mountain, they also built a trench on the hillside to the east of the highland to connect the two lines of defense through the traffic trench. Since the distance between the 158 highland and the 165 highland where we are is only 1500 meters, once they take it as the starting point of attack, the pressure we will bear will be multiplied. That''s why I report to the headquarters of the group army and prepare to launch a counter attack today to try to get this Highland back from the enemy. "


    "What are the enemy forces?" I asked coldly¡° According to the investigation, the enemy has a company on the hillside position, and there may be two companies on the top of the mountain, as well as two tanks and a lot of mortars. The enemy''s fortifications can be used to kill our troops from a commanding position when our troops attack. "¡° What measures have you taken? " When I heard that the enemy''s defense was so tight, I doubted whether my troops could rush to 158 heights¡° I intend to bombard the enemy''s fortified hillside and hilltop positions for half an hour before the attack. " At this point, he was a little embarrassed to smile, and then said: "you know, our artillery reserves are not much, half an hour of shelling, is our limit."¡° How many troops do we have? " I continued to ask myself what I wanted to know¡° The marine brigade can send out one battalion, and our division can send out two battalions, so that almost one regiment of infantry can take part in the counterattack. Of course, I also have a tank unit. When attacking, I will let them charge with the infantry to provide the necessary artillery cover for the infantry. " When he said this, he stopped for a moment and asked me, "commander oshanina, how many troops are there in your division?"¡° Five companies of infantry, with a platoon of artillery, "I said after finishing the troops I had brought, I also learned his tone and said," these are the best soldiers of our division, and they are also the limit of my troops. " After hearing what I said, klobkin burst out laughing: "yes, yes, five more companies of infantry, at least we have a better chance of winning." At this time, a lieutenant commander came up to him and asked him in a low voice, "Comrade division, it''s time to attack. Can the shelling begin?" Klobkin raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he nodded and said in a positive tone, "let''s go!" The Commander agreed, quickly ran to the side, picked up the microphone in the corner, and yelled: "Hello, artillery battalion? The division commander ordered that the shelling begin! " After a short time, there was a deep explosion outside. Klobkin shook his head at me and said, "commander o''shanina, come on, let''s go outside and have a look." We followed the tunnel to the trench on the hillside, and klobkin guided me to an observation post to observe the effect of our artillery attack on the enemy''s position. At this moment, the 158th highland, whether it is the hillside or the peak position, is shrouded by our army''s artillery fire. Looking at the rising flames and smoke, I nodded secretly. I saw that the combat effectiveness of the artillery of the 29th division was not bad, and the shells were hitting very accurately. At least most of the shells fell in the enemy''s trenches. When I looked back from my telescope, I found that there was a circle of barbed wire at the foot of the mountain. It seems that the obstacles our army would not lay behind their positions were all laid by the Germans overnight. I don''t know whether the Germans would lay mines behind the barbed wire. Looking back, you can see that the open ground between the two Highlands is full of bullet holes. Whether it''s a bomb or an airplane, our tanks will be affected by this special terrain when they attack. We don''t know whether they will become the target of the enemy''s tank guards.

 Chapter 546

    After observing for a long time, I found that the area behind the barbed wire was the biggest threat to our offensive forces. Thinking of this, I couldn''t help putting down my telescope and touching the nearby kolobgin with my next door. He took the telescope away from his eyes, turned to look at me, and asked suspiciously¡° Commander o''shanina, what can I do for you


    I pointed to the front and said to him, "Comrade Colonel, do you see the barbed wire at the foot of the mountain?"


    Listening to me, he picked up his telescope and looked at the position. Then he asked me, "I see that the barbed wire was laid by the German overnight. What''s wrong with you?"


    In front of him, I had nothing to hide, so I directly expressed my worry: "I think there may be a German minefield behind the barbed wire."


    I didn''t expect that he just said with a smile, "Lieutenant Commander o''shanina, I''ve thought of what you said. But you don''t have to worry. As long as our tanks drive past and crush them, they can open up a way for the Assault Infantry. "


    "Our tanks?" I asked blankly, "where are our tanks? Why can''t I see any of them?" You know, I didn''t see the tank that klobkin said on the way here, nor in front of the position. It is impossible for tanks to enter the tunnel. Will our tanks fall from the sky or come out of the ground when we fight later?


    He just raised his hand and looked at his watch. He called the commander who called the artillery battalion and said, "chief of staff, it''s almost time to prepare the attacking troops. Signal them. "


    The Commander agreed with a smile and flashed out of the observation post. Then I heard a long whistle or two outside. With the sound of the whistle, I heard orderly footsteps coming from the outside. Looking out of the window, I saw the formation of officers and men climbing out of the trench one after another and heading down the hillside.


    Seeing that the infantry had begun to gather and the tanks hadn''t been seen, I couldn''t help but feel a little worried and asked, "Comrade Colonel, where are our tanks?"


    Klobzin looked at me with a smile, but pointed to the foot of the mountain with his hand and said, "dear comrade oshanina, please be calm. Look at the foot of the mountain." Listening to what he said, I had to be patient and look down the hill. There is a distance of more than 100 meters from the observation post to the foot of the mountain. The fast-moving officers and soldiers are approaching the foot of the mountain, but I still don''t see any tanks of our army.


    Just when I wanted to ask klobkin again, a roar of tank motors came from the hillside, and then a piece of soil burst out, and in the dust, a T-34 tank of our army rushed out. Then, five or six tanks arched out at the foot of the hillside.


    I can''t help looking at the tanks slowly moving forward covered with dust. It took me a long time to get back to myself and excitedly said to klobkin, "that''s great! Comrade Colonel, no wonder I can''t find your tanks. They were all hidden underground. Let alone the enemy, I didn''t even think of them. "


    With a sigh of relief, commander klobjing said, "because our division''s defense line is often bombed by enemy planes, the tank regiment under the division''s jurisdiction has suffered heavy losses in the air raid. Look, there are only a few of the original more than 80 tanks left. Thanks to your proposal to overhaul the tunnel, it gives us an inspiration. Since tanks are easy to be attacked by the enemy air force outside, we will try to hide them. In this way, I asked the soldiers of the corps to dig several underground tank depots at the foot of the mountain and hide all our only tanks in them. In this way, not only can we avoid the enemy''s air attack, but our tank units can also attack suddenly when they are attacked by the enemy and take the enemy by surprise. "


    Although I know what he said is true, and I really contributed a lot to the idea that they could come up with the underground tank depot, I am not a decision maker in this matter after all, so I am not qualified to be proud of myself. I can only say politely, "Comrade Colonel, if you want to thank anyone, thank general trakov. You know, I just put forward my own ideas, and it was general trakov who made the final decision. " At this point, I didn''t wait for him to speak, but I promptly cut off the topic: "Comrade Colonel, how can I see that the army is below, and I don''t see the Marine Corps commanders and fighters?"


    Klobkin looked down and replied, "I have just ordered the chief of staff of the division to make the Marine Corps and your troops as reserves. The first attack will be carried out by two infantry battalions of our division independently."


    When I heard what he said, I didn''t refute it, because I know that in this kind of counterattack, the later the troops go into battle, the less casualties they will suffer, and the greater the results they will achieve.


    As soon as the artillery battalion finished shelling the enemy''s position, a red signal bomb flew into the sky.


    Seeing the signal bomb representing the beginning of the attack in the sky, the tanks and infantry gathered at the foot of the mountain, marched towards the enemy''s position.


    I raised my telescope again and looked at the German position on the opposite high ground. As the smoke of gunpowder dispersed, there were many German helmets swaying back and forth in the empty trenches.


    Due to the open space between the two highlands and the numerous craters, which affected the forward speed of the tank, a lot of infantry gradually came to the front of the tank.


    "Report!" Oleg''s voice came from the door. I put down my telescope and cried, "come in!"


    Oleg came in, raised his hand, saluted me and kolobjing, and then reported to me, "report, comrade division commander, the special battalion has been assembled and can be put into battle at any time. Please give instructions!"


    "Comrade major," I said to Oleg, taking a look at klobgin, who also put down his telescope beside him, "your troops, as the second echelon, will stay in the position for the time being."


    "Comrade major, what kind of gun are you? I don''t think I''ve ever seen it. " The chief of staff of the division, who did not know when he would come back, stood beside Oleg and looked curiously at the gun on his shoulder.


    At a glance, I immediately recognized that Oleg was carrying an M39 submachine gun seized from a Hungarian camp. I reached out to Oleg, who immediately took the submachine gun and handed it to me with both hands.


    After I took the gun, I introduced it to klobkin and the chief of staff of his division and said, "Colonel, chief of staff, please see, this is the M39 submachine gun that we seized from Hungary yesterday. This gun looks like an ordinary rifle from the outside. But if you pull the magazine stuck under the armguard out of the groove, you can see what the submachine gun looks like Then I pulled out the magazine in the groove and asked them to watch it carefully.


    Klobkin took the submachine gun from my hand and looked at it over and over for a long time, but he was not willing to give it to the chief of staff who was waiting anxiously. Seeing that klobkin couldn''t put it down, I specially repeated to him what major shejerikov told him yesterday, "... M39 adopts double row double entry magazine with a capacity of 40 rounds. The design of the magazine seat is quite unique. When it is carried or not in use, the magazine seat can be folded forward to make the magazine stuck in the groove under the armguard. When the magazine is stuck in the armguard, the mouth of the magazine will be exposed, and the elastic dust cover will cover the mouth of the magazine, so as to prevent dust from entering the magazine and causing ammunition feeding failure. " After the introduction, I turned to Oleg and asked, "Comrade major, how many submachine guns are equipped in the special battalion?"


    Oleg didn''t understand what I was asking, but he answered honestly, "ten in each company, fifty in the whole battalion."


    "Let''s draw two in a row and make up ten for our comrades in arms as a souvenir of our joint fight this time." The reason why I so readily ordered Oleg to send weapons to klobkin was that the ammunition of these submachine guns was limited. When the bullets were exhausted, these submachine guns would not even be as good as firesticks.


    Hearing that I was so generous to give them ten Hungarian submachine guns, klobkin handed them to the chief of staff next to him, scratched the back of his head and said with some embarrassment, "Lieutenant Commander oshanina, this is the spoils of your division. How can I win people''s favor?" Finish saying, ha ha ground laughed.


    "What''s the shame? We are all friendly forces. What''s more, "I said generously," we are going to fight side by side to recover the German occupied highlands. "


    When I talked about the recovery of the Highlands, it seemed that klobkin remembered that he wanted to provide us with weapons. He immediately told the chief of staff, "Comrade commander, you should take this major of the friendly army to the armory immediately and give them 20 light machine guns and 50 submachine guns. Go


    "Good!" The chief of staff of the division agreed, handed the submachine gun back to klobkin, and then made a gesture of invitation to Oleg: "go, comrade major, go to the armory for me."


    After the division chief of staff and Oleg left, klobkin held the submachine gun in his arms and said with great feeling: "commander oshanina, I heard that your division has been fighting continuously these days. Should the results be good?"


    The achievements of the independent division in the past few days are no secret to the division commanders in the group army. So I nodded and said, "in the past two days, I have attacked the Italian and Hungarian camps and seized a lot of weapons and ammunition..." just now, there was a sudden rumble of artillery outside.


    Klobkin''s face turned black as soon as he heard the gun. He put his submachine gun in the corner, grabbed his telescope and looked out. I quickly walked up to him and raised my telescope to observe the situation on the battlefield.


    Our offensive troops advanced about seven or eight hundred meters. Although they were still outside the effective range of German guns, they were bombarded by German mortars from the hillside positions. From my point of view, the offensive lines of our army are packed together, but I also know that there is a gap of at least two or three meters between each soldier. Even so, at least three to five officers and men were knocked down for every shell that exploded in the queue.


    In order to get rid of the fate of being bombed, the commanders and fighters in the front suddenly accelerated to run. As soon as the front accelerates, the commanders and fighters behind can''t help but speed up their advance, so the whole army changes from a big step forward at the beginning to a rush forward with guns.


    The enemy''s shells continued to fall into the attack line of our army, and landed in the middle of the infantry. With a fire rising, the commanders and fighters near the explosion point were blown up; Although the shells that fell and exploded next to the tank did not pose any threat to the tank, the flying fragments still cut down the commanders and fighters near the tank.


    When the fastest charging commanders and fighters entered the 200 meter area, heavy and heavy machine guns, rifles and submachine guns on the German position opened fire at the same time. Dense bullets formed an insurmountable iron wall. As soon as our commanders and fighters collided, they fell like electric shock. In a short time, thirty or forty meters away from the enemy''s barbed wire, the corpses of our soldiers were lying all over the place.


    Seeing that the enemy''s firepower was too strong, it was an impossible task to rush forward, so the powerful troops ran back like the ebb tide. And the tanks, who were on the cover mission, stopped at the same place, fired a few shots at the German position halfway up the mountain, overturned two or three mortar fire points, and followed the infantry back to our side.


    Seeing his troops retreating like a tide, klobkin smashed his fist on the wall and said angrily, "why don''t these idiots continue to march forward and retreat?" With that, he turned and ran out of the observation post. I didn''t know where he was going, so I followed him.


    I saw him jump out of the trench and run down the hill. He ran after him and called out, "Comrade Colonel, it''s dangerous ahead. Don''t run forward." As a result, he still ran down the mountain regardless. I had no choice but to follow him down the mountain with a bitter smile.


    When we stopped the retreating troops, klobkin pulled out his pistol and fired two shots into the sky, and the noisy troops stopped.


    Klobkin walked into the line, grabbed a second lieutenant by the collar and asked aloud, "who told you to stop attacking and retreat without authorization?"


    "The enemy''s firepower is too strong for us to rush up." Said the second lieutenant, defending himself.


    "Yes, comrade Colonel, the enemy''s firepower is too strong. If we continue to attack, we will all die." The soldiers around also echoed.


    "What about your battalion commander and your political instructor?" klobkin asked angrily


    "All sacrificed?"


    "As for the company commander, there must be one or two left?" Klobkin asked reluctantly.


    The second lieutenant, who was seized by him, looked around, and then said cautiously, "Comrade division commander, it seems that I am the only commander in the retreating army."


    When I heard the second lieutenant''s words, I could not help but feel a thump in my heart. How long did the attack last? How could the commanders in the army have almost died? There is no commander in the army. How can we fight the next battle?


    Klobkin let go of the second lieutenant and yelled at the hundreds of commanders and fighters in front of him: "comrades, brothers, although we failed in our first attack, don''t lose heart. I''ll appoint a new commander to lead you to continue to attack. The enemy on the opposite highland is not as many as ours. As long as we launch another attack, we can wipe them out completely. Now, line up. "


    Looking at these frustrated and demoralized commanders and fighters standing in line without expression, I quietly pulled klobjing aside and whispered to him: "Comrade Colonel, the frustration of the first attack has a great impact on the morale of the troops. Well, let''s just let the officers and men go back to their positions and let the Marines and my special battalion organize a second attack. What do you think? "


    Klobkin turned to look at the despondent officers and men, sighed helplessly and said, "well, do as you say. Let the other troops continue to attack and let them rest first."


    Ten minutes later, the defeated soldiers on the hillside returned to the hillside. Instead, they were replaced by Marines in black Navy uniforms and special Battalion soldiers in new uniforms.


    I called Pugachev, the commander of the special battalion, in front of me and specially told him: "Comrade captain, if you can lead your troops to successfully capture the opposite highland, then you will have a chance to become a hero of the Russian nation like the ancient man of your name."


    Pugachev''s eyes were brightened by my words. He answered me excitedly: "Sir, please rest assured that as long as there is one person in the special camp, you will never step back. Even if it''s sacrifice, we have to head in the direction of high ground, and we will die on the road of charging with honor... "


    His lines sounded familiar. Before he finished, I interrupted him: "Comrade captain, I just hope that when the battle is over, you can bring back as many special Battalion soldiers as possible. Sacrifice, you are heroes; But alive, you are still heroes. Do you understand? "


    Pugachev nodded his head and agreed loudly, "I understand!"


    The second attack started.


    Behind the tanks, on the left are Marines in black uniforms, and on the right are special battalions in Khaki uniforms. Two distinct looking troops march shoulder to shoulder toward the enemy''s position.


    Still halfway through, the mortar on the enemy''s position fired again. Although several mortar fire points on the hillside were destroyed by our tanks, the newly added mortar positions on the top of the mountain also joined the fire. Even two German tanks stopped on the top of the mountain and fired at our tanks.


    Driving in the front of our tank, became the priority target of German tanks. In the first round of firing, the two tanks failed to hit the target. The shells exploded in front of and behind our tanks, and the flying shrapnel knocked down several unlucky commanders and fighters. Without waiting for our tanks to make evasive action, the second round of shells flew over again. One shot fell in front of the tank and exploded, setting off a column of mud to soar into the sky, while the other shot hit the body of the tank impartially. From the telescope to see our army''s tank was hit, I can not help but cry out in pain: "Oh!" When the smoke cleared, I was surprised to find that the tank was only injured. It dragged its burning body forward, and at the same time raised its muzzle and fired another shot at the German position halfway up the mountain. The shot was accurate, and it landed beside the trench and exploded, making a gap in the trench and at the same time making several German helmets disappear from the area. After firing the gun, the tank drove forward for more than ten meters. Then it was hit again by the German tanks, and the tank with the turret tilted was blasted. A moment later, the tank was killed, and many officers and soldiers around it were blown down. I focused on the burning tank, hoping to see the tankers come out of it, even if they were all in fire. After the explosion, the tank began to burn. No one escaped from it. It seems that the tankers had died when the explosion happened. After the German army destroyed one of our tanks, they were as excited as chicken blood. The tanks continued to fire at the remaining tanks of our army, and their artillery also accelerated the firing speed of mortars. More and more shells fell on our attack line and exploded, and the situation became more and more serious. At this time, unexpected changes took place in the two distinct units. The Marine Corps in black uniform, still carrying the weapons in hand, rushed forward without hesitation; My special battalion, however, disorganized the formation. Taking the class as a unit, it cleverly used the ready-made crater as a cover, running, jumping and rolling forward, and approached the German position little by little. Looking at the different performance of the two troops, klobkin asked me curiously, "commander o''shanina, your troops seem to be very skilled in tactics. How long have they been training?"¡° Less than a week. " With that, I turned to major Oleg. Oleg was standing behind me all the time. Seeing that I suddenly turned back, he knew that I must have something to look for him. He immediately asked, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"¡° Where are the artillery of lieutenant Morozov? " I asked faintly¡° Comrade division commander, because the trench is too narrow for our cannons to be drawn in, comrade Morozov decided temporarily to move the cannons to the top of the mountain. With infantry to help them pull guns, I believe that it will not take them long to reach the position at the top of the mountain. "¡° Comrade oshanina, what do you want artillery to do? " Klobkin asked curiously when he heard me asking my men about the artillery. I pointed to the two tanks that were firing on the top of the hillside in front of me, and gritted my teeth and said, "Comrade Colonel, you see, the two tanks opposite are so arrogant. I want my artillery to kill them all and cover the infantry to rush up the mountain." Klobkin frowned and looked across the street, and asked tentatively, "are you sure?"¡° No problem, "I replied confidently," I have confidence in the artillery company commander, Lieutenant Morozov, who will kill all the enemy''s tanks. "

 Chapter 547

    After listening to me, klobkin said to himself, "the enemy''s counterattack fire is too fierce, and our young men''s casualties are too great. If only there was anything I could do to help them." At this point, he turned and yelled, "chief of staff."


    The chief of staff of the division quickly took a step forward, came to his back, and gave a loud promise: "here!"


    "Can we ask the artillery battalion to cover the enemy''s position again?"


    The chief of staff shook his head and said with some embarrassment, "Comrade division commander, this may not be possible. You should know that the artillery barracks were completely depleted during the fire preparation just before the attack."


    "No shells left? Even if there is only one gun, it is good to fire one, even half a base, at the enemy''s position. Chief of staff, are you sure there are no shells in the artillery battalion? " Klobkin asked reluctantly.


    The chief of staff shook his head like a rattle and answered in a positive tone¡° There''s not a single shot left, sir. "


    Klobkin sighed helplessly, raised his telescope again, and continued to observe the attacking troops on the battlefield.


    The speed of the Marine Corps charge is very fast. At the moment, the soldiers who charge fast are only 400 meters away from the enemy''s position. At this time, the heavy and heavy machine guns on the German position opened fire, and the soldiers in the front rows were immediately knocked down by the intensive fire. The soldiers in the back quickly fell down, learning from the soldiers in the special battalion, and using the current crater, they ran and jumped to the high ground.


    At the same time, our tanks are trying to avoid one crater after another. It was because they were too busy to take care of themselves that they could only watch the German firepower on the high ground wantonly, and could not provide the necessary artillery support for our infantry,


    At the back of the whole offensive team were three Maxim heavy machine gun teams of the Marine Corps, with five men in each group. Two soldiers dragged the heavy machine gun forward, followed by three soldiers carrying ammunition boxes. Perhaps in order to prevent German artillery damage, they divided into three directions and rushed forward at the same time, with a distance of hundreds of meters between each machine gun group.


    However, their action was discovered by German artillery, and a mortar began to chase them. The artillery first attacked the machine gun group on the left. The first shell fell and exploded more than 20 meters behind them. The sailors didn''t look at it. They still bent forward with machine guns and ammunition. The second shell fell more than ten meters ahead and exploded. The sailors stopped and squatted down slightly. As soon as the explosion was over, they quickly rushed into the smoke.


    Perhaps the German Gunners were worried when they saw that they had missed the target two times in a row, and they transferred another mortar to intercept. A shell exploded not far from the rear of the machine gun group. As soon as the soldier at the end of the group stagnated, he threw the ammunition box on his shoulder, covered his back with his hands, and after a turn in the same place, he fell down. When he found that his comrades in arms fell down, a soldier in front of him stopped, turned and picked up the ammunition box on the ground. He carried one ammunition box on his left and right shoulders and continued to run.


    Seeing that the shelling was effective, the German army continued to speed up the shooting, and had a great momentum of not killing the machine gun group. Our machine gun group continued to rush forward fearlessly in the continuous explosion smoke.


    Seeing this scene, klobkin moved the telescope away from his eyes and said with emotion: "the sailors are really good!"


    "So are your soldiers!" I couldn''t help saying a word when I heard his praise to the Marine Corps.


    "My soldiers are good? Commander oshanina, are you right? If they were all good, they would not be beaten back by the Germans in such a mess. "


    I said with a faint smile: "although they were defeated in the first wave of attack, you didn''t find that except for a second lieutenant, the rest of the commanders were honorably sacrificed on the way to charge. It can be seen from this that all of your commanders are good. "


    Klobkin sighed again and said with regret, "it''s a pity that so many backbone fighters have been sacrificed in this way. It''s really sad to think of it." Then he picked up the telescope and turned away from the topic: "let''s continue to see the performance of these sailors."


    As soon as he took a look through his telescope, he immediately cried out: "hell, the machine gun group on the left of the sailor was knocked out by the German artillery."


    When I heard him say this, I was also surprised. I picked up the telescope and saw that in a still smoky crater, the remains of Maxim heavy machine gun were scattered, and several soldiers were lying around the crater.


    When the enemy mortar bombarded the middle machine gun group, the marine forward was close to the German rooftop barbed wire. Some of the sailors hid in the crater and fired at the German troops on the hillside position to suppress the enemy''s firepower and cover their comrades to continue to attack.


    Under the suppression of our army''s firepower, although the enemy''s firepower weakened, as more and more sailors approached the barbed wire, the crowded troops increased the accuracy of the enemy''s firepower. In order to extricate themselves from this disadvantageous situation, the sailors in several craters near the wire mesh threw grenades.


    After the smoke of the grenade explosion dispersed, the barbed wire was blown out to accommodate two parallel channels. The sailors jumped out of the crater and rushed in with their weapons. After running for a few steps, one after another explosions happened on the ground, which made the sailors who rushed in soar.


    It seems that my guess just now is correct. As expected, the enemy set up a minefield behind the barbed wire. Take another look at the tanks of our army, which were originally used to crush land mines. At the moment, they are still avoiding the artillery fire of the enemy tanks and circling around those dense craters. They simply can''t provide artillery support for our infantry and act as pioneers.


    Some of the sailors who rushed through the barbed wire were killed by mines, and some of them were killed by the enemy''s mortar and machine gun fire. The rest of them had no choice but to retreat and continue to hide in the crater to shoot against the enemy on the hillside.


    I turned my attention back to my special camp, which is now close to the barbed wire. It may be that when the sailors failed in their attack, the soldiers changed their playing methods and threw the grenades directly from the crater behind the barbed wire fence, using the explosion of the grenades to achieve the purpose of demining.


    Their method seems to be more effective. The grenade exploded behind the barbed wire and detonated the mines planted by the enemy. After a series of violent explosions, a passage to the hillside was opened up. At this time, the soldiers turned the target of the bomb to the ridge type barbed wire. After the overwhelming hand grenades were thrown, the barbed wire was shrouded by fire and smoke.


    When the smoke of gunpowder dispersed, I could clearly see that despite the concern of so many grenades, the stubborn barbed wire was only blown out a small hole, which could not be passed by the troops at all. But at this time, some impatient soldiers jumped out of the crater and rushed forward with weapons.


    When they rushed to the barbed wire, they found that the original barbed wire did not open a gap, it was impossible to pass. But at this time, the enemy on the hillside had recovered, heavy and heavy machine gun bullets all poured down, and the soldiers close to the barbed wire were knocked down in an instant.


    At this critical juncture, suddenly a famous soldier rushed forward, directly lying on the barbed wire. There is such an example, and soon there are several soldiers next to him, lying in a row on the barbed wire.


    Captain Pugachev''s figure suddenly appeared in my sight. He was hiding in a crater not far from the barbed wire. When he saw several soldiers lying on the barbed wire to open up a channel for the offensive troops, he seemed to hesitate. But a moment later, he jumped out of the crater, waved his submachine gun, rushed through the soldiers who stayed in front of the barbed wire and were constantly injured under the enemy''s fire, stepped on the body of a brave soldier lying on the barbed wire, crossed the barbed wire that blocked our army''s way, and rushed forward bravely.


    Seeing that the commander had set an example, the officers and men who were constantly losing their lives did not hesitate to follow their battalion commander, step on the body of their comrades in arms, cross the German barbed wire and rush up the hillside with guns.


    Just when I was excited by the performance of the special camp, the telephone rang in the observation center. The chief of staff of the division picked up the microphone and just said a word, then handed it to me and politely said, "Comrade commander, it''s for you."


    "For me?" I hesitated to take the microphone, put it in my ear and asked aloud, "Hello, I''m lieutenant commander o''shanina. Where are you?"


    Murozov''s familiar voice came from the microphone: "Sir, it''s me, Lieutenant murozov. We have already pulled the cannon to the top of the mountain. Please indicate our target


    I was relieved to hear that they had finally pulled the cannons to the top of the mountain. Holding the microphone in my hand, I stared at the German tanks on the opposite hillside and said with gnashing teeth, "Comrade lieutenant, do you see the two German tanks on the opposite hillside? I command you to destroy them at once. "


    "Yes! I''ll do it right away. " Morozov agreed. Instead of hanging up the phone, he directly conveyed my order to his subordinates: "artillery company, listen to my command. Target: German tanks on the hillside in front, load armor piercing bullets and kill them."


    Not long after Morozov''s command was issued, I saw the shells fired by the cannons fall on the hillside and explode. One armor piercing bullet hit the tank on the right side of the German army. Seeing that his companion was hit by accidental artillery fire, another tank that was not hit was a little flustered. It stopped shooting at the foot of the mountain and turned its body to try to escape. But the Gunners of our artillery company didn''t give it a chance. In the second car''s shooting, they hit the target accurately and turned it into burning scrap iron.


    When I saw that the enemy''s tanks had been killed, I turned my eyes to our army''s tanks. I found that during the period just now, two more were destroyed by the enemy''s tanks. Only four of them stopped 200 meters away from the barbed wire fence, lined up, and put on a posture of preparing to fire at the enemy''s battlefield.


    "Comrade division," murozov''s voice came from the microphone. He continued to ask, "the enemy''s tanks have been killed. What''s our next target? "


    By this time, the special battalion and the Marine Corps had already crossed the barbed wire and minefield, and were developing to the depth of the enemy. When they were 50 or 60 meters away from the enemy''s hillside position, they were stopped by the dense fire network woven by the enemy''s mortars and heavy and heavy machine guns. Although the troops who rushed up the hillside were lying on the ground, the casualties were increasing.


    I rushed to the microphone and loudly ordered: "Lieutenant Morozov, I order you to kill the enemy''s mortar positions on the hillside."


    As for my order, Morozov obviously had some scruples. He especially reminded me that "Comrade division, if the distance is too close, I am afraid that I will hit my own people."


    As soon as I heard that, I was on fire. If I didn''t rush up as soon as possible, the hundreds of commanders and fighters who were pressed under the hillside position would sooner or later be killed by the enemy''s heavy and heavy machine guns and mortars. I said impolitely, "Comrade lieutenant, if we don''t get rid of the enemy''s mortars as soon as possible, our troops will be finished." With that, without waiting for him to speak, I hung up without hesitation.


    As I hung up, klobkin patted me gently on the shoulder and comforted me by saying, "commander o''shanina, you''re right. There are some costs that have to be paid to win." When he said this, he suddenly turned to the chief of staff of his division and said, "Comrade commander, you should call the tank unit on the radio and ask them to concentrate their fire and kill the heavy and heavy machine guns in the enemy''s position. As long as the heavy firepower of the enemy is eliminated, our troops will certainly be able to rush to the high ground. "


    The chief of Staff promised to go out. I suddenly thought of an important thing and quickly stopped him: "chief of staff, please wait. I have a very important thing to ask you."


    The chief of staff stopped and asked suspiciously, "Mr. o''xanina, do you have any instructions?"


    "I can''t talk about the instructions. I just want to ask about the opposite highland." I pointed out with my hand and said, "before I came here to fight, I heard general trakov say that after the enemy captured the position, some of the soldiers guarding the Highlands died, some retreated to highland 165, and the rest retreated into the tunnel. I wonder if you can get in touch with them and let them take the opportunity to launch a counterattack from behind the enemy and help us recover the 158 highlands? "


    Listening to me, the chief of staff of the division did not dare to answer casually, but turned his eyes to klobkin. Klobkin patted his forehead and said with chagrin, "Oh, if you don''t tell me, I still forget that there is such an army hidden on the high ground. If we had let them fight earlier, our attack would not have been so heavy." With that, he quickly told the chief of staff: "Comrade commander, you should immediately contact the commander of the garrison in the tunnel of 158 high ground, and let him lead the troops to attack from the enemy''s rear and attack us back and forth to seize the high ground."


    Thanks to the support of our artillery, the mortar fire points on the German hillside were destroyed one by one by the artillery company of lieutenant Morozov. And those heavy and heavy machine gun fire points that were once rampant for a while were also called off one by one by our army tanks at the foot of the mountain.


    Seeing the enemy''s firepower weakened, the officers and men who had been lying on the ground immediately got up from the ground and rushed up. When the tank fire and cannon fire turned to the top of the hill, they rushed into the trench and fought hand to hand with the surviving German troops.


    When he saw a bright red flag fluttering in the trench, klobkin exclaimed excitedly again: "look, commander oshanina, our troops have occupied the enemy''s hillside position. Great. The Marines even raised their flag


    Looking at the red flag of the Marine Corps, I couldn''t help but feel bitter. Other units have their own flag, and my newly formed independent division, let alone its own flag, doesn''t even have a red flag. When the war is over, I must talk to trikov about it and ask him to issue a flag to my division. Even if there is no flag ceremony, I will accept it.


    When the Marines were still fighting with the enemy on the hillside, Pugachev had led hundreds of people to quickly cross the hillside and climb to the top of the mountain to charge the enemy''s last position.


    They formed battle formations one by one, using grenades to open the way, using large and small craters, and quickly approached the enemy''s positions.


    Although the enemy was killed by our army''s artillery fire, they were not willing to wait for death. While our tanks stopped shelling, dozens of German soldiers with bright bayonet rifles jumped out of the collapsed trench and rushed to meet our soldiers.


    However, Pugachev obviously didn''t want his soldiers to fight bayonets with these German soldiers. He first threw a grenade, then took up his submachine gun and started shooting at the enemy. Under his demonstration, the rest of the soldiers would not be stupid enough to fight bayonets with the enemy. He also learned from the battalion commander and pulled the trigger at the enemy. The German soldiers who wanted to compete with our army in the battle fell down in an instant, and the rest fled back to the trenches.


    Pugachev was just about to rush up with the soldiers and kill all these enemies. Unexpectedly, a silent mound nearby suddenly fired dense bullets and knocked down many of our soldiers. It turned out that there was a hidden German fire spot all the time. It seemed that it wanted to surprise our army. Unexpectedly, it really made them do what they wanted.


    Pugachev and his men were forced to lie in the crater again, throwing grenades at the bunker. A soldier with something on his back is crawling towards the castle under the cover of the smoke from the explosion of a grenade. When I saw this scene, I raised my heart to my throat and wondered anxiously whether the soldier could successfully blow up the enemy''s castle?


    Unexpectedly, the soldier climbed to the place more than 20 meters away from the enemy''s Secret castle, stopped, took a gun and aimed at the enemy''s Secret castle. Then there was a red flame from the muzzle of the gun, which leaped out dozens of meters like a fire dragon, directly from the shooting hole. The castle was burning. In a short time, there was a series of explosions. It seemed that all the enemies in the castle were destroyed. Flamethrower? Hell, Pugachev''s soldiers, what are equipped with such high-end weapons? Why don''t I know? Before I could think of a reason, the nearby klobkin said enviously, "Lieutenant Commander o''shanina, I didn''t expect that your troops are equipped with flamethrowers. It''s a good thing. It''s very suitable to deal with the enemy hiding in the fortification." After the success of our army''s flamethrowers, the German army in the trench decisively made an amazing decision. Unexpectedly, someone picked up a white shirt with a bayonet, waved it desperately, and surrendered to our army. Although he saw the enemy''s surrender, Pugachev didn''t act rashly. He only ordered a few soldiers to collect weapons and receive prisoners of war. The rest of the soldiers were still lying in the crater, vigilantly monitoring the German soldiers, lest they engage in any conspiracy. Fortunately, the German army really surrendered. They first threw their weapons out of the trench, and then came out of the trench with their hands held high. Seeing this, Pugachev stood up, raised his right hand and waved forward, signaling to the soldiers to come forward. Seeing his signal, soldiers hiding in the trenches swarmed up to seize the enemy''s position. When I saw a group of Marines climbing to the top of the mountain with the red flag held high, I put down my telescope and asked klobkin discontentedly, "Comrade Colonel, have you got in touch with the commander of the garrison on the high ground? Why didn''t you see them in the whole battle? "¡° Chief of staff, what''s going on? " When klobkin saw the top of the mountain opposite him, he did not see the so-called highland garrison except the special battalion and the Marines who participated in the attack. He could not help venting his anger on the chief of staff behind him. Qu Di, the chief of staff, said: "Comrade division commander, I have ordered the radio operator to call the garrison in the opposite tunnel, but I can''t get in touch with them all the time. Maybe their communication equipment has been damaged."¡° What are you still doing here? I''m not going to keep in touch. " The chief of staff agreed in a flurry and ran out of the observation post quickly. I looked at the sky and said happily, "Comrade Colonel, we are so lucky today that the enemy''s air force has not been deployed. Otherwise, it will be a question whether we can recover the 158 heights." Klobkin is obviously not as optimistic as I am. He said thoughtfully: "yesterday, the German army bombed Stalingrad, causing great losses to our army and people. Today, they are not here, but they are going to bomb Stalingrad or other areas that are about to attack, such as renok and orlovka. " It doesn''t matter to me when klobkin talks about renok. After all, it''s not my defense area. But when I heard him mention orlovka, my heart could not help shivering. If the enemy attacked, major chejerikov, the residential area where they were stationed, would bear the brunt.

 Chapter 548

    When I was worried about my troops, klobkin looked at the sky, raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he waved his hand and said to me carelessly, "Comrade oshanina, let''s go to the 158 highland. In this situation, it''s really not easy to take back the lost position from the enemy''s hands."


    As soon as his words were finished, he had already stepped out of the observation post before I could make a statement.


    Seeing that he had left the observation post, I had no choice but to smile helplessly at Oleg, who was standing by. Then I waved my head and said, "come on, major Oleg. Let''s go to the highland ahead with colonel klobkin."


    It''s not like I''m alone or with one or two soldiers. The chief of staff of the division found that the division commander was going to inspect the Highlands in front of him. Without saying a word, he followed up with a guard platoon.


    When I got to the foot of the mountain, I stopped and went curiously to check the underground tank depot built by the engineering regiment. The tank depot is dug down obliquely, with an area of more than 30 square meters at least. Many ammunition boxes and oil barrels are stacked in the corner.


    Seeing that I was observing the tank depot, klobkin came over and said with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think after seeing our tank depot?"


    I asked curiously, "Comrade Colonel, do the tank soldiers usually stay in the underground tank depot and stand by at any time?"


    But he shook his head and said, "no, this is just the place where we park our tanks. The tank soldiers live in other places. However, there is a tunnel between their residence and here. Once there is a battle, they will enter here through the tunnel immediately. " At this point, he turned to his back and yelled, "chief of staff."


    The chief of staff of the division rushed over, and without waiting for klobjing''s command, he went straight into the tank depot and pushed against the wall. After the door panel on the wall was pushed open, a dark passage appeared.


    Klobkin then said to me, "the exit of the tank depot is covered with wood and covered with soil. If you don''t get close to it, you can''t find it at all. If you want to attack, you just need to break the board outside. "


    After listening to klobkin, I found out how the tank broke through the ground.


    With these words, he raised his hand to look at his watch again and urged me to say, "come on, commander oshanina, it''s getting late. After we go to the highlands to check, we have to deploy new defense tasks for the troops."


    Walking along the open field, I personally felt how fierce the battle was. In the observation station, I just saw one soldier after another being blown off by shells and knocked down by bullets. When I really approached their bodies, I found that the bodies of the soldiers who fell near the crater were almost incomplete, either with missing arms or legs. Only the bodies of the soldiers who were knocked down by machine gun bullets were relatively complete.


    As we passed by the remains of these soldiers, klobkin said with emotion: "if our army could have strong artillery and abundant shells, our casualties would be much smaller in the attack just now."


    I nodded, pointed to the barbed wire not far away, and said to klobkin, "yes, Colonel, you''re right. If we use the fire to blow up the ridge barbed wire when the fire is ready, we can pay less


    At the moment, the remains of those soldiers who lay on the barbed wire and died for the succeeding troops as bridges have been carefully lifted down from the barbed wire by the soldiers who cleaned the battlefield and placed beside them carefully. The soldiers lined up in a neat line, took off their hats and helmets, and bowed their heads to the martyrs.


    When we saw this scene, klobkin and I stopped, took off our hats and bowed our heads to mourn for the martyrs. After a while, klobgin put on his hat again and whispered to me, "come on, commander o''shanina, let''s go to the highlands." I took another look at the martyrs who used their bodies to open the way for the succeeding troops to win. They put on their helmets and followed klobkin to the high ground.


    The Marines occupied the hillside position, while our four tanks were parked outside the trench. The tank soldiers were sitting on the tank to have a rest. Seeing a large group of us going up the mountain, they quickly stood up and raised their hands to salute us. Klobkin raised his hand and asked, "where''s your company commander?"


    Without waiting for the tank soldiers to speak, a fierce gunshot came from the other side of the hillside. Klobkin''s face changed, and without waiting for the tank soldiers to answer their questions, he kept walking up.


    As I followed and made my way to the top of the mountain, the chief of staff of the division approached me and said in a low voice: "Mr. oshanina, I haven''t been in touch with the garrison on the high ground. I guess it''s either their communication equipment or they''re in trouble. " With that, he quickened his pace to catch up with kolobkin.


    The words of the chief of staff of the division made me worry about the sailors who retreated into the tunnel on the high ground. From yesterday''s loss of position to now our army''s recovery of position, even if they could not contact the friendly forces for such a long time, they had not carried out any necessary harassment and attacks on the enemy. It seems that their fate is worrying.


    We came to the top of the mountain, where my special camp was stationed. I quickened my pace, passed kolobkin, who was walking in front of me, and asked my men in a loud voice, "where is captain Pugachev?"


    A lieutenant, who might be the commander of a company, immediately raised his hand to salute me and reported: "Comrade division commander, the battalion commander heard the sound of gunfire on the west side of the hillside just now. He took two platoons of soldiers to check."


    When I heard the Lieutenant''s report, I turned to klobkin, who was standing beside me, and said, "Comrade Colonel, I see that the enemy has not been eliminated. You stay here. I''ll go and have a look."


    Klobkin glared his eyes and said, "Comrade o''shanina, how can you say that? Am I afraid of death? Since there are still gunshots coming from the west side of the hillside, which proves that there are still enemies who have missed the net and have not been eliminated, I will go with you to see what happened. "


    I looked at klobkin and the guard platoon behind him. Even if there were still enemies on the other side of the hill, if there were dozens of people, it would be easier to deal with them, so I nodded silently.


    We followed the traffic ditch on the top of the mountain to the Western hillside position. As soon as I entered the trench, I heard a lot of gunfire coming from the north. Oleg pointed to the other side and said to me in a loud voice, "Comrade division, the gunfire came from that side."


    We walked along the trench for forty or fifty meters, turned a corner, and saw Pugachev and a group of soldiers crowded in the trench. There was a black hole in the middle of them, which seemed to be our tunnel works. From time to time, two soldiers turned and fired a few shots inside, then quickly retracted and leaned back against the trench. Usually, after the soldiers shoot, bullets will fly out of the hole and hit the trench outside, making the soil splash.


    Fortunately, Pugachev was standing on our side. Seeing us coming, he ran over with his gun. He raised his hand in front of me and asked breathlessly, "Mr. teacher, how did you come to me?"


    "What''s the matter?" I asked directly.


    Pugachev pointed back sideways and said: "according to the soldiers'' report, when they were searching for the enemy, they met two sailors. They said that when the position was lost yesterday, one of the troops retreated into the tunnel. Our soldiers let them lead the way, ready to pass and join the friendly forces who hold the high ground. When they came to the cave, the sailors and five or six of our soldiers went in together. Unexpectedly, just a few steps away, he was shot by the enemy machine gun inside. Two sailors died on the spot, three of our soldiers died, and one of them was injured. The remaining two soldiers quickly pulled out of the tunnel while shooting. "


    "Comrade Colonel, it seems that all the troops retreating into the tunnel have died." I turned to klobkin and said, "do you know what a marine tunnel looks like?"


    The chief of staff of the division stepped forward and answered, "Mr. oshanina, please allow me to report to you."


    I originally proposed to build tunnels on the high ground to deal with the Germans. I didn''t expect that the Germans actually occupied the tunnel. Instead, we went to attack the tunnel. Although it is difficult to fight in the tunnel, as long as we know what the tunnel is like, I will have a way to organize the troops to take it down. So when I heard that the chief of staff of the division understood the situation of the tunnel, I immediately urged: "Comrade commander, come on and listen."


    The chief of staff of the division drew a sketch of the tunnel for me on the earth wall of the trench with his fingers, and explained: "go straight ahead 20 meters from the entrance of the cave, where the road forks, leading to the ammunition depot on the left, and the rest place for the soldiers is on the right. It''s very difficult for us to rush in if the enemy puts two machine guns right at the entrance of the cave. "


    When I looked at the sketch he had drawn, I couldn''t help shaking my head and said, "Comrade chief of staff, you think the problem is too complicated. For me, there is no problem in attacking this tunnel. I didn''t expect that the tunnel in this highland was so rudimentary. No wonder it was captured by the German so soon. "


    Klobkin shrugged his shoulders and said with the same regret: "there''s no way. You know, it must take a lot of time to build a good tunnel that can be attacked and defended, but the Germans didn''t leave us much time."


    I turned and told Pugachev: "Comrade captain, find German speaking soldiers and shout to them. Tell them that we have wiped out all the Germans on the surface. Let them immediately lay down their arms and surrender."


    As soon as my words came out, not only Pugachev was stunned, but also klobkin. Seeing that Pugachev was still standing in a daze, I just wanted to urge him to carry out the task as soon as possible. Unexpectedly, klobkin had begun to persuade me: "Comrade oshanina, the German army will not surrender so easily. We''d better find another way to eliminate them."


    I laughed at klobkin and said, "Comrade Colonel, I want to try first. If the Germans are willing to give up their arms and surrender, then we can reduce our sacrifice."


    "What if they are determined not to surrender?" Asked klobkin.


    I snorted and said, "if they don''t surrender, we''ll wipe them out." Speaking of this, I once again told Pugachev: "Comrade captain, if the Germans do not surrender, you will order the soldiers to throw grenades in and kill them all."


    "Sir, it''s OK to throw grenades in the tunnel entrance," Pugachev said with some embarrassment, "but how can I throw grenades in the tunnel? If you don''t throw it well, the grenade will bounce back from the rock wall and blow up our own people. "


    "Give me a grenade and I''ll show you how to drop a bomb in the tunnel."


    When Pugachev heard what I said, he was extremely puzzled, but he asked a grenade from a soldier and gave it to me. I waved to everyone to show them that they were all standing on the left next to the trench so that I could show them how to drop bombs.


    Klobkin and his chief of staff rushed to give orders to their subordinates to stand aside and make room for me.


    Looking at dozens of pairs of eyes are staring at me, I am not only not nervous, but feel particularly calm. First, I will hold the grenade''s right hand naturally droop. When I hurl forward, I use my left arm to block it, and the grenade will fly more than ten meters horizontally. When I saw my performance, klobkin took the lead in cheering. Then the chief of staff of the division, major Oleg and Pugachev also cheered.


    Klobkin said with emotion: "Comrade oshanina, I think this method works, that is, more practice is needed."


    I nodded, and told Pugachev: "Captain Pugachev, you hear what Colonel klobkin said. You should make use of the opportunity of the interpreter to shout to the tunnel, and seize the time to organize the soldiers to practice this kind of bombing method. You should practice it as soon as possible and prepare for actual combat. "


    Seeing that Pugachev excitedly agreed and was about to turn around and leave, I suddenly remembered another thing and stopped him: "Comrade captain, I saw that you used a flamethrower when you attacked the hilltop position. Where does this weapon come from? "


    Pugachev looked at me and reminded me, "Sir, don''t you forget that it was captured from the Italian camp. I think it''s easier to hit the enemy''s firepower point with this weapon, so I brought two. "


    With the flamethrower, it''s easier to hit the tunnel, so I told him: "before attacking, first throw grenades into the tunnel. When the explosion smoke blocks the enemy''s sight, then let the flamethrowers sneak into the tunnel and use the flamethrower to kill the enemy''s machine gun fire points. Do you understand? "


    When Pugachev finished answering, he turned and ran back to his soldiers.


    In a short time, the gunfire at the entrance of the tunnel stopped, and then I heard someone yelling at the tunnel in German.


    Klobkin lit a cigarette and said enviously, "Comrade oshanina, there are so many talents in your department. You can find such a good German in the soldiers."


    When I heard what he said, I looked to the left and right. Seeing Oleg and the chief of staff of the division chatting three or four steps away from us, I lowered my voice to his ear and said, "Comrade Colonel, don''t you know that almost all my men are prisoners from Gulag concentration camp? I''m not surprised to find all kinds of talents among them. "


    Klobkin nodded and said with approval, "yes, it''s not too much to say that there are so many talents in the concentration camp there."


    As we were talking, the gunfire started again. Seeing that the trench facing the hole was splashed with mud, I knew that the German troops in the tunnel would not easily lay down their arms and surrender. Since they didn''t want to live, I would help them, so I made a gesture to Pugachev from a distance to start attacking.


    Soon, the sound of the enemy''s machine gun fire was suppressed by the dull explosion of grenades. It was Pugachev who directed the soldiers to throw grenades into the tunnel. Two flame soldiers with flame throwers on their backs squatted at the entrance of the cave, waiting for the order to attack.


    After the first round, the machine gun in the tunnel was dumb. But Pugachev did not immediately let the firemen into the tunnel, but directed the soldiers to carry out a second round of bombing in the tunnel.


    In the roar of the grenade explosion, I seemed to hear Pugachev yell, and then a flaming soldier who was ready to go rushed into the cave.


    As soon as the firemen burst into the tunnel, I heard the enemy''s machine gun ring again. However, it seems that the machine gun only rang, and then stopped suddenly. I don''t know whether the machine gun jammed or whether the machine gunner was burned to death by the flame from the flamethrower. At this moment, Pugachev stood at the entrance of the cave, raised his submachine gun, waved it forward, and took the lead to rush in. Then, the soldiers near the cave also penetrated.


    Seeing the soldiers rush into the tunnel, I was slightly relieved. As long as I rush into the tunnel, the rest of the battle will be easy to fight. When Oleg saw that our soldiers were so brave, he couldn''t help itching. He also wanted to rush into the tunnel to have a look, but I refused.


    The sound of gunfire and explosion in the tunnel rang out. Seeing that the enemy was not willing to wait to die, they were still fighting in the corner and struggling to death.


    Five minutes later, the sound of gunfire and explosion in the tunnel stopped. A soldier came out of it breathlessly, ran to me, raised his hand and reported to me, "Comrade division, something''s going on inside. Captain Pugachev, please come over."


    "What?" Oleg beside me was very angry when he heard this, and he was furious with the soldiers: "what is Pugachev, and what qualification does he have to let his teachers go to dangerous places?"


    I raised my hand to stop Oleg from going on, and kindly asked the soldier, "Comrade soldier, can you tell me what happened in the tunnel that even captain Pugachev can''t decide?"


    The soldier was a bit embarrassed by Oleg, but when I heard that I was so kind to speak to him, he was stunned for a moment by the huge contrast, and then he replied, "report, sir, when we attacked the tunnel on the right side, we found that there were all the wounded in it..."


    "Anyway, it''s all German wounded. Just throw some grenades in and get rid of them. What else can I ask for?" Oleg heard this and muttered to one side.


    I didn''t expect klobjing to agree with Oleg: "the wounded are also bandits. We can''t show mercy to them. I agree with major Oleg''s suggestion that we should use grenades to solve them all."


    The soldier listened, did not wait for me to speak, desperately put his hands, loudly said: "can''t blow, can''t blow."


    "What did you say?" Oleg came forward and grabbed the soldier''s collar. "How dare you sympathize with the bandits? Can I shoot you now?"


    I quickly liberated the soldier''s collar from Oleg''s hands. I said what happened to these people. When I was excited, I liked to pull other people''s collars. I didn''t know how to express my feelings with other actions. I helped the soldiers tidy their collars and continued to ask, "what''s wrong with the wounded?"


    The soldier took a deep breath and then replied, "the wounded are not only German, but also our Marine Corps. The health worker who took care of the wounded said that there was explosives in the hole. If we dare to attack their wounded, he will detonate the explosives and die with us. "


    "To scare people?" Oleg muttered again.


    "Commander o''shanina," said the soldier, and klobkin quickly pulled me aside. I thought he would agree with Oleg''s opinion again, but he whispered something that surprised me: "I think that German hygienist should be true. As you remember, our tunnel was built in an old armory, where hundreds of barrels of gunpowder were stored. Later, when the Marine Corps built fortifications, I was afraid they didn''t have enough explosives, so I gave them all the gunpowder. "


    When I heard that it was the expired gunpowder, I couldn''t help but ask with a wry smile, "can we still use the gunpowder that has been stored for more than 100 years?"


    Klobkin did not speak, but nodded vigorously.


    I went back to the soldier and asked, "what do you want from the German hygienist?"


    The soldier nodded, then said: "the other side said that as long as a commander with a high rank promised him not to attack the German wounded, he would lay down his arms and surrender."


    "How many of the enemy''s health workers are there?" Klobkin asked suddenly.


    "There seems to be only one." The soldier was a little nervous when he saw that he was being asked by a colonel.


    "I thought there were several people, but there was only one." Klobkin disdainfully said: "find a sniper to kill him, not to end it?"


    "Comrade Colonel," replied the soldier flurriedly, wiping the sweat from his forehead, "the German hygienists are hiding behind a row of powder kegs and can''t reach them at all."


    After listening to the soldier''s words, klobjing was silent, and even Oleg, who had been complaining, was obediently shut up.


    "Come on," I said to the soldier, "take me to the tunnel." With that, I lifted my legs and walked forward.


    "Comrade oshanina, it''s too dangerous." Klobkin grabbed my arm and said sincerely, "it''s better for someone else. I can''t watch you have an accident."


    I laughed at him, gently broke away from his hand, pretended to be calm and said to him, "don''t worry, comrade colonel. I''ve always had good luck. I believe this time is no exception. You and your guard platoon will stay here and wait for my good news. "


    When I walked into the dark tunnel, my legs began to soften, and I began to scold from Gaidar to Pugachev, who was confronting the German medical staff in the tunnel. You know, I''m your teacher, but now I''m turned into a negotiator by you. When I''m faced with this kind of uncertainty, let me take the lead. Although it seems that there is no danger every time, I''m not afraid of ten thousand, but I''m afraid of just in case. I can''t tell clearly that during the negotiation, one of the other party''s soldiers pulled the trigger and shot a long string of bullets at me because of nervousness and a cramp in his finger. Then I''ll go straight ahead.


    Adapted to the light in the tunnel, I saw Pugachev and more than a dozen soldiers squatting or standing in the tunnel, the muzzle of the gun pointed to the front without exception, and the front should be the place where the wounded were parked. These big wooden casks should be filled with gunpowder in the corridor. If you shoot them, it may cause a series of explosions, or even collapse the tunnel, and then no one will be spared.


    I went to Pugachev''s side, pretending to be calm and said to him: "Comrade captain, let the German speaking soldiers shout inside, and say that I promise by my reputation that I will never kill any German wounded, and ask him to lay down his arms and surrender."


    Pugachev whispered a few words to the soldier next to him. The fighter then took a few steps forward, came to the barrel and yelled at it in German. Hear his shout, inside a hoarse voice responded a few words, seem to confirm something. The soldier yelled a few more words. After receiving another response from the other side, he turned to Pugachev and said, "Comrade captain, he has promised to surrender."


    When I saw Pugachev commanding the soldiers to remove the powder keg, my heart went up to my throat. I was afraid that if I was not careful, it would cause an explosion. But fortunately, the barrel was moved away, and my vision suddenly widened. As long as a wide space, the ground is densely covered with stretchers, these should be the wounded of the German army and our Marine Corps. Seeing that the German health workers were escorted, I told Pugachev: "Comrade captain, arrange the manpower to carry out the wounded here as soon as possible." After that, I went out of the cave with the German health guards and the soldiers escorting him. When I walked out of the cave, I saw kolobkin, Oleg and the guards standing outside. They were staring at the cave nervously. They were all relieved to see me come out safely¡° It''s the damned German hygienist. You have to take risks yourself. " When Oleg saw the German hygienist standing at the entrance of the cave, he was so angry that he came forward and slapped him in the face. Unexpectedly, as soon as the health worker lowered his head, Oleg''s hand slapped his helmet and knocked it off, revealing his silver white short hair. Oleg could not help but be stunned, and then said in surprise: "I didn''t expect that you... You... Are actually a woman?" I looked at the freckled face in front of me and asked coldly, "soldier, tell me your name and rank, and your army." The next interpreter immediately translated my words into German and repeated them to the female health worker. The woman health officer stooped to pick up her helmet and put it on her head. She answered without hesitation, "Kalla, corporal, I belong to the 371st infantry division."

 Chapter 549

    Klobkin came forward and looked at the young woman with short silver hair and freckles on her round face. She asked solemnly, "where did you catch our wounded in the cave?" The next translator translated his words in a hurry.


    Carla glanced at him contemptuously and replied humbly, "Mr. Colonel, those people used to stick to the tunnel. After our troops entered, most of the soldiers were killed by us, and only a dozen of them were seriously injured. The commander of our army was merciful. Instead of having these prisoners shot, he put them together with our wounded for treatment


    "Comrade Colonel, what about the female health workers and the wounded?" After listening to the translation, the chief of staff of the division went to klobkin and asked him in a low voice.


    Colombo waved his hand and looked at me. "These captives are captured by Colonel O Natsu Chaanning Aa, and they are the ones who has the final say."


    When the chief of staff of the division heard what klobkin said, he turned to look at me and asked, "commander oshanina, what''s your plan and what are you going to do with this female health worker?"


    Seeing that everyone''s eyes were on me, I could not help but secretly scold that klobkin was a slippery old man who had pushed such a big trouble to me. In the past, we captured prisoners. Under special circumstances, we usually executed them on the spot. This time, we caught a young female health worker, not to mention dozens of wounded German soldiers. It is estimated that no one on the scene could do anything except the internal affairs department''s supervision team, so they left this big trouble to me.


    I walked around the German female health workers, and then said, "what else can I decide? How did you deal with the German prisoners before, and how do you deal with them now?" Speaking of this, I also specially remind the chief of staff of the division: "Comrade chief of staff, I once promised this female health worker not to hurt any German prisoners. I hope you also tell the soldiers not to harass the captured wounded as much as possible. "


    When the chief of staff heard me say this, he couldn''t help complaining: "but after the battle, our soldiers are exhausted. If we want them to carry these German wounded, I''m afraid everyone will be in a mood."


    "Comrade chief of staff," klobkin gave the female health worker a disgusting look, and then told his chief of staff, "let the German prisoners carry their own wounded. They are not qualified to let our soldiers work on it any more."


    Klobgin left the division chief of staff to deal with the prisoners, and I left Oleg to gather the troops and count the casualties. After everything was arranged, I went back with a squad of guards and soldiers.


    When I passed the German hillside position, I stopped to check the enemy''s fortifications to see how they reduced their losses under our artillery bombardment.


    At this glance, we can really see the fame. I don''t know if there are capable men in the German army, or if they completely copy my ideas in the fortifications occupied by them. Every 50 meters in the trench, there is a gun hole. Without exception, these holes are dug down. Not to mention the light artillery used in today''s artillery, they can resist even the heavy artillery.


    On the way back to highland 165 after leaving the fortification, klobkin suddenly asked, "Comrade oshanina, I know you are smart and have rich combat experience. That''s why the superior gave you the power to act as commander in chief in the last counterattack. At that time, I was still a little unconvinced. I thought it was a very shameless thing for us to obey the command of a young girl when we were a group of veteran soldiers for more than 20 years. Originally, I thought that if I didn''t fight well, I would give a good scolding. I didn''t expect that we won the counterattack. It seems that the superior''s vision is good, and we can see further than us. "


    When I heard that he flattered me like this, I thought he had something to say, so I asked directly, "Comrade Colonel, I have known you for a day or two. If you have anything to say, don''t flatter me


    Klobkin said with a smile: "in fact, it''s nothing. I just want to ask, what do you think of today''s battle?"


    In fact, he didn''t ask. I also want to discuss the gains and losses of this battle with him at the right time. Now that he''s asking, I''ll take this opportunity to have a chat with him. I thought about it and said, "although we have won this battle and successfully recaptured the positions occupied by the German army, many problems have also been exposed."


    "What''s the problem?" klobkin said with great interest


    "First of all, our army''s offensive firepower is insufficient. Our artillery bombarded the enemy for half an hour before the attack. Facts have proved that such shelling has little effect on the fortifications built by the enemy. So that after the artillery stopped and our army launched an attack, the enemy could calmly deploy mortars and heavy and heavy machine guns to kill our attacking troops in a long and medium range. "


    Klobkin listened carefully to what I said. Next, trakov asked klobkin about his problems in this battle. When I was just on the road, I talked to klobkin about this. So when he asked, he could tell him all the problems in the battle one by one.


    After listening, trakov added, "Comrade Colonel, what you said is not complete enough. Although we have a small number of artillery, we are not at a loss for the enemy''s firepower. Don''t you see that the two guns under Comrade o''shanina have made great achievements? Other people use direct fire to destroy the enemy''s mortar fire points one by one, clearing the way for our troops to move forward. This is very good. I think you can sum it up and let the artillery in your division learn from others. "


    As soon as trikov finished, the chief of staff, Col. Ruskin, continued: "let me add a little bit. In fact, I think the tunnel bombing method invented by lieutenant colonel oshanina is very effective. If we fight with the enemy in the future, it will be of great use. So, Colonel klobkin, you have to make the soldiers master this method of dropping bombs as soon as possible. "


    Klobkin quickly agreed: "OK, comrade chief of staff of the group army, I''ve remembered what you said."


    Trekov turned his eyes to me and asked with concern, "o''shanina, how are the casualties of your special battalion in this battle?"


    Although I haven''t had time to count the casualty data, I went to the opposite highland and saw the remaining officers and men in the army. I also had a general idea about the number of casualties. Hearing trekov''s question, I said with a bitter smile, "Comrade commander, the casualties are not small. This time, we have five companies, and now there are still combat officers and men, so we have a little more than one company. " At this point, I couldn''t help asking: "I don''t know when our division''s troops will be able to withdraw from the residential areas? You know, after this period of fighting, there are only 500 or 600 troops left in the original 2000 troops. One more victory like today''s will wipe out all my troops. "


    After listening, trakov was silent, just tapping his fingers on the table. Raskin said hastily, "Comrade oshanina, you may not know that today the enemy concentrated its superior forces and launched a fierce attack on the renok area where our 214 and 229 divisions were stationed. It is very likely that they will not stop without breaking through their positions. In the orlovka area, there are also signs of the enemy''s troop mobilization. "


    Although I heard that the enemy was only attacking renok, I understood that it was only a matter of time before the enemy attacked orlovka. Perhaps the German army also understood that as long as they broke through one of our defense lines, the rest of the forces in the defense area might be forced to withdraw, so that their campaign objectives could be achieved and they could further approach Stalingrad.


    After thinking for a long time, trakov looked up at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, when the troops of the special battalion are gathered up, you will immediately take them back to the residential area, and with the troops inside, you will withdraw to your division, waiting for the further combat tasks of the group army headquarters."


    "Yes I quickly and loudly agreed.


    "Comrade trakov," Raskin heard that trakov had ordered me to lead the troops to retreat. He couldn''t help persuading him to cancel the order: "you know that there are not enough troops in the front line now, we need fresh troops to strengthen them. But you asked Comrade o''shanina to withdraw from the battle with her more effective troops. Would you like to think about that again? "


    Instead of paying attention to Ruskin, trakov raised his hand, looked at his watch, and then asked me, "o''shanina, how soon can you gather your troops?"


    "An hour, no faster. It''s not so easy to gather the troops as they are still cleaning the battlefield. "


    "Well, I''ll give you an hour. As soon as the time comes, you must take your troops out of the 29th division and return to the independent division as soon as possible. I would like to remind you that the combat effectiveness of the remaining troops should be improved as soon as possible. Perhaps soon, your division will be used in the main combat direction. "


    "I see, comrade commander." When I said this, I took the initiative to ask trekov, "there is one more thing I want to ask for your opinion. Do you think I can send a message to the troops stationed in the residential areas, so that they can quickly withdraw to the defense area of the guard division, and I can take the troops to get in touch with them. In this way, we can save some time. "


    "Well, that''s it." Trekov agreed very readily, and then added, "do you have anything else to add?"


    When I thought about the flag, I took the opportunity to say, "Comrade commander, my independent division has been established for some time, and has participated in several battles and achieved good results. I wonder if you can grant my division a flag?"


    "The flag?" My words made trakov''s face look embarrassed. Perhaps in order not to dampen my enthusiasm, he said vaguely, "I remember. When I go back, I will discuss the flag issue with commander shumilov. You go to contact the troops in the residential area first, and ask them to withdraw as soon as possible and rush to the defense area of the guard division to join you. "


    When I got to the radio station and asked the operator to help me send the news, I saw that trakov and klobkin chatted again. It seemed that he was being assigned some important task.


    The operator soon got in touch with razumeyeva. I said to the transmitter, "Hello, sergeant. I''m commander, lieutenant commander o''shanina. Is major shejerikov or major gedar at the command post? "


    "Yes, sir. Please wait a moment. I''ll call them for you right away." Then I heard razumeyeva''s voice calling xijerikov: "Comrade major, please come here. Comrade division commander is online. She has something important to talk to you." Soon, Xie jerikov''s voice came out of the earphone: "Hello, sir, congratulations on your great victory." When I heard him say this, I was stunned, and then asked: "Comrade major, are you a good eye or a good ear? How can we know that we have won the battle so far away? "¡° Because, like major Gaidar, I am full of confidence in you and believe that as long as you come forward, you will surely win a great victory. " At this point, he turned the topic and asked cautiously, "Comrade teacher, do you have any important tasks to assign to me when you come to see me at this time? Just say it in a low voice, and don''t let Gaidar hear it, or he''ll have to compete with me later. " I was amused by his words. After laughing, I said with a straight face: "Comrade major, just received the order from the higher authorities, let our division give up the residential area immediately and retreat to the garrison of the guard division immediately."¡° What, retreat? " Chejerikov exclaimed in surprise. He asked in a puzzled way, "we have given this residential area which we have managed to get back to the German people for nothing."¡° Don''t ask so much. It''s an order. " I replied dryly, "we have only a few hundred people in the settlement, and we are short of heavy weapons. If the German army attacks on a large scale, we will not be able to hold on. Don''t talk about it. Let''s get the order down immediately and let the commanders and fighters pack up for departure. When we get to the garrison of Jinwei division, don''t leave. When we arrive, we will return to the garrison of independent division. Do you understand? "¡° I see. I''ll set it up right away. " When I came back to trakov and told him in a low voice that the troops in the settlement were preparing to retreat, he nodded and said to me as if he had made up his mind: "oshanina, I''ve thought about the flag carefully. I''ll help you solve it as soon as possible, so you don''t have to worry about it. What you have to do now is to withdraw the troops to the base as soon as possible and improve their combat effectiveness. This is your primary task. "

 Chapter 550

    Although I agreed with trakov that the troops would leave in an hour. But by the time major Oleg finished cleaning the battlefield, burying the bodies of the martyrs, and transferring the wounded to the health camp of the 29th division, more than two hours had passed.


    Together with Oleg, who came in a hurry, I bid farewell to trakov, Raskin and klobkin, and left the 29th division for the assembly point of the special battalion.


    Far away, I saw trucks carrying soldiers, standing in a long line by the side of the road. The soldiers who will accompany me back to the independent division are lining up next to the trucks under the command of their respective commanders. Looking at the large army of 500 people, now there are less than 200 people left, I can''t help feeling sad.


    Seeing me and Oleg coming, Captain Pugachev, who was watching the formation of the troops, ran up to us and told us that the whole battalion was ready to leave at any time.


    I took a look at Pugachev, who was staring at me, his face waiting for my order. I asked, "Comrade captain, have you written down the names of those martyrs who lay on the barbed wire and died for the army?"


    "Write it down." "Sergeant Ivan grasimenko took the lead to lie on the barbed wire, followed by private Alexander krasillov, Nikolay gihonov, leonzi ceremnov and an unknown soldier, It opened the way for our offensive forces. "


    I took a look at the four names and a big question mark written on the paper. I frowned slightly and asked, "why is there another soldier whose name hasn''t been written?"


    "Yes, sir." Pugachev quickly explained: "because the body of another soldier has been destroyed, although we have found many people to identify, no one can identify the martyr."


    "Are all the bodies buried?" I continued.


    "Yes, sir." This time it was major Oleg who said solemnly, "we buried these five soldiers in a pit and marked them. I think that when the war is over, we should set up a monument at the place where they died to commemorate the achievements of these five soldiers. "


    I folded the paper in my hand, put it in my briefcase, nodded and said, "Comrade major, you are right. After the end of the war, we should set up all kinds of monuments in all the places where we have fought to commemorate the martyrs who died during the Great Patriotic War in order to defend our great motherland and our great leader comrade Stalin. " Although I said this in front of my subordinates, I used to flatter the Supreme Commander himself.


    "Sir, we can wait until after the war for the memorial." Pugachev said to me with a smiley face, "is it time for us to go? The soldiers are tired today. When they get back to the residential areas, they should have a good sleep, which will help them recover quickly. "


    I shook my head and said, "Comrade captain, we won''t go back to the residential area. After waiting for the bus, the troops will go directly to the garrison of the guard division, where they will wait for xijerikov and Gaidar."


    "Not going back to the settlements?" Pugachev repeated in bewilderment.


    "Yes, according to the order of the superior, the settlement must be abandoned." Due to the rush of time, I haven''t even had time to tell Oleg about it, let alone Pugachev, who has been on the battlefield. In order to let them understand the reasons for evacuating the settlements, I specially explained to them, "according to the information provided by the group army command, the German army is storming the renok area, and the German army in the orlovka area also shows signs of mobilization, which is likely to launch an attack on the settlements in the short term. General trakov has just given an order for our division to withdraw from the residential area. I have informed major chejerikov to withdraw his troops to the guard area of the guard division and return to our division after joining us. "


    "But, sir, why?" Pugachev asked with some incomprehension: "you know, we paid a lot to take this settlement from the enemy. But now, after only holding on for two or three days, we have to give up easily. Is the blood shed by so many sacrificed soldiers in vain? "


    "All right, comrade captain." I didn''t want to entangle with him too much on this issue, so I told him in a stern tone, "you know, there are only a few hundred soldiers in our residential areas, lacking heavy weapons and solid permanent fortifications. If the enemy bombed heavily with airplanes, we can''t support it. Maybe before the enemy attacked, we were all destroyed by the enemy''s bombs and shells. It''s an order from the superior. It''s not allowed to be discussed. Follow it. "


    "Yes, I see." Before turning to leave, Pugachev hesitated for a moment, or asked what he thought in his mind, "do we still have a chance to return to the settlement?"


    "I don''t know," I replied with a gloomy face, but I knew in my heart that the question Pugachev asked was the one that would come to every commander who received the order. Just as I know that the battle of Stalingrad is a war in which both sides have invested millions of troops, and its tragic degree is beyond everyone''s imagination, but I can only keep silent and can''t be a prophet to tell these upcoming events in advance. When I saw Pugachev standing in front of me and didn''t want to leave, I impolitely urged him: "Captain, let your troops get on the bus. It''s time for us to start."


    When Pugachev saw my displeasure, he gave a military salute in a hurry and ran to the commanders and fighters who had finished the formation. At the same time, he called out in a loud voice: "all aboard


    My jeep was at the front of the whole team. At the beginning, no one in the car spoke. After driving in silence for a while, Oleg, who was sitting in the co driver''s seat, turned around and asked hesitantly, "Comrade division commander, what should we do next after the troops have withdrawn from the station?"


    "According to general trakov''s order, after the troops going out to perform tasks return to the garrison, their main task is to teach the new soldiers who stay at the garrison combat experience and help them train, so that the combat effectiveness of the whole army can be rapidly improved." At this point, I would like to ask a rhetorical question: "why, comrade Oleg, is the task clear?"


    "It''s not very clear," major Oleg said unexpectedly. "The absolute majority of our division''s soldiers have not received any military training. It''s impossible to improve their combat effectiveness in a short period of time if there is no backbone to enrich their troops. You see, can you ask Comrade General to let other troops support some of our fighting backbones? "


    When I heard his suggestion, I was still very excited, but when I thought about it again, I could only sigh and say, "this idea is good, but general trakov will definitely not agree. Nowadays, the casualties of all units of the group army have been greatly reduced. The remaining fighting backbones are precious to the commanders of all units. They are reluctant to give them to others. We should know that as long as there are many backbone fighters in the army, the combat effectiveness can be formed quickly after the recruitment of new recruits. "


    Just at this time, the front suddenly came a dense gunfire.


    The driver quickly turned the steering wheel and pulled the car to the side of the road. Waiting for the car to stop, the driver turned to me and asked, "Comrade division, maybe the Germans are seizing it with our army. It''s too dangerous. Shall we turn back?"


    I looked at the outside environment and thought that this is also the rear of our army. How could the enemy come out? Then he listened to the gunfire coming from the front. It seemed that the scale of the battle was not large. He replied to the driver, "no, just stop here and wait for us." Then he patted Oleg on the shoulder and said in a loud voice, "major, let''s go down and see what''s going on?"


    Oleg and I pushed the door open and got out of the car on both sides to see what was going on. Unexpectedly, on the right side of the road is a soil slope with a forest, which completely blocks our sight. We can''t see what happened on the other side of the slope.


    At this time, the motorcade behind also stopped. Pugachev trotted over with more than a dozen soldiers. From a long distance, he repeatedly asked, "Comrade division, what''s the matter? What''s the noise of the guns in front of you? "


    I shook my head and replied, "I don''t know. But judging from the density of gunfire, the scale of the battle should be small. "


    At this time, Oleg, who had observed the surrounding terrain, suddenly opened his mouth and said, "Comrade division, let''s go up to the hillside and have a look. We can see clearly the fighting from there." Then he said to Pugachev, "Comrade captain, you should start your troops immediately and get ready for battle."


    I looked up at the vegetated hillside, nodded, and then said, "Comrade major, take some soldiers with me to have a look." With that, I took the lead and went up the hill.


    At the top of the hillside, there are many trees, but the vision is very wide. You can not only observe the enemy''s situation, but also not easily be found by the enemy in the distant battlefield. I found a stump and stood up, holding up my telescope and looking at the place where the guns sounded.


    About a kilometer to the northeast, there was a garbage dump, where there were smashed tanks and armored vehicles, both our army and German army. Some of the vehicles looked complete, while others were torn down into a mess of parts. A T-34 tank without tracks is stopping in this pile of scrap metal and shelling in the distance. One after another, shells fell around the tank and exploded, causing the broken parts to tumble around. A little further south, on the outskirts of the dump, there are more than a dozen single person bunkers in which people are shooting with rifles and light machine guns. These people did not wear helmets, nor did they wear the uniform of our army. They were all dressed in uniform blue cloth.


    Looking to the southwest, there were three German armored vehicles, a dozen tricycles and dozens of German infantry. Perhaps they were worried that they would be hit by the tank fire of our army. Armored vehicles and motorcycles were far away from each other. The machine guns on their vehicles kept shooting at the dump, covering the infantry to leap forward. Not far from the armored vehicles and motorcycles, there was a German mortar position, which was firing shells, but their target was not the individual bunker outside, but the tank in the middle of the dump.


    I saw here, heard footsteps behind me, and turned to see that major Oleg had come with some soldiers. When he came to me, I jumped off the stump, handed the telescope to him, and said to him, "there are not many German troops, probably only a few dozen, but there are armored cars and mortars. The number of defenders is very small. In addition to a dozen people, there is also a tank. But what I don''t understand is, why did the German army attack a dump? "


    Major Oleg stood on the stump, raised his telescope, looked at it only a few times, then bowed his head to me and said, "Comrade division, since I am not wrong, the dump you mentioned should be our temporary armored maintenance base. Don''t you see that all the people who are fighting are wearing work clothes?"


    "Work clothes?" When I heard Oleg say that, I blushed and quickly turned away from the topic and asked, "major, do you think they can block the enemy''s attack?"


    Almost without thinking, Oleg shook his head and replied, "according to my observation, these workers are too weak to resist the German attack. You see, the tank guns have been firing for such a long time. Except one or two of them were in the attack line of the enemy infantry, the rest of the shells didn''t know where they had gone. Besides, the machine guns of the workers are shooting all the time, but I don''t see any German being knocked down by them at all. "


    "It seems that we should help them, or they will be wiped out by the Germans." I said to myself. After that, I pulled a soldier and told him, "Comrade soldier, go down the hill immediately and tell captain Pugachev to find more people to help Lieutenant Morozov pull the gun up the hill."


    As soon as I finished my command, before the soldiers left, I heard the sound of orderly chanting from below. I took a few steps outside, bent down and looked down the slope. Lieutenant Morozov was directing a group of soldiers to pull artillery towards the top of the slope.


    In just a few minutes, two cannons were pulled to the top of the hill by the soldiers. Morozov came up to me, wiped his sweat and asked in a loud voice, "Comrade division commander, artillery company is in position. Please direct the shooting target."


    "Good job, Morozov." After a loud compliment, I pulled him to the stump and asked Oleg to give him the telescope. Then I pointed to him and said, "there are three German armored vehicles, a dozen motorcycles and a mortar position over there, covering dozens of infantry and attacking our armored repair station. We can''t watch our repair station being knocked down by the enemy, so we have to help them out. Now I order you, when Pugachev''s infantry attack the enemy''s flank, you will use artillery to kill all the German armored cars, motorcycles and mortars. Do you understand? "


    "Yes, I promise to finish the task." Morozov jumped off the stump and gave me back the telescope, so he commanded his men to pull the cannons to find a suitable position and set up the artillery position.


    After this period of running in, several subordinates around me have some understanding of my combat style. No, before I gave the order, Pugachev had arrived at the top of the mountain with a company of soldiers. After he asked the soldiers to stand by, he came up to me and asked for instructions: "Comrade division commander, the troops have been assembled. They can fight at any time and wait for your orders."


    "Come and see, captain." Although it''s about one kilometer away from the battlefield, it''s commanding and has a wide field of vision. Even if you don''t need a telescope, you can see the situation on the battlefield. I pointed to the German troops approaching the repair station and said to Pugachev, "Comrade captain, your task is to lead the troops to attack from the German side and teach them a good lesson. Don''t worry, the enemy''s armored vehicles and mortars, Lieutenant Morozov and his Gunners will clean them up. "


    "I understand." Pugachev agreed, pulled out his pistol, raised it above his head, and yelled at his men, "brothers, come with me!" With that, he took the lead to walk down the hill. Behind him, hundreds of soldiers with weapons followed him down in silence.


    When the troops arrived at the foot of the mountain and walked out of the woods, Pugachev waved his pistol and then took the lead in charging forward. More than one hundred soldiers were not willing to be outdone, and they followed him quickly.


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I calculated their speed in my heart. It was estimated that in three or four minutes, they would rush in front of the Germans and take them by surprise.


    The Germans found them before they reached half the distance. First, the machine guns on the armored cars and motorcycles turned around, then the mortars turned around, and the German Gunners were rapidly adjusting their angles to shoot them.


    The enemy''s machine gun fire, so that the troops are charging, there are 10 soldiers unfortunately shot to the ground. Before their machine gun fire could do more damage to us, Morozov''s cannons opened fire.


    This time, Morozov brought experienced gunners to hit a fixed target more than 1000 meters away, with a very high hit rate. In the first round of shooting, a shell hit the armored car in front of the enemy. After the smoke dispersed, I saw that the armored car had been damaged. Another shell exploded next to a motorcycle, and the blast overturned the motorcycle directly. The machine gunner who rolled out of the sidecar rolled on the ground for a few times and then lay still on the ground. It seemed that he was taken away by the flying shrapnel.


    After being stopped by the enemy''s firepower, Pugachev''s troops immediately changed their battle formation and attacked in groups with the squad as the unit. One class lay down and shot to suppress the enemy''s firepower, while the other class bent forward; After occupying a favorable position, lie down and shoot again to cover the advance of another class. After using this alternate shield tactics, although they were also killed by the enemy''s artillery and machine gun fire, there were not many casualties.


    After the Gunners fired in the second and third rounds, all the German armored vehicles were destroyed, and even two or three motorcycles were destroyed. Next, they adjusted the muzzle and opened fire on the enemy''s mortar position. I don''t know which gun fired the shells, which directly hit the ammunition box of the enemy''s artillery position. One after another, the sacrificial shells exploded, which made the German artillery on the position turn upside down. Several machine gunners on motorcycles nearby were also affected by the flying shrapnel, and they fell out of the sidecar one after another. Pugachev''s troops took advantage of this opportunity to rush to the place where the enemy parked their motorcycles. After close combat, they killed or captured the Germans on the motorcycles. Next, except for a few soldiers who took care of the prisoners, the rest turned and rushed towards the German infantry who were in a dilemma. Seeing that their armored vehicles, motorcycles and mortars were destroyed one by one, and seeing a group of soldiers rushing down the mountain like tigers, the German infantry thought that they had met a large army of our army, and their taxi morale suddenly dropped to the extreme. After several recalcitrant soldiers were killed by random guns, the remaining 20 soldiers were scared out of their wits and obediently raised their hands to surrender to the soldiers¡° Great, we won When Oleg saw the scene of the remaining German soldiers raising their hands to surrender, he couldn''t help shouting excitedly. Then he urged me: "Comrade division, since the battle is over, let''s go and have a look now, and talk to the workers in the armored repair station by the way." With that, he raised his legs and wanted to follow Pugachev''s attack route. I quickly stopped him and said, "major, wait a minute. You''re going in the opposite direction. Our jeep is here. It''s too far. Let''s go by car. " After listening to me, Oleg scratched the back of his head, grinned sheepishly, and obediently followed me down the hill. After completing his task, Morozov also asked the soldiers to help them get the cannons down the hill. When my car came outside the repair station, Pugachev was chatting with two men in tooling. When he saw me coming, he came up with the two men. After the meeting, he first raised his hand to salute, and reported: "report to Mr. commander, the special battalion has successfully completed the task you gave us and completely annihilated the enemy''s motorized detachment."¡° Well done, Captain Pugachev I took a look at the people wearing tooling next to me. One is a middle-aged man, who looks like a leader. The young man next to me should be his secretary or something. Then I turned and asked Pugachev, "Comrade captain, are these two The middle-aged man nodded and laughed at me, took the initiative to introduce himself and said, "Hello, comrade commander. I''m sharloviev of the armored maintenance station of the front army. This is martnovich, the technical assistant at the maintenance station With that, he reached out to shake hands with me.

 Chapter 551

    I held out my hand to shake with him and said in good faith: "Comrade stationmaster, you are an important position here, but why didn''t the superior provide you with security forces? You know, if we had been a little late just now, you would have been ruined by the Germans. "


    When I heard this, Shah Lowe Jef said with a face, "in fact, the lieutenant colonel has provided us with a platoon of infantry. Before that, I discussed with the technical assistant comrades that the maintenance station was located behind our army, and that security could be guaranteed. Instead of letting the soldiers of a platoon do nothing here every day, they should be sent to more important places. In this way, the infantry of that platoon were transferred after only two days


    When shaking hands with me, young technical assistant martnovich also took the initiative to explain: "in fact, our place is very hidden and the enemy will not find it. Today''s battle was an accident. "


    After shaking hands with them, I asked casually, "which factory were you in Stalingrad?"


    Unexpectedly, after listening to my question, they looked at each other with a smile. The stationmaster answered me with pride: "we are all from the tractor factory in Stalingrad. Before the war, a quarter of the tractors in the country were produced by our factory. After the outbreak of the war, our production line has been converted to produce tanks for our army. " At this point, he pointed to the T-34 tank without tracks in the middle of the scrap metal and said to me, "see? That tank is also produced by our factory. "


    Looking at the workers standing next to the tank, I couldn''t help laughing, and then jokingly said to them: "stationmaster, technical assistant comrades, your workers'' shooting level is not very good. I was just on the hillside in the distance and saw this tank shooting at the enemy all the time, but it seems that few shells hit the target. "


    Standing in Changsha, loviev blushed with shame again and quickly explained to me: "Comrade commander, you don''t know that our workers didn''t have special shooting training. The two repairmen who were shooting in the tank just now were the repairmen who repaired the engine of the tank. They can shoot the shells out of the gun bore, which is very amazing."


    At this time, Oleg came to me and whispered, "Comrade division, the prisoners have been interrogated. They said that they were searching for a tank that attacked their camp last night and following the track tracks on the ground."


    "Tank, what tank?" Oleg''s words puzzled me. Was it because of the bad luck of looking for a tank of our army that the enemy ran into the repair station of our army by mistake?


    "Did the German say it was to find a tank?" Technical assistant martnovich interjected. When he saw Oleg nodding his head to confirm, he slapped himself on the thigh and exclaimed, "my God, I finally understand how the enemy came here." Then he called out to the workers standing next to the tank, "liaonka, come here."


    With his shouts, a bearded worker came to us from the tank. Seeing our commanders and his leaders standing together, I can''t help but feel a little flustered. Seeing that he was at a loss, malgenovic was so angry that he slapped him on the back of the head and said angrily, "liaoenka, tell the commanders what you experienced last night."


    Liao enka scratched the back of his head and laughed sheepishly. Then he began to tell us the story of last night: "last night, I rode a motorcycle to the renok area for inspection. As we all know, there was a battle there yesterday, and there must be damaged tanks on the battlefield. I was lucky to find a tank of our army At this point, he said to the T-34, "here it is."


    "Go on, comrade lionka." Perhaps afraid that he would take the topic far away, the stationmaster couldn''t help urging him.


    "I stopped the motorcycle, opened the top hatch and drilled the tank. Looking around, the captain of the tank was lying beside the gun, covered with blood, and the driver was seriously injured. I''m a tank repairer, but I''m not a health worker, and I don''t have a first-aid kit on me, so I can only let them bear it for a while. After I repair it, I''ll drive the tank back and send them to the health camp.


    I was fixing the trouble when there was a sudden noise outside. I looked out and saw that it was the German who drove a tractor and tied it to our tank with a steel cable to pull it to their position. I wanted to teach these Germans a lesson, but the turret was stuck, the machine gun bullets were gone, and the tank soldiers'' grenades were gone.


    At this time, what should we do? Do you want to stay in the tank and be a prisoner when towed to the German position, or rush out to fight bravely with the enemy and kill them with a dagger? However, after consideration, I feel that neither of these two methods is desirable. We need to find a way out of danger, so I implore several tank soldiers not to act rashly and wait patiently for me to repair the tank.


    When I was repairing the tank, a tank soldier with minor injuries lit me up with a flashlight. Although I tried to keep calm, the hand holding the wrench was shaking. In addition, our tanks were dragged by German tractors and bumped badly on the rough road, which made it more difficult to repair.


    I thought to myself at that time, it''s over. If we can''t fix it again, we will really become German prisoners. So I took a deep breath and tried my best to say to myself in my heart: liaoenka, it''s OK. There''s no German devil here. It''s my own people outside. The tractor is towing this tank. What you need to repair is just a few common small problems on the tank. When I think about it, I''m back to my old calm. After a while, the tank was repaired.


    The driver, who had been seriously injured, got into his position, started the tank and rushed to the enemy''s tractor, smashing it into a pile of scrap iron. Then he rushed into the enemy''s position and rolled it back and forth, flattening the enemy''s trenches. When I see this scene, I don''t know how happy I am. "


    "How did the tank become like this?" I also learned from the repairman to talk to tankanunu and asked, "it looks like you ran over a mine on your way back."


    "Let me explain this," technical assistant martnovich said sheepishly. "Comrade commander, you also know that it is inevitable for people to be dizzy and neurotic when they are in a state of tension for a long time. When we saw the tank coming to our repair station, because it was already midnight, the workers on duty didn''t see it was our tank, so they rushed up with a bunch of grenades and blew it up.


    The sound of the explosion woke us up from our sleep. Everyone rushed out of the shed and rushed to the explosion site to see what happened. When the flashlight was shining, we found that the workers on duty had made a big mistake and blew up their tanks as German tanks.


    After waking up, Liao enka helped several wounded tank soldiers climb out of the tank. While wiping the bloodstain on his face, the tank commander scolded fiercely: "are you crazy, even your own tanks are blown up?". Since you''ve blown it up, you''ll be responsible for repairing it.


    After we sent the wounded away, we towed the tank into the repair station with a tractor for repair. Unexpectedly, just in the middle of our repair work, the enemy suddenly attacked us. " At this point, he looked at us gratefully, then said: "fortunately you arrived in time, otherwise the repair station is really dangerous."


    "What is the enemy''s intention to drag our tanks back to their position?" I "have," shaloviev continued, "when the enemy came straight at our maintenance station, the workers dropped their tools, grabbed their guns and grenades, ran to the individual bunker outside, and opened fire on the enemy with light weapons. You know, we don''t have any fighting experience at all. We just fight with the Germans wholeheartedly as we work. But the cunning devils kept firing mortars before they rushed up, causing us heavy casualties. There were more than 20 workers who died bravely in this way. "


    "Comrade commander, please come to the shed for me. I have something to show you." Technical assistant martnovich sent me a sincere invitation.


    I followed him into the shed, around the lathe stained with martyrs'' blood, and came to a workbench. This worktable is supported by six steel pipes, a huge steel plate, which is used by fitters to process small parts. Around the steel plate, which is two meters long and one meter wide and one inch thick, seven or eight vises of different sizes are fixed. In front of one of the vises, a fitter was filing a small part on the jaw with a file.


    Martnovich pointed to the table and said to me, "Comrade commander, please have a look."


    I follow the direction of his fingers to see, only in the surface of the iron plate, densely covered with grooves, it seems to be full of names. A closer look, it is really full of people''s names, I carefully counted, there are 47 names. Although I didn''t reach out to touch it, according to the heat from the steel plate, I knew that these names had not been engraved for a long time, so I turned to ask martnovich: "Comrade technical assistant, how did these names be engraved on the steel plate?"


    He pointed back and said, "that''s it."


    I turned my head to see it, and I was startled. On a hand cart not far away, a bottle of oxygen and a bottle of acetylene were placed side by side. You should know that in the safety regulations of the Chinese dynasty, the safety distance between these two kinds of things is 10 meters, not placed side by side. Fortunately, it was not hit by German shrapnel just now, otherwise, the shed might have been razed to the ground.


    I secretly moved to the side, and then asked martnovich: "Comrade technical assistant, whose names are all engraved on your steel plate with gas welding gun?"


    "Who else?" The busy fitter took over the topic and said, "of course, it''s the name of everyone in our repair station. But not to mention, the gas welding skill of the technical assistant is really good. He burns and carves very carefully. Every letter burns very clearly and deeply, but the steel plate is not burned through at all. " Speaking of this, the fitter knocked a line of words with his file and said to me, "Comrade commander, you see, he also engraved" die for the Soviet motherland ", and the date after that is tomorrow. He firmly believes that we can fight with the enemy here one day and one night. "


    "Comrade commander, I think Comrade technical assistant is right." Maybe I was afraid that I would blame martnovich. Standing in Changsha, loviev took the opportunity to stand up and say good words for him, "you know, he engraved our names on the steel plate, even if we all died, it would not be unknown. This proof is the most reliable, and no one can erase it. Even if investigators from the Ministry of interior come to have a look in the future, they will suddenly realize that these workers in the maintenance station have died for their motherland, rather than being captured or missing by the enemy. "


    "Comrade shaloviev and Comrade martnovich, the workers in your maintenance station are good. I will report what happened here to the superior and ask them to send security forces here to ensure the safety of your maintenance station. " Hearing what I said, neither the stationmaster nor the technical assistant raised any objection, because today''s bloody facts have taught them that the necessary security force is indispensable in this kind of workshop. As they are subordinate to the headquarters of the front army, I personally have no right to send troops to guard them. I can only report the situation to the group army and report it to them. The final decision on whether to send troops is still in the hands of the commander of the front army. Although there were only less than 20 people left in the maintenance station, they obviously knew something about this rigid and cumbersome procedure. After I said these words, they did not ask me to leave the troops to guard them temporarily. Originally, I wanted to turn around and leave, but Lieutenant Morozov, who had just arrived, said in my ear: "Comrade division, are we going to leave like this? Is this the way to leave our workers'' brothers to the Germans who may appear at any time? " After hearing this, I changed my mind and stayed for the time being. I asked my subordinates to help the workers of these maintenance stations strengthen their defense. The shooting level of the workers is obvious to all. It''s a waste of bullets to let them shoot against the enemy, so I didn''t leave the captured German weapons to them. Instead, they asked Oleg, Pugachev and Morozov, together with their respective subordinates, to remove all the mines captured from the vehicles and help workers lay out minefields near the maintenance stations. With the help of the three commanders, the soldiers moved all the land mines from the vehicle, and together with the workers, laid a large number of mines that could control the initiation on the road leading to the maintenance station. In order to make these mines more powerful than bombs, workers put screws, nails and fragments of tank armor on the mines. Anyway, there are a lot of scrap metal here. In addition, the soldiers connected the individual bunker outside, turning it into a trench around the maintenance station. Then maltenovic personally welded several armor plates to the trolleys, so that everyone could hide behind them and shoot or throw grenades at the Germans. After all this, it was dark. I declined shaloviev''s invitation to stay, and led the soldiers back to the parking place, ready to rush to the garrison of the guard division and join the troops led by major chejerikov. As I passed by the truck dragging the cannons, I stopped, called Morozov to my side, patted the cannons twice with my hand, and told him, "Comrade lieutenant, you should protect some cannons of your company. In these battles, they wiped out many German devils and made great contributions. When the war is over in the future, maybe these guns will be able to enter our military museum and become meritorious guns for future generations. " When he heard me say this, Morozov immediately brightened his eyes and replied in a loud voice: "please don''t worry, sir. I will take good care of these guns. Even if they are damaged in the battle, I will find someone to repair them." When our motorcade arrived at the garrison of the guard division, not to mention Xie jerikov and Gaidar, even trekov here was in a hurry. Although trakov started later than us, he took a different road and didn''t encounter such things as the maintenance station, so he arrived at the guard division''s station before us. Seeing that we were late, trakov criticized me mercilessly in front of lyudnikov and Titov: "Comrade oshanina, please explain to me what''s going on? Why did it take you six hours to get from the 29th division to the guard division? " Because we have no communication tools, we lost contact with our superiors for six hours, which is very bad. Maybe in trakov''s mind, I even flashed the idea that I had defected with my troops. At the moment, seeing that trikov was going to get angry, I dare not hide it. I honestly told trikov what happened when the enemy attacked the maintenance station on the road. I sent troops to destroy the enemy and helped the workers of the maintenance station reinforce the fortifications. I told trikov clearly. After listening, trakov simply said, "I know." Then he urged me to return to the independent division immediately.

 Chapter 552

    When our convoy returned to the independent division, Captain kosga, who was staying at the camp, met us outside with a company, although it was very late.


    When I saw the flashlight waving in front of me, I just wanted to order the driver to pull over. Just then, a truck passed by our jeep and slowed down to stop by the side of the road.


    I was particularly annoyed that my car was overtaken by other cars. I pointed to the truck in front of me and asked Oleg angrily, "Comrade major, who''s in that car?"


    Oleg tilted his head for a moment, turned around and answered me, "Comrade division, the truck in front is your guard class. You see, they are getting off the bus. "


    When I heard that it was the truck taken by the guard class that was overtaking, I didn''t speak any more. I just pushed the door open and got out of the car. I stood by the car and looked over to find out what they were trying to do. After the soldiers of the guard class got out of the car, Vera, who had always been unreliable, was actually shouting the password, letting the soldiers of the guard class form a neat line beside the truck.


    Seeing that I had got out of the car, Vera ran over to salute me and loudly reported: "Comrade division commander, the independent division guard class has assembled, please give us instructions! Willa, the monitor of the guard class, is at your command. "


    After I returned the salute, I glanced at the neat line with satisfaction. My heart said that Vera was finally enlightened. She even knew that before I got off the bus, she would let the guard do the task of guarding me at any time. I nodded and said to Vera, "take the guard and follow me."


    Vera replied, "yes!" He turned and ran to the team, shouting: "all of you: stand at attention, turn right, walk in unison!"


    I had just gone a little further with the guard class, and cosga had already come up with a group of soldiers. A few steps away, he stopped, raised his hand to salute me, and said in a loud voice, "welcome back, sir!"


    After I returned the salute, I went up and held captain kosga''s hand tightly. Shaking it, I said, "Hello, Captain kosga. I''ve worked hard for you during my absence. " When I said this, I felt a little guilty for him. The men who went out with me to carry out the mission, such as xijerikov, Oleg and Gaidar, were all promoted to major because of their military achievements. Only he was still standing still and was holding the rank of captain.


    After I finished shaking hands with cosga, the three of them, shejerikov, Oleg and gedar, went on to shake hands and hug with captain cosga, which made them very friendly.


    After they all said hello and exchanged greetings, I began to urge them: "Dear commanders, please arrange your troops to return to the camp as soon as possible. Then the four of your commanders, Captain Pugachev, Captain perskin and lieutenant Morozov, will all come to the headquarters. We''ll hold a meeting overnight while we have more people. "


    When I got back to the headquarters, I urged razumeyeva to set up an antenna and turn on the radio. I was afraid that for more than an hour on the road, trikov had something important to contact me.


    Unexpectedly, I was right. As soon as I turned on the machine, razumeyeva received a call from the headquarters of the group army. She quickly turned around and called me: "Comrade division commander, general trakov is online. He wants to talk to you."


    When I heard that trakov wanted to find me, my heart suddenly clattered. My heart said that there would be no German breakthrough in any area, right? I put on the earphone, breathed into the transmitter, and then asked: "Hello, comrade commander, this is lieutenant commander o''shanina. Do you have any important instructions?"


    "O''shanina, first of all, I want to tell you some bad news." From the earphone came trakov''s serious voice. He said dryly, "after the German Paulus and the red faced Morozov sat down, I then announced:" the commander of the tank company is captain pelsky. " When I finished this sentence, I paid special attention to the captain''s face, and saw a trace of disappointment on his face. Although I also want to give him the rank of captain, it''s a pity that the strength of the tank unit is too small. There are only four tanks. It seems a bit unreasonable to promote him to the rank of captain.


    "The commander of the engineering company shall be Comrade Mikhail yev." When talking about this architectural engineer, I thought that he had no military rank before. If he was directly promoted to captain, many people would be unconvinced. I hesitated for a moment before announcing: "at the same time, I promoted him to the rank of second lieutenant."


    "The company commander of the communications company," I turned to look at razumeyeva, who was sitting next to the telephone, and announced, "Comrade razumeyeva will serve as the company commander and be promoted to the rank of second lieutenant at the same time."


    Hearing my appointment to her, razumeyeva quickly stood up from her seat, her hands mixed together, her head bowed, and said shyly, "Comrade division commander, I may not be a good company commander."


    "Lieutenant razumeyeva," she called her new rank without hesitation, "don''t worry about it. The division commander says you can do it, you can do it. I believe that the vision of the teacher and the things she sees right will never be wrong. "


    "That is, that is, what the teacher said can''t be wrong." As soon as he had finished, cosga echoed.


    Then, Oleg and Gaidar were flattering me one after another, persuading razumeyeva: "Lieutenant razumeyeva, don''t refuse. The vision of the teacher is right. Since she has appointed you to this position, you will certainly be qualified for this job. "


    Razumeyeva saw that there was no way out, and she did not refuse my appointment any more, so she blushed and nodded, and sat in her own position again¡° There''s a bit of trouble with the health camp. There are no special health personnel in our division. The wounded from these battles were all transferred to the health battalion of the friendly forces. At present, the health camp is just an empty shelf, so I will not arrange the personnel for the time being. " Next, I expressed my views on the several battles I went through in this expedition, and put forward suggestions for improvement on some of the problems. As one of the participants, shijerikov directly pointed out that our division''s offensive firepower was insufficient and there were not enough artillery and tanks. In the attack, the supporting firepower could not destroy the enemy''s defensive firepower in a short time, resulting in heavy casualties. Finally, he also proposed that we should apply for weapons and equipment from the headquarters of the group army, and it''s better to let the superior supply us with enough tanks and artillery, so that our division''s combat effectiveness can be greatly improved. As for the proposal put forward by Xie jerikov, I politely denied it. I said to them earnestly: "comrades, the equipment of our division is very poor, but at the same time, we should also see that the equipment of other units of the group army is not much better. Some do not even have anti tank weapons. In the face of the influx of mechanized troops, the soldiers can only carry cluster grenades to bomb the enemy''s tanks. We have no weapons and can seize them from the enemy. When we captured the Italian and Hungarian battalions this time, we seized a lot of guns and ammunition. " Speaking of this, it suddenly occurred to me that all these weapons had been transported back to the camp, so I turned to kosga and asked him, "Comrade kosga, have the returned weapons been distributed to the soldiers?"

 Chapter 553

    Cosga quickly stood up and respectfully reported to me: "the first Italian equipment I received was assigned to unarmed soldiers of the first and second regiments; The second time I received Hungarian equipment, I allocated it to the third and fourth regiments. After these two days of adaptation training, the soldiers of the large army have mastered the use of weapons. "


    "Well done!" After praising him, I turned my head and looked at the commanders present and asked, "general trakov is coming to the division tomorrow morning to hold the flag ceremony for us. What do you need to prepare for?"


    "Mr. teacher," Gaidar said preemptively, "there are many people in our regiment who understand architecture. I''ll go back immediately and arrange for people to set up a rostrum, which can be used when the flag is given tomorrow."


    "What''s more, we don''t have broadcasting equipment. How can we make sure that every soldier can hear what general trakov said on the rostrum?" Next, I asked a crucial question. No matter how loud a person''s voice is, it is impossible for him to let thousands of people hear what he said without the help of any equipment.


    When I finished, all the people were silent, frowning and thinking about what I said. To tell you the truth, I have noticed this problem before, but I have never found a suitable solution. Now I put it forward in public, hoping that we can work together to come up with an effective solution.


    After waiting for a long time, I didn''t see anyone talking. I couldn''t help but feel a little worried and said, "why, haven''t we come up with a good way?" With that, I looked at shejerikov, Oleg, kosja and Gaidar. I didn''t expect that they all shook their heads at me with regret.


    Just as I was disappointed, Pugachev, who was sitting in the corner of the table, raised his right hand high, as if he had something to say to me. So I pointed to him with my hand and said, "Captain Pugachev, if you have any good ideas, let''s hear them."


    Pugachev stood up, looked left and right, supported the table with both hands, leaned forward slightly, and said with some embarrassment: "Comrade teachers, comrades in charge, I have an idea, but I don''t know if it''s OK."


    "If you have any idea, just say it. Don''t be so fussy." His former boss, Oleg, said impatiently.


    I also said with great interest, "Comrade Pugachev, since you have come up with a solution, you might as well tell me. As for whether it is a good way, we can make a judgment after hearing it. "


    After getting my encouragement, Pugachev confidently and boldly said what he thought of: "before the flag ceremony, we arranged some loud commanders and fighters in a certain order among the various squares, and they relayed general trakov''s words to the commanders and fighters who could not be heard later. In my opinion, without a loudspeaker, this way can make general trakov''s speech heard by every commander and fighter. "


    After hearing this, I nodded with satisfaction and said, "yes, yes, Captain Pugachev''s proposal is quite good." Then he looked around and asked the other officers and men, "do you have any different opinions on this plan?"


    "It''s a good idea. I don''t mind." First of all, he agreed.


    Then Oleg, kosja and gedar also agreed to the approach proposed by Pugachev.


    "Since you have no objection, then the commanders will go back to their respective units. When you go back, you should convey to the commanders and fighters the matter of awarding the flag tomorrow. All right, break up


    The commanders fished out, and when they saw Gaidar going out of the headquarters, I called him from behind: "commander Gaidar." Maybe he was not used to his new rank, but Gaidar didn''t stop and went outside. I quickly raised my voice and yelled again. Then he stopped, turned around and looked at me blankly, trying to find out why I left him alone.


    I went up to him and said to him, "Comrade gedar, when you go back, announce to him my appointment as second lieutenant Mikhail yev. At the same time, let him select professionals from the whole division and form a division engineer company. "


    Gaidar saluted me and promised loudly, "yes!" Then he turned and left the headquarters.


    The next day, just after dawn, I was awakened by a loud bugle.


    I used to think that the Soviet army did not have a bugle. When they attacked, they relied on their commanders shouting slogans; When you get up, it''s up to the commander to blow the whistle. At the moment, I feel quite fresh when I hear the bugle.


    After cleaning up, I came to the outside of the headquarters and found that not only my guard group was standing outside, but also there were several lines of soldiers behind them. When they saw me coming out, Pugachev and Willa ran to me and raised their hands to salute me. Then Pugachev reported, "Comrade division, the guard camp is assembled, please give instructions!"


    Pointing to the newly added soldiers in the rear rows, I asked Pugachev curiously, "Comrade captain, are these soldiers newly added to the guard camp?"


    Pugachev nodded hard and said with certainty, "yes, sir. I see that the number of your guard class is too small, so it is difficult to ensure your safety, so I transferred some soldiers from the troops who participated in the battle to form a guard company temporarily. When there are more people with combat experience in the division, I''ll fill the other two


    "Good job, comrade captain." After I praised him, I asked, "do you know where the rostrum they set up, Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar?"


    "Report, sir, I know." After answering my question, Pugachev asked cautiously, "do you want me to take you to check it?"


    "Well, yes, I want to see it." I nodded and said, "well, comrade captain, let the new soldiers disband first, take the guard class and go with me."


    Under the leadership of Pugachev, I came to a newly opened forest clearing. The area of this open space is not large, only more than 200 square meters. There is a newly built wooden platform on the edge of the open space. Perhaps because of the lack of time, the wooden platform made of logs is very simple. It is only about one meter higher than the ground. Small stairs are built on both sides to facilitate the stage.


    In the distance, Mikhail yev was taking a group of soldiers to clean up the fallen trees. When he saw me bringing people to inspect, he ran over. From a distance, he raised his hand to salute me and said in a loud voice, "Comrade division commander, Second Lieutenant Mikhail, commander of the engineering company, reports to you that our company is being ordered to clean up the remaining trees in the open space!"


    I also a gift, said: "at ease, work a lot?"


    "Many, sir. We cut down the trees in this area overnight and built a simple rostrum for today''s flag ceremony. And now we''re taking the rest of the wood out of the open space At this point, he stopped for a moment and asked cautiously, "are you allowed to continue, sir?"


    "Of course, there''s no need to say that." I hastened to reply, "go on."


    I took Pugachev and the guard class to continue walking in the forest, and by the way, I checked the regiment''s location and the training situation of the troops.


    After walking around the whole camp for hours, I feel quite satisfied. Judging from the training situation of the troops, although they were set up for a short time and their equipment was relatively backward, the soldiers of several regiments were barely well-trained and their morale was high due to the influence of successive battles and victories.


    After touring the camp, I called several commanders to the headquarters for a temporary meeting before trakov came.


    When you are seated, I will start with Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant serge


    Shejerikov quickly stood up and replied, "everything is ready. However, our regiment had a relatively large reduction in personnel in the early stage of the battle. I don''t know when the superior will be able to supply us with new personnel. "


    "Yes, sir." Oleg also stood up and echoed, "in the battle a few days ago, our regiment reduced its personnel to five companies. In addition, we have deployed personnel to form a guard camp, which means that we are now nearly 600 fewer than when we were full."


    I raised my hands and pressed them down. They sat down and said, "when general trakov called me last night, he only talked about the establishment of our division, but didn''t mention whether he would add new soldiers for us, so don''t hold too much hope."


    Hearing what I said, kosga said with some melancholy: "our division is so short of staff, didn''t the superior consider to supplement it for us?"


    "That''s not what I said, commander kosga." I heard his complaints, quickly stopped him, and sternly said: "compared with other divisions of the group army, we have the largest number. As far as I know, some divisions have only one or two hundred people left after the cruel fighting. If the superior wants to supplement the troops, the priority will be given to these troops. You can think of your own way to recruit our troops that are short of units, such as those small units that have been scattered, or those militia units that have temporarily joined our division after retreating to the city. "


    "I see, sir."


    Just then, the telephone rang in the corner. Sitting next to her, razumeyeva picked up the phone and politely said, "Hello, this is division headquarters. Where are you?"


    Don''t know what the other party said, she quickly covered the microphone, looked at me and said in a loud voice: "report to Mr. commander, comrade, the sentry called and said that she found a convoy of 40 trucks approaching the station of our division."


    "Can you see the number of the troops coming?"


    Razumeyeva quickly moved her hand away and asked the other side in a loud voice: "teacher asked, can you see the other side''s serial number?" Soon, she said "I know", then hung up the phone, looked up and said to me: "Sir, the sentry report says that there are three jeeps in front of the convoy. It seems that general trakov is coming."


    I nodded and said to the commanders here, "comrades, it seems that general trakov is here. Come on, come with me outside the forest to meet you. "


    We have just walked out of the forest, and the motorcade has stopped. A group of commanders from three jeeps, surrounded by a general, came to us. I fixed my eyes and saw that it was not others, it was trakov.


    I quickly stepped forward, raised my hand to trikov, and said in a loud voice, "Hello, comrade commander, welcome to the independent division."


    "How did you come out in person, comrade oshanina?" Trekov asked curiously.


    Before I could answer, a familiar voice rang out: "what''s the matter, comrade oshanina? You only welcome general trakov, don''t you welcome me?"


    I looked in the direction of the voice and saw sergeuk, military commissar of the group army.


    "It''s you, comrade military Commissar." I raised my voice and said, "excuse me, I didn''t pay attention to you..."


    "I understand that in your mind, general trakov is the most important, and the rest are just the foil." His kind sarcasm immediately aroused the laughter of the commanders around him.


    Trekov was afraid that I would not be able to get off the stage. He said quickly, "well, let''s not stand here. Let''s go to the headquarters of the independent division first." With that, he took the lead and went on. After a short walk, he saw Xie jielikov standing upright on the side of the road. He stopped and asked me, "o''shanina, have I seen these commanders before? Why do they look so familiar?"


    "Yes, comrade commander," I quickly came to trakov''s side and introduced to him, "last time I accompanied you to the division headquarters of the 208 th division to receive their division, you have met them. I''d like to introduce you once again. This is the first group leader, Lieutenant Colonel xiejerikov, and this is the second group leader, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg... "Every person I introduce, who is named, raises his hand to trikov.


    When trakov walked forward again, I quickly told several commanders, "go back to your respective teams immediately and lead your troops to the open space. Do you understand?"


    "I understand!" The four agreed, turned and trotted away.


    As soon as the commanders left, a familiar voice came from the side: "Mr. oshanina, do you really ignore me?"


    I turned to see that it was little sidtorin, who was looking at me with a smile. I reached out and patted his helmet and asked with a smile, "little guy, are you not angry with me?"


    Sidtorin shook his head hard and said apologetically, "sister oshanina, later the commander told me that you drove me away from the independent division not because you hated me, but for my safety. I''m wrong. Don''t blame me! "


    "Look what you said, little sidtorin. I regard you as my little brother. How can I blame you. Let''s go to my headquarters. " With that, I took his shoulder and walked forward together.


    Only little sidtorin could enter the headquarters with me, except for trekov and sheldyuk. The rest of the commanders stayed outside. Trikov sat down and said to sidtorin, "I said, comrade Herald, go and bring in the flag of the independent division."


    Sidtorin agreed, turned and ran out of the headquarters. After a little effort, he came in again, followed by a captain with a rolled flag on his shoulder.


    Trekov put the captain''s general flag on the table to show me what it looked like.


    When I was looking at the flag, the captain was still introducing it to me: "this flag is made of red silk with gold fringes on the edge. The size is 145x115cm. A hollow Venus with a diameter of 60 cm is embroidered in the center of the front, with sickle and axe patterns in the middle. Above Venus is the slogan "destroy the German invaders" and below is the name of the independent division. On the back of the flag, there is an embroidered head of Lenin in the center, 48x46cm in diameter. The slogan "for the motherland" is on the top, and the Russian abbreviation of the Soviet Union is on the bottom. The flagpole is made of wood, 2.5 meters long, 4 cm in diameter, dark brown in color, with metal hoops on the top and two gold ribbons. "


    I reached out and stroked the new flag belonging to the independent division. I couldn''t help feeling passionate. I finally had my own army and my own flag.


    Trekov saw that time was up. He asked the captain to roll up the flag and wave him to leave first.


    After the captain left, sheljiuk said to me, "Comrade oshanina, there is no outsider here. I have a few words to say to you. In fact, according to your ability and merits, you should have been promoted to the rank of colonel for a long time. However, due to various reasons, we have been suppressing your promotion. I hope you don''t blame us. "


    I was thinking about the flag that I had taken away, and I didn''t get over it for a moment when I heard that. It was a moment before I understood what sheldyuk had just said. He quickly stood up and replied, "Comrade military commissar, Napoleon once said: a soldier who does not want to be a marshal is not a good soldier. Although I also want to get promotion, frequent promotion is not necessarily a good thing for me. Just as if I want to build a high-rise building, I must lay a solid foundation. If I want to get a senior rank and a higher position in the military, I must have a solid network, so that my official career in the military can go further. "


    On hearing my answer, trikov nodded with satisfaction and said with approval, "yes, you''d better think that way." At this point, he raised his hand, looked at his watch, and said to sheljiuk, "Comrade military commissar, it''s late. It''s time for us to hold the flag ceremony."


    "OK, let''s go!" Sheldyuk said and stood up.


    When we came to the open space where the flag ceremony was held, we saw that there was no one above the rostrum, but there were 30 unarmed soldiers on each side of the rostrum. Trikov saw these soldiers and asked me curiously, "oshanina, what do these soldiers do?"


    When I pondered a little, I understood that it was arranged to deliver a message to trikov. I hastened to introduce him and said, "Comrade commander, there is no loudspeaker in the division. In order to let every soldier hear what you said, I found some soldiers with loud voice to convey your words." We walked up the stairs to the rostrum, and I saw that the soldiers of the division were arranged neatly in the forest, and the middle of the open space was filled with the weapons of the Italian army and the Hungarian Army captured in the two battles. No wonder the open space that Gaidar let the engineer company level out was so small. Originally, it was only for placing weapons. I heard someone whispering behind me: "you see, the independent division has captured a lot in these battles."¡° Yes, there are not only heavy and light machine guns, but also 20 or 30 mortars... "Trikov looked back, did not speak, but raised his hand in the first step. With the raising of hands, the commander who originally spoke on the stage closed his mouth, and there was a little commotion in front of the wooden platform. The commanders and fighters were silent and quiet. The soldiers standing on both sides of the wooden platform quickly ran out and arranged among the companies according to a certain number of orders. Their purpose was to transmit the sound to trikov on the wooden platform. This way is the most effective way for every soldier to hear trikov''s speech without a loudspeaker. Trikov yelled to the commanders and fighters below: "comrades, I am very excited when I know that today I can hold the flag ceremony for the independent division, which has won many victories. If there is more, I will not say it. I just want to say that I hope the comrades of the independent division can make persistent efforts and make new contributions in the future. " At this point, he stopped for a moment. After the soldiers passed on his words, he announced in a loud voice: "I declare that the flag ceremony of the independent division begins. The flag giver, comrade sheljiuk, military commissar of the group army, flag receiver, commander of the independent division, Colonel oshanina. Please give the flag to the military commissar! " With his command, the captain, carrying a brand-new flag, followed by two flag bearers with neat military appearance, walked forward to me. He stopped a few steps away from me, and the general flag was handed over to sheljiuk, who had just come out. Sheldyuk took the flag, unfolded it and waved it a few times to let the brand-new flag fly in the wind. I took a deep breath and walked towards him with a non-standard forward step. After saluting, I heard serdyuk roar: "Colonel oshanina, grant you this banner of Lenin. I hope you can hold this banner high and strive for greater victory!" After I received the flag, I held it in my left hand and raised my right hand to salute sheldyuk and trakov. At the end of the ceremony, I glanced down the stage and saw Pugachev and Willa standing under the stage, winking at them. Vera''s reaction was slow. When she was still standing in a daze, Pugachev had already stepped on the stage and took over the flag in my hand. Then he stepped down with the flag high, took two soldiers, took standard steps, and walked around the forest clearing where weapons were placed, and came back to me again. I turned to face the flag and stood at attention. A soldier beside Pugachev called out: "all stand at attention!" Facing the flag, I raised my hand to my forehead and said aloud, "now let''s take the oath in the name of the independent division and our great motherland!"¡° We swear The soldiers below roared in unison¡° We will mercilessly crack down on the scum until the last German invader is eliminated on the territory of the Soviet Union. " I continue to speak on behalf of the independent division''s commanders and fighters¡° We swear The soldiers roared together again¡° We will fight for the final victory with our own blood and even our lives. "¡° We swear This time, even trakov and the soldiers he brought with him were shouting in unison¡° Vow that the sacred flag of the independent division will one day fly high over Berlin¡° We swear¡° Victory will surely belong to us¡° Victory will surely belong to us All the people are following me to repeat the last oath. When I took the flag in Pugachev''s hand and waved it vigorously, the forest erupted into a tsunami like cry: "Wula! Wula!! Wula

 Chapter 554

    The flag ceremony is over.


    After a brief ebullition, I felt lost. The flag ceremony was too simple and too playful. Even if there is no military band playing "Internationale" or "holy war", even if trakov and his colleagues just said a few words, it would be over. However, after I witnessed the flag awarding several times later, I found that I had wrongly blamed trakov. In fact, he attached great importance to the flag awarding ceremony of our division. At least he was the deputy commander of the group army and was present in person with the military Commissar. When awarding flags to other units, he just handed the general flag to the top commander of the unit, and simply said: "Comrade so and so, I give you this glorious flag. I hope you can protect it as well as protect your own life, strike the enemy hard in the battle, and build immortal meritorious deeds." The flag ceremony was completed. Let''s not mention it.


    After the ceremony, as soon as he stepped down from the rostrum, trakov called me aside and said to me, "oshanina, I''m here to bring you 500 additional recruits and 10 trucks of weapons and ammunition."


    Hearing him say so, I asked excitedly: "are all veterans with combat experience?"


    Trekov shook his head, looked up at the distance, and whispered, "o''shanina, maybe I''ll let you down. These new recruits, like most of the soldiers in your division, are prisoners from gulag. That is to say, they have not received any military training or combat experience. It''s up to you to train them to be the main force on the battlefield. "


    Although I was a little disappointed, my superior somehow gave me some additional soldiers. I quickly called captain Pugachev over and said to him, "Captain Pugachev, you go to call commander xiejerikov over and ask him to take people outside the forest to receive additional soldiers and weapons."


    Pugachev agreed. He was about to turn around and leave, but he was stopped by trakov: "Comrade captain, wait a minute." Pugachev didn''t know why trikov asked him to stay, so he stood where he was and turned to me for help.


    I said to trikov in a hurry: "Comrade commander, I asked him to find a commander, lieutenant commander xiejerikov. The lieutenant commander is relatively familiar with receiving soldiers and weapons and equipment. He is a suitable person."


    Trikov raised his hand, looked at his watch, and said, "time is pressing. Call your commanders to the headquarters immediately for a meeting. I will explain to them the current situation of the enemy and ourselves. As for the reception of soldiers and weapons, you can arrange for someone else to go. I and the comrades of the military commissar will wait for you at the headquarters first. " Finish saying, and the side of sheljiuk said a, two people then take a group of commanders to leave first.


    Since shejerikov is going to a meeting, when he receives soldiers and weapons, he can only leave it to others. I looked around and thought that Pugachev was the most suitable person, so I called him over and said, "Captain Pugachev, the commander has replenished our division with 500 recruits and ten trucks of ammunition. Take some people to receive them." Then I called Willa in front of me and told her, "Willa, you go to inform the four leaders of shejerikov, Oleg, kosja and Gaidar, and ask them to rush to the headquarters immediately for a meeting. Time is running out. Let them hurry up. You go


    After all this, I was about to go to the headquarters when I heard someone behind me saying, "don''t you know me, Colonel o''shanina?"


    I looked back and saw the captain who was carrying the flag just now. I felt very familiar, but I couldn''t remember who he was.


    "I''m kerimov, comrade oshanina," the captain reminded me. "It''s general trakov''s adjutant. Don''t you forget?"


    Adjutant kerimov, when I heard this address, I could see him limping under the German escort on that dark moon night. I quickly stepped forward, reached out to him and said excitedly, "it''s you, comrade captain. Please forgive me for not recognizing you at the first time after I met you several times. " When shaking hands, I asked with concern, "are you all right?"


    "Thank you for your concern. Although the injuries on my body when I was rescued by you looked frightening, in fact, they were all skin injuries. I had been lying in the military hospital for less than ten days and I was all cured. "


    "Comrade commander is still waiting for me in the headquarters. We talk as we walk," I said, looking at my watch. "After all, I haven''t seen you for a long time."


    "The last time we met was half a month ago. Maybe your attention is focused on the flag today, so I have appeared in front of you several times, but you didn''t recognize me. "


    I laughed with embarrassment and said to myself, "yes, Captain kerimov, since you appeared, my eyes have been on your flag, and the rest have been ignored by me."


    As we spoke, we came to the gate of the headquarters unconsciously. I reached out to him again and said, "Captain kerimov, I''m going in for a meeting. We''ll talk again when we have a chance. Goodbye. " After shaking hands, I turned and strode into the headquarters.


    I went into the headquarters and saw lieutenant razumeyeva, the new communications company commander, pouring tea for trakov and sheljiuk. Seeing her move, I couldn''t help nodding with satisfaction. She came out of the logistics department after all. She had insight and knew how to receive leaders.


    As soon as I had a chat with trakov, the four leaders of chejerikov went into the headquarters. Trikov quickly called them: "comrades are coming. Don''t stand. Sit down. We''ll have a meeting right away."


    After the four leaders and I were seated, after announcing the meeting, trakov said solemnly, "comrades, I have some unfortunate news for you. Just the day before yesterday, the enemy broke through the defensive positions of the 62nd group army in welchic and biskovatka, and three infantry divisions, two motorized divisions and one tank division of the enemy''s 14th and 8th Army of tank and infantry swarmed into the breach. The vanguard of the enemy, under the cover of more than 100 tanks, has advanced to the Volga River. "


    Hearing what trakov said, several commanders who didn''t know much about the enemy were surprised and began to whisper. I glared at them and said impolitely, "comrades, please keep quiet and listen to the commander."


    After waiting for the room to be quiet, trakov continued: "we are facing a very critical situation. In this case, any panic will bring unimaginable consequences. The crafty German saw this point, in order to cause our army''s panic, and skillfully used this point to attack Stalingrad. During the day, the enemy sent a large number of bombers to Stalingrad and bombed the city nearly 2000 sorties.


    Since the outbreak of the war, the enemy has never carried out such a large-scale air raid on any of our cities. In the air raid, Stalingrad, a big city stretching 50 kilometers along the Volga River, suddenly turned into a sea of fire. The disaster and the shadow of the fourth five year plan shrouded thousands of Stalingrad families. The enemy''s bombing continued until dark. Although it caused us heavy losses, the enemy''s air force also paid the price. At least 120 enemy planes were shot down by our Air Force fighters or anti-aircraft artillery units.


    ***The rampant bombing of Stalingrad by the bandits did not cause panic and confusion among the city''s defenders. At the call of the military committee of the front army and the city party organizations, the soldiers and the citizens worked side by side to protect the factory while producing weapons. The veteran soldiers, steelmakers, tractor factory workers, railway workers, sailors on the Volga River, stevedores, shipbuilders, ordinary staff and housewives in the war of defending the city all took active actions and joined hands. At present, they have turned Stalingrad''s famous factories, such as tractor factory, barricade factory, Red October factory and power station, into impregnable defensive fortresses. "


    When trakov took up the teapot to drink, I lost no time to ask, "Comrade commander, what is the next task of our independent division?"


    Trikov put down the teapot, pushed a map which had been open for a long time, and said anxiously: "some time ago, according to Comrade oshanina''s proposal, our group army let the troops in the front send small troops to harass the enemy, which made them unable to take care of themselves and launch new attacks. Since I was temporarily dismissed, this small-scale harassment operation has stopped, and the enemy has been able to mobilize troops calmly, concentrate superior forces and artillery fire to attack the defense area of our group army. The loss of 158 highland the day before yesterday was the result of the enemy''s accumulated strength.


    According to the Scout''s report, Goth''s tank 4th Army was the main force of the attack, and one of their troops carried out its main assault through dutovo from the south. At present, their troops have wedged 15 kilometers into the junction of our group army and the 57th rear group army. This greatly increased the risk of the Gothic army breaking through Stalingrad and Volga from the south.


    In order to remedy this unfavorable situation, general yeliaomenko, commander of the front army, was forced to transfer four anti tank annihilating artillery regiments, four close guard mortar regiments and the 56th tank brigade from the lines of the 62nd group army and the 4th tank group army to strengthen the dangerous zone south of Stalingrad defended by the 57th group army. These troops effectively prevented the attack of the Gothic group army, but this transfer was noticed by Paulus, who increased the strength of the attack and broke through the 62nd group army''s defense line from many areas.


    Due to the retreat of friendly forces, our group army is now surrounded by the enemy Goth 4th tank group army and Paulus 6th group army. In order to avoid the fate of annihilation of the whole army after being encircled, commander shumilov and I decided that the group army would begin to retreat to Stalingrad tonight. The task of your division is to act as the guard of the whole army and cover the main force of the group army to complete this retreat. "


    "Comrade commander," after listening to trekov''s words, I know how arduous the task our division will undertake. Even if the independent division''s existing equipment and training level is exhausted, it will not be able to block the rolling iron flow of the Goth tank army. So I want to take this opportunity to ask trekov to make some conditions: "our division lacks heavy weapons, especially anti tank weapons, It''s very difficult to block the enemy''s armored forces. "


    "Comrade oshanina, you don''t have to worry about that." Sheljiuk stood up to comfort me and said, "I know that this task is extremely arduous for your division. So tonight your division will be transferred to the defense division of the former 208 division to receive an artillery battalion and a tank unit with 10 tanks. I hope this equipment will help you. "


    After seeing off trakov and sheldyuk, I said to the four infantry commanders and the temporarily recruited artillery company Capt. molozov and tank company Capt. pelsjian with a worried face: "comrades, the tasks are clear. The main force of the group army will begin to retreat tonight, while our division will sit at the back to cover the retreat. I believe we all know that with our division''s current equipment and training level, it is an impossible task to block the advance of the enemy''s mechanized forces. "


    "What shall we do?" Shejerikov looked at the silent commanders around him and asked first, "do you know that this kind of beating is like hitting a stone with an egg, and we''re going to fight it with a stiff head?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Calling him his new rank, I said in an indisputable tone, "the reason why the group army headquarters entrusted our division with the task of covering the retreat is that they trusted us. No matter how much we sacrifice, we must finish the task to the letter. "


    As soon as my words came out, Jerry cofton was silent. Seeing the commanders here, I said with great sincerity: "comrades commanders, I fully understand the difficulty of this task. It is possible that after the war, the independent division will have to withdraw to the rear for recuperation and replenishment, and some of us here will die. I call you all together not to say whether we should be this defender or not, but to discuss how to fight tomorrow and how to minimize the casualties of our division. "


    "What else can I do?" "Build fortifications in the main blocks and fight face to face with the enemy until we all die," he muttered


    Seeing everyone''s depression, I coughed and said, "don''t be so pessimistic. The headquarters of the group army has not only supplied our division with soldiers, but also weapons and ammunition. When we arrive at the 208 division in the evening, we can receive an artillery battalion and a tank unit. " At this point, I turned to look at Morozov and pelsjian, and said to them with a smile: "artillery company commander, tank company commander, in this way, your two forces will grow."


    "Comrade division," pelsjian stood up and said frankly, "even if we have added ten tanks, it is impossible to block the enemy''s armored forces with our dozen tanks."


    "Yes Morozov also stood up and echoed: "even if we add an artillery battalion, we are still at an absolute disadvantage compared with the German army in firepower. As long as they carry out a round of shelling on our position before the attack, our artillery will be completely destroyed. "


    When I heard the argument of defeatism from several people, I slapped the table fiercely, stood up abruptly and roared angrily: "I thought you would become heroes in the battle, but now I know that I am wrong. You guys are just a bunch of cowards who are afraid of death."


    Perhaps my words were a little harsh. Gaidar immediately stood up and retorted, "Comrade commander, I''m not a coward. You can rest assured that even if the other three regiments become deserters, our fourth regiment will fight with you to the end. "


    Without waiting for me to speak, Gaidar''s words have aroused the public indignation of the other three commanders. First of all, Lieutenant Colonel shejerikov jumped out and retorted, "chief gedar, what did you say? You four regiments are not afraid of death. Are we all cowards? I''ll leave my words here today. As long as there is one person in the regiment, we will decide not to leave our position to the Germans. "


    "Yes, there are no cowards in our second regiment to escape." Second group leader Oleg is not willing to be outdone.


    Although the third group leader kosja was the last one to speak, he was not willing to lag behind and made a positive statement to me: "Sir, comrade, I''m here to make a statement to you. If a deserter of the third group appears, you will shoot me."


    Seeing that everyone''s fighting mood is high, I feel more at ease. I raised my hands and pressed them down to make them all sit down. After everyone sat down, I spoke out my own idea: "our division is at a disadvantage compared with the enemy not only in terms of firepower but also in terms of strength. Therefore, we can''t fight hard battles, we can only fight skillful battles..."


    "Fight skillfully? That''s quite a new statement. " Oleg was particularly surprised by my statement, so he couldn''t wait to ask, "what''s the way to play, sir? Let''s have a long experience. "


    "Although there were field fortifications built by the 208 division, their defense direction was mainly aimed at the enemy coming from the west, while there were no fortifications in the South except for a few checkpoints. After we took over the defense, commander Gaidar said, "hearing my name, Gaidar stood up and looked at me without strabismus, waiting for my order." after you take over the defense of the 208 th division, you build two trenches in the South overnight, with an interval of 500 meters, and connect them with traffic trenches. Remember, in order to reduce the damage of the enemy''s artillery fire to our commanders and fighters, we need to build more gun holes in the trenches. I''ll leave it to you to stick to these two lines of defense. In order to speed up the construction, the newly established engineering company is under your command. "


    "I understand!"


    I went on to call the roll: "Lt. Oleg, Lt. pelsken." After the two men got up, I continued to give orders, "commander Oleg, you lead your second regiment to build an underground tank depot by the side of the road one kilometer to the south of our army''s newly built trench, and hide captain perskin''s tanks overnight. When the enemy''s armored forces rush towards our defensive positions, you will attack decisively after you get the order, hit the enemy''s flanks and take them by surprise. "


    "Underground tank depot?" Perrskin looked at me blankly, then at Oleg, and asked hesitantly, "does this work? Won''t the Germans find out? "¡° As for the underground tank depot, you can ask Oleg to give you a detailed explanation later. Yesterday, when we participated in the battle to recover 158 Highlands, we saw the 29th division use this underground bunker to hide tanks. " Then I named Morozov and told him, "Captain Morozov, your artillery position is behind our second line of defense. And in the battle in the daytime tomorrow, only your original cannon artillery company will be used, and the newly received artillery battalion will be hidden for the time being. " Seeing Morozov''s expression of pain, I explained to him: "according to general trakov, this artillery battalion has relatively strong artillery fire, and the artillery shells are extremely abundant. For the Germans, we naturally need to teach them by cannons. The only thing we need to worry about is how to avoid German planes. You should know that in the vast area between the Don River and Volga River Basin, except for a few forests and hills, the rest are grasslands and plains, with a wide field of vision, it is difficult to hide large troops. Therefore, the artillery battalion can''t let them fight until night. It''s better to push the artillery battalion near the enemy''s camp and bombard them when the Germans begin to sleep, so that the Germans who are dreaming can dance in the artillery fire of our army. " After listening to my words, Morozov felt relieved. He wiped the sweat on his forehead and replied loudly, "please rest assured, sir. I promise to finish the task you gave me." Seeing that I had assigned tasks to the second and fourth regiments, artillery companies, artillery companies, and even the newly established engineering companies, the leaders of the first and third regiments, Xie jerikov and kosja, could not sit still. They stood up and asked me anxiously, "Comrade division commander, what about the tasks of our two regiments?" I took a look at them, sat down and said slowly, "the third regiment draws two companies to help the newly received artillery battalion transfer their guns. Another five companies were drawn to guard the original line of defense of the 208 th division. The regimental headquarters of the third regiment are located in the small village where the former division headquarters of the 208 division are located. " Seeing that kosja also had a task, and I had not called him, xiejerikov was a little worried. He asked in a voice: "Comrade teacher, what is the mission of our regiment I picked up the teapot in front of me and took a sip of tea. Looking at him, I said faintly: "as the reserve team of the whole division, Yituan continues to stay in the forest. I will decide when to use your reserve team according to the change of the situation

 Chapter 555

    At the end of the meeting, I repeatedly stressed to several leaders: "before dark, your task is to distribute weapons to the recruits and seize the time to carry out rapid training in shooting, dropping bombs, stabbing and tactical movements. Do you understand? "


    "I see!" The commander here replied with one voice.


    Looking at the commanders with serious expression, I couldn''t help thinking. I felt that the task given to me by general trakov was too heavy. Although I also wanted to command the independent division, fight a few tough battles with the German army, and perform well in front of the superior leaders, I didn''t expect to receive the task of covering the retreat of the main force. In the situation of great disparity between the enemy and ourselves, everyone knows that this task is not to die a lifetime, but to die a lifetime. At that moment, I felt like an abandoned child.


    But on second thought, the reason why trikov gave me such an important task might be because I like to be creative in using soldiers. If I lead the army to take on the post-war task, he would feel more secure. According to my understanding of the Germans, they will take our troops lightly when they find that they are retreating on a large scale, and they will relax their vigilance when they move forward. In this way, our division can take advantage of the opportunity to teach those arrogant pursuers a lesson.


    Thinking of this, I said to you: "comrades, after daybreak tomorrow, the enemy will find that our large forces have retreated from the existing defensive positions, and then they will rush forward quickly. Under normal circumstances, our independent division, which lacks both heavy and light weapons, will not be able to resist the enemy''s attack even if it is completely destroyed. However, the situation is different this time. After a long battle, the enemy has become exhausted. When they enter our army, their large troops will stay for a while and send small troops to follow our army and rush to Stalingrad quickly.


    And we can take advantage of the opportunity of their light troops to attack them, and take them by surprise, and even eat part of them. In order to achieve this goal, after entering the position, the gadar regiment should pay attention to the camouflage of the troops and not let the enemy find us too early. At the same time, we should send more investigators to understand the enemy''s movements and know ourselves and the enemy. "


    After my words, the expressions on the commanders'' faces became vivid, and I said while the iron was hot: "comrades, when you return to the army, you should tell the soldiers that we must fight this battle well, because we are fighting not only to cover the retreat of the main force of the group army, but also for our own survival. Do you understand? "


    This time, all the commanders stood up in unison and replied with one voice, "I see!"


    Shejerikov, who has always been close to me, also specially said: "Dear commanders, I believe our independent division will not be destroyed by the Germans. According to my understanding of the division commander, as long as you prepare and fight according to the battle plan she envisioned, we will surely win the final victory. " Although I was a little embarrassed by chejerikov''s flattery, it also increased my confidence in winning.


    As soon as the meeting was over, the commanders left one after another and rushed back to their respective troops to assign combat tasks to their subordinates.


    After walking back and forth in the headquarters, I thought about the combat deployment in my mind. I felt that the only problem was communication. If this problem is not solved, if the communication is not smooth, then my orders can not be transmitted to the front in time, and the front information can not be fed back in time. However, to solve these problems, we can only ask trekov to come forward. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I estimated that trakov had returned to the headquarters of the group army, so I asked razumeyeva to call the headquarters of the group army.


    As soon as trikov heard my voice, he immediately asked with concern, "what''s the matter, o''shanina? Is there anything important in such a hurry to find me?"


    "Comrade commander, this is the situation." After I briefly described my combat deployment, I then made a request to him: "our division is seriously short of communication equipment, which is not conducive to my contact with various units in combat. Do you think we can ask the 208 division to leave some communication equipment and related personnel for us when it withdraws? At least we should leave the telephone lines of the division headquarters, because when the fighting starts, this will be one of my command posts. "


    "No problem," trekov replied unambiguously, "I can decide this matter without asking Colonel vossley boynikov. Communication equipment and related personnel can''t be given to you, but I''ll ask them to hand over the telephone lines in the village to your division completely. Do you think that''s all right? "


    "Great, comrade commander. Thank you so much!" I just asked tentatively, but I didn''t expect that trikov could help me solve the problem so easily.


    "O''shanina, I want to ask you a question." "How many days do you think your independent division can hold back the Germans?" trekov asked


    How many days? It''s a question whether we can block it one day. How many more days do we want to block it? You really look up to me. However, these words can only be thought about in my mind, but I can''t say them out. I vaguely replied, "Comrade commander, I can only say that I will do my best to delay the enemy for one or two days as far as possible, so as to buy time for the main force''s transfer." When I said this, I was obviously not confident enough. I could only say that it would be delayed for a few days, not blocked for a few days.


    "Very well, as long as your troops can block the enemy for two days, then the main force of the group army can smoothly retreat into the fortified area of Stalingrad and get ready for all battles."


    Putting down the earphone and the transmitter, I asked razumeyeva sitting next to me, "Comrade lieutenant, how many people are in your communication company now?"


    Razumeyeva quickly stood up and replied, "report, comrade division commander, when we came from the headquarters of the group army, there were ten people. Today, I asked several other girls to select people who know telecommunications knowledge in their teachers. Just now, they reported that they recruited about 40 people. Some of them were originally staff of the Telecommunications Bureau. As long as they had a simple training, they could complete the normal work of sending and receiving telegrams. "


    "That''s great." It seems that among the new soldiers from Gulag concentration camp, there are really a lot of talents. We can find a few capable people in any occupation. I quickly told razumeyeva: "Lieutenant, you go to select a few capable soldiers, seize the time to train them, and then send them to Gaidar regiment."


    In the evening, I was having dinner with xiejerikov and talking about the training situation of the army today. Gedar, Oleg, Morozov and perskin all came into the headquarters and said goodbye to me.


    When I saw the four commanders standing in a row in front of me, I thought that after tomorrow''s day, maybe I would not see one of them, and my nose became sour.


    On behalf of everyone, Gaidar asked, "Comrade division, can we start?"


    I reached out to shake him and said, "commander gedar, I hope you can win. I''ll be here waiting for your good news."


    With a smile on his face, Gaidar said bitterly, "Sir, do you think the fourth regiment will still exist tomorrow evening?"


    His words made my heart tighten. Under normal circumstances, what he said was the truth. In the face of the enemy''s superior land and air firepower and powerful ground forces, it is absolutely certain to eliminate thousands of troops who lack weapon training. In order to cheer him up, I especially stressed: "the enemy''s strength is too strong. Never fight with the enemy. Use your brains and fight skillfully with the enemy. We should know how to preserve ourselves and achieve the greatest results with the least casualties. "


    Hearing what I said, Gaidar and the other three commanders became firm in their faces. They raised their hands together to salute me, and at the same time, they answered loudly, "please rest assured, sir, we will complete the task."


    I turned and asked razumeyeva, "Comrade lieutenant, have all the signalmen I asked you to send to the regiment?"


    Razumeyeva nodded hard and replied, "report to Mr. division chief, I have sent a communication team to each of the two infantry regiments. The communication team leader of the second regiment is corporal Najia, and the communication team leader of the fourth regiment is corporal guliyayeva. After entering the designated location, they can contact us at any time through the telephone and telephone. "


    I nodded with satisfaction, turned to Gaidar and said to them, "let''s go. Good luck to you."


    After the four left, I turned to shejerikov and said, "Comrade commander, have you repaired the observation post I asked you to prepare for me this afternoon?" Although my regiment and I stayed in the camp at the same time, I was not at ease with the war in the front, so I asked sjerikov to build an observation post for me two or three kilometers away from the battlefield.


    Shejerikov nodded his head and replied, "it''s finished. It''s three kilometers northeast of the defense line that Col. gedar will build. There are five people in the observation center and a telephone line. If you stay there, you can not only observe the enemy''s situation, but also command the troops. " At this point, he deliberately stopped for a moment to observe my expression. Seeing that I did not raise any objection, he tentatively proposed: "do you need to go and have a look?"


    "No," I waved my hand and said, "the main force of the group army has not begun to retreat. If I go now, I will see a scene of chaos. It''s meaningless. Let''s wait until tomorrow."


    Seeing that I was not interested in visiting the observation station, I left after a hasty dinner.


    That night, I stayed up all night, staring at the map all night, thinking about the enemy''s possible March route in my heart, and figuring out how to fight to minimize the casualties of our army.


    As soon as it was dawn, xiejerikov came to the headquarters. He reported to me, "Comrade division, the car is ready. We are waiting outside the forest. Can we start?"


    I rolled up the map on the table, stuffed it into the bag, and told him, "Comrade commander, I''ll take Pugachev, razumeyeva and my guard team to the observation post. You and your troops will stay here and wait for my further orders. "


    When I told him to stay, the expression on his face became particularly ugly. He muttered: "Comrade division, the battle may start soon, but you let me stay here to watch. Do you think this is appropriate?"


    I handed the bag to Pugachev, who came in. I turned to xiejerikov with a smile and said, "don''t worry, comrade commander. There are many battles you fight. If we put so many troops in the trenches and let the enemy''s big shelling planes blow up, the casualties will not be small. Don''t worry. When it''s your turn to attack, it will give you a big show. "


    Seeing that I had said this, xiejerikov couldn''t insist on it. He could only say helplessly, "yes, I''ll stay here and wait for your further orders."


    There were jeeps and a truck outside the forest. I was in the jeep and the truck was from the guard class. When I got on the bus, I saw Pugachev walking towards the truck. It seemed that he wanted to take the co driver''s seat of the truck. I quickly stopped him: "Comrade captain, come here and take my car."


    The captain trotted all the way over and without saying a word, opened the front passenger''s door and got on. After he sat down, he turned to look at me and asked, "Comrade teacher, do you want to start?" Seeing that I nodded in agreement, I immediately ordered the driver to drive


    Shejerikov built me an observation post on a hillside. As there were no trees and only low plants on the slope, I was afraid that if the vehicle stopped at the foot of the slope, the enemy''s reconnaissance plane would find it, so I ordered them to return and call the driver to pick us up when necessary.


    On the top of the hillside where the observation is located, there is a semi buried shelter. Because the top is covered with shrubs and weeds, it can not be found by flying over the reconnaissance plane from the air. It can be seen that shijerikov is very attentive to the observation center. There is a wooden table in the middle of the room, which is one meter square. It is reserved for putting telephones, telephones and maps. There are also several wooden benches for people to sit and rest.


    In addition to razumeyeva, Pugachev and Willa, the other two soldiers who came into the observation post with me stayed outside as guards, while a little farther away in the Bush, other soldiers of the guard class were hidden.


    While razumeyeva was setting up the radio station, I raised my telescope and looked into the distance. There were two long trenches connected by traffic trenches in the southwest open field. The trench was quiet, and no one could see it. I didn''t know whether the troops were hiding or didn''t enter the trench at all. Then I turned the camera to the West and looked at the small village that belonged to the headquarters of the 208 division. It was also quiet. There was no shadow or smoke, as if it had been abandoned.


    I put down my telescope, turned around and asked razumeyeva, "Comrade lieutenant, is the radio set up?" Seeing her nodding, I immediately ordered her, "contact lieutenant commander Gaidar immediately. I want to speak to him."


    Razumeyeva pointed to the telephone on the desk and said to me carefully, "Mr. division, that telephone was set up yesterday. It can contact lieutenant colonel Gaidar."


    When she said that, I laughed. After picking up the receiver, I shook the handle on the phone a few times. As soon as the call came, I asked in a hurry, "Hello, is that Colonel Gaidar? I''m oshanina


    "Hello, sir, this is Gaidar. What''s your instruction?"


    "Colonel gedar, I''ll ask you, where are your troops? Why do I see no one in the trench? "


    "Report to division commander, didn''t you ask me to hide the troops? If you can''t see it, it proves that our soldiers are well hidden. If you can''t see it, the enemy won''t think that we have a well prepared army waiting for them. By the way, not only the infantry have been concealed, but also the artillery company of Morozov have been concealed behind the position. I don''t think you have found them


    After listening to Gaidar''s words, it suddenly occurred to me that Morozov''s artillery company was indeed deployed behind Gaidar''s position, which I didn''t see just now. I dropped the phone, went to the observation hole, raised the telescope again and observed carefully. The trench was still dead, and no one could be seen. But at the back of the second line of defense, there were several haystacks that attracted my attention, because the distance between these one person tall haystacks was equal.


    I feel strange, collective farm manor a few haystacks piled so far away from the village to do, but also placed so neatly, so can not help but look at a few more. At this glance, we can see the true face of the haystack. It turned out that the artillery of the Morozov artillery company was hidden in the haystack.


    I grinned and turned the camera to the front of the line. Although the front of our defense was two kilometers, because there was a small river on one side, the German troops had to cross the two lines of defense built by our army if they wanted to enter the village where gedar was stationed.


    I looked through the telescope for nearly an hour and found not only the shadow of the German mechanized troops, but also the reconnaissance aircraft in the air. I couldn''t help doubting my own judgment. Didn''t the Germans find that our army had retreated from its original fortified position on a large scale? Otherwise, why don''t they send out troops to seize these uninhabited areas? "


    Just as I was about to lose patience, dust rose on the distant horizon. I quickly concentrated and looked through the telescope. Soon the enemy troops came into my sight.


    The enemy had about a battalion of troops, with three parallel tanks in the front, five or six armored vehicles in the back, and trucks full of soldiers in the back.


    As I said in advance that power would be decentralized and Gaidar would be allowed to command the battle independently, I didn''t rush to call him and give orders when I saw the enemy appear. Instead, I kept holding up my telescope to observe the enemy''s situation.


    Although I was very patient and didn''t call Gaidar, someone was so upset that he called me first. When I picked up the microphone, I knew that it was Oleg, the second group leader. He lowered his voice and said excitedly, "Comrade division commander, the enemy troops are passing through the area not far from the underground tank depot. Do we need to attack them and take them by surprise?"


    "No, comrade commander, No." I quickly stopped his impulsive behavior and told him seriously: "the positions of your regiment and tank units should not be exposed casually. Continue to lurk. I will call you when to attack." With that, I hung up without waiting for him to speak. I saw through the telescope that the enemy''s tanks were getting closer and closer to our trench, but there was still no movement in the trench. Even Gaidar didn''t call me to ask if we should fire to intercept the enemy''s tanks. When the enemy''s tanks were 100 meters away from the trench, the haystacks behind the second line of defense were lifted from inside, revealing the hidden cannons. Looking at the busy gunners, I can''t help but feel a cold sweat for them. I hope they can move faster and earlier, and fire before the German tanks find them. Soon, I saw Morozov, wearing a big cornice hat, coming out of nowhere, standing behind a cannon, holding up the right hand of a small red flag, looking left and right for a moment, then waving down abruptly, and the cannon of the artillery company fired again and again. As soon as the three German tanks were ten meters away from our trench, a group or two or three groups of flames rose on the body of the tanks. After driving a certain distance, they stopped beside the trench one after another. In the first round of firing, the artillery company destroyed all the enemy''s tanks, though some of them missed, landed around the tanks and exploded. Then a second round of fire followed, and four of the six armored vehicles that followed were turned into burning scrap iron. The remaining two armored vehicles turned around and ran. Not far away, one of them was overturned by the air wave of the shell explosion, rolling on the ground, and finally the four wheels were burning up. In addition, the end of the car was not much better. Because it was driving too fast, it bumped into an oncoming truck. After the violent impact, most of the soldiers on the car fell down by inertia. At this time, the soldiers in the first trench of our Army stood up one after another and opened fire with their machine guns, submachine guns and rifles. They focused on the soldiers on the truck behind and the soldiers who jumped out of the car to escape. The German soldiers who were caught off guard were killed in piles under the car and not far from the car. Some soldiers were ready to jump when they were shot dead, head down from the car baffle upside down. Seeing that the enemy was in chaos, the soldiers in the trench jumped up and rushed to the enemy with their weapons. At this moment, the phone on the desk rang again. I thought it was Gaidar. I was just trying to praise him. Unexpectedly, it was Oleg again. When he heard my voice, he said anxiously: "Comrade division, let''s attack our regiment and tank unit from the side, as long as we cut the back of these German guys, I''m sure none of them will run Oleg''s suggestion made me excited, but seeing the soldiers of the fourth regiment following the enemy in the distance, I gritted my teeth and said firmly, "no, commander Oleg. I repeat, without my order, your regiment and the tank unit of Peregrine are not allowed to attack. "

 Chapter 556

    The troops that leaped out of the trenches rushed at the German troops who were fleeing in confusion. The shells fired by Morozov''s artillery company constantly fell into the enemy''s fleeing crowd and exploded. The blast waves or flying shrapnel cut down the German soldiers from time to time.


    I called Pugachev in front of me, handed the telescope to him, and said excitedly, "Captain Pugachev, come and have a look. What is the cooperative operation of infantry and artillery? The battle going on outside is a good textbook. "


    Although Pugachev was confused, he did not dare to ask questions casually because of the strict hierarchy in the army, so he had to honestly raise his telescope and look out.


    After he looked at it for a while, I asked, "do you see anything?"


    He put down his telescope and looked at me blankly. He slowly shook his head and said, "I only see the enemy running away and our army pursuing."


    Choked by his words, I wanted to raise my hand and slap him in the face. My face showed an expression of hatred. Pointing to the outside, I said to him angrily, "Comrade captain, didn''t you pay attention to the impact point of our artillery company?"


    He nodded and replied, "see, almost all the shells fall in the middle of the enemy''s infantry and explode. It''s strange that the artillery company can''t hit such a dense formation and such a close distance."


    I''m so optimistic about him. I didn''t expect that he was so unintelligent. I didn''t see anything after watching for a long time. I''m ashamed of my trust in him. However, I can''t blame him for this. Instead, I patiently explained to him, "Comrade Pugachev, if you look carefully, the shells of the artillery company all fall on the places where the enemy gathers. In this way, the resistance that the enemy may organize can be destroyed, so that our army can attack more smoothly and charge faster. In addition, the infantry commanders and fighters showed remarkable performance. They knew that the artillery was guiding their own attack, and immediately commanded the troops to follow the attack point. Often, as soon as the shells scattered the enemy, the infantry in the company and platoon rushed up and wiped out the remaining German troops. "


    When I heard this, Pugachev, who was observing the battlefield with binoculars, nodded repeatedly: "Comrade division, it''s really what you said. Our soldiers rushed forward at the impact point and beat the enemy so much that they could only run away in confusion."


    Our soldiers chased and killed about two kilometers, then stopped the pursuit, and the dozens of German soldiers who escaped by chance, if granted amnesty, spread their feet and fled to a distance. After our soldiers stopped pursuing, they began to clean the battlefield, carry the captured materials and escort the prisoners back.


    Almost all the trucks on the battlefield were destroyed by gunfire, but I found that when the soldiers returned, they actually drove back the armored car that collided with the truck. It seems that the armored car is solid. After such a violent impact, the truck has been reimbursed, but it has not yet done anything.


    Seeing the soldiers returning to the trench, I finally waited for Gaidar''s late call. I heard him say excitedly: "report to Comrade division commander, in the battle just now, our regiment destroyed three enemy tanks, five armored vehicles and 25 trucks, killed 147 enemy people, injured 213 people, captured 17 people and captured one armored vehicle."


    When Gaidar finished with the results of our army, I asked, "what are the casualties of our army?"


    "Fortunately, only a dozen soldiers were slightly injured and no one died."


    "Colonel gedar, have you interrogated the prisoners? What part are they? "


    "Yes, they are the 29th division of the motorized infantry division of the 4th Goth tank army. It was the first battalion of the division that was defeated by us. The main force of the division is still 15 kilometers away from our army. It is estimated that it will arrive in about an hour. "


    Hearing this, I quickly told Gaidar: "Comrade Gaidar, although we caught the enemy unprepared, it also aroused their vigilance. Before the next attack, the enemy will surely bombard your regiment''s positions with artillery fire. You should let the soldiers do a good job in defense and try to reduce the losses in the enemy''s artillery attack."


    "Please rest assured, our regiment has built a large number of gun holes in both lines of defense. When the enemy shelled, except for a small number of observation posts, the remaining commanders and fighters can go to the holes to avoid the enemy''s fire."


    "Can the blast hole carry the enemy''s heavy artillery?" Although Gaidar was full of confidence, I couldn''t help but ask more.


    "No problem, our gun holes are all dug down obliquely. The soil layer on the top is about two meters. As long as it is not directly hit by the enemy''s heavy artillery, it should be able to carry it."


    After hearing this, I was relieved. After a pause, I began to comment on the battle: "I am very satisfied with the performance of your regiment in the battle just now. The German vanguard battalion is approaching the position, and no one is found in the trench, proving that you have done a good job of concealment. In addition, Captain Morozov''s artillery company also made a great contribution. As soon as they made a move, they killed all the enemy''s tanks and armored vehicles, and then covered our troops with artillery fire to attack and inflict heavy damage on the enemy. If you fight like this in the future, you will be promoted again soon. "


    Gaidar, after laughing, began to flatter me again: "it''s still the division commander who commands well. I just follow your orders."


    Then Morozov also called in. After praising him, I specially reminded him: "Comrade Morozov, I think your artillery company should move its position. If you think about it, you''ve just beaten the Germans so badly that the vanguard camp has almost been destroyed. The Germans will surely retaliate. Before they attack our positions, they will certainly bombard them with heavy artillery fire, and the position of your artillery company will be their first target. "


    Morozov was shocked when he heard me say this. Obviously, he didn''t think that this might happen. He immediately asked me, "Sir, where should we go?"


    "On the left side of the defensive position, there is a river where you can transfer your artillery company." I was afraid that he would delay his time because of hesitation. I specially stressed: "don''t delay. Transfer immediately. If there are not enough people, ask Gaidar to send someone to help you. What''s more, more fake positions should be set up on the existing positions to attract German artillery fire. "


    "I see, sir. I''ll have the troops transferred right away." Morozov''s answer was very straightforward.


    The big German troops came faster than I expected. Only 40 minutes later, the German artillery began to bombard our army. First, a shell fell more than ten meters in front of the trench and exploded, raising a huge plume of smoke. Then, the shell rained down around the trench of our army and exploded. The flying smoke and dust blocked the sky, and the dazzling sunlight darkened, as if it had suddenly overcast the sky.


    The rumbling sound made the earth tremble under my feet. I can''t help but worry about the officers and men in the trenches. Can they survive in such a dense artillery bombardment?


    The German bombardment lasted nearly twenty minutes before it stopped. Before the smoke from the position was completely cleared, the German offensive troops appeared in my telescope. With the strength of about a regiment and guided by more than 30 tanks, they came to our army in columns.


    It may be that our crude position has been destroyed by their artillery fire in the shelling just now. The attacking enemy was very arrogant. Several tanks far away from the rear were packed with infantry wearing helmets.


    When these tanks were less than 50 meters away from our army''s trench, our soldiers climbed out of the ruins of the bombed fortifications and opened fire on these enemies with rifles, submachine guns and machine guns. Under the intensive light fire of our army, although the infantry on the tanks rolled down one after another, the German tanks continued to move forward.


    When I saw this scene, I was a little worried. If the German tanks rushed through the trenches, it would be a fatal blow to the morale of the commanders and fighters. I pondered in my heart that I was going to call Morozov and ask their artillery company to fire and kill all the tanks that were about to rush to the trench.


    As soon as I thought that, a shell fell around the German tank and exploded. One of the German tanks was directly hit, and a large dark red flame suddenly appeared on the tank body, and then it began to burn violently. The tank pulled out a few meters ahead with fire and smoke, and then stopped.


    Then the incoming shells hit several other tanks one after another. In a short time, all the first assault tanks were destroyed and stopped not far from our army''s trench, burning up.


    Several of the tanks far behind stopped, turned their muzzle and fired at the location of Morozov''s artillery company. The German tank shells landed on the artillery position, accurately hit a gun position, and when the smoke dispersed, I saw a crater where there was the wreckage of the cannons, and the soldiers fell in all directions.


    Seeing that his artillery position was destroyed by German tank guns, Morozov was also red eyed. He directed the remaining guns to fire at the tank. After a round of salvo fire, the German tank was destroyed.


    Seeing that his accomplice''s tanks were destroyed, more German tanks turned their guns and began to fire at the artillery positions of Morozov company. However, Morozov was not outdone and directed the soldiers to fight back bravely. In this way, when the German destroyed a cannon of our army, our army destroyed a German tank. You come and we go, and we are very happy.


    The German tanks, on the other hand, carefully bypassed the wreckage of the trucks destroyed by our army and guided the infantry towards our positions. The tank soldiers of the three leading tanks seem to be veterans with superb skills and calmness. When they are driving forward, they fire machine guns while firing guns, and use fierce fire to suppress our commanders and fighters in the trenches.


    Because the artillery company was held back by several other German tanks, it was unable to provide artillery support to the comrades who were holding the trench, and the infantry in the trench were crushed to death by the enemy''s firepower. They could only watch a few German tanks cross the trench and drive to the second line of Defense.


    However, not far away from the enemy''s tanks, some soldiers hiding in the traffic ditch between the two lines of defense suddenly stood up and threw flasks at the speeding tanks. The flask broke on the body of the tank and began to burn violently. After the tank stopped, we saw that the tank soldiers inside fled in a mess. Our soldiers, armed with machine guns and submachine guns, were frantically shooting at them, just like hitting a moving target to knock them down.


    I asked razumeyeva to call Oleg and calmly ordered him: "commander Oleg, it''s time for your second regiment and tank unit to attack. Remember, after the tanks rush out of the underground tank depot, first kill the German tank troops, and then turn around to fight the German artillery positions. Besides, your second regiment is responsible for blocking the retreat of the German infantry. None of them can run away. Do you understand? "


    "I see, sir." From Oleg''s voice, I could tell that he was very excited. He stayed in the basement for several hours until the time of attack. So the voice he answered me was so loud that I had to move the microphone away from my ear, "we''ll go out immediately, we must annihilate the enemy."


    The Germans who are attacking our army have never dreamed that I have hidden an ambush under their side. What''s more, this kind of army is still a mechanized army. More than a dozen tanks burst out of the ground, galloping around the back of the German tanks and firing leisurely. Pitifully, the remaining 20 German tanks didn''t find the tanks behind them at all. As a result, they were all destroyed one by one by our tank soldiers practicing shooting.


    The German infantry, who had been disorganized by our tanks, was even more disorganized by the second regiment. Quick reaction, quickly turned around, but also put on a few shots; The reaction was slow. Before he knew what happened, he was knocked down by our soldiers.


    Seeing that the enemy''s coordinated attack of infantry and tankers was defeated by the second regiment and tank units that emerged from the side, the officers and men of the fourth regiment jumped out of the trench again, shouting and rushing forward to the enemy. When the troops went out to attack, I paid special attention to the number of the troops and found that it was not necessary to reduce them at all. It was estimated that Gaidar used the short interval after the artillery stopped to move the troops from the second line of defense to the first line of defense.


    Although the Germans are very brave when they attack, when they find themselves in a desperate situation, they usually do not fight with the attacking enemy, but voluntarily lay down their weapons and raise their hands to surrender. In this way, ten minutes after the second regiment and tank unit attacked, the 29th division of the German motorized infantry division was solved by us


    Soon news came from peresjian that the tank unit had broken through the enemy''s artillery position, dispersed the enemy''s artillery, and seized nearly 40 guns and supporting ammunition.


    I asked Pugachev to call Morozov and ask about the damage of the artillery company. As a result, I was saddened by the report I got. Seven of the company''s ten cannons were completely damaged and two were injured in the attack with German tanks just now, leaving only one intact. Three quarters of the company''s soldiers were killed.


    While I was grieving for the loss of the artillery company, razumeyeva pulled my sleeve and whispered to me that trakov wanted to talk to me. I put on my earphone and said politely to the transmitter, "Hello, comrade commander."


    "What''s the situation there?" Trekov didn''t want to be polite to me, either. He asked directly.


    "Comrade commander, the enemy launched two attacks on our division''s line of defense." I replied clearly: "the soldiers of our division were very brave in the battle, and the enemy''s attack was smashed by us."


    "Very well," said trakov, and then asked with concern, "o''shanina, is your division seriously injured? Please tell me the truth. Can you hold on till dark? "


    "The artillery company has almost run out. The four regiments holding their positions have suffered certain casualties in the enemy''s shelling. However, the specific casualty data have not been reported to me by lieutenant colonel Gaidar. I estimate that the casualties are only about one battalion. As long as the enemy does not send out the air force, it will be no problem to fight as it is now and stick to it until dark. "


    "Well, in that case, I''ll give you the next order. When it gets dark, your division will withdraw immediately, move towards Stalingrad and build a new line of defense to continue to block the enemy. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." It seems that trakov wanted our division to fight and retreat, to retreat to Stalingrad step by step while delaying the enemy''s attack.


    "Good luck, then!" With that, trakov terminated the call.


    "Comrade division commander, the phone call from commander xiejerikov." As soon as I took off my headphones, Pugachev, standing next to me, handed me the phone and said, "he wants to ask you when to let a group attack."


    I laughed, took up the subject and said in a loud voice, "is that lieutenant colonel chejerikov? What can I do for you? "


    "Mr. commander," said chejerikov anxiously, "I heard that there was a lot of gunfire in front of me, but I haven''t received your order. I thought the telephone line was interrupted by the artillery, so I''ll make a phone call to confirm."


    I knew that he wanted to fight, but I pretended to be confused and said, "now you know that the telephone line is unblocked, so I''ll hang up."


    Xiejerikov was in a hurry and cried out: "Sir, please wait a moment. I have something to say."


    "If you have something to say, say it." I said calmly.


    "Let''s go up in the regiment sometime." "I heard that the artillery fire in front of us is so fierce that the casualties of the fourth regiment must be very serious. You''d better transfer our regiment to support them as soon as possible," he said


    "Commander xiejerikov," I said deliberately, calling for his post, "I have a plan for when you will join the regiment. I don''t need you to remind me. In addition, let me tell you one thing. Although the enemy''s attack was very fierce, the soldiers of the fourth regiment were very brave. They beat back the enemy''s two attacks. Now they are counting the results. "¡° However, Mr. shigerikov said something else, but I interrupted him without any politeness. I said coldly, "Comrade xiejerikov, the mission of your regiment is to stand by at the station. Before you get my orders, you should stay there honestly. Well, I have to get in touch with other troops, so hang up first. " With that, I hung up without waiting for him to speak. Then I called Gaidar and asked directly, "commander Gaidar, what''s the result of your regiment this time? What''s more, are there any casualties in the army? " Gaidar quickly replied: "report to division commander, before the enemy shelled, I only left one company in the first line of defense, and the rest of the troops withdrew to the second line of defense, so after the enemy''s heavy shelling, our regiment probably lost one company. Then I found that when the enemy began to attack, I ordered those troops who had retreated to the second line of defense to return to the first line of defense to stop the enemy''s attack. When the second regiment and the tank unit launched an attack from behind the enemy, our troops also launched a counter attack in time because of the small casualties. "¡° Very well, Colonel gedar. You did a good job After praising him, I said, "Comrade commander, I have just received an order from general trakov. He ordered our division to retreat 30 kilometers northward toward Stalingrad after dark, build new fortifications there, continue to resist the enemy''s attack, and delay the enemy''s advance toward Stalingrad. I want to continue to let your regiment finish the task of intercepting the German troops. Are you confident? "¡° No problem, sir Gaidar said confidently: "judging from the current situation, the casualties of our regiment are not big, and it will not affect tomorrow''s battle at all. You can rest assured to give this task to our regiment." Although he said so confident, but I was still a little bit insecure, took the initiative to put forward: "Col. Gaidar, the third regiment is not far from you, do you want to let the third regiment take over your defense when it comes, let your regiment retreat to the back to rest." My words made Gaidar anxious. He said in a loud voice: "Sir, you look down on our regiment. I tell you that as long as there is still one soldier in the fourth regiment who has not died, he will never take the initiative to withdraw from the position. " When I heard that his attitude was so firm, I had to say, "well, since you are so confident, let your regiment carry out the task of holding the position during the day." As soon as he put down the phone, the artillery company commander molozov appeared in my observation center. As soon as he saw me, his eyes were red and he almost cried. He choked and said, "Comrade division commander, do you want to transfer that artillery battalion out? I want to fight face to face with those Germans and avenge my brothers who died."¡° No, "I immediately denied his proposal in an indisputable tone." it''s not time for them to show up. As for revenge for the soldiers of your artillery company, you can rest assured that I will let you do so after dark. "

 Chapter 557

    After two rounds of German attack, the communication in the observation center suddenly became busy, so that after I finished that sentence with Morozov, I had no time to pay attention to him.


    I think that the German army will not only advance to Stalingrad from the south, but also the defense areas of the former 29th division and the 70th division of the guards in the West may have Germans. So I called kosga, the third commander in charge of guarding that direction, and asked with concern, "commander kosga, what''s the situation there? Have you found the German?"


    Kosga immediately replied, "report division commander, according to the Scout''s report, the German forces coming from the West have occupied 158 and 165 highlands of the former 29th division and the 154th marine brigade, respectively, and the western part of the line of defense of the 70th close guard division, which was once recovered by our division."


    "Is your headquarters based on the former division headquarters of Colonel lyudnikov?" When I asked him this, I couldn''t help but feel a little ashamed. When I gave the order yesterday, I asked him to set up the headquarters of the 208 division. You know, that position is more suitable for Gaidar to set up his fourth regiment headquarters. As a result, when kosga took over the defense at night, he found out my mistake. After asking for my instructions, he took the initiative to transfer his headquarters to a new position.


    "Yes, my teacher is absolutely right." After he gave me a positive answer, he took the initiative to say: "in addition, I have sent people to the artillery battalion we received to help them hide."


    "Good. Keep the artillery battalion hidden. And your troops, lieutenant commander kosga, closely monitor the enemy''s movements. If they don''t send troops to occupy your defense area, try not to engage in any exchange of fire with them. "


    Before I finished, razumeyeva said to me in a low voice: "commander, lieutenant commander Oleg is online. He has important military information to report to you."


    "What''s the matter? Commander Oleg I put on my headphones and asked in a hurry.


    "Report division commander," Oleg reported excitedly, "according to the Scout I sent, the main force of the 29th German motorized infantry division is staying five kilometers away from our regiment. They may have got the news that the leading forces have been repulsed. They have stopped advancing and are assembling in the area. "


    The enemy''s army will come at once. I don''t know if our present fortifications can block it, but you are as excited as if you have found a gold ingot. When you think about it, you can''t help saying something sternly: "commander Oleg, what are you trying to say?"


    However, Oleg didn''t seem to notice my bad attitude towards him. Instead, he continued to report: "just now we captured 36 German guns. Because the tractor was damaged, it''s impossible to pull them back. I think that instead of blowing it up in vain, it''s better to turn the muzzle and bombard the gathering enemy. "


    After listening to Oleg''s words, I remember that I used to hit the Germans with German shells. It seems that it''s worth trying. Anyway, I was going to teach the German campers a lesson with gunfire. Now I''ll serve them an appetizer. Thinking of this, I took the transmitter away from my mouth, turned my head and asked Morozov, "Captain Morozov, do you know what the German artillery system is like?"


    Morozov was sitting by the wall. Hearing my question, he immediately stood up and reported to me, "report to division commander, the German artillery regiment is composed of four artillery battalions, each with 18 guns. Before the war, they were 75mm field artillery of two battalions, 105mm howitzer of one battalion and 150mm howitzer of one battalion. After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the Germans began to increase their firepower in a planned way. They eliminated 75mm field guns and replaced them with 105mm howitzers from two battalions and 150mm howitzers from two battalions. The artillery that shelled our army just now should be 105mm howitzers from two battalions. "


    After listening to the professional, I nodded and said to the transmitter, "commander Oleg, first order the soldiers to turn their guns around. I''ll ask captain molozov to help you."


    "Yes, I immediately ordered the soldiers to turn their guns around. Besides, I have just sent a truck to meet Morozov and his soldiers. With them, the accuracy of our shelling can be improved. "


    Putting down the earphone and transmitter, I said to Morozov, "Comrade captain, don''t you want to avenge your subordinates? Now I''ll give you a chance to take someone to lieutenant colonel Oleg immediately. He just captured the two German artillery barracks you mentioned. Go and help him teach the Germans a good lesson with these guns. "


    When he heard my command, Morozov''s eyes brightened and he agreed loudly. After saluting me again, he turned around and ran out of the observation post.


    Gaidar called again and said excitedly in the phone: "report to division commander, the results of our regiment have been counted out. In the two battles, 775 German soldiers were killed, 200 wounded, 138 captured, 8 81mm mortars and 300 shells were captured; There are 12 heavy machine guns, 237 submachine guns and more than 1000 rifles. Our regiment sacrificed 110 people and injured 83 people in the battle. "


    After listening to the results he reported, I specially asked: "Comrade Gaidar, all the seizures you said were captured by your regiment, or by the second regiment?"


    "Report to division commander, it''s our regiment that has seized all the materials. All the materials seized together with the second regiment have been sent to the second regiment by the soldiers."


    I nodded with satisfaction and said with satisfaction, "very good. I''ll make statistics on the seizure of the second regiment, and then I can report to the group army headquarters."


    I first contacted the commander of the tank unit, peiersjian. I didn''t care to say hello, but to the point, I asked, "Captain peiersjian, I''ve seen the performance of your tank unit. It''s very good! Now you report to me the results of the tank unit. "


    When pelsjian heard my question so directly, he was obviously stunned for a moment. Then he replied, "report to division commander, our unit destroyed 25 enemy tanks and 115 trucks, and captured 36 German howitzers."


    When I heard him say that he destroyed more than 100 trucks, I was shocked. My heart said that I didn''t see so many trucks from the enemy? But on second thought, maybe these trucks were used to transport troops. In order to prevent them from being destroyed by our army''s artillery fire, they stopped where I couldn''t see them. I can''t help but encourage him for his achievements. At the same time, I issued a new order: "Captain pelsjian, I''m going to give you a new task. You will lead the tank team to the artillery position where Lieutenant Colonel Oleg is, and provide them with cover to prevent the enemy''s sneak attack. When the task is finished, you will withdraw to the defense zone of the fourth regiment together. "


    When I talked with Oleg, I didn''t wait for him to speak, so I said in advance, "commander Oleg, report the results of your regiment to me. Remember, there''s no need to report the 36 howitzers. Tell me something I don''t know."


    Hearing this, Oleg giggled a few times, and then said, "report to the commander, after our regiment attacked, 538 enemies were killed, 129 wounded and 74 captured. Three 81mm mortars and 200 shells were seized; Four heavy machine guns, 185 submachine guns, 127 pistols and more than 400 rifles. 11 people were killed and 25 injured. "


    I summarized and counted the results of two infantry regiments and one tank unit''s external artillery company, and then reported them to trikov. After hearing the low voice of trakov from the earphone, I immediately reported the results of the war to him with high spirits: "report to commander, the results of our division have been counted. After two battles, our division destroyed 37 German tanks, 5 armored vehicles and 140 trucks, killed 1460 enemies, injured 542 and captured 229. We also seized an armored vehicle, 36 105mm howitzers and supporting shells, 11 81mm mortars, 500 shells, 16 heavy machine guns, 422 submachine guns, 127 pistols and more than 1400 rifles. "


    After listening to this, trakov burst out laughing. He said excitedly, "o''shanina, it seems that after I left your division, I really chose the right person. In such a short period of time, I almost killed a German motorized infantry regiment." Speaking of this, he changed his tone and asked with concern, "how are the casualties of the troops?"


    "More than 200 people were killed, 121 of them died." Although I knew that fighting would kill me, I still felt a little uncomfortable when I reported the casualty data of our division to the higher authorities.


    "It''s a pity that the main force of the group army is retreating too fast. Otherwise, I can give you some help." Trekov said with some regret.


    When I heard him say this, I thought to myself: No, if the main force of the group army doesn''t retreat so quickly, as long as the two close guard rocket artillery regiments under the command of the group army fire two volleys at the isolated and rash motorized infantry 29th division, they can severely damage the German division. With the cooperation of our division, it''s not impossible to completely annihilate the enemy.


    I was thinking wildly when I heard trakov say: "oshanina, remember, after dark, withdraw the troops 30 kilometers northward to build a new defensive position, so as to achieve the purpose of delaying the German army''s advance speed to Stalingrad."


    "Yes I replied very reluctantly, because according to trekov''s deployment, as long as we retreat backward, our division''s troops will be completely exposed to the enemy. Then, our fate will be that we will be holed up in the trenches, bombarded by artillery and bombed by airplanes, and our troops will be consumed by the fierce artillery fire of the enemy.


    I looked at the battlefield with black smoke everywhere in the distance and thought: in the face of the superior enemy, we can''t put our troops in the trenches to be bombed, we must take active defense. As soon as it gets dark, I''ll send out the hidden artillery barracks and let them teach the sleeping Germans a lesson with their artillery fire. In this way, the enemy''s attack on our troops will be greatly weakened in the daytime tomorrow.


    "Report!" A report came from the door.


    Before I turned around, I heard Pugachev, the commander of the guard battalion, asking, "what''s the matter?"


    "Report to the battalion commander, there is a commander outside to see the division commander." It turned out that it was the sentry on duty at the gate. Seeing someone coming to see me, it might be a stranger he had never met, so he came in specially to ask me for advice.


    "Did he say who he was?" Pugachev continued to ask for me.


    The sentry replied respectfully, "it''s a captain. He said he was the artillery battalion commander."


    "Artillery battalion commander? What artillery battalion commander? Why don''t I know there is an artillery battalion commander in the division? Go out and tell him that the division commander is very busy and has no time to see him. Let him go back. "


    "Wait a minute." seeing the sentry going out, I quickly stopped him, because I thought it might be the commander of the artillery battalion that trekov left me. I said, "Comrade sentry, go out and invite the captain in."


    As soon as the shadow of the sentry disappeared from the door, an officer in a cornice hat came in. He was very tall. After standing upright, his head almost touched the ceiling of the observation post. He raised his hand to salute me and reported, "Hello, comrade colonel. I''d like to introduce myself to you. I''m captain yegonovych, artillery battalion commander. I''m under your command at the order of general trakov, deputy commander of the group army. "


    "It''s very kind of you to come, comrade captain." I shook hands with the burly captain, asked him to sit down, and asked with concern, "are the artillery barracks hidden?"


    The captain nodded, then said reluctantly, "Comrade Colonel, I don''t understand. Since our battalion is here to help you fight, why don''t we assign combat tasks to us, but let our commanders and fighters hide in the temporary excavation pit? I just heard that the enemy was shelling our position. I wish I could rush out of the ground and command my soldiers to kill the enemy''s bloody artillery position with cannons. "


    I waved my hand and said, "Comrade captain, you are too impatient. The reason why I didn''t let your battalion fight is that you have more important tasks to complete. "


    Hearing that I had a task to hand over to him, the Captain stood up, straightened up and said in a loud voice, "please give me an order. My artillery battalion will guarantee to complete the task you assigned."


    "Come here," I said, pointing to our position and spreading out the map on the table, "you see, this is our defensive position." then I moved my finger a little to the side, and then I said, "the German motorized infantry division 29 is gathering here at the moment, and I can''t figure out whether they will continue to attack or stay here. But in my judgment, they should camp in this area at night. My mission to your battalion is to go out to the vicinity of their camp in the dark and teach them a lesson with cannons, so that those German soldiers who wake up from sleep can dance in our artillery fire. "


    Looking down at the map, the captain showed a happy smile on his face and said, "great, great. The Germans certainly did not expect that we would go back to attack them at night, and the defense would not be too tight. This plan is likely to succeed. " Then he straightened up and asked me, "Comrade Colonel, may I leave?" Maybe I don''t understand why he said that, so I specially added: "I''ll arrange artillery observers to scout in the past to provide accurate shooting coordinates for our artillery."


    "Don''t worry, comrade captain. Please wait a moment. I have something else to tell you." I gestured to him to sit down and continued: "the second regiment of our division seized the enemy artillery position not long ago and seized 36 105mm howitzers. As you know, there are not many people in the infantry who can operate artillery. Although I sent captain Morozov, the artillery company commander, to help, it is obvious that the number of gunners may not be enough. I wonder if you can send some highly skilled Gunners from your camp to help them? "


    "No problem," he said excitedly, standing up abruptly. "Comrade Colonel, I''ll go back to make arrangements." He said that he would go out. I had to stop him again and said angrily, "Comrade captain, you are in a hurry to leave before you finish listening. Do you know where the artillery position is?"


    Yegonovich scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly: "I''m sorry, comrade colonel. I''m too impatient. Please arrange a guide for me, and I''ll go back and transfer the staff


    I turned to look at Willa, who was sitting beside me in a daze, and called her: "Willa!"


    "Here it is Vera immediately jumped up from the stool, came to me and asked, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"


    I pointed to the next captain and said to her, "Vera, go to the artillery position occupied by the second regiment with Comrade captain. If you can''t find the way, you can ask the people of the second regiment, and they will take you to your destination. "


    "But it''s too far from the artillery position. How can I get there? Can I walk there?" Vera asked, mouthing.


    "Don''t worry, little girl," Captain yegonovich said to her smilingly, "my motorcycle is parked at the foot of the hill. We can go there by motorcycle. It won''t take long." With that, he restrained his smile, straightened up and asked seriously, "Comrade Colonel, since the guide is available, can I leave?"


    "Go ahead, be careful on the way."


    Half an hour after captain yegonovych and Willa left, there was a rumble of artillery in the distance. It seemed that Oleg had started shelling the German assembly site.


    Just then, the roar of the motor came faintly from the air, and my heart went up to my throat, and I scolded: this damned enemy plane will not come early or late. As soon as our artillery opened fire, you came out. This is the end. The casualties of the troops in the artillery position must not be small.


    He is going to remind Oleg to be more careful by using a telephone. If he really can''t, he will give up his plan of shelling the enemy and reserve more backbone for our troops. I didn''t expect that when I looked out of the observation port, I happened to see the warplanes passing through the air. I found that they were two warplanes of our army, and I was relieved for a long time.


    But I still got in touch with Oleg through the telephone. I asked aloud, "Hello, I said, commander Oleg, where are you now?" Oleg also replied loudly: "report to division commander, I have taken two companies and set up a defense line 200 meters south of the artillery position, so as to prevent the enemy from jumping over the wall and sending troops to attack our artillery position when they are under artillery attack."¡° Well done. " I am very satisfied with his arrangement. Judging from these battles, these commanders and fighters under my command have become increasingly mature and know how to adjust their deployment according to the changes in the battlefield¡° By the way, the number of artillery is not enough, so how to shoot? "¡° Sir, don''t worry about that. Captain Morozov, although they were small in number, they adjusted the shooting coordinates in advance, loaded the shells, and the infantry to assist only needed to pull the gun rope. Don''t mention it. Although the shooting speed was a little slow, it was quite accurate. From here, I can see with my telescope that the shells exploded in the middle of the enemy''s line, causing the enemy to flee everywhere. " Just talking about this, he suddenly exclaimed: "Oh, no, the enemy sent out a troop and pounced on us." Then the communication was cut off. Oleg''s words made me worried. Our division''s troops lacked anti tank weapons. For the tanks or armored vehicles that rushed up, they had to wait until they were close. The soldiers rushed out and threw burning bottles to burn them. And at the moment, the only one that can help them is captain perskin''s tank unit. Thinking of this, I quickly asked razumeyeva to change the frequency and call pelsjian''s tank team. As soon as I heard perskin''s voice, I gave him a direct order: "Comrade captain, a German army is rushing towards our artillery position. I order you to lead the tank units to attack immediately and to keep this enemy firmly out of our artillery positions at all costs. "¡° Yes, sir. I''m going to lead the tank unit to attack. " Putting down the earphone and the transmitter, I went to the observation port. Although I knew it was far away and could not see anything, I still raised my telescope and looked into the distance to see where our army''s temporary artillery position and Oleg, who was about to launch a fierce battle with the enemy, were. Unfortunately, after watching it for a long time, I couldn''t see anything except the faint sound of guns and the smoke of gunpowder rising from time to time. Just when I was very anxious, razumeyeva screamed excitedly, and then called to me: "Comrade division, I have contacted commander Oleg." I grabbed the transmitter, put the earphone to my ear and asked aloud, "commander Oleg, what''s the situation there? Has the tank team arrived? Has the enemy been blocked?"¡° Tell me, sir, it''s in the way Oleg said excitedly: "although the tank unit did not arrive, two of our fighters arrived first. They swooped down from the sky and opened fire on the approaching German line. Under the bombardment and strafing of our army''s aircraft, the Germans were immediately beaten to the ground. The damaged tanks, armored vehicles, cars and motorcycles were all over the place. The German infantry were also beaten in confusion and scurrying. In a word, the enemy''s attack was repulsed and our artillery position was safe. " After listening to his report, I took a long breath, drew a cross on my chest, and said to myself, "thank God!"

 Chapter 558

    I was glad that the enemy''s attack was broken down again. Even the operator, razumeyeva, who was sitting next to me, patted herself on the chest and said with a lingering fear, "Comrade division commander, if you are always surprised like this, sooner or later you will get a heart attack."


    I had a silent smile. When I was about to make fun of her, I suddenly thought that since our plane could blow up the Germans, the German plane could also blow up our tank team. What''s more, the order I gave to perskin was to let the tank unit stop the German mechanized troops attacking the artillery position. If he saw the enemy being so embarrassed by our plane''s bombing, he might take the tank unit to attack the German army as soon as he got hot headed. Although the 29th motorized infantry division of the German army has been destroyed by us and is still under the artillery attack of our army, it is still easy to destroy a small unit with only a dozen tanks with their strength. Thinking of this, I was suddenly shocked out of a cold sweat, can''t help crying out: "Oh, bad!"


    Hearing my cry, razumeyeva and Pugachev had very different reactions. Razumeyeva looked at me blankly, as if trying to find out why I suddenly lost my manners; And Pugachev nervously asked: "Sir, is something wrong?"


    Instead of answering Pugachev''s question, I nervously urged razumeyeva: "second lieutenant, call captain pelsjian immediately, and ask his tank unit to stop advancing immediately and quickly return to the starting point." Although razumeyeva didn''t know why I gave such an order, she immediately adjusted the radio frequency, took the transmitter, and called pelsjian loudly.


    Just then, the phone on the desk rang again. Pugachev picked it up and listened to it. He immediately handed over the microphone and said, "it''s commander, it''s lieutenant colonel kosja, the third commander."


    When I heard that it was kosga''s phone call, my heart thumped and said that it would not be the enemy in the west, would it? When I took the receiver, I asked nervously, "what''s the matter with you, commander kosga?"


    "Report to division commander, the enemy in the residential area has sent a reconnaissance team to the direction of our regiment''s position. There is an armored car and three motorcycles. What should we do? Kill them or let them pass?"


    I was thinking fast in my mind. If I fight, the third regiment will be exposed, and the German troops stranded near the residential area may come directly. But if we don''t fight, our hidden troops are found by German scouts, and the final result is the same.


    I was in a dilemma, and the anxious kosga couldn''t help urging me: "Comrade teacher, what should we do? Please give me directions! "


    "Let the soldiers pay attention to concealment, maybe they just come to explore the way, as long as they don''t find out, try not to fire." At this point, I hesitated for a moment, for fear that kosga misinterpreted my meaning. Even if we see the enemy''s scouts face to face with our soldiers, we are not allowed to open fire. That''s troublesome, so I especially emphasized: "of course, if the enemy finds us, then you will not hesitate to open fire. Don''t let a German escape."


    When I put down the phone, I saw that razumeyeva was still calling. I couldn''t help feeling a little upset and yelled at her: "Lieutenant, what''s the matter with you? Haven''t you contacted captain pelsjian for such a long time?"


    Razumeyeva was yelled at by me, her eyes suddenly turned red, but she still respectfully replied: "I''m sorry, sir, I haven''t contacted yet. I''ll keep in touch." Then he opened his voice again.


    I raised my telescope and looked out for a while. There were no officers and men of the fourth regiment on the battlefield. There were only the first line of defense, where many people were repairing the trenches collapsed by artillery. I turned the camera to the fake artillery position behind the second line of defense and found that it was full of craters. If the artillery company didn''t move, it would be a complete annihilation if it was covered by the artillery fire.


    I picked up the phone, dialed Gaidar and asked in a loud voice, "commander Gaidar, have you all withdrawn from the fortification?"


    "Yes, sir." Gaidar replied: "I have two companies in the first line of defense, they are repairing the fortifications; There are three companies in the second line of defense and they are on standby. As long as the first line of defense is tight, they will immediately enter the position through the traffic trench and reinforce the troops in the front. "


    "What about the rest of your regiment?" I calculated in my heart that there were only five companies, and there were more than a dozen companies where he had put them, so I had to ask.


    "Comrade division," Gaidar hesitated for a moment when he heard my question, and then said cautiously, "I think that the fortifications at the front are too simple. Instead of putting so many troops in the trenches to be beaten, it''s better to leave the reserves behind, hide them in a safe area, and send them up at the right time."


    After listening to Gaidar''s reply, I just said softly, without any objection. I just told him: "Comrade commander, let the commanders and fighters be ready for battle. The Germans were severely beaten by us. They will not be reconciled to such a big loss. They will certainly retaliate. Let the soldiers be alert and ready for battle."


    After the end of the call with Gaidar, I found that razumeyeva had not yet contacted peresjian, and her tone became more and more severe: "what''s the matter? Comrade lieutenant, why can''t we get in touch with captain perskin? "


    Razumeyeva was so anxious that she began to cry. Her voice changed nervously: "Sir, comrade, I don''t know. It''s reasonable to say that captain pelsken''s car radio is on all the time and should have been contacted for a long time. But I don''t know how to do it. I''ve been calling for a long time, but the other party hasn''t heard a word. "


    When I heard her say this, I could not help shivering, wondering if I was really right, and pels really took his tank team to the enemy''s army?


    Seeing my anxious appearance, Pugachev next to me carefully reminded me: "Comrade division, since captain pelsjian can''t be contacted, we can contact lieutenant commander Oleg. Isn''t his position not far from the tank unit?"


    When I heard Pugachev''s words, I patted my forehead in chagrin. I was confused. When I couldn''t get in touch with the tank unit, why didn''t I want to contact Oleg? We should know that the tank unit didn''t retreat in time just to cover the artillery position.


    It was very smooth to call Oleg. I got in touch immediately. I asked Oleg nervously through the transmitter, "commander Oleg, what''s the situation there?"


    "Report to division commander," Oleg said excitedly, "the German troops have retreated to the South after being heavily shelled by our army. I just want to ask you whether our regiment will immediately attack the enemy face to face and carry out counter assault?"


    Instead of answering his question, I asked the tank unit directly, "I can''t get in touch with captain perskin here. Can I see them from you?"


    "Comrade division, you are looking for captain perskin." Oleg said with emotion: "he is really a brave tank hand. He led more than ten tanks and rushed to the defeated German. After repulsing those German troops who tried to occupy our artillery positions, he led the tank units to rush to the enemy''s large forces."


    When I heard Oleg say that, I secretly scolded Perls for being brave. Do you want to confront hundreds of German tanks with your dozen or so tanks? What''s more, others have an anti tank regiment, which is not a piece of cake for you. Thinking of this, I anxiously ordered him: "Lieutenant Commander Oleg, you immediately send someone to contact captain perskin and ask him to lead the tank unit down immediately. With these tanks, they dare to attack the enemy''s large forces. Isn''t that for death? "


    "I''ll send the soldiers to find him by motorcycle at once. I hope it''s too late." After Oleg finished, he added: "our fighters have returned after dropping all the bombs and machine gun bullets. Not long after their return, a German reconnaissance plane flew over our artillery position and circled a few times before leaving. "


    When I heard that the enemy''s reconnaissance plane was dispatched, I knew in my heart that although the German air force was concentrating on bombing Stalingrad these two days, I did not rule out the possibility that they would take out a few bombers to blow up our artillery position which was a threat to them after they got the intelligence of the reconnaissance plane. So I asked Oleg anxiously, "Comrade commander, how many shells are left in your cannon?"


    "On average, there are about ten shells left in each gun. Comrade division, I just want to ask you what to do with these cannons after the shells are fired. Are they going back to our positions? "


    "Commander Oleg, please send someone to tell captain Morozov to blow up all the guns as soon as the shells are finished. At the same time, your regiment immediately retreated to the fourth regiment''s defensive area to prevent the enemy from launching a new round of attacks. "


    "Comrade division, it''s a pity to blow up such a good cannon like this. Do you think we should ask our soldiers to pull the guns back When I heard that he was still thinking about the howitzers of the two artillery battalions, I could not help but feel a little anxious. I almost yelled at him, but I still held back and said to him, "Comrade Oleg, these cannons without shells are useless even if you drag them all back. They are just a pile of scrap iron. My orders remain unchanged. As soon as the shells are out, they will be blasted immediately. Then your regiment will withdraw to the position of the fourth regiment and stand by. "


    "But we don''t have enough explosives. It''s difficult to blow up all these guns." Oleg is still a little reluctant to give up these cannons, still bargaining with me.


    "A gun doesn''t need any explosives. It just needs to put a grenade in the barrel to blow it up." I have seen so many films and TV works in later generations, in which the method of explosive gun is to put grenades into the barrel, so I directly taught this method to Oleg.


    "But, but..." the unwilling Oleg seemed to want to say something, but he suddenly screamed: "hell, what''s going on? What''s the matter?"


    Hearing his tone, I knew that nine times out of ten something was wrong. I quickly asked, "commander Oleg, what''s the matter? Answer me


    Oleg was silent for a long time before he replied, "report to division commander, it''s the tank unit of pereskine that''s coming back. However, only five of the 14 tanks came back, and one of them was still smoking. It seems that he was injured by German anti tank artillery. Among these tanks, I didn''t see captain perskin''s tank


    When I learned that only five of the 14 tanks returned from the attack, and none of them was pelsky''s, I could not help but feel a cold sweat for him. In this case, once the tank is destroyed by the German, the possibility of the crew''s survival is generally small. I was worried about the safety of Peregrine, and quickly told Oleg: "Comrade commander, you send someone to ask what happened and where is captain Peregrine? Except for the infantry on guard in the artillery position, the rest of your regiment immediately retreated to the position of the fourth regiment. Move fast, okay? Commander, I''m afraid the enemy will soon take advantage of their firepower to launch a counterattack against us. If your regiment is deployed in an open area without fortifications, it will be easily defeated or destroyed by the enemy. "


    Hearing what I said so seriously, Oleg didn''t dare to argue with me any more. He could only honestly promise, "I understand, sir. I will follow your instructions immediately."


    Just as I was about to put down the transmitter, I suddenly thought of an important thing, and immediately gave him a death order: "also, those Gunners in the artillery position, they are the treasures of our division. You should protect them for me. If any of them is missing a hair, I will never forgive you."


    The reason why I remind him of this is that in the night attack, the artillery will play the leading role. When their artillery makes the sleeping German dizzy, it is when I send the infantry to attack. The success of the night attack depends on whether these high-level artillery commanders and fighters can be preserved.


    My orders were carried out to the letter by lieutenant commander Oleg, and in less than ten minutes, I saw with my telescope the infantry retreating with five tanks. As the underground tank depot has been exposed in the battle just now and can no longer be used, these tanks retreated to the defense area of the fourth regiment together with the infantry.


    Gaidar may have been informed by the frontier that so many troops are retreating to his own defense area. He immediately called to ask, "Comrade division commander, now the large troops of the second regiment are retreating to our regiment''s defense area. What''s the matter?"


    "Commander gedar," I did not conceal my thoughts about these men: "because after seizing German artillery positions, commander Oleg''s troops used the captured artillery to carry out heavy shelling on the area where the German troops assembled. The Germans, who have been badly beaten by us, are not willing to take such a big loss. They will certainly retaliate. Just now, a reconnaissance plane has already reconnoitered the artillery position of the second regiment. I think the German counterattack will begin soon. The second regiment will not be able to stop the mechanized forces of the enemy in the open area without fortifications, so I ordered them to withdraw to your regiment''s defense area for the time being, and then move after the whole regiment has assembled. "


    "I see, sir." Gaidar''s tone was very flat: "but I still suggest that the second regiment leave our defense area as soon as possible. I''m afraid that thousands of officers and men are crowded in a narrow area. Once they are bombed or shelled, every German bomb or shell can kill dozens of us. I suggest that they drive to the original garrison division or the headquarters of the group army, where they can wait in seclusion. "


    "That''s a good suggestion, commander Gaidar." I agree with Gaidar''s proposal. After praising him, I agree with him, "in this case, when Oleg comes back, I will let him lead the troops to the area you mentioned."


    Another half an hour later, I saw several trucks full of commanders and fighters speeding towards the fourth regiment position, followed by seven or eight motorcycles. Seeing this scene, I knew in my heart that Oleg had completed the task of bombing and returned safely. I quickly asked razumeyeva to contact Oleg, I want to ask the situation ahead.


    When Oleg heard my voice, he immediately reported to me: "report to Mr. division commander, the second regiment has successfully completed its task and returned to our army base safely. Waiting for your next order. "


    "Very well," I asked with concern after that, "are they all back safely, Morozov?"


    "Please rest assured, they are all back, and everyone is intact."


    "Have you heard from captain perskin?" After asking the artillery, I was concerned about the missing tank captain.


    "Report to the division commander, the captain''s tank was destroyed by German anti tank artillery in the battle. He was injured in the arm, but he was rescued by his soldiers. He''s with us right now. "


    "Send him to lieutenant colonel Gaidar to rest. As for your troops, immediately after the assembly, go to the original headquarters of the group army and wait in seclusion. I''ll get in touch with you if there''s any combat mission. "


    As soon as I said that, there came the sound of guns. Holding the transmitter, I came to the observation port and looked out. I could vaguely see the direction of the smoke rising, which should be the location of our original artillery position. It seems that the Germans are carrying out retaliatory shelling on that position, and the enemy planes circling in the air can be seen constantly diving.


    From the earphone came Oleg''s voice in shock: "Comrade division, I''m glad to listen to your order. After we blow up our guns, we immediately withdraw our troops. Otherwise, with the enemy''s current artillery and bombing intensity, all our troops left in the position will be destroyed."


    Listen to him say so, I only said lightly: "let captain Morozov and captain yeguonovi come to me, I have a task to give them."

 Chapter 559

    Then, I picked up the phone again and made a call to the commander of the station, Sergeant Xie jerikov: "Comrade commander, come to me. I have important combat tasks for you."


    "That''s very good, comrade teacher." Xiejerikov excitedly agreed: "but it''s the moment. Just a moment, please. I''ll be there in ten minutes to accept the assignment. "


    It was said that it was ten minutes, but just five minutes later, the eager sergeikov appeared in my observation post. As soon as he entered the observation post, he raised his hand to salute me and asked impatiently, "Comrade division commander, all the officers and men of the first regiment of the independent division are ready to fight at any time and wait for your orders."


    "Don''t worry, Sergeant Sergeant. Just sit down and wait for a while. I''ll assign the task when everyone comes."


    Although xiejerikov sat down, he was restless because of something in his heart. He kept turning to the door to see if the person I had to wait for appeared.


    As soon as captain Morozov and captain yegonovich entered the observation post, there was a violent explosion outside before they could finish speaking. I darted to the observation port, raised my telescope and looked out. I saw that the German planes that had bombed the artillery positions were bombing the positions of the fourth regiment.


    Four German planes circled over the positions of the fourth regiment, then dived one by one, dropping bombs on our positions. Dense bombs landed near the trench and exploded. Large groups of gunpowder with fire suddenly formed a piece above the position, submerging our position in the smoke.


    "This damned German plane, bullying us, has no air defense weapons, only dare to be so arrogant. If I had only one antiaircraft gun, I would beat them all down. " I heard someone talking next to me. I turned my head and saw that it was captain yegonovich. He was staring at the enemy planes plundering in the air and gnashing his teeth.


    I waved my hand and said, "Comrade captain, don''t be so angry. Although we can''t do anything about the enemy''s planes, we can''t do anything about their infantry." speaking of this, I stopped for a moment, snorted heavily, and then said, "we can beat them to tears."


    "Do you have any plans, sir?" Although shejerikov had known for a long time that I was planning to attack the German camp at night, he asked me to make sure that my determination had not changed.


    "Come and see," I said to the three men, pointing to the map. "We have taught the German motorized infantry 29th division here today. In my estimation, they may camp near the current assembly site in the evening. So I plan that after dark, the artillery battalion of captain yegonovich will quietly move the artillery to a place two or three kilometers away from the enemy camp. By 11:30 p.m., the Germans were almost asleep. At this time, the artillery battalion opened fire decisively and shelled the enemy''s camp. And sergeant shejerikov, while the Germans who were suddenly attacked were in a mess, led your regiment to attack decisively and make a fierce attack on the enemy. "


    Shejerikov heard this with a smile on his face. He added: "if we can have a few more tanks of our army to cooperate with the assault, we can completely plan the enemy''s battle formation. At that time, if we rush up, there will be no more organized resistance. Sporadic resistance will soon be buried by our swarming commanders and fighters. "


    "Sergeant Sergeant kirikov," I said with some regret, "although I want to equip you with more tanks, I can''t. In the battle just now, Captain perskin''s tank unit suffered heavy losses, leaving only five tanks. However, I think that since the enemy is dazed by us in his sleep, even if only five tanks rush up to destroy the German tanks, we are quite sure. "


    "Five is better than none." Although the number of tanks is a little less, chejerikov obviously doesn''t care. You know, artillery alone is enough to make the enemy drink.


    Next, I''ll let the three commanders study the details of the battle. While the three were discussing, I called the third commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosga, and asked him about the situation.


    As soon as I got on the phone, I asked with concern, "what''s the situation there, commander kosga? Where is the German reconnaissance unit you''re talking about? "


    "Report, comrade division commander, after receiving your instructions, I quietly withdrew the soldiers lurking in the first line of defense to the second line of defense. The vehicles of the German reconnaissance team stopped at the first trench, got off their motorcycles, and several German soldiers jumped into the trench for a walk. They found no sign of our army, and then turned back to the residential area. "


    "Good. But you can''t relax your vigilance. You should send more scouts near the residential areas to monitor the enemy''s movements, so that as long as the enemy moves, you can get intelligence there and make corresponding deployment. "


    When I put down the phone, I saw that the three commanders who were still discussing had calmed down, so I asked with concern, "how about that? Is the discussion over?"


    He raised his hand, looked at his watch, and asked, "Comrade Colonel, when does our artillery battalion leave in the evening?"


    "It''s about ten o''clock in the dark now. Your artillery battalion should start at ten o''clock." Speaking of this, it suddenly occurred to me that I didn''t know what kind of artillery was used in the artillery battalion, so I asked, "Comrade captain, I forgot to ask you, what kind of artillery is used in your regiment, a cannon or a howitzer?"


    Hearing me ask myself, yegonovych quickly straightened up and said, "report, comrade Colonel, there are eight 122mm howitzers in our battalion."


    "What, eight howitzers?" I was disappointed to hear that there were so few trees in the artillery. I turned to ask Morozov, "Comrade captain, why are there so few guns in the artillery battalion of captain yegonovich? You know, your artillery company still has ten cannons


    With a smile, Morozov replied, "Comrade division commander, in fact, our company had been strengthened before it was assigned to the independent division. The number of guns increased from four to ten."


    I nodded and asked yegonovich, "Comrade captain, how do you plan to move your howitzer to the designated position?"


    "Report to the colonel, we have a tractor truck so that we can move the howitzer into position quickly."


    At this time, a voice calling for a report came from the door. I didn''t see who was coming from the door, so I called out casually: "come in!"


    I didn''t expect that it was captain perskin who came in. He limped in from the door, raised his hand to salute, and said shyly: "report to Mr. division. It''s all because of my recklessness that the tank unit was almost destroyed. I''ve come here specially to ask for your pardon. Please punish me. "


    Instead of criticizing captain perskin, I looked down at his legs and asked with concern, "Comrade captain, I heard that you have been injured. Where is your injury? Is it serious?"


    "When I came out of the tank, I was scratched on my thigh by shrapnel," pelsjian replied. I''ve dealt with it just now. Although it''s still a little painful to walk, I decided not to affect my charging to the enemy in the tank. "


    "Well done! good job! Captain perskin, you are so good After listening to him, I patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him for a few words. Then I turned the topic around and said, "it''s very nice of you to come here, so I don''t have to send someone to look for you later."


    I called the four men to the table and began to set up the task again: "at 11:30 p.m., our night attack on the 29th German motorized infantry division officially began. After the battle started, the artillery battalion opened fire on the enemy''s camp and tried to cover the whole area where the enemy was. Then shejerikov''s regiment launched a fierce attack on the camp. Under the cover of captain perskin''s tank unit, it launched a centripetal assault on the enemy''s camp. It was necessary to destroy the German command system, so that their troops could not find soldiers and soldiers could not find officers. "


    "Comrade division commander," shejerikov cautiously suggested to me, "do you think that the second or third regiment should also be put into the night attack? I think we can achieve more results in this way."


    I waved my hand and said, "no, Lieutenant Colonel chejerikov. Although I want to annihilate the German division completely, I can''t do it. There are still two German divisions in the West. Once they know that the 29th Division has been attacked fiercely by us, they will come at us at night. As you know, our soldiers generally lack training and combat effectiveness. If they can''t eat the 29th division in a short time, they will easily be surrounded by German troops. Therefore, our objective tonight is to annihilate a German army, so that they have to stop and rest for a period of time, so as to achieve the goal of delaying the advance speed of the fourth group army of Gothic tanks towards Stalingrad. "


    Seeing that all of you were nodding after listening to me, knowing that they had listened to me, they waved their hands and said passionately, "four commanders, I hope that through this battle tonight, first of all, I will play the role of an independent division and live up to the bright red flag granted to us by general trakov himself; The second is to beat the German guys to fear, so that when they hear the name of our independent division in the future, they will be scared from the bottom of their heart. "


    When I finished the assignment, I said to them, "I only do the general deployment. How to build the specific artillery positions and how to hide the troops are all your business. I won''t do too detailed deployment." At this point, I looked out from the observation port, and then said, "the enemy''s air raid is over. Go back to your respective troops and make combat deployment."


    Four people happily saluted me, turned and walked out of the observation post.


    After they left, I looked through my telescope at the line of defense that had just been bombed. As the smoke slowly dispersed, I saw that the first trench of the fourth regiment was hollowed out. There were people walking around, probably busy rescuing the wounded. I moved the camera to the village where the regiment was located, and found that it was also bombed by German planes. Almost all the buildings in the village were collapsed, and the collapsed wooden houses were burning.


    I called Gaidar, but I couldn''t get through. Seeing that I couldn''t get in touch with Gaidar, I couldn''t help worrying about his safety. I asked razumeyeva to use the telephone to get in touch with the communication team of Gaidar regiment to find out what was going on.


    Fortunately, the telephone got in touch with Gaidar. As soon as the communication was connected, I couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade commander, what''s the situation there? Why can''t I get through? What''s more, I saw your village destroyed by German planes and burning everywhere. Are you ok? "


    "Thank you for your concern." To my series of questions, Gaidar answered without delay: "maybe in the bombing just now, the telephone line was blown off. I can''t get in touch with the frontier here. We dug a lot of air raid shelters in the village last night. When the enemy planes came to bomb, we all hid in air raid shelters, so there were no casualties in the village. "


    "Your regiment is really powerful," I can''t help but say with emotion, "overnight, not only the trenches were built, but also so many trenches were dug in the village. Your actions are really sharp."


    "Yes, as you know, most of our soldiers come from Gulag concentration camp. The people there have no other skills. They are faster than professional engineers in playing with trench repair and fortification."


    I heard him say that, but it''s true. The civil engineering work in the concentration camp can''t be finished all day long. These soldiers have been trained for a long time. Let them dig fortifications and air raid shelters this time. It''s no surprise that they have such high efficiency.


    I didn''t talk nonsense with him, just told him: "let the signalmen repair the telephone lines immediately, restore the communication with the frontier, and let the soldiers repair the bombed fortifications, maybe the enemy will attack later."


    My words soon came true. Soon after the end of the plane bombing, the Germans started shelling again. This time, they may have put the remaining two 150 mm artillery battalions into battle. Their shells blew up the dust in front of our army. The soldiers who had not finished the repair had to lie in the trenches to avoid the flying shrapnel.


    After the enemy''s shelling, the infantry began to attack again. About a battalion of infantry, under the cover of seven or eight tanks, pounced on the four regiments'' uneven trenches.


    The tank in front of the road is moving forward and firing guns at suspicious targets. My teacher''s shortcoming of insufficient training was exposed at this time. When some soldiers saw the approaching tank, they couldn''t help getting flustered. They stood up straight in the trench and fired at the tank with their weapons in hand. As a result, the bullet hit the armor plate of the tank, only splashing a string of sparks, while the German tank just fired a shot, hit the target, then the soldiers were blown to pieces.


    Seeing his comrades in arms falling down, more and more soldiers were red eyed, jumped out of the trench with guns and rushed towards the enemy''s tanks. As a result, they were knocked down by the machine guns on the tanks before they went far.


    Seeing the forward rushing officers and soldiers, I was so angry that I wanted to curse. Is there such a war? Can human flesh and blood block the iron and steel giant of the enemy? It''s not like hitting a stone with an egg.


    As soon as the enemy''s tanks were about to cross the trench of the fourth regiment, a team of our tanks rushed out of the slash and rushed towards them. After two rounds of shooting, five of the German tanks, which were originally invincible, were reimbursed in front of the trench. The remaining two turned around and wanted to run. They were also chased by the soldiers of the fourth regiment and killed with burning bottles.


    Without the cover of tanks, the infantry in the rear also lost the courage to continue to attack. They retreated, fired their guns randomly, and gradually moved away from our positions.


    I was relieved to see that the German attack was repulsed. Fortunately, the tank unit attacked in time, otherwise, the enemy infantry would follow the tank and rush into the position of the fourth regiment.


    After dark, shejerikov''s regiment, the artillery battalion under the command of yegonovych and Morozov, and the tank unit of pelsjian all set out from their respective hiding places and hurried to the starting point of the night attack.


    Just after eleven o''clock, I haven''t been waiting for the news of the night attack troops. Trakov contacted me first. In the earphone, he said angrily, "Comrade oshanina, what are you doing?"


    At that time, I was just in a daze. What''s the matter? Didn''t I report the night attack plan to him, which made him angry? As I didn''t know what he wanted to say, I could only ask vaguely, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what you mean? Can you make it clear? "


    "Well, you know it. Let me ask you, I asked you to lead the troops to retreat 30 kilometers northward after dark. Why don''t you implement it? You know, the 214 division, who is in charge of taking over you, is still waiting for you. "


    It turned out to be about the retreat. To my surprise, I wiped the sweat on my forehead and explained to him: "report to the commander, the withdrawal time of our division may have to be delayed."


    "Postpone the retreat, why?" He asked, puzzled.


    "Because I just sent a regiment, artillery battalion and tank unit to attack the camp of the 29th German motorized infantry division. If we want to retreat, we have to wait for the three troops to return safely. "


    "What, you said you sent troops to attack the enemy''s camp?"


    "Exactly, comrade commander." I replied cheerfully.


    I didn''t expect that there was a loud noise from the earphone. According to my experience, trekov was patting the table again. These leaders also patted the table when they were angry. They didn''t know how to vent their anger in another way, such as throwing a teacup or drawing a gun and shooting several shots into the sky. He was thinking wildly when he heard trakov roar: "nonsense, it''s nonsense. O''shanina, do you know how strong the Goth 4th tank group army is? Even if our two main divisions can''t beat one of them, you''re good now. You sent a regiment to beat another division. Didn''t you let the commanders and fighters of this regiment die? "


    I didn''t defend myself immediately when I heard the thunder of trekov, because I knew that it was adding fuel to the fire, but it was easy to backfire. After he had finished, he said slowly, "Comrade commander, please don''t get angry and let me explain. In the daytime, our division fought with the 29th German division, defeated them three times, eliminated one of his regiments, and seized a lot of weapons and ammunition. They never dreamed that the troops fighting with them during the day would attack them at night. Under our surprise attack, they will be caught off guard. "


    "No way," said trekov reluctantly, "you immediately give orders to the troops to withdraw immediately. If they don''t withdraw again, if they are surrounded by the German army, they can''t withdraw."


    I raised my hand and saw that it was already half past eleven, so I said to trikov tactfully, "Comrade commander, I''m sorry, the operation of the army has started. As soon as the battle started, I just wanted them to withdraw, but I couldn''t. I''ll get in touch with you in an hour, and then I''ll report the progress of the battle to you. " With that, without waiting for trekov to make a statement, I immediately stopped contact with him.


    Then I called commander kosga of the third regiment and said sternly to him, "commander kosga, I asked a regiment to launch a night attack on the German camp in the West. The Germans who are attacked may ask their friends for help. If the troops stationed in the residential areas go out, I order you to stop them at all costs to ensure the victory of the night attack. Do you understand? "


    "Yes, sir." Cosga''s answer was very simple: "I will immediately order the troops to enter the combat position and be ready to fight against the enemy. As long as there is one person in the third regiment, we will never let the enemy cross our defensive zone. "


    "Good. I''ll remember that." As soon as I hung up, I asked razumeyeva to contact Oleg, the second commander of the former group army headquarters.


    As soon as I heard Oleg''s voice, I said coldly to the transmitter, "commander Oleg, a regiment is going to attack the enemy''s camp. Maybe they will ask for help from the friendly troops nearby. In this way, the enemy stationed at heights 158 and 165 will directly rush at you after receiving the rescue order. What you have to do now is to order the soldiers to enter the position and be ready to stop the reinforced enemy at any time. "


    "Yes, please rest assured, I promise to complete the task."


    The defense in the West has been arranged. It''s time to contact several commanders who took part in the night attack. After taking a deep breath, I said to razumeyeva, "Comrade second lieutenant, get me captain yegonovich of the artillery barracks."


    Because there was too much noise during the shelling, the captain had to say to me in a loud voice: "report to Comrade Colonel, we are shelling the German camp."


    "Is the target clear?" I am deeply afraid that when the Germans camp, there will be no lights, and then the artillery will not find the target.


    Unexpectedly, the captain replied, "the target is very clear. There are searchlights near German tanks, armored vehicles and cars, so our first shooting targets are here. After our shooting, there will be nothing left for German tanks and armored vehicles


    When I went to the observation port, I looked at the west side of the sky red by the fire with my telescope. Although I couldn''t see anything, I could hear the faint rumble of guns. It seemed that our artillery were using their shells to teach those invincible Germans a lesson.


    Twenty minutes later, the news of the war came through the telephone. He excitedly told me, "Comrade division, the enemy''s camp is in a mess. Tanks, armored vehicles, cars and cannons were blasted into piles of burning scrap iron by the shells of our artillery battalion. The German soldiers who woke up from their sleep ran around like headless flies. My regiment, under the leadership of the tank unit, is rushing towards the German commanders. "


    After hearing the news of the war, I breathed a sigh of relief. Although the other side could not see my expression, I nodded first and then said, "go on, comrade commander. If possible, don''t let any of them go


    "Yes, sir." Chejerikov replied loudly.


    At the end of the phone call with sheijerikov, reports from the second and third regiments came one after another. They all reported that the enemy''s reinforcements were advancing towards their positions. As the Germans did not find anyone in these positions, they did not carry out artillery bombardment. Hearing the report from Oleg and kosja, I just said faintly, "stand in their way and don''t let them move forward."


    Half an hour later, shejerikov excitedly reported to me, "Comrade division, the enemy''s camp has been occupied by us. Except for a small number of enemies who fled, the rest were either killed by our shells or by our infantry, or they were captives. We are counting the spoils. "


    After praising xiejerikov, I confidently asked razumeyeva to connect me with the headquarters of the group army, and I also spoke to trekov. As soon as the communication got through, I didn''t wait for trikov to speak, so I reported to him first and said, "report to commander, I have a good news for you. Under the cover of artillery battalion and tank unit, the brave regiment of our independent division successfully occupied the camp of the enemy''s 29th division. Except for a few enemies who fled, the rest were killed or captured by us."


    After listening to my success report, trakov was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly said excitedly, "Colonel oshanina, I congratulate you on your great success. I will report the achievements of the independent division to the headquarters of the front army as soon as possible. "


    Before talking to trekov, the third commander, kosja, called again to report. He said excitedly, "report, comrade division commander, the attack of enemy reinforcements, which was defeated twice by our regiment, has returned to the residential area in a gloomy way. According to the Scout''s report, there are no living German soldiers in front of our army. "


    "Let the commanders and fighters sleep at ease." I said with ease: "Lieutenant Colonel shejerikov has successfully completed the task of occupying the enemy camp. These German soldiers know that the friendly forces have been destroyed, and there is no point in reinforcing them, so they withdraw in dismay." Put down the phone, I stretched out and ordered razumeyeva: "call commander Oleg and tell him if the enemy retreats, let the soldiers rest."

 Chapter 560

    Knowing that the night attack of a regiment was very successful, I felt relaxed immediately. If I didn''t wait for sjerikov to report the results, I would have found a place to sleep.


    While waiting for the first regiment to count the results, the second regiment and the third regiment also called one after another to report to me their results and the casualties of our troops in the battle just now.


    First of all, the third commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosga, said excitedly, "report to division commander, the results of our regiment have been counted. When I heard Oleg''s voice, I asked happily and cordially, "commander Oleg, I have just heard the results of the third regiment. They have destroyed more than several times of their enemies. How about your regiment''s results? Can''t they be worse than the third regiment?"


    Oleg was silent. After a long time, he hesitated and said, "report to division commander, in the battle just now, our regiment destroyed 2 enemy armored cars, 11 motorcycles, 7 trucks, killed 112 people and injured 85 people. One heavy machine gun, five light machine guns, six submachine guns and 124 rifles were seized. Our regiment lost four companies and 273 of them died. "


    "What?" I was sitting on the phone, and when I heard the data he reported, I immediately jumped up from my seat and asked in a loud voice, "commander Oleg, what''s the matter? Why are there so many casualties in the army? You should know that your regiment realized well in the daytime fighting, and you also participated in the counterattack of highland 158 a few days ago. You should be aware of the combat effectiveness of the German 371 infantry division. Why are there so many casualties in a war of resistance? "


    Oleg replied with a bitter smile: "report to division commander, our regiment was found by German scouts when entering the position. Before the attack, they made a quick fire attack on our position. Because our regiment''s fortifications were too simple, the troops who entered the position in advance suffered heavy casualties. After the shelling stopped, the enemy launched a fierce attack on our regiment''s position under the cover of armored vehicles, and the soldiers beat back the enemy''s attack through tenacious fighting. "


    After listening to his report, I pondered for a moment, and then told him: "commander Oleg, although the 29th German division was badly damaged by our army, I expect that the 371st German division in front of your regiment will launch a new offensive tomorrow. You let the troops reinforce the fortifications overnight and prepare for a protracted war. "


    I was very excited by the news that the 29th German division had been severely damaged by a regiment. I even had the idea that the whole division would stay here and continue to deal with the 4th German tank army. But Oleg''s report threw a basin of cold water on my head and calmed me down from my ecstatic state. I thought to myself that in the situation of such a great disparity between the enemy and ourselves, our division could still achieve the desired results by ambushing and sneaking attack. But if we really set up our position and fight face to face with the Germans, how long our troops can support under the powerful firepower of the enemy''s planes, tanks and artillery is really a headache.


    I paced back and forth in the small observation post with my hands behind my back, thinking about when to withdraw the whole division to the area designated by trakov. While walking, razumeyeva suddenly called me: "Comrade teacher."


    I stopped and turned to look at her. She held the earphone and transmitter in her hand and said to me cheerfully, "it''s the phone call from commander xiejerikov. He said that he has important information to report to you."


    Although my mood was a little bit lost because of Oleg''s words, I tried to keep my mood stable when I talked with shijerikov. I asked xiejerikov in a smooth tone: "first commander, have you got the statistics of your regiment''s achievements? Do you have any good news to tell me?"


    "Yes, sir." With uncontrollable joy in his voice, chejerikov said excitedly: "when our soldiers were cleaning up the battlefield, they found the commander of the 29th German division, major Hans Georg leitzer, who was stunned by the shell. They were captured alive with him, as well as his adjutant, major glausel, commander of mobu battalion, major best, and commander of heavy machine gun company, Captain Oren."


    "What? Got the 29th division commander? " I can hardly believe my ears. Since the war, I have been commanding troops to fight a lot of battles. Although German officers have captured a lot of them, they are all at the level of battalion and regiment. Most of them are at the level of captain or school or general. I didn''t expect to catch the commander of the 29th German motorized infantry division in the night attack tonight. It''s really unexpected.


    After a brief period of excitement, I calmed down and asked cautiously, "Lieutenant Colonel shijerikov, have you confirmed this Hans Georg Lazer? Is it him or a junior officer in his uniform? " The reason why I raise such a question is that when a battle fails, the top commander of the army often changes into the uniform of an ordinary soldier, or changes his uniform with his subordinates, and then sneaks into the chaotic army and runs away.


    "I first made a careful comparison between the military ID card I found and himself, and then I brought some captured officers to identify him," he replied positively. I''m fully responsible to tell you that it was Lazer himself who was captured. "


    When I learned that I had captured the German general, my heart beat faster and my hand holding the transmitter trembled slightly. I took a few deep breaths. When my mood calmed down a little, I ordered him: "bring him to my observation post immediately."


    "Yes "I will send him to your observation post myself," he said solemnly


    At the end of the conversation with shijerikov, I went to the observation port, put my hands on the log wall and gasped for breath to stabilize my nervousness.


    "Is it true? Comrade teachers. " Pugachev''s voice rang out beside me. I turned around and saw that he didn''t know when he came to me. Seeing that I noticed him, he repeated the question again: "is it true? Teacher. Have we really caught the German division commander


    I didn''t speak, just nodded hard and gave him a positive answer.


    "That''s great, that''s great!" Pugachev was also excited. He waved his fist fiercely, and then tentatively suggested to me, "should we report this good news to the group army command immediately?"


    Pugachev''s proposal reminded me, and I immediately told razumeyeva: "Comrade second lieutenant, please contact the group army command quickly, and I will report this good news to general trakov."


    When I got in touch with trakov, my mood was still not completely stabilized, and my voice was a little excited when I spoke: "Hello, comrade commander!"


    Trekov probably felt my joy, so he asked me with a smile, "o''shanina, do you have any good news to report to me?"


    I nodded hard and answered, "yes, comrade commander. I have some good news for you. While cleaning the battlefield, a regiment found several commanders stunned by shells from the German corpses. One of them was major general Hans Georg Leze, the commander of the 29th German motorized infantry division


    As soon as the words were over, I heard something falling from my headphones. Then, in an unbelievable voice, trekov asked, "what did you say, o''shanina? Please repeat Because of excitement, he also used the honorific name of "you" for the first time.


    At this time, my mood calmed down, so I repeated what I had just said: "report to Comrade commander, I said that my troops had just captured major general Hans Georg leitzer, the commander of the 29th German division."


    "Are you sure? Can''t his men have changed into his uniform? " Like me just now, trakov''s first reaction was that it was not Laize that he caught, but one of his subordinates changed into his uniform.


    "After seizing Laize, lieutenant commander xiejerikov not only checked his military certificate, but also made some German officers and soldiers identify him. It can be confirmed that major general Laize himself was captured."


    "Comrade o''shanina, is all that you just said true?" General shumilov''s voice suddenly came from the earphone. When I heard the real commander of the group army asking me, I quickly straightened up and said, "report to Comrade commander, it''s true. Laize and his adjutant were captured by our army after they were stunned by the shell. Now the commander of the first regiment of the independent division, Lt. Col. shijerikov, is on his way to my observation post with the captured Laize. After I reconfirm, I will send someone to take him to the group headquarters. "


    "That''s great. That''s great work!" From shumilov''s tone, I recognized a feeling of elation in him, and he went on: "I congratulate you, Colonel oshanina. I will report the achievements you and your independent division have made to the headquarters of the front army as soon as possible and ask for your credit. "


    The night attack of our division can achieve such a result, not to mention trakov and shumilov, even I did not expect. My original idea was to let the artillery battalion and the 29th division harass the camp, weaken their combat effectiveness and reduce the pressure they have to bear in the daytime. Unexpectedly, Liu Chengyin caught the commander of the German army.


    In the process of waiting for sjerikov to come to the observation center, I was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. I walked back and forth in the observation center and kept raising my hand to look at my watch, hoping that he would immediately appear in front of me with the German general.


    Shejerikov didn''t wait, but unexpectedly he got an unexpected call. Wearing earphones, razumeyeva raised her head and said to me in a hurry: "Comrade division chief and chief of general staff want to speak to you!"


    "What? What did you say? " I kind of don''t believe my ears.


    "The chief of the general staff wants to speak to you." Razumeyeva repeated, took off the earphone and handed it to me with the transmitter.


    I put on my headphones and just heard it say, "is that Colonel oshanina? I''m vasilevsky


    As soon as I heard it, it was wassilevsky''s voice, and I quickly replied, "it''s me. Chief of the general staff, long time no see. How are you


    "I''m fine," vasilevsky said affectionately. "I called you today. Are you surprised?"


    "Yes, comrade chief of the general staff," I replied in dismay, "I thought you were in Moscow all the time." With these words, I remember that a few days ago, I heard that trakov had mentioned that vassilevsky was in Stalingrad. Because of my nervousness, I forgot all about it.


    "I heard your independent division played very well today. During the day''s fighting, the enemy''s three attacks were repulsed and a German regiment was annihilated. The night attack at night was a brilliant achievement, which not only severely damaged the German motorized infantry division 29, but also captured the division commander alive. Judging from today''s battle, your command ability is quite good. I''m very optimistic about you. You should continue to work hard. One day, you will become a general. "


    When I heard about the rank of general, I didn''t feel the slightest joy. You know, I was a general long before the big counterattack started in Moscow. Even if it is to become a general again, it is just to return to the original position. There is nothing to be pleased about. But since the chief of the general staff has already said this, I can''t say anything: "thank you, chief of the general staff. I will continue to work hard and lead the independent division to make new contributions."


    "Good, good!" After two good words in succession, vassilevsky asked with concern, "do you have any difficulties now?"


    Although the training of the army is insufficient, there is also a lack of grass-roots commanders, and the weapons and equipment are poor, I still dare not easily put forward these difficulties in front of the chief of the general staff of the Red Army, so I have to say "we have no difficulties."


    "Comrade oshanina, you are lying!" Vasilevsky seemed to have guessed my mind and said directly: "I know that the independent division has not been established for half a month. The soldiers in the army are all prisoners from Gulag concentration camp. They have neither special military training nor combat experience. The division lacks grass-roots commanders and poor weapons and equipment. Although you have won several battles and captured some of them recently, it is not enough for an independent division of 8000 people. If you have any difficulties, just raise them. If they can help you solve them, I will help you solve them. "


    To tell you the truth, I''ve always been thinking about the training team for second lieutenants of meletskov. When I kindly reminded the supreme commander that the enemy''s next attack target was not Moscow or Caucasus, but Stalingrad in the Volga River Basin, Stalin once said that he would send me to Stalingrad to guard the mamayev post. At that time, meletskov also took the initiative to assign the second lieutenant training team to me. I didn''t expect that after a long time, there would be no following. Since huasilevsky asked me to make a request today, I couldn''t be polite, so I said frankly, "Comrade chief of general staff, my army lacks a large number of grassroots commanders and combat backbones, so it''s not easy for the army to form a strong combat effectiveness in a short time. In the past, general meletzkov once proposed to hand over his training team of second lieutenants to me to strengthen the army. However, because I was transferred in a hurry and didn''t have time to bring this training team, I wonder if you could remind general meletskov to send this unit to me? "


    "Comrade oshanina," said vasilevsky, laughing. When the laughter stopped, he said, "you dare to speak. Even the troops of general meletskov dare to think about it. But you can rest assured that since you have made this request, I''ll find an opportunity to talk to Comrade meletskov and ask them to photograph you the training team of the second lieutenant. "


    "Comrade chief of the general staff, this is really wonderful." I was overjoyed to hear that vasilevsky had promised to help. I repeatedly said, "thank you, thank you! You can rest assured that the independent division, strengthened by grassroots commanders and battle backbones, will surely make new contributions under Stalingrad and cripple the fourth German tank army in front of you


    My conversation with vasilevsky made me feel very warm and happy. After putting down the earphone and the transmitter, I took off my helmet and put it on the table. I ordered Pugachev: "Comrade captain, you go out and have a look. Are they coming


    "Report, sir." before Pugachev walked out of the observation post, there was a loud voice from the door. "Commander xiejerikov, head of the first regiment of the independent division, has been ordered to come and wait for your instructions!"


    "Stop talking nonsense and come in!" As I said this, I put the helmet back on my head. Only he and the artillery battalion commander, yegonovich, came in and asked strangely, "what about major general Hans Georg Leze, the commander of the 29th German division?"


    Shejerikov smiles at me, turns to the outside and shouts, "bring it in."


    With his shouts, a German officer was pushed into the observation post by a soldier. Then the soldier saluted me and said in a loud voice, "report, comrade division commander, German division commander, major general Hans Georg leitzer, has been brought here. Please give us your instructions!"


    I saw that there was only one soldier behind the German general, and I guessed that it might be the interpreter he had found, so I let him stay. Then I looked up at the German general standing in front of me. He was in his fifties and had a monocle in his right eye. So I asked politely, "Mr. general, I''m the commander of the independent division, Colonel oshanina. Are you major general Hans Georg Lazer, the commander of the 29th division? "


    The German general obviously didn''t expect me to be the division commander. After hearing the soldier''s translation, he looked at me with unbelievable eyes and repeatedly asked, "are you really the division commander of the Soviet army? Are you the commander of the Soviet army who has severely damaged my division?"


    After listening to the translation, I didn''t speak. I just nodded to confirm what he said.


    After confirming my identity, he snorted heavily and said with disdain, "Miss Colonel, you are not a real soldier. We will only deal with our powerful Bundeswehr by means of proximity and sneak attacks. If you show your posture and fight with us, your troops are not my opponents at all. "


    "Shut up, you German!" When major general Leize said this, shijerikov became angry and raised his hand to hit him, but I raised my hand to stop him.


    I saw the old German general in front of me and said coldly, "as long as you can defeat the enemy, no matter what tactics you use, it''s OK. But you are right. If my troops and your division fight in positional warfare, they are not your opponents. I have seen the achievements of the 4th tank group army in the war report. Your 29th division alone has set a good record of defeating two divisions and three brigades of our army by one division. " After that, I turned to Pugachev behind me and said, "Captain, take some people with you and escort this general Lazer to the headquarters of the group army and give it to general trakov. Do it now. " After Pugachev and the interpreter took Laize away, I looked at the artillery battalion commander yegonovich and asked, "Hey, comrade captain, I just asked my guard monitor Willa to be your guide. How come she disappeared? Did you hide her on purpose?" I was joking, but the captain''s face turned red. He murmured, "Comrade Colonel, I have a request. I don''t know if you can leave Willa in my camp."¡° Why? " I''m very curious about his sudden proposal¡° Because I love her, is that enough? " I didn''t expect that yegonovic had the courage to speak out his ideas in public. I turned my head and looked at shejerikov. Seeing that he nodded with a smile on his face, I didn''t feel embarrassed. So I readily agreed, "well, Vera will stay in your camp for the time being." Yegonovich slapped a salute at me, and then he was so excited that he said, "thank you, thank you, comrade Colonel! I will certainly repay you for your kindness. "

 Chapter 561

    After solving the love problem of artillery battalion commander yegonovych, I found a seat to sit down, looked up at him, and asked with great interest, "Lieutenant Colonel shejerikov, have you got the statistics of the results of your regiment?"


    "Yes, it has been basically counted."


    "Then report it to me, so that I can report the results of your regiment to the headquarters of the group army later."


    Shejerikov agreed and reported to me as if telling a story: "after our regiment arrived at the designated position at eleven o''clock, I sent three companies to the East and west of the German camp respectively, and five companies to the south, and built simple fortifications in three directions of the camp respectively, so as to prevent the German troops attacked by our army from escaping.


    After the shelling began, the priority target of the artillery battalion of captain yegonovych was the area where German tanks, armored vehicles and artillery were parked. As the first round of shelling hit dozens of oil tankers parked by the German army, after the shell landed and exploded, it detonated the gasoline barrels piled up on the vehicles, and immediately half of the camp became a sea of fire. The violent explosion and fire turned every gasoline barrel into a flying bomb and landed at the position where the German army piled up shells. As a result, the shells killed for explosion caused a larger explosion. The shaking explosion made the ground tremble slightly under our feet.


    When the artillery battalion''s target turned to other areas, I led nine companies to follow captain perskin''s tank unit and launch a fierce attack on the enemy''s camp. We rushed into the camp, and in the light of the fire, I saw that the camp was full of charred German bodies, and most of the camp was turned into Purgatory.


    At the beginning, there was no resistance until we got close to the center of the camp. In the face of the fierce attack of our regiment, most of the surviving soldiers chose to find shelter or crater on the spot to resist. In particular, the surviving German officers at all levels, taking advantage of the opportunity of our artillery diversion, climbed out of the dead, looked at the bodies one by one, looked for the living soldiers, and drove them to use the ready-made craters to organize small-scale resistance.


    However, the German officers and men who had been attacked by our army had already lost the courage to continue to resist. Basically, as soon as the soldiers of our regiment rushed up, they would stop shooting, lay down their weapons and surrender. Because our regiment''s assault speed was too fast, in order to prevent being injured by our own artillery, I fired a signal bomb to stop the firing of captain yegonovich''s artillery battalion.


    Just after our shelling stopped, a group of enemies fled southward while our troops were taking in prisoners. Although our troops in the south line tried their best to block, they broke through the defense line and successfully broke through southward. "


    When I heard that the escaped German troops actually broke through the defensive positions established by five companies, and succeeded in breaking through, I could not help frowning and asked with some displeasure: "Lieutenant Colonel xijerikov, did the commander in charge of the southern defense tell you how many German troops broke through?"


    Shejerikov hesitated for a moment, and finally said a number that frightened me: "about two thousand, less than three thousand."


    "What? Two or three thousand? " As soon as I heard this number, I immediately jumped out of my seat. Originally, when shejerikov reported on the phone, he only said that there was a German army breaking through the encirclement, but did not say how many people there were. At that time, I estimated that at most two or three hundred people would run away. I did not expect that a whole regiment would run away¡° Why do so many enemies escape? Who can give me a reasonable explanation? "


    Shejerikov and yegonovych looked at each other and winked at each other. Yegonovych quickly came forward, straightened up and explained to me, "Comrade Colonel, please listen to me. This is the situation. Because my artillery barracks have too few artillery, you know, only eight howitzers, which can''t cover the whole German Barracks at the same time. " At this point, he shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly, "maybe the enemy took decisive action to break through the encirclement before our artillery fire hit them."


    He has already said this. It is obviously unwise to be angry with him. I had to walk back and forth in the observation post with my hands on my back. I thought to myself that the result of the night attack tonight was not as big as I thought. Although I captured the German division commander, the whole regiment successfully broke through the encirclement. After meeting with their friendly forces tomorrow, I could continue to attack our division''s fragile defense line. What should I do? Do you want to stay here, or do you want to move the troops to the area designated by trakov?


    I inadvertently looked out of my observation mouth, but I found that the lights on the position of the fourth regiment were bright, and the commanders and fighters seemed to be busy. I quickly stopped and raised my telescope to look out. The officers and men of the fourth regiment were not only strengthening their two original lines of defense, but also digging new trenches two or three hundred meters in front of the position.


    I asked razumeyeva to contact Gaidar for me. As soon as I got through the phone, I asked Gaidar in a loud voice: "I said, comrade commander, your regiment doesn''t rest in the evening. What are you doing?"


    "Report to division commander," Gaidar replied in a smooth tone, "when it was dark, Second Lieutenant Mikhail yev, the commander of the engineering company, came to my headquarters and said that our regiment''s defense line was too weak to resist the enemy''s fierce attack. He took the initiative to suggest that we build a new defense line on the basis of strengthening the existing defense line. What you can see is that the soldiers are building new fortifications. "


    Looking at the busy soldiers in the distance, I asked, "between the new line and the old line, there are many wrecks of destroyed tanks, armored vehicles and trucks. What are you going to do with these things?" The reason why I ask this is that during the Moscow defense war, I used to let soldiers build fire points under the destroyed tanks, and the effect was not bad. I also want them to copy it.


    I didn''t expect Gaidar to reply: "Mr. division commander, Mikhail yev suggested hiding the machine gun fire points under the abandoned tanks, so that even if we are attacked by the enemy, our soldiers squatting in the fire points won''t be killed under the heavy armor of the tanks. When the enemy attacks, the machine gun firepower of our firepower points can give full play to its role and bring the enemy down like pieces of wheat


    "Lt. Mikhail yev''s idea is good. Let''s do as he says." After praising mihayev, I told Gaidar, "Comrade commander, although our night attack tonight has achieved great results, the Germans who are not willing to suffer losses tomorrow will surely carry out crazy revenge. Your regiment should be ready for a hard fight."


    When I hung up, Xie jerikov stepped forward and asked cautiously, "Comrade division, is everything you just said true?"


    "What did I say?" I asked in a puzzled way.


    "That is to say, the enemy will have a crazy revenge tomorrow."


    "That''s for sure, commander chejerikov." Because of his different position and intelligence, his judgment of the situation will inevitably deviate. Therefore, I remind him and yegonovich: "although we have severely damaged the German motorized infantry 29th division today, we should also see that the Goth tank 4th group army has not hurt much vitality. Even without a motorized 29th division, general Kempf''s 48th motorized army includes 11th, 16th armored divisions, and 16th motorized divisions. In the fourth infantry, there are 94th and 371st divisions. At the moment, they are facing off with the second and third regiments in the two directions of spardanoka and orlovka. If the German forces, under the cover of aircraft and artillery, attack our division''s defensive positions from several directions after daybreak, I think it will be very difficult for them to hold their positions. "


    "What shall we do?" Asked shijerikov anxiously after listening to my analysis.


    "Comrade xiejerikov," I ordered him solemnly, "immediately withdraw the regiment that has cleaned the battlefield, return to the forest, and continue to be the reserve of the whole division. And you, comrade captain. " I looked up at yegonovych and added, "your artillery battalion will immediately move with shejerikov''s regiment. First, it will hide. When the time is right, it will attack decisively and give the arrogant enemy a hard blow."


    As they were about to leave, it occurred to me that I had forgotten to ask about the whereabouts of two other people. I immediately stopped them and asked, "where are captain pelsky''s tank unit and captain Morozov''s artillery company?"


    Shejerikov quickly stopped and replied, "the tank unit is still on guard in the camp to cover the infantry carrying materials. Morozov, on the other hand, took the remaining comrades of the artillery company back to the camp of the fourth regiment and used the captured mortars to form a new mortar company. "


    "Well, I see. You can leave. " They raised their hands to salute me and then left. At the moment, I have a new view of Morozov. When the cannons company is almost exhausted, he knows how to use the captured mortars to build a new artillery company. It''s not easy.


    Thinking of the enemy''s possible attack after dawn, I couldn''t sit still and immediately called the second and third regiments. First of all, the second commander Oleg got through. I asked directly, "commander Oleg, how are your regiment''s fortifications going?"


    "Report to the commander," Oleg replied respectfully, "I will immediately organize the soldiers to reinforce and improve the fortification after receiving your order. Now, in the periphery of the regiment headquarters, two trenches have been completed. At the same time, a large number of anti artillery holes have been dug, so that soldiers can hide in them to avoid artillery fire when the German artillery bombards them. "


    "How many companies have you put in the trenches?" Although I don''t have to worry about these details, I feel that if I don''t ask about the battle after dawn, I''m not sure.


    "I have two companies in each of the two trenches. In order to prevent the German heavy artillery fire from killing our army, I temporarily put the remaining twelve companies behind as reserves. I plan to send reinforcements when there are too many casualties in the front forces. "


    Then, when I talked with the third team leader kosga, what I said was similar, except that there were only two or three companies in the front line, and the rest were hidden in the rear as reserves.


    When I finished the call, I made up my mind that no matter what happened in the war tomorrow, as soon as it got dark, I would order the troops to retreat to the rear and carry out the combat order of withdrawing while fighting issued by the superior. At the same time, I''m also considering waiting for the right time to make a request to trekov to send me a chief of staff, so that I don''t have to do things myself.


    The German attack on the fourth regiment began at dawn.


    First, more than a dozen shells fell in front of and around the newly built trench of the fourth regiment and exploded. According to my experience, I know that the German artillery is carrying out test firing, and then large-scale shelling will begin. If I didn''t expect it, in a minute, rows of shrapnel shells fell down, and the position was covered in smoke.


    I feel that the ground under my feet is trembling slightly. I can''t help but worry about the soldiers at the front. Can they carry the German artillery attack?


    This round of crazy bombardment lasted about 20 minutes before it stopped. As the smoke dispersed, I saw a large group of German infantry, about two companies, marching towards the fourth regiment with weapons in the distance.


    Originally, with the training level of our army, if we put the German infantry within 50 meters and then shoot them, the killing effect would be the best. But I didn''t expect that the officers and men in the trench were too nervous, or they were stunned by the shells. The enemy still had more than 100 meters to shoot. As soon as someone opened fire, all the officers and men in the trench opened fire. After crackling for a while, more than a dozen German soldiers were killed, and the rest turned around and ran back.


    I was so angry that I grabbed the phone and asked Gaidar in a loud voice: "fourth commander, what''s wrong with your soldiers? When the enemy is still more than 100 meters away, they shoot indiscriminately. They think they are sharpshooters? "


    "Report to Mr. division commander," Gaidar replied with some shame, "it''s all my fault. Today''s soldiers in the first line of defense didn''t take part in the battle yesterday. Maybe they were a little nervous, so when they saw the German appear in front of them, they fired in order to embolden themselves."


    Ignoring his reply, I continued to teach him a lesson: "you see, you wasted so many bullets and knocked down a few German soldiers? How much more? Comrade commander, you should tell the soldiers that our aim is not to drive away the enemy, but to destroy them. Although you have driven him away now, he will attack you again soon. If you run out of bullets, you will fight them hand to hand. "


    "Yes, I see, sir. I''ll call the commander at the front line immediately and ask them to restrain the soldiers, stop shooting casually, and put the enemy in and fight again. You can see the next time of our regiment. "


    As soon as I finished, the second round of German shelling began. Seeing the position shrouded by the smoke of gunpowder again, I can''t help feeling heartbreaking pain, and I don''t know how many soldiers will pay their lives in this round of shelling.


    After the shelling, the German infantry attacked again. Maybe they had learned the lesson just now. When they got into the 100 meter range, they broke up the formation and rushed forward in groups of three or five.


    As they got closer and closer to the position, there was no movement in the trench. My heart can''t help pounding. My heart says that the soldiers in the trenches won''t all die in the shelling, right?


    When the German soldiers were only about 30 meters away from the position, they saw no movement in the trench. They thought that after the heavy shelling just now, the defenders had been destroyed, so they could not help slowing down, straightened up and walked towards our army.


    At this time, there has been no movement in the trench, dense grenades whistling up, like a group of black crows toward the enemy''s team have covered down. Grenades or in the queue or in the air volley explosion, short continuous explosion sound, flying shrapnel will explode within the scope of the German soldiers have cut down. Then the mortar in the second line of defense kept silent all the time spoke. The shells originally belonging to the German army smashed into the enemy group, and the German army''s attack line suddenly burst into fire one after another, blowing up the German soldiers to flee.


    Seeing that the Germans were badly beaten, the soldiers who were ready to go jumped out of the fortification one after another, carrying machine guns, submachine guns, rifles and firing at the enemy. The German soldiers who had been badly bombed were swept down. When this group of German soldiers with more than half casualties turned around and ran back, our soldiers chased after them for a while, and the mortars were not willing to lag behind. When they saw that there were many enemies, the shells would fall wherever they saw. Although the German army had heavy artillery, it was unable to support these poor guys. The time was not long. Except for a few of the German soldiers of the two companies who took part in the attack, the rest lay in this open field.


    Seeing that the enemy''s attack was defeated, I spoke to Gaidar again and praised him again and again: "good fight, comrade commander. Well done, that''s the way to play. "


    The attacking soldiers quickly collected weapons and ammunition from the enemy''s corpses and then quickly withdrew to the trench. Just after all this, there was a German bomber formation in the sky.


    Seeing the enemy aircraft appear, I quickly told Gaidar: "Comrade commander, quickly hide your people, German aircraft will soon bomb your positions."


    After circling over the position of the fourth regiment, the enemy planes began to dive in line, bombing and strafing the position of the fourth regiment. The German artillery, not to be outdone, began to attack our position, and the whole defense line of the fourth regiment was surrounded by fireworks.


    When the enemy''s bombing and shelling ended and the smoke of gunpowder dispersed, I saw that the three trenches were hollowed out. The open space in the middle of the trench was full of dense craters, and the soil was blackened by gunpowder. The firepower points originally built under the tanks were destroyed because the tanks were overturned by bombs or shells.


    A new wave of German infantry, taking advantage of the aircraft bombing and artillery bombardment, quietly approached within 200 meters of the position. As soon as they saw the plane flying away, the artillery stopped shelling. They could not help but quicken their pace and dashed towards the position of the fourth regiment. There was no movement in the trench as the German soldiers approached the position. Seeing this scene, I estimated that the officers and men in the trench either died or were buried in the collapse of the anti gun hole. Many German soldiers crossed the first trench and continued to rush towards the second line. As they passed half the distance in an instant, several surviving firepower points hidden under the tank began to fire. In the clattering of gunfire, the German soldiers who rushed to the front fell down one after another, and the rest quickly jumped into the crater, raised their guns and fired at these firepower points. The German attack was blocked for a moment by these machine gun fire points, giving the mortar company hidden in the second trench a chance to open fire. More than a dozen mortar shells landed in the middle of the German soldiers and exploded. The flying fragments and clods crackled so that they had to retract into the crater. The soldiers in the second trench, armed with weapons, jumped out of the trench one after another and launched a counter charge against the enemy. Compared with the attacking German soldiers, the soldiers of the fourth regiment were obviously inexperienced in fighting. When they charged, they did not know how to bow and straighten their waists. As a result, they were knocked down one after another by the firepower of the German soldiers. Fortunately, Morozov had rich experience in fighting. Seeing where the German firepower was more fierce, he directed the mortar company to smash it, which made the German soldiers bloody. Although the soldiers in the fourth regiment had little combat experience, they were not completely stupid. They often saw that the German firepower was hit by a shell, and seven or eight soldiers rushed up to stab or make up two shots at those German soldiers who were not dead yet. With more and more soldiers rushing up, and the mortar company''s cannonballs that seemed to have long eyes and hit the German troops accurately from time to time, the morale of the German soldiers was extremely low. They fired indiscriminately, turned around, crossed our first line of defense, and stumbled back. As soon as the enemy''s attack in the South retreated, the second commander Oleg called. He said anxiously on the phone: "report to division commander, a battalion of the 371st German infantry division, under the cover of 12 tanks, launched a fierce attack on our regiment''s position. Due to the lack of anti tank weapons in our regiment, the German tanks broke through two lines of defense of our regiment and rushed to a place only 20 meters away from our headquarters. "¡° What''s the situation now? Are the enemy tanks still out there? " My heart sank when I heard that Oleg was in danger, and I realized that if his line of defense was broken, the German 371st division would suddenly open the fourth regiment''s position from the side¡° It''s still out there, but it''s all burning. Our soldiers blew up the tanks with cluster grenades¡° Commander Gaidar, "I was a little relieved when I heard that he was ok, and then solemnly ordered him:" at all costs, we must block the offensive of the 371st division, or the position of the fourth regiment will be broken through by the German army from the side. "

 Chapter 562

    Kosga''s phone call was similar, saying that the positive 94th division of the German army launched five successive company level charges against the third regiment positions, and all of them were defeated without exception.


    When I heard that even the 94 th German division, which had always been slow, was moving, I asked nervously, "Lieutenant Colonel kosga, did the Germans bombard your positions before they attacked? Also, are the German infantry charging you under the cover of tanks? "


    After waiting for my question, kosja remained silent for a moment, and then replied, "before the attack, the Germans usually bombard our positions for five to ten minutes, and then use five tanks to cover the infantry and charge our regiment''s positions."


    "How do you deal with German tanks?"


    "At the end of each bombardment, I would send several soldiers to sneak out of the position and hide in the crater. When the German tanks came near, I would kill them all with flasks."


    "Well done! Lieutenant kosga, your play can be promoted in the whole division. " As for the way he used to fight tanks, I sincerely praised it, and then asked, "are there many casualties in the army?"


    "Not much. Only about one company was injured."


    "Very good," I said to him when I heard that the casualties of the third regiment were not great. I had a new idea at the moment, so I told him, "commander kosga, you should quickly transfer three companies to form a special battalion and send it to the second regiment''s defense area. If the second regiment''s line of defense is safe, the battalion will not move. If the German offensive is too fierce, the second regiment suffers too much casualties, and the position is too soon to be held, you should send this battalion up and resolutely block the breach. Do you understand? "


    "I see, sir." "I''m going to transfer the troops," kosga replied unambiguously


    After calling the second and third regiments, I contacted Gaidar, the fourth regiment leader: "commander Gaidar, how about the casualties of your regiment in the battle just now?"


    Gaidar sighed and replied, "report to division commander, our regiment has suffered quite a lot of casualties. In today''s battle alone, there were 700 casualties. At the moment, there are only less than 300 people left in the position."


    "Where are your other troops?"


    "Five companies were set up on the right side of our regiment''s defence area to prevent the German army from attacking from the West. There are still two companies in the village where the headquarters of the regiment are located. If it''s really not possible, I''ll send these two companies to the positions first. "


    "The two companies in the village will not move," I said immediately after he finished his report. "Pull back the five companies on the right side of the defense area and prepare to supplement them to the front forces when necessary."


    "But, comrade division commander, if all the five companies are transferred away, if the enemy comes from the west, our regiment will have no defensive force at all?" Asked Gaidar, somewhat worried.


    "Colonel gedar, you don''t have to worry about your right side. There are two regiments and three regiments on guard. They will block the Germans who try to rush to your regiment''s position from west to East. Your task is to hold your position firmly. "


    After a loud promise, Gaidar tentatively asked, "Sir, please allow me to ask, how long will our regiment hold on?"


    I frowned and just wanted to get angry with him, but after putting myself in Gaidar''s shoes and thinking about it, I understood the purpose of his question. So I said mildly, "Colonel gedar, the German army is attacking our position constantly. If we don''t hold fast and retreat rashly, the following German army can easily defeat our troops with artillery fire. So no matter how difficult it is, your regiment must keep this line of defense in front of you. "


    "But if the German troops play the same way as before twice, our regiment will be finished."


    "Don''t worry, the troops have run out. When we retreat to the preset position, I will give priority to the battlefield repair of your regiment." I was afraid that he was worried that I would write him a blank check. I specially stressed: "I will immediately let a regiment transfer four companies to form a special battalion to strengthen your regiment."


    When I said this, Gaidar was slightly relieved. He assured me, "please rest assured, sir. As long as there is one soldier in our regiment, we will firmly hold the position. When a man is in the position, he vows to live or die together with the position. "


    I then dialed Sergey reekov, where I sternly ordered him: "Sergeant Sergeant Sergey reekov, I ordered you to immediately transfer four companies to form a special battalion, and immediately move to my observation post to stand by."


    After hearing my order, Xie jerikov was stunned for a moment, and then asked, "Comrade division, may I ask what the task of this temporary special battalion is?"


    "Gedar''s four regiments have played very hard, and so far they have lost nearly half of their staff. In order to cope with the new German offensive, I think it is necessary to draw infantry from your regiment to form a reserve, prepare to supplement the fourth regiment when necessary, and continue to hold the position. "


    I made the truth clear to shijerikov, and he understood it in his heart, so he agreed very readily: "it''s the order given by the teacher himself, so I''ll carry it out. Is four companies enough? If it''s not enough, I''ll take another two companies, and all of them are excellent soldiers with rich combat experience. "


    "No, we can''t weaken the strength of the first regiment in order to supplement the fourth regiment. I''ve kept your regiment as a reserve team of the division in preparation for a big use at a critical moment. Tell the soldiers to take time to rest. When your regiment is really put into battle, there will be no time to rest. "


    The enemy''s shelling started again. It seems that this time they wanted to take our army''s position at one time, so the shelling time was ten minutes longer than the previous two times. The dense shells landed in the front and back of the first trench and exploded, which seemed to turn this narrow area over.


    At the end of the bombardment, the German infantry came forward before the smoke of the gunfire was gone. They ran very fast. They didn''t wait for the officers and men in the first trench to climb out of the clay covering their bodies. They had already rushed into the trench and started shooting our soldiers with weapons.


    Although many of the officers and men fell under their guns, the surviving officers and men in the trench rushed to them with their weapons in hand regardless. After nearly ten minutes of fierce hand to hand combat with our soldiers, the German soldiers who rushed into the trench occupied the position.


    Seeing that the first line of defense was lost, about one of the company''s soldiers jumped out of the fortification and charged the German army with weapons, trying to recapture the first line of defense when the enemy''s foothold was not stable.


    Unexpectedly, after seizing the first line of defense, they did not rush to charge the second line of defense. Instead, they consolidated their position on the spot and fired machine guns and submachine guns at the counterattack troops of the fourth regiment.


    Under the fierce fire of the enemy, the soldiers in front of them all fell down, and the rest of them fell down, hiding in the trenches and fighting back.


    After a while of shooting, the difference between the well-trained German army and the poor training of our army was obvious. Although our soldiers kept shooting, the German soldiers in the opposite trench were seldom knocked down. And look at the soldiers hiding in the trenches, some of whom were hit by German bullets as soon as they rose. In a short time, the soldiers hiding in the trenches were killed and wounded by 20 or 30 people, while the German army was killed and killed by only five or six people.


    Seeing that the counterattack did not work, the soldiers had to retreat while fighting and returned to the second trench. When they entered the trench, I roughly counted that a company attacked, and under the enemy''s fire, less than 20 people withdrew.


    As soon as the German army saw that our counterattack had been defeated, some of the soldiers jumped out of the trench, covered by the wreckage of the damaged tanks, armored vehicles and cars, and rushed forward while shooting.


    Looking at the German soldiers approaching the second line of defense, I can''t help but feel itchy with hatred. I secretly scold those firepower points hiding under the tanks and Morozov''s mortar company. I don''t see that the Germans are coming. Why don''t they fire?


    Seeing that they had run half the way, several fire points and mortar companies under the tank finally opened fire. The roaring shells disrupted the formation of the German soldiers, and then the intensive machine gun fire swept down the running German soldiers. As the artillery of our army came to power, the soldiers in the trench jumped out of the fortification again and pounced on the German army.


    But the German soldiers didn''t quit immediately. Instead, they hid behind craters or debris and fought back desperately. The German soldiers even set up a machine gun in the crater, shooting wildly. The intensive fire forced our soldiers to hide in the trenches.


    Just as the machine gun was roaring wildly, a soldier of ours stood up from behind the German soldier. Judging from his staggering body and faltering steps, I could guess that he must have been seriously injured. Maybe he just fainted after being injured, and then he came to his senses. He blundered toward the enemy''s machine gun, but was soon found by other German soldiers, and immediately turned the muzzle to shoot at him. The soldier''s body shook a few times and fell into the crater.


    I was regretting that the soldier had not had time to kill the enemy''s machine gun when he died in vain. There was a fire and smoke in the crater, and the German machine gunner was blown out of the crater. It seems that the soldier has long been determined to die. Maybe when he got up, he had already pulled the grenade and planned to die with the enemy.


    The heroic performance of the unknown soldier aroused the courage of the commanders and fighters, who jumped from the crater and rushed to the enemy regardless of casualties. Because the mortar fire suppressed the German troops in the trench, they were unable to provide firepower support for the soldiers who were fighting with our soldiers, and watched their companions be killed one after another.


    After a hard battle, the first line of defense was taken back by our army, while only about 20 German soldiers escaped by chance.


    Seeing that the enemy''s attack was defeated again, I called Gaidar again and said to him frankly, "commander Gaidar, you can''t fight like this."


    Gaidar was stunned and asked: "what''s wrong, sir?"


    I didn''t beat him around the Bush and said directly, "the forward commanders of your regiment didn''t use their troops properly. They put so many troops in the first line of defense. Under the heavy artillery attack of the German army, they soon suffered huge casualties that even the German army could not stop them. In addition, the first counterattack launched by the second line of defense was too hasty, and the officers and men charged the enemy bravely without artillery cover. As a result, they were killed by German superior firepower on the way and forced to retreat. In this way, the counterattack of the second line positions not only failed, but also lost more than half of the troops. I think it is very difficult for the remaining troops to defend the second line of defense.


    Once the first two lines of defense are lost, the Germans will take advantage of the victory to break through your third line of defense, and then the Germans can easily rush to your headquarters


    "Comrade division commander, please give us instructions on how to fight the next battle?" Gaidar asked me modestly.


    "The enemy''s artillery fire is extremely fierce. The more troops we put into the position, the more casualties we will have. So I suggest you put only one platoon in the first line of defense, and the rest are hidden in the gun holes in the traffic trenches. After the casualties exceed one class, another class will be added through the traffic ditch. "


    After hearing this, Gaidar thought for a moment, and then replied, "Sir, this is a good way. I''ll arrange it like this."


    After the call with Gaidar, I thought to myself that it''s not a good way to always be beaten passively. I have to find a way to take the initiative in the battlefield in my own hands. When I think about this, I begin to calculate the forces that can be used: the tank unit has five tanks. Although they can take advantage of infantry, they are vulnerable to the German heavy artillery. Therefore, they can not use them until the German heavy artillery is destroyed. Another combat force is the artillery battalion of yegonovych. If they can destroy the German artillery position in the shortest time, they can reduce the defensive pressure of the fourth regiment.


    When I thought about it, I picked up the phone and called sjerykov, intending to ask him to pass on my idea to captain yegonovic and let the artillery battalion move as soon as possible.


    As soon as the call was made, Xie jerikov could not wait to say, "report to Mr. commander, the special battalion has been assembled and can start at any time."


    When I heard him mention the special battalion, I remembered that I asked him to deploy troops to strengthen the fourth regiment, so I said casually, "well, since the special battalion has been assembled, you should immediately command a commander to take the troops to the fourth regiment and report to commander Gaidar. The German offensive was very fierce, and his troops suffered too many casualties, which urgently needed to be supplemented. "


    "Yes, sir." "I''ll immediately appoint a battalion commander to report to lieutenant colonel gedar with his troops," he promised


    "Commander, I have another important thing. Is captain yegonovich with you


    "Yes, sir. Do you have any instructions?"


    "Give him the microphone. I have something to tell him."


    Soon, Captain yegonovich''s voice came from the receiver, and I quickly said, "Comrade captain, I''m going to give you a chance to repay me. I don''t know if you want to take it or not?"


    "Comrade Colonel, if you have any orders, please let me know. I will do it for you."


    I was very satisfied with yegonovic''s attitude, so I said impolitely, "since you are so straightforward, comrade captain, I will not beat around the Bush, and I will tell you the truth."


    "Go ahead, please." "I''m listening," he replied politely


    "Well, comrade captain." I organized the words in my head, and then said, "the Germans launched four crazy attacks on the positions of the fourth regiment today. Before each attack, they would carry out 20 minutes or even half an hour of shelling, and the soldiers of the fourth regiment suffered heavy casualties under the heavy shelling. In order to hold the position, the German artillery position must be destroyed. Now I want to give you this arduous task. Do you have the confidence to complete it? "


    After listening to what I said, yegonovic actually laughed. He so a smile, make me smile Leng, I don''t understand ground ask a way back: "Captain comrade, you smile what?"


    After laughing a little louder, yegonovich replied, "Comrade Colonel, before the first round of German artillery bombardment, I had thought about destroying German artillery positions. So I sent out the artillery observers early to let them confirm the position of the German artillery positions and prepare to take them by surprise at the right time. "


    "That''s great, that''s great!" It seems that there were a lot of smart people in the Soviet army, but the reason why they were not found by bole and were promoted and reused was probably due to some rigid superiors who didn''t like their subordinates to be too smart. But here I am, I can make the best use of people and things. I asked curiously, "Comrade captain, how do you think about it?"


    Yegonovic replied respectfully, "I''ve seen it carefully when I came here. Our artillery position can be built on the edge of the forest. Because the German artillery is more than five times that of us, if we shoot at each other, we will suffer. Even if we all die, we will not see any artillery positions that can destroy the German army. So I think that after the first artillery position was established, only five shells were fired from each artillery, and then quickly moved to other places to establish new artillery positions and continue to bombard the German artillery positions. "


    "Very well, comrade captain." I am very much in favor of his one shot to another way of playing, so I agreed without hesitation: "just do as you say." Having said that, I was still a little uneasy. I specially told him, "remember, comrade captain, we must completely destroy the German artillery positions, otherwise they will continue to bombard the 4th regiment positions."


    "Please rest assured, comrade Colonel, that I will complete the task." Yegonovic answered me with all his heart¡° How''s it going with you, commander gedar? " From the observation port, we can see that the officers and men of the fourth regiment in the trench are treating the wounded and repairing the fortifications. I specially called Gaidar to inquire¡° Report to division commander, I have sent all the troops except the two companies of the guard regiment. " At this point, he also stressed, "in accordance with your order, I asked the soldiers to dig several gun holes in the traffic trench connecting the two trenches. When the German Army started shelling, the first line of defense was only one platoon, and the rest was hidden in the new blast holes, ready to make up for the loss of the front at any time. "¡° Don''t cry, comrade Gaidar. "I know Gaidar must be in a bad mood when he saw that his troops were injured and killed so much, so he comforted him and said," I asked shijerikov to transfer four companies from his regiment to form a special battalion, which will be strengthened for you immediately. Before your regiment is supplemented by the superior, this special battalion will be returned to you. "¡° Really? Comrade teachers. " After hearing the news, Gaidar got excited and said to himself, "it''s great. There are four companies. In this way, I don''t think it''s a big problem to hold the position."¡° Get me commander Oleg When I put down the phone, I quickly ordered razumeyeva. When the phone got through to Oleg, I asked as quietly as I could, "what''s the situation there, commander Oleg?"¡° The German infantry, under the cover of their tanks, had twice rushed into the positions of our regiment. Our soldiers fought with them and drove them out of our fortifications. At present, our positions are covered with corpses, including German corpses and the remains of our soldiers. The land has been dyed red with blood. " As he said this, Oleg was a little too excited to breathe¡° Commander Oleg, don''t worry. I asked kosga to deploy three companies to form a special battalion, which is right behind your regimental defense area. If you are short of troops, I authorize you to use this special battalion. Fight hard, comrade commander. Don''t worry. You are not fighting alone. We will support you. " After the end of the call, I nervously thought about the situation in my eyes. It seems that it is unrealistic to stick to it for a few more days. For the sake of today''s plan, we can only find a way to get through the day and let the regiments retreat after dark. I was thinking about it, and a new round of German shelling began. It seems that they are not reconciled to their defeat and have to take down the positions of the fourth regiment, so the German shells rain down on the first position as if they don''t want money and explode around. The shelling lasted about ten minutes, and razumeyeva called me: "Comrade division commander, Captain yegonovich wants to speak to you." I put on my headphones and yelled at the transmitter, "Hello, Captain yegonovich, this is colonel oshanina. How are you doing over there?"¡° Report to the captain, everything is ready and ready to fire. "¡° I see, "I interrupted." now that we''re ready, let''s fire now. Further hesitation, the German shells will blow up our position. "¡° Please allow me not to ask for your instructions at any time in my next action, OK? "¡° I agree. Comrade captain, I want to remind you that we should kill the German artillery as soon as possible, and move quickly! " I threw the earphone and transmitter to razumeyeva, and then grabbed the phone to call Gaidar: "Comrade commander, I have good news for you. I have ordered captain yegonovic''s artillery battalion to fire at the German artillery position, so that you will not be harassed by German shells any more." Just then, the German artillery suddenly stopped. I looked at the position where there was no shell falling down, though the smoke of gunpowder was full, and excitedly said to the microphone, "gedar, do you hear me? The German artillery has stopped. It must have been our artillery battalion that attacked their artillery positions. " Two or three minutes later, the German shelling started again, but their target was no longer the forward position of the fourth regiment, but turned to the forest on the east side. From the telescope, I saw German shells fall in the forest and explode. With the rising of fire and smoke, trees fell down. However, I didn''t see the human limbs and artillery parts that were lifted into the air by the shell waves, so I felt a lot more at ease. It seems that they have moved safely. After less than five minutes, the German artillery was dumb again. It seems that the artillery battalion of yegonovych has completed the establishment of a new position and started shelling them again.

 Chapter 563

    The artillery battalion under the command of yegonovych, like an experienced sniper, set up a new position. After firing a few shots at the German artillery position, it did not want to fight and quickly moved to the new position.


    Although the German artillery was like a behemoth, it was a blind behemoth. We didn''t know where our artillery camp was. After being beaten, we could only launch shells in the direction of the shells, trying to destroy our artillery position. When the German artillery bombarded the artillery battalion position, they had already completed the transfer and began to build a new artillery position.


    Although the German infantry lost the support of artillery, they seemed to be willing to take our position, so now they gathered at a distance of 500 meters from the front of the fourth regiment. Without the artillery staff, they did not know where to find three tanks to cover the attack launched by the infantry.


    Seeing the three swaggering German tanks, I remembered kosga''s experience in fighting tanks in the third regiment. I quickly picked up the microphone and called Gaidar: "commander Gaidar, do you see the German assembled at the front of your regiment? This time, there are three tanks to provide cover for the artillery and try to kill them all. "


    After a moment''s silence, Gaidar replied, "I''ll let the soldiers separate the German tanks from the infantry with fire, and then when the tanks cross the trench, I''ll kill them with flasks."


    "We can''t let German tanks cross our trenches. That will have a bad effect on our morale. All you have to do is kill all the German tanks before they get close to the trench. " I don''t think he knew the anti tank experience summed up by the third regiment, so he said to him, "the third regiment has a good set of skills against German tanks. After the German artillery stopped, they sent several soldiers out of the trench and quietly lurked in the crater. As soon as the tanks approached, they killed them all with burning bottles. "


    "I see. I''ll call the company commander at the front and ask him to arrange soldiers to hide in the crater and try to kill all the three tanks before they reach the trench."


    "Then don''t hesitate, let them act at once."


    After a while, I saw five or six soldiers jump out of the trench and roll into the crater in front of me. Looking at the soldiers hidden in the crater, and thinking of Gaidar who carried out my orders to the letter, I couldn''t help nodding with satisfaction.


    Although there was only one platoon in the first line of defense, Gaidar specially equipped them with captured light and heavy machine guns. When he aimed at the charging German infantry, he immediately separated them from the tanks. Tanks without infantry cover become lambs to be slaughtered in the eyes of anti tank hands.


    Several soldiers who were hiding in the trench jumped out of the trench and smashed the flasks in their hands at the front two tanks. The burning bottle was broken on the car body, and the liquid inside was flowing everywhere. With the flash of fire, the whole tank was immediately surrounded by fire and smoke.


    The driver of the tank, who was a little behind, seemed to be an experienced veteran. He was highly skilled and calm. Seeing that the two tanks in front of him had been burnt by the burning bottle, he slowed down slightly. After observing for a moment, he rushed up with the machine gun on the turret while firing. The tank guns bombarded the heavy and heavy machine gun fire points in the trenches, while the machine guns hit the soldiers who threw burning bottles.


    The tank shot a heavy machine gun fire point of the fourth regiment into the sky, the fire in the trench suddenly weakened, and the infantry who were lying on the ground to avoid bullets and far behind rushed forward with a cry.


    Seeing the tank approaching the fire, it suddenly turned its body, and the machine gun on the side of the turret swept down all the soldiers holding the burning bottle. Seeing that all the anti tanks outside the formation were killed, the tank turned its head again and sped up to rush to our position.


    Because of the tank''s speed, almost in the blink of an eye, it had rolled over from the trench and rushed to the second line of defense. When all the tanks crossed the trench and rushed forward, the soldiers in the trench came back to their senses. Then three soldiers jumped out, carrying the burning bottles in their hands, and chased after them.


    Unexpectedly, the German tank ran too fast and soon left three soldiers far behind. Seeing that the tank was about to rush to the second line of defense, two soldiers jumped out of the trench, rushed forward and ran for a few steps. Then they stopped, raised their hands and smashed the burning bottle on the body of the tank.


    With the breaking of the burning bottle, a large flame sprang out of the car body immediately, but the driver of the tank seemed unwilling to be killed like this, and continued to run forward with the fire until he ran over the second trench and finally lay still there.


    As soon as they got out of the burning tank, they did not run away or resist. They immediately raised their hands high and surrendered to the soldiers.


    Seeing that the German tanks were completely destroyed, the mortars in the second line of defense fired again at the charging German infantry. More than ten rounds of artillery shells fell in the dense German line and exploded. The soldiers who were blown up were in a panic and ran to both sides. However, Morozov''s artillery company did not let them go, and the shells continued to chase them and blow them up.


    At this time, the heavy and heavy machine guns in the first trench also opened fire fiercely, and the German soldiers who suffered double attacks were beaten to wail and howl, and were forced to leave hundreds of corpses and retreat in confusion.


    The fourth regiment beat back the German attack again, which made me feel more at ease. As long as the attacking German infantry had no artillery support, it was not easy to break through our position.


    Seeing the tanks sent by the German army, I thought of captain perskin and his tank team who had never been seen. I asked razumeyeva to call the captain for me. I wanted to know where he was at the moment.


    When the radio was on, I said, "Captain perskin, where''s your tank unit?"


    "Report to Mr. division commander," said peresjian in a voice that seemed to be in some newly built underground tank depot. He reported to me, "I was in a newly built underground tank depot on the west side of the fourth regiment with the tank unit. I want to ask, when can we attack? Looking at the infantry brothers fighting in full swing, while we have been on standby, the soldiers are in a mood


    I replied with a smile, "don''t worry, comrade captain. Good steel is used on the blade. I''ll send you up at the right time. " I say this because I haven''t figured out which direction to use the tank unit.


    As I was talking to peresjian, I saw a huge fireball rising in the distance. The ground under my feet vibrated slightly, and then the clear sound of explosion came into the observation post.


    "Comrade division," said razumeyeva excitedly, "it must have been captain yegonovich, their artillery battalion, who killed the German artillery position. That''s great


    When I heard that the German artillery position had been destroyed, I could not help but feel relieved, so that when the German infantry attacked, I could confidently and boldly let them attack without worrying that they would be attacked by the German heavy artillery. But at the same time, I made up my mind to withdraw the whole division to the designated position of trekov after dark. If I continued to stick to it, even if the number of the independent division doubled, it would be completely lost under the German artillery and aircraft bombardment.


    With this consideration, before the German army launched a new attack, I immediately contacted trakov and asked if there were any troops in the new fortified area of our division.


    Trikov heard my voice and said with a smile, "oshanina, your division is good. You know, the Goth army can defeat two or three divisions of our army by drawing out any division. After you severely damaged the 29th German motorized infantry division last night and captured the division commander, today you can resist the attack of three German divisions with one division. It''s really amazing! Please convey my respect to the officers and men of the independent division! "


    I wanted to cry when I was praised by trakov. I said that I wanted to leave with a little bit of money, but I didn''t expect to maim the 29th division last night. As a result, the rest of the 4th Army of Goth tanks rushed in early this morning, forcing us to stay and fight a cruel positional war with them. I asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, is there a support force in the new defensive zone of our division?"


    Trekov was stunned when I said this, and then asked, "why, do you want to retreat?" After he finished, he might be puzzled by my sudden withdrawal, and then asked, "I asked you to withdraw last night, but you didn''t withdraw. You insisted on staying and continuing to deal with the Germans. I think your troops are playing well. I''m going to make you stick to it for a few more days. It''s just the right time to delay the Goth army and win time for our army to make up the battlefield. Why do you think of retreat? "


    After listening to him, I feel like I''m about to cry. Now it''s not dark, and Gaidar''s four regiments are almost disabled. If I insist on it for a few more days, the independent division will be canceled. I quickly explained: "Comrade commander, as you know, our division is a newly formed force, and it has not fully formed its combat effectiveness, so it has rushed into battle. It''s OK to ambush the invading German army and make a sneak attack. If we really set up the battle with the German army, we are not rivals at all. In the daytime fighting, the fourth regiment has been disabled, and the second regiment has suffered more than half of the casualties. If the fighting continues, the independent division will be forced to withdraw to the rear for replenishment due to heavy casualties, or directly withdraw its organizational structure. "


    With a long breath, trakov said, "the troops that were left to meet you have been transferred to Stalingrad this morning after receiving the prisoners handed over by your division. In order to ensure a safe period, I suggest that you immediately send troops to occupy that place first, so as not to be preempted by the circuitous German army, which will cut off the rear road of your division. "


    When I heard that my retreat plan was allowed, I was also relieved. According to the current way of playing, the Germans without artillery cover could launch one or two more attacks at most. In this way, the four regiments holding their positions can easily defeat them. But it''s time to start planning the evacuation.


    Now the second, third and fourth regiments are all fighting with the German army. The troops who want to seize the position can not be transferred from among them, so they can only be transferred from shejerikov''s first regiment. When I dialed Sergey reekov, I didn''t say hello. I said frankly, "Comrade commander, I have an important task for you to complete."


    "Please give an order. All the officers and men of the first regiment are ready to fight. They are ready to fight at any time."


    "Another four companies will be deployed and immediately set out to the preset position 30 kilometers to the north to occupy and consolidate the fortifications there and prevent German sneak attacks."


    "What, four more companies?" Shijerikov said with some embarrassment, "Comrade division, I only have seven companies in my hand now. If you transfer another four companies, there will not be many people left in my regiment."


    "Sergeant chejerikov," I said sternly when I heard that he wanted to bargain with me, "when it gets dark, our division will begin to retreat. If we do not occupy the preset position in advance, once it is occupied by the German circuitous forces, the whole division''s retreat will be cut off. Do you think that with the present strength of our division, under the dual attack of German artillery and aircraft bombing, we can guarantee the integrity of our organizational system? "


    "It''s OK to transfer four companies," said shijerikov hesitantly. "But I can''t leave here for the time being, and there are no independent commanders in my subordinates. I''m afraid they can''t finish your task well. Do you think you can send a competent commander to this unit? "


    I''m also embarrassed by Xie jerikov''s words. I really hate the lack of time. I have fewer capable commanders, but now it''s a radish and a pit, and I can''t draw them out. What should I do?


    When I was in a dilemma, a voice calling for a report came from the door. I turned around and was overjoyed. It turned out that captain Pugachev, who I had sent to escort the prisoners, had returned.


    After Pugachev entered the door, he raised his hand to salute me and loudly reported: "report to Mr. division commander, Captain Pugachev has successfully completed the task of escorting the prisoners and returned. I''m here to report to you and wait for your instructions and your next order."


    I have seen the ability of Pugachev. I believe that there is no problem for him to lead people to complete the task of occupying the preset positions. What''s more, he took the prisoners with him last night, that is, he went to the preset position to hand them over to the receiving army, and let him take the army there again. That''s a familiar way.


    Thinking of this, I quickly said to the microphone, "Lieutenant sergeant shijerikov, my battalion commander, Captain Pugachev, is back. I''m going to give him the task of leading the team."


    "Is Pugachev back? That''s great. " When he heard that Pugachev had returned, xijerikov was also happy. He quickly said: "last night, when the captain was escorting the prisoners, he transferred a company from our regiment. If he leads the team, I just need to transfer three companies to him


    Xie jerikov''s words made me angry and funny. I joked: "Comrade commander, you are still an intermediate commander. How can you be as fussy as the old bourgeois accountant?" At this point, I stopped for a moment, thinking that it would be no harm for him to keep more troops, or at least let his regiment take up the post of the palace, so I agreed to his request, "OK, just pull out the three companies as soon as possible, and let them rush to the observation post to report to captain Pugachev."


    After putting down the phone, I said to Pugachev standing in front of me, "Comrade captain, I know you must be very tired because you haven''t had a rest all night and have been driving so far. But now I can''t let you rest, because there is an important task for you to finish immediately. "


    Pugachev quickly straightened up and said, "please give me instructions!"


    "Our division will withdraw from its present position tonight and retreat northward to the preset position 30 kilometers away. In order to prevent the German army from detouring back to the rear, occupying the position first and cutting off the retreat of our division, we need a capable army to rush to the above areas immediately to occupy and consolidate the position and ensure the smooth retreat of our division. Considering that you only went there last night and are familiar with the terrain, I asked shijerikov to transfer four companies to form a mixed battalion under your command to complete the task of occupying the position. "


    "Please don''t worry, sir. I promise to finish the task you gave me." After expressing his determination, Pugachev asked curiously, "I don''t know where I should go to receive this army."


    "One of the four companies of this mixed camp is the company you took the prisoner with you last night, and the remaining three companies, after the completion of the transfer, Lieutenant Colonel chejerikov, will send them here to report to you. When the troops have assembled, you will immediately lead them to the preset positions of our division. "


    "Yes, I promise to finish the task." Pugachev replied loud again.


    As the whole division is going to retreat after dark, I''d like to inform several commanders in a hurry to make them ready so as not to cause confusion when they withdraw at night.


    As one of the team leaders, shijerikov, had already known about the evacuation in the evening, I first informed Oleg. I said directly to the second group leader, "Comrade Oleg, I have something to inform you. The whole division will retreat after dark. You ask the commanders and soldiers of the regiment to be ready first, so as not to make a mess when they retreat. "


    Oleg did not ask why he was retreating, but simply replied, "I see!"


    Then I called the third commander and heard the fierce gunfire coming from the microphone. I asked with concern, "commander kosga, are the German forces attacking your regiment again?"


    "Yes, sir." Kosja replied clearly: "this is the ninth German attack on our regiment. Although their artillery fire is very fierce, I am confident that they will, like the previous eight times, be beaten to pieces in front of our position, and have to drop pieces of corpses and retreat in ashes. "


    Hearing that the German army had launched nine charges against the positions of the third regiment, my heart could not help shivering. I asked nervously, "how are the casualties of your regiment?"¡° There were about four companies injured and wounded, and more than 100 of them died. "¡° What, four hundred people? " It''s a little too small for the positions that suffered nine German attacks, so I asked curiously, "how did your regiment fight? Why are the casualties so small?"¡° Before the battle started, I thought that the German artillery was fierce. If too many troops were placed in the trenches, unnecessary casualties would be increased. So I only set up one company in the forward position. When the casualties exceeded one platoon, I sent another platoon. In this way, the casualties of the troops in the German attack were greatly reduced. " The first impression I had in my mind after listening to his report was that the third commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosga, was a talented person. The way he used his troops coincided with the way I taught him. If I can find a suitable person to take over the post of the third chief of staff, I''d like him to be my chief of staff. When Gaidar heard the news of my withdrawal, he didn''t say any superfluous nonsense. Instead, he simply replied, "please rest assured, sir, we will never let the Germans break through our position before dark." I thought that the German army had suffered so many defeats in front of the fourth regiment''s position, even the artillery position had been destroyed by us, so their attack should be delayed for a while. Unexpectedly, the German who suffered a great loss was not reconciled and soon launched a new attack. Although there was no artillery cover, they used ten tanks as the forerunner, followed by a battalion of infantry, to attack the fourth regiment''s position again. As the German army knew our anti tank means, usually it was the method of throwing flasks after the tanks approached, so they were very cautious this time. The speed of the tanks was almost the same as that of the infantry. As soon as our soldiers who went to bomb the tanks appeared, they were knocked down by the machine guns on the tanks or the submachine guns in the hands of the infantry behind them. Seeing that the situation was critical, Gaidar also ignored my order that only one platoon should be placed in the trench. Instead, he let all the reserves hidden in the traffic trench enter the first trench and used intensive fire to destroy the German infantry following the tanks. Although two German tanks were burnt by burning bottles when they jumped over the first trench, the remaining eight continued to drive towards the second trench. And the soldiers in the first trench, because they were fighting fiercely with the German soldiers, could not spare any hands. The other side had already rushed to the tanks in the rear. Because there were so many craters and debris of various mechanical vehicles in front of the second line of defense, the German tanks had to slow down and go around between them. Although Morozov''s mortar company and the heavy and heavy machine guns on the position opened fire fiercely, they seemed to have little influence on these steel giants. Although the tank body kept flashing sparks, but the speed did not slow down at all, and even fired to destroy a heavy machine gun and three or four light machine gun fire points. When I saw that the second line of defense was being solved more and more by the swaggering tanks, I couldn''t help but get anxious and quickly asked razumeyeva to contact peresjian. I took the transmitter and yelled angrily, "Captain perskin, where is your tank unit? Are you still squatting in the underground tank depot waiting for your offspring? Don''t you see that the German tanks have broken through our first line of defense and are approaching our second line of defense? "¡° But, comrade division, I didn''t get... "I didn''t listen to perskin''s explanation, but gave him a direct order:" I ordered your tank unit to attack the side of the German tanks immediately and kill them all. "¡° Yes, I''ll do it immediately Because I didn''t have time to inform Gaidar about the tank unit''s attack, his subordinates bravely rushed out of the trench when they saw the tank approaching. After sacrificing more than ten soldiers, they succeeded in killing three German tanks. Before the German tanks passed the second line of defense of the fourth regiment, the tank units of pelsjian had rushed to the front of the German tanks. With the body of the tank, a stream of white smoke was emitted from the gun barrel, and then the five tanks stormed to the second line of defense of our army, with fire and smoke rising. In the first round of shooting, all the tanks of pelsky hit the German tanks. There are three hit tanks, immediately stopped there, smoking no move, the other two body fire tanks, still continue to move forward tenaciously. Seeing that two other tanks were not damaged, pelsjian''s tank unit opened fire again. This time, each tank was hit by two or three rounds of artillery at the same time. One was directly overturned by the turret, while the other was interrupted by the track. After several turns, it was completely immobile.

 Chapter 564

    Seeing that our tank unit had cleaned up the German tanks, the soldiers in the trenches jumped out of the fortifications one after another, some carrying machine guns and submachine guns, which were specially used to fight the German tankers; And the artillery carrying the mortar went out of the fortification and ran forward for a certain distance. They aimed their guns at the distance and were attacking us fiercely. "Where''s your commander?" I continued. The soldier shook his head and replied, "I don''t know. I didn''t see the commander. He may still be at the back of the team." After thanking the soldiers, I took a group of people to face the retreating troops, but I didn''t meet kosja until I reached the village where the headquarters of the third regiment was located I strode into the headquarters and saw that it was empty. Mihayev came up to me and asked, "where are we going next, sir? Whether to continue to look for major kosga or to go to the position of the second regiment to look for major Oleg. " I thought about it for a moment and replied, "now that the third regiment has been transferred, it doesn''t matter whether we can find commander kosga. Now let''s go directly to the second regiment position to see what happened to lieutenant commander Oleg and why he could not be contacted. " Leaving the third regiment, I took a group of soldiers to the second regiment. You know, the second regiment is where the headquarters of the group army was. Even at night, I don''t have to worry about getting lost. When we approached the headquarters of the second regiment, we were stopped by two secret sentries jumping out of the roadside. Because they didn''t warn me, they jumped out from the roadside directly, which scared the soldiers behind me to raise their weapons one after another and point the black muzzle at the two unexpected soldiers. I raised my hand to signal the soldiers to put down their guns. After looking at the two men in front of me, I asked the officer, "Comrade lieutenant, are you from the fourth regiment?" The second lieutenant obviously knew me. He quickly and loudly replied, "yes, sir." I don''t want to talk to him. I ask him directly, "where is your commander?" The second lieutenant was stunned by what I said. After a while, he replied, "report to the division commander, the commander has taken the troops to carry out the task."¡° Execute the task? " I was stunned by the second lieutenant''s words. When I recovered, I quickly asked, "what mission did he go to carry out?" The second lieutenant did not dare to hide it, and honestly replied: "the commander said that we have thousands of comrades in arms who died here. Before the troops withdraw, he will take people to avenge them."

 Chapter 565

    "Nonsense, it''s nonsense!" Hearing what the second lieutenant said, I couldn''t help but burst out, "who gave him the right to openly disobey the orders of his superiors and attack the Germans without authorization. Who is it? Who gave him this right? "


    The second lieutenant wiped his forehead with his sleeve and said nervously, "Comrade division commander, this is the decision of the commander himself."


    I just answered noncommittally, and then asked faintly, "if the commander is not here, who is in charge here?"


    The second lieutenant looked around and said, "I think it''s my responsibility. The division commander and the commanders of the regiment all went with the regiment leader to carry out the task."


    "Lieutenant, how many people are there in the station?" I continued.


    "There is a platoon under my leadership, and there are more than 70 light wounded." Perhaps for fear of my further questioning, he immediately added: "the seriously wounded in the regiment have been sent to Stalingrad in the afternoon."


    "Take your men with you, and the light wounded, and follow me to the front."


    "But, comrade division commander," the second lieutenant hesitated at my command and asked tentatively, "if we all go to the trenches, won''t there be no secret sentries in these places?"


    "Comrade lieutenant," I said unhappily, "if the Germans really detour from other places, do you think you can stop them with a hundred or so people? Don''t say too much. Gather the team and get ready to go. "


    Seeing my resolute attitude, the second lieutenant did not dare to retort. He took out a whistle from his collar and blew it twice. With the sound of the whistle, several soldiers flashed out of the hiding place, ran to him and raised their hands to salute. The second lieutenant said to them, "gather the soldiers and the slightly wounded in the platoon immediately, and follow the division commander to the forward position."


    After the soldiers left, the second lieutenant put his body slightly to one side, made a gesture of please, and said in a flattering way, "Comrade division commander, I''ll take you to the trench."


    I nodded and stepped forward. The second lieutenant also started quickly, one body ahead of me, bent slightly to act as a guide for me in front. Seeing the second lieutenant''s respectful attitude towards me, I couldn''t help feeling good for him. As I walked along, I asked, "Comrade second lieutenant, what''s your name?"


    When I asked him his name, the second lieutenant was a little nervous. He replied in a flurry, "basmanov, Second Lieutenant Alexei basmanov." Seeing that I seemed to ask something else, I hastened to add, "I used to be from the 24th infantry division. My former troops were stationed in Ukraine. When they were surrounded by the German army, because the flag of our division was lost, they were withdrawn. All the division level commanders were sent to the military court, while the middle and lower level commanders in the division were sent to the punishment camp except for a few who were safe and sound. "


    Flag. When I heard lieutenant basmanov talking about the flag, I suddenly remembered that the flag of the independent division had been put in the headquarters of the station. I didn''t know if Sergey reekov had brought the flag out when he moved. If the flag is lost, it will be my fate to go to the military court. I slowed down, turned to razumeyeva, who was following me, and said, "get in touch with lieutenant colonel shejerikov immediately."


    As soon as I got through to shijerikov, I couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade commander, I want to ask you, did you take the flag of the independent division with you during the transfer?"


    "Of course, sir." "We''d rather lose our lives than protect the flag of the independent division," he said solemnly. Sir, please rest assured that I will protect the flag as well as my own life. " When I heard him say that, the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground.


    Outside the wooden house of the former group army headquarters, there was a German tank which was burning black. It was less than 20 meters away from the wooden house, which proved how fierce the fighting was at that time. The German tanks broke through our defense line and rushed straight to the side of the Oleg regiment headquarters. But for the brave soldiers who destroyed the German tanks with cluster grenades in time, Oleg and his commanders would be more or less dangerous.


    The more you go forward, the more bloody the air is. According to the information that Oleg reported to me, every inch of the frontier here is permeated with blood, including the blood of our soldiers and of course the blood of the Germans.


    Entering the trench, whether it was the engineer company of the guard class who followed me, or the subordinates and the light wounded of the second lieutenant basmanov, they scattered one after another, and each occupied a position, watching the distance warily.


    I lay on the trench wall, raised my telescope and looked into the distance, trying to see where Oleg''s troops were. Unfortunately, although the bright moon is high in the sky, I can only see the outline of the hillside in the distance. I only feel that it is quiet and there is no movement.


    After busmanov settled his men, he also lay down beside me and asked curiously, "what''s the news, sir?"


    I shook my head slowly and said, "I can''t see anything. I don''t know where Oleg and his troops have gone." When I said this, I was thinking that the second regiment was facing the 371st German infantry division, which occupied the 158 and 165 highlands. Oleg and I had fought with the Germans in the above-mentioned areas. He was familiar with the terrain and should be able to lead the troops to retreat after finishing the sneak attack.


    As he was thinking wildly, basmanov suddenly pointed to the front and yelled: "Sir, comrade, look, what''s that?"


    I raised my telescope and looked in the direction of his fingers. There were two bright spots on the plain in the distance. Under the bright moonlight, they were just like fireflies'' lights. Then there were two, four, six and eight points, and soon these bright spots became one.


    At this time, I saw clearly that these bright spots were car lights, and I didn''t know whether they were German or Oleg. If they were Germans, they would be caught off guard by the soldiers who were already ready. If it was Oleg, he would have been too bold to drive his car lights under the German eyes.


    However, it''s not surprising to think about it again. After all, according to the traffic regulations of their country, when driving, vehicles must turn on their lights all the time, whether it''s sunny or cloudy, day or night. It''s not easy for the old Mao Tzu to get rid of this habit.


    At this time, busmanov also saw clearly that the team was coming and said excitedly to me: "Comrade division commander, before the team leader set out, he said that he was going to attack the German transport team. It seems that they came back after completing the task, and they also came back in the captured car."


    Looking at basmanov''s jubilant appearance, I couldn''t laugh at all. I always had an uncertain premonition in my heart. I always felt that the Germans were not fools. How could they easily let Oleg return to our army with their captured vehicles.


    I could see through the telescope the approaching motorcade at high speed, with two open cars in front and about twenty trucks full of soldiers behind. Seeing the motorcade getting closer and closer, I saw a big and small flash on the far highland to the West. After the flash, there was the rumble of artillery. The German artillery deployed in the Highlands opened fire on Oleg''s motorcade.


    The first shot landed next to a truck in the middle and exploded. Although the huge shock wave did not overturn the car directly, it rocked the high-speed truck left and right. Then the rain like shells fell in the middle of the fast-moving motorcade and exploded.


    A shell directly hit the front of the open car, a fireball rose at the same time, the car''s tail high up, the whole car soared into the air, from the back forward in the air even over a somersault, and then fell heavily on the ground, then the fire and explosion. I witnessed the whole process of the car being shot and exploded. I was worried that Oleg was in the car, so I looked very carefully. It turned out that in the end, none of the passengers in the car escaped.


    Shells landed in the motorcade one after another and exploded. Although they rarely directly hit the trucks, the shock wave generated by the shells still overturned two or three trucks, and the soldiers on the trucks rolled down one after another. As a result of falling from the high-speed vehicles, almost all of these soldiers were injured on the spot, few of them could get up immediately, most of them were rolling in pain.


    Another shell exploded next to a truck, causing the car body to shake and half of the car to burn. Although the highly skilled driver stabilized the car and continued to gallop forward, the soldiers on the car were obviously not so lucky. There were only four or five people left in the full carriage.


    Because the distance of two or three hundred meters in front of the position was full of craters, the motorcade had to slow down when it rushed to this place, which further increased the accuracy of German artillery.


    Several people on the convertible jumped down, waving their arms desperately at the back, as if shouting something. Although I couldn''t hear what they were shouting from too far away, I immediately saw all the trucks stop at random, and the soldiers on the trucks jump out of the car one after another and rush to the position with weapons.


    Some slow-moving soldiers just jumped out of the car and didn''t run far away. The truck they used to ride was hit by German shells and exploded into a ball of fire. The flying shrapnel and explosive force swept down the soldiers who were not far away from the truck.


    Fortunately, the German artillery''s targets were concentrated on trucks, ignoring the officers and men who jumped to escape. In the end, nearly 150 people rushed into the trench.


    I got up and walked along the trench, shouting Oleg''s name as I walked: "commander Oleg, commander Oleg, where are you?"


    A soldier who was dressing his arm was injured. Hearing my cry, he rushed to the front and said, "Comrade division commander, commander Oleg is in front. You can see it if you go a little further."


    After I passed through the soldiers who were crowded in the trench, I saw Oleg sitting on the ground with his back against the wall of the trench. I bent down, grabbed him by the collar, and said angrily, "commander Oleg, look, that''s what you''ve done. For your so-called revenge, so many soldiers died in vain under the enemy''s fire. "


    Oleg looked at me dully, then turned to look around at the confused officers and men, and lowered his head in shame.


    Now that the military situation is urgent and it is not time to settle accounts with him, I angrily loosened his collar, stood up and said to busmanov who followed me, "Comrade lieutenant, it is not suitable to stay here for a long time. I order you to lead the troops to move immediately."


    Basmanov listened to my order, eyes involuntarily looked at Oleg sitting on the ground, I frowned, coldly said: "find two people, carry your commander retreat." I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and added, "I''ll give you five minutes. In five minutes, the troops must start. Otherwise, when the German army comes up, we will not be able to withdraw. "


    As the retreat task of the second regiment was entrusted to basmanov, I took the guard group and the engineering company with me to retreat to the North first. On the way, the more I thought about it, the more angry I was. Before the battle started, there were still 2000 people in the second regiment, but now, there are no more than 300 people who can retreat.


    We walked northward for about half an hour. Basmanov caught up with us and reported to me, "report, sir, I have led the second regiment up."


    I turned around and looked back. Although I didn''t see where the second regiment was because the guards and the engineering company were blocking my sight, I asked with concern, "what''s the situation with Lieutenant Colonel Oleg?"


    "I''ve come to myself." Basmanov said quickly, "I had asked two soldiers to carry him on a stretcher as you ordered, but he insisted on walking on his own. As you know, he is my superior and I have no right to give orders to him, so I have to go with him. "


    "If he wants to go, let him go." I was not angry and said: "I gave him a regiment of 2000 people. He gave me two or three hundred people. After this battle, the second regiment, which used to have strong fighting power, has completely lost its fighting power. It seems that you can only go to the rear to make up for it. "


    "Comrade division," basmanov was a little anxious when he heard me say that, "although our regiment has few people, the rest are the backbone of the fighting. If we are given new recruits, we will soon be able to regain our combat effectiveness. "


    Just as I was about to say something, a strange voice in front of me suddenly asked, "stop, which part are you from?"


    Hearing this voice, basmanov quickly stood in front of me and answered in a loud voice, "we are from the second division of the independent division. Which part are you?"


    "We are members of the ninth company of the third regiment, and we are left behind to take on the task of guarding."


    "Comrade teachers are here." Busmanov took the initiative to show me who I am.


    Soon, a lieutenant quickly ran up to me. I was surprised to see his clothes. He was wearing German helmets and German uniforms. If he didn''t speak fluent Russian, I would have shot. After he raised his hand to salute, he reported to me, "report to division commander, Lieutenant gordonov, commander of the ninth company of the third regiment, report to you. Our company was ordered by the commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosga, to stay on guard against the German army. "


    Instead of paying back, I asked sternly, "Why are you wearing German uniforms?"


    Godunov looked down at his military uniform, shrugged his shoulders with a embarrassed smile and said, "Sir, please listen to my explanation. Before receiving your retreat order, the commander had made a sneak attack plan. In order to achieve the effect of confusing German audio-visual, he specially collected more than 300 sets of German uniforms, and intended to let us disguise as German troops to sneak attack the residential areas. Although the plan was cancelled because of the withdrawal, I think these uniforms may be of little use if they are left behind, so I didn''t follow the commander''s order to bury them on the spot. "


    Godunov''s words made me have a flash in my mind. Although it is only 30 kilometers away from the preset position, no one can guarantee that we will not encounter German circuitous troops or scouts. If there is an exchange of fire, the German army will find that our division has retreated from the original position and will immediately catch up. If we make use of these German uniforms and pretend to be German troops, we can kill each other quietly when we meet Scouts or patrols. Even if we meet a large army, if the other party looks at the German uniforms our army is wearing and there are German Gaga talents like Mikhail, they will not doubt us at all, so that we can successfully reach the new position.


    When I thought about it, I immediately told gordonov, "Comrade lieutenant, bring the rest of the uniform immediately."


    "The rest of the uniform?" Godunov may not have adapted to my jumping thinking, and he was stunned. Fortunately, basmanov''s quick response, patted each other on the back and explained: "Comrade lieutenant, don''t you understand that the division commander is going to let us disguise as Germans, so as to ensure the safety of the road."


    Godunov quickly asked the soldiers to bring over the remaining 200 sets of military uniforms. He looked at our number and said in a bit of embarrassment, "Comrade division, you have too many people and not enough military uniforms."


    I waved my hand and said with disapproval, "it doesn''t matter. Give the uniform to the front and back of the team, and you don''t have to wear it in the middle." Then he specially pulled Mikhail yev to Godunov and told him, "this is Lieutenant Mikhail yev, the company commander of division engineers. His German level is similar to his native language. You can find him a uniform for an officer."


    After the German uniform was distributed, they walked and wore it on the way. Although the uniform was changed, the Soviet weapons in hand were not changed. Fortunately, at night, even if they met the German army, they would not notice these details.


    After the troops started again, I was at the front of the whole team. Mihayev, who was walking beside me, was wearing a German captain''s uniform. He asked nervously, "Comrade division, what if I meet a German on the way?"¡° You can ask them what part they are. If it is the 371st division, you say we are the 94th division; If it''s the 94th division, you say we''re the 371st division. They are carrying out the order to ascend the peak, making a detour to the rear of the Soviet army and preparing for the retreat of the other side. "¡° Sir, is that ok? " Asked lieutenant busmanov, who followed me cautiously. I turned to look at him, understatement, said: "it''s flexible." After walking about five or six kilometers, the lights of motorcycles suddenly appeared on the road ahead. I quickly raised my hand to signal the troops to stop. The motorcycles in front of us are coming. Judging from the number of lights, there are at least five. Although the Soviet army also had motorcycles, it would not send out five or six in the middle of the night, so it might be the Germans. As soon as I told basmanov and mihayev about my judgment, they became nervous and quickly told the soldiers behind to prepare for the battle. The motorcycle came to a stop more than 20 meters away from us, and then there was a question in German. Mikhail yev, who was next to me, quickly stepped forward and spoke to the opposite side in a loud voice. After a few words of conversation, mihayev said to me in a low voice, "division commander, it''s a small unit of the 94th division. They came to the rear of our army for reconnaissance. When he asked me the serial number just now, I had already followed your instructions and told them that we were from the 371st division and were being ordered to penetrate the Soviet rear. "¡° What shall we do, sir? " Basmanov asked in a low voice behind me¡° Kill them all and leave none. " I also answered in a low voice, "don''t shoot, try to deal with them with daggers." Busmanov quickly whispered my order back. The stopped troops went on, passing the motorcycle division, and I saw the same tricycle. There were three people in each car, just 15 people. Although mihayev has told them that we are the 371st division troops, when we passed by motorcycles, they still watched us with vigilance. The machine gun shooters in the sidecar even put their fingers on the trigger and pointed the muzzle at us, ready to shoot at any time. The soldiers in the first few rows and I have reached the position of the last motorcycle. With the remaining light of our eyes, we can see that the enemy has relaxed his vigilance a little, so we suddenly shout out: "let''s go." With my shouts, the soldiers who were already ready behind me pounced on the German soldiers who were standing or sitting, raised their daggers and stabbed them down. We have a large number of people, and we have been prepared for it. Almost all of these ten Germans were killed by our soldiers before they could react. When Godunov, who was at the back of the team, got the news and rushed over, all the German soldiers had been killed. Looking at the five motorcycles parked on the side of the road, Godunov said excitedly: "since you have these motorcycles, don''t walk like us any more. You''d better go by car, so that we can speed up our March."

 Chapter 566

    Gordonov''s proposal was just in line with my heart, so I was not polite and directly sat in the sidecar of the first motorcycle. Originally, mihayev wanted to ride the same motorcycle with me, but he saw that I had already got into the sidecar first. Wearing the German captain''s uniform, he obviously could not sit behind the driver, so he had to sit in the sidecar of the second motorcycle wrongly.


    Both Godunov and basmanov can drive motorcycles. They both fight to be my drivers. They fight for a long time. Seeing that they were fighting, I finally came out and let basmanov be the driver, while gordonov, I let him go back and continue to command the guards. On the remaining three motorcycles, all the soldiers in my guard class and lieutenant razumeyeva, the company commander of the communication company.


    As the troops in the rear were under the command of lieutenant commander Oleg and lieutenant Godunov, and I was in a hurry to join them, I urged basmanov to speed up.


    Busmanov agreed, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. With the accelerator in his home, the motorcycle drove fast on the rough dirt road.


    After driving at a high speed for more than half an hour, I raised my head and asked basmanov in a loud voice, "Comrade lieutenant, how far is it from our destination?"


    Maybe the wind was too strong, which affected basmanov''s hearing. When I called for the second time, he slowed down his speed, turned to look at me and asked aloud, "Comrade division, what do you say, I can''t hear you clearly?"


    I repeated the question in a loud voice. He looked around and answered me in a loud voice: "Mr. reporter, I think we may have finished most of the distance. In a few minutes, we should be able to reach our destination."


    Just as I opened my mouth to speak, basmanov''s body suddenly leaned back, and then the motorcycle suddenly lost control, and the body swung violently to the side of the road. Sudden changes, so that the back of a few motorcycles did not come back to mind, the results are one after another hit. The huge impact shocked my five abdomen and six viscera as if they were displaced.


    Just when everyone was in a mess, busmanov covered his shoulder and jumped out of the car. He yelled at everyone: "there are snipers, everyone, get down, get down!" As soon as he finished, he fell down on the ground.


    When I heard that there were snipers, I couldn''t wonder why the motorcycle just got out of control. Instead, I jumped out of the sidecar, fell on the ground, raised my gun and looked around, trying to find out where the enemy was?


    After all the soldiers of the guard class left the motorcycle and fell down on the spot, I crawled to basmanov''s side and asked in a low voice, "Comrade lieutenant, what''s the matter? Where are the enemy snipers? "


    Basmanov lay on his side, covering his left shoulder with his right hand, and replied painfully: "Sir, I''ve been shot. The bullet came from the hillside in the front left of the road and hit me in the shoulder


    Hearing his report, I quickly raised my telescope and looked there. The hill on the left is about 40 meters away from where we are. It''s quiet on the hill. No one can see it. I don''t know where the sniper who hurt busmanov is hiding now.


    I''m thinking about whether to send two soldiers to search now, or when the big troops behind arrive and send more people to search the mountain, a soldier of the guard class stooped to my side, squatted down and asked, "Sir, what should we do?" His loud voice was heard far away in the silent wilderness.


    I glared at him discontentedly, and directly ordered: "get down quickly, you stand so high, do you want the German on the hillside to hit you as a target?"


    The soldier put his gun on the ground, then threw his whole body forward and fell down on the spot.


    I raised my telescope again and looked up at the hillside. I saw a few figures slowly standing on the top of the hillside, bending over and coming slowly towards us. Seeing the sudden emergence of a few people, my heart beat faster. My heart said, can''t the Germans bear to rush down and destroy us?


    Thinking of this, I did not dare to neglect, quickly turned to the back and yelled: "guard class, listen to my command: load the bullet, get ready for battle."


    As soon as my voice fell, a familiar cry came from the opposite side: "Sir, is that you?"


    As soon as the other side opened his mouth, I recognized that it was the third group leader kosja who was shouting. He immediately put down his heart and quickly got up from the ground. He turned to the guard soldiers behind him and said, "don''t shoot. It''s his own." Then he yelled to the other side, "commander kosga, come here!"


    When I heard my voice, commander kosga and some soldiers came running to me at the speed of 100 meters. They stopped in front of me, raised their hands and saluted. Then they said in a loud voice, "report to division commander, commander of the third regiment. Commander kosga led his troops to meet you and wait for your orders."


    After giving a salute, I asked discontentedly, "commander kosga, since you are here to meet us, why do you shoot indiscriminately? You see, you have injured lieutenant basmanov of the fourth regiment."


    Kosja looked at lieutenant busmanov, who was covering his left shoulder with his hand, and then turned to me, but he didn''t explain why. He just straightened his back.


    Seeing his apathetic expression, I was a little anonymous and couldn''t help asking him in a loud voice: "Comrade kosga, why don''t you answer me? You know, the shot you just shot wounded lieutenant busmanov, and caused a series of collisions among five motorcycles. If it wasn''t for the fact that lieutenant busmanov happened to be talking to me and slowed down, it was estimated that some people would have died in the accident. "


    After I finished scolding, kosja finally said, "Sir, I''m very sorry for the accidental injury of lieutenant busmanov. I''d like to apologize to him on behalf of the soldiers who shot him." After that, he went to basmanov, raised his hand to salute him, and politely said, "Comrade lieutenant, I apologize to you for the recklessness of my subordinates. I hope you will forgive him!"


    I hummed heavily beside, and said angrily, "shoot and hurt people, is it over with an apology?"


    Kosja came back to me, looked at me and said boldly, "report, sir. I think the shooter did the right thing. If it was me, I would have fired. But the only difference is that if I shot, Lieutenant busmanov would not be here at the moment to accept my apology. "


    "What, what do you say?" Hearing his almost arrogant reply, I was almost furious, "you tell me clearly, why would you shoot if it was you?"


    "Because of your uniform and the motorcycle you''re on." "If I was on duty and saw a group of people in German motorcycles and uniforms show up in my field of vision, I would not hesitate to shoot," kosga replied


    German uniforms, I thought to myself when I heard what kosga said, we are not only wearing German uniforms now, but also the vehicles we are using have just been seized from the German army. The soldier on guard was not changed by the monkey king. He didn''t have any eyes. He couldn''t recognize at night whether the people in German uniforms in his vision were German or his own. So his decisive shooting was correct.


    Want to understand this truth, I can''t help blushing, fortunately in the evening, you can''t see the color of my face. Seeing that I didn''t speak for a long time, basmanov opened his mouth to help me out: "Comrade division commander, the shooter did the right thing. He must have regarded us as the German patrol, so he fired decisively. But fortunately, his shooting is not accurate, otherwise I will lose my life. " At the end, he laughed twice.


    I looked at a hillside in the night, quickly turned off the topic and asked kosga, "Comrade commander, how many people have you brought to meet us this time?"


    "Mr. reporter, I have two companies with me, and they are now hidden on the hillside," kosga reported. Fortunately, you were small, so the sentry fired. If there were a large number of people, maybe all the soldiers in ambush on the hillside would shoot. "


    What kosga said surprised me in a cold sweat. Fortunately, I was lazy and didn''t want to walk, so I listened to lieutenant Godunov''s advice and rode on a motorcycle. If hundreds of people swaggered on the road in German uniforms, kosga, who was lying in ambush on the side of the road, would order the troops to open fire and fight with his own people at that time, That''s a big joke.


    In order to prevent similar misunderstandings, I quickly ordered kosga to send a platoon of soldiers, followed by the bandaged wound of lieutenant basmanov, to meet the large troops behind. As I watched basmanov leave with the soldiers, I was escorted by kosga''s troops and moved to a new position.


    Although five motorcycles can still be used, I dare not ride any more for fear of misunderstanding by friendly forces. But not far away, kosja took us to the place where the truck was hidden and took me to the new headquarters with his card.


    When the truck arrived at its destination, all the people who had received the news, such as xijerikov and Gaidar, welcomed me to the new headquarters. The new headquarters is in the north of a hillside. It''s a semi buried shelter. The two steam lamps hanging in the house make the whole room bright.


    As soon as I entered the door, I saw the flag leaning against the corner of the wall. I could not help but smile and forget the unhappiness I had just met on the road.


    As soon as razumeyeva put up the radio station, she received a strange call. After answering the call, she looked up at me and said nervously, "Mr. reporter, it''s general Zhukov who is going to speak to you!"


    "General Zhukov?" Although I''ve always wanted to keep in close touch with him, the level difference between us is so big that we can actually get in touch with him for only a few days. I took the earphone and the transmitter and said politely, "Hello, general."


    "Good job, Rita!" Zhukov affectionately called my nickname. After giving me a generous compliment, he continued: "Comrade vasilevsky told me all about your deeds. He said that you not only attacked the 29th German motorized infantry division in the dark, annihilated nearly ten thousand enemies, but also captured major general Laize, the division commander of the division. It''s really amazing that we used the strength of another division to resist the repeated attacks of the three divisions of the 4th group army of hottank during the day. "


    When Zhukov said the name of the commander of the fourth group army of German tanks, he said "Hote" instead of "Goth" as trekov said. He said in a hurry, "Comrade General, although our division has won several victories, there are heavy casualties, and one regiment has almost run out. If we want to maintain the combat effectiveness of our division, it is very necessary to add enough backbone and a large number of soldiers. "


    After listening to my request, Zhukov was silent for a moment, and then asked word by word: "I heard Comrade vasilevsky say that you want Comrade meletzkov''s second lieutenant training team. Is there such a thing?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." It''s not a secret, so I didn''t hide it.


    Zhukov said with a smile: "Rita, you are really open-minded. You need to know the training team of the second lieutenant, but Comrade meletzkov''s heart and soul. He doesn''t know how hard it is for you to leave this army."


    "No, Comrade General. When I was still in the front army of volhoff, because I proposed to the supreme command that the next target of German attack would be Stalingrad, not Moscow or the Caucasus, which caused the Supreme Commander himself to be unhappy. In a rage, he gave an order that I should guard the mamayev post after the battle of the bulge. At that time, senior general meletzkov offered to hand over his second lieutenant training team to me. "


    "Let me ask you, if you do take over this army, how do you plan to use them?"


    "Shortly after the establishment of my independent division, there was a shortage of backbone fighters and grassroots commanders. After the second lieutenant''s training team comes, I will assign these officers to each company to assume the principal and deputy positions, so that each of them can have the opportunity to command a platoon or even a company. "


    Zhukov didn''t go on talking about the second lieutenant''s training team. Instead, he promptly changed the topic: "Rita, I''ll tell you a military secret: the troops transferred from the other front forces and the reserve of the supreme command are now assembling in the northwest of Stalingrad. Among them, the 16th tank army was in the greater Ivanka area, the 4th tank army was in the zavareyu area, the 64th Infantry Division was in the lesser Ivanka area, and the troops of the 173, 231, 116, 24 and 308 infantry divisions also got off at the alceda station.


    After these troops arrive, the commander of the front army will organize an assault group in the samofalovka area. In this assault group, there are the 27th and 35th infantry divisions, the 298th infantry division, the 28th tank army and the 196th tank brigade. They are under the command of major general kovadako, deputy commander of Stalingrad''s front army. Their mission is to counterattack to the southwest with the cooperation of the 62nd group army, and eliminate the 14th tank army, which burst into the Volga River


    Zhukov''s words frightened me. You know, it''s an important military secret. How can he tell me a small division commander that if the counter attack of the army fails because of leakage, I will be most suspected. Thinking of this, I couldn''t wait to interrupt trakov''s later words and cautiously reminded him, "sorry, comrade general, I''m not your deputy now. I''m not qualified to know such top secret information."


    "In a few days, I will go to Stalingrad to replace Comrade vasilevsky. Maybe I will let you be my deputy, so you must know some information in advance." Then he added: "in response to the plan being implemented by the front army of Stalingrad, comrade Stalin, who has been paying close attention to the war situation of Stalingrad, pointed out in his instructions to general vasilevsky, the representative of the supreme command, general yelimenko, the commander of the front army, and malinkov, the representative of the National Defense Commission:


    First, our military affairs must completely seal the enemy''s entrance to Stalingrad, encircle and annihilate them. You have the strength to do it, and you can and should do it.


    Second, we must hold our forward positions to the West and south of Stalingrad, and do not send troops from there to encircle and annihilate the enemy who has intruded. Our army will continue to counterattack Russian Airlines, attack the enemy and drive them out of Stalingrad. "


    From what Zhukov said, I can vaguely tell that in the coming days, the West and south of Stalingrad will be the focus of German attack. In other words, in the coming days, my independent division will still have a lot of vicious battles to fight. However, he didn''t mention anything about providing additional troops to our division.


    Seeing that his words were almost finished, I couldn''t help asking him again: "senior general, I beg you again to supply our division with the necessary soldiers. We should know that the soldiers in the independent division have not received any military training and are seriously short of combat experience. Before they became soldiers, they were all prisoners in Gulag concentration camp. "


    "What, prisoner?" To his surprise, Zhukov asked incredulously, "Rita, do you think the independent division is made up of a group of prisoners from Gulag concentration camp?"


    "Yes, Comrade General."


    "Before they became soldiers, they didn''t have any military training or combat experience. I''m not wrong."


    "Absolutely right, Comrade General." When I heard Zhukov''s question, a glimmer of hope appeared in my heart. With my understanding of him, if he didn''t want to help me, he would not have asked so carefully.


    As I expected, Zhukov was silent for a while after asking these questions, and then he said, "I''ll try my best to find a way to supplement the soldiers. Even if there is no regular army, we can add a few Stalingrad militia battalions. They are all made up of backbones drawn from major factories and have a certain combat effectiveness. In addition, I will also contact Comrade meletskov for you. As for whether he is willing to give you the second lieutenant training team, it depends on your luck. "


    When I heard that Zhukov was willing to take the initiative to contact General meletzkov for me, I was overjoyed and repeatedly expressed my thanks to him. He said earnestly: "Rita, the next battle will be more difficult. I hope you will be prepared psychologically enough."¡° Please rest assured, senior general, "I said confidently," where the independent division sticks to, the bandits will never be allowed to move forward. "¡° It''s a beautiful thing to say. Whether you can do it or not depends on your performance. I wish you good health. Goodbye Zhukov broke off contact before I could speak. After seeing the end of the conversation between Zhukov and me, xiejerikov, Koska and Gaidar quickly gathered around and asked curiously, "Comrade teacher, what did general Zhukov say to you?" I wanted to talk to them about the contents of the call, but I didn''t realize that the contents of my conversation with Zhukov were all military secrets. I couldn''t tell them, so I opened my mouth and closed my mouth. Seeing that I refused to say anything, he immediately understood that they were not qualified to know the contents of the phone, so he changed the topic in time and asked curiously, "Sir, has the second regiment of commander Oleg withdrawn?" When I heard his question, I sighed and said, "well, forget it. The second regiment has been withdrawn, but the casualties are heavy. There are only less than 300 people left, including dozens of lightly wounded."¡° What, less than three hundred? " As soon as I finished speaking, shijerikov said in surprise: "before the battle, the second regiment was a regiment full of 2000 people. In other words, they lost 90% of their lives in the battle, and they don''t know how Oleg commanded them. " When I heard what shijerikov said, the situation that the communication of the Oleg regiment was blocked during the retreat was not unknown. It was because of his good ideas that more than 200 soldiers died in vain under the enemy''s artillery fire on the way back from attacking the enemy''s camp. Thinking of this, I slapped the table and said angrily, "yes, this Oleg is too much. When I gave the order to retreat, he dared to break off the contact with the division headquarters and sneak attack the German transport convoy with hundreds of soldiers. Although the attack was successful, on their way back, they were found by the German army and mobilized dozens of artillery to bombard their convoy. As a result, more than 200 brave soldiers died in the enemy''s artillery fire. " When I finished, Gerda asked cautiously, "Sir, what are you going to do with Commander Oleg?" I snorted and said, "what else can I do? Of course, I''ll demote him and let him become company commander in the company." Speaking of this, I thought that after Oleg was removed from office, there would be no head of the second regiment. The most urgent task is to find a suitable person to replace him. So I turned to ask Xie jielikov, "Comrade commander, after Oleg is demoted, the post of the second head of the regiment will be vacant. Do you have a suitable person to replace him?" Shijerikov shook his head and said regretfully, "I''m sorry, sir. I don''t have a suitable person in my mind." I turned to look at Gaidar, but he also shook his head, saying that there was no suitable person. The three leaders who had never spoken, seeing that the other two leaders were shaking their heads, he stepped forward to me and said cautiously, "Mr. reporter, I have a suitable candidate. I don''t know if it''s in your mind."

 Chapter 567

    I turned a white eye at the chief kosga, who was selling the story. Then I said impatiently, "commander kosga, who is it? Please tell me straight away. Don''t always go around and make people feel funny."


    Seeing that I had signs of anger, kosja did not dare to make any further detours. Instead, he tentatively asked, "what do you think of your guard battalion commander, Captain Pugachev?"


    "Pugachev?" After listening to kosga''s warning, I found that up to now, I haven''t seen my guard battalion commander show up. "Where is he?" I asked casually


    Shejerikov hastily replied, "just now I received a report from the scouts that there was a sign of German activity in the southwest line of the position. Captain Pugachev personally took a company and rushed to the location where the German army was found."


    After listening to Xie jerikov''s words, I nodded in silence, and then asked kosga, "commander kosga, if you let Pugachev act as the head of the second regiment, who will be the commander of the guard camp? You know, because the terms of reference of the two forces are different, it is obviously inappropriate for captain Pugachev to take up two part-time posts. " If I say so, anyone who is not too stupid can recognize that I have acquiesced in captain Pugachev acting as the head of the second regiment.


    "I''ve got the right person for the position of battalion commander." Said cosga with a heart of purpose.


    "Oh, it''s not easy, commander kosga." "I didn''t expect that you could not only recommend a suitable deputy commander of the second regiment, but also the commander of the division guard battalion," said shijerikov in surprise


    "You have the right person for the commander of the guard battalion?" I was surprised by cosga''s amazing words, so I asked curiously, "who is this man? Do I know him?"


    "The second lieutenant who was shot by my soldier. His name is... "At this point, kosja''s brow wrinkled, showing a thoughtful expression, looking like he was recalling the name of lieutenant busmanov.


    As soon as I talk about busmanov, I can''t help thinking of the car accident caused by the shooting incident just now. I can''t help thinking of the feeling that after the crash, the Qi and blood in my body were churning, and the viscera were moving. When I thought about this, I felt a slight pain in my chest. I quickly covered my chest with my hand, found a seat, looked up at kosja, and said calmly, "you mean lieutenant busmanov."


    "Shooting? Commander kosga, what''s going on? " Gaidar didn''t wait for kosja to answer my question, so he asked about the shooting with concern.


    Kosja didn''t hide it either. When he went to meet us just now, the troops were resting on a hillside. It happened that we were wearing German uniforms and riding German motorcycles towards their position, so it was natural to regard us as Germans, so the sentry on duty fired without hesitation. At this point, he said happily: "fortunately, the sentry''s shooting is not very good. The bullet missed and hit the driver of the division commander''s car. The driver is the person I just recommended as the commander of the guard battalion. "


    I took off the German helmets from my head and threw them on the table. As I took off the German uniform which was on the outside of the uniform, I added: "his name is busmanov, a platoon leader of the second regiment. Although I haven''t been in touch with him for a long time, I feel that he still has certain ability. Since lieutenant colonel kosga suggested that he should be the commander of the guard camp, I have no objection. Do you have any different opinions? "


    "Who is the second lieutenant, and is he competent for the post?" Said chejerikov hesitantly.


    "He was originally from the 24th infantry division, surrounded by German troops in Kiev. As the flag of the 24th division was lost or captured by the German army during the breakout, the division was soon disbanded, and all the division leaders were sent to the military court, while the rest of the commanders at all levels, except for individuals, were also sent to the punishment camp. Under such circumstances, Lieutenant busmanov was sent to the correctional camp. You all know about the second lieutenant. Do you have any different opinions? "


    "No The three replied in unison.


    "What''s the situation with the army?" I asked the three leaders to sit down and then asked what they were interested in.


    "It''s said that in order to cover everyone''s retreat, the division commander personally took on the post-war task, which deeply moved the commanders and fighters. At present, the morale of the troops is high and they are ready to fight at any time. " Xiejerikov''s answer, let me in the heart secretly scold a: flatterer! But on the surface, I can''t say anything, I can only pretend to be serious and nod.


    When Oleg arrived at the headquarters, Pugachev, who was just on the way to perform the mission, also came back. They walked into the room together and raised their hands to salute me. I also saluted and ignored Oleg. I just looked at Pugachev and asked, "Comrade captain, I heard that you took the troops to discover the German area to carry out the mission?"


    "Yes, sir." Pugachev reported to me: "I got a report from the scouts that there was a sign of German activity on the west side of our military base, so I rushed to a company of soldiers."


    "When you got there, did you see the Germans?"


    Pugachev nodded hard and replied, "we found a German patrol team with 15 men. After annihilating all the enemies, according to the documents on them, we can know that they belong to the 16th tank division. "


    "What, the 16th tank division?" After hearing this, the expression on other people''s faces did not change much, except for the artillery battalion commander who had just been assigned to our division. He said excitedly: "the 16th tank division of German lieutenant general Hube, which belongs to the 14th tank army of Paulus''s 6th group army, is a highly effective force. Strange, how could they suddenly appear on the flank of our division? "


    The other commanders in this room obviously knew less about the German commander than yegonovic, so after hearing that, everyone kept silent. When I saw Oleg and Pugachev standing in front of me, I made a sign for them to sit down first.


    Then came captain pelsky of the tank unit, artillery battalion commander yegonovic, and artillery company commander Morozov. Almost all the people who saw that they were going to attend the meeting came, but they didn''t see basmanov. I asked Oleg, "Comrade Oleg, where is your subordinate, Lieutenant basmanov?"


    Oleg stood up with a blank face and said, "report, sir, he''s out there. He''s injured in the shoulder, and the health workers from the group army are dressing his wounds. "


    "Go and get him." I said dryly.


    Oleg did not dare to ask why. He went outside the headquarters and called in lieutenant busmanov.


    At this time, busmanov had taken off his German uniform and hung his hand on his chest. As soon as I saw him coming in, I quickly met him and stopped in front of him. I asked him with concern, "Comrade lieutenant, how is your injury?"


    The second lieutenant quickly straightened up and replied, "report to the division commander, the health officer took out the bullet for me and then bandaged the wound again. Now there is nothing wrong."


    "Very well," I said, pointing to the table with my hand, "Lieutenant busmanov, you can sit next to captain Pugachev."


    I went back to my position, faced the commanders present, coughed heavily, cleared my throat, and then said, "commanders, I''m very happy to see you here. For us, after finishing the task of blocking the German army, most of our division''s troops were able to successfully retreat to the preset positions designated by our superiors. This is a great victory. "


    When I said that, the commanders in this room all showed joy on their faces. I waited for the expression on everyone''s face to remain for a few minutes, and then said, "this time, our division''s task of covering the retreat of the main force, on the whole, has been completed very well. We not only withstood the attacks of several German divisions in three directions, but also severely damaged the 29th German motorized infantry division, annihilated nearly 10000 enemy troops and captured their division commander, major general Laize. "


    After these words, I turned my eyes to Oleg, who was sitting on my left side, and said in an emphatic tone, "although our division has made great achievements, some hidden shortcomings have also been exposed." At this point, I gritted my teeth and asked Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant


    Shejerikov quickly stood up, nodded at me and said to the others, "comrades, commanders, we could have quietly completed the transfer task without disturbing the enemy. I didn''t expect that someone, however, broke the rules, openly disobeyed the orders of the higher authorities, and led the troops to attack the enemy without authorization. Although one of the enemy''s transport teams was annihilated and a lot of vehicles were seized, it was a pity that when they returned, they were severely intercepted by German artillery fire, causing more than 200 soldiers to die in vain. We can not tolerate such abominable behavior. "


    While waiting for several commanders to come to the meeting, I told the three of them about Oleg. So they knew what happened. However, several other commanders at a lower level were not clear about the incident, and they were still whispering about what happened. Another person who knows about the situation is lieutenant busmanov, but on this occasion, people directly ignore him, and even less expect that the person who knows about the situation is sitting next to him.


    I coughed again, so that everyone''s attention focused on me. I said with a straight face and heartache: "don''t talk to each other any more. I''ll tell you about it. Originally, according to the division''s plan, the order of withdrawal was regiment 4, regiment 3, regiment 2 and regiment 1. When the withdrawal of the fourth regiment began, lieutenant commander shijerikov and I came to the defense area of the fourth regiment to receive defense, and at the same time contacted the third regiment and the second regiment to urge them to withdraw on time. What the third regiment didn''t say was that when the large troops retreated, a company was left on the position to monitor the enemy. But the second regiment couldn''t get in touch with them. " At this point, I slapped the table and said to Oleg in a loud voice, "commander Oleg, please tell us what''s going on?"


    Oleg, flushed, stood up slowly, lowered his head and chin to his chest, and whispered, "our regiment''s communication equipment has been lost."


    "Lost communication equipment?" After listening to his explanation, I snorted and then asked, "I''ll ask you whether the loss of communication equipment was before your group''s sneak attack or on the way back." I asked this because I saw an open car being blown up and somersaulted. I suspect that it was a communication class soldier on board at that time.


    Sure enough, Oleg muttered, "the signalmen and communication equipment were destroyed by German artillery fire on the way back to the position. The car they were riding in was directly hit by the shell, and all the people on the car were sacrificed."


    "I ask you, since your regiment''s communication equipment has not been lost before the retreat, why can''t you contact us?" As for the fact that I couldn''t get in touch with him in the fourth regiment, I kept on asking.


    He was more and more ashamed to hear my direct question. However, seeing that everyone looked down upon him, he had no choice but to honestly reply, "in the daytime, our regiment suffered heavy casualties, and thousands of officers and soldiers were sacrificed on the battlefield. So many of my commanders and fighters died in the hands of the Germans. I''m not reconciled. I want to avenge them, so I made a plan to attack the German army in spite of the opposition of my subordinates. " At this point, he looked up at me and added with some embarrassment: "Sir, I was afraid you would stop me, so I asked the signalmen to turn off the communication equipment and no longer receive any orders from the division headquarters."


    "Oleg, you bastard!" Gaidar stood up and pointed to Oleg''s nose and yelled, "you think you''re carrying guerrillas? How can I fight if I want to be so big? Have you ever thought about it? If your actions arouse the suspicion of the German army and expose the intention of our division''s retreat, and the Germans press up from behind, what should we do? Yes, we have won two battles, but you think that with our strength, we can withstand the repeated attacks of several German military divisions. You are wrong. You are very wrong! "


    "Well, commander gedar, stop talking." I stopped Gaidar from going on. In front of everyone, I directly announced the punishment decision on Oleg: "since Lieutenant Colonel Oleg disobeyed the military order and caused heavy casualties in the regiment, I decided to demote him, remove the head of the second regiment and demote him to the company commander of the second regiment." With that, I glanced over everyone''s faces and asked aloud, "do you have any different opinions?"


    "No!" Even Oleg agreed with me, replied the commander.


    "Since lieutenant commander Oleg has been demoted, the second regiment can''t have no leader for a day, so I decided to, Captain Pugachev." As I said this, I turned to Pugachev.


    Pugachev quickly stood up and promised loudly: "Sir, do you have any instructions?" Then he glanced straight at Oleg. It seemed that he thought I would ask him to call the guard in and take Oleg away.


    I grinned and said to him, "after studying with several commanders, I have decided to appoint you as the acting commander of the second regiment."


    "What, I''ll be the acting head?" What I said was obviously beyond Pugachev''s expectation. He asked in surprise.


    "Yes, Captain Pugachev. From now on, you are the acting head of the second regiment. "


    "But, comrade division commander, I''m your guard battalion commander. If I go to be the acting commander, I can''t be your guard battalion commander any more. Please reconsider this appointment. "


    "Don''t think about it." I said firmly: "you are the acting head of the second regiment. You are the acting head. Why are you so wordy. As for the post of guard battalion commander, you don''t have to worry about it. I''ve found the right person. "


    "The right person has been found. Who is it?" Pugachev asked incredulously.


    My eyes were on busmanov, and I laughed and called to him, "Lieutenant busmanov."


    The second lieutenant quickly stood up, straightened up, and asked, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"


    "From now on, comrade busmanov," I said solemnly, "you are my battalion commander. The rank is no longer a second lieutenant, but a captain. " It''s the most enjoyable thing for me to be able to promote my subordinates to military ranks at will.


    Basmanov was not as surprised as I believe, but was silent for a moment and said cautiously: "but Comrade division commander, I only command the platoon, and suddenly promoted to your guard battalion commander. I''m afraid I can''t do it well!"


    "No one is born to be a senior commander. You can learn what you don''t know." Seeing that he still hesitated, I said in an emphatic tone, "this is the order given to you by the superior. You can''t discuss it or refuse it. You can only implement it unconditionally."


    Seeing that my attitude was so firm, basmanov did not shirk. After saluting me, he replied loudly, "yes! Sir, I''m determined to obey your orders. "


    After I spread out the map on the desktop, I said to you, "next, we should discuss how to strengthen our existing defensive positions." After that, seeing Oleg leaning over the map on the table, he said to him coldly, "Comrade Oleg, now the leaders of the regiment are in a meeting. Your level is not qualified to attend the meeting. You can leave." With that, I didn''t look at him anymore, just looked down at the map in front of me.


    From the corner of my eye, I saw Oleg was stunned. He got up and went to the gate of the headquarters. Before he stepped on the stage, he turned and saluted me. I didn''t look up, I just waved to his position.


    After Oleg left, I pointed the map with a red and blue pencil and said to everyone, "our division''s defense focus will be in the South and West. Shejerikov''s regiment is responsible for defending the south; The third regiment of Colonel kosga, on the other hand, was responsible for defending westward. In these two days of fighting, the second and fourth regiments have suffered a great loss. Before they are replenished with new soldiers, they will stay in the back as reserve forces of the whole division and stand by. " Before I finished, razumeyeva, who was sitting in the corner of the wall, got up and walked over, raised her hand to salute me, and then reported, "Comrade division commander, general trakov, deputy commander of the group army, is online. He wants to speak to you."¡° Hello, comrade commander I picked up the transmitter and said politely. In the whole army, I''m probably the only one who calls trakov commander, while others call his real rank deputy commander¡° Have all the independent divisions been removed? " Trekov asked with concern¡° Yes, comrade commander. The four infantry regiments, tank units and artillery battalions have all retreated to their designated positions. "¡° Is there any difficulty? "¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Naturally, I will not let go of the chance to raise conditions. "The second regiment suffered heavy casualties in the battle. At present, there are less than 300 people left, so it is urgent to make up for them. I don''t know when the new recruits will arrive at our division? "¡° I have six thousand recruits in my hand now. "As soon as trekov spoke, I was overjoyed. I only wanted eight hundred people, but he said six thousand. He was happy for less than a minute, and then he heard trakov say, "but they are all from Gulag concentration camp. They arrived during the day today. No military training, no combat experience. Even if all of them are added to your division, you can only gather a few people in a short period of time, not form combat effectiveness. " After hearing this, I was disappointed. Even if the recruits who don''t know anything are added to the army, their role is really limited. Maybe the enemy''s shells will fall one kilometer away from them and explode, and they will be scared to flee¡° Sir, what did general trakov say? " "Asked sergerykov and the others, not far from me, in a voice so low that only the two of us could hear it. I quickly covered the transmitter and said to him, "general trakov said that he could supply us with 6000 people..." before I finished speaking, I saw the faces of the commanders around me showed a happy expression. I quickly finished saying, "but they are all new people from Gulag concentration camp, without military training or any combat experience." As soon as I finished speaking, people''s faces showed disappointment. I bowed my head and thought that although they were prisoners without any experience, if they had to be trained by backbone fighters and grass-roots commanders, their combat effectiveness could be formed quickly. Moreover, Zhukov had promised to ask meletskov for the training team of the second lieutenant for me, so there was nothing to worry about. Thinking of this, I released my transmitter and said to trikov, "Comrade commander, I want all the 6000 people. I don''t know when I can add them to our division. " Trekov was startled by what I said. He asked in disbelief, "oshanina, are you sure you can accept all these 6000 people?"¡° Yes, comrade commander, "I replied decisively," the independent division has lost a lot of troops in these two days of fighting. We need to continue to replenish a large number of troops. Otherwise, we''ll have to fight for another two days and all of them will be wiped out. "

 Chapter 568

    Perhaps trekov had planned to add the 6000 recruits to our division for a long time. After listening to what I said, he said almost without thinking, "well, o''shanina, since you are willing to accept these recruits, I will ask chief Ruskin to bring them to you as soon as possible to report."


    "Thank you, thank you, comrade commander." I said gratefully, "with these recruits, I''m more confident of holding on to my current position."


    "Next, let me introduce to you the situation of our group army and friendly army." Trekov didn''t answer me and said to himself, "in this week''s battle, the 4th group army of Goth tanks, after paying a great price, captured the abganerovo station, jinguta station and 55km passing station, forcing the left wing of the 64th group army to 174 heights ZET and aberganerovo stations are located 15 kilometers northwest of casare. In addition, the German army also occupied the town of tundutovo, Southeast of abganerovo station. But they have never been able to break through the front lines of our 64th and 57th army. " When I heard the name of the commander of the 4th Army of German tanks, I noticed for the first time that trakov spoke with such a strong local accent that he called Holt Goth. However, these are minor issues of no importance, as long as you understand who he said.


    I took a picture of shijerikov next to him, pointed to the map on the table and motioned him to bring it for me. Shejerikov immediately understood, ran to get the map and spread it carefully in front of me.


    "Yes, I see, comrade commander." As I answered, I looked down at the map in front of me. After watching it for a minute, I asked tentatively, "judging from the map, our division is now in the kashare area. The left wing should be the unit of the 57th group army, and the right wing should be the unit of our group army?"


    "It''s your old acquaintance, Colonel lyudnikov''s close guard 70th division and Colonel kuropatenko''s infantry 157th division. With them on your division''s right wing, you can rest easy in this defense. "


    "Great. That way, I can concentrate my forces on the main defensive direction." I looked at the map and said, "our defense area, or defense zone, is 15 kilometers in front and 20 kilometers in depth."


    "Now that you know, that''s fine." Trekov continued: "I want to remind you that the town of tundutovo, which was occupied by the German army, is very important geographically. It is located close to the ground, near the riverside highland between the Red Army city and buketovka, an important area of decisive significance to the whole Stalingrad combat area. If you stand on the coastal Highlands, you can overlook the whole Volga Bay and sarpinski island. It can be said that if the German army wants to break through our defense in Stalingrad, this is the best place to carry out the assault. " Perhaps worried that I could not understand the importance of these areas, he added after a pause: "the Red Army city is a key part of the defensive position south of Stalingrad, and also the focus of the only road link between the West Bank of Volga River and Astrakhan. So no matter where the German army appears, it is not as dangerous to us as it is here. "


    I looked at the map, nodded, took over the topic of trekov and said, "Comrade commander, I see what you mean. From the map, as long as the Red Army city and Buick tovka are still in our hands, it will be very difficult for the German army to attack or defend. Because this highland is higher than the Volga River, it provides a very favorable condition for observing the kalmek grassland. Our army can use this place as a gathering place for troops, and use it as a springboard to carry out counter attacks on the southern wing of the German army that attacked Stalingrad or defended there. " After finishing my opinion, I asked modestly, "Comrade commander, do you think I''m right?"


    "Exactly, comrade o''shanina." "I didn''t expect that you could accurately analyze the exact situation just by listening to my brief introduction. It''s really not easy," he said happily. Work hard. After this battle, I promise you that you will become a general. "


    After listening to trekov''s words, instead of being complacent, I went on to ask a question I was interested in: "Comrade commander, are you familiar with the commander of the 57th army? Can you tell me what kind of commander he is?" I have dealt with almost all the troops of the 64th army, and I know something about their combat effectiveness. But I don''t know much about the 57th army on the right wing of our division. The only impression is that some time ago, the German army bypassed the defensive zones of the 214 and 229 divisions, defeated the forces of the 57th group army, wedged into the junction of the 64th group army and the 7th group army, and cut off the connection between the two groups. It is precisely because of this that I am worried about the combat effectiveness of the friendly forces. If they can''t stop the German army''s crazy attack, our flanks will be exposed to the German army.


    After a short silence, trakov said carefully: "Fedor Ivanovich torbhusin, commander of the 57th army, is loyal to his duty, brave and good at fighting, and has outstanding command ability in everyone''s eyes. As early as in the civil war, he accumulated rich experience in combat. Later, he went to the Military Academy of vorongzhi for further study. After graduation, he commanded a division and served as the chief of staff of a military region. After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, he served as the chief of staff of the Transcaucasian front army, the Caucasian front army and the Kremlin front army, and began to serve as the commander of the 57th army in late July this year. He is good at organizing a solid defense, and at the same time he can carry out a bold counter attack against the enemy. Another outstanding feature of him is that he is very concerned about his subordinates. "


    After listening to trakov''s comments on tolbuhine, I feel more at ease. It seems that the defense of the left wing can be relieved. Next, I can concentrate all my strength on the defense of the South and continue to block the advance of the 4th group army of Holt tanks towards Stalingrad.


    "Is there anything else to ask?" Trekov asked.


    When I saw the flag in the corner, I suddenly remembered what happened to basmanov, the new commander of the guard battalion, and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, I heard that among the troops that carried out the anti assault against the German sixth group army, there was the 24th infantry division." As I said this, I glanced at basmanov. When he heard the name of his old army, his eyes lit up.


    "Yes, there is a 24th infantry division in the fighting forces. What''s the matter? Why do you ask about this army? "


    Looking at basmanov, the former grass-roots commander of the 24th division, I replied: "I heard that the division was surrounded by the German army in Kiev. After highlighting the encirclement of the German army, it was disbanded because of the loss of the flag. The division commander was sent to the military court for trial, and most of the basic commanders were sent to the disciplinary camp."


    "It is true that the 24th division was disbanded after losing its flag. According to the regulations of our army, if an army loses its flag, it means that it is defeated. Therefore, the division must be disbanded, and all division commanders must be sent to the military court for trial. " Trikov seemed to know something about it, but he continued, "two months ago, a guerrilla group returned to Moscow and brought back a coffin. The coffin contained the body of a commander wrapped in a flag. After checking and confirming by the staff of the interior department, it was found that the flag was lost by the 24th division and was immediately sent to repair. Soon, the Supreme Commander himself came down and reorganized the 24th division. "


    "Great. Now that the troops are reorganized, can the original commanders go back to their own troops?" I can''t help but feel happy for basmanov, who suffered a lot in the correctional camp, when he has the chance to return to his own army.


    To his surprise, trakov sighed and said, "o''shanina, you really think about the problem too simply. Because the division once lost its flag, the original commander could not be recognized by the higher authorities. At the same time, the newly formed troops would also reassign new commanders at all levels. Even if the Division has made outstanding achievements in future operations, it will not have a chance to become a guard division. " Then he specially stressed: "since you mentioned the military flag, I think it is necessary for me to remind you that you must protect the glorious flag of the independent division as well as protect your own life. Otherwise, you will know what will happen if I don''t say it."


    "I understand, comrade commander." I fully understand the importance of the flag can not be lost, so I take this opportunity to make a statement to trikov: "I will protect this glorious flag as I cherish my life."


    "If the independent division replenishes thousands of recruits, its combat effectiveness will be diluted. How do you plan to solve this problem?" Trekov asked with some concern.


    "I think so, comrade commander. I hope you can send a group of combat backbones from other units to our division. If you come to a corporal, I will let him command a recruit class; Come a sergeant and I''ll give him a new platoon. "


    My suggestion made trakov laugh. He said with a smile, "o''shanina, how dare you think about it. Now the fighting is so hard, the casualties of all the troops are not small, and the veterans and battle backbones have suffered a lot. How dare you mention such conditions. Not to mention the squad leader and platoon leader, even if the company commander and battalion commander are placed there, the commanders of other troops will not be willing to transfer even one combat backbone to you. No, your method will not work. Think of other ways to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops. "


    I''ve been prepared to run into a wall here. Since he can''t count on it here, he can only wait for the arrival of meletskov''s second lieutenant training team while tapping the potential inside the independent division. Of course, it''s no good just waiting. Although both vasilevsky and Zhukov promised to mention this matter to meletskovsky, I''m afraid they are too expensive. I forget this matter as soon as I get busy, so I want trakov to help me urge this matter, so I said frankly, "Comrade commander, I have one more thing to ask for your help. When I was still in the front army of Volkhov, general meletzkov had offered to hand over his training team of second lieutenants to me for command. If this team is transferred and these grass-roots commanders are enriched in the army, the combat effectiveness of the independent division will be improved soon. "


    "Is this possible?" Trekov said uncertainly, "as far as I know, the second lieutenant''s training team is the sweetheart of general meletzkov. Will he give it to you at will?"


    "I have mentioned this matter to general Zhukov and general vasilevsky, chief of the general staff. They have promised to help me with it. I just ask you to mention it to them at the right time, so that they will not forget because of the busy military affairs.


    "Well, I''ll take care of it. I''ll let you know in time when there''s news. " When trikov heard that he was just a messenger, he readily agreed.


    "Well, please, comrade commander. Do you have anything else to tell me? "


    "Ha ha, you are so capable. How can you teach me! Finally, good luck to you Then, trakov broke off contact with me.


    I took off the earphone, put down the transmitter, and looked at basmanov standing opposite. Although I saw the disappointment on his face, I could only say to the new captain with regret: "Captain basmanov, I''m sorry that although the 24th Division has to be rebuilt after the flag is recovered, the commanders at all levels are re appointed by the superior. It seems that you can only stay in the independent division as my guard battalion commander


    Basmanov raised his hand to salute me and said gratefully, "Comrade division commander, thank you for the good news. Although I can''t return to the 24th division, the glorious troops can be rebuilt and those comrades in arms who died can die."


    I asked everyone to come back to the table, put the map on the table and announced: "due to the change of the situation, the deployment just now needs to be readjusted." I pointed the map with a red and blue pencil and said to you, "according to general trakov''s report, on the right side of our division are the 70th and 157th guard infantry divisions, while on the left side are the 57th army. In this way, our defense will focus on due south. "


    "What is the mission of our regiment?" Asked one of the commanders, sergeikov, preemptively.


    "The first regiment will use hills and depressions to build the first line of defense five kilometers from the division headquarters." At this point, I turned my head and looked at the third regiment commander. Kosja continued: "the third regiment should build the second line of defense of our division two to three kilometers behind the first regiment. However, the second and fourth regiments were inconvenient in their tasks, so they stayed in the rear to serve as the reserve forces of the division and took the time to train the new recruits. "


    "Sir, I can speak." Pugachev said suddenly.


    "Say it," I always pay attention to promoting military democracy, so when I heard that the acting head of the second regiment Pugachev had something to say, I nodded and let him say it freely: "Comrade Pugachev, if you have anything to say, just say it."


    "I don''t know how the division commander plans to distribute the 6000 new recruits that the group army has given us?"


    "The second and fourth regiments fought very hard and suffered a lot of casualties. Therefore, I intend to allocate the newly added troops in this way: one thousand each in the first and third regiments, and two thousand each in the second and fourth regiments. "


    "Comrade division commander," shejerikov suddenly interjected, "although the group army has added so many new recruits to us, it is just a matter of making up the number for us. Their participation will not only not improve our combat effectiveness, but may even dilute the combat effectiveness of our troops. "


    "Sergeant chejerikov," I interrupted impatiently, explaining to the incoming recruits, "please remember that although they are prisoners from Gulag concentration camp, among them are the best intellectuals, the most skilled workers, the most outstanding engineers, though they have no military training, I don''t have any combat experience. But I believe that with their intelligence, they will become the mainstay of our independent division sooner or later. "


    My words embarrassed him so much that he didn''t know how to answer them. He opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn''t say anything. He just sat in his own place in silence.


    After looking at sjerykov sitting down, I went on to say, "although our division has not been established for a long time, and there are not enough veterans, after several battles in recent years, we can see that the commanders and fighters have grown up very quickly, and some companies have even trained a number of combat backbones. Facts have proved that our way of training is very effective. As for the recruitment of new recruits, we should not worry about the key combat personnel and grassroots commanders. General Zhukov promised to recruit several militiamen annihilation battalions from Stalingrad to supplement us. Although it is not long for these militiamen to take up arms, they have also experienced many battles and have certain combat experience, which can enrich them into grass-roots combat units. As for commanders, general meletzkov, commander of the volhoff front army, has provided us with a training team for second lieutenants. Every member of the team is an experienced commander. When they come, we will have suitable candidates for company commanders and even battalion commanders of our division companies. "


    After finishing the issue of organizational structure, I continued to assign the defense forces of the independent division to you: "at present, there are only five tanks left in our division''s tank unit. It is obviously unrealistic for them to confront the powerful German tank units. Captain perskin, what''s your plan


    Pelsky, who was named by me, stood up from his seat and replied respectfully: "Comrade division, not only are there not enough tanks in the tank unit, but now the fuel is almost exhausted, and there is no way to launch an offensive against the German army. So I would like to propose that these tanks be buried in the rear of a regiment position and used as temporary battery to provide necessary firepower cover for infantry. What do you mean, sir? "


    I shook my head and said, "I have no problem." Then I looked at shejerikov and asked, "Colonel shejerikov, do you have any comment on captain perskin''s proposal?"


    Shejerikov did not speak, but shook his head and said he had no objection. So I nodded to captain perskin and said, "since there is no objection, do as you think. Bury the tank and use it as a fixed fort." Then I called the names of yegonovych and Morozov. When they got up, I asked in turn, "Captain yegonovych, where are you going to deploy your howitzer battalion?" Yegonovich quickly replied: "report, comrade Colonel, I have observed the terrain. There is nothing near here, only a small number of hills, so I plan to deploy artillery positions on the hills. When the battle starts, I will send artillery observers to provide us with firing data and carry out fire attack on the German troops attacking our army in the distance. "¡° Good. And you, Captain Morozov? " After praising yegonovych, I asked captain Morozov that his cannon company had been lost in the blocking battle, and the surviving Gunners were now using the captured 81mm mortars¡° Report to division commander, "Morozov replied dryly," because the cannons were completely destroyed by the German tank fire and enemy aircraft bombing in the battle, and what we are using now is to capture 81 mm of the German army, so we can only build mortar fire force points on the positions of a regiment and use the artillery fire to destroy the attacking German infantry. " When he finished, I nodded and said to him, "well, in that case, from now on, your artillery company will be under the command of lieutenant colonel chejerikov''s regiment. I hope you can use German shells to beat those German soldiers who attack a regiment of positions and send them all to God. " My words caused a lot of laughter from the commanders present. Seeing that the dull atmosphere in the headquarters had subsided, I went on to say, "I''m here to draw the attention of all commanders. Although we are fighting a defensive war, we can''t just defend for the sake of defense. Just because the Germans don''t attack one day, they can''t hide in the trenches and congratulate themselves. When the Germans attack, we will fight them; When the Germans don''t attack, we have to fight with them. Since they don''t come to fight us, let''s fight them. Although our combat effectiveness and weaponry are not as good as theirs, we can reverse this disadvantage by sneak attacks and ambushes, and firmly control the initiative in the battlefield in our own hands. " My words won everyone''s warm applause. As soon as the applause stopped, Pugachev asked in a loud voice: "Comrade division commander, what should we do if the newly added soldiers have no weapons? Will the superior supply us with weapons and equipment? " Pugachev''s question made the relaxed atmosphere dignified. Everyone''s eyes were on me, waiting for my reply.

 Chapter 569

    I was about to speak when a clear gunshot broke out of the room.


    Just when most of the commanders were at a loss, xiejerikov stood up and rushed to the door of the headquarters with a lunge. He yelled at the outside: "come on!"


    A soldier quickly appeared at the door, raised his hand to salute, stood silently in front of him, ran to himself, waiting for him to ask questions or give orders.


    "Where did the gun go?" Asked chejerikov aloud.


    The soldier at the door was obviously a subordinate of chejerikov. Hearing his question, he quickly replied, "report chief, the gunfire came from the west of the headquarters." Then he skillfully said to shijerikov, "listen to the gunfire, it should not be more than 200 meters away from us. Maybe the sentry on duty over there found the enemy''s trace, so he fired his gun to call the police. "


    My heart beat faster when I heard that the German troops were within 200 meters of my headquarters, but I still had to keep calm in front of many of my troops. I picked up the submachine gun leaning against the table and asked Pugachev in a loud voice, "Captain Pugachev, where is the company you just took to the mission? Call them all up and follow me to see what''s going on? "


    "No, sir." Before I got to the door, Captain busmanov, the new guard battalion commander, stopped me first and said, "you are the head of the first division. You can''t take any risks. Let me take a guard company to see what''s going on."


    Basmanov''s words immediately aroused the resonance of all the people present, and everyone echoed: "yes, sir, it''s too dangerous outside. You can''t take risks."


    "Sir, this kind of thing can be done by any of our leaders here, but you can''t. You are the backbone of our independent division. You can''t take risks easily."


    I know that everyone''s dissuasion comes from their good intentions, but in such an extraordinary period, it is still necessary to motivate the morale of the army through their own initiative. So I waved my hand, declined everyone''s good intentions, and resolutely said: "thank you for your good intentions, but I have made up my mind. Don''t try to persuade any more."


    But in order to reassure everyone, I decided to take more people: "Captain Pugachev, assemble the company just now. And you, Captain basmanov, "the first order was given to Pugachev, and the second order was given directly to the new guard battalion commander," take the soldiers of your platoon. "


    Just as shejerikov wanted to talk again, the telephone rang in the room. It seems that before I came here, they did a good job in preparation. Even the telephone in the headquarters was installed. Shejerikov quickly went to pick up the phone and said in a loud voice, "Hello, I''m commander shejerikov of the regiment. Where are you?"


    After listening to the other party say a few words, Xie jerikov said: "wait a minute, don''t hang up." Then he covered the microphone and turned to report to me: "Comrade division commander, the officer on duty reported that a few minutes ago, the sentry on the west side of the hillside found a troop approaching, so he decisively fired a warning gun. Now all the guard troops in that direction have entered the position and are ready to stop the enemy."


    "How many troops and what kind of equipment does the enemy have?" I asked repeatedly.


    "According to the report, there are probably more than 100 people in the enemy. As they did not fight back, it is impossible to confirm whether they are carrying heavy weapons or not," he said, shaking his head


    As soon as the words were heard, there was a loud gunshot outside. Xiejerikov quickly released his hand on the microphone and asked the other party in a loud voice, "what''s the matter with the gunshot?"


    In order to know the specific situation of the war in time, I approached the side of Xie jerikov and heard the reply from the microphone: "report to the commander, it is our soldiers who fire at the approaching enemy again."


    "Did the enemy fight back?" Shejerikov looked at me and then asked.


    "No, the enemy is approaching our position by taking advantage of favorable terrain such as depressions."


    "How far is it?"


    "The distance is less than 100 meters. Maybe our firepower is too strong and the enemy has stopped advancing."


    After listening to the report of the officer on duty, I was really puzzled. What kind of play did the Germans sing? They came to attack us secretly. After we were found, they did not retreat or fight back. They just used the terrain to try to get close to our army.


    Xiejerikov put down the phone, asked me for instructions and said, "Comrade teacher, what do you think we should do?"


    It seems that if we want to find out what happened, we have to go to the firing position. When I made up my mind, I immediately began to give orders: "commander xijerikov, you are in charge of the headquarters of the left behind division. If there is anything, I will contact you by phone. Kosja, gedar, yegonovych, Morozov, you go back to your respective units and get ready for all the fighting. Pugachev, busmanov, take the troops and follow me to the position. "


    Just now, when xiejerikov was still on the phone, both Pugachev and basmanov went to the door to find one of their subordinates and ordered the other party to call up the troops. By the time my order was given, more than 100 officers and men were ready to go outside the headquarters.


    Pugachev had just arrived at the position we were going to, so as soon as I called out to start, he walked at the front of the whole team and guided us to the place where the gun was fired.


    Fortunately, the place where the gun was fired was not far from the headquarters. It took only two or three minutes to reach the destination. Far away, I could tell from the sound of the gunfire that not only the Soviet rifles, submachine guns and machine guns were fired, but also the German rifles and submachine guns were fired. I thought the German army began to fight back. When they went into the trench, they found that it was the soldiers who were lying in the trench, shooting desperately at the outside, but there was no movement outside.


    Seeing this scene, I could not help frowning slightly, thinking who was the company commander and how he trained the soldiers? Even the enemy didn''t see it. It was like setting off firecrackers. Don''t they know that the ammunition of German weapons is captured, and one shot is lost?


    Pugachev''s company commander, who was guarding the position, called over. As soon as I saw the lieutenant, I burst into an attack: "Comrade lieutenant, what''s the matter with your soldiers? They didn''t even see the enemy''s face. Everyone is about to run out of bullets. Immediately order them to stop shooting. If you can''t see the enemy, just wait and wait until the enemy gets close. "


    The lieutenant, who had been trained by me, yelled at his subordinates: "stop shooting, stop shooting immediately! Stop fighting and stop shooting immediately. "


    Taking advantage of the opportunity for the lieutenant to greet his subordinates, Pugachev and basmanov and I went to the command post of the position first. I raised my telescope and looked out from the observation port. In the moonlight, the visibility was no more than 100 meters. I only saw some dark figures in the distance. They were in the form of scattered soldiers. Taking advantage of the terrain outside, they moved cautiously to our positions.


    The gunfire in the position soon stopped. The lieutenant came in and reported to me, "report to division commander, I have ordered the troops to stop shooting. Only a few machine gun positions were told to use machine gun fire to suppress the German troops once they approached again. "


    I did not put down my telescope and continued to observe the situation outside. As the firing on our position stopped, those enemies took the opportunity to move forward and quickly approached 20 meters. At this time, a light machine gun in the position rang, and the bullets clattered on the enemy''s only way. But they didn''t panic. They just fell down on the spot. When the machine gunners changed their ammunition clips, they rushed forward for more than ten meters. When the machine gun rang again, they had found a relatively safe place to hide from the machine gun fire.


    The more I look at it, the more wrong it is. What are these enemies? When he came to attack our army''s position, when he was suppressed by our firepower, he didn''t fire a single shot and looked passive. I touched Pugachev, who was standing beside me, and handed him the telescope. At the same time, I said, "Pugachev, you can see that the enemy''s performance is really strange. In the face of the suppression of our army''s intensive firepower, they neither retreat nor fight back, but only make full use of the terrain to move forward."


    Pugachev looked at it for a while and said strangely, "Sir, I''m afraid it''s not the Germans. How can the Germans be so brave in the face of such fierce firepower of our army?"


    "Yes, it''s not like the German soldiers I know." In my mind, although the German army has strong combat effectiveness, in the face of dense enemy firepower, they usually choose to retreat. Even if they do not withdraw, they will shoot back in place. It''s abnormal that the enemy''s attack on us, like this evening, is only to move forward cautiously, neither to fight back nor to retreat.


    "Could it be a friendly force?" As soon as Pugachev''s words came out, he immediately denied his own saying: "but it should not be. Our right wing is the 70th division of the guards and the 157 division of the infantry. It''s too late for them to build fortifications. How can they send troops to our direction?"


    The speaker didn''t mean it, and the listener meant it. Originally, Pugachev just said it casually, but he let us guess that the troops outside the battlefield might really be our friends. I quickly called the lieutenant over and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, where is your company''s phone?"


    I saw the lieutenant point his hand at the corner of the wall. Without waiting for him to speak, I immediately ordered him: "call your commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sergei nikov, and ask him to send someone to send the flag from the headquarters immediately. We can''t afford to delay in a hurry. "


    When the lieutenant called to convey my order, Pugachev put down his telescope and asked curiously, "Comrade division, what do you want lieutenant commander xiejerikov to send the flag here for?"


    "You''ll find out later." Instead of explaining to him, I ordered busmanov: "Captain busmanov, you go out and order the machine guns outside to stop shooting. No one is allowed to shoot again without my order. " Basmanov did not ask for any reason, but simply agreed, turned and ran out of the command post.


    After the second lieutenant called, he came to report to me: "Comrade division commander, I have conveyed your order to commander xiejerikov. He promised to send someone to send the flag to me immediately."


    In less than two minutes, he ran into the command post breathlessly. Of course, he didn''t come alone. He was followed by a soldier carrying a flag. When he saw my face, he raised his hand to salute. As soon as he wanted to report to me, he was interrupted by me. I went over him and directly told the soldiers behind him: "Comrade soldier, please go to the trench and set up the glorious banner of our independent division high."


    The soldier didn''t understand why I told him so. Although he promised, his feet didn''t move, and his eyes were still looking at Sergey reekov. Shejerikov saw that his subordinates stood still after receiving my order. He stamped his feet in anger and said, "you''re deaf. Didn''t you hear the teacher''s order? Go to the trench immediately and find a high place to set up our flag. " Seeing that xiejerikov was angry, the soldiers carrying the military flag did not dare to neglect him. They agreed and ran out carrying the military flag.


    After the soldiers went out, the gasping sergeant asked curiously, "Comrade division commander, why should we set up our division''s flag?"


    I pointed to the outside and said thoughtfully, "I suspect that the so-called enemies outside are not the Germans, but our friendly forces."


    "What, friendly forces?" Surprised, he ran to the observation port, took the telescope from Pugachev''s hand and looked out. After looking for less than half a minute, he suddenly said in a loud voice: "Comrade division, you are right. It really looks like our friendly army. You see, there are several people who are still holding our army''s rotary machine gun."


    "Comrade zejerikov, are you sure?"


    "Yes, that''s right."


    The brand-new military flag is set up high in the trench and flutters with the night wind.


    Time was not long. The small unit that had concealed its way to our front stopped advancing. Several shadows stood up and walked slowly towards our position.


    "Come on, comrade commander, let''s see what part they belong to." Judging from the performance of the other side, it was indeed our friendly army. I gave a shout of excitement and took the lead to walk out of the command post and down the hill. Behind me, in addition to shejerikov and Pugachev, there was captain basmanov, who was responsible for protecting me with dozens of soldiers.


    Seeing us coming out of the trench to meet them, the helmeted commanders and fighters across the way quickened their pace. When we were still four or five meters away, we both stopped at the same time.


    A small commander came out of the other team and said in a crisp voice, "I''m verol, the political instructor of the mixed regiment of the Vinica Infantry School. Who is the highest commander of the army, please?"


    The other party was actually a woman, and also a political instructor, which really surprised me. When I heard her question, I quickly stepped forward and replied loudly, "I''m the commander of the independent division, Colonel oshanina."


    Verol quickly raised his hand to salute me and reported, "Hello, comrade colonel."


    After I gave a salute, I answered with some displeasure: "Comrade political instructor, why don''t you send someone to contact us in advance? As a result, we got into a fight with ourselves. But fortunately, there were no casualties, which is lucky in the misfortune. "


    Villol replied with a wry smile: "Comrade Colonel, you do not know that we have just emerged from the German encirclement, because we have lost our way and come here by mistake."


    I heard that they just broke out of the encirclement of the German army, and the resentment in my heart disappeared. I stepped forward, took verol''s hand, and said in a friendly way, "well, comrade instructor, this is not a place to talk. Go back to the headquarters with me first." Then I turned around and told my battalion commander, "Captain busmanov, take ten soldiers and bring the comrades of the mixed regiment here. Find a place to settle down and let them have a good rest. They must be tired after such a long run. "


    Five minutes later, verol had already sat in my division headquarters and told us about her fighting experience: "our mixed regiment composed of Vinica Infantry School was assigned to the 15th division of the close guard infantry, which was responsible for holding the joint of the 62nd and 64th army. Three days ago, after heavy air and artillery preparation, the German army launched an attack on the main position of the 15th division. Due to our lack of sufficient anti tank weapons, after a day''s fighting, the main force of the close guard division, which suffered heavy casualties, was forced to withdraw from the state farm on the occupied Volga river bank.


    In the evening, the German tanks attacked the 38th infantry division of the 64th army of the friendly neighbor, and soon seized the position of the division. In this way, our regiment was besieged by the German army.


    Facing the superior German army, the commanders and fighters of our mixed regiment were not afraid, but bravely fought with the Germans. In the whole three days, relying on the ring fortifications built in advance, we fought back the German attacks again and again and firmly held the occupied positions.


    By this evening, our regiment had completely lost contact with the headquarters of the group army. At the same time, our regiment was facing the situation of running out of ammunition and food. In order not to be annihilated by the German army, the regiment leader made a decisive decision to break through. As soon as it gets dark, the regiment will break through in three directions at the same time. The commander and political commissar led a battalion to break through the encirclement to the north and northeast respectively, while I led two companies to the East. Along the way, we destroyed all the bandits we encountered and broke the German communication lines. "


    "Where are you from?" As I asked, I pushed the map in front of her.


    She looked around, then quickly pointed to a place and said decisively, "here we are. We have been in this area for three days, and then we were forced to break through when we ran out of ammunition and food."¡° My God, "she exclaimed in surprise, looking at the place where she pointed her finger," from the map, you have traversed at least 12 kilometers in the enemy''s defense zone since you broke through tonight. It''s really not easy. " Verol just laughed and didn''t speak. But I was shocked out of a cold sweat, and I said with a lingering fear: "instructor veroll, fortunately, when your troops arrived here, they had run out of ammunition and food. Otherwise, with your regiment''s fighting capacity, if you really want to fight with our troops, the casualties of both sides will certainly not be small." Verol stood up and asked solemnly, "Comrade Colonel, how are you going to set up my company, send us back, or stay here to fight the Germans?" As early as I heard that they were the Vinica Infantry School, I had the idea of leaving them all behind. If they help to train the troops, the combat effectiveness of our division can be rapidly improved in a short time. Now that she''s asked this question, I''ll say, "instructor veroll, I want you and your company to stay. You know, our division has just been established, and almost all the soldiers are recruits without any military training or combat experience. Due to the fierce fighting, the superior is unable to provide us with enough combat backbones to help our division improve its combat effectiveness. Now that you''re here today, it''s time to enrich your company to the grass-roots units. " Verol was obviously a very obedient man in the army. She did not raise any objection to my statement, but simply replied, "Comrade Colonel, I am under your command." Although I left a company of the Vinica Infantry School on my own initiative, I still need to report this matter to the higher authorities. Otherwise, the head of the mixed regiment will find verol and her subordinates missing and think they have become deserters. I asked lieutenant razumeyeva to contact the headquarters of the group army. When I heard trakov''s voice, I honestly reported to him, "Comrade commander, we have just come to a small unit protruding from the German encirclement."¡° Oh, the army that broke out? " "It''s not easy to get out of the German siege," trekov asked with interest. What''s the name of their commander? " I quickly covered the transmitter and asked veroll in a low voice, "instructor veroll, what''s your real name and father''s name?"¡° Krafgua denisovna verol Verol also whispered her full name to me. I nodded and replied to trekov: "Comrade commander, her name is krafguya denisovna verol, a political instructor of the Vinica Infantry School. She led a multi company soldier to successfully highlight the German encirclement and come to our division''s defense area. I intend to keep her and her troops in the independent division. Do you agree? " When I said the last sentence, I secretly decided that I would leave the female commander and the troops she led, whether trekov agreed or not.

 Chapter 570

    Trekov obviously didn''t take my mention of this matter as loud. He said very frankly, "I have no opinion. Let instructor veroll and her troops stay in your independent division. As for general kolpakchi, I''ll just call him and talk to him. "


    I was surprised to hear that verol and her troops could be left behind. I thought that my proposal would be rejected by trakov. Even if he didn''t refuse, it would not be so smooth. Unexpectedly, he agreed so readily, and even offered to ask "how many people are left in your troops?"


    Verol was silent for a moment, and then answered decisively, "there are 156 people left in the two companies, all students who have studied in school for more than half a year."


    What she said was exactly what I wanted to know, so after nodding my head, I turned to xiejerikov and said, "Comrade xiejerikov, immediately assign these students to each regiment and each company to take the post of monitor and platoon leader, so that they can pass on what they have learned in school to our soldiers as soon as possible."


    Before xiejerikov could speak, verol asked in a weak voice: "Rita, is it appropriate for these students to be the platoon leader?"


    "Of course, my dear verol." I said to her with a smile: "as our division is newly established, most of the soldiers lack military training and combat experience. And you and your soldiers, after fighting with the German army for three days, successfully broke out. I believe your fighting experience is very valuable to the soldiers of the independent division. It is very helpful to let these trainees who have passed the test of war serve as platoon leaders in the army to enhance the overall combat effectiveness of the independent division. "


    "How should people be allocated?" Shejerikov continued.


    "Each regiment is divided into 40 cadets, and the rest are put in the guard camp." In other divisions, the combat effectiveness of the guard camp is the strongest, but it''s not worth mentioning here. So this time, I''ll leave more backbones around to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the guard camp.


    After looking at each other, verol and Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant


    It seems that verol is also an acute man. He can''t wait to finish the task I told him. For her high enthusiasm for work, I did not pour cold water, just waved and said faintly: "in this case, you go with the commander."


    After saluting me, verol and shejerikov turned and left the headquarters.


    Seeing their departure, the silent Pugachev and basmanov came to me. First of all, Pugachev said, "Comrade division commander, do you want me to leave the company that just carried out the task to you to set up a guard camp?"


    "Of course." Even if Pugachev doesn''t say it, I will take the initiative to mention it. Although there is a guard camp at present, the actual fixed number of people is only one class, and trekov sent it to me. Even if busmanov''s platoon is added, it''s only one platoon plus one class, which is far from the goal of three companies.


    I waved my head at basmanov and said, "Captain basmanov, you and captain Pugachev will go outside to handle the handover procedures, and by the way, take back the connection in his hand, quickly put up the framework of the guard camp, and appoint company commanders. Do you understand? "


    After hearing the loud answers from both Pugachev and basmanov, I nodded and said to them, "now that you understand, go and carry out the order."


    Looking at the room, only me and razumeyeva were left. I went up to her and said with concern, "Comrade lieutenant, I''ve been working hard these days


    Razumeyeva took off her earphone, stood up and answered loudly, "serve the Soviet motherland!"


    After I asked her to sit down, after a short time of thinking, I said to her, "Lieutenant razumeyeva, although our division has a communication company, its personnel are only those originally sent by the group army headquarters, and there are still many casualties in the battle. If you go on like this, you can''t. You should really set up the communication company as soon as possible, and select the right person from the division to enrich your communication company. "


    "I understand, comrade division commander," razumeyeva assured me after she understood what I meant, "I will go to all units as soon as possible to select knowledgeable commanders and fighters to enrich our communication company."


    As we were talking, the telephone suddenly rang and interrupted us. After answering, razumeyeva was a little surprised and said to me, "Mr. division, the other party said that he is general meletskov. Do you want to talk to him?"


    Don''t say the other party is a general. Even if it''s a captain, I have to talk to him. You know, I just want to take the most elite second lieutenant training team from him. When I heard meletskov''s familiar voice coming from the earphone, I said to him with a smile: "Hello, senior general."


    "I''m not good, very bad!" Meletskov greets me, but suddenly says something unexpected.


    I was stunned at first, and then I understood the reason why he said so. Although he put forward the idea of giving the training team of the second lieutenant to me, after all, it was me who prized his corner, and there was no reason why he was angry with me. I tried to adjust the oppressive atmosphere with a relaxed tone: "senior general, although I haven''t seen you and the commanders of the headquarters in just over a month, I miss you very much. I really hope I can have a chance to go back and see you."


    "Come on, Rita, don''t talk like that." Although meletskov said this in a huff, I can feel his attitude softened from his voice¡° I heard that you did a good job in the Duhe River Basin. You have won a lot of battles. When you left my headquarters, you were a major, and now you are a colonel. "


    I silently smile, want to say two words, really can''t find the right words to answer him, had to continue to keep silent, listen to what he will say next¡° At the beginning, you proposed that the direction of German attack in the South was Stalingrad, not Moscow or the Caucasus. Comrade Stalin was so angry that he wanted to send you to mamayev post. Unexpectedly, facts have proved that your original analysis is completely correct. It seems that this mamayev post really has to be guarded. "


    Thinking that meletzkov had suffered the thunder of the Supreme Commander himself for my sake, I didn''t know if I would have been arrested again by the people of the Ministry of interior and sent to the military court for trial if it hadn''t been for him. Thinking of this, I can''t help but feel a little wet in the corner of my eyes. I gratefully said to him, "senior general, thank you for everything you did for me."


    "Rita," meletzkov said in an uncertain voice, calling my nickname affectionately, "I want to hear your analysis again. Will the Germans occupy Stalingrad?" As soon as he finished, he might be afraid that I have any scruples, and specially stressed: "I asked you as a friend, not as a superior. You don''t need to regard me as your commander, but as your friend or relative. Please tell me, do you think Stalingrad will fall? " After these words, his breathing became rapid.


    Meletskov''s words are very taboo at this time. If they are heard by the people of the Ministry of interior, even if he is a general, he will not escape punishment. After a moment''s silence, I answered him decisively: "Comrade General, please rest assured that although the Germans will approach or even occupy part of Stalingrad''s cities in a short time, Stalingrad will never fall."


    On hearing my firm words, meletzkov was obviously relieved. He repeatedly said, "that''s good, that''s good. I''m sure your judgment will be accurate. " Then he changed the subject and talked about the second lieutenant training team that he and I were concerned about: "Rita, I promised you that I would give the second lieutenant training team to you. Now it''s time for me to keep my promise. I''ve given the order to captain akhromeyev, the leader of the second lieutenant''s training team. The troops are gathering. In two or three hours at most, they will drive to Moscow, from there to UFA by train, and then south to Stalingrad. " Perhaps for fear of my misunderstanding, he specially explained that "because the land passage from Moscow to Stalingrad was completely cut off by the German army, the army did not wait to make a big circle to the East before returning to Stalingrad. In this way, the troops will be delayed on the road for a long time. It may take ten days and a half months to get to your independent division. "


    "I understand, Comrade General." Just now, trakov told me the marching route of the second lieutenant''s training team, so I don''t expect them to report to the independent division in two or three days¡° I know a little about the current situation between ourselves and the enemy. There is nothing I can do about it. Once again, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to you for your generosity. "


    Melitskov laughed and said, "to tell you the truth, Rita, I hope you can return to my warhoff front army and follow me to break the German encirclement of Leningrad after you beat back the German army attacking Stalingrad."


    "There will be such a day, Comrade General." As for his suggestion, I know very well that he was worried that I would not return his second lieutenant training team after borrowing it, so he politely responded, "when the war on Stalingrad''s side is over, I will ask the superior to send me back to the front army of warhoff."


    My words completely reassured meletzkov. He said with a laugh: "in this case, I wish you good luck and beat back the German attack on Stalingrad as soon as possible."


    As soon as the conversation with meletzkov was over, Zhukov''s call came in. Hearing my voice, he said with a smile, "Rita, I''ve done what you asked me to do for you. Comrade meletzkov was not willing to give his precious unit to anyone for command. I used my power to oppress him, saying that if he did not hand over the training team of the second lieutenant, I would give priority to other front forces in the supplement of weapons and ammunition. When he saw that I said that, he had no choice but to obey me. "


    After listening to Zhukov''s words, I understood why meletzkov was so angry when he first talked to me. It turned out that he was angry with Zhukov before he called me. As for Zhukov, who helped himself a lot, I said gratefully: "thank you, Comrade General. I will always remember your help to me."


    "Don''t say it''s useless." Zhukov didn''t wait for me to finish. He interrupted me and said, "I''ll help you get the grassroots commander you want. As for the fighting backbone, in a few days there will be two militiamen annihilation battalions belonging to Stalingrad, which will be enriched in your division. Although they have not picked up guns much longer than those of your soldiers, they have certain fighting experience. Adding them to your division will help improve your division''s combat effectiveness. "


    Zhukov''s words make me feel warm in my heart. I want to express my gratitude to him, but I don''t know where to start with a thousand words. I can only say repeatedly: "thank you, thank you general."¡° Commander, I''ve solved it for you; The backbone of the battle, I also added to you. " When Zhukov said this, he suddenly said in an emphatic tone: "if you can''t stop the fierce attack of the German under the condition of being strengthened, then I don''t care what friendship I have with you. I will personally order the people of the interior department to send you to the military court for trial." After hearing Zhukov''s harsh words, I knew that he was also worried about the unfavorable war situation. He quickly expressed his position to him and said, "please rest assured that as long as there is one soldier alive in the independent division, we will never let the Germans swagger through our defense area."¡° Good, "Zhukov praised me after listening to my determination, and then told me," Comrade Stalin also knows about the transfer of major general meletzkov''s second lieutenant training team. I didn''t call meletskov until he personally agreed. Rita, the commander-in-chief also has high hopes for you. I hope you can have an outstanding performance in this conference. " Zhukov''s last words made my heart beat faster. It was not only because of the good interpersonal relationship between Zhukov and me that I was able to transfer the second lieutenant training team, but also because of the Supreme Commander himself. No wonder in such a short time, it can be promoted. At such a time, I had to show my attitude to Zhukov again and to the Supreme Commander himself behind him: "please tell Comrade Stalin that our independent division will fight with the bandits tenaciously in the battle to defend Stalingrad, and give our last bit of blood."

 Chapter 571

    At the end of the call with Zhukov, I was a little worried about gain and loss. Originally, I only wanted to take over the training team of major general meletskov''s second lieutenant through personal relations to enrich and improve my command system. I didn''t expect that even the Supreme Commander himself was involved in this incident, which made me feel terrified. It''s a good thing to say that if I win a battle, I don''t know if it will affect Zhukov and meletzkov.


    When I was thinking about it, I suddenly heard a familiar voice calling me: "Comrade teacher."


    Looking up, it turned out that it was Pugachev, the acting head of the second regiment. Looking at his unhappy face, I couldn''t help asking in surprise: "what''s the matter, Captain Pugachev. I''ve become the acting head of the team. How can I be so unhappy? Tell me, who has offended you? "


    Pugachev raised his head and said angrily, "Comrade teacher, Lieutenant Colonel xiejerikov is not fair. You should do justice for me."


    Shejerikov and verol went to assign students to each regiment. How did they offend Pugachev again? Thinking of this, I was puzzled and asked, "Captain Pugachev, what''s the matter? I''m confused by you. "


    "Lt. Col. chejerikov called me, kosja and Gaidar to the position and said that according to your instructions, we would be assigned a group of cadets who had just rushed out of the German encirclement."


    "Yes, that''s exactly what I told lieutenant colonel chejerikov." When I heard him say that, I nodded and gave him a positive answer. "I also asked verol, the political instructor of the Vinica Infantry School, to go with him."


    "Lieutenant Colonel chejerikov said that according to your order, each regiment can be divided into 40 students."


    "Yes," I confirmed Pugachev again, adding, "I asked him to give each regiment 40 cadets, leaving the rest to the guard camp."


    "The other three regiments have allocated 40 cadets. Why did lieutenant commander xijerikov only give me 36 cadets?" Pugachev said angrily. "Should we be discriminated against because our second regiment was disabled in the battle?"


    "Who was discriminated against? Captain Pugachev. " At the door came the voice of chejerikov.


    I followed my voice and looked to the door. From the outside, I saw not only chejerikov and verol, but also kosja and Gaidar. Seeing so many people coming, I stood up from my seat with a smile and jokingly said to Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Pugachev, acting head of the second regiment, is complaining to me that you intend to discriminate against him


    "Discriminating against him?" After hearing this, Xie jerikov looked around in a daze, shrugged his shoulders, and asked in a puzzled way, "Comrade teacher, where do you say this?"


    Without concealing anything, I repeated Pugachev''s words and finally said, "I ordered you at that time to assign 40 students to each regiment. Why did the second regiment only give 36 students?"


    After hearing this, he looked at verol, and then replied bitterly: "Mr. reporter, I also want to follow your order, but..."


    "But what? Why don''t you go on, comrade commander? " As for shijerikov''s hesitation, I felt a little dissatisfied: "I asked you to assign 40 students to each regiment. Is that not clear enough?"


    "Clear!" Chejerikov replied busily.


    "Now that it''s clear, why don''t you carry out my orders?" I said this with a trace of anger.


    "Sir, please allow me to answer this question." When verol learned that she had become a member of the independent division, she called me a division commander instead of a colonel. When she saw the embarrassed appearance of xiejerikov, she quickly came out to rescue me.


    Seeing this beautiful officer who is still in pity, I changed to a gentle tone and said, "come on, instructor veroll."


    "This is the situation, sir. You said just now that a regiment is divided into 40 cadets, which should be 160. However, only 156 soldiers have stood out with me. Let alone the guard camp, even four regiments are not enough. "


    After listening to her, I was stunned. If you think about it carefully, it''s not true that there are four regiments in the independent division. If each regiment has 40 students, it will have at least 160 students. I don''t know how I calculated it at that time, but it actually has 120 students. I even want to add the remaining 36 to the guard camp.


    I was embarrassed to smile at shejerikov, and then said to Pugachev, "Comrade captain, it''s all my fault. I miscalculated the number. Well, since lieutenant colonel xiejerikov and instructor verol have allocated all the students, if they want to adjust them again, it is estimated that the other commanders will not agree. " Speaking of this, I deliberately pause for a moment, eyes in the other three head of the body swept away.


    Xiejerikov, Koska and Gaidar immediately understood, quickly nodded and said: "yes, yes, we have assigned these students to the company. If we want to adjust again, it is estimated that the soldiers will also have opinions."


    Looking at Pugachev''s face full of grievances, I had to draw a big pie for him first: "Captain Pugachev, the second regiment has been greatly reduced this time. When the new recruits are added, I will assign more commanders and fighters to your regiment."


    Seeing that I and the other three commanders had already stood on the same front, Pugachev, who was unable to support himself, blushed and could only say helplessly, "OK, I will obey your order."


    This night was destined to be a eventful one. After Pugachev''s resentment was calmed down, I was going to send some people out and find a place to rest. Unexpectedly, the group army headquarters assigned us new tasks.


    It was Raskin, chief of staff of the group army, who spoke to me this time. Hearing my voice, he said anxiously, "Colonel oshanina, I have an urgent task to give you."


    I made a sign to some commanders not to leave, then politely said to the transmitter, "please go ahead, chief of staff. I''m listening


    "This is the case, Colonel oshanina." Raskin said solemnly: "near the basarji crossing station in the area of little rosovka, there is a communication relay station of the 62nd group army. Now it is besieged by the German army, and the troops who have been there for two days. General kolpakchi has just called commander shumilov to ask us to send our best troops to rescue this stranded communication force. "


    While listening to Raskin''s words, I searched the area he said on the map. It was ten kilometers away from our division''s current position. On the contrary, it was closer to the defense area of the 70th division of the close guard infantry. If lyudnikov sent troops, he would arrive at his destination in less than an hour.


    I was puzzled by the group army command''s way of moving from the near to the far, so I euphemistically put forward my own opinion: "Comrade chief of staff, it seems that the place you mentioned is closer to lyudnikov''s close guard division, and the distance is no more than five kilometers. Why don''t we transfer their troops to our division, which is ten kilometers away, instead


    Raskin did not answer my question, but said in a business tone, "Colonel o''shanina, this is commander shumilov''s order. You know, according to the regulations, orders from the higher authorities are not allowed to be discussed, so execute them immediately. "


    Now that his words have been said, I have no choice but to agree: "yes, I give the order."


    At the end of the call, I first ordered razumeyeva to call and ask perersian and Morozov to rush to the latest military meeting. At the same time, I called several commanders to the table and repeated the order given by Raskin to several people.


    Kosja leaned over and stared at the map on the table and asked, "Comrade division commander, I don''t understand. Since the guard division is so close to the encircled troops, why don''t they send troops instead of letting us go to rescue so far away?"


    As for his question, I can only say faintly: "orders from superiors are not allowed to be discussed. Let''s study what scale of troops should be sent to rescue. "


    Hearing what I said, kosga took the lead in asking for help: "Comrade division commander, in these two days of fighting, the casualties of the third regiment are relatively small. Let''s finish this task."


    "Commander kosga," said Sergey reekov, a little displeased when he heard kosga say so. He immediately retorted, "the casualties of your three regiments are small, and none of my regiments are big." Then he straightened up and pleaded with me: "Sir, please give this task to our regiment. I promise you, I promise to rescue the besieged friendly forces. "


    Before I could make a statement, there was a voice calling for a report at the door. I looked up from the map and saw that it was Capt. pirgis and Capt. Morozov. I quickly beckoned them to come to the meeting together.


    After giving them a brief introduction, I specially asked pelsjian, "Captain pelsjian, how much fuel does the tank have?"


    Pels shook his head and said with some dismay, "report, sir, we only have the fuel in the tank, but not all of it. If we want to attack by force, after the battle, these tanks will have to be abandoned or blown up on the spot because they have no fuel, so as not to make the German cheaper. "


    I waved my hand and said decisively, "Captain perskin, this time we''re only going to send out two tanks to pump out the fuel tanks of the other tanks and fill them up." Then I turned to look at Morozov: "Comrade Morozov, you are now a mortar company commander. Take five mortars with you and follow me to teach the Germans a lesson."


    After listening to me, Xie jerikov took the initiative to ask, "Comrade division commander, now that there are tanks and artillery, what about infantry? Which unit do you plan to send?"


    I pondered for a moment, then said decisively: "infantry, I decided to transfer the ninth company of lieutenant Godunov of the third regiment. In this retreat, he made a good impression on me. In addition, a company was drawn from one regiment, a company from Pugachev, and a platoon from basmanov. I think that if so many troops go to rescue, it will not affect our division''s defensive strength, but also rescue the besieged friendly forces. "


    "Who are you going to command this unit?" Asked Gaidar. As the second and fourth regiments are reserve teams at present, the two commanders Pugachev and Gaidar are eager to try.


    I looked at veroll standing in the middle of several male commanders and asked her with a smile, "instructor veroll, would you like to join me in this rescue mission?"


    Everyone was shocked to hear that I was going to do it myself. Xiejerikov took the lead in persuading me: "Comrade teacher, you are the head of a division. You can''t take any more risks."


    "Yes, sir. When the whole division retreated, you served as a dangerous guard. You can''t take any more risks this time Pugachev said nervously.


    I waved my hand and said stubbornly, "well, you don''t have to persuade me any more. Now that I''ve made up my mind, no matter how you persuade me, I''ll go. " At this point, I raised my voice and announced aloud: "during the period when I left, the commander of the division was in the charge of Lieutenant Colonel Sergey reekov. Do you understand me?"


    After listening to my order, several commanders looked at each other and said nothing.


    Seeing the silence, I looked at veroll and asked again, "instructor veroll, you haven''t answered my question. Would you like to join me in this rescue mission?"


    This time, verol nodded his head without hesitation, and simply replied, "Sir, I will obey your orders."


    After an hour of preparation, our rescue team set out.


    In front were two tanks that had just been filled with fuel, and then a truck full of soldiers, and the jeep that verol and I took with razumeyeva, drove in the middle of the whole team.


    Because at this time, it was already dawn. I didn''t look at the sky from the window. I was afraid that German planes would suddenly appear in the sky. A fleet like us without any air defense capability, with only one dive bomber, can hit us hard.


    But our luck seems to be good, driving more than half the distance, also did not see the German plane, and the sound of guns coming from the front has been clearly audible.


    I asked the driver to rush to the front of the whole team and stop all the cars on a hillside. Waiting for the car to stop, I can''t wait to open the door, jump out of the car and take verol to the top of the slope.


    Standing at the commanding height on the top of the slope, I raised my telescope and looked forward to the place where the smoke was rolling. I saw a large group of German soldiers charging towards a high ground under the cover of tanks. Below the highland, there are about 20 tanks that have been burned black or burning. The white cross on the body indicates that these abandoned tanks are all German tanks.


    German tanks came to a halt at the foot of the hill and bombarded the hillside positions with artillery fire. German infantry, armed with guns, bent over and rushed up the mountain. As soon as they got close to our army, the silent position revived. All kinds of guns in the trench opened fire at the same time, and the German infantry fell to pieces in an instant. The German soldiers were shooting at each other for a while. Seeing that they couldn''t rush up, they rolled back.


    At this time, perskin and Morozov also came to the hillside. After seeing the scene of fighting in the distance, they asked me, "Comrade division, what should we do?"


    I put down my telescope and looked around. I found Lieutenant Godunov and captain busmanov standing beside me. Seeing that all the commanders were present, I began to give orders: "Captain busmanov, you take the soldiers of the guard camp and hurry to dig a bunker on this hillside. After we rescue the trapped troops, you will be responsible for the blocking task. "


    "Yes Basmanov agreed and went down the slope to summon the soldiers of the guard camp.


    Then I ordered pelsjian: "Captain pelsjian, when the new round of German offensive begins, you will lead the tanks to launch a surprise attack from their rear and try to kill more German tanks."


    "Lieutenant Godunov, when Captain perskin''s tanks begin to attack, you take the opportunity to attack the flanks of the German infantry. Captain Morozov, when our infantry attack, you should concentrate your artillery fire on the German infantry, so that they can not organize effective resistance and cover the friendly forces on the opposite highland to break through. "


    After I gave all the orders in one breath, I saw that except for captain busmanov who left, the rest of the people were still standing in the same place. With a frown, I yelled at them: "since the task is clear, why are you still standing here? Don''t you go to carry out it now?"


    Several people agreed loudly and ran down the hill to carry out my orders.


    The new German attack began in ten minutes. Seeing the German tanks stopping at the foot of the mountain again and charging towards the high ground under the cover of artillery fire, pelsky led two tanks to attack decisively. As they drove, they fired their guns. In the first round of shelling, they each hit a tank. The German tanks suddenly started to burn with a big dark red flame. The German infantry who were climbing the slope were also howled by the heavy and heavy fire on the hillside, leaving a large number of bodies and retreating down in confusion.


    Godunov''s troops, also in trucks, rushed forward behind the tanks. When perskin''s tank fired the second round and destroyed a German tank again. The infantry soldiers jumped down from the trucks one after another and rushed towards the German soldiers fleeing down the hillside with weapons.


    And Morozov''s artillery is not ambiguous, the Gunners moved the mortar from the truck, quickly set up the gun frame, aimed at the enemy gathering place and fired. After five mortar shells made a beautiful arc in the air, one by one they landed in the dense German army formation and exploded. The German soldiers who had been crowded together were in a mess and ran around in a mess.


    Just when the German army was dazed by us, the friendly army at the top of the mountain jumped out of the trench in time and rushed down the hill with weapons. Their attack became the last straw to defeat the camel. The German army, which had been supported by us, could no longer support it. They turned around and ran back one after another. Godunov knew that our task was to rescue the trapped friendly army, not to destroy the enemy in front of him, so he did not order the troops to pursue. Instead, he asked the soldiers to cover the newly encircled friendly army officers and men to get on the car and withdraw to our side. Seeing that the infantry had begun to retreat after rescuing the friendly troops, they did not like fighting and destroyed the pelsteen tank unit of the enemy''s five tanks. After firing two more guns at the fleeing German tanks, they quickly retreated. A few minutes later, Godunov came to the hillside with some commanders in big cornice hats. I looked at these commanders with white and black faces and asked with a kind face, "comrades, which army are you from?" A second lieutenant looked me up and down, and asked warily, "Comrade Colonel, may I ask first, which part are you from?" Basmanov, who was standing beside me, saw the unfriendly attitude of the second lieutenant. He quickly jumped out and asked, "Comrade second lieutenant, how can you be so rude to our teachers?" I raised my hand, stopped basmanov from going on, and replied kindly, "Comrade lieutenant, I''m commander of the independent division of the 64th army, Colonel oshanina. I''ve come to rescue you on the order of my superior. May I ask what part of you are now? " Without waiting for the second lieutenant to answer, a political worker pushed him aside and came to me. After raising his hand and saluting, he respectfully replied, "report to the colonel, I''m yevjifeyev, the political instructor of the communication company of the 62nd group army. This second lieutenant," he said, pointing to the second lieutenant who had just spoken, and continued to introduce, "it''s second lieutenant Strelkov of the communication company." I nodded, raised my chin to the two other silent commanders standing nearby, and asked, "who are these two commanders?" As soon as I finished speaking, one of the political workers stepped forward, raised his hand, and reported, "Comrade Colonel, deputy political instructor of reconnaissance platoon kovaliov, report to you and wait for your order." I gave him a smile, turned to ask the remaining senior: "and you, comrade senior?" The senior gentleman straightened up and reported to me, "I''m pukazov, the chief of communication company. I''m at your command." After knowing the commanders of the communication company, I went up to yevdifyev and asked with concern, "Comrade political instructor, how many people are left in your company?" Yevdifyev looked at the people around him, then looked down the hillside, and then replied to me, "report to Comrade Colonel, there are still 33 people left in my company."¡° You''ve played well these two days. " Verol, who had not spoken for a long time, suddenly began to praise yevdifyev. "Just look at the burning tanks at the foot of the mountain, and then look at the bodies of the bandits on the hillside, and you will know how brilliant your achievements are." After hearing verol''s praise, yevdifyev looked her up and down, straightened her waist and said with pride, "yes, female political instructor. In these two days of fighting, we used anti tank guns, flasks and anti tank grenades to blow up, destroyed 22 German tanks and killed nearly 200 of them¡° If you add in the results of the tank unit, there are 27 German tanks here Godunov looked at the burning German tanks on the battlefield in the distance and said with pride. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was already eight o''clock in the morning. I thought that today''s task was fairly smooth, and it was so easy to complete. However, this is not a place to stay for a long time. It should be transferred immediately. Otherwise, when the German plane leaves, it will not be so easy to retreat. Thinking of this, he urged them to say, "well, comrades, since the communication company has successfully broken through, it''s time for us to withdraw. If we wait for the German plane to move out and the ground forces to come after us, we just can''t withdraw. " With that, I lifted my feet and went down the hill¡° Comrade Colonel, please wait Seeing that I was about to leave, yevdifyev suddenly lunged in front of me, blocked my way and said in a loud voice, "we can''t withdraw now."¡° Why? " Because I was worried that the German plane would come back at any time, I said this in a very blunt tone. "Our task is to rescue you. Now that you are out of danger, we should leave here in a hurry. You''re blocking my way. Are you going to stay and have a party with the Germans? " Yevdifyev shook his hands desperately and said anxiously, "it''s not like this, it''s not like this. Comrade Colonel, you misunderstood me. I said we can''t withdraw because we still have troops to withdraw. "

 Chapter 572

    Hearing that there were still troops not withdrawn, I was so angry that I grabbed the collar of yevdifyev and asked angrily, "what do you say? Again, there are still our troops not withdrawn?"


    Yevdifyev was so choked by his collar that he could not speak, so he could only nod his head in affirmation.


    Seeing that his commander was embarrassed by me, young captain Strelkov quickly stepped forward, gently grasped my hand and said, "Comrade Colonel, please let go of the political instructor and let him report to you slowly."


    I pushed yevdifyev hard and glared at him. After taking a deep breath, I said angrily, "tell me, where are the troops that have not been withdrawn, and how many people are there?"


    Yevdifyev covered his throat with his hand, coughed a few times violently, pointed to the hillside they had just rushed down, and said: "behind the hillside, there is basarji passing station, in which there is one of our communication relay stations. Now there are two reconnaissance classes and a women''s communication class in the relay station. "


    "What are you hesitating about? Take people to rescue them immediately!" After yelling at yevdifyev, I turned around and called Godunov''s name. I was about to tell him to take people to rescue the reconnaissance and communication teams that had not been evacuated.


    Before I could speak, Lieutenant Godunov had lost his voice and cried out, "look, the Germans are attacking again."


    I quickly looked in the direction of his fingers. Even without a telescope, I could clearly see that a large group of German infantry, under the cover of more than a dozen tanks, were rushing towards the heights just now.


    My heart sank as I watched the German troops advancing towards the high ground. Originally, he wanted Godunov to take a truck to Huirang station to pick up the soldiers inside. Now it seems that this is an unfinished task. In the case of a considerable number of soldiers, our infantry are not the enemy of the Germans at all. Moreover, they still have more than a dozen tanks. If they want to fight against them just by relying on the two tanks of peierschien, they will undoubtedly hit the stone with the egg.


    Seeing this scene, yevdifyev sat down on the ground, wiping his tears and saying in silence: "it''s over, it''s over. The troops who will stand will not be able to stop the enemy''s attack of this scale."


    When I saw him crying, I got angry. I walked over to him and looked at his buttocks. I cursed: "yevdifyev, you stand up for me. Don''t cry like a woman. Try to get in touch with the soldiers who will stand there and make them ready for battle. "


    Young lieutenant Strelkov, who was unfriendly to me just now, gave me an apologetic smile, grabbed evtyfeyev''s arm and tried to lift him from the ground. Unexpectedly, as soon as he lifted yevdifyev up and let go, he sat down again. The other two colleagues couldn''t bear to see yevdifyev''s cowardly performance. They helped the second lieutenant to stand up his political instructor.


    Seeing that yevdifyev could not count on it, I frowned and asked strerkov, "Comrade second lieutenant, do you know how to contact the people who stay at the station?"


    The second lieutenant nodded and replied, "Comrade Colonel, I know the contact code of the communication relay station. Do you have a walkie talkie here? If so, I can get in touch with the comrades in the station directly. "


    Listen to him say so, I quickly told busmanov: "Captain busmanov, immediately call lieutenant razumeyeva here, remember to let her bring up the telephone."


    Basmanov''s action is very sharp, not long after, he took razumeyeva panting up from the hillside. In fact, razumeyeva had been standing outside the jeep waiting for my order. At this moment, seeing the guard battalion commander running down the hill, she immediately realized that she must have something to look for. She quickly took a heavy telephone on her back and trotted to basmanov to meet her, so that she could reach the top of the hill so quickly.


    Stelekov took the earphone and transmitter that razumeyeva handed him, squatted aside and began to call the relay station loudly: "tulip, tulip, I''m lilac. Please come back when you hear me! Tulip, tulip... "


    When the second lieutenant called for his comrades, I saw that the German tanks had reached the unguarded Highlands, and the infantry had flooded the empty trenches and rushed to the other side of the highlands.


    I sighed and put down my telescope. I had asked the second lieutenant a few words, but when I saw that he was desperately calling for the relay station, I waved to the big man who was supporting yevdifyev to come to me.


    The senior officer raised his hand in front of me and politely asked, "Comrade Colonel, what instructions do you have?"


    I pointed to the direction of the highland and asked with a fluke: "Comrade chief, if the soldiers left at the relay station are ordered to withdraw now, which direction can they withdraw safely?"


    The grand master turned to look at the highland, shook his head slowly and said, "Comrade Colonel, as early as two days ago, the Germans surrounded our relay station, but because of our stubborn resistance on the highland, they could not get close to the relay station."


    "How far is the relay station from the highland, and what kind of fortifications are there?"


    After sighing again, the grand master replied, "after crossing that high ground, less than one kilometer to the north, it''s our relay station. Because we use the houses that will make the station original, the so-called fortifications are just some sandbags piled at the door."


    The last fantasy in my heart was completely disillusioned by the words of the chief. A relay station which was surrounded by the German army and had no solid fortifications, it was impossible to block the attack of infantry covered by tanks with two classes of soldiers and a women''s communication class.


    The German tanks followed the infantry and gradually disappeared on the other side of the highland. Then there was a rumble of artillery behind the highland. It seemed that the Germans were bombarding the fortifications of the relay station with tank guns.


    At this moment, Strelkov finally contacted the female signalman at the relay station. I heard him exclaim excitedly, "I''m the second platoon commander of communication company, Lieutenant Strelkov. Who are you?"


    Hearing that I got in touch with the girls in the relay station, I quickly went to the side of the telephone, squatted down, took the earphone from the second lieutenant''s hand, put it on, and yelled at the transmitter: "Hello, can you hear me? I''m the commander of the independent division of the 64th army, Colonel oshanina


    "Hello, comrade Colonel," a young soldier''s clear voice came out of the earphone. "I''m corporal Naja clemenko, the messenger. I''m the monitor of the communication class."


    "What''s the situation there?" When I asked, I had heard a lot of gunfire coming out of my headphones.


    "It''s very bad, comrade colonel. German tanks are approaching our relay station. They are driving and firing, followed by a large number of infantry Naga nervously reported to me.


    "The Scouts of those two classes are responsible for protecting the communication class and communication equipment." Second lieutenant strerkov whispered to me.


    "Corporal Najia, there are still two classes of scouts in the relay station. Where are they now?"


    "They all went into the fortifications to stop the Germans." Najia replied loudly, "but I don''t think they''ll be able to support it for long. The Germans are at least ten times more than us."


    "Can you break through now?" I asked with difficulty.


    After a moment''s silence, Naga simply answered me, "Comrade Colonel, I don''t think we can break through the encirclement. The relay station is surrounded by Germans. As soon as we leave the house or the fortification, we will be shot to death. " As soon as her voice fell, there was a violent explosion in the earphone, followed by a dense gunshot.


    "Corporal Najia, what''s the matter? Najia, corporal Najia... "After hearing the explosion and gunfire, Najia suddenly stopped talking, which made me nervous and yelled at the transmitter.


    About two or three minutes later, when I heard Najia''s voice coming out of the earphone again, I was relieved. I asked pleasantly, "corporal, what''s the matter? I just heard a shell explode near you."


    "Yes, a German tank shell fell on the side of the house and exploded, making a gap in the wall on one side. There are two German soldiers who want to take the opportunity to rush in through the gap and are beaten back by the female soldiers in the communication class. "


    "Are there any casualties?" I asked with concern.


    Najia was silent for a moment, and answered in a low voice, "two were sacrificed, and one was injured. But the Germans didn''t get along. One of the soldiers was killed by us on the spot, and the other who escaped by chance was wounded in the leg by us. "


    When a communication class confronts two German soldiers, they still pay the price of two deaths and one injury, while the German soldiers only pay one death and one injury. I just don''t know how effective the soldiers of the two reconnaissance teams are and how long they can hold back the Germans.


    I was quietly calculating the proportion of casualties between the enemy and ourselves. Yevdifyev, who had returned to normal, came up to me and pleaded with me: "Comrade Colonel, I ask you to send troops immediately to rescue the soldiers in the relay station."


    I looked up at him, did not speak, but continued to ask Najia: "corporal Najia, where are the soldiers of the reconnaissance class? Are they still fighting the attacking Germans? " In fact, without her reply, the more and more intensive gunfire came from the earphone, I knew that our soldiers were fighting with the German army tenaciously.


    "They''re fighting. They''re brave." Na Jia just said dryly, and then became excited. "Under the fierce attack of the enemy, they suffered a lot of casualties. When the enemy rushed to their side, two of the wounded did not hesitate to ring the grenade and died with the enemy who rushed up


    I took off the earphone and held it in my hand, so that several people around me could hear Najia''s voice: "a tank came, it collapsed our sandbag fortification, and it was rushing towards us. Ah, who is that? It seems that he is the monitor of the reconnaissance class. He is rushing towards the tank with a bunch of grenades... "She just said this, and there was a loud bang in her earphone.


    Long after the sound, Najia choked and said, "the monitor rushed up and died with the German tank."


    "How many scouts are left?" The German offensive is progressing so fast. Although I expected it, I still imagined that the scouts could resist for a while, so that the female soldiers in the communication class could get out of danger. I tentatively asked, "Najia, please confirm it again. Do you have any hope of breaking through?" In fact, my intention was to make the communication women surrender to the Germans and save their lives first. However, seeing that there were several political workers around, I had to swallow this treacherous remark.


    Najia replied with a bitter smile: "Comrade Colonel, there is no hope. We are completely surrounded by the Germans. " After a short pause, she continued: "all the women soldiers in our communication class will stay here. When the Germans arrive, we will finish all the bullets and leave the last one for ourselves."


    Najia''s words made me silent. Just then, another female soldier''s scream came from the earphone: "sisters, the Germans are coming. Shoot And then there was a lot of gunfire.


    Strelkov sprang up in front of me, knelt down on one knee and begged me bitterly, "Comrade Colonel, please send troops to attack. I can''t watch my comrades in arms die like this."


    "Yes, comrade Colonel, you can''t hesitate any more. Send troops to attack!"


    "Fight, sir. We can''t watch our sister die in German hands."


    First yevdifyev, kovaliov and others, then verol, Godunov, basmanov and others, all asked me to send troops to rescue the relay station besieged by the German army.


    When everyone was in a fierce mood, Najia''s voice didn''t come out from the earphone. Without saying a word, I looked at the thick smoke rising behind the highland, wondering whether Najia was fighting or sacrificing. I didn''t pay attention to the voice of asking for a fight.


    After a long time, Na Jia''s voice came out of the earphone again. However, she was obviously injured and spoke intermittently: "report, comrade Colonel, I heard what you said. There was no one else in the relay station. No matter the Scouts or the female soldiers in the communication class, they all died. I was the only one. The German shells were still exploding around the house... Several tanks with white crosses were approaching on my right, followed by a large group of infantry... I was seriously injured, two shrapnel in my abdomen, so I couldn''t evacuate. Anyway, I will be killed sooner or later, so you must not risk saving us... A tank stopped outside my house, and two people got out of the tank... After talking with some infantry, they came to me I''m so scared. I''m so nervous that my heart will stop beating. I see what''s going to happen... "


    She said here, a few clear pistol shots came out of the headphones, followed by the sound of German submachine guns¡° Farewell, my dear comrades... "After a clear shot, the call was interrupted.


    Strelkov knelt on the ground, his face raised high, his hands tugging at his hair, howling like a wounded beast. The other three commanders of the communication company also looked sad.


    I stood up from the ground with difficulty, gently wiped away the tears from the corner of my eyes, and called to several of my subordinates: "verol, basmanov, Godunov."


    The three heard my call and came to me. Without waiting for me to speak, Godunov said in advance: "Sir, let me lead the ninth company to attack. I will teach these damned bandits a lesson."


    "Sir, I''ll take the guard camp with me." Basmanov also said.


    Instead of answering them immediately, I looked at the commander of the communication company who was in pain, and then told basmanov: "Comrade captain, you and instructor verol, take people to escort these escaped communication company commanders back to our station. Godunov and I stayed behind and broke up


    "What? Sir, don''t we teach those damned Germans a lesson? " Basmanov did not expect that I suddenly gave such an inexplicable order, and could not help shouting.


    Hearing the contents of basmanov''s shouting, the deputy director of the reconnaissance platoon came up to me and said reluctantly, "Comrade Colonel, my subordinates have died here. I can''t leave like this. I want to stay and avenge them."


    "Comrade Deputy instructor," I said to him sternly and solemnly, "our order is to rescue you and break through the encirclement. Now that this task has been completed, we should return to the camp immediately." Seeing what else he wanted to say, I quickly raised my hand to stop him, and then said, "if the German plane comes, we just want to withdraw, but we can''t withdraw. Go ahead My last word is not only to the Deputy instructor, but also to basmanov.


    Seeing that the soldiers of the guard camp helped several commanders of the communication company to leave, gordonov, who was standing beside me, said unconvincingly, "Comrade division, I don''t understand why you want to give such an order. It''s clear that the enemy is in front of us. Why don''t we fight? As long as our company rushes forward, we can bring the enemy into chaos. "


    I snorted and said coldly, "what''s the use of getting the Germans into chaos? When they come back, then the company you lead will be easily eaten by them. As a result, we not only failed to rescue the besieged communication class, but also added another company to the outcome of the German war. "


    Seeing that Godunov was speechless, I urged him: "Comrade lieutenant, don''t stay here, go and gather the troops. When busmanov and they move safely, we''ll follow


    Although Godunov''s face was not reconciled, seeing my serious expression, he had no choice but to promise and obediently gather the troops scattered in the individual bunker on the hillside. However, after the German army occupied the relay station, it stopped the operation, so that our broken small force could withdraw to the new defense area of the independent division smoothly. As soon as I got back to headquarters, trekov called. His anxious voice came from the earphone: "o''shanina, has the rescue mission been completed?" After a moment''s silence, I replied, "Comrade report commander, it''s only half done."¡° When it''s finished, say it''s finished. When it''s not finished, say it''s not finished. What''s half finished? " Trekov asked me in his headphones¡° Comrade commander, this is the situation. When we got to our destination, we found that the German army was attacking the highland guarded by the communication company. I ordered the troops to attack decisively, beat the Germans from behind, beat back their attack, and covered the troops holding high ground to join us. "¡° It''s a good job. After all, we rescued the communication company. " "How can you say that the task is only half finished?" trekov asked¡° Well, comrade commander. " I said bitterly: "originally, I thought that the task would be completed if this small unit was rescued. But when I was going to take them away, the political instructor of the communication company, yevdifyev, told me that there were two classes of scouts and one class of communication women in the relay station behind the highland. " After hearing this, trekov was surprised and asked nervously, "ah! Have the rest of the people been rescued? "¡° No, When I got the news, the German army launched a new attack on the highlands. As you know, my troops are not trained enough to confront the well-equipped and well-trained German troops. They are not their opponents. Besides, there are more than a dozen German tanks, but we only have two tanks with insufficient fuel and ammunition, so we can''t confront them at all. So we can only watch the enemy rush to the relay station behind the high ground. "¡° Then what happened? " Trekov''s tone became solemn¡° Although our troops holding fast to the relay station were inferior not only in equipment but also in number, they were still fighting tenaciously with the Germans. In particular, corporal Najia, the monitor of the women''s communication class, said to me firmly after being surrounded by the German Army: "all the women soldiers in our communication class will stay here. When the Germans arrive, we will finish all the bullets and leave the last one for ourselves." She did as well as said. I heard several Germans walking towards her in the earphone. She shot decisively at the enemy and killed herself in order not to be a prisoner when she was seriously injured. " After listening to me, trikov fell into silence. After a long time, he said slowly: "corporal Najia is our hero. Although she does not belong to our 64th army, we still have to report her heroic deeds. You should sort out the information immediately and report it to me. I want to report it to the headquarters of the front army so that more officers and soldiers can learn from her brave and indomitable spirit¡° Yes, comrade commander. I''ll do it immediately. "

 Chapter 573

    "Well, Colonel o''shanina, now tell me: How did you think about it at that time? Why did you make the decision to die when our relay station was attacked by the German army, which killed dozens of soldiers?"


    There were three people sitting at the wooden table of the division headquarters. They were all commanders who did not belong to our division. The chubby political worker on the left is kirilov, director of the Political Department of the 62nd group army and political commissar of the regiment level, who I met on the river. The commander on the right is a lieutenant colonel of the interior department. My usual seat is occupied by a bald man in military civilian clothes. On the other side of the wooden table stood a bench, on which I sat, two armed interior soldiers and a second lieutenant. The place where the telephone was placed on the wall was no longer razumeyeva, but another middle-aged man in military casual clothes.


    The bald man in the middle was wearing a pair of round glasses and a fine moustache. When he came in just now, he once introduced himself, saying that he was piksin, member of the Stalingrad municipal Party committee, and chuyanov, the first Secretary of the State Party committee. He came to our division to learn about the battle I commanded yesterday.


    When they arrived, I was assigning today''s task to several of them. When I saw a group of strangers coming into my headquarters, especially two middle-aged people in military civilian clothes, I immediately terminated the meeting and welcomed them. At the same time, I politely asked, "comrades, what can I do for you?"


    As soon as my voice fell, the first person who came out of the crowd was kirilov, whom I once met. He said with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, we are from Stalingrad. We have something to talk about." At this point, he turned and looked at the commanders standing at the table.


    Obviously, he didn''t want to have too many outsiders present, so I immediately ordered several of them to "Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant serge Several of them agreed, turned and walked out of the headquarters.


    Kirilov''s eyes looked at basmanov and razumeyeva, who were still in the room, and ordered them to go out first: "Comrade captain, and this female lieutenant, we have something important to discuss with your division commander." Although they heard kirilov say so, they didn''t move, but looked at me for consultation. See me nodded, just salute after turning to leave.


    When I was the only one left in the room and the group of uninvited guests who had just come in, the bald middle-aged man in military civilian clothes and glasses said haughtily, "Colonel o''shanina, you may not know me, so I''ll introduce myself. My name is piksin. I''m a member of the Stalingrad municipal Party committee. I''m an investigation team formed on the order of Comrade chuyanov, the first Secretary of the State Party committee. I''m here to learn about yesterday''s battle from you. " At this point, he did not pay any attention to me any more. He told the people around him: "Comrade Fernando win."


    Another middle-aged man in military civilian clothes crowded up to him. Pixin pointed to the position that belonged to razumeyeva in the corner and said, "you sit there and take charge of the record."


    The middle-aged man didn''t speak. He just nodded and pushed to the position pointed by the committee member.


    Then Pixin said to one of the commanders around him, "Comrade commander, you are from the Ministry of interior. You are more familiar with how to alert the soldiers. I''ll leave it to you to arrange it."


    The lieutenant commander nodded, and then issued orders to his subordinates: "Lieutenant, you take four soldiers to the door to guard. No one is allowed to come in without my orders."


    When the lieutenant who received the order left with four soldiers, he told the remaining second lieutenant, "second lieutenant, move that stool back a little and ask this comrade to sit down."


    The second lieutenant agreed to let the remaining two soldiers move the stool. He came up to me and said coldly, "Comrade Colonel, please follow me." I shrugged my shoulders, gave kirilov a bitter smile, and obediently followed the lieutenant to the position I had been assigned.


    "Now let''s take a seat," Pixin said to the two remaining commanders around him, and then took the lead to my seat. When he sat down, he said frankly, "Colonel oshanina, we are ordered to investigate the battle that took place yesterday in basarji At this point, he turned to kirilov, who was sitting beside him, and said, "Comrade political commissar of the regiment, you have dealt with colonel oshanina. You are responsible for these inquiries."


    Kirilov did not object, but nodded. Then he stood up, supported the edge of the table with both hands, leaned forward slightly, and slowly asked what he had said at the beginning.


    After listening to his culture, I sighed silently in my heart: in the face of the enemy, you did not consider how to take defensive measures to resist the German attack, but sent a group of people to my headquarters and tried me like a prisoner. What''s the matter? Although I was dissatisfied with the so-called investigation team, I still had to maintain the superficial respect, so I wanted to stand up and answer his question.


    I didn''t expect that as soon as I raised my hand, I felt the gravity on my shoulder. As soon as I left the stool, I had to sit down again. I looked to the left and right, it turned out that the soldiers on both sides pressed my shoulder and did not allow me to stand up. Just as I was about to get angry, the second lieutenant whispered: "be honest, sit and answer the questions of the political commissar at the regiment level."


    Seeing that I couldn''t stand up, I could only sit on my stool and report to kirilov the situation of yesterday in good order: "as we suddenly attacked from the enemy''s rear, we repulsed the enemy who was besieging the Highlands, and the friendly troops who were covering the Highlands successfully emerged. As the friendly troops were retreating, I did not get a report that there was still a communication relay station of our army behind the highland. After the rescued friendly troops returned to the temporary defensive position of our division, and after I gave the order to withdraw all of them here, the political instructor of the communication company suddenly said that there was a communication relay station behind the highland, in which there were two classes of scouts and a women''s communication class. "


    Before I finished, Pickering interrupted me and asked impatiently, "don''t say so many useless things. We just want to know why you didn''t send troops to rescue them immediately and watch them destroyed by the Germans?"


    When he finished, I introduced him with a wry smile and said, "comrades of the municipal Party committee, I also want to send troops to rescue these besieged soldiers immediately after I get the news. But just then, I found that the German attacked the Highlands again. They sent out a battalion and a dozen tanks. Our troops are much smaller than theirs. There are only two companies, one platoon and one class in the outgoing guard camp. The company is full of recruits who lack training and combat experience. As for heavy weapons, there are even fewer. There are only two tanks with insufficient fuel and ammunition, and five mortars. Under such a huge contrast of forces, if I send troops to attack rashly, I will not only fail to rescue the besieged commanders and fighters, but also take all my troops in. "


    "Enough!" Without waiting for kirilov to speak, Pixin clapped the table and stood up again, pointed at me and said in a loud voice, "you coward who only know how to maintain your strength, just because you are afraid of the casualties of your troops, you make the decision of holding still, and watch those soldiers who will stand by die in vain. We will not tolerate your behavior. You have to pay for the sacrifice of these soldiers. I will send you to the military court to try your cowardly behavior of being greedy for life and fearing death. "


    "Comrade Pickering, please calm down." Seeing that he was angry, kirilov, a political commissar at the regiment level, urged him to say, "what''s the situation, I''ll find out. Sit down first, and I''ll take care of the rest. "


    After Pixin sat down angrily, kirilov didn''t pay attention to me. Instead, he asked the interior officer sitting opposite him, "Comrade commander, I want to ask you what kind of decision you would have made if you had been in the position of Colonel oshanina yesterday?"


    The lieutenant commander of the Ministry of interior looked at me contemptuously and replied: "what else can we do? It''s better to let all the troops fight immediately, even if they all die, than to sit and watch their comrades in arms be destroyed by the enemy."


    Listening to the commander''s words, I feel very bad. Do you think I don''t want to rescue the troops in the relay station? The key is to have this strength. Otherwise, the besieged troops will not be rescued, and their own troops will be exhausted. It is really a small loss. I also know that I should not abandon my comrades in arms, but I''m a mud Bodhisattva. When I can''t protect myself, I can''t give the kind of stupid orders that the commander said.


    Kirilov put on a kind posture, and then asked me: "Captain oshanina, I met you once by the river dun. From my understanding of you, you are a brave and very fighting commander. I believe you made this decision for your own reasons, and we all know that the enemy is strong and we are weak. But when you see the enemy troops rushing towards the high ground, you should at least do something to support the commanders and fighters of those relay stations. "


    When I was talking to Najia, the leader of the communication class, I also heard something about it. Last night, I stayed up all night and repeatedly asked myself, if I had been cruel at that time, pegodunov would have launched a fierce attack on the flank of the German army under the cover of tanks, would it be possible to repel their attack, Will cover allow some of the troops in the station to withdraw safely? The final answer is No. If I had recklessly ordered the troops to rush up at that time, it would have been hitting the stone with eggs. Not only gordonov''s company would have been killed, but even we in the temporary defensive positions would have been more or less in danger.


    Thinking of this, I explained to myself: "Comrade political commissar of the regiment level, I repeat that under the circumstances at that time, we could not provide any help for the commanders and fighters who would stay in the station. Our temporary position is about two kilometers away from the highland. The range of mortars is not enough, and the tanks are almost carrying armour piercing bullets, which can not effectively kill the swarming German infantry. "


    When he heard my reply, Pickering was impatient. He said harshly, "well, my regimental political commissar, don''t talk to her anymore. No matter what kind of lies she weaves to cover up her mistakes, it can''t change the fact that she is a coward who is afraid of death At this point, he turned around and ordered the commander of the interior department: "Comrade commander, what are you still doing? Arrest her immediately, take her back to Stalingrad and send her to the military court for trial."


    "Comrade Pixin," kirilov interrupted, explaining to me, "although in yesterday''s battle, Colonel oshanina did not take decisive action to rescue the troops besieged in the passing station, it does not mean that she is a coward? What''s more, we''re only here today to learn about the real situation of yesterday''s battle. We haven''t received the order to arrest o''shanina! "


    "Comrade political commissar of the regiment level," Pickering said impolitely, "I am a member of the municipal Party committee and one of the persons in charge of the defense headquarters. I have the right to arrest such a coward who is greedy for life and afraid of death without the discussion of the leading group." In order to prevent kirilov from saying good things for me, he specially stressed, "Comrade kirilov, although you know the colonel, you can''t say good things for her. You should know that this is a manifestation of tenderness and is very dangerous." Kirilov was speechless. He looked at me, laughed apologetically and sat down in silence. When kirilov sat down honestly, the commander stood up, waved his hand in my direction, and decisively ordered his men, "Comrade lieutenant, handcuff her." The second lieutenant agreed, took out the handcuffs from his body and was ready to start. Just then, there was a noise outside the room. Hearing the unexpected sound, Pixin was stunned. He looked at the door and asked aloud, "what''s the matter outside? Why is it so noisy?" The lieutenant, who was on guard outside the headquarters, ran in and raised his hand to salute. After that, he said in a loud voice, "report to members of the municipal Party committee that more than 100 soldiers have come outside and surrounded us."¡° It''s just nonsense. Surround this place. What do they want to do? Do they want to rebel? " We have to say that Pixin is very brave. Although he heard that many people were coming from outside, he still waved his head to the commander of the interior department and said without fear, "come on, comrade commander, let''s go out and see what happened."

 Chapter 574

    Pixin strode toward the door with the air of the interior department commander. It seemed that he wanted to use the official authority to deter the soldiers gathered outside.


    Unexpectedly, as soon as he stepped up the steps and walked out of the door, another arrow came back and yelled at the lieutenant who came to report: "Lieutenant, are you blind? There are more than 100 people coming from outside, but I can see that there are more than 300 people. "


    The lieutenant, who had been scolded by him, scratched the back of his head and said wrongly, "but, comrade, member of the municipal Party committee, before I came in just now, I counted it in person. There are really only more than 100 people?"


    After scolding the lieutenant, Pixin came to me again and said angrily, "Captain o''shanina, why are there hundreds of your subordinates outside? What do they want to do? Do they want to rebel? I warn you, don''t think that if you let so many soldiers surround the headquarters, you can escape the fate of going to the military court. "


    Listening to what he said, I felt particularly aggrieved. I said that as soon as you came in, I was under the control of the soldiers you brought. I neither left the headquarters nor called anyone. How can I know what happened outside?


    While I was thinking about how to defend myself, kirilov stood by and said, "comrade, member of the municipal Party committee, I think you may have misunderstood Colonel oshanina."


    "What, I''ll misunderstand her. Why?" Asked Pixin, puzzled.


    Kirilov pointed to the door and said, "comrades of the municipal Party committee, I would like to remind you that since we entered the headquarters, Colonel oshanina has been in our field of vision. She has neither left this room nor made a phone call. Therefore, it is totally wrong for you to say that she sent someone to surround the headquarters."


    After listening to kirilov''s words, Pixin nodded with shame and murmured, "Comrade kirilov, you have a point. Maybe I''m too nervous to say the wrong thing." Then, he straightened his body and ordered the indifferent Commander: "Comrade commander, what are you still doing? Don''t you want to be taken away by others."


    The lieutenant agreed and gestured to the second lieutenant standing behind me. With his order, the second lieutenant quickly let two soldiers seize my arm and pull me up, holding me to walk out.


    "Please wait a moment," I tried to break free from the hands of the two soldiers behind me. I didn''t expect that they were so powerful that they didn''t break free. But I still tried to shout out what I wanted to say: "I''m going to call general trakov and report your behavior to him."


    I didn''t expect that after listening to this, piksin could only Snort and said coldly, "our investigation team is under the command of Comrade chuyanov. That is to say, except for Comrade chuyanov, not to mention general trakov, even general shumilov of the 64th army has no right to interfere in any decision we make. " With that, he waved his hand to the commander decisively and ordered in an indisputable tone: "take it away!"


    I was carried to the door by two soldiers. When I looked out, I was startled. I didn''t expect that there were so many people on the hillside outside. Hundreds of soldiers with weapons surrounded the headquarters. They were staring at the soldiers of the interior department standing guard at the door.


    The soldiers of the Ministry of internal affairs, who were on guard outside the door, were obviously frightened by such a scene. It is estimated that the situation that ordinary officers and soldiers dare to fight against them has never happened in their memory. Although they also carry weapons in their hands, they tremble when they point at their guns, which are hundreds of times more than themselves. It was not easy to see his superior come out of the headquarters, so he looked at Pixin and their lieutenant commander at the door, hoping to get the next order from them.


    With our appearance, there was a commotion in the originally silent crowd, and then several commanders desperately squeezed out of the crowd, came to me and raised their hands to salute me. I fixed my eyes on basmanov, Godunov and razumeyeva. They all had guns in their hands. It seemed that they had a lot of piksin. If they forced me to go, they would not hesitate to use force to save me.


    Although the lieutenant commander of the interior department saw hundreds of people outside the house, he still bravely yelled at them: "what are you doing here, don''t you see that we are carrying out the task? I order you to go back to your respective camps immediately, so as not to affect our investigation team in handling the case. "


    As soon as his voice fell, the crowd did not know who yelled: "brothers, these people want to catch our teachers, we must not let them leave."


    His words immediately aroused the resonance of the soldiers on the scene, and everyone immediately began to shout.


    "Yes, if the division commander is captured, then we will be sent back to Gulag again."


    "Kill them all and get the teacher back."


    As all the soldiers were trying to push forward, several interior department soldiers who were so crowded in front of me had to retreat again and again.


    "Be quiet, everyone be quiet!" At the height of the chaos, Godunov raised his weapon and yelled, "let me negotiate with them."


    After the soldiers on the scene calmed down, Godunov stepped forward two steps, pushed the two soldiers of the Ministry of interior out of his way, came to Pixin''s face, and asked aloud, "this leading comrade, I want to ask, what''s wrong with our division commander, why do you want to arrest her?"


    Having reached this point, Pixin could not let go of his airs as a member of the municipal Party committee. He snorted heavily and said with disdain, "Lieutenant, your rank is too low to be involved in this matter." Then he turned his head and yelled at the commander: "commander, what are you still doing? Take the man away immediately!"


    The commander was about to order his men to take me away by force. Unexpectedly, Godunov had raised his gun, pointed the black muzzle at the commander, and said harshly, "Comrade commander, I don''t care who you are, but if you want to take my teacher away by force, I will shoot you without hesitation."


    Godunov''s action immediately received everyone''s response. All the people raised their guns and pointed the black muzzle at the members of the investigation team around me. Even basmanov, the commander of the guard battalion with one arm hanging on his chest, had a pistol in his uninjured hand.


    Pixin burst into a rage, raised his voice and roared: "what do you want to do? You just pointed the gun at the superior leader. Do you want to rebel?" Although the voice is very high, but I still recognize his voice because of shaking and changed the tone.


    Kirilov quickly came out to make a round. He raised his hands, waved desperately, and said in a loud voice, "comrades, please listen to me. I am the director of the Political Department of the 64th group army. I am here today to understand the battle that took place near Huirang station yesterday. Now captain o''shanina has not been arrested by us. He just wants to go back and help us investigate some things. Please don''t worry. " With that, he turned around and whispered to the two soldiers who were holding me up


    Although kirilov comforted everyone a few words, the guns in the soldiers'' hands were still not put down, and they still pointed at the members of the investigation team.


    Pixin came up to me and said in a low voice, "Captain oshanina, I warn you that if your men dare to continue to stop us from leaving, the consequences will be very serious."


    As soon as his words were finished, kirilov came up to me and said softly, "I know what happened yesterday, Colonel o''shanina. It''s not your responsibility. You just need to go back with us and make it clear. If your soldiers forcibly prevent us from leaving, it will not be a good end if we make a big mistake. "


    After listening to kirilov''s words, my mind immediately began to fight between heaven and man. Is it time to order the soldiers to lay down their weapons and then return to Stalingrad with them obediently, waiting for their disposal of me? Or do I simply ask my subordinates to kill all the members of the investigation team, and then I take the troops away and go to Germany?


    These are extraordinary times. If I follow them back to Stalingrad and be put on trial in a military court, I''m afraid I can hardly escape death according to the principle of being strict and quick. It''s impossible to kill the investigation team and pull the troops to join the German army. It''s completely possible for this group of prisoners from Gulag concentration camp to become a reality. You know, they suffered all kinds of hardships in the concentration camp. Now in my division, they not only get rid of the status of prisoners, but also will not be used as cannon fodder by their superiors. But all they have now will come to an end when I am sent to the military court. When the new Commander arrives, their tragic fate will begin. Because of this, it is not difficult for me to pull away this army with low loyalty to Stalin.


    I turned to look at the nervous Pickering and lieutenant commander, and then at kirilov, who was standing in front of me with a smile on his face. I had a good feeling for this political worker from the Central Committee. If he was to be buried with Pickering, I couldn''t bear it. That''s why I can''t make up my mind. I scanned the crowd again. Except for such Lieutenant officers as Godunov, basmanov and razumeyeva, shijerikov, kosja, gedar and even the acting head of the second regiment, Pugachev, who was promoted by me, couldn''t even see a shadow. Were they deliberately avoiding me for fear of being implicated by me? I can''t help feeling a chill when I think of it.


    Pixin saw that I did not speak. In order to avoid a long night''s dream, he once again ordered the commander: "Comrade commander, it''s not suitable to stay here for a long time. Let your soldiers take captain oshanina away immediately."


    Hearing his order, the commander said in embarrassment: "comrade, member of the municipal Party committee, don''t you see hundreds of guns pointing at us? If we go a little bit too far, I think they will not hesitate to open fire and beat all of us into a sieve. "


    Pixin asked reluctantly, "do they dare to do this?"


    The commander replied with a wry smile, "I think they will. Comrades of the municipal Party committee, for the sake of our safety, I advise you not to take this risk. "


    When Pixin finished listening, he shut up.


    Just as the sword was drawing, high dust was rising on the dirt road in the distance, and we could see that several armored vehicles were coming towards us. Seeing the armored car suddenly appeared, I looked at Pixin in front of me. I couldn''t help hating him. My heart said that in order to catch me, you even sent out armored cars.


    Although there are a large number of soldiers outside the headquarters, they all have light weapons in their hands. If armored vehicles rush to open fire on them, they have no fighting power at all. It seems that we need to start first, let the soldiers catch all the members of the investigation team, and then negotiate with the coming armored forces.


    When I was about to give the order, Pickering had already given the order by force: "commander, bring oshanina back." With that, he first turned around and ran back to the headquarters. For his orders, the commander did not dare to neglect, did not wait for me to give an order, he commanded his men to carry me back to the room. When I sat down in the prisoner''s position again, Pixin, who was so angry that one Buddha ascended to heaven and two Buddhas were born, patted the table and roared: "Colonel oshanina, you are so bold that you mobilized troops to besiege the investigation team sent by the higher authorities, and even used precious armored force to deal with us. What do you want to do? Do you really want to rebel, kill us all, and take the troops to the Germans? " As for his words, I hummed softly, and said to myself that I really had the idea of taking my troops to surrender to the Germans. If it wasn''t for kirilov''s sake, you would have been killed by my subordinates. Just as I wanted to make a mockery of him, I suddenly thought of what he said, thinking that the armored force just appeared was not with them, so who came here? The answer was soon revealed. First, ten soldiers in helmets and submachine guns rushed in, drove the interior department officers and men aside, collected their weapons, and drove them to the wall to guard them. As the soldiers of the Ministry of interior behind me were taken care of, I was able to stand up calmly. Looking at these soldiers who rushed into the headquarters, I was surprised to find that they were all strangers, not soldiers from the guard camp, and I didn''t see basmanov come in with them. Obviously, the order for these soldiers to rush in was not given by them. Then, a general in a cornice hat stepped into the headquarters. Seeing this man, kirilov quickly got up from the table and met him. As they shook hands, "general krailov, what are you doing here?" When I heard kirilov''s name, I immediately recognized him as general krailov, the chief of staff of the 62nd group army, who was about one meter old in the headquarters of the front army. Before general krailov spoke, Pixin had become furious: "chief krailov, who gave you the right to hand over the weapons of the soldiers of the Ministry of interior?"¡° I gave the order A familiar voice sounded at the door. Hearing this voice, my tears almost burst into my eyes. I knew in my heart that as long as this person appeared, then I would get through the difficulty. Seeing this man''s appearance, in addition to the ordinary soldiers of the Ministry of interior, several persons in charge of the investigation team were all surprised. Originally still arrogant, Pixin quickly restrained his angry expression on his face and trotted all the way to this man. After bowing, he stretched out his hands and said respectfully: "Hello, dear Georgi konstantinovic, Welcome to Stalingrad? " With a snort, the man came to me with a heavy step on his back, put his hand on my shoulder, and asked with concern, "are you all right, Rita?" Although I tried my best to control my feelings, when I heard his words, my tears still ran down my cheek, and at the same time, I replied loudly, "report Comrade Zhukov, I''m fine, thank you for your concern!" Zhukov nodded, went to the seat where Pickering had just sat down, looked at Pickering, and asked coldly, "Comrade Pickering, can you tell me what happened here?"

 Chapter 575

    With the sudden appearance of Zhukov, the joint investigation team had to cancel my investigation. Then Zhukov ordered Pixin to return to Stalingrad immediately with the soldiers from the Ministry of interior, leaving kirilov, director of the Political Department of the 62nd army.


    After Pickering and the officers and men of the Ministry of interior left, Zhukov looked at me, frowned discontentedly, and said, "Rita, since the members of the investigation team have left, can the troops you ambushed on the road to Stalingrad also be withdrawn? You know, to the south of you, there are several divisions of the 4th group army of hotter tanks, which are eyeing this defensive position of your division. You can''t lose the big for the small. "


    "Troops on the road to Stalingrad?" I was a little confused and said, "senior general, I don''t understand what you mean."


    Zhukov snorted and said with a gloomy face, "do you think I''m blind? At least one battalion of troops was ambushed on the roadside, even equipped with mortars and heavy machine guns. I estimate that if the convoy escorting you passes through this area, it will be severely blocked by them. Maybe there will be no survivors except you at that time. " At this point, he turned to kirilov, who was sitting on the left, and said, "Comrade political commissar of the regiment, you are lucky. If I come a little later, you will go to see God. And Comrade oshanina, you can blame the Germans for your murder. In any case, under the current situation, anything can happen. "


    Zhukov''s words surprised me in a cold sweat. I quickly stood up, went to the door and cried out, "come on, come on!"


    With my shouts, basmanov, Godunov and razumeyeva, who were outside the house, ran in and saw that I was safe. Their faces were full of joy.


    I can''t afford to talk to them about the past either. I asked frankly, "who can tell me what happened to the ambush on the road to Stalingrad?"


    Godunov took a wary look at Zhukov, kirilov and kreilov sitting at the table. He could not help but stop talking. I quickly comforted him and said, "it''s OK. If you have anything to say, no one will blame you."


    Godunov then braved himself and replied, "Mr. report, after the investigation team arrived just now, lieutenant commander xijerikov thought that the situation was a bit wrong, so he ordered me and basmanov to take the soldiers of the guard camp to guard near the headquarters, and try not to let the investigation team take you away."


    In fact, after listening to Godunov''s words, I understood what was going on, but I had to confirm it again, so I asked, "if you don''t stop them, what''s the plan of chejerikov?"


    "If we don''t stop the investigation team from taking you away, Lieutenant Colonel chejerikov will lead the troops to ambush them on the road, kill them and save you."


    "Nonsense, it''s nonsense!" Although I scolded them, I felt warm in my heart. Fortunately, Zhukov appeared in time, otherwise today''s bloodshed could not be avoided. I yelled at razumeyeva: "I said, comrade second lieutenant, what are you still doing? If you don''t get in touch with lieutenant commander xiejerikov and ask him to withdraw his troops, it''s not good to have a misunderstanding with the comrades of Stalingrad municipal Party committee."


    Razumeyeva agreed and ran to the telephone to contact lieutenant colonel shejerikov. And I''m still asking busmanov and gordonov, "have all the soldiers left?"


    They nodded and replied, "except for the four soldiers standing guard at the door, the rest have been withdrawn."


    Hearing that all the soldiers outside the door had withdrawn, I felt more secure. So I waved to them and said, "go out first. I''ll call you if you have something to do."


    When I sat down at the table again, I heard kirilov telling Zhukov about yesterday''s fighting situation: "the troops that captain oshanina went to rescue were besieged by the Germans in the little rososhki area, 40 kilometers west of Stalingrad. The besieged troops belonged to the soldiers of the 1379th regiment of the 87th Infantry Division of the 62nd group army. They were led by political instructor yevdifyev and Deputy instructor Leonid kovaliev, a member of the Communist Youth League. Although they were besieged, they stuck to their position and did not step back. The soldiers ran out of food. It was so hot that they didn''t have a drop of water. The German used 70 tanks to attack the hero''s position many times. But they did not waver. In two days of fighting, they destroyed 27 enemy tanks and killed nearly 200 people. After the arrival of captain oshanina''s troops, 33 of their soldiers succeeded in jumping out of the German encirclement. "


    Kirilov was interrupted by Zhukov when he wanted to continue. He asked, "since Comrade oshanina led the troops and rescued 33 officers and men from the German encirclement, why did the Political Department of your group army and Stalingrad municipal Party committee form a joint investigation team to investigate Comrade oshanina?"


    Kirilov blushed and said sheepishly, "because the troops who broke through the siege did not tell them in time when they joined the rescue forces of the independent division that there was a railway passing station behind the highland and the communication relay station of our army. So that when Colonel oshanina got the news, a new round of German attack began At this point, he stopped and looked at me, waiting for me to tell Zhukov what happened later.


    I laughed at him, and then he said to Zhukov, "general, when I got the news, it was too late, and the German army launched a new attack on the highlands. They not only have more infantry than us, but even tanks are several times as many as us. If we attack rashly, we will not only be unable to save the besieged troops, but may even take them all in, so I can only order the troops to stand by and wait for the fighters. "


    "How long did the troops who stayed at the meeting station last?" Asked Zhukov.


    I bowed my head and pondered for a moment, silently calculating the approximate time. As soon as I worked out the correct answer, I immediately replied, "I''ve persisted for about ten minutes."


    "Ten minutes?" Zhukov frowned again, and then asked, "how far are your troops from the Highlands?"


    "Two kilometers," I said clearly, "even if there is no German block, my troops will have to wait about a quarter of an hour to get to the passing station."


    Zhukov listened, staring at the map on the table, seemed to be lost in thought. After a long time, he said slowly, "Rita, you are doing the right thing. If it was me, I think I would make the same decision as you


    Zhukov''s words made me put down the big stone in my heart. Just as I wanted to say a few more words to him, Zhukov had turned his head and said to krailov, "Comrade krailov, how is general korpakchi''s injury?"


    The acting commander of the 62nd army, korpakchi, is injured? This news surprised me. No matter when the senior commander is talking, I am not suitable to interrupt. I can only sit by and listen to the conversation quietly.


    Krailov sighed and said: "originally, it was just a leg injury. Because of no timely treatment, it''s getting more and more serious now. It''s even difficult to walk."


    Zhukov put one arm on the table and leaned over to kreilov, saying, "since his injury is so serious, he can''t be left in the front line any more. He should be transferred to the right bank of Volga River and treated in a good military hospital in a safe place."


    "But if he leaves, comrade general," said Krylov in embarrassment, "who will command our army?"


    "Trekov, comrade trekov is the right person." Zhukov took a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to him, adding: "that''s what the Supreme Commander himself meant. Had it not been for the disappearance of Comrade trakov on the grassland for some time, he would have been the commander of the 62nd army. "


    After hearing Zhukov''s announcement, I was relieved that trakov would finally become commander of the 62nd army. It seems that my life will be much better in the future.


    After two minutes of complacency, I suddenly found another problem. Trakov was the commander of the 62nd group army, while my independent division was the organizational system of the 64th group army, which was not under his jurisdiction.


    When Zhukov had finished talking with krailov, he turned to me and said, "Rita, comrade trakov needs a competent commander to help him finish the task of defending Stalingrad. Well, you can stay here for another two days. When Comrade trakov takes office in the 62nd army, you can also take the army with him. As for the new defense site of your division, "he said decisively after looking at the map for a while," I think it''s at mamayev post. Maybe it will become a key area for both sides. "


    Just then, a voice calling for a report came from the door. I quickly stood up and called out: "come in!"


    As soon as the words came to an end, four people, including xijerikov, Pugachev, kosja and gedar, came in from outside the house one after another. They stood in front of me, raised their hands and saluted, and then loudly reported, "Comrade division, we are ordered to come and wait for your instructions!"


    Before I could speak, Zhukov strode over, stood beside me, looked at the four regimental commanders, and said with great interest, "Rita, is this the commander who is ambushing by the road with his troops?"


    I don''t know why Zhukov asked, so I had to introduce him with a wry smile and said, "yes, Comrade General. I''d like to introduce you to the first regiment commander, Lieutenant sergeant xijerikov, the acting regiment commander of the second regiment, Captain Pugachev, the third regiment commander, lieutenant commander kosja, and the fourth regiment commander, lieutenant commander Gaidar. "


    Zhukov reached out to shake hands with the four commanders one by one. After shaking hands, he faced them and said, "I''m glad to see that you love your teachers so much. But I don''t approve of the way you have taken. "


    I was deeply afraid that Zhukov would blame them, so I hastened to defend them first: "Comrade General, they only took such drastic actions out of their concern for me."


    Zhukov waved his hand and stopped me from going on. Then he said to the four commanders, "although the measures you have taken to protect your teachers are wrong, I will not pursue them. I hope that when you come back to the army, you will deploy your defense well to fight against the possible German attack. "


    Hearing that Zhukov would no longer pursue this matter, not only me, but the faces of the four commanders all showed a look of joy. They all answered in unison: "please rest assured, senior general. We will guarantee to complete the task."


    Zhukov nodded with satisfaction, waved to them, and said with a smile, "OK, it''s OK. You all go out."


    After we sat down at the table again, kirilov asked curiously, "Comrade Zhukov, how did you come to Stalingrad?"


    "Comrade Stalin needed his chief of general staff to assist him in commanding the national battles, so he sent me to Stalingrad to exchange Comrade vasilevsky for Moscow."


    Then kirilov asked tentatively, "Comrade Zhukov, there is a saying in the Army: where Zhukov goes means that the attack will begin."


    After listening to kirilov''s statement, Zhukov burst out laughing, and krailov and I followed suit. After everyone''s laughter stopped, Zhukov said solemnly: "although I also want to launch a counterattack against the Germans immediately, at present, our strength is not enough, whether it is military strength or weapons and equipment, the Germans have the advantage. We still need a relatively long time to accumulate the strength of the counter offensive, so that we can give the Germans a final blow. "


    "Do you think we can keep Stalingrad?" When I heard kirilov''s question, I was stunned for a moment. You know, these words should not be freely asked by commanders of his level.


    "You say, Rita?" Zhukov suddenly threw the question at me.


    Hearing Zhukov asking me, I quickly stood up and said in a positive tone, "that''s to say, we can certainly hold Stalingrad. We will do everything we can to keep the Germans on the left bank of the Volga River and prevent them from crossing our Volga River."


    "It seems that Colonel o''shanina is very confident that our army will win this battle." After listening to my words, the onlooker said with emotion.


    "Comrade Krylov," Zhukov looked at me and echoed my opinion in time. "Comrade Rita has always been very accurate in judging the situation. Just like when the Germans rushed to Moscow last year, many people were frightened by the swarming Germans, and even some high-level commanders lost confidence in our ability to defend Moscow. But on different occasions, Lida said firmly that we would be able to hold Moscow. The final facts also proved that Rita''s judgment was correct. I believe this time is no exception. "


    "Hello, dear Georgi konstantinovic. It''s a pleasure to see you in Stalingrad." The reappearance of the door caught all the attention.


    For this familiar voice, even if I don''t look back, I know it''s general trakov. Since my immediate superior arrived, I didn''t have the reason to sit still on the stool, so I stood up quickly, turned to salute him and said, "Hello, comrade commander."


    "Wrong, wrong, comrade Rita." Zhukov jokingly said: "Comrade trakov is only the deputy commander of the 64th army, not the commander."


    I grinned and didn''t speak.


    Trikov walked up to Zhukov and raised his hand to salute him. The two hands were clasped. "In the army, there is a legend that as long as Zhukov appears in any place, it means that the attack will begin there," he said with emotion


    As soon as trikov''s voice fell, Zhukov and some of them burst out laughing, making trikov dumbfounded. After the laughter stopped, Zhukov patted the back of trikov''s hand with his empty left hand, and said with a smile, "Comrade trikov, you are late to say this sentence. Long before you came, comrade kirilov, the political commissar of the regiment, had already said it."


    Trikov chuckled and said, "since we all say that, it proves that we can not only hold on to Stalingrad, but also have a chance to wipe out all these enemies in the near future."


    After relaxing Zhukov''s hand, he shook hands with chief of staff Krylov and director of Political Department kirilov one by one. Zhukov saw the intimacy of the three, and said: "in two days, you will be colleagues. Take the time to get familiar with them."


    The appointment of trakov to the post of commander of the 62nd army is known to all in the headquarters at the moment, except himself. So after listening to Zhukov''s words, in addition to trikov''s blank face, kreilov and kirilov shook hands with trikov again, and said: "Hello, comrade commander, we will defeat those enemies who are trying to occupy Stalingrad under your leadership."


    Trikov looked at Zhukov and asked, "Comrade General, can you tell me what''s going on?"


    Zhukov handed the paper that had been shown to krailov to trikov and explained, "Comrade trikov, this is the appointment of the supreme commander. From September 1, you will officially assume the post of commander of the 62nd army. "


    After taking over the letter of appointment and looking at it carefully, trikov straightened up and said to Zhukov in a loud voice, "to serve the Soviet motherland, I will shed my last drop of blood to defend Stalingrad."


    After hearing this, Zhukov said with a displeased face: "Comrade trakov, I don''t need your blood, nor the blood of your subordinates. I just hope that the blood flowing under Stalingrad is the blood of the bandits."


    When trakov asked why Zhukov came to Stalingrad, Zhukov also asked curiously, "Comrade trakov, why do you come to the independent division today?" Trikov looked at me and replied, "I just received a call from general korpakchi saying that the Stalingrad municipal Party committee and the Political Department of the 62nd army had formed a joint investigation team to investigate the criminal act of o''shanina in yesterday''s battle. I heard that he actually used the word crime. I was afraid that she would encounter difficulties, so I came here specially. By the way, why do you also appear in the independent division, comrade Zhukov? " Trikov''s question is exactly what I always wanted to ask but didn''t ask out. Since he asked first at this moment, I''ll wait quietly for Zhukov''s answer. Zhukov took a look at krailov and said with a smile: "when krailov came to meet me at the airport, he mentioned the joint investigation team by accident. I think the same as you. I''m afraid that Rita will encounter any trouble that can''t be solved, so I let the team change its direction and come directly to the independent division." When Zhukov finished, I quickly stood up, saluted him and trakov respectively, and said gratefully, "thank you, general, commander, for your care and love for me!" After watching me sit down, trikov turned to Zhukov and said, "Comrade General, I have a request. I don''t know if I can put the independent division into the 62nd army?" Zhukov and krailov looked at each other and both of them were smiling. Zhukov happily said to krailov, "Comrade chief of staff, it''s up to you to report this matter to your future commander." Krailov agreed, stood up, and respectfully reported to trikov, "Comrade commander, long before you arrived, general Zhukov had made a decision to divide the independent division into the 62nd army group to be responsible for the defense of the mamayevgang area."

 Chapter 576

    After finishing my arrangement, trikov asked Zhukov curiously, "Comrade General, how could the headquarters suddenly send you to Stalingrad?"


    To his old friend''s question, Zhukov replied with a smile: "I was sent by Comrade Stalin to replace Comrade vasilevsky and take charge of leading our army in the whole Stalingrad area. This is because the general staff and the supreme command are in great need of vasilevsky, a "resourceful star", to coordinate and deploy the war situation of the whole country. As for the specific command of operations, comrade Stalin seemed to think that I was better than the chief of the general staff who was a staff officer, so he sent me here. "


    Just now, several generals mentioned that wherever Zhukov went, he would attack. Although Zhukov does not comment on this statement, trakov, the commander of the 62nd army, who is about to take office, is still curious to ask him about the next deployment.


    After a moment''s silence, Zhukov said calmly, "before I left Moscow, the Supreme Commander himself told me that he would immediately deploy the 24th and 66th army and the 1st army of the guards to Stalingrad. So the first thing I did after I arrived at Stalingrad was to immediately begin to deploy the counterattack of the three army groups. "


    When trakov wanted to say something else, suddenly someone rushed in from outside the house. After glancing at the people present, he quickly walked to trakov''s side, leaned down to his ear and whispered a few words.


    Zhukov saw the sudden intruder with a serious look. He looked at the man and asked sternly, "who are you?"


    When Zhukov asked this question suddenly, he found that there was a general sitting in the room. He was so frightened that he didn''t know how to answer this question, so he had to turn his eyes to trakov. And trakov was obviously still digesting the news he just got, and he didn''t notice his subordinate''s dilemma.


    I don''t know anyone who just came in, except me and trakov. Seeing that he was at a loss, I just wanted to stand up and answer Zhukov. Unexpectedly, Zhukov repeated his question again: "what did you not hear me say, comrade private? I just asked you, who are you and why did you come in without a report? "


    Zhukov''s voice awakened him from his meditation. He quickly stood up and introduced Zhukov to him, saying, "Comrade General, this is my messenger, sidtorin." Then he took a step towards Zhukov, lowered his voice and said, "he''s the son of my former chief of operations, Lieutenant Colonel sidolin. He''s been with me ever since the Colonel died on the river


    Chukov''s words made Zhukov silent. He went to little sidtorin and patted him on the shoulder. He asked kindly, "little sidtorin, how old is this year?"


    Little sidtorin bowed her head and replied timidly, "I''m 16 years old now."


    After hearing this, Zhukov nodded and said, "although it''s small, it''s also a glorious Red Army soldier. Why didn''t you call for a report when you came in just now? "


    Hearing Zhukov''s words, little siduolin quickly raised his head and explained, "sorry, comrade general, I didn''t know you were here, and my sister oshanina and I were very familiar with each other, so I didn''t bother to call for a report, so I broke in directly."


    When Zhukov heard that, he couldn''t help looking at me and asked curiously, "is that right, Rita?"


    I quickly stood up and said, "yes, comrade commander, I am very familiar with little sidtorin. When he comes to my headquarters, he almost doesn''t have to shout a report. He comes in directly."


    After hearing this, Zhukov lowered his head and asked sidtorin, "little sidtorin, you are in a hurry to find general trakov. Don''t you know what''s the matter?"


    Seeing Zhukov''s kind attitude, sidtorin was not so afraid as he had just been. He quickly stood at attention, straightened himself up, and loudly reported: "just got the report, the German army is launching a fierce attack on the meishkova river. The battle is very fierce."


    Little sidtorin''s words surprised everyone in the room, except Zhukov and trakov.


    Zhukov glanced at the map and then asked sidtorin, "how many German troops are there?"


    "Under the cover of airplanes, the Germans sent out more than 200 tanks and armored vehicles, as well as about one regiment of infantry to attack our defense line. The 126th infantry division defending the area is fighting tenaciously with the Germans."


    "Comrade trakov," after listening to little sidtorin''s report, Zhukov told trakov standing in front of him, "this may be your last battle under the command of the 64th army. Go to the front line immediately. In a word, we should stick to the meshkova river at all costs and never let the Germans go forward. "


    Trikov quickly agreed and left the headquarters with sidtorin.


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was almost noon, so I asked Zhukov, "Comrade General, it''s late. Will you stay here for lunch?"


    Zhukov also raised his hand, looked at his watch, nodded and said, "well, I''ll have lunch with you, and then I''ll go to Stalingrad to hand over to Comrade vasilevsky."


    Hearing that Zhukov was willing to stay for lunch, I immediately ordered razumeyeva to go to the cooking class to make arrangements.


    After razumeyeva left, Zhukov asked about our division''s defense. After I introduced the situation to him in detail, he said thoughtfully: "judging from the current situation, the 4th tank group army of Hote has made no achievements in nearly a week''s fighting. They have lost a lot of fighters and technical equipment. At present, they have no energy to move forward and have to give up attacking the Red Army city for the time being, Then advance to the Volga River and the plan to join the 6th army of Polus. "


    When Zhukov finished, I asked him modestly: "although the German tank 4th group army temporarily stopped attacking, the attack of Paulus 6th group army is still very fierce. I would like to ask, under the current situation, what kind of action should our army take to suppress the German strong offensive?"


    As soon as these words came out, I found that both krailov and kirilov''s faces changed greatly, and immediately realized that they had asked questions they shouldn''t have asked. Krailov took a look at the silent Zhukov, stood up and criticized me, and said, "please pay attention to your own identity, Colonel oshanina. You are only a division commander, not a commander of the front army. There is no need for Comrade Zhukov to report to you on how to deploy in the campaign. " Although his words are very heavy, I can still see from his expression that he deliberately stood up to criticize me because he was worried that I would offend Zhukov.


    "Don''t get excited, comrade krailov," Zhukov raised his hand and pressed down, motioning krakov to sit down. He added, "Comrade Rita''s strategic vision and judgment of the situation are often unmatched by our senior commanders. If the base camp, reminded by Lida, decisively mobilizes troops to strengthen the defense forces in the Don River Basin and Stalingrad area, it is still unknown whether the German army can cross the Don river at this moment. "


    Kirilov, who had not spoken for a long time, was surprised to hear Zhukov say so. He asked curiously, "senior general, when I was still in the Central Committee, I heard other colleagues say in private that a famous staff officer in the warhoff front army actually spoke to Comrade Stalin through senior general meletzkov about the targets of the German offensive in the summer, Neither Moscow nor the Caucasus. At that time, after listening to the report, comrade Stalin was very angry. After abusing general meletkov, he also said that he would send this staff officer to guard the mamayev post. As you know, a commander who has been transferred from a frontier area where there is no war is almost marginalized, and his official career in the army is over. Listen to you, is this the man who spoke to Comrade Stalin, Colonel oshanina? "


    Zhukov looked at me with a smile, but I had to stand up and admit to kirilov with a red face: "you are right, comrade political commissar of the regiment level, that person is me."


    After hearing this, kirilov stepped forward, reached out his hand to me, and said with a little excitement, "it''s really you, Captain o''shanina. You''re so amazing that you can judge the next German action only by some clues."


    Kirilov''s words seemed to remind Zhukov. He looked up at me and asked, "Rita, do you think the 126th infantry division can hold the position on the meishkova river?"


    When I heard his question, I almost shook my head without thinking, and then answered decisively, "Comrade General, please forgive me for saying that the 126th division can''t keep the river of meshkova."


    "Why? Give me your reasons. " Asked Zhukov.


    Having worked in the group army command some time ago, I have to answer Zhukov''s question smoothly and naturally: "first of all, the 126th division suffered a large number of casualties in the early fighting, but it has not been supplemented in time. At present, there are only less than 4000 people left in the Division; Secondly, in terms of equipment, the 126th Division has no air defense weapons and lacks sufficient anti tank weapons. In the face of the three-dimensional offensive of the German army, no matter how tenacious our soldiers are, they will not be able to resist the strong offensive of the German army. "


    After listening to me, Zhukov''s eyes were looking at the roof, and his fingers were tapping gently on the table, as if he was digesting what I said. After a while, his fingers stopped, frowned, looked at me with inquisitive eyes, and asked unhappily, "Rita, according to you, we can only watch the Germans seize the position on the river meshkova, and there is no way to stop them?"


    The serious expression on Zhukov''s face made me nervous for the first time. I answered nervously: "yes... Yes, Comrade General. As far as I know, not to mention the 64th army, even our front army is at a disadvantage compared with the German army in terms of technology and equipment. In order to reverse this unfavorable situation, we can only divert the attention of the German army, divert their forces and reduce the positive pressure of our defense forces by attacking in other places. " With these words in one breath, I felt that the back of my uniform was soaked in cold sweat.


    Krailov and kirilov, after listening to what I said, unexpectedly no one made a statement. Instead, they all turned their eyes to Zhukov to see how he would react.


    Zhukov didn''t stand up or change his posture. He just frowned and thought.


    Looking at Zhukov lost in thought, for a long time there was no response, next to krailov could not help but whisper his name: "Georgi konstantinovic, what are you thinking?"


    Zhukov suddenly woke up, he changed a relatively comfortable position to sit well, and then said to several of us: "in the current situation, I will not hide from you. According to the information obtained by the headquarters, Hitler''s headquarters redeployed the German troops attacking Stalingrad on August 27 and 28. They ordered the right-wing forces to move to the Left-wing Movement, or more precisely to the regions of abuganerovo and kapkinsky in the middle of the front. The 14th and 24th German tank divisions, the 60th motorized infantry division and the 6th and 20th Romanian infantry divisions were deployed to the area. The task of these forces is to carry out raids in zeta and Nariman areas, pass through these two villages, join the 6th group army in Paulus, and encircle the two divisions of the 62nd and 64th group army in the area. "


    Zhukov''s words made us all take a breath of cold air. If these troops were really surrounded by the German army, then the battle of Stalingrad would not continue. You know, in the later period, the 62nd group army was the main force sticking to the north of the city.


    Fortunately, Zhukov''s next words made us feel relieved again: "after receiving the above situation, the general headquarters issued an alarm to the front army in time, so Yeliao Menko, commander of Stalingrad''s front army, immediately ordered the possible encircled units of the 62nd and 64th army to withdraw to the new defensive area quickly." When listening to Zhukov''s words, I thought to myself that no wonder the main force of the group army had to withdraw some time ago. It is estimated that shumilov and trakov had noticed the German army''s intention long before the headquarters discovered it, so they ordered the main force to withdraw in time.


    At this time, a voice calling for a report came from the door. Before I could speak, Zhukov raised his voice and called out to the door, "come in!"


    The soldier who came in was not one of my men, but a lieutenant commander. It seems that Zhukov brought his men from Moscow. He strode up to Zhukov, raised his hand to salute him, took out a folder under his arm, opened it and handed a piece of paper to Zhukov. It looked like he had just received the war report.


    Zhukov took the report and waved to the commander. The commander put the folder under his armpit again, raised his hand to salute, and then turned to leave.


    After reading the report in his hand, Zhukov put it on the table with a little smile on his face. He said to us, "comrades, I have good news for you. The northern army group of Stalingrad''s front army, under the unified command of Colonel gorohov and composed of the 124th and 149th independent infantry brigades, carried out a fierce counter attack on the German army this morning. Due to our brave and indomitable fighting, the German main attack troops in the north of Stalingrad suffered great casualties. Although our counterattack was finally restrained by the German army, they also lost the ability to continue to attack the urban area of Stalingrad in a short period of time, thus gaining valuable time for our army to gather the necessary defensive forces in the urban area of Stalingrad. "


    Krailov picked up the report on the table, looked at it, and said excitedly: "yes, because of our tenacious attack, the enemy had to spread its forces on the broad front, thus weakening the fierce attack that the enemy might launch directly against Stalingrad."


    "Colonel oshanina." When krailov finished speaking, Zhukov suddenly called me, not my nickname as usual, but my surname. I heard him call it this way. Knowing that there must be an important task, I got up from my seat and answered loudly, "here we are!"


    "In two days, your troops will be put under the command of the 62nd group army. I hope that before your independent division leaves, you can carry out a counter attack on the 4th group army of hotter tanks on the south side of Stalingrad, so that they will lose the ability to advance into the urban area of Stalingrad in a short time. Can you do it? "


    To counterattack the 4th group army of Hote''s tanks, I was dumbfounded as soon as I heard this order. If I didn''t provide additional artillery, tanks and air support, it would be no different from going to death.


    Seeing that I didn''t answer decisively, Zhukov was not happy. He raised his voice and asked, "what''s the matter with you, Colonel oshanina? Are you deaf or dumb? Why don''t you answer me?"


    "Comrade General, I can''t answer you accurately." I hesitated to reply. As soon as I said that, I realized that my answer was not decent, but I had to go on with it. "My independent division is poorly equipped and has no strong fighting capacity. If I can''t get the necessary air support from artillery and armored forces, I don''t think the counterattack against the German tank 4th Army will succeed."


    Zhukov snorted heavily and said discontentedly, "if I can provide you with all the things you need, do you think I need to send your independent division to complete this task? The two divisions of the 64th group army on the right and the 57th group army on the left can be successfully assigned to accomplish this task. "


    Zhukov''s words made me speechless. I didn''t know how to answer his words, and I didn''t dare to promise him casually. So I had to lower my head and stare at the map on the table in a daze.


    Zhukov waited for a moment. Seeing that I didn''t speak, he sighed. He came up to me, patted me on the shoulder and said kindly, "Rita, I have always trusted you. That''s why I give you such a hard and glorious task."


    Hearing what he said, I almost jumped up to refute him: everyone knows that this kind of task of death is very arduous. If we are completely destroyed, what''s the use of giving us more honor? However, in the face of Zhukov, a kind elder, I can only hide these words in my heart. Seeing that I didn''t speak, he advised me: "I know that this mission is a near death mission for your independent division." Hearing this, I said in my heart, since you know it''s the task of dying, what else can we do¡° I only give you the task of counterattack. As for how to fight, it''s up to you. No one will interfere in your decision. Finally, I would like to remind you that time is running out. Before your division moves, it is necessary to complete the counterattack against the 4th group army of tanks. " Zhukov''s words have already been said for this reason. I have no chance of rejecting them at all, so I can only make a firm promise: "yes, comrade general, I will definitely carry out anti assault on the 4th group army of Hote''s tanks within the prescribed time limit." When he heard what I said, Zhukov''s face was smiling again. He patted me on the shoulder and said kindly, "I knew you would say that, Rita. I''m not sure that this task will be handed over to other troops, but with your ability, I''m sure it will be successfully completed. " Although my heart is bleeding, I still have to smile on the surface. After all, if Zhukov didn''t show up in time, I would take the joint investigation team back to Stalingrad for trial. For a country like Lao maozi, which has no reason to say, in order to sacrifice dozens of soldiers, one of the main division''s teachers should be arrested and charged; If I refuse Zhukov''s order directly, he may take my life without going to the military court. I tried to squeeze a smile on my face and said to Zhukov, "Comrade General, please rest assured that I will do my best to teach Hote and his subordinates a lesson and make them powerless. In the short term, we will launch an attack on the city of Stalingrad. "¡° Good job, "Zhukov praised me, then raised his hand to look at his watch and asked strangely," Rita, what''s the matter with your second lieutenant of the signalman? He''s been away for almost half an hour. Why hasn''t he brought us lunch yet? " Listening to what he said, I laughed with embarrassment and quickly said, "senior general, please wait a moment. I''ll go to the cooking class to see what''s going on and bring you lunch as soon as possible." Did not wait for me to go out, the late razumeyeva and two soldiers carrying a plate, trot all the way into the headquarters. When razumeyeva saw me, she was embarrassed and said, "sorry, sir, the cooking class didn''t know that there were big people coming, so the prepared food was relatively crude. I asked them to make it again after I went." Just as we were sitting at the table, ready to enjoy a big lunch, Zhukov''s lieutenant commander came in again and sent us the latest war report. After reading the war report, Zhukov slapped his knife and fork heavily on the table, looked at us in surprise, and said in a heavy voice: "the river meshkova is lost. The 126th infantry division, which held fast to the area, failed to stop the Germans despite the tenacious fighting under the three-dimensional offensive of the German army. Now the troops with heavy casualties have retreated to the rear. "

 Chapter 577

    As soon as Zhukov left, I couldn''t wait to call several regimental commanders to the headquarters. When they heard Zhukov''s latest order that I announced, they were dumbfounded.


    After a short silence, verol, the political commissar of the second regiment, tentatively asked: "Comrade division commander, if we want to counterattack the positive German army, will the group army or the front army supply us with troops and technical equipment?"


    Hearing verol''s question, I immediately remembered that Zhukov held my hand tightly when he left and said with emotion, "Rita, please remember that you can only use the existing forces in this counterattack, and I will not send you any successor troops." Thinking of this, I shook my head and said to her regretfully, "political commissar veroll, we can only rely on our own strength to fight back this time. Our superiors will not provide any help for us."


    After hearing this, verol showed a disappointed expression on her face. She said anxiously: "without reserve forces, our poorly equipped and poorly trained division is doomed to fail in launching an attack on the 4th group army of Hote''s tanks. Why don''t you explain this to Comrade Zhukov? "


    "Even if you say that, it will not help. Comrade political instructor, you should know that the situation near Stalingrad is very serious. The troops in each defensive area are seriously insufficient. Facing the enemy''s attack, they are fighting very hard. In order to reverse this unfavourable situation, it is necessary for troops like ours, which are currently not heavily engaged in combat, to constantly launch active attacks on the enemy, to contain the German forces to the maximum extent, and to reduce the pressure of the friendly forces on positive defense. "


    "But, comrade division," he was interrupted by Pugachev when he wanted to say something else. He impatiently retorted to his regiment commissar: "commissar, if you can say it, comrade Division has already said it. Do you need to remind me? Please keep quiet and listen to the arrangements made by our teachers and comrades. "


    When we came back from the rescue mission yesterday, the 6000 recruits supplied by the group army arrived, because considering that the second regiment had lost too much personnel, not only the battle backbone but also the commander of the regiment. In order to strengthen the leadership of the regiment, I appointed the political instructor verol as the acting political commissar of the second regiment.


    Hearing my appointment, verol was still a little reluctant. She chuckled and said, "Rita, I don''t want to be an acting political commissar of the second regiment. I just want to stay in the division headquarters and be your deputy to help you command the battle."


    As for her unwillingness, I just simply said: "instructor veroll, what the independent division wants is an army that is loyal to Comrade Stalin and is capable of fighting. To transform these prisoners from Gulag concentration camp, we need political workers with rich political theories like you."


    After listening to me, she reported to the second regiment without saying a word. Originally, I thought that she and Pugachev could get along well with each other. However, from their performance at the meeting today, I found that there were many contradictions between them. But now that the commanders are short of manpower, I can only turn a blind eye. When the second lieutenant''s training team comes, I will separate them.


    I turned to shejerikov and said, "chief, how are your regiment''s fortifications going?" Since the troops entered this area, I repeatedly stressed the importance of fortifications to several of my commanders. When I asked about this, I just wanted to know if they carried out my orders to the letter.


    Xiejerikov quickly stood up and replied, "report to division commander, all the fortifications have been completed, and our regiment has built three lines of defense. The first line of defense, with barbed wire and minefields, could resist the first wave of German invasion; The second line of defense was a trench about five meters wide and two meters deep dug by the soldiers, which could block German tanks and armored vehicles; In the third line of defense, I deployed light and heavy machine guns and mortars, and the firepower can cover the second line of defense. When the German infantry break through our first line of defense, I will order mortar fire to stop them. When the enemy is badly hit, I will order five companies in the front line to attack and encircle the enemy who has been badly hit by our army. "


    "Well done, commander chejerikov." After listening to the report, I couldn''t help praising him: "in terms of deployment and firepower, your deployment is perfect. However, the only disadvantage is that the firepower structure is obviously weak. If the German forces attack by small forces, it is not a big problem. If the German forces attack with large forces and are supported by tanks, artillery and aircraft, our position will be difficult to hold. "


    With these words, I turned around and asked kosja, "third commander, how are your regiment''s positions being built?"


    Kosja also quickly stood up and replied: "report to the division commander, our regiment''s position is similar to that of the first regiment. However, in addition to building artillery holes in each trench, we have also built many Tibetan soldier holes in the rear of the position, so that we can hide the surplus troops in the regiment."


    "Good, good!" After praising kosja, I was just about to ask the acting head of the second regiment, Pugachev. When I saw verol sitting next to him, I suddenly remembered that the mixed regiment of Vinica Infantry School where she worked had been under siege of the enemy for three days and had to break through the siege after running out of ammunition and food. It seems that their fortifications must have something to learn from, So I humbly asked veroll: "political commissar veroll, I have a question to ask you!"


    When verol heard me talking to her like this, he stood up and said, "Sir, if you have anything, please tell me. I will tell you everything."


    I nodded and asked curiously, "political commissar verol, I remember when we first met, you said that the mixed regiment composed of your Vinica Infantry School held fast in the enemy''s encirclement for three days, and finally had to give up the position to break through because of running out of ammunition and food. Am I right? "


    "Absolutely right, comrade teacher." Verol didn''t know why I asked, but he nodded.


    "I want to know what kind of fortifications your regiment built at that time, and why they could resist for three days under the strong German offensive?"


    After listening to my question, verol took out her notepad and pencil from her briefcase, turned to a blank page and explained to us with a pencil: "the top of the hillside where our regiment was at that time was a flat platform. As a rule, our fortifications should be built on the edge of the hillside platform, so that we can have a clear view of the dynamic of the attacking German army, and at the same time, it is convenient to play our firepower from a commanding position and kill the German army. But after discussion, our leader and political commissar showed the circular fortification to the center of the flat platform on the top of the slope. In this way, the attacking German army could not see us at the foot of the hillside, and neither artillery nor heavy machine gun fire could pose a threat to us. As soon as the attacking German army rushed up the steep slope and showed up, it had been knocked down by the intensive firepower of our army before we could see where our army was. So the Germans attacked for three days, and there were German bodies all over the hillside, but they were unable to take our positions. "


    "Is there a lot of casualties in your regiment?" Gaidar, who had never spoken, couldn''t help asking.


    Veroll nodded and replied, "although the German long-range artillery and infantry firepower can''t do much damage to our defenders, they have airplanes and mortars. The bombing of airplanes and a large amount of warping firepower such as mortars reduced our regiment by nearly 40% on the first day. "


    When he heard verol''s words, Pugachev was surprised. He didn''t care to quarrel with verol. Then he asked, "if the troops are reduced by 40% on the first day, then on the third day, all your troops will be gone."


    Verol waved his hand and said, "after the first day of fighting, the commander of the regiment called a meeting of the commanders of each company to discuss the Countermeasures for dealing with the enemy''s attack. A battalion commander pointed out at the meeting that our casualties during the day were mainly caused by German aircraft bombing and mortar bombardment. In this case, we should dig more air raid shelters in our positions to reduce the casualties during German air strikes. "


    "Does it work?" Even shejerikov, who had always been steady, could not help interrupting when he heard this.


    "Of course it works." Verol replied without hesitation: "it is because we have dug a lot of gun holes in the position, so the total number of casualties of our regiment in the next two days did not exceed 300."


    "It''s a miracle that less than 300 people died in two days." Gaidar said to me with emotion: "Sir, we should also learn from the mixed regiment and build our fortifications into ring fortifications that are easy to defend but difficult to attack."


    As for his proposal, I didn''t oppose it. I just nodded and said faintly, "Lieutenant Colonel gedar, there are many architectural engineers in your regiment. They can gather their wisdom and study how to build the fortification. You know, our division will move to mamayev post in the near future. Judging from the current offensive situation of the German army, it will become the focus of contention between the enemy and us. Therefore, having perfect and solid fortifications is of great help to our defense. "


    After listening to me, Gaidar asked verol, "Comrade Deputy commissar, how far is your circular fortification from the edge of the hillside?"


    Verol immediately understood what he meant: "the distance is about 70 meters. German Grenades can''t be dropped that far, and curved weapons such as mortars can only be fired blindly, which is not a big threat to the position."


    Hearing the conversation between Gaidar and verol, it suddenly occurred to me that when Li Yunlong attacked Yamazaki brigade, the Japanese army was hiding in similar fortifications? Fortunately, because of the cultural differences between the East and the west, the Germans would not have the same thinking as Comrade Li. They sent troops to advance in the way of civil engineering, and then used hand grenades to blow up the ring fortifications. Otherwise, it is hard to say how many people would be left in the mixed regiment.


    Seeing that the issue of fortifications has been almost discussed, I would like to make a concluding speech at the end of this paper: "I will just talk about fortifications for the time being. The fortifications of chejerikov and kosja are the standard configuration in the course of the Military Academy of vorongze. If they can be combined with the circular fortifications mentioned by political commissar verol, then our chances of winning will be higher. Next, we will continue to discuss the task of counterattacking against the enemy face-to-face, which our superior assigned to our division. "


    After my words, the room fell into silence again. Seeing that no one spoke, I casually named a commander and asked him to answer my question: "Comrade Pugachev, please tell me your opinion."


    "Comrade division commander, the Germans have suffered a lot from our division several times. When they know that we have built fortifications in this area, they will certainly build fortifications to prevent possible counter attacks. We can only wait for them to leave the solid fortifications and launch an attack on our positions. We should quickly rush out of the fortifications and take short raids to wipe out the enemy''s effective forces. "


    "Comrade Pugachev''s opinion is good, and I support it." After listening to Pugachev''s words, kosgachev first expressed his support, "the tactics of fortress to fortress and attack to attack have always been the magic weapon for our army to win."


    "I also support Comrade Pugachev''s views." After kosga''s statement, even verol, who had conflicts with Pugachev, expressed his support.


    I can''t help humming when I hear the term "short assault". I know in my heart that this kind of tactics is a kind of wrong pure defense tactics. A few years ago, it caused the failure of the fifth anti "encirclement and suppression". If I listen to their opinions and adopt this kind of tactics, then the annihilation of the independent division will not be far away.


    Seeing that Gaidar also stood up and wanted to express his position, I quickly raised my hand to stop him, and said firmly in an unquestionable manner: "commander Gaidar, stop talking. Pugachev''s tactics are not suitable for our division. When the training and weaponry of the troops are not as good as those of the Germans, it is not worth the loss to use such tactics to compete with the enemy. "


    "Comrade division commander," shejerikov said on his own initiative, ignoring Gaidar, who was standing beside him with a stiff face. "Judging from the series of victories we have won since the establishment of the independent division, we have adopted the tactics of ambush and sneak attack in all battles with less casualties and more seizures. I have an idea. I don''t know whether to say it or not. "


    "Say what you have." Seeing that shijerikov stood by my side without hesitation and supported me, I couldn''t help smiling with satisfaction and encouraging him to say, "go on and tell the commanders what you think."


    With my encouragement, shijerikov said with a clear mind: "comrades, I don''t know if you have noticed just now. When the division commander explained the task, he once specifically mentioned that general Zhukov''s original words were:" I only give you the task of counterattack. You are the master of how to fight. No one will interfere in your decision. "


    After listening to Xie jielikov''s words, several commanders here all nodded and said, "yes, but what''s the use of that? In any case, if we do not provide technical equipment, we will not have friendly forces to cooperate with us in our operations. "


    Xiejerikov smile, and then said: "in addition to political commissar verol, who is not an old man who has fought several battles with the division commander? Don''t you even know the division commander''s way of using troops? In addition to covering the retreat of the group army and having a hard fight face to face with the Germans in the two days when we were guards, we used ambush and sneak attack in the rest of the time. Facts have proved that this tactic is effective for our division. Originally, half of the soldiers in the army had no weapons, but after several battles, almost all the soldiers had weapons of different systems in their hands. What does this mean? "


    "Well, I say Sergeant Sergeant jerichoff," kosga said impatiently as he heard this. "Don''t go around all the time. Can you just get to the point?"


    "Don''t worry, commander kosga," verol said unexpectedly for sergeikov. "I think I understand what sergeant sergeikov means. What he wanted to say was that the counterattack against the German army was totally different from the way it used to be. Since we don''t have the support of artillery, tanks and air force, if we want to win, we must adopt unconventional tactics such as night attack or ambush. Colonel chejerikov, am I right? "


    Seeing that the female commander fully understood her intention, she replied with a smile, "absolutely right, political commissar verol."


    "Sir, I have another question." Before I could say what I wanted to say, Gaidar took the lead again.


    "Go ahead, comrade Gaidar."


    "As the German tanks of the fourth group army suffered a great loss from our division, they will strengthen their defense. What I want to ask is, how can we secretly move our troops near their camp and surprise them to attack without the help of German air reconnaissance and ground reconnaissance


    Gaidar''s words immediately stopped all the people including me. Yes, the German army is not a fool either. They have suffered so much from our division. If they don''t know how to take a cut and gain wisdom, then all the German commanders can go back home and retire.


    Just as everyone was silent, basmanov''s voice calling for a report came from the door. I quickly called out: "come in, Captain basmanov."


    Basmanov walked into the headquarters, but I was surprised to find that he didn''t come in alone. Behind him were two women with bandages.


    I went to meet him. Without waiting for him to salute, I looked at two women and asked, "Comrade captain, what''s the matter? Where are the people from?"


    Basmanov looked back at the two women behind him and replied, "Mr. reporter, just now a group of common people wanted to pass our division''s defense area and were stopped by us. After investigation, we learned that they were all refugees who had escaped from Stalingrad city. They wanted to go south to find a suitable ferry to the East Bank of Volga River. "


    After listening to basmanov''s words, I thought I had heard the wrong thing. I quickly asked, "Comrade captain, what did you say? These are the refugees who escaped from Stalingrad, not to Stalingrad? "


    "Yes, sir." Busmanov gave me a positive answer. I went up to a slightly older woman and asked softly, "comrades, I want to ask you, why do you want to escape from Stalingrad?" Hearing my question, the woman not only didn''t answer my question, but covered her face and sobbed in a low voice. Seeing that she couldn''t find any useful information here, I came to another young woman and asked with a kind face: "girl, can you tell me your name?"¡° My name is zolova. I''m a resident of Stalingrad The young woman was obviously braver than her companion, and she answered my question in a low voice¡° Then why do you want to escape from the city? "¡° These days, the German bombed Stalingrad every day. Thousands of bombs fell from the sky. It''s really terrible. It''s like there''s a storm and the whole city is paralyzed. We hid in the air raid shelter, heard the sound of bomb explosion outside, and saw that the sky was full of smoke and haze. Even in broad daylight, it looked like night. " Listen to her say so, I can''t help but frown and ask: "didn''t the municipal Party committee organize your evacuation?" Zorova bit her teeth, shook her head and said: "the staff of the Soviet Area told me quietly that the superior had given an order that if the evacuation was started or the mines were laid in the factory, the residents would think that the army was going to hand over Stalingrad to the Germans, causing unnecessary panic, so the superior ordered that the evacuation should never be carried out."¡° How did you get out now? " I asked with concern¡° German planes bombed the city for several days. No complete building could be found in the city. The streets were full of broken bodies. It was not until then that the leaders of the municipal Party committee ordered that the residents of the city be evacuated to the East Bank of the Volga River. But because there were too many people to evacuate and there were not enough ships, thousands of people were killed by German bombs while waiting for the ferry at the dock. We have no choice but to leave the city and look for a new ferry to the south to get to the east bank as soon as possible. "¡° If you go further south, you will be the German defense area. They will kill you all. " I do not know when to come to our side of veroll, worried said¡° Comrade commander, don''t worry. " The woman who sobbed just now wiped a handful of tears and said intermittently, "I''m a local. I know there''s a hidden ferry by the river. We can cross the river safely." When I heard her saying this, I suddenly had an idea in my mind that since she was a local, maybe she knew that there was some path that ordinary people didn''t know, and that she could quietly touch the German garrison. Thinking of this, I asked the woman curiously, "comrades, is there any unknown path from here to orlovka besides the official highway?" The woman didn''t answer me. Instead, she put a handkerchief on her nose and asked zuolova, "zuolova, do you know such a path?" Zorova nodded and said, "yes, I''m a staff member of the Survey Bureau. When I was building roads, I used to come here with engineers to survey the terrain." I''m overjoyed to hear her say that. It doesn''t take much effort to find a place. We were just worried about how to get close to the German camp. Here comes a common man who is familiar with the terrain. Shejerikov, after listening to them, showed even more exaggeration, and even yelled "Wula!" in unison The two common people were scared to be at a loss.

 Chapter 578

    For some time now, the main force of our army has been forced to resist under the fierce attack of the German army and retreat to Stalingrad step by step. All the troops are a little weak to hold on to their positions, let alone take the initiative to attack. Perhaps our army''s current performance on the battlefield will make the German army relax their vigilance and give us an opportunity to sneak attack.


    I calculated that it would be no more than ten kilometers from our defense area to the nearest German garrison. At present, it is the end of August, and it will be dark at about eight o''clock. By that time, night attack troops can be sent out.


    When I had a general plan in mind, I ordered busmanov to take the two women to the kitchen to have something to eat. After eating, the young zolova stayed behind and sent several tactical escorts to escort the elderly women and refugees out of our division''s defense area.


    As the German army has not launched any attack on our division''s defensive zone in the past two days, several commanders are not in a hurry to leave. They are gathering together to study the advantages and disadvantages of veroll''s ring fortifications and our common field fortifications.


    Just as the discussion was in full swing, the sound of guns came from outside the house. Everyone quieted down when they heard the gunfire outside. After listening for a moment, shijerikov was surprised and said, "hell, the gunfire didn''t come from the direction of our regiment. It''s a bit like it came from the West."


    What he said surprised us all, because at noon, there was the sound of guns coming from the northwest. It was the German army attacking the positions of the 70th and 157th infantry divisions. How could the German army now point the attack at our division? I quickly ordered razumeyeva, who was standing by: "second lieutenant, contact the front troops of the second regiment immediately and ask what''s going on?"


    Without waiting for the second regiment to get in touch, the observation post on the hillside called first, and the other party reported in a flustered tone: "report to the division commander, the German army is shelling the second regiment position."


    "What''s the matter?" As for the panicked soldier, I said discontentedly, "it''s not the first time that our division has been bombarded by the enemy. What''s the point of being panicked. Comrade soldier, what''s your name? "


    "Leonov, private Leonov."


    After remembering the name silently in my heart, I asked, "what''s the situation of the second regiment?"


    Leonov was still flustered to report that: "the troops of the second regiment have been defeated in the shelling, and groups of soldiers are running towards us under the gunfire."


    "What? The second regiment was defeated? " I can''t believe what I''ve heard is true. It''s not more than five minutes since I heard the gunfire. The troops of the second regiment collapsed in the German artillery fire.


    I was so angry that I threw the phone away and said in a loud voice to the leaders in the room, "Damn it, the observation post reports that the troops of the second regiment have been destroyed by the German artillery fire. You immediately follow me to the observation post on the top of the mountain."


    I went to the observation post on the hillside, raised my telescope and looked at the 2nd regiment position two kilometers away. The German forces were in great shape. Dense shells fell on the 2nd regiment position and exploded. The trench had been engulfed by the smoke of gunpowder. Looking at this battle, not to mention the new recruits who have just been added to the army, even the veterans who have been fighting for a long time are afraid to see this scene.


    Private Leonov''s report was true. The troops in the first trench ran recklessly to the rear positions under the enemy''s fire. Looking around, the open ground behind the trench was full of corpses of our soldiers. Groups of scattered soldiers were running around like headless flies.


    Seeing the collapse of the soldiers in the dark, like a tide of water coming to the second trench of the second regiment, I put down my telescope and yelled at Pugachev and verol: "you see, this is your second regiment. After several German shells, it collapsed. What do you two do to eat? How can you bring out such a useless army? "


    Pugachev blushed and tried to explain: "Comrade division, these are the new recruits who have just been added to the regiment..."


    "What are you doing here?" Without waiting for him to speak, I mercilessly interrupted him, and sternly ordered: "what are you still doing here? Don''t stop your bunch of useless soldiers, let them all return to the trench, and don''t let the Germans rush over."


    Pugachev and verol both ran out of the observation post, blushing. Then they ran out of the trench and ran down the hill. Despite the fact that it was far away from the fleeing soldiers, Pugachev pulled out his pistol and raised it high above his head. As he ran, he shot into the sky. At the same time, he hissed: "stop, you all stop for me. Stop, you cowards, all go back to the trench... "He was followed by seven or eight soldiers, and he was running forward and shooting. Seeing his action, I scolded in my heart. Only a few days later, I became the commander of the group. When I went out, I even took the guard class with me.


    Although the soldiers of the second regiment escaped from the trenches shrouded by gunfire, they were not bombarded by German artillery. A shell fell, and the soldiers near the explosion point fell down. Just two or three minutes after Pugachev left the trench, at least hundreds of soldiers fell into the pool of blood.


    Seeing this scene, I was so angry that I smashed my fist on the log wall and took a cold breath. When I calmed down a little, I turned around and saw that xijerikov, kosja, Gaidar and others were still standing behind me. I frowned and asked several people, "what are you doing here if you don''t go back to your troops?" As soon as the words came out, I knew that I had said something wrong. I asked them to come to the observation center just now. No one dared to leave without my permission. At the moment, seeing that I asked them to leave, several people saluted me with relief and turned to leave the observation post.


    When there were only me and razumeyeva and Leonov left in the observation center, I ordered razumeyeva: "contact Colonel lyudnikov, commander of the 70th division of the guards immediately."


    When I got through, I didn''t care about the code number. I yelled at the transmitter, "Hello, Hello, Colonel lyudnikov! Can you hear me? This is colonel o''shanina. The German artillery is bombarding our division''s right-wing position. From the direction of the shells, the German artillery position should not be far from your division''s defense area. Please provide us with artillery support and destroy the German artillery positions! "


    "Colonel oshanina, you are not the only one who has been shelled," lyudnikov''s voice sounded in the earphone. "German artillery are shelling our division''s positions, tanks and infantry are coming towards us. But don''t worry, I''ll do my best to support you. "


    Putting down my earphone and transmitter, I went to the observation port and raised my telescope to look at the retreating troops. At the moment, Pugachev and verol, as well as some of their soldiers, were close to the retreating troops. The soldiers who were running away suddenly fell down more than a dozen in front of Pugachev, and those behind also slowed down and stopped in front of Pugachev.


    As for the soldiers who suddenly fell down, I could see through the telescope that they were all shot down by the guards who followed Pugachev and verol. At this moment, I suddenly understood why Stalin asked the Ministry of the interior to set up so many supervisors after he issued order 227. It seems that in order to stop the army from fleeing on the battlefield, it is necessary to supervise the troops.


    As the German artillery became sparse, the soldiers who had escaped, driven by Pugachev and his guards, turned around and ran past the bodies of their comrades and returned to the trench.


    When Pugachev entered the first trench, he immediately called me and said in a loud voice, "report to division commander, I have brought the retreating troops back to the trench."


    "Yes," I said coldly, looking at the smoky battlefield, "how are the casualties of the troops?"


    After I asked, Pugachev didn''t have a voice. I raised my voice and asked, "Pugachev, what''s the matter with you? Are you deaf? Why don''t you answer my question? "


    "There were a lot of casualties," Pugachev replied in a voice I could barely hear. "I used to have eight companies in the first position, but now there are less than three companies left. There is only one company commander left, and the rest are sacrificed in the shelling."


    "What''s the name of the remaining company commander?"


    "Horushov, Captain horushov. He had participated in the battle of Kharkov and had rich combat experience. "


    "Form the remaining three companies into two regiments and one battalion, and let this captain horushov be the battalion commander. You and verol will return to the second trench for me." When I was about to interrupt communication, I suddenly thought of another thing and then asked, "where is the former commander of the second regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg?"


    "Report to division commander, commander Oleg and his company are in the second trench."


    "Well, I see. Remember, you have to tell captain horushov to hold his ground at all costs. I will provide them with the necessary assistance. "


    I then called the artillery battalion commander, yegonovic: "it''s me, Captain yegonovic. It''s me, Colonel oshanina. I now order you to send artillery observers to the Highlands where our division is located, to provide artillery with firing data, and to block and fire the attacking German troops with artillery fire. "


    After listening to this, yegonovich answered concisely, "yes, I''ll let the observer come to you immediately."


    After the German artillery stopped, the German ground attack began before Pugachev, verol and their guards could return to the second trench. Behind the armored unit of eight tanks were patches of infantry striding towards the first battalion of the second regiment.


    The German army bullied us and did not have anti tank weapons. The tanks stopped 500 or 600 meters away from the trench and bombarded the position of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd regiment with tank guns to cover the infantry charging forward.


    Watching the German troops approaching their positions, the soldiers of the first battalion fired back after a brief panic. For a moment, heavy and heavy machine guns, rifles, submachine guns, and pistols all joined the firing ranks, turning the front 70 or 80 meters of the position into a dead zone and bringing down the German soldiers.


    The German soldiers who had been hit did not retreat immediately. Instead, they lay down on the ground and shot back in groups. There are also a few machine guns hiding in the crater, toward the position of our army constantly shooting.


    Looking at the tanks that stopped in the distance and shelled a battalion of positions, and the infantry that were getting closer and closer to the positions, I couldn''t help getting a little flustered. Judging from the performance of the second regiment just now, once the German soldiers rush into the trench, they may collapse again, and then they will be out of control.


    I called again and asked in a hurry, "Comrade captain, where is your observer? Did you enter the designated observation position? "


    "The observer has just entered the designated position and is providing us with firing data. All the cannons are in place and ready to fight. " Yegonovic said calmly.


    "Comrade captain, order all the guns to fire at the German tanks first. Do you hear me?" I gave him an order decisively. In order to prevent him from delaying, I specially added: "whether the second regiment can hold the position depends on you. The fate of the whole division is in your hands."


    As soon as I hung up the phone, I saw an explosion next to the German tank in the distance, and the air wave lifted the soil high. I didn''t hit the target, but I knew it was a test fire from captain yegonovich''s artillery battalion. Sure enough, after a while, seven or eight shells roared down in the German tank line and exploded. In addition to one tank was directly blasted off the turret, another one was overturned by the blast.


    The remaining vehicles stopped shelling a battalion position and tried to turn around and escape. Unfortunately, it was too late, and another wave of shells flew past, covering them all in the fire and smoke. After destroying the German tanks, the artillery battalion of yegonovych turned its target to the German infantry.


    Half an hour later, the battle was over, the destroyed tanks in front of the position were burning, and the German infantry obediently raised their hands to surrender to our soldiers who rushed out of the fortification.


    Seeing that the German attack was defeated, I looked up at the sky. It was getting dark. It seemed that the German army would not launch a new attack. So I called Pugachev and asked him, "what part of the German army is it?"


    Obviously, Pugachev had checked the documents of the German soldiers who had been killed or captured, and even interrogated the prisoners, so he reported very quickly: "report to the division commander, the German army is from the 40th tank brigade. We have captured 57 people, one of whom is Lieutenant Heinz Martin, the adjutant of major general stummer of the brigade commander. What should we do with these prisoners? "


    Without thinking, I replied, "send a company of soldiers to take these prisoners to the headquarters of the group army."


    After giving the order to Pugachev, I called the headquarters of the group army. Because trakov was not in, I directly reported to Raskin, chief of staff: "chief of staff, this is colonel oshanina. We have just repulsed the attack of the 40th German tank brigade and captured 57 German soldiers, including Lieutenant Heinz Martin, the adjutant of major general stummer, the brigade commander. I have ordered the soldiers to send the prisoners to the group headquarters. "


    "Well done, comrade oshanina." Raskin praised me. Just as he was about to go on, he suddenly gave a strange sound, and then there was no sound in the earphone.


    "What''s the matter, chief of staff," I asked hastily, "is there anything wrong?"


    "Hell, hell." Raskin said uncertainly: "the 40th tank brigade of the German army, which belongs to the battle sequence of the 6th group army of Paulus, should be in the defensive zone of the 62nd group army at this moment. How can it suddenly appear in your place?"


    I thought this unit belonged to the hote group army, but it belonged to Paulus. As for why they suddenly appeared in our division''s defense area, I really don''t know. However, I said cautiously: "Comrade chief of staff, I have sent the prisoners of this brigade to the headquarters of the group army. If you have any questions, you can get answers after interrogating the prisoners."


    At the end of the battle, I went back to my division headquarters, and also called the demoted lieutenant commander Oleg, who I intended to command the night attack troops.


    Although I haven''t seen him for only two days, Oleg''s whole body looks haggard. He doesn''t even shave his beard. His white face turns into a beard. He stood in front of me, silent, just looking down at his toes.


    I coughed and tried to draw his attention, but he didn''t respond at all. When I saw his performance, I felt dissatisfied, but it was not easy to say anything more. After all, when he was demoted from the head of the regiment to the commander of the company, he would feel a little emotional. I said to myself, "Comrade Oleg, I have an important task for you."


    Hearing what I said, he raised his head and said with a serious face: "Sir, I''m waiting for your instructions!"


    I nodded and said, "I''m going to send an army tonight to attack the German camp. As you know, there are not many excellent commanders in the division. Now they are all leaders of the regiment. They have heavy responsibilities and can''t leave without permission. Therefore, after much consideration, I feel that this glorious and arduous task is entrusted to you. "


    After hearing this, Oleg quickly straightened up and said in a loud voice, "please don''t worry, sir. I promise you that I will complete the task you assigned."


    I gestured to busmanov, who was standing by the door, to bring the guide zolova. The commander of the guard battalion was very clever. He immediately understood my intention and quickly turned to go out to find zolova.


    Seeing basmanov leave, Oleg asked curiously, "Comrade division commander, I don''t know how many people there are in this unit you gave me to command?"


    "Each regiment draws a company of 400 people. In terms of firepower configuration, each company has four light machine guns, ten submachine guns, and necessary communication equipment, so as to contact me in time. "


    "What is our main task?" Oleg then asked.


    "Bypass the German heavily fortified camps and go to the loosely defended ones. Try not to attack by force, give priority to sneak attack and run after fighting. " Considering that the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, I simply told him how to fight and how to fight, which is up to him. As soon as Oleg and I finished talking, busmanov came in with zolova. I beckoned LOVA to come to me and introduced her to Oleg, saying, "Comrade Oleg, this is Comrade zolova. She used to be a staff member of the Stalingrad Survey Bureau. She knows a path to the German camp. Tonight, she will be your guide to attack the German camp After listening to my introduction, Oleg''s face showed a smile. He stepped forward, took zolova''s hand, and said with a smile: "Hello, girl! Please show us the way tonight. " Zolova also gave Oleg a polite smile and said half jokingly, "Comrade commander, you should protect my safety when you arrive."¡° Oh, no problem, no problem. " Oleg giggled at zorova. I can''t help but feel funny when I see two people flirting with each other. This is the first time that they have met, and they even have eyes on mung bean. The moon is in the sky and the stars are shining. The improvised night Raiders assembled on the hillside. Seeing my arrival, Oleg and the other three commanders standing in front of the line quickly came over, stood in front of me, raised their hands to salute, and said in a loud voice: "report to the division commander, comrade, the assembly of the night attack troops is completed, please give your instructions!" I didn''t say anything heroic to the soldiers who were going to fight. Instead, I shook hands with the four commanders one by one, and then said decisively, "I won''t say anything more. Comrades, I hope you can come back as soon as possible." With that, I stepped back and raised my hand to salute them. The four returned a salute in order, then turned and ran back to the front of their team, giving orders to the soldiers. Looking at the troops far away, basmanov, standing behind me, asked anxiously, "Comrade division commander, will they succeed?" I looked back at my battalion commander and answered without hesitation, "yes, comrade captain, I feel they will come back in triumph." Back at the headquarters, I ordered razumeyeva: "Lieutenant, call the four commanders and ask them to come to the headquarters immediately. I have important tasks to assign to them." Ten minutes later, four commanders came to my headquarters. As soon as xiejerikov entered the door, he asked with concern, "Comrade division commander, the night attack troops led by Lieutenant Colonel Oleg have set out?"¡° Yes, let''s go. " I answered vaguely. After everyone was seated, I announced to them, "I''m calling you here to tell the general that each regiment will draw another company to form a new night attack camp to attack the German camp." As soon as my words came out, all the people were shocked. After a moment''s silence, Pugachev asked on behalf of everyone: "Sir, isn''t the night attack camp of Lieutenant Colonel Oleg set out? How can we set up another night attack camp?"¡° Yeah, yeah, what''s going on? " Questions were raised one after another¡° The new night attack camp will be under the command of political commissar verol. Her task is to attack those camps that have been attacked by the Oleg camp again. " Hearing what I said, all the people in the room were petrified.

 Chapter 579

    After a long time, these commanders, who were shocked by my fantastic ideas, woke up from the shock. First of all, shijerikov asked, "Comrade division, I don''t understand. After the German army was attacked by the Oleg camp, wouldn''t it be vigilant? At this time, if camp verol is allowed to attack again, won''t it drive the sheep into the tiger''s mouth? "


    As soon as xiejerikov''s words came out, the rest of the commanders in the room nodded in agreement. Verol also stood up and said, "Comrade division, in order to defend our great motherland, I will never frown, even if it is blood and sacrifice. But the order you just gave is obviously to let everyone die. Is this unnecessary sacrifice necessary? "


    In fact, I also think that the ideas that come out of my mind belong to some unrealistic fantasy, but I don''t know how to do it. I just want to have a try. Seeing that everyone had doubts about my new mission, I patiently explained to them, "Lt. Col. chejerikov is right. After the German camp is attacked, they are bound to strengthen their defense. In addition to the original defense system, they will also send patrols around to prevent the Oleg camp from killing the enemy."


    "Comrade division, since you also know that the enemy will strengthen its guard, why send troops to take risks?" Although Gaidar''s words are euphemistic, I can tell that he is against sending more troops to take part in the night attack.


    After hearing Gaidar''s words, I said with a smile: "commander Gaidar, under normal circumstances, after the German army is attacked, the defense of the camp will be strengthened to prevent our army from attacking again. But if they want to see friendly troops coming, or even rescue them, it will be a different situation. "


    What I said surprised everyone.


    I turned to kosga and asked, "chief three, how many German uniforms did your regiment collect last time?"


    "There are probably more than 400 sets," kosjaro said with some insight. "The reason why these clothes have not been lost is that I want to let the soldiers disguise themselves as German soldiers to steal camp some day." At this point, his eyes suddenly glowed and he screamed excitedly. When the other commanders were startled, they danced and said, "Comrade division commander, I order that the soldiers below prepare these uniforms and hand them over to the troops of political commissar verol." After that, he forgot to respect, turned around and walked out of the headquarters quickly, so he left on his own.


    Seeing kosga''s abnormal performance, people were not sure, so they looked at each other.


    I smile again and say: "comrades, do you understand? That''s my plan. Let villol''s night attack camp put on the German uniform and pretend to be the reinforcements to attack those camps attacked by Oleg camp. If you are lucky, you may be able to catch several German senior commanders. "


    I painted a beautiful prospect, so that people stay on the spot, their faces showed incredible expression. The German army is not a fool. The camp has just been attacked, and the defense must be very strict. Even if the friendly troops come, they will be subject to repeated interrogation. Our fake reinforcements may be exposed if they ask each other a few questions.


    After a long time, verol, the commander of the night attack army, asked with half faith: "Comrade division, is your method really useful?"


    I nodded and said with confidence: "of course, even if the German troops have strengthened the guard work in the camp after the attack, their morale will also be fatally damaged. I wish there were friendly troops to reinforce them. If you encounter German troops on the way, you are from the 40th tank brigade, and you have been ordered to reinforce. "


    Seeing that I was so sure, verol, as if reassured, stopped worrying about whether he would be discovered by the German army, and continued to ask, "when will I lead the night attack camp?"


    I raised my hand to look at my watch and said faintly, "it will take about an hour and a half for the troops to assemble. After the assembly, you will put on the German uniform and take a truck to cross the three regiments and one regiment to the German camp


    "Is there anyone in the army who speaks German well?" Verol asked anxiously, you know, it''s easy to pretend to be a German soldier in a German uniform, but if there is no one who can speak German, he will help the German army as soon as he comes into contact with them.


    Before I could speak, Gaidar and xiejerikov laughed, and verol was stunned. She looked them up and down discontentedly, and asked strangely, "two commanders, what are you laughing at? Did I say something wrong?"


    Gaidar and shejerikov looked at each other, then said to verol with a smile, "Comrade verol, it seems that you are not qualified as a political commissar. The commanders and fighters of the independent division may not have the same training and fighting experience as other divisions, but they need a large number of German speakers in each regiment. "


    Gaidar''s words made verol blush. She muttered: "I''ve only been in the regiment for a day or two, and I haven''t recognized all the company leaders. I don''t know what talents there are in the regiment."


    Seeing what Gaidar wanted to say, I was afraid of verol''s embarrassment. I quickly raised my hand to interrupt what he wanted to say, and said to verol first: "Lieutenant mihayev, the company commander of the engineering company, speaks German similar to his native language. I asked him to go with you. He can impersonate captain Heinz Martin, the adjutant of general Stuart."


    As soon as I finished, razumeyeva, who was sitting in the corner, called out to me: "Comrade division commander, general trakov, deputy commander of the group army, is online."


    When I heard that trakov was looking for me, I hastened to command the commanders on the scene: "everyone immediately return to their respective units, transfer the strongest company to verol, and move quickly! It''s over. "


    After I put on the earphone, I politely said to the transmitter, "Hello, comrade commander, I''m o''shanina."


    "I just heard you assign some tasks to your department, didn''t I?"


    "Yes, I asked the regiments to send troops to form a special battalion to attack the German camp."


    "Is there too few battalions?" Trekov murmured in his headphones, "even if you fight so hard, you can''t hurt the Germans. You can''t interrupt their deployment."


    "Comrade commander," I did not hide from trakov, and honestly reported to him, "there is more than one battalion. One battalion has already set out, and the second battalion is preparing to set out. Their task is to attack the German camp


    Trekov had been used to my ingenuity for a long time. He asked without any impatience: "Oh, two battalions. Tell me, why do you want the two battalions to operate separately? You know, in this way, the forces will be dispersed and will not pose a great threat to the enemy forces. "


    "Comrade commander, the first battalion was led by the former second commander, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg. The task I gave him was to give priority to sneak attack, avoid strong attack and achieve the purpose of disturbing the enemy. The second battalion is in the charge of the political instructor verol from the Vinica Infantry School. They will disguise themselves as German troops and attack those camps that have been attacked, making the demoralized German troops even worse. If you''re lucky, one or two German commanders can be captured alive. "


    "Well, now that you''ve made the arrangements, go ahead with your plan. Anyway, comrade Zhukov also called Hello, "how to fight, has the final say."


    After listening to Choi KOV''s words, I couldn''t help breathing a sigh of relief. As frontline commanders, I was most afraid of those who sat behind the command post and commanded the commanders in accordance with the map. They has the final say, and I think they are at the front line.


    When I said thanks to him repeatedly, he suddenly changed the topic: "today, the German army launched a comprehensive fortification against our army. Individual positions of the 62nd and 57th army groups have been occupied by the German army. Your division''s line of defense has not been attacked by the German army, has it


    Trekov''s words stunned me and said in my heart: even the prisoners I captured have been sent to the headquarters of the group army. If there is no German attack, where do these prisoners come from? As soon as he wanted to speak, he suddenly thought that it was because of the tight line of defense in the meishkova river that he said goodbye to Zhukov in a hurry and went to the front line to command the battle. Maybe he is not in the headquarters of the group army at the moment and does not know the results of our division, which is normal.


    Thinking of this, I asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, are you not in the headquarters of the group army?"


    Trekov was stunned for a moment when I asked, and then replied, "yes, I went to investigate the terrain along the chelflenaya river with colonel bolkilovsky, the director of the group army''s engineering force. General Alexandrov, the group army''s logistics director, who just arrived in peschanka village, spent the night in the village tonight and will not return to the group army headquarters for the time being. By the way, o''shanina, why do you ask this? "


    I said in my heart that you were not in the headquarters of the group army. No wonder. Hearing what he asked me, he immediately replied, "Comrade commander, this is what it is. The 40th German tank brigade launched an attack on the position of the 2nd division in the evening. After fierce fighting, we powdered the German attack and captured 57 people, including one of them, Captain Heinz Martin, the adjutant of major general stummer, the brigade commander


    After listening to this, trakov pondered for a moment, and then suggested to me, "Comrade oshanina, I have an idea. Since you have a battalion that wants to pretend to be a German army to sneak attack, you can find a good German soldier to pretend to be captain Heinz Martin, who was captured by you. In this way, it''s easier to muddle through. I don''t know what you think? "


    After listening to trekov''s suggestion, I couldn''t suppress my excitement and replied with a smile: "Comrade commander, my idea coincides with your idea. I just arranged it like this. Mihayev, the commander of engineering company with High German level, impersonates captain Heinz Martin."


    "The attack of the 6th group army of Paulus against us is very fierce. The defenders in the north and west of the city are retreating step by step towards Stalingrad. If your night attack can interrupt the deployment of the 4th group army of Goth tanks and slow down their attack speed, it will not only reduce the pressure on our army, It can also buy a few precious days for the defense work in the city. "


    Since Zhukov mentioned that the commander of the fourth German tank group army was Holt, when he heard trakov talk about Goth, he felt very uncomfortable. However, this is not the time to worry about this. I can only give trakov a reassurance: "please rest assured that our division will complete this glorious and arduous task."


    "Oshanina," trekov said earnestly, "Zhukov only gives you a counterattack mission. I guess the main reason is that you know how to fight skillfully. If you fight with the German army, don''t say you are an independent division with poor equipment and training. Even if you put the 64th army there, you can''t block the well-equipped, The fourth group of tanks supported by the air force. I don''t want to say any more. I wish you and your independent division good luck and good results tonight. "


    When I finished the call and handed back the earphone and transmitter to razumeyeva, she asked with trembling: "Sir, I want to ask, do you think our night attack can be successful? You know, the Germans have several divisions, and we only have two battalions. "


    I laughed at her and said, "don''t worry, Lieutenant razumeyeva. You don''t have to worry about these problems. Both Oleg and verol have rich combat experience, and I believe they will succeed. "


    Although I am confident, it is all to encourage the morale of my subordinates. In fact, I have no idea what kind of results can be achieved in the night attack tonight. However, I have already assigned the task, and the troops in charge of the night attack have also set out. Even if I want to change the order, the troops that attack will not be able to withdraw. So the only thing I can do in the headquarters is to wait for the battle report sent back to me by Oleg and verol after the battle starts.


    When I was sitting in my seat and looking at the map, four people, shijerikov, Pugachev, kosja and Gaidar, entered the headquarters one after another, sat in their usual positions and began to smoke leisurely.


    I choked on the smoke and coughed loudly. When the cough stopped, I raised my hand and fanned the smoke in front of me, and asked strangely, "Hey, comrades, the war is coming, you still have leisure to come to my headquarters to smoke. You don''t seem to worry that Oleg and verol will not finish the task. Don''t you know that the number of German troops is dozens of times more than our night attack troops?"


    The four of them were stunned.


    Xiejerikov took off his military cap, put it on the table, scratched the back of his head, and said with embarrassment, "yes, sir, if you don''t tell me, I haven''t thought of that. Even if you remind me now, I don''t think this mission will fail. You know, since we became your subordinates, it seems that we haven''t lost any battles and almost won every battle. "


    The other three commanders listened to him and nodded their heads together, indicating that they all felt the same way.


    I didn''t criticize him for his obvious flattery, but just smile. We should know that our army is at a disadvantage on the battlefield now, and let them keep more hope in their hearts, which is also conducive to improving the morale of the army. Anyway, I also know that the final winner of the battle of Stalingrad belonged to the Soviet army.


    When I thought about it, I would not care about them any more. I looked at the map in front of me and thought about how the independent division would defend after moving to mamayev post.


    Time in our waiting, a second to the past. Just as several of the team leaders were losing patience, razumeyeva screamed excitedly, then turned to me and said, "Sir, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg is online. He wants to speak to you."


    Although I have been trying to keep calm, when I heard that Oleg wanted to report the war situation to me, I still couldn''t help jumping up from my seat and rushing to the telephone. I grabbed the earphone and put it on before I could. I put it on my ear and asked loudly to the transmitter: "Hello, Hello, commander Oleg, can you hear me? I''m Colonel oshanina


    A moment later, Oleg''s clear voice came from his headphones, as well as the sound of gunfire and grenade explosion: "report to division commander, we are attacking the enemy''s camp."


    "Be more specific." Although I tried to keep calm, my voice changed a little because of nervousness.


    Fortunately, Oleg didn''t pay attention to these details. He continued to report to me: "when we approached the enemy camp, we found that the enemy''s defense was very lax. Except for two small patrols and a dozen sentries outside the camp, the rest of us were sleeping. I first sent a platoon of soldiers to solve the patrol with a dagger, then cut a few passable gaps in the barbed wire around the camp and sneaked in to kill the sentinels. Seeing that the enemy''s Sentinels had been cleared, I ordered the troops to enter the camp. In groups of five, they went into the tent to clean up the sleeping German soldiers. It was going well. Unexpectedly, a sentry came out of the tent, found our soldiers and fired a warning, waking up the German soldiers in other parts of the camp. As soon as the gun rang, we were discovered by the German army, and the plan to use cold weapons to solve the battle failed. The Germans are now fighting back under the cover of armored vehicles. "


    "Commander Oleg," I heard that there were armored vehicles in the German counterattack troops. I was afraid that the sneak attack troops would suffer losses. I immediately ordered Oleg, "I order you to withdraw while fighting, and quickly get out of the battle, otherwise once you are entangled by the enemy, your troops will be destroyed."


    Perhaps Oleg had learned the lesson of his demotion from his last disobedience, so he quickly agreed, and then I heard him yell to his subordinates in his earphone: "come on, send the order down, cover the evacuation in turn! We''ll cover the battle in turn


    When I put down the earphone and the transmitter, the four commanders gathered around me and asked with concern, "Comrade division, camp Oleg has started?"


    Seeing that I nodded in affirmation, he continued to ask, "how is the war going?"


    "After killing the enemy''s patrol and sentry, they sneaked into the German camp smoothly. Then Oleg divided the soldiers into groups of five and went into the tent to kill the sleeping German with daggers. Originally, it went smoothly. Unexpectedly, a German soldier who got up to change his post found it and fired a warning gun, waking up the enemy in other places. After the German troops found our sneak attack troops, they immediately used armored vehicles to cover the infantry to counter us. In order to prevent this battle from a sneak attack to a strong attack, I have ordered Oleg to lead his troops to withdraw from the battle in turn. "


    "Oh, what a pity!" Gaidar said regretfully, "if only Lieutenant Colonel Oleg could send someone to capture German armored cars and tanks first."¡° What''s the use of seizing it? " "Can you find the officers and men who can drive tanks and armored vehicles in the troops that take part in the night attack?" kosga said? In the end, it''s not the only way to blow it up, so as not to make it cheaper for the Germans. "¡° Blow it up Gaidar, perhaps dissatisfied with the tone of kosga''s words to him, retorted with a loud stare: "blow up, at least weaken the German armor."¡° What''s the use of blowing up a few German tanks in a hurry? If you know there are thousands of German tanks Cosga was still talking in a sullen voice¡° You... "Gaidar was so excited by his words that he was on the verge of violence. Seeing that they were about to have an argument, I yelled:" what are you two arguing about here? " Originally like a cockfight to fight up two people, I was so a roar, immediately honest for a while, head down obediently back to their seats. Seeing the two men leave, xiejerikov came close to my ear and said in a low voice, "don''t blame them, sir, because they both want to command the night attack troops. Unexpectedly, you finally handed over the task to Oleg and verol. They were uncomfortable and quarreled to vent their dissatisfaction." Thanks for jerichov''s words, it suddenly dawned on me that these two people were as good as one person at ordinary times. How could they suddenly become enemies tonight? It turned out that it was because I didn''t send them on a mission. About twenty minutes later, I waited for Oleg''s second report. As soon as I heard his voice, I asked with concern, "Comrade Oleg, have the troops withdrawn?"¡° Out, "Oleg breathlessly reported," because of the dark, the German army was afraid that we would have an ambush, although after we withdrew from the camp, the battle was over. "¡° What about the casualties in the army? "¡° 31 people were killed and 55 injured. There is no detailed statistics of the results, but at least nearly 200 German soldiers were killed and 30 submachine guns and more than 100 rifles were seized. " Oleg''s breath gradually calmed down. After his report, he asked me, "Sir, what''s our next task?"¡° The troops continued to move south to attack further German camps. "¡° Yes! " Oleg readily agreed. For fear that he would be hot headed and suffer from the German, I specially told him: "remember what I said to you before departure. Sneak attack is the main thing. Don''t fight with the German unless you have to."¡° Understand Although he was very frank in his promise, I was not sure. I told him again, "besides, I just sent political commissar veroll to take a battalion to carry out the mission. They are all wearing German uniforms. So if you find German troops marching on the road, you should first make a clear investigation and never shoot casually, otherwise you will fight with your own people, That''s going to be a joke. "

 Chapter 580

    Oleg listened to me and was surprisingly silent. Because I couldn''t hear his voice in the earphone, I even thought that he had broken off the contact, so I blew twice at the transmitter, and then cried anxiously, "Hello, Hello, commander Oleg, are you still there? Can you hear me? "


    "Yes, sir." Oleg replied slowly.


    "Why don''t you answer? What are you thinking?" I asked angrily.


    "Sir, please forgive me. I was thinking about something. I was so absorbed that I forgot that I was talking to you."


    "What do you think makes you so engaged?" I asked discontentedly.


    "I was thinking that if our battalion also wore German uniforms, we might have achieved more."


    As soon as Oleg''s words were finished, my face turned red with shame and my heart said that I was going to sneak attack disguised as a German army. It was only after you all set out that I had a flash of inspiration. Fortunately, Oleg could not see my embarrassed expression, and I could still keep calm and ask, "where is your camp now?"


    Oleg replied briefly: "two kilometers southeast of the camp that just attacked. It is only three kilometers away from the German occupied abnegarovo station. Sir, I have an idea. Do you think I can take my troops to attack this station


    When I heard the name, I hesitated for a moment. It took Holt''s tank 4th Army seven days and paid a huge price to capture the station of abganerovo. This shows how strong the Soviet defense position was. Now, if we were to attack, it would be a fool''s dream to capture here with one battalion. I just wanted to reject Oleg''s proposal, but on second thought, because of the tenacious fighting of the garrison there some time ago, it has become a key defensive point familiar to the leaders of the group army and even the front army. If we make any moves in this area, we will certainly leave a good impression on the leaders at higher levels. Thinking of this, I did not hesitate to give Oleg an order and said, "well, commander Oleg, you can take the troops to have a look. Remember, there is a huge gap between the enemy and us. Your task is to sneak attack, not to attack by force. If you can fight, fight and withdraw. Don''t be entangled by the enemy. Otherwise, the whole army will be destroyed. "


    "I understand," Oleg replied positively, "please don''t worry, sir. I will be careful."


    At the end of the call with Oleg, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was almost zero, and I didn''t receive verol''s report. I couldn''t help saying to myself, "what happened to verol? He''s been walking for hours. Why hasn''t he got any information back?"


    Razumeyeva carefully took over my topic and said: "Sir, maybe they are still marching."


    Although veroll and his family took the main road, which was far away from the path that Oleg and his family took, they took a truck after all. Their four wheels were faster than their two legs. The delay in getting veroll''s report made me uneasy. I was afraid that they would encounter German troops on the road.


    I think since verol doesn''t contact us, it''s up to us to contact her first and ask her about the situation there. So I said to razumeyeva, "Lieutenant, contact political commissar verol immediately and ask her where the troops are?"


    I didn''t expect that razumeyeva shook her head and said regretfully, "sorry, sir, I just tried, but I can''t get in touch. Maybe they are marching and the radio is not on."


    Seeing that I was extremely anxious, shijerikov came to comfort me: "don''t worry, comrade division. If there is no news, it''s good news. It''s estimated that political commissar verol and they are close to the German camp. In order to prevent them from being found by the enemy, they keep radio silence for the time being. We''d better sit down and wait patiently. I believe good news will come soon. "


    At first, my heart was like 15 buckets to draw water from. I felt a lot relieved when I heard what shijerikov said. Anyway, the troops had been sent out, and Oleg''s battalion had fought a battle. Although it was only a small victory, it was enough to make the German people scared and couldn''t sleep well.


    This wait was more than an hour, until one o''clock in the morning, razumeyeva''s excited voice woke me up. Seeing me awake, razumeyeva excitedly called me: "teacher, I have contacted verol and verol Commissar."


    I rushed to the phone, put on my headphones and yelled excitedly, "Hello, Hello, is that verol? Hello, Hello, can you hear me


    Then verol''s familiar voice came from the earphone: "yes, Rita, I''m verol."


    Hearing her voice, I was a little relieved. Since she could contact me, she proved that her troops had not been destroyed by the German army. I suppressed my dissatisfaction with her and tried to ask in a calm voice, "verol, where are you?"


    Verol''s excited voice came from the earphone: "report, sir, I''ve got the station back!"


    "What?" Hearing this news, I almost sat down on the ground. I was afraid that I had heard it wrong, so I asked, "verol, I didn''t catch what you just said. Please say it again!"


    "Sir, I formally report to you that I have snatched the station from the German hands?"


    "Have you taken... Back? Is that the station of aberganerovo? " Although I have heard verol''s words clearly, I still can''t believe it is true. Just now, when Oleg said that he wanted to sneak attack on the aberganerovo station, I was worried that they were outnumbered, so I repeatedly stressed that only sneak attack, no strong attack, fight if he can, and run if he can''t.


    Verol replied positively, "absolutely right, sir. We have got the station back."


    Several commanders sitting in the room waiting for news heard that I repeatedly repeated the name of the station, and immediately guessed what unexpected victory our night attack troops might have won. They all gathered around to hear the truth.


    It''s still night. Even if the earphone is far away from the ear, I can still hear what the other party says. I took off the earphone and moved it away a little bit to make sure that people around me could hear veroll''s voice. Then I asked, "tell me, political commissar veroll, how did you take down the station?"


    Verol agreed, and then began to report to me the process of seizing the abganerovo station: "report, sir, our motorcade is going along the road. About an hour ago, a soldier who was on a reconnaissance mission in front of us came to report to me on a motorcycle, saying that not far ahead is the abganerovo station occupied by the German army, Please tell me what to do? After listening to the Scout''s report, I thought that since we had come here, we should teach the Germans a lesson. So I ordered the motorcade to stop and all the soldiers to get off and walk to the station.


    Before we got close to the station, the scout reported that there was a large number of troops lying in the vicinity of the station, perhaps the German sentry. I took a company with me and followed the scout to the area where the enemy situation was found. When I saw the place, there were many people in front of the station. As soon as we arrived, about ten people came to us. I was worried that we were found by the Germans and ordered the soldiers to prepare for the battle.


    Well, maybe in a minute or two, I''ll order the troops to fire. Fortunately, the Scout next to me had sharp eyes and said that all the people I saw were tied with white towels on their left arms, not their own. So I asked the scout with two soldiers to meet these people and find out who they were. As a result, as soon as the two sides met each other, from the white towel tied to each other''s arms, they determined that they were their own people, so they did not open fire casually. The Scout inquired again, and it turned out that the other side was led by commander Oleg


    Hearing this, Gaidar couldn''t help but said excitedly, "it''s wonderful that our two night Raiders have joined forces outside the station of abganerovo. No wonder they can easily win the well defended station of the German army."


    "Don''t talk," shejerikov said to him discontentedly. "Listen to political commissar verol."


    Gaidar grinned sheepishly, closed his mouth and continued to listen to verol''s story of their battle.


    "... after meeting with Commander Oleg''s troops, I discussed with him that I would lead the troops disguised as German troops to attack the station, and he would lead the troops to meet outside.


    After the negotiation, I asked mikheiev to take a company and swagger along the road to the station. The German patrol outside the station found them and stopped them. Mihai Jef asked himself to be a fortieth tank brigade, and to strengthen his Garrison. When the enemy relaxed their vigilance, he made a gesture to the soldiers behind him, and the soldiers rushed to shovel the German patrol team with spades and axes.


    Although commander Oleg attacked a German camp in advance, the news obviously didn''t reach here. The Germans in the station were not alert at all. After the scattered sentries were killed by the soldiers led by Mikhail yev, I led the troops into the station.


    Originally, I thought it would be easy to wipe out all the Germans in the station. Unexpectedly, a sentry hiding in a machine gun bunker on the platform was very alert. When he saw so many people suddenly appear on the platform, he might instinctively feel that something had happened, and immediately shot at us without hesitation, bringing down many of the front soldiers.


    Seeing that there was no way to clean up the enemy in the station outside without the German''s awareness, I had to order to fire back. Fortunately, only one machine gun opened fire in the machine gun bunker. Mikhail yev and his men threw more than a dozen grenades, and then he reimbursed the enemy inside with their guns.


    At the sound of guns, the Germans in the barracks were woken up. They rushed out with weapons and kept shouting. At this time, mihayev made an unexpected move. He rushed up with more than a dozen German speaking soldiers, shouting German and tied up with the enemy. Then they took the opportunity of the enemy to make a clean fire, and shot the Germans around with the submachine gun, rifle, grenade, shovel and axe.


    Seeing the fighting in the station, commander Oleg also ordered his troops to rush in decisively. Our two battalions were in one place, charging and fighting against the chaotic German army, making them more chaotic.


    The battle ended half an hour later. We captured 39 prisoners, including captain Grimes of the station guard. After interrogation, Captain Grimes confessed that they belonged to the 103rd infantry regiment of the 14th German tank division. Because the soldiers are very tired in the continuous days of fighting, the defense of the station seems very relaxed. "


    Hearing that the captured officer belonged to the 14th German tank division, I couldn''t help asking, "are there any German armored units in the station?"


    "No tanks or armored vehicles were found. This is what the prisoners said. Because our army dug deep trenches and anti tank trenches in the south of the station, which greatly restricted the mobility of the tanks, the commander decided to transfer the tanks and armored vehicles in the regiment to other areas."


    After listening, I asked casually, "is there any material in the station?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Verol said excitedly: "I found a German battalion''s weapons in the depot of the station. Now, in addition to the security forces, the rest of the troops are moving the materials from the warehouse to our trucks. "


    "Where''s your truck?"


    "Not far, just one kilometer away from the station. We have many people. It won''t be long before we can empty all the things in the warehouse."


    When I heard verol say that, I was so angry that I almost yelled at him. Since all the Germans have been eliminated by us, you can''t let the soldiers drive the trucks into the station. You have to let all the soldiers carry the weapons and ammunition so far to load. I bit my back teeth and said to her coldly, "Comrade veroll, don''t you think it''s more convenient for our soldiers to load materials by driving trucks into the station?"


    After listening to me, verol was obviously stunned. It took her a long time to say, "Oh, sir, if you don''t tell me, I forgot that I should drive the truck to the station. In this way, the soldiers can walk less. Don''t worry. I''ll arrange it right away. " Then I heard her shouting, "Mikhail, Lieutenant Mikhail, please come here."


    Soon, I vaguely heard Mikhail''s voice: "Comrade political commissar, do you have any instructions?"


    "According to the order of the teacher, let''s drive all our trucks into the station and stop beside the warehouse to load them."


    "Yes, I''ll do it right away."


    Then I heard veroll''s voice again: "report, sir, I''ve arranged that the truck can drive into the station in ten minutes at most."


    Veroll''s lack of heart made my liver ache. I could only hum and say: "Comrade veroll, let the soldiers hurry to load the truck and be ready to move at any time. I''ll let you know if there''s anything


    Putting down the earphone and the transmitter, I said to several commanders around me, "have you heard me, comrades of commanders? After the convergence of verol''s and Oleg''s night attack forces, they joined hands to seize the aghenerovo station occupied by the German army. What are you going to do next? "


    "What else can we do?" "This is a great victory," he said excitedly. "We should report it to the group army headquarters immediately and ask for credit for our commanders and fighters."


    In fact, the original purpose of my question was to ask for their opinions, whether to let the night attack troops withdraw overnight, or to stay in the rear of the German army and constantly harass the German army''s camp and supply lines. I didn''t expect that shijerikov misunderstood me and thought that I was asking, what should we do after we got the news.


    However, since xiejerikov has said that he will report the results of the war tonight, I can''t object to it, so I have to bow down and command razumeyeva: "Comrade second lieutenant, get me the headquarters of the group army immediately, and find the chief of staff, Colonel Raskin."


    After the call, Raskin''s slightly dissatisfied voice came out from the earphone: "Hello, I said Comrade o''shanina, you contacted me so late. Is there something wrong with your division?"


    I coughed quickly, cleared my throat, and then made a clear report: "report to chief of staff, I sent eight companies to the rear of the German army tonight to carry out the night attack. Just now my men reported to me that after fierce fighting, they successfully recaptured the station of abganerovo, which was occupied by the German army. "


    "Oh, it''s taking the station of abganerovo back from the German hands." Raskin said lightly, his voice suddenly trembled, raised his voice and said aloud, "o''shanina, what do you say, please say it again." His reaction at this time was similar to what I had just heard when the station was recaptured.


    Since he was asking seriously, I also answered seriously: "report to the chief of staff, my troops have successfully recaptured the aghenerovo station occupied by the Germans. At present, the soldiers are seizing the time to move the materials in the depot of the station. After all the materials are loaded, they will immediately return to our division''s defense area. "


    "O''shanina, first... Don''t... Don''t be in a hurry to get the troops back. I''ll... I''ll report... This matter to commander shumilov immediately! Please... Just a moment... Just a moment. " Ruskin was obviously so shocked by the news that he was so nervous that his speech was incoherent.


    After about five minutes, shumilov''s familiar voice came from the earphone: "Hello, Colonel oshanina."


    I quickly straightened up and said, "Hello, comrade commander."¡° I''ve heard chief Ruskin say that your division has succeeded in seizing the aghenerovo station from the German hands. Is that true? "¡° Yes, exactly, comrade commander. " I replied respectfully¡° Well done, comrade o''shanina. I''ll take credit for you. " After praising me, shumilov changed the subject and continued: "our army group held fast for seven days in the station of abganerovo, and was forced to give up its position because of the shortage of ammunition and food. Now that you''ve taken the station back, I mean, don''t let the troops withdraw for the time being, just let them stay there. In this way, the German army had a worry about the future and did not dare to concentrate all its forces to attack our positions. "

 Chapter 581

    Although I know in my heart that it is no doubt to let verol''s and Oleg''s troops stay and stick to the station of abganerovo, as shumilov ordered, to let them die. However, according to the regulations of the Soviet army, the orders of the higher authorities are not allowed to be discussed, so I can only reply with a stiff head: "yes, comrade commander, I follow your orders."


    "Good, good. Colonel o''shanina, I knew you were an excellent commander who took the whole situation into consideration With these two words, shumilov terminated his communication with me.


    When there was no sound in the earphone, I had an impulse to smash the telephone. In my heart, I secretly scolded myself for what I had done to report the victory to shumilov so early. I should wait for the troops to withdraw before reporting to him. In this way, even if he wants me to keep the troops, I can use the reason that the troops are on the March and I can''t get in touch with them for the time being.


    Maybe the expression on my face was unnatural after I put down my earphone. After carefully observing my words and expressions, Xie jerikov asked cautiously, "what do you say, sir


    I glared at him and said: "what else can I say? He said that Oleg and verol''s troops would not withdraw from the station for the time being and would continue to stay there to hold on."


    As soon as my words came out, not only shijerikov was shocked, but also Pugachev, kosja and Gaidar, who were sitting beside him, were shocked. We are lucky to succeed in sneak attack, but if we really stay and stick to it, we will become the target of German attack. Can two battalions without training and heavy weapons resist the successive attacks of German army? After a long time, Xie jerikov tentatively said: "Comrade division commander, would you please report to the commander again that it is in the rear of the German army, and our troops are all light, not equipped with heavy weapons, which can not stop the German armored forces."


    "Are you and I able to discuss the orders of the superior?" After I yelled at him, I sat down at the table, raised my hand and said, "give me a cigarette."


    As soon as the words came to an end, several cigarette boxes were handed to me at the same time. I took a cigarette out of the cigarette box of "St. Petersburg people". As soon as it was in my mouth, someone lit a match for me. When I looked up, it turned out to be shejerikov. Thinking of his bad attitude towards him just now, he gave him an apologetic smile and said, "Comrade xijerikov, I''m sorry, I shouldn''t have been angry with you just now."


    Seeing that I offered to apologize to him, xiejerikov seemed a little at a loss. He said in a panic: "Sir, you are right. The orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed..."


    Before he finished, I interrupted him and said to myself, "you''re right. If Oleg and verol''s troops stay and stick to it, the only thing that will wait for them is the annihilation of the whole army."


    "Then what should we do? Can we just watch them destroyed by the Germans?" Said chejerikov, somewhat unconvinced.


    I snorted noncommittally. I didn''t speak. I just took a mouthful of my cigarette. I didn''t expect that Lao maozi''s cigarette was so dry that I coughed violently. I was so angry that I threw my cigarette on the ground and ground it with my toes.


    I stood up, looked around at several regimental commanders around me, and said faintly, "I''ll tell Oleg and verol the news first, so that they can have a psychological preparation."


    "Is that suitable, sir?" Asked shijerikov, difficultly.


    "There''s nothing inappropriate," I said decisively. "Sooner or later, they will be given the order to stay. It''s the same thing to say sooner or later." Then I told razumeyeva, who had been looking at me: "Lieutenant, call commander Oleg or commissar verol immediately. I have orders for them."


    When I heard Oleg''s voice coming from the earphone, I was thinking about how to give him the order to stick to the station. He had already preemptively reported: "report, sir, I have important information to report to you."


    I am a Leng, in such a short period of time, what happened? Although he was a little confused, he could not hear the slightest tension and confusion from his tone, so he instinctively asked, "tell me, what happened to you?"


    "Not long after I finished talking with you just now, the phone rang in the duty room of the station. At that time, comrade verol and I were interrogating the prisoners. We were startled to hear the telephone ring. While I was still thinking about answering the phone, verol had already pulled out his pistol and forced the captured captain Grimes to answer it. The call was from gramus'' superior. He asked what happened to the sound of gunfire and explosion that just came from the station? Whether they have been attacked by our army, whether they need reinforcement, etc.


    The captain with a pistol on his forehead didn''t dare to answer casually, so he had to cover the microphone and look at verol helplessly. Verol called mihayev as an interpreter, and then asked Grimes to report to his superiors that the station had been attacked by a small group of guerrillas. Now the guerrillas have been beaten away and no reinforcements are needed.


    Just when the captain was ready to put down the phone, his superior suddenly told him that an arms train would arrive at the station within half an hour and stop at the station until dawn. He was asked to prepare for the train and ensure the arrangement of the train. "


    When I heard that the German army was about to deliver a truck of ammunition, I immediately became interested and asked, "what''s verol''s plan?" The reason why I asked about verol''s plan is that, from the current situation, although both of them are commanding a battalion, Oleg seems to have followed verol''s lead.


    Sure enough, I then heard Oleg say: "political commissar verol said that since the German army has an arms train coming, we will postpone the transfer, pretend to be the German army and stick to the station to cut off the arms train. As for all the weapons seized, except the part that could be transported back to the independent division, all the rest were buried in the ground. She wanted to see if the Germans, who could not be supplied with ammunition, could launch such a fierce offensive against our positions after dawn. "


    "Well done, comrade Oleg." After I praised him, I thought that I had to order them to stay on the mission, but at the moment verol was obviously more suitable to accept the order than him, so I told him: "let verol talk to me, I have something important to tell her."


    Oleg agreed, and soon I heard verol''s voice in the earphone: "Hello, Rita, do you have any instructions?"


    Instead of giving the command''s instructions, I first asked her, "what are you going to do with that ammunition train?"


    "It''s very simple," verol said lightly, "when the train comes in, I''ll take it as a name to ensure the arms, drive out all the German escorts on the train, and then kill them all when they''re not prepared. As for the seized arms, I intend to bury the rest of them except for those returned, so that they can be transferred later. "


    As for her plan, I thought it was pretty good, so I didn''t give any guidance. Just after she finished, I went on to say solemnly, "Comrade veroll, I have another thing to tell you. I hope you can be psychologically prepared."


    "What''s the matter, Rita, just tell me." Verol said calmly.


    "I have just reported our division''s capture of the station of abganerovo to the headquarters of the group army. The commander was very happy to learn that the station had been recaptured, but he immediately gave an order... "


    "Shall we stay at the station?" Before I finished speaking, verol asked first. It seems that she is not a political cadre who has gained a reputation. From my words, we can judge the intention of the higher leaders.


    "Yes, verol." I answered with a little pain that although I have known verol for a short time, I think she is a very easy-going political worker. If it is not for her low military rank, I plan to appoint her as my division political commissar after consulting the higher authorities. Therefore, I can''t bear to let her stay in the bus station and sacrifice in vain¡° The commander said that before the station was lost, our troops had been there for seven days. He hoped that you could keep it there as long as possible. In this way, the Germans who had worries about their future would not dare to concentrate all their forces and launch a full-scale attack on the defense line of our group army. "


    Verol''s reaction was completely unexpected to me. After listening to it, she said with a smile: "don''t worry, sir. Although I want to leave the station, I won''t command the troops to fight with the Germans. I want to consider taking this station as a stronghold to harass the German camp and make them restless."


    I recognized from her words that she seemed to have other plans, so I asked curiously, "verol, tell me, do you have any good plans?"


    "Yes, sir." Verol gave me a positive answer and began to speak slowly about her plan. After listening to this, I suddenly realized that it was brilliant. Why can''t I come up with such a good plan?


    At the end of the call with verol, I immediately called the artillery battalion commander yegonovic. As soon as I heard his rough voice, I said impolitely, "Hey, comrade captain, this is not the time for you to flirt with my monitor. Come to my headquarters immediately. I have important combat tasks for you. " When I was about to put down the microphone, I suddenly remembered something and quickly added, "by the way, I don''t have enough people here. When you come here, I''ll bring my monitor of the guard with me


    "What?! Comrade division, "when I said that, yegonovich was very anxious. He retorted," didn''t you assign corporal Willa to our artillery battalion? Why do you want her back at this time? "


    "Stop talking nonsense and carry out the orders." With that, I didn''t give him another chance to refute and hung up directly.


    When I put down the phone and heard the conversation between me and yegonovych, I couldn''t help but ask curiously, "Comrade division commander, your guard monitor corporal Willa, has been transferred to the artillery camp for almost a week. Why do you suddenly want to transfer her back?"


    I looked at him and said, "don''t you think it''s more convenient for me to keep a female guard around than all the male guards?"


    Listen to me, it''s not easy for Xie jerikov to say anything more, so he has to nod repeatedly.


    The artillery camp is not close to me, at least five kilometers away, but if there are vehicles to walk, this distance is nothing. Yegonovic showed up in my headquarters less than 10 minutes after answering the phone.


    Seeing a group of commanders in the headquarters, yegonovic was obviously stunned for a moment, and then asked curiously, "what''s the matter? Why do the commanders stay in the headquarters so late? "


    But no one answered him, only I waved to him and let him come to me. When he came to me and was about to raise his hand to salute, I stopped him with a gesture and asked, "Comrade captain, how many shells do you have in your artillery battalion?"


    "Not much to say, not much to say." I didn''t expect that yegonovic told me the tongue twister: "if the artillery preparation before the attack, the existing shells must be insufficient; But if it is to provide artillery support for the garrison, it is barely enough


    I didn''t care about his rap, but pointed to the map and asked him, "Comrade captain, I''ll give you the assignment of the artillery battalion. After dawn, there will be a German ammunition train, which will transport ammunition to their front-line troops along the railway leading to Stalingrad from the southwest of our division''s defense area. Now I want to ask you, are you sure you can kill this ammunition train with as few shells as possible? "


    Yegonovic fixed his eyes on the map on the table, stretched out his hand to measure the distance, and then answered positively, "Comrade division, I am sure I will hit the target after five volleys of each gun."


    "No, five shells are too many. Eight guns need forty shells. You know, the artillery battalion may not be able to get logistic supplies for a long time. Without shells, it will not be able to provide the necessary artillery support for the infantry. "


    "Four, how about four?"


    "No, it''s too much. Two shots at most."


    "Ah?" After listening to me, yegonovic almost hit his chin on the ground. He thought for a moment, stretched out three fingers and continued to bargain with me. "Let''s have three shots. It''s the minimum. It can''t be less."


    "No, I said two I said firmly.


    Hearing what I said, yegonovich was so anxious that he almost jumped up. He said excitedly, "do you know the speed of the train, sir? It''s impossible to hit this moving target with fewer shells. If we want to solve the battle with two rounds, unless the train stops at the same place and let us be the targets, it''s almost the same. "


    "Comrade captain," I replied with a smile, "you are right at last. This time, you really let that train stop on the track and let you be targets. How about, do you have the confidence to destroy the enemy''s train with two rounds each? "


    After listening to what I said, there was an incredible expression on yegonovic''s face. In order to make sure that he was not dreaming, he pinched his arm severely. After taking a cold breath in pain, he tentatively asked: "the German train stops on the track, let''s be the target? Sir, are you kidding? "


    When he said that, I lowered my face and said seriously, "why, comrade captain, do you think I''m joking?"


    After looking me up and down, he shook his head and said in an uncertain tone, "it doesn''t look like you''re joking with me, but..."


    Without waiting for him to finish, I interrupted him and said in a sarcastic tone, "why, comrade captain, are you not sure? It doesn''t matter. If you can''t do it, just speak up and I''ll arrange for captain Morozov to carry out this glorious task. "


    "Who says I can''t do it!" When he saw that his ability was questioned by me, he stamped his feet in the same place. He said in a loud voice, "Comrade division, you don''t have to go to captain Morozov. I promise you, if you want to kill the German train, you can''t use two shells per gun. "When he said that, he hesitated for a moment, and then said fiercely," one gun, I only need one gun to kill the German train. "


    I nodded with satisfaction at yegonovic''s statement, and then told him, "then go back to the artillery barracks and get ready. Remember, send out the artillery observers first, and let them provide you with the prepared firing data. "


    "Don''t worry about that, sir." "I''m not the first day to be an artillery commander. As soon as I get back to the army, I''ll send out the observers and let them provide accurate targets for the Gunners," said the eager yegonovich


    "It''s beautiful. I don''t know the final result. I''ll wait and see." When I finished, I waved to him and said, "hurry up and get ready. Your camp is not close to where the German train stops."


    Yegonovic raised his hand to salute and turned to leave. He had already stepped up the steps and was ready to go out. Suddenly he stopped and turned to me and said, "yes, sir, I almost forgot. I''ve brought Vera back. Captain busmanov, the commander of the guard battalion, is with her


    I nodded and said, "I see. Go and help you."


    After yegonovic left, several commanders gathered around and asked curiously, "Comrade division commander, didn''t you just say that you want to seize the German arms train? Why do you want the artillery to destroy it again? What''s the matter?"


    Seeing that everyone was curious, I went back to my seat and asked them to sit down. After seeing several people take their seats one after another, I began to solve the mystery for them: "comrades, this is what happened. When political commissar verol heard that the superior had asked them to stay at the station, he came up with a bold plan


    "What''s the plan?" Pugachev asked curiously.


    Before Pugachev continued to ask, Gaidar began to stop him: "shut up, Captain Pugachev. Don''t interrupt. Listen to the teacher."


    Seeing that there was no one to speak, I continued: "verol said that the enemy had not found their station occupied by us so far. The first step she imagined was to let our soldiers impersonate the German army and control the whole station. Let''s imagine, if the German troops pass the station, if they see that all the people on guard and patrol outside are wearing German uniforms and speak fluent German, and the people coming and going in the station are also their own people, will they doubt that the station has been occupied by our army?


    In addition, soon a military train full of ammunition entered the station. Verol''s plan was to kill all the German escorts and seize the whole vehicle''s ammunition. Then, they will organize people to unload half of the ammunition from the car. After finishing the unloading task, a special person will drive the train, which is only half loaded, to a place far away from the station after dawn, waiting for our army''s artillery to destroy it.


    The purpose of doing so is very simple, that is, since the German arms are destroyed, the enemy on the front line will not be replenished, and at the same time, our troops who have occupied the station will not be exposed. "


    "Sir, may I ask you a question?" As soon as I finished, the curious Pugachev asked again.


    I nodded at him and said, "yes, you can ask."


    "Why use artillery to destroy military lines? Isn''t it easier to use explosives directly?"


    After listening to Pugachev''s question, the other three leaders nodded. Obviously, they had the same opinion. Several of them turned to look at me and waited for me to give the answer.


    I waved my hand, stood up and said, "I have also considered using explosives to destroy the train, but if I do this, the Germans will suspect that there are guerrillas nearby, and maybe they will transfer the garrison of the nearest station to carry out the search task. In this way, our plan to stick to the station will fail. If the train is destroyed by artillery fire, the situation will be different. The Germans will think that the train destroyed by our army will not send troops to search nearby. "


    "The teacher has a point." After I finished, the first one who stood up and agreed with me was a group leader, Sergey rykov.


    I looked at him with satisfaction, and then said, "well, it''s settled to stick to the station. Next, I''d like to announce that during my absence from the division headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel chejerikov will act as division commander


    "What do you say, comrade teacher?" As soon as I had finished, sjerykov was surprised and asked, "are you going to leave the division headquarters? Where are you going? "


    Although only shijerikov asked, all the people looked at me with concern.


    After glancing at everyone present, I solemnly announced to them, "since the commander of the group army has given the order to hold the station, we must carry it out to the letter. But neither Oleg nor veroll have commanded so many troops at the same time. I''m afraid they will make mistakes, so I have to go to the station to see for myself. "


    After listening to me, everyone got into a mess. The first speaker was Xie jerikov. He said anxiously, "Sir, you can''t go. It''s too dangerous to go from here to the station and pass through the German defense area."


    "Yes, sir." Gaidar continued, "you are the head of a division. You can''t take any risks."


    Even razumeyeva, who is not qualified to make a statement, bravely said to me, "Comrade division commander, the communication with the station is smooth now. It''s the same with you commanding the troops through the radio."


    Everyone''s concern for me is beyond words, which makes my heart feel warm. But I''m determined that no matter what they say, I won''t change my decision. I raised my hands and pressed them down. When everyone was quiet, I said, "I know in my heart that you are worried about my safety. Here, I would like to thank you." With that, I raised my hand to salute the commanders here. A few people Leng for a while, also raise a hand to return a gift to me in succession.


    I went on: "I decided to take twenty soldiers, disguised as German soldiers, to go through the German lines, to the station and join them at verol." Speaking of this, I said to razumeyeva, who is farthest away from me, "Lieutenant, you go out and call captain basmanov in."


    Razumeyeva quickly called basmanov in. The captain came up to me, straightened up and asked respectfully, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"


    I took a look at the commander of the guard battalion who stood upright in front of me, and said to him, "Comrade captain, you should now find 20 German uniforms and 18 strong soldiers. Remember, it''s better to know German."


    Although basmanov did not understand the reason why I told him to do so, he agreed very readily, turned and ran out of the headquarters. After the commander of the guard battalion left, xiejerikov began to persuade me again: "Sir, please think about it again. You are the head of a division. You can''t take risks easily. I''d better go for you. " I patted sergeikov on the shoulder and said friendly, "thank you, Lieutenant sergeant sergeikov. Don''t worry. I''ve been through more dangerous situations than this. Every time I''m safe, I believe I can come back smoothly this time. " Seeing that I had already said this, I would not change my mind if I knew what to say, so I had no choice but to say, "well, sir, since you said so. I can only say good luck to you Busmanov came back with a pile of German uniforms in his hand. Looking at his sad face, I asked strangely, "what''s the matter, comrade captain, why are you so unhappy?" He threw his military uniform on the table, picked up one and said to me angrily: "Sir, comrade, you see, the rest of these military uniforms are bullet holes and bloodstains. If we want to wear them out, we will be seen through by the Germans." I can tell from his words that he already knows what we are going to do. When he came in just now, I only asked him to look for his uniform, but I didn''t say what to do. Obviously, when razumeyeva went to look for him, she had already said what she should have said. I took his uniform and said, "Captain busmanov, what are you afraid of with blood and bullet holes? Anyway, we are going to pretend to be wounded soldiers of the German army this time. If you have these words, it will be more true."

 Chapter 582

    An hour later, our team, disguised as German wounded, set out in the captured German truck.


    We had two trucks, each with ten drivers. In order to look more like us, we were carrying all the captured German equipment.


    I dressed up as a German woman health worker and sat in the first truck. Before getting on the bus, busmanov, disguised as a German lieutenant, wanted me to sit in the cab. I waved my hand and answered, "Captain busmanov, please pay attention. You are posing as a German lieutenant, and I am just an ordinary health worker. There is no reason why a health officer should sit in the driver''s cab while a second lieutenant should sit in the carriage. If he sits like this, our disguise will be seen through by the German army. " After hearing what I said, basmanov didn''t insist and sat down as co pilot.


    Due to the difficulties and dangers of this trip, I did not take lieutenant razumeyeva to the station this time, but one of her soldiers, Shula. Like me, Shura disguised herself as a female health worker and packed her telephone in a wooden box marked with the Red Cross.


    As we crossed one of the shejerikov''s regiments and entered the area where the German army was active, it was getting light.


    Seeing the improvement of visibility, a soldier sitting next to me with bandages on his head asked nervously: "Comrade division, you see, it''s all morning, so that the Germans can find us all the way."


    I looked at the panicked soldier discontentedly, and then said lightly, "Comrade soldier, don''t you see that we are all dressed up as wounded soldiers of the German army? Even if we meet the Germans, we are not afraid. They will never dream that we will dress up as wounded soldiers and go deep into their rear at such a time. "


    "But what if they see through?" The soldier asked anxiously.


    "What else can we do?" I photographed the submachine gun that I was afraid to put in the carriage, and said with disapproval: "then take up arms and fight with them, either they are destroyed by us, or we are all sacrificed." See me say so, that garrulous and timid soldier obediently shut up.


    I looked at the soldier in front of me and asked curiously, "Comrade soldier, you look familiar. Have we met somewhere?"


    "Yes, sir," the soldier wanted to stand up and answer my question, but I raised my hand to stop him, so he continued to sit in the carriage and reported to me, "have you forgotten that you asked me to chop trees in the forest some time ago?"


    When he said that, I immediately remembered that in the special training before attacking the residential area, I asked a soldier to chop down the birch tree by the guard of Gulag concentration camp. As a result, the soldier cut down the tree with an axe.


    Thinking of this, I was surprised and said, "it''s you, comrade soldier." After that, I looked him up and down, and then asked, "by the way, I don''t know your name yet."


    "Sir, his name is Boris. You''ve never seen him fight. That''s really tough. " Without waiting for the soldier to answer, a wounded man lying next to him had already given me a preemptive answer. "When attacking the residential areas, he used an axe to chop down eleven Germans. During this period of fighting, he killed at least 30 Germans on his own. "


    When I heard that he had killed more than 40 German soldiers by himself, I looked at him with new eyes. I didn''t expect that this seemingly timid soldier was so brave in the battlefield. I can''t help but move the idea of transferring him to the guard camp. After all, a brave soldier like him is a hot commodity no matter where he is.


    After making up my mind, I said to the soldier, "Comrade Boris, I want to ask, would you like to come to my guard camp?"


    As soon as my words came out, several soldiers, including Boris, were silent. No one spoke. They just looked at me with strange eyes.


    It seems that he would rather stay in the front-line combat forces than come to my guard camp. Thinking of this, I asked with a little dissatisfaction: "Boris, don''t you want to go to the guard camp?"


    After a moment of silence, the soldier who answered for Boris looked around for a moment and said hesitantly, "don''t you know, sir?"


    "What do you know?" I asked in a misty way.


    "It''s not that Boris doesn''t want to go to the camp, it''s because we''re all soldiers in the camp."


    After the soldier''s words, several soldiers around also nodded, indicating that what he said was true.


    Only then did I know that I was making a joke. When I asked basmanov to find 18 people to accompany us on the mission, I should have thought that he was looking for soldiers from the guard camp.


    Just want to say a few words, ease the awkward atmosphere, Boris suddenly roared: "everyone quiet!" When all the people in the carriage did not speak and turned their eyes to him, he added: "listen, there is the sound of a car motor in the distance."


    I listened, and sure enough, there was a sound of the motor coming from a distance. At this moment, Boris got up, rushed to the front of the car, and slapped his hands hard on the roof of the bridge. Basmanov poked his head out of the car window and saw that it was an ordinary soldier. He asked unhappily, "Comrade soldier, what are you doing?"


    Boris pointed forward and said in a loud voice, "Comrade battalion commander, don''t you hear the sound of the motor coming from the front?" Although basmanov sat on the bridge, he did not see the German cars at all because the earth slopes on both sides of the road blocked his view. Hearing what Boris said, he quickly listened.


    After a while, busmanov, who was alert, asked me, "what should we do, sir?"


    "Don''t panic, let the driver keep calm, continue to drive forward, even the German, will not find that we are fake."


    Basmanov, who received the order, answered softly and firmly, "yes!" Then he locked his half body out of the window.


    I also said to the soldiers sitting in the car: "everyone is ready to fight. When you see something wrong, you will shoot decisively."


    "Yes The soldiers in the carriage agreed in good order. They grabbed the weapons and held them tightly in their hands.


    When I saw the truck 20 or 30 meters behind us, I turned around and asked the soldiers around me, "which one of you can signal the trucks behind to keep calm and prepare for battle?"


    "Comrade teacher, let me take care of this little matter." Boris said. He got up from the car, pulled out the red and green flags on his back and waved them to the truck behind.


    After a while, a soldier stood up on the truck behind him, waving two flags like Boris. Boris crouched down and reported to me, "Sir, the car will come back. They are ready to fight. As soon as you give us an order, we will fire at the German army immediately."


    "Very good!" Although I''m ready for a firefight, I still hope that if I don''t fight, I''d better not. After that, I stared nervously at the road ahead, waiting for the German troops to emerge from the corner of the hillside.


    The first thing I saw was three trucks full of soldiers, and there was a machine gun on the top of the bridge. Seeing the sudden emergence of the German army, my heart beat faster. Judging from the number of German troops, they are at least twice as many as us. If there is a real fight, we will surely be the ones who will be destroyed.


    Seeing the truck getting closer to us, I coughed because I was nervous. But the soldiers in the carriage misunderstood me. They thought I was giving a battle alarm, so they pulled the bolt one after another, raised the muzzle of the gun and pointed it at the German soldiers on the opposite truck, waiting for my firing order.


    I saw the soldiers holding up their guns, ready to fight, and quickly lowered their voices to stop them: "whatever you want to do, put down your guns for me. If you look like this, even the blind can see that you have problems. Remember that you are all seriously wounded now. Lie down for me. "


    The soldiers who were scolded by me took a resentful look at the approaching German soldiers, reluctantly lowered the muzzle of their guns and obediently lay on the stretcher in the carriage.


    As the German truck passed us, I tried to squeeze a smile on my face, raised my right hand and waved to the wary German soldiers who were staring at us.


    The German soldiers on the opposite side saw a female health worker waving to them. They also raised their right hands and waved to me. Two brave soldiers even whistled at me.


    When the three German trucks drove out for tens of meters, I could not help sighing. At this time, I felt that the back of my uniform was wet with cold sweat.


    Seeing the departure of the German truck, Boris got up from the stretcher, wiped the sweat on his forehead, and said happily, "it''s very dangerous. My finger has been on the trigger just now. If I want to see the German army stop us, I will shoot them decisively. I didn''t expect that the division commander would be able to wave to them with a smile when he saw so many enemies passing in front of him, which would dispel all German doubts. "


    "Yes, the teacher is wonderful!"¡° What a great teacher Several other soldiers in the carriage also echoed him.


    I didn''t speak. I just laughed at a few people. At that moment just now, I felt so nervous that my heart would jump out of my chest. If I met it twice more, I would have a heart attack sooner or later.


    Shortly after we relaxed, busmanov leaned out of the car window and nervously said to me, "Comrade division, there is a German checkpoint in front of us. What shall we do?"


    "Don''t panic, drive ahead. If the Germans ask, you will say that we are the medics of the 371st infantry division and are being ordered to evacuate the seriously wounded. "


    "I understand." Busmanov agreed and drew back.


    When I saw the temporary checkpoint in the middle of the road, I wondered why verol''s motorcade did not encounter German interrogation when they passed the road last night?


    As we approached the checkpoint, a tall, thin German Lieutenant raised his hand and stopped our car. After seeing our car stop steadily by the side of the road, the lieutenant came with two soldiers.


    Seeing the German Lieutenant coming, I can''t tell which army he belongs to. If he belongs to the 371st division, then we''re going through the gang, aren''t we? I can''t help thinking about it.


    The German Lieutenant came up to our truck, grabbed the side baffle, stepped on the tire, and stood parallel to me, squinting his deep eyes, looking at the soldiers lying on the stretcher in the carriage.


    "What''s your name, hygienist?" The lieutenant asked me abruptly.


    Before I set out, I found a soldier who knew German and asked him to teach me a few simple words of German to deal with possible emergencies. Although I read these words in my heart all the way, I suddenly heard that the real German told me about the German army, and I was at a loss for a moment.


    Seeing that I didn''t answer, the lieutenant frowned and repeated the question "female soldier, what''s your name, why don''t you answer me?"


    I just barely understood that he was talking about my name. "I''m corporal Kalla, the health officer of the 371st infantry division," he replied in a vague voice


    After listening to me, the German Lieutenant seemed to nod reluctantly, but he didn''t get out of the car immediately. Instead, he pointed to Boris, who was lying on the stretcher beside me: "sergeant, what''s your name?"


    When I heard the Lieutenant''s question, my heart went up to my throat. It was like when the teacher stood by and asked your deskmate questions in class, there was no way to prompt. My hand has quietly touched the submachine gun I put beside me, and I intend to shoot decisively once it shows. As I have just observed, there are only ten officers and soldiers at the checkpoint. They are armed with a pistol, three submachine guns and six rifles. With our strength, it is no problem to eliminate them in a short time.


    At this critical moment, Boris, lying on the stretcher with a clip, replied in fluent German: "report, Mr. lieutenant, I''m Sergeant winkle from the 4th heavy machine gun platoon of the 371st infantry division. During the battle, my machine gun position was hit by Russian mortar shells, my co shooter and ammunition man were killed on the spot, and I was seriously injured. Now the health camp is taking us back to the rear. " At this point, I don''t know if it''s to match the effect or other reasons, he coughed heavily.


    The lieutenant nodded, let go, jumped out of the tire, shook his head at the two German soldiers standing next to him, and walked back to the truck.


    Instead of asking why Boris spoke such fluent German, I stared nervously at the German lieutenant who was walking towards the truck behind me, hesitating whether to open fire immediately and kill the damned lieutenant.


    At this time, someone in the carriage was impatient and said impatiently, "Sir, the number of damned Germans is less than ours. Let''s kill them. I promise you, it will be over in a minute. "


    "Don''t worry," I said in a low voice to the anxious soldier and to all the soldiers in the carriage, "keep calm. Although the German army is small, we will be exposed once the gun is fired. If we bring in all the Germans around, we can''t get away. "


    "The teacher is right. Let''s be patient." even if I didn''t look back, I could recognize that it was Boris''s voice. "There are no fewer German speaking soldiers in the car behind us than in our car."


    As he spoke, there was a violent explosion in the distance. Even we who stay in the car can feel the vibration of the ground. The soldiers were dazed when they heard the explosion, but I looked happy. Needless to say, yegonovich''s artillery must have opened fire and destroyed the train with only half a wagon of ammunition.


    It seems that there are a lot of weapons and equipment on the ammunition train. Even if half of them have been unloaded, they still have such terrible explosive power when they explode. From this we can see how many weapons and equipment were on the train. If so many weapons were supplied to the German troops at the front, they could strengthen their attack on our army in a short time.


    The German lieutenant, who had been walking backward, stopped in a hurry and looked around in a panic when he heard the explosion. Then he turned and ran quickly to the checkpoint, followed by the two soldiers.


    The disheartened Lieutenant ran to the inspection station, yelled at the soldiers in a daze, and then took them across the hillside to the direction of the explosion.


    Seeing the empty checkpoint, basmanov leaned out of the window and asked me, "Sir, what shall we do next?"


    When I heard him ask this question, I really want to give him a slap. All the Germans are gone. Don''t you know what to do? I angrily scolded: "you''re blind. You don''t see the Germans in the inspection station are gone. If you don''t move the obstacles quickly, we''ll continue on our way."


    Basmanov was so scolded by me, he quickly agreed to push the door open, jumped out of the car, and yelled at the car: "two people, go and remove the obstacles on the road."


    In fact, it was totally unnecessary for him to shout like this. In the carriage, Boris had already stood up. Almost at the same time, he had jumped off the side of the truck.


    After moving the obstacle in the middle, we drove on. At this time, I thought of asking Boris: "Comrade Boris, you speak German well. Where did you learn it?"


    Hearing my question, Boris shivered and looked around warily. I saw that he had worries in his heart, so I quickly comforted him and said, "don''t be afraid. If you tell me the truth, no one will report to the interior department."


    After hearing this, Boris gave a embarrassed smile and then replied, "Mr. reporter, I used to be a teacher in the school, and I was responsible for teaching German. After the Great Patriotic War, I was arrested as a German spy and sent to the Gulag concentration camp. "¡° And you? Comrades of the soldiers, "I saw the sad past of Boris. In order not to make him sad and distract his attention, I deliberately asked other soldiers," what did you do before? "¡° I''m a fitter! "¡° I''m an electrician¡° I''m a sailor The soldiers replied with a lot of tongue. When Boris heard the reply from his comrades in arms, he said to me with a bitter smile, "Sir, they are all from Gulag concentration camp, just like me." When I heard that these soldiers were all from Gulag concentration camp, I would not ask any more, because I knew in my heart that most of them were wronged. The reason why they were sent to the concentration camp was that they said the wrong words at the wrong time and place, and even they didn''t have any fault. Instead, they were implicated because of the crimes committed by their relatives and friends. Just then, Boris suddenly said in surprise: "you see, there is another German checkpoint ahead. After the checkpoint, a few hundred meters ahead is the station of abganerovo. " Hearing the name of the station, I knew it was the end of the line. Looking up at the checkpoint on the road, I can''t help wondering whether the soldiers in the checkpoint are German or our soldiers? Seeing that the checkpoint was sending a flag to our vehicles to stop for inspection, I stood beside the bridge, leaned down and whispered to busmanov, who was sitting in the co driver''s seat, "Comrade captain, please pay attention to the fact that the people in the checkpoint in front of me are German or our soldiers. Don''t make a mistake."¡° Yes, sir. We will find out. " When the car stopped ten meters away from the checkpoint, I saw the German captain with two soldiers swaggering by. My face couldn''t help smiling. I stood up, supported the top of the bridge, and yelled at him: "Hello, Lieutenant mihayev, is that you?" The fake captain was walking forward when he heard someone calling out his name. He was a little flustered and instinctively put his hand on the holster at his waist. But when he looked up and saw that it was me who called him, he quickly came to attention, raised his hand to salute me and said, "report to division commander, engineer company commander, Second Lieutenant Mikhail yev, report to you and wait for your order." Since the inspection station is full of its own people, the soldiers on the train will no longer play the role of German wounded soldiers, pick up the weapons around them, jump off the truck one after another, help me out of the car, and then walk towards the station with me. Before I got to the station, Oleg and veroll had come out with a large crowd. While saluting me, verol asked in surprise, "Comrade teacher, why are you here? You know, it''s behind the enemy. As the head of a division, you can''t take risks! " I waved my hand and said, "come on, do you think I can be at ease if I stay in the headquarters with one of my troops behind the German army?" When I spoke, I found a tall German officer standing behind verol. When the other officers and men saluted me, he did not move, but looked at me curiously. I asked him curiously, "Comrade verol, who is the officer behind you?" When I asked this, I was murmuring in my heart, especially from the Ministry of internal affairs. In that case, our future actions will be tied up. After listening to my question, verol quickly took one side of his body and let out the officer behind him. He introduced himself to me with a smile and said, "Comrade division, let me introduce you. This is the commander of the station''s original garrison, Captain Grimes It turned out to be a German. My hand touched the holster on my waist, but it was empty. Then I remembered how I could carry a pistol with me when I dressed up as a health worker. I took my hand back and asked, "why is he here?" The implication is, why don''t you lock him up and let him walk around, so you''re not afraid that he will run away? Villol saw what I was thinking and explained, "Captain Grimes has defected to our army, and he, he''s a social democrat."

 Chapter 583

    Social Democrats, when I heard this word, I couldn''t help laughing. No matter von Tolman, who first surrendered to me, or gramus, who is in front of me, these German officers, after being captured, may be afraid of being shot, usually declare themselves social democrats without exception.


    Although I don''t know exactly what the Social Democrats do, I feel that this party must be banned and banned in Germany at the moment. How can these German soldiers join such illegal organizations? So what they said was all lies, just to win the favor of Soviet commanders, so that they could escape the fate of being shot.


    Seeing that verol and I were talking and looking at him from time to time, even if captain Grimes didn''t know Russian, he could guess that we were talking about him. He quickly touched the heel of his boot, raised his hand to salute me, and said a word in German. Mikhail yev, standing behind me, translated for me in time: "Hello, commander. I''m captain gramus. I''m glad to be of service to you."


    "Hello, Captain Grimes." I reached out to him and said politely, "I''m glad you can see the situation clearly and make the right choice in time."


    When I said that, gramus looked surprised and repeated what he had just said: "commander, I''m willing to help you. If you have anything I need to do, just tell me. I promise I will finish it seriously."


    "Don''t stand here, sir. Let''s go to the station." Said Oleg, who had not spoken for a long time, and then he took the lead in the passage out of the way of the crowd.


    The main building is a waiting hall which can accommodate thousands of passengers. Beside the platform of the station, there are train tracks next to each other. You can see that it is for the convenience of train formation. On the other side of the platform, there are many freight warehouses. But these buildings. In the early fighting, it was almost destroyed by German shells or bombs.


    Because it was day time, we could see clearly the places where the walls of the building had been pierced, the stairs exposed outside, and the rooms left by luck that had not been damaged.


    I saw two sentinels standing at the door of a small room and concluded that the headquarters of Oleg and verol were there. Although Oleg was leading us to that place, I slowed down and asked nearby verol, "verol, is that your command post?"


    "Yes, sir." With that, verol looked back and said in a low voice, "it was the station master''s room. After the station was lost, Captain Grimes used it as his headquarters and bedroom. After we occupied the station again, we saw that it was the most complete building, so we made it our headquarters."


    "What about the trucks? What about the trucks that brought you here?" Although I saw many damaged train carriages in the station, I couldn''t help but ask, "where did you hide your cars?"


    Verol pointed to the half destroyed waiting hall and said, "there''s a square outside. We''ve parked our trucks in the square in front of the station."


    "So many trucks are parked there, they won''t be found by German reconnaissance planes, will they lead to bombing?" Listen to her say so, I can''t help but ask a worried.


    After listening to what I said, she burst into laughter and then explained to me, "Comrade teacher, your worries are superfluous. You know, we are now disguised as the German army, and the flag of the German army is flying above the station. Do you say that the German planes will bomb their own people? "


    Listening to her talking about flags, I looked around. No, the flags in the station were all German flags. Even our headquarters had a German flag on the roof.


    When we got to the gate of the headquarters, the sentry standing at the gate quickly raised his hand to salute us. Oleg pushed open the door, did not go in immediately, but made a gesture to me at the door, meaning to ask me to go in first.


    The furnishings of the room are very simple. In the middle of the room, there is a table with a map. There are several chairs around the table. In the corner near the door, there is a small table with a telephone on it. The male operator sits next to it. When he sees a commander coming in, he stands up quickly. He even has no time to take off his headphones, so he raises his hand to salute us.


    "Comrade telegraph operator, there is no business for you here for the time being. Go out first." Oleg saw that as soon as he entered the room, he gave the order directly to the operator, who was obviously under his command.


    Without saying a word, the operator turned to leave after saluting and closed the door when he went out.


    When there were only three of us left in the room, I went to the map table and sat down. Then I asked them to sit down as well. Then I asked, "commander Oleg, political commissar veroll, I want to ask you, before I come, who is in charge of the station?"


    Unified command, two people listened to my words, looked at each other, and then shook their heads together. Veroll replied, "Comrade division commander, our two forces are not merged, but each is responsible for one area. Now my battalion is on the north side of the station, and commander Oleg''s battalion is on the south side. "


    After listening to veroll''s words, I felt very lucky. Fortunately, I came here. Otherwise, the two troops in the same station would not form a unified command. Although there would not be a situation of dying in battle, it would be very easy for the German army to defeat each other if they fought separately.


    I was looking at the ceiling, tapping my fingers on the table, thinking about how to combine the two forces. Seeing that I was thinking, Oleg and verol were afraid of interrupting my thoughts, so they sat beside me silently, watching me quietly, waiting for me to give new instructions.


    After a while, after the merger had taken shape in my mind, I said, "major Oleg, commissar verol."


    They quickly got up from their seats and promised loudly, "here we are!"


    Seeing that both of them stood up, I was embarrassed to continue to sit, so I stood up and announced to them, "I now formally inform you that the two battalions will be merged to form the fifth regiment of the independent division. The head of the regiment will be Lieutenant Colonel Oleg, and the political commissar will be Comrade verol."


    When they heard what I said, their faces were full of joy.


    I went on to say, "it''s up to you two to negotiate on how to deploy and adjust the following troops. I''ll just ask."


    As soon as my voice fell, Oleg immediately expressed his determination to me: "please rest assured, sir. Later, political commissar verol and I will adjust the defense in the station and prepare to stick to it for a long time."


    When he finished, I added: "remember, our troops are limited and we are short of heavy weapons. If we want to compete with the German army, let alone have only two battalions, we can''t even fill in the whole independent division, so we should learn to know more about our brains and fight skillfully."


    "Sir, I don''t know how to fight such a skillful battle?" Although verol gave me the impression that she was a very independent woman, she had to ask for instructions in front of my commander who was higher than her.


    When she asked, she really asked me. Although I had many ideas, I had to explain them to her, but I didn''t know where to start. After pondering for a moment, I said slowly: "in fact, as you are now disguised as Germans, hiding behind the German army, you can surprise the Germans from time to time."


    "Sir, can you be more specific?" Oleg did not know when he took out his pen and notebook from his briefcase to record what I said.


    Instead of answering Oleg''s question, I turned the subject around and asked curiously, "what did you do with the German soldiers escorting the ammunition trains?"


    Oleg was obviously used to my jumping thinking. He shrugged his shoulders and replied, "what else can I do? When the train came into the station, we said that all the German soldiers in the car were driven to the semi destroyed station waiting hall to ensure the safety of the train, and the soldiers solved them with bayonets, shovel and axe. As for the corpses, we all crammed into the train with half of the goods unloaded, and we also crammed in the German corpses that we had killed when we occupied the station. In this way, even if the German personnel sent someone to inspect the destroyed ammunition train, we could not find the fact that half of the ammunition on the train had been unloaded by us. "


    I turned to look at veroll and asked suspiciously, "political commissar veroll, how about captain Grimes? Did he really surrender to our army?"


    Verol nodded his head hard and said with certainty: "Sir, please rest assured. According to my observation of him, I can confirm that he is really sincere to us. After we occupied the station, the superior commander of the German army called many times. Except for the first time when we put a pistol on his forehead and asked him to reply to his superior according to our wishes, the rest of the time, he took the initiative to reply to his superior according to our orders. It can be said that although we have occupied the station for more than ten hours, we are still found by other German troops. Captain gramus has made great contribution to it. "


    Since veroll said so, and it is the time to employ people, I can only employ people without doubt. I nodded and said to verol, "since he''s sincere, I''d like to give him a temporary position so that he can play his part as much as possible. At the same time, I would like to remind you two that the successful attack on the station was due to the disruption of the organizational structure of the German troops and the confusion of communication between them. So that the camp attacked by commander Oleg couldn''t give an alarm to the nearby friendly forces in time, so we picked up a cheap one and easily occupied the relaxed abganerovo station. "


    After listening to me, verol quickly stood up and expressed his determination to me: "Sir, please rest assured that I will immediately adjust the defense deployment and strengthen the defense forces in important areas. Even if the German army wants to capture here, I will make them pay a heavy price. "


    "The political commissar is right. As long as we stick here, we will surely let the Germans learn a lesson." Oleg also stood up and echoed, and then he tentatively asked, "do we want to adjust the deployment and allow us to leave?"


    I nodded, waved to them, and said, "go ahead, adjust the defense deployment of the station as soon as possible, and prepare for all battles at the same time." When they were about to leave, I said at the back, "when you go out, call my operator Shula in by the way."


    Soon after they went out, Shura came in with two soldiers carrying a telephone case. As soon as she came in, I quickly told her, "Shula, put up the radio. I want to contact the headquarters of the group army."


    He said that he wanted to contact the headquarters of the group army. In fact, I wanted to ask when trakov would take up his post in the 62nd group army. I also wanted to make preparations for troop mobilization in advance.


    Not to my surprise, trikov was in the headquarters. I didn''t care to ask him whether he came to hand over the work or discuss the defense deployment with general shumilov, so I said to him frankly, "Hello, comrade commander, I am at the station of abganerovo. This morning, my night attack troops successfully occupied the station after destroying the enemy''s garrison."


    I didn''t expect that after listening to this, trikov was surprised: "what, your division occupied the station of abganerovo? When did this happen? Why don''t I know?"


    As for his question, I had to explain: "the station of abganerovo was occupied in the early morning of this morning. After confirming the capture of the station, I reported it to commander shumilov and chief of staff Raskin."


    After a moment''s silence, trikov asked in a blunt voice, "well, what kind of order did commander shumilov give you when he learned of the result?"


    I hastened to reply, "the commander ordered me to guard the station at all costs and never let the Germans occupy it again easily."


    "Nonsense, it''s nonsense!" "The sneak attacks on the German army are all about fighting and leaving. It''s good for you to stay and camp behind the Germans," he said angrily. If the German army finds that the station is lost, their heavy troops will immediately press on the station. Can you hold the station with your troops in the future? "


    After listening to what trakov said, I said in my heart, of course, I can''t keep it. I was just going to fight a war and run away with a little bit of cheap money. Who knew that the superior would suddenly give me a task of holding the station. Isn''t it obvious that my troops would die? But these complaints can only be expressed in the heart. On the surface, they have to be puffed up and said something beautiful: "please rest assured, as long as we have one more person, we will never give the station to the German."


    "Come on, no matter how brave your soldiers are, they are only flesh and blood. Under the German artillery bombardment and aircraft bombardment, your troops will soon be wiped out by the powerful German firepower." Trekov said excitedly, "no, I have to talk to shumilov about this and ask him to take back this unrealistic order."


    While waiting for trekov''s call, I walked back and forth in the room with my hands behind my back, especially hesitating. For me, there are advantages and disadvantages in sticking to this station. If our occupation of the station is exposed, then the German army will rush around and wipe us out; If our camouflage is effective and not found by the German army, we can not only attack the surrounding German camp, but also destroy the German transportation by railway.


    However, trekov''s call did not come, but Zhukov''s call came first. Hearing my voice, Zhukov could not wait to ask, "Rita, I heard that your troops have captured the station of abganerovo. Is that true?"


    "It''s true." After listening to Zhukov''s question, I couldn''t help clapping. When my heart was finished, Zhukov himself asked about it. It seems that I can''t withdraw.


    "I''m calling you," Zhukov said, "to inform you that, after my discussion with the commanders of the headquarters of the front army, no matter what the situation, we must never give up the station of abganerovo. Do you understand? In any case, it is absolutely not allowed to be abandoned without the written order of me or the headquarters of the front army. " With these words, he may be afraid that I can not understand his intention, and specially explained that "the abganerovo station is an important transportation hub, not only through the railway, but also by the state highway leading to Stalingrad. If you stick here, you will be holding the throat of the 4th group army of hottank. In order to ensure the safety of the rear, they will have to deploy part of their forces to protect the long traffic line, so as to reduce the pressure on the front defense of the 64th and 57th groups. Do you understand what I say? "


    "Yes, comrade general, I fully understand what you mean." Although I said that, I scolded in my heart. It''s over. I really left us here as cannon fodder. After thinking about it for a moment, I went on to say, "you know, it''s impossible to hold the station firmly only by the two battalions I have now. In order to stay at the station longer, I urgently need reinforcements to strengthen them, and it''s urgent. "


    My words silenced Zhukov. After a long time, he said slowly, "Rita, I know that in the present situation, your troops need to be strengthened. But under the present circumstances, it is also very difficult for us. It is almost impossible for us to send reinforcements to you. "


    After listening to Zhukov''s words, my heart suddenly sank. Isn''t it a typical case that horses have to run and don''t eat grass. Two battalions of less than 800 people, if they really fight hard with the German army, it is estimated that they will all be wiped out in half a day. I hesitated for a moment, and hesitated to say, "Comrade General, there is no doubt that every soldier will resolutely carry out the orders of his superior and fight to the last moment of his life. At the same time, I also think it''s my duty to report to you that if the army and the German army fight hard, our troops will be completely destroyed in less than half a day in the fierce artillery and bombing of the German army. So... "


    "Rita, that''s the order I discussed with the front command," Zhukov interrupted impatiently. "And I personally think it''s right. Holt''s troops are approaching Stalingrad step by step from the south. As long as they can hold back the German attack and gain precious time for our defense, I think it is worth the sacrifice. " Zhukov''s words have already said this, and I can''t oppose it any more, so I have to bear my head and promise: "yes, senior general, in order to protect the station of abganerovo and the assembly of counter attack forces, my troops and I will fight to the last moment of our lives. I assure you that as long as there is a soldier alive in the station, we will never let the Germans occupy our position. " After listening to my words of determination, Zhukov sighed helplessly and said cautiously, "well, you and your troops will stick to the station for five days. Today is August 30, that is, before September 4, to ensure that the German army will not recapture the abganerovo station. Rita, is there a problem? " After listening to this, I thought that if the camouflaged troops were not exposed, it would be no problem to stick to the station for five days, so I answered very simply: "senior general, I promise to complete the task you assigned." Zhukov continued: "if, I say if. In the event of the worst, I will allow you and the main commanders to break through in disguise and report to me at the headquarters of the front army in Stalingrad. " When I heard Zhukov say this, I suddenly felt warm in my heart. It seems that in Zhukov''s mind, my subordinate still has a certain weight, otherwise he would not risk being punished by Stalin and give me such an order without permission. When Stalin issued Order No. 227, he specially emphasized that all commanders who privately allowed troops to withdraw, whether they were division commanders, army commanders, group commanders or even commanders with higher ranks, should be sent to the military court for trial. Thinking of this, I said to Zhukov: "report to general, because the commander of the German garrison station surrendered to our army, so far, the German army has not found that our army has captured the station. The officers and men in the station, now disguised as German troops, can play the role of deceiving the German army for a long time. I plan to take this station as a stronghold. After dark, I will attack everywhere to harass the German camp so that they can''t sleep well. In this way, I can also interrupt the German deployment. " After hearing this, Zhukov said, "that''s a good idea. Anyway, I''ll give you the autonomy. It''s your business to fight. Anyway, as long as I stick to it for five days, I''ll make a great contribution to you. "

 Chapter 584

    Soon after the call with Zhukov, there was a knock at the door. I called out, "come in!"


    As soon as I spoke, verol and mihayev came in through the door, followed by the defecting captain Grimes.


    When the three of them raised their hands to salute me after entering the door, I paid special attention to the saluting method of Grimes, for fear that he would give me that infamous military salute. However, it turns out that my worry is unnecessary. Like verol and others, gramus salutes with his right five fingers together and naturally straightened, his middle finger slightly connected to the front of the right corner of the hat brim about 2 cm, his palm downward and slightly outward, and he looks at me at the same time.


    After the salute, verol said in a hurry, "report, sir, we''re in big trouble."


    "What''s the matter?" When I heard her say that, I couldn''t help saying that our disguise would not be seen through by the Germans so soon?


    "It''s a complicated matter to talk about, so it''s up to captain Grimes to report it to you," verol said With that, she turned and said something in German to gramus behind her.


    Grimes nodded, took a step forward and reported to me. Mikhail, who was next to him, translated for me in time: "Sir, I''m sorry to tell you that I received a call from Mr. commander just now. He said by telephone that in order to ensure the safety and smooth flow of the traffic line, three eastern battalions will be deployed along the railway line, one camp every 10 kilometers. Judging from the latest arrangement of the higher authorities, there will be a battalion in the north and south directions of our station. The camp nearest to us is three kilometers south of the station


    "Dongfangying?" I can''t help frowning at the word.


    Seeing my expression, gramus obviously misunderstood me. He thought that I didn''t know what the eastern battalion was and took the initiative to explain to me: "the troops recruited by Germany in the eastern line are collectively referred to as" Oriental soldiers ", including the soldiers who volunteered to join the German army from all over Eastern Europe. They were dressed in German uniforms and were responsible for guarding the German traffic lines, When fighting with enemy guerrillas in the German rear, sometimes they are even responsible for defending some unimportant position nodes in the front line. These soldiers are usually organized by battalions and rarely larger than this scale. Their existence greatly increases the combat effectiveness of the German army and the ability of anti guerrilla operations. "


    "Are there any Soviet prisoners in the East camp?" When I heard this, I couldn''t help interrupting.


    "Yes." "In the early days of the war, our army captured a large number of Soviet officers and soldiers," Captain Grimes replied positively. At first, there was no consideration of incorporating these prisoners into the German army. However, in the winter of 1941, our army''s defeat in Moscow indicated the collapse of Blitzkrieg and the change of the Empire''s Oriental policy. In January 1942, the German national defense forces began to plan to recruit volunteers from the ethnic minorities of the Soviet Union to form the "Oriental army.". Soon after Hitler''s permission, a large number of Eastern troops were formed, including 11 battalions of Armenian army, 14 battalions of Azerbaijani army, 14 battalions of Georgia army, 5 battalions of Caucasian Army (composed of Azerbaijanis and Chechens) There are 34 battalions of "Turkestan Legion" and 8 battalions of "Volga Tatar Legion". As far as I know, on August 12 this year, the southern army group captured Elista, the capital of the karmec autonomous republic. After the German officers made a lot of propaganda and agitation in the karmec Mongolian community, 3000 karmec Mongols took the initiative to join the German army and become one of the members of the new Oriental battalion. "


    Listening to what gramus said, I just nodded slightly and said to him with a flat expression, "go on."


    "But the German commander-in-chief was not at ease with these" Oriental legions "and worried that they would be fighting with the Russians..."


    "Huh?" I couldn''t help snorting when I heard gramus accidentally use the insulting term "Russian.".


    Hearing my groan, gramus immediately woke up and knew that he was in a different camp and that some words could not be used casually. His face flushed and he quickly corrected: "no, it''s not the Russians, it should be the Soviet army. The German commander in chief was afraid that the eastern battalion would fight against the Soviet army, so in addition to dispersing them as battalions into the various German forces, he also set up a "Eastern soldier monitoring group" composed of Party Guard officers and soldiers in the battalion


    When I heard that there was a small SS unit in the eastern battalion, I asked with great interest, "Captain Grimes, what''s the composition of the" Eastern soldiers monitoring group "you mentioned?"


    "Usually, the leader of the monitoring team is a SS commando team leader, and his rank is SS first sergeant," Grimes said. The Deputy group leader is two or three SS first class team leaders, all of whom are SS second class sergeants. The remaining five or six members are usually first-class or second-class members of the SS. "


    "Is there a lot of communication equipment in Dongfang camp?" In my impression, the combat effectiveness of the east battalion is far weaker than that of the German army. If they have more communication equipment, I can consider eliminating them to enrich my communication company.


    To his surprise, gramus shook his head and said, "in order to prevent the East camp''s radio station from being seized and leaking secrets, they are not equipped with any communication equipment. Even if the higher authorities have any orders to give, they will send them to the commander of the battalion or the leader of the monitoring group in the form of written orders through the signalmen. "


    After listening to gramus'' introduction, I turned to look at verol and asked, "Comrade political commissar, I don''t know what you mean by big trouble."


    When verol heard me ask, she was surprised and said, "don''t you think our station is sandwiched between two eastern battalions, and our movement at night will be restricted?"


    After listening to her, I shrugged my shoulders and said easily, "it''s just two eastern camps. It''s nothing. Just get rid of them."


    My words startled verol, and she reminded me excitedly: "Sir, comrade, I didn''t hear you wrong, did you say that you want to solve these two eastern battalions?"


    "Yes, you didn''t hear me wrong. I mean to get rid of them all." I nodded and answered positively.


    "But how to solve it? You know, the two eastern camps and the adjacent German camps are only two or three kilometers apart. It''s not like our station. There are several hillsides around it, and there are grasslands or open fields everywhere. Once there is a battle, even if there is no communication equipment to contact, those German people who are disturbed will come in swarms, and then our offensive forces will be caught in front and back. "


    After listening to Mikhail''s translation, gramus, who was standing nearby, echoed: "yes, sir, once there is a battle in the camp of Dongfang camp, the nearby garrison will arrive for reinforcement in the shortest time." At this point, he shrugged his shoulders and said with regret, "I''m sorry, I don''t think your plan will work."


    Seeing that both of them are so worried, I put down my heart. Since even my own people don''t believe that I can easily solve the two East camps, the Germans are even more surprised. In this way, I have more confidence in the implementation of this plan.


    I leaned back on the back of my chair, crossed my fingers on my chest, and said with a smile to the three people in front of me, "when did I say that I want us to attack Dongfang camp?"


    Verol was confused by what I said. She stared at me for a long time before she hesitated and said, "Sir, didn''t you just say that you want to solve the Dongfang camp?"


    I nodded, sat up straight again, waved to a few people and said, "you all come here and see the distribution of the German army and the eastern battalion." When all three of them were around the table, I looked up and said to gramus, "Mr. captain, it''s up to you to tell us about the distribution of the camp." With that, I pushed the German map on the table to him.


    Without being polite to me, Grimes pointed to the map on the desk and said, "our camps are distributed according to the standard of five kilometers apart, that is to say, there are our army camps five kilometers away from the north and south of the station. The reason why your action to seize the station was not exposed, I think it was related to the surrounding hills. Because of their shelter, when you attacked the camp in the north, I only heard a very weak gunshot, and I didn''t receive the warning from the friendly forces, so I didn''t strengthen the guard of the station. When you are seizing the station, the friendly forces a few kilometers away also can''t hear much news. So when the superior commander calls to inquire, I just need to say that they are harassed by the guerrillas, so I can cover up the matter. But there was no hill between the camp and the camp, and the distance was not too far. I don''t think it is possible for us not to disturb the troops in other camps when we destroy the East camp. "


    After Grimes finished, verol nodded in affirmation. Seeing that I was still staring at the map on my desk, she couldn''t help but kindly remind me: "Sir, I think captain Grimes is right. The German army and the East camp are too close to each other. Ten minutes at most, their reinforcements will arrive, And we can''t solve the battle in such a short time. "


    Instead of picking up veroll, I continued to ask Grimes, "Mr. captain, is the eastern battalion to the north where the train was blown up in the early morning?"


    "Yes, sir." Grimes replied positively¡° Our eastern battalion to the south is the Azerbaijani battalion, and to the north is the Georgian battalion. "


    Then I turned to veroll and said, "commissar veroll, now I''d like to introduce to you my battle plan. At eleven o''clock, you send a small troop to take a motorcycle, carry machine guns and mortars, and go to the south side of the German camp. They use mortars to bombard the enemy''s camp and use machine guns to strafe


    "What shall we do if we bring out the Germans?" As verol said this, he took a wary look at captain Grimes beside him.


    I saw her face, and I knew that she was still worried about the defecting captain, for fear that the other party would leak the secret when they heard our army''s plan. I just smile and reply, "the reason I asked you to do this is to draw the German out of the camp. Lead them to the Azerbaijani camp and try to make them fight against each other. "


    "What if they don''t?" Asked verol uneasily.


    "If they don''t fight, we''ll help him. As soon as the German army and the Azerbaijani battalion got caught in fire, we sent two companies to attack the Azerbaijani battalion from the station. At this time, "I said, turning to gramus again," Captain gramus needs to call his former superior and report to the other party that the Azerbaijani battalion is mutiny, attacking the station and asking for friendly support. "


    Before I finished, verol''s face was smiling. It was obvious that she understood my intention. Sure enough, she added: "Sir, I think I understand what you mean. Once the fight broke out, the Azerbaijani battalion without communication equipment could not contact the German army, and the flag language could not be used in the dark. Therefore, even if they knew it was a misunderstanding, they had to fight hard in order not to be eliminated. Comrade teacher, am I right? "


    "Exactly. That''s what I imagined."


    "What about the Georgia battalion to the north?"


    "You don''t have to worry about that. I''ll ask lieutenant colonel chejerikov to send troops to solve it."


    After sending away verol, mihayev, and gramus, I got Shula to contact shejerikov. The commander may have been waiting for my news. When he heard my voice, he asked excitedly: "thank God, sir, you have finally contacted me. How are you doing now? Are you safely at the aberganerovo station, where you have joined the forces of major Oleg? "


    I waited for him to finish, and then I said without hesitation, "Lieutenant Commander shijerikov, thank you for your concern. Although we had a little trouble on the way, we got to the station of abganerovo and joined the troops of Oleg and verol. By the way, I''ll tell you again that the troops of Oleg and veroll merged to form the fifth regiment. The leader of the regiment was lieutenant colonel Oleg, and the political commissar was the political instructor of veroll. Did the German attack our division''s defence today? "


    Shejerikov quickly replied, "no, sir. However, the German army is launching a fierce offensive against the defense areas of the 57th group army, the 70th division of the guards on the right wing of our division and the 157 division of the infantry. "


    Listening to what he said, I said with deep feeling: "well, it seems that our night attack operation disrupted the combat deployment of the German army to ensure the safety of our division''s defense area for the time being."


    "So, am I sending troops from the main position tonight, or are you sending troops from the station of abganerovo to attack the German camp again?" Shejerikov''s reaction was very quick. He immediately understood that I was talking to him and that it had something to do with the night attack. So before I spoke, he had asked first.


    "That''s right, Lieutenant sergeant chejerikov. You''re quite quick to understand my intentions now." I couldn''t help laughing and praising him, and then said, "now I''ll assign you a combat mission. Please remember."


    There was a small sound coming from the earphone. It was estimated that chejerikov was looking for a pen and paper. Soon I heard him say, "Sir, I''m ready. Please tell me."


    "The German army will send three eastern battalions along the railway this afternoon to ensure smooth railway traffic. One of the Azerbaijani battalions was stationed three kilometers south of the station; The other Georgian battalion was stationed near the train that had been destroyed by gunfire in the early morning. In the vicinity of these two battalions, there are large German troops stationed. "


    "Do you mean to let us attack this camp in Georgia? Then, how many troops should we send to take part in the night attack? Do we need the artillery battalion of yegonovych to provide firepower support and the tank unit of captain pelsky to cover the charge of the troops? " Shejerikov had a good taste in attacking the 29th German motorized infantry division last time. He thought I would have a big fight like last time, so he asked us whether we would use artillery and tanks.


    "Sergeant chejerikov," I was afraid that he would go on and maybe suggest that I ask the group army or the friendly army to provide artillery support and so on, so I quickly interrupted his words behind him and said in an emphatic tone, "tonight''s operation, we don''t need the tanks of peresjian or the artillery battalion of yegonovych, I just need you to send two classes of soldiers."


    I was so surprised that xiejerikov stuttered: "what... What, only... Only... Two... Two classes? Is that all right? "


    "There''s nothing wrong with it, comrade xijerikov." I said confidently, "you are just harassing the German army. What do you want so many people to do?"


    Xiejerikov was silent for a long time before he tentatively asked: "Sir, can I ask how to fight tonight?"


    I thought for a moment, and then said to him, "you ask captain Morozov to take two classes of soldiers on motorcycles, carry mortars, and go in two directions to bombard the German army and the Georgia camp. When the enemy rushed out of the camp, the soldiers who shelled the German camp retreated to the Georgia camp; The artillery bombarding the Georgian battalion retreated in the direction of the German camp. Lead the two enemies to one place and let them fight by themselves. "


    After listening to my plan, after a short silence, shijerikov suggested to me: "Comrade teacher, I think the number of two classes is too small, and it should be doubled."


    "Why?" His formulation makes me very curious. Doesn''t he know that the less the number of people, the better¡° I''m going to let the two new classes lay mines on the roads outside the two camps. In this way, when the enemy rushes out from the camp, the mine can slow down the enemy''s speed, so that our soldiers have more time to retreat calmly. What do you think? "¡° Good. I''ll do as you say. " Shejerikov thought more thoughtfully than I did. If several armored vehicles were rushed out of the German camp, the soldiers on the motorcycles would not have the slightest fight back. If the enemy sets foot on the mine, the speed of pursuit will slow down, and our soldiers will have time to retreat calmly¡° Sir, my last question is, "what time does the battle start tonight?"¡° Eleven in the evening. " I was afraid that he would ask for more instructions at that time. I specially reminded him: "I will give you full command to solve the battle of the Georgian battalion. You don''t have to ask for instructions at that time, just carry out the order directly." If it wasn''t for the fact that the Georgian battalion was too far away from the station, they would have suffered the same fate as the Azerbaijani battalion. But they don''t want to have a good night''s sleep. Let them have a good fight with the German. I really want to know whether the Germans have the upper hand or whether the Georgian battalion has a better chance of winning in a field battle of the same strength. As soon as I had finished the assignment over there, trekov called. Hearing my voice, he said apologetically, "Comrade oshanina, I''m very sorry. Although I tried my best to persuade general shumilov and general yelimenko, the opinions of the group army and the front army were unexpectedly unified. They all asked you to hold on for at least five days at the abganerovo station and firmly hold the pace of the fourth group army of Gothic tanks marching northward." Instead of answering his question, I asked, "Comrade commander, the day after tomorrow will be September 1. When do you plan to take office in the 62nd army?" Trekov hesitated for a moment and replied, "judging from the current situation, my appointment may be delayed. But you can rest assured that even if you want to take office, you will have to wait for you and your troops to withdraw from behind the enemy. " It''s obvious that trakov''s words are not casual, but sincere, so I repeatedly thank him: "thank you, comrade commander. You can rest assured that I will return to our square array safely after completing the task. I also want to follow you to the 62nd army to fight the Germans and build immortal meritorious deeds with you. " My careless flattery made trikov laugh. After the laughter stopped, he added, "o''shanina, I know you are in a very dangerous situation in the German rear. If you see that the situation is not good, don''t fight any more. I''ll allow you to leave the army and break through in disguise. " When I heard him say the same words as Zhukov, I felt warm in my heart. I quickly replied, "please rest assured, comrade commander. I just stay here for five days. I am confident to complete the task. Please don''t worry about my comfort."¡° Well, if you say so. " Trekov pauses, then goes on to say the usual adage, "I wish you good luck!"

 Chapter 585

    Ten hours before dark, I sat at my desk, staring at the German map in front of me, thinking about my battle plan today, to see if there were any mistakes.


    The door was quietly pushed open, and verol appeared at the door. She asked tentatively, "Comrade teacher, may I come in?"


    Anyway, half of her body had already come in. I couldn''t let her go out any more, so I said frankly, "verol, since you''re here, don''t stand at the door. Come in!"


    After verol came in, he sat across from me, turned to see the telegrapher Shula sitting in the corner, then turned back and said to me in a low voice, "Sir, I have something important to talk to you. Do you want to let the telegrapher go out first?"


    I saw her serious expression, and at the same time, she called me directly by rank rather than by nickname. I knew that she must have something important to say to me, so I leaned over to Shula and said, "Comrade Shula, I have something important to talk about with political commissar veroll. You go out first."


    As soon as Shura left, I said, "well, comrade veroll, there are only the two of us left. Let''s just say what we have to say."


    "Comrade division," verol said to me solemnly, "when you just assigned the task, you didn''t let captain gramus evade. Aren''t you afraid of his divulging the secret?"


    It turned out that her so-called important thing was to worry that gramus would quietly tell the German what he knew. After listening to this, I laughed and comforted her and said, "political commissar verol, you are too worried. Since captain gramus has surrendered to us, I believe he can be trusted."


    Although I said that, verol still said uneasily: "however, he only surrendered to us when he was desperate. Our trust in him should be limited. "


    Seeing verol''s skeptical attitude towards captain Grimes, I patiently said to her, "but under what circumstances did captain Grimes surrender to us, but judging from his decision and last night''s performance, he has chosen the right path. I believe that in the next battle, he will continue to cooperate with us, so we should give him enough trust to make him feel that his decision is right, so that he can be willing to do anything for us


    "But," verol thought, and after a long silence, he asked hesitantly, "if you let the Germans beat the Germans, won''t captain Grimes have a knot in his heart?"


    I waved my hand and said confidently, "absolutely not. You have to let him understand that what he is doing now is not that the Germans are fighting against the Germans, but that the Germans are fighting with the * * represented by Hitler for a new Germany."


    With the change of verol''s face, I knew that she was obviously convinced by me. Originally, she wanted to say a few more words. Suddenly, she thought that she hadn''t seen Oleg for a long time, and even didn''t see his shadow at the just battle meeting. So she asked verol, "verol, where''s Colonel Oleg?"


    Verol didn''t expect that my mind was jumping so much. Just now, he was still talking about gramus. In a twinkling of an eye, he asked Oleg again. She was stunned for a moment and then replied, "the regimental commander has gone to the south of the station with a company of soldiers."


    "What is he doing there?"


    "I''ve told him the plan for tonight''s battle. He said to take a company of soldiers and fill those deep ditches with a way for motorcycles to pass."


    "Well, lieutenant commander Oleg is very thoughtful. He has even figured out the attack route of the troops."


    "Rita, I still have no idea about the battle plan tonight. You said that the enemy would be so stupid to jump into the trap we dug with open eyes?"


    Originally, I was very confident in my plan, but I didn''t expect to hear veroll say so, and I became bottomless. But in front of my own ministry, I couldn''t lose my temper. So I coughed, cleared my throat, and said with an air of indifference, "political commissar verol, don''t worry. I''ll know whether I can succeed or not after dark. Even if the plan fails, we can continue to harass the enemy here as long as we don''t expose ourselves. " With that, a little sleepy, I couldn''t help yawning.


    "Since you say that, Rita, I''m confident." Verol said, seeing my drowsy appearance, he said: "by the way, you seem to have been up all night. There''s nothing wrong now. You can have a rest first. I''ll call you when you have something to do."


    Sending verol away, I pushed open the door of the next lounge and went straight in, lying in bed with my clothes. I didn''t sleep well for several days. As soon as I lay down in bed, I felt sleepy, and soon fell asleep.


    When I woke up, I looked out of the window pasted with adhesive tape and saw that it was getting dark. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was almost seven o''clock. I didn''t expect that I had a long sleep. I slept seven or eight hours unconsciously. I was afraid that there was something urgent waiting for me outside, so I quickly opened the door and went out.


    At this time, in addition to Shula, the operator, Oleg, verol, mihayev and gramus were all in the outer room. I can''t help but feel a little embarrassed to see that so many people are waiting for me outside, but I''m sleeping in the room. It''s more or less indescribable. As soon as I got to my seat, I looked up and asked, "is anything going on?"


    On hearing my question, Oleg answered first, "Comrade division commander, Captain Grimes has something to report."


    I turned my head to gramus and asked with a smile, "Mr. captain, tell me what you want to report."


    Grimes quickly stepped forward and answered in a loud voice, "report, sir. An hour ago, I received a call from my superior saying that there will be a troop train passing by the station of abganerovo around 11 o''clock this evening. Let me make necessary preparations."


    "How many troops are there on the train?" Hearing the news, I could not help frowning. I did not expect that the German army had begun to transport soldiers by railway.


    "According to information from the superior, there are two infantry battalions on the train."


    "Sir, what should we do?" Verol asked tentatively, "fight them or let them pass?"


    Seeing that after verol finished, Oleg also had signs of wanting to speak, I quickly raised my hand to stop him and said, "don''t worry, let me think about it."


    If we don''t fight, once these two infantry battalions are added to the front, the German army will add a new force. But if we fight, we will be completely exposed. Once the German forces from all sides come over, we will be completely destroyed.


    After staring at the map in front of me for a while, without looking up, I asked Grimes, "Captain, has the Azerbaijani battalion entered their new camp?"


    "Yes, sir. When the Azerbaijani battalion entered the camp at about two o''clock this afternoon, I specially took people to have a look. Their residence is only 800 meters away from the railway line. "


    When I heard gramus say that he had been to the Azerbaijani camp, I couldn''t help looking up at him and scolding Oleg and verol in my heart. You are too brave to let gramus go to the enemy camp alone, and you are not afraid that he will betray us?


    Before I got angry, Oleg had explained to me in a low voice, "Captain Grimes didn''t go alone. I arranged for Mikhail and two soldiers to accompany him."


    Listening to Oleg''s words, I felt a lot more at ease. As long as gramus was not the only one who went to the enemy''s camp, there would be no danger that he would collude with the enemy and dig traps for us.


    I saw that the railway line on the map was winding, and there seemed to be many curves, so I asked gramus, "Captain, from the map, there seems to be many curves on this railway line?"


    "Yes," said gramus positively, and then pointing to a position, he said to me, "Sir, please have a look. The railway has a sharp bend at this position in order to get around the hillside. "


    I looked carefully in the direction of his finger, but no, there was really a turning point, and it was not far from the Azerbaijani camp. At this point, I suddenly came up with a good idea.


    I stood up straight and said to several commanders on the scene, "comrades commanders, as for this troop carrying train, we must never allow it to reach the front. In that case, the German army will add a new force, which will break the hard won battlefield balance, so we must kill this train!"


    "How to fight?" Verol asked curiously, "is it still like this morning that the train was destroyed by gunfire? But I don''t think there is much chance of success. After all, the arms train is standing there waiting for our army''s shelling, while the troop transport train is constantly moving at high speed. "


    After listening to verol''s worry, I asked her with a smile: "who said to use artillery?"


    Used to my way of speaking veroll quickly asked: "then how to fight?"


    I pointed to the railway corner on the map and said to them, "I think so. After dark, send out the two companies attacking the Azerbaijani battalion in advance and ask them to remove all the spikes on the rail at the corner, so that the high-speed train will derail when it turns. When the train was off the rails, they immediately attacked from the hidden place, and destroyed the German surviving in the carriage with bullets and grenades, shovel and axe.


    After hearing this, Oleg was shocked and immediately reminded me: "Sir, please consider carefully. If Azerbaijanis can''t find such a big noise as the derailment, unless they are all blind and deaf. Their camp is only 800 meters away from the railway line, and it only takes a few minutes to get to the side of the railway. "


    "Lt. Col. Oleg is right. In order to increase the probability of success of tonight''s operation, I decided to advance the time of harassing the German camp to 10:30. In this way, when the German train derailed, it was almost the same time that our decoy troops led the German troops outside the Azerbaijani camp. At that time, Azerbaijanis were too busy to spare too many people to check what happened at the side of the railway. After solving the German army on the train, we turned around and attacked the Azerbaijani camp. At the same time, Captain gramus called his superiors again, saying that the Azerbaijani camp was rebelling and was attacking the abganerovo station and passing military trains, asking for reinforcements from the superiors. "


    After I finished my speech, I saw that several people were silent, and my heart became uneasy again. I secretly said that if anyone raised an objection, I would cancel the combat plan I just put forward. I didn''t expect that after a long time, the commander on the scene still didn''t speak. I couldn''t help getting upset. I used my fist to knock on the table several times to attract all the people''s attention. After that, I said impatiently, "what''s the plan like? You guys have to say something. Don''t keep saying nothing like this. It makes me feel uneasy."


    "Comrade division," said Mikhail yev, who has been working as a translator. He said slowly, "I have fought with you several times and won every time. So I think this operation will also win. "


    "Yes, comrade Mikhail yev is right," Oleg agreed in time. "I wanted to say that, but I didn''t expect that he took the lead."


    "You flatterer," verol said in an uncertain tone after cursing him softly, "Comrade division, although Comrade Oleg and Comrade mihayev agree with your plan, I still think it''s too risky. There are too many variables in this. For example, if the German train comes early and our small troops have not yet brought the German troops to fight each other when the train overturns, our army''s action will be a bit like falling into a trap; Another thing is that the train came late. When we heard the gunfire in the Azerbaijani camp, the train stopped in time and let the infantry on the train get off and search for the way to the camp. In that case, we also have no chance of success. "


    I have to say that verol''s analysis is very reasonable, which makes me speechless for a while. After a moment''s silence, I thought that since my order had been given, if I changed my orders day after day, it would affect my prestige in the independent division. So I held my heart and told him: "since the order has been given, I can''t change it. As for the success of the operation at night, we have to pray for God''s blessing. If he really stands on our side, I believe we will be very successful. "


    After the commanders were sent away, I immediately contacted Xie jerikov from the headquarters of the left behind division. As soon as I got on the phone, I asked in a hurry, "commander xijerikov, what''s the situation in the division''s defense area?"


    "Report, sir, at noon, about a battalion of German infantry, under the cover of fifteen tanks, charged towards the position of the first regiment. After more than an hour''s hard fighting, the soldiers destroyed three German tanks and injured five. Their infantry left nearly a hundred bodies in front of the position and retreated in ashes. "


    "Good fight, comrade shijerikov. But don''t be proud. You should continue to strengthen your defense and send scouts to scout the enemy. " After telling him about positional defense, I informed him in addition: "also, comrade commander, the attack time of the detachment tonight has changed, from 11:00 to 10:30."


    "What, half an hour in advance?" After hearing my notice, shijerikov asked with concern, "Comrade division, is there any accident?"


    "Yes, Colonel chejerikov." As for the unexpected situation, I didn''t hide it from him. Instead, I told him the truth, "the German army has a troop transport train, which will pass through the aberganerovo station at about 11 o''clock, which disrupts our original deployment, so we can only advance our operation time."


    "I see, sir." Shejerikov again expressed his determination to me and said, "please rest assured that the attack team is ready to fight. I assure you that I will be able to complete the task you have assigned me


    "Well done, well done, comrade xijerikov. Then I''ll wait for the news of your victory. "


    After nightfall, verol came to the headquarters to find me and said, "Comrade division, the attack team is ready. Will you go to meet them?"


    I nodded, waved to her and said, "come on, comrade political commissar, take me to meet these heroes who are going to fight."


    I followed her through the rubble filled waiting hall to the square in front of the station.


    Today''s moon is also good. Everything in the square is clear. In addition to Oleg, mihayev and grams, there are six motorcycles. In front of each motorcycle stand three soldiers in German uniforms. I stepped forward, saying nothing, but shaking hands with the soldiers one by one.


    After shaking hands, I went back to Oleg and several of them. My eyes swept over the faces of the 18 soldiers who were going to fight. The eighteen ordinary faces in front of them all seemed very calm, as if they were not going to carry out the dangerous task of luring the enemy, but just going out on patrol.


    I suddenly feel that my throat seems to be choked by something, so that I can''t speak.


    At this moment, Oleg whispered in my ear: "Comrade teacher, you should give them a few words, so that they can have more confidence."


    After I took a deep breath and stabilized myself, I said loudly to the soldiers, "comrades, I will be here waiting for you, waiting for you to come back triumphantly."


    Eighteen soldiers roared: "serve the Soviet motherland!"


    Oleg stepped forward two steps, passed me, waved at the soldiers, and ordered in a loud voice: "listen to me, all aboard, let''s go!"


    Looking at the motorcade leaving, Oleg turned to me and asked, "Comrade division commander, who will lead the troop going to the nearby troop train?"


    Instead of answering his question immediately, I turned to veroll and said, "political commissar veroll, I now declare that during my absence from the station, you are responsible for all the affairs in the station."


    As soon as my words came out, several people were surprised at the same time. Mikhail yev asked in advance: "Comrade division commander, do you want to lead the team to carry out this task in person?" Seeing that Oleg and verol also wanted to persuade me, I quickly raised my hand to stop them from going on and said, "don''t worry, I know I''m the head of a division and I won''t take any risks. There are too many uncertainties in tonight''s operation. I have to go to the front line in person to understand the progress of the battle in time and adjust my deployment according to the specific changes in the enemy''s situation. Tonight''s operation, commander Oleg and his two companies will carry out the task of destroying the railway. And me and mihayev and captain gramus, take a company to take care of you Oleg and some of them were full of anxiety, and gramus didn''t understand what we were saying because no one translated for him, so he just stood beside with a blank face and looked at us foolishly and kept talking. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. The clock had already pointed to nine, so I urged Oleg: "don''t dawdle, comrade commander. Go and gather the troops quickly. We still have a long way to go." When Oleg went to assemble the night attack troops, I said to gramus, "Captain, you will set out with me later to see how the German army and Azerbaijani battalion fought." As soon as I finished speaking, mihayev translated it into German in time. After listening to mikheiev''s translation, gramus realized that I was going to carry out the night attack mission with them. He could not help getting a little flustered. He said anxiously, "Sir, the front is too dangerous. You can''t go." After translating this sentence, Mikhail yev muttered in a low voice: "Sir, you see, even captain gramus is against your going to the night attack tonight. You''d better stay in the station to command the troops." I laughed at gramus and said, "don''t worry, captain. I''m just going to the battlefield. The troops you and I lead may not even have a chance to shoot tonight. By the way, take your communication equipment with you when you leave. Maybe it can be used later. " Grimes mumbled and turned to leave, because Mikhail had no interpreter, I don''t know what he said, but I can be sure that he didn''t want me to take part in the night attack, because the guns were not long sighted, maybe the soldiers charging in front were OK, but I, the division commander watching in the back, was killed by cold fire. Twenty minutes later, Oleg and three commanders walked into the headquarters, came to me and reported, "Comrade division, the first company, the second company and the third company have assembled. They can start at any time. I''m waiting for your order." I nodded with satisfaction and replied, "you start with company one and company two, and I''ll catch up with company three as soon as possible." After hearing my order, Oleg raised his hand to salute, and then left with two commanders, leaving the company commander of the third company at my disposal. Looking at the commander standing straight in front of me like a telegraph pole, my first reaction is that he is a commander with rich combat experience. I don''t know if his troops will achieve unexpected results when they fight tonight? I wanted to chat with him and ask for his name or something. Unexpectedly, mihayev came in and reported to me, "Comrade division, Captain gramus and I are ready to go at any time." With the appearance of Mikhail, I had to give up my plan to chat with the third company commander. So I waved my head to the third company commander and said, "come on, comrade company commander, it''s time for us to start."

 Chapter 586

    Soon after I left the station, I began to regret it. Although there is moonlight lighting, visibility is not bad, but march along the track, I was the first girl on the sedan chair, if not next to the two soldiers of the third company to take me away, I do not know how many falls.


    The night was as cold as water, but my sweat kept pouring out from under the helmet. Not only was my body soaked with sweat, but also my hands were sweating. If I hadn''t been afraid of shaking the morale of the army, I would have turned around and stayed in my headquarters to have a good sleep.


    I didn''t know how long I had been walking. Suddenly, a familiar voice came out beside me: "Sir, comrade, I can''t go any further. Further ahead is the hiding place for two companies in a row. Let''s hide on the hillside on the right side. "


    I didn''t have to look back, but I also knew that it was Mikhail who was talking. I quickly and desperately nodded and said, "OK, Lieutenant Mikhail, you go to inform the third company commander, order the troops to stop advancing, and hide on the right hillside."


    "Well, comrade division commander," the voice suddenly sounded on my left side startled me. Turning around, I found that the person who helped me on the left side was actually the third company commander. "I immediately gave the order to the troops to stop and hide on the hillside."


    When the third company commander went to the front to give an order, I broke away from the support of the soldiers on the right side and said, "well, soldier comrades, don''t help me any more. Thank you!" With that, I wiped the sweat on my face with my sleeves, wiped my hands on my military uniform, and walked quickly up the hillside.


    As soon as I got to the top of the hillside, the soldiers of the third company also ran up quickly, and quickly found their own positions to hide. Looking at mihayev and gramus standing beside me, I said to them, "you two, let''s not stand here foolishly. Let''s find a place to hide and observe the enemy situation by the way."


    "Sir, please follow me." "When I went up the slope, I found a wonderful hiding place. I''ll take you there," said Grimes politely


    Grimes took me and mihayev to a pit, made a gesture of invitation, and said, "Sir, this is where you can not only hide in the pit, but also observe the camp in the distance. It''s a good place."


    Without hesitation, I jumped into the pit first, then Mikhail and gramus jumped in. The pit is more than half a person deep. As Grimes said, you can see the Azerbaijani camp in the distance from the pit. Looking at the brightly lit camp in the distance, he turned the camera to the side of the railway. There were a lot of people busy beside the rail. It should be Oleg who led the troops to destroy the rail.


    Seeing this, I can''t help but secretly scold the Germans as a group of stupid pigs. They are clearly on the hillside beside the railway, but they just set up the camp on the open land without shelter. If they had camped on the mountain and had been under their surveillance for several kilometers, there would have been no way for them to carry out the destruction now. However, it is precisely because of the enemy''s stupidity and negligence that we have an opportunity to take advantage of.


    Looking at the camp in Azerbaijan, I murmured, "what a bunch of idiots."


    The voice was small, but gramus heard it. After he asked mihayev to translate, he explained to me, "Sir, maybe you are very surprised, why are the German army and the East camp stationed in the open field?"


    Hearing him say this aroused my curiosity, so I nodded desperately, and then urged him: "Captain disappeared, you tell me, why do they arrange their camp like this?"


    Grimes patiently introduced to me: "Hote''s tank army is a mechanized force. Only on the plain can they give full play to their advantages. If you camp in the open, even if you are attacked by the enemy, the mechanized troops in the camp can attack in time and defeat or destroy the enemy in the future. "


    After listening to gramus, I nodded my head as if I didn''t understand. This is the first time I''ve heard that.


    Because it was still early to launch the attack, I looked at it for a while, put down my telescope and chatted with mihayev who was lying beside me: "Comrade mihayev, what do you think after becoming an engineer company commander?"


    Mikhail yev said with a wry smile: "Sir, don''t you see it now? I''m your interpreter. I''ll follow you wherever you go. I don''t even know where the engineer is now. "


    Although he said these words in jest, I still recognized his emotion from his words, and quickly comforted him, saying: "Comrade lieutenant, don''t worry, the Division has added 6000 recruits a few days ago, and they are all from Gulag concentration camp, just like you. When you go back from this mission, you can personally select the right personnel to join your engineering company. "


    "That''s great." When Mikhail heard the news, he almost jumped up with excitement. He supported his glasses with his hand, and then said, "the people who came out of Gulag concentration camp may have no other skills, but the level of digging trenches and repairing fortifications is really unmatched by other friendly forces."


    When I raised my telescope again, I specially emphasized: "don''t worry, Lieutenant mikhayev. I''ll do it for you as soon as we get back to the defense area of the independent division."


    The Azerbaijani camp is still brightly lit, but I saw a strange scene where hundreds of soldiers gathered in the open space between the tents, sitting up and down, sitting up and down again. When I handed the telescope to mikheiev, I said strangely, "Comrade lieutenant, come and see what these Azerbaijanis are doing when they stay up so late."


    Mikhail yev took a look through the telescope and explained to me, "Sir, Azerbaijanis believe in communism. They have to worship five times a day, which are divided into morning ritual, noon ritual, breast ritual, faint ritual and night ritual. Now is the time for them to do night ritual."


    I took the telescope that mihayev had handed me back and said in a low voice, "now let them worship quietly. For many of them, this is the last worship in their lives."


    Mikhail EV and I stopped talking, but gramus, who had been silent all the time, began to speak. Instinctively, I turned to Mikhail next to me and waited for him to translate for me. Mikhail yev was not ambiguous, and immediately translated for me what gramus said just now: "Sir, I have a suggestion. Since you like to engage in sneak attack tactics, why not train some snipers in the army? With snipers, you can break them into small groups and go to the enemy''s camp in small groups to hunt sentinels or patrol freely. "


    Before he finished, I interrupted him impatiently and asked, "what are you talking about, Captain, sniper? I heard you right, sniper? "


    "Yes, sir, it''s a sniper." Fearing that I didn''t know what a sniper was, Grimes explained: "the word sniper comes from a game played by British soldiers stationed in India around 1773, where soldiers often hunt a quick bird called snipe. Because the bird is very hard to hit, people who are good at it are called snipers. Later, sniper became the official name of professional sniper. The snipers of real modern significance first appeared in the first World War. At that time, the German army selected soldiers to form snipers of free movement. Most of them had the background of hunters and forest rangers, and caused great damage to the British, French and Russian forces in the East and West. "


    Soviet snipers were famous in the battle of Stalingrad. Although I wanted to train a group of snipers for a long time, I didn''t have my own troops, so this desire didn''t appear. My understanding of snipers is limited. Now I listen to gramus, so I humbly ask him about snipers: "Mr. captain, what else do you know? Anyway, it''s still early. Please tell me."


    After hearing my question and nodding his head, Grimes talked on and on: "generally speaking, snipers can be divided into two types: one is a sniper with formal organization and complete formal sniping training, and the other is a shooter with accurate shooting skills selected temporarily in wartime. For a sniper, a strong body and iron will are the prerequisite, and good shooting is just the basic quality. For the training of snipers, in addition to implementing the concept of sniping and mastering the weapon system, they should also learn how to calculate the influence of wind difference and range, learn how to sneak forward, choose tactical mobile routes, build shooting positions, enter and withdraw positions covertly, observe and discover hidden targets, etc. Snipers should also be good at observing the war zone, determining the location of suspicious sounds, using artificial and natural materials for camouflage, being able to move quickly, and having the ability to endure long-term latency. In addition, the sniper also needs the ability to accurately interpret the map, which can often help the sniper quickly and safely enter and leave the position and battlefield. "


    Although Grimes surrendered to our army, he would be sent to the prison camp according to the usual practice. If he wants to stay, he must be assigned a suitable position in the division. Since he is so familiar with the sniper''s attempt, it is more appropriate to keep him as a sniper instructor. As soon as he finished, I immediately asked, "Captain, if I want to keep you in my army and be a sniper instructor, will you help us train a group of excellent snipers?" In order to show respect for him, I used honorifics in his address.


    After a long time, he murmured, "Sir, I think it''s better to be a company commander than an instructor."


    When I heard him say that, I can''t help sighing with regret. It''s a pity that such excellent talents can''t be used by me. What''s more regrettable is that maybe after we withdraw to the division''s defense area, he may be sent to the prison camp. I don''t know what kind of fate he is waiting for.


    Mikhail yev saw my disappointment and quickly whispered a few words to gramus. After hearing what he said, Grimes was stunned at that time, and then began to speak to Mikhail. After a few words, I saw that gramus became depressed, and then he spoke to me dejectedly.


    Mikhail yev translated in time: "Sir, I promise to stay in your division as a sniper instructor. I beg you, don''t send me to the prison camp. You know, I''m willing to surrender rather than being captured. There''s an essential difference between the two. "


    "No problem," I said to him carelessly, "please rest assured that as long as I stay in the independent division for one day, you will not be sent to the prison camp."


    After expressing his gratitude to me, Grimes put forward another question: "Sir, it''s easy to choose a sniper, but I see you don''t have a special sniper gun?"


    Listening to what he said, I also feel a headache. Under the current situation, if we want to get our much-needed sniper guns from the hands of our superior leaders, this is simply an impossible task. After thinking about it, I asked Grimes tentatively, "Captain, can you make a sniper gun out of an ordinary rifle?"


    Grimes thought for a moment and replied, "if it''s a close range target, it''s OK. But to hit a distant target, it is necessary to install a sight on the gun body. Do you have such professionals in your division? "


    He really dumb me when he asked. I don''t know if there are any professionals who are familiar with firearms in the division. I carefully thought about the people I knew. Apart from the old engineer who came from the future, none of them was very familiar with firearms. When I was about to shake my head, mihayev said to me in a low voice: "Comrade division, I met an engineer in an ordnance factory in Gulag concentration camp before. He is very familiar with guns. If he is asked to install the sight glass, there will be no problem."


    "Is this man in our division?" I asked curiously.


    Mihayev nodded hard and replied, "yes, this man is not only in our division, but also in the station now." Seeing my excited face, he continued: "in fact, you know this man, sir."


    "I know you, too? Who is it? " When I heard him say that, I thought to myself, you can''t be mistaken. I really don''t know any engineer in an arsenal other than the senior engineer in Moscow.


    "When you got to the station yesterday, I saw the man in the same car with you, and he gave you a hand when you got off."


    In my mind, I tried to reflect on who was in the compartment of the truck I was riding. After thinking for a long time, it seemed that there was only a soldier named Boris. Because I was impressed when I asked him to chop the birch as the guard of Gulag concentration camp, the rest of the people were not impressed at all. Thinking of this, I shook my head awkwardly and said, "Comrade lieutenant, I really don''t remember the soldiers in the same carriage with me. Except for a soldier named Boris, I have a little impression... "


    "Yes, that''s him, Boris." Without waiting for me to finish, mihayev exclaimed excitedly, "Comrade division, you finally remember that this is Boris. He used to be an engineer in the ordnance factory."


    "Then why was he sent to Gulag?" Since he is an important engineer, why he was caught in the concentration camp makes me feel very curious.


    "I asked him several times, but he never mentioned the reason why he was put in a concentration camp. Later, I heard a difficult friend say that he was sent to the concentration camp because a batch of weapons produced by him had some faults. Someone reported to the Ministry of internal affairs that he had done damage to the weapons because of the faults. "


    Hearing what happened to Boris, I can''t help sighing. It''s just too common in this era that I find it incredible in later generations.


    Mikhail yev suddenly changed the topic: "by the way, comrade division commander, when you got off the bus, I saw your guard battalion commander captain basmanov, but why didn''t he come out with you tonight?"


    "Captain busmanov has suffered a little injury and has not recovered yet, so I did not let him participate in the operation tonight." After that, I told mikheiev, "go to the third company commander and ask him to contact commander Oleg to see if the communication is smooth."


    When I saw mihayev get up and jump out of the pit, I grabbed his hand and said to him, "please translate for me, and let captain gramus check his communication lines to see if the communication with his former superiors is smooth." Mihayev did not hesitate to translate my words to gramus, and then he jumped out of the pit to look for the third company commander.


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was already ten o''clock. That is to say, in half an hour, the 18 soldiers would launch a feint attack on the German camp and attract them to the Azerbaijani camp.


    I raised my telescope and looked at the Azerbaijani camp. I saw that the open space between the tents had become empty. It seemed that almost all the prayer people had gone back to their tents. I hope they can rest early. When they are sleepy, our attack will cause them more chaos.


    Mikhail yev jumped into the pit again and reported to me: "report to the division commander, the third company commander has been tested, and the communication with Commander Oleg is smooth."


    Without looking back, I asked, "what are the three company leaders doing?"


    "The third company has dug dozens of individual bunkers on the hillside. Even if the German army attacks the hillside, we can hold on for a while."


    I put down my telescope, asked the location of the third company commander, and told Mikhail: "Comrade second lieutenant, you and captain Grimes stay here, I''ll go to the third company commander to have a look." When mihayev answered me, I had climbed out of the pit and walked towards the position of the third company commander.


    The temporary command post of the third company commander was set up in a newly dug bunker. Besides him, there was a soldier with walkie talkie on his back. Seeing me walking over, they immediately raised their hands to salute. The commander of the third company lowered his voice and said, "report to the division commander, the third company is resting in the bunker. Please give instructions!"¡° Continue to rest and wait for new orders I said in an official voice. The captain quickly replied, "yes, I ordered the troops to continue to rest and stand by." I went up to the operator and told him, "Comrade soldier, contact commander Oleg immediately. I have something to say to him." The operator agreed and immediately called. Soon he handed me the earphone and the transmitter and said in a low voice, "Sir, I have contacted you. Comrade commander is waiting for you online."¡° Hello, Hello, commander Oleg. This is o''shanina. Can you hear me? "¡° Yes, sir. Do you have any instructions? "¡° How is the track broken? "¡° We''ve removed all the spikes from the rail at the corner. This time, we can make the Krauts have a good drink. "¡° Well done After praising him, I asked a new question: "what are you going to do if the German train doesn''t overturn after derailment?" Unexpectedly, Oleg said confidently: "please rest assured, sir, I buried at least 20 anti tank mines on the side of the track without spikes. Even if the train is not overturned, these mines can blow them to pieces." I was startled by his words. I didn''t expect that he even used anti tank mines. It seems that he didn''t intend to save the German soldiers on the train. But I remember that the division had never been equipped with anti tank mines. Where did he get them? Thinking of this, I directly asked: "I remember there were no anti tank mines in the division. Where did you get these good things?"¡° Where else? " Oleg said easily: "in the depot of the station, of course. I think these are all left by our army in the warehouse. Because we retreated in a hurry and did not deal with these mines in time, they were captured by the German army. But it never occurred to the German army that soon after they occupied the station, we would fight back and make a night attack to turn the materials in the warehouse back into ours. "¡° Is there any movement on the German troop train¡° Not yet, but I''ve sent out a guard post. As soon as the enemy''s train appears, our guard will send back a signal, so we can be ready to attack. " When he said that, Oleg''s voice suddenly became excited. "Sir, the Sentinels have sent us a signal. They should have heard the movement on the track. The German train is coming in our direction."¡° Commander Oleg, if that''s the case, why do you hesitate? Send out the battle alarm immediately and make all the soldiers ready to fight. " At the end of the call with Oleg, I raised my hand again and looked at my watch. It was 10:30 in five minutes. At this moment, my heart beat faster inexplicably. I kept thinking, can the 18 soldiers lure the enemy successfully? Can the German train arrive at our ambush area on time?

 Chapter 587

    When the sound of explosion and machine gun fire came from a distance, my heart went up to my throat. I was sweating for the soldiers who went to lure the enemy, afraid that something might happen to them.


    When the gunfire in the distance became more and more clear, the originally silent Azerbaijani camp became noisy. Soldiers ran back from the tent and became bright again. Soon hundreds of people gathered together and rushed to the place where the gunfire sounded under the leadership of the commander.


    "Comrade teacher," mihayev asked anxiously, "can our plan really succeed?"


    Although I felt uneasy at the moment, I still pretended to be calm and said, "what''s the matter, comrade lieutenant, don''t you believe my judgment?"


    When he heard me say this, mihayev was stunned for a moment. Then his hesitant eyes became firm. He nodded and said, "Sir, I have no doubt about your command ability. Since you said that this night attack plan can succeed, then it will certainly succeed. "


    "Don''t worry, there will be good news soon." In order not to affect the morale of the troops, I continue to play fat face.


    At this time, there was a "bang" in the distance. Because the sound of guns was getting louder and louder, if you don''t listen carefully, you can''t hear this slight sound. However, Mikhail yev, who had been watching the movement in the direction of Oleg, heard it. He said excitedly to me: "Sir, listen quickly, it''s the sound of the train derailing!"


    Before I could confirm whether the train had derailed, there was a series of loud noises in the distance, and then the fire in the concealed area of Oleg''s troops burst into the sky, and the red light reflected half of the sky. After hearing this news, there is no need to confirm. It must be that the German train rushed out of the track and ran over the anti tank mine buried beside the railway, which caused a series of explosions.


    When I heard the explosion and saw the fire in the distance, I felt a lot more confident. Even if the plan of infighting between the German army and the eastern battalion could not be successful tonight, at least the two German battalions on the train were already in danger.


    I raised my telescope and looked at the place where the explosion came. Although the explosion had stopped, the two companies hidden on the nearby hillside had rushed down the burning train like tigers. When they rushed close to the railway, they immediately threw grenades into the car. Before the smoke of the explosion dispersed, they had rushed to the side of the car, picked up their weapons and fired at the survivors inside.


    I turned my attention to the Azerbaijani battalion to see what happened to them. When the explosion beside the railway sounded, the soldiers who were dazed by the changes were in a mess in the camp. However, the chaos did not last long. Soon the commander calmed the soldiers down, and then hundreds of people came running towards the railway under the leadership of the commander.


    "Comrade division commander," the third company commander came to me at some time and asked me in a low voice, "what is the task of our company? Do you want to go down immediately to meet the first company and the second company? " When he asked this question, it was obvious that he saw his comrades in arms fighting in full swing, while he was standing around doing nothing, and he was a little worried.


    I turned to look at him and said, "comrade company commander, don''t worry. We need to fight. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Your company''s task is to stand guard on this hillside and wait for my orders when to attack. " Three company commander listen to me so say, have no alternative but to promise a, turn round to arrange guard to go.


    The troops who came out of the Azerbaijani camp and went to the side of the railway to see what happened were stopped and fired by two companies in a row more than 100 meters away from the railway. The mortar shells exploded in the enemy group, and the air waves lifted one enemy after another into the air. Before they flew up, they were a complete person. When they fell down, they were divided into four parts and their limbs were flying around. The soldiers who escaped the artillery attack, and the dense machine gun fire of our army were in front of them. The enemy who unfortunately broke into the fire net fell to the ground like an electric shock.


    At this time, gramus'' telephone rang. Instead of connecting to the communication immediately, he looked at me cautiously. I quickly said to mihayev, "Comrade lieutenant, maybe it''s captain gramus''s superior. Let him answer. If the other party asks, it will be said that the Azerbaijani battalion mutinied, not only sending troops to attack the friendly camp, but also destroying the railway, causing a train full of officers and soldiers to overturn, causing heavy casualties. When our ministry came to check, it was also attacked by Azerbaijani forces, and now it is in fierce fighting. "


    After listening, Mikhail immediately translated my words to gramus. Grimes nodded, got through without hesitation, and yelled at the transmitter. Although I can''t understand what he said, from the smile on mihayev''s face, the captain is reporting what I made up to his former superior.


    When the call ended in about five minutes, gramus took off his earphone, wiped the sweat on his forehead, and told me aloud. The Royal interpreter, Second Lieutenant Mikhail yev, translated in a timely manner: "Sir, I just reported to the superior that the Azerbaijani camp was in a fierce battle with our company after attacking the friendly camp and derailing the train. My superior instructed me to stop the rebels at all costs and never let them step into the station, otherwise I will be sent to the military court. "


    After listening to mihayev''s translation, I then asked, "Captain Grimes, didn''t you report to your superiors that your troops are not enough to stop the rebel''s crazy attack?"


    Grimes shook his head and replied, "no, I''m just ordered to stick to it at all costs." At this point, the captain stopped for a moment, frowned and thought about it, and continued: "I think the superior will order the attacked army to increase its attack strength, and attack our company back and forth, so as to eliminate all the rebels."


    After listening to him, I did not continue to ask, but raised my telescope to observe the enemy situation in the distance. There was a fierce exchange of fire on the east side of the Azerbaijani camp. It seems that the attacked German army received orders from its superior and began to attack the Azerbaijani camp.


    The east side of the camp soon turned into a sea of fire. The attacking German soldiers were shooting desperately at the Garrison who held the camp, while the Azerbaijanis who were unwilling to be eliminated were also resisting tenaciously. At the same time, mortars were used. No matter where the shell falls and explodes, almost every time it goes down, it will raise a fragment of broken limbs and arms and weapons.


    Although the Azerbaijanis were well-trained and tenacious, they were unable to resist the crazy attack of the German army and were forced to return to the camp step by step.


    I stood on the hillside and watched the internal strife between the German army and the Azerbaijani battalion. I could not help but feel happy. If the battle was not over, I would like to report what happened here to trakov and Zhukov immediately and make them happy.


    As I was watching happily, mihayev suddenly touched my arm with his elbow and reminded me, "Sir, look, it seems that there are some motorcycles coming out of the Azerbaijani camp and they are driving in our direction." I quickly adjusted the angle of the telescope and found that there were three motorcycles speeding in our direction, only one of which was a tricycle with a sidecar.


    Since the other side avoided the east side of the fighting and the railway side, but came to us, I judged that it might be that I wanted to ask gramus for help at the station, so I touched gramus''s arm with the back of my hand. When he looked back, I said to him, "Mr. captain, these motorcycles obviously want to go to the station. Now it''s our turn." Then I turned to shout, I do not know when quietly standing behind me, a face unhappy three company commander: "three company commander!"


    "Here it is The third company commander stepped forward and stood upright, waiting for my order.


    "Leave two platoons of soldiers on guard on the hillside, and then you take the rest of the soldiers down the mountain with me to clean up these Germans."


    "Yes The third company agreed, and then yelled to his subordinates, "two rows and three rows stand by. The soldiers in the first row come with me!"


    Mikhail yev, gramus, and the third company commander, together with a platoon of soldiers, quickly walked down the hillside to meet the enemy''s motorcycles.


    As soon as I passed the railway, I ordered the troops to stop advancing and let the soldiers of two classes seize the ground and lie down to prepare to shoot. However, the four of us and the soldiers of one class stood still.


    When the motorcycle stopped 20 meters away from us, a man jumped from the sidecar and yelled at us. Although I couldn''t understand what he was shouting, I could tell that he was speaking German.


    Grimes stepped forward and yelled at each other.


    When they were talking aloud at a distance of about 20 meters, mihayev asked me in a quiet voice, and the translator said, "Comrade teacher, the other side asked us what part we belong to. Captain Grimes replied that we were on the station guard. The other side also said that they were from the Dongfang battalion monitoring group. Because the troops were attacked, they had to rush to the station to find us for help. " After the translation, Mikhail asked me, "what should we do next?"


    "Comrade second lieutenant," I wanted Mikhail yev to translate my words to gramus, but I saw that the people in the supervision group of Dongfang camp were not far away from us, so I didn''t dare to ask Mikhail yev to translate my words. Instead, I whispered to Mikhail yev, "Comrade second lieutenant, ask them if all the people in the supervision group are here?"


    Mikhail yev nodded, went forward to the other side and asked, "how can you only have these people? What about the rest?"


    The soldier standing next to the motorcycle replied, "four members of the team were killed in the battle, leaving only six of us."


    "The third company commander," after listening to the information mihayev whispered to me, I quickly turned around and told the third company commander, "what are you doing in a daze? Let the soldiers shoot. Don''t let anyone on the opposite side go."


    As soon as my voice fell, the third company commander roared: "shoot, shoot!" He took the lead in firing a pistol at the opposite side.


    The sound of gunfire was an order, and then there was a lot of gunfire around us. The dense bullet hit the soldier standing beside the motorcycle. Without a snort, he was hit by the huge impact of the bullet and fell into the sidecar. The rest of the German soldiers on motorcycles were not spared, and they were directly loaded down from their seats by bullets.


    When the shooting was over, I went to the tricycle with my back to my hand. I tried to resist the choking smell of blood and looked down at the German soldier who was first knocked down by our bullets. I saw that his upper body was almost riddled by bullets.


    Grimes came up to me, looked down, quickly moved his eyes away, and then reported to me in a low voice: "Sir, this is the leader of the monitoring group, the leader of the SS commando team." I''m not familiar with the rank of the SS. Just now I saw that he was wearing a helmet. I thought he was an ordinary soldier. I didn''t expect that he was the commando team leader. When I looked at his epaulet and cravat curiously, I saw that his left cravat was decorated with two rhombus military rank marks, and on the cravat was a thick bar with three rhombus military rank marks. Seeing the corpses of the members of the monitoring group lying in front of us, gramus was a little flustered. He asked nervously, "Sir, how can I report the death of the members of the monitoring group in the Azerbaijani battalion to the higher authorities?" I snorted and said with disapproval, "if you have any difficulties, please report to your superiors that after the members of the monitoring group found out the Azerbaijani rebellion attempt, in addition to leaving four members to deal with the rebels, the remaining six people came to the station to ask for help, but they were ambushed by the rebels on the way, and all the remaining members were killed." After listening to the translation, Grimes stood in silence for a moment. Then he contacted his old superior decisively and reported what I had just made up to him. At this time, the fighting in the Azerbaijani camp became white hot. Originally, only the sound of gunfire and sporadic shell explosion could be heard. At this time, the explosion suddenly became intensive. I raised my telescope curiously, and saw a few German tanks in the camp, blatantly charging. When we saw the rebel firepower, we either stopped to bombard it, or simply drove a tank directly into it. Although these Azerbaijanis used to be soldiers of the Soviet Union, they were also defeated by the German army. Under the condition of roughly equal strength and equipment, they were able to fight with the German army. However, once the German tanks appeared in front of them, their will to resist suddenly collapsed. First one or two soldiers fled, then five or six, Then the whole class and platoon began to flee to the west side of the camp. The rebels in the camp would be severely attacked by the German army, while the soldiers fleeing to the west side of the railway were mercilessly killed by Oleg''s troops.

 Chapter 588

    These so-called rebels, who suffered from both front and back attacks, did not have a strong will to fight. Many people stopped at the same place, threw away their weapons and raised their hands high in an attempt to save their lives.


    The wish is good, but the reality is cruel. The German soldiers who attack the camp may have received the order to kill them all. No matter whether the Azerbaijani soldiers are resisting or throwing away their weapons and raising their hands to surrender, they still shoot indiscriminately. In this way, those unarmed soldiers, under the heavy German fire, fell down in pieces.


    Fortunately, the soldiers who were not hit by bullets found that no matter whether they surrendered or not, they could not escape the fate of death. They also picked up the weapons they had thrown beside them and shot back on the ground.


    The battle in the camp was very enjoyable, and the battle in the position of Oleg department was also very fierce. Dozens of soldiers rushed to them and tried to open a gap to break through the encirclement, but they were knocked down by our army''s firepower, and the rest of them were also hit by the intensive firepower and couldn''t lift their heads. Only we are calm here, except for the German inspection team who just came and was killed by us, no one escaped to us.


    Although Grimes called his superior, the expression on his face was still very unnatural, giving people a feeling of being miserable. I glared at him for several times. Seeing that he didn''t find it, I could only say to him unhappily, "Captain Grimes, please remember that these SS soldiers who were killed by us are Hitler''s loyal running dogs. They are not only the enemies of the Soviet people, but also the enemies of the German people. Only by eliminating all these Communists can Germany get a new life."


    Although my words were a little nondescript, gramus obviously listened to them. After a smile more ugly than crying, he asked me, "Sir, what shall we do next?"


    I looked through my telescope at the camp, which was in full swing. I said casually, "let''s continue to guard here to prevent the defeated Azerbaijani soldiers from breaking through from our direction when they have no way to go."


    "Will they break through from here?" Mihayev asked incredulously.


    "Yes, they will." I affirmed that, in order to convince them, I also specifically gave my own reasons, "the remnants of Azerbaijan see that the retreat on both sides of the East and the West has been cut off. If they go south, they are bound to face more German resistance, while if they flee north, they will suffer much less resistance, so they have a great chance of jumping out of the German sphere of influence. Then they can pretend to be the scattered small units of our army and sneak into our defense area. "


    Listening to me, the third company commander was startled. He immediately asked me for instructions: "Comrade teacher, do you want me to arrange the two on the hillside?"


    I waved my hand and rejected his suggestion: "no, comrade company commander, let them stay on the hillside and serve as reserves until they can''t stop the enemy''s attack." After that, I turned to the sullen Grimes and said, "Captain Grimes, don''t call me any more sir. It sounds too awkward. You can call me sir or comrade as other commanders do."


    After listening to Mikhail''s translation, Grimes nodded and said, "OK, sir, I understand."


    My worries did not come true. The officers and men of the Azerbaijani battalion, under the double attack of the German army and the Oleg army, did not persist for long and then came to the brink of annihilation. The gunfire on the battlefield became sparse, German tanks lined up in the camp, and soldiers with weapons entered one tent after another to search for survivors. Seeing this scene, I secretly scold the German army for being stupid. You don''t know how to push down the tent with tanks. You have to go in and check one by one. In case the survivors inside shoot, don''t you have to pay unnecessary sacrifice.


    However, on second thought, the casualties of German officers and soldiers are none of my business. The more they die, the better. At least the strength of attacking Stalingrad has been weakened. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was two o''clock in the morning. I quickly turned around and told the third company commander to contact Oleg immediately.


    I said to the transmitter, "commander Oleg, your mission is complete. In addition to leaving a platoon with good German skills, the rest of the commanders and fighters took their booty and went back to the station. "


    Oleg was stunned when he heard my order. Then he murmured, "Comrade commander, can I ask why?"


    "Don''t you understand, comrade commander?" When I heard his query about my order, my voice became severe. "The German Army knows that there is only one company in the station, but if they come and find that you have more than 200 people, don''t they help?"


    Oleg suddenly realized this and quickly replied, "Comrade division, I understand. I''m going to lead a large army to leave here with booty."


    After putting down the earphones and the transmitter, I said to the nearby Grimes, "Captain Grimes, we''ll take this platoon with us later and join the platoon left by lieutenant commander Oleg. We''ll wait for the German commander to come at the place where the train capsized."


    After hearing this, Grimes readily agreed, "OK, sir, I''ll follow your instructions."


    After a few minutes, Oleg and his troops came along the railway. Seeing that almost everyone on the soldiers was carrying several guns, and even many people were carrying wooden boxes on their shoulders, it seemed that their achievements were not small.


    When Oleg passed me, he stopped to report to me and said, "report to the division commander, two companies in a row have successfully destroyed the German troop transport train. All the German devils on the train have been killed by us, and no one has missed the net."


    "Well done!" I nodded with satisfaction, and then asked, "how are the casualties of our troops?"


    "When we hit the train, more than a dozen soldiers were burned, but they were not seriously injured. As for the fight against the Azerbaijani battalion, it can hardly be called a fight, but a one-sided massacre. In the fight, at least 200 enemies were killed, and we did not have any casualties. "


    When I heard that there were no casualties in the army, I breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, I couldn''t help feeling a little complacent. Thousands of enemies were annihilated, and only a dozen people were injured. The result of the battle was reported, not to mention me. Even the commander of the group army would feel his face shining. However, the most important task now is not to report for meritorious service, but to find a way to send the Germans away from the camp. So I told Oleg, "Comrade commander, it''s none of your business here. When you go back with the soldiers, take time to rest. Maybe there will be new combat tasks assigned to you after dawn."


    With a loud promise, Oleg followed his troops along the railway to the station.


    After Oleg''s troops had passed, I said to the third company commander who had been on standby: "well, comrade third company commander, you can also take the two platoons on the hillside back to the station."


    The third company commander didn''t expect that I would give him such an order. He was stunned and didn''t respond in the distance. I thought he didn''t hear me clearly, and he repeated my order again. Then he said reluctantly, "Comrade division commander, let me go to the front with you. The troops can let the platoon leaders take me back."


    Originally, I wanted to refuse him directly, but seeing his sincere eyes, after a short hesitation, I agreed to his request: "well, comrade company commander, since that''s the case, you go to give orders to the other two platoon leaders to lead them back to the bus station." After hearing this, the third company commander was about to run to the hillside with excitement on his face, and I stopped him again.


    He stopped and looked at me in surprise. He thought I had changed my mind. I guessed that he might have misunderstood, and quickly told him: "comrade company commander, after you give the order to the two platoon leaders, remember to carry the six German bodies near the train."


    The third company commander was confused by my inexplicable order. He scratched the back of his head and asked, "Comrade teacher, why is that?"


    "These German members of the monitoring group were killed by the mutinous Azerbaijanis when they visited the overturned military train. Naturally, their bodies were placed near the train."


    "But, these Germans were obviously killed by us..." before the third company commander finished, I glared at him fiercely. He immediately understood, straightened up and agreed, "I understand, comrade division. These Germans were killed by the rebels in azebaijiang when they were checking by the train."


    Seeing that he had understood what I meant, I nodded with satisfaction, waved to him and said, "hurry up and give orders to your platoon leaders. We should try to put the bodies before the Germans come to the train to check."


    The action of the third company commander was very quick. As soon as we got to the burning train carriage and joined the platoon that Oleg left behind, he came running with more than a dozen soldiers breathlessly, threw the six German soldiers'' bodies beside the railway, and then dragged more than a dozen of them out of the Azerbaijani soldiers'' bodies, Placed next to the German body, arranged a fake scene where the inspection team was plotting.


    Originally, I thought that such a poor trick could not hide from the shrewd German. Unexpectedly, when a small German troop came to the railway to check under the cover of two armored vehicles, gramus just stepped forward and said a few words, and the commander of the other side waved him away.


    As Grimes came, I whispered, "Captain Grimes, what''s going on?"


    "The commander of the other side said that they would take over the scene now. Let''s go back to the station immediately to prevent the guerrillas and rebels from attacking us," Grimes said in a low voice With that, he yelled at the rest of the officers and men in German, "all gather and go back to the station at once."


    When we got back to the station, I quickly contacted the deputy of my post, Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant serge


    "Comrades of the division," shijerikov replied excitedly, "after our surprise attack teams shelled the German army and the Georgian battalion respectively, the enemy really fell for it and rushed out of the camp one after another to pursue our team. Fortunately, the mines buried in advance have delayed the enemy''s time, otherwise, our team can''t retreat completely. "


    "What are the casualties of the detachment and what are the results?"


    "All the units were out of danger without any casualties. Although shortly after the exchange of fire, the enemy found that it was his own people who had misunderstood, the casualties on both sides were at least more than 300. "


    "Well done." At this point, I habitually raised my hand and looked at my watch. Seeing that it was already three o''clock in the morning, I said to him with concern, "Comrade commander, it''s getting late. Please take time to have a rest."


    At the end of the call with shijerikov, I called Oleg, verol and my guard battalion commander basmanov in front of them and asked them, "is our team back?"


    As soon as my words came out, several people couldn''t help lowering their heads. After a while, verol replied in a low voice: "report, sir, the team hasn''t got any news so far. I think it''s very bad."


    After listening to her words, I sighed and whispered, "you''re right. They haven''t got any news yet. I don''t think they can come back. Political commissar verol, after dawn, you will send some small teams to search for their whereabouts. Even if you can''t find anyone, you will find their bodies. "


    Verol nodded and replied, "yes, I''ll send for them as soon as it gets light."


    I waved to a few people and said, "it''s getting late. Go back and have a rest. Let''s wait until daybreak."


    After they all left, I sat at the table and looked at the German map in front of me in a daze. I thought to myself that even if all the 18 soldiers were killed, our action tonight would be a victory. After all, we eliminated thousands of enemies.


    While I was thinking about it, I suddenly heard the sound of rapid footsteps outside the gate. The sentry standing outside the gate had begun to ask loudly, but it was verol who had just left. Then the door of the headquarters was suddenly pushed open, and verol ran in with surprise.


    She stood in front of me, breathless, this just ran a few steps, but excited into this shape, finally adjusted, this is dressed in coarse gas mouth said: "report division commander, eighteen soldiers are back, even a minor injury is not."


    Unbelievable, as like as two peas at my face, I was very ecstatic as Vilol did. He asked aloud, "where are they? Take me to have a look. "


    When verol and I were in parallel, they walked and answered my question: "according to the soldiers, after completing their mission, they found that their retreat was cut off by the Germans, so they retreated to the south, made a circle around the boss, and then returned to the station."


    When I saw the 18 soldiers standing in the square in front of the station again, I went up excitedly and punched everyone in the chest. After beating, I walked back and forth in front of them with my hands on my back for several times, then stopped and said excitedly to them, "our heroes, welcome back in triumph!" Then I turned to the commander next to me and said, "Lieutenant Oleg, commissar verol."


    When they heard me calling them, they quickly stepped forward and answered in a loud voice, "here we are!"


    I was a little excited and incoherent, and said: "give all the names of the 18 soldiers up. I''ll ask for credit for them. I''ll ask the commander to honor them in person!"


    When I said that, Oleg and verol replied, "yes! I follow your instructions. "


    But eighteen soldiers answered with one voice: "willing to serve the Soviet motherland!"


    The safe return of the 18 soldiers made me put down the big stone in my heart. As soon as I got back to the headquarters, I couldn''t wait to order Shula to contact the headquarters of the group army and report the results of the battle tonight quickly.


    After contacting the headquarters of the group army, it was not trakov who answered the phone, but the chief of staff, Colonel Ruskin. Maybe it''s because I report good news every time in the dead of night, so Ruskin was disturbed by me in time, but he didn''t have an attack. Instead, he patiently asked, "dear oshanina, did you bring me any good news when you called me so late?"


    "Yes, chief of staff." Since it was a good news, I didn''t hide it. Instead, I said frankly, "tonight, our division''s troops decisively attacked the German army and the eastern battalion''s camps in the north and south directions of abganerovo station, and achieved brilliant results, so we specially reported our victory to the headquarters."


    "O''shanina, just a moment, please. I''ll find a pen and paper to record it." Raskin''s voice disappeared from the headphones for a short time, and then sounded again, "OK, I''m ready, you say it!"


    "Tonight we destroyed the railway and derailed a German train full of soldiers. After the train overturned, the troops ambushed nearby decisively attacked and wiped out all the surviving German troops on the train. Although the final results have not been counted, it is certain that none of the German soldiers in the two battalions on the military line were spared. "


    "What are the casualties of your troops?" Raskin asked habitually.


    Hearing his question, I said with pride, "report to the chief of staff that only a dozen of our soldiers have been slightly injured."


    "What, only a dozen soldiers were slightly injured?" Raskin asked in surprise.


    "Yes, comrade chief of staff," I went on to say triumphantly, "in fact, the results are more than that. I also killed the new Azerbaijani battalion stationed in the south of the abganerovo station."


    Raskin was stunned by what I said. He said in a confused way, "what, what? You said you wiped out the Azerbaijani battalion? How about the casualties in the army? You won''t tell us that there are only a dozen minor injuries, will you


    "Of course not. We don''t have any casualties!"


    Raskin was maddened by my news. He stammered, "Comrade o''shanina, you call me in the middle of the night. You''re not here to amuse me, are you? How can there be only so few casualties when we eliminate so many enemies? You know, if our troops do not have an advantage in numbers and weapons, it will be very difficult to win. And your casualties are almost negligible, which is incredible


    "Chief of staff," I said clearly, "you have known me for a long time. Do you think I am that kind of boring person?"


    "No... No." Raskin hesitated a little and said, "please wait a moment. I''ll ask the commander and general trakov to come and let them listen to your results in person."


    Raskin inadvertently used honorifics for my address. It seems that he is still skeptical about the achievements of our division, so he asked shumilov and trakov to confirm.


    "Hello, Hello, is that oshanina?" he said? I''m trekov. Can you hear me now? "


    I hastened to reply, "I hear you very clearly, comrade commander."


    "Just now, Colonel Ruskin told me the results you reported. Not only him, but also general shumilov and I thought it was incredible. Let alone your poorly trained and poorly equipped army, even if you transferred the most elite army to fight against the Germans, there would never be only a negligible number of casualties. What''s the matter with you? "


    As for trekov''s questions, I had to answer every question, so I told him the plan I had made and the course of the battle. Finally, I specially emphasized: "Comrade commander, to tell you the truth, when I made this battle plan, I had no bottom in my heart, so before the battle started, I personally went to the front line, I''m just worried that in case the implementation of the plan is unfavorable, I can adjust the deployment according to the actual situation. I didn''t expect that even God helped us, and everything went according to our plan. The German army was destroyed by us, and those traitors of our motherland were also removed by us with the help of the German. Let alone you, I would not have believed it if I had not witnessed it with my own eyes. "


    Although I have said that, trakov murmured, "it''s incredible. If I didn''t know you, I would think you were lying. But now that you say that, I believe it, because you are a commander who is good at creating miracles. " At this point, he stopped for a moment, as if he was talking in a low voice with someone nearby, and then his voice came from the earphone, "I have discussed with general shumilov, and you immediately report the names of the 18 soldiers. We will record their merits, and commander shumilov will personally honor them."


    "All right, comrade commander. I''ll report the names of these heroes to you as soon as it gets light! "


    Before I finished my conversation with trakov, verol hurried in again. She saw me on the phone, quickly raised a piece of paper in her hand, opened her mouth and said a few words in silence. I judged from her mouth that she was saying: "Comrade division, I have sent you the list of 18 soldiers."


    After I put down the phone, verol, who had been standing beside me, quickly and loudly reported: "Comrade division, I have sent you the list of 18 soldiers!"


    I looked down at the long and awkward names on the list, nodded and said, "I see. I''ll report their names to the headquarters of the group army as soon as it gets light." Then I pretended to be mysterious and said to him, "Comrade veroll, I have a good news for you. The commander of the group army already knows about these 18 soldiers. He also asked me to report the list as soon as possible. He said that he would come to honor these soldiers in person."


    "Really?" Verol almost jumped up when she heard the news. She asked excitedly, "is this all true, Rita?"


    "It''s true, of course." My mouth so reply, in the heart but some discontented ground say, isn''t you meritorious service, need so excited?


    And she said a few words, just about to send her away, the operator Shula suddenly excitedly called me: "Comrade teacher, general Zhukov is online, he wants to talk to you."


    Zhukov wants to talk to me so late?! Needless to say, it must be trakov who reported my achievements to the headquarters of the front army, which shocked Zhukov. I quickly put on the earphone and said loudly to the transmitter: "Hello, Hello, senior general. I''m o''shanina."


    "I congratulate you, Rita." Zhukov said frankly, "I have heard the report of Comrade trakov that your troops have made great achievements in tonight''s operation. They have wiped out the Germans and their running dog troops, and the casualties of their own troops can be ignored. It''s too expensive."


    "You flatter me, Comrade General!" Although I feel a little flattered, I still have to pretend to be modest and say, "it''s just a small victory. It''s nothing."¡° what? A small victory is nothing? " Zhukov said in a somewhat exaggerated tone, "if other troops, like you, could have won such small victories a few more times, we would have almost wiped out the Germans near Stalingrad." I didn''t know what Zhukov would say to me next, so I didn''t speak. I just listened to him in silence. He continued: "yesterday, when I gave you the order to stick to the station, I was very heavy hearted. I was afraid that my order would put you and your troops in a hopeless situation. But judging from the results of tonight''s battle, my worry is superfluous. As Comrade trakov said, you are a commander who is good at creating miracles. Although you are deficient in the overall situation, you are often ingenious in using troops and can catch those ferocious enemies unprepared. It seems that Comrade trakov''s vision and courage are good. He should give you an independent army to fight independently in a separate direction. If it were me, I would not be able to do better than him. "¡° Comrade general, I am also very grateful to you. Without you, I would not be today. " It''s true. If it wasn''t for Zhukov''s help, I might still be guarding Lenin''s mausoleum in the autumn¡° Rita, I don''t need to say thank you. Keep working hard. I''m waiting to hear more good news from you. "

 Chapter 589

    As soon as I woke up, it was bright. I didn''t get up right away. Instead, I lay in bed and quietly thought about the battle last night. The whole process of the battle, like a movie, went through in my mind.


    This time, the plan of killing people with a knife is not comprehensive enough, and there are many problems in operational deployment. For example, I did not think about what to do if the scheme of instigating the German army and the Azerbaijani battalion to fight each other was not successful, so I rashly dispatched three companies. If it were not for the fact that a German troop line was killed by us and blamed on the eastern battalion, our troops would be seen through by the enemy as soon as they opened fire on the Azerbaijani battalion. Thanks to the defecting captain gramus, under my command, constantly sending false news to the German army, so as to confuse the German army''s audio-visual, we can win this battle.


    The next thing to consider is not only how to stick to the station for a few days, but also how to improve the combat effectiveness of the division''s main force. You know, the 6000 recruits supplied by the group army are rookies who have not received any military training and have no combat experience. So I want to urge xiejerikov to use this limited time to train those recruits.


    Thinking of this, I immediately got up, pushed open the door and went out. Shula, the only operator in the outer room, is sleeping in front of the telephone with headphones. I walked quickly to her and gently pushed her arm.


    Shula, who was sleeping, was awakened by me. She suddenly raised her head and saw that it was me. She wanted to stand up in a panic. I quickly put my hand on her shoulder and said kindly, "Shula, don''t stand up, just sit and answer my question."


    Shula blushed, nodded, and then explained to me, "I''m sorry, sir. I''m so tired that I fell asleep unconsciously."


    "It doesn''t matter. You''ve been working hard these two days." I said to her kindly, "if you don''t have telegrams and calls from your superiors, you can have a rest."


    Just as he was talking, someone outside the door called out a report. I went to the door, pulled open the door, saw Mikhail and captain gramus standing outside, quickly turned aside and said to them, "you all come in."


    I went to the table and sat down. I looked up at the two men. Seeing their serious faces, I couldn''t help asking mihayev curiously, "Comrade second lieutenant, is there anything important for you to come with captain gramus?"


    "Sir, I think we are in trouble." Mihayev nervously said: "just now, Captain gramus received a telegram from his superior. The other party said that he found a radio signal with unknown origin near the station and asked him if he found any guerrillas nearby?"


    If he didn''t say that, I didn''t think that the German had a radio monitoring car, which could detect the enemy''s radio waves. I talked to my superiors in plain language every day without any fear. It was estimated that I would have been under the monitoring of the German army. Would the German army know what we were talking about? Will they send troops to suppress our fake German army next?


    Seeing my hesitation, Mikhail couldn''t help urging me: "what do you think, sir?"


    Instead of answering his question, I turned to Grimes and asked nervously, "Captain Grimes, what''s your answer?"


    "Report to the division commander, and I will reply that according to the report of the security forces around the station, there is no trace of guerrillas found near the station," Grimes replied drily


    After listening to gramus, I asked, "what did your commander say after hearing your report?"


    Grimes thought for a moment and said, "the commander seemed dubious about my answer. He ordered me to send more patrols to strengthen the patrol around the station. By tomorrow afternoon at the latest, he would send another company to strengthen the defense of the station."


    The German army had to send another company to the station. I couldn''t help worrying about the news. If the German army didn''t find the unknown radio waves near the station, even if the 100 or so German devils were completely eliminated, it would not cause the slightest suspicion; But now, the superior commander of gramus obviously has doubts about his report. This new army may have the mission of monitoring him, and there may be a separate channel to contact the superior. In this way, we can''t attack them casually.


    What should we do? The more I thought about it, the more helpless I felt. I just wanted to ask someone to invite Oleg and verol to come to discuss. When I looked up, I found that mihayev and gramus were still standing in the room. So I casually asked, "Captain gramus, did your commander say anything else?"


    Originally, I just asked casually, ready to send him away when he said no. after all, the things I discussed with Oleg should not be known by his level. Unexpectedly, after listening to the translation, he nodded and said, "there is another important news."


    His words aroused my interest, so I gave up the idea of driving him out and asked curiously, "tell me, what kind of important news is it?"


    "The commander informed me that half an hour ago, the field gendarmes of the group army went to the camp in Georgia, arrested all the commanders above the company level and all the members of the inspection team of the camp, and executed them for dereliction of duty."


    When I heard that, I could not help shivering. All the commanders above company level and the members of the inspection team, there were at least 30 people, so they were all shot?! The commander of the group army, hort, is really cold-blooded. If he finds radio signals of unknown origin in the station, will he send a gendarme to deal with gramus?


    Thinking of this, I quickly walked to the door, shouting to the outside: "come on!"


    As I called out, a sentry appeared at the door. I quickly told him: "Comrade soldier, you should immediately invite lieutenant commander Oleg and political commissar verol to come and say that I have something important to discuss with them. Move fast, you go


    The soldier nodded silently, turned and disappeared from the door.


    Two or three minutes later, Oleg and verol, who had received the order, ran into the headquarters breathlessly. Oleg gasped and asked, "Comrade division, what''s the important thing for you to come to us in such a hurry?"


    "Sit down, everyone," I told them to sit down first, and then said, "just now captain gramus received a telegram from his superior commander, saying that there was a radio signal of unknown origin near the station, asking him if he found any sign of guerrilla activities around. Fortunately, the captain has perfunctorily passed."


    Hearing me say that gramus had perfunctorized his old boss, Oleg heaved a sigh of relief, gave gramus a thumbs up, praised him and said, "well done, Captain gramus."


    As soon as he finished, I threw cold water on him: "don''t be too happy, commander Oleg. The German army will send another company to the station tomorrow. For the German commander, after all, this is an important transportation hub. Only one company of captain gramus will be stationed, so the strength is a little weak. "


    Oleg''s smile froze on his face. After a long time, he came back to himself and murmured, "what should we do? When it gets dark, will this new German army be killed quietly? "


    "Colonel Oleg, it would have been easier if it had been so simple." I said anxiously, "I''m worried that this army is also carrying communication equipment. When they arrive at the station, they should not be under the command of Captain Grimes'' army. They will report to their superiors through their own communication equipment what happened in the station. In this way, our original trick of deceiving the German army will be completely invalid. "


    "Sir," asked verol cautiously, "do you have any good idea?"


    Because I haven''t thought of any good way yet, I can only turn the topic to other aspects first. I told Shula, the operator sitting beside me, "Shula, from now on, you can''t talk to the outside world in Ming language unless you have to."


    "What about the telegraph?" Asked Shura.


    I thought for a moment, if we don''t send a telegram, then our contact with the outside world will be completely interrupted? So I nodded and said, "in the future, whether it''s communication with the headquarters of the group army or with lieutenant colonel shejerikov, it''s all in the form of telegram. Do you understand?"


    "I see!" Shula replied loudly.


    After dealing with the communication, I turned around and asked the four commanders, "what should I do with the new German troops? Do you have any good suggestions?"


    After looking at each other, verol and Oleg stood up and reported to me, "Sir, I have a suggestion. I don''t know whether to say it or not."


    "Come on, it''s time. What else can''t be said."


    Verol said tentatively: "we can arrange the new German to the warehouse, while our present troops are stationed in the waiting hall and the square in front of the station. What do you think, sir? "


    After thinking about it, I shook my head and said, "no, we have seven or eight hundred people now, and nearly half of them do not have German uniforms. The new German army won''t just stay in the warehouse. Maybe one or two of them will find our flaws when they hang out. "


    "Why don''t we make another accident and kill them all?" After half a day''s silence, Mikhail suddenly stood up and said his own opinion.


    Before I could make a statement, Oleg had already shaken his head and said, "Comrade lieutenant, you think too simply. If you could kill all the enemies, comrade division commander would not be so worried. Don''t you hear from the division commander that this group of enemies may also be carrying communication equipment. If they have something to report, they will not report it through captain Grimes, but through their own radio station. If their superiors don''t get their information, our disguise will also be exposed. "


    "That''s not good, that''s not good, so what should we do? Can we just watch the Germans swagger into the station and see through our disguise? " Mihayev said a little impatiently.


    After his words, there was silence in the room.


    I can''t think of any good way, neither can Oleg, verol and mihayev. We just sat at the table with big eyes.


    At this time, gramus, who has been ignored by us, stood up and hesitated a little and said, "Sir, I have a way, maybe I can get rid of this army."


    "Oh, Captain Grimes, you have a good idea. Let''s talk about it." Oleg heard what he said, and before mihayev finished translating it for me, he said it first.


    "When the new troops come, they will be stationed in the warehouse as political commissar verol said. Next, I can call their commander to this headquarters in the name of negotiating to strengthen the station defense, and then... "


    "I see, Captain Grimes. That''s a wonderful idea." Before gramus finished, verol laughed happily. She said first: "when the German commanders come, they will take the signalmen with them, so that they can communicate with their superiors. We will control them as soon as they enter the headquarters. Without the commander''s troops, it''s easy to clean up. "


    "What should we do if the superior commander of the German army wants to talk to the commander of this army?" Oleg asked with some concern.


    Verol said confidently: "since the commanders have fallen into our hands and they are under our control, they will report as we ask them to do."


    I thought about gramus'' proposal. It was a good idea, so I nodded and said, "well, in that case, we''ll follow captain gramus''s proposal. When the German troops arrive tomorrow, Captain Grimes will place them in the warehouse, and then bring their commanders here. When their commander is under our control, second lieutenant mihayev and captain basmanov will take them to disarm the German troops in the warehouse. "


    After my words, all the people present nodded and agreed.


    Seeing that there was no objection from everyone, I waved my hand and said to them, "since the tasks are clear, you all go back to your respective units to arrange."


    After a few people got up and raised their hands to salute me, Oleg and verol turned and left. Mikhail yev was about to leave, but he was held by Captain gramus, who was standing in the same place. The captain said a few words to him.


    I looked at mihayev and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, what did captain gramus say?"


    Mikhail yev looked at me and said with some embarrassment: "Captain Grimes said that there are still a number of prisoners of war in the warehouse, who are his trusted subordinates. He wants you to release them all. I don''t know whether you agree or not. "


    It''s still a bit difficult for me to release all the prisoners of war in the warehouse. If it''s all under gramus''s trusted heart, as he said, I don''t worry; If one or two of them have two hearts and leak secrets to the new troops, the plan we just designated may fail.


    At first, I wanted to refuse, but I couldn''t bear to see gramus''s sincere eyes. Finally, I gritted my teeth and told Mikhail: "Comrade second lieutenant, please tell captain gramus that I agree to his request. But there is a demand that he will use his own life to guarantee me that he will strictly control these dozens of prisoners, and let him raise his head to see if there is any mistake. "


    After listening to what I said, mikhayev stood still. I frowned and asked discontentedly, "Comrade lieutenant, why don''t you translate my words to captain Grimes?"


    Mihayev said in embarrassment: "Sir, I would like to translate it, but how can I translate the word" see you with your head "


    I couldn''t help laughing. I thought mihayev didn''t want to translate. It turned out that he couldn''t translate a word, so I said with a smile, "tell him that if there is something wrong with his subordinates and our plan fails, he won''t have to live. He and his men will come to the same end as the German soldiers in the army last night. " At this point, I decisively ordered him: "immediately translate my original words to him."


    Mihayev nodded hard, and then translated to captain Grimes. After hearing this, Grimes nodded firmly at me and began to chatter. At the same time, he kept beating himself in the chest with his fist, as if he was showing his determination to me.


    I turned my eyes to Mikhail, who immediately understood and interpreted for me: "Sir, please rest assured, I promise you with my military honor and my life. As long as you return these subordinates to me, I will restrain them well and let them act according to your orders. You know, if you don''t have these soldiers, no matter how well disguised your subordinates are, there will inevitably be flaws in some details, so they will be detected by the new highly vigilant troops. "


    I stepped forward, took gramus''s hand, and said earnestly, "Captain gramus, I personally trust you very much. I hope you will not betray my trust in you and successfully complete the plan we just made."


    "Sir, please rest assured that I will live up to your trust in me."


    Seeing that gramus had already said that, my trust in him increased a little bit. Then I ordered mikhayev: "Comrade second lieutenant, take captain gramus to the warehouse, go to my guard battalion commander, Captain basmanov, and convey my order to him. Release all the German prisoners in the warehouse and give them to captain gramus."

 Chapter 590

    After mihayev and gramus left, I remembered that I had just planned to contact lieutenant colonel shejerikov to arrange for him to train new recruits. Unexpectedly, my plan was disrupted by unexpected events.


    With a sigh, I rearranged my thoughts in my mind, then sat down at my desk, took out a pen and paper from my briefcase, and began to write the order to lieutenant colonel shijerikov.


    In my order, I wrote: "commander shejerikov, the main tasks you need to do at present are two aspects: first, to ensure the security of the defense line. At least until I return to the division headquarters, the main defense area of the independent division can not be captured by the German army. 2¡¢ We should strengthen the training of new recruits and improve the overall combat effectiveness of the troops.


    Since the new recruits have not received any military training, strengthening the military training of new recruits is the most important task in the near future. All new soldiers in the division should be given intensive training so that they can learn to shoot, drop bombs, assassinate and other skills in a short time, strive to improve their personal military quality, and narrow the gap between us and the German army in terms of equipment and training. We should form a system in which untrained soldiers are not allowed to go to the battlefield, and resolutely put an end to the phenomenon that new soldiers go to the battlefield without touching their guns. This is a manifestation of being responsible for every soldier''s life.


    Take the new soldiers to visit our fortification, at least let them know how to dig it. In addition, special personnel will be sent to explain to the new soldiers how to prevent German aircraft and artillery bombing, how to fight German tanks, and organize targeted training. We should also tell the new soldiers that when charging, they should be good at making use of the terrain, with the help of obstacles and craters on the battlefield, and even the corpses of the dead on both sides of the enemy and us, and work in groups of three or five to cover the leap forward alternately. "


    Although Rory wrote a lot of wordily, after a pause, I thought there was still something to be desired, and then he raised his pen and wrote: "at the same time, we should strengthen the training of grass-roots commanders in the division. At present, there are many casualties in our troops, and the promotion is fast. For those soldiers who have passed the test of war and have excellent performance, we should boldly promote them. Although they are only squad leaders or ordinary soldiers now, maybe after a while, they will be company commanders, platoon commanders or even battalion commanders. If they don''t know the command skills of grassroots commanders, they will not be able to lead the troops well. On the battlefield, the wrong command issued by an unqualified commander will make many innocent soldiers pay the price of blood and even life. "


    After drafting the telegram, I stood up, went to Shura, handed her the paper full of words, and ordered, "Shura, send this to lieutenant colonel chejerikov in the form of telegram."


    When Shula took the note from my hand, she showed a surprised expression on her face. Maybe she was wondering why I didn''t talk in Ming language, but instead sent a telegram. But she didn''t ask anything. She put the note in front of her and immediately started to report.


    I went back to the table and sat down. Just as I was about to consider the next deployment, the door was pushed open. A man in a German Lieutenant''s uniform came in and sat down opposite me. He said angrily, "Comrade division, did you give the order?"


    "What order?" I asked, puzzled, as I looked at basmanov, the commander of the guard battalion in front of me.


    "The defecting captain gramus, together with the second lieutenant mihayev, came to see me in the warehouse and said that on your order, he would release the 38 German prisoners of the 103rd regiment."


    I nodded and said definitely, "yes, it''s my order. What''s the matter?"


    "Comrade division," busmanov said, a little impatient. He raised his voice and said, "if all the German prisoners are released, what should we do in case of mutiny?"


    As for basmanov''s worries, I waved my hand and said, "don''t worry, gramus has promised me that their people will be honest and won''t cause you any trouble. If you don''t feel at ease, don''t put bullets in their guns. "


    "What, to give them weapons?" On hearing this, busmanov jumped out of his seat.


    I looked up at him and said, "yes, since I have promised captain Grimes to return his men to him, it''s normal to give them weapons."


    "No, not at all!"


    "Huh?" Seeing basmanov''s gaffe, I frowned and said displeased, "Captain basmanov, I remind you that I am the division commander of this independent division, not you! Let me has the final say if I can''t put prisoners in the arms and give them no weapons.


    When busmanov heard me say this, he suddenly came down like a frustrated ball. He sat down in his seat again and asked: "Comrade division, what I am worried about is that these German prisoners will become an unstable factor after they are released."


    "There will be a new German army coming into the station tomorrow. If we don''t release these prisoners to make up the number, our soldiers will easily show their flaws." In order to reassure him, I specially explained to him: "I know the Germans. Once they agree to cooperate with you, they will do well in this, so you don''t have to worry any more."


    Seeing what I said, busmanov could only nod helplessly. After all, he was only my guard battalion commander, not my superior. He had no right to oppose any decision I made.


    Seeing basmanov''s sullen appearance, it was obvious that I didn''t want to see the subordinates of captain gramus again. Suddenly, I had an idea. I thought of a way to settle him, so I said to him, "Captain basmanov, I have a task for you. I don''t know if you can finish it?"


    When he heard that I had a task to assign, basmanov immediately got up and asked, "Sir, I''m ready for your order at any time."


    "Now that I''m ready, I''ll give you the hard task." I also stood up and said solemnly, "there will be German troops in the station tomorrow. The trucks in the square in front of the station must be transferred immediately. I now order you to take the soldiers of a company and transport these materials back to the division''s defense area. "


    Knowing that it was such a task, basmanov hesitated for a long time and then said, "the Germans are not blind. It may not be easy for such a large team of us to pass through the German defense area."


    It turned out that he was worried about it. I thought he didn''t want to go, so I explained to him again, "it''s OK, Captain basmanov. You disguise as German and transport these materials back to our defense area. If there is a German inquiry on the way, you say that the train carrying arms the day before yesterday was destroyed by the Soviet army, and the headquarters had no choice but to use cars to transport the weapons and ammunition urgently needed at the frontier. "


    Basmanov''s face became relaxed. He grinned and replied, "well, since the Division has made arrangements, I''ll take people to take this batch of materials back to our defense area." At this point, he paused for a moment, and then said, "but Comrade division commander, you may have to contact Comrade xiejerikov first, otherwise, we finally passed the German blockade and were killed by our own artillery. It''s not worth it."


    "Don''t worry, Captain busmanov. I''ll inform Lieutenant sergeant chejerikov." At this point, I specially told busmanov, "Comrade captain, you have to remember that two of the trucks are loaded with heavy howitzer shells. If there is any accident on the road, even if all other vehicles are lost, it is necessary to ensure that these two vehicles can be delivered to captain yegonovich smoothly. There are not many shells in the artillery battalion. If we don''t have the support of artillery, we will pay more if we want to hold our position. "


    When he heard me say this, basmanov''s face became serious again. He straightened up and assured me, "please don''t worry, sir. I promise to finish the task well."


    "Well, it shouldn''t be too late. Go and choose the soldiers who will go back to the defense area with you. For the sake of safety, when you go back to the defense area, you don''t have to go back. After all, that''s the focus of our defense. "


    "But, comrade division commander," busmanov said in embarrassment, "I''m your guard battalion commander, and my duty is to protect your safety. If I don''t come back to our defense area, how can I protect your safety? Why don''t you put someone else on the job? "


    "No way," I said solemnly when I saw that he wanted to back off. "You don''t have to worry about my safety. Your task now is to transport this batch of materials back to our defense area safely. Do you understand? "


    "I understand." Basmanov replied in a low voice.


    "It''s too low to hear!"


    "I understand!" Basmanov replied in a loud voice.


    Then I nodded with satisfaction, waved my hand to him and said, "now that you understand, you should get ready quickly."


    Shortly after basmanov left, Mikhail and gramus came to my headquarters again, followed by two German soldiers. From their slightly tired faces, they should be the prisoners who had just been released.


    Four people were standing in a row in front of me. After captain gramus raised his hand to salute me, he began to talk again. My royal translator Mikhail immediately began to interpret simultaneously: "Comrade division, these two are my right men, Lieutenant greteka, the leader of a row, and Sergeant Schwartz, the monitor of communication."


    Originally, I thought that the captured officers and soldiers should have been enemies when they met me. They were very red eyed, and their eyes would shoot hatred eyes that could kill people. Unexpectedly, they looked at me with a blank expression, without any hatred.


    I got up, went up to lieutenant gretka, looked with a smile at the gentle looking German officer in a pair of gold glasses, reached out to him and said in a friendly way, "Hello, Mr. Lieutenant! Allow me to introduce myself. I''m the commander of the Soviet independent division, Colonel oshanina


    "Hello, sir!" I didn''t expect that lieutenant gretka would be fluent in Russian when he opened his mouth. I looked at mikhayev in surprise to find out what was going on. The second lieutenant then said, "don''t be surprised, sir. I used to study at the Tchaikov Conservatory of music in Moscow for five years, so it''s not surprising that I can speak fluent Russian."


    I heard that he had studied at the Conservatory of music in Moscow, and I immediately felt a little better about him. I shook his hand and said, "so that''s it, lieutenant. No wonder you speak Russian so well."


    After releasing his hand, I went to the communication monitor, looked at the old soldier, and then extended my hand to him. Before speaking, I thought to myself, Sergeant Schwartz doesn''t know Russian, does he?


    After I took Sergeant Schwartz''s hand, he mumbled a few words, but I didn''t understand a word, so I turned my eyes to the next lieutenant gretka. The second lieutenant immediately understood and translated for me: "Hello, sir, I''m glad to have the opportunity to serve you!"


    I stepped back a few steps, stood close to the table, and asked some former German officers and soldiers, "I want to ask you, have you ever participated in street fighting before?"


    Second lieutenant gretka, who first understood me, looked nervously to the left and right, then raised his hand and said, "Sir, I took part in a street fight when I captured Kharkov."


    "Oh, Mr. lieutenant, you''ve been in a street fight." After listening to his reply, I was overjoyed, and then asked with great interest, "can I ask you, did you win in the end?"


    "Of course, sir." When it comes to his achievements, gretka is a little complacent. "Since Kharkov city has been captured by us, then our street fight is obviously won."


    Without waiting for me to make a statement, gramus, who had just learned about the conversation between me and the second lieutenant from mihayev, coughed heavily and then glared at the second lieutenant with severe eyes. Gretka shuddered at his fierce eyes and closed her mouth.


    I understand the reason why gramus did this. If they were still in the German fighting sequence, they would undoubtedly be worth showing off. But it would bring them a lot of trouble to say this in front of their former enemies. But I don''t ask the second lieutenant on impulse. I want to know about the German style of street fighting, so that we can use it in the coming battle of Stalingrad.


    I quickly waved to Grimes and defended lieutenant gretka: "Captain Grimes, don''t blame lieutenant gretka. I asked him to say all this. Although we used to be enemies, we are now on the same front. I''m asking the second lieutenant this question because I want to learn from him some useful combat experience for us. " At this point, I told Mikhail: "Mikhail yev, Lieutenant!"


    Mikhail quickly stepped forward and replied in a loud voice, "here we are!"


    "You immediately run to commander Oleg and commissar veroll and ask them to gather all the officers of the fifth regiment and above. I have something important to announce to them."


    After Mikhail left, I looked at the silent German sergeant and asked curiously, "sergeant, how many years have you been a soldier?"


    "Report to the Colonel that I have been a telegraph operator in the army for eight years." After listening to the second lieutenant''s translation, the sergeant replied loudly.


    "Sergeant, what I really want to know is, why didn''t you give an alarm to the superior when our army attacked that night?"


    After listening to the translation this time, the sergeant replied with some shame: "Sir, that night your sneak attack troops first attacked the communication room in the box office. My subordinates and I were all controlled by your people, and there was no chance to send an alarm to the nearby friendly forces or the superior."


    After listening to his explanation, I nodded. It seems that this sergeant is not a waste. It is because the fifth regiment first cut off the contact between the German troops at the station and the surrounding German troops that our attack is so smooth and has not been found by the enemy.


    Then I talked to lieutenant gretka for a while, and we didn''t stop talking until mihayev reappeared at the door. Standing at the door, mihayev reported to me: "Comrade division commander, lieutenant commander Oleg, political commissar verol and all company commanders of the fifth regiment are now in the small waiting hall of the station, waiting for your arrival."


    "Come on, let''s go to the waiting hall." I finished speaking to a few Germans and walked to me first. Although they don''t know why I let them go with me, they still follow me honestly.


    The area of the small waiting room is not large, which is only 40-50 square meters. It is estimated that it belongs to the VIP waiting room of later generations, and there are many benches in it. Seeing us go in, more than a dozen commanders, who had been sitting in their seats, stood up neatly under the command of Oleg and verol, and raised their hands to salute me.


    After I saluted, I stretched out my hands and pressed them down. When everyone was seated again, I said, "Comrade commander, I''m calling you here today to let the German Lieutenant behind me, Lieutenant gretka, tell you how the German army fought in the street."


    As soon as my voice fell, it was like a handful of smoke scattered in a boiling oil pan, which suddenly exploded. In the uproar of voices, I heard a commander discontented and said: "what, the Germans tell us tactics, why?"


    "Yes," someone immediately went on, "these are our defeated generals, or the prisoners who have just been released. What qualifications do they have to give us a lecture?"


    "Be quiet, be quiet, everyone be quiet!" Seeing the frost on my face, Oleg quickly stood up and yelled at his subordinates. When all the people were quiet, he went on: "let''s continue to listen to the teacher."


    I said to the commanders with a straight face: "Comrade commander, I know that you look down on the German people behind me. You think they are our defeated generals and prisoners, so you have no equal right with us. Now I''ll tell you why I asked these Germans to give you a lecture. Perhaps in the near future, our division will retreat into Stalingrad, and in the battle to defend the city, we will launch a brutal street battle with the enemy. I asked lieutenant gretka to tell you how the German army fought in the streets. I just want you to accumulate some experience in the streets, so that you can effectively reduce the casualties of the troops. " Seeing the silence, I turned to lieutenant gretka and said, "now it''s your turn, lieutenant. Tell us how you fought with our army in Kharkov. " Gretka waved his hand and said nervously, "Sir, forget it. I''d better not talk about it."¡° Don''t worry. Just tell the truth. Our commanders and fighters need to learn how to fight in the street through your narration. " Speaking of this, I turned to the commanders here and said, "comrades commanders, let me remind you that lieutenant greteka is no longer our enemy. From the moment he was released, he is one of us. I will not allow anyone to discriminate against him. In the course of his speech, if you have anything you don''t understand, you can ask him questions, but you can''t make a fuss. Do you understand? "¡° Understand A dozen commanders answered in unison. I turned again, and with a smile on my face, I said to lieutenant gretka, "Lieutenant, that''s all right. Next, please tell us about your fighting experience in Kharkov street battle. " With my encouragement, Lieutenant gretka took two steps forward, stood in front of the crowd, and began to talk about his fighting experience in Kharkov. I quickly asked hugram, mihayev and the sergeant of the signalman to sit down and listen to the experience taught by lieutenant gretka. Only second lieutenant gretka said: "after the big troops invaded Kharkov, our company''s 103rd infantry regiment also joined the brutal street fighting. After the alley war, the troops who attacked the city in the early stage suffered heavy casualties, and our company, originally a reserve team, also put into the battle ahead of time. At that time, the regiment ordered us to seize a block. Because the space there was too narrow to deploy too many troops, Captain Grimes, the company commander, only sent me to lead a platoon to attack. In order to strengthen the firepower of our army, the superior specially equipped our platoon with a fireman and an 81mm mortar. Before the attack, I went to the field hospital specially and learned a lot from the wounded soldiers there. Because in the street battle, a large number of tanks are not very useful, on the contrary, they are easy to become the targets of Soviet anti tank fighters, so I only need two No. 3 tanks. " As soon as Lieutenant gretka said this, verol stood up and said to her men, "I think this German Lieutenant has made a lot of sense. Please keep a record: in street battles, large-scale tanks are useless." When she saw more than a dozen commanders taking out their pens and paper and recording carefully, her face showed a smile. Then she turned to make a gesture of invitation to lieutenant gretka and sat down again.

 Chapter 591

    Street fighting, also known as "city war", is a battle between streets and houses. It usually takes place in cities or large villages. The first is the close combat between the enemy and ourselves, which is cruel. The two sides compete fiercely for solid buildings, main streets and commanding heights. Second, the enemy and ourselves are mixed and intertwined with each other, and the movements of the two armies are restricted, often resulting in many local independent battles.


    Since the crossing, I have participated in almost all kinds of positional offensive and defensive warfare. I have little contact with this kind of urban street warfare gradually formed with the expansion of the scale of the war, and my group of commanders and fighters know little about this important combat style, so I specially called them together today, Let''s listen to lieutenant gretka''s talk about the city battles he participated in, and let the commanders know what the city street fighting is all about.


    Lieutenant gretka, seeing that the room was quiet and no one was talking, continued: "I separated sergeant Bossel''s squad and followed the tanks and firemen to attack the other side of the block, while I took three squads with an 81mm mortar to attack from the front.


    My men and I assembled behind a row of bungalows. Our target was a three story concrete building across the road. There were four similar buildings in this street, which was the commanding height of the whole block. Almost all the buildings have been toppled off because of the air attack of our army in the morning.


    I hide behind the window of a room to observe the situation on the opposite side. The building seems empty, but I dare not take it lightly. Who knows if there will be hidden Russians behind the windows without glass, who are closely monitoring us preparing to launch an attack.


    Just when I hesitated, Sergeant zegor, the second squad leader, came into the room from the big hole in the wall and saw that I had not given the order to attack. He was a little frustrated and yelled out: "Mr. second lieutenant, what are you hesitating about? It looks like there is no one in the opposite building. Let''s attack?"


    I took a look at him and stopped him decisively: "no way." Although I didn''t agree to his attack request, I couldn''t think of any good way in a hurry. At this time, Sergeant pullang, the third squad leader, and Sergeant Kranz, the fourth squad leader, came into the room and heard the conversation between sergeant zegor and me. Sergeant Krantz thought for a moment and said to me, "Sir, I have a way!" Seeing us all looking at him strangely, he continued, "you should cover me with fire and rush into the building, and then let the soldiers rush through one by one."


    I was very curious about his proposal, so I asked, "Sergeant Kranz, why do the soldiers rush one by one?"


    "Mr. lieutenant," Kranz replied, "I guess there must be a lot of Russian firepower in the building. If we rush together, they will be scared. The firepower composed of their machine guns and submachine guns will cause heavy damage to our attacking forces. But if they rush past one by one, they will not expose their firepower for the sake of one or two soldiers when they see that we have too few people in the range. In this way, when they understand, I think most of the people in our platoon have already rushed into the opposite building, so that we have enough strength to carry out the assault, Take out all the Russians in the building! "


    Listen to what he said is very reasonable, I nodded and agreed. With my permission, Sergeant Kranz opened the door and rushed out of the room with his submachine gun. When he rushed to the road, my heart went up to my throat. I was afraid that the Russian hiding in the building would shoot at him. But facts have proved that Kranz''s analysis is correct. The Russians are not willing to expose their firepower for the sake of one person. Before he rushes to the building, no one shoots in the opposite building. "


    When lieutenant gretka just said this, I heard a captain not far away muttering in a low voice: "damn the Krauts, they are really cunning. If it''s me, I see only one person running over, and I absolutely don''t allow soldiers to open fire to expose the target."


    Gretka obviously heard the captain''s complaint, but he just looked in the direction of the captain, and did not stop his story: "Sergeant Kranz rushed out of the building, did not rush in through the corridor door immediately, but leaned against the wall and threw a grenade inside. After the explosion of the grenade, several fire tongues shot out of the corridor. It seems that some Russians could not help but shoot outside in spite of the orders of their superiors.


    Kranz threw two more grenades into it, and the shooting stopped immediately. At about this time, the soldiers in Crantz''s class had rushed out of the building one after another, leaning back against the wall and throwing grenades into the window, just like their monitor. Without waiting for the smoke of the explosion to disperse, some of them rushed into the building from the door, and some directly turned the window into the building.


    Seeing that the fourth class of Crantz had all impacted the building opposite, I stood up straight, straightened my cap, and said to sergeant zegor, the second squad leader, who was already eager to try, "sergeant, take your soldiers and occupy the other party''s building."


    Zegor excitedly agreed, drilled out of the big hole in the wall, called the second class hidden behind the bungalow, and charged against the opposite building.


    However, class 2 was not so lucky as class 4. They just rushed to the road. Behind a window on the second floor, a machine gun shot them fiercely. The two soldiers who rushed in front of them were knocked down on the spot, and the rest had to lie down to fight back.


    Seeing that the attack was frustrated, I immediately ordered the mortar team equipped for my platoon to bombard the fire point. After two rounds, I found that although the building was riddled with holes by the air force, the mortar couldn''t play a big role, because there was a ceiling to block it, and the shells couldn''t fall down at all. The machine gun was still shooting recklessly, which made the second crew unable to lift their heads.


    When I told the mortar to stop firing, I was about to let class three take part in the attack. The shooting window suddenly exploded, and the Russians in the room rushed to the window and fell down with their machine guns. Before I could figure out what was going on, I suddenly saw someone at the window waving a German helmet. Then Kranz leaned out of the window. I realized that Kranz, who was fighting in the building, had blown up the enemy''s machine gun.


    Seeing that the second class also attacked the building, I gave an order to the third class leader who was still standing beside me: "sergeant pullang, get ready and take your third class to attack the second building immediately."


    Pollan agreed to get out of the hole in the wall and gather his troops.


    On the other side of the block, however, the soldiers went very smoothly. The soldiers of the first group cooperated with the tank soldiers very well, because there was no concrete building there, only an ordinary warehouse. Seeing that the terrain here was good for us, a tank soldier leaned out of the turret and looked around. As a result, he was shot dead by a Russian hiding in the warehouse.


    Our two tanks immediately turned the muzzle and fired two rounds in the direction of the bullets, collapsing the wall and burying the sniper in the rubble. Then our firemen came forward and burned him with fire. Seeing that our tanks destroyed the warehouse and threatened buildings 3 and 4, the Russians launched a counterattack. They sent a squad of infantry to attack us under the cover of an armored vehicle.


    As soon as the armored car appeared in the sight of the tankers, it was destroyed by the artillery fire, and the rest of the infantry were also destroyed by the tank fire and the vehicle machine gun. Then the first group, under the cover of tanks, launched an attack on Building 3. Unexpectedly, it was met with tenacious resistance by the Russian people. A wounded Russian second lieutenant, holding a bundle of cluster grenades, jumped down from the window on the second floor and died with a tank. The remaining tank, fearing the same fate, quickly retreated.


    After class two and class four captured building one, they cooperated with class three to capture building two. Class one, which was defeated by the Russians, launched a new attack on building three under the cover of the remaining tank.


    Four classes after fierce fighting, although paid heavy casualties, still failed to capture the third and fourth building. At this time, there were only a dozen people left in our platoon, and class one and class two were almost finished. Seeing the heavy casualties in our platoon, the company commander transferred another platoon to replace us in the tough battle of the building. "


    At this point, Lieutenant gretka stopped, turned to me politely and said, "Sir, my experience of street fighting is over."


    I nodded to him, got up and said, "thank you, lieutenant. There''s nothing for you here for the time being. Go and have a rest with your companions. " After that, I said to mikhaev next to me, "Comrade second lieutenant, take captain gramus, Lieutenant gretka and this communication monitor to have a rest."


    After mihayev and the three Germans left the house, I stood in front of the commanders and asked solemnly, "comrades, what do you think of the story of German lieutenant gretka?"


    The third company commander looked around for a moment, stood up and said in a loud voice: "report to our division commander, I think our soldiers are very tenacious, even if all of them die bravely, they will never step back."


    After hearing what he said, I snorted heavily and said discontentedly, "fighting is about skill. I don''t deny that the commander of our army, who was just said by lieutenant gretka, was really brave. He jumped down from the stairs with a bundle of cluster grenades and died with the German tank when he was seriously injured, His brave and tenacious fighting spirit is worth learning. But then again, in the battle to defend the city, what we have to do is to preserve ourselves and destroy the enemy. If you can''t save yourself, it''s no use just having a high fighting spirit. In the end, you will die as honorably as those commanders and fighters who stick to No. 1 and No. 2 buildings. "


    "I don''t understand, sir." Another Captain stood up and asked, "don''t we always fight positional warfare with the German army? Why ask this German guy to tell us about street fighting in the city?"


    When the captain finished speaking, I said coldly, "Comrade captain, have you not found that the present strength of our army can only delay but not stop the German advance towards Stalingrad after fighting for so long? From the analysis of the current situation, the German army will rush into Stalingrad in the near future. If we don''t want to be thrown into the Volga River by the Germans, we must fight a cruel street battle with them in the city. "


    "But our division has been winning all the time. Can''t this stop the German from marching towards Stalingrad?" The captain retorted, still unconvinced.


    "Enough, fifth company commander." Oleg got up from his seat and yelled at the captain who was playing the opposite role. "Don''t you think that the defenders in other areas, except our division''s defense line, are retreating to Stalingrad step by step under the strong German offensive? If the independent division had not been under the command of commander oshanina, then our division would have been either maimed or destroyed or captured by the German army. "


    The captain was reprimanded by Oleg. He did not dare to refute, so he sat down reluctantly.


    I went on to say, "the reason why I asked lieutenant gretka to tell you about the street fighting he participated in today is to let you know what the street fighting is like. I would like to ask you a question. If you lead your troops in a building and see only one German soldier rushing towards you, will you order to shoot? "


    As soon as I asked this question, everyone was in a mess. Some said they would shoot, others said they would not shoot. The public said that the public was reasonable, and the old woman said that the old woman was reasonable. No one could persuade anyone. The room was noisy.


    When they had almost finished their argument, I raised my hand and pressed it down. Seeing that everyone shut up, I then asked, "how are you, comrades commander, do you have an answer?"


    Verol stood up and asked his men, "comrades, do you know what to do?" All the people, including Oleg, shook their heads neatly about her question.


    Seeing that no one answered, verol said without hesitation: "I think about it carefully. If we didn''t listen to the German Lieutenant talking about it, we would choose not to shoot in case of such a sudden situation. I don''t know if you agree with me? " Her last sentence is to ask the commanders present. After listening to it, everyone nodded at the same time.


    She continued: "if you shoot, you expose the target, and the attacking German army will be alert; If we don''t shoot, we won''t expose the target, but if the German forces break up into parts and rush into the building to attack as they did just now, we will still suffer a great loss. So I think about it this way, is it possible to arrange two or three sharpshooters in each building to fight a single German who rushes to the building. And even if the German army has a large force in the back, they will not be too alert when they see only one or two people shooting. When they find something wrong, it is estimated that there are many German soldiers'' bodies in front of our building. "


    To tell you the truth, when I heard from lieutenant gretka just now, I also found it difficult to shoot or not to shoot. However, it is a feasible way to follow veroll''s suggestion. So I made a decisive decision and said in a loud voice: "yes, I think political commissar veroll is right. In the future, if our division''s troops stick to the established buildings, they must be equipped with snipers to attack the individual German soldiers who rush to the buildings. Do you have any objection? "


    "No!" The people in this room replied loudly.


    In order to enhance your impression, I said while the iron was hot: "in addition, the street fighting in the city is similar to the guerrilla tactics we usually use, that is, if we win, we will fight, and if we don''t win, we will leave. We should never fight hard with the Germans, find the right time, fight when we have the opportunity, and the battle cost is not big. Don''t worry about the gains and losses of a street or a building, Focus on the elimination of German forces. We should know how to concentrate our superior forces against small or isolated enemies and turn small victories into big ones. "


    "Comrade division commander, when can we find the right time and fight when we have a chance?" A company commander sitting in the middle asked me modestly.


    "What is a favorable fighter? Even when the German troops were small and the terrain was unfavorable, and they were not ready. We should not fight three times. First, we should not fight when we find that the number of German troops is larger than ours; Second, the terrain occupied by the German army was good, so they did not fight; Third, the German army was prepared and did not fight; In short, we will not fight unprepared or uncertain battles. "


    As soon as I finished, the third company commander stood up again. He scratched the back of his head and said, "Comrade division, listen to what you just said. You are giving us a war theory lesson. But we are just ordinary company commanders. Is it useful to learn these things? "


    As soon as his words were finished, I immediately nodded my head and said with certainty: "useful, of course useful. Although you are only company commander now, the next battle will be more cruel. Many people, including me, may die. However, the surviving commanders may be promoted because they have experienced the war and have rich combat experience. Although what I said is not very useful when you are a company commander, when you become a battalion commander or even a division commander, you will find how important this knowledge is to you. Finally, I would like to remind you that if a commander makes a wrong decision, many soldiers will pay the price of blood and life. In my division, such commanders who do not cherish the lives of soldiers are absolutely not allowed to exist. "


    At this point, I waved to the commanders and said, "OK, that''s all for now. There will be a German army coming over tomorrow. We will go back to our company and do a good job in camouflage. We must not make any mistakes, otherwise our Camouflage Army will be exposed. Once exposed, what kind of consequences will there be? I just don''t want to say it. We all know it in our hearts. "

 Chapter 592

    After the meeting, I called Oleg and verol to my headquarters and planned to discuss with them how to settle our team. After all, even if busmanov left with a company, there would be more than 500 or 600 troops in the station, and a considerable number of commanders and fighters had no German uniform.


    As soon as I entered the headquarters, I first went to Shula, leaned down and said to her, "Shula, immediately send a message to lieutenant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant serge. In order to successfully pass through the German blockade line, Captain busmanov, they all changed into German uniforms. Please pay attention to identification and do not misunderstand your own people. "


    Shula agreed, and immediately put her finger on the sending button and started to send the message.


    I told Shura to send the message and turned back to my position. Looking up, he found that Oleg and veroll were still standing by and asked them to sit down.


    As soon as the unhappy Oleg sat down, he said, "Comrade teacher, I can''t figure it out."


    "I can''t figure it out. What can''t?" Oleg''s words confused me. After staring at him for a long time, I asked tentatively, "commander Oleg, do you mean I shouldn''t have asked the German lieutenant to tell the commanders about the fighting experience just now?"


    I didn''t expect that Oleg, after listening, desperately waved his hands and said, "no, it''s not this thing?"


    It''s not this. What''s wrong with it? I did not speak, just quietly looking at him, waiting for him to take the initiative to tell me the answer.


    After a short silence, he finally said: "I have no objection to your order to release all the German prisoners. But you also let them work with our soldiers. Although there are four of us in the five person patrol, I don''t trust them. I don''t think you should trust them like this. "


    When I heard that, the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. I leaned back on the back of my chair and said with disapproval, "why am I doing this? It''s this. Commander Oleg, as you said just now, the ratio of the German soldiers on duty to our soldiers is 1:4, and there are no bullets in their guns, so nothing can happen. "


    "But why should these German soldiers be on duty with our soldiers?" "Don''t you trust them so much?" Oleg asked


    After listening to Oleg''s words, I thought for a moment and answered him, "yes, commander Oleg, I believe them. Because these German soldiers who have just been released are not the SS soldiers brainwashed by the government, but the ordinary soldiers of the national defense forces. As long as they understand that their cooperation with us is not against the Germans, but for the birth of a new Germany and against the Communist Party represented by Hitler, they will choose to cooperate with us. "


    "But, just in case..." Oleg tried to persuade me again, but I stopped without hesitation. I turned to ask veroll, "political commissar veroll, I''m looking for you and lieutenant commander Oleg to study how to hide our surplus troops so that the German troops coming tomorrow won''t find them. Do you have any good idea? "


    Verol frowned and thought for a moment, then said hesitantly, "if you want to hide, you can only let those troops without German uniform hide to the second floor of the waiting hall of the station. I went up to check. Although the buildings were seriously damaged by the German artillery fire, there were still many places upstairs where the troops could be concealed. In addition, I have a suggestion. "


    "What advice? Come on, verol


    "I think that after the new German troops are placed in the warehouse, we should draw a cordon on the platform and forbid those Germans to come. In this way, we can reduce the possibility of being seen through..."


    Just as verol said this, there was a loud noise outside the door. I vaguely heard a familiar voice calling out: "let me in, let me in. I have something important to report to my teacher."


    Hearing the noise outside, I could not help frowning. I told Shura, who was looking around: "Shura, go out and have a look. What''s going on outside? Why is it so noisy?"


    Shula nodded, got up, opened the door and went out. After a while, Shula stood at the door, holding the door with her hand, and reported to me, "Comrade division, there is a soldier named Boris outside. He said that he had an important situation to report to you, but he was blocked by the sentry at the door."


    "Let him in." Before Shura finished, I gave the order straight.


    Almost at the end of my order, Boris, who was carrying a rifle, rushed in. Without paying any attention to saluting me, he said aloud, "report, sir, something''s wrong!"


    "What''s the matter?"


    "There are two... Two German soldiers, fleeing... Fleeing!" Boris reported breathlessly.


    "What?! Some German soldiers have escaped Hearing this shocking news, all three of US jumped up from our positions. Oleg grabbed Boris by the collar and asked nervously, "come on, what''s going on?"


    Maybe Oleg was so hard that Boris coughed violently. After a short period of panic, I calmed down a little. Seeing that Boris was strangled, I hurried over and asked Oleg to let go. Then I asked Boris, "tell me, what''s the matter?"


    After Oleg loosened the collar of Boris, Boris still covered his throat with his hand and gasped for a while. When he felt a little better, he replied to me, "Sir, two German soldiers ran away with empty guns."


    "How did you run, and in what direction?"


    "Just when I was on guard, I saw two men in German uniforms walking south along the tracks. Because it''s a little far away, I can''t see each other''s faces clearly. In addition, they are still carrying guns. I thought they were our soldiers on patrol, so I didn''t care. I didn''t expect that the two people walked farther and farther away. They were 70 or 80 meters away from the station, but they didn''t stop. I realized that it was wrong, so I called them to stop. I didn''t expect that it was OK not to shout. Hearing my cry, they ran away. For fear of exposing the target, I didn''t dare to shoot, but followed them. They are running too fast. I haven''t caught up with them for some distance, so I''ll report back to you. "


    After hearing what he said, I felt hot on my face. I just thought that Oleg vowed that the German prisoners would cooperate with us, but I didn''t expect that there was a desertion. "How long have they been running?" I asked, biting my back teeth


    "Less than five minutes." Boris quickly replied, and then added: "two people may not be familiar with the road, so they fled south along the railway line."


    "What should I do, sir?" Oleg asked me.


    In my mind, I quickly thought about the terrain in the south of the station. In my impression, there is a road close to the railway. If people take a motorcycle to chase, they should be able to catch up. So I quickly ordered Oleg: "Comrade commander, you take Boris and another class of soldiers to chase south along the railway line by motorcycle. Live to see people, even if killed, but also to bring their bodies back to me


    "Yes, I promise to finish the task." Oleg agreed, turned and waved his head to Boris beside him: "follow me."


    Looking at the figure of the two men leaving, verol asked in a flustered way: "Comrade division, do you think they can catch the two escaped German soldiers?"


    "Of course, we should catch them. If they escape back to the Germans, all our disguises will be exposed. " At this point, I told verol: "you go and call captain gramus, and he will give me an account of this desertion."


    When verol left, I looked at the map on my desk in a daze, calculating the distance from the station to the nearest German camp in the south. The distance between the two places was five kilometers. It took two German soldiers almost 20 minutes to reach their destination if their physical strength allowed. Now it''s almost 10 minutes later. In other words, Oleg''s motorcade must stop them before they finish the rest of the journey, otherwise everything will be over.


    Verol came back soon, because captain gramus''s residence was not far from the headquarters. Grimes was obviously aware of the escape of his subordinates, so he was serious when he entered the door.


    "Captain Grimes," I said coldly, looking at him, "as you probably know, two soldiers ran away with empty guns. I asked you to come here to hear your opinion. What are you going to do with these two deserters when they are captured? "


    After listening to Mikhail''s translation, Grimes replied without hesitation: "Sir, I will shoot all my subordinates in front of them."


    Grimes'' statement made me feel better. If he refused to deal with the deserters, maybe I would order him and his subordinates to be disposed of immediately. In such an extraordinary period, there must be no unstable factors around us. Now that he had made it clear how to deal with it, I nodded slightly and said, "now that the captain has a way to deal with it, go and gather your men together. When the two deserters are captured by commander Oleg, you will shoot them in front of your men


    After listening to me, grimace nodded and said, "well, sir, I''ll shoot these two bloody deserters myself."


    When we left the headquarters, I told veroll in a low voice: "political commissar veroll, you should immediately transfer to the army to strengthen the defense in the south of the station, so that even if the Germans fight, we have time to deal with it." As soon as he was about to leave, he suddenly thought that maybe things would not be as bad as I thought, so he added: "if Lieutenant Colonel Oleg can bring the deserters back smoothly, he only needs to add a few more sentries in the south."


    Verol quickly replied, "yes, sir. I''ll arrange it now."


    Grimes soon assembled his troops on the platform. For fear of any further change, verol sent a company of troops to guard around the thirty German soldiers and surrounded them.


    Grimes turned a blind eye to the armed commanders and fighters around him. After finishing his unit, he came to me, raised his hand and said, "Sir, Captain Grimes reports to you that company E, 103rd German infantry regiment, has assembled and is waiting for your instructions."


    After glancing at the German line, I said, "Sir captain, all I can give you now is to stand by!"


    After hearing this, Grimes quickly turned to his line and announced to his subordinates in a loud voice, "stand by!"


    In this way, dozens of German officers and soldiers with empty guns were surrounded by hundreds of Soviet officers and soldiers with live ammunition. The platform was quiet, and none of them spoke. Even if someone coughs, cover his mouth with his hand, so as not to disturb the peace of the scene.


    Waiting for nearly a quarter of an hour, suddenly came the cry of Boris: "teacher, comrade teacher, where are you?"


    I listened, but Boris'' voice didn''t seem flustered, proving that their actions were fruitful, so I answered in a loud voice in the direction of the sound: "I''m here!"


    Soon, I saw Boris squeeze out from among the soldiers on the south side of the platform. He came to me, raised his hand with a happy face and reported, "Comrade division commander, we have captured two deserters."


    When I heard the report from Boris, there were two shouts of relief around me. It was only because the German officers and soldiers knew what Boris was saying when they heard the translation, so their reaction was half a beat slower than our soldiers.


    There was a rush of footsteps coming from a distance, and then I heard someone shouting, "let''s go, comrades, let''s go, let''s go, let''s go, let''s go, let''s go, let''s go, let''s go! Comrades, give way... "


    The soldier who served as the guard gave way to a passage, and then Oleg strode from the middle, followed by a dozen soldiers, and two soldiers whose hands were cut back behind him and escorted by the soldiers. Needless to say, these two must be the deserters who had just been captured.


    Oleg came up to me, raised his hand and said, "report to division commander, two deserters have been captured by us. What should we do with them? "


    I raised my chin in the direction of Captain Grimes and said, "give these two men to captain Grimes."


    "But, sir,...." Oleg looked at Grimes and said with some embarrassment, "is this how to give the deserters to captain Grimes?"


    "Yes, commander Oleg." I said faintly, "give these two men to captain Grimes. He knows what to do with deserters."


    Oleg heard my order, had no choice but to agree: "yes." Then he told the soldiers behind him, "do you hear me? Carry out the order immediately and give the two deserters to captain Grimes. "


    Two German soldiers, who were tied by the enemy, were retreated to the German line by angry soldiers. After they stumbled to the front of the line, a German Sergeant suddenly opened his mouth and cried out.


    I couldn''t understand their German, so I asked Mikhail, "Lieutenant, what are they talking about?"


    Mikhail yev''s eyes glared at the two German soldiers, and his mouth translated for me: "soldiers, compatriots, these Russians are like asking you to take up arms and fight the Germans. Now the army of our great German Empire has stepped on the threshold of Stalingrad. As long as we take another step forward, we can occupy the city. Soldiers... "


    It has to be said that the German Sergeant had a lot of eloquence, and the expression of many soldiers in the queue became blank. After listening to the translation of my companions, the soldiers around me also yelled at each other, and the scene became chaotic.


    I asked Mikhail in a low voice, "do you know who this sergeant is?"


    Mihayev hesitated and said, "it''s like the second squad leader in the platoon of second lieutenant gretka. I can''t remember his name."


    "Don''t think about it if you can''t remember. Anyway, he will be a dead man soon. A dead man, even if he is a German marshal, he is just a dead body without knowing it. " I stepped forward, raised my hands above my head, and cried out, "be quiet, please be quiet! Comrades, please be quiet


    The platform soon quieted down. I went up to the two deserters, gave them a scornful look, and then said aloud to the German soldiers who were standing in order: "soldiers, I''m captain oshanina of the Soviet independent division. I have a few words to say."


    My words were immediately translated into German by lieutenant gretka, who was standing in front of the line: "I just heard this German Sergeant say that one of your feet has entered the gate of Stalingrad. As long as you step forward, you can occupy the city. I want to ask you, is that possible? Do you think the city will be lost even though the German army is at present? No, I''m here to tell you solemnly, no, Stalingrad will never fall, and the banner of Lenin and Stalin will always fly high above this city. If nothing else, you should be able to feel that in the defense area of our independent division, even several divisions of the elite Holt tank 4th group army, not only failed to move forward, but also suffered heavy losses under our continuous attack. "


    Facts speak louder than words. My words made the German soldiers begin to whisper. Seeing this, I quickly struck while the iron was hot and said, "soldiers, the sergeant said, I want you to take up your arms and fight against your companions. Here, I want to tell you that what he said is also right and wrong. He is right because it is the Germans who will fight against you in the future; No, it is because these Germans who are going to fight against you are loyal to Hitler. They are not only the enemies of our Soviet Union, but also the enemies of your German people. I want to tell those soldiers who have doubts that if you are on the same front with us now, on the day when Germany is defeated, you officers and men who once took up arms and fought bravely with Hitler''s communists will become heroes of the new German Empire. " My words, perhaps a little too bizarre, both the German soldiers and my commanders and fighters were stunned, and the whole platform was silent, because at the critical moment of Stalingrad, I was shocked to announce that we could not only defend Stalingrad, but also defeat the German, if I was not the division commander, They think I''m a psycho. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I thought I had finished what I could say, so I went up to gramus and said to him, "Captain gramus, I''ll leave these two deserters to you. It''s up to you to deal with them." With that, I turned and walked back to the middle of my queue. The color on Grimes'' face was red and white, and he hesitated for a long time before he turned and said something loudly to his subordinates, probably asking for their advice. The German line was silent at first, then called out in order, and it was a simple word. As soon as I turned my head and looked at Mikhail, before I could speak, he had already taken the initiative to smile and said to me, "Comrade division commander, these soldiers have taken the initiative to ask captain gramus to shoot these two deserters. The word they yelled was "shoot." Grimes turned and nodded to me. Although he didn''t speak, I understood that he had made the final decision.

 Chapter 593

    In order to prevent exposure, I did not send troops to attack the German camp again. Besides, I learned that basmanov''s motorcade had returned to our defense area safely, so I had a good sleep.


    All night long.


    Just after daybreak, I heard someone knocking at the door. Then I heard Shula''s voice sleeping outside: "Comrade teacher, comrade teacher, are you up?"


    I quickly rolled out of bed, went to open the door, and asked Shula standing at the door, "Shula, what''s the matter?"


    Maybe Shura didn''t expect that I would open the door quietly. She was startled. She stepped back, stabilized herself, and reported to me, "Comrade division, commander Oleg is outside."


    "How long has he been here?" I asked as I dressed


    "About half an hour."


    "Then why don''t you wake me up at once?" Hearing that Oleg has been here for so long, I can''t help blaming Shura.


    "I wanted to call you, but Lieutenant Colonel Oleg told you to sleep a little longer, so it''s been put off till now."


    I nodded and said to her, "Shula, go get commander Oleg in."


    By the time commander Oleg came in, I was sitting in my seat, looking up at him, and asked with a smile, "commander Oleg, what''s the matter with you coming to me so early?"


    Oleg sat down in the chair opposite me and said hesitantly, "Comrade division, you should have guessed my purpose, right?"


    When he said that, I could not help frowning slightly, and asked, "what you want to say is that I allowed the German prisoners to meet the German troops with captain gramus?"


    Oleg nodded hard and said with certainty, "yes, sir, that''s what I want to say. You should know that two German soldiers had already escaped while on duty yesterday. If we let the rest of them meet the German troops today, we will be exposed once anyone comes out and shouts out while we are not prepared. "


    What Oleg said is also what I am worried about. To let the German prisoners who have just been released follow captain gramus to meet the new German troops outside the station will inevitably make the prisoners have illusions, and even some brave people rush to warn the new German. Although the risk of doing so is great, under the current situation, the risk has to be taken again. In order to stabilize Oleg''s mood, I patiently explained to him, "Comrade commander, don''t I know the risk of doing so? If a German prisoner shouts at the new German company, we will be exposed. But it is obviously unrealistic not to let them meet. You know, the new German may be quite familiar with gramus'' company. If they find that there are no other acquaintances except gramus in the reception team, and the officers and soldiers on duty at the station are all strange faces, they will not be suspicious at that time, which will lead to the complete exposure of our disguise. "


    When I said this, I saw Oleg''s sullen expression, and then said, "although it''s risky, we have also formulated necessary preventive measures. For example, when greeting the new troops, the German prisoners lined up in the square were all empty guns without bullets on their backs; Secondly, we have several times as many people around these prisoners. Even if they want to do something, they can stop it at the first time. The most important point is the troops hidden on the second floor of the waiting hall. They are our last card. Once exposed, they will open fire decisively and cooperate with the troops in the square to wipe out all the new German soldiers. "


    When I said that he was going to give the Germans a thunderbolt at the critical moment, Oleg''s eyes brightened and his face brightened. He was surprised and asked, "Comrade division, are you going to completely solve this new German company?"


    "Yes, if we don''t solve it, they will always be a disaster to us. However, we have to consider how to solve this problem. It''s better not to shoot if we can, because we still have to stick to this station for a while. Premature exposure is not a good thing for us. "


    Oleg quickly stood up and asked me to take the initiative: "let me command the troops lying in ambush on the second floor. I promise you that as long as I open fire, I will never let a German run away."


    I waved to him and said, "commander Oleg, the troops on the second floor are under the command of me and commissar verol. And your task is to follow gramus to meet the Germans with Lieutenant Mikhail. Remember you have to be around him all the time. Once he does something wrong, "I hesitated for a moment, then ordered in an emphatic tone," kill him without hesitation. "


    "Yes Oleg gave a loud promise, and then asked me respectfully, "Comrade division, can I go back? There is still some preparation work to be done. "


    "Then what are you doing standing here? Go I waved him out of the headquarters.


    After a simple wash, I left the headquarters to look for verol without even having breakfast. I didn''t expect that I met captain Grimes and lieutenant gretka just after I went out.


    When I saw them coming together, and knew that there must be something for me, I stopped and said to them, "Hello, Captain Grimes, Lieutenant gretka!"


    After they raised their hands to salute me, Lieutenant gretka politely said to me, "Sir, I don''t know if it''s convenient for you now, because the captain and I have something to talk to you about."


    Seeing that they had something to look for me, I gave up the idea of looking for verol. I waved my head to them and said, "this is not a place to talk. Let''s go and talk to my headquarters."


    After they sat down in front of me, I looked at lieutenant gretka and asked, "Mr. lieutenant, I don''t know you two came to see me so early. What can I do for you?"


    Second lieutenant gretka was obviously authorized by gramus. Without asking the captain any more questions, he said frankly, "Sir, I and the captain want to know what you are going to do with us after yesterday''s unexpected escape? Exactly what happened to me, Captain Grimes, and the other 35? "


    I shrugged my shoulders and said, "if you don''t make trouble for me any more, I will treat you as my friends and comrades in arms. At that time, you will not only be able to go in and out of the station as you are now, but you will even be able to match your weapons with bullets. "


    "Aren''t you afraid that when there are bullets in our guns, you will immediately turn the muzzle and shoot at you?"


    Although my heart trembled when I heard him say this, I still kept calm on the surface. I said with a smile: "if you turn the muzzle of the gun, I can only blame that I believe in the wrong person. But if you think you have the possibility of recapturing the station, I''ll tell you that you are very wrong. We have many more people than you


    Gretka''s face was embarrassed. He tried to squeeze out a smile and said to me, "Sir, please don''t get me wrong. I''m just joking with you. You know what you said yesterday touched us a lot. After going back at night for discussion, we reached a consensus that as long as you don''t treat us as prisoners of war and trust us, we are willing to cooperate with the Soviet army and serve you. "


    "First of all, you should ensure that there will not be any similar desertions in the future; Secondly, in today''s welcome ceremony, you should cooperate closely with my people, and never show any flaws, so that the new German company can realize that this station has been occupied by us. Can you do what I said about these two places? If you can, I can assure you that in my independent division, you are no longer our enemy or prisoner of war, but our comrades in the same trench. "


    Gretka was stunned at what I said. Captain Grimes, who didn''t understand us, was a little worried. He began to chatter at gretka. Gretka heard the captain''s voice, shook his head, and quickly translated our conversation to his captain.


    After listening to gretka''s translation, Captain Grimes stood up, raised his hand, saluted me solemnly, and said a few more words. Gretka quickly translated for him: "Comrade division, with the honor of German soldiers, I promise you that from this moment on, my subordinates and I will unswervingly stand on your side and become your loyal subordinates."


    Instead of paying him back, I reached out to him and said with a smile, "Captain Grimes, I sincerely welcome you and your men to be one of us."


    After taking his seat again, Grimes asked, "what are you going to do with this new company, sir?"


    Instead of answering his question directly, I asked, "Captain Grimes, if you are in my position, what are you going to do with these German soldiers?"


    Grimes thought for a moment and replied, "when the new troops get into the station, I''ll send my deputy, second lieutenant gretka, to take the soldiers to the warehouse to rest, and I''ll take the commander of this troop to the headquarters on the platform myself. You can ambush your hands in it first, and when the commander follows me into the room, you can quickly control the other party. "


    "How sure are you about that?" I thought Grimes'' suggestion was feasible, so I went on to ask, "can you make sure they don''t alert your superiors?"


    Grimes shook his head and said, "I don''t think they have a chance, because I will control the signalmen following the commander at the first time. In this way, they will not have a chance even if they give an alarm to the commander. In addition, I suggest that troops should also be ambushed around the warehouse. When the new troops enter the warehouse and are not ready, commander Oleg or other people should rush in unexpectedly and disarm all the people inside. "


    Hearing that gramus'' suggestion coincided with my original idea, I nodded with satisfaction and said to him, "this is a good plan, Captain gramus. Then we''ll arrange it according to your plan."


    "There is another problem, comrade division commander."


    "Come on, what''s the problem?"


    "How many people are you going to let me take out when I go to meet the friendly troops?"


    "You and your subordinates are 37 people in total. Then all of them will go up to the square and line up to greet you. As for our people, I''m going to send a company. "


    "A company?" Grimes listened to me and waved his hand and said, "no, no, that''s not going to work."


    "Why?" I asked in response.


    "Sir, you don''t know something." This time, it was lieutenant gretka who said, "after two times of fighting, when our company entered the station, there were only 95 people in total. If you are sending a company with us, then we have nearly 140 people. In this way, it is easy to arouse the suspicion of the other party. "


    "What do you say to do?" I asked without thinking.


    Lieutenant gretka thought for a moment and replied, "well, sir, we''re 37. You can send 50 more. When the commander of the other side comes to see that there are only more than 80 troops meeting them in the square, he will guess that the rest of them are on duty in the station, so that he won''t doubt it. "


    "It seems that you have considered it very comprehensively, comrade lieutenant." When the second lieutenant finished, I couldn''t help praising him.


    Lieutenant gretka laughed, and then asked, "Sir, it''s all over. Can captain Grimes and I leave?"


    "Go on, go on, you go back and think about it, see if there is anything missing, try not to show any flaws in front of the new troops. Otherwise, "I said solemnly," our army will not be responsible for any serious consequences. "


    After captain Grimes and them left, I went out with them to find verol, and I wanted to discuss with her how to arrange the firepower on the second floor of the waiting hall. Verol had known my plan from Oleg for a long time. She was not surprised to see me coming. She just led me silently to the second floor along the stairs with several holes in the explosion.


    After going upstairs, verol pointed to the soldiers squatting by the wall on the other side of the square and said to me, "Sir, please see, those are all machine gunners. If they fire, our firepower can cover the whole square in an instant, and the Germans will not have the slightest fight back."


    As soon as the machine gun goes off, you have a good fight, but we are also exposed. What I had received was to stick to it for five days. If I lost the station in just two days, even if I didn''t die at the station, I might be sent to the military court for trial after I went back. Based on this consideration, I still intend to eliminate these new arrivals with no blood, and also intend to make use of their radio stations to ensure that we can continue to disguise at the station.


    Thinking of this, I asked veroll: "political commissar veroll, is there a sharpshooter here?"


    Verol was stunned by my question for a moment, but she soon regained her mind, nodded, and then beckoned to the soldiers standing in the distance to come to us. When these soldiers came to us and stood in a row, verol introduced them to me and said, "Comrade division, these soldiers are from Siberia. They used to be hunters with good shooting skills. Do you have any instructions for them? "


    When I saw these sharpshooters in front of me, I thought that these soldiers would become snipers in Stalingrad city in the near future. Today, I just gave them a chance to practice. So I said to them, "comrades, I believe we are all good marksmen. In a few hours, a group of Germans will come to our station. My task is to monitor them. As soon as you get my firing order, you''ll give priority to killing all their officers. Are you confident? "


    "Yes!" The sharpshooters roared in unison.


    Seeing their imposing manner, I nodded and said with satisfaction: "very good. I''m very satisfied to see that everyone has high fighting spirit. As for the level of everyone, I think I will know soon


    After noon, Captain Grimes and his troops lined up in the station square to welcome the new troops. Verol and I were standing on the second floor of the waiting hall, watching everything in the square carefully. More than 30 subordinates of Grimes were scattered by us. Almost everyone was surrounded by two of our commanders and fighters.


    At two o''clock, verol suddenly pointed to the distance and said in a low voice, "Sir, look, the Germans are coming." I followed the direction of her fingers and saw a convoy of more than ten trucks coming towards us. At the beginning is an open car with the commander of the army.


    The team stopped at the place where there were more than 20 people left in the welcome team of gramus, and gramus immediately came forward with five or six people. I can see through the telescope that on the right side of gramus is lieutenant mihayev, followed by Lieutenant Oleg, and on the left side is his confidant, Lieutenant gretka. Although the other people look strange, they are also our soldiers.


    Seeing the machine guns on the top of the bridge of the truck and the machine gun shooters in the back, I couldn''t help whispering orders to the sharpshooters: "sharpshooters, take aim at the machine gun shooters on the truck."


    Almost at the same time as I gave the order, verol also gave the order to the machine gunners: "the machine gunner is ready to shoot as soon as the enemy shoots." But what happened next gave me a sigh of relief. Grimes went to the car, raised his hand to give a military salute to the people on the car, and the other side also pushed the door open, jumped out of the car and raised his hand to him in return. Then they shook hands and walked shoulder to shoulder toward the waiting hall of the station. I don''t know if it was my words yesterday that really shocked those German prisoners, or the thunder method of shooting two deserters yesterday scared them. Anyway, the prisoners in the queue showed great cooperation. They just stood in the line honestly and didn''t do anything strange. The commander of the German army followed gramus to the station. Another officer who jumped off the car ran to the front of the motorcade and yelled a few words. Seeing the soldiers on the truck start to get off, he turned and trotted to catch up with his commander and came to us. Seeing the German soldiers jump out of the car and line up beside the truck, verol asked in a low voice, "Sir, do you want to shoot?" I shook my head and replied, "the Germans didn''t see us. Don''t shoot."¡° However, you can see how orderly the German line is. There is no better target. If I fire, I want to kill them all in five minutes. " I looked at her discontentedly, and said in a stern whisper, "commissar verol, I repeat, no one is allowed to shoot without my order. If anyone shoots without permission, I will punish her even if all the Germans are wiped out. " When verol heard my stern order, he had no choice but to say, "yes." Then she told her men, "watch out for the enemy in the square. No one is allowed to shoot without orders."

 Chapter 594

    Grimes and the German officers walked shoulder to shoulder into the gate of the station and passed through the first floor of the waiting hall at our feet. Then the German soldiers who had completed the assembly, led by the officers, followed our soldiers and entered the waiting hall one after another.


    Verol and I rushed to the other window on the second floor and pasted it against the wall, carefully observing the situation below. The German officer who entered the station first was standing downstairs, pointing out the troops who entered the station. Next to him, Captain Grimes was smiling and nodding his head.


    Then I saw gramus beckoning mihayev to me and whispering a few orders. Second lieutenant mihayev nodded, then ran to the German soldiers who had just entered the station and yelled at them. Verol knew I couldn''t understand, so he quickly translated for me in a low voice: "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant Mikhail is telling these German soldiers, I''ll take you to the camping place, everyone follow closely, don''t fall behind."


    It seems that mihayev wants to lead these German soldiers to the two warehouses, and then send the troops hidden around to solve them all.


    When the German soldiers got off the platform, followed the guide of lieutenant mikheiev, crossed several tracks, and walked towards the warehouse in the distance, I could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. As long as the Germans get to the warehouse, they are turtles in a jar. We have to deal with them, but we are not sure.


    The German officer standing with Captain Grimes, seeing that his troops had entered the warehouse, nodded and followed Grimes towards my headquarters. Oleg, who had been following them all the time, looked left and right. Seeing that there were all his own people nearby, he quietly raised his hand and made a gesture to me. Then he quickened his pace to catch up with gramus.


    Seeing Oleg gesturing to us, verol asked in a low voice, "what does commander Oleg mean?"


    I chuckled and replied, "don''t you understand? Lieutenant commander Oleg told us that everything was ready. When the two German officers entered the headquarters, they could be captured. "


    "Only two officers?" Verol looked out, then quickly drew his head back and whispered, "behind the officer, there''s a messenger with a walkie talkie on his back."


    "Signalman?" I didn''t notice that just now. After listening to veroll''s words, I quickly looked out and saw that behind gramus and the German officers, there was a messenger with a soft hat and a radio station on his back.


    I''m not surprised to see the unexpected signalman, because in this way, while we capture the German commander, we can let him give orders to the signalman and report false information to the superior.


    I waved my head at verol and said, "come on, commissar verol, let''s meet the new German commander."


    Veroll said, "Sir, have you forgotten? The task you have given me is to lead the troops ambushing near the warehouse to attack immediately after these German soldiers enter the warehouse, so as to solve these enemies as soon as possible. "


    Hearing what he said, I slapped my forehead and scolded myself for being confused. I forgot all the important things. So I nodded and said to her, "since that''s the case, let''s go and carry out the task. Comrade veroll, remember that when the Germans have let down their guard, they must send troops to rush in decisively and disarm them all. If you don''t shoot, don''t shoot. "


    After explaining all this, I carefully went down the shabby stairs and walked quickly to my headquarters.


    When I got to the door, the sentry outside saw me coming. He didn''t speak. He just pointed to the room with his hand and extended three fingers to show that there were three Germans in the room. I laughed at the sentry and walked quickly to the door. Without knocking, I pushed the door open and went in.


    As soon as I entered the room, I saw captain Grimes and the German officers sitting face to face at a table, chatting enthusiastically. Lieutenant gretka, Lieutenant Oleg disguised as a German lieutenant, and another German Lieutenant were standing against the wall. The German signalman, however, was adjusting the station in the corner where schula was sitting.


    My sudden intrusion interrupted the conversation between Grimes and them. The German officer turned his head and looked at me discontentedly. Without waiting for him to speak, the German Lieutenant under his command came to me with a lunge and yelled at me. I couldn''t understand what he was shouting, so I had to smile and look at Oleg for help.


    Seeing that I had already broken into the room, Oleg had no need to continue to disguise. He said to me with a smile, "Comrade division commander, the German Lieutenant asked who you are. Why didn''t you knock on the door and break in?"


    Without looking at the German lieutenant, I said directly to Oleg, "Comrade commander, it''s almost over. Let all the soldiers in the room come out."


    Hearing that Oleg and I were talking in Russian, even a fool understood what had happened. Not only the German lieutenant, but also the officers sitting opposite captain Grimes found something wrong. Instinctively, they reached out to draw their guns. However, before their guns were pulled out, Oleg''s muzzle was already against the German Lieutenant''s temple, and gramus and gretka''s pistols were also directed at the German officers.


    Of course, I was not idle. I pulled out my pistol and pointed to the signalman in the corner. No matter whether he could understand me or not, I said to myself, "and you, signalman, please raise your hand." The signalman didn''t know if he understood me, but when he saw the black muzzle pointing at him, he had to raise his hands.


    Just then, Oleg cried out, "somebody


    With his shouts, the door of the inner room was pushed open, and five strong soldiers with submachine guns rushed out. As soon as they rushed out, they pointed their guns at the two German officers in the room. When the guard at the gate heard the cry, the captain snorted coldly, and even said in fluent Russian: "lady, don''t you know that our troops are coming down, Stalingrad will fall soon, and all the Russian troops will be destroyed by us. If you surrender now, I can let bygones be bygones, and I will plead with my superiors for you, so as to ensure your personal safety and allow captain gramus to escape the trial of the military court. "


    I don''t care to ask why the German captain can also speak Russian, but directly refute him: "Mr. captain, although you have the advantage now, with the prolongation of the campaign time, your strength will be gradually weakened, and our army, which has been fully supplemented, can give you a decisive blow. I think maybe in a few months, your troops will be completely and cleanly wiped out by our troops. "


    My words made the German captain exclaim: "Damn, how can that happen? How can you beat us? You are talking nonsense. Do you know what a German chariot is? That''s because we not only have powerful armies that have conquered the whole of Europe, but also great commanders like Manstein, goodrian, Paulus and von klester. In the face of our fierce attack, the Russian troops are vulnerable. "


    "Is it?" I said coldly, "but in front of the defensive position of our division, although general Hote has launched many attacks, it seems that every time he is defeated at the expense of his troops, he doesn''t get any good."


    When I heard that, the German captain looked me up and down, and suddenly said in surprise, "my God! I know who you are. You''re the commander of the independent division, aren''t you


    This time it''s my turn to wonder, am I so famous now that even ordinary German commanders know my name? Without waiting for me to ask him, the German captain''s face was full of smiles, and he took the initiative to explain to me: "our fourth tank group army has been invincible on the battlefield in recent months, and its achievements can be described as brilliant. However, during this period of time, good luck seems to have gone away from us. Not only the attacks have been repeatedly frustrated, but even the 29th Motorized Infantry Division has suffered heavy losses, and even the division commander General Laize has been captured. Moreover, on the day after the 29th division was defeated, we used the strength of three divisions to launch an attack on the defenders in front of us. As a result, the attack lasted one day, but it was not successful. Later, general Holt sent people to investigate and found out that the front guard was a newly formed independent division, and the division commander was a woman. "


    Since others have a good attitude towards me, I can''t keep a straight face, so I asked with a smile, "what''s your name, captain?"


    "Beckman, commander of F company, 103rd German infantry regiment."


    "Captain Beckman," I asked politely, "do you still think the German army can take Stalingrad?"


    Beckman didn''t answer my question directly. Instead, he shrugged and tilted his mouth slightly, which seemed to indicate that he couldn''t answer my question at the moment.


    I then asked, "Mr. captain, may I ask what your company''s mission is?"


    Originally, he would avoid answering this question in the future. Who knows, Beckman nodded unexpectedly, and then replied, "the regiment headquarters ordered us to enter the station to assist captain Grimes on guard. While ensuring the smooth flow of railway traffic, monitor captain Grimes. "


    Beckman''s words surprised me, and I quickly asked, "why?"


    Beckman shrugged again, glanced at gramus on the opposite side, and said casually: "the regiment has detected that there is an unknown radio signal near the station, although when he asked captain gramus, he replied that it was all right. But the regiment had doubts about him, so they sent my company here. The meaning of the regimental headquarters is that after our company takes over the defense of the station completely, we will send gramms company directly to the battlefield to fight against the Russians. "


    Although Beckman and I were talking in Russian, second lieutenant gretka, a loyal member of Grimes, stood beside him and translated our conversation to Grimes in a low voice. When Grimes heard that Captain Beckman was supposed to strengthen the defense of the station, but he was actually monitoring himself, he slapped the table angrily and scolded in German.


    I didn''t ask what gramus was scolding, but I knew in my heart that gramus would be more determined to stand on our side. I then asked Beckman, "Captain Beckman, does your superior order you to contact them through your own radio when you get to the station?"


    Beckman nodded his head hard. Although he didn''t speak, it was tacit. I pulled down his raised hands and said to him kindly, "in that case, Captain, let your signalman report to the superior that your company has entered the station and everything is normal in the station at present." In order to prevent him from getting into trouble, I specially stressed: "please remember, Mr. captain, almost all the people in this room know German, so for the safety of you and your subordinates, please do not make any small moves to warn your superiors!"


    Beckman nodded and bowed and said, "don''t worry, sir. I will follow your orders. I won''t do anything wrong." Then he went to the signalman and saw that his subordinates were still pointed at with a gun, so he had to turn to me and cast a look for help. I winked at the soldier in charge of the signalman, who immediately lowered the muzzle.


    Seeing that there were no soldiers pointing their guns at the signalman, I made a gesture of invitation to Beckman with a smile. Seeing that he gave orders to his own signalmen with great cooperation and reported what I just said to the 103 regiment headquarters, I secretly felt that these Germans were better than the Japanese. When they found that their lives were threatened, they would automatically cooperate with the enemy''s instructions in order to save their lives.


    Captain Beckman sighed with relief when he saw his signalman finish the call. Then he turned to me and said, "Sir, I have reported to the regiment as you said."


    "Do you have any new orders from the regiment?"


    Beckman shook his head and replied, "no, just as I told you before I came here. I''ll monitor captain Grimes and his troops, and gradually take over the defense of the station." At this point, Beckman seems to think of something, can not help shivering.


    "What''s the matter with you, Captain Beckman?" I saw his flustered expression and couldn''t help asking curiously.


    "My men, my men, what are you going to do with them?" Beckman asked nervously, wiping a cold sweat from his forehead.


    "I''ve ordered people to surround their warehouse," he said. Seeing his nervous appearance, I went over and patted him on the shoulder, comforted him and said, "Captain, please don''t worry. As long as your men don''t resist, my men won''t shoot at will."


    Although I said that, Beckman still asked in disbelief, "really?"


    I nodded and said, "of course it''s true. Captain Beckman, do you remember the waiting hall you passed before you entered the station? "


    Beckman thought, then nodded desperately to show that he remembered.


    I continued: "I deployed more than 20 heavy and heavy machine guns on the second floor of the waiting hall. If you are to be destroyed, I can order the shooting when your troops gather in the square in front of the station. Once we shoot, even if your soldiers have rich fighting experience and excellent personal fighting skills, they will all be screened in a few minutes under intensive machine gun fire. "


    "May I see my men?" Beckman wiped the sweat on his forehead again and asked tentatively, "in order to avoid bloodshed, I can order them to lay down their arms, because for us, the war is over, and the long life in the prison camp will be waiting for us."


    "Not necessarily, Captain Beckman." I saw that his mood became a little negative, so I quickly persuaded him: "as long as you are willing to join our camp, then you and your subordinates, like Captain Grimes and others, can become one of us, so that you don''t have to travel a long distance to the prison camp in Siberia."


    "Captain Grimes!" Beckman listened to me with an angry look on his face. He turned to accuse Grimes: "do you know what you''re doing? You join the enemy''s camp and fight with our own people. It''s the act of a traitor. "


    For Beckman''s accusation, gramus bowed his head. Seeing this embarrassing scene, I quickly defended gramus: "Captain Beckman, you are wrong. By doing so, Grimes made the right choice, because they did not take up arms against the Germans, but against the Communists represented by Hitler. When the Hitler Gang is completely destroyed and a new German Empire is born, you officers and soldiers who join our camp will not only become traitors to our motherland, but also become heroes of your nation. "


    When Captain Beckman heard this, his face became blank. He turned to Grimes and asked, "is that so? Captain Grimes


    Captain Grimes, who had never spoken, just nodded his head in affirmation.


    Captain Beckman, who had asked this question, stood in the same place for a long time, then gritted his teeth and stamped his feet, and said decisively, "Sir, please send someone to take me and my men there immediately, and let me persuade them to lay down their arms and avoid bloodshed. As for whether they will join your camp or not, I will respect the choice of my subordinates. As for me, "he said, looking back at Grimes, taking two breaths, and finally making up his mind to say," I''ve decided to be on your side like Captain Grimes. "


    After hearing Beckman''s statement, although I understood that he was forced to make such a choice, I still reached out to him and said in a friendly way, "welcome, Captain Beckman."


    After shaking hands, I turned to Mikhail and said, "Comrade second lieutenant, please take captain Beckman and the lieutenant to the warehouse and let them meet the soldiers surrounded by our army."


    After lieutenant mihayev left with Captain Beckman and two of his subordinates, Captain gramus, who was always silent, came up to me, reached out his hands, took my hands, shook them hard, and said firmly: "Comrade division, today I know that joining your army will be the most correct choice I have made in my life."


    "Welcome to join, Captain Grimes." I also held his hand tightly, and I knew that it was not until this moment that Captain Grimes really became a member of the independent division. I believe that after listening to captain Beckman''s words, he will never have any strange feelings towards me in his lifetime.

 Chapter 595

    Thanks to the defection of captain gramus and the treason of Captain Beckman by us, with their cooperation, we were able to continue to lurk in the abganerovo station, so that the German side did not even notice. Even the commander of the 103rd regiment thought that the station was under the control of his subordinates.


    During this period of time, I did not let the Germans stop. Every night, I would send small platoon troops to harass the German traffic lines and bury mines on the roads and railways, which made the German transport team suffer so much that in the whole five days, less than half of the German supplies were successfully transported to the front line.


    On the morning of September 4, Shula knocked on my door again before I got up. As soon as she saw me appear, she handed me a telegram and said excitedly, "it''s the telegram sent to you by general Zhukov


    I took the telegram and looked down. It said, "Rita, you and your troops have been holding out for five days at the aberganerovo station and have successfully completed the arduous task assigned to you by your superiors. Now I order you to act immediately, jump out of the heavy German encirclement decisively and resolutely, and rush back to the original defense to join the main force of the division. After handing over the position to Colonel lyudnikov''s close guard 70th division, you immediately lead the whole division to quickly turn north, pass through Stalingrad City, and rush to mamayev post to take over the defense of the 35th close guard division. "


    I went to the table, sat down, put the telegraph paper on the table, and finally felt relieved. We were hiding behind the German army. In order to prevent exposure, we had to engage in small-scale activities. Although this kind of guerrilla tactics can bring a lot of trouble to the German army, it can''t make the German army with a strong offensive momentum hurt. If we want to defeat them completely, we have to rely on hard positional warfare.


    I raised my hand and looked at the watch. The pointer had already pointed to half past six. I calculated in my heart that it would take at least an hour for the troops to gather, merge and transfer, and deal with some aftermath. We could not leave the station until after eight at the latest. Thinking of this, I raised my head and ordered Shula, "Shula, you go and invite commander Oleg and commissar veroll over." As soon as she was about to leave, I stopped her and added, "and lieutenant Mikhail."


    "Do you want me to tell them something?" Shula asked cautiously.


    I nodded and said, "you can tell them that they have received the order to withdraw. Let them rush to the headquarters immediately. I have tasks to assign to them."


    Oleg and verol came quickly, presumably knowing that I had received an order to retreat. They trotted into the headquarters all the way. Mikhail yev''s action is not slow, almost when the two just sat down, he also walked into the headquarters. Seeing that all the people who should come came, Oleg couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade division, I heard from the telegraph operator Shula that you have just received the evacuation order from the superior?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." As I said, I picked up the telegraph paper on the table and leaned forward slightly to pass it to him. Oleg took the telegram and looked at it. He was very happy and said excitedly, "great, sir. This is great. I just can''t live in the disguise of German. When the German transport convoy passes by on the road outside us, I can only watch it, but can''t do anything. I''m so frustrated. Now, when we go back and join the main forces of the division, we can fight openly with the Germans. "


    "Come on, comrade commander." Verol said in a sarcastic tone: "you''re content. You know, during this period, our small troops won a lot. The German transport team lost at least half of its supplies."


    "Well, don''t say any more." I was afraid that the two would never stop talking. I interrupted them and began to explain the task. "The task is clear. Let''s immediately break away from the contact with the German army, return to the division''s defense area, transfer defense to the friendly forces, and quickly turn north to take over the defense of the 35th division of the guards at mamayev post. Commander Oleg and commissar verol, first of all, tell me how long will it take for your whole regiment to be established? "


    Oleg raised his hand, looked at his watch, frowned, thought about it, and replied, "Sir, it will take at least three hours. You also know that some materials have not been transferred, so we need to arrange people to bury them on the spot, so as not to make them cheaper. "


    "At eight thirty," I interrupted Oleg, adding half an hour to the time I had just calculated. Then I told Oleg, "Comrade commander, the main force of the fifth regiment must leave the station at eight thirty. The whole regiment was divided into three parts. The leading forces were under my own command. Captain gramus, Captain Beckman and lieutenant gretka, together with me, led two companies to drive in front of us. The intermediate force, composed of three companies, four companies and five companies, is under the command of commander Oleg. During the March, the troops form four columns, with those German soldiers who are unwilling to surrender in the middle, while our soldiers and those who have surrendered on both sides, escorting them to our division''s defense area. The rear army, composed of six companies and seven companies, is under the command of political commissar verol and second lieutenant mihayev. "


    "Comrade division," mihayev said cautiously, "what should we do with the more than 200 mines and eight tons of explosives left in the depot of the station?"


    "There are so many things that we can''t take away. Let''s give them to the Germans." I replied without thinking.


    "Ah?" My words not only surprised Mikhail, but also Oleg and verol. Seeing the three men''s open mouth, I suddenly remembered that I had not explained the matter clearly. No wonder they had such exaggerated expressions. I hastened to explain, "I may not have said it clearly. I mean, these mines and explosives can''t be taken away, so I just lay them in the station, just to see which German army is more unlucky, Come into the station and enjoy the special treatment of taking a local plane. "


    My words all said this, three people seem to still didn''t understand. Seeing their blank expression, I felt speechless. I could only explain it in more detail: "don''t you understand what I mean? I mean, let mihayev organize people to bury mines and explosives in the station. When the new German comes in, as long as one person steps on the mine, the whole station will be blown into ruins in an instant. Do you understand what I said? "


    Although I said something in general this time, the three of them clearly understood. After listening to my plan, mikhaev became excited and said excitedly: "don''t worry, sir. I will bury all the mines and explosives in the station. Even if the Germans occupy here again, they will get nothing but ruins. I dare not say anything else, but I can guarantee that as long as after the earth shaking explosion, the Germans will not be able to use the railway lines for at least three to five days. "


    I turned and looked at Oleg and veroll. As soon as I wanted to say something, veroll took the lead. She hesitated and asked, "Comrade division, I want to ask why, since there are more than 40 people in captain Beckman''s men who refuse to surrender, we should not execute them on the spot, but take them back to our defense area at risk?"


    After Beckman was captured a few days ago, he tried to persuade his men to lay down their arms, but after repeated persuasion, more than 40 German soldiers refused to join us. For these diehards, whether Oleg or verol, or even captain gramus, I tried several times to persuade me to execute them on the spot, but I refused them all.


    Now that veroll mentioned this matter again, I felt it necessary to take this opportunity to explain it to them clearly, so I said, "Lieutenant Commander Oleg, political commissar veroll, and lieutenant mihayev, you may wonder why, since these stubborn German soldiers refused to surrender, I just locked them up all the time, Now we''re going to risk taking them to our defense area? "


    Seeing that the three men nodded desperately and wanted to know the answer, I went on to say, "as you all know, although Beckman and his more than 70 officers and men all surrendered to us and expressed their willingness to join our team. However, they are not at ease and are always on guard against us. Once they see us execute our former colleagues who refused to surrender, their hearts will float. I can responsibly tell you that as long as these new Germans waver and encounter unfavorable situation in our army''s battlefield, they will not hesitate to turn their guns around and hit us. "


    After my words, the three were silent for a long time. Then verol asked tentatively, "Comrade teacher, is that why you want to risk taking these prisoners back?"


    "Yes, commissar veroll." I said solemnly, "although only captain gramus, Captain Beckman, Lieutenant gretka and their more than 100 soldiers have joined us. But over time, as more and more German troops are captured, their strength will become stronger and stronger, and they will become a force that can not be underestimated. "


    "In that case, comrade teacher." Oleg after listening to my explanation, a sudden look on his face, quickly declared: "please rest assured that I will bring these German prisoners back to our defense area smoothly."


    "Now that the task is clear, go ahead." With that, I waved at them and asked them to go back to their respective troops.


    At half past eight, my vanguard set out.


    There are ten trucks, a car and two tricycles in our motorcade. Captain Beckman and I were in the cab of the first truck, and captain gramus was in the cab of the last truck. His subordinate, Lieutenant gretka, was riding in a car driven by Boris, following the two motorcycles in the open road and driving in the front of the whole motorcade.


    As the car was driving on the road, I asked Beckman curiously, "Mr. captain, you speak excellent Russian! I don''t know where you learned it before? " Among the German people I have dealt with, there are quite a few people who can speak Russian, such as von Tolman in the distance, Beckman in front of me, and lieutenant gretka in front of me. Therefore, I am particularly curious about where they learned Russian from. It is impossible that all of them have come to Russia to read books?


    Looking out of the window, Beckman''s head swung with the shaking of the car body. After listening to my question, he turned his head, with a smile on his face and said to me in a friendly way: "Sir, after my troops joined up with the Russian army in Brest, as a member of the military delegation, I have been in your army for almost a year, It was at that time that I learned Russian


    After listening to what he said, I said in my heart, that''s right. If I were to stay there for several years as a commander of the occupying forces after the capture of Berlin, I don''t know if I could speak fluent German.


    Just as he was daydreaming, Beckman suddenly asked, "Sir, I''d like to ask you a question in private, OK?"


    I nodded at him and said politely, "Mr. captain, please ask me if you have any questions. As long as I can answer, I will give you a satisfactory answer. "


    "Do you think the Russian army can really block the double attack of general Paulus''s Sixth Army and general Holt''s tank Fourth Army, and defend Stalingrad?"


    Seeing what I said a few days ago, I didn''t really convince Beckman that his surrender was just a temporary measure. In order to dispel his unrealistic fantasy, I firmly replied, "yes, Captain Beckman. Once again, I seriously answer you that although the troops of general Paulus and general Holt are taking the initiative in the battlefield, their offensive momentum is gradually weakening, and our reserve forces are gradually assembling towards the Volga River Basin. Can''t you see the victory or defeat of the war in this situation


    Beckman was obviously not convinced by my short words or two. He continued unconvinced: "the combat effectiveness of general Holt''s tank fourth group army, I don''t mean to say, you must know, they once made a brilliant record of one division defeating and annihilating five or six Russian divisions."


    "So what?" I said with disapproval, "didn''t hotter''s troops still hit the head and blood in front of my independent division? You know, the day after the 29th motorized infantry division was badly damaged by our division, Hote sent out three divisions to attack our division''s defense area from three directions. What was the result? Apart from being defeated at the expense of our troops, we did not occupy a single trench, let alone encircle or systematically destroy even one regiment of our troops. "


    After hearing this, Beckman was silent. After a long time, he said with difficulty, "Sir, maybe you are right. However, the victory or defeat of this battle can only be explained by time. "


    Just as he was talking, the sound of guns came from the front. Hearing the sudden gunfire, my heart could not help shivering. Did the German army begin to launch a full-scale attack on our division''s defense area? In this way, our plan to return to the defense area will not come to an end? Thinking of this, I immediately ordered the driver: "stop!"


    As soon as the driver stepped on the brake, our truck stopped on the road. Second lieutenant gretka''s car in front of him also stopped. He yelled something at the soldiers on the motorcycle. The motorcyclist nodded and sped forward with a bang of gas.


    Seeing that lieutenant gretka had sent for reconnaissance, Beckman and I got out of the cab and stood beside the truck, quietly waiting for the motorcyclist''s reconnaissance report. Seeing that the motorcade stopped suddenly, Captain gramus, who was on the last truck, was also worried. He trotted all the way and asked anxiously, "what''s the matter? Why did you stop?"


    After translating for me, Captain Beckman began to introduce himself to Grimes in German. Listening to the gunfire in front of me, I became more and more nervous. If the front really became a battlefield, then we would not be able to return to the defense area in a short time.


    The two motorcycles that went to reconnoitre came back soon. After stopping in front of lieutenant gretka and saying a few words, a soldier got off the motorcycles and followed the lieutenant to me.


    The second lieutenant reported to me, "report, comrade division commander, there are about two companies of infantry in front of us attacking the positions of the Russian army?"


    I could not help but correct that lieutenant gretka should not call our army Russian army. Instead, he asked anxiously, "what weapons do the German army have?"


    The soldier who went to reconnoiter quickly replied: "the German army used to have five or six tanks and two armored vehicles, but now they have been bombed by our soldiers. The attacking troops are all infantry. They have just been repulsed by our army, and now they are assembling one kilometer away from here, ready to launch another attack. "


    When I heard that the other side didn''t have heavy weapons, I felt much more secure. So I quickly called several commanders, gramus, Beckman and gretka, who had just surrounded me, to them and gave them the latest combat order: "comrades commanders, according to the report of the scout, there are about two companies of German infantry in front now, We are attacking the positions of our regiment. Our task is to surprise them from behind and take them by surprise. "


    As soon as I finished speaking, the company commander could not wait to say, "I''ll let the soldiers get out of the car and gather, and then attack from behind the Germans."


    I stopped him and said, "company commander, don''t get out of the car. The Germans have no heavy weapons. Now they line up the trucks and attack from behind the enemy. When charging, the soldiers only need to stand in the truck compartment and shoot with machine guns, submachine guns and rifles. "


    "Is that all right?" Asked the company commander uncertainly.


    "Yes, of course. Don''t talk about it any more. Let''s go back to our respective troops. " When I finished this sentence, I specially told lieutenant gretka, "Lieutenant, go to the truck compartment, and leave the car here."


    When everyone dispersed and Beckman and I were the only ones left by the truck, I asked him with concern, "Mr. captain, would you like to go back to the bridge or to the car like me?"


    Beckman replied almost without thinking, "Sir, I''ll go wherever you go. I''m in line with you." Ten cars in a row stepped on the gas and rushed to the battlefield. From a distance, we can see that a large group of black German soldiers are marching towards our positions with weapons. When I saw that I was fifty meters away from the enemy, I yelled, "open fire!" The machine gun next to me on the top of the bridge opened fire first, and then the soldiers in my car opened fire again and again, shooting at the Germans behind their backs. The sound of gunfire is an order. Seeing that we have sent a signal here, the other nine cars have opened fire one after another. There was almost no need to aim at such a close distance. Under such intensive fire, the unprepared German soldiers were caught off guard. No matter machine gun, submachine gun, rifle, as long as a fire, almost can hit the target. The German soldiers were knocked down by us piece by piece. Whether they were striding forward or lying in the crater with machine guns ready to shoot, they were screened by our dense bullets. When our caravan rushed through the German attack line, the original black attack team had disappeared and turned into bodies lying on the ground. Maybe we saw us shooting from the rear of the German army. The soldiers of the regiment holding the position didn''t shoot, but a few officers and men climbed out of the trench and stood outside, waving the signal flag.

 Chapter 596

    Looking at the other side waving the signal flag, let us stop, in order to prevent misunderstanding, without my order, all the trucks stopped at the same time.


    With the help of several soldiers, I overturned the truck from the side of the car. At this time, the open car, which was originally parked in the back, had been driven by Boris, and steadily stopped beside the truck. As soon as I got on the bus, he drove me to the front position.


    The position where the motorcade stopped was not far from the position of the first regiment, only about two or three hundred meters. Although this section of the road is full of big craters and small craters, it can''t run fast, but after all, it''s much faster than walking. Just minutes later, my car was only 50 meters away from the officers and men standing outside the trench. But just then, the car stopped.


    I frowned at Boris and asked, "Comrade Boris, why did you stop the car?"


    With a wry smile, Boris pointed forward with his hand and said: "Sir, you see, the ground in front of us is full of German corpses, as well as the wreckage of bombed tanks and armored vehicles. Our car can''t drive through, so we can only aggrieve you to go through."


    When I look forward, it''s not that there are more German bodies in this area than in those places just now. In addition to the craters and the remains of tanks and armored vehicles, cars can''t drive through. Since the car couldn''t pass, I didn''t blame Boris. Anyway, it wasn''t his fault. I pushed the door open, got out of the car, carefully stepped over the bodies lying on the ground and walked towards the position.


    I just walked out not far, several officers and men standing outside the trench have trotted all the way to me. I fixed my eyes and saw that it was no one else who was running in front of me. It was my guard battalion commander, basmanov. Back to my own territory, I felt relaxed. I took off the German helmet and waved it to him.


    Basmanov ran to me and said with a surprised look: "Mr. division, you are back. I have been waiting for you here for several days."


    The four soldiers behind him looked like the guards of the guard camp. After they saw me, they didn''t salute me, but consciously stood at the four corners beside me to guard, and cleverly protected me.


    When I saw the performance of the soldiers in the guard camp, I nodded with satisfaction and said to busmanov happily, "Captain busmanov, it seems that you have trained the soldiers in the guard camp well. Judging from their performance just now, they all know the truth of not saluting the commander on the battlefield so as not to expose the target. At the same time, in the eyes of laymen, their station is just a random one, but in fact they are very particular about it, so that no matter where the enemy comes from, they can find it in time. "


    Basmanov heard my praise, and then said with a simple and honest smile, "Comrade division, it''s getting late. We''d better go back to the division headquarters first. Commander xiejerikov is still waiting for you."


    I followed basmanov into the trench and walked along the crisscross traffic trench to the direction of the division headquarters. When the commanders and fighters saw us, they stood up straight and saluted us with their backs against the trench wall.


    As I walked, I asked busmanov, who was leading the way: "Comrade captain, which company is this regiment?"


    Hearing my question, busmanov slowed down and said in surprise, "don''t you know, sir? The first regiment and the fourth regiment changed their guard the day before yesterday. Now all the officers and men in the positions are from the fourth regiment. "


    Basmanov''s words surprised me. During this period, in order to prevent the target from being exposed, I kept silent on the radio except for sending two or three telegrams to xiejerikov. I really didn''t know much about the situation of the division. I asked nervously, "why do you want to withdraw a regiment? Have they been seriously reduced in recent battles?"


    Basmanov shook his head, with a blank expression on his face, asked: "no, when a regiment withdrew from the position, it was almost complete. Sir, who did you hear that a regiment was beaten and disabled? "


    "I guess." I shrugged my shoulders unconsciously and explained to him: "recently, in order to prevent our radio station from being detected by the German army, when we contact with Xie jerikov, it''s no longer a Ming language call but a telegram, so we can''t know some information in time."


    Basmanov said after hearing this, oh, and then told me: "shijerikov said that there was no fighting in other directions of our division except here. It was a waste to put the fourth regiment, a unit with rich combat experience, in the back. So he asked the first regiment and the fourth regiment to change defense."


    When I got to a fork in the road, I saw a shelter blocking the curtain on the left. There were many people going in and out. After walking a lot of places, it was the place with the most people coming and going. He asked busmanov curiously, "Captain, where is this place?"


    Basmanov just glanced at it and immediately replied, "report to division commander, this is the medical center of the fourth regiment. In the fighting yesterday and today, there were a lot of wounded people in the fourth regiment."


    You know, before I went to the station, there was no decent medical team in the division. Now even the regiment has a medical center. I suddenly became interested, so I couldn''t help but say curiously, "the medical center should be newly established. I want to go in and have a look."


    Basmanov listened to me with a smile on his face. He said to me respectfully, "well, sir. Go to the clinic and I''ll call the fourth commander, Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar


    "Go ahead, go ahead," I waved impatiently at him, then pulled up the curtain and went in.


    The walls of the shelter were lined with stretchers, on which lay a wounded man. Seeing me come in, everyone''s eyes turned to me. Even a male health worker who was squatting beside a stretcher and bandaging a wounded soldier''s leg also stopped his work and looked at me curiously.


    I was just about to walk by when there was a clear whistle next to me, and then there was a loud whistle in the room. A fat wounded man lying on a stretcher not far away from me said sarcastically, "who the hell brought the captured female health worker to the clinic?"


    As soon as the fat wounded man''s words were finished, another thin wounded man beside him also said frivolously: "Hello, girl, can you hear Russian? For the captured Germans, we will all shoot men; As for women, as long as they serve us, we will give them preferential treatment. " His words immediately aroused the laughter of the whole wounded.


    I looked down at my dress, with a German helmet in my hand, a German uniform on my body, and the sign of a medical officer on my left arm. No wonder they took me as a female medical officer of the German army.


    Seeing that I didn''t speak, the fat wounded man yelled again: "Hey, I said, girl, why don''t you still stand there and wait on us? Eh, why hasn''t it been reflected yet? Can''t you understand Russian, or are you scared and silly? "


    As soon as his words were heard, the wounded who treated me as a rare sight in the medical station laughed together.


    "Comrade soldier, how can you speak in such a tone?" Seeing the fat wounded man with a smiley face, I couldn''t help telling him, "don''t you know how to respect others?"


    "Oh, we''ve captured them all, and they''re so arrogant!" The fat wounded man was obviously angered by my words. He held his hand against the wall and wanted to stand up. As soon as he moved, he might touch the wound. He bared his teeth and lay down again. He turned his head aside and yelled at my back, "Hey, comrade captain, did you bring this prisoner? How arrogant


    I heard him calling for captain, and even if I didn''t look back, I knew that my guard battalion commander, Captain busmanov, was standing behind me. The captain took the first two steps and said with a black face: "nonsense, it''s nonsense! This is our teacher. Don''t you know him? "


    Basmanov''s words calmed down the room, and then I heard someone whispering, "my God, it''s Mr. oshanina. I saw her once when she came to inspect the regiment."


    "Yes, listen to what you say. I remember that the last time the commander of the group army came to the division to give the flag, I saw her from a distance."


    "I''m sorry, sir!" The fat wounded man lay on the stretcher with a red face and saluted me with embarrassment.


    "Hello, comrades. I''m the division commander, Colonel oshanina. I''ve just come back from behind the enemy lines and passed by here. I''d like to see you by the way." Although I''m dissatisfied with the fat wounded, it''s not a good time to attack in this case. I have to say a few words to the wounded, "although we are injured, we are still in a high mood. If you are in a good mood, you will recover quickly, so that you can return to the front line as soon as possible


    "Comrade teacher, it''s time for us to go." Basmanov waited for me to finish. He quickly came up to me and said to me in a voice that could be heard in the room, "Colonel gedar is still waiting for us."


    I looked at busmanov gratefully for giving me a step in time, otherwise I didn''t know how to end. I pretended to nod, a sudden appearance, said: "yes, you don''t say, I almost forget." Then he waved to the wounded and said in a loud voice, "the wounded, comrades, have a good rest. I wish you a speedy recovery."


    When I came out of the medical station and continued to walk along the traffic ditch, basmanov scolded me in a low voice: "Sir, comrade, how can you go to the medical station at will? The wounded people there are generally bad tempered. If I just go in later, they will embarrass you."


    I waved my hand and said, "Captain busmanov, you are so thoughtful. As the head of a division, it is normal for me to go to the medical station to see the wounded soldiers. "


    After walking a little further, I saw Gaidar waiting in front of me. Just when I entered the medical station, basmanov felt uneasy, so he asked another soldier to inform Gaidar, and he followed me into the medical station and helped me out in time.


    Seeing my arrival, Gaidar, who was waiting in front of me, trotted all the way to me. After standing at attention, he raised his hand to salute and said excitedly, "Hello, sir, I hope you can come back."


    After I saluted him, I held out my hand to him. When my hands clasped tightly, I also said with emotion: "yes, I finally returned to our own territory. During this period, I miss you very much."


    After releasing his hand, Gaidar asked me, "Comrade division commander, shall we go to the division headquarters now?"


    I waved my hand and said, "commander gedar, please wait. This time I came back with Commander Oleg''s fifth regiment. I came faster because I was in a car, while commander Oleg''s army was on foot and was still on the March. For the convenience of movement, we all wear German uniforms, but you send someone to meet them, so as to avoid misunderstanding with our troops. "


    Gaidar nodded to show that he understood me. He turned and waved to a captain standing not far away. When the captain ran in front of him, he whispered a few orders. The captain nodded after hearing him, turned and ran away. Gaidar then came back to me and said in a relaxed tone: "Comrade division, I have told you that my people will take over the fifth regiment of commander Oleg and return to the position safely."


    When we returned to the division headquarters, several other commanders were already waiting here. When they saw me coming back, they all came to greet me with joy. Even communications company commander razumeyeva also happily said to me: "Comrade teachers, welcome home."


    After I sat down in my old position, I immediately asked four team leaders to sit down. After everyone sat down, I turned around and asked Xie jielikov, "Comrade commander, have you received the order from the superior to let us go to mamayev post to receive the defense?"


    Shejerikov nodded affirmatively, stood up and said, "yes, sir, I have received an order from general trakov, the new commander of the 62nd group army, that after we hand over our positions to Colonel lyudnikov''s close guard division, we should immediately set out to mamayev post to take over the defense of the 35th close guard division."


    When I heard the name of the 35th division, I couldn''t help grinning up. I was appointed as the commander of the 35th division by the former commander of Stalingrad''s front army. But before I took office, my appointment was cancelled because of the personnel change at the top of the front army. I was very curious about the kind of commander who took over my post, so I asked curiously, "Comrade xiejerikov, do you know who is the commander of the 35th division of Jinwei?"


    "It''s said that it''s major general gorazkov. He used to be the commander of the 98th infantry division. It''s said that his troops have made great achievements in the battle in the Don River Valley. So that after the 98th division was transferred to the rear, he was transferred to the commander of the 35th division


    Hearing the name of this old acquaintance, the smile on my face became more brilliant. After the battle of crossing the river, I haven''t seen this hero''s division commander for a long time. I didn''t expect to have the chance to meet him again today, and I still led the troops to receive him.


    Perhaps seeing the smile on my face, xiejerikov asked curiously, "Comrade division, do you know general gorazkov?"


    "Yes, Lieutenant shejerikov, of course I know this division. When general trakov was inspecting the Don River Valley, he personally commanded the battle to seize the Don river ferry. The 98th division was a combat unit at that time. I met this division commander at that time. "


    Just then, basmanov, who was on guard outside the door, came into the headquarters and came to me. He leaned down and whispered in my ear, "report, sir. The people from the 70th division of the guards are coming. They are outside the door at the moment."


    I turned my head slightly to him and asked in a low voice, "what level of commander is coming?" My implication is that if the visitor''s level is lower than mine, I will send others out to meet him.


    Basmanov obviously understood what I said and quickly reported that "a regimental political commissar is here. I think he should be the political commissar of the guard division."


    When I heard that the other party was the political commissar, I immediately thought of my old acquaintance, political commissar jitov. I quickly stood up and said to the commanders here, "comrades, the people sent by the 70th division of Jinwei have arrived. Now they are outside the door. Let''s go out with me to meet them."


    "Comrade teacher, shall we all go out to meet you?" When Gaidar heard me say that they all went out to meet him, he thought it was a bit of a fuss, so he complained: "is this necessary?"


    I looked at him and said with a smile, "Colonel gedar, of course. And it might be someone you know. "


    "Who are the people I know?" Asked Gaidar, with a blank face.


    I deliberately do not say, just said with a smile: "as for who, you follow me out to see." With that, I took the lead to walk outside.


    After walking out of the headquarters, Ji Tuofu, the political commissar of Jinwei division, stood at the door. I went to him with a smile and saluted him. I politely said, "Hello, political commissar Ji Tuofu, I didn''t expect that we met again."


    Jitov was also surprised at my appearance. He raised his hand and said excitedly, "my God, is that you? Comrade o''shanina, when I came here, I heard that you were still behind enemy lines. I thought you couldn''t come back today. "


    Although I don''t like political workers all the time, every time I see jitov, I feel very kind. So after hearing what he said, I jokingly said, "originally, I wanted to stay in the enemy''s rear for another ten or eight days, but when I heard that political commissar jitov was coming, I immediately left everything behind and rushed back to meet you."


    When jitov heard my flattery, he laughed, pointed at me with his finger and said, "you, you, how long have you been so talkative since I haven''t seen you."


    Then I will introduce my subordinates to him. The four current commanders in the headquarters, in addition to the third commander, middle school kosja, the other commander, Lieutenant sergeant xijerikov, acting commander of the second regiment, Captain Pugachev, and the fourth commander, Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar, have all met in the division headquarters of the guard division. Because we are all acquaintances, after a simple greeting, the atmosphere became warm, and everyone entered the headquarters talking and laughing.


    After everyone was seated, I asked jitov curiously, "Comrade political commissar, how many troops have you brought to take over?" "It''s just a regiment," replied Titov, holding out a finger. Because commander shumilov said that the fighting situation here is not fierce, so I only brought one regiment to receive and defend, and it was still a disabled regiment. The other two infantry regiments, one artillery regiment, two rocket barracks and tank battalions remained in their original areas and held their positions. " After hearing this, I nodded and then said to jitov, "Comrade political commissar, you can negotiate with my third and fourth commanders, Lieutenant Colonel kosja and Gaidar, about the defense. And I will quickly lead the first and second regiments to the mamayev post to take over the 35th division of the guards Listen to me, commissar Titov raised his hand, looked at his watch, and said with understanding, "Colonel oshanina, then go quickly. As far as I know, the front army will fight back in the north of the city tomorrow. Let the independent division to replace the 35th division of the guards, perhaps for the sake of this counterattack¡° What kind of counterattack is it? " I asked curiously. Titov shook his head and replied, "I don''t know. At my level, I''m not qualified to know a lot of things. But when you see general trakov, you can ask him. As far as I know, at present, the headquarters of the 62nd group army is located above the mamayev post. " When I learned that trakov''s headquarters were still at mamayev post, I couldn''t sit still any longer. After explaining the transfer to kosja and Gaidar, I immediately urged xijerikov and Pugachev to gather troops and prepare to leave for a new defense zone, mamayev post. The troops set out in half an hour. More than 2000 officers and men of the first regiment all drove to the mamayev post by truck, while the second regiment followed up by marching on foot. And I was sitting in the jeep in the middle of the team with shijerikov, going with the team. After the convoy started, I didn''t care to talk to sjerykov. Instead, I looked out of the car window from time to time for fear of being attacked by German planes. However, our luck is obviously good. We can''t see German planes in the gray sky. Our fleet of hundreds of trucks was able to move smoothly towards Stalingrad. As we walked along the Volga river towards the city, we heard more and more clear gunfire. It was obvious that the Germans were shelling the city. After another distance, I saw German artillery shells falling on the Volga River from time to time, exploding and raising water columns. They wanted to destroy the boats on the river with artillery fire. But after observing for a while, I found that this kind of shooting was aimless and without any danger. The shells that fell into the water and exploded were at least two or three hundred meters away from the moving ship. After entering the city, I saw the streets in the city dead. The trees on both sides of the road didn''t have a green branch. They were all scorched by the fire. All that remained of the wooden house was a pile of ashes and isolated chimneys. Even many stone buildings were destroyed. There were no doors and windows, and the floors collapsed. Once in a while, you can see a good house. People living here are busy moving their bags, tea cooks and utensils out of the house and transporting them to the wharf. They are ready to evacuate to the opposite side of the river when the ferry comes. Because the driver didn''t know the way and didn''t know how to get to mamayev post, our team had to stop at the roadside. After we got out of the car from both sides, I looked up at the air and said anxiously, "Lieutenant Colonel chejerikov, we need to get out of here as soon as possible, otherwise when the German plane comes, our huge fleet will be the best target for the German plane to attack." Instead of speaking, shejerikov rushed to the middle of the road, looked at both sides, walked towards the people who were moving things, and said aloud, "Hello, comrades, how can I get to mamayev post?" The people who moved things didn''t know whether they didn''t hear him or didn''t want to talk to him. They didn''t even look back at him. Shijerikov was in a hurry. He quickly walked up to an old man, put his hand on his left shoulder, pulled him over, raised his voice and asked, "old man, we are going to mamayev post. Do you know how to get there?" The old man looked at him blankly, pointed to the front and said, "I just need to drive along this road and turn left at the second intersection. But now, the buildings in that area have been blown down by German planes, and the roads are different. If you want to go, you can only turn right at the intersection in front of you and take a detour to the central railway station, where there is a road leading to mamayevgang. " Then the old man turned around, went into the building and went on to tidy up his belongings. Xiejerikov came back to me and said helplessly, "Comrade teacher, what should we do next?" I pulled the door open, turned to him and said, "didn''t the old man make it very clear? First make a detour to the central railway station, and then find a way to mamayevgang. Get in the car! Comrade commander. " With that, I got into the car first, slammed the door heavily, and told the driver, "when lieutenant colonel chejerikov gets on the bus, I''ll drive. Turn right at the intersection ahead. Let''s go to the central railway station first. "

 Chapter 597

    The jeep that I was riding with sheijerikov was at the front of the whole team. After driving a certain distance according to the old man''s road, we soon found that the road ahead was also blocked by the collapsed bricks and stones of the houses destroyed by the explosion on both sides.


    Our motorcade stopped again. I pushed the door open and leaned out to see if there were any other roads nearby. I happened to see a patrol of about 20 people coming towards us. I jumped out of the car and stood by the car quietly waiting for the arrival of the patrol.


    The members of this patrol are all wearing work clothes. It''s obvious that they are workers drawn from some nearby factory. It''s not wrong to ask them the way.


    Our motorcade, which stopped at the side of the road, obviously attracted the attention of the patrol. Walking in the front of the team, the old man, wearing a cap and two white beards, unconsciously slowed down his pace and cast doubts on us. I hastened to greet him, and at the same time politely called out: "old man!"


    Unexpectedly, my name made the patrol captain frown. He raised his hand to stop the patrol and said in a discontented tone, "don''t call me old man. I''m just 60 years old. I can still fight with the German with a gun."


    Looking at the old man in front of me, I couldn''t help but smile and said, "yes, yes, as long as you take up arms to compete with the Germans, you can''t be regarded as an old man. Besides, you look so young."


    Hearing this, the old captain showed a proud smile on his face and said confidently, "I fought against the bandits here and defended tsarizin. In those days, my comrades and I fought back such fierce enemies. Now, those Germans will be defeated by us sooner or later. "


    "Comrade captain," shejerikov came up to me and asked politely, "we are going to mamayev post, but the road over there is broken. After inquiry, we know that we have to go to the central railway station for a round trip to reach our destination. But now the road ahead is blocked by bricks and stones. Do you know where else you can go


    The old captain looked at our long motorcade and asked thoughtfully, "can''t we abandon the car and walk?"


    I turned my head and looked at shejerikov. Seeing that he shook his head, I turned back to the old captain and said, "no, we still have a lot of technical equipment on the car. It''s impossible to rely on people to carry such a long distance."


    Hearing what I said, the old captain turned to the team and said, "igratov, come here."


    With his shouts, a middle-aged man without a hat and with a bayonet rifle on his back ran out of the line. The middle-aged man came to us, looked at us and asked the old captain, "Comrade captain, do you have any orders?"


    The old captain pointed to us and said, "igratov, if you are familiar with the way to the central railway station, you can be their guide."


    Igratov agreed and gave the rifle he was carrying to the team leader. Then he came to me and shejerikov. After scanning our neckband with his eyes, he raised his hand and reported to me: "report to Comrade Colonel, soldier of worker''s annihilation battalion. Igratov reports to you and is at your command."


    I waved my head at him and said, "get in the car, comrade igratov. You''re sitting next to the driver." Then I extended my hand to the old team leader and said gratefully, "thank you, comrade team leader. On behalf of all the officers and men of the independent division, I thank you."


    The old captain took my hand and said with a simple and honest smile, "serve the Soviet motherland."


    With the help of igratov, the guide, our motorcade drove on the street for a while, and then got into the lane where there was no people. After driving for more than half an hour, we finally arrived at our engineer second lieutenant. After listening to Xie jerikov''s words, he asked warily, "Comrade commander, which part are you from? What are you doing in mamayev post?"


    Shejerikov replied with a smile: "we are from the independent division. We are ordered to go to mamayev post to receive the defense. Because the road was blocked by bricks and stones, we had to go around here to find a new road. Comrade lieutenant, can you help us find a guide? We''ve already wasted a lot of time in the city. If we delay any longer, I''m afraid it will delay the fight. "


    After hearing this, the second lieutenant said, "Comrade commander, please wait a moment!" After that, he went back to the barricade, bent down, picked up a telephone, put it on the chest wall with sandbags, shook the handle a few times, picked up the phone, and began to speak in a low voice, as if asking for instructions from his superiors.


    My guess was soon proved to be correct. The second lieutenant put down the microphone, trotted to the jeep, slightly bent down and said, "Comrade commander, I have asked the battalion commander for instructions, and he asked me to send you to the mamayev post."


    When shejerikov heard that the second lieutenant was going to act as a guide for us, he quickly waved his head to him and said in a loud voice, "get in the car, comrade second lieutenant, and you will sit next to the driver."


    As soon as the second lieutenant got into the car, he caught a glimpse of me, which startled him. He quickly raised his hand to his forehead and said in a flurry, "I''m sorry, comrade colonel. I didn''t notice you in the car just now."


    I waved to him with a smile and said, "don''t worry, comrade lieutenant. It''s getting late. We''d better start at once. "


    The jeep passed slowly through the passage in the middle of the barricade. I kept looking at both sides. If the passage was too narrow, the trucks behind would not be able to pass. Just looking at it, suddenly a strange object slipped from my sight, and I yelled: "stop, stop immediately!"


    The driver didn''t know what happened. He stepped on the brake and looked at me strangely, waiting for my next instruction. I turned to the back and saw that the nearest truck was dozens of meters away, so I told the driver, "back up immediately and go back to the barricade."


    The driver didn''t know why, but he did as I told him to, reversing the jeep. When I got to the place where I saw the strange object, I called out again, "stop, stop here." After waiting for the car to stop, I called the Engineer Second Lieutenant: "Comrade second lieutenant, what''s in the barricade?"


    Shejerikov, the engineer''s second lieutenant and the driver all looked in the direction of my fingers. When they saw the long black cylinder behind the barricade shooting hole, both shejerikov and the driver were as surprised as I was, while the engineer''s second lieutenant was so calm.


    When all eyes were focused on the Lieutenant''s face, he said with a smile, "comrades commander, don''t you know what this is? These are two old guns. To be exact, they were made when Napoleon attacked Moscow in 1812. "


    I nodded and asked, "of course I know the old guns, but why are they here? Can they be used in battle?"


    The engineer''s second lieutenant nodded hard and said with certainty: "of course, we used this kind of old-fashioned artillery which can only produce iron balls in many places. After practice, although the effect of fighting against the German scattered soldiers is not good, the effect of fighting against the German armored vehicles is good. In the battle a few days ago, the projectile launched by one of our guns even smashed two German armored vehicles with relatively weak armor. "


    After listening to the second lieutenant''s explanation, I said in my heart that it really takes a certain amount of luck to hit the target with this kind of local cannon. However, since other people have put this kind of old guns in the museum into the barricade, I don''t have to tell them any more, so I gave the driver a wry smile and said, "drive!"


    On the way, while chatting with the second lieutenant, shijerikov asked, "Comrade second lieutenant, how far is it from the central railway station to mamayevgang? When can we get there?"


    The second lieutenant thought for a moment and replied, "mamayev post is three kilometers north of the city, and the central railway station is about four kilometers away from the edge of the city. Under normal circumstances, it''s about ten minutes'' drive, but now the roads in many places are broken, so we may have to go around a lot to get to mamayevgang. I think it will take an hour at the fastest


    An hour later, we finally got close to the rolling hills. Although the guns were rumbling here, the second lieutenant sighed with relief, pointed to the front and said to us, "Comrade Colonel, look, there is a checkpoint at the intersection ahead. After the checkpoint is the mamayev post, on which is the headquarters of the 62nd army. "


    Our car was stopped by the soldiers on duty at the checkpoint. A sergeant came up, bent down, looked in the car, and then asked warily, "who are you?"


    As soon as he finished, I quickly replied, "Comrade sergeant, I''m the commander of the independent division, Colonel oshanina. Our division was ordered to come to mamayev post to take over defense. Can you tell me where I can find the headquarters or the division headquarters of the 35th division? "


    After listening to my identification, the sergeant stood up straight and saluted. Then he bent down and said to me, "Comrade division, you can go up this hillside and find the headquarters of the group army on the top of the hillside."


    After thanking him, I got out of the car. Seeing that Xie jerikov and the engineer Lieutenant also got out of the car, I told Xie jerikov: "Comrade commander, you stay here and gather the troops. I''ll report to the group army headquarters alone."


    "Yes," he replied in a loud voice


    Then I said to the engineer lieutenant, "Comrade lieutenant, thank you for being our guide. It''s too far away from your troops. If you want to go back, it may not be very convenient. Let me ask the driver to take you back. " After that, I bent down and told the driver, "Comrade driver, you are responsible for sending the second lieutenant back to the central railway station."


    After all this, I went up the hill by myself. After walking on the hillside full of bushes and some thorny plants for about ten minutes, I suddenly heard a man in front of me say in a low voice: "stop! Who are you


    I stopped at the sound, looked up, and saw a soldier with a rifle standing up from the grass, warily pointing the gun at me. I guessed that he might be a guard soldier of the group army command, so I did not rush to identify myself: "I am the commander of the independent division, Colonel oshanina, and I was ordered to come to mamayev post to take over the defense of the 35th close guard division. It is said that the headquarters of the group army is also here, so I will report to the commander first. "


    "Sentry, what''s going on?" Without waiting for any reaction from the soldiers, I heard a familiar voice in the distance.


    The sentry quickly put down his gun, raised his hand to salute and reported: "report to Comrade military commissar, the female commander said that she is the division commander of the independent division and has come to report to the commander."


    The military commissar nodded and said to the sentry, "Comrade sentry, she is right. She is the division commander of the independent division, and I know her. There''s nothing for you here. You can go. "


    After saluting him again, the sentry honestly turned and left.


    After the sentry left, the military commissar came up to me with a smile on his face and said in a friendly way, "Hello, comrade oshanina, we meet again."


    It''s not someone else, but gurov, the military commissar of the 62nd army, who is also an old acquaintance of mine. Seeing him coming, I quickly stepped forward, raised my hand and said to him with a smile, "Hello, comrade military Commissar. I didn''t expect that we would meet again so soon."


    After gurov came to shake my hand with me, he did not let go of my hand. Instead, he led me up the hill and said, "Comrade oshanina, since you were transferred to the 64th army, it seems that we haven''t seen each other for a long time."


    "Yes! Comrade military commissar, it seems that you and I haven''t seen each other since general lopagin became commander. "


    "Yes, yes, comrade oshanina, you have a good memory. It is true that after general lopagin became commander, you were transferred from the 62nd army until now. " When gurov said this, he suddenly pointed to the front and said to me, "look, the group army headquarters is here."


    The group army headquarters is here. The gully is full of newly dug bomb shelters and shelters. The hill in the distance is being shelled. The gunfire we heard just now is coming from here. Seeing this scene, I can''t help feeling that this is mamayev post! Except for me, who comes from later generations, I don''t think that in the near future, it will become the most fierce place in the battle for Stalingrad? Who would have thought that every inch of land here would be blown beyond recognition by bombs and shells?


    Under gurov''s leadership, we did not encounter any more sentries on the road. We successfully arrived at the group army headquarters in a shelter. Krailov is also an acquaintance of mine. We first met at the headquarters of the front army, and then came to the river Dun from the headquarters of the front army. We had a lot of time to deal with each other.


    Strictly speaking, the shelter where the headquarters is located is not a real shelter. It is just a relatively spacious bomb shelter. On the top of the shelter, there are many thick logs one by one. The logs are fixed with ropes. It was covered with a few inches of soil. With the explosion of the shells, the soil on the top of the roof fell down from the crevice of the log from time to time.


    One side of the shelter is the earth stool, and the other side is the earth table. After gulov asked me to sit down on the bench, he handed me a teapot with a lid and said in a low voice, "the Germans are shelling the hill in front of us, but they don''t seem to pay attention to our 35th guards on the hill. There are no heavy guns in their guns."


    Before we came in, there were only two people in the shelter department. One was general Krylov with a telephone in her hand, and the other was a female signalman. She looked very young and was probably a tenth grade student before she put on her uniform.


    General Krylov turned a blind eye to our arrival. He was speaking sternly to someone. His voice was loud and sternly. He seemed to be angry with each other.


    The female signalman held a telephone receiver in each hand and wanted to pass it to krailov. Seeing that the other party was talking again, she had to say to the two microphones: "sorry, comrade commander, comrade chief of staff is making another call."


    In my impression, gurov is a person who doesn''t like to interfere in the command of military commanders. At the moment, he sits on the bench with me silently, waiting for Krylov to finish the call with me. Seeing that my attention was focused on the female signalman, he introduced to me in a low voice: "the female signalman''s name is Elena bakalevich. She is 18 years old and a student of Grade 10."


    When krailov finished the call, he looked over to me. I quickly stood up and raised my hand to salute him. Just as I was about to report according to the regulations, I didn''t expect that he took another microphone from Elena''s hand, nodded politely at me, and then continued to talk with the commander at the other end of the phone.


    I sat down in silence and heard the telephone ring from time to time. I couldn''t help looking at gurov curiously and wanted to ask him why the group army headquarters was so busy? And where''s commander trakov?


    Gurov, who was good at observing words and colors, guessed the question I was going to ask from my eyes and said to me on his own initiative: "as you can see, there are not enough people in the headquarters of the group army. Since we broke out from the Dun River, the communication camp has almost been lost. Now there are only 40 people left, so you can see that they have to work for several people at the same time. As for the commander, he has just taken some soldiers to the 35th division of the guards on the hill in front of him. "


    Hearing the gunfire coming from the outside, I could not help asking nervously, "Comrade military commissar, commander, go to the shelling area, won''t anything happen?"


    Before gurov could answer my question, the familiar voice of trakov came from the door: "the shells that can kill me have not been produced yet."


    Hearing trakov''s voice, I quickly got up from my seat and straightened up to salute him. When trakov appeared in my field of vision, I quickly raised my hand to salute and respectfully said: "Hello, comrade commander. The commander of the independent division, Colonel oshanina, reports to you that the independent division has been ordered to come to the mamayev post and wait for your next order. "

 Chapter 598

    I thought that when trekov saw me, even if he didn''t show great enthusiasm, at least his face should be overjoyed. Unexpectedly, when he saw me, he just raised his hand and said with no expression: "Comrade o''shanina is coming, sit down!"


    I didn''t expect that trekov''s attitude towards me would be so indifferent. I was stunned. After a moment''s hesitation, I sat beside gurov again.


    Trikov stood beside general Krylov for a moment. Seeing that he had been busy communicating with the troops by telephone, he sighed, went to the stone bench at the table, sat down, faced us, and said to gurov in a deep tone: "Comrade military commissar, I have an unfortunate news for you: half an hour ago, General gorazkov, commander of the 35th division of the guards, died in the battle


    "What, general gorazkov died." When I heard the news, I jumped up from my stool.


    Gurov seemed to be used to this kind of news. He looked up at me strangely, and then asked trekov slowly, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter?"


    Trikov stopped for a moment, then leaned slightly over gurov and began to say, "with the help of the 51st infantry, the 14th German tank army launched a fierce attack on the position of the 100th infantry regiment north of the mamayev post. As the regiment''s defense areas were all open and without danger, coupled with the lack of sufficient anti tank weapons, the defense line was soon broken through by the German army. At this time, general gorazkov arrived with the 101st regiment of reinforcements. After a tough fight, he drove the enemy out of our position.


    But the Germans, unwilling to lose, launched another attack half an hour later. They first used heavy artillery to bombard the positions of the 100th regiment, causing heavy casualties to our troops without solid defensive positions. When the German tanks again covered the troops of a regiment approaching our army, after a short period of resistance, our army was forced to withdraw from the position in front of the strong German offensive. After gorazkov and the division instructor''s machine gun company were cut off, the cover troops retreated to the mamayev post. Unfortunately, they were shot and killed. It was lieutenant ibaluri, the company commander of the machine gun company, who risked taking back the division commander''s body with several soldiers. "


    When trakov finished speaking, gurov sighed and asked slowly, "did the machine gun company rescue general gorazkov back to the position and let the military doctor examine him? Is there any hope of life? "


    Trekov shook his head solemnly and replied, "it''s cold this morning. General gorazkov started with his troops in a long military coat. Just now, in the position of the 102nd regiment at mamayev post, I saw not only the body of general gorazkov, but also his military coat. You know what? There are 160 bullet holes in that military coat. "


    "My God," gurov said uncontrollably, "with so many bullets, general gorazkov''s body has not been destroyed?"


    Trekov nodded and said bitterly, "yes, the whole person was almost destroyed by bullets. All the soldiers of the machine gun company were not afraid of life and death before they took back the body of their division."


    "Comrade commander, how many people are left in the 35th division of the guards?" Chief of staff Krylov, who had temporarily stopped answering the phone, stood up and asked cautiously.


    Trikov turned to look at him and replied with a bitter smile: "at present, the total strength of the 100th, 101st and 102nd regiments of the guards is no more than 1500, of which only 600 are infantry."


    Hearing the data reported by trakov, the headquarters was silent. Krailov couldn''t help but shut up in surprise. After a long time, he was surprised and asked, "what, there are only 1500 people. You know, there are tens of thousands of people in the 35th division of the guards. It''s only a few days before the team is almost finished?"


    Instead of answering his question, trakov turned to look at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, how many people are in your army?"


    I had already sat down again. Seeing that trekov asked me, I immediately stood up and answered, "report to commander, since the main force of the division is still changing guard with the 70th division of the guards, I only brought the first and second regiments to come here first. There are 4000 people in the two regiments."


    "Where are the two regiments?" Trekov asked.


    I quickly replied: "the first regiment is under the hillside where the headquarters of the group army is located, while the second regiment is marching on foot here."


    "The German army is still shelling the position of the 102nd regiment of the guards on the mamayev post. When the shelling stops, your troops will seize the time to exchange defense with the commander of the 35th division of the guards."


    After hearing trekov''s order, I agreed and then asked, "Comrade commander, general gorazkov has died. Who is the commander of the 35th division of the guards now?"


    "I''ve asked the deputy division commander, Colonel dubiyanski, to take over the post of division commander. When changing the guard, you can go directly to him."


    General krailov stood by, and when trakov had finished his command, he waved to me and said, "Colonel oshanina, come to me, and I''ll give you a brief introduction to the current situation."


    Although I have stood on the post of mamayev, I still have a dark eye on the current situation. When I just heard the order of trakov, I was still thinking about who to ask. I didn''t expect that krailov had considered this problem first.


    When I got to Krylov''s side, he pointed to the map and said to me, "Colonel oshanina, come and see. Our current position is mamayev post. Mamayev''s name comes from Badu Khan of the Mongolian army, where his troops camped when they moved westward to Europe. Standing on the high ground, you can overlook the whole city of Stalingrad and the Volga River. If anyone controls this area, he can control a large area, including the transportation line of Volga River, which is the lifeblood of Stalingrad. So the order given to you by the headquarters of the group army is to keep here at all costs. "


    After pondering for a moment, I asked curiously, "Comrade chief of staff, I want to know where the position of the 102nd regiment of the guards is at mamayev post."


    After listening to my question, krailov pointed to the map again and said, "this is the position of the 102nd regiment of the guards. They are on the main position of the mamayev post. To the east of the position is the Volga River, and to the south is the city. The headquarters of the group army is located in the southwest of the main position. Two kilometers west of us is the 107.5 highland defended by tank troops. I suggest that you put only one regiment in the main position, and the rest of the troops should be deployed in this hill and the city behind, so as to prevent the German army from attacking our city directly from the side of the highland when it repeatedly attacks the highlands. "


    Then he stood up straight and said to trakov, "that''s all I have to say. Vasili Ivanovich, do you have anything else to add?"


    Instead of speaking, trakov looked at military Commissioner gurov with inquiring eyes. Seeing that he nodded his head in agreement, he said, "I have nothing to add. Colonel oshanina, you can go back to your troops."


    After listening to trekov, I stood still. I was thinking that if the headquarters of the group army continued to stay on this hillside, my division headquarters would have to be set up on the mamayev post. In that case, under the double attack of German shells and bombs, perhaps in two days, my division headquarters and I would be destroyed by the powerful fire of the German army.


    Seeing me standing still, gurov asked slowly, "Comrade oshanina, do you have anything else to say?"


    I nodded to the comrades of the military commissar and said with certainty, "yes, comrades of the military Commissar. In my opinion, for the sake of safety, the headquarters of the group army should not stay here any longer, but should quickly move to the cities where you can better command the operations of the whole group army. "


    "What do you say, Colonel o''shanina?" He said sternly, "I want you to find out one thing. Is it the group army commander or the division commanding the group army. Where the group army headquarters is located, you can''t count it, but I has the final say.


    When I was about to defend myself, krailov helped me out in time. He said to trikov, "Comrade commander, there is something I haven''t had time to inform you. The headquarters of the front army called and said that they had moved to the East Bank of the Volga River. For the sake of safety, commander yelimenko ordered us to withdraw the headquarters of the group army into the city immediately. "


    "It''s easy to withdraw into the city," he asked without looking back. "But where do we have to put our headquarters to command the troops as easily as we do now?"


    "Our new headquarters will be set up in the original headquarters of the front army."


    After listening to krailov''s words, trakovsky no longer insisted, but politely asked gurov''s opinion: "your opinion, comrade military commissar?"


    Gurov still said slowly: "I have no opinion, resolutely obey the orders of the superior."


    Today''s series of performances of gurov make me feel that he is extremely abnormal. When I worked with him in the past, he didn''t have such a slow character. Why didn''t I see him for a month? This question in my heart, until three months after the end of the campaign, when the military commissar gurov suddenly passed away, I knew that he had suffered from a serious heart disease at the moment, because the damned war had affected his health and greatly shortened his life.


    The change of defense was carried out in an hour. Due to the long journey, the second regiment led by Pugachev has not yet arrived at mamayev post. I just need to lead the first regiment to receive the defense.


    The new commander of the 35th division, Colonel dubiyanski, is a tall, unsmiling commander, which may have something to do with the political workers he has served for many years. After seeing our troops enter the position, he just gave a brief introduction to the situation on the position, and then withdrew with his disabled and defeated general.


    After the withdrawal of Colonel dubiyanski and his troops, shejerikov, who had observed the surrounding terrain, said to me, "Comrade division commander, I think the defensive front of this position is too narrow. If we put all our troops here, once we are bombarded and bombed by the German army, we will suffer unnecessary losses."


    "What do you think?" I have always been good at listening to the opinions of my subordinates. When I heard something from Sergey rickov, I asked directly.


    "In my opinion, while strengthening the front fortifications and digging more air defense and artillery holes, we should also excavate the hideout on the back of the highland. Two companies were set up in the positions on the mountainside and on the top of the hillside, and the rest of the troops were hidden in the cave as reserves. When the forces in the positions are tight, the reserve forces will be transferred to support them. "


    After listening to the proposal, I nodded my head without hesitation and said with approval, "commander shijerikov, you are right. Now that you have an idea, you should act immediately. The Germans won''t give us too much time to reinforce the fortifications, so whether you are reinforcing the fortifications or digging the hideouts, you must race against the clock. "


    Xiejerikov left after saluting, and then appeared in front of me was lieutenant razumeyeva, the commander of communication company. She came up to me and reported to me, "Comrade division commander, communication company has arrived. Where are you going to put them?"


    I looked around, and it was obvious that the communication company could not be placed in the front of the defensive position, so I waved my hand and said, "I see a gully between the two hillsides, so I''ll put the communication company there for the time being."


    "In addition, the 35th division of Jinwei also left a women''s communication class. They are still in the valley at the moment." When razumeyeva saw that I was turning to leave, she quickly stopped me and added: "I think the guard division suffered heavy casualties anyway. After withdrawing, she must go to the rear to rest, and our number of signalmen is not enough. Otherwise, let''s leave this communication class?"


    "Well, let''s leave them. These female soldiers should be proficient, which will be of great help to us." When I heard her suggestion, I almost agreed without thinking. Let alone a communication class, it is a communication company. If I can stay, I will not hesitate to stay.


    Although I have made my words very clear, razumeyeva still said with some misgivings: "if you want to keep them, it is estimated that you need to negotiate with their superiors."


    "Comrade lieutenant, come with me. Let''s go to see the female signalmen first, and then talk to their superiors."


    Razumeyeva and I did not walk along the hillside full of shrubs and low plants into the gully. We saw a group of female soldiers who obviously did not belong to our division, moving things from the green tents of the two armies. Seeing this scene, razumeyeva couldn''t help but feel a little worried and urged me to say: "Sir, look, they are moving equipment out, probably ready to withdraw. Let''s go faster. If they remove all the equipment and we install and debug it again, it will take a lot of time. "


    I nodded and stepped up. At the same time, I waved my arms to the young girls from a distance and cried out: "soldiers, wait a minute. Soldier comrades, please wait a moment When razumeyeva heard my voice, she followed me.


    Our shouts were heard by the girls in the communication class. They stopped their work and stood beside the communication equipment moved out of the tent, staring at us running towards them.


    I ran to them and gasped and asked, "girls, who is in charge here?"


    A female corporal came up to me, saluted me and reported, "report to the colonel, I''m corporal stucallova, the monitor of the communication class. Do you have any instructions?"


    "Corporal stucallova, I now officially announce to you that from now on, your communication class will be assigned to the commander of my independent division''s communication company," I continued panting with my hands crossed Then I raised a hand to the next razumeyeva pointed, said: "this is your new company commander, Lieutenant razumeyeva."


    I thought stucallova would immediately agree with me when I said that, but she shook her head and said, "I''m sorry, comrade colonel. We can''t accept your order until we have received the written order from the division commander of the 35th division


    "Ah?! Don''t take my orders When I heard the corporal say that, I almost rushed to her and grabbed her by the collar and beat her hard. But I quickly restrained my impulse. Corporal stukarova''s reply was correct. She would not easily accept the orders of a new Commander without receiving orders from her superiors.


    Razumeyeva said the other side very firmly. She couldn''t help getting anxious. She came close to my ear and asked in a quiet voice, "Comrade teacher, what should we do now?"


    I''m still in a bit of a dilemma when I hear about this issue of razumeyeva. If I go to find Colonel dubiyanski alone, he will definitely not agree to put the communication class under my command; If we call razumeyeva together, what should we do if we don''t watch the communication class here and they withdraw on their own? Now that everyone''s gone, it''s no use even if I have a written order from dobyansky in my hand.


    When I was in a dilemma, I suddenly saw several female soldiers coming down the hillside in the direction of the headquarters of the group army. At a glance, I saw that they were from the communication company of the division. I quickly touched razumeyeva with my arm and said to her, "Lieutenant, look quickly. Those female soldiers are from your communication company."


    Razumeyeva turned her head and then yelled at the female soldiers on the hillside: "private Taya, private Liuba, private Lena, private kraftya, private Shura, come to me quickly."


    Several female soldiers who were called by her ran all the way down the hillside, came to us and stood still. Their eyes were moving back and forth on me and razumeyeva. It was obvious that they were ambivalent and didn''t know who to report to. I raised my chin to razumeyeva and said, "report to your company commander."


    After listening to me, several female soldiers saluted razumeyeva and asked for instructions: "company commander, we are waiting for your orders. What instructions do you have?" Razumeyeva didn''t look back at me, so she directly told her girls: "girls, I give you a difficult task. We are going to set up our communication station here in the valley. These are the soldiers from the communication class of the 35th division of Jinwei. You are now debugging the equipment with them. No one is allowed to leave the tent until my teacher and I come back. Do you understand? " After her words, several female soldiers of the communication company replied loudly, "I see!" Razumeyeva glared at them and said, "now that I understand, what are you doing here? We should help them to move these communication equipment back to the tent and start the installation and debugging of the equipment. " When I saw the female signalmen under razumeyeva moving the equipment back into the tent, I went to corporal stucallova and said to her with a kind face: "corporal comrade, I''ll go to Colonel dubiyanski to get a written order. Please go back to the tent first and help my men debug the equipment. You know, the main force of our division will soon enter the mamayev post. First of all, we must ensure smooth communication. " Corporal stucallova nodded helplessly when I said this, and then said to her subordinates, "girls, go back to the tent, and install the removed equipment." Razumeyeva and I quickly walked to the position of the headquarters of the group army. On the way, razumeyeva was a little worried and said, "Comrade division commander, do you think Colonel dubiyanski will agree to give this communication class to our command?" In fact, I don''t have enough confidence in this matter, but in front of my subordinates, I still said, "don''t worry, comrade lieutenant. If Colonel dubyansky doesn''t agree, I''ll go to the commander. As long as the commander comes forward, this communication class will certainly be under our command. " When I went to the headquarters of the group army, I didn''t see the Sentinels just now. On the contrary, I saw some familiar faces. Razumeyeva looked around and said curiously, "is it the troops of the second regiment coming up?" It''s said that the second regiment is stationed here. My heart can''t help but thump. I can''t say that if the headquarters of the group army is transferred, I have to go to the city to find trekov. Thinking of this, I went to the door of the shelter I had been to, lifted the curtain and went in. There were several people sitting in the room. When they saw me and razumeyeva coming in, they all stood up to salute us. With the help of the dim light of the candle, I could see that inside was the acting commander of the second regiment, Pugachev, and several of his company commanders. I sat down on the bench beside the table and asked in a steady voice, "Comrade Pugachev, are all your troops here?" Pugachev stood straight in front of me and answered in a loud voice, "yes, sir, the second regiment has all arrived, waiting for your instructions!"¡° Come with me, comrade Pugachev. " I went to the gate of the headquarters, lifted the curtain, pointed to the distance and said to him, "do you see the hillside over there?" Seeing Pugachev nodding his head vigorously, I continued: "the defense area of the first regiment is on that hillside. You immediately spread out the second regiment on this hillside and build fortifications and Tibetan soldier caves on the top of the hillside. In addition to placing one or two companies in the positions, the main forces of the remaining two regiments went to hide in the cave for standby. "

 Chapter 599

    Since Pugachev''s second regiment was defeated by German bombardment, Pugachev, who I blame, has always been strict in the construction of fortifications. As soon as I ordered them to build fortifications on the hillside, I immediately replied without hesitation, "yes, sir, I immediately arranged for people to build fortifications on the hillside."


    I raised my hand, looked at my watch and asked casually, "Captain Pugachev, have you seen my jeep?"


    Because I don''t know where the driver drove the jeep after he was ordered to see off the engineer lieutenant, and Pugachev, who came late, didn''t meet him, so I asked him casually.


    Unexpectedly, Pugachev immediately replied, "yes, when our regiment arrived at the foot of the mountain, your driver just drove from the direction of the city, and he showed me the way up the mountain."


    Hearing that the jeep was just down the hill, I urged razumeyeva: "come on, comrade lieutenant, come with me. I hope they haven''t gone far yet, Colonel dobyansky After that, I turned around and left. Just after walking out of the shelter, I stopped again, lifted the curtain and told Pugachev: "Captain Pugachev, we should pay close attention to the repair work. The Germans won''t give us too much time to deploy our defense. We can''t say when their attack will begin."


    As I walked down the hillside, I saw the jeep parked near the checkpoint. After the guards heard me identify myself, the political instructor quickly replied, "report to the colonel, we are guards infantry. I saw dubiyanski seven or eight meters in front of me. I hastened to push him. At the same time, I yelled," Colonel dubiyanski, Colonel dobyansky


    At my voice, Colonel dobyansky and the soldiers around him stopped and stood where they were. The soldiers on the March, seeing that their way was blocked by their division commander, all went around one after another from both sides. Dobyansky looked at me dully, without any expression on his face.


    I pushed hard in front of him, and after a long sigh of relief, I said, "thank God, comrade Colonel, I''ve finally caught up with you."


    Dubiyanski looked at me suspiciously and asked faintly, "Colonel oshanina, the exchange of our two divisions is over. You come here specially. What''s the matter?"


    "Well, comrade colonel." With a bright smile, I said to him, "don''t you leave a women''s communication class in the gully behind the highland? And my independent division, as you know, is a newly established unit, which is short of manpower in all aspects. Now our division has accepted the task of sticking to the high ground. If the communication company of the division is short of manpower, it will not be able to guarantee the smooth communication between the division headquarters and the front positions. So I''m here to ask you to put this communication class under the organizational structure of our division. What do you think? "


    When I say this, I''m ready to be rejected by dobyansky. If he doesn''t agree, I''ll go to trakov or gurov and ask them to coordinate the matter. Unexpectedly, dubiyanski just thought about it for a moment, then said with a smile: "Captain oshanina, look at what you said, you and I are all friendly forces. In order to make sure that you stick to the high ground, let alone a women''s communication class, even if you want me to have a battalion, I will support you without hesitation. "


    When I heard that dubiyanski agreed to leave the women''s communication class, I was overjoyed. I grabbed the captain''s hand, shook it vigorously, and repeatedly said, "thank you, thank you, thank you, Colonel dubiyanski." When I released his hand, it suddenly occurred to me that corporal stucallova, the communication monitor, wanted a written order, so he said in embarrassment, "but Comrade Colonel, you may have to give me a written order before I can officially take over the women''s communication class."


    What I said surprised dubiyanski. He asked in a puzzled way, "Colonel oshanina, what''s going on?"


    "When I came here, corporal stucallova, the monitor of the women''s communication class, said personally that we must have a jeep from the guards. When I got off the bus, I specially told the driver:" Comrade driver, try to hide the jeep, otherwise if it is found by the German plane, it can only be put outside for them to play as a target. " With that, I waved my head to razumeyeva and said, "come on, comrade lieutenant, let''s go back to the headquarters."


    When we walked up the south slope, we saw the soldiers of the second regiment digging Fortifications on the slope. Razumeyeva curiously asked: "Sir, our positions are all on the north slope. Why dig Fortifications on the south slope?"


    I pointed to the hillside with only bushes and thorny plants and said to razumeyeva, "Lieutenant razumeyeva, you see, the whole highland is full of bushes and low plants. There is no forest for the troops to hide. Holding so many troops on the highland, the pilot of the German reconnaissance plane is not blind. As soon as he reports the information to the police, The overwhelming number of planes will bomb the mamayev post. At that time, no matter how much our division''s forces are, they will be completely lost under the saturation bombing of the German army. Therefore, we must find a way to hide our troops. In this way, we can not only prevent the enemy from finding out, but also reinforce our troops in time when the front forces are tight. "


    With these words, we both came to the outside of the headquarters unconsciously. Three enemy planes flew over the highlands to the northeast. I shook my head and looked at the enemy planes in the sky. Suddenly, I felt a little uneasy. I quickly took out the order in my briefcase and gave it to razumeyeva. At the same time, I told her: "Comrade lieutenant, you should give the order to corporal stucallova immediately, and let the girls dig the air raid shelter nearby as soon as possible, In case of possible German air strikes. " Razumeyeva agreed, took the paper order in my hand and ran to the gully.


    After razumeyeva left, I raised my telescope and looked northeast at the Volga River. There is a wharf near the river of mamayev post, which is full of fleeing civilians. It is pushing towards a steam turbine just near the bank.


    After the enemy plane flew over the dock, it lowered its altitude, dived into the crowd gathered at the dock, and began to strafe and drop bombs at the same time. Thousands of civilians crowded on the narrow dock. Except for those who were close to the ship, the rest of the people had no place to hide and escape. They could only stand there and become the targets of German aircraft. After the three planes were pulled up one after another, three flesh and blood alleys were ploughed out of the crowded crowd by dense machine gun bullets.


    When the enemy circled in the air and prepared to dive again, the anti-aircraft gun and anti-aircraft machine gun positions on the dock opened fire again and again. Our air defense fighters were ready to use intensive fire to shoot down all the three enemy planes.


    But in the ground to air combat, the ground defense side is always at a disadvantage. As the anti-aircraft gun position and the anti-aircraft gun position fought independently, after pouring countless ammunition, the enemy plane was not damaged, and several air defense positions of our army were destroyed one after another. A shell on an antiaircraft artillery position destroyed by a bomb was killed, and the flying shrapnel knocked down many nearby civilians.


    Seeing that the dock had become a hell on earth under the bombing of the enemy planes, my heart tightened, and my throat seemed to be blocked by a bitter thing. Although I was so angry that I gritted my teeth, I couldn''t help what happened on the dock.


    However, the sacrifice of air defense positions has gained valuable time for civilians to escape. The steamer on the dock did not wait to be full of passengers, but ran out of the dock in a panic and headed for the east bank in the face of enemy strafing and bombing. Those civilians who were not able to board also went back to the bomb shelter, crater and bunker.


    After dropping all the bombs and firing all the bullets, the three enemy planes circled over the wharf for another two days before flying far away. When people at the dock saw the enemy planes flying away, they came out of their hiding places to look for their dead and injured relatives and friends. For a moment, the dock was in chaos again.


    "Sir, what happened at the dock?" Razumeyeva did not know when to come back to me and asked curiously.


    "Have a look, comrade lieutenant." I angrily put the telescope into her hand and gritted my teeth and said, "remember the heinous crimes committed by the bandits against our motherland and people. Sooner or later, we will make them pay for their blood."


    Razumeyeva raised her telescope and looked for two minutes. Three more enemy planes appeared in the air. They still skimmed over the highlands and flew to the dock in the northeast direction. These damned Germans, before we finished treating the dead and wounded civilians, their second wave of planes came again. As soon as they arrived at the wound of the dock, the three new planes, like the enemy planes just now, mercilessly bombed and strafed the people on the dock.


    However, our air defense forces had been prepared for this time. They continued to shoot and finally achieved success. An enemy plane was cut off one side of its wing by the shrapnel of the antiaircraft shell and rolled down the Volga River. Soon a white umbrella flower bloomed in the air. It seemed that the pilot jumped in time.


    Seeing the downed German plane, I couldn''t help waving my fist excitedly. The remaining two planes, after their colleagues were shot down, did not dare to dive any more and could only hover in the air for a while and then turn around and fly away.


    When I saw the enemy planes far away, I thought to myself that in order to bomb the civilians on the wharf, the German planes had been dispatched twice in a row, and they would not come again for the third time. Just think of here, the sky and the roar of the aircraft motor, and then there are several black spots appeared in my field of vision. Seeing this scene, I almost slapped myself and scolded myself as a crow. I just thought that the enemy plane was coming, but I didn''t expect that they were coming.


    Seeing that the enemy plane was getting closer and closer to the highland, razumeyeva and I were still standing in the same place. I had clearly seen that there were six planes in the air this time, and I didn''t know how many casualties they would cause to the civilians on the wharf.


    Just thinking, the plane flying over the mamayev post didn''t fly towards the wharf any more, but dived down towards us. At this moment, I was surprised to find that this wave of enemy planes were not aiming at the wharf at all, but came to bomb the mamayev post. I quickly opened my voice and yelled at the busy commanders and fighters on the hillside: "air raid siren, air raid siren, hide quickly!"


    But my orders were muffled by the loud explosion of the bomb, and then I was thrown to the ground by a man. I lie on the ground, listening to the explosions, feeling the ground shaking slightly, I can''t help but panic. The German air raid came too suddenly. Their planes flew over the Highlands twice and turned a blind eye to the busy commanders and fighters in the mountains and valleys. However, they attacked the wharf on the Volga River. Our commanders and fighters unconsciously relaxed their vigilance and thought that the German air raid was aimed at the wharf, not the mamayev post. So the commanders and fighters were still busy on the hillside when the enemy planes came. They didn''t think of hiding. After the bombing, my regiment 1 and regiment 2 didn''t know how many people would be killed.


    I tried to look up to see the situation nearby, but my sight was covered by black smoke. I couldn''t see further. I couldn''t even know what happened to the soldiers digging nearby. The enemy planes bombed and strafed the Highlands for ten minutes, but for me, it was as long as ten days. After the enemy plane dropped the bomb, fired the airborne machine gun bullets, flapped its wings and flew away, the person who pressed on me stood up and stretched out his hand to pull me up from the ground. I looked up and saw that it was lieutenant razumeyeva who just overthrew me. At this moment, her face was black and white with smoke. I nodded to her quickly, turned around and ran to the headquarters. I want to know about the losses in this air raid. When I opened the curtain and rushed into the headquarters, I found that Pugachev and another soldier standing inside had become natives. The explosion of the bomb shook down the soil on the roof and left them alone. I grabbed the phone on the desk, shook the handle twice, just wanted to call, but found that there was no sound inside. Pugachev shook his head and said regretfully, "Comrade division, after the air raid started, the phone couldn''t get through. Maybe the line was blown off." "Did you send someone to check the line?" I asked Pugachev shook his head again and replied, "no, the signalmen who came with us were called away by lieutenant razumeyeva. I don''t know where they are now." Hearing the name of razumeyeva, I thought of the women soldiers I met outside the tent of the women''s communication class. I quickly said, "I know they are all in the tent in the gully. I''ll ask razumeyeva to inform them to check the line and resume the communication between the division headquarters and the frontier as soon as possible." Speaking of this, I suddenly thought of what I wanted to know the most. I immediately asked, "how were the casualties of your regiment in the air raid just now?" Pugachev said with a sad face: "I don''t think it''s small. The German air raid came so suddenly that the troops didn''t prepare at all in advance. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of the officers and men are working on the hillside and are the best targets for attack. I estimate that the casualties of the whole regiment will be at least one third. "¡° Comrade teachers, comrade teachers. " Without waiting for me to speak, razumeyeva suddenly rushed out crying and ran in, grabbed my arm and went out, crying and saying: "it''s over, it''s all over, my women''s communication class is all over." I was misty and misty when razumeyeva came to the top of the hillside and looked into the valley along the direction of her finger. I saw that there were two army green tents, only a few big pits. There were burning pieces of tent cloth and broken parts of communication equipment in the pits. There were many bloody limbs and broken arms in the smoke craters nearby. Seeing this scene, I fully understand that my women''s communication class is over. As soon as I arrived at mamayev post, this damned German gave me a bad impression. If I don''t get revenge, I swear I won''t be a man. Think of here, I only feel throat hair sweet, a mouthful of blood suddenly spray out.

 Chapter 600

    When I saw that the tent where the women''s communication class was located had become a crater, I was filled with anger. When I felt the sweetness of my throat, I chuckled and spat out a mouthful of blood. Then I just feel the whirl of heaven and earth, and fall back as soon as I feel soft. Fortunately, he was helped by Pugachev, who was standing beside him, so he didn''t fall to the ground.


    Razumeyeva also came and took my arm, wiped the tears on her face, and asked with concern, "teacher, are you ok?"


    Just when I saw that the German planes bombed and strafed the civilians gathered on the wharf, I was filled with righteous indignation. Then the bombing of mamayev post left more than a dozen female signalmen in their infancy. I was in a hurry and would spit blood. However, after spitting blood, I felt a lot more relaxed. I gave her a grateful smile and said softly, "Lieutenant razumeyeva, I''m ok. Thank you for your concern."


    With these words, I caught a glimpse of the big craters in the ravine. My heart became heavy again when I was just getting better. In a low voice, I told Pugachev, "Comrade captain, take some soldiers with you and go to restrain the remains of the women soldiers." When Pugachev promised to leave, I told him in the back, "if possible, finally find some coffins for them."


    After Pugachev left, I turned to ask razumeyeva, "how many people are left in the division communication company?"


    Razumeyeva thought for a while and replied, "there are still several communication classes in the third and fourth regiments, and there are about 30 people left. At first, the communication class soldiers from the 64th army came with me. Now there are only three people left, including me, and the rest are newly added later. "


    My eyes looked at the soldiers who were busy treating the wounded and restraining the dead on the hillside, and said faintly, "Lieutenant razumeyeva, try to supplement the communication company as soon as possible. In the coming days, the battle we are facing here will be very cruel. If communication is not guaranteed, we will not be able to win the battle. "


    Just as I was talking, I suddenly saw a group of people coming from the east of the hillside in the distance. In front of them were some soldiers in military uniforms, followed by people carrying suitcases and bags. Razumeyeva obviously also saw this scene, she was surprised to say: "what''s the matter, why there are so many people?"


    I shook my head and said, "come on, Lieutenant razumeyeva, let''s go over and see what''s going on."


    Twenty or thirty steps ahead, I saw two soldiers with submachine guns in front of me, accompanied by a German officer in a flying suit. More than a dozen soldiers followed hand in hand, blocking the coming civilians. Seeing me standing in front, a soldier beside the prisoner reached out and pushed him hard from behind, urging: "don''t dally, go quickly."


    When he came to my front and back, the soldier on the left raised his hand to salute and reported to me, "Comrade division, that''s him. It was his plane that just bombed the civilians on the dock. As soon as we saw his plane shot down by our air defense forces, the battalion commander, Captain horushov, ordered us to catch the pilot who parachuted


    After he finished, he saw that the captured German pilot was still arrogant. He slapped the other side on the back of the head angrily and yelled: "Why are you still standing here? Don''t you salute the Colonel?"


    The German pilot gave me a scornful look, put his hands on his back, raised his head, and said defiantly, "why? You know, as a German officer, I will not salute the commander of the Russian army. "


    Hearing that he was speaking Russian, I couldn''t help taking a step forward and asked him curiously, "officer, do you speak Russian?" Before he could answer, I raised my voice and asked him, "Why are you doing this? Why bomb docks and kill unarmed civilians? "


    The pilot looked down at me and said, "if you had handed over Stalingrad earlier, we would not have bombed this city, and the accidental injury to civilians would have been completely avoided. But judging from the present situation, you can''t keep Stalingrad. Sooner or later, we will occupy it. "


    I''m not interested in discussing with the German pilot whether Stalingrad can hold on. I look at the civilians who are trying to break through the soldier''s cordon and ask coldly, "what''s your name?"


    "Jensen, Luftwaffe Lieutenant Rudy Jensen."


    "Comrade teacher, what should we do with him?" Razumeyeva, glaring at Lieutenant Jensen, asked in a low voice.


    Razumeyeva''s problem reminds me that the bombing of German planes caused countless casualties among the civilians gathered at the wharf, turned the ferry into a hell on earth, and the dozens of female soldiers who were bombed to death. At the thought of this, I was so angry that I raised my hand and asked the soldier who had spoken to me to come.


    Just as I wanted to order him to shoot the German pilot on the spot, a nervous cry came from behind: "Sir, please wait, please wait."


    I turned to see Grimes, Beckman, gretka, Mikhail and a group of soldiers scurrying up the south slope. They were all wearing German uniforms. I really don''t know how they got through the friendly line.? If I didn''t see the soldier who came to the front of the line holding the flag of the independent division high in his hand, I would also regard them as German.


    Beckman went between me and lieutenant Tucson, and said frankly, "Sir, this pilot has been captured. Please give him the treatment that an officer should have."


    Although Beckman spoke Russian very well, the sharp eared Lieutenant Tucson recognized that he was not a Soviet and asked in surprise, "are you German, captain?"


    Beckman turned to look at the air force lieutenant, nodded and said with certainty, "yes, Mr. lieutenant, some of our officers from the 103rd infantry regiment." At this point, he seemed to feel something was wrong. He quickly changed to German and chatted with the air force lieutenant.


    After they talked for a while, Beckman turned to me and said sincerely, "Sir, I''ve talked to this air force lieutenant. Everything he does is under orders. If he doesn''t shoot at the dock, he will be sent to the military court after he goes back."


    An old lady with a child in her arms broke through the cordon temporarily set up by the soldiers, staggered up to me and roared hysterically, "Comrade Colonel, you see, they did all this. They are not human beings, they are animals. You can decide for us! " Then she handed the baby to us. This is a beautiful little girl, but in her face, which is blackened by the smoke, there is no sign of life.


    "Teacher, you see, the little girl has..." razumeyeva didn''t finish her words, so she blocked her mouth with her fist to avoid crying out loud because she couldn''t control her emotions.


    I looked at Beckman pleading for Lieutenant Tucson and said, "Captain, I want to ask you, if this old man is carrying your child in his arms, what kind of decision would you make?"


    With that, I turned around and walked in the direction of the headquarters without looking back. The soldiers obviously understood what I meant. They let go of the guard line, which was made up of arm in arm. They let the insulted civilians yell and rush to the prisoners who were unable to resist. In the "bang bang" sound of the body being punched and kicked, the air force Lieutenant Tucson yelled: "don''t give me to them, Captain, please! Please don''t give me to them, captain. I beg you!... "


    I ignored the cry of the prisoner and walked on. When I lifted the curtain of the headquarters, the scream of the prisoners in the distance stopped.


    I was followed by three former German officers in addition to Mikhail. After I politely asked them to sit down, I solemnly asked Mikhail: "Lieutenant Mikhail, I ask you why you are still wearing German uniforms. Don''t you worry about misunderstanding with our troops when you cross the friendly defense line, leading to an exchange of fire?"


    Mikhayev quickly stood up from the stone bench, straightened up and said to me, "report to Mr. commander, this is the situation. When the first and second regiments you led, as well as the third and fourth regiments of major kosga and major gedar, set out, small groups of German troops have been found on the road leading here. For the sake of safety, commander Oleg and commissar verol decided to let us continue to wear German uniforms and quickly rush to the new defense area. Before passing through the friendly defense area, commander Oleg sent people to inform the friendly forces that our troops returned from the enemy''s rear after carrying out their tasks, so many people were wearing German uniforms. I hope they will not be nervous and avoid conflicts. "


    "Do you know where the third and fourth regiments are? Where are Colonel Oleg and commissar verol first? " At present, except one regiment and two regiments, I don''t know where the three regiments and four regiments are, so as soon as he finished, he asked in a voice.


    After listening to me, Mikhail shook his head and said, "I don''t know where the three regiments and four regiments are, because we didn''t see them at all on the way here. Commander Oleg and political commissar verol are placing troops at the foot of the hillside. I''m afraid you''ll be in a hurry. Let''s let you know first


    "Do you have communication equipment in your regiment?" After the German bombing, it can be said that all the communication equipment on the position was destroyed, so I had to go to the hospital in a hurry, hoping that the fifth regiment would have redundant communication equipment, so that I could resume contact with the group headquarters and the first regiment as soon as possible.


    Mikhail yev thought about it, nodded and replied, "Comrade teacher, I think there should be."


    For his answer, I said discontentedly: "there is, there is no, what is there?"


    After listening to this, Mikhail yev replied with a bitter smile: "Comrade division commander, do you forget that I don''t belong to the fifth regiment, but the company commander of the engineering company of the division, so I don''t know much about the situation of the fifth regiment."


    What he said reminded me that it was true. No wonder Oleg and verol asked him to report to me first. It turned out that Mikhail yev belonged to the army directly under the division. I looked at the other three Germans in the headquarters, and it was obviously inappropriate to give them the next task, so I told Mikhail: "Comrade second lieutenant, you should go to Oleg and verol immediately, and ask them to report to my headquarters immediately. If you have communication equipment, bring them together, and I need to get in touch with other regiments immediately."


    "Yes After a clear promise, Mikhail turned and ran out of the headquarters.


    When there were only me and three other German officers left in the headquarters, I sat down at the table again and looked at Beckman. Seeing that he was still depressed, I said coldly, "Captain Beckman, are you still disappointed about that air force Lieutenant?"


    Beckman looked up at me, did not speak, just a wry smile, no doubt default my guess is correct. Seeing that he didn''t reply, I went on: "Captain Beckman, when the German planes bombed the docks and mamayev post, you didn''t arrive. If you had seen the crimes committed by the German air force against civilians, you would not have pleaded for the pilot. "


    "But, captain." Beckman said unconvinced: "that pilot has been captured by you. You can send someone to send him to the prison camp, instead of giving up control of the captured pilot and causing him to be killed by the civilians who are out of control. "


    Beckman''s complaints were directly ignored by me. I don''t regret the decision to hand over the pilot to the civilians. Moreover, even if there were no civilians coming from the dock at that time, I would not hesitate to order the pilot to be shot and avenge our dead commanders and fighters.


    Mihayev soon came to the headquarters with Oleg, verol and my guard battalion commander basmanov. When so many people came in, the small headquarters was very crowded. When I saw Pugachev lift the curtain from the outside, I immediately ordered him: "Captain Pugachev, take gramus and Beckman to have a rest first." Although these Germans have turned to us, I don''t want to let them know what will happen next, so I tried to get rid of them.


    After Pugachev and captain gramus left, basmanov had rushed to say, "Comrade division, I have a problem with you," without waiting for Oleg to speak


    "Yes, what is it? Let''s hear it


    Basmanov chuckled and said, "I''m your guard battalion commander, but I find that you can''t remember it. You don''t like to take guards everywhere. If that''s the case, what''s the point of my being a battalion commander? I might as well be a company commander in an ordinary company. "


    When I heard basmanov''s complaint, I laughed with embarrassment and apologized to him, saying, "Captain basmanov, it was my fault that I always ignored you as the commander of the guard battalion. You can rest assured that from today on, wherever I go, I will take the soldiers of the guard camp. In that case, you won''t have any more opinions, will you? "


    Seeing what I said, basmanov didn''t say any more, just showed a proud smile on his face.


    At this time, Oleg got a chance to speak. He asked busily, "Comrade division, on our way here, we saw German planes bombing mamayev post from a distance. How many casualties did our troops have?"


    My mood, which had just improved, became heavy again because of his words. I calmly and seriously said: "because the enemy''s aircraft had flown over the Highlands twice in a row to bomb the wharf on the Volga River before bombing us, when the enemy aircraft appeared for the third time, everyone, including me, relaxed their vigilance, resulting in heavy losses in the enemy''s sudden air attack."


    Verol looked at my face and asked tentatively, "Comrade division, are the casualties of the other four regiments serious?"


    "Although I have not received specific reports of casualties, judging from the situation just after the bombing, the number of casualties of regiments 1 and 2 has reached about one third." Speaking of this, I suddenly thought of veroll''s question, asking for four regiments instead of two. I frowned and asked strangely, "political commissar veroll, on your way here, didn''t you see the three regiments and four regiments of kosja and Gaidar?"


    Oleg and verol shook their heads together, indicating that they had not seen the two regiments on the road.


    When I knew the whereabouts of the two regiments were unknown, I couldn''t help getting a little flustered. I even asked Oleg, "commander, do you still have communication equipment in your regiment?"


    Hearing my question, Oleg nodded and replied, "yes, we brought the telephone when we came. At the door, we met lieutenant razumeyeva. She and our regiment''s signalmen are setting up the communication antenna. I think she will come in in a few minutes. "


    As soon as Oleg''s voice fell, razumeyeva came in from the outside. Behind her, a male signalman was carrying a telephone. Without waiting for my order, she asked the soldier to put the telephone on the stone table at the door. After a simple debugging, she turned to me and asked, "Comrade division, which regiment do you want to contact first?"


    "A regiment, a regiment of lieutenant colonel chejerikov." As for the three regiments and four regiments that have lost contact for the time being, I still have no energy to pay attention to them. The first thing I want to know now is the casualties of one regiment in the main position during the air raid just now.


    Fortunately, the group''s telephone was not damaged in the air raid, and razumeyeva soon got in touch with the other party. When I heard the lieutenant say that sergeant chejerikov was on the line, I quickly walked over, took the earphone and transmitter in her hand, and cried out, "Hello, Hello, Sergeant chejerikov, can you hear me? I''m Colonel oshanina


    "Sir, I can hear you very clearly." I could hear the voice of chejerikov clearly in my headphones. I quickly asked, "how are the casualties of your regiment?"¡° "Report to division commander," said shijerikov with a heavy tone, "because during the air raid, most of the soldiers were digging fortifications and were caught off guard, resulting in heavy casualties. According to our simple statistics, there are about 700 casualties, of which 400 died on the spot and more than 100 were seriously injured. Even if they are cured, they will leave permanent disabilities. " Although I had a general understanding of the casualties of regiment 1 and regiment 2 for a long time, my heart still sank when I heard the report of shejerikov. On the first day when I entered the Highlands, I was killed and injured more than 1000 people without even seeing the German shadow. If the German army used aircraft and artillery to saturate the Highlands, We don''t know how many casualties we have. No wonder so many divisions and brigades in history were lost after two days of holding fast on the highlands. It turned out that they were all sacrificed under the heavy German artillery fire and the indiscriminate bombardment of aircraft¡° Comrade teacher, comrade teacher, are you still there? " Because I was too preoccupied and didn''t speak for a long time, I was misunderstood by Xie jerikov on the other side that I was offline. He called loudly one after another, and then he came back to me¡° I''m still here, Lieutenant sergeant chejerikov I said faintly, "how are your regiments doing?"¡° The trenches on the hillside and the top of the mountain had been dug, but unexpectedly, most of them collapsed when they were bombed by German planes, and they had to be repaired before they could be used. To the south of the hillside, we have dug several caves for Tibetan soldiers, each of which can hold one or two platoons of troops. "¡° This is far from enough. Comrade xiejerikov, the fortifications of your regiment are far from enough. " I heard that only one or two companies of troops could be put into the dug hideout, so I was very dissatisfied and said, "think for yourself how many people there are in your regiment. If the surplus troops can''t be hidden, can you put them on the hillside and let the German planes be the targets for bombing? So you have to build a cave for two or three companies before dawn tomorrow. "¡° I see, sir. " "I immediately arranged for a special person to excavate the Tibetans'' cave," he said simply As soon as I finished the call with shijerikov, I immediately ordered razumeyeva: "Comrade second lieutenant, immediately contact the third and fourth regiments of kosja and gedar to see where they are now and why they have not arrived at mamayev post so late." Maybe it was because I suffered a big loss in the German air raid today, and the third and fourth regiments didn''t arrive at the designated position, so I spoke very sternly. Razumeyeva quickly contacted lieutenant colonel gedar. When she said she had contacted each other, I said to myself, "thank God, I have contacted them at last. Otherwise, I thought they had crossed the river to the other side of Volga." With headphones on, I went straight to the transmitter and said, "Hello, Colonel gedar, this is colonel oshanina. Tell me, your fourth regiment, and commander kosga''s third regiment, where are they now? " Intense gunfire came from the earphones, and Gaidar yelled: "report, comrade division commander, I and the third regiment of Colonel kosga are on the 107.5 highland to the west of mamayev hill. We are organizing troops to fight back against the German army who just occupied the highland."¡° What? " Gaidar''s words surprised me. I said angrily, "nonsense, it''s nonsense. Your task is to go to the mamayev post to set up defense. Now what are you doing in the 107.5 highland? "¡° Comrade division commander, "Gaidar, who was scolded by me, tried his best to explain to me through the wireless microphone:" if the Germans occupied the 107.5 highland, they could not only drive straight into Stalingrad, but also their troops would detour eastward, which would cut off all the links between our division and the main forces of the group army in the city. "¡° Who ordered you to attack highland 107.5? " Although what he said was reasonable, I said discontentedly: "you know, it''s the defense area of the friendly forces. They are there to resolutely block the Germans. Do you need you and kosja to meddle in their business?"¡° It''s not like that, comrade division. It was because the defenders who held the high ground retreated that the German took the high ground. The scouts I sent found out this situation. After they came back to report it to me, Lieutenant Colonel kosga and I decided to change the direction of our March, attack highland 107.5, eliminate the Germans who occupied the Highlands, and ensure the safety of the flank of mamayev post. "¡° What do you mean, the original garrison on the high ground has retreated? " I can''t believe my ears¡° Yes, comrade division commander, the garrison retreated without fighting. "

 Chapter 601

    I was afraid that I had heard it wrong, so I repeated the question again. Finally, I added: "Comrade commander, can you confirm that the garrison is really retreating without fighting? When you say this, you should be responsible. If it is found out afterwards that there is a discrepancy between the information you reported and the facts, you will be sent to the military court for trial. "


    My words silenced Gaidar. A moment later, he answered me decisively: "yes, sir. I can guarantee with my life that the troops on 107.5 will retreat without fighting. Just before the attack, I met 70 or 80 soldiers who had retreated from the high ground.


    At that time, I and a dozen soldiers blocked their way and asked them loudly, "who told you to retreat without authorization?"


    The soldiers said one after another, "we retreated only after receiving orders from our superiors."


    One of the soldiers even said to me, "Comrade commander, our company played very well in the morning''s battle, and beat back three German charges in a row."


    After listening to the soldier''s words, I scanned the line with my eyes and found that all the soldiers blocked by us were soldiers. Except for two or three sergeants and corporal, there was not even a commander with a higher level. The soldier on the list who spoke to me alone was a sergeant. I quickly asked him, "what about your company commander and instructor?"


    The sergeant bowed his head and answered me with some sadness: "all sacrificed."


    Then I asked, "what about your battalion commander and regimental commander?"


    All the soldiers on the scene shook their heads and answered neatly, "sorry, comrade commander, we didn''t see them. Maybe they have retreated first."


    Seeing that the situation was in crisis and knowing that the independent division had to take action, I ordered the troops to enter the attack position immediately. Originally, I wanted them to join us in restoring positions and driving the Germans down from our high ground. But then came a messenger of the army, saying that the commander himself had ordered them to withdraw immediately into the city to build new fortifications. I heard that it was the order given by the top commander of the army, so I had to let these soldiers leave. "


    As I have just learned from chief of staff krailov that the friendly troops stationed at 107.5 are tank troops, since it is their commander who ordered the retreat, let alone kosja and Gaidar, even if I was present, they could not be prevented from giving up their positions. In order to prevent our division from being encircled by circuitous German forces, the first task at present is to take this highland back from the German hands at all costs, so I asked nervously, "Lieutenant Colonel gedar, how many Germans are there on the highland, and are our troops doing well in the current attack?"


    "There was a company of German troops on the highland. The speed of the soldiers'' climbing was affected by the steep hillside on the south side. Our two successive attacks ended in failure. But now Colonel kosga himself is in company with his guards, and I''m sure we''ll soon be able to take the position back from the German hands. "


    "What about our artillery, what about our tanks? Captain yegonovitch, Captain Morozov, Captain pelsjian, where are they now? " When I heard that the two regiments had attacked one of the German highlands and had not captured it, I couldn''t help getting impatient and yelling at the transmitter.


    "Captain perskin''s tanks have been completely lost in the last two days of defense. Captain Morozov, mortar company, is using artillery fire to suppress German high ground fire, covering our soldiers for a third charge. And captain yegonovich, "Gaidar said, pausing for a moment, then said," don''t you know, sir? When we retreated, we received an order from chief of staff Raskin that the heavy howitzer battalion of captain yegonovich belonged to the 64th group army. Since our division was under the command of the 62nd group army, we let the heavy howitzer battalion be built. "


    When I heard Gaidar say that, I was so angry that I beat him on the table. It''s true that Colonel Ruskin didn''t return to build the heavy artillery battalion sooner or later. It happened that when I needed heavy firepower most, I let the artillery battalion return to build. Isn''t it a cut from the bottom? It seems that my troops don''t know how much to pay if they want to take back the 107.5 highland.


    My actions scared the surrounding Oleg, verol and razumeyeva. They all looked at me with worried faces, but they didn''t dare to speak freely, for fear of provoking my thunder. After taking a deep breath, I said to gedar, "commander gedar, you tell captain Morozov to concentrate all the mortars and bombard the Germans on the high ground. We must suppress their firepower and cover our infantry to rush to the high ground."


    "Please don''t worry, sir. We will certainly win the high ground."


    "Cowards who are greedy for life and afraid of death," I said in a low voice after putting down the earphone and transmitter, cursing the commander of the tank army who ordered the troops to withdraw from the position without authorization. "It''s time to put a supervision team in your headquarters. When you see that you want to escape, you will all be shot."


    Scolded a few words, I inadvertently bowed my head, found razumeyeva just staring at me, I said angrily: "Lieutenant, what are you looking at me for? Is there a flower on my face?"


    "Sir, who are you going to contact next?" Razumeyeva asked wrongly.


    "Who else can I get in touch with? Of course, with the headquarters of the group army. I''m going to ask commander trakov to report the retreat of the tank army without fighting." Although I''m disgusted with those who make small reports, the situation is different at the moment. If he doesn''t let trakov know about the unauthorized withdrawal of the tank army in time, he will always think that the army is still holding high 107.5 and covering the side of mamayev post, which will lead him to make a wrong decision in the next command.


    When I spoke to trakov, I was still trembling with anger at the tank commander''s fear of death. The abnormality of my voice was noticed by trakov. He didn''t know why I was like this. He laughed at me and said, "Colonel oshanina, did the German air attack your position and frighten you?"


    "Comrade commander," I said solemnly, "I have some sad news for you!"


    Trekov was startled by my tone. He quickly asked, "o''shanina, what''s the matter?"


    "When the German army launched another attack, the defenders who held fast to the 107.5 highland on the left side of our division had retreated without fighting and were retreating to Stalingrad. The highland had been occupied by the Germans."


    After a long time, he asked tentatively, "Comrade oshanina, the commander of the tank army has not reported the retreat to me, and I have not received any relevant information here. Are you wrong? Or is it that a German spy sneaked into your division and deliberately released the news, just to cause panic in your division? "


    "No mistake, comrade commander." I solemnly replied: "this information is reported by my head. At this moment, he and his troops are fighting back to the German occupied highland, trying to take this position back from the German hands."


    After a second hesitation, trakov asked, "how''s the battle going? Have our troops recaptured their positions?"


    "Not for the time being, comrade commander. Although our troops launched two charges, because the terrain on the south slope was too steep, the soldiers had to slow down when climbing the slope. As a result, they became the targets of the Germans. Although they paid a lot of casualties, they did not take back the position for the time being. "


    "Colonel oshanina," came trakov''s serious voice from the earphone, "please tell your commanders and fighters that the 107.5 highland is very important to keep Stalingrad, so let them play the spirit of fearless and fearless, and take it back at all costs."


    "Comrade commander, I see. My troops will take the Highlands back."


    After the end of the call, I felt that what trekov gave me was a very arduous task. We should know that my troops were originally weak in fighting, and it was OK to fight defensive and sneak attacks. We should fight tough battles in places with unfavorable terrain. Even if we recaptured the Highlands, it would be a tragic victory.


    Just want to order razumeyeva and Gaidar contact, ask about the situation of attacking the Highlands, did not expect Gaidar to contact us first. As soon as he heard my voice, Gaidar said in a hurry, "no, comrade division. Our third charge failed again, and commander kosga was wounded in the battle."


    "What?" I can''t believe what Gaidar said. When the two regiments beat each other, they trampled each other to death with their feet. As a result, the current attack has been repeatedly frustrated. One of the regiments is still injured. I asked angrily, "Gaidar, how did you talk about kosga''s injury?"


    "Our troops were overwhelmed by the heavy machine gun fire of the German army when they were halfway up the mountain. After the death of a heavy machine gun group that we provided firepower cover for the attacking troops, Lieutenant Colonel kosga rushed up and personally lay down behind the heavy machine gun, operating the machine gun to fire at the Germans. Under his precise strike, the Germans on the hillside fell one after another. As the enemy''s firepower weakened, our soldiers doubled their courage and rushed up the mountain.


    At that moment, a mortar shell fell on kosja''s side and exploded, and his heavy machine gun went dumb. The German army on the hillside also slowed down. Their strong firepower brought down our soldiers who rushed up the hillside


    I don''t care how the troops were beaten back. I only care about cosga''s injury, so I can''t wait to ask, "how''s Colonel cosga now?"


    "The left leg and back were hit by some shrapnel, which had been snatched from the hillside by the health workers. At present, he is still very sober. It is estimated that in less than half a month, the injury will be cured. "


    Hearing that kosja''s injury was not serious, I breathed a sigh of relief and then ordered Gaidar: "Comrade commander, now the three regiments and four regiments are under your unified command. You immediately organize your troops to prepare for the fourth charge. Remember that the formation of the attack should not be too dense. That is tantamount to putting it on the hillside as a target for the Germans. "


    "I see. I''ll set up a fourth attack immediately. I''ll get the high ground back."


    Putting down the earphone and the transmitter, I couldn''t help thinking. If I lose the frontal attack again, it will affect the morale of our army. If the German army can''t be solved in a long time, as soon as the German reinforcements come up and heavy weapons are added, then my two regiments may be destroyed. What should I do? What should I do?


    Just when I was very anxious, Oleg suddenly asked: "Comrade division, I want to ask, where is the base of our fifth regiment?"


    When I heard Oleg mention the fifth regiment, I suddenly had an idea that if we can''t attack by force, we can outwit. Anyway, many of the officers and men of the fifth regiment were wearing German uniforms, which could be used for their own purposes. Thinking of this, I calmed down a lot. I stood up and asked Oleg, "Comrade commander, how many officers and men in your regiment are wearing German uniforms now?"


    Oleg was stunned by my question. After a long time, veroll said calmly, "Comrade division, at present, there are two companies in German uniforms, and nearly half of them are real Germans."


    "Come and see," I called Oleg and verol to myself and said to them, "highland 107.5 is two kilometers to the west of us. If you take a troop up the north slope of the highland, I think you can get rid of them quietly and get the highland back."


    "But, sir." After listening to my plan, Oleg said with some embarrassment, "if you march in the open during the daytime, you may be found by the Germans on the hillside before you get close to the high ground. In this way, we will have to fight a tough battle. If the German reinforcements come from behind, we will be completely destroyed in the enemy''s attack. "


    "Commander Oleg," verol said before I could speak, "don''t you understand the master''s plan? She wants us to lead this army that pretends to be German, to touch it quietly from the north slope, and then attack the high ground. "


    "Political commissar verol is absolutely right. That''s what I think." In my influence, many Soviet women are much smarter than men. At least they are not as rigid as men. When I heard verol''s accurate analysis of my intentions, I gave her a generous compliment¡° Next, who will lead the army? "


    "Comrade division, this operation is too dangerous. You can''t go!" I haven''t said who will be in charge of the force yet. Captain busmanov, the commander of the guard battalion, has taken the lead in opposing.


    "The captain is right. This operation is too dangerous for the division commander to go." Pugachev, who had just entered the headquarters, also heard the following words and timely expressed his support for basmanov.


    Then Oleg and verol agreed one after another: "yes, yes, we can handle these things. Comrade division, you''d better stay in the headquarters and command the troops."


    I raised my hand and pressed down. When the headquarters was quiet, I asked, "who do you hear that I am going to lead the troops to fight back? I''m just thinking about the importance of this operation and who should be sent to direct it. "


    When I said that, busmanov said with a shy smile: "Sir, you used to do such risky things, so when you think about who will lead the team, you habitually think that you will take risks. How about that? I''ll lead the army. What do you think? "


    "What do you mean, Captain busmanov?" Hearing what the guard battalion commander said, Oleg next to him was not happy. He retorted, "this is my army. It''s not your turn to command."


    "Yes, commander Oleg is right." I don''t know how verol usually gets along with Oleg, but at this time, she is on the same front with Oleg. "Captain basmanov, although you are the battalion commander, you are the guard battalion commander, not a member of the fifth regiment. Our troops of the fifth regiment are not under your command."


    Seeing the tendency of several people to continue to bicker, I quickly raised my hand to stop them and said, "don''t fight. This small unit will be under the command of commander Oleg. However, there are too few companies. Add another company to let the commanders and fighters change into German uniforms and run to the high ground. I''ll give you an hour to get the Highlands back. "


    "But, sir." After listening to my order, Oleg said in embarrassment: "one of the companies is a real German. They have not surrendered to us for more than a week. If they are allowed to fight with their compatriots at this time, will there be a sudden defection?"


    In fact, I have considered this problem for a long time. However, seeing that Oleg was baffled by this small problem, I said with some dissatisfaction: "during the attack, you set up the overseers behind the German company. If anyone wants to run away, then..." I waved my hand down and said, "kill them all."


    "I see, sir." "Don''t worry, I promise to take the Highlands back from the German hands," Oleg said


    "To prevent misunderstanding, you take the flag of the independent division. Once the highlands are occupied, put the flag on the top of the mountain, so that lieutenant colonel Gaidar on the south slope will understand what''s going on


    "Do you want me to send someone in advance to inform commander Gaidar?"


    I waved my hand and said, "no, I''ll inform Gaidar myself. It''s getting late. You can lead the troops and set out. "


    As soon as Oleg left, before I could get in touch with Gaidar, razumeyeva reported to me in a hurry: "Comrade division commander, the headquarters of the group army has sent an order for you to go to the headquarters immediately and confront the friendly troops about the loss of 107.5 highland."


    After hearing this, I nodded and told razumeyeva: "Lieutenant, you should contact commander gedar immediately and tell him that one of the troops led by commander Oleg will attack from the north of the highland as German troops. Let him pay attention to identification and avoid misunderstanding." Then I waved my head to basmanov and said, "come on, comrade battalion commander, take some soldiers with me to the headquarters of the group army."


    Half an hour later, I arrived at trekov''s headquarters.


    Because the signalman and the Group Commander work in the same room, it seems very noisy here. There are so many telephone rings and telegrams that when chief of staff Krylov asked me, he had to raise his voice again and again: "Colonel oshanina, you just reported to the commander, Is it right to say that the friendly forces on your left, without the permission of the group army headquarters, withdrew the headquarters from the 107.5 highland to the city and left the highland to the Germans? "


    When general krailov asked me, trakov sat silent and smoked. Seeing that trakov did not speak, I understood in my heart that what krailov asked me was obviously approved by trakov, so I honestly replied, "yes, comrade chief of staff. My three regiments and four regiments met the troops who had been withdrawn from the Highlands in the process of moving. In order to ensure the security of the left wing of the mamayev post, the third and fourth commanders, Col. kosja and Col. Gaidar, after urgent consultation, resolutely launched an attack on the German troops occupying the high ground. "


    "How''s the battle going? Has the highland been taken down?" At last, trikov could not help asking.


    I shook my head and said regretfully, "because the hillside on the south side of the highland is too steep and we are short of heavy weapons, the army''s three successive charges ended in failure. And the third commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosga, was wounded in the battle


    "How is the injury?" Krylov asked with concern.


    "The left leg and back in a few shrapnel, but after the treatment of health workers, may be able to recover within half a month."


    Krailov turned and said to trikov, "comrades of the headquarters, according to the report of Colonel oshanina, the fact is very obvious that the tank army, without the permission of the superior, arbitrarily issued the order to let the troops withdraw, which led to the German army easily seizing 107.5 heights."


    Just then, the military commissar gurov came in from the outside and saw that I was also in the headquarters. He was obviously stunned for a moment. Then he said to me with a friendly smile: "aha, Colonel oshanina, I didn''t expect that we would meet again so soon."


    I quickly stood up to salute him and politely said, "Hello, comrade military Commissar."


    Gurov went up to trakov and asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, is the situation confirmed?"


    Trakov dropped the cigarette end on the ground, stamped it out with his feet, and said in a positive tone: "there is no doubt that the situation reported by Colonel oshanina is true. The tank army retreated without permission and left our position to the Germans."


    A staff officer came in and reported to several leaders of the group army: "report to the commanders, comrades, the commander and political commissar of the tank army are here, waiting for your reception outside."


    "Let them in." Krailov orders the staff.


    After a while, two middle-aged commanders walked into the headquarters. The general on the left is obviously a soldier, and the political workers around him should be the political commissar of the tank army.


    Trikov stood up, walked up to them, and angrily asked, "commander and political commissar, I want to ask you why you changed the position of your headquarters without the permission of your superiors."


    "Well, comrade commander." The general explained somewhat flustered, "I did this because our troops in the Highlands were bombarded by German mortars, and the casualties were very high. In addition to continuous fighting, the soldiers are very tired, and their morale has also been affected to a certain extent, so I made the decision to withdraw the headquarters temporarily. "


    "Comrade General, have you asked for instructions from your superiors?" As soon as trikov finished, gurov asked impolitely.


    The general shook his head with a red face, indicating that he had not asked anyone for instructions on the retreat.


    Trakov then asked him, "you are a Soviet general and the head of a combat area. If the commanders and headquarters of your subordinate forces retreat to the rear without your permission, what would you think? According to order No. 227 of the people''s Commission of national defense, how should your action be evaluated? What is the problem that you withdraw your command post to the rear of the group army command post without authorization? "


    The tank general didn''t answer trakov''s question. Both he and the commissar were ashamed. I can see that in their eyes. He warned them that "I think your action is to escape. If you don''t move the command post to 107.5 before dark today, you will be sent to the military court."


    Gurov and krailov said "yes" together to express their approval of trakov''s decision.


    Just then, a signalman came up to Krylov and handed him a telegraph paper. He gave me the telegram with only one look, and said, "Colonel o''shanina, this is the telegram forwarded by your men."


    I took the telegram, read it at a glance, and then excitedly reported to trikov, "Comrade commander, I have good news for you. My troops have taken highland 107.5 back from the German hands!"

 Chapter 602

    "What, the Highlands have been taken back?" Trekov was overjoyed at the news. He took the telegram from me and read it over and over again. He still couldn''t believe it.


    Not only did trekov, gurov and Krylov feel happy that our division had recovered 107.5 Highlands, but I also felt relieved to see the commander and commissar of the tank army from the corner of my eye.


    After reading the telegram, trakov handed it to gurov, went straight to the tank commander and commissar, and said to them solemnly: "general bondalev, commissar formanov. Since the independent division of Colonel o''shanina has helped you to take back the position, you will directly lead the troops back to guard it. If you lose it again, I will personally send you two to the military court for trial. "


    At the stern words of trakov, general bondalev straightened up and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, I''m going to move the command post back to highland 107.5."


    Gulov also walked up to the two men and said slowly, "general bondalev, the leaders of the group army will not deal with you organizationally this time because the troops of Colonel oshanina have taken back your lost positions in time and decisively, which has not caused too much damage to our defense line. I hope that after you go back this time, you will strengthen your fortifications and be ready to fight a tough battle with the Germans. "


    When they heard gurov''s words, bondalev and formanov looked at each other in surprise, and the political commissar answered, "please rest assured, commander, military commissar and chief of staff. On behalf of the military commander, I will make a statement to you that as long as there is another commander and fighter in our position, we will never let the Germans occupy our highlands again."


    Fulmanov political commissar''s reply made gurov nod his head with satisfaction, and then waved to them: "it''s late, you go back to the army as soon as possible."


    Bondalev and formanov raised their hands to salute trakov and gurov and said goodbye to them. I found out by accident that general bondalev gave me a hostile glance, then turned around and walked out of the group army headquarters with his political commissar.


    After the departure of bondalev, who was hostile to me, I was planning to say goodbye to trikov and rush back to mamayev post immediately. I didn''t expect that a few of them would be very busy, either answering the phone or reading the telegram. When I saw this situation, I couldn''t mention it any more. I had to stand by and wait. Of course, I didn''t stand still. I listened to their phone calls and studied the map on the table, the marks and arrows they drew on the map. I wanted to know the current situation of both sides in Stalingrad.


    At this moment, another staff officer came in and reported to trikov, "Comrade commander, general Golikov, deputy commander of the front army, is here. Now it''s outside."


    On hearing the report of the staff officer, trikov''s face showed a surprise expression. He put the phone aside and called gurov and krailov, who were discussing in a low voice with several telegrams: "the military commissar, chief of staff and deputy commander of the front army are coming. Let''s go out to meet him."


    "You''re welcome, comrade trakov. I came in myself." With the sound, the deputy commander of the front army, who I once met, strode into the headquarters.


    "Hello, dear Philip Ivanovic. Welcome to the headquarters of the 62nd army. It''s a pleasure to meet you here." Trikov took the lead to salute each other, and affectionately called each other''s real name and father''s name, and then the two hands tightly together.


    Golikov and trakov were obviously acquaintances, and they began to talk cordially: "me too, dear Vasili Ivanovich. I haven''t had time to congratulate you on your assumption of the post of commander of the 62nd army. "


    After releasing his hand, trakov jokingly asked, "how can you come to my headquarters today? You don''t come to congratulate me, do you?"


    "Of course not. I was ordered to come to the front line to learn about the deployment of the troops."


    After general Golikov explained his intention, gurov also shook hands with him and said hello to him. Golikov took gulov''s hand and asked with concern, "Comrade Kuzma akimovich, your condition is OK. Do you need me to ask Comrade Stalin to let you go to Moscow to recuperate?"


    Gurov shook his head and refused Golikov''s kindness: "thank you, comrade deputy commander. My combat post is in Stalingrad. When my comrades in arms and subordinates were fighting with the Germans, I went to Moscow 1000 kilometers away to recuperate. This is an act of deserting soldiers and is absolutely not allowed. "


    Golikov heard gurov said so firmly, had no choice but to say: "since it is so, then you will continue to stay in the front line, but I remind you to pay more attention to your body."


    Gurov nodded his head and replied, "please don''t worry, deputy commander. I''ll pay attention to my body."


    Golikov went up to krailov again, reached for his hand and said, "Hello, chief of staff krailov. As far as I know, in the past half a month or so before Comrade trakov took office, due to the injury of acting commander General kolpakchi, you have been commanding the army and fighting with the Germans tenaciously, It defeated the German attempt to capture Stalingrad quickly. On behalf of the army and the people of Stalingrad, I would like to thank you Then he let go of kreilov''s hand, stepped back, and raised it with a solemn salute.


    After meeting with several major leaders of the group army, Golikov inadvertently turned around and found that I was standing in the headquarters too. He was stunned, and then asked, "Colonel oshanina, I remember you are the division commander of the independent division. What do you do when you don''t stay in the army to command the battle and come to the headquarters of the group army?"


    When he asked this question, he really asked me. Can I tell him that the reason why I appeared in the headquarters of the group army was that general bondalev, the commander of the tank army, gave up his position without authorization and exposed the flanks of our division to the German army, and came to the commander to complain?


    Fortunately, trikov solved the siege for me in time. He told Golikov straightforwardly: "Comrade deputy commander, it''s like this. Major general bondalev, the commander of the tank army who sticks to the 107.5 highland, transferred his command post from the highland to the city without the permission of the group army, which led to the rapid occupation of the highland by the German army, And threatened the flank of the independent division that held the mamayev post. "


    "What?" Golikov immediately frowned and said discontentedly, "how dare general bondalev do this? According to the order No. 227 of the people''s Commission of national defense, no one is allowed to retreat without permission, otherwise the person who gives the order will be directly sent to the military court for trial. Comrade trakov, what did you do with general bondalev? Are there any lost positions taken back? "


    "Shortly after the German army occupied the Highlands, it was discovered by Colonel oshanina''s troops that they actively launched a fierce attack on the enemy who occupied our army. After a fierce battle, they had completely annihilated the enemy on the highlands and recaptured our position." At this point, trakov shrugged his shoulders and added, "since the Highlands have been recaptured and have little impact on the defensive zone of our group army, we did not deal with Comrade bondalev. Instead, we ordered him and his political commissar to move the command post back to the Highlands immediately."


    Golikov, after hearing this, said to trikov unhappily, "Comrade trikov, it''s not right for you to do so. You should immediately arrest general bondalev and his political commissar, take them to the military court, and hand over the tank army to someone else you can trust. This kind of person who is greedy for life and afraid of death is no longer worthy of holding an important command post in our team. "


    Golikov''s words immediately gave me a sense of confidant. You know, I also feel that the commander and political commissar of the tank army should be sent to the military court. Fortunately, the fighting in our area is not fierce, otherwise it will not be so easy for the Germans to destroy them after they have established their foothold on 107.5.


    Seeing that Golikov wanted to severely punish bondalev and his political commissar, gurov also came forward to plead for them. He said sincerely: "Comrade deputy commander, the current situation is very chaotic. If we arrest bondalev and his political commissar, who should be sent to command the army? If someone from an unfamiliar army is sent to take over the command of the tank army, it may cause unnecessary confusion among the commanders and fighters. That''s why we made the decision not to deal with them, but I also emphasized that if there is another similar incident, they will be directly sent to the military court. "


    Seeing that trakov and gurov both wanted to defend general bondalev, Golikov no longer talked with them, but sat down and waved his hand, and directly turned the topic to other aspects. He said with a heavy tone: "comrades commander, yesterday, September 3, comrade Stalin called general Zhukov, saying that according to the current situation, the German army is likely to rush into Stalingrad, so the Supreme Commander himself directly gave the death order to Comrade trakov, demanding an immediate assault on the German army near Stalingrad, To ease the tension outside the city. "


    "Does general Zhukov have any plans?" Trekov asked nervously.


    Golikov looked around first. When I saw that his eyes fell on me, in order to avoid suspicion, he took the initiative to ask him, "Comrade deputy commander, I''d better avoid it."


    However, Golikov said generously: "since Colonel oshanina is here, please stay and listen. The new counterattack may need the assistance of the independent division." Since he asked me to stay and listen, I was not polite, so I sat down next to chief of staff Krylov.


    Golikov said: "at present, the German army has tightly surrounded Stalingrad from three directions. In order to reverse this unfavorable situation, after a short period of preparation, general Zhukov decided to counterattack the German army in the northern area of Stalingrad tomorrow, that is, in the morning of September 5, with the forces of the first group army, the 24th group army and the 66th group army."


    On hearing the news, the faces of trakov, gurov and krailov all showed a happy smile. However, I was still staring at Golikov with no expression, because only I knew in my heart that although the counterattack effectively delayed the German army''s attack speed on the urban area, and took precious time for the future defense and counterattack war, it ended in failure.


    Seeing that there was no surprise on my face, Golikov asked curiously, "Colonel oshanina, what are you thinking? Why did you not react to this news?"


    Of course, I can''t tell him that this counterattack was not able to break through the encirclement formed by the German army outside the city because the preparation time for the campaign was too hasty, and there was neither enough troops nor necessary heavy equipment. In particular, the number of artillery to cover the infantry attack was very limited. But when I heard him ask this question, I quickly thought of an appropriate reason: "sorry, comrade deputy commander, I''m thinking about what role my independent division will play in this counterattack? I''m too preoccupied for a moment, so please forgive me


    Golikov''s face showed a kind smile. He said with disapproval, "I thought you were thinking about it. It turned out that you were thinking about it. I will tell you that according to our analysis, after the counterattack begins, the German army may pounce on Stalingrad along the Volga River, and the mamayev post guarded by your independent division is a gate. You should do everything possible to block the Germans firmly, and never allow them to attack Stalingrad, otherwise, our troops carrying out the assault, You''ll be cut off by the enemy. Comrade Colonel, do you understand what I mean? "


    I nodded my head hard. It''s strange that I couldn''t understand. If the German had a firm foothold in the mamayev post, even if they didn''t rush into the city, they just had to put dozens of heavy guns and bombard the city all the time, so Stalingrad would not be able to defend. However, I replied very simply: "please rest assured, comrade deputy commander, that my independent division will resolutely keep the Germans out of the mamayev post and prevent them from rushing to the city. But I have another request


    "What request? Let''s hear it. As long as I can do it, I''ll solve it for you immediately. "


    "Can we have an artillery unit for our division? Whether it''s an ordinary artillery company or an anti tank company, just one company will do. You know, my Division has no artillery and no tanks. Except for a few anti tank grenades, there are only a few hundred flasks for anti tank weapons. If the German army only comes with a few tanks, there is no problem. If there are more tanks, we will have nothing to do with them. "


    Without waiting for Golikov''s reply, trakov asked first, "didn''t I equip you with a heavy howitzer battalion before? Why didn''t I use it? Was it consumed in the early defensive war?"


    I shook my head and said helplessly and wrongly, "it''s not like this, comrade commander. In the early fighting, I protected the artillery battalion like my eyes. After such a long battle, there was no loss of a gun or a gunner in the artillery battalion. But when our division changed its guard, chief Ruskin left the artillery battalion behind and said that they belonged to the 64th army. "


    "That''s ridiculous. How could Colonel Ruskin do that?" After listening to my explanation, trakov just muttered in a low voice, and said nothing more. It is estimated that he is not willing to face his former partner for the sake of an artillery battalion.


    Golikov thought for a moment, and then said to me, "Colonel oshanina, I thought for a moment. If you don''t have artillery, it will be difficult for you to hold the high ground. Well, I''ll go back and report this to commander yelimenko, and try to transfer two anti tank artillery companies for you to strengthen the anti tank forces in the highlands. "


    After listening to Golikov''s words, I was overjoyed. I quickly stood up, raised my hand, saluted him, and said gratefully, "thank you, comrade deputy commander. With these two artillery companies, I will be able to hold the high ground."


    After I sat down, trakov also began to make a request to Golikov: "Comrade deputy commander, I also think it is necessary to send some new and cutting-edge divisions to our group army, because almost all the regiments and units of the 62nd group army have been greatly weakened in recent battles, and some BBS even have only a few hundred soldiers left. As early as the battle in the great bend of the Don river, the 62nd army suffered serious losses because of its wrong command. "


    Golikov did not express his opinion immediately after hearing this. Instead, he took out his pen and paper, spread the book on the table and said in a leisurely manner, "Comrade trakov, can you provide me with an accurate data of the 62nd army? So I can go back and convince commander yelomienko. "


    Trikov turned to look at krailov and asked hopefully, "general krailov, you are the chief of staff of the group army. I wonder if you can provide general Golikov with the data he needs?"


    Krailov stood up and said confidently, "no problem. I have all the numbers and numbers of the army in my head."


    With a relaxed look on his face, trekov reached out to krailov, made a gesture of invitation, and said, "please, chief of staff."


    Krailov nodded, then turned to Golikov and said respectfully, "Comrade deputy commander, I will now introduce to you the situation of our group army. At present, there are 10 infantry divisions, 3 infantry brigades, 1 barricade area, 2 tank troops, 2 motorized infantry brigades, 1 tank brigade, 3 cannon regiments, 10 anti tank artillery regiments, 1 mortar regiment, 2 rocket artillery regiments, 1 rocket artillery battalion, 2 anti-aircraft artillery regiments and 2 Engineer Battalion in the 62nd group army. Although there are many numbers, due to the heavy losses in the previous stage, there are only 54000 people left in the 62nd army. Of course, this figure does not include the independent division of Colonel oshanina. We have about 900 guns of various types and 110 tanks. In fact, there are only 200 to 300 fighters in each division or brigade. Some divisions are fully equipped with several guns and machine guns. The situation of tank brigades is even worse, with only 6 to 10 tanks left in each brigade. "


    Golikov was silent for a long time after listening to krailov''s report. When he finally put away his pen and paper, he finally made up his mind and said, "well, comrade trakov, I will report the situation here to general Zhukov and commander yelimenko. At the same time, I will make a request to the Military Commission of the front army to send more fully equipped divisions to your 62nd army to strengthen your defensive zone. " When they heard Golikov''s statement, trakov and gurov expressed their gratitude to him excitedly. At this time, Golikov suddenly asked: "chief of staff Krylov, I''m very curious. Why don''t you include the independent division in the data you just put in?" Golikov''s question is exactly what I want to ask. Has the independent division been put into a different category in the minds of the leaders of the group army, and even ignored us in the statistics? I looked at Krylov, eagerly waiting for his final answer. I didn''t expect that krailov said lightly: "Comrade deputy commander, you may not know that the independent division was transferred from the 64th group army to our group army command today, and there is no time to make statistics, so the independent division is not included in the reported data." After listening to krailov''s explanation, I was very angry and funny. It turned out that it was such a simple reason. You said it earlier, but it was so mysterious that it made me think for a long time. Golikov looked at his watch, looked at trakov and gurov, then stood up and said, "well, that''s all for today. I''ll go to other defense areas to check the defense." Krailov warmly asked him to stay and said, "Comrade deputy commander, look, you''ve been here for a long time, and you haven''t even had a cup of tea. Why don''t you stay for tea and have something to eat before you leave. " Golikov waved his hand and politely declined Krylov''s offer: "no, chief of staff, we''d better save the tea for later. Now the first thing to consider is how to defeat the Germans outside the city. I wish you good health With that, he reached out and shook hands with trekov, gurov and krailov in turn. When he finally took my hand, he repeatedly told me, "Colonel oshanina, I trust you very much. I hope you can firmly guard the mamayev post after adding artillery company to you." In the face of his trust, I had to show my determination again: "please rest assured, comrade deputy commander. I promise to finish the task you gave me and nail it firmly on the mamayev post like a nail. I will never let the German go forward." After seeing off Golikov, trakov said to gurov with a smile: "Philip Ivanovich is still the same as when he was the director of the reconnaissance Bureau before. He is used to collecting all kinds of intelligence to make analysis for his superiors. Even captain oshanina''s troops are stationed in mamayev post. Before we have time to report, he knows the details." Gurov laughed and said, "but I heard a rumor that when he was the deputy chief of general staff and director of the reconnaissance Bureau, he received a report from the Oriental spy group that Germany was attacking the Soviet Union and made an untrue comment. Then he reported it to Comrade Stalin, saying that it might be a false information from the British, It''s an estrangement between Britain and the United States. It was his remark that misled the Supreme Commander''s judgment on the war between the Soviet Union and Germany, causing us to be caught off guard by the German army. " Although they were talking in a low voice, their words still startled me. It turned out that the police information sent by zorg group in Tokyo before the war was sent to this general Golikov. As a result, such an important information was ignored because of his conceit, so that the Soviet army did not have any necessary preparation before the German army launched the war, As a result of the war, they were defeated by the German army for thousands of miles. While trakov and gurov were whispering, chief of staff krailov was answering the phone again and drawing in the book in front of him with a pencil. After he put down the receiver, he tore off a page of paper from the notebook and handed it to trikov. At the same time, he reported: "Comrade commander, this is a call from Colonel salayev, commander of the 10th division under the command of our group army yesterday. He said that the three infantry regiments 269, 272 and 282 under the command of the division had entered the fortification works. And his political commissar, comrade Kuznetsov, is also in charge of several 1500 armed guards, which are composed of police, firefighters and workers from various factories and regions, led by the commanders of several fortresses and defense districts... "When krailov reported here, he inadvertently looked up and saw me standing beside him. He asked strangely," Colonel oshanina, why are you still standing here, Why don''t you go back to your troops? " After hearing what he said, trikov and gurov also noticed my existence. Trikov said with a straight face, "Comrade oshanina, there''s nothing for you here. Go back to mamayev post." When I heard his order, I immediately raised my hand to salute him and ran out of the group army headquarters.

 Chapter 603

    Leaving the headquarters of the group army, I found basmanov and several other guard soldiers who had been waiting outside, got on the jeep and drove to mamayev post in a hurry. The jeep is far away from the street where the group army headquarters is located, but I still think about the general Golikov I just met. If I hadn''t overheard the private chat between trakov and gurov, I would not have compared this polite lieutenant general with the expressionless bald reconnaissance director in the movie "the defense of Moscow". You know, the actor in his role is so different from himself that I didn''t recognize him in time. In history, zorg and his companions sent this important information back to Moscow at the risk of being discovered by the Japanese radio monitoring car after they heard the news of the German attack from the German Embassy. Unexpectedly, Golikov, who had received this information, simply went through it and put it into his briefcase. However, after the outbreak of the war, he was dismissed because of intelligence mistakes. However, as Stalin''s favorite general, he was not completely dismissed. Instead, he turned into a diplomat and led the Soviet military delegation to Britain and the United States to negotiate on the two countries'' supply of military materials to the Soviet Union. It was not until October that he returned to the army and was appointed by Stalin as "very good, this arrangement is good." After a compliment, I told Gaidar: "just now in the group army headquarters, the commander and the military commissar have ordered the retreating tank troops to return to the highlands. You should send someone to inform captain Godunov to hand over the position to the friendly forces."¡° Comrade division commander, the first battalion of the third regiment is equipped with a telephone. I''ll send a message to them immediately so that they can be ready to hand over their positions. "¡° Now that there''s a telephone, don''t bother. " I turned my head and told razumeyeva, who was sitting there quietly, "Comrade second lieutenant, immediately send a message to the first battalion of the third regiment, saying that friendly troops will come to them soon, so that Captain Godunov will be ready to hand over the position." Razumeyeva nodded. After looking through the pamphlet on the desk, she began to send out the newspaper. Gaidar wanted to sit down, but I stopped him. I still said in a steady tone: "commander Gaidar, you and commander kosga have made the right decision after they learned that the friendly position was lost. This is worth performing. But... "When I said" but ", my tone suddenly became severe:" have you ever thought about the fact that the strength of your two regiments, and the two strengthened regiments, is more than 20 times that of the German garrison on the Highlands, and that the seven successive charges launched by them all ended in failure? Have you ever thought about what is the cause? " Gaidar was speechless when he heard my question. After a while, he hesitated and said, "the terrain is not good for us. The front of the attack is too narrow and the hillside is too steep. We can''t put in too many troops at one time. We can only use the tactics of adding oil and put in two companies at a time to attack in turn."¡° How many casualties did the troops cause? " Gaidar didn''t expect that I would ask the number of casualties in front of everyone in this situation. The corners of his mouth twitched violently. Finally, he honestly replied, "there were more than 700 casualties, of which nearly 500 were killed and more than 100 were seriously injured."¡° Commander Gaidar, "when I heard that almost two battalions had been disabled in one attack, my tone became more and more severe:" in the battle, it is not enough to rely on the bravery and fearless fighting spirit of the soldiers alone. Flesh and blood can''t stop bullets. We should pay attention to one tactic. Since the front of the attack is too narrow, we should not use such a dense attack formation. Not to mention that an enemy shell can kill and injure more than a dozen of us, even the firing of submachine guns and rifles will hardly fail. The troops should charge forward by class. When one class charges, the other class provides firepower cover for them; When the vanguard occupies a favorable position and suppresses the enemy with firepower, the troops behind will rush forward. In this way, by alternately covering and approaching the enemy''s position step by step, we can not only reduce casualties, but also effectively eliminate the enemy. "¡° But we have no heavy firepower to suppress the enemy on the top of the mountain Gaidar cried for himself. As for his defense, I asked, "where are the mortars? Did not captain Morozov''s mortar provide firepower support for the charging troops and have been suppressing the German firepower on the hillside

 Chapter 604

    After I said this with anger, I pointed to captain Morozov, who was sitting behind Gaidar and kept silent all the time, and said impolitely, "Captain Morozov, please tell us how your mortar company provides artillery support for the attacking forces."


    Morozov was sitting in an unobtrusive position without saying a word, when he heard me call his name, he stood up in a hurry and asked nervously, "Comrade teacher, don''t you know what I should say?"


    When he asked, I was stunned. I hesitated for a moment, and then decisively told him: "just tell us how your artillery provided artillery support for the attacking troops, and why they failed to suppress the German fire on the high ground, resulting in the repeated failures of the three regiments and four regiments."


    Seeing what I have said, Morozov, who has no way out, can only harden his head and begin to tell you about the artillery''s performance in the battle just now: "before the attack, commander kosga and commander Gaidar told me that we must use mortar fire to suppress the German fire on the hillside and cover the infantry to rush up the hillside smoothly. As my well-trained Gunners were all lost in the brutal fighting in the early stage, the new recruits who have just been added to the fighting today. " Speaking of this, his courage gradually grew up. He looked me in the eye and said boldly, "Comrade division commander, as you know, artillery is different from other arms such as infantry. After new recruits are added to the company, they have to go through at least half a year of relevant training to really form combat effectiveness."


    I nodded, gestured to him and said politely, "I understand that. Go on."


    "I have eight 81mm mortars in my company, all of which were captured from the Germans. Although after a week of intensive training, the operation skills of these new Gunners are still a little stiff. After a round of volley, except one shell fell on the hillside and exploded, the rest of the shells fell on the hillside.


    Seeing that we were shelling German positions, the infantry began to charge. They formed a line of scattered soldiers, curved like a long black snake. Twenty meters behind the line, it was the same line of scattered soldiers. As the infantry charged very fast and soon approached the hillside, I was afraid that the fire would hurt my own people, so I ordered to stop shooting. At this time, the Germans on the hillside saw that the shelling had stopped, and they came out of the hiding place one after another, or squatted or lying on the hillside, shooting madly at the charging team below. In the face of bullets flying like raindrops, our soldiers fell one after another. In this case, the troops should choose to lie down, fight back and wait for our artillery support. "


    "That''s right. In this case, we should lie down and fight back on the spot and wait for our artillery support. Captain Morozov, did they do that? "


    Unexpectedly, after listening to me, Morozov shook his head in agony and replied, "no! I heard the battalion commander, who organized the attack, waving his pistol and telling the soldiers of the ground charge, "go ahead, go ahead! Go! Why are you cowards lying on the ground? Aren''t you afraid to grind your belly out? forward! Get up and move on! Go ahead! If anyone doesn''t rush forward, I''ll shoot him! " In his shouts, the soldiers had to bravely stand up from the ground and bravely rush up to the enemy''s position. But this is futile. The enemy''s firepower is too dense. Many soldiers just stand up and fall down like pillars before they can take two steps. "


    "Commander Gaidar," I asked angrily to the four commanders in front of me, "who is the blind commander of the battalion? Call him here immediately. Who gave him the right to let our soldiers die in vain. Have you forgotten that I once told you that the most precious thing in the army is not the weapons but the lives of every Red Army soldier? You, go and call the battalion commander here immediately. I''ll ask him how to command him? He is not qualified to be a commander at all. He is only assigned to be a soldier in the army. "


    After I lost my temper, Gaidar looked embarrassed and replied in a low voice, "Comrade division commander, that battalion commander can''t come. He died on the second charge. "


    I have heard more than once before that the Soviet Army''s tactics were inflexible, and the offensive tactics followed the pattern of the cold weapon era. The Soviet army won the final victory by relying on people''s sea fighting skills and sacrificing the lives of a large number of soldiers. Since the crossing, I have witnessed many similar situations with my own eyes. I know that many commanders will not fight at all except to win at the cost of countless lives. In order to avoid similar things happening in the independent division, I stressed to several commanders more than once that the lives of the soldiers are precious, so we can''t fight hard with the German army when fighting. We should know how to fight skillfully and try to reduce the casualties of the troops. I didn''t expect that today''s battle of the three regiments and four regiments to attack the Highlands still caused huge casualties, and even the three regiments'' commander kosja was injured.


    Thinking of this, I took a few deep breaths and tried to calm my anger. Then I made a sign to Gaidar and Morozov to let them sit down. I glanced at the commanders again, trying to make my voice more stable: "comrades, the reason why I am not satisfied with today''s attack on the Highlands is that our commanders are too light on the enemy, thinking that we have more troops than the Germans, and that if we beat one in ten, we will surely win. Without careful deployment, the attack was launched rashly.


    But what is the effect of such a hasty attack? No, it has no effect at all, except for causing heavy casualties and losses to our army. Captain Morozov said that his Gunners were all recruits, and their personal skills were limited. In order to prevent the artillery from injuring their own people, when our army rushed to the hillside, the artillery stopped shooting. As a result, our infantry had to attack the German positions without any firepower cover.


    At this point, I can''t help criticizing lieutenant commander Gaidar. Although there is no artillery support, your two regiments are still equipped with a large number of heavy and heavy machine guns. Why don''t you use them to suppress the enemy on the hillside? According to the report you gave me, Lieutenant Colonel kosga was wounded by German mortars while providing fire cover for the attacking troops with heavy machine guns. Even if the artillery is not of any use, if you build more machine gun fire points, the intensive fire formed by heavy and heavy machine guns can completely suppress the Germans on the hillside. "


    Hearing my severe criticism, Gaidar stood up again and admitted his mistake to me: "Comrade teacher, I was wrong. At that time, I was too light on the enemy. I thought there were more than 100 German soldiers on the hillside, and they didn''t have time to build fortifications. As long as we launched a charge, we could destroy them and take back the position. "


    Seeing that he realized his mistake, I patted him gently on the shoulder and said gently, "commander Gaidar, please remember, as an intermediate commander, you can''t make such a mistake of belittling the enemy at any time, because a wrong decision of the commander will lead to countless soldiers to pay the price of blood and life. All right, sit down. "


    After that, I will discuss with you the distribution of troops to defend the mamayevgang highland. The highland under our feet is big or small. If there is only one regiment, there will be less troops; But if the whole division were put here, such a dense formation would suffer heavy casualties under German shelling and bombing.


    However, the commanders here are obviously aware of this problem. Xie jielikou took the initiative to put forward: "Comrade division, although there are many casualties in today''s air raid and highland attack, our total strength is still 8000 or 9000, if all of them are piled up in this highland. Under the double attack of German artillery and air raid, at least thousands of soldiers would die in vain. So I suggest that two regiments be left on the mamayev post and the remaining three regiments be withdrawn to the city. "


    I looked at the map of mamayev post in front of me, raised my head and asked the rest of the commanders, "Lieutenant Colonel xijerikov has already expressed his own opinions. What are your opinions?"


    Pugachev and Gaidar also nodded in agreement: "we agree with the proposal of lieutenant colonel shijerikov. Since our division has added 6000 new soldiers some time ago, although it has not yet formed combat effectiveness, the total strength of the whole division is tens of thousands of people, and we still have as many as 8000 or 9000 people to go out today. If you keep such a dense formation on the hill, it''s easy to become the target of German aircraft


    After staring at the map for half a day, Oleg, who had not spoken for a long time, finally asked, "Comrade division, I want to ask where do you plan to put the extra troops? It''s three kilometers away from the city. If they are all transferred to the city, it will be too late for reinforcements if the troops in the highlands are insufficient. "


    "Comrade commander is right," political commissar verol of the fifth regiment also stood up and echoed Oleg: "once the highland is tight, the road leading here will be blocked by German artillery fire or enemy aircraft. Even if our troops go out, they will suffer heavy casualties on the road. When we get to the highland, it is estimated that there will not be many reinforcements left."


    After listening to the worries of Oleg and veroll, I said confidently, "three regiments, four regiments and five regiments don''t have to withdraw into the city. There is a large residential area in the southeast of the highland near the wharf. I observed that there are some solid high-rise buildings inside. It''s no problem to hide the troops of the three regiments there. Once the troops on the high ground are tight, your reinforcements can quickly come from the residential areas, and it''s only a few minutes'' walk. "


    After hearing what I said, Oleg looked at the map again. After looking at verol, he nodded with a smile and flattered me, saying, "it''s the best choice to put a few regiments in the residential areas of the highlands


    Ignoring his flattery, I raised my head and said to sergeant shijerikov, "sergeant shijerikov, the task of holding the main position of mamayev post is up to you and your regiment. Remember that most of the troops are put in the Tibetan cave on the south side of the hillside. Don''t put too many troops in the front of the defense."


    "Yes, sir." "The number of Tibetan caves is not enough. When I go back, I urge the soldiers to dig them all night and try to finish enough before dawn," he said


    "Sergeant Sergeant kirikov, it''s not a fight, it''s a must." I said with solemnly expression: "go back to tell the soldiers that they sweat more often and less blood during the war. Now dig up a shovel of soil, and then they will be able to get a piece of shell after they are beaten."


    After hearing what I said, xiejerikov nodded his head and promised, "OK, sir, I''ll relay your original words to the soldiers."


    I turned my eyes to Pugachev again: "Comrade captain, this highland where the division headquarters is located is guarded by your second regiment. My request to you is to dig more bomb shelters, air raid shelters and hiding holes, and try to reduce the number of troops on the surface positions, so that the enemy''s reconnaissance planes can not figure out how many troops we have on this high ground. "


    "Yes, I''ll give your order to the soldiers at once."


    After nodding, I stood up straight and said to the remaining Gaidar, Oleg and verol, "the remaining three regiments will be under your command and will be transferred to the settlement immediately. Pay attention to concealment and never expose. Our division has no air defense force. Once the German Air Force finds us, we will be lambs to be slaughtered. "


    Oleg turned to look at the three Germans sitting at the door and asked me in a low voice: "Sir, what about those Germans? Will you follow us to the settlement? "


    I turned my head and looked at Grimes and Beckman sitting at the door. After a little thought, I slowly shook my head and said, "forget it, let them and their troops stay on the high ground. Maybe they can be useful."


    With these words, I called Morozov to myself and explained to him, "Captain Morozov, when I was just in the headquarters of the group army, I proposed to the higher authorities that we had no artillery and air defense forces. They have promised to send us two artillery companies in the near future. When the artillery company comes, immediately merge the mortar company with them and set up an artillery battalion. You will be the commander of the artillery battalion and also the commander of the mortar company. Do you understand? "


    Molozov may never have dreamed that this big pie would fall on his head. He nodded excitedly and said, "Comrade division, please rest assured that as long as we are supplemented with artillery companies, preferably anti tank artillery companies, we will be able to fight the attacking German tanks with our present favorable terrain."


    I had already explained what I had to do. Just as I was about to announce the end of the meeting, I suddenly found that an acquaintance was missing in the room, so I quickly asked, "by the way, which one of you knows where Captain pelsky of the tank unit is?"


    At perskin''s command, xijerikov, Oleg and Pugachev all shook their heads and said, "I don''t know. We haven''t seen him for a long time." He specially added: "Comrade division commander, in the battle some time ago, after the tanks in captain pelsky''s tank unit were completely lost, he and the surviving tank soldiers retreated from my position to the position of the third regiment. They stayed in the third regiment until we moved, and maybe Colonel kosga knew where he was


    "Don''t bother Colonel kosga," Gaidar said in time. "I know where Captain perskin is. If there are tanks today, I think he will provide artillery support for us with tank guns. After the battle, he and Godunov, a battalion commander of the third regiment, stayed on Highland 107.5. "


    Just now, I personally ordered Gaidar to withdraw the first battalion of gordonov when the tank army arrived. Since perskin and gordonov are together, they will lead the troops back together later. Thinking of this, I waved and said, "it''s OK. Let''s finish the meeting." Seeing gramus, they also stood up and wanted to leave. They immediately called out to them, "gramus, Captain Beckman, you stay. I have something else to tell you."


    When the commanders left and there were only me, razumeyeva and three Germans left in the headquarters, I waved to them and said in a friendly way, "gentlemen, please come and sit down."


    After the three people sat down at the table, I first politely expressed my thanks to them: "Capt. Grimes and Capt. Beckman, thank you very much for your help today. It was only with no casualties that the 5th regiment captured the 107,5 heights occupied by the enemy." In order to avoid stimulating their sensitive nerves, I deliberately avoided using German or German words, and changed a general name - enemy.


    Beckman could understand me. He said with a smile, "you''re welcome, sir. Since we are all on the same front, it''s our duty to serve you."


    After listening to the translation of second lieutenant gretka, Grimes frowned and spoke in German seriously. The second lieutenant quickly translated for me: "Sir, I think you are too strict with your subordinates. Without any preparation, it is not easy to attack the highland guarded by a company of German soldiers, who can capture the highland with only 700 casualties. "


    I was surprised by what Grimes said, and I couldn''t help asking curiously, "why do you say that? You know, if I were to direct this attack, the number of casualties would be less than half


    "According to my experience in fighting with the Russian army, it seems that the Russians are not afraid of death. They are in a dense formation, and without any firepower cover, they are fearlessly charging towards the positions of our army, wave after wave. Our soldiers just need to hide in the fortifications and pull the trigger at the crowd. The final result is that waves of Russians are killed by us in front of the positions. For example, in the first half of this year, my company held fast to a highland near the village of riabink near the landing site of lerev, and repulsed more than 20 Russian troops in one day. After cleaning the battlefield, we found that we killed more than 800 Russians, while my company only killed 17


    I can''t help but sneer when I hear that. After all, your company still has 17 casualties. In my mind, the more exaggerated is the strong attack on the sirovsk highland. According to the battalion commander, they only attacked one of the enemy''s blockhouses. As a result, the battalion commander lost all the company commanders and almost all the platoon commanders. When he encouraged the soldiers to launch the last charge, there were less than 100 soldiers left in the 700 strong battalion, but the enemy''s machine guns suddenly went silent. The Red Army soldiers who broke into the blockhouse killed the second gunner, only to find that the first gunner was crazy because he couldn''t stand the mountain of corpses in front of him.


    "Since captain Grimes said that, I''d like to say something." Beckman, who was sitting next to him, saw that gramus had finished speaking. My face was flat and there was no sign of anger, so he couldn''t help interrupting and saying, "I think your troops are different from other Russian troops I''ve seen."


    "Oh?" Beckman''s words aroused my strong curiosity, I quickly asked: "do not know what is the difference between my troops and other troops?"


    Beckman shrugged his shoulders and said, "well, in my impression, the Russians are very dull. In the battle of Kharkov, my company captured a large number of Russian soldiers. It''s funny to say that they were all captured by us in a forest without fighting. When I interrogated an officer afterwards, the other party replied that they had received the order to stand by in the forest. When the large army was defeated, they did not get the order from the superior, so they did not dare to do anything, and they had to stay in place and stand by. As for your troops, without further orders, the two commanders dare to change the march route without authorization and put their troops into battle. "


    After hearing what Beckman said, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. When I looked at the position of razumeyeva, I saw that she was looking at us strangely. So I waved to her and said, "Comrade lieutenant, there''s no business for you here. Go out first. If there''s anything, I''ll call you. Go out and see captain busmanov and tell him that I have something important to discuss with captain gramus. No one is allowed to come in without my orders. "


    After razumeyeva left, I said to Beckman solemnly, "three gentlemen, please swear in the name of officers that you will never reveal my conversation with you to others."


    Seeing that my expression was serious, not like joking with them, the three of them looked at each other, and then swore in accordance with my proposal that they would never reveal what I said to them.


    Seeing that the three men carried out my proposal to the letter, I calmed down and said, "gentlemen, I think you should know that there was a large-scale cleansing campaign in the Soviet army a few years ago?" Seeing that the three men were nodding their heads, it was obvious that they knew no less about this matter than I did, so I directly ignored the political inducement, process and far-reaching influence of the Great Purge on all fields of the Soviet Union, and only talked about its influence on the army. "For various reasons, there was a great purge from top to bottom in our army, including all the commanders, almost all the division and brigade commanders in the army More than half of the group leaders, all the political commissars at the army level of the group, almost all the political commissars at the army, division and brigade levels, one third of the political commissars at the regiment level, and many middle and lower level commanders were purged. And these sudden vacancies are replaced by a large number of middle and lower level commanders, as well as Cheka members of the interior department. We can imagine how sad it is for the troops that a large number of commanders or even battalion commanders are suddenly promoted to the rank of division or above. At the same time, the serious consequence is that the anti cleansing campaign has greatly wiped out the subjective initiative of the commanders of the army, which is just opposite to the mental outlook of your German officers'' regiment and the sergeant class of the national defense forces. "


    Hearing my praise for the German troops, a few of them could not help smiling with pride.


    I went on to say: "it is precisely for this reason that it is very common in our troops that we have to report trivial matters to our superiors before we dare to make decisions. The reason for this situation is undoubtedly the invisible shackles imposed on our commanders and fighters by the shadow of the Great Purge, which restricts the normal exertion of our army''s combat effectiveness. "


    After I said these words, I can''t help sighing with relief. Although all these words are true, they are treacherous at this special end of the year. If any of the three of them disclose my words, it is estimated that in two days, the people from the Ministry of interior can send me to see Marshal khachevsky.


    After listening to what I said, Grimes nodded his head and said with deep sympathy: "Comrade division, I think our army was able to achieve such huge results at the beginning of the war, which led to the total rout of the Russian army. The reason, of course, is the sudden outbreak of war. But after listening to what you said, I personally think the most important thing is that the Russian military command system has fallen into chaos. When faced with the fierce attack of our army, the commanders of countless troops are in a panic, and the combat troops are not strictly trained, which leads to the extreme lack of tactical literacy. "


    "Well, Captain Grimes, don''t go on. These topics are too sensitive. If they are heard by the interior department, all four of us will be killed." Beckman saw that gramus had a tendency to continue to speak, so he quickly stopped him and asked me, "Sir, what are you going to do with us? Will you stay here and fight side by side with you, or will you be sent to the prison camp with those soldiers who refuse to surrender? "


    Beckman''s words immediately attracted the attention of gramus and greteka. During this period of time, it is estimated that they are also worried about their own fate and future¡° Gentlemen, "I stood up and said," I can tell you very responsibly that in the near future, mamayev post will become the focus of the struggle between the Soviet and German armies and a meat grinder that will devour countless lives. If you all stay, the chance of survival is no more than 10%. If you are sent to the prison camp, you will be sent to Siberia soon. You know, almost all the young and middle-aged people in our country have gone to the front line, and countless people have fallen on the battlefield. At present, there is an extreme shortage of labor force in China, and prisoners of war will become a substitute for the labor force needed for China''s economic development. " At this point, I deliberately pause for a moment to observe the expression of the three people. After listening to the second lieutenant''s translation, Grimes still sat there with no expression on his face, while Beckman''s face became uncertain, as if he was considering whether to stay in mamayev post or go to the prison camp. Without waiting for Beckman to express his views, I went on to say: "although prisoners of war are not equal to prisoners of reform through labor, there is not much difference in their treatment. I have heard people say that the prison camp is usually made up of some shabby huts, which can not withstand the bitter wind of Siberian winter. A large number of prisoners of war die every day. " What I said obviously frightened captain Beckman. He took off his cornice cap, took out his handkerchief and kept wiping the cold sweat on his forehead. I ignored him and asked Grimes, "Captain Grimes, what do you think?" When he heard my question, gramus''s expression became dignified. He asked me seriously, "Sir, I want to ask you, where are you going to stay in the coming days? Is it mamayev post or retreat to the city? " With a smile, I said faintly, "Captain Grimes, mamayev post is my post. I will never leave here until this battle is over." After listening to the translation, Grimes also showed a smile on his face. He stood up, took the initiative to extend his hand to me, and said sincerely, "Comrade division, no matter where you stay, Captain Grimes and I will be with you."¡° Captain Grimes, you have made the right decision. " I held his hand tightly and said with a smile, "in a few months, you will see how right the decision you made today is." After releasing gramus'' hand, I turned to Beckman and asked, "how about you, Captain, going to the POW camp or staying with us at mamayev post?" The eyes of the three of us all stay on captain Beckman. He keeps wiping his sweat with his handkerchief, and at the same time he keeps whispering. It seems that he is making a difficult choice. Four or five minutes later, he stopped sweating, put his handkerchief into his pocket, and put the eaves hat on his head again. Then he straightened up, raised his hand and saluted me. With a firm expression, he said, "Mr. o''shanina, I''ve made up my mind. I''d like to be your subordinate like Captain gramus and stay with you at mamayev post. "

 Chapter 605

    When night fell, I thought that the German army would not send out night bombers to bomb the Highlands, so I walked out of the headquarters and planned to go to the front position. As soon as the curtain was lifted, two soldiers standing outside immediately saluted me.


    The area of mamayev hillock is not small. If I go out alone, if there is something temporary, it is not easy for my subordinates to find me on such a large area of hillock. So I told one of the Sentinels, "Comrade soldier, go and call captain busmanov, your battalion commander." The soldier agreed and ran away.


    Basmanov''s hideout should not be far from my headquarters. In a short time, the captain came to me under the guidance of the soldiers. I walked up to me, raised my hand to salute, and asked cautiously, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"


    "I want to take a walk. You take two soldiers with me."


    "Yes, sir. I''ll arrange it right away. Please wait a moment!" Basmanov said this, saluted and turned away.


    Looking at the captain''s back as he left, I wondered in my heart what kind of soldiers he would look for to inspect with me. Are they tall, big and burly, or are they thin but smart?


    The answer was soon revealed. Busmanov came back with four soldiers, three women and one man. I knew all the women. They were Vera, the monitor of my guard class, and wonia and nagia, the soldiers in the class. When I saw Willa, I was stunned for a moment. Then I asked the monitor curiously, "Comrade Willa, didn''t captain yegonovich transfer you to his artillery camp? Why didn''t you stay with him in the 64th army? "


    Little girl embarrassed to reply: "Sir comrade, I am your guard, where you go, I will follow you."


    "Comrade captain is not bad. If you give up, you may be robbed by her girl." Seeing the little girl wriggling, I couldn''t help joking with her.


    Vera looked up at me and replied seriously: "Sir, you have saved the lives of me and my sisters. Since our superiors let us be your guards, we will take this responsibility seriously. As for other things, we''ll wait until the war is over. "


    After Vera finished, wonia and nagiya beside her echoed and said, "yes, sir, you are our Savior. You saved us from the muzzle of the governor''s team. From now on, we will use our own blood and life to ensure your safety. "


    I saw three girls with serious faces and knew that they were all telling their own truth. But now is not the time to say these words, I quickly changed the topic, said: "it''s late, give me to the front of the position to walk."


    When he heard that I was going to leave, basmanov handed over a military coat that was on his arm and said with concern, "Comrade division, it''s cold at night. Please put on your military coat."


    In September in Russia, the temperature difference between morning and night can reach 20 degrees. It''s hot when you wear single clothes during the day. Maybe you will catch a cold at night. So I took the coat in his hand without hesitation. When I was about to wear it, I habitually asked, "do you all have military coats?"


    Busmanov nodded hard and replied, "we''re all wearing military coats. If you don''t believe it, you can see it." I follow the direction of his fingers to see, not only he is wearing a military coat, even Vera, they are also wearing a military coat.


    I nodded with satisfaction, then waved and said, "let''s go."


    We first walked southeast along the ridge and soon came to the side of the hillside near the wharf. Standing on the hillside, I can see the dark Volga River with cool autumn. Several ferries crossing the river at night are slowly approaching the wharf.


    With the arrival of the ships, countless people suddenly came out of the cold wharf. First of all, the wounded were carried out from the bomb shelter, crater and bunker. Civilians with bags and suitcases also came out of hiding places. Before the boat reached the shore completely, some impatient people jumped into the water from the shore and poured waist deep water to the ferry.


    Those who get close to the ship first don''t necessarily get on the ship first. When they see the civilians wading in the water, the sailors standing on the bow of the ship threaten to keep them away with bayonets. For those who are not afraid of death and want to climb on the ship first, the sailors simply smash them into the water with the butt of their guns.


    Looking at this chaotic scene, Vera first asked: "Sir, if the mamayev post is lost, will the dock be lost?"


    "That''s fair to say, comrade Willa." Basmanov immediately took over the conversation and said, "if you don''t look at our position, the straight-line distance from the dock is not more than 100 meters. As long as the German army occupies the hill, put up a few machine guns here and shoot at the dock, then the whole dock will be shrouded in the range of machine gun fire."


    "We have a lot of troops on the dock, and they can fight back here. I believe that our brave soldiers will be able to wipe out all the Germans who occupied the highlands. " Willa heard busmanov say so, and retorted unconvinced.


    Basmanov snorted and said with disdain, "monitor Willa, I''d like to remind you that the slope in front of us is so steep that it''s more than 50, isn''t it? If our soldiers want to climb up, they must lower their heads and watch their feet slowly. In that case, the Germans on the hillside can knock down our soldiers one by one like shooting at a target. "


    "That''s bullshit!" Vera was obviously dissatisfied with basmanov''s statement and wanted to refute it, but I stopped her. I looked at them and then said, "OK, don''t argue any more. Captain busmanov is right. If the Germans occupy the hill, they only need to set up a few machine gun positions here. The concentrated machine gun fire can not only block our counter attack, but even if there are reinforcements coming by boat, they will be killed in batches in the river when they get off the ship. "


    I looked at the chaotic wharf below, sighed, and then said to some people, "come on, let''s go to lieutenant colonel shejerikov and see how the fortifications of their regiment are going."


    We turned around and walked north. Not long after we walked, we came to the oil storage warehouse which was destroyed by the German aircraft some time ago. We saw seven or eight cylindrical metal tanks, which had been blown apart, the tank body was burned black by the fire, and all the pipes leading to the oil storage tanks were blown into scrap metal.


    Smelling the terrible smell of the warehouse, I frowned, covered my nose and sped along. Although the place here is relatively spacious, it is obviously not suitable for building fortifications. Perhaps chejerikov and I share the same idea, so there are no fortifications of our army in this place.


    Walking, I suddenly remembered that the women soldiers behind me were all from Stalingrad, so I stopped and turned to ask Vera, "Vera, are you all from Stalingrad?"


    Vera nodded hard. Although she didn''t understand why I asked, she said definitely, "yes, sir, I''m from Stalingrad with wonia and nagia."


    "I want to ask you, if the Volga River floods, will it inundate Stalingrad?"


    Hearing my question, Vera showed a surprised expression on her face. After looking at each other with her two companions, she shook her head and said with certainty: "Sir, I don''t think it will happen in this situation. Because as far as I know, the location of the whole city is much higher than the riverbank. Even if the levee breaks, some streets may be flooded, but most of the water will only flow to the grassland in the distance. "


    I then asked, "if there is a section of the river bank in front of the mamayev post, where will the river flow?"


    Willa thought for a while and answered, "when I was studying, I asked the geography teacher the same question. He answered me at that time:" because of the existence of mamayev post, it will stop the river from flowing to the city, and turn around to the north and West grasslands. "


    After listening to Vera''s answer, I felt inexplicably relaxed. I did not continue to ask, but to a few people, said: "let''s go, while the moon is good tonight, we go to the position to see."


    Along the craters and the surviving bushes, we headed for the main position. A hundred meters away from the top of the main position, I heard the long-awaited voice of the sentry: "stop! Who is it? Password


    When I heard the voice of the sentry, I raised my hand to stop everyone. Then I answered in a loud voice in the direction of the voice: "I''m the division commander, Colonel oshanina. I''m here to see your commander, Lieutenant Colonel xijerikov."


    My reply made the other party silent for a moment. Then a man got up from the Bush, trotted to me with a gun, raised his hand to salute, and said in a panic: "Hello! Comrade division. Sorry, I didn''t know you were here... "


    I raised my hand to stop him from going on, and said to myself, "Comrade sentry, you are right. You should be on your guard to prevent the Germans from coming up from behind the high ground. Are you on duty alone, or is there someone else? "


    The sentry looked back and then replied, "Comrade division, there is another secret sentry. If you want to find the commander, please allow me to show you the way. In addition to many secret sentries, there are also several minefields. If no one leads you, you may be in danger. "


    "Comrade sentry, please show us the way." The sentry''s words made me a little more confident in the handling ability of chejerikov. The rear of the position is so heavily guarded, so I don''t know how tight the defense is at the front of the position.


    Under the guidance of the Sentinels, we passed through the minefield and the area where the secret sentries were ambushed, and arrived at the command post of shejerikov.


    The command post is located in a temporary cave dug out on the south slope. When he saw us coming, xiejerikov was particularly surprised. He was surprised and asked, "Comrade division, how did you come to my position at this time?"


    I went straight to the table and sat down. Then I said, "let me see how your fortifications are doing."


    "Report, sir, most of the works have been completed." He pushed a sketch on the table in front of me and reported to me, "this is the layout of our regiment on the position."


    I moved the oil lamp on the table a little bit in front of me, and looked carefully at the sketch that cherekov had drawn. It can be seen from the picture that he dug eight Tibetan soldier holes in the south slope, and each hole can hold one or two companies. On the hillside and the top of the mountain, he followed my orders and deployed two companies each. At the foot of the mountain, I also saw a row of black spots marked by him. I didn''t know what these black spots represented, so I quickly waved to him, asked him to come to me and asked him for advice: "Comrade xijerikov, I want to ask, what does this row of black spots you drew represent?"


    Shejerikov only glanced at it and quickly replied, "report to division commander, the black spot represents the individual bunker. I have deployed a platoon at the foot of the mountain. Their main task is to blow up the German tanks approaching the high ground."


    Putting a platoon so far away from the position made me feel uneasy, because I asked anxiously, "are these bunkers solid? Can it withstand German artillery and aircraft bombardment? "


    Shejerikov shook his head slowly. Seeing my dissatisfaction, he quickly explained, "these bunkers are very scattered. It''s not easy for the German army to find them from the front. Every time before the German attack, the targets of artillery preparation and aircraft bombing are our hillside and peak positions. Even if we find these bunkers, we will not waste their shells and bombs for a few obscure bunkers. "


    After listening to this explanation, I didn''t say anything more. I just told him, "Lieutenant Commander shejerikov, after daybreak tomorrow, general Zhukov will organize three army groups to attack the German army in the north of the city. Under such circumstances, the mamayev post we are holding fast to may not be the target of German attack, so you should urge your subordinates to take advantage of this rare opportunity to continue to repair all kinds of fortifications as soon as possible. "


    "I see. Comrade division commander, I''ll pass on your orders and let the soldiers make use of the gap between battles to repair the fortifications on the positions."


    "Very well, Colonel chejerikov." I am very satisfied with the statement made by chejerikov. I praised him and said, "if there are perfect fortifications in your positions, then the Germans will pay a heavy price if they want to attack your positions."


    At dawn on September 5, Zhukov put three new army groups into the counterattack against the German army to the north of the city.


    The sudden counterattack launched by our army caught the Germans unprepared and disrupted their deployment. Until noon, neither a German plane nor the German artillery were seen on the high ground, let alone the ground offensive troops.


    Seeing the calm in front of the position, Pugachev, who was staying in my headquarters, said excitedly: "Comrade division, it seems that our counterattack has worked. The Germans are being beaten by us and running away. Otherwise, how could they not even send a plane. I just went outside to have a look. There are more than 20 ferries on the wharf, carrying the wounded and the residents of the city to the other side of the river one by one. "


    Although we can''t see the fighting situation of the counterattack troops here, and the superior didn''t report the progress of the fighting to the division level troops, listening to the sound of guns from afar and the smoke of gunpowder floating in the air, I know in my heart that this counterattack is really the same as in history. Due to the short preparation and the lack of cooperation from the air force, it didn''t achieve the expected goal at all.


    At about two o''clock in the afternoon, the German plane appeared again over the highlands. As yesterday, the two planes skimmed over the highlands and rushed directly to the dock, bombarding the crowds and boats that gathered there.


    When Pugachev and I saw a terrible scene with binoculars outside the headquarters, Pugachev gritted his teeth and said, "damn the Germans, they know how to bomb our common people and have the ability to fight with us. I have to fight you all over the place." After I used the word "looking for teeth everywhere" several times, my commanders also copied it.


    I put down my telescope and said coldly to Pugachev, who was beside me. Comrade captain, inform your subordinates and let them do a good job in air defense, so that the troops won''t be bombed by the Germans like they were yesterday When I said this, I had a special look at the place where the female communication class died in the gully.


    When Pugachev heard what I said, he didn''t dare to neglect it. He agreed and trotted away.


    As soon as he left, I heard someone calling me behind me. Turning around, it turned out that razumeyeva lifted the curtain of the door, leaned out half of her body and was calling me. Seeing that I had noticed her, she quickly reported that "Comrade division commander, it''s a phone call from commander Gaidar, the fourth commander. He said that he has important information to report to you."


    After I put on the earphone, I couldn''t wait to ask Gaidar, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter?"


    "Comrade division commander, my scouts reported to me that a German armored unit, bypassing highland 107.5 from the west, was coming towards Stalingrad. From the analysis of their direction of advance, they are trying to cut off the way back for the counterattack forces. "


    "Commander gedar, are you sure your scouts can''t read it wrong? Don''t you think our tanks are German? " If you know that Zhukov''s three army groups are counterattacking against the German army, how can the enemy send an armored force directly into the rear of our army? So my first reaction was that the Scout must have made a mistake.


    I didn''t expect Gaidar to say with certainty: "yes, sir. My scouts have repeatedly confirmed that it is indeed a German tank, and the white cross on the turret can be seen quite clearly. " Hearing Gaidar say so, my heart began to panic, quickly asked: "how many German tanks?"¡° There are at least 40 tanks, a lot of armored cars and motorcycles. "¡° Continue to observe and report to me any further information. " After the call with Gaidar, I was hesitating whether to report the situation to trikov. Unexpectedly, Oleg''s call followed. As soon as he heard my voice, he exclaimed excitedly, "Comrade teacher, it''s not good. Our contact with the city was cut off by the German armored forces

 Chapter 606

    "Commander Oleg, what the hell is going on?" I just received a report from gedar that the German tanks bypassed the friendly highlands and let the city rush. How in a twinkling of an eye, Oleg reported that the German armored forces had cut off our contact with the city and turned us into a lone army behind the enemy? I asked with a fluke: "just a minute ago, Lieutenant Colonel gedar reported to me that about 40 German tanks, many armored vehicles and motorcycles were rushing to the city in an attempt to cut off the back of the counterattack troops. Are you talking about the same troops?"


    "What, Colonel gedar has reported to you?" Oleg was stunned at first, and then said firmly, "Comrade division, I don''t think what commander Gaidar and I see is the same army. There are only a dozen tanks, seven or eight armored vehicles and a large number of infantry coming from the West. From the perspective of the way forward, they are trying to seize the ferry terminal and cut off the connection between the city and the other side of the river. "


    In my mind, I quickly recalled the garrison positions of the gedar and Oleg divisions. Because of the large number of troops in the three regiments and four regiments, I arranged them in the East, West and north directions of the residential area; The reason why Oleg regiment is placed in the south by me is not only because of the small number of troops of the fifth regiment, but also because the buildings here and the garrison positions in the city are only 100 meters away. If they are attacked by the German army, in addition to the support from the rear of the third regiment and the fourth regiment, the garrison in the city can also attack from the rear to give the German army a back and forth attack.


    When I think about it, my thinking gradually becomes clear. The Scouts of Gaidar found that they had bypassed the 107.5 highland and directly attacked the city from north to south. What Oleg found was the German army, which attacked from west to East. The goal of this army was to seize the dock. On the road leading to the wharf, a political commissar of the regiment looked me up and down suspiciously, and said blankly, "I''m sorry, comrade Colonel, I didn''t receive the relevant order."


    "Now you have received it, comrade political commissar of the Communist Youth League." After that, I passed by, took the phone from her hand, stuck it to my ear, and blew into the microphone. When I heard a voice coming from the earphone, I said decisively and simply, "I''m the commander of the independent division, Col. o''shanina. I''m under the command of general Krylov, chief of staff of the group army, to take over the command of all the troops at the dock."


    When the other party heard me say this, he was stunned for a moment, and then politely said, "Hello, comrade Colonel, I''m Kuznetsov, political commissar of division and regiment level of the 10th infantry division of the people''s Committee of the interior. I didn''t receive your order to command the dock troops."


    "Now you are officially receiving it, comrade political commissar of the regiment." When I thought that I could command the army of the Ministry of interior, although there was only one battalion, I felt proud. Then I said to the division commissar in the tone of command: "Comrade Kuznetsov, the situation is very critical. German tanks may rush to the dock at any time, so please contact the infantry battalion commander on the dock immediately, Tell them that I will be in command, so as not to delay the fight. "


    Kuznetsov did not dare to neglect what I said so seriously. He quickly replied, "OK, comrade Colonel, I''ll inform the battalion commander in charge of the wharf guard task immediately and ask him to report to you as soon as possible."


    After putting down the phone, I turned around and asked the political commissar of the Communist Youth League: "Comrade political commissar of the Communist Youth League, I ask you, how many anti-aircraft guns are there in your regiment?"


    After putting on his cap, the political commissar of the regiment said to me, "report to Mr. division chief, because our regiment has been attacked by the German Air Force recently, we have suffered a great loss. At present, there are only eight anti-aircraft guns and 15 anti-aircraft machine guns left."


    "Apart from the AA machine guns, the rest of the AA guns were immediately transferred to the dock fortifications. We are short of anti tank weapons now, so we can only use these anti-aircraft guns as anti tank guns. "


    After listening to my words, the political commissar of the regiment said with a embarrassed face: "Sir, if you transfer all the anti-aircraft guns away, then the air defense task on the wharf will not be guaranteed."


    Recalling the situation of the German planes'' reckless dive and strafe bombing over the dock yesterday, I couldn''t breathe. So I said coldly, "Comrade political commissar of the regiment, if the German tanks rush to the dock, what''s the meaning of our so-called air defense then?"


    Seeing that the political commissar of the regiment was speechless by me, I turned and told Willa, "Willa, go out and tell captain busmanov to let the men help the women and push the anti-aircraft guns to the barricade."


    After Vera turned and left, I waved my head to the political commissar of the regiment and said, "come on, comrade political commissar of the regiment, please accompany me to the garrison camp to take command first."


    When we were walking towards the defense area of the garrison camp, I looked at the gloomy female League political commissar around me and politely asked, "Comrade League political commissar, I don''t know what to call you?"


    "Li Jiya, deputy battalion political commissar."


    "How about the fortifications on the dock, can they block the German tanks?" To tell you the truth, although I have been authorized to take over the command of the dock troops, I still have a black eye on what''s going on here, so I need to take the time to ask this regimental commissar about the situation.


    "On the road leading to the wharf, there are two concrete blockhouses, which are built with reinforced concrete one meter later. German tank shells can''t pierce them. Each bunker has a class of defenders. I don''t know the firepower, but it should be able to block the Germans. "


    "What if I can''t stop it?" I asked back impolitely. Li Jiya laughed awkwardly and replied, "Comrade teacher, I think we should be able to hold on. I think we all know the meaning of this city named after the Supreme Commander himself. Even if they sacrifice their lives, they will not let the enemy move forward. "¡° The idea is good, comrade political commissar of the Communist Youth League. " I said with disapproval: "it''s not enough just to have fighting enthusiasm. Our soldiers must have the ability to block the enemy first. Otherwise, German tanks can''t swagger to the city of Stalingrad." My words angered Li Jiya. Regardless of my rank higher than her, she said angrily, "Comrade Colonel, who gives you the right to insult our soldiers, you should know that even if we sacrifice our lives, we can''t hand over Stalingrad. We just want to use our bodies to keep the enemy out of the city." With that, she walked forward alone. When I was hesitating whether to apologize to her, a commander in a helmet came running to us. He ran to Li Jiya and took her by the arm, as if he was anxious to ask something. Li Jiya forced her arm out of his hand and pointed to me angrily. Then she stood on the side of the road with her back to me, sulking. The commander ran to me and stood at attention. He reported, "Comrade Colonel, I''m captain Prokop, commander of the 10th infantry division of the Ministry of interior. I just received a call from the political commissar from the division saying that from now on, you will take over the command of the dock troops. I''m here to report to you and wait for your next instructions." I waved forward and said, "come on, comrade captain, let''s talk as we go." After that, I ran towards the direction of the captain. When I passed Li Jiya, I grabbed her hand and forced her to go forward with me. On the way, I began to learn from captain Prokop: "Comrade captain, how is your defense area now?" Prokop quickly replied, "report, comrade Colonel, just now the German army launched an attack on us. However, as their rear area was attacked by our army, the tanks had to stop and turn around just before they rushed to the concrete blockhouse on our position. The soldiers who stayed in the blockhouse decisively attacked. They destroyed two tanks with anti tank grenades and broke the tracks of one tank. When the tank soldiers escaped, they were killed by our soldiers with machine guns. "¡° Well done, comrade captain After praising the captain, I began to understand the deployment of the battalion. "Do you have any other fortifications besides the two cement blockhouses?"¡° Yes, comrade colonel Captain Prokop replied clearly: "behind the two blockhouses, we have a trench and a dozen barricades made of sandbags and logs. There are also our soldiers hiding in the nearby buildings. Even if the German tanks break through our lines, the soldiers hiding in the buildings can continue to fight with the German infantry. " When the captain said this, his face showed a proud expression. However, the more I listened, the more dissatisfied I became. I unconsciously frowned. As soon as the captain finished speaking, I would criticize him impolitely: "Comrade captain, your task is to guard the wharf. Whether it is German infantry or German tanks, you can''t let them enter our wharf." When I said this, Prokop could not help but open his mouth and retort weakly for a long time: "but, comrade Colonel, we are short of anti tank weapons. We can''t stop the tanks rushing towards us at all?"

 Chapter 607

    As for his worries, I said lightly, "Comrade captain, you don''t have to worry about this. I will supply you with anti tank weapons soon."


    When Prokop heard what I said, he was so confident that he stared like a bell and asked curiously, "really? Comrade Colonel, I don''t know where these anti tank weapons are? "


    At this time, we heard the sound of a regular bugle. I turned around and saw that busmanov was directing the men, and a group of about ten people were dragging anti-aircraft guns to our side. I nuzui to the anti-aircraft guns, said to Prokop: "Comrade captain, that''s right, we use anti-aircraft guns to fight German tanks."


    Prokop looked at me, then at the towed anti-aircraft guns, and said in a suspicious tone, "can anti-aircraft guns hit tanks?"


    With a sneer, I said that I would not only use anti-aircraft guns to attack German tanks, but also prepare to use anti-aircraft machine guns to attack infantry. You should know that this kind of fighting method originally appeared in the battle of Stalingrad, but it was plagiarized by me, and was used in advance in the battle to defend the polkovo highlands on the outskirts of Leningrad last year. It is because of this ingenuity that Zhukov paid attention to me and gradually became a subordinate he valued.


    "There''s nothing wrong, comrade captain." I said lightly, "whether it''s anti-aircraft gun or anti tank gun, as long as it can destroy the enemy''s tanks." At this point, I stopped for a moment, then continued, "Captain, how many people are there in your camp?"


    "There are 175 men in the battalion, comrade colonel."


    Hearing this answer, I could not help frowning slightly. How could there be only such a few people in a battalion? Thinking of this, I asked with puzzled: "Comrade captain, why are there only so many people left in your camp?"


    "The German air raid on the wharf in the past half a month caused a lot of casualties. Almost all the soldiers in our camp were lost in the air raid. " As he said this, he turned to look at Li Jiya beside me and added, "not only did my battalion suffer heavy losses, but also the loss of Li Jiya''s political commissar''s regiment was not small. Even the head of the regiment died in yesterday''s air raid."


    Seeing that I turned to look at myself, Li Jiya, who was still sulky, quickly replied, "yes, my antiaircraft artillery regiment also suffered heavy casualties in the air raid. At present, there are only more than 200 people left in the regiment."


    As he was talking to captain Prokop, busmanov, who was directing the soldiers to drag anti-aircraft guns, trotted over with Willa. From a long distance, he asked aloud, "Comrade division, where should we pull the guns?"


    "Captain Prokop," I called the captain to the front and back, pointed to basmanov and said, "you take the captain and them to the barricade of your camp."


    Prokop nodded, then yelled at basmanov, "Captain, bring your men and follow me."


    Looking at a group of female soldiers with shell boxes behind the guard company, I couldn''t help asking Li Jiya curiously: "Comrade political commissar of the regiment, why are all female soldiers in your regiment?"


    Li Jiya rolled her eyes at me and said: "our 1077 anti-aircraft artillery regiment is originally a women''s anti-aircraft artillery regiment. It''s not surprising that they are all women soldiers."


    "Where are the women soldiers from?" I didn''t care about her attitude and continued to ask seriously.


    When he heard that I was asking this question, Li jiyadun talked endlessly: "some of them were transferred from other troops, some of them were residents mobilized by the regional Soviets, and many of them were students studying." When I heard the word "student", I couldn''t help looking back at Willa and her two other companions. They were also anti-aircraft artillery. Later, before the position was lost, the head of her regiment ordered them to run for their lives. As a result, most of the girls who escaped from the position were killed by the rear supervisors.


    I gave Li Jiya a smile and said in a friendly way, "Comrade political commissar of the Communist Youth League, in fact, I used to be an air defense soldier."


    Li Jiya heard me say this, two Xiu eyebrows could not help picking up, curiously asked: "yes, comrade Colonel, you used to be an air defense force, don''t know which antiaircraft artillery regiment?"


    "My earliest 171, near Smolensk, used to be an anti-aircraft machine gun shooter. At the beginning of this year, I was transferred to the Leningrad front army to serve as the commander of an anti-aircraft artillery battalion on the ice transportation line. "


    "Have you ever taken down enemy planes in those places? Comrade teachers. " Originally I was chatting with Li Jiya, but I didn''t want to arouse Willa''s interest. Curious Willa asked regardless of her identity.


    I nodded hard and answered them, "when I met with them, I had shot down two German planes. Later, when I was on the ice transportation line, the battalion that I commanded brought down nearly ten enemy planes. "


    "Comrade Colonel, you have achieved good results." Li Jiya said in surprise: "that is to say, you and your men have almost killed a German flying squadron."


    "I think so, political commissar Li Jiya." With that, I took Li Jiya''s hand and went on. Looking at the expression on her face, she said to her kindly, "Comrade political commissar of the Communist Youth League, you may still be angry about what I said just now, but I have to say to you that we all hope our troops can defeat all the enemies who come here, but now the reality is that the enemy is far stronger than us, so in the next battle, We are bound to lose some battles. As an intermediate commander, how can he command the troops to fight without such psychological endurance? It''s no big deal to lose a battle. Even if the enemy managed to win, their strength was weakened by us in the battle. Even if the enemy takes the position, it''s no big deal. As commanders, we should keep calm and not be frightened by the enemy''s attack. We should immediately organize troops to fight back and take the position back from the enemy''s hands. The final victory must belong to us, for this, I always firmly believe


    After listening to what I said, Li Jiya was silent for a long time, and then said with difficulty, "Comrade Colonel, what you said is reasonable. I wronged you just now."


    With these words, we came to the interior division''s defense area. At the end of the road leading to the wharf, there were five or six barricades built by sandbags and logs on both sides of the road. At this moment, the anti-aircraft guns were placed behind the barricade, and the long guns pointed straight ahead from above the chest wall made of sandbags.


    Captain Prokop and basmanov ran over together and reported to me that the anti-aircraft guns were in place. Then captain Prokop politely said to me, "Comrade Colonel, it''s too dangerous here. You''d better hide in the building." With that, he turned and walked towards a building not far away.


    Although the building had been bombed by enemy planes, it still stood still. Several of us followed captain Prokop carefully up the stairs full of holes, crossed the corridor full of bricks and stones, and came to a window on the second floor. Captain Prokop stopped, pointed to the outside and said, "Comrade Colonel, we can see the enemy in the distance here."


    I nodded and raised my legs to go to the window, but Li Jiya stopped me. She kindly reminded me, "Comrade Colonel, don''t stand at the window. That way, the Germans in the distance will find out. If they fire, you will be in danger." To her concern, I politely smile, and then went to the window, body against the wall, raised the telescope carefully to the distance.


    On both sides of the road are buildings. Due to the repeated German air strikes, almost all the buildings have been damaged to varying degrees. The rubble pile formed by the collapse of the external wall makes the originally spacious road narrow. Seeing this situation, I nodded secretly, thinking that under such road conditions, German tanks can''t move forward quickly, and there is still a great hope of success when antiaircraft artillery strikes such a slow moving target.


    I pull the camera back. On both sides of the road directly to the left, there are gray concrete blockhouses. Outside the blockhouse, there are three German tanks, two of which are still burning, and the black smoke fills the whole street.


    At this time, suddenly, two tank shells came whistling, exploded in front of and behind the abandoned tanks, and raised two waves of soil. It seems that the German army is going to attack.


    Without waiting for me to turn back, several more shells flew over. In addition to continuing to hit around the tank, one shell directly hit the bunker on the right side of the road. Seeing the firelight of the bomb rising on the blockhouse and the cement slag splashing everywhere, my heart raised to my throat. My heart said that the blockhouse would not be destroyed by the German tank guns, would it? When the smoke dispersed, I saw that only the top of the blockhouse was smashed by the bomb, and the whole was still safe, and my heart was released.


    I don''t know what kind of harassment action Oleg launched against the German army. Anyway, soon after I arrived in the building, the German army began to attack. Looking at the tanks slowly coming towards us and the German soldiers who have been jumping around in the rubble, I turned around and said to Li Jiya solemnly: "Comrade political commissar of the regiment, please go back to the army immediately and let the girls shoot down these tanks with anti-aircraft guns." In order to enhance her confidence, I specially stressed: "German tanks are moving very slowly, which is much easier than fighting enemy planes in the sky."


    Li Jiya probably understood what I meant and assured me with a smile, "please rest assured, comrade Colonel, that even if my anti-aircraft artillery regiment runs out, these German tanks will not be allowed to enter our wharf." With that, he raised his hand and turned to leave.


    Seeing Li Jiya''s departure, Captain Prokop immediately asked me, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the mission of our battalion?"


    "The task is clear, comrade captain." I said in an official voice: "the task of your battalion is to kill all the infantry who follow the tanks and let them go to hell like the two burning tanks below." After that, I waved my head to basmanov and said, "Comrade captain, you can go with him. There are fewer soldiers in the captain''s camp, so the soldiers of the guard company should be assigned to the positions. "


    When he heard what I said so easily, Captain Prokop had confidence in winning. He swore to me, "don''t worry, comrade colonel. My soldiers and I will send these German devils to hell."


    When the first tank was more than 100 meters away from our blockhouse, the anti-aircraft guns opened fire. Maybe it''s because the girls are so nervous that they miss at such a close distance. The shells landed in the rubble nearby, and the blast raised the bricks high, then crackled on the German tanks. However, the damage to the German tank was negligible. It continued to move forward slowly and fired a shot at the same time.


    When I saw the tank firing, my heart was seized again. With the tactical level of the German army, firing at such a short distance must be fruitful. I prayed in my heart that this shell had better be missed, and never hit our position. Even if you fight in the position, don''t fight in the gun position where the girls stay. Although I''m used to seeing life and death for a long time, every time I see a young female soldier who died, I feel like a knife in my heart. Otherwise, I would not have vomited blood because I saw the female signalmen died in the air raid yesterday.


    German tank shells are not a big threat to our blockhouse. Even if they hit, they would only blow up a few walls. The soldiers in the blockhouse are shooting all the time, knocking down the German soldiers who are jumping on the rubble from time to time. Although the tanks can''t destroy our blockhouses as long as they don''t directly hit the shooting holes, our soldiers are short of anti tank weapons, and they can''t do anything about those tanks that are swaggering. Looking at the tanks crawling like snails, I know more about the future urban street fighting. Tanks, mobile artillery and motorized infantry have little use in narrow streets. On the contrary, they will become targets for soldiers hidden in buildings on both sides. Just then, basmanov, who had just left, ran over and reported to me with a happy face: "Comrade division commander, the commander of the 35th division of the guards is coming." Before I knew what was going on, a commander who had met me had already appeared in front of me. After he raised his hand and saluted, he reported: "Comrade Colonel, the anti tank company of the 101st regiment of the 35th division of the close guard infantry has been ordered to come to help you. Political instructor grasimov has reported to you and is waiting for your further orders." I went forward to hold the instructor''s hand and said excitedly, "great, instructor grasimov, when you come, we will have more confidence in dealing with the German tanks." I looked at the soldiers who followed me. It seemed that there were not many soldiers, so I asked, "Comrade instructor, how many of you are here?"¡° There are 11 people, including me, with 10 anti tank guns. " There are only ten people and ten guns. It''s too few. I''m a little disappointed. But when I heard the rumble of guns and the incessant gunfire outside, I didn''t care. Less is better than nothing. It''s better than no antitank gun. In order to relieve the pressure on the female antiaircraft gunners and the soldiers of the interior battalion, I quickly told grasimov: "Comrade instructor, let the soldiers set up the blocking positions here. It''s condescending and has a wide field of vision. You can take the German tanks as targets." Grasimov looked out and readily agreed, "well, comrade Colonel, I''ll put my position in this building. Please rest assured that we will never let these German tanks rush to the dock." Then he turned to the soldiers behind him and yelled, "all in position!" Seeing the anti tank men setting up positions on the second floor, basmanov said to me in a low voice, "Comrade division, it''s not safe here. We''d better get out of here." What basmanov said is exactly what I thought in my heart. If it''s exposed here later and it''s retaliated by tank fire, it''s estimated that the building will collapse within a few shots, so I should move it as soon as possible. Thinking of this, I nodded, called Willa and some of them, and left with busmanov. As soon as we got downstairs, busmanov suddenly roared, "Sir, be careful!" Then he opened his arms and stood in front of us. Almost at the same time, a wall five or six meters behind him collapsed in the loud noise, and the collapsed bricks and stones raised dust all over the sky. God, the German tanks found us so quickly that they collapsed the corridor wall with one shot. As I raised my hand and waved, I tried to fan away the dust blocking my sight. At the same time, I gratefully said to basmanov, "thank you, comrade captain. If it wasn''t for you, Vera and I would be buried in the rubble." Basmanov gave a simple and honest smile and replied, "Comrade division commander, I am your guard battalion commander. My responsibility is to protect your safety even if I sacrifice my own life." His words warmed my heart. I went over and patted him on the shoulder and said sincerely, "Comrade captain, you saved my life. I will always remember that." We walked out of the building and, under the German artillery fire and the bullets whizzing over our heads, bent over the barricades and led by busmanov, went to captain Prokop''s command post. The captain''s command post is on the bottom floor of a building. The glass on the window was shattered by the blast. When we stepped on the ground of broken glass, the captain was holding a microphone and shouting loudly: "if the Germans rush into the dock, you and I will be all finished. I order you to shoot with machine gun. Don''t save bullets. Aim at the German infantry hiding behind the tanks and rubble. Hit me hard! Fight!! "Fight!" After giving the order, he put down the microphone and turned to see busmanov and I standing behind. He was shocked and said nervously, "Comrade Colonel, how are you here? You''d better go back to the dock. It''s too dangerous here. Maybe the Germans will attack you soon. "

 Chapter 608

    As for captain Prokop''s concern, I just laughed, walked forward two steps, came to a chair, dusted the broken glass off the chair with my sleeve, sat down as if nothing had happened, and asked with a relaxed expression: "Comrade captain, what''s the situation outside now?"


    Unexpectedly, Prokop said with a sad face, "it''s very bad, comrade colonel. Although the German attack, we defend, but from the current situation, we can persist for half an hour at most


    "What? What did you say? " Prokop''s words made me jump out of my chair. When I saw the German tank shells hitting the bunker, it only broke a layer of wall. Even the soldiers who stuck inside could not do without a hair. How could the defense line be in danger after a while? I asked, "Comrade captain, what''s going on? I just saw from upstairs that the soldiers are playing very well. In a twinkling of an eye, the enemy is about to break through our position. "


    "Well, comrade colonel." "A tank shell flew into the bunker on the left and killed all the soldiers in it," he said with a sad face. The soldiers in the bunker on the right side were also driven out of the fortification by the German firemen and killed by the machine guns on the tanks. "


    As soon as I think that the two solid blockhouses have been killed by the Germans, the remaining distance of one or two hundred meters will soon be pushed by the Germans, so I can''t sit still any more. I asked busmanov nervously, "Captain, where do you deploy the guards?"


    "I put them in trenches and nearby buildings." Busmanov answered me quickly.


    "Come on, come out with me." When I think of the critical situation, I can''t sit in the room. Instead of waiting for news, I''d better go outside to supervise the war and learn about the changes on the battlefield in time.


    "Comrade Colonel, it''s too dangerous outside. You''d better stay here." When Captain Prokop saw that I was going to leave, he stopped in front of me and kindly persuaded me.


    I stared and said impolitely, "Comrade captain, didn''t you say that the Germans will rush here soon? I want to go out and command my troops. If you are afraid of death, you can stay here. " With that, I lifted my leg and went out.


    When I said that, Captain Prokop had to follow me, but he must be scolding me secretly. When I walked out of the command post, I stopped and asked Prokop, "Comrade captain, where can I observe the situation on the battlefield?"


    After his mouth twitched violently, Prokop said to me with difficulty, "come with me, comrade colonel. I know a place where I can observe the situation on the battlefield. "


    Prokop led us into a building on the side of the road and came to a window whose window frame had been blown up. The captain stopped, turned to me and said, "this is it, comrade colonel."


    After thanking him, I told basmanov, "Comrade captain, go back to the army immediately and command them to destroy the infantry following the tanks. As long as we block the infantry, then even if the tank rushes up, we can kill it all. "


    Busmanov had been my battalion commander for some time, and knew that my order was irrefutable, so he agreed without hesitation, turned away and went to command the troops.


    Seeing basmanov leave, Prokop became a little uneasy. He hesitated for a long time and asked me, "will you allow me to leave? Comrade Colonel, I think I should go to the trench to command the troops. "


    "Then why are you still here? Go back to the army as soon as possible!" I waved at him impatiently, trying to make the blinding commander disappear from his face immediately.


    Not far from my window, there is a women''s anti-aircraft gun class hiding behind the sandbag breast wall. There are several women soldiers around the anti-aircraft gun. Some are carrying shells, some are holding telescopes to observe, and there are two women soldiers standing on the gun rack. One is responsible for shaking the hand wheel to adjust the angle of the gun barrel, and the other is a shooter.


    Because the distance is not far, even if there is the interference of guns, I can hear what they are shouting. The female soldier, who was in charge of observing with a telescope, yelled: "gun No.4, aim directly at the German tank, open fire!"


    With her shouts, the antiaircraft guns opened fire fiercely. A shell roared towards the German tank, but unfortunately, the shell landed in front of the tank and exploded. The body of the tank vibrated violently, then went on through the smoke of the explosion. When the tank was moving forward, two more shells landed on the left and right sides of the body and exploded. It was obvious that the female soldiers from other gun positions were firing.


    Seeing that she missed the target, the girl with the telescope continued to shout: "continue loading, aim at the German tank in front, fire!"


    The girls were obviously lucky this time. The shell directly hit the front armor of the tank. With the rising of a fire, the tank body was shocked again. After driving forward for a certain distance with smoke, it stopped.


    Seeing a German tank destroyed by its own anti-aircraft gun, the women cheered in unison. They raised their hands high and jumped in place, shouting: "Wula! Wura! Yes, yes


    But the joy was very sad. Just as they were cheering, a shell landed not far from the barricade and exploded. The female gunner standing on the gun body screamed, covered her head with her hands, and fell straight back¡° What''s the matter with her? " Two women soldiers carrying shells put down their shells and came running shouting. He rushed to the gunner''s side, bent down to have a look, and then sat down on the ground and cried.


    The female soldier with the telescope should be their monitor, because I can see the rank of corporal on her badge. He heard the cry of his girls, ran nervously, and asked: "girls, what''s the matter?" Seeing that the fallen female soldier had moved, she was also shocked. But in order to stabilize the morale of the army, she tried to keep calm and comforted the crying female soldier in a loud voice: "don''t be afraid, don''t cry, girls, don''t be afraid, hurry up, go back to your gun position."


    A female soldier grabbed a handful of soil from the ground and threw it out to the front. At the same time, she cursed: "you damn bastards, I can''t spare you." After shouting, she jumped up from the ground and ran directly to the shell box.


    The corporal climbed up the gun rack, patted the female soldiers who were standing on the gun rack and shaking the handwheel with his hand, then turned back and yelled to the other female soldiers, "don''t be stunned, girls, help me load the shells quickly, and get ready to continue the fight." In order to dispel the fear and despair brought by the sacrifice of her comrades in arms as soon as possible, she kept shouting at her subordinates: "girls, dear, come on, come on, come on, we should teach these damned Germans a good lesson."


    I looked back at Vera standing behind me and cautiously said to her, "Vera, you used to be antiaircraft artillery. Go and help these girls. I think they are scared."


    When Vera heard me say this, she was stunned for a moment, and then asked with concern: "Comrade division, if we go to help the antiaircraft artillery, who will protect your safety?" When she asked, the other two women soldiers echoed and said, "yes, sir, if we all leave, who will guarantee your safety?"


    I waved to them and said with disapproval, "girls, don''t worry about my safety. You know, this is the position of our army. The Germans can''t rush here for the time being. You go quickly, if the German tank rushes over, then we are really in danger. "


    Willa saw that my attitude was firm, and it was hard to insist on it. She took off the submachine gun hanging around her neck, handed it to my hand, and said with concern: "Sir, comrade, take the submachine gun, so even if there are German devils coming, you can eliminate them." After that, he took the other two women soldiers and ran to the anti-aircraft artillery position.


    Several German tanks have been destroyed by our army, and the burning black smoke has blocked the vision of German tank soldiers. In order to get around the burning tank debris on the road and the rubble everywhere, the tanks have to slow down again and again. In this way, they become the target of our shooting. The anti-aircraft guns increased the speed of firing, and the anti tank company hidden in the building also condescended to hit these targets.


    Ten minutes later, the tanks of the original fierce armored forces were all turned into burning ruins. The tank soldiers who escaped from the tanks almost did not run far away and were killed by random guns around the tanks.


    When Prokop and basmanov saw that the German tanks had been destroyed, they led the troops to launch a counterattack. Although the German tanks were all destroyed by us, the infantry did not retreat easily. They hid behind the rubble and fired at our charging troops.


    As soon as the charging troops rushed through the two blockhouses, they were suppressed by the German firepower. They had to hide behind the blockhouses or the remains of tanks to avoid the German fire.


    Although the remains of tanks on the road became the hiding place for our soldiers to avoid bullets, they also blocked the view of anti-aircraft gunners, so they could not provide the necessary artillery cover for infantry.


    When I saw this scene through the telescope, I was going to ask Prokop if there were curved guns such as mortars in his camp, so as to eliminate the German infantry hiding behind the rubble. Just at this time, I vaguely heard the sound of submachine gun fire and machine gun fire coming from the front I quickly raised my telescope and looked forward. I saw a bright red flag flying in the wind in front of our army. I could see at a glance that it was the flag of the independent division. Lt. Col. Oleg had sent troops from behind the German army.


    Seeing our reinforcements coming up, I jumped out of the window, bent over with my submachine gun, and ran quickly along the wall.


    After five minutes, it was all over. The destroyed tanks of the German army were burning. Next to the scattered bodies of the German army, the soldiers who were lucky not to be killed put down their weapons and raised their hands to stand in place.


    The soldiers surrounded the prisoners. Lieutenant commander Oleg came up to me and reported, "Comrade division, our regiment has completely annihilated the German troops trying to occupy the dock."


    "Why did your troops come so late?" I thought that the orders I gave him were at least an hour later, but he was late, so I asked him angrily, "you know, if your troops attack early, the casualties of the women''s antiaircraft artillery regiment will be much smaller."


    Hearing my criticism, Oleg said with some embarrassment: "Comrade division, in fact, when the German army launched its first attack on the dock position, I sent troops to attack from the flank. However, the German tank fire was so fierce that a company that launched the attack was annihilated after only a few minutes of fighting with the enemy. "


    In a few minutes, a company will be reimbursed? I was terrified to think that fortunately, the German attack direction was the wharf, not the residential area. Otherwise, Oleg''s seven companies would not be able to support for long. Fortunately, now they have eliminated the German army. Thinking of this, I was relieved, wiped the sweat from my forehead, and told Oleg: "Comrade commander, let''s arrange the soldiers to clean the battlefield, If we move all the useful things to residential areas, we may be able to use them in the future. "


    The next reports to me are captain Prokop, Captain basmanov, and the instructor of the anti tank company of the 101st regiment, grasimov. When I saw the soldiers who were following them with anti tank guns on their shoulders, I asked gracimov with concern, "Comrade instructor, how many casualties have you suffered in your company?"


    Glasimov looked back at his subordinates and said with a smile, "report to the Colonel that three people were slightly injured and no one died. In the last battle, we destroyed 12 German tanks. "


    "What, 12?" When I heard this result, I could hardly believe that the German army had only 17 or 18 tanks attacking the dock, but they had killed 12. That is to say, they had killed two-thirds of the tanks. Without their support, it is estimated that only a few anti-aircraft guns of the high artillery regiment would not be able to stop the German tanks.


    I put my hands on his shoulder, slapped him hard, and praised him without stint: "well done, comrade instructor. You have made great contributions in the battle of defending the wharf. I will report the results of your battle and your subordinates to the headquarters of the group army, and I will ask for contributions for you. "


    "Serve the motherland of the Soviet Union!" After giving an official reply, grasimov politely asked, "Comrade teacher, can we leave now?"


    "Yes, instructors, we''ll see you later. Good luck


    After seeing off grasimov and his anti tank company, I took Prokop and basmanov to the anti-aircraft artillery position. Judging from the intelligence just collected, the anti-aircraft artillery regiment has not achieved much success. I want to see what''s going on.


    Approaching the barricade, I was startled to see that two sandbag fortifications had been destroyed by shells, and the anti-aircraft guns in these two fortifications had been smashed to pieces, with craters everywhere on the ground. There were a row of bodies in the bunker, which should be the female Gunners of the two guns. Those women soldiers who did not die dug a hole in the open space not far away without saying a word.


    When I looked at the women soldiers with puzzled eyes, Prokop came close to my ear and said in a low voice, "Comrade Colonel, the women soldiers don''t want to bury their comrades in the trenches, so they want to dig another one."


    I walked towards the women soldiers with black cheeks and smoke. Standing beside a female soldier, I asked in a low voice, "Comrade soldier, do you know where your regiment commissar is?" Because I haven''t met Li Jiya since the end of the battle, I was worried that she had died in the battle just now, so I asked the soldiers in the regiment.


    I didn''t expect that after I finished, the female soldier didn''t react at all and continued to dig a hole. Seeing me standing awkwardly, busmanov quickly came up to me and explained, "Sir, please forgive me. These women soldiers were deafened in the battle just now. They can''t hear you at all."


    Basmanov said, went forward to grasp the woman soldier''s shoulder, shaking hard, the woman soldier looked up at us blankly. Basmanov gestured to her, then pointed to his cornice cap and asked aloud, "where is it? Where is it? " The female soldier pointed back weakly, then lowered her head and continued to dig.


    Busmanov dragged me to a barricade not far away, bypassing the chest high sandbag fortification, and I saw Lydia and several other female soldiers. I don''t know why, they took off the military uniform outside, leaving only the white shirt inside. Basmanov turned his back a little embarrassed when he saw this scene.


    I went to Li Jiya''s side, grabbed her and asked curiously, "Comrade political commissar of the Communist Youth League, what''s the matter? Why did you take off your uniform? " When I said this, I thought in my heart, now that the Germans have been defeated by us, there is no need to disguise as ordinary people to escape. What do you mean by collectively taking off your clothes?


    Li Jiya looked at me with eyes without any brilliance, gave a bitter smile, and then said to herself, "Comrade Colonel, you are right. The enemy was stronger than we thought. If it wasn''t for the reinforcements you brought, maybe the dock would have been lost."


    "Comrade political commissar of the Communist Youth League, why did you take off your uniform?" I was afraid that her ears would be deafened, so I came close to her and asked in a loud voice.


    Li Jiya quickly moved her ear away a little, and then answered my question: "as you can see, in the battle just now, we sacrificed more than 20 young girls. We can''t let them be buried in ragged military uniforms, so we took off our relatively complete uniforms and put them on for the sacrificed girls."


    Hearing what Li Jiya said, I immediately felt ashamed of what I had just thought. I quickly reached out to unbutton my uniform and tried to take off my uniform. Unexpectedly, Li Jiya grabbed me. She shook her head and said, "no, comrade Colonel, I know what you want, but we have enough uniforms for girls." At the moment, my heart was eager to do something for these sacrificed girls, so I turned around and called to busmanov, who was standing on his back: "Comrade captain, you should take 20 soldiers from the guard company to help those girls dig pits, and bury them as soon as possible." When busmanov left, I thought of Vera, my guard monitor, and went on. Not far away, I found Vera, wonia and nagia. Wonia sat on the ground, her back against the chest wall of the sandbag, her hands holding her company, her shoulders shaking, while Vera and nagia stood on her sides¡° Vera, what''s the matter? Has wonia been hurt? " These three policewomen around me were sent out to play a guest role as antiaircraft Gunners in the most critical time. If they were injured, I would not feel better. Vera waved to me and said, "it''s OK, sir. Wonia was a little dizzy. Just after the battle, she was frightened to see the dead woman soldier lying under the antiaircraft gun. But don''t worry. She''ll be fine soon. " I nodded, bent down, and patted her on the shoulder. She looked up at me and said nervously, "I''m ok, sir. I''m either afraid of death or dizzy when I see blood. Don''t worry. I''ll be OK in a moment." I just a faint smile, noncommittal said: "it''s OK to get up, we have to help political commissar Li Jiya they go to bury the sacrifice of women soldiers."

 Chapter 609

    The soldiers of the guard company had just put the bodies of more than 20 female soldiers who had died into the newly dug earth pit. Before they could fill the earth, suddenly there was another shout nearby: "air raid! Enemy air strikes


    Li Jiya, who was standing beside me, only looked up at the air when she heard the cry. Then she yelled at the women soldiers standing by the pit: "girls, get ready to fight!" After that, she took the lead in running to a nearby anti-aircraft gun. After a short hesitation, the women soldiers in White army shirts also ran to their respective positions.


    Busmanov came up to me, touched me with his arm, raised his mouth to the earth pit, and asked in a bit of embarrassment, "Comrade division, what should we do? Will you help the women soldiers bury all the martyrs now? "


    "No, wait a minute." Looking at the two enemy planes hovering over the dock, I slowly shook my head and said faintly, "don''t worry, comrade captain, wait until the female soldiers beat back this wave of enemy planes." The reason why I say this is because I have an uncertain premonition in my heart that maybe the female soldiers will sacrifice in the next battle. If we fill the pit now, we won''t have to dig it later. But I said to basmanov in a high sounding voice, "wait until the women fight back this wave of German air strikes, and let them say goodbye to their comrades in arms."


    I don''t know what the German air force commander thought. Every time he bombed the dock, only two enemy planes were dispatched, and this time was no exception. When the enemy aircraft skimmed over the mamayev post, they did not dive down immediately for bombing and strafing, but continued to circle in the high altitude. As the anti-aircraft machine guns on the dock opened fire again and again, and the clear sound of gunfire broke out, Li Jiya also decisively ordered the remaining six anti-aircraft guns to fire.


    The location of the anti-aircraft guns was too messy, and the firing boundary was affected by the surrounding buildings. After the explosion of the six shells in the air, there was no impact on the two circling enemy planes.


    I was deeply afraid that the inefficient firing of the antiaircraft guns would lead to the enemy''s revenge. I quickly stepped forward to stop Li Jiya: "comrades of the political commissar of the regiment, stop, stop quickly!"


    Li Jiya didn''t expect that I would stop her suddenly. She was stunned for a moment, and then asked coldly, "Comrade Colonel, are we just watching enemy planes bombing civilians on the wharf?"


    "You can''t wipe out the enemy planes with your fighting style. It''s estimated that you and your subordinates will die in the end." I didn''t care to explain more to her. After that, I immediately turned around and said to busmanov, "Comrade captain, take your men and help the women soldiers drag the anti-aircraft guns to a place with wide vision. Remember, after the antiaircraft guns are in place, they are grouped according to every three doors to form a triangle. The two triangles are 50 meters apart. "


    For my command, although basmanov heard with a blank face, he still replied with a resolute expression: "yes, sir, I will carry it out immediately." Then he turned and yelled at the guards and soldiers who were coming this way: "Hey, you all come to me. Hurry up and don''t dawdle."


    When the soldiers of the guard company were dragging the anti-aircraft guns to the open field, I went to the angry Li Jiya. Before I could speak, she yelled at me in a hurry: "Comrade Colonel, what are you really doing? Why do you ask your soldiers to pull away the anti-aircraft guns? Don''t you see that the German planes are about to dive and bomb? "


    Just as she spoke, the sound of explosion came from the direction of the dock, followed by shouts and cries. With a bitter smile, I said to the angry Li Jiya, "Comrade political commissar of the regiment, have you ever thought about why your anti-aircraft artillery regiment has suffered heavy casualties in recent days, but only a few enemy planes have been killed?" My words let Li Jiya''s face show a puzzled expression, then she instinctively shook her head, said do not know.


    Seeing that she could calm down and listen to me, I went on to say, "although your antiaircraft artillery regiment has a large number of antiaircraft guns and machine guns on the wharf, when the enemy planes come, they all fight separately, dispersing the firepower and not posing any threat to the enemy organizations. I asked captain busmanov to put your antiaircraft guns in a triangle, so that no matter which direction the enemy plane flies from, it can guarantee enough firepower density, so as to provide the hit rate of shooting down the enemy plane. "


    After listening to me, Li Jiya frowned and thought about it. Then she nodded in agreement and said, "Comrade Colonel, you have a good point. I''ll let the girls try and fight for the enemy plane."


    After the antiaircraft guns were in place, they were placed into two adjacent triangles according to my deployment, and they fired fiercely at the enemy plane which was pulled to the high altitude again. The shells exploded around the plane, forming black barrage after barrage, which soon dispersed with the wind.


    When the enemy aircraft circled at high altitude, six anti-aircraft guns were looking after them; When the enemy plane began to dive, the anti-aircraft machine guns on the dock woven a dense fire net in front of it. A bomb dropped by an enemy plane destroyed an anti-aircraft machine gun when it dived and dropped a bomb. However, when it was just pulled up into the air and was about to circle, it was hit by the shrapnel of an anti-aircraft gun. A long black smoke burst out from under the wing, and the fuselage rocked and fell to the East Bank of the Volga River.


    Seeing that the enemy plane was shot down, the girls operating the antiaircraft guns raised their hands and cheered in unison: "down, down! Wura! Wula


    The remaining enemy plane saw that its companion had been shot down and did not dare to dive again. Instead, after circling in the air, it turned around and flew to the north. Unexpectedly, when the enemy plane was flying over the mamayev post, it suddenly lost control of its fuselage and plummeted down. It slanted over the highland position and plummeted directly to the north of the highland. After a dull explosion, a stream of black smoke rose.


    What''s going on? When I saw the enemy plane that crashed for no reason, I thought to myself that it would not be such a coincidence. As soon as the enemy plane wanted to fly over our army''s position, there was a mechanical failure, which directly led to the crash?


    However, before I could understand it, commander Oleg ran over with a radio operator and yelled at me from a long distance: "Comrade division commander, the call from the headquarters of the group army says that I want to talk to you immediately."


    I took Oleg and the operator to the wall of the building, took the earphone, put it on, and yelled to the transmitter, "Hello, Hello, this is colonel oshanina. Please come back when you hear me."


    General krailov''s voice was soon heard in the earphone: "Hello, Colonel oshanina, this is krailov. What''s the situation on your side? Have the German troops attacking the dock been repulsed


    "Yes, chief of staff, we have wiped out all the German troops who attacked the dock." I replied aloud.


    "Well done," the chief of staff praised me loudly, and then asked, "are there any outstanding commanders? Give me their names and I''ll take credit for them. "


    "Yes, chief of staff. The 101 regiment of the 35th division of the guards came to support our anti tank company. Although they had only 11 men and 10 anti tank guns, they destroyed 12 German tanks in the battle. "


    "What, it''s amazing that an army of 11 people has destroyed 12 tanks. What''s the name of their commander?" Krailov was also stunned by the result, he immediately asked the company''s commander''s name.


    I thought about it for a moment and answered, "the commander in charge is the political instructor, grasimov."


    "Well, I''ve got the name. Is there anything else to report? "


    "And Comrade chief of staff." Thinking of the dead girls who were still lying in the pit, I immediately reported to krailov: "the 1077th antiaircraft artillery regiment was also outstanding in the battle. They destroyed at least five German tanks. But at the same time, he also paid a great price. Two anti-aircraft guns were destroyed by German tank shells, and more than 20 girls died. Just two minutes ago, they also shot down an enemy plane that came to bomb over the dock. "


    Krailov was silent for a moment. Then he asked, "the head of this regiment died in yesterday''s air raid. Who is commanding this army now?"


    "At present, the commander of the antiaircraft artillery regiment is Li Jiya, political commissar of the regiment. She is a commander with great fighting spirit."


    "Well, I did. Is there anything else? "


    "Chief of staff," when I heard that he was going to hang up, I hesitated for a moment, or asked decisively, "did the counterattack implemented today succeed?"


    "Don''t you feel it? Colonel o''shanina. " Krylov said sternly, "if our counterattack goes well, will the German tanks still rush into the city and try to capture the dock?"


    After listening to krailov''s words, I remembered that the German army was composed of two forces, one of which bypassed the 107.5 highland and rushed to the city from north to south; And the other one, from west to East, tried to seize the dock, but it was wiped out by us.


    "Have we wiped out the German Panzer troops that entered the city?" In order to know more about the enemy, I asked cautiously.


    "Not yet." Krailov said very quickly: "the German army is launching a fierce attack on the central railway station. The remnants of the 10th division of the interior ministry and the 35th division of the guards are fighting with them tenaciously. By the way, the fourth regiment of your independent division has also been dispatched. They are attacking from the back of the German army. The commander has now arrived at the railway station in person to direct the troops against the attacking German army. "


    After returning the earphone and transmitter to the operator, I raised my head and asked Oleg, "Comrade commander, did commander Gaidar send someone to support you when you attacked the German flank of the attack dock?"


    Oleg nodded hard and said with certainty, "yes, Lieutenant Colonel gedar sent me a battalion from the third regiment, so that I had enough strength to attack from the rear of the German army."


    I nodded with satisfaction and said to him, "well, comrade commander, now the defense of the dock is up to you and captain Prokop of the 10th division of the Ministry of interior. I just want to say that we should hold the dock firmly at all costs, because this is the main artery of Stalingrad. Once it is cut off by the German army, the troops who stick to the city will run out of ammunition and food, and we will all be thrown into the Volga River by the German Army. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" Oleg answered me loud.


    Just as I wanted to leave, it suddenly occurred to me that his troops were originally stationed in the south of the residential area. If they were all transferred here to guard the wharf, there would be an air raid there. So he added: "by the way, you can''t give up in the residential area. You should send the most effective people to stick to it."


    "Don''t worry, sir. Comrade veroll, the political commissar of the regiment, was there. She still had three companies in her hands. Even if she was attacked by the German army, she could hold up for a while. Besides, we can still get the support of the third regiment at any time. Please rest assured, sir. We have no problem sticking to the residential area. "


    With Oleg''s promise, I returned to division headquarters with busmanov and the guard company.


    As I passed by the hill where the main position was, I suddenly thought of the enemy plane that had fallen down for no reason, and asked basmanov to turn around and walk towards the high ground.


    On the way, I met a second lieutenant on duty. He heard that I was going to find Lieutenant sergeant chejerikov, and immediately called a soldier to guide us to find Lieutenant sergeant chejerikov. In order to prevent too many people from exposing the target, I only left Willa and the three of them. The rest of the soldiers were led back to the division headquarters by busmanov.


    I went down the trench to commander shejerikov''s headquarters. I asked Vera and her to stay at the door. I lifted the curtain and went in. Shejerikov is holding a kerosene lamp and looking at the map at the table. When he saw someone coming in, he turned to me and looked at me. Maybe he was thinking about something. After looking at me for a long time, he remembered that I put the kerosene lamp on the table, stood up and saluted me.


    I went to him and sat down. I looked up at him and asked, "Comrade commander, do you have any enemy information here?"


    Shijerikov shook his head and replied, "no, not at all. There was neither German artillery bombardment nor German ground attack. Maybe it''s the counterattack we launched at dawn today that has attracted their forces to other directions, so they can''t draw their strength to attack us. "


    "Although the enemy did not attack, we can not relax our vigilance." I heard that from xiejerikov. I was afraid that he would take it lightly, so I quickly reminded him.


    "Before dawn, I sent scouts to hide five kilometers north of the highlands. According to the information they have sent back, there is no news from the Germans. It seems that they will not launch an attack. "


    I feel a little relieved to hear that. Then I thought about my purpose of coming here, and said to Sergeant Sergeant, "Comrade commander, I just saw an enemy plane flying over your position. Suddenly it got out of control and was loaded down. It exploded and caught fire on the north side of the highland. I want to see what''s going on and find out why the plane fell for no reason. "


    As soon as my voice fell, Xie jerikov began to laugh. Confused by his laughter, I asked, "Comrade commander, what are you laughing at? Did I say something wrong?"


    Shejerikov repeatedly waved his hand and explained, "it''s not like that, comrade division. The reason that the enemy plane crashed was not because of any mechanical failure, but because it was shot down by us. "


    "Shot down?" What Xie jielikov said surprised me. The regiment had no air defense weapons. How did it use to shoot down the enemy aircraft¡° Comrade xiejerikov, you have confused me. Let''s talk about it. "


    Instead of answering me immediately, he made a gesture of invitation and said politely, "Sir, please come to me. I''ll let you see for yourself how the enemy plane was hit."


    I got up foggy, followed him out of the headquarters, left the trench, and went to the hillside full of bushes and weeds. Xiejerikov stopped and said to me with a smile, "here we are, sir."


    "Right here?" I looked around for a long time, except for bushes and weeds, I didn''t even see an anti-aircraft machine gun, let alone an anti-aircraft gun. I asked discontentedly, "Comrade commander, what do you want me to see?"


    Shejerikov had taken two steps earlier and called out to the hillside, "Lieutenant, lieutenant, where are you?"


    With his shouts, 78 or 80 commanders and fighters stood up from the bushes and grass. One of them trotted up to Sergey reekov, raised his hand to salute him, and reported, "Lieutenant Coulson, report to you and wait for your orders."


    Xiejerikov pointed to me and said: "Comrade division wants to find out how the enemy plane fell down just now. You can show it to her."


    The second lieutenant agreed, turned around and yelled at the soldiers on the hillside, "air raid, all ready for air defense."


    With his orders, the soldiers lay on their backs, raised their guns and aimed at the air, making a gesture of preparing to shoot.


    Seeing this scene, I was surprised again. I asked xiejerikov curiously, "Comrade commander, is that how you beat down the enemy plane?"


    Shejerikov nodded his head and said: "our regiment has no air defense weapons. Every time we see enemy planes flying over our highlands and bombing docks, our commanders and fighters are very worried when they see that civilians are killed and wounded in the bombing. Finally, Lt. Coulson has an idea and comes up with this way to hit enemy planes. Originally, I just held the idea of having a try and agreed to his playing method. I didn''t expect to bring down the enemy plane today. "


    I nodded after listening to Xie jierikov''s words, thinking that if we want to shoot down the enemy''s aircraft in this way, we should have more luck. It seems that we should consider asking the group army headquarters to supply some anti-aircraft machine guns to our division. If it is really not possible, we should move all the anti-aircraft machine guns from the dock.


    When I returned to the division headquarters, I received a phone call from the group army headquarters again. This time, it was not Krylov, but trakov himself. He said with relief, "thank you, Colonel oshanina. It would not have been easy to wipe out this German armored unit that broke into the city if it had not sent troops to attack from the German rear in time. " I kept thinking about the anti-aircraft machine guns in my mind, so I directly ignored what trikov said to me, and said frankly, "Comrade commander, can you provide some anti-aircraft machine guns for our division?"¡° Anti aircraft machine gun? " "What do you want to do with an AA machine gun?" trekov asked, puzzled, after repeating what I said¡° Every day the enemy planes skimmed over the highlands and then went to bomb the docks. If the anti-aircraft machine guns are arranged on the high ground, when they pass through the high ground, we can give them heavy damage and reduce the air defense pressure of the wharf. " As for my proposal, after thinking about it, trakov simply agreed: "it''s easy to do. I''ll arrange for someone to send the machine gun to you as soon as possible. Do you have any more requests? "¡° Yes, comrade commander. " It''s a rare opportunity to offer conditions to trikov. Naturally, I won''t miss it. I sped up and said, "in order to strengthen the leadership of the independent division, I hope you can send me a political commissar and chief of staff." When he heard me say this, trikov laughed and said, "commissar, I''ve already prepared for you. Even if you don''t ask, I''ll send it to you tomorrow. However, the selection of the chief of staff is a bit troublesome. It may take some time. "¡° The commissar is coming tomorrow? Who is he? Do I know him? " I didn''t expect that trakov didn''t answer me directly, and he also told me, "as for who it is, you will know when you see it. I have something else to do. I''ll talk to you next time. Good luck

 Chapter 610

    Although it was quiet here in mamayev post and the enemy planes stopped bombing the dock, the gunfire in the distance never stopped. It was obvious that the three army groups under the command of Zhukov were fighting with the German army to the death.


    After dark, the rumbling sound of distant shells and bomb explosions became more and more clear, and the war red the northwest night sky.


    I learned about the fighting in the north of the city from the combat Department of the group army through radio. As the German army firmly occupied the air supremacy of the battlefield, the counterattack of the three groups met with setbacks from the beginning. After great sacrifice, our army finally broke through the German defensive formation and advanced five to seven kilometers. However, in the afternoon, under the cover of aircraft and strong artillery fire, the German army suddenly launched a counterattack against the positions of the 24th and 66th group army. The battle lasted for several hours. Although the German army lost a large part of its troops in the battle, it successfully turned the achievements of the two groups army in the daytime into nothing. Although the 1st group army of the close guard also encountered the counterattack of the German army, under the tenacious resistance of the commanders and fighters, their vanguard troops are still wedged into the German defense area for three kilometers.


    After reading the war report, Pugachev, who stayed in the headquarters with me, asked anxiously, "Comrade division, do you think the counterattack directed by general Zhukov can be successful?"


    I shook my head slowly and said with some helplessness: "at present, the German army firmly controls the air control of the battlefield. When our troops launch an attack, they are bound to pay a huge sacrifice under the indiscriminate bombing of enemy planes, which directly leads to the frustration of the attack."


    Although I said that, Pugachev said with a fluke: "it doesn''t mean that the attack will begin when general Zhukov appears in any place? Why don''t you have any confidence in this counterattack? "


    After I snorted, I said, "Captain Pugachev, it''s not a matter of confidence, but the strength of our army is not as good as that of the Germans. Moreover, there is no air supremacy, and there are not enough artillery and tanks to support the infantry attack. Therefore, even if there are three group armies attacking at the same time, the ideal results will not be achieved. Otherwise, there would not have been two German armored forces under Stalingrad today. If we hadn''t taken timely measures, maybe the German army would have camped in the city. "


    As soon as I finished, Pugachev looked around nervously, then said to me in a low voice, "Sir, you are a failure doctrine. If you are heard by the people in the interior department, you will be in trouble."


    I looked at him, and then at razumeyeva sitting at the door. Seeing that she was staring at me nervously, I laughed and said easily, "don''t worry, there are only two of you here. Will you report my words to the Cheka staff of the interior department?" After hearing this, they both shook their heads and said they would not betray me.


    See two people''s attitude so resolute, I also strike while the iron is hot, said: "you are the people I trust, I believe you will not betray me." Speaking of this, I suddenly thought of vonia''s blood sickness and said to razumeyeva, "by the way, comrade lieutenant, there is something I want to tell you. There is a female soldier named wonia in the guard company. She has blood sickness and is not suitable to stay in the fighting forces. I want her to go to your communication company. What do you mean? "


    Razumeyeva nodded busily and promised, "OK, sir, it''s just that the communication company is short of manpower. Let her come to our company."


    As soon as her words were finished, the curtain of the door was suddenly lifted, and busmanov ran in from the outside. He said to me excitedly, "good news, Mr. division chief, our political commissar is here!"


    Commissar? In the afternoon, I just asked for the political commissar and chief of staff. Unexpectedly, he was very efficient, so he sent the political commissar to me in the evening. I asked excitedly, "Comrade captain, where is the political commissar?"


    "Right outside the door!"


    "Right outside the door?" I asked in disbelief.


    "Yes, outside." Busmanov replied positively.


    When I heard busmanov''s affirmative answer, I excitedly pushed him aside, lifted the curtain and went out of the headquarters. As soon as I came out, I saw a commander in a big cornice hat standing in the trench not far away, looking at the terrain outside. Behind him stood a soldier with a submachine gun. I quickly walked over and took the initiative to say, "Hello, comrade political commissar, welcome to the independent division."


    The commander heard my voice, slowly turned around and said with a smile, "Hello, Colonel oshanina, I didn''t expect that we would meet again so soon!"


    As the moon is not very bright, a little far away, I did not see what each other looks like. But when he turned around, I vaguely felt that he had a good face. As soon as he spoke, I immediately knew who the new political commissar was. No wonder trikov was so mysterious when he mentioned the new political commissar sent to the independent division. Since I came to meet an acquaintance, my face also showed a smile. At the same time, I extended my hand to him and said in a friendly way: "Hello, comrade kirilov, welcome to work in the independent division."


    It turns out that the group army did not send me anyone else, but kirilov, director of the Political Department of the group army, whom I am familiar with. When I shook hands with him, I was still wondering if he had made any mistakes. Otherwise, why did a good director of the political department not work, but instead transferred to an independent division to be a division commissar?


    After I let kirilov into the headquarters and asked razumeyeva to pour tea, I asked curiously, "Comrade kirilov, aren''t you the director of the Political Department of the group army? Why are you transferred to the independent division to be the political commissar?"


    Kirilov replied with a smile, "Colonel oshanina, you don''t know. I am still the director of the Political Department of the group army, but commander trakov said that your independent division lacks political workers. In order to strengthen the leadership of the independent division, he asked me to serve as the political commissar of your division temporarily."


    "There is a commissar, but there is still a chief of staff." Although having a political commissar makes the burden on my shoulders much easier, it would be more perfect if I had a chief of staff.


    "Don''t worry, sir." After listening to me, kirilov comforted me with a smile and said, "don''t worry. As far as I know, the chief of staff of the independent division will be in office in two days at most."


    "Great," I said excitedly after hearing the unexpected good news. Then I asked, "Comrade political commissar, do you know who is the chief of staff and what rank?"


    "Who is going to be the chief of staff," kirilov said regretfully, shaking his head. "I really don''t know. But I only know that he is a captain


    "What, just the rank of captain?" When I heard this, I was disappointed and murmured, "the chief of staff of the division is actually the rank of captain. Is it too low?"


    "No!" Kirilov said with disapproval: "in the army a few years ago, there were many major and lieutenant commanders. What is a chief of staff of a division with the rank of captain?"


    When I heard kirilov say that, I couldn''t help but smile bitterly. I said, can it be compared with a few years ago? At that time, the middle and senior commanders were almost killed in the Great Purge, so they had to fill these vacancies with junior commanders. But in front of kirilov, these words can''t be said casually. Maybe he was an active participant in the cleansing movement at that time.


    Seeing that I was suddenly silent, kirilov changed the topic in time: "this time, I brought you an anti-aircraft machine gun company to strengthen the air defense force of mamayev post."


    "Great, comrade political commissar." Hearing this news, my depressed mood suddenly rose, excitedly asked: "do not know where they are now?"


    Kirilov stood up with a clear expression on his face and said to me with a smile, "I was just outside in the trench, just watching them deploy defensive positions. Come on, let''s go and have a look. I understand that if you don''t see the company with your own eyes, you may not be able to sleep at night. " With that, he turned and walked out.


    I laughed sheepishly, followed kirilov and went out of the division headquarters again.


    The two of us came to the trench, went to the position where kirilov had just stood, pointed to the distance, and then said to me, "Comrade division, you see, they are setting up air defense positions there."


    I looked in the direction of kirilov''s fingers and saw a group of people digging simple bunkers on the hillside to place the anti-aircraft machine guns on the supports. I watched for a while, but I could not help frowning. Judging from the location of the bunker, they were going to line up a few machine guns.


    At this time, kirilov turned to me and asked, "Comrade division, do you think it''s suitable for the AA machine gun company to be placed in this position?"


    Due to the importance of the matter, I have no scruples to say my own view: "no, it''s very difficult to shoot down the enemy plane except to become the target of the German aircraft when the anti-aircraft machine gun company is placed like this."


    "What, what do you say?" Kirilov asked in surprise.


    I did not care to answer him. I took busmanov out of the trench and walked quickly to them along the hillside. As we approached, the battalion commander, who had already understood my intention, cried out, "stop, stop all of you!"


    The soldiers who were digging trenches stopped their work when they heard the cry and looked at us uninvited guests in surprise.


    A commander with the rank of Captain ran up to me, raised his hand, saluted and said, "report to the division commander, I''m the commander of the antiaircraft machine gun company, Tarhan badirashvili, at your command."


    After giving a salute, I said to the captain in a friendly way, "Comrade captain, welcome to mamayev post with your company."


    "Serve the Soviet motherland!" Captain talhan asked politely, after a routine¡° Comrade division commander, our company is building a defensive position for anti-aircraft machine guns. Are we allowed to continue? "


    "Comrade captain, your air defense position can''t be set up like this. We should know that this will not only pose little threat to enemy aircraft, but will easily cause heavy casualties in air strikes. "


    Tarhan was stunned when I said this. After a long time, he murmured, "well, sir, how can we arrange air defense positions?"


    I turned to basmanov and said, "Comrade captain, let the AA machine gun company follow the triangle formation of the day. Every three antiaircraft machine guns form a small triangle, and three triangles form a large triangle. In this way, no matter which direction the enemy plane comes from, it can ensure enough firepower density and improve the hit rate of the machine gun. " Then I turned to talhan and said, "Comrade captain, do you hear me? Just arrange the machine guns in the formation I just said. " Tarhan listened, but stood still, when kirilov came to me. Captain Tarhan turned to kirilov for help. Kirilov obviously heard my deployment. After nodding, he decisively ordered the captain to say, "Comrade captain, didn''t you hear the order of the division commander? Do it now. " Kirilov spoke, Captain Tarhan agreed, turned back to his troops, and basmanov, who was standing by, followed him. Although kirilov has just supported me unswervingly in front of his subordinates, when he saw that the anti-aircraft machine gun company had adjusted its formation and started to dig for a new position, he still asked with a worried face: "Comrade oshanina, is this formation really effective?" Although the hit rate of this formation is higher than that of the common air defense positions of the Soviet army, I can''t guarantee that we will definitely be able to shoot down the enemy plane. I just said with a funny and ambiguous voice: "we used this formation at the wharf in the daytime and shot down an enemy plane. I think there are still some effects." After dawn the next day, kirilov, who wanted to find out the merits and demerits of the new air defense formation, pulled me out of the headquarters and found a shelter with a wide field of vision, waiting together to see if the enemy aircraft flying over our highlands would be hit by the anti-aircraft machine gun company. In order to command the antiaircraft machine gun company, he also asked the communication company to pull a telephone line directly to the air defense position in advance. At about nine o''clock in the morning, two enemy planes came from the north. Today, instead of flying directly over the highlands to bomb the docks, they circle around the mamayev post. After two circles, the enemy plane began to reduce its altitude. Seeing the enemy planes circling around the high ground, kirilov quickly dialed the anti-aircraft machine gun company and said to the microphone, "Captain Tarhan, the enemy planes are circling over your company. When they are lowered to a suitable height for shooting, they will fire decisively." Almost at the end of kirilov''s words, there was a rapid and close machine gun fire on the hillside. The enemy plane, which was gradually lowering its altitude, was startled and immediately pulled up its nose in an attempt to pull it up. But it was too late. A slow-moving enemy plane had been hit by dense antiaircraft machine gun bullets, and a long black smoke came out of its tail. After the fuselage was smoothed forward for a certain distance, it was out of control and loaded down to the north side of the main position, I went to the plane that was shot down yesterday for company. Another enemy plane, which was lucky enough to be pulled up, was unwilling to leave when it saw that its companion had been hit. After circling in the air again, the plane''s buttocks tilted and dived down. At the same time, bombs were dropped on the positions of the AA company. Because the bomb was dropped in a hurry, it did not hit the target. Instead, it fell into a ravine more than 100 meters away where there was no one. After the enemy plane dived down, it failed to pull up again. It was hit by the oncoming dense machine gun bullets and exploded in the air, and the burning debris fell on the hillside. Seeing that our anti-aircraft machine guns had knocked down two enemy planes in a row, kirilov excitedly praised the microphone and said, "good fight, good fight! Captain talhan, on behalf of me, I''d like to congratulate your men. They''ve played so well Although we shot down two enemy planes easily, my mood didn''t become relaxed. I shot down one on the high ground yesterday, which confused the German army, because the pilot didn''t survive. Maybe they thought it was shot down by the anti-aircraft artillery regiment on the dock. But today we shot down two enemy planes flying to the high ground. Even if the Germans are stupid, they can understand that the air defense forces on the high ground may attract their crazy revenge. After half an hour, my worry became a reality. This time, the German army arrived in two four aircraft formations, flew over the Highlands, circled for a while, and then began to dive in line and bombard our highlands. In an instant, the bomb fell on the hillside and exploded everywhere. The position of the anti-aircraft machine gun company was surrounded by smoke. In the face of the enemy''s bombing, the soldiers of the anti-aircraft machine gun company all stick to their combat posts and shoot fiercely at the enemy plane.

 Chapter 611

    German planes dived from the air in turn, just like goshawks fighting rabbits, and began to hang the positions of our division''s AA machine gun company. Our army has only nine anti-aircraft machine guns, but there are eight planes in the sky. This is a one-sided massacre. I watched the bombs explode in the middle of the anti-aircraft machine gun position, smashing the machine gun to pieces; The bullets from the airborne machine gun have killed our antiaircraft machine gunners.


    Seeing the arrogant enemy planes in the air, and looking at the pale political commissar kirilov next to me, I grabbed the phone and tried to get through to the command post of the regiment. As soon as I heard his voice, I yelled at the top of my voice, "Lieutenant sergeant chejerikov, do you see what''s going on outside?"


    "Yes, sir." "I can see that the enemy planes are bombing our anti-aircraft machine gun positions. Under the enemy''s bombing and strafing, I think the air defense forces can''t stand it any more. We must help them, or they will be completely destroyed in a few minutes."


    "Tell me what you think, comrade commander." I asked in a hurry. At the same time, I thought that if he proposed to let dozens or hundreds of soldiers lie on the hillside to shoot at the plane, I would firmly deny him. Under such bombing density of the German army, as long as two bombs are dropped, all the soldiers of one company will be reimbursed.


    I didn''t expect that shijerikov had the same idea as me. He was afraid that I would object to it, so he said quickly: "Sir, I plan to transfer two light machine guns from each company of the regiment and one heavy machine gun from each battalion. A commander will be in charge of the command, organize the team to shoot in the air, and reduce the pressure of the anti-aircraft machine gun company."


    "Very good, comrade commander. Let''s start right away." I gave an order to chejerikov through the microphone.


    Putting down the phone, I went to the observation port again and looked out at the opposite hillside. I saw that the whole position of the anti-aircraft machine gun company had been shrouded by the smoke of gunpowder. My heart could not help sinking. I asked kirilov anxiously, "Comrade political commissar, what''s the situation?"


    Kirilov wrinkled his brow and did not speak.


    At this time, the clear sound of machine gun fire rang out in the smoke. At the same time, an enemy plane that had just dived suddenly lost control, and its fuselage rolled and fell into the distance. Kirilov then waved his arm, gritted his teeth and scolded: "damn the Krauts, let you taste our power."


    Although one of the enemy planes was shot down by us, the enemy planes behind us still dive down and continue to drop bombs on our air defense positions. At the same time, with the crazy strafing, they will never give up until our positions are flattened.


    While the Mantis was catching the cicada and the Yellow sparrow was behind, when the enemy plane was diving to the anti-aircraft machine gun position, the machine gun position temporarily organized by Xie jerikov lost no time to open fire. After they hit the enemy plane so hard in the rear, two enemy planes that had just lowered the altitude were hit directly. A dark red flame burst out from the fuselage. Then they dragged a long smoke belt and fell into the Volga River. Then two white umbrella flowers burst out in the air. It seems that the pilot jumped the umbrella in time.


    I grabbed the phone again, rang through the headquarters of the second regiment, and told Pugachev directly: "second commander, do you see those two parachutists jumping?"


    "Yes, sir." Pugachev has been with me for a long time, and he knows how to figure out my ideas. Before I tell him what I''m going to say, he has already said in advance: "I''ll send someone to catch the pilot right away, and I can''t let them escape."


    Although I knew he couldn''t see my expression, I nodded with satisfaction, and then said to him, "remember, if the German pilots resist stubbornly, they will be killed decisively, and we can''t be polite to these elements."


    "Yes, sir. I''ll deploy it immediately."


    All of a sudden, three planes were shot down by our army in a row, and the rest of the enemy planes were all in a panic. They raised their heads one after another and pulled up high into the air. They did not care to continue bombing our positions. The surviving antiaircraft machine gun in the air defense position took the opportunity to fire and shot down an enemy plane that fell behind.


    After the remaining four enemy planes climbed to a high place, because they were afraid of being hit by our air defense firepower again, they not only widened their distance, but also stopped diving. After circling our Highlands for two more circles, they ignored the air defense positions and highlands shrouded in smoke and turned around and flew northward.


    After the enemy plane left, kirilov turned his head with a straight face and said to me with no expression: "Comrade division, let''s go to the anti-aircraft machine gun company to have a look."


    I didn''t speak, just nodded silently.


    When we both went down the hill, no one spoke. We witnessed the German air raid just now, and the air defense position became the key target of the enemy aircraft. Under the heavy bombardment of enemy planes, I believe their casualties are not small.


    When we came to the air defense position, we saw that there were craters everywhere, even the grass on the hillside was burning, and the commanders and fighters sent by chejerikov were trying to put out the burning fires. There are only two of the nine AA machine guns in the AA machine gun company. Not only the soldiers in the company have been killed, but also captain Tarhan, the commander of the AA machine gun company, has been seriously injured and is lying on the tarpaulin on the ground.


    Kirilov saw the air defense position with heavy casualties and said with emotion: "Comrade division, the battle just now was really cruel. Look, how many casualties did we have? I think we should find a way to add up the AA machine gun company as soon as possible. "


    I just nodded noncommittally and didn''t speak. But I said in my heart, this is just the beginning. When the German artillery and the plane come to battle, you will know what kind of battle is cruel.


    Kirilov, seeing that I did not answer, turned and wanted to say something to me. He opened his mouth. Before he could say anything, he looked straight behind me with a look of surprise on his face.


    Seeing his expression, I turned back curiously. Seeing this, I immediately understood why he had such an expression, because at this moment, when the commander of the guard battalion saw the end of the enemy''s air raid on the Highlands, he took the second and third company of the guard to the air defense position, preparing to rescue the wounded and deal with the aftermath.


    There was nothing wrong with basmanov''s doing this, but the problem is that half of the two guard companies were wearing German uniforms. In particular, the commanders behind basmanov, Capt. gramus, Capt. Beckman and Lt. gretka, were all real German commanders.


    Kirilov pointed to the troops coming here and asked angrily, "Comrade division, where did the Germans come from? Why did they walk with our soldiers?"


    I turned my head and said to kirilov with a smile, "don''t be nervous, comrade political commissar. It''s all my own people. Your time is too short. I haven''t had time to tell you that this is a German army that surrendered to our army. After I replenished the staff, I put them in my guard camp. "


    "What? Comrade division commander, you actually put the Germans in our army''s combat sequence? Do you report this to the group command? " Kirilov asked, still frowning and angry.


    Kirilov''s words made me feel a little guilty. I really made my own decision to incorporate the defected German officers and men into my army, and I didn''t report it to the higher authorities. When I think of kirilov''s identity, I can''t help sweating. It can be big or small. If someone with ulterior motives knows about it and makes an article on it, I''ll be in big trouble.


    "Why don''t you say it?" Kirilov used a honorific name for me, but it was not a sign of respect, but a sign of alienation.


    As for kirilov''s question, I had to falter and say, "Comrade political commissar, this is a bit complicated. I''ll explain it to you later when I''m free."


    "No, comrade oshanina." Kirilov said sternly, "I want to hear your explanation now."


    In my heart, I secretly complained that I had bad luck to urge. OK, I''ll ask trekov for a political commissar. If I don''t speak, maybe he won''t send kirilov to my division as Commissar. Now that the commissar is here, as soon as he runs in, he grabs my handle and wants to cut me off.


    I took a deep breath to stabilize my mood. Anyway, my superiors will know about my adaptation of German officers and soldiers sooner or later. Otherwise, I will simply explain it to kirilov first, and then consider how to report it to trikov. So I said slowly: "Comrade political commissar, these German officers and men were captured by me and the fifth regiment while holding the station. After our education, they are willing to leave Hitler''s camp and stand on our side to fight with us. "


    "Fight side by side?" After hearing this, kirilov gave a cold hum and said with disdain, "will the Germans accept credit? You know, it was because of their blatant tearing up the Soviet German non aggression treaty and undeclared war that we were caught off guard by them. You take them in by your own side, are you not afraid that they will give you a temporary defection? "


    Kirilov''s words surprised me in a cold sweat. I have to say that this possibility always exists. But now that I have incorporated the German army, even if there are unexpected changes in the future, I have to speak up for them now. Otherwise, it will not be easy for gramus to chill their hearts and try to recruit the German army in the future. So I gritted my teeth and said decisively, "Comrade political commissar, Captain gramus, they fought side by side with us after they surrendered to our army. I believe in them. "


    When I was talking to kirilov, basmanov and others came close to us. Several German commanders of gramus were standing not far away from me. Our conversation was clearly heard by several people.


    Kirilov snorted heavily after hearing this, and then walked away.


    Looking at kirilov''s departure, basmanov came up to me and asked quietly, "Comrade division, what''s the matter? How did the new political commissar get angry?"


    I tried to squeeze a smile on my face and said to busmanov as if nothing had happened: "it''s OK. I had a little dispute with the Commissar. It''s ok now. Take the soldiers of the guard company to help rescue the soldiers of the anti-aircraft machine gun company. After dressing the wounded, send the seriously wounded to the rear as soon as possible. "


    Basmanov promised that he would order his ministry to carry out the order. I stopped him and specially told him: "remember, the soldiers who send the seriously wounded into the city must be our own soldiers, so as to avoid misunderstanding with the garrison." My worry is also reasonable. If the garrison saw a group of German soldiers carrying the wounded to the city, it would have shot without saying a word from a long distance.


    When I finished, I nodded to gramus and they were going to the headquarters. But when gramus came up to me and stopped, he raised his hand and saluted me solemnly. Then he said, "thank you!" in broken Russian With that, he waved his head to the soldiers behind him and followed basmanov to the air defense position.


    When I returned to the division headquarters, as soon as I lifted the curtain, I saw kirilov sitting at the table sulking. When I came in, I snorted heavily again, then turned my head to one side, with an expression that I ignored you.


    I smile a little, go to his opposite sit down, eyes looking at him, tone gently said: "political commissar comrade, I know you are still angry, but you want to listen to me to explain ah."


    Kirilov said without looking back, "if you have something to say. Anyway, I don''t think it''s right for you to take in the Germans. The best destination for these German prisoners is the prison camp in Siberia, where they should be allowed to live and die on their own. "


    "Comrade commissar," I said, trying to keep my voice level, "do you think our troops in Stalingrad are right?"


    After listening to my question, kirilov bowed his head for a moment, turned to me and said, "in the early fighting, our troops lost a lot. To tell you the truth, it may be enough to defend the city, but it is not enough to fight back. "


    Seeing that he did not shy away from the fact that our army was weakened, I felt a lot more secure. At least he could see the situation clearly. So I said to him earnestly, "Comrade political commissar, there is a big gap between the enemy and us on the battlefield. It is obviously unrealistic to reach a close balance in a short period of time. Therefore, we need to find ways to weaken the enemy."


    "Weaken the enemy? How to weaken it? " My words aroused kirilov''s curiosity.


    "Unite all forces that can be united." These words are very common in the Chinese dynasty, but here I feel a special difficulty in saying, "we need not only military means, but also political means to break up the enemy and bring more people to our side. Even if they can''t, try to keep them neutral. In this way, the enemy will be weakened invisibly, and our strength will be strengthened. "


    Kirilov frowned again after listening to me, and then fell into deep thought.


    I was afraid to disturb his thinking, so I didn''t speak. Instead, I looked at him silently, waiting for him to understand.


    After a long time, kirilov raised his head and said in a suspicious tone, "Comrade oshanina, I can not ask you about the recruitment of German officers and soldiers. But when are you going to report it to your superiors? If the Ministry of interior finds out, not only are you in trouble, but also the group commander and the military commissar will be in trouble. To put it mildly, it is a good idea; Seriously, this is cooperation with the enemy. If the people in the interior department put the charge of complicity on your head, what kind of outcome will you have? I don''t want to say that, can you think of it? "


    Kirilov''s words startled me. I didn''t expect such serious consequences. When I saw that gramus and his family were included at that time, I really didn''t think about it. I should at least vent on trikov. However, it''s not too late now. I can put it off that there are too many changes in the army. For a moment, I forgot to report this to the higher authorities.


    However, in the current situation, I still play fat face, pretending to be calm and said to kirilov: "I understand, comrade political commissar, thank you for your reminding. I''ll report to commander trekov. " With that, I turned around and told razumeyeva, "Comrade lieutenant, contact the headquarters of the group army immediately and say that I have something important to report to the commander."


    Razumeyeva agreed and began to call the headquarters of the group army. After a while, she handed over the earphone and transmitter and said, "Comrade division commander, comrade military commissar of the group army is online. He wants to talk to you."


    When I heard that it was gurov who was going to talk to me, I became uneasy. Although I have a lot of time to deal with gurov, after all, I am not so familiar with trekov. I can''t predict the consequences of reporting this incident.


    As I had been thinking about how to explain this to gurov, I forgot to speak. When gurov heard that there was nothing in the earphone, he raised his voice and called to me: "Hello, Hello, Colonel oshanina, can you hear me?"


    His voice immediately revived me. I quickly replied, "yes, comrade military Commissar." Then I asked a little flustered, "is Comrade commander in?"


    "Commander trakov went to central station to check the fortifications. He said that it might become a key area of German attack and the defense must be strengthened." Gurov finished his sentence, then asked with concern: "I heard the staff report that the enemy planes carried out air strikes on your highlands. How about the casualties of the troops?"


    "Report to the military commissar that the German army dispatched ten planes to carry out air strikes on our mamayev post. Under the attack of the heroic anti-aircraft machine gun company, the German army lost six planes and fled in ashes. "


    "Great, comrade oshanina." After listening to my report, gurov said with joy: "I congratulate you on the fact that you have shot so many enemy planes at one time. I would like to thank the officers and men of the AA machine gun company. You should report their names to me as soon as possible so that I can fill in the meritorious service application form for them. By the way, I have another thing to tell you. Yesterday, the political instructor of grasimov and the commander of the front army of the anti tank company of the 101st regiment of the German armored forces, who were with you, personally inquired about his meritorious service and decided to award him the title of "Soviet hero."


    "Soviet hero"! When I heard that grasimov won this honor, my heart beat faster. Grasimov and his anti tank destroyed 11 German tanks in a row, and he was awarded the title of "Soviet hero". Then I have a chance to win the same honor, don''t I?


    "Well, well, Colonel o''shanina, why don''t you talk again?" Guloff''s voice came out of the earphone, which brought me back and forth from my imagination to reality.


    As soon as I blushed, I quickly disguised and said, "Comrade military commissar, I''m just happy that instructor grasimov won the honor of" Soviet hero ", so I''m lost in my mind for a moment. Please forgive me


    "Nothing, comrade oshanina. In fact, he is not the only one who has won the honor. You have also won the same reward for successfully defending the dock. "


    Gurov''s words made me almost unable to breathe in a moment. My body shook for a moment. If it wasn''t for razumeyeva''s timely support, I really didn''t know if I would fall. She also asked me with concern: "Comrade teacher, are you ok?"


    I waved to razumeyeva and nervously asked gurov, "Comrade military commissar, can you repeat what you just said?"


    Gurov laughed twice and said friendly, "Comrade oshanina, I want to congratulate you. When commander yelomienko reported the heroic deeds of the political instructor to general Zhukov and Comrade Stalin, he was instructed to confer the glorious title of "Soviet hero" on you two. Comrade oshanina, I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations to you. "


    "Thank you, comrade military Commissar." After I finished this sentence incoherently, I suddenly remembered that my purpose of contacting the headquarters was to report the unauthorized recruitment of German troops. I coughed and said cautiously after my mood was slightly stabilized: "I have one more thing to report to you and commander trakov."


    "Comrade commander is not here. I don''t know when he will come back. If you have anything, just tell me. I''ll tell him when he comes back. "


    "Well, comrade military commissar, I, I," although I wanted to confess everything to gurov, I was still nervous when I said it. I hesitated and said, "there''s something I''ve always wanted to report to the headquarters of the group army, but because the war is too busy, I haven''t had time to say."


    "Say what you want, Colonel o''shanina." Guloff may have recognized the abnormality in my tone, and he cheered me up for fear of my nervousness.


    "My troops and I once captured a group of German officers and soldiers when we were holding the station behind the enemy lines..."


    Before I had finished speaking, gurov suddenly broke in and said, "but I haven''t heard commander trakov talk about the captives? Do you think it''s inconvenient for you to carry the prisoners when you jump out from behind the enemy, so you executed them all on the spot? If that is the case, I can tell you responsibly that you are doing the right thing. If we let these prisoners escape when we break through the encirclement, we will have to work hard to eliminate them in the future. "


    "It''s not like that, comrade military Commissar." Hearing gurov''s analysis, I quickly retorted, "I didn''t kill any of these prisoners."


    "Where are they now?" Gurov asked warily, listening to me.


    I turned to look at kirilov sitting at the table. He looked at me with a worried face. It seemed that he was also worried about my future. I looked back, took a deep breath again, summoned up courage and said, "I didn''t kill any of these prisoners. Instead, I reorganized them and incorporated them into my guard camp."


    "What do you say, Colonel o''shanina?" Gurov''s voice suddenly became severe. "You repeat what you just said. What''s wrong with them?"


    At the moment, I calmed down, and I said steadily: "report to the military commissar, I did not kill or release these captured German officers and men. Instead, after education, I incorporated them into my guard camp."


    Gulov was silent when he heard me.


    I''m most afraid of the sudden silence of my superiors when talking to me. In this way, it usually won''t do any good. So I nervously yelled to the transmitter: "Hello, Hello, comrade military commissar, are you still there?"


    After several shouts, gulov''s lazy voice came from the earphone: "Captain oshanina, I''m still here." After that, he stopped for a moment and continued, "I''ll report this to my superiors. But in this way, I think the honor you have won may be cancelled. "


    What? The honor of "Soviet hero" that will be awarded to me will be cancelled. At this moment, I have a mind to hit the wall. When I was transferred from the 64th army to the 62nd army, I didn''t meet him once or twice. Why didn''t I tell him about it earlier? Now it''s good. The honor we''re about to get is gone.


    Before interrupting the call, gurov gave me another unexpected wake-up call: "by the way, Colonel oshanina, there''s another thing I almost forgot. I have just been informed that the second lieutenant training team from the front army of warhoff will arrive at the headquarters of the group army tonight. I will send this team to you as soon as possible to enrich your grassroots commander team. Well, that''s all I have to say. Good luck With that, he ended the call.


    When I took off my earphone and put down my transmitter, kirilov, who was sitting at the table, came up and asked with concern, "Comrade o''shanina, what''s the situation? What do comrades of the military commissar say? " With a long sigh, I said reluctantly, "the military commissar told me that because of the excellent performance in the battle of defending the dock yesterday, instructor grasimov and I were both awarded the title of" Soviet hero ". Now he knows about my unauthorized reorganization of German officers and soldiers, and temporarily decides to cancel the honor I have won." When I heard that my glorious title of "Soviet hero" turned into a boiled duck and flew away, not only kirilov, but also razumeyeva felt that it was not worth it for me. Kirilov said with regret: "it''s a pity, comrade oshanina. Not everyone is entitled to this honor. I didn''t expect you to lose it like this. It''s a pity."

 Chapter 612

    When kirilov said these words, I sat on the stone bench next to razumeyeva and kept silent. I felt very sad because of this honor that I won and lost again.


    "Colonel oshanina, as your political commissar, I should criticize you," kirilov continued. "You are the head of a division. Even if you recruit German troops on your own initiative, for security reasons, you should disperse them to various units instead of reorganizing them into guard units and placing them next to the division headquarters. Have you ever thought that if they suddenly turn the muzzle of their guns and drop the division headquarters when the German forces attack, then our troops will be leaderless and the command system will fall into chaos. In that case, the Germans can easily take down the mamayev post. "


    After listening to kirilov''s words, I nodded, knowing that he said it from the bottom of his heart for my good, but it was not the right time to disperse the troops of gramus and Beckman into the company. Thinking of this, after taking a deep breath, I raised my head and said to him, "Comrade political commissar, what you said is very reasonable. It''s really a bit thoughtless for me to reorganize the defected German officers and soldiers into guard company. It''s not as comprehensive as you think. However, since they have been formed into a guard company, it is easy to shake the morale of the army if they are to be dispersed into other companies. I think we should maintain the status quo. " After that, I stopped for a moment, and then tentatively asked him, "is that ok?"


    For my stubborn opinion, Kurloff said with great interest, "Comrade commander, before the independent division, commander cucuo once told me that after the arrival of the division, the military matters has the final say of you. The thing that you adapt to the German army should belong to the military field."


    "Comrade political commissar, thank you for your trust. Please believe that I can see people right." Although I understand kirilov''s words are reasonable, at this time, if I disperse captain gramus and his men to various companies, it will certainly cause unnecessary confusion, so I can only play fat face and say with a stiff head: "although they are all German, they are on our side now. I believe them."


    "I believe in them", although I said it in front of kirilov and razumeyeva, I don''t know how. Before long, both Grimes and Beckman knew it, so they specially expressed their loyalty to me. After I thought about it carefully, the people who leaked my words would never be kirilov and razumeyeva, or the soldiers standing guard outside the door. In other units, ordinary soldiers certainly don''t get along well with the defected German troops, let alone tell them such important news. However, the members of the independent division are almost all prisoners from Gulag concentration camp. Compared with the Germans, they hate the Cheka members of the Ministry of interior most, so they have much less psychological resistance to the Germans, This is the way to inform the German allies.


    After deciding their fate, kirilov changed the topic in time. He asked anxiously, "Comrade division, the bombing of only a few enemy planes today has caused us so many casualties. If the enemy bombards us again during the air raid, do you think our troops can hold the mamayev post firmly?"


    I didn''t know how to answer the question kirilov heard. In the history that I know, mamayev post changed hands the most times in the whole battle of Stalingrad. In order to fight for this commanding height, the two sides launched a desperate battle on this small highland. When one side is defeated, it immediately organizes troops to attack and occupy. After the occupation, it begins to defend tenaciously. Tons of shells and bombs kept falling on the high ground all day, turning the whole ground over. At the same time, the use of bayonets, grenades of the white-edged war, all the time here.


    Although I once imagined that as long as I led the troops to guard here, I could turn the mamayev post into a gate that the German army could not cross. But after the troops really arrived here, I found that the situation was far more serious than I imagined. There was no air supremacy, no artillery, no Anti Tank Firepower, and I had to rely on the flesh and blood of thousands of light infantry to resist the German armed to the teeth.


    Seeing my delay in speaking, kirilov was a little impatient and repeated his question again: "do you think we can hold the mamayev post, sir?"


    I organized some words in my mind and said slowly, "political commissar kirilov, I, Captain trushen, waved my hand and said with disapproval," no, although the Germans bombard the city incessantly, the production in our factory is still going on. The workers repaired tanks and weapons in the surviving factories, and used their spare time to clean up the debris and stones in the street due to the collapse of houses. Two days ago, we also repaired the municipal water pipeline to ensure the water supply for the residents in the city. "


    "How many people are there in your camp?" Kirilov then asked.


    "There are 600 people in the whole battalion, all of whom are the backbone of the factory. Comrade chuyanov said that our working class is the backbone of building the motherland by taking up tools. We are also the backbone of defending the motherland by putting on military uniforms and taking up arms. "


    "What''s the mood of the workers?" Kirilov is a political worker. The question he asked was different from what I usually asked.


    "Full of fighting enthusiasm. Please rest assured that as long as we have one more person, we will be nailed to the position like a nail. It is better to expose the bones on the hills than to let the enemy move forward. "¡° Sir, political commissar, I have a call from the city defense committee to the public to defend Stalingrad. " Captain igratov, who had been silent all along, broke in suddenly. Igratov''s words aroused kirilov''s strong interest. He asked with great interest, "what kind of call book, show me." Unexpectedly, igratov gave an apologetic smile and replied, "sorry, comrade political commissar, I don''t have one here." Seeing the disappointment on kirilov''s face, he hastily added, "but I remember all the contents of the call book." Trushen quickly encouraged igratov and said, "igratov, don''t play the game. Recite the contents of the call book to the teachers and political commissars as soon as possible." Igratov turned his eyes to us. Seeing that kirilov and I nodded in agreement, he stood up and recited for us the call book written by the Stalingrad city defense committee: "Dear citizens of Stalingrad! The fierce enemy has invaded our city. What we suffered 24 years ago is happening again today. The bloodthirsty Hitler gangsters pounced on the Sun City Stalingrad and the great Russian river Volga. Red Army soldiers are desperate to defend Stalingrad, and the ground is covered with the bodies of bandits*** Hitler, the leader, sent more and more desperators to take Stalingrad at any cost. Fellow citizens of Stalingrad, we will never hand over the city to the enemy. We will make every street in the city full of barricades that the enemy cannot pass through, and turn every house, every block and every street into an impregnable fortress. We all go to build barricades. We should organize teams to build barricades on the streets every day. We should make use of the stones, wood, ironware and tramcars at hand to build barricades. We should build the barricade as soon as possible, so that our soldiers, the defenders of Stalingrad, can use the barricade we built to beat the enemy. Red Army soldiers! Defenders of Stalingrad! To protect the city, we will do our best to support you. Never step back and strike the enemy hard. The German aggressors committed many acts of brutality. They avenged the German aggressors for their destroyed homes and for the blood and tears of their children, mothers and wives. Defenders of Stalingrad! In the stormy year of 1918, our parents beat back the German hired gangs and held the red chariot. On this day in 1942, we are sure to hold on to Stalingrad, who won the red flag medal. We must persevere in fighting back the enemy and thoroughly eliminate the bloodthirsty German aggressors. Let''s build the barricade! So those who can take up arms have to go up to the barricade to defend the city and the homeland. " This is the end of the call book of the city defense committee. Igratov scratched the back of his head, gave us a embarrassed smile, and said, "I have finished reciting the call book, teacher and Commissar." Kirilov nodded with satisfaction, looked at trushen and said with a smile, "Comrade captain, your subordinate is really good. He can recite such a long call book." Trushen gave a simple and honest smile. Then he put away his smile and asked solemnly, "the militia camp is gathering at the foot of the hillside. They are willing to wait for you. I don''t know where you are going to send us?"

 Chapter 613

    Kirilov did not answer trunshin''s words, but looked at me and repeated the sentence. "Comrade O Natsu Chaanning Aa, you are a teacher and you has the final say in military affairs. It''s up to you to arrange the whereabouts of captain LUSHEN and his men. " In fact, as early as when igratov recited the call book, I was thinking about how to arrange this militia camp. Because I have never seen their combat effectiveness, I dare not send them directly to the position of the first regiment. If their soldiers were defeated in German bombardment or air attack, it might lead to the collapse of the garrison on the highlands. Now kirilov put the matter of resettling the militia battalion on me. I hesitated for a moment before I stood up and said to trushen, "Comrade captain, from now on, your militia battalion belongs to the independent division." since you are so confident, I''ll wait and see, and wait for the day of honoring yourself to come soon. " Zhukov said coldly, "by the way, there is one more thing I want to inform you. I''ll help you. The second lieutenant training team from Comrade meletskov has now arrived on the East Bank of the Volga River. I can report to you tonight at first¡° Great, that''s great. Thank you, Comrade General. " The news of the arrival of the second lieutenant''s training team was confirmed by Zhukov. I was overjoyed and repeatedly expressed my thanks to him. After thanking him, I hesitated for a moment and asked tentatively, "Comrade General, is the counterattack of the three group armies going well today?" I didn''t expect that Zhukov still said to me coldly: "don''t inquire about the things you shouldn''t ask about, and do your own things well. If the mamayev post is lost, you can wait to go to the military court. " Although Zhukov''s words were very impolite, they did not affect my good mood at all. I even thought that Lao maozi''s language was too poor, which was as broad and profound as the language of the Chinese dynasty. If you change to the Chinese language, it should be "if you can''t finish the task, please come and see me." It doesn''t sound like Zhukov''s "just waiting to go to the military court". Putting down the earphone and transmitter, I turned to kirilov and said excitedly to him, "Comrade political commissar, I have good news. The second lieutenant training team from Leningrad will arrive tonight."¡° Lieutenant training team? " Kirilov could not help frowning when he heard me say this. He asked in a puzzled way, "where did you come from?" When he said that, I remembered that I had just heard from gulov, and I didn''t tell him at all. He didn''t know it was normal. He explained to him, "Comrade political commissar, that''s right. Some time ago, I made a request to general Zhukov to transfer the second lieutenant training team belonging to the volhoff front army to enrich and strengthen our division''s command at the grass-roots level. As the road from Leningrad to here was cut off by the German army, they had to go around in a big circle and come back again, thus wasting a lot of time on the road. " Although I said it more clearly, kirilov still asked mistily, "isn''t the Volkhov front army under the command of meletskov? How do you know that he has a training team for second lieutenants? "¡° Comrade political commissar, you do not know that I once stayed in the front army of warhoff for half a year, until after the battle of the bulge, I was transferred to Stalingrad. " When I said this, I was thinking that the new political commissar didn''t know enough about my resume. It seems that I have to communicate more with him in the future to increase my understanding.

 Chapter 614

    Thinking of this, I asked kirilov with great interest, "Comrade political commissar, how do you plan to carry out your work after you come to the independent division?"


    Kirilov thought for a moment and said slowly, "Comrade oshanina, I have carefully studied the organizational structure of the independent division and found that you and the other five commanders are in charge of the division. There are no other political workers in the division except for the fifth regiment, who has a political instructor from the Vinica infantry Academy. So before I came here, I transferred 20 people from the Political Department of the group army to enrich the political work force of the division. By the way, they will be able to report in the division by tomorrow at the latest. "


    When I heard kirilov''s words, I couldn''t help clapping in my heart. You know, what I hate most is the political workers. I think most of them have no skills and only know how to blindly obey their superiors. If there are many such blind commanders in my independent division, how can we fight the next war? So I just let out a cold hum, and then asked listlessly, "Comrade political commissar, how do you plan to arrange these political workers who come to the independent division with you?"


    Kirilov is very observant. From my tone and face, he can clearly feel that I don''t welcome these political workers. But he just laughed, and then said in a slow tone: "two months ago, when the situation showed that a great war was inevitable in the direction of Stalingrad, each unit of the front army added thousands of Communists with rich experience in the party''s political work. Among the 9000 Communists gathered by the 62nd group army from the border regions and prefectures, there are more than 500 senior officials of the District, prefectural and municipal committees, department directors and directors, secretaries of collective farms and factories, and other party workers. Among them, comrade kruglov and I from the Central Committee, deputy people''s committee member stubov of the state farms of the Russian Federation and other comrades came to the 62nd group army to strengthen the political department. We have formed a strong Party core in the group army. Now we have basically achieved that every company has a strong Party group. Many of the battalions of the 33rd, 37th and 39th divisions of Jinwei are made up of Party members and League members. "


    Listening to him, I gave a wry smile, shrugged my shoulders, and said to him in embarrassment: "Comrade political commissar, the composition of the independent division, I think you should also be very clear, except for a few commanders, the rest of the absolute majority of the soldiers are prisoners from Gulag concentration camp, and the commanders are from the punishment camp, so there is no party member in the whole division."


    Kirilov said confidently, "don''t worry, comrade oshanina. As long as these political workers are assigned to various units, all mechanisms will be gradually improved."


    I didn''t speak, just nodded noncommittally and listened to him patiently.


    "These political workers are all Party members. They should set an example for the commanders and fighters around them. Perseverance should be the code of conduct of every Party member in the fight. If a party member shows panic or fear of death, the party organization must treat such a party member seriously according to Party discipline until he is expelled from the party.


    At the same time, we should also take into account that in the next battle, in the brutal battle day and night for weeks and months, political workers are unable to hold large-scale commanders'' meetings to publicize the party''s important resolutions and the orders of higher commanders, and there is no place or time for them to make long and passionate speeches. Propaganda and agitation for the commanders and fighters of the army should be carried out on the positions, in the buildings they hold fast to, and in the brief talks with the soldiers. What political workers often do is to directly explain to the commanders and fighters how to master weapons and how to complete the commander''s orders with their own actual actions. Frankly speaking, this kind of practical action plays a far greater role than a long speech. Therefore, the first task for political workers working in the independent division is to be proficient in positional warfare and street warfare tactics, and to be proficient in various weapons, such as the use of various firearms and grenades. I believe that most political workers can accomplish this task well.


    In my opinion, the main task of the independent division Party organization is that after understanding the significance of defending Stalingrad, political workers at all levels should focus their work on the company, platoon and class. Individual talk has become the main way of work for political instructors, party and league leaders, political deputies and political counselors. Only in this way can the soldiers realize that even if he is the only one left behind the enemy, he should and can fight the enemy to the end. Only by giving the soldiers trust and deep trust can the creative enthusiasm of the commanders and fighters be aroused. This is a work that requires patience, complexity and responsibility. I can say optimistically that through the efforts of the political workers in the division, every commander and fighter in the division will become an insurmountable obstacle on the enemy''s way forward. "


    I have to say that kirilov''s words are very convincing. At least his words have reduced my dislike for political workers, but also increased my favor.


    Kirilov saw that my face was getting better, and he said while the iron was hot: "after receiving the combat order from the division, they will take the task down to the company, carry out the superior''s order to every commander and fighter, and mobilize everyone to complete the combat task under any conditions. They will explain to you the important decisions of the superior and the combat tasks of the army through mass political work for the commanders and fighters, so that the commanders and fighters will have a deeper sense of their responsibilities and a better understanding of the importance of completing the tasks they have accepted.


    We firmly believe in victory, and we can''t abandon this belief for a minute: our cause is just, what we are defending is a progressive society and a bright life for future generations. Although the enemy has been rampant for a while now, what is waiting for them at last is the fate that they will surely perish! It''s not a slogan, it''s not a speech at a mass rally, it''s our eternal belief, it''s the driving force of our combat effectiveness and the source of our brave fighting. "


    After listening to kirilov''s words, I couldn''t help clapping my hands and cheering. It''s really wonderful. I came from the Central Committee after all. My speech is of high standard. Even I, who have no good feelings for political workers, have been convinced by him.


    She was afraid that kirilov would feel thirsty after saying so much, so she took a cup of hot tea and said enthusiastically, "Comrade political commissar, you must be thirsty after talking for so long. Please have a cup of hot tea with honey."


    Kirilov took the tea from razumeyeva''s hand, said thanks, took it to her mouth and took a sip, then put the teapot on the earth table, and then said to me, "Comrade oshanina, I have another idea. That is to install radio on our positions and often play songs full of fighting passion to the soldiers to stimulate their fighting spirit. "


    His remark immediately reminds me of Alexandrov''s red flag singing and dancing troupe, which was once performed in rokosovsky''s troops during the Moscow defense war. Although they are only a small group of 12 people, their potential on the battlefield even exceeds that of several divisions. When the troops on the battlefield hear their singing, they will not be able to sing, The combat effectiveness immediately increased in geometric multiples. No wonder when rokosovsky heard the arrival of the troupe, he once said happily, "this is equivalent to sending us a reserve team."


    Thinking of this, I nodded my head vigorously and said without hesitation, "Comrade political commissar, I have no objection to your proposal. You are solely responsible for the establishment of broadcasting stations and the installation of loudspeakers in various positions. "


    When kirilov saw that I gave him the power to deal with this matter, he readily agreed: "OK, I''ll go to the propaganda commander of the group army tomorrow to deal with this matter."


    While we were talking, a familiar voice came out of the door: "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant mihayev, commander of the engineering company, reports to you. May I come in?"


    Mikhail yev, when I heard that he was reporting to his family outside, I was stunned for a moment. My heart said, I didn''t find him. What did he come to do? But others have already arrived at the door. I can''t let them go back like this. So I yelled to the outside: "come in, Lieutenant mihayev!"


    When he came in to salute kirilov and me, I asked curiously, "Comrade lieutenant, what can I do for you to come to the division headquarters?"


    Mikhail yev quickly replied: "Mr. reporting division and political commissar, our company has almost completed the task at present. I come to ask for the next task."


    Kirilov gave him a smile and said with concern, "Comrade lieutenant, I think you and your soldiers may be very tired after so many busy days. Well, I''ll give you half a day off and have a good rest."


    Kirilov showed his attitude. I wanted to agree with him, but I was about to open my mouth when I saw that his low and narrow division headquarters was obviously not suitable to continue to be the command center in the later cruel fighting, so I told Mikhail: "Comrade second lieutenant, the political commissar is right. You should have a good rest after working so hard for a long time. But now it seems that it can''t. look at my division headquarters. Do you think it can withstand German shells or bombs? "


    Mihayev looked up at the logs on the roof, looked around again, and then slowly shook his head.


    "Since you also think that the division headquarters are not up to the standard, should you lead the soldiers of the engineering company to find a safe place for us to build a new headquarters?"


    When Mikhail yev heard what I said, he quickly nodded and said in a determined tone: "no problem, sir, you give me five hours, and I will build a safe and comfortable new headquarters for you."


    Even kirilov nodded his head with satisfaction at Mikhail''s decisiveness and simplicity. He looked at me and said, "Comrade division commander, since we are going to build a new headquarters here, I will go to the residential area first and meet the commanders of the three regiments to get familiar with you."


    Although it is the defense area of the independent division from here to the residential area, in order to ensure the safety of kirilov, I still take the initiative to put forward: "Comrade political commissar, I will send a guard platoon to go with you."


    Unexpectedly, kirilov waved his hand and said with disapproval, "no, it''s not far from here to the residential area. Besides, when I came to take office, I brought a guard team. It''s enough to have them accompany me."


    Seeing that he refused my kindness, I no longer insisted and let him leave with his guard class.


    Kirilov went to the residential area, and mikhayev and a group of soldiers were transforming my headquarters. I also left the headquarters, and took the newly returned basmanov and Vera''s guard class to inspect the newly built Fortifications on the hillside.


    As we walked towards the main position, basmanov asked with a worried face: "Comrade division, is it appropriate to go to the first regiment position in xiejerikov at this time? If you are attacked by the German army, your life and safety will not be guaranteed. "


    As for basmanov''s worry, I said without paying any attention: "it''s OK, comrade captain. Today''s main force of the German army has been attracted to the northwest by the three group armies organized by general Zhukov. The frontal Germans do not have enough strength to attack our positions. "


    Although I said that, busmanov asked anxiously, "what if the German army carries out another air raid or shelling on our highlands?"


    I waved my hand and said lightly: "although the Germans destroyed our anti-aircraft machine gun positions in the morning air raid, they also lost six planes. Having suffered such a big loss, they will certainly not take another risk in a short time. As for shelling, it''s even more impossible. We''ve been at mamayev post for two or three days. Have you ever seen the German shelling our positions? " Before basmanov could speak, I said to myself, "No. At present, their artillery and tanks are all concentrated in the northwest direction and are used to fully organize the counterattack carried out by our army. What they can do now is to ensure the calm of this area so that more troops can be deployed to reinforce the attacked areas. "


    Listen to me, basmanov''s face finally showed a smile, he was a little embarrassed to smile and said: "Sir comrade, listen to you say so, I don''t worry."


    When we were more than 100 meters away from the first regiment, I stopped. Basmanov, who was right behind me, didn''t expect that I would stop suddenly, so he bumped into me. After apologizing to me, he asked me curiously, "Comrade teacher, why did you stop?"


    I pointed to the position in the distance and said to him, "Comrade captain, come and see. Do you see any difference in the fortifications built by the regiment? "


    Basmanov looked at it for a long time, shook his head and said, "I can''t see it. It''s just one or two trenches with a few large Tibetan caves. It''s nothing unusual." At this point, he suddenly stopped, after a short silence, he exclaimed: "Damn, how can the position of a regiment be built like this? Sir, look at that trench. Is it a bit like a mountain road? The starting point is connected with the Tibetan soldier cave behind the hillside. It spirals up in a clockwise direction. After passing the hillside, it reaches the fortification at the top of the mountain. "


    "Yes, comrade captain, you have observed very carefully." For his careful observation, I nodded, praised him, and then explained to him, "this trench of the shejerikov regiment is very skillful. When the German shells or bombs fall in the hillside trench, the commanders and fighters who stick inside can only leave a few observation posts, and the rest will follow the trench to the Tibetan cave to take refuge. When the enemy attacks, they will re-enter the position. Even if the German army breaks through the hillside position, it doesn''t matter. When the enemy charges the hillside position, the commanders and fighters in the Tibetan cave can rush up along the trench, recapture the hillside position, fire from the back of the enemy, and attack the defenders on the top of the hillside back and forth to wipe out the enemy. "


    When busmanov and I were discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the first regiment''s position, Lieutenant Colonel shijerikov, who was informed by the soldiers, had already come to me with several soldiers.


    After xiejerikov saluted me, I pointed to the position in the distance and asked frankly, "Comrade xiejerikov, why is your regiment''s trench built like this?"


    Because I didn''t show my attitude, shijerikov didn''t know whether I wanted to criticize him or praise him. After a moment''s hesitation, he answered me with a stiff head: "report to division commander, the method of building this trench is proposed by the engineer company commander, Second Lieutenant Mikhail yev. Seeing that the defense effect of this trench is good, I agreed. Comrade division, if you want to blame me, blame me. Don''t blame lieutenant mihayev. He also obeys my orders. "


    Seeing the flustered expression on shijerikov''s face, I couldn''t help laughing. "When did I say this trench is bad?" I asked Seeing that he was stunned for a moment, shaking his head desperately, I continued, "I think the method of repairing this trench is very good. Even if the German army occupies the position on the hillside or the top of the mountain, our troops can rely on this trench to quickly take back the lost position without causing too much casualties."


    Shejerikov was relieved to hear that.


    Under the leadership of shijerikov, I inspected the positions of the first regiment, and then went to check the cave behind the hillside. I found that the fortification level of the fortification completely reached my expected level, and then I was satisfied to take basmanov back to the division headquarters.


    As soon as I got to the hill where the division headquarters was located, I saw a large number of soldiers shouting numbers in front of me and pulling something up the hillside. Without looking back, I said to busmanov, "Comrade captain, let''s go and see what''s going on."


    Not far out, I saw everything on the hillside. It turned out that the soldiers were struggling to pull guns on the hillside. As soon as basmanov and I stopped, a man ran out of the crowd and ran towards us.


    After stopping in front of us, he raised his hand and said excitedly, "Comrade division commander, artillery captain Morozov, report to you that the two anti tank companies assigned to our division by the headquarters of the group army have arrived."

 Chapter 615

    I was overjoyed to hear that the headquarters of the group army had sent us an anti tank gun company. Originally, I was worried that due to the lack of heavy weapons such as anti tank weapons, our troops would not be able to resist the massive attack of German armored forces. When general Golikov, deputy commander of the front army, came to the headquarters of the group army for inspection, he reflected this to him. I didn''t expect that he really meant what he said. Before long, he really sent me two anti tank artillery companies.


    I asked molozov excitedly, "Comrade captain, what caliber anti tank guns are they?"


    Morozov did not look back at it at all, but answered me without hesitation: "the report division commander is the latest 76.2mm division anti tank gun of the newly installed troops at the beginning of this year. There are 12 guns in one company and 24 guns in two companies." At this point, he stopped, waved in the direction of the artillery commanders and fighters, and cried out: "two company commanders, come here. Comrade division commander wants to see you."


    With his shouts, two commanders ran out of the crowd and quickly came to us. After standing at attention and saluting, they said to me, "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant kasulin and lieutenant mailehoff report to you. The fifth and sixth companies of the anti tank independent battalion of the guards are stationed here, waiting for your orders."


    "Well, well." I looked at the two energetic lieutenants in front of me, nodded with satisfaction, and then said to them, "Lieutenant kasulin, Lieutenant mailehov, from today on, your two companies and captain Morozov''s mortar company will be officially formed into independent division artillery battalion. Captain Morozov served as battalion commander and company commander of the first company, Lieutenant kasulin served as company commander of the second company, and lieutenant melehov served as company commander of the third company. "


    Seeing that the three men had no objection to my appointment, I looked at the cannons being pulled up the hillside and asked with interest, "two comrades of company commander, are these new cannons of the newly equipped troops?".


    "Yes, comrade division commander, these are the" 1942 76.2mm division anti tank guns "that began to be loaded into the army after March this year. They are the most advanced anti tank guns at present." Lieutenant kasulin took over my topic and said: "Professor Wolff, the chief engineer of the artillery branch of Krupp military industry group, once commented on this kind of artillery in public:" the new artillery of the Soviet Union is the best in the armies of all countries at present. It is not only better than the British and French artillery, but also the German artillery. It is no exaggeration to say that this kind of gun will leave an important page in the history of world artillery. "


    Listening to him, I can''t help asking: "where did you hear what Professor Wolff, the chief engineer of Krupp, said?" However, on second thought, it was obviously inappropriate for me to sneer at lieutenant kasulin, who just joined the independent division today. It was also inconsistent with the identity of my division commander. Therefore, I kept silent and tried to smile on my face, pretending to be interested in listening.


    Seeing that I was smiling, Lieutenant malehoff boldly added: "it is said that Comrade Stalin said with emotion after seeing the demonstration of this new type of Artillery:" this kind of artillery is a masterpiece of a generation! "


    It seems that I understand something when I buy lehoff. I surmised to myself: perhaps the Ordnance Department deliberately released the so-called Krupp first engineer''s speech and Stalin''s comments on cannons in order to increase the confidence of artillery commanders and fighters in new cannons.


    Kasulin asked politely, "Comrade division, may I ask, what are the tasks of the second company and the third company in the position?"


    "The task is clear, comrade lieutenant." As for his question, I said with a clear mind: "at the present defensive stage, the tasks of your two companies are to carry out anti tank tasks and eliminate enemy infantry. After our troops turn to attack, your combat task is to destroy the enemy''s living forces, destroy the enemy''s infantry fire points and suppress the enemy''s artillery, destroy the enemy''s tanks and armored vehicles, destroy the enemy''s wire mesh obstacles, and eliminate the enemy''s shelter and permanent fire points. And accompany the infantry to attack and provide them with firepower support. "


    With that, I waved to them and said in an unquestionable voice, "well, three artillery battalion commanders, please lead the soldiers to deploy the guns in place." The three artillery commanders agreed to return to the line of artillery soldiers and command them to continue to pull the cannons up the hillside.


    Looking at the busy soldiers, I suddenly had a bold idea in my heart. If the German army wants to launch an attack on the mamayev post, after the artillery preparation and bombing, it is needless to say that they are proud of the armored forces that cover the infantry attack. To deal with the German armored forces, in addition to anti tank guns, anti tank guns, anti tank mines, grenades, flasks and cluster grenades, we can also dig anti tank trenches. Of course, what I want to dig is not the ordinary anti tank trench, but the famous "Golan trench".


    As for the relevant information of the Golan trench, I have been familiar with it for a long time: one to two kilometers away from the front position, we dug an anti tank trench with an opening width of 6 meters, a bottom width of 4 meters, and a depth of 9 meters. This trench seems simple, but there is a hidden mystery. When the general army builds an anti tank trench, it usually piles up the excavated soil on both sides of the trench. However, the earth excavated from the Golan trench was placed on its own side, forming a 2.5-meter-high embankment. The anti tank trench built in this way will make the attacking side feel very depressed. Because even if they want to fill the trench, they will find that the soil is all on the side of the garrison, and they have no soil to use. Even if the anti tank trench is built with rails, they will find that one end of the channel is high and the other is low. Moreover, the high end is set up on the soft soil, which makes the tanks and armored vehicles stagger when driving on the bridge, resulting in many tanks and armored vehicles falling into deep trenches and unable to get out. Even if the tanks and armored vehicles that got away with it slowly climbed up the high embankment, the bottom of the vehicle with weak armor protection was exposed. When the tanks and vehicles drove down the embankment, the top of the same weak armor was exposed under the Garrison''s muzzle. So in this up and down process, the defenders on the defensive side have two excellent shooting opportunities. As long as they hit, they can easily destroy the other side''s tanks and armored vehicles. In this way, when passing through the embankment, the enemy tanks and armored vehicles almost became the live targets of the defenders. Moreover, because the earth dike is higher than the attacking side, the sight of the tank members of the attacking forces is seriously affected in the operation. It is unable to find and aim at the target, and it is difficult to give full play to the firepower to support the attacking forces in front. However, when the Garrison''s armored forces launch counter attack, it is very convenient to push the accumulated soil into the anti tank trench and fill it up to ensure the attack of their own tanks and armored vehicles.


    Originally, I wanted to reserve this kind of anti tank trench for use in the Kursk tank battle, but now I see the open plain in front of the mamayev post. If I want to block the German armored forces, this kind of Golan trench is the best choice.


    Thinking of this, I called basmanov, turned and walked to the division headquarters. Second lieutenant Mikhail yev, the company commander of the division''s engineering company, is there. I can tell him about the excavation method of the anti tank trench, and ask him to organize people to start work immediately, so as to complete it in two days.


    But as soon as I got to the division headquarters, I stopped and looked at the engineering soldiers who came out of my headquarters with bags of mud tied with cloth bags. Looking at them sweating, I couldn''t help reconsidering whether it was too hasty to dig the Goran trench in front of the mamayev post?


    After serious consideration, I decided to cancel the plan to dig the Golan trench. Because this two kilometer long anti tank trench has to excavate 90000 cubic meters of earth. Without the cooperation of excavation machinery, not to mention the engineering company of mihayev, even if I send a regiment and two regiments on the Highlands, more than 3000 people will have to excavate at least 30 cubic meters of earth. It can''t be completed in ten days and a half months. The Germans are neither blind nor deaf. They will never allow our troops to bluntly dig an anti tank trench that can block the advance of their armored forces under their eyelids. They will certainly destroy our audacious troops by means of plane bombardment.


    While I was feeling sorry for being forced to give up the Golan trench, mihayev did not know when he would come to me and report to me, "Comrade division! Second lieutenant Mikhail yev reports to you that our company is excavating a new division headquarters. "


    Maybe when I was just thinking about something, my eyes were staring at the engineering soldiers in and out in a daze, so some people thought that I might be watching their work, so they thought it was necessary to report to me, so they called mihayev out.


    "At ease, comrade mihayev." I asked casually, "how long will it take for the headquarters to be repaired?"


    Mihayev shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "Sir, we encountered rocks in the process of digging. As you know, without enough explosives, the speed of driving will inevitably be affected."


    "Then you''ll try to find some dynamite to blow up all the rocks in the way." When I said that, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Two hours later, Mikhail''s promised completion time was still early, so I said in a gentle voice, "it''s OK to finish it before evening anyway."


    "Are we allowed to go on, sir?" Mihayev asked cautiously.


    "Of course, that''s easy to say." I hastened to reply, "go on with your work!"


    After mihayev turned back to the division headquarters, I said to basmanov beside me, "come on, comrade captain, it''s ok now. Let''s go to the residential area to have a look."


    As we walked down the hillside, just halfway through, we unexpectedly met kirilov, who returned from the residential area. In addition to the guard group he led, there were also more than a dozen political workers around him. I waved to him and cried out, "kirilov, political commissar kirilov!"


    Kirilov was climbing, when he heard someone shouting and looked up to see me. He immediately showed a smile, waved to me and quickened his pace.


    He stopped in front of me and asked curiously, "Comrade oshanina, why are you here?"


    I replied with a smile: "Comrade political commissar, Lieutenant Mikhail yev is still building the headquarters for us, so I want to go to the residential area to have a look. I didn''t expect to meet you here." At this point, I leaned over and looked behind him. Then I asked, "are these comrades the political workers assigned to our division?"


    "Yes," kirilov said, looking back sideways and nodding his head, "they are all political workers I transferred from the Political Department of the group army. It was agreed to give me 20 people, but unfortunately, when I went, eight political workers had already been asked to leave by commissar jitov of the 70th division of Jinwei. "


    "The 70th division of Colonel lyudnikov''s guards?" After getting a positive answer, I asked suspiciously, "aren''t they affiliated with the 64th group army? Why do they want to come to the Political Department of our group army to hire people?"


    Kirilov''s face looked surprised and asked, "don''t you know? The 70th Jinwei division was transferred from the 64th group army to our group army yesterday and is now stationed near the central railway station. "


    "If the 70th division of the guards is transferred, which unit will defend the vacant area?"


    "The sector of the lyudnikov division is now taken over by the 157 th infantry division of Colonel kuropatenko. Although their troops were a little less, the German troops in that area did not know what kind of attack they had suffered. In such a long time, they did not attack our positions. "


    "Why


    Kirilov didn''t answer my question. Instead, he yelled at the political workers: "Hello, comrade starilov, please come here." With his shouts, a political worker ran over, raised his hand to salute, and stood in front of us in silence.


    "Comrade starirov, division commander oshanina, would like to know why the German army in front of our 157 Infantry Division has not launched an attack recently?" After giving orders to his subordinates, kirilov came close to me and said in a low voice, "Comrade starilov was transferred from the 64th army. He told me the news." Starilov stood up straight and reported to me, "well, comrade division, according to the observation post, there was a strange explosion behind the German army. As the enemy blocked the area after the explosion, our scouts could not get close to it for reconnaissance, so we could not determine where the explosion happened and what kind of damage it caused to the Germans. " Although starilov didn''t give enough details, I already understand what happened. Nine times out of ten, the mine and several tons of explosives planted exploded when we left the station. When I heard this, I didn''t ask any more questions. I laughed at kirilov and said with ease, "Comrade political commissar, should you explain these subordinates to me?" Kirilov, listening to me, yelled at the political workers in the back, "assemble More than a dozen political workers quickly lined up in the voice of the command. Kirilov led me to the right end of the team and began to introduce me: "Comrade starilov, you have seen me, so I will not introduce you. This is kruglov, Kegan, Xiaoming, zuyev, kokunov, Elgin, rogulev and gurkin. They are all inspectors and counselors of the Political Department of the group army. The three political workers are Nikolayev, stubov and safchenko in turn, who are responsible for the work of the Communist Youth League of the group army. " After we got to know each other, we went back to the front of the team. Kirilov gestured to me to speak to the political workers. I nodded and took a step forward. After sweeping each political work cadre with my eyes, I said to you with a smile: "Hello, comrades, welcome to work in the independent division. With your arrival, the combat effectiveness of the independent division will go up to a new level. Next, you will be assigned to each regiment, go directly to the grassroots level, and do a good job in the party''s political work, so as to ensure that our independent division can successfully complete the current combat tasks. " At this point, I made a gesture to kirilov and said politely, "Comrade political commissar, their work will be arranged by you." Kirilov did not shirk, but said directly: "starilov, kruglov, Kegan." The three political workers, who were named by him, quickly stepped out of the line and stood upright, waiting for his orders¡° The three of you go to a regiment and report to lieutenant colonel chejerikov. "¡° Yes The three agreed neatly, then stepped back into the queue¡° Xiao Ming, zuyev, safchenko Three more political workers who were named came forward¡° You three go to the second regiment and report to the acting commander, Captain Pugachev When the three political workers stepped back into the queue, he called the names of four people: "kokunov, Elgin, Nikolayev, stubov." After the four men set out, he said, "you four are assigned to the third regiment and the fourth regiment. Because the third regiment leader, Lieutenant Colonel kosga, was injured, the two regiments are currently under the command of the fourth regiment leader, Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar. You can report to him later."¡° Rogulev and gurkin, you two are assigned to the fifth regiment. Report to commander Oleg later. By the way, you must know the political commissar of the fifth regiment. She is the verol political instructor of the Vinica Infantry School. If you encounter any difficulties in the army, you can ask her for help. " When I heard kirilov assigning his subordinates, I couldn''t help feeling that this political commissar is not simple. How long has he been here? He knows all the commanders of the independent division. Just after the assignment, without waiting for kirilov''s order to disband, suddenly there was a sound of car motors from far to near from the south. We all looked in the direction of the sound. We saw a fleet of twelve trucks coming towards us. The car was full of helmeted commanders. Kirilov narrowed his eyes and looked for a moment. He wanted to speak to me and to himself. He said, "strange, how can I think those soldiers in the carriage are commanders?" Hearing what he said, I quickly raised my telescope and looked at the speeding motorcade. When I saw several familiar faces in the carriage, I could not help smiling. I put down my telescope and excitedly said to kirilov, "comrades of the political commissar, they are the second lieutenant training team. They are really excellent soldiers. With their participation, our independent division will form a strong combat effectiveness in a short time!"

 Chapter 616

    I trotted all the way to the foot of the hillside and stood by the side of the road looking at the oncoming motorcade. As the team got closer and closer, I began to feel uneasy. Although I just saw some familiar faces in the carriage through the telescope, I didn''t know who was the commander of the second lieutenant training team this time. If it''s captain akhromeyev I''m familiar with, it''s best. If I don''t know any other commanders, it will take me a while to get familiar with them.


    The motorcade stopped about 20 meters away from me and said, "please take a moment, comrade captain." Looking at the young commander standing in front of me, I was so excited that I didn''t know what to say. I just kept staring at him.


    "Comrade o''shanina, who is this commander?" Kirilov''s voice suddenly rang out.


    I quickly gathered my mind and introduced captain akhromeyev to kirilov. To cover up his gaffe: "Comrade political commissar, I''d like to introduce to you that this is captain akhromeyev, who is the highest commander of the second lieutenant training team of the volhoff front army, and also the most valued subordinate of the commander General meletskov."


    Akhromeyev heard me praise him like this, and quickly said: "serve Soviet China!"


    Kirilov looked at the medal on his chest, nodded with satisfaction, and said, "Comrade captain, it seems that you have done a good job. You already have a medal."


    At the moment when the three of us were talking, the other commanders of the second lieutenant''s training team had jumped out of the car one after another and began to line up beside the truck. A commander was giving orders to them. When the troops were finished, he turned and ran to us. When he got closer, I realized that he was a political worker. From his rank, he was a political instructor. I can''t help frowning slightly, and I said to myself: there was no political instructor in the second lieutenant''s training team before. Was it because the higher authorities wanted to send more political instructors to mamayev post?


    I didn''t care about the political instructor who was coming. Instead, I continued to introduce kirilov to the captain: "Comrade captain, let''s get to know him. This is Comrade kirilov, the political commissar who has just taken office. He is a member of the Central Committee."


    "Hello, comrade political commissar." Akhromeyev saluted him politely.


    At this time, the instructor had already run in front of us. After standing at attention, he raised his hand and saluted kirilov and me: "Comrade division commander, comrade political commissar, political instructor of the second lieutenant training team, oberstein, report to you that the second lieutenant training team has assembled and is waiting for your next order."


    I just smile and nod at the instructor named oberstein, then wave my head at kirilov and say, "come on, comrade political commissar, let''s go and see these new grassroots commanders."


    "Come on, let''s go and have a look." Kirilov agreed very readily, and then followed in my footsteps.


    As we were walking towards the square array in the distance, kirilov suddenly asked me in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, how do you plan to arrange the training team for the second lieutenant?"


    "With the exception of captain akhromeyev and oberstein''s director, the rest were assigned to the regiments as company and battalion commanders." Without hesitation, I said what I was going to do, but I was afraid kirilov didn''t know about the specific establishment of the division. I added: "the battalion level organizational system of each regiment has just been established. Because the battalion commanders of each battalion can''t find suitable commanders, they have to let the outstanding company commanders act as temporary agents."


    Kirilov looked at the square array in the distance and asked suspiciously, "is it appropriate to assign them to the regiments and take up the post of company commander or even battalion commander?"


    Regarding kirilov''s suspicion, I said decisively: "Comrade political commissar, please rest assured that the second lieutenant training team is the most elite force under general meletskov. When the German army broke through the position of the 52nd group army and threatened the supply line of the 2nd assault group army, the general did not hesitate to send the second lieutenant training team and the junior commander training company, He repelled the German attack and helped the 52nd army to consolidate its defense line. "


    As we spoke, we unconsciously came to the square of the second lieutenant''s training team. Captain akhromeyev stepped forward and said excitedly to his subordinates, "comrades, the one standing in front of you is Mr. oshanina, whom you are familiar with. At the beginning, she was a major when she commanded us in the war. In a few short months, she was promoted to the rank of Colonel because of her military achievements. At the same time, she was also the commander of the independent division we were about to join. I believe that under her leadership, we will complete the combat tasks assigned to us by our superiors, beat back the enemy''s attacks, guard the mamayev post, and build new contributions for the motherland and the people! "


    As soon as captain akhromeyev''s voice fell, the second lieutenant''s training team began to shout like a tsunami: "Wula! Wula!! Wula


    I waited for them to shout, and then I took a step forward. My action was immediately noticed by Captain akhromeyev. He quickly raised his hands and pressed them down. The cheering squadron of the second lieutenant''s training team suddenly quieted down.


    I took another step forward. With a smile on my face, I raised my voice and said in a loud voice, "well, dear comrades in arms, Hello Although I tried to keep calm, my voice changed a little.


    Although I only said one word, when I said "dear comrades in arms", I felt that the officers and soldiers in the square array were also infected by my emotions.


    "I''m very happy, my comrades from the front of warholf, that we are together again." I continued, "and it''s here..." when I said that, I suddenly got stuck. Because of excitement, I forgot what I wanted to say next. It wasn''t until kirilov coughed heavily behind me that I calmed down a little. Then I repeated, "and at this very important moment for Stalingrad, you were sent here by general meletzkov to fight with me. On behalf of all the officers and men of the independent division, welcome


    As soon as my voice fell, there was a warm applause on the floor. After glancing at the faces of every commander and fighter in the square array, I raised my hands and pressed them down. When everything was calm again, I continued: "comrades, to tell you the truth, the situation in Stalingrad is very bad. The German army is coming from the north, West and south. Although our army is fighting tenaciously, But under the attack of the dominant enemy, we are retreating to Stalingrad behind us. The mamayev post we are holding fast to may soon become the enemy''s main attack area. Because this is a commanding height overlooking the whole city. As long as they control this place, the enemy can move their heavy artillery to the hillside and bombard the city named after the supreme commander, just like Leningrad. You said, "can we let the enemy set foot on this high ground?"


    "No! No!! I can''t The square in front of me responded to me neatly.


    "Comrades, comrades in arms, although many of us will die in the next battle, I believe that the enemy will be blocked by our brave commanders and fighters at the post of mamayev. I believe that the enemy will eventually be buried under Stalingrad by us. Are you confident? "


    "Yes! yes!! Yes! " All the officers and men answered me with great confidence.


    For everyone''s performance, I nodded with satisfaction. Then I turned the topic and said to you: "comrades, comrades in arms, I have said before: you are all excellent commanders in the Red Army. I firmly believe that in time, many of you will grow into senior commanders and become generals or even Marshals in the Red Army! Comrades, now I would like to congratulate you, because from the moment you set foot on the land of mamayev post, you have taken a great step forward towards your dream of general and marshal. I am very responsible to tell you that as long as you live to win and live to see our flag planted on the roof of the parliament building in Berlin, many of you may have become generals. "


    "Colonel o''shanina, how long will it take for this day to come?" A commander standing in the first row listened to me and couldn''t help asking on behalf of everyone while I was speaking.


    "I believe that with the efforts of all of us, we can see this day in three years at most." Although I know the specific surrender date of Germany, I can''t tell you clearly. If I say it, it will become a magic wand. So I just give a date to this curious commander in general.


    After everyone calmed down, I continued to say: "I said before that, as long as conditions permit, I would never use you excellent commanders of the Red Army as ordinary soldiers. I specially transferred you from the front army of warhoff to Stalingrad, not to mention you as cannon fodder. Now I''m going to assign you to each regiment of the independent division and take up the post of company platoon commander or even battalion commander according to your abilities. "


    After that, I turned to akhromeyev and said, "Comrade captain!"


    Akhromeyev heard my call, quickly stepped forward two steps, came to me, quietly waiting for my order.


    "How many people are there in the second lieutenant training team?" I glanced at the neat array and asked.


    "Sir, please allow my instructor to report to you." Akhromeyev didn''t answer my question immediately. Instead, he turned aside and let out the political instructor oberstein who was standing behind him.


    Seeing that I nodded my head and acquiesced, instructor oberstein came forward, straightened himself up, and respectfully reported, "report to Mr. commander, after the first two months of fighting, there are only 82 people left in the second lieutenant training team. This time, he was ordered to be transferred to mamayev post for your command. Commander meletzkov felt that there were too few people, so he transferred some students from the junior commander''s training company to supplement. Now there are 152 people in the second lieutenant''s training team. "


    After listening to oberstein''s report, I secretly pointed out the number of people in the square array, 30 people in a row, a total of five columns, which is exactly 150 people. In addition, Captain akhromeyev and the oberstein instructor in front of me are exactly 152 people.


    At this time, kirilov came up to me again and asked for my opinion in a low voice: "Comrade oshanina, how do you divide these 152 people?"


    I also answered him in a low voice: "political commissar, please rest assured, I have a clear idea." Then I raised my voice to the square array of the second lieutenant''s training team and said, "my comrades in arms of the second lieutenant''s training team, next I will assign your places. Please be prepared." After saying this, I looked at them again, and then began to announce the result of my distribution: "go to a regiment in the first row, and report to lieutenant colonel chejerikov; The second platoon goes to the second regiment and reports to the acting commander, Captain Pugachev; The commanders of the third and fourth platoons are assigned to the third and fourth regiments. Because the third regiment leader is injured now, the daily work of the two regiments is in the charge of the fourth regiment leader, Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar. Just go to him to report; In the fifth row, go to the fifth regiment and report to commander Oleg and political commissar verol. "


    "How did you arrange this captain and instructor?" Kirilov saw that I had allocated the rest of the second lieutenant''s training team, leaving behind akhromeyev and oberstein standing in front of us, so he couldn''t help asking. I looked up at the two men in front of me and thought for a moment. Then, without considering discussing with kirilov, I announced in a loud voice: "Captain akhromeyev, from today on, will temporarily act as the chief of staff of the independent division and be responsible for assisting me in commanding the battle. As for political instructor oberstein, "at this point, I can''t help hesitating. Originally, I wanted to be randomly assigned to that camp, but on second thought, if the political workers under kirilov had just been assigned to the army, if the position given to this instructor was too small, even if he didn''t say it, meletzkov would be upset if he knew. Thinking of this, I gritted my teeth and said decisively, "I will be assigned to a regiment of lieutenant colonel chejerikov to serve as the political commissar of the regiment."

 Chapter 617

    After arranging the work for all the members of the second lieutenant''s training team, I didn''t ask them to leave immediately. Instead, I turned around and called Vera to her and told her in a low voice, "Vera, you should go to lieutenant razumeyeva immediately and ask her to inform all the leaders to report to me. Remember, tell them to move fast, or I''ll assign those excellent commanders to other regiments. "


    Willa gave me a knowing smile, turned around and ran up the hill. Just now because of the headquarters of the reconstruction division, when I took basmanov out for inspection, razumeyeva also took a walkie talkie and transferred to a hidden Department of the guard camp. The reason why I asked Vera to send orders was that she was familiar with the road.


    After Vera left, I continued to speak to the formation of the second lieutenant''s training team: "comrades, as we all know, the second lieutenant''s training team and the junior commander''s training company you have formed are the most effective units in the warhoff''s front army. Now that you have been assigned to each regiment of the independent division to serve as platoon leader of the company, I believe you will turn your company into an elite division with the same fighting capacity as you are now. Do you have any confidence? "


    "Yes! yes!! Yes! " The commanders and fighters in the square responded to me confidently.


    I nodded with satisfaction at your reply. Then I turned around and asked kirilov in a low voice, "Comrade political commissar, would you like to say something?" Seeing that he nodded slightly, I said with a smile to the commanders and fighters of the second lieutenant''s training team, "next, I''d like to introduce Comrade kirilov, the new political commissar of the independent division. Before the outbreak of the battle of Stalingrad, he was a member of the Central Committee and had a high level of political theory. You are welcome to speak to us." With that, I took the lead in clapping.


    Under my leadership, all the people clapped for this unfamiliar political commissar. I know in my heart that the thunderous applause is due to politeness and kirilov''s special status. After all, he worked beside the Supreme Commander himself.


    Seeing kirilov take two steps forward, I quickly give way to make sure that he stands in the most eye-catching position in front of the queue. With a smile on his face, he scanned the square, raised his hand and pressed it down. The applause stopped suddenly. He waited until it was quiet before he said aloud, "Dear commanders, welcome to the independent division! The independent division is a newly formed force. Although it has a large number of soldiers, most of our soldiers have not received any military training or combat experience. Before I came to this unit, I was very worried, because I didn''t know if I could help Mr. o''shanina lead this unit well. This is because the army is short of commanders, both military commanders and political workers. It is impossible to improve the combat effectiveness of this unit just by me, the division commander and a few commanders. " At this point, he once again scanned the square array with his eyes, sighed with relief, and then said happily, "but now it''s OK, because you''re here. As Mr. o''shanina said just now, you are all the best commanders in the Red Army. As long as you serve as commanders in the company, we can certainly turn our independent division into an elite division with strong combat effectiveness. " As soon as his voice fell, thunderous applause broke out in the square array.


    After the applause subsided, kirilov said, "next, I''d like to introduce some political workers I brought from the Political Department of the group army, because many of you will work with them in the coming days." With that, he turned and called the twelve political workers to his side.


    After twelve political workers lined up behind him, kirilov began to introduce the commanders of the second lieutenant''s training team. Every time he said a person''s name, the political worker stepped forward, raised his hand to salute everyone, simply said hello, and then retired to the ranks of political workers.


    Before kirilov had finished introducing all the political workers, shejerikov and Pugachev, who had been informed by razumeyeva, had already run down the hillside breathlessly. When they came to me, they would salute me even before they could breathe. I raised my hand to stop them, and then told them in a low voice: "you stand by first, I have something to say to you later."


    They nodded neatly and stood obediently behind me.


    Seeing that kirilov had introduced all the political workers, I turned to shijerikov and Pugachev and said, "come with me." Then I went to kirilov.


    After shejerikov and Pugachev also came, I announced to the commanders and political workers of the second lieutenant''s training team in a loud voice: "comrades, I''d like to introduce to you the tall lieutenant commander next to me, comrade shejerikov, the head of the first regiment. Please send out the commanders and political workers assigned to a regiment! "


    With my command, the commanders and fighters in the first row of the second lieutenant''s training team collectively took a step forward, and the political workers behind me, including starilov, kruglov and kongan, also took a step forward. Seeing that the commanders and political workers assigned to a regiment were all complete, I said to Xie jerikov, "OK, comrade commander, take all your subordinates back." Speaking of this, I suddenly saw the political instructor oberstein standing beside akhromeyev. He quickly pointed with his hand and added, "and Comrade oberstein, the political instructor, will take up the post of political commissar in your regiment for the time being."


    After listening to my introduction, xiejerikov was slightly surprised, but he soon regained his composure, went to oberstein, took the initiative to extend his hand to the other party, and said in a friendly way: "Hello, political commissar oberstein, welcome to the party."


    Oberstein also held his hand in a friendly way and said politely, "Hello, Lieutenant sergeant chejerikov. We will be partners in the future. I hope we can cooperate happily!"


    "Happy cooperation," said shijerikov, shrugging his shoulders and in a relaxed tone. "Of course, we can cooperate happily in the days to come."


    When shejerikov left with his 34 newly assigned commanders, I shook hands with each one and wished them good luck.


    After one group is allocated, I will continue to allocate two groups. As we all have the experience just now, after hearing the introduction of Captain Wan Pugachev''s acting as the head of the second regiment, without my command, the 30 commanders under his command and three political workers, Xiao Ming, zuyev and safchenko, came forward one after another.


    Seeing this scene, kirilov and I met with a smile, and then I said, "since the commanders all know what they should do, then you can go back to the position with commander Pugachev."


    As soon as the commander assigned to regiment one and regiment two left, a jeep sped in from the direction of the residential area. I know that at this time, not Gaidar, or Oleg and verol, so I didn''t care. The car didn''t stop until it was only five or six meters away from me. As soon as the door was opened, Gaidar jumped out of the car and ran to me in a loud voice: "report to Mr. commander, commander of the fourth regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar, report to you and wait for your order."


    Kirilov has just said hello to Gaidar, and everyone knows him. At the moment, seeing his bluster, I couldn''t help but frown and criticize Gaidar sternly: "Comrade commander, please remember your identity. What''s the order now?"


    Gaidar, who was criticized by kirilov, quickly stopped, stood in the same place and laughed sheepishly, then timidly introduced: "sorry, comrade political commissar. Because when the division commander asked lieutenant razumeyeva to inform us just now, he specially emphasized that we should speed up, otherwise we would assign those excellent commanders to other regiments. "


    "You''re just afraid that you''ll be late. All the commanders who should have been assigned to you are going away by other regiments. Is that right, comrade commander?" Although kirilov''s tone was still very severe, the corners of his mouth were slightly up after he finished his speech.


    "No, that''s it, my dear political commissar." Gaidar replied sheepishly, and his words immediately aroused a friendly laughter from the commanders and fighters in the queue.


    At this time, Oleg and veroll, who had just got off the jeep, came up to us. They stood at attention and saluted. Then they said respectfully, "report to Mr. commander, political commissar, leader of the fifth regiment, Oleg and political commissar veroll, who are on your orders to come and wait for your orders!"


    As for their performance, kirilov nodded with satisfaction and asked with a smile: "chief Oleg, political commissar verol, why don''t you come here like Gaidar? Aren''t you afraid that it''s too late. All the excellent commanders have been selected by the first regiment and the second regiment?"


    Oleg did not speak, but turned to look at the next verol, motioned for her to answer kirilov commissar''s words. At his instigation, verol stepped forward and replied loudly: "report to the political commissar, we believe that the division leaders will make overall arrangements in this respect. All we have to do is to obey. Therefore, whether we come early or late, we accept the commanders already arranged by the division leaders."


    "In the end, political workers have a high level of speech." After praising verol, kirilov said to Gaidar: "see? Comrade commander, political commissar veroll can understand the intention of the superior. If you have a chance, you should learn more from her. Do you understand? "


    "I understand, comrade political commissar." Gaidar replied reluctantly.


    "I see you just say it, but you still don''t understand it in your heart." Kirilov pointed out the real thoughts in his heart.


    Hearing kirilov say so, Gaidar laughed with embarrassment.


    Kirilov ignored him, but instead of me, he issued an order directly to the second lieutenant''s training team: "the officers and men assigned to the fifth regiment, please come to me."


    With his orders, the commanders who originally stood in the last row, crossed the colleagues in the first two rows and came to us in a neat line. Then kirilov turned to the line of political workers behind him and yelled, "rogulev, gurkin, come here, you two."


    After all the members of the fifth regiment were equally distributed, kirilov pointed to Oleg and verol and said, "comrades, I''d like to introduce you. This is the leader and political commissar of the fifth regiment you are going to report on."


    At the end of his speech, the 32 commanders raised their hands to salute Oleg and verol, and at the same time called out: "Hello, chief and commissar!"


    Oleg and verol saluted and said to the commanders happily, "Hello, commanders, welcome to the fifth regiment! From today on, we will fight side by side and bury the potential criminals under Stalingrad. "


    "Willing to serve the Soviet motherland!" The commanders replied neatly.


    Looking at Oleg and verol, with 32 commanders assigned to them, walking in a neat step towards the direction of the settlement, Gaidar, who was standing nearby, was a little worried. He came up to me and asked in a low voice anxiously, "Comrade division, what about the commanders assigned to our regiment?"


    I knew from kirilov''s performance that he was going to tease Gaidar, so I raised my chin in kirilov''s direction and said in an official voice, "well, ask the political commissar. I''m going to give these commanders the job of assigning them. "


    When Gaidar heard this, he had to walk to kirilov with a bitter face and said in a low voice, "Comrade political commissar, I was wrong just now. I admit my mistake to you. Please don''t be surprised that you have a large number of them. " Seeing that kirilov''s face was less serious, he asked cautiously, "I don''t know which commanders are assigned to our regiment?"


    Kirilov turned to look at him. He did not speak, but coughed heavily. Then he looked up at the sky, as if something beautiful had caught his attention.


    I heard kirilov''s cough and understood that it was his signal to me, so I lost no time to step forward and help Gaidar to say a good word: "Comrade political commissar, you see, Gaidar is aware of his mistake and will not be so reckless again. Please forgive him this time."


    When I finished, kirilov pretended to be very embarrassed, as if he wanted to continue to make trouble for Gaidar. Seeing this, I added in time: "OK, comrade political commissar, give him the commander assigned to the fourth regiment as soon as possible, so that he can take the commander back to the company as soon as possible."


    At this time, kirilov felt that he had taught Gaidar a lesson. Then he nodded reluctantly and said, "well, commander Gaidar, since it''s my teacher who interceded with you, I''ll forgive you this time." Then he stepped forward, went to the two remaining rows of the second lieutenant''s training team, and said to them in a loud voice, "comrades, come and meet me. This is lieutenant colonel Gaidar, the head of the fourth regiment. From today on, you will be assigned to work in the third and fourth regiments under his command. I hope that when you get to your new posts, you will continue to carry forward the fine traditions of the past and make new contributions to the motherland. "


    "Willing to serve the Soviet motherland!"


    Seeing that the remaining 60 commanders of the second lieutenant training team and four political workers were divided into three regiments and four regiments, Gaidar''s bitter gourd like face showed a happy expression. He saluted kirilov and me repeatedly and said incoherently: "thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, Mr. political commissar!"


    When he was about to leave with these commanders, I stopped him and asked with a serious expression: "commander Gaidar, after the third commander, commander kosga, was injured, the third regiment was entrusted to you. When there is no war, there is no problem. Once a fight starts, there will inevitably be a situation of poor command, so you need to find a suitable person within the scope of the third regiment as soon as possible to take over the position of commander kosga. "


    Gaidar looked at dozens of commanders standing not far away and asked in a low voice, "Comrade division, can you choose from them?"


    I shook my head without thinking, directly rejected his proposal, and gave my own reasons: "although they are all experienced commanders, they just arrived here and are not familiar with our troops. They just let them command the company or battalion combat units. It''s not a big problem if they directly command the regiment units, I''m afraid their different style will make the soldiers in the company confused. So before October, I will not let any of them serve as regimental commander. Do you understand? "


    "I see, sir." With that, Gaidar saluted me and turned away, taking the commanders with him to the settlement with neat steps.


    After the new second lieutenant training team and political workers were taken away by the leaders of the five regiments, kirilov and akhromeyev didn''t stop and went directly to the division headquarters.


    On the way, I asked akhromeyev, "how are you, comrade captain and general?" Although I didn''t say the name of the general, akhromeyev understood that I was talking about general meletskov of the front army of Volkhov, and quickly replied, "report to Mr. division commander, he is very good. Since you were transferred to the front army of Stalingrad, he has often talked about you. "


    When I heard akhromeyev say that, whether it''s polite or true, I feel warm in my heart. After leaving a place for a long time, if there are still people thinking about you from time to time, it proves that being a man is not a failure.


    I nodded and said as I walked, "when I have a chance in the future, I will contact the senior general and personally express my thanks to him."


    "Comrade division," said ahlomeyev politely, "don''t wait. You can contact him today."


    Although I would like to contact meletskov, I didn''t know the call code of the other station, so I just said it casually. When I heard akhromeyev say this, I asked curiously, "Comrade captain, how can I contact you? You know, my level is too low to know his radio call code. "


    With a smile on his face, akhromeyev said mysteriously, "Comrade division commander, if you want to contact the senior general, I have the call code that he personally gave me. You can contact me directly."


    "Where''s the code? Show me quickly." It''s said that captain akhromeyev carries the calling code of volhoff''s front army radio station. I can''t wait to urge him.


    He took out a piece of folded paper from his coat pocket and handed it to me. He solemnly said, "Comrade division commander, this is the call code of the general. Please destroy it immediately after you read it, so as not to fall into the hands of the enemy and cause incalculable consequences."


    I grabbed the piece of paper in his hand and did not open it at all, so I asked Vera to take me to the hiding place where razumeyeva was.


    As soon as I got into the shelter, I blew out all the guards in the room except razumeyeva. Then I handed the paper to her and said in a hurry, "Comrade lieutenant, get in touch with this radio station immediately. Move fast, move fast, understand?"


    Razumeyeva didn''t know why I was in such a hurry, but she took the paper, opened it, looked at it, and started calling the radio station far away in Leningrad with the code.


    After about five or six minutes, I got in touch with the radio station of the front army. Unfortunately, although the effective communication distance of this kind of telephone is more than 1000 kilometers, the distance between me and meletskov obviously exceeds the limited distance. I can only send a telegram to meletskov through the telephone to report that the training team of the second lieutenant has arrived safely and express my thanks to him at the same time.


    When I left, I picked up the paper placed in front of razumeyeva, lit the paper by the candle on the table, and watched the whole paper almost turn to ashes before I turned and left here disappointed.


    Kirilov and akhromeyev were both standing not far from the concealment department. When they saw me coming out of the room, the captain immediately asked with concern, "Comrade division commander, have you contacted Comrade General?"


    I nodded and said dejectedly, "I''ve got in touch. Unfortunately, the distance is too far. It''s beyond the effective communication distance. I can''t talk to the general. I just sent him a telegram to report the news that you have arrived safely. At the same time, I thank him for his selfless support."


    At this point, I turned around and asked kirilov, who was standing beside the captain, "Comrade political commissar, has our new headquarters been completed?"


    Kirilov shook his head and replied, "I just asked Lieutenant Mikhail. He said it would take an hour at the earliest. We''ll either stand here and wait, or we''ll take this opportunity to walk around. I don''t know what you think, Colonel o''shanina? "


    I thought about it, and then I said, "well, it''s getting dark. Let''s stay here. If someone comes to us for something and can''t find it, it''s a problem. "


    The three of us followed the trench newly dug by the second regiment and came to a place where there was no one around. We stopped and sat down to chat. Captain akhromeyev first asked, "division commander, political commissar, when we were crossing the river by boat, we heard that general Zhukov had organized three army groups. Since yesterday, he has been carrying out counter attacks against the German army in the northwest of the city. I don''t know what the situation is now?"


    Kirilov obviously did not understand the situation of the counterattack. When he heard akhromeyev''s question, he said helplessly: "Dear chief of staff, we are only a division level unit. Military secrets like this are not known by people of our level."


    Seeing that akhromeyev turned his eyes on me again, I waved my hand and pretended to say deeply: "Captain akhromeyev, although I have not received any information about this counterattack, according to my judgment, this hasty counterattack will not work."


    Kirilov and akhromeyev were surprised by what I said. Kirilov asked in surprise, "Comrade oshanina, why do you say that? You know, we have three whole army groups, and the only positive side of the counterattack is the Sixth Army Group of the German army Paulus. Even if we can''t eliminate them, it''s not a big problem to drive them away from the existing occupied positions? "


    "Comrade political commissar, your idea is good. However, the actual situation is that the counterattack was launched too hastily. Our military preparation was not enough, there were not enough artillery and tanks, and even the air supremacy in the battlefield was firmly held by the Germans. You can imagine that under the three-dimensional defense of the German army with planes on board and tanks and artillery under it, the attack launched by our army will not pose any threat to the German army except for increasing unnecessary casualties. "


    "Comrade o''xanina, is your analysis too pessimistic?" Kirilov, though vaguely aware of the incident, strongly refuted me: "if the attack of the three army groups under the command of general Zhukov has no effect, then why does the enemy not attack our mamayev post, and why even the enemy planes attacking the dock almost disappear?"


    "The enemy did not attack the mamayev post because most of their troops were transferred to the northwest to fight. As for the decrease of enemy planes attacking the dock, it may be related to the result that our anti-aircraft machine gun company has killed six of their enemy planes. The Germans are not stupid. They will never disperse their forces at such a time. Let''s break them down one by one. "¡° But... "When kirilov listened to me and wanted to refute me, a cry came from a distance:" where are you, teachers and political commissars? Comrade teachers, comrade political commissars,.... "when I heard the sudden cry, I couldn''t help but feel nervous and said in secret: is there anything wrong? Before I could make a response, Captain akhromeyev stood up and yelled in the direction of the voice: "Hello, the division commander and political commissar are here. Let''s talk about anything." I don''t know much about it. There are five or six people walking along the trench. At the front is a political worker assigned to the second regiment. I remember his name is safchenko. He used to be in charge of the work of the regiment. He was followed by four soldiers. The hands of a soldier who did not wear a military cap and was not well-dressed were twisted behind him by two fully armed soldiers and escorted to our side. When I saw this scene, I was suddenly not famous. How did safchenko do it? On the first day when he arrived at the company, he found out about the big clean-up. Maybe the soldier just complained a few words, but he sent someone to arrest him and detain him as a prisoner.

 Chapter 618

    When safchenko brought people to us, without waiting for him to speak, I asked coldly, "instructor safchenko, what''s wrong with this soldier, spreading rumors or trying to be a deserter?" Although I don''t know what position Pugachev assigned to safchenko, according to his rank, he can only serve as a instructor, so I took the initiative to add the post of commander to him while addressing him by his name.


    After listening to my words, safchenko immediately asked in a dazed way: "what''s the rumor, what''s the attempt to be a deserter, why don''t I know at all?"


    "Comrade safchenko," kirilov asked him again this time. He probably recognized my impatience from my tone of questioning, so he asked ahead of me this time: "what''s wrong with the soldier you brought, and why did you send someone to arrest him?"


    "Well, comrade political commissar." Facing kirilov, safchenko introduced the situation to him: "some refugees came to the company headquarters to complain that our soldiers raped a girl. After the clues provided by the victim, we caught the soldier in the tunnel where she was attacked. "


    Hearing what safchenko said, I couldn''t help but be stunned. It turned out that the soldier he brought was not arrested because he complained or something, but because he raped a girl in the tunnel. It seems that I just wronged safchenko because of my prejudice against political workers. Thinking of this, I feel a fever on my face. However, in order to ensure that there are no unjust, false and wrong cases, I specially asked: "Comrade instructor, has this soldier admitted the crime he committed?"


    Safchenko nodded hard and said in a positive tone: "yes, when we took the victim to arrest him, he voluntarily admitted his crime."


    "Is there any evidence?" Kirilov asked cautiously, "you know, it''s too dark in the pit. Can the girl see the person who raped him?"


    Kirilov''s words reminded me that the hiding holes and tunnels used by the 1st and 2nd regiments were newly excavated, and there was no lighting in them for the time being. How could the girl recognize the soldier as the one who had done wrong to her? So I echoed kirilov and asked, "yes, coach safchenko, can''t you make a mistake?"


    Safchenko answered with confidence: "teachers, political commissars, you can''t make a mistake. The girl said that although the tunnel was too dark to see the perpetrator''s appearance clearly, she scratched each other''s neck when struggling. You see, "said safchenko, grabbing the soldier''s hair with his hand, pulling it aside, and then pointing to his neck, he continued," this is the mark of being scratched by that girl. "


    Kirilov and I went over to have a look. There were some fresh scratches on the left side of the soldier''s neck. It seemed that the girl did not recognize the wrong person. As for the independent division''s commanders and fighters, I always regard them as my relatives. However, when I saw the soldier who had disgraced the whole division in front of me, I was so angry that I raised my hand and fanned the soldier fiercely. After the clear slap in the face, I scolded fiercely: "things are inferior to animals. Have you not seen a woman for several years?"


    Unexpectedly, the soldier stopped his neck and said, "I haven''t touched a woman for six years. What''s so great about playing with a girl? If we hadn''t protected them here, they would have fallen into the hands of the Germans."


    "Damn it." Kirilov used to be a good tempered man, but seeing this unrepentant soldier, he got angry and, like me, slapped the man in the face. After the fight, he came up to me and said angrily, "Comrade division commander, this is a time of war, and the military discipline should be strict. I think this soldier must be severely punished. You see, what should we do? "


    When I heard kirilov leave this contradiction to me, I had a headache. If not in this country, I just need to give an order to safchenko: take the soldier who has violated military discipline to the refugees and shoot him in public. But in this country, this kind of thing is really no big deal. I remember that one of my former guards committed the same crime. When I was going to shoot him, a group of people pleaded with me and ended up with nothing.


    Seeing that I didn''t respond, kirilov was a little worried and asked again what he had just said: "Sir, comrade, what do you think we should do with him?"


    Looking at kirilov with an anxious face in front of him, I suddenly have an idea. Since he is my political commissar, I can just leave such troublesome things to him. What worries do I have. Thinking of this, I deliberately posed a rather embarrassing expression to him, "Comrade Comrade commissar, when you went to the independent division, you once said that I has the final say in terms of military means. But right now, this has nothing to do with military affairs, right? As for how to deal with it, I think it has the final say.


    Safchenko had been staring at me, waiting for me to give an order and pushed me to kirilov. He did not want to wait any longer and asked in a hurry, "Comrade political commissar, what do you say to deal with this matter?"


    Kirilov looked at me and at the culprit, frowning tightly. But he didn''t wait for safchenko to urge him, so he came up with his own solution: "well, comrade safchenko, take this soldier back and whip him 200 times in front of the common people."


    "What, two hundred whips?" Safchenko was startled by kirilov''s words. He put his head together and said in a low voice, "Comrade political commissar, after 200 lashes, I think the soldier will not be angry."


    When I heard safchenko''s words, I hummed softly. I said in my heart that it was a mercy outside the law not to shoot the soldier in public. As for whether he died or lived after being whipped by 200 lashes, it depends on his own nature. Who made him hot headed and did such extraordinary things?


    Kirilov didn''t answer safchenko, but waved impatiently to take the man away. Safchenko nodded and said to the soldiers who followed him, "take him back first."


    Kirilov watched as the culprit was taken away, and curiously asked safchenko, "Comrade instructor, how did it happen?"


    Safchenko shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "when I was interrogating just now, the soldier said that he had finished digging outside and went back to the tunnel where their platoon was. Because it was too dark in the tunnel, he could only hold the wall and walk slowly inside. Walking, his feet suddenly tripped, so that he almost fell. He squatted down to feel what it was, and almost tripped him. As a result, he touched a person''s body. When he touched it up, he felt his long hair, so he... "


    "Well, comrade instructor, don''t go on." Before he finished, I interrupted him in time. Then I changed a smiling face and said to him, "coach safchenko, you did the right thing today. We must not tolerate this ugly phenomenon which is detrimental to our independent division. We must resolutely fight against it. "


    When safchenko heard me say this, he scratched the back of his head with a embarrassed smile and said, "teacher and political commissar, when I came here just now, I was deeply afraid that you would criticize me and say that I was just stirring up the army for such an hour."


    "How can this be a small matter, comrade safchenko. My opinion is the same as that of my teacher. You have done a good job in handling this matter. If similar things happen in the future, we must deal with them seriously. Two hundred lashes this time, three hundred next time. I''d like to see how many people are not afraid of death. "


    When kirilov finished, I asked, "Comrade safchenko, which company are you in now?"


    Safchenko quickly straightened up and replied respectfully, "Mr. reporter, I am a company instructor in the third company of the first battalion."


    "Two regiments and one battalion?" Hearing this, kirilov frowned and thought hard, as if recalling who was the commander of the battalion?


    "The commander of the first battalion of the second regiment is captain horushov." I saw him think for a long time, but I didn''t think about it. I immediately reminded him, and then said to safchenko, "Comrade instructor, when you go back later, you should inform the battalion commander captain horushov about this, and let him draw ten soldiers from each company to watch the execution scene. When these soldiers go back, they will tell what they see to the soldiers in the company. We must avoid the recurrence of similar incidents. "


    After safchenko returned to the company, I turned around and asked akhromeyev, who was standing beside me and kept silent all the time: "Comrade chief of staff, what do you think of this matter?"


    After listening to my question, akhromeyev didn''t answer it immediately. Instead, he hesitated. Maybe he was thinking about how to answer it so as to take advantage of our wishes.


    When kirilov saw that akhromeyev did not speak, he also said, "tell me, Captain akhromeyev. After all, you are the chief of staff of the division. The division commander and I also want to hear what you would do if it were you?"


    "Go ahead, Captain akhromeyev, and say whatever you think. Don''t worry about it." I lost no time in encouraging him.


    When kirilov and I asked him to express their opinions, akhromeyev stopped prevaricating and said clearly: "although the division commander, political commissar and independent division are a new force, I think the military discipline should be strict if we want to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible. The punishment just mentioned by the political commissar is 200 lashes in public. I have decided that it is too light. For this kind of black sheep, we should shoot them without hesitation to make an example. "


    Unexpectedly, akhromeyev thought the same as me. I nodded slowly with a smile on my face. But kirilov did not agree with his opinion: "Comrade captain, you know, I have already imposed a heavy penalty of 200 lashes on him. In the past, when this kind of thing happened in the army, the party concerned was scolded by the superior at most, or imprisoned for a few days."


    While we were talking, Lieutenant Mikhail yev, who was only wearing a white smock, came to us in a hurry. At the same time, he excitedly reported to us: "report to division commander and political commissar, the new division headquarters has been completed, and you can officially settle in."


    When we heard that the new headquarters had been repaired, we couldn''t wait to discuss the punishment for the soldier. We hurried behind Mikhail and walked towards the headquarters.


    The entrance to the new headquarters is just next to the old one. We walk along a two meter high and one meter wide corridor. After walking seven or eight meters, we suddenly see that the whole headquarters is more than 20 square meters in size. According to mihayev''s introduction, the roof is covered with several meters of soil. No matter whether the shells or bombs fall on it, it will not pose any threat to us.


    Seeing the spacious new headquarters, kirilov excitedly patted mikhayev on the shoulder and said with satisfaction: "great, comrade lieutenant, your engineering company is really capable. It''s only a few hours. We have built such an excellent headquarters." At this point, the political commissar turned his head and said to me in a deliberative tone, "Comrade teacher, I want to discuss something with you."


    "Come on, comrade political commissar, please tell me what you want." I responded politely to him.


    "Comrade mihayev is the company commander of the engineering company, but he is only a second lieutenant. Is his rank a little lower?" Kirilov nodded in agreement with me, so he asked me, "I''d like to propose that he be promoted to the rank of lieutenant. I don''t know if you agree?"


    "No problem. I agree. I''ll promote Comrade Mikhail to the rank of lieutenant." The last time I adjusted the rank, if it wasn''t for the fear that mihayev would be promoted too quickly to convince the public, I wouldn''t just give him the rank of second lieutenant. Since I promoted him to the rank today, I can''t forget razumeyeva, who is with me day and night. So I also said to kirilov, "by the way, there is lieutenant razumeyeva, the company commander of communication company. Her rank is too low. I suggest that she be promoted to the rank of lieutenant, comrade political commissar. Do you have any opinion? "


    "No problem, sir. I think Comrade razumeyeva''s rank should have been promoted a long time ago. Since you also think she should be promoted, let''s promote her and Comrade mihayev to the rank of lieutenant. " In our understatement, Mikhail yev and razumeyeva were promoted from lieutenant to lieutenant.


    The new headquarters was put into use soon. Mihayev is a good architectural engineer. Although the headquarters has only doors and no windows, it doesn''t feel stuffy when it stays inside.


    After dark, after dinner, kirilov and akhromeyev and I were studying the map around the table when suddenly there was a faint gunshot outside. In akhromeyev''s ear, he put his head aside, looked out of the headquarters, and said warily, "it''s the gunshot! Is something wrong? "


    "No, comrade chief of staff." Kirilov said a little incredulously: "according to our reconnaissance, there is no sign of the enemy near here. What''s the matter? I think the sentry''s gun may have gone off."


    When I didn''t know which one of them was right, there were two more shots coming from the outside, and then the shots and explosions became one. By this time, even the deaf can recognize that something is wrong outside. I quickly rushed out of the headquarters, turned around and entered the old headquarters, which was changed into a communication room. I yelled at razumeyeva, who was going out: "Lieutenant razumeyeva, do you have any information from the regiments?"


    Razumeyeva shook her head and said, "no, I''m going to go out to see where the gun is firing, and I think it''s very difficult to contact any regiment."


    Hearing what razumeyeva said, I patted my forehead hard and said that I was really confused. Even razumeyeva knew to observe the situation outside first, and then felt that I contacted with which regiment and asked what happened. But I didn''t even know where the gunfire was, so I ran to the communication room in a panic.


    Razumeyeva and I went out of the communication room. Kirilov and akhromeyev were also standing outside. They were raising their binoculars and looking at a regiment of positions. When I saw this scene, my heart sank. Is there something wrong with a regiment?


    I walked quickly to akhromeyev''s side and asked in a loud voice, "chief of staff, are the gunshots and explosions coming from the same direction?"


    "Yes, sir." Akhromeyev said as he handed me the telescope in his hand, and said: "I suspect that a small group of sneaking German troops were found by our sentinels, so there was an exchange of fire."


    I raised my telescope and looked at the hillside where the regiment was. Although it was late, I could still clearly see the muzzle flame of the gun and the fire light produced by the explosion of the grenade. It seems that akhromeyev''s analysis is correct. I put down my telescope and told razumeyeva, who was standing behind me, "Comrade lieutenant, get in touch with a regiment immediately and ask them how they are doing over there."


    Razumeyeva agreed, went to the door of the communication room, lifted the curtain, and yelled, "girls, contact a regiment immediately and ask them what happened there?" When I saw that razumeyeva didn''t enter the communication room, but stood at the door giving orders, I remembered that today our superior sent us several female communication soldiers, and now they are all staying in the communication room.


    After a few minutes, the sound of gunfire and grenade explosion on the first regiment''s position gradually faded away. Razumeyeva also came to me and reported to me: "Comrade division, I have contacted lieutenant commander xiejerikov of the first regiment. He reported that about 50 Germans attempted to sneak into our positions, only to be found by the Sentinels on duty, which led to the exchange of fire. "


    "Is the commander online?" I turned and asked.


    "Yes, he is waiting for your order."


    Hearing what razumeyeva said, I shoved the telescope into ahlomyev''s hand and ran quickly into the communication room. I yelled at the transmitter, "Hello, Hello, commander chejerikov? I''m o''shanina. What''s the situation over there? "


    "Report to the division commander that about 50 German soldiers attempted to sneak into our position, only to be found by our sentries and fired warning shots. Comrade oberstein, the political commissar on patrol, heard the gunshot and immediately rushed forward with the guard team, making fire with the German army. When I heard that there was a fight outside, I sent a company in time to fight back the enemy with the political commissar. "¡° Where is political commissar oberstein now? " I asked nervously, because in my influence, the level of political workers in commanding battles is limited, and the slightest carelessness in fighting such encounters will pay a heavy price. So I asked directly if xiejerikov knew the whereabouts of his political commissar¡° After the enemy was beaten back, the political commissar of oberstein went after him with a company. At present, he is still fighting As soon as I heard this, I became angry and yelled at sjejerikov: "I order you to lead a company to support political commissar oberstein immediately. If anything happens to him, you don''t have to do it."

 Chapter 619

    As soon as I dropped the earphone and transmitter on the table, kirilov and akhromeyev went into the communication room. Seeing my action, kirilov asked nervously, "Comrade division, what happened to the position of the first regiment?"


    Although I was upset, in front of kirilov, the political commissar, I could not get angry. I could only say angrily, "the German sent a small force to attack a regiment''s position, which was found by our sentinels and fired warning shots. After the regiment political commissar oberstein found out the enemy situation, he immediately commanded his guard team to meet the enemy. At the same time, xiejerikov sent a company''s troops to join the battle in time. Under their double attack, the German army made a little resistance and soon withdrew. Now the political commissar of oberstein has led his troops and followed the retreating German army


    "Nonsense, it''s nonsense." After listening to my introduction, kirilov said in a discontented voice: "this lieutenant colonel xijerikov is just a fool. Oberstein is not a military cadre. How can he carry out such a dangerous operation as chasing the enemy in the dark? He has been here for a short time. He is not familiar with the terrain and the regiment''s commanders and fighters. What if he is ambushed by the enemy in pursuit? "


    I''m worried about oberstein''s accident because I''m afraid I won''t be able to explain it to general meletzkov. After all, it''s a bit too much to say that someone just came to my division during the day to report an accident at night. Kirilov''s fear of an accident in oberstein is due to the fact that the other party is a political cadre. Perhaps it''s OK for him to do political and ideological work for the soldiers, so commanding war is not his strong point.


    I inadvertently looked to the door, I don''t know when a group of people were standing outside. The light from the communication room made me see that there was a guard battalion commander basmanov among the people standing outside. When I went to the door, I yelled at him: "Captain basmanov, join the guard and follow me to the position of a regiment." With that, I lifted my legs and walked out.


    When I just walked to the door, I suddenly remembered that now the independent division is not me has the final say, and can no longer act as he did before, then he stops and turns to Kirilov. "Comrade commissar, I go to a regiment position, and I will leave you here." Then he said to akhromeyev, who was standing beside him and somewhat at a loss, "Comrade chief of staff, what are you still doing there? You will come with me to the position of the first regiment


    Basmanov, after all, spent a lot of time with me. He knew my character very well and didn''t need my instructions. When he heard the gunfire and explosion from a group of positions just now, he had already judged my next action. So before I gave him an order, he gathered the guards together.


    When I came out of the communication room, I saw that the soldiers of the guard company had finished forming a line beside the trench. I nodded with satisfaction, and then called to basmanov, "let''s go!"


    With my command, busmanov hastened to give orders to his subordinates: "everyone, listen to my command: stand at attention, turn right and walk in unison!"


    As soon as we walked out, three people, Grimes, Beckman and gretka, who didn''t show up one day, came to us with a flashlight. Seven or eight steps away, Grimes couldn''t wait to shout a few words. Gretka quickly translated his words into Russian: "Comrade teacher, what''s the matter?"


    Although the light was not very good at this time, akhromeyev, who was next to me, was keenly aware that the visitor was wearing a German uniform and called out: "Sir, be careful, there are Germans." Then he stood in front of me and drew his gun at gramus and the three of them.


    "Captain akhromeyev, don''t get me wrong, they are all our own people!" I was so afraid of his impulse that I grabbed his elbow and lifted it up. At the same time, I yelled, "put down the gun quickly! Be careful not to let it go


    Ahlomeyev held the pistol in his right hand high in the air, turned to me and said, "Sir, you see, they are wearing German uniforms and speak authentic German. Aren''t they German?"


    I let go of his hand and said unhappily, "Comrade captain, put down the gun first. I''ll explain this to you later." Then I took a few steps to meet them and said to them in a loud voice, "you''re just in time. I''d like to introduce you to captain akhromeyev, the new chief of staff of the division."


    After explaining akhromeyev to grams, I introduced grams to akhromeyev: "this is former German captain grams, now the commander of the second company of guards; Lieutenant gretka, gramus''s deputy, is also in the company. This is captain Beckman, the commander of the guard''s third company


    It''s said that it''s the new chief of staff. The three of them quickly came over, raised their hands and saluted him. At the same time, they politely said, "Hello, chief of staff."


    Akhromeyev was confused by the scene in front of him. After he put his pistol back into the holster, he also raised his hand and gave a salute. He said with a bitter smile, "Hello, nice to meet you."


    After seeing that both sides had said hello, I said to gramus, "well, just now an enemy touched the position of a regiment. Fortunately, our soldiers were on high alert and found out and repulsed them in time. At present, there is an army pursuing the enemy. I''ll take the guard company to the front to have a look. "


    After hearing this, Grimes gave a hum, and then asked, "Comrade division, do you want my second company to go with you?"


    I waved my hand and said, "no, the battle ahead is almost over. It''s enough to have a company to accompany me. You''d better go back and have a rest. Come to my headquarters after dawn tomorrow. I have something else to tell you. "


    After all, the German army was the most obedient force. They raised their hands to pay homage to me and akhromeyev, then turned around and walked back the same way.


    On the way to a regiment position, akhromeyev asked me, "Comrade division commander, I don''t understand why there are Germans in our division. What are their origins?"


    I thought that there were a lot of soldiers behind me. Some words were not suitable for this occasion, so I could only say in general: "some of the German officers and soldiers who surrendered to us. At present, I have organized them in the guard camp."


    "Is it reliable?" Asked akhromeyev cautiously, it seems that all the people are wary of them.


    I said slowly, "don''t worry, comrade captain. A few days ago, the garrison of 107.5 highland on the left side of the mamayev post withdrew without permission from the higher authorities. As a result, the position was occupied by the German army. At that time, the third and fourth regiments were passing by. Hearing the news that the German army had occupied our army, they took the initiative to attack this highland. As the terrain on the south slope was unfavourable to us, several attacks launched by the third regiment and the fourth regiment ended in failure, and even the third regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosja, was injured. Later, I sent five commanders, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg and captain Grimes'' troops, posing as German reinforcements, to swagger from the north side of the highland to the top of the slope, and then decisively opened fire, destroying all the enemies who occupied the position. "


    "They fired at their own people?" Asked akhromeyev, a little unsure.


    "Yes, they opened fire and killed every German in the field."


    When I said this, akhromeyev felt more and more incomprehensible: "no, sir. I believe that the Germans surrendered to us; But when it comes to the fact that the Germans who have joined us shoot at their former comrades in arms, I think it is impossible. After all, their education makes it impossible for them to point their guns at their comrades in arms, even their former comrades. "


    When I heard akhromeyev say that, I just shrugged my shoulders and did not continue to discuss this issue with him. As a matter of fact, only the parties concerned can know whether the surrendered German troops ever fired at their former comrades. Anyway, I know from a TV series made by later generations of German that among the five Soviet troops sent to the German occupied areas to perform special tasks, except one Soviet and one polish, the remaining three were all former German officers and soldiers. They were not merciful to their colleagues when they were performing tasks.


    In order not to continue to entangle this topic, I turned to ask akhromeyev, "Comrade captain, what is the origin of the instructor oberstein who came with you?"


    Akhromeyev didn''t expect that my thinking was jumping so fast. After several steps forward, he took my train of thought and quickly said, "Mr. reporter, comrade oberstein was personally arranged by the senior general before we set out. I asked him afterwards that he used to work as a company instructor in a company of the 19th infantry division of the guards. He was injured in the battle of sinavino and went to a military hospital. Soon after he was discharged, he joined us in Stalingrad. "


    "The 19th infantry division." I recited the familiar name with a smile on my face. "I remember that in the battle of sinavino, this army captured the station heavily guarded by the German army. Comrade oberstein comes from a heroic army. It seems that he is quite a man. " At this point, my heart suddenly felt a lot more secure, and I felt a little worried. A political worker who had been injured in the battle must have his excellent ability, so he was selected by meletskov to serve as a instructor in the training team of the second lieutenant.


    By the time we got to a regiment, the gunfire had completely died down. I stood in the hillside position, watching the troops who had just finished cleaning the battlefield, holding torches, walking up the hillside. With the help of the torch lighting, I can see the two people who are talking and laughing at the front, one is chejerikov, and the other is oberstein.


    Seeing that they were not far away from me, but didn''t find my arrival, I said hello to them in a loud voice: "Lieutenant Colonel xijerikov and commissar oberstein, welcome back in triumph!"


    When they heard my voice, they found me standing in the trench with akhromeyev and basmanov. They quickly ran a few steps and came to me. They raised their hands to salute me. Xie jerikov was surprised and asked, "Hello, sir, how did you get to the front?"


    Instead of answering his question, I said to myself, "you two come to the trench first, stand at such a high position, talk to you, and lean your neck. Are you tired?"


    Hearing my instructions, they didn''t dare to neglect. They jumped into the trench and stood straight in front of me, waiting for my instructions. I looked up and down at them in the light of the torch, and saw that although their faces were all black with smoke, they were happy, which proved that they had just won the battle. So I asked curiously, "Comrade shijerikov, where are the Germans who came to attack the positions?"


    "We killed them all." As soon as xiejerikov finished his sentence, he found that his expression did not seem to be very accurate. He quickly added: "to be exact, it was political commissar oberstein who led the troops to kill them all."


    "How are the casualties of our troops?" In any case, the German troops who came to sneak attack have been destroyed. Before I ask about the achievements of our army, I first ask about the casualties of our army.


    "Report to division commander," oberstein stepped forward and reported to me, "our army killed 7 people and injured 15. 47 German soldiers were killed and 2 pistols, 7 submachine guns and 38 rifles were seized. "


    When I heard that the ratio of casualties between the enemy and ourselves was so great, and many of them were captured, I was immediately overjoyed. I couldn''t help but ask curiously, "it''s incredible that we paid such a small amount of casualties after destroying so many enemies. Tell me, how did you do it? "


    Oberstein touched zejerikov with his arm and winked at him, meaning that he would report it. Seeing that his political commissar had such an attitude, he did not refuse, so he told me the whole story of the battle: "as soon as the German who came to attack us solved the position halfway up the mountain, he was found by the sentry on duty. He shot decisively as a warning. At that time, the political commissar and a class of security soldiers were patrolling nearby. When they heard the gunfire, they also found the German approaching our position and ordered the security class to open fire.


    At that time, I was studying the map in the regiment headquarters. After hearing the gunshots and the explosion of grenades, I guessed that it might be the Germans who came to sneak attack. I contacted the leading company by telephone in time, and ordered the company leader to send a platoon to stop the sneak attack in the front. The remaining two platoons sneaked out quietly and beat them hard from west to East.


    The Germans didn''t expect that they would be attacked back and forth as soon as we found out. After a while, they hastily retreated. When comrades of the political commissar saw that the enemy was about to flee, they led the troops in their positions to follow them.


    As soon as the fleeing enemy fled to the foot of the mountain, he was stopped by the platoon I deployed at the foot of the mountain and was caught off guard. At this time, the troops led by the political commissar also rushed down from the hillside position and surrounded all the enemies. By the time I got there with the guard company, the battle was almost over. Because the political commissars fought so hard, the rest of the Germans were killed before they could even raise their hands to surrender. "


    "Well done, comrade oberstein." After listening to the report of Xie jerikov, I gave oberstein a thumbs up, and at the same time, I sincerely praised him: "well done, really good job!"


    Oberstein grinned shyly and said to me, "Mr. division, I thank you for assigning me to a regiment as its political commissar. As far as I know, the first regiment is the most effective force in the whole independent division, and the commander of the regiment, Lt. Col. chejerikov, is a commander with outstanding achievements. I am very excited that I can be assigned to such a heroic regiment to serve as political commissar. When I came here, I secretly decided to learn from this brave commander in battle. "


    "Comrade political commissar, look what you said." Thanks to oberstein''s praise, xiejerikov became embarrassed. He said to me, "don''t you know, sir? As soon as oberstein''s political commissar arrived in the regiment, he offered me how to do political and ideological work. He said that in addition to fighting, we should encourage our commanders and fighters to fight. At ordinary times, especially in the evening, soldiers are more willing to open their hearts, so the political commissar can seize this opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with them and go into their soul. " At this point, he turned his head to look back, and then said: "come on, take the small suitcase of the Commissar."


    With his order, a soldier soon came to us with a small suitcase. Xiejerikov opened the lid of the suitcase, pointed to the inside and said to me, "Sir, in addition to the pamphlets and books for publicity, there are also some fish products such as checkers and dominoes in the suitcase. The political commissar said that the purpose of his heart to heart talk and entertainment with the soldiers is to let the soldiers no longer be driven by fear in battle, but to let them understand that they should overcome pain with their own political consciousness. "


    Although I don''t understand what xiejerikov said, I also know in my heart that sending oberstein to a regiment as political commissar is the most correct thing I have done. At least with the participation of these political workers, the combat effectiveness of the army will be improved to varying degrees.


    Thinking of this, I stepped forward two steps, raised my hands, patted oberstein''s upper arm gently, and said in a friendly way, "good job, comrade oberstein. I believe that with you and several other political workers in the first regiment, the overall combat effectiveness of the army will go up to a new level. "


    Hearing my praise, oberstein straightened his chest and replied flatly: "willing to serve the Soviet motherland!"


    Thinking that there are only a few political workers in the regiment, if one-on-one private talks with the soldiers are really to be carried out, it is estimated that they will not have any rest time, so I then asked with concern, "Comrade oberstein, do you have enough hands?"


    Oberstein shook his head and said slowly, "Mr. reporter, if you want to have a good one-on-one heart to heart talk with the soldiers, you must at least make sure that each company has three political workers. But now, as you know, there are only four political workers in the whole regiment, including me, which is far from enough. "


    His words made me difficult. Before, I was not interested in political workers. I was afraid that someone would force me a few, so when I could shirk, I would shirk without hesitation. I didn''t expect that my mind had changed. When I was going to find more political workers to supplement the army, I found that I couldn''t transfer enough people from other places. After walking back and forth in the trench with my hands behind my back, I finally came up with a compromise. Then I said to chejerikov and oberstein, "I can supply you with soldiers and weapons, but I really can''t supply you with political workers. Therefore, the only way now is for you to select suitable personnel from the regiment for relevant training, so that they can become qualified political workers as soon as possible in a short period of time. " Listen to me, oberstein''s face showed a happy expression, quickly and loudly agreed: "I understand, sir, I will start to deal with this matter tomorrow." Seeing that xiejerikov didn''t speak, I thought he didn''t want to. After all, he came out of the punishment camp and had a natural resistance to the political workers, just like me. So he immediately told him, "Comrade commander, I order you to accompany the political commissar to each company tomorrow to select the staff. Do you understand?" Unexpectedly, xiejerikov readily agreed: "yes, sir, I promise to complete the task."

 Chapter 620

    The night attack of the German army aroused my vigilance. Before I left, I repeatedly told xiejerikov to prepare for war to fight against the crazy attack launched by the German army after dawn.


    When I heard that shijerikov and oberstein promised to strengthen their defense and make sure there were no mistakes, I nodded and was about to leave. After two steps, I stopped and turned to shijerikov and said, "I said, commander, there is a position of anti-aircraft machine gun company on your south slope. They suffered a lot of casualties in the fight with enemy planes in the daytime, Now there are only two AA machine guns left. Tomorrow you send someone to carry the machine gun to the trench. When the German forces attack, they will use anti-aircraft machine guns to shoot their infantry


    "Anti aircraft machine gun flat fire against infantry?" Shijerikov was confused by my sudden formulation. He asked incredulously, "is this suitable, sir? You know, I haven''t taught this kind of play in the military academy''s tutorial. "


    "Although the military academy has not taught in the past, as long as we play here once, it will become a compulsory course in the military academy in the future." With that, I turned to go, and whispered, "what a dead brain."


    From dawn on, kirilov and akhromeyev and I were standing outside the headquarters, quietly waiting for the coming air raid or shelling. I didn''t expect that we stood outside for an hour or two, but there was still no movement at the front. Seeing that the German army had not moved for a long time, I was a little upset. I went to the communication room and asked razumeyeva to contact xiejerikov to ask if there was any sign of German movement.


    After talking to the signalman of the first regiment, razumeyeva stood by and answered me respectfully: "report to Mr. division, I just asked. They said that the frontier was calm and there was no sign of German."


    Hearing what razumeyeva said, kirilov came up to me and said thoughtfully, "Comrade oshanina, are you too nervous. Although the German army made a sneak attack on our position last night, it does not mean that they will attack our position today? "


    "Comrade political commissar, you should know that the position of mamayev post is very important. You can overlook the whole city of Stalingrad and Volga river here. Once you control it, you can control a big rhetorical question, including the transportation line of Volga River, which is the lifeblood of Stalingrad. We can''t take it lightly."


    Although what I said seemed to teach him a lesson, kirilov nodded his head indifferently and said with approval, "Comrade oshanina, you are right. It''s not a bad thing to be vigilant." At this point, he stopped, frowned, thought about it, and then said, "if the German army has not attacked by ten o''clock, I suggest that several commanders and political commissars be called to the division headquarters for a meeting to study how to strengthen the political and ideological work of the independent division."


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It''s already half past eight. If the German army doesn''t attack in another hour and a half, it will prove that they won''t come today. It''s also very necessary to call together the political commissars of several leaders for a meeting. Thinking of this, I nodded and agreed: "well, comrade political commissar, do as you say." Before turning back to the headquarters, I specially told razumeyeva, "Lieutenant, at ten o''clock, if the German army does not launch an attack, you will inform the leaders of the five regiments to come to my division headquarters for a meeting."


    Time went by while waiting. It was still quiet outside. There was no sign that the German Army wanted to attack. At this time, I can''t help but ask kirilov strangely: "Comrade political commissar, tell me, last night the German army sent small troops to attack us, but in the daytime there was no movement. What''s the matter?"


    Kirilov tapped his fingers on the table and frowned. When I asked, he shook his head slowly and said, "Comrade oshanina, what is the intention of the German army? I really can''t guess." Then he turned and asked akhromeyev, who was sitting beside him, "Comrade chief of staff, what do you think?"


    Although akhromeyev was the chief of staff of the division, he obviously did not adapt to his identity. After hearing kirilov''s question, he immediately stood up like a low-level commander and replied straightly: "report to the division commander and political commissar, I think the German army''s sneak attack last night was just a trial. Seeing that none of the troops who came to sneak attack were able to go back, maybe they guessed that our position was well defended, so they didn''t send troops to attack today. "


    "You mean that the Germans will not attack our highlands today?" Kirilov asked in an uncertain tone after listening.


    "Yes, comrade political commissar, I think so."


    "Tell me your reason!"


    "I think that the reason why the German army did not launch an attack on mamayev post was that their main force was firmly held down by the three army groups led by general Zhukov. Through last night''s exploration, they may find that they can''t capture our position with their current strength, so they continue to take the defensive position against me today, and intend to launch an attack on our highlands after the main force withdraws from the fighting area. "


    After listening to akhromeyev''s words, kirilov did not express his opinion. Instead, he turned his eyes to me and threw the question back to me: "how about you, comrade teacher. What''s your opinion? "


    "I agree with the chief of staff." Akhromeyev''s idea coincided with mine, so I supported him without hesitation, adding: "I also think the Germans are building up their strength. When they attack us, it will be a thunderbolt."


    "No matter how many troops they muster, it''s useless. In front of our Red Army commanders and soldiers armed with great Stalin thought, they will be crushed and bloodied until they are all buried under Stalingrad city." Kirilov said confidently.


    Kirilov''s words made me look sad. I didn''t expect that my casual words would become a routine used by political workers in analyzing the situation.


    Seeing my smile, kirilov couldn''t help but ask in surprise, "what are you laughing at, sir? Is there something wrong with me?"


    I waved my hand and explained to him, "Comrade political commissar, what you said is very reasonable. The reason why I laugh is that the phrase "the Red Army armed with Stalin''s ideas" was said in my defense of Moscow during the war. Now I am very pleased to find that many political workers use this sentence in their political and ideological work. "


    At the end of my speech, kirilov''s face showed an expression of surprise. He took the initiative to extend his hand to me and said in a friendly way: "Comrade teacher, I didn''t expect that. It turned out that you were the first to say this sentence. I just heard people say this sentence. It was first said by a group chief of staff of the Western army. Is that you? "


    I shook kirilov''s hand politely and answered, "yes, comrade political commissar, I came to him during the Moscow defense and asked curiously," Comrade Godunov, long time no see. I didn''t expect you to be promoted to captain. "


    Godunov turned to look at Gaidar beside him, then stood up and said with embarrassment, "report to division commander, I was promoted to captain by lieutenant commander Gaidar after recovering 107.5 Highlands, and was appointed commander of the first battalion of the third regiment by him at the same time."


    Gaidar is in the rank of lieutenant colonel. He has the right to promote his subordinates to the rank below the school level. Moreover, according to my understanding of Godunov, it is very appropriate to promote him to the rank of captain. So after nodding, I asked, "are you here today on behalf of the third delegation?"


    "Yes, sir." Without waiting for Godunov to speak, Gaidar stood up beside him and said, "according to my understanding of Captain Godunov, he is a commander with fighting spirit. I suggest that he act as the head of the third regiment for the time being." With that, he would stare at me nervously, waiting for my statement.


    I shrugged my shoulders and said indifferently, "as you know, Captain Pugachev is the acting head of the second regiment. His performance during this period proves that he is completely suitable for this position. Since you recommend captain Godunov as the acting head of the third regiment, I think it should also be the best choice. "


    At this point, my eyes swept over several commanders in the room one by one. In addition to Gaidar and Godunov, a group leader, Lieutenant Colonel xijerikov, and political commissar oberstein came; Captain Pugachev, acting head of the second regiment, arrived; Commander Oleg and political commissar verol also came.


    "All of you are here, sir. Let''s have a meeting." Akhromeyev asked me in a low voice.


    I waved my hand and yelled out, "Captain busmanov, come in."


    With my shouts, the guard battalion commander trotted into the headquarters, quickly raised his hand to salute, and asked me, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"


    "Go and get captain Morozov, the artillery battalion commander."


    "Yes." Basmanov agreed, turned and ran out of the headquarters.


    "Comrade division commander, aren''t all the regiment leaders here? Why call the artillery battalion commander?" Asked akhromeyev, puzzled.


    "All the regiments have added political workers and company commanders, but there is no political worker in Morozov''s artillery battalion. That''s why I asked him to come to the meeting."


    Just a few minutes later, Morozov, led by basmanov, walked into the headquarters. After he met me at the door, he raised his hand and said, "report to Mr. division commander, captain of artillery battalion of the independent division, Mr. Morozov, who has been ordered to come and wait for your order."


    "Sit down, comrade captain." After he sat down, I would like to announce to the commanders here: "to call you together today is to tell you that the focus of your work in the near future is not only to command the troops to dig fortifications and strengthen their training, but also to effectively carry out political and ideological work."


    As soon as my words came out, several of my former subordinates looked at me with surprised eyes, but out of respect for me, they did not express any objection, but quietly waited for my reply.


    To tell you the truth, I am more familiar with war than with how to carry out political and ideological work, so I am ready to give kirilov the right to speak. So I said, "next, please give us a speech." After gesturing to kirilov, I sat down.


    Kirilov stood up and said to everyone, "comrades, I think you all know the order No. 227 issued by the supreme command. In order to prevent deserters from appearing on the battlefield, the Ministry of interior even set up a supervision team equipped with machine guns. But I know that in addition to the overseers, the ubiquitous political work plays a key role in ensuring the morale of the troops. To achieve this, we need to allocate political workers to each company and continue to publicize to the soldiers day and night, so as to dispel their fear in the battle. Let the soldiers no longer be driven by fear, but let them understand that they should overcome the pain with their own political consciousness.


    Our political workers, through their political agitation for the soldiers, firmly believe that they are more politically and morally aware than the Germans. Only those who believe that they are dedicated to a higher goal can win the final victory. As we all know, most of the soldiers in our division are prisoners from the Gulag concentration camp. For them, we should not talk about patriotism, lofty ideals and other topics. What drives them to survive on the battlefield and fight to death against the dominant German army should be more a kind of primitive emotion - hatred. " Originally, when I listened to kirilov''s speech, I was absent-minded, but when I heard his last sentence, I immediately raised my interest. I sat upright, looked up at him, and waited for him to say the following words. I didn''t expect kirilov to stop and look at me after he had said this. He asked cautiously, "Comrade teacher, shall I go on?" It seems that I don''t like the reputation of political workers, which is really big enough. Even my political commissar has scruples when it comes to this aspect. He immediately encouraged him to say, "please go on, comrade political commissar. I''ll listen carefully here."

 Chapter 621

    After receiving my encouragement, kirilov went on to say, "as we all know, many of our soldiers have studied in Germany or dealt with the Germans before the outbreak of the war. In their minds, they regard Germany as a country of culture, and even admire the unique and novel engineering technology of the latter, We don''t realize that our two countries are ideological enemies. Under such circumstances, it is not realistic for our political workers to use ordinary political and ideological work to arouse their inner hatred towards the Germans. "


    When kirilov said this, all the people in the headquarters were attracted by him. They were staring at him, waiting for his final answer.


    "Our political workers should collect more information about the cruelty of the German army and the heinous crimes committed in our territory, and use their perverse actions to tell the commanders and fighters how the enemy burned, killed and plundered our land, so that the commanders and fighters of the independent division can understand the nature of the German Army and ignite the anger buried in everyone''s heart."


    "Comrade political commissar, can you elaborate a little more?" Verol, the political commissar of the fifth regiment, who seldom spoke in public, broke the silence in the room for the first time and asked kirilov.


    When verol spoke, I glanced at every commander on the scene with some guilty heart. When I saw that their attention was focused on kirilov, I was secretly relieved.


    Kirilov nodded and went on: "Comrade verol, please be calm. I''ll talk about that later. Shortly after I entered the army from the local area, I heard a colonel say that after his troops recaptured a small city from the hands of the German army, they saw that the residents who did not have time to withdraw were poisoned by the German army. Seeing young women and children hanged on the tree trunks of the park, the impact on them is too big. In the next battle, the officers and men who were ignited by hatred showed extraordinary tenacity, and they did not waver even in the face of enemies several times more than themselves. " At this point, he stopped, took a cup of water from the teapot on the table, and then said excitedly: "the Colonel also said that he was deeply impressed by a German stronghold where they found the body of a captured soldier. The nail and skin of his right hand were stripped or torn off, his eyes were dug out, and the leg bones of his legs were completely broken, We can imagine how cruelly our soldiers were tortured by the Germans before they died. "


    When I heard this, I felt a sharp pain as if I had been grabbed by some monster. His words reminded me of the broken body of Zhuoya, which was destroyed by the German. At this moment, I gritted my teeth to think that if I had to choose again, I would not hesitate to order all the Germans of the 332nd regiment to be killed, and all the remaining ones would be killed.


    "Animals, they are a group of animals!" When everyone kept silent because of anger, verol said angrily, "these German devils are not human. We will kill them all."


    When kirilov saw that his words had achieved the expected goal, he lost no time to add: "political commissar verol, you are right. We must not show mercy to these enemies. All our political workers should constantly tell our soldiers about this kind of perverse behavior of the German invaders, arouse their instinctive hatred, and make each of them extremely eager to kill as many German soldiers as possible. The frenzy of revenge can cover the fear of death of the commanders and fighters, so that even if there is no inspector of the Ministry of interior to add machine guns to our rear, there will be no fleeing soldiers At this point, he turned to look at me and said with admiration, "our teachers have done quite well in this point!"


    "I did a good job?" I pointed to my nose and asked, "Comrade political commissar, I don''t understand what you mean."


    Kirilov laughed and did not answer me immediately. Instead, he glanced at the commander in the room. Seeing that all the people were confused like me, kirilov said calmly: "last month, the 64th group army once carried out a large-scale counterattack against the aggressive German troops, and no one else was in charge of this fight, It''s our division commander, Colonel o''shanina As everyone looked at me curiously, he continued, "during the assembly of troops at night, the scouts found hundreds of civilian bodies killed by the Germans. After learning the news, Colonel oshanina immediately sent for Col. lyudnikov of the 138th division and Col. kuropachenko of the 157 division nearby, and asked them to send a group of soldiers to the scene to watch the crimes committed by the German army. After giving an inspiring speech to them, he asked them to bury the common people who died under the invaders'' butcher''s knife.


    To tell you the truth, later lyudnikov told me privately that he was worried that Comrade oshanina''s action would affect the morale of the army. But in the next day''s battle, the commanders and fighters, who were full of hatred for the German invaders, gave full play to their super combat effectiveness. They not only annihilated a division of the Romanian army, but also won the glorious title of the 70th division of the guards. "


    Because of kirilov''s promotion to me, every commander who stares at me has an expression of awe on his face. I stood up and planned to speak to the commanders. Without waiting for me to speak, there was an unexpected rumble of guns outside the cave.


    With the sound of the guns, there were shouts from outside: "battle alert, battle alert, enter the position! Battle alert, battle alert... "


    "What''s going on?" Kirilov and I looked at each other suspiciously, frowned and asked, "what''s the matter with the gunfire outside?"


    When I didn''t know how to answer, basmanov, the commander of the guard battalion, rushed in shouting: "Comrade division commander, battle alert, battle alert!" After seeing kirilov and I, we immediately stood at attention, and we didn''t even have time to respect the military salute, so we reported in a panic: "report to the division commander, political commissar, battle alarm, the Germans started shelling a regiment of positions."


    "Go out and have a look." After hearing basmanov''s report, I pushed the map in front of me and ran out of the headquarters quickly. Kirilov, akhromeyev and several commanders also ran out.


    Outside the headquarters stood a large group of soldiers. Some of them were from the guard camp, and some were from the guard class brought by the political commissars who came to the meeting. In order to prevent the target from being too big and attracting German artillery fire, I asked them to stand by and take kirilov, akhromeyev and several commanders to check the situation.


    A group of us stood not far from the headquarters, looking through binoculars at a regiment of positions being shelled by the German army. The dense shells fell on the position and exploded. The rising fire and smoke were like a line of giants holding hands. With neat steps, they stepped quickly from the foot of the hillside to the top of the hillside.


    I looked at the hill covered by dense artillery, almost frantic. How many artillery regiments did the German army use to create such a spectacular artillery effect. Feeling the shaking ground under my feet, I can''t help but worry about a regiment of commanders and fighters on the high ground. After such a heavy shelling, I don''t know how many people who stick to the hillside and peak positions can survive. Even if they hide in the artillery hole on the position and are not killed by the artillery bomb, they will be killed by the earthquake.


    The air wave of explosion came like a typhoon, which made me feel a little unstable. I leaned slightly over and yelled at my back, "Lieutenant Colonel chejerikov, come to me."


    On hearing my call, shijerikov rushed in front of me and cried out in the same loud voice, "what instructions do you have, sir?"


    I raised my hand, pressed my ears with my palm, which were hurt by the huge explosion, and yelled at them as loud as I could: "Comrade commander, you and political commissar oberstein go back to the high ground immediately. After the shelling, the Germans will certainly attack our positions. You should try to stop them and never let them attack. Do you understand? "


    "I see." After shejerikov agreed, the political commissar of oberstein, who was standing behind, waved and took their guard team to run along the hillside to the position of a regiment.


    "Comrades, there is no danger for them to rush back at this time, isn''t there?" Looking back at their departure, political commissar kirilov asked with a worried face.


    "No, comrade political commissar." I pointed to the highland in front of me and said, "although the whole north slope was covered by the enemy''s artillery fire, few shells fell down on the south slope. Commander chejerikov''s command post is located on the south slope. There should be no danger. " Just then, a German shell whistled over the top of the highland and landed near them.


    With the explosion of the shell, people who saw this scene could not help saying "ah" with one voice, and then nervously staring at the explosion point to see if they were safe.


    After the smoke dispersed, the soldiers of xiejerikov, oberstein and their guard team got up one after another. It turned out that they had all fallen down before the shells landed.


    Seeing that they were safe and sound, I was also relieved. I waved to everyone and said in a loud voice, "it''s not safe here. Let''s go back to the headquarters."


    As soon as I entered the headquarters, the explosion was much lower, and I didn''t have to yell at you at the top of my voice. After glancing at some commanders, I said to them with a straight face: "comrades commanders, judging from the artillery density of the German army, if the German army does not win our Highlands, they will never give up. You''ll go back to your respective teams and get ready for all the fighting. "


    "Yes Several chief political commissars promised to turn around and go out.


    "Captain Morozov, you stay." Seeing that the new artillery battalion commander was going to follow everyone out, I quickly stopped him because I had something else to tell him.


    Morozov quickly stopped, turned to look at me, and asked nervously, "Comrade teacher, do you have any orders?"


    "When you go back, take the time to draw a map of mamayev post, and mark the detailed shooting data on the map. It''s in triplicate. After the drawing is finished, I''ll keep one copy here, you''ll keep one, and I''ll give the rest to the artillery commander of the group army. "


    "Why give it to the artillery commander of the group army?" Perhaps confused by what I said, Morozov asked me without thinking.


    I can see that several leaders and political commissars who should have left the headquarters have slowed down and are moving out little by little. Obviously, they want to find out the purpose of the map just like Morozov.


    "Comrade captain, we must prepare for the worst. If our commanders and fighters can''t stop the enemy and are driven away from here, the artillery can use this accurate map to carry out accurate artillery attack on the enemy on the high ground. " Speaking of this, I saw that the political commissars of those regiments were still moving slowly. They could not help but roar at them, "are you all suffering from arthritis? I haven''t walked out of my headquarters for so long. "


    The political commissars, who wanted to find out the grapevine, saw that I was angry, dispersed in a hurry and walked out of the headquarters quickly.


    After listening to my explanation, Morozov raised his hand to salute me and said solemnly, "please rest assured, sir. I will finish the map drawing as soon as possible." Then he turned and walked away.


    When there were only me, kirilov and akhromeyev left in the room, akhromeyev said with emotion: "teacher, political commissar, I think we have a tough opponent."


    I looked at akhromeyev curiously and just wanted to ask him why he said that. Kirilov had already preempted and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, why do you say that?"


    Although akhromeyev is now the chief of staff of the division, he still shows due respect to kirilov, the political commissar. He first made a gesture to ask the political commissar to sit down, and then he said to us, "last night, after we eliminated the German small troops that sneaked into our army, we judged that the German army would attack our position, so it was not dawn, Our troops at the front are in combat readiness. The German commander was very cunning. He might have guessed that we were ready. If we attacked at dawn, we would have to pay a huge price. So all the morning, they have been waiting patiently for our troops to relax their vigilance and give us another thunderbolt. "


    "The chief of staff is right in his analysis." Although kirilov is deficient in military command, his advantage is that he does not command blindly. After listening to akhromeyev''s analysis, he turned to me and said, "Comrade division commander, your judgment is correct. The German attack last night is the prelude to today''s attack. But what we didn''t expect was that the German commander was so cunning and calm that he could wait until we relaxed our vigilance before launching an attack. In this way, they can reduce unnecessary casualties in the battle to capture the highlands. "


    When kirilov spoke, I thought to myself: the German army suddenly launched a fierce artillery attack on our division''s defense area, and it was a large-scale artillery attack. This can only show one point, that is, the counterattack of the three army groups under Zhukov''s command ended in failure, so that the German army can deploy troops and heavy weapons to attack our highlands.


    Thinking of this, I didn''t care kirilov, who was still talking, but yelled at the outside: "Captain basmanov, Captain basmanov."


    Hearing my call, basmanov trotted in, looked at me with puzzled eyes, and politely asked, "Sir, what instructions do you have?"


    I told him in a nutshell, "go and tell lieutenant razumeyeva to bring some soldiers and bring me a telephone and some telephones."


    A few minutes later, the telephone was placed in our headquarters, and even on the table where the map was placed. When the messenger was still on the telephone line, I couldn''t wait to ask razumeyeva, "Comrade lieutenant, can you contact the headquarters of the group army?"


    After hearing this, razumeyeva nodded and replied, "yes, sir."


    Hearing that I was going to talk to the group army command, kirilov asked curiously in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, what are you doing to contact the group army command at this time?"


    I also answered him in a low voice: "Comrade political commissar, I think there is only one possibility that the German army suddenly launched such a fierce artillery attack on our Highlands, that is, the troops under the command of general Zhukov were defeated by the Germans."


    "No way!" Kirilov said in disbelief: "you know, Comrade General is commanding three army groups with more than 100000 people. How can we say that we are defeated if we are defeated?"


    "Lieutenant razumeyeva, contact the group command immediately and say I want to contact commander trakov or chief of staff krailov." After giving orders to the second lieutenant, I leaned down again, approached kirilov and said in a low voice, "Comrade commissar, nothing is impossible. If our counterattack forces had not been defeated, how could the German army have concentrated such powerful artillery to bombard our positions. "


    While kirilov was still trying to digest what I said, razumeyeva had already contacted the headquarters of the group army. Today, I was lucky. It was trakov himself who spoke to me.


    Hearing my voice, trakov asked sternly, "what''s the situation there, o''shanina? I heard the gunfire coming from the direction of mamayev post. It seems that the scale of the enemy''s attack will not be small. You should be prepared for a hard fight. "


    "Report to the commander that our division is well prepared and ready to attack the enemy head-on." Although I know that the next is a fierce battle, but in front of the superior commander, I still want to maintain full confidence.


    "Very well, Colonel o''shanina, I''m relieved to hear that. Anything else? If not, I''ll hang up. "


    "Just a moment, comrade commander." I was afraid that he would hang up immediately, so I quickly sped up and asked, "I want to ask you what happened to the three army groups fighting back in the northwest of the city? Have they repulsed the enemy in front of them? " Although I know that Zhukov''s counterattack has failed, I am still taking a chance before getting confirmation from the superior commander.


    Trekov was silent for a moment, sighed and said, "Captain oshanina, it''s not good. The three army groups under the command of general Zhukov have now fallen into the encirclement of the German army. At present, they are making a breakthrough in the direction of the city. To make matters worse, a German army broke through our group army''s defensive zone from the southwest, rushed into the city, and was attacking in the direction of the central railway station. Now Comrade gurov, the military commissar, has gone to the front and is commanding the 35th and 70th divisions of the guards to fight back against the German forces in the city. "


    Hearing that Zhukov''s troops were surrounded, my heart sank and my breathing became rapid. If this counterattack unit is completely annihilated by the German army, it will cause a major blow to the taxi air of the garrison in the city. After a while, I bit my lip and asked, "Comrade commander, do you think general Zhukov''s troops can return to the city?"


    "It''s hard to say." Because he had a good personal relationship with me, trikov didn''t intend to hide this from me. He said frankly, "it''s up to you now. If your division plays well and holds back a large number of German troops, then those besieged troops will have the possibility to stand out."


    "Listen to the commander and rest assured that as long as there is a soldier in the independent division, we will never let the Germans pass through the mamayev post. We will use our own flesh and blood to make a gate that the Germans can''t cross. "


    After I put down the earphone and the transmitter, kirilov and akhromeyev came together and asked with concern, "what do you say, comrade division commander?"


    I took a deep breath, tried to squeeze a smile on my face, and said to them, "political commissar and chief of staff, the situation is very serious. After the defeat of the counterattack, the three army groups under the command of general Zhukov were surrounded by the German army. At present, the enemy is continuing to attack Stalingrad with superior forces, but the enemy''s goal of encircling and destroying our army has not been achieved, and our troops are retreating along the offensive line. "


    I was afraid that the breakout would affect their mood, so I euphemistically said to retreat along the jingnajuan route. Unexpectedly, kirilov complained: "what attack route did they follow? They are running away. They have handed over our land and people. Do the commanders still think that this is a high degree of fighting art? "


    I didn''t answer kirilov''s complaint. After all, his identity is different from mine. I can''t say what he can say easily. I quickly cut off the topic and asked razumeyeva, who was directing the busy work of his staff: "Comrade lieutenant, can you contact Comrade xiejerikov?"


    Razumeyeva quickly stood up straight and replied to me: "report to the teacher, the telephone line has not been laid. It is estimated that it will take five to ten minutes to get through."


    "Comrade lieutenant, hurry up." Although razumeyeva is a subordinate I admire very much, I still said to her in a very stern tone at the moment: "if you can''t get in touch with lieutenant colonel xiejerikov in five minutes, you don''t even have to work as a company commander."


    Kirilov first saw me being so strict with razumeyeva, and kindly reminded me: "Comrade oshanina, does the regiment still have a telephone? Even if there is no telephone line, we can still contact them. "


    "Report to the political commissar," said razumeyeva, hearing kirilov saying good things for herself, and explaining to him in a hurry, "the outdoor antenna of a group of telephone sets was broken by the bomb in yesterday''s bombing, so we can''t get in touch for the time being."


    Kirilov listened to what razumeyeva said, but only sighed helplessly, sat down obediently, and waited patiently for the signalmen to lay the telephone line with me.


    My threat to razumeyeva had a certain effect. The signalmen successfully completed the laying of telephone lines within the prescribed time and connected to the regiment command post of the first regiment.


    As soon as I heard sjerikov''s voice coming from the earphone, I asked straightforwardly, "Comrade commander, tell me quickly, what''s the situation over there?"


    "Comrade teacher." "It''s bad," he yelled at the other end of the phone. When I returned to the headquarters, I couldn''t get in touch with the front line, so I sent messengers to enter the position along the trench, and found that one of our companies deployed in the hillside position had all died under the enemy''s artillery fire. Even the one on the top of the mountain suffered more than half of the casualties. After the shelling started, the survivors decisively jumped out of the trench and rolled down the south slope to recover their lives. "


    "What, one company on the hillside has all died, and the one on the top of the mountain has more than half?" Hearing the bad news, I couldn''t help yelling at shejerikov: "what''s the matter? Are they all dead? When the German artillery began to fire, didn''t they know to hide in the blast hole or along the trench to the back of the hillside? "


    When I was angry with cherikov, akhromeyev whispered to kirilov: "political commissar, we haven''t seen any German. Just a round of shelling, our company is gone." Kirilov also said angrily, "what happened to this regiment? Their fortifications are very good. Why did they kill so many people under the German artillery fire?" I heard the dialogue between them, and then I asked sergeant shijerikov, "Comrade commander, I want to explain why the soldiers of these two companies were not prepared at all before the German artillery bombardment? What''s going on? " Shijerikov murmured, "Comrade teacher, it is like this. After the successful annihilation of the German troops who launched a night attack on our position last night, they were worried that there would be a sneak attack from the enemy, so they had no sleep all night. This morning, they had been waiting for the enemy to attack them head-on. Unexpectedly, after waiting for several hours, they didn''t see any sign of the German army, so they gradually relaxed their vigilance. The soldiers who had been tired all night fell asleep in the trenches. Who would have thought that the German artillery attack would come so suddenly that these soldiers would not even have time to respond, so they all died. " At the end of the speech, sjerikov''s voice choked. I sighed, just want to comfort him, then suddenly I feel outside become quiet. Then he grasped the topic, looked out of the house and said to himself, "strange, why can''t you hear the gunfire? Did the German artillery stop?" Not only kirilov and akhromeyev heard what I said, but also shejerikov heard it. He said in a loud voice, "Comrade division, you are right. The German artillery has stopped." As soon as he finished his sentence, I vaguely heard someone nearby reporting to him: "Comrade commander, the frontier observation office reported that the German ground troops have been dispatched." After listening to the report from his subordinates, he whispered a few words to the other side, and then reported to me, "Comrade division, although the German artillery has stopped, their tanks are covering the infantry and coming towards our high ground." Because the shelling had stopped, I didn''t have to yell at the microphone as loud as I did just now. Instead, I resumed my normal tone and asked him, "what measures have you taken?"¡° I sent two new companies out of the cave to quickly enter the hillside and hilltop positions and prepare to destroy the German infantry. " Shejerikov, who had just been flustered, returned to normal and answered me with confidence.

 Chapter 622

    When he heard that the German army was attacking our position, kirilov became a little restless. As soon as I put down the phone, he stood up and said to me, "Comrade division chief, you and the chief of staff stay here. I''ll go to the observation post to have a look."


    "Wait a minute, comrade political commissar." As this was the first large-scale German attack after we entered the Highlands, I couldn''t sit still in the headquarters. When I heard kirilov say so, I pushed the boat and said, "the headquarters will be handed over to chief of staff akhromeyev. I''ll go to the observation post with you."


    The observation post is located in the trench on the northwest side of the slope where the division headquarters is located. From here, you can see not only most of the positions of the regiment, but also the grassland on the north side of the highland.


    As soon as we entered the observation post, the motor roar of German tanks came from far and near. We quickly raised our binoculars and looked into the distance. On the grassland in the distance, more than twenty tanks formed a parade formation and were coming to the position of a regiment. Behind is a convoy of countless trucks. You can''t see the end at a glance. There are always one or two hundred of them. The carriage of the car was full of infantry wearing helmets, and some trucks were trailing cannons at the back of the truck, which stormed towards us.


    "Damn it, damn it!" Kirilov said to himself: "it seems that the Germans really want to seize the mamayev post at one stroke, and they actually sent out a tank battalion, two artillery battalions and nearly a regiment of infantry."


    Instead of answering kirilov, I moved the telescope to a position on the hillside. I saw three or five groups of officers and men in the trench, bending over and running back and forth. Those trenches and fortifications destroyed by intensive artillery fire are also being repaired at the moment. From time to time, shovels of soil can be seen coming out of the trenches.


    The enemy is getting closer and closer. When they are about one kilometer away from our position, the tank in front slows down. The truck stops and forms a square array. The infantry on the truck are jumping down from the car one after another and forming a line next to the truck, ready to follow behind the tank and charge our position.


    The cannons towed behind the truck were also unloaded by the artillery, and they were directly lined up in the open field in front of the truck, aiming the black muzzle at our army position.


    Although I have experienced the battle for a long time, my heart beat faster when I saw this scene. Just like before the first shot on the battlefield, even the veteran soldiers were in a short-term tense state, not to mention that the enemy put on such a big formation today after heavy shelling.


    I was worried that in the face of such a scene, Sheikh erikov, who was at the forefront, would also feel nervous. So I picked up the only phone in the observation center and gave him a call. When I heard his voice, I had regained my former calmness. I asked calmly, "commander shejerikov, are the troops in combat positions?"


    "Yes, comrade division commander, the two newly transferred companies have entered the designated combat positions." Chejerikov replied dryly, but I recognized his nervousness in his slightly altered voice.


    In order to stabilize his mood as soon as possible, I deliberately digged off the topic: "where is political commissar oberstein?"


    "The commissar took his guard team to the hillside position."


    Hearing that, I couldn''t help feeling a little anxious. I yelled at him and said, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with you? Who allowed you to let the political commissar go to such a dangerous place?"


    "Comrade division commander," said Xie jerikov, who was criticized by me wrongly, "originally, I wanted the political commissar to stay in the command post and let me go to the front to command the troops. I didn''t expect the political commissar to say that he was not familiar with the commanders and fighters below. If we need to mobilize the troops later, I would be more suitable. He also said that he would go to the front positions to publicize and encourage the soldiers, so as to improve the morale of the troops. "


    From what shejerikov said, I can tell that oberstein is a serious and stubborn man. It is obviously impossible for people to pull him down from the position at this time. The only thing I can do is to ask shejerikov to send someone to protect his safety. Thinking of this, I solemnly told xiejerikov: "Comrade commander, I order you to immediately send some Elven soldiers to the front to protect the safety of the political commissar. We should tell them to ensure the safety of political commissar oberstein even if they have sacrificed their lives. Do you understand? " When it comes to the last sentence, I specially emphasized the tone.


    "I understand. I''ll send someone to protect the Commissar."


    "The enemy''s infantry are easy to fight," I don''t worry about the black infantry. They are a group of lambs to be slaughtered under the fire of our heavy and heavy machine guns. What makes me headache is the 20 or so tanks driving ahead. So I asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, your regiment is short of anti tank weapons. What are you going to do with the German tanks that open the way for infantry?"


    "Please don''t worry, division commander," shejerikov said to me confidently, "our regiment has a platoon of anti tank infantry deployed at the foot of the mountain in the highlands. Let them deal with the German tanks."


    After listening to Xie jerikov''s words, it suddenly occurred to me that there was indeed a regiment with a platoon under the highland, which was specially used to fight German tanks. It was a miracle that they survived the artillery attack just now.


    When I put down the receiver, kirilov, who was watching the enemy, put down his telescope and gave me a friendly smile. I understand the reason why he smiles at me is that my attitude towards political workers has changed from initial exclusion and indifference to friendliness and enthusiasm.


    I also gave kirilov a polite smile, then went to the observation port, raised my telescope and looked at the battlefield. By this time, the German infantry had assembled, and they were in a scattered formation, following the tanks and slowly pushing towards our position. In front of the open circuit of the tank motor made a noise, just like an earthquake, shaking the ground under my feet is also slightly shaking.


    When the German tanks approached the foot of our mountain, two of the anti tank men who were hiding in the individual bunker climbed out of the bunker and quickly climbed towards the tanks with their hands and feet. The fastest climber on the left side, when he was about ten meters away from the oncoming tank, leaned up half of his body, supported the ground with his left elbow, raised his right hand from the waist and waved forward, an anti tank grenade flew towards the tank.


    Almost at the same time that the soldiers lay on the ground again, the sound of the front baffle of the tank raised a fire, and then the whole body of the tank was covered with smoke. The tank, which had been shot, drove forward a few more steps with inertia, and then stopped.


    The soldier on the right was not as lucky as his comrades. The grenade he threw flew past the turret of the tank and landed in the open space behind it. The air wave lifted the smashed soil high into the air and scattered it like a lady. When the soldier failed to hit the target, he might be a little worried. He didn''t care to hide. He stood up straight and was ready to throw the remaining grenades. But without waiting for him to raise his hand, he was hit by the machine gun bullets on the tank turret or those infantry bullets charging behind him. His upper body suddenly tilted back. After a few seconds, he fell down. And he didn''t blow up, and the tank ran over him.


    The soldier on the left saw that his comrades were mercilessly crushed under the track of the tank. He might be dazzled by the anger. He stood up from the ground and rushed to the tank with a grenade. After a few steps, the German bullets hit him. His body convulsed violently and limped weakly. The grenade in his hand also fell to one side.


    Seeing the sacrifice of these two anti tank men, I didn''t say anything but sighed gently. Then I looked through my telescope at the individual bunkers where the anti tank men were hidden, anxiously looking forward to their attack again.


    At this moment, kirilov patted me on the shoulder and exclaimed excitedly, "Comrade division, please look into the valley. It''s our artillery. If they come out, the German tanks will not rush to our position."


    Hearing kirilov''s cry, I looked curiously at the position of the gully with my telescope to see what could make kirilov so excited. This look, my mood also immediately relaxed a lot.


    It turned out that the officers and men of the anti tank company, who were hiding in the valley, were pushing their guns back to the hillside. On the left side of the regiment''s position, there was a slightly gentle hillside. It seemed that they wanted to build an anti tank artillery position there. I counted the cannons silently. There were only 12 cannons. It seems that Morozov sent an anti tank artillery company in order to support the troops of shejerikov. I just don''t know whether this artillery company is the second company of lieutenant kasulin or the third company of lieutenant mailehov.


    In just a few minutes when I watched the anti tank artillery company move to the front, the battle at the foot of the mountain made new progress. Two more tanks were destroyed by our soldiers, but there were more than 20 corpses lying around the burning wreckage of the tanks. We didn''t know whether it was our soldiers who died or the German tank soldiers who escaped from the tanks.


    After the German army lost four more tanks, the remaining 20 or so tanks lined up under the high ground, raised their black muzzles and bombarded our hillside positions. The fast German soldiers, carrying all kinds of weapons, rushed out of the gap between the tanks and rushed up the hillside.


    Seeing this scene, the artillery commander was in a hurry. Before pushing all the cannons onto the gentle slope, he ordered the cannons in position to directly aim at the German attack line and fire.


    The shells roared and landed in the German line. Suddenly, a few black clouds of smoke rose in the middle of the tank. A dozen hapless infantry were cut to the ground by flying shrapnel. At the same time, the light and heavy machine guns on the hillside positions also opened fire. I don''t know who''s in charge, but our firepower is focused on strafing the infantry who are bending up the hillside. In our intensive firepower, patches of German soldiers fell on the hillside.


    The German army saw that our firepower was fierce, and they didn''t go any further. The infantry came down the hill, through the gap between the tanks, and ran straight to where the truck stopped. And the tanks were puffing black smoke, slowly retreating as they fired.


    "Great, great!" Kirilov, who was beside me, cried excitedly. He also patted me on the shoulder and said aloud, "Comrade oshanina, look, we have beaten back the German attack."


    Although the first German attack was defeated by us, I am not happy at all. The fighting capacity of the Germans is not so poor, otherwise they would not defeat and encircle the three army groups under the command of Zhukov in just two days. When they were attacking, they only suffered a little setback and then retreated in a panic. There must be some conspiracy.


    Seeing kirilov''s exultation, I coldly reminded him: "Comrade political commissar, if the Germans retreat so easily, I think there must be something to hide."


    Unexpectedly, he said with disapproval: "Comrade oshanina, you are so thoughtful. The Germans first destroyed seven tanks by our anti tank men, and then were killed by our anti tank artillery company and the heavy and heavy machine gun fire on the position. They are not fools. They will not rush forward regardless of casualties. They must go back to adjust the formation for the time being and attack later... "


    Before his words were finished, there was a "whine" sound from the air, which made my hair stand upright. Although I didn''t pick up the telescope, I also guessed that it must be the two German artillery battalions shelling our position.


    "Boom boom!" There was no interval between the explosions. The shells landed one by one on the high ground and exploded continuously, lifting all the objects that could be lifted into the air. The newly silent highland was overturned again by German artillery fire, and large and small pieces of soil fell down from the air like a rainstorm, hitting heavily on a regiment of positions.


    The shells rained down, and the raging fire burst into the sky. The earth under my feet was shaking like an earthquake with magnitude 8. Large groups of pungent smoke along the hillside was blown by the river wind and poured into our observation center, which made kirilov and I cough violently. I covered my ears with both hands and opened my mouth to resist the impact of sound waves on the eardrum, so as not to be shocked and hurt again.


    "Boom! Boom! Boom Not only the high ground was heavily bombarded by German artillery, but also the left-wing anti tank artillery company position was bombarded by German tank artillery. The whole artillery position was full of fire and explosion.


    The shelling ended ten minutes later, and before the smoke of gunpowder that enveloped the Highlands had cleared away, the German troops in the distance, under the cover of tanks, launched a new round of attack.


    When I raised my telescope again and looked at our artillery position, I almost cried. The original line of twelve cannons, now only three remain intact, the rest of the cannons were blasted into scrap metal, and most of the Gunners of these cannons are lying on the side of large and small craters.


    Seeing that our artillery company was beaten so badly, I thought that when the German army attacked again, they would not be able to provide artillery cover for a regiment of defenders. Unexpectedly, as soon as the German tanks got close to the highland, the artillery company with heavy losses fired decisively. Two German tanks caught off guard were hit directly, which caused the tank shells in the tanks to explode and made some German soldiers cry and howl.


    After the German tanks stopped at the foot of the hillside again, some of them fired at the hillside positions to cover the infantry charge. The others turned their guns and fired at the positions of the artillery company, intending to destroy the guns that were a serious threat to them.


    At this time, in addition to two guns, our artillery position was still firing, while the other gun was moving into the gully under the guidance of several soldiers.


    Seeing this scene, kirilov exclaimed in surprise, "what are these Gunners doing? The Germans are clearly in front. Why do they run back? Do they want to be shameful deserters?" After shouting these words, he yelled at the door, called in a guard who was standing outside, and told him in a loud voice: "Comrade soldier, go to the artillery camp immediately to find captain Morozov, and ask him to stop this shameful act of deserting without permission."


    The soldier agreed. He just wanted to leave, but I stopped him. I told him lightly, "Comrade soldier, there''s nothing for you here. You''d better go back outside." Confused by the two different orders of kirilov and I, the soldier stood still in a daze.


    Seeing that he didn''t move, I gave him another command: "didn''t you hear my command? It''s none of your business here. Go out on duty. " The soldier who got my affirmative order saluted us and turned to go out.


    As soon as the soldiers left, I said to the emotional kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, please don''t get excited. The Gunners of that cannon are not going to be deserters, but are going to move to new positions to continue to attack the enemy."


    "Is it true, comrade oshanina?" Kirilov asked uncertainly, looking at the German infantry climbing up the hill and the cannon moving into the ditch.


    "Comrade political commissar, I promise you that in ten minutes at most, you will see this cannon firing revenge shells at the German tanks and infantry in its new position."


    Due to the fierce German artillery fire, most of the hillside positions were destroyed, and almost all the heavy weapon commanders and fighters of our army were lost. Facing the surging German infantry, we had to withdraw from the East and West wings of the highland along the trench.


    "Comrade oshanina, we should immediately organize a counterattack to drive the Germans out of our position. A counterattack should be organized immediately, and the Germans should not be allowed to occupy our positions. " Kirilov, now more and more agitated, called at me incoherently.


    And I know the good points of the defensive works built by the shejerikov regiment, so when I saw that the German army had occupied our hillside position, I didn''t feel the slightest nervous. I said to kirilov as if nothing had happened: "Comrade political commissar, please don''t worry, trust our commanders and fighters, they will soon take the position back from the German hands."


    Kirilov looked at me suspiciously and said, "Comrade oshanina, you have issued a military order to commander trakov. If you lose the highland, you will be sent to the military court for trial." I didn''t argue with him, but said faintly, "political commissar kirilov, take it easy. You will soon see how our commanders and fighters eliminated these Germans." As the German infantry occupied the hillside position, the tanks providing artillery cover at the foot of the mountain also stopped shooting at the Highlands, but turned the muzzle to continue to bombard our artillery position. Under the heavy bombardment of more than a dozen tank guns, two guns on the hillside were smashed by the company and artillery after destroying three tanks. But their sacrifice was not worthless. The artillery that had just withdrawn from the position had entered a depression and a new artillery position had been set up there. Looking at the remaining cannon, I was relieved and said in silence: next, it''s the survivors'' turn to teach these annoying German tanks a lesson.

 Chapter 623

    After the German troops occupied the hillside position, they saw that no one was firing at the position on the top of the mountain. They probably thought that after the fierce shelling, the garrison on the mountain had been destroyed by their shelling. Only a small number of troops were left to defend the hillside position, and the remaining officers and men walked boldly to the top of the mountain with weapons.


    Looking forward to the position on the top of the mountain, I didn''t panic at all, because I saw that some troops left the Tibetan cave on the south slope, entered the circling trench, and approached the hillside position carefully.


    "What''s the matter, comrade oshanina." Seeing this scene, kirilov asked in surprise, "where does the trench our troops entered lead to?"


    Without looking back, I said, "this trench leads to the hillside position. As soon as the troops on the top of the mountain open fire, the attacking troops will quickly wipe out the remaining enemies, and attack the troops on the top of the mountain back and forth, so that none of the enemies on the high ground can escape."


    With these words, I looked into the distance with my telescope, and into the position where the German trucks were parked. Although the German army sent out a regiment of infantry in order to capture the mamayev post, they did not put all their troops into the battlefield at one time, but only sent one or two companies at a time to attack our positions repeatedly.


    From the telescope, I soon saw the German commander. He was standing in the carriage of a truck, looking up at our high ground with binoculars. Behind him stood four or five officers and a signalman with communication equipment. He seemed to regard the carriage of the truck as his forward command post. After a while, he took the telescope away from his eyes, turned to the back and said something. Immediately, an officer came up to him and bent down slightly to listen to his orders.


    When the German commander raised his telescope again, the officer turned around, held his hand on the fender of the car and yelled at the bottom of the car. I couldn''t see who he was yelling at because of the heavy trucks blocking my view. But a few minutes later, there were teams of German infantry with weapons, striding to our high ground.


    I put down my telescope and said to kirilov, who was staring at the high ground: "Comrade political commissar, the Germans have increased their troops to the high ground again. It seems that they will never stop their troops until they take down the mamayev post."


    Kirilov''s attention was focused on the highlands. When he heard me say this, he just asked casually, "Comrade oshanina, how do you know that the German troops have increased to the Highlands again?"


    "Comrade political commissar, if you look to the north, you can see the German commander commanding the battle in the truck compartment."


    "German commander?" Kirilov asked in disbelief, "isn''t he worried about our snipers when he''s on the battlefield?"


    To tell you the truth, when I first saw the German commander, I had the idea of killing each other with a sniper gun. But when I looked at the distance between them, it was two kilometers. Not to mention now, even in 50 or 60 years, there would be no sniper gun with such a long range. When I heard kirilov say the same thing, I had to say with a bitter smile: "my good political commissar, you don''t see how far we are from the German truck parking place, at least two kilometers. We can''t shoot sniper guns that far, unless we use artillery."


    Kirilov listened to me and said with regret: "Alas, it''s a pity. If they were closer to us, they could kill all the German commanders in the carriage by finding two soldiers with accurate shooting skills." At this point, he suddenly stopped talking, turned to look at me, and asked excitedly, "what did you just say?"


    His words asked a little puzzling, I looked at him blankly, instinctively replied: "I said that we are too far away from the German here, can not hit so far sniper gun."


    "Not this sentence, last sentence. What''s your last sentence about?" Kirilov asked nervously.


    Kirilov''s exaggerated expression stunned me. I stood in the same place, frowning and laughing for a long time, then recalled what I had just said, and said to him: "I said, unless it''s almost the same with artillery."


    "Yes, that''s it." Kirilov hit the palm of his left hand with his right fist excitedly, then yelled at the door, "come on


    With his shouts, the soldier just now ran in again and stood up straight and asked us, "teacher, political commissar, do you have any instructions?"


    Instead of speaking, I turned my eyes to kirilov, who was beside me. I only listened to his command to the soldiers: "Comrade soldier, please go and invite captain Morozov, the artillery battalion commander, to come here immediately. I have something important to look for him."


    After receiving his order, the soldier did not leave immediately, but turned his face to me. Maybe it was because kirilov and I had different opinions not long ago, so he had to wait for me to confirm the order before he dared to leave. Seeing the soldier standing still, I understood what he was thinking, so I nodded to him and said, "since all the political commissars have given orders, then you can carry them out."


    The soldier agreed happily, turned and ran out of the observation post.


    Seeing the back of the soldiers leaving, I had guessed kirilov''s idea, so I tentatively asked: "Comrade political commissar, do you want Morozov''s artillery to bombard the German forward command post?"


    Before Morozov arrived, the German infantry from the hillside position were only 20 or 30 meters away from the position on the top of the mountain. At this time, hundreds of soldiers stood up in the empty trench and smashed their grenades into the German attack line.


    In an instant, a black smoke rose from the hillside, and the infantry who were badly blown up fled. At this time, our soldiers jumped out of the fortifications one after another, carrying machine guns, submachine guns and rifles to sweep at the enemy and beat the enemy in front of them. When the German infantry, who suffered more than half of the casualties, fled to the hillside position, the troops coming out of the cave had recovered their lost position and attacked the defeated enemy head-on.


    Although there were tanks under the hillside and cannons in the distance, the German army was afraid that firing guns would hurt their own people, so we could only watch our troops attacking from two directions at the same time to wipe out the German army attacking the Highlands bit by bit. After a short time, all the German infantry who attacked the Highlands lay on the hillside, and none of them missed the net.


    I am deeply afraid that our soldiers will take advantage of the victory and attack the German army at the foot of the mountain. In that case, our troops exposed on the hillside will be completely destroyed by the German tank artillery and howitzer fire. I was just about to call chejerikov and ask him to restrain his troops, but I didn''t expect that the troops who attacked had already retracted their Fortifications on the mountainside and on the top of the mountain.


    "It''s a good fight. It''s a good fight. That''s the way to play! " When kirilov saw this scene, he couldn''t help praising it repeatedly. However, he soon said with regret, "it''s a pity that the Germans still have tanks and artillery, otherwise we can take the opportunity to attack all the lines and wipe out all the attacking enemies."


    I first looked at the truck array in the distance, the line of howitzers in front of the truck, and the tanks at the foot of the hillside. I sighed silently in my heart and said regretfully, "if I can get the support of the air force, the truck array and artillery array on the grassland, including about 20 tanks at the foot of the mountain, are the living targets of aircraft attack."


    As soon as I spoke, the German retaliatory shelling began. Not only the distant howitzers are firing, but also the tanks at the foot of the mountain. The German artillery fire was so intensive that it seemed to flatten our position in the shortest time, and the whole highland was covered by the black smoke of the explosion.


    At this moment, Morozov came to the observation post breathlessly. Standing at the door, he politely asked us, "report to the division commander, political commissar, artillery battalion commander, Captain Morozov, who has been ordered to come and wait for your orders."


    Kirilov waved to him. When Morozov came to him, he led the captain to the observation port, handed him his telescope, pointed to the distance and said to him, "Comrade captain, do you see that truck array?"


    After looking for a while, Morozov put down his telescope, nodded to kirilov, and said with certainty, "see, comrade political commissar."


    "I order you to take the mortar company to the south slope of the highland in front of you immediately, choose the right area to build the artillery position, and do everything possible to destroy the German command post in the truck array. Do you understand? "


    After listening to kirilov''s assignment to Morozov, I was deeply afraid that he did not pay attention to this matter, and specially stressed: "Captain Morozov, if you can successfully kill the German command post and their commander, then the German attack on us will be a complete failure. If not, the German army will continue to launch fierce attacks on our positions before dark. " At this point, I pointed to the highland where the front was being shelled and said earnestly: "at present, the position of the first regiment is being shelled by the German army, and there must be a lot of casualties. So you need to deploy the mortar company as soon as possible and destroy the German command post in the shortest time. Do you have confidence? "


    "Please don''t worry about the division commander and commissar," Morozov said aloud to both of us, "I promise you that this German command post will be destroyed."


    After Morozov left, I stood in front of the observation port, holding a telescope to observe the surviving gun deployed in the pit. I saw a gunner lying on the ground not far from the front of the cannon, raising his right hand and swinging constantly, while the Gunners standing around the cannon moved with the gunner''s gesture to adjust the position of the muzzle.


    When the gunner''s hand stopped completely, the muzzle of the cannon stopped turning. As the cannonball was loaded, the gunner looked back and seemed to yell at the back, then his raised right hand swung down. As soon as his hand fell, the isolated cannon opened fire and the shell roared out of the chamber.


    When I saw our artillery firing, my first reaction was to look through the telescope at the location of the truck array, to see how they were blown up. As a result, I looked for a moment and saw that there was a silence. At that time, I couldn''t help but be stunned. My heart said what happened to the artillery and where they hit the shells.


    I took back the telescope again, and saw the Gunners withdraw the shell from the bore and load a new shell. Before the shooting, I had a lot of heart, and focused on the gunner lying in front of me, staring at his high right hand. When the shell came out again, I turned to the tanks at the foot of the hill.


    In the open space between the two tanks, a group of fire and smoke suddenly rose, and the soil raised crackled on the body of the two tanks. It suddenly dawned on me that the Gunners'' target was not the truck array in the distance, but the tanks at the foot of the mountain.


    These Gunners'' firing accuracy was obviously not very high, until the fourth shell hit a German tank. When the gunner in charge of observation tilts his thumbs to his comrades in arms behind him, his movements become more agile and his shooting speed is faster. As the German artillery bombardment of the Highlands was in full swing at this time, no one found a cannon nearby shooting at their tanks.


    I patted kirilov on the shoulder excitedly, then pointed to the big gun in the hollow and said excitedly, "Comrade political commissar, you see, our gun is shooting at the German tank."


    Kirilov looked in the direction of my finger for a while and then asked curiously, "Comrade oshanina, what''s that gunner doing in front of the cannon? If you want to observe, he can also observe when standing beside the cannon? "


    I have been wondering why the gunner would lie in front of the cannon. When I heard kirilov think the same, I could not help observing the gunner carefully. After looking at it for a while, I finally found that the position of the cannon was lower than the hillside. Not only the enemy outside could not see our cannon, but also the gunner standing beside the cannon could see the enemy outside. It was the observation of the gunner lying in front that adjusted the firing angle. After I understood it, I quickly explained it to kirilov, and he suddenly realized it.


    Our artillery kept firing. Although many shells fell empty and exploded in the open space near the tanks, some shells hit the German tanks accurately. But when the German tanks stopped at the foot of the mountain caught fire one after another, even the fool knew that there must be our cannons nearby.


    The German army stopped shelling the highlands. The howitzers and tank guns turned their muzzle and fired in the direction of the shells. Because they couldn''t see the gun that was firing at them, they thought it was the destroyed artillery position, and there were surviving cannons firing, so they chose the target here without hesitation. The just silent position was overturned again by the artillery fire, the remains of the cannon were torn to pieces, and the remains of the martyrs were blasted to pieces.


    Seeing this scene, kirilov angrily scolded: "damn the Germans, we will not let go of our dead soldiers. We must take revenge for this revenge!"


    Because the German army chose the wrong target to shoot, when they launched the crazy shelling, our cannons continued to shoot and destroyed two tanks accurately. But just then the cannons stopped firing.


    "What''s the matter? Why don''t you fire?" Kirilov asked in surprise.


    I saw the empty boxes beside the big gun, and when two Gunners left the gun position and ran towards the artillery position that was being heavily shelled, I knew the reason why they stopped shooting: "all the shells are gone!"


    As soon as the two gunners, who were running in front and behind, rushed near the artillery position, a shell fell from the sky and landed beside the gunner who was running in front, directly blowing him out. Another gunner rushed up the hillside and ran to a fairly complete wooden box. It seemed that he wanted to drag the box back.


    As soon as he bent over to carry the wooden box, he suddenly froze. Then he put out his hands to cover his back, staggered a few steps to the side, and rolled down the hillside.


    Seeing that the two soldiers who went to carry the shells died, I quickly walked to the door. I just wanted to call the soldiers on guard outside to come in, but I found that the second commander Pugachev also came outside the observation post. Quickly face a board, toward him loudly shout: "two regiment leaders, come over for a while." Pugachev quickly ran to me and stood at attention, silent, waiting for my order.


    When the situation was urgent, I didn''t care to talk to him. I told him straight to the point: "Captain Pugachev, you immediately arrange a platoon of soldiers to go to the artillery camp to get the shells, and then send them to the big gun in the hollow. We need to move quickly. We depend on these surviving artillery soldiers to destroy the German tanks. "


    After receiving my order, Pugachev didn''t immediately turn around and run out. Instead, he darted to the telephone of the observation station. After shaking the handle a few times, he picked up the microphone and said solemnly to the other party, "Hello, is it the third company commander? I''m chief Pugachev. I now order you to immediately send a platoon of soldiers to carry out boxes of shells from the artillery camp and send them to the cannon hiding in the hollow


    After putting down the phone, Pugachev gave me a embarrassed smile, and then explained to me: "report to division commander, just after I saw our artillery position destroyed by the German, I sent a company''s infantry to the artillery battalion, ready to help the artillery of the third company immediately after getting your order, push the artillery to the position, and continue to fight with the German tanks."


    "Well, well, chief Pugachev, you did a good job." When kirilov heard that Pugachev was thinking so comprehensively, he couldn''t help giving him a thumbs up and praising him at the same time.

 Chapter 624

    After praising Pugachev, kirilov looked at me and solemnly suggested to me: "Comrade division, I propose that the remaining anti tank artillery company should also be put into combat, so that we can eliminate the German tanks at the foot of the mountain as soon as possible."


    "No, the rest of the anti tank company can''t move." I couldn''t help but refuse kirilov''s offer. Just finished this sentence, but found his face expression is not harmonious, seems to me so quickly denied his opinion and dissatisfaction. In order to prevent him from misunderstanding me, I quickly explained to him: "Comrade political commissar, the two anti tank companies assigned to us by the group army should have been their limit. I don''t think we will get any similar supplement before the end of the campaign. If the anti tank artillery company is exhausted on the first day of the highland defense war, we can only rely on our brave soldiers to rush forward with cluster grenades at any cost in order to deal with the enemy''s tanks in the remaining days. Today''s situation, I think you can see that a platoon soldier lurking in the front line in advance, even if the enemy suddenly attacked without any defense, only a few tanks were destroyed. In the next battle, in order to prevent us from repeating our old skills, the enemy is bound to strengthen our prevention. In that case, even if we have made great sacrifices, we will not be able to blow up several enemy tanks. "


    What I said made kirilov ponder. After a long time, he said difficultly, "Comrade oshanina, maybe you are right. But we can''t watch the German tanks bombard our positions without fear. Even if the garrison on the position has strong fortifications, under the fierce artillery fire of the enemy, there will be absolutely no less casualties. "


    Looking at the German shells falling on our position like they don''t cost money, I was also worried. But it''s hard to make a living without rice. There isn''t enough heavy firepower. If you want to suppress the enemy''s artillery fire, it''s just a fool''s dream. As for kirilov''s complaint, I can only say with regret: "if we had air force, then we would certainly be able to deal a heavy blow to this enemy force."


    Hearing this, kirilov''s eyes suddenly brightened, the corners of his mouth slightly tilted, and then confidently said, "Comrade oshanina, maybe I can find a way to get the superior to provide us with air force assistance."


    I looked at him suspiciously and said in my heart: No, as far as I know, even trekov can''t command the air force. What''s more, he is just the director of the Political Department of the group army.


    Kirilov didn''t notice the difference on my face. He went to the phone and picked up the receiver. After dialing, he ordered steadily: "is it lieutenant razumeyeva? I''m commissar kirilov. I order you to send a radio operator to the observation post immediately with a telephone. Do you understand? "


    While waiting for the telegraph operator to come, I saw that German howitzers and tank guns were still bombarding the former artillery positions without interruption, ignoring our army guarded Highlands for the time being. And those infantry who left the truck array were squatting about 100 meters behind the tank, as if they were waiting for the opportunity to attack.


    It was captain Morozov and the soldiers of his mortar company who did not follow the circling trenches to the high ground, but directly climbed up the steep terrain of the south slope. At last, they stopped 200 meters away from the top of the hill and launched on the spot, erecting more than a dozen mortars on the hill.


    I''m thinking about how they can hit the enemy on the other side when they set their artillery position on the back of the high ground? I saw two Gunners coming out of the line, carrying things on their shoulders and trying to climb up. When they got to the top of the mountain, they put the things they were carrying on the ground and quickly assembled them. Then I saw that it was an artillery observation mirror.


    Turning his eyes to the foot of the mountain, he saw the soldiers of the third company of the second regiment, who were responsible for carrying the shells, in groups of two, running towards the cannon with the box. Although from time to time there were shells flying over and exploding near them, the soldiers didn''t lie down on the spot or even bend their waist. They kept their original speed and ran to the cannon.


    The Gunners next to the cannons saw a large group of people carrying boxes running towards them. They immediately understood what was going on. Two Gunners immediately came to meet them and helped the two fastest soldiers to build a hand. Four people ran to the cannons carrying the cannonball boxes. When he got to the side of the cannon, the wooden box was put on the ground. The gunner guarding the side of the cannon pried open the wooden box with a short crowbar, took a shell out of it and quickly filled it into the gun bore. As soon as the gun door was closed, a gunner next to us suddenly pulled the rope in his hand. Our cannon roared and the shell roared out of the gun.


    I quickly looked at the German tank through the telescope, and saw a tank that was firing. The body of the tank was shocked, and then a flame rushed into the sky from the open hatch. Then the tank was covered in a black fog composed of smoke.


    The gunner, lying in front of him, saw that the cannon had hit the target accurately and cocked his thumb back. The rest of the Gunners and the soldiers of the third company cheered when they knew that the cannon had hit the target. Then the soldiers of the third company turned back and quickly ran to the place where they had just hidden, as if they wanted to move more shells.


    The surviving cannons of the second company of the artillery battalion achieved success, and the mortar company on the south slope of the highland was not outdone. Under the guidance of the observers, they fired decisively.


    More than a dozen mortar shells flew over the highlands and landed in the infantry line behind the tank. Because of the scattered location, only a few dozen German soldiers were knocked down. I can only smile bitterly when I see this scene. The mortar company''s soldiers are really poor in technology. If their shells can be concentrated, they can at least blow down twice as many enemies.


    Before I could comment on kirilov''s mortar company, the operator with the telephone on his back arrived. It was not lieutenant razumeyeva, but corporal Najia who came to the division with her to report. Kirilov saw the operator coming and helped her set the telephone on the table. Then he gave her a direct order: "corporal, please contact the headquarters immediately. This is the call code of the headquarters radio station." Then he handed a piece of paper to Na Jia.


    When I heard Najia calling the radio station of the headquarters of the front army, kirilov stood beside her with her hand on the table. I watched all this curiously and secretly guessed what would happen after contacting the headquarters of the front army?


    When the headquarters radio station was about to go through, kirilov took Najia''s earphone and transmitter and said in a loud voice, "Hello, Hello, is that Comrade military commissar? What, you''re not? Who am I?! I am kirilov, director of the Political Department of the 62nd group army. I have something important to ask Comrade Khrushchev, military commissar of the front army. "


    When I heard Khrushchev''s name, I was secretly surprised. I didn''t expect that kirilov, the little director of the political department, could directly contact the military commissars of the front army.


    After some twists and turns, kirilov finally found Khrushchev. He didn''t greet him either. He said frankly, "Hello, comrade Khrushchev. But now is not the time to reminisce. I have something important to ask for your help


    Not knowing what Khrushchev was saying, kirilov stopped, pressed the earphone hard to his ear and nodded his head frequently. After waiting for the other party to fall behind, he earnestly said: "Comrade military commissar, the Germans launched an attack on our mamayev post with one tank battalion, two artillery battalions and a infantry regiment. Our soldiers fought hard because of the heavy German fire. As an old friend, I beg you to let the 8th air force group army send out planes to carry out air strikes on the German troops attacking our highlands. Their trucks are placed in a large square two kilometers away from our position, which is an obvious target. What, no more planes? Lost in these two days of fighting? I beg you, old man, even if only two airplanes can be dispatched. "


    Kirilov is still talking to Khrushchev, but I have no interest in listening to it. From the analysis of the two men''s opponents, we can''t count on air force support. I went back to the observation port and continued to observe the situation on the battlefield.


    In just a few minutes, at least three tanks at the foot of the mountain were killed by the anti tank gun. Seeing such gratifying results, I almost impulsively let the third artillery company go to battle to expand the existing results. However, on second thought, although the three companies were transferred up, more than a dozen guns could be fired, but at the same time, the target was big and the honor was exposed. The German howitzer battalion in the distance could easily wipe them out.


    After the tanks at the foot of the mountain were attacked one after another, the tank soldiers were frightened by the mysterious cannon and started their tanks one after another in an attempt to turn around and return to the starting position. But can our artillery spare them? As soon as the tank shelling stopped, another one was hit.


    The mortar company on the hillside launched another volley. This time, it was obviously better than just now. After the smoke of gunpowder dispersed, I saw at least 30 soldiers lying on the ground motionless. The tanks are retreating, and the infantry don''t stand foolishly waiting for the shells. They turn around and run to the car Square.


    At this moment, kirilov came up to me with a worried face and said in shame, "I''m sorry, comrade oshanina. I wanted to use my personal relationship with the military commissar of the front army to order the 8th Army of the air force to send out planes to attack the German army in front of our position. Unexpectedly, he said, "the 8th group army''s aircraft have been completely lost in the fighting two days ago, while the newly added aircraft and pilots have not yet arrived, so they are unable to provide us with necessary air assistance for the time being."


    Although I was not supported by the air force, I was a little disappointed, but I soon wanted to open up. There will be at least two more months left from the present stage of campaign defense to the stage of counter offensive. Even though kirilov got air aid through his personal relationship this time, can he get the same aid for every fight in the future? Instead of worrying about gains and losses here, it''s better to make use of the existing strength to fight every battle in a down-to-earth way. Thinking of this, I confidently said to kirilov: "Comrade political commissar, don''t worry. Although we can''t get the aid of the air force, we still have the strength to fight back the German attack." Speaking of this, I yelled at the outside: "come on!"


    With my shouts, soldiers standing guard outside immediately appeared at the door silently, waiting for my order.


    "Comrade soldier, you immediately run to inform the Gunners of the big gun in the hollow, and ask them to turn their shooting target to the truck array in the distance."


    "Yes The soldier made a loud promise and turned to leave¡° Just a moment, please A familiar voice suddenly rang out beside me. I didn''t look back to know it was Pugachev''s voice. For such a long time, he stood silently in the observation center and did not speak, so that kirilov and I ignored him. Seeing that kirilov and I turned our attention to him, he quickly added: "Comrade division commander, it''s a waste of time to send orders from here to the hollow. I''d better call the soldiers of the third company to send messages." When I heard him say this, I remembered that the soldiers of the third company were really the closest to the artillery at the moment, so I nodded in agreement and took the initiative to say, "in this case, comrade Pugachev, you can give orders to your troops now." With that, I waved to the guard camp, which was still standing at the door. Pugachev picked up the receiver and clearly ordered his men: "the third company commander, immediately send the soldiers to the cannon just now, and let them adjust the shooting target from the tank at the foot of the mountain to the truck array in the distance." The mortar company''s shells chased the German infantry behind their buttocks and exploded, but when they were 50 or 60 meters away from the howitzer position, the explosion point could not move forward any more. When I saw this scene, I knew in my heart that because of the angle and range, our mortars could not even reach the enemy''s howitzer positions, let alone the farther truck array, so I could only place all my hope on the cannon in the hollow. When the heralds sent by the third company conveyed my order to the artillery, only seven or eight German tanks could retreat near the howitzer position, and the rest became the victims of our anti tank guns. At this time, they raised the muzzle and replaced the next target with a truck array in the distance. The truck array is two kilometers away from the highland. If there are no long-range strike weapons, we can only stare at the arrogant German soldiers in the distance. But now there is a 76mm anti tank gun. The situation is totally different. The denser their formation is, the more accurate our artillery is. When the first shell was fired, it was ready to hit a truck behind the howitzer position. The car fragments were blown up everywhere, causing the nearby artillery to cry and howl, but they didn''t care to continue to bombard our positions. They dropped their guns and began to run around. Because our artillery ammunition is sufficient, the Gunners do not have to worry that they will run out of shells. As soon as they finish loading, they will fire immediately. Although there was only one gun, it made an artillery company. In addition, the constant firing of the mortar company on the hillside made the enemy even more confused. We didn''t know how many artillery soldiers were shooting at them on our high ground. The German commander, seeing that our artillery began to bombard his truck, did not dare to stay in the car to command. Instead, with the help of several subordinates, he slipped out of the car and disappeared. Then the German truck phalanx began to disperse, some quick action soldiers climbed into the truck compartment, with the U-turn car to the back. What''s more, he was frightened by the scene that the truck was constantly hit. He even couldn''t care about the car, so he turned around and ran backward. The square array of one or two hundred trucks doesn''t mean that you can transfer by transferring. All the trucks scrambled backward. As a result, some trucks collided in confusion, blocking the back of other trucks, leading to chaos. The artillery in the howitzer position dropped their guns and ran back behind the infantry. Twenty minutes later, the flustered German army finally escaped from our sight. And the burning remains of tanks and cars are still a silent reminder of how fierce the fighting here was.

 Chapter 625

    The howitzers of the two artillery battalions left behind by the defeated German army were still in line, which made my heart itch. These are more than 20 heavy howitzers. If they are placed in our position, when the German army attacks again, they can be destroyed by the heavy artillery crackling wildly, whether it is German tanks or infantry. It shouldn''t be too late. Before the Germans recover, I''ll send someone to pull these guns back immediately.


    Thinking of this, I rushed to the phone and contacted shejerikov on the high ground. As soon as I heard the familiar voice, I couldn''t wait to urge him: "Hey, comrade commander, the German attack was repulsed by us. When they ran away, they left all the equipment of the two artillery battalions behind. I order you to send someone immediately to bring all these guns back to me. "


    "What? The enemy dropped the cannon and ran away? " Although shejerikov is in a more advanced position than I am, his understanding of the battlefield on the south slope of the highland where he is commanding comes from the reports of his subordinates at the forefront, so he is slower than me in getting intelligence. Now he heard that the German had left his artillery on the position and fled. He was also very excited. He immediately expressed his position to me excitedly: "Comrade division, please rest assured that I will send troops to get these artillery back immediately."


    As soon as I put down the phone, kirilov, who was standing at the observation port with a telescope, called to me in a hurry: "Comrade oshanina, come and have a look."


    I didn''t know why. I went to him and looked in the direction of his fingers. I saw groups of soldiers jumping out of the trench and rushing down to the foot of the mountain. Seeing this scene, I couldn''t help laughing. Then I said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, this lieutenant colonel xiejerikov is really acute. As soon as I called him, he sent troops out. I''m afraid that if the action is slow, these spoils will be robbed by friendly forces."


    But kirilov shook his head and said, "Comrade oshanina, you are wrong. Before you put down the phone, I saw the commanders and fighters come out of the position and run towards the foot of the mountain. According to my estimation, Lt. Col. chejerikov may not have time to call his subordinates


    "Who is that?" As far as I know about the Soviet army, the commanders and fighters below dare not act casually without orders from the superior. Since it wasn''t Lt. Col. chejerikov who gave the order, who would it be?


    While I was frowning and pondering, kirilov said lightly: "although the chief has not yet had time to give orders, the political commissar can. Moreover, according to the report of lieutenant colonel shejerikov, political commissar Comrade oberstein has been at the forefront with his commanders and fighters since the beginning of the battle. Maybe he gave the order to attack. "


    According to kirilov, political commissar oberstein is a commander with rich combat experience. If he did not know how to send troops to attack in time under such circumstances, general meletzkov would not let him serve as the instructor of the second lieutenant''s training team.


    I turned around and saw that Pugachev was still standing in the observation post, so I told him, "Captain Pugachev, what the German army left on the battlefield are heavy guns. If there is no truck to pull them back, it is very difficult to get them back. I command you to lead two companies at once to help the officers and men of the first regiment get the guns back. " Pugachev agreed and turned away from the observation post.


    After Pugachev left, kirilov put down his telescope and asked me, "Comrade oshanina, what shall we do next?"


    I looked out and saw that the Gunners of the big gun in the hollow were cleaning the shells and empty wooden boxes. So I nuzzled in that direction and said, "I think we should go to see the anti tank gun that has made great achievements and talk to the Gunners again."


    "I agree." Kirilov readily agreed. Then he urged me, "let''s go."


    As we were about to leave the observation post, Na Jia, the operator, stopped me and said politely, "report to Mr. commander, it''s captain Morozov, the battalion commander of the artillery battalion. He said that he had something important to report to you."


    I took the earphone and the transmitter and yelled, "Hello, is that Captain Morozov? This is colonel o''shanina. Do you have anything to report to me? "


    "Report to Mr. division commander," murozov''s excited voice came from the earphone, "do you see the more than twenty heavy howitzers on the battlefield?"


    "Yes, Captain Morozov." I said lightly, "I have ordered the first and second regiments to go out and pull the cannons back to our position."


    Morozov hesitated and said, "Comrade division commander, as you know, I''m the commander of the artillery battalion now. We can''t just let the infantry do the job of carrying artillery. I think our battalion should also send someone to do it."


    "Then send someone." After I finished this sentence, a bold idea suddenly appeared in my mind, and then I said, "after the howitzer is pulled back, I''ll give it to you. If you can gather enough people, I can promote your artillery battalion to artillery regiment, and you are the artillery commander. "


    "What, artillery, artillery, artillery regiment, commander?" My words made Morozov stutter.


    "Yes, Captain Morozov, as long as you can draw enough people from the division, I can promote your artillery battalion to artillery regiment." At this point, I looked at the artillery commanders and fighters who were still crowded together on the south slope, and urged him: "Comrade captain, if I were you, I would not stay where I am, but I would take my troops to move those howitzers back to the battlefield."


    "Well, I''m going." With that, Morozov hung up the communication.


    In the distance, the artillery on the hillside quickly divided into two groups, one remained in place to guard the mortars on the hillside; The other group, led by Morozov, rushed to the top of the hill, ready to cross the top of the hill and enter the battlefield directly.


    Kirilov and I left the observation post, followed the trenches and trenches built by the second regiment, and came to the front of the anti tank gun which had made great contributions. I saw the busy gunners and cried out: "Hello, comrades


    Hearing my cry, the Gunners stopped their work and stood upright to salute us.


    I went up to a gunner and yelled at him, "Comrade soldier, who is in charge here?"


    I yelled at him because I was afraid that he would be deafened in the battle just now and would not hear my voice. Unexpectedly, after listening to what I said, he asked again in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, what did you say? I didn''t hear you clearly. Please say it again


    "Who is in charge here?" Kirilov was afraid that my voice was not loud enough, so he repeated what I had just said.


    After hearing this, the gunner nodded, pointed to a dark faced Sergeant nearby, and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, this is sergeant tyakonov, our artillery commander."


    The sergeant saw our eyes turned to him and guessed that we had something to say to him. He quickly came over, raised his hand and saluted kirilov and me, and then reported, "report to commander comrade, Sergeant proto tyakonov, commander of the second company of anti tank company, report to you and wait for your orders."


    Kirilov stepped forward, put his hands on his shoulder, patted him hard, and said aloud, "good job, good job sergeant tyakonov, you''ve played really well. With your gun, the German tanks were defeated, and even more than a dozen of them were killed. "


    "We killed 17 tanks, comrades of political commissars at the regiment level." Tyakonov took a look at kirilov''s military rank on the collar, and then politely replied, "it''s a pity that all our other artillery positions were destroyed by the Germans soon after the battle started, otherwise we will be able to completely annihilate the German tank battalion."


    Kirilov''s face was full of laughter. He solemnly said to tyakonov, "you have made great contributions in today''s battle. I will apply to the higher authorities for medals for you and your artillery squad."


    I can''t agree with what tyakonov said. If their artillery squad didn''t happen to hide in a place that the German couldn''t find, let alone cold fire the German tank battalion, it would have been blown to pieces by the intensive German artillery fire.


    "Sergeant tyakonov, what were you doing when we came?" When I saw the neat wooden boxes stacked next to the cannons and the piles of cartridge cases not far away, I couldn''t help asking curiously.


    "Report, comrade Colonel," tyakonov replied quickly, facing me, "we are collecting ammunition for the next battle. Will we be allowed to continue? "


    For his answer, I nodded with satisfaction and quickly replied: "of course, it''s needless to say, you can continue to work!"


    After saying goodbye to tyakonov and his gun crew, kirilov and I walked towards the highland where a regiment was stationed. When I got close to the highland, I could see that the north slope of the highland was full of charred and smoky craters. The front trench had been completely blasted, and only the circular tunnels on the East and west sides remained relatively complete.


    We climbed up the hillside and walked forward with one foot deep and one foot shallow. As a result of the intensive German artillery, the land here was blasted into virtual soil. I accidentally tripped over something under my feet, and my hands touched the ground with sharp shrapnel.


    Kirilov quickly held me and asked with concern, "Comrade oshanina, are you ok?"


    I shook my head, picked up a handful of soil from the ground, and then let the soil flow along my fingers. When there were only a few pieces of black shrapnel left, I put my hand in front of kirilov and said with emotion: "Comrade political commissar, you see, there are several shrapnel in any handful of soil, which shows how fierce the enemy''s shelling was."


    Kirilov took a piece of shrapnel from the palm of my hand and looked at it. He also said with emotion: "yes, when I was just at the observation post, I was also thinking about what kind of troops were holding this position. Under the heavy artillery fire, none of them wavered, and none of them became deserters. They were nailed on this high ground like nails, It''s holding the Germans back


    I threw away the shrapnel in my hand and raised my telescope to look at the troops carrying the cannons in the distance. Although there were many trucks behind the cannons, almost all of them were destroyed by tyakonov''s gun crew, and several intact trucks could not be found. Therefore, only two or three of the captured cannons were towed from the back of the trucks, and the rest were dragged to the high ground by our soldiers.


    At this time, a group of people came up from the foot of the mountain, with two German tank soldiers in the middle. When they approached, I found that one of them was the new political commissar of a regiment, oberstein, and quickly met him. At the same time, from a long distance, I took the initiative to greet him: "Hello, is that political commissar oberstein?"


    Oberstein and his men were escorting the two prisoners up. When they heard someone calling him, they quickly looked up. Seeing kirilov and I standing on the hillside, we rushed out of the crowd, quickly came to us, raised our hands and saluted. At the same time, we were a little surprised and asked, "teacher, political commissar, how did you get to the front position?"


    When he said this, kirilov said solemnly with a straight face: "why, political commissar oberstein, don''t you welcome me and my teacher?"


    "How can that be?" Oberstein hastily did not recognize kirilov''s joking. He hastily explained: "the battle here has just ended, and it''s not very safe. You and the division commander are the backbone of the division. You can''t come to such a dangerous place casually."


    "Political commissar oberstein, as a political commissar of the regiment, you can take the lead, stay in the most dangerous place with the soldiers, and fight with them against the Communist aggressors. Can''t we be the political commissar of the division as well as you?"


    I saw the two prisoners surrounded by the soldiers. As soon as kirilov finished, I asked oberstein, "political commissar oberstein, what''s the matter with these two prisoners?"


    Oberstein looked back, then turned to report to me: "when I led the troops to clean the battlefield, when I passed a destroyed tank, the top hatch of the tank was suddenly pushed away. A German tank soldier dragged a unconscious German lieutenant to climb out of the tank. In this way, we captured them."


    Kirilov called two of the guard battalions who were with us, and then whispered to them, "take them to the division headquarters and find some German speaking people to interrogate them."


    After the captives left, we and oberstein went to the south slope. As we walked, I asked oberstein, "political commissar oberstein, I want to ask, where did your troops hide when the German troops shelled the Highlands? You know, according to my observation just now, we can''t see the front position any more. Under the cover of virtual soil, it becomes uneven and strange. "


    Oberstein pointed to the complete trench to the West and explained to us: "although the German artillery fire was fierce, they only destroyed our positions on the north slope, while the other three positions suffered little loss. I asked the soldiers to dig a lot of anti artillery holes in the trench on the west side. When the enemy shelled, we would hide in it, so there were not many casualties. "


    After listening to oberstein''s words, kirilov specially stopped and carefully looked at the gun holes in the West trench. He said with emotion, "political commissar oberstein, your method is good. Our soldiers are hiding in it. No matter how fierce the German artillery fire is, you can''t do anything about it. When the shelling stops and they attack, you can also attack from the gun hole in time and use the terrain to stop the enemy. "


    We chatted for a while and saw that oberstein and the commanders and fighters were in high spirits. After a few words of encouragement, I and kirilov rushed back to the division headquarters.


    At the moment, akhromeyev is interrogating the captured German tank soldiers inside. Besides mikheiev, the commander of the engineering company, he is also second lieutenant gretka, who has a guard company.


    Two German prisoners sat on stools, behind them two soldiers with submachine guns and glaring eyes.


    Before we went back to the headquarters, it is estimated that akhromeyev had interrogated the names, ranks, positions and troop numbers of the two men, because I heard akhromeyev ask, "what is the mission that your battalion received?"


    "Cooperating with the infantry to seize the mamayev post, the purpose is to occupy the docks of Stalingrad and cut off all links between the city and the other side of the Volga River."


    "When were you transferred to this combat area?"


    The tank Lieutenant looked up at him and said, "in May this year, after we defeated your troops in the direction of Kharkov, my battalion has been fighting in this direction."


    "Do you think your troops can take Stalingrad?" When I heard akhromeyev''s question, I paid special attention to the expression of lieutenant gretka. When I saw that he was taking notes, he was stunned for a moment, and then continued to record the interrogation record in the book as if nothing had happened.


    "Based on the results we have achieved in the Kharkov and Don river basins, I think this possibility exists completely."


    Akhromeyev listened to him, snorted coldly, and said contemptuously, "Mr. lieutenant, I can tell you very responsibly that even if you occupy the mamayev post, you can''t occupy Stalingrad. Our great Soviet Red Army will completely bury you outside this heroic city. "


    The captured Lieutenant glanced up at a second lieutenant gretka who was making a record, and suddenly said to him coldly, "Mr. second lieutenant, if I am not wrong, you are wearing the uniform of our German defense forces. Don''t you think it''s a shame to serve our enemies as a German soldier? "


    The Lieutenant''s words made lieutenant gretka blush. He bowed his head and didn''t know how to answer. Seeing the embarrassed look on lieutenant gretka''s face, I stepped forward and said in a loud voice, "you''re wrong, lieutenant. It''s true that lieutenant gretka used to be a German soldier, but now he has chosen to be on our side. It''s a shame for the soldiers to say that he helped us, but what I want to tell you is on the contrary. They are not fighting against the Germans, but against the Communists headed by Hitler. What they do today, waiting for Germany to be reborn, will become an honor and be recorded in history. " What I said made the depressed lieutenant gretka raise his head again. He looked gratefully, as if he wanted to say something to express his feelings. I raised my hand to stop him. Instead, I told akhromeyev, "Comrade chief of staff, these two Germans are nobody. They have limited knowledge. They don''t need to be interrogated any more. Send someone to send them to the headquarters of the group army." Akhromeyev nodded at me, stood up and went to the two prisoners, looked at them without expression, then raised his head and told the soldiers standing behind: "take them away." With that, he lifted his leg and went out. After akhromeyev left with the prisoners, the emotional second lieutenant gretka saluted kirilov and me and asked respectfully, "Sir, political commissar, do you have any orders?"¡° No, Lieutenant gretka. Go back and rest Kirilov saw gretka''s back as he left and said with some emotion, "Comrade o''shanina, maybe you are right. Judging from the performance of the former German lieutenant, he really took refuge in us. " As soon as I sat down, I was about to say a few words to kirilov. Suddenly, there came a series of shouts from outside: "enemy plane, enemy plane! Air raid siren, air raid siren! Hide, hide When I heard the shouting outside, I jumped up from my seat. My God, the enemy plane didn''t come early or late, just in time for us to carry guns. Since most of the cannons are manually towed, they are still in the open field. When the enemy planes come, they will become their targets? Thinking of this, I couldn''t sit still any more, so I started to run out to see where the officers and men carrying the cannons were. Panting for breath, I ran into the observation post, stood in front of the observation port, raised my telescope and looked into the distance. I saw at least two or three hundred officers and men dragging about ten guns to the high ground seven or eight hundred meters away. There are two enemy planes circling in the air. It seems that they may dive down at any time. At such a long distance, the commanders and fighters had no means of communication. Before they got new orders from the higher authorities, they had to speed up their pace under the nose of the enemy plane, trying to pull the artillery back to our position as soon as possible. Kirilov also came in a hurry at this time. He also saw the dangerous scene and said anxiously, "Comrade oshanina, what can we do? If the enemy''s planes dive and bomb, all the commanders and fighters in the open will be ruined. " He walked anxiously around the room, muttering, "what should I do? What should we do? Someone should be sent to inform these officers and men to throw away their guns and quickly return to the high ground. " At this point, he stopped and yelled at the guard outside, "somebody A guard quickly came to the gate of the observation post. Kirilov yelled at him, "Comrade soldier, I order you to run to inform the officers and men who are carrying the guns. Throw away the guns immediately and find a place to hide first." The soldier agreed, stepped out of the trench and ran quickly to the opposite highland. Looking at the back of the soldier, I prayed in my heart: I hope the soldier can convey kirilov''s order in time, so that we can reduce some unnecessary losses. If the cannon is dropped, we can capture it again; If the soldiers die, they can''t survive. Unfortunately, the weather was not as good as expected. Before the messenger ran to the opposite highland, the German plane began to dive down and shoot at the ground''s artillery carrying officers and soldiers. In an instant, the smoke filled the open ground, the shell boxes carried by the soldiers were detonated, and shrapnel flew everywhere in the air, which made our soldiers fall into a pool of blood.

 Chapter 626

    The bombs dropped by the German planes during the dive landed among the commanders and fighters who were carrying or carrying the ammunition boxes. First, I heard two loud sounds of "boom", and then the earth shaking explosions started one after another. The death explosion of the shells immediately knocked our soldiers down.


    In the smoke filled open field, because of the bomb shrapnel falling from the air and the shell shrapnel dying of explosion flying everywhere, even the soldiers pulling the cannon in front of them had to find the crater to hide nearby.


    "Hell, these damned German devils, in order not to let us get their guns, they even sent out planes to blow them up." Kirilov, who was standing beside me, said angrily when he saw the scene.


    On the open ground filled with smoke, shrapnel and clods flying around, crackling everywhere, and the enemy planes dropping bullets and strafing down in the sky, all of these show that kirilov''s judgment is correct. The Germans knew that once their heavy guns fell into the hands of our army, they would cause great damage to them when they launched an attack, so they resolutely relieved themselves and sent planes to bomb.


    Although there were only two enemy planes, the soldiers without anti-aircraft weapons had no choice but to take them, resulting in a one-sided massacre. It was not until after dropping the bombs and firing out the bullets of the airborne machine guns that the two enemy planes circled in the air again and then turned around and flew north.


    Although the enemy plane left, the explosion in the open ground continued. This was the movement of the shells killed in the explosion. I took this opportunity to call chejerikov and order him to send health workers to rescue the wounded on the battlefield immediately.


    I didn''t see the scene on the open ground until the sound of the explosion gradually faded and the smoke was dispersed by the river wind. There were bodies all over the place, lying around the smoking craters. The uninjured soldiers got up from the ground and went everywhere to look for survivors. The cannons that were almost moved to our army were blown up and toppled on the open ground. The shell boxes that had been blown to pieces were burning in the East and West.


    Seeing this tragic scene, I thought in my heart: if kirilov had just sent the soldiers to run for orders, I would first inform the Sergei rykov on the highland by telephone, would our casualties be much smaller? The guard faithfully carried out kirilov''s orders. When the German plane attacked the troops in the open field, he rushed into the smoke of gunfire without hesitation, and then I never saw his shadow again.


    Before long, about 70 or 80 officers and men left the hillside fortifications and rushed to the open area to treat their comrades. I saw through the telescope that the political commissar of oberstein was walking at the front of the team, followed by seven or eight health workers with Red Cross Signs on their arms, including two female health workers.


    As soon as they got to the open area, the health workers scattered one after another to rescue their comrades in arms who were still lying on the ground groaning in pain. The rest of the soldiers helped the survivors and helped some of the light wounded back to their positions.


    Seeing that oberstein was directing the soldiers to search and rescue the wounded, I was relieved, so I picked up the phone again and called chejerikov. When I heard his voice, I said without hesitation: "Lieutenant Commander xijerikov, now the political commissar of oberstein is commanding the soldiers to clean the battlefield and collect the wounded. Don''t be idle. Send two companies into the position again and rush to repair the fortifications destroyed by the German artillery. Remember, this will become a rule of the independent division in the future: in combat, we must build fortifications while fighting! As long as there is even a minute, we need to build fortifications! Do you understand? "


    "Don''t worry, sir. I''ll send someone to repair the fortifications destroyed by the German artillery fire at once."


    Kirilov, who was standing nearby, listened to my command and asked, "Comrade oshanina, is it appropriate for you to promote this rule in the whole division? You know, even in the interval of fighting, the soldiers keep repairing the fortifications. In this way, they won''t get enough rest. In a short time, the soldiers will become exhausted. "


    As for kirilov''s objection, I said coldly with a stern face: "Comrade political commissar, you have just seen how fierce the artillery preparation before the German attack is. If our troops don''t have strong fortifications, they will be completely destroyed by the fire. " Speaking of this, I suddenly thought of another thing. I quickly changed the topic and asked nervously, "by the way, comrade political commissar, I''m always talking about repairing fortifications, and I almost forgot another important thing."


    "What''s the matter?" Kirilov asked curiously.


    "Ammunition. After this period of fighting, the Division has consumed a lot of ammunition, which urgently needs to be replenished. " I said anxiously, "if we run out of ammunition, our soldiers will have to wait for the enemy to rush to the position and fight with them face to face."


    Kirilov listened to me, pondered for a while, and replied, "the troops are short of ammunition. I can find the headquarters of the group army to solve it. However, there is another problem involved here. After my observation, the weapons in our division are very miscellaneous, not only the standard weapons of our army, but also the weapons of Germany, Italy, Romania, Hungary and other countries seized. The ammunition of these weapons can not be replenished by the group army, or we can only rely on our own efforts. "


    I looked at those officers and men in the distant battlefield, and suddenly thought of a solution. I called Sergey reekov again and gave him a clean order: "Sergeant Sergeant, I remember most of the weapons in your regiment are German equipment, right?"


    "Yes, sir," replied chejerikov, "you remember very well that about half of the soldiers used captured German equipment. After today''s battle, their ammunition has almost been consumed. You see, can you think of something to add to us? "


    "Comrade commander, I''m the division commander of the independent division, not the factory director of the ordnance factory. I can''t supply you with German ammunition." Hearing that he still wanted to complain, I quickly interrupted him and gave him an idea: "in today''s battle, your regiment killed at least two companies of German soldiers. You immediately organize people to collect weapons and ammunition from these German corpses to supplement the troops. If it''s not enough, send someone to the place where they used to park the truck to see if there are any ammunition boxes left. "


    "I see. I''ll set it up right now." Shejerikov promised to hang up, but I stopped him in time. After hesitating for a moment, I finally clenched my teeth and asked, "how are the casualties of your regiment in today''s battle?"


    After a moment''s silence, shijerikov replied in a low voice, "report, sir, I don''t know the casualties of the officers and men who went to pull the cannons. In today''s battle, our regiment has suffered a total of 500 casualties, of which 300 have been killed, and more than 100 have been seriously injured, basically losing their combat effectiveness. "


    Although I knew that a regiment was hit by the heavy German artillery, and the casualties were absolutely inevitable, I still felt my heart was bleeding when I heard the exact figures given to me by shejerikov. The first regiment, as the main force of the independent division, arrived at the mamayev post, with more than half of the casualties. If this situation continues, the independent division will be able to cancel the formation of the first regiment in a week at most.


    "Comrade commander, I still say that we should use every minute to rush to repair the fortifications on the high ground. With strong fortifications, our officers and men were able to survive the heavy German artillery and bombing


    When I put down the phone, I thought of the second commander Pugachev again. Since I sent him out to pull artillery, I have never seen him, and I don''t know where he was when our troops were bombed by the German army? Thinking of this, I said to Najia, who is in charge of communication: "Comrade Najia, contact the second leader Pugachev immediately and ask where he is?"


    Pugachev soon got in touch with him. He was taking a group of officers and men of the second regiment at the foot of the south slope of our highland to hide the guns pulled back by trucks.


    When I heard him talking about artillery, I immediately thought of Captain Morozov, the artillery battalion commander. Because most of the artillery was destroyed in the German air raid, he wanted to be the commander of the battalion, and he had to wait until he had a chance. Before I finished my communication, I asked casually, "Comrade Pugachev, I want to ask you, have you seen captain Morozov, the artillery battalion commander?"


    "Are you talking about captain Morozov? He''s by my side


    I had already removed the earphone from my ear, and I was going to throw the transmitter to Naga. Suddenly, I heard that he said that Morozov was beside him. I was so happy that I immediately told him, "Comrade Pugachev, give the earphone and the transmitter to Morozov quickly, I want to talk to him."


    Morozov''s voice soon came from the earphone: "Hello, sir, this is captain Morozov. Do you have any instructions?"


    "I want to ask, how many guns did you just pull back?"


    "There are five doors, all of which are hauled back by truck." "The trucks are full of shells, enough for us to use for a period of time," Morozov said


    When I heard that the artillery battalion had seized five heavy guns, I was immediately relieved. Although the rest of the guns were destroyed and the soldiers who pulled the guns suffered heavy casualties, it was worth it. As long as we have these five heavy guns, we will have a better chance of winning in the next defensive war. At least we will have a sharp weapon against German tanks.


    When kirilov learned that we had added five new heavy guns, he was very excited and said, "great, that''s great. In this way, we don''t have to worry about any more tanks sent by the German army. " After a few happy turns in the observation post, he suggested to me: "Comrade oshanina, I don''t think it''s appropriate to place heavy guns at mamayev post, because they may become the targets of German air strikes. I suggest that these guns be transferred to the residential areas. When the highlands are attacked by the German army, the artillery observers can send signals from the highlands to the artillery in the rear to direct them to launch artillery attacks on the enemy. "


    Kirilov''s opinion coincided with mine, so I nodded hard and said seriously, "Comrade political commissar, your opinion is good, I agree."


    Kirilov and I were talking when the radio operator Na Jia suddenly called me nervously: "Comrade division commander, comrade commander of the group army wants to talk to you."


    I gave kirilov an unexpected look and whispered in surprise, "Comrade political commissar, what''s the matter? Why did commander trakov call me all of a sudden? "


    Kirilov shook his head blankly, indicating that he did not know what it was. I picked up the transmitter and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade commander, I''m oshanina. Do you have any new instructions?"¡° Well done, Colonel oshanina. I know that in the battle just ended, you severely damaged the German tank battalion, destroyed two artillery battalions, and beat away a infantry regiment. It''s really amazing. I will report the results of your division to the headquarters of the front army and ask for credit for you and your subordinates. " Trekov praised me a few words, suddenly changed the topic and said curiously, "oshanina, just now the group army intelligence service interrogated the two German prisoners you sent, and unexpectedly learned something strange."¡° Strange thing? " I didn''t know what trakov wanted to say. I couldn''t help getting nervous and quickly asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what''s strange?"¡° The prisoners confessed that their tank battalion was at the foot of the mountain of mamayev hill. The volley of tank guns and the artillery of the heavy artillery battalion in the distance turned the whole highland into a sea of fire. Originally, they would send infantry to capture our high ground after the artillery stopped, but at this time, something unexpected happened: their tanks were shot and set on fire one after another. The captured Lieutenant said: at that time, the artillery observers judged the artillery position of our army on the high ground from the direction of the shells, then turned the muzzle and covered the area with heavy artillery fire. Although they saw the parts of cannon and human body flying into the air on the high ground covered by artillery fire, even a fly could not survive in that case. But in reality, the shells still kept coming and destroyed their tanks one after another. It''s really because the shells from the mysterious cannons made them dizzy that the superior commander was forced to give the order to retreat. " Kirilov, who heard my conversation with trakov, looked at me with a smile, then extended his hand to me and said in a friendly way, "Comrade oshanina, give me the earphone and the transmitter, and I''ll explain this strange incident to the commander." Listen to him say so, I also didn''t speak, just smile to hand things in the past. Kirilov put on his headphones and said aloud to the transmitter, "Hello, Hello, is that trakov? I''m kirilov. I think I can explain to you about the mysterious cannon. " Then he said one by one that if Pluto tyakonov cleverly concealed his cannon in a hollow and aimed at the German tanks for continuous firing. Finally, he specially emphasized: "this cannon, in the battle, completely destroyed 17 German tanks. Comrade trakov, the instructor of the anti tank company last time was awarded the title of "Soviet hero" because he destroyed almost a number of tanks and defended the dock. How do you plan to reward our gunner? " Trekov was silent for a moment, then asked solemnly, "what''s the rank of this gunner tyakonov?" Kirilov turned and looked at me when he heard the question from trakov, as if asking for my advice. After thinking about it, I said to him in a low voice, "otherwise, we suggest Comrade commander to promote this gunner to the rank of sergeant." Although I also want to directly promote this successful gunner, I think that the promotion of the group army will arouse tyakonov''s sense of honor, so I put forward this proposal on my own. Kirilov has now reached a tacit agreement with me in some ways. He nodded with a smile and replied to trikov: "Comrade commander, comrade oshanina and I suggest that he be promoted from sergeant to Senior Sergeant."¡° He was promoted to second lieutenant, "trekov said in an indisputable tone." as for what kind of reward he will get for such a great achievement, I''ll talk about it later. Now to promote his rank first is to pay him interest first. "

 Chapter 627

    After talking about the work of the Political Department of the group army for a while, trikov and kirilov politely said, "Comrade kirilov, please give the earphone to Colonel oshanina. I have something else to tell her."


    I didn''t expect that after talking with kirilov for half a day, trikov still had something to do with me. After I took the earphone and transmitter from kirilov''s hand, I asked respectfully, "Hello, comrade commander, this is o''shanina. What''s your instruction?"


    "Colonel oshanina," trekov said to me in a serious tone, "because of the tight military strength of Stalingrad, I have ordered the tank troops holding high 107.5 to withdraw to the city. I think it is a waste to use the tank troops as ordinary infantry. If they run out of tanks and when the newly added tanks arrive, no suitable personnel will be found to drive them, then the tanks will become a pile of scrap iron. Therefore, after research, it is decided to withdraw them into the city. The 125th infantry regiment took over their defense. This regiment lost a lot in the early fighting. The new recruits were all militia from tractor factories. At present, the combat effectiveness of the troops is weak, so you should not only focus on the mamayev post, but also pay more attention to the defense areas of your neighbors. Once the situation there is critical, you should send troops to support them in time. "


    "I see, comrade commander." I didn''t dare to neglect trikov''s orders, so I quickly agreed. In order to reassure him, I specially added: "the third regiment and the fourth regiment have participated in the battle to recover the 107.5 highland, and they are familiar with the terrain there, so I plan to transfer the third regiment to the residential area behind the 107.5 highland, so that they can send out reinforcements in time when the highland situation is unfavorable."


    "Very well, your arrangement is very thoughtful." After praising me, trakov went on to say, "today you have played a very good defensive war, but you can''t just defend. You should make use of every opportunity to counter attack. Our present tactics are attack, and we should use counter attack to disrupt the enemy''s preparations for attack. "


    Hearing that he mentioned that he could not only defend but also fight back constantly, I was stunned for a moment. Then I asked curiously, "Comrade commander, the base camp has sent us a reserve team?"


    "Reserves, what reserves?" Trekov seemed to be confused by me, and then he said: "we can only use the existing forces of the group army to fight back."


    "Is there a fully loaded division in the group army now?" I asked tentatively.


    "No, there is no full division." Trakov''s answer was very simple. He did not hide the current situation of the group army from me at all. "There are only 140 soldiers left in the 399th infantry division of Colonel Travnikov."


    When I heard trakov''s words, I couldn''t help but take a breath of cold air. This army from the Far East used to have tens of thousands of people. As a result, it has been lost in the battlefield for just over a month, and the division commander has become the company commander. I took a deep breath, and then asked cautiously, "will they withdraw to the East Bank of the Volga River in the near future?"


    I didn''t expect that trakov gave me a negative answer: "we need troops now. Even if we have more people, we can add more strength to protect the city."


    After listening to me, trikov sighed and said helplessly, "no, none of them. At present, in the organizational system of the group army, you have the largest number of independent divisions. "


    When I heard him say that, I could not help but feel a thump. I said that he would not transfer troops from me to strengthen the disabled infantry divisions in the city, would he? Thinking about this, my heart became more and more uneasy, and I said with some guilty heart: "Comrade commander, although our division has a large number of troops, you know that most of the soldiers have not received special military training, and their combat effectiveness is estimated to be inferior to that of ordinary militia camps. Moreover, from the current situation, mamayev post will become the focus of German attack. I think... "


    "Come on, Colonel o''shanina, don''t complain in front of me. Don''t worry. No matter how difficult the situation in the city is, I won''t transfer a soldier from mamayev post. "


    When I heard him say that, the stone hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground, as long as I didn''t transfer my troops. Although the current strength of the independent division seems to be quite large, and there are still as many as 7000 people, according to the current intensity of fighting, it can support for about a month at most.


    Trakov then said earnestly: "yesterday, comrade Stalin called me in person and said: to lose Stalingrad is to give all the advantages to the enemy. Holding it is like being trapped in the hands of the enemy, threatening its traffic lines. There is no doubt that the occupation of Stalingrad in this campaign is an important part of the strategic plan of the German general command. We don''t know all their detailed plans yet, but I think it''s more risky than their plan to occupy Moscow last year. Stale and stale tactics are well known by the public. We use armored forces to break through the front, then use motorized infantry to encircle our troops, and finally encircle our troops. But after more than a year of fighting, the enemy''s tactics have become less and less threatening to us. "


    Although trakov was quoting Stalin''s original words, I was laughing bitterly in my heart, saying that the enemy''s tactics were less and less threatening to us, but at the end of June, after the disastrous defeat in Kharkov, 250000 people were captured by the German army. But I can only hide these words in my heart, not in my face.


    "Comrade commander, if the three group armies under the command of general Zhukov can successfully break through the encirclement, then our forces guarding the city will be greatly strengthened." In spite of that, in my memory, the 62nd group army did not get any assistance from the 57th and 64th groups army in the south of the city, except for the occasional reinforcements from the East Bank of the Volga River, in the battle of holding fast to Stalingrad. Therefore, I have no confidence in saying this.


    "Colonel o''shanina, you are so optimistic." Originally, I thought that the remnants of these three army groups could become a straw to save Stalingrad. As a result, trakov''s words shattered my dream. He said faintly: "although general Zhukov nominally commands three army groups, only seven divisions are actually engaged in combat. In order to prevent their counterattack, the German army used 12 elite divisions. These divisions are all German divisions, without the troops of the servant state, and also include two armored divisions and five motorized infantry. "


    I sighed again and said with regret: "Comrade commander, it seems that we can only rely on our own strength to hold on to Stalingrad."


    "Colonel oshanina," trikov said, recognizing that I was a little discouraged, and hastily encouraging me, "although the situation is dangerous, it is not desperate. Tell the soldiers: everyone must be a brick to defend the city. Only by building up our confidence can we finally defeat the German attack on the city. "


    Trekov''s words made my mood return to normal after a brief loss. Thinking of this campaign, which became the turning point of the anti Communist war, I said with full confidence: "Comrade commander, I assure you, the commanders and fighters of my independent division."


    My statement not only shocked trakov, but even kirilov, who was standing beside him, became excited. He couldn''t help repeating what I said: "Sir, comrade, you are so good. The commanders and fighters of our independent division will become living concrete, firmly pouring the bricks and tiles of this city inspired by Stalin''s spirit together, and turning the mamayev post into a gate that the enemy can''t cross. "


    After talking to trakov, kirilov and I went back to division headquarters. The first thing I did after I entered the gate was to tell the commander of the guard battalion, basmanov, who came in with me, "Comrade captain, you go to the headquarters and bring three people, Grimes, Beckman and gretka. I have something important to tell them."


    After basmanov left, kirilov looked at his back and said with some displeasure, "Sir, what do you call these three Germans for at this time?"


    "Yes, sir." Akhromeyev also spoke for kirilov: "in this extraordinary period, we can''t take risks. I suggest that we send all these Germans to the prison camp. Otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable once they change sides."


    I didn''t answer them immediately. Instead, I asked them to sit down and asked, "political commissar, chief of staff, have you heard of the red chorus?"


    "Is it another name for Alexandrov''s" red flag Troupe " Asked akhromeyev tentatively.


    When I saw kirilov shaking his head and saying that he had never heard of it, I said to them, "you can''t imagine that this'' red Choir ''has nothing to do with music. It''s an anti Communist Organization spontaneously organized by Germany. The members of the organization are officers and soldiers, workers and artists. They use their identities to obtain a lot of valuable information and forward it to our intelligence agencies through radio. In the information they provided, they pointed out many new battle sites and accurately reported the next strategic deployment of the German army, which made an inestimable contribution to our better fight against the German Communist Party. "


    After these words, I stared nervously at the expressions on both faces, because what I said should still belong to top secret at this moment, not to mention kirilov, even commander yelimenko and military commissar Khrushchev of the front army headquarters did not know. I''m afraid kirilov from the Central Committee will get to the bottom of the matter. I don''t know how to answer that at that time.


    Fortunately, kirilov didn''t speak after listening to me and kept thinking. On the contrary, akhromeyev asked curiously, "Comrade teacher, where does your news come from?"


    To his question, I answered vaguely: "please forgive me for not being able to tell you the source of this information, because it involves confidentiality. And what I just said, please keep it secret. Once it''s leaked, the consequences will be unimaginable. "


    After listening to what I said, kirilov did not entangle, but changed the topic: "Comrade division, you called the three German officers, how do you plan to arrange for them?"


    I''m relieved to hear kirilov say that. At least he''s not so psychologically resistant to gramus now. I quickly replied: "from the current situation, mamayev post will soon become the focus of German attack. For the sake of safety, I don''t think the two companies of gramus should be on the high ground. I plan to help them move to the residential area and make them join the fifth regiment of Oleg. "


    "Is that all right?" Kirilov asked, hesitating.


    "There''s nothing inappropriate, my political commissar." I said with confidence, "gramus, they''re familiar with Lieutenant Oleg and commissar verol. Besides, I''m waiting for gramus to help me train a group of snipers when they get there. "


    "Sniper?" After hearing this word, akhromeyev asked curiously, "we are fighting positional warfare now. What do we want snipers to do?"


    "Yes, sir." Kirilov also asked, "where are you going to use the trained snipers?"


    When they finished their questions, I said to them with a smile: "political commissar and chief of staff, you should take a long view, although the current battle is only outside the city. However, in my estimation, the German army will soon attack the city


    "What do you mean, sir?" Before I finished, akhromeyev asked in surprise, "do you think Stalingrad will fall?"


    "Chief of staff akhromeyev," I said, adding to his confusion with dissatisfaction, "I said that the German army would rush into Stalingrad, not that the city would fall. With our present strength, we can''t stop the powerful Germans. I estimate that in half a month at most, they will attack the city and occupy a large part of the city. In this case, tanks, cannons and even airplanes are of little use. It is machine guns, submachine guns, rifles, grenades and even close combat that determine the outcome. Once the street battle starts, the snipers we trained will be useful. " Speaking of this, I can''t help feeling a little excited and began to tell them the scenes I saw in later films and TV works: "think about it, the Germans are searching on the streets full of bricks and stones, suddenly bullets come from all directions and knock down the soldiers walking on the streets. Without waiting for the rest of the Germans to recover, our snipers have quickly moved to new hiding places, lurking there like hunters, patiently waiting for new prey to appear... "


    "Comrade teacher, this is really wonderful." Akhromeyev was surprised by what I said. When he saw that even kirilov was smiling and nodding, he said, "if the situation is really like what the division commander said, then the training of snipers needs to be started immediately. Not to mention half a month, I think we can train a group of qualified snipers in a week


    "Comrade o''shanina, I agree with you." Kirilov, for the first time, agreed with me on the issue of gramus, "when Captain gramus comes, send them to the settlement immediately." At this point, he stopped for a moment, frowned and thought about it, and then said, "and their uniforms should be changed into our army''s, so as to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding with friendly forces."


    As for kirilov''s proposal, I had no objection. After nodding, I said, "it''s OK. I''ll ask gramus to change their clothes and then go to the residential area. As for the German uniforms they took off, don''t destroy them. Leave them all. Maybe we can use them when we attack the German camp one day. "


    As we were talking, busmanov had brought Grimes, Beckman and gretka to the headquarters. As soon as they entered the door, kirilov stood up for the first time and took the initiative to ask the three to sit down. In the face of a sudden 180 degree turn in his attitude, gramus and the three of them are really not used to it. But I whispered to busmanov, who was still standing upright in front of me: "Comrade captain, you should go out and arrange for the men to find our uniforms for gramus and Beckman, and change their German uniforms."


    Although basmanov''s face showed a look of surprise, but he did not ask anything, but agreed, turned and left the headquarters.


    When I went back to the table and sat down, I saw that the three of them were still in a state of confusion. I immediately laughed and said to them, "two captains, I''m calling you here. I have a new task to give you."


    When I heard that I had an assignment, Beckman and greteka stood up, while gramus was a little slower than them because he had to wait for greteka to translate.


    Seeing that all three of them stood up, I continued, "Captain Grimes, Captain Beckman, I think you have seen the battle on the Highlands today. Although today''s fighting has been brutal, I want to tell you that this is only the beginning. For the sake of your safety, I plan to temporarily transfer the second and third company of the security guards under your command to the residential area and put them in the fifth regiment of commander Oleg and commissar verol. Do you have any ideas? " I didn''t want to say the last sentence, but in order to show respect for them, I specially asked.


    As soon as my voice fell, Grimes began to creak. Gretka''s translator said, "Sir, I''m going to stay as your company commander. I''ll be wherever you are."


    After listening to gretka''s translation, I first expressed my gratitude to Grimes, and then said, "Captain Grimes, I have a more important task to give you when I transfer you and your subordinates to the settlement."


    "I''m at your service." Without waiting for gretka to translate this sentence, Grimes said it in stiff Russian.


    "Last time I was at the station, I discussed with you about snipers. Do you remember?" After listening to the translation, gramus nodded without hesitation¡° Now I''m sending you to the residential area to train a group of qualified snipers in the shortest time. Are you confident of completing the task? "


    "No problem." Grimes continued to show off his poor Russian and answered me with all his heart.


    Seeing that he had no objection, I gave a direct order to him and Beckman: "well, Captain Grimes and captain Beckman, I now formally order you to be under the command of the fifth regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Oleg from now on. In addition to gramus to train a group of qualified snipers for us in the shortest time; Of course, Captain Beckman, you can''t be idle. Most of the soldiers in our division have not been trained, so you are responsible for training them. "


    "Please rest assured that we will complete the task." They straightened up and answered in Russian with one voice.


    I saw kirilov and akhromeyev smiling and nodding beside me, so I told them, "because this is an extraordinary time, in order to prevent misunderstanding among friendly forces, when you take your troops to leave the Highlands later, you should change your original uniform into our uniform."


    "I understand!" Both of them answered with one voice.


    After they all left, I picked up the phone on the desk and rang through five regiments. After hearing verol''s familiar voice from the receiver, I immediately said to her, "political commissar verol, I''m captain o''shanina. I have something to inform you."


    Villol said politely, "Sir, I''m at your command."


    "I have just sent the second and third companies of the guard camp to the residential areas. From today on, they will be officially under your command. These two company commanders, you and lieutenant commander Oleg, are Capt. gramus and Capt. Beckman. When they arrive at your regiment, their tasks are: first, to strengthen the technical and tactical level of all the commanders and fighters; second, to train a number of qualified snipers. As long as it is within a reasonable range, you can do everything possible to support them. "


    "I see, sir. I''ll report this to commander Oleg and send someone out to meet them


    After listening to this, I nodded with satisfaction, chatted with her for a few minutes, and then hung up.


    When I put down the phone and saw akhromeyev sitting in front of me, I told him what trikov had told me. After hearing this, he sat in his seat and frowned for a while, then said: "Sir, I think we should send out observation posts to the direction of 107.5 highland, and carry walkie talkies, so that we can know the latest situation of highland in time."


    "What''s your opinion, comrade political commissar?" Although I think akhromeyev''s consideration is good, I turned to ask kirilov politely.


    "I have no objection." Kirilov made a brief statement of his attitude.


    "Well, comrade chief of staff, since that is the case, you should arrange the observation post as soon as possible. As for what communication equipment you need, you''ll find lieutenant razumeyeva later. " Seeing that kirilov and akhromeyev had the same attitude, which saved me a lot of trouble, I went on to say, "in addition, take out two of the five German heavy guns captured, and point the muzzle at Highland 107.5. If the German army occupied the highland before our reinforcements arrived, they would be severely bombarded with cannons." A few days ago, when the three regiments and four regiments attacked the highlands from the south, my heart was bleeding. I don''t want to make the same mistake again, so I have to take precautions now.


    "Who will command these two heavy guns?" Akhromeyev, the chief of staff, is very careful.


    "Let the newly promoted second artillery company lieutenant tyakonov take command. In addition, several skilled Gunners were transferred from the third company, but his team was strengthened."


    A few hours later, it turned out how right we were to plan ahead. In the evening, the German army suddenly concentrated its forces and launched a fierce attack on the 107.5 highland on the west side of the mamayev post.


    Although their tactics are still the same, first with guns, then with tanks to cover the infantry charge. If they use this tactic to fight against mamayev post, I can affirm that they will be beaten to death in front of the highland as they did in the morning, and they will be defeated after losing their troops.


    But at the moment, the 125th infantry regiment was seriously weakened. After the German artillery stopped, the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, quickly rushed to our position along the north slope.


    According to our observation post, as most of the fortifications on the hillside were flattened by gunfire, some of the remaining friendly commanders and fighters hid behind the stones, some squatted in the newly formed craters, or in the only one or two remaining trenches, shooting at the German infantry.


    I went out of the headquarters, picked up my telescope and looked at the friendly highland on the west side. I saw that the fierce shooting continued on the highland, with the explosion of tank shells and grenades in the middle. The high ground was full of fire and explosion.


    At this moment, Pugachev, who was called by me, came running breathlessly and asked in a loud voice, "what instructions do you have, sir?" I pointed to the western highland where the battle was raging and said in a loud voice, "Comrade Pugachev, do you see the battle on the highland over there? The Germans are attacking the friendly forces. Your task is to immediately lead a battalion to reinforce highland 107.5. "¡° Comrade captain, "kirilov, who didn''t know when he came to me, specially added:" the task is clear. You should help the 125th infantry regiment on the highlands to hold the position and block the Germans so that they can''t move forward. Do you understand? "¡° I see There was a look of embarrassment on Pugachev''s face, but he soon returned to normal and answered us loudly, "I promise to finish the task." When Pugachev left, kirilov looked through his telescope at the highland where the battle was going on in the distance, and asked curiously, "Comrade division, didn''t you promise the commander to put the third regiment behind the highland so as to reinforce the highland at any time? Why is the second regiment sent out now? " As for his question, I explained to him, "my political commissar, the third regiment is too far away from the highland. When they arrive, it is estimated that the highland has been lost. If the second regiment starts from here, it will arrive in about ten minutes. At that time, the attacking enemy is a little tired. Maybe they will drive the German down with a counter charge. "¡° What if the Highlands were lost before they arrived? " Kirilov asked, looking at the distant highlands.

 Chapter 628

    For kirilov''s question, I thought for a moment, and then said decisively: "if the friendly highland is lost, then I will order the heavy artillery unit of second lieutenant tyakonov to bombard the highland, use the heavy artillery to suppress the German firepower, and cover the second regiment''s counter attack on the highland." Having just said that, I thought of the worst possibility, and hastily added, "if the attack of the second regiment fails, transfer the third regiment to continue to attack."


    As for my attitude, kirilov nodded his head with great satisfaction and said with approval: "yes, sir, you have considered it very comprehensively. If we use the forces of two regiments to attack such a small position in turn under the cover of artillery fire, we can certainly wipe out all the German people in the position."


    As we were talking, Pugachev had come with his troops. He raised his hand and said in a loud voice, "Comrade division commander, comrade political commissar, and acting commander of the second regiment, Captain Pugachev, report to you that the first battalion has been assembled and ready to fight at any time. Please give us instructions!"


    I looked at the officers and men standing densely on the hillside and asked Pugachev, "Comrade deputy commander, how many officers and men are there in the first battalion now?"


    Without looking back, Pugachev answered me clearly: "report to the division commander, there are five companies in the first battalion, each company has seven commanders, 110 soldiers, and two battalion level commanders. There are 587 soldiers in the whole battalion."


    I heard that there are two battalion level commanders in the 1st battalion. I immediately realized that my decision to ask Pugachev to lead the troops to support the friendly forces was a little too hasty. I immediately said to him, "Comrade Pugachev, you don''t have to take part in this battle. Let the troops be under the command of the 1st battalion commander." Then, without waiting for any response, he went straight forward and asked the commanders standing in front of the line in a loud voice, "who is the commander of the first battalion?"


    As I asked, a tall, thin, swarthy captain stepped forward, raised his hand in front of me, and answered loudly, "report to division commander, Captain horushoff, I''m the commander of a battalion."


    As soon as I heard the captain report himself, I immediately remembered who he was. With a smile on my face, I narrowed my eyes and said in a friendly way: "the last time the German shelled the 2nd regiment, the new soldiers collapsed under the enemy''s fire, but you and your company stayed in the trenches. Is that so? "


    "Yes, sir, that''s true." When horushov saw that I remember him, he was also a little excited and said: "at that time, the enemy''s artillery fire was fierce. I knew that if I left the position without permission, the troops would be consumed by the German artillery fire in the open field, so at the beginning of the rout, I stopped those soldiers who were shaken by fear in time and let them stay in the trench. What I didn''t expect was that after the commander of Pugachev braved the fire and arrived at the front line, he immediately announced the appointment of me as a battalion commander in public. "


    I laughed, took his hand and said, "Captain horushov, I heard that you once participated in the battle of Kharkov and have rich combat experience. The friendly neighbor''s 107.5 highland is now under fierce attack from the German army. I have entrusted the glorious and arduous task of rescuing the friendly army to your battalion. Do you have any confidence to complete this task? "


    "Please rest assured, I promise to finish the task well."


    Kirilov saw that I asked horushov to take his troops to the highland to reinforce the friendly troops. He also stepped forward to my side and asked the other commanders in a loud voice, "who is the political deputy commander here?"


    "Report to the political commissar, it''s me." The political worker who came out of the queue stood beside horushov and replied respectfully.


    As soon as I saw it, the political worker who came out was actually the one I knew, that is, safchenko who accompanied the soldiers who violated military discipline to the headquarters a few days ago.


    Kirilov saw that the political deputy battalion commander who came out was safchenko, and his face also showed a happy smile. He then extended his hand to shake hands with him, and told him: "Comrade safchenko, my division commander and I are very impressed with you. I hope your performance in this battle will not disappoint us."


    Safchenko looked around at horushov, then confidently said: "please rest assured, division commander and political commissar comrades, I will help the battalion commander to complete the rescue of friendly forces."


    Kirilov nodded with a smile, then turned his head and asked for my opinion in a low voice: "Comrade division, the army is about to leave. Would you please tell them a few words?"


    When I heard his suggestion, I waved my hand and pushed the hot potato to him again. If we want to do battle mobilization, it is more suitable for political workers like kirilov.


    Seeing that I did not intend to make a speech, kirilov did not refuse any more, but moved forward two steps. After getting closer to the troops, kirilov began to mobilize them to fight: "comrades, the bandits are attacking the friendly forces on the western highlands. If we do not support the friendly forces, the enemy will fight against the enemy after seizing the highlands, Make it a starting point for the city. So we should do our best to fight back the German attack, defend the land under our feet, and defend the city named after the Supreme Commander behind us! Although our troops and weapons are far inferior to those of the bandits, our independent division is a team good at creating miracles. We have unyielding will to fight, and we have the great spirit of not afraid of sacrifice! I believe that you will be able to cooperate with the friendly forces and fight back the attacks of the bandits. "


    Standing in front of the line, safchenko, hearing kirilov''s remarks, took the lead in shaking his arms and shouting: "defend Stalingrad to the death and drive away the bandits!"


    Led by him, all the soldiers also raised their arms and chanted slogans: "defend Stalingrad to the death, drive out the bandits!"


    Seeing the fierce emotions of the commanders and fighters, kirilov nodded again with satisfaction, then waved his big hand and gave the order to the commanders and fighters: "let''s go!"


    Standing in front of the line, horushov and safchenko stepped back and solemnly raised their right hands to salute kirilov and me.


    As soon as horushov and his first battalion officers and men left mamayev post and entered the open area between the two Highlands, they were immediately found by German tanks. Several tanks that were shelling the Highlands turned their guns and fired at them.


    As soon as the shell exploded in the open field, horushov understood the movement of the troops and was found by the German army. He immediately dispersed the troops and took the platoon as a unit to pass through the enemy''s artillery fire. Looking at them moving forward skillfully by virtue of the terrain, kirilov, who was standing on the top of the slope with me, could not help saying with emotion: "Comrade division commander, although the commanders and fighters of the second regiment are new fighters who have just been added, from their tactical movements, they are all well trained."


    Looking at the skilful movements of the commanders and fighters, I quickly understood what was going on. I quickly explained to kirilov, who didn''t know the inside story: "Comrade political commissar, although the soldiers of the second regiment are all newly added, they have no military training or combat experience. But some time ago, when the fifth regiment and I were holding fast to the station behind the enemy, I once urged commander xiejerikov, who was in charge of the daily affairs of the division, to train the troops and prepare for the fierce battle. Judging from the performance of the second regiment, comrade xiejerikov carried out my orders thoroughly. "


    Under the German artillery fire, the soldiers crawled forward for a while, stood up for a while and bent forward. I quickly picked up the phone that I could contact with lieutenant tyakonov directly and ordered loudly, "Comrade lieutenant, use those two heavy guns to fire at the German tanks! Fire now


    Less than two minutes after the order was given, the sound of guns rumbled down the hillside. Lt. tyakonov was directing his gunners to bombard the German tanks in the distance to suppress their firepower and cover the troops of horushov battalion approaching the friendly highlands.


    Heavy artillery is heavy artillery, although only two, but far more powerful than the German tank more than a dozen. The first two shells fell, one directly lifted the turret of a tank, while the other one fell in the middle of the two tanks, but also blew up five or six infantry hiding near the tank.


    I was watching the results of the heavy artillery. Suddenly, there was a rush of footsteps behind me. I turned my head and saw that it was gordonov, the acting head of the third regiment. Panting, he ran behind us and stood still, then raised his hand to salute.


    Kirilov stepped forward, reached out his hand and shook his hand warmly. At the same time, he asked, "Captain Godunov, how did you get here?"


    "Comrade political commissar, the order our regiment received is to assist the friendly forces to defend the 107.5 highland. But now the German invaders are attacking the Highlands, but our regiments are not allowed to stay in the residential areas much. In this case, the commanders and fighters are in a mood. "


    "People with emotions, first of all, are you?" Kirilov''s free hand pointed to Godunov and mercilessly exposed his little plot. However, kirilov was very satisfied with gordonov''s eagerness to fight. After releasing his hand, he raised his hand and patted the other side on the shoulder. He said earnestly, "Comrade gordonov, don''t worry. There are plenty of battles for you to fight. The reason why the division commander and I sent the troops of the second regiment to reinforce the friendly highland was that they were stationed closer to the target than your regiment. "


    I also went to Godunov, shook hands with him, and then asked, "Captain Godunov, how many people do you have with you?"


    "Three full infantry companies are all German equipment." Godunov replied.


    "You''ve just come from a settlement so far away. Can you still run if you want to rush to the highland to support the friendly troops?" Kirilov asked with concern.


    Godunov forthrightly replied, "please rest assured that there is no problem. The soldiers were full of fighting enthusiasm, but during this period of time, our regiment was recuperating most of the time because the regiment leader was injured. Watching other regiments win many battles, the soldiers couldn''t help but think of meeting the Germans on the battlefield. I said, "teachers and political commissars, we are not here to see the excitement. We must assign tasks to us!"


    I looked at kirilov and saw that his face was in full bloom at the moment, so I proposed to him: "Comrade political commissar, my opinion is to let Comrade gordonov take these three companies to reinforce. What''s your opinion? "


    Kirilov answered with a smile, "I have said earlier, Comrade Jiang, I only have the political and ideological work in my division, and the military has the final say."


    "Well, I''ll make the decision." After I had said this, I said to Godunov, "Comrade captain, you see, Captain horushov of the second regiment is taking his battalion to the south slope of the highland under enemy fire. At present, the heavy artillery of our division is suppressing the German tank fire. Your task is to take your three companies to the foot of the south slope and stand by. "


    "But Comrade division commander," he was a little impatient when he heard my order to stand by at the foot of the south slope of the friendly highland. "You know, our regiment''s combat effectiveness is no worse than that of the second regiment, and even a little bit stronger. Besides, I led my troops to hold on to the highland for a period of time. I am very familiar with the terrain there. I can assure you that as long as our regiment''s troops arrive at the high ground, they can lead the troops to bring down the attacking Krauts in five minutes at most. "


    Seeing his eagerness to fight, I quickly said, "Captain Godunov, I understand what you are thinking. But since you''ve been on that high ground, you should understand that you can''t deploy a large army on that high ground. I''ve already sent five companies of the second regiment up. If you put your three companies into battle, plus the original garrison on the highland, the formation of the troops will be too dense. One German shell can kill and injure more than ten or even dozens of us. Huge casualties will seriously affect the morale of our army. Do you understand? "


    When gordonov heard me say this, he suddenly realized that he was happy to salute kirilov and me: "I see, teachers and political commissars. Will you allow me to take the troops out? "


    When kirilov nodded, I said to Godunov, "let''s go, comrade captain. When passing through the open area, let the commanders and fighters pay attention to concealment and minimize unnecessary casualties. "


    When Godunov left, I raised my telescope again and looked at the open field. On the open ground, there were more than 30 smoke craters. Around the craters, some of our soldiers lay more or less. Some lay on the ground motionless, and some obviously injured, lying on the ground constantly rolling. At this time, Captain horushov''s troops were only a hundred meters away from the highland. As long as they made another two dashes, they could rush into the dead corner of German tank fire.


    I picked up the phone again and called akhromeyev, who was on duty in the division headquarters. As soon as I got through the phone, I said in a hurry, "Hello, chief of staff, please call the division health team immediately and ask them to send people to the open area between mamayev post and 107.5 highland to rescue the wounded."


    "Is there a health team in the division?" When I put down the phone, kirilov asked curiously.


    To this question, I shrugged my shoulders and answered helplessly: "Comrade political commissar, although the independent division had a health team when it was set up, it has always been nominal. It wasn''t until I led the fifth regiment back from behind the enemy that I learned that the superior had sent a lot of medical staff to the division, making the health team worthy of the name. "


    The preparation task I assigned to shijerikov behind the enemy line seems to have been well done. The second regiment, which used to be the least effective, now rushed up to the top of the mountain and rushed down to the German infantry like a tiger. They smashed a hand grenade on their head, and without waiting for the smoke to disperse, they rushed to the panic stricken German army with weapons, and launched a white-edged battle with them.


    Seeing that the enemy and our armies were mixed together, I became more confident. The German tanks were afraid of injuring their own people, so they did not dare to fire easily. From the beginning of our division''s formation, I have always put the training of white-edged combat in the first place, so that we can have a little advantage in the future street fighting.


    Our soldiers fought with the German army on the north slope of the highland. Lieutenant tyakonov''s heavy artillery unit was not idle. They fired methodically. At least half of the German tanks were disbursed, and the remaining tanks turned around and walked away.


    And captain Godunov, in the end, didn''t fully carry out my orders. When he saw the German tanks retreating, he took his own stand and led the troops to fight upward from the north slope, and the second regiment from the top to the bottom, forming a front and back attack. See Godunov hand pistol impact the middle of the German army, keep shooting with a pistol close to his side of the German soldiers. Seeing that the German army was caught in the front and back attack of our army, the morale of the commanders and fighters was greatly boosted and they became more and more brave.


    Seeing that our troops succeeded in attacking the German troops, I was also relieved and said to kirilov, "come on, comrade political commissar, let''s go back to the headquarters."


    The first thing I did when I got back to the headquarters was to call razumeyeva in and ask her, "Comrade lieutenant, how do we communicate here with the friendly highlands?"


    Razumeyeva was stunned by my question. After a while, she said with a blank face: "Comrade division commander, in addition to contacting inside the independent division, we can also directly communicate with the headquarters of the group army, and even send a telegram to a higher level command organization. As for the friendly troops who stick to the 107.5 highland, we can''t get in touch for the time being. "


    When I heard her say this, I immediately criticized her: "how can this work, comrade Lieutenant? You know, our division still has the task of assisting the 125th infantry regiment to stick to the 107.5 highland. If we can''t communicate with each other, how can I command the battle? "


    Kirilov saw me making Radhu Meyer Va''s eyes red and came to our side. He said to Radhu Meyer Va in a friendly tone, "Lieutenant comrade, you can think of a way to establish communication between Mawang yev gang and the 107.5 highlands as soon as possible. As for the telephone or the telephone, you will be the one who has the final say."


    After thinking about it, razumeyeva replied, "report to the division commander and political commissar, we don''t have many telephones and walkie talkies at present, so we can only barely meet the communication between regimental units. Well, I''ll send someone to pull a telephone line between the two highlands. In this way, you can call them at any time if you have anything to do


    "That''s a good idea." I praised her, immediately urged her: "then don''t hesitate, immediately send someone to set up the telephone line."


    After razumeyeva raised her hand to salute, she planned to leave, but kirilov stopped her. She only listened to his command and said, "Comrade lieutenant, you''d better ask the operator Najia to come here with the phone later, so that if the superior has any new instructions, we can be contacted immediately."


    Five minutes later, the operator corporal Najia and her telephone set up in the corner near the door of the headquarters. When she debugged the machine, I would contact trakov and report to him about the attack on friendly highland 107.5.


    Trekov was surprised and asked nervously, "o''shanina, what''s the situation like now? Has the German attack been repulsed


    "Report to the commander, after the beginning of the German attack, I dispatched one battalion from each of the second and third regiments to reinforce. Now the enemy''s attack has been repulsed by us. Only burning tanks and bodies of German soldiers were left in front of the position. " After reassuring trikov, I added: "as our division is unable to communicate with the friendly Highlands, we do not know the results we have achieved or the casualties of the friendly forces for the time being."


    "O''shanina, as far as I know, when the tank troops held high, they did not build any fortifications except for digging two trenches," trikov thought. I estimate that under such circumstances, the casualties of the 125th regiment will not be small. "


    "What do you think, comrade commander?" I asked cautiously, "do you want me to send troops to change guard with them?"


    As soon as my voice fell, trakov said busily, "well, since you take the initiative to say so, then, it''s up to your division to stick to the 107.5 highland."


    After listening to trekov''s words, I want to slap myself in the face. Don''t I make trouble for myself? Two Highlands, a residential area and the Volga River Wharf in the mamayev post have given me a headache. Now, with a 107.5 highland, our division''s defense area is too large. In the face of the fierce German attack, can our division block it? But the words have already been said, just like the water thrown out, it can''t be collected. I can only harden my head and say, "well, comrade commander, I''ll transfer the third regiment to take over the defense of the 125th regiment tonight."


    "Thank you, Colonel oshanina, thank you!" After listening to my statement, trakov gave me an unusual thank you. When I was at a loss, trakov went on to say, "the 125th regiment lost a lot in the early fighting. Even if it was replenished two days ago, the total strength of the regiment was only 400. Let them such a incomplete and tired division to guard 107.5 highland, my heart is not stable. But now it''s all right. I''m not only relieved to hand over this highland to your independent division. Even the commander of the front army is at ease. "


    As soon as my conversation with trakov was over, the phone on my desk rang. Akhromeyev, who was sitting at the table, picked up the receiver and just gave a feed. He suddenly covered the receiver with his hand and said excitedly to kirilov and me, "the division commander and political commissar are from captain horushov on the friendly highlands."


    I darted to the table, took the microphone from akhromeyev''s hand, put it to my ear, and said in a loud voice, "Hello, Hello, is that captain horushov? I''m commander, Colonel o''shanina


    Hearing my voice, horushov quickly said, "report to division commander, we have assisted the friendly forces to eliminate the German troops attacking the highlands. Please direct us to the next task."


    "Comrade captain, I now officially announce to you that your battalion and captain Godunov''s forces will take over the defence of the highlands. As for the troops who used to stick to the high ground, let them withdraw to the city immediately after handing over their defense. "


    After listening to my orders, horushov whispered something to the people next to him. After a while, he raised his voice and said to me, "Comrade division commander, Captain sumsky, commander of the 125th regiment, wants to speak to you." Before I could express my opinion, a strange voice came from the earphone: "Hello, comrade teacher. I''m captain sumsky, chief of staff of the 125th regiment. I''d like to make a request to you. Can we stay on the high ground? Our commander and so many excellent commanders and fighters have died here. We can''t just leave their bodies and go back to the city. "


    "Captain sumsky," I did not refuse his request directly, but politely asked, "how many people are left in your regiment?"


    When Captain sumsky heard my question, he was stunned for a moment and then replied to me, "report to division commander, when the whole regiment went to battle, there were 389 people. In the battle just now, most of our officers and men lost in the enemy''s artillery preparation. There are still 182 people left in the regiment, including 148 heavy and heavy wounded. "


    Hearing the data he reported, my heart could not help but thump. I didn''t expect that there was only one soldier left in the regiment who was not injured. Thinking of this, I no longer have any resistance to the command of receiving defense given by trakov. After all, with the strength of 125th regiment, the German infantry, even without the cover of artillery and tanks, will be completely destroyed if they attack again. At this time, I refused captain sumsky''s request without hesitation: "Comrade captain, you''d better take your men back to the city to rest and turn over the positions to captain horushov and captain Godunov."¡° But... "Captain sumsky tried to convince me¡° It''s nothing but, comrade captain. " I interrupted what he wanted to say and said in an unquestionable tone: "it is the order of the superior and the love of your regiment to let you withdraw from the city. Remember, comrade captain, orders from higher authorities are not allowed to be discussed and must be carried out unconditionally. " Seeing that I had already said this, Captain sumsky knew that nothing else would help, so he sighed and said helplessly, "OK, I will carry out the order and withdraw the troops to the city immediately." When the call came back to horushov, I immediately ordered him: "Comrade captain, you should immediately organize soldiers to build fortifications on the high ground, and be ready to fight a vicious war."¡° Comrade division, "said horushov with a little hesitation," the soldiers are very tired after fighting. Can you give them a night''s rest and fix it after daybreak tomorrow? "¡° No, "I refused his request unequivocally and said impolitely," Comrade captain, do you think the Germans will give you a rest? Maybe the Germans will start shelling the highlands at dawn tomorrow. Are you seven or eight hundred people huddled on high ground without fortifications, waiting for German shells? " Hearing that I was angry, huorushaofu had no choice but to honestly promise: "I understand, sir, I''m going to organize people to build fortifications on the high ground." I knew in my heart that although horushov promised to carry out the order, I didn''t know how to scold me, but I didn''t care about him at this time. Instead, I called razumeyeva in and asked her curiously, "Comrade lieutenant, is your communication company efficient? It took at most 15 minutes from the time I gave the order to the time when the phone was connected. " Razumeyeva replied with a smile, "yes, sir. I asked the soldier in charge of stringing to go to the friendly highland by truck. In this way, the time on the road will be greatly shortened, so that the communication with the friendly highland can be realized in a short time. " When razumeyeva went out, the leaders of our three divisions sat around the table again. Akhromeyev first said, "Comrade division commander, I think we should ask our superiors to provide us with enough artillery. Otherwise, we are always overwhelmed by the German artillery fire in the battle, which increases unnecessary casualties in vain."¡° Comrade chief of staff, your idea is good. " After kirilov listened, he poured cold water on him. "Not to mention that the group army has artillery now. Even if we are equipped with artillery, the situation is not optimistic."¡° Why? " I wanted to ask this question originally, but I didn''t expect to be preempted by akhromeyev, so I didn''t add to the story any more. I just waited for his answer in silence¡° If the mortar company is sent to us, the caliber of the guns is too small to pose a threat to the enemy''s long-range artillery and tanks. If it is a heavy artillery force, to avoid becoming the target of the enemy''s air attack, it needs to be constantly transferred. But now, where can we find so many tractor trucks and so much gasoline for trucks? " After listening to kirilov''s analysis of the actual difficulties, I felt disappointed. Just as I wanted to express my opinion, I suddenly thought of kirilov''s last sentence, and a good idea came into my mind. I can''t wait to ask kirilov: "Comrade political commissar, although we can''t get the gasoline that trucks need now, can we get empty gasoline barrels?"¡° Gasoline tank? " After listening to my question, not only kirilov, but also akhromeyev was stunned.

 Chapter 629

    Seeing their confused reaction, I smile and explain to them, "Comrade chief of staff just said that we are short of enough artillery. I think so. Since the superior can''t send us artillery, we will try to form our own artillery."


    "Sir, what does this have to do with the empty gasoline tank you want?" Asked akhromeyev curiously.


    Kirilov and akhromeyev looked at each other and said, "yes, comrade oshanina, I''m confused by you. What''s the connection between this empty gasoline barrel and the artillery we are going to set up?"


    "I''m just going to use empty barrels to make new cannons." As soon as my words came out, their chins almost hit the table. When I saw a pen in akhromeyev''s hand, I reached out to him and said politely, "Comrade chief of staff, please lend me your pen."


    Akhromeyev quickly stood up, leaned forward and handed me the pen across the table.


    I took the pen from his hand, said thanks, unscrewed the cap and put the pen holder on the table. I looked at the cap in my hand, thought about it, put it on the penholder, and began to explain to the two commanders the principle of the upcoming thunder gun: "my political commissar and chief of staff, this new type of cannon I mentioned is actually an explosive bag launcher with a gasoline barrel as the barrel. The main body of this kind of weapon, which can also be called explosive launcher, is an empty vapor oil barrel. After filling it with propellant, put the explosive package bundled into a disk shape into it, and then ignite the propellant. Using the impact force generated by the explosion, the explosive package weighing up to 10 kg can be thrown 150-200 meters away. "


    When I introduced the principle of the torpedo to them, they were staring at the cap on the desk. After a while, akhromeyev said in an uncertain tone: "Sir, your idea is good, but we are not professionals. It is still a question whether this kind of explosive bag launcher can be manufactured."


    Kirilov waved his hand and said simply, "well, since we are all laymen, don''t waste our time here. We''d better call captain Morozov, the artillery battalion commander, and lieutenant mihayev, the engineer company commander, and let them give us their professional opinions again. "


    "The political commissar is quite right." Their proposals were very reasonable, so I followed suit and said decisively, "in this case, I''ll call Morozov and mihayev and let professionals comment on my ideas."


    After my words, without waiting for my order, akhromeyev had got up and went to the telephone. He called Morozov and mihayev respectively and informed them to rush to the headquarters immediately. There were important tasks to assign to them.


    After receiving a phone call from akhromeyev, molozov and mihayev dare not neglect and trot to the headquarters one by one. Before breathing, Morozov gasped and asked, "may I ask the teachers and political commissars to come to us? Do you have any new instructions?"


    I quickly asked them to sit down at the table and asked akhromeyev to repeat what I had just said to them. After hearing this, their expressions were quite different. Morozov frowned and stared at the cap on the desk, as if he was considering the feasibility of my proposal. Mihayev, on the other hand, was embarrassed and kept looking around.


    Kirilov stood behind mikheiev with his hands behind his back and asked with a smile, "Lieutenant mikheiev, what do you think of the teacher''s idea?"


    Mihayev stood up in a hurry, turned around and replied awkwardly, "report to the political commissar, I have no opinion."


    "Why?" Kirilov''s face changed as he said this.


    Mikhail yev also saw the change of kirilov''s face and explained in a hurry: "Comrade political commissar, as you know, the company commander of my engineering company is not a real engineer. I don''t master the professional skills of engineers. What I am familiar with is building houses or building fortifications, and I don''t understand anything else."


    I saw a disappointed expression on kirilov''s face and immediately asked molozov, who was thinking, "Comrade captain, what do you think of this?"


    My words awakened Morozov from his meditation. He stood up in a hurry and replied cautiously: "Mr. reporter, I''ve thought about it carefully. Theoretically, your idea can be realized."


    Molozov''s words aroused kirilov''s hope again. He couldn''t wait to ask, "Captain molozov, you are a professional and have the right to speak more than all of us. Do you think that you can really make the kind of cannon that the division commander said with an empty gasoline tank?"


    Morozov nodded hard and said with certainty: "yes, according to the introduction of the chief of staff, the explosive launcher mentioned by the division chief has some similarities with the previous heavy mortar guns. They are all used at a high elevation angle and have a short range, but the explosive power is absolutely amazing. Moreover, the caliber of this weapon is absolutely amazing. The caliber of the gun depends on the thickness of the oil barrel we use. According to my experience, this kind of 10 kg huge explosive package produces a strong explosive impact. Wherever they pass, both fortifications and soldiers will be blown up, and even those hiding in tanks will not be spared, because even if they are not blown up, they will be shocked to death alive. "


    After listening to Morozov''s explanation, kirilov''s face showed a surprise expression. He turned his head and asked me excitedly, "Comrade division, if this kind of cannon is built, can it achieve the effect that Captain Morozov said?"


    I nodded and said seriously, "yes, comrade political commissar. After this kind of gun is manufactured, we can use it to attack German tanks, armored vehicles, field fortifications and dense attack formations. And this kind of gun is easy to make, as long as there is a gasoline barrel. When our forward forces are equipped with this kind of weapon, will they be afraid of the intensive charging of German tanks and infantry? "


    Kirilov was very excited when he heard what I said. He said, "it''s really wonderful. I''ll call the commander immediately and ask him to provide us with enough explosives."


    "Wait a minute, comrade political commissar." Kirilov went to the phone. As soon as he picked up the phone, he was stopped by Morozov. He looked back at Morozov and asked, "Comrade captain, do you have anything to say?"


    Morozov turned his head and looked at me with a sad face and said, "Comrade division, the old heavy mortar guns used to use explosives to hit out are all iron balls. There is no problem of detonation. I haven''t come up with a good way to detonate the explosive bag. "


    I thought it was a technical problem. I didn''t expect it was such a small problem. I waved my hand and said, "Comrade captain, don''t worry. It''s easy. At the same time, the fuse on the explosive package is ignited. Remember, the fuse should be a little longer, otherwise it will explode before it flies out of the gun, or it will hurt our own people


    "I see, sir. Now I understand everything." Molozov rubbed his hands excitedly, showing an eager look, "I''ll go to the gasoline tank and find another place to do the experiment. Teachers and political commissars, please rest assured that I will complete the production of this explosive launcher before dawn. "


    Kirilov picked up the phone again. When he was about to call the headquarters, he suddenly heard it and asked me, "Comrade oshanina, this new weapon is called explosive launcher. It''s a bit too awkward. Can you give me a simple name?"


    I pretended to think for a while, and then solemnly said: "it''s called" thunderbolt. " Originally, I wanted to give a new name, but because of my lack of talent and learning, I still used the old name of this weapon.


    Kirilov called trakov and excitedly reported to the other party: "Comrade commander, division oshanina is going to make a new weapon for the defense of the highlands. I hope you can help."


    Attracted by kirilov''s words, trakov asked with great interest, "what weapon is it?"


    "Comrade o''shanina named this new weapon" the thundergun ", which is to put an empty gasoline barrel filled with propellant, put the explosive package bundled into a disk shape, and then ignite the propellant. Using the impact force generated by the explosion, the explosive package weighing up to 10 kg can be thrown 150-200 meters away. According to her introduction, this kind of weapon can deal with German tanks, armored vehicles, field fortifications and infantry intensive attack formation, but I think if this kind of weapon is used in street fighting, it can also destroy the buildings occupied by the enemy and reduce the casualties of our counterattack troops. "


    "Well, that sounds good. But I don''t know what kind of help I can offer you? "


    "We need dynamite, a lot of dynamite." Kirilov said rudely to trikov: "as far as I know, there is a large amount of explosives stored in an underground warehouse near the group army, which was originally intended to be used when the enemy attacked the city and destroyed important facilities. However, the plan to destroy the city is now obviously shelved, so the explosives are forgotten there. Comrade commander, I ask you to give this batch of explosives to our division. With the newly manufactured "thunder guns" and enough explosives, we will have more confidence in guarding the mamayev post. "


    Trikov was moved by kirilov. Almost without thinking, he said, "well, I''ll make the decision. Let the transport team transport you four tons of explosives. If it''s not enough, I''ll continue to supplement you." Speaking of this, he suddenly remembered another thing and went on, "by the way, when you see Comrade oshanina, please tell her that after repeated reconnaissance by our army''s scouts, we found that her station at abganerovo, where she had been stationed, had been flattened by explosives, and the German army had lost at least a thousand people here. The headquarters of the front army will soon reward her for her achievements. "


    Kirilov put down the phone and said to me with a smile, "do you hear me? Comrade division. On behalf of general trakov, I have the honor to inform you that the explosions caused by the explosives you planted during your evacuation from the abganerovo station have caused great losses to the German army. The headquarters of the front army intends to reward you. Here, I would like to congratulate you first Then he reached out to me.


    After kirilov and I finished shaking hands, akhromeyev, Morozov and mihayev also came forward to shake hands with me to express congratulations. As I shook hands with them, I thought: Lao maozi is so polite. Besides saying thank you and congratulations, he shakes hands frequently.


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Seeing that it was getting late, I told Morozov: "Comrade captain, the explosive truck of the group army headquarters is expected to arrive in an hour. Remember to send some soldiers to meet it. At the same time, you should make use of this time to organize people to prepare empty oil barrels. If there are not enough people, you can ask Mikhail yev or Pugachev for help. Also, don''t use ordinary wires to tie explosive bags. I''m afraid they will fall apart in the air. It''s better to use wires to tie them. " Seeing that all the things to be explained were almost done, he waved to him and mihayev and said, "well, it''s getting late. You''d better hurry back to the army and get ready."


    As the saying goes: no doubt about people, no doubt about people. So after the task was assigned, I didn''t follow molozov to ask him about the progress of the manufacture of the torpedo. When the time was almost up, kirilov and akhromeyev and I were resting at the desk in the headquarters.


    Just as I was sleepy, there was a loud noise outside. Because it is in the silent night, the decibel of the sound is increased in disguise, which makes my drowsiness disappear. I sat up straight, looked at kirilov, who was also in a state of unconsciousness, and asked feebly, "Comrade political commissar, what''s the matter?"


    Kirilov and I woke up at about the same time. Naturally, he couldn''t know what was going on, so he shook his head and turned his eyes to akhromeyev. The chief of staff is not much better. After a moment''s hesitation, he tentatively said, "is it captain Morozov who is experimenting with the ''thunderbolt''


    After all, he said that he would complete the manufacture of the torpedo before dawn. Maybe he is really testing new weapons. Thinking of this, I leaned slightly and listened to the voice coming from outside the headquarters.


    After a while, there was another loud noise, and then the explosion started one after another, almost without interruption. Hearing this, I couldn''t help shaking my head with a smile and said, "this Morozov really thinks that the explosives sent by the group army headquarters are free of charge and are just open to play. However, in just a few hours, he made so many thunderguns that they could bear when the German army attacked after daybreak. "


    While I was talking to myself, akhromeyev suddenly roared, "Oh, No. Teachers and political commissars, don''t you recognize it? The voice did not come from the east or the north, but from the West. Could it be that the German army was shelling the 107.5 highland jointly defended by the second and third regiments? "


    "What? It''s the German artillery Although I instinctively didn''t want to believe that everything ahlomeyev said was true, I still reached for the phone on the desk and wanted to ask horushov and gordonov on the high ground what had happened.


    As soon as I got hold of the phone, the phone rang. As soon as he put the receiver close to his ear, he heard horushov''s hoarse roar: "report, sir, the Germans are shelling our highlands fiercely!"


    "How is the work I asked you to do?" I asked aloud.


    I didn''t expect that after listening to my question, horushov was silent for a moment. When I heard that he didn''t speak, my heart sank. My heart was broken. They must have been lazy. They didn''t carry out my orders and built fortifications overnight. As a result, they were blinded as soon as the German Army started shelling.


    After a long time, horushov hesitated and said, "report to division commander, we have only repaired the fortifications in some areas, which can''t accommodate all the soldiers." Speaking of this, his speaking speed suddenly accelerated, "Comrade teacher, what should we do now? If the troops remain in the position, there will be few left when the German bombardment is over. "


    Although I would like to slap him twice, it is obviously inappropriate to do so now. The most urgent task is to withdraw the troops from the positions without solid fortifications, otherwise they will be sacrificed in vain under the enemy''s artillery fire. Thinking of this, I ordered him cleanly: "in addition to leaving a few observation posts on the position, the remaining commanders and fighters, no matter from the second or the third regiment, will withdraw from the position on the North Slope in batches and temporarily hide on the south slope." Before putting down the phone, I specially told him: "report to me every ten minutes."


    After I put down the phone, kirilov came up to me and asked anxiously, "Comrade teacher, what should we do now?"


    I sighed and said, "we don''t know the purpose of the sudden shelling of highland 107.5 by the German army. We can only wait and see what actions the German army will take after the shelling." With that, I took a look at Najia, who was sitting beside the wall''s telephone. I quickly went to the door and yelled out: "Lieutenant razumeyeva, come to me!"


    After razumeyeva came in, I just gave a simple command: "Comrade lieutenant, you stay here to ensure that the communication of the headquarters is unblocked at any time."


    Ten minutes later, horushov called me again and told me, "report to the division commander, the troops of the second and third regiments, except for a few observation posts, the rest of them have been withdrawn to the south slope for concealment and standby."


    "How are the casualties in the army?" Hearing this question, horushov''s voice suddenly faded down: "after the shelling started, there was probably a company of casualties. In the course of the transfer, nearly another company was injured and killed. "¡° Where is your command? " At the moment, I am not concerned about the loss caused by his dereliction of duty, but about his safety: "if your headquarters is also within the scope of German artillery fire, you can also withdraw to a safe place."¡° Please don''t worry, sir. The German artillery can''t hit me in the southwest of my commanding highland. I''m very safe. "¡° It''s the old rule to call every ten minutes... Hello, Hello! " Before I finished, there was no sound in the microphone. I turned around and handed the receiver to razumeyeva, who was standing not far away. At the same time, I said with a slight dissatisfaction, "Lieutenant, come and listen. What''s wrong with this phone? Why is it suddenly silent?" Razumeyeva took it over and listened to it. She immediately handed the microphone back to me and said politely: "report to division commander, it''s not the telephone that is out of order, but the circuit that is out of order. Maybe it was broken by German artillery fire. Just a moment, please. I''ll send someone to check the line right away. " Then she turned around and ran out of the headquarters, and soon her voice came in from the outside: "stringer, you immediately check the telephone line from here to 107.5 highland." Within two minutes, she came in from the outside and said respectfully to me, "Mr. reporter, I have sent someone to check the line. In a quarter of an hour at most, you can resume communication with highland 107.5."

 Chapter 630

    While waiting for the line to be repaired, the telephone on the desk kept ringing. It turned out that all the regimental leaders were alarmed by the gunfire and called me one after another to ask for instructions.


    The rest of the regiments are fine, but when Godunov, the leader of the third regiment, called me, I was surprised, because I always thought he and captain horushov were in Highland 107.5, but he went back to the residential area without asking for instructions.


    After listening to his report of his position, I asked him angrily, "Captain Godunov, can you explain to me why you didn''t stay on the high ground with captain horushov, but went back to the residential area without permission?"


    When Godunov heard that I was angry, he replied in a panic: "report to Mr. division commander, the reason why I went back to the residential areas is that I intend to gather the troops and then take them to the new camp overnight."


    Although his reasons were quite good, I still scolded him and finally said, "well, comrade Godunov, since you have assembled the three regiments, take them to the new camp as soon as possible. Once the highland is tight, send troops to support immediately. "


    Now that the third regiment is going to move out, they can only let the fourth regiment fill the vacant position. So I called Gaidar, the fourth regiment leader, and told him straightforwardly: "commander Gaidar, I''ll inform you something. The third regiment will be moved soon. You will immediately send troops to take over the defense area they have vacated. "


    As soon as I put down the phone, kirilov came over from the operator Najia with a displeased face and said to me seriously, "look, comrade division commander, this is a telegram just sent by the headquarters of the group army."


    I took the newspaper and quickly scanned the contents. I was so angry that I slapped the newspaper on the desk. Akhromeyev didn''t know why kirilov and I had such an extreme reaction after reading the telegram, so we carefully took the telegram away from me.


    While akhromeyev was reading the telegram, I snorted heavily and complained to kirilov discontentedly: "Comrade political commissar, what do you think is the matter? Why did the headquarters of the group army suddenly issue such an order: from now on, when all divisions communicate with the headquarters of the group army, they are forbidden to use telephone sets, and can only send telegrams or use cable phones. Moreover, in the telegram, it is absolutely not allowed to ask for instructions and discuss the next operation. Anyone who violates the above provisions will be removed from office and sent to the military court. "


    Kirilov sat down at the table, lit a cigarette, took a few puffs, and then said thoughtfully, "Comrade oshanina, I think the sudden order from the headquarters of the group army is not their original intention, but the order from the superior."


    "Orders from the superior?" I asked tentatively, "Comrade political commissar, do you mean that this order was given by the commander of the front army?"


    Unexpectedly, kirilov waved his hand and denied my guess: "I don''t think even the commander of the front army himself would suddenly give such a strange order. If I had not guessed wrong, this order should have been given by the supreme commander in chief, or even by the Supreme Commander himself. "


    "Comrade political commissar, you have worked in the Central Committee. Can you guess why?"


    "Perhaps the supreme command was gathering new troops and preparing to carry out a major counter offensive. In order to prevent the leakage of secrets and arouse the vigilance of the German army, it gave such an order." Kirilov analyzed me solemnly.


    On hearing kirilov''s analysis, akhromeyev, who had just finished reading the telegram, also asked with a serious look: "Comrade political commissar, what about our telephone and walkie talkie equipped by our troops? Are the commanders and fighters prohibited from using this communication mode from today? "


    I heard akhromeyev''s question and stared nervously at kirilov, waiting for his answer. Kirilov picked up the telegram, read the newspaper again, pondered for a moment, and then replied: "the telegram only stipulates that when the divisions contact the headquarters of the group army, they are not allowed to use the telegraph to communicate in plain language, but it does not prohibit the divisions from using it internally. In my opinion, within the independent division, the original telephones and walkie talkies of subordinate units are still used as usual. "


    "I agree with the Commissar." As soon as kirilov finished speaking, I immediately expressed my support.


    Seeing that kirilov and I agreed, akhromeyev nodded and said firmly, "I have no different opinions, so I will follow the proposal of the political commissar."


    Captain horushov''s call finally came in again. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was a quarter of an hour longer than razumeyeva had promised. However, this is not the time to investigate the responsibility. After hearing horushov''s voice coming from the earphone, I immediately couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade captain, what''s the situation over there?"


    "Report to division commander," said horushov in a steady voice from his earphone, "German artillery has weakened. Observation posts on the hillside report that a large number of German infantry can be seen in the distance, charging towards the high ground under the cover of tanks."


    I listened to the rumble of gunfire coming from outside, and then asked, "Captain horushov, I hear the gunfire outside is still quite fierce. Where are the Germans shelling?"


    "Our highlands have only been sporadically shelled, and I''ve ordered a company to take positions. At the moment, the enemy''s main artillery fire is concentrating on the open area between here and you. Maybe it''s for fear of sending reinforcements from you. "


    "Keep in touch. Remember, your task is to nail the position like a nail, and you are not allowed to retreat." Although I didn''t want to fight positional warfare with the German army, in the current situation, I could only give orders to horushov to defend.


    Akhromeyev saw me put down the phone and nervously suggested to me: "Comrade division, we can''t watch the German army attack captain horushov. We need to find some way to help them."


    Before he finished, I stopped him irritably¡° Chief of staff, don''t you see that the German artillery fire is fierce outside? No matter how many troops are sent to reinforce us at this time, we can only die in vain. I don''t want to sacrifice all the elite troops of the independent division to the gunfire of the German aggressors. "


    "I don''t know what happened to molozov''s" Thunderbolt " Kirilov said to himself: "if the German attack, from the side of a hard hit, perhaps they can reduce the defensive pressure of horushov."


    Kirilov''s words gave me a wake-up call. I immediately asked akhromeyev to call Morozov and ask him to come to the headquarters immediately to see me. I want to have a detailed understanding of their progress in developing thunderguns. Although this weapon has a short range, it is a rare weapon to kill German tanks and infantry.


    After receiving the order, Morozov appeared in front of us in a few minutes. From the smile on his face, I felt relieved. It seems that the artillery battalion commander is really not simple. He built the thunderbolt in such a short time. Holding back my joy, I tried to ask in a calm voice, "Captain Morozov, what''s going on¡® How''s the development of the ''thunderbolt''


    Morozov was a little flustered when he saw that the leaders of our divisions were staring at him, but he soon calmed down and reported to us: "report to the division commander, political commissar and chief of staff. According to the division commander''s ideas, we worked hard for several hours and finally succeeded in this" Thunderbolt ". Because it was tested at night, in order to avoid causing everyone''s panic, the explosive bag used for throwing was not gunpowder but soil. We have tested five times. The distance of each flight is different. The landing point ranges from 100 meters to 300 meters. "


    "Can you fight now?" Kirilov asked nervously.


    Morozov nodded hard and gave kirilov a positive answer: "no problem, we have made eight launchers and 50 explosive packs. If we put them into battle, they can cause great damage to the German infantry."


    "Very well, comrade captain. Well done. " Kirilov patted Morozov on the shoulder excitedly and praised him repeatedly. Then he said, "Comrade captain, I''ll give you a task now. The German army is attacking the 107.5 highland guarded by Captain horushov. You immediately take people with these "thunderguns" to support them and destroy the enemy as much as possible. "


    Hearing kirilov give orders directly over me and akhromeyev, I can''t help frowning slightly and muttering to myself: my only capable artillery commander, but you don''t even discuss with me, so you directly order him to carry out such a dangerous task, if he dies, Where can I find the right artillery commander to command the artillery? Thinking of this, I asked Morozov before he saluted and left: "Comrade captain, how long will it take for the thunder guns to fight?"


    After listening to my question, Morozov pulled his finger and meditated for a while, and then replied, "report, sir. It''s about an hour at the most."


    "Why did it take so long?" Kirilov asked discontentedly.


    "Because our experiments were all in the open space of the destroyed oil tank, a little far away from here. Besides, there are so many big and heavy explosive bags to be moved here. It will take some time. "


    "All right, Captain Morozov." This time, I took the lead of kirilov and gave an order to Morozov: "you should immediately organize people to move all the explosives and prepare for the war. As for you, there are still more important things to do. You should not take part in this battle in person, and find someone else to take your place. "


    After Morozov left, kirilov asked in a puzzled way: "Comrade division, this" Thunderbolt "was developed by Morozov and let him use it on the battlefield. Isn''t it easy for him to master it? Why did you suddenly announce that someone else would be in charge of the battle? "


    I didn''t want to turn my face with kirilov on the issue of personnel use, so I could only say politely, "my political commissar, such a battle only needs a company commander or even a platoon commander to complete the task. Is it a bit of a fuss to send a battalion commander up?"


    "But..." before kirilov finished, the phone on the desk rang again.


    From the earphone came the voice of horushov. At the same time, I heard the sound of explosion and dense gunfire. He told me in a loud voice: "Comrade division, the German infantry, under the cover of tank fire, have rushed to the high ground. Our troops are fighting with the enemy in the position on the top of the hillside. As the company that was first sent out suffered heavy casualties, I just sent another company of the third regiment


    "Captain horushov, don''t worry," I said to him. Hearing his voice, I was a little flustered. I specially comforted him and said, "the third regiment has started from the residential area and is ready to rush to the residential area behind your highland. You can support the highland at any time. Your task now is to defend at all costs... "Just in the middle of what I said, the earphone suddenly lost its sound again. I raised my voice and cried out:" Hello, Hello, Captain horushov, can you hear me, can you hear me? "


    All the time, when razumeyeva saw me yelling at the top of her voice, she came over and reminded me with a red face: "Comrade division commander, maybe the telephone line has been blown off again. I''ll send stringers to check the line immediately." With that, he trotted out of the headquarters.


    I was so angry that I threw the phone on the table and said angrily, "what the hell, are the German shells long eyed? How long did it take to blow up our telephone line twice? "


    "The German came so fast!" Akhromeyev said to himself, "just after listening to captain horushov''s report that German ground troops were found in the distance, they arrived at the foot of the highland and launched an attack on the highland in just a few minutes."


    "It''s no surprise." I looked up at him and said, "the German infantry probably took trucks, followed the tanks and rushed to the high ground. At the foot of the high ground, the infantry will get out of the car and charge


    Contact with highland was restored 20 minutes later. As soon as the phone was put through, horushov could not wait to report to me: "report, comrade division commander, the German attack was repulsed by us five minutes ago."


    "Seize the time to repair the fortifications, treat the wounded and prepare for the next round of German attack."


    As soon as I finished speaking, I heard another voice coming from the earphone: "report to the battalion commander, the Germans are attacking again, and their line of scattered troops is pressing towards our position."


    I heard horushov telling the messenger: "I know. Go back and tell your company commander to bring the enemy closer and fight again. Then the German tanks at the foot of the mountain will not dare to fire at will." Then he told me in a low voice, "Comrade division, the Germans are attacking us again."


    "Resolutely block them and never let them occupy the high ground, otherwise the troops at mamayev post will be in danger of being encircled."


    "Yes, resolutely block them, absolutely do not let them forward..." horushov''s words have not yet spoken, the phone again interrupted.


    I threw the phone on the table and said harshly to razumeyeva, who was standing next to Najia: "Comrade lieutenant, what are you doing here? Don''t you hear the phone line interrupted by German artillery fire again? Don''t send the stringer to check the line soon. "


    Razumeyeva did not speak, turned and ran out of the headquarters. In less than a minute, she came back with a female soldier behind her. She walked up to me and said with shame: "report to the division, even the stringers in the company have been sent out, and there is no stringer left. No one can be sent out to restore the communication line that was broken by the explosion."


    At this time, the female soldier standing behind razumeyeva stepped forward and said in a loud voice, "Comrade division commander, please allow me to go."


    As soon as I looked at this volunteer female soldier, I found that it was wonia, the blood sick female police guard camp. Since she was assigned to the communication company by me, I haven''t paid any attention to her. I didn''t expect that at such a moment, she stood up bravely.


    "No, zonia." Razumeyeva took the lead in my speech, vetoed her request, and gave her reasons: "you have just arrived in the communication company, and you are not even familiar with these businesses."


    "Please allow me to go. I can''t do anything to stay in the communication room anyway."


    "But the enemy''s fire was too fierce, otherwise it would not have been possible to blow up the telephone line three times in such a short period of time. I don''t think you can even get to the break. "


    "I can, comrade lieutenant. If you allow me to go, I promise to finish the task." Wonia persisted stubbornly in her opinion.


    Razumeyeva knew that wonia used to be my guard. She didn''t dare to make decisions at will, so she could only turn to me for help. I looked at razumeyeva, then at Vanya, and nodded slowly, agreeing to let vonia carry out the dangerous line search task.


    Seeing that I acquiesced to her request, wonia''s face showed a smile. She stretched out her hand and pinched on razumeyeva''s shoulder. Then she went to Najia, who was sitting in front of the telephone. She also stretched out her hand and pinched her shoulder. Without saluting us, she quickly ran out of the finger waving part.


    With the departure of wonia, razumeyeva, who is always strong in my mind, suddenly wipes her tears. No matter she is, even Najia is also wiping her tears. I was confused by their actions. I went over, held razumeyeva''s face in my hands, wiped the tears from her cheek with my fingers, and nervously asked, "Lieutenant razumeyeva, what''s the matter?"


    I didn''t expect that razumeyeva was sobbing and speechless. A long sigh came from behind me, and then kirilov said with regret, "don''t you know, sir? When I leave, I pinch my friends'' shoulders to say goodbye. That is to say, this parting may be a farewell


    Kirilov''s explanation made me understand why razumeyeva and Naga behaved so impolitely after vonia left. I didn''t expect that I had changed into Rita for such a long time, but I still didn''t understand many customs. Fortunately, the question I asked just now didn''t arouse everyone''s suspicion, otherwise I couldn''t explain it clearly. I looked at the tearful razumeyeva in front of me and quickly comforted her and said, "Comrade lieutenant, don''t cry any more. She will come back safe and sound. " Before lazumeyeva''s crying stopped, Morozov ran in from outside and saluted me. He reported to me, "report to the division commander and political commissar, our thunder guns have been transported to the foot of the mountain, so we can start. Do you have any instructions?" As soon as I heard that the long-standing thunder gun was at the foot of the hillside, I immediately got excited. I didn''t care about razumeyeva and Najia who were still wiping tears. I turned around and ran out of the headquarters and ran down the hill along the outside trench. In a panic, kirilov and akhromeyev trotted out of the headquarters, followed me and ran down the hill. I didn''t expect that when I ran down the hillside, I saw four trucks parked here, with more than 20 soldiers standing by. I saw a group of us running over in a hurry and standing up straight to salute us. I turned my head and asked molozov, who was immediately behind me, "Comrade captain, where is the thunder gun?" Morozov pointed to the car and said, "it''s in the car. There are two thunderguns in each car, and twelve explosive packs are taken out." Before I could express my opinion, kirilov next to me asked, "Comrade captain, you won''t let your soldiers drive in trucks and bombard the Germans with thunder?"¡° Well, comrade political commissar. " Morozov politely replied: "if I let the soldiers carry the thunderguns and explosives on foot, it will take at least 70 or 80 people, and it will waste a lot of time. The time can be shortened by using trucks to carry thunderguns. Our soldiers can rush to the vicinity of the Germans in the shortest time, and they will be bombarded with fury. After the fight, our soldiers can also leave the battlefield quickly. "¡° If you shoot directly in the car, how are these thunderguns fixed? " I asked anxiously. Morozov confidently replied: "please rest assured, sir. We found a lot of tripods in the warehouse near the abandoned oil storage tank, which can be used to fix the torpedo."¡° Comrade o''shanina, do you think this is appropriate? Is it a little too dangerous to do so? Shall we take a safe way to shoot more soldiers and help them carry these thunderguns? " Kirilov, still uneasy after listening to Morozov''s words, suggested to me cautiously. After thinking about it, I waved to kirilov and said, "Comrade political commissar, don''t worry. Captain Morozov is an expert in this field. If he says yes, there will be no problem. " At this point, I turned to Morozov and said, "Comrade captain, since you have figured out how to do it, then act immediately." Morozov agreed, and then yelled at the soldiers standing by the car, "listen to my command, all aboard!"

 Chapter 631

    After the truck started, I turned to kirilov and they said, "political commissar and Morozov will accompany me to the top of the mountain. Chief of staff akhromeyev will go back to the headquarters and continue to maintain contact with their positions in horushov." Then he waved his hand and said in a loud voice, "let''s go!"


    The three of us and a few of the guard camps walked along the trench to the top of the hillside and stood in a place with a wide view. I raised my telescope and looked to the high ground to the West. At the foot of the hillside, there was a long tank stopping and shelling. From time to time, the shells fell on the high ground and open ground, burst open, and burst into bright flames.


    Kirilov pointed to the distant highland, turned his head and said to us anxiously, "you see, the German tanks are shelling, covering their infantry to charge our position. I don''t know whether the casualties of our army on the present position are great or not. Can we block the enemy''s attack? "


    Morozov laughed and said to kirilov, "don''t worry, comrade political commissar. I''ve been to that highland and I know something about the terrain. Although the north slope is gentle, easy to attack and difficult to defend, as long as our soldiers skillfully use fortifications and those craters for defense, if I want to block the enemy''s attack, the problem should not be big. "


    After watching the movement on the high ground for a while, I turned my attention to the foot of our hillside to see where the trucks loaded with thunderguns had gone? Now there are only two or three tanks shooting at the open area. My worry is that as soon as the truck enters the open area, it will be found by the enemy. At that time, if all the tanks turn their guns and fire at the truck, the situation will be serious. You know, each truck carries more than 100 kilograms of explosives. Once it is hit, it will cause earth shaking explosion.


    When I saw the trucks on the open ground, I felt a little more secure. Although the four trucks were advancing side by side, the distance between them was at least 100 meters. Even if one of the trucks was shot and caused an explosion, it would not affect the nearby vehicles. Moreover, the four trucks had no headlights. The driver should have seen the road ahead through the fire generated by the explosion, and carefully bypassed the craters blasted by the shells.


    Just now, Morozov told me that he was going to let the soldiers get close to the enemy by truck, and then directly attack the enemy with thunder guns on the truck. However, as the truck got closer and closer to the German tank at the foot of the mountain, I became worried about gain and loss. I grabbed Morozov''s arm and said nervously, "Captain Morozov, Where do your men plan to rush to before firing? According to their method of attack, they will rush into the German tank line in a few minutes


    "Report to division commander, I once told them to stop and fire decisively when they were close to the German 200 meters." Although Morozov tried to keep calm, his trembling voice revealed his inner tension.


    Kirilov was also affected by Morozov''s mood. He asked nervously, "do you think we can succeed, Colonel oshanina? If the truck is found by the German tanks before it enters the effective range of fire, it is likely to attract overwhelming artillery coverage. "


    I''ve only seen the power of thunder guns in movies, but I haven''t seen the effect in actual combat. To put it bluntly, this kind of torpedo is even a quasi rocket launcher for close fire, and it is basically a barrel. It''s troublesome to charge. Moreover, the range is too close, and there is basically no target. Therefore, I have no idea what kind of results can be achieved by using the torpedo. But when I heard that kirilov and his two men were obviously lack of confidence, I, as the head of the first division, had to give them encouragement: "don''t worry, they are not too far away from the German tanks. Since the enemy has not found them now, their chances of success are still very high."


    After my words, I found that Morozov was quietly drawing a cross on his chest. It seems that he had no bottom in his heart about this kind of thunderbolt. I quickly asked him, "Captain Morozov, how often can you launch this kind of torpedo?"


    Morozov, who was praying quietly, was startled by me. After a short period of confusion, he nervously answered me and said, "Mr. reporter, when we first explored, we launched every two minutes. Later, after the soldiers were proficient in operation, they could launch once a minute. "


    After listening to the data reported by Morozov, kirilov shook his head and said, "no, it''s too slow. It''s too slow. You know, we are shooting close. After a round of firing, it is estimated that the German shells will come before our soldiers on the truck are fully loaded. "


    Although I understand that kirilov is telling the truth, it has come to this point, and everything can only be left to fate. But in order not to affect their emotions, I said with a puffy face: "Comrade political commissar, you''ve been over worried. Our soldiers are the best at creating miracles. Maybe when they shoot later, they will have a way to speed up the launch


    At this moment, the truck, which had already approached the German tank, suddenly made a 180 degree turn, then stopped neatly, and pointed the rear of the car towards the enemy tank line. From where we stood, the trucks and tanks were almost next to each other.


    Four trucks in the car, in turn flashed a fire, and then a black object in the air to draw an arc, flying to the German tank. Soon around the tank, there were four big groups of dazzling lights, followed by one dull roar after another. I could clearly see the pieces of soil that had been blown up, big and small, crashing down on the body of the tank.


    Before we could express our feelings, the fire flashed again on the truck, and four black objects drew a beautiful arc in the air and landed in another area, which also caused a huge explosion, killing the German infantry near the explosion point.


    Seeing this scene, kirilov asked curiously, "Captain Morozov, don''t you think that the thunder gun can only be fired once a minute? How can I see it''s continuous shooting? "


    Morozov was also at a loss. He took off his hat, scratched the back of his head, and said confusedly, "political commissar, I don''t know. No matter how fast the soldiers are loading, it''s impossible to carry out such contact shooting?"


    With a light smile, I solved the riddle for them in time: "Hey, I said political commissar and Comrade Morozov, didn''t you just take a close look at the fact that the truck only fired one explosive bag at a time? In other words, the soldiers on the truck used only one torpedo in the first round. After the explosive bag landed and exploded, they launched the second explosive bag. The advantage of this is that it can shorten the gap between the launching of the thunderguns. "


    Kirilov listened to me, picked up his telescope suspiciously and looked at the truck in the distance. When the thunder gun on the truck fired the explosive package again, he finally nodded his head and said with approval: "the division commander observed carefully. The soldiers on the truck were indeed firing the explosive package with the two thunder guns in the carriage in turn, which shortened the firing gap." When he said this, he put down his telescope and said with a little regret, "if our infantry can attack in time at this time, we will surely wipe out all the enemies."


    "Division commander, political commissar, look, there are troops moving in the open field." Cried Morozov suddenly in surprise.


    The telescope in my hand looked in the direction of his finger, and sure enough, there was an army of several hundred people, using the cover of the crater at night, rushing towards the German troops still gathering on the north slope. Because the light was too dim, I couldn''t tell whether it was horushov''s Highland Garrison or gordunov''s third regiment.


    The attacking German army was already dazed by our thunder guns, and the army that came down from the sky was immediately defeated. The rest of the defeated soldiers had to fight and go, and fled to the North under the cover of the night.


    When I saw that the German army was attacked by our army, and the truck that fired the explosive package returned smoothly, I first told Morozov: "Comrade captain, you go to the foot of the mountain to wait for your soldiers, and see if they have any casualties." Then he said to kirilov easily, "come on, comrade political commissar, this enemy will be wiped out by us soon. We will go to the headquarters and wait for news."


    As soon as I entered the headquarters, I saw razumeyeva face to face. She nervously asked me, "Sir, comrade, do you have any news from vonia?"


    Wonia? Because my mind is still thinking about the scene of the thunderbolt falling into the enemy''s line and exploding, I suddenly heard the name and never recovered. After listening to razumeyeva''s words, kirilov glared at her and said, "Comrade lieutenant and Comrade division commander are considering the next battle deployment. She has no time to think about such a small matter."


    When I heard kirilov teach razumeyeva a lesson, I remembered that Vania had just been sent out by razumeyeva to check the line. She was concerned about the safety of her subordinates, and there was nothing wrong with her. So I quickly waved to kirilov and said to razumeyeva with a pleasant face, "don''t worry, comrade lieutenant. The battle in the Highlands is coming to an end. I will immediately arrange for people to find the whereabouts of wonia."


    Razumeyeva''s mood still did not completely calm down. I told her that she would send someone to look for wonia. She urged me anxiously and said, "Sir, you can send someone to look for her quickly. If it''s too late, I''m afraid she will be in danger. You know, the first few male stringers were killed under the enemy''s artillery fire."


    "OK, OK, I''ll arrange for someone to look for her immediately." I said half seriously and half perfunctorily. I came to the table and asked akhromeyev, who had just stood up: "Comrade chief of staff, how is the situation? Have you got in touch with captain horushov on the high ground? "


    Akhromeyev nodded and said with certainty, "I''m in touch. Just a few minutes ago, Captain horushov called to say that the enemy''s offensive was fierce, and there was a big earth shaking explosion at the foot of the mountain. At the same time, the tanks at the foot of the mountain also stopped shelling. The captain took advantage of the favorable opportunity for the German army to fall into chaos, transferred the troops of the three companies hidden on the south slope, and launched a counterattack against the German army on the hillside. At present, most of the German troops have been destroyed, and the remaining enemies have fled to the enemy by night. "


    "Very good!" After a casual compliment, I then told akhromeyev: "Comrade chief of staff, call captain horushov immediately and say I have something to look for him."


    As soon as the phone was connected, horushov heard my voice and excitedly reported to me, "report to Mr. division commander, we have successfully defeated the German attack and joined up with captain gordonov''s third regiment."


    I knew the result of the battle long ago, so I just asked faintly, "what''s the result?"


    "Report to division commander," said horushov with irrepressible joy, "we have destroyed a company of German infantry, destroyed 15 trucks, captured 10 tanks and captured more than 20 tank soldiers."


    I had already sat down, and when I heard what horushov had reported, I immediately jumped out of my seat. I cried to him excitedly, "what are you talking about, Captain horushov? Ten German tanks were captured. What''s the matter? " When they heard that the 1st Battalion of the 2nd regiment had captured 10 German tanks in the battle, kirilov and akhromeyev were curious to hear what was going on¡° It''s true, sir. I don''t know what happened to the earth shaking explosion just at the foot of the mountain, but according to the report of my soldiers, when they got to the foot of the mountain, they saw enemy bodies lying on the ground, piled up in piles, some crouched in the soil, some protruded half of their bodies from the crater. Surprisingly, there was no wound or blood on the surface of these bodies. When our soldiers opened the tank turret hatch, they found that most of the tank hands inside were in a coma¡° Well, well done, comrade captain When I heard this, I covered the microphone with my hand and said to kirilov and akhromeyev, who were also listening, do you know what happened? The reason why there are no wounds or blood stains on the bodies of these German soldiers is that they were all killed by the huge shock wave of explosive package. " After hearing this, akhromeyev just nodded with a smile. Kirilov murmured, "my God, I didn''t expect that this thunder gun is so powerful. We need to build more in the future." I released the microphone and continued to say to horushov, "Comrade captain, next, you should hurry up to clean the battlefield and repair the fortifications. As for the ten captured tanks, you should stay there for the time being. I will send someone to accept them." After I finished, I just wanted to put down the phone. Suddenly, I remembered the request of razumeyeva just now, so I told horushov: "Comrade captain, I have another task to give you."¡° Sir, I''m at your command! " Said horushov respectfully¡° During the fighting, the telephone lines between the division headquarters and you were broken several times by the enemy''s artillery fire. Division communications sent several groups of stringers to repair telephone lines, but most of them were sacrificed. Now there is a female signalman who is missing in the process of repairing the line. I command you to send your men immediately to search along the telephone line. Live to see a man, die to see a corpse. " When I said the last sentence, I unconsciously lowered my voice¡° Yes, I see. I''ll send a platoon to look for it When I put down the phone and turned to see razumeyeva standing by the wall, trying to tell her the news, I saw her smiling and nodding to me. Obviously, I heard the order I gave to captain horushov¡° What about the ten tanks? " "If we can''t transfer the spoils in time, we may blow them up again when the German planes arrive at dawn," ahlomeyev asked Akhromeyev''s words reminded me of pelsjian, commander of the tank unit, who had no news for a long time. So I picked up the phone and called one of the team leaders, shijerikov, and asked frankly, "Hello, comrade shijerikov? I have something to ask for captain perskin. Do you know where he is now? "

 Chapter 632

    The reason why I called shijerikov to inquire about the whereabouts of peresjian was that he was in charge of the independent division when I stayed behind the enemy. He was in charge of many personnel arrangements.


    After a moment''s silence, shijerikov replied: "report to Mr. division commander, since all the tanks of our division have been lost, Captain pererskin and his tank soldiers have all turned into infantry and been incorporated into the fourth regiment of lieutenant colonel gedar..." before he finished, I couldn''t wait to hang up the phone and quickly connected the fourth regiment.


    After the phone was connected, a lazy and impolite voice came out of the earphone: "where are you from the headquarters of the fourth regiment here? What''s the matter?" After that, he yawned loudly.


    The attitude of the person who answered the phone made me feel uncomfortable, but this is not the time to lose my temper. I suppressed my anger, bit my back teeth and said, "I''m the division commander, Colonel oshanina. I have something to look for lieutenant colonel gaidal. Is he there?"


    As soon as my voice fell, there was a disorderly sound coming from the earphone. There were low voices, guns and even wooden benches. Maybe the person who answered the phone got up too fast and knocked the stool over. Then, the original lazy voice became serious: "Hello, sir. Please forgive me, I didn''t know it was you, so... Please forgive me for my recklessness. Commander Gaidar is sleeping. I''ll wake him up right away


    Gedar''s voice soon rang out in the earphone: "sorry, sir, please forgive me. I was sleeping when you called. You know, I just finished supervising the army''s defense. I was tired all day. I was a little tired, so I fell asleep unconsciously. "


    Hearing Gaidar''s long winded explanation to me, I impatiently interrupted him and first reminded him: "after the transfer of the third regiment, there will be only your fourth regiment and commander Oleg''s fifth regiment left for the defense of the settlement. It is necessary to organize soldiers to build more fortifications in the residential areas to prepare for the fierce offensive that may be launched by the enemy. "


    "Yes, sir." Gaidar''s language became refined again. "There are many architectural engineers in our regiment. Under the guidance of these professionals, we have built a lot of new works these days."


    "Very well, Colonel gedar, that''s the right thing to do." When I had finished praising him, I changed the subject and asked, "by the way, is captain perskin with you?"


    "Yes, he is. Just a moment, please." Then I heard him yelling: "Hello, Mr. pelsjian, I have something to ask for you. Come and answer the phone quickly."


    After a while, a familiar voice came from the earphone: "Hello, sir, I thought I was forgotten by you."


    "Comrade captain, how can you be in Gaidar''s headquarters?" I asked curiously that Mr. perskin would be able to answer the phone so soon.


    With a trace of helplessness, pelsjian said: "Comrade division, it''s like this. After all my tanks were lost in the early battle, my men and I became infantry. Commander Gaidar said that it''s a waste to use our tank soldiers as infantry. It turns us into his guard platoon and usually lives in his regiment headquarters. "


    After listening to perskin''s words, I understood why he came to answer my phone after Gaidar called twice. Secondly, I also understood what happened when he just heard the sound of guns hitting from his headphones.


    I coughed, cleared my throat and continued to ask, "Comrade captain, how many tank soldiers do you have?"


    "Sir, please wait a moment. I''ll count it." Then I heard him counting his men one two three four five. When he was seven, he did not continue to count down. At this time, I also knew that there were only so many people left in the tank unit.


    Before he spoke, I said, "Captain perskin, I''ve heard that. You still have seventeen soldiers. Plus you, it should be eighteen, right? "


    "Yes, sir." Peres replied.


    I thought in my heart that it might be a little difficult for 18 people to drive back ten tanks, so I couldn''t help hesitating. When pelsjian heard that I didn''t speak and didn''t hang up, he asked cautiously, "Sir, do you have any important task to call me at this time?"


    I nodded silently, suddenly remembered that he couldn''t see my expression, and quickly said: "well, Captain pelsjian, who was holding fast to the 1st Battalion of 2nd regiment in 107.5 highland on the left side of mamayev hill, captured ten German tanks in the battle just ended. Originally I wanted you to bring people to drive all these tanks back, but now there are only 18 of you in total, and the manpower difference is too much? "


    "Is it just to drive the tank back, or to drive to fight?" Asked Peregrine tentatively.


    "Just bring the tank back to hide." I seriously answered him, "at present, we don''t even know where the enemy''s camp is, so we rashly attack. Maybe the tank''s fuel will run out before we get there. At that time, these tanks will either be destroyed by aircraft or recaptured by the enemy. "


    "Comrade division, you don''t know. If you just drive the tank back, we 18 people will be enough." "It''s not for us to go to war anyway, so some tanks only need one driver," Peres said triumphantly


    I was dumbfounded when I heard him say that, but that''s what he said. It''s not that he sent them to fight. One tank and one driver is enough. There are no gunners or sightseers at all. It''s just that I''m at the top of my rope.


    If we just drive the tanks back, we will have plenty of manpower. But if we want to take part in the war, we need at least twice as many tank soldiers. But in the present situation, where can I find the right tank soldiers. Thinking of this, I couldn''t help sighing.


    My sigh was heard by peresjian. He asked with concern, "Comrade division commander, are you still worried that the number of tank soldiers is not enough to put all these tanks into battle?"


    Listening to him say so, I feel to myself that he is the roundworm in my stomach, even I can guess what I think. But if you guessed it, he would not be able to produce dozens of tank soldiers out of thin air. Half jokingly, I asked, "what? Captain perskin, can you find the right tank men to operate these tanks? "


    "I dare not say anything else. It''s not a trivial matter to find dozens of tank soldiers."


    Although pelsjian said confidently, I was still dubious: "Oh, can you really find tank soldiers?"


    At this time, Perls said to me in a low voice, pretending to be mysterious: "Comrade division, you may not know that there are several tank divisions or tank brigades in the city, but none of them have any tanks, and those tank soldiers have been changed into infantry. As you know, tank soldiers are a technical arm. If they were used by ordinary infantry at the beginning, it would be a waste. "


    "Well, well, Captain perskin," although he had not finished his words, I understood what he wanted to say, and interrupted him hastily: "I understand what you mean. As soon as it gets light, I will go to the group army headquarters to find the commander and ask him for some tank soldiers to supplement you."


    "That''s very good," perskin asked excitedly. "Comrade division, when can we receive the captured tanks?"


    "Now, of course, do you still want the tanks to be placed at the foot of the mountain in the highland and let the enemy planes blow them up after daybreak?" Speaking of this, I remembered that the distance from the residential area to the tank parking place was not close, so I asked with concern, "is there a car in the residential area?"


    "Report, sir, no, none of them." Perersian replied simply.


    I heard him reply that there was no car in the residential area. He quickly covered the microphone and asked kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, have those trucks carrying thunder guns come back?"


    Kirilov looked at the door, then shook his head and answered, "no, I haven''t seen captain Morozov yet."


    I let go of my hand on the receiver and continued to say to perskin, "Captain, listen up. Immediately gather your men and go on foot to highland 107.5 to receive the tanks at the foot of the mountain. If you are lucky, you may meet the truck I sent to pick you up on the way. That''s it, comrade captain. I wish you good luck


    After I put down the phone, I looked at akhromeyev and kirilov who were fighting at the table and said to them, "I have ordered captain perskin to take his men and take over the tanks immediately. However, since there are no trucks in the residential area, if they walk, it may be daybreak when they arrive at their destination and drive the tanks back. So I''m going to wait for the four trucks of Morozov to come back, and then I''ll send two of them to their destination and bring the captured German prisoners back when they return. "


    After what I said, kirilov first nodded his head and agreed: "it''s better for the division commander to consider comprehensively. After the German prisoners are transported back..."


    Half way through, the phone on the desk rang again. Ahlomeyev grabbed the phone and said in a loud voice, "Hello, this is the headquarters of the independent division. Where are you?" After listening for a while, he handed me the microphone and whispered to me, "Sir, it''s captain Godunov, acting head of the third regiment."


    I took the phone, put it close to my ear and said, "Hello, is that Captain Godunov? This is colonel o''shanina. What can I do for you


    "Report, sir," Godunov said politely, "I''m at the command post in Highland 107.5 with captain horushov."


    "It was you who led the troops to the German army in a roundabout way, wasn''t it?" When he heard that he was in the highland on the west side, he immediately understood who was in charge of the army he had just seen. The reason for asking was to confirm his conjecture.


    "Yes, sir," Godunov gave me a positive reply. Perhaps he was afraid that I would blame him for leading the troops to attack without asking for instructions. He specially explained to me: "I had just led the troops to the vicinity of the highland and saw that the German army was attacking our position. At that time, I thought, can we take advantage of the enemy''s not finding us, Sneak around behind them and give them a good beating. So... "


    "So you led the troops to detour to the north slope of the highland, and attacked the friendly forces rushing down from the top back and forth, destroying the enemy attacking the highland. Is that so? "


    Godunov laughs two times with embarrassment and asks in a flattering way: "you don''t blame me for this, sir? You know, we''ve wiped out all the enemies who attacked our army. "


    "All right, all right, Captain Godunov, I''ve seen all the credit you''ve made. Don''t show your credit in front of me any more." At this point, I looked at the map in front of me and thought about it. I felt that it was not proper to put the first and third regiments of the second regiment on the high ground. Although gordonov was the acting commander and horushov was the battalion commander, they were both captains and they did not belong to each other. Once the war was fierce, they would be in trouble and one of them had to be transferred. Thinking of this, I said to Godunov, "Comrade captain, I now give you a new order to let your regiment''s troops immediately take over the defense of the Highlands, and let captain horushov take his battalion and withdraw to the second regiment''s station for standby."


    Godunov agreed very readily: "yes, sir, I will convey your order to him at once."


    Before I finished my phone call with gordonov, I heard Morozov''s familiar voice at the door: "may I come in?"


    Kirilov saw that I was on the phone, so he called out, "come in, Captain Morozov. Comrade division commander is looking for you."


    When Morozov heard that I was looking for him, he walked up to me and stood at attention, quietly waiting for me to give him a new order after I called.


    After I put down the phone and looked at the upright Morozov, I thought that all the cars in the division, including my jeep, were handed over to the group army headquarters. Where did Morozov find the four trucks? So before I ask about the casualties of the thunder gun combat team, I first ask Morozov curiously, "Comrade captain, where are the trucks of your artillery battalion from? Are they the German trucks seized during the day? "


    To his surprise, Morozov shook his head and replied, "no, the trucks that pulled heavy artillery have been handed over to the retreating 125th regiment to transport the wounded of the regiment. These four trucks were sent by the headquarters of the group army to deliver explosives to us. "


    I secretly nodded, heart said it was the group army headquarters truck ah. But now there are no cars available in the division. If we want to transport captain perskin and his subordinates, the captured German tank soldiers, we can only continue to borrow these trucks. So I told Morozov: "Comrade captain, you ask the soldiers to unload all the things on the trucks, and send two trucks to the residential area to meet captain perskin. By the way, I''ve just ordered them to go. Maybe you''ll meet them on the way. "


    Morozov nodded and said obediently, "OK, I''ll take the car to pick them up myself."


    Seeing that Morozov was about to leave, I quickly stopped him and continued: "by the way, when you send captain pelsky to the tank and they return, you will bring back the German tank soldiers captured by the first battalion of the second regiment." Then he waved to Morozov, "OK, you can go now. When the prisoners come back, come back to the headquarters


    After Morozov left, akhromeyev finally had time to ask us about the use of the torpedo. He asked curiously, "teacher, political commissar, what''s the effect of that torpedo?"


    "Chief of staff, you said" Thunderbolt! " Kirilov, who had witnessed the power of the thunder gun with his own eyes, immediately explained to him excitedly when he heard akhromeyev''s question: "that guy is really powerful. You didn''t see that when the explosive bag exploded, it blew up the enemy with a radius of 50-60 meters. Even the tank soldiers hiding in the tank were no exception. Although they were not killed, But most of them were stunned by the blast wave, so our soldiers were able to catch so many tank soldiers and capture 10 tanks completely... "


    After kirilov finished, I said to him thoughtfully: "Comrade political commissar, I think we should let Morozov make more explosive bags as soon as possible, so that we can give more damage to the attacking enemy when defending."


    Kirilov nodded his head in agreement with me and said, "yes, this time with only 48 explosives, we have achieved such an unexpected result. If we use 200, 300 or even thousands of explosive packs, I can''t imagine what kind of damage will be caused to the enemy. "


    After chatting for a while, kirilov suddenly mentioned the captured tank soldiers. He took the initiative to ask me for orders: "Comrade oshanina, when the trucks carrying the prisoners come back later, I will follow these trucks to the headquarters of the group army, one is to return the trucks, the other is to hand over the prisoners to the headquarters of the group army."


    As soon as his words were finished, I repeatedly waved my hand and directly rejected his request: "Comrade political commissar, I''d better do it myself to escort the prisoners to the headquarters of the group army. You and chief of staff akhromeyev will stay in the headquarters. "


    My words not only caused kirilov''s displeasure, but also akhromeyev''s displeasure. He said discontentedly: "Comrade division, just when you and the political commissar were watching the actual combat of the thunderguns on the top of the hillside, I stayed in the headquarters all the time. In any case, I will be given the arduous task of escorting the prisoners. Besides, you are the head of a division. You can''t leave your command position at will. "


    Kirilov, after listening to akhromeyev''s words, echoed: "yes, comrade oshanina, I think the chief of staff has a point. You are the head of a division, and you can''t leave the command position of the independent division at will. As for the escort of prisoners, let me or the chief of staff do it."


    Seeing that they had formed a common front so soon, I couldn''t help laughing and saying, "political commissar and chief of staff, what you two said is reasonable. But when I go to the headquarters of the group army this time, I will not only escort the prisoners and return the trucks. Let alone us, we can even send a company commander or platoon commander to complete these things. When I went to see the commander, I wanted to ask him for some tank soldiers who had been reorganized into infantry, so as to supplement pelsjian''s tank units as soon as possible and form combat effectiveness in a short time. " After I explained this, they were relieved that they would no longer fight with me for the task of escorting the prisoners.


    After nearly an hour, Morozov came to the headquarters again and respectfully reported to me, "Comrade division, the truck escorting the prisoners has stopped at the foot of the hillside. Please show me how to deal with these prisoners?"


    Before I said anything about the prisoner''s treatment, I asked him, "Captain Morozov, do you know German?" When I asked this, I thought that if he didn''t understand the German army, I would take Mikhail and let him translate for me.


    I didn''t expect that Morozov would nod his head and answer me: "Mr. reporter, although my German level is not as good as mihayev''s, if we want to interrogate the prisoners, the problem is not big."


    Molozov''s words immediately made me feel ashamed. Many of my commanders are proficient in German, and I know nothing about German except a few words like "lay down your arms, surrender your arms and don''t kill". However, at this time, I still wanted to maintain the image of my superior leader before I was under my own department, so I pretended to be indifferent and said, "well, comrade captain, since you know German, you can go to the headquarters of the group army with me."


    At the foot of the hill, where the truck was parked, I saw the German prisoners squatting in a row under the truck, surrounded by nearly a company of soldiers pointing guns at them.


    Seeing this, I turned to the following Morozov and said, "divide these prisoners into four groups, put them in trucks, and then we''ll go to the group army headquarters."


    After receiving my order, Morozov immediately ran to the soldiers and told them to separate the prisoners and put them into the truck one by one. Although most of the soldiers who served as guards around were from the second regiment, when I saw the division commander standing on one side, they also carried out the orders given to Morozov without discount.


    When we set out, Morozov and I were sitting in the carriage of the first truck, where there were four German prisoners and six soldiers in full armed charge of them. Looking at the dejected German captain sitting in the carriage, I touched the arm of Morozov, nodded at the prisoner, and whispered to him, "Comrade Morozov, ask the name of the German captain and the number of the army!"


    Morozov nodded and began to murmur at the German captain. When the prisoner heard that someone was speaking German, he was stunned at first. Then he quickly regained his mind and began to talk to Morozov with questions and answers.


    After chatting with the captain for a while, Morozov stopped talking with the other side and reported to me in a low voice: "report to division commander, the captain''s name is Bossel, and he is an armored battalion commander of the 14th German tank army. According to him, he is a teacher from the Vienna Panzer school, and today is his first time in combat. "


    After listening to morrozov''s words, I nodded and then asked with great interest to poser, "Captain, have you ever thought of being captured by us on the battlefield?"


    Bossel, who heard the translation, shook his head vigorously and made a long speech again: "Madam Colonel, our troops attacking the Highlands have already taken the initiative in the battlefield. Although the garrison is constantly increasing troops from the south slope to the front position, according to my estimation, in half an hour at most, they will all die under our artillery fire. I did not expect that at this time, you shamelessly used heavy artillery to bombard us, resulting in our attack failure. "


    After listening to the prisoner''s words, I asked curiously, "Captain, are you sure you were attacked by heavy artillery?"


    Poser thought for a while, then nodded his head: "yes, judging from the power of the shell explosion at that time, it''s definitely not the 152 mm howitzer you used to use. The caliber of this kind of howitzer is at least 200 mm."


    After listening to Morozov''s translation, I looked at him with a smile. Then I turned to poser and said, "Captain, I have to say that your judgment is correct. The caliber of the weapon we used is more than 200 mm."


    Bossel let out a cry, and then asked curiously, "when did you equip this kind of artillery? I''ve never heard of it."


    "It''s right that we didn''t hear about it, because we only equipped this kind of weapon tonight. And you, Captain Bossel and your men, unfortunately became the first victims of our testing of the power of this weapon. "


    After listening to me, poser pleaded: "Madam Colonel, I don''t know if you can show me this new type of gun. Because after I was captured, I found that although I and my subordinates were stunned, there was almost no damage to the body of the tank, which was unbelievable


    How could I possibly let these prisoners visit the independent division''s secret weapon? So I said coldly, "Captain, when this battle is over, I will show you this new weapon if I have a chance, but only if you live to that time." As poser was about to say something more, there was a cry in front of him: "stop, stop!" I turned around and saw a temporary checkpoint at the intersection in front of me. Several triangular iron frames were placed in the middle of the road. On both sides of the road were sandbags with machine guns. A second lieutenant in a cornice cap and two soldiers with submachine guns came towards our truck. He went to the window on the driver''s side and said sternly, "Comrade soldier, please show me your identification!" I stood up, holding the baffle in my hand, and looked down at the officer who was checking his credentials with the help of the flashlight. At the same time, I asked aloud, "Hey, comrade commander, what part are you?" The second lieutenant was startled by my voice, and quickly raised his flashlight to me. Unexpectedly, after the flashlight only shook my face for a moment, the second lieutenant quickly put away the flashlight, raised his hand to salute me, and politely called: "Hello, Mr. o''shanina! We''re from the 10th division of the interior. " Hearing that the commander accurately called out my name, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade commander, have we known each other before?" Unexpectedly, the Lieutenant''s head was like a rattle and said, "no, I''ve never seen you before. However, I have heard from my colleagues that the division commander of the independent division who sticks to the mamayev post is a woman, and she is also the only female colonel in the whole army. Therefore, as soon as I saw your rank just now, I guessed your identity. " Seeing that the commander was very friendly to me, I said to him with a kind face: "Comrade commander, since you know my identity, can you let us pass? You know, we need to get to the headquarters of the group army in case of emergency. "¡° "No problem," said the commander, turning and waving back. Five or six soldiers ran out of the sandbags and moved the tripod in the middle of the road to the side of the road. Seeing that the road ahead was clear, the second lieutenant looked up at me and said, "Colonel oshanina, the road block ahead has been removed. You and your men can go now. Have a good trip With that, he stepped back two steps and raised his hand to salute me. I also raised my hand in return and said in a friendly way, "thank you, comrade lieutenant. Good luck Then I raised my hand and patted the roof of the bridge, and told the driver loudly, "drive!"

 Chapter 633

    I was afraid I would not be able to get back to the highland before dawn, so as soon as I passed the checkpoint, I urged the driver to speed up. As a result, our convoy was stopped by a militia patrol.


    After checking the driver''s certificate, the militia leader stood up on the wheel, grasped the baffle, took a photo in the car with a flashlight, and asked us seriously, "which army are you from and where are you going?"


    Looking at the captain''s business like manner, I gently touched Morozov with my arm. He immediately understood and stood up to answer cooperatively: "Comrade captain, we are from the independent division. We need to rush to the headquarters of the group army for urgent matters."


    The captain waved the flashlight in his face and put it out. Then he asked drily, "do you have a pass?"


    "Pass, what pass?" Morozov said a little impatiently: "Comrade captain, didn''t you listen to our teachers say that we are independent division? Our division has been stationed at mamayev post, and no one comes to the city at ordinary times. Where can I find your pass? "


    The captain is obviously one of those people who have one muscle. When he heard Morozov say that we don''t have a pass, he said more righteously, "I''m sorry, according to the regulations of the city defense headquarters, people without a pass can''t walk in the city after dark."


    "Comrade captain," Morozov said to him patiently, "I told you just now that our division troops are stationed outside the city and do not have the pass you said. We still have important tasks to carry out, please let us pass! "


    "No, you can''t pass without a pass." Although the militiamen leader looks young, he looks like an old stubborn man. He stubbornly says, "now, I order you all to get out of the car and accept the inspection!"


    "What? What''s your identity? How dare you order us to get out of the car and accept your inspection? " Morozov was so angry at his words that he almost rushed over, grabbed his sleeve and carried the militia leader to the carriage.


    Seeing the tension between them, I was about to stand up and say a few words. Under the car, a militiamen ran to the captain, looked up and yelled, "Comrade captain, look, it''s the inspection Comrade coming!"


    I turned to the road and saw the second lieutenant and a soldier passing by in a hurry. Seeing the commander of the checkpoint coming, the captain of the militia quickly let go and jumped to the ground and stood at attention. When the second lieutenant came to him, he raised his hand and saluted: "report to Comrade second lieutenant, most of the people in the convoy that we stopped have no pass. I''m going to order the soldiers to detain them."


    "Nonsense, it''s nonsense!" The captain of the militia thought that the second lieutenant would praise him, but he was furious with him. "Don''t you see that the commander of the independent division, Colonel oshanina, is sitting in the car? She has an urgent task now and needs to get to the headquarters of the group army as soon as possible. But look at you. What have you done? You have stopped her motorcade. If you delay her business, can you bear the responsibility? "


    The militiamen leader was so scolded that he had to wave at his subordinates and let them dodge to the side of the road. The second lieutenant then raised his head to salute me and said apologetically, "I''m sorry, sir, for your time. Now you and your men can move on. "


    I stood up, saluted the second lieutenant and said gratefully, "thank you, comrade second lieutenant. We''ll see you later."


    Our team moved on.


    Although the road is spacious, the bricks and stones collapsed from the damaged buildings and the wreckage of several damaged German tanks take up at least half of the road. The driver has to carefully bypass these annoying obstacles, so the speed will not be fast.


    When I came to the vicinity of the headquarters of the group army, I saw that the three storey building, which used to be strong and beautiful, now had only the lowest floor left, and the upper two floors were destroyed by bombs or shells.


    With the help of Morozov, I got down from the carriage and looked left and right. When I saw a building opposite the headquarters with only one wall left, I told Morozov, "Comrade captain, let the soldiers drive the prisoners to the wall."


    With a loud promise, Morozov went to carry out my order.


    When I saw that they were driving the prisoners to the wall, I arranged my military appearance and prepared to walk towards the headquarters. Suddenly, a loud cry came from behind. I turned around and saw that the man who was yelling was captain Bossel, who had talked with me in the car. At this moment, he was dragged to the wall by two soldiers, one on the left and the other on the right.


    Because of his loud cry, the soldiers who were on guard in the headquarters were alarmed. When I saw an officer running out of the door with four or five soldiers, I had no choice but to give a wry smile and then came forward.


    The commander came up to me, straightened up and said clearly, "Captain shanikov, tell you, comrade Colonel, what''s going on here?"


    As a matter of fact, I didn''t know the reason why the prisoners yelled, so I had to smile apologetically at shanikov, turn around and yell at Morozov: "Comrade captain, come to me!"


    On hearing my call, Morozov trotted up to me, raised his hand and politely asked, "what instructions do you have, sir?"


    I pointed to the prisoners who were held by the wall and asked curiously, "where is the tank captain, Bossel, shouting what?"


    Morozov replied with a smile: "yes, sir. Didn''t you order us to drive the prisoners to the wall? As a result, Captain Bossel misunderstood and thought that we were going to drive them to the wall and shoot them, so he just kept shouting, "please, go around us and don''t shoot us."


    Morozov''s words immediately made us all laugh. Shenikov even spat on the ground and said contemptuously, "I didn''t expect these arrogant bandits to be so afraid of death." After that, he asked solemnly, "Comrade Colonel, what can I do for you to come to the headquarters of the group army so late?"


    I quickly replied, "Comrade captain, it''s like this. I have something important to ask for the commander. Is he in the headquarters?"


    "Of course, comrade commander, of course!" Shanikov said politely, "please, comrade Colonel, I''ll show you the way."


    As we were about to leave, Morozov suddenly asked behind us, "Comrade division commander, what should we do with these prisoners?"


    Morozov''s words made me remember that I had brought more than 20 German prisoners this time. I can''t let them stand opposite the headquarters of the group army all the time. Thinking of this, I quickly grabbed shanikov, pointed to the German prisoners and said, "Comrade captain, do you see those prisoners? These are the ones we captured in tonight''s battle, and now I''ll officially hand them over to you. "


    Shanikov raised his hand to the soldiers beside him and said, "go and show the way to the comrades of the independent division and take these prisoners to the prison camp in the city." Then he made a gesture of invitation to me, "come on, comrade colonel."


    I turned and told Morozov: "Captain, you lead the soldiers to send these prisoners to the prison camp, and wait for me here when you come back." Seeing that Morozov nodded and understood, I followed shenikov to the headquarters.


    When I entered the headquarters, I saw a busy scene in the room. Beside the wall on the left side of the door sat a group of signalmen who were sending telegrams and making phone calls, while trekov, gurov and Krylov were looking at the map with their backs to the door. I quickly stepped forward, raised my hand to my forehead, and said in a loud voice, "report to the commander, military commissar, chief of staff, commander of the independent division, Colonel oshanina. I''m waiting for your orders."


    When they heard my voice, they all turned their heads and looked over. Trikov looked at me and asked with interest, "Hey, I said, comrade oshanina, why did you come to my headquarters in the middle of the night?"


    Without waiting for me to speak, a nearby signalman was already shouting at the top of his voice: "Comrade chief of staff, Captain andreushenko, commander of the 115th infantry brigade."


    As soon as krailov walked away, another signalman was calling trakov: "Comrade commander, it''s general pozaritsky, artillery director of the group army."


    Trikov gave me an apologetic smile and then said to military Commissioner gurov, "dear comrade Kuzma akimovich, you will be our female colonel for the time being." With that, he went to the signalman to answer the phone.


    When I heard that someone called gurov''s real name and father''s name in front of me again, I suddenly matched the weak military commissar in front of me with the commander who led the troops to break out from Kharkov in the movie. In the movies, they call him Kuzma, but we usually call him gurov, so I didn''t expect that he was alone. He is not only good at political work, but also good at commanding troops to fight. If Stalin had listened to his advice and stopped the attack in time in the battle of Kharkov, he would not have caused so much damage to the troops.


    Gurov first asked me to sit down at the table, then poured me a cup of tea, and then asked me with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the matter with you running from mamayev post to the headquarters of the group army so late?"


    I was holding a teacup. Listening to his question, I quickly put the teacup on the table, stood up and replied respectfully, "report to Comrade military commissar, our division fought with the Germans in Highland 107.5 tonight and captured more than 20 prisoners. I sent them to the headquarters specially."


    After hearing this, gurov laughed and joked: "Comrade oshanina, maybe you''re not only here to send prisoners? You know, the last time you captured a German general, you only sent your own men to send them here. This time you came to deliver the prisoners yourself. Did you catch Paulus


    Seeing that he had guessed that I was here for another purpose, I had to laugh awkwardly for two times, and then said haltingly, "Comrade military commissar, in fact, it''s no big deal. I just want to ask the commander for help." In order to prevent him from misunderstandings, I specially stressed, "not infantry, but tank soldiers!"


    Gurov was not a dictatorial man. He didn''t immediately answer me whether to give or not. He just nodded and asked me to sit down again. After that, he drew the map on the table closer and explained the current situation to me.


    "Comrade oshanina, look at the current situation faced by our 62nd group army. It is the 6th group army of Paulus and several divisions of the 4th group army of hottank that are attacking our group army. Individual enemy forces have advanced to the Volga River near kuporosnoye, north of punok and south of Stalingrad. The horseshoe shaped German army pressed our army towards the Volga River from the front and wings.


    The enemy is made up of nine combat divisions equipped with a large number of heavy weapons, as well as several "Stahl" clusters. They are also supported by the German fourth air force, which has nearly a thousand combat aircraft. The short-term task of this powerful group of the German Communist army is: to occupy Stalingrad and go out to the Volga River, that is to say, to push forward 5-10 kilometers after fighting and drive us down the river. "


    When he was introduced here, I couldn''t help asking, "what about our troops?"


    He sighed and said: "at present, the number of divisions and brigades in the formation of the group army can not correctly and completely reflect the number and combat effectiveness of the group army. For example, on the morning of September 4, there was a tank brigade with only one tank, and there were two tank brigades with no tanks at all. They would be transferred to the East Bank of the Volga River to rebuild at the latest tomorrow evening. On the evening of September 5, the mixed detachment composed of several brigades and divisions only had about 200 infantry, less than a full infantry battalion; His friend is colonel afanasiyev''s 244th infantry division, which has no more than 1500 soldiers. At best, the number of infantry in the division is about the same as that of a full battalion; The 42nd infantry brigade has 666 soldiers, including less than 200 infantry; On the left, the 35th division of the guards, under the command of Colonel dubiyanski, has no more than 250 infantry. The situation in other corps and units is very similar. There are 40-50 tanks in each brigade of the 23rd army under the command of general Popov, of which nearly 30% are damaged and can only be used as fixed fire points. Only your independent division, the 10th infantry division of the interior people''s Committee under the command of Colonel salayev and the other three independent infantry brigades are basically full. "


    "We have no way to put your division in the mamayev post." After the call, trakov went on to say, "as you can see, although there are many numbers in the group, there are very few troops that can be used. So if you come to me to add, I can only say sorry to you, because I don''t have any extra troops here. "


    I stood up quickly and made my intention clear again: "Comrade commander, I came to the headquarters tonight to supplement the soldiers, but what I want is not infantry, but tank soldiers. Just now, comrades of the military commissar also said that there is only one tank left in the three tank brigades within the organizational structure of the group army. "


    After listening to me, trikov asked in a puzzled way, "Comrade oshanina, your division doesn''t have tanks. What tank soldiers do you want when you come to me at night?"


    "Well, comrade commander, in the battle tonight..." I reported the battle in Highland 107.5 to them in detail, and finally said: "at present, we have captured ten German tanks, but there are only 18 tank soldiers in the division. If only these tanks are put into operation, the number of tank soldiers is enough. If we want to make use of these tanks, reorganize them into tank units of the independent division, and become an iron fist against the enemy, then the number of tank soldiers will be very different. So... "


    Before I finished speaking, Krylov, who also returned to the table after the call, took over the conversation: "so you come to the group army headquarters for help, hoping to add some experienced tankers from those troops whose tanks have been exhausted. Am I right, comrade oshanina? "


    I nodded my head hard and answered positively, "absolutely right, comrade chief of staff. I came to the headquarters specially to supplement the tank troops."


    "No problem. We may not be able to take out the tanks, but there are plenty of tank soldiers." When trakov heard that I wanted to reorganize a new tank unit, his face became rich. He turned to Krylov and said, "Comrade chief of staff, all the tanks of the 42nd independent tank brigade were lost in the battle of the previous two days. According to the plan, the brigade will retreat to the east bank of the Volga River tomorrow evening to reorganize. Well, you immediately call brigadier batrakov and political commissar Xia Ping, and ask them to send 100 tankers over and give them to captain o''shanina. " After commanding krailov, he specially asked me: "Comrade oshanina, is that enough? If it''s not enough, I''ll send you another 50 tankers from the 169 th brigade. "


    I was frightened to hear that trikov was so generous. I waved my hand and said, "enough, enough, comrade commander. There are only ten tanks in our division now. If we don''t have so many people, you can give me 30 tankers. "


    My words attracted a good laugh from the three of them. Gurov pointed at me and said with a smile: "you, you, comrade oshanina, you are so mean. Since you can capture 10 tanks today, you can capture 20, 30 or even 50 tanks tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. It will not be so easy to want tankers then. "


    I listened to gurov''s words and muttered to myself: do you think German tanks are shells on the beach, waiting for you to pick them up? However, in front of the superior leaders, I still kept a forced smile.


    Seeing that krailov was still standing there, he urged him: "chief of staff, what are you doing here? Call Colonel batrakov immediately and ask him to dispatch 100 experienced tankers, led by political commissar Xia Ping, to report to the headquarters of the group army." Krailov promised and turned around to make a phone call. I quickly opened my mouth and stopped him: "chief of staff, please wait a moment!" The purpose of calling him is to get two more political workers from the tank brigade to enrich the tank unit of Peregrine. If I didn''t explain in advance, it was the political commissar of the tank brigade who led the team. No matter how cheeky I was, it was impossible for a regiment level political commissar to take the post of instructor in a division of my division. Krailov stopped and asked me curiously, "Comrade oshanina, what else can I do for you?" I looked at trakov and gurov, summoned up courage and said to krailov, "chief of staff, when you call Colonel batrakov, can you ask him to send me two special political workers?" Krailov listened, nodded without thinking, and went straight to make a phone call. On the contrary, trekov asked curiously, "I said, comrade oshanina, in my impression, you hate political workers the most. That''s why I never give you a teacher to accompany the political commissar. When did you change your mind and ask us for political workers? " Before I knew how to answer this question, I changed the topic in time: "by the way, comrade commander, there is another thing I want to ask you about."¡° What''s the matter? "¡° Why is it stipulated in your new order that divisions should not communicate with the headquarters of the group army in plain language, but only send telegrams or make telephone calls? " Although kirilov has given me an analysis of the reason why the superior gave this order, I still want to ask the truth in this case¡° So that''s it. " After listening to this, trakov answered lightly, "this order was given to the headquarters of the front army by the supreme command, and then to me. As for the reason, I think the higher authorities may have made a decision to prevent the German army from intercepting our communication signals and leaking the military code. " While we were talking, Krylov also came over and reported to trakov, "report commander, I have already called Colonel batrakov. He said that the troops will arrive in 20 minutes." Trekov nodded and then asked me, "Comrade oshanina, tell us more about your thunder gun. Is it really that powerful?" It seems that he has been thinking about what I said. In order to satisfy his curiosity, I once again reported to the three leaders the power of the thunder guns displayed in the battle, and finally concluded: "this kind of weapon is very effective for tackling difficulties. Even if the enemy takes a month to build solid fortifications, we only need to fire hundreds or thousands of explosive packs with thunderguns, and then we can raze their positions to the ground. " Just as the three were filled with emotion, a loud voice sounded in the room: "report, Xia Ping, political commissar of the 42nd brigade of independent tank, has been ordered to come and wait for your orders!"

 Chapter 634

    When I looked back, I saw two political workers standing not far behind me. Standing in front of him was a middle-aged man of medium build with dark skin on his face. From the logo of the regiment political commissar on his badge, I could tell that he was Xia Ping, political commissar of the tank brigade. The one in the back is much younger. The sign on the badge shows that he is just a political instructor.


    "Comrade Xia Ping is here!" Gurov stood up with a smile and walked towards Shapin who was standing in front of him. After shaking hands with him, he didn''t release them immediately. Instead, he continued to hold his hand tightly and pulled him to the table. And I, who was standing at the table, quickly stepped back to make room for the new political commissar.


    When trekov and krailov reached out to shake hands with him, Xia Ping took time to report to trekov: "Comrade commander, I have brought your tank soldiers and a political instructor."


    Trikov nodded, then pointed to me and introduced to Xia Ping: "political commissar Xia Ping, I''d like to introduce you. This is the independent division commander of mamayev post, Colonel oshanina!"


    "Hello, comrade political commissar." As soon as trikov finished his introduction, I immediately took the initiative to say hello to political commissar Xia Ping.


    Xia Ping gave a surprise, then turned to look at me and looked me up and down. When he was looking at it, I felt that the position where his eyes stayed the longest was the military rank on my badge. When Xia Ping turned his eyes to trakov again, he unexpectedly said: "sorry, comrade commander, if you want to assign the tank soldiers I brought to this Colonel oshanina, I can''t agree."


    Xia Ping''s words made the indoor air solidify in an instant. I''m not only the second monk in law, but also trekov, gurov and Krylov. I don''t know why Shapin suddenly said that.


    "May I ask why you object?" After a moment''s silence, gurov opened his mouth to resolve the deadlock.


    "Report to the military commissar that tank soldiers are a technical branch. Without tanks, they can play the role of infantry temporarily. The general infantry without a long period of training, is unable to become a qualified tank soldiers. So I think it is not only a waste, but also a crime to send our experienced tank soldiers to serve as ordinary infantry in areas with fierce fighting


    After hearing this, trikov shook his head, looked at Xia Ping seriously and coldly, and asked, "Comrade political commissar of the regiment level, is it because of what you just said that you raised your objection?"


    "Yes, comrade commander."


    After looking at each other, trikov couldn''t help laughing: "I said, comrade political commissar of the regiment, you are over careful. As your superior, don''t we know the current situation of the tank brigade? Although there are no tanks in the tank brigade now, as long as these brave tank soldiers are equipped with new horses, then you can immediately become an iron and steel division that makes the Communist aggressors feel frightened! "


    Gurov looked at trakov attentively. As soon as he finished, he added: "Comrade Xia Ping, this is the situation. Colonel oshanina''s forces, in the battle tonight, destroyed a German army and captured ten tanks. Because of the shortage of tank soldiers, she came to us for help. The commander and I, considering that your brigade will be transferred to the east bank tomorrow, decided to temporarily transfer personnel from your department to supplement the tank troops of the independent division. "


    "Comrade military commissar, what did you say, the independent division captured ten tanks?" When Xia Ping heard the news, he still couldn''t believe it. He nodded his head to confirm that it was true. He turned his head to look at me and asked excitedly, "Comrade Colonel, I don''t know what tanks you have captured?"


    When Xia Ping asked, he stopped me. I was not familiar with the German tank models, and I had never been to the scene to check the captured tanks, so I couldn''t say clearly. I could only say vaguely: "there are both light and medium tanks."


    "How many tankers do you have now?"


    "Eighteen." I did not hesitate to answer this data.


    "It''s only 18. The number is a little less. It''s good to be able to move half of the tanks." After hearing this, Xia Ping said to himself. Then he looked at Cui KOV and said, "Comrade commander, the independent division has only ten tanks, so we can''t use so many tank soldiers. Well, I''ll give them 30 more, and I''ll take the rest back with me? "


    Seeing that the cooked duck was about to fly, I quickly turned to the nearest military commissar for help. Gurov saw the anxious expression on my face and gave me a little smile. Then he said to Xia Ping slowly, "Comrade Xia Ping, don''t just see that the independent division has only ten tanks at the moment. You should take a long view. With the division''s combat effectiveness, I believe that in the near future, they will continue to capture the enemy''s weapons and equipment, and tanks are just one of the many spoils. "


    Shaping''s eyes were fixed on me, but he asked gurov in an uncertain tone: "Comrade military commissar, do you confirm that the independent division under the command of Colonel oshanina can capture a large number of German weapons and equipment in the next battle?"


    The conversation between gurov and Xia Ping made me feel ashamed. Gurov, in particular, believes in me unconditionally. He seems to think that as long as I am where I am, then I will win.


    After hearing Xia Ping''s suspicions, gurov nodded and said to him firmly: "Comrade political commissar of the regiment, although I have known Colonel o''shanina for a long time and haven''t dealt with you for a long time, I don''t know her less than you at all. Since the establishment of the independent division, the group army has only provided them with less than half of the weapons and equipment. The remaining weapons were seized from the enemy''s hands by the army led by Colonel oshanina. "


    Guloff gave me a strong support, which softened Shapin''s face. He grinned and said to guloff with a kind of flattery: "then Comrade military commissar, can I make a request?"


    I quickly looked at gulov, and saw his broad face covered with a smile: "yes, Comrade Xia Ping, if you have any request, just let me know. As long as it is within my ability, I will help you solve it. "


    "Yes, comrade military Commissar." "I don''t want to leave Stalingrad, especially in this situation, so I intend to stay," said Shapin


    "What, stay!" After hearing this, trikov asked in surprise, "Comrade political commissar of the regiment, your tank brigade will cross the Volga River tomorrow evening and go to the east bank for rest and replenishment. What are you going to do if you stay alone?"


    After hearing Xia Ping''s request, I also looked at him curiously, trying to find out why he suddenly thought of staying. Unexpectedly, he tilted his head at me and asked trikov and gurov to say, "commander, comrade military commissar, I want to ask you to send me to work in the independent division, even if it''s just to command a tank battalion."


    Xia Ping''s words made me silly. Are you right? You want to come to my division, and even command a tank battalion? I looked nervously at gurov and at trekov, who was silent, hoping that they would open their mouths to dispel the absurd idea of Xia Ping.


    Perhaps he felt my look for help and said, "Comrade Xia Ping, you are a political commissar at the regiment level. If you want to go to an independent division, you can be a political commissar at the division level. It''s just that we sent Comrade kirilov, director of the Political Department of the group army, two days ago. I don''t think it''s good to change people at such a time. "


    "Yes, yes, comrade commander is right." I don''t want another political worker of the same level as kirilov in the division, so I quickly agreed with trekov and pretended to raise difficulties: "political commissar kirilov has been in the division for some time and has been fighting with the commanders and fighters of the division. I''m afraid that if he is transferred at this time, it will affect the morale of the army."


    I thought that the words of trekov and I could make the political commissar Xia Ping retreat. Unexpectedly, he said stubbornly: "Comrade commander, Colonel o''shanina, I just said that I just want to stay and continue to fight. I never thought of being a political commissar of the independent division. As long as I can stay, even if I can be a company instructor


    After Xia Ping''s words, trakov just shut up and turned his eyes on me, as if to ask for my opinions. I was embarrassed when I was seen by several people, and I was thinking quickly about how to deal with this matter: the political commissar of the division was kirilov, so it might not be possible to make room for him. Although he said that even if he commanded a battalion, he didn''t care, but I couldn''t really let him work in the battalion. The best choice was to let him serve as the political commissar of the regiment. At present, there are five regiments in the division, the first and the fifth regiments are all equipped with political commissars. The acting leaders of the second and the third regiments are all captains, which can not restrict him. So there are only four regiments left. Anyway, the leader Gaidar is a lieutenant colonel. Although his rank is lower than that of him, it is just appropriate for them to work together. Besides, I plan to assign pelsky''s tank unit to the fourth regiment.


    After thinking about it, I went up to Xia Ping and said with a smile: "since Xia Ping''s political commissar insists on working in the independent division, then on behalf of all the officers and men of the independent division, I welcome you! As for the position, "I deliberately frowned and pretended to be thinking. In fact, I was secretly observing the reaction of the three of them and Xia Ping''s Political Commissar. Seeing that the four of them were all like this, I continued:" I intend to assign the newly formed tank unit to the fourth regiment. At present, the fourth regiment has only the head, but no political commissar. That''s to aggrieve Comrade Xia Ping, He will temporarily hold the post of political commissar of the fourth regiment. "


    "I think Comrade o''shanina''s arrangement is appropriate." After hearing my arrangement, gurov first expressed his support, and then specially asked for trekov''s opinions: "what do you think, comrade commander?"


    "I agree, too!" Trekov smiles and nods.


    "I don''t mind either." After the completion of the trekov table, Krylov also expressed his support.


    Seeing that all the three leaders of the group army agreed to my arrangement, I was immediately relieved. I quickly reached out to hold Xia Ping''s hand and said in a friendly way, "Comrade political commissar, once again, I warmly welcome you to work in the independent division."


    Xia Pingping shook hands with me with a smile and made a gesture to the political instructor standing behind. The man quickly stepped forward and came to us. He stood straight and stared at the front. Xia Ping specially introduced himself to me and said, "Comrade teacher, this is Comrade wajim, the political instructor."


    "Hello, comrade wajim." I greet the political worker with a smile on my face and extend my hand to him at the same time.


    Wajim raised his hand to salute me, then he took my hand with both hands and shook it hard.


    Xia Ping is the political commissar of the fourth regiment, so I decided vajim''s new position in an instant. After I let go, I officially announced to him: "Comrade wajim, I appoint you as the instructor of the tank unit of the independent division!"


    "Willing to serve the motherland of the Soviet Union!" Wajim answered me in a loud voice.


    After arranging the posts of Xia Ping and wajim, I asked trekov, "Comrade commander, I can''t use the telephone to talk with you now. If I have something urgent to report to you, what should I do?"


    When trekov heard my question, he called a staff officer, leaned up to the other party''s ear, whispered a few words, and then the staff officer trotted away from the headquarters.


    After the staff officer left, trakov said to me with a flat expression: "Comrade oshanina, I''ve asked someone to go to the communication director of the group army and ask him to arrange for people to set up a telephone line from the group army to your division as soon as possible. When the line is ready, you can call me directly if you have anything to do


    As I wanted to return to mamayev post before dawn, I said goodbye to them after I had finished what I had to do. Outside the headquarters, after assembling the tank soldiers and the soldiers I brought, they formed a four-way column and walked out of the city with neat steps.


    I was at the top of the team with Shapin, Morozov and wajim. After the introduction, Xia Ping asked curiously, "Comrade division commander, where do you plan to deploy the tank unit?"


    Without thinking, I replied, "these tanks are the precious lumps of our division. They can''t be placed on the high ground, so that when the German planes come, they can all be blasted into scrap iron. So I''m going to hide the tanks in the settlements behind the highlands. "


    "Settlements?" After hearing this, Xia Ping said thoughtfully, "I have a little impression of the residential area you mentioned. If the tanks attack from there, they must go around the high ground on the south side of the mamayev post. In this way, the impact distance of the tank troops will exceed five kilometers. On such a long road, if it is found by German planes, it is easy to be completely destroyed. "


    Although I know what Xia Ping said is reasonable, I am not willing to change my decision easily. Not to mention that there is no time to build bunkers for tanks on the high ground, even if there is, I don''t intend to put tanks there. After all, these tanks were captured from the German army, which is different from the tanks equipped by our army. It is necessary for the tank soldiers to have an environment familiar with the equipment, and this place is not the residential area of the fourth regiment.


    Although political commissar Xia Ping and I have just known each other for a short time, in order to get along with each other peacefully in the future, I told him my thoughts in detail. After hearing this, he hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said with approval, "that''s true. These German tanks can be used as soon as they are captured. But it really needs a running in time to give full play to the tank''s performance. "


    As we spoke, we approached the residential area unconsciously. Because of the large number of our troops, we knew at a glance that they were going to the front line, so neither patrols nor checkpoints stopped us.


    We are walking, suddenly in front of a flashlight light shot over, followed by a low voice: "who, password?"


    Hearing this sudden sound, we unconsciously stopped. I turned and asked molozov, "Comrade captain, do you know the command of the fourth regiment tonight?"


    Molozov''s head shook like a rattle: "I don''t know!"


    There was the sound of pulling the bolt in the darkness, and the sentry raised his voice: "password? Stop! No one of you is allowed to move. Stay where you are, or I''ll shoot you! "


    "Stop, troops stop!" After listening to the sentry''s words, Morozov turned around and yelled at the soldiers behind him: "all listen to my command, stop


    Obviously, the sentinel in the dark also saw the movement here. He still asked stubbornly: "password? If I don''t say it again, I''ll shoot! "


    "Hello, comrade soldier!" Morozov tentatively took two steps forward, cleverly blocked me, and called out to the other side, "it''s the division commander himself. She has just brought us back from the group army headquarters."


    Instead of asking for the command, the sentry tentatively asked, "is it really the division commander?"


    I didn''t feel any danger from the voice of the sentry, so I stepped forward two steps, gently pushed Morozov aside, and said loudly in the dark, "I''m the commander of the independent division, Colonel oshanina, comrade soldier, what part of you? Is it commander Gaidar''s fourth regiment or commander Oleg''s fifth regiment? "


    As soon as my voice fell, I heard a rush of footsteps. Then two soldiers appeared in front of me, raised their hands to salute me, and reported, "report to Mr. division, we are from the fourth regiment."


    Looking at the two young soldiers in front of me, I asked flatly, "do you know where Captain perskin is?"


    A soldier quickly replied, "yes, sir. The captain and his men have just driven about a dozen tanks back to the open space in the middle of the settlement. " Seeing that the soldier knew where the Peregrine I was looking for was, I immediately told him, "Comrade soldier, please take us to captain Peregrine." The soldier did not shirk, immediately made a please gesture to me, turned his head and left. Seeing that I was following the soldiers and moving forward, Morozov rushed to the back and yelled, "all of you, let''s go!" We walked around piles of rubble and along the wide dirt road to the middle of the settlement. Looking up at the dilapidated buildings on both sides of the road, I asked the soldiers curiously, "Comrade soldiers, where do you usually hide?" You know, before the day today, there were four or five thousand people in the three regiments, four regiments and five regiments. I really want to know where these thousands of people were hiding when the enemy shelled or air raided them? The soldier replied with a smile: "Sir, you don''t know something. There is a basement under every building here. There is also a huge air defense fortification under the cemetery in the middle of the residential area, which can accommodate three or four thousand people, no problem. " Little soldier''s answer, let me feel relieved, it seems that I am worried. As he walked, the little soldier suddenly pointed to the right and said, "Sir, look, that''s the cemetery." I looked in the direction of his fingers. In the dark night, with the help of the light of the distant fire, I vaguely saw that it was a place surrounded by iron fences, covering a large area. It is this cemetery that divides this huge settlement into two areas from the middle. Walking, the little soldier stopped, stood in place and whistled. I just wanted to ask him why he whistled. There were several flashlight lights in the distance. At the same time, a lazy voice asked impatiently, "Hey, I said, what are you doing here when you don''t work hard in the middle of the night?" Hearing this familiar voice, I knew immediately that the speaker was Peregrine, so I yelled in the direction of the voice: "Hello, Captain Peregrine, come here!"¡° Ah, it''s the teacher. Don''t sleep. Don''t even sleep. Get up and meet the teacher. " Pelsjian was nervous by my sudden appearance. After a flurry of noise, there were bright lights around us, needless to say, all the lights on the tank.

 Chapter 635

    The sudden light not only startled me and commissar Xia Ping. Even peiersjian, who was walking towards us, was startled by the black crowd of officers and men who suddenly appeared in front of us.


    Peiersjian came up to me, raised his hand and saluted absently, looked at the commanders and fighters behind me and asked curiously, "Comrade division, what''s the matter? Who are they?"


    Instead of answering peresjian''s question, I pulled Xia Ping and, according to Russian custom, first introduced the low-level people to the high-level: "Comrade political commissar, I''ll introduce you. This is captain peresjian, the commander of the tank battalion."


    "Tank battalion?" As soon as my words came out, Shapin and perskin asked in unison, "isn''t it a tank unit? When will they be promoted to a tank battalion?"


    I coughed, cleared my throat, and explained to Xia Ping, "it''s like this. Originally, I thought there were only ten tanks in the division, so I only decided to set up a formation of one unit for them. Now that you bring so many tank soldiers here, the formation of the unit is obviously not suitable, so I decided to promote to tank battalion temporarily. Do you have any comments? "


    Xia Ping waved his head and answered me very simply: "Sir, I will obey your arrangement."


    Seeing that Xia Ping had no opinion, I introduced the new political commissar of the fourth regiment to peierjian: "Captain peierjian, come and meet Xia Ping, the new political commissar of the fourth regiment. In the future, your tank battalion will be under his direct command. "


    Peiersjian quickly raised his hand to salute Xia Ping, and respectfully said: "Hello, comrade political commissar of the regiment level, welcome to your arrival, my subordinates and I are waiting for your orders."


    After they said hello, I pointed to the group of tank soldiers behind me, and announced to peresjian triumphantly, "Comrade captain, I have a good news to tell you. See these tank soldiers behind me? They were all brought by political commissar Xia Ping and supplemented to your camp. "


    When he heard the news, pelsjian was overjoyed. He grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously. He said excitedly: "thank you, sir. You have added so many commanders and fighters to us. I promise you, as long as you command, I promise to lead the tank battalion to beat the enemy down. "


    When he let go of my hand, I turned to the back and yelled, "Comrade wajim, please come here." When wajim came to my side, I said to pelsjian, who was smiling on his face: "Captain pelsjian, let me introduce you to this political instructor. His name is wajim. From today on, he will be the political deputy battalion commander in your camp. "


    Pels was stunned by my words, but he soon returned to normal, and took the initiative to reach out to wajim and said in a friendly way: "Hello, comrade deputy battalion commander, welcome to work in the tank battalion."


    "Hello, comrade battalion commander. I hope we can be good partners in our future work. " Although wajim''s words were very polite, I could recognize a kind of alienation.


    After greeting, Xia Ping Ping and his wife politely asked pelsjian, "Comrade captain, I don''t know what models of the ten tanks we captured tonight?"


    Peiersjian had been somewhat restrained in front of the new regiment political commissar and political deputy battalion commander. After hearing the question from political commissar Xia Ping, he replied very freely: "report to political commissar that among the tanks seized, there are four No. 3 tanks and six No. 4 tanks respectively."


    When they talked about their major, I was not interested. I called Morozov to him and told him in a low voice, "Captain Morozov, I''ll give you a task now. Immediately run and call me the fourth commander, Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar, and say that I have something important to say to him. "


    After Morozov left, I went to Xiaping and pelsjian, who were chatting with each other, and planned to continue to listen to my book. Unexpectedly, Xia Ping said professionally: "yes, comrade captain. The purpose of the original German design of tank 3 was to cooperate with tank 4. No. 3 is equipped with high-speed tank gun, which is mainly used to attack enemy tanks, while No. 4 is equipped with large caliber howitzer for anti infantry operations. This is also a trend in the development of tanks in various countries in the early 1930s. "


    When Xia Ping talked about the stoppage, perersian broke in in time and said, "the crew of these two tanks are all five: the driver, the messenger, the gunner, the loader and the commander. We have only 18 general attacks, that is to say, we can barely put four of them into combat before we get new additions. But now, with the experienced tankers you personally brought, comrade political commissar, we can put all ten tanks into combat. "


    "What are the models of these three tanks?" When Xia Ping asked peiersjian what he said, I was suddenly covered with black lines. I thought the tank was divided into No. 3 and No. 4, but I didn''t expect that No. 3 tank was divided into several types.


    Peiersjian obviously knew the data of these aspects very well. He came to Xia Ping''s question with open mouth: "the captured No. 3 tanks are all the latest n-type tanks. The turrets are equipped with 50 mm low-speed guns, which have low initial speed and can shoot high explosive ammunition. They are suitable for the planned anti infantry and short-range support tasks. The vehicle will carry 64 75 mm shells and 3450 machine gun ammunition. In terms of auxiliary armed machine guns, as in previous models, both use two 7.92mm machine guns and one machine gun in the body. "


    When I heard that the more they talked, the more professional they became, I became a little uneasy. I couldn''t help looking around. I was looking forward to Gaidar coming earlier. After I introduced the new regiment commissar to him, I could go back to my division headquarters.


    Just when I was very anxious, Shapin''s voice floated into my ears again: "after the German troops invaded our territory, they found that the 50 mm guns of their No.3 tank E and f could not effectively deal with our T-34 and KV-1 heavy tanks. Even if they were replaced with 60 mm guns with stronger armor piercing ability, they could only deal with our tanks at close range. Due to technical reasons, the chassis of No. 3 tank is no longer allowed to be equipped with bigger guns. Therefore, the German military thought of No. 4 tank and replaced the No. 4 F2 tank with 75mm long guns, so that they finally had a tank that could compete with our T-34. However, as a result, the operational use of their No. 4 tank has been completely changed. "


    Hearing these professional contents constantly pouring into my ears, and seeing the two people who talked more and more, I almost had the idea of running away. Just as I was still hesitating to find an excuse to slip away, I suddenly heard a rush of footsteps in the distance. Then more than a dozen officers and men walked out of the darkness to the area illuminated by the tank lights.


    One of the two people who came to the front was Morozov, who I sent out, and the other was Gaidar, who I had been waiting for. Seeing the two men''s appearance, I breathed a sigh of relief. After drawing a cross on my chest secretly, I turned my head and called Xia Ping. Then I went to meet Gaidar.


    "Hello, comrade teacher." Gaidar saluted me, then asked eagerly, "do you have any instructions for coming to me so late?"


    It happened that Xia Ping came to me at the moment. I quickly pulled his arm, pointed to Gaidar and introduced him to him, saying, "Comrade political commissar of the regiment, I''ll make an introduction for you. This is commander Gaidar of the fourth regiment." Then I said to Gaidar¡° Commander Gaidar, come and meet Comrade Xia Ping, the regimental political commissar newly assigned to our division by the superior. After discussion with the commander, I decided to let him serve as the political commissar of your regiment. "


    After hearing this, Gaidar first let out a cry, then came close to my ear and said in a low voice, "Comrade division, is it appropriate for this regiment level political commissar to be a political commissar in my regiment?"


    "What''s wrong?" Confused by what he said, I asked in a puzzled way.


    "But he is a political commissar at the regiment level!" After he emphasized the identity of the other party to me, he added: "his rank should be the political commissar of the division or the brigade, not the small political commissar of the regiment."


    After listening to Gaidar''s worries, I said lightly, "commander Gaidar, it''s not only Xia Ping''s request to work in the independent division, but also the permission of the commander. The political commissar himself said that as long as he could stay in Stalingrad and not withdraw to the East Bank of the Volga River, let alone be the political commissar of the regiment, he would be willing to be the political deputy commander of the tank battalion. "


    Seeing that all my words were for this reason, Gaidar knew that it was useless to say anything else, so he had no choice but to accept the reality. He said to Xia Ping bitterly: "Hello, comrade political commissar! On behalf of all the officers and men of the fourth regiment, I welcome you to work in the fourth regiment. "


    When I saw that all the things that should be done had been done, I was deeply afraid to hear the profound professional theories that pelsjian and Xia Ping talked about again. After a few simple explanations, I wanted to slip away. Just about to leave, he was stopped by Gaidar. He said to me with concern, "Comrade division, it''s too dangerous on the high ground. You''d better move the headquarters to the residential area."


    "The high ground is dangerous. Is the settlement safe?"


    "Look over there, sir!" Gaidar pointed in the direction of the cemetery and said to me in a low voice, "there are air defenses under that cemetery. It''s OK to accommodate thousands of people. Recently, in addition to our commanders and fighters, there are also many people who have fled to the ferry and are waiting to cross the river. "


    I shivered when I heard that he wanted me to stay in the air defense works under the cemetery. After looking at the gloomy position, Xin said that if I wanted to stay there, I would rather stay on the high ground to get the German shells. Thinking of this, I refused gedar''s kindness without hesitation, and with Morozov they rushed back to the highlands.


    Back at the headquarters, kirilov, who saw me reappear, immediately came over and asked with concern, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the situation? Is the commander going to the tank?"


    I nodded my head and replied, "the commander not only added 100 tankers from the 42nd independent tank brigade to our division, but also sent Comrade Xia Ping, the political commissar of the brigade, to our division to assist us in our work."


    Hearing this, kirilov and akhromeyev instinctively looked out of the cave, but there was no one outside except the Sentinels walking back and forth.


    Seeing that there was no one outside the cave, kirilov asked strangely, "Mr. teacher, where is political commissar Xia Ping? Why didn''t I see anyone outside the cave?"


    I waved to him, sat down and said, "Comrade political commissar, you don''t need to change. Political commissar Xia Ping doesn''t work in our division headquarters."


    "And where has he gone?"


    "I asked him to be the political commissar of the fourth regiment and to partner with colonel Gaidar."


    After hearing what I said, kirilov frowned and asked strangely, "I know Comrade Xia Ping. Isn''t he a political commissar at the regiment level? Even if he can''t be a deputy political commissar in the division, he can''t be a political commissar in the regiment?"


    I don''t want to entangle with kirilov on this issue any more. I just said vaguely, "this is with the permission of commander trekov and military commissar Comrade gurov."


    When I said that, kirilov stopped talking. I went on to say, "political commissar Xia Ping also brought a political instructor, who I have appointed as the political deputy commander of the tank battalion." In order to prevent kirilov from asking what happened to the tank battalion, I sped up and said, "since there are a lot of additional tank soldiers this time, I promoted the tank unit to tank battalion without consulting with you."


    Kirilov just nodded and did not speak. Akhromeyev, who has been silent all along, suddenly opened his mouth and reported: "Comrade division commander, general Krylov, chief of staff of the group army, has just called and informed us again that when we have something to contact the headquarters of the group army, we should either use the cable phone or use the radio to send a report."


    It''s said that you can directly call the headquarters of the group army here. I can''t help but feel that the efficiency of the communication office of the group army is still very high. How long has it been? The direct cable phone to the headquarters of the group army has been connected.


    Kirilov looked at his watch and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, you should have a good rest after you have been tired all night. It''s still an hour before dawn. Before dawn, the Germans should not launch any more attacks. You should take time to rest. "


    For kirilov''s concern, I nodded gratefully, turned around and saw that razumeyeva was still in the room, sitting with the radio operator Naga, so I waved to her and asked her to come to me.


    When she came over, I asked frankly, "now regiment one, regiment two and regiment three are equipped with walkie talkies besides wired telephones?"


    After listening to what I said, razumeyeva asked in a misty way, "don''t all teachers and comrades have wired telephones? Why should they be equipped with walkie talkies?"


    I put out my hand, touched her forehead with my finger, and taught her with a smile: "don''t you forget how our telephone line between highland 107.5 and us tonight was broken several times by German artillery fire?"


    Razumeyeva then came back to her senses and quickly agreed: "I understand, sir. I''ll arrange the staff to send the extra walkie talkies in the communication room to regiment 1 and regiment 3."


    When she turned around and was about to leave, I suddenly remembered that after I went out to check the line, I had no message from wonia, so I stopped her and asked with concern, "Comrade lieutenant, do you have any news from wonia, Vania?" Although I knew that there was little hope that she would survive in that situation, I couldn''t help but want to know the answer.


    She nodded and whispered, "found it?"


    My heart sank when I saw that there was no expression of joy on her face when she answered my question. I said in secret that she really sacrificed. Then I asked tentatively, "did she sacrifice?"


    As soon as my words came out, she immediately shook her head, and then said to me with some embarrassment: "Comrade division, although wonia did not die, when our soldiers found her, she was seriously injured and her leg was broken by the explosion. Even if she is discharged from hospital, she has to rely on crutches to walk. "


    Knowing the exact news of vonia, I sighed helplessly. Then I waved to razumeyeva and told her, "it''s late, comrade lieutenant. Go and carry out the task quickly."


    Although it was a whim for me to distribute walkie talkies to the command posts of the three regiments, it soon proved how wise my decision was.


    After a short sleep, I was awakened by the earth shaking explosion. I suddenly sat down and saw kirilov and akhromeyev not at the table, but standing at the entrance of the cave and looking out at what?


    I walked over quickly. When they were still a few steps away, I asked them in a loud voice, "what happened to the political commissar and chief of staff? Where was the shelling?" I didn''t expect that after the exit, I found that my voice had been covered by the huge explosion. Kirilov and akhromeyev, who were just a few steps ahead of me, didn''t hear me at all, so they didn''t even turn around.


    I went up behind them and patted them on the shoulder. They were patted on the shoulder by me from behind, only to find my arrival. Without waiting for me to speak, akhromeyev knew what I wanted to ask and quickly told me that our position was being attacked by the enemy.


    Air raid! I quickly set aside two people, quickly ran out of the hole, looked up to the sky. Groups of enemy planes were flying around in the air, not diving down from high altitude to drop bombs and strafe. In the past, the enemy only bombed and strafed the Highlands where a regiment was stationed. Today, the enemy has not even let go of our highlands.


    I was just about to count the number of enemy planes in the sky when kirilov and akhromeyev rushed out of the cave, holding my arms left and right and pulling me into the cave. Before we ran into the hole, a bomb fell from the sky and exploded ten meters behind us. The big and small pieces of soil hit my back. I took a breath of cold air because of the pain.


    "Hell! How could the enemy''s planes attack our highland? " Entering the headquarters in the cave, the explosion outside became much quieter, so I asked them in a loud voice, "how are the positions of the 1st and 3rd regiments?" Akhromeyev shook his head and replied, "Comrade division, the enemy''s air raid has just begun. We haven''t had time to contact the other two regiments."¡° Contact now For the first time, I yelled at ahlomeyev. When akhromeyev picked up the phone, he yelled: "Hello, Hello, third regiment, third regiment, this is division headquarters, can you hear me? If you hear me, please answer! Hello, Hello, three regiments... "I quickly walked up to Najia and said to her in a loud voice," Najia, contact the first regiment immediately and ask commander xiejerikov how they are doing there? " When I heard that akhromeyev and Najia were calling for their respective targets, I was upset. After walking around the headquarters with my hands behind my back, I was planning to go outside the cave again to see the situation. Unexpectedly, I was stopped by kirilov. He didn''t speak. He couldn''t speak in such a loud noise. He just shook his head at me, grabbed my arm and dragged me back to the headquarters. When kirilov and I re entered the headquarters, I saw ahlomeyev''s face on the phone showing a happy expression, and yelled: "yes, yes, I''m the division headquarters, are you the third regiment?"

 Chapter 636

    As soon as akhromeyev finished his call, I took advantage of the gap between the bomb explosions. When the headquarters was relatively quiet, I asked him in a loud voice: "chief of staff, what''s the situation of the third regiment?"


    Perhaps akhromeyev was afraid that the explosion would be too loud. I couldn''t hear what he said. I lowered my head and wrote something on a piece of paper. After writing, he walked around the table to me and handed me the note full of words. I took the note and saw it read: "the position of the third regiment is being bombarded by German artillery."


    After reading the note, I also picked up the pen on the table and wrote in the back, "have you found the German infantry?"


    After seeing what I wrote, akhromeyev laughed and shook his head, saying that there was no German infantry attacking the third regiment for the time being.


    As soon as my communication with akhromeyev was over, kirilov came to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, a group report..." before he finished, he was drowned by the violent explosion from outside.


    I quickly picked up the pen and paper on the table and handed it to him, and asked him to write the report on the paper. Kirilov took the pen and paper, spread the paper on the table, and quickly wrote on the paper with the pen: "a regiment report, the German army has sent out more than 30 planes, which are bombing mamayev post in turn. Moreover, the positions of the regiment were also bombarded by enemy tanks and heavy howitzers. Although at the beginning of the bombing, Lieutenant Colonel shejerikov gave the troops the order to withdraw into the Tibetans'' hole and the artillery hole, the casualties were not small


    Under such heavy bombing and shelling, the casualties of the troops are inevitable, so I did not entangle in this issue, but asked him directly: "how far are the German tanks from us?" The purpose of my question is that after the bombing and shelling, molozov will send people to the position of the first regiment to teach the German tanks and the coming infantry a good lesson with the newly developed thunder guns.


    Kirilov obviously guessed my intention. He shook his head slowly with a straight face, and then wrote on the paper, "the enemy''s tanks are all parked two kilometers away, and the thunder cannons can''t hit that far."


    I stood up straight and frowned when I heard the explosion from time to time outside the cave. If the German army is only shelling, I don''t have to worry about it, because the target area is only the north slope of the highland. But now the German army is a two pronged, both artillery and air strikes, put our entire mamayev post in the scope of heavy firepower.


    As I was thinking about how to deal with the current crisis, I didn''t notice kirilov leaving me and going back to Naga to arrange the task.


    In the past, German bombardment and bombing were concentrated on the highland of a regiment, and our highland was directly ignored. Today, however, they are indiscriminately bombing the two Highlands with airplanes. Bombs falling from the sky and exploding outside the cave, coupled with the explosion of heavy shrapnel from time to time, I felt like I was on a small boat bumping in the rough sea, and I was in danger of capsizing at any time.


    From time to time, I raised my hand and looked at my watch, hoping that the German air raid would end soon, because the aircraft''s bomb carrying capacity was limited, so it could not last two or three hours? As long as the enemy''s aircraft left, I could risk sending out the remaining anti tank company of the artillery battalion to attack the German tanks.


    Half an hour after the enemy''s air raid, perhaps all the bombs and airborne machine gun bullets were used up, and all the planes formed at high altitude and flew away.


    The enemy plane flew away, but the shelling was still going on. I walked out of the cave to see what was going on outside? As soon as I got to the door, I met Mikhail, who came in a hurry. Behind him, there were more than ten soldiers carrying things. I raised my hand to stop him and asked aloud, "Lieutenant Mikhail, what are you doing at division headquarters?"


    Mikhail yev quickly replied: "report to Mr. division commander, I have been ordered to install wooden doors for the division headquarters."


    "Install wooden door?" When I heard Mikhail yev say this, I couldn''t help turning to look inside, because I didn''t give similar orders at all, so the only possibility is the orders given by kirilov or akhromeyev.


    Seeing that I instinctively looked at the headquarters, mihayev immediately understood and quickly reported to me, "Comrade division, it''s like this. Comrade political commissar just called me and said that because the explosion outside is too loud, you can''t command. So let me bring the soldiers of the engineering company to install two wooden doors for you, so that you can keep the noise out and facilitate your command."


    As for kirilov''s thoughtful consideration, I nodded with satisfaction, and then said to mihayev, "well, comrade lieutenant, you can take people in. Remember, move fast. I don''t know what kind of attack the German army will launch later. "


    Mihayev beckoned his men into the long corridor and unloaded their shoulders. I stood by to see that there was even a doorframe outside the wooden door. It seemed that Mikhail yev, the engineer company commander, was well prepared. When the engineers were installing wooden doors in the corridor, I walked out of the cave.


    After the recent bombing, the hillside was covered with smoke craters. It seems that the enemy dropped quite a few bombs. I turned my eyes to the communication room nearest to the headquarters, and saw that the curtain hanging at the door had been cut in several places by shrapnel. Worried about the safety of the girls in the communication room, I quickly walked over, lifted the curtain and bent down to enter.


    When I came in, I saw a female health worker bandaging razumeyeva''s arm. Seeing this scene, I couldn''t help asking nervously, "Comrade lieutenant, what''s the matter with you?"


    Razumeyeva kept a smile on her face. She deliberately said to me as if nothing had happened: "it''s OK, sir. It''s just that some shrapnel flew over, penetrated the curtain at the door and made a small cut in my arm."


    Although razumeyeva said it lightly, I was still not at ease, so I turned to the female health worker and asked, "health worker comrade, is lieutenant razumeyeva OK?"


    The female health worker had finished dressing razumeyeva''s wound and was packing her medicine box. When she heard me ask, she straightened up quickly and reported, "report to division commander, comrade Lieutenant''s arm is just bruised by shrapnel. I have done debridement and finished dressing. As long as the dressing is changed on time, it will be ready in a week at most. "


    It''s said that razumeyeva''s injury is no big problem, and I feel more at ease. Looking at the health worker in front of me, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "what''s your name, comrade health worker? How many female health workers are there in your health team? "


    The hygienist quickly replied, "Mr. reporter, my name is Tamara shmakova. There are two female health workers in the health team. Besides me, there is another named walia pahmova


    "Well, it''s all right here. You go." When I sent shmakova away, I specially told her that in the air raid that just ended, many of the officers and soldiers were injured, so that she and the comrades of the health team should hurry up to treat them.


    When shmakova left, I turned to razumeyeva and the other two female soldiers in the communication room and said, "girls, it''s too dangerous here. You''d better move the communication equipment to the division headquarters."


    Hearing my order, razumeyeva gave a loud promise, and then told her female soldiers to start packing and prepare to move into the headquarters.


    When I walked back into the cave, the two door frames on the corridor were already fixed. Mikhail and they were installing the wooden door on the door frame. When I passed by them, mihayev stopped me and cautiously asked for instructions: "Sir, comrade, how far is the distance between the two wooden doors three meters? It''s better to dig out a small room one meter square on the side wall, so that the officers on duty can stay here."


    I looked at the distance between the two door frames, and felt that the proposal put forward by mihayev was very reasonable. I nodded and said with certainty, "well, since you are an expert in architecture, do as you say."


    When I walked into the headquarters, I felt that the light inside was much dimmer, but the sound outside the cave was also much smaller. In this way, you don''t have to yell at the phone as loud as you can.


    In addition to kirilov, akhromeyev and Najia, the telegraph operator, there were also basmanov, the commander of the guard battalion, and Pugachev, the head of the second regiment. When they saw me coming in, they immediately saluted me.


    After I went to the table and sat down, I asked Pugachev frankly, "Comrade captain, how is your regiment? Did you lose a lot in the air raid just now? "


    Pugachev stepped forward and replied respectfully: "report, sir, in the air raid that just ended, we probably lost more than 100 people. However, these technical equipment, such as artillery, have always been hidden in solid air defense fortifications, so there is no loss at all. "


    "Except for a few observation posts, let the rest of the officers and men stay in the hidden fortifications." At this point, I said with some frustration: "we are short of air defense weapons. In the face of the enemy''s air strikes, we can only take this way."


    "Comrade oshanina, I think this is the right way to do it." Kirilov stood up in time to encourage me and said, "in the fierce air raid of the enemy just now, if there were no solid air defense fortifications, the troops would have been defeated in the air raid. Now let the soldiers stay in the fortifications, and when the enemy''s infantry attack, we will teach them a lesson. "


    After listening to kirilov''s words, I nodded, turned around and asked akhromeyev, "Comrade chief of staff, what''s the situation with the first and third regiments?"


    "Report to the division commander," ahlomeyev said fluently, "the positions of the 1st and 3rd regiments are still being shelled by the German army. However, from the current situation, the Highlands guarded by a regiment will become the focus of the enemy''s attack. "


    Akhromeyev''s analysis made me very curious, so I couldn''t help asking, "why, comrade chief of staff?"


    "Sir, please come and have a look." Akhromeyev finished, took a map from the opposite side of the table, spread it out in front of me, pointed to it and began to explain to me: "according to our army''s reconnaissance and the confession of prisoners, we can now know that the 44th infantry division of German lieutenant general Heinrich Anton deboy is stationed in the north of our division; To the northwest, it''s lieutenant general Carl Rodenberg''s 76th infantry division


    After a few days of fighting with the Germans, it was the first time for me to know the number of the German army and the name of its commander. When I heard this, I couldn''t help turning my mouth up. It seems that after I have the chief of staff, it will be different from before. At least some people will ask me to report a lot of enemy intelligence.


    "The 44th Infantry Division has a tank regiment. Although one of their tank battalions was badly damaged by us in yesterday''s battle, it didn''t hurt much vitality. At present, the tank regiment should be the one staying in front of the regiment to carry out shelling. In the third regiment''s position, except for the long-range attack of enemy artillery, no enemy ground troops were found. So my analysis is that when the enemy''s shelling is over, the infantry of the 44th division, under the cover of their tanks, will charge to the position of the first regiment. "


    "Comrade chief of staff," kirilov said modestly, "although there are enemy tanks in front of the first regiment''s position, we don''t see enemy infantry? You know, tanks alone can''t occupy our highlands. "


    "Yes, chief of staff." Kirilov''s statement made me feel sad, so I asked akhromeyev: "although there is no enemy infantry in front of the positions of the two regiments at present, they may be attacked by the German army in both directions at the end of the shelling."


    "Yes, teachers and political commissars." As for our questions, akhromeyev patiently replied: "the German army used more than 30 planes to bomb the mamayev post at the same time. In my judgment, the enemy is trying to break through the position of a regiment, go straight to the dock and cut off Stalingrad''s contact with the outside world. "


    Although the enemy''s intention to seize the dock is very obvious, I still have some doubts about akhromeyev''s judgment. Since the Germans have used so many heavy weapons, their goal will never be just to capture the mamayev post and the wharf. It is estimated that they also want to occupy the 107.5 highland of the three regiments at the same time and open the road to the city.


    Seeing my delay in speaking, kirilov asked cautiously, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think of the chief of staff''s analysis?"


    I pointed to the location of the 76th division on the map, raised my head and asked akhromeyev, "Comrade chief of staff, do you know the man of Rothenberg?"


    Hearing my question, akhromeyev hesitated for a moment and then replied, "according to our data, this lieutenant general is an old Prussian soldier, and his tactical characteristics tend to be conservative. I estimate that before the 44th division seizes the mamayev post, he will not put his troops into battle again. After all, his troops lost a lot in the battle last night. "


    When akhromeyev finished speaking, I frowned and shook my head, and said slowly: "Comrade chief of staff, we are sticking to the north gate of Stalingrad. Once the defense line here is broken by the German army, the consequences will be unimaginable, so we must not underestimate the enemy."


    "What do you mean?" Akhromeyev became cautious when he heard my serious tone.


    "Chief of staff, you call the 1st and 3rd regiments and ask them to strengthen their guard to prevent the German army from attacking our positions after the shelling." When akhromeyev picked up the phone from his desk and was ready to give an order to the third regiment of the first regiment, I said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, please send a message to the commander and ask him for air force support."


    "Air force support?" Kirilov did not expect that I would suddenly say so, and quickly reminded me: "Comrade oshanina, our 8th air force group army has been completely lost. Even if general trakov comes out, it will not be supported by aircraft."


    Although I know it''s very difficult to get the support of the air force, under the current situation, I can only go to the hospital in a hurry. So I said decisively, "Comrade political commissar, please make it clear to the commander that our troops can''t move in the suppressed fortifications because of the enemy''s air raid and shelling. If we can''t get the support of the air force, maybe our troops will be defeated under the attack of the enemy''s dual firepower, and the consequences will be unimaginable. "


    "Is that all right?" Kirilov became more and more hesitant when he heard what I said.


    "Go, my Commissar." I stood up and pushed kirilov to the telephone. At the same time, I said, "you don''t want to see our troops being hit by the enemy''s aircraft and artillery all the time. As long as we can control the air in the battlefield, these invading German forces will not be our opponents. "


    Kirilov could not resist me, so he reluctantly agreed. When he came to the phone, razumeyeva also came in with another female signalman and was debugging another phone. Seeing kirilov standing there a little at a loss, I forced myself to smile and said to him, "Comrade political commissar, let''s send a telegram to the headquarters with Naga''s telephone."


    Kirilov and I were waiting for a reply from the headquarters after the telegram was sent. Mihayev, who had just finished installing the wooden door on the corridor, suddenly cried out: "Sir, come and see the enemy''s plane."


    When I heard Mikhail yev''s cry, I was immediately shocked out in a cold sweat, and my heart said, what is the German going to do? It wasn''t long before the last batch of planes flew away, but the second batch of planes came again! I rushed to the entrance of the cave and saw Mikhail standing outside, looking up and counting the number of enemy planes: "one, two, three, four... Virgin Mary! There are a lot of them, at least more than 30. "


    When I looked up into the air, the enemy planes had already come over the high ground, and one by one they dived down to the high ground. After the falling shell exploded on the north slope, the enemy circled in the air and then dived toward the south slope.


    Looking at the enemy plane diving towards us, my feet were a little soft with fear, and I was ready to turn around and run into the hole. Without waiting for me to raise my foot, Mikhail yev, who was next to me, had already rushed over and dragged me into the hole. We stepped into the first wooden door. Just as we were about to close the door, a bomb had fallen seven or eight meters outside the entrance of the cave and exploded. A slow engineer was blown into the cave and landed at our feet. Looking at the bloody and groaning soldiers on the ground, I bit my back teeth and told Mikhail: "Lieutenant, find someone to carry him away." Then, I ran to the headquarters. I didn''t stop until I ran to Najia. I couldn''t wait to tell her, "Najia, call the group army headquarters for me immediately." Kirilov didn''t know why I suddenly asked the telegraph operator to call the headquarters. He also kindly reminded me, "Comrade oshanina, is it not stipulated by the higher authorities that they can''t communicate with the headquarters in Ming language?" Seeing Najia looking up at me in front of me with a blank face, I couldn''t take time to explain to kirilov. I yelled at Najia loudly: "Hey, what are you still doing? Call immediately!" Startled by my expression, Na Jia grabbed the transmitter and called out to the headquarters of the group army. At this time, kirilov asked with concern, "o''shanina, what''s the matter? Why call the headquarters?"¡° The enemy''s air strikes have begun again I said solemnly, "if we don''t send out the air force to drive out these damned enemy planes, our position may really be unable to hold!"

 Chapter 637

    While talking to me, trakov angrily asked me, "what''s the matter with you, Colonel oshanina? Have you forgotten my repeated orders? Why, without the permission of the higher authorities, do you use the telephone to communicate in plain language without fear of divulging the secrets of our army? "


    Listening to a series of reproaches coming out of the earphone, although I''m choked, I can only keep silent and listen to his criticism in silence. When his anger was almost vented, I tried my best to say to him in a smooth tone: "report to commander, the German army sent out more than 30 planes to carry out two rounds of bombing on mamayev post. At the same time, they used heavy howitzers and tank guns to concentrate on the highlands. "


    Although his anger had subsided after his outburst, he still said sternly to me, "what''s the use of saying this to me? It''s not that I have given you an order for a long time. Without the permission of the higher authorities, we are not allowed to retreat. We should keep the enemy firmly out of the city. "


    "Well, comrade commander. I''d like to ask you to ask our air force for help, so that they can send out fighters to support us, repel the enemy planes that are bombing the Highlands, and destroy the enemy tanks. "


    Without waiting for me to speak, trikov could not wait to interrupt me and said in a business tone, "please remember, Colonel oshanina, it''s not just your troops that have been bombed by enemy planes and shelled by artillery and tanks. If every unit has to ask for the support of the air force when it is attacked, even if we add two more units to the air force group, it will not be enough. "


    When trakov spoke, I kept silent wisely, listened to every word he said, and considered what I had to say to him in order to get the support of the air force.


    Trikov said a lot more, and when he finished, I summoned up the courage to explain to him: "Comrade commander, but the importance of mamayev post is incomparable to other defensive areas. Once it is lost, the enemy will fight in two ways. One way, they will cross the high ground and rush to the wharf, cutting off the connection between the city and the East Bank of Volga River; On the other hand, we can rush into the city along the highway and join with the friendly forces who rush into the city in other directions, so as to wipe out our garrison bit by bit. "


    At this point, I deliberately pause for a moment, waiting for trekov''s response to decide what to say next. Because I mentioned that the German army will rush into the city from several directions, which means that we can''t hold the city at all. To put it mildly, it''s a ridiculous idea; To put it more seriously, this is a manifestation of defeatism.


    After a long pause, I didn''t hear trakov''s voice in my earphone. The German troops who rushed into the city two days ago must have made him feel that my words were not alarmist. Seeing that he didn''t say anything to stop me, I went on to say: "the area of mamayev post is large or small. The enemy has dropped so many bombs and shells on such a large area. Even if our commanders and fighters are hiding in the fortifications and are not killed by the enemy''s bombs, they will be stunned. If the enemy''s infantry attack immediately after the shelling, I''m afraid the troops on the high ground can''t organize effective resistance in a short time. "


    As I said this, trakov could not help sighing softly. From his sigh, I noticed that he was already a little excited, and said while the iron was hot: "Comrade commander, have you forgotten how the 35th division of the guards suffered heavy losses at mamayev post, and how their division commander died?"


    If what I just said just made trakov waver, and then mentioned the division commander who died in the 35th division of the guards, it made him completely change his mind. He talked heavily again and said helplessly: "I understand what you said, oshanina. It is precisely for this reason that I put you and your troops in mamayev post, because I believe you have the ability to guard the north gate of the city. Don''t worry. I''ll contact General yelomienko of the headquarters of the front army immediately and try to let him send the air force to support you. " Speaking of this, he suddenly said harshly, "if I send you the air force and the mamayev post is lost, what kind of consequences will it have? Even if I don''t say it, you can always know?"


    When I heard that he let go, I was also relieved, and quickly expressed my position to him: "please rest assured, comrade commander. On behalf of the independent division, I promise you that as long as there is still one commander and fighter alive in the highland, we will never leave our position to the enemy."


    "It''s no use just talking. I want to see your actions." After finishing this sentence, trikov specially added: "remember, this time you disobey the order and use the radio station for Ming language communication without authorization, I will not pursue it. If I do it again next time, I''ll never let it go! " With that, he stopped the communication without hesitation.


    As soon as I put down my earphone and transmitter, kirilov and akhromeyev, who were around me, could not wait to ask, "what do you say, comrade commander?"


    I gently dusted off the mud falling from the top of the cave with my hand and said in a gentle tone: "Comrade commander said that he would immediately contact the headquarters of the front army and try to get the superior to send air force to support us." At this point, I turned around and looked around. I felt that although the sound of explosion outside, due to the barrier of two doors, had not affected us to speak in a normal tone, the light inside was obviously dimmed. He turned around and said to ahlomeyev, "Comrade chief of staff, as soon as the engineer company installed this wooden door, although the explosion from outside was much lower, the two lamps originally used for lighting in the headquarters were obviously not enough. Do you think we should find another two lamps somewhere?" Akhromeyev listened to me and immediately nodded. He called basmanov over and gave him the task.


    As soon as basmanov left, the telephone on the desk rang. Akhromeyev quickly walked to the table, picked up the phone, said a few words, and then handed the phone to me. At the same time, he said: "Comrade division, it''s lieutenant colonel gedar, the fourth commander."


    When I heard akhromeyev say this, I was stunned. At present, it is the 1223 regiment that has been shelled and bombed by the German army. It has nothing to do with the 4th regiment. What does he call to do at this time? I answered the phone and asked in a loud voice, "Hello, commander Gaidar, what''s the matter with you calling at this time? By the way, are all the tanks in the tank battalion hidden? "


    My series of questions made Gaidar silent. Maybe he was thinking about how to answer these questions. After a while, he replied: "report to division commander, the tanks in the tank battalion are hidden in the buildings that have been half collapsed. As long as they are not directly hit by the bombs of the enemy planes, even if the collapsed bricks and tiles are buried, we can organize people to dig out the tanks when we need these tanks to fight. As for why I am calling you, I see that the highland where the division headquarters is located is being bombed by enemy planes and artillery. I am worried about your safety. "


    "Thank you, comrade commander. Thank you for your concern for us." Gaidar''s words made me feel warm. I went on to say, "the headquarters that lieutenant mihayev built for us is very strong. I don''t think the enemy''s shells and bombs can blow down here."


    "Sir," Gaidar said suddenly and seriously, "I have a request for you. I hope you will agree to me!"


    I''m not used to hearing Gaidar speak so seriously, but I asked instinctively, "what''s the request? As long as it is within my ability, I will promise you. But I said in advance that if you want to lead your four regiments to fight in Highland now, I would advise you to give up this idea as soon as possible. If the density of troops on the Highlands is too high, it is not conducive to concealment. A bomb and shell of the enemy can kill and injure more than a dozen of us. "


    "Well, after discussing with political commissar Xia Ping, I think it''s not appropriate for the division headquarters to stay on the high ground. Therefore, I strongly suggest that you and your division headquarters withdraw from the high ground to the residential areas. There is a huge air defense fortification under the cemetery here. There is enough space to build a new division headquarters. "


    Gaidar''s proposal to set up his own headquarters under the graveyard, which is gloomy and terrifying when I look at it from a distance, made me feel chilly and trembling. However, in the presence of kirilov and akhromeyev, I can''t get angry with gedar. Besides, other people had a kind intention. After much deliberation, I pretended to be angry and said, "Colonel gedar, do you know what it means to withdraw the division headquarters from the high ground? It''s an escape. You want some of our division level leaders to be deserters. It''s absolutely impossible. " At this point, I slowed down and said, "come on, commander gedar, I know you mean well. I won''t mind this time. If you make such a suggestion next time, I will dismiss you, demote you to an ordinary soldier, and send you to the most advanced position to fight with the enemy for bayonets. Do you understand me? "


    From the earphone came Gaidar''s trembling voice: "I understand, sir, I will never mention the matter of asking you to transfer the headquarters."


    I put down the phone with a smile, only to find kirilov and akhromeyev looking at me nervously, as if to ask what I said on the phone. Without waiting for them to speak, I said, "political commissar and chief of staff, the highland where we are now is the focus of the enemy''s attack. I don''t think it''s appropriate for the division leaders to stay here. So I suggest that one of you should retreat to the fourth regiment''s defense area. In this way, even if something happens to the division headquarters, the remaining commander can continue to command the troops and fight with the enemy. "


    After hearing what I said, kirilov and akhromeyev looked at each other. Then he pulled out his gun from the holster and weighed it in his palm. In a relaxed tone, he said to me, "Comrade oshanina, my gun is always with me. If the situation is urgent, I will fight with the enemy like a soldier. I''ll leave the last bullet to myself. " Then he put the gun back in the holster and sat down as if nothing had happened.


    Looking at kirilov''s statement, I understand that he intends to stay with me in the Highlands, so akhromeyev can only go to the fourth regiment to set up a new headquarters, so I turn my eyes to the young chief of staff and wait for his decision.


    Unexpectedly, akhromeyev was staring at me and got angry: "how can you say that, sir? I''m your chief of staff, and you''ve come all the way from the front army of warholf, so I''ll be where you are. If you don''t leave the highland, I will never enter the defense area of the fourth regiment. "


    I''m a little embarrassed to see that both of them are so determined. It seems that I''m taking the heart of a villain as the belly of a gentleman. I turned my eyes and said to them like a child: "OK, OK. My political commissar and chief of staff, since you are not willing to leave here, shall we all stay here? "


    Kirilov listened to me, waved his hand and said discontentedly, "Comrade division commander, if you say that again in the future, I will report it directly to the headquarters of the group army." Then he turned his head like a child, which made me and akhromeyev laugh.


    Although kirilov was still unhappy, I didn''t persuade him any more, because I knew that he knew what I meant. But as a political commissar of the independent division, how could he step back at such a dangerous time? In order to prevent me from making excuses to persuade him to withdraw from the high ground, I had to choose this way to stop me.


    At this time, gordonov of the third regiment called to report that the enemy''s shelling on Highland 107.5 had stopped, but because the smoke had not been dispersed, the visibility on the highland was very low, and it was impossible to observe whether the German ground troops were approaching the highland.


    Listening to Godunov''s report, I simply said: "continue to observe and prepare for all battles."


    The enemy''s shelling of the positions of the third regiment is over, but the shelling and bombing of the mamayev post are still in full swing. Shejerikov and Pugachev called me every five minutes, reporting that the fortifications in a certain area were destroyed, and which company suffered heavy casualties under the attack of the enemy''s dual firepower, etc.


    When I heard one bad news after another, I was so angry that I smashed it on the table and said angrily, "these damned Krauts, can''t use up their bombs and shells? Is it not enough to smash hundreds or thousands of tons of steel into our positions? "


    Kirilov glanced at me and said, "what''s so strange about this? How many lessons have you taught the German army, how many attacks have you defeated them, and how many troops have you destroyed since you led your troops to the mamayev post? Not to mention the German commander, even if it was me, I would have to fire the defenders on the high ground as soon as possible before launching a ground attack. Of course, if there are bombs that can raze the mamayev post, I don''t care about throwing more. "


    Listening to what he said, I can''t help thinking: it''s easy to blow up the mamayev post. It''s all solved by throwing an atomic bomb. It''s not only razing the Highlands, but also destroying Stalingrad and all the defenders in the city. But these shocking words, I also thought in my heart, did not dare to say.


    Five or six minutes later, the telephone on the desk rang. Akhromeyev picked up the phone and began to talk to each other. Without saying a few words, he put down the phone and said to me with a happy face: "Comrade division commander, it''s captain Pugachev, the second commander. He said that four fighters of our army have been flying over the highlands and are engaged in air combat with enemy planes."


    Hearing this news, I immediately had a feeling of elation. I couldn''t help clapping the table and exclaiming, "great, as soon as our plane comes, the enemy''s plane won''t want to bomb our positions as recklessly as it did just now. Let''s go, comrade political commissar. Let''s go out and have a look. " Originally, I wanted to ask akhromeyev to go with me, but I thought that it was impossible for a division commander in the division headquarters to be absent, so I only called kirilov.


    Kirilov and I were about to leave when razumeyeva stopped me and handed me a telegram. Looking down to see the contents of the telegram, I felt better and better. I handed the telegram to kirilov and said excitedly, "Comrade political commissar, you see, this is a telegram from general krailov. It says that after the look of commander trakov, the superior sent us two fighter squadrons to fly the eight planes, They are all excellent pilots with rich combat experience. I believe that with their arrival, we will be able to firmly grasp the air supremacy on the battlefield. In that case, we can put the anti tank gun company and heavy howitzer unit into combat, kill all the German tanks and take a good breath. "


    When we got outside the cave, the enemy''s bombing had stopped. Although their cannons are still bombarding the highland for a moment, almost all the cannons fall on the north slope, and our south slope is relatively safe. When I got to an open place, I jumped into a waist deep crater and raised my telescope to look into the air.


    We can see that the planes in the air are fighting fiercely. Although the number of enemy planes is several times more than our army''s, their ammunition and fuel are almost consumed. When four or five enemy planes braved the flames and fell on the high ground or in the rolling Volga River, the rest of them did not dare to fight and turned around and flew north. But our plane was not willing to let the enemy escape so easily, so it followed up.


    Kirilov looked at it for a while and said with emotion, "if our plane could come half an hour earlier, our troops would not have paid such heavy casualties."


    Seeing the superiority of our fighters, I turned my attention to the ground. Seeing that the tanks in two rows in front of the high ground were still shelling a regiment''s positions, I was not well-known. I was going to go back to the headquarters in person to give an order to Morozov. When I turned my head, I unexpectedly found basmanov standing beside me and told him loudly, "Comrade captain, You immediately call Morozov and ask him to send an anti tank artillery company into the position and fire on the tank troops who are blatantly shelling a group of positions. In the shortest time, all these iron monsters of the enemy will be turned into scrap iron. "


    Kirilov listened to my order and reminded me in a low voice: "Comrade oshanina, have you forgotten that heavy howitzer unit? If they also fight, they will soon be able to wipe out all the enemy''s tanks. " I shook my head and explained to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, the howitzer unit can''t be used for the time being. Let''s wait until the enemy infantry attack." Speaking of this, I waved to basmanov who was still standing in the same place: "what are you still standing here to do, don''t you hurry to convey my order!" Basmanov''s action was very sharp. In two or three minutes, he reappeared beside us. At the same time, he handed me a new telegram and newspaper. At the same time, he reported: "report to the division chief and political commissar. This is the telegram just received. The chief of staff asked me to send it to you." When I heard that there was a new telegram coming from the headquarters of the group army, I quickly picked it up and looked at it.

 Chapter 638

    When I saw the telegram, I handed it to kirilov. At the same time, I said anxiously, "Comrade political commissar, please have a look. This is the telegram just sent by the headquarters of the group army."


    Kirilov received the telegram without expression, but when he finished reading it, his expression became serious. When he handed the telegram back to me, he looked around for a moment and then said to me in a low voice, "o''shanina, what do you think of Comrade commander, that he wants to fight back at this time? Don''t they know that the enemy is far stronger than us? You know, a few days ago, the counterattacks carried out by the three army groups under general Zhukov''s personal command all ended in failure. " At this point, he could not help but snort, "although our group army has more than a dozen divisions, these troops have been seriously reduced and are barely enough to hold their positions. If we want to attack, the existing strength and equipment are far from enough."


    I looked up at the clear sky and saw that there were neither enemy planes nor our fighters in the sky. Thinking that the enemy''s artillery bombarded only a regiment of positions, and that we were relatively safe here, I took kirilov to the observation post on the south slope.


    I stood at the observation port of the observation post, holding up my telescope and looking at the high ground that was being shelled in front of me, but I was thinking about the telegram that trakov had just sent. He said in the telegram: in order to reverse the present unfavorable situation, the group army intends to carry out another large-scale counterattack against the enemy outside the city. The task of the independent division is to timely counter attack the enemy from the existing positions, attract the enemy''s attention, disrupt the enemy''s established deployment, contain the German 44th and 76th divisions in the existing positions, and firmly grasp the initiative of the battlefield in our hands.


    Seeing that I had been holding up my telescope and not talking, kirilov was uneasy because of the telegram. He was walking around the observation station with his hands behind his back, and at the same time, he kept whispering to himself.


    Hearing the news behind me, I couldn''t help laughing, so I put down my telescope, turned around and asked kirilov, "my political commissar, do you have any trouble walking around here all the time?"


    Kirilov stopped and asked me with a sad face, "Comrade oshanina, how do you think commander trakov will carry out this counterattack?"


    I saw no one in the room but us. Basmanov, the commander of the guard battalion, was also standing in the trench a few steps away from the gate. If he hadn''t yelled at him, he would not have heard our conversation. He went to the wooden table in the room, pointed to the map on it and explained to him: "Comrade political commissar, according to my estimation, the reason why the group army headquarters launched this counterattack is that the group army headquarters has to fight back, It''s to protect the dock from enemy artillery and aircraft. Therefore, before the main force of the group army carries out a large-scale counterattack, first of all, it is necessary to turn the left and right wing forces in the counterattack area into a solid defense, supplemented by a small-scale counterattack, so as to attract the enemy''s attention and contain the enemy''s forces in the existing area. In this way, the main force of the group army can carry out a surprise attack on the passing station of razguliyevka in the central section, and occupy a section of railway extending southwest from the station to the turning point of gonglak. In this way, the central front can be straightened, and the railway subgrade, which is an anti tank obstacle, can be used as a basis to capture gorogesh and alexandrovka. "


    After listening to my analysis of the attack route of the group army, kirilov looked at the map for a long time and said thoughtfully, "well, comrade oshanina, what you said is reasonable. If the headquarters of the group army really works out the operational plan as you have analyzed, and achieves the desired results, then the enemy''s artillery will not pose a threat to our docks except for the enemy planes in the sky. " Speaking of this, he raised his head and asked in an uncertain tone, "Comrade oshanina, do you think it is possible for the commander to make plans according to your ideas?"


    I didn''t speak. I just smile. My heart says that it''s not possible, but certain, because this is the counterattack plan made by trakov himself. If it had not been for the German army''s preemptive attack before the counterattack, the plan might have been successful.


    As we were talking, the telephone on the desk rang. Kirilov grabbed the receiver and said in a loud voice, "Hello, I''m political commissar kirilov. Where are you? " After a few words, kirilov covered the receiver with his hand and said to me in a low voice, "it''s captain akhromeyev who called. He said that he has received a telegram from the headquarters. Commander trakov asked you to give him advice on how to fight back."


    I thought about it for a moment. Anyway, the battle plan that I just analyzed for kirilov was originally created by trakov. I''ll push the boat forward and report this plan to him. Thinking of this, I said to kirilov with a smile: "Comrade political commissar, since the headquarters of the group army has asked for our opinions, let''s report the plan we just mentioned."


    Kirilov hesitated for a moment when I said it so simply, and then asked cautiously, "is that appropriate?"


    "There''s nothing wrong with it!" I waved my hand and said confidently, "if something goes wrong, I''ll take the responsibility alone."


    After listening to my words, kirilov showed an expression of displeasure on his face. He stuck his neck and said in an unconvinced way: "what do you mean, sir? I''m the commissar of the independent division. If anything goes wrong, I''ll share the responsibility with you. " With these words, he angrily released his hand on the microphone, repeated the plan I said to akhromeyev, and asked the other party to send it to the headquarters of the group army by telegram immediately.


    Just as we were talking, the anti tank artillery company of the artillery battalion had set up the artillery position and began to fire on the enemy''s tanks. Thirteen guns opened fire unexpectedly, caught German tanks by surprise, and immediately seven or eight of them were shot and caught fire.


    The artillery company''s first round of shooting, has achieved fruitful results, I feel sincerely happy at the same time, I can not help but secretly worried. The second artillery company was almost annihilated by the double attacks of German tank guns and heavy howitzers because the target was exposed. But my worry didn''t come true. After several tanks were shot, what the remaining tanks did was not turn the muzzle to shoot at our artillery positions, but began to increase their horsepower and retreat one after another. As they retreated, they fired a shot from time to time.


    Seeing the enemy''s tanks fleeing in confusion under the artillery fire of our army, I was also stunned and couldn''t help saying to myself, "what the hell is wrong with this German tank? When they were attacked by our shells, they did not stop to fight back and ran away. Is there any conspiracy? "


    When I heard my whispering, kirilov laughed beside me and said jokingly, "Sir, because you know everything, I didn''t expect that there were times when I couldn''t figure out the situation."


    I felt hot on my face and quickly explained: "the last time the German army shelled a regiment position, we transferred the second artillery company. As soon as we fired two guns, the enemy''s tanks turned their muzzle and destroyed our artillery position with intensive artillery fire. Their performance today is really puzzling


    "It''s no surprise." Kirilov pointed to the smoke of the battlefield in the distance and said to me, "don''t you forget that the German artillery was placed at the position of the German tanks last time. It was because of their existence that our artillery position was destroyed in such a short time. Today, only enemy tanks are present in front of our army''s front, while artillery are far away from us. According to the firing data provided by the artillery observers, they carry out long-range shelling on the positions of a regiment. These tanks have been there a lot of time, and they should have few shells left. If they stay where they are and fire against our artillery, it will not be so easy for them to escape when the shells are finished. "


    When the German tanks disappeared from our view, the German artillery bombardment on the Highlands stopped completely.


    I went to the table, picked up the phone and dialed akhromeyev. When I heard his voice coming from the earphone, I said to him solemnly: "Comrade chief of staff, now the enemy''s bombing and shelling are over. You should contact the leaders of the three regiments immediately and ask them to count the casualties of each unit as soon as possible. When I was observing just now, I found that several shelters on the position of a regiment were destroyed by artillery fire, and the soldiers who stayed inside were expected to be more or less dangerous. In addition, if the commander of any company is injured or injured, a suitable person should be appointed in time to take over the command of the army. "


    After I gave the order, akhromeyev reported to me: "Comrade division commander, during the bombing and shelling, the telephone lines between our regiment 1 and regiment 3 were blown off. We can only communicate through the telephone and walkie talkie. Now razumeyeva has sent all the signalmen to repair the lines to ensure smooth communication between the division headquarters and the regiments. "


    After listening, I simply said "I know", and then hung up.


    I went to the observation port, raised my telescope and looked at the artillery position. I was surprised to see that Morozov was directing the artillery to transfer the artillery. Hearing kirilov''s voice coming to me, I said to him specially, "Comrade political commissar, do you see that? Our artillery are moving their guns, ready to pull back the fortifications and hide


    Kirilov also looked through the telescope for a while and said with emotion: "yes, we only have this anti tank artillery company. These cannons and Gunners are the treasures of our division. We should protect these cannons as we protect our eyes, otherwise in the next battle, we will be helpless in the face of the swarming German tanks."


    When I heard kirilov speak, I was like an old accountant, thinking about the family background of the independent division: at present, there are tank battalion with 10 tanks, artillery company with 13 anti tank guns, a mortar company and a heavy howitzer unit with five guns. Under the current situation, these heavy weapons are still hidden by me most of the time. I think that good steel can be used on the blade. When the battle is at its most difficult, these heavy weapons can be put into the battlefield.


    I was just thinking about it when the phone suddenly rang, but it interrupted me. I picked up the phone and heard akhromeyev''s voice. I thought he was going to report the casualties of each regiment, so I asked frankly, "Comrade chief of staff, have the casualties of each regiment been counted?"


    At the other end of the telephone line, ahromeyevton took a moment to answer me: "Comrade division commander, I''m not calling you to report the casualty data of each regiment, but to receive another telegram from the headquarters of the group army..."


    "What telegram?" When I heard akhromeyev''s telegram, my heart beat faster. I guessed that it was trakov''s response to my battle plan.


    Unexpectedly, akhromeyev said: "the headquarters informed us that the anti-aircraft artillery 1079 regiment, 748 regiment and the anti-aircraft artillery 1077 regiment of the political commissar of the Lijia Regiment under the control of the group army were merged into one anti-aircraft artillery group, which was under the command of Colonel yershov and was responsible for the air defense work of the mamayev post and the dock area."


    Before akhromeyev finished speaking, I excitedly said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, the group army headquarters has sent two more anti-aircraft artillery regiments to take charge of the air defense of our highlands and docks, so that the enemy planes will not dare to bomb our highlands as recklessly as they do today." Kirilov was especially happy to hear the news. But then he asked with concern: "by the way, who is in charge of this antiaircraft artillery group?" After listening to kirilov''s reminder, I quickly asked akhromeyev, "chief of staff, did the headquarters say who is in charge of this antiaircraft artillery group?" Akhromeyev obviously heard my conversation with kirilov, sighed and said with regret: "the telegram says that our division and Colonel yershov do not belong to each other. This unit is under the direct command of the headquarters of the group army." After listening to the remarks in the telegram, I could not help sighing with regret. Originally, I wanted to transfer the anti-aircraft artillery unit to the high ground to be used as an anti tank artillery company when the situation was critical. In this way, my attempt failed. During the war, the efficiency of the troops was high. At two o''clock in the afternoon, Colonel yershov called the observation post. Kirilov answered the phone. Obviously, the other party had known about the situation of the independent division for a long time, so he had no difficulty in guessing the identity of the person who answered the phone. At the same time, he politely said: "Hello, political commissar kirilov, my anti-aircraft artillery troops have entered the designated position. According to the command of the headquarters, the Antiaircraft Artillery Force will provide antiaircraft artillery support for your independent division, so that the enemy''s aircraft will not dare to show their power over the mamayev post, wharf and Volga River. "¡° Hello, Colonel yershov Kirilov also said to him in the same polite tone, "thank you for your troops providing us with air defense artillery support. As the commander of the neighboring forces, I promise you that as long as the position is still in our hands, we will never let a German devil rush to your anti-aircraft artillery position. " However, today is not an ordinary day. In the morning, our highland was heavily shelled and bombed. Until noon, our air force arrived and drove away the enemy planes that bombed over the mamayev post, which gave us the opportunity to use artillery to severely damage and drive away the German tanks and restore calm to the highland. But the enemy plane reappeared over the mamayev post at about 5 p.m. Perhaps they learned from the lessons of the morning. This time, they not only sent out more than 20 bombers, but also sent out the same number of fighters to escort. Seeing this scene, my heart can''t help sinking. Even if our air force comes back to support the enemy in such a big battle, even if we are outnumbered, no matter how hard we fight, we will never be able to win. When kirilov saw the dense enemy planes in the sky, he couldn''t help crying: "my God, this German guy is crazy. He sent so many planes to bomb mamayev post. Do they really want to blow up our highlands to a flat ground?" When the enemy planes flew over the high ground and began to circle high in the sky, preparing to dive and drop bombs, Colonel yershov''s anti-aircraft artillery group nearby opened fire. Behind us, the antiaircraft guns began to rumble, sending angry flames into the sky. The black cannonball that came out of the chamber was blooming all around the enemy plane. The enemy did not expect that there would be so much anti-aircraft fire in the rear of the highland, and they were caught off guard. Two enemy planes just entered the dive state became the unfortunate victims of the fire, and were immediately hit and exploded in the air. Not only kirilov, but also the guards standing outside the door cheered excitedly when they saw our antiaircraft artillery making contributions in the first round. But I was absentmindedly watching the black fireworks in the air from time to time, and I was worried about whether the anti-aircraft artillery group could beat back the huge German fleet. After the enemy planes were raised to a high altitude and regrouped, one team rushed to the area where the anti-aircraft artillery group was located, while the rest circled around our Highlands, looking for the opportunity to dive and drop bombs. In the face of the enemy aircraft circling in the air, listening to the bursts of explosions coming from the rear, we can only watch helplessly without air defense weapons, but can not provide effective help for the anti-aircraft artillery force. In my heart, I even hope that the German infantry will attack as soon as they get close to our position, and the enemy planes in the air will not continue to fire, so that we will have a chance to hold on until dark.

 Chapter 639

    Before the German army''s ground troops appeared, the enemy aircraft in the air circled a few times at high altitude, and then turned around and flew to the wharf in the black smoke of fierce anti-aircraft fire.


    When I saw the enemy planes turning around and flying towards the wharf, I cried in my heart that there were so many people and materials gathered on the wharf. Once the enemy planes bombed, it would cause great losses.


    Kirilov, standing next to me, suddenly made a strange voice in his throat, which attracted my attention. The telescope in his hand had already left his eyes, but he was staring out.


    "What''s the matter with you, comrade political commissar?" For his gaffe, I was slightly dissatisfied. It''s not the first time I saw enemy planes bombing the dock. Is it worth making such a fuss?


    "Don''t you see what the enemy plane wants to do?" Kirilov said excitedly.


    I nodded without expression and replied, "yes, the enemy plane is preparing to bomb the dock. Alas, I hope that the troops and civilians gathered on the wharf can hide in time, so as to reduce their casualties in the air raid. "


    "No, not the dock." His fingers, trembling with excitement, pointed farther away. "Look further, look into the Volga River. There are more than a dozen of our boats in the river coming towards the wharf. "


    I raised my telescope again and looked at the Volga River close to the highland. I saw a dozen steam turbines full of soldiers coming towards the wharf at full speed with smoke from their chimneys. The enemy planes that had just flown away from the Highlands were hovering over the fleet.


    Looking at the enemy aircraft approaching, the antiaircraft machine guns on the steamboat opened fire. Together with the antiaircraft guns on the shore, they built a dense fire network under the fleet.


    However, judging from the performance of the enemy aircraft, these pilots all had rich combat experience. They circled in the air, got out of the thick black smoke formed by the high shells as soon as they found the right opportunity, and dived towards the fleet driving in the river. As soon as the throwing and strafing are completed, the nose of the plane will be raised and the plane will fly to the high altitude to readjust the formation.


    With the fall of the bomb, the surging Volga river suddenly splashed, raising high water columns around the steamship. In order to avoid the bombs dropped by the enemy plane and the strafing of the airborne machine gun, the sailor of the steamboat began to take the evasive route on the water. Although the sailor''s posture was skilled, he could not hold up the enemy planes in the sky. With little effort, several steamships were shot and set on fire.


    Just as I was worried about the sailors and commanders on these steamships, a steamship in the front of the fleet was hit by a bomb again. The steamer, which had been shot in the tail, burned quickly. The bow of the steamer rose slowly and began to sink down a little bit. The surviving officers and men on the ship began to plop into the water. When they got there, they waved their arms and swam desperately towards the wharf.


    Looking at the enemy planes bombing our river crossing troops, kirilov was so angry that he gritted his teeth and said, "damn German, when our air force comes, we''ll clean up all your land." After that, he went to the telephone and picked up the phone to call ahlomeyev: "chief of staff, this is kirilov. Please send an urgent telegram to the headquarters of the group army, saying that a large number of enemy planes are attacking our fleet on the Volga River. If the air force can''t come to support quickly, our river crossing troops will be wiped out by the enemy planes in the river."


    Looking at the domineering enemy aircraft in the air, I can''t help feeling why when I cross, God didn''t let me take some advanced weapons beyond this era like other passers-by. If there had been dozens of air-to-air missiles, all the enemy planes in the sky would have been shot down like flies.


    When kirilov came back to me, he was deeply afraid that I would have any idea about his self assertion, so he specially explained to me: "Comrade division commander, I just called chief of staff akhromeyev and asked him to immediately send a report to the headquarters of the group army and ask the superior to send another plane to support us. As the matter is urgent, I made a decision without consulting with you. Please forgive me for my recklessness. "


    "You are right, comrade political commissar." As soon as I waited for his words to be finished, I immediately expressed my attitude and pointed to the enemy planes flying over the Volga River, adding: "if it was me, I would also ask for help from my superiors. You see, the new antiaircraft artillery group set up by the superior is useless for such a large-scale German machine gun. Without the air force, we would have to hide in the fortifications and be beaten passively. "


    "By the way, comrade oshanina, the enemy planes have been shelling and air raiding the mamayevgang and 107.5 highlands all the time today. What''s their intention?"


    Hearing kirilov''s question, I shrugged my shoulders and said, "it''s not very clear. They just want to kill us with all kinds of shells and bombs, and then send ground troops to easily occupy this highland. And take the mamayev post as the starting point to attack the city. "


    After listening to my words, kirilov habitually said a routine: "our soldiers will stick to the position like nails, and will not retreat a step."


    I looked at my watch and it would be dark in an hour, so I said to kirilov, "come on, comrade political commissar, the German ground forces are not going out. We can''t see anything here. We''d better go back to the headquarters."


    Kirilov frowned, reluctantly raised his telescope to look into the distance, and finally reluctantly agreed: "OK!"


    The reason why I want to go back to the headquarters at this time is that, for the sake of my own safety, it is better to stay in the headquarters where the bomb can''t blow down than in the observation post which may be destroyed by shells or bombs at any time; Second, we can get in touch with each regiment through the telephone to keep abreast of the latest situation.


    As soon as I walked into the headquarters and saw akhromeyev sitting at the table, I asked aloud, "Comrade chief of staff, what''s the situation with the regiments?"


    Akhromeyev quickly picked up the notepad in front of him, stood up and reported to me, "Comrade division commander, Captain Godunov, the third group leader, reported that the enemy''s shelling of highland 107.5 has completely stopped, and no enemy ground troops have been found within a few kilometers in front of the position."


    While listening to his report, I went to the table and sat down. When his report came to an end, I looked up and asked, "how are the casualties of the third regiment?"


    On hearing my question, akhromeyev was stunned for a moment, and then replied, "because the positions received by the third regiment lacked solid fortifications, a battalion on the high ground had been killed and killed when the enemy bombed and shelled. And the shelter of acting commander captain Godunov was also hit by a shell, and the captain was slightly injured. "


    "So how many troops are still on 107.5?"


    Without looking down at the notepad in his hand, akhromeyev replied without hesitation: "there are 129 people on the high ground, including 45 wounded. I have ordered Comrade Godunov to transfer the second battalion after dark to take over the defense. "


    After listening, I nodded and then asked, "what''s the situation with the regiment?"


    Having just had the experience of answering the question, akhromeyev reported to me in detail: "Mr. reporter, there are more than 500 casualties in the first regiment, of which nearly 400 have been killed. The head of the army, Sergey reekov, and the political commissar, comrade oberstein, are adjusting their defense to prevent possible German ground attacks. " Seeing what else I wanted to ask, he said, "because the second regiment''s fortifications are well repaired, apart from the small casualties of the infantry, the technical equipment of the division artillery barracks has not suffered any losses in the battle."


    "Report to division commander," I was talking with akhromeyev, and the communication company commander razumeyeva called a report behind me. When I turned around, she continued, "group army headquarters is calling." With that, he handed me a piece of telegraph paper full of letters.


    I took it and saw that there were many telegrams sent by trakov. In his telegram, he first praised us, saying that the operational plan proposed to him was very consistent with the present reality. Then it conveyed the decision made by the military committee of the group army


    "1. First of all, we should make it clear to all the defenders of the city that they can''t continue to retreat or have nowhere to retreat. The enemy''s attack must be smashed. Slinger is our last battlefield. In order to defend this city, we have to fight against the enemy. We Soviet soldiers should respond to the call of the party, carry out the people''s orders, either guard the city or die in battle. We don''t have a third way to go. This decision should be publicized to all the people through Party and League organizations.


    2. To establish an armed force composed of workers and staff in the major enterprises in the city, they should cooperate with the group army or rely on their own strength to defend the factory. They should be given weapons and other equipment according to military standards. Under the leadership of the party and Soviet organizations, those workers and staff who braved the bombardment of airplanes and cannons to repair all kinds of damaged technical equipment must, of course, be organized into a militarized team according to the company and battalion size.


    3. It is strictly forbidden to withdraw from the existing positions without the consent of the commander and chief of staff of the group army.


    4. The headquarters of the group army shall remain in the city of Stalingrad on the right bank, and under no circumstances shall they retreat to the East Bank of the Volga River or to the island. "


    After reading the contents of the telegram, I handed it to kirilov and said to him at the same time, "Comrade political commissar, take a look. This new decision made by the Military Commission of the group army is very helpful for us to stick to this city."


    Kirilov took the telegram and nodded as he read it, sharing his views with me. Because we talked so much that we didn''t care to answer the phone that rang on the desk. In the end, akhromeyev answered the phone.


    After putting down the phone, akhromeyev excitedly said to us: "division commander and political commissar, our air force has arrived. At the moment, they are fighting fiercely with the enemy''s planes outside. I believe that they will soon be able to drive all these damned enemy planes out of our highlands and docks with the cooperation of anti-aircraft artillery forces."


    "That''s great!" Although I said that, I thought to myself that the enemy had nearly 50 planes. If there were no equal fighters, it would not be easy to defeat the enemy.


    While waiting for the result of the air battle outside, the three of us were not idle, either by telephone or by telephone, contacting several regiments of the division, so as to know the situation on the battlefield in time.


    After about ten minutes, the telephone on the desk rang again. I was nearest to the phone, so I picked up the microphone and said in a loud voice, "Hello, this is division headquarters."


    From the earphone came Pugachev''s excited voice: "report to division commander, our air force arrived at the battlefield, and after a battle with the enemy aircraft, the enemy aircraft have begun to turn around and run away."


    I can''t believe it''s true to hear that all the enemy planes have been beaten away. How many fighters should our army send out to fight so many enemy planes? So he asked in a voice: "how many fighters have our army dispatched, have we lost in the battle, and what kind of results have we achieved?"


    "Our army sent out 16 fighters. Maybe the enemy planes were short of fuel and ammunition, so they only fought with our air force for a short time and then retreated in a hurry. According to my observation, at least ten enemy planes were hit by our warplanes or anti-aircraft guns and fell from the air with flames and smoke. As for our fighters, there seems to be no loss. "


    I put down the phone and said to kirilov and akhromeyev with pride, "political commissar and chief of staff, Pugachev, the third head of the army, just called and reported that our army dispatched 16 fighters and shot down at least 10 enemy planes. After driving them out of our sky, they have followed us."


    On hearing the good news, kirilov was smiling, while akhromeyev was sad. He said to himself, "strange, how can it be like this again? When the enemy planes bombed us, as soon as they saw our fighters appear, they would fight perfunctorily for a while and then turn around and flee north. Is there any conspiracy? "


    Akhromeyev''s words made me think with a frown. The German army is really strange today. It''s just shelling and bombing our division''s positions, but it doesn''t send ground troops to attack. What''s the matter?


    Before we could figure out the answer, there was a loud noise outside the cave. If a heavy object fell to the ground, the ground under our feet trembled slightly. Hearing this, kirilov immediately asked with vigilance, "what''s the matter? What''s the matter?"


    I turned around and saw basmanov standing by, so I told him directly, "Comrade captain, go out and see what''s going on, and then come back immediately to report to us. Do you hear me?" Basmanov nodded his consent, turned to open the wooden door and went out.


    After the guard battalion commander left, akhromeyev came up to me and said cautiously, "is it the unexploded bomb dropped by the enemy from the sky?"


    As soon as kirilov heard him finish, he immediately retorted, "it''s impossible. How could a bomb make such a big noise. What''s more, the main targets of the enemy planes this time are the river crossing troops driving on the Volga River and the anti-aircraft artillery positions deployed behind us. How could bombs fall outside our division headquarters? "


    Without waiting for the three of us to analyze the reason, the wooden door was pushed open from the outside. At the same time, basmanov''s confused voice came in: "division commander, political commissar, chief of staff, come and see, it''s the pilot, it''s our own pilot." Then busmanov and a soldier from the guard camp appeared at the door, supporting a man in a pilot''s uniform.


    When the two of them helped the pilot to come to us, I found that the pilot was injured. He covered his eyes with one hand, and blood was running down his forehead through his fingers. I quickly told my own security battalion commander: "hurry up, comrade captain, help Comrade pilot sit down." Then he turned to razumeyeva and yelled: "Comrade lieutenant, call the female health worker shmakova quickly. This comrade pilot is injured and bleeding. "


    Basmanov helped the pilot to sit down in his seat, took out a first aid kit from his briefcase, removed the pilot''s hand, and directly covered his head with a roll of gauze. Then he loudly reported to me: "Comrade division, it was the plane crash. It was the pilot''s plane that was shot down and forced to land not far from our hole."


    Because I didn''t know when the health worker would arrive and saw the pilot''s expression of pain, I quickly diverted his attention by asking questions: "Comrade pilot, what''s your name?"


    The pilot looked up at me and said, "my name is Vitaly popkov. I''m a squadron leader of the close guard fighter Air Corps."


    I took a look at his rank and continued, "Captain popkov, how was your plane shot down?"


    When popkov heard my question, he said with a bitter smile, "my flight squadron and I are ordered to support you. In the air battle just now, I took the lead in launching an attack on the enemy plane that was bombing our ship team. After beating down a bomber with an airborne machine gun, I rushed to an escort fighter and launched an air chase with him. After two or three minutes in the air, I managed to blow up his plane. At this time, the tracer shot at me from three directions, just past my window. I looked down and was shocked. My God, it''s our own antiaircraft guns that are firing! I don''t know why they fired at me at all. Those antiaircraft Gunners must be new to the battlefield. Maybe they wanted to hit the German plane and hit the wrong target. The antiaircraft fire exploded around me, and I still don''t know who hit me, them or the German plane. All I know is that my gas tank is on fire. You know, the plane is the closest partner of our pilots. Although the fire has rushed around the cockpit of the plane, I have no plan to parachute. I just drove my old man to make a forced landing in the open space outside your headquarters. My luck is obviously good. Although the plane fell apart, it didn''t explode. Then the captain and several other soldiers around you dragged me out of the dilapidated cockpit. " At this point, he nodded at basmanov and said sincerely: "thank you, thank you, comrade captain. Thank you for saving me. I will never forget your kindness."


    After listening to popkov, I couldn''t laugh or cry. The pilot in front of me who came to support us was shot down by our own artillery fire. It''s so funny. But as he said, he was lucky. Although the plane broke down when he landed, he was still alive.


    In order to cover up the embarrassment on my face, I turned my head to the back and yelled: "what''s the matter? Why hasn''t the health worker come after such a long time?"


    As soon as the voice fell, the door was pushed open again, and razumeyeva jumped in, panting and saying, "teacher, I''ve got the health worker." With that, her body slightly to the side, standing behind the shmakova let out.


    Seeing that shmakova was going to salute us, I quickly raised my hand to interrupt her and told her in a hurry: "Comrade health officer, you''re here just in time. The pilot captain is injured. Bandage him quickly."


    While shimakova was bandaging bopkov''s wound, kirilov pulled me aside and said in a low voice, "Comrade teacher, what do you think we should do about this?"


    "What to do?" Kirilov''s words confused me, so I asked in a fog.


    Kirilov looked at the pilot and whispered, "our antiaircraft Gunners have knocked down their planes. If according to the regulations, those antiaircraft Gunners may be shot."


    Shoot! This long lost word startled me. I looked towards the pilot in a hurry and saw that the people around me were all absorbed in watching shmakova bandage the wound, and didn''t notice that kirilov and I were whispering. I said tentatively: "Comrade political commissar, if there is no one in the headquarters later, we will discuss with the pilot again, try our best to hide this matter and not report it. I believe those antiaircraft Gunners didn''t mean to. Under such chaotic circumstances, it''s inevitable that there will be misfire. "


    Kirilov nodded, looked in the direction of the crowd, and said with approval, "well, I''ll talk to captain popkov later. In addition, Colonel yershov, who is in charge of the antiaircraft artillery group, also needs to inform him that he has a clear idea. After all, our fighter plane was shot down and there were many people who saw it. If someone with ulterior motives poked it up, you and I would be in trouble. "


    Shmakova''s hands and feet were very sharp, and soon finished dressing captain popkov. After she was injured, she came to us and raised her hand to salute. She reported that: "the wounds of the teachers, political commissars and captains have been bandaged up. What he is responsible for is only skin injuries. After a period of cultivation, he will recover."


    Kirilov nodded and then said to the woman health worker, "I see. Go back."


    After she saluted us again, she turned and left.


    The German army has been shelling and bombing mamayev hill and 107.5 highland since the morning. Seeing the twilight coming, I feel relieved that the Germans have been struggling all day, and it''s time to be quiet. Did not expect that just thought of here, outside came the rumble of artillery.


    The sudden gunfire not only attracted the attention of akhromeyev and I, but also kirilov and popkov, who were chatting in the corner of the headquarters. Popkov sprang up from his seat and asked in surprise, "what''s the matter? Where are the enemy shelling?"


    Akhromeyev, who was standing next to the telephone, immediately told Najia, "comrades of the telegraph operator, get in touch with the first and third regiments immediately, and ask what happened?"


    "Yes Najia agreed and began to call a regiment.


    When I heard Naja say that the whole group was connected, I quickly walked to the telephone, picked up the transmitter and cried out, "Hello, is that lieutenant colonel xiejerikov? This is colonel o''shanina. Answer me, what''s the matter? Where are the Germans shelling? "


    In the earphone soon came the reply of shejerikov: "report to division commander, the German army is shelling our regiment''s position on the north slope. The commissar and I are leaving a few observation posts, and the rest of the officers and men are retreating into air raid shelters and bomb shelters. " Perhaps he was afraid that I would be worried. Finally, he specially stressed, "Sir, please rest assured that we will never let the enemy''s feet step on our high ground again."


    After talking to sjerykov, I talked to the third regiment. Godunov calmly reported to me: "the enemy is shelling our regiment''s position. As the position on the north slope has been completely destroyed in shelling and air attack, I only left one class of soldiers on the top as a guard, and the rest of them have withdrawn to the south slope."


    Thinking of the situation of the third regiment just reported to me by akhromeyev, there are only more than 100 people on the highland. If the German army launched a fierce attack at this time, they would not be able to stop it. So I asked with some worry, "Captain Godunov, where is the second battalion of your regiment?"


    "The second battalion is still in the residential area. According to the plan, they will take advantage of the night to enter the Highlands in two hours to exchange guard with the first battalion."


    "No, comrade captain, the second battalion must be replaced earlier." I said sternly, "immediately order the second battalion to set out from the residential area and rush to the south slope of the highland for standby. As soon as the enemy''s shelling stops, they will enter the position immediately."


    Godunov heard my tone stern, did not dare to mention any objective reasons, can only honestly promise: "yes!"


    The enemy''s round of shelling ended abruptly in ten minutes.


    Listening to the sudden silence outside, kirilov and akhromeyev and I looked at each other. We were all confused by the German army''s inexplicable way of playing. It''s just shelling and bombing, but we don''t send ground troops to attack. What''s so interesting? Apart from consuming their ammunition reserves, it has little impact on us.


    Just when we were puzzled, the telephone in front of razumeyeva and Najia suddenly rang. Heard two people shouting at the transmitter: "Hello, this is division headquarters, where are you?" My heart can''t help but clatter. My heart says it''s time to come. At last, the enemy''s ground attack begins.


    Information from the first and third regiments came one after another through the telephone in front of razumeyeva and Najia. Both commanders reported that the enemy infantry, under the cover of more than a dozen tanks, had launched an attack on our highlands.


    In this case, the order I gave was very brief: "the order is clear, and we will firmly hold the position at all costs."


    Next, when discussing the combat deployment with kirilov, akhromeyev took the initiative to put forward to me: "Comrade division commander, since it''s dark, it''s estimated that the enemy''s aircraft will not be dispatched again. At this time, can we send out our artillery and tank battalions to attack the enemy head-on? "


    Akhromeyev''s words immediately resonated with kirilov. He quickly nodded and said with approval, "I agree with the chief of staff. Since the enemy''s aircraft can''t be dispatched, we can also take out our secret weapons and teach the Germans a lesson."


    "I don''t mind using the artillery battalion. But the tank battalion, "as for their proposal, I only agreed to use the artillery battalion, and explained my reasons to the two men," because of our limited fuel and ammunition, I mean not to use it for the time being. After all, the fight is only beginning now. If our strength is exposed too early, more enemies will be attracted to our direction. At that time, with the strength of our division, we will not be able to defend the mamayev post. "


    After listening to my statement, kirilov did not insist on his opinion any more. After thinking for a moment, he nodded and said, "OK, let''s send out our artillery battalion. I think with our heavy howitzers and thunder guns, we can defeat the enemy who comes to attack."


    Just as we were talking happily, razumeyeva suddenly cried nervously, "teacher, come here quickly!"


    I saw her look flustered, quickly walked in front of her, bent down and asked in a low voice: "what''s the matter?"


    She handed me the earphone and transmitter, and said in a low voice, "the position of the third regiment is lost!"


    "Lost position?" Razumeyeva''s voice is small, but it is like a bolt from the blue, almost put me directly on the ground.


    I put on my headphones and yelled at the transmitter, "Hello, Hello, is that gordonov?"


    Godunov''s feeble voice came from the earphone: "Comrade division, the enemy''s infantry quietly touched the position when the artillery bombardment was over and the smoke of gunfire was not over. After a class of soldiers in our regiment''s left behind positions found out, they fought with them tenaciously, but they were outnumbered and all of them died bravely. "


    "Get it back, get it back for me! As soon as your second battalion arrives, immediately organize the troops to fight back and take the position back to me. " I yelled at him angrily, "if you can''t take back the position, you won''t come back. You can live or die with the position."


    I angrily threw the earphone and transmitter on the table and said to kirilov and akhromeyev who were surrounded, "Godunov''s position is lost."


    My words surprised both of them. Akhromeyev asked in surprise: "there are more than 100 people on the high ground. How can we say that if we lose the position, we will lose it?"


    I said angrily: "just after the shelling, Godunov said that all the positions on the north slope of 107.5 highland had been destroyed by the enemy''s shelling and bombing, so he left only one class of soldiers on guard, and the rest of them were evacuated to the south slope for standby. Unexpectedly, after the shelling, the German infantry took advantage of the smoke of gunpowder and touched the position. The class of soldiers who held the position, though very brave, died because they were outnumbered. I have ordered Godunov to organize the troops to fight back as soon as the troops of the second battalion arrive, so that the positions must be taken back from the enemy''s hands. "


    When I said this, Najia called me timidly again: "Sir, the first group leader, Lieutenant Colonel xiejerikov, wants to talk to you."


    I haven''t been liberated from the anger of losing the position of the third regiment. When I heard that one regiment leader came to me again, I was worried about the same problem, so I was rather impolite when I spoke: "Lieutenant Colonel xiejerikov, what do you want to report to me? Don''t you also tell me that your position is occupied by the German army? "


    "Ah?! What position is occupied? I don''t understand you, sir. " Shejerikov''s tone was a little tense. After a moment''s silence, he said to me in a loud voice: "report, sir, just now there was an enemy who tried to touch our position before the smoke of gunfire had gone out, but we found it and beat it back. Now the political commissar, with the soldiers of the second battalion, is making a counter charge, striving to wipe out all this enemy. "

 Chapter 640

    Even kirilov and akhromeyev, who were standing beside me, heard the sonorous voice of shejerikov coming from the earphone, and their faces couldn''t help smiling happily. I was in a bad mood, and I became happy because of this report.


    After listening to the reports of the two regiments, I had a good understanding of the current situation: because the positions of the first regiment had been operated for a long time and the fortifications were relatively well built, they could still retain enough troops in the main positions when the enemy shelled and bombed. However, the positions transferred by the former tank troops received by the third regiment were not perfect in all kinds of fortifications. It was only for them to be killed when they were placed in these places during shelling and bombing. Therefore, Godunov''s decision to withdraw his main troops to the south slope was also understandable.


    The three of us went back to the table and began to discuss how to fight back 107.5. Akhromeyev first asked: "Sir, do we need to send more reinforcements to the third regiment?"


    Kirilov also turned his eyes to me when he heard akhromeyev''s question, waiting for my reply. I looked at the map on the table, waved my hand to him and said, "no, although the three regiments and one battalion were almost exhausted, it is enough to recover 107.5 Highlands with the strength of their regiment. You know, there are still more than 1000 people in the third regiment, which is more than the total strength of the disabled divisions in the city. "


    Akhromeyev hissed and said, "since the third regiment still has so many troops, there is no need to increase them. I have looked at the 107.5 highland. The width of the south slope is too narrow to expand too many troops. " With that, he turned his eyes to kirilov to hear what he thought.


    Kirilov said with ease: "the combat effectiveness of the third regiment is not bad in the whole division. Besides, there are so many troops. I have no doubt about their ability to recapture the highlands."


    It seems that the opinions of the division leaders are completely unified, so I told akhromeyev: "Comrade chief of staff, you should call captain Morozov and ask him to send the heavy howitzer unit of second lieutenant tyakonov to bombard the 107.5 highland immediately. Never let the German stand firm on the high ground."


    After chatting with Morozov on the phone, akhromeyev covered the microphone with his hand and asked for instructions: "Comrade division, Captain Morozov asked for instructions. Do you only use two guns, as you did yesterday, or do you use all the guns?"


    "Needless to say, of course, five howitzers." I also explained to him: "anyway, it''s dark now, and German planes are no longer a threat to our artillery positions."


    Akhromeyev nodded, released his hand on the receiver, and was about to repeat my order to Morozov. Unexpectedly, a timid voice came from the side: "Comrade Colonel, can I say something?"


    I turned to see that it was the wounded pilot, Captain popkov. When I heard that he had something to say, I nodded and said in a friendly way, "go ahead, comrade captain, if you have anything to say."


    With my permission, popkov boldly said, "Comrade Colonel, you don''t know that the German air force is now equipped with a large number of night aircrafts. That is to say, even at night, they can bombard our positions like in the daytime. Our troops suffered from the enemy aircraft in the battle of Kharkov a few months ago. "


    The professional''s words made akhromeyev, who was preparing to deliver the order, hesitate. He looked at me in embarrassment to see what kind of decision I would make. I frowned and thought about popkov''s words. If we don''t use the howitzer unit, if we attack the troops in 107.5 highland, we will suffer heavy casualties; If it is used, it is possible that the situation mentioned by the captain will really occur. The enemy will send out night warplanes to bomb our artillery positions, and then the heavy weapons of the division will be completely lost.


    Seeing that I had not spoken for a long time, not only akhromeyev but also kirilov was worried. As akhromeyev''s position is relatively low, he does not dare to interrupt my thoughts, so he just holds the microphone and anxiously looks at my face, waiting for my reply. Kirilov, however, had no scruples. Seeing that I did not reply, he asked rudely, "Comrade oshanina, have you thought about it? Is this howitzer unit used or not? "


    At this time, I finally made up my mind, so I decisively ordered akhromeyev: "chief of staff, the original order remains unchanged, or put all the howitzers into battle, and told lieutenant tyakonov that in order to give full play to the fearless revolutionary spirit of putting life and death out of the way, we must defeat the enemy occupying the Highlands with artillery fire in the shortest time, Cover the counterattack carried out by the third regiment. "


    Akhromeyev nodded hard and repeated my order loudly to the microphone: "Captain Godunov, the division commander ordered that all the howitzers be put into battle immediately. He told lieutenant tyakonov that to give full play to the fearless revolutionary spirit of putting life and death aside, we must defeat the enemy occupying the highland with artillery fire in the shortest time, Cover the counterattack carried out by the third regiment. "


    When kirilov and akhromeyev continued to communicate with their subordinate troops, I called popkov to one side and sat down. First, I asked him with concern, "Comrade captain, is your injury OK?"


    Popkov raised his hand and touched his forehead wrapped in gauze. He shook his head with a smile, and said in a light way, "Comrade Colonel, thank you for your concern. I''m suffering from skin injuries. It doesn''t affect me to fight immediately after I get back to the army."


    I was relieved to hear that he was not seriously injured. Then I changed the topic: "Captain popkov, do you know where the German Field Airport is?"


    Popkov was a smart man. When he heard my question, he immediately heard the string song and knew his elegance. With a smile on his face, he tentatively asked, "Comrade Colonel, if I am not wrong, are you going to send troops to attack the enemy''s airport?"


    It''s easy to talk with smart people. Before I asked the subject, he guessed what I wanted to ask. I nodded, acquiesced in my plan to send troops to attack the German Field Airport, and asked, "Captain popkov, do you think this plan is feasible?"


    In the future, he would have supplemented and improved some details of the sneak attack for me, and even provided me with information about the location of the German Field Airport. Unexpectedly, he shook his head and said with regret, "Comrade Colonel, although your idea is very bold, I don''t think it is possible to implement it at all?"


    What he said surprised me, and I quickly asked, "Captain popkov, why do you say that?"


    Popkov stood up and politely made a gesture of invitation to me. Then he first came to the table, leaned down, pointed to the map on the table and said to me, "Comrade Colonel, please see, from the direction of the enemy plane, the German Field Airport must be located to the west of the don river. If you want to send troops to sneak attack, you must pass through the enemy''s battle line, March one or two hundred kilometers before crossing the Don. And you can''t send less troops, otherwise you can''t break through the German guard. A large army will march on foot for one or two hundred kilometers in the middle of the enemy''s battle line. Unless the Germans are all blind and deaf, it is absolutely impossible to find this army. "


    After listening to popkov''s words, kirilov sighed and said with a worried face: "Captain popkov is right. If the German airport is not far from our defense line, we can sneak attack, and there is still hope of success. But judging from the current situation, the airport is most likely to be on the West Bank of the Don river. It''s impossible for us to sneak attack again. "


    Although I know what they said is reasonable, I still reluctantly asked popkov, "Comrade captain, have your air force bombed the enemy''s airports and logistics bases?" I''m thinking that infantry can''t attack German airfields. How about bombing the headquarters with our air force? As long as we blow up the enemy''s airport and destroy the aircraft on the airport, at least for some time in the future, we won''t have to be blown up by the enemy.


    Popkov thought for a moment and said solemnly: "we have bombed German airports before, but because the air defense force of the airport is very strong, our mission bombers have to take early tactical actions to evade the air defense fire network far away from the airport, so they rarely effectively destroy the enemy''s targets. That is to say, the air strikes we take often lead to our planes flying between our military airport and bombing targets in vain. "


    When I heard popkov talk about the tactics of evading the air defense firepower network, my mind suddenly flashed. I thought of Curtis Li Mei, an air force general of the United States, his bold innovation in the formation form and bombing technology of bombers, and the famous staggered flying formation. Thinking of this, I said to popkov with confidence, "Comrade captain, I have a suggestion for your air force that you can eliminate more targets with minimum loss."


    Popkov listened to me and looked at me in disbelief. I can also understand his reaction. Anyway, I''m an infantry commander and an outsider to the air force. It''s really a bit of a teacher''s experience to give advice to them.


    Seeing that not only popkov, but also kirilov and akhromeyev''s faces were suspicious, I said to myself, "next time you bomb the enemy, don''t take evasive tactics."


    "Comrade Colonel, do you mean that our bombers do not take any evasive tactics in the face of the enemy''s ground air defense fire?"


    "Yes I replied positively.


    "Do you know that in this way, our plane may be shot down by the enemy''s air defense firepower before it reaches its destination?" Popkov said angrily. If it wasn''t for my much higher rank, he might have yelled at me.


    "Captain popkov, please sit down." After I asked him to sit down, I patiently explained to him, "I used to be an antiaircraft gunner. I know very well that in the competition between air defense forces and fighters, air defense forces are always at the disadvantage. After the implementation of evasive tactics, if the aircraft wants to attack the target, it still needs to go back to the distance to face the air defense fire network from the ground. "


    Before I had finished my words, popkov suddenly opened up, quickly took over the topic and said excitedly: "Comrade Colonel, I understand that instead of wasting time in the implementation of evasive tactics, it''s better to jump at the target directly. In any case, although the enemy''s air defense firepower network is dense, it poses far less threat to us than we thought. In this way, we can hit more targets with the latest losses. "


    When I heard that he understood my intention, I nodded with satisfaction and praised myself secretly: a child can be taught. Popkov picked up the pen and notepad on the table, looked up and politely asked me, "is that ok?" I knew that he wanted to record what he had just said, so I readily agreed. Looking at him writing quickly in his Notepad, I wanted to tell him about the "staggered" formation flying tactics created by General Li Mei, but I thought that I only knew this term, but I didn''t know the specific content. If he asked me several times, I would help him, so I didn''t mention it again. At some time, razumeyeva came up to me, handed me a telegram, and whispered, "Comrade division commander, telegram from the headquarters of the group army." When I picked up the telegram and read it, kirilov asked nervously, "Comrade division commander, what new order does the commander have?" I understand that his blunder was caused by the fall of highland 107.5 and the fall of his own fighter plane by antiaircraft artillery. After reading the contents of the telegram, I immediately comforted him and said, "Comrade political commissar, don''t worry. The commander informed us that the counterattack against the enemy would start in the early morning of the day after tomorrow. Let''s make sure that the mamayev post will not be taken away by the German army before the counterattack begins." At this point, I took a look at popkov, who was writing in his Notepad, and whispered to kirilov, "the commander should not know about the loss of high ground and the mistake of anti-aircraft guns hitting our fighters." Kirilov shivered after hearing this and asked for my opinion in a low voice: "Comrade oshanina, it''s not our responsibility to ignore the incident of antiaircraft gun misfire for the time being. But what should we do about the loss of high ground? Do we need to report it to the commander?" I heard him say so, quickly nodded, and said in a positive tone: "the matter of the loss of the highland must be reported to the commander, otherwise when they know the news through other channels, you and I will be in trouble." Speaking of this, I called razumeyeva and said to her, "Comrade lieutenant, please send a message to the group army command immediately, saying that the German army has occupied our 107.5 highland, and we are organizing troops to fight back." Although I pretended to be nothing, I was still worried that trikov would dismiss me in a fury when he heard the news. But my worry was obviously superfluous. Trakov''s telegram soon came back with a short sentence: "when can we take back the position?" Holding the telegram I just received in my hand, I turned around and told akhromeyev standing at the table, "Comrade chief of staff, call the artillery battalion and ask them to bombard highland 107.5 immediately." Then he turned his head and said to Naga, the operator who had been looking at me, "contact the third regiment immediately, and say that I want to talk to captain Godunov." When Najia called for the third regiment, I suddenly thought of another thing. I immediately yelled to akhromeyev: "by the way, chief of staff, let Morozov send a few more thunder gun teams to the south slope of the highland. Even if our shells can''t blow up all the enemies in the position, then our explosive bag can send them to God. By the way, let them bring more explosives. If there are not enough people, let captain Pugachev send a battalion of horushov to help them carry explosives. " When all the orders were given, Najia also contacted Godunov. She quickly handed me the earphone and transmitter, and said, "Sir, we have contacted the third regiment. Captain Godunov is waiting for your order." What I told gordonov was very brief: "Comrade captain, after the artillery barracks have finished, you will immediately take the company as a unit and launch a counterattack to the high ground. You must take the position back to me." Kirilov came up to me and asked cautiously, "Comrade oshanina, how can the commander reply?" He didn''t remind me. I really forgot the telegram that trakov had just sent. After calculating the strength of both sides in my heart, I decisively ordered razumeyeva: "Lieutenant, send a power to the headquarters, saying that we will take the position back from the enemy''s hands in two hours."¡° Are you sure you can get the position back in two hours Kirilov asked suspiciously. Although I don''t know whether I can recapture the position at the moment, I can''t hesitate at this time. I still reply with a stiff head: "Comrade political commissar, I believe our soldiers, with their fighting capacity and indomitable fighting spirit, will recapture the position that belongs to us within the specified time." Finish saying, chongrazumeyeva one thing, decisively ordered her, "immediately send this telegram to the headquarters." In this way, a telegram with the words "retake the position in two hours" was sent to the headquarters of the group army by razumeyeva. At the time of her report, there was a rumble of artillery outside the cave. It was tyakonov''s heavy howitzer unit, which began shelling German troops occupying the highlands.

 Chapter 641

    Twenty minutes after the shelling, I said to akhromeyev, who was sitting opposite, "Comrade chief of staff, the shelling is almost finished. Call captain Morozov, ask the artillery battalion to stop shooting, save some shells for the howitzer unit, and save them for later lessons for the German army."


    Without saying a word, akhromeyev picked up the phone on the desk and called Morozov, repeating my order: "Captain Morozov? I''m chief of staff akhromeyev. The division commander ordered the howitzer unit to stop firing immediately. "


    After hearing akhromeyev''s phone call, I told razumeyeva: "Comrade lieutenant, immediately contact with the acting commander of the third regiment, Captain Godunov. When the shelling stops, immediately organize the troops to launch an attack on the Highlands, so as to recapture the position to me in the shortest time."


    After a series of orders were given in an orderly way, I sat at the table and told the map in front of me, patiently waiting for the result of the counterattack. Kirilov was obviously not as calm as I was. After sitting for a while, he jumped out of his seat like an ant on a hot pot and kept circling around the headquarters with his hands on his back.


    Akhromeyev is much more calm. After all, he has been with me for a period of time before, and has a certain understanding of my character. He knows that if he is not sure, I will never act as if nothing happened. Therefore, he sat opposite me without saying a word, waiting patiently for the war situation of the third regiment.


    Five or six minutes later, there was a movement on the telephone in front of razumeyeva. After listening for a moment, she turned to me and called, "report to division commander, it''s captain Godunov. He wants to report to you."


    When I heard that the third regiment had some achievements to report, kirilov, who was closest to the telephone, rushed over and grabbed the earphone and transmitter from razumeyeva. I can''t wait to ask, "I''m kirilov, political commissar. Captain Godunov. What''s the situation over there? Have you got the highland?"


    Since kirilov had done all my work before, I didn''t have to be in such a hurry. I came slowly behind kirilov and listened to the conversation between him and gordonov: "what, what do you say? I can''t hear you. Repeat what you just said


    When I heard this, I suddenly had a bad premonition in my heart. Was the attack frustrated? My conjecture was soon confirmed by kirilov: "what, what do you say? The attack failed? No, we can''t stop. We must continue to attack. We must take the position back to me in the shortest time


    Before kirilov finished, I put my hand on his shoulder, gently pulled his body over, and took the earphone and transmitter from his hand.


    When I heard Godunov''s slightly flustered voice coming from the earphone, I turned to the transmitter and asked, "Captain Godunov, when will your troops be able to reorganize and launch a new attack on the Highlands?"


    Godunov hesitated for a moment, and then replied in an uncertain tone: "report, sir, it may take half an hour at the earliest to launch another attack."


    I snorted heavily and said coldly, "I don''t have time to wait for you for half an hour now." With these words, it suddenly occurred to me that horushov''s troops should have arrived at the south slope of the highland at this time. Then I asked, "has the 1st Battalion of the 2nd regiment arrived yet?"


    "Horushov''s troops have arrived. The captain is by my side. Would you like to speak to him?"


    "Give the headphones and the transmitter to horushov." I gave orders to Godunov without expression.


    After a while, Huo lushaofu''s voice came out of the earphone: "Sir, I''m huolushaofu. I''m waiting for your order. I don''t know what instructions you have?"


    "How many thunderguns do you have?" I asked directly.


    "Tell me, sir, when I set out, Captain Morozov gave me twenty launchers and a hundred explosives."


    "Twenty launchers and a hundred explosives?" Hearing such a large number of people, I was surprised. Even if a launcher was only equipped with two people, it would be forty people. The artillery battalion would dispatch so many people to fight. If there were casualties, it would not be worth the loss. I quickly asked, "how many people did Morozov send you?"


    "Five soldiers were sent."


    "What, five soldiers?" When I heard what horushov said, I began to scold Morozov for being unreliable. With 20 launchers, only five soldiers were sent¡° So many transmitters, how do you plan to operate them? "


    "Sir, I have too many five people. The operation difficulty of this thunderbolt is similar to that of fireworks in the new year. Almost all the soldiers in our battalion can use it. "


    After listening to him, I finally put my heart into my stomach. I''m also a fan of the game. The original accuracy of this thunderbolt is poor. It''s operated by artillery and ordinary infantry, and the effect is almost the same. After I let go of my breath, I told horushov: "Comrade captain, I now order you to lead the troops to attack the Highlands immediately after all the explosive bags are shot out."


    "Yes, I see." After answering me, he asked tentatively¡° Sir, what about captain Godunov''s troops? "


    Hearing that he mentioned Godunov''s name, I immediately lost my breath. After a snort, I told him: "let Godunov seize the time to reorganize the troops, and go up to take over the defense of the Highlands after you have occupied the positions occupied by the German army."


    After putting down the earphone and the transmitter, I turned to kirilov and ahlomeyev, who was a little further away, and said, "come on, political commissar and chief of staff, let''s all go to the top of the hill to see how our troops recover the highlands." When they both came to me, Captain popkov, the pilot who had been a spectator, asked eagerly, "Comrade Colonel, can I go with you?"


    "Comrade captain, since you are interested in this, come with us." Knowing that the south slope of the highland has been equipped with thunderguns, I have no doubt about recapturing 107.5 highland, so I would like more people to share the upcoming victory with me.


    Looking at us going to the top of the hillside to watch the battle, Captain busmanov, who was in charge of the guard, rushed outside and called more than a dozen soldiers of the guard company to come and follow us up the hillside.


    When we got to the top of the mountain, we were just in time for the thunder guns to fire. I saw through the telescope that after a series of fires flashed under the hillside, a lot of indistinct black spots flew from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain. A moment later, on the top of the hillside, there was a huge smoke of fire, and then there was an earth shaking noise. In the light of the fire, I can clearly see the human limbs and arms flying up into the sky. I can see how amazing the power of this explosive package is.


    After a short pause, another round of thunder was fired at the foot of the hillside. The firelight of the explosion of the explosive pack lit up the mountain and shone into the eyes of all of us. At this time, akhromeyev came up to me and reminded me in a low voice: "Comrade division, these two rounds of firing of the thunderbolt seem to have a good effect. Do you think we should stop shooting from the 1st Battalion of the 2nd regiment and attack the Highlands directly? "


    I put down my telescope and looked at him, then slowly shook my head and directly denied his proposal: "Comrade chief of staff, the Germans are very cunning. They have just prepared for 20 minutes of artillery fire, but they are not consumed in the artillery fire. However, as soon as the third regiment launched an attack, they immediately got out of their hiding place and beat back our attack with powerful firepower."


    "But, sir." Akhromeyev looked at the smoke of gunfire in the distance and said anxiously, "if the Germans hide again, we can''t help them even if we throw all the remaining explosive bags on them."


    I said with disapproval: "Comrade chief of staff, don''t worry about it. With so many explosive packages thrown up, even if they can''t be killed, the shock wave of the explosion will also shock them to death. Just calm down and see how our troops recover the highlands. "


    Although all of horushov''s men were infantry, their skills in operating the thunder guns were no worse than those of morrozov''s men. There were dozens of explosive packages left, all of which were finished in just two minutes. Before the smoke on the hillside was cleared, the troops at the foot of the mountain, who had been ready to go, charged towards the top of the slope.


    On the top of the smoky hillside, there was not only no sign of human activity, but also no shot back. Until our soldiers rushed to the mountainside, there was no movement. Although the position was silent, I was still sweating for our commanders and fighters, deeply afraid of the plot of the German soldiers who survived on the hillside.


    At this moment, kirilov came up to me and said in surprise, "it''s strange that there is no movement in the position. Are the Germans really killed by our explosives?"


    Although I thought kirilov was right in my heart, I was still worried about what would happen when the troops arrived at the top of the hillside, so I hesitated for a long time before saying, "you and I have seen how powerful these explosive packs are. But if we are not afraid of 10000, we should be afraid of just in case. Maybe when we bombed just now, there were German soldiers hiding on the north slope. They wanted to wait until our troops got close to the top of the mountain, and then they came out from their hiding place and opened fire on us. "


    However, when the soldiers in the front were more than ten meters away from the top of the hill, the surviving German soldiers opened fire. Apart from a machine gun and two submachine guns, only a few rifles were firing. The bullets suddenly fell down and hit the soldiers in the front. They rolled down the hillside. The soldiers in the back quickly fell down on the spot, hiding in the crater and firing at the enemy on the top of the slope.


    Although the terrain of the German army was very favorable, the number of them was too small. In addition, the technical and tactical level of my commanders and fighters was not bad, and they knew how to make use of the terrain to cover the leap forward. Therefore, the situation soon developed in favor of our army. When the machine gun was blown up by the grenade, our soldiers quickly jumped out of the hidden crater and rushed to the top of the hill.


    Seeing this, I put down my telescope, breathed a sigh, and said to the people around me who were still watching the war: "come on, there''s nothing to see here. In a few minutes at the most, Captain horushov''s forces will be able to completely occupy the heights. Let''s go back to the headquarters and wait for Comrade horushov to report the victory to us. "


    As soon as we entered the headquarters, razumeyeva got up from her seat and told me with a smile: "report, sir, I just received a call from captain horushov saying that they have successfully recovered 107.5 highlands."


    On hearing the good news, everyone''s face showed a happy expression. Without waiting for me to speak, the chief of staff, akhromeyev, first told razumeyeva: "Comrade lieutenant, you immediately sent a message to the headquarters of the group army, saying that our troops have successfully recovered 107.5 highlands."


    After sending a telegram to the headquarters of the group army, razumeyeva looked up to me and asked, "Comrade division commander, do you think you need to speak to captain horushov?"


    I waved my hand and said, "no, I just don''t get in touch with him. He knows what I''m going to say. You contact him immediately, order him to hand over the position to the third regiment immediately, and then lead the troops back the same way. "


    When I came back to the table, akhromeyev pushed the map on the table in front of me and said with some embarrassment: "Sir, you see, the north slope of the 17.5 highland is flat, easy to attack and difficult to defend; On the other side of the south slope, the situation is just the opposite. The terrain is steep, easy to defend and difficult to attack. I think the reason why we won these two battles to recover the Highlands was actually due to a certain element of luck. If it''s not the small German troops that occupy the position, but the large ones, even if we pay a heavy price, we won''t be able to take back the position. "


    As for what he said, I agreed with him very much. After nodding, I raised my head and asked him, "Comrade chief of staff, what kind of good method do you have?"


    Seeing that all the people were looking at him, akhromeyev said without stage fright: "I think we should work harder on fortifications like a regiment. As long as we dig more artillery holes in the trenches on the north slope and build a few Tibetan soldier holes on the south slope, we will have a much greater hope of keeping the high ground. "


    When he finished his opinion, I didn''t immediately express my position. Instead, I turned around and asked kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, I want to hear your opinion?"


    Kirilov was staring at the map. When he heard my question, he waved his hand and said, "I don''t have any opinions. Just follow what the chief of staff said. With strong fortifications, we can better block the enemy''s attack. "


    Just then, razumeyeva came up to me and handed me a telegram. At the same time, she said, "Comrade division commander, this is a telegram from the commander of the group army."


    I picked it up and saw that the above content was simple and clear: "tomorrow evening, hand over the command of the division to kirilov and the chief of staff of the division. You will return with the personnel sent by the headquarters and take part in the counterattack command together."


    Kirilov saw that I had received another telegram and worried that I would be criticized by trakov again, so he and akhromeyev both looked at me with worried faces and asked with concern¡° Comrade o''shanina, are you all right? "


    "I''m fine." As I said, I handed the telegram to him. "The commander asked me to hand over the command of the division to both of you tomorrow evening, and let me return to the city with the people from the headquarters to take part in the command of the counterattack." At this point, I turned to popkov and said, "Comrade captain, you are wronged to stay with us one more day. I will send you to the city tomorrow evening."


    After reading the telegram, kirilov asked with some worry: "Comrade oshanina, why do you say the commander wants you to hand over the command? Is it to transfer you to another army?"


    Kirilov''s analysis made my heart thump. What he said is really reasonable. This possibility can''t be ruled out at all. I finally saw the hope of success in the mamayev post. If trekov transferred me like this, I would lose all my previous achievements. If so, when I see trakov tomorrow night, I must have a good talk with him and try to let him let me go back to the independent division to continue to take charge of the overall situation.


    After daybreak, the German attack began again.


    However, the German army, who had suffered losses, did not dare to launch any more ground attacks. Instead, it had to carry out continuous shelling and air raids on our division''s defense areas to suppress our firepower.


    It was easy for the enemy to stop shelling and bombing the mamayevgang and 107.5 highland in the evening. I also transferred the command of the division to kirilov and akhromeyev.


    As soon as the handover was over, an officer in a big cornice hat entered the headquarters under the guidance of basmanov. After the officer came in, he went straight to kirilov, raised his hand to salute him, and politely said, "Hello, comrade kirilov, I didn''t expect that we would meet again so soon."


    When kirilov shook hands with him warmly, he asked, "Hello, lieutenant commander weinlub. Nice to meet you. You have been ordered to meet Colonel o''shanina, have you


    "Yes."


    After receiving a positive reply from the other party, kirilov came up to me, raised his hand and introduced himself to lieutenant colonel Wei inlub, saying, "Comrade commander, I''d like to introduce you to Colonel o''shanina, the division commander of the independent division." Then he introduced me to the lieutenant commander, "Comrade o''shanina, this lieutenant commander is lieutenant commander Wei yinlubu, deputy commander of the armored forces of the group army. He has been ordered to meet you."


    After kirilov''s introduction, Wei yinlubu came up to me, raised his hand, saluted me and said politely, "Hello, Colonel o''shanina. I''m lieutenant commander Wei yinlubu. Because I''m familiar with the roads in the city, comrade commander has assigned me to pick you up to the headquarters. "


    After returning the salute, I asked in the same polite tone, "Comrade commander, shall we start now?" Wei yinlubu raised his hand, looked at his watch, shook his head and said, "not yet, comrade o''shanina. At this time, there were still many enemy planes circling in the air. When I came, I had been bombed. For your safety''s sake, we''d better wait until after dark to leave! "

 Chapter 642

    After nightfall, I took the pilot popkov with me and got into the jeep of lieutenant colonel weinlub to the group army headquarters in the city.


    When I was still in the division headquarters, I introduced popkov and Wei inlubu to each other. Although they just politely said hello to each other at that time, they didn''t say anything to each other, at the moment, although one was sitting in the co pilot''s seat and the other was sitting in the back row next to me, they had a hot conversation.


    The topic of the conversation was that lieutenant colonel Wei inlub, who was sitting next to me, saw the German night plane hovering in the air and couldn''t help but scold in a low voice: "damn German, I won''t stop for a while at night."


    "Comrade commander," said popkov, who was sitting in the front row, turning to him, "it''s a pity that our air force is equipped with a limited number of night aircrafts. Otherwise, the German air force would not be so arrogant as it is now."


    "By the way, comrade captain." Wei yinlubu then asked curiously, "may I ask you a question?"


    "Go ahead, comrade commander." Popkov said politely.


    "How many enemy planes have you shot down since the outbreak of the war?"


    Wei yinlubu''s question also aroused my interest, so I looked at popkov curiously, waiting for his answer.


    Popkov grinned and replied, "Comrade commander, since I joined the air force, I have completed 117 combat missions, 29 air trips and shot down 11 enemy planes. Of course, compared with my comrades in arms, there is still a certain gap. For example, our ace pilot, Captain berkrushkin, has shot down 13 planes, two more than me. "


    After listening to popkov''s mention of pokreshkin, weinlubu burst out laughing, which made popkov and I laugh. Wei yinlubu laughed for a long time and burst into tears. Then he stopped laughing and explained to us, "I''ve heard of this pocre shkin before. It''s said that on the first day of the war, his fighter took off to fight. Because of his lack of experience and the wrong command of the tower, he actually shot down one of our own bombers. Fortunately, no casualties were caused, In addition, the complicated situation on the front line at that time made his mistakes more lenient. The next day, he took off to fight again and shot down a German plane cleanly. It was a meritorious act. " Speaking of this, Wei yinlubu suddenly said in surprise, "Comrade captain, how did I hear that the German Ace Pilots shot down dozens or even hundreds of planes? What''s the matter? Is there so much difference between our air force strength and that of the German army? "


    Popkov bowed his head for a moment, then slowly replied: "Comrade commander, it is understandable that the number of planes shot down by German pilots is more than that of our pilots, but it is obviously abnormal that the number gap is so large. In contrast, our pilots'' technical level is not bad at all, and their combat performance, speed, weapons and equipment are not weak. In fact, the results of the German ace pilots were greatly exaggerated.


    If our numbers are lower than those of the Germans, it''s just because we and the Germans have different air combat missions. The main task of our fighters is to ensure the smooth operation of heavy bombers, attack planes, reconnaissance planes and airborne planes, and active air combat is in the secondary position. At that time, in order to provide air cover for ground forces, convoys, ferries, airports and command posts, our fighters could not escape from the battle even before the enemy''s superior forces, because air operations determined the outcome of ground operations. The task of the Germans is different. They are all "free shooters" who specialize in hunting our planes, especially heavy ones. However, while they won the air tactical victory, they suffered strategic defeat on the ground, which is the essence of our air combat policy. As for me personally, what leaders value is not the number of enemy planes I shoot down, but the number of bombers, assault planes and reconnaissance planes I cover. "


    As soon as popkov finished speaking, I couldn''t help but snatch in front of lieutenant commander weinlub and ask curiously, "Captain popkov, I want to know how do you count your results?"


    Popkov explained clearly to us: "the pilots of both sides used manuals to record the results of the air combat, but our pilots did not pay attention to it. They did not remember it much. The German pilots remembered it more and boasted about the results of the war wantonly. This is also the propaganda war and psychological war of the German army, which is inconsistent with the real situation. Before, I was involved in the trial of a captured German pilot who told us how they falsely reported the results. For example, if a squadron has 12 airplanes and they shoot down three airplanes in an air battle, then every pilot will record that they have shot down three airplanes without any special explanation. In this way, the total number of their achievements will be 36. "


    After listening to these words, I have doubts about the achievements of those famous German Ace Pilots in history. Erich Hartman, who shot down 352 enemy planes in total, is his real achievements half that of the legend?


    At this time, the car body suddenly a shock, then stopped. I was thrown forward by inertia and almost hit the back of the chair in front of me. I quickly held the back of the chair and asked the driver, "Comrade driver, what happened? Did it break down?"


    The driver shook his head and said in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, it''s not that the car broke down. It seems that the wheel is entangled by something. I''ll go down and check it." With that, he pushed the door open and got out of the car.


    Seeing that the driver got out of the car, Wei yinlubu looked outside and said to me, "Comrade Colonel, let''s get out of the car and wait." Without waiting for my reply, he added: "although it is only 500 meters away from the headquarters of the group army, it is very unsafe. Apart from being bombed by German planes, it is also attacked by cold artillery from time to time."


    It was too cold in September. I had planned to stay in the car and wait for the driver to deal with the fault. Wei yinlubu said that. Without saying a word, I pushed the door beside me and jumped down. I didn''t want to be a target in the car.


    As soon as I turned around and closed the door, I heard Wei yinlubu jump out of the car heavily and ask the driver loudly, "what''s the matter?"


    The driver stood up straight and replied, "report, comrade commander, it''s the telegraph line that has got the wheel entangled."


    After hearing this, Wei yinlubu immediately ordered him: "deal with it as soon as possible. We can''t stay here too long. We should leave as soon as possible."


    The driver agreed, and squatted down to deal with the wire wrapped around the wheel.


    Seeing that our car stopped, the jeep immediately behind also stopped, including busmanov and two security guards jumped out of the car, trotted to me and asked curiously, "what''s the matter, sir?"


    As I looked at the streets full of craters and rubble, I casually replied, "the wires on the road have entangled the wheels of the jeep. The driver is dealing with it."


    As soon as I finished, I heard the driver''s anxious voice: "Comrade commander, can you help me find a bayonet or pliers? I don''t think it can be completely cleaned up if we don''t break the wire


    After hearing this, Wei yinlubu turned to us and asked, "which of you has bayonets or pliers?"


    Basmanov saw my eyes also looked at him, quickly said with a wry smile: "Comrade division, I and my two soldiers are equipped with submachine guns, no bayonets. As for the pliers, there is no more. "


    I looked at the submachine gun hanging on the chest of the three of them. Knowing that he was not talking nonsense, I quickly yelled at Wei yinlubu: "Comrade commander, we don''t have bayonets and pliers here."


    All of a sudden, there was the roar of shells in the air. Almost at the same time, I heard basmanov yell: "Sir, be careful!" Then I was thrown to the ground by him, and the other two soldiers pressed me up, almost breaking my ribs.


    After the shell exploded in the distance, busmanov and two soldiers who were pressing on me also got up one after another. I got up from the ground with difficulty and muttered, "you three are heavier than polar bears."


    Basmanov could not help scratching the back of his head and grinning in embarrassment.


    I saw that there was only Wei inlubu standing in front of the jeep, but I didn''t see the shadow of popkov. Knowing that he was helping the driver to remove the fault, I glared at basmanov and said discontentedly, "what are you doing here? Why don''t you go to help the driver deal with the wire wrapped around the wheel?"


    Seeing that I was angry, busmanov waved to the other two soldiers: "follow me." Then he quickly ran to the front.


    Lieutenant commander Wei yinlubu came over, put the hat in his hand on his head, and said with admiration: "Comrade Colonel, your men are really good. Just when the shell came, the three of them jumped on you without hesitation. I don''t think it will hurt you to say that the shell explodes so far away, even at the side of the car. "


    I didn''t know how to discuss this matter with him, so I quickly cut off the topic: "Comrade commander, is this section of the road bombarded by the enemy every day?"


    Wei yinlubu nodded and answered solemnly: "no, the current war situation is not good for us. There are enemies in several directions who are not far away from the city, so they can bombard and bomb the city frequently."


    Just as we were talking, several shells landed nearby and exploded. Except for one shell that made a big hole in the wall of a building on the side of the road, the rest fell into the rubble, blowing up the broken bricks everywhere.


    Although the impact of the shell was far away from me, my heart began to panic. If Wei inlub had not stood in front of me, I would have been in front of me to urge the driver and basmanov to speed up, so as not to stay here in fear.


    When the eighth shell landed near us and exploded, my tense nerves were about to break. Suddenly, the driver''s voice came from the front: "Comrade commander, the wire has been untied, you can get on the bus."


    Without waiting for Wei yinlubu to call me, I rushed to the jeep, opened the door and sat in. At the same time, I solemnly urged Wei yinlubu: "Comrade commander, get on the bus quickly. The commander has been waiting for us so long. It''s time to wait." At the same time, I secretly prayed that the German shells would not come back and let us arrive at the headquarters safely.


    However, it didn''t work out as expected. Within 100 meters of our car, two more shells fell on the front and rear of the car and exploded, causing bricks and stones to crash on the roof of the car. At that moment, my heart was raised to my throat. Although I was wearing a helmet, I was also afraid that the stone would break into the roof and hit me with blood.


    Fortunately, after these two shells exploded, there were no more shells coming, and we drove to the gate of the headquarters without danger. Lieutenant commander Wei yinlubu opened the car door, jumped out of the car, called a sentry at the door and told him in a loud voice: "Comrade sentry, send this pilot comrade to our reception team. By the way, he''s also injured. By the way, ask a health worker to examine his wound. "


    I got out of the car and went to popkov. I reached out to him and said, "Comrade captain, it''s time to say goodbye. Let''s shake hands for the last time."


    Popkov held my hand tightly, shook it hard and said, "Comrade Colonel, thank you for taking care of me these two days. I hope we can still fight together in the future."


    "There will be a day." As soon as I said this, I heard Wei yinlubu urging me at the door: "hurry up, comrade Colonel, the commander should wait." I nodded to popkov, released his hand, and walked quickly to the door.


    Weinlub took me to trakov''s headquarters. As we walked in, we saw gurov buried himself in the papers, while trakov and krailov were standing at one place and making a phone call. Seeing us coming in, without waiting for me to raise my hand to salute, trakov waved to us while facing the microphone, indicating that we should go out first.


    After Wei yinlubu and I left the headquarters, we stood in the corridor outside and looked at the staff officers and signalmen coming and going. I felt that I was a bit in the way. I just wanted to ask Wei yinlubu if we could find a place to sit down and wait for the commander when they were free. Unexpectedly, he suggested to me in advance: "Comrade Colonel, this is the new headquarters of the group army. You''d better come here for the first time, or I''ll show you around?"


    I nodded and said, "OK, OK, of course. Please show me the way."


    When Wei yinlubu showed me around the new headquarters, he said to me as he walked: "Comrade Colonel, this tunnel is named" chalijin grottoes. ". It''s a large shelter tunnel divided into ten rooms. The ceiling and surrounding walls are lined with veneers. After the top cover is ten meters, it will take at least one ton of bombs to penetrate individual parts of this tunnel. So it is very safe to say that the headquarters is located here. "


    I followed him and walked out of the headquarters through an exit. When he saw several concrete blockhouses outside the cave and was about to ask him where they were, he pointed to the riverbed where there was only a small amount of water before and said to me, "this is the riverbed of the zarica River, and the other exit is Pushkin street that we passed when we came here. Once the enemy attacks the city and rushes into the headquarters, comrade commander, they can get out of danger smoothly through this exit. " After introducing all this, he heaved a sigh of relief, raised his voice and said to me, "well, comrade Colonel, time is almost up. We will go to the headquarters to see if the commander is finished."


    When I got back to the headquarters this time, in addition to krailov still calling the troops below, trakov and gurov were already at leisure. When they saw me walking into the headquarters, they immediately called me: "Comrade oshanina is coming. Come and sit down quickly. Let''s study the counterattack tomorrow."


    I went to trekov, sat down, looked at the map on the table, and asked frankly, "Comrade commander, if tomorrow''s counterattack is made according to my suggestions, I want to know when the counterattack will be implemented?"


    Trikov habitually raised his hand to look at his watch, and then said to me, "the plan you submitted has been studied by several of us, and we think it is very suitable for the current situation, so we directly adopted your plan without any modification. As for the counterattack time, we will start artillery preparation at 3 a.m. tomorrow. Half an hour later, that is 3:30, our troops will begin to carry out counter attack. I''d like to hear your opinion before the battle starts? "


    I''m not excited to hear that trakov said that he adopted my combat plan. Originally, this plan was made by trakov, but I embezzled it and gave it back to him. My brain was spinning rapidly, thinking about the problems I might encounter in the counterattack. After thinking about it for a while, I raised my head and said to trekov, "Comrade commander, to ensure the victory of the counterattack tomorrow, we must consider three aspects: first, whether the communication between the headquarters and the participating forces is smooth; 2¡¢ Without the assistance of the air force, our offensive forces might be defeated in the bombing of enemy planes; 3¡¢ The number of troops participating in the counterattack is limited, so the results that can be achieved are also very limited. So I boldly suggest to you that we should ask the front army to send more reserves, so that we can strengthen the strength of the counterattack forces. "


    After listening to me, trikov and gurov, who were sitting next to him, looked at each other and laughed. When I was confused by the two people''s laughter, trikov restrained his smile and said to me, "Comrade o''shanina, it seems that lesbians are more careful in their consideration. But you can rest assured that we have considered these details for a long time. Before you came here, I personally checked the communications and the preparations of the troops for the counter offensive. At present, everything is normal. Except for night flights and cold guns, the enemy has nothing to do. It seems that they are all resting or preparing for tomorrow''s routine offensive. "


    "As for the air force, comrade oshanina, you don''t have to worry." Gurov also added: "commander yelimenko assured us that he would send a strong air force to cover our combat operations at dawn. At the same time, it also tells us a good news: the headquarters is preparing to equip us with the 13th division of the close guard infantry, which will begin to assemble in the east coast area of krasnos Loboda tomorrow evening. "


    After gulov finished, trakov added: "although only one division has been given to us, it is also very exciting news for us. In this way, we will have more troops to fight back." My heart began to beat faster when I heard that general rojmtsev''s guard division was coming. In the history I know, the fate of Stalingrad was firmly in the hands of the division for a period of time. Now, the troops that stick to the mamayev post have become the independent divisions that I command that do not exist in history, so that the close guard division can mobilize enough troops to participate in the counterattack. Maybe in this way, the counterattack that trikov will carry out tomorrow will still have the hope of success. It''s so easy to wait for the end of the two people''s harmony, I tentatively said to trikov: "Comrade commander, should we send someone to meet the guards, so that they will not cross the river and bump into the enemy''s artillery strike area and suffer unnecessary casualties."¡° Colonel o''shanina, you don''t have to worry about that. " I don''t know when krailov returned to the table, and then I said, "I just called Colonel tupichev, the engineer director of the group army, and asked him to lead the group army''s staff team to cross the river overnight to krasnosloboda area to meet the guards division." They had already considered all the things that should be considered when they met with trakov, and I would not worry about the counterattack tomorrow. Next, I reflected the difficulties faced by the current 107.5 highland to several commanders of the group army. After listening, trakov raised his head and asked krailov, "chief of staff, how do you think about this?" Krailov fixed his eyes on the map on the table, knocked on the table with his fingers, pondered for a long time, and then replied: "at present, the independent division is the most complete and most effective unit in the group army. I don''t think it''s worthwhile to consume our elite units just to stick to the 107.5 highland. So I suggest that when our superiors send us new troops, let them take over the defense of highland 107.5, so that the scattered forces of the independent division can be concentrated, and the mamayev post and the wharf beside can be turned into a fortress that the German army can''t conquer. " When I heard that krailov held me so high, I had to smile bitterly and say, "please rest assured that the commander, the military commissar and the chief of staff, as long as the forces of the independent division are concentrated, they will become a force that the enemy can''t underestimate. In addition to sticking to our own positions, we will not continue to launch counter attacks against the enemies in front of us, so that they will not be able to draw out their forces to join the friendly forces attacking our city. " My statement made gulov smile. He nodded his head and said with satisfaction, "well, good, comrade oshanina. Since you have such determination, I''m relieved. Next, we will continue to discuss tomorrow''s counter offensive. " The shelling before the counterattack started at three o''clock on time. However, due to the shortage of shells, the original 30 minute shelling lasted only 15 minutes. Trikov, who got the report from the artillery commander, decisively gave an order to krailov: "Comrade chief of staff, order all the troops to act immediately and launch a fierce attack on the enemy face to face!" Krailov nodded, went to a telephone beside the wall, took the earphone and the transmitter from the operator''s hand, and cried out: "comrades in command, the commander orders, in order to protect the great Stalingrad and eliminate the bandits, all take action! Move forward and charge immediately to the enemy''s position After the order of attack was issued, more than a dozen troops launched a fierce attack from their respective starting positions on the German troops stationed outside the city. From 4 o''clock, the battle reports were continuously sent back to the headquarters, and the commanders of each unit reported that their units had broken through the German position in front of them and made their way into the enemy''s line of defense for several kilometers. On hearing the good news, there were happy smiles on both trekov''s and gurov''s faces. At 6 o''clock, the war reports from all the troops were a little bad. Almost unanimously, German fortifications were found, and infantry lacking heavy weapons and artillery support were frustrated in several attacks. In order to appease the people, Krylov gave them a shot in the arm and told them to hold on for a while. As soon as our air force appeared at dawn, we could break through the enemy positions in front of us. But the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Half an hour later, a telegram from the commander of the front army shattered everyone''s hope. "Because of the shortage of fuel and ammunition, the air force is unable to provide the necessary support for your offensive forces," the telegram said shortly

 Chapter 643

    After reading the telegram, gurov sat in his seat with a livid face and didn''t say a word. Krailov sighed with regret, while trakov tore the telegram to pieces, threw it on the ground, and went back and forth in circles in the headquarters. As a seconded person, in order to prevent trekov from venting his thunder on me, I wisely chose silence as gold.


    Seeing that trakov was on the edge of the rampage, the staff who went in and out from time to time consciously lightened their pace; The messenger on the phone kept his voice down as much as possible. They were all afraid that if they startled trakov, who was in a bad mood, they would call him a curse.


    After walking in the headquarters for a few minutes, trakov gradually calmed down. He went back to the table and said to krailov, "Comrade chief of staff, go to call or telegraph the commanders of the participating units, saying that there was an accident in the air force, but there was no air support. At present, they have to rely on their own strength to complete the counterattack against the German army. Tell them that all units should carry forward the fighting spirit of fearing neither hardship nor death, and fight tenaciously with the enemy. " Speaking of this, he lowered his voice and said to himself, "as long as we can hold on till tomorrow, the 13th division of rodimzev''s guards can all go into the battlefield, so that we have a better chance of winning."


    After receiving the order from trakov, krailov immediately went to the signalmen and asked them to convey the commander''s order to the commanders of the following units.


    With the order of trakov, the attack started again. At the same time, the commanders of all the troops complained to krailov one after another, saying that the casualties of the troops were heavy, and the strength of the attack began to weaken, hoping that the headquarters could send more reinforcements to them.


    After hearing krailov''s report, trakov clapped the table and growled: "chief of staff, tell them I don''t have any reserves here. If I want to defeat the enemy, I have to rely on their own strength. The soldiers ran out and let the commanders rush forward; The commander ran out, "trikov said. He took off his big cornice hat and threw it on the table. He gritted his teeth and said," let the military officers of all units rush up with their guns! "


    Gurov, after waiting for trikov to lose his temper, quickly advised: "Comrade commander, don''t get angry. To tell you the truth, the number of these troops involved in the counter offensive is indeed a little small, and they are all heavy and heavy troops. Without heavy weapons, it is very difficult to conquer the German fortifications. Why don''t we find a way to piece together some reinforcements for them? "


    Trikov sighed, sat down and said bitterly, "I also want to send reinforcements to them, but Comrade military commissar, you also know our current situation. Where can we draw out our troops?"


    Krailov, after waiting for trakov to finish, carefully suggested: "commander, comrade military commissar, can we transfer the sixth heavy tank brigade? We should know that they still have 19 heavy tanks. If they are assigned to the counterattack forces, they can enhance the current offensive strength of our army. "


    Unexpectedly, trikov directly shook his head and rejected his proposal: "no, the heavy tank brigade is the reserve of the whole group army. It is currently stationed near the granary in the south of the city. At the same time, it also plays the role of protecting the left wing of our department. It is absolutely not easy to use this unit unless it is absolutely necessary."


    Seeing that krailov''s proposal was rejected by trakov, gurov coughed quickly and attracted our attention. After that, he said calmly, "Comrade commander, we still have an army to use." At this point, he gave me a meaningful look and continued to say, "as far as I know, the independent division of Colonel oshanina has not suffered much in recent battles. If necessary, we can use this unit to attack the 44th and 76th German divisions in the north, so as to contain the main German forces."


    When I heard what guroff said, I couldn''t help shivering. After a long time, it seemed that I still wanted to give my independent teacher the idea. I quickly turned my eyes on trakov, eager to know what he thought?


    On hearing gurov''s suggestion, trakov did not immediately express his position. Instead, he looked at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think of the suggestion of Comrade military commissar?" He asked like this, which was tantamount to leaving the decision-making power to me.


    As I know that mamayev post will be an important area for the German army to attack in the future, if the independent division is allowed to take part in the counterattack now, it will not be worth the loss. When all the troops are exhausted, how can we deploy enough troops to defend the Highlands? Thinking of this, I quickly stood up, but I didn''t care what I said might offend gurov. I just said, "commander, military commissar, chief of staff, I don''t agree to throw the independent division into the counterattack."


    "Why?" Asked gurov and Krylov in one voice.


    Staring at the map, I said thoughtfully: "judging from the enemy''s current situation, mamayev post, wharf and central railway station are the key points of their attack. At present, the independent division sticks to two of the three important areas. Once it is deployed to fight back, the original defense area will become empty. If they are entangled by the enemy in the battle, "here, in order not to stimulate the people here, I deliberately change the word" encirclement "into a relatively mild" entanglement "¡° Once the German troops bypass the fighting area and make a direct attack, there is a possibility that these empty defensive areas will be lost. "


    "Not even one regiment?" Krailov asked reluctantly, "you know, the independent division now has five regiments with nearly 7000 troops."


    "I''m sorry, chief of staff." I''m like a miser now, trying to turn down people who borrow money from me. "My troops not only defend the mamayev post and the wharf, but also the 107.5 highland and the settlements near the river. Judging from the current situation, we may not be able to get replenishment for a long time. Therefore, in the use of our forces, I should be careful and put every soldier to use. "


    My words made gulov and trekov laugh. Trekov pointed at me and said angrily and funny: "I''ve known you for so long, but I didn''t expect that you would cover your belongings like a miser and won''t let go at all. Well, I won''t make up your mind this time. Sit down! "


    When I heard trakov''s personal statement that he didn''t want my independent teacher''s idea, I saluted him excitedly and sat down again.


    After I sat down, trakov discussed with gurov and Krylov: "at present, the front of the independent division''s defense is too wide. Such a platoon arrangement will seriously dilute their fighting. Well, when rodymzev''s close guard division comes, draw two regiments to take part in the counterattack, one regiment to 107.5 highland. If he still has surplus troops, he will be asked to send a battalion or company to the headquarters of the group army to work as a guard. We should know that there are not many troops outside the headquarters. "


    When the counterattack was at noon, there were no more telegrams or information coming back, but one bad news after another. The general meaning is that the German troops in the counterattack area invested a considerable number of infantry and tanks, and under the cover of aircraft and artillery, they carried out a counter attack on our army. After the fierce fighting, almost all the results achieved in the morning disappeared, and the counter offensive forces were forced to retreat in most areas.


    After hearing the bad news, trakov clenched his teeth and asked krailov, "Comrade chief of staff, if our counterattack department is completely defeated by the German army, in your estimation, where will the enemy attack?"


    Krailov turned over the telegram in his hand, and then said in a positive tone: "report to the commander, comrade oshanina has just said that the key points of the enemy''s attack will be the mamayev post and the central railway station. Judging from the direction of the German attack at present, comrade oshanina''s judgment is accurate. "


    "To stop the enemy, we must not let their dirty boots step into the land of our city. Chief of staff, you should immediately call the commanders who hold fast to the central railway station and ask them to lay anti tank mines on the road leading to the station and arrange more snipers in the nearby buildings. "


    When trakov finished, I asked carefully¡° Comrade commander, it is no longer meaningful for me to stay here. Can I go back to mamayev post? "


    After hearing this, trikov waved to me and said without hesitation, "go ahead, Colonel oshanina, I ask you to remember that you must firmly block the enemy and never let them occupy mamayev post, otherwise, the guards who are going to cross the river will be blocked by the German army on the high ground."


    "Please rest assured that as long as I am alive, I will never hand over the mamayev post to the German." Then, after raising my hand, I plan to turn around and leave.


    But gurov stopped me at this time and told me with concern: "Comrade oshanina, it''s not very safe on the road. It''s either shelling or bombing. You should pay more attention to your own safety."


    "Thank you, comrade military Commissar. I will pay attention to it. Please rest assured." With that, I saluted him again, then turned around and left the headquarters with great strides.


    Coming out of the headquarters, busmanov, who had been staying outside, ran over and asked with concern, "Comrade division commander, where am I going next?"


    "Where else? It''s back to the mamayev post, of course. "


    "But, sir," busmanov said with some embarrassment, "don''t you hear that guns are firing in many parts of the city? The Germans must have rushed into the city. What if we go out and meet them face to face at this time? "


    I was flustered to hear that the German troops had rushed into the city, but I soon calmed down. I tried to say to him in a smooth tone: "Comrade captain, although the German army rushed into the city, I still hope to return to mamayev post smoothly when I leave the city at this time. If you stay here until more and more German soldiers rush into the city, then you just can''t go away. "


    Basmanov saw that I had made up my mind to go, and he didn''t insist any more. He rushed to the distance to wave, and a jeep, which had removed the tarpaulin all around, rushed over. As soon as the bus arrived, busmanov helped me to sit in the back row. He himself sat in the front co driver''s seat, while the other two soldiers sat beside me left and right.


    Although the distance from the headquarters of the group army to the mamayev post is not far, the speed can not be raised at all because the road is full of craters and debris. Basmanov, sitting in the front row, with his submachine gun, watched the movements on both sides of the road with vigilance, as if afraid that a few German soldiers would suddenly emerge from behind the rubble.


    Half the way, though the guns were louder and louder, no German soldier appeared. Seeing that the road was safe, I gradually relaxed my vigilance.


    At this moment, suddenly from the back of the nearby building, there was a roar of the motor, and I immediately became alert again. When I sat up straight and pulled out the pistol, busmanov, who noticed my action, asked: "what''s the matter, sir?"


    I pointed my gun at the location of the voice and said aloud, "haven''t you heard me yet? It''s the motor. There''s the motor of the tank over there. "


    Basmanov listened for a moment, with a relaxed expression on his face, and then said to me as if nothing had happened: "Comrade division, it''s OK. Just listen to the sound of the motor, you know it''s our T-34 tank."


    As soon as his voice dropped, our car came to a crossroads. The sound of the tank motor came from the road on the left. I couldn''t help looking in that direction curiously. It didn''t matter. I was in a cold sweat. Although our tanks were coming, the German soldiers were sitting on them.


    Not only I was watching, but also busmanov and the driver were watching. When they saw the German soldiers sitting on the bus, their smiles froze on their faces. Without waiting for them to respond, a tank shell flew over, flew over my roof, landed in the open space seven or eight meters away and exploded.


    At this time, even fools know that they are German, but they are riding on tanks captured from our army. I yelled at the driver, "come on, rush over." Then I yelled at basmanov: "Damn, comrade captain, this is not our tank, it''s German tank."


    Before our jeep burst into the firing corner, the German tank fired another shot. The shell fell four or five meters behind us and exploded. The flying shrapnel rattled my helmet. The soldier on my left was not as lucky as I was. At the end of the explosion, he tilted his head back and rolled off the bumpy jeep.


    The infantry on the tank jumped out of the car, carrying guns and shouting to catch up. I picked up the submachine gun that the sacrificial soldier had left in his seat and pulled the trigger at the German soldiers who came after me. Daddada, after a series of bullets were fired, a soldier rushed to the front, threw his rifle in his hand, covered his chest, hit the spot for two turns, and fell to the ground.


    When I saw that one blow worked, I wanted to fire again. I didn''t expect to pull the trigger again, but I found that the bullets had already been fired. I was so angry that I threw the gun under my feet and crouched down to avoid the bullets whizzing over my head. Basmanov and another soldier, with their guns on their seats, kept shooting at the German soldiers who were catching up.


    When we left the pursuers behind without a trace, I was relieved and said happily, "fortunately, we came out one step earlier, otherwise we would be intercepted by German tanks." At this point, I can''t help but think of the humiliating experience of being captured last time, so I stopped talking about it in time and didn''t talk about it any more.


    The soldier sitting on my right side suddenly whispered: "I think these German soldiers are drunk. If they are not drunk, it may not be so easy for us to get out of danger."


    "What do you know?" The soldier''s words were heard by basmanov, who may be afraid that I would be unhappy. He turned to reprimand the soldier and said, "it''s cold now. The Germans can only drink to keep out the cold because they can''t adapt to the climate here."


    Basmanov''s words made me think of last year''s Moscow defense war. If it was not for heaven''s sake, a sudden drop in temperature would freeze the German army out of combat effectiveness, the final outcome of that battle would still be unknown. Thinking of this, I couldn''t help asking, "Captain, do you know when it starts to snow here?"


    Basmanov frowned and thought about it, then said in an uncertain tone: "maybe it''s snowing in October, just like in Moscow. But when I was a student, I read about the Volga River. It freezes in November every year. "


    I went back to the division headquarters on the mamayev post without danger. When I entered the room, kirilov and akhromeyev, who were sitting there, stood up one after another and welcomed me. They asked with concern, "Comrade division commander, are you back? There was no danger on the way, was there? "


    Without waiting for me to speak, basmanov had already preempted and said: "report to the political commissar and chief of staff, we have just encountered a German tank on our way back from the group army headquarters, and a soldier died in the battle."


    Basmanov''s words frightened them. Kirilov grabbed my arm and asked nervously, "Comrade oshanina, are you ok? Are you not hurt?"


    "I''m fine." As I said this, I went to the table, sat down, and then asked, "what''s the situation on this side of the highland?"


    "It''s strange to say that today the Germans are neither attacking nor bombing our highlands." After akhromeyev reported the situation on the position, he asked, "Comrade division commander, what''s the situation with the counterattack today?"


    I shook my head and said reluctantly: "at the beginning of the attack, our troops had made some progress, but because of the lack of the cooperation of the air force and artillery, and because of the limited number of troops, the attack of our troops stalled near noon. The German troops, at noon, invested a considerable number of infantry and tanks, and under the cover of aircraft and artillery, carried out a counter attack on our troops. At present, they have forced our counterattack troops to retreat and further approach the city. "


    "Is the headquarters assigned any tasks by our division?" Kirilov is worthy of being a commander from the headquarters of the group army. He always considers the overall situation and says, "you know, there are not many troops in each combat unit. If our division can fight, it can at least contain the two German divisions in the front, so that they can''t dispatch troops to reinforce the friendly forces. "¡° Comrades of the military commissar once suggested to the commander that our division should be put into combat, but when the commander asked for my opinions, I directly rejected this proposal. " I was deeply afraid that kirilov would have any bad ideas because of my opposition to the transfer of troops, so I specially stressed: "as the strength of the group army to fight back is limited, the results will not be too great. Next, the enemy will launch a crazy attack on our city, and the mamayev post, wharf and 107.5 highland that we stick to will become the focus of the enemy''s attack. Therefore, we should not randomly deploy our division''s forces, so as not to create opportunities for the Germans. "¡° The teacher has a point As soon as I finished, akhromeyev agreed with me in time. Seeing that akhromeyev and I agreed, kirilov could not say anything more, so he had to ask, "did the commander assign us any tasks?" I shook my head and just wanted to say that the superior did not assign us any tasks except to stick to the mamayev post. Suddenly, I thought of the 13th division of the guards, which will arrive in the evening, and quickly added: "by the way, this evening, the 13th division of the guards of general rojmtsev will cross the river to the city. At that time, he will transfer a regiment''s troops to exchange with the third regiment that we hold fast to 107.5 highland. "¡° what? Is general rojmtsev''s army coming When kirilov heard the news, he immediately jumped up from his seat and said excitedly to me, "I have dealt with him before. I know that he is an excellent commander with rich combat experience. If I give him the position of the third regiment, I will be sure." I was about to ask kirilov more about rodim ZEV when the telephone rang on the desk. Akhromeyev picked up the receiver, listened to a few words, his face became serious, he said to the receiver: "I know." He hung up. He looked at kirilov and me and said solemnly, "division commander, political commissar, the phone call is from a regiment of forward observation station. He said that he found our army troops in a state of rout two kilometers from the front of the position. They are retreating to the mamayev post."¡° Are there any Germans behind them? " I asked nervously. Akhromeyev shook his head and replied, "no, no enemy troops were found behind them. The enemy only bombarded the fleeing troops with sporadic artillery fire." I stood up, shook my head at kirilov and said, "go, comrade political commissar, let''s go to the observation post."

 Chapter 644

    When I arrived at the observation post, I raised my telescope and looked at the open field in front of a regiment of positions. I saw that the officers and men who had fled in disorder had completely lost their organizational system. There were dozens of them, and there were dozens of them, rushing to the direction of a regiment of positions.


    I turned my eyes to the back of the friendly troops. I didn''t see any enemy troops. Only sporadic artillery fire was bombarding the fleeing troops. A small number of shells fell on empty positions and exploded, causing no casualties to the troops; But more shells fell in the crowd and exploded, blowing up the soldiers who were running desperately. Bursts of smoke blown by the river wind, filled with the flying dust and strong smell of blood.


    It is not that our soldiers are not brave, nor that our grassroots commanders are not excellent. It is because our weapons are not as strong as the enemy''s. under the attack of the enemy''s powerful firepower, our troops only equipped with light weapons can not bear to withdraw from the battle.


    I couldn''t bear to watch any more. I quickly walked to the phone, picked up the phone and called ahlomeyev. I sternly ordered him: "Comrade chief of staff, the friendly forces that have withdrawn from the battle are retreating to the position of the first regiment. You immediately contact shejerikov and ask them to send a company to meet the friendly forces. "


    As soon as he put down the phone, kirilov suddenly called out to me, "o''shanina, come and have a look. It seems that something has happened. There seems to be a riot behind the retreating troops."


    "Riot?" When I heard kirilov say this, I was full of doubts: are friendly forces still fighting at this critical moment? He quickly went to the observation port, raised his telescope and looked into the distance to see what was going on?


    From the telescope, I saw that there was chaos in the last team. Some people were fighting close to each other, and others were shooting with guns. When I take a closer look, I can see what happened. The people who fought with our soldiers were all wearing German uniforms and should have been captured by our army. It seems that they want to take advantage of the opportunity to escape, the result and custody of their soldiers had a conflict.


    I moved my telescope away from my eyes, turned to kirilov and said, "Comrade political commissar, it seems that the German soldiers who were captured by our army tried to escape and clashed with the soldiers who were guarding them."


    Kirilov snorted and said in a scornful tone, "hum, if you want to run away, there is no such light thing. Now that they have been captured by our army, we must have the consciousness to be prisoners. Otherwise, even if we kill them all, we can''t let them escape and take up arms to fight with us. "


    After that, he also went to the telephone and picked up the phone to call ahlomeyev: "Comrade chief of staff, I just saw that the prisoners captured by the friendly forces were taking advantage of the riot and attempted to escape. So you have to order lieutenant colonel chejerikov to send another company to reinforce the officers and men who are in charge of the prisoners. Never let one prisoner escape. "


    The order we gave was soon conveyed to sjerykov, who saw the officers and men rushing out from the hillside position into the open. Kirilov suddenly said, "Comrade oshanina, I find that you seldom contact a regiment recently."


    When I heard him say this, I was stunned for a moment, then quickly recovered and replied with a smile: "in the past, I was the only one in charge of the independent division, so I had to do everything. I had more contact with the commanders of various regiments. Now that you and akhromeyev, the chief of staff, share a lot of work for me, naturally I have much less contact with the troops below. Besides, the combat effectiveness of the first regiment was originally the strongest in the whole division, and now it is equipped with a capable political commissar like oberstein, so we need not worry about the affairs of the first regiment. "


    After the troops of the first regiment went down the mountain, they immediately divided into two groups. One group took the friendly troops through the highlands and entered the city; On the other hand, he rushed over to help the soldiers who were in custody and eliminate the prisoners of the riot.


    The fleeing troops stopped one after another after crossing the position of the regiment to the south slope, and several commanders with big eaves hats began to gather up the troops. It seems that they want to gather as many soldiers as possible and then withdraw to the city.


    The company in charge of the extermination of the rioting prisoners of war is obviously not going well. After fighting with our soldiers, the German soldiers seemed to have the upper hand. After killing our soldiers, they got a lot of weapons from them. Seeing the troops rushing towards them in the face of gunfire, they quickly fell down in the crater and fired on the favorable terrain.


    The soldiers of the first regiment all have rich fighting experience. When the soldiers who rush to the front are knocked down by random guns, the rest jump into the nearby crater and shoot back. After a brief period of confusion, the soldiers, under the cover of two light machine guns, leaped forward with the help of craters, and quickly pushed towards the German army. However, when the distance between the two sides was less than 20 meters, countless grenades flew out of the crater where our soldiers were hiding. After drawing a beautiful arc in the air, they fell into the crater where the enemy was hiding and exploded. Under the cover of the smoke, our soldiers jumped out of the crater and pounced on the stubborn enemy.


    The battle ended in about ten minutes. Most of the prisoners of war were killed. The survivors quickly raised their hands and stood honestly in the crater waiting for our soldiers to catch them. As the enemy''s shelling was still going on, in order to ensure safety, the soldiers who had captured the prisoners were all two men, one on each side, dragging the prisoners to the high ground.


    When there were no more running figures in the open field, I thought all the troops that should be withdrawn had withdrawn. Just as I was about to leave, kirilov suddenly said, "Comrade oshanina, come and see, it seems that there are still our people on the battlefield. Yes, it''s our people. It''s our health workers who are rescuing the wounded. "


    I picked up the telescope again and looked at the open field. Sure enough, I saw some health workers with Red Cross sleeves and medicine boxes bending over in the battlefield.


    Among these health workers, is there shimakova? I think so, involuntarily moved the telescope, in the busy crowd, looking for her trace.


    Close to the position, no; There was no place a little further from the position. I thought shmakova didn''t take part in the treatment. I was relieved and said: don''t let the female health workers take risks in such a dangerous situation.


    When I was about to take the telescope out of front of my eyes, I inadvertently looked at the area in the distance where the battle had just been carried out. Suddenly, I was in a cold sweat. I saw shmakova, who had thought he was still in the safe rescue center, was wearing a steel helmet, a military raincoat, and crouching beside a seriously wounded man under the fire of the enemy, dressing him up. A shell landed not far away and exploded. Almost at the same time, shmakova threw the gauze in her hand and threw it directly on the wounded to protect them from being injured by shrapnel.


    However, there was no danger at all. Shmakova quickly got up from the wounded and continued to bandage him. After the bandage was finished, shmakova carried the wounded on his back and walked towards the position. After walking about 70 or 80 meters, she met two other male health workers. After giving the wounded to them, she turned around and ran to the place with the most intensive artillery fire.


    Shimakova''s performance made me thrilled. I raised my hand and patted kirilov standing next to him. At the same time, I pointed to the running shimakova and said to him excitedly: "Comrade political commissar, you see, our female health workers are rushing towards the enemy''s gunfire to rescue the wounded who fall on the battlefield."


    This time, when shmakova ran towards a newly found wounded, another shell fell on her side and exploded, her body fell to the ground. When he saw this scene, kirilov could not help exclaiming in a low voice. But I held my breath and focused on shmakova lying on the ground, fearing that she would be hit by shrapnel and would never be able to get up again.


    However, my worry seemed to be unnecessary. Soon after, shmakova raised her body, waved her head vigorously, shook off the dust on her body and hat, and ran to the wounded quickly. As the wounded was near the location, there were shells falling and exploding from time to time, so shmakova could no longer squat to bandage the wounded as she had just done, so she and the wounded lay side by side and began to bandage each other with difficulty.


    Seeing this scene, kirilov was moved and said, "this woman is really amazing. Do you know her name? I will record her merits, report her deeds to the headquarters of the group army, and call on all officers and men to learn from her! "


    "Her name is Tamara shmakova." When I spoke to kirilov, my eyes were always on shmakova. From my observation, the wounded is not light in condition, but also big. I don''t know if shmakova can drag him to the rear?


    My worry soon became a reality. After dressing up the wounded, she tried to carry the wounded on her back as she had just done. As a result, she tried several times and was unable to carry the wounded on her back. When I was at a loss, she took off her raincoat and put it on the ground, then moved the wounded up. Then she grabbed the family of the raincoat with both hands and dragged the wounded back.


    When I saw the sporadic shells exploding around her, my heart went up to my throat. If there was a shell with no eyes that fell on her side and exploded, she would have no hope of survival.


    "Hell, where are all the male health workers? How can only one lesbian do such a dangerous thing?" When kirilov saw this situation, he began to nag anxiously: "Comrade teacher, we should think of some way to take this female health worker down. We can''t watch her die in vain."


    "Comrade political commissar, please keep calm." Although I was worried to see the shells exploding around shmakova, after hearing kirilov''s words, I pretended to be calm and said without looking back: "I believe the enemy''s shells can''t hit her."


    At this moment, basmanov''s voice of calling for a report came from the door: "report to the division commander, political commissar and commander of the friendly army. They have come to visit you."


    I put down my telescope and turned to see two commanders of similar height standing behind busmanov at the door. From their badges, I can see that one is a colonel and the other is a political commissar at the battalion level.


    Before I could figure out whether I should take the initiative to greet them, kirilov had already passed me and said hello to them directly and familiarly: "Hello, Colonel baklanov and commissar korogosky. I''m glad to see that you led the troops to withdraw safely." Then he reached out to shake hands with them one by one.


    After shaking hands, he turned to me and explained, "Comrade oshanina, let''s get to know him. This is Comrade baklanov, division commander of the 299th infantry division. This is Comrade korogosky, political commissar of the battalion."


    I quickly came forward to shake hands with the two people, and politely said: "Hello! Welcome to our company. You can lead your troops to rest for a few hours at mamayev post and then go back to the city. "


    When I said that, the bakranov blushed and said excitedly, "no, comrade Colonel, we don''t need to rest. As soon as the scattered troops are gathered up, I will lead them back to the city."


    As soon as baklanov''s words were finished, I immediately understood that he had misunderstood. He thought I was satirizing him, so he was so excited. I quickly explained to him, "Colonel baklanov, you may not know that the German troops have rushed into the city from several directions and are engaged in fierce fighting with our troops. Since you rush back to the city without rest and wait for the exhausted officers and men to regain their physical strength, I don''t know what will happen if you encounter the enemy''s troops. "


    As soon as kirilov had finished waiting for me, he quickly took baklanov''s hand and said with a kind face: "Comrade oshanina is right. Your soldiers are tired and hungry after so long fighting and no food. Once they encounter the enemy when they enter the city, it is impossible to win. Why don''t you rest for a few hours? "


    After listening to kirilov''s words, baklanov could not help hesitating. When he was hesitating, korogosky, the political commissar beside him, took the initiative to make a statement: "since it''s the kindness of Comrade kirilov and Colonel oshanina, comrade division commander, we''d better not refuse, just do as they say." Seeing that his political commissar said so, baklanov was no longer stubborn and nodded his head as a promise.


    Kirilov nodded with satisfaction, and then told basmanov, who was still standing by the door, "Comrade captain, you will guide them to take him and his troops to the settlement. At the same time, tell Col. Gaidar to provide our friendly forces with the necessary food and enough water for them to have a good rest in our defense area for a few hours. "


    After basmanov agreed, he gestured to the two commanders of the friendly army and said politely, "please, comrades, I''ll take you and your troops to the nearby residential areas for rest."


    Bakranov nodded at us, turned and followed basmanov out, while political commissar korogosky extended his hand, shook hands with kirilov and me again and expressed his thanks, then turned to chase his teacher.


    After a few people left, I quickly rushed to the observation port, raised my telescope and looked at the battlefield to see if shmakova had successfully dragged the wounded back. I searched everywhere for a long time before I saw the figure of shmakova among the several health workers behind a stretcher, and my heart hanging in my throat was implemented.


    After landing in the evening, I turned more attention to the Volga River, because according to the prior agreement, the 13th division of general rojmtsev''s guards will start to cross the river on a large scale.


    Before the fleet appeared in my field of vision, I even worried about whether the 13th division of the guards would be like the air force that commander yelomienko promised to support the operation, which was a nonexistent picture pie.


    As soon as I worried, kirilov, who was standing next to me, cried out excitedly: "Comrade oshanina, look at the fleet, the fleet carrying soldiers. Thank goodness, the reinforcements from the headquarters have finally arrived. "


    At the beginning, the fleet was just a group of small black spots. As it approached, the outline of the ship gradually became clear. The fleet is made up of more than 20 steamboats. Perhaps it is to speed up the crossing of the river. The places where people can stand on the boats are full of commanders and fighters. From a distance, you can only see pieces of helmets. The scene is really spectacular.


    Kirilov was excitedly counting the number of ships and calculating the number of people in the division, but I was secretly worried that if there were so many people on each ship, if they were hit by one shell or bomb from the enemy, they might cause dozens or even hundreds of casualties.


    When I was worrying, the roar of aircraft motors came from the sky. I looked up and saw two enemy planes skimming over our highlands and rushing towards the river crossing fleet. At the same time, the shelling which had just stopped began again. This time, their shelling target was not the open area in front of the mamayev post, but the Volga River. The shells that fell into the river and exploded suddenly set off one water column after another.


    Seeing that the troops across the river were shelled and bombed by the enemy, kirilov, who had always been calm, was in a panic. He cried out, "hell, where''s our air force? Where''s our air force? Can we just watch a division''s troops being sent to the bottom of the Volga River by the enemy''s guns and planes while crossing the river? "


    Seeing kirilov''s gaffe again, I can only sigh helplessly, knowing that the river crossing troops will suffer heavy casualties, but there is nothing we can do about it. We can only pray that they will have a good luck and less loss in the process of crossing the river.


    When the two enemy planes dived into the fleet, although the infantry on board could only stare at the enemy planes in the sky, the sailors were trying to find a way to stop the enemy planes from bombing the fleet. At the same time, the chimneys of almost all the ships emitted thick smoke to block the view of the enemy planes; At the same time, the ship''s anti-aircraft machine guns also fired fiercely into the air.


    Despite the smoke from chimneys and the firing of anti-aircraft machine guns, the enemy planes still swooped down from the air and fired at the troop carriers. A bomb dropped by an airplane hit a steamship. In the huge fire, the fragments of the ship and the bodies of the soldiers could be seen clearly. They were thrown into the air and then plopped into the water. Although the bomb of the other plane was thrown off the right side of the boat, when a high water column was aroused by the side of the boat, several soldiers tilted and plummeted into the water. The plane hit the target and the shell hit our ship as well. The bow of a steamship will hit, the tail of the steamship will rise, the ship will sink slowly, the soldiers have to dive to escape. When I saw one steamboat after another hit by bullets and the casualties of the troops were increasing, I was so angry that I hit the wall with a blow. However, as the fleet got closer and closer to the wharf, the anti-aircraft guns near the wharf also opened fire, driving the two enemy planes away from the Volga River, covering the burning ships to the shore.

 Chapter 645

    One of the enemy planes was hit by the anti-aircraft fire on the shore and flew to the distance with a long smoke belt. The rest of the enemy planes did not dare to fight. After a while of random shooting, they also flapped north and left the battlefield. The fleet now approached the shore and entered the blind area of enemy artillery fire. The enemy artillery stopped their useless shelling.


    Due to the shelter of the hills, we can''t see the specific situation on the wharf in the observation station. We can only see the fire and smoke rising from the river. This is the burning of the military steamer. I don''t know that in the just crossing operation, Captain Jinwei followed basmanov to kirilov, raised his hand to salute him, and politely said: "Hello, comrade political commissar of the regiment. I''d like to introduce myself. I''m Colonel Yelin, head of the 39th regiment of the 13th division of the guards. I''ve been ordered to take over the defense of 107.5 highland in the defense area of the independent division. "


    After listening to his introduction, kirilov reached out to hold each other''s hands, shook them vigorously, and said excitedly, "Hello, Colonel Yelin! I''m kirilov, political commissar of the independent division. Welcome. You''ve just crossed the river, and the commanders and fighters are tired. You''d better have a rest first, and then go to 107.5 highland to receive the defense. "


    I also quickly walked to the two men''s side, took the initiative to extend my hand to Colonel Yelin, and said in a friendly way: "Hello, comrade Yelin. I''m the commander of the independent division, Colonel oshanina. Welcome to our defense area with you and your troops. "


    Ye Lin obviously didn''t expect that the teacher of the independent division was actually a woman. After a moment of stupefaction, he took my hand and said politely, "Hello, comrade o''shanina, I didn''t expect that the teacher of the independent division was a woman."


    "It''s not a good idea, Colonel Yelin. What about women? Is it possible to be a division commander instead of commanding troops? " Kirilov said to Yelin with a straight face: "you know, Colonel oshanina is an excellent commander with outstanding military achievements. Not only the commanders of the front army and the group army are familiar with her, but also the Supreme Commander himself thinks highly of her."


    Kirilov''s praise to me made Yelin feel ashamed. He murmured, "I''m sorry, comrade oshanina. I''m not... Not..."


    In order to prevent his embarrassment, I promptly changed the topic: "Comrade Colonel, have all your guards crossed the river?"


    Ye Lin shook his head and said, "Comrade oshanina, I''m disappointed that only one battalion of the 34th, 42nd and 39th regiments of the guards has crossed the river. The other two battalions, the guard company and the artillery regiment of our regiment are still on the East Bank of the Volga River. Maybe they can all cross over tonight. "


    "Colonel Yelin, please come here. I''ll tell you something about highland 107.5." Akhromeyev and so on, when we had finished talking, he went to Yelin and asked him to come to the table to understand the defensive area he was about to take over through the map.


    After we and Yelin gathered around the table, akhromeyev began to introduce the situation: "Comrade Colonel, highland 107.5 is located two kilometers away from the west side of mamayev post. Its characteristics are that the north slope is gentle, easy to attack and difficult to defend, while the south slope is steep, easy to defend and difficult to attack. That is to say, once the highland is lost, we will pay a heavy price to launch a counterattack from the south slope. "


    After hearing this, Ye Lin asked, "what''s behind the highland?"


    "About one kilometer away from the highland is the Soviet street. The nearby residential buildings are the family dormitories of the state consumer cooperative association. There is also a flour mill nearby. In the center of the mill is a tall chimney on which observation posts can be set to monitor the movements of the enemy within a few kilometers."


    I heard for the first time that there is a flour mill behind 107.5 highland, and there is a tall chimney in the flour mill. Hearing this, I can''t help but scold Godunov in my heart. Since an observation post is set up on the chimney, we can monitor the enemy''s situation within a few kilometers around, why are you still attacked by the German army, resulting in the loss of positions?


    After akhromeyev''s introduction, I habitually asked, "Colonel Yelin, if you have any difficulties, just mention them. As long as they are within our ability, we will solve them for you."


    I didn''t expect Ye Lin to listen to our words, and a long face, then hesitated: "Comrade O Natsu Chaanning Aa, Kirilov political commissar, I really have a difficult matter, I want to ask you to help!"


    Before I had time to ask the other party what difficulties they had, kirilov had already taken the lead in saying, "Comrade Ye Lin, we are all friendly forces. If you have any difficulties, please mention them. We will try our best to solve them for you."


    Seeing that kirilov and I both said that we wanted to help ourselves solve the problem, Ye Lin boldly said, "well, although our guard division is fully equipped with more than 10000 soldiers, it is poorly equipped with weapons and ammunition. There are more than 1000 soldiers in the division, even without weapons. The battalion I brought with me has 500 people, of whom 200 are unarmed. I just want to ask you to provide weapons for our department. "


    When I heard his request, I was dumbfounded. We should know that the current equipment of the independent division is also half Soviet style weapons, half German, Italian, Romanian and Hungarian equipment. If the weapons are given to the 39th regiment, many of our soldiers will have to charge the enemy barehanded in the next battle. When I think of charging the enemy with my bare hands, I suddenly think of the later movie soldiers in the city, which is related to the battle of Stalingrad. When Vasili, the famous sniper, first entered the battlefield, he grabbed five bullets in his hand, even without a gun, and then followed the big army to attack the enemy. If he had not been lucky, he would have been killed either by German bullets or by machine gun bullets of the overseers. There are thousands of unarmed soldiers in the guard division. Is Vasili in this unit?


    Thinking of this, I can''t help asking Colonel Yelin if there is a Siberian Hunter Vasili in his army. But my mouth opened a few, still can''t say a word. You know, Vasili I know is just a hero portrayed in the film. Whether there is such a person is still unknown. If trade rashly asked, it would certainly arouse everyone''s suspicion, so I finally chose silence.


    But my expression was in Yelin''s eyes. He thought I was going to say something. He looked at me quickly and asked politely with a smile, "Colonel o''shanina, do you have anything to say?"


    He asked, immediately put me in an awkward position. Seeing that all the people turned their eyes on me, I had to smile and say in disguise, "I want to ask Colonel Yelin if two hundred rifles are enough?"


    Hearing what I said, Ye Lin nodded busily and said, "enough, enough, 200 rifles are enough!"


    "Well, I''ll ask the third regiment to keep 200 rifles for you and a walkie talkie for you during the change of guard, so as to keep in touch."


    When I promised to give 200 rifles to the 39th regiment, akhromeyev''s face showed a surprised expression. He moved his lips to me. Although he didn''t make a sound, I understood what he said: "Sir, the third regiment has no extra weapons. Where can I find 200 rifles for them?"


    I deliberately pretended not to see ahlomeyev''s expression, turned to look at kirilov, but saw him laughing and talking with Yelin, as if I promised to give the 39th regiment weapons, and he also had a light on his face.


    Under such circumstances, I was unable to ride a tiger, so I had to harden my head and order akhromeyev: "Comrade chief of staff, call captain Godunov of the third regiment, and ask him to keep 200 rifles for the comrades of the 39th regiment during the change of guard, and if possible, two more machine guns."


    At the same time, he said gratefully, "thank you, Colonel oshanina. With these weapons, I believe our troops will be more confident to hold the position."


    When I shook hands with him, I ordered akhromeyev to say, "chief of staff, and call lieutenant mihayev to ask him to come to the division headquarters."


    When I let go of Yelin''s hand, I pointed to the place nearby and said to him with some worry: "Comrade Yelin, the German army has been very cautious in the offensive these two days because of the losses of our division recently. Once they find that the defenders of 107.5 highland have changed, they may adopt the old way of playing, that is, strong attack in the middle and detour on both wings. Let us be responsible for the security of your right wing. We have decided not to watch the enemy pass under our eyes and go around behind you. In addition, if we want to keep the high ground, we need to strengthen our fortifications. I have asked the company commander of the division''s engineering company to come over and let him explain to you how to build solid fortifications. "


    Ye Lin nodded thoughtfully and said, "when I came here, I saw the officers and men of the independent division working on the fortifications all the way. According to my estimation, the reason why the German army has repeatedly failed in front of your positions is that you have strong fortifications. "


    Mikhail yev soon arrived at the headquarters. I called him to Yelin. After introducing the two men, I told Mikhail yev: "Comrade lieutenant, Colonel Yelin''s troops will soon come to the 107.5 highland for defense. You can give him a brief introduction of our division''s experience in building fortifications."


    When mihayev began to introduce Yelin''s experience in building fortifications, I inadvertently saw razumeyeva receiving a telegram. I guessed that it might be a telegram from the headquarters of the group army, so I walked towards her. As I stood beside her waiting for the telegram, Mikhail''s voice kept coming into my ears The entrance to the fortification should not be too large. It is better to allow only one person to enter and exit. Moreover, the entrance to the fortification should be connected with a corridor. Every two or three meters in the corridor, there is a thick curtain stained with water, which can effectively absorb and prevent the explosion shock wave of shells or bombs. So as not to explode shock wave and shrapnel and kill our soldiers from the entrance.... "


    Before I finished listening to Mikhail, razumeyeva had already raised her head and handed me a telegram. When I took it over, it turned out that it was a new order issued by the headquarters of the group army: "from now on, all troops in the section from the mamayev post, the railway ring line to the zarica river will be under the command of general rojmtsev, commander of the 13th division of the guards. Trekov


    When I saw the telegram, I was stunned. Originally, I thought that after the 13th division of the guards came, even if they wanted to send troops to take over the defense of 107.5 highland, the independent division and them would be independent and not interfere with each other. Unexpectedly, trakov suddenly issued such an order that all the combat forces in the north of our city, including the independent division, would be under the command of rojmtsev.


    I stood beside the telephone for a long time in a daze, so that kirilov called me a few times, I did not hear. Or sitting next to razumeyeva gently pushed me a few times, I heard her whisper to remind me: "teacher, political commissar comrades are calling you!"


    With a quick cough and a smile on my face, I went over to kirilov and them. At the same time, I held up the telegram in my hand and said in a loud voice, "the telegram just sent from the headquarters officially informs us that from now on, our independent division will be under the command of general rodymtsev!"


    Kirilov gave a serious, um, look after the telegram. He took it from me and looked down. The more he looked at it, the tighter his brow was. When Yelin heard the news, he was very happy and said excitedly, "it''s really great. Since it''s all under the command of Mr. rojmtsev, we can fight side by side in the future."¡° Yes, yes, comrade Colonel, you said it very well I said with a smile: "I hope that under the leadership of the general, we will cooperate sincerely and defeat the German aggressors as soon as possible."

 Chapter 646

    After basmanov and mihayev led captain Yelin to leave the headquarters, kirilov''s face, which was full of laughter, sank down. He threw the telegraph paper he had been holding for a long time on the table and said angrily, "what''s the matter? Why did Comrade commander take the initiative to take over all the troops in the north of the city without consulting us, All assigned to the guard division? As I know, comrade rojmzev is a commander with rich combat experience. But as soon as he arrived in Stalingrad, he was not familiar with everything, so he assigned so many troops to him for command. Is this really appropriate? "


    When kirilov complained, akhromeyev took the telegram and read it over and over again. Although I was very moved to see that both of them were fighting against injustice for me, there were still many signalmen in the headquarters. I was deeply afraid that the spread of the incident would leave a bad impression on the minds of the superiors and affect their future. So I had to pretend to say with a high attitude: "the political commissar, chief of staff, orders from the superiors are not allowed to be discussed. Since they are orders from the commander himself, Let''s do it. "


    "But teacher..." akhromeyev wanted to cry twice for me, but I stopped him in time, because I knew that no matter how we complained, the orders of the superior would not change. Besides, I was only accepted by Roy m - M - M - V, and I did not lift my post. I has the final say in the independent division.


    After they were silent, I quickly assigned tasks to them: "Comrade political commissar, you should contact lieutenant colonel xiejerikov immediately, and let a regiment repair positions and fortifications at night to cope with the possible battle after dawn; Chief of staff, you contact the third regiment and ask them to withdraw from their positions and quickly enter the positions of the second regiment. "


    As soon as I finished, akhromeyev was stunned. Then he suggested to me, "Comrade division commander, although there are many tunnels and hiding caves in the second regiment, it''s too crowded to put thousands of people in the third regiment. I think it''s better to transfer the third regiment back to its original residential area? "


    Kirilov''s eyebrows rose when he heard our conversation, but he didn''t speak. He just looked at me and waited for me to say the answer.


    I pointed to the 107.5 highland on the map and said to them, "political commissar and chief of staff, I believe you know as well as I do what''s going on in this highland. Can a regiment under Colonel Yelin''s command, which is not fully equipped, block the German attack in turn? "


    After listening to my words, they looked at each other and shook their heads.


    I continued: "once highland 107.5 is lost, the enemy will be able to rush into the city from here and join their friends. The purpose of placing the troops withdrawn from the third regiment in the second regiment''s defense area is just in case. When I find that Colonel Yelin''s troops can''t resist, I will timely transfer the third regiment to help them keep the high ground. "


    While we were talking, a soldier from the guard camp suddenly came in through the door and reported to us: "the report division commander, political commissar and deputy commander of the front army are here. Now they are waiting outside the cave."


    "Here comes general Golikov?" While I was still wondering who the deputy commander of the front army was, kirilov had already got up first and walked quickly to the door. After just a few steps, he seemed to think that he should go out to meet the commander at the higher level, which should be led by the military commander of the division. He stopped, turned around and said to me with a smile, "Comrade o''xianingna, deputy commander of the front army, now we are outside the cave. Let''s go out to meet him."


    After we welcomed Golikov into the headquarters, he went to the table and sat down. He took off his big cornice hat and threw it on the table, revealing his big bald head. Then he said to us, "Comrade kirilov, comrade oshanina, I''m going to the East Bank of the Volga River. Before I leave, I''ll see you again."


    "To the east bank, why?" Kirilov and Golikov are familiar with each other, so their questions are more casual.


    "Well, comrade kirilov." General Golikov turned to kirilov and said, "originally, according to the order of the front army, I stayed in the city to be in charge of the front army. When I shook hands with rodimzev, I breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, I found my mistake in time, otherwise I would make a joke. In fact, I am also misled by later movies. In "the bloody battle of Stalingrad", rojmzev is a short man with a round face, but the real rojmzev is a tall man with a thin face and several medals hanging on his left chest.


    After everyone was seated, rodimzev said frankly, "Colonel oshanina, political commissar kirilov and the captain, I think you have all received the telegram from the headquarters of the group army?" Seeing that the three of us nodded at the beginning, they continued to say, "from now on, all the troops in the north of the city will be assigned to me for command. Don''t you have any comments? "


    The three of us answered with one voice: "no, we obey the orders of our superiors!"


    "Well, since everyone has no opinion, I will send the first order after taking office. After daybreak tomorrow, the independent division, with the strength of two regiments, will attack the front 44th German division. Before noon, it must break through the front line of the German army. Can you do it? "


    This time, none of the three of us spoke, but looked at each other and saw that each other''s faces were sad. Seeing akhromeyev open his mouth to speak, I quickly gave him a look to shut him up. Then I stood up, looked at rojmtsev and said, "I''m sorry, Comrade General. As the commander of the independent division, I can''t carry out your order."¡° What Rojimzev did not expect that I would choose to disobey, his face suddenly appeared angry. After looking at me for a moment, he smashed his fist on the table and said angrily, "Colonel o''shanina, do you want to fight in the battlefield?" I didn''t pay attention to him, but asked: "Comrade General, let our troops launch an attack on the well defended German position without the cover of artillery and the support of aircraft, that is to die! As the head of a division, I have no right to let my soldiers die in vain. " I said these words with a sense of anger. Rodymzev was so angry that he shivered all over. He pointed at me and didn''t want to say anything for a long time. At last, he stamped his foot in anger and unconsciously felt for the holster on his waist¡° Please wait a moment, comrade teacher. " Vavilov, his political commissar, saw that the situation was not good, so he quickly pressed his hand and whispered to him: "since the superior appointed captain oshanina as the division commander of the independent division, she would not be a greedy person. Since she said so, she must have her reasons." After that, Vavilov looked up at me and said to me, "Colonel oshanina, you can tell Comrade General what you think." When political commissar Vavilov gave me a step, I followed him and said, "you are right, comrade political commissar. The reason why I don''t want to send troops to attack is that the independent division is not only poorly equipped, but also has insufficient training for its soldiers. If they are bombarded or attacked by the enemy in the process of attack, the troops will be easily defeated. But if they were allowed to resist the German attack with strong fortifications, they would be able to hold back the enemy who rushed to the city like a sluice gate. " As soon as I finished, kirilov also stood up and said good things for me: "yes, general rodimzev, in the battle last month, Colonel oshanina commanded the newly formed independent division, fought tenaciously with the enemy, achieved a series of results, almost completely annihilated the 29th German motorized infantry brigade, and captured the commander of the brigade, general Laize. I believe she will also achieve greater success in mamayev post. " If Vavilov has just given me a step, kirilov''s speech is a step for rodimzev to step down. Rodymtsev took back his hand on the holster, supported the table with both hands, leaned down to look at the place on the table, and asked in a flat tone, "what''s your plan for the next step, Colonel oshanina?" I quickly pointed at the map with my hand and said to rojimzev, "Comrade General, my plan is very simple. The first and second regiments of the independent division held fast to the mamayev post to ensure the safety of the Volga River Wharf and ensure that the transport line of the city would not be cut off by the German army. At the same time, the third regiment, which had just withdrawn from highland 107.5, was deployed on the south slope of our highland. As a reserve, it was ready to support the 39th regiment of the guards who had been attacked by the German army. The fourth and fifth regiments stationed in the residential areas near the edge of the city were responsible for covering the rear of our division, and at the same time, when necessary, they took the initiative to destroy the German troops who rushed into the city. " Rodimzev''s face softened a lot when he heard my report. "I''m sorry, Colonel oshanina. I just had a bad attitude. I apologize to you. But if you have a good conscience, your arrangement is very reasonable indeed. In that case, I will cancel the wrong order just issued. As for the defense of mamayev post, I''ll leave it all to you. "¡° Please rest assured, as long as I am alive, no one in the independent division will give up mamayev post and retreat to the city. "

 Chapter 647

    After receiving my assurance, rodimzev discussed with us the defense plan for the northern part of the city for a while, and then left with political commissar Vavilov.


    Seeing that there were only a few of us left in the room, kirilov could not help complaining about me and said, "Comrade oshanina, how can you be so reckless and directly deny general rojimtev''s order. If political commissar Vavilov hadn''t stopped him just now, he might have dared to pull out his gun and fire at you. "


    Although I didn''t feel anything when I contradicted rodimzev at that time, I felt a little bit scared at the moment. Especially when I heard kirilov say that, I was in a cold sweat. I didn''t say anything, just sat at the table in a daze, thinking about how to effectively resist the German attack.


    "It seems impractical to rely on the existing fortifications alone to block the increasingly fierce German attack. German artillery and bombing every day, will stick to a regiment on the high ground caused no small loss. When shejerikov''s regiment went to the front, it was a 2000 strong regiment full of soldiers, but now there are only more than 700 people left, including the wounded. If we continue to fight like this for three to five days at most, the formation of the first regiment will not exist. There are only 1400 people in the second regiment. If they are allowed to take over the defense of the first regiment, they can only hold on for about a week. When the first and second regiments are finished, three or four regiments will be transferred up? " Thinking of this, I shook my head hard, trying to get the idea out of my mind. At present, it has just entered September, and there are still as long as two months to go before the big counterattack. In the absence of any additional circumstances, and the enemy to fight consumption, is a fool to do things.


    I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn''t even notice the teapot that akhromeyev handed me. Akhromeyev put the teapot on the table, shook his hand in front of me a few times, and at the same time, he called out loudly: "Sir, comrade sir, can you hear me?"


    I then recovered from my meditation, looked at him blankly and asked, "what''s the matter, chief of staff?"


    "Have a cup of tea!" Ahlomeyev pointed in front of me.


    I let out a sound, then reached for the teapot, but accidentally touched it. The tea in it immediately fell on the table and made the map wet. As akhromeyev was busy cleaning up the tea on the table, I suddenly had an idea and asked kirilov standing beside me: "Comrade political commissar, are you familiar with Stalingrad?"


    Kirilov listened to my question, shrugged his shoulders and said to me with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, I don''t know if you read a new set of encyclopedias of the Soviet Union when you were reading, one of which is called on the map of the motherland?"


    I had never heard of the book he said, so I shook my head honestly and said with some embarrassment, "sorry, comrade political commissar, I haven''t read it." In order to show that he is not an ignorant person, he added, "maybe the book you mentioned can only be read in college. And I, if you know my resume, should know that after I finished the tenth grade, I married a frontier guard. "


    Instead of discussing my resume with me, kirilov said, "I read this book in person, so I''ve been to many places with the people who wrote it, including Stalingrad." At this point, his face showed a proud look, "you say I am familiar with the city."


    When I learned that kirilov had participated in the compilation of a book, I immediately felt great respect for him. You know, I admire the most talented and educated person. I didn''t expect that the political commissar around me was such a person. After a few words of flattery, I suddenly turned the topic to what I was interested in: "Comrade political commissar, this is really wonderful. Let me ask you, if the Volga breaks its bank, will it submerge Stalingrad? "


    Kirilov was stunned when he heard this, then his face changed greatly. In a moment, his body trembled violently like an electric shock. He pointed at me and said angrily after shaking for half a day: "Comrade oshanina, how can you make such an absurd assumption? Do you think the river will submerge the city named after the Supreme Commander himself? "


    His words embarrassed me a little, but in order to find out what I wanted to know, I said politely, "I''m just asking. I want to get an accurate answer from you."


    Kirilov said to me sternly, "Comrade oshanina, I tell you that no matter now or in the future, no matter how the flood is, the heroic city behind us will never be submerged."


    Although he spoke to me in a very impolite tone, I got the answer I wanted indirectly. So I adjusted the topic in time: "Comrade political commissar, after daybreak tomorrow, let''s go to the position of the first regiment and think about how to strengthen the defense of the Highlands in order to fight against the crazy attack of the enemy."


    Kirilov couldn''t keep up with my jumping thinking. Seeing that I was just asking if Stalingrad would be submerged if the Volga river burst its dyke, he asked him to accompany me to inspect the position tomorrow. He couldn''t help looking at me blankly. After a brief silence, however, he nodded in agreement.


    However, after he agreed, he looked around, then lowered his voice and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, as a political commissar, I think it''s necessary to remind you that no matter when and where the water flooded Stalingrad, you can''t mention it again, or you will be killed."


    Although his words were very impolite, I understood that his blame was also out of love for me, so I had to blush and nod to show that I knew.


    In the early hours of the morning, we were awakened by the heavy shelling and bombing from outside.


    Akhromeyev quickly grabbed the phone, called the second regiment directly, and asked Pugachev in a loud voice: "second commander, what''s going on outside?"


    Pugachev''s confused voice came from the microphone: "report to chief of staff, according to the observation post on the top of the hillside, about a regiment of German infantry, under the cover of 4 or 50 tanks, launched an attack from razguliyevka area. Judging from the direction of their assault, they want to pass through the aviagorodoc area and break into the city. At present, the enemy is shelling and bombing highland 107.5. "


    After hearing this, ahlomeyev did not hang up immediately, but covered the phone with his hand, looked at me with his eyes, waiting for my instructions.


    "Ask Pugachev what kind of action the enemy has taken on this side of mamayev post?" After I told akhromeyev, I turned to ask kirilov to contact the regiment. Unexpectedly, he had understood my intention and went to razumeyeva, who was sitting by the wall, to understand the situation in front of the regiment through the telephone.


    After akhromeyev repeated what I said to Pugachev, Pugachev quickly replied, "report to the chief of staff, the positions of our regiment and regiment 1 are very calm, neither have they been shelled or bombed by the enemy, nor have they found enemy offensive troops in the open ground."


    When akhromeyev put down the phone, kirilov also came back from the phone and reported to me, "Comrade oshanina, I asked Comrade xiejerikov about the situation he reported. As Comrade Pugachev said, he was neither shelled nor found the enemy''s offensive troops in their vision."


    Hearing the same report, I couldn''t help feeling upset. My eyes were fixed on the position of 107.5 highland. I was worried about the 39th regiment of the guards. They had only one battalion. Could they block the enemy''s attack? Thinking of this, I immediately ordered akhromeyev: "chief of staff, call the third chief of staff, gordonov, to make him ready to attack. Once there is a critical situation in the 107.5 highland, go to reinforce immediately. "


    When akhromeyev called the third regiment, I said to kirilov standing next to him, "come on, comrade political commissar, let''s go to the top of the hillside and have a look." With that, he lifted his legs and walked out.


    Although the second regiment did not take part in the battle directly, Pugachev took precautions and organized the officers and men to repair all kinds of fortifications as soon as they had time. Not only have we dug trenches and trenches extending in all directions, built a large number of air raid shelters and hiding caves, but also built observation posts in the hidden and open places on the mountainside and the top of the mountain, so that I can check the war situation on the battlefield at any time.


    Kirilov and I, as well as some of basmanov''s soldiers, walked along the trench to the observation post on the top of the mountain. Seeing our arrival, the two soldiers who were watching the enemy situation turned around and saluted us. After a simple salute, I asked frankly, "Comrade soldier, what''s the situation in the friendly highlands?"


    A sergeant reported to me: "report to division commander, the enemy''s plane bombed highland 107.5 for a while and then flew away, leaving only the artillery bombarding our army''s position."


    I went to the observation port, raised my telescope and looked up to the high ground. I saw that the cobweb fortifications crisscrossed on the north slope were being shelled by the enemy. Every time a shell falls, whether it falls outside or explodes inside the trench, it will lift large and small pieces of soil into the air, and then scatter them like raindrops.


    After watching for a long time, I didn''t see a figure on the position except for the mud, fire and smoke. I think it''s strange that the officers and men of the 39th regiment are hiding somewhere. Don''t they go to the front at all? Thinking of this, I put down my telescope and asked the sergeant standing straight behind me, "Comrade sergeant, where are the friendly troops on the high ground?"


    When the sergeant heard my question, he quickly came to me and pointed to the front to explain to me: "Mr. division, please look at the south slope near the top of the slope. There are many newly built Tibetan caves, where the friendly troops are hiding."


    I followed the direction of his fingers for a long time, but I still didn''t see where he said the Tibetan soldier cave was. He said to kirilov in frustration: "Comrade political commissar, you''d better come and have a look. I''ve been looking for it for a long time, but I haven''t seen where the friendly army''s Tibetans cave is."


    Kirilov quickly raised his telescope and looked at the sergeant''s position. After a long time, he nodded thoughtfully and said with a smile, "this Colonel Yelin is not easy!"


    "Why not?" I asked in a puzzled way.


    Kirilov pointed to the high ground and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, look carefully, Colonel Yelin, there are cloth curtains hanging at the entrance of their Tibetans cave. It may be that during the bombing just now, the cloth curtains are all covered with mud. It looks like the color of the hillside from a distance. If you don''t look carefully, you can''t see it."


    After kirilov finished, the sergeant next to him said with a smile: "the political commissar should observe carefully. If we didn''t remember the location of the Tibetans'' cave before bombing, otherwise, we would not find it."


    The enemy''s shelling stopped after another ten minutes or so.


    As soon as the shelling stopped, the Yelin regiment on the high ground began to move. Infantry came out of the Tibetan cave on the south slope, carrying rifles and submachine guns and climbing up the trench leading to the top of the mountain. Then out of the hole came several Maxim heavy machine guns, and finally, several anti tank guns and more than a dozen mortars.


    Seeing the numerous heavy weapons of the 39th regiment, I suddenly felt cheated. Last night, Colonel Yelin complained to me that there were 200 unarmed men under his command, but now his troops not only have heavy machine guns, but also anti tank guns and mortars.


    Kirilov, seeing this scene, was also furious. He turned his head and asked the sergeant, "Comrade sergeant, do you know when the heavy weapons on the opposite highland were pulled up?"


    The sergeant was frightened by kirilov''s expression, and said nervously and incoherently: "newspaper, report, commissar, comrade, I, I don''t, I''m not, I''m not, I''m not clear, I, I''m late, I''m not, I''m not on duty at night!"


    "Who''s on duty then?" Kirilov asked angrily.


    Sergeant to another soldier Nunu mouth said: "it''s him."


    Kirilov no longer paid attention to the sergeant, but directly asked the soldier, "tell me, comrade soldier, what''s the matter? When did the heavy weapons of the friendly forces reach the high ground? "


    The soldier was calm when he heard kirilov''s question. He immediately straightened up and said, "report to the political commissar that the heavy weapons on the friendly highlands arrived around 3 a.m. Then came probably two battalions. When the heavy weapons were carried to the high ground to hide, the two new battalions were evacuated to the residential areas behind


    After hearing the explanation from the soldiers, I felt a little better. It turned out that Colonel Yelin didn''t cheat us. These heavy weapons were brought by the troops who crossed the river with the Artillery Corps of the 13th division of the guards.


    After figuring out what was going on, I waved to the sergeant and soldiers to get them out of the observation post. After the two left, I said with self mockery: "Comrade political commissar, just now I was still complaining about Colonel Ye Lin that there were so many heavy weapons in the regiment, and I kept complaining to us. I didn''t expect that these weapons were delivered later. It seems that I misunderstood him."


    Due to the limited field of vision, our observation post can only see more than half of the south slope and a small half of the north slope. Before the smoke of gunfire had cleared away, the officers and men of the 39th regiment entered the position along the trench. Some of them held their guns well, while others seized the time to repair the trench damaged by gunfire.


    The German offensive troops, led by more than 40 tanks, followed by hundreds of armored transport vehicles, formed an offensive formation and stormed towards the friendly highlands.


    "Can they resist so many enemies, Colonel Yelin?" Looking at the enemy''s posture, I could not help but try my best to guess anxiously, "did he think he could beat back the enemy just by the hundreds of people in the position and the anti tank guns?"


    When the tank at the front was 200 meters away from our army''s position, there was a sudden explosion. The flying sand and rocks from the explosion covered the tank at the front. Then the tank stopped in the distance and began to burn.


    What''s the matter? Did the anti tank gun fire? I quickly turned my telescope to the high ground, but I saw that the Gunners who operated the anti tank guns were laying out artillery positions. They could not have fired the guns at all.


    A tank, slightly two bodies behind, slowed down carefully, bypassed the burning tank, and then came over the edge of a crater.


    At this time, there was a huge explosion. The smoke and dust engulfed the brave tank again. Seeing this scene, I immediately understood what was going on. It turned out that it was not the artillery firing on the high ground, but the anti tank mines buried in front of the positions that destroyed two tanks one after another.


    Looking at the German army''s reimbursement of two tanks in succession, I immediately felt elated. At the same time, I was still excited to recite: reimbursement of two more, reimbursement of two more.


    Seeing that two tanks were destroyed by the mine, the remaining tanks stopped and fired at the garrison on the high ground with tank guns. In the beginning, the enemy''s tanks fired aimlessly and blindly, covering the infantry who jumped from the armored vehicles and occupying favorable battle positions.


    After a while, with the expansion of the German infantry attack line, the tanks did not continue to fire blindly. They stayed still and opened fire with tank guns and vehicle machine guns to cover the infantry charge. Those shells fell directly into the fortifications of the garrison and exploded, killing the commanders and fighters inside.


    The German soldiers bent over, armed with submachine guns and rifles, covered by craters on the hillside, made a short leap forward and gradually approached our position.


    "That''s not good. The enemy has so many tanks to provide artillery cover. Colonel Yelin''s troops can''t keep high ground." Looking at the real German troops approaching our army, my heart beat faster. I yelled at kirilov: "no, I''ll call Godunov and order him to lead the three regiments to reinforce immediately. If it''s later, it''s too late."


    When my hand just picked up the phone, kirilov suddenly stopped me: "Comrade oshanina, wait a minute, the 39th regiment seems to be fighting back!" Hearing what he said, I quickly threw the microphone on the table, ran back to the observation port, and raised my telescope to see how the 39th regiment was fighting. I heard a lot of gunfire from the high ground. Even the heavy machine guns on the high ground were blazing. It seemed that the troops on the high ground were firing. The German soldiers who rushed to the front were caught unprepared and immediately knocked down. Some fell directly into the nearby crater, while others rolled down the hill. German tanks quickly turned their guns and opened fire on the most powerful machine gun position in an attempt to eliminate our heavy firepower and cover their infantry to continue to charge upward. But the mantis catches the cicada and the Yellow sparrow is behind. The Gunners of the guards have long aimed the anti tank guns at the German tanks at the foot of the mountain. At the moment, they take advantage of the opportunity that the tanks have no time to attend to, shooting down the slope, turning the German tanks into piles of twisted and burning scrap iron. After being beaten, the tanks did not care to continue to use artillery fire to suppress the infantry firepower of our army. Instead, they raised their muzzle and bombarded the anti tank artillery positions on the top of the hillside. However, the God of luck seems to be standing on the side of the Gunners of the guard division. After the tank shells flew over, they either missed or flew over their heads and landed on the south slope to explode. The German infantry, who had lost the cover of tank fire, could not continue to charge forward under the suppression of our firepower, so they could only withdraw backward under the cover of alternate. At this time, the mortar hidden in the trench opened fire decisively again, the artillery shells were hard and accurate, and the retreating infantry were crying. Seeing that the defeat of the German army had been revealed, kirilov patted me on the shoulder and said with ease, "Comrade oshanina, it seems that there is no need to send three more regiments. Colonel Yelin''s troops have already beaten back the enemy''s attack."

 Chapter 648

    After the defeat, the German army adjusted its formation a little further away from the highland and returned to attack again. Twelve tanks opened the way for infantry in front of them. After they rushed to the tank that had just hit the mine, they stopped and used tank guns and machine guns to suppress our troops on the hillside. Behind them, there was about a multi company infantry who was rushing to the high ground quickly by using the terrain. The remaining 30 or so tanks stopped in the distance and shelled the anti tank artillery position of the 39th regiment on the hillside.


    Although the northern slope was hit by German artillery fire, because the German infantry charged to the high ground under the cover of the artillery fire, Colonel Yelin did not retreat to the tunnel on the southern slope to avoid the artillery fire as he had just done, but continued to stay in the position to meet the enemy.


    Seeing the enemy''s fighting style, I couldn''t help worrying and said to kirilov beside me: "Comrade political commissar, the Germans are very cunning. They want to compete with colonel Yelin and them. I''m afraid that if we continue to fight like this, the 39th regiment will not be enough even if all of them are filled in. "


    Kirilov listened to me and asked anxiously, "do we need to reinforce them then?"


    When I was hesitating whether to let the third regiment transfer troops to reinforce, I was surprised to see a force of several hundred people running out of the family dormitory area of the state consumer cooperative association behind the highland. I waved to kirilov and said decisively, "not for the time being. If we make a mistake, colonel Yelin has transferred his second battalion."


    As soon as the reinforcements reached the south slope, the second German attack was repulsed. They abandoned dozens of bodies and two burning tanks and retreated to the assembly site in ashes.


    However, the enemy seemed to be sure of 107.5 high terrain, so as soon as their troops withdrew from the highland, eight German bombers appeared in the sky. They circled around the highland for several times, and then began to dive down one after another, dropping bombs one after another. The whole highland was turned over by the bomb and shrouded in smoke.


    Because of the smoke, we couldn''t see the friendly troops clearly in the observation post. I sighed, picked up the phone on the table, called ahlomeyev and asked him, "chief of staff, do you have the latest war report?" I ask this because the main force of the 13th division of the guards will fight back against the German army after dawn and those forces of yesterday. From the enemy''s inevitable posture against highland 107.5, I surmised that the counterattack ended in failure.


    My guess was confirmed by akhromeyev''s words: "Comrade division commander, I just received the war report from the headquarters of the group army: many commanders of the troops carrying out the anti shock mission have died, and the counter attack troops are in a state of no command at present. The enemy''s troops rushed into the city and rushed directly at the headquarters of the group army. "


    I was startled by what he said and asked, "what, the enemy pounced on the headquarters of our group army? Chief of staff, what''s the situation now? "


    Kirilov also came up to me and asked with concern, "did the enemy troops pounce on the headquarters? The commander and the military commissar, are they OK? "


    I raised my hand to stop him, and continued to listen attentively to akhromeyev''s report: "in the early hours of the morning, the headquarters issued an order to the heavy tank brigade that held the granary in the south of the city, and deployed a tank battalion with nine tanks to defend the headquarters. When he found that the enemy was rushing at the headquarters, general Krylov dispatched personnel from the staff and guard company of the headquarters to form two combat teams. The first group, under the command of the chief of operations, Colonel zalijuk, was equipped with six tanks to block all the streets from the station to the headquarters; The second group is under the command of lieutenant commander Wei yinlubu, with the other three tanks to attack the enemy who occupied the expert building. "


    "Where is general rodimzev''s main force?" Kirilov heard ahlomeyev''s report and asked in a loud voice to the microphone.


    "Comrade political commissar, according to the latest war report, the 13th division of Jinwei has successively returned to the city after the defeat of the counterattack. At present, the main force of the Division has received orders to assist Lieutenant Colonel Wei yinlubu in clearing the center of the city, the expert building and the vicinity of the central railway station, and to keep an infantry battalion as a reserve at the headquarters of the group army. "


    When I learned that the headquarters was safe, I felt at ease. If the German army really carried out the beheading operation and took away trakov''s headquarters, the defenders in the city would lose their unified command, and would fall into chaos, leading to the situation of being defeated by the German army.


    Seeing that I put down the phone, kirilov nervously asked me, "Comrade oshanina, what shall we do next?"


    I looked out from the observation port. Although there was a hot fight on the other side of 107.5 highland, it was still calm here. I''m confused by the German army''s unusual behavior. I don''t know what the German commander wants to do. However, judging from the current situation, we can only use static braking. If the enemy does not move, I will have to compare my patience with the German commander.


    Thinking of this, I just said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, since I can''t figure out the enemy''s intentions now, I can only hold still for the time being."


    "What, hold still?" When kirilov heard my decision, he was surprised and said, "at present, there is fierce fighting in the city, and the friendly highlands on the left have also been fiercely attacked by the enemy. Is it appropriate for us to just watch the excitement?" At this point, he hesitated for a moment, and then suggested to me, "why don''t we send three regiments to reinforce Colonel Yelin?"


    I gave him a strange look and asked, "Comrade political commissar, is this necessary? Colonel Yelin did not ask us for reinforcements to prove that they are fully capable of blocking the enemy''s attack. If we rashly send our troops there, we may disrupt his deployment. "


    When I said that, kirilov stopped talking and went to the observation port again. He raised his telescope to observe the situation on the 107.5 high ground. As the smoke of gunpowder dispersed, the position of the 39th regiment was already scorched. The anti tank gun position on the top of the mountain had been completely destroyed by the bomb, and the broken parts of the artillery were everywhere on the top of the slope. It seems that the newly reinforced troops also lost a lot after being bombed. From my position, the only one who entered the position was No. 100.


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It has been less than two hours since the first German attack. However, the loss of the 39th regiment has reached more than one battalion. If the attack of such intensity is repeated twice, the regiment can directly cancel its organizational structure.


    The 39 regiment, which has lost all its anti tank guns, can only stare at the tanks rushing to the foot of the hillside again. The attacking German infantry, under the cover of their own powerful tank fire, launched a company scale charge again. In only ten minutes, half of the positions on the north slope fell to the enemy.


    Seeing this, I almost couldn''t help calling akhromeyev and asking him to order the third regiment to attack. Here, I saw another army of several hundred people rushing out of the family dormitory area and running towards the highland.


    "This should be the last battalion of the 39th regiment." Kirilov, who was standing beside me, first said this sentence after seeing this army.


    I nodded in agreement and said, "yes, after only two hours of fighting, the 39th regiment lost more than half of its personnel. It is estimated that the regiment''s organizational structure will not exist before noon."


    Kirilov, perhaps worried about the total annihilation of the 39th regiment as I said, pleaded with me again: "Comrade division, anyway, the third regiment is idle now, otherwise a battalion will be deployed to reinforce the 39th regiment. Do you think that''s ok?"


    "No way!" I decisively denied his proposal and said firmly: "Comrade political commissar, you don''t see that the front of our position is calm, even there is no enemy plane coming over the wharf. But precisely because of this, we should be more vigilant, maybe the enemy has any plot."


    "Conspiracy?! Sir, are you worried too much? I don''t think there is any conspiracy. I think the reason why the enemy didn''t dare to attack us may be that they were afraid of being beaten by our division these two days. "


    The German troops in the front did not move, but the friendly positions were in danger. If we are really lost because we can''t help each other, I may be sent to the military court. I hesitated for a while, raised my hand, looked at my watch again, gritted my teeth for the last time, and said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, we''ll wait another hour. If the German army doesn''t move, I''ll send all the three regiments to 107.5 Highlands for reinforcement."


    Looking at the highland again, we can see that it has been in a state of panic. All over the mountains and fields, there are officers and men from both sides who are engaged in a white-edged battle, fighting repeatedly for a trench and a fortification.


    As the German infantry got closer and closer to the top of the hillside, the new army finally rushed to the top of the hillside. First, it fired down at the German soldiers below, and then rushed into the battlefield with weapons. The German army and our army had a close fight, but now a new force suddenly appeared, which immediately reversed the pattern of the battlefield.


    After another period of resistance, the German army fought and retreated down the hill. The newly arrived troops followed, shooting and dropping bombs at the same time, causing the enemy to flee in confusion and gradually recovering the positions they had just lost.


    Seeing that the soldiers of the guards beat back the enemy''s attack again, chief kirilov sighed and said to himself, "the soldiers of the guards are really wonderful. They beat back the enemy''s attack again."


    However, I can see that the soldiers of the 39th regiment are at the end of their rope. In the absence of heavy weapons, they are at a loss what to do with those unscrupulous artillery tanks at the foot of the mountain. I quickly went to the telephone, rang through the artillery battalion''s telephone, and directly ordered Morozov: "Comrade captain, I now give you a task, immediately pull three anti tank guns from the fortification, find a suitable place to build artillery positions, and destroy as many tanks as possible at the foot of 107.5 mountain."


    "I understand. I''ll pass on your order right away."


    "Wait a minute, comrade captain." When I heard that he wanted to hang up, I quickly stopped him, because I knew in my heart that it was a mission to die, so I specially stressed: "tell the artillery soldiers that if the position is found by the German army and attacked by their artillery, they should hide in time. If the gun is broken, we have new additions; If the well-trained artillery soldiers die, it''s very difficult to replenish them. Do you understand what I mean? "


    Morozov obviously thought the same as me. He knew that this was a mission of a lifetime. Hearing my advice, he replied excitedly: "I see, sir. I will tell the soldiers exactly what you said


    When I put down the phone, kirilov nodded to me with a smile and said, "Comrade oshanina, I believe our artillery can take German tanks by surprise."


    I stood in front of the observation port, holding binoculars in both hands, looking at the flaming 107.5 highland, and I was engaged in a fierce ideological struggle: whether to continue to watch the change or to resolutely send troops to detour back to the enemy''s rear and beat them hard. Let''s wait and see what happens. Once the highland is lost, I will inevitably be implicated. But if we send troops to attack, although we can achieve success, due to the differences in weapons and equipment, our troops will certainly suffer heavy losses. In this way, the troops defending mamayev post will be weakened. When I hesitated, kirilov suddenly gave a "Gee". I quickly put down my telescope, turned to look at kirilov and asked strangely, "what''s the matter, comrade political commissar?" Kirilov pointed to the direction of the family dormitory of the state consumer cooperative association and said in surprise, "Comrade oshanina, look, there is another army coming out of the dormitory area. There are still a lot of people." I quickly turned my telescope to the direction of his finger. Sure enough, another army of four or five hundred people came out of the dormitory area. Judging from their equipment, nearly one third of them were equipped with submachine guns. In the middle of the queue, there were even people carrying anti tank guns and rotary machine guns, and a few Maxim heavy machine guns at the back¡° What''s going on? " When I saw this unit, I was also curious to know that there were only three battalions in the 39th regiment. Now the whole regiment is on the high ground. Where did this unit come from? However, without waiting for me to think about it, the German army launched a company scale attack on the Highlands under the cover of tank fire. Seeing that the enemy rushed to the high ground, rushed into the trench and started a white-edged battle with our soldiers, kirilov couldn''t help getting impatient and swearing, "what''s the matter with this Morozov? Why hasn''t the anti tank gun position been established up to now?" As soon as his voice fell, there was the sound of cannons firing at the foot of the hillside. I looked down and found that three anti tank guns were firing in the hollow at the foot of the mountain. As the German tank formation was dense, our Gunners achieved success in the first round of firing. Two of the three cannons hit the target, and a tank was hit, even the turret was tilted. The second round of shooting, the effect is poor, only destroyed a tank. Our artillery had just finished the second round when they were found by the enemy''s tanks. For those tanks providing artillery support in the distance, several of them immediately turned around and fired at our anti tank gun positions. Seeing the shell fall near our anti tank gun position and explode, my heart became nervous again. However, after a while, I found that although the enemy''s shelling was intensive, because the artillery position was in a depression, it could not be destroyed as long as it was not directly hit. The enemy''s shells fell around the Gunners and exploded, raising large and small pieces of soil, which fell on the Gunners. They didn''t even bend their waist. They just shook the soil and continued to fire towards the enemy''s tanks. Although our anti tank guns continue to destroy the enemy''s tanks, those tanks that are blocked by the burning tank debris and hiding in the dead corner of our anti tank guns are still suppressing the firepower of our army and covering their infantry to charge upward. When kirilov saw the enemy''s infantry charging towards the friendly positions, he could not help but get anxious. He said in a loud voice, "no, comrade division commander, we can no longer stand by like this. Let the troops of the third regiment attack." Without waiting for my reply, he went to the telephone, dialed the third regiment, and ordered Godunov: "Captain Godunov, I''m political commissar kirilov. I now order you to send two companies to pass through the open space between the two highlands and detour back to the enemy attacking highland 107.5 to teach them a lesson. Is there any difficulty? " When I heard kirilov''s order, I just wanted to say a word, but I heard Godunov''s loud voice from the receiver: "please don''t worry, my teacher and political commissar. I immediately sent two companies to attack, detour to the side of the German, and hit them hard." Then the other party hung up. When kirilov came back to me, I sighed and said with regret, "Comrade political commissar, if your order had been given two days ago, it would have played an important role. Today''s order is to let the soldiers die in vain. " Kirilov was at a loss when I said this. He asked, "why?" Seeing that he didn''t understand, I had to explain to him: "in the battle a few days ago, we sent troops several times to attack the flanks of the German army from the open field in the middle. Do you think the German commanders are all idiots who will turn a blind eye to the open space between our two highlands after several losses? You see, maybe the troops of the third regiment will be attacked by the enemy''s artillery in the open field. As for how many people can withdraw alive, it is not known My words soon became a reality. Soon after the troops of the third regiment entered the open area, they were found by the German army, and then the dense artillery fire came. The artillery fire did not come from the German tanks at the foot of the mountain, but from the German artillery positions we could not see. It seems that this area has long been the target of their artillery.

 Chapter 649

    The German long-range artillery used large caliber heavy guns, and there was no interval between the explosions. The shells that landed on the open ground continued to explode one by one, and the commanders and fighters of the two companies were engulfed by the fire and smoke in an instant. Although I can''t see the specific situation inside, I know in my heart that the commanders and fighters of these two companies are finished.


    It seems that the German army stormed the 107.5 highland and let go of the mamayev post. As expected, there was a big conspiracy. At least the open space in the middle of 107.5 is within the coverage of German heavy artillery fire. Maybe their artillery observers are hiding in the armored personnel carriers in the distance. As soon as they find our troops out, they immediately call for artillery coverage.


    However, on the 107.5 highland, the enemy''s firepower weakened because the tanks at the foot of the mountain were destroyed by our division''s anti tank artillery fire one after another. The German infantry who rushed up were beaten down by our brave soldiers.


    I saw through the telescope that a political worker took the lead in jumping out of the trench and chasing the fleeing enemy. After running a few steps, he threw several grenades into the enemy''s line one after another. Then he took the submachine gun in his hand and fired for a while before continuing to rush forward. However, he didn''t run far before he was hit by the machine gun on the German tank. As soon as he threw the weapon in his hand, his hands were raised high, and his whole body was leaning back. With inertia, he walked forward a few steps and then fell to the ground. Although he fell down, the soldiers beside him still rushed up bravely, until they got close to the enemy''s tank and were hit by the machine gun above. They fell down in pieces, and the blood flowing out dyed the hot land red.


    The German artillery also turned its fire from the open field to the anti tank artillery position of our division. I heard the roar of shells in the air and saw the shells exploding around the gun position continuously. I rushed to the phone in a hurry, heard Morozov''s voice, and told him in a loud voice: "Comrade captain, I order you to immediately ask all the Gunners to withdraw for me. We don''t want those anti tank guns."


    But my order was obviously a little late, and a shell landed in the middle of the artillery position¡° Boom In the light of the fire, the parts of the cannon and the remains of the gunner were blown up all over the sky.


    Seeing that our artillery position was destroyed by the enemy''s artillery fire, my heart jumped up violently, and I scolded in my heart: this damned German guy actually killed nearly 20 of my well-trained artillery in one go. But when the smoke dispersed, I still held a fluke in my heart and opened my eyes to search for the survivors.


    After watching for a long time, except for a few relatively complete bodies beside the smoldering crater, there was no moving figure at all. Kirilov was so excited that his lips trembled violently: "our artillery, that''s it, that''s it?"


    Although kirilov has just made his own decision to let two companies of the third regiment die in vain, in my mind, it is far less than the life and death of these twenty artillery soldiers, which worries me. I went to the table, picked up the phone, took a deep breath, waited for my mood to stabilize, and then told Morozov: "Comrade captain, send some people to check to see if there are any survivors in the artillery position."


    At this time, the German army''s attack on Highland 107.5 began again. Judging from their offensive posture, they would never withdraw without winning this highland. Due to the fact that the defenders consumed too much troops in the just counter charge, they were a little weak in the face of the fierce German attack and were forced to retreat to the position on the top of the hillside.


    "Comrade o''shanina, if we continue to fight like this, all the people in the 39th regiment will die." Seeing that the friendly highlands were in danger, kirilov became more and more nervous. If all the troops he had just sent had not been destroyed, he would have sent all the three regiments to reinforce. He looked at my face and cautiously suggested, "do you think we should take another risk and draw a battalion from the third regiment to reinforce?"


    I turned to look at him, turned my attention to the dormitory area behind, and said to myself that if I had let the third regiment stay there, I would not be so tangled as I am now. With a phone call, gordonov would know to send troops out of the dormitory area to reinforce the friendly troops on the high ground. As soon as our troops appear on the open ground, they will be covered by German artillery, but we can''t just watch the friendly troops lose their positions and stand by.


    Is hesitating, the dormitory area actually ran out of an army. When I saw this army of four or five hundred people, I thought I was dazzled. I quickly put down my telescope, rubbed my eyes, and continued to look. I found that there was really a detachment rushing to the high ground.


    I quickly touched kirilov with my elbow and reminded him, "Comrade political commissar, come and see, how can another army come out of the dormitory?"


    Kirilov looked at it and said strangely, "what the hell, how come there are troops coming out of the dormitory area? I remember last night Colonel Yelin said that his regiment had only three battalions with one guard company. But so far, there are five battalions in this newly emerged army. What''s the matter? "


    Before we know which part of the army suddenly emerged, the German army had rushed into the trench on the top of the hillside and started a white-edged battle with the defenders inside. When the two sides were fighting inextricably, the new forces came to the top of the hillside, joined the regiment, and defeated the German army in the shortest time.


    Kirilov called akhromeyev, who was staying in the division headquarters, and said, "chief of staff, please check with the headquarters of the group army. Are there any other friendly forces other than the 39th regiment of the close guard who are holding on to the 107.5 highland?" At this point, kirilov stopped for a moment, and then I heard him say, "OK, chief of staff, call me when you know the specific situation."


    As soon as kirilov put down the phone and was about to speak to me, the telephone on the desk rang suddenly. Hearing the ringing of the telephone, I still praise akhromeyev in my heart for his high efficiency in getting the information we want to know so quickly.


    Kirilov picked up the receiver with a smile and said in a loud voice, "Comrade chief of staff, your efficiency is very high. You can find out everything in less than a minute." The other side didn''t know what to say, and the expression on his face became serious. He said in a low voice, "OK, I know."


    He put down the phone, went back to me, and reported to me: "Captain Morozov, the artillery battalion commander, called and said that after his subordinates searched the artillery positions, they found only one seriously wounded person who was knocked unconscious by the shells, and the other 20 or so Gunners were all killed."


    When I got the exact news from kirilov that more than 20 Gunners had died, my heart was dripping with blood. In the present defensive battle, the role played by more than twenty Gunners is greater than that of an infantry battalion. If our Gunners had not decisively destroyed more than ten German tanks, the highland might have been lost by now.


    When the phone on the desk rang again, I went to answer it. When I heard akhromeyev''s voice coming from the receiver, I immediately asked, "chief of staff, have you found out which army is stationed in the family dormitory area of the state consumer cooperative association?"


    "Report division commander, the 42nd infantry brigade under the command of Colonel batrakov, who crossed the river last night with two other battalions of the 39th regiment of the guards. After landing, he received an order from the headquarters and was transferred to the family dormitory area of the state consumer cooperative association to be stationed as the reserve of the 39th regiment of the guards. "


    After hearing akhromeyev''s explanation, I understood why there were troops coming out of the dormitory area. It turned out that there was an infantry brigade who had just crossed the river. I then asked, "I heard fierce gunfire coming from the city. What''s the situation?"


    Akhromeyev sighed at first, and then said, "Comrade division commander, the current situation in the city is very unfavorable to our army. According to the battle report provided by the headquarters, in the central direction of our group army, the 295th, 71st and 76th infantry divisions of the German army, under the cover of tanks, launched attacks on the central railway station and highland 107.5. On the left, the 24th and 14th German tank divisions and the 94th Infantry Division launched attacks on the outskirts of minning and kuporosnoye, and are engaged in fierce fighting with the 70th guard division of Colonel lyudnikov. The right wing is relatively quiet. Except for a small number of stragglers, no organized German troops have been found. "


    "What''s the situation of the 13th division of Jinwei?" I haven''t heard any more about him since I saw him last night. I haven''t even got his orders. He seems to evaporate suddenly. However, thinking that he was my new superior, I asked akhromeyev vaguely.


    Akhromeyev had guessed that I would ask about rodimzev for a long time, so he did his homework early. When he heard my question, he did not hesitate to report to me: "the 42nd Regiment under the command of general rodimzev stormed into the central railway station occupied by the German army, but before they got a firm foothold, they were beaten out by the German counterattack forces. At present, the 42nd regiment has launched a new attack on the station.


    Under the cover of our army''s heavy tanks, the 34th regiment of Jinwei, together with the group army''s combat team, launched an attack on the German army which was stationed in the expert building. Although they once entered the building, due to their lack of experience in street fighting, their attack did not work and they were forced to withdraw from the expert building. "


    I went back to kirilov and repeated to him the information that akhromeyev had told me. After introducing the current situation of the enemy and ourselves inside and outside the city, I hesitated for a long time. Finally, I summoned up courage and said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, I have an idea. I don''t know if you would like to listen to it?"


    "Go ahead, comrade oshanina. I''m listening."


    "Remember what I told you about the breakout of the Volga?"


    Kirilov, hearing what I said, shivered involuntarily and turned to look at the door. Seeing that several guards and soldiers were standing a few steps away from the door and could not hear our conversation, kirilov secretly breathed a sigh of relief, lowered his voice and said to me, "my God, comrade division, didn''t I specially remind you, Why do you still have such a ridiculous idea in your mind? "


    Pointing to the high ground where the battle was going on, I said to kirilov earnestly: "Comrade political commissar, we have been standing here all morning. We are our commanders and fighters, fighting against the enemy''s planes, tanks and artillery with our flesh and blood. In just a few hours, more than a thousand living lives have been left on the opposite highland and integrated with the earth. "


    Kirilov nodded and said with approval, "I see that the officers and men of the 39th guard regiment and the 42nd infantry brigade are fighting bravely." At this point, he frowned and asked, "does this have anything to do with what you want to say?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar, I''ll tell you what happened next?" I pointed to the open field in front of the mamayev post and explained my idea to him: "if the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, pounce on our position, the Volga river suddenly bursts, the turbulent river flows in from the gap, and the future enemies are submerged in the torrential flood. In this way, we can not reduce a lot of casualties?" When I finished, kirilov asked tentatively, "do you ask me if the Volga River will flood Stalingrad because of this idea?"¡° Well, comrade political commissar. " I answered positively, "my method of fighting is to replace soldiers with water. In this way, such a bitter battle on Highland 107.5 can be completely avoided." Kirilov obviously still couldn''t accept this idea. He shook his head and said, "no, absolutely not. Comrade o''shanina, although your starting point is good, it''s incredible. I think even if you report this plan to the headquarters of the group army, it won''t be approved. " Kirilov''s words are very reasonable. If I go directly to put forward my idea to trikov, he will not hesitate to reject it. So I have to persuade kirilov to help me beat the drum. This plan is still possible. So I said to him politely, "Comrade political commissar, in your opinion, according to today''s playing style, how many troops do we need to defend the 107.5 highland?" Kirilov looked at the high ground in the fierce battle, sighed a long time, and said: "in this way, at least one regiment''s strength is consumed every day to ensure that the position is still controlled by our army. But, "he said hesitantly, turning the subject around," even if your superior agrees with your plan, how are you going to blow up the dam of the Volga River? " The method of replacing soldiers with water has existed in my mind for a long time. At the moment, kirilov''s tone is a little loose, so I hastened to say what I think: "I plan to find a weak place in front of mamayev post, 500 meters away, and blow it up with explosives." After hearing this, kirilov waved his hand and directly denied my plan: "Comrade oshanina, you think too simply. The thickness of this section of the river bank is up to 30 meters. If you want to open a gap wide enough, it is impossible without more than ten tons of explosives. Think about it. How big will the target be if you want to place more than ten tons of explosives? The Germans are not blind. They won''t find out so much about us. Well, I advise you to give up the plan. " Kirilov''s cold water calmed me down. Looking at the running Volga River, I can''t help but sigh. Maybe kirilov is right. My plan is just like the Golan trench I once wanted to dig. It''s just an unrealistic fantasy. The battle went on, and in the evening it came to an end. The German army left hundreds of corpses and nearly twenty destroyed tanks on the high ground and retreated to the distance. However, the front of the mamayev post was still calm. There was no artillery bombardment, no German offensive troops, and no idea what the German commander wanted to do. The two of us went back to the headquarters and called the heads of the regiments to raise their vigilance and prevent the German army from launching a sudden attack when we relaxed our vigilance. After dinner, kirilov suddenly became interested in my plan of replacing soldiers with water. He asked me in a low voice, "Comrade division, tell me more about your bold plan." After that, he waved to akhromeyev, who was waiting to receive the telegram at the side of the telephone, signaling him to come and listen together. Akhromeyev came over and asked curiously, "what are you discussing, teacher and commissar?" Without waiting for my reply, kirilov said, "Comrade chief of staff, the division commander has a bold plan to restrain the German fortifications in the north of the city. Please sit down and listen."¡° Really? " After listening to what the political commissar said, akhromeyev quickly sat down, looked at me with his eyes, and couldn''t wait to say, "Mr. division, please tell us about this bold plan. From what I know about you, if your plan is implemented, it will have an unexpected effect. " I just gave a faint smile to the high hat that akhromeyev gave me, and then I whispered to akhromeyev about the plan of replacing soldiers with water. After hearing this, akhromeyev frowned and thought for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "Comrade teacher, if we implement this plan, what are our advantages?" Although I see little hope of realizing this plan, since akhromeyev asked about it, I patiently explained to him: "from the military point of view, opening the dam of the Volga River has a certain effect: first, it forms an insurmountable natural danger, so as to prevent the German army from attacking the north of the City and ensure the safety of the wharf; Second, replacing soldiers with water directly eliminated the German troops who launched attacks on mamayevgang and 107.5 highlands. "

 Chapter 650

    After listening to my plan of "replacing soldiers with water", akhromeyev suddenly felt energetic. After staring at the map for half a day, he hit the table excitedly and said to me excitedly: "Comrade division, your plan is really wonderful." Then he pointed to the grassland in front of the mamayev hillock and analyzed it to me, "you see, if the Volga River breaks its dyke, the flood will turn tens of square kilometers or even a larger area in front of the mamayev hillock into a land of glory. In this way, the German 44th, 76th, 71st and 295th divisions, which are located in the north and northwest of the city, will not be able to launch attacks from the north of the city because of the barrier of floods, so that we can free up forces to strengthen the defense in other directions. "


    When he finished, he kept looking at the map excitedly, as if he was looking at the effect of the implementation of our plan. After a while, he looked up at me and asked tentatively, "Comrade division commander, do you need to report this plan to the headquarters of the group army immediately?"


    With a calm face, I replied, "no, comrade chief of staff. The three of us should know about this plan. We don''t have to report it to the group headquarters. "


    After hearing this, akhromeyev was surprised and asked, "why, sir? We can''t carry out such a plan without reporting it to the headquarters. "


    Kirilov waited for him to finish, coughed beside him, and then explained to him, "chief of staff, this is the situation. I agree with the plan put forward by the teacher in principle, but... "


    Seeing kirilov''s hesitation, akhromeyev was a little anxious: "but what? Comrade political commissar, if you have anything to do, just finish it in one breath. Don''t keep playing tricks and make me worried. "


    "Comrade political commissar, I''d better explain this to the chief of staff." I''m afraid kirilov has any scruples when he speaks, so I simply explained to ahlomeyev in person: "the reason why this plan can''t be implemented is that the dyke of the Volga River is too strong to open a gap without more than ten tons of explosives. Under the present circumstances, do you think we can bury so many explosives on the river bank without knowing it? "


    After hearing this, akhromeyev frowned and thought for a while. At last, he sighed helplessly and said with regret, "yes, the German troops are stationed a few kilometers away, and they must have some scouts near our Highlands, so the enemy may know what''s happening in front of our positions in time."


    After negating the plan of "replacing soldiers with water", I suddenly thought that the German army only deployed four divisions in the north of the city, but they beat our army into a mess. So I asked casually, "Comrade chief of staff, how many troops does a German division have?"


    Akhromeyev replied casually: "the full number of German infantry divisions is 17200, more than our two divisions."


    All along, I only knew that there were tens of thousands of German infantry divisions, but I didn''t expect that there would be so many. I couldn''t help exclaiming, "ah, there are so many people."


    "Yes, sir." Akhromeyev finished, took out a notebook from his briefcase, turned to one of the pages, pushed it to me, and politely said, "you see, this is the establishment table of the German infantry division."


    I took the book over and saw that it said:


    "The German infantry division has divisions, reconnaissance battalions, communications battalions, three infantry regiments (3 battalions per regiment), artillery regiments, anti tank battalions, engineering battalions and division logistics teams.


    Division headquarters: 158 people, 2 light machine guns, 17 motorcycles and 31 wheeled vehicles.


    Reconnaissance battalion: 625 men, 25 light machine guns, 8 heavy machine guns, 3 75mm anti tank guns, 3 20mm air defense guns, 3 50mm mortars, 4 81mm mortars, 2 75mm leig18 light infantry guns, 3 armored vehicles, 45 motorcycles, 30 wheeled vehicles, 3 carriages and 213 horses.


    Communication camp: 474 people, 17 light machine guns, 32 motorcycles, 103 wheeled vehicles, 7 carriages and 52 horses.


    Artillery Regiment: 2500 people, 32 light machine guns, 36 105 mm howitzers, 4 105 mm howitzers, 8 150 mm howitzers, 40 motorcycles, 105 wheeled howitzers, 229 carriages and 2274 horses.


    Anti tank battalion: 550 people, 18 light machine guns, 36 75mm anti tank guns, 45 motorcycles, 114 wheeled.


    Engineering Battalion: 843 people, 34 light machine guns, 9 anti tank guns, 20 flame throwers, 44 motorcycles, 87 wheeled vehicles, 19 carriages and 52 horses.


    Division logistics team: 2300 people, 30 light machine guns, 8 20 mm air defense guns, 88 motorcycles, 253 wheeled vehicles, 245 carriages and 735 horses.


    Three infantry regiments: 3250 each, 123 light machine guns, 36 heavy machine guns, 27 anti tank guns, 12 75 mm anti tank guns, 27 50 mortar guns, 18 81 mm mortars, 6 75 mm leig18 light infantry guns, 2 150 mm sig33 heavy infantry guns, 47 motorcycles, 73 wheeled vehicles, 210 carriages and 683 horses. "


    After reading the formation of the German infantry division, I returned the book to akhromeyev and asked, "well, how many people are there in a German company?"


    Hearing my question, not only akhromeyev, but also kirilov, who was sitting beside me, looked at me strangely, as if surprised that I didn''t understand the German army. Akhromeyev stood up and reported to me, "one German battalion has four companies with 215 men in each company. After our interrogation of the prisoners, due to the long fighting, most of the companies were left with only 70 or 80 people, some even 20 or 30 people. "


    I waved my hand to akhromeyev and said with disapproval: "Comrade chief of staff, we must not use the data provided by the prisoners as a reference for us to formulate our operational plans. You know, if they are ordinary soldiers, all they know is the situation of their platoon or company; Even if the prisoner was a lieutenant officer, all he knew was the situation of his battalion. If, according to the prisoner''s confession, we think that the German army has been greatly weakened in the battle, and make a battle plan based on it, we may suffer greatly in the battle. "


    After listening to my words, both of them fell into meditation. After a while, kirilov said thoughtfully, "no wonder our army''s counterattacks have all ended in failure. It seems that the staff members who made the operational plans all made too much reference to the confession of the prisoners, believing that the enemy forces in front of our army were greatly weakened, so it was inevitable to suffer losses. "


    With these words, he suddenly changed the topic and talked about the abnormal performance of the German army in front of our division today: "Comrade oshanina, today the German army launched wave after wave of attacks on the 107.5 highland. It was very likely that they would never retreat without winning the highland. However, in our division''s position, the situation was calm, and even the enemy''s soldiers were not seen. Can you tell me what''s going on? "


    "The enemy should have done this on purpose. He sent troops to attack highland 107.5 and ignored our positions. Maybe it was to paralyze us and make us think that our positions would not be attacked. Then he boldly dispatched troops from the mamayev post to reinforce the friendly highlands. In this way, they will be able to annihilate the troops we left the fortifications with artillery fire. "


    After these words came out, I realized that I had made a mistake. I looked at kirilov for fear that he might have any idea. After all, the two companies he had lost in the fire during the day were sent out by him. I didn''t expect that my worry was really unnecessary. Kirilov''s face was full of shame.


    In order to avoid kirilov''s embarrassment, I quickly turned to akhromeyev and said, "Comrade chief of staff, please accompany me to the tunnel of the second regiment later to talk with the soldiers." Speaking of this, I said to kirilov with a smile on purpose, "Comrade political commissar, please stay at the headquarters tonight."


    Kirilov quickly said: "no problem. I''ll take care of the headquarters. You and the chief of staff can go safely."


    After dark, akhromeyev and I, together with several guards, walked along the trench outside to the position of the second regiment. After some distance from the headquarters, akhromeyev looked back at the guards who were following us far away. Then he asked me in a low voice, "Comrade division, what happened to the political commissar today? I think his expression is a little unnatural. "


    I snorted softly, then said with a bitter smile: "when the German army stormed the position of the 39th regiment today, the political commissar transferred two companies of the third regiment, intending to detour back to the enemy''s side through the open field and hit hard. As a result, as soon as our officers and men entered the open area, the enemy''s long-range artillery fire came overwhelming. In a few minutes, just a few minutes, our two companies are all over. "


    As we were walking, akhromeyev suddenly stopped, pointed to the front with his hand and said, "Sir, this is a tunnel of the second regiment. Do you want to go in and have a look?"


    Seeing that I nodded, he quickly stepped forward and lifted the curtain of the tunnel entrance. The thick dark curtain on the door was suddenly lifted, accompanied by the dazzling light, a soldier with a gun rushed out, at the same time loudly asked: "who? Password


    When I saw ahlomeyev standing there with a curtain lifted and a rifle on his chest, I couldn''t move. I forced myself to smile and walked up to him. I said to the soldier with the gun: "Comrade soldier, I''m the division commander, Colonel oshanina, and this is the conspiracy commander, Captain ahlomeyev."


    The soldier quickly put away his gun, raised his hand and saluted both of us: "I''m sorry, division chief and chief of staff. I thought it was the enemy who touched it."


    After akhromeyev and I entered the tunnel, we put down the curtain and said in a bad voice, "Comrade soldier, if the enemy really touches here, you''ll be killed."


    After I raised my hand to stop the grumbling akhromeyev, I asked the soldier, "Comrade soldier, where is your commander?"


    The soldier was stunned and then replied¡° Report to the division commander that the commander is not in this tunnel. "


    "And who''s here?" I asked.


    "Captain horushov, commander of the first battalion, and Comrade safchenko, political instructor, are here. But they''re not here. "


    "Where have they gone?" Asked akhromeyev.


    "We''ve gone to the sentry. As you know, we have a large defense area here, and there are troops everywhere..."


    I saw that the soldier was one of those who could talk more. I was afraid that he would not finish talking, so I stopped him in time and told him to say, "OK, comrade soldier, take us to your battalion command post. I''ll wait for them there."


    The soldier agreed and called a soldier sitting not far away to help him stand guard. Then he took us to the depth of the tunnel.


    On the walls on both sides of the tunnel, there is a concave groove every four or five meters. There is a steam lamp on it. No wonder there is so much light here.


    We followed behind the soldiers, passed through the tunnels or among the soldiers sitting or lying down, and came to the innermost small room. The soldier stepped forward, lifted up the curtain at the door and politely said to us, "division commander, chief of staff, this is the battalion command post. Go ahead and have a rest. When the battalion commander comes back, I will inform him immediately."


    "Thank you, comrade soldier." After thanking the soldiers politely, I went into the command post with akhromeyev, went to the earth table and sat down, patiently waiting for the return of horushov.


    We sat for a short time, the curtain was suddenly lifted, from the outside into a soldier without a hat, his hands each carrying a teapot. After putting the teapot on the table in front of us, he said, "Sir, chief of staff, please have tea."


    I looked up at the soldier in front of me with a smile and said, "thank you, comrade soldier."


    Originally, I thought the soldier would turn around and leave, but he stood in a daze like rooting under his feet, looking up and down at me with good eyes.


    Seeing this soldier''s almost impolite behavior, I felt a little displeased and was about to say something about him. But he was the first to open his mouth, he stammered: "excuse me, sir, comrade, are you, are you Rita?"


    When I heard him call me by my nickname, I couldn''t help looking at him in surprise. Since I came to Stalingrad, it seems that no one has ever called me that except Zhukov. I stood up slowly and asked tentatively, "who are you, please?"


    Seeing that I didn''t blame him, the soldier said excitedly: "don''t you know me, sir? I''m Sergei osibovich


    I looked at the soldier in front of me. He was about forty years old and had a big head. He was supposed to be a fat man, but he was as skinny as a wood. His military uniform was as empty as hanging on a shelf. My mind is trying to search for this name, but unfortunately, in my memory, there is really no acquaintance with this name. So I shook my head and said apologetically, "sorry, comrade soldier, I really can''t remember who you are."


    The soldier saw that I didn''t recognize him. Although his face was dejected, he still didn''t give up to remind me: "think again, we met many years ago."


    A few years ago, when he said this, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly to myself. My heart said that I didn''t come to this world a few years ago. How could I know you. Thinking of this, I raised my hand to coax the soldier out.


    Seeing that I still didn''t think of it, the soldier sighed and continued: "I can''t imagine that you really forgot me. We met at the marriage registry a few years ago. If I remember correctly, it happened that I was on duty that day. An officer came in and said that his name was o''shanin and he wanted to marry a beloved girl. "


    As soon as Sergei said that, I immediately thought of him, and I guessed who he was. He was the one who managed to get married for aoxianing and Lida. Because Lida was not old enough at that time, he also persuaded aoxianing to go to the city defense commander, and they successfully kept the marriage procedure.


    Knowing the identity of Sergey, I quickly extended my raised hand to him and said in a friendly way, "it''s you, comrade Sergey. Please forgive me for not recognizing you in time."


    Sergey took my hand in both hands, shook it hard, and said, "Sir, if it wasn''t for your wedding with captain o''shanin, which was personally presided over by the city defense commander, I wouldn''t have had such a deep influence on you. How time flies! Several years have passed in a flash. I didn''t expect that you would be a colonel now. By the way, how''s captain o''shanin now? "


    When Sergei asked oshanin, I immediately said in embarrassment: "he was seriously injured in the Moscow defense and was sent to the rear hospital. Since then, we have completely lost touch. " Seeing the skinny staff of the former marriage registry in front of me, I asked curiously, "by the way, comrade Sergey, how did you get into this situation. If I remember correctly, you used to be a fat man


    Sergey let go of my hand, and there was a look of pain on his face. "Well, it''s hard to say."


    "Please sit down. After all, we are old acquaintances." I asked him to sit down and comforted him, saying, "anyway, we have nothing to do now. Please tell us about your experience."


    After Sergey sat down, he took the teapot I handed him. After thanking him, he began to talk about his personal experience: "I joined the army the second week after the outbreak of the war. But in July, when my unit was surrounded by the German army, we became prisoners of war. Later, I and more than 20000 captured comrades in arms were sent by the Germans to the Soviet prison camp in Vitebsk, Belarus. "


    "What happened in the prison camp that made you what you are now?"

 Chapter 651

    When I heard the word "prison camp" in my mouth, Sergey''s body trembled involuntarily, as if it represented his painful memories.


    "Tell me, comrade Sergei." Akhromeyev said to him in a friendly way: "tell us about your experience in the German POW camp, and let all our commanders and fighters know about the brutality of the bandits. Only in this way can we arouse our common hatred and defeat the damned German invaders."


    After listening to akhromeyev''s words, Sergei nodded and said with a solemn expression: "well, comrade division chief and chief of staff, since you want to know about the German POW camp, I will tell you in detail.


    We are the first row of prisoners of war sent to Vitebsk, and two thirds of them are wounded. More than 3000 of us were caught up in a lorry. The crowding in the carriage could not be described in words. The wounded were bleeding and dirty scars could be seen everywhere. During the three-day journey, many people in each carriage lost too much blood and died, as well as causing blood infections. There were groans, curses, sighs of dying people everywhere, and the pain of swinging. Because of hunger, lack of water and air, not only the wounded, but also the healthy prisoners of war died in large numbers. In addition to death due to injury, there are other losses. Every time the train stops to replenish water, the German will ask someone in each carriage to fetch water or empty the toilet. They left the car for a short time. If they did not return to the car in time after hearing the German whistle, they would be shot and killed by the German without hesitation.


    When we arrived at the POW camp, we were placed in the open air by the Germans. In autumn, there was no protection. We were exposed to the wind and rain day and night. The German army did not even prepare a simple shelter for us. The prisoners of war tried to find something to shelter us from the wind and rain. In order to have a place to live, we even dug holes in the ground. In the end, many people died in the holes dug by ourselves. Most of the prisoners suffered from edema, scurvy, endless diarrhea and tuberculosis caused by hunger. He was so hungry that he spent all day looking for anything to eat: grass, tree roots, insects, leftovers from the canteen, etc.


    Every day, the most terrible things happen. Every day, people die of disease and starvation, and the bodies are everywhere, all skinny. The prisoners ate anything they could find, including grass and poisonous mushrooms


    When he said this, I raised my hand to interrupt him and asked with concern, "Comrade Sergei, is it because you are in the prison camp and you don''t have enough food and clothing that you are so skinny now?"


    I didn''t expect Sergey to shake his head and reply, "no, comrade Rita. I only stayed in the prison camp for more than two months and I managed to escape."


    "How did you get out?" Akhromeyev, who has been the audience, suddenly asked.


    Sergei took a sip from the teapot on the table and continued: "there are not many guards in the POW camp. Except for a few German soldiers, the rest are soldiers from the eastern camp. And the camp has no walls, only two barbed wire. A captured second lieutenant secretly organized more than 200 prisoners of war. On a rainstorm night, when the guards relaxed their vigilance, he led us to put quilts on the barbed wire and successfully escaped. "


    It is said that Sergei and his wife escaped from the prison camp in an organized way. Akhromeyev couldn''t help but ask curiously, "Comrade soldier, I don''t know where the second lieutenant is now?"


    When Sergey heard the question, he lowered his head in silence. After a while, he bit his teeth and said, "sacrifice. On our way to escape, we were found by the enemy. He died to protect us. "


    After he calmed down a little, I asked, "where did you go and how did you come to the independent division after you escaped from the prison camp?"


    Sergey said to me bitterly, "Rita, when we escaped from the prison camp, there were more than 200 people. After more than half a month''s long journey, there were only seven left. After a lot of hardships, we came to the city occupied by our army and went to the local garrison to report, but we were detained. The commander of the army said that the Supreme Command had issued an order that all captured commanders and fighters, regardless of whether they had resisted tenaciously before being captured, would be sent to the punishment camp. In this way, several of our comrades who escaped from the prison camp were sent to a punishment camp in the forest. It was not until recently that we were added to your independent division as recruits. "


    In fact, I don''t agree with Stalin''s inhumane order. You know, I was once captured. If others knew, according to this order, I would be sent to the punishment camp. So in this case, I can only choose silence. Just as I was in a dilemma about how to comfort Sergei, the curtain of the door was lifted, and captain horushov and safchenko came in one after another to help me out.


    With a sigh of relief, I stood up and said to Sergei, "well, comrade Sergei, I know all about you. Now I have something to discuss with your battalion commander. Go back first."


    After Sergei got out of the command post, safchenko looked at his back and asked me in a low voice, "Comrade division, do you know this soldier?"


    I nodded. Before I could speak, akhromeyev said with a smile, "you are right, comrade safchenko. This comrade Sergey worked in the marriage registry before the war, and our teacher''s marriage certificate was handled with his help. "


    There was an incredible expression on horushov''s face, and he said with some exaggeration: "Oh, no way?! It''s incredible that there should be such a coincidence. "


    "It''s true, comrade captain." I briefly told them the story of Rita and oshanin getting their marriage certificate, and then asked safchenko, "Comrade political instructor, do you know that Sergey was captured?"


    Safchenko nodded hard and said definitely, "yes, I''ve heard of him." Obviously, he misunderstood the original meaning of my question and explained cleverly, "Comrade division, although he is your acquaintance, you must know that the supreme command once issued an order: all the commanders and fighters captured by the German army, whether they have resisted or not..."


    I didn''t wait for him to finish, then I raised my hand to stop him, turned my head and asked horushov, "Comrade captain, what''s the situation in the camp?"


    Horushov quickly straightened up and reported to me: "report to the division commander, since our battalion withdrew from the 107.5 highland, we have been resting in the tunnel for two days. Every day, when they hear the sound of guns coming from outside, the commanders and fighters are very frustrated. They are looking forward to meeting the Germans again as soon as possible. " At this point, he looked back at the door, and then asked cautiously, "Sir, when will we send our battalion to highland 107.5 again?"


    Seeing that horushov was so eager to fight, I felt very happy, but I could only tell him with regret: "Comrade captain, highland 107.5 and the residential quarters behind it have been assigned to the 39th regiment of guards and the 42nd brigade of infantry. The task of our division is to stick to the mamayev post and protect the city and the transport line of Volga River."


    Before leaving the command post, I said to safchenko with great care: "Comrade political instructor, as a political worker, I hope you can do a good job in the political and ideological work in the camp. For example, Sergei and other soldiers with similar captured experience can tell other commanders and fighters about their tragic experience in the prison camp, so that everyone can understand the cruelty of the German army, so as to arouse everyone''s common hatred for the enemy, and also to break the illusions of those wavering elements about the Germans. "


    Akhromeyev and I wandered a few more places in the position before returning to the headquarters. As soon as I saw kirilov''s face, I asked frankly, "Comrade political commissar, is there any new order from the headquarters?"


    "Yes, comrade oshanina." Kirilov said and handed over a telegram. At the same time, he said: "as the troops holding high 107.5 suffered heavy losses in the daytime battle, the group army intends to hand over the defense of the highland to the 92nd infantry brigade, which is about to cross the river. In order to avoid misunderstandings, we should send a telegram to inform us in advance. "


    As for this friendly army that is going to fight side by side, I asked curiously, "Comrade political commissar, where does the 92nd infantry brigade come from?"


    "The 92nd infantry brigade is said to be an infantry brigade, but most of the soldiers are sailors from the Baltic Fleet, but they are under the command of the army."


    When I heard kirilov say that the new friendly army was made up of sailors, I felt a lot more at ease. In my impression, the combat effectiveness of the navy is much higher than that of the army officers and men. If they stick to the high ground, I don''t have to worry about sending reinforcements.


    The next morning, busmanov, who hurried in from the outside, reported to us: "report to the division commander, political commissar and chief of staff that a troop is passing by at the foot of our hillside."


    "Is it a sailor?" Kirilov asked.


    "Yes, about a battalion, led by a navy captain."


    Since the friendly troops passed under our hillside, I think it''s necessary to say hello to others. After all, in the coming days, our two troops will fight side by side, so I said to kirilov, "come on, comrade political commissar, let''s go down and have a look."


    The two of us took the guards to the foot of the hillside. We saw hundreds of sailors in black Navy uniforms and brimless caps. They were standing in a long line, marching towards the direction of 107.5.


    Seeing us coming down the mountain, a tall commander with a big cornice hat came running. He stopped two or three steps away from us, raised his hand and saluted, and respectfully reported, "Hello, comrade commander."


    After returning the salute, I carefully looked at the young commander in front of me, and then politely asked, "Comrade captain, what part of you are?"


    "Report to the colonel, I''m the commander of the first battalion of the 92nd infantry brigade, and I''ve been ordered to lead my battalion to highland 107.5 to receive defense."


    "Nice to meet you, comrade captain." Kirilov said, shaking hands with him, and introducing the situation of the highland to the other side: "the north slope of the highland is gentle, easy to attack and difficult to defend, so your battalion should build more fortifications after entering the position, so as to resist the fierce attack of the enemy."


    "Thank you for your reminding, comrade political commissar of the regiment." The captain said politely, "although there are fewer people in our battalion, it is not ambiguous to fight the Germans. As long as we have one more man, the Germans will not want to occupy our position. "


    "Good job, comrade captain." Kirilov patted him on the shoulder and said with appreciation, "I believe you sailors are all good. You will be able to hold the position firmly."


    After saluting us, the captain turned and went after the troops.


    Looking at the disappearing Marines, kirilov suddenly asked me, "Comrade oshanina, after seeing yesterday''s cruel offensive and defensive war, do you think they can hold the position?"


    To tell you the truth, in my memory, I have no impression of this 92nd infantry brigade. It is estimated that it has a poor record. Otherwise, it will at least leave a brilliant record in the history of the patriotic war. Hearing kirilov''s question, I gave a wry smile and said vaguely, "as long as these sailors don''t collapse under the German artillery attack and play their real fighting power, I believe they can still hold the position."


    I looked up at the sky. Although it was bright, the enemy had not launched a new offensive. Since the fifth regiment moved to the residential area behind the mamayev post, I have never inspected it. Now kirilov and I are both outside, so on a whim, I said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, there is captain akhromeyev in the headquarters. Let''s go to the defense area of the fifth regiment."


    "Well, that''s a good proposal. I agree." After kirilov finished, he called a guard soldier beside him and asked him to rush back to the division headquarters to report our whereabouts to akhromeyev.


    As there was no means of transportation, we had to walk there.


    As he walked, kirilov said thoughtfully, "Comrade oshanina, I have an idea that in such a long time, the fifth regiment has hardly participated in the battle. Now the battle is getting bigger and bigger. Do you think it''s time to consider letting the fifth regiment fight as well? "


    After listening to what he said, I nodded and said with approval, "Comrade political commissar, I also have this idea. Although the fifth regiment was the last force to be formed, their combat effectiveness was no less than that of the first regiment. Today, I''m going to give commander Oleg a little combat assignment. "


    "Where are you going to send them to fight, the city or the mamayev post?"


    Without thinking, I replied: "the area of mamayev post is not large. At present, there are three regiments. There is no need to transfer another regiment. I''m going to send them to the city. It is not for them to engage in positional warfare with the German troops who have invaded the city, but in guerrilla warfare in the city. "


    "Guerrilla warfare? Do you mean to let our regular troops, like guerrillas, fight guerrilla warfare with the enemy? "


    "Yes, if we set out in the city to fight positional warfare with the German army, their dominant aircraft, tanks and artillery will cause heavy casualties to our troops. Since we use guerrilla warfare and are tied up with the enemy, their aircraft and artillery will lose their use. "


    Although kirilov has long been aware of many of my whims, he hesitated when he heard this kind of play: "is this suitable? The individual quality of the German army is higher than that of our soldiers, and there are more troops than us. I am worried that if we really fight, we will not be sure of winning. "


    "Comrade political commissar, don''t worry." If my political commissar can''t convince me of the tasks to be assigned to the fifth regiment, will my subordinates carry out my orders without any discount? So I tried my best to tell him what I thought: "doesn''t the fifth regiment still have a militia battalion? If we say that the degree of familiarity with the city, the German is not comparable to them. So I plan to mix up the militia battalion with other companies, take the platoon as a unit, and take advantage of their familiarity with the terrain to fight guerrilla warfare with the enemy in the city, so as to eliminate as many enemies who rush into the city as possible. "


    Seeing that he had been a little moved by me, I said while the iron was hot: "besides, the north side of the city is only composed of many factory areas, and the space for the troops to move is relatively large. Even if the enemy''s forces are several times more than ours, they can''t trap our troops."


    Kirilov is indeed a good political commissar. After listening to my analysis, he did not object any more. After nodding his head, he specially reminded me: "you intend to send the fifth regiment into the city to fight guerrilla warfare with the German army. I suggest that you immediately report to the headquarters of the group army so that the commanders can have a clear idea."


    "The telephone in the command post of the fifth regiment can directly communicate with the headquarters. When we get there, I''ll call the commander in person."


    As we talked, we came to the defense area of the fifth regiment unconsciously. The two men, Oleg and veroll, who had been informed by the sentry, took the initiative to meet us with several staff members of the regiment.


    Oleg saluted us and asked in surprise, "teacher, commissar, how did you come here? Is there any new operational order to be issued to us? "


    Kirilov and I looked at each other, then said with a smile, "it seems that this lieutenant commander Oleg is really not simple. As soon as we appear here, we know that we will give him orders to fight."


    After his guess was confirmed, Oleg said nervously: "teacher, political commissar, if you have any orders, you can give them by phone. How can you risk coming here? You know, just a few blocks from here, there are German troops


    When I heard that there were German troops nearby, I was shocked in a cold sweat. Kirilov and I swaggered to the 5th regiment with a few people. It was a rhythm of death. However, in front of so many subordinates, I still tried to keep calm, and told veroll: "Comrade veroll, you go to call the militia battalion commander and gramus. I have a task to assign to you."

 Chapter 652

    When I came to Oleg''s regiment command post, before Grimes and the militia battalion commander came, I turned to Oleg and asked, "Comrade commander, can you talk to the group army headquarters directly from your phone here?" The reason why I ask this question is that the headquarters was set up in this area in the early stage. In addition to many shelters, bomb shelters and other fortifications, the communication system is also ready-made, which is much better than that of mamayev post.


    "Yes, sir." Oleg led me to the wall, pointed to a phone on the desk and said to me, "this phone can talk to the headquarters."


    A strange and indifferent voice came from the receiver: "Hello, this is the headquarters of the group army. Where are you?"


    I was deeply afraid that the other party would hang up the phone and quickly indicated my identity: "I am the commander of the independent division, Colonel oshanina. I have something important to report to the commander immediately."


    Listening to my identity, the other party''s tone became warm and took the initiative to explain the situation to me: "Hello, Colonel o''shanina. The commander and the military commissar are not in now. May I ask the chief of staff to answer the phone? "


    Although they were not in the headquarters, it was the same to tell krailov my plan, so I politely said to the signalman, "OK, comrade soldier, please give me your phone number."


    A moment later, krailov''s deep, hoarse voice came out of the receiver: "Captain oshanina, this is krailov. You are calling at this time. What''s the matter?"


    Although as the head of a division, I can completely decide what tactics my troops should adopt to deal with the enemy in combat. However, the urban guerrilla warfare that I am about to adopt this time conflicts with the tactics of fighting for every inch of land stipulated by the higher authorities. If I adopt this tactics without prior communication with the leaders of the group army and their consent, even if I have achieved great results, I will still be in danger of being punished. Therefore, I can''t wait to call the headquarters to report.


    Instead of answering krailov''s question directly, I asked tentatively, "are the chief of staff, the commander and the military commissar not here?" I want to know their whereabouts through him.


    Sure enough, he said to me without warning: "half an hour ago, the 35th division of the guards suddenly lost contact with us. The commander and the military commissar rushed to the division with the guards." After a pause, he asked, "Comrade oshanina, you call the headquarters. What can I do for you?"


    "Well, comrade chief of staff." Anyway, I have to report my new battle plan. In the absence of trakov, it''s the same with chief of staff krailov. "I''m going to send the fifth regiment into the city to fight in the streets with the German army?"


    "What, you want to fight in the streets with the Germans?" Krailov was surprised: "how to play?"


    "I intend to break the five regiments into parts, take the platoon as a unit, rely on our familiarity with the terrain, and attack the German army in the solid buildings, main streets, commanding heights and other places. With this tactic, our troops can be hanged together with the German troops. In this way, if the enemy and ourselves are mixed up and gnawed with each other, the German troops will be afraid of the enemy, and the superiority of the aircraft and artillery they rely on will be lost. They have to fight hand to hand with us. "


    After I finished, Krylov was silent for a moment and said anxiously, "Colonel oshanina, have you ever thought that although the enemy can''t get the support of aircraft and artillery, you can''t get the support of our artillery either. You can only fight against the enemy with your own strength. To tell you the truth, I personally don''t agree with you to adopt this kind of war method. You should know that the German army''s individual quality is higher than ours, and they also have an absolute advantage in the military strength. "


    I can''t help worrying about how to dispel his worries. Just when they were in a dilemma, they inadvertently saw gramus, gretka and Beckman enter the command post. They had an idea and said to krailov: "Comrade chief of staff, in addition to small units fighting guerrillas in the city, we have also trained a group of snipers who can use their expertise to snipe those enemy commanders at the commanding heights of the city, Let their command system get into chaos. "


    Krailov was also moved by my reason. He asked excitedly, "sniper, do you have a sniper in your division?" Perhaps because he felt a bit out of his way, he quickly continued in his usual tone, "if the small guerrilla units in the city can get the cooperation of the snipers, then I will agree to let you have a try."


    After the call with krailov, I asked all the people verol called to come. As the host, Oleg quickly asked everyone to sit down.


    After sitting down, I found that the commanders attending the meeting were divided into two distinct groups. Captain trushen, commander of the militia battalion, and captain iglatov, commander of the company, were sitting on the left side of kirilov and I, glaring at the three of them sitting opposite. It seems that they still regard the former German soldiers who joined us as their mortal enemies. I''m even wondering if there would be a fight if I wasn''t there.


    Sitting opposite me, verol saw that all the people in the meeting were complete. After a slight cough, he reminded me: "Comrade division, all the commanders in the meeting are here. Please give us instructions."


    I stood up, glanced over the commander on the spot, and found that the attention of the two hostile sides had shifted to me. Then I said without hesitation: "comrades, I think you may have known for a long time that the current situation is very unfavorable to our army. The counterattack organized by the headquarters of the group army has failed. At present, the enemy has rushed into the city from several directions and is engaged in a tough tug of war with our army in the central railway station and several important areas. "


    Before I finished, Oleg could not wait to ask, "Comrade division, what is the mission of our regiment?" Seeing that I cast a reproachful look at him, I quickly explained, "two days ago, I found that the enemy passed in front of our defense area, so I led a battalion to attack from the enemy''s rear with the cooperation of the tank battalion of the fourth regiment, and taught them a lesson."


    "Comrade commander," kirilov stood up and said to him with a smile, "because of your decisive attack, you seized the plane in time and inflicted heavy damage on the German people, the group army headquarters specially praised you for this matter. I hope your regiment will make persistent efforts in the next battle, continue to carry forward your indomitable fighting spirit, fight resolutely with the bandits, and make new contributions for the motherland and the people.... "


    How can I not know that the headquarters rewarded the fifth regiment? But now is not the time to ask these questions, so I kept silent wisely. After kirilov finished speaking, I continued: "the political commissar and I are here today to assign new combat tasks to the fifth regiment. Major Oleg, commissar verol. "


    When they heard my order, they stood up and waited for my order.


    "You immediately pull out the first battalion, break it into parts, and enter the city to wage urban guerrilla warfare with the German troops who rush into the city."


    "Street fight?" At my command, not only the two standing people were stunned, but also the people still sitting were stunned. For those commanders who are used to regular warfare, they think this order is a bit incredible. However, due to the strict hierarchy in the army, although they were full of doubts, they did not dare to ask. They could only honestly promise: "yes!"


    After they sat down, I turned around and told trushen, "Captain trushen, I want to transfer some soldiers who are familiar with the terrain from your militia camp to serve as guides for the commanders and fighters of the first battalion. I want to use their familiarity with the terrain to deal with the German army in the city and consume them little by little in the constant movement."


    "Don''t worry, comrade Colonel," said Captain trushen, standing up, his face firm and resolute. "I will send those soldiers who are most familiar with the terrain of the city to serve as guides for the commanders and fighters of the first battalion. To the north of the city is the factory area, where our troops have a lot of room to maneuver. "


    "If you want to win in urban street battles, it''s not enough to have these small teams." At this point, I turned around and asked Grimes, "Captain Grimes, how are your snipers doing?"


    Grimes and gretka stood up together, one speaking and one translating: "Mr. report, so far, we have trained 100 snipers, and they are fully ready for actual combat."


    I was shocked to hear that gramus had trained so many snipers in such a short time. After a while, I asked tentatively, "what''s the level of these 100 snipers?"


    With a look of shame on his face, Grimes explained sheepishly, "Comrade division, it''s very difficult for ordinary soldiers to reach the standard of snipers because of the short time. The overall shooting level of these 100 snipers is only slightly higher than that of other companies. " When he said this, he saw a look of disappointment on my face and quickly added, "but seven of them are up to the standard of a real sniper. They have a 70% chance of hitting a target 300 meters away without a sight


    It''s a bit disappointing to hear that there are only seven qualified snipers, but I still comfort myself in my heart: seven are seven, which is better than nothing. In case there is a sniper elite like Vasili, it can also achieve great results. Thinking of this, I said to gramus straightforwardly, "Captain, you go and send 20 snipers to participate in the street fight of the fifth regiment. Remember, the seven qualified snipers must be on the list


    After I gave the order, Oleg asked a little uneasily, "Comrade division, can we take advantage of the street fighting with the Germans?"


    Instead of answering his question with certainty, I said to myself, "the narrow streets, the complex environment, the invisible enemy and the invisible gunfire will become the nightmare of the German soldiers in the city." With that, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Seeing that it was getting late, I ordered directly: "OK, if there is no problem, go back and make preparations. I hope to see the troops enter the city in an hour


    After the commanders who attended the meeting left one after another, there were only me, kirilov and Oleg left in the command post. Oleg asked cautiously, "Sir, commissar, will you stay in the headquarters or leave now?"


    Kirilov rushed to the phone near the wall and said, "commander Oleg, I''ll stay here with my teacher. Anyway, the telephone here can also contact the division headquarters directly, so that we can command the battle here. "


    After the guerrilla troops in the city set out, there were rumbling guns from mamayev post and 107.5 highland. I immediately called the division headquarters and asked akhromeyev, "Comrade chief of staff, what''s the situation there?"


    "Report, sir. According to the observation post, the positions of a regiment and friendly forces are being shelled by the German forces. It seems that they are going to attack on a large scale today."


    "Well, I see. Chief of staff, please report to me and the political commissar whenever you have any information. We will stay in the command post of the fifth regiment all the time today. "


    After the German artillery bombardment, their infantry, under the cover of tanks, launched a fierce attack on regiment 1 and highland 107.5 at the same time.


    After learning this information, kirilov asked me curiously: "Sir, what do you want to do with the German army? Yesterday, the friendly highlands were in full swing, but our side was calm. Today they are attacking the two highlands at the same time. What do they want to do? "


    "The enemy''s purpose is very clear," I said lightly. "It''s to capture our two Highlands, open the road to the city, control the water transportation line of the Volga River, and trap us in the city."


    "We won''t let them do it."


    "You are right, comrade political commissar. I believe the officers and men of the first regiment will resolutely fight back their attack. "


    "I have no doubt about holding a regiment''s position, but what about the friendly position?" Kirilov said suspiciously, "you saw the cruel battle yesterday. Do you think the new 92nd infantry brigade can hold the highland and the Soviet street behind it? "


    I gave kirilov a strange look and complained to myself that he was worried about nothing, but I could still say, "I think I can keep it. You know, they are a whole brigade, and most of the officers and men are well-trained Baltic soldiers, who can at least support two divisions of the army. "


    "I hope so." Kirilov finished with a heavy sigh.


    At noon, the troops entering the city reported their achievements continuously through walkie talkies they carried at any time. Although the results of each detachment were not big, only more than ten to thirty German soldiers were killed, but after all the data were collected, the data was not small.


    When Oleg handed the collected information to kirilov and me, he said excitedly: "division commander, political commissar, I never knew that the battle could be so big. Although each small unit did not destroy many enemies, we had 20 small units. Adding up all the results, we actually destroyed one and a half companies of the German army."


    "Comrade commander," although kirilov''s face was full of joy, he specially told Oleg, "tell the soldiers that they are all good. My division commander and I are still here waiting for them to achieve greater results."


    Although the results of the troops were good, I was not dazzled by the victory. When the political commissar finished, I added: "also, tell the soldiers that they should know how to preserve themselves, eliminate the enemy, and not make unnecessary sacrifices."


    The fifth regiment has achieved good results, which makes me feel relieved. Then I called akhromeyev and asked him about the situation of a regiment position attacked by the German army.


    Akhromeyev said in a loud voice on the phone: "report to the division commander, half an hour ago, the German troops once rushed into a regiment''s position on the hillside, but were soon hit by our counterattack."


    "How is the friendly highland?"


    On hearing my question, akhromeyev kept silent. Unable to hear his reply, I was a little anxious and asked in a voice: "Hello, Hello, chief of staff, are you still there? Can you hear me? Talk, talk. "


    Ahlomeyev sighed and replied, "Comrade division commander, the situation in the friendly Highlands is very bad. According to the report of the observation post, the enemy has rushed to the top of the hillside twice and launched a white-edged battle with the 92nd brigade, which is holding its position. There was also a German armored force, which bypassed the highlands from the west side and rushed into the Soviet street to fight with the Garrison who held on to it


    As soon as I put down the phone, kirilov, who was beside me, asked me nervously, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the matter? 107.5 is something wrong in Highland? "


    I nodded instinctively, and suddenly felt that it was easy for kirilov to misunderstand me. Then I quickly shook my head and said to him, "the German troops who attacked the 107.5 highland attacked the position on the top of the hillside twice, but their attack was repulsed by the tenacious counterattack of our commanders and fighters. However, a cunning German armored force, from the west side, bypassed the Highlands, rushed into the Soviet street behind the Highlands, and launched a fierce battle with the defenders. "


    As the battle reports of the small teams in the city kept coming, we soon forgot about the 107.5 highland and the Soviet street. We just kept looking at the battle areas of the small teams on the map and counting their achievements.


    In the evening, the telephone by the wall suddenly rang. Verol, who was nearest to the phone, raised his hand and picked up the phone. After listening for a while, he covered the phone and handed it to me. At the same time, he said in a low voice, "Comrade teacher, your phone."


    As I walked towards her, I asked, "is that the phone call from chief of staff akhromeyev?" I intuitively believe that this call has something to do with the 92nd brigade. Unexpectedly, verol shook his head and said to me in a low voice, "it''s the call from Comrade commander of the group army." I rushed over and took the call from verol. When he thought of reporting the idea of urban guerrilla warfare in the morning, he was not there, so he subjectively inferred that he must have come to understand how the new tactics I had adopted were being implemented. So as soon as I heard his voice coming from the receiver, I took the lead in reporting: "Report commander comrade, independent division commander o''xia Nina, report to you. In the morning, I sent a battalion into the city to fight guerrilla warfare with the German army. So far, I have achieved a lot. According to the results reported by the small units in the city, we have eliminated... "" OK, don''t tell me about urban guerrilla warfare. " "I''ve lost contact with the 92nd infantry brigade," he said angrily. Before the communication was interrupted, the brigade commander, Colonel tanasorov, reported to me that the enemy had occupied highland 107.5 and rushed into the Soviet street behind the highland. " Trikov''s words startled me. When akhromeyev reported to me, he also said that the garrison had held the high ground and had launched a fierce battle with the enemy who rushed to the Soviet street. It''s only been a few hours. How could the highland be lost? Seeing that trikov was angry, I didn''t dare to say anything to make him angry. I had to ask carefully, "Comrade commander, what can I do?"¡° Take people to reinforce them immediately and take back the position. " Trekov finished and hung up¡° What''s the matter? " Kirilov asked with concern, seeing that I didn''t look well. I didn''t care to talk to him, so I asked Oleg, "commander Oleg, does your regiment have anti tank equipment?" After I asked, I found that I was in a hurry to go to a doctor. I asked the wrong person. I should have asked the artillery battalion commander molozov. I didn''t expect Oleg to answer me: "there is no anti tank gun, but there is an anti tank gun company."¡° Great, "he said. I was overjoyed and immediately told him," gather up the anti tank company. I will take them to reinforce 107.5 highland. "

 Chapter 653

    When Oleg sent for the commander of the anti tank rifle company, I gave you a brief account of what trakov said on the phone.


    After that, I was going to call Gaidar, the fourth commander, and order him to send a battalion to counterattack the Soviet street behind the Highlands with the cooperation of the tank battalion, so as to take the dormitory area back from the hands of the German army. As for whether the tank battalion that I have been hiding will be bombed by enemy planes and lead to the annihilation of the whole army, I don''t care much about that. I know the truth better than anyone else. I don''t want the enemy to take a firm foothold in the dormitory area and take this place as the starting position to attack the mamayev post held by our division.


    As soon as I picked up the phone, kirilov, who was pale beside me, said excitedly, "Comrade division commander, you should call captain akhromeyev immediately, and ask him to send three regiments to attack first, and cooperate with them. Immediately, I asked them to be speechless. At this moment, the marine officer came after them and asked them breathlessly:" comrades, commanders, You are retreating, and you are acting without orders. "


    The captain put me aside, waved his arm at the marine officer and said in a loud voice, "you are blind. Can''t you see that the German tanks have rushed into the Soviet street and only 100 meters away from our headquarters? If we stay, we may be prisoners of the Germans. " With that, he turned around and left.


    Several of the officers of the Navy rushed in front of him and blocked his way. They retorted, "Comrade commander, in the Navy, the commanders are the last to abandon the ship. Do you know that the commander of the Navy should know this? "


    The political commissar came to speak for the Colonel: "Comrade battalion commander, let me remind you that it was in the Navy, but we were in the army, so we are here to command you."


    When his political commissar finished speaking, the Colonel yelled at the marine officer: "Comrade Vlasov, listen to me. We are not afraid of death. We have withdrawn the brigade command post to a desert island, but to continue to command the troops better." Then he turned his head and walked in the direction of the Volga River.


    Vlasov quickly ran after him again and asked, "is that right? But, Captain, how can you command the troops there? "


    The Colonel stopped, turned and approached Vlasov, and said impolitely, "according to the regulations, the commander''s orders need not be discussed. Please execute them quickly." As soon as the words were finished, he kept walking towards the river, as if he wanted to leave the land of right and wrong immediately.


    Vlasov took another step forward and made his attitude clear in a loud voice: "Comrade Colonel, even if you all run away, our people in the political department will not go anywhere. We will stay here and live with the position."


    The Colonel didn''t want to talk to Vlasov again, but suddenly he caught a glimpse of me standing aside with no expression on my face. He might feel ashamed. He suddenly pulled out his pistol, pointed at Vlasov and yelled: "since you don''t obey the order, I''ll shoot you now."


    When he saw that things were going to be very noisy, the political commissar came out to make ends meet again. He rushed to the middle of the two, separated them, and loudly expressed his opinion: "Comrade brigade commander, since he doesn''t want to leave, let him stay. Is dead or alive, then his own business, let''s go ~ ~ "said, pushing the colonel to the river.


    As the army and I are not subordinate to each other and have no right to interfere in the decision of the brigade commander, we can only keep silent. However, when I saw the Colonel drawing his gun, my hand was also on the holster. If he really wanted to poison Vlasov, I might stop shooting. At this moment, seeing the colonel and his political commissar scurrying Ashily towards the river, leaving only a bitter face of Vlasov, he went forward to greet him: "Comrade political commissar of battalion level, I am Colonel oshanina, division commander of the independent division. If you don''t have enough troops to guard the position, I can send troops to reinforce you. "


    I didn''t expect that Vlasov didn''t want to receive my kindness either. He just snorted and said coldly, "thank you for your kindness, but as long as one of our sailors is still there, we will not let the enemy occupy our position." Then he turned to his two subordinates and said loudly, "come on, let''s go back."


    Igratov and hubar came up to me and watched in a daze as the infantry retreated towards the river, while the sailors returned to their positions, ready to fight with the enemy. Both of them were puzzled and asked, "Comrade teacher, what''s the matter?"


    From the conversation just now, I''ve figured out what''s going on. The commander and commissar of the 92nd brigade must have been frightened by the German troops who rushed to their headquarters, so they lied to trakov about the loss of the highland, but they took the opportunity to escape. However, before reporting this matter to the headquarters of the group army, I did not want to discuss too much with my subordinates, so I just said vaguely, "Captain igratov and captain hubar, you two will lead the troops here to prepare for battle. I''ll send someone to let you know what to do next. " With that, I trotted up the mountain without waiting for two people to salute me.


    As soon as I entered the headquarters, akhromeyev stood up and reported to me, "Comrade division commander, I have just learned that highland 107.5 has not been lost and is still in the hands of the 92nd infantry brigade."


    I waved to him and said, "I see." Then I pointed to the phone on the desk and asked razumeyeva, "Comrade lieutenant, can this phone talk to the headquarters of the group army now?" At such a time, if I contact the headquarters by telegraph, it is very likely that I will miss something. That''s why I asked if the telephone number of the headquarters could contact the headquarters. If not, I can only call the fifth regiment first, report the detailed situation to kirilov, and ask him to report to the headquarters on my behalf. Razumeyeva stood up, nodded hard, and said definitely, "report to division commander, I have sent someone to repair the telephone line. At present, this telephone can completely communicate with the headquarters of the group army." When I heard that I could talk to the headquarters, I immediately picked up the phone, shook it up, and was ready to report what I had learned from trekov. I heard the voice coming from the receiver. It was the communication class in the morning. So I politely said to him, "Hello, comrade soldier. I''m Colonel o''shanina. Is the commander there?"¡° Excuse me, comrade Colonel, "the signalman said politely," the commander and the military commissar are not in the headquarters. May I ask the chief of staff to answer the phone? "¡° All right, you can put the chief of staff on the line Soon there was a low voice from the receiver: "Hello, Captain o''shanina, has your division begun to fight back against 107.5 highland?"¡° Not yet. "¡° What do you say? After more than half an hour, your counterattack against the Highlands has not started yet? " Krailov''s voice from the receiver suddenly became severe¡° Chief of staff, please listen to me. When I returned to the mamayev post, I found that the 107.5 highland was still in the hands of the sailors¡° what? 107.5 highland is not lost? " "Did you see it with your own eyes, or did you hear it?" he asked¡° I saw it with my own eyes. " Through contact with the brigade commander and political commissar of the 92nd brigade, I didn''t like them, so I didn''t hide anything for them. So I told krailov what I had just seen and heard. After krailov heard it, there was no sound. After a while, he said in an uncertain tone: "Comrade oshanina, I hope you will check it again, because I knew brigade commander tanasolov and political commissar Andreyev before the war. According to my understanding of them, they are not people who are greedy of life and fear of death. They should not do such things to escape." I felt a little chilly when I saw krailov''s refusal to believe it, but I had to say cautiously: "well, chief of staff, I''ll call you in another hour. At that time, I will report to you and commander trekov the real situation on Highland 107.5 and the Soviet street. "¡° OK, I''m waiting for your report At this point, krailov stopped for a moment, and then he specially told me: "Comrade oshanina, you must pay attention to safety."¡° I will With that, I hung up first. When I put down the phone, akhromeyev, who had known the situation for a long time, volunteered to me: "Comrade division commander, at present, highland 107.5 is the focus of the German army''s attack. You are the head of a division. You can''t take risks. Let me go." I waved to him, rejected his proposal, and told him: "Comrade chief of staff, you''d better stay at the headquarters. The German army is still attacking the position of the first regiment, and you need to stay in command. After I leave later, you should report what happened here to the political commissar who stayed in the fifth regiment. "¡° Take the guard camp with you? " Asked akhromeyev with concern. I nodded to his proposal. For my own safety, I even want to take a regiment to the highlands. However, at present, the highland is still in the hands of our army, and there are too many people to go, so it doesn''t mean much, so I just said, "let basmanov take a company with me and go with me."

 Chapter 654

    I took three company''s officers and men along the sunken dirt road on the south side of mamayev post, and made a rapid advance to 107.5.


    Not far out, there are two roads ahead. One is through the open land, which can directly reach the highlands; And the other one leads to the Soviet street. I stood at the corner of the street hesitated for a moment, then decisively waved to the left and said to the three company commanders, "let''s go this way."


    As for my orders, igratov and hubar did not express their opinions freely because they were not familiar with me. As the commander of my guard battalion, basmanov knew that the soldiers of the third regiment were destroyed by German artillery fire in the open field yesterday, so for the sake of safety, he made more detours without any complaints.


    About 100 meters away from the dormitory area, you can see that the dirt road is full of pits. On both sides of the road, there are bodies and wounded soldiers lying on the ground. There are not only our army officers and soldiers, but also German officers and soldiers. It seems that there has been a fierce battle here. The closer we get to our destination, the more bodies and wounded we see. There are health workers in Khaki uniforms treating the wounded.


    Seeing this scene, busmanov came close to my ear and asked in a low voice, "Sir, do you need to transfer our division''s health team to help me?"


    I waved my hand and denied his proposal: "no, when the battle in a regiment is over, it is estimated that there are still many wounded people to be treated by the health team, so we don''t have to do anything more."


    Ignoring the wounded and victims on the roadside, I took my troops into the Soviet street. In the street, I found several German tanks destroyed by the explosion, and many German bodies lying on the street.


    Looking at the destroyed tanks and the bodies on the ground, I stood in a daze, thinking that the German army really rushed here and had a fierce battle with the garrison. It seems that the commander and political commissar of the 92nd brigade felt that the dormitory area could not be defended, so they led the brigade headquarters to retreat.


    I walked aimlessly with my troops through the streets, between the bombed barricades and the houses with collapsed walls, and unconsciously came to the west side of the highland. At this time, I was surprised to find that there was a huge factory building at the foot of the mountain. Although several walls were blown down, I still saw many officers and soldiers coming in and out.


    I didn''t know where it was, so I asked the troops behind to stop and went in with busmanov and some soldiers. After entering the open factory building, I saw dozens of stretchers lying on the ground in a corner that had not yet collapsed, and many commanders and fighters with gauze wrapped around their heads, arms or legs sitting on the nearby debris heap.


    Seeing us coming in, a male health worker immediately came up to me and saluted me and said, "Comrade Colonel, this is the place where the wounded of the 92nd infantry brigade are temporarily parked. What can I do for you?"


    "Are you from the 92nd brigade?" I looked at the haggard faced health worker in front of me and asked politely.


    The health officer shook his head and replied, "I''m from the 39th regiment of the guards. The troops have run out. According to the order, we should have gone to the 42nd regiment of the guards to report. But before we left, the 92nd infantry brigade came, and the superior changed the order and asked us to stay


    "Are there any commanders among the wounded?" I thought that I didn''t even see a high-level commander along the way, so I asked the health worker with a fluke mind.


    The hygienist nodded, pointed to a small room on the east side, and said, "in that room, a commander who was shot in the abdomen is lying in it to rest. He is a navy captain."


    As I walked towards the hut, I was still thinking to myself: captain of the Navy, it''s not such a coincidence. Is it the captain remusev I met in the morning?


    As I walked into the hut, I saw a commander with only a cornice hat, black army trousers and gauze around his waist, lying on a concrete platform covered with blankets. Seeing me enter the door, he put his hand on the stage and sat up with difficulty. He raised his hand to salute me and said, "Comrade Colonel, we meet again."


    I didn''t care to return the salute. I stepped forward to hold his arms and said with concern, "Comrade captain, you are injured. Don''t be so polite. Please lie down and have a rest." With that, basmanov and the soldiers behind him waved their heads. They immediately understood and ran to help the captain lie down again.


    After the captain lay down, I stood in front of him and asked, "Comrade captain, how did you get hurt?"


    Remusev looked up at me and said in a slow voice: "as soon as our battalion beat back the German attack on the Highlands, we received a call from the headquarters saying that the enemy had rushed into the Soviet street and asked us to support quickly. When I got the order, I rushed down the hillside with my battalion, entered the organizational system on both sides of the street, and shot down the enemy on the street. After commanding the soldiers to blow up several tanks, I was unfortunately hit by a machine gun on a tank. If my soldiers hadn''t carried me down in time, I think I would have died. "


    "When you were wounded, was the enemy still attacking Soviet street?"


    "Yes, when I was carried down by the soldiers, the fighting continued. But it wasn''t long before we beat back the enemy''s attack. "


    "After the battle, did the brigade headquarters send someone to contact you?"


    "No," he said, shaking his head and giving me a negative answer. "Actually, I sent someone to contact the brigade headquarters when our battalion entered the dormitory area and started fighting against the place where the Soviet street was attacked. As a result, the people I went to didn''t come back. Maybe they died. Until the end of the battle, we didn''t get the next order from the brigade headquarters. "


    Seeing that he knew nothing about the withdrawal of the brigade headquarters, I didn''t continue to ask. I just politely said a few words to let him take good care of his wounds and strive to return to the army as soon as possible, so I took basmanov and left with them.


    Coming out of the workshop, busmanov asked me again, "Sir, where are we going next?"


    I looked up at the Highlands not far away and said, "where else can I go? Of course, it is to go to the high ground and find out the reason why the commander of the 92nd brigade withdrew without authorization. "


    We came to the position on the top of the hillside, and immediately two sailors came to meet us. They asked sternly, "which part are you from?"


    I turned around and looked at the troops in Khaki uniforms and blue overalls behind me. I understood the reason why the sailors were not friendly to me. Maybe it was because I watched their own brigade commander become a deserter, so I had a sense of distrust towards the people in the same uniforms.


    I didn''t care about their attitude. I said calmly, "Comrade soldier, I''m the commander of the independent division, Colonel oshanina. I''ve been ordered to lead the troops to reinforce you. Where''s your top commander? Take me to him


    The sailor''s face immediately became rich when he heard what I said. They said to me with a smile, "it turned out to be the commander of the friendly army. At present, the troops on the highland are under the command of Comrade Vlasov, director of the Political Department of the brigade. We will take you to see him now."


    When we appeared at Vlasov''s command post, he was stunned and then recognized who I was. He asked politely and distantly, "Comrade Colonel, what can I do for you here?"


    "I''ve been ordered to reinforce you."


    "Be ordered to reinforce?" "On whose orders?" Vlasov asked in surprise


    "Orders from general trakov, commander of the group army, and general Krylov, chief of staff."


    Although I have explained my intention, Vlasov still said in a suspicious tone: "Comrade Colonel, please allow me to say that our brigade has suffered more than 1500 casualties in order to hold this position in the daytime. If I hand over the position to you now, are you sure your troops can hold here? "


    For Vlasov''s query, basmanov wanted to argue at that time, but I stopped him. My eyes were fixed on Vlasov and I said faintly, "Comrade Vlasov, I want to tell you that my Division has twice sent troops to defend this highland since it was stationed in mamayev post. Several battles have proved that the Germans have never taken a step forward except for leaving piles of corpses, burning tanks and armored vehicles in front of our division. "


    At the sight of Vlasov''s face, it turned red because of my words. Knowing that he was a marine commander who valued his honor above everything else, I quickly set a stage for him: "of course, in order to hold the position, our division''s troops also paid a lot of casualties. Just yesterday, I sent troops to reinforce the highlands. As soon as I entered the open area, I died because of the coverage of the enemy''s artillery fire. "


    While we were talking, suddenly a sailor broke into the command post and yelled: "report to Comrade director of the political department, the situation is not good. The enemy forces are advancing towards us. It seems that they want to attack us again."


    "How many troops does the enemy have?" I asked Vlasov in unison.


    After glancing at me strangely, the marine continued to report to Vlasov: "there are eight tanks, followed by a company of infantry and several armored vehicles."


    "Take me." Said Vlasov, grabbing the pistol on the table and going out.


    I quickly stopped in front of him and said to him, "Comrade Vlasov, the position is now taken over by our troops. Let me handle this matter."


    I didn''t expect that he said to me in a solemn and righteous manner: "I''m sorry, comrade colonel. According to the regulations, I haven''t officially handed over my defense to you, so this battle can only be completed by my troops."


    "I''ll send the anti tank rifle company to cooperate with you and try to kill the enemy''s tanks first, so that when we hit the enemy''s infantry, we can make it easier."


    "Colonel, I need to remind you that I has the final say before I formally transfer my position to you." With that, he told the soldiers to leave the command post.


    Looking at the back of Vlasov''s departure, I couldn''t laugh or cry. I secretly scolded these old men for their lack of heart and mind. It''s such a time. Is it so important to hand over defense? I didn''t think about how to beat the enemy back. Instead, I always held on to the rigid rules. It was strange that I could win a battle.


    Busmanov came up to me and asked carefully, "Sir, what should we do?"


    Although Vlasov didn''t appreciate it, I couldn''t stand by, so I ordered basmanov: "order the troops to enter the position and get ready for battle."


    "But on the side of the Marines?" Basmanov thought of Vlasov''s attitude, but he was still in a bit of a dilemma.


    "Whatever he is, follow my orders."


    I walked out of the headquarters and saw basmanov commanding the guard company, anti tank rifle company and militia company into the position. While Vlasov led 30 or 40 soldiers to run down the mountain. It seems that they want to compete with the German army at the foot of the mountain.


    Due to the bombardment of enemy planes and cannons, there were no decent Fortifications on the top of the hillside. Except for a few short trenches which were relatively complete, the rest of the places were collapsed, so most of the soldiers were hidden in the craters.


    Vlasov took his men to the foot of the mountain and jumped into the crater at the foot of the mountain, or hid in the destroyed tanks.


    Four fast-moving tanks are less than 100 meters away from them. There are 50 or 60 soldiers trotting behind the tanks and running towards the high ground.


    I went up to him and asked him in a loud voice, "Comrade captain, can we hit the enemy''s tanks so far?"


    Hubar made a visual inspection of the distance, and then replied, "report to the division commander, the enemy''s tanks have entered our range, but the sky is getting dark, and the soldiers'' firing accuracy may be affected."


    With a wave of my hand, I said impatiently, "I can''t care so much. If more than 20 anti tank rifles fire together, they can always hit two of them. Captain, give your soldiers immediate orders to shoot at enemy tanks. "


    Hubar agreed and ran away. At this time, Vlasov at the foot of the hillside had ordered the soldiers to open fire. The dense bullets hit the tank body, only a series of sparks. However, the soldiers who followed were not so lucky. They were knocked down by more than a dozen soldiers. The rest of them huddled behind the tanks to avoid our bullets.


    I raised my telescope and looked down. I saw two soldiers climbing out of the crater and crawling towards the tank. When they were only ten meters away from the tank, they suddenly raised their hands and threw out their anti tank grenades. Among the coming tanks, there were two tanks with fire on their bodies. After driving forward for a certain distance with heavy smoke, they stopped. Then the driver either pushed the top hatch of the turret or from the bottom of the vehicle and turned around to escape to the rear.


    Seeing his companions explode and catch fire, the other two tanks slow down and, together with the four tanks behind, fire at Vlasov''s hiding place. Because of the close distance and the lack of solid fortifications, the German tanks and guns almost shot without fail, each shot will take the lives of one or two sailors.


    Seeing the constant casualties of the sailors, I yelled at hubar in the distance: "Captain hubar, what are you doing? Don''t you see the enemy tanks shelling our sailors?"


    "Sir, please wait a moment. We''ll fire right away!" Hubal saw me angry, quickly explained: "the soldiers are choosing shooting position, at most one minute, they can shoot."


    Before I got angry with him again, basmanov suddenly screamed: "Sir, look, there are troops coming up behind us?"


    Is there an army coming up? When I heard basmanov say that, I was stunned and said that it was my own army. But I didn''t inform other troops to come except the commanders and fighters of the three companies I brought?


    I turned around and looked back. There was a group of people, about 150 or 60, coming up from the hillside. When they approached, I found that the leader was actually the wounded captain lemusev, who was wearing a uniform and carrying a German submachine gun at the front of the whole team. The officers and men who were followed included sailors in black uniforms and a small number of infantry in Khaki uniforms. However, judging from their walking posture, most of them were wounded.


    Hell, the garrison on the position is not dead. It''s not your turn to fight. I quickly asked basmanov to help me climb out of the trench and run to meet the captain. I stopped him and said to him in a loud voice, "Comrade captain, what are you doing? You know, you are all wounded. If you want to fight, it''s not your turn. "


    The captain gave me a bitter smile and said, "thank you for your kindness, comrade colonel. This position belongs to our 92nd brigade. As long as we have one more person, we will never let the Germans move forward. Although we are a little short, we can still fight. " With that, he half turned around, raised his submachine gun high in his hand, and cried out: "comrades, let''s serve our motherland for the last time and move forward! Full speed ahead


    The wounded behind him also cried out in unison: "forward! Full speed ahead


    When I saw the wounded walking past me one by one and striding to the foot of the mountain, I could not help feeling sad. I secretly scolded the commander of the 92nd brigade, Colonel tanasolov, and political commissar Andreev. If you were not afraid of death, these soldiers would not have known that they were going to die and charged against the enemy.


    German tank fire almost wiped out the sailors at the foot of the hillside, then turned the muzzle and fired at the line of sailors charging down the hillside.


    Seeing tank shells exploding in the line of Marines and soldiers falling down from time to time, I was about to get angry again at hubar when the anti tank rifle company finally opened fire. The two tanks nearest to our position were honored to be the first victims, and were burning like their companions. The sailors had just rushed to the foot of the hillside, and the remaining four tanks, under the attack of the anti tank rifle company, turned into four piles of burning scrap iron. Seeing that the tanks they relied on were destroyed, the German infantry lost the courage to continue to attack and began to retreat backward. Seeing this situation, I immediately ordered basmanov: "Captain basmanov, you and igratov will lead the troops immediately and join the counter offensive. You must eliminate this enemy." Basmanov heard my order and agreed excitedly. He jumped out of the trench, raised his submachine gun high, and yelled at the soldiers who were still in the trench: "comrades, follow me!" After shouting, he waved his submachine gun and took the lead to rush down the hill. When the guard company and the militia company rushed down the hill, I raised my telescope again and focused on remusev. Because of his abdominal injury, he did not walk fast, and soldiers constantly rushed past him. He didn''t walk a long distance. He would raise his submachine gun high, turn his head and shout twice at the soldiers on the left and right to boost their morale. Seeing that busmanov had run close to him and could run with him in a few more steps, the captain''s body suddenly lifted back, then staggered forward two more steps, and fell to the ground. Seeing the captain fall to the ground, busmanov hastened to his side, squatted down and picked up his body. It seemed that he was checking the injury of the captain. When I saw the captain fall to the ground, I felt as if I had been seized by someone. Although I saw busmanov take out his first aid kit to bandage him, I knew that the captain had been sacrificed in most cases.

 Chapter 655

    The battle ended half an hour later, and the invading enemy was not completely annihilated. More than 20 soldiers fled in two undamaged armored vehicles.


    When busmanov was commanding the troops to clean the battlefield, I went back to the command post and used the walkie talkie inside to contact the third regiment. Fortunately, I asked gordonov to leave communication equipment for the new troops when I changed the guard, otherwise I would not be able to contact the outside world at all.


    Godunov heard my voice and asked in some surprise: "Sir, how did you get to 107.5 highland?"


    I didn''t care to explain the reason to him, so I gave him a direct order: "Comrade captain, immediately send two battalions to highland 107.5 to receive defense."


    As for my order, gordonov did not dare to discount it at all. He immediately and unambiguously agreed: "yes, I will send troops to take over." At this point, he said in a low voice with concern, "Sir, that highland is not very safe, or you''d better withdraw first?"


    "You don''t get all that crap," I said impatiently. "I''ll tell you, I''ll stay here and not go anywhere until I see your people get to the high ground." With that, I broke off contact with him.


    When I walked out of the command post, basmanov came back from the foot of the hillside with a few soldiers. He saw me standing in the trench and quickly ran a few steps and jumped in.


    I looked at him and asked faintly, "have the casualties been counted?"


    Basmanov nodded and replied, "in the battle just now, we destroyed eight German tanks and five German armored vehicles and killed the enemy..."


    Half way through his words, I interrupted, "I didn''t ask you what kind of results you''ve achieved, but about the casualties of our army!" At the moment, I am worried about the life and death of Vlasov, director of the political department, and lemssev, captain of the Navy.


    "197 people were killed and 85 wounded in our army." At this point, his voice sank down: "I heard that trakov gave wachukkin the title so lightly, and I was envious. I secretly said that if only one day when I reappeared in front of general Zhukov, he could easily restore my rank of general. Because I was so paranoid, trikov didn''t hear clearly what tasks he assigned to wachuk''s troops.


    When I saw the new Colonel wachuk raising his hand to trikov and turning to leave, general Krylov hurried in from the outside, and said angrily, "Comrade commander, I''ve got it all figured out. The 107.5 highland on the west side of mamayev post was not lost. It was the brigade commander and political commissar of the 92nd infantry brigade. They left their troops and ran to the desert island without authorization. According to Comrade oshanina''s report, under the command of Comrade Vlasov, director of the political department, the Navy battalion under the brigade fought against the enemy. "


    With that, he didn''t wait for trakov to express his opinion, so he yelled at the door, "bring them up." With his shouts, four armed soldiers, accompanied by two commanders in military coats and cornice hats, came in. When I looked closely, these two men were the brigade commander and political commissar of the 92nd brigade I saw in the daytime.


    After giving the two men a hard look, trakov told wachuk, "when we observed the enemy''s activities, we found that the German pilot''s bombing was inaccurate. Only when the middle zone is wide, that is to say, when there is a wide enough distance between the enemy and our forward positions, can the enemy planes dare to bomb our forward positions. This brings us to the idea of minimizing the middle zone and the distance to the grenade. That''s all I''ve told you. Go ahead. "


    Wachuk salutes trakov and krailov, takes another look at the two commanders under the guard of the soldiers, and then turns to walk out of the headquarters.


    After wachuk left, krailov asked trekov, "Comrade commander, what should they do?"


    Trekov went up to them, looked them over, then snorted heavily, and said directly, "we can''t tolerate such cowards who run away."


    Hearing what trakov said, the colonel said quickly, "Comrade commander, please listen to our explanation. We retreated to the desert island to better command our troops."


    "It''s a joke to command the troops." "Trikov sneered and asked," your troops are in Highland 107.5, separated by the mamayev post. How do you command them


    "Comrade commander, what are you going to do with them?" Krailov again asked trakov for advice.


    "Tanasolov, commander of the 92nd infantry brigade, and Andreev, political commissar, left their troops and fled to the desert island without permission from their superiors. Their behavior is unforgivable. I now announce that they will be shot on the spot as an example. "


    After all, he and the two men are old friends. He thought they would be sent to the military court at most. Unexpectedly, he gave such a severe order and tried to persuade him to change his mind: "Comrade commander, I knew him before the war..."


    Trikov interrupted him and gave the final order directly: "Comrade chief of staff, you don''t have to say any more about the strict military discipline of a large regiment. Go ahead

 Chapter 656

    Looking at the two commanders who escaped and were captured, they were escorted out by four soldiers. They thought that two clear shots would come out soon. Then a soldier would come in according to the usual passage in the movie and report to trikov: "Comrade commander, it has been carried out!"


    I didn''t expect that after listening for a long time, I didn''t hear the gunshot coming from outside, nor did I see the soldiers coming in to report. Instead, I saw that trakov had called krailov and weinlub to the table. I quickly stepped forward two steps and came to the table. I just heard that trakov was dictating a report to krailov to the highest base camp.


    When I heard that trakov wrote a report to the highest base camp, I was stunned. I shot two division level officers and reported to the headquarters of the front army. Is it necessary to report to the base camp? However, on second thought, the 92nd brigade was an additional force sent by the supreme command to Stalingrad, but soon after arriving in the city, the top commander of the force was shot by trakov. It was really necessary to give an account to the base camp.


    After thinking about this link, I also calm down to listen to trakov''s oral report: "tanasolov, commander of the 92nd infantry brigade, and Andreyev, political commissar, realized that they were panicked and had no command. Without the permission of their superiors, they left their command positions and shamefully abandoned the troops that trusted him, As a result, the officers and men of the brigade from the Baltic Fleet suffered great losses. Therefore, tanasolov and Andreyev betrayed the military oath, tarnished the high title of the Red Army commander, and forgot their responsibility to the motherland. Their panic and cowardice, as well as their behavior of leaving the combat post without permission, caused serious losses to the army. According to the No. 227 order of the general headquarters, the two men have been deprived of their military ranks and sentenced to execution by shooting. Commander of the 62nd army, trekov. On the evening of 13 September 1942. "


    After dictating the report, trakov specially told krailov: "Comrade chief of staff, after reporting this report to the headquarters and headquarters of the front army, it will be forwarded to the commanders of the units under the group army. He also warned everyone that in the next arduous battle, no matter who violates the military oath, forgets his responsibility to the motherland, defiles the high title of Red Army soldiers, shows cowardice and panic, leaves his post without permission and surrenders to the enemy without fighting, he will be subject to the most severe and merciless punishment in military law. " With that, he waved his hand and said feebly, "well, comrade chief of staff, go and send the news."


    As krailov got up to send the news, trakov leaned back, back in his chair, and closed his eyes. Wei yinlubu quickly leaned forward and said to him with concern, "Comrade commander, you haven''t had a rest for several days. You''d better go to sleep inside for a while."


    Trekov waved his hand, rejected his offer, and said in a weak voice, "Comrade commander, it''s OK. I''ll be all right in a moment."


    I just know why trakov is so depressed that he hasn''t had a rest for several days. Originally, I also wanted to persuade him, but when I saw that lieutenant colonel Wei yinlubu had just hit the wall, I didn''t ask for any more nonsense.


    After a while, krailov came back, stood beside trakov and reported to him, "commander, the telegram has been sent."


    When he heard that krailov had finished sending the telegram, trakov opened his eyes, struggled to stand up, put his hands on the edge of the wooden table, and said to us, "you see, after these two days of fighting, comrade rojimtev''s close guard 13th Division has lost more than half. I have just ordered the commander of the 284th infantry division, Colonel wachuk, to lead his troops, but to take over the attack of the 13th guard division on the station and the expert building. The 42nd regiment will be transferred to highland 107.5 to receive defense from the third regiment of the independent division. "


    When I heard that trakov sent troops to take over the defense of 107.5 highland again, I could not help sighing. No matter how many troops he sent to defend the highland, I had to send my troops to plug the gap in the end. However, since there are people on the defensive, I can spare more troops to strengthen the defense in the direction of mamayev post, which I can''t wait for.


    "What about the 92nd infantry brigade? When I went to the desert island just now to bring them back, I found that there were at least seven or eight hundred people, but they were all army infantry, not sailors. "


    After listening to this, trikov thought for a moment, and then said, "put these infantry and the rest of the troops on the 107.5 highland into captain Yelin''s 39th regiment. After the reorganization, transfer this regiment to the vicinity of the headquarters to serve as a guard."


    After arranging the fate of the remaining officers and men of the 92nd brigade, trakov assigned several tasks to krailov and weinroub. After all this, trakov sat down again. Just as I wanted to say goodbye to him, he suddenly looked up at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, which two regiments are you holding fast to mamayev post?"


    "The report commander is the first regiment of lieutenant colonel shejerikov and the second regiment of captain Pugachev."


    "Why is the second commander still a captain?" Krailov murmured.


    When I heard krailov''s question, I quickly turned to krailov before he asked new questions and said respectfully, "Comrade chief of staff, as you know, I''m just a colonel, and I can only give my subordinates the right to be promoted to the rank of captain. Therefore, although Comrade Pugachev assumes the post of head of the second regiment, he can only be wrongly promoted to the rank of captain."


    "A commander is only a captain. What does it look like to promote him to major?" After listening to what I said, trikov immediately promoted Pugachev to his rank. After looking at me, he added, "is there any other commander who is a lieutenant?"


    I quickly nodded and said, "yes, comrade commander, as the third commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosga, was injured, I have promoted an acting commander from the regiment, and now I am also a captain. You see? "


    "Also promoted to the rank of major. By the way, I remember that your division also has artillery battalion and tank battalion. I believe that the rank of the military chief officer of these troops will not be too high, and they will all be promoted to major. "


    When I heard that trakov generously promoted all my subordinates, I saluted him excitedly and said in a loud voice, "thank you, comrade commander!"


    Trekov shook his head at me and said, "don''t thank me. I have something else to ask you." At this point, he stopped for a moment, and then said in a puzzled tone, "in the 107.5 highland on the west side of mamayev post, I sent tank troops, the 39th regiment of guards, the 42nd infantry brigade, and the 92nd infantry brigade to defend, but before long, these troops had to withdraw because of heavy losses. However, as far as I know, the pressure of attack on the mamayev post guarded by your division is no worse than that on the 107.5 highland. However, you not only repel the enemy''s attacks repeatedly, but also the casualties of the troops themselves are not large. The battle sequence that has been drawn up since we arrived at the mamayev post has not changed. What''s the matter? "


    "Comrade commander, it''s very simple. Because regiment 1 and regiment 2 built many Fortifications on the mamayev post. In addition to hiding troops, even heavy howitzers and tanks can be concealed in the trenches, air raid shelters, bomb shelters, hideouts and tunnels built by the soldiers. "


    After listening, trakov didn''t speak. He just tapped the table with his fingers. After a long time, he nodded slowly and said thoughtfully, "I see."


    Krailov took over his words and said: "Comrade commander, the independent division can repel the enemy''s fierce attacks repeatedly under the condition of heavy bombardment by enemy planes, relying on the fortifications they built. I think this experience is worth promoting in the whole group." At this point, he sighed and said with regret, "well, if we had built fortifications like the independent division earlier, the weapons and ammunition prepared for the 13th division would not have been lost in the enemy''s bombing."


    After trekov nodded, he turned to kreilov and said, "chief of staff, record the order." After seeing krailov pick up the pen and paper, trakov asked again, "how many combat orders should this be from the group army?"


    "Order 162, comrade commander."


    After nodding again, trakov began to announce a new order: "No. 62, today, just go to command post No. 162, combat order:


    In recent days, when the enemy bombed the ammunition I had exposed in the ferry area on the Volga river bank, there was a shortage of ammunition in other places.


    Due to the fierce fighting and difficulties in transporting weapons and ammunition, the headquarters of the group army requires commanders at all levels to cherish every bullet, shell and grenade.


    In order to prevent similar incidents from happening again, the group commander ordered:


    1. Ammunition, fuel and food transported from the dock area to the ferry and unloaded from the Volga river bank will be immediately stored in a pre prepared shelter not close to 500 off shore.


    2. Before September 17, 42, the troops should excavate trenches, moats and pits for concealment of ammunition, fuel and grain in every defensive position and dock (Ferry) area, and store ammunition, fuel and grain in small piles.


    3, the director of the Corps Engineering Corps dispatched 50 engineers to take the shovel to the dug pit in the ferry area where the group army was located (red October ferry).


    4. The excavation of pits and trenches in the ferry area on the East Bank of the Volga River was carried out in accordance with the instructions of the logistics Minister of the group army.


    5. All those who do not take protective measures against the above-mentioned materials, that is, those who still leave ammunition, fuel and food outside, shall be immediately brought to the military court for trial.


    6. The group army''s logistics director, artillery director, armored force director and oil director, and the army commander, division commander and brigade commander should strictly check the implementation of the order, and report the inspection results to the group army commander in person before September 18, 42.


    Signed by: lieutenant general trakov, commander of group army command


    Major general Krylov, chief of staff of the headquarters. "


    Seeing that krailov took the new order and went to the operator, he could not help feeling that trakov was really a man who worked hard. I just said two words about the advantages of fortification in the battle, and he immediately issued a similar order.


    At this point, my mission to the headquarters of the group army had been completed, so I took the initiative to say to trikov, "Comrade commander, there''s nothing for me here. Can I leave now?"


    Trekov thought about it and said, "OK, you go back first. I''ll get in touch with you if there''s anything else."


    After I raised my hand and saluted trakov, I was just about to turn around and leave when I was stopped by kreilov, who had just returned. "Hey, Captain o''shanina, don''t hurry. I have something else to ask you."


    When krailov called me, I had to stop and turn around obediently, waiting for the order of the group chief of staff.


    Seeing that krailov kept me again, trekov asked curiously, "chief of staff, do you want to ask Comrade o''shanina to stay? Is there anything else to explain?"


    Krailov quickly explained to trikov: "Comrade commander, it''s like this. During the day, comrade oshanina sent more than 20 small teams and 20 snipers into the city to fight an urban guerrilla war with the Germans. I have received a report from kirilov, the political commissar of the independent division, who is the director of the Political Department of the group army, that they have killed more than 400 enemies, while our army has only killed 10 people. " At this point, krailov''s emotion became excited. "Commander, the battle damage ratio is 1:40. The enemy has killed 40 people, but our army has only lost one. What a remarkable result!"


    After listening to krailov''s words, trikov suddenly stood up, stared at me, and asked in an unbelievable voice, "Comrade oshanina, is this true?"


    I nodded in embarrassment and answered positively, "yes, comrade commander. When you ordered me to lead the troops to reinforce the 92nd brigade in the afternoon, you reported it to you. Have you forgotten? "


    As soon as I finished, trakov slapped himself on the forehead and said, "yes, yes, Colonel oshanina, I''m a little impressed by what you said. But I''m also dizzy. Before you finish speaking, I interrupt your report. Blame me, blame me. It''s all my fault. "


    After he finished talking with me, he turned to krailov and said, "I really didn''t expect that the results of guerrilla warfare in this city were so great, more than the enemy killed by a brigade or even a division."


    After listening to this, Krylov just nodded with a smile, and then asked me, "Comrade oshanina, I want to hear, do you have any new ideas in the next battle?"


    After thinking about it, I hesitated and said, "there are two plans."


    "Oh, there are two plans. Let''s hear them!" When I heard that I had new ideas, not only Krylov, but also trakov got excited and urged me to "speak quickly."


    "The first plan is that the commander can draw a large number of sharpshooters from the group army, train them into snipers, and then distribute them to all corners of the city to hunt and kill German soldiers. Although the result of each sniper will not be too big, there are many snipers who can''t stand us. Maybe they can achieve more than we can achieve by launching a large-scale counterattack. "


    After writing down what I said in his notebook, trakov asked without looking up: "this plan is good. I think it can be implemented immediately. What about another one? "


    "There''s another plan." When I was about to go on with my second plan, I suddenly thought of kirilov''s expression after hearing my plan. I couldn''t help hesitating.


    Seeing that I didn''t speak for a long time, trekov and krailov turned their attention away from their current books, looked up at me, and after a look at each other, krailov asked in a puzzled way: "say, comrade o''shanina, why don''t you say it? Your first plan is very good. I believe the second plan will be better! "


    "Come on, comrade oshanina," trekov echoed, "they''re all old acquaintances. You can say whatever you think. Don''t have any scruples. Even if you''re wrong, we won''t blame you."


    As soon as trikov''s words came out, I knew I was in a dilemma. So I gritted my teeth, pointed to the position of mamayev post on the map, and said to them, "my second plan is to replace soldiers with water, that is, to blow up the river embankment 500 or 600 meters in front of mamayev post, let the Volga River flood, and bring the area of more than 100 square kilometers, It''s a swamp that''s hard to cross. "


    After that, I stepped back two steps, straightened up, and prepared for the stormy fury of trekov and Krylov.


    I didn''t expect that two or three minutes later, they were still bent over the table, absorbed in the study of the map. Even commander Wei yinlubu, who had been playing soy sauce beside them, came to see what they were looking at.


    After a long time, trikov stood up straight and asked me with no expression: "Captain oshanina, this so-called" replacing soldiers with water "plan is what you call the second plan?"


    "Yes." Hearing trekov''s question, I quickly replied, "once a large area of river flooding area has been formed on the grassland to the north of mamayev post, the German armored forces will not be able to launch attacks on the north of our city as recklessly as they are now. In this way, our defensive pressure will be reduced, and at the same time, we will be able to dispatch extra troops, To reinforce other dangerous areas. "


    Instead of commenting on my groundbreaking plan, trakov turned and asked krailov, who was still reading the map, "what do you think, chief of staff?"


    Krailov looked at the map for a while, then stood up straight and said, "Comrade commander, the water flow in the area chosen by Colonel o''shanina is gentle. Even if the levee is blasted, it is difficult to achieve the effect she said." After listening to krailov''s statement, trakov nodded with approval and said: "to tell you the truth, this plan sounds very attractive, but it''s not so easy to implement. The river bank, which is tens of meters thick, can''t be exploded without ten or twenty tons of explosives."

 Chapter 657

    My heart suddenly cooled when I heard what trakov said. Although I have heard kirilov say this for a long time, I still have a little fantasy in my heart, otherwise I would not risk telling trakov and krailov about the "water for soldiers" plan at this time. Listen to two people also say that this plan is not feasible, then it seems that this plan is really unrealistic.


    In spite of my great unhappiness, I still had to pretend to be indifferent in front of trakov and krailov and say, "since the commander and the chief of staff also feel that this plan can''t be carried out, then I won''t consider it any more. It seems that we can only rely on our existing forces and weapons to stop the German crazy attack. "


    Krailov came up to me and said enthusiastically, "Comrade oshanina, whether we can hold the mamayev post is related to whether our group army can hold Stalingrad, so the burden on you is not light. If you encounter any difficulties, you can call us or send a telegram, and we will try our best to help you. "


    Krylov''s words made me feel Alexandria, and I felt uncomfortable when I saw the trusting look he and trakov cast. But if I say goodbye to them at this time, I can''t find a suitable reason. In desperation, I could only smile and express my determination to them: "please rest assured, commander and chief of staff, that I will strengthen the mamayev post and turn the highland into a gate that the enemy can''t cross."


    Trikov was good at observing words and colors. The anxious expression on my face couldn''t escape his shrewd eyes, so he immediately took over the conversation: "OK, comrade oshanina, I think you are eager to return now. We won''t leave you. You should hurry back to the army."


    When I heard that trakov asked me to leave, I really wanted to. I saluted him and left the headquarters.


    I walked out of the headquarters and stood on the street full of ruins and craters, looking left and right for the motorcycle that sent me. Next to me, an executive Lieutenant came up to me and politely asked, "Comrade Colonel, are you looking for a motorcycle?"


    I quickly nodded and affirmed, "yes, a motorcycle with a sidecar. There are two soldiers on it. Do you know where they are, comrade Lieutenant? "


    "If you walk along this street for 50 or 60 meters, you will see a fork in front of you. Your two subordinates are hidden in the buildings there."


    After thanking the lieutenant, I walked down the street in the direction he was pointing. Along the way to see craters and debris everywhere, as well as from time to time to see the German body has not had time to clean up, the heart will understand how dangerous the group headquarters was.


    As soon as I got to the fork in the road, I heard a voice coming from the nearby building: "Sir, is that you?"


    "It''s me. Come out." I recognized that the voice came from one of the soldiers on the motorcycle, so I said yes to each other.


    I was sitting in the sidecar outside the city. When I wanted to close my eyes, I suddenly heard the soldier behind the driver say, "Sir, we just met the patrol of the 10th division of the interior department."


    The Ministry of internal affairs, after hearing this address, I asked faintly, "is that right? What do they do in the city, they also serve as supervisors, and when they see which troops retreat without authorization, they shoot at their own people? "


    "No, sir." The soldier quickly explained to me, "coincidentally, the leader of the patrol team and I have been in the same unit before. He told me that his division is now a garrison, controlling the backup defense points in the city and the firepower support points in the city. "


    The soldier''s words aroused my curiosity, so I couldn''t help asking, "what else did he say?"


    "He added that most of the fortifications in the city are made up of small fire points, one third of which are civil structures. Of course, judging from the fortifications he pointed out to me, including the barricades, these fortifications are not stable enough to become the necessary firepower support points in the course of fighting. "


    After listening to the soldiers'' words, I couldn''t help thinking: "if the soldiers'' information is true, then the 10th division of Interior Department of Colonel salayev can''t be used as a reserve team to block the enemy''s attack, because they can''t be removed from those fire support points. It seems that the defense on the north side of the city is still based on my independent division. "


    When he returned to the headquarters, he saw kirilov, who had stayed in the fifth regiment, was also there. He quickly called him and akhromeyev over. First, he told them that the political commissar of the 92nd brigade had escaped in the battle and had been executed on the spot after being captured by krailov from the desert Island.


    After my briefing, kirilov did not ask in detail. Instead, he asked frankly, "Comrade division commander, does the headquarters have any instructions for us?"


    I shook my head and replied, "it''s the same old way, that is, let''s firmly guard the mamayev post at all costs, ensure the safety of the Volga River Ferry, and prevent the enemy from rushing into the city from the north of Stalingrad."


    Kirilov sighed with disappointment when he heard that there was no new order, and then told me, "Comrade oshanina, before you come back, we received a telegram from the headquarters of the group army saying that there are troops to take over the defense of highland 107.5, and let our third regiment hand over their positions to them when the new troops arrive."


    "I don''t know what the superior thinks. Our third regiment has become a fire brigade. Every time something happens to the friendly Highlands, we have to rush to reinforce them." When kirilov said that the third regiment would be transferred again, akhromeyev could not help complaining.


    I deliberately pretended not to hear his complaint, but kirilov, after glancing at me for fear that I would be angry, gave ahlomeyev a special low voice.


    "By the way, the commander gave a special account. Captain Pugachev, the second commander, Captain Godunov, the third commander, Captain pelsjian of the tank battalion and captain Morozov of the artillery battalion were all promoted to the rank of major."


    As soon as I finished, they were surprised. Obviously, they didn''t expect that trikov would suddenly promote several commanders of the independent division. After a while, kirilov, who was next to me, asked in a low voice, "are these commanders promoted?"


    "Yes, only four of them got promoted." I looked at kirilov puzzled and asked, "do you have any questions?"


    Kirilov first spoke to Nunu across the table, then gave me a furtive wink towards the door. I looked across the street, and then at the door. I slapped my forehead with chagrin. I scolded myself for being so confused that I forgot them.


    It''s not nice to say that people like Pugachev and gordonov have been promoted, but my division chief of staff akhromeyev and guard Battalion Chief basmanov are still in the rank of captain. Even if they don''t say anything, I will feel uneasy.


    I quickly moved the map in front of myself, hiding my embarrassment by looking at the map. After staring at the map for a long time, I tried hard to recall my defense deployment in my mind. When I felt there was no mistake, I raised my head and said to the two people sitting next to me, "it''s late. You should have a rest early. Maybe tomorrow the enemy will attack our position."


    Originally, I just said it casually, but I didn''t expect that a word would become a prophecy. At dawn, the enemy began to bombard the mamayevgang, not only in the Highlands where the first artillery regiment was located, but also in the Highlands where my headquarters was located. Ten minutes after the shelling, enemy aircraft also flew over the mamayev post and began to dive.


    I wanted to go outside the cave to have a look at the situation. As soon as I got out of the first wooden door, I felt like I was riding in a small boat on the sea. The strong explosion shock wave made the door outside rattle, just like an elephant bumping into the door outside.


    Seeing that I wanted to go outside, Captain busmanov, who was on duty in the corridor, stopped me and yelled at me: "Comrade division, it''s too dangerous outside. You can''t go out." With that, he yelled at the two soldiers standing next to him: "what are you doing here? Help the teacher in."


    After two soldiers listened to his orders, without saying a word, they put me in front of my arms and dragged me to the headquarters. At this time, I also know that it''s too dangerous outside. If I stubbornly run out, I will lose my life. Therefore, I was very cooperative to let two soldiers drag me into the headquarters.


    Back in the headquarters, the first thing I saw was akhromeyev shouting at the phone: "Hello, Hello, ball, ball, can you hear me? Hello, hello


    "No more efforts, chief of staff. Don''t you hear how fierce the fire is outside?" Without waiting for me to speak, kirilov had already said in advance: "I think the telephone line leading to a regiment of positions has long been broken by the enemy''s artillery fire."


    Listening to kirilov''s words, razumeyeva quickly stood up and volunteered: "Comrade political commissar, I will send someone to check the line, and we will restore the communication between the division headquarters and the frontier as soon as possible."


    "Wait a minute, Lieutenant razumeyeva." At the moment, I have to stand up and stop the commander of the communication company. There are not many people left in my communication company. If someone is sent out to check the line, it is estimated that there will be few people left in the communication company after the war¡° Don''t worry. At present, the enemy''s artillery fire is fierce. Sending someone to check the line is tantamount to letting them die. Although I know that soldiers are not afraid of death, we should try our best to avoid such meaningless casualties. You wait until the enemy''s artillery is sparse, and then send someone. "


    "The teacher is right," kirilov said in a timely manner, "Lieutenant razumeyeva, you''d better use the telephone to contact the regiment."


    When razumeyeva was communicating with a regiment with a telephone, kirilov said to me with some worry: "the enemy''s artillery and bombing are so fierce, will the casualties of a regiment be too large?"


    Kirilov''s words made my heart sink. Under such heavy shelling and bombing, I don''t know how many people would be killed or injured in a regiment? Although the distance between our two Highlands is only a few hundred meters, if we are blocked by enemy planes, we will not be able to send reinforcements in a short time.


    At this moment, akhromeyev came to me and told me a more disturbing news: "division commander, according to the observation report of the second regiment, we found German troops in the distance, under the cover of a large number of tanks, pushing towards our position."


    "Did you hang up?" I asked ahlomeyev coldly.


    He shook his head and said, "no, the intelligence is reported by Captain horushov of the first battalion of the second regiment. He is still on the line. If you want to know more details, you can ask him directly."


    I walked quickly to the table, picked up the receiver and put it in my ear. I said in a loud voice, "Hello, Hello, is that captain horushov?"


    "Yes, sir, it''s me." From the receiver came the familiar voice of horushov.


    "Report what you have observed."


    Because of the loud explosion outside, horushov had to shout at the top of his voice, so that I could hear what he said: "report, sir, as soon as the enemy''s shelling started, I found a piece of dust on the grassland in the distance. After careful observation, it was found that the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, were advancing towards our position. At present, we are four kilometers away from the position of the first regiment. "


    "How many troops does the enemy have?" According to the calculation of the previous two days, the 44th German infantry division in front of us should still have tens of thousands of troops. I want to know how many troops the enemy has invested this time through horushov.


    "There are more than 30 tanks. As for the infantry, they only see black areas. The exact number is not clear. It is estimated that there must be a regiment."


    "I see. Report in time." I finished and hung up.


    When kirilov and akhromeyev came around, I said to them solemnly: "political commissar and chief of staff, the situation is very bad. According to captain horushov''s report, there is probably a regiment of German troops following the tank attack, that is to say, there are more than 3000 troops, whose strength is roughly equal to that of the garrison on our mamayev post. However, due to their advantages in weapons and equipment, and the air supremacy of the battlefield is in their hands, what we are going to do next is a fierce battle. I hope everyone can be prepared in advance. "


    "Please don''t worry, sir, even though the enemy is fierce, I believe they will come to the same end as before. In front of our position, they will break their heads and blood, and finally they will retreat in dismay." Akhromeyev said confidently.


    Kirilov, on the other hand, was not confident enough: "Comrade chief of staff, we should not be too optimistic. As far as I know, the German army attacked the position of a regiment several times in yesterday''s battle. Although we later launched a counter charge and beat them back. But what does that mean? " At this point, he deliberately stopped for a moment, looked at the expression of akhromeyev and me, and then said, "it shows that the enemy has changed his playing style after several losses in front of our position. The officers and men of the first regiment also used the old fighting methods to deal with the enemy, so that the German army occupied our positions several times. Therefore, in the face of the fierce German army today, I have no confidence in whether a regiment can hold its position. "


    "Comrade division commander, the communication with the first regiment is connected." Before akhromeyev and I could express our views, razumeyeva, who was sitting by the telephone, excitedly called out to me: "Lieutenant Colonel xiejerikov, a group leader, is online. He wants to speak to you."


    I went over to put on my headphones and asked aloud to the transmitter, "Hey, hey, Lieutenant sergeant chejerikov, I ask you, how many casualties are there in your regiment?"


    "Report to division commander," heard the loud voice of chejerikov from the earphone, "since our regiment has excavated many tunnels on the high ground in the past two days, from the beginning of the shelling, except for a few observation posts, the rest of the commanders and fighters have gone into the fortifications. Although the enemy''s artillery and bombing are so fierce, there are almost no casualties in our regiment. "


    "That''s very good. That''s very good, comrade commander." I was overjoyed to hear the report from Sergey rickov. Although we are short of air defense weapons, we have nothing to do with the enemy planes plundering in the air. But as long as our commanders and fighters hide in the tunnel, no matter how many enemy planes there are in the air, there is no way to take us.


    "Sir, our observation post reports that the enemy''s infantry, under the cover of a large number of tanks, are approaching our high ground, showing a posture of never giving up without taking over the high ground."


    When I think of the thousands of German soldiers who are approaching the Highlands, I feel that they are not strong enough, so I tentatively ask, "do you have the confidence to defeat the enemy?"


    "Please don''t worry, sir. Although the enemy has a large number of troops, they have nothing to do with the many fortifications in our highlands. Although they attacked several times yesterday, they didn''t get any advantage. On the contrary, we killed hundreds of them. "


    When I heard that shijerikov mentioned the tunnel, I suddenly thought of the tunnel fortification that I participated in when I was in the 64th army. At that time, my idea was to fight a battle similar to Shangganling with the enemy. I didn''t expect that the plan could not keep up with the change. The tunnel fortification had not come to play its role in the end, because our army was going to retreat and had to blow up all of it. But now the positions of the regiment are covered with all kinds of fortifications and tunnels, and my mind can''t help but become active again.


    After thinking about it, I said to sergeant chejerikov, "Comrade commander, if the enemy is so powerful that you can''t resist it, you can give up the surface position temporarily, withdraw all the troops into the tunnel, fight a protracted war with the enemy and contain their forces."


    "What? Give up the surface position and retreat into the tunnel? " Shijerikov was frightened by my order. He stammered and asked, "is this, this, this suitable?"


    "There''s nothing inappropriate." I said to him firmly: "the orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed. Just follow them. If anything goes wrong, I''ll take care of it. "

 Chapter 658

    As soon as I put down my earphone and transmitter, kirilov, who was standing by, reproached me solemnly and said, "Comrade division, how can you order Comrade xiejerikov to give up his apparent position? If the enemy occupies the position of a regiment, they can fight in two ways, one towards the high ground where we are, and the other towards the wharf on the Volga River. Once the enemy forces rush to the river, they will drive all the thousands of soldiers and residents on the dock into the river. "


    Kirilov''s words surprised me in a cold sweat. Although I thought about it for a while and thought that he was right, I didn''t call chejerikov again. After all, I just gave an order to the regiment to give up the northern highland when necessary. After a few minutes, I ordered to cancel the previous order, which would affect my prestige in the army. So I had to harden my head and say to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, you don''t have to worry. Except for a commander who is good at fighting, the regiment now has a good commander, There is also a political commissar who is good at political agitation. Under their command, I firmly believe that the position will be held. "


    "I hope so." When kirilov saw that I was obstinate, he did not persuade me any more. Instead, he gently suggested to me, "but we should prepare for the worst."


    Although I was calm on the surface, I didn''t have the bottom in my heart. For the sake of safety, I picked up the phone again and directly dialed the second regiment to ask the messenger to find Pugachev. When I heard Pugachev''s voice coming from the receiver, I gave him a direct order: "major Pugachev, I order you to immediately send two companies to strengthen the troops stationed on the riverside position after the enemy''s shelling stops. We must ensure that even if the enemy breaks through the position of a regiment, it will not be able to get close to the wharf of the Volga River. "


    "I see." Pugachev gave a loud promise, and then he lowered his voice to remind me: "Sir, I think you may have made a mistake just now. I''m just a captain, not a major."


    "Don''t talk to me. Do you think I''ll be so confused that I forget your rank? To tell you the truth, commander trakov has promoted you to the rank of major When I heard that Pugachev''s breathing became urgent because of this unexpected news, I lost no time to pour him a basin of cold water. "But I remind you that if you let a German soldier approach the wharf, even if he was blown away by a bomb, I will withdraw your post. Do you understand? "


    Pugachev quickly expressed his determination to me: "please don''t worry, sir. I''ll arrange the manpower right now. As long as there is a soldier in the second regiment, we will never let the enemy pass our position."


    Putting down the phone, I bowed my head and thought that if I want to keep the high ground, infantry alone may not be enough. It''s time to use the artillery battalion and tank battalion. So I called the artillery battalion commander molozov again.


    As soon as I got through the phone this time, I would like to express my congratulations to Morozov: "Comrade Morozov, I would like to congratulate you. Commander trakov has just promoted you to the rank of major."


    After listening to this, Morozov giggled twice, and then asked with deep understanding, "Comrade division, you call me. Maybe it''s not just for my promotion. Is it our artillery battalion''s turn to attack again?"


    It''s easy to talk to a commander like Morozov who is good at understanding the intentions of his superiors. I took his words and said, "Comrade major, you guess a lot. According to the observation reports of the 1st and 2nd regiments, the enemy''s infantry of about one regiment, under the cover of dozens of tanks, were rushing towards the northern highland where the 1st regiment held fast. I order you, as soon as the enemy''s shelling stops, to send mortar companies to set up artillery positions on the northern highlands to provide the necessary artillery support for the officers and men of the first regiment. "


    "Do you need an antitank company?" Asked Morozov.


    "No, I can''t use them yet." At present, there are only ten guns left in the anti tank artillery company. If we lose them again, our division''s anti tank force will be almost exhausted. In that case, we will be helpless in the face of the fierce tanks. I remember that the anti tank rifle company, which was withdrawn from highland 107.5 last night, was temporarily assigned to the artillery battalion. If we really want to fight tanks, they are the best candidates. Thinking of this, I said to the microphone, "major Morozov, didn''t I transfer an anti tank rifle company to you last night? Let them enter the position later. With them, we can still clean up the enemy''s tanks. "


    "I see, sir. I''ll make arrangements now."


    "Do you need to call the tank battalion again?" Kirilov, seeing that I had finished the call, immediately reminded me.


    "You have a point. I''ll fight now." Then I picked up the phone again and called pelsky of the tank battalion. The order I gave him was very simple: "Comrade perskin, I order you to immediately arrange for the soldiers to check the fuel and ammunition of the tanks and prepare for all battles." Before I hung up, I added to him, "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, because you are outstanding in the battle. Commander trakov has just promoted you to the rank of major." With that, I hung up without waiting for any response from him.


    When kirilov saw that I had made so many phone calls at one go, he couldn''t help saying with emotion: "Comrade division, you have considered very carefully. If this arrangement is really made, even if the enemy occupies the surface positions of a regiment, it will not pose much threat to us."


    Akhromeyev came over from the telephone and reported to me, "report to division commander, I have just talked with major gordonov, the head of the third regiment, on the phone and asked him to prepare for sending troops to reinforce regiment one."


    I nodded and said confidently, "well, we have done all the things we should do. The rest depends on how the enemy plans to attack our conservative mamayev post."


    After hearing this, kirilov said with a smile, "we have made all the preparations for the battle. I''d like to see if the fierce Germans can occupy the positions of a regiment."


    Akhromeyev looked at the place where the signalmen were staying, and then asked me in a low voice: "Sir, do you need to send the signalmen to check the line? If you don''t have a phone and only rely on the telephone, I''m afraid it will leak the secret. "


    I waved my hand and said with disapproval, "anyway, I can still get in touch with Yituan through the telephone now. It doesn''t matter whether there is a telephone or not. Moreover, with such heavy artillery fire, to let the signalmen check the lines is to let them die. Even if they risk their lives to resume communication, who can guarantee that the enemy''s artillery will not blow up our telephone line again? "


    Kirilov also agreed with me in time, saying: "I think the division commander is right. There are not many signalmen in the division. It is not worth the sacrifice. As for the chief of staff''s worry about leakage, I don''t think it''s that serious. Even if the enemy eavesdrops on the communication between the division headquarters and the first regiment, they don''t have enough time to adjust their combat deployment according to the situation of the battlefield. "


    While we were talking, razumeyeva came up and handed me a telegram she had just received. After looking at it for a few minutes, I handed it to kirilov and said, "the enemy is crazy. They launched a fierce offensive against Stalingrad from the north, West and South at the same time. They have the posture of never giving up until they occupy the city."


    After kirilov finished reading, akhromeyev took the telegram in his hand and asked, "teacher, political commissar, what''s wrong with the enemy? They did not attack sooner or later, but today they launched an all-round offensive against Stalingrad


    Although I vaguely remember that the German army launched an attack on Stalingrad these days and almost drove the 62nd group army into the Volga River, I don''t know exactly why. So I looked at kirilov smilingly and asked, "Comrade political commissar, what do you think?"


    Kirilov frowned and walked back and forth in front of us for two times. Then he stopped and said in an uncertain tone, "I think of a possibility, and I don''t know if it''s accurate."


    "What''s possible? My good political commissar, please tell me. " When akhromeyev saw kirilov playing tricks on him, he was a little upset and urged him to speak out.


    "After the division commander went to the headquarters of the group army yesterday, comrade gurov, a military commissar of the group army, came to the fifth regiment."


    Gurov went to the command post of the fifth regiment. Why didn''t kirilov tell me about this last night? However, this is not the time to investigate this, so I also asked him curiously, "political commissar, did comrades of the military commissar go to the command post of the fifth regiment and say that they have information about the enemy''s massive attack today?"


    "I think the information he told me has a lot to do with the enemy''s comprehensive attack today." Kirilov nodded thoughtfully, and then said: "Comrade military commissar said that the German commander Paulus reported the news of the troops entering Stalingrad to the German base camp yesterday morning. It is said that there were special gatherings and processions in Germany to celebrate the capture of Stalingrad. Maybe Paulus thought that he could occupy our city before dark yesterday at the latest. But the whole day passed, and the enemy was still in the position of yesterday morning. I think Paulus was afraid of lying about the military situation and being punished by Hitler, so he had to order his troops to launch an all-round offensive against Stalingrad. "


    "The commissar made a lot of sense." After listening to kirilov''s account, I understand why the German army launched such a large-scale attack because they published the information of occupying Stalingrad prematurely. At present, in order to save their face, they launched an attack on our city like crazy.


    Knowing the reason of the enemy''s attack, my heart became heavy. Although I said that I had confidence in the commanders and fighters of the first regiment, I was more and more confused. After all, after such a long time of fighting, the number of soldiers of the first regiment has been seriously reduced, from 2000 when I went to the position to 600 now, which is equivalent to three-quarters of the casualties. It seems that when the battle is over, I will withdraw the first regiment from the position and replace it with the third regiment, which has more troops.


    Kirilov raised his hand, looked at his watch and said to himself, "the enemy''s shelling and bombing has been going on for almost an hour, and I don''t know when it will stop."


    Just when the three of us were burning with anxiety, the enemy''s air strikes stopped. The enemy''s artillery fire began to extend, focusing on the southern highland where the division headquarters was located. At the same time, approaching the northern Highlands, the German infantry began to attack the positions of the first regiment.


    As our highlands were suppressed by the enemy''s heavy artillery fire, we could not observe the enemy''s attack, so we had to be constantly reported to me by the commander of the front line, shijerikov. "Report to division commander, a platoon of the ninth company in the position at the foot of the mountain where we first exchanged fire with the German army. But because the platoon leader was just promoted from a soldier and lacked command experience, he made the mistake of improper use of troops in the battle and immediately put the whole platoon into the battle. Under the heavy gunfire of German tanks, the platoon suffered huge casualties. After repulsing the enemy''s first attack, there were only two seriously wounded men left in the position. When the enemy launched a second attack, they resolutely pulled the grenade and died with the German army


    Although I heard that shejerikov reported to me that all the commanders and fighters of a platoon had died, I was not surprised. At the moment, what I was concerned about was not the number of casualties, but whether the Highlands could be held. When shejerikov''s speech came to an end, I immediately asked, "what measures have the commanders on the Highlands taken?"¡° When the commander of the eighth company in the hillside position saw that the position at the foot of the mountain had been lost, he immediately organized two platoons to fight back, and tried to take advantage of the enemy''s unstable foothold to take the position back from their hands. But as soon as the two platoons left the position, they were covered by German tank fire, and only a dozen of the wounded returned to the position. In this way, the eighth company did not succeed in counterattack, but suffered heavy losses, which made it difficult to defend the hillside position¡° Sergeant chejerikov, transfer the reserves to the hillside position immediately. Remember that the enemy''s artillery fire is fierce. If the more troops are put into the position at one time, the more casualties there will be, the faster they will be. Therefore, only two platoons will be sent into the position at a time. If there is one class injured or killed, we should immediately add another class from the fortifications behind, so that we can withstand the enemy''s attack. "¡° Sir, I have a request. " After I had finished, Xie jerikov suddenly said, "I hope you will agree."¡° Say, as long as I can do it, I will promise you. " Although I agreed so readily, xiejerikov still said in a timid way: "Comrade division, as you know, our regiment has been fighting with the enemy since it entered the mamayev post. If it wasn''t for the serious staff reduction in the regiment, I wouldn''t have said that to you... "" just say what you want to say. Don''t be so fussy. " Before he finished, I impatiently interrupted him: "after a long time, don''t you just want the reserves? I''ll give you whatever you want. Is one regiment enough? " Hearing that I had added a regiment to him, Jerry cofton was very happy. He said happily, "the strength of a regiment is really great. At present, there are less than 400 members left in our regiment. If we don''t add any more, we can almost cancel the organizational system by this evening. "¡° Well, stop talking nonsense. " I said solemnly, "I''ll transfer the third regiment right away. When they arrive, the regiment will be under your command. If you still let the northern highland fall after being supplemented, you don''t have to go back to the division headquarters. Just shoot yourself in the head with a gun. " With that, I threw the earphone and transmitter to razumeyeva and said, "Comrade lieutenant, call the third regiment for me." Then he went to the table, picked up the phone and dialed the second regiment. Pugachev, who answered the phone, said: "Comrade major, the situation of the first regiment is very bad at present. There are only less than 400 people left in the whole regiment. You should immediately send a company to reinforce him." Originally, I thought that Pugachev would complain to me. After all, the highland where we were was was being heavily shelled by the German army. Unexpectedly, he said, "Comrade division, since a regiment has been reduced so much, it may not be helpful for a company to go up. Shall I send a battalion to them?" I''m glad to hear that Pugachev is so knowledgeable. Although I also wanted to agree to Pugachev''s request, I thought that if the northern highland could not be defended, then it would be our highland to bear the enemy''s fierce attack. If we did not have enough troops, we might not be able to defend. So I said to him, "no, comrade Pugachev, I intend to drop all the three regiments. I want you to send a company first in order to ease the shortage of troops in lieutenant colonel chejerikov''s area. " As soon as I put down the phone, I heard razumeyeva raise her hand and shout: "I''m connected with the third regiment." Before I could walk over, akhromeyev, who was standing near her, stepped forward, took the earphone and the transmitter from her hand, and said, "I''ll talk to major Godunov." Akhromeyev said to the microphone, "Hello, is that major Godunov? I''m captain akhromeyev, chief of staff of the division. " I couldn''t help but feel ashamed. When I asked for the rank of trokov, I didn''t ask for two. To say the least, even if I don''t give the title of basmanov, my battalion commander, how can I forget akhromeyev, the chief of staff, who is my right arm. Now he is in the rank of captain to command a group of lieutenant and major, which sounds very awkward. No, after dark, I must call trakov and ask him to promote akhromeyev. Although my heart is full of guilt for akhromeyev, but he does not care about the expression, still on behalf of kirilov and me, issued a variety of combat orders to the troops below. He said in a loud voice to the transmitter: "the division commander orders that your regiment immediately disperse into the North highland and reinforce a regiment. After entering the first regiment position, your regiment is under the command of lieutenant colonel chejerikov. "

 Chapter 659

    Major Pugachev''s action was very sharp. Not long after I gave the order, and before the shelling abated, he sent a most elite company to reinforce a regiment


    On the way to the northern highland, the company was killed by the enemy''s heavy artillery fire, resulting in heavy losses. Although it was only a few hundred meters away, when they reached the position of the first regiment, there were 110 people in the company, only 24 left. The company commander and almost all the grass-roots commanders were killed in the gunfire. When Pugachev reported to me, he choked for several times and I was very sad after hearing his report.


    Kirilov and akhromeyev were stunned when they heard the news. Kirilov was surprised and said, "how could the German artillery fire be so intense? You know, the distance between the second regiment and the first regiment is not more than 300 meters, and there are so many trenches and bomb shelters, I didn''t expect that the company sent to it was almost lost. "


    As soon as kirilov finished, akhromeyev quickly asked me, "Sir, do you need to postpone the departure of the third regiment?"


    I bowed my head to think that the current regiment is short of troops. If we don''t reinforce them in time, it is still a question whether they can carry the enemy''s attack. But if the third regiment, like the company of the second regiment, swarmed up, under the enemy''s artillery attack, the casualties would be absolutely not small. After thinking about it for a long time, I still vetoed akhromeyev''s proposal and said to myself, "chief of staff, you should call major Godunov immediately and ask him to break up the troops into parts and enter the positions of the first regiment in batches by platoon."


    "Yes, I''ll call major Godunov right away." After listening to my order and answering it, akhromeyev called the third regiment.


    Just as the German troops were attacking one regiment after another, a call came from the group headquarters. On the phone, general Krylov said in an anxious tone: "Colonel oshanina, today the German army launched a full-scale attack on Stalingrad. At present, several more enemies have rushed into the city and are engaged in street fighting with our troops. At the same time, 107.5 highland was also fiercely attacked by the German army. According to the commander who held the position, their soldiers had fought with the enemy for bayonets several times. Do you think we can send troops to reinforce them? "


    I was worried about the battle on the northern highland. I didn''t expect that krailov would call me to send reinforcements to the friendly highland. If it was yesterday, maybe I really agreed. Anyway, the third regiment of the division''s reserve team is the first fire brigade, and I will go to reinforce wherever I need it. But now the third regiment has been sent to the northern highland by me, and there is no surplus force at all, so I can only say to kelerov in embarrassment: "Comrade chief of staff, the enemy has launched a fierce offensive against mamayev post. After a long period of brutal fighting, the regiment that had been holding fast to the northern highlands was almost exhausted. I just sent the third regiment as a reserve to reinforce it, so I couldn''t dispatch troops to reinforce the friendly forces. "


    "Colonel o''shanina, have you ever thought about it? If the high ground guarded by the 42nd regiment of the guards is lost, the enemy will detour back to the rear of the mamayev post, and you will be attacked from both sides. " Krailov, who was euphemistically rejected by me, was unexpectedly not angry with me, but patiently convinced me.


    When krailov spoke, my brain was thinking very fast. The three regiments in the position at present could not be used, while the fourth and fifth regiments in the residential areas were responsible for covering the rear of the whole division. At the critical moment, I also planned to let them all enter the city to fight with the German army in street and guerrilla warfare, which naturally could not be used. Thinking of the easy to attack and difficult to defend highland 107.5, I suggested to krailov: "Comrade chief of staff, since the friendly highlands can not be defended, we should simply not defend them. Let them withdraw to the city and continue to fight against the German army."


    "Give up the highlands and retreat into the city?" After repeating my words, krailov asked with great interest, "I want to hear what you can do to stop the enemy''s attack when the troops withdraw into the city."


    "Well, comrade chief of staff." As for the amiable chief of staff of the group army, I didn''t hide my thoughts. I said to him straightforwardly, "the 107.5 highland is easy to attack and difficult to defend, and there are not many solid fortifications. Under the strong artillery attack of the enemy, the commanders and fighters who stick to the highland will suffer heavy losses. So, I think we should find some solid buildings in the city, and each building should be equipped with a combat team composed of 50-100 soldiers under the command of GC party members. We should stick to these support points and fight against the enemy who rushes into the city. " In order to dispel his worries, I specially stressed that "as long as the enemy and our soldiers are tied together, the enemy''s aircraft and artillery will lose their use. At that time, our commanders and fighters can rely on their familiarity with the terrain to make the enemy dizzy. "


    "Your proposal is good. I''ll report it to the commander." After confirming my proposal, Krylov specially told me: "remember, we should guard mamayev post at all costs, otherwise, the enemy will occupy the dock and cut off our contact with the outside world. Once the weapons, ammunition and grain from outside can not be transported, our 62nd army will not be the enemy''s opponent no matter how tenacious it is. "


    "Please rest assured the chief of staff." Although I have expressed my determination to the superior commander in countless times and occasions, at this time, I have to show my determination again: "as long as there is one person in the independent division, we will never let the enemy move forward. We swear to live with the position."


    "Well said, I believe you can hold the position." Krailov said this and hung up.


    The enemy''s shelling of the southern highlands finally stopped near noon. However, their attack on a regiment''s position was never interrupted.


    I left akhromeyev at the headquarters and took kirilov to the observation post on the hillside to observe the enemy''s attack on a regiment position.


    Due to the long-term shelling, the smoke outside the cave is like a thick fog, blocking our sight. When we bent down to move fast in the trench, we could hear the coughing of the officers and men lying on the fortifications, choked by the strong smell of gunpowder.


    When I heard the coughing of the commanders and fighters, I felt a little lucky. Fortunately, Hitler was a victim of the gas war in World War I, so he strictly prohibited his troops from using gas bombs in battle. If it had been for the shameless Japanese pirates, it would have been a long time since so many poison gas bombs came up.


    When we came to the observation post, we found that this relatively hidden observation post had been blown down. Looking at the logs that used to be used as roofs, now they were scattered and still burning, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly, turned to kirilov and said, "Comrade political commissar, I think you can think of how fierce the enemy''s artillery fire is now? If we had stayed in the observation center, we would have gone to see God by now. "


    "Or shall we go to the observation post at the top of the mountain?" Kirilov asked carefully.


    I shook my head and said bitterly, "forget it, the enemy bombarded and bombed our highlands. I don''t think the observation post on the top of the mountain is any better. Maybe it was bombed down."


    Our arrival made the second group leader Pugachev panic. After receiving the soldier''s report, he trotted all the way along the trench and came to us. He was about to raise his hand to salute. I reached out and stopped him: "don''t salute, comrade major. Do you want the German snipers to target us?"


    Although the visibility is less than 10 meters now, after listening to what I said, he still put down his hand, which was raised to half of it, and said with a chat: "teacher, political commissar, how did you get to the position? As soon as the enemy''s shelling is over, I''m afraid there will be unexploded shells or bombs left in the position. It''s too dangerous for you to stay here. You''d better go back to the headquarters first. "


    "Comrade major," kirilov said with a blank face when he finished, "the enemy''s shelling has trapped us in the headquarters all morning. My division commander and I are here just to see for ourselves the enemy''s attack on the positions of the first regiment, so that we can make corresponding operational plans. "


    Seeing that one side of the trench was full of well prepared officers and men, I said with disapproval, "major Pugachev, don''t worry. Don''t you see our soldiers all around? Even if the enemy bypasses the northern highlands and attacks us directly, I believe these officers and men will beat them back. "


    Seeing my resolute attitude, Pugachev could not persuade us any more, so he had to nod to us, turn around and leave, and go back to his regiment headquarters to give orders.


    When Pugachev left, I lay down in the trench, raised my telescope and looked in the direction of a group of positions. Due to the strong smoke barrier, I can only hear the sound of guns coming from the front, and I can''t see where the battle actually started.


    Ten minutes later, the smoke that blocked our sight was blown away by the river wind. In this way, I could finally see the fighting in the northern highlands. The position halfway up the hill was occupied by German troops, and the trenches were full of German soldiers. They were shooting at the position on the top of the hill to cover the upward charge of their companions.


    In our army''s position, although the number of soldiers left in the trenches was not large, they still stood high and fired machine guns and rifles at the German soldiers who were climbing the slope. From time to time, they smashed down hand grenades. With the explosion of hand grenades and the bullets fired by our army, German soldiers who were injured by shrapnel or hit by bullets rolled down the hillside.


    The top of the hill was fighting, and the troops behind were not idle. On this side of the south slope, there was a company commander, bent over with weapons, and approached the top of the slope carefully. When they were 20 or 30 meters away from the position, a commander in the front suddenly raised a red flag in his hand, and the troops immediately stopped advancing and all fell down on the spot.


    When kirilov saw this scene, he was so angry that he scolded: "is this commander out of his mind? It''s only 20 or 30 meters away from the position. Let the soldiers run a few steps to enter the position. He ordered the soldiers to stop and hide in place. "


    Looking at the shells that fell on the top of the mountain and exploded from time to time, I immediately understood the commander''s intention and persuaded kirilov: "don''t worry, comrade political commissar. I don''t think it''s a bad thing for the commander to stop the troops. "


    Kirilov was confused by what I said. He kept looking up and down at me as if he never knew me. After a long time, he bit his back teeth and asked, "why?"


    I pointed forward with my hand and explained, "you see, the enemy tanks at the foot of the mountain are shelling the positions on the top of the mountain, and the German soldiers charging upward are not far away from the positions. If we let the reinforcements rush into the position at this time and don''t wait for it to fully unfold, we will suffer heavy losses in the enemy''s artillery fire. "


    "Comrade oshanina, I see what you mean." Although I have made my words very clear, kirilov could not help but feel a little anxious when he saw that our position was about to be occupied by the enemy: "even if the situation you mentioned would happen, this army could not stop there and watch the enemy seize our position."


    "My political commissar, please don''t worry. I think you will soon understand why this unit is here. "


    After hearing this, kirilov did not argue with me any more, but said angrily, "well, I''ll see what kind of role this army can play."


    Because of the great disparity between the enemy and us, the enemy finally rushed into the position on the top of the mountain and launched a close combat with the garrison on the position. Seeing that his infantry rushed into the trench, the German tanks stopped firing for fear that they would hurt their own people if they continued to fire. At this time, the army hiding in the south slope, with the commander waving the red flag forward, the commanders and fighters lying on the ground first smashed a hand grenade, then got up and rushed up with weapons.


    Twenty or thirty meters away, between a few breaths. As soon as the enemy occupied our position, he had no time to clean up the battlefield. Even the machine guns on the sandbags had no time to turn around, so he was dazed by a lot of grenades falling from the sky. Before they could recover, a new force rushed in and fought with them. After a little resistance, the exhausted German soldiers gave up the position they had just occupied and turned around and ran down the slope.


    Our soldiers chased up and smashed a lot of hand grenades, then they fell down in the trench and rushed to the back of the enemy, shooting like a target. When the tank at the foot of the mountain recovered and fired again at the top of the mountain, the enemy''s commanders and fighters retreated into the trench.


    Seeing the performance of our soldiers, kirilov still didn''t have a smile on his face. I touched him with my arm and asked, puzzled¡° Comrade political commissar, what''s the matter? Why are you not happy to see our commanders and fighters beat the enemy back? "


    Kirilov pointed to the hilltop position where the front side was being shelled and said unconvincingly, "Comrade o''shanina, don''t you think the way you just played was too risky? Do you think our troops can stop us if the German troops occupy our position and charge down over the high ground without stopping


    After listening to kirilov''s worries, I said, "Comrade political commissar, you are too nervous. According to my judgment, after seizing our position, the enemy will not continue to march forward, but will stay to rest and try to consolidate the position before launching an attack on the new target. " I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I said to him, "come on, comrade political commissar. Judging from the current situation, the enemy''s attack on our highlands will soon end in failure. Let''s go back to the headquarters."


    As soon as he returned to the headquarters, akhromeyev stood up and reported to us: "the division commander, political commissar, and the first commander, Lieutenant Colonel xijerikov, just reported to me that the hillside position occupied by the enemy had been captured by the combination of the frontal attack of the third regiment and the two wings of the first regiment. We have wiped out all the German troops who attacked the positions except a few who escaped. "


    "Comrade political commissar, are you relieved now?" I asked kirilov with a smile.


    Kirilov was a little embarrassed to say: "Comrade oshanina, I''m too upset. Under the circumstances at that time, when I saw the enemy rushing into our position, I would like to take up arms myself and rush to the middle of the enemy to wipe them out. Because we are too worried about the loss of positions, we inevitably make mistakes in our judgment. "


    When we heard that a regiment had beaten back the enemy''s attack again and had taken back the lost position, all three of us showed a knowing smile. It is believed that after dark, the enemy''s attack will stop and they will have to withdraw from their starting positions in dismay.


    But we are happy too early. We really should use the idiom "happiness brings sorrow". At four o''clock in the afternoon, shijerikov reported to me in a trembling voice in the telephone: "report, sir, no, something''s wrong."


    My heart was scared to shiver, quickly asked nervously: "what''s the matter?"


    "All the surface positions of our army were lost, and the remaining troops had to withdraw into the tunnel."


    The bad news shejerikov reported surprised me to drop the transmitter on the ground. The news was really amazing. A few hours ago, he was still reporting to us that the enemy who occupied the position had been destroyed and the position had been recaptured. How long did it take to lose all the surface positions of the northern highlands.


    There is no double blessing, but there is no single misfortune. Shejerikov has not yet said why he came here. After akhromeyev answered the phone, he immediately reported to me with a serious face: "Comrade division commander, major Pugachev, the second commander, called. He said that about a company of German troops had crossed the slope top of the northern highland and rushed towards us."

 Chapter 660

    As soon as akhromeyev''s report was finished, Najia, the operator sitting nearby, stood up and handed me the earphone and the transmitter in her hand. At the same time, she said, "Comrade division commander, the chief of staff of the group army is on the line. He wants to speak to you."


    I took off the earphone I was wearing, gave it to razumeyeva, and came to Najia''s side in a few steps. After I put on the earphone, I said to the transmitter, "this is colonel o''shanina. Hello, general Krylov."


    "I''m not good!" In the earphone, Krylov''s angry voice came: "just now, the intelligence service intercepted the enemy''s telegram saying that they had captured the mamayev post. I want to ask if this is true? Why didn''t you report it in time? "


    "Chief of staff, please listen to my explanation..." I tried to defend myself.


    "I don''t want to hear your explanation." Krailov did not wait for me to finish, so he interrupted me without hesitation and continued to question: "you just need to tell me if the position of mamayev post is occupied by the German army. Yes, or no? "


    It''s really hard for me to answer krailov''s question. He said that he was occupied, but the southern highland where the division headquarters is located is still in our hands; It''s not occupied. At the moment, the north slope is full of German soldiers, and even some of them come down the south slope and are approaching our highlands.


    Krailov was impatient to hear that I didn''t reply. "Hey, why don''t you talk?"


    I murmured, "the enemy is now occupying the surface position of the northern highland."


    "What surface position is not a surface position?" Krailov said angrily, "it is the order of the Supreme Commander himself to let you stick to the mamayev post. If you can''t hold on, what''s waiting for you is not to go to the military court, but to directly enforce battlefield discipline. Think about the fate of the brigade commander and political commissar of the 92nd brigade. " Speaking of this, he suddenly slowed down his tone and said, "Comrade oshanina, not only the commander and the military commissar, but also I don''t want any accident to happen to you. Therefore, as your leader, I do not issue orders to you, but suggest to you that, while the German foothold is not stable, we should immediately organize troops to carry out counterattack and take back the lost positions from the enemy''s hands. "


    Because krailov suddenly mentioned the fate of the commander and political commissar of the 92nd brigade, I was scared to death. After all, I saw the fate of them with my own eyes. Next, when I listened to him, I just felt that my throat was dry and my sweat couldn''t stop coming out. I could only nod repeatedly and couldn''t speak at all.


    After krailov hung up, kirilov and akhromeyev, who had heard our conversation clearly, surrounded and asked with concern: "division commander, since the chief of staff of the group army has become angry, should we immediately organize our troops to carry out counter attack and take back the surface positions of the northern highlands?"


    As I listened to akhromeyev and kirilov, I thought about how to deal with them. It is very difficult to counter attack the enemy face to face immediately after thinking about it. Not to mention that the enemy can use our fortifications for defense, the overwhelming artillery fire is enough to wipe out most of our attacking troops. At this time, the counterattack obviously did not achieve the desired effect, but increased the casualties of the troops in vain.


    Before I could say what I thought, the phone on the wooden table rang. Akhromeyev rushed over and picked up the receiver. After listening for a while, he said solemnly, "I know." Then he hung up. Seeing that he put down the phone, I quickly asked, "Comrade chief of staff, who is calling?"


    "It''s major Pugachev, the second commander. He said that the first German attack had been repulsed, and now the enemy has retreated to the valley between the two highlands..."


    Without waiting for him to finish, kirilov rudely interrupted what he said behind him and asked discontentedly, "why don''t the second regiment take the opportunity to fight back and wipe out this enemy?"


    Seeing that the political commissar was angry, akhromeyev quickly introduced to him: "after the enemy occupied the northern highland, they put a lot of machine guns on the top of the slope, and the position of the second regiment on the hillside was suppressed by their firepower. As soon as the enemy retreated, our officers and men had just jumped out of the trench when they were strafed by the enemy''s machine guns and sacrificed a lot of comrades. "


    "What is the enemy doing when he retreats into the valley, adjusting his formation and preparing to attack again?" I was thinking about what akhromeyev had just said, so when he finished explaining to kirilov, he brought the topic back.


    "As you know, there are many bomb shelters and craters formed by artillery bombardment in the ravines. The enemy uses these terrain to hide. We have no way to take them." At this point, he suddenly remembered what he had just said, and then added, "by the way, major Pugachev also reported that the enemy had mounted a horn on the opposite high ground and was shouting to our commanders and fighters in an attempt to shake our morale."


    After hearing this, kirilov laughed angrily and said with disdain, "do these Communist aggressors think that just by shouting a few words with their trumpets, our military will be shaken, and some cowards who are afraid of life and death will raise their white flags to surrender to them? It''s naive of them


    When I heard akhromeyev say that the German army was shouting to our army, I couldn''t help but be stunned. I said that these Germans actually knew how to carry out military attacks and political offensives at the same time. When I think of the composition of the members of the independent division, I am worried that the enemy''s propaganda offensive will seriously shake my morale.


    Thinking of this, I quickly told akhromeyev: "the enemy suddenly gave us such a move. We can''t take it lightly. Chief of staff, call major Pugachev immediately and ask him to pay more attention to the reaction of the soldiers to avoid accidents. "


    When akhromeyev was on the phone, I saw razumeyeva raise her earphone and transmitter to me. Then I remembered that the conversation with shejerikov was not over. I quickly walked over, took the earphone in her hand, put it on, and tried to reach for the transmitter, shouting: "Hello, Hello, commander shejerikov, are you still there?"


    The earphone soon heard the voice of chejerikov: "Sir, I''m still here."


    If we want to recover the surface position of the northern highland, we can''t do without the support of the first regiment and the third regiment, which are now in the tunnel. So I asked frankly, "tell me, how many people are left in the two regiments? Are the tunnels in our hands? "


    "Mr. report, there are still 231 people left in the first regiment and 894 people left in the third regiment. At present, all the tunnels on the high ground are still under our control. "


    Although the casualties of the 1st and 3rd regiments in the battle were expected to be considerable, when I really heard the specific number of casualties, after listening to the report of Xie jerikov, my heart still could not help but thump. I stopped for a moment. After my mood became more stable, I continued to ask him, "Comrade commander, I plan to send the second regiment to fight back against the northern highlands after dark. At that time, you should rush out of the tunnel and cooperate with the second regiment to take back the position. Is there any difficulty? "


    When he heard that the counterattack would be carried out after dark, he could not help but said excitedly: "Sir, please rest assured, although German troops are found near several main exits. However, there are still many exits that have been blocked by collapsed soil due to shelling and bombing and have not been found by the enemy. When the second regiment begins to fight back, we can secretly dig these exits, enter the position quietly, and wipe out all the enemies in the position. "


    "Well, let the soldiers have a rest. I''ll contact you before dark."


    When all three of us returned to the table, akhromeyev first reported to me that he had called Pugachev, and then he took the initiative to put forward his own suggestions to me: "division commander, political commissar, the enemy has put so many machine guns on the opposite highland, even with the cooperation of one regiment and three regiments, the second regiment, who is in charge of frontal attack, will pay heavy casualties. Therefore, I propose that before the attack, artillery should be used to bombard the artillery on the high ground to destroy the enemy''s firepower support points as much as possible, and then the attack should be launched. "


    "Chief of staff, I think your worries are superfluous. Our officers and men are not afraid of sacrifice. Even without the support of artillery, they will certainly be able to break through the enemy''s defense and recover the high ground with the cooperation of friendly forces. " Kirilov may have seen our division''s recent success, so he took it for granted that the second regiment''s counterattack would also be completed with low casualties. He also specially emphasized: "there are not many heavy howitzers we have captured. If they are used up, they will become scrap iron."


    Seeing that his proposal was rejected by the political commissar, akhromeyev''s face became stiff. I waited for both of them to stop talking before I said slowly, "I''ll talk about my opinion. In the current situation, as the chief of staff said, the enemy has laid a lot of machine guns on the opposite highland. If our troops carry out a strong attack, they are bound to suffer heavy casualties. Therefore, the necessary firepower support is still necessary. " Seeing that kirilov seemed to want to cut in, I raised my hand to stop him and continued: "Comrade political commissar, please listen to me. When I talk about firepower support, I don''t mean to pull up those home guard howitzers and bombard the enemy occupied positions. First of all, we don''t have so many shells; Secondly, if the enemy finds that there are heavy guns in our positions, then we will bear more pressure in the next battle. So my plan is like this: the first battalion of the second regiment will take up a frontal attack. Before the attack, we will launch our killer weapon - the thunderbolt. That guy will be able to deal with the enemy''s fortifications and use the cannon well. The second battalion went around from the east side near the Volga River, where were the destroyed oil tanks and a water tower. The enemy should have no defensive force. I don''t believe that under such circumstances, the German army can continue to hold the positions captured in the daytime. "


    After I said that, seeing the expression on the two faces became relaxed. Kirilov also flattered me and said, "a teacher is a teacher. He is more comprehensive than us. If I had been in charge, nine times out of ten, I would have ordered the troops to rush up at all costs, and even if they had run out of troops, they would have to take back the high ground for me. "


    After hearing kirilov''s words, I just gave a wry smile and didn''t speak. His playing method was very common in the current Soviet army. Most of the commanders did not consider any tactics at all. They only knew how to fight hard and use the sea of people tactics to fight with the enemy''s well-equipped elite troops. This can be confirmed by the bodies of soldiers and workers that we saw all over the mountains on our way to mamayev post.


    Then the three of us made a detailed study on how to deploy our defense after the troops recovered their positions. When we finished all this, I raised my hand to look at my watch and found that it had been an hour. I immediately ordered akhromeyev: "chief of staff, call the second Chief of staff and ask how his troops are doing."


    Akhromeyev nodded, then picked up the phone on the table and called Pugachev. At first, his expression was very relaxed, but the more he said, the more serious his expression was, and he kept shouting at the microphone: "what do you say, say it again!"


    At the beginning, I thought that the signal of the telephone was bad, but from the expression on ahlomeyev''s face, I had an unknown notice in my heart. Could it be that the second regiment was angry with Pugachev except for something? Thinking of this, he asked akhromeyev frankly, "chief of staff, what''s the matter?"


    Akhromeyev, who was holding the microphone, didn''t answer me immediately when he heard what I said. Instead, he said to the microphone: "Comrade major, you''d better report to Comrade division in person." Then he handed me the microphone.


    I took the microphone and asked Pugachev mistily, "Hello, major Pugachev, this is Mr. o''shanina. Tell me, what''s the matter? "


    "That''s true, sir." When Pugachev heard that it was my voice, he quickly and respectfully reported to me, "the enemy is suppressing our regiment''s position on the hillside with firepower, so that our troops can''t attack, but they don''t attack either. They just shout at our soldiers with the trumpet on the opposite hillside, saying that they can completely capture Stalingrad in one or two days, Let''s lay down our arms and surrender to them, so as to ensure our personal safety. "


    "Fart, can you believe the Krauts?" I yelled at Pugachev and then asked, "how are the soldiers feeling?"


    After listening to my question, Pugachev was silent. After a while, he was embarrassed to say: "Sir, the situation is a bit bad."


    "Why not?" His words made my heart rise to my throat. My heart said that the commanders and fighters of the second regiment would not listen to the enemy''s shouting for a while, and then they wanted to turn around, right? Although this idea flashed through my mind, I still gritted my teeth to avoid shaking the morale of the army.


    "I went to the Third Battalion just now and found that many soldiers were saying strange things, saying that the enemy had planes on board and tanks and cannons under them. But we didn''t have the right to control the air. We didn''t even have a few cannons. We had to stay in the fortifications all day long to be bombed. Instead of waiting to die like this, we had better surrender to the Germans as soon as possible."


    When he said that, I suddenly became anonymous and hit the table with a fierce blow. I asked angrily, "major Pugachev, tell me, who is it? Who said all this shit? "


    Pugachev murmured: "Sir, you also know that our regiment has added more than 1000 recruits last month. You know better than me where these recruits come from. Most of them have no aversion to the Germans, so after listening to the German propaganda, some complaints are inevitable. "


    "Comrade major," I couldn''t wait for him to finish. At the same time, I ordered him, "I order you to immediately send someone to arrest these grumbling soldiers and find a place to arrest them." This is an extraordinary period. If the commanders and fighters of the division are really allowed to complain casually, it is likely to cause the morale of the army to shake. I have to take special measures to prevent it.


    I didn''t expect that after my order was given, Pugachev didn''t readily agree. Instead, he explained to me: "Sir, there are hundreds of grumbling soldiers. Can''t you let me arrest them all? What''s more, if we catch so many people in battle, I''m afraid it will shake the morale of the army. "


    When I was about to speak, I suddenly felt that my hand was loosened, and kirilov grabbed the microphone in my ear. He heard my orders clearly, so he said sternly to Pugachev: "Comrade major, don''t you know that the orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed? Since the teacher has given you an order, you should carry it out. As for the consequences of this order, you should consider it. Go ahead and carry it out immediately


    When he heard kirilov''s harsh tone, Pugachev did not dare to be stubborn any more, so he had to obediently promise: "I understand, comrade political commissar, I will go to implement it immediately."


    Hearing that Pugachev agreed to carry out the order, I reached out to kirilov and said to him in a low voice, "commissar, give me the phone. I''ll talk to the major again and explain to him why I gave the order."


    Kirilov nodded and handed over the microphone. As soon as I put the receiver close to my ear, before I could speak, I heard a flustered voice: "Comrade commander, comrade commander, something''s wrong!"


    Then I heard Pugachev ask impatiently, "what are you shouting about? Don''t you see that I''m calling the division headquarters? Come on, what''s the matter? "


    "Report to the commander, a class of soldiers left their weapons, climbed out of the trench and ran down the hill."


    I ran down the mountain without weapons. What are these soldiers going to do? Before I could understand it, I heard Pugachev ask the soldiers who came to report the news in surprise: "they don''t want to die. They dare to attack the enemy without guns?"


    The soldier said with a cry: "commander, don''t you understand? Instead of charging at the enemy, they dropped their weapons, climbed out of the trench and ran to the foot of the hill, ready to surrender to the Germans there. They''re defecting, they''re defecting! "

 Chapter 661

    The sudden bad news startled me in a cold sweat. I rushed to the microphone and yelled, "Hello, Hello, major Pugachev, can you hear me? Hello, Hello, can you hear me? "


    Before receiving the report from his subordinates, Pugachev was talking with akhromeyev. Suddenly, I was the one who heard the talk. I was in a panic and said, "report, teacher, teacher..."


    "Major Pugachev, let me ask you." Without waiting for him to speak, I yelled at him: "what do the commanders in the position do? Do they even watch a group of their subordinates flee?"


    "Sir, it''s all my fault. I''ll try to deal with it."


    I was about to ask him how he was going to deal with this matter when I suddenly felt that his hand was loose. Then kirilov, who was angry, grabbed the microphone. He said coldly to the microphone, "major Pugachev, I''m kirilov, the political commissar of the division. I now order you to immediately shoot the platoon leader of the deserter''s platoon and the company commander''s instructor on the spot. "


    Kirilov surprised me when he passed my direct order. The punishment of sitting down was too unexpected. Without waiting to speak, I heard Pugachev explain to kirilov on the phone: "company commander and platoon leader are all from the second lieutenant training team; The instructor came with you from the Political Department of the group army. Not long after they took office, they didn''t have much control over the army. This accident has little to do with them. "


    "I don''t care whether these company platoon leaders and instructors are from the second lieutenant training team or the Political Department of the group army. Since such a vicious incident happened, they are responsible for it," kirilov told Pugachev without any hesitation, while akhromeyev on the other side blushed when he heard that the company platoon leaders to be shot were all his former subordinates, The corners of his mouth twitched. Only kirilov ordered: "major, you can''t be soft hearted at this time. Do it now


    When kirilov hung up, akhromeyev and I were still in a state of shock. First, I didn''t expect that there would be defection of soldiers; Second, I didn''t expect kirilov to pass me and issue such a severe order to the following.


    Kirilov sighed when he saw that akhromeyev and I were both discontented and said to us, "division chief and chief of staff, I know that you both feel that I have gone too far. A few soldiers defected. Even if it was caused by the lax restraint of the company platoon leader, they would be dismissed at most. How could they be shot so seriously? "


    I listened to him and nodded instinctively, affirming his analysis.


    He went on to say: "Sir, I''m thinking about it for you. If you think about it, all the surface positions in the northern highlands were occupied by the German army, and the defenders in the southern highlands actually defected. If we don''t take military discipline seriously and punish several responsible persons with heavy penalties, then other commanders will not attach importance to the control of the troops. In the next battle, similar defections are expected to be inevitable. You know, at present, because of the loss of the highland, your superiors are very dissatisfied with you. If this defection incident is poked up again, you are likely to be dismissed immediately. "


    Before he finished speaking, I waved my hand and interrupted what he said later, saying gratefully, "needless to say, comrade political commissar, you are right. First of all, military discipline must be strict in large regiments'' operations. We must not tolerate such sudden and vicious incidents. " At this point, I suddenly turned the topic to the counter offensive after dark. "If the enemy forces stay in the valley all the time, it will be a trouble for us to fight back at night. As long as we exchange fire with them, we will alarm the enemy on the top of the hillside. In this way, the sneak attack of the second regiment and the first battalion will turn into a strong attack, and the casualties will certainly not be small. "


    "Sir, I think so." In just a few minutes, akhromeyev''s expression also recovered, faithfully performed his duties as chief of staff, and introduced his vision to us: "for the counterattack in the evening, we still carry out the original battle plan. As for the German troops in the ravine, it is not difficult to get rid of them. Before the first battalion launched the attack, it first bombarded the German troops stationed in the valley with thunderguns to attract the attention of the German troops at the top of the mountain. At this time, the second battalion quietly went around from the east side of the highland and set up thunderguns at the oil storage tank to bombard the German troops on the top of the hillside. When the German army in the surface position is dazed by the second battalion''s thunder, it will surely get twice the result with half the effort if it annihilates the first battalion of the German army in the valley and then launches a counterattack to the high ground. "


    After hearing this, kirilov stared at the map for a while, then nodded and said with approval, "the chief of staff''s idea is good. I don''t think it''s a problem to take back the position with this kind of play." Then he looked up at me and said, "what''s your opinion, sir?"


    "The chief of staff''s plan is good. Let''s do it." I felt that akhromeyev''s battle plan was well thought out, so I nodded my approval without thinking.


    After listening to the two of us, akhromeyev quickly picked up the phone on the table and asked me for advice: "Comrade division commander, do you want me to convey the combat order to major Pugachev now?"


    "Yes. After delivering the order, give me Morozov of the artillery barracks. I have something to tell him. "


    When akhromeyev gave an order to Pugachev over the phone, kirilov could not help asking me curiously: "Comrade oshanina, the manpower of the artillery battalion is limited, and each of our infantry regiments has officers and men who can use thunderguns. Don''t ask them to help?"


    "That''s right, comrade political commissar," I explained to kirilov as soon as I saw that kirilov missed his point. "There are people in all regiments who can use thunderguns. I know that very well. The reason why I want to talk to major Morozov is that although the thunder guns are powerful, their accuracy is too poor. I am worried that after those rounds of bombardment, there will be German firepower spots on the highland that will survive and cause heavy casualties to our counterattack troops. So I plan to dispatch the mortar company to follow up in time. Once those resurrected firepower spots are found, Just clean them up. "


    After listening to my explanation, kirilov suddenly realized, and even said: "Oh, so it is. Although we cover the positions on the top of the hillside with our thunder guns, many of them will survive. In that case, even with the cooperation of the tunnel troops of shijerikov, our counterattack troops will have to pay heavy casualties. If the mortar company follows the infantry attack, it can destroy those surviving firepower points in time. Yes, yes, you think it over. "


    As soon as kirilov praised me, akhromeyev called me over there: "division commander, we are connected with the artillery battalion. Commander major Morozov is online, waiting for your order."


    I passed by, took the phone and said, "Hello, major Morozov, I have a combat mission for you."


    "Sir, I''m at your command, please."


    "After dark, we will fight back against the northern highlands. Before the attack, the counterattack troops would bombard the German troops in the ravine and on the top of the hillside with thunderguns. When the bombardment is over and the infantry attack, you should send mortar companies in time to follow the troops to attack the highlands. "


    "I understand!" Morozov''s answer was unusually straightforward.


    As soon as I put down the phone, I didn''t wait to remove my hand from the receiver when the phone rang again. I thought that Morozov had something else to ask, so I picked up the phone and asked casually, "major, do you have any questions you don''t understand?"


    "What major? I''m general Krylov Unexpectedly, the voice of chief of staff krailov came out of the receiver. He asked discontentedly, "what''s the matter with your phone there? I can''t get in for a long time?"


    I quickly straightened up and reported to him, "chief of staff, please forgive me. Before you called, I was giving the counter attack order to the troops."


    "Have the heights been taken back?" Krailov didn''t talk to me, either, and asked directly.


    "Not yet."


    "What, not yet?" Krailov got angry again on the phone: "how long has it been since I gave you the order to fight back, and you haven''t taken the position back from the German hands? If you miss the plane, don''t blame me for being rude to you. "


    When I heard krailov''s anger, I gave a wry smile and said mildly, "Comrade chief of staff, the situation is not what you think. After occupying the surface position of the northern highland, the enemy blocked the position of the second regiment on the hillside with machine guns. In addition, the enemy still has strong artillery support. If we launch a counterattack at this time, we are in danger of losing the whole army. "


    "Colonel oshanina, I remind you that even if all the people of the independent division are dead, the mamayev post must not fall into the hands of the Germans. Do you understand? "


    "I understand very well, comrade chief of staff." Although I heard that he was angry, I don''t think we will organize troops to launch a suicide counterattack against the northern highlands at this time. If this is true, suicide may be achieved, but the counterattack has no effect at all, so I tried to convince him: "I also know that the mamayev post can not fall into the hands of the enemy, so I made a detailed counterattack plan. We are prepared to wait until after dark, when the enemy''s tanks and artillery are of little use, to carry out counterattack and strive to snatch the position from the enemy''s hands at one stroke. "


    After listening to my explanation, krailov''s tone softened: "well, since you plan to fight back after dark, I''ll give you a few more hours. But I''m going to tell you that if you can''t get your positions back before dawn, you''ll have to go to the military court. "


    "Thank you. Thank you, chief of staff." Although Krylov threatened me with a military court, I thank him for giving me a few more hours. I heard the rumble of guns coming from outside, and I couldn''t help caring about the fighting in other areas: "by the way, chief of staff, what''s the situation of the friendly forces? For example, the 42nd regiment of the guards. "


    Krailov snorted and said, "the situation is very bad. The 107.5 highland held by the 42nd regiment of the guards has been occupied by the German army. The two counterattacks organized by the regiment were also repulsed by the German army, and now they have retreated to the city. At present, the enemy and us are fighting fiercely on the Soviet street, fighting house by house. " At this point, he stopped for a moment, then slowed down and said to me, "Colonel oshanina, in your words, you are a gate blocking the German army from rushing into the city. If we can''t stop them and let them rush into the city, Stalingrad will be in danger. "


    Kirilov and akhromeyev also heard my conversation with krailov. Before I put down the phone, they checked on the map which direction the enemy might attack after breaking through the position of the 42nd guard regiment.


    Seeing their brows wrinkled together, I comforted them with a smile and said, "political commissar and chief of staff, you don''t have to worry. Even if the German army occupied the dormitory area behind 107.5 highland, it was not easy for them to encircle us from behind. Don''t you forget that we have a relatively complete fourth and fifth regiment behind us, and a well-equipped tank battalion. If the Germans don''t come, they will have to break through. If they have to break through, they will certainly have a head broken in front of the four regiments and five regiments. "


    My words immediately let two people''s eyebrows open, as one of the highest commanders in the division, they also understand that I am not telling lies. Even if the German troops detour back to the rear of the mamayev post, as long as the fourth regiment, under the cover of the tank battalion, gives them a hard blow from their flanks, they can defeat or even annihilate the enemy.


    It was so easy to get through the dark that Pugachev called me again and again to ask when to fight back, so as to wash away the shame brought by the defection of the second regiment. But every time I answer the phone, I just say, "wait!" He hung up.


    Not only the commanders below were flustered, but kirilov and akhromeyev couldn''t help it because they couldn''t urge me to give orders when they saw that I didn''t express my opinions. So the chief of staff turned around the headquarters with his hands behind his back, and the political commissar sat at the table, smoking one by one, which made a good headquarters smoke like a fire.


    As time went by, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I saw that the clock had already pointed to ten o''clock. It was estimated that at this time, except for a few sentries, the rest of the enemy were sleeping in the trenches. I suddenly stood up and said to akhromeyev, who stopped to look at me: "Comrade chief of staff, time is almost up. He ordered major Pugachev to immediately let the 1st and 2nd battalions enter the designated position, set up the thunder guns, and then launch a surprise attack on the enemy half an hour later. "


    Akhromeyev, who had been waiting impatiently for a long time, agreed excitedly and rushed to the phone to call Pugachev. While he was on the phone, I turned around and joked with kirilov: "come on, my good political commissar, please stop smoking. Don''t you find that there is a thick fog in the room. If you smoke a little longer, I don''t think I can see your people even at such a long distance. "


    When kirilov heard my teasing, he laughed and quickly put out his cigarette end in the ashtray on the table. He said to himself, "I''m worried because you don''t order to fight back."


    Maybe it was the order given by kirilov in the afternoon. The second regiment moved very quickly. Half an hour later, there were earth shaking explosions outside the cave. Needless to say, it must be our thunder guns.


    I quickly called molozov in the artillery battalion and said to him, "Comrade major, time is almost up. Is your mortar company ready?" When I heard his affirmative reply, I went on to say, "as soon as our thunder guns stop firing, we will immediately attack, follow the infantry, and use the artillery fire to clean up those fire points that have not been completely destroyed. Do you understand?"


    "I understand." In a loud voice, Morozov expressed his determination to me: "I promise to complete the task."


    When I was talking to Morozov, akhromeyev was also talking to a group leader, shijerikov. He said to the transmitter, "Comrade commander, do you hear the explosion? It was the officers and men of the second regiment blowing up the Germans with their thunder guns. When the bombardment is over, the second regiment will launch counterattack against the surface positions from the two directions of South Slope and east slope at the same time. You should make your subordinates ready to attack, try to cooperate with the second regiment inside and outside, and take back the positions. "


    After returning the earphone and microphone to razumeyeva, akhromeyev breathed a sigh of relief, turned and walked towards us, and said: "teacher, political commissar, I have given the order to fight back to a regiment. What we can do next is to wait. I hope major Pugachev and they can bring us good news. "


    The earth shaking explosion outside rings every two or three minutes. After the fifth time, there is no more explosion. Akhromeyev, who has been listening to the movement outside, said nervously: "the thunder guns have stopped shooting. Next, it''s our infantry''s turn."


    Perhaps because of nervousness, kirilov unconsciously held another cigarette in his mouth and asked, "you say, if the second regiment carries out counterattack, how long will it take to regain the position?"


    I reached out to smoke his cigarette and said impolitely, "Comrade political commissar, please stop smoking. Do you want to smoke everyone into pneumonia?"


    Akhromeyev looked at us with a smile and said, "although we have used our thunder guns to inflict heavy damage on the enemy, I estimate that even if it goes well, it will take an hour at the fastest to get the position back from the enemy."


    Kirilov, after listening to akhromeyev''s conjecture, turned to me and asked noncommittally, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think?"


    I thought about it. Although we caught the enemy unprepared, it might take an hour for us to get the position back. So I said to akhromeyev Nunu, "I agree with the chief of staff, about an hour."


    We were talking when the telephone on the desk rang¡° Who will call at this time? " Ahlomeyev said, reached for the microphone and stuck it to his ear: "Hello, I''m ahlomeyev, chief of staff of the independent division. Where are you?"

 Chapter 662

    The phone call was from general rojmzev, commander of the 13th division of the guards. When I heard akhromeyev talking about his name, I was stunned for a while. Then I remembered that according to the order of the group army command, all the troops in the north of Stalingrad, including the independent division, were under the command of this general.


    I quickly took the phone from akhromeyev''s hand, put it in my ear and said respectfully to my new superior, "Hello, Comrade General."


    "Hello, comrade oshanina." After a simple polite remark, rodimzev asked frankly, "I''m calling you because I got a report from the observation post that there was a huge explosion coming from the direction of the high ground of mamayev post, and I also saw the fire rushing into the sky. What''s the matter? Is it the enemy attacking your position at night? "


    "No, Comrade General." I quickly explained to him, "it''s not the enemy who is attacking, but we are organizing our troops to fight back and prepare to take back all the positions lost during the day."


    "What''s the matter with the fire and the loud explosion? Did the enemy use heavy artillery on you?"


    I can''t help hesitating when I heard about rodimzev. After all, no one knows about the thunderguns except the commanders and fighters of our division and the leaders of the group army headquarters. I don''t know if it''s a leak if I tell rodymzev. After much hesitation, I decided to hide the real situation and replied vaguely: "report to the general, it''s our soldiers who are using explosives to blast the enemy''s fortifications. At present, the first, third and second regiments of the independent division are counterattacking against the German troops who occupied our military positions. "


    Maybe it''s because the interval speed of the thunder guns is relatively long, so my lie actually put rodim Zeff off. After he asked a few more questions, I suddenly thought of the phone call from Krylov before dark, saying that the enemy had captured the 107.5 highland and rushed into the Soviet street again, so I couldn''t help but ask curiously, "Comrade General, what''s the situation of the 42nd regiment of the guards?"


    Rodimzev heard my question, sighed heavily, and then said with regret, "Alas, the Soviet street and dormitory area have been completely occupied by the German army, and the remnants of the 42nd regiment have all retreated into the city. Originally, the division headquarters planned to launch a counterattack at 1:00 a.m., so I''m calling you. I hope you can send troops to attack the enemy back and forth together with our counterattack forces. We should not only drive the enemy out of the Soviet street, but also try to recover the 107.5 highland. I didn''t expect that you put all three regiments into battle. It seems that in the counterattack tonight, I can only extract the 39th regiment from the fighting area and help the 42nd regiment recover its position. "


    When I heard what rodymzev said, I was relieved to think that if the troops were not arranged to fight back in advance, I would have to pull out the third regiment to cooperate with the 42nd regiment. I''m not at all at ease in handing over the third regiment to the commander of the 42nd regiment. You should know that when the three regiments were guarding the 107.5 highland alone, although the casualties were not small, they were able to hold the position. If other troops were replaced, they would not be able to hold their positions even if they were expended quickly. Therefore, I am not willing to let others command my three regiments with stronger combat effectiveness.


    As soon as I put down the phone, I didn''t know when to run to the telegraph. The fat akhromeyev suddenly blushed and reported to me, "the report division commander, the political commissar, and the commander of the first regiment, Sergeant shijerikov, have reported that they have recovered all the surface positions in the northern Highlands."


    "Pa!" After hearing akhromeyev''s victory report, kirilov slapped his first hand on the table with a happy look on his face. Looking at me, his eyes were filled with joy. He said excitedly, "Comrade division commander, it''s so good that the lost position has been taken back, so that we can give an account to the headquarters of the group army."


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch without expression. It was only eight minutes before the thunder guns stopped firing and the infantry began to attack. It''s a little too fast to annihilate the enemy in eight minutes. You know, akhromeyev and I have just analyzed that the battle can''t end in an hour.


    Thinking of this, I coldly told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, contact lieutenant colonel shejerikov again and confirm to him whether the German army has been completely annihilated by our army?"


    Akhromeyev didn''t follow my orders to contact the first regiment, but explained to me, "Comrade division, you are right. Sergeant shejerikov reported that when the thunder guns stopped firing and the officers and men of the first and third regiments rushed out of the passage, they found that all the German soldiers in the position were dead. "


    "All dead?" Kirilov asked in disbelief, "is there no one alive?"


    Akhromeyev nodded and said with certainty, "no, Lieutenant Colonel shijerikov said. The commanders and fighters have carefully checked the position. All the German troops on the position are dead. Maybe our thunder guns are too powerful. Most of the dead German soldiers have no scars, like they were killed by the blast wave. "


    Although akhromeyev''s words are solid, I dare not take them lightly. I am deeply afraid that if there is any information error, I will report it to the headquarters of the group army in a hurry. If there is any problem at that time, I can''t get rid of it.


    I went up to razumeyeva and asked her, "can I get in touch with major Morozov of the artillery battalion?"


    Razumeyeva nodded and said, "yes, sir. Major Morozov should be carrying a walkie talkie. I''ll contact him right now. Please wait a moment


    Originally, I wanted to stay by the side of razumeyeva. When she got through to Morozov, I could talk to each other immediately to learn about the situation on the battlefield. Unexpectedly, the phone on the table rang again without waiting to get in touch with the artillery battalion. Kirilov, who was closest to the phone, picked up the phone and said, "I''m kirilov."


    Seeing another phone call coming in, I couldn''t sit still any longer. I hurried to kirilov, stood beside him and listened to him talking to the people on the phone.


    Pugachev''s voice came from Luyin''s receiver: "Comrade political commissar, Captain horushov, a battalion commander who participated in the counterattack, made a report. They have joined forces with the troops of the first and third regiments and have successfully recovered the surface positions of the northern highlands. "


    "Great, that''s great!" Kirilov was excited when he heard that the war report was confirmed. He said excitedly to the microphone: "Comrade major, I congratulate you. Due to the tenacious fighting of your troops, you completely annihilated the enemy on the high ground, recaptured the position, and let the mamayev post return to our army. I knew that you and the officers and men of the second Regiment under your command were... "


    When I saw kirilov talking to Pugachev with a smile on his face, I really couldn''t help interrupting him and specially reminded him: "Comrade political commissar, you just ordered to shoot three commanders of the second regiment in the afternoon, now you boast again." I was just going to take the phone from him and ask Pugachev what happened to the fight tonight and why it ended so soon.


    As soon as I raised my hand, before I could speak, razumeyeva in the distance began to call me: "Sir, I''m connected with major Morozov of the artillery battalion. The major is waiting for you on the line


    When I heard Morozov''s voice in the earphone, I asked directly, "Comrade major, is the battle over?"


    "Yes, sir." Morozov replied cleanly, and then explained to me further: "but the mortar company did not take part in the battle, and the infantry did not encounter any resistance from the enemy when they charged to the high ground. So they rushed up to the top of the hill and joined up with the third regiment that came out of the tunnel. "


    "Why I have seen the power of the thunderguns with my own eyes, but every time when the troops rush up the hillside after using them, many surviving German soldiers will still climb out of the collapsed fortifications or the empty soil to fight with our soldiers. How come today''s counterattack, without any resistance, the infantry successfully recovered their positions. It''s incredible.


    "Yes, sir. After occupying the Highlands, the German army rushed to repair some fortifications facing the south slope in an attempt to suppress fire while our army was charging. However, they didn''t expect that our thunder guns were so powerful. After five successive waves of firing, the fortifications of the enemy were bombed, and all the enemies inside were reimbursed. So it''s not surprising that their defense lines collapsed. "


    "I see. Since our position has been recovered, you should bring the mortar back as soon as possible. You are the only heavy firepower in the division, but you must not lose anything. "


    At the end of the phone call with Pugachev, I told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, call the headquarters of the group army immediately and report the victory to them, saying that our division has completely annihilated the German troops occupying the northern highlands and successfully recovered the position."


    Akhromeyev, who first learned that the position had been recaptured, did not immediately carry out my order, but stood in a daze. He hesitated and said, "Comrade division, I think it''s a bit too mysterious. Our troops have recovered the Highlands in eight minutes, but they haven''t lost anything. Do you think the commander at the higher level will believe such a report? "


    Kirilov and I hesitated at akhromeyev''s reminder. After a while, kirilov said to me cautiously, "Comrade oshanina, why don''t we wait a little longer and report to the headquarters after we receive more accurate war reports?"


    Under the circumstances of repeated defeats of various troops, it is incredible that a counterattack organized by us successfully recovered the lost positions in just eight minutes without any casualties. To tell you the truth, I''m still skeptical about the results reported by the three of them. If we can''t help but report such results to the headquarters of the group army, others will not take such reports as a fantasy?!


    After thinking about it, I turned to razumeyeva, who was beside the telephone, and said, "Comrade lieutenant, immediately contact Lieutenant sergeant shejerikov and major Godunov, and ask them to report the results of the battle and the losses of the troops."


    After giving orders to razumeyeva, I turned my face again, looked at kirilov and akhromeyev and said, "the chief of staff is right. We must be careful about reporting the results to the headquarters of the group army. We will report the detailed results to the headquarters after verification. "


    Listen to me, neither of them expressed any objection, but nodded silently.


    But thanks to cherekov, they didn''t make the three of us wait long, so he telegraphed us the results. Akhromeyev, holding a telegraph, loudly reported to us: "in the battle tonight, our first regiment, second regiment and third regiment destroyed two German companies, killed 429 enemies, and seized two heavy machine guns, 75 submachine guns, 11 pistols and more than 200 rifles. The whole battle lasted eight minutes, and there were no casualties in my troops. "


    After hearing this, kirilov said: "Comrade division commander, since the results of the war have been counted out, report it to the headquarters of the group army immediately. It is estimated that chief of staff krailov has been waiting for a long time."


    "I don''t mind. Chief of staff, you should report the results of this evening to the headquarters immediately. "


    After receiving the order, akhromeyev came to razumeyeva with the telegram and handed it to her. At the same time, he said, "Comrade lieutenant, send this war report to the headquarters of the group army immediately."


    I saw that razumeyeva had sent the telegram neatly. Originally, she could have a good sleep tonight. She was planning to let kirilov and akhromeyev also hurry to have a rest. Unexpectedly, the telephone on the desk rang untimely.


    During this period of time, I have a sense of fear about this telephone ring. Every time I hear the ring, my heart beats faster, and I guess whether it will be some bad news. Kirilov and akhromeyev were also staring at the ringing phone, but no one reached for it.


    Trembling, I reached out, grabbed the microphone, stuck it to my ear and asked nervously, "Hello, who is it?"


    "Don''t shout so loud, Colonel o''shanina. I can hear you." From the receiver came the voice of Krylov.


    I was relieved to hear krailov''s voice. I just reported the result to him. I think he couldn''t restrain his joy and called to congratulate me. I asked in a slow tone, "it''s the chief of staff. Hello. Have you received the telegram I sent you? "


    But krailov snorted and said, "of course I did. If I didn''t, I wouldn''t call you."


    "..." I was speechless when he said that. If I lost my position, I would be scolded and even threatened to shoot me. Now the position has been taken back, but his tone is still in a bad mood.


    "Let me ask you," the whole battle lasted eight minutes, and there were no casualties in my troops. " Is this the original sentence in your telegram? "


    Krailov''s question made my father-in-law even more confused. He could only honestly reply, "yes, it''s true. It''s absolutely the original words in the telegram. Chief of staff, do you have any instructions? "


    "You wiped out two German companies with more than 400 people, but you didn''t get any casualties, and you solved the battle in eight minutes. Do you think the enemy are all idiots? When they see our soldiers rush up, they stand there foolishly and let us hit them as targets, and there is no one to fight back? Colonel o''shanina, I remind you, don''t make such false information in order to evade your responsibility. Aren''t you really afraid of being sent to the military court? "


    "Chief of staff, please listen to my explanation." I have just realized my worries. The results I reported to the headquarters of the group army were really taken as false information by the chief of staff. I gave kirilov a wry smile, and then explained to krailov, "in the counterattack tonight, I sent the 1st battalion and 2nd Battalion of 2nd regiment to hide in the South and east slopes of the highland respectively. At the same time, I ordered the 1st regiment to prepare for the attack. When 2nd regiment attacked the highland, I also attacked from the tunnel in time to cooperate with the counterattack troops to take back the position. In order to reduce the casualties of the troops, I specially ordered the second regiment to launch five waves of thunderguns on the Highlands before launching a charge. I didn''t expect that our troops didn''t encounter any resistance after they began to charge. After the second regiment and the third regiment of the first regiment joined forces, we found that all the German officers and men who occupied our positions had been destroyed by our thunder guns. This is the whole battle. "


    Although I explained to krailov, he still asked in a skeptical tone, "are you telling the truth?"


    "Yes, chief of staff. I can assure you that there is absolutely no water in this achievement. " I saw kirilov standing next to me gesticulating at me as if to ask me to give him the phone, so I said to krailov, "Comrade kirilov, the political commissar of the division, is right beside me. Do you need to check with him?" Then I decided to take the microphone away from my ear and give it to kirilov,


    To my surprise, Krylov heard kirilov and said in a quick voice, "all right, all right, Colonel o''shanina. Don''t ask Comrade Krylov to testify. I believe all the war reports you have reported are true. Is that enough? I''ll show your war report to the commander and the comrades of the military commissar immediately to make them happy. "


    After putting down the phone, I breathed a sigh of relief and then said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, it''s really hard to make the chief of staff of the group army believe that the results we reported are true."


    Akhromeyev interrupted at this time: "what about the division commander, political commissar and the troops of the second regiment? To stay in the North highland or to withdraw from their original station. " Listening to his question, I quickly said, "Comrade chief of staff, you should come down to the second regiment immediately and ask them to withdraw from the original defense area first. At the same time, contact the first and third regiments to make them rush to repair the fortifications in order to cope with the new round of German offensive after dawn. "

 Chapter 663

    The German army launched a three-day assault on Stalingrad. Although they occupied many parts of the city and greatly reduced the defensive depth of the garrison, their attack was finally blocked by the tenacious defense of our commanders and fighters. Their attempts to push forward the existing area by tens of meters have all turned into nothing.


    During the next ten days of fighting, mamayevgang was also under unprecedented pressure. Although the German attack was beaten back by us without exception every time, their attack strength did not weaken at all. At first, I couldn''t understand this phenomenon until I interrogated a group of newly captured prisoners. I didn''t know that the 44th division of German army, which suffered heavy losses in front of our division, had been transferred to the rear to take over the 113th infantry division of major general Heinrich von Arnim, who had a relatively complete system, because the division chief Anton deboy had made a request to Paulus, No wonder the enemy''s offensive has always been so fierce.


    The first and the third regiments of the army, which had been holding fast to the northern Highlands, were forced to retreat into the residential areas behind the Highlands because of the serious reduction of troops, and the fourth regiment of Colonel Gaidar took over their defense. So far, the number of independent divisions with more than 10000 staff has been reduced to 3000. Kirilov and I have changed from division commander and political commissar of division to political commissar of regiment.


    On the evening of September 25, akhromeyev, who came back from the frontier inspection, said to me with a sad face: "Comrade division commander, it seems that October is coming, but most of the soldiers are still wearing single clothes. If it snows suddenly to cool down, many soldiers may be frostbitten. I suggest you go to the superior logistics department to see when you can send winter clothes to our division. "


    Akhromeyev''s words have been on my mind recently. Originally, the troops in the division were insufficient. If there were a large number of non combat casualties caused by frostbite, then this battle would be impossible.


    I''m going to call trakov or Krylov and tell them about the lack of winter clothes in the army. I don''t want my army to be as cold as the Germans in Moscow last year. At this time, the telephone rang first.


    I picked up the phone, and before I could speak, rodimzev''s voice came from the receiver: "I''m general rodimzev, commander of the 13th division of the guards. Find me Colonel oshanina."


    To tell you the truth, I''m really afraid of this rodymzev. Every time I call, I ask my troops to assist him in the counter offensive, but I don''t know how he commanded it. Up to now, his troops have not only lost 107.5 Highlands, but also the Soviet street behind Highlands, including the family dormitory area of the State Consumer Cooperation Association and the flour mill, to the Germans, Finally, the remnants of the 42nd regiment were forced to retreat to the neighboring Lenin street to continue their defense.


    Although he lacks the ability to command the army, I still have to maintain respect for him as my immediate superior. So I politely said, "Hello, general, I''m o''shanina. Do you have any instructions?"


    "Comrade Colonel, it is so." Rodimzev had obviously adapted to his superior role, so without being polite to me, he gave orders directly¡° The 42nd regiment of my guards is going to attack the Soviet street from Lenin street tonight, striving to drive out the enemy who occupied it. "


    When I heard this, I began to murmur. I knew that it was no good for you to call. Nine times out of ten, I wanted to send troops to help you. So he couldn''t help but put in a word: "Comrade General, do you have anything to do with the counterattack to be carried out tonight?"


    "I hope you can send at least two or three companies to attack the enemy from the east of the Soviet street, and cooperate with my 42nd regiment to take the Soviet street back from the enemy." When I heard that he would have two or three companies at the beginning of his speech, I kept complaining to myself. According to his way of playing, even if I doubled my troops, I would not be enough for him to spend. I''m trying to figure out how to deal with him and get him to agree that I should send two platoons or a company symbolically to cooperate with him. He said coldly: "there is a military material warehouse near the flour mill, in which there are 8000 military coats. According to the Scout''s report, although the enemy found this batch of military materials, these military coats were still well placed in the warehouse. They were neither transported away nor burned. I think the enemy intended to use them when it was cold. When we recapture the military overcoats, we can carry them away if we can. If we can''t, we will burn them all. We must not let the Germans use these military overcoats for the winter. "


    When I was at a loss for the army''s winter clothes, I heard that in the counterattack plan implemented by rodymzev, there was a branch line task of recapturing a military material warehouse full of military coats. I immediately became very interested in tonight''s action and quickly expressed my determination to rodymzev: "please rest assured, comrade general, I will send the most elite troops, To cooperate with your counterattack tonight. By the way, the head of the 42nd regiment of the guards died in the fighting two days ago. I don''t know who will command this unit. "


    "Speaking of the new commander, you should know him. As both the 39th and 42nd regiments have been seriously downsized, I have merged the two regiments and let the former 39th regiment head, Colonel Ye Lin, be the newly formed 42nd regiment head. "


    When I heard that he was the commander I knew, I felt more at ease. I immediately said to rojimtev, "I understand, Comrade General. I will send the most effective troops to cooperate with the counterattack of the 42nd regiment."


    After hanging up the phone, kirilov whispered: "Damn, how can this general rojimzev fight back again. Did he suffer a lot in the last two times? According to his way of playing, even if there are 100000 people in a division, it won''t be long before it''s finished. "


    As for kirilov''s evaluation of rodimzev, I just laughed and didn''t express my own opinion, but I really agree with the commissar''s opinion. Although rodimzev became a general with his military achievements, he was still too inflexible in the way the troops under his command played. I heard major Pugachev, who had gone to cooperate with him, return to say that during the counterattack on Highland 107.5, the close guard division did not know how to attack the German position tightly, but let the commanders and fighters rush up without hesitation in the face of the enemy''s barrage of bullets. Although they recaptured the position several times, they were unable to resist the German counterattack because of the heavy casualties, He was beaten down again. His troops always attack is attack, defense is defense, they don''t know how to change attack and defense at all. No matter how brave the commanders and fighters are, their flesh and blood can''t stop the bullets of the enemy. It''s in such battles that the troops of the guard division are quickly consumed.


    I picked up the phone and made a call to Pugachev, ordering him: "Comrade major, tonight we will cooperate with the close guard division to counter attack the Soviet street. After you take out the first battalion of horushov, replenish the soldiers and weapons, make all the preparations for the battle."


    Pugachev had obviously adapted to my fighting order for a long time. He didn''t express any objection. He just said, "yes, I understand."


    When I put down the phone again, akhromeyev asked curiously, "Sir, since general rojimsev asked you to send troops to help them fight back, why do you want to send the most effective troops?"


    Others may not understand what akhromeyev said, but kirilov and I both know that he is not willing to let me hand over the elite troops to rodimzev to consume them in vain.


    After glancing at razumeyeva and Najia sitting next to the telephone, I said in a low voice to them, "political commissar and chief of staff, when I first heard general rojmtsev''s order, I had intended to refuse him, but suddenly I heard him say that there is a military material warehouse near the flour mill, in which there are 8000 military coats."


    "Eight thousand army coats?" Akhromeyev''s eyes almost fell to the ground in surprise.


    I nodded and then said to them, "it was because I heard that there was a warehouse full of military coats that I changed my mind and asked Pugachev to send out the most effective battalion of the second regiment. In tonight''s battle, even if we can''t completely recover the Soviet street, as long as we can take back this warehouse and move some of the army coats out, we can solve the problem of the lack of winter clothes in the division. "


    "Is the 42nd regiment of Jinwei under the command of Colonel Yelin tonight''s battle?" Kirilov couldn''t help but ask after listening to my big pie. Seeing that I nodded in affirmation, he rushed to recommend himself to me: "since it''s Colonel Yelin opposite, even if we send Pugachev to lead the troops to attack, we must accept the other party''s command. Just like this, I will lead the second regiment and first battalion in the evening. "


    "No way!" As soon as kirilov''s voice fell, akhromeyev and I objected with one voice. I don''t know why akhromeyev objected. But I object because I want to take the team to carry out this task myself.


    Kirilov glanced at me and said with a sneer, "Comrade oshanina, I understand why you object to me leading the team in person. Maybe it''s because you want to lead the team in person?"


    Seeing that kirilov had seen through his attempt, I laughed with embarrassment. Then I began to think about what kirilov said. If we let Pugachev or horushov lead the team, then our troops would be under the command of Colonel Yelin. But if kirilov and I don''t go, who will?


    "Teachers and political commissars, one of you is the head of a division, the other is the political commissar of a division. Such a dangerous thing is not what a commander of your level should do. I''ll take the lead in the evening? "


    I think it''s appropriate to hear akhromeyev volunteering. Although his rank is low, his rank is there. I believe that even if Colonel Yelin saw him, he would be embarrassed to let him bring his troops under his command. Thinking of this, he turned to kirilov to ask what he thought. Seeing that he nodded and said that he had no objection, I pushed the boat along the river and said, "well, since the chief of staff is willing to accept this combat task, you can direct the fight tonight."


    The counterattack of the guard division started at 10 p.m. on time, and the first battalion of the second regiment led by ahlomev launched an attack from the German flank at the same time.


    Since the establishment of the independent division, each soldier has undergone special training in urban street fighting and mastered the use of various weapons. Therefore, it is particularly handy to fight the enemy floor by floor.


    Even akhromeyev, who reported the progress of the battle to us on his walkie talkie, exclaimed excitedly: "Sir, our team, with a sudden and rapid attack, is now taking back the buildings and lots they occupied from the hands of the enemy. The soldiers were very brave. They launched a fierce attack on the enemy and successfully penetrated into the enemy''s rear. "


    "Very good, chief of staff." When I heard a series of good reports from him, I became happy. However, he was worried that he would underestimate the enemy because of the smooth progress of the troops. He specially stressed to him: "remember, we should play steadily, even if we slow down the attack speed. After occupying a building, we should clean up all the enemies inside and leave enough troops to guard it. "


    "I understand!" Akhromeyev replied loudly.


    I put down my headphones and transmitter, and I''m going to call rodim Zeff and report to him on the progress of my department. At this moment, kirilov asked with some doubts: "Comrade oshanina, since the fighting is going well, why do you want to slow down the attack speed of the troops?"


    With a little smile, I explained to my political commissar, "if the troops are allowed to move forward regardless, even if they occupy a lot of buildings, but they are to be cut off by the enemy, they may be completely annihilated." At this point, I approached kirilov''s ear and said to him in a low voice, "I don''t trust the troops of the guard division. If they are frustrated in their attack and forced to retreat, the flanks of the first battalion will be completely exposed to the Germans. In that case, what I just said may become a reality."


    I called rodimzev, and when I heard his voice, I politely asked, "Hello, Comrade General."


    "Colonel o''shanina, you call me at this time. What can I do for you?" Rodymzev''s voice, which came from the receiver, seemed a little unfriendly. It was estimated that he had just gone overboard.


    "Well, Comrade General." Although I heard that he was in a bad mood, I still had to report to him truthfully about the progress of our side: "Comrade akhromeyev, the chief of staff in charge of the army, reported that our department has been progressing smoothly since the beginning of the battle. At present, it has successfully occupied more than a dozen buildings, eliminated the German troops in the buildings, and is advancing towards the middle of the Soviet street. I don''t know where Captain Yelin''s troops have hit? "


    After listening to my report, rodimzev first stopped for a moment, then sighed and replied, "Colonel oshanina, the situation of the 42nd regiment is very bad. According to Colonel Yelin, the regiment attacked the Soviet street in three directions. The first and second battalions were repulsed by the German forces. Sanying now occupies two buildings around the "January 9" square between Lenin street and Soviet street. The army of Captain NaOH EF, the commander of the seventh company, has approached the flour mill after the tenacious offensive. "


    After listening to rodimzev talking about the flour mill, I immediately thought that there was a military material warehouse nearby. I could not care about other places, but this warehouse must be ordered to be seized by akhromeyev''s troops, because there were a large number of army coats urgently needed by the troops. In order not to make akhromeyev''s action appear abrupt, I first gave rodimzev a preventive injection: "Comrade General, I will immediately order the troops to move forward, please inform the following troops to identify, do not fight with your own people."


    Kirilov heard my conversation with rodimzev. He did not wait for the end of our conversation, so he went straight to the telephone and contacted akhromeyev. I heard from a distance that he was telling the other party: "Comrade chief of staff, you should immediately send a company to quickly seize the military material warehouse. You must hold the materials inside."


    When I put down the phone, kirilov also ended the call with akhromeyev. Listening to the faint sound of gunfire outside, I can''t help worrying. At present, there is only one battalion left in the 42nd regiment to keep in touch with the enemy. The 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment under the command of akhromeyev seems to be a little weak. If they don''t send more reinforcements, even if they seize the warehouse, they can''t transport the contents back.


    Thinking of this, I said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, I believe you have also heard my call with general rojmtsev just now. At present, apart from the second regiment and the first battalion under the command of akhromeyev, only one battalion of the 42nd regiment of the guards is fighting with the German army on the Soviet street. You and I know in our hearts that in the recent battles, the number of guards of the Division has been reduced very seriously. I think the maximum strength of their battalion is about 200, so our strength is too weak. I''m afraid that even if we take the warehouse, the contents will not be able to be transported back. "


    "Comrade o''shanina, what do you think?" Kirilov asked.


    I carefully said what I thought: "I''m going to send another battalion to reinforce them."


    "From which unit should this battalion be drawn? At present, the fourth regiment on the northern highland can not be transferred; After the second regiment has transferred a battalion, its present strength is also somewhat weak. "


    "Call commander shejerikov and ask him and major Godunov to form a mixed battalion. Led by Godunov, they immediately arrive at the Soviet street and reinforce akhromeyev."


    As soon as my proposal was put out, kirilov nodded his head and said, "Comrade oshanina, I agree with your proposal." Then he suggested to me, "and we have more than 20 trucks hidden in the residential area. Let the mixed camp drive by. After we have captured the enemy''s warehouse, we can also use trucks to transport back the military uniforms in the warehouse. "

 Chapter 664

    As major gordonov''s new army entered the battle, the war situation became one-sided. Before dawn, most of the Soviet street and buildings returned to our army. The military material warehouse that aroused my strong interest was also recaptured in the battle.


    As my chief of staff, akhromeyev knows in his heart that the reason why I spared no effort to send troops to assist the 42nd regiment of the guards and cooperate with the friendly forces to recover the lost land is only a cover, and its main purpose is to provide military materials in the warehouse. So when our troops seized the warehouse from the enemy, they immediately arranged for people to move the materials inside to the truck.


    When more than 20 trucks were full, akhromeyev specially asked me for instructions: "report to Mr. division, the materials have been loaded. Next, where should I send the materials to? "


    As for the storage site of materials, I have long considered that there is a huge underground fortification in the residential area where the third regiment of the first regiment is stationed. It should be the most suitable place to store materials, so I decisively ordered akhromeyev: "let the motorcade transport all the materials to the third regiment of the first regiment. It''s the best place to store them." He also stressed that "let major Godunov be in charge of escort, anyway, his troops are stationed there."


    Half an hour later, in the corner of my division headquarters, there was a pile of some materials sent by Godunov. Seeing these materials in front of me, I am glad that I have made the right decision. It turned out that there were not only military coats in the warehouse, but also a lot of cotton uniforms, boxes of dried bread and tins of American beef.


    Cotton uniforms and military coats can be assigned to soldiers for changing, while dried bread and canned beef can improve the food of the division. Fortunately, due to the continuous counterattack of the guard division, the German people had no time to transfer the materials in the warehouse. Otherwise, all the materials left by the unknown army would be cheap to the German people.


    Kirilov and I were staring at the pile of good things in front of us and giggling when the phone on the desk rang. As soon as I picked it up and spoke, I heard rodymzev''s roaring voice: "Captain oshanina, you bastard, do you know what you''ve done?"


    As soon as I heard it was rodymzev''s voice, I immediately guessed that he was calling to ask for a crime. After all, I had transported so many military materials back to my defense area. However, I pretended to be confused and asked innocently, "Comrade General, I don''t understand what you are talking about."


    Rodimzev snorted heavily and then asked me, "I got information that after the officers and soldiers of your division captured the military material warehouse near the flour mill, they loaded a large number of materials and transported them to the defense area of your division. Let me ask you, is that true? "


    "Yes, Comrade General. Please listen to my explanation. As my division is newly established, all kinds of materials are not available. For example, it''s cold now, and most of our soldiers are still wearing single clothes... "


    Before I finished, rodimzev impolitely interrupted me: "I don''t care about this. Since the military material warehouse is in our division''s defense area, you have no right to use all the materials in it. I order you to send someone immediately to send all the goods back to the warehouse. "


    When I heard his overbearing order, I was suddenly unknown. Originally, I wanted to explain it to him, but he asked me to send everything back to him. It''s never my style to spit out the meat that I eat. I know clearly in my heart that it''s impossible to block a new round of German attack with the current strength of the independent division. Then the fate of these materials after they are sent back is to fall into the hands of the German people again. It''s better to stay in my hands and play a better role than that. Thinking of this, I strongly refuted him: "sorry, comrade general, I can''t carry out your order. Although the German army has been repulsed by us at present, with their strength, the Soviet street may be taken back by them again at any time. Therefore, if the goods are sent back at present, it is tantamount to giving them to the Germans. Sorry, I can''t carry out your order. "


    "Comrade Colonel, let me remind you that orders from the higher authorities are not allowed to be discussed." In order to make me submit, rodymzev also tried to suppress me with his identity¡° Although we are both division commanders, I am a major general, and you are only a colonel. Besides, please don''t forget that the troops north of Stalingrad are under my command at present. "


    "I''m sorry, Comrade General." I replied humbly: "although according to the regulations, the orders of the superior commander are not allowed to be discussed. But in order to ensure the victory of the battle, I always only carry out the right orders. If you are not satisfied with anything, you can report it to commander trekov. " With that, I slammed the microphone on the base, which made kirilov startled.


    Kirilov heard my conversation with rodimzev and said with some worry, "Comrade oshanina, how can you say that to general rodimzev? Do you know that this is the following offence and will be punished. " Then he reached for the phone and said to himself, "no, I''ll call the commander and the military commissar right away and explain this to him."


    I stopped him from calling and said, "Comrade political commissar, don''t call for the time being. I don''t think the commander and the military commissar will dismiss me even if they know about it. As long as our troops can change into winter clothes as soon as possible, even if I am wronged, what is it


    Although my words are high sounding, but my heart has been burning with anger, thinking that we are all teachers, why do you give me advice? If you really have the ability, why didn''t you even hear your name in those battles in the later period of the patriotic war? It can be seen that your command level is also limited. Thinking of this, I went to the telephone, bowed my head and told razumeyeva: "Lieutenant, contact the chief of staff immediately. I have important orders to give to him."


    Kirilov, who didn''t know why, ran over and asked mistily, "Comrade oshanina, what are you going to do?"


    "What else can I do?" Without looking back, I said, "order akhromeyev to change the army''s clothes immediately. I don''t want my subordinates to be frozen in such cold weather." Listen to me, kirilov did not continue to ask, but stood quietly beside me and kept silent.


    As soon as I got in touch with akhromeyev, I immediately asked him, "chief of staff, how many supplies are there in the warehouse?"


    "About two-thirds. Besides winter clothes, bread slices and canned beef, there are also some weapons and ammunition. "


    "Listen, chief of staff. When major gordonov''s team returns, it will be loaded again. We don''t need to pull back the rest of the materials, but we''ll leave them to you. "


    "What should I do with it?" Asked akhromeyev, who did not know why.


    "Let the officers and men currently on the Soviet Street enter the warehouse in batches to change into winter clothes and replenish ammunition and food. If there is any more, give it to the brothers of the 42nd regiment of the guards. "


    "I see. I''ll arrange for it right away."


    Kirilov, after my call with akhromeyev, nodded slightly and said, "Comrade oshanina, your way of handling is more appropriate. Leave a part of the materials to the 42nd regiment of the guards, so that general rojmtsev can really go to the commander and tell you about it, and we can find a reason to defend ourselves. "


    At about ten o''clock in the morning, trikov walked into my division headquarters with four or five guards without saying hello in advance. After receiving our salute with ease, he sat down at the table, raised his head and asked me, "Comrade oshanina, I heard general rodimzeff say that you emptied the military material warehouse next to the flour mill without his permission. Is that the case?"


    "Yes, comrade commander. I ordered people to carry the materials in the warehouse and transport them back to our division''s defense area. But I didn''t move all the materials back, and left a part of them for the 42nd regiment


    "Mischief, you are just mischievous!" Trikov clapped his hand on the table, stood up, pointed at me and scolded, "you carry materials without permission of general rojimtev. I don''t blame you for that. But why do you insist on going your own way after receiving the call from Comrade rojmzev and refuse to send the materials back to him? "


    "Comrade commander, it''s none of the teacher''s business. It''s my idea." Kirilov may have taken the initiative to protect me. After all, he is at the same level as trekov. Some words do not belong to the following crimes: "as you know, the independent division is a newly formed force, and all kinds of materials are scarce. Especially now the weather is getting colder and colder, but the vast majority of the soldiers are still wearing single clothes in summer. The reason why they bring these materials back is to change the clothes for the soldiers. "


    After listening, trikov went to the place where the materials were stacked, raised his foot and kicked the winter clothes piled on the ground, and then turned to look at all the people in the headquarters. When his eyes swept over the thin uniforms of the members of the headquarters, his tone suddenly became friendly: "these things on the ground are the military materials you brought back?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." When I heard the question from trakov, I quickly stepped forward and respectfully reported to him: "I plan to change winter clothes for all the troops after all the materials are transported back. I don''t want my soldiers to be frostbitten in the coming winter because they don''t have winter equipment, resulting in a large number of non combat casualties."


    Trekov went back to the table and sat down. He raised his head and asked me, "as far as I know, there are only more than 3000 people in the independent division, but there are 8000 army coats in the warehouse. Why don''t you give the extra army coats to the 13th division?"


    "Well, comrade commander." I don''t think it''s necessary to hide his true thoughts from him in front of him, so I said frankly: "at present, the force of the 13th division of the guards is seriously insufficient, especially the number of troops sticking to the Soviet street and Lenin street is pitifully small. If I really follow general rodimzev''s orders and send these materials back to the warehouse, it is entirely possible that the materials in the warehouse will fall into the hands of the enemy after the next battle. "


    After I said this, I quickly stopped my body and held my breath, waiting to bear the thunder of trakov, because if the material I made would fall into the enemy''s hands, it would be very taboo in this particular environment. But things were not as bad as I thought. After listening to what I said, trakov didn''t immediately get angry, but bowed his head to meditate.


    After a while, he raised his head, looked at kirilov and me, and said, "Comrade oshanina, comrade kirilov, your concerns may be right. At present, the force of the 13th division of the close guard is a little small. It''s really a bit inadequate to confront the German aggressors who occupy the superiority in force, but it doesn''t mean that their commanders and fighters are not brave and their combat effectiveness is not good.


    You know what? During the daytime fighting yesterday, German tanks attacked an infantry company of the rodimzeff division, which was stationed near the station. Although there are only about 20 soldiers left in the company, they are still fighting with the enemy tenaciously under the command of Yakov, Secretary of the regiment branch. Looking at the enemy tanks rushing towards his position, comrade Yakov grabbed two anti tank grenades, stood up from the sandbag fortification, straightened up and yelled at his comrades in arms: "comrades! We will firmly hold our position and never step back! " After shouting, he suddenly raised his hand and threw a grenade under the leading tank. After watching the enemy''s tank burn, Yakov was about to throw a second grenade when the enemy''s bullet hit him. Yakov died, but his exemplary behavior inspired the soldiers, who rushed out of the fortification with shouts and used their hands to lightning back the enemy''s attack.


    After the battle, the soldiers found a poem written by Yakov in his relics. Perhaps it was written before the beginning of the battle, but the poem was not finished. The title of this member''s sincere and plain poem was: "my oath"


    I am the son of the party and the motherland is my mother,


    My beloved Lenin is my father.


    In battle, I will never retreat,


    Let friends and enemies know... "


    After listening to trakov''s story, kirilov said: "we will always remember these martyrs who sacrificed their lives to defend our motherland. After the end of the war, we will set up a memorial in the place where they died, so that our future generations will always remember that their happy life was won by the bloody sacrifice of countless revolutionary martyrs. "


    Although I kept silent when kirilov spoke, his words reminded me of the familiar words that young people said when they presented flowers to the old people in the Victory Square of later generations: "thank you, thank you for bringing us a happy life!"


    After a few words with kirilov, trakov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he turned his eyes to me and asked me, "Comrade oshanina, I''m going to the headquarters of general rojmtsev. Would you like to go with me?"


    "Comrade commander, I obey your orders." Since trikov was willing to be a peacemaker between me and rodymzev, I agreed.


    "By the way, comrade trekov." Kirilov suddenly asked, "I don''t know where general rojimzev is now. Can you find someone else if you just rush there?"


    "No problem," said trekov confidently. "I just talked to him on the phone, and his men said that he had taken some soldiers to a building near the square of January 9 to check defense."


    "January 9 square?" Kirilov repeated the place name. From his frown, it seemed that there was something he wanted to ask trakov.


    But without waiting for him to speak, trikov said, "Comrade kirilov, you should be familiar with the square of January 9. It''s a large square built to commemorate the bloody Sunday."


    "Bloody Sunday," trikov said, which confused me. So I humbly asked him, "Comrade commander, what kind of anniversary is this?"


    After hearing my abrupt question, trakov gave me a strange look and asked, "Comrade o''shanina, didn''t you learn this history when you were studying?"


    As soon as trikov finished, I blushed with shame. To tell you the truth, I really don''t know what kind of historical event this is. If it''s a real Rita, maybe I can tell you something ugly. Kirilov saw that I was blushing and ashamed, so he quickly helped me out and said, "Comrade commander, this period of history you mentioned can only be learned in the University, but our teachers and comrades graduated from the tenth grade only. It''s not surprising that they don''t know."


    Seeing that kirilov had brought me a step, I quickly stepped down and said, "yes, yes, as the political commissar said, I had no chance to learn that period of history when I was studying. Comrade commander, since you mentioned this historical event, please explain it to me, so that no one will say that all your subordinates are ignorant and incompetent in the future. "


    When I said this, both trikov and kirilov were amused. Seeing that trikov could not shirk, he had no choice but to say, "well, since Comrade oshanina wants to know about this period of history, I''ll talk about it.


    On January 22, 1905, under the leadership of father George Gabon, more than 30000 Russian workers gathered in the square of St. Petersburg Winter Palace to present a petition to Czar Nicholas II on the reform of social and political system. First of all, they asked for the election of representatives of public opinion. Second, they asked for agricultural reform, lightening the heavy burden of farmers, and implementing religious freedom.


    The Tsarist government had just begun to wait for the change and did nothing. But I don''t know who fired the first shot, leading to chaos in the scene, so the official ordered a bloody crackdown. The army dispersed the workers by force, killing more than 1000 people. This day is called "Bloody Sunday in St. Petersburg". The hope of Russian workers for the Tsar''s reform was completely disillusioned, and then strikes, rallies and assassinations of various sizes emerged one after another throughout Russia, seriously shaking the foundation of the Tsar''s government. "


    After listening to trakov''s story, I have many more questions in my mind. Why is it January 22 instead of January 9. But for fear of being ridiculed by trakov again, I''m sorry to ask again. Trekov looked at his watch again. Then he stood up and said to me, "well, comrade oshanina, it''s getting late. We have to get to rodimzev as soon as possible." With a promise, I explained the division''s work to kirilov, and then I left the headquarters with two guards behind trekov. I walked out of the headquarters and saw that trakov was standing by the door, staring at a big pit next to him, which was the original headquarters. I understand why he stopped here, walked over quickly, stood beside him and said in a low voice: "Comrade commander, while the enemy shelled mamayev post these days, they also sent planes to carry out uninterrupted bombing. Your original command post was hit by a bomb directly before it became what it is now¡° Was anyone in there at the time? " Trekov asked. I shook my head and replied, "report commander, no casualties. Since the division headquarters was repaired, the original telecommunication room here has been moved in. "¡° That''s good! " Trekov heaved a long sigh, then shook his head and said, "come on, let''s go." As a result of the enemy''s long-term bombing, the headquarters was covered with charred craters of different sizes. It turns out that the wreckage of the plane placed outside the headquarters has long been unknown when it was bombed to Java by German bombs. At the foot of the mountain, I saw two jeeps parked. Trekov and some of his guards got into the car in front. Before getting into the car, he pointed to the back and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, you and your guards should get into the car in the back." When we saw that the car in front of us started, our car followed closely. The driver of our car is very careful. Every time he passes through the crater, he will slow down appropriately. Seeing that trakov''s jeep is getting farther and farther away from us, I can''t help asking the driver anxiously: "Comrade driver, you see the commander''s car is almost gone. If you lose it, do you know where to send us?" When the driver heard my question, he replied in no hurry: "when he came, the commander said that he would go to the square on January 9, as if he said that Mr. rojmtsev of the 13th division of Jinwei was there. Comrade Colonel, please rest assured that I will deliver you safely to your destination. " Although the driver was quite sure, I didn''t dare to take it lightly. I turned around and told the guards behind to prepare for the battle, so as to prevent the sudden emergence of German stragglers.

 Chapter 665

    When the jeep entered Soviet street, I saw that trakov''s car was parked next to a relatively complete building. He was standing under the car, with his back to us, talking to some commanders and fighters in new cotton uniforms. I quickly stopped the driver and led two guards towards him. Approaching, I found that the person who was talking to him was akhromeyev.


    Akhromeyev saw me walking towards them, stopped talking to trekov and nodded to me. As I had given an order in the division some time ago that I was not allowed to salute the commander on the battlefield, he did not salute me, but politely said hello to me: "Sir, you are here."


    Trekov turned to see that it was me and muttered, "why is it so slow? I''ve been waiting for you for a long time. " I can''t laugh or cry at what he said. I can''t tell the driver in front of him. He said that in order to be safe, the driver would slow down when encountering a crater, and the time would be delayed if he reduced left and right. But he didn''t go on. He waved his head at me and said, "come on, let''s go to rodymtsev, and you, comrade captain, come with us."


    The roads leading to "January 9" square are under our control, so we don''t have to worry about being attacked by the enemy when we walk. Trekov and I were at the front of the team, and akhromeyev and several guards followed us, keeping a distance of four or five steps. Such a distance not only left room for me and trekov to talk, but also showed up in time when we had something.


    As he walked, trakov looked back, and then praised akhromeyev in front of me: "oshanina, your chief of staff, akhromeyev, is the second lieutenant training team from the front army of Volkhov? I just talked with him for a while. I have a good impression of him. He is a commander with fighting spirit. "


    I looked back at akhromeyev and suddenly remembered the military rank. I took this opportunity to tell trikov, "Comrade commander, I have something to tell you."


    "If you have anything to say, you don''t have to be so polite because you and I are so familiar."


    "Look, comrade akhromeyev is my chief of staff, but he is still a captain. I''m afraid that if he commands the commanders below, others will not obey his orders. "


    After listening to this, trikov laughed and pointed at me and said, "in my opinion, you, comrade oshanina, are a Macha. The last time you came to my headquarters, I gave you four major ranks. Why didn''t you mention akhromeyev''s name at that time? Forget it. Anyway, we''ve given so many. It''s nothing to give one more. " At this point, he stopped, half turned his body, waved to akhromeyev and motioned him to his side.


    Akhromeyev didn''t hear my conversation with trakov, so he didn''t know why trakov suddenly called him over. When he stood in front of him with a blank face, trakov put his hand on his shoulder, slapped him twice, and then said with a smile, "Comrade akhromeyev, when I just chatted with colonel oshanina, she said that your rank is too low. Let me promote you to your rank. I know something about your ability from oshanina and kirilov, so I also think you should get a higher rank. Now I will officially announce to you that from now on, you will be promoted to major. "


    Akhromeyev didn''t expect that trakov would be promoted to his rank at this time. His face turned red with excitement. After throwing a grateful glance at me, he said loudly to trakov, "serve the Soviet motherland!"


    We walked two or three hundred meters forward. Suddenly, trikov pointed to a four story building next to the square and said to me, "o''shanina, look, if I guess correctly, Mr. rojmzev should be in that building."


    When I looked at the broad square and the building at the crossroads, I suddenly thought: is this the famous Pavlov building? In my imagination, this famous building has to be seven or eight stories, or even more than ten stories high. I didn''t expect that it was just a four story building whose roof had been blown through. I was a little disappointed.


    With that, trikov quickly stepped towards the building. The building has four unit doors, and trekov went straight to the first. Seeing that his goal is clear, I don''t understand that this is really the famous "Pavlov building".


    As soon as we got to the door, we saw rodymtsev coming out with two soldiers. Rojmzev was wearing a military coat, while the soldiers behind him were wearing cotton uniforms.


    Romtsev said from a long distance: "Comrade commander, how did you come here? It''s too close to the Germans. Standing at the window on the second floor, you can see the active Germans at the other end of the square. You''d better go back to the headquarters of the group army as soon as possible. " After that, his eyes turned to me again, and he said solemnly, "I said, Colonel oshanina, although your troops have recovered most of the Soviet street, they can''t bring the commander here?"


    "Comrade rodimzev," trekov waved to him and explained to me, "it''s not Comrade oshanina who brought me here, but I called your division headquarters, and the left behind commander told me that you came to the front, so I asked oshanina to accompany me to have a look."


    With trekov speaking for me, rodymzev couldn''t say anything more and took us into the building. After leaving all the guards downstairs, he took me, trakov and akhromeyev to the third floor carefully along the destroyed stairs.


    When we walked into a big room, I was startled by a group of soldiers standing up from the ground. I thought that Pavlov and his soldiers were only a few. I didn''t expect that there were so many. I counted them roughly. The number was at least thirty.


    Rodimzev called a young sergeant to trekov and introduced him to him: "Comrade commander, this is Sergeant Pavlov, the guard of the building. He took the building from the enemy with the soldiers in the platoon." At this point, rodimzev''s face was covered with a smile. "I heard other soldiers say that after Comrade Pavlov wiped out all the enemies in the building, he stood in the window on the top floor and cried out loudly: Yakov fedotovic Pavlov, the Red Army sergeant of our guards, has taken this building back from the enemy''s hands!"


    After listening to rodimzev''s introduction, trikov came forward, took Pavlov''s hand, shook it vigorously and said, "good, good Sergeant comrade. I salute you for your bravery and tenacity, and for taking back the building of the motherland from the enemy''s hands Then he stepped back and raised his hand to give Pavlov a solemn salute.


    Seeing the Group Commander salute himself, the young sergeant and his comrades behind him were startled. They also raised their hands in a hurry to salute trikov.


    When they all put down their hands, I took two steps forward, reached out to Pavlov, and said in a friendly way: "Hello, Sergeant Pavlov..."


    Before I could say the following, Pavlov raised his hand to salute me, and unexpectedly said, "Hello, Colonel o''shanina, nice to meet you here!"


    My outstretched hand was frozen in the air, and my heart said what was the matter. Before rodymtsev could introduce me, how could this ordinary Sergeant know me? Have I become a household name?


    Seeing me standing in a daze, Pavlov quickly reached out and took my hand, and reminded me in a low voice, "Comrade Colonel, have you forgotten the Pavlov and his son you met in borojino?"


    When the sergeant said this, I suddenly remembered that when trekov and I went to inspect the front line, we met a pair of pavlovs and sons in the Far East Red Flag division of Colonel borosushi. They seemed to be workers from the sickle and hammer factory. My father died in the battle soon after, but I don''t know what happened to my son. I didn''t expect to meet an old friend who has been forgotten by me. I''m overjoyed.


    Trikov and rodimzev looked at each other, wondering how I knew an ordinary soldier. Finally, trekov asked, "o''shanina, did you know Sergeant Pavlov before?"


    I released Pavlov''s hand and explained to trikov and rodimzev, "well, comrades general. During the Moscow defense war, I once served as an assistant to general Zhukov and accompanied him to many places for inspection. Sergeant Pavlov, whom we met when we visited the borojino battlefield, and his father came from the sickle and hammer factory. In the next battle, although his father died with honor, Sergeant Pavlov and his comrades turned grief into strength, continued to fight tenaciously and beat back the enemy''s attacks again and again. "


    After listening to my story, trakov and rodimzev went forward to shake hands with Pavlov and pay homage to him and his father.


    Then, in a casual tone, trakov said to Pavlov, "sergeant, tell me about your situation here."


    Pavlov agreed, and then began to introduce the situation: "report commander, in the battle last night, the platoon''s lieutenant and Senior Sergeant withdrew from the battle because of injury or sacrifice, and I took over the command of the platoon. After a fierce battle, we successfully captured the building and held it as a fortress. "


    "Sergeant, I come to ask you, there are many buildings around here, but why do you take this place as a fortress you can stick to?" This question of trakov seems to me to be a test of sergeant Pavlov''s command ability.


    Pavlov gestured to trekov and said politely, "Comrade commander, please come here." Then he led the way to the window, pointed out the outside and said, "according to my observation, this building can be a key area to guard the city. Its tactical advantage is that it is located at the crossroads, providing us with a view of about one kilometer in the north, South and West. From the time I occupied the building, I was ordered to build fortifications and prepare to defend it. You see, the building is surrounded by barbed wire and minefields. At every window facing the square, we have deployed machine guns. "


    "What if the enemy''s tanks come?" Trekov continued noncommittally.


    "We also have ptrs-41 anti tank rifles on the roof, which are very effective against German tanks. You see, the destroyed tanks downstairs were destroyed by our anti tank Gunners hiding on the top of the building. As long as the enemy''s tanks are close to the building, the thin armor on the top of their turrets will be exposed to the firepower of our anti tank guns, and because they are too close to the building, they can not raise the elevation of the guns to counterattack, so they can only become our shooting targets. "


    "How wonderful After a sincere compliment, trakov asked with concern, "how many troops do you have now?"


    Pavlov led us back to the middle of the room and introduced us: "after seizing the building, only I, private Alexandrov, gluchenko and chernogorov were left in the platoon. This morning, the reinforcements arrived, including the 7-man machine gun platoon of lieutenant afanasiyev and a heavy machine gun, the 6-man anti tank gun group headed by sergeant sobgaida and three automatic gunners, with a total of 3 anti tank guns, and the 4-man mortar group led by lieutenant chernushenko, with 2 50 mm mortars. "


    "Who is lieutenant afanasiyev?" he asked in a loud voice to the crowd


    "Report commander, it''s me." As he spoke, a bearded, thin, short captain squeezed out of the crowd and stood at attention in front of trikov.


    "Comrade lieutenant," trekov asked with a smile, "your rank is higher than Sergeant Pavlov''s, so you will accept his command. Don''t you have any complaints in your heart?"


    Lieutenant afanasiyev shook his head like a rattle and replied, "please rest assured, comrade commander. I will obey Sergeant Pavlov''s command and firmly guard this building."


    "Very well," said trekov, nodding with satisfaction at the Lieutenant''s statement, then patting him on the shoulder. "When the battle is over, I''ll take credit for you heroes."


    Pavlov was very excited when he saw that trakov had given him the task of sticking to the building. He immediately expressed his determination to trakov and rojmzev: "please rest assured, commander. I, Pavlov, promise you that as long as we stick to the building, we will never let the enemy swagger past us."


    After glancing at the officers and men in the room, trakov asked Pavlov, "how many people are in your team now?"


    On hearing this, Pavlov called out, "all of you, line up!"


    When the commanders and fighters formed into two neat lines, Pavlov began to introduce the composition of the team to us: "commander, division commander, let me introduce our garrison to you.


    Our army consists of 24 people, all of whom are multi-ethnic. They are Russians: Alexandrov, afanasiyev, Bondarenko, vororov, grikin, kiselev, salayev, svelin, sobgaida, chernushenko;


    Ukrainians: gluchenko, dovrenko, ivachenko, chernogorov, Shapovalov, yakkinako;


    Georgians: inciashvili;


    Kazakh: murzayev;


    Uzbeks: turdeyev;


    Tajiks: turgounov;


    Tatars: romanzanov


    Jew: Hunter. "


    When Pavlov introduced us, I was surprised to find that there was a young female health worker at the back of the team. I quickly walked over, held her hand, and asked kindly, "Comrade female health worker, what''s your name?"


    The female health worker came to attention and answered in a loud voice, "report, comrade colonel. I''m Maria ulijanova, health worker. I''m waiting for your order. Please give me your instructions."


    Thinking that the building would be attacked by the German army in the next few months, I couldn''t help worrying about the young girl in front of me. So I turned to trekov and said, "Comrade commander, it''s too dangerous here. I suggest that the comrade health officer go to the back."


    Before trakov could speak, ulijanova had already said, "thank you for your kindness, comrade colonel. I am a health worker, and my responsibility is to rescue the wounded on the battlefield. As long as there is one of our soldiers here, I will never leave my post. "


    I wanted to persuade the health worker again, and trekov said, "oshanina, the health worker is right. Her job is to treat the wounded. Since she wants to stay, let her stay."


    After Pavlov has introduced all the officers and men to us, he will arrange for his own defensive positions. When everyone Hula away, the room except me, trakov, rodimzev, ahlomeyev and Pavlov, ulijanova and another soldier with arms hanging on his chest.


    After listening to Pavlov''s introduction, trakov also thought that this was an important defensive zone, so he specially told rodimzev: "Comrade General, in order to ensure that our army can guard this building, I hope you can provide them with enough weapons and ammunition."


    "Comrades commander," ulijanova, who heard trekov''s words, suddenly said boldly, "besides weapons and ammunition, we also need food and water. You know, it''s far away from the river, and the water supply system was destroyed in the bombing, so the water problem has to be solved. "


    After the woman said that, rodymzev suddenly looked back at me and asked, "Captain oshanina, I have a question for you."


    As he is my immediate superior, I can only say very politely, "please go ahead, Comrade General."


    "Your troops have been at mamayev post for almost a month. Although I also know that you often collect weapons and ammunition from the corpses of the enemy, it is a drop in the bucket for a division. What I want to ask is, where do your division''s weapons, ammunition and food supplies come from? " Rodimzev''s question really caught me. Since I had a political commissar and a chief of staff, I don''t have to do anything as I used to, so I don''t know how to answer this question. Just when I was in a dilemma, I caught a glimpse of akhromeyev standing on one side and quickly pushed him out: "Comrade General, these things are in the charge of my chief of staff, major akhromeyev. Let him explain for you." Rodimzev''s question also attracted trakov''s attention. He stared at akhromeyev who was pushed out by me with great interest, waiting for him to explain to you. Fortunately, akhromeyev was a qualified chief of staff, and I didn''t know how to answer the question. Without thinking, he made a report to the two men: "report, comrades, there are two channels for our division''s ammunition supply: one is to rely on the inventory of friendly ammunition and to supplement some of the ammunition transported to the wharf across the river. For example, when we entered the mamayev post, we received an ammunition storage point of the 35th division of the guards, from which we replenished almost a regiment''s weapons and ammunition; The second is the weapons and ammunition transported from the opposite side of the river. I usually ask for some from the logistics forces to supplement the army''s consumption. "¡° What about another channel? " Trekov asked¡° Another way is to rely on seizure. As general rojmzev said, the weapons and ammunition we collected on the bodies of the enemy were too small to equip our troops. What I''m talking about is that before the independent division was transferred from the 64th group army to the 62nd group army, it had seized a lot of weapons and ammunition, which were stored in the residential areas behind the highlands to supplement the troops on the highlands at any time. "

 Chapter 666

    While akhromeyev was reporting to trikov and rodimzev, I quietly stepped aside and waved Pavlov to come over, intending to tell him some defensive experience, so that he could be used in the next battle.


    Pavlov came up to me, glanced at them, and then asked respectfully, "Captain oshanina, do you have any instructions for me?" In the tone of his speech, I obviously felt less closeness, more politeness, and even a little awe towards me, which was unimaginable before.


    As for his attitude change, I could not help frowning slightly, but patiently told him what I thought: "Comrade sergeant, I''ll give you a suggestion. In order to better command the troops in the building, you should arrange for the soldiers to break through the basement walls and floors, and dig a communication trench leading to the location of other friendly forces. In this way, even in the case of German air strikes and shelling, it can also ensure that the contact with the outside world will not be interrupted, and all kinds of supplies and reinforcements can enter the building through the trenches, which is conducive to your long-term defense. "


    "That''s a good suggestion from Colonel o''shanina." Although rodimzev was extremely dissatisfied with me because of the materials in the warehouse, when he heard the rationalization proposal I enthusiastically put forward to his subordinates, he said friendly words for me: "Sergeant Pavlov, just follow the arrangement of the colonel."


    "Comrades, please have tea!" Suddenly, a crisp voice came from the door.


    I turned around with my voice and saw a little girl, about four or five years old, with a triangular scarf on her head and big eyes, staggering in with four cups full of hot tea on a tray.


    Hastily meet in the past, squat down the body, the little girl''s hand took the tray. Looking at the little girl in front of me who is somewhat similar to the "alenka" on the milk chocolate package of "Red October" later, I hold the tray with a teacup in one hand, and touch her head gently with the other hand. I asked in an amiable voice, "little girl, what''s your name and why are you here?"


    The little girl raised her head and said to me with a smile, "Comrade commander, my name is alenka. I live in this building. When the German devils came two days ago, my grandmother and I had many neighbors hiding in the basement. It wasn''t until last night when our troops came back that we came out of the basement


    At the sight of such a lovely little girl, trikov and rodymzev also came over, bent down to say hello to alenka and touched her head. Trekov also asked with concern, "dear alenka, it''s so dangerous here. Why do you want to stay here and not transfer?"


    As soon as alenka saw that she was a smart little girl, she heard that trikov asked her, and quickly replied, "Uncle commander, grandma once took me away from here some time ago and planned to take a boat to the opposite side of the river at the wharf. I didn''t expect that there were so many people there. We didn''t get on the boat after waiting for two days, so grandma brought me back


    After hearing this, trikov stood up straight and asked Pavlov standing beside him, "Comrade sergeant, what''s going on?"


    Pavlov quickly replied, "well, comrade commander. After we seized the building last night, we found more than 30 residents in the basement, including little alenka and her grandmother. I''ve armed all the others and armed them. But little alenka and her grandmother, old and small, were obviously unable to fight, so I mobilized them to leave here. But the granny stayed and took the initiative to cook for us. "


    Trekov nodded, and then told Pavlov, "Comrade sergeant, since alenka and her grandmother are in this building, you have to ensure their safety. Can you do that?"


    When Pavlov heard this order from trakov, he did not reply immediately, but hesitated. As for why Pavlov reacted like this, I know very well in my heart that Pavlov may be thinking about how to protect the elderly and children left in the building when their own lives cannot be guaranteed in the next cruel battle. He hesitated and said, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. I may not be able to do your order. You know, the next battle may be very hard. Even if we stick here, we can beat back the attack of enemy tanks and infantry, but we can''t stop the bombardment of enemy planes and artillery. So I dare to ask you to let alenka and her grandmother leave here for their safety


    After listening to Pavlov''s words, trakov had an expression of displeasure on his face, which, as I know him, is a precursor of his impending anger. In order to prevent Pavlov from being blamed, I quickly stood up, handed the tray in my hand to trekov, and said, "Comrade commander, please have tea. This is from the Alinka kid himself. "


    When I mentioned alenka, there was a smile on his tight face. He took a cup of tea, touched her head with his free hand, and said with a smile, "thank you, alenka!"


    I then handed the tray to rodimzev and akhromeyev. Akhromeyev snatched a cup of tea from the tray, respectfully handed it to rodimzev, and then brought his own cup of tea.


    I picked up the remaining cup of tea in the tray, tried the water temperature, thought it was almost the same, then I drank it up. Although the black tea has sugar, it is not sweet at all, which means that the white granulated sugar in alenka''s family is almost used. Now that the white granulated sugar in the house is almost gone, I believe there are few other daily necessities left. When I get back later, I will send someone to send something to her home.


    Several of us finished our tea, put the cups on the tray and handed them to Pavlov. Trekov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he turned to us and said, "it''s late. Let''s go back."


    When the four of us went down to the second floor, rodymzev suddenly stopped trikov: "Comrade commander, I have something important to talk with you. Is it convenient for you now?"


    Trekov stopped, looked left and right, pointed to an empty room nearby, and said, "let''s talk inside."


    When I heard that the two leaders had something important to discuss, in order to avoid suspicion, I quickly said to trikov, "Comrade commander, if you have something important to discuss with general rojimtev, akhromeyev and I will go downstairs first and wait for you."


    Instead of answering my request, trakov told me directly, "come in and listen to me, too!"


    As they entered the room, I turned to akhromeyev with a wry smile and said, "chief of staff, please wait for me downstairs. I''ll be down in a moment." With that, he quickly walked to the room.


    Walking into the room full of rubble and broken furniture, I saw trakov and akhromeyev standing at the window, quickly walked over and stopped beside them to listen to what they were talking about.


    Just listen to rojmzev said: "Comrade commander, when I see the little girl alenka, I think of the residents who are still trapped in the city. Although finding shelter is their priority, the ultimate problem is that they can''t find food or water at all. I saw in my headquarters that during the interval of each bombing, women and children would climb out of the burrow and cut some meat from dead horses before wild dogs and mice. The main force of the food search team is children like alika. They are young, small and agile, which greatly reduces their chances of becoming a target. At night, the children sneaked to the huge burned barn in the enemy occupied area of Volga River, trying to fill all kinds of packages with burnt wheat when the German guards didn''t pay attention, and then sneak back to their families to eat. But according to my scouts, the German guards guarding these barns killed quite a few children. Not only that, but also those who tried to steal some food from the German garrison


    After listening, trakov did not speak, but nodded silently.


    Rodimzev went on: "the German soldiers themselves also used these children in Stalingrad. It is also very dangerous for the invaders to fill the kettle with water, because our snipers are hiding in the dark, ready to shoot any moving targets. So, by promising a little piece of bread, they could drive little Soviet boys or girls down to the Volga River to fill them with water. According to my subordinates'' reports to me, some troops, having noticed this situation, ordered our soldiers to kill many children on similar missions. I think that such inhuman things should be stopped immediately. "


    Trikov looked up at the sky and sighed, saying helplessly: "Comrade rojimtev, this is war. Similar things happened in the early days of the siege of Leningrad. The German troops used the residents as shields to attack our positions. After learning of this situation, comrade Stalin immediately issued an order to our army: eliminate any residents who obey the command of the German army, even if they are forced to act. What you have said is that this instruction was carried out in the same way in Stalingrad.


    Just the day before yesterday, the 35th division of the guard infantry also reported to the headquarters that the enemy had captured many residents and forced them to drag the bodies of the dead German officers and soldiers. At that time, comrades of the military commissar issued an order to them: no matter who he is, as long as we want to remove the corpse of the Communist Party, our commanders and fighters will open fire on him. "


    I felt chilly when I heard the conversation between them. I could not help worrying about the fate of those residents in the city who had not yet had time to move. If they were in the Soviet defense area, they would be lucky. If it is in the German occupied area, it may become a human shield.


    Perhaps it was trekov''s words that made rodymzev think of alenka, who just brought us tea and water. He said with deep feeling: "alenka is much luckier than the children I just mentioned. She follows our troops, and can undertake the tasks of signalman, Scout or spy. She can play a role that adults can''t play."


    Trikov took out a cigarette from his pocket and gave way to rodymzev. Seeing that the other side waved his hand to refuse, he took one directly in his mouth, lit it with a match and asked, "is there anything else besides this one you just said?"


    Rodimzev grumbled angrily to trikov: "you asked me to command all the troops in the north of the city. From the current situation, except for the independent division and my guards, 13:00, the rest of the troops have many numbers, but there are not many left. Now the main forces to fill these defensive gaps are workers from the factories in the north of Stalingrad. As you know, although these workers are very enthusiastic in fighting, they are not regular troops after all, and their combat effectiveness is relatively weak. In the face of the fierce attack of the enemy, it is inevitable that some wavering elements with weak will will will appear, and even some cowards who are greedy for life and afraid of death will flee. After learning about this situation, the headquarters of the front army not only did not send troops to strengthen my defense line, but also organized well-equipped volunteers of the Communist Youth League or troops of the Ministry of internal affairs to form a supervision team behind the militia forces to prevent them from escaping. "


    After hearing this, trikov could not help but say in surprise: "what, the headquarters of the front army is in your rear, deploying the overseers? When did it happen? Why don''t I know? " Rodimzeff looked at trikov suspiciously. Seeing that he didn''t seem to be pretending to be confused, he quickly added: "I saw ten people in each team yesterday afternoon. The captain was wearing a black leather jacket and holding a revolver. In addition to submachine guns, soldiers also have rotary machine guns and heavy machine guns. There were two soldiers of the 42nd brigade who had been ordered to get their own food. As a result, because they had crossed a white line they had drawn on the ground, they were shot and killed by the regiment. " After hearing this, trakov said solemnly, "I will report this matter to the headquarters of the front army in person later. Our soldiers can''t die in their own hands."¡° In addition, there are all kinds of military materials. " When he said this, he turned to look at me, and his face showed his disgust for me. He only heard him say: "only one third of the soldiers in my army have winter clothes. Originally, he wanted to distribute winter clothes to the soldiers after taking back the military material warehouse near the flour mill. I didn''t expect that captain o''shanina''s action was so fast. As soon as he took down the warehouse in front of him, he organized people to load thousands of winter suits and carry them away. "¡° Comrade general, "I said weakly to myself after hearing his accusation," my troops don''t have any winter clothes before dawn. If we don''t distribute winter clothes to them as soon as possible, once the cold winter comes, our division will suffer from non combat casualties such as frostbite due to the lack of winter clothes. What''s more, I didn''t transport all the winter clothes, food, weapons and ammunition in the warehouse, leaving you a lot. "¡° What''s so much? " Rodimzeff said angrily, "we have 500 winter suits, 100 cases of dried bread and weapons that can only be equipped with two companies."¡° All right, "said trakov, stopping the argument between us. He said impatiently," it''s all friendly forces. Don''t argue about these things any more. "¡° But what should we do with the supply of our division? " Rodimzev retorted discontentedly. Trikov looked at me and then at rodimzev. For the sake of defending me, he said to rodimzev, "Comrade rodimzev, at present our supply situation is very bad. At present, new boots, new uniforms and new equipment are all left to the new regiments formed in the rear. At present, the support materials for Stalingrad''s front-line commanders and fighters no longer come from the Quartermaster department, but from the dead comrades'' bodies. The 57th and 64th army, which are just as difficult as ours, do not waste anything when burying the bodies of their comrades. They will only bury the bodies in their underwear. Therefore, your division should learn from the friendly forces in the way of supply. There are battles all around your division''s defense area at any time. It should not be difficult to get winter clothes and weapons. " Trikov''s partiality for me left rodymzev speechless. Standing beside me, I knew that if I didn''t say anything at this time, I would have offended rodimzev to death. So I quickly said: "Comrade General, although we can''t support your division in winter clothing, we can support you with surplus weapons and ammunition. After all, we are friendly forces." At the end of my speech, there was a little ugly smile on rodymzev''s face: "well, since you say so, I will not argue with you about the military supplies incident any more. But I want to tell you that Soviet street is the defense area of the 13th division of the guards. I hope your troops will hand over their defense to the 42nd regiment of Colonel Yelin as soon as possible. "¡° No problem, Comrade General. " Last night, in order to capture the Soviet street, I mobilized two battalions. At present, the troops in the direction of mamayev post seem to be a little thin. When I heard that rodimzev asked my troops to hand over defense to him, I really couldn''t wait for it, so I readily agreed: "when I go downstairs later, I will give an order to major akhromeyev, Let them hand over defense to you. " Seeing that we were no longer arguing about military supplies, trikov nodded with satisfaction and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, let me remind you. The independent division is not only friendly to the 13th division, but also at the command of general rodimzeff. So after the defense of the Soviet street is transferred, you can''t ignore it. Once something unexpected happens, you have to send troops to support it. Do you understand? "¡° Understand I understand the truth that even if trekov doesn''t say anything, even if they don''t say anything, I will send troops to reinforce the 42nd regiment of the guards when it''s in the most critical situation. So after listening to trekov''s order, I agreed very readily.

 Chapter 667

    After saying goodbye to trikov and rojimtev, akhromeyev and I took our guards to our defense area. When there was a distance between them, akhromeyev looked back warily. Then he came close to me and asked in a low voice, "Sir, just now general rodimzev is making trouble at you for military supplies?"


    Rodimzev specially called me and trakov to talk about this matter in the empty room. How can akhromeyev, who is waiting outside, know that he has been eavesdropping on our conversation outside. Thinking of this, I can''t help frowning.


    Akhromeyev saw the displeasure on my face and quickly explained: "Sir, I didn''t mean to eavesdrop on you. It''s because the space in the building is wide and you have an echo. In addition, general rojimtev''s voice is loud, so I can hear you clearly even from a long distance."


    I looked back with a guilty heart, and saw that the figures of trakov and rodimzev had disappeared without a trace. After a sigh of relief, I quickly raised my hand to stop akhromeyev, who wanted to continue to speak: "Comrade chief of staff, don''t talk about it. This matter has passed, and I don''t want to talk about it again. In addition to the winter clothes, food, weapons and ammunition allocated to the 42nd regiment of the guards, we will continue to control the rest. "


    "What are we going to do next?"


    "It has just been negotiated with general rojmtsev that the defense of the Soviet street should be handed over to the 42nd regiment of the guards, and our troops should be withdrawn from the original defense area. The main task of our division at present is to stick to the mamayev post. " I wanted akhromeyev to stay in charge of the defense transfer work. When I suddenly looked up, I saw horushov, the commander of the first battalion of the second regiment, and safchenko, his political deputy commander, who were walking towards us. I immediately changed my mind. "You and I will immediately return to the Division headquarters and transfer the defense work to captain horushov and Comrade safchenko."


    With these words, horushov and safchenko came to me. Although they didn''t salute me, they respectfully called me: "Hello, comrade division commander, all the commanders and fighters of the first battalion of the second regiment, welcome to us."


    After shaking hands with them one by one, I looked at horushov and said, "Comrade captain, the comrades of the 42nd regiment of the guards will take over the defense of the Soviet street. You are responsible for the change of defense."


    After explaining the mission to horushov, I waved my head to akhromeyev and said, "let''s go, chief of staff. It''s getting late. We need to hurry back to the headquarters." With that, I lifted my leg and walked forward.


    Just after two steps, akhromeyev stopped me at the back and asked tentatively, "Comrade division, are you going to go back to the headquarters like this?"


    Listening to what he said, I couldn''t help but shrivel. I said that the jeep that sent me was the one from the headquarters. Since the commander was not here, no one would take the initiative to send me back. I could only walk back.


    Akhromeyev saw the displeasure in my face and said quickly, "well, comrade division, in the battle last night, we captured a German car. I mean, if we want to go back to the division headquarters, we''d better go back by car. "


    I was in a better mood when I heard that there was a car for me. I said in a voice: "chief of staff, you also seized the German car. It''s great! Where is the car? Let''s get someone to drive here. "


    The car came quickly. As soon as it appeared in my view, I found that it was a truck. It''s not as comfortable as a jeep, but it''s not bad. At least there are more guards in the car.


    When I came back to the headquarters, I was surprised to find that shijerikov was also here. I just beat him and led a regiment to stick to the North highland. I almost never met him. I was surprised to see him here today.


    After I shook hands with shijerikov, I asked him, "Comrade commander, how did you remember to come to me today?"


    Xie jerikov grinned, then pulled his face and said to me seriously, "Comrade division commander, I came to the division headquarters today to ask you for combat orders. Although our regiment has fewer people, our commanders and fighters are not ambiguous at all if we want to work with the Germans


    I let go of his hand, went back to the table, sat down, sighed, and said regretfully, "Lieutenant Colonel chejerikov, do you think I don''t want to fight back against the German army in the front? But not now. The enemy not only has more troops than us, but also has a huge number of tanks and artillery, and firmly holds the initiative in the battlefield. If we launch a counterattack against the enemy in front of us at this time, we will undoubtedly hit the stone with the egg, or the whole army will be destroyed. "


    After hearing this, Xie jerikov looked at me in surprise. After a long time, he explained: "Comrade division, I have come to ask you for a combat order, not to fight back against the enemy."


    On the contrary, I was confused by xiejerikov''s reply, so I asked, "since it''s not counter attack, how do you plan to play?"


    "Sir, my regiment has been fighting on the northern Highlands for nearly a month. Although our casualties are a little bit high, the enemy has paid more." "The main reason why we have been able to repel the enemy''s attacks many times is that our fortifications have been built solidly," he said with a smile


    I nodded and said with approval, "that''s right. Solid fortifications have indeed greatly reduced our casualties and become an insurmountable obstacle for the enemy. If the defense system is not perfect, our commanders and fighters will pay more heavy casualties in the enemy''s powerful artillery and enemy aircraft bombing. This can be confirmed by the defense of highland 107.5. Just to keep the high ground, at least two brigades and the same number of infantry regiments were destroyed by the enemy''s artillery and bombing


    "You''re right, sir." After flattering me, shijerikov went on to say: "our fortifications are indeed very strong, but at the same time, they bring a shortcoming. Many commanders and fighters regard the position as an air raid shelter. In my opinion, the fortifications we built on the highlands are nothing more than the support for our defense, and more importantly, the purpose is to eliminate more enemies. "


    "Well, comrade commander." Kirilov took the conversation and said solemnly: "judging from the current situation, commanders in many areas will emphasize the great disparity between the enemy and ourselves and try to cover up their mistakes in passive defense."


    "Division commander and political commissar, when I come to the division headquarters today, I want to tell you that our troops have been less active at night recently." Shejerikov also shrunk his smile and said: "because of the complete cessation of our night harassment, the enemy can have a good sleep. In this way, in the daytime, they can destroy our fortifications with aircraft and artillery, and infantry, under the cover of tanks, launch wave after wave of attacks on our positions. And after dark, the enemy is not idle, occasionally will send a small team to harass us. This kind of phenomenon is not normal. You know, what the independent division is good at is night attack. Major general Leize, commander of the 29th German motorized infantry brigade, was captured during our night attack. "


    After listening to this, I asked with a fixed look, "Lieutenant Commander xiejerikov, I''d like to hear what you suggest for this abnormal phenomenon?"


    "The division commander, the political commissar and the chief of staff, my opinion," said shijerikov in a firm tone, "from now on, we will send several small teams every night to carry out night activities in different areas and attack the enemy''s camp. On Russian soil, we, not the aggressors, should take the initiative in fighting. "


    I was very satisfied with his words. I couldn''t help looking him up and down. I nodded with satisfaction and said to him with a smile, "well done! Sergeant chejerikov, we are stepping on the land of our motherland. We must not let the German aggressors do whatever they want. I''ve agreed to your request. As soon as it gets dark, you''ll send troops to harass the enemy''s camp and turn them upside down to see that they don''t have the energy to attack the mamayev post tomorrow. "


    After listening to me, shijerikov seized my hand excitedly, shook it vigorously and said, "great, comrade teacher, this is really great! As soon as it gets dark, I''ll send a small team to harass the German camp. "


    Akhromeyev, after shajerikov and I finished shaking hands, specially emphasized to him: "Comrade commander, I suggest you send a platoon to have a try tonight. After the platoon returns and draws lessons, we will consider more troops. "


    After xiejerikov left, kirilov said to me with emotion: "Comrade oshanina, it''s really not easy for your commanders to know how to propose a battle plan to you! I have also been in other divisions. Those regimental commanders have no opinion of their own. They have to ask the division leaders for instructions no matter what the major or minor matters are. Only after they get permission can they implement them in an orderly way. "


    I laughed and jokingly said to him, "Comrade political commissar, you are not right. What? Isn''t my commander also your commander? You know, you are the commissar of the independent division. If you listen to what you say, you will be transferred away because of you. "


    After hearing this, kirilov patted his forehead with his hand and said with embarrassment, "Oh, comrade o''shanina, you see I said something wrong. Yes, I''m still the commissar of the independent division. I''m also a subordinate of a headquarters like commander chejerikov. "


    His words caused a great deal of laughter in the headquarters. Kirilov also chuckled in the friendly laughter.


    When the laughter stopped, I asked kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, what''s the situation in the northern highlands? How many attacks have the enemy launched today? "


    After hearing this, kirilov shook his head and said, "except for the short shelling, the enemy did not attack the positions of the fourth regiment today. According to my judgment, the enemy will no longer launch ground attacks on the mamayev post in the short term. "


    "Why?" I can''t help but wonder at his conjecture.


    "I went to the fourth regiment today." Kirilov said slowly, "from the foot of the hill to the north of the highland to the open field two or three kilometers away, there are nearly 200 wrecks of tanks, armored vehicles and trucks that we destroyed. If the enemy doesn''t clear the road, it will be very difficult for their armored forces to get close to our high ground. "


    With nearly 200 tanks, armored vehicles and trucks, I didn''t expect that in less than a month, we had achieved such a great success, which was far beyond my imagination. I murmured to myself that if only the tank repair station I met last time was nearby, we could let the mechanics pull back the damaged German tanks and give them to us for repair.


    "What are you thinking, sir?" Akhromeyev suddenly opened his mouth and interrupted my meditation.


    I coughed quickly, calmed down and said, "political commissar, chief of staff, I''m thinking about such a thing. Since the damaged tanks, armored vehicles and trucks in front of the positions have become obstacles for the enemy''s armored forces to attack, we should try our best to make these obstacles continue to exist and pick up the defensive pressure of the front forces. "


    "What should we do?" Kirilov asked curiously.


    "It''s easy." Although this proposal was put forward temporarily, I had a complete plan in mind: "let the mortar company and the anti tank rifle company deploy their personnel to the forward position to cooperate with the fourth regiment in defense. As soon as you see the enemy''s maintenance forces trying to drag away or move the debris in front of the position, fire immediately to stop them from working. "


    "What about the body of the enemy in front of the position?" Akhromeyev then asked: "although we have cleaned up several times, there are still seven or eight hundred bodies in front of the position. It''s a little bit cold now, but if we don''t deal with it as soon as possible and wait for the corpses to rot, it may lead to the spread of the plague. "


    "It''s not easy. Let the soldiers dig a few big pits and bury the bodies." I said with disapproval, "can''t we set up a monument for them?"


    "There are so many corpses, the workload is not small." Akhromeyev said with some worry: "if the body is buried, it will cause unnecessary casualties if it is shelled or air raided by the enemy."


    Hearing akhromeyev''s worry, I waved my hand and said impatiently, "since the chief of staff thinks it''s too troublesome to dig a pit, then send a company of soldiers to throw the bodies of these aggressors into the Volga River."


    As soon as my voice fell, kirilov jumped up and strongly opposed my proposal: "Comrade oshanina, how can we throw the bodies of these dirty invaders into the great rivers of our motherland? No, I strongly disagree with your proposal. "


    After kirilov expressed his opinion, akhromeyev also expressed his idea tactfully: "Sir, comrade, I think the political commissar is right. In any case, the German bodies should not be thrown into the Volga River."


    When I saw that they were united against me, I became impatient: "this is not good, that is not good? How to deal with the hundreds of German corpses in front of the position? Can the German army collect the corpses themselves? " In the middle of this, I stopped, thinking that maybe this is a good way.


    Kirilov saw that I didn''t speak. He quickly guessed what I was thinking and asked me carefully, "Comrade oshanina, do you really want the Germans to send someone to collect the body?"


    I looked at kirilov and asked with a smile, "Comrade political commissar, do you have a better way?"


    Kirilov shook his head, grinned bitterly and said, "no, I really can''t think of a better way."


    "Sir, do you have any other plans for the German to collect the corpse?" Akhromeyev asked abruptly.


    As for akhromeyev''s keen thinking, I nodded with approval and said definitely, "yes, I plan to send someone to contact the Germans and ask them to send someone to stop the German corpses. The person in charge of the liaison should not only be proficient in German, but also know how to draw maps, so that he can draw the enemy''s deployment in detail. "


    "It may be a bit difficult to see the German deployment." Akhromeyev considered the issue from a different perspective. He said uneasily: "even if the people we sent can enter the German camp, I think nine out of ten will be blindfolded and can''t see anything."


    "So far, I have to gamble. Even if his eyes are blindfolded, his ears will not be blocked. In this way, he can hear something valuable. "


    At the moment when I was talking to akhromeyev, kirilov had already called lieutenant mihayev on his own initiative. When the lieutenant came in, kirilov quickly explained to me, "Comrade oshanina, I think lieutenant mihayev is the best candidate for the task you mentioned."


    To tell you the truth, although there are not a few teachers who know German, the best candidate in my heart is Mikhail yev. Seeing that he was standing in front of me at the moment, I turned my head and told akhromeyev, "chief of staff, you should explain the task to lieutenant mihayev later."


    Kirilov came up to me and asked in a low voice, "Comrade division commander, I think this matter should be reported to the headquarters of the group army. Otherwise, once you know it with ulterior motives, you will be in trouble."


    After listening, I gave kirilov a grateful smile. Then I picked up the phone and dialed the headquarters of the group army. At this time, trekov has not returned to the headquarters, and the one who answers the phone is Krylov. As soon as I heard his voice, I immediately reported to him, "Comrade chief of staff of the group army, I have something important to report to you."


    "Come on, I''m listening."


    "The enemy left seven or eight hundred bodies in front of the Highlands north of the mamayev post. We have three plans for the disposal of these bodies and would like to report them to you. 1¡¢ It is to send people to the German camp and ask the German side to send people to restrain their dead officers and soldiers... "


    "What, let the enemy collect the corpse?" When krailov heard this, he suddenly interrupted me in a loud voice and said in an unquestionable voice, "I can''t agree to your request." Listening to what he said so simply, I gave a wry smile, but continued to say: "second, dig a hole on the spot and bury the hundreds of corpses. Of course, the amount of work is certainly not small. As for whether our troops will be shelled or air raided by the enemy when burying bodies, I don''t know. 3¡¢ The easiest way is to throw the bodies of the enemy into the Volga River. You can choose one of the three ways. " If he refuses the first way, he can only choose one of the latter two. The third way, kirilov has just rejected it without hesitation. I believe krailov''s choice will be the same as his. He will never let the dirty bodies of the aggressors pollute the sacred rivers of his motherland. The second method, obviously, is not a good one. In order to bury the bodies of the enemy and let our commanders and fighters give their precious lives, I believe he may not choose it. He hesitated for a long time before he asked cautiously, "Colonel oshanina, tell me honestly, do you have any other... Intention to send someone to contact the Germans?" Although he said the word "intention", I knew that he might want to say the word "attempt". I was worried that he might misunderstand something, so I said honestly: "Comrade chief of staff, I plan to send someone to inform the German corpse collectors and spy on the German deployment by the way, so that I can deploy counter attacks."¡° Oh, so it is. I see. " Perhaps the counterattack action I said changed krailov''s view from opposition to support: "you can rest assured to do it. When the commander and the military commissar come back, I will report this to them."

 Chapter 668

    When I put down the phone, akhromeyev had already explained the task to mihayev. With kreilov''s permission, I felt more confident. When akhromeyev asked me what else I needed to add, I went to Mikhail and said to him, "Comrade lieutenant, the distance from here to the German headquarters is not very close. It''s not realistic to walk. Just in the tunnel at the foot of the hillside, there is a motorcycle with a sidecar hidden. You can go there by motorcycle. "


    "Yes, I see." Mihayev agreed briefly, and then asked carefully, "do you have any other orders, sir?"


    I thought for a moment and said, "I have told you the detailed task to the chief of staff. What I want to tell you is that after meeting the German commander, he should tell him that in order to facilitate them to collect the bodies of the dead officers and soldiers, the two sides should stop fighting for one day. The most important point is that the officers and soldiers who come to collect corpses must not only carry weapons, but also carry white flags. "


    When I told the German army to play the white flag, kirilov was as excited as a chicken and echoed: "yes, sir, you are right. Lieutenant mihayev, when you see the German commanders, don''t forget to let them fly the white flag. "


    "Please rest assured that I will live up to my mission." Mihayev replied loudly.


    After mihayev left, akhromeyev reported to us the detailed process of the battle of seizing the Soviet street last night. When he concluded his speech, he said: "judging from the battle last night, the skill and tactics of the joint forces of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd regiment and the 3rd regiment of the 1st regiment are very high. As the enemy had just occupied the Soviet street, they did not have time to build fortifications and build a solid defense. Under such circumstances, Captain horushov, who was directly in command of the operation, broke the troops into parts and took action in small groups. The detachment is a unit of 10-20 people. With the command of the commander, they quickly rush into the building by the side of the road and fight independently in it. This kind of play is totally unexpected to the enemy, so they are defeated by us. "


    Kirilov nodded after listening to akhromeyev''s words and explained to him: "Comrade chief of staff, it''s not long since you arrived at the independent division, and it may not be clear. Since the establishment of this unit, division commander oshanina has been training the unit according to the pattern of street fighting. As far as I know, her training method was controversial in the headquarters of the 64th group army. After all, at that time, we were fighting face-to-face positional warfare with the German army, and there was no use for street warfare. If it had not been for the help of trakov, who was the deputy commander of the group army, this kind of training of Colonel oshanina would have been stopped by the higher authorities, and even the position of division commander of the independent division might have been removed. "


    "Is that so, sir?" After hearing this, akhromeyev asked curiously.


    I nodded and said, "yes. As our troops retreated along the Don river, I expected that the next battle would begin near Stalingrad, so I took precautions to train our troops in street fighting. "


    After hearing this, akhromeyev was surprised and said, "Sir, you are so bold. As early as a month or two ago, you could have guessed that the battle would take place in Stalingrad. If you are known by the people in the interior department, you will be in great trouble. Your conjecture means that the enemy may occupy the city named after the supreme commander. To put it better, it is a ridiculous idea. To put it worse, it is a manifestation of defeatism. "


    Kirilov waved his hand and interrupted akhromeyev: "come on, chief of staff, don''t say that. What happened to the new fortifications of the fourth regiment? "


    After listening to his question, akhromeyev quickly replied, "teacher, political commissar, I just want to report to you. After entering the northern Highlands, Colonel Gaidar''s troops strengthened and perfected the fortifications on the basis of the original regiment. "


    "Chief of staff, be more specific." Since the chief of staff, akhromeyev, came into being, I have never asked about anything like building fortifications. Instead, I let him take full responsibility¡° How is it reinforced? "


    "The fourth regiment built a large number of half moon shaped fortifications outside the original two trenches, dispersing the forces originally crowded in the trenches and increasing the intensity of firepower."


    Kirilov nodded after listening, then looked up to akhromeyev and said, "tell lieutenant colonel gedar that perfect fortifications are not enough. We must hold the troops. If there is another incident of defection like that of the second regiment, it will not only be the platoon leader but also the battalion commander who will be held responsible. "


    "When large regiments fight, military discipline must be strict!" Although I understand that this is a cliche, I still have to say it when it''s time to say it. In order to let the commanders under me take warning, I gritted my teeth and took the LianZuo method no less than order 227 as my own military order to convey: "chief of staff, record the order: in the battlefield, if one class withdraws without the permission of the superior, only the monitor will be killed; When a platoon retreats at the same time, only the platoon leader is killed; One company with retreat, only kill the company commander; One battalion retreats together, killing only the battalion commander; If the regiment retreats together, only the commander will be killed. "


    After what I said, kirilov and akhromeyev were stunned. After a long time, kirilov said to me carefully, "Comrade oshanina, is this kind of military law too strict?"


    I waved my head and interrupted kirilov, who tried to persuade me. At the same time, I gave my own reasons: "Comrade political commissar, I know that this law follows the military laws of the old army, and even has the flavor of being a communist. However, it is very effective when we are facing a special period of life and death. I believe it can motivate our commanders and fighters so that they will not flinch and will not be afraid of bloodshed when they rush into battle. I believe that future practice can show that this decision is completely correct. "


    Seeing my resolute attitude, kirilov gave up his attempt to persuade me, turned around and told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, convey the division commander''s order to all regiments, and report it to the headquarters of the group army at the same time."


    As soon as akhromeyev reported my new military law to the headquarters, trakov called me. "What''s the matter, Colonel oshanina?" he asked in a hurry over the phone? I want to ask, why did you suddenly give the regiments such a puzzling order? "


    "Comrade commander," I had long expected that this order would attract the attention of the higher authorities after it was reported. So at this moment, hearing the question from trakov, I answered with confidence, "even if I don''t say it, you know how the current situation has deteriorated. Less than a month after the independent division held fast in mamayev post, the division''s staff was reduced by nearly two-thirds. The next battle will be more brutal. In this case, wavering elements who are greedy for life and afraid of death will inevitably appear. If we do not formulate strict military regulations, I am afraid that if there is desertion, it will lead to the collapse of our defense line. "


    After listening to me, trakov was silent for a long time. He didn''t speak. If it wasn''t for the noisy voice of the headquarters coming from the receiver, I would even have thought he had hung up.


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It had been several minutes since trikov''s silence. As I was about to remind him, he had spoken first. It seems that he made up his mind after a fierce ideological struggle: "Comrade o''xanina, the last time you mentioned to me the plan of" replacing soldiers with water ", you should study it with your commanders and fighters to see if it is possible to implement it." After that, I hung up without waiting for me to speak.


    When I put down the phone, kirilov immediately came over and asked curiously, "Comrade oshanina, why do you look so ugly? What did Comrade commander say?"


    Instead of answering his question, I looked at him and asked, "Comrade kirilov, you said last time that you participated in a book called on the map of the motherland." seeing that he nodded in affirmation, I then said, "can you tell me about this book in detail?"


    Kirilov opened his mouth and read me a bunch: "our appointment is rising day by day. We are not the same today as yesterday, and we will not be the same tomorrow. We are not the Russians before 1917, nor is Russia, nor is the nature of our country. With the great changes that have completely changed the face of our country, we have changed and grown. "


    Listening to these inexplicable contents, I quickly raised my hand to interrupt him and asked, "Comrade political commissar, what are you reading? The more I listen, the more confused I am. "


    Kirilov stopped talking, looked at me like an alien, and said, "Comrade oshanina, it seems that you have never read the book" on the map of the motherland "compiled by me, even the preface written by Comrade zhidanov."


    Akhromeyev suddenly asked excitedly, "Comrade political commissar, are you talking about Comrade Andrei aleksandrovitch zhidanov, executive adviser of the supreme command, member of the northwest direction Military Committee, member of the Leningrad Front Army Military Committee and member of the military and political propaganda committee of the General Political Department of the workers'' and peasants'' red army?"


    Kirilov nodded and said with certainty: "yes, comrade chief of staff, of course he is. Otherwise, who is qualified to write a preface to this book that won Stalin''s prize."


    I couldn''t help frowning. I didn''t expect that zhidanov had so many titles. If kirilov was allowed to go on, he would be the only one in the headquarters in a few hours. So I quickly stopped him and asked him the question I was interested in: "political commissar, I''ll ask you. When does the Volga River enter the dry season every year and when does it freeze? "


    Kirilov is also a smart man. When he heard my question, his eyebrows could not help jumping on the Internet, and he lowered his voice and asked, "Comrade division, are you still thinking about the plan of replacing soldiers with water?"


    I nodded and added: "it was just put forward by the commander himself. It seems that he also thinks that under the current situation, if the plan can be implemented, it can relieve the pressure on the north side of the city and free up some troops, but reinforce those tight areas."


    Kirilov frowned and thought for a moment, then said slowly, "the source of the Volga River comes from snowmelt, groundwater and rain. The climate of the Volga basin varies greatly from north to south. From the source to the Kama estuary is a temperate climate zone, characterized by cold and snowy winter and warm and humid summer. From Kama River to the lower part of wowa mountain, it is hot and dry in summer and cold in winter, but there is little snow. The more South and east the temperature increases, while the precipitation decreases. The freezing period is November of each year, and the thawing period is from mid March to early April of the next year. Although it is not in the dry season, it is not easy to blow up the thick river bank. "


    "According to my observation, teachers and political commissars, if we want to blow up such a thick levee and let the river flow into the plain, not to mention the manpower required, even if it is the explosive used to blow up the levee, it will take at least 10 to 20 tons." When it comes to this plan, akhromeyev is also worried. "It''s almost impossible for us to transport so many explosives to the river and bury them so that they won''t be found by the Germans."¡° What if we work at night? " Kirilov asked, taking a chance. Akhromeyev shook his head with a bitter smile and said bitterly: "it''s no use, comrade political commissar. I believe the enemy must send scouts to lurk around our positions. We don''t think we can hide the eyes of the enemy scouts in such a large-scale operation. " Just as we were frowning, the telephone rang on the desk. Akhromeyev picked up the phone and said in a loud voice, "I''m major akhromeyev, chief of staff. Where are you?" Gaidar''s voice came out of the receiver: "chief of staff, please tell the division chief that the enemy''s corpse collecting troops are coming. What should our regiment do? Ask her for instructions!" Akhromeyev covered the microphone with his hand, looked up at me, and said, "Sir, Lieutenant Colonel gedar reported that the enemy''s troops are here to collect corpses. What instructions do you have?"¡° Tell him that if you want to limit the activity area of the enemy''s corpse collection team, you can only advance to the foot of the mountain at most. As for the bodies on the hillside, only Colonel Gaidar was wronged to send our soldiers to carry them down. Another point is that since lieutenant mihayev is here, let him rush back to the division headquarters immediately. " After repeating my order to gedar, akhromeyev put down the phone and asked me curiously, "Comrade division commander, do you think lieutenant mihayev has detected the enemy''s intelligence?" Almost without hesitation, I shook my head and said, "is that true? No matter how stupid the Germans are, they will not let an enemy of their own swagger in the defensive zone. "

 Chapter 669

    My answer was greatly beyond akhromeyev''s expectation. He was puzzled and asked: "Sir, since you know that the enemy can''t let lieutenant mihayev act at will in their defense area, why do you want to arrange a task for him to spy on the enemy?"


    I chuckled and then said, "the scouts we sent recently have no chance of approaching the enemy camp. Anyway, Lieutenant mihayev is going to see the commander of the enemy. By the way, he will be given the task to try his luck. It is expected that the enemy''s situation was not detected; It would be a surprise if we get a chance to detect the enemy''s situation. "


    After listening to my completely irresponsible words, kirilov and akhromeyev looked at each other, and their faces were full of tears and smiles.


    When I saw their expressions, I wanted to defend myself. Suddenly, I thought of the order of trekov again in my mind. I looked at kirilov and said, "Comrade political commissar, I want to ask another question, is there any way to raise the water level of Volga River?"


    Kirilov thought about it and then replied, "yes. In the second five-year plan, we started to implement the Volga river reconstruction plan. " Speaking of this, seeing that akhromeyev and I were both at a loss, we specially explained, "in short, many sluices were built to shut the river, and the Volga River became a series of deep storage lakes. The river water used by one power station will be the source of the next power station. In addition, the upstream sluice will block the river during the spring flood season and release the water during the dry season. The opening and opening of the river during the spring flood season will keep the depth of the Volga River in summer. The construction of a series of hydropower stations in the Volga River Basin, a huge power center, poor irrigation and farming, a deep-water shipping channel... All these are called the Volga river reconstruction plan. "


    When I heard him say this, I had a little sense in my heart, so I took advantage of his pause and asked, "Comrade political commissar, can I understand that if we want to raise the water level of the river, we only need to close or turn down the downstream sluice gate to achieve our goal?"


    "Absolutely right, comrade teacher." Kirilov answered me positively: "as far as I know, several downstream sluices are still completely controlled by our army. The closest to Stalingrad is the lupinsk power station, which was built to generate electricity in November 1941. As long as the headquarters of the group army and the power station contact each other and ask them to close the sluice, the water level of the Volga River will rise by one to two meters in one day. "


    "Report!" Before kirilov finished, a familiar voice came from the door.


    When I heard this voice, I didn''t look back. I knew it was Mikhail. Sure enough, I heard akhromeyev calling each other: "it''s lieutenant mihayev. Come here and tell us about your going to the enemy camp."


    Mikhayev came over and raised his hand to salute the three of us. After the ceremony, he turned to kirilov and said anxiously, "Comrade political commissar, you can''t let the downstream close the sluice, otherwise something big will happen."


    Mikhail yev''s words surprised all three of us, but at the same time he understood what he was saying. Maybe when he just came in, he just heard us say that we were closing the downstream sluice. Kirilov looked at him and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, why do you say that?"


    "Teachers, political commissars and chief of staff, please come here." Instead of answering kirilov''s question directly, Mikhail made a gesture to let the three of us gather around the map. When we were all settled, he continued to say, "on my way to the German headquarters today, I found that a small area of the river bank collapsed due to bombing, shelling or river erosion. If the downstream hydropower station was asked to close the gate, the water level would rise, Then there is a risk of breaking the bank. "


    He was considering whether to call trakov and ask him to negotiate with the downstream hydropower station about closing the sluice. When he heard Mikhail EV say so, he looked up at him in surprise and asked tentatively, "Lieutenant Mikhail EV, what did you say just now? If the water level of the Volga River rises, it will lead to the breach of the dyke in the army area. "


    Without waiting for Mikhail yev to answer, akhromeyev had picked up the red and blue pencil on his desk, pointed slowly to the north side of the North highland, drew a small circle, and said to us, "according to lieutenant Mikhail yev''s report, the levee in this area should be the easiest to break."


    Although Mikhail yev did not understand why we were discussing the water level of the Volga River, when he heard what akhromeyev said, he quickly agreed: "it''s like this, comrade chief of staff."


    "I''ll ask you, comrade lieutenant." Kirilov held the edge of the table, looked at mihayev and asked, "if, what I''m talking about is if, once the water level of the Volga River rises, and at the same time, we place explosives to carry out blasting in the place where the dyke is easy to break, do you think it will lead to flooding?"


    After listening to this, Mikhail yev stood there and couldn''t speak for a long time. He was obviously frightened by kirilov''s question. After all, this kind of sensitive question may lead to his own death, so he didn''t dare to answer it.


    After I gave him a hard look, I asked him impatiently, "Lieutenant mihayev, the commissar is asking you a question. Why don''t you answer?"


    On hearing my question, mihayev carefully replied, "Sir, do you really want to blow up the dam?"


    I nodded and said, "yes, Lieutenant mihayev. The reason why we want to blow up the dam is to let the turbulent Volga river flow in and form a swamp in front of the enemy''s and our army''s positions, which is insurmountable by heavy equipment. In this way, we can reduce the pressure on our defensive forces, so that more troops can spare hands to reinforce those dangerous areas. "


    After wiping the sweat on his forehead, Mikhail nodded and said, "I see, sir." Then he pointed to the circle drawn by akhromeyev, "if you plant explosives here for blasting, you can bring in the river."


    "Are you sure?" Akhromeyev asked in a skeptical tone: "you know, the dykes in these places are usually 20 to 30 meters thick. It is very difficult to open them without a huge amount of explosives."


    After listening to akhromeyev''s worry, mikheiev''s face actually appeared a proud smile: "chief of staff, do you forget what my profession is? I''m the company commander of an engineering company, and I''m also an outstanding architectural engineer. Besides, our engineers are not what you think. We only know how to dig earth with great efforts. At least we need to know the basic technical procedures of geological survey, sampling and testing, and bearing capacity test. To me, urban architecture is like... "


    Before he finished showing off, I raised my hand and slapped him on his helmet. At the same time, I scolded, "how can you get so much nonsense? Let''s get to the point quickly. Why is it not difficult to blow up these dams?"


    Mikhail yev scratched the back of his head with his hand and laughed a few times with embarrassment. Then he explained: "in fact, along the Volga River, there are almost all the same sand banks. As long as you choose the location of the explosion point, you don''t need a lot of explosives."


    After hearing Mikhail yev say that there are sand banks on both sides of the Volga River, kirilov was stunned, then slapped his forehead and said aloud, "Hey, how can I forget this? The riverbanks along the river are all made of sand and soil, not to mention only 30 meters. Even if they are a few meters thick, they can be easily exploded."


    "Even if it''s sand bank, you need at least two or three tons of explosives to blow it up." Akhromeyev solemnly expressed his worry: "if explosives are to be transported by vehicles, when the motorcade passes through the German occupied highland 107.5, it may be destroyed by the enemy''s firepower. If it''s handled by hand, I''m afraid the officers and men carrying explosives will be found by German scouts not far from the trench. If there are one or two snipers among them, our operation will end in failure. "


    As for akhromeyev''s worries, I deeply think so, but I can''t think of any solution in a hurry. I turned to look at kirilov, and saw that he was also frowning and shaking his head in embarrassment, indicating that he had nothing to do.


    As the three of us were at a loss, mihayev coughed and drew our attention. With a smile on his face, he said cautiously, "don''t worry, division commander, political commissar and chief of staff. In fact, we don''t have to go by land to transport explosives."


    When Mikhail yev said this, kirilov was the first one to come to his senses. He asked excitedly, "Lieutenant Mikhail yev, do you mean to let the sailors of the Volga river fleet transport explosives for us with ships?"


    "Well, comrade political commissar." Replied mihayev with a smile.


    "That''s great. That''s great." Akhromeyev was also excited. He reached for the phone and said to us, "I''m going to call the headquarters and apply to allocate enough explosives for us."


    When I heard akhromeyev say "Hello, chief of staff of the group army" to the microphone, I had a flash in my mind and thought of a better way, so I extended my hand to him and said: "major akhromeyev, give me the phone. I have something important to report to Krylov!"


    Akhromeyev didn''t expect that I would suddenly say that, but he handed me the microphone without saying a word. I took the receiver and leaned close to my ear, where I heard Krylov''s voice: "Hello, is that Colonel o''shanina? You are calling at this time. Do you have anything to report? "


    "Yes, chief of staff, I have important information to report to you or the commander!"


    "What''s wrong with the fact that the Germans came to restrain the corpses?" Krylov asked cautiously.


    He asked, but I was stunned. Originally, when Mikhail yev was called back to the division headquarters in a hurry, he wanted to ask about his intelligence on reconnaissance in the enemy camp and what kind of troops were sent to collect corpses. As a result, he didn''t ask about any of the two things since he came. He was busy studying how to break the dike. In order to avoid being blamed by krailov, I quickly turned the topic aside: "Comrade chief of staff, what I want to report has nothing to do with the enemy''s corpse collection team?"


    "What is that?"


    "It''s about the plan of replacing soldiers with water."


    "Replacing soldiers with water" "Do you have a good idea?" Krylov asked in surprise


    "Yes, chief of staff. After my research with the political commissar of kirilov, we found that as long as the downstream hydropower station closes the sluice, the water level of the Volga River will be raised. At the same time, according to the report of lieutenant Mikhail yev, the commander of the engineering company of the division, several dams were on the verge of collapse three or four hundred meters north of the mamayev post. In addition, we also found that the banks of the Volga River are sand banks, which only need much less explosives than before to blow up the dam. In this way, the leaders of our division all believe that the plan of "replacing soldiers with water" can be fully implemented. "


    "Even if you don''t need much dynamite, how are you going to transport it?" When krailov asked the question, he got to the main point. "The convoy carrying explosives can''t pass safely near 107.5 highland."


    "Comrade chief of staff, I have two requests now. I don''t know whether to say it or not?"


    "Just say what you have. Don''t be so fussy." Krailov''s words broke in the middle of his speech, and then I heard trakov''s voice coming out of the receiver: "o''shanina, if you have any request, just say it. As long as I can do it, I will promise you."


    "Thank you, comrade commander." I first expressed my gratitude to trekov, then began to ask: "my request is very simple. First, ask the commander to contact the downstream lupinsk hydropower station and ask them to close the sluice so that the water level of the Volga River can rise in a short time. "


    "It''s not a problem. I can make up my mind and promise you." "What''s the other request?" he asked


    "The explosives used to blow up the dyke can''t be safely transported to the blasting site without disturbing the Germans. So I implore you to contact the commander of the Volga fleet and ask them to send a steamer to deliver the material for us. " I hesitated for a moment after finishing my request in one breath and added, "commander, what I want them to deliver is not explosives, but mines. I think if we want to blow up the dam, the effect of mines may be better. "


    After listening to me, trakov was silent. He seemed to be considering whether to grant my request. Holding the microphone in my hand, I looked left and right and saw kirilov, akhromeyev and mihayev looking at me in surprise. It seemed that they were shocked by my decision.


    I was a little embarrassed by the three people, so I tried to squeeze a smile on my face and gave them an embarrassed smile.


    After a while, trakov''s voice came out of the receiver again. He didn''t immediately answer whether I agreed or didn''t agree. He just said vaguely, "I know about this matter. I''ll reply to you after I ask for instructions from my superiors." Finish saying, again involuntarily put down the phone.


    I put down the phone, my whole strength seemed to be drained, and I fell into my seat feebly. I didn''t want to move. I was thinking about my proposal to use the mine and whether I could get permission from trakov.


    Before I knew it, kirilov spoke. He reproached me with an expression of hatred: "Comrade oshanina, how can you make a request to the superior to use the mine? You know, if you want to use the electric detonating means, although Comrade trakov is the commander, you can''t make a decision casually. You must get the authorization of a higher level commander."


    Kirilov''s words stunned me. When he finished speaking, I immediately retorted, "it''s just detonating these mines by means of remote control. What''s so great? I need to ask the superior for instructions and get authorization to use them."


    "The problem is that detonating these mines can only rely on some special... That is to say, after being approved by the headquarters of the front army, a special way is used to detonate them. Sorry, I can''t say more because it''s confidential. As for whether mines can be used, we can only wait for the final decision made by the headquarters of the group army after asking for instructions from the higher authorities. "


    "Well, comrade political commissar, let''s wait patiently for the orders from the higher authorities." I chuckled twice and turned the subject aside again: "by the way, Lieutenant mihayev, have you found any useful information when you go to the enemy camp?"


    I was just studying the use of mines with kirilov. In a twinkling of an eye, I brought the topic to mihayev. Our client obviously didn''t keep up with the rhythm of my jumping thinking. After a few seconds of silence, he gave a wry smile, shrugged his shoulders and said with regret, "I''m sorry, sir. I think I let you down!"


    "Tell me, maybe we can hear some traces of spiders from your narration." Although he saw the embarrassed expression on Mikhail''s face, akhromeyev encouraged him to go on.


    Mikhail yev turned to look at kirilov and at me. Seeing that we all nodded to him and encouraged him to tell what he saw and heard when he went to the enemy camp, he did not refuse and began to tell his own experience: "when our motorcycles left mamayev post for about four or five kilometers, they met with a German patrol in two armored vehicles. When the enemy found us, they immediately increased their horsepower and surrounded us on both sides. I immediately ordered the motorcyclist to stop, and then the three of us got out of the car and stood in place waiting for the enemy to come.


    Two armored vehicles saw that we were not carrying weapons, and there was no attempt to escape, so they stopped more than ten meters away from us. A German Sergeant got out of the armored car with two soldiers and swaggered up to me and asked me what I did. I told him that I had come to see the German commander and asked him to send someone to collect the bodies of German officers and soldiers in front of our army.


    The German sergeant, after listening, ordered an armored car to stay and watch the soldiers standing by the motorcycle. He took me to the armored car he had just taken and said that he would take me to the headquarters. As soon as I got in the car, they covered my eyes with black cloth. After driving north for four or five minutes, the armored car stopped. Although I couldn''t see anything, my hearing was not affected at all. I heard the sergeant report to an officer that a Russian wanted to see the division commander to discuss sending troops to collect the body.


    When I heard that I had been handed over to the officer by the sergeant, two German soldiers took me off the armored car, onto another convertible and drove on. We drove slowly for about ten minutes, and the car stopped again. I heard the officer who was escorting me report to the higher commander, explaining my intention to the other side.


    After the other party heard this, he immediately ordered someone to take me and follow him to the division headquarters. So I was lifted off the car by two soldiers, followed the German commander, and walked forward with one foot deep and one foot shallow.


    When the German soldiers finally stopped and pulled off the black cloth on my head, I found myself standing in a wooden house with only a small wooden table. Behind the wooden table sat a German major, while the two German soldiers who brought me were standing behind me with guns. "


    "And who is the German major?" When I asked this, akhromeyev and kirilov rushed to the map to find the approximate location of the enemy camp.


    Mihayev turned to look at the two commanders who put their heads together and fixed their eyes on the map. Then he looked at me and said, "when the major introduced himself, he said that he was major serro BESG, the adjutant of general anim, commander of the 113th division. After a few brief questions, he ordered the two German soldiers who had escorted me to come, blindfolded me again and sent me out


    "So you came back?" I asked faintly.


    After hearing this, he quickly shook his head and explained: "I was sent back to the place where the motorcycle was parked. I was going to go back directly, but the two German soldiers who sent me out asked me to wait. They said that soon the motorcade that they went to collect the body came. So I stayed and didn''t come back with them until the enemy''s motorcade arrived. "


    Akhromeyev, who had been looking at the map, suddenly slapped the table heavily with his hand and said excitedly, "I have found the cunning enemy. He actually set up the division headquarters here." At this point, he proudly drew a circle in red and blue pencil on a village to the north of mamayev post, and then said to me, "Comrade division commander, according to the description of lieutenant mihayev, the enemy''s camp should be in this village. In this way, our night attack will not be aimlessly looking for the enemy''s camp, but targeted against them. "


    "Comrade chief of staff, we must not take it lightly." Mikhail yev kindly reminded: "although I can''t see anything when I enter the enemy''s camp, according to my analysis, the enemy has many fortifications and firepower points besides the railway network and minefields outside. If the night attack troops attack rashly, they may suffer heavy losses."


    "Lieutenant mihayev, how do you know there are fortifications, firepower points and minefields in the enemy''s camp? You know, you were blindfolded, but you couldn''t see anything. " Kirilov asked, a little doubtfully.


    When Mikhail yev saw the political commissar, he questioned himself and quickly explained, "well, comrade political commissar. Setting up barbed wire and minefields around the camp is a very basic means of defense. When it comes to many fortifications and firepower points in the camp, I judge it based on the fact that when the vehicles are driving, they are not going in a straight line, but constantly turning left and right. "


    I have great trust in Mikhail yev, an engineer company commander who came from the background of architectural engineer. Seeing kirilov and akhromeyev doubting his judgment, I quickly opened my mouth to help him out: "Comrade political commissar, with my understanding of lieutenant Mikhail yev, I believe his judgment is accurate."


    Seeing that I spoke for mikheiev, kirilov could not say anything more, so he had to nod his head, and then said to akhromeyev, "by the way, chief of staff, call lieutenant commander xiejerikov of the first regiment, tell him our judgment, and let his team go to the village for reconnaissance. According to the specific situation, the commander of the detachment will decide whether to take a night attack. "


    When all the tasks were finished, I sent Mikhail to leave and asked kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, do you have a report from the fifth regiment?"


    Kirilov nodded, picked up the stack of telegrams on the table, looked through them, took out two of them and handed them to me. At the same time, he said with a smile, "look, this is the telegram from commander Oleg. Although they have not sent any more troops into the city to fight guerrilla warfare with the enemy because of their limited military strength, they have achieved good results by sending small sniper units, and they reap every day. "


    After reading the telegram at a glance, I handed it to akhromeyev, who was next to me. I also said happily, "I didn''t expect that, comrade political commissar. Oleg sent more than 20 snipers every day to carry out sniping operations in the city, and they were able to achieve great results. On average, every sniper can kill two enemies. A little makes a lot. This is a great achievement. There is no need for a infantry regiment to have poor results. " Kirilov waited for me to finish, and said cautiously: "Oleg called me this morning and said that he wanted to train another batch of snipers, but he was extremely short of sight. I would like to ask you to help him solve this problem." Speaking of the sight, I suddenly thought of Boris, the guard battalion soldier who would refit the gun. He rushed to the outside and yelled, "Captain basmanov, come in." As I yelled, busmanov pushed the door in and came straight to me to attention. Without waiting for him to speak, I said, "Comrade captain, let me ask you, there is a soldier named Boris in the guard camp. Where is he now?" Basmanov said my name in his mouth for two steps. Suddenly, he said, "Sir, you''re talking about Boris from the arsenal. But he is not at mamayev post at the moment, but follows captain gramus to the fifth regiment¡° All right, I see. " I said and waved him away. After basmanov left, I turned to kirilov and said, "Comrade political commissar, do you hear me? Boris, the soldier who is most familiar with guns in the guard camp, has already gone to the fifth regiment with the second and third company of the guard. Let Oleg solve the problem of the sight by himself and let him stop bothering us. " As soon as I sat down, I suddenly thought of the wreckage of the tanks under the fourth regiment and called Gaidar. On the phone, I asked him, "commander gedar, is the enemy''s body team still there?"¡° Still, "Gaidar answered quickly, and asked me hastily," do you have any instructions, sir? " When I heard him ask this, I didn''t beat him around the Bush and asked him directly, "how many German tanks were burnt down within 200 meters of the foot of the mountain?" Gaidar thought for a moment and replied, "I can''t tell the exact number. Anyway, there are always 40 or 50."¡° Listen, commander gedar, send someone immediately to take all the bodies out of these tanks and give them to the German body collection team. Don''t hesitate, act now. " My inexplicable order confused Gaidar. He asked in a puzzled way, "why do you want to clean up all the bodies in the tank?" Seeing his tardy refusal to carry out the order, I didn''t talk nonsense to him, but simply said: "don''t ask, carry out the order!" Then he put down the phone.

 Chapter 670

    When I put down the phone, I saw akhromeyev talking to Yituan on the telephone, while kirilov was looking through the telegrams in his hand. He was not in a hurry to ask me why I gave an inexplicable order to the fourth regiment.


    Akhromeyev was obviously not as calm as kirilov. After finishing his call with lieutenant commander xiejerikov of the first regiment, he quickly returned to the table and asked me, "Sir, may I ask why you suddenly gave such an order to commander Gaidar?"


    Kirilov, who was reading the telegram, raised his head, looked at ahlomeyev, gave a slight smile, and then said in a light way: "I said, comrade chief of staff, you haven''t been dealing with the division commander for one or two days. Don''t you know that some fantastic ideas often come out of her mind? If I''m not wrong, what do you think of the German tanks she gave me this order


    After listening to kirilov''s words, akhromeyev was more eager to know the answer. He repeatedly asked, "is that so, sir?"


    Instead of answering his question, I lowered my head and asked kirilov: "Comrade political commissar, when I was in the 64th group army, I once met a battlefield repair station sent by Stalingrad, which was dedicated to repairing our army''s damaged weapons and equipment, and also brought back some German tanks or armored vehicles. Do you know that there is such a battlefield repair station near us? "


    When kirilov heard my question, he frowned and thought about it. Then he shook his head and said, "when I was working in the Political Department of the group army, I heard that the headquarters of the front army had sent several battlefield repair stations. However, as the campaign progressed, some of these repair stations were destroyed by the enemy on the battlefield, and those who survived have retreated to the East Bank of the Volga River with the headquarters of the front army. " At this point, his eyebrows jerked up. "Do you want them to repair these German tanks? It''s impossible. It''s absolutely impossible. "


    "Comrade political commissar, why should we say that it is impossible?" His words confused me. After a moment''s stupefaction, I asked.


    "Sir, I understand what the commissar means." Without waiting for kirilov to speak, akhromeyev explained to me first: "those tanks in the open field were destroyed in the battle. I have personally checked that due to the fierce combustion and explosion, all the parts inside the tanks melted and sintered into pieces, which could not be repaired except dragged out and returned to the furnace. "


    Kirilov and other akhromeyev spoke and then added: "the chief of staff is right. When you went to the headquarters two days ago, I had a talk with captain trushen, the commander of the militia battalion from the Red October factory. I wanted them to pick out some repairable tanks from the wreckage of those tanks and let the technicians in their factory try to repair them. Even if it can''t be used to charge, it''s OK to stay where you are. But after captain trushen sent his soldiers to check, he came back and reported that all the tanks had been reimbursed, and there was no possibility of repair, so I had to give up this plan. "


    The reason why I have just given such an order to Gaidar is that I really want to repair some tanks and stay at the foot of the mountain as a fixed fort. After hearing kirilov and akhromeyev''s words, I know that this plan is in vain. But there are so many tank wrecks at the foot of the mountain, even if they can''t be repaired as fixed fort, they should also be used as waste. Thinking of this, I pretended to be surprised and said, "political commissar and chief of staff, I want to repair the tank and use it as a fixed fort. Who did you two listen to? It''s just bullshit. "


    Both of them were stunned by what I said. After a while kirilov hesitated and said, "Comrade oshanina, didn''t you just ask me about the battlefield repair station? Don''t you want them to repair the tanks at the foot of the mountain? "


    Seeing that I had the initiative in silence, I couldn''t help but feel proud. But I still tried to smile, pretending to be serious, and said, "I asked the battlefield repair station, but I just want them to return these tankers to the furnace, and the steel can produce more new tanks for our army."


    After listening, they looked at each other, and then their faces showed the same expression.


    I coughed softly, and then said, "there are dozens of German tanks at the foot of the mountain. Although they can''t be repaired, and they can''t be towed to the factory to return to the furnace in a short time, we still have to find a way to make use of the waste."


    "How to use it?" In order to avoid embarrassment, this time akhromeyev was asking questions, while kirilov kept silent, but his eyes were fixed on me, waiting for my final answer.


    "I''m going to let lieutenant colonel gedar send soldiers into the tanks and use the machine guns on the turrets to perforate, turning the remains of these tanks into fire points. In addition, we should not only arrange manpower in the tank, but also set fire points at the bottom of the tank. We should push forward our defensive positions as far as possible and try to keep the enemy''s offensive forces away from the mamayev post. "


    "It''s a good idea, I agree!" After listening to my ideas, kirilov first expressed his support.


    Akhromeyev, not to be outdone, went on to express his point of view: "the idea of the division commander is good. In the face of the enemy''s massive attack, we can form intensive cross fire at the firepower points on the turret and at the bottom of the tank, giving the enemy heavy damage. As for the enemy, if they don''t have anti tank weapons, it''s really not easy for them to destroy our firepower points. "


    Seeing that akhromeyev had understood my intention and that he was still standing in the same place and wanted to say something, he urged him: "now that you have understood, what are you still doing? Call Gaidar and tell him my plan. Remember, the number of people at the foot of the mountain should not exceed one company. If the formation is too dense, the casualties will be very heavy under the attack of the enemy''s artillery. "


    Akhromeyev agreed, picked up the phone on the table, dialed the fourth regiment, and conveyed my order to Gaidar.


    After he finished the call, I was free to ask him, "chief of staff, when you just talked to the first regiment on the phone, did lieutenant commander Sergey kirikov say how they were preparing?"


    After hearing my question, akhromeyev immediately became interested, sat down at the table and reported to us, "Lieutenant Commander xiejerikov said that he has selected 30 elite soldiers from the remaining commanders and fighters of the regiment. The commander is political commissar oberstein of the regiment, and the other five commanders are from the second lieutenant training team, just like me."


    When kirilov heard this, he frowned again, interrupted akhromeyev''s words, and said with some dissatisfaction: "chief of staff, what does this shijerikov think? Why does he send such a political worker as oberstein to command the army to carry out such a dangerous task?" When he said this, he stood up abruptly, with a trace of anger in his voice. "Can''t we find any other candidates in the regiment? Do we have to let a political commissar engaged in political and ideological work take up the post similar to the leader of the death squads?"


    I didn''t say anything. I just turned my eyes to akhromeyev. I believe that he will give an answer to kirilov''s satisfaction. After a moment''s silence, akhromeyev said solemnly: "originally, commander xiejerikov arranged someone else for the night attack tonight, but the political commissar of oberstein had to take the command post. Comrade xiejerikov couldn''t compete with him, so he had to agree." When he said this, he also involuntarily accentuated his tone, "political commissar, although I haven''t been with Comrade oberstein for a long time, I think he is an excellent commander who knows the art of command. I believe that under his command, we can achieve a lot in our mission tonight."


    After akhromeyev''s words, kirilov was still silent. I lost no time to say, "well, since it''s comrade oberstein''s request, we should give him a stage to show his military talents." When I said this, I stopped intentionally. Seeing that they didn''t cut in, I went on to say, "judging from the performance of a regiment on the northern highland some time ago, I think the political commissar of the regiment is not simple. He doesn''t only know how to talk, but he can really fight. You didn''t see the enemy break through our position so many times, but soon they were hit by the counterattack of a regiment and rolled down the high ground. Although shejerikov is the top military officer of the regiment, he has always been the political commissar of oberstein who commands the battle in the front. "


    I raised my hands, pressed them down, and motioned them to sit down. After they were all seated, I turned and asked akhromeyev, "chief of staff, has chejerikov reported the marching route of the night attack detachment?"


    "Yes," said akhromeyev, pushing the map to kirilov and me, pointing to the Volga river beside the highland with a pencil, and moving slowly, he said, "according to the plan of political commissar oberstein, after dark, the team will board two small wooden boats on the river and go down the river, two or three kilometers away from the enemy camp, Abandon the ship and land again. In this way, it will not be found by the enemy''s latent scouts, but also can speed up the March and save the soldiers'' physical strength. "


    Kirilov obviously agreed with the plan put forward by the first regiment, and waved his hand: "well, since the first regiment has made a careful deployment, we should carry out it according to their plan."


    In the evening, Gaidar, who was on the high ground in front of him, called and reported to me: "Sir, after the German corpse collection team had collected all the corpses, they had left our position and returned to their camp."


    "Have I sent my troops to the foot of the mountain for deployment?"


    Gaidar hesitated for a moment, hesitated to say: "report to the division, now it''s starting to rain outside. If the soldiers are allowed to go at this time, they will have to work in the rain."


    I didn''t take up his fault. Instead, I asked, "commander gedar, do you want your soldiers to be covered with mud, or do you want them to be blown to pieces under the enemy''s fire?"


    Hearing what I said, Gaidar understood that there was no room for bargaining in the order I gave him. He quickly said, "I understand. I''ll send the soldiers into the position immediately."


    Seeing me put down the phone, kirilov looked up and asked, "is it raining outside?" Seeing that I nodded my head in affirmation, he could not help worrying about the officers and men of the regiment who were about to leave. "If it rains so heavily, I don''t know whether the actions of political commissar oberstein and their troops will be affected."


    "There will certainly be some influence," akhromeyev said disapprovingly when he heard kirilov''s worry. "But if it rains heavily, it will affect the vision of the enemy''s sentinels and hidden outposts, and it will be conducive to the actions of political commissar oberstein."


    After kirilov heard this, he sighed: "Alas! I hope so! "


    I just sat down and wanted to say something when the phone on the desk rang. I thought it was one of my subordinates, so I picked up the phone and said lazily, "Hello, this is colonel o''shanina. Where are you?"¡° I''m trekov From the receiver came trakov''s stern voice. I quickly jumped up from my seat, straightened up and said respectfully to the microphone, "Hello, comrade commander, what''s your instruction?"¡° I have already reported the plan you mentioned to me to the commander of the front army, general yelomienko, and the military commissar, comrade Khrushchev. " When I heard that the plan had been reported to the commander at a higher level, my heart beat fast. I asked with a little guilty heart: "Comrade commander, I don''t know what the response of the front army headquarters after hearing the plan?" After asking this, I have already given the answer in my heart. Yeliao Menko must have scolded me, said that I was mischievous, and even threatened to send me to the military court. But trekov''s answer was far beyond my expectation: "after studying, comrade yelomienko and Khrushchev informed me that they were unable to decide this matter, and they had to ask the Supreme Command..." when I heard the word "supreme command", I would have been scared to sit on the ground if it wasn''t for the hand that didn''t hold the microphone holding the table. Rao is so. I still feel my legs are soft and my scalp is numb. I quickly took two deep breaths and summoned up the courage to ask trekov, "commander, what kind of decision do you think the supreme command will make after knowing this?" After gathering up the courage to finish these two sentences, I couldn''t help but look at kirilov and akhromeyev sitting next to me. Kirilov was surprised to hear that the supreme command was mentioned from my mouth. His eyes seemed to say that the plan had been reported to the supreme command. Akhromeyev''s eyes were closed and the corners of his mouth were shaking violently. It seemed that the words I said scared him¡° Comrade Khrushchev, a military commissar, said that after listening to the plan, comrade Stalin said nothing and hung up directly. At that time, he thought that when the Supreme Commander himself heard the news, he hung up because he was angry, so he did not dare to call back. I didn''t expect that half an hour later, the Supreme Commander himself took the initiative to call and said that he had to consider the plan. " Although trikov answered my question only a few seconds later. But for me, these seconds are as long as hours. So nervous that trekov put down the phone for a long time, I haven''t found out. It wasn''t until kirilov took the phone from me that I heard a busy tone coming from the receiver. I sat at the table for a long time before I got over it. Then they repeated what trekov had just said on the phone. Finally, they said with emotion, "I didn''t expect that even the Supreme Commander himself knew about my plan of" replacing soldiers with water. ". What''s more, he didn''t get angry when he learned about the plan. You know, once the Volga River breaks its banks, the city named after him may become a vast ocean¡° Sir, do you think it is possible for the supreme command to approve this plan? " Asked akhromeyev. I shook my head slowly and replied without confidence: "I don''t know, because so far, not to mention me, even commander trekov, even general yelimenko of the front army headquarters, don''t know what kind of decision the Supreme Commander himself will make." Kirilov lit a cigarette, took a hard puff and said, "I estimate that before deciding whether to implement the plan, comrade Stalin will find a group of experts to verify it repeatedly and make sure that the levee breaking operation will not cause any harm to the city. Only after that can he make up his mind." A regiment of night Raiders set out at about seven o''clock, taking advantage of the heavy rain. In order to facilitate contact, I specially asked them to carry a walkie talkie so as to keep abreast of their progress. After the night attack team set out, I could no longer sit in the headquarters, walking back and forth in the room. Under my influence, kirilov and akhromeyev are also anxious. One is constantly writing and drawing on paper, the other is performing his duties as chief of staff, calling each regiment to count the results of the day. At eight o''clock, I stopped and said to kirilov, "come on, comrade political commissar, let''s go to the observation post on the top of the hillside. If you''re lucky, you may be able to see the news of the night attack team. " Then I turned to akhromeyev and said, "chief of staff, the division headquarters will be handed over to you. If there is anything, you can handle it according to the situation." I went out of the cave and saw the rain outside. I didn''t know when it had stopped. The two of us, with some soldiers from the guard camp, walked along the trench to the top of the hill. Because of the rain, there was a lot of water in the trench, and my boots kept ringing when I stepped on them. When I heard that I was walking and making such a big noise, I could not help but worry about the night attack team. I was worried that their footsteps were too loud when they were in action, and they would be found by the enemy, leading to the failure of the operation.

 Chapter 671

    As soon as I stopped, kirilov, who was following me, ran into me. If he hadn''t pulled me in time, I would have fallen into the mud.


    He saw the look of my face, and asked with concern, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the matter with you?"


    Looking at the distance, I sighed and said anxiously, "political commissar, I am worried about the troops who are going to carry out the night attack mission. The road becomes muddy because of the rain, which will not only affect their marching speed, but also increase their movement. Although after dark, the enemy''s sight will be affected, as long as they are not deaf, they can hear the movement of this detachment. "


    After listening to this, kirilov leaned his head to ponder for a moment, and then said, "Sir, I think your worry is superfluous, not to mention that there are five commanders from the second lieutenant''s training team in the detachment. Comrade oberstein, who holds the command post, is a commander with rich combat experience. I think he will find a proper way to deal with your worries. " At this point, he raised his hand, looked at his watch and reminded me, "don''t you want to go to the observation post on the top of the mountain? It''s getting late. Let''s go up first. "


    When I got to the top of the mountain, I found that the observation post here, like the one on the hillside, had been destroyed by the enemy''s artillery fire. Looking at the observation post which could not be used because of the collapse, I regretted that I had to drag kirilov to the top of the hillside on impulse, but now I can''t talk about it.


    When I was in a dilemma, Pugachev arrived in time to help me out. He asked several soldiers to put raincoats on the wall of the trench so that kirilov and I could lie on the raincoats and observe the enemy in the distance.


    Seeing kirilov and I lying on the raincoat and holding up the telescope, Pugachev asked: "teacher, commissar, is there anything else I can do for you?"


    Without looking back, I waved to him and said impatiently, "major Pugachev, it''s none of your business here. Go back first. If there is any need, I will send soldiers to call you


    I lay on my raincoat and looked intently at the open land covered by the night in the distance. This time, I lay on the ground for more than an hour. At the beginning, I didn''t feel anything. With the passage of time, and I couldn''t see anything clearly through the telescope, my mood became more and more irritable. Finally, I couldn''t help it. I put my telescope on my raincoat and said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, do you see anything?"


    Kirilov put down his telescope, looked up at me, shook his head slowly, and said, "I don''t see anything, and I don''t know where oberstein''s night strike team is?"


    I walked back and forth in the trench with my hands on my back. I made up my mind decisively. I grabbed the telescope on my raincoat, hung it around my neck, and said to kirilov in a loud voice, "OK, comrade political commissar, we can''t see anything here. Let''s go back to the headquarters."


    As soon as I entered the headquarters, kirilov grabbed in front of me and asked akhromeyev, "chief of staff, is there any news from the night attack team?"


    "No," said akhromeyev, shaking his head like a rattle, "no news at all. The walkie talkie carried by Comrade oberstein not only has not contacted us, but also has not contacted a regiment. "


    "Chief of staff, why are you doing this?" I sat down in my seat, looked up at akhromeyev and asked, "do you think there''s something wrong with them? Is it because the current is too fast that their wooden bed is washed away by the river? "


    Akhromeyev first shook his head, and then said his opinion: "Sir, I don''t think it''s possible for you to say so. Even if their ships are washed downstream by the river, they can find new landing points and continue to carry out the night attack mission. The reason why Comrade oberstein did not contact us may be that his troops are in a latent state at present. In order to avoid exposing the target, he has kept radio silence for the time being. "


    After listening to akhromeyev''s analysis, I felt more at ease, and then changed the topic: "by the way, there''s something I almost forgot. After daybreak tomorrow, send a squad of soldiers to send some ammunition to Pavlov building


    As soon as my words came out, I knew that I had slipped my tongue. The word Pavlov building didn''t officially appear until the eve of the end of the battle of Stalingrad. Now it''s less than 24 hours before Sergeant Pavlov led his comrades to seize the building. It''s unknown whether he can hold it, let alone command the building in his name.


    "Pavlov building? What place are you talking about, sir? " After listening to my order, ahlomeyev showed a confused expression on his face, but without waiting for me to explain, his face was suddenly enlightened: "I remember that you said the building that accompanied the commander to inspect during the day. I remember the name of the commander in the building."


    Seeing that akhromeyev didn''t pay attention to what I said, I was relieved. Then I continued to tell him, "if you can find some candy or white granulated sugar, don''t forget to send it to alika."


    "I see, sir." Akhromeyev replied with a smile: "please rest assured that I will arrange this matter."


    "Pavlov building, alenka? I said, division chief and chief of staff, what riddles are you two playing? Why can''t I understand at all? " Hearing that I arranged ahlomeyev''s work, kirilov next to me was confused. He asked curiously, "I don''t know which one of you can explain it to me?"


    Akhromeyev looked at me, nodded and said, "well, comrade political commissar. In the battle last night, an infantry platoon of the 42nd regiment of the guards, after a tough fight, captured a building near the square of January 9 and built fortifications inside it. I followed my division commander, commander, and general rojmzev to inspect the building and found that in addition to our commanders and fighters, there were more than a dozen residents who did not have time to evacuate. Alenka was one of them. She was still a child, only four or five years old. "


    Kirilov nodded and said, "I see." Then he turned to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, I think alika and her family are short of enough food and daily necessities at present. You can rest assured that tomorrow morning I will arrange it myself and ask someone to send more food to the building."


    As we were talking, razumeyeva strode over, put a new telegram in front of me, and then turned away.


    As soon as I picked up the telegram, kirilov came and asked curiously, "Comrade oshanina, who sent the telegram?"


    I read the telegram at a glance, handed it to him, and said, "it''s from lieutenant colonel chejerikov. It says that political commissar oberstein just got in touch with him a few minutes ago. Comrade oberstein reported that because of the enemy''s tight defense, they could not get too close to the enemy''s camp. However, when they were lurking nearby, an enemy patrol broke into their ambush circle by mistake. In order not to be noticed, they solved the patrol with a dagger and captured a German sergeant. At present, the team is returning along the river and asked me to contact the fourth regiment on the highland in advance, Avoid misunderstandings with the defenders on the way back. "


    Although akhromeyev didn''t have time to read the telegram, as soon as I finished, he picked up the telephone and called lieutenant colonel gedar on the high ground. He informed him of the return of the night attack team and ordered him to send troops to meet him.


    When kirilov put down the telegram, he nodded and said, "this comrade oberstein is not simple. He can kill an enemy patrol and capture a German sergeant in silence."


    Hearing kirilov say so, akhromeyev''s eyes lit up: "we just need to interrogate this prisoner later, and we can learn about the enemy camp from his mouth."


    What akhromeyev said is exactly what I thought in my heart. I hastened to urge him: "chief of staff, please call Mikhail and ask him to come to the division headquarters to translate for us. Otherwise, we can''t understand what the Germans are saying."


    Mikhail yev received the call and soon arrived at the headquarters to play the role of interpreter when interrogating the prisoners.


    We waited about two hours before oberstein and his night attack team returned to mamayev post.


    When the muddy oberstein entered the headquarters, two soldiers, also covered with mud, accompanied by an elderly German sergeant with his hands tied back, also came in.


    After oberstein saluted us, kirilov asked him to sit down. After he sat down, instead of directly interrogating the prisoners, he asked oberstein with concern how their ambush tonight was going on.


    Oberstein quickly stood up and reported to us the whole process of this evening''s operation: "my team, after boarding the wooden boat, floated down the river. But when the hazy shadow of the village mentioned in the intelligence came into my view, I ordered the soldiers to pull in and land at the right place.


    Due to the heavy rain before dark, the road outside became muddy and inconvenient for our movement. With the cover of night, we approached the village occupied by the German army carefully. However, when it is five or six hundred meters away from the village, it is impossible to move on. Outside the village, there are not only barbed wire and fortifications, but also a lot of patrols.


    I quickly reconnaissance of the surrounding terrain, decisively let the troops scattered on the spot, every ten people into a group, arranged into a small pocket array. To tell you the truth, lurking so close to the enemy, I don''t have the bottom in my heart. I''m not afraid of any soldier''s retreat, but I''m afraid that when we see the enemy wandering around us, we can''t help itching and firing a few shots at the enemy.


    We lay in the mud and waited patiently. Apart from the lights in the village in the distance and the roar of the German vehicles as they passed by, we could only hear the sound of the Volga River.


    We had been lying in the hiding place for an hour, but we didn''t see the enemy patrol passing by. A soldier lying beside me was impatient. He took two steps to me and asked softly, "Comrade political commissar, how long have we been here?"


    I raised my hand, looked at my watch and said, "it''s been more than an hour."


    "I''m afraid the enemy''s patrol won''t show up, will it?"


    When I heard what the soldiers said, my heart was also shaken. If I didn''t see the enemy''s patrol in a minute or less, I might order the troops to retreat, try to go around from other directions, and try to find the loopholes in the enemy''s camp.


    Just at this time, I suddenly heard a movement in the distance. At first I thought I had heard wrong, but my voice became clearer and clearer. The unyielding soldier excitedly said to me, "political commissar, it''s the enemy''s patrol!"


    I immediately raised my head and looked carefully in the direction of the sound. I saw a dozen figures coming towards us. I said to the soldiers in a low voice, "you are right. The enemy''s patrol is coming towards us."


    "When they get close, let''s do it." The soldier said as he reached for the grenade pinned to his waist.


    I quickly waved my hand and stopped him: "no, comrade soldier. It''s too close to the enemy here. If we can''t solve the battle in the shortest time, once the enemy''s tanks and armored vehicles rush up, we are in danger of losing the whole army. Send my order. When the enemy patrol enters our ambush circle, we will have daggers to solve all problems. Remember, we have to keep a living. "


    In this way, when the enemy''s 11 person patrol entered our ambush circle, the soldiers rushed up from several directions, killed most of the enemy with daggers and captured the leader of the patrol. Because we moved quickly and didn''t shoot until we moved, the enemy in the camp didn''t find that their patrol was killed by us. "


    "Well done!" Kirilov praised oberstein, then walked up to the prisoner and asked coldly, "your position, rank and unit?" Mikhail yev, who was with them, translated his words into German and told them to the prisoners.


    After hearing this, the prisoner uttered a few words, and mihayev quickly translated it into Russian for us: "Osh, German sergeant, monitor of the 113th infantry division."


    "Is your division in the village?" Kirilov then asked.


    Sergeant OSH shook his head hard and replied, "I don''t know where the division is, the regiment of the 339th infantry regiment stationed in the village."


    After translating this passage, Mikhail yev suddenly yelled at Sergeant OSH. After that, he specially translated it to us: "teacher, political commissar, I''m talking about him, because I met the adjutant of the teacher in that village during the day."


    After Sergeant OSH heard this, he suddenly realized: "Mr. lieutenant, it''s you who came to our camp today!"?! That''s no wonder, but you just happened to catch up with the adjutant of the division commander who came to the division to convey the order. When he heard that you were here to discuss the collection of corpses, he asked the head of the regiment to leave and personally met you in the regiment headquarters. "


    When he heard that there was only one regiment headquarters in the village, kirilov''s face turned black. He gritted his teeth and said to OSH, "show me the situation of your regiment''s defense in the village on the map."


    "I''m sorry, commander." The German Sergeant politely said to him, "I can''t read the map. I can''t show you the deployment of our regiment on the map." At this point, he stopped for a moment. Seeing that kirilov was on the verge of violence, he said calmly, "but I can dictate it, and then please mark it on the map yourself."


    I first saw kirilov had clenched his fist. At the moment when he was about to wave it out, when he heard Sergeant OSH''s second half of the speech, his fist loosened. At the same time, with a long breath, he turned to ahlomeyev and said, "chief of staff, you are responsible for marking the position of the prisoner."


    The prisoner didn''t know what to think. In the next half hour, he said a lot. Looking at akhromeyev marking so many things on the map, I was full of doubt. Did the German Sergeant tell the truth? Don''t make it up to deceive us.


    After the prisoner explained the problem, kirilov waved to oberstein and said, "Comrade oberstein, it''s late. You and your soldiers should go back and have a rest early. By the way, take the prisoner away and give it to captain basmanov, the commander of the guard battalion outside."


    When the two soldiers dragged the prisoner to leave, the prisoner suddenly yelled a few words. Kirilov could not help but be stunned after hearing this. He turned his head and asked mihayev, "Comrade lieutenant, what did he say?"


    Without waiting for Mikhail to speak, I snorted and said, "what else can he say? It can''t be said that he is not a * * but a Social Democrat or something. "


    As soon as my voice fell, Mikhail yev corrected me in embarrassment and said, "Comrade commander, what the prisoner said is not what you said. He said just now that he is an anti Communist, so he can selflessly provide us with so much useful information. "


    "Well, no matter who he is," kirilov interrupted impatiently, "I only know that he is our prisoner now. Comrade oberstein, what are you still doing here? Take the prisoners down, and you and your comrades in arms will go back to rest early. "


    After oberstein and his soldiers left with the prisoners, we gathered around the table, staring at the map on the table and began to discuss. Akhromeyev said excitedly: "Sir, political commissar, you see, if the prisoners don''t lie, the enemy''s regiment will be greatly reduced, so two battalions are set up in the direction facing our square array, while only one company is set up by the river. To the west of the village, there is also an artillery battalion position of the enemy. Due to the limited strength, only two platoons of infantry were sent to guard the artillery positions. "¡° Chief of staff, tell me. What do you think? " Kirilov asked¡° It''s still the old way, "said akhromeyev confidently," to send troops to attack at night and try to capture the enemy''s artillery position and destroy it. "

 Chapter 672

    I did not immediately express my opinion on the idea put forward by akhromeyev. Instead, I looked at the map. After watching for a while, I drew a big circle on the north side of the artillery position with my finger, encircled several villages, and then asked them, "which village do you think the enemy''s division headquarters will be located in?"


    After hearing my question, akhromeyev raised his head from the map. Maybe he knew what I might think when I asked, so he did not answer my question. Instead, he tentatively asked, "Comrade division commander, are you going to use the enemy''s artillery positions to do something, so you need to determine where the enemy''s division headquarters are?"


    "Chief of staff, don''t you ask more questions?" Kirilov also looked away from the map and said to akhromeyev, "if I am not wrong, the reason why the division commander wants to confirm the location of the German 113th division headquarters is that he wants to use the captured artillery to bombard the enemy''s division headquarters after our night attack troops seize the artillery position tonight."


    "Bombard the German division?" Akhromeyev asked in surprise: "the enemy has only one artillery battalion. With those guns, they will bombard the enemy''s division. Is that ok?"


    "There''s nothing wrong." I went on to say: "although the enemy''s artillery has only one battalion, their artillery can shoot shells from seven or eight kilometers away to the northern Highlands, proving that they must be equipped with heavy artillery. My idea is to have major Morozov take eight men out of the artillery camp and join the night attack team tomorrow night. The number of night Raiders should be more than tonight, at least one company. The commander was still political commissar oberstein. After dark, he led his troops down the river by boat, quietly bypassing the well defended villages and going to the enemy''s artillery positions. "


    "Just eight artillery, is it too small?" Asked akhromeyev anxiously.


    I waved my head and continued: "after seizing the artillery position, these artillery are only responsible for adjusting the firing direction and aiming at the target. Ordinary infantry can assist in such things as loading and pulling the gun rope."


    After hearing this, akhromeyev nodded his head vigorously and answered briefly, "I see. I''ll call major Morozov and ask him to bring out the best Gunners in the camp."


    While akhromeyev was on the phone, kirilov suddenly said to me, "Sir, do you know the latest situation of the 70th division of Colonel lyudnikov''s guards?"


    Since lyudnikov''s troops were transferred from the 64th group army to the 62nd group army, I have never seen them before. Suddenly, I heard the political commissar ask such a question. I knew what he would say to me, so I shook my head honestly and said I didn''t know.


    Kirilov sighed and said, "Comrade oshanina, the situation is very bad. According to the information I got, the 70th division of the guards, under the command of its division commander, Colonel lyudnikov, fought tenaciously with the enemy who had invaded the city. After making a great sacrifice, he blocked the enemy''s attack and drove them back to the starting point of the attack. "


    "Comrade political commissar, do you know the casualties of the 70th division?" After asking this question, I thought to myself, could it be that this battle has killed one third or even more of lyudnikov''s men?


    Although I had been psychologically prepared for the heavy casualties of the friendly forces, I was still in a cold sweat when I heard kirilov''s reply. Only kirilov said solemnly: "after the battle, Colonel lyudnikov''s men dug two large pits in the defense area to bury their dead comrades. It is said that no less than 1000 bodies were buried in each pit. Besides the wounded sent to the field hospitals, there are less than 1500 people left in the 70th division, including many non combatants such as staff officers and logistics. "


    Holding the edge of the table with both hands, I leaned down and looked at the map in front of me. Seeing the defense area designated by the group army command for the 70th division of the guards, I could not help but worry and said to myself, "with only 1500 people left, can Colonel lyudnikov hold the existing position? If the enemy makes two more such crazy attacks, they will either be driven into the Volga River by the enemy, or the whole army will be destroyed. "


    "Sir, do you think we can help them?" Kirilov asked cautiously.


    I carefully looked at the map several times and studied the possibility of sending troops to reinforce the 70th division. After watching it for a long time, I finally sighed and said with regret, "Comrade political commissar, no way. It''s not that I don''t want to send troops to reinforce the 70th division of the guards. After all, I''ve fought side by side with colonel lyudnikov, and I can''t do things that I can''t help when I see death. But you can see that the defense areas of mamayev post and the 70th division of the guards are almost half a city apart. We have to pass at least the defense areas of the 13th division, the 35th division of the guards and many other friendly forces to enter the defense areas of the lyudnikov division. Even if I don''t tell you, you should know that fierce fighting is also going on in these areas. Our reinforcements may be annihilated by the enemy on the road before they reach their destination. "


    "Sir, is there really no way?" Akhromeyev, who had just put down the phone, heard the conversation between kirilov and me and couldn''t help asking anxiously


    I stared at the map and thought for a while, then said slowly, "if you want to say support, it''s not impossible. We can''t send large troops. We can send small troops to support us. For example, send two small teams that are good at urban guerrilla warfare, or a dozen snipers to the defense area of the 70th division of the guards, so as to slightly reduce the positive defense pressure for them. "


    After listening to me, kirilov turned and asked akhromeyev, "chief of staff, how are the forces of the fifth regiment?"


    Akhromeyev is sitting in a qualified chief of staff. He is already familiar with these data. When he heard kirilov''s question, he opened his mouth and said a series of data: "at present, there are still 11 companies in the fifth regiment, two of which are the original second and third security companies; Three companies with weaker fighting capacity under the control of the militia battalion; The remaining six companies are all elite originally drawn from the other four regiments, and their combat effectiveness is the strongest. "


    "Call Lt. Col. Oleg and commissar veroll and ask them to deploy a company with the strongest fighting capacity to move to the defense area of the 70th division of the guards at night. Tell the commanders in charge that their task is not to fight hard positional warfare with the enemy, but to use their familiarity with the terrain to launch guerrilla warfare with the enemy in the city, to slow down the enemy''s attack, and to reduce as much as possible the positive defensive pressure of the 70th guard division. "


    After commanding akhromeyev, I quickly walked to the telephone and said to razumeyeva, "Comrade lieutenant, can we get in touch with the radio station of the 70th division?"


    After hearing this, razumeyeva nodded and answered me, "Mr. reporter, I have the communication code of the 70th division of the guards. You can talk to the commander of the other party directly through the telephone."


    Hearing what razumeyeva said, I was overjoyed and immediately told her, "this is really wonderful. Comrade lieutenant, contact the 70th division immediately. I want to speak to their division commander. "


    When lyudnikov''s familiar voice came from the earphone, I excitedly said to him, "Hello, Colonel lyudnikov."


    Unexpectedly, he replied feebly, "it''s comrade oshanina. I''m not good, very bad. At present, the enemy forces are only 300 meters away from my division headquarters. As long as they launch a strong attack, they can enter my headquarters. "


    Lyudnikov''s words startled me, and I reminded him in a panic: "since the enemy is so close to your headquarters, you should move the headquarters back, otherwise when the enemy comes, it will be too late to move."


    After listening to me, he said with a bitter smile: "I have promised the commander that as long as there is one person in the 70th division of the guards, I will never step back. I can''t break my promise."


    Seeing that he didn''t have the slightest intention to retreat, I didn''t persuade him any more. I just informed him that I would send a company to support him. When I heard that I was going to send troops to reinforce him, I was very excited. On the phone, I repeatedly expressed my gratitude: "Comrade oshanina, I am worried about the shortage of troops. The company you sent has really helped me and solved my urgent need."


    I was deeply afraid that he would send the company of the fifth regiment to the position as cannon fodder. I specially stressed: "don''t be too excited, Colonel lyudnikov. Although I sent a company to your defense area, they didn''t go to help you fight positional warfare."


    Lyudnikov, listening to me, gave a very unexpected "ah".


    I then said, "when they come to your defense area, they will carry out guerrilla or sniper warfare on the flank or rear of the enemy, and try every means to disrupt the enemy''s combat deployment and reduce the pressure of your frontal defense. Do you understand? "


    After listening, lyudnikov was silent for a while, and then said decisively, "well, how to use this company, do as you say, I have no objection!"


    After the call with lyudnikov, akhromeyev reported again: "Sir, I have called a regiment and artillery battalion one after another. Lieutenant commander xiejerikov and major Morozov have made clear their respective tasks. They should now be deploying elite troops to form a night attack team tomorrow evening."


    Seeing that akhromeyev had arranged everything, I nodded with satisfaction. Then I waved to him and kirilov and said, "political commissar, chief of staff, it''s getting late. Let''s have a rest early."


    All night long.


    As soon as it was dawn, I was awakened by the roar of guns coming from outside the cave.


    As soon as I sat upright, I asked aloud, "what''s the matter with the gunfire outside? Which area has been shelled by the enemy?"


    "Report to division commander," razumeyeva, who was sitting beside the telephone, stood up and reported to me, "Lieutenant Colonel gedar of the fourth regiment reported that their position was being shelled by the enemy."


    "Is the whole mamayev post under shelling, or is only the northern highland of the fourth Regiment under shelling?"


    After hearing my question, razumeyeva added: "report, sir, at present, it is only the surface position of the northern highland, which is being shelled by the enemy. Commander Gaidar also specially stressed that the area where the tank wrecks are located at the foot of the mountain is not within the range of the enemy''s shelling. "


    "That''s great, that''s great!" When I heard this news, I was overjoyed. It seems that the newly built defense line at the foot of the mountain has not been found by the German army. In this way, they will have to suffer in the next ground attack. I quickly told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, it''s still the old rule, you stay at the headquarters, I and the political commissar go outside to check the war."


    Akhromeyev quickly got up and promised loudly, "yes!"


    After handing over the work of the headquarters to akhromeyev, I waved my head to kirilov and said with pride, "come on, comrade political commissar, go and see how the fourth regiment taught the Germans." With that, he lifted his feet and left.


    Seeing that I was going to take him to the observation post on the hillside again, kirilov, with a face full of tears and laughter, pointed a few times with his fingers, and didn''t say what he wanted to say. Finally, he followed me to leave the headquarters.


    When I came to the observation post on the hillside along the traffic trench, I was surprised to find that it had been repaired, so I stopped and said to kirilov, "political commissar, you can see the situation on the battlefield here anyway. Let''s be here today."


    Kirilov did not speak, but nodded. Then he raised his telescope and looked at the smoke filled highland.


    Instead of looking at the high ground being bombarded, I turned my attention to the open field in the distance. At this time, the enemy''s troops were still three or four kilometers away, with seven or eight open tanks in front and dense infantry behind. In terms of number, there was at least one battalion.


    At the end of the bombardment, the enemy''s forward was less than 500 meters from the foot of the mountain. At this time, the enemy''s tanks slowed down and stopped moving. They were just spinning around, obviously looking for a suitable shooting position. The soldiers behind the tank, on the other hand, rushed forward in a dense formation, speeding up.


    "Comrade oshanina, the enemy''s infantry charge in such a dense formation, aren''t they going to die?" Kirilov, who had been silent, said in my ear.


    Looking at the infantry line approaching our army, I couldn''t help laughing contemptuously. Then I said to kirilov, "political commissar, the enemy is going to carry out the area with a lot of tank ruins, disperse the troops, and rely on those ruins to attack our position."


    With these words, the front of the enemy infantry has begun to enter the area with dense tank debris. At that moment, the firepower concealed in the tank turret and under the tank opened fire decisively. The intensive cross fire made the dense enemy full of blood and fog. The German soldiers who were marching forward were knocked down in pieces. The ups and downs of the waves of people seemed to hit an invisible wall and disappeared in an instant. The German soldiers who fell behind either fell down on the spot or turned around and ran.


    Without waiting for the enemy tanks to recover, just entering the position, the mortar group opened fire on the retreating German infantry. Several mortar shells accurately landed in the middle of the fleeing enemy, blowing up the unprepared enemy. The German soldiers were so frightened that they fled to both sides. Without waiting for them to run far away, several mortars, like eyes, landed in the dense position of the enemy again. They blasted the escaped soldiers into the air and fell heavily into the distance.


    At the moment, the recovered tank fired cruelly at the tank in front. Due to the close range, the firing rate of the discharged shells was very high. After a round of shelling, several of our firepower points became silent and apparently destroyed by the enemy.


    When the German tanks finished the second round of fire and destroyed several of our firepower points again, two of them suddenly burst into flames. Seeing this scene, I knew in my heart that it must be the work of the anti tank rifle company.


    I took my telescope and looked over to the highland. As the smoke of the gunfire had not cleared away, I could not see not only the shadow of the anti tank rifle company that had just made great achievements, but also the position of the mortar group.


    One hit worked, and the anti tank rifle company continued to fire, destroying three other tanks. The remaining three tanks were in a bad situation and quickly stepped back. And their infantry, under the attack of our mortars and machine guns, lay on the open ground at the foot of the hillside except for a few with fast legs.


    Watching the German tanks go away, the soldiers of the fourth regiment decisively attack from the position and go to the battlefield to collect weapons and ammunition from the enemy''s corpses. Seeing that about two of our companies left their positions and entered the open field to clean up the battlefield, I was deeply afraid that they would be retaliated by the German artillery fire. So I called akhromeyev and told him: "chief of staff, call commander Gaidar of the fourth regiment immediately, ask him to clean up the battlefield as soon as possible, and withdraw the garrison at the foot of the mountain as soon as possible, I am afraid that the enemy who has suffered a great loss will use artillery to carry out shelling. "


    Thanks to my reminder, the soldiers of the fourth regiment cleaned the battlefield in less than five minutes and returned to the hillside position with a lot of booty. Almost as they entered the hillside position, the enemy''s retaliatory artillery roared in, blowing up the ruins of the tanks at the foot of the mountain like toys.


    Kirilov saw the intensive gunfire on the open ground, wiped the sweat that did not exist on his forehead, and even said, "Comrade o''shanina, you are still right in your eyes. If the troops at the foot of the mountain don''t withdraw, even if they are not completely destroyed under such intense enemy fire, it will be the result of no survival. "


    Before the enemy''s shelling stopped, their planes came again. Around the northern Highlands, there was a frenzy of bombardment. Angry, kirilov yelled at the plane in the sky: "damn the Krauts, they are bullying us. We don''t have a plane. Have the ability to come to the ground and fight face to face with us. "


    After listening to kirilov''s words, several soldiers in the guard camp were covering their mouths and laughing secretly. I gave them a fierce stare and then said to kirilov, "come on, comrade political commissar, let''s go back to the headquarters. Colonel gedar will keep us informed of any situation The Germans, who suffered a great loss from us, did not dare to launch any ground attack for a whole day, except for the indiscriminate bombing and shelling of our positions. After dark, a group leader called to report to us that the night attack team under the command of political commissar oberstein had boarded five wooden boats by the river and went downstream to carry out the task of sneaking attack on the enemy camp.

 Chapter 673

    Shortly after the end of the call with shijerikov, Gaidar, who was holding fast to the North highland, called and asked cautiously: "Sir, during the day, the firepower points we set up in the area where the remains of tanks were piled up destroyed a large number of enemies. Should I continue to send troops to build firepower points?"


    After listening to his proposal, I immediately denied it: "no, Colonel gedar, absolutely not. During the day, our firepower points can cause great damage to the enemy, because the enemy did not expect us to set up firepower points in the wreckage of the tank, so we were caught off guard. The Germans are not idiots. They have suffered so much. Before they launch an attack tomorrow, they are bound to concentrate their artillery fire on the area where the remains of tanks are piled up at the foot of the mountain. I don''t want our soldiers to die in vain. "


    "Comrade division," although he heard that his proposal had been rejected, Gaidar was still unwilling to give up and tried to persuade me: "I think we should try. After all, our soldiers are hiding in the turret of the tank. As long as they are not directly hit by the shells, the shrapnel flying around will not hurt them."


    "No way!" I knew that if we were to go on writing with Gaidar like this, we would not be able to say it for another hour, so I directly suppressed him with my own identity: "don''t you know that the commander''s orders are not allowed to be discussed? Don''t talk nonsense any more. Without my orders, no one will be allowed to enter the tank wreckage area to build fire points. " With that, I couldn''t help hanging up.


    When I put down the phone, I saw akhromeyev coming from the phone with a piece of paper in his hand. He also said to kirilov and me from a long distance: "the division commander and political commissar have just received a report from the fifth regiment that one of our troops landed at the dock and moved into the city in batches after the formation."


    "Chief of staff, do you know the number of the new army?" Kirilov asked, turning his head.


    Akhromeyev nodded and replied, "it''s major general smehotwolov''s 193rd infantry division. The general''s deputy is regimental political commissar niechayev. As their task is to take over the defense of the 161st infantry regiment in the outer buildings of the Red October workers'' residential area, I asked lieutenant commander Oleg to send a part of the militia of the Red October factory to guide them. "


    Hearing that the troops to be replaced were a strange name, I couldn''t help but arouse my curiosity. As soon as akhromeyev stopped, I couldn''t wait to ask, "which division does the 161st regiment belong to? Why haven''t I heard of it before?"


    "Sir, let me give you a detailed explanation. Last week, the 95th infantry division, under the command of division commander Colonel gorishner and battalion political commissar frashenko, crossed the river and entered the city to take charge of the defense of the factory area to the north of the city. After entering the city, the division fought tenaciously with the enemy who rushed to the factory area. After a week''s fighting, the division was seriously reduced. Under the arrangement of the headquarters of the group army, the remaining fighters of the division were organized into the 161st regiment and remained in the city to fight. All the staff officers, quartermaster logistics and other non fighters of the division and its other two regiments were ordered to withdraw to the East Bank of the Volga River for rest. "


    "How is the Red October factory?" After listening to his introduction, I asked faintly.


    Akhromeyev shook his head vigorously and said, "according to the information we have, the situation of Red October factory is very bad. After launching several strong attacks, the enemy severely damaged the 161st regiment and more than a dozen militiamen organized combat battalions, which held fast to the factory, and occupied most of the factory. " At this point, seeing that the expressions on kirilov''s face and mine became serious, he hastened to add: "however, in those parts of the factory controlled by our army, the workers continued to work overtime to produce all kinds of military materials under the enemy''s fire and gunfire."


    After hearing all this, kirilov silently lit a cigarette, looked up at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, I have a bold idea now. I want to discuss it with you."


    "Come on, comrade political commissar," I said with encouragement as soon as I saw his expression of desire to talk and stop. "Just say what you think. Let''s three of us study whether it is feasible."


    When I finished speaking, akhromeyev also helped me to say: "the teacher is right. Comrade political commissar, if you have any ideas, just let us hear them. Maybe your idea will be helpful to the future. "


    After two puffs, kirilov put out his cigarette, raised his head and said decisively, "chief of division and chief of staff, I think this way: Although our division lost a lot of staff in September, most of the fighting was carried out around the northern highlands of mamayev post, but there were few battles in other areas where our division was stationed. I would like to dispatch troops from the second regiment, just like the fifth regiment, to carry out guerrilla or sniper warfare in the cities, so as to strike hard at the enemy, cooperate with the defense of friendly forces, and reduce their defense pressure. What''s your opinion? "


    After listening to kirilov''s proposal, akhromeyev thought a little and then nodded his head in agreement: "I agree with the political commissar. If we only pay attention to our own defense areas and ignore the friendly forces and allow them to be defeated or destroyed by the enemy, then we will soon fall into the encirclement of the enemy. At that time, our independent division will not be able to escape the tragic fate of total annihilation. "


    From the bottom of my heart, I very much agree with kirilov''s proposal. If you want to develop in the military, you must first have a backhand. If you don''t have a big mountain behind you, you can still get rid of the dust and even lose your life. In addition to the appreciation of the superiors, there must be a group of colleagues who can help themselves at a critical moment. This is like building skyscrapers, we must first lay a solid foundation. At present, I have Zhukov and trakov as my backers, but there are few colleagues who are equal to me and willing to help me. If I send troops to help them at their most critical moment, it is bound to increase their favor for me and get twice the result with half the effort. However, when I think that there are only more than 3000 people in the whole division, if I disperse the troops rashly, I will not know whether I can stick to the mamayev post.


    Seeing that I didn''t speak for a long time, akhromeyev was a little worried. He couldn''t help urging me and said, "Sir, what do you think of the political commissar''s proposal? Agree or disagree? You have a word to say


    Akhromeyev''s urging made me make up my mind: anyway, in the history I know, the battle of Stalingrad ended with the victory of the Soviet army and the defeat of the German army. It is only good for me to make good use of these division and brigade commanders in the future. It seems that this risk is worth taking. Thinking of this, I gritted my teeth and said decisively, "political commissar, I agree with your proposal." Then I turned to akhromeyev and said, "chief of staff, call major Pugachev immediately, and ask him to dispatch elite soldiers to form a commando overnight. As for the commander of the commando team, Captain horushov, a battalion commander, and his instructor, safchenko, will be the commander. "


    After determining the troops to be transferred and the commanders of the troops, in the next few hours, the three of us stared at a picture of Stalingrad''s city defense in front of us and repeatedly studied the matter of where the commandos should launch the guerrilla war. Even the night Raiders under oberstein''s command were forgotten.


    I don''t know how long later, razumeyeva suddenly called out to me in a loud voice: "Sir, commander, Lieutenant Colonel xijerikov is online. He has important information to report to you."


    Hearing that razumeyeva mentioned the name of xiejerikov, I didn''t recover for a moment. I raised my hand and looked at it. The pointer had already pointed to one o''clock in the morning. I couldn''t help but say to myself, "what can I do for a group leader at this late hour?" As soon as I finished speaking, I suddenly thought of the night attack team that had sneaked into the enemy''s rear. I stood up and rushed over, grabbed the earphone and transmitter in razumeyeva''s hand, and said aloud, "Hello, Hello, is that lieutenant colonel xiejerikov? I''m captain o''shanina. Do you have any news from the night Raiders to report to me? "


    "Yes, sir." From the earphone came shijerikov''s excited voice: "the political commissar of oberstein, who was commanding at the front line, just reported to me that his night attack team had sneaked into the enemy''s camp after landing. Because of the heavy losses during the day''s attack and the shortage of troops for front guard, the German army transferred the company that used to guard by the river to the front, leaving only one class of soldiers.


    After annihilating the soldiers guarding the river, political commissar oberstein and the night attack team touched the enemy''s artillery position. After a short battle, they occupied the enemy''s artillery position. Six heavy howitzers were used to bombard a nearby village randomly.


    At the third round of the shelling, when the nearby garrison found the artillery position, they swarmed in, trying to get more positions back from their hands. Seeing that the enemy was powerful, comrade oberstein ordered the artillery to carry out two more rounds of shelling. After that, he destroyed the artillery with hand grenades and retreated to the Volga River


    Hearing that oberstein''s night attack team successfully occupied the enemy''s artillery position and used the enemy''s artillery to bombard the enemy''s camp, I couldn''t help cheering secretly. But since I didn''t hear the news of oberstein''s successful evacuation, I couldn''t help worrying and asked, "did the night attack team get out of danger?"


    Shejerikov was silent for a moment and reported in a heavy tone: "the commissar lost contact after reporting that they had started to move. My radio station can''t get in touch with them at the moment."


    "Keep calling. Call me as soon as you get in touch."


    I went back to the table and told kirilov and akhromeyev what she had just reported. As akhromeyev was about to speak, the telephone on the desk rang. He quickly grabbed the phone and said in a loud voice, "Hello, I''m akhromeyev, chief of staff of the division. Where are you?"


    After listening to the other party say a few words, he said a light: "continue to observe, there is a new situation to report to me."


    Put down the phone, he said to me: "report to division commander, the phone call is from lieutenant colonel gedar of the fourth regiment. He said that the observation on the hillside found that in the direction of the German camp in the north, there was a lot of fire, even the night sky in the distance was red."


    I just nodded after listening, because I understood that what the fourth regiment observed was the result of the night attack team. I turned to kirilov and said anxiously, "Comrade political commissar, do you think the night attack team can get out of danger successfully?"


    Kirilov said with a bitter smile, "Comrade oshanina, if you want me to tell you the truth, I can only tell you with regret that unless there is a miracle, their chances of getting out of danger are almost zero."


    "Why do you say that, comrade political commissar?" Ahlomeyev asked in a puzzled way.


    "It''s easy!" I said: "oberstein, when they withdraw from the position, they have been bitten by the enemy''s large forces. Even if they cover the retreat alternately, most of the officers and men will die."


    The worry about the night attack team diluted the joy brought by the results of the night attack. Especially after knowing that the probability of the night attack team is not big, everyone''s heart is more heavy. In order to get to know the situation of the night attack team at the first time, akhromeyev contacted shijerikov almost every ten minutes.


    But shejerikov''s answer was the same every time: "sorry, chief of staff, I haven''t contacted the night attack team yet."


    We spent more than two hours waiting. Just as we were on the verge of despair, the phone on the desk rang. Akhromeyev grabbed the microphone and said, "Hello, I''m akhromeyev, chief of staff of the division. Where are you? Do you have anything to report?"


    There was silence in the receiver, and then came the excited voice of lieutenant colonel Gaidar: "report to chief of staff, it''s the night attack team. It''s the night attack team that has successfully returned to our regiment''s defense area."


    "What, the night attack team?" I heard Gaidar say that the night Raiders are back. As soon as they snatched the microphone from akhromeyev, they raised their voice and asked, "Hello, commander Gaidar, is that true? Is the night attack team led by Comrade oberstein really back? "


    "Hello, comrade teacher." Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the receiver. After a moment''s hesitation, I decided that the person I was talking with was oberstein, whom we had been thinking about all along.


    I quickly asked, "Comrade oberstein, it''s hard work! How about the casualties of the night attack team and how many people have returned? " When I asked this, my heart beat faster. I was afraid that he would only come back when he told me.


    Unexpectedly, oberstein replied in a calm tone: "report to division commander, there are 100 people in the night attack team. There are 16 casualties in the battle tonight, of which 5 are killed and 11 are injured. Except for the remains of the martyrs, the remaining 95 people returned safely. "


    His report surprised me. I asked in surprise, "Comrade oberstein, don''t you mean you are surrounded by the enemy''s heavy troops? How can we successfully highlight the enemy''s encirclement and return to our position at such a small price? "


    "Yes, sir." Oberstein continued to report to me: "when we were preparing to break through the encirclement after blowing up the enemy''s artillery, suddenly there were shells all over the place, all hitting the enemy''s lines that besieged us, blowing them up. Seeing that the enemy was in chaos, I quickly led the troops to rush out of the gap opened by the shells. "


    "Shelling?" Hearing his report, I was more and more surprised: "where did the shells come from? Is it our friendly forces on the East Bank of the Volga River that found you attacking the enemy''s camp and deliberately supported you with artillery fire? "


    "It''s not like that, comrade teacher." Oberstein analyzed to me: "I think these shells are coming from other enemy artillery positions. When they found out that the artillery position on the west side of the village was occupied by us, they tried to annihilate us with artillery fire. Unexpectedly, the shells hit their own heads by mistake, which gave us a chance to successfully break through the encirclement of the enemy. However, because the walkie talkie was damaged by flying shrapnel during the operation, we lost contact with the regiment. "


    "Well done, comrade oberstein." After making clear what happened tonight, I praised him and said to him with concern, "it''s getting late. Let''s go back and have a rest early. We''ll talk about the rest after daybreak."


    As I put down the phone, I breathed a sigh of relief and repeated to them what oberstein said on the phone.


    After hearing the escape process of oberstein''s night attack team, akhromeyev took a fluke and said: "if it were not for the enemy''s infantry, comrade oberstein would have ordered the bombing, maybe the shells that fell from the sky would have fallen on their heads. In that case, it''s really an unknown number that the night attack team can come back


    After listening to the results of the night attack team, kirilov showed a long lost smile on his face. He raised his hand, looked at his watch, and then said to me, "division chief, chief of staff, while there are still a few hours left in the morning, you should seize the time to have a rest."


    Although kirilov let us have a rest, it was destined to be an eventful night. Just then, the telephone on the desk rang again. I thought that it was Sergey reekov who got the news and specially reported the safe return of the night attack team to me, so he said lazily, "it''s Sergeant Sergeant chejerikov. I know all you have to say..."


    Unexpectedly, there was a voice from the receiver: "oshanina, you''re wrong. It''s me, Tchaikov!"


    It was trekov who heard the call. I immediately stood at attention and politely said to the microphone, "Hello, comrade commander. Do you have any tasks to assign when you call so late? "


    Trikov was not polite either. He asked frankly, "o''shanina, did you take any action against the enemy''s camp tonight?"


    I have to report the results of the night attack team anyway. Since he asked, I quickly replied, "yes, comrade commander. Tonight, I sent a night attack team to attack the camp of the 44th German division in front of our division, and achieved a little success. " Hearing what I said, trikov burst out laughing on the phone: "a small result is obviously a big one, and it''s still a very big one. You know, the night Raiders almost killed two German generals

 Chapter 674

    "Ah?! Two German generals? " I was confused by trekov''s words, and I asked, "Comrade commander, what happened? I''m confused. "


    Kirilov and akhromeyev next to me heard the conversation between trakov and me. Their faces were also at a loss. They did not know what had happened. They all curiously put their heads together to listen to the news that trakov would say on the phone.


    Trikov continued: "a few minutes ago, the commander of the front army, general yelimenko, called me and said that the Intelligence Department of the front army had intercepted a telegram from the enemy. It mentioned that the German army was listening to trikov''s words. I quickly expressed my attitude:" Comrade commander, please rest assured that I don''t care whether to award medals or when to resume my rank. But many of my commanders have made countless contributions since the establishment of the independent division. Without their support, how can the independent Division win one victory after another? So, comrade commander, I beg you to do me a favor and give these commanders the medals they deserve! Otherwise, it''s really unreasonable. "


    After listening to what I said, trikov gave a wry smile: "since you have said this, if you don''t agree with me, will you scold me in your heart?"


    "No, comrade commander, please don''t get me wrong. Even if I have any opinions about you, I won''t..."


    "Come on, come on, stop it." Without waiting for me to speak, trikov cut me off impolitely. "What do you think, I don''t know? Well, don''t talk nonsense any more, just give me the names of the commanders who can get medals in your division. "


    I was overjoyed to hear trekov say so, and quickly reported the name I had thought of for a long time: "the commanders who have made great achievements are: first commander sergeant xijerikov, political commissar of the regiment oberstein, second commander major Pugachev, first battalion commander of the second regiment captain horushov, third commander commander Commander commander lieutenant kosja, acting commander of the third regiment major Godunov Four regimental commanders, commander Gaidar, five regimental commanders, commander Oleg, regiment political commissar verol, artillery battalion commander, major Morozov, tank battalion commander, major pelsky. "


    "Is that all?" "Isn''t there anything to add?" trekov asked


    I was deeply afraid that trakov said that the number of people on my list was too large and would be forced to delete a few, so I replied busily, "no, no, just so many people."


    After listening to this, trakov snorted and said to me in a tone of teaching: "o''shanina, what can I tell you. Is there really no one who deserves a medal other than your old men? "


    Trikov''s words stunned me. It turned out that he didn''t think that I reported too many people, but that I didn''t report enough people. So I asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, I don''t know who else is missing from the list?"


    "Why don''t you have the names of kirilov, chief of staff of the division and Xia Ping, political commissar of the fourth regiment in the list you just reported?"


    In fact, I also wanted to add the names of the three people mentioned by trakov in the initial list, but I was afraid that trakov said that the number of people I reported was too large, which forced the other commanders out of their due honor, so I had to ignore them. At the moment, I heard that trakov mentioned their orders on his own initiative, and I quickly said, "Comrade commander, you should have considered it comprehensively, and unexpectedly you found the names of some commanders that I had missed. In this way, please add their names."


    After finishing the medal, trakov changed the topic and asked me, "Comrade oshanina, I''d like to ask, if you want to launch a counterattack against the enemy from mamayev post, what do you think is the probability of success?"


    Although our night attack team shelled the German headquarters and made the enemy''s command system in chaos, it would be impossible to think that the enemy would become vulnerable and become a lamb to be slaughtered by us. So I firmly replied to trikov: "Comrade commander, if we want to counterattack against the enemy in the front with the existing strength and weapons, I can tell you that the counterattack force has no chance of success."


    What I said silenced trakov, who was obviously thinking about why I said it. After a while, he said, "if it''s not an independent division that will carry out the counterattack, but all the troops in the north of Stalingrad, including the 193rd Infantry Division under the command of major general smehotwolov, who arrived last night, will be put under your command to carry out a large-scale counterattack against the German troops in front of you, In the worst case, we should launch several large-scale night attacks on the enemy''s garrison to completely disrupt their offensive deployment to the city. "


    I waited for trakov to finish, then I began to express my opinion: "commander, your suggestion is very good. Judging from the current situation, our army can only play in these two ways besides staying in fortifications to resist the enemy''s attack. But with all due respect, neither method is desirable. We do not have the artillery necessary for the counterattack, and we do not have the air supremacy. In this way, when carrying out a large-scale counterattack, our troops will be defeated by the enemy''s artillery and bombing on the way of attack. When it comes to night raids, if it''s before tonight, there''s still a chance of success. But the German army has suffered such a big loss tonight, and it will definitely be on guard. With the enemy''s high vigilance and tight defense, if we go to make any night attack, it will not be worth the loss, and even the whole army may be destroyed. "


    "What do you say?" After hearing this, trakov said unhappily: "the troops in other areas are launching counter attacks on a battalion scale almost every day. Although there are a lot of casualties, they have also achieved certain results. When all the friendly forces are making positive moves, your independent division can''t squat in the mamayev post all the time, can''t it


    While I was thinking about how to answer trekov''s question, kirilov, who was standing nearby, reached out to me and motioned to give him the microphone to answer trekov''s question. I nodded, but without being polite to him, I handed the microphone over directly. He picked up the receiver and said politely, "Hello, dear Vasili Ivanovic."


    Trikov suddenly heard kirilov''s voice coming from the receiver. He was obviously flustered, but he quickly stabilized his mood and politely said, "Hello, comrade kirilov!"


    Instead of continuing to be polite to him, kirilov said frankly, "Comrade commander, I''ve heard the conversation you just had with Mr. oshanina. Last night, the political commissar of the independent division, I would like to say a few words of justice for her. In terms of the current strength of the independent division, it may be just right to stick to the mamayev post. It has already been transferred out to support the friendly forces, so it''s not enough. "


    Although trakov was the commander, he seemed to have great respect for kirilov. After the other party finished speaking, he explained: "Comrade kirilov, as the commander of the group army, I understand the situation of the independent division in my heart. Although the reduction of the division''s personnel is very serious, compared with other divisions, your organizational system is still complete. If you don''t make any noise when the friendly forces launch frequent counterattacks, the commanders of other units may have opinions. "


    Listening to trekov''s words, I stood beside him with a bitter smile. My heart said that in order to satisfy the commanders of other troops, I had to ignore the actual situation and let my commanders and fighters die? Only kirilov said, "Comrade commander, I haven''t finished what I said just now. Although our present strength is limited, the division commander still discusses with us and plans to dispatch troops from the division to help the friendly forces defend. A company sent to the 70th division of the guards should be in Colonel lyudnikov''s defensive area by now. "


    What kirilov said surprised trakov: "what, you have sent troops to reinforce lyudnikov?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Kirilov replied positively: "the decision to send troops to reinforce the army was made by division commander oshanina himself. However, when the company arrived at Colonel lyudnikov''s defense area, it did not take part in hard to hard positional warfare. Instead, it used its familiarity with the city to engage in street warfare or sniper warfare with the enemy in the division''s defense area. "


    "In addition to the defense area of the 70th division, where else did you send troops?"


    "In addition to the company just now, we have also transferred a battalion from the second Regiment under the command of captain horushov, the first battalion commander of the second regiment, to support those friendly defense areas with tight fighting."


    "Well, now that you''ve made careful arrangements, I''m relieved." At this point, trakov pauses for a moment, then goes on to say, "it''s still a few hours before daybreak. You should take time to rest."


    After less than three hours'' sleep, the three of us were woken up by busmanov, who came running in a rage. I was sleeping soundly. I was awakened from my sleep. I couldn''t help getting up angry. I looked at the anxious guard battalion commander in front of me and asked angrily, "Captain busmanov, you are running into the headquarters in a hurry. What''s the matter?"


    "Sir, the situation is not good. The observation post at the top of the mountain of the guard camp reported to me that the enemy who occupied the 107.5 highland rushed down the hillside and into the Soviet street from the East, and is now engaged in fierce fighting with the 42nd regiment of the guards who are still there. "


    "What, the enemy is attacking again?" When I heard this news, I suddenly woke up from half sleep. I picked up the phone, dialed the second regiment, and asked Pugachev who answered the phone: "second commander, I ask you, your observation did not report to you the situation of the German army occupying the 107.5 highland."


    Pugachev quickly replied: "report, sir, I have just received a report from the observation post that the enemy is rushing down from the hillside and is attacking the 42nd regiment of the guards who are staying in the buildings from the east of the Soviet street. As I haven''t had time to verify the information, I haven''t reported it to you. "


    I angrily hung up his phone and dialed the fourth regiment on the North highland. The one who answered the phone was Xia Ping, the political commissar of the Communist Youth League. After he recognized my voice, he politely asked, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"


    The situation was urgent, and I could not even ask commander Gaidar where he was, so I nervously asked: "what''s the situation on the high ground? Have you been shelled by the enemy? Also, did the observation post on the hillside find the enemy''s ground troops? "


    "Comrade division, as far as I know, so far our highlands have not been shelled or bombed by the enemy, nor have we found the enemy''s offensive troops at the observation post on the top of the hillside. Perhaps the night attack we carried out last night completely disrupted their offensive arrangements."


    "I see!" After I finished, I hung up the phone directly, raised my head and told busmanov, who was standing upright beside me: "Comrade captain, go to gather the guard camp immediately. We are going to help the 42nd regiment of Captain Yelin''s guards."


    When basmanov went out to gather the troops, akhromeyev advised me: "Sir, it''s too dangerous. I''d better lead the troops to reinforce." Allowing no explanation, I has said to him, "Comrade chief of staff, you must not argue with me. I am the chief teacher. I has the final say." Then, without waiting for him to retort, he decisively ordered him, "call major Morozov and ask him to take the mortar company and go with me." Busmanov soon came in and reported to me that the guard camp had been assembled. Before I went out, I specially told akhromeyev and kirilov, "political commissar and chief of staff, I''ve brought the troops up. You two are in charge here." Kirilov and I have been together for a long time. Knowing my temper and not persuading me, kirilov just nodded and said with concern, "be safe!" Then he raised his voice and said to basmanov, "Captain, the safety of the division is up to you. You must promise me that she will come back here without any damage." Busmanov quickly came to attention and replied loudly, "please rest assured that as long as there is one person in the guard camp, we will ensure that the division commander will return to the headquarters safely." In fact, there was only one guard company in the guard camp, and the remaining two companies were transferred to the fifth regiment. When I went down the hill along the traffic ditch, I looked back at the uniform male commanders and fighters behind me. I couldn''t help but ask busmanov curiously, "Captain, where are Vera and her two? Why don''t you see them?" Basmanov gave me a strange look and murmured, "didn''t you send them to the health team?" Because of the busy war, I can''t remember Vera. They were really sent to the health team by me. They just let out a cry and walked down the hill. At the foot of the hill, major Morozov and his mortar company had assembled. Seeing my arrival, Morozov quickly came forward to salute me and reported: "Comrade division commander, mortar company of artillery battalion has been ordered to assemble. Please give us your instructions!" I didn''t even give him a gift. I just waved to him and said in a loud voice, "major, take your men. We''re going to reinforce Soviet street now."

 Chapter 675

    The German army deployed about a platoon of troops at the east entrance of the Soviet street. Seeing that we were rushing towards them and hiding behind the sandbag Fortifications on the street two or three hundred meters away, the German soldiers took up their light machine guns and rifles and fired at us without hesitation. It seemed that they wanted to block our way with intensive fire.


    In the face of the enemy''s intensive fire, the soldiers of the guard camp and I jumped into the craters around us. Busmanov and I jumped into the same crater, turned to look at the mortar company far behind, anxiously said to me: "Sir, you stay, I will take the soldiers of the guard company to rush up."


    Before I could speak, he stood up straight in the crater, looked left and right for a moment, and yelled, "one row to protect the teacher, two rows and three rows to follow me!" With that, he jumped out first, waved his submachine gun and rushed forward quickly. The commanders and fighters in two and three rows also jumped out of the crater and followed basmanov forward.


    When it was less than 100 meters away from the enemy''s position, basmanov and his soldiers were suppressed by the enemy''s intensive fire and could not move in the crater. The bullets whizzed over their heads, and anyone who jumped would be immediately knocked down by the flying bullets.


    I fell in the crater and watched the enemy''s position carefully. There were sandbags on both sides of the street entrance, and behind each one there were five or six enemies shooting desperately. By the side of the road are two three story buildings. The building on the left side has been destroyed by enemy shells or bombs. The building on the right side is facing us. There are three windows on each floor. Eight or nine enemies put their weapons in front of the windows and wantonly suppressed basmanov and the commanders and fighters of the second and third platoon with their firepower.


    I rushed to a row of commanders and fighters in the left and right craters and yelled, "everyone, listen to my command, suppress the enemy''s fire, cover captain basmanov and charge." As soon as my voice fell, there was a pea like gunfire around me. At the end of the first round of shooting, five or six German soldiers hiding behind the sandbags fell down. As soon as the enemy''s firepower weakened, the officers and men hiding in the crater jumped up and rushed up with their weapons. However, before they got close to the sandbags, several German soldiers rushed out of the nearby buildings and quickly ran to the sandbags, Take over the dead German soldiers. Under the intensive fire of the enemy, the troops had just rushed forward and had to retreat into the crater again. Although they responded quickly, more than a dozen soldiers fell in the pool of blood.


    Seeing that the attack of the troops was frustrated, I was extremely anxious. At this time, Morozov jumped into the crater where I was and squatted down to report to me: "division commander, the mortar company is coming. Where should we fight? Please give instructions! "


    I pointed to the Germans who were standing high and said in a loud voice, "do you see the German soldiers in those buildings? First we''ll shoot them all, then we''ll take out the enemy behind the bunker. "


    Morozov agreed to get up and leave. I quickly stopped him, reached out my hand to him, and said unhappily, "Comrade major, you are an artillery commander. What are you doing with your rifle on your back? Leave the gun to me and command your troops. "


    Listen to me, Morozov gave a wry smile. Without saying anything, he took off his rifle and gave it to me. Then he turned and climbed out of the crater and walked to his men.


    I opened the gun, checked the bullet, and then put the gun on the edge of the crater. After a short search, I targeted the German soldier who was shooting with a submachine gun in a window on the third floor. With a slight aim, I pulled the trigger decisively. At a distance of 200 meters, the bullet flew to the spot in a flash. The German soldier leaned back and stopped shooting at the window.


    See easily killed a German soldier, I quickly began to search for the second target. Before I set a new target, I was surprised to find that the German soldier who had just been hit by me was not dead. His left hand was drooping, his shoulder was still bleeding, his right hand was holding a submachine gun, and he continued to fire downstairs.


    Seeing that the German soldier was not dead, I felt very strange. Just now I was aiming at the head of the German soldier. How could I miss it? Was the sight of the gun missed? Thinking of this, I locked the German soldier again. This time, I purposely aimed at the upper left side of his head. After confirming that the target was locked by me, I pulled the trigger again decisively. This time, the gunshot fell down. I waited for a long time, but I didn''t see the German soldier in the window again.


    Just as I locked my new target and prepared to shoot, a series of cannonballs came out of the chamber behind me. I quickly turned around and saw that the mortar company was lining up seven or eight meters behind me and began to fire on the enemy''s position. Eight mortar shells roared in the air and drew a beautiful arc, which accurately landed on the third floor. The explosion made smoke billow, bricks and stones on the wall fell, and the shooting on the third floor stopped abruptly. Before the enemy recovered, another batch of shells accurately landed in the middle of the first and second floors, and two rounds of shelling destroyed several German firepower points in the building.


    Before the smoke cleared, a new batch of shells came out of the chamber again and landed in the enemy''s sandbag fortifications, blowing up the unprepared German soldiers. Before the flying dust fell, another batch of shells fell on the street behind the sandbag fortification, blowing up the enemies who tried to escape and rush out of the building for reinforcement, and falling into chaos.


    The fortifications blocking our army''s advance disintegrated just after a burst of shelling by the mortar company. Has been suppressed in the basmanov took the opportunity to rush out of the trench, with his soldiers quickly rushed to the street. Seeing that the German shooting stopped, but the soldiers in the first row were still lying in the crater waiting for orders, I couldn''t help but get a little angry. Waving my rifle, I yelled at them loudly: "soldiers in the first row, what are you doing here? Don''t you see the soldiers in the second and third rows rushing up?"


    Just after I started my fire, a young sergeant stood out in a crater not far from me. He raised his weapon high above his head and cried out, "comrades, since your belly is getting cocooned, what are you doing in the crater? Come with me, move on! Go ahead After shouting, he just like basmanov, waving his weapon, took the lead to rush into the street.


    Morozov came up to me again and asked me, "Comrade division, the mortar company has destroyed the enemy''s position. What''s our next task?"


    I looked at the guard company rushing into the Soviet street and saw that after they entered the street, they quickly broke up into parts and rushed into the buildings on both sides of the street, taking the class as the unit, to fight with the enemy in the building. Looking back at the mortar company, we can see that they are ready and ready to assemble. Then he told Morozov: "major, take your mortar company and follow me to the Soviet street. Maybe the brothers in the guard camp will need your help later."


    Under the protection of Morozov and several artillery soldiers with submachine guns, I entered the Soviet street carefully, which was still in fierce fighting. The more I went inside, the more bodies I saw lying on the ground, both German and Chinese. Judging from their clothes, there are very few of them belonging to the guard camp, almost all of them are the troops recruited by rodimzev, and there are even many sailors in them.


    I carefully stepped over one corpse after another in the street, but as I walked, the corpses in front of me piled up, and there was no place to stay. Seeing this, I couldn''t help sighing.


    Hearing my sigh, Morozov couldn''t help but ask curiously, "Sir, what are you sighing for?"


    I pointed to the corpses on the ground and said to him, "yesterday, the joint forces of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd regiment and the 1st 3rd regiment recaptured this street from the enemy. The fighting was fierce at that time, but the casualties were obviously not as heavy as they are now. You see, the bodies of our army on the ground are nearly twice as many as those of the enemy. I really don''t know how the 42nd regiment of the guards fought this battle? "


    After listening, Morozov did not express his opinion, but giggled twice. Suddenly he pointed to the place in the distance where he was still fighting and said to me, "Sir, look, the enemy is attacking the building from the square of January 9. But our soldiers seem to be playing very well. There are several tanks burning downstairs. "


    I looked in the direction of his fingers and saw that he was not talking about other places. It was the famous "Pavlov building" in the battle of Stalingrad. At the moment, to the north of the building, there were three German tanks burning. In addition, there were thirty or forty bodies lying on the ground. A large group of German soldiers were hiding behind two armored vehicles that had not been destroyed and shooting at the window of the building.


    I quickly patted molozov on the shoulder, pointed to the enemies in the square and said to him in a loud voice, "major, I order you to immediately set up artillery positions in the streets, bombard those enemies in the square and relieve the pressure of the garrison in the building. Even if we can''t eliminate them all, at least we should drive them away. " Without saying a word, Morozov turned and walked to the artillery behind, carrying mortars and ammunition boxes, to convey my orders to them.


    When I saw Morozov leave, I was worried that if I stayed in the middle of the street, I might become a target for the German soldiers who missed the net. So I said to the soldiers around me, "comrades soldiers, major Morozov is going to set up an artillery position here soon. It''s not suitable for us to stay here. Come on, follow me to the building With that, I took the lead in walking towards the nearest door.


    When I got to the entrance of the corridor, I was about to go inside, but I was held by a soldier. He reminded me in a low voice: "Comrade division, we haven''t checked this place. Maybe there will be enemies hiding here. You wait here now. I''ll search first and make sure it''s safe. Then I''ll call you in


    For the soldier''s concern for me, I nodded gratefully to him with a smile and agreed to his proposal. The soldier who got my permission walked carefully into the building with his submachine gun. Just walked not two steps, suddenly there were two shots inside, and then the soldier fell back to the ground.


    "There are enemies in the building," a soldier roared. He rushed to the door and swept inside with a submachine gun. Then he flashed aside, took out a grenade, pulled the string, burned it in his hand for a few seconds, and threw it into the corridor. After a loud noise, there were several murmurs. The soldier changed his cartridge clip and rushed in first. I bent down, grabbed the submachine gun in the arms of the sacrificial soldier, and rushed in.


    The smoke of the grenade explosion has not dispersed, and the indoor visibility is not high. In order to prevent accidental injury, I rushed to the soldier, picked up the submachine gun and shot at the human like objects inside. After the gunshot, a shadow fell to the ground.


    I quickly stopped shooting, and was thinking about whether to continue to rush forward or to hurry out. When the soldiers around me yelled: "don''t come in behind, so as not to be hurt by mistake." Then he pressed down his voice and urged me, "Sir, you should hide first. Maybe the enemy will rush out soon." At the end of his speech, five or six shadows rushed down the stairs, shouting in broken Russian: "Russian, surrender!" The soldier did not say a word, holding the submachine gun in his hand, and fired at the people who rushed down. At this critical moment of life and death, I did not dare to neglect, but also aimed at the shadow of those who shot all the bullets in the submachine gun. The shadows rolled down the stairs, one to a place not far from me. I bent over and ran over, fumbled and picked up the submachine gun in his hand, and took out two clips from his chest belt. I was carrying a submachine gun and was about to ask the soldier to withdraw with me. Unexpectedly, he took out two more grenades, pulled the strings and threw them down the stairs to the second floor¡° Boom, boom After two loud noises, the soldier raised his gun over his head and shot hard upstairs. After that, the cat rushed up the stairs. First I was stunned, then I rushed out of the door and yelled: "Hello, the enemy is on the second floor, follow me!" After shouting, I also rushed to the second floor. When I rushed to the second floor, the soldier just knocked down two German soldiers who were about to rush downstairs. Before meeting the enemy fell to the ground, he rushed to the nearest room with a gun, "wait a minute!" I almost instinctively called out, because I don''t know how many enemies there are in the room. Isn''t it fatal to rush in like this? But without waiting for the soldier to respond, several bullets flew down the stairs leading to the third floor and hit him in the back. His body leaned back, stopped for a moment, and then fell to the ground¡° Damn it I secretly scolded in my heart, quickly squatted down, stretched out the muzzle of the gun and fired fiercely at the top of the stairs. A few screams came, and then the body of a German soldier rolled down the stairs. When I was hesitating whether I should continue to rush up, two soldiers ran up the stairs, squatted beside me and asked in a low voice: "Sir, what''s the matter?" I first pointed to the soldier who fell to the ground and said, "he was about to rush into that room when he was killed by the enemy upstairs." Then he pointed up and continued, "there should be a lot of enemies upstairs."

 Chapter 676

    The soldier who spoke to me turned to another soldier and said, "go to inform the battalion commander that there are many Germans in the building, and ask him to bring people to support immediately!"


    The soldier nodded his head and agreed to leave. I quickly grabbed him and said in a low voice, "Comrade soldier, do you have a grenade on you? If you have, give me two. "


    The soldier took out two grenades from his waist and put them into my hand. He said in a low voice, "Sir, be careful." Then he quickly ran downstairs.


    The remaining soldier carefully looked around and said in a low voice, "Sir, I''ll go up and have a look." With that, he walked up the stairs with a gun and a cat on his waist. I squatted on the stairs, raised the muzzle of my gun and pointed it upstairs, intending to shoot as soon as there was any movement.


    The soldier just walked up a few steps. Suddenly I heard a creak. The door of the room nearest to us opened. A fully armed German soldier rushed out from inside and fired at the soldier on the stairs. The soldier, who had been shot several times, lay silent on the stairs.


    "Damn the Krauts!" I roared, turned the muzzle of the gun, pulled the trigger at the German soldier. The huge impact of the bullet made him turn several times before he fell to the ground. I hung my submachine gun around my neck, pulled the two grenades that were coming, and threw them into the open room.


    After two violent explosions, I stood up and walked firmly towards the room as I changed my clip. Before I got to the door, a German soldier rushed out of the house with a bayoneted rifle. Seeing that the enemy was coming fiercely, I quickly backed back. Unexpectedly, I was mixed by the corpse on the ground, and my body fell back involuntarily. As soon as I fell to the ground, the enemy stabbed me fiercely with a rifle. I quickly rolled to the left, dodged his fatal blow and pulled out the pistol at the waist. When he raised his bayonet to stab me again, I held the gun in both hands, pulled the trigger at him without hesitation, and shot all the bullets in the gun in one breath.


    The German soldier hit several times in the face, and his rifle fell into a low voice with a puff. His body shook a few times and rushed towards where I was. I put my body aside to avoid his body, but it was blocked by the wall. As a result, the German body fell heavily on me, and a smell of blood touched my face, which almost made me vomit.


    I threw away my pistol, pushed away the body and got up from the ground. Picked up the submachine gun that had been used just now, quickly changed the ammunition clip, bent down and approached the room with open door carefully. Listening outside the door, there was no movement inside, so he rushed in quickly.


    When I came into the room, I found that this room was a temporary place for the wounded. Five German soldiers, whose heads, limbs or bodies were covered with gauze, fell to the ground in disorder. It was estimated that they were killed by the two grenades I just had. The rubble, broken furniture and shell cases were all soaked in the pool of blood flowing from the corpse.


    I looked at the corpse lying at the door and found the red cross sleeve on his arm. It seemed that I had killed several wounded German soldiers by mistake.


    I stood in the room with a submachine gun, thinking that I should take advantage of the enemy not to find me, and hurry to withdraw to the outside of the building; Or stay here and wait for major Morozov to come with reinforcements. At this time, there was a rush of footsteps from the stairway, which made my heart beat faster. In the panic, I couldn''t think much. I quickly dodged behind the door, with my back tightly on the wall, and pointed the muzzle of the gun at the door.


    Hearing the footsteps approaching the door, my heart went up to my throat, and my fingers on the trigger trembled slightly. Now as long as someone comes into my view, I think I will pull the trigger without hesitation.


    Just when I thought the battle was inevitable, I suddenly heard someone outside the door ask in a low voice: "Hey, you said that the division commander and valoja are here, but there are only the bodies of valoja and another soldier. Where is the division commander?"


    Then a voice said wrongly, "major, just when varoja asked me to call you, the teacher squatted on the stairs."


    "And now?" Just now the questioner said in a vicious tone, "where''s the teacher?"


    Without waiting for the soldier to speak again, I had already recognized that the man speaking outside was Morozov. The soldier who had just been sent to ask for help quickly removed his finger from the trigger and whispered to the outside: "Morozov, is that you?"


    As soon as the words were over, seven or eight people came crashing in from the door, searching around with guns. As I was hiding behind the door, they couldn''t find me at the first time. Seeing the familiar figure of Morozov, I lowered the muzzle of my gun, coughed, and then said to him, "major Morozov, I''m here."


    I suddenly opened my mouth, startled the soldiers in the room. Everyone turned around and instinctively pointed at me with the weapons in their hands. When they saw that it was me, they lowered their guns one after another. Morozov''s decision was even more exaggerated. He thrust his rifle into the soldier''s hand, rushed over and grabbed my arm, and asked nervously, "Sir, are you injured?"


    I understand that he thought I was hurt because he saw my face covered with blood. He quickly raised his hand and wiped his face with his sleeve. He said with disapproval, "this is German blood. I didn''t get hurt." With that, I glanced at the soldiers in the room, "major, how many people have you brought?"


    "25 people." Morozov turned to look at the soldiers behind him, and then said: "there are still 17 soldiers out in the corridor. Sir, what is our next task


    I pointed up, and then said to him, "there are Germans upstairs. Just now, valoja wanted to rush up. Unexpectedly, he was killed by the German medical staff who rushed out of this room."


    After listening, Morozov frowned at me and asked, "do you know how many people there are on it?"


    I shook my head and said bitterly, "I don''t know, but I killed a soldier in the exchange of fire just now."


    After listening, Morozov turned to the soldier behind him and gave an order: "three in a group, go upstairs!"


    With his orders, except for the soldiers who took weapons for him, the remaining six rushed out.


    When I went to the door, I saw a long corridor on the right side of the door. More than a dozen soldiers were standing against the wall in scattered formation, staring nervously at the comrades who were preparing to rush upstairs.


    The six soldiers were divided into two groups. One group squatted at the top of the stairs, half squatting, with the muzzle of the gun facing up, vigilantly monitoring the movement above the stairs. Another group of three soldiers with guns, cat waist, carefully step up the stairs.


    When they came to the corner of the stairs, a smoke grenade suddenly fell from the top of the stairs. Walking in the front of the soldiers yelled: "grenades, careful!" After shouting, he bent down to pick up the grenade on the ground and threw it upstairs. Shortly after the grenade left hand, it exploded, and the flying shrapnel immediately knocked down the three soldiers.


    The latter group saw the front comrades fall down, and without waiting for Morozov''s order, they rushed up with guns. A soldier who rushed to the front, rushed to the corner of the stairs, leaned back against the wall, picked up his gun, and rushed to the top for a while. Then he rushed up first.


    When he saw several soldiers rushing upstairs, Morozov waved to the soldiers standing in the corridor and cried out, "all of you


    With his orders, a dozen soldiers with guns ran quickly in front of us and rushed up the stairs.


    Listening to the intensive shooting from upstairs, Morozov took off his kettle and handed it to me. At the same time, he said to me in a reproachful tone: "Comrade division, you are the head of a division. How can you attack like an ordinary soldier? Fortunately, I came in time, otherwise, you would be in danger! "


    I took the kettle, opened the lid and poured some water on my hands to wipe the blood from my face. Looking at the corpses lying at his feet, he could not help feeling fear. On impulse, he rushed to the German building with a submachine gun. If it was not for his life, he would have been stabbed to death by the German medical staff.


    After washing his face, when he heard that the gunfire upstairs became sparse, he waved his head at Morozov and said, "come on, major Morozov, the battle upstairs should be almost over. Let''s go and have a look."


    Listen to me, Morozov knew that I couldn''t be stopped from going upstairs, so he let the rest of the soldiers open the way for us. Until the soldier stood at the corner of the stairs, rushed down and said loudly, "Comrade major, the stairs are all our people." Morozov said to me confidently, "Sir, it''s safe now. You can go up."


    We went down the stairs to the stairway on the third floor and saw two soldiers crouching behind a pile of rubble. One of them, a sergeant, saw us coming up. He quickly bent over and ran over and reported, "division commander, battalion commander, after fighting with us, several Germans hid in a room in the front corridor. We rushed twice and were beaten back by them, Five or six soldiers were wounded


    Morozov leaned over to look into the corridor and asked, "when you came up, were there many enemies upstairs?"


    The sergeant pointed to the ground and said, "there are almost ten enemies. After we killed six of them, the rest of them ran to the front room."


    "Why are there only the two of you, the remaining soldiers?" Molozov asked his men sternly, probably because I was standing beside him.


    "It''s both in the front two rooms."


    "Take them with you and continue to rush for me. We should eliminate all the remaining Germans in the shortest possible time


    The sergeant agreed, ran back to the rubble, patted the soldier on the back, motioned him to follow him, and then rushed into the corridor, shouting: "comrades, follow me!"


    Molozov and I hid behind the rubble and leaned forward to watch the small-scale attack launched by the soldiers. Under the guidance of the sergeant, about ten soldiers moved forward in a scattered formation. Just half the distance, the door of a room in front of them suddenly opened, and then a German soldier jumped out, carrying a submachine gun and shooting at our soldiers.


    The sergeant at the front yelled, "lie down!" the moment the German jumped out Although his orders were given in time, not all the soldiers responded so quickly. In the sound of the German submachine gun "daddada", two soldiers who responded slowly and didn''t have time to lie down were hit by the bullet and fell down with a scream. Missed bullets whizzed over our heads, scaring us to lie on the rubble to avoid being hit by stray bullets.


    The German fired all the bullets in the submachine gun, then retracted into the room and closed the door.


    The sergeant saw that this round of attack did not work, so he had to get up and run back to us, and asked us in a low voice: "division commander, battalion commander, before you came up, we rushed to the door of that room, and a soldier was knocked down by the bullets from inside when he was kicking the door. The enemy is becoming more and more cunning. This time, he rushed out to shoot without waiting for us to get close. What shall we do next? "


    Instead of answering his question, Morozov turned to me and waited for me to give the sergeant an order.


    Before giving the order, I had to find out the situation here, so I asked the sergeant first, "besides this room, are there any enemies in other rooms?"


    The sergeant shook his head and replied, "I don''t think so." At this point, he seemed to suddenly think of something, turned his head and pointed to the corridor, added, "there should be people in the innermost room, but it should not be German, but our own people. Because when we came up, the enemy''s attack on that room had just been repulsed. "


    After listening to the sergeant''s introduction, I had a preliminary understanding of the current situation of the enemy, and also had corresponding solutions. I called the sergeant to his side, pointed to the room in the corridor and said to him, "sergeant, you take people into the room next to the German army, blow up the wall with grenades, and then when the enemy is dazed by the explosion, you can rush in through the hole of the explosion, and use a submachine gun to strafe, then you can destroy the enemy inside."


    After listening to me, the sergeant agreed loudly: "I understand!" Then he bent down and rushed into the corridor, pulled up the two soldiers who were lying on the ground, and quickly broke the door into the room next to the German army.


    "Does this work?" Asked Morozov, with no bottom in his heart.


    I nodded hard and said definitely, "don''t worry, comrade Morozov. The enemy never dreamed that our soldiers would blow up the wall from next door. They might concentrate all their energy on the door, so my plan can succeed."


    Just then, the sergeant and two soldiers ran out of the room, closed the door and fell to the ground.


    "Boom!" Almost as they lay down, there was an earth shaking explosion in the room, blowing the door out, and then a huge plume of smoke and gravel came out of the room. The sergeant got up from the ground, yelled loudly, and then took the lead to rush into the room. Then four or five soldiers also got up and rushed into the room behind him.


    The explosion not only made the floor tremble, but also made my ears hum, so that I didn''t hear what the sergeant called before he rushed into the room. It wasn''t until a few minutes later when the sergeant and his men came out of the German room that my hearing returned to normal and I understood that the German troops in the room had been wiped out by our soldiers.


    Molozov and I walked quickly to the sergeant, patted him on the shoulder and asked aloud, "well done, comrade sergeant. What''s your name? "


    The sergeant, whose face was blackened by the smoke, grinned and replied, "report to division commander, Sergeant Kozhevnikov, the first monitor of mortar company in artillery barracks of independent division, report to you and wait for your orders!"


    I was just about to encourage the sergeant, when suddenly a loud voice came out of the most inner room in the corridor: "Hello, is it one of my own?"


    The sudden voice startled everyone. The sergeant quickly pushed me aside, blocked my expression and pointed the gun at the room where the voice came from.


    Morozov passed me, approached the door a few steps, and said in a loud voice, "Hey, listen inside, I''m major Morozov, commander of the artillery battalion of the independent division. Which part are you from?"


    The door opened slightly when he heard Morozov''s reply. Then the voice just now came again: "we are from the 42nd regiment of the guards. Our leader is injured and is lying in the room."


    Hearing that it was the 42nd regiment of the guards, I quickly pushed aside the sergeant in front of me, walked towards the door, stood side by side with Morozov, and then raised my voice and said, "I''m the commander of the independent division, Colonel oshanina. Is it Colonel Yelin in there?"


    Hearing that I had made myself known, the door immediately opened. A tall lieutenant stood at the door and raised his hand to salute me: "Hello, comrade colonel."


    When I went into the room, I saw a machine gun lying on the ground with its hand facing upward, and its face was covered with blood. From the analysis of the unsettled blood, he just died. Colonel Ye Lin, the leader of the 42nd regiment, is lying in a corner of the room covered with blood, surrounded by rubble and craters. It seems that they have been here for a long time.


    I quickly went to Colonel Yelin''s side, squatted down, took one of his hands, and asked with concern, "Comrade Colonel, what happened? How can you be trapped here?"


    After hearing my voice, Captain Yelin tried to open his eyes. After a smile on his face, he said weakly, "thank you for saving me, Captain o''shanina. My regiment headquarters is located here. As the enemy launched attacks from the East and west sides of the Soviet street at the same time, there were not many fighters left in my regiment, so I sent most of them to the battlefield. I didn''t expect that it was like this. It didn''t block the enemy''s attack. It also let an enemy rush to my regiment headquarters by mistake and trapped us here. "


    Morozov, who came in with me, saw that Yelin was seriously injured, so he called several soldiers in, asked them to take out their first-aid kit, and simply bandaged the Colonel himself.


    After wrapping up Colonel Yelin, Morozov stood up and asked me, "what shall we do next, sir?"


    I took a look at Yelin lying in front of me, and then told Morozov: "major, find some soldiers to send the colonel to mamayev post, where we have a health team to treat the colonel." With that, I raised my hand and patted Ye Lin''s second lieutenant on the shoulder. I said in a friendly way, "Comrade second lieutenant, you should also go with my soldiers. Remember, you must protect the safety of your commander."


    "Yes The major made a loud promise, with an expression of gratitude on his face.


    "Stop, who are you?" There was a sergeant''s voice outside.


    Molozov and I turned to the door to find out who was here at this time. A familiar voice said, "I''m captain basmanov, commander of the guard battalion. Don''t you know me?"


    "I''m sorry, comrade captain! I didn''t see you clearly. Please forgive me! " The sergeant politely explained to basmanov, and then said, "the division commander and major Morozov are in the front room, talking to the friendly commander."


    There was a rush of running from far to near, and then busmanov appeared at the door. Seeing me and Morozov here, he wiped the sweat on his forehead and said with relief, "thank God, sir, I have found you." Then he said to me in a reproachful tone, "I left a row behind just to protect your safety. Unexpectedly, you put them all into the battle. I''m glad you''re safe, or I''ll jump into the Volga and I won''t be able to wash away my sins. "


    "Come on, come on, stop it." I understand basmanov''s intention of saying this is to show sympathy, but I still feel warm for his concern¡° What''s going on out there? "


    "After being attacked by us, the enemy fled to the square on January 9 one after another. From the east entrance to the square, the street and the buildings on both sides were occupied by us, and all the German troops inside had been removed. The German army retreating to the square is engaged in a fierce battle with the soldiers of the 42nd regiment of the guards. However, judging from the current situation, the enemy will not hold on for long and will withdraw. "


    It''s said that the guard company has cleared the enemy on the road leading to mamayevgang, and the big stone hanging in my heart has fallen to the ground. I pointed to Yelin lying on the ground and said to basmanov, "Comrade captain, this is colonel Yelin, the leader of the 42nd regiment of the guards. He was wounded in the battle just now. You immediately transferred six soldiers to put on a stretcher and carried him to mamayev post and sent him to the health team."


    I didn''t expect that basmanov didn''t immediately arrange for people to carry out my orders after listening to them. Instead, he stood still. Seeing this, I gave him a kick and said in a loud voice, "Captain busmanov, you''re deaf. Didn''t you hear my orders?"


    Basmanov saw that I was angry, so he had to smile bitterly and said to me: "Comrade division, after the battle just now, there are only 15 soldiers left in the guard company. If we smoke six people at once, our strength will be weak."


    "Even if you take all the people away, you have to fulfill my orders." In front of the friendly commander, withdrawing the order I just issued will make me feel that it is a very shameless thing, so I can only continue to say: "don''t you know that the commander''s order is not allowed to be discussed? Go ahead


    Although my tone was very strict, busmanov still delayed issuing orders to his subordinates. At this time, the second lieutenant standing next to Yelin said, "thank you for your kindness, Colonel oshanina! Your troops are thin. Maybe you will fight with the enemy in the future. It''s not appropriate to disperse your troops. So I''ll be responsible for escorting the commander. You just need to send another person to help me carry the stretcher and be a guide. "


    Seeing that the second lieutenant of the friendly army had already said this, basmanov was embarrassed to continue to delay. He immediately went out and ordered his men to put up a stretcher.


    After basmanov left, I turned to Morozov and said, "major, you should have extra staff. Basmanov takes one person from the guard company, and you take three from the soldiers in the corridor to escort captain Yelin to mamayev post with the second lieutenant. " Morozov looked at Colonel Yelin lying on the ground and the second lieutenant squatting on one side. He said nothing but nodded silently.


    The stretcher was soon tied up. Four soldiers came into the room to carry Colonel Yelin''s limbs, put him on the stretcher, and then carried him out. It''s easy to carry when walking in the corridor. When you go down the stairs, you need to raise the stretcher high in the front and lower it as low as possible in the back. However, it is more difficult to carry the stretcher down the stairs because several steps were damaged in the battle just now. As soon as we got to the second floor, it was obvious that the four soldiers carrying the stretcher couldn''t bear it. It was Morozov who had the insight and immediately asked several soldiers to come forward to help, and then he successfully carried the stretcher to the first floor. However, Rao was so tired that when several soldiers came to the street, they were all out of breath.


    Seeing off Colonel Yelin, I raised my telescope and looked at the square. There was only one intact armored vehicle left in the square, and seven or eight German soldiers were hiding behind the vehicle, shooting at the defenders of Pavlov building. There were at least twenty German bodies lying near the destroyed armored vehicle. It seems that Pavlov and his men were very good at fighting and killed so many enemies. Before I entered the building to take part in the battle, I ordered Morozov to bombard the German troops in those squares with mortars. From the present situation, it is obvious that he has not carried out my task. I was about to go back and tell Morozov to carry out my order when the shrill of shells came from the air. Seven or eight shells fell on the sides of the armored car and exploded, blowing up several German soldiers hiding behind the car and falling heavily on the ground. Fortunately, the armored vehicle that was not damaged by the explosion was frightened by the sudden shelling. The driver immediately started the vehicle, made a turn in place, turned around and fled to the middle of the square. In the escape, but also two elusive German soldiers run under the wheel.

 Chapter 677

    As the German troops retreated to the north side of the square, I breathed a sigh. If we beat back the enemy''s attack, we will have at least half an hour or more to adjust our deployment and strengthen our defense.


    Looking at the dozens of commanders and fighters scattered around me, I turned my eyes to the buildings on both sides of the street. I thought to myself that if these commanders and fighters were sent to the buildings to defend, they would seriously disperse their forces. In that way, the German troops who attacked again could easily wipe out the defenders we had stuck to in the buildings one by one. If we want to use our limited forces to defend such a wide defensive area, it seems that we have to change our thinking and concentrate our forces to hold on to some key supporting points. As long as we hold on to these supporting points, we can block the enemy''s attack.


    When I was thinking about which buildings to put the troops in, there was a rush of footsteps nearby. Following the voice, he turned to see a group of soldiers running towards us quickly. Running in the front is a sailor, while running, he kept turning back to urge the soldiers behind: "hurry up, everyone, speed up, hurry up again!"


    I''m a little familiar with the voice of the sailors, and I''m just trying to have a closer look at who it is? One side of the guard battalion commander basmanov suddenly exclaimed excitedly: "Sir, you see, running in the front is the original 92 th infantry brigade Marine Sergeant horol." With that, he quickly stepped forward and waved his hands at each other.


    When horol saw him, he just raised his hand and saluted. He kept running to me with the group of soldiers at his feet, leaving busmanov with a blank face. He raised his hand in a daze.


    I reached out to stop the approaching Marine Sergeant and asked aloud, "Hey, sergeant, where are you going?"


    Horol stopped, looked back at his comrades in arms, pointed to the corridor door we had just come out, and said in a loud voice, "comrades, the commander is in that building, rush with me!"


    Seeing that they were going to rush into the building, I quickly moved a few steps to the left, stopped them, and asked horol in doubt, "chief, are you going to enter this building?"


    Horol nodded his head and said anxiously: "Comrade Colonel, our leader is trapped by the Germans. Now I''m going to take someone to save him. Please don''t get in our way. Also, if you can, I''d like to ask you to send some soldiers to help me go into the building to save people. "


    Hearing that his commander was trapped in the building, I immediately thought of Colonel Yelin, who had just been sent away, so I asked tentatively, "sergeant horol, are you going to rescue Colonel Yelin?"


    Horol, who was about to raise his head and continue to rush into the building, stopped immediately after hearing what I said and asked nervously, "Comrade Colonel, how do you know that it is colonel Yelin who is trapped in the building by the enemy? Have you seen him?"


    "Of course I have!" Without waiting for me to speak, basmanov, who had just been ignored by horol, came over and said angrily: "we not only met the leader Yelin of the 42nd regiment of the guards, but also wiped out all the Germans in the building."


    "That''s great!" On hearing the news, horol turned to the soldiers he had brought and said excitedly, "comrades, have you all heard that? Our team leader is out of danger. " When the soldiers began to cheer, he turned to face me again, raised his hand to salute, and said gratefully, "thank you, thank you for saving our commander."


    I really want to know how horol learned that Yelin was besieged by the enemy and could bring a large group of soldiers to rescue him, so he asked curiously, "Comrade sergeant, what''s the matter?"


    Hearing my question, horol blushed a little, and then explained to me with a little embarrassment: "when the enemy rushed in, because there were not many people in our regiment, after the fierce battle, the guard soldiers were almost killed, and I was trapped in a room on the second floor by the enemy. After killing one of the hapless intruders, I jumped out of the window and ran quickly back to the division headquarters along the traffic ditch behind the building. After reporting to the division commander, he sent 30 men to me from the rest of the soldiers in the division guard camp and asked me to rescue the commander. " After explaining the situation, he came close to me, looked at the nearby building with several rooms full of smoke, and asked carefully, "Comrade Colonel, do you know where our commander is?"


    I nodded, pointed to mamayev post in the distance, and said, "when we rescued Colonel Yelin, he was seriously injured, so I sent someone to take him to the health center of our division. He was accompanied by the only surviving lieutenant


    "Sir, what shall we do next?" Morozov came up to me and asked.


    I turned to look at more than 30 artillery men of Morozov and a dozen soldiers of the guard camp, and said with a bitter smile, "our troops are limited now. It''s not realistic to defend the whole street. So I think we can only choose a few houses as the defensive support points before the arrival of new reinforcements


    Basmanov looked at the few dozens of soldiers around us, nodded and agreed: "Sir, I agree with you that it is unrealistic for us to keep such a wide Soviet street. If only a few firepower support points are established, in addition to not dispersing the forces, they can also effectively resist the enemy''s attack. "


    I looked around. Except for my troops, there were only dozens of soldiers brought by horol. I waved to him and asked him to come to me. Then I asked, "chief, do you have communication equipment here?"


    After hearing this, horol shook his head and answered like a rattle: "sorry, comrade Colonel, the walkie talkie of the regiment was broken in the battle, otherwise I don''t need to report back to the division just now."


    After listening to horol''s words, I can''t help frowning. We didn''t bring any communication tools when we came out. Now the communication equipment of the 42nd regiment of the guards has also been damaged. It seems that we need to contact kirilov and send someone back to Mayev post.


    When I was thinking about who to send back to report, basmanov patted me on the shoulder, pointed to the Pavlov building in the distance and said to me, "Sir, let''s try that building. Maybe there are communication equipment there."


    As soon as basmanov''s words were finished, I shook my head and denied them. I don''t know what''s going on in the Pavlov building? Not to mention Sergeant Pavlov, who held fast to the building, but even rodimzev and trakov, who had visited the building, did not expect that this building, which was only guarded by a few Soviet troops, could hold fast for as long as two months under the enemy''s wave after wave of strong offensive. Finally, the building could be named after its guardian after the war.


    I said to basmanov with a bitter smile, "Captain, I have been to that building. There is only a small unit of the 42nd regiment of the guards in it. The commander of the unit is a sergeant named Pavlov. Do you think that communication equipment can be found in a building held by a platoon unit to communicate with division troops? "


    I''ve already said that. If busmanov doesn''t understand, he''s not worthy to be my battalion commander. Fortunately, he replied in time: "I understand, comrade division commander. I immediately sent someone back to the division headquarters to report and ask them to send reinforcements."


    "All right, send someone out now. Try to bring reinforcements before the next German attack. " After I finished my command, I was not at ease, so I gave another advice: "to be on the safe side, send two soldiers to set out in batches. Even if we meet the enemy on the road, we can ensure that one soldier returns to the headquarters safely."


    Basmanov, who received my order, called two soldiers and gave them orders. After receiving the order, the two soldiers agreed, turned around and ran quickly to the east entrance of the street. Looking at the back of their departure, I prayed in my heart: you must return to the headquarters safely and bring us the reinforcements we urgently need.


    Basmanov walked back to me and was about to say something. Suddenly, he seemed to see something, and his eyes were staring at my back. His expression scared my hair. He said that he would not see the German rushing towards us, would he?


    Just when I was upset, he suddenly cried out in a loud voice: "Sir, look, it''s our army. The one who runs in the front seems to be general rojmtsev, the commander of the 13th division of the guards. "


    I quickly turned to look back, only to see a large number of people at the west entrance of the street, at least 70 or 80 people, walking in front of it is indeed general rojmtsev. The soldiers behind him were dressed in a mess, including soldiers in helmets and khaki cotton uniforms, sailors in black brimless hats and Navy uniforms, and militia in cap and grey blue overalls.


    When horol saw the procession at the entrance, he came to me excitedly and said, "Comrade Colonel, it''s Mr. rodymtsev who has brought us." With that, he went up quickly.


    Seeing that all the commanders who could command me appeared, I couldn''t stand still any longer, so I also moved my steps to follow horol and walk towards rodymtsev.


    Horol went up to rodymzev, who was carrying a pistol. After he stood at attention, he saluted him and said, "report to Mr. commander..."


    Before he finished, rodimzeff raised his left hand and interrupted him. He asked solemnly, "wait a minute, chief, have you finished the task I gave you?"


    Horol turned to look at me, and then said in embarrassment, "I''m sorry, sir, I didn''t wait to finish the task you gave me."


    "What?" Rodimzev glared at horol and asked aloud, "tell me, why didn''t you finish the task?"


    Horol shrugged his shoulders and replied, "because by the time I got there, the battle was over!"


    Rodymtsev glanced at us, and then asked horol, "where is colonel Yelin?"


    When I heard rodymzev ask about Yelin, I stepped forward and said, "Comrade General, please allow me to report to you about Colonel Yelin."


    Rodymzev took a look at me and said, "Captain oshanina, if you have anything to say, just say it. But I remind you that I can only give you one minute. If you want to say something, please hurry up. "


    I didn''t pay attention to rodimzev''s unfriendly attitude. Instead, I said to myself, "report to general, after we destroyed the German troops in a building behind us, we accidentally found Colonel Yelin who was seriously injured. I have ordered someone to send him to the health center of mamayev post."

 Chapter 678

    "You, what did you say?" When I said that Colonel Yelin had been sent to mamayev post, rodimzev was obviously stunned for a moment. Then he hesitated and asked, "Comrade oshanina, can you repeat what you just said? If I hear you correctly, I seem to have heard you say that Colonel Yelin has been sent to your division''s clinic? "


    I nodded at him and said in a positive tone: "Comrade General, you just heard me right. I saw the enemy attacking the Soviet street, so I brought in reinforcements. As the battle drew to a close, we inadvertently broke into the building where Colonel Yelin''s headquarters was located and fought with the German people who besieged them. After destroying all the enemies, we found the wounded Colonel Yelin


    "He''s hurt. Is it serious?" Asked rodimzeff nervously.


    I understand that rodimzev is worried about the injury of his subordinates. After a slight cough, he solemnly said, "yes, comrade general, comrade Yelin has been seriously injured. I have sent him to the health center of mamayev post."


    When I said that, rodymzev''s face showed a grateful smile. He took the gun in his hand and changed it to his left hand. Then he extended his hand to me and said in a friendly way, "Colonel oshanina, on behalf of Comrade Yelin, thank you!"


    I gave rodymtsev''s hand a gentle shake. After releasing it, I said politely, "Comrade General, you''re welcome. This is what I should do."


    Perhaps rodymzev, aware of my estrangement from him, put the pistol in the holster and approached me two more steps, explaining to me in a special way: "Colonel oshanina, you may not know that Comrade Yelin is my best subordinate. After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, he took the post of battalion commander in the 5th Airborne Brigade of my brigade commander. Our paratroopers blocked the German outside Kiev for a month. When the Germans surrounded Kiev, he and I got out of the siege and went back to Moscow. After I was promoted to commander of the 87th Infantry Division, he was also promoted to commander. "


    Rodymzev''s words made me change my view on him. I didn''t expect that he was still such a friendly man. In order to save one of his subordinates who had gone through life and death with him, he brought so many people to rescue himself. I looked at the large group of people behind him and asked in surprise, "Comrade General, how many people have you brought? Besides your subordinates, it seems that there are a lot of militia. "


    Rodimzev looked back, and then said, "yes, after such a long time of fighting, my troops have been seriously reduced. In order to keep such a long line of defense, I have to do everything I can to transfer sporadic troops and militia, even residents, to supplement the shortage of troops. For example, among the more than 100 people I brought here, more than a dozen were temporarily armed residents. "


    Looking at rodimzev''s only one hundred people, I couldn''t help asking him curiously: "Comrade General, with this kind of people, do you think you can keep the Soviet street?"


    As soon as my voice fell, rojimzev shook his head and said solemnly, "I can''t keep it. Not to mention the combat effectiveness of this improvised force, even if I only put two or three people in each building on both sides of the street, there are still many buildings that are not fortified. "


    I pondered for a moment, and then said to him, "Comrade General, I think maybe you should play a different way, so that you can guard here with limited forces."


    This time it was rodymzev''s turn to be curious. After listening to what I said, he asked me curiously: "Colonel oshanina, I heard Comrade trakov say two days ago that you sent a lot of small teams to carry out guerrilla warfare in the city, and they actually achieved a lot, but the casualties of the troops were not big. Can you tell me what''s going on? "


    As Oleg of the fifth regiment reports to me every night on their tactics and achievements in urban guerrilla warfare, I can easily answer rodimzev''s question: "according to our observation, the German forces that rush into the city are fully equipped independent combat units, Each team has three or four tanks and a large number of soldiers. They use this powerful firepower to cover, and make a rampage in the bullet ridden and rubble filled block. In the face of such an enemy, our small teams are divided into two parts. The infantry and the machine factory are hidden in the bombed buildings, the passport is hidden in the rubble, and they are hiding in the crater. When the German tanks pass by, they will come out and use intensive fire to destroy the following infantry. And the enemy''s tanks are dealt with by the anti tank men hiding in the upper layer of the building. "


    Perhaps it was the first time that rodymzev heard this kind of play. He was surprised and said, "it''s amazing! Captain o''shanina, this is a great way to play! When the enemy does not find our blocking forces on the way forward, they usually take them lightly. When they relaxed their vigilance, our troops suddenly came out from places they didn''t expect and hit them hard, so that they could be caught unprepared. At the same time, because the enemy and us were entangled, the enemy''s aircraft and artillery lost their use and could not provide firepower support for the attacked troops, We can only watch their troops being eaten by us a little bit. "


    I went on to say: "you have a limited number of troops, so you must not use them equally. If we want to defend the Soviet street, we must concentrate our superior forces and stick to several important supporting points. "


    "Support point?" "What is the important support point?" rodimzev asked with a blank face


    I pointed in the direction where he had just come and said, "for example, Sergeant Pavlov, the building they were guarding is an important support point for the 42nd regiment of the guards. As long as they don''t give up the building, the enemy will pay a heavy price if they want to rush into the city. " At this point, I pointed to the east entrance and said, "when I led the troops to attack, there we met the tenacious resistance of the enemy in the corner fortifications, resulting in the sacrifice of at least 20 officers and men. In the following battles, I personally believe that every battle has developed into a fierce fight of fighting to the death house by house, and even a hand-to-hand fight with grenades, automatic rifles or bayonets. Even if the German troops occupy the lower part of the damaged buildings, we can''t give up easily. We will continue to stay in the upper part of their heads and give them a fatal blow from there. "


    As he listened to me, rodymzev nodded his head and said, "I understand. I understand completely. The reason why your troops can stay at mamayev post for such a long time and ensure the relative integrity of the organizational system under the condition of equal strength between our two divisions may have something to do with your ingenuity. " Then he pointed to a relatively complete two-story building next to the square and said to me, "Colonel o''shanina, such as the bookstore next to the square, as long as I arrange a few people there, they can echo Sergeant Pavlov who sticks to the building and wipe out more Germans."


    Seeing that rodymzev''s insight is so strong, I can''t help but praise him secretly. It seems that the generals are not in vain. I just said a few words, and he already knows how to reasonably allocate his limited forces. Rodimzev called to the Marine Sergeant horol standing beside him, "Comrade Sergeant!"


    When horol heard rodymtsev calling him, he quickly and loudly agreed, "here we are!" Then he came to rodymzev''s side and asked him respectfully, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"


    Rodimzev told the bookstore beside the square, "sergeant, take ten soldiers to the bookstore. My order to you is that when the enemy attacks Sergeant Pavlov''s building, you should strike the enemy hard from the side, so that the enemy can not attack the building recklessly. "


    After horol left with a group of soldiers, rodimzev called another subordinate and began to set up the task. At this time, I saw a young girl with a headscarf in the casual clothes. Curious, I waved to her to come to me.


    The girl looked around for a moment, then bravely squeezed out of the crowd and came towards me. When she came to me, she put her rifle on her shoulder and raised her hand to salute me: "Hello, comrade Colonel, the militiamen Nina has come at your command and is waiting for your order. Please give me your instructions!"


    I pulled her hand down from her forehead and asked kindly, "girl, why didn''t you retreat with the residents of the city? Instead, you stayed and became a militia?"


    The girl quickly straightened her chest and replied clearly: "report to the colonel, I am a worker in a tractor factory. Since the enemy began to approach Stalingrad, according to the order of the superior, most of the best experts, technicians and young workers in all the factories in the city have gone to the far Ural region with the best factory equipment, We will continue to produce urgently needed war materials and military equipment for the country. The rest of the young and middle-aged workers also went to the front line. And those who are still in the factory are the very few key personnel who must be left, otherwise the factory will not be able to operate. Therefore, in this case, most of the workers, whether they are building fortifications or working in factories, can only be women, students and the elderly. "


    After listening to her, I asked with concern, "Nina, are you afraid of the Germans who rush up?"


    Nina shook her head vigorously and answered me firmly: "I''m not afraid. Because I''m defending my motherland, I''m not afraid in the face of these fierce aggressors."


    We were just talking when we heard someone calling for nikina. She turned to look at her and then said to me sheepishly, "Comrade Colonel, will you allow me to leave? You know, my workshop director is calling me. Maybe he has set up a new defensive position for us. "


    I took the initiative to reach out to him and said in a friendly way, "Comrade nikina, take good care of yourself. I hope I can still see you in this city when I beat the Germans. "


    "Certainly, comrade colonel." Nina shook my hand with a smile, stepped back, raised her hand again, saluted me, turned and strode away.


    When rodymzev, who had finished the defense, came back to me, I offered him: "Comrade General, I think you are still a little short of troops to defend the Soviet street. Just in a moment, one of my battalions will arrive here, and I will leave a company to help you defend. What do you think? "


    When rodymzev heard that I was going to send troops to help him defend the street, he grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously. He said excitedly, "thank you very much, Colonel oshanina! As far as I know, your troops are all experienced in many battles, and their combat power is far stronger than that of ordinary troops. With their assistance, I don''t think it''s a big problem to guard here. "


    After he let go of my hand, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was only ten minutes before I sent out the soldiers for help, so I gave a wry smile and said apologetically to rodimzev, "Comrade General, since there is no communication equipment here, I can only send the soldiers to run for help just now. It''s only ten minutes since they set out. It will take at least half an hour for them to report back and bring the reinforcements back. "


    After hearing this, rodymzev said with disapproval, "there''s time, there''s time. The Germans have just been beaten back by us. I don''t believe they have the ability to launch a new attack on us in such a short time. "


    Seeing that rodymzev''s attitude towards me became more and more friendly, I took the opportunity to apologize to him for the military supplies: "in addition, comrade general, I apologize to you for our division''s unauthorized transportation of most of the military supplies in the warehouse without your permission. Please forgive me!" Then I raised my hand and saluted him.


    I didn''t expect that he waved his hand and said carelessly, "Comrade oshanina, I didn''t expect you to take this matter seriously. You are not wrong. On the contrary, I should admit that I am the one who is wrong." Then he pointed to the direction of the flour mill and said happily, "fortunately, after your troops occupied the warehouse, they carried away the military materials in time. Otherwise, if they want to be cheap, they can only set fire to all those materials."


    The two of us stood on the street chatting for a while, but we didn''t see the arrival of the reinforcements. I couldn''t help feeling a little anxious. Seeing my restlessness, rodymzev suddenly suggested to me, "Comrade oshanina, it''s not safe to stand here because your troops haven''t come yet. Otherwise, let''s go to the building first."


    I looked at the east side of the street and said absently, "you mean to go to the Pavlov building. OK, let''s go!"


    Rodymzev was stunned when he heard what I said, and then said with a smile, "the name of Pavlov building is good. If Sergeant Pavlov can lead the troops to stay in the building for two weeks, I will name the building after him."


    When he said this, what I thought suddenly blurted out: "no problem, don''t say two weeks, even two months, I believe Sergeant Pavlov will be able to keep it."


    "I didn''t expect you to have so much faith in Sergeant Pavlov." Rodymzev asked with great interest, "what is your basis for judging that he can hold on to this building?"


    I cried in my heart. I didn''t expect that I was quick to say such an important secret. When I heard his question, I quickly covered it up and said, "it''s like this, Comrade General. I knew Pavlov and his father as early as in the Moscow defense war. At that time, because of the sudden arrival of the enemy, our army did not have enough troops to organize them to rush to borojino, so we transferred the militia from some nearby factories. Sergeant Pavlov and his father were among them.


    To tell you the truth, I have little hope for this untrained militia to block the enemy armed to the teeth. But in fact, they not only blocked the German and French volunteers'' successive attacks, but also successfully carried out the counterattack and drove the enemy out of borojino. That is why I am confident that Sergeant Pavlov and his comrades in arms will be able to hold the building next to the square. "


    Rodimzeff led me around the back of the building and into a traffic trench that was apparently new and not long after repair. As he walked down the moat to the Pavlov building, he said to me with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, I am full of confidence that they will keep this building. You see, the traffic trench we are walking in is dug out by them overnight. In this way, our reinforcements can enter the building at any time through the traffic trench to assist their defense. "


    When we came to the front of the building, a soldier with a submachine gun emerged in the doorway. For the sake of safety, he did not salute us, but said aloud, "Comrade commander, Sergeant Pavlov is on the third floor."


    I left the following basmanov and the guards on the first floor, and I and rodimzev walked up the broken and dangerous stairs.


    When he came to the room where he had been last time, Pavlov was squatting on the ground with the two lieutenants, studying a map. When he saw his feet appear in front of him, he quickly looked up. In front of them were me and rodymzev. They jumped up from the ground and raised their hands to salute.


    Rodimzev saluted the three and looked at Pavlov and asked, "Comrade sergeant, what''s the situation?"


    Pavlov gave me a polite smile and then replied to rodimzev: "report to general, in the attack just launched by the enemy, we destroyed four enemy tanks and one armored vehicle and killed nearly 50 German soldiers. Now, before the enemy launches a new attack, we are studying how to defend ourselves in the next step. "


    "Did the research work out?" Asked rodimzev.


    Pavlov nodded and said, "the three of us agreed that we should not only do passive defense in the building, but also attack when necessary to inflict heavy damage on the enemy." At this point, he turned to the next lieutenant afanasiyev, and then added: "the lieutenant thinks that we should send people to set up defenses in the bookstore next to the square. In this way, when the enemy attacks our building, the soldiers who stick in the bookstore can strike the enemy hard from the flank. When the enemy turns around to attack the bookstore, we can beat them from behind. "


    After listening, rodymzeff turned and looked at me with a happy smile on his face. When he looked back at Pavlov, he said in a smooth voice, "Comrade sergeant, you have considered very carefully. But you may not know that our troops had already been stationed in the bookstore just before we came. " Pavlov listened to rodimzev''s words, and his face showed an incredible expression. After a long time, he flattered rodimzev: "Sir, you are so wonderful. After studying for a long time, we came up with the idea that we should deploy troops in that place, but you have already sent troops in. " Rodimzeff looked at me and said humbly, "well, comrade sergeant, don''t praise me. As a matter of fact, I came up with this deployment only after the reminder of Colonel oshanina. " Pavlov turned, raised his hand, saluted me, and said politely, "thank you, comrade colonel." I smile a little, just want to say the scene words, suddenly outside came a burst of rapid footsteps, at the same time also heard basmanov urgent roar voice: "teacher, teacher, where are you?" Hearing basmanov''s cry, I frowned, raised my voice and said, "Captain, I''m here." As soon as my voice fell, busmanov came in, staggering. I didn''t wait for him to speak, then I asked, "Captain, you are in a hurry. What''s the matter? Are the reinforcements here?"¡° Here comes a company, belonging to the first battalion of the second regiment. " After answering my question, busmanov quickly added: "with the team, there is also a signalman who said that there is something important in the division and you need to return immediately. Kirilov political commissar sent to pick up your motorcycle and parked it on the Soviet street." When I heard that kirilov had sent motorcycles to pick me up, it must be something that kirilov and akhromeyev could not deal with. It seems that I have to go back immediately, so I apologized and said to rodimzev: "sorry, comrade general, you also see that there is an emergency in the division, so I have to go back immediately. I''ll give you the new company. I''ll only come back. Later, I''ll ask the commander to come to you and accept your next order. " Rodimzev was very reasonable. He waved his hand to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, since there is something important in your division, please go back quickly. As for the new company, let them wait on the Soviet street. I''ll accept it myself later. " I nodded, raised my hand and saluted rodimzev. Then I turned around and walked out with busmanov.

 Chapter 679

    After leaving the Pavlov building and entering the traffic ditch, I turned my head and asked basmanov behind me: "Comrade captain, did the signalman say that something happened in the division?"


    Basmanov shook his head and said blankly, "I asked the signalman, and he didn''t know what happened. All he said was that the communications company commander razumeyeva called him and asked him to come to you in Soviet street. "


    "Is the enemy launching a new attack on the mamayev post?" I continued, listening sideways to the high side.


    "No," busmanov said to me very simply this time, "I didn''t see the smoke rising in the direction of mamayev post, nor did I hear the rumble of guns. If my estimation is correct, the enemy will not attack our position at all today. "


    As soon as I entered the Soviet street, I saw nearly a hundred officers and men lining up on the side of the road. I immediately guessed that this was the company that had just arrived, and strode towards them.


    I went to the side of the line and asked aloud, "who is the commander?"


    As I asked, a handsome officer of medium build came out of the group and walked a few steps towards me. Then he stopped and raised his hand to salute, and reported, "Comrade division commander, I am acting company commander of the third company of the first battalion of the second regiment, Second Lieutenant Xie liebolianei. I report to you that 97 members of the company have assembled and are waiting for your orders."


    "Lieutenant shereblenny, I order you, from now on, you and your company will accept the guards directly. Last time I was in the group headquarters, I saw trakov use this method to promote the 284th infantry division commander, Lieutenant Colonel wachuk, who was led by his troops, directly to the top. It was because trakov used such a skill that wachuk was greatly moved. In the next battle, he commanded his troops to fight against the Germans. As a result, within three days, almost all the divisions were destroyed. Now, if I want to leave this company in such a dangerous area as Soviet street, I can only strengthen his determination by promoting his rank.


    Looking at all the commanders and fighters in the queue looking at the lucky man in front of me with envious eyes, my mind suddenly flashed, then quickly walked to the front of the team, facing the commanders and fighters, said: "brothers, I promise you, as long as you can stick here until October 5, I will give each of you alive a promotion."


    As soon as my voice fell, I didn''t know who called "Wula" in the team. Then a few people followed, and finally all of them started to shout, and the more they yelled, the more orderly they were, and the louder they were.


    As I was in a hurry to return to the division headquarters, I had to hand over the transfer of troops to Morozov. Busmanov and I, sitting in the sidecar of the motorcycle and behind the driver respectively, rushed back to the headquarters.


    When I returned to the headquarters, kirilov and akhromeyev, who were sitting at the table, looked sad. Seeing me enter the door, they both stood up quickly. Kirilov said anxiously, "Comrade oshanina, thank goodness, you are back at last. You know, something''s wrong, something''s wrong! "


    Kirilov''s words startled me. On the way back, I specially observed that not only the mamayev post was not attacked by the enemy, but also the defense area of the 135th regiment was calm. What else could happen? But looking at the impatient expression on kirilov''s face, he asked curiously, "what''s the matter with you


    Without saying a word, kirilov thrust a piece of telegram paper into my hand and said angrily, "look, the enemy suddenly launched an attack from the direction of gorodyser. At present, they have rushed outside the headquarters of the group army and are fighting with the troops defending the headquarters."


    This news is really like a bolt from the blue, which makes me feel like I can''t speak for a long time. It took me a long time to stabilize my mood. I was a little flustered and asked, "what''s the situation with the headquarters? Did the commander, the military commissar and the chief of staff all move safely? "


    Ahlomeyev sighed and replied, "if they had moved, we wouldn''t have been in such a hurry. Originally, he wanted to send troops to reinforce the troops, but general Krylov denied our proposal. He said that we should concentrate on guarding the mamayev post and decide not to let the enemy occupy the high ground and get the "tactical key" to open the defensive zone of the city and the workers'' residential area. Finally, he said, "they have the ability to fight back the enemy''s attack."


    I slapped the telegraph paper on the table and yelled, "muddleheaded, general Krylov is so muddleheaded! He didn''t think about what it would mean to us if the headquarters of the group army were terminated by the enemy The more I scolded, the more angry I became. I went straight to razumeyeva and ordered her: "Comrade lieutenant, get in touch with the fifth regiment immediately. I want to talk to lieutenant commander Oleg."


    I have just sent troops to reinforce the 13th division of the guards because I know the truth that my lips are dead and my teeth are cold. However, if we do not send reinforcements and allow them to be destroyed by the German army when the headquarters of the group army is under attack, what is the use of improving the defensive positions of the friendly forces around us?


    Kirilov saw that I ordered razumeyeva to contact with the fifth regiment, and immediately understood what I was going to do. After coming to me quickly, kirilov asked in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, you don''t want to send the troops of the fifth regiment to carry out the reinforcement task, do you?"


    I nodded and asked, "yes, is there anything wrong?"


    "Well, you don''t know, the fifth regiment has no troops left in the camp now."


    "Where are the troops of the fifth regiment?" When I heard kirilov say this, I suddenly had an uncertain premonition, so I immediately asked, "did their troops break up into parts and go to fight guerrillas in the city?"


    But kirilov shook his head and said, "No. Yesterday, we received an order from the higher authorities, saying that it is extremely arduous and arduous work to unload the present ammunition and supplies from the ship by manpower and send them from the wharf to the launching positions and the front trenches. Coupled with the frequent fighting among the various units, it is impossible to draw manpower to collect ammunition. So the Logistics Department of the group army gave me an order early this morning to help me carry ammunition. In order to be in a hurry, the fifth regiment almost went out of the dock. Assist the friendly forces to unload the ammunition and supplies of the small boats and quickly send them to the forward positions. "


    When I heard the news, I was so angry that I wanted to catch the commander who gave the confused order and beat him up. Just when I was about to run away, razumeyeva timidly called me: "Sir, I''m connected with the fifth regiment."


    I took a few deep breaths, and when my mood was a little more stable, I took the earphone and the transmitter in razumeyeva''s hand, and tried to say to the transmitter in a calm tone: "Hello, is that commander Oleg? I''m Colonel oshanina


    "Hello, comrade teacher." Oleg asked politely, "do you have any instructions?"


    "How many troops are left in the regiment?"


    Without thinking, Oleg replied, "report to the division commander, as well as the second and third security companies and a militia company."


    Biting my back teeth, I asked, "is there no other army except these three companies?"


    "No, sir." Oleg''s answer was very simple. "We sent the vast majority of our officers and men to the dock on the order of the political commissar to help the friendly troops get ammunition."


    "I see." With that, I just cut off contact.


    I went back to the table, sat down, and began to meditate. There are only three companies left in the five regiments nearest to the headquarters of the group army. The fighting capacity of the militia company is too weak. To carry out this kind of reinforcement task will undoubtedly kill them. The remaining two guard companies are not weak, but half of them are German soldiers under gramus and Beckman. They may be honest when our army is dominant. If they go to reinforce and see that our army''s group headquarters is in danger, maybe they will turn around and become the last straw to crush the camel.


    "Sir, I have an idea." Akhromeyev came up to me, stopped and said cautiously, "maybe we can solve the current crisis of the headquarters."


    "If you have any idea, just say it!" I glared at akhromeyev. My heart said that it''s time for you to stop talking. So I patted the table and said sternly, "chief of staff, if you don''t speak out, how can I know what you think? Can you relieve the crisis of the group army headquarters?"


    After listening, kirilov echoed and said, "yes, comrade chief of staff, please tell me what you think. It''s not that you don''t know how critical the current situation of the headquarters is."


    "Teacher, political commissar, I think so. The German army launched so many attacks on mamayev post. But the focus of each attack was on the northern Highlands, where we were almost ignored by the enemy. I think we are not the focus of the enemy''s attack anyway. We might as well pull out the second regiment and add the tank battalion and rush to the back of the German forces in the offensive headquarters and beat them hard. I don''t know what you think? "


    "I agree!" At the moment, the headquarters is in danger of being eliminated. Let alone send a regiment to reinforce it, even if I were asked to fill in all the independent divisions, I would be willing to do so. So as soon as akhromeyev''s words were finished, I did not hesitate to support them.


    "But if we move the two regiments away at once, there will be no soldiers to defend the southern highland where we are. Once the enemy comes, we will not have the slightest strength to fight back. If the enemy is allowed to occupy this highland, the contact between the fourth regiment and the rear will be completely cut off. In two days, they will be annihilated by the enemy because they have run out of ammunition and food. " Kirilov is obviously much calmer than I am. Instead of echoing our views, he put forward his own different views.


    After listening to kirilov''s statement, I thought it over. It''s really reasonable. I can''t wait to send troops to rescue because I heard that trakov is in danger. After all, he is an unlimited potential stock. If it wasn''t trekov, gurov and Krylov who were besieged, but yelimenko and Khrushchev of the headquarters of the front army, I might have selectively ignored them.


    I raised my head and asked akhromeyev, "chief of staff, apart from the company sent to Soviet street, how many companies are left in the second regiment?"


    Akhromeyev thought for a moment and answered me, "there should be seven companies left, but there are only two companies with full staff. The remaining companies have only 30-50 people."


    After I calculated the current strength of the second regiment in my mind, I told akhromeyev: "call major Pugachev, the second regiment leader, and ask him to leave a complete company under the command of captain horushov, a battalion commander, to take charge of the defense of the highlands. The rest of the company will be mixed into three companies, and he will lead the team himself and go to the rescue headquarters with me. "


    As soon as my words were uttered, kirilov and akhromeyev were immediately opposed as a whole. In particular, kirilov said with a strong voice, "no, absolutely No. Comrade o''shanina, you should know that you are the head of the first division, not the company commander or platoon leader. You have no right to give up your post and lead the troops to attack. Such things as the rescue command can be carried out by major Pugachev. If you are not sure about him, chief of staff akhromeyev can also take charge of the headquarters. Anyway, I can''t let you take any more risks this time. "¡° The political commissar is right. " Akhromeyev also said solemnly: "as far as the rescue headquarters is concerned, I believe I am fully competent, so you''d better stay in the headquarters, division commander." I rolled my eyes at them and ignored them. Instead, I picked up the phone from the desk and dialed major perskin of the tank battalion. When I heard his familiar voice coming from the receiver, I immediately gave a direct order: "Comrade major, I order you to immediately send someone to check the ammunition and fuel of the tank, and be ready to attack in the shortest time." Peiersjian immediately replied excitedly, "please don''t worry, sir. I''ll send someone to check it immediately. Our tank battalion will be ready for all battles in 15 minutes at most."¡° Good I just said one word and hung up. Put down the phone, in order to prevent the two people from continuing to prevent me from leading the troops to the rescue headquarters, he put up the airs of the division commander and said, "political commissar and chief of staff, you two have been in the army for a long time. Don''t you know that the orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed? Well, don''t say anything. I''ll take the reinforcements. " Speaking of this, I saw that akhromeyev''s mouth was open and wanted to say something. I interrupted him immediately, "chief of staff, what are you still doing? Don''t you pass on my order to major Pugachev, so that they can be ready to attack."

 Chapter 680

    Kirilov, who has always been very accommodating to me, saw that I was so stubborn. He stood up and pointed at me for a long time without thinking about what to say. Finally, he stomped heavily and left the division headquarters.


    When I came to the foot of the mountain, Pugachev and a company were waiting in formation. When I saw that Pugachev had brought only such a few people, I was very angry. When I came to him, I asked discontentedly, "Comrade major, why are there only such a few people? Haven''t you received the order from the chief of staff?"


    Pugachev quickly nodded his head and replied, "yes, the order is clear. In addition to leaving a full company to continue to stick to the battlefield, the rest of the troops will form three companies, and you will go to the city to fight together."


    "Now that you have received the order, why do you only bring so many people?" I continued to question.


    After listening, Pugachev shrugged his shoulders and replied, "how do you say that, Mr. commander. The front of the second regiment''s defense is too wide. It will take time to gather them all in such a short time. "


    After listening to Pugachev''s explanation, I knew that I was too anxious. The defense front of the second regiment was one kilometer long. It would not be enough to gather so many companies in just a few minutes. But at this time, the headquarters of the group army was in imminent danger, and I didn''t have much time to stay and wait. So after a little thought, I ordered Pugachev to say, "major Pugachev, the situation is urgent. I''ll take this company to the headquarters first. You stay and continue to assemble your troops. When the assembly is completed, you will immediately take your troops to the city to reinforce us. "


    After telling Pugachev, I went to the front of the team and said to the soldiers, "brothers, the enemy is attacking our group army headquarters at the moment. Due to the large number of German troops, the forces defending the headquarters are a little weak. Now I will take you to reinforce them." At this point, I saw a lot of soldiers in the queue with panic expressions on their faces, and quickly added, "I also know if there were more people, but where can we find so many people? We can''t stop rescuing the headquarters because of the manpower. If we don''t go, they may be destroyed by the enemy. Once the headquarters of the group army is terminated by the enemy, the 62nd group army, which has lost its command system, will fall into chaos, and then the Germans may drive us all to the Volga River. "


    "Comrade division," a soldier suddenly called out at the back of the line, "give an order. We must not watch the enemy destroy our headquarters." With his shouts, there was a voice echoing in the team: "yes, sir, please give us an order and take us to teach these darn Krauts a lesson!"


    Seeing that the commanders and fighters were eager to fight, I quickly struck while the iron was hot, waved to the team and said loudly, "let''s go!" With my command, the soldiers of the second regiment turned to the left, followed by a four-way column, marching in a neat pace, marching in the direction of the city.


    Just then, major Morozov, who I had just left in Soviet street to take charge of the handover of troops, and his mortar company and the remaining dozen soldiers of the guard company returned. Seeing that I was about to leave, Morozov quickly caught up with me and asked anxiously, "Comrade teacher, where are you going?"


    Anyway, it''s no secret to go to the rescue headquarters in the city. Now when I hear him asking, I don''t hide it from him. Instead, I tell him the truth: "the enemy is attacking the headquarters of the group army. I want to take people to them."


    Morozov looked sideways at the departing troops, and then said with uneasiness: "Sir, it''s too risky to reinforce the headquarters with more than 100 infantry? You know, they lack heavy weapons, even if the German army has only one tank on the road, they can''t get through. I think you''d better attach my mortar. "


    For his proposal, I did not object, but readily agreed: "OK, send two mortar teams to work with me."


    When Morozov saw that I had agreed to his request, he agreed excitedly. Then he turned around and yelled at his subordinates, "mortar group 1 and mortar group 2, come here!"


    With his shouts, six soldiers came out of the line, in groups of three, one carrying the barrel, one carrying the base, and one carrying the shell box. Seeing that there were only six soldiers on the line, Morozov blackened his face and said, "the division commander is going to take people to the city to fight with the enemy. How can two boxes of shells be enough? Four more ammunition men, one carrying a box of shells, will follow the teacher. "


    Morozov had a high prestige in the artillery camp, and the soldiers immediately carried out his orders without discount. Immediately out of the four ammunition carried in the shell box, joined the two mortars just group. And ten soldiers of the guard company, without waiting for me to speak, also stood beside me.


    Before leaving, I once again told Pugachev: "Comrade major, hurry up and gather the troops. With your participation, our battle in the city will be relatively easy."


    When I took the guard company and the mortar team to the meeting place I had arranged with Peregrine, I saw a German tank parked by the side of the road from a distance, and several people were talking. Just when I was scared out of a cold sweat by the sudden emergence of the tank, a guard soldier next to me pointed to the front and excitedly said to me: "Sir, you see, standing next to the tank, is the tank battalion commander, major perskin." I fixed my eyes on it, but it was my tank battalion commander, peiersjian, who was standing in front of the tank, chatting with others with cigarette in his mouth.


    I walked up to him and didn''t wait to speak. The other two tankers who chatted with pelsjian stood at attention and raised their hands to salute when they found me. Peiersjian, who turned his back to me, saw his subordinates'' reaction. Even if he didn''t look back, he knew that I was coming. He quickly threw away his cigarette end, turned to salute me, and reported: "Comrade division, major peiersjian, tank battalion commander, reports to you. I''m waiting for your next order."


    "Comrade major," I looked to the left and right for a moment. I didn''t find any other tanks, so I asked curiously, "why can''t I see any other tanks?"


    "Yes, sir." "Because of the lack of ammunition and fuel for the tanks, we only pulled out three of them," perskin explained to me very quickly. The other two followed the infantry soldiers in front of them into the city, and I stayed here specially to wait for you. "


    "Time is running out, start now!"


    "Yes With a promise, perskin turned around and took the lead to climb up the tank and get into the turret.


    After the tank started, the soldiers and I walked on one side of the road, so as not to absorb the exhaust gas from the tank.


    After entering the city, we joined forces at the entrance of the street. I called the company commander in charge, and after telling him the location of the headquarters of the group army, I gave him a direct order: "Comrade captain, take two tanks and fifty men, go around the west side of the headquarters, and hit him hard from the side of the German. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" The captain gave a loud promise, called two platoons of soldiers, followed him to the other direction at the crossroads, and one of the two tanks that followed them was driven by Peregrine.


    I called the remaining two platoon leaders to the front of the company and said to them, "platoon leaders, let the tanks go ahead in a moment, and your troops follow the tanks. When the enemy''s position is solved, let the tanks fire. Then you charge. You must find a way to break through the enemy''s encirclement of the headquarters. "


    With my command, the tanks that had not been put out on the roadside became our pioneers, and a platoon of troops followed closely at the back two or three meters. I was behind the infantry platoon with the guard company and the mortar team, and behind us was another infantry platoon.


    Although the streets are full of bullet holes, fortunately, we didn''t encounter the enemy''s resistance, and our forward speed is not slow at all. In less than ten minutes, we were only three or four hundred meters away from the headquarters.


    Seeing the familiar crossroad ahead, I immediately thought that the motorcycle that sent me to the headquarters had stopped there the last time I got there. Just go a few minutes and get to the headquarters.


    Looking at the tank that opened the way for us slowly drove to the center of the intersection, I couldn''t help yelling at the soldiers on the left and right: "everyone, be careful. If you don''t go far ahead, you may encounter the enemy..."


    "Boom!" Before I finished speaking, there was a loud noise in front of me. Then I saw a fire rising on the left side of the tank turret, and the upper part of the body was covered with smoke. The soldiers who followed the car seemed to have been hit by flying. With a groan, they fell on their backs.


    "Battle alert! Lie down, all of you Walking in the front of the infantry platoon leader to see our tank shot, the soldiers were shrapnel knocked down, quickly cried out. Almost at the same time as he called, the officers and men around him fell to the ground in order. See the front of the soldiers lying down, I did not have time to respond, was on the side of the guards fell to the ground.


    We lay on the ground for a minute, or more, without hearing gunshots or seeing Germans in our view. After the bodyguard got up, he helped me to stand up. The infantry platoon leader in front of me ran to report to me: "Sir, it''s really strange why the enemy only fired one shot and destroyed our tanks, and then there was no movement."


    I pointed forward and said, "Comrade platoon leader, you should arrange for people to go to the crossroads to scout and see what''s going on? Also, the tankers are climbing out of the burning tank. Ask your men to help them


    The platoon leader promised to run back to comply with my orders and start reconnaissance and rescue work at the same time. The soldier who was in charge of the reconnaissance, sticking to the wall of the roadside building, came to the corner, looked out, and immediately drew back. Unexpectedly, as soon as he drew his head back, he stretched it out again. This time, he did not draw back. Even the whole person came out of the hiding place beside the wall and went to the middle of the intersection.


    Seeing this situation, the platoon leader was in a hurry and yelled at the bold Soldier: "Hey, you fool, come back, come back quickly, don''t stand in the middle of the road and let the Germans hit you as a target!"


    The soldier heard the cry of the platoon leader, turned around and yelled at us: "our own, our own, not German."


    When I heard the soldiers shouting like this, I couldn''t help but be stunned. Since it''s my own man, why should I shoot my tank? I walked towards the middle of the crossroads with half faith. When the platoon leader saw that I was going to take risks, he quickly stopped me in front of me and advised me: "Sir, the situation ahead is not clear. You can''t take risks. Maybe the soldier saw a German in our uniform. "


    Originally, I wanted to see what happened. After listening to what the platoon leader said, I had no idea. If it''s my own people, it''s OK to say that if it''s really like what he said, it''s the German who pretends to be our army. If I rush out rashly, won''t I just become a target for the German? Just when I hesitated, I suddenly heard a familiar voice: "Hey, I said Comrade soldier, what part of you are?" The soldiers at the crossroads didn''t get our permission. They didn''t dare to tell strangers the number of their troops. They just stood in the middle of the road in a daze. Seeing that the soldier did not speak, the other side repeated the question again. This time, I really heard it. I really knew the owner of the voice, so I raised my hand to push aside the platoon leader in front of me, strode to the middle of the intersection, and stood side by side with the soldier. When I looked around, I saw a heavy tank of our army, seven or eight soldiers wearing our helmets, hiding behind the sandbags on both sides of the tank. I said to the front in a loud voice: "Hello, is that lieutenant commander Wei yinlubu in front? I''m the commander of the independent division, Colonel oshanina. I heard that the headquarters was besieged by the enemy, so I specially led the troops to help you out. "¡° Wula A burst of cheers came from behind the sandbag: "Wula! Great, our reinforcements are coming With the shouts, lieutenant commander Wei yinlubu, who I knew, came out from behind the cheering sandbag fortification with two soldiers. When I walked past Wei yinlubu and was about ten meters away, I said in a discontented tone, "Comrade commander, we are here to rescue you. Why do we fire guns to destroy our tanks?"¡° What, "weinlub said, and his steps stopped involuntarily. He pointed to the burning tank behind me and asked in an unbelievable voice," Captain oshanina, do you mean that the German tank with the white cross belongs to your independent division? " Hearing that he mentioned the cross mark on the tank, I complained endlessly in my heart. I went to lead the troops to the headquarters to get rid of the siege. I forgot that all the tanks used in the tank battalion were captured from the German army, and there was no condition to remove the German mark on the tank, so we were doomed to suffer the dumb loss that we mistakenly hit. Seeing that Wei yinlubu had come to me, I had to nod my head difficultly and said with a bitter smile, "yes, comrade commander, the tank you destroyed was captured from the German army. We have no condition to remove the * * mark on the tank body for the time being, but you destroyed it as a German tank." Speaking of this, in order to avoid the embarrassment of Wei yinlubu, I quickly changed the topic: "by the way, comrade commander, the headquarters of the group army is fine. How could it be suddenly besieged by the German army?" Wei yinlubu listened to my question, sighed, and began to tell me the reason: "Captain o''shanina, it''s like this. In order to break the enemy''s attempt to occupy Stalingrad, the headquarters of the group army organized troops to launch a counter attack on the enemy at 6 a.m. today. In order to cooperate with the actions of our group army, the 64th group army also turned to attack the enemy in the kuporosnoye area. To tell you the truth, we had a good record in the initial stage of counter attack, but at 8 a.m., our formation was heavily attacked by hundreds of enemy dive bombers. The anti shock unit had to lie down and hide. At 1030 hours, the enemy turned to attack. Its offensive units are the 100th division of the new light infantry, the 389th division of the supplementary infantry and the 24th division of the tank. Its target is Red October town. As your night attack disrupted the enemy''s deployment, the 113th division, which was going to attack mamayev post at the same time, is still in the camp without any action. German planes bombarded my entire battle formation from the forefront to the Volga River. The support points set up by the gorishner division in the city were razed by enemy bombs and artillery fire. The command post of the general headquarters of the group army has also been under fire from enemy air forces. Some of the oil tanks nearby are burning. Enemy tanks attacking from the gorodyse area, desperate to break through the minefield. The enemy infantry wriggled forward, following the tank. Towards noon, the telephone communication between our command post and the troops became very unstable, and the radio station was also broken... The tank army and the right wing of yermorkin division, which was responsible for the main assault, suffered huge losses. An hour ago, with their remaining forces, they occupied the defensive positions at the machetka River Bridge, 2.5km west of baricard Town, southwest of baricard Town, western suburb of Red October Town, and up to the line of Banney canyon. The German army occupied the streets of shahejinski and gerjevsky. "¡° It''s a terrible situation, comrade commander. " Hearing that the situation was so bad, I couldn''t help frowning: "why don''t the commanders move? If the headquarters is destroyed by the enemy, the whole group army will be in chaos."

 Chapter 681

    Hearing my question, Wei yinlubu sighed and said helplessly: "the chief of staff and I have repeatedly urged the commander to leave the headquarters, but he said: if he continues to stay in the headquarters in the face of the fierce attack of the enemy, he will certainly build up such confidence among the soldiers:" since the general is here, then we should stick to it! " In this way, the soldiers will never retreat without orders, and they will fight with the enemy to the last breath. "


    Wei yinlubu''s words made me feel speechless. I really don''t know whether I should praise trakov for his courage or call him stupid. Just thinking about it, Wei yinlubu continued: "I think the reason why the commander is determined to stay in the headquarters may be related to his judgment of the enemy''s lack of logistics."


    "The enemy''s logistics are inadequate?" This statement of Lieutenant Colonel Wei yinlubu confused me. From the continuous shelling and bombing of mamayev post by the enemy, it didn''t look like lack of logistics at all. In order to find out this question, I asked carefully, "Comrade commander, I can ask, what is the basis of which Comrade commander came to this conclusion?"


    "Well, when the enemy sent out infantry and tanks to launch a crazy attack on us. The enemy planes continuously carried out intensive raids on our battle formations, ferries and command posts of the group army. But the enemy planes not only dropped bombs, but also metal blocks, plows, tractor wheels, harrows, empty iron barrels, etc. The shrieks and noises of these things came down from the air and landed on the heads of our soldiers. It is based on this situation that the commander determined that the enemy dropped metal objects that he could get at hand as bombs, which just showed that they were short of ammunition. They want to scare people in this way, but they can''t do it. "


    After listening to Wei yinlubu''s explanation of trekov''s judgment, I really couldn''t laugh or cry. I just said that trekov''s idea was ridiculous. He arbitrarily thought that the German army was short of ammunition on the basis of metal blocks, wheels and empty iron barrels falling from the sky. I never thought that these things falling from the sky might be enemy planes hit by our air defense artillery, The landing gear and the auxiliary fuel tank and so on. If the enemy were really short of ammunition, they would not launch such a fierce attack, and our army would not be pressed to fight back.


    However, I did not entangle with Wei yinlubu on the question of whether the German army lacked ammunition. Instead, I asked him curiously, "Comrade commander, what are you doing out here if you don''t stay in the headquarters to resist the German attack?"


    Wei yinlubu pointed to the back and said, "I came back with a platoon in a hurry after I learned that the headquarters had been attacked by the German army. There were two heavy tanks in front of us, but after fighting all the way, one tank was destroyed by the enemy, and the other one broke down and broke down


    I looked at the back of the tank and saw that on the streets full of craters and debris, there were several burning tank wrecks, and on the ground there were many bodies of both sides. Seeing this scene, I could not help sighing, and then asked: "commander, how many people are left under your command?"


    Hearing my question, Wei yinlubu pointed to the soldiers gathered around him with a bitter smile: "there are more than 50 soldiers in a platoon. Now there are only a few of them. With this strength and the lack of heavy weapons, if we rashly attack the enemy, it will not only be of no help, but will bring in all the survivors. "


    "So you stop here and use the broken tank as a fixed fire point to intercept the German troops who may pass through the intersection. Right? " I took the initiative to say what he wanted to say, but they didn''t hit the Germans, instead, they killed our tanks first. Because they were afraid of affecting each other''s regiment level, they didn''t say it in their heart.


    "Colonel o''shanina, you are right." As for my conjecture, weinlub did not deny it. He said without any concealment: "I hide the tanks here as a fixed fort, which can easily kill the German armored forces passing through the crossroads, and can also destroy as many of their infantry as possible."


    Just as we were talking, the leader of the avant-garde platoon ran over and reported to me in a loud voice: "Comrade division commander, we have rescued the tankers from the tank, two dead and three injured. The infantry following the tank were injured four times. They were all slightly injured. There was no death When he said this, the platoon leader also glared at Wei Yinlu.


    Although Wei yinlubu saw the platoon leader''s impolite sight to him, he could not say anything. After all, it was his negligence that caused the accidental injuries, and also led to two deaths and seven injuries in our army. Seeing that Wei yinlubu''s face turned red, in order to avoid his embarrassment, I quickly rescued him: "well, comrade commander, take your subordinates and come with us. Commander, their headquarters are still under the attack of the enemy."


    Then I turned to the vanguard platoon leader and said, "Comrade platoon leader, you will send someone to carry some wounded people here, and stay here with this tank which serves as a fixed fort to undertake the task of covering our rear."


    After several heavy and heavy wounded were settled, our rescue force, which had lost the cover of tanks, continued to move towards the headquarters along the street.


    As we get closer to the headquarters, the sound of gunfire becomes more and more intense. When Wei yinlubu heard the sound of guns in front of him, he was flustered and urged us: "hurry up, comrades, hurry up. The enemy is attacking our headquarters. If we don''t speed up, it will be too late. "


    We ran forward for several tens of meters, and our vision suddenly became clear. The original buildings on both sides of the street had already collapsed under the bombardment of enemy planes and artillery. The distance between us and the headquarters is more than 200 meters. If we ignore the piles of debris in the East and West, it can be said that it is an open area. At the moment, the direction of the headquarters is blazing, and the enemy''s tanks and mortars are constantly firing, covering the attack of groups of infantry.


    As soon as our troops left the street covered by buildings, they were found by the enemy. Mortars and intensive machine gun fire poured in, blocking our way forward. I jumped to the back of a pile of rubble, hiding behind to avoid the enemy''s bullets and artillery.


    Although I hid safely, the soldiers behind me were not so lucky as me. The dense machine gun bullets penetrated their fragile bodies and lifted them to the ground. One of them fell at my feet. In the choking smoke, the pungent blood pounced on me. I coughed violently.


    A German tank turned its head, fired a shot at us, and came straight at us. More than 30 German soldiers saw their tanks coming towards us. They also got up from the ground one after another and rushed forward behind the tanks.


    Looking at the approaching German tanks and infantry, I couldn''t help getting flustered. Let alone anti tank guns, anti tank grenades and other weapons, I didn''t even have a grenade. If the German tanks come, I really can''t do anything about such a huge thing. There''s nothing I can do.


    Through the sound of guns, I can clearly hear the rumble of tank tracks, which unexpectedly means that the enemy''s tanks are getting closer and closer to me. At this time, a soldier hiding behind the rubble on the opposite side of the street grabbed a burning bottle on the ground, stood up straight, raised the burning bottle over his head, aimed at the approaching tank, and was about to throw it. Suddenly, an evil bullet flew from somewhere and hit the bottle in his hand. The bullet smashed the bottle, and the liquid in it ran all over him. Then the fire burned all over him.


    Seeing that the soldier was covered with fire, I couldn''t help closing my eyes. I couldn''t bear to see the soldier burned alive in front of me. I didn''t expect that what came into my ears was not the scream of the soldier, but his roar. I quickly opened my eyes to see what happened. He bent down, grabbed the second flask, jumped out from behind the rubble, ran straight to the side of the German tank, and threw the flask into the grille of the tank''s engine. In a flash, fire and smoke engulfed our heroes and enemy tanks.


    The bravery of the soldiers inspired us who were still alive. We all stuck our heads out of hiding places and started shooting at the enemies who were following the tanks with weapons. I also grabbed the rifle of the soldier lying at my feet, aimed at the enemy not far away, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.


    Maybe I should thank oshanin, who only met once, for training the real Rita into a sharpshooter, but I was lucky to inherit her shooting talent. After five shots, at least three German soldiers became my victims.


    Seeing that my shooting performance was good, Wei yinlubu ran over with a soldier bent his belt. After squatting down beside me, he gave me a thumbs up and repeatedly praised, "good job, Colonel o''shanina, you are good! The shooting method is so accurate that it killed three enemies in a row. "


    I pressed five bullets into the magazine again, but I didn''t care to speak to him. I raised my hand and flew the helmet of a German soldier who was hiding behind a pile of rubble more than 20 meters away. After the German soldier''s helmet was blown away by me, he quickly shrunk to the rubble and did not dare to stand up again.


    After I finished this shot, I also drew back, leaned back against the rubble, and asked Wei yinlubu squatting in front of me: "Comrade commander, do you have bullets there?"


    When I received the three clips of bullets from Wei yinlubu, I couldn''t help saying: "Comrade commander, your soldiers are good. If he had not died with the German tanks, we would have been defeated by the enemy''s tanks and the incoming infantry


    After hearing this, Wei yinlubu sighed and said, "his heroic performance, after the introduction of the battle, I will report it to the headquarters and ask the headquarters to record merits for him!"


    At this moment, our team has been sobered from the initial chaos, and the soldiers have occupied favorable terrain and launched a counterattack against the enemy. In a nearby crater, the soldiers of the second regiment even mounted a machine gun and were using accurate firing to destroy the German soldiers who rushed forward risking their lives.


    The enemy''s tanks and mortars stopped bombarding the headquarters. Instead, they aimed at us and used dense artillery fire to cover the infantry charging at us. The machine gunner in the crater was fighting happily when he suddenly showed his upper part of the crater, threw himself back and fell into the crater. As soon as the gunner fell, his deputy grabbed the machine gun, took over the gunner''s position and continued to fire at the enemy. Just after shooting a bullet clip, the assistant gunner was changing the bullet clip when a German shell landed near him and exploded. The flying shrapnel made him fall into the crater with a man and a machine gun.


    Seeing that the assistant gunner also fell down, I could not help but scream. Just as I wanted to send someone to take his place, the leader of the avant-garde platoon had quickly jumped out of the crater behind me, rushed past me, jumped into the crater, rebuilt the machine gun, and strafed the enemy''s infantry.


    After a while, the platoon leader also fell beside the machine gun. Not long after he fell, another soldier came forward, jumped out of his hiding place, rushed into the crater, replaced the position of the platoon leader, and then shot the incoming enemy with a machine gun. As the enemy''s attention was attracted by the machine gun in the crater, I was able to hide behind the rubble and shoot at the German soldiers who entered my range. When I ran out of bullets, at least 15 German soldiers fell under my gun. Although the enemy''s infantry was wiped out by us little by little, we had no way to keep shelling our three tanks and many mortars. So although we gradually gained the upper hand in the number of people, we were still unable to advance to the headquarters because of the existence of the tank. While Wei yinlubu was discussing with me whether to send someone to touch the enemy''s tanks with burning bottles, a German tank was suddenly covered with fire and smoke. When I saw this scene, my heart was murmuring: is it the improper operation of the enemy''s tankers that caused the explosion of ammunition in the car? But I quickly denied the conjecture here, and understood that it must have been the arrival of troops from another road. I lay on the rubble and carefully looked in the direction of the shell. As I expected, two tanks with * * cross on their bodies came out from another street, followed by a group of our commanders and fighters. The remaining two German tanks did not understand what was going on. They were hit by the shells fired by our tanks and began to burn. The enemy''s tanks have been cleared, and the remaining mortars are not a concern. The enemy''s mortar bombardment of our tanks had no effect. Although the shells kept exploding around the tanks, it only reluctantly slowed down the driving speed of our tankers without any major damage. However, when our tanks fired mortars, they hit one at a time. After several rounds, the enemy''s mortar positions were almost completely destroyed. Seeing the tank and another infantry unit, I stood up and yelled at the hidden commanders and fighters behind me, "comrades, our tanks are coming up. The enemy can''t support it any more. Follow me!" After shouting, I waved my rifle and took the lead to rush out. After more than two or three meters, our assault team was blocked by the German firepower, and we were suppressed by the cross fire of one machine gun and seven or eight assault rifles. I hid in a crater, carefully poked my head out and looked at the position of the tank. I found that the enemy''s firepower was very well concealed. Because there were tank debris and debris, it was just in the blind area of our army''s tanks, so I couldn''t clear them in the first time. In a hurry, a mortar team ran behind the rubble not far from me and began to set up mortars. Seeing what they did, regardless of the danger of being hit by the bullet, I yelled at them: "Hello, artillery comrades, hurry up and kill that fire point, otherwise we can''t rush through at all!" The gunner set up the mortar quickly, aimed simply, and fired decisively. The mortar shell made a beautiful arc in the air, and then accurately landed in the middle of the enemy. The machine gun hiding behind the rubble splashed debris in the huge explosion. The flying shrapnel blasted the German soldiers nearby. This time, it was not my turn to stand up. Wei inlub, who was hidden in another crater, jumped out first, waved his weapons and rushed forward with the soldiers to destroy the surviving German soldiers. The battle was soon over. The German troops who invaded the headquarters of the group army were either killed or captured by us, except for those who ran fast with long legs. While I was cleaning the battlefield, Wei Yinlu came to me with several people. I saw from a distance that there were no trekov, gurov and Krylov in it. I thought they were just the general staff of the group army headquarters, so I didn''t care. I continued to command the soldiers to treat the wounded. When they came near, I found that behind Wei yinlubu were a group of political workers. There was even a brigade level political commissar, who was higher than kirilov''s level. I quickly welcomed them. Although I didn''t know who they were, I raised my hand to salute them first. Seeing that I saluted them, the political workers raised their hands one after another. Wei yinlubu quickly pulled me to the brigade level political commissar and introduced me to him. He said, "Colonel oshanina, I''d like to introduce you. This is Comrade Vasiliev, the new director of the Political Department of the group army and the brigade level political commissar, who took over the previous work of Comrade kirilov." Vasiliev held out his hand to me and said in a friendly way, "thank you, Colonel oshanina, for bringing your troops to help us out. Let''s go to the headquarters. The commander and the military commissar are waiting for you. "

 Chapter 682

    Vasiliev and I, the new director of the Political Department of the group army, walked through the bodies of our soldiers and German soldiers who had not been cleaned up. We looked at the soldiers who were cleaning the battlefield and the wounded who were lying on the stretcher with serious injuries and were moaning in pain. Our hearts were very sad. I suddenly felt a strong hatred for the Germans in my heart.


    Vasiliev saw that I gradually fell behind, slowed down his pace, and stopped waiting for me. After seeing the reason for my backwardness, he sighed softly and said to me with a bitter smile, "if these commanders and fighters had not spared no effort to block the German attack, perhaps the headquarters of the group army would have been destroyed by the enemy."


    As soon as we entered the familiar command room, gurov, the military commissar who had been sitting at the table, stood up, went to my hand, took my hand and said, "Comrade oshanina, you are so timely. If it were not for your support, the headquarters would either be destroyed by the enemy or have been transferred. In either case, the command system of the whole group army will be in chaos in a short time. "


    In response to gurov''s enthusiasm, I took time to look at trakov, who was still standing at the table. I saw him frowning, holding a stack of thick newspaper, kept looking. The chief of staff, Krylov, was on the wall with a bunch of telephones, earphones and transmitters. It seemed that he was talking to the army below.


    I was led to the table by gurov. Trekov put down the telegram, nodded at me, and then said, "Comrade oshanina, you''ve come just in time. You''ll take back the medal awarded to your division by your superiors later, so that I don''t have to send someone to go again."


    As soon as trikov finished, gurov pushed me a pile of boxes on the table. I was just about to ask if there was my medal in these boxes when krailov, who was next to the telephone, threw the earphone and transmitter on the table, ran over quickly, and said solemnly, "report commander, guard, as soon as my voice dropped, there was a neat applause in the room. Pugachev looked down at the medal on his chest and gently stroked it with his hand. He was so excited that he forgot to speak. At this time, I heard the voice of Vasiliev, director of the political department: "Comrade major, don''t you know what to say after you get the medal?"


    Vasiliev''s words reminded the excited Pugachev. He quickly straightened his waist and said aloud, "serve the Soviet motherland!"


    "Well said, comrade major!" Vasiliev continued: "take your soldiers with you now and serve your motherland. I sincerely hope that you can make new contributions to our motherland in the next battle


    The emotional Pugachev didn''t say anything, just raised his hand to salute us, turned and walked away.


    When several of us gathered around the table again, trakov began to talk about the situation in front of us: "after such a long time of fighting, I found that it is far from enough to rely on the determination of the commander to fight to the end and the courage of the soldiers. We have no room to maneuver in the passive positional defense. Due to the limitation of the terrain, the troops suffered heavy losses in the enemy''s artillery and bombing. However, Stalingrad, a city named after the Supreme Commander himself, is of irreplaceable importance not only in military but also in politics. Therefore, we must firmly defend it. No matter what kind of sacrifice we pay, we can not let the aggressors occupy the city. At present, the problem before us is how to make use of the existing forces and weapons and equipment to reduce the losses of our army while consuming the enemy to the maximum extent. "


    When trakov finished, krailov turned his attention to me and asked, "I''d like to hear your opinion on this, Colonel oshanina?"


    I felt that I was not suitable to speak on such an occasion, so I quickly declined and said, "Comrade chief of staff, this is a problem considered by the leaders of your group army. As a small division commander, I don''t have the right to speak in this regard."


    Trekov saw me say that, and quickly showed his dissatisfaction. Gurov found the displeasure on trakov''s face and quickly made it over for me: "commander, chief of staff, I think Comrade oshanina may not have considered it well, so I didn''t rashly say that he was immature. Let''s give her some time to think about it and maybe she can give us some useful advice. "


    At this time, a communications officer came up to krailov, handed a telegram to him, and then turned to leave. Krailov finished reading the telegram quickly, then handed it to trikov and said, "Comrade commander, have a look at the telegram sent directly to us by the supreme command!"


    It was said that it was a telegram from the supreme command. Originally, gurov stood up in a hurry and asked crailov nervously, "Comrade chief of staff, what did the Supreme Command say in the telegram?"


    Krailov glanced at trakov, who was reading the telegram, and replied, "the supreme command has informed us that from today, September 28, 1942, the Stalingrad front army will be renamed the Don river front army, and its commander will be lieutenant general rokosovsky; The southeast front army was renamed Stalingrad front army, and its commander was general yelimenko; The first group army of Jinwei was expanded into the southwest front army, with the commander as Lieutenant General vadudin. "


    When I heard the name of rokosovsky, I couldn''t help but feel happy. I didn''t expect that in less than a year, I would have the chance to fight side by side with this future Soviet marshal. Gurov, after krailov finished, continued to ask, "did you say when we will have a new reserve team?" Krailov shook his head in silence and said regretfully, "no, the telegram only informed us of the adjustment of the troop composition, and did not mention the dispatch of reserve troops to Stalingrad." Trekov sighed and handed the telegram to gurov. Just as he was about to speak, another communications officer ran up to him and reported to Krylov in a loud voice, "report to chief of staff, Colonel lyudnikov." When we heard that it was lyudnikov who called, when Krylov answered the phone, we could not help but gather around and listen to their conversation. Krailov asked with concern, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the situation over there? Has the enemy''s attack been repulsed by the artillery fire? " From the receiver came lyudnikov''s hoarse voice: "report to the chief of staff, the enemy has been beaten back. Just five minutes after the rocket fire, the German troops who launched the attack led by tanks suffered heavy losses. They obediently left seven or eight destroyed tanks and more than 200 corpses and retreated in confusion. Now in front of our position, there are many wounded German soldiers who are still on the ground and groaning¡° How are the casualties of your troops? " Krylov asked with concern. Lyudnikov chuckled a few times and said bitterly, "the casualties are not small. After counting the number, there are still more than 700 people left in the division, half of them wounded."¡° What, "said krailov, startled," is there only 700 people left? Can you hold the present defensive position with your strength? "¡° Chief of staff, I beg you, "lyudnikov sincerely asked in the microphone," send me some reinforcements, even a company or even a platoon. Although we have defeated the enemy''s attack today, if they want to make another two such attacks, we are in danger of losing the whole army. "¡° Comrade Colonel, first order your men to consolidate the present position, "said Krylov hesitantly." reinforcements, we will send them to you later. " After Krylov finished his call with lyudnikov, trakov went to the high-frequency phone beside the wall, picked up the phone, hesitated for a moment, and then decisively dialed the headquarters of the front army: "Hello, comrade commander yelomienko, this is trakov!"

 Chapter 683

    When I heard that trakov mentioned to yelimenko that there were insufficient troops in the city and asked him to send a reserve team, my heart went up to my throat. I was afraid that trakov''s request would be rejected. When he was desperate, he would attack the rest of the independent division.


    Fortunately, after listening to his request, yelimenko readily agreed: "Comrade trekov, I know your request. I now officially inform you that we are going to walk from the guard to the door. Suddenly, I thought of something. I quickly stopped and called gurov, who was looking at the map on the table with his back to me: "Comrade military commissar!"


    Gulov heard me calling him, turned quickly, looked at me with a smile and asked, "o''shanina, what else can I do for you?"


    "Yes, comrade military Commissar." I hastened to take the time to tell gurov the story of the soldier who was covered with fire rushing towards the enemy''s tank with a burning bottle in his hand and died with it. Finally, I emphasized that "I think we should vigorously publicize such a hero within the whole group army or even the front army, I believe it will be of great help to improve the morale of the troops. "


    "O''shanina, do you know the name of this soldier and which army he belongs to?" I''m baffled by gurov''s problem. My own subordinates can''t recognize it, let alone the soldiers of other troops. Seeing my embarrassed face, gurov sighed and said earnestly, "if we don''t know the name of the soldier and his army, the effect of propaganda will be greatly reduced, and the goal we want to achieve will not be achieved."


    When I was in a dilemma, Wei yinlubu, who came into the headquarters, suddenly said, "Comrade military commissar, I know the name of the soldier who died and which army he belonged to."


    Gurov turned his head to Wayne ruble and asked with interest, "is that so? Commander Wei yinlubu, do you mean you know the soldier who died


    Wei yinlubu nodded hard and said definitely, "that soldier is from the Marine Corps. His name is Mikhail panikah. He is a member of the regiment. Today, he is following me to carry out the combat mission."


    Gurov and Wei yinlubu finished, then turned to the director of the new political department who heard the news: "Comrade Vasiliev, it''s up to your political department to publicize Mikhail panikah. I must make sure that his heroic feat can soon look up at the clouds blocking the sky in the distance and listen to the fierce gunfire from time to time, Unexpectedly, it was found that the two tanks, which were not far away, had disappeared. It seemed that they were sent to help attack the German occupied primary school. With a slight sigh, I handed the box in my hand to a soldier. At the same time, I asked helplessly, "how many of us still have?"


    The soldier who took the box from me quickly replied, "report to division commander, after the battle just now, there are still seven people left in the guard company and five people left in the mortar group."


    "What about the rest of the second regiment?" I asked, stifling my anger. "Did they all leave with major Pugachev?"


    The soldier nodded with a sad face and said, "yes, after major Pugachev came out of the headquarters, he not only took away all the people he brought, but also took away the soldiers of the second regiment and two tanks who survived the battle."


    Looking at the ten or so soldiers around me, I really want to cry. Unexpectedly, the main force of the second regiment is gone. Although the battle is still going on now, I know what the final fate is waiting for Pugachev and his commanders and fighters even with my toes.


    The guard soldiers saw me standing in a daze and quickly reminded me in a low voice: "Sir, it''s late. Let''s go back to mamayev post early. If you go back late, maybe the political commissar and chief of staff will be worried. "


    Because there were too few soldiers around me, I didn''t have the bottom of my heart to stay here, so I agreed to take the remaining ten soldiers on the way home.


    When passing the crossroads, the soldier reminded me again: "Sir, we still have some wounded people over there. Do you need to take them all?"


    "Needless to say, of course." Although my mouth is beautiful, my heart is full of murmurs. We are only about ten people with so many weapons and ammunition. How can we transport so many wounded people back? We can''t let the soldiers throw away all the weapons and carry the wounded back.


    When I was in trouble, I suddenly heard the sound of rapid footsteps coming from different directions. I didn''t care who I looked like, so I cried out: "ready to fight!" Then he took the lead in hiding behind the sandbags where the wounded were placed.


    But as soon as I hid, I heard the soldier''s exclamation: "Sir, it''s not German, it''s our people. It''s all our own people. It''s the brothers of the second company of guards."


    I quickly stood up and looked in the direction of the footsteps. I saw two men in our uniform, Grimes and gretka, each with an army, running towards us from two different directions.


    They came to me with their troops and stopped. Without salutation, gretka directly reported, "Comrade division, we have come to meet you on the order of commander Oleg. We are at your command, please give us your instructions! "


    After shaking hands with gramsf and greteka, I pointed to the wounded lying behind the sandbags and said to the second lieutenant in a relaxed tone: "second lieutenant greteka, send a class of soldiers to carry all the wounded. Let''s go back to mamayev post." The second company, which was headed by the defected German captain gramsf, followed me back to the mamayev post. Because the company lost all the guards, they took over the guard work of the division headquarters. When I announced this decision to kirilov and akhromeyev, kirilov first raised his objection: "Comrade division commander, is it too hasty for you to entrust the security work of division headquarters to a defecting German officer? You know, the current situation is becoming more and more unfavorable to our army. If they collude with their former comrades in arms and rebel, and take away our division headquarters, the independent division without command will be doomed. Once the independent division is annihilated by the enemy, the whole mamayev post will also fall into the hands of the enemy, and they will be able to gather a large number of troops on the high ground and launch an attack on the city Seeing that akhromeyev also wanted to speak out against it, I quickly raised my hand to stop him and said to the chief of staff: "political commissar and chief of staff, I know that you two are also out of love for the independent division, and will strongly oppose the transfer of the second guard company of half of the German soldiers as the guard force of the headquarters." Kirilov muttered, "if you know, why did you bring them back from the city?"¡° At present, we are short of troops. There is only one company left in the second regiment. We are too busy guarding the high ground, let alone taking out our troops to protect the safety of the division headquarters. That''s why I transferred the second company back from the fifth regiment. " At this point, I deliberately stopped for a moment. Seeing that they did not speak, I continued: "Captain Grimes has been defecting to us for a long time. I believe you all see how he behaves. If you look at the snipers he trained for us and how they display their power in the city, you should know that he is really in our camp. You can''t always grasp the fact that he is German, but always keep vigilant and on guard against him. If you go on like this, you will make these German officers and men who join our camp feel cold. " After listening to what I said, the room fell into silence. After a long time, akhromeyev spoke cautiously and said, "Comrade political commissar, I think the teacher has a point. If they want to rebel, there are many opportunities before, and they don''t have to wait until now. " Seeing that akhromeyev and I agreed, kirilov, who was unable to support himself, sighed and said helplessly: "well, sir, since you have made up your mind, I respect your decision!"

 Chapter 684

    After dark, I recruited all the decorated commanders to the headquarters. After asking kirilov to honor them, I asked them to sit down at the table and discuss the next battle plan.


    I stood up with my hand on the edge of the table and looked at the commanders who hung the medals. They all turned red with excitement. Maybe they never dreamed that they would live to get the red flag medal, which represents the highest honor. It''s inevitable for them to get emotional. I coughed and said, "comrades, today is the first commander''s meeting held by the division headquarters after the independent division arrived at mamayev post. Next, we will discuss how to use the favorable terrain, existing forces and weapons to resist the enemy''s crazy attack in the coming days."


    After that, everyone focused on me and waited for me to go on. After scanning every commander on the scene, my eyes finally stayed on Gaidar, the head of the fourth Regiment: "commander Gaidar, your regiment is currently at the forefront of the whole division. Would you like to tell us what difficulties you have now?"


    Gaidar, who was named by me, quickly stood up, looked at the commanders present, shook his head and replied loudly, "report, sir, we have no difficulty."


    "Colonel gedar, you''re lying!" Kirilov, who was sitting next to me, stood up and said to Gaidar with a smile, "what''s going on in the northern highlands? Don''t our division leaders know? I know that although you have not been in the position for a long time, under the enemy''s shelling and indiscriminate bombardment, the troops must have been reduced a lot, right? In addition to fewer and fewer troops, the commanders and fighters may not have much ammunition in their hands, right


    Hearing kirilov say this, Gaidar laughed a little awkwardly. At this time, Xia Ping, the political commissar of the 42nd tank brigade and now the political commissar of the fourth regiment, stood up and answered us solemnly: "division commander and political commissar, although our troops are greatly reduced, there is no problem in holding the position. As for the shortage of ammunition, we often organize soldiers to collect dead bodies of the enemy, which can barely maintain normal consumption. "


    I raised my right hand and pressed it down, motioned to all the people who stood up to sit down, and then continued: "in addition to collecting the ammunition before you go to the position, I''ll send someone to send you some of the second regiment''s ammunition later."


    After hearing this, Gaidar, who had just sat down, found that major Pugachev, the acting head of the second regiment, was not present, so he asked me curiously, "Comrade division, where has major Pugachev, the second head of the regiment gone? I don''t think the enemy has ever attacked your highland. I''m going to discuss with Pugachev and ask him to replenish my strength. "


    Gaidar was careless, but I was intentional. When he said that, he could not help worrying about Pugachev and his two or three hundred commanders and fighters. I didn''t entangle with Gaidar on this issue, but directly changed the topic: "commander Gaidar, your fourth regiment has fought several battles with the enemy. What''s the mood of the soldiers?"


    Listening to my question, Gaidar jumped up again and replied loudly: "report to our division, our four regiments, from top to bottom, whether they are the chief political commissar or the ordinary soldiers below, are full of fighting enthusiasm. The soldiers all said that the German sixth group army was also in vain and looked fierce. However, they used two divisions to launch so many attacks on our positions, but they failed once and lost so many troops in vain. I think that if the enemy and us change their positions and let them defend our attack, it is estimated that ten mamayev posts will be attacked. "


    Gaidar''s words aroused the laughter of the commanders on the scene. Kirilov stood up again, lit Gaidar with his fingers, and said, "you Gaidar, you dare to say anything. According to me, if this place was not under the command of Mr. oshanina, but under another commander, maybe this position would have been occupied by the enemy. " At this point, the expression on his face suddenly became serious. "It''s not easy for us to comment on the situation in other defensive areas, but in 107.5 highland, two kilometers west of our highland, I think everyone is familiar with it? In order to keep there, how many troops did the group army fill in? But now, although thousands of officers and soldiers have been sacrificed, the highland is still in the hands of the enemy. "


    "Sir, political commissar, I want to know if you are anxious to bring all our regimental commanders here today. Besides honoring them, are there any other arrangements?" All of a sudden, chejerikov, who had been silent, asked.


    "Well, comrade chejerikov." I supported the table and leaned forward slightly. "In order to ensure that our division can better defend the existing defense zone, I plan to readjust the deployment of troops."


    As soon as I spoke, there was an uproar, and the commanders of several regiments began to whisper. I just looked at them coldly and didn''t say anything to stop them.


    Kirilov couldn''t watch any more. He stood up, patted the table with his hands, and said aloud, "be quiet, please be quiet!" After all the people didn''t speak, he said angrily, "look at yourself. You''re either a commander or a major. You''re all the military officers of the regiments. What''s the noisy look like now?"


    After that, he turned his eyes on me, as if to let me go on. I waved my hand, indicating that he would be the speaker next, and then I sat down in my seat. After I sat down, kirilov officially announced to you: "comrades, first of all, I want to announce one thing to you, the order of the supreme command at all levels. From today on, the former Stalingrad front army will be renamed the Don river front army, and the commander will be lieutenant general rokosovsky; The former southeast front army was renamed Stalingrad front army, and its commander was general yelimenko; The first group army of Jinwei was expanded into the southwest front army, and its commander was lieutenant general vadudin.


    The 62nd army, the 64th, 57th and 51st army of our independent division are subordinate to Stalingrad''s front army and are responsible for the defense of Stalingrad. The number of independent divisions has been greatly reduced, so we have to regroup and transfer the main force of the fifth regiment, which is relatively complete, from the existing base to take over the defense area of the second regiment. "


    "Comrade commissar," commander Oleg stood up and asked kirilov, "may I ask, where are the troops of the second regiment?"


    Kirilov sighed and said bitterly, "except that the second regiment has a full company in the southern highland and the Soviet street, the rest of the troops no longer exist."


    They were startled by kirilov''s words again, but this time, instead of whispering, they kept silent and turned their eyes on kirilov.


    "After the recent fighting, the 42nd regiment of the friendly neighborhood guards has almost finished. With their current strength, they can''t hold the Soviet street at all, so the division commander transferred a company from the 2nd regiment to support them." Kirilov continued feebly: "as the group army headquarters was attacked by the enemy during the day, the division commander worried that they were in danger, so he asked major Pugachev to keep a company on the high ground, and then took the rest of the troops to the city for reinforcement. After annihilating the enemy who besieged the headquarters, the higher authorities said that they wanted to recapture the primary schools occupied by the enemy and restore the artillery observation positions, so they asked major Pugachev to take his troops to carry out the offensive task. They were assisted by two tanks belonging to major perskin''s tank battalion. Because the two commanders were directing their respective troops to fight tenaciously with the Germans, they didn''t come to our meeting. "


    After listening to kirilov''s words, the expression on everyone''s face became dignified. For them, we all know what it means to take part in such a tough battle in the city. Maybe they are praying silently for the comfort of their two colleagues fighting in the city.


    Kirilov then announced a new adjustment plan: "after the main force of the fifth regiment entered the southern highland, the original number was cancelled and mixed with the troops left by the second regiment, and the number was changed to the second regiment. Oleg and verol still held the posts of commander and political commissar. The third and fourth regiments will maintain their existing defensive areas, and the first regiment will be transferred to the original position of the fifth regiment to accept the rest of their troops. " After all this, kirilov asked aloud, "do you hear me clearly?"


    All the commanders stood up in unison and answered in a neat and loud voice, "I understand!"


    Seeing that there was no objection from everyone, I also stood up from my seat and said slowly, "since everyone has made clear their tasks, now they will go in their own teams."


    After all the commanders left one after another, kirilov looked at their back and said to me anxiously, "Comrade oshanina, although we have cancelled the formation of a regiment after this downsizing, the troops are still not enough. If the superior does not give us any more supplements, I am afraid we will not last long on the mamayev post."


    I sighed and said to kirilov helplessly, "Comrade political commissar, don''t mention us. Even the headquarters of the group army doesn''t have any reserves. We can only rely on our own strength and try to stick to the mamayev post for a longer period of time. Maybe another month, things will turn for the better. "


    When I said this, akhromeyev, standing next to me, suddenly brightened his eyes and asked me, "Comrade division, have you heard any inside information? Is the Supreme Command planning to launch a large-scale counterattack here?" When akhromeyev asked this question, even kirilov''s interest was raised. He was staring at me, waiting for me to answer akhromeyev''s question.


    With a wry smile, I said to myself, "political commissar and chief of staff, don''t forget that I''m just a small division commander. The secrets of these battles are not known to people of my level." After that, seeing the disappointed expression on their faces, I quickly comforted them and said, "but you can rest assured that the days of fighting back will not be too long. Stalingrad is a hot city in summer, with the highest temperature of 40 degrees above zero; It''s very cold in winter, and the lowest temperature is 30 degrees below zero. I have always thought that Hitler was blind and had to fight our brave red army in this city. You know, whether in summer or winter, he won''t win very much. What''s more, the Soviet Red Army he met was not an ordinary person: the bad weather conditions created the character of stalingrads, who were strong and tough, violent and cruel. In addition, Stalingrad established an important military manufacturing industrial zone along the Volga River. In wartime, it played a huge and irreplaceable role in supporting the Soviet Army''s combat equipment and weapons. "


    What I said later finally gave them a little bit of confidence, and they returned to their normal looks. They went back to the table, surrounded by the map they had seen countless times, and began to discuss.


    I was hesitating whether to call trekov and Petrov to ask about their fate when basmanov, who was on duty with soldiers outside, came in, followed by a short but stout commander in a cornice hat and a military coat.


    I caught a glimpse of the two Venus on the collar of the visitor and rushed to meet them. Before basmanov finished, I raised my hand to the former major general and said politely, "Comrade General, commander of the independent division, Colonel oshanina, salute you. Welcome to the division headquarters of the independent division."


    Seeing that I had been the first to salute, busmanov quickly turned aside. The major general raised his hand and saluted me. Just as he was about to speak, kirilov''s voice rang out behind me: "aha, who''s here! Dear comrade Stephan savileevich, it''s a pleasure to meet you in my headquarters. "¡° Hello, comrade director of the political department. " The major general obviously knew kirilov, and he put out his hand. When they shook hands, kirilov corrected him and said, "Dear Stephan savileevic, I am now the political commissar of the independent division, and I will not continue to be the director of the Political Department of the group army." After he released his hand, the general he introduced to me said, "Comrade oshanina, you don''t know the commander, do you?" I quickly put a smile on my face, then shook my head and said, "sorry, comrade political commissar, I don''t know this general. Do you know him Kirilov nodded and then introduced: "this is major general Stepan savileevic Guriev, the commander of the 37th division of the close guard." Then he turned around and asked the general, "guriyev, your troops have crossed the river?" Major general guriyev shook his head and said, "only half of them have come, and the rest are still gathering on the other side. My political commissar is assembling the troops crossing the river at the wharf, and he will come here in a moment¡° What''s the situation with the army? " Kirilov asked again¡° Not so good, comrade kirilov. " General guriyev said bitterly: "at present, the regiments of the division have only added half of the personnel, and each company has only 40-50 personnel. During the period from September 18 to 20, our division participated in many battles in the northern part of Stalingrad in the sequence of the first group army of Jinwei, and suffered heavy casualties in the offensive against kuzmitch village. But the basic combat effectiveness of the army has not been destroyed. The main component of the division is airborne troops, and most of them are Communist Party members and members of the Communist Youth League. "¡° Comrade guriyev, before you crossed the river, did your superiors tell you where you planned to deploy your 37th division? " Regarding kirilov''s question, guriyev thought for a moment and replied, "according to the order of the group army command, our division assembled on the south side of mamayev post after completing the task of crossing the river. Then, before daybreak, they attacked the enemy occupied highland 107.5. Take the position and hold it firmly¡° Comrade General. " When guriyev finished speaking, I asked politely, "is there anything we can do for you when your troops attack highland 107.5?" Guriyev looked at me, shook his head slowly and said, "thank you for your kindness, comrade colonel. According to the information obtained in advance, the German army has only one company on Highland 107.5, and two battalions are sent to attack the highland. There should be no problem in occupying the highland. "¡° Dear Stephan savileevich, "kirilov said with a smile," you may not know that Colonel oshanina has organized troops to recover 107.5 highlands many times and caused great losses to the enemy. If you want to recover the Highlands, you can''t do without our help. " Kirilov''s words aroused guriyev''s curiosity. He asked, "I don''t know what kind of help your teacher can offer us?" Kirilov did not immediately answer his question, but patiently explained: "in the 107.5 highland, two kilometers west of mamayev hill, the terrain is gentle in the north and steep in the south. When you attack from the south slope, because the steep terrain will affect your attack speed, the High German army will cause you heavy casualties Guriyev frowned unconsciously when he heard this. He nodded and said, "yes, comrade kirilov, you are right. Our division does not have any heavy weapons at present. If we want to attack the Highlands, we will not be able to provide more firepower support for the infantry except for ten heavy machine guns. " At this point, he looked at kirilov again and asked anxiously, "tell me, can your Division provide artillery support for us?" Kirilov turned to look at me, then turned to look at Guriev, said with a smile: "don''t worry, old man, we can provide you with strong enough firepower cover. Maybe when you attack the hillside, there will be no living enemies on it."

 Chapter 685

    While we were waiting for guriyev''s deputy, regiment level political commissar cherneshov, to arrive, razumeyeva stood up from her telephone, strode up to me, handed me a telegram, and said, "report to division commander, the telegram just sent by group army headquarters."


    I received the telegram. Without looking at it, I handed it to akhromeyev and told him, "Comrade chief of staff, please read the contents of the telegram to everyone."


    Akhromeyev took the telegram, looked at it, nodded, and then said to us, "division commander, political commissar, it''s order 171 just issued by the group army command. The order pointed out the areas that the troops must stick to, and also wrote:


    "Commanders of all units should carry out engineering operations with the fastest speed in order to strengthen their positions; It is necessary to build anti tank and anti infantry obstacles in the front and depth, and transform some buildings to make them suitable for street fighting; We should use all the equipment around us to build obstacles and obstacles, and even demolish some houses and tram tracks; Local governments should organize residents to work together.


    The main work should be done by our own troops. Work day and night. It should be explained to all the soldiers that the group army is now fighting on the last frontier. We have no way back. The duty of every soldier and commander is to stick to his own bunker and position, and not to retreat! In any case, destroy the enemy! "


    Guriyev, who listened to the order with us, asked thoughtfully, "Comrade kirilov, as far as I know, the 107.5 highland on the west side of the mamayev post has become a place repeatedly contested by the enemy and us. Both sides have invested heavily in this area. I want to ask why our army, which is transferred to the army, is sometimes defeated by the enemy if it can''t hold on for a day? "


    Kirilov thought for a moment, then said earnestly, "Comrade Guriev, it is mainly because our army has never built a solid position on the top of the high slope and on the hillside of the north slope. Under the enemy''s heavy artillery fire and the indiscriminate bombardment of aircraft, the commanders and fighters who stick to their positions often suffer heavy casualties. By the time the German troops launch an impact on the Highlands, our troops have lost most of their combat capabilities. "


    "So it is. Now I understand." After hearing this, guriyev said confidently, "now that we know the reason why the friendly forces can''t hold the position, we will concentrate on building Fortifications on the high ground after our division seizes the position. In this way, the strong fortifications can provide a certain degree of shelter for our commanders and fighters, and reduce the casualties of effective forces in enemy artillery and aircraft support. "


    On hearing guriyev talking about building fortifications, akhromeyev couldn''t help interrupting and saying, "Comrade General, our division''s engineering company is very experienced in building fortifications. Do you think we need to send them to help you?"


    Guriyev looked at kirilov and me respectively with a smile on his face. Then he said with ease, "if your teacher and political commissar do not object, I have no opinion."


    "I agreed to temporarily transfer the engineering company of the division to the 39th division to help them build fortifications on the high ground." Kirilov first stood up and expressed his support. Then he turned to look at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think?"


    Instead of answering his question, I said to kirilov, "Comrade chief of staff, call Lieutenant Mikhail yev, commander of the engineering company, and major Morozov, commander of the artillery battalion, and ask them to come to the division headquarters immediately to accept the operational order."


    For my command, akhromeyev immediately understood, and immediately called the two commanders who had called me. Guliyev, who was confused, secretly asked kirilov, "Comrade kirilov, do you agree with or refuse your proposal just now?"


    Kirilov laughed and said, "Guriev, don''t you recognize it? When Comrade division commander asked the chief of staff to call the artillery battalion commander and the engineer company commander, she had already expressed her own attitude. "


    After listening to kirilov''s explanation, guriyev suddenly realized: "Oh, so it is. I see. I see. " Then he reached out to me to express his gratitude.


    During the counterattack of the 39th division of the guards against the 107.5 highland, the commanders and fighters sent by Morozov played the leading role. They carried thunder cannons and blew up the position on the top of the hillside. The German soldiers stuck in the position either took a "native plane" or were killed by the huge explosion wave. The whole counterattack lasted only half an hour, Highland 107.5, once occupied by the German army, was returned to the 39th division of the guards.


    Early the next morning, the German army, unwilling to be driven away from the Highlands, launched an attack. First, they used heavy artillery to bombard the 107.5 highland.


    Kirilov and I, as well as mihayev, who had returned from the Highlands, were in the bunker at the top of the hillside, observing the friendly positions with binoculars. The bombardment of German tanks and long-range heavy artillery almost turned the whole highland over, and our position was covered with smoke.


    Seeing the enemy''s heavy shelling, not only did I worry about it, but kirilov, who was full of confidence in his old comrade guriyev, also muttered: "can the soldiers of the close guard division withstand the enemy''s heavy shelling?"


    Seeing us both worried, Mikhail yev, who was standing beside us, quickly explained to us: "don''t worry, sir, political commissar. I don''t think the enemy can attack highland 107.5."


    After hearing what he said, kirilov and I both put down our binoculars, looked at him and asked curiously, "Comrade lieutenant, why do you have so much confidence in general Guriev?"


    Mikhail yev''s face showed a relaxed smile, and then said: "according to my observation, general guriyev''s troops have a good set of fortifications. The trenches they dug are not only deep enough, but also half moon shaped. The purpose of such repairs is to prevent the explosion of enemy shells and kill a large number of our commanders and fighters. According to the regulations of engineers, the number of soldiers killed by a medium caliber artillery shell of the enemy can not exceed 10 in a class, which means that the length of each trench is generally not more than 20 meters. The killing radius of the air wave produced by such a shell explosion can only be limited within the scope of the trench at this end.


    Of course, there are also shelters and gun holes in their trenches. Soldiers can go in to hide when they are ready for the enemy''s attack, so as to reduce the casualties of our living forces in the enemy''s artillery plane bombing. When the enemy infantry begin to charge, they will come out to prepare for defensive shooting. "


    Kirilov, with a relaxed expression on his face after listening to Mikhail''s explanation, suddenly asked me, "Comrade oshanina, do you know why vodka is so popular?"


    When I heard kirilov say that, I could not help frowning slightly. My heart said that there was a hot fight outside. You still have the heart to ask me if I know why vodka is popular. But kirilov is his partner after all, and I can''t turn a face with him for such a trifle, so I can only say vaguely: "I don''t know!"


    Kirilov didn''t care about my attitude. Instead, he said to himself, "it''s said that vodka was first made from rye, wheat and spring water by monks in the Kremlin monastery in the late 15th century. Originally, it was used to make disinfectant, but I don''t know which monk drank the first mouthful of disinfectant. In the next 500 years, Vodka has become the first "drink" of Russians


    It''s the first time I''ve heard of kirilov''s allusion. Just when I wanted to ask the truth of the legend, he has already given me the answer I want to know: "this story was told by general Guriev. The monk who drank disinfectant was one of his ancestors, so this story should be true. What''s more, you may not know that guriyev used to be a heavy machine gun shooter. When he was fighting, he would run to the trench and seize a heavy machine gun and have a good fight there as long as he drank wine. " When he said that, he stopped for a moment, sighed and said with some worry: "I hope general guriyev will not forget his identity. He is no longer an ordinary heavy machine gun shooter, but a division commander commanding thousands of soldiers. If anything happens to him, the command system of the 39th division of the guards will be in chaos."


    Just then, as the German tanks and infantry approached the foot of the hill, the heavy shelling weakened. I saw through the telescope that the two positions on the north slope of the highland had been blown to pieces. The long battlefield was full of flames, and the smoke, mud and stone rose to the sky to block the sun. At the foot of the hill, the German infantry, driven by their commander, quickened their pace and rushed up the hill.


    When the enemy was less than 100 meters away from the hillside position, countless dense bullets were suddenly ejected from the broken position, and the German soldiers who rushed in the front faltered, then fell down in pieces. The soldiers in the back quickly fell down on the spot and hid in the crater, fighting back at the position.


    After shooting for a while, the troops in the position found that it was difficult to cause any casualties to the German troops hiding in the crater, so they stopped shooting. Then countless grenades flew out of the trench and fell into the crater in front of the position. They blew up the German soldiers hiding in the crater, and after supporting for a short time, they turned around and ran down the mountain.


    When the enemy retreated to the foot of the mountain, the tanks stopped below started shelling, covering the infantry to retreat to the rear of the tank line and gather as a whole in order to launch a new attack.


    Half an hour later, the German infantry attacked the position of the guard division again. Seeing the German soldiers swarming on the hillside, I couldn''t help but say with emotion: "Comrade political commissar, I feel that without air supremacy and sufficient artillery support at present, our army''s attack on fortified positions and positional warfare will only backfire and become a war of attrition. Only when guerrilla warfare is carried out in cities that are entangled with the enemy can we develop our strengths and avoid our weaknesses and give full play to our army''s advantages. "


    Kirilov agreed with me very much. He put down his telescope, nodded and agreed with me positively: "it seems that at the right time, we should suggest to the headquarters that we should try our best to reduce this kind of battlefield warfare that we are blindly fighting for consumption."


    The second German attack was soon repulsed by the close guard division''s intensive fire. However, they did not retreat far this time. They hid in the crater area about 100 meters away from the position. Because they were far away from our army, our army did not use grenades to teach them a lesson. We could only watch the tanks at the foot of the mountain, firing guns all the time, and accurately destroying the exposed fire points on the hillside.


    When the firepower point of the hillside position was almost destroyed, the German officers and men who were repulsed twice by intensive firepower jumped up one after another in the orders of the commanders at all levels and charged again at the defensive position that had been bombed beyond recognition. Up to now, the battle has taken two hours, and both sides have paid a huge price. Although the strength and weaponry of the 39th division were far inferior to those of the German army, with the help of the favorable terrain and the trench dug in advance, they were able to withstand the enemy''s attack under the cover of artillery, and kept the enemy''s offensive troops 100 meters away from the front of the position. Seeing the fierce fighting between the enemy and us, kirilov was a little impatient. He was so angry that he scolded him. He could not help asking me, "Comrade oshanina, do you want to risk pulling out our heavy howitzers and supporting our friendly forces with artillery fire?" Looking at the high ground where the battle was going on, I slowly shook my head and denied kirilov''s proposal: "no, comrade political commissar, absolutely not. It''s not that I can''t help but that the cruel battle has just begun. If we consume our heavy weapons prematurely, what should we do in the next battle? " Seeing his silent expression, I quickly comforted him and said, "political commissar, don''t worry, you don''t see that the soldiers of the close guard division are fighting very well. For two hours, the enemy didn''t break through their positions on the hillside." When I said that, kirilov''s eyes lit up and said excitedly, "Comrade oshanina, you are right. You are absolutely right! I know guriyev. He is not a simple man. I believe that with the fighting capacity of his troops, it is not a problem to keep this high ground. What''s more, the main force of the guard division is still deployed in the Soviet street behind the Highlands, and it has not been put into combat at all. " As kirilov spoke with excitement, the telephone on the table rang. Mihayev picked up the phone and said a few words. Then he handed it to me. At the same time, he said respectfully, "Comrade division chief, it''s the chief of staff."¡° Hello, chief of staff? " After I received the phone, I asked in a loud voice to the microphone, "what''s the matter with you calling at this time?"¡° That''s right, comrade teacher. " Akhromeyev replied in a loud voice: "we have just received a telegram from the headquarters of the group army."¡° What does the telegram from the headquarters of the group army say? " Akhromeyev said respectfully on the phone: "the telegram is for the 39th guard division, not for us. Since the headquarters had been unable to contact the 39th division, they sent a telegram to our division, ordering us to immediately transfer the telegram to general guriyev, division commander of the division. "¡° What did the telegram say? " Although it was a telegram that we were asked to forward, I was still very interested in the contents of the telegram, so I couldn''t recognize it and asked one more question¡° The headquarters said that the enemy troops had broken through our army''s defense from the gully and were rushing towards the city. He ordered the 39th division of the guards to immediately dispatch elite troops to intercept and destroy the enemy. "¡° Gully, what gully? " I asked inexplicably¡° Gully, I know Kirilov came up to me and explained, "between the" Red October "factory and the" barricade "factory, there is a gully extending westward from the Volga River. The gully is filled with furnace ash for many years. Because of the dangerous terrain, we don''t have many troops deployed here. If the enemy rushes through here, he will soon be able to join his forces in the city and achieve the goal of dividing, encircling and even destroying our army. " Before kirilov finished speaking, I said anxiously to akhromeyev through the microphone, "Comrade chief of staff, since it''s an urgent order, you should send someone immediately to send the telegram to general Guriev. In order to speed up, you let the soldier who sent the order ride a motorcycle. Speed must be fast, otherwise it will be too late. " I was worried that there might be new orders from the headquarters of the group army, so I hurried back to the headquarters with kirilov and mihayev. I didn''t expect that my judgment was really right. The group army headquarters then sent us a series of telegrams, all of which were sent to the 39th division of the guards.

 Chapter 686

    I ordered the soldiers of the guard company to play the role of correspondent, and sent one telegram after another to general guriyev. It wasn''t until the afternoon that the forwarding of the telegram stopped. Just when I thought it would be over, trekov called me directly.


    Hearing my voice, he couldn''t wait to say, "o''shanina, I don''t want to hide it from you. We are in a bad situation now. Major general Rogachev, the commander of the Volga fleet, told me that although they had used all the strength they could, they had brought supplies from the east coast at the risk of ship destruction and death. However, due to the continuous bombardment and bombing by the enemy, five of the six freighters we carried out transportation on the Volga River have been lost, and only one can be used. In this way, guriyev, who was supposed to deliver the guards at noon, waited for his subordinates to catch their breath for a while and asked, "tell me, comrade major, what''s the matter with you in such a hurry?"


    The major quickly straightened up, took a deep breath, and reported: "Comrade division commander, according to the reconnaissance and friendly reports, a large number of enemy infantry and tanks are gathering in the Vishneva Valley, the cemetery area of Red October Town, and the dorgi and krudo gullies. At the same time, the 14th enemy tank division and the 94th Infantry Division, which have been replenished, are coming from the southern suburbs of the city. The enemy''s intentions are very clear. They are ready to launch new attacks on tractor factories and "barricade" factories. "


    Guriyev reached back and said without looking back, "map."


    His chief of staff ran past me, took out the folded map from his briefcase, opened it and handed it to him. Guriyev pointed to the map and asked the chief of staff, "where are we?"


    The chief of staff leaned his head over to have a look, then quickly pointed to a position and said with certainty: "Mr. division, we are only about one kilometer away from the duoerji gully. This is the nearest road to the factory area."


    "Chief of staff, immediately order 114 regiment to stop advancing, enter the attack position nearby, and prepare to launch an attack on Dorji gully." After knowing the position of his troops, guriyev decisively gave an order: "the 113th regiment will continue to march towards the direction of the credo gully. After destroying the enemy in the gully, it will build fortifications on the spot and actively prepare for war."


    When the chief of staff went to give the order, guriyev turned to me and said apologetically, "Colonel oshanina, maybe your artillery has arrived at the credo gully, but at present, the focus of our attack is on the dorgi gully in front of us, so please transfer your troops."


    "No problem. I''ll do it right away." With that, I turned and headed for the motorcycle that was behind the jeep. When I got to the motorcyclist, I said to him, "Comrade soldier, I order you to go to the vicinity of the credo gully immediately, and inform major Morozov and captain busmanov, so that they can transfer the mortar company to the credo gully immediately. If they ask why, you can tell him that our attack focus is here. Go


    The motorcyclist raised his hand and saluted. With a bang of gas, he drove away quickly.


    The first battalion of the 113th regiment of the guards was the vanguard of the attack. More than 400 officers and men of the whole battalion formed a scattered formation, bent over with weapons, and quickly advanced to the gully filled with slag on both sides.


    The German machine gun on top of the slag heap opened fire when it was seven or eight meters away from the slag heap, which was five or six meters high. At the front of the soldiers Hula to fall a large area, behind quickly lying down, lying on the ground, crackling back, dense bullets hit the top of the slag splash.


    It was so easy to kill the two outermost firepower points. When soldiers rushed into the gully one after another, the German firepower points on the slag piles on both sides opened fire again. Under the attack of the enemy''s intensive cross fire, our brave commanders and fighters fell one by one, but they continued to rush forward regardless.


    Standing on the high ground behind me and observing the war with a telescope, I couldn''t help saying to Guriev anxiously, "Comrade General, the enemy''s firepower on both sides of the gully is too fierce. If we want our soldiers to continue to rush like this, we will pay a heavy price."


    Although guriyev was also gnashing his teeth, he said without hesitation: "Colonel oshanina, no one can die in war. If we can''t capture the gully quickly and wait for the enemy''s troops to come up, we will be in danger of losing our whole army. Once our division is annihilated by the German army, do you think the militia in the factory area can be brave enough to block the fierce attack of the German armed to the teeth? "


    Looking at the soldiers falling under the enemy''s fire one after another, I couldn''t bear it more and more, so I euphemistically said, "Comrade General, my artillery should be here soon. When they arrive and use artillery fire to suppress the enemy''s firepower points, then let your troops launch an attack. I think this will quickly destroy the enemy and join the militia forces in the factory area through the gully. "


    Guriyev was not a stubborn man either. After listening to what I said, he pondered a little and then gave the order to stop the attack to the chief of staff standing beside him. Rao is so. Less than half of the commanders and fighters of the first battalion who took part in the attack were left, and most of them were injured to varying degrees.


    Ten minutes later, Morozov with mortar company came to the position where Guriev and I were. I immediately ordered him to set up artillery positions, and then said to Guriev, "Comrade General, my artillery will be in position soon, and your troops can attack again."


    Guriyev nodded and gave an order to the chief of staff: "chief of staff, since the artillery has arrived, go to the head of the 113 regiment immediately and ask him to attack immediately. Remember, in this attack, we must send people to rush in the front, holding the flag of the guard division. " Not long after the chief of staff left, the Division launched a second attack. In the endless gunfire and shouts, more than 1000 officers and men of the 39th division of Jinwei rushed to the enemy''s position in the face of the enemy''s barrage of bullets. Although the leading commanders and fighters were shot and fell from time to time, the following commanders and fighters not only did not stop charging, but also speeded up charging without fear. Although the flag held high by the soldiers of the guards fell down from time to time in the hail of bullets and gunfire, it was quickly raised again by the soldiers who rushed up behind. The bright red flag was always flying in the front of the queue. The enemy, who was already at the end of a strong crossbow, showed signs of loosening in the whole defense line in the face of such a deadly attack by the guards. After setting up more than a dozen mortars, Morozov''s mortars fired decisively with a little aim. Dense shells flew to the German position and exploded in the enemy''s battle line. Broken limbs, broken arms and parts of weapons rose with the smoke of gunpowder. After several rounds of shooting, the terrified German soldiers lost their morale, threw down their weapons, turned around and fled back. Their escape meant that the gully was recaptured by the guards. Seeing the fleeing enemy and the powerful guards, guriyev could not help taking off his cap and raising it high above his head, cheering as if there were no one else

 Chapter 687

    After the 113th regiment of the guards occupied the kludo gully, apart from sending out a battalion of troops to follow the enemy''s fleeing troops, the rest of them cleaned the battlefield in the gully, and were responsible for treating our wounded, clearing the bodies of both sides on the battlefield, and removing the remnants of the German army that were still hidden behind the slag.


    Looking at the busy commanders and fighters in the distance, I finally put a word in my heart: "Comrade General, I want to ask why your troops are not equipped with communication equipment?"


    After listening to my question, guriyev, with a long sigh, replied with a bitter smile, "Colonel oshanina, how can we have no communication equipment in such a large team? It''s because I arranged for the communication company and the artillery regiment to cross the river together. At present, they are still staying on the East Bank of the Volga River, and they don''t know what can cross the river. "


    As I was talking, a small group of commanders and fighters were running towards us in the distance. As I saw that they were not from the direction of krudor gully, I immediately thought that it might be the commanders and fighters of the 114th regiment who were coming to report to guriyev. Thinking of this, I touched guriyev with my elbow, pointed to the commanders and fighters running towards us and said, "Comrade General, look, there are a group of commanders and fighters coming over there. However, they are not from the direction of the credo gully. It should be your subordinates who report the tense situation of the fighting to you. "


    Guriyev even looked at the group of commanders and fighters with binoculars for a while, called one of the soldiers in the guard camp around him, and said, "go and have a look. Who''s coming? If it''s from the 114th regiment, bring him here. If you are not from the 114th regiment, ask him what he has and report to me. "


    After the soldiers took orders to leave, they soon came back to us with one of the group of commanders and fighters and reported to guriyev, "Comrade division commander, this is the messenger from the 114th regiment. He said that he has important information to report to you."


    The second lieutenant, who came back with the soldiers, stepped forward two steps and came up to us. He told guriyev in a loud voice: "Sir, I am the liaison officer of the 114th regiment. I have been ordered by the commander to inform you of the fighting situation of the troops in Dorje gully."


    "Come on, comrade lieutenant, I''ll listen carefully to the report from the front." With that, guriyev looked at the second lieutenant with an expectant expression, as if hoping to hear from him that another army had also won a great victory. However, he was soon disappointed, and the second lieutenant said with a sad face: "Comrade division commander, our regiment''s attack on the duoerji gully was not smooth. Because the ditch is full of mine ash all the year round, the enemy has set up firepower points at several commanding heights. As soon as our troops launch an attack, they will shoot at every stone, every possible Tibetan bunker and every inch of potatoes in the ditch with machine guns. We launched five attacks in a row, all of which failed because of the enemy''s cross fire at the commanding height. The three battalions who took up the main task almost ran out. "


    After listening to the complaints of his subordinates, guriyev, who was quite dignified as a general, did not blame the other party. Instead, he nodded and turned to look at me. He asked in a deliberative tone, "Colonel oshanina, do you think you can let your artillery soldiers go to duoerji gully again to provide the necessary artillery support for the 114th regiment?"


    "No problem, I''ll arrange it right away!" I agreed to guriyev''s request without hesitation, and immediately called basmanov, who was standing beside me, to convey my order to Morozov.


    Seeing that basmanov was about to leave, guriyev immediately told the second lieutenant, "second lieutenant, follow the captain to the friendly artillery units and take them to the dorgi gully. Remember, go back and tell your commander that when attacking, we must send people to seize the commanding heights and destroy the enemy''s firepower points. "


    After basmanov left with the second lieutenant, Guriev said to me gratefully, "thank you, Colonel oshanina. I believe that with the support of artillery, we will be able to successfully complete the tasks assigned by the headquarters. "


    Before we came to the credo gully, we met the head of the 113 regiment. This medium-sized Colonel came up to us and stood in front of us. Without salute, he reported the results to guriyev: "Comrade division commander, in the battle just now, we sacrificed 426 people, injured 127 people, eliminated 214 enemies and captured 39 people."


    After listening to the Colonel''s report, guriyev was stunned for a short time. Then he yelled at the other side: "Comrade Colonel, what''s the matter? Why are there German prisoners?"


    As soon as I said this, not to mention the commander of the 113th regiment of the guards, even I was stunned. I said that it was normal to catch a few German prisoners in the battle. Could I be so excited? I wanted to persuade guriyev that although our casualties were a little high, we were able to destroy more than 200 enemies and capture dozens of them, which is a good result.


    Before I could speak, guriyev said something that surprised me: "Comrade Colonel, although your 113th regiment played well, I have to criticize you on the issue of prisoners. Do you think we have the capacity to take prisoners at present? " At this point, he deliberately stopped to give the Colonel a chance to explain. Unexpectedly, the Colonel bowed his head and was honestly accepting his criticism, so he continued, "it seems that you also understand that we have no ability to take prisoners at all. Even if these prisoners are handed over to the group army headquarters, I think they will feel headache. Since we don''t have the ability to take in prisoners, what else do we want these prisoners to do? "


    "What do you mean, sir?" The commander standing in front of guriyev, after his teacher finished speaking, showed a look of amazement on his face, and then cautiously asked: "to those prisoners..."


    Before he finished, guriyev raised his hand and interrupted him, saying, "since you already know how to do it, what are you still doing here? Why don''t you go back to carry it out as soon as possible?"


    The Colonel snapped to attention and agreed loudly. Then he turned and ran towards the gully. Two minutes later, a series of dull gunshots and screams came from deep in the gully, followed by sporadic pistol shooting. I guess the commander was making up for those German soldiers who were still breathing.


    Guriyev saw that I had been staring at the ditch. Maybe he was afraid that I had any idea. He quickly explained to me, "Colonel oshanina, you may think that I am cruel to do this, but now the situation is special. I have to..."


    "I understand, Comrade General." Without waiting for him to finish, I took the lead and said in an understanding tone, "extraordinary measures should be taken in extraordinary times. If I were in your position, I believe I would make the same decision as you."


    After listening to my statement, Guriev reached out to me and said in a friendly way, "thank you, Colonel oshanina. Thank you for your understanding. I believe that our two divisions will be able to build a deep fighting friendship in the next battle. "


    Just as we were shaking hands, a soldier of the guards in helmets came in a hurry. The guard stopped him and asked him a few questions, then let him pass.


    The soldier came to us, raised his hand to salute, took care of guriyev and me, and then said anxiously: "report to Mr. division commander, my reconnaissance team and I found a large number of German troops in the rear of our division, they are approaching here."


    "Do the enemy have tanks and armored vehicles?" Guriyev asked nervously.


    The soldier shook his head slowly: "we only found about a battalion of German troops advancing here. There were no mechanized troops behind them."


    "Chief of staff, chief of staff." Guriyev turned his head and cried out, "come to me at once."


    Although the chief of staff of the division left guriyev''s side from time to time, he kept within our sight. Hearing guriyev''s call, he immediately came to us and asked guriyev, "Sir, what''s your instruction?"


    "According to the Scout''s report, the enemy has about a battalion of infantry coming from our rear, and immediately ordered the head of the 113th regiment to set up a defense at the entrance of the gully, ready to stop the sudden emergence of the German army."


    After the chief of staff passed on the order, the head of the 113th regiment transferred the relatively complete second battalion to the gully to build simple Fortifications on the top of the slag heap.


    While I was staying in a simple bunker near the mouth of the ditch with guriyev, trying to persuade guriyev to withdraw his headquarters from the ditch, another scout came to guriyev and reported to him, "Comrade division commander, there is a new situation. The German barracks stopped suddenly when they came out to zekhovsky street and bibleiski street, as if they were waiting for something in the same place? "


    Guriyev''s chief of staff quickly unfolded the map and spread it out in front of us. Guriyev frowned and looked at the city defense map of Stalingrad in front of him. With a blank face, he said: "it''s less than two kilometers from these two streets to us. The German can come here in ten or twenty minutes at most. But they stop here for no reason. What on earth do they want to do? What''s their plot? "


    The Scout added, "by the way, comrade division commander, there''s something I almost forgot. On the left wing of the German army, there is a group of our troops approaching us. The commanders were obviously very cautious. Although their march route was only one block away from the enemy''s position, they were not found by the enemy. "


    When he heard that a friendly army was approaching here, guriyev immediately looked up and asked the scout, "comrades of the soldiers, have you made clear what troops are coming?"


    The Scout nodded his head and replied, "we''ve sent someone to inquire about it. They said they were from the independent division."


    "An independent division?" Guriyev instinctively turned to look at me and asked, "Colonel oshanina, when did you send this team?"


    When I heard the serial number of the scout, I was also very puzzled. The formation of the regiment had been disabled for a long time. How could it be possible to send troops to support the friendly forces without my permission? Thinking of this, I asked the scout, "Comrade soldier, how many people are there in our army?"


    After thinking about it, the Scout replied positively, "according to the report from the comrades who went to discuss the news, there are more than 600 people. The leader of the group is a major, probably named Xie jerikov. He said that he is the head of a regiment and came to reinforce us on the order of the division commander."


    "What the hell is going on, Colonel o''shanina?" Guriyev was completely confused by what the Scout said. He tentatively asked, "you don''t want to surprise us, so you sent a troop behind us."


    I sort out my thinking a little bit, and I already know what''s going on in my heart. After a slight cough, I said to guriyev in a low voice, "general guriyev, if I tell you that almost all my regiments have been destroyed, and the regiment leader is not a major, but a lieutenant commander, can you understand what''s going on?" Guriyev frowned at first. After thinking for a moment, his face suddenly showed a look of panic. He was surprised and said, "my God, Colonel oshanina, if you really follow what you said, then this so-called friendly Army..." "yes, Comrade General." I took his words and said in a positive tone, "this unit does not belong to my independent division at all, but is disguised by the enemy."

 Chapter 688

    After breaking through the disguise of the German army for guriyev, I was full of admiration for the German commander who made the decision. We should know that the war situation has developed to the present stage, the enemy and ourselves occupied areas are crisscrossed, and there may be two enemy troops in any area at the same time. For their appearance, whether it''s offensive or defensive troops, there will be no doubt about the troops who wear the same uniform as themselves. Fortunately, this German army pretending to be our army used the name of our independent division, and it happened that the commander of our independent division saw through the other party''s poison plan. Otherwise, guriyev''s guard division would have to suffer a lot.


    Since he knew that the enemy was coming, guriyev knew it well. He continued to ask the scouts, "how far are the German troops posing as friendly troops from us?"


    From our conversation, the Scout already knew that the so-called friendly army he had dealt with was actually a fake German army. Suddenly, he was shocked into a cold sweat. In such cold weather, his forehead was covered with sweat. When guriyev asked himself, he quickly raised his hand and wiped his sweat. He replied, "after they passed through zekhovsky street, they occupied the buildings on both sides of the street, and set up defenses in the direction of another German army and sent out guard posts."


    After listening to this, Guriev turned to me and asked for my advice: "Colonel oshanina, what do you think we should do to deal with this German army pretending to be you?"


    I thought about it and replied, "the two German forces are very close. No matter which one we turn our head to fight, we may be attacked by the other. In that case, it''s not good for us. "


    "Do you mean to keep this unit there?" Guriyev said with some displeasure: "have you ever thought that we were lucky to see through the disguise of this German army because of your existence. If we switch to other friendly forces, but we can''t distinguish the true from the false in the shortest time, we will suffer a great loss. "


    "Comrade General, you have misunderstood." When I saw guriyev''s hesitation, he waved his hand in a hurry and said his intention: "the enemy does not know that their camouflage has been seen through by us now. Since their purpose is to occupy the credo gully, they will try every means to create opportunities to approach here. Now that we know the enemy''s action plan, we can prepare a trap for the enemy and let them jump in


    As soon as I finished, guriyev asked back with great interest, "how can we dig traps for them?"


    "Sir, it''s about 300 meters long from the entrance of the gully to the first turning. We can hide the commanders and fighters behind the slag piles on both sides, and arrange more than a dozen machine gun fire points on them. After the enemy entered our ambush circle, they first fired decisively with machine guns to disrupt the enemy''s March line. Then the soldiers hidden behind the slag pile rushed to the top of the slag pile and taught them hard with hand grenades. In a few minutes, the enemy will be severely damaged or even completely annihilated. "


    "What about the entrance to the gully?" Guriyev pondered and did not speak, but the chief of staff of his division expressed his doubts: "if we do not leave troops to guard, the enemy will stop advancing when they see that the entrance is not guarded, or even separate troops to march along the top of the slag heap, so that our ambush plan will fail. If only a small number of troops are left behind, they may be disarmed by the German army in our uniform. "


    "The chief of staff has a point," guriyev echoed his chief of staff''s advice, and then asked me, "Colonel oshanina, what can you do to make the enemy enter the gully without fear and without guard?"


    When I gave guriyev some advice, I really didn''t think about what the chief of staff said. At this time, I heard that guriyev had the same concerns. I couldn''t help but make a mistake. After a brief consideration, I said to guriyev, "Comrade General, I think this way. First of all, the Scout went to the commander of the German army and provided him with false information. He said that because the war situation in the factory area was tight, only one company was left to guard the entrance after the close guard division captured the krudo gully, and the rest of the troops rushed to the factory area. Second, we should leave a company at the entrance of the gully. Remember, we should have a company with strong combat effectiveness and set up machine guns at the commanding heights on both sides of the gully entrance. After the enemy troops arrive, even if they have plans to clean up our left behind troops, once they see the high machine gun positions on both sides of the entrance, they will give up the idea and continue to disguise, and they will speed up their way through the credo gully. "


    After listening to my plan, guriyev nodded and asked his chief of staff, "chief of staff, what do you think of the plan of Colonel oshanina?"


    The chief of staff took a look at me and said with a smile, "Comrade division commander, I think the plan of Colonel oshanina is very comprehensive."


    "The other German army won''t follow up, will it?" Asked guriyev, a little uneasy.


    "I think the main purpose of the enemy''s staying there is to contain our troops. It will never move easily." After giving his judgment, the chief of staff looked anxiously at the scouts standing nearby and said, "what I am most worried about now is whether the scouts will show flaws when they go back to deceive the German commander."


    The chief of staff''s words made my heart thump. Now the key of the whole plan is the Scout. If he sees the German commander again, he will miss things because of his nervousness, and it will not be so easy for him to eliminate the German army which pretends to be our army. Once they flee to other defense areas of our army, they will cause great losses to the garrison there.


    Seeing that we all turned our eyes on ourselves, the scout was more and more nervous and at a loss.


    Seeing his performance, guriyev sighed a little and said to the Scout sincerely, "Comrade soldier, because this matter has the most to do with you, I don''t ask you for it. If you feel that you are not suitable for this task, you can say it directly, and I will arrange other people to carry out this task. "


    The scout, who had been embarrassed, was very excited when he heard what his division commander said. After a while, he said in a gruff voice: "Comrade division commander, please rest assured that I will complete the task. If you can''t finish the task you gave me, "he said, patting the pistol pinned to his waist," you don''t have to deal with me, I''ll shoot myself in the head with a gun. "


    For the Scout''s statement, guriyev and the chief of staff looked at each other, and then their faces showed a knowing smile. Guriyev went over and patted the scout on the shoulder and said kindly, "Comrade soldier, don''t be nervous. Just as you usually report to your superiors, you said to the German commander: because of the fierce fighting in the factory area, our troops only left one company behind to guard the entrance of the gully after seizing the krudor gully, and the rest of the troops went through the gully, Go to reinforce the garrison of the factory. Please enter the gully immediately to take over our defense. Do you remember? "


    "Remember, comrade teacher." The Scout replied loudly, "don''t worry, I promise to finish the task!"


    Guriyev nodded with satisfaction, then waved to the scout and said, "then go quickly, comrade soldier. After the battle, I''ll give you credit. "


    After the Scout left, guriyev discussed with the chief of staff which army should be responsible for guarding the gully. After a discussion of their progress, it was decided that one battalion and three companies, who had participated in the first round of attack, should be selected. The chief of staff specially called the third company commander with bandage on his head and repeatedly explained to him a series of precautions when he saw the German troops who were pretending to be our army coming later.


    Guriyev and I came to the back of the muck pile at the corner, where his troops built a simple command post for him to clearly observe the movement in the ditch.


    After half an hour''s waiting, the German troops pretending to be our troops appeared. As we had made careful arrangements in advance, the defenders who stood at the mouth of the ditch set up a machine gun on each side of the commanding heights, so the German army did not dare to act rashly, but marched into the ditch according to our imagination.


    Seeing the enemy entering the ditch, the chief of staff immediately sent a temporary telephone to inform the commanders on both sides of the ambush, so that the troops below could prepare for all battles. Once they heard the gunfire, the machine guns on both sides would open fire decisively, striving to wipe out all the people who entered our ambush circle.


    Guriyev touched me lightly with his elbow when the chief of staff didn''t notice, and said in a low voice, "Colonel oshanina, are you interested in going up to the top of the slag heap with me to see if our soldiers are fighting?" I looked at the chief of staff who was on the phone and nodded gently.


    In this way, guriyev and I, as well as five or six officers and men, carefully came to the top of the slag heap, lying on the ground to observe the German troops coming towards us.


    When the German soldiers disguised as our troops walked in the middle of the gully with pride, just when we thought we had cheated our commanders and fighters, smoothly crossed our defensive position and entered our rear, with a sudden gunshot, an unexpected scene happened!


    "Fire! FireStarter!! Fire Just after the start of the gun, a series of shouts rang out. The machine guns on the commanding heights on both sides opened fire suddenly. A cross fire network composed of more than ten tongues of fire covered the dense German soldiers in the ditch. Hundreds of German soldiers had not recovered, but nearly half of them were knocked down by dense bullets, and the rest scattered in a hurry, looking for hiding places and trying to organize stubborn resistance on the spot.


    The intensive machine gun fire just stopped. Hundreds of soldiers hiding behind the slag heap, under the command of commanders at all levels, rushed to the top of the slag heap decisively and smashed countless grenades into the ditch, causing the remaining enemies to cry and howl. Without waiting for the explosion of the grenade to stop, the light and heavy machine guns replaced the shrapnels opened fire on the German army again. After throwing two rounds of grenades, the commanders and fighters also took up their guns and aimed at the ditch to shoot.


    On my right is the commander of the guard battalion, basmanov. On his right is a soldier of the guard company. From the beginning of the battle, he also carried his gun and shot at the enemy at the bottom of the gully. I only saw that after he fired two shots, I found that he was different. Others took aim and pulled the trigger, but he did not take aim. After one shot, he pulled the bolt to withdraw the cartridge case, and then fired the second shot. Almost every shot, the German soldiers fell to the ground.


    When the gunfire stopped and the smoke of gunfire dispersed, the dead bodies were everywhere in the ditch, and the blood flowed into a river. The wounded but not dead German soldiers screamed and shocked the world. With the new order issued, the soldiers slowly came down from the top of the slag heap with their weapons and launched a dragnet search. In addition to collecting weapons and ammunition, as long as they found that there was still breathing, they would not hesitate to mend their guns one by one.


    I kept silent about the killing of the Jinwei division. As a matter of fact, as early as just now, when guriyev said that his troops had no capacity to accept prisoners and hinted that his commander executed those prisoners, I knew that there would not be any German prisoners in the 39th division of Jinwei for a long time at least. But these German soldiers disguised as our army can only blame their bad luck and just hit the sharp edge of the guard division.

 Chapter 689

    But at the moment, I don''t care about the life and death of these German soldiers. Instead, I pulled the guard aside and glanced at the rank of first-class soldier on his badge. I asked curiously, "Comrade first-class soldier, what''s your name?" The soldier stood in front of me with a shy smile and replied, "my name is Vasili Zaitsev, comrade commander of the reporting division. I come from yaleninskia in the Ural Mountains." When I heard the name, my body could not help shaking and almost fell to the ground. God, I didn''t expect that Vasili, the famous Soviet sniper, was my subordinate and one of my guards. I took a deep breath, and when I was a little more stable, I asked, "Comrade Vassili, when did you come to my independent division?" Vassily thought for a moment and then answered me, "my infantry sniper in Colonel wachuk stood at attention, straightened up and said to me," report to Comrade division, because the enemy''s position is too far away from here, I can''t beat them for the time being. "¡° Comrade Vasili, come to me. " I called Vassily to myself, took the rifle with sight from the sniper, handed it to Vassily, and asked him, "can you use this rifle to kill the enemy?" Vassily took the rifle and looked at it. Then he straightened up and said to me, "Sir, I can have a try." When Vasili was lying on the wall of the trench and putting up the gun, kirilov came up to me and reminded me in a low voice: "Comrade oshanina, is Vasili as powerful as you said? Don''t miss the target at that time and let you down in front of the military Commissar. " I raised my telescope and looked in front of the fourth regiment. I saw that in the ruins of those tanks, there were several shadows moving. They looked like German scouts. When I saw this, I could not help but take a breath and asked kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, how far do you think it is from here to where the German scouts are?"¡° It''s at least 500 meters away, "kirilov said, pointing at me with a gesture of not knowing what to say. Just then, a clear gunshot came to our ears. Vassily shot! I quickly raised my telescope and looked at the place where the ruins of the tank were stacked. A moving shadow suddenly stopped and then fell to the ground¡° Oh, my God, I hit you so far! " Kirilov murmured in my ear. Then there was a second, a third, and a fourth gunshot. With the sound of the gun, three more moving shadows fell to the ground. Finally, a German soldier found that his comrades fell to the ground one after another, and hurried into the position of a tank, into the shooting corner of Vasili.

 Chapter 690

    Seeing the enemy hiding under the tank, I can''t help sighing with regret. My heart says that this boy is too cunning to hide under the tank wreckage. In this way, Vassily can''t get the German soldiers hiding under the tank wreckage unless he has a rocket launcher in his hand. I stood and looked to the side. I could see all the reactions of gurov and others. I saw all of them standing in the trench with binoculars. I was stunned by Vassily''s amazing shooting. While Vassili remained in his reclining position, holding up his gun, and continued to aim at the area where the German scouts were. I walked by gulov''s side and said to him with a smile, "Comrade military commissar, I didn''t cheat you. Vasili is a shooting genius. If the rest of the German soldiers were not cunning and hid under the tank, they would not have been killed." As I spoke, I habitually raised my telescope and looked at the hiding place of the German soldiers. The German soldiers hid under the tank for a while. Seeing that they didn''t hear the gunfire any more, they thought that the sniper who fired at them had left, so they carefully climbed out from under the tank. After crawling for a certain distance with hands and feet, no one really shot at him. He jumped up from the ground and ran towards the distance faster than Powell. Just as I was sorry that the German soldiers could run out of Vassily''s range in a few seconds, Vassily''s gun rang out. The running German soldier, as if pushed by an invisible giant hand, leaned back and fell heavily on the ground. Vassili, who finished shooting, returned his sniper gun to the sniper standing beside him in a daze. He strode up to me with his legs and heels together and reported to me, "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant Vassili, I''d like to report to you that all the enemy scouts in front of our army have been eliminated."¡° Good fight, Lieutenant Vassily I nodded and praised him from the bottom of my heart. The sound of Vassily''s report awakened gurov from his stupefaction. He nodded admiringly, then called Vassily to his side, patted him on the shoulder excitedly and said, "great, young man, that''s it! We''re going to kill the Germans one by one at a time and place they didn''t expect! " Gurov then turned to me and asked, "by the way, comrade oshanina, what is the rank of Comrade Vasili at present?"¡° Report to the military commissar that before returning to the division headquarters, I had promoted him from a first-class soldier to the rank of second lieutenant, and appointed him as the deputy commander of the second guard company. " After hearing my answer, gurov frowned slightly and said to himself, "second lieutenant?" When I saw gurov''s expression, I thought that he thought the rank I gave Vasili was too high. I quickly explained, "well, comrade military Commissar. A few hours ago, when I was still in the credo gully, after gurov left in the dark, akhromeyev called Vasili, who was resting in the guard company, and Boris, who was going to cooperate with him, to the headquarters. After introducing the identity of Vasili to Boris, akhromeyev told him: "Comrade Boris, from today on, you will fight with him. In a word, wherever he is, you will be. Even if he goes to the bathroom, you have to squat beside him. " Kirilov and I couldn''t help laughing when we heard the last sentence of akhromeyev''s words. After laughing, I went up to Boris and said to him solemnly, "Comrade Boris, from today on, you will officially become lieutenant Vassily''s deputy and be promoted to the rank of sergeant. There are two tasks for you. Kirilov also came over and held out his hand to them. After shaking hands one by one, he said to them, "Lieutenant Vassily and Sergeant Boris, our division leaders have high hopes for you. I hope you can achieve greater results in the next battle."¡° Lieutenant Vasili, "akhromeyev saw that kirilov and I both spoke to Vasili. As the chief of staff, he also had the obligation to say a few words:" we will report your achievements to the higher authorities in time. Maybe soon, a few bright medals will be hung on your chest. " Hearing that he might be awarded the medal, Vassily''s eyes lit up, and then he said in a loud voice: "please rest assured, commanders. I promise that I will live up to your expectations and fulfill the tasks assigned to me by my superiors."

 Chapter 691

    At the bottom of the story about Vasili is a "destroy and burn seven German tanks!" In the following report, it was written: "Red Army soldiers Yakov sherbina and Ivan nikitin will not leave the battlefield even if they are injured. The loyal son of the motherland kept on fighting until he beat back the enemy''s last attack. In less than half an hour, these two brave anti tank Gunners destroyed seven German tanks. "


    I handed the newspaper to kirilov, and then told Boris, "chief sergeant, tell this deputy director of the Political Department of the group army about your experience today, so that he can publish your heroic deeds in our new issue of battlefield express."


    "Comrade o''shanina is right. Comrade soldier, tell me about your fighting experience today." Leonid sincerely told Boris that, in order to encourage him to be more detailed, he even threw out a huge Pie: "comrades, you may not know that the whole country is watching us, watching what happens in this city named after the Supreme Commander himself. Although the battlefield express issued by the headquarters of the front army is very simple, its readers are not just soldiers fighting in Stalingrad. Some good reports will even be reprinted by other newspapers in China, such as Caucasus, Crimea, and even Urals, the hometown of lieutenant Vasili. " Leonid stopped for a moment, and after taking a deep breath, he added with enthusiasm: "even Comrade Stalin can see your brilliant achievements in the newspapers that day when he eats in the morning. As long as he remembers your name, Lieutenant Vassily, you will be famous


    Leonid''s last sentence caused an uproar. We didn''t think that such a sniper as Vassili would have the chance to be remembered by the Supreme Commander himself, so we began to talk about it.


    I waited for the room to be a little quieter, then I cried out, "be quiet, please be quiet. Next, I''d like to ask Sergeant Boris, Lieutenant Vassily''s deputy, to tell you about today''s fighting


    As soon as my voice fell, the shelter burst into warm applause. After the applause stopped, Boris, flushed with excitement, stabilized his mood, glanced at Vassily, who was sitting next to him with a sniper gun, and began to tell the story of today''s battle: "before we set out with lieutenant Vassily this morning, I was worried that if we had two guns, we would not be able to escape if we met a little more enemies, So I got two stormtroopers. In groups of four, led by lieutenant Vassily, we went to the credo gully, where yesterday''s fighting was most intense.


    I didn''t expect that we had just crossed the zekhovsky street when we found that the German army had established an offensive position here. They used artillery and tank guns to fire in the direction of the credo gully to shield their infantry from charging into the gully.


    When we saw the enemy''s tanks and cannons, Lieutenant Vassili asked us to look for the rubble pile to hide, so as not to be found by the enemy in front. Vassili and I were lying on the second floor of a building which had been bombed and collapsed. We carefully observed the enemy''s position in the distance. Although we were more than 200 meters away from the enemy, I still felt that my heart beat faster when I was observing. "


    "Be brief." Leonid, who is recording, can''t help but urge Boris to speak a little wordy.


    Being interrupted by Leonid, Boris, who was addicted to speaking, stuttered a little and couldn''t say a complete word for a long time. I quickly stood up and walked to him, patted him on the shoulder gently, comforted him and said, "sergeant, don''t worry, just tell us today''s fighting process according to your usual way of speaking." Then I said to Leonid with a smile, "deputy director, you see, our soldiers don''t know what to say just now."


    Leonid chuckled twice, then apologized to us and said, "I''m sorry, Colonel o''shanina. I''m in a hurry. Go on, chief, and try to be more detailed. Don''t worry. I won''t interrupt you this time. "


    When Boris saw that the deputy director of the political department apologized to him, he grinned silently and then went on to say, "I was lying on the second floor and observing carefully. I found that the enemy had five tanks and three guns were firing continuously. The distance between each gun is very wide, one by one far away from us. The three guns were placed behind the tank in a straight line, forming an angle with our hiding place.


    I see the German artillery moving back and forth beside the artillery, all of them are agile, and their coordination is also good. At first sight, they are well-trained. I quietly approached Vassili and asked him in a low voice, "Comrade lieutenant, are we going to shoot now?"


    The second lieutenant shook his head and said, "don''t worry. Wait a minute. If you fire rashly now, it''s easy to disturb the enemy. The enemy was alarmed. As long as their tanks turned their heads and fired at us, none of us could escape. "


    After listening to his reasons for not being able to fight for the time being, I was in a bit of a hurry. The enemy had about ten artillery soldiers and several tanks. Once the German army found our shooting position, it was really impossible to get away.


    Just as I was about to give up, I saw lieutenant Vassily concentrating on aiming, with his finger on the trigger. I was so afraid that it would affect him that I stopped breathing and looked at him intently.


    When he pulled the trigger, the German cannon fired just in the distance. The sound of the cannonball out of the chamber concealed the sound of the gun. A German officer standing behind the running position with a telescope was knocked down. I saw the bullet go through the back of the head and come out of the front of the head with my own eyes. The officer fell on his back on the rubble without saying a word. Because there were no other German soldiers near the position of the officer''s station, no one found him after he was killed.


    After a shot hit, Lieutenant Vassily quickly withdrew from the cartridge case, put out the muzzle, and aimed at the next target. He aimed at a soldier who came to carry the shell box in the back. As soon as the soldier bent over to pick up a box of shells and was about to stand up straight, the second lieutenant fired again. The German soldier''s head was tilted back, his shell box was thrown away, and he fell to the ground heavily.


    As most of the German artillery were busy shooting, no one noticed that behind them, an officer and a soldier had fallen to our sniper.


    When the second lieutenant aimed his gun at the back of the enemy artillery for the third time, a soldier who was in the same position as the killed artillery probably looked back to see what had happened because he saw that he had not delivered the shells. When he saw his companion fall to the ground, he might think that he was accidentally knocked down, so he ran over to see if he could help him. Unexpectedly, when he got close, he suddenly found that his companion was still in the pool of blood. When he turned to call the rest of his companions, the second lieutenant fired the third shot. Just here, the enemy''s cannons are firing again, and the huge sound of the cannons conceals the sound of the second lieutenant''s guns and the sound of the unfortunate soldiers falling to the ground. "


    When everyone heard this, they could not help sighing. Kirilov also said with emotion, "it''s so wonderful." Then he urged Boris: "sergeant, don''t stop talking. Go on."


    Boris nodded again, then said: "after destroying three enemies in a row, the second lieutenant aimed at a German soldier standing beside the gun. It seems that he is a loader, because he is holding a shell in his hand at the moment. As soon as the shell in the gun bore came out, he immediately filled the shell in his hand. As soon as he got up and wanted to get a new shell, the bullet from the second lieutenant''s sniper gun arrived. The German soldier who was shot tilted and fell on the soldier who was pulling the gun rope.


    When the soldier saw his companion fall on him, he was immediately terrified, because he couldn''t understand how his companion suddenly fell with blood all over his body. Maybe he thought it was a stray bullet, so he hid his whole body behind the baffle of the cannon. Before he knew what was going on, the fifth bullet fired by the second lieutenant fell down again, and the German soldier lost his life before he could even shout.


    After these five shots, Lieutenant Vassily took them back. At that time, I asked him strangely, "Comrade second lieutenant, why don''t you fight the enemy next to the other two cannons?"


    The second lieutenant gave me a hand and said to me in a low voice, "if the enemy finds out that the Gunners of one of their guns are dead, it will certainly arouse suspicion. Not to mention that they will turn the muzzle of the tank, even if they recruit a group of infantry, we can''t cope with it. Before they find out, we''ll move immediately. "


    Although the second lieutenant said that, I was still dubious. However, since it was the order of the superior, it could not be discussed and could only be carried out unconditionally. So I had to follow the second lieutenant back with a stiff head. "


    "Have you been found by the enemy?" Leonid stopped his pen again and asked curiously.


    Boris nodded, then shook his head violently. Seeing his contradictory reaction, kirilov said impatiently: "chief, what do you mean by nodding first and then shaking your head? We now ask you, have you ever been found by the enemy. You just need to answer, "do we have it or not?"


    Boris was silent for a moment, and then answered decisively, "Comrade political commissar, although the enemy noticed something in their rear, they did not find us. Not long after we evacuated, the enemy tanks turned their guns and carried out blind shelling on the buildings on both sides of the street. The buildings we used to lurk in were collapsed in the shelling. "


    In order to prevent Boris from being interrupted by kirilov and Leonid, I asked, "next, where did you destroy the other five German soldiers?"


    "Report master," said Boris with a proud smile on his face, "still in the same position."


    "What, the same place?" When he said that, not only me, but all the people in the room except him and Vassily were stunned. After a while kirilov hesitated and asked, "didn''t you say you were retreating?"


    Boris nodded and replied, "yes, we did retreat after the elimination of five German soldiers. But when the enemy''s shelling was over, Lieutenant Vassily told me that once the enemy didn''t find us, they would leave soon. If we dive back again, there may be unexpected results. In this way, our group returned to the street just now. At this time, the artillery and the body of the enemy on the street were removed, and they chose the hiding place again, quietly waiting for the new prey to take the bait.


    After about half an hour, three German soldiers returned from the direction of the credo gully and walked along the street towards our hiding place. At that time, I quietly asked lieutenant Vassily, "there are three enemies. Which one shall we fight first?" Lieutenant Vassily told me in a low voice, "when the enemy passes under the building where we are, kill the last one first. It''s not easy to attract the enemy''s attention. Then, take out the enemy who is in the front. When the enemy in the middle sees that his companions in front and behind have been killed, in a short time, he will have a moment''s hesitation in order to run forward or run backward. At this time, we can easily kill him. " When three enemies passed our downstairs, Lieutenant Vassily shot the last one decisively and killed the first two when they were panicked. The enemy walking in the middle, as the second lieutenant analyzed, did not immediately run forward or backward, but stood in a daze and seemed to be thinking about where to run. Comrade Lieutenant may not have given him so much time to think about it. He shot him to God decisively. " The people in the room couldn''t help laughing at Boris''s humorous speech. After laughing for a while, Leonid asked, "what else, two German soldiers?"¡° Originally, we thought today''s victory was over. Unexpectedly, just as we were going to get up and leave, the roar of motorcycles came from the street. I looked in the direction of the sound and saw a tricycle coming towards us with two German soldiers on board. After killing the German soldier in the sidecar in a standing posture, comrade Vassili killed him cleanly without waiting for the motorcyclist to recover. "

 Chapter 692

    Because of the deputy director Leonid, trakov soon learned that in his army, there was a commander named Vasili Zaitsev who, with his excellent shooting skills, killed nearly a platoon of enemies in just two days. For such a result, the well-informed trakov didn''t believe it at all, so he called me to verify it.


    After listening to my detailed account of Vassily''s achievements, he was silent for a long time before he said: "genius, this Vassily lieutenant is a shooting genius."


    "Yes, comrade commander." I answered him positively: "he is the best marksman I have ever seen. Under the current situation, he can play his special skills and let him go to every corner of the city to hunt those isolated German officers and soldiers. I believe he will achieve better results."


    "That''s how I think about it, o''shanina." "I''m going to gather the snipers from all the units of the group army and work together," he said carefully. In this way, even in the implementation of the task, and the German army''s large forces encounter, also have the ability to protect themselves


    "No, you can''t use all the snipers." Trekov''s words startled me. In a hurry, I forgot the superiors and inferiors, and opposed him without thinking: "with so many snipers crowded together, it''s easy to become the key target of the enemy''s artillery or air force. Snipers are the treasures of our troops. Their role in the battlefield is equivalent to a class or platoon of ordinary troops. Snipers like Vasili can at least support a company. "


    When I said what I wanted to say in one breath, I suddenly found that I had made a slip of words. I immediately apologized to trekov: "sorry, comrade commander, I''m too excited, so..."


    I didn''t expect that trakov said generously: "OK, needless to say, I understand your mood. I don''t blame you for my thoughtlessness. Tell me, how are you going to use these snipers? "


    I quickly recalled the snipers I saw in later films and TV works, and then according to my understanding, I suggested to trikov, "Comrade commander, we can divide the snipers who go out to execute characters into two groups, and put three to five sniper groups in each sniper area. In this way, their target will not be too big. When one of the groups is attacked, the sniper group nearest to them can provide timely support to cover their smooth escape. "


    After listening to this, trakov didn''t deny my idea, but he didn''t agree. He suddenly changed the topic and asked, "o''shanina, how can I hear that the guard company 2, which is in charge of the headquarters of your division, is a guard company with dozens of German soldiers. I remember their company commander''s name seems to be gramus, who turned out to be a German captain, If you use them so confidently and boldly, don''t you worry that they will turn around and take the leaders of your divisions to the enemy for credit? "


    When I heard that trakov suddenly mentioned gramus and his subordinates, my heart thumped and said that no one would sue me. Did trakov come to me to ask for the blame? But I still try my best to defend them: "Comrade commander, although captain gramus is German, after such a long time of observation and test, with their usual performance, I can very definitely think that they have completely stood on the same front with us."


    After I finished my presentation, trikov began to laugh. When I heard his laughter, I was at a loss. I didn''t know why he was laughing, but I didn''t dare to ask. I just held the microphone and waited quietly. After his laughter stopped, he said in a relaxed tone: "since you think they have completely fallen to us, don''t let them stay in the fortification, it''s time to send them out to carry out some tasks."


    "Mission? What mission? " I asked, puzzled.


    "I think we can let them carry out some tasks such as reconnaissance or sabotage. When these real Germans disguise themselves as German troops to carry out tasks behind enemy lines, they are much more advantageous than simply having our commanders and fighters disguise themselves. After all, there are certain differences between the real German soldiers and the Soviets in their manners and temperament. In addition, the words and deeds of our commanders and fighters should fully meet the requirements of the German army''s formation regulations. Unless they have been trained for many years, this kind of image can not be pretended. It''s better for your defectors to play the role of the German army than for our commanders and fighters to risk crossing at any time. At least when they cross the enemy''s line, they must be much less suspected. "


    After he finished, I asked carefully, "what should be the composition of the task force?"


    Trikov thought about it and replied, "a team of ten to fifteen people, with two or three of our commanders and fighters. In order to prevent accidents, one of them must be a political worker."


    "All right, comrade commander." When I heard what trakov said, I muttered to myself: if these defectors want to defecte, let alone send only two or three people to watch them, even if half of them are our own people, it is impossible to prevent them. Although I don''t agree with this arrangement, I still have to flatter him and say, "the commander is considerate. I''ll call captain Grimes in a moment and give him the task you''ve given him."


    "Good. I hope your special team can fight tonight. "


    After listening to the task assigned by trakov, I was about to put down the phone when I heard trakov''s urgent voice: "Hello, Hello, oshanina, don''t hang up. I have something else to tell you." I quickly put the receiver to my ear and politely said, "Comrade commander, I''m still here. Do you have any instructions? "


    "Well, before I called you, I received a call from Comrade Khrushchev, military commissar of the front army, saying that red star''s war correspondent, comrade Elia Gregorian ellenburg, had crossed the Volga river last night and entered Stalingrad city to interview the commanders and fighters of our group army. According to the itinerary reported by the military commissar, after completing the interview task in the city during the day, he will go to mamayev post to have an exclusive interview with you and kirilov. Remember, we must receive him. He is a great journalist. We must not neglect him. "


    When I heard the name of ellenburg, my heart sank suddenly, and all the past events came to my heart. If he hadn''t reported the massacre of German prisoners, which caused bad consequences, maybe I was still a general, following Zhukov or rokosovsky every day, and being a no dangerous deputy for them, You don''t have to stay in the damned mamayev post, and you''ll be in constant panic.


    Trekov was a little worried when he heard that there was no voice here. He couldn''t help raising his voice: "Hello, o''shanina, are you still listening?"


    I quickly replied, "Comrade commander, I''m here. Please rest assured that I will receive this reporter from the red star Before trekov put down the phone, I suddenly thought of Pugachev and peresjian, who had not heard from me for several days. I quickly asked before trekov put down the phone: "Comrade commander, I want to ask how my former second commander, major Pugachev, and the tank battalion commander, major peresjian?"


    My question made trakov silent for a long time. After a while, he said, "the two commanders you mentioned were very brave in the battle of the defending primary school. On the one hand, they covered the artillery observers, provided the artillery with firing parameters, and on the other hand, they fought with the enemy who was trying to recapture the school. In a short period of two days, they fought back the enemy and launched more than 30 charges. When they had only a few people left, they still stuck to the top of the school building and fought with the enemy tenaciously. "


    To my ears, trakov''s tone of speech was like mourning. The more I listened, the more worried I became. Finally, I couldn''t help interrupting him and asked, "Comrade commander, did they both die?"


    As soon as my question came out, trakov immediately asked in an inexplicable voice, "sacrifice, who said they sacrificed? Just when they were almost unable to support themselves, my reinforcements arrived in time and wiped out the enemy who besieged them. There were only seven of your subordinates, including the two commanders, and all of them were injured, so I sent them to the field hospital by the river. If there is no accident, they will be discharged in a few weeks


    As soon as I put down the phone, kirilov came over and asked curiously, "Comrade oshanina, the commander said there is a war reporter coming to us. Who is it?"


    Although I, ellenburg, came to the airport to see me off after I was demoted and gave me a lot of things, my resentment against him could not be eliminated. Unexpectedly, less than a year later, he will appear in front of me again. It''s really a narrow road.


    As for kirilov''s question and akhromeyev''s curious eyes, I tried to squeeze a smile on my face and said to them, "commander trakov said that it''s Elia Gregorian ellenburg, a famous war correspondent from the red star, who is currently interviewing the commanders and fighters of the group army who are fighting with the enemy in the city, He will come to our division headquarters and have an exclusive interview with you and me. "


    "The old comrade ellenburg!" After hearing this, akhromeyev was unexpectedly excited. He said excitedly, "I heard commander meletskov talk about him many times when I was in the front army of volhoff. The general praised him, saying that as a journalist, he had been fighting with the Red Army commanders and fighters at the forefront since the Great Patriotic War. He risked his life to cover news in the trenches, shelters or bomb shelters day and night and write news¡¶ Many newspapers and radio stations in the Soviet Union, such as Pravda, Shimbun and red star, publish and broadcast almost every day the political articles or communication features full of fighting spirit written by Comrade ellenburg. "


    "Comrade chief of staff, you may not know. Comrade ellenburg is not only an excellent journalist, but also a great writer. " Even kirilov was amused to hear the name of ellenburg.


    "What novel did he write?" I asked faintly.


    "The fall of Paris," have you heard of it? After the book was published, it won this year''s Stalin prize. "


    "Comrade political commissar, what''s in the novel?" Asked akhromeyev curiously.


    Kirilov''s face looked surprised when he heard akhromeyev''s question. He asked, "haven''t you heard of this famous novel?" Seeing that akhromeyev and I both shook their heads, they began to popularize science for us. "On June 14, 1940, the German army entered Paris. Paris, once the cradle and birthplace of the great revolution, now bowed down in front of the German Communist Party. Comrade ellenburg was in Paris at that time. He was not only a witness to the tragedy of France, but also familiar with the many happy and carefree days of the French people on the eve of the war. Now he saw with his own eyes all kinds of terrible scenes after the fall of Paris. In August of that year, comrade ellenburg returned to his motherland. He first published a series of correspondences and reportages about the fall of France in newspapers and magazines, and then, in one year, he wrote this reportage style novel, which truly revealed the causes and consequences of the French national tragedy. "


    "It''s wonderful," akhromeyev said with emotion, "if I have a chance, I will find this book."¡° Come on, comrades of the political commissar and chief of staff, don''t talk about these unimportant whispers. " I was afraid that when they started talking about the common topic of ellenburg, they would not stop talking. I knocked on the table with my fingers and interrupted them. Seeing that their attention was focused on me, I said, "Comrade commander has given us an important task."¡° What mission? " Akhromeyev''s attention shifted from the fall of Paris, which he had never seen before, to our daily work¡° Well, the commander thinks that since the former German officers and men who defected to gramus have really stood on the same front with us, we can use their identity to carry out some tasks behind the enemy. " Then I repeated to them the reasons that trakov said. After listening to my story, they both nodded thoughtfully. Kirilov said, "Comrade oshanina, let''s send lieutenant gretka to set out with a small team tonight, and let Comrade safchenko, the political instructor of the first battalion of the second regiment, go with him." After listening to kirilov''s words, akhromeyev frowned and reminded, "Comrade political commissar, the commander asked us to send two or three of our own commanders and fighters together in the small detachment. Is it appropriate to send only one person?" Kirilov waved his hand at him and said in an unquestionable tone, "there is nothing inappropriate, comrade chief of staff. If second lieutenant gretka wants to rebel suddenly after entering the German area, let''s not talk about two or three of our own people, even if half of them are our own people. Do you think it is possible for some of them to escape from danger in the enemy''s territory once they are exposed? "¡° I see Ahlomeyev nodded, then pulled the phone in front of him and said to us, "I''m going to call lieutenant gretka and ask him to come to the division headquarters to accept the task."¡° Wait a minute, chief of staff. " Kirilov raised his hand to stop akhromeyev''s action. Seeing that we all looked at him with strange eyes, he continued to say, "first call Comrade safchenko of the second regiment, and I will tell him some precautions in private." Kirilov''s words are understood by both akhromeyev and me. The so-called content of private orders is nothing more than surveiling gretka. If we find any changes in him, we will kill him without hesitation. Safchenko, who received the phone call, soon came to the headquarters. After saluting us, he was pulled aside by kirilov and told us to pay attention. Akhromeyev approached me and asked in a low voice, "do you think this is appropriate, sir? There is only one comrade safchenko. If gretka has any bad intentions, are you not afraid that he will suffer? "¡° You think too much, chief of staff. " Although kirilov and akhromeyev''s doubts about gramus and gretka have shaken my heart, in front of my subordinates, I still want to say a few words for these defectors: "since they have been added to our team, we should trust them and don''t be suspicious. If you let them know that you doubt them all the time, it will make them cold. " Akhromeyev was flushed by what I said. After a while, he declared his position to me and said, "I see, sir. When lieutenant gretka comes later, I know what to do After kirilov''s conversation with safchenko was over, ahlomeyev, with my permission, called the second company of guards, and not only informed gretka, but also gramus. It''s my idea to call gramus. After all, gretka is his subordinate. If we step over him and give orders to his subordinates directly, it''s easy for him to be suspicious. That''s why I ordered akhromeyev to call him together and listen to how we assign tasks to his subordinates. Because of our openness, both Grimes, who stayed on the high ground, and gretka, who was going to carry out the mission, showed great cooperation. As soon as akhromeyev''s words were finished, they immediately stood up from their seats and expressed their determination to us: "please rest assured that we will complete your assigned tasks."

 Chapter 693

    When gretka and safchenko were about to leave, I specially told them: "your action tonight is to sneak into the enemy''s rear area and spy on their troops and weapons. If you have to, try not to fight with the enemy. Remember, in the independent division, every soldier is precious. Don''t let them sacrifice for nothing. Finally, I would like to make one point clear that this mission was personally assigned by the head of the group army, which is a test for you. What kind of achievements you can achieve determines whether you can leave a good impression in the hearts of the superior leaders. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" Gretka and safchenko agreed neatly, saluted me and turned away. Gramms, who was very poor in Russian, didn''t understand what I told them. Seeing his subordinates leave, he saluted us in a hurry, turned around and ran out.


    Looking at Grimes'' back disappearing at the door, kirilov raised his hand, looked at the watch on his wrist, and then said to himself, "I don''t know when this comrade ellenburg will arrive?"


    "Comrade political commissar," said razumeyeva in a timid voice, sitting beside the telephone, "is the comrade ellenburg the famous Jewish writer and journalist?"


    "Yes, Lieutenant razumeyeva." Kirilov asked with interest, "have you heard of him, too?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." When she mentioned the name of ellenburg, razumeyeva, who has always been calm, showed a flower crazy expression on her face: "when I was still in school, I read his poetry anthology songs of the night before.". Later, after graduation, he successively read his new poetry collections "pray for Russia", "fire", "the night before yesterday", "Capriccio" and "destructive love"


    Kirilov heard razumeyeva say so, his face showed a surprised expression: "Comrade lieutenant, I didn''t expect you to read his book. For a time, these poetry collections you just mentioned were forbidden books on the shelf. "


    "Ah?" Razumeyeva was surprised and asked in a hurry: "Comrade political commissar, I think his poems are very good. Why did they become banned books?"


    "In July of the year after the overthrow of the Czar''s autocratic rule, ellenburg and a group of political exiles went back to their motherland by way of Britain and Scandinavia. After the victory of the October Socialist Revolution, ellenburg had a "new hope". He had worked in the social security department, preschool education department and theater administration of the Soviet government. But his thought is still complicated and contradictory. Faced with the fierce class struggle and extreme economic difficulties in the early years of the Soviet regime, ellenburg''s hope and enthusiasm at the beginning were soon replaced by doubt and hesitation. In the past few years, he published several poetry collections. On the one hand, he welcomed the birth of "another great century"; on the other hand, he said that he was "ecstatic and frightened by the current reality", and called revolution "bloody whirlwind", "destructive love" and so on. As Comrade ellenburg admitted when he returned to his motherland again, he "did not understand the revolution and continued to be in a state of vacillation and confusion."


    Kirilov and razumeyeva talked about ellenburg, and they were chatting about it all at once. Even Najia and basmanov, who were sitting beside them, came over. I felt very uncomfortable when I heard them talking about ellenburg. After I went back to the table and sat down, I couldn''t help humming when I looked at the people who were still talking about ellenburg.


    Akhromeyev, standing nearby, was startled to hear my hum. He looked around for a moment, went to my side and sat down, looked at the officers and men who were talking about speculation, and asked me in a low voice, "Comrade division, have you known Comrade ellenburg before?"


    "Of course," I said angrily, "if I didn''t know him, I would be a major general now."


    After a moment''s silence, akhromeyev asked carefully, "Comrade division, as far as I know, you were a major general during the Moscow defense war. Later, because of something wrong, you were demoted to major. Does it have anything to do with the deprivation of your rank as a major general? "


    "No," I said to akhromeyev, who was deeply trusted by me, when I had a rare chance to complain: "because I saw the remains of Zhuoya, who was mutilated by the German, I was so angry that I ordered all the captured soldiers to be shot. I didn''t expect that it was so unfortunate that ellenburg, who happened to be interviewed, saw this scene, took a picture and published the news in the red star. Because this news was reprinted by a number of bourgeois newspapers, which led to many adverse consequences, I was demoted and sent to the front army of Leningrad. "


    "So it is." After listening to my story, akhromeyev nodded thoughtfully, and then suggested to me: "Sir, I''ll ask them to stop talking about this annoying journalist." He was about to get up.


    I quickly reached for him, shook my head and said, "come on, let them talk. Although there is a grudge between ellenburg and me, it is between him and me after all. Don''t affect everyone''s mood. Chief of staff, don''t you see how much people like him? " After these words, I was silent, thinking that the reputation of this ellenburg was far beyond my imagination. Almost everyone knew his name, and more or less knew his experiences. If I continue to regard him as an enemy, will I become the isolated object of all people one day? Before I went to Leningrad last time, he came to the airport to see me off in person and sent me a lot of things to try to resolve the contradiction between us. However, I was dazzled by hatred and didn''t accept his kind action. He will come to my headquarters in a little while. What should I do then?


    Just as I was thinking and embarrassed, ellenburg, who had been talked about by kirilov and others, came. Maybe there are too many people talking about him. As soon as ellenburg, wearing a black woollen coat and a black top hat, walked into the headquarters, he sneezed loudly. Then kirilov and several of them said: "I wish you good health!" Ellenburg rubbed his itchy nose with his left hand and said "thank you" while holding out his right hand to kirilov. When they clasped each other''s hands tightly, ellenburg said excitedly: "unexpectedly, comrade kirilov, we meet again. We haven''t seen each other for eight or nine years, have we¡° To be exact, we haven''t met in ten years. " Kirilov corrected him and said, "when you came back to China in 1932, I accompanied you to visit Moscow Donbas trunk line project. I visited Kuznetsk and ellenburg. I laughed with embarrassment and replied," yes, I had a hard time when I learned the truth. When I heard that Comrade oshanina was going to the front army of Leningrad, I went to the airport to see her off in person and apologized to her in order to get her understanding. "

 Chapter 694

    Kirilov, after listening to ellenburg''s words, said with a smile, "old man, you don''t have to say the rest. From my understanding of Comrade o''shanina, she certainly did not forgive you at that time. Don''t say it''s her, even if it''s me, I won''t forgive you. You should know that an excellent commander with a bright future is almost in prison because of your irresponsible report. No one can stand it. "


    After listening to the criticism of her old friend, ellenburg nodded and said, "if Comrade o''shanina still refuses to forgive me, I would like to apologize to her again in public." Then he stood up straight, as if ready to bow to me again.


    He bowed to me twice in public and apologized. I don''t think even Stalin himself enjoyed such treatment. If he bows and apologizes to me three times in a row and is known by those who have ulterior motives and reports to Stalin, I will not be able to bear it. So I stood up in a hurry, raised my hand to stop his movement behind him, and said in a relaxed tone, "well, well, comrade ellenburg, this matter has passed for a long time, and I haven''t paid attention to it, so you don''t have to apologize to me any more."


    As soon as my words came out, friedwin, who was sitting next to ellenburg, quickly stood up and said, "yes, comrade ellenburg, since Colonel o''shanina has said that, don''t worry about the past. What''s more, we went to the headquarters of the independent division today to interview, not to apologize. "


    Fernando Wen''s words immediately freed us all from embarrassment. I immediately followed his words and said, "yes, comrade ellenburg, I heard that you have been in Stalingrad all day today to interview the commanders and fighters who are fighting with the Communist aggressors. Can you tell us what you think after the interview?"


    What I said immediately attracted ellenburg''s attention. Instead of insisting on apologizing to me, he sat down with Fernando, took off his top hat and put it on the table. He said with great emotion: "I''ve been running in the city all day today, although I don''t go to many places because of time, and the commanders and fighters I interviewed are very limited. But I have a feeling that the officers and men of the 62nd army who stick to Stalingrad are really not simple. They have done a great job


    "Old man, can you be more specific?" Kirilov, when ellenburg''s speech came to an end, urged him: "don''t say that in Stalingrad, even in all the battlefields of the country, countless brave commanders and fighters are fighting tenaciously with the aggressors who are armed to the teeth in order to defend our great motherland."


    "Before I came to Stalingrad, I heard a commentary from BBC radio station on the radio, which made me remember deeply: Poland fell in 28 days after the war, while the German occupied only a few houses in Stalingrad in 28 days; France fell in 38 days, while the German occupied only a few streets in Stalingrad in 38 days. " Ellenburg said excitedly: "through the conversation of the commanders and fighters, I know that although many enemies have rushed into the city, our soldiers have set the battlefield everywhere on the roof, stairs, walls, windowsills and basements, fighting with the enemy tenaciously all the time."


    Kirilov didn''t express any opinions when he heard ellenburg''s words, but he had a happy smile on his face. Ellenburg then said, "what impresses me most is the ''Red October'' tractor factory and the ''barricade'' factory. The enemy has occupied most of the factory. But what are our workers doing? Outside the factory building, the officers and men of the 39th division of our guards were fighting fiercely with the enemy outside the factory building; But the workers are in the factory building, using lathes and milling machines to repair damaged guns, and even some tanks that have broken down. "


    When ellenburg said this, kirilov came close to me and said in a low voice, "because of the heavy losses, the 70th division of Colonel lyudnikov''s guards have now retreated to the dormitory area between the barricade factory and the Volga River."


    I nodded in silence. Judging from the loss of the ludnikov division, it would be very difficult to block the enemy''s steps towards the Volga River even if they had retreated to the existing area.


    I have to admit that ellenburg''s eloquence is very good. In the short time that kirilov spoke to me, he has already expressed a lot of his own views: "according to what I learned from the group army headquarters, the headquarters once issued severe orders, demanding that all commanders and political staff of the troops under his command keep close to the front positions Bunkers and trenches, the formation of combat units, fighting to the last bullet.


    Is it necessary to say the role and significance of higher level commanders and political workers talking with soldiers in bunkers and forward positions? From my own experience, I know that when I have a heart to heart talk with soldiers in the bunker, I can share their pain and their joy; Or have a cigarette. Analyze the war situation together; Or come up with ideas about how to fight; That is to build up such confidence among the soldiers: "since the commander is here, we should stick to this position tenaciously!" In this way, soldiers will never retreat before receiving orders from their superiors. They will fight with the enemy to the last breath.


    The important thing is to let all soldiers know that their achievements will not be buried. In this case, we can be confident that they will complete any task. Although the army suffered serious losses, the party and League organizations are still developing and toughening stronger. Dozens, hundreds or even hundreds of soldiers submitted their applications to join the party on the line of fire. Everyone is eager to take part in the battle. If necessary, they will be as brave as the Communists and members of the Communist Youth League. "


    At this point, he stopped, looked at me with his eyes, then said with a smile, "comrades, at this point, I will inevitably mention Comrade oshanina. No matter in the 62nd or 64th army, the superior commanders all agree that you are an excellent and brave commander, and often take the lead in fighting with the commanders and fighters in the front line. Here, I''d like to give you a suggestion. As a division commander, you don''t have to squat in the front-line bunker, because your position should be in the command post, where you should lead the whole fighting process. Of course, I''m not against you going to the front. Under special circumstances, as an excellent commander, when he foresees that the war situation is extremely critical, he should not stay away from the front, but should be as close to his soldiers as possible. In this way, the soldiers will not complain about you, on the contrary, they will cover you with their chest, and they will try their best to complete their tasks. "


    As soon as ellenburg had finished, kirilov echoed him and said, "you are absolutely right, old man. O''shanina is a brave and passionate commander, but she always likes to run to the front, like a company commander or even a platoon leader, to command the troops. If she is only a company commander or platoon leader, this is undoubtedly commendable. But as the head of a division, it is dereliction of duty for her to leave her post. Not only can we not get praise, we should also be criticized. Don''t you think so, my old man? "


    Ellenburg chuckled a few times, did not express his own opinion, but timely turned the topic aside: "the reason why I took the initiative to ask your independent division to interview this time is that I apologized to Colonel o''shanina, and the other reason is that your independent division has made outstanding achievements since its establishment, which is unmatched by other troops. Let''s not say anything else. Let''s say the mamayev post that you are holding fast to. The enemy has been attacking here for more than a month. The flag of your independent division is still flying high in the position. I just want to know how you have achieved such brilliant achievements? "


    As for the question of ellenburg, I have already had the answer in my mind. However, when I looked at the propaganda minister of the municipal Party committee sitting next to him, I hesitated again. After all, there were outsiders present, and many of them were not so convenient. When I was hesitating, suddenly a familiar voice came from behind me: "Yo, you are very busy here."


    I turned around and found that it was trakov standing at the door. He jumped up from his seat and welcomed them. At the same time, I asked curiously, "Comrade commander, how did you come to us?"


    Instead of answering my question, trakov asked himself, "it seems that the mamayev post is quite quiet these days. The enemy in front of you has not launched any offensive against you?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Akhromeyev quickly took over the topic report and said: "since the German army was attacked and shelled by us at night, it has stopped the frontal attack on mamayev post. But their long-range guns are still bombarding the Volga River, and planes are flying over our highlands to bomb the docks, trying to cut off our contact with the other side. "


    After shaking hands one by one with ellenburg and verdowan, trakov said in a friendly way, "Comrade ellenburg, welcome to Stalingrad. I''m sorry I didn''t meet you when you came. Please forgive me Then, shaking hands with kirilov, he continued, "I received a call from Comrade gurov from the headquarters of the front army saying that he will cross the river and return to Stalingrad tonight, so I will come to you and wait for him to return."


    When trakov sat down at the table, basmanov and razumeyeva were obviously not suitable for sitting down, so they reluctantly returned to their respective posts. After we were all seated, trikov asked ellenburg with great interest, "Comrade ellenburg, what were you talking about before I came here?"


    "Well, comrade commander." After looking at me, ellenburg said to trikov with a smile, "I want to interview Colonel oshanina to find out how the independent division achieved such brilliant results? But judging from her expression, she seems to have some worries, so she didn''t accept my interview


    Hearing what ellenburg said, trekov turned his eyes to me and asked strangely, "o''shanina, why don''t you accept the interview with Comrade ellenburg? Do you have any worries?"


    I said with a bitter smile, "Comrade commander, it involves a lot of military secrets. Is it appropriate to say that here?" With that, my eyes unconsciously turned to fern dowan, who was sitting next to ellenburg. I couldn''t figure out his origin, so I didn''t dare to say anything


    I didn''t expect that trikov waved his big hand and said carelessly: "Comrade oshanina, you can say whatever you think of. Don''t worry. There is no outsider here. Even if you are wrong, no one will blame you. "


    With trekov''s permission, I had a lot of confidence. After sorting out my ideas, I began to make a formal speech: "as we all know, the independent division was not established for a long time. Almost all the soldiers came from the Gulag concentration camp, while the commanders at all levels came from the military punishment camp. When it comes to equipment, of course, it''s also very poor. Although the headquarters of the group army has provided us with some supplements, most of the commanders and fighters are unarmed. Except for a small part of the army''s equipment, which was rationed by the superior, the guns, artillery and even tanks used by the officers and soldiers of the independent division were seized from the enemy. "


    When I said this, trakov put in a word: "in fact, when we set up the independent division, its purpose is like building a large number of logistics forces. Since they are not the main logistic forces, it is certain that their weapons distribution can not be compared with other forces. It''s just that I didn''t expect that this army, under the command of Comrade o''shanina, would become such a powerful force. " At this point, he made a sign to me to go on.


    I calmed down, then said: "with weapons, how can we fight the next battle? This question made me ponder for a long time. After careful consideration, I think that in the brutal battle of Stalingrad, if our division does not want to be destroyed by the enemy, it must adopt a very different way of fighting from other forces, avoid the war of attrition with less casualties and more results, and fight more skillful battles with less casualties and more gains. "


    When I saw ellenburg scribbling in his notebook, I was afraid that he couldn''t keep up with me, so I slowed down. He didn''t expect to be noticed immediately. He immediately raised his head and said to me, "Captain oshanina, please speak at your usual speed. I remember coming."


    I nodded and went on in my own way of thinking: "I know very well that my subordinates lack sufficient training and combat experience, and the quality of individual soldiers is obviously inferior to that of the enemy. In addition, our army has no air supremacy on the battlefield, even the number of cannons is not the same. If the local people take the usual dense sea of people tactics to attack the enemy with firepower advantage, or mechanically stick to every inch of land at all costs, the whole army will be destroyed under the powerful firepower of the enemy. Therefore, in the early days of the formation of the independent division, I used the tactics of ambush or night attack to attack the weak links of the German army, to maximize the consumption of German forces and seize their military supplies. In this way, our soldiers can improve their overall morale in victory after victory, and at the same time establish the belief that our army will win. "


    "Let me say a few words." When akhromeyev waited for my words to come to an end, he couldn''t help interrupting and saying, "I think the success of an independent division has something to do with an excellent teacher. First of all, he is very good at carrying forward military democracy. For those immature tactics, he has to discuss with us before making a final decision. Secondly, she often decentralizes her powers to give full play to the subjective initiative of the front-line commanders, so that they can adjust their deployment according to the actual situation of the battlefield. This can be proved by the fact that the German army has never been able to occupy the northern highlands of mamayev post. "


    "The chief of staff is right." As soon as akhromeyev finished speaking, kirilov said: "I came to the independent division. After getting along with Comrade oshanina, I learned that the backward tactical awareness will lead to great deviation in understanding. Before, I always thought that as long as we can defend our city and keep our defense line, it is worth the sacrifice. But with the change of my understanding, I found that many of my previous views were wrong. Although the commanders and fighters who blindly put their best troops into unnecessary consumption, regardless of the actual situation of the battlefield, showed great courage, in the end, except for a tragic ending, it was of no help to the whole war situation. I think if we want to win, we must first know how to preserve ourselves. Only by preserving ourselves can we eliminate more enemies. "


    After kirilov''s words, there was a terrible silence in the room. I didn''t expect kirilov to be so bold that even the opinions I usually instilled in him were spoken in front of trakov. You know, like other senior commanders, trakov likes to use carpet style sea of people tactics, filling out one victory after another with human lives. Kirilov''s words are undoubtedly hitting each other in the face.


    I watched trakov''s expression, and saw that his face was black and blue, and his breathing became rapid. Seeing his expression, my heart went up to my throat. My heart said kirilov exposed his shortcomings in public. Would he not be angry at kirilov?


    Trikov slapped the table and stood up, staring at kirilov. Just when I thought he was about to lose his temper, he burst out laughing and said aloud, "well said, comrade kirilov, that''s very good of you!"


    Trekov''s expression startled me. My heart said that he didn''t mean to be ironic. Then I should be furious. Unexpectedly, he went around the table to kirilov, reached out to him and said sincerely, "thank you, comrade kirilov. What you said is very good. At the same time, it reminds me that in such a cruel battle at present, if we still use the old tactics, our troops will pay more sacrifices. "


    Seeing their hands tightly clasped together, my heart hung in my throat. It seems that trekov is also a commander who can correct his mistakes. It is precisely because of his excellent quality that he can go further in the future.


    After the interview with kirilov and me, ellenburg ran to the telephone to interview razumeyeva and Naga. Fearing that the two girls might have made a mistake, he went over.


    There were only me, trakov, kirilov and akhromeyev left at the table. Trikov looked around, then looked at me and asked, "o''shanina, the army of the group is now stretched out. I''d like to hear your opinion on how to deal with the enemy who is stronger than us next."


    I thought for a moment and answered, "with our present strength and weaponry, counterattack against the enemy will not only have little effect, but will consume our valuable soldiers in vain. Therefore, I suggest that the group army should organize small and capable units in the troops under its jurisdiction to attack suddenly and rapidly at night, constantly encroach on the city positions occupied by the enemy, and continue to contain and consume the effective strength and technical equipment of the German army. In this way, the pressure on the front of our group army''s defense will be reduced, so that we can gradually organize our group army into units with broken internal structure and exhausted commanders and fighters, and withdraw across the Volga River for rehabilitation and replenishment. "


    After listening to this, trakov nodded and said with satisfaction, "Comrade oshanina, your proposal coincides with general Krylov''s idea. He also said that the current group army is not strong enough, and heavy weapons are not superior to the Germans. He suggested that I change my tactics and use the existing forces to consume as many Germans as possible who rush into the city."


    After talking with trakov for a long time, I didn''t hear him mention when reinforcements would come. I felt a burst of frustration. Kirilov and akhromeyev''s expressions were not much better. After looking at each other, they also frowned and stared at the map in front of them.


    Seeing that there was something wrong with the atmosphere, trikov immediately began to laugh: "Comrade oshanina and Comrade kirilov, I know what you are thinking. I''m worried that the current strength of the group army is not enough." At this point, he revealed to us in a low voice, "to tell you the truth, the front army has assigned us the 308th division, which was originally affiliated to the 24th group army. The Division has just been transferred from Siberia, and its division commander is Col. gurdyev, and its political commissar is Comrade svelin. They are all commanders with rich combat experience."


    When they heard that reinforcements were coming, kirilov and akhromeyev suddenly came to their senses and put their heads to trikov. Kirilov asked with a smile, "now that reinforcements are coming, can you supplement our soldiers?" Hearing that they were bargaining with trakov, I kept silent and planned to wait until they met.


    As expected, trikov shook his head like a rattle and refused kirilov unequivocally: "no, comrade kirilov. The loss of your independent division is great, and the loss of other troops is not small. Anyway, there are still more than 2000 people in your division, and there are only 300 or 500 other divisions or brigades. In some divisions, in addition to the division level leaders who have to take part in the fighting in person, even the wounded who have slightly improved have taken up arms again. Even if there are new soldiers coming, I will give priority to them. " Kirilov and akhromeyev, who hit the wall, sighed disappointingly and sat listlessly back to their positions.


    Looking at the factory area on the map, I suddenly remembered that kirilov had mentioned to me earlier that the 70th division of ryudnikov''s guards had been deployed to the open area between the factory area and the Volga River. So I asked trekov curiously, "Comrade commander, the German army is fighting with our army in the factory area. After a long time of fighting, the troops of Colonel ryudnikov are fighting with us, The troops are on the verge of exhaustion. Maybe they can''t help much in this battle for factory area? Perhaps when Col. gurtyev''s 308th division arrives, it must immediately throw itself into this area to assist the 39th division of the guards in destroying the enemy who rushed into the factory area. "


    Trekov waved his hand and denied my statement: "although the war situation in the factory area is very tight, the 308th division can not enter this area for the time being, because today the German pincer offensive in Orlov area has been successful, which encircles the 3rd Battalion of andreushenko infantry brigade, several companies of Motorized Infantry Brigade 2 and the 315th battalion of infantry. We must throw the 308th division into the area east of Orlov to fortify and prepare for the enemy''s attacks from all sides. At the same time, when the time is right, attack Orlov and rescue the besieged troops. "


    "But Comrade commander," I kindly reminded trikov when he finished saying, "if the enemy occupied the factory area, then all the passages from the main force of the group army to the wharf would be cut off, so that the independent division stationed at mamayev post would become an isolated army, facing simultaneous attacks from all directions with our existing forces, It won''t last long. "


    "Don''t worry, Colonel oshanina." "Although I don''t put the 308th division into the factory area, other troops will be responsible for the defense of this area," he comforted me


    Trikov''s words kindled a new hope in our hearts. Kirilov couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade commander, are there any other reinforcements?"


    Trekov nodded and said, "yes, according to the orders of the superior. Major general ruolujev''s 37th division of close guard infantry will be transferred from the fourth group army of tanks to cross the river to reinforce us and enter the city no later than the evening of October 3. After entering the city, the regiments under the jurisdiction of the division should immediately occupy the line of defense and start fighting in the early morning of the next day. Their main task is to defend the factory area, assist in fighting the 39th division of the guards and the militia forces here, and eliminate all the enemies in the area. " Two new reinforcements are coming soon, which means that the defensive pressure we bear at mamayev post will be greatly reduced, and my mood will suddenly become relaxed.


    Ellenburg and fern dowen interviewed wanrazumeyeva and they came back and said goodbye to us. Kirilov quickly called busmanov over and told him, "Comrade captain, send Comrade ellenburg a squad to escort him out of the Highlands safely."


    After thanking kirilov, ellenburg said goodbye to all of them one by one. When she finally came to me, she turned her head and took a look. She saw that her companion, Frederick, was saying goodbye to all of us. Suddenly, she whispered to me, "Comrade o''shanina, please follow me." Then he went to the door. When he came to the door, the person nearest to us was five or six steps away. He said to me in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, I''ll tell you a piece of good news secretly. Maybe you can resume your rank of general soon."

 Chapter 695

    I was surprised by ellenburg''s words. The first thing to know about the restoration of military rank should be trakov. But after chatting with him for a long time, he didn''t reveal anything. I was just about to ask ellenburg the truth when he strode over and said to ellenburg, "Comrade ellenburg, it''s getting late. Let''s go." Ellenburg was also surprised by the sudden appearance of frondowin. He had to shrug his shoulders, smile apologetically at me, and politely said, "good bye, comrade oshanina. I hope we can have another chance to meet again."¡° Yes, comrade ellenburg. I don''t think it will be long before we meet again. Good luck With that, I raised my hand and solemnly saluted ellenburg. After seeing ellenburg off, the smiling trikov suddenly lowered his face, waved his head to me and asked me to follow him to the table. Then he asked me harshly, "Colonel o''shanina, I hope you can explain to me what happened to the ring railway leading to the wharf behind mamayev post? Why are all the rails and sleepers missing? " Trekov''s words made me silly. I stood in the same place for a long time and didn''t come back to myself. I kept asking myself: railway, what kind of railway, how come I''ve never seen it? After a month in mamayev post, I didn''t know there was a railway behind the highland¡° Talk. Why don''t you talk? " Trekov''s voice woke me up from my meditation. I turned around and looked around. I saw kirilov and akhromeyev standing beside me. I asked kirilov in a hurry: "Comrade political commissar, do you know what''s going on with the railway?" Kirilov approached trakov and asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, if I understand correctly, is the railway you are talking about the ring railway to the south of the Highlands?"¡° Yes Trekov agreed positively. I was just about to ask kirilov what happened to the railway. He had already started to report to trikov: "well, comrade commander. As far as I know, as early as before the independent division entered the mamayev post, the railway behind the highland was straightened up by the guard sergeant who was stationed here at that time, and he replied, "my name is shaykin, chief commander." I nodded, then pointed to the high ground ahead and asked him again, "sergeant shaykin, do you see the enemy attacking? My task for both of you is to destroy as many German commanders as possible, so that their troops will be thrown into chaos due to the loss of command. Can you hit the target at such a long distance? " Shaykin quickly nodded his head and answered positively: "please rest assured, sir, it''s only 300 meters away from the enemy. With our shooting level, there must be no problem."¡° Then act After giving him a brief order, I raised my telescope and looked ahead. With the sound of "pa", a German commander who had just climbed out of the crater, waving a pistol and directing his men to rush forward, suddenly covered his right shoulder with his left hand and fell back into the crater¡° Damn it I heard shaykin next to me cursing in a low voice, and then came the sound of pulling the bolt.

 Chapter 696

    Although I don''t know how many German troops have come to shaykin, after the battle just now, the number will not be too large. The second lieutenant will take these ten men to deal with them. There should be no problem. As soon as I thought of it, there was a burst of gunfire around the corner. Then I saw several soldiers appear in my field of vision. They shot while retreating. In a short time, they all fell to the ground¡° No, sir, let''s go Oleg yelled, put me up again, and told the two soldiers: "you are responsible for blocking the enemy, I''ll cover the division and withdraw first." In fact, he didn''t have to explain so much. As early as I saw my comrades in arms fall one after another, the soldiers who stayed to take care of us had already rushed to the corner with guns. We ran out not far, we saw a blast hole nearby, so we went in regardless. It''s a small hole. We can''t move as soon as we go in, but in order not to be found by the pursuing enemy, we have to aggrieve ourselves and hide here for a while until the enemy is solved. After a while, hearing that there was no movement outside, Oleg suddenly asked me, "Comrade division, this enemy is so strange. How did they get into our trench from the foot of the mountain?" I thought for a moment and answered, "commander Oleg, didn''t you notice just now that the enemy is wearing our uniform. When they come to the foot of the mountain, they will be released as long as they say to the defending commanders and fighters below that they are reinforcements of friendly forces. After all, the troop reduction is too large, and all regiments want to replenish their forces as much as possible." Seeing that Oleg opened his mouth and wanted to say something, I quickly sped up and went on to analyze: "although the enemy carried German guns, the current equipment of the independent division was almost captured from the German army, so it would not arouse people''s suspicion in this respect. As for why they can easily wipe out so many of our officers and men in the trenches, it may still have something to do with their uniforms. When our soldiers came out of their hiding place and saw a group of people in the same uniform rushing towards them, they must want to ask what happened first. It was because of this short hesitation that they sacrificed their lives in vain. " As for my analysis, Oleg nodded and agreed: "Comrade division commander, the second lieutenant just now is quite capable of fighting. In the early stage of urban guerrilla warfare, the small unit he led eliminated at least hundreds of Germans. But just now their performance, I think you also see in the eye, just one or two minutes, the whole team was destroyed by the enemy attack. It is estimated that they hesitated when they rushed past and saw that the people opposite were wearing the same uniform as them. And just because of this short hesitation, they became the dead under the gun of the enemy. " At this time, not far away came a rush of footsteps, followed by a creaky voice came in, although I do not understand, but also understand that the speaker is indeed German¡° How can we do that? " Oleg became more and more flustered when he heard the Germans nearby. Shaykin, who had never spoken, turned pale. He and I looked at each other, then looked at Oleg. Finally, he made up his mind, stood up abruptly and said decisively, "Comrade division commander, you and the commander stay here. I''ll lead them away."

 Chapter 697

    Before I could express my opinion, shaykin rushed out with his gun. Then there was a gunshot outside, followed by a barrage of gunshots, loud shouts, and approaching footsteps.


    Judging from the footsteps coming in from the outside, there are still a lot of German troops outside. When I heard a few footsteps running outside the cave and disappeared, my heart was cold. My heart said that it was bad. Did the Germans find us hiding here? If they want to kill us, they don''t have to come in at all. They just need to throw a grenade into the hole or shoot a few bullets, which is enough for Oleg and me to see God.


    I turned my head and looked at Oleg. In the dim light, I saw him holding the pistol in his hands and pointing to the hole. It seemed that he would shoot mercilessly whenever any moving object appeared in our view.


    Before someone appeared at the entrance of the cave, I heard the German soldiers outside yelling, and then a violent explosion came from the outside. The flash from the explosion made the cave bright for a moment, and then fell into darkness. Outside the cave, there was a dull sound of human body falling to the ground, followed by the German soldiers chirping a few words, and then I heard several footsteps leaving the cave and running to the distance.


    Hearing the enemy leaving outside the cave, my heart, which had been beating rapidly, gradually returned to normal. After wiping the sweat on my forehead, I turned to Oleg and saw that he was no better than me. He stood back against the wall and gasped heavily. Seeing that I was looking at him, I laughed awkwardly and said, "Sir, the grenade just now must have been thrown by sergeant shaykin. Fortunately, he drew the enemy to other places, otherwise we would be in danger. "


    He listened to the movement outside, and heard that the sound of gunfire and grenade explosion had gradually gone away. After taking a deep breath, he proposed to me: "Comrade division, while there is no enemy outside the cave, let''s hurry to move." See me nod to show the same, he immediately hands and feet and use the ground to climb out.


    When I saw him climbing out of the cave, I wanted to follow him out. Suddenly, he came back in a mess and said with a depressed face: "hell, there''s a team of German soldiers coming outside."


    When he said this, my heart, which I had put into my stomach, hung in my throat again. My heart said: it''s over. Am I really going to be blocked in this hole by the enemy today? It''s a pity that I didn''t take my submachine gun with me when I set out today. Otherwise, I could have killed at least a few more enemies in the encounter just now with my shooting skills. As long as I kept on working in the trench for more minutes and fighting for a reaction time for those soldiers nearby, they could understand what had happened, and they would not have died at the gunpoint of the German detachment when they came out of their hiding place after hearing Oleg''s cry.


    With the step closer and closer, my heart beat faster and faster. Although I can''t hear the specific number of people, I can probably guess that there are 20 or 30 people on the other side. I thought in my heart: if the other party didn''t find our hiding place, they might escape; If they find this blast hole and come in to search, Oleg and I will have to do our best. As for resistance, I never thought that we only had a pistol that Oleg was holding in our hands. If we fired back, people from outside would shoot at me one by one, and I would be beaten into a hornet''s nest.


    The group of people came to the cave and ordered to stop. Then German, which disgusted me to the extreme, came in from the outside. I prayed in my heart that they would leave quickly and go to the front to find their companions, or our reinforcements would come quickly, so as to save Oleg and me from this dangerous place. It''s really hard to wait to die.


    Oleg suddenly approached me and said in a low and firm voice: "Sir, it seems that the enemy has found this hole. Maybe the next moment they will rush in, or throw grenades or use submachine guns to shoot inside. Just let me take the risk to rush out, kill a few German soldiers, and lead the rest to other places, so that you can get out of danger safely. "


    "No, not at all!" I resolutely stopped Oleg''s absurd idea. Even if he successfully rushed out, he would not be able to lead all the enemies away. As long as there is an enemy outside, I can only stay in the cave honestly before our troops arrive. I gave him a cold smile and said to him without moving my face: "commander Oleg, don''t take such a risk. You may be killed by the enemy''s random guns before you can shoot out. Now we can only gamble on our luck to see if we are first discovered by the enemy or rescued by ourselves. "


    Having said that, I really hesitated in my heart. Do I really sit here waiting to die, waiting to be a German prisoner? Oleg seemed to see through my mind, and whispered: "Comrade teacher, are you willing to stay here as a prisoner?"


    Originally, I was afraid to speak too much and would be heard by the German outside the cave, so I didn''t want to speak any more. I didn''t expect to hear Oleg say that. I was immediately confused. I was angry and desperate and said, "Comrade commander, what do you think? Besides the proposal to rush out and let the enemy beat you and me into a beehive, do you have any good suggestions? "


    Oleg shook his head and said nothing more, and the cave fell into silence.


    "Is this from your camp?" Suddenly a woman''s voice came from outside.


    A moment later, a man replied, "no, I''m very familiar. I''m sure it''s not from our camp."


    "Please reconfirm." The woman continued.


    "I can answer you with certainty. I''m not one of my men." The man replied firmly, "I can name almost all the commanders and fighters in the camp, and this man is definitely not my subordinate."


    "What are they talking about? Why can I understand them?" I was puzzled and thought, all of a sudden, I was shocked, suddenly realized: they speak Russian, outside is their own people!


    At the first moment, I almost went out regardless of everything, but then I thought that I just heard someone speaking German outside. Who are these Russian speaking people mixed with German?


    I gently touched Oleg with my shoulder and asked him in a low voice, "Comrade commander, did you hear the people outside just talking in Russian?"


    Oleg didn''t answer my question. Instead, he looked outside, and then I heard his breathing get short. Just when I couldn''t figure out the situation, he suddenly said out loud: "it''s verol, it''s verol commissar!" Then he jumped up, because the top of the cave was too low, and his head in the big cornice hat hit the top heavily, so painful that he had to bend down. I just wanted to ask him if he was hurt. He held his hand against the wall and yelled out: "Hello, is that political commissar verol out there?"


    "Who?" Accompanied by the sound of pulling the bolt, is a woman''s harsh questioning. After hearing this woman''s voice, I grinned silently, because I finally recognized that the person speaking outside was verol, political commissar of the second regiment.


    "Yes, comrade commissar, I''m commander Oleg." Oleg answered aloud.


    It was Oleg''s voice. There was a moment''s silence outside, and then verol''s voice came again. She asked with concern, "Comrade commander, is the division in?"


    "Yes, yes," Oleg replied excitedly, "Comrade division is by my side." After he finished shouting outside, he turned around and said to me excitedly, "Sir, it''s all my own people outside. Go out first."


    When I climbed near the hole, I saw seven or eight hands sticking out of the hole, all of them trying to pull me. I didn''t care to take a close look. I grabbed both hands and with their help, I left the shelter.


    Seeing a large number of people standing in front of me, both in German uniform and our uniform, immediately confused me. I pulled verol over and asked her in a low voice, "what''s the matter? Where did so many German soldiers come from?"


    Verol looked at me blankly and asked in surprise, "ah, comrade division, have you forgotten that this unit in German uniform is the one you sent to scout behind the enemy?" Then he pointed to the side with his hand. "That''s the commander of the team, former German lieutenant gretka and Comrade safchenko of the first battalion."


    Greteka came up to me, raised his hand and said, "Comrade division commander, second lieutenant greteka, report to you that the reconnaissance team has successfully completed its task and returned to our army. I''m waiting for your order. Please give me your instructions."


    At this moment, I don''t care to ask them what kind of achievements they have made in reconnaissance. I point to the other side of the trench with my hand and command him: "Comrade second lieutenant, there is a German detachment disguised as our army. It is fighting with our soldiers in the trench in front of us. I command you to lead your men immediately and destroy them all."


    "Yes Lieutenant gretka gave a resounding promise, calling on his men to rush along the trench, along with two of verol''s soldiers.


    With the help of safchenko, Oleg climbed out of the hole. He walked up to us and said to veroll with embarrassment, "sorry, comrade political commissar, when you just came here, I thought you were German, so my teacher and I hid in the hole again."


    I looked down at the body lying not far away and asked verol, "has that body been searched?"


    Verol nodded and replied with a sad face, "I''ve searched him. He doesn''t have any identification on him. What''s more, as like as two peas in the dress, it''s not like any commando troops, and they are tied up with a towel on their arms. I am very curious about how they identify the enemy and the enemy in battle.


    When verol said that there was no identification mark on the enemy''s body, I looked curiously at safchenko''s arm and saw that his left arm was wrapped with a white towel, which might have been used by our sentinels when he returned to the position. When I was about to ask him a few questions, there were fierce gunshots and explosions in the distance, which distracted me.


    I looked at veroll and the five or six soldiers around her and asked curiously, "Comrade veroll, can you send more troops to support lieutenant gretka?"


    Without waiting for verol to reply, safchenko had already preempted and said, "no, sir. Lieutenant gretka, their combat effectiveness is not weak. On the way to our mission, we quietly killed several enemy patrols. What''s more, they are now wearing German uniforms. If reinforcements are sent up now, it is easy to misunderstand them. "


    As we were talking, the intense gunfire in front of us suddenly stopped. Oleg looked in that direction and asked in surprise, "what''s the matter, what''s the matter, why did the gunfire stop?" However, no one present could answer his question, because everyone could not figure out what was going on in the trench ahead. When verol asked a soldier to check the situation ahead, he saw a soldier in our uniform running towards us. Maybe we were frightened by the German soldiers in our uniform, so when we saw the soldier suddenly appeared, everyone''s first reaction was to find a place to hide and point their weapons at the comer.

 Chapter 698

    I was bending over to hide behind verol and safchenko. When I saw that the soldier who came was sergeant shaykin, I couldn''t help but stand up straight and yelled, "don''t shoot, it''s my own man!" After shouting, I went by verol and met shaykin.


    When I came to shaykin, I raised my hand and grasped his arm. I asked with concern, "Comrade sergeant, are you ok? You haven''t been hit by the enemy''s bullet?"


    Shaykin shook his head and said confidently, "I''m fine, sir. The enemy''s bullets can''t hit me." Then he flaunted to me, "not only did he miss me, but I killed seven people, one of whom was killed by a grenade I recognized."


    "Well done, comrade shaykin!" Verol obviously knew the sergeant. As she put the pistol in the holster, she came to praise shaykin: "it is because of your decisive and brave behavior that you rescued the division commander and the commander from danger. I want to report your heroic deeds to the whole league and call on everyone to learn from you. "


    Shaykin giggled at verol''s words. When he was almost laughing, I quickly asked him, "Comrade sergeant, just now I sent a small team to reinforce you. Did you see them?"


    "Yes," said shaykin, nodding his head vigorously. "Because they appeared in German uniforms, the German soldiers who came out of our army were stunned for a while. As a result, they were caught by surprise."


    When I heard that the enemy had been destroyed, I was relieved. At the same time, I didn''t forget to care about Lieutenant gretka''s team: "how are the casualties of our troops?"


    "When our troops destroyed the Germans, there were casualties, and they paid the price of death and injury." Shaykin thought for a moment and added, "but all the Germans in our uniform were killed, and none of them escaped. There were 19 of them."


    I then asked, "sergeant shaykin, in addition to the one death and one injury you just mentioned, do we have any casualties?"


    "Yes," shaykin replied without thinking, "five of us were killed in the shooting with the German army, and 11 of us were injured, but none of them were seriously injured."


    "Comrade division commander, the number of casualties has been counted." Verol suddenly said, "in the battle that just ended, we killed 27 people. We sacrificed 115 and injured 25. "


    The data reported by verol startled me. Most of the officers and men of the second regiment have experienced a lot of fighting, but they have paid such a heavy price after being attacked by the enemy''s small troops. I asked in surprise, "Comrade veroll, why are our casualties so great?"


    Seeing that I was not good-looking, verol quickly explained: "Comrade division commander, there are two main reasons why our regiment has paid such a high price: first, the enemy is wearing our army''s uniform, and our commanders and fighters can''t quickly distinguish the enemy from the enemy, thus giving the enemy a chance to take advantage of it; I thought that my proposal would be opposed by verol and safchenko first. After all, as the superiors of lieutenant gretka, they knew his details very well. Unexpectedly, verol took two pieces of paper from his briefcase and handed it to me, adding, "the report I just filled out when you were talking to lieutenant greteka."


    I reached for it, stopped, took the report to my eyes, and read aloud, "Lieutenant gretka, German, led the army to surrender to our army in the battle of Stalingrad. He showed bravery and tact in the battle of cooperating with our army to defend the great city of Stalingrad. When the commander of our army was besieged by the enemy, he braved the enemy''s bullets and rushed up, wiped out all the enemies and rescued our commander, showing courage and heroism. " I flipped through the one below and found that this report was for shaykin''s medal.


    I believe there are many reports in veroll''s briefcase. If you just take them out and fill in their names, it will be a new report. So after reading them, I put forward my different opinions to veroll: "Comrade veroll, I think the content of your report should be revised. You can see that in the comments on both of them," show bravery "is used "Showing the spirit of heroism" does not show a person''s characteristics at all. We should find something different to distinguish them. Do you agree with me? "


    "No, sir, I''m not the same." Verol firmly refuted me and said, "the kind of words you want to use are not available in the world."


    "Why not?" I asked in surprise.


    "I can''t think of such a word, or to be exact, such a word hasn''t been created yet. You know, it''s easy to find a few words for a hero to comment on his achievements, but not now. Now there are thousands of such heroes, or tens of thousands of them. If they are really worthy of them, they really don''t have the kind you said


    Without saying a word, I handed veroll the report of the application for the medal and walked on silently. After a long walk, I said softly, "Comrade verol, thank you for your support! Although I know that it is unlikely that the report of lieutenant gretka will be approved, I still want to thank you


    "Why not get approval?" "I don''t understand?" veroll asked in a voice


    After a moment''s silence, I sighed and said, "because he is too sensitive to the German identity. Although he has long surrendered to our army and made a lot of contributions, many people still can''t accept it psychologically if they want the superior to award a German medal."


    "You have to try. The superior is not unreasonable. If he knows the cause and effect of the whole thing, I think he will make an exception. " At this point, she suddenly changed the topic and asked, "where are we going next? To the headquarters of our regiment or to the headquarters of our division? "


    "It''s better to go back to the division headquarters. Maybe the political commissar and the chief of staff all know what happened just now. They don''t know how worried they are now. Only when they see me appear in front of them peacefully will their hearts be at ease. " Then I turned to safchenko, who was following me, and said, "and you, comrade political instructor, come back to the headquarters with me. Now that lieutenant gretka is wounded, it''s up to you to report to me the information that the reconnaissance team has got. "


    But before I got back to the headquarters, on the way, I met kirilov in the trench with captain basmanov and a dozen soldiers of the guard company. Seeing that I was safe and sound, kirilov rushed over, grabbed my arm and said happily, "thank God, comrade o''shanina, it''s so nice to see you safe and sound."


    I looked at my partner who was concerned about my safety and said gratefully, "Comrade political commissar, thank you for your concern. Although I''ve been attacked by the enemy, I''m lucky and lucky. You see, I''m still fine now. I haven''t hurt a hair at all. "


    Kirilov snorted and asked verol, who was standing beside him in a loud voice: "which company is responsible for carrying out the inventory task? Why did the enemy come up so easily? This matter needs to be dealt with seriously. None of the soldiers on duty or their company commander can escape. You send for them all at once. "


    "Wait a minute, comrade verol." I stopped verol, who was about to leave, and pleaded with kirilov for the unknown commanders and fighters: "political commissar, those Germans disguised as our soldiers, and there was no obvious identification mark on their equipment. The soldiers on duty didn''t recognize them, which is understandable."


    Kirilov was adamant: "Comrade verol, what are you still doing here? You don''t take people to catch those soldiers on duty and their company commanders." As I was about to speak, kirilov had already put up his hand to stop what I had to say, and he gave an order to himself: "Captain basmanov, take some soldiers with you and political commissar verol."


    Basmanov agreed, and immediately turned to call the names of the soldiers who followed. Looking at basmanov summoning a few soldiers in the shortest time, verol could only sigh helplessly, and obediently led them to catch those soldiers who were derelict in their duties.


    Kirilov and I went back to the headquarters under the protection of the rest of the guards. As soon as kirilov got to the door, he stopped, turned to me and said angrily, "Comrade division, we''ll wait here for a while, and we''ll go in after dealing with the dereliction of duty soldiers brought by verol."


    When he finished, I asked carefully, "what are you going to do with them?"


    Kirilov snorted again: "what else can we do? Of course, all of them are shot."


    "Shot?" Kirilov''s announcement of the punishment decision startled me and quickly persuaded him with a smile: "is this kind of punishment too severe? I think a few days'' imprisonment is enough? "


    "Sir, please be serious." Kirilov said with a straight face: "because of their dereliction of duty, the enemy has been put on our position. If the enemy did not go in the wrong direction and entered the position of the second regiment, but directly touched our headquarters, do you think our division headquarters can still exist at this moment? "


    Kirilov''s words really made me speechless. I had to keep silent and prepare to wait for the wrong soldiers to come before deciding whether to save them.


    After a while, verol and basmanov, with their soldiers, escorted five anti binding militia soldiers. Among them, the one in civilian clothes at the front seemed to be the head of the militia.


    Verol came up to us, raised his hand to salute, and then reported without expression: "Sir, political commissar, I have brought all the soldiers on duty. Because their company commander died in the battle just now, I can only bring the platoon leader of the soldier''s platoon. Now people are here at your disposal. " With that, she stood aside, and the soldiers pushed several militiamen in front of us.


    Kirilov nodded, went up to the militiamen in civilian clothes and asked briefly, "are you a platoon leader?" After the other side nodded in affirmation, he suddenly asked, "how did the Germans get into our army?"


    "Comrade political commissar, it is like this." The platoon leader replied honestly, "when we were on duty, we saw a small army coming down the mountain. I immediately stopped them and asked which part of the commander was in charge of the team? The other side replied that they belonged to the 35th division of the guards. Because the whole division was almost lost, the rest of them belonged to our division. They came to report to the division headquarters. As you know, from time to time there are small groups or three or five groups of soldiers coming from the city to the highlands. They were all added to our division after the original troops were defeated, so I didn''t ask any more questions, so I let them go. "


    After listening to the Self Justification of the militia platoon leader, I also understand that although he has certain responsibilities, he will not be guilty to death. After all, because of the shortage of soldiers in the independent division, there are indeed sporadic small units coming to join us recently. Thinking of this, I went to kirilov''s side, pulled him aside, and whispered to him, "Comrade political commissar, I think it''s better to forget it. If they make a mistake, just put them in jail for a few days. If we really shoot them, the soldiers on duty will stop others when they meet with our troops to go up the mountain. As you know, it''s not only our independent division that is short of troops. Maybe others see that we don''t accept them, and they turn around and go to Soviet street or 107.5 highland to join the friendly forces. " Kirilov was stunned. After a while, his expression became dignified and he was ready to give an order to deal with the dereliction of duty soldiers. However, thinking about the terrible consequences, he felt that things could not be done rashly, so he had to say vaguely, "Comrade oshanina, since you say so, then do as you just said."

 Chapter 699

    Seeing kirilov''s attitude of calming things down, I quickly called veroll over and told her in public: "political commissar veroll, because of the negligence of these soldiers, let the enemy''s small team mixed up in the position and caused great casualties in our army. Next, I''d like to announce what to do with them: the platoon leader will be imprisoned for five days, and each soldier will be imprisoned for three days. Go ahead


    After listening to my decision, verol was stunned. Seeing that she didn''t respond, I asked strangely, "political commissar verol, what are you doing here if you don''t carry out my orders?"


    Verol''s face showed an incredible expression: "Comrade division, I did not hear wrong, just a few days in jail?"


    "Of course, you heard me right. What I announced was that the platoon leader was confined for five days and the soldiers for three days." I repeated what I had just said. Seeing that veroll hadn''t woken up from the shock and guessed what she was thinking, I teased her: "why, political commissar veroll, if you think the punishment of confinement is too light, you can enforce battlefield discipline on them."


    Although I was only joking, I still startled verol. After several soldiers defected last time, kirilov also clamored to seriously deal with the commanders of the company where the soldiers were. As a result, they were all shot by him. So verol''s face was abnormal when he heard kirilov talking about serious treatment before he arrested her men. The expression on my face froze at the moment when I heard my joke.


    I suddenly found that in my own capacity, it''s really not suitable for joking in public, because my words and deeds may be carried out by a single minded subordinate, so I put my face in a straight line and said seriously: "political commissar verol, what are you still doing here, don''t you hear me? Hurry up and take all your men away. Find a place to lock them up. "


    Verol was so happy that she agreed excitedly. She turned around and asked the soldiers to untie the militia. I went back to kirilov and reminded him, "Comrade political commissar, it''s time for us to go back to the headquarters."


    Kirilov looked at me and said nothing. First, he raised his hand to look at his watch, then looked up at the sky, and snorted heavily. Then he turned and walked into the headquarters.


    When I entered the headquarters, I found that not only akhromeyev was there, but also mihayev and Morozov were there. Even commander Gaidar, who seldom came to my headquarters, was there. When I saw so many people in the cave, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Yo, how did you all come to me today?" Then I pointed to Gaidar and said, "why don''t you stay on the high ground and command the soldiers to clean the battlefield and come to me?"


    Gaidar giggled a few times and replied, "commissar Xia Ping is responsible for the affairs of the regiment. I''m here to discuss with you."


    "What''s the matter?" I asked curiously as I walked towards the table.


    "Are you all right, sir?" Akhromeyev walked around the table to me, asked with concern, and couldn''t help looking at me carefully.


    I know that I''m in a mess in their eyes, but I still say, "chief of staff, don''t you think I''m ok? Although I met the German people, I didn''t lose anything. " Speaking of this, I suddenly thought of my pistol which was jammed at the critical moment and was thrown out as a concealed weapon by me, and then added: "but what makes me most angry is that my pistol jammed after only three shots, otherwise it will kill several more German devils."


    "What, sir? What happened to you and the Germans? When and where? " Mikhail yev, Morozov and Gaidar heard that I was in danger, but they didn''t care to say anything else. They all gathered around and asked with concern. Even razumeyeva and Najia, who were sitting next to the telephone, gathered around to inquire about my escape.


    At this time, just listen to "pa" a loud noise, the entire headquarters suddenly quiet down. As we went along, we saw political commissar kirilov standing at the table with a red face and a palm lying flat on the table. Seeing his expression, I immediately guessed that the sound was the result of his slapping on the table. Seeing that all our attention was focused on him, he said to me angrily, "Comrade oshanina, if your pistol doesn''t jam, you will continue to fight the enemy in the same place."


    As soon as I nodded, before I could speak, kirilov slapped the table heavily and scolded angrily: "if your pistol doesn''t jam, what we will see at this moment is not the living you, but a cold corpse lying here. I want to report to the higher authorities immediately that you don''t take your own safety seriously. " Then he reached for the phone on the desk.


    Akhromeyev quickly hugged him and kept winking at me. I knew in my heart that if kirilov was really allowed to sue me, maybe for my personal safety, trekov would withdraw my position as division commander of the independent division and transfer me to the headquarters of the group army as a humble combat staff officer or something. Therefore, I could only admit my mistake to kirilov with a red face: "Comrade political commissar, I''m sorry, Let you worry about me. I assure you that from now on, there will never be any more risks like this. "


    As soon as I finished speaking, akhromeyev, who held kirilov in his arms, immediately helped me: "Comrade political commissar, since the teacher has realized her own mistakes, I believe she will not take risks like today any more. You''d better forgive him!"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar," gedar and the three of them echoed ahlomeyev: "the chief of staff is right. The division commander will learn this lesson. Please forgive her."


    Kirilov''s anger subsided slightly under the persuasion of the people, but he still said to me: "Comrade oshanina, you have to promise me that from today on, no matter where you go, you will take the guards."


    "Good, good, good, my political commissar." For his request, I did not hesitate to agree down, "no matter where I go, I will take a few guards. Is that all right? "


    "At least one class!"


    "Yes! One class is one class, I promise you all! "


    Seeing that I unconditionally agreed to all his demands, kirilov''s anger completely disappeared. He turned around and yelled at the two of them: "what are you running to do, and don''t you go back to your work?" With such a roar from him, razumeyeva and others did not dare to stay, so they quickly turned around and ran to the phone.


    We should have listened to safchenko''s report next. But at the moment, there are too many people in the headquarters, and the content we want to listen to involves secrets, so we can''t let too many people know. So I have to deal with Gaidar first. After I asked akhromeyev in a low voice, I learned that the reason why Morozov and mihayev appeared here at the same time was that Gaidar called them over. I asked Gaidar curiously, "Comrade commander, what''s the important thing for you to call me Mikhail and Morozov?"


    "Yes, sir." Gaidar then stood up and solemnly said to me, "I ask you to send the remaining anti tank artillery company to our position to help the infantry hold the high ground."


    "No, No." Gaidar''s request was immediately denied by me: "now there is only one anti tank artillery company left in the whole division. In the next battle, there are still many places to use them. If they are placed in your positions and wasted in the enemy''s artillery fire, there will be no anti tank forces in the division."


    "The teacher is right." Although kirilov had just lost his temper with me, when it came to common interests, he did not hesitate to stand on the same front with me. "I think the commanders here know how powerful the enemy artillery is. Maybe the enemy''s round of shelling will be over, and all your anti tank guns on the high ground will be reimbursed. We can''t be such black sheep in such a difficult time. "


    After kirilov and I spoke one after another, Gaidar argued, "you misunderstood, sir and Commissar. We will not put anti tank guns in the position and let German artillery be the target. " At this point, he turned to Mikhail and said in a friendly way, "Comrade lieutenant, you are the commander of the engineering company. It''s up to you to report this to the division commander and political commissar."


    Mikhail yev nodded, stood up and explained to us: "Mr. division and political commissar, we have recently strengthened the fortifications on the high ground by using the rails and sleepers prepared some time ago. We built the positions of the new artillery very skillfully, all in the caves on the hillside. In this way, it is difficult for the enemy''s long-range artillery to hit. When their tanks approach and fire at the foot of the mountain, our artillery hidden in the cave can quickly push the artillery into the trench to suppress fire from a commanding position. "


    After listening to mikheiev''s introduction, I think this arrangement is still very reasonable, but I didn''t immediately express my opinion. Instead, I turned around and asked kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, what''s your opinion?"


    Kirilov frowned and thought for a moment, then quickly stretched his brows, nodded slowly, and said slowly, "Comrade oshanina, I think the layout of this new artillery position constructed by the engineering company is very reasonable, which can not only attack the enemy''s tanks from a commanding position, but also not be easily destroyed by the enemy''s long-range artillery fire. I agree to send the anti tank artillery company into the northern highland, so that the infantry holding the position can get the support of anti tank fire at any time. "


    After seeing kirilov''s statement, I didn''t ask ahlomeyev''s opinion any more. I agreed to Gaidar''s request directly: "well, commander Gaidar, from now on, the anti tank artillery company of the artillery battalion will be under your command. I have only one request. The defensive forces on the hillside positions must be strengthened. I don''t want the artillery of this artillery company to be robbed by the Germans. "


    "Please rest assured that I will increase my strength and strengthen the protection of the artillery company. I will never let the enemy approach our artillery." Seeing that I agreed to my proposal, Gaidar immediately expressed his determination to me excitedly.


    When he finished, I waved to him and said impatiently, "well, it''s none of your business here. All three of you go back to your respective units and arrange for the anti tank guns to be transported to the positions of the fourth regiment as soon as possible. "


    Looking at the back of Gaidar and the three of them leaving, I stood up and said to kirilov and akhromeyev, "political commissar and chief of staff, because lieutenant gretka was injured in the battle of destroying the German detachment, he was unable to come to our meeting, so instructor safchenko will report to us the reconnaissance results of their reconnaissance detachment." After that, I nodded to safchenko and said in a friendly way, "Comrade safchenko, you can speak."


    Safchenko stood up, raised his hand, saluted the three of us, pointed to the map and began to explain what they had learned. As their reconnaissance time was not long, they only made clear the deployment of a few German divisions to the north of Stalingrad. After hearing safchenko finish their reconnaissance, akhromeyev said excitedly: "this is really great. As long as we have a clear understanding of the enemy''s deployment, we can make targeted plans and arrangements. We will not be so black as we are now." Kirilov nodded and said with approval: "yes, although the headquarters of the group army has sent scouts many times to go deep into the enemy''s rear and understand the enemy''s deployment, the effect is not very good. In addition to knowing the number and general location of the German troops, it is impossible to know how many people there are in each German company, what weapons and equipment they have, and how long their ammunition and fuel can last¡° Yes, "I couldn''t help but take over the topic and said," in fact, the intelligence obtained by the group army command from the scouts sent by it is far less detailed than the interrogation of German prisoners. This time, the headquarters asked us to send the defected German troops to take up the reconnaissance task. It seems that this move is right. Because the scouts we sent are real Germans, they don''t need to do anything. Their usual behavior is no different from those who are fighting with us. The Germans never dreamed that their comrades in arms who wear the same uniform and speak the same language would be our scouts. In this way, our scouts will inadvertently detect many things that could not be detected before. "¡° Comrade division, "safchenko added when I had finished my words," at present, there are two camps in the junction between the 44th, 71st and 113th divisions of the German army. There is a battalion in each of these two camps, but neither is German. "¡° It''s not the German army. Which country''s army is that? " Asked akhromeyev curiously. Safchenko pointed to the area close to the 44th division and said: "after our reconnaissance, there is a battalion of Italian troops here. Judging from the materials piled up in the camp, this should be the place where the German troops hoard weapons, ammunition and fuel. There are two barbed wire fences around the camp, and the minefield is in the middle of the barbed wire fence. Because we don''t have special demining tools, we just watched from a distance for a while and then retreated. "¡° There''s another battalion? " When I heard that there was an Italian camp in the middle of the German camp, I couldn''t help getting excited. It seemed that we had another chance to rob the German military supplies. So, while he was talking, I couldn''t wait to cut in and asked, "are you Italian, too?" Safchenko looked up at me, shook his head slowly and replied, "no, not Italian. It''s the Russians. To be exact, it''s the prisoners of our army who were captured in previous battles, and it''s the eastern battalion that was forcibly reorganized. " When he heard the name "dongfangying", akhromeyev could not help biting his back teeth and scolded: "traitors of the motherland, they will not escape the punishment of justice in the future."¡° Comrade safchenko, you go on to say, "kirilov asked safchenko with a blank face," what do they have in their camp? Are they all kinds of military supplies? "¡° No, comrade political commissar. " Safchenko shook his head again and replied briefly, "it''s an artillery position."

 Chapter 700

    Hearing from safchenko that there was an artillery position in the camp of the east battalion, I couldn''t help but see it. After he finished, I immediately put forward my own view: "political commissar, chief of staff, you see, this artillery position is just in the middle of the enemy''s 44th, 76th and 113th infantry divisions, which is not too far away from the three divisions. If we can send troops to seize this position, we can turn the muzzle and bombard the surrounding German camp at will. "


    "I think it works." Kirilov first agreed and gave an example of the last night attack on the 113th German division: "the last night attack led by Comrade oberstein not only successfully occupied the enemy''s artillery positions, but also turned the muzzle to bombard the enemy, killing not only the adjutant of the 113th German division, but also the commander of the 389th German division. This time we have the distribution map of several German divisions. I believe the effect of shelling will be better. "


    "Teachers and political commissars, your ideas are very good. I think they need to be further improved." Akhromeyev also enthusiastically said: "before seizing the enemy''s artillery camp, mines should be laid on several roads passing through the camp, so as to slow down the German army''s movement..."


    Although the enemy''s artillery position is still under the control of the east battalion, the three of us seem to regard it as our own position, and discuss with each other as if no one else how many artillery should be dispatched by Morozov, which regiment of infantry should be sent to guard, and so on. However, safchenko, who reported the enemy''s situation to us, was left aside. When our discussion came to an end, we carefully poured cold water on it: "the division commander, the political commissar and the chief of staff, although the fighting capacity of the troops of the Dongfang battalion is not strong, their camp defense is very tight. The camp is surrounded by not only two barbed wire fences, but also minefields. There is only one way to enter the camp. According to our reconnaissance, there are at least three civil fire points at the entrance. In this case, we are unlikely to succeed in sneak attack, we can only take the way of strong attack. As it was not far from several German camps, the enemy reinforcements could arrive within ten minutes once the fighting started. If our troops can not solve the battle in a short time, they will not only be unable to seize the enemy''s artillery positions, but may even be surrounded by the encircled enemy. "


    Safchenko''s words made the three of us wake up from our illusions. Then we remembered that we were talking about things that had not yet been seen. We could not help laughing.


    After laughing, I asked safchenko thoughtfully, "Comrade safchenko, you know the situation of the eastern camp best. In your opinion, is there any way we can seize the camp quietly without disturbing the surrounding enemy?"


    Safchenko frowned and thought for a long time. Finally, he shook his head slowly and replied with a bitter smile: "Sir, I don''t think it''s possible. If we want to seize the camp of the eastern battalion without disturbing the enemy, unless the commander of the battalion surrenders to us secretly. "


    The speaker didn''t mean to listen, and the listener meant to. A casual remark from safchenko, to my ears, is like a penetrating remark: Yes, why do I always want to fight with the enemy? Why don''t I want to disintegrate them through political offensive? Thinking of this, I turned to kirilov and said excitedly, "Comrade political commissar, I suddenly have an idea."


    Kirilov raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise, "Comrade oshanina, you don''t really think there will be a miracle when the enemy surrenders to us secretly, do you?"


    Instead of following his words, I continued to ask safchenko, "do you know the name of the commander of the eastern battalion? Which army did you work in, what position did you hold, and what rank did you hold? "


    Safchenko nodded his head and replied, "we ambushed a five man patrol team nearby. Except for one, the rest of them were all killed by lieutenant gretka. After interrogation, the prisoners admitted to us that the commander of the east battalion was captain Karpov, who was captured by the German army in the battle of Odessa. Before being captured, he once served as the deputy commander of the artillery company under general Petrov of the chabayev division. "


    "Chabayev division, general Petrov?" I silently repeated the unfamiliar number and the name of the commander in my heart. I turned to kirilov again and asked, "Comrade political commissar, do you know this army and general Petrov?"


    Kirilov nodded his head and said: "of course, comrade chabayev was a hero during the Soviet civil war and an excellent commander of the Red Army. His troops moved around the Urals and beat back the gorchak white guards many times. On September 5, 1919, they died in the battle of lebihansk village. Later, the Supreme Soviet renamed it chabayev. Although the name of the army he commanded was changed to the 25th Infantry Division, people still used to call it chabayev division. As for the situation of general Petrov, I know one thing. He is a military chief with outstanding organizational ability and strong will. He is one of the commanders in the defense of Odessa and Sevastopol. The second month after the outbreak of the war, he was the commander of the 25th Infantry Division of the southern front army. In October, he was appointed commander of the Binhai group army by Comrade Stalin. At present, he is commanding the army and the enemy in the Caucasus campaign. " Speaking of this, he suddenly stopped and asked in surprise, "Comrade o''xanina, what do you want to do when you ask these questions? Do you really have the idea of Dongfang camp?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." In kirilov''s face, I didn''t hide my true thoughts: "even if there is only a glimmer of hope, I will try.". If we can plot against the commander of the Dongfang battalion and bring this detachment here to enrich our army, we will greatly weaken the enemy''s strength at the same time. "


    "Is that all right?" Kirilov said nervously: "at this time, if you ask your superiors to plot against the commander of the enemy, especially the traitor who defected from our army, are you not afraid of the trouble of the interior department?"


    Kirilov''s words made me feel a little stuttered. Because I had suffered many losses from the Ministry of internal affairs, and even was once put on the execution ground, my feet trembled when I heard the name of this unit. But such a good opportunity in front of me, let me give up like this, I am really unwilling. After much hesitation, I finally gritted my teeth and said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, I want to have a try. Whether it is successful or not, it will not affect you."


    After that, without looking at the expression on kirilov''s and akhromeyev''s faces, I picked up the phone on the table and dialed the headquarters of the group army. When I heard the harsh and hoarse voice of the soldier on duty in the microphone, I decisively indicated my identity to him: "I am the commander of the independent division, Colonel oshanina. Please let commander trakov answer the phone. I have something important to report to him!"


    The soldier who answered the phone said politely: "Hello, comrade colonel. Just a moment, please. I''ll call the commander right away. "


    In a short time, there was trakov''s voice in the receiver: "Hello, oshanina, what can I do for you?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." I respectfully said: "I want to implement a bold plan now, and hope to get your approval."


    "Bold plan?" "What a bold plan, can you compare with your plan of" replacing soldiers with water "? The Supreme Commander himself was shocked. I heard general Zhukov say that this plan has been completely rejected by the high level. The reason is that we would rather pay more sacrifice than let the city named after the leader be submerged by the Volga River while being attacked by the German army. "


    Although I have known for a long time that my plan of "replacing soldiers with water" is likely to be rejected, I still feel a little disappointed when I get the news from trakov. After a few more words of nagging, trekov got to the point: "I want to know if you have any unexpected and bold plans this time. Let''s talk about them."


    "The reconnaissance team we sent to the rear of the enemy has returned. The intelligence they brought back shows in detail the deployment area of the enemy''s three divisions to the north of the city."


    "That''s great. Your plan will be discussed later. Tell me about the enemy''s deployment first."


    "There are three divisions in the north of us, namely the 44th, 71st and 113th divisions of the German army. The areas where the divisions are stationed are..." I reported to trakov one by one to the positions that akhromeyev had just marked on the map. At the end of the day, I specially added: "at the junction of the three divisions, there is an open-air warehouse where the enemy stores military supplies, Guarded by an Italian battalion; Not far from here, there is an artillery position guarded by the eastern battalion. "


    After hearing what I said later, trakov suddenly sneered. He said in a scornful tone: "What combat effectiveness these troops can have, Italian battalion and Oriental battalion, is nothing more than to carry out some tasks to help the German troops guard the warehouse or traffic lines. The next time you send a small unit to sneak into the enemy''s rear, take a chance to blow up the enemy''s military warehouses and artillery positions. "


    Trikov''s understatement made me laugh and cry. He really thought that I was omnipotent and could easily blow up the warehouses and artillery positions in the German heavy military assembly area?


    "By the way, now it''s time to talk about your bold plan." After giving me an almost impossible task, trekov said with a smile, "I''d like to know what you have in mind."


    Originally, I had been thinking about how to say this to trikov, but when he asked me to say it, I hesitated. After a moment''s hesitation, he summoned up courage and said to him, "Comrade commander, this is it. As a result of our last two night attacks, the Germans have been on high alert. Outside the Italian camp and the eastern camp, there are not only two layers of barbed wire, but also minefields. That is to say, it is not feasible to take the sneak attack as before. If we want to take a strong attack, we can''t win the enemy''s camp in a short time only by relying on small troops. In this way, they will fall into the encirclement of the reinforcement enemy and risk being completely annihilated. So I''m going to send someone I can trust to the east battalion to try to plot against the commander of the enemy. "


    "What, what do you say?" When trekov heard what I said, he suddenly became nervous. In a low voice, He reproached me and said, "treason, I''m afraid you have come up with such a ridiculous plan. Do you forget the order given by Comrade Stalin that all those who surrender to the enemy are traitors to the motherland and should be eliminated from their bodies without mercy. And you want to surrender to the enemy of the motherland. Didn''t you run into the muzzle of the interior department? "


    "Comrade commander, that''s what I think," I tried to keep my mood stable and to convince trakov in a flat tone, "although they were confused for a moment and surrendered to the enemy. But in the present situation, I think we should unite more people who can be united and give them a chance to commit crimes. If they can turn their back on the battlefield, they can not only enrich our army''s strength, but also weaken the enemy''s strength and attack their morale. I don''t know if you agree with me when I say that? "


    After a long silence, trakov sighed and asked, "do you know the name of the commander of the eastern battalion and which army he belonged to before he was captured?"


    "The reconnaisance unit had interrogated the prisoners of the eastern battalion and knew that the commander of the battalion was Karpov, with the rank of captain. He was captured in the defense of Odessa and served as the deputy commander of the artillery company under general Petrov of chabayev division. Comrade commander, do you know the general? "


    "General Petrov, Ivan yefemovitch Petrov," trekov said Petrov''s full name without hesitation, and then introduced his resume to me: "he is a military chief with outstanding organizational ability and strong will, and once was one of the leaders in charge of the defense of Odessa and Sevastopol. He has been the commander of the 25th Infantry Division of the southern front army since July 1941, was promoted to the commander of the Binhai group army in October, and was transferred to the commander of the 44th group army in July this year. "


    Hearing that trakov is so familiar with general Petrov''s resume, I believe that there should be friendship between them, so I have the cheek to ask him: "Comrade commander, I don''t know if you can contact General Petrov for me to see if he knows the situation of Captain Karpov, so that we can carry out the next counterinsurgency work."


    Trekov was obviously embarrassed by my request. He hesitated for a long time before he said, "o''shanina, I can''t give you a definite answer. I can only do my best. You should know that the captain used to be only a deputy artillery company commander under Comrade Petrov. Whether the general knows this man or not is a question, let alone his details. "


    After listening to what trakov said, I knew very well that he was not perfunctory. I said politely: "Comrade commander, no matter what the final situation is, I thank you."


    Just as I was about to hang up, trakov suddenly said, "by the way, there''s one more thing I forgot to tell you. In order to strengthen the defensive forces in the city, the front army decided to give us two new divisions. Since the soldiers of the independent division tend to be exhausted in the battle of defending the mamayev post, after studying with comrades of the military commissar, I have decided to add a new Corps to you. " Before I heard the good news, he continued, "these two divisions are newly formed and have not received the necessary training. The soldiers were recruited from cities and collective farms in Kazakhstan. Although they had no problem with loyalty, they had no ability to use weapons. There is also a very serious problem, that is, most of them do not understand Russian, which will bring us difficulties in training soldiers and commanding operations. It will take time to overcome such a difficulty that complicates our work, and what we lack most is time. "


    Long after trekov hung up, I was still holding the phone in a daze. Seeing my expression, kirilov patted me on the shoulder and asked with concern, "what''s the matter with you, o''shanina? What did the commander say about your plan? "


    I quickly put down the phone and answered him, "general Petrov has been transferred to commander of the 44th army. Commander trakov promised to contact him immediately to find out about Karpov." Seeing kirilov and akhromeyev nodding with relief, I went on, "the commander also said that he would give us a new regiment in the near future. These new fighters come from cities and farms in Kazakhstan. Although they have no problem with loyalty, they have no ability to use weapons at all. There is also a very serious problem, that is, most of them do not understand Russian, which will bring us difficulties in training soldiers and commanding operations. It will take time to overcome such a difficulty that complicates our work, and what we lack most is time. "


    After what I said, kirilov and akhromeyev fell into deep meditation. Instead of interrupting their thoughts, I sat down and watched them silently, waiting for them to come up with a good idea.


    After a while, akhromeyev first said: "Comrade division commander, in order to help the team overcome this difficulty, I suggest that cadres who have mastered Russian and Kazakh should be selected from the existing political workers in the division. I believe that these staunch party workers will be able to complete the translation task excellently. "


    As for akhromeyev''s proposal, I did not oppose it, but expressed my own scruples: "among the existing political cadres, there are not many people who know how to fight. When so many cadres are transferred out, there must be a commander who knows both politics and military command to lead them. But who should be in charge of so many political cadres in the division? "


    "I think Comrade oberstein, the political commissar of the first regiment, is good." Kirilov said his ideal candidate without thinking.


    Later, akhromeyev agreed: "I agree with the Commissar. While the regiment was still holding fast to the northern highland, comrade oberstein often stayed in the front to command the troops, and twice led the night attack team to attack the enemy''s rear. Judging from his achievements, his military command ability is very strong. As for political and ideological work, I think there would be no problem, otherwise general meletzkov would not have specially transferred him to be the political instructor of the second lieutenant training team at that time. "


    I saw that both of them were recommending oberstein to me, so I agreed. Then I told razumeyeva, who was sitting by the phone, "Comrade lieutenant, get in touch with the first regiment immediately, and let Lieutenant sergeant xijerikov and political commissar of oberstein come to me." When razumeyeva reported to me that shejerikov and oberstein, who had been informed, were on their way, Naga came up to me, handed me a telegram with both hands, and said, "Comrade division, the telegram just received." "Who''s the telegram?" I asked casually as I took the telegram from her Unexpectedly, Na Jia hesitated for a moment, then hesitated to say: "it''s a telegram from the Black Sea army cluster headquarters of the Transcaucasian front army, but it seems that we have never contacted them. Maybe they sent this telegram in the wrong place."¡° It''s impossible. It''s absolutely impossible to send a wrong telegram. " Kirilov said in a loud voice, took the telegram from my hand, held it in front of me, and read in public the signature under the telegram: "general Ivan yefemovitch Petrov, commander of the Black Sea army group of the Transcaucasian front army!"

 Chapter 701

    After kirilov finished reading his signature, he was obviously stunned for a moment, and then said to himself, "Damn it, comrade oshanina didn''t mean that after he was transferred to kirilov, he put the telegram on the table, looked up and said to me," Comrade oshanina, after reading this telegram from general Petrov, I think that your plan of treason is still feasible, It''s worth the risk. "


    "The political commissar is right," akhromeyev echoed in a timely manner: "from the contents of the telegram, this captain Karpov is also a brave and excellent commander. Maybe after being captured, he saw our army''s gradual retreat and more and more prisoners of war in the prison camp. His thoughts wavered and he doubted our vision of final victory, That''s why I''m willing to play for the Germans. If we can send someone to talk to him and try to communicate, it may have an unexpected effect. " In order to enhance the effect, he deliberately lowered his voice, pretending to whisper mysteriously: "don''t forget that in their camp, there are artillery positions that we all miss."


    The leaders of our three divisions have reached an agreement on the issue of instigating rebellion. The next thing we need to consider is who should be sent to Dongfang camp to test Karpov''s real attitude. Although I can''t wait to see the former deputy artillery commander, whom general Petrov never forgets, I kept it in my heart and didn''t say it, because I knew that even if I said it, it would be strongly opposed by kirilov and the two of them. Besides, I''ve never met this Karpov before. I can''t just walk into his camp and sit across the street and tell him, "I''m here to rebel against you." In that case, he was either shot by Karpov''s men or tied up by his men and sent directly to the Germans for a reward.


    When I first proposed who should be sent to test Karpov''s attitude, kirilov and akhromeyev looked at safchenko at the same time. Seeing that we were all looking at him, safchenko quickly got up and asked us to fight: "division commander, political commissar, chief of staff, if you think I''m suitable, you can give me this task. After all, I just came back from behind the enemy''s lines. I know a lot about the situation of the Dongfang camp. Even if I go to work, I know how to start. "


    Kirilov was very satisfied with safchenko''s attitude. He nodded with a smile and said, "well, comrade safchenko, since you have asked to carry out this task on your own initiative, I now give you this glorious and arduous task on behalf of the division leaders. You''ve just come back from carrying out a mission behind enemy lines. You must be tired. Go back and have a rest first. When it''s dark, take today''s detachment and set out to sneak into the German rear again. "


    "Yes, I promise to finish the task." Safchenko straightened his chest and replied loudly.


    Not long after safchenko left, Lieutenant Colonel shejerikov and political commissar oberstein walked into the headquarters side by side. After they saluted us, they came to the table and sat down.


    After they sat down, I asked with concern, "how many people are there in your regiment now?" Before I transferred a regiment to its present position, I knew that there were not many people left. Even if the third company of security guards and other troops were added, the total strength was no more than 300. Therefore, when the new regiment was added this time, I plan to give priority to the first regiment.


    On hearing my question, shijerikov stood up abruptly and replied in a loud voice, "report to division commander, our regiment has 2700 troops and sufficient weapons and ammunition, ready to fight at any time."


    His words made me almost sit on the ground. In just a few days, there were more than 2000 people in a regiment, even more than the total force of the division we just counted. I don''t know where they were recruited?


    When I saw that kirilov and akhromeyev were also stunned, I asked on behalf of them, "Comrade commander, I want to ask you, where are so many people recruited from?"


    "Some are personnel of retreated organs and factories, some are scattered troops, and some are refugees who have escaped from enemy occupied areas."


    After listening to Xie jielikov''s reply, my brow could not help wrinkling. With such a complex composition, can the combat effectiveness of the army be strong? So I asked in a skeptical tone, "commander shijerikov, although there are a lot of people in your regiment, do they all have combat experience? We need commanders and fighters who know how to fight, so that our troops can have a strong fighting capacity. "


    Shejerikov and oberstein looked at each other and said to me with a smile, "Comrade teacher, your worry is totally unnecessary. I just said that many of the new recruits came from the scattered troops. We all know that these officers and men who leave their positions without authorization and retreat backward will have an impact on the morale of those troops who continue to hold on to their positions. Moreover, if all the retreating commanders and fighters are dealt with in strict accordance with the No. 227 order, they should be held responsible for their retreat and punished accordingly. But after discussing with the political commissar, I think that the value of these surviving commanders and fighters is worth our use. Those who survived the cruel battle should be regarded as the backbone of the battle. They have received good training and have rich battlefield experience. Although they withdrew from the position, it was not their fault. They just couldn''t stop the enemy rushing towards them. After all, compared with the enemy, we have no air supremacy, and even the technical equipment such as tanks and artillery are very few. We can''t blame them at all. But if we put them among the inexperienced recruits such as government officials, factory workers and urban residents, they will become strong pillars. "


    Kirilov, after listening to the slightly confused explanation, nodded, looked at oberstein and said with deep feeling, "Comrade oberstein, it''s really not easy for you to come up with such a good idea. We should know that the officers and men who have left their positions are not facing a long interrogation, but participating in the reconstituted troops. If you do this, the commanders and fighters will be grateful for your trust and care for them, so that they can become a great force, even if they go through fire and water, they will not hesitate. " After these words, kirilov turned to look at me and said with a smile, "Comrade teacher, it seems that we have chosen Comrade oberstein correctly. He is really the only one to do that job." When oberstein heard kirilov talking about him with me, he quickly stood up and asked, "teacher, commissar, don''t you know what important task you have to give me?"¡° Commissar oberstein, let me tell you about this. " Before I could speak to kirilov, akhromeyev had spoken first. It is more appropriate to think that they are from the front army of volhoff together, and that the chief of staff will personally give him the task. So instead of standing up, I sat in my seat and listened quietly to akhromeyev''s assignment to him. When shejerikov heard that soon after, a new regiment was going to join the independent division, he could not help clapping his thigh and even yelling that he would suffer a loss. He also said that if he spoke later, maybe the division would be divided into several hundred recruits. After listening, kirilov made fun of him and said, "Comrade commander, it''s only because you are not steady enough. If you speak a few minutes later, maybe the division commander will give you one third of the new regiment. But I don''t need it now. Anyway, you have more than 2000 or nearly 3000 people, so there is no need to supplement them at all. We''d better assign these soldiers to other regiments. In the recent battle, they have also been severely reduced. " Xiejerikov refused to give up the fat and asked kirilov with a smile: "is it OK to give me 100 veterans to enrich the fighting backbone of the regiment?"¡° Comrade commander, there is no backbone of the new regiment. " I stood up and said to shijerikov solemnly, "they are all new recruits who have just been recruited from the city and the countryside. They can''t even use weapons. That''s why we have to transfer oberstein political commissar to be specially responsible for the training of these recruits."

 Chapter 702

    The first regiment has added more than 2000 soldiers. Although xiejerikov has made a detailed report to us, I still have doubts about the current combat effectiveness of the first regiment. After all, it will take time to test whether it really has the kind of strong combat effectiveness that he described after adding so many soldiers.


    While akhromeyev was still in oberstein, the telephone on the desk rang. I was so close to the phone that I grabbed it. Trikov''s voice came from the receiver. He asked with a smile, "o''shanina, I''ve contacted general Petrov. He promised to send you a telegram to explain this. Don''t you know you''ve received his telegram?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." I replied respectfully: "in the telegram, general Petrov specifically mentioned captain Karpov, and said that if he had withdrawn from Odessa at that time, he would have won the red flag medal for his outstanding performance in the battlefield. Although there is no further information about captain Karpov, I think we have a chance of success in the next action he will take. "


    Trekov was silent for a while, and finally said slowly, "well, since you are so confident, try it. If we fail, we have nothing to lose; But if it succeeds, it will affect the morale of the enemy. Who are you going to send to carry out this arduous task? "


    "After the study of our division leaders, we decided to send Comrade safchenko. Like political commissar kirilov, he comes from the Political Department of the group army and is absolutely reliable politically. "


    "Well, now that you have the right person, do it boldly. I''m waiting for the news of your success."


    As soon as I put down the phone, kirilov nervously asked, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the matter? What did the commander say?"


    I nodded at him and replied with a smile, "don''t worry, comrade political commissar and commander have agreed with us. Let''s go ahead."


    Xiejerikov didn''t know what we were talking about. After we finished speaking, he couldn''t help but ask me curiously, "Sir, are you going to carry out any big plan?"


    I waved to the curious baby, shijerikov, and said with a smile: "go, go, don''t pry. At your level, you are not qualified to know."


    Xie jerikov was scolded twice by me, and his face was still a smiley face. He also said half jokingly and half seriously: "Sir, political commissar, I want to make an agreement with you about what war to fight. We must not forget the regiment. We must know that the combat effectiveness of our regiment is no worse than at its peak."


    "Are you telling the truth, commander sergeant kirikov?" I can''t help but be curious to hear that Xie jerikov once again mentioned the combat effectiveness of the regiment. Based on my understanding of him, although I didn''t think he was bragging, I still asked him seriously, "can your regiment''s fighting capacity now really match that of the past?"


    "Comrade teacher, I will cheat you. Of course, it''s true." "If you don''t believe it, you can go to see it for yourself," he said


    "Just have a look," he said. I really wanted to go to a regiment. "I''ll go with you now. I''ll see for myself how powerful your regiment is now."


    When kirilov heard that I was going to a regiment, he quickly stood up to stop me: "Comrade oshanina, you have been in danger for several hours. How can you forget so soon?" In order to make me change my mind, he earnestly advised me, "you are the head of a division, and your position is in the division headquarters, rather than running around like a company commander."


    When he heard kirilov''s words, he immediately asked with concern, "Comrade division, you are in danger today. What''s the matter?"


    Akhromeyev, who had just finished his assignment to oberstein, just heard this and immediately explained to him: "at daybreak, the German army launched an attack on the position of the fourth regiment. The division commander wanted to know about the fighting, so he ran to the observation post on the hillside without even a guard. Unexpectedly, as soon as the German army''s attack on the fourth regiment was repulsed, a German army in our uniform touched the mountain and exchanged fire with the officers and soldiers of the second regiment in the position. "


    "Wait, are you talking about the German army in our uniform?" Oberstein, who had never spoken, suddenly said, "have you confirmed it? It can''t be our deserter?"


    Oberstein''s words stunned me for a moment. From the beginning of the distress, I always disguised the attacking team as a German. Besides, I searched a corpse and didn''t find any documents that could prove the identity of the other party.


    While I was silent, akhromeyev had picked up the phone on the table. From his address, I can tell that he is calling the command post of the second regiment. After all, today''s fighting took place in the defense area of the regiment, and the dozens of German corpses are still on their positions. It is most appropriate to know the identity of the attackers through the second regiment.


    However, before akhromeyev asked why, I had a clear idea in my mind. I said to oberstein confidently, "I can confirm that it was the German who attacked us. Because when I was trapped in a blast hole with the second commander, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg, I heard the voices of the soldiers outside. They all spoke German. "


    After akhromeyev put down the phone, he reported to me: "Comrade division commander, political commissar verol reported that more than ten military certificates were found on the bodies of the attackers. From the above, they are all from the 184th infantry division. "


    "184th infantry division, Colonel coida''s unit." Kirilov read the serial number akhromeyev had just given him, shook his head with a sneer, and then said with regret: "this division was ordered to withdraw to the East Bank of the Volga River for recuperation and replenishment as early as September 15 because of the serious reduction of its personnel in the battle. There is no doubt that this unit must have been disguised by the German army. Unfortunately, we don''t know which unit they came from. "


    I turned to shijerikov and said, "Comrade commander, political commissar oberstein will not go back with you later. He will stay and have more important work to do. During the period when he left, you were responsible for everything in the regiment. " After that, regardless of whether there was a look of resentment on his face, he turned to look at kirilov and said, "political commissar, I plan to go to a regiment to see how their regiment''s actual combat power is at present."


    Kirilov listened to me and unexpectedly didn''t object any more. He pondered for a moment and finally said to me solemnly, "Comrade oshanina, I don''t object to your going to a regiment, but it''s not safe on the road. Take more guards with you. In this case, major akhromeyev and I will feel at ease. " At this point, he turned to ahlomeyev and asked, "don''t you think so, chief of staff?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." After akhromeyev answered this sentence, he picked up the phone on the desk and said, "I''ll call captain basmanov and ask him to take two guard classes and follow the division commander."


    When I was about to leave with xiejerikov, kirilov pointed at me with his index finger and kindly reminded me again: "Comrade oshanina, I ask you to remember that you are a division commander. Don''t try to be brave and fight face to face with the enemy like an ordinary soldier with a gun."


    "Don''t worry, comrade political commissar." After shejerikov looked at me, he said to kirilov, "I''m responsible for the safety of my teacher. I won''t let her have an accident."


    Kirilov, after listening to sergeikov''s words, came over, reached out his hands, grasped his arm, and slapped him twice to express his gratitude. Then he smiles and nods at me, which is a kind of acquiescence.


    When we got to the foot of the mountain, although it was not dark yet, looking around, there was no one. It was so quiet that people felt scared.


    When shejerikov came, he brought five guards with him, and I brought twenty more. When the people on both sides came together, the number was really large. Shejerikov looked up at the sky and said to me in a pleading tone: "Comrade teacher, we are going together with so many people. The goal is too big. If the enemy planes show up, we will be the targets of air strikes. "


    "What do you say to do?" I know that he is concerned about my comfort. Although he is dissatisfied, he temporarily gives him the command of the small troops.


    "Divide the existing people into three groups, with ten people in each group. During the March, each group was separated by 30 meters. In this way, we will not have too big a goal when we march. "


    "Well, well, listen to you and do as you say." I readily agreed with him.


    Half an hour later, we came to the residential area where a regiment was stationed. Since I came here last time, I have been bombed many times. Some houses have been blown down, some houses have only one or two walls blown down, and the intact houses can no longer be seen.


    Around a half collapsed house, came to a piece of rubble of open land, I saw here gathered a team of hundreds of people. They were forming up when we came. Seeing this scene, I couldn''t help asking xiejerikov curiously: "Comrade commander, what are they doing?"


    "Yes, sir." "At the roadside side of the building, we have company soldiers on duty and on guard," shejerikov explained to me. The reason for this arrangement is that the traffic is inconvenient. If there are only a few people, by the time they give the battle alarm, the enemy will have almost rushed into our camp. If the company is the unit, even if the enemy has a large force coming, it can also block the enemy while issuing the battle alarm and wait for the main force of the regiment to enter the position. "


    I nodded with satisfaction at the arrangement of shejerikov, and then asked, "how often do the guard troops change posts?"


    "Every eight hours. The three battalions took turns in guarding. There are three companies in each battalion, so that each company can participate in the mission. "


    The appearance of such a large group of us immediately attracted the attention of the assembled commanders and fighters. The captain, who stood in front of the queue and gave orders, saw that the soldiers were standing neatly, and trotted all the way to meet us. When he came to us, he raised his hand just to salute xiejerikov. Suddenly, he found that there was a man with a higher rank next to him, and I was stunned.


    Seeing the captain in a daze, xiejerikov said with a smile, "this is our division commander, Colonel oshanina. Please report to him."


    The captain quickly raised his hand to salute me, and at the same time, loudly reported: "Comrade division commander, Captain grakov reports to you that the Third Battalion and the ninth company have assembled and are preparing to exchange defense with the friendly forces. Please give us your instructions!"


    "Captain grakov," I replied politely, looking at the strange captain in front of me, "go on the mission."


    The captain agreed, turned and ran back to the line, calling for his troops to take over the defense of the friendly forces. Looking at his back as he left, shejerikov introduced to me: "this captain is from the 87th Infantry Division. When the division was ordered to retreat and replenish on September 14, he did not leave with the troops, but stayed in the city with more than a dozen soldiers to continue fighting. Two days ago, he and his comrades in arms broke up by the enemy and inadvertently broke into the defense area of our regiment. I saw that he had rich combat experience and was also a commander, so I left him in the regiment as a company commander. " At this point, he pestered me again, "Mr. commander, our regiment is really short of commanders now. Can you find a way to transfer some to me?"


    "Where can I get it for you?" I was not angry and said: "otherwise, I''ll come to be your company commander."


    "No, no," I said, shaking his hand and saying in a voice. "At your level, if I want to be a company commander in my regiment, I can only be a soldier in my regiment." Then he continued to plead and said, "think of a way, sir. I''m still short of a battalion commander in the second battalion, so you can help me solve the problem, OK?"


    "Where can I find a battalion commander for you?"?! I''m not going to be a big change... "I just said that, suddenly thinking of a candidate, I stopped what I said in time. Instead, I cautiously said," if you really want a battalion commander, I have a suitable candidate? "


    Hearing this, sherry cofton was overjoyed and asked repeatedly, "who is it? Do I know him? "


    "That man''s name is shereblenny. He''s a second lieutenant in the second regiment. Some time ago, I asked him to lead his troops into the Soviet street to help the 42nd regiment defend. In order to strengthen their determination to hold the position, I promoted shereblenny to lieutenant at that time, and publicly announced that if they could hold on until October 5, I would give each person in the company a rank. "


    After listening to me, Xie jerikov first looked happy, then a little worried, and then hesitated to ask: "Sir, you have transferred the commander of the second regiment to my regiment, won''t Colonel Oleg have any opinion?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." I said carelessly, "when shereblenny and his department were demoted to Soviet street, commander Oleg was still the fifth commander in your current station. He didn''t know that shereblenny was there. That''s it. After the fifth, I''ll transfer captain shereblenny and his company to you


    "Sir, didn''t you just say Lieutenant? Why did you become captain again?" Asked chejerikov, mistily.


    I was so angry that I gave him a kick and scolded, "what did you do when I was talking just now? Didn''t you hear me say that if his troops stick to the Soviet street until October 5th, I will give them all a rank."


    Just then, the soldiers who were replaced by Jiulian came out of several buildings nearby. Looking at these miscellaneous troops in different clothes and with different types of weapons, I asked with great interest, "Comrade commander, these are the troops that you have just collected? Looking at their clothes and weapons in a mess, I don''t know what their combat effectiveness is? "


    "Don''t worry about it," shejerikov confidently said to me. "Although many of them just took up arms, they all trained very hard. In less than one day, they all learned to shoot."


    When I heard what Xie jerikov said, I couldn''t help rolling a white eye at him. My heart said that when I participated in military training in school, I learned to shoot guns in only ten minutes, and I could dismantle guns skillfully in one day. When I was about to reproach him, I suddenly saw a young girl with a bandage on her head, carrying a rifle, passing in front of me.


    I quickly called out: "girl, please wait a moment."


    The girl stopped, turned around and looked me up and down. The round faced girl raised her hand and saluted me with a less standard military salute. With a smile, she politely asked, "Comrade commander, did you call me?"


    I nodded, pointed to the bandage on her head and asked, "how did you get that injury on your head?"


    The girl''s smile froze on her face. She gritted her teeth and said, "it was they who hurt her."


    "Who? Who is it? " The girl''s words made me suddenly angry. I wondered in my heart whether it was a soldier who wanted to be rude to her because he saw other people''s beauty, and then hurt her because of resistance. So I looked around and asked angrily, "who did it?"


    My fierce expression startled all the people present. After a while, xiejerikov, who was standing beside me, first came back to himself and explained to me with a smile: "Comrade teacher, you misunderstood me. The girl''s head was injured by a German. "


    "Yes, comrade commander, he was wounded by the German." The girl also understood that I had made trouble and said to me in a hurry, "my place is occupied by the Germans. The Germans have caught me and my neighbors who are hiding in the basement. When they asked us to dig fortifications, I took advantage of the fact that the German soldiers on guard didn''t pay attention, called several companions, and ran out along the half dug trench. As a result, in the middle of the race, they were found by the Germans. Their machine guns on the armored car swept towards us. Several of their companions were killed on the spot, and I was also injured. Fortunately, there was a crater beside me. I jumped in without hesitation and escaped¡° Are you used to it here? " "Shall I arrange for you to go to the East Bank of the Volga?" I asked The girl shook her head like a rattle and answered firmly, "commander, thank you for your kindness. I''ll stay here and fight against the German devils with you to avenge our sacrifice." Then he turned around and ran away without looking back. Looking at the girl''s back, I asked him thoughtfully, "are there many women soldiers like this in your regiment?" Shejerikov shook his head and said, "not much, only a dozen. Because they have been trained by the militia and know some military skills, I have temporarily incorporated them into the fighting forces. "¡° Let them stay in the fighting forces for a while, "I sighed." after a while, we''ll arrange for them to go to the health team or the communications company. For female soldiers, those units are the most suitable for them. "¡° Yes, I will arrange it myself. " After saying this, he looked left and right, and then said to me in a pleading tone, "Comrade division, it''s not safe outside. Let''s go to the regiment headquarters first."

 Chapter 703

    I sat in the headquarters of shejerikov''s regiment for less than five minutes. Before the black tea in front of me was even cold, a second lieutenant ran in in in a hurry. Without any respect, he reported to shejerikov: "Comrade commander, a German army is coming in our direction." The second lieutenant''s report excited shijerikov, because it was a good time to show me the combat effectiveness of a regiment. He asked excitedly, "how many enemies have come?"¡° There was probably a company, "the second lieutenant recalled." according to our soldiers'' reports, only one armored vehicle was operating with the enemy infantry, and no heavy weapons were found. " Hearing that the enemy had only one company and no heavy weapons except armored vehicles, chejerikov flushed with excitement. He said to me, "Comrade division commander, the enemy has only one company. With the strength of our regiment, we can easily wipe them out." I nodded and said to him flatly, "our troops are several times as many as the enemy''s. even if we can''t annihilate them completely, we can still inflict heavy damage on them. Get your men together and give them orders. " After getting my permission, shejerikov raised his head and said to the second lieutenant, "Comrade second lieutenant, call the commanders of the first and second battalions immediately." The second lieutenant agreed, turned and ran out of the headquarters. In less than two minutes, the room was full of more than a dozen commanders of the first and second battalions. They were all around the table, listening to the instructions given by Xie jerikov. The first battalion was deployed on the south side of the road, within the ruins of the city; Two battalions, together with three battalions and nine companies on guard, were deployed in residential areas. When the German troops entered the ambush circle, with the sound of gunfire as the signal, the troops ambushed on both sides of the road opened fire together, striving to eliminate the absolute majority of the enemy in the shortest time. When you see a red signal bomb rising, all the troops should charge without hesitation to annihilate the remaining enemy. But after all the commanders left, xiejerikov said to me with a smile, "Comrade division, all the arrangements have been made. Do you have any instructions? " Looking at the empty headquarters, I secretly scolded the other commanders for leaving. It''s useless for me to give instructions now. I snorted and said angrily, "I want to see how you can eliminate this enemy." My words startled Xie jerikov, and he quickly persuaded me: "Sir, it''s too dangerous ahead. You''d better stay here and wait for the news." I said reluctantly, "how can I know the combat effectiveness of a regiment if I don''t go to the battlefield to have a look? No, no matter what you say today, I''m going to fight. " Xiejerikov knew something about my stubbornness. Listening to what I said, he knew that I couldn''t change my mind, so he had to harden his head and promise, "well, sir, since you are determined to go to the war, I will accompany you." In order to let me see the whole battlefield clearly, shijerikov took me to the fourth floor of the front building on the roadside. He pulled me to a hole blasted by a bomb, pointed to it and said, "Sir, you can stay here. You not only have a wide field of vision, but also are not easy to be hit by the enemy''s stray bullets." I looked left and right, and found that I was in the side of the building. There were windows on the left and right. The guards I brought occupied the favorable terrain by the window, put their weapons in the window and aimed at the downstairs. When I looked across the Road downstairs, I saw a battalion of officers and men hiding in the ruins and setting up their guns. That is to say, I can see where I am. If I march on the ground, I can''t find it unless I go very close. Shijerikov squatted beside me and asked in a flattering way, "Comrade division, do you still see this position clearly?" I looked ahead and asked without looking back, "when I was mobilizing my troops just now, didn''t the enemy find out?"¡° No, the enemy is far away from us, so we can''t find it. " After answering my question, he went on to explain, "the enemy will pass under the house where we are staying later. When they enter our ambush circle, I will send out a signal to let the heavy and heavy machine guns ambush on both sides of the road to fire decisively, first to hoodwink the enemy, and then to wipe them out a little bit." After a while, the enemy appeared in my field of vision, I quickly raised the telescope to look forward. I saw an armored car slowly moving in front, followed by a large group of German infantry, but they obviously did not find our ambush, and were slowly approaching us with guns. As the enemy approached, I couldn''t help yelling at the left and right guards in a low voice: "ready to fight!" I know that after listening to my praise, the faces of the commanders and fighters showed unexpected expressions, and their heads were raised high.

 Chapter 704

    The development of the war situation is more and more unfavorable to our side. In the coming days, the settlements, which had been calm, may become the targets of the German army. In order to understand the situation of the first regiment after it was moved, I stayed after the meeting to learn about the recent situation of the first regiment from Xie jerikov.


    Through the conversation, I know that after the first regiment entered the new camp, due to the limited strength at the beginning, the logistics forces of the group army did not let them act as temporary porters like the fifth regiment. In this way, they have the time and energy to devote themselves to development, so that they can develop and grow the team in a short period of time.


    As a matter of fact, when I was still in the division headquarters, I wanted to ask Xie jerikov, where did they come from when so many people were added? It''s impossible for everyone to bring their own weapons and food when they joined? On hearing my question, Xie jerikov replied with a smile: "Comrade division, you don''t know something. When the fifth regiment was still stationed here, they often sent small teams to fight guerrilla warfare with the Germans in the city. Every time they got something, they seized a lot of German weapons. When they left, most of them moved away, but the rest was enough for us to equip a battalion. After arming a battalion with these equipment, I sent them to the city from time to time to wipe out some isolated and scattered troops, and then bring back the captured equipment. "


    After hearing what he said, I asked suspiciously, "even if you send hundreds of soldiers to the city every day, how many weapons can you collect? Do you have more than 2000 or nearly 3000 people in your regiment?"


    "When our regiment pulled down from the Highlands, it had almost two battalions of equipment. Some of these weapons were collected from the dead Germans, and some were left from the arsenal of the 35th division of the guards. We moved them here with nothing left. Comrade oberstein, the political commissar, also specially organized a reception team. After dark, he sent them to the city to take in the scattered soldiers and refugees. On the other hand, he went to the places where the fighting had happened to collect the weapons left behind. In a few days, we have gained a lot. "


    When he said that, I immediately understood why all the commanders and fighters I saw were equipped with a variety of weapons, including both Soviet weapons and German weapons. Moreover, some of the weapons made by the Soviet Union were used to fight against the white bandits during the domestic revolution. However, in the current situation, it is obviously not obvious that all soldiers should use the same standard of weapons, so I did not entangle in this issue. Instead, I discussed with Xie jerikov about how to defend the residential areas.


    When our conversation came to an end, I was surprised to find that it was already dawn outside, and we had been talking all night unconsciously. I stood up, moved my hands and feet, and then said to him, "Comrade xijerikov, I will give you full responsibility for the defense of the residential areas. I believe that with your ability, there should be no problem keeping here. "


    Seeing that I was about to leave, he pointed to the German weapons on the table and said, "Sir, I don''t think you have any weapons on you. If you encounter with the enemy, it will be a troublesome thing. Why don''t you choose two weapons from here and let the political commissar have a look at the German equipment we have captured."


    Not to mention that the captured guns were OK. When I mentioned these weapons, I immediately felt like vomiting blood. It had been a good ambush, but because of a soldier''s nervousness, he opened fire ahead of time, exposed the target, scared the enemy away, and our plan was on the verge of success. During the meeting, I thought for several times that if the soldier had not died, would sjerikov have ordered him to be shot because of serious military discipline.


    I picked up the pistol on the table, looked at it, and put it back again. The failure rate of this kind of pistol is too high. If it gets stuck at the critical time, I can''t even save my life. After thinking about it, I picked up a submachine gun, took two clips out of the holster and put them into the pocket of my coat.


    When I returned to mamayev post under the protection of more than 20 security soldiers, I met savchenko at the gate of the headquarters. He was still wearing a German uniform and a white towel tied to his left arm. He had just come back, so that he didn''t even have time to change his uniform.


    I took him into the headquarters. After greeting kirilov and akhromeyev, I asked safchenko to sit down and report on the implementation of the counter insurgency mission.


    Safchenko stood straight in front of us and reported to us without expression: "last night, we arrived near the camp of Dongfang camp and attacked a patrol. Except for the taxi officer, the rest of the soldiers were tied up by us and hid in a hidden place. Then I took a few soldiers to pretend to be patrols and took the sergeant with me to take us into the camp.


    The sergeant took us to the command post in the barracks and met captain Karpov. When we mentioned our true identity to him, Karpov immediately pointed his gun at us and yelled out to the guards outside, trying to catch us all.


    Fortunately, at the critical moment, I suddenly thought of general Petrov''s telegram, and immediately thought that he mentioned his former superior. When he heard the general''s name, he was obviously stunned. Then he waved those guards who rushed in to leave and warned them that no one was allowed to tell what had happened, or they would be punished severely.


    In order to show my sincerity, I also asked the soldiers who followed me into the camp to leave and prepare to communicate with Karpov in private. After all, if there are many people who know something, it is inevitable that there will be the possibility of leakage. "


    "Comrade safchenko, you are right!" When kirilov heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting and praising safchenko. Then he urged him: "go on, what happened later?"


    "There were only me and him left in the command post. He asked me to sit down, looked me up and down, and then asked warily," who are you and what''s your purpose here? "


    I replied, "I am a political instructor of the independent division. I have come to talk with you on the order of my teacher and political commissar. I hope you will get lost and turn to the light."


    After hearing this, he was surprised and asked, "is it the independent division who sticks to the mamayev post?"


    I nodded and said with certainty, "yes, it is the independent division who is on the mamayev post and makes it impossible for the Germans to move forward."


    After listening to this, Karpov''s face became very ugly. After a while, he said, "what''s the purpose of your coming here today? Is it to persuade me to surrender?"


    "You can say that!" Seeing that he told me what I came for, I would not beat around the bush with him and say to him frankly: "however, I came more for you, Captain Karpov. I''m afraid you don''t know. In the eyes of your old superior, general Petrov, you are an excellent commander. If you left Odessa with him, you might be his battalion commander or even commander now. "


    "What?" Karpov stood up with some gaffe and paced back and forth in the tent, his face uncertain. After a long time, he hesitated and asked, "after a long time, does general Petrov remember me?"


    I also stood up, went to him, and said to him in a low voice, "Comrade General told us that what he has never forgotten is that in the battle of defending Odessa, when you were talking with him, when the German attacked, you left the telephone to fight for bayonets with the enemy."


    After hearing these words, the muscles on Karpov''s face twitched violently. He stood still, as if thinking about where he should go


    "It seems that your words have shaken his heart." When I heard this, I couldn''t help but put in a word, because I couldn''t guess the final result from savchenko''s expressionless face, so I had to ask him for an answer: "what did he say in the end?"


    "After thinking for a long time, Karpov sat down in his position again and hesitated to say:" according to the order issued by Stalin, we captured commanders and fighters belong to the traitors of our motherland. What I really want to know now is what kind of fate will be waiting for us if we return to the army anyway. "


    After hearing his sharp question, I hesitated for a long time. Finally, I could only vaguely tell him: "Comrade division commander once said in person that once you lead the army, she can ensure the safety of all of you."


    After listening to me, he hesitated for a while, put forward several conditions, and said that if we can meet all his conditions, he can lead the troops to come here. "


    "What conditions?" Kirilov asked nervously.


    "Karpov put forward four conditions: first, the personal safety of all officers and men in the battalion must be guaranteed. Because they were selected from the captivity camp and incorporated into the East camp, they fought with their former compatriots in different places and caused varying degrees of losses to those troops.


    Second, the organizational structure of the eastern battalion should not be disrupted. Political workers can be dispatched, but the existing officers cannot leave the troops, and the soldiers cannot be dispersed into other troops.


    Third, we must ensure the safety of our dependents. As far as he knows, many relatives of the captured officers and soldiers were sent to Siberia, which had a great impact on the morale of the troops. So I hope we can contact our superiors and pardon the exiled families of the officers and soldiers.


    Fourth, the choice of time. Today''s barracks are in the pockets of several German divisions. If they are transferred without authorization, they will be found by the surrounding German forces and will not be able to escape from their encirclement. So we can only choose the German army to act when they are fighting with our army and relax their vigilance, so as to ensure that the whole battalion can be pulled out smoothly. "


    When safchenko finished, he was silent, waiting for us to express our opinions. As for the four conditions proposed by Karpov, I have thought about them in my heart, which is quite reasonable. But is it workable under the specific political environment of the Soviet Union? Based on this consideration, I did not immediately express my position. Instead, I asked kirilov for his opinions: "Comrade political commissar, what do you think of these four conditions?"


    As soon as kirilov slapped the table, he stood up and said angrily, "shameful traitor, you dare to bargain with us. In my opinion, we should immediately send out night Raiders to wipe them out, and send all their relatives and friends to Siberia to work hard all their lives. "


    Kirilov''s attitude is completely in my expectation, and it should still be the view of most people at present. Otherwise, safchenko''s expression will not be so serious when he tells about his meeting with Karpov.


    Instead of taking kirilov''s words, I continued to ask akhromeyev, "Comrade chief of staff, what do you think of Captain Karpov''s four conditions?" Akhromeyev first glanced at kirilov, then said cautiously: "according to the telegram from general Petrov to us, this Karpov had made achievements before. If he had not been captured by the German army, he might have made more contributions in the battlefield now. Personally, I think we should strive for such a commander with rich combat experience. In the words of the division commander, if Karpov''s troops can join our army, they will strengthen our army and weaken the enemy. At the same time, it will also be a huge blow to the enemy''s morale. " Akhromeyev''s words made my face smile. It seems that he understood exactly what I thought in my heart and directly supported my point of view in his words. When he finished, I nodded and said slowly, "commissar, chief of staff, I personally agree with Captain Karpov''s four conditions. However, before making the final decision, it is better to report it to the headquarters of the group army and let the commander and the comrades of the military commissar make a judgment first. "¡° Is that all right? " Kirilov was frightened by what I said. He habitually looked left and right first, and found that the room was full of his own people. This is why he asked with scruples about my practice of handing over contradictions: "Comrade Stalin once publicly announced that we have no prisoners of war, only traitors of our motherland. Now you have to report the four conditions proposed by the traitor to the higher authorities. Aren''t you afraid of causing trouble? Perhaps the commander and the comrades of the military commissar will be furious when they hear these four conditions. " I waved my hand and said euphemistically, "Comrade political commissar, you are worried too much. I have reported my plan to the headquarters and obtained the consent of the commander and the military Commissar. No matter what conditions the other party put forward, I think the leaders at the higher level have already been psychologically prepared. Besides, I personally don''t think that Captain Karpov''s four conditions are excessive. If it''s not for my limited power, I can make my own decisions and agree to them. "

 Chapter 705

    Before I called trakov, I suddenly thought of another thing, so I moved my hand away from the phone and asked savchenko tentatively, "Comrade savchenko, is there a German soldier monitoring group in the eastern battalion?"


    Safchenko nodded and replied positively, "yes, according to captain Karpov, there is a soldier monitoring group of five German soldiers in the camp."


    Hearing his reply, my heart suddenly became bottomless. I could not help but ask nervously, "did the Germans not find out about your entering the camp?"


    Safchenko thought about it and said in an uncertain tone, "I don''t think I found it."


    "Yes or no? Comrade safchenko, I don''t want to hear your ambiguous answer. I want to know the exact answer. " Kirilov said to safchenko in a serious tone: "because it is related to the success or failure of our counter insurgency."


    Kirilov''s words were very serious. Safchenko frowned and began to think hard. After a long time, he still reported in a hesitant tone: "I''m really not sure whether the teachers and political commissars have been discovered by the Germans. However, according to captain Karpov, in order to ensure the safety of artillery positions, the Germans stayed with several heavy howitzers all day long and rarely went to other places. The camp where we met was near the entrance of the camp, hundreds of meters away from the German artillery position


    Kirilov''s face became dignified, and he kindly advised me: "Comrade oshanina, I think we should be careful in this matter. Before we find out whether our private contact with Captain Karpov is discovered by the German, I don''t think we should report to the headquarters for the time being, and at the same time, the ongoing counterinsurgency work should be suspended."


    From the bottom of my heart, kirilov''s proposal is the safest one. If we report to the headquarters from the front foot here, Karpov''s back foot will be taken by the German. If we don''t talk about it in vain, we will lose the face of the superior leaders. Based on this consideration, I can''t help hesitating.


    Kirilov saw that I was not in a hurry to call trikov, so he said while the iron was hot: "Comrade oshanina, I know your starting point is to change the current unfavorable situation. But have you ever thought that even if we agreed to Karpov''s request and took them out, there would be only one more army with weak combat effectiveness, while the Germans would be just one less rebel force of no importance, which would not have a great impact on the situation in the whole Stalingrad area. "


    "Comrade political commissar, you can''t say that." I refuted kirilov''s point in time. I tried to recall the historical knowledge that later generations had learned and analyze the current situation for him: "Comrade political commissar, you can''t underestimate the influence of the East camp. As far as I know, after the German defeat in Moscow, the policy towards prisoners of war also changed. With Hitler''s acquiescence in Xi''an, German commanders began to select people from China''s ethnic minorities and prisoners of war to form the so-called "Oriental army.". So far, the German army has formed 11 battalions of Armenian army, 14 battalions of Azerbaijani army, 14 battalions of Georgia army, 5 battalions of Caucasian army, 34 battalions of Turkestan army and 8 battalions of Volga Tatar army. In August this year, after the German southern group army captured Elista, the capital of the Autonomous Republic of kalmek in the Soviet Union, Germany vigorously carried out anti Soviet propaganda in this kalmek Mongolian community, and successfully recruited 3000 kalmek Mongols who were deceived by them. "


    Not only kirilov, but also akhromeyev and safchenko were stunned by the series of data I gave out. After a while, kirilov asked cautiously, "Comrade oshanina, are these data accurate?"


    I nodded hard and said with certainty, "yes, what I''m talking about is just the information of early September. Maybe now the German army has set up a new east battalion, maybe." At this point, I suddenly made up my mind to report Karpov''s conditions to trikov, and it was up to them to decide what to do with it. However, the first thing to do is to persuade kirilov, who has been wavering in front of him. "Comrade political commissar, in fact, the Germans are always worried about the officers and men of the eastern Legion. They are worried that they will fight back in the war. Therefore, they scattered these troops as battalions into various German forces, and sent a soldier monitoring team to achieve the purpose of control. Once the rebellion is successful, it can serve the purpose of disintegrating the Oriental army. If we give up fighting for them, it is possible for them to strengthen their confidence in playing for the Germans. In this way, we will virtually push them to our opposite side. "


    After hearing this, kirilov stood up from his seat and said firmly to me, "Comrade oshanina, you are right. No matter whether our contact with Karpov is discovered by the German or not, we should report it immediately. Well, I''ll call trakov myself With that, he reached for the phone on the desk.


    I reached out and held his hand on the microphone, shook my head at him and said, "Comrade political commissar, I am not only the chief military officer in the division, but also the advocator of this counter campaign. Anyway, it is up to me to report this matter to the higher authorities. Even if the superior blames me and dismisses me, I can rest assured that you and akhromeyev are in the division. " With that, I gently pushed his hand, picked up the phone on the desk, and dialed the headquarters of the group army.


    When I heard trakov''s voice, I gave him a detailed report on my contact with Karpov and the other party''s four conditions. After that, I added: "Comrade commander, this is the situation. I personally think that we can accept the four conditions proposed by Karpov. "


    After listening to me, trekov unexpectedly didn''t speak. After a long silence, he sighed softly and said helplessly: "I can achieve the rest of the conditions, but I have to ensure the safety of my dependents. I can''t make decisions at will. As you know, according to the orders issued by the supreme command, almost all the families of deserters and captured soldiers are exiled. What''s more, we don''t know where the officers and soldiers under Karpov are from, what''s their name, and how to help them find the whereabouts of their relatives? "


    After listening to trakov''s euphemism, I hesitated to suggest to him, "when I get in touch with him next time, I''ll ask Karpov to remove this condition and change it to a new condition that we can accept?"


    "New conditions?" After listening to what I said, trekov became interested again. He asked curiously, "o''shanina, what kind of new terms do you think he would put forward if he changed his terms?"


    I thought hard and answered trakov, "if you ask me to make conditions, I will propose that we should be transferred to other combat areas after the troops are out of order, so as to avoid direct fighting with other Eastern battalion troops."


    Trekov gave a hum, and then said thoughtfully, "I also think that if you ask him to raise the condition again, it''s really possible to raise the condition you said. Although the commanders of the eastern battalions come from different places, the soldiers below are inextricably linked. If they are allowed to turn their guns to fight with their fellow countrymen or friends, the troops may have internal strife. "


    "Comrade commander, since you have agreed to the other party''s three conditions in principle." When do you think I should send someone to make a second contact


    "No, it''s not urgent for the time being." "At present, I can''t give you an accurate answer. I need to ask the superior for instructions. I''ll let you know when there is a result," he said noncommittally


    After I put down the phone, akhromeyev couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade division commander, what did the commander say? Did he agree to the other party''s terms?"


    "The commander said that the matter should be postponed until he asks for instructions from his superiors."


    "Why Akhromeyev asked mistily.


    "Cough," kirilov next to him coughed twice. When everyone''s attention was focused on him, he turned to safchenko standing next to him and said kindly, "Comrade safchenko, you''ve been busy all night, are you tired? Go back quickly and have a good rest. I''ll send someone to let you know if there''s anything


    Safchenko said nothing, raised his hand to salute and turned to leave.


    As soon as safchenko left, kirilov sighed and said leisurely, "commander trakov has done right. This matter matters a lot. If there is no agreement from a higher level leader and there is any mistake in the future, none of us can run away."


    As for kirilov''s statement, akhromeyev said unconvinced: "Comrade political commissar, I don''t see any mistake in doing so? Moreover, if we succeed, we will not only strengthen our enemies and weaken them, but also severely damage their morale. "


    "What do you know?" Kirilov snorted heavily at akhromeyev and said angrily, "have you forgotten about Marshal Kulik?"


    Kirilov''s words were like a forbidden spell on akhromeyev. He immediately closed his mouth and sat back in his place without saying a word.


    Seeing this scene, I was confused and asked kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, what''s the matter? What happened to marshal Kulik? " In my memory, apart from killing three marshals during the Great Purge, Stalin never killed another marshal. Besides, the name of Kulik doesn''t sound familiar.


    Kirilov looked around warily, then said in a voice only audible to the three of us: "after the Great Patriotic War, the Supreme Commander himself sent three of his five marshals to the central front to supervise the western front. Krakov is the representative of the base camp. Like marshal bujoni, his personal bravery is beyond doubt. Unfortunately, almost as soon as Kulik went to the battlefield, he fell into chaos and even lost contact with the rear. For a long time, Stalin and the Soviet supreme command were afraid that he would be surrounded by the German army or even captured by the German army, so they sent several groups of people to look for him. When he finally found Kulik in the chaotic battlefield, he found that the representative of the supreme command was not commanding the battle in the headquarters, but performing the duty of a company commander, busy intercepting and organizing the retreating scattered soldiers, and retreating while fighting. After this incident, comrade Stalin began to have doubts about his old comrade in arms'' ability to master the troops and cope with complicated situations.


    Soon after, Stalin transferred him to Leningrad as commander of the 54th army. As the 54th group army is an independent group army directly under the headquarters, which is responsible for the operations in volhof and the MGA bulge, its strength far exceeds that of the general group army. Moreover, the commander of Leningrad''s front army who had the right to guide him in combat at that time was marshal voloshlov, Kulik''s old superior. But soon, general Zhukov was ordered to take over the command of Leningrad''s front army from voroshlov, and soon clashed with Kulik. At that time, Zhukov asked Kulik to immediately launch an attack from the outside to the MGA bulge, in order to contain the German offensive to Leningrad and ease the dilemma of the Leningrad garrison. Kulik believes that with his current strength and equipment, the attack is only possible to fail, so he has repeatedly delayed. From the situation of the enemy and ourselves at that time, Kulik might be right, but Zhukov thought from the overall situation of the campaign. Even if Kulik''s offensive was defeated, it could still help the situation in Leningrad. Oshanina, you have been dealing with general Zhukov for quite a long time. You should know that he has a very tough personality. Even though Kulik''s rank is higher than him and he is directly under the base camp, he still sticks to his own opinions and tries to command Kulik. In the end, the lawsuit reached the Supreme Commander himself. Stalin transferred Kulik from the front line of Leningrad and gave Zhukov full power to command all the troops in Leningrad.


    Marshal Kulik was sent to the Kerch Peninsula to command the battle. Unexpectedly, in just a few days, because of his command error, the entire crimson Peninsula except Sevastopol was occupied. This time, marshal Kulik thoroughly angered the benefactor of the supreme commander, and soon he was deprived of his rank of Marshal, the title of Soviet hero and all state-level rewards by the special court of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union and the rostrum of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union for the charges of ineffective fighting and defeatism, and was demoted to private soldier. "


    When I heard that the Marshal''s rank had been stripped to the end, I became a private soldier. When I think about the past when I was demoted from major general to major, I feel very lucky. I feel much luckier than him. Then I asked kirilov curiously in a low voice, "Comrade political commissar, where was Kulik transferred after he was demoted to private?"


    Kirilov heard my question, shrugged his shoulders and said, "he was reappointed as major general one month after he was demoted. It seems that he went to a newly formed army to be the artillery commander. After all, he is the founder of the artillery of the Red Army. He is known as the artillery king of charijin."


    I learned from kirilov''s seemingly irrelevant long speech that no matter how capable you were before, once the supreme commander had a bad impression on you, your future would be almost over. But at the same time, kirilov also suggested that Zhukov is the most favorite in front of the supreme commander. Many things are possible to succeed as long as they pass through the new deputy commander.


    Just as I was thinking about whether I should send a telegram to Zhukov to report my situation to the old superior, the telephone on the desk rang first. Hearing the sudden ringing of the bell, I can''t help but clatter in my heart. I said in secret that there would be nothing wrong with it?


    Akhromeyev picked up the phone and just said a few words. He suddenly stood up from his seat and handed me the phone in his hands. At the same time, he respectfully said, "Comrade teacher, it''s general Zhukov. He wants to talk to you in person."


    When I heard that it was Zhukov''s phone call, I couldn''t help but be stunned. What did he call for? Then he thought that it was trekov who reported the rebellion to him, and he called in person to ask. He quickly grabbed the microphone in akhromeyev''s hand, drew close to his ear, took a deep breath, and said respectfully, "Hello, senior general. I''m oshanina. Do you have any instructions?"


    When talking, Zhukov would never be polite, nor would he exchange greetings with the caller first. Every time, Zhukov was straight to the point, and this time was no exception. He just asked in a loud voice: "Comrade trakov called me and said that you are trying to plot against a rebel army that betrays the motherland. Tell me, what do you think? "


    As soon as Zhukov opened his mouth, he identified Karpov''s troops as rebels. If I was ready, I didn''t know what to say. Seeing my delay in speaking, Zhukov urged impatiently, "Hello, Rita, why don''t you speak? My time is precious. I can only give you a few minutes to explain your reasons. If you can''t convince me, then your plan must be cancelled unconditionally. "


    After Zhukov''s attack, I calmed down. After sorting out my thoughts, I said with a smile: "senior general, maybe many people have told you that the officers and soldiers of the Dongfang battalion are not effective. However, no matter how poor their combat effectiveness is, they are also soldiers who have fought. As long as we fight with them, even if we have the advantage, there will still be losses. It can be imagined that if we can make them turn their guns to attack the Germans, we will certainly let the Germans deploy some troops to guard against them. In this way, we will be able to reduce the pressure on the front, put the saved troops into the areas in urgent need, and even change the contrast between the enemy and ourselves on the local battlefield. "


    "Even if you plot against this battalion, their forces are limited, which will not have a great impact on the balance of forces between the enemy and ourselves in the whole Stalingrad area. Is it necessary to work so hard? " From Zhukov''s words, I can see that although he is a little moved, he has obvious scruples at the same time.


    "Comrade General, I think so." For a leader as familiar as Zhukov, I have much less scruples when I speak, so I know everything I can say. "If captain Karpov''s troops Succeed anyway, the significance is not only that the forces of the enemy and us have changed, but also that it is important to strike the morale of the German Army against the rest of the eastern battalion troops. From then on, the German army will be wary of the rest of the eastern battalions. They will no longer be allowed to take part in the battle directly, or even be transferred far away from our army. In this way, the pressure we are facing will be reduced to varying degrees. " Finally, he added: "senior general, it''s not a day or two since I have this idea. I think we should not only strike the enemy militarily, but also fight a political war with them. We should separate those troops who are separated from them and strive for all the forces we can fight for to strengthen us. Even if those troops can''t be on the same front with us, we should make sure that they remain neutral in our fight with the German army, so as to reduce the pressure on us in our fight. "


    "You have a point." Zhukov finally said a word of praise to me, and then he talked about their views like an old friend: "although trakov reported to me yesterday about the plot you mentioned, he and you have two different views. You want to pull Karpov''s troops over, and trekov just wants to use them. Anyway, he uses the artillery in their camp to bombard the German camp around him. As for how many troops can finally emerge from the German encirclement, it''s natural. "


    Zhukov''s words scared me into a cold sweat. I didn''t expect that they just wanted to use Karpov once and for all. After using them, they were left to their own survival. Thinking of this, I asked Zhukov nervously, "Comrade General, I don''t know what you plan to do with Karpov''s troops?"


    "I can agree to captain Karpov''s four conditions except that of his dependents." Zhukov said decisively, "if you have time one day, I suggest you go to his camp in person and talk to him face to face to confirm his determination anyway. And they. Anyway, you must send the strongest troops to meet them. Even if all the troops dispatched are exhausted, it is necessary to ensure that Karpov''s troops will not suffer losses and minimize losses. As you have just said, the significance of Karpov''s east battalion is not only to change the forces of the enemy and us in some parts of the battlefield, but also to shake the enemy''s morale and effectively attack the enemy''s morale. "


    Zhukov''s words made me feel like a spring breeze. Thanks to his clear-cut support, I became more confident in the next rebellion. I vowed to him: "senior general, please rest assured that I will complete the task you have given me."


    When I put down the phone, I saw that kirilov and akhromeyev''s faces were filled with uncontrollable smiles. Knowing that they might have heard my conversation with Zhukov more or less, I said to them, "political commissar, chief of staff, general Zhukov, you must have heard my conversation just now, right?" Seeing that both of them nodded and admitted, I went on to say, "since our plan of plotting a rebellion has the support of senior general comrades, I believe that when we meet with Karpov again, we can strengthen his determination. Next, let''s discuss how we can take them out of danger if Dongfang camp is in any case? "


    No matter which direction they rush out from, they will inevitably have an exchange of fire with the German troops in one of the directions. Moreover, the German army''s battle formation in this area is particularly dense. Once the battle starts, if they can''t stand out the encirclement in the shortest time, the only thing waiting for them is the end of the whole army. Even if we send our troops, we will send more people to die.


    Akhromeyev saw us discuss for a long time, but he didn''t come up with a reasonable way. He was so angry that he patted the table and complained: "it''s really troublesome. Karpov''s east battalion is sandwiched between the three German divisions. If he wants to meet them, he must fight with the German troops. In the absence of air supremacy and tanks and artillery, if we want to enter the enemy''s heavily fortified areas, let alone a regiment, even if a division fills in, we will not be able to open a gap. "


    Although akhromeyev''s words were angry, they were also true. I looked at the map on the table and thought about the various ideas I had just discussed. I found that there was really no other way to take over the Karpov camp except for a strong attack. It seemed that I was too wishful thinking. At the thought of this, I can''t help feeling very depressed.


    After complaining, akhromeyev turned to kirilov and asked him, "Comrade political commissar, do you have any idea?"


    Kirilov sneered and said with disapproval, "since our troops can''t fight in and Karpov''s troops can''t fight out, otherwise just follow the train of thought of commander trakov. Karpov''s troops will kill the members of the soldier inspection team sent by the German army to the camp after all, and then turn the muzzle and fire towards the nearby German camp, As much as can be destroyed. When the shells are finished, we can find a way to break through the siege in the direction of mamayev post. What we can get out is what we can get out. "


    "No, not at all!" As soon as kirilov''s words were finished, I rejected them without hesitation: "we have spent so much effort to plot against the Karpov battalion. Although the change of forces between the enemy and us is only a small change, it can strike down the morale of the enemy and break the morale of the remaining Eastern army. Once we give up camp Karpov easily, those Eastern legions will die. These troops who are cold hearted to our performance will completely fall to the Germans and become a big trouble for us. So I firmly disagree with the political commissar. "

 Chapter 706

    After talking about my own views, I decisively ordered akhromeyev: "Comrade chief of staff, please call Lieutenant Mikhail yev, commander of the engineering company, immediately and ask him to come to the division headquarters. When you come here, you should go to the company headquarters of the second company of guards and invite captain gramus here


    Akhromeyev heard what I said and didn''t immediately execute it. Instead, he looked at me blankly. He might not understand why I gave him such an order and turned his eyes to kirilov.


    Kirilov also had a puzzled look on his face. He asked in a puzzled way, "Comrade oshanina, what do you want lieutenant mihayev and captain gramus to do here? Are they also connected with our rebellion?"


    "Yes," I said to kirilov with certainty, "we will have to deal with them a lot in the coming days. I think it''s better to have a real German commander in charge of the small detachment. With his familiarity with the German forces, he can easily get in and out of the German control area without fear of being detected. Captain gramus is undoubtedly the best choice. As for mihayev, because he is good at German, I specially asked him to work as a translator. "


    After kirilov understood my intention, he looked up at akhromeyev and urged him: "Comrade chief of staff, what are you waiting to do? Don''t call Lieutenant Mikhail as soon as possible."


    While akhromeyev was on the phone, kirilov humbly asked me, "Comrade oshanina, after we have established contact with Karpov, do you have any good way to rescue this army from the heavy encirclement of the enemy?"


    Looking at the blue arrow representing the German army on the map in front of me, I said with some helplessness: "now we still can''t figure out how many people Karpov''s troops are, what kind of equipment they have, what their combat effectiveness is, and how many people can follow Karpov after he announced that he will leave. Only when we have a clear understanding of these can we make targeted plans for the next step. I have two plans. One is to let their troops leave the camp quietly after dark, March eastward, arrive at the Volga River, join our troops, and then go up the stream to enter the mamayev post from the front of the fourth regiment. Second, when the German army launched an attack on our front, they took advantage of the slack guard of the German army to sneak out of the camp and enter our position southward through the open space between us and highland 107.5. "


    After listening to my two plans, kirilov stared at the map for a long time, but did not express his opinion. After a while, after listening to akhromeyev''s phone call, he raised his head and asked the other party, "chief of staff, what do you think of the two plans proposed by the division commander?"


    Akhromeyev frowned and thought about it, then said with a bitter smile: "how to say, although these two plans are better than the plan of sending troops to attack, there seems to be an important factor that has not been taken into account."


    "Oh, there''s an important factor that hasn''t been taken into account?" After repeating his words, I asked with great interest, "Comrade chief of staff, I don''t know what you mean. Can you tell us?"


    "Whether Karpov''s troops can get out of danger after all depends on whether their actions are discovered by the German army." Akhromeyev pointed the icon on the map with a pencil. "You know, they are surrounded by heavy German soldiers. It''s almost impossible to leave the camp quietly without disturbing the enemy. Even if they kill all the soldiers'' monitoring groups sent by the Germans to the camp before the operation, not every soldier is willing to leave with Karpov. If one or two of them run away, they will report the incident to the Germans for reward. "


    Before I could make a refutation, there was a voice calling for a report at the door. I quickly said to kirilov and akhromeyev, "this will be discussed later." Then he turned and called Mikhail and gramus, who were standing at the door.


    They came to us and stood at attention. On behalf of gramus, mihayev asked, "division commander, political commissar and chief of staff, do you have any important tasks to recruit us to the headquarters?"


    "Yes, comrade lieutenant. To call you two here today is to give you an important task to complete. " Then I gave a brief introduction to the two of them about the preparations for the rebellion against Karpov. At the same time, I solemnly handed over to gramus the task of leading a small team to cover safchenko''s going to Karpov camp through the German defense line.


    When he heard my order, he immediately said a lot, and then motioned mihayev to translate it to me. Mihayev nodded and then said to me, "Sir, Captain Grimes asked, what if he was seen through the German line?"


    "What else can I do?" I said in an indisputable tone, "shoot at once, wipe out all these Germans, and the small teams will retreat to our positions in turn."


    Grimes frowned and asked me, "Comrade division, do you want us to fight openly with our former colleagues? The Bundeswehr has no tradition of shooting at its own people. If I force this precedent, I don''t think I can effectively restrain my subordinates. Would you like to see such a result? "


    "Colleagues?" When I finished listening to Mikhail''s translation, I shook my head vigorously and denied gramus''s statement mercilessly: "Captain gramus, you are wrong. Since you joined our camp, those people are no longer your colleagues, they are just accomplices for Hitler''s bandits. Although the German army currently has a partial advantage in Stalingrad, I firmly believe that the final victory of this war will belong to us. History is written by winners. Believe me, when that day comes, you soldiers who are on the same front with us will become heroes in the reconstruction of a new Germany, and your actions will be recorded in history. "


    My short words made gramus blush with excitement, and he was still struggling to hurt his compatriots. At this time, these problems had been forgotten by him, and he showed his determination to me decisively.


    After dismissing gramus, mihayev stood still. I looked at him curiously and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, why are you still here? What''s the matter?"


    "Yes, sir." Mihayev said as he took out a neatly folded drawing from his file bag, went to the table, opened it, spread it on the table, and said to us, "this is a fortification that I have studied recently. I want you to see if there is anything that needs to be improved."


    I went to the table and looked down at the drawing on the table. At this point, I can''t look away any more. Mihayev is an excellent architectural engineer, and the defense company he designed is just wonderful.


    Mikhail yev saw us all staring at the drawing on the table, deeply afraid that we could not understand it, and patiently explained to us: "please see, this is a fortification I designed in a three story building. In the basement of the building, we can set up a 45mm anti tank gun facing the street to bombard the German tanks or armored vehicles entering the range. The window on the first floor, the deployment of machine gun sandbag shelter, sand on the floor, can prevent the enemy''s shrapnel damage. The second floor is guarded by ordinary soldiers, who can not only shoot at the enemy from the window, but also throw grenades below. The third floor is the location of the commander and sniper, which can not only observe the enemy''s movement, but also snipe the enemy''s commander. As for the attic, don''t waste it. You can set up 82 mortars to bombard the enemy''s dense infantry formation through the blasted roof. "


    After hearing this, akhromeyev thought about it and put forward his own views to mihayev: "Comrade lieutenant, I want to ask, is such a defensive fortress isolated or connected with other defensive positions around? How to transfer the garrison in different buildings? If we set up mortar positions in the attic, will the floor collapse? "


    As for the series of questions raised by akhromeyev, Mikhail yev had prepared for a long time. He answered with confidence: "Comrade chief of staff, I have taken into account all the questions you said. This defensive fortress is not isolated. It communicates with the outside world through a covered trench. There are small holes in the wall of the building, which can facilitate the transfer of the soldiers at any time. As for your worry that the floor of the attic will collapse, let alone worry about it. I plan to put a few wooden piles under the mortar position to make it more stable. What''s more, the unused windows and entrances should be blocked with sandbags to prevent the Germans from rushing in from these places. "


    After mihayev finished speaking, I quickly nodded to confirm his design: "yes, Lieutenant mihayev, your design is very good. Although such fortifications are vulnerable to heavy German artillery bombardment. But now the German troops rushing into the city are mixed up with our troops, and the defense line is also crisscrossed. The enemy does not dare to use their heavy artillery at will. In this way, we can use this kind of fortification reconstructed from residential buildings to stop the enemy. "


    Kirilov also echoed: "yes, it is impossible for all the German troops who rush into the city to carry heavy guns, so they will pay a heavy price before such fortifications. Moreover, according to the explanation given by lieutenant mihayev just now, I don''t think it''s necessary to put too many troops in it, just throw an infantry platoon at will. Even if there were only such a small number of troops, the German army did not withdraw them. It would take at least several times as many troops to attack them. "


    Originally, I called Mikhail yev, but I just wanted him to act as an interpreter when we communicated with gramus. Unexpectedly, the design drawing of the fortification that he brought out was full of praise for us. The impatient akhromeyev has even called the three regiments and one regiment stationed in the residential area, explained Mikhail''s design intention to the two regiments, and told them to immediately deploy manpower and seize the time to build these new fortifications.


    After akhromeyev finished his call, I told him, "Comrade chief of staff, by the way, I''ll call the headquarters of the group army, and I''ll report this new type of fortification to the commander."


    After the headquarters got through, the person who answered the phone was Krylov. When he heard my voice, he was stunned: "ah, it''s captain o''shanina. Please wait a moment. I''ll ask the commander to answer the phone right away."


    Kung Fu is not big, in the receiver came the voice of trekov: "Hello, comrade oshanina."


    "Hello, comrade commander." I''m not used to his sudden politeness to me, but he said politely, "I have something to report to you."


    "Did general Zhukov call you?" Instead of asking me if I had anything to report, trakov asked with concern, "what did he say on the phone? Did he formally agree to your counterinsurgency plan?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. General Zhukov fully agrees with our division''s plot against captain Karpov. " I said here, a little pause, and then the first turn: "I have another important thing to report to you."¡° What''s important? " There was an unexpected tremor in trakov''s voice from the receiver. He asked nervously, "do you have another brain beat and come up with some fantastic plan?"¡° No, comrade commander. " After listening to his question, I understood the reason why he was nervous. He was worried that I would make a big hole in the sky if I was careless. He quickly reported: "my engineer company commander, Lieutenant Mikhail yev, has designed a new type of fortification. The reason why I report to you is that I want to promote this kind of fortification in the city." Trekov sighed, then said with disapproval, "tell me, what kind of fortification is worth your calling to report to me?" When he heard me talk about the structure of the new fortification in detail, he got excited and exclaimed, "great, great, Colonel o''shanina, that''s great. With such fortifications, our troops can preserve themselves and eliminate more enemies at the same time. By the way, what''s the name of the commander who designed the fortification? "¡° Lieutenant mihayev is the commander of our engineering company. " I replied briefly¡° What''s his rank, Lieutenant? It''s too low. Company commander of the engineering company of the independent division. How can you give someone a rank of lieutenant? No, the rank is too low. He will be promoted to the rank of captain. " Trikov said casually that lieutenant mihayev, who had just recommended a new type of fortification to us, naturally became captain mihayev.

 Chapter 707

    When I congratulated mikheiev on his promotion to the rank of captain, he did not recover from the news. It was only when kirilov and akhromeyev, with a smile on their faces, extended their hands to him to express congratulations that he suddenly realized that he was not dreaming, but was really promoted.


    After Mikhail accepted all our congratulations, I urged him to rush to the first and third regiment''s defense areas as soon as possible to supervise and guide them to build new fortifications. As I still have something to tell him in private, I personally sent him out of the headquarters.


    When I came to the gate of the headquarters and walked a little far away from the Sentinels, I thought the Sentinels could not hear us, so I told him with a straight face: "Captain Mikhail, the contents you just translated are top secret and must not be leaked out. Once the leak leads to adverse consequences, don''t say your future is not guaranteed, or even your life will be lost. "


    Mikhail yev held his round glasses with his hand and nodded to show that he knew. Then he asked me in a low voice: "Sir, I don''t understand. Our newspapers all say that these people are traitors to our motherland. Why should we spend so much effort to plot against them? "


    I can''t answer mikheiv''s question like Zhukov and trakov, because he can''t think about it from a strategic point of view. What he saw in his eyes was just to meet these hundreds of people. We may have to pay thousands of people''s price and feel it''s not worth it, so he would ask me such a question face to face.


    After pondering for a moment, I explained to him, "Comrade Mikhail, we can''t simply use the method of addition and subtraction to consider whether this action is cost-effective. If we don''t plot against the East camp, once we meet them on the battlefield, we will belong to the two hostile sides, and we are bound to fight to death. A gun will kill people, even if our troops can fight again, there will be casualties. Once this force can be turned to us, this unnecessary sacrifice will be reduced. In addition, like the soldiers in the eastern battalion in other places, they are all from the POW camp, and they are inextricably linked with each other. In this way, more and more Eastern battalions will turn around and join our camp. These people are veterans who have participated in many battles. If their political work is done well and they join our team, they will be able to fight immediately. They are much better than new recruits, and the army can form a strong combat effectiveness in a very short time. Moreover, because they are in any case, there are no prisoners to be handed over to the follow-up forces, which not only reduces the workload, but also does not cost our valuable forces to escort. "


    After listening to what I said, mihayev was silent for a long time. Then he said thoughtfully: "I understand, sir. May I leave now? "


    "Go, Captain mihayev." The reason why I patiently explained this matter to him is to change the fixed pattern formed in his mind, and understand that even if he is in the enemy''s camp, as long as the superior is willing to give them the opportunity, he still has the opportunity to return to our same front.


    As I walked towards the headquarters, I suddenly remembered a series of data I had just reported to kirilov and akhromeyev when they talked about the East camp. They did not even ask me how these data were calculated. When I walked into the headquarters with my doubts in my arms, they all knew that I had a good relationship with group commanders such as trakov and shumilov, and even deputy commander General Zhukov. The reason why I didn''t ask where my data came from was that I guessed that I knew it through these big people.


    When I returned to the table and sat down, I asked akhromeyev, "chief of staff, did the German army attack our position today?"


    Akhromeyev shook his head and said in a strange tone: "recently, the enemy did not know what to do. They launched fewer attacks on the positions of the fourth regiment, not to mention, and even the number of shelling was decreasing."


    "Is there something wrong with the enemy''s logistics, so that weapons and ammunition can''t help?" Kirilov couldn''t help interrupting when he heard our conversation¡° After all, they have hundreds of thousands of troops, and the daily consumption of ammunition and materials is a terrible astronomical number. "


    When I heard kirilov say this, I said to myself: the German army consumes a lot, and our consumption is not small. If the transport line of the Volga River is cut off, our troops will face a tragic situation in a few days.


    During the chat, I thought of the company that still stuck on the Soviet street. Because of the heavy losses of all the troops, as soon as new reinforcements arrived, everyone tried to make their troops more replenished. Not to mention the veterans who have participated in the battle, even the recruits are also in hot demand. If we do not seize the time to take back this company, it may be cheaper for others. Thinking of this, I quickly told akhromeyev: "by the way, comrade chief of staff, I suddenly remembered that there was a company of our second regiment on the Soviet street. At that time, they stayed there because of the shortage of troops in the 42nd regiment of the guards, which I lent to them on a temporary basis. Now that there are new troops to take over, let''s transfer them back. "


    Akhromeyev had no doubt about my order, and he readily agreed to it. One more person would have more strength, not to mention more than 100 people. He immediately called Oleg and asked him to arrange for the company on Soviet street to withdraw.


    When I heard that akhromeyev''s call was about to end, I hastened to give another order: "chief of staff, tell Comrade Oleg to come to the division headquarters when lieutenant shereblenne, the company commander, comes back."


    Although akhromeyev didn''t understand why I gave this order, he carried it out to the letter. Kirilov asked curiously, "Comrade o''xanina, what did you call this company commander to the division headquarters for?"


    "Well, comrade political commissar. I have contacted the company commander and feel that he has a lot of fighting experience, and we need such talents at present


    "Where are you going to send him?" Kirilov asked.


    "Commander of the regiment of Sergeant Sergeant kirikov, who has just added a large number of personnel, is extremely short. Yesterday, he also hoped that I would send a commander to his regiment to take the post of battalion commander. I think this shereblenny company commander is very suitable for this position. By the way, when his company entered the Soviet street, I promised them that as long as they could stick to the fifth, everyone in the company would be promoted to the first level. "


    "Are you going to make this company commander a battalion commander in a regiment?" Kirilov asked tentatively. Without waiting for my answer, his face suddenly showed an expression of sudden enlightenment. He lowered his voice and asked me carefully, "do you want a regiment to take charge of this dangerous task?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." Now that he has guessed my mind, I have not concealed my point of view: "at present, the regiment has the largest number of troops in the whole division. Judging from their fighting yesterday, their combat effectiveness is not weak, so I think it is very appropriate for the shejerikov regiment to take charge of the East battalion."


    "I don''t mind." Kirilov made his point directly: "at present, if the second and fourth regiments want to stick to the mamayev post, they will certainly not be able to deploy enough troops; When the third regiment withdrew from the northern highland, its staff was reduced by two-thirds, and it was not suitable for them to complete this task until they were supplemented. There''s only one ball left. Based on my understanding of lieutenant colonel shejerikov, their regiment will be able to successfully complete the tasks assigned to them by the division headquarters. "


    An hour later, Lieutenant shereblenne, returning from the Soviet street, arrived at the headquarters in a dusty way. After he saluted the three of us, I solemnly announced to him: "Comrade shereblenny, because of your bravery and tenacity in the battle of defending the Soviet street, now you are officially promoted to the rank of Captain and promoted to the commander of the second battalion of the first regiment. After going out from here, I will take your company to the residential area to report to lieutenant colonel sherekov."


    He blushed with excitement, saluted us at attention again, and said aloud, "serve the Soviet motherland!"


    After captain shereblenne left, kirilov reported to me on the progress of oberstein, the political commissar of the regiment. I waved my hand casually, interrupted what he said later and said with disapproval: "Comrade political commissar, I believe that under your leadership, comrade oberstein will be able to set up the necessary contingent of political work cadres before the new regiment joins our division. You will be fully responsible for this matter in the future. You can make up your own mind if you have anything to do. You don''t have to ask me for instructions. "


    "Since you say so, I''ll arrange this work directly in the future."


    In the evening, safchenko and Grimes led the fake German detachment and set out quietly in the dark, ready to sneak into the enemy''s rear to contact captain Karpov.


    Akhromeyev put down the phone and told kirilov and me: "division commander, political commissar, according to the forward observation report of the fourth regiment, the detachment has passed their defense area and moved along the river bank towards the enemy camp."


    Although judging from the current feedback, kirilov still asked me nervously: "Comrade division, do you think the team can successfully enter the camp of Karpov camp tonight?"


    "No problem," I said lightly, "when they reconnoitred the night before yesterday, they successfully crossed the enemy''s defense zone; Last night, comrade safchenko not only passed through the enemy''s defensive area, but also entered captain Karpov''s command post cleanly and established contact with him. In this case, the enemy didn''t find our team. What else do you have to worry about? "


    "Yes, comrade political commissar, the teacher is right." Akhromeyev said: "besides, Captain grams, who is leading the team to cover Comrade safchenko tonight, used to be a real officer of the German defense forces. Once he put on that uniform, he is a fake German officer. It''s not a piece of cake to fool those Germans."


    Kirilov was relieved to hear both of us say so easily. He said with relief, "that''s good. I hope they can come back safely, so that I can feel at ease."


    At daybreak, safchenko in German uniform appeared in front of us. As soon as he appeared, kirilov, who had been sitting at the table dozing, immediately jumped up and rushed to him with a dart. He asked with concern, "Comrade safchenko, are you back?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar, we are all back." Maybe it was too cold outside, and safchenko''s voice was a little hoarse. "We also brought back a message from captain Karpov."


    When I heard that Karpov had given us an answer, I said in my heart that it seemed that there was hope for the success of the rebellion. He said with a smile, "Comrade safchenko, I don''t know what message Karpov asked you to take back."


    Safchenko wanted to stand up and answer, but kirilov, who was standing next to him, put his hand on his shoulder, pressed him down and said, "don''t stand up, just sit and talk."


    Safchenko looked up at kirilov and laughed. Instead of standing up, he sat down and reported to us: "Sir, political commissar, after I saw captain Karpov last night and told him the reason why we could not agree to the third condition, he looked disappointed. After thinking about it for a long time, he made a request." At this point, safchenko stopped and just looked at me.


    "What request, comrade safchenko?" Kirilov saw that safchenko''s words were half finished, and suddenly stopped. He couldn''t help but feel worried and urged him: "go on, what kind of request did captain Karpov make?"


    I saw that safchenko''s eyes had been fixed on me. It was estimated that nine out of ten of kalpov''s requests had something to do with me, so I encouraged safchenko to say, "come on, comrade safchenko, what requests does kalpov make?"


    Although safchenko was encouraged by me, he seemed hesitant when he spoke, perhaps because of the importance of this matter: "Captain Karpov said that the level of the people we negotiated with him is too low, and we hope to send them to higher level commanders. It''s better for the teacher himself to go. "


    "What?" Akhromeyev, with his eyes wide open, asked angrily, "what kind of Karpov is that he wants our teachers to negotiate with him in person?"


    Kirilov''s face also showed anger, but he was much calmer than akhromeyev. He asked faintly, "Comrade safchenko, is that what Karpov asked for?"


    Safchenko nodded his head vigorously and replied positively: "yes, he said that only when the division commander went to negotiate with him in person can he believe the sincerity of our army."


    After his words, all the people turned their eyes on me. Instead of speaking, I walked back and forth in the room with my hands behind my back, thinking to myself: Although face-to-face negotiations with Karpov can show the sincerity of our army to the greatest extent, what worries me is the danger I may face when I pass through the enemy''s defensive area.


    After thinking about it, I feel that since the rebellion has been reported to the headquarters of the group army and Zhukov, if I change my mind temporarily at this time, it is tantamount to breaking my future in disguise. After weighing the interests between the future and my own life, I made up my mind decisively. So I stopped, turned to them and said, "I''ve decided to go with safchenko and meet Karpov tonight."


    As soon as my words were uttered, kirilov and akhromeyev were scared out of their wits. They both told me with one voice, "no, sir, it''s too dangerous."


    I waved my hand and said calmly, "commissar and chief of staff, in order to dispel Karpov''s scruples and gain his further trust in us, I have to go this trip myself." At this point, seeing that there was still a panic expression on their faces, they quickly comforted them, "don''t worry, there won''t be any danger. I still have captain gramus''s troops to protect me along the way."


    Although I have already said this, kirilov still refused to let go. He said firmly, "Comrade commander, you are going deep into the enemy''s rear. It''s too dangerous. Why don''t you go to another person?"


    "No way!" I have calmed down at the moment. As for kirilov''s suggestion, I denied it without thinking. "Since Karpov has called for a meeting with my teacher, I don''t want to change who I want to go, and it doesn''t work."


    "Need to report to group command?" Asked akhromeyev, who was worried about my personal safety.


    "Not for the time being." I was deeply afraid that akhromeyev would report my meeting with Karpov on the spur of the moment, so that the situation would get out of control and quickly stopped him. "If this matter is reported to the headquarters now, the commanders will definitely stop me from meeting with Karpov. In this way, our plan may be wasted. "


    With my insistence, kirilov and akhromeyev reluctantly agreed that I would follow safchenko and gramus after dark, disguised as Germans, and sneak into the rear of the German army to meet Karpov.


    At this time, safchenko put forward another suggestion: "Comrade division, if there is a female soldier in the German March, it is easy to arouse suspicion, so I think we should get a German covered truck. If we go by car, we can not only reduce the time spent on the way back, but also reduce the risk of exposure. "


    "Comrade safchenko, your suggestion is good." Kirilov attached great importance to his opinions and asked, "can you get the enemy''s truck?"


    Safchenko thought for a moment, then replied decisively, "Comrade political commissar, please rest assured that I will be able to get the enemy''s truck before dark."


    Kirilov nodded with satisfaction: "OK, then, it''s up to you to find the truck."


    When it was dark, I followed safchenko to the foot of the mountain and found a German truck with a canopy. I couldn''t help but admire safchenko''s ability.


    Grimes and a dozen of his subordinates were standing around the truck. When they saw me coming, they came to salute me and said in broken Russian, "Comrade teacher, you are here. Please get on the bus." With that, he turned and opened the door on the side of the copilot.


    I quickly waved to him and said, "no, Captain Grimes, you''d better sit here. Comrade safchenko and I will sit in the carriage." With that, he raised his legs to go.


    Grimes stopped me and said a few words. I couldn''t understand what he was saying. I turned to look at safchenko and asked instinctively, "do you know what he was saying?"


    Safchenko approached gramus and whispered a few words in German, and gramus responded. Savchenko, who understood what gramus said, then translated it to me and said, "Comrade division, Captain gramus said that it''s uncomfortable to sit in the carriage, so you''d better be the bridge. It''s spacious here. It''s OK to sit for three people."


    Through safchenko''s translation, I understood what gramus meant, but I refused his kindness. I introduced to him with a smile: "Captain Grimes, we may encounter with the enemy patrol later, or pass through the enemy checkpoint. If they find a female soldier sitting in the bridge, it will arouse their vigilance and bring us a lot of inconvenience, so I''d better take the carriage."


    After listening to safchenko''s translation, Grimes shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly, "well, in that case, I''ll do as you say."


    Our journey is much smoother than we thought. It took the truck more than half an hour before we were stopped by a patrol. Listening to the chatter of German soldiers coming from under the car, I could not help holding the submachine gun in my hand. I planned to stand up and fire at the German soldiers under the car once the enemy found a flaw.


    Fortunately, gramus dealt with it properly. It didn''t take long to send the German patrol away, and the car went on. Safchenko, who was sitting next to me, said easily, "Sir, the enemy patrol has gone. Don''t worry, it''s OK. We''ve been fighting back and forth behind the enemy. Every time we meet the enemy''s patrols or checkpoints, they, the original Germans, will be able to deal with them and pass the border easily. " When I heard him finish, I just let out a gentle hum.


    "What are you thinking?" Safchenko asked respectfully.


    I answered anxiously, "Comrade safchenko, I think we should strengthen our reconnaissance work in the enemy''s rear. If you think about it, the enemy now holds the air supremacy over Stalingrad. They can understand our defense situation through reconnaissance planes, but our reconnaissance forces can''t go deep into their rear areas for reconnaissance. What do you think is the probability of victory for the battle plan drawn up in such a situation


    Before safchenko could express his opinion, the truck suddenly stopped again. I couldn''t help but murmur: "hell, what''s the matter? Have you met the enemy''s patrol or checkpoint again?"


    Safchenko stood up, carefully lifted a corner of the tarpaulin, looked out, and then replied, "Sir, we are at the camp of the East camp. It''s the soldiers in the camp who stop us. It won''t be long before we see captain Karpov When I heard that I would meet Karpov soon, my heart beat faster.


    After the truck restarted, it staggered forward for tens of meters and finally stopped. Safchenko stood up again, bent over and said to me, "Comrade teacher, we are here. We can get off."


    "I see." With that, I stood up with my hand on the baffle of the carriage, stumbled to the rear of the car, and got off with the help of the soldiers under the car.


    As soon as I got out of the car, gramus came around from the front of the car, came up to me, looked at a lighted tent not far away, and said briefly, "over there!"


    I nodded. When safchenko got out of the car, the three of us walked towards the tent with the light on.


    I opened the curtain of the tent and went in. I saw a young man in a German uniform without a hat. He was sitting in front of us at a wooden table, looking down at a map. Hearing the footsteps, he instinctively raised his head and looked at us.


    Safchenko took the initiative to greet him: "Hello, Captain Karpov, here we are again."


    With a smile on his face, the young soldier, known as Karpov, got up and walked around the table to us. When he came up to us, he found me a stranger by accident. His smile froze on his face immediately. He asked warily, "Comrade safchenko, who is this?"


    Safchenko just wanted to make an introduction, but I raised my hand to stop him. I took the initiative to reach out to Karpov and said with a friendly smile, "Hello, Captain Karpov. I''d like to introduce myself. I''m the commander of the independent division, Colonel oshanina. I''m here to negotiate with you. Are you not welcome? "


    When he heard that I had made myself known, Karpov got flustered. He reached for my hand and shook it vigorously. He said, "Hello, Hello, comrade Colonel, I''ve heard about it for a long time, but I didn''t expect you to come to me in person." Then he released one hand and swung it back, and let me in. "Don''t stand at the door, come in and sit down." After I sat down with him, safchenko took the initiative to say to me, "Comrade division commander, you can talk. Captain gramus and I are waiting for you outside. We can watch the German soldiers in the inspection team." I nodded and said in a low voice, "let captain Grimes take a few soldiers with him, take surveillance action on them, and deal with them decisively once we find something abnormal." After safchenko and gramus left, I said to Karpov with a smile, "Captain Karpov, I''ve come here as you asked. Can we talk about the army now?" Karpov said with a wry smile: "Colonel oshanina, as far as I know, Stalin himself once declared that all Soviet prisoners of war were traitors of the motherland. Even if they fled the enemy''s prison camp and returned to their own troops, they were also faced with censorship and even exile and execution. Those of us who participated in the German army were even more heinous. I''m afraid that even if we go back there, we will have a more miserable fate waiting for us. " Seeing that Karpov was full of worries, I could only comfort him as much as possible: "Captain Karpov, don''t worry. Since I can meet you and discuss with you about the military affairs, it must be with the permission of the high level of the army. Otherwise, as a small division commander, do you dare to advocate? I can assure you with my personality that as long as your troops are in my independent division, they will never be settled in the future. " After listening to me, Karpov was silent for a long time. I knew that he was weighing the pros and cons, so I didn''t disturb him and sat quietly looking at him. After a while, he finally sighed and said, "Colonel oshanina, you can come to my camp in person today to prove your sincerity. I believe you. I am willing to lead the whole battalion to join your independent division." After hearing his statement, the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. The next thing to discuss is how to pull out the troops. However, before discussing this plan, I first need to know the strength and equipment of his troops. Therefore, I asked, "Captain Karpov, I want to know the strength and equipment of your battalion, so that we can make a targeted plan."¡° There are 578 soldiers in the whole battalion, including an artillery company with four 150 mm howitzers, and the remaining three companies are infantry companies, each with four light machine guns and one heavy machine gun. Because of the recent supply difficulties, all the shells of the howitzer have been used up. If we want to highlight them, the artillery will not be of any help. "¡° If so, are you sure you want to take everyone away? " After hearing about the strength and equipment of the Dongfang battalion, I was somewhat disappointed that I could not make use of the artillery company. But I still asked a question of my own concern, "what are you going to do with those officers and soldiers who are not willing to follow us?" Karpov gave a wry smile and replied, "Colonel, if you kill the German soldiers from the soldiers'' monitoring group in the camp, you should be able to take all the troops away. But what I''m worried about now is, how can we leave smoothly in the bag of three German divisions? " I looked down at the map in front of me, and then pointed to it to explain to him: "if I want to leave smoothly, I have two plans: first, your whole battalion will quietly move eastward in the dark, pass through the defense area of the 113th German division, and come to the Volga River, where I will arrange troops to meet you. When you meet with the receiving troops, go up the river along the embankment and enter our defense area from the northern highland. Second, when the German army launched an attack on our front in the daytime, you quietly approached the battlefield. When the German army''s attack was frustrated, you decisively launched an attack, converged with our troops who were coming forward, and then returned to our positions together. " Although I was confident in what I said, after listening to it, Karpov asked cautiously, "Colonel, can you really get out of the German encirclement with these two plans? You know, in the event of failure, it''s the end of the whole army that awaits us. " In order to dispel his worries, I said to him straightforwardly: "Captain Karpov, you can rest assured that even if all our troops are exhausted, you should ensure that your troops will not suffer losses or minimize the losses."

 Chapter 708

    Karpov looked at me in astonishment, as if thinking whether what I said was true or false, because what I said was beyond his comprehension. After a long hesitation, he asked carefully, "are you telling the truth, Colonel?"


    "Yes." I gave him a positive answer very directly: "what I said is the truth. If I had no sincerity, I would not come to you today."


    "Colonel, I can feel your sincerity from the moment you come here." There was a smile on Karpov''s face¡° So next, we should be able to discuss the details of how to get out of this ghost place. "


    From Karpov''s words, I can see that the sincerity expressed by myself has dispelled his worries and further won his trust. I mentioned the two proposals just now again. I hope he can choose one of them so that we can improve the details of the action in the next talks.


    To his surprise, Karpov shook his head and said casually, "Colonel, I don''t think these two plans are perfect. If we want to put them into practice, no matter our battalion or the troops we are going to meet, we may have a fierce battle with the German forces around us. Once a fight starts, the whole army is likely to be destroyed. Even if we get out of the encirclement by chance, the army will be completely lost. "


    His words aroused my curiosity. My fingers quickly drew a question mark on the table in front of me. At the same time, I asked curiously, "Captain Karpov, do you have a better plan?"


    "It''s no surprise!" Karpov confidently said, his mouth slightly upturned, his face with a smile that made me unpredictable, "I also prepared a plan to get out of danger, compared with your plan, the risk is right, our troops can even arrive at your battlefield without firing a shot."


    "Oh, I''m curious to hear that. Can you tell me your plan? " Karpov''s confident face made me more interested in his plan.


    "Here you are," he suddenly stood up, leaning forward and pointing a position up with his hand. I quickly tilted my head and looked in the direction of his finger, only to hear him say: "two kilometers southwest of our camp, there is a camp in which an Italian army is stationed."


    When I heard him say this, I nodded, took over and said, "well, I know this Italian battalion. They are in charge of the German military supplies. Due to the strict security, our reconnaissance troops failed to sneak in. But I don''t understand. Does the Italian battalion have anything to do with your escape? "


    "Of course," Karpov said in a positive tone, looking at my face with a blank expression, he quickly explained to me, "well, Colonel oshanina, there is a contradiction between the Italian camp and the nearby Germans. It used to be a German camp because of frequent conflicts with Italians. In the end, the German commander had to transfer our camp to ease the conflict between the two armies. "


    Although Karpov didn''t finish what he said, I knew what he meant by the string song. Suddenly, my eyes lit up and I asked, "do you mean to let the Germans and Italians clash again and divert the attention of the German commanders, so that you will have a chance to slip out of the place where the German defense is lax?"


    "Absolutely right." seeing that I had guessed what he wanted to say, Karpov was so happy that he praised me repeatedly. "Captain, you are so clever. You guessed my plan before I finished my words."


    After he said this, I couldn''t help falling into silence. Although his plan is very original, first of all, we should try every means to stir up conflicts between the German and Italian armies and make the situation chaotic. Only when they have the opportunity to slip away. But how can I start a conflict between the two armies? Can''t I take a group of commanders and fighters to the Italian camp, spit at them and throw stones? Of course, we don''t have to yell outside the camp. For one thing, we are pretending to be German troops, and we are not fighting between the two countries. We don''t have to yell outside; Secondly, communication between Italian camp and German camp must be smooth. Maybe before we sell a few words, the SS or Gestapo will come and kill us all.


    Seeing that I had not spoken for a long time, Karpov suddenly thought of something and asked, "Comrade Colonel, do you think that even if there is a quarrel between the Germans and the Italians, we will not have an opportunity?"


    Although I heard that his conjecture was somewhat biased, during my contact with him, I felt that he was still a very independent commander. His opinions were very important on how to get rid of the danger of Dongfang camp, so I pushed the boat along the river and said, "yes, that''s what I thought. I don''t know if you have a better idea? "


    "It''s very simple, because the Italians are in a position right behind the 44th division. Once there is a conflict, in order to prevent the situation from expanding, the enemy is bound to send back some troops from the front line to guard against it. At this time, I can report to the German commander through the soldier inspection team and apply to replace the forward defense of the 44th division. With the approval, we can go to the front. Even without you sending troops to meet us, we can pretend to attack and quickly rush into the defense area of the independent division. "


    Karpov''s plan is not only ingenious, but also quite bold. If there is a mistake in one link, it is also the result of losing all previous achievements. However, compared with the two proposals I put forward first, they are more operational. So I only considered them for a moment, and then I agreed without hesitation: "Captain Karpov, your proposal is good, so we will focus on this topic in our next discussion."


    Without waiting for Karpov to declare his position, safchenko, who had been guarding the door, suddenly lifted the curtain and came in, muttering: "hell, there is a moon in the sky, how can it suddenly rain." While talking, he patted the rain on his shoulders.


    Originally, I wanted to ask safchenko to come in and have a look when I discussed Zi Chou Yin Mao with Karpov. Since he came in himself, I didn''t need to call him again. I beckoned him to the table.


    Safchenko came over and asked politely, "what can I do for you, sir?"


    "And captain Grimes?" I asked.


    "Didn''t you just send him to take some people to watch the Germans in the soldiers'' monitoring group?" Safchenko listened to my question. Although he looked surprised, he replied honestly, "he should still be on surveillance duty now."


    "Just now captain Karpov put forward a plan to get out of trouble. Come and have a look. By the way, tell me your personal thoughts." With these words, I will just repeat the original proposal put forward by Karpov.


    After staring at the map for a long time, safchenko finally nodded his head slowly and expressed his opinion: "Comrade division commander, I think captain Karpov''s proposal is very good. If the Germans really transfer their troops to the front line, it is a very simple thing for them to hold a meeting anyway and successfully enter our division''s defense area." At this point, he pauses for a moment, frowning, "but what can we do to bring conflict between the Germans and the Italians? If they don''t have a conflict, Captain Karpov''s rash request to the German commander will arouse the enemy''s unnecessary suspicion of him. "


    "Yes, comrade safchenko." With a deep sigh, I said, "I''ve never thought of a way to stir up conflicts between the enemies. Do you have any good suggestions? "


    Safchenko shook his head with a bitter smile and said, "Sir, you can''t think of a way to do it, let alone say it."


    The three of US continued to discuss for a long time, but we didn''t come up with a practical and effective way. We had to study my original plan again, focusing on how to improve the details.


    After daybreak, a tired looking Grimes came into the tent and reported to me, "report, sir, I have finished my task and come back. It''s late. It''s time for us to go back. "


    Listening to gramus'' poor Russian, I felt very upset, so I said to him angrily, "Captain gramus, the next time you see an interpreter with me, please speak German, so that I won''t have to work hard."


    Some words were incomprehensible to Grimes, so he quickly asked safchenko what he meant. When he understood what I meant, he came to attention and said in a loud voice, "yes!"


    When we returned, gramus was still in the co pilot''s seat, and safchenko and I, as well as a dozen former German soldiers, were sitting in the carriage. Seeing that I was depressed, safchenko comforted me with kindness and said, "don''t worry, sir. When you get back to the camp, you can discuss with the political commissar and chief of staff to see if there is any good way."


    After a pause, I asked him, "is our truck coming back the same way?"


    He shook his head and replied, "no, we are now heading for the German 44th division''s defence area and returning to our highlands from around highland 107.5."


    I nodded and didn''t speak. Then I closed my eyes and began to close my eyes to make up for the sleep I had last night.


    I don''t know how long I drove. The truck bumped and bumped my head against the side baffle of the car. Because of the heavy impact, although I was wearing a helmet, I was still dazzled.


    All of a sudden, a loud roar came from the back of the car, which startled all the people in the car. The two soldiers sitting on the rear fender also lifted the awning cloth to see what happened. I stood up with the baffle and looked out along the open tarpaulin at the back of the car. I saw several officers and soldiers in Italian uniforms standing beside a puddle, dancing and yelling at our car.


    "What''s going on?" I asked safchenko strangely.


    He shook his head, then went to one of the soldiers and asked a few questions. Then he came back to me and reported to me, "Comrade division, when our car passed the Italian soldiers on guard, it accidentally splashed the water in the puddle on them. They were angry about it." Then he said to himself, "isn''t it worth making such a fuss that he splashed a little water on himself?"


    Safchenko''s words made me feel like there was no way out. At that moment, I thought of a way to stir up the conflict between the German army and the Italian army. So I said to safchenko excitedly: "safchenko, let captain gramus stop and reverse the car."


    Although safchenko didn''t know why I gave such an order, he raised his hand and patted the top of the cockpit hard. When gramus opened the door and poked his head out of the car, safchenko gave him my order. Without saying a word, Grimes immediately ordered the driver to stop and quickly backed away to the Italian soldiers. Seeing the truck getting closer and closer to the Italian soldiers, safchenko asked me, "what should we do when the truck comes to them?"¡° Get all the soldiers out of the car and beat up the Italian sentinels

 Chapter 709

    "Ah?" Safchenko was startled by my order. He hesitated for a long time and asked me, "is this suitable, sir? You know, it''s in German territory. "


    I saw that the car was getting closer and closer to the Italian soldiers, and I didn''t care to explain to him. I simply ordered him: "as soon as the car stops, let all the soldiers get out of the car to beat the Italian sentinels. I said that these Italians should pay their due price for abusing the German defense forces."


    Listen to me, even if safchenko is stupid, he guessed my intention. He said with a smile, "don''t worry, sir. I promise to finish the task you told me."


    My strategy is just to stir up the relationship between the German army and the Italian army, so it''s very important to be careful when implementing the plan. If the Italian Army''s Sentinel is killed, the troops in the camp will open fire on us without mercy, so I specially told safchenko: "remember, let the soldiers teach them with their fists, don''t shoot, and don''t kill people, Otherwise, it won''t end. "


    "I understand." Safchenko nodded with a smile, then turned around and gave a few words to the former German Defense Forces soldiers in the carriage.


    I thought that these defecting former German soldiers would be reluctant to carry out such an order, but I didn''t expect that they would respond to the order conveyed by safchenko. As soon as the car stopped, before it could stop, they had lifted the tarpaulin at the back of the car and jumped out of the car like a fierce tiger. Then they rushed to the Italian soldiers standing beside the puddle.


    Soon, there was a dull sound of fists and feet hitting the body from the back of the car, as well as the scream of Italian soldiers from time to time. At this time, gramus opened the car door, stood on the pedal and looked into the car. Then he looked at the soldiers on both sides who were fighting in the mud behind him. He asked in surprise, "what''s the matter?"


    After listening to safchenko''s translation, I whispered to gramus, "Captain, time is running out. I can''t give you a detailed explanation. First, you should urge your subordinates to beat the Italians hard for the reason that Italy insulted the German defense forces and damaged your honor. Let the soldiers fight as hard as they can. The worse they are, the better. But don''t kill them. In addition, once it is found that there are large troops in the camp to rush out, immediately let the soldiers get on the car and quickly flee from here, so as not to be outnumbered and suffer losses. "


    After understanding what I said, Grimes agreed, jumped off the pedal and strode back.


    I asked safchenko to sit down at the back of the car, holding the rear fender in one hand and lifting the tarpaulin in the other, and looked at the bustle below with a smile. I know in my heart that although the German army and the Italian Army are allies, there are many contradictions between the grass-roots officers and soldiers, such as quarrels and fights. Originally, I was still worried about how to stir up the conflict between the two armies. Unexpectedly, the truck ran over the puddle and splashed mud all over the Italian sentinels. Shengsheng sent such a wonderful opportunity to me. If I didn''t know how to use it, I might as well kill myself with a piece of cheese.


    Although there are only four Italian soldiers, the whole fight is not one-sided in the face of more than a dozen of our soldiers. One of the burly soldiers, while being grasped by two soldiers from the left and right, still kicked the other soldier from the front into the mud. The splashing mud splashed all over the soldiers'' faces. After kicking the soldier in the front, he broke away from the soldier who held his right hand. With a beautiful right hook, he hit the soldier who held his left hand under the chin. The soldier looked back, then fell on his back and fell on all fours.


    When he saw his comrades in arms, he was knocked down by this big Italian soldier. Around him, seven or eight soldiers rushed over, holding hands and legs. Although the soldier struggled hard, his fists were hard to beat, and he surrounded a group of angry soldiers with old fists.


    The movement outside startled the Italian soldiers in the camp. There were five or six soldiers with guns running along the dirt road. Captain gramus, who had been watching the battle with us all the time, quickly came up. After stopping the Italian soldiers, he yelled at them. The soldiers who were stopped by him were facing the commanders with higher ranks. Although they did not dare to walk around them, they were still arguing loudly.


    When I saw the Italian soldiers who were arguing with gramus, I suddenly envied the Japanese soldiers'' hierarchical relationship. If gramus faced the Japanese soldiers, he didn''t have to talk nonsense with them at all. He just had to raise his hands and slap them in the face. Those people didn''t dare to fart. They just stood in the same place and were beaten, There is no idea of resistance.


    Just as he thought about it, safchenko suddenly lowered his voice and called out: "Oh! No, the Italian army is coming. " I quickly looked around and saw a large group of soldiers, led by an officer, walking out of the camp quickly. Looking down in front of him, the four Italian soldiers had been beaten down, all of them were black and blue, and they were lying on the ground groaning in pain.


    The number of the new Italian army is at least 30. If they see the tragedy of their own robes, they will definitely fight with us. We are at a disadvantage in terms of the number of people. Once we fight, we will definitely suffer. Thinking of this, he quickly told safchenko: "call captain gramus back, and we will leave here immediately."


    Safchenko nodded, immediately stood up, leaned out half of his body and yelled at the outside. With his shouts, Grimes looked back at us strangely. Safchenko yelled a few more words, and gramus did not hesitate. He pointed to the Italian soldiers and said a few more words. Then he turned around and walked towards us quickly. While passing by the soldiers under the car, with a strong wave of his hand, the soldiers would climb up to the car with laughter.


    With more and more soldiers on the train, there was a strong smell of soil in the car. When they were talking about the results of the war, gramus stepped on the pedal and asked me, "Comrade division, shall we go back?"


    I turned to look into the distance from the open tarpaulin and saw that the group of Italian soldiers were only forty or fifty meters away from our carriage. They obviously found their injured companions and speeded up their pace. They immediately said, "let''s go!"


    After we left calmly, the Italian soldiers arrived at the injured soldiers. Several soldiers pointed to our direction and yelled at us. Even one soldier raised his rifle and aimed at us. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a sergeant beside him found his abnormality, lifted his muzzle up, and the bullet flew into the air.


    The dangerous behavior of the Italian soldiers angered the soldiers in the car. They cursed fiercely in words I didn''t understand. Some people raised their guns, intended to pay an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. They also used the weapons in their hands to teach the Italians who didn''t know how powerful they were.


    Seeing that the situation was not right, I quickly told safchenko: "tell them to put down the guns in their hands. If we want to shoot at this time, we will be completely exposed, and no one will be able to get away at that time. "


    Safchenko quickly yelled at the soldiers in German. Under his severe reprimand, the soldiers reluctantly put away their weapons, but still reluctantly yelled a few words at the back.


    I leaned back against the fender and asked safchenko in a low voice, "Comrade safchenko, are we going to pass the German 44th division camp next?"


    Safchenko shook his head and said slowly, "we will go through the 44th division''s defense area, but we won''t enter their camp because we don''t have the necessary pass."


    "It''s enough to pass through the enemy''s defensive zone." I said to myself. After that, I began to shut my eyes and think that we have wounded several Italian soldiers, which is bound to make them resent the Germans. Moreover, our truck is heading towards the defense area of the 44th division, which is tantamount to successfully blaming these Germans. As long as the Italians who are not willing to give up go to the German 44th division to ask for a crime, the long-standing contradictions between the two sides may break out, and Karpov''s plan to get rid of the difficulties is half the success.


    When our trucks crossed the 44th division line, they unexpectedly did not encounter German checkpoints or patrols. I asked safchenko strangely, "Comrade safchenko, do you always return from this line every time you go for reconnaissance?"


    "Yes, sir." Savchenko guessed what I was going to ask, and quickly explained to me, "although this is the defense area of the 44th division, because the area is too wide, they can''t deploy their defense in all places, so we can go in and out of their defense area leisurely."


    Safchenko''s words gave me a new idea: since the German defense is so lax, even if the German and Italian armies don''t oppose each other and have conflicts, they can still let Karpov''s battalion break into parts and slip out of the middle of the German army.


    When I was thinking about it, a sharp whistling sound almost covered by the sound of the car motor came from the air. Before I could shout out, there was an earth shaking explosion not far from the right side of the truck. Then the light in the car suddenly lit up a lot. I turned around curiously and found two fist holes in the tarpaulin.


    "Damn it Safchenko suddenly yelled angrily: "it''s shelling, we''ve been shelled!"


    Shelling?! Thinking of the explosion just now, the shell was obviously aimed at us. Was it the Italians who suffered a loss and specially sent artillery to bombard us? But I quickly denied my view that if the Italian Army wanted to bombard us, it should use artillery, and the one that just exploded was obviously mortar. Thinking of this, I quickly asked: "safchenko, do you see where the shells came from?"


    "I don''t know!" Safchenko replied loudly, and then he said cautiously: "are we found by the Germans? This is their pursuit..."


    Before his words were heard, a shell fell behind our car and exploded. All the soldiers in the car clenched their weapons and watched the outside warily. Once the truck stopped, they were ready to get out of the car and fight.


    Grimes didn''t know what came out of the bridge, stood on the pedal, put his head in, and yelled at us. Safchenko translated for me: "Comrade division commander, Captain gramus said that the shells came from the direction of 107.5 highland. Our friendly forces must have regarded us as Germans, so they fired on us. He said that if we continue to drive forward, even if we are not killed by the shells, we will be completely destroyed by the machine guns of the friendly forces. "


    "Turn to the east at once and drive to the Volga River!" I didn''t care if gramus could understand me, so I gave him an order. I didn''t want to be killed by my own people''s shells. Perhaps he understood the word Volga, so without waiting for safchenko to translate it, gramus''s head shrank back. A moment later, the truck made a sharp turn, dodged another shell, and turned around quickly to the river.

 Chapter 710

    This sudden Oolong shelling completely dispelled my idea of letting Karpov and his family break up into parts and withdraw from the existing camp. From the danger I have just experienced, I am soberly aware that even if they can successfully extricate themselves from the difficulties, they may still be injured by our troops when they approach our defense area. Once there are casualties, those officers and men who have been shaken will think that we are trying to cheat them out and wait for an opportunity to eliminate them. In this way, the plot will fall short. Our car stopped at the foot of the North highland. When we heard that there was no movement on the hillside, I assured the soldiers to get off. When we were at the foot of the mountain, there was no movement in the position, but when I walked along the hillside, I found that it was well prepared. The trench was full of people, at least two heavy machine guns, five light machine guns and more than 20 rifles. I pointed out the trucks at the foot of the mountain. If I found anything wrong with it, I could see that there was something wrong with it, All guns will fire without hesitation. As soon as our party entered the trench, a commander and several soldiers met us. After stopping a few steps away from me, the commander did not salute. Instead, he reported to me at attention and said, "Comrade division commander, the second infantry lieutenant of the independent division saluted me with his hand raised and said with his mouth tooted:" Comrade Colonel, I''m the second lieutenant of the communication unit of the group army command, walia tokaleva. The commander has just suddenly given an order that all the female soldiers in the group army, regardless of rank, should be killed, All to the East Bank of the Volga. Do you think you can persuade him that we are not afraid of death and can''t leave at this time, and ask him to take back this order? " I was surprised by the second lieutenant''s words. I didn''t expect that trakov gave such an order. Maybe he had something to do with the order that he called me to the headquarters in a hurry. I didn''t care to shout a report, so I strode into the headquarters. Entering the headquarters, Krylov was standing next to the male signalman who was leaning against the wall to answer the phone, while gurov was sitting listlessly at the table. And trakov sat by the wall with his bare arms and his back to me, and he was drugged by a male health worker. Seeing this scene, I quickly went forward and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with you? Are you injured?" Gurov waved his hand and explained to trikov, "Colonel oshanina, you are mistaken. Comrade commander is not injured. He has eczema because he has been in this humid headquarters for a long time, and the health worker is giving him medicine. " When I heard that trakov was not injured, my heart fell down in my throat. Then I asked gurov in a low voice, "Comrade military commissar, is there any important task to call me here in such a hurry?" After listening to me, gurov became more serious and said, "Comrade oshanina, I think you know very well that the situation in the city is very complicated. The distance between the front line and the Volga River is getting shorter and shorter. In order to avoid unnecessary losses, the Military Commission of the group army was forced to withdraw some troops and organs to the left bank and decided to send women to the left bank first. The military commission ordered commanders and persons in charge at all levels to withdraw the women soldiers to the left bank temporarily, rest there and come back in a few days. " As soon as I heard that he was going to withdraw the female soldiers, I understood the purpose of their calling me. I think I belong to one of these women soldiers. It seems that what tokaleva said just now is true. I asked tentatively, "are all the female commanders and fighters in the group army going to the east bank?"¡° It''s absolutely right. Withdraw all of them. None of them can stay. " After taking the medicine, trakov turned around, dressed and walked towards me. He said, "I''m calling you here to take charge of this evacuation mission." Listening to what he said, my heart thumped. When I finished, if I really withdrew to the east bank, it would be useless to stay in mamayev post for such a long time. My dream of building a career in Stalingrad was completely shattered. Seeing that I didn''t speak for a long time, trikov misunderstood me. He might think that I was worried that I was not competent for such a task. He quickly explained to me, "Comrade oshanina, the reason why you are called here is because you are holding an important command position in the army. If you want to successfully organize this evacuation, you are the most suitable person."¡° Comrade commander, may I come in? " Before I could speak, the voice of the second lieutenant came from the door. Gurov nodded to the outside and said aloud, "come in." After tokaleva came in, she raised her hand to salute some of us, and then said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander and military commissar, on behalf of all the female communicators of the group army, I''ve come to you to reflect the situation."¡° "Second lieutenant tokaleva," trikov said sternly to the female Lieutenant after buttoning the last button on his military coat, "if you want me to cancel the order, you can''t do it." On hearing this, the second lieutenant''s face was disappointed, but she said boldly: "Comrade commander, why do you want to drive us out of the city? We are willing to share life and death, share weal and woe with you, and defeat the damned enemy. Why are you divided into men and women? Are we better than men at work? In any case, we will never be the Volga

 Chapter 711

    Tokaleva''s words of determination moved both trikov and gurov. Two people looked at each other for a long time, no one spoke, seems to be looking forward to each other to persuade tokaleva.


    After all, he is not only a military commissar of the group army, but also a political commissar. He is the only one to do all this political and ideological work. He stood up, went to tokaleva and said kindly, "Comrade tokaleva, you know that the situation facing the group army is very bad, yes, very bad. A few days ago, the Germans had rushed to the place just ten meters away from the headquarters. If it wasn''t for the arrival of Colonel oshanina in time, many of our officers and men might have died. Under such circumstances, we can not and do not have the right to leave you in a dangerous place, because you are all future mothers, and the hope of our country depends on you. It is because of this consideration that the group army command has made such a decision. "


    "Commander, commissar"


    "Commander, commissar, we are not afraid of sacrifice, we want to stay with you."


    "Commander, commissar, let''s stay."


    I don''t know when more than a dozen female soldiers will rush into the headquarters, pleading with each other, hoping that trakov and gurov will regain their fame. When he heard that the headquarters was suddenly in chaos like a vegetable market, the bitter looking trakov''s eyes suddenly sharpened. He took a left-right look and yelled: "be quiet, everyone. Don''t forget, you are still a soldier!" With his shouts, the women were quiet and looked at him in awe.


    After all the people did not speak, he said passionately, "girls, I understand your feelings for the headquarters. In fact, in addition to your safety, another reason is that we are unable to fully open all communication equipment. The situation forces us to use other convenient means of communication, that is, portable radio. In this way, I have to withdraw all of you to the east bank for the time being before I prepare the work place for the communication equipment for the heavy snow. "


    As soon as trikov finished, gurov quickly agreed: "it''s not only you who want to withdraw to the east bank, but also the rest of the female commanders and fighters in the group." At this point, he stopped for a moment, looked at me, and then said, "even if Colonel oshanina is in the important position of division commander of the independent division, she is also on the list of evacuees. After you withdraw to the east coast, you will be assigned to the confidential units of the front command to continue to work. "


    After listening to gulov''s words, my heart suddenly cooled. Although the rear organs are safer than the front lines, there is no chance to make contributions. In this era of promotion relying on military achievements, as soon as I enter the rear organs, my future will be in the same place.


    When gurov finished speaking, the women soldiers didn''t react too much, so he said half comfortingly and half perfunctorily, "comrades, you can go to the East Bank of Volga River first. Have a good rest and I''ll let you come back as soon as things get better in the city. "


    Hearing the half true and half false promise of trikov, the women soldiers were excited, especially the representative tokaleva, who was elected by everyone, said excitedly: "commander, is what you said true?"


    Trekov nodded hard and said positively, "yes, I always mean what I say."


    Tokaleva believed trekov''s words. She said in a pleading tone: "commander, military commissar, on behalf of all female soldiers, I sincerely implore you that once you have the working conditions, we must go back to the city and continue to work."


    "No problem, Lieutenant tokaleva." Gurov patted his chest and assured the other party: "we will inform you to come back to work in time. After all, you are very familiar with the work. But should you go back and pack up now and get ready to go? "


    A group of female soldiers raised their hands to pay a solemn salute to trikov and gurov. Then they turned back and walked out of the headquarters with neat steps.


    When the women left, trakov and gurov turned and looked at me, who was standing behind them. Trikov asked: "Comrade oshanina, the order is very clear. In order to ensure the safety of the women soldiers, the group army headquarters has decided to transfer all the women soldiers to the East Bank of the Volga River after studying. After my study with the comrades of the military commissar, you are responsible for this retreat. When you get to the east bank, you will not come back for the time being. I will try to get commander Yeliao Menko to arrange a good position for you. "


    "Comrade commander and military commissar, can you change one person?" Although trakov''s order has been issued, I still don''t give up. I tried to make him change his mind: "you know, I''m now the teacher of the independent division, and I''m also shouldering the heavy responsibility of sticking to the mamayev heights. At this time, the independent division can''t do without me."


    "You don''t have to worry about the independent division. When you are away, kirilov political commissar and akhromeyev chief of staff are naturally in charge of the work." Trakov mercilessly broke my illusion, "although I also admit that you have strong command ability, it''s not suitable for women on the battlefield. You''d better work in the rear office. After we reported this matter to the headquarters of the front army, not only general Zhukov called to ask about it, but also general rokosovsky called. He wanted to poach you from me. "


    "No, comrade commander, I don''t want to go anywhere except the 62nd army." I know very well in my heart that if I really agree to rokosovsky''s request, I can easily enter his command. But everything has its advantages and disadvantages. Once I go to the new front army, all the contributions I made in the battle of Stalingrad will be cleared. I have to start from the beginning. I will not do such a stupid thing. So I tried my best to make my stand to trakov and expressed my idea of staying in the 62nd army¡° Besides, I am now engaged in the work of instigating rebellion in the East camp. If I leave at this time, I am afraid that there will be extra trouble. "


    When I said that, trakov really remembered the plot of rebellion. I once reported it to him and got permission from the superior. He immediately asked me to sit down and asked seriously, "how''s it going?"


    I saw that things seemed to take a turn for the better, so I quickly reported to him. When I just mentioned that I disguised myself and went deep into the enemy''s rear area last night to discuss the details with Karpov. Gurov interrupted me and said to me in a reproachful tone, "Comrade o''shanina, you are the teacher of the independent division. How can you take risks at will? Fortunately, Karpov really wants to join us. If you meet someone with ulterior motives, it''s a question whether you can come back safely. If something goes wrong with you, won''t the independent division be in a mess? "


    I chuckled twice and said, "Comrade military commissar, if I don''t go on this trip, how can I judge whether the other party really wants to surrender or not? I''m not only responsible for the troops sent, but also can''t live up to the expectation of general Zhukov."


    "What is Zhukov''s expectation?" Trekov asked, puzzled.


    "The senior general believes that if this revolt is successful, it will not only seriously damage the morale of the German troops who are attacking Stalingrad, but also be of vital importance to the continued disintegration of the fighting spirit of the eastern battalion." I quickly explained what I understood to him.


    "How are Karpov''s troops going to get out of the German siege after all?" For this army which is about to become its own people, trakov is also worried about their safety.


    "At the beginning, our division leaders had two plans to extricate themselves. One was to let the Karpov battalion leave the camp at night, go eastward through the defense area of the 113th German division, reach the Volga River, join our troops, and then go up the river to return to our camp. The second is to let them sneak behind the German army when they attack our division. When the enemy retreats, they will quickly cross the battlefield and join the receiving forces. "


    "Not right, not right." After listening to our first two plans, trikov shook his head and said, "the idea is good, but when it comes to implementation, it''s a little careless. Maybe the east battalion didn''t come out, but put all the troops in."


    As for trekov''s comments, I nodded with approval and said, "yes, comrade commander, these two plans are far from perfect, so when I talked with Karpov last night, he put forward a better plan." When I said this, I stopped for a moment to see if trakov wanted to express his opinion. Seeing that he was looking at me attentively, I went on to say, "the captain said that there was a deep contradiction between the German army and the Italian army. If the two sides could fight, the enemy, in order to ensure the stability of the defensive line, would transfer part of the German army to monitor the Italian army, If the defense area is vacated, the eastern battalion may be transferred to guard it. As long as they enter the front line, they can leave the enemy''s position calmly and enter our position swaggeringly. "


    "The key is how to stir up the relationship between the two armies?" "We can''t send a few people to their camp to speak ill of both sides," gurov asked thoughtfully


    "When we returned, our truck passed through the Italian army camp, because it had only rained before long. When the wheel of the truck ran over the puddle, it accidentally splashed the water on the Italian sentry. Seeing the enemy abusing at the back, I suddenly had an idea. I asked the driver to transfer the car back and beat the Italians hard. I think that would be enough to stir up the conflict between the two sides. "


    "Well done. I didn''t expect you to achieve the purpose of provoking the contradiction between Germany and Italy After listening to this, trakov praised me. Just when I was overjoyed, he poured cold water on me: "since the rebellion has been almost carried out, I think kirilov and akhromeyev can do well even if you are not here."


    Seeing that trakov was not willing to send me to the East Bank of the Volga River, I had the heart to seek death. In less than two months of the battle of Stalingrad, there would be a full-scale counter offensive. When I left at this time, all my previous efforts were wasted. Thinking of this, I asked reluctantly, "Comrade commander, in fact, if you want to direct the withdrawal of female soldiers, you can let other female commanders take charge?"


    "Other female commanders? Who is it? " "Do you have the right person?" gurov asked curiously


    I nodded hard, stood up and said with a clear mind, "for example, Comrade Li Jiya, political commissar of the 1078th women''s antiaircraft artillery regiment, is a very good candidate."


    Gulov''s face darkened when I said that. He sighed and said with regret, "Comrade Li Jiya died in the air defense battle three days ago." I fell down on my seat and exclaimed in my heart: it''s over. Maybe it''s because of Li Jiya''s sacrifice that they had a heart of pity for Cui Kefu and issued the order that all the women soldiers should withdraw to the east bank. Originally, if Li Jiya was alive, I could blame her for directing the retreat. Now that she has died, it seems that I can''t shirk it. Trikov saw me sitting in a daze, patted me on the shoulder and said, "go back to mamayev post immediately, transfer the division''s work to kirilov commissar, and then rush to the wharf to command the women''s retreat."

 Chapter 712

    When it was getting dark, I and more than 200 female soldiers from various units of the group army boarded a ferry docked on the wharf in turn. After waiting for people to get on, the ferry turned around and went up the river to the far east bank.


    I never thought that there were so many female soldiers in the 62nd army. I thought that there would be a hundred or so soldiers, but when they were assembled, there would be more than 500. Some of the female soldiers in the division or brigade who were later informed would arrive later. The commander of the Volga fleet, like me, did not expect that there would be so many female soldiers, so he only prepared a ferry for us. As a result, the women soldiers who stayed on the dock had to be divided into two groups to cross the river.


    I stood alone by the railings, gazing at the city by the Volga River, which was submerged in fireworks. However, when one army after another came across the river without hesitation at the command of the higher authorities, and entered the city, they immediately went into battle. However, because of the command of the higher authorities, we city defenders of the past had to leave the city where we had fought.


    "What are you thinking, sir?" Lieutenant razumeyeva, who boarded the ferry with me, did not know what came to me and asked in a low voice, "after we leave, is there any chance to come back?"


    For her question, I can only reply with a bitter smile: "Comrade razumeyeva, I don''t think I can answer your question either. Don''t you see that although I am the commander of the independent division, I have to leave this heroic city like you after receiving the order from the superior? "


    Razumeyeva, who had been in the headquarters for more than a month, only got a chance to see the whole picture of Stalingrad in the battle on the ferry. She said bitterly: "God, the whole city is buried by fire and smoke. Here, it''s as if the stones are burning. In some places, the fire goes straight to the sky. Do our commanders and soldiers and citizens live and fight in such a sea of fire? What are they breathing in there? What are they defending there? Is it ruins or piles of stones? "


    "Comrade Colonel," came the voice of tokaleva behind me. When she saw me turning to look at her, she asked timidly, "may I have a word with you?"


    Although I was also very depressed, I was very friendly to the female signalman Lieutenant I had just met. I said kindly, "of course, Lieutenant tokaleva."


    "Colonel, there is a serious shortage of troops in the city, but the commander immediately dispatched so many people to leave. You should know that it is not only the signalmen who left, but also the anti-aircraft gunners, snipers, scouts, machine gunners, health workers, and even the tank soldiers. So many signalmen have left their posts. You know, this is a very important position. If we can''t find a suitable person to replace us, the communication of the army will be in chaos. "


    To tell you the truth, I really don''t know how to answer tokaleva''s question. I can only comfort her and say, "don''t worry, comrade lieutenant. Before we left just now, didn''t the commander just say that we were temporarily asked to go to the east bank for rest? Maybe in a few days, when the situation in the city improves, he will call us back again. "


    When I said this, tokaleva, who was depressed, got excited. She asked excitedly, "is it true, comrade Colonel? Can we really go back to the city soon and fight side by side with the commander? "


    I couldn''t bear to disappoint her and said perfunctorily, "well, comrade lieutenant. As you said just now, your position is a key position, and it is difficult for new comers to replace you. Before long, the commander will find that without you, the internal communications of the group army will be in chaos. So I think it will be sooner or later for him to call you back. "


    Watching tokaleva happily return to her companions, razumeyeva, standing next to her, asked again with low worry: "Comrade teacher, are you true? Are we really going to be able to repeat our posts in the near future? "


    I shook my head and said helplessly, "I think it''s very difficult to go back to this city. Maybe it''s time for our army to carry out a major counter offensive."


    Razumeyeva let out a cry and then said in surprise, "it''s going to take so long. What about the communication in the division? We have to know that the male communicators who temporarily take over our work have not been exposed to communication equipment for a long time. I''m afraid they will make mistakes. "


    What she is worried about is what I have been thinking about in my heart, but now we are beyond our reach. Even if anything happens, I can only look and sigh. As it is no longer meaningful to discuss the affairs of the division, I timely changed the topic and asked her, "by the way, have you met the people in the division health camp?"


    She nodded and seriously replied, "just now on the dock, I met Comrade shmakova of the health camp. By the way, I also saw your former guard monitor Vera, who was with another female soldier. But because they were full when they boarded the boat, they stayed on the dock, ready to wait for the ferry to return before they could cross the river. "


    Before the ship arrived, I always worried that the ferry would be shelled by the enemy or bombed by aircraft. But maybe it was dark and the high ground of mamayev post blocked the German artillery observer''s vision, so that before our ship landed, what I was worried about did not happen.


    I saw that there were hundreds of people standing on the quay, but it was very quiet. Except for the sound of guns coming from across the river, there was no voice at all. Just then, the ship slowly came up to the trestle of the wharf, and the sailors on the ship jumped up and began to tie the ropes. Then I heard a voice shouting: "comrades, please line up, don''t panic, get off the ship next to each other." Maybe he was afraid that someone couldn''t hear clearly, and the man repeated it twice in a loud voice.


    I entered the middle of the female soldiers'' team, got off the boat and walked along the trestle. As I walked, I was still thinking: where should I take these female soldiers later? Just thinking about it, I suddenly heard someone shouting my name in front of me: "Captain oshanina, Captain oshanina, where are you?"


    "Here I am!" I quickly and loudly agreed.


    The man heard my voice and ran to me along the line of women soldiers. When the man came running to me, I carefully observed a man. He was wearing a steel helmet, a short cotton uniform, a common military raincoat, and a bobosha submachine gun hanging across his chest.


    When he came near and looked around, I said before, "I''m o''shanina. I don''t know what you want me to do?"


    The man came to attention in front of me, and without saluting, he reported, "Hello, comrade colonel. I''m adir Yakubov, captain of the guard company of the commander of the front army. I came to the wharf to wait for you on the order of general zaharov, chief of staff. At the same time, I have been ordered to take you and your men to the camp that has been arranged for a long time to have a rest. "


    As we spoke, the ranks of the women soldiers passed by us, and the troops who had been waiting on the shore also lined up on the trestle, ready to embark. I was deeply afraid that our stay here would affect the boarding troops. I said to Yakubov, "Comrade captain, let''s talk in another place. We will stop the soldiers from boarding here."


    When I got to a more open place, Yakubov said to me, "Comrade Colonel, general zaharov ordered me to take you to the headquarters immediately, saying that there was something important to discuss with you."


    I pointed to the women soldiers lining up beside me and said in embarrassment, "if I leave, what should these women soldiers do?"


    Yakubov looked over there and said casually, "don''t worry, comrade colonel. I''ll send someone to receive them." With that, he yelled at the distance: "Lieutenant liaoenka, come to me!"


    With his shouts, a second lieutenant in the same dress ran up to him and asked him, "comrade company commander, what instructions do you have?"


    Yakubov pointed to me and said, "I''m going to accompany the colonel to the chief of staff. You stay to receive the women soldiers and send them to the camp prepared for them."


    "Yes, I''ll do it right away." Lieutenant liaoenka promised to turn around and leave, but I stopped him in time. He stopped, turned his head and looked at me strangely, trying to find out why I stopped him.


    I quickly explained to him, "Comrade lieutenant, there are more than 500 female soldiers we have withdrawn, only half of them here. The rest of them are still on the opposite wharf. They can only cross the river after the ferry that sent us back. "


    The second lieutenant replied very readily, "I see, comrade colonel. I will take these women soldiers to their resting place first, and then come back here to meet the women soldiers crossing the river. I think it''s completely in time for this arrangement. "


    "Well, you are very considerate. Thank you, comrade lieutenant. By the way, there are also two officers in the female soldiers: Lieutenant razumeyeva and lieutenant tokaleva. You can ask them to help you with the placement of female soldiers. " I gave lieutenant liaonka a a polite smile and then said to Yakubov, "OK, Captain Yakubov, let''s go!"


    A few minutes later, in an underground bunker, I met general zaharov, whom I had seen for a long time. As soon as he saw my face, without waiting for me to salute or speak, he quickly came up and gave me a big hug. After the hug, he stepped back, looked me up and down, and even said, "Comrade o''shanina, you''ve lost weight. I haven''t seen you for more than a month. You''ve lost so much weight." Speaking of this, I suddenly thought that there was a company commander accompanying me and said to him quickly¡° Well, comrade captain, since Colonel oshanina has arrived at the headquarters, there is nothing for you here. Go back to the company. "


    As soon as Yakubov left, zaharov could not wait to take me along the long corridor to the depth of the bunker. As he walked, he said to me, "Comrade oshanina, the commander and the military commissar want to see you and learn about the situation on the front line."


    When I left, it seemed that there was no big battle breaking out. At this time, I saw zaharov''s anxious face and thought that something big had happened. So I asked tentatively, "is there anything wrong in the city?"


    "We lost contact with them an hour ago." Zaharov growled: "we tried every means to get in touch with him. The commander and the military commissar were in a hurry."


    The connection with Stalingrad city was interrupted an hour ago when we were on the ferry. Is there anything unexpected happening during this period of time?


    Soon we came to the innermost room. There were two people sitting here, one in military uniform and no hat, the other in casual clothes. I soon recognized general yelomienko, commander of the front army, who I had seen before when he first arrived in Stalingrad. With a smile on his face when he saw me coming, he picked up a walking stick leaning against the wall, stood up, stretched out his hand to me, and said in a loud voice, "welcome to my headquarters, Colonel oshanina."


    I immediately stood at attention to salute, and then stretched out my hands, tightly grasped his outstretched hand, respectfully said: "Hello, comrade commander, nice to see you again."


    As we shook hands, the bald man in plain clothes next to us also stood up, smiling and holding out his hand to me: "nice to meet you, Colonel o''shanina."


    Although no one has introduced to me who the leader in front of me is, I have guessed that he is Khrushchev, the military commissar of the front army. He quickly held his hand with both hands, shook it vigorously, and said in a flattering way: "Hello, comrade military commissar, I have admired you for a long time, but I have never had the chance to see you. Today, I finally got what I wanted."


    After a friendly exchange, yelolmenko and Khrushchev both sat down in their respective positions. Next, yelimenko asked me solemnly, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the recent situation in mamayev post?"


    "Report to the commander and military commissar that the enemy has suffered heavy losses due to repeated setbacks in front of the mamayev post. Recently, they have reduced their shelling and bombing of the Highlands, and even the ground attack has almost stopped." Although I didn''t know the purpose of his question, I answered honestly, "although the enemy''s attack on our division''s defensive area was weakened, they transferred their forces to other directions and strengthened their attack on our defense line in that direction."


    "An hour ago, we suddenly lost contact with trekov''s headquarters. After using all means of contact, we were unable to get in touch with them." Yelomienko tried not to show his anxiety and asked me, "do you think something happened?"


    In my mind, I tried hard to recall the situation of defense deployment near the headquarters of the group army. Although the number of troops defending the headquarters was not large, it was more than enough to block the German attack. But why will suddenly lose contact, in the end what happened?


    "Nothing special happened before you came back?" Khrushchev then asked, and specially reminded me, "for example, in the vicinity of the headquarters, have you found any small German troops that may endanger their safety?"


    "No," I answered with great certainty, "when I left, although there were battles all over the city, the enemy was still far away from their headquarters. It was impossible for them to break through the layers of defense of our army and rush to the headquarters."


    "Why are you so sure that trekov won''t have an accident?" Yelomienko asked.


    "Yes, comrade commander." I answered positively, "when I summoned the women soldiers to rush to the wharf, the area from mamayev post to the headquarters was calm and there was no sign of the German." Speaking of this, it suddenly occurred to me that the leading female signalmen in the headquarters had followed me to the east coast. The reason why yelimenko lost contact with trakov is related to the new signalmen who temporarily replaced them. Thinking of this, I quickly reported to them, "by the way, I remember that all the female signalmen in the group army headquarters have retreated to the east bank. Maybe it is because the male signalmen who temporarily took over their work are not familiar with the communication equipment that the communication is interrupted."


    "Is that so?" After yelimenko asked me this, he turned to zaharov next to me and said, "what do you think, chief of staff?"


    "I think..." zaharov was hesitating to think about how to answer yelimenko''s question when a communications staff member came in in a hurry. He held a telegraph in his hand, called "report" and then began to report to yelimenko, saying: "Comrade commander, I have contacted the headquarters of the 62nd army. According to general Krylov''s report, because the new messenger was not familiar with the communication equipment, he could not recover after the failure of the telephone Because of the excitement, his voice became dumb.


    Yelimenko reached for the phone, looked at it, handed it to Khrushchev, then said to me with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, it seems that your judgment is right." After a moment''s pause, he hesitated to say to me, "and general rokosovsky, commander of the Don front army, sent me telegrams and telephone calls to transfer you to his front army. I want to ask you, how do you think about it? "


    "Comrade commander, the answer is very clear." I replied with standard emphasis: "although I used to be a subordinate of general rokosovsky during the Moscow defense war and had good personal relations with him, I am now a member of Stalingrad''s front army. No matter what the situation is, I will choose to stay here until the end of this campaign."


    "Comrade oshanina," after listening to my answer, yelimenko and Khrushchev looked at each other with a knowing smile on their faces. Then Khrushchev nodded to me and said with satisfaction, "what I want to say is that you are good, comrade colonel. No, it should be major general."


    "Major general?" Khrushchev''s sudden remark confused me, and I asked in surprise, "Comrade military commissar, what''s the matter? I''m confused. " Khrushchev stood up with a smile and said to yelimenko, "this ellenburg. The last time he went to Stalingrad for an interview, I asked him to give her a hint about the restoration of Comrade oshanina''s military rank. I didn''t expect that Comrade ellenburg didn''t do it at all." Then he turned and looked at me. After staring at me for a while, he restrained his smile and solemnly announced to me: "Comrade oshanina, because of your bravery and heroism in the battle of defending mamayev post, and your great achievements. After the proposal of the Supreme Commander himself and the discussion of the supreme commander, it is decided that your rank of major general will be restored from now on. " At the moment when I heard Khrushchev''s announcement, I couldn''t believe my ears. My heart said that I didn''t hear it wrong. How could I restore my rank of major general without any news in advance. My mind was blank, but I saw yelomienko bend down, lift a small suitcase from the ground and put it on the table. Khrushchev stretched out his hand to open the box, took out a suit of military uniform from it and handed it to me. Although I can see clearly that this is a uniform belonging to the general, I am at a loss and silent. I don''t know what I should say when I take over this uniform¡° Why don''t you talk? " "You''ve been in the army for two days. Don''t you know what you should say after you get the rank?" Yeliao Menko asked harshly Yeliaomenko''s words woke me up, and I quickly and loudly said: "serve the motherland of the Soviet Union!"¡° That''s right. " Yeliaomenko looked at me from head to foot, and with a kind smile, he said with satisfaction, "what do you think about the restoration of your rank of major general?" To regain the rank of major general made me feel very happy, and let me see the bright future of myself again. When I heard yelomienko''s question, I quickly replied, "I''m very happy."¡° Just happy, no other idea? " Khrushchev also asked kindly¡° I want to go back to my own troops. "Since Khrushchev asked me to express my views, I certainly would not waste such an opportunity. I hastened to put forward my own ideas and sincerely assured them," in the next cruel battle, I will never betray your trust in me. "¡° Let''s talk about it later. " Yelaimenko said vaguely. When I heard this, I couldn''t help but clapping in my heart. My heart said no, do you really plan to leave me in the logistics department?

 Chapter 713

    "Comrade commander," I said calmly, trying to defend myself, "I feel that with my ability, I am still fit to stay in the front line. If my superiors think that it is not suitable for me to be the division commander, I would like to be a deputy under the division commander of the independent division, or a combat staff officer beside commander trekov. "


    "Come on, comrade oshanina, don''t complain." Without waiting for me to speak, yelomienko impatiently interrupted me, "do you think that trekov sent you to the east bank to work in the headquarters of the front army? I tell you, that''s not the case at all


    What Yeliao Menko said completely confused me. Trekov asked me to bring the female soldiers of the group army to the east bank, not to let me stay in the headquarters of the front army, but for what?


    Before I could think of chouyinmao, Khrushchev had already picked up a telegram from the desk, handed it to me, and said with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, read this telegram."


    I took the telegram from Khrushchev with a puzzled look on my face and read: "the three new editors who have been added to your front army will arrive in two days. I hope they can send someone to receive it in time and put it into the battlefield as soon as possible. Chief of the general staff, vasilevsky


    After reading the telegram, I didn''t understand what was going on, so I read it again and again in silence, trying to find out the meaning of the telegram. When I read it for the fifth time, my mind suddenly opened up and everything was clear. The purpose of Khrushchev''s letting me read this telegram is to let me take over the task of the army.


    "Comrades commander and military commissar," I asked tentatively, "do you mean to let me take over these troops and take them across the river to Stalingrad?"


    "Yes," yelimenko said positively, "I think trekov sent you to the east bank to take charge of the withdrawal of the female soldiers, and the other point may be to let you take charge of the reception of several new recruits."


    After listening to yelimenko''s words, I was in a low mood and became happy. This time I came to the east coast, I gained a lot. In addition to being restored to the rank of general, I also got the important task of taking over the new division. It seems that I can participate in the whole process of the battle of Stalingrad. When the campaign is over, I may get something unexpected. But I didn''t know when the new troops would arrive and how long I would stay here, so I asked politely, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what my task is before the new division arrives?"


    Yeliaomenko thought for a moment and replied, "well, the front army is short of people in charge of communication. I plan to take some of the female communicators you brought to enrich our strength. I''ll give these women back to trekov when the superior gives us new troops. You see, all right? "


    "No problem, comrade commander." Anyway, this matter was generous, so I agreed without hesitation, and took the initiative to say, "do you want me to arrange this matter now?"


    Ye liaomenke shook his head after hearing this and said: "the women soldiers have just arrived on the east coast. They are probably exhausted. Let them have a good night''s rest first and talk about it tomorrow."


    "Your arrangement is right," Khrushchev said with a smile, looking at yelimenko. "Let the women soldiers have a good night''s rest, and they will be energetic at dawn. When they work, they will get twice the result with half the effort." After that, he said to me with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, I''ll give you full responsibility for this matter."


    In my memory, Khrushchev has not been very friendly to me. Even when I found out that the enemy plane was about to attack Stalingrad and let people warn him, he was scolded. Originally, I thought it would be a very embarrassing situation to meet him, but I didn''t expect it would be so harmonious. Hearing what he said, I quickly replied with a smile, "I see. Comrade military commissar, I will handle this matter according to your instructions."


    With these words, I saw Yeliao mianke casually raise his hand and look at his watch. He understood that this should be the precursor of seeing off his guests. He hurriedly put forward what he had been thinking in his heart and said to him as soon as possible: "Comrade commander, I have a request."


    "Come on, what''s the matter?"


    I was deeply afraid that I would be interrupted, so I said in one breath: "at present, there are not enough shells and medicines in mamayev post, so I will continue to supplement them. However, the supplement of the independent division by the headquarters of the group army will be ten days later at the most. And even if we wait ten days, it''s still unknown whether we can get a supplement. "


    Yelimenko nodded, looked up to zaharov and said, "chief of staff, you have to find a way to solve the problem of oshaninnati. You know, mamayev post is the commanding height to the north of Stalingrad. Once it is occupied by the enemy, they can mount their guns and bombard our hero''s city wantonly. This is absolutely not allowed. "


    After listening to yeliaomenko''s instructions, zaharov sighed and said helplessly: "Comrade commander, it''s very difficult. As you know, the soldiers, weapons and supplies we got were not only supplied by the 62nd army, but also by the 64th army and the 57th army. They were defending the southern part of the city and were showing extraordinary strength in counteracting the crazy attacks of the aggressors, thus forcing Hitler''s generals, Some of the regiments and divisions that should have been used to attack the city centre had to be left in front of buketovka and Reza mountains. "


    "I''ll give you two days," yelimenko ordered in an indisputable tone. "The independent division who sticks to mamayev post must be given the shells and medicine they need." Seeing that yelimenko''s attitude was so firm, zaharov had no choice but to agree: "yes, I will try my best to fulfill the order you gave me." I came out of the headquarters alone, and was standing at the door, wondering who I should look for to inquire about the women''s camp. Next to me came Yakubov''s familiar voice: "Comrade Colonel, I''m here!" I looked in the direction of the sound, and saw him and a few soldiers standing at a crossroads more than ten meters away, and quickly walked past. Approaching him, he asked with a smile, "Comrade captain, could you please take me to the camp of the female soldiers?" Yakubov readily agreed: "no problem, comrade Colonel, please follow me!" Although I was holding the general''s uniform in my hand, I did not correct Yakubov''s mistake in addressing him. I followed him with a smile and went to the female soldier''s camp. In a short time, we came to a mound. He took me to a cave and said, "Comrade Colonel, the women soldiers live here. I won''t see you off. Go in yourself."¡° Thank you, comrade captain After thanking him, I stepped in. Through the seven or eight meter long corridor, the field of vision suddenly becomes clear. There is about seven or eight meters of space inside, which is densely covered with double wooden beds, and the beds are full of sleeping female soldiers. While razumeyeva and tokaleva were sitting at a wooden table in the middle of the cave. Under the dim candle light on the table, I saw them dozing with their chin in their forehands. When my footsteps, two people were suddenly awakened, and then stood up one after another, they would salute me. I was afraid to disturb the sleeping women soldiers, so I quickly raised my hand to stop them. I went to the table and sat down. I asked in a low voice, "are all the women soldiers here?" Razumeyeva shook her head and replied, "we have too many people to live here, so some female soldiers and those who have just crossed the river are scattered to the other two shelters." Speaking of this, her eyes suddenly fell on the uniform I put on the table. After a short surprise, she asked in surprise: "my God, comrade division, this is the general''s uniform. Are you promoted to general I nodded with a smile and answered in a low voice, "yes, I''ve been reinstated and become a general now." At this point, I turned to tokaleva and said, "Comrade second lieutenant, the headquarters of the front army needs some experienced communication personnel. After dawn, you can bring some skilled communication personnel to the headquarters to report." After hearing this, tokaleva was surprised. Then she grabbed my arm and asked nervously, "Captain, no, Comrade General. Let''s report to the headquarters of the front army. Won''t we go back to the 62nd army? " With that, her eyes turned red and tears ran down her cheeks. I quickly comforted him and said, "no, comrade lieutenant. Commander yeliomenko just said that there are not enough people in charge of communication. You will be seconded to work in the past for a period of time. When the new supplementary personnel arrive, you can go back to the 62nd army. " Although I was telling the truth, tokaleva still asked with some Distrust: "are you telling the truth?"¡° Of course, of course. " I was a little sad and said to her, "of course it''s true. Do you think I''ll cheat you on this kind of thing?" After getting my promise, she burst into tears and said, "well, order me to take some girls with good skills to the communication room to report." The next morning, I personally took tokaleva to the headquarters of the front army, found the chief of staff zaharov, and asked him to take us to the communication room. It has to be said that tokaleva and some of them were very competent. As soon as they got to the front of the telephone, they immediately became familiar with the operation. Their proficiency was as if they had worked here for several years. As the new editor has not yet arrived, so during this period of time, I nailed in the communication room, to accompany them to work together. From the heart, their working ability is impeccable. During the whole day''s work, they were praised by yelolmenko, Khrushchev and chief of staff zaharov. But in the evening, when they heard trakov''s call, the girls were excited. They surrounded the transmitter of the telephone and yelled at trakov: "Comrade commander, we have come to rest. When do you want us to go back to the city?" Or: "Comrade commander, when are you going to fulfill your promise?" The communication room is a mess.

 Chapter 714

    I saw the scene out of control, and quickly stepped forward to maintain order. I stood behind the female signalmen and yelled at them: "girls, be quiet, be quiet, please be quiet."


    The girls who were yelling at trekov through the transmitter closed their mouths and looked at me. I said to tokaleva with a straight face: "Comrade lieutenant, please remember that you are soldiers, not ordinary people. General trakov called to report his work to the leaders of the front army, not to discuss these trivial matters with you. "


    Tokaleva blushed when I said that. She bowed her head and apologized awkwardly to me: "sorry, comrade commander, it''s my lax discipline. I''ll pay attention to it later." Then she turned around and yelled at her soldiers: "girls, what are you doing around here? Go back to your post immediately."


    Although the girl was not willing to get a positive answer from trekov, when she saw her superior, tokaleva, angry, they had to leave and sit down in front of the communication equipment they were responsible for.


    I went to the phone, put on the headphones, I said politely to the transmitter: "Hello, comrade commander, I''m glad to hear your voice, are you ok?"


    "O''shanina, I hear that you have regained the rank of major general. On behalf of gurov and krailov, I congratulate you." Instead of answering my question, trakov congratulated me on my reinstatement.


    I said half jokingly and half seriously, "thank you, comrade commander. But if I can''t go back to Stalingrad and continue to fight, it''s hard for me to be happy even when I become a marshal. "


    Trikov''s tone suddenly became very serious: "o''shanina, you know, if we didn''t decisively make the decision to transfer female soldiers yesterday, in today''s day, few of the female soldiers around you will survive."


    His words startled me, and I said in my heart: did the enemy touch the headquarters again? "What''s the matter, commander?" he asked


    "At noon, the bandits may have found out the location of our headquarters and started to carry out heavy shelling and bombing of our area." Trakov said in a deep tone: "the bomb blew the whole area out of shape. It also destroyed several nearby oil tanks. A large amount of burning liquid poured out and flowed through our shelter to the Volga River. The headquarters was submerged in the sea of fire. After the burning oil flows to the shore, it pours on the barge and many logs washed to the shore by the river. The fire rolled barges and logs down the river. In an instant, it seemed that the whole Volga River was suddenly ablaze, and the flames were flying violently and happily in the turbulence


    Listening to trekov''s description, my hair stood up. I thought that trekov didn''t force us to move yesterday, but it was still unknown how many female soldiers could reach the East Bank of Volga river safely by today.


    "Didn''t you transfer in time?" Because of tension, I unconsciously hold the transmitter tightly.


    Trikov chuckled twice and went on: "our communication lines have been burned down. We can only rely on the radio to communicate with our subordinate troops, but the radio signal is unstable and often interrupted at the most critical moment. Seeing that our headquarters was besieged by the fire, many commanders and fighters in the headquarters were flustered. Just then, the chief of staff, Nikolay Ivanovich Krylov, came forward decisively and gave an order. He said to the officers and men in a loud voice: "no one is allowed to leave! We should continue to work in the undamaged shelter department We need to resume communication with all units and keep the radio unblocked. "


    After he said these words, he came up to me and asked in a low voice, "commander, what''s going on now? Can we hold on?"


    I took a look at him and said, "don''t worry, we can hold on!" Then I used what he said to express my determination: "when necessary, we will clean our pistols."


    Seeing that I was so confident, he said, "OK, that''s it!" Then he went back to his work


    Hearing this, I could no longer control my emotions. I excitedly said to trikov, "Comrade commander, since the situation is so dangerous, you should move. Yes, immediately, without hesitation


    After my words silenced him for a moment, he continued: "frankly speaking, when the fire started, I jumped out of the shelter, only to feel the glare of the fire and my eyes were dazzled. It was really a bit flustered. But general krailov issued orders to everyone, including to me. Just like shouting" Wula "when attacking, he became a force to inspire us to fight. In this way, we stick to our posts surrounded by the fire and have been commanding the troops without interruption. " At this point, I heard him smile bitterly, "although we are besieged by the fire, we can''t move because we don''t have a prepared headquarters. Since all the troops, including the engineers, have been put into combat, it is impossible to build a new headquarters for us. "


    "Comrade commander, mihayev, the engineer company commander of the independent division, used to be a high-level architectural engineer. I think he is fully capable of building a perfect and safe headquarters for you in a short time. Please allow me to continue to maintain the command of the independent division, so that I can give orders directly to captain mihayev."


    "There''s no need to do that," he continued in a flat tone. "Last night, commander yelomienko gave me a special order that I must report to him every night. Now is the time to report. Please call the commander zaharov. I want to report to him today''s war."


    "Please wait a moment, comrade commander." After I finished, I put the earphone and transmitter on the table, went to a telephone, shook the handle on the base a few times, and then picked up the phone. The voice of the female operator came from the receiver: "Comrade commander, where do you want to go?"


    After being stunned for a moment, I instinctively replied, "please connect me with general zaharov, chief of staff of the front army."


    "Just a moment, please!"


    Soon zaharov''s voice came out of the receiver: "Hello, I''m zaharov. Where are you?"


    "Hello, chief of staff. I''m o''shanina." Having identified myself, I briefly reported to him that trakov was waiting to report to him about the day''s fighting.


    "OK, I''ll be right there." When he finished, he hung up.


    Within a minute, there was a rush of footsteps outside the door, and then zaharov appeared at the door. He nodded at me and asked directly, "which line is trikov on?"


    I quickly led him to the phone that tokaleva was in charge of. I picked up the earphone and transmitter on the desk and handed them to him. At the same time, I kept smiling and said, "general trakov is waiting to talk to you."


    Zaharov thanks, puts on the earphone, holds the transmitter in one hand, and takes out a book and pencil from his pocket in the other hand. He begins to record the war situation reported by trakov. Because I''m not far away, I can see what''s written in the book by leaning slightly.


    It read: "at dawn, the enemy began to launch a new attack on the defense area of our group army. The gurtyev division blocked the enemy''s attack before 1800 hours. However, at the end of the day, the German army surrounded the army from both sides, and the division had to retreat to the south of nizhnevzinski street to the other side of the railway. Put the left on winnitzki street. Major marklov, one of the division''s commanders, was seriously injured in the battle.


    The smehotvorov division spent the whole day fighting the enemy for public bathrooms and cookware factories. During the whole day''s fighting, the public bathhouse has changed hands several times, but it is still in our hands. The division suffered heavy casualties, leaving only 200-250 officers and soldiers in each regiment.


    The guriyev division repelled all German attacks on the Red October factory. The gorishner division, the wachuk division and the rodimzev division held fast to their positions and resisted several attacks launched by the enemy on the left wing of the group army.


    Judging from the progress of these battles, the enemy''s intention is to rush to the Volga River at all costs, occupy the main factories, and then develop an offensive southward along the Volga River from there. "


    Zaharov wrote down almost everything in his book. He asked trakov, "Comrade trakov, is there anything else to report?"


    "We found out," as zaharov took off the earphones and held them in his hand, that I could hear trakov''s voice clearly: "from the mokrayamechetka River to the 107.5 highland, on the front of about 5 kilometers, the enemy concentrated 5 divisions (including 3 infantry divisions and 2 tank divisions), in addition to many strengthened troops. In addition, the German army also transferred about 40 engineering battalions from other parts of the Soviet German battlefield and from the German mainland. The German army''s fighting in Orlov was not only to solve the bulge, but also to divert our attention so as to carry out major raids on the factories. In the face of this situation, we decided to send ruolugeoff division to stick to the tractor factory.


    After occupying the line of defense, the 37th division regiments immediately went into action this morning to block the enemy infantry and tanks that had broken through the battle formation of gurdyev division and yermorkin division.


    The group army needs breathing time, even for one day, to reorganize its troops, gather artillery, supply ammunition and replenish its personnel, so as to drive the aggressors out of the tractor factory residential area and baricard town with local counter attack in the next step. The commander of the front army asked us to start the counter attack early this morning. But the group army can''t do that at all. Because we have run out of ammunition here, and it has become more and more difficult to transport ammunition through the Volga River, and because of the continuous shelling and bombing by the German army. "


    After listening to the report of trakov, zaharov said impatiently, "Comrade trakov, all the demands put forward by your group army are met by the front army as far as possible. The 84th brigade of Colonel berey''s tank strengthened to you last night has crossed the river into the city, hasn''t it


    As for his query, trakov argued: "Comrade chief of staff, due to the lack of transport vessels, only light tanks can cross the river at present. When these light tanks arrived on the right bank, they were immediately incorporated into the battle formation of the ruolujaf division and the gurtyev division. They can only be used as firepower points, because it''s unreasonable to use them to counter attack German tanks. In addition, during the day, the enemy dispatched nearly 2000 sorties over the factory area of the city. From daybreak, all the operations of the troops stopped. As a result of the enemy''s heavy bombing, the wounded soldiers could not even leave the bomb shelter before dark. They could only be sent to the health camp by the health workers when darkness came. "


    As for the contents of trakov''s statement, I think it is true and credible, but at the moment, I can only honestly be a bystander, and can''t casually talk to zaharov about my views. Fortunately, zaharov was not unreasonable either. He nodded and said, "Comrade trakov, I have been informed that general Philip Ivanovic Golikov, deputy commander of the front army who has just returned from Moscow, will cross the Volga River tonight and come to your headquarters to supervise the implementation of the counterattack plan." When he heard that the deputy commander was going to inspect the city, he said with some embarrassment, "chief of staff, can you ask the deputy commander to cancel this trip?"¡° Why? " Trikov''s words surprised zaharov. He was puzzled and asked, "the trip of deputy commander has been arranged for a long time. Why should we cancel it?" At this time, trakov did not hide his bad situation from the chief of staff: "the communication situation in our headquarters is getting worse and worse. Due to the enemy''s bombing and shelling, it can never be improved. Obviously, the Gunners and mortars of * * already know the exact location of our command post, and they have been directly aiming at our command post. From time to time, mortars landed at the entrance of my shelter and exploded. The number of casualties in the command post is increasing all the time. It''s obvious that it''s no longer safe here. We can''t let Comrade deputy commander take risks here. " Zaharov was stunned after hearing this. He pondered for a moment, and then solemnly asked, "I am responsible for speaking from the deputy commander. Now my concern is that since you can no longer serve as a headquarters, I suggest you transfer immediately. Do you have a suitable place for the new headquarters? " There''s no sound in the headphones. It''s probably that trekov is thinking about it. After two or three minutes, the voice of trakov came from the earphone again: "Comrade chief of staff, after my study and Krylov''s study, we decided to transfer the group army headquarters to the headquarters of the salayev division, which has now been withdrawn to the east bank for reorganization. We can use the headquarters they left behind. But in this way, we need to move about 500 meters along the banks of the Volga river towards the tractor factory line. "¡° Let''s move as soon as possible, comrade trekov. " Zaharov friendly to the transmitter said: "as for the deputy commander''s business, let me do it."

 Chapter 715

    After the call with trakov, zaharov nodded at me, just took his notebook and walked out of the communication room without saying a word.


    As soon as he left, tokaleva, sitting in front of the telephone, asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, is the situation in the city very bad?"


    I know what trakov said just now. She has heard a lot. She still knows something about the situation in the city. The reason why she asked me was to confirm it again.


    I nodded and said regretfully, "yes, according to the situation reflected by commander trakov, the situation in the city is very bad. I think that''s why he is determined to send all the women soldiers in the army."


    "What should we do then?" Tokaleva asked anxiously, "if that''s the case, comrade commander, they will be in danger if they don''t withdraw. Is there anything we can do to help them? " Although she was worried about trakov''s situation, she tried to keep her voice down so as not to cause unnecessary panic among the women soldiers around her.


    Hearing her worry, I quickly comforted her and said, "don''t worry, lieutenant. Although the situation in the city is very bad now, I believe Comrade commander they will survive in the end. I believe that before long, when the situation in the city becomes more stable, he will call you all back. "


    Tokaleva looked around quietly. Seeing that other female signalmen were busy, she came close to me and said in a low voice, "but just now I heard the commander say that the enemy''s shell had fallen on the gate of the headquarters and exploded. There were casualties almost at any time..."


    Before her words were finished, a communication soldier stood up not far away, raised the microphone in his hand to me, and said to me in an uncertain tone: "Comrade commander, the phone seems to be for you."


    "Seems to be looking for me?" After repeating the words of the female soldier, I asked, "Comrade soldier, why are you not sure if you want to call me?"


    The female soldier, who came to the east coast with us, blushed, apologized to me and explained, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. The caller said he was looking for general o''shanina, but I see that your rank on your badge is only Colonel, so I can''t be sure. "


    I looked down, but I was still wearing my former military coat, and the general suit was still in razumeyeva''s place. I smile apologetically at the soldier, take the microphone in her hand, close to her ear and politely ask, "Hello, I''m o''shanina. Who''s calling, please?"


    From the receiver came the voice of general zaharov, who had just left: "Comrade oshanina, I''m here with the commander. Please come immediately. The commander and the military commissar have something to look for you."


    After I handed the phone back to the female soldier, I went to tokaleva''s side, patted her on the back with my hand, and comforted her in a low voice: "Comrade lieutenant, don''t worry, believe me, the commander will be OK." With that, I stood up straight, straightened my uniform, and strode out of the communication room.


    There are many people in yelimenko''s room. Besides him, Khrushchev and zaharov, there is also Golikov, the deputy commander who has just returned. I went into the room, stood at attention, saluted the four, and politely asked, "Comrade commander, what can I do for you?"


    Yelomienko looked up at me and did not answer my question. Instead, he asked strangely, "Comrade oshanina, why didn''t you wear your new uniform?"


    Hearing his question, I quickly replied with a smile, "Comrade commander, I want to put it on after I get back to mamayev post."


    After listening to my reply, yelimenko looked at several people present for a while, and then everyone laughed. Khrushchev first said, "it seems that our female general is very anxious. Now we can''t wait to return to mamayev post." When he finished, yeliaomenko said to me in a kind voice, "don''t worry, comrade oshanina. Judging from the current situation, you will stay here for several days at least. When you go back later, put on your new uniform. In this way, it will be very helpful for your next work. "


    Although I didn''t understand the purpose of Yeliao Menko''s words, I immediately replied loudly, "yes, comrade commander. When I get back, I''ll put on my new uniform. "


    General Golikov also stood up from his seat, extended his hand to me and said in a friendly way, "Comrade oshanina, please allow me to congratulate you on your re winning the rank of general."


    I quickly reached out and held his hand, shaking it vigorously, and said gratefully: "thank you, thank you, comrade deputy commander of the front army."


    After the greetings, we will go back to business. Yelomienko restrained his smile, picked up the notepad on the table, looked at it twice, threw it back on the table again, and said solemnly, "according to trekov''s report, the situation in the city is very bad." Then he looked up at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, you have been in the city for a long time. Can you tell us what you think of the Germans?"


    After I sorted out my thoughts, I began to express my opinion: "as the enemy troops rushed into the city one after another, the places they occupied were crisscrossed with our defense area. For fear of accidental injury, they had to reduce the use of aircraft and artillery. In the street battle of Stalingrad, the enemy not only relied on the planes and artillery, but also the tanks that could cover the attack of infantry. It was because of this sudden change in tactics that the German army was very uncomfortable at the beginning. They still used the field attack method mechanically, but we beat them in a mess.


    But in any case, the German technical and tactical level is far higher than ours. After a series of failures, they fully learned from the past experience and lessons, and continued to use the infantry charging method covered by tanks and armored vehicles. They used the buildings in the city to continue their mobile and flexible operations. With platoons, shifts and even combat teams as units, they could only walk back and forth through the buildings and streets, freely choose the weak defense areas of our army, and surprise them, which caused great trouble to the defense of the garrison in the city.


    With the passage of time, the Germans, who are constantly learning in the battle, are becoming more and more proficient in their playing methods. In addition to continuing to send small troops to harass the city, their large troops poured into the city from all directions, and under the cover of tanks and armored vehicles, they gradually seized the buildings in the city and gradually compressed our defense line. This way of fighting has greatly reduced our army''s mobile combat capability, and we have to concentrate a large number of troops to fight hard to hard positional warfare with them. "


    Yeliao Menko''s face turned black. He bit his back teeth and asked, "the enemy''s fighting style really gives our commanders a headache. What do you think we should do to deal with it?"


    "At present, the most intense fighting is in the factory area to the north of the city. Although most of the buildings here collapsed in the enemy''s shelling and bombing, the remains of the buildings standing still are very solid. At present, the group army is ordering its subordinate units to use the complex terrain and available buildings to build new fortifications. "


    "Can the newly launched fortifications have a good defensive effect?" Asked Khrushchev curiously.


    I quickly nodded and said with certainty, "yes, comrade military commissar, this new fortification can become a strong fortress when it is completed."


    "What kind of new fortifications do you want to talk about?" My words aroused Golikov''s curiosity, and even he couldn''t help interrupting.


    I hastened to introduce the new fortification designed by Mikhail yev to the four of them. Because I was afraid I could not explain it clearly, I borrowed a pen and paper from zaharov and drew a simple sketch on the paper.


    After I finished, yelomienko went to see the sketch in my hand. After a while, he handed it to Khrushchev. Khrushchev also looked at it for a while and handed it to Golikov. When the sketch was circulated in the hands of the four of them and put back on the table. Yeliomenko put his hands on the table, stood up and asked them, "comrades commander, what do you think of the fortification map provided by Comrade oshanina?"


    "It''s wonderful!" First of all, zaharov said, "I think the man who designed this fortification is a genius. As long as such a fortification is built in a building at a crossroads, only a few dozen sandbags need to be prepared, and then a platoon of troops can be placed to block the enemy''s attack several times. "


    "Yes," Khrushchev agreed, "I also think that building such fortifications in the city can bring great trouble to the enemy."


    "What''s your opinion, general Golikov?" Seeing that his deputy commander didn''t express his opinions, Yeliao Menke specially named him and asked him to express his opinions.


    Golikov hesitated for a moment and said carefully, "the advantages of this new type of fortification have been mentioned. I will not repeat them here. What I want to say is that there are not many artillery left in the city. If a large number of such fortifications are built, where can we find so many artillery and Gunners? Even if there is only one anti tank gun and one mortar in each fortification, it will take 200 guns of various types and supporting shells to repair 100. It is difficult for us to provide enough supplies for these fortifications in our current state of transportation. "


    Golikov''s words pour cold water on all of us. It seems that the fortifications I mentioned are still very difficult to be popularized in Stalingrad city under the current situation.


    After carefully observing the expressions of all the people on the scene, yeliaomenko finally expressed his opinion: "I think this kind of fortification should be popularized on a large scale in the city. If there is no anti tank gun, it should be replaced by anti tank rifle. After all, relying on such fortifications, while reducing the casualties of our troops, we can also kill a large number of enemies. " When he said that, he stopped to see if he had any new suggestions. After waiting for a moment, seeing no one to speak, he continued: "the situation in Stalingrad is very bad at present. I think we should prepare for the worst in advance. What should we do if Stalingrad is lost? "


    "What else can I do?" Some impatient zaharov said: "of course, it''s to organize troops to fight back and take the city back from the enemy."


    "Get it back!" Golikov said in a scornful tone: "Comrade chief of staff, if the city is completely occupied by the enemy as the commander said, what kind of forces are we using now to achieve the counter attack of recapturing the city as you said?"


    Zhaharov was silenced by Golikov''s words. Instead of speaking, he bowed his head and pondered.


    Seeing that zaharov was speechless by himself, Golikov did not continue to attack. Instead, he stood up and asked yelimenko, "Comrade commander, I think under the current circumstances, the headquarters of the front army must send people to the city to study with Comrade trakov how to guard the city. I ask you to give me the task to carry out! "


    I was deeply moved by Golikov''s words. You know, the headquarters of trakov is in danger. It''s almost like death to go to him now. However, Golikov knows that there are tigers in the mountains, and he wants to rush to the city at risk to fight with trakov.


    Yelimenko also hesitated because of Golikov''s request. He tried to persuade the other party to change his mind: "Comrade deputy commander, the situation there is very dangerous. You''d better cancel the trip for the time being."


    Golikov shook his head slowly and said firmly, "Comrade commander, it is because of the bad situation in the city that I have to go to trakov. As long as I go to trekov''s headquarters, his commanders and fighters will see that even the deputy commander of the front army has come to us, then the city will be able to hold. In this way, they can strengthen their determination to keep the city


    Golikov''s words have already said this. Yelimenko knew that it was meaningless to oppose. He stood up again, grasped Golikov''s hand, shook it a few times, and said with emotion: "Comrade Golikov, pay attention to safety, and come back safely."


    "I will." Golikov said briefly. Then he shook hands with Khrushchev, zaharov and me.


    When I held the hand of general Golikov, I nervously didn''t know what to say. I could only learn from yelimenko and said, "Comrade deputy commander, please pay attention to your safety and come back here safely."


    When Golikov left, yelimenko began to give me an order: "Comrade oshanina, I give you a task. There will be a new division here tomorrow. You are responsible for organizing them to dig trenches and build fortifications near the wharf. " After the assignment, he also took the initiative to explain: "the current situation is very bad. We should prepare for the worst. Even if the enemy occupied Stalingrad, they must resolutely block them in Xi''an on the Volga River, and they must not be allowed to move forward. Wait for the new reinforcements to arrive, and then cooperate with them to fight back and take the city back from the enemy. "


    As I left yelimenko''s room and walked towards the telecommunication room, I thought to myself: since the situation in Stalingrad has suddenly worsened to this situation today, what about the situation in mamayev post? And what about Karpov, who was rebelled by us? Thinking of this, I can''t help but quicken my pace and walk towards the telecommunication room to find out the situation of the independent division as soon as possible.


    Entering the telecommunication room, I went straight behind tokaleva, put my hand on her shoulder, and asked with a kind face, "Comrade lieutenant, I want to get in touch with the independent division as soon as possible. Can you help me?"


    "No problem." Tokaleva agreed very readily, and then she said to me with a smile, "Comrade commander, I know the calling code of the independent division. Please wait a moment, and I''ll connect you right away."


    The effort is not big, tokaleva will earphone and transmitter to me, at the same time politely said: "commander comrade, connected."


    I gave her a smile, took the headset, put it on, and yelled at the transmitter, "Hello, Hello!"


    A strange male voice came from the earphone: "Hello, this is the headquarters of the independent division. Where are you?"


    When I heard that it was not razumeyeva''s voice, I was stunned for a moment. Then I remembered that the man who answered the phone was the male signalman who temporarily took over her job. I quickly indicated my identity: "I''m oshanina. Please call political commissar kirilov or chief of staff akhromeyev for me."


    "Yes, sir." The other side politely said, "please wait a moment. I''ll ask the commissar to speak to you right away."


    Soon kirilov''s voice came out of the earphone: "thank God, comrade o''shanina, you finally called. On this day when you''re away, it''s a mess everywhere. "


    Kirilov''s words made me flustered. I quickly asked, "what''s the matter? What''s the matter?"


    "Since early this morning, the enemy has sent out a large number of warplanes to bombard the city. The mamayev post was not only bombed by the enemy, but also the positions in the northern highlands were ploughed aside by the enemy''s intensive artillery fire. Nearly one third of the troops of the fourth regiment suffered casualties. "


    "Hell, how could that be?" I asked angrily, "what do Gaidar and Shapin do for food? How can they kill so many people?"


    "The enemy is very cunning. Their planes swept away from the highlands and rushed to bomb the city. The shells they fired also fell directly on the city and exploded. Commander Gaidar thought that the enemy would selectively ignore the mamayev post as usual, so he organized the soldiers to build fortifications as soon as possible. I didn''t expect that when I was busy, there was a burst of artillery fire from the enemy, and immediately hundreds of fortification officers and soldiers fell in the fire. "


    After listening to kirilov''s explanation, my mood calmed down. Seeing the enemy''s bombing and shelling, it was not mamayev post, let alone Gaidar. Even I would take it lightly. As a result, I was caught off guard by the enemy and sacrificed hundreds of officers and men in vain. I tried to control the mood of the word and asked, "is there anything else?"


    Kirilov, perhaps afraid that the operator next to him would hear him, lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "there''s another important thing. Someone''s coming from there."


    "There''s someone over there!" I repeated what he said, and I felt a little excited, because what he said was captain Karpov''s East camp¡° Did anyone say anything? "


    "Yes." Kirilov''s answer was quite straightforward, and then he hesitated a little: "but I''m in a bit of trouble at the moment."


    "Trouble, what trouble?" Kirilov didn''t know how to deal with it today. He always said that half of his words should be reserved, which almost made me anxious to death. I impatiently urged, "come on, what''s the matter?"


    "The plan you carried out yesterday morning was indeed effective. In the evening, the German troops were transferred back to two companies from the front and exchanged with their troops. When they enter the new defense area, because it is late and they have nothing to do, they will get in touch with us first. They are afraid that if they act without authorization, they will misunderstand our troops or be found by the Germans. So they were stationed first, ready to establish contact with us today, and then decide on the action of the troops. " At this point, kirilov couldn''t help sighing, "I didn''t expect that at dawn, I found that the left and right wings, I don''t know when, were deployed with German troops. As a result, they had to be cautious and stay in the camp. After dark, he sent a trusted subordinate to bring us a message, asking us to guide them out of trouble. "


    "Is the messenger gone?" I asked quickly.


    Kirilov replied, "not yet." Then he asked me, "do you need to talk to him?"


    "No I resolutely refused, but I said to kirilov very tactfully: "Comrade political commissar, please tell the messenger to go back and tell the person who sent him to stay calm and wait patiently for a while. We will inform him in advance when to move and which direction to move, and arrange the reception team. "


    "I see. I''ll tell the messenger what you mean." After kirilov finished this sentence, he suddenly asked, "Comrade oshanina, how did the leaders of the front army arrange your work after you arrived at the east bank? Will you stay in the front army to arrange work, or will you return to the independent division soon? "


    "Comrade political commissar, the higher authorities have not given me an accurate answer on how to arrange my next work." As the current situation is complicated and confusing, whether Stalingrad can keep it or not is a question. Whether I can return to mamayev post has also become an unknown. Therefore, I can''t give kirilov an accurate answer. I can only vaguely say: "at present, the head of the front army has arranged a temporary job for me. After this job is completed, I will decide whether I will go or stay."


    "So it is." Kirilov''s voice was obviously filled with undeniable disappointment. "Comrade chief of staff and I hope that you can return to the post of independent division if you have the chance."


    "One day, comrade political commissar. Don''t forget, I went to negotiate with the other party in person about that. If they don''t see me before the action, they may change their mind temporarily. "


    "In that case, I can rest assured." Although I was vague, kirilov said with relief, "I look forward to your early return to the headquarters. Good luck


    "Good luck!" After that, I broke off contact.


    Putting down the earphone and transmitter, I turned to look around and saw that the girls were still busy in their respective posts. It seems that the situation today is terrible, even the communication lines are not free. I looked down at tokaleva in front of me and told her, "when the work is not so busy later, you can arrange the girls to take turns to rest. There will be a lot of work in the future. If you don''t know how to rest, you will be exhausted. "


    For my care, tokaleva said gratefully, "I see. Thank you, commander."


    When I went back to the shelter where I lived, the left behind razumeyeva met me and asked with concern, "what''s the situation in the city, sir?"


    I looked at the empty high and low bed and asked curiously, "where are the girls?"


    Razumeyeva took a look at the empty beds and replied, "today, several commanders came to the headquarters of the front army. They said that there is a shortage of personnel in all units and that they are in urgent need of experienced personnel. So they took away all the girls who lived here."


    Seeing that there was no outsider in the shelter department, I didn''t have so much scruples. I took razumeyeva to the table in the middle of the room and sat down. I told her about the situation in the city.


    Razumeyeva was also surprised. Like tokaleva, she was also very worried about the safety of trakov. She asked me, "Comrade division commander, since the enemy has found the location of the group army headquarters and is still bombarding them with artillery fire, are they in danger?"


    Listening to her question, I answered with some uncertainty, "I don''t think so." With these words, I found that I was wrong. What I mean should not, but certainly not. In the history I know, trakov was famous for the battle of Stalingrad. This battle, which won a great victory, became an important cornerstone for his promotion to marshal. So I immediately changed my tone and said in a positive tone: "Lieutenant razumeyeva, don''t worry. Commander trakov will be OK. In addition, general Golikov, deputy commander of the front army, also rushed to the city overnight. If the headquarters of the group army is really in a very dangerous situation, he will arrange for the headquarters to be transferred in person. "


    After listening to me, razumeyeva patted her chest and said happily, "as long as the commander doesn''t have an accident, it''s really good." I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was late. Yawned, stretched, and said to razumeyeva, "Comrade lieutenant, if you have nothing to do, you should have a rest early. There''s more important work to do tomorrow. I don''t want my deputy to be listless because of lack of sleep at work. "

 Chapter 716

    When I heard the sound of footsteps walking in the room, I tried to open my eyes and saw that the group of women soldiers who had not returned all night had come back. Maybe after a busy night, they were very tired. They dragged their tired bodies to the bed and fell directly on the bed. They didn''t even have the strength to speak.


    He raised his hand and looked at his watch. It was already seven o''clock. Because I don''t know when the new editor they mentioned arrived yesterday, I quickly turned over and sat up, woke up razumeyeva who was sleeping on the bed next to him, put on my new military uniform, put on my military coat, went to a wooden basin full of water by the wall, washed my face with cold water, looked at the small mirror hanging on the wall, and straightened my hair, Then he turned and asked razumeyeva, "are you ready, comrade Lieutenant?"


    After listening to my question, razumeyeva, who had just put on her clothes, replied in a hurry: "Sir, please wait a moment. I''ll be ready in a minute." After that, she rushed to the wooden basin I just used and washed her face with cold water. Then she stood up straight and said to me, "I can do it, sir."


    I nodded at her, went to the table, picked up the helmet, put it on my head, tied the belt, stepped on the submachine gun, waved my head at her again and said, "let''s go."


    On the way to the headquarters of the front army, I had been thinking about whether I should go to chief of staff zaharov or directly to commander yelomienko later. Khrushchev, wearing a Lenin hat, and five or six soldiers, had come face to face. Still far away, he said to me with a smile: "Comrade o''shanina, where are you going?"


    Seeing that Khrushchev was coming, I quickly stopped, took one side of my body to the side of the road, raised my hand to salute him, and politely said, "Hello, comrade military commissar, I''m going to go to the headquarters to ask about receiving the new division."


    With a wave of his hand, Khrushchev said casually, "don''t be so troublesome. The commander is afraid that the new commanders won''t buy your bill. He specially asked me to help you. Let''s go. " Then he passed me and walked along the dirt road.


    I saw that the commander behind him was captain Yakubov, who I knew. He nodded to him with a smile. Then he quickened his pace to catch up with Khrushchev, half a body behind him, and walked forward with him.


    After walking for a while, I cautiously asked Khrushchev, "Comrade military commissar, what''s the situation in the city, commander trakov? Are they safe now?"


    Khrushchev nodded and gave me a gratifying answer: "yes, all the enemies near Comrade trakov''s headquarters have been eliminated. They are safe for the time being." Perhaps to reassure me completely, he specially added: "the enemy launched another crazy attack in the city last night. In the ruins of the buildings on both sides of the road, our commanders and fighters constantly rushed out from the sewers, from the dilapidated rooms, and from the basements to fight with the enemy. Because our army is in the dark and the enemy is in the light, our attack is very effective, so that the enemy has to stop attacking our defense line and disperse his forces into the ruins to fight with our mysterious small units. "


    Khrushchev spoke, but his pace slowed down obviously. Then he pointed to a tent by the side of the road and said, "Comrade oshanina, we will go there and wait for the new editor''s comrade. It''s quite cold outside in this kind of weather. " After that, he turned to Yakubov and said, "Captain, you and your men will stay here. When you see the new division coming, bring their commanders into the tent."


    When he heard Khrushchev''s command, Yakubov was in trouble. Looking at the soldiers and people in civilian clothes walking back and forth on the road, he said with some worry: "however, comrade military commissar, I don''t know the commander from the new division!"


    Khrushchev said with a smile: "you are such a fool. According to the notice from the higher authorities, because the new editors have just been set up, they have neither had time to train nor given them weapons. If you see an army of soldiers in new uniforms and without weapons later, it''s a new division. "


    Yakubov suddenly realized this and quickly replied, "I see, comrade military Commissar."


    Khrushchev laughed and was about to bend down to get into the tent when a sergeant with bandages on his head, gauze on his left hand and hanging on his chest came by. After approaching Khrushchev, he asked in the tone of an old friend, "Comrade commander, can you give me a cigarette?"


    In later generations, when I was walking on the street, I had more than one experience of strangers asking me for cigarettes, both old and young. It is precisely because I know that Russia has such a custom that I am used to seeing a wounded stranger come to Khrushchev for cigarettes.


    Khrushchev stood up straight, took out an exquisite tinplate cigarette box from his pocket, opened it, held it in one hand, and handed it to the sergeant for him to take. Seeing the sergeant''s hand hanging on his chest, he was unable to light a cigarette. After putting the cigarette box into his pocket, he specially took out a match to light a cigarette for the other party. At the same time, he asked in a chatting tone: "sergeant, it seems that you have just been removed from the city. What''s the situation inside?"


    After taking a deep puff of his cigarette, the sergeant spat out the smoke in his mouth and then replied, "there are fires everywhere. Houses, factories, floors, fires everywhere."


    "And the man?" Khrushchev asked.


    "People are still sticking to it. As long as they are still alive, they are still fighting."


    After hearing the sergeant''s reply, Khrushchev took out his tinplate cigarette box again, opened it, handed it to the sergeant and said in a friendly way, "have some more."


    Seeing that Khrushchev was so generous and polite, the sergeant held the burning cigarette in his mouth, grabbed a few cigarettes from the cigarette box, and hurriedly stuffed them into his coat pocket. Then he raised his hand to salute Khrushchev, turned and left, and went north along the dirt road with the soldiers walking on the road.


    The furnishings in the tent were simple, with only one wooden table and four benches. After Khrushchev sat down facing the door, he also asked razumeyeva and I to sit down. Chat with me in your spare time. "Comrade o''shanina, how old are you this year?" he asked with concern in the tone of a kind elder


    To tell you the truth, I''ve been confused about Rita''s real age, so when I heard his question, I could only say vaguely, "I''m 23 years old."


    "23." After repeating my words, he said with emotion, "almost the same age as my son Leonid."


    "Nikita Sergeyev!" In order to show my respect for him, I called him by my own name and father''s name, and asked knowingly, "is your son in the army, too?" When I said this, I could see his son''s image in the film and television works. In order to celebrate the coming battle, his son and several friends came to the back room with two other commanders when everyone was a little drunk, showing off their shooting skills and using the new pistol given by Khrushchev, Knock down the wine bottles on the doorframe one by one. Another commander, perhaps because of alcohol, put a bottle on his head and let Leonid shoot. Unexpectedly, when shooting, several other friends who were with them ran out. A girl accidentally jumped on Leonid, causing the bullet to deviate from the direction and hit the commander with the bottle on his head instead of hitting the bottle. Because of this, Khrushchev''s son was demoted from an officer to a private soldier, and was sent to the hardest place to fight for atonement.


    Hearing my question, Khrushchev replied with a wry smile: "yes, my son Leonid is currently a fighter pilot, and his troops are fighting tenaciously with enemy planes every day to fight for our air supremacy in the battlefield."


    "God, he''s a pilot!" Razumeyeva exclaimed involuntarily. For her gaffe, I turned my head and glared at her discontentedly, and coughed heavily, indicating that she should pay attention to the occasion. She was embarrassed to spit out her tongue, buried her head deeply, and muttered in a voice that only she and I could hear: "this arms is really good."


    Maybe Leonid is a taboo of Khrushchev. After a few simple words, he turned his words aside and began to talk with me about how the upcoming new editor should be placed.


    Just then, the curtain of the door was lifted, Yakubov came in from the outside, stood up straight and reported to Khrushchev, "Comrade military commissar, leader of the new division and political commissar are coming."


    "Let them in." Khrushchev said briefly.


    "Yes Yakubov agreed. Then he turned to one side of his body and let the door out. At the same time, he said to the people outside, "please come in, comrades in command, military commissars, please come in."


    As soon as his voice dropped, he walked into two commanders who were about the same height, fat and thin. They were both wearing military coats and cornice hats. After saluting Khrushchev neatly, the commander on the left first introduced himself and said, "Comrade military commissar, I am lieutenant commander Elia, the leader of the new division." Then he turned to the commander next to him and said, "this is major Yaming, my political commissar."


    How could the commissar be a major? With this doubt, I turned to look at Khrushchev and saw that he was also at a loss. Obviously, like me, he was also wondering how the political commissar used the rank of army instead of political work cadre. At that moment, the commander had stepped forward and introduced himself to Khrushchev, saying, "Comrade military commissar, please allow me to introduce myself to you. My name is Yaming. I am a major in the Ministry of internal affairs, and I am concurrently the political commissar of the vanguard regiment for the time being."


    "So it is!" Khrushchev and I suddenly realized.


    After they sat down opposite Khrushchev, Khrushchev looked at them and asked, "how many people are there in your regiment?"


    Elia quickly stood up and replied: "report to the military commissar, our regiment has 2000 people, because after entering the city, all the commanders and fighters will be scattered and added to other units respectively, so the organizational structure of our regiment is not too detailed, only regiment and battalion levels, and each battalion commander is assumed by those commanders with rich combat experience."


    Yaming also stood up and asked Khrushchev, "Comrade military commissar, I don''t know when to arrange our regiment to cross the river?"


    "Crossing the river?" Khrushchev listened to his question and looked up at him unexpectedly. Then he waved his hand and said, "now the situation has changed. Your regiment will not cross the river for the time being."


    "What? Not crossing the river? " After hearing this, Elijah and Yaming looked at each other. Elijah was puzzled and asked, "why don''t you cross the river all of a sudden?" The expression on Khrushchev''s face became stern. He raised his hands and pressed them down. After they sat down, he said calmly: "because of the enemy''s crazy attack, the situation in the city was very bad, and all the army systems were disrupted. In this case, if we rashly send the recruits who have no combat effectiveness into the city, it will not play any role except to let them die. "

 Chapter 717

    After Khrushchev''s words, commander Ilya seemed to have guessed what the Military Commission in front of him said. He sat there with a calm face and did not move. However, political commissar Yaming showed the opposite. He stood up again and said loudly to Khrushchev, "Comrade military commissar, I can''t agree with what you said. Although our soldiers are all recruits, without military training or weapons, their loyalty is guaranteed. I think the more unfavorable the situation is for us, the more we should send them to the most dangerous areas. "


    After listening to major Yaming''s speech, I immediately turned to Khrushchev to hear how he responded. After listening to Yaming''s words, Khrushchev asked, "Comrade major, how many weapons are your regiment equipped with?"


    This question of Khrushchev stunned Yaming. After a moment''s hesitation, he said haltingly, "at present, the regiment has 20 pistols, 15 bobosha submachine guns and 40 mosinlagan rifles, which are distributed to commanders at all levels."


    "With this weapon, how can we fight the enemy armed to the teeth?" Khrushchev said in a sarcastic tone: "I never thought that Khrushchev would dare to express his opinions so openly when facing the staff of the Ministry of internal affairs in the city. I can''t help but feel a little more favorable towards him.


    "Since you think that with a group of soldiers who are not unarmed, you can fight the enemy armed to the teeth," Khrushchev continued angrily, "then I will satisfy your wish. On the dock, there are a group of soldiers who have violated military discipline, about 200 people. Compared with your new soldiers, they not only have undergone strict military training, but also have rich combat experience. Now I will assign them to you and let you take them to the city to participate in the battle. "


    Khrushchev''s censure immediately silenced major Yaming. When he was embarrassed, Elijah, who was sitting beside him, stood up, looked at Khrushchev and asked, "Comrade military commissar, since our regiment does not need to enter Stalingrad for the time being, what is our task now?" At this point, he stopped for a moment, and then, according to the regulations, said, "please allow me to learn about the new task."


    After sitting down, Khrushchev looked up at Elijah and said, "the next task of your regiment is to build fortifications near the wharf. At present, the situation in the city is very bad, and I don''t know whether the Garrison who sticks there can finally block the enemy''s attack, so we must prepare for the worst. "


    "Then who should lead us?" When Elia asked, her eyes turned to me unconsciously, as if she was surprised that there were two female commanders in the tent.


    Khrushchev pointed to me and said, "Comrade commander, I forgot to introduce you. This is major general oshanina, the independent division commander. You and your men are under her command from now on. What''s this When he introduced razumeyeva, he couldn''t help hesitating, because he didn''t know who razumeyeva was.


    I quickly took his words: "Comrade military commissar, this is lieutenant razumeyeva. She..."


    Before I finished, Khrushchev said cleverly, "yes, this is lieutenant razumeyeva. She is the adjutant of oshanina."


    When Khrushchev misunderstood razumeyeva as my adjutant, I didn''t make any excuses. I just followed his meaning and said, "yes, Lieutenant razumeyeva is my adjutant."


    I heard that I was their new leader. They were stunned at first, but soon recovered. They raised their hands to salute me and said politely, "Hello, Comrade General."


    See two people salute to me, I also hastened to return a salute to them. Then he turned around and asked Khrushchev, "comrades of the military commissar, since we are going to build fortifications, we must have the necessary tools. I guess the comrades of the pioneer group didn''t carry these tools with them. I don''t know where we can get them


    Khrushchev didn''t answer my question immediately, but after thinking about it, he yelled out of the tent, "Yakubov, Captain Yakubov, come in."


    With his shouts, Captain Yakubov opened the curtain and came in. After straightening up, he asked Khrushchev, "Comrade military commissar, do you have any instructions?"


    "You take general oshanina to the headquarters, find the logistics minister, general varenikov, and get the tools they need." After explaining the matter to the captain, he kindly said to me, "Comrade o''shanina, after you get the tools, start the construction of the fortification as soon as possible. We must seize the time, because we do not know when the enemy will attack the east coast. "


    "Comrades of the military commissar, please rest assured," as soon as Khrushchev finished speaking, I quickly expressed my determination to him: "we will finish the construction of the fortifications in the shortest time."


    Khrushchev nodded with satisfaction, waved his hand to me, and said kindly, "go, take commander Ilya with them, and go to general varenikov to get the tools. I''m going to stay here and wait for the leadership of the new editor. "


    Out of the tent, I saw the open space outside, neatly lined up with dozens of square. Then he curiously asked lieutenant commander Elia standing beside me, "Comrade commander, are these your subordinates?"


    Elijah nodded hard and said, "yes, comrade general, they are all soldiers of our regiment."


    I stood in the same place and looked at the soldiers in the queue curiously, perhaps because of the long journey. Most of them had tired faces, and even a few soldiers were still yawning quietly.


    Elia waved in the direction of the line, and soon a short commander came up to us, raised his hand and said, "Comrade commander, Captain ramzin of the first battalion reports to you, what''s your instruction?"


    "This is major general oshanina, our new commander," Elia said to the captain after introducing me, "take your battalion with us, go to the logistics department to collect tools, and then build fortifications on the dock."


    Iria''s words stunned ramzin. He murmured, "why dig fortifications? Doesn''t it mean that our regiment will cross the river into Stalingrad right away?"


    Elijah glared at him and said discontentedly, "don''t you know that the orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed? Gather your men immediately and follow us


    After leaving major Yaming in charge of the rest of the army, some of us, with about 500 soldiers, followed Yakubov and walked towards the wharf. When we arrived at the checkpoint in front of the dock, Yakubov asked us to stop for a while. He went to greet the officers and men at the checkpoint, and then he was led away by one of the sergeants.


    The night before yesterday, when I got to the east bank, I didn''t care about the situation on the wharf, but I stayed in the headquarters for the rest of the time, and I still didn''t know what the wharf was like. After walking in today, I finally saw the true face of Lushan. In the open land more than 100 meters away from the wharf, all kinds of materials piled up like mountains. In order to prevent the German air attack, the cargo piles were covered with camouflage nets. Groups of soldiers are busy nervously, transporting the materials here to several ferries at the dock.


    In a short time, Yakubov came back with a group of people. Among them was a burly general, who should be the logistics Minister of the front army, general walennikov. I hastened to meet him, but also across the way, I took the initiative to greet each other: "excuse me, is it general walennikov?"


    "Yes, it''s me, comrade oshanina." The general was really the one I was looking for. He took the initiative to reach out his hand and shake it with me. Then he turned his head and told a second lieutenant behind him: "Comrade second lieutenant, take these comrades to get the tools." After his subordinates left with the new soldiers, the general took me to one side and pointed out the location of the fortifications for me: "your task is to build two trenches at the back of the wharf, so that when the enemy launches a cross river battle, our troops can rely on this position to carry out the blocking."


    "Yes, Comrade General." I answered him briefly.


    Although I promised very readily, he still told me not to worry: "remember, the trench must be dug deeper, so that the soldiers can hide. Besides, it''s close to the river. It''s easy to accumulate water in the trench. You have to find a way to get some wood and lay it inside. Our soldiers can''t even soak in the water when they are fighting. "


    When I looked around, I could hardly see trees on the nearby hills except some bushes, so I asked walenikov with a wry smile, "Comrade General, I don''t know where to cut down trees?"


    After listening to my question, valenkov pointed to the north and said, "let your soldiers go to the north. About five kilometers away, there is a large area of forest where you can cut down trees and transport them here to reinforce the fortifications."


    His understatement made me laugh and cry. It''s not a big problem to cut down trees. But the forest is a few kilometers away, and we don''t have any means of transportation. How can we transport the cut trees back? Thinking of this, I quickly complained to him: "Comrade General, we don''t have any means of transportation for such a long distance. If we want to get the wood back, we must spend a lot of manpower and material resources. In this way, the construction progress of the fortifications will slow down."


    Varenikov was silent and seemed to be thinking about how to solve the difficulties I raised. After a while, he said decisively, "well, I''ve transferred two trucks to you to specially pull wood." At this point, he slowed down and said carefully, "if you can repair two trenches before dark, maybe it will be decisive for us to stick to the east coast."


    I frowned and calculated the quantity of the building in my heart. Thinking of laying wood under the trench after digging, I even doubted whether I could finish the task assigned by the superior within the prescribed time. While I was hesitating, valentinikov asked again, "Comrade oshanina, is there any difficulty?"


    "No problem." After I finished this sentence, I almost wanted to slap myself in the face and scold myself for speaking without thinking. With such a large amount of work, if the number of builders can double, it may be completed on time, otherwise the construction period can only be extended according to the specific situation.


    Seeing that I had made a promise, varenikov nodded at me, turned around and left with his group of subordinates. Yakubov came up to me and said, "Comrade General, the task assigned to me by the military commissar has been completed. It''s time for me to return to my life."


    To this friendly captain, I smile and extend my hand to him. "Thank you, comrade captain. Thank you very much for what you have done for us. Good luck Next, I began to give orders to commander Elia: "Comrade commander, our task, I think you have made it clear that we are going to build two trenches behind the dock before dark. Now you send a battalion of soldiers with axes and ropes to the forest five kilometers away to cut down the wood necessary for the fortification. As for the other three battalions, they immediately started digging trenches and building fortifications. "

 Chapter 718

    Half an hour later, 1500 soldiers who had received the tools began to dig trenches along the Volga River. Although they have not received any military training, they are very handy in doing things like digging holes.


    Looking at the trenches gradually formed in the hands of the soldiers, I couldn''t help nodding with satisfaction, and said to razumeyeva standing beside me: "Comrade lieutenant, it seems that these new soldiers are good at digging. Even if they pull over the old soldiers who often dig trenches, they can''t match them."


    Without waiting for razumeyeva to speak, Elia had already said in advance: "Comrade General, you may not know that most of them are collective farms from Kazakhstan. They are good at doing farm work, and they often volunteer to participate in various water conservancy projects. A job like digging is just a piece of cake for them. "


    When Elijah was talking, I vaguely saw a dozen commanders coming towards us. I patted Elijah on the shoulder, pointed to the people coming from afar, and asked him curiously, "Comrade commander, look at someone coming towards us. Look, is it someone you know?"


    Elia turned to see, immediately excited, he excitedly said to me: "it''s the teacher." I''m going to leave with my legs raised.


    Teacher, what teacher? I grabbed him who was about to leave and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, which division is it?"


    "What kind of teacher can I be? I''m the teacher of our new division. Now that he has appeared, the other two regiments must have arrived, so that we don''t worry about the shortage of builders. "


    When the people who wanted to help arrived, I was overjoyed. I immediately called razumeyeva, followed Elia, and quickly welcomed the group of commanders and fighters.


    When the two groups of us were four or five meters apart, we stopped at the same time. Then a little old man of medium height with a large abdomen like a pregnant woman came out of the crowd, raised his hand to salute me, and reported: "Comrade General, the new division commander, Colonel Bantai leiev, has reported to you that all the divisions have arrived at the designated positions, waiting for your orders, Please indicate the next task. "


    After giving him a salute, I said to him, "Captain bantailev, it''s a good time for you to come. You see, "I said, pointing to the soldiers who were digging trenches in the distance," the headquarters of the front army ordered us to build two trenches on the Volga River, because we didn''t know when the enemy would rush across the river, so we had to finish the construction before dark. I''m worried about the shortage of manpower. I didn''t expect you to come. "


    The colonel said to me with a smile, "Comrade General, I just went to see Comrade Khrushchev, the military Commissar. He told me all the current situation. Please don''t worry. I''ll arrange the staff immediately to help the soldiers of the first regiment repair their fortifications. " With that, he turned to the back and said, "Comrade chief of staff, come to me."


    A major followed his cry and came running quickly, standing straight in front of us. The Colonel began to command him: "immediately transfer both regiments, one regiment is in charge of a trench, speed up the construction speed, and make sure to finish it before dark."


    The major agreed, turned and ran back to the crowd, called two soldiers, and strode along the way.


    After the major left, Bantai leiev suddenly asked Elijah curiously, "Hello, comrade commander, where is your political commissar?"


    I understand that the political commissar he asked was major Yamin from the Ministry of interior. He quickly helped Elijah and said, "Comrade Colonel, because the riverside works are easy to be flooded, the superior asked us to cut down wood and lay it in the trench to prevent water. And major Yaming, with a battalion of troops, went to the north forest to cut wood. "


    "Oh, so it is." When bandeleev said this, I obviously found that he was secretly relieved. It seems that he was also dissatisfied with the interior major who was the acting political commissar, but he did not dare to show it in public.


    In the past, I hated political workers and staff of the Ministry of internal affairs most. But as time goes on, I found that today''s political workers basically have the basic military command ability, and there are few cases of blind command like those in the early days of the war. The people in the Ministry of internal affairs are different. They always feel superior and always rely on their special identity to do whatever they want. As a result, they get angry and resentful. They don''t know if they will be shot in the battlefield.


    With the addition of a new force, the speed of digging the trenches suddenly increased a lot. Originally, I saw many officers and men standing in the waist deep trench, shoveling soil out. Before long, no one could be seen from a distance, only the occasional flash of the shovel, shovel after shovel of soil out. In order to check whether the excavated trench was up to standard, I walked towards the newly excavated trench, and bantaileiev followed.


    We stood on the mound by the trench, looking at the busy soldiers below. Because the soil was newly dug out, it was very wet and soft. As soon as I stood up, I felt my feet sink a little bit. I quickly stepped back and stood on the hard ground.


    "Comrade oshanina," banteliev asked hesitantly, "do you think the Germans will cross the Volga?"


    "No, comrade colonel." Almost without thinking, I said to him, "although the Germans have an advantage in the city, they can''t destroy our troops and drive us out of the city. We can not only block the enemy, but also wipe them out completely and cleanly. "


    My answer was obviously unexpected. He hesitated for a moment and then asked curiously, "I didn''t expect you to be so confident, even when our army is at a disadvantage, you are still confident."


    I didn''t answer him. I just laughed casually and then turned the topic aside: "how many commanders have combat experience in your division?"


    Bantai leiev thought for a moment and replied, "there are 227 officers, all of whom are commanders of regiments and battalions." At this point, he specially explained to me, "because when our troops enter the city, they will be split up immediately and incorporated into divisions or brigades with heavy losses, so the whole division has only three levels of division, regiment and battalion."


    "Where will you commanders go when the soldiers are added to the units?" Thinking of the more than 200 commanders with rich combat experience, I suddenly had the idea of digging a corner, so I asked, "do you want to join these troops like the soldiers, or do you want to draw out alone and return to the starting point to recruit and train new troops?"


    Bantaileiev''s face showed a bitter smile. After a long time, he pointed to the ferryboat on the Volga River, which was heading for the other bank. He was unwilling to say: "in fact, we are similar to the sailors who transport materials. They transport materials, but we transport soldiers. If there is no accident, after sending these soldiers into the city, we have to go back to the starting point and continue to recruit soldiers from the city and the farm. "


    "Comrade Colonel, do you have any idea of staying in the combat forces?" It is said that the task of these commanders will end after the recruits are sent to the city. My idea of wooing them becomes more and more intense. I tentatively asked: "my troops are newly formed, and they lack enough backbone and experienced commanders. I wonder if you and your subordinates can consider joining me?"


    After listening to what I said, bandeleev did not immediately express his position, but asked noncommittally, "Comrade oshanina, I don''t know where your troops are stationed?"


    "Mamayev post." I said lightly.


    "Mamayev post?" Bantai leiev''s voice suddenly raised several tones, so that some busy soldiers nearby were also shocked by him. They stopped their work and stood up straight to look at us.


    "Whatever you look at, you''ll be busy." After yelling at the distracted soldiers, I looked at bantaileiev and said in a straight voice, "yes, comrade Colonel, my independent division has been stationed at mamayev post since the beginning of September. Although my Division has been greatly reduced from more than 10000 at the beginning to more than 2000, we are firmly in front of the Germans like a gate, so that they can not move forward at all. "


    My boasting excited Bantai leiev. He held out his hands, shook my hands and said excitedly, "general oshanina, I didn''t expect that it was your troops who were holding the mamayev post. It''s a great honor to work with you. "


    I was confused by Bantai leiev''s attitude. After I let go of his hand, I asked curiously, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the matter? I''m confused because you don''t speak clearly." After that, I stared at him, trying to hear what he would say.


    Bantailiev looked to the left and right for a moment, and then said to me in a low voice: "Sir, there are many people here, and we have to change to a quiet place." With that, he took me to the side for more than ten or twenty meters, and thought we were almost in the same position, so he stopped.


    I also looked around. Although we are in the sight of the soldiers around us, the nearest soldiers are about ten meters away. As long as we don''t speak loudly, they can''t hear us at all.


    Bantaileiev said to me in a low voice, "Comrade General, maybe you don''t know. As soon as the Germans crossed the Don River and got close to Stalingrad, the general staff had a war game. According to the deduction, the key point of the enemy''s attack is the mamayev post. It is possible that the enemy will seize the mamayev post from our army within the first week after approaching Stalingrad. In the following battles, in order to recapture and maintain this highland, our army will invest at least five to eight divisions a month. It''s going to be a flesh and blood mill


    Bantai leiev''s words made me shiver. I said that the war game deduction is too magical, and it actually deduces all the events in the real history. However, due to my appearance and the inexplicable emergence of the independent division, there has been a small deviation in history. Mamayevgang, which has become the focus of contention between the Soviet Union and Germany, is still in our hands at the moment.


    Of course, these are all my personal secrets. I must not let outsiders know. Although I was shocked in my heart, I still acted as if nothing had happened and said, "Comrade Colonel, it seems that this war game deduction is not very accurate. You see how long the fighting has been going on, but the mamayev post is still in our hands. "


    Bantaileiev nodded, and then said to me solemnly, "general oshanina, the probability of mistakes in wargame deduction is very small, otherwise the general staff will not adopt this method. The reason why the mamayev post is still under the control of our army has a lot to do with your division commander. I''ve decided that, with the permission of the superior, I will lead these commanders under my command to join your independent division. I hope you can agree. "


    As soon as bantaileiev''s words came out, I was very excited. I quickly took his hand, shook it vigorously, and said, "Comrade Colonel, this is really wonderful. On behalf of all the officers and men of the independent division, I welcome you and your subordinates to join us. "


    By two o''clock in the afternoon, the earthwork of the two two kilometer long trenches had been completed, and the rest was to put the wood transported back by major Yaming and lay it neatly at the bottom of the trench to prevent water.


    Bantai leiev and I were squatting by the trench, watching the soldiers lay logs when suddenly a cry came from the distance. Hearing that the other party seemed to be calling my name, I quickly stood up and looked in the direction of the voice. I saw that it was not someone else, but Yakubov, whom I knew well.


    Seeing the captain''s appearance, I speculated that Khrushchev might have given me some new orders. After speaking to bantailiev, I quickly went to Yakubov.


    Still far away, I asked him curiously, "Captain Yakubov, what can I do for you?"


    "Command, the latest command." Yakubov, who was running out of breath, said to me breathlessly, "the military commissar ordered the new division to stop building fortifications immediately and seize the time to have a rest. In the evening, get the necessary weapons on the dock, board the ship and enter Stalingrad. "


    I was overjoyed by this unexpected order. I immediately asked, "Comrade captain, do you still have an explanation from the military commissar?"


    "Yes." Yakubov''s breathing calmed down a little, and then delivered Khrushchev''s order: "he said that the first regiment of the new division was incorporated into your independent division, while the other two regiments, led by the division commander, Colonel bantailev, went to the headquarters of the 62nd army and handed over to trikov."


    At this time, Bantai leiev came to me and asked curiously, "general oshanina, what''s the matter? You look very happy. "


    "Yes, yes, comrade colonel." I was especially excited to think that I could return to mamayev post again, and still return with a new supplementary army. "Just received the order from the superior, let''s stop building fortifications. In the evening, after picking up weapons on the dock, take a ferry into Stalingrad. "


    "Great, that''s great." Bantaileiev was also happy to hear that his army would no longer be an engineer. He then asked, "how are the troops in the division distributed by the superior?"


    "The first regiment was assigned to my independent division, and the recruits of the other two regiments were led by you to the 62nd army headquarters and handed over to commander trekov."


    Bantai leiev was happy for a moment, and then he asked me in embarrassment, "when do you want to ask the superior for instructions about me and my independent division?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade colonel." I comforted him and said, "first, you will lead your troops to the headquarters of the group army. After the handover, you will bring your subordinates to my independent division to report. After crossing the river, I will personally report this matter to general yelomienko and military commissar Comrade Khrushchev. "


    In the evening, two thousand officers and men of the pioneer group and I crowded into eight ferries on the wharf and crossed the river with me. Apart from razumeyeva, several other female soldiers also went with us.


    As the ship sailed towards the West Bank, I looked at the weapons in the hands of the soldiers in the cabin and said to the commander Elia with regret: "Comrade commander, I didn''t expect that the front army was so poor that I couldn''t even guarantee a rifle. You see, at present, every three people have a gun. If we fight like this, we will suffer greatly. "


    As political commissar Yaming was not on the same boat with us, Elia spoke more casually. He said gratefully, "Comrade General, this is very good." Then he came close to me in a low voice and said, "in fact, on the battlefield, because of the lack of weapons, new recruits are not given weapons at all. At most, a grenade or anti tank mine is given to one person, so that they can attack the enemy. As a result, in the end, the enemy did not wipe out a few, and almost all of our people died. "


    After the ship came to shore, I took this army with incomplete weapons and advanced along the open area behind the mamayev post to the headquarters of the division.


    As soon as he reached the foot of the mountain, he met a patrol led by Captain horushov himself. He was overjoyed to see me and the new supplementary troops. He immediately sent someone to report the good news to the political commissar.


    After I introduced him to Elijah, I began to distribute the troops: "commander Elijah, we must now disperse and replenish the troops into the regiments. Your first battalion goes to the second regiment of the independent division; The second and third battalions go to the fourth regiment in the North highland; Captain horushov will send the remaining four battalions to the third regiment. "


    As soon as I had allocated the places for the battalions of the vanguard regiment, horushov immediately ordered his men to act as guides for the battalions and take them to their new places.

 Chapter 719

    When I walked back into the division headquarters and looked at everything I knew, and kirilov and akhromeyev, who came to me with a smile, I suddenly felt that "I Hu Han San has come back again.".


    "Welcome back, comrade oshanina." As kirilov said, he grabbed my right hand and shook it vigorously. He also kept saying, "as soon as you leave, even the commanders and fighters below miss you very much. From time to time, someone calls or runs to the headquarters to ask when you can come back. Now, you''re back, and you''re back in command. On behalf of the whole division, I warmly welcome you back. "


    After greeting kirilov and akhromeyev, I quickly introduced Elia and Yamin, who came to the headquarters with me.


    When they heard the introduction of Elia, their expressions were very natural. When they shook hands with Commander Elia, their faces were filled with sincere smiles. When I introduced major Yaming, his smile froze on his face, and then he showed an alert expression.


    After a short silence, kirilov suddenly asked me in a loud voice, "Comrade teacher, if major Yaming comes to work in our division, what position do you plan to arrange for him?" Said, but also while Yaming did not pay attention, desperately at me to make eyes.


    I understand kirilov''s hint very well. But as early as before crossing the river, I inquired privately with colonel Bantai leiev. Although Yaming was from the Ministry of interior, when he arrived at the new editor, he was single and didn''t bring any of his subordinates. An interior officer who doesn''t even have a subordinate is like a tiger without teeth. What''s terrible? So I deliberately ignored kirilov''s warning. Instead, I took off my helmet, scratched the back of my head, and pretended to think about it. Then I said with difficulty, "Oh, comrade political commissar, if you don''t tell me, I haven''t remembered that there is really no suitable post in the division, It''s suitable for major Yaming. "


    Although Yamin didn''t see kirilov winking at me, he was not a fool. When I said that, he immediately guessed my intention, and his face turned blue and purple. After a while, without waiting for the expression on his face to return to normal, he took a step forward and said in a firm tone: "Sir, comrade political commissar, I hope I can stay in the fighting forces and fight face to face with the Germans. Please let me stay. Even if you go to the troops below, you can command a battalion or even a platoon. As a soldier, I can''t leave here as if nothing had happened and go back to the organs in the rear when the fighting is most intense. "


    Originally, kirilov and I meant to let Yamin make a fool of himself in public and let him walk away in a fit of anger, so that we could easily get rid of this burden. Unexpectedly, he still insisted on staying after seeing through our plot, which made us difficult.


    In the end, akhromeyev came out and won the battle: "well, since major Yamin is willing to go to the combat forces, let''s meet his wish. It''s not long since the second regiment is rebuilt. There is a shortage of commanders at all levels. Let him serve as the deputy head of the second regiment. "


    As for akhromeyev''s proposal, I can''t help thinking it over seriously: the second regiment is now in charge of the best partner of Lieutenant Colonel Oleg and political commissar verol. It''s estimated that sending Yamin to them won''t be able to deal with anything, so I nodded and agreed without hesitation.


    I turned around, faced Yaming and said seriously, "major Yaming, the second regiment of our division is in urgent need of commanders at all levels because of the recent reconstruction. I plan to send you to the post of deputy commander. Do you have any opinion?"


    Yaming replied without expression: "Sir, I will obey your order firmly."


    I turned and walked to the table, picked up the phone and dialed Er Tuan. Oleg, who answered the phone, heard my voice and said in surprise, "when did you come back, sir?"


    "Just arrived at the headquarters." After I said this, I began to explain to him about Yaming: "Comrade commander, I know that after the reconstruction of your regiment, commanders at all levels are very scarce. Today I will send you a helper."


    "Is it?" When Oleg heard that I was going to send him a new commander, he immediately got excited: "Comrade commander, this is really wonderful. I don''t know the name and rank of the new commander, and what position he will take after he is assigned to our regiment? "


    I turned to look at Yaming and said to Oleg, "the new commander is Yaming, with the rank of major. He is from the Ministry of interior and will take the post of deputy head of your regiment."


    "What, the interior department?" Oleg exclaimed, and then he said nervously in a low voice: "Comrade division commander, have you forgotten the composition of our division''s soldiers, whether they are prisoners in Gulag concentration camp or criminals in the punishment camp, and let a person from the Ministry of internal affairs act as the deputy head of our regiment. How can we fight this battle in the future Speaking of the back, he raised his voice involuntarily and roared.


    I left the receiver a little bit from my ear, and then there was no voice in it, so I could get close to my ear and said to him, "remember, you are the head of the regiment. The matter is in your league and the Political Committee of the real people has the final say, the deputy head is only helping you. As far as I know, his level of political theory is very high. If the regiment wants to carry out political and ideological work in the future, let him assist political commissar verol to do it. "


    I just want to make Oleg and verol join hands to make him a deputy commander in vain. If Oleg doesn''t understand what I mean, I will think that he is not suitable to continue to work in the position of second team leader, and I will consider a replacement for him. Oleg replied, "Sir, I understand. The political commissar of verol and I have well assisted the deputy chief in his work. "


    When I heard him accentuate his tone on several key words, I knew that he had understood my meaning and said with satisfaction, "well, I''ll send two guards to send major Yaming to your regiment headquarters."


    Put down the phone, I went to Yaming and said to him straightforwardly, "Comrade Yaming, please forgive me. Although I don''t know how you got the rank of major, according to my estimation, you should not have participated in the battle. So when you come to the second regiment, if you don''t understand anything, you should ask commander Oleg and Comrade verol, the political commissar of the regiment for more advice, Don''t make your own decisions. "


    "I see, sir." After the expressionless Yaming agreed, he asked me in an official voice, "can I leave? I want to get to the army as soon as possible and get familiar with the scope of my new position. "


    "Yes." I nodded, and then called out to basmanov, who was standing by the door: "Hello, Captain basmanov, send two soldiers to escort major Yamin to the headquarters of the second regiment."


    Basmanov agreed, went to Yamin''s side, made a gesture of invitation to him, and said: "please, comrade major, I''ll send someone to take you to the second regiment to report."


    After major Yamin left, razumeyeva and Najia, who came back with me, also went forward to salute kirilov and then went back to the telephone to take over the two male posts.


    Although it was freezing in October, it was not cold at all in the headquarters of the division. Two days after I left kirilov, they even raised the stove and made the room hot. Kirilov said to me, "Comrade oshanina, please take off your military coat. It''s warm here. Even if you wear a single coat, you won''t feel cold."


    I saw that kirilov and akhromeyev were only wearing ordinary military uniforms, not military coats or cotton uniforms. As he said, he took off his submachine gun and belt, put them on the table and took off his military coat.


    As soon as he took off his military coat, akhromeyev suddenly cried out as if he had found a new continent: "my God, comrade division commander, I am not wrong, am I right? Is this all true?"


    Kirilov was confused by akhromeyev''s shouting. He asked inexplicably, "Comrade chief of staff, what''s the matter that you should make such a fuss about?"


    Akhromeyev pointed to me and said excitedly, "Comrade political commissar, look at the division commander''s uniform and his new uniform."


    "What''s so great about the new uniform? It''s normal to wear an old one instead of a new one." Kirilov said with disapproval and turned around. When he saw my new uniform, he was stunned. After a while, he said tentatively, "Comrade o''xanina, I''m not wrong. You are wearing the uniform of a general."


    "Yes, political commissar, and you, my chief of staff, comrade akhromeyev." I said with pride, "you two are right. I''m wearing the general''s uniform."


    Kirilov woke up from his shock and asked curiously, "Comrade oshanina, what''s going on? You know, when you left mamayev post the day before yesterday to cross the river, you were still a colonel. How did you become a general after two days in the headquarters of the front army? It''s really incredible. "


    "There''s nothing incredible." I waved my hand to them and said, "I didn''t know until I arrived at the headquarters of the front army. Because our independent division was meritorious in sticking to the mamayev post, the Supreme Commander himself ordered that my rank be restored." I didn''t want to keep pestering with them in my rank, so I changed the topic in time: "by the way, comrade political commissar, the new division commander, Colonel Bantai leiev, is coming soon. When I was on the east coast, I succeeded in persuading him to bring his commanders to me after he handed over the troops to trakov, and I will arrange new positions for them. "


    "Bantai leiev?" After kirilov repeated the name, he suddenly got excited. "It''s him, Alexei Ivanovich bantailiev. He was a timber merchant before the civil war broke out. Later, he joined our army and made many achievements. Since 1939, he has been transferred to the police headquarters in Moscow and dealt with me a lot. He is a man of integrity. It would be great if he could come to work in our division. "


    "Don''t be happy too soon, comrade political commissar." In time, I broke kirilov''s cold water: "the fact that Colonel bantaileiev came to work in our division is just something I have talked with him in private, and I have not reported it to the higher authorities. Whether the superior will allow them to stay is still an unknown number. "


    When I said that, kirilov''s expression suddenly faded. He asked nervously, "Comrade division, when are you going to ask for instructions from your superiors?"


    "Without delay, I''ll contact the headquarters of the front army and ask them to let Colonel bantaileiev and his men stay in our independent division." With that, I quickly came to razumeyeva''s side and asked her, "Lieutenant, do you know how to contact the headquarters of the front army?"


    "I know." Razumeyeva replied positively.


    "Immediately contact chief of staff zaharov of the headquarters of the front army and say that I have something to report to him." After giving orders to razumeyeva, I went back to the table and found that there was a forgotten Lieutenant Colonel Elia in the room. He gave him an apologetic smile and politely asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what kind of command position you want to take in the independent division?"


    "I am at your command." Elia replied politely, and then briefly introduced his resume to us: "during the Sufen war, I was just promoted to platoon leader, commanding a platoon to fight with the Finnish White army; After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, my troops took part in the counter offensive under the city of Moscow. At that time, I was a company commander; A few months ago, our army launched the battle of Kharkov against the German army. I was one of the participants, but I commanded a battalion. In the battle, although three quarters of our commanders and fighters were killed, the rest of us successfully rushed out of the enemy''s encirclement. "


    Kirilov, after listening to his account, nodded with satisfaction, turned to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, it''s obvious that lieutenant commander Ilya is also an excellent commander with rich combat experience. I suggest that he be sent to a regiment to act as lieutenant commander of lieutenant commander shejerikov."


    When kirilov called shijerikov, I said to Elia with a melancholy face: "don''t worry, comrade commander. You are an excellent commander. If you go to the army below, I promise you that there will never be anything that will be elevated by the military commander in the regiment."


    Under my comfort, Elia''s melancholy color disappeared and showed a knowing smile. Then she assured me, "Comrade division, please rest assured that I will help lieutenant colonel xijerikov to command the army after I get to the regiment."


    Kirilov put down the phone, walked up to us and said to Elia, "Comrade commander, I have already called commander xijerikov of the first regiment. He said that he will come to the headquarters to pick you up as soon as possible."


    Just now major Yaming took office and only sent two soldiers to escort him. Elia saw all this. When it was his turn to take office, it was the chief military officer of the regiment who came to pick him up personally. He was very moved and his eyes were red. After a salute to both of us, he said excitedly: "thank you, thank you, thank you!"


    When I was about to say a few more words, razumeyeva, who was next to the telephone, was calling me: "Comrade division commander, I have connected with the headquarters of the front army. General zaharov, chief of staff, is waiting to speak to you."


    I quickly ran to the telephone, put on the earphone, and said politely, "Hello, chief of staff."


    Zaharov did not ask me what I had to do with him. Instead, he asked me with concern, "Comrade oshanina, have you returned to your headquarters?"


    "We all arrived safely. Thank you for your concern." After thanking him, I said frankly, "Comrade chief of staff, I have something to ask you for help when I call you so late."


    "Help, what can I do for you?" Zaharov may have a good impression on me, so he was very polite. When he heard that I had something to ask him for help, he said in an all embracing manner: "as long as it is within my authority, I will help you."


    "Well, comrade chief of staff." I tried to say to him in a smooth tone, "I heard that the commanders at all levels of the new division will return after they hand over their recruits to the army."


    "Yes, according to the rules." Zaharov asked strangely, "does this have anything to do with what you want to ask me for?"


    "Well, yes, chief of staff." I said with certainty: "as you know, my independent division has not been established for a long time, and the commanders at all levels in the army are very scarce, but they have never been supplemented. So I''d like to implore you to let Colonel bandeleev and his men all come to my independent division after they have handed over their recruits to commander trakov. I don''t know if it''s ok? "


    When I finished, I held my breath and waited for zaharov''s reply. There was silence in the earphone. I couldn''t hear zaharov''s voice. I knew he was thinking, so I didn''t dare to disturb him. I had to wait patiently.


    I don''t know how long I''ve been waiting. Zaharov''s voice finally came out of the earphone: "Comrade oshanina, although I want to help you very much, it''s not something I can say."


    "Do you need instructions from the commander or military commissar?" As soon as he said it, I asked carefully.


    "No, you misunderstood." Zaharov quickly corrected me and said, "this matter can''t disturb the commander and the military commissar at all. As long as Colonel bantailiev agrees, I have no opinion. In this way, they can naturally stay in the independent division and enrich the commander team of your independent division."


    "That''s great, comrade chief of staff." After listening to zaharov''s words, I knew that the incident had been completed. I quickly reported it to him excitedly: "I have obtained the consent of Colonel bantaileiev. Since you have no opinion, please ask him to bring his subordinates to me to report after he has handed over the troops."


    "What are you going to do for them?" Zaharov asked again¡° Comrade bantailiev holds the post of deputy division commander of the independent division, and his subordinates will also go to each regiment of the independent division to take the post of deputy division commander of the regiment or battalion. "

 Chapter 720

    Shejerikov, who received my phone call, came quickly and arrived at the headquarters in less than 20 minutes. When I introduced him to Elijah, he immediately reached out to shake hands with Elijah and began to talk.


    Kirilov came up to me and said in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, you see, they are very friendly, just like old friends for many years. I think you are quite right to send Lieutenant Colonel Elia to the regiment


    After listening to kirilov''s words, I couldn''t help looking at them. I saw that commander Elia''s locked brow had stretched out at some time, and said with ease, "I also think Comrade Elia can help Xie jielikov to do a good job in the regiment." At this point, I couldn''t help looking up at my watch, and then I said to myself, "it''s so late, and I don''t know if Colonel bantaileiev''s troops have crossed the river?"


    "I''ll call the headquarters to see if the other two regiments of the new division have arrived?" Kirilov saw that I was worried about Bantai leyev and said that he was going to make a phone call.


    I quickly stopped him and asked with concern, "Comrade political commissar, there is something I want to ask you. Do you know what''s going on in the headquarters? Have they moved? "


    Kirilov had already picked up the microphone. When he heard my question, he put it back, sighed and said, "no, commander, they are still in the original headquarters."


    "What?" I''m puzzled by trakov''s decision. The enemy''s shells can hit the gate of the headquarters without fear. He doesn''t organize the transfer, but what is he doing in the same place¡° Don''t you know that his headquarters has been discovered by the enemy? If you stay there, people will die every minute. "


    "Since the commander insists on not transferring the headquarters, he may have a deeper consideration." Kirilov said to me solemnly: "the communication room of the headquarters has been temporarily moved to several intact shelters and shooting holes outside. According to our scouts, those radio operators were sitting in the crater. In order to maintain radio communication, many people were hit by German stray bullets, holding transmitters and sacrificing themselves in their posts. "


    I wanted to say a few words, but suddenly it occurred to me that general Golikov, the deputy commander of the front army, had also arrived in the city. If he thought that the current position of the group army headquarters was unsafe, he would take the initiative to ask trakov to move. I didn''t need to meddle in any business at all. Thinking of this, I didn''t ask any more.


    Kirilov went to the two of them, who were chatting enthusiastically, and said to them, "Hey, I say sergeant kirilov, it''s so late. Should you take your deputy chief comrade back to your headquarters and let him get familiar with the environment of your regiment?"


    When kirilov said this, he woke up and knew that this was not the place he had taken for a long time. He quickly nodded like a chicken pecking rice. "I understand, comrade political commissar. I''ll take the deputy head back to the regiment."


    After they left, kirilov and I returned to the table and sat down. Ahlomeyev asked anxiously, "Comrade division commander, is it appropriate to have another deputy division commander in the division?"


    "Yes, comrade oshanina." On this issue, kirilov and akhromeyev are also consistent. "Although I know Colonel bantailiev for a long time, I can''t guarantee that he will always be consistent with you in military command in the future."


    "Political commissar and chief of staff, you two need not worry so much." I knew that they were concerned about me, so they explained patiently: "I don''t want to talk about the situation in the division. You know very well that each regiment lacks commanders with combat experience, so the combat effectiveness of our division has reached a bottleneck. If we want to change this phenomenon, we must constantly add fresh blood, We should send as many experienced commanders as possible to the grass-roots companies, so as to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops. If more than 200 commanders of Colonel bantaileiev join us, at least the problem of insufficient commanders will be solved. "


    "But our division''s strength is not enough. Is it necessary to add so many commanders?" Akhromeyev once again raised his doubts: "maybe some companies will have more than a dozen commanders commanding two or three soldiers."


    When I understood what ahlomeyev was worried about, the explanation would be more targeted: "don''t worry, chief of staff. There are fewer people in the division now, but it won''t be long before the superior will supplement them for us. Today, why don''t we draw a regiment from the new division to give priority to us? When I was in the headquarters of the front army, I once heard the commander and the military commissar say that as long as it is the supplement of soldiers, weapons and ammunition, the priority is still the 62nd group army. "


    "If that''s true, that''s great." Although kirilov said so, he asked anxiously, "Comrade oshanina, do you really think we can stop the German attack? Judging from yesterday''s situation, the situation is really dangerous. The headquarters of the group army was almost killed by the enemy''s planes and artillery. "


    "Political commissar, you don''t have to worry about such things." I confidently said to him: "although the enemy has the upper hand in the city, their attack is not going well due to the tenacious resistance of our commanders and fighters. Moreover, their forces have been used to the extreme, and their attack strength will gradually weaken as time goes on. "


    Kirilov''s face flashed a look of suspicion after listening to my words, and then tentatively asked me, "Comrade oshanina, are you telling me the truth? The enemy''s forces have been used to the extreme, and their attack strength will gradually weaken with the passage of time. "


    "Of course it is." Now that I have said such shocking words, it is necessary to explain to them clearly: "the two German army groups under the command of Paulus and Holt consume an astronomical amount of weapons, ammunition and various materials every day, and nothing will happen in the short term. Once the campaign goes on for a long time, Then they will have a shortage of ammunition and a shortage of fuel. Their logistics supply lines are more than 1000 kilometers long, and the rear materials can only be transported through three channels: railway, highway and sea transportation. First of all, let me talk about maritime transport. The size of the German naval fleet is limited. Such a time-consuming and laborious mode of transport should not be considered. Secondly, there are roads. I believe we all know what the kilometer of our country looks like. Many sections are nominally so and so roads, but as long as it rains, it will be a bad quagmire. The driving of vehicles will be greatly affected, so the traffic volume of roads will not be too large. The rest is only railway transportation. Although there is a direct railway from Germany to Stalingrad, the German army has transferred a large number of wagons in the past two years to transport the Jews deprived of their property and freedom to the concentration camp, so that the troops and materials they should have been sent to the front line have to stay at remote stations, Waiting for the railway department to transfer new wagons, they can board the train. "


    As in other countries, they will not question what I have said, let alone ask my sources. They will only specify the next battle plan based on the information I have provided.


    It was not until the early hours of the morning that Colonel bantaileiev appeared in the headquarters with a tired face. Seeing his appearance, kirilov and I went up to greet him one after another. I asked with concern, "Comrade Colonel, how did you arrive at this time and how was your road going?"


    Bantaileiev took off his military cap and gently put it on the table. Then he shook his head and said, "when I led another regiment across the river, the river turned red with hot pot, and God seemed to be trying to embarrass us. The moon appeared from the clouds. Then suddenly, there was a bright light on our heads, so bright that we could read newspapers. In this case, we were found by the enemy. They used long-range artillery fire to fire at us. The bombs fell on the river and exploded, triggering one after another jets of water into the sky. I was thinking: Alas! It''s over. Once hit, our ship will sink. We are in the middle of the Volga River


    "Didn''t you land successfully?" Kirilov jokingly said: "I think you are not hurt at all except your uniform is a little wet."


    Bantaileiev said bitterly: "a ferry on our right side was hit by the enemy''s shell, and more than 20 officers and men near the explosion point were either blown to pieces or fell into the river. Another one, while evading the enemy''s artillery fire, accidentally hit a mine in the river. After the earth shaking explosion, the ship quickly sank. More than 300 officers and men on board, rescued by nearby ships, only saved more than 100 people. "


    When I heard Bantai leyev say that, my expression was very calm, but kirilov''s mouth was twitching violently. He asked nervously, "so you lost two companies before you entered the city."


    "It can be said that," bantaileiev said bitterly, "although the second regiment lost more than 200 people when crossing the river, compared with the third regiment, their loss was still small. When the third regiment crossed the river, two ferries were hit by German artillery fire. Although the sailors carried forward their indomitable fighting spirit and insisted on driving the boat to the shore, more than 500 people on these two boats survived only 70 or 80 people in the end, which was equivalent to the end of a battalion. "


    After kirilov called Bantai leiev to sit down, he asked akhromeyev to pour him a cup of hot tea. Addressing the other party''s real name and father''s name, kirilov asked with concern: "dear Aleksey Ivanovich, have you gone to the headquarters of the group army? Do you know the new position assigned to you by the head of the front army? "


    Bantailiev held the cup, nodded and said, "I have been to general trakov''s headquarters and formally handed over the troops to the chief of staff, general Krylov. The appointment of deputy division commander of the independent division was announced to me by trekov himself. Because there is still a lot of follow-up work to deal with, I asked those commanders to stay for the time being to assist krailov in managing the army. After dawn, they will come here one after another to report. "


    "Old man, according to our research, we will send your subordinates to various regiments. The two commanders will serve as deputy commanders in the first and fourth regiments respectively. The battalion commanders under them will serve as battalion commanders or deputy battalion commanders in the battalions. The remaining commanders can also serve as company commanders or deputy company commanders in the company. " After a brief introduction of our arrangement, kirilov specially asked for the other party''s opinions: "I don''t know if you are satisfied with this arrangement?"


    "It''s a good arrangement, I agree." After Bantai leiev finished his presentation, he looked up at me and asked, "Comrade teacher, how many independent divisions are there at present?"


    I turned my eyes to akhromeyev, who was standing beside me, and said with a smile, "Comrade deputy division chief, I think it is most appropriate for major akhromeyev, chief of staff, to report this problem to you."¡° Comrade deputy division commander of the report, "as he is not familiar with bantailiev, akhromeyev reported to him in accordance with the regulations that" the total number of the independent division is now 5500, with the original 3500 plus the full-fledged vanguard regiment added tonight. "¡° There are more than five thousand people, but there are a lot of them. " After hearing this, bantailiev immediately suggested to me, "Comrade oshanina, since we have so many troops, I think we are fully capable of carrying out counter attacks against the German army." If I had not been standing with my hands on the table, I would have fallen to the ground at the suggestion of Bantai leiev. Fortunately, kirilov was very considerate. He quickly helped me out and took the initiative to say to Bantai leiev, "Deputy teacher, you just came here and you don''t know much about the situation on the ground. Let me introduce you." After hearing kirilov''s introduction of the current situation of mamayev post and my analysis of the war situation, I added in time: "Comrade deputy division commander, as the war situation is very unfavorable to our army, we will not consider launching a counterattack for the time being. At present, our main task is to stabilize the front. We should pay close attention to the enemy''s movements, watch out for the enemy''s tricks, strengthen the defense and vigilance of our division''s positions, and do not leave any loopholes for the enemy. I''m going to organize a special team, deploy the subordinates of gramus and Beckman, and our troops, put on German clothes, use German standard weapons, harass German transportation and supply lines, and weaken the combat effectiveness of the German troops in front of our army. "

 Chapter 721

    When I heard the names of gramus and Beckman, bantaileiev suddenly frowned. He interrupted me decisively and asked alertly, "Sir, I don''t understand why the names of the two commanders you mentioned are not Russian names at all, but German names? And why should we separate their subordinates from our troops? Are they not in the same camp as us? "


    "Comrade bantailiev," kirilov explained to him in time about this question: "gramus and Beckman are two German officers who surrendered to our army. With them, we have nearly 100 subordinates. If they are dispatched to the enemy''s rear for reconnaissance and sabotage, the effect will be absolutely stronger than that of a unit composed solely of our commanders and fighters. After all, they speak the authentic German language, plus real documents and a full set of German equipment, so the enemy can''t tell the true from the false. The reason why comrades of the division commander have proposed to deploy personnel from different units to form a joint unit is also for the purpose of better controlling this unit. "


    Kirilov''s explanation made Bantai leiev nod his head, but it didn''t dispel his mind. He turned to look at me and reminded me with worry: "Sir, if you want to use the defectors to carry out such an important task, should you report to the higher authorities? Otherwise, if something goes wrong, you will get into big trouble. "


    When I heard the concern expressed in bantailiev''s words, I responded with a kind smile, and then explained the matter to him to ease his uneasiness: "Colonel bantailiev, you don''t have to worry about that. This German unit in the independent division is not only known by the headquarters of the group army, but also by the headquarters of the front army. Since joining us, Captain Grimes has made a lot of contributions. He not only helped us to capture the lost 107.5 heights of friendly forces, but also carried out many attacks behind the enemy lines. In addition, gramus himself helped us train a lot of excellent snipers some time ago. These snipers are now in various parts of the city, wantonly hunting and killing isolated German soldiers. According to their past performance, I believe they will achieve greater results in the next action. "


    What I said reassured bantaileiev. He turned the topic and said to kirilov sincerely: "Comrade political commissar, I''ve just arrived at the independent division and I''m not familiar with everything. If I do something wrong, please give me more criticism and advice."


    Kirilov said with a smile: "old man, you can''t talk about advice, but if you want to know the specific situation of the independent division, you can ask me at any time."


    Next, bandeleev took out a roster from his briefcase. In addition to the name, age and rank of each commander, it also recorded in detail when they joined the army, what battles they participated in and what special skills they had.


    From this detailed roster, I can judge that bantaileiev is a strict and serious commander. Although I don''t know his ability to command operations, I still think it''s a correct decision to keep him in the division.


    Kirilov and akhromeyev, working in Canada, and leiev face the roster to study how to arrange for the upcoming commanders. I listened attentively. They planned to send the head and political commissar of the second regiment of the new division to the third regiment as the deputy head and chief of staff; The head and political commissar of the new third regiment were sent to the fourth regiment to serve as deputy head and chief of staff. After the league level cadres were arranged, they began to arrange battalion level cadres. I listen to a strange name, feel a little boring, so I got up and stood up, walking back and forth in the room for a physical activity.


    After studying for more than half an hour, the three of them finally allocated more than 200 officers and men. Seeing that their work had come to an end, I went back to the table and asked kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, is there any news over there?"


    Kirilov understood that I was talking about captain Karpov, but shook his head and said with regret, "I have conveyed your message to the messenger. But from this morning, the German army launched an attack on Highland 107.5, which did not stop until the evening. As a result, we were unable to send personnel to contact them. "


    Bantailiev, who heard our conversation, looked curious and seemed to want to ask what it was, but he was interrupted by kirilov. He said solemnly, "Comrade bantailiev, although you are now the deputy division commander of the independent division, because the plan we are implementing is specially authorized by the higher authorities, so we need to control the scope of the insiders, So I can''t tell you what it is for the time being. Please forgive me! "


    Bantaileiev seems to have been used to all these confidential things for a long time, so when kirilov said that, he just nodded and didn''t say anything.


    The commander of the new division came to the headquarters one after another in the early hours of the morning to report. Because there were too many people to stay in the headquarters, bantailiev and akhromeyev went outside the cave to directly assign the whereabouts of the commanders. Kirilov, on the other hand, stayed in the cave and called the heads of the second, third and fourth regiments respectively, asking them to come in person and take away the commanders assigned to them. More than 40 commanders sent to a regiment ordered basmanov to send them there.


    Busy until dawn, all things are over. As soon as I was relieved, I just wanted everyone to take a break. But razumeyeva, who was sitting in front of the telephone, was calling me, saying that Gaidar, the fourth group leader, wanted to talk to me.


    After I put on the earphone, I said to the transmitter with a smile, "Hey, commander Gaidar, I just assigned 50 or 60 commanders to you. Can''t I ask the division for anything more?"


    I didn''t expect that Gaidar''s confused voice came out of the earphone: "Comrade division, no, the enemy is shelling our position."


    "What''s so great about shelling?" I said with disapproval. "If the Germans want to occupy mamayev post, they first want to capture the Highlands where your regiment is located. So they not only shelled the Highlands, but also sent planes to bomb from time to time. What''s so surprising."


    "There is something wrong with today''s situation, sir." Gaidar nervously said: "the enemy only carried out sporadic shelling on our Highlands, dropping no more than ten rounds per minute. According to the observation report, the enemy troops stopped when they arrived about three kilometers away from our regiment''s position by truck. "


    "Continue to observe," he said, and I became alert. But in a hurry, I could not guess that the enemy would hide anything. I could only tell him, "if there is any new situation, report it to me in time."


    When I talked with Gaidar, kirilov in the room heard it. The three people who had stayed up all night were a little sleepy. Seeing me return to my position seriously, they guessed that there was something wrong in the front of me, and they suddenly felt refreshed.


    Kirilov first asked curiously, "Comrade oshanina, what did the fourth regiment report?"


    "Colonel gedar said the enemy was shelling their positions."


    Listen to me, akhromeyev, just like I just said, "what''s so great about shelling? When the German offensive was fierce some time ago, it wasn''t shelling and bombing together. It''s just for this reason that lieutenant colonel Gaidar deserves to call to report to you


    "It''s not that simple." I waved to akhromeyev and then said my guess: "what the enemy did to the positions of the fourth regiment was only sporadic shelling, and their offensive troops stopped three kilometers away from the high ground. I''m worried about their plot. "


    Kirilov did not speak after listening, but stood up straight, picked up the phone on the table and dialed the second group: "Hello, commander Oleg? I''m commissar kirilov. The enemy is shelling the position of the fourth regiment. Let the observation post pay attention to the enemy''s movements. If you find anything, report it to me in time. "


    After putting down the phone, kirilov said to us with a straight face: "the Germans suffered a lot in front of our Highlands, and they gradually became cunning. The day before yesterday, when we were not convenient, they suddenly launched a fierce artillery attack on the 4th regiment position, resulting in heavy casualties among the officers and men who built the fortifications. I agree with the division commander''s judgment that there must be some hidden conspiracy behind their sporadic shelling of the fourth regiment''s positions today. "


    "What kind of conspiracy will it be?" Bantai leiev asked thoughtfully: "listen to what you said, the officers and men of the fourth regiment only left a few soldiers to observe, and the rest of them hid in the fortifications. Even if they increased the density of artillery, they would not be able to achieve better results than before?"


    I didn''t know how to answer bantailiev''s question. I shrugged my shoulders and went back to razumeyeva. I told her, "Lieutenant, contact the fourth regiment immediately to learn about the situation in the front."


    Razumeyeva quickly connected the fourth group and handed me the earphone and transmitter. I asked Gaidar in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, what''s the situation? Are the Germans still shelling you sporadically? Their ground forces did not continue to advance to your positions? "


    "Report, sir," Gaidar hastily reported, "the enemy is still sporadically shelling our positions, but I have found out why they are doing so."


    "Why?" I can''t wait to hear him say that.


    "The enemy is digging trenches and building fortifications three kilometers away from the front line of our army. Their sporadic shelling on our highlands may be to protect them from being interrupted by our regiment''s initiative in the course of construction. "


    When I heard that the Germans were building fortifications at the front of our army, I was stunned. I thought about what happened to the Germans. I even thought of building fortifications so close to our army. I was not afraid that we would suddenly attack and seize this position from them. I couldn''t figure it out for a while, so I could only say in an official voice, "keep observing. If there are any new changes, please report them to me at any time."


    I went back to the table and told the three of them what Gaidar had reported. Kirilov felt very strange after hearing this. He said to himself, "what are the Germans doing? They are building fortifications so close to our positions. Aren''t they afraid that we will take the positions down by night attack?" Then he picked up the phone and called the second regiment.


    As soon as the phone rang, he raised his voice and asked, "Hello, commander Oleg? Is your observation post up to date? " After that, he was silent and listened to the other party''s report. Although I could hear Oleg''s voice coming from the receiver, I couldn''t hear what he was saying because of the distance.


    After listening for a while, he covered the microphone with his hand and reported to me, "Comrade oshanina, the report of Lieutenant Colonel Oleg is similar to that of Gaidar. The highlands are being bombarded by sporadic enemy artillery. A few kilometers away, there is probably a company of German soldiers digging trenches."


    I walked quickly over, took the phone from kirilov''s hand, pointed to the phone and asked, "Hello, commander Oleg, this is my teacher. I now ask you, "have your regiment''s positions been shelled by the enemy?"


    Although Oleg didn''t know the purpose of my question, he replied honestly, "report, sir, our regiment''s position is very calm and has not been shelled by the enemy."


    "I see." With that, I just hung up. Then I looked up at kirilov and said solemnly, "commanders, now I''m going to the observation post of the second regiment to see what''s going on. I wonder which of you would like to go with me? "


    After hearing what I said, kirilov looked left and right, and then said, "well, it''s the same. The chief of staff will stay on duty. Comrade o''shanina, I''ll accompany you to the mountain with colonel bantaileiev. " At this point, he turned around and told basmanov standing at the door: "Captain, take a class of soldiers with us, and be responsible for protecting the safety of the division commander." Basmanov, who had received his order, agreed loudly, turned to open the door, went out, and went outside to gather the troops.


    The three of us, with a class of guards, bent down along the traffic ditch and ran to the observation post halfway up the hill. Just on the way, I met Oleg who came to meet us. I didn''t inform him when I came here just now, but he was able to show up at such a suitable time. Obviously, he was informed by akhromeyev.


    Oleg came up to me and said with a worried face, "Comrade teacher, it''s too dangerous up there. You''d better not go up there?"


    "Mischief," I said to him without false words, "I''ve never been in the position. I don''t know if it''s dangerous or not? Stop talking nonsense and show us the way ahead. "


    Seeing my resolute attitude, Oleg had no choice but to promise and take us along the trench towards the observation post on the hillside.


    After entering the observation station, I quickly came to the observation port and raised my telescope to look into the distance. I saw from the telescope that about two hundred or three hundred German soldiers wearing helmets were digging up the bunkers. The weather in October was already very cold, but many Germans wore only underwear inside, and waving their spades desperately, shovelling the earth from shovel to trench. A little further away, there were more than a dozen trucks with awning. In the open space between the trucks, mortars were supported and several fire points of heavy and heavy machine guns were built.


    Seeing this, I knew that the German sporadic shelling on the fourth regiment''s positions was to suppress the fourth regiment''s troops and prevent their progress in building fortifications from being interrupted by their attacks. These machine gun fire points and mortars were specially deployed just in case our army escaped the blockade of gunfire.


    Seeing this situation, Bantai leiev cautiously put forward his own suggestion: "the enemy is not too far away from our position. At such a close distance, we can annihilate them all with artillery fire."


    Kirilov sighed and said with regret: "Comrade Bantai leyev, the shells in our division are almost exhausted, and can''t be supplemented in a short time. If we fire all the shells for the sake of so many enemy infantry, then when the enemy attacks again under the cover of tanks, we will have no heavy firepower any more."


    I looked at the German soldiers who were building fortifications, and I scolded the German commander who gave the order countless times. If the German army really builds up this line of defense, it is equivalent to pushing forward their original starting point of attack by four or five kilometers. In this way, their attack intensity will be further strengthened in the next battle. Moreover, the establishment of this line of defense has greatly reduced the scope of our division''s activities. At least we can''t carry out the sneak attack along the river in the future.


    Bantaileiev looked at it for a while and put forward his own suggestion again: "Sir, political commissar, I have an idea that since there are not many Germans building fortifications, we might as well launch a counterattack. The troops who stick to the high ground in front of them will charge decisively and rush up with lightning speed to wipe out the weak enemy completely and cleanly. "


    From the heart, bandeleyev has put forward two suggestions, both of which have merits. However, under the current situation, they are not feasible. With a wry smile, I pointed to bantailiev in the distance and said, "Comrade Colonel, look, there is a three kilometer open area between our army''s position and the enemy. If we launch an attack rashly, it will take at least ten minutes to rush through. In such a long time, it will be enough for the enemy to prepare for all battles and call for artillery support. As long as the German long-range artillery fire to block the words, our officers and men in the open field, will be blown up bloody. Even if someone can get away with rushing to the enemy''s position, he will almost lose his fighting capacity. It''s good to save himself, let alone destroy the enemy. "


    "What about you?" Bantaileiev even denied his two proposals, and he couldn''t help but feel helpless: "can''t you just watch the enemy build such a fortification under our eyes? In this way, they will shorten the offensive distance and pose a greater threat to us


    "You have a point, comrade Deputy teacher." I responded politely. However, under the current situation, I am helpless to the German tactics. It seems that the German people have long expected that our division, which is in charge of the mamayev post, will not be able to do anything about their fortifications. I put down my telescope and said helplessly: "since the enemy wants to repair fortifications, let them repair them. Let''s go back to the headquarters first, and then we''ll find a way


    The three of us went back to the headquarters dejected. As soon as akhromeyev saw us enter, he couldn''t wait to ask, "what''s the situation outside? Has the enemy really built fortifications in front of our army?"


    I said to him with a bitter smile, "yes, comrade chief of staff. The Germans have suffered so many losses in front of our Highlands, and now they are smart enough to know how to build fortifications so close to our positions. "


    "Can we annihilate all these enemies with artillery fire?" Asked akhromeyev.


    I waved my hand and said, "since the Germans intend to build fortifications in front of our positions, no matter what difficulties they encounter, they will stick to it with their rigorous working attitude. Even if our artillery fire has wiped out the enemy today, they will send new troops tomorrow to continue to build this fortification. We don''t have many shells in our division. We can''t waste them on these German infantry. "


    "But, sir." Obviously aware of the seriousness of the problem, akhromeyev said to me in a hurry: "if we do not destroy them and allow this line of defense to be built, then we will let the enemy set the starting point of attack in front of our position. In this way, once there is a fight, I''m afraid the officers and men of the fourth regiment will not be able to withstand it. "


    "If you can''t, you have to." Akhromeyev''s nagging in my ear made me upset. As soon as I patted the table, I stood up and fired at him inexplicably: "as long as there is one person left in the fourth regiment, the Highlands must not be lost. Not to mention the fourth regiment, even if the whole division is finished, we must hold the mamayev post firmly. "


    "Comrade o''shanina, please calm down and don''t get angry." When kirilov saw that I was suddenly furious, he quickly stood up to persuade me: "Comrade chief of staff said this for the sake of the overall situation. However, I just went to the field to have a look, and I think your worry is also very reasonable. The fact that the Germans dare to build fortifications so close to us proves that they are well prepared. Maybe they just want to lure our troops to attack, and then use artillery to destroy them in the open. Next, the German soldiers who are building fortifications can take a truck and rush to the foot of the hill. Although they have only one company, almost all the remaining officers and men on the highlands are recruits without military training, so they can''t hold the position at all. Once the northern highland is lost, the highland where we are is in danger. "


    I only thought that the German fortification might be a conspiracy, not as carefully as kirilov. After listening to his analysis, I was immediately scared out in a cold sweat. In recent battles, the fourth regiment also suffered a lot of casualties. Although two battalions were added last night, they were all untrained recruits and had no combat effectiveness at all. If I order them to attack, I will send those experienced veterans to attack with Gaidar''s character, and then I will fall into the trap of the German army. After the charging troops are destroyed by the enemy''s artillery fire, the German soldiers who repair fortifications can rush to the foot of the mountain by truck, and then easily seize the position of the fourth regiment from the recruits.


    It is obviously inappropriate for the enemy to be so close to us, but with our strength, if we launch a counterattack at this time, we will fall into the trap of the enemy again. After thinking about it for a long time, I didn''t come up with a proper way, so I had no choice but to say, "let''s wait for the enemy to repair the fortifications, and then we will study how to deal with them."


    Kirilov thought that I had come up with another good idea. When his eyes lit up, he asked thoughtfully, "Comrade oshanina, do you want to wait until after dark before sending troops to carry out the night attack?"


    I didn''t say anything about his guess, but just laughed noncommittally. With such a smile, even akhromeyev thought that I was well-established and wisely analyzed: "political commissar, I also think that the reason why the division commander decided not to take action against the enemy during the day was to attack the enemy at night. Do you think so, sir? "


    Instead of answering akhromeyev''s question, I turned the topic and said, "comrades, I think we should not consider how to deal with the enemy in front of the position, but how to train the new recruits who have just been added to the division. Although 2000 new recruits have been added this time, "I turned to Bantai leiev and added with a smile," Comrade deputy division commander, you are familiar with these new recruits. Let''s introduce their situation to the political commissar and chief of staff. "


    Bantai leiev nodded, stood up from his seat and said solemnly, "my new division was formed ten days ago. The soldiers in the division are from the city and collective farms. There is no doubt about their loyalty. But because of the tight time, we have no time for military training and no weapons. It was not until last night when we had to cross the river into the city that Comrade Khrushchev, a military commissar of the front army, asked the logistics department to supply us with some weapons. As there are not many weapons stored on the dock, we have only a limited supply of weapons. In some battalions, there are three or four soldiers with a gun, while in some battalions, there are ten soldiers with a gun. I think our teachers are very clear about this. " Seeing that I nodded in agreement, I continued to say, "I don''t think the recruits who are short of weapons and without training have combat effectiveness. No matter how many people there are, they can''t stop the German soldiers who rush up."


    After bantaileiev sat down, kirilov added: "our next priority is to seize the time to train new recruits. However, in this regard, we have been fully prepared for a long time. The political work cadres led by Comrade oberstein can be dispersed to the ranks in the shortest time to strengthen the training of new recruits. I estimate that perhaps in a week or less, the newly added troops in the division will be able to form combat effectiveness. "

 Chapter 722

    In the evening, Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar called to report that the German fortifications in front of the position had been completed, and that in addition to the trenches, several civil structure fire points had been built. Perhaps in order to prevent our attack at night, the German army even laid minefields in front of the positions and drew barbed wire. As for the sporadic artillery fire "standing guard" for the German fortifications, it stopped with the completion of the German fortifications.


    Akhromeyev, who answered the phone, put down the phone and said to us with a sad face: "when the enemy repairs this fortification so close to our position, they will become more arrogant. In the future, they can attack our position under the cover of aircraft, tanks and artillery in the daytime; In the evening, they can send small troops to harass us, which can make us restless. "


    "Do you have any good ideas?" After akhromeyev finished, kirilov suddenly turned to look at me and asked, "Comrade division, you are always resourceful. Have you thought of a way to deal with the enemy?"


    Kirilov said so, so that all eyes are focused on me. Seeing that everyone''s attention was focused on me, I could only stand up with a wry smile and said to them, "the Germans dare to build fortifications in front of our positions, obviously because they have planned for a long time. The German forward position has just been established. It must be very heavily guarded. Maybe it has set up a complete set for us. If we attack rashly, we may fall into the trap they have prepared for a long time. Therefore, I think we should just wait and see what happens and send small teams to attack the enemy at night. We will not consider it for the time being. "


    "Is that all right?" Akhromeyev asked in surprise: "even if we don''t act, the enemy will act. Maybe they will send troops to attack and harass our positions at night."


    I waved my hand and said with disapproval: "Comrade chief of staff, you don''t have to worry too much about this. Since you have guessed that the enemy will come to sneak attack, as long as you take precautions in advance, then even if the enemy comes, you won''t get any advantage."


    "Chief of staff, did you hear what the division chief said?" Kirilov listened to my opinions and immediately told akhromeyev, "call commander Gaidar immediately and ask him to arrange the sentry duty at night. We should not only send two sentries, but also the squad with the strongest combat effectiveness."


    "All right, I''ll call commander Gaidar right now." Akhromeyev said that he was going to make a phone call. I quickly told him: "chief of staff, not only to commander gedar of the fourth regiment, but also to commander Oleg of the second regiment. Let them not only send out the strongest sentry, but also arrange two machine guns on duty


    Akhromeyev, who was supposed to make a phone call, had a look of tears and laughter on his face when I said this. He seemed to think that I was a little too fussy to give such an order. Kirilov also said: "Comrade oshanina, now that we have the squad sentry and the patrol on the position, we should have no problem in dealing with the sneak attack by the small German troops. We don''t need to deploy the machine guns on duty, do we? You know, the heavy and heavy machine guns in the division don''t have much ammunition. "


    "Comrade political commissar, it''s better to be cautious." Although kirilov and akhromeyev both raised objections to me, I still persisted in my opinion and continued to command akhromeyev: "chief of staff, call the second and fourth regiments and ask them to arrange staff as soon as possible."


    While akhromeyev was on the phone, I said to kirilov and bantailiev, "in the first few days after the establishment of the enemy''s forward positions, we will certainly be on strict guard against our army''s sneak attack. But when we find that our army is not moving, they will not be willing to be lonely, and may send small teams to sneak attack. I arranged for the machine gun group to be on duty so that when I found the enemy, I could suppress them in the shortest time, so as to gain precious time for our troops to enter the position and launch counterattack. "


    "You have considered it very comprehensively, sir." After hearing this, Bantai leiev said with emotion: "I think your decision to arrange the machine gun on duty is very correct. We can''t risk putting our position in danger because of the lack of machine gun bullets."


    "What are we going to do next?" When kirilov saw that bantailiev and I agreed, he could not oppose it any more. Then he asked, "although we are helpless in the short term to the enemy''s front positions, how are we going to deal with them in the future?"


    "It''s very simple. It''s still a night attack." At this time, I was also poor in skills, so I had to work hard to move out of the old routine. "After two days, when the enemy''s defense relaxed, I sent two small teams to touch up from both sides of the position and teach them a lesson."


    "Sir, commander Gaidar wants to speak to you." Akhromeyev covered the microphone and said respectfully to me, "he suggested to me that a small team should be sent out at night to quietly approach the enemy''s position along the river bank for reconnaissance."


    "No, absolutely not." When I heard akhromeyev''s suggestion, I immediately denied it without hesitation. "Tell Gaidar that the enemy''s fortifications have just been repaired, and their defense must be very tight at night. Let him not take risks."


    After I finished, akhromeyev still kept the posture of covering the microphone, and in a pleading tone, he said reluctantly: "Comrade division, I think Comrade Gaidar''s suggestion is very good. We can send a small team to carry out reconnaissance. Even if there is something wrong, they will be able to withdraw in time even if they are so close to our position. "


    "Yes, comrade oshanina." Kirilov also agreed with akhromeyev, "since lieutenant colonel gelda is so confident, we should let them have a try. Maybe we can really find out the details of the enemy and take the opportunity to teach them a lesson. If we deny his plan in this way, I''m afraid it will hurt the confidence of the commanders and fighters below. What do you say, old man? " His last sentence was directed at leiev, the next desk. Bantai leiev was caught between us in a dilemma. He looked left and right. After half a day''s hesitation, he said to me tactfully, "Comrade division commander, since the political commissar and chief of staff think that we can let the following comrades have a try, you might as well agree. I also think that the detachment is not too far away from our position. Even in case of any accident, we can send troops in time to meet them out of danger. " Seeing that the three people agreed, I was left alone. I really wanted to cry without tears. After thinking for a moment, I had no choice but to nod to akhromeyev and agree with the plan put forward by gedar. Seeing that he nodded and agreed, akhromeyev quickly released his hand covering the microphone and said excitedly to the opposite side: "Hello, commander Gaidar, the teacher has agreed to your proposal. But for the sake of safety, when you send out small teams, you should also arrange sentries and two machine guns on duty on the positions, and strengthen patrols, so as to prevent the Germans from secretly touching our positions. " At nine o''clock in the evening, Gaidar called again to report to us that a reconnaissance team of five soldiers had set out. They will go down the river along the embankment and quietly approach the enemy''s positions for reconnaissance and sabotage. When I heard the news, instead of cheering like kirilov and others, I sighed silently and prayed for the soldiers who went out to fight, hoping that they would return safely. Kirilov and the three of them were in high spirits at the beginning, and thought that they would have a great harvest tonight. But with the passage of time, they also slowly silent down, around the table silent smoking, eyes involuntarily staring at the phone in the middle of the table. When the telephone rang, nearly an hour later, akhromeyev grabbed the phone and said in a loud voice, "Hello, I''m akhromeyev, chief of staff. Is that commander Gaidar?" As there was no sound in the headquarters, I could clearly hear the voice coming from the receiver. Gaidar anxiously reported: "Comrade chief of staff, the enemy probably had a platoon of troops who touched our position at night, were found by the machine guns on duty, and a fierce battle broke out."¡° What''s the situation now? " Akhromeyev asked nervously, "has the enemy been beaten back?"¡° Not yet. "¡° What do you eat for? " Akhromeyev heard what he said, and he immediately slapped the table angrily and scolded: "are all your soldiers holding firesticks? They can''t even deal with a platoon of Germans. I''ll give you ten minutes. If you can''t eliminate or beat back the enemy, you''ll be sent to the military court. "¡° Chief of staff, give me the phone Seeing that akhromeyev was upset with excitement, I quickly stood up, took the phone from his hand and said to gedar, "Comrade commander, report to me the details of your situation immediately."¡° That''s right, comrade teacher. " Gaidar was just so frightened by akhromeyev that he stuttered. "The enemy, the enemy came up from the river. As soon as he touched the high ground, he was found by the machine gun crew on duty. Our soldiers did not hesitate to open fire on the enemy, did not expect that the enemy''s combat effectiveness is very strong, only two or three minutes, we destroyed the machine gun fire point, and rushed into the trench, and heard of the patrol came to have an exchange of fire. At present, both sides of the enemy and us are engaged in fierce fighting, with heavy casualties. "¡° We must immediately dispatch troops to get there, and we must annihilate or drive the enemy out of our positions as soon as possible. " After hearing his decisive answer, I couldn''t help asking: "by the way, what''s the situation of the reconnaissance team you sent out? Has anyone come back?"¡° No, sir Gaidar answered me in a low voice, and then he said, "please allow me to lead the troops to wipe out the enemy who invaded the position."¡° Go ahead, comrade Gaidar, "I said solemnly with a straight face," remember, you must be fast, or you will be passive when the enemy''s reinforcements come up and attack back and forth. "

 Chapter 723

    As soon as I hung up the phone, the bell rang again. I put the receiver close to my ear and asked impatiently, "I''m Mr. o''shanina. Where are you?"


    After a moment''s silence in the receiver, Oleg''s cautious voice came: "Sir, it''s me, Oleg."


    "What can I do for you? Come on


    "Well, I heard gunshots and explosions outside, so I came out of the headquarters to see what happened. It turned out that to the east of the fourth regiment''s position, it was faintly flashing with fire, as if they were exchanging fire with the enemy At this point, Oleg asked tentatively, "do you need us to send reinforcements?"


    "No, commander Oleg. Now it''s hard to tell the enemy from us in the dark. You can''t help but make trouble when you go. " I refused his proposal without hesitation and said to him sternly, "your responsibility is to strengthen the guard of your position and prevent the enemy from sneaking into your position when they attack the fourth regiment highlands."


    After I put down the phone this time, even akhromeyev couldn''t hold his breath and asked me, "Comrade division, do you need to send someone to the North highland for reinforcement?"


    I rolled a white eye at him and asked in dissatisfaction: "reinforcement? Why reinforce? Gaidar''s four regiments now have more than 1000 people. If they can''t do anything about one of the enemy''s platoons, what''s the use of keeping such troops? It''s better to simply withdraw the organization. " Seeing my bad attitude, kirilov and bantaileiev looked at each other and closed their mouths. They didn''t agree with me.


    It took more than half an hour for Gaidar to call again and report to us that most of the enemies who attacked were annihilated, and only a few of the quick footed ones escaped. When I heard that the enemy had escaped, I immediately became anonymous and said loudly to akhromeyev who was answering the phone: "chief of staff, let commander Gaidar come to the headquarters immediately and report the fighting situation to us face to face."


    Gaidar, who came to report the situation of the war to us, was not alone. When he walked gingerly into the headquarters, I caught a glimpse of a despondent commander behind him.


    When Gaidar came up to us and raised his hand to salute, I looked over his shoulder at the helmeted commander behind him, who, from his badge, was a second lieutenant. I didn''t care to salute gedar, so I asked him curiously, "commander gedar, who is the second lieutenant behind you?"


    Gaidar didn''t look back at the second lieutenant behind him, so he straightened his back and said to me, "report to Mr. division commander. His name is atakuz. He is the platoon leader of the regiment''s reconnaissance platoon. Just now he took people to the enemy''s position for reconnaissance."


    Atakuz, when I heard the name, I heard it as atakuz''s pants. I couldn''t help laughing. But I immediately realized that this was not the time to laugh. I quickly restrained my smile and asked with a straight face, "tell me, Lieutenant atakuz, how was your reconnaissance tonight?"


    Atakuz''s face turned red and his head was lower. He replied in a low voice, "I''m sorry, comrade division. Tonight''s reconnaissance operation failed."


    "Failed?" Without waiting for me to express my opinion this time, akhromeyev was already in a hurry. "Atakuz, it''s not one day or two when you become the reconnaissance platoon leader. You have completed so many reconnaissance missions. Why did you fail today?" After criticizing atakuz, he turned to me and explained, "he is also a member of the second lieutenant training team."


    I heard that it was a comrade in arms from Volkhov with akhromeyev. My face softened. In order not to make atakuz nervous any more, I said with a kind face: "Comrade lieutenant, please give us a detailed report of your action tonight. In this way, I can judge the cause of the failure of the reconnaissance mission. "


    Atakuz looked up at me, nodded, and then began to tell: "tonight, I received the command from the commander to go to the enemy''s newly built defensive position to carry out the reconnaissance mission. Before I set out, I carefully observed the situation outside and found that the enemy''s defense outside the river embankment seemed not tight, so I took four soldiers along the outside of the river embankment, down the river and quietly approached the enemy''s position.


    When we were more than 200 meters away from the enemy''s position, we still didn''t find the enemy''s patrol or sentry. I thought the situation was wrong, so I ordered everyone to stop. After careful observation to make sure that there was no enemy ambush nearby, I let the soldiers continue to move forward. In order to get in safely, two soldiers were in front of us to explore the way. The other two soldiers and I kept a distance of 30 meters with them and followed them slowly.


    Can not go far, bang a loud bang, like a bomb fell on our side like explosion. The two soldiers looking ahead fell into the light of the fire. One soldier fell directly into the river and was washed away by the river; But another soldier fell to the ground, covering his eyes with his hands, and kept rolling and screaming


    Hearing this, kirilov couldn''t help asking, "Comrade lieutenant, where did the shell come from? Have you made it clear at last?"


    Atakuz shook his head and said with a bitter smile: "when I was lying on the ground with the other two soldiers, I thought to myself that they didn''t seem to have been hit by shells. If it was shells, I didn''t hear the shrill sound of shells flying in the air. The soldiers in front of me should have stepped on mines. At this moment, a flare rose in the sky. When I saw the situation, I rushed up to the ground and pulled the wounded back to our position under the cover of the other two soldiers. "


    "If you step on the land mine, you must have alerted the Germans in the fortification. Maybe they will catch up soon. How did you get out of danger?" Bantai leiev asked curiously after listening to the second lieutenant.


    Atakuz took a look at the military rank on bandeleev''s badge. Because he couldn''t figure out the position of the other party, he could only call him by his military rank: "Comrade Colonel, you are right. Time is not long, more than a dozen German soldiers appeared on the river bank, shouting and chasing us. As I was carrying the wounded on my back, it was impossible for me to walk too fast, so the other two soldiers took the initiative to stay behind to stop the enemy and cover my transfer with the wounded on my back.


    When I returned to the highland, because I saw that there was an exchange of fire on the hillside, I was afraid of being injured by mistake. So I had to find a crater at the foot of the hillside to hide. When the battle was over, I carried the wounded back to the position. "


    "Did the other two soldiers come back safely?" Asked akhromeyev with concern.


    "No, none of them came back..." atakuz could not help but shed tears before he finished his sentence.


    "It''s not your fault," my nose was sour when I saw a big man wiping tears in front of me for his comrades in arms. "It''s all our fault that the commanders underestimated the cunning of the enemy." After pinching my nose, I asked, "what''s the situation of the wounded?"


    Atakuzlian quickly wiped his tears and answered in a loud voice: "report to division commander, the wounded were shot in the face and chest respectively. They were sent to the health camp. After first aid by military doctors, they were out of danger."


    Having said that atakuz failed in reconnaisance, it''s time for me to ask gedar how he fought the defensive war tonight. I looked at Gaidar with a straight face, snorted heavily, and asked coldly, "Comrade commander, how many Germans have you wiped out in the battle tonight?"


    Gaidar replied awkwardly, "37 people were killed and 11 escaped."


    After two sneers, I asked, "how about the casualties of your regiment?"


    Although Gaidar blushed with shame, when he heard my question, he could only honestly answer: "149 people were killed and injured, of which 73 were killed and a light machine gun was lost."


    As soon as his casualty data were exported, everyone was shocked. Our army, on guard, fought a night battle with the German army, and the number of casualties was two or three times more than that of the enemy. Angry, kirilov pointed to Gaidar''s nose and asked aloud, "commander Gaidar, I hope you can give the division an explanation. We had expected that the enemy would send small troops to sneak attack at night. We specially asked you to arrange the guard and two machine guns on duty. We didn''t expect that you would be beaten so badly by the enemy. Tell me, what''s going on? "


    Gaidar looked at me and saw that I was just staring at him without saying a word. He summoned up his courage and said, "Sir, political commissar, please allow me to report the details of the battle to you."


    I turned to look around and saw that everyone was standing. I said to them, "what are you doing standing on your feet? Sit down first and let commander Gaidar tell us slowly." With that, I took the lead to the table and sat in my own position.


    Seeing me sit down, kirilov, bantaileiev and Akhromeev sat down one after another. Gaidar went to the position opposite me and sat down. Seeing that I was staring at him, he quickly got up again and stood upright opposite me.


    "Come on, commander Gaidar," I said calmly, "now let''s all sit down and listen to how you explain why there is such a huge ratio of casualties between us and the enemy in tonight''s battle?"


    "Yes, sir." Gaidar replied in a hurry: "the enemy came up from the east of the highland. As that direction was near the river, it was never the enemy''s attack area, so I only put a machine gun on duty. As soon as the enemy appeared, he was found by our machine gun shooter. He shot decisively and knocked down several German soldiers who rushed to the front. The rest of the German soldiers lay down on the spot and threw grenades at the machine gun fire point. The machine gun shooter, CO shooter and ammunition man were all killed in the explosion.


    Then, after hearing the news, the patrol team and the German soldiers who rushed into the trench were on fire. There are two shelters nearby, in which there is a multi company unit. If they were all experienced veterans, the enemy could have been easily eliminated, but inside they were all new fighters who had just been added. They had no military training or combat experience. They heard the fierce gunfire and explosion outside and ran out like a nest.


    It was because they filled the trenches that the reinforcements I sent couldn''t get through. And the enemy fired wildly at these chaotic recruits, and they fell in pieces. Later, when there were not many people standing in the trenches, experienced veterans would step on the bodies full of pits and valleys and rush towards the enemy. "


    Gaidar''s explanation made me clear the cause of such a wide gap in casualties. I sighed and asked helplessly, "commander Gaidar, how many veterans have been injured and killed besides the new recruits?"


    "There were 25 casualties, of which 13 were killed." Gaidar replied briefly and clearly.


    When I heard the number of casualties, I had a little balance in my mind. The two battalions newly added to the fourth regiment were more suitable for recruits than for ordinary people in military uniforms. If they had not added to the chaos, we might have wiped out all the German troops. Thinking of this, I asked: "Comrade commander, after the battle, have you taken any effective measures to prevent the enemy from sneaking attack again?"


    "Yes, sir." "We laid mines in the direction where the enemy touched us," Gaidar said with certainty. In this case, it is impossible for the enemy to come to our position like this again tonight to harass us. "¡° Comrade Gaidar, "kirilov stood up and told him," remember to prepare a detailed map of the distribution of mines, so that in the future, when not in use, we can all safely come out, so as not to blow up our own people. " After Gaidar explained the heavy casualties in the battle tonight, the atmosphere became harmonious. Akhromeyev then studied with him how to seize the time to train new soldiers and quickly form combat effectiveness. Bantai leiev said to me in a low voice: "Comrade division, judging from the failure of reconnaissance tonight. The second lieutenant''s reconnaissance team stepped on the mine and alerted the enemy. It may not be possible to approach the enemy''s position from the river bank in the future. In my opinion, we should find a way as soon as possible and try to approach from other directions. " As for Bantai leiev''s suggestion, I said without saying yes: "Comrade deputy division commander, we used to sneak down the river many times to attack the enemy''s camp. The first way we took was to float down the river by boat, and the effect was not bad." As soon as Bantai leiev heard this, he immediately followed my words: "Sir, since we used to take the boat way before, when we reconnoiter the enemy, we can also let the scouts take the boat to the back of the enemy''s position to reconnoiter."¡° But what about the reconnaissance? " I asked, "they may not be able to use their boats when they return. If they want to walk, they will have to risk passing over the enemy''s well defended and minefield embankments. In this way, their lives will be in danger. If they die, the so-called reconnaissance mission will also fail. "

 Chapter 724

    I''ve been pissed off for days. It was not only because the enemy, after building fortifications in front of the positions, harassed the positions of the fourth regiment every so often that the officers and men of the fourth regiment were so annoyed. And since the enemy fortification man listened to his proficient Russian, I was more convinced that he was from Karpov, so I nodded and replied with a smile, "yes, I''m oshanina. Who are you and what kind of letter are you here to send me


    The soldier raised his hand to salute me and said, "Hello, comrade division. My name is kalingin. I''m a messenger from captain Karpov


    "Where''s the letter?" I asked, holding out my hand to him. "Show me what captain Karpov wrote?"


    "I''m sorry, sir." Kalingin said politely, "Captain Karpov is afraid of an accident on the way, so he just asked me to take a message for you."


    "Does the captain have anything to say to me?" I asked faintly.


    Kalingin nodded and then said, "we moved to the fortification not far from the 107.5 highland some time ago. We wanted to get in touch with you and quickly leave the German defense area to get close to you. However, before we established contact with you, the Germans were transferred to the back to guard against the two Italian companies and returned to the original defense area, which greatly restricted our freedom. The 113th German division also built a temporary fortification three kilometers north of the mamayev post, cutting off our road to the highlands. "


    "Can you safely withdraw from the German garrison now?" Kirilov asked nervously.


    "I don''t think it can be done, comrade political commissar." Kalingin laughed at kirilov and explained: "at present, the task of our battalion is to stick to the junction between the 113th division and the 71st division, so as to prevent the two divisions from being separated in a possible soviet counterattack. On the left side of our battalion are two companies of the 113th German division; On the right is a battalion of the 71st division. As soon as we move, we will immediately attract the enemy''s attention. We are short of heavy weapons, but we can''t find a way out of the German army. "


    When kalingin finished, all the people did not speak, but turned their eyes on me, waiting for me to make up my mind. With a wry smile, I said to kalingin regretfully, "kalingin, please go back and tell captain Karpov that since you are now the joint of the two German defense forces, it is not possible for you to take part in the war in the short term, so I suggest you continue to maintain the status quo for the time being. We''ll send someone to tell you when to take action when we can clear the road that you can pass safely. "


    When I heard this kind of ambiguous and nutritious words, kalinkin''s face was disappointed. From his look, I can see that he must be regretting that he should not have done this trip. He has gained nothing but to say that we have plans to give them up. In order to prevent him from bringing this mistake back to the East camp and causing adverse consequences, I hastily added: "at the same time, please tell captain Karpov that I will personally visit him in the barracks in two or three days to discuss how to get you out of trouble." With that, I waved to him and said, "it''s OK, kalinkin. You can go back safely."


    After listening to my last few words, kalingin showed a trace of joy on his face. After saluting me, he walked out accompanied by basmanov.


    When we sat back at the table, I stood up with my hand on the table and said, "comrades, I feel that the reconnaissance of the German front positions in front of the mamayev post must be carried out immediately. It is best to send experienced scouts to the enemy''s positions in these two days."


    "But what about the mines in front of the enemy positions?" Kirilov asked anxiously, "we don''t have many experienced scouts. If we step on the land mines and get a few more casualties, we can''t supplement them in a short time."


    "Comrade political commissar, you don''t have to worry about that." When I was talking to kalingin, I suddenly had a detailed plan in my mind, so I stopped kirilov with words in time. "It''s just a few mines. We can''t deal with him."


    Kirilov asked in surprise, "ah, comrade oshanina, have you figured out how to deal with the enemy''s mines?" At this point, the expression on his face became relaxed. "According to the reports from the scouts sent out on these two occasions, the enemy was densely covered with mines on the river bank, and there was no place for them to lay their feet. Since then, the enemy has been playing flares against the river, exposing our reconnaissance team to strong light. "


    I waved my hand and said with a leisurely smile, "Comrade political commissar, don''t we still have an engineering company? If we talk about digging mines, they are experts. Maybe they can bring those mines back for us to use. "


    "I agree with the teacher." After making his statement, akhromeyev immediately asked me for instructions: "do you need to call the engineer company commander and let him come to the headquarters to receive the task?"


    "Yes," I immediately agreed. At the same time, I told akhromeyev, "before Mikhail comes, let his deputy screen out the engineers who know the technology of mine clearance."


    Mihayev seems to have been waiting for my call, the phone down less than two minutes, he has been running into the headquarters panting. When he came to me, he raised his hand to salute and said in a loud voice: "Comrade division commander, Captain mihayev, the company commander of the engineer, has come to report to you and is waiting for your instructions. Please issue new combat orders."


    "Very good," I praised Mikhail''s high spirited mental state, and then said to him, "Comrade captain, I order you to select engineers who know mine clearance technology. How are you doing?" I ask this question because most of the officers and men in the engineering company are half-way monks. When it comes to building houses, repairing fortifications, and even erecting floating bridges, they have a complete set of techniques. But when it comes to mine clearance, it is estimated that they will be a bit embarrassed. That''s why I ask this question.


    I didn''t expect Mikhail yev to answer me with a clear mind and said, "Mr. report, there''s no need to screen so much trouble. There are only seven people in the company who know the technology of mine clearance. I''ve already organized a mine clearance class for them. However, because we are all defending passively, they have not been able to be of any use. They can only dig trenches and tunnels every day just like ordinary engineers. They have long been subdued. I''m so happy to know that you''re going to send them on a mission. "


    Since Mikhail yev had been ready for a long time, I saved a lot of things, so I told him directly: "Captain Mikhail yev, that''s right. I''m going to send your people to take advantage of the night to get up the mines laid by the enemy and open up a safe passage for the Scout team."


    "Please rest assured, sir." Mikhail yev confidently said: "I personally take them to ensure that before dawn, the enemy laid mines on the river embankment will be discharged."


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was already eleven o''clock, so I nodded and told him, "in this case, you should go back and take your people to action immediately."


    "Yes Mikhail yev agreed, turned and left quickly.


    "Comrade o''shanina, what do you think?" Looking at mikhaev''s departure, bantailiev suddenly asked curiously, "what are you going to do after our scouts have finished their reconnaissance of the enemy?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy division commander." I replied politely, "as long as the mines on the river bank are cleared, our scouts can sneak into the enemy''s position. After finding out the situation of their defense, we can send two or three companies to enter the German positions along the river in batches, and destroy the German troops who are staying here. "


    "How sure are you?" Bantaileiev asked cautiously.


    "Less than 30 percent." I sighed and added, "and it will not be possible to carry out this plan until Mikhail yev''s engineering company has successfully cleared the mines laid by the enemy on the river bank."


    In a short period of time, there is no report on the demining situation of mihayev''s engineering company. Therefore, in the following time, we are all discussing how to deal with Karpov''s troops to extricate themselves from the difficulties of Germany.


    Time went by minute by minute, until four o''clock in the morning, the phone on the desk seemed to be broken, and never rang. I couldn''t sit still in the headquarters, so I stood up and said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, I don''t trust Mikhail. I want to go to the observation post on the hillside."


    Kirilov did not object, but first said to akhromeyev: "chief of staff, call the second Chief of staff Oleg, saying that the division chief will go to the observation post and let him arrange for the guard." Then he turned to busmanov, who was sitting on the bench by the door, and said, "Captain, take a class and protect the division commander to the observation post on the hillside."


    Seeing that kirilov had arranged everything properly, I gave kirilov a grateful smile. I went to the wall, took off my military coat, put on my belt, and then put on the submachine gun. Then I went out.


    Although I wore a lot of clothes, when I got outside, I was still sneezed by the fierce cold wind. Busmanov, who had been waiting outside with the guard soldiers, came to me and asked with concern: "Comrade division, you have a cold, or don''t go to the observation post?"


    "No way," I said obstinately, waving my hand to him. "I''m not at ease until I see Mikhail and they come back safely. Don''t stand here, captain. Take your soldiers and follow me With that, I raised my leg and walked forward. Behind him came basmanov''s voice of shouting orders, and then a neat sound of footsteps followed.


    But when I came to the observation center on the mountainside, Oleg had been waiting there with seven or eight soldiers. Seeing me in the past, he quickly guided me into the observation post, and then he let the soldiers spread out and hide around to take charge of the guard work.


    I raised my telescope and looked to the river. It was dark and I couldn''t see anything clearly. The Germans didn''t know how to do it. They kept playing flares like they didn''t spend money. Now they can''t see any of them.


    Oleg stood beside me and said in a low voice, "Comrade division, the enemy is very strange tonight. Before one o''clock in the morning, they kept firing flares, but now they have none. It''s really strange."


    As soon as his voice fell, there was a flash of fire in the distance, followed by a loud bang. In the fire and smoke rising at the foot of the mountain in the North highland, I saw several figures fall down. At that time, my heart thumped and said that it was Mikhail. Did they step on the mine.


    Who knows, when you look carefully, there are a lot of dark shadows around the fire that has not been extinguished. It seems that they are bending over and rushing towards the hillside. At this time, there was another loud bang, and several shadows were blown away in the light of the fire. Then the machine guns on the hillside rattled and began to fire at the shadows at the foot of the mountain.


    "It turned out that the Germans came to attack the positions of the fourth regiment in the dark again." Seeing this scene, Oleg was relieved. "Every time the enemy sneaked from both sides of the highland, they didn''t take advantage of it. Tonight, they sneaked from the front instead. Strange, I remember that the minefields of the fourth regiment had been cleared under the bombardment of the enemy. Where did these mines come from? " I thought that even if the German artillery fire was more fierce, there would be two or three mines left in the minefield. However, the German army who attacked by stealth had bad luck and just stepped on it. But one after another explosions, let me change my mind, even if there are residual mines, it is impossible to bury so dense. In just two minutes since the first explosion, at least seven or eight mines have been exploded, and more than 20 German soldiers have fallen in the explosion. Just as I was puzzled, the telephone rang in the observation center.

 Chapter 725

    Oleg rushed over, grabbed the phone and said in a loud voice, "Hello, this is the observation post!" Then he stops and seems to be listening.


    In the night, on the north slope of the highland ahead, countless dark red light spots could be seen. It was the enemy and US shooting at each other. From the foot of the mountain, between the light of the fire rising from time to time and the light of the smoke, we can see that there are black shadows that have been blown up. Apart from the unknown origin of the mine, it should be the grenades dropped by the commanders and fighters of the position.


    Oleg called respectfully at the back: "Comrade division chief, your call is from the chief of staff."


    I put down my telescope and went to pick up the microphone. Soon akhromeyev''s voice came out of the receiver: "Sir, comrade, can you come back to the headquarters immediately?"


    I heard his voice was steady, not like what happened, so I didn''t ask what was the matter for me to go back, just said in a very casual tone: "OK, I''ll go back as soon as possible." Then he hung up.


    However, instead of going to the headquarters immediately, I hesitated and asked Oleg, "Comrade commander, has the fourth regiment laid mines in front of the positions recently?"


    Oleg quickly shook his head hard and answered decisively, "no, sir, absolutely not. We must know that the enemy''s front position is so close to the position of the fourth regiment that if there is any disturbance, the enemy will surely find it at the first time, so that they will not step foolishly into the minefield. "


    "What''s going on?" I pointed to the highland in the distance where the fierce battle was going on, and said in a puzzled way, "since you also said that the fourth regiment had not laid any minefields, where did the mines that were exploding in front of their positions come from?"


    Oleg turned to the distant highland, frowned and thought for a while. Finally, he shook his head and said apologetically, "I''m sorry, sir. I really can''t think of it." Then he pointed to the phone by the wall and suggested to me, "why don''t you call Colonel Gaidar and ask what''s going on?"


    When I was about to nod my head, it suddenly occurred to me that the telephone of the observation post was the same as that of the headquarters, and I could not communicate freely with the regiments. If you want to contact the headquarters of the fourth regiment, you must first call akhromeyev and ask him to inform Gaidar, but the other party calls. As soon as I thought that it would be so troublesome to make a phone call, I started to retreat, so I waved to Oleg and said, "don''t bother. I''ll go back to the headquarters first and find out what the chief of staff wants from me."


    With that, I walked out of the observation post and called out, "Captain busmanov."


    With my shouts, basmanov and several other soldiers came out of the darkness, quickly came to the front, and asked in a low voice: "Comrade division, do you want to go back to the headquarters?"


    "Yes, let''s go!" I answered briefly.


    Surrounded by basmanov and the soldiers of the guard class, I went back to the headquarters smoothly. As soon as he entered the door, he unexpectedly found that Captain Mikhail yev, the company commander of the engineer, was also there. He immediately said to him excitedly, "Comrade Mikhail yev, are you back from your mission?"


    "Yes, sir." Mihayev quickly turned around, faced me and replied, "I''m back after finishing my task."


    As I took off my coat, I asked him, "Comrade captain, have you and your men cleared a passage through the minefield planted by the Germans on the river bank?"


    Seeing that I was getting rid of my military coat, razumeyeva quickly stood up and walked to me. As soon as she took off her coat, she immediately took it and went to the wall to hang it. Then she went back to her position and sat down.


    As I walked towards the wooden table, kirilov excitedly answered my question on behalf of Mikhail: "Comrade division commander, what captain Mikhail has done is better than you think."


    "What a good law, comrade political commissar." Kirilov''s words aroused my curiosity. As soon as I sat down, I asked impatiently, "he won''t clear all the minefields that the enemy buried on the river bank, will he?"


    Kirilov turned to look at bantailiev and akhromeyev. Seeing that both of them were looking at him with a smile, he shrugged his shoulders and said to me, "I think it''s more appropriate for captain Mikhail to tell you this in person." Speaking of this, he suddenly raised his voice and said to mihayev, "Comrade captain, don''t you come here to report to Comrade division commander in detail what you have achieved tonight."


    Mikheiev heard kirilov''s call, quickly stepped forward, came to me, and began to report to me the course of their action: "Comrade division, this is the situation. I took the soldiers of the mine sweeping team down to the riverbank. As the enemy kept firing flares, in order to prevent exposing the target, we moved forward little by little against the cliff of the riverbank.


    Because everyone was in a state of high tension, they felt very tired after walking for about half an hour. Just as I was about to ask everyone to stop and have a rest, my feet seemed to be caught by something. I guessed that I might have encountered a mine. I rushed behind and signaled to everyone to stop. Then I listened to the sound of the enemy nearby. After listening for a long time, I couldn''t hear anything except the sound of water and the sound of guns coming from the direction of the city. I then slowly bent down to check, found that I was stumbling the instep of a very thin wire. I quickly and carefully retracted my feet and looked aside along the wire. I saw a flat round mine less than one meter away


    Just now I heard that mihayev''s foot had tripped over a mine, and my heart could not help hanging to my throat. It was only when he said that he took back his leg without triggering the mine that he was relieved, patted his chest gently and listened to him go on.


    "... I squatted down and carefully observed the mine with the help of the raised flares. I saw that on the flat round mine body, there was a one inch high cap, on which there was a small iron ring tied with several washing wires. As long as any one was touched, it would cause an earth shaking explosion.


    For the sake of safety, I took out my belongings, turned to the soldiers behind me and said, "comrades, step back a little and watch my movements carefully. If I fail, you should learn from me and do mine clearance in a different way next time. "


    Listening to what I said, the monitor of the minesweeping class quickly came to me and asked in a low voice: "comrade company commander, you are a commander. You can''t take such risks. Let me come. I have more experience than you."


    Although I have only been involved in mine clearance two or three times, I still have some experience in how to deal with mines. So I resolutely rejected the monitor and ordered him: "don''t you know that the commander''s orders are not allowed to be discussed? Take your men back immediately. "


    The monitor saw that I had made up my mind, so he had to leave a certain distance, lying not far away and staring at me.


    When I was clearing the mine, the first thing I thought of was that this iron ring connected with the trip wire must be the place where I got angry. My men had to break it. Thinking of this, I gently hold the thin wire in one hand and cut it with a vice in the other. With a bang, I cut the wire easily. After I was relieved, I cut off the remaining wires one by one. Finally, I held the mine carefully and lifted it up gently. Seeing that there was nothing involved, I held it up directly.


    Seeing that I held up the mine, the engineer squad leader quickly got up and took the mine over to decompose it. After he took apart the cap, I could see clearly that it contained springs and strikers with the help of the light of the flare. "


    "All right, Captain mihayev." Kirilov interrupted him at this time and urged: "don''t tell me so much. Tell me directly how you deal with these mines."


    "Yes Mikhail yev agreed, and then went straight to the theme: "we dug out more than 30 mines on the river bank. Let''s make it difficult to deal with these mines. The foreman of the engineer suggested that we throw all these mines into the river, while another soldier suggested that we take them back


    When mikheiev told the story, I always thought about the unknown land mine in front of the fourth regiment. When I heard him talking about how to deal with the land mine, my mind suddenly became clear. I just couldn''t figure out what to do, and it became clear. I stopped him with words and asked, "Comrade mihayev, the mines in front of the fourth regiment are not planted by you, are they?"


    Without waiting for Mikhail yev''s reply, bantailiev had already raised his thumb at me and repeatedly praised me: "Comrade division, you are really very good. Just half of listening, I guessed how captain Mikhail yev dealt with the mines they dug up. It''s true that they carried five or six mines on their backs and quietly came to the position of the fourth regiment at night and buried all the mines. "


    "I just said that mines are not crops. If no one buried them, they would not grow from the ground itself." Having said that, I asked Mikhail with concern, "when you planted mines, did you not have any misunderstanding with friendly forces?"


    "No, no," mihayev said, waving his hand. "On our return, we met a patrol of the fourth regiment. In addition to sending people to report to the position, the captain also helped us lay mines together. "


    When he said that, I got up and walked up to him, patted him on the shoulder, and said with approval, "well done, comrade captain, you''ve done a great job." Speaking of this, I turned to kirilov and said, "comrades, maybe you don''t know that the German troops who attacked the fourth regiment positions tonight stepped on the mines laid by Captain Mikhail. They not only exposed the target in advance, but also were blown up by their own mines."


    "Comrade division commander," kirilov suggested excitedly to me, "I think we should give credit to mihayev and the soldiers of the minesweeping class and give them the honor they deserve."


    I nodded and said with approval, "Comrade political commissar, you are always in charge of this aspect. Please fill in the form as soon as possible and hand it to the headquarters of the group army some time."


    The result of Gaidar''s battle was reported ten minutes later. In the battle tonight, our army suffered six casualties, including two deaths and one serious injury. However, they annihilated more than 70 Germans who came to sneak attack and seized a number of guns and ammunition. Seeing this result, kirilov and his family could not help but smile


    I got a little enlightenment from Mikhail''s report just now. I asked Mikhail: "Comrade captain, if you want to send out the minefields in front of the enemy''s forward positions, is there a problem?"


    Upon hearing my question, mihayev said with some embarrassment, "Comrade division commander, the minefield in front of the enemy is about one kilometer wide. If you want to eliminate it all overnight, I don''t think it is possible to complete it."


    "I don''t have to dig out all the enemy''s mines," I said to him honestly instead of hiding my true thoughts. "I just want you to dig out some of them and bury them in another place."¡° Bury the mine in another place? " After repeating my words, Mikhail yev said blankly: "Sir, I don''t think I understand what you mean." I really want to kick his feet when I see him like a clumsy person. But in the next plan, he and his subordinates are still required to play the leading role, so I have to patiently introduce to him: "since these mines are made by the Germans to deal with us, when we dig out these mines, we can also deal with them, so that they can taste the taste of these iron watermelons." Mikhail yev understood what I meant. He immediately brightened his eyes and said repeatedly, "Sir, comrade, I understand, I understand." Because of his loud voice, he alerted several commanders nearby. After they came, Bantai leiev asked curiously, "Comrade captain, what do you understand? Can you tell us?" Mikhail yev nodded his head desperately, and then reported to Bantai leiev, "Comrade deputy division commander, it''s like this. Comrade division commander ordered me to lift up some mines in front of the enemy''s forward positions, and then bury them in the enemy''s only way, so that they can taste the taste of these mines made by themselves." Bantaileiev was also excited when he heard what mihayev said. He couldn''t wait to say to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, I think this method is good. In this way, the enemy will not know where we have transferred their mines."¡° Yes, I also think the teacher''s idea is good. " Akhromeyev said: "if the enemy still wants to attack us, these relocated mines will cause heavy casualties to them. Maybe in this way, they can only shrink in the newly built frontier fortifications and confront our army. " Kirilov was obviously calmer than the two commanders. He raised his hand to look at his watch and said to them, "Hey, comrades, don''t get excited. It''s not long before dawn. You don''t want our engineers to dig up their mines in front of enemy positions in broad daylight, do you Hearing kirilov''s criticism, bantailiev and akhromeyev looked at each other and laughed with embarrassment. Bantaileiev then said, "I''m sorry, comrade political commissar, we are too complacent and didn''t pay attention to the time. Forget it. Let''s wait until evening. " At this point, he turned to mihayev and said, "Comrade captain, you have been tired all night. Now go back and have a good rest. Only in this way can you have the energy to carry out new tasks in the evening." Mikhail yev agreed, raised his hand to salute me, then turned and left the headquarters. After Mikhail yev left, akhromeyev said to me in a hurry: "Sir, comrade, let''s hurry up and study where we should bury those mines again." At this point, he pointed at the map with a red and blue pencil and said to himself, "I think in these places, we should first bury mines." When akhromeyev spoke, kirilov looked at his watch absently. I was worried about what he had to do, so I asked with concern, "Comrade political commissar, do you have anything else?" Kirilov nodded and said, "you three are the military commanders. It''s up to you to discuss where to lay mines. I''m going to hurry up and fill out the meritorious service application forms of Mikhail and others. "¡° Well, you can do it. " When I heard kirilov was going to do his part, I didn''t force him to attend our small military meeting. Akhromeyev and bandeleyev talked a lot about where to lay mines. I think what they said is reasonable, so they didn''t express their opinions casually. Instead, they sat quietly beside the audience. After determining the location of the mine, akhromeyev took the time to draw a map of the mine, handed it to me, and politely said, "Sir, this is my new map. Please see what needs to be improved?" After looking at it for a few minutes, I suddenly had a new idea and immediately said, "Comrade chief of staff, I think mines should also be laid under the river embankment."¡° Laying mines under the river bank? " Akhromeyev didn''t understand why I said this suddenly, but asked in a puzzled way: "why? You know, the enemy may not pass here. If we bury mines here, it''s a waste. " I pointed to the map and said to akhromeyev and bantailiev, "deputy division chief and chief of staff, please look at the riverbank here. As we haven''t passed here for several days to go to their camp, the tight guard here has been relaxed. I''m going to send a small team down the river bank to sneak into the German position and hit them hard. The purpose of laying mines on the river bank is to cover the retreat of the detachment and block the enemy. "

 Chapter 726

    "In this case," bantaileiev said to me suddenly after pondering for a moment after listening to my words, "Sir, since mines have been laid on the riverbank, we can''t let them go behind the German." Seeing that akhromeyev and I were looking at him, we went on to say, "according to my observation during this period of time, there are several trucks passing through the German front and rear camps every day. I estimate it''s transportation supplies these years. We planted a few mines on the road that German trucks had to go through, which would certainly blow up their transport team, so that their normal supplies would be affected. "


    Looking at the map, I thought Bantai leiev''s idea was very reasonable. It seems that his deputy teacher is not a false name. He is more comprehensive than me. I stood up straight and said to him with approval, "Comrade Deputy teacher, you are very considerate. If we only bury mines behind the backs of the Germans, no matter which direction they move, they can''t escape the mine array we set for them. In this way, their range of activities will be compressed in a limited space by us. " At this point, I stopped, turned around and told akhromeyev, "Comrade chief of staff, add the map to the position pointed out by the deputy division chief."


    Akhromeyev readily agreed, picked up the red and blue pencils on the table, and added several new mine laying sites just behind the German front. While drawing, I was whispering to myself. I listened to him and heard him say: "this is the enemy''s patrol route. Bury one here. After the top soldiers are blown down, the enemy behind will certainly run in this direction, so we will bury two more here and give them a pothole. "


    Not only me, but also bantaileiev heard ahlomeyev. He grinned with a big grin and asked me, "Comrade teacher, do we have anything important to do during the day?"


    When he said that, I remember that the recruits have been adding to the regiments for some time, and I don''t know what the training results are. There are no new recruits in the regiment, so there is no need to call them; The second regiment was right under my nose. Every now and then I could see the soldiers working hard in the trenches; Recently, the small-scale fighting of the fourth regiment has never stopped. Because Gaidar has transferred the recruits company to the position in turn to take part in the fighting, he has achieved the goal of replacing training with fighting, so he can not be called. The rest is the third regiment. I haven''t talked about it since I added new recruits. Today, when I have time, I want to call to ask.


    While thinking, I picked up the phone on the desk and dialed the headquarters of the third regiment. After hearing Godunov''s voice, I said to him in a loud voice, "Hello, I''m teacher oshanina. Is that major Godunov?"


    "It''s me, sir." Godunov''s respectful voice came out of the receiver. He asked carefully, "do you have any important combat tasks to hand over to our regiment when you call at this time?"


    "How are the new recruits for your regiment training?" I asked directly.


    "Not bad," Godunov replied vaguely. "After today''s training, almost all the soldiers have learned to shoot."


    "Optics can shoot, but not." Obviously, I was not satisfied with his reply, so I criticized him without hesitation: "it is very helpful to find opportunities for soldiers to go out for exercise and let them feel the atmosphere of the battlefield."


    "But, sir, you have placed our regiment in its present position." As for my criticism, Godunov said wrongly, "to the north is the mamayev post where the fourth regiment of the second regiment and division headquarters are located, to the south is the defense area of the first regiment, to the East is the Volga River Ferry, and to the west is the Soviet street and flour mill defended by friendly forces. We have no chance to take part in the battle."


    "Thanks to you being the commander, you don''t know how to be flexible at all. If you don''t have enemies around you, you don''t know how to send troops to places where there are enemies to compete with them." Hearing his complaint, I immediately became anonymous and yelled at him angrily: "I really doubt whether you are still suitable for your present position."


    My angry voice may be too loud, which not only startled bantailiev and akhromeyev nearby, but also kirilov who filled in the form in the corner. He looked up at me with surprise, as if to find out the reason for my anger.


    I found myself in public and could not help blushing. I pretended to cough twice and cleared my throat. I was considering whether I should apologize to Godunov for my anger. I inadvertently thought that mihayev''s engineering company would be responsible for land mines and land mines. Because of the large amount of work, it was necessary to provide them with some suitable personnel. In addition to the newly added troops, the remaining officers and men of the third regiment are all from Gulag concentration camp. There must be a lot of useful personnel. Moreover, they have rich combat experience. It is very appropriate for them to deploy manpower to assist Mikhail. Thinking of this, I picked up the receiver again and asked Godunov kindly, "Comrade major, I want to ask you, has anyone in your regiment ever been an engineer?"


    Although Godunov didn''t understand the meaning of my question, he replied honestly: "Mr. reporter, there are about thirty people in the regiment who have experience in this field. If more people are needed, I can''t help it."


    "That''s enough. Thirty people will be enough." When I heard that he was really able to help Mikhail yev, I felt a lot more confident. Then I told him, "in the evening, you should send all these people here and let them go directly to report to captain Mikhail yev, the commander of the engineering company."¡° I see. I''ll get these people together right away. " Godunov replied briefly. In the following time, there was silence in front of the fourth regiment''s position. The German who suffered a lot from the night attack stayed in their position honestly and did not dare to attack us. Since most of the work is shared by me, I''ve been idle all day. From time to time, I ran out of the headquarters, stood outside the cave and looked at the sky, muttering to myself why it was not dark. As soon as it gets dark, Mikhail''s engineering company can start. After waiting anxiously, the night finally came. When I saw Mikhail walking into the headquarters, I felt inexplicably relaxed. Kirilov asked Mikhail with a smile, "Comrade captain, are you ready?"¡° Yes, comrade political commissar. " Mikhail yev replied in a loud voice: "the engineering company is fully equipped and ready to fight at any time."¡° Good, Captain mihayev "I''m glad to see that you can keep such a strong fighting spirit," I said At this point, I changed the subject and asked, "have you seen the soldiers sent to you by the third regiment?" Mikhail yev was stunned at first, then said desperately, "yes, the third regiment has sent us 35 soldiers, all of whom have rich combat experience, and many of them have participated in engineering training. With their help, I have more confidence in completing the task."¡° Comrade captain, come to me. " Akhromeyev, who was standing at the table, yelled at him, "by the way, take my map of minefields."¡° Minefield distribution map Mikhail yev looked at me in surprise and then hesitated to go to akhromeyev. After taking the map, he immediately buried himself in a careful look up¡° Comrade captain, "seeing that he was fascinated, Bantai leiev passed by, stopped beside him and asked with great interest," what do you think of this minefield distribution map? "¡° How to say, comrade deputy division commander. " Shaking the map of mine distribution in his hand, mihayev excitedly said to bandeleev: "the arrangement of mine laying position in this map is really wonderful. As long as we bury the mines, the Germans will not only leave their camp from which direction, but also be blown up by the mines that have moved their positions¡° Comrade captain, have you figured out how to carry out this task? " Bantaileiev continued to ask, and at the same time kindly reminded the other party: "the key to completing this task is that you can''t be found by the enemy no matter in the process of setting up mines or re laying mines, otherwise all your previous achievements will be wasted."¡° I understand, comrade deputy division. " Mikhail yev took the map to the middle of the two men, pointed to it and began to explain: "I plan to divide the army into two parts, one is led by my deputy company commander, and go down the river from the bottom of the river embankment to take out all the mines along the road. Then they carry these mines around quietly to the back of the enemy''s position and bury them all in the place where their vehicles must pass. And I will lead the rest of the troops. After the deputy company commander completes the mine clearance and makes a detour to the enemy''s rear, I will also go down the river along the river bank. About 50 or 80 meters away from the minefield of the enemy''s position, I will come up from the river bank and crawl close to their barbed wire. After cutting the gap in the barbed wire, I will send ten soldiers to climb into the minefield and take out the mines inside. These mines will be laid one by one at the exit of the enemy camp and in front of our army positions. As for the mines on the river banks, in order to prevent accidental injuries, they must be laid after the deputy company commander and his troops withdraw. "¡° Comrade captain, you have considered it very comprehensively. " Bantailiev said this, turned to ask us: "do you have anything else to entrust?" Seeing that we were shaking our heads, he gave a direct order to Mikhail: "in this case, take your troops and set out. Good luck Then he reached out to Mikhail.

 Chapter 727

    Not long after mihayev left, razumeyeva, who was sitting in front of the wall''s telephone, suddenly stood up and called me: "Comrade division commander, your phone is from the headquarters of the group army?"


    I glanced at the motionless phone on the desk and asked kirilov in surprise: "Comrade political commissar, didn''t the headquarters give an order that we could only use wired telephone instead of wireless communication, so as not to divulge secrets?"


    Kirilov was stunned at first, and then replied to me, "when the headquarters was attacked by enemy artillery some time ago, all the telephone lines may have been burnt down, but they haven''t been repaired yet, so they can only choose wireless communication temporarily."


    I went to the walkie talkie, took the earphone handed by razumeyeva, put it on, and said loudly to the transmitter, "Hello, I''m oshanina. Who''s calling, please?"


    From the earphone came krailov''s hoarse voice: "Mr. oshanina, it''s me, krailov, chief of staff."


    "Chief of staff, do you have any instructions?" I asked politely.


    "It''s a terrible situation, comrade oshanina." Krailov said with a heavy voice: "in the past week, the transport of materials by the Volga river fleet has been less and less, and it has stopped today, which has caused serious difficulties in our replenishment."


    "How could that be? Comrade chief of staff. " I am absolutely surprised by what krailov said. Although the enemy artillery bombarded the Volga River, it was not the first time that they did so. For such a long time before, our fleet was able to transport reinforcements and all kinds of materials across the river in a steady stream under the threat of artillery and enemy bombing. Why are the materials transported less and less during this period? What''s more, they even shut down today. If yelimenko and Khrushchev knew about this, wouldn''t they reprimand the fleet commander? Thinking of this, I asked tentatively, "is it the commander of the fleet who arbitrarily reduced the frequency of transporting materials because of the great loss of ships?"


    "It has nothing to do with the commander of the fleet. Every day, they send out the same number of ships as before to transport people and materials to the city all the time. " Krailov said solemnly, "but recently the enemy''s guns are getting more and more accurate, and the number of our sunken ships has risen sharply. According to the analysis of Comrade commander and I, the enemy may be somewhere near the mamayev post, and there are artillery observers hidden, who can provide shooting coordinates to the artillery in the depth of the enemy''s defense area at any time. "


    "Chief of staff, may I ask, what is the task of our division?" Although I guessed that he might order me to send someone to clear out the German artillery observers, I asked specially.


    "Your task is simple." Krailov said briefly: "find out the enemy''s artillery observers, and eliminate them all, so that the enemy''s artillery lose guidance, so as to ensure the safety of the river crossing vessels and reduce unnecessary losses."


    "Yes, comrade chief of staff." Although I know that this task is not easy to complete, I still take over this task from Krylov, "we will find out the enemy''s artillery observation point and destroy it in the shortest time."


    After I put down the phone, Bantai leiev asked with concern: "Comrade division commander, the chief of staff of the group army has called. Is there any important task to be assigned to our division?"


    Instead of answering his question immediately, I summoned kirilov to the table and solemnly said, "Comrade commander, chief of staff, general Krylov, has called to say that the enemy''s recent shelling on the Volga River has resulted in the sinking of a large number of transport vessels in the Volga river fleet. They suspected that there were observation points set up by enemy artillery near the mamayev post to guide the artillery in the enemy''s depth to fire. The order from the superior to our division is very clear, that is to find out the artillery observation point as soon as possible and destroy it. "


    "What, enemy artillery observation point?" Akhromeyev was surprised after hearing this. After looking at the map, he pointed to the east of mamayev post and told us his analysis: "the enemy''s artillery observation point is not built on the North highland, is it the oil storage tank area destroyed by the bomb? You know, we didn''t deploy troops there. If the enemy hid a few people there, we really couldn''t find them. "


    "Then what are you hesitating about? Send someone to search there immediately and find out the enemy artillery observers as soon as possible." After listening to his analysis, kirilov immediately urged him: "call the second regiment and the fourth regiment and ask them to send a company to search the oil storage tank area from two directions at the same time. Be sure to find out the enemy artillery observation points in the shortest time."


    "Yes Akhromeyev agreed, picked up the phone on the desk and began to call the second and fourth regiments.


    As a result of this unexpected incident, we all automatically ignored Mikhail yev and others, and focused on the search of the troops sent by the second and fourth regiments.


    Half an hour after akhromeyev''s order was issued, Gaidar first called. He reported on the phone that the search troops sent by the second regiment had arrived at the oil storage tank farm and joined up with the troops sent by the second regiment. There was no sign of the enemy for the time being.


    Akhromeyev held the microphone in his hand, looked at me with his eyes, and asked, "Comrade teacher, what should I do next?"


    On hearing his question, kirilov and bandeleev also looked at me, waiting for my order. I bowed my head and thought, maybe it was too dark for our officers and men to find the hidden enemies for the time being. Thinking of this, I told akhromeyev: "tell lieutenant colonel gedar to let the soldiers search the oil tank farm carefully, and even if they dig three feet, they will find out these damned Krauts."


    Akhromeyev nodded, released his hand covering the microphone, and ordered gedar: "Comrade commander, the division commander orders, let the commanders and fighters search carefully, even if they dig three feet, they should find these hiding German men."


    Before akhromeyev finished, I heard Gaidar ask again, "what should we do with these Germans?"


    "Is that true?" Akhromeyev said impatiently, "we don''t have the conditions to take prisoners now, so we won''t take any prisoners after we find them."


    Gaidar soon called again for a second time. He reported to us that the commanders and fighters of the two companies had thoroughly searched the oil tank area, but they still found nothing. Akhromeyev, who answered the phone, was worried: "what, didn''t a German find out? Comrade commander, what''s the matter with you? When more than 200 people search such a small area, they can let the Germans slip out of your sight? "


    "According to my commander''s report to me, they searched very carefully, and even stabbed the thick grease with bayonets. He assured me that there would be no hidden Germans there." Gaidar tried to argue: "will the enemy''s artillery observation point is not set here at all?"


    Because we all wishfully believed that the enemy''s artillery observer was hiding in the oil tank farm, kirilov was angry when he heard Gaidar''s explanation. He thought Gaidar was being incompetent and sophistry of his own, so he went to take the phone call from akhromeyev and said angrily, "Comrade commander, Since the soldiers of the two companies have not been able to find out the hidden Germans from here, then you can send more people to help them search. Inch by inch, slowly search for me, and be sure to find out all the land left for me


    Hearing kirilov''s severe order, Gaidar had no choice but to agree: "yes, I''ll immediately transfer my staff to assist in the search."


    "You lead the team yourself." Kirilov added angrily.


    "Yes, I''ll go myself." Gaidar did not dare to retort, so he had to honestly promise to go out in person.


    The search went on until dawn, and there was still no progress. On the way, Gaidar called twice to report, but he was scolded by kirilov or akhromeyev, so he learned to be smart and didn''t dare to call again before he found the German artillery observer.


    Instead of waiting for gedar''s final report, he unexpectedly waited for Mikhail. When I saw him walking into the headquarters, I knew that his operation last night was successful. I looked at him and asked with a smile, "Comrade captain, I think we got a lot last night?"


    Mikhail yev replied with a happy face: "yes, sir. In last night''s operation, the deputy company commander took people to take out all the mines under the river embankment and buried them on the only way behind the enemy. And I also took people to dig out about 70 or 80 mines near the riverside area and bury them under the exit of the German barracks and the forward position of the fourth regiment


    Just as he was talking, the telephone on the desk rang untimely. Thinking that it might be Gaidar, he turned to look at the place where it rang. Mikhail yev saw that I was distracted, so he closed his mouth in time and didn''t go on.


    Indeed, the call was from Gaidar. He told us again in frustration that after repeated searches by soldiers of three companies, there was no sign of Tibetans in the tank farm. At the same time, he asked me whether we should withdraw our troops now that it is daybreak, otherwise we would be in danger of air attack when the enemy''s plane arrived.


    "Comrade division commander," akhromeyev looked at me and asked, "what do you think of Col. gedar''s request to withdraw the troops to their positions?"


    After a night''s search, nothing was found. At dawn, if the troops were still searching in place, they might be bombed by enemy planes. In this case, I had to nod to akhromeyev and say helplessly: "let lieutenant colonel Gaidar leave some soldiers in the oil tank area, and the rest go back to the position first."


    Seeing that a group of us were dejected, mihayev couldn''t help asking me curiously: "what''s the matter with you, sir? Why do you all have this kind of expression?"


    Mikhail yev is not an outsider. I didn''t hide this from him. I said to him directly, "well, comrade captain. According to the judgment of the superior, the enemy may set up an artillery observation point near the mamayev post to provide firing parameters for the artillery behind them, which led to the sinking of a large number of transport ships of the Volga river fleet. So the superior ordered us to find out the artillery observation point in the shortest time and destroy it, so as to ensure the safety of the transport vessels. "


    "Has the enemy artillery observation point been found?" After listening, Mikhail asked carefully.


    I shook my head and said disappointedly: "after receiving this order from the superior, we judged that the enemy''s artillery observation point should be located on the mamayev post, and the most likely area is the former oil storage tank, where the vision is wide, and you can go down the east slope to the Volga River, where the enemy is most suitable to hide."


    After listening to this, mihayev frowned and thought about it. Then he tentatively said to me, "Comrade division, have you ever thought that the enemy''s artillery observation point may not be on our high ground at all?"


    "Ah?! What do you mean, the enemy''s artillery observation point is not on the high ground. " Mikhail yev''s voice was not loud, but it startled Bantai leiev beside him. After a moment''s meditation, he patted his thigh and said with a sudden realization: "Oh, what a word to wake up the dreamer. The division commander, the political commissar and the chief of staff, we all got to the top of our horns and thought that the enemy artillery observation point must be the highest place, so we had a preconceived idea that it was on the mamayev post. That''s why we had a futile search last night. "


    "Wait a minute, comrade deputy division commander." When akhromeyev heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting bantaileiev''s words and asked: "what do you mean is that the enemy''s artillery observation point is not in our defense zone at all, and last night''s action was purely useless. I say that, right? "


    "Yes, chief of staff." Bantailiev nodded in agreement, and then said his own view: "if you want to provide artillery with firing parameters, then their observation point must be set at the place where they can see the target, so that they can continuously provide artillery with correction parameters. Think about it. Besides the Highlands, where else can they set up their observation points? "


    "What''s so hard to guess. Apart from the high ground, it is the German forward position only three kilometers away from the fourth regiment position. " Under the guidance of bantailiev, akhromeyev said the answer in his heart without thinking. As soon as the words came out, he was stunned. After a while, he asked us carefully, "did the enemy really set up their artillery observation point in that forward position?"


    Akhromeyev''s words made my thinking suddenly clear. Yes, when we talk about the enemy''s artillery observation point, we only think of the mamayev post, but we never think of the German forward position which is only a few kilometers away from us in the north. If the enemy sets up observation points there, it can still provide accurate firing parameters for the artillery and use the artillery fire to destroy the transport fleet on the Volga River.


    I nodded with a heavy heart and said to him, "this kind of possibility exists, but it can''t be confirmed until we send someone to scout." At this point, I raised my hand, looked at my watch and said with regret, "it''s a pity that we didn''t think of this possibility earlier. Now it''s daybreak. If we want to send someone to scout, we can only wait until evening."


    "Don''t wait until evening, sir." While our group was dejected, mihayev suddenly said, "maybe I can give you some useful information."


    "Tell me, comrade captain." Bantai leiev took over the conversation and said encouragingly, "tell me what you have found. Maybe it''s really useful for us."


    "Yes, comrade deputy division commander." Mikhail yev respectfully said: "last night when the mines started, I followed several engineers to sneak into the German minefield. As the flare rose into the air, I vaguely saw a cannon mirror beside the observation hole of a civil engineering near the river


    "Yes, it must be here." After listening to Mikhail yev''s words, akhromeyev, who had been in a low mood, suddenly got excited. He said in a loud voice: "the enemy will not put a gun mirror near the river for no reason. Undoubtedly, this is the enemy artillery observation point."


    Kirilov sighed and said with a little guilt: "I didn''t expect that the enemy was so cunning that they put the artillery observation point there. As a result, commander Gaidar was scolded several times by me and the chief of staff


    Akhromeyev was a cheerful man. After listening to kirilov''s words, he simply said, "it seems that we have wronged commander Gaidar. I''ll call him right now and apologize for this." Then he reached for the phone on the desk.


    I raised my hand to stop him, and then told him: "Comrade chief of staff, you don''t have to worry about apologizing. I''ll go to the command post of the fourth regiment in person to apologize to him later. Now you call the artillery battalion commander, Mr. molozov, and ask about the caliber and range of the existing mortars, as well as how many shells are left. "


    Although akhromeyev didn''t understand the purpose of what I said, after he got through the phone, he told Morozov the question I asked. After listening to Morozov''s reply, he just took the microphone away from his ear and reported to me: "major Morozov reported that there are three medium mortars of 81mm caliber in the artillery battalion, each of which has 20 shells, with a maximum range of 6km."


    "Why are there only a few mortars left?" Kirilov asked, frowning.


    Akhromeyev did not ask molozov, but directly replied, "report to the political commissar that the first and third regiments have built six new fortifications, and the artillery battalion has transferred six mortars to the two regiments."


    When I saw akhromeyev turning his attention to me again, I told him: "chief of staff, tell Morozov to take the remaining three mortars and immediately go to the position of the fourth regiment to join me."

 Chapter 728

    Forty minutes later, I took basmanov and several soldiers from the guard company to the position of the fourth regiment and entered their tunnel works from an entrance on the south slope.


    Guarding the tunnel were two young soldiers. Seeing us coming, they straightened up and saluted me. After I saluted them, I politely asked, "Comrade soldier, can you take us to the regiment headquarters?"


    An older soldier replied, "no problem, Comrade General. I can take you and your troops to the regiment headquarters." Said the body side, made a please posture.


    We walked along the narrow tunnel. Fortunately, the lanterns on both sides of the wall can illuminate the way for us and avoid us stepping on the rest of the soldiers sitting on the wall. In the light of the light, I saw someone wiping weapons, someone leaning back against the earth wall in the eyes. As we passed through a hole hung in a thick curtain, I heard groans coming from it. This should be where the wounded were.


    After we made a few turns in the tunnel and walked a long distance, the soldier finally stopped at another curtain hole, turned to me and said, "Comrade General, this is our regiment headquarters."


    "Thank you, comrade soldier." I nodded to him, said thanks, then lifted the curtain and went in.


    Inside is a small cave of seven or eight square meters. Near the door, there is a table with maps, a lantern and a telephone. A commander without a military cap sits at the table. Hearing the news, he looked up at me. After a moment''s hesitation, he stood up decisively, raised his hand to salute me, and loudly reported: "Comrade division commander, Xia Ping, political commissar of the Fourth Infantry Regiment, reports to you. Welcome here."


    I raised my hand and asked casually, "commissar Xia Ping, where''s your commander, Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar?"


    "I''m here, sir." There was a sudden sound beside the wall. I looked in the direction of the sound. Gaidar, who was in ragged clothes, was climbing up from a simple narrow wooden bed. He was busy dressing and reporting to me: "Comrade division, commander of the fourth regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar, reporting to you. I''m waiting for your instructions!"


    I didn''t speak. I just looked at him quietly with my hands behind my back. After his army was in order, I solemnly said to him, "Comrade Gaidar, because last night we mistakenly judged that the enemy''s artillery observation point was located on the mamayev post without knowing the specific situation, we also asked you to search the oil storage tank area again and again in vain. Now that the situation is basically clear, the enemy has not set up observation points on the high ground at all. On behalf of the political commissar and chief of staff, I would like to apologize to you for the mistakes we have made. Please forgive me! " With that, I drew my legs together and raised my hand to give him a solemn military salute.


    "Sir, comrade!" Seeing that I actually apologized to myself, Gaidar quickly raised his hand to salute me after a short period of consternation, and said excitedly: "I didn''t expect that you would apologize to me for this small matter. I really didn''t expect that."


    Deeply afraid that I would be embarrassed, Xia Ping promptly turned the topic aside: "Comrade division commander, you said that the enemy''s artillery observation point is not located at mamayev post, so where will it be located?"


    "Where else?"?! It''s in their nearest forward position, of course. " I put down my hand raised to my forehead and said to Xia Ping with a smile, "I thought the enemy was building fortifications so close to us just to shorten their attack path. Unexpectedly, it was to set up artillery observation points to guide the deep artillery to bombard our transport fleet on the Volga River."


    "Sir, I don''t know how you think about it?" Gadar asked tentatively, "do you want me to send troops to attack this forward position and wait for the opportunity to destroy their artillery observation point?"


    "There''s no need for that trouble." I waved my hand and said with disapproval, "I have informed major Morozov to bring some mortars and destroy the civil bunker where the enemy artillery observer is. There is no need to send infantry to take risks. You should know that you have a large number of new recruits, and it''s OK to fight and defend. It''s hard to say what kind of attack you will get if you attack at will. "


    At this time, the curtain was lifted and a commander entered. As soon as he came in, he didn''t look around. He took off the big eaves hat on his head and fell heavily on the table. Then he sat down beside the table and said angrily, "commander, political commissar, I can''t do this company commander."


    "What''s the matter, Captain kiricheng?" Xia Ping lowered his head and asked tentatively, "which of your soldiers has made you angry again?"


    "It''s just the new fighters from Kazakhstan who have been in the tunnel for a long time, and they are all complaining. Just now there was another soldier who said something disturbing to the morale of the army. "


    "Who said that?" When Xia Ping heard this, his eyebrows suddenly stood up. He asked seriously, "what did he say?"


    "It''s the big man from the collective farm," said kiricheng. "He said that if we could beat the Germans, we would have launched a counterattack long ago, and we wouldn''t be like now. We would be rats in the tunnel all day, and we wouldn''t even see the sun. If we wait until the day when the Germans attack, none of us will be able to run, either killed or captured. "


    "What''s his name?" Xia Ping asked angrily.


    Kiricheng shook his head, shrugged his shoulders and said, "his name sounds strange. I can''t make it clear."


    "When he said this, were there soldiers around?"


    Currichen nodded and replied, "there are seven or eight. Listening to what he said, I feel that these soldiers have been shaken. "


    Xia Ping turned to take off his cap from the wall and put it on his head. He said to kericheng, "let''s go and have a good talk with him." He said that he was going to leave. Suddenly he found that I was still standing by without saying a word. He quickly gave me a smile with apology. He patted kericheng with his hand and said to him, "Comrade captain, I forgot to introduce you. This is our division commander, general oshanina."


    After hearing what Xia Ping said, he turned to see me and screamed. He jumped up from his seat, stepped back two steps, leaned back against the earth wall, raised his hand to salute me, and stammered: "newspaper, report, teacher, teacher, comrade..."


    Before he finished, I went up to him, pulled his hand off his forehead and said kindly, "Comrade captain, don''t be nervous. I heard what you just said. Let''s go and talk to the soldier. "


    Kiricheng took us to a corner of the tunnel. Here gathered a lot of soldiers, who did not speak, are quietly wiping their guns, or pressing bullets into the clips. When they saw us coming, they just looked up and went on with their work.


    After walking forward for a while, kiricheng pointed to a tall soldier with a boat hat sitting on the ground and said, "that''s him."


    I just wanted to go forward, but Xia Ping raised his hand and stopped me. He said to me in a low voice: "Comrade teacher, I''d better come." With that, he went to the tall man, stopped and said in a stern tone, "Comrade soldier."


    The tall man quickly stood up from the ground and stood straight in front of Xia Ping.


    "What did you say just now in front of your company commander and the rest of the soldiers?"


    "What did I say?" The tall man asked in surprise, pretending to be in poor Russian.


    Xia Ping sneered and said directly, "you just said that we can''t beat the Germans. If we stay in the tunnel, we will become the captives of the Germans sooner or later. Come on, why are you walking here in a defeatist tone? "


    Unexpectedly, he denied: "no, I never said that. The company commander must have heard it wrong. Maybe he took what he heard from other places as mine


    Xia Ping turned and asked a soldier sitting nearby, "did he say that?"


    The soldier shook his head and said, "I fell asleep, I didn''t hear you." Then he buried his head deeply.


    Xia Ping then asked several soldiers, who either said that they were asleep and didn''t hear them, or that they didn''t understand Russian and didn''t know what the tall man said.


    When I saw this scene, my heart was cold. I didn''t expect that these new soldiers from Kazakhstan would cover up a fellow countryman who spread the theory of defeatism. It seems that I need to talk to oberstein about how to strengthen the political and ideological work of new soldiers. Thinking of this, I turned to the other soldiers sitting next to me and asked aloud, "which of you just heard what the soldier said?"


    As soon as we asked this question, several soldiers in helmets came from behind us. We knew that they belonged to the original commanders and fighters of the fourth regiment. One of them, an elderly soldier, pointed to the tall man and said angrily, "yes, comrade general, he just spread the theory of defeatism."


    "He also said that once the enemy attacked, we would be killed or captured." See someone bravely come forward to expose tall, another soldier also confirmed tall said these words.


    Seeing the old soldiers of the fourth regiment expose themselves, the tall man seemed a little flustered. He tried to defend himself: "comrades commander, what I just mean is that we can''t stay in the tunnel, we still have to go out and fight with the enemy. It''s the best, but we should consider withdrawing to the East Bank of Volga as soon as possible


    "Do you still say you don''t have a failure doctrine?" After a heavy snort, Xia Ping said coldly, "I can tell you that the order we have received is to stick to the mamayev post. Even if there is only one person left on the high ground, we should nail the position like nails and never step back. It''s better to expose the bones on the high ground than to let the enemy move forward. "


    He was about to announce what to do with the tall man when a cry came from behind us: "Hello, sir, where are you?"


    I recognized Morozov''s voice, knew he was coming with a mortar, and agreed, "major, I''m here. I''ll be right there." After shouting, I pointed to the tall man and told him, "Comrade captain, send someone to take care of him first and deal with him after we have finished the war. At such a time, it is absolutely unacceptable to make a defeatist argument that disturbs the morale of the army. "


    When Xia Ping and I walked forward side by side, I thought that the fourth regiment had been in the tunnel ever since they went to mamayev post, and they were very happy to fight with the attacking enemy. In this case, not to mention the new soldiers who have just been added, even Xia Ping, the political commissar of the Communist Youth League around me, may have some ideas in his mind. Therefore, I feel it necessary to explain to him.


    So as I walked, I said to him, "Comrade Xia Ping, you have to tell the soldiers that because our army is limited in strength and lacks the heavy weapons needed to attack the fortified positions, we can only take defensive measures for the time being. We should rely on tunnels to hold fast to the high ground and constantly eliminate the enemy''s living forces. Only when the enemy is consumed and exhausted can conditions be created for counterattack. At that time, the counterattack we have carried out will succeed at one stroke and completely defeat the enemy who attacked Stalingrad. " The three mortars that Morozov brought had been lined up in the trench. Seeing us coming out of the tunnel, he quickly closed his legs and reported to me, "Comrade division, I have prepared the mortars. Please direct the attack target." I raised my telescope and looked at the German position in the distance. Close to the river, there was an independent civil bunker. From the outside, there were two soldiers walking back and forth to analyze. Even if it was not the German artillery observation point, it was also a relatively important target. Seeing this, I called molozov over, handed him the telescope, pointed to the position in the distance and said, "major, do you see the civil bunker near the river? It seems to be a more important site for the German army. Can we knock it down? " After taking the telescope in my hand and looking at it for a while, Morozov confidently replied, "no problem. You give me two minutes, and I''ll be able to knock it out." Then he put the telescope in my hand and ran to his men. With a series of commands issued by Morozov, the Gunners skillfully adjusted the position and muzzle direction of the mortar. With the "Tong Tong" three light sounds, the shells roared toward the enemy''s position. The artillery hit accurately, three shells all fell around the bunker and exploded, one of which blew the two moving soldiers out. Then the artillery fired two rounds in succession. In the black smoke of the shell explosion, the cover of the civil bunker was lifted, from which three German soldiers rushed out, bent down and ran to other places along the trench. However, they did not run far away, two shells fell in the middle of them and exploded, their bodies turned into bloody rain in the explosion and evenly sprinkled in the surrounding soil¡° Good fight, major Morozov. It''s a beautiful fight. " Seeing the accuracy of the mortar attack, I cried out excitedly¡° I didn''t expect you to take out the enemy''s bunker so soon. " When he heard my praise, he didn''t say anything but grinned. Until a gunner came up to him and asked if he would continue to fire. He just like the beginning of a dream to wake up, immediately asked me: "Sir comrade, still fight?" I shook my head and said, "no, since the enemy''s artillery observation point has been destroyed, your task will be completed. Take your men and move quickly. Maybe the enemy''s retaliatory shelling will arrive soon. " Morozov agreed and immediately asked his men to pack up and prepare to withdraw to the tunnel.

 Chapter 729

    Not long after we returned to the regiment headquarters, the observation post outside called to report to gedar that the enemy''s long-range artillery was shelling our warships in the Volga River.


    I was not sure whether the civil bunker that had just been destroyed by the mortar was really the enemy''s artillery observation point, so as soon as I heard the news, I asked Oleg to act as a guide and take me outside to observe.


    When I came to a tunnel exit on the south slope, I found that I could see the situation on the Volga River. I stood at the entrance of the tunnel, raised my telescope and looked into the middle of the river.


    At the moment, there are more than a dozen boats of different sizes in the river, whose chimneys are emitting thick smoke, and they are coming at full speed to the wharf beside the mamayev post. The enemy''s shells fell into the water and exploded, causing water columns to soar into the sky. Perhaps because of the lack of artillery observer''s guidance, the German artillery''s shelling effect was not obvious, and the shells landed at a distance of more than ten meters on both sides of the fleet.


    Seeing this, I can''t help but feel proud. The German Civil bunker that I knocked down by chance just now, I didn''t expect that the blind cat met the dead mouse, and it was really the artillery observation point.


    Inadvertently, he turned his head and found that Gaidar and Morozov were also attentive to the river. Seeing that the enemy''s artillery did not cause any damage to the fleet, they were all relieved. I patted Morozov on the shoulder and said, "well done, major. There''s nothing for you right now. You can take your men back to the station. " Morozov nodded, turned and walked into the tunnel.


    As soon as Morozov left, I put a face on my face and said to Gaidar solemnly, "Comrade commander, the recruits have been in your regiment for some time. I don''t see whether the troops have formed combat effectiveness; But there are many people who say strange things behind their backs to shake the morale of the army. Moreover, these recruits are united because they are fellow countrymen. As their company commander, Captain kiricheng wants to find someone to testify for himself, but no one wants to. If it wasn''t for the old veterans of the fourth regiment, I really don''t know how you could end up with this. "


    When Gaidar was scolded by me, he bowed his head honestly and listened to my instruction. It was not until I finished that he explained: "Comrade division, it''s all my fault. In recent days, I have been busy asking those political workers in the regiment to cooperate with the commanders of the battalions and companies to carry out tactical training for the new soldiers, ignoring their political and ideological work. I didn''t expect such a thing to happen. Please rest assured that I will arrange political workers to conduct ideological education for the soldiers every night. "


    "All right, just know what''s wrong." Instead of criticizing Gaidar on this issue, I took a final look at the fleet sailing in the Volga River, shook my head in the tunnel and said, "come on, follow me to the front position again."


    We went through the tunnel and came to the location where the mortar had just been deployed. Standing here, even without binoculars, you can see that the destroyed bunker in the distance is still emitting plumes of black smoke. There are figures shaking in the nearby trenches. It is estimated that the Germans are picking up the pieces.


    Gaidar said with regret: "it''s a pity that there are not many artillery shells. Otherwise, dozens of shells will be smashed and at least hundreds of German soldiers will be destroyed."


    Looking at the enemy swaying around under their own eyes, but they can''t be eliminated, no one will feel subdued. However, there is nothing I can do about it. There are not many mortar shells left, and they need to be reserved for later defense or attack. Therefore, I can only tell Gaidar with regret: "Comrade commander, it is impossible to eliminate all the enemies in the position only by the poor ammunition base left by mortar."


    Gaidar nodded, and suddenly asked on a whim: "Comrade division commander, this destroyed artillery observation point has provided accurate firing parameters for German artillery in the rear. Once we lose this observation point, I don''t think the enemy will give up. Maybe they will set up a new observation point here. In order to prevent our artillery attack, the observation point may be located in a rather hidden place. What shall we do then? "


    "Don''t worry, they won''t have another chance to build artillery observation points." Regarding Gaidar''s question, I said confidently: "because I plan to send troops tonight to attack enemy''s camp and destroy as many defenders as possible."


    As we were talking, two streams of black smoke suddenly came out from behind the enemy''s position, but I didn''t hear the explosion. I quickly raised my telescope and looked at the smoking place. I saw a German truck overturned on the ground. There were many people lying around the truck. They should have fallen out of the car. Many people are just injured and not dead, rolling on the ground in pain.


    "What''s the matter, sir?" Asked Gaidar nervously.


    "Maybe the enemy truck ran over captain mihayev''s mine they buried." As I spoke, I handed him the telescope in my hand, and said, "all the infantry in the carriage fell down. It''s estimated that even if they don''t die, everyone will be injured."


    After looking at it for a while, Gaidar said excitedly, "Captain mihayev is so wonderful that he thought of burying mines in the rear of the enemy''s position. This unlucky truck just drove over foolishly and was blown over. "


    When we were happy about the results of Mikhail yev''s action last night, we suddenly heard chaos in the tunnel, where someone was shouting in a loud voice: "catch him, catch him, don''t let him run away."


    Before I knew it, there was a man rushing out of the tunnel. He rushed between Gaidar and me. He jumped out of the trench and ran down the hill. At this time, a group of people burst out of the tunnel, shouting: "the big man has run, the big man has run!"


    After I understood what they were saying, I was shocked and looked up the hillside. I saw that it was no one else who was running to the foot of the mountain. It was the big man who had just shaken the morale of the army. At the moment, he was 30 or 40 meters away. I quickly took off the submachine gun slung on my shoulder and yelled: "stand, if you don''t stop, I''ll shoot." After shouting, I fired two shots into the sky with my submachine gun.


    Unexpectedly, after hearing the shouts and gunshots, he not only didn''t stop, but quickened his pace. Seeing that he was getting farther and farther away from me, I couldn''t care more. I aimed my submachine gun at his back and pulled the trigger without thinking. Maybe for a long time, I didn''t use the German submachine gun. My hands were a little rusty, and the bullets I shot were beating with the muzzle of the gun. I didn''t know where they were flying.


    At this time, the commanders and fighters who came out of the tunnel saw that I was shooting at the big man who was running away. They raised their weapons and pulled the trigger at the big man''s back.


    If the big man is running on the ground, maybe he can get away with our bullets. But in downhill, in order to avoid falling, his speed and smooth running must be a little slower. When he was about to run to the foot of the mountain, dense bullets caught up with him. A dozen rifle and machine gun bullets hit him on the back. His body faltered and fell to the ground.


    Seeing that the big man was knocked down, the firing on the position stopped. I slung my submachine gun on my shoulder again, turned to koricheng, who was standing beside Gaidar, and yelled, "Captain, can you tell me what''s going on, why do your soldiers run to the enemy?"


    Curry Cheng lowered his head and said nothing, his body trembling like chaff. When I saw his virtue, I wanted to get angry again. Suddenly, I remembered that several soldiers of the second regiment defected last time. Kirilov lost his temper and asked Pugachev to shoot the company commander and the platoon leader of the deserter. Now the soldiers under kiricheng are running towards the enemy''s position in front of me, which is even worse. He is not afraid of ghosts.


    Seeing that he was frightened, I couldn''t bear it, so I went forward and patted him on the shoulder and said with a kind face: "Captain kiricheng, remember this painful lesson. Go back and cooperate well with the political workers in your company, and carry out necessary political and ideological work to the new soldiers, so as to avoid similar things happening again. "


    Listen to me, kiricheng looks up with an incredible expression on his face. Maybe he didn''t expect me to let him go so easily. He opened his mouth as if he had something to say, but he didn''t say it in the end, so he turned his eyes to Gaidar. From his eyes, Gaidar understood what he meant. He coughed and asked me tentatively, "what are you going to do with captain kiricheng, sir?"


    "Isn''t it all dealt with?" I asked, "do you think I punished him too lightly and want to punish him myself?"


    "No, no, No. Comrade teacher, you have misunderstood. " Gaidar quickly put his hand and explained to me, "there are not many commanders in the regiment. Kiricheng is a very experienced commander, so I''m afraid that if you want to deal with him severely, there will be no commander in the regiment."


    I snorted and started to walk into the tunnel. After a few steps, he found that all the people were still standing in the same place in a daze. He stopped and said to Gaidar, "Comrade commander, what are you still doing there? Please follow me to the regiment headquarters." And then I pointed at kiricheng with my hand: "and you, Captain kiricheng, come along, too."


    In this way, Gaidar and kiricheng followed me to the regiment headquarters with a restless mood.


    Xia Ping was the only one in the headquarters. When he saw us coming in, he nervously asked, "what happened just now? How can I hear the guns outside


    "There was a soldier who wanted to escape to the Germans and had been shot to death." After I said this lightly, I bypassed Gaidar and directly told koricheng, "Comrade captain, I have an important task to give you. I don''t know if you want to make atonement."


    "Yes, yes, of course I will." Without waiting for me to say what the mission was, Cory Cheng agreed in a voice.


    "Come and see, captain." I called kericheng to the table, pointed to the map on the table and said to him, "after dark, you take your company down the river bank, enter the enemy''s trench from here, and use cold weapons to clear the enemy''s position as much as possible. Are you confident of completing the task? "


    "I promise to finish the task." Currichen replied confidently.


    When I heard his reply, I nodded and said in my heart that as long as some of the enemies in this forward position were eliminated, Karpov''s troops could break out of the German encirclement from this weak defensive area and smoothly return to our defense area.

 Chapter 730

    For my arrangement, Gaidar and Shapin were surprised. After kericheng left, Gaidar couldn''t wait to say, "Sir, this arrangement is not suitable. You should know that there are nearly two companies of German troops in that position, but there are only about 100 men under kiricheng''s command. The ratio of our forces to the enemy forces is four to one. "


    "Mr. division, I think..." political commissar Xia Ping also wanted to persuade me to change my mind, but I raised my hand to interrupt him, and at the same time expressed my attitude: "political commissar Xia Ping, you don''t have to worry. Although there were nearly two companies of German troops when they entered the forward position, their troops were constantly consumed in the process of harassing our troops recently. If I remember correctly, the enemy''s casualties of at least 200 people are equivalent to the loss of one company and the remaining company''s forces. It is simply not enough to disperse and guard such a wide position. "


    "But I''m afraid they''ll pay heavy casualties when they cross enemy minefields." Xia Ping said anxiously.


    "Don''t worry about that," I said lightly. "Last night, Mikhail and his engineering company had cleared all the mines under the river embankment and transferred them to the road leading to the rear. Colonel gedar should be very clear about this, because he saw with his own eyes the German truck that wanted to enter the position was blown over by the mine, and the German army also paid more than 20 casualties for it. "


    "Well, comrade political commissar." Gaidar proved it for me in time.


    I went on to say, "not only are there no mines on the riverbank, but there are not many mines left in the minefield near the riverside in front of the position. The only civil fire point there has been destroyed by our mortar. The defense in that direction tonight must not be tight. Captain kiricheng and his men can sneak into the trench without being found by the enemy. "


    When I said that, they stopped talking. It seems that they both agreed with my arrangement. But to reassure them, I added: "don''t worry, I won''t let them act alone. Maybe I will send troops to attack from the front."


    After listening to my words, Gaidar and Xia Ping were very bright. They asked me at the same time: "Comrade commander, I want to take down the enemy''s front position."


    After staring at the map on the table for a while, I said noncommittally, "this German position is a nail wedged into our division''s defense area. Because of its existence, it greatly reduces our activity space, so it must be removed from front of us when necessary."


    "Do we need to send troops in after we have eliminated the enemy in the position?" Gaidar asked tentatively, "if we just destroy the garrison, as soon as we withdraw, the enemy will send troops in again."


    This question asked by Gaidar is also a headache for me. If we don''t pull out the nail of the German army, our range of activities will be greatly limited. But if we only destroy the enemy in the position, and do not send troops, the enemy will soon make a comeback. Let''s send troops to garrison. It''s an open area with no danger to defend. It can''t stop the enemy''s strong attack at all. On the contrary, it''s a waste of our troops.


    I had no choice but to sneer and avoid answering. Instead, I waved my hand to them and said, "what to do next is a matter for the division leaders to consider, so you don''t have to worry about it. In order to be on the safe side, after captain kiricheng''s troops are dispatched, you should send another unit to take charge of them and make sure that their operations are successful. " With that, I turned and walked out of the headquarters.


    On the way back to the division headquarters with basmanov, I patted the submachine gun on my shoulder with my hand. I was annoyed that I had missed the target when I just shot a single bullet. At this time, I miss the AK47 that I lost when I broke through liuban, and I don''t know what happened to the engineers who crossed. Why hasn''t a close combat weapon like A47 been equipped with troops after nearly a year?


    As I approached the headquarters, I took off my coat and looked at razumeyeva, who was looking at me in the following voice: "Lieutenant, immediately contact the headquarters of the group army by radio phone and tell them that we have successfully eliminated the German artillery observation point on the Volga River."


    After hearing this, razumeyeva agreed excitedly, and immediately began to contact the headquarters with the telephone.


    Kirilov was very happy when they heard what I said. Kirilov also asked, "Comrade oshanina, did you really destroy the enemy''s artillery observation point?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." I looked at kirilov and said with a smile, "after destroying the civil bunker of the suspected artillery observation point, the German army also shelled the fleet on the river. I carefully observed that the impact point of the shells was far away from the ships. Based on this situation, I have reason to believe that the enemy''s artillery observation point has been successfully knocked out by us. "


    "That''s great," I said with a rare smile.


    As soon as I sat down at the table, akhromeyev asked me, "Comrade division, although we have destroyed the German artillery observation point today, the enemy will not give up. I don''t think it will be long before they send people to set up new artillery observation points, and then it will not be so easy to destroy them. "


    "Comrade division chief, I think the chief of staff is right." Bantailiev, deputy division commander, also echoed akhromeyev''s opinion in a timely manner and expressed his own opinion: "I think that the German army is building fortifications so far away from the front line of our army in order to cover their artillery observation points. So we should act decisively and send troops to occupy the enemy''s positions so that they can no longer establish new observation points here. "


    "Comrade deputy division commander, your suggestion is very reasonable, but have you ever thought about what to do after we have occupied the enemy''s position?" Although bantailiev just echoed his own point of view, akhromeyev still pointed out the problem he ignored impolitely: "you know, it''s an open area with no danger to defend. If we want to block the infantry attacking under the cover of tanks under the artillery and bombing of the enemy, our division will pay a great sacrifice. Let alone four regiments and one regiment, it is not enough to fill in all our divisions. "


    When akhromeyev said this, the room suddenly quieted down. Maybe everyone was weighing their interests, so no one spoke. After a long time, kirilov looked at me and asked, "Comrade teacher, how do you think about this?"


    Unexpectedly, it came back to me again. I quickly waved my hand and said, "let''s slow down this matter. Let''s discuss how to take kalpov''s troops out of the German siege."


    "But Comrade o''shanina." When kirilov heard me mention this, he hesitated and said, "isn''t captain Karpov''s army sandwiched between two German troops? It''s not easy to take them out smoothly. "


    Akhromeyev blinked and asked, "yes, sir. They are in the middle of the enemy, as long as there is a little movement, they will be found by the enemy. Maybe their troops won''t pull out by that time, and our support troops will suffer heavy casualties. That''s not worth the loss. "


    When he said that, a bold plan came out of my mind. I looked around the three people and said with a smile, "comrades, I have a more detailed plan now. Let''s talk about it and discuss it together. But before we discuss it, I''ll make a phone call Then I picked up the phone on the desk, dialed the headquarters of the fourth regiment, and told Gaidar who answered the phone: "Comrade commander, I''ll tell you something and ask captain kiricheng to postpone the operation." At this point, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. "Just put it off until four in the morning."


    "Why put it off until four in the morning?" Asked Gaidar, puzzled.


    "Gaidar, you idiot," I said with a smile and a scold, "four points are the time when people are the most sleepy and the most vigilant. If we attack at that time, we can certainly achieve greater results." With that, I hung up without waiting for his nonsense.


    As soon as I put down the phone, akhromeyev seemed to understand something, and then asked in surprise, "Comrade division commander, do you plan to start at the enemy''s front position in the early morning to open a channel to our division''s defense area for Karpov?"


    As for the chief of staff''s understanding, I nodded with satisfaction, "yes, that''s what I think. Now what we are going to discuss next is how to send someone to inform captain Karpov so that he can lead his troops to enter our defense area through the road we have opened up. "


    "Let Comrade safchenko go." Kirilov immediately said, "not only has he met with Karpov twice, but also this comrade is very reliable politically. I am very relieved to have him to carry out this task."


    I didn''t immediately express my opinion on the candidate recommended by kirilov. Instead, I turned to ask the other two: "deputy division chief and chief of staff, what''s your opinion?"


    "I agree!" Akhromeyev first expressed his position.


    "I don''t have a problem, either!" Bantaileiev then made a statement.


    Seeing that everyone''s opinions were unified, I nodded: "well, since there is no objection." Then he told akhromeyev, "Comrade chief of staff, you should call Comrade safchenko and ask him to come to the division headquarters immediately to accept important tasks."


    I patiently waited for akhromeyev to finish his call to safchenko, and then I told several people my plan: "comrades commander, this is my consideration. I sent Comrade safchenko to contact captain Karpov and asked him to lead the troops to leave the camp around 4 a.m. and move eastward quietly. At this time, the fourth regiment''s koricheng company would sneak into the German position from the direction of the river bank and try to destroy the enemy in the trench with cold weapons without disturbing the enemy. In addition, I intend to transfer a battalion of commander jerichov''s regiment to quietly approach the enemy''s position from the front. If koricheng''s company is found by the enemy and there is an exchange of fire, the battalion should resolutely launch a frontal attack, strive to capture the enemy''s position in the shortest time, firmly hold it and cover Karpov''s troops to pass here. "


    After listening to my plan, the three of them all bowed their heads and pondered over it. Kirilov, the first speaker, said: "Comrade o''shanina, I think I have a problem. I must remind you."


    "Go ahead, comrade political commissar." I said politely, "don''t know what to pay attention to?"


    "Mines, mines." Kirilov pointed to the map with his finger and repeated the word twice, adding: "don''t forget that around the enemy''s camp, the engineering company of Mikhail yev has laid a lot of mines. If we don''t clear these mines in advance, we may blow up our own people. "¡° Well, comrade political commissar, you are very considerate. Well, during the operation, we will send a team of engineers to work with them, so as to avoid the occurrence of accidental bombing Speaking of this, I suddenly remembered another thing. I raised my head and asked kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, do we need to report to the headquarters in advance?"¡° No need. " It''s an iron rule for the troops to report to their superiors before taking major actions. Even people like me who don''t like to be bound have to stick to it. That''s why they asked kirilov. Unexpectedly, he directly denied my proposal and explained: "due to the damage of the telephone line of the headquarters, at present we can only make wireless contact with our superiors. As you know, wireless communication is easy to be eavesdropped by the enemy. After Karpov''s troops have successfully entered our division''s defense area, we will report it not too late. "¡° Well, that''s it. " Towards the end of our military meeting, safchenko came to the headquarters. He went to our front, stood at attention, raised his hand to salute, and then politely asked me, "Comrade teacher, do you know what important task you want me to complete?"¡° Well, comrade safchenko. " I said politely, "we are going to attack the German front in the early morning of tomorrow. Judging from the current situation, there is no problem in seizing this small position. I called you here today to send you to Karpov''s camp, so that he can move eastward with his troops in the early morning and quietly enter the mamayev post through this position occupied by our army. Is there a problem? " Speaking of the last sentence, I raised my voice¡° No problem. I promise to finish the task. " Safchenko answered me in a loud voice¡° Remember, we launched an attack on the enemy''s position at four in the morning. " Kirilov walked up to him, patted him on the shoulder and told him, "that is to say, you must let captain Karpov lead the troops to leave the camp and move eastward before four o''clock, so that they can successfully enter the mamayev post before the German army finds out our action." The matter of contacting Karpov has been handed over to the trustworthy safchenko. As soon as it gets dark, he can rush to Karpov''s camp as soon as possible and inform the other party of our plan. Then I called shejerikov. When he heard that I was the one calling him, he couldn''t help but be slightly stunned. Then he asked respectfully, "Sir, do you have any important instructions for calling me?" I didn''t care to exchange greetings with him. I asked frankly, "which battalion of your regiment is the most effective?"¡° "The second battalion," he replied without thinking, "the second battalion commander is captain shereblenne, who you sent. Because the soldiers of the company he came with have rich experience in fighting, their fighting capacity is the strongest."¡° Very good, comrade commander. In the evening, I''ll send them to the northern highlands. I have important combat tasks to give them¡° Comrade shigerikov, listening to me, there was a cry in his voice: "can I exchange another battalion for you? We should know that their combat effectiveness is not weak, only a little less than that of the second battalion. "¡° No, this battle is very important, not to mention a little bit, even a little bit. " I heard from his voice that he was worried that I would consume his most elite troops, so he wanted Li daitaojiang to replace the second battalion with other battalions¡° Anyway, before dark, I want to see your second battalion appear in the defense area of the fourth regiment. " Finish saying, didn''t wait for him to cry again, then hurriedly hung up the phone.

 Chapter 731

    In the case of camp Karpov, although we considered all kinds of possible situations in advance, we didn''t expect that there were unexpected mistakes in the end, and the whole operation almost fell short.


    At four o''clock in the morning, in order to understand the operation of the koricheng troops, I specially called Gaidar. As soon as I got through, I said, "Hey, Lieutenant gedar, where''s captain kiricheng''s unit?"


    Gaidar confidently replied: "report to division commander, they have successfully entered the enemy''s position. They are progressing smoothly and are developing in depth."


    Gaidar''s report stunned me: "why, Captain kiricheng, they have walkie talkie?" We should know that the enemy''s front line is three kilometers away from the positions of the fourth regiment. If we want to report the results of the war in time, we can only use this kind of wireless communication equipment. But in the dead of night, the use of this kind of thing to shout, not the enemy are alarmed?


    "No Gaidar understood what I was worried about and quickly explained to me: "political commissar Xia Ping worried that we would not be able to understand the situation of Keri chenglian in time, so he gave him a flashlight before they set out. Get him in attack position and signal to our regiment. If you successfully enter the enemy''s position, the flashlight will flash twice, long and short, once a minute; If it goes well, flash three times, long and short, and repeat every other minute. Now, Comrade Xia Ping is lying in the trench, observing the situation in the distance with his telescope. When he receives the signal, he calls me immediately, so that when you ask, I can report the situation to you in time. "


    "Your commissar is very thoughtful, Lieutenant Colonel Sergey reekov." I am very satisfied with Xia Ping''s arrangement. After a sincere compliment, I put down the phone.


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I asked akhromeyev, "chief of staff, where is the second battalion of the first regiment?"


    Akhromeyev went to razumeyeva''s side, bowed his head and said something to her. It is estimated that he wanted to contact the observation post of the second regiment on the top of the mountain to understand the position of the night attack troops.


    After a while, akhromeyev came back to me and reported to me, "report to division commander, according to the observation post, one company of the second battalion has moved one kilometer in front of the enemy''s position, while the other two companies are still hidden in the ruins of tanks and armored vehicles at the foot of the mountain. The commanders and fighters are waiting for further orders."


    After hearing akhromeyev''s report, bantailiev said solemnly: "I hope the sneak attack of the fourth regiment can succeed, so that we can seize the enemy''s position with the least casualties."


    Before we finished, the telephone on the desk suddenly rang out of time. When I heard the phone ring, my heart beat faster and I was worried that there would be some bad news. Seeing that we were all staring at the phone and didn''t respond, akhromeyev stepped forward, picked up the phone and said in a loud voice, "Hello, I''m the chief of staff. Where are you?" After listening to a few words, he covered the microphone and reported to me, "it''s lieutenant colonel Gaidar. He said that in the trench in the distance, there was a lot of gunfire and explosion. It seems that koricheng''s troops were found by the enemy. He asked what to do next? "


    "Tell the lieutenant commander to send two companies down the river bank and down the river to reinforce Cory Cheng''s company." After that, I turned around and said to razumeyeva, "Comrade lieutenant, get in touch with captain shereblenne of the second battalion of the first regiment immediately. I want to speak to him."


    When razumeyeva reported to me that she had contacted captain shereblenny, I quickly came to her, put on my earphone, pointed at the transmitter and said, "Hello, is that captain shereblenny? Our troops who attacked the enemy''s position have been found by the enemy. I now order you to make your soldiers move and attack the enemy''s position immediately. " When I said this, I thought of the mines kirilov had mentioned, and quickly asked: "remember, let the engineers clear the mines on the way forward first, and don''t blow up their own people."


    The battle to seize the position proceeded smoothly. The enemy had been dazzled by the sneak attack of kericheng company, but now suddenly a new force came up from the front, and the enemy was beaten head and tail. Their resistance ended soon after the second battalion burst into the trench. Except for a few who voluntarily raised their hands to surrender, the rest became a cold corpse.


    We were all excited when the news of victory reached the headquarters through shereblenny''s walkie talkie. The successful capture of the enemy''s position means that the Karpov battalion can enter our defensive area by passing through this gap.


    I also specially said to shereblenny on the phone, "Comrade captain, now I''ll give captain kiricheng''s company to your command. Remember, the task I gave you is to cover an army in German uniform and smoothly pass through your defense area and enter the mamayev post. "


    After hearing this, Xie liebolianei was stunned for a moment and asked carefully, "Comrade division, how can I be sure that it is the real German or the friendly army in German uniform?"


    Not to mention that we are so happy to forget about camp kalpov, we don''t know many people, not to mention a little battalion commander in shereblenny, even Gaidar of the fourth regiment. At such a time, it may be counterproductive to hide from the commander on the front line, so I told him the matter in a big way.


    Although shereblenny had been prepared, he was still shocked by this amazing secret. After a long silence, he hesitated and said, "Comrade division commander, do I need to send someone to contact this unit now?"


    "That''s for sure, comrade captain." Thinking that it was safchenko who was responsible for guiding the Karpov battalion into the same regiment as shereblenny, they probably knew each other, so they told him, "that unit is led by Comrade safchenko. You should find some soldiers who know him and go west quietly to establish contact with them and guide them through your defense area."


    "I see," said shereblenny in a loud voice. "I''ll send my men to meet them right away."


    Not long after giving the order to Xie liebolianei, razumeyeva in front of the telephone suddenly called me and said nervously, "Comrade teacher, I have received a strange call."


    Listening to her saying this, my heart can''t help but thump. I can''t help saying where the strange call came from. Is it safchenko? What''s wrong with them? I walked up to her with uneasy mood, put on the earphone and said to the transmitter in a flustered way: "Hello, Hello, where are you?"


    After a loud electric current, a familiar voice finally came: "Mr. division, it''s me, safchenko."


    I was overjoyed to hear the voice of safchenko: "Comrade safchenko, where are you and whose communication equipment are you using to contact me?"


    Safchenko was very worried, so he spoke very fast: "Sir, I am leading the army to the Volga River with Captain Karpov. Because the situation is urgent, I have to risk using the communication equipment in the captain''s camp to contact you. "


    "What''s the matter?" I asked in a hurry.


    "Our troops had just left the camp when they were spotted by German patrols. Now there are a lot of German troops coming towards us from north and West. Although we tried hard to get rid of them, we didn''t succeed. They were in hot pursuit, and they were already on fire with our broken troops. "


    I was startled by the accident and asked, "does the enemy have heavy weapons?"


    "Except for a few mortars and machine guns, no heavy weapons have been found yet." Safchenko asked me nervously: "Comrade teacher, what should we do next?"


    "Tell captain Karpov to let their troops cover alternately and retreat eastward to the Volga River, where the German position was occupied by our army not long ago. You can enter our defense area smoothly through there. The commander holding there is captain shereblenne. You may know him. I have ordered him to send someone to contact you


    "Comrade division," safchenko asked me after listening to me, "can you send someone to meet us? You should know that the officers and men of Dongfang battalion are temporarily aware that the troops are going to be pulled away. Originally, their morale is not high. I am worried that if the guard troops can not withstand the German attack, the troops may mutiny in the battlefield. "


    Safchenko said so seriously, I quickly asked: "where are you now?"


    "It''s about two kilometers away from the fortification..." as soon as he said this, a violent explosion came from the earphone. It seems that the German mortar has hit him nearby. Thinking of this, I feel more and more nervous and ask repeatedly: "Comrade safchenko, what''s the matter with you?"


    "I''m fine, sir." Safchenko''s voice came back from his headphones. He reported: "just now a shell exploded not far away, injuring two soldiers. But the German vanguard has defeated the guard left by Captain Karpov and is pushing towards us. The captain has deployed his guards to try to close the gap and cover the rest of the troops as they continue to move eastward. Please tell the friendly officers and men that although we are wearing German uniforms, we are wearing a white towel on our left arm to show our differences. "


    The plan to let camp Karpov go anyway has been heard by heaven. If their operation fails, not only will they be wiped out by the Germans, but also the future of all the commanders around me will come to an abrupt end. If the above investigation is carried out, there are still trakov, gurov, Krylov and even Zhukov involved. It can be said that they are all involved. So now I have to come up with a practical way to rescue Karpov.


    Think of here, my heart is heavy. After pondering for a moment, I said decisively to safchenko, "Comrade safchenko, please tell captain Karpov that after leaving enough cover troops, I will continue to retreat eastward with the remaining troops. I will send someone to meet you immediately."


    Safchenko listened to me, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "yes!"


    At the end of the call with safchenko, I ordered razumeyeva to get through to the second battalion commander, shereblenny, and told him frankly, "Comrade captain, I order you to immediately send two companies to move to the west side of your position to meet a retreating army from the West. Although they are wearing German uniforms, they are all tied with a white towel on their left arm. Let our soldiers pay attention to identification, do not misunderstand


    "Yes, sir." Shereblenny replied very simply, "I will take two companies to meet them at once, and let captain kiricheng of the fourth regiment take two companies to hold the position. We must rescue the friendly forces." Although he said so, I was still not at ease, and specially told him, "Comrade captain, this mission is very special. We don''t know how many troops the enemy has deployed and what kind of weapons and equipment they have, so you should stop them at all costs. After converging with them, build defensive positions on the spot. As long as this unit has not completely withdrawn from your line of defense, you cannot withdraw from the battle. Do you understand? "¡° I understand In order to make me feel at ease, he made a special resolution to me: "please rest assured, sir, that no matter how much we pay, we will firmly block the enemy. As long as there is one person left in the position, the position will never be handed over to the enemy. " From what we later learned from safchenko and Karpov, we know that although Karpov battalion was less than two kilometers away from our new position at that time, was there any German blocking in the middle. However, seeing the fierce pursuers behind and the shells that had exploded in the queue from time to time, many officers with weak willpower wavered and led their subordinates to flee to the direction of the German army. They laid down their weapons early and surrendered to the German army. With the appearance of deserters, the morale of Karpov battalion became more lax, and the whole army was facing collapse. When the reception troops led by shereblenny arrived in time, Karpov, who had already aimed his pistol at his head, was relieved. However, even so, the number of people fleeing from the camp has been reduced by a third. Karpov said that when he saw the appearance of reinforcements, he was convinced of what safchenko had said. With a sudden boost of spirit, he led the troops to withdraw quickly to the East. But the troops of shereblenny didn''t have time to build fortifications, so they hid in the ready-made craters and started a fierce battle with the enemy. It was only after the eastern battalion had passed that shereblenny ordered an alternate cover to retreat to the solid positions behind. However, the enemy''s pursuit came quickly, and the 113th German division also sent troops from the camp. Under the cover of tanks, they came from the north. The remaining troops of shereblenny were facing the enemy. When I heard the news, I immediately called Gaidar and ordered him in a hurry: "Hello, commander, do you see the enemy tanks? I command you to immediately push the anti tank guns in the tunnel into the trenches, to provide artillery cover for captain shereblenny''s troops, and to destroy all the tanks coming from the north. " At my command, the anti tank guns hidden in the tunnels of the fourth regiment were pushed into the trenches and fired at the swaggering German tanks in the distance. In the course of the situation, the two German tanks did not find any artillery fire on the ground of our army, so without the cover of infantry, they quickly rushed towards the position of the second battalion and were soon beaten into a pile of scrap iron. Far behind the tank, the infantry, seeing that their tank had been destroyed, still rushed up. As a result, he first stepped on the land mine and was blown upside down. Then he was knocked down by the dense bullets fired by currichen''s troops on the position, and finally he had to withdraw in a panic. The enemy in the North was repulsed, while the German attack from the West continued. With the cover of mortar, they suppressed their artillery fire in sherebrian and approached the trench step by step. Kirilov, who heard the news, was worried. He grabbed my arm and asked nervously, "Comrade division commander, if we let the enemy rush into the trench, the second battalion will be finished. What can we do to help them?"

 Chapter 732

    Although Karpov''s troops had already descended eastward along the trench to the bottom of the river bank, it would take a long time for so many people to enter our defense area. In order to cover their retreat, the commanders and fighters of shereblenny battalion, who lacked heavy weapons, could only use their own flesh and blood to resist the fierce offensive launched by the German army.


    Capt. shereblenner''s fortifications were built by the German army in order to confront our army. All kinds of fortifications on the positions were facing the mamayev post due to the south, while their friendly positions were to the West. Naturally, no fortifications would be built. At this time, the German army attacked from the west to the East, and our troops felt more pressure on the position. Without solid fortifications, the officers and men had to lie down in the crater or use the bunkers made up of their comrades'' bodies to shoot tenaciously at the enemy.


    Kirilov and bantailiev and I went to the observation post of the second regiment on the hillside and saw the brutal fighting of the shereblenny camp. Kirilov, with his hands on his back, went back and forth in circles in the little observation post, and sighed from time to time; But Bantai leiev was standing in front of the lookout, holding his binoculars in both hands, looking at the area in front of the gunfire for a long time.


    My mind was spinning fast, trying to figure out how to help camp shereblenny. The anti tank guns on the fourth regiment''s position are OK to hit the enemy''s tanks, but if they use armour piercing bullets to hit the infantry, they have no effect. Although we still have big killers such as "thunder crackers", it''s a bit too late to transport them now. As for the tank battalion, there is no need to consider. The remaining seven tanks have no ammunition and no fuel, even if they want to crush the German infantry.


    When I was at a loss, Oleg came with the artillery battalion commander, molozov. Seeing that they came uninvited, I asked strangely, "what are you doing here?"


    Oleg quickly stepped forward and reported, "Comrade division commander, it''s like this. Seeing that the enemy is launching a fierce attack on our troops, the commanders and fighters can''t contain their anger and want to help them."


    "Give them a hand?" I looked into Oleg''s eyes and asked, "commander Oleg, how are you going to help them? From here to that position, there is three kilometers of open space in the middle. As soon as our troops appear in that area, the enemy''s artillery will immediately smash down and wipe out all our troops exposed in the open field. "


    Oleg, who was reproached by me, quickly shook his head and replied, "Sir, you misunderstood me. Our infantry are short of anti tank weapons and heavy weapons. Even if we send reinforcements to that position, our troops will be consumed little by little under the powerful firepower of the enemy. "


    "And how do you think about it?" When I asked this, I glanced curiously at the nearby Morozov and said in my heart that I didn''t call him. What did he come out to do at this time?


    Oleg looked at Morozov and said to me with a smile, "well, comrade division, major Morozov suggested that we pull some heavy howitzers from the artillery battalion to our position and bombard the attacking German infantry."


    I turned to look at Morozov and asked, "major, how many shells are left in the howitzer unit?"


    Morozov quickly stepped forward, straightened up and reported to me, "report to division commander, two days ago, I went to talk with the military representative on the wharf. By the way, I got a batch of heavy howitzer shells from him. At present, each gun has about two base ammunition."


    When he heard that, kirilov, who had been circling in the room, stopped, went over, grabbed him by the arm with both hands, and said excitedly, "Comrade major, this is very good. With the support of the howitzer, Captain shereblenny, they will be able to hold the position more firmly. "


    "Comrade major," he heard that heavy artillery could provide artillery support for the garrison in front of him. Even Bantai leiev, who was standing at the observation gate, could not stand. He put down his telescope, strode over and asked aloud, "where is the howitzer unit? How long will it take them to fight? "


    "Report to the deputy division commander that the howitzer unit, under the leadership of Lt. Pluto tyakonov, has deployed the cannons in place and can open fire on the enemy immediately at the command of the superior."


    "Where are the cannons?" Although I had thought that the second regiment would also have bunkers like the fourth regiment, it was obvious that the tunnel exits I saw along the way could not let large guns in and out, so I couldn''t help asking molozov, hoping he could give me a definite answer.


    "We built several concealed gun positions between the hillside position and the peak position." With these words, Morozov turned to point up and looked in the direction of his finger. There were three one meter square holes on the hillside, and the black muzzle of the gun protruded from the inside¡° Artillery can be there, condescending to open fire on the enemy. If they are bombarded or bombed by the enemy, they will pull the guns into deeper holes to hide them. "


    "Well, comrade major, stop it." Kirilov said in a hurry: "you immediately order the artillery to open fire on the enemy''s battle line, first their mortar positions, and then their infantry. If the enemy sends out tanks, you will also be responsible for destroying them. " Although he had given detailed instructions, he was still not at ease. He turned to Bantai leiev and said, "old man, I think you should go to the artillery position and guide them how to provide necessary artillery support for our infantry."


    As the heavy guns in the hidden positions opened fire, destroying the enemy mortar positions, and then shelling the attacking German infantry, the pressure on the shereblenner battalion was greatly reduced. I can see from the telescope that there are formed units in succession, retreating from the most forward position along the trench to the Volga River. In the middle of the retreat, they built a new defense line relying on the existing fortifications, trenches and craters. After they were all deployed, the troops left in the front line withdrew from their positions one after another, and also to the river. Seeing that the camp of sherebrian began to retreat to the river in an orderly way, I felt a little more secure. I had planned to stay in the observation post and see the sherebryan camp safely withdraw from the fighting before leaving. Unexpectedly, akhromeyev called first and told me, "Comrade division commander, can you and the political commissar come back immediately? Captain Karpov is now at division headquarters Hearing the good news, I couldn''t even put down the phone. I couldn''t wait to say to kirilov, "political commissar, good news. Captain Karpov has arrived at our headquarters now. Let''s go. Let''s go back and see him now. " Then he put the phone on the base and pulled him away. When we got back to the headquarters, there were several soldiers in German uniforms with white towels on their left arms. Hearing the sound of us entering the door, several people turned around. Just as they looked back, they recognized Karpov standing in the middle of them and quickly extended their hands to meet them. He grabbed Karpov''s hand, shook it hard and said, "great, that''s great. Welcome, Captain Karpov. Welcome back to our camp with your troops. " As soon as Karpov''s eyes were red, tears almost burst into his eyes. He closed his eyes hard and choked back his tears. Then he said to me chokingly, "I''m sorry, sir, I didn''t pull all the troops out. Because we walked too suddenly and didn''t have time to explain our whereabouts to all the soldiers, many officers and soldiers wavered and even fled when they were pursued by the German army. If you hadn''t sent the troops to meet me in time, my battalion would have collapsed. " Safchenko, who was in charge of contacting Karpov, also came forward, saluted me at attention, and said with shame: "I''m sorry, sir, I didn''t finish my task well. In addition to the officers and men who were scattered and injured, there were only more than 200 people left in the whole Dongfang battalion, and the number of people reduced by half. " Although I was a little disappointed when I heard that the number of people who finally arrived at our military base was only 200, I was soon relieved. In any case, the political significance of Karpov battalion is far greater than its military significance. Even if Karpov came alone in the end, it would be a fatal blow to the morale of the enemy, and it would shake up the officers and soldiers of Dongfang battalion who were already in the middle of nowhere. With a smile on my face, I said to them, "Captain Karpov and Comrade safchenko, although there are many casualties and casualties in the army anyway, it is a great thing that you can successfully bring so many troops to mamayev post under the pursuit of the enemy. I congratulate you! I will report this matter to the leaders of the group army as soon as possible so that they can give you the honor you deserve. " Just then, the head of the group army, razumeyeva suddenly called me: "Comrade division commander, call from the headquarters of the group army." After I put on my headphones, I just said "Hello!" to the transmitter Before he had time to say anything else, he was interrupted impatiently by trikov. His serious voice came from the earphone: "Comrade oshanina, did your division frequently use the telephone to communicate in Ming language today?"¡° Yes, comrade commander It''s a fact. It''s an emergency. We had to talk to camp shereblenny and even camp Karpov over the radio again and again. Therefore, trekov asked, and I didn''t deny it. He answered honestly, "we have talked over the radio many times today. Because it''s urgent, we all use Ming language." Trekov snorted and said, "you wait. I''ll be right there." Then I cut off the communication, leaving me holding the transmitter in a daze.

 Chapter 733

    When I heard that trakov was furious on the phone, I was deeply afraid that when he came, he would let Karpov suffer from his bad mood, which would affect the mood of all the officers and soldiers. So after a few words of comfort, I asked basmanov to take him and his group of officers to rest first.


    After they left, I asked razumeyeva, "Comrade lieutenant, I''ll ask you. Have we had any contact with other troops today besides having spoken in Ming language with captain shereblenny and Comrade safchenko? "


    Razumeyeva frowned and thought about it, then slowly shook her head and replied, "no, sir. In addition to the two units you mentioned, there has never been a wireless call. "


    "What''s the matter, sir?" Just after receiving trakov''s phone call, he talked to Karpov and others. In addition, there are too many people in the headquarters. For the sake of confidentiality, he did not talk to kirilov and others about what happened, so that they are still at a loss. After several people looked at each other, akhromeyev, chief of staff, asked me this question.


    "Well, the commander just called and asked us if we frequently use wireless communication equipment for Ming language calls today." After I briefly repeated what trakov said, I was puzzled and said, "after the commander asked about this, he didn''t say anything. He said he was coming to us soon."


    After listening to my explanation, the three of them suddenly realized that kirilov nodded his head and said, "no wonder after you answered the call from the commander, you just said a few words to captain Karpov and sent him away. I thought it was quite strange at that time. Now I understand. You are afraid that the commander will be in a bad mood when he comes here. If you make a fire at Karpov, they will be in a bad mood. "


    "Sir, what do you think the commander came here for?" Akhromeyev asked after kirilov finished.


    For akhromeyev''s question, I had to smile bitterly and have no clue.


    Kirilov thought for a moment, then said cautiously: "according to my understanding, there may be something wrong with the communication of the group army, otherwise the commander would not rush to our division."


    Bantai leiev, who had just returned from the outside, said bitterly after listening to the conversation: "I think what the political commissar said is reasonable. At present, there are many army numbers under the control of the group army, and the intelligence of each army can not be exchanged with each other. Apart from that, communication equipment is also multifarious, and there is no unified communication code among the troops. What''s more, some commanders of the armed forces ignore the communication security system and often use plain code to shout in public. As a result, the enemy can easily intercept our army''s intelligence. "


    When I heard what Bantai leyev said, I could not help but be scared out of a cold sweat. However, during the period of holding the station after I accepted gramus, I used Ming language to talk to trakov and xiejerikov every day, and I didn''t know if I had leaked the secret of our army.


    Seeing my abnormal look, kirilov asked with concern, "o''shanina, what''s the matter with you? Are you uncomfortable?"


    I waved my hand and expressed my uneasiness: "political commissar, I''m really a little worried about what the Deputy teacher said. When our division was still under the organizational system of the 64th group army, we held fast at a station in the enemy''s rear for a period of time. At that time, I talked to the headquarters and the division in Ming language almost every day. "


    "You were later seen through by the enemy?" Kirilov asked nervously.


    "No I shook my head and replied, "I have not been seen through by the enemy during my stay. And they have captured captain Beckman and his troops in exchange


    After listening to what I said, Bantai leiev laughed, comforted me and said, "don''t worry, sir. I think since you have not been seen through by the enemy when you leave, it may be that their advance speed is too fast, and the intelligence forces responsible for monitoring have not kept up in time, so your Ming language calls have not brought adverse consequences. "


    I can''t help but feel relieved at his analysis.


    Trikov arrived at the headquarters half an hour later, accompanied by lieutenant colonel weinlub and two soldiers. Several of us quickly went forward to salute him, he did not return the salute, just nodded at us, looked around for four weeks, walked to the table and sat down, then looked up and asked me: "o''xia Nina, I come to ask you, why do you use Ming language frequently tonight? Don''t you know it''s forbidden?"


    "Comrade commander, please allow me to explain to you." I know that trakov came with a lot of fire, so even if he was scolded, I will tell him clearly, so as not to cause unnecessary misunderstanding.


    "Say it!" He said coldly.


    "In the early hours of this morning, I sent people to seize the enemy position three kilometers north of the mamayev post, and sent people to contact the Karpov battalion who had plans, so that they could join our troops and enter the mamayev post from the area we occupied."


    As soon as I said this, I was interrupted by trekov''s raising his hand: "wait a minute, what do you say? You sent people to occupy the German front position, and the eastern battalion of Karpov is in any case?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." I replied positively: "after dark last night, I sent Comrade safchenko to contact captain Karpov. At the same time, I sent kiricheng company of the fourth regiment down the river to attack the enemy''s position. For the sake of safety, I also sent the shereblenne battalion of the first regiment to ambush in the front, preparing for the failure of kiricheng company''s attack, A regiment will launch a strong attack. "¡° What happened? " "Has the position been taken down?" trekov asked nervously¡° Take it down. " I said calmly, "Captain kiricheng''s troops made a good progress in the early stage. Without disturbing the enemy, they occupied most of the positions. Later, I didn''t know how I was found by the enemy, and it also caused a firefight. When I saw that the situation was not good, I immediately ordered the sherebrian camp to launch an attack in time. After seizing the position, I informed captain shereblenny by telephone to consolidate the position and cover the friendly troops withdrawing from the West. "¡° Captain Karpov, is their transfer going well? " Trekov asked again¡° They were discovered by the Germans not long after they moved. The German pursuers came down from the north and West and soon caught fire with their guards. Because of the sudden shift, not all officers and men knew where they were going. Under the crazy attack of the enemy, some officers who were greedy for life and afraid of death wavered and took their subordinates to the Germans. Although Karpov''s troops were less than two kilometers away from the position our army was holding, many of them were confused about their next action due to the reduction of one-third of the troops. Under such circumstances, comrade safchenko had no choice but to call for help from captain Karpov''s radio station. I got in touch with captain shereblenny and asked him to take over captain Karpov himself. And gave him a death order: as long as all the officers and men of Karpov battalion do not pass through our defense area, even if only the last one of his troops is left, they can not step back. " My narration made trikov more nervous. He instinctively said, "what happened then?"¡° They arrived just in time, and, in captain Karpov''s own words, a few minutes later, his troops might collapse. Under the cover of captain shereblenne''s troops, the Karpov battalion entered the position, retreated eastward along the trench, went upstream along the river bank, and successfully reached the mamayev post. However, because of casualties and flight, the number of casualties of this unit has reached half, and only more than 200 people are left in the end. "¡° More than 200 people are also very good. " Trikov said with a smile: "as long as captain Karpov can return to our camp, no matter how many people he brings, it''s a victory. In any case, their important significance is to shock the morale of the enemy, which has inestimable political significance. What about our casualties? " Hearing this question from trakov, I quickly turned to akhromeyev and said, "chief of staff, you have the latest statistical data. It''s up to you to report to the comrades in the headquarters."¡° Yes Akhromeyev agreed, then stepped forward and reported to trikov in a loud voice: "175 people were killed and 112 injured in the second battalion of the regiment under the command of captain shereblenny; Kerry Cheng company of the fourth regiment and the two companies that later came up with reinforcements killed 103 people and injured 79. " After hearing the number of casualties, trakov stood up abruptly, his lips pressed tightly, and walked back and forth in the headquarters with his hands on his back. After a long breath, he said, "Comrade oshanina, although you have suffered a lot of casualties, it is still worth the price to make the remaining troops of Karpov camp escape successfully." Seeing that trakov didn''t pursue the radio station and praised the reception of camp Karpov, I breathed a sigh of relief, and the stone hanging in my heart also fell to the ground¡° Where is captain Karpov? " "I want to see him," he asked suddenly¡° We arranged for him to have a rest Kirilov quickly stood up to answer trekov''s question, "if you want to see him, please wait a moment. I''ll send someone to call him right away. Just tell him that general trakov, commander of the group army, will meet him in person. I think he will be very happy. "

 Chapter 734

    Captain Karpov, who was informed, soon entered the headquarters. Due to the rush of time, he was still wearing a German uniform and a German cornice hat, but his left arm was still tied with a white towel.


    Trikov was stunned when he saw his dress. Then he welcomed him with a smile and offered his hand to the other side. When shaking hands, he said warmly, "welcome, welcome, Captain Karpov, welcome back to our army. From now on, we will be comrades in arms."


    With red eyes, Karpov kept a standing posture and said: "Comrade commander, we have taken a detour before, and we are awakened by your inspiration. In the coming days, we will use our own blood donation and life to defend our motherland."


    "Well said, well said. Comrade Karpov. " As for Karpov, trakov changed his name from captain to comrade, expressing his recognition of him: "we will fight side by side in the future, until all the aggressors are driven out of our motherland." After a pause, he asked, "Comrade Karpov, where are your troops and I want to see them?"


    "Comrade commander," Karpov quickly replied, "I thought you would inspect my troops, so when I came here, I asked some of my company commanders to gather their troops outside the cave. You can go to inspect them at any time." With that, he stepped back wisely and leaned aside, waiting for trakov to go out and review his troops.


    Seeing that Karpov had given way, he turned to us and said, "come on, let''s go outside and see the officers and men of Karpov camp." In his words, the names of officers and soldiers of the eastern battalion have been replaced by the names of officers and soldiers.


    When I went out, I saw that lieutenant colonel Wei inlubu just laughed at me, but still stood beside razumeyeva and didn''t move his nest. I guessed that he might have any task left behind, so I didn''t care about him any more, and quickened his pace to follow trakov.


    When I got to the entrance of the cave, trakov stopped suddenly, and I hit him with my head. I asked a little embarrassed: "Comrade commander, why did you stop suddenly?"


    Trekov pointed to the outside of the cave and said to me with great interest, "Comrade oshanina, look at the troops sitting on the ground outside. They are well-trained."


    I looked in the direction of his fingers and saw more than 200 soldiers in German uniforms and helmets sitting in the open space outside the cave. I didn''t find any place to see that they were well-trained. He asked curiously, "Comrade commander, where do you see that they are well-trained?"


    Instead of answering me, trakov said to himself, "they''re sitting on the ground, but the whole line is neat and straight. The German trained troops are different from our troops. As long as time goes by, they will become a powerful and elite force. " With that, he raised his leg and walked forward.


    A group of us came to the front of the team surrounded by trikov. The officers and men sitting on the ground looked at each other and didn''t know what to do next. At this moment, Karpov only heard a loud cry: "listen to my command, all - stand up!"


    With his command, the commanders and fighters sitting on the ground stood up in unison, all standing at attention, head high. Although it''s a hasty queue, the horizontal and vertical lines are in a straight line. Seeing this, I can''t help praising in my heart that trakov really has vision. If he is not well-trained, it''s not easy to form such a neat queue.


    Trekov turned his face around, gave me a meaningful smile, and then said, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the matter? Am I right?"


    I nodded, then made a sign to Karpov, asked him to come to me and said to him in a low voice, "Comrade captain, it happens that Comrade commander is here. It''s very helpful for us to ask him to speak to the commanders and fighters."


    "I see." Karpov agreed, then went up to trakov and asked him in a low voice. Seeing that trakov nodded with a smile, he immediately got excited and turned to his subordinates and said in a loud voice: "brothers, now let''s invite general trakov, commander of the group army, to speak a few words to us. Welcome." Then he took the lead in clapping. With his demonstration effect, the commanders and fighters clapped their hands together, and even I had to clap my hands as if I were doing it.


    Trekov raised his hands and pressed them down. When the applause stopped, he moved two steps closer to the line and began his speech. First of all, trakov made a report on the campaign situation to the commanders and fighters, introduced the great situation of a series of victories that the Soviet army had won in other battlefields, and called on everyone to put down their burdens and go to battle lightly, and make their own contributions to the defense of Stalingrad.


    When we got back to the headquarters and saw that we were surrounded by familiar people, I finally couldn''t help asking trekov, "Comrade commander, you have been asking about the Ming language call today. What''s the matter?"


    At first, trikov had a happy face. When I asked him this question, his face sank down. Without looking back, he called out, "Lieutenant Commander Wei inlubu, come here for a moment."


    Hearing his cry, Wei inlubu, who was standing beside razumeyeva, trotted to our side, leaned down and asked, "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"


    "Comrade commander, please tell general o''shanina the details of what happened today."


    "Yes Wei yinlubu promised to tell us what happened today according to trekov''s command: "according to the plan of the headquarters, before dawn today, we have two temporary infantry regiments, which will attack the German army here from the East and west sides of Orlov, and immediately wipe out the enemy. The battle started within the prescribed time. After a while, the commanders of the two regiments reported to the headquarters one after another, saying that the enemy on the opposite side had behaved abnormally and fought extremely tenaciously in the face of our fierce attack. After listening, chief of staff Krylov felt that something was wrong, and immediately informed the two troops to stop the attack in code language through the radio station.


    After the two regiments stopped attacking, the fighting in the area ended. The commanders of the two regiments felt that the situation was not right, so they sent scouts to check it, only to find out unexpectedly that it was the friendly troops who had just exchanged fire with them. The Germans they wanted to wipe out had no idea where they were going.


    After repeated searching, a German engineer who was laying mines was captured nearby. After questioning him, we found out that half an hour before the battle, the enemy intercepted our Ming language call, understood our attack direction and force distribution, and withdrew from the position in time.


    When the heads of the two regiments learned of the situation, they reported it to the headquarters in a hurry. General Krylov felt that something was wrong and ordered them to retreat immediately. When they returned to the starting position, the enemy''s artillery fire covered the area where our troops were assembled, and the unprepared officers and soldiers suffered heavy casualties in the artillery fire. At this time, the enemy''s retreating troops, under the cover of tanks and armored vehicles, came back. At the end of the battle, the two regiments were almost annihilated, except for a dozen wounded people


    What Wei yinlubu said scared all of us into taking a breath. After a long time, kirilov tentatively asked, "Comrade commander, how did our army''s offensive plan leak out? Have you investigated it clearly?"


    Trekov shook his head and said bitterly, "I don''t know. According to chief of staff krailov''s judgment, it should be the enemy who eavesdropped on the Ming language calls of our army''s commanders and fighters. That''s why they learned about our army''s combat plan and cleverly set up a complete set of plans, waiting for our troops to jump in. "


    At this time, I understood why trakov was asking if our division had frequently used the wireless communication system for Ming language calls. It turned out that he was worried that the information was leaked from us. Although all kinds of signs indicate that this leak has nothing to do with us, I still want to take this opportunity to say a few words to trekov: "Comrade commander, I think there are too many and too many units in the group army, so we can''t exchange intelligence among them. Moreover, due to the lack of communication equipment, the army lacks relevant communication rules. What made matters worse was that individual troops ignored the communication security system and often called out in public. As a result, the situation of our army was inadvertently stolen by the German army. For example, this leak is related to the imperfection of this system. It''s not terrible to lose a battle. What''s terrible is that if the battle is defeated, if we don''t find out the reasons, we will lose again in the future. "


    "Say what you think in your heart all at once," trekov said, looking at me. "I also want to know what you think differently."


    I nodded and then said, "I find that many troops pay very little attention to battlefield experience and despise the act of summing up experience. Soldiers seldom teach each other battlefield experience. The result is that every time we lose a lot, we forget all the lessons, and then the same stupid thing happens again. "


    "Yes, it does. Now that you mentioned it, I will change it within my ability. " At this point, he suddenly changed the topic and asked, "how do you think we should make good use of our existing forces to carry out urban warfare in the present situation?"


    As for his question, I had already considered it, so I came to him with an open mouth: "in order to make the best use of our own advantages, we must avoid fighting positional warfare in order to stick to the city. Small units are more suitable for urban operations. Generally, we don''t use flanking encirclement tactics, but use close pressing tactics, which makes it easy for us to find the weakness of the German army, so as to eliminate them in a targeted way. "


    When I just said this, razumeyeva suddenly called out: "Hello, comrade commander, the group army headquarters is calling for you or commander trakov."


    Wei yinlubu looked down at trikov and wanted to wait for his order. Trikov nodded to him and said, "Comrade commander, please answer the phone. Maybe the chief of staff has found out something."


    When Wei yinlubu went to answer the phone, the room was silent, and everyone''s attention was focused on Wei yinlubu who was answering the phone.


    After Wei yinlubu answered the phone, he went back to trakov with a serious expression, bent down and reported to him, "Comrade commander, I understand. According to the investigation of the communications department, before the attack, the commander of one of the regiments used the wireless communication system to communicate with his subordinates in Ming language. Maybe at that time, the enemy eavesdropped on our plan and adjusted the original deployment accordingly. "


    After listening, trakov smashed his fist on the table, which startled all of us. "Hateful," he said angrily, "it''s hateful. It was because of a small negligence of the commander that not only destroyed our operational plan, but also made the commanders and fighters of our two regiments sacrifice in vain. If the commander had not died in the battle, I would have sent him to the military court. "


    However, at this point, no one can recover it, and the plan of attacking the German army in Orlov failed.


    I waited for the anger on trikov''s face to subside a little, then I gently persuaded him: "Comrade commander, since this has happened, it''s no use for you to be angry. Otherwise, we will readjust our deployment and organize our forces to launch a new attack. "


    "Organize forces?" Trikov rolled a white eye at me and said discontentedly, "I have too many troops in my hand now. Where can I deploy my troops to organize a new attack?"


    "Comrade commander," kirilov said, "you may as well listen to Comrade o''shanina. Maybe she has any good suggestions."


    After listening to kirilov''s words, trakov looked at me again and said weakly, "well, comrade oshanina, I want to ask you, if you were the commander and I asked you to attack the enemy''s defensive City, how would you command the troops?"


    "Comrade commander, if I were a commander," he said, "when it comes to fighting hard battles, it may be my weakness, but it''s not a big deal for me to carry out guerrilla warfare in the city. So I said confidently," in the city defense, the defenders are in a favorable position because they are familiar with the terrain. If we want to capture the urban areas occupied by the enemy from their hands, we must have a careful plan and adopt piecemeal tactics instead of forced attack. I tend to gradually nibble at the tactics of small enemy units in small residential areas or urban ruins, so that our troops will have less chaos in the execution of combat tasks. "


    Trekov nodded: "that makes sense. Is there anything else you need to pay attention to?"


    "Of course, logistics supply is relatively important. Food and ammunition should be provided. Soldiers should never have food in their stomachs or weapons without bullets.


    Strictly strengthen the management of communication equipment to prevent leakage. All units should resolutely obey the command of the headquarters of the group army and improve the cooperation between the units and the air ground coordination. No longer try the close combat of infantry, but replace it with aerial firepower and heavy artillery. Although this kind of fighting method may not have a good effect, it can improve the survival rate of our army''s commanders and fighters.


    Instead of being reckless in the past, it should be replaced by slow and powerful action.


    The troops kept in touch with the enemy and immediately withdrew after calling for heavy fire support.


    We should make effective use of the few elite snipers in our army and go to all areas to snipe the enemy.


    Using powerful firepower to replace the original sea of people tactics can effectively reduce the casualties of our army. "


    I said a lot of things before I knew it. When I saw that whether it was trekov, weinrub, kirilov or bantailev, they all took out their notebooks and carefully recorded what I had just said, knowing that they were talking about their heart, I couldn''t help but feel complacent.


    "Yes, that''s very good." After a compliment, trakov asked, "anything else?"


    "I think that the initiative of the front-line commanders should be strengthened. In addition to fierce positional warfare in some key areas, our troops should break up into parts and fight with small organizational systems, which can improve the efficiency and survival rate of the troops."


    After writing down what I said in the book, trikov raised his head and said to Wei yinlubu, "Comrade commander, the experience of Comrade o''shanina is very valuable. In the future, he is trying to find a way to come in and vigorously promote it in the army."


    They sat here again for a long time, and almost emptied out all the theoretical instructions in my stomach. Then trekov stood up and said with satisfaction, "Comrade oshanina, it seems that we have not come to you in vain today. We not only got the good news of the success of Karpov camp, but also learned a lot of new theories of urban warfare from you. It''s worth the trip. " After that, he raised his hand to look at his watch and said to me, "it''s getting late. I have something else to do in the headquarters, so I won''t stay here any longer. I wish you good luck Then he reached out his hand to me, shook it and released it. He shook hands with the other three division leaders one by one and then turned away.


    After trakov left, bantaileiev looked at me with adoring eyes and said excitedly, "Sir, I really admire you. I didn''t expect you to have so much experience on how to carry out urban warfare. It''s no big deal, but after careful consideration, I find that your theory is really suitable for the current battlefield situation. "


    "Mr. division," said akhromeyev after bantailiev finished, "since you have a complete set of theories on how to conduct urban warfare, what about us here? How can we better attack the enemy here? "


    As soon as akhromeyev opened his mouth, I suddenly thought of the position they had abandoned in shereblenny and asked him, "by the way, comrade chief of staff, I just forgot to ask you, Captain shereblenny. After they withdrew from the position, did the enemy enter the position?"


    Akhromeyev nodded and said with certainty, "yes, Captain shereblenny. Shortly after their withdrawal, the German troops came from the north and West and recaptured the front position. According to the second regiment observation post, the enemy is building new fortifications and laying minefields. "

 Chapter 735

    When Karpov battalion contacted us at first, it put forward four conditions. After I asked for instructions and reported to the leaders at higher levels, I eliminated the third most difficult condition and agreed to his other three conditions, that is, to ensure the personal safety of all officers and soldiers in the battalion; Do not disturb the existing organizational structure of the battalion and take them out of danger at the right time.


    With the success of the battalion, it''s time for us to deliver. As this matter is most relevant, a large number of people came to the meeting. In addition to the four regiment leaders, there were also several battalion commanders and political workers of the main battalion. Captain Karpov and his two company commanders also attended the meeting.


    There are too many people to sit around the table. Kirilov was in charge, and the leaders of our four divisions and regiments sat at the table, while the rest of us sat on the wooden benches temporarily made nearby.


    After everyone was seated and quiet, kirilov stood up with a cough and a smile on his face. Looking around, he said in a loud voice, "Hello, dear comrades!" Perhaps because of excitement and nervousness, he was silent after saying this. No one spoke in the room. Everyone looked at kirilov standing at the table.


    "I''m very glad, comrades of the independent division, that we finally have a chance to get together today." After a short silence, kirilov went on to say, "from the time the independent division arrived at mamayev post to now, maybe our battalion commanders have gathered in the same room for the first time."


    I very much agree with kirilov''s remark. Because of the fierce fighting, the combat tasks of each regiment are not easy, so I have never called them together for a meeting. If it was not for the purpose of introducing the new Karpov and his subordinates to them, it is estimated that today''s meeting would not have been held temporarily.


    After a simple greeting, kirilov quickly turned the topic to the main topic: "today, I call you here for a meeting to introduce a new comrade in arms." At this point, he paused, then waved in the direction of the crowd and called out, "Captain Karpov, come to the front."


    As he called, Karpov rose from the bench in the last row. Today, instead of wearing a German uniform, he was wearing a brand-new Soviet style army coat. He walked up to kirilov, saluted cleanly, and then stood at attention.


    Kirilov nodded at him with a smile and began to look slowly around the officers and men at the meeting. Seeing his action, I think he is considering how to introduce Karpov to you. After all, he knows that there are only a few people planning to do so anyway. Kirilov took his eyes away from everyone, pointed to Karpov beside him, and said, "I''ll introduce you. This is captain Karpov. He used to be an artillery company commander under general Petrov. He was captured by the German army in the battle to defend Odessa. "


    When kirilov said this, there was an uproar in the room. As we all know, Stalin once said that all captured officers and men, regardless of whether they had resisted in advance, would be sent to the disciplinary camp or to the military court after they came back. Therefore, they were puzzled by kirilov''s candid introduction of an officer who had been captured.


    Seeing that the scene was in danger of losing control, I quickly patted the table and cried out, "be quiet, be quiet, comrades, please be quiet. Don''t you know to keep quiet in a meeting? " Seeing that the room gradually quieted down, I added, "continue to listen to the political commissar."


    Kirilov nodded to me gratefully and continued to introduce Karpov: "not long ago, Captain Karpov used to be the commander of an Eastern battalion in the German army. With our efforts, he resolutely led his troops, broke away from the German army''s fighting sequence and returned to our side."


    The following commander did not say anything. Instead, Gaidar, who was sitting next to me, complained. Because his troops paid a great price in yesterday''s reception battle, he muttered: "isn''t it a white bandit army? I don''t want to think about how many casualties we have just escaped to meet them? 278 people were killed and 191 injured, and more than 200 people were exchanged. Is it worth it? "


    Gedar''s complaint was not only heard by me, but also by kirilov. His brow wrinkled and he yelled at gedar: "commander gedar, what are you talking about? Are you still the regimental commander of the independent division? Captain Karpov''s troops are no longer our own comrades and comrades. You have no right to insult them like this. "


    Kirilov reproached Gaidar, and everyone in the room heard him. I looked nervously at Karpov for fear that he would be embarrassed. Fortunately, Karpov remained at attention in the same place, his face as usual, as if he was talking about others rather than himself.


    Kirilov was obviously afraid of what Karpov would think, and he specially comforted him: "Comrade Karpov, lieutenant commander Gaidar said this because his troops paid a great price in yesterday''s battle, and almost all of them were veterans with rich combat experience. He felt sad, so he just talked nonsense like before. I hope you don''t take these irresponsible words he said in an uncool state to heart


    With a cool smile, Karpov said, "Comrade political commissar, please rest assured that I won''t be careless. I understand Col. Gaidar''s feelings. In order to cover our retreat, not only the fourth regiment made great sacrifices, but also more than half of the officers and soldiers of the first regiment were killed. If he can complain to me, I will feel less guilty. "


    Not only kirilov, but also I looked at Karpov by accident. I didn''t expect him to be such a man of general knowledge. Kirilov said, "Comrade Karpov, lieutenant commander Gaidar is a mature and excellent commander. He just can''t accept the fact that his subordinates are seriously injured and killed. That''s why he complains. But we are all comrades in the trenches. When he is calm, he will take the initiative to apologize to you for the wrong words he said today. "


    Karpov said in a very reasonable way: "please rest assured the political commissar. I personally believe that in time, I will be able to become good comrades in arms with lieutenant colonel Gaidar."


    Although Karpov''s statement made Gaidar unwilling to shut up, there were still some unconvinced people in the commanders sitting below. As soon as Karpov''s words came to an end, he immediately stood up and said in a loud voice, "division commander, political commissar, there is no room for white bandits like Karpov in our team. They have fought with our troops in different areas. It can be said that their hands are covered with our comrade''s blood donation, so I think we should shoot him and all his subordinates."


    Once this was said, the whole audience was in an uproar, and even kirilov changed his mind. It was major Yaming, the deputy head of the second regiment, who was the only one who dared to be so arrogant,


    I stood up with my hands at the table, gave Yaming a fierce look, and said to all the people present in a loud voice: "comrades, let the Karpov camp anyway. Our division leader asked for instructions from the superior. In addition to the fact that the two command organs of the group army and the front army knew the detailed plan, general Zhukov, deputy commander in chief, also agreed with the plan. He also said that he would report the matter to the Supreme Commander himself at an appropriate time. In other words, comrade Stalin knew about this matter anyway. He agreed to our plan without any objection. " On hearing me push out Stalin''s shield, Armington was speechless, muttered a few words, and sat down obediently.


    At this time, leiev, who was sitting next to me and didn''t speak, stood up. He looked at Yaming, a former subordinate, and said with a gloomy face, "Comrade major, I know you are from the Ministry of internal affairs. But Captain Karpov, they have come back to our team and become our comrades in arms. What do you mean, you scream one by one? In order to instigate a rebellion against this army, our division commander, general oshanina, once personally ventured to go deep into the enemy''s rear lines and personally went to talk with Comrade Karpov to strengthen his determination to return to our side. You know, it''s not just about fighting for the army. It''s important to shake the morale of the enemy and break down their fighting spirit. Its political significance is immeasurable. What do you mean when you call people white bandits and shoot all the people? Do you want to create chaos in the independent division? Do you want to break up this army that has been hard won over? " Bantaileiev became more and more angry and flushed with excitement.


    But major Yaming, who was scolded by him, had no choice but to lower his head and wipe the sweat from his forehead without saying a word.


    After bantaileiev''s attack, kirilov, who was standing beside him, became calm. He looked at the crowd and said calmly, "Dear commanders, from now on, Captain Karpov and his men are members of our independent division. If I hear anyone call them white bandits again, I will remove them. Do you hear me Speaking of the last sentence, he raised his voice intentionally.


    "I heard it!" he replied in a scattered way


    "I can''t hear you!" Cried kirilov.


    "I hear you!" This time, the commanders'' answers became neat and powerful.


    "Next, I announce the distribution of camp Karpov." When kirilov said this, he also made it clear to you: "when he contacted captain Karpov, he once put forward four conditions to us. After asking for instructions from his superiors, he only agreed to three of them. Yesterday''s response was also one of the original conditions. Now I''ll read out his two remaining conditions to you He picked up his notebook from the desk, turned a few pages, and began to read: "first, we must ensure the personal safety of all officers and soldiers in the battalion. Because they were selected from the captivity camp and incorporated into the East camp, they fought with their former compatriots in different places and caused varying degrees of losses to those troops. After joining our army, we can''t settle the accounts for them in the future. We must ensure that no one will be punished for the mistakes they have committed in the past. Second, the organizational structure of the eastern battalion should not be disrupted. Political workers can be dispatched, but the existing officers can not leave the troops, and the soldiers can not be dispersed into other troops. "


    After kirilov finished reading it, he did not ask everyone''s opinions. Instead, he turned to Karpov and said, "Comrade captain, I intend to organize your battalion into a regiment''s combat sequence." In order to prevent the other party from thinking, he also patiently said: "more than half of the troops of a regiment were killed and wounded in yesterday''s battle, and almost experienced veterans were killed. That''s why I decided to add you to the regiment of lieutenant colonel shejerikov."


    After hearing kirilov''s words, Karpov immediately nodded and replied without thinking, "Comrade political commissar, I will obey your arrangement. After the meeting, I will take the troops to a regiment to report." Sitting at the table, shejerikov didn''t speak, but from his expression, I still know that he was sorry for his lost troops. Now when he heard that he was going to add Karpov battalion to a regiment, his face suddenly showed a smile. He stood up, took Karpov''s hand, shook it, and said friendly: "Captain Karpov, On behalf of all the commanders and fighters of my delegation, you are welcome to join us. "

 Chapter 736

    In this way, Karpov''s troops were incorporated into the first regiment of shejerikov and combined with those of shereblenny to form a new second battalion. Because trakov had hinted in advance that he would demote the officers who had come over anyway, I appointed him deputy commander of the battalion and deputy commander of shereblenny. At the same time, in order to recognize Xie lieboliang''s achievements in internal combat, after discussion with several Division leaders, I promoted him to the rank of captain.


    Karpov readily agreed to my arrangement without any objection. As soon as the meeting was over, he had no hesitation in assembling his troops and following him back to the regiment.


    After the German army recaptured the front position, it soon established another artillery observation point. Because they learned the lesson of the last time, the artillery observation point this time was hidden under the river embankment, and our mortars could not destroy them. As a result, the transport fleet on the river suffered unnecessary heavy losses again.


    On the evening of October 13, kirilov and I were discussing whether to send small troops along the riverbank to wipe out the enemy artillery observation points when the telephone from the headquarters came in.


    Trekov called himself and asked, "what are you doing, o''shanina?"


    Listening to his question, I quickly replied, "report to commander, we are studying how to eliminate the enemy''s newly established artillery observation points, so as to ensure the safety of our army''s transport convoy."


    "To hell with German artillery observation points!" Trekov gritted his teeth and said fiercely: "the German in front of you has been scared by you, so mamayev post will not be the focus of German attack for the time being. If possible, I hope you will deploy as many troops as possible to reinforce the troops in the city. "


    Trekov''s words made me feel a little uneasy. You know, we have been here for a month and a half, and our superiors have never asked us to send troops to reinforce the city. From what I know about trakov, if it wasn''t for the critical moment, he decided not to do it. So I asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter?"


    "Our scouts reported that the enemy seemed to be taking a big action against us. Just in front of the factory area of the city, Paulus assembled three infantry divisions and two tank divisions. These troops have launched an offensive formation about five kilometers from the front. It seems that they are ready to attack our defensive area at any time. "


    "If the enemy wants to attack, just wait for him to attack. It''s no big deal!" The voice of military commissar gurov came from the receiver. He was obviously saying to trikov: "before the enemy attacked, comrade commander of the group army, I think you should have a good sleep. You haven''t slept for four or five days."


    Then I heard trakov''s laughter. He said to gurov, "Comrade military commissar, even if you want to sleep, you have to wait for me to explain the current situation to Comrade oshanina."


    Gurov said very cooperatively, "well, make a long story short, and go to have a rest immediately after you finish your assignment."


    "Comrade commander," although I heard that the German army had deployed five divisions in the direction of the factory area, I didn''t want to know the other party''s serial number at all. I only care about which army will fight with us. So I asked frankly, "Comrade commander, can I ask which army is deployed in the factory area?"


    "The regular army has two divisions, the 39th division of guriyev''s guards and the 308th division of gurdyev''s infantry, and the 37th division of guards. After crossing the river, the light tanks of the 84th tank brigade are deployed in the positions of these two infantry divisions as fixed fire points. At the same time, they also built a large number of shelters, infantry foxholes and traffic trenches in front of the streets of workers'' new villages and the workshops of factories. "


    My heart sank when I heard that there were only three incomplete divisions to withstand the attack of the five German divisions. When the Soviet army was in a dominant position, it was often defeated. But now, with such a huge gap between the enemy and our army, it is self-evident that our army is at a disadvantage. Even if I put the entire independent division in, it would be nothing more than beating the stone with the egg. But at the moment, I can''t keep silent. I have to say something. I have no choice but to ask, "Comrade commander, apart from these three divisions which are not full, will there be no new troops?" When I said this, I also deliberately moved the receiver away from my ear and made sure that I was using a wired telephone instead of a telegraph. There was little danger of leakage, so I put the receiver close to my ear again.


    "In order to strengthen the defense of the" Red October "factory, the" barricade "factory and the Stalingrad tractor factory, and to set up support points in these factories composed of armed workers'' columns, we incorporated the armed workers'' corps of the" Red October "," barricade "and the tractor factory districts, as well as many fighter battalions from the tractor factory into the Red Army as early as October 5, and provided them with supplies. At present, the workers'' armed column in the "Red October" area belongs to the 39th division of the guard infantry¡® The workers'' armed corps and the fighter battalion in the ''barricade'' area belong to the 308th infantry division; The workers'' armed corps, the armed fighter battalion and the workers'' special armed corps of the tractor factory belong to the 37th division of the guards. "


    As my attention has recently been focused on the German position in front of the mamayev post and the coordination of the Karpov camp, plus the lack of communication in the early stage, I do not know much about the fighting in the city. Seeing that our division is about to dispatch troops to participate in the war, understanding the enemy''s situation in the city has become the primary task. I then asked, "Comrade commander, what is the combat effectiveness of these armed corps of workers incorporated into the regular army?"


    "Not bad," said trekov with emotion. "I never thought that the fighting shown by these militia was no worse than that of our regular army. Throughout the day of October 5, the enemy continued to launch wave after wave of attacks on our army''s position in the new worker''s village of Stalingrad tractor factory. Their air force has been bombing our army all the time, and the number of aircraft bombing has reached 700 throughout the day. However, our commanders and fighters not only resolutely blocked the enemy''s crazy attack, but also the infantry regiment with half of the militia in the 37th division of the guards, after repelling the enemy, resolutely carried out the counterattack and occupied the defensive positions from the cemetery through bazowaya street, along the ditch bank to the printing house street.


    On the edge of the workers'' new villages in the "Red October" and "barricade" districts and on individual streets, there were fierce battles with the enemy. The Germans defeated the remnants of the 42nd and 92nd infantry brigades and the 6th guard tank brigade, and occupied the silicate Factory. Although some companies of the 339th regiment of the 308th infantry division were besieged, they were still fighting tenaciously. With the help of the 284th, 95th and 193rd infantry divisions and the 39th guard division, they repulsed many attacks of the enemy.


    The Germans who were repulsed by our army were not reconciled to their defeat. The next day, that is, October 6, they sent out air forces to bomb our battle formation for the whole day. The head of the 339th regiment, the political commissar and all the staff of the regiment headquarters died in the bombing.


    At noon on October 7, the Germans, who had assembled a large number of troops, resumed their attack on our army. With the strength of three infantry divisions and more than 50 tanks, they launched a fierce attack on our army base in the worker''s new village of tractor factory. My brave officers and men of the 37th division fought back the first German attacks. But when the enemy''s attack was frustrated, they called in their reserves and launched another attack on our positions. In the evening, after fierce fighting, the German army successfully wedged into the battle formation of our army and occupied a block of the tractor factory workers'' new village, close to the stadium. However, our commanders and fighters are still fighting tenaciously, and almost every advance of the Communist aggressors will cost a huge price.


    In the "Red October" workers'' new village, the battle for the bathhouse building is particularly fierce. The four storey building has changed hands several times. After a day''s fighting, the Germans lost a large number of personnel and weapons, and then began to mobilize new forces and reassign their own forces to carry out new attacks. While launching a military offensive, the enemy also used mortars to fire a large number of provocative leaflets at our positions in an attempt to lure our commanders and fighters to give up their resistance and be their captives. But they don''t know that we, the defenders of Stalingrad, didn''t think of sneak attack at all. Instead, we stuck to our position and resolutely defended every inch of Stalingrad''s land. "


    Trekov kept talking as if he had opened his voice. I felt too tired to stand and listen, so I sat down and listened: "the 37th division of the guards, the 308th, 95th and 193rd divisions of the infantry, and the northern group led by Colonel gorohov outside the tractor factory building, and the" red October "and" barricade "workers'' new villages blocked the German attack, This has given our army time to adjust its strength so that it can continue to prepare for battle.


    We have taken all possible measures to build an unbreakable defensive position. In the depth of forward positions and army battle formation, and even the obstacles of anti tank and anti infantry, many firepower support points were built in buildings and factory workshops.


    After a long period of fighting, we found that the effect of concentrated use of artillery is getting better and better. As the Artillery Force of the group army strengthened, the counterattack against the enemy''s heavy artillery fire proceeded smoothly. We used 300 guns to bombard the enemy who was about to burst into the Volga River from between the tractor factory and the barricade factory for 40 minutes. The German troops, which were launched at the front of the three kilometer wide line, suffered heavy casualties under the heavy artillery fire of our army, thus stopping the fighting here for a week.


    During this period of time, the enemy, who was unwilling to lose, mobilized the reserve forces again and pressed against our factory area in an attempt to fight us to the death here. " At this point, trakov''s voice suddenly became confident. "Since we can beat them last time, I firmly believe that they can''t get any benefits except losing their troops."


    The words of trakov have made me feel more at ease. After all, it is the defenders who are dominant in city defense. It''s really like what trakov said. Since we can defeat them last time, their attack will also be defeated by us in the next battle. Thinking of this, I cautiously asked trekov: "Comrade commander, do you know the latest German military intelligence?"


    "I know," trekov replied very simply, "I just received information from the headquarters of the front army. Although our resistance in Stalingrad has never stopped, and we are not willing to give up our imaginary enemy, we still attempt to seize the city. In order to prepare for the general attack, Hitler''s headquarters dispatched a large number of troops from the reserves to Stalingrad to supplement the divisions weakened by us in the battle. In the first ten days of October alone, there were 200000 trained supplementary personnel, 90 artillery battalions (50000 people, more than 1000 guns of various types) and 46 engineering Battalions (about 30000 people) specially used for siege by air. At the same time, our scouts also found that the enemy had adjusted its forces on a large scale and sent out some units with heavy casualties in the early stage to form a combat reserve.


    Yesterday, that is, on October 12, according to the order of commander yelomienko, the group army counterattacked the enemy with the 37th and 95th guard infantry divisions, and attacked the enemy in the west of the workers'' new village of Stalingrad tractor factory, preparing for a new attack with the powder Hitler bandits. However, due to the tenacious resistance of the enemy, our counterattack forces only advanced a little in some areas.


    However, under the fierce counterattack of the German army during the day today, these hard won results turned into nothing. After the battle, our troops had to retreat to the starting position yesterday.


    Well, comrade oshanina, I have finished what I should say. I order you to draw out the troops that can be transferred by the independent division before daybreak and take them to the city to hide. When the enemy begins to attack the factory area, you are going to attack them decisively and give them a hard blow from the enemy''s side and rear. As for you, come to my headquarters as soon as you bring the troops to the city. I have something else to tell you. "


    After I put down the phone, I saw kirilov and several of them were all around, nervously looking at me, waiting for me to announce the order from the superior to them. After sighing in my heart, I repeated what trakov had just said to them and asked, "comrades in command, the commander asked us to send troops to the city for reinforcement. Would you like to talk about your views?"


    After listening to my question, akhromeyev frowned and thought about it, then said: "the headquarters just asked us to send troops to reinforce, not how many people we were asked to send. How many troops do you think will be deployed? We need to know that our mamayev post is also a key point of defense. Once it is lost, the whole defense line in the city will be shaken. "


    "Comrade division commander," bantaileiev politely suggested to me, "at present, of the four regiments of our division, the second regiment and the fourth regiment are holding fast to the mamayev post, which must not be used. If the first regiment and the third regiment stationed in the residential areas are all transferred, the enemy may take advantage of the situation and take our back road. So I think only one regiment will do. "


    "What, just one regiment?" Kirilov asked in surprise, "is that ok?" After that, he looked at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, what''s your opinion?"


    After weighing the pros and cons in my mind, I finally decided to adopt Bantai leiev''s suggestion. I looked at him, nodded and said, "I agree with the Deputy teacher. The main task of our division is to guard the mamayev post. If we deploy all our defensive forces in order to reinforce the friendly forces, the enemy will have an opportunity to seize the mamayev post. If we want to take back the mamayev post, we will have to pay a huge price, so I think we only need to deploy a regiment to fight. " Seeing that kirilov opened his mouth to persuade me, he resolutely raised his hand to stop him and said firmly, "what we are going to discuss next is not how many troops to send, but whether we should transfer one regiment or three regiments. Comrade commissar, "I asked, looking at kirilov," which regiment do you think should be transferred? "


    After listening to my question, kirilov was stunned for a moment, and then said carefully, "although the third regiment has just replenished its forces, almost all of them are new recruits. It is estimated that they do not have much combat effectiveness. However, the combat effectiveness shown by the regiment a while ago is still very satisfactory. So I suggest that we send a regiment for this reinforcement operation. "


    After kirilov finished his presentation, I turned to look at leiev, smiling and politely asked, "Comrade deputy division commander, what do you think about which regiment to send for reinforcement?"


    "Sir, I agree with the political commissar." Bantaileiev''s reply was very simple, "judging from the performance of the first regiment a few days ago, their combat effectiveness is not weak, and they are fully capable of this task."


    I didn''t speak. I just nodded. Then I turned to akhromeyev and asked, "chief of staff, what''s your opinion?"


    Akhromeyev looked at kirilov and bantaileiev respectively, then quickly straightened up and replied, "Comrade division, I agree with you, and I think it is most appropriate to send a regiment." In order to prove that he is not following others'' advice, he specially stated that "the command ability of lieutenant colonel chejerikov can be seen when his regiment sticks to the North highland. Moreover, his regiment has recently added many veteran soldiers with rich combat experience, so I think they are fully competent."


    "Well, since everyone has agreed, we''ll send a regiment to reinforce the friendly forces in the factory area." At this point, I stopped for a moment, turned to akhromeyev and said to him, "Comrade chief of staff, please call lieutenant commander shijerikov and tell him to assemble the troops immediately and get ready to go."


    As soon as I finished, kirilov added, "I''ll call major gordonov of the third regiment."


    Kirilov reminded me that if the regiment left, their defense area would be empty, so it was necessary for the third regiment to transfer troops to fill the vacancy, so as not to be taken advantage of by the German army. He immediately told akhromeyev: "the political commissar is right. After calling the first regiment, he will call the third commander, major gordonov, and ask him to send someone to take over the defense of the first regiment."

 Chapter 737

    Due to the long time for the troops to gather, I didn''t leave the headquarters until 3 a.m. and took captain basmanov and a soldier from the guard platoon to the third regiment.


    When approaching the third regiment, with the help of the fire in the city, I vaguely saw that there were many people standing on the roadside in front of me. As he was about to order the troops to stop, he would not move forward until he knew whether the front line was enemy or friend. Basmanov, who was driving ahead, had sent someone back to report that the head of the third regiment and several other commanders were waiting for me in front.


    I quickened my pace and came to Godunov, who was waiting by the side of the road. I found that the three men standing with him were all school level commanders from the new division of Bantai leiev. At present, they are respectively the political commissar, deputy head and chief of staff of the third regiment.


    After giving a salute to the saluting commanders, I asked Godunov, "Comrade major, have you arranged for the troops to take over the positions of the first regiment?"


    "It''s all arranged." Godunov answered me clearly: "I''ve transferred a battalion to be led by major vatorak, the deputy head of the regiment


    Hearing his name, the short, stocky major next to Godunov quickly stepped forward, raised his hand to salute me again, and politely said, "report to Mr. commander, major vartorac, deputy head of the third infantry regiment, I''m going to lead the troops to the first regiment, waiting for your next order, please give me instructions!"


    I nodded to the fighting major, and then gave him an order: "Comrade major, now that you are ready, let''s go. The officers and men of the first regiment are waiting for you to take over. " Although I''m urging vatorak to start quickly, I know in my heart that even if they go later, it''s OK, because one of the commanders, shijerikov, once told me on the phone that in order to make the receiving troops adapt as soon as possible, he would leave captain Beckman''s company behind to work in the camp.


    As soon as I exchanged a few words with Godunov, I saw that the commanders and fighters hidden in the roadside craters and the ruins of buildings had been called up by major vartorac, and they were marching towards the regiment in a neat line. I quickly told Godunov a few words, and then I took basmanov with them to catch up with the troops in front.


    A few minutes later, our team arrived at the base of a regiment. Then in the distant light of the fire, I carefully looked around. Two intact buildings had collapsed into rubble. I didn''t know whether they were destroyed by German artillery fire or aircraft bombing. Several buildings collapsed in half, but the windows and entrances of the intact parts were blocked by sandbags. It seems that these buildings are the new fortifications designed by mikheiev.


    In the distance, we could also see the assembly of troops. Maybe we were coming. A group of people came against the March line of the third regiment. In the dim light, almost all the people I could see were people wearing big eaves hats, so I guessed that Xie jerikov and many commanders of his regiment might be there.


    As soon as they got close enough that I could see them clearly, I immediately recognized them as they were. As soon as the commander came up to me, he muttered and asked, "I said, sir, which district is our regiment going to?"


    I gave a wry smile at the question of chejerikov, because trekov only told me to send troops to reinforce the factory area. But the factory area is so big. Apart from the Stalingrad tractor factory, there are "Red October" factory and "barricade" factory, which cover the same area as a medium-sized city. I have no idea where the troops will be deployed after entering the city. So I can only shake my head and say to Sergeant Sergeant with regret, "Comrade commander, I don''t think I can answer your question. Because the commander only asked me to bring the troops into the city, and I don''t know where to deploy them. "


    After hearing this, Xie jerikov said with regret: "just now many commanders have asked me where our regiment will be transferred to fight."


    "Then how do you answer them, comrade shijerikov?" I asked curiously.


    "I only told them that our regiment would soon start from the base and enter the city to fight with the enemy. As for where we will fight, not only I don''t know, but also the division commander and political commissar. But as long as we enter the city, there will be people to guide us into the battle position. "


    "The answer is correct." After praising Xie jerikov, I caught a glimpse of commander Ilya standing beside him. I said hello to him with a smile: "isn''t this commander Ilya? How are you? How do you feel after a few days in a group? "


    Elia quickly stopped to report to me and said, "I feel relatively good, Mr. reporter." Speaking of this, he unconsciously turned to look at xiejerikov, "not only the comrades in charge of the regiment are very friendly to me, but the soldiers below also respect me."


    After hearing what Elia said, I nodded, and then told sergeant sharjkov: "Comrade commander, since the troops from the third regiment have arrived, you should seize the time to hand over your defense, and then quickly move to the city, so as to reach the designated battle position before dawn."


    After receiving my order, xiejerikov immediately told Elia: "Comrade deputy commander, you are responsible for the transfer. Once the transfer is completed, immediately lead the troops to the city. "


    Half an hour later, three thousand commanders and fighters of the first regiment moved to the city in groups, with the company as the unit. The commander at the front was lieutenant colonel Ilya, the deputy head of the regiment, and Sergey reekov was at the back of the regiment, serving as the guard of the whole regiment. My guard and I were in the middle of the line, with camp Karpov.


    In addition to Karpov and basmanov, I was also accompanied by the commander of the battalion, Captain shereblenne. But seeing that Karpov and I seemed to have something to talk about, they fell seven or eight steps behind us as we walked, leaving us room for conversation.


    I politely asked Karpov, "Comrade captain, how do the commanders and fighters feel during your time here? Have you been discriminated against by friendly forces in the army? "


    Karpov quickly waved his head and answered me with a smile: "thank you for your concern, sir. To tell you the truth, when I first came here, I was also worried that our officers and soldiers would be discriminated against and excluded in the regiment. Unexpectedly, when I came here, they were very friendly to us, just like brothers, and did not suffer any unfair treatment at all. "


    "What do you think of the combat effectiveness of a regiment?" I looked at the neat steps around the team, can not help but feel: "your troops come, how can also be regarded as elite?"


    To his surprise, Karpov shook his head again and said, "Sir, you are not right. The combat effectiveness of the troops trained by Lt. Col. chejerikov is obviously stronger than that of other troops. " After hearing my unexpected "Oh", he specially explained to me, "for example, the army that just came to take over, no matter from the quality of the marching line or the commanders and fighters, can''t be compared with the army of a regiment."


    In fact, I had been aware of what Karpov said, so now I regret my decision to send a regiment to reinforce the factory area. This is the most effective unit of the independent division at present, but I personally pushed them into the fire pit. Thinking of this, I can''t help slapping myself.


    "Sir, why are there so many residents in the settlement?" Karpov suddenly asked me strangely, "did you know that they had not been evacuated in the war?"


    Hearing this question, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. Why didn''t the residents be evacuated? It wasn''t because Stalin didn''t believe that the German would attack Stalingrad. He was afraid that evacuation would cause unnecessary panic, so he strictly prohibited evacuation. As a result, hundreds of thousands of refugees and original residents who came to the city from all over the world were trapped in the city. They had to rely on the limited boats on the Volga River to send people away little by little.


    After our team entered the burning city, the heat wave generated by the burning buildings on both sides dispersed the cold in the middle of the night. Because of the shortage of manpower, some officers and men began to take off their winter clothes. Seeing this situation, I quickly called basmanov over and said to him, "Comrade captain, go and give my order to the soldiers not to take off their clothes, or they will get cold." Basmanov agreed, stopped, called the soldiers of the guard platoon to his side, and asked them to convey my orders to the marching troops.


    Seeing the dilapidated city, Karpov suddenly said in a hoarse, not like his own voice, "damn the Germans, what have they done? What have they turned our beautiful city into? "


    After delivering the order, basmanov, who passed by us, heard this sentence and said: "Comrade captain, take a good look. As long as you see the crimes committed by the Germans in our city, your heart will be full of hatred."


    "I can''t hold my hatred even if I don''t look at it." Karpov gritted his teeth and said, "my troops saw countless heinous crimes committed by them when the German army was advancing towards Stalingrad. Based on these, my heart was filled with endless hatred for them."


    Karpov''s words aroused my curiosity. I was about to ask what happened when the front team suddenly stopped. I turned to Karpov next to him and asked, "what''s the matter? Why did the army stop?"


    Karpov stood on tiptoe and looked ahead. Then he reported to me, "Comrade division, it seems that he is here to meet us. I see major Elia talking to them Speaking of this, he suddenly raised his voice a little bit. "Here we are. Comrade commander is bringing some people to us."


    When I heard that our guide was coming, I called busmanov and walked on quickly. About fifty or sixty meters away, I met the people brought by lieutenant commander Elia.


    An officer, armed with a submachine gun, a raincoat and a boat hat, passed lieutenant general Ilya and came to my attention. He then reported, "Hello, comrade general, I''m major gladeshev, the commander of the guard battalion of the group army command. I''ve come to meet you at the command of the commander."


    As soon as his words came out, Elijah, who was next to him, corrected him with a smile: "Comrade major, you''re wrong. It''s the dead, not us. Even if you want to lead the dead, it''s the German who died. "


    After listening to Elijah''s remarks, the young major said to me with a smile: "sorry, comrade general, I didn''t express myself clearly. I have been ordered to take you to the new headquarters of the group army."


    I waved my head to the troops standing next to me and asked curiously, "what about my troops?" The major replied carelessly, "Comrade General, please rest assured that my subordinates will guide them into battle positions. Now please go to the headquarters for me. Comrade commander has been waiting for you. " I waited for the next sergeikov to come up, and after introducing the commanders and fighters sent by the headquarters to him, I followed major gradshev to the new headquarters of trakov with confidence.

 Chapter 738

    Major gradshev took us for a walk along a street full of bricks, rubble and craters, then suddenly looked back. At this look, he unconsciously stopped and asked me curiously, "Comrade General, you will not just take these soldiers to the headquarters, will you?"


    I looked back behind me, followed by basmanov and a platoon of soldiers. Because he didn''t understand the purpose of major gladeshev''s question, he could only honestly answer: "yes, there are more than 30 soldiers following. The safety on the road should be guaranteed."


    Unexpectedly, gladschev shook his head and said solemnly: "Comrade General, you don''t know something. We will pass the railway station later. Now the station is occupied by the enemy. As long as they find a moving target outside, they will shoot. On the way here just now, seven or eight of my subordinates were killed or injured. "


    Basmanov, who was walking in the back, came up to me after hearing what Gladyshev said, and nervously suggested, "Comrade division, since it''s so dangerous ahead, for your safety''s sake, I''ll send someone back to transfer another company."


    Seeing that basmanov was about to turn around and leave, I quickly stopped him, but I didn''t say whether I needed to transfer troops to follow me. Instead, I humbly asked gladeshev, "major, how wide is the area you said was blocked by enemy fire?"


    After thinking about it, the major replied, "the area sealed off by the German machine gun is an open area with a width of more than 30 meters between the two buildings in front of the station."


    It''s said that there is only 30 meters of open land. I feel relieved. It only takes a few seconds to rush through such a short distance. In such a short period of time, the Germans may not even be able to react, let alone shoot. That''s why he confidently said to busmanov, "Comrade captain, there''s no need to deploy any more troops. There are so many people and so many goals. It''s not convenient to move."


    Seeing that I didn''t want to take any more people to the headquarters, Gladyshev was not reluctant. He nodded and said, "in that case, comrade general, let''s go."


    As we went on, because I was always thinking about the German firepower points that gladschaff said, a strange fear always haunted me. I was always worried that when we passed a collapsed or semi collapsed building, unexpected bullets would come out of a window.


    When we walked into a collapsed building with only a few walls left, gladschev suddenly stopped and said to me, "Comrade General, the open area in front is the area blocked by German firepower. We must pass it as fast as possible."


    I was silent. Then I looked at my watch in the reflection of the fire in the distance. Then I went to an explosion gap and looked out. There was a building with the same style dozens of meters away, but it was still standing on the opposite side of the road, which had not been destroyed by the enemy''s shells and bombs. On the wide road in the middle, there were twenty or thirty people lying motionless. They should have fallen under the enemy''s muzzle when they passed through the dead zone.


    Basmanov came up to me and asked me in a low voice, "Comrade teacher, are we going to rush through like this?"


    I shook my head slowly, pointed to the body in the open space in front of me, and said, "if we rush through like this, many people will become one of them. Comrade captain, you should find a suitable place and put our light aircraft on the rack. Once the enemy fires, it will be suppressed. The rest of you, in groups of three, head for the other side. After the first group rushed over, they immediately set up fire points at the rubble pile outside the opposite building, and the people who met us rushed over. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" Basmanov and gladchev replied in unison. Then basmanov pointed to the two soldiers and said to them, "you two should follow the major first, and build a firepower point in the opposite rubble pile to cover us."


    I looked at the two soldiers selected by basmanov, one with submachine guns and the other with light machine guns. If they set up fire points on the opposite side, they could completely suppress the enemy''s fire with their equipment, so I nodded with satisfaction and gave the order decisively: "when you are ready, let''s attack."


    "Come with me!" After a low voice, Gladyshev took the lead in rushing out of the building and towards the opposite side, with two guards with guns following. In our eyes, they quickly rushed through the open space between the two buildings and mounted machine guns on the rubble.


    Major gradshev, when they rushed by, the expected German machine gun did not fire. Although I didn''t hear the gunshot, I didn''t dare to take it lightly. I thought that the Germans didn''t shoot. Maybe it was Gladyshev. They moved so fast that they didn''t react. If we think that the Germans are unprepared for this, we may suffer a great loss.


    When the second group of soldiers rushed by, the Germans still did not shoot.


    Then a third group of soldiers rushed over, and the Germans still did not shoot.


    Seeing this situation, basmanov hesitated and asked me: "Comrade division, all three groups of people have gone, and we haven''t heard the German fire yet. Is it that major Gladyshev is making a fuss. Why don''t the rest of us rush through together? "


    Basmanov''s words made me have a little doubt about Gladyshev''s words. Did the enemy they met when they came have already withdrawn? Although I think so in my heart, I haven''t given the order for the soldiers to pass collectively. Instead, I said to basmanov, "Comrade captain, send another group of soldiers to try." Seeing that my attitude was so firm, basmanov could not say anything more, so he had to call out three more soldiers and let them rush to the opposite side. Maybe there were no problems in the three groups in succession. The soldiers were paralyzed and their running speed was obviously not as fast as before. They had just finished two-thirds of the distance, and when they saw that they could rush into the opposite building in a second or two, the sound of German machine gun fire that we had been worried about for a long time finally started. Almost at the same time as the gunshot, basmanov lowered his voice and cried madly: "lie down! Lie down! " However, his shout was still slow for a moment. Except for the soldiers who rushed to the front and rushed into the dead corner of the shooting at the same time, the latter two soldiers were covered by the fire net composed of enemy machine gun bullets, and their feet were splashed with mud. Then their running bodies stopped, shook a few times and threw their weapons, He covered the wound and fell over¡° Shoot, shoot, shoot Basmanov saw his soldiers fall under the muzzle of the enemy''s gun. He rushed to it, raised his leg and kicked the soldier lying beside the machine gun in a daze. He angrily scolded: "you don''t shoot yet." The soldier who was kicked by him pulled the trigger and fired at the exposed German firepower. When busmanov came back to me, he said to me with some worry: "Comrade division, judging from the gunfire and the exposed muzzle flame, the enemy has at least five machine guns, while we have only two. We can''t completely suppress them. Do you think we should stop this kind of risky action? "¡° No, we have to get to the headquarters as soon as possible, so even if the enemy''s firepower is fierce, we have to rush through. " In order to prove my determination, I called two more soldiers from the soldiers who stayed behind, and then said to basmanov gently, "this time I''ll take the men myself."¡° What, do you take people to rush in person? " Basmanov was frightened by my decision, and quickly persuaded me: "Sir, comrade, you can''t rush. It''s too dangerous." Listening to what he said, I had a short hesitation in my heart, but thinking that this is the only way to the headquarters, I forced down my timidity and said to him calmly, "don''t worry, captain. I''ll be fine." Next, I waved my head at the two soldiers standing behind me and yelled, "follow me!" After shouting, I took a deep breath, bent down and rushed out with a submachine gun. German machine gun bullets whizzed over my head or around me. Although I held a submachine gun in my hand, I would never run sideways and shoot in the direction of the enemy''s bullets, just like the hero in the film and television works. It was pure death. In just a few seconds of rushing through the open space, my mind was almost blank. I just wanted to rush through the dead zone quickly. When I saw a pile of bricks and stones not far away, I rushed over without hesitation. As I fell heavily on the ground, my eyes were full of stars, but I knew very well in my heart that I was hiding in the shooting corner that the enemy couldn''t reach. One of the soldiers who followed me rushed into the building smoothly, while the other was hit by the enemy''s bullet when he was still a few steps away, and fell a few steps away from us. His weapon was thrown aside, his hands covered the wound, and he lay on the ground moaning in pain. The soldier, who had already rushed in, saw his comrades fall down, threw down his weapon, bent down and rushed out again, grabbed each other''s collar and went back madly. After the enemy''s machine gun found the target of this activity, all the muzzles were turned over, and dense bullets swept at him. Fortunately, there were several remains of our soldiers on this section of the road, which blocked a lot of bullets for the soldier who saved his comrades, so that he was able to drag the wounded back smoothly. When he was one or two meters away from me, I didn''t care about the danger. I leaned out from behind the rubble, grabbed the wounded man''s arm and helped the soldiers drag him in. As soon as they entered the safe area, several more soldiers surrounded them and carried the wounded into the building with all hands and feet. I changed to a more hidden position and carefully poked my head out to observe the movement of the enemy. About 200 meters away from us, there are five or six long muzzle fireworks flashing behind the rubble. It seems that there is the enemy''s machine gun position. I looked from both sides of the machine gun position and noticed that when I was in Leighton, I was deeply attracted by a familiar and strange building.

 Chapter 739

    I am familiar with it because I have seen it in all the films and TV works related to Stalingrad; It is because I have come to Stalingrad so many times that I really see it today for the first time.


    When did Gladyshev come to me? He grabbed my arm and pulled it down. He said in a reproachful tone, "Comrade General, what are you looking at? You''re not dying? Don''t you see the enemy''s machine guns shooting at us? "


    I quickly squatted down, gave him a grateful smile and said, "sorry, major, I was just stunned when I saw a very special building."


    "A very special building?" After repeating what I said, he frowned tightly and asked, "Comrade General, I don''t know what special building you are seeing?"


    "Fountain, a fountain." I replied briefly.


    After listening to what I said, he stretched out his locked brow, and his face was suddenly enlightened: "Oh, you are talking about the fountain in front of the station! In the middle is a carved villa with six young pioneers dancing hand in hand around a crocodile. " Speaking of this, he suddenly stopped, looked left and right, and then said to me in a low voice: "Comrade General, you say that the evil gate is not evil. At least 200 shells or bombs have fallen near the fountain, and the surrounding buildings have been destroyed. Even the wall of the fountain water storage pool has been blown down, but the carving villa has not been damaged. Some people say that, Maybe this carving villa is blessed by the gods. " Speaking of this kind of taboo, he knew that there was no one around us, but he looked around carefully.


    Although I have not been observing the fountain for a long time, I can clearly see that although there are many ruins around, the sculpture in the middle is still intact. Maybe there are gods to protect it. But at this time, I think of the scene in "soldiers on the city". It turns out that after Vassily and his comrades entered Stalingrad, they attacked the railway station hundreds of meters away with two rifles. I remember in the movie, he was hiding in the fountain pool, with only five bullets, killed five enemies.


    Just as I recall the classic scenes in "soldiers in the city", busmanov and the rest of the soldiers have rushed over. When he squatted beside me and breathlessly reported to me, I woke up from my memory and quickly asked him, "Comrade captain, how are our casualties?"


    Basmanov replied with a bitter smile: "report to division commander, three soldiers died and six were injured, one of them was seriously injured."


    I didn''t expect that in order to pass the 30 meter blockade, we actually paid one third of the casualties. I was also thoughtless. I thought that such a short distance could pass in only four or five seconds. Unexpectedly, the slow speed at the beginning of the run inevitably prolonged the passing time, which led to the increase of casualties.


    There was a sharp twitch in the corner of my mouth, and then I asked, "Captain, where are the wounded?"


    Basmanov raised his hand, pointed up and said: "just now, some soldiers reported to me that there was a complete room on the second floor, so I asked them to take the wounded upstairs."


    I looked up and instinctively said, "come on, let''s go up and have a look." With that, I slightly lifted up, bent and trotted to the building.


    The soldiers in the guard platoon gathered in the building. Seeing me running in, they all stood up straight and saluted me, as if waiting for my order. Hearing the sound of footsteps coming from behind, I knew it was basmanov and gladchev who were following. Without looking back, I said, "Comrade captain, you and the soldiers stay upstairs, and I and the major will go upstairs to have a look."


    After hearing basmanov''s reply, I shook my head at gladeshev and said politely, "please, comrade major. Let''s go to the second floor and see the wounded. "


    Gladyshev flashed a flashlight in front of me, and we walked carefully down the stairs full of construction waste to the second floor. When he was about to walk to the second company, a low voice came from the front: "stop, who?"


    When I heard the other party shouting in Russian, I felt a lot more relaxed, because the Germans can''t ask questions in Russian. Hastily replied: "is it the comrades of guard platoon up there?"


    Hearing my voice, the speaker suddenly gave a low cry, then apologized to me and said, "ah, I''m sorry, sir. I didn''t know it was you. Please forgive my recklessness."


    With a flashlight, he swept to the place where the sound came from. A soldier with a rifle was standing three or five steps away from the stairs. Seeing the flashlight shining on his body, he quickly put his rifle on his shoulder and raised his hand to salute me: "Sir, do you have any instructions?"


    "Where are the wounded? Take us to see. " I briefly explained my intention.


    "Sir, please follow me." The soldier made a polite gesture and limped along the corridor. Judging from the way he walked, he hurt his foot a little while passing the blockade.


    The corridor is very long. Apart from rubble and bricks, there are also ragged shirts, children''s toys, and some broken porcelain pieces on the ground. It can be seen that the residents living in this building are so flustered when they leave here.


    The soldier who led the way in front of me suddenly stopped and pushed open a door beside him, but he didn''t go in immediately. Instead, he turned to me and said, "Comrade division, this is it. All the wounded are here."


    I strode in through the open door, and I saw everything in the room clearly in the light of the fire outside the window. One of the wounded was lying on a small bed near the window in front of the door, while the other three soldiers with gauze on their hands or heads were rummaging in the next room. They open all the cabinets in the room and take out all the clothes inside. As long as they are women''s clothes, they throw them on the ground, while men''s clothes are rolled and stuffed into their backpacks. One of the wounded soldiers was still pressing hard on the clothes inside with his fist in order to pack as much as possible.


    "Comrades soldiers, what are you doing?" It was the first time that I saw my subordinates taking things from the common people without authorization, and they were so comfortable with it. I was infuriated. I could not help shouting at them with severe language: "what''s the difference between your actions and those outside the Communist aggressors?"


    The three wounded soldiers who were busy heard my voice and were startled. They immediately stopped their work, stood upright, and raised their hands to salute us.


    "Who took the lead?" I approached them, glared at them, and asked in a more emphatic tone, "who on Earth took the lead in robbing the common people''s things?"


    One of the soldiers came up to me with bare arms and bandages on his shoulders. His face turned red and he murmured, "Comrade division, it''s like this. When we came to this room, we found that there were a lot of clothes left in the cupboard, but we didn''t change the clothes, so we planned to take some back. "


    "Throw out all the things in the bag, and don''t leave any of them." After I gave the order coldly, I saw that the three wounded soldiers were still standing in the same place stupidly, so I raised my voice: "what''s the matter, didn''t you hear my order?"


    "Comrades of the soldiers," said Gladyshev to the three men in a cooperative warning tone, "if you don''t throw out all the things in the bag immediately, then don''t blame us for being impolite." Then his hand touched the submachine gun hanging on his chest.


    In the face of me and gladeshev''s tough, although the wounded were unwilling, they still had to honestly throw out the clothes in their backpacks one by one.


    Just now, the soldier who led the way saw that the inner room was full of gunpowder, so he came in to make it over. He came up to me with a tinplate box and said to me with a smile, "Mr. teacher, please have a piece of chocolate."


    "Chocolate? What kind of chocolate I asked in a strange way.


    The soldier laboriously opened the lid of the box, handed it to me and said, "eat it, sir. It''s the best chocolate in China. Even if you have money, you can''t buy it."


    When I saw that it was difficult to be gracious, I didn''t refuse. I took a piece of chocolate out of the box, peeled off the tin foil outside, put it in my mouth and tasted it. It really tasted good. It wasn''t worse than those chocolates I ate later.


    The soldier handed the box of chocolates to major gladeshev, then, like magic, he took out another bottle of wine and said to us with pride, "Sir, major, it''s too cold. Come on, have a drink to keep out the cold." Then he told the soldier who was wrapped with gauze on his shoulder, "Hey, what are you still doing there? Why don''t you take out the wine from the cupboard?"


    At his command, the wounded soldier quickly turned around and ran to a small cupboard whose glass had been completely broken. He took out several small white crystal wine glasses from inside and handed them over to the soldier.


    The soldier took two of the glasses, poured half a glass each, put the bottle aside, handed us a cup in one hand, and politely said, "come and have a drink, sir."


    Although he was very attentive, I was full of disgust with him. We were still fighting. He wanted us to drink. If we were drunk, the Germans could come and capture us later. So I blocked the bar he handed me with my hand and said discontentedly, "Comrade soldier, don''t forget that the Germans are only one or two hundred meters away from us. They may rush over at any time. Do you want us to drink at this time to make us drunk so that we can be German prisoners?"


    In the face of fierce words, the soldier''s face showed an embarrassed expression. Unexpectedly, major gradschev came forward to intercede for the soldier: "Comrade General, don''t worry, the German defense position is at the station. They won''t come to us casually. It''s too cold at night. A drink can keep out the cold. As long as you don''t drink too much, you won''t miss it With that, he took the wine cup from the soldier''s hand, took it to his mouth, licked the edge of the cup with the tip of his tongue, then raised his head and drank the whole cup.


    After drinking, he gave a deep breath and said, "good wine, really good wine. I haven''t had such a good drink for a long time. " Then he put the glass in front of the soldier again, "Comrade soldier, give me another one."


    On hearing this, the soldier got excited, agreed, picked up the bottle and poured another full glass. Gladyshev, who would not refuse, looked up and poured a full glass of wine into his throat. Then he put the cup in front of the soldier.


    Seeing that the soldier wanted to pour wine for him again, I quickly raised my hand to stop him. At the same time, I reminded Gladyshev: "Comrade major, we still need you to lead us to the headquarters. If you are drunk, we can''t get to the headquarters on time." When Gladyshev heard this, he couldn''t help hesitating. He looked at the wine bottle in the soldier''s hand, then turned to look at me. He finally gritted his teeth and begged me: "Comrade General, let me have another drink, just one. I promise you, just one last drink. " I looked at the size of the glass in gladschaff''s hand, and found that it would take about three glasses to get one or two. These drunkards who have been tested by alcohol, one or two drinks should not pour them. After a moment''s hesitation, I nodded difficultly and put down the hand blocking the bottle. When I saw Gladyshev finish his third glass of wine, I grabbed his arm and said in a loud voice, "go, comrade major. If we don''t go again, we won''t be able to get to the headquarters before dawn." Gradeshev, who was caught by my arm, looked at the wine bottle in the soldier''s hand with great nostalgia, handed his wine cup back to the other side, and left the room where he could drink under my pull. One or two drinks is really nothing to gradshev. When he took us to continue to start, the foot of the pace is still light, and I speak, the organization is still clear. At dawn, we finally arrived near the new headquarters on the Volga River. When the soldiers on duty saw our arrival, some came out from hiding places to greet us, and some immediately ran to the headquarters to report our smooth arrival to the higher authorities. Before we got to the headquarters, trakov and several commanders came out. Still far away, he said loudly to me, "Comrade oshanina, welcome."¡° Hello, comrade commander Because I don''t know if there is an enemy sniper hidden nearby, so I didn''t salute him. Instead, I went forward and held his outstretched hand with both hands, shaking it hard and said, "how''s your body?" After shaking hands, trakov didn''t let go of my hand. Instead, he took me straight to the headquarters where he came out.

 Chapter 740

    Before we went into the headquarters, gurov had already come out from inside with a smile. He took the initiative to extend his hand to me and said enthusiastically, "Comrade oshanina, I''m looking forward to you. Seeing that you are late, the commander is afraid that you will encounter any accident on the way. He plans to send someone to meet you again. "


    When I shook hands with gurov, I replied with a smile, "thank you for your concern. We have a guide like major gradseff, the commander of the guard battalion. There will be no danger on our way."


    After listening to what I said, gurov nodded his head with satisfaction to Gladyshev, who came after us. He said: "although major Gladyshev has not been the commander of the guard battalion for a long time, his ability is still highly recognized by the headquarters." Speaking of this, he suddenly changed his face and asked the major behind us in a stern tone, "what''s the matter? Why did you drink?"


    Although I didn''t find gladeshev showing any intoxication along the way, gurov also found that he was drunk. On hearing the military commissar''s question, Gladyshev shrugged his shoulders and answered casually, "report to the military commissar, on our way here, the comrades of the independent division found a bottle of wine in a room where there was no one. They said that they could keep out the cold, so I drank some."


    Trikov looked back at his subordinate with a slight frown, but he quickly pointed to gradshev and said, "major, I hope the same thing doesn''t happen again."


    Hearing the criticism of trakov, Gladyshev blushed and quickly nodded and agreed: "yes, comrade commander, I will not drink casually in the future."


    Instead of taking me to the new headquarters, trakov and gurov followed the newly dug traffic trench to the bottom of the river bank. Here, I see a lot of caves chiseled out on the cliff by the river. From time to time, I can see commanders in all kinds of clothes coming in and out. Gurovt introduced to me: "in order to ensure the safety of the headquarters, we put our departments in the caves dug out on the riverbank, so as to reduce the loss of the members of the headquarters under German artillery fire or bombing."


    When I saw a small cave in front of me, wisps of green smoke came out. I pointed to the front curiously and asked, "commander, military commissar, is that the location of the cooking class in that cave?" I''m asking because I''m so hungry that I have to find something to fill my stomach.


    Gurov looked in the direction of my finger, then said with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, although it''s not the problem of the cooking class, we can still find something to eat and drink." At this point, he turned to seek trekov''s advice, "Comrade commander, are you going with me?" Trekov didn''t speak. He just nodded with a smile and headed for the cave.


    I followed them and walked into the cave. There was a Tula tea cooker in the cave. The chimney was made of cardboard. The plume of green smoke I just saw came from here. There was a man sitting in the room. Seeing us coming in, he quickly stood up and raised his hand to salute trikov and gurov. I fixed my eyes and saw that it was hogarsky, artillery commander of the group army. I quickly raised my hand to salute him.


    After sitting down next to this half man tall metal kettle with two walls and water pouring in the middle, trekov raised his head and said to me, "general hogarsky is from Tula. He has the habit of drinking strong tea, so he has never been separated from his" Hometown "- Tula''s teapot." At this point, he turned his head and affectionately called hogarsky''s name and asked, "why, mitro fanich, do you still have time to drink tea before the German Devils'' concert begins?"


    "In time, comrade commander." Hogarsky confidently said, "if it doesn''t work, I''ll take it to the observation center to drink."


    Although I have never been to Tula, I am no stranger to this city, because during the Moscow defense war, the whole city''s army and people tenaciously resisted the strong attack of goodrian troops. After 45 consecutive days of failure, the German army had to lift the siege of the city. I know that there are three specialties in this city where the great Tolstoy was born: one is the Russian style tea cooking in front of us, so Tula has the reputation of "the city of tea cooking"; Second, it is a kind of very sweet small oil cake, which can be made into various shapes. It is said that it will not go bad after several months; Third, weapons. It is said that from the time of Czar, it was an important Arsenal, and the best artillery School of the Soviet Union was located there.


    I stare at the tea that has already begun to purr and purr. I wonder if hogarsky will treat us to Tula''s famous oil cake when we sit down for tea?


    But without waiting for hogarsky to treat us to tea, there was a huge explosion outside. Trikov stopped talking and laughing, raised his head solemnly, and listened carefully to what was going on outside.


    Shells and mortars roared over our heads, landed in the Volga River, exploded, and set off jets of water more than ten or twenty meters high. Then there was an explosion nearby, and the earth was shaking violently. Before we made any response, a shell exploded at the top of the cave. The air wave generated by the explosion pushed us down on the steep slope of the river bank, and even the teapot was about to fall to the ground.


    When hogarsky got up from the ground, he suddenly pointed to the sky. I quickly looked up into the air and saw countless enemy planes hovering over the Volga River. From time to time, they swooped down to drop bombs and strafe at our ground targets. Because of the explosion of shells and the roar of the enemy''s engines, although trakov and hogarsky were shouting, no one could hear what they were saying. Finally, they looked at each other and began to communicate with each other quickly. Hogarsky nodded, rushed into the cave, grabbed the picture bag and the telescope, and ran away.


    I know that hogarsky is going back to his command post. When he wanted to ask trikov what we should do, gurov patted me on the shoulder, pointed to trikov who was leaving quickly, and made a gesture to me to follow him. I nodded, then bent down to catch up quickly.


    At the moment, smoke and dust are flying everywhere, and the rising smoke blocks the sky and the sun in the sky. On the way to the headquarters, it''s not safe either. Instead of dropping a shell or bomb, we have to lie on the ground again and again to escape.


    When the three of us returned to the headquarters and closed the door, the noise outside was much less. At least our conversation was no longer affected. After entering the door, I saw krailov sitting on a stool, holding the microphone in his hand, giving orders to some place in a loud voice. Next to him stood a colonel, Colonel Yulin, the communications director of the group army, who had a few acquaintances with me.


    Trikov walked quickly to Yulin and asked aloud, "what''s the current communication situation?"


    Yulin quickly came to attention and reported to trikov, "Comrade commander, because of the enemy''s shelling, almost all the telephone lines we just repaired were blown off. I have ordered the messenger to check the lines. At present, we have connected to the radio and can communicate with the troops with clear code. "


    "Comrade Colonel, this is not enough." Trekov yelled at Colonel Yulin: "we need to use the preparatory communication hub on the East Bank of the Volga River, and let it also play a role in repeating the message and informing us of the situation."


    Yulin understood what trakov meant, nodded, turned and walked out.


    At this time, krailov, who had finished the call, asked directly, "Comrade oshanina, how many troops have you brought to the city this time?"


    "I brought a ball." I answered briefly.


    "Only one regiment, too few." After listening to this, krailov said with some dissatisfaction, "isn''t there an order for you to send as many troops as possible?"


    "Comrade chief of staff," although I didn''t want to have a conflict with my immediate superior, I heard krailov''s words, which contained the meaning of blaming me for keeping my strength regardless of the overall situation, and quickly retorted: "a regiment is only a regiment in name, but with the full expansion of its head, Sergei reekov, during this period of time, the regiment has reached 3000 people, The number of teachers accounts for half of the total number of teachers. As the mamayev post is also the focus of defense in the campaign, I have to leave half of my troops for defense, so as not to be exploited by the Germans. "


    "Chief of staff, stop talking." Seeing that krailov seemed to contradict me, trikov came out in time to help me out. "Comrade oshanina considered it very comprehensively. A regiment of 3000 troops is no less than the three divisions that stick to the factory area. Where are you going to deploy the regiment? "


    Krailov didn''t say anything, but after looking at me, he began to introduce the situation to them: "Comrade commander, according to the prior arrangement, major gradshev will take them to the tractor factory area and give them to the unified command of the 37th division of the guards after taking over oshanina''s troops."


    When I heard that my troops were going to be handed over to others for command, I couldn''t help feeling disappointed. This is the most effective regiment of the independent division. If it is handed over to those old-fashioned commanders for command, it will become cannon fodder. Last time, the second commander Pugachev and the tank battalion commander pelsjian were sent by trakov to seize the school occupied by the enemy. As a result, they are still lying in the field hospital.


    Trekov looked back at me and saw that I was in a daze. He asked curiously, "o''shanina, what are you thinking?"


    I heard him asking me and quickly replied, "no, I''m not thinking. Comrade commander, do you have any new instructions for calling me


    Trekov beckoned to me to stand beside him, and I stepped forward two steps to the table. Trekov lowered his head, pushed the map in front of me, picked up the red and blue pencil on the table and explained to me: "the enemy has occupied the territory in the north and the center of the city, including yelman District, jerrensky District," Red October "," barricade "district and tractor factory. At present, we are concentrating our forces to fight a decisive battle with the enemy in these areas, in order to eliminate them as much as possible, so as to reduce the pressure we will bear in the next battle. "


    After listening to trekov''s words, I shrunk my mouth with disapproval. I said to myself that you are fighting with the Germans with your life to arrange troops like this? All the elite in the city have been put together in this way. In the next battle, it is estimated that this battle will be even more difficult to fight.


    Gurov was very good at observing words and expressions. Seeing the expression on my face, he guessed that I might have different ideas, so he looked at me and said encouragingly, "Comrade oshanina, I think you have different views on the commander''s plan of concentrating troops and carrying out a partial decisive battle with the enemy. Can you tell me?"


    After introducing the situation to me, trikov buried his head and looked at the map. Listening to what gurov said, he looked up at me in surprise and said, "is that so, o''shanina?" Originally, I didn''t want to discuss my views at such a time, but since trakov has already asked, it''s not appropriate to avoid talking about it or to ignore the important points, so I can only reply with a stiff head: "commander, military commissar, chief of staff, I''d like to talk to you about my understanding of the concept of concentrated forces. In my opinion, whether to concentrate the superior forces is mainly reflected in the allocation of the front-line forces. Reserve forces should be retained in combat and blocking forces should be arranged. If there are too many forces in these areas and too few forces in the front line fighting with the German forces, it is not the concentration of superior forces. If we put the main troops on the front line and only a small number of troops in other places, it seems risky. In fact, the more troops on the front line, the shorter the battle time. Maybe the battle will be over before the enemy''s reinforcements arrive. We should also be good at seizing all favorable fighters to destroy the enemy. What is a favorable fighter? It was when the Germans were small, heavy, short of equipment, had no air supremacy and were not ready. If the German army has more people and better equipment than us, it will not fight; The German army controlled the air and did not fight; The German army was prepared and did not fight; In short, we should not fight unprepared or uncertain battles. " After listening to my explanation, the three people''s faces showed different degrees of blank expression. At last, Krylov asked impatiently, "Comrade oshanina, you have said for a long time, which means that we can''t fight with the enemy, this battle can''t be fought, at least not in the way we are now fighting. Do I understand correctly? "¡° Yes Seeing that someone finally understood my euphemistic expression, I was relieved, and then said, "but if we don''t fight, the enemy may drive straight in and seize our position in the factory area. But if we concentrate our heavy troops on the existing positions and are bombarded by the enemy''s shells and bombs, it is estimated that we will make a great sacrifice before the enemy''s infantry attacks. "

 Chapter 741

    "Nonsense, no matter how powerful the enemy is, no matter how many casualties we pay. We have to fight this battle. Otherwise, the central part of the city and the factory area that our group army is holding fast to will be occupied by the Germans. " Without waiting for me to speak, trikov impatiently interrupted me. After picking up the telescope on the table, he waved his head at me and said in an imperative tone, "don''t talk nonsense. Come with me and go outside to see how the enemy attacks our defense."


    I didn''t dare to say more. With an embarrassed smile on my face, I walked out of the headquarters behind trekov, followed the traffic ditch outside and came to the street. We walked into a half collapsed building by the side of the road, up the stairs to the second floor, and into a room full of broken bricks and burnt black furniture.


    This is obviously an observation post in trakov''s room. There are four people in the room, two squatting in front of the window, using the artillery observation mirror set up there to observe the situation outside. A person like a telegraph operator is sitting in a corner of the room with a telephone in front of him. There is also a soldier with a submachine gun standing by the side of the operator with his back against the wall, who seems to be defending the safety of the operator.


    Seeing us enter the door, the soldier leaning against the wall suddenly called out: "stand at attention!" When the rest of the soldiers turned or stood up and looked at trikov, he strode up to us and reported according to the regulations: "Comrade commander, observation post No. 11 is on duty, please give us instructions!"


    "Please go on!" After that, he went to the window and asked one of the soldiers, "what''s the situation outside?"


    "Report to Commander!" Because of the explosion from time to time outside, the soldiers had to raise their voice again and again to report to trikov: "the enemy is bombing and shelling the factory area. In particular, the tractor factory defense line, the enemy''s dive bombers lined up, constantly dive bombing and strafing our army


    When I heard that the situation was so serious, I couldn''t help walking to a gap near the window and raising my telescope to look into the distance. In the distance, on the outside side of the tractor factory, you can hardly see a complete building. Those buildings have become piles of bricks and stones. The bombs dropped by the enemy''s dive bombers and the shells fired by the enemy''s cannons fell on our crude positions and exploded, making a huge noise. The whole defense area was filled with smoke.


    In the middle of the tractor factory defense area, there is a river which is not very wide. The bridge on the river has been destroyed by the enemy''s artillery or bombing. Not far from the broken bridge, a floating bridge across the river was built with discarded oil barrels. It was through this floating bridge that the 37th division of Jinwei sent the troops behind to the front. In the distance, the factory area of the tractor factory is full of debris, and tall and solid factories are burning.


    Obviously, the enemy also found the pontoon, which is very important to our army. Several planes dived and dropped bombs in turn, trying to destroy the pontoon. Although the first bombs were thrown off the right side of the bridge and exploded one after another, a shell soon landed on the bridge and broke the pontoon. Walking on the bridge, the officers and soldiers fell into the water. Although I saw a lot of people struggling to swim to both sides of the river after falling into the water, more people did not hear from them and were washed downstream by those empty oil barrels.


    Seeing this situation, the soldier next to trikov exclaimed: "hell, the enemy blew up the floating bridge across the nieri River, and the contact between our troops in front of us and the main force was interrupted."


    Trakov didn''t speak, just glanced at the soldier, picked up the telescope and continued to observe.


    Half an hour later, the enemy''s shelling and bombing stopped. I could clearly see the dust on the northwest horizon, followed by a dense black spot. As the black spot gets closer and closer, I can clearly see that groups of tanks are driving ahead, armored personnel carriers full of soldiers are following, and a lot of tricycles are rapidly advancing towards our army''s position during the period of being mixed up.


    Seeing the strength of the German army, I put down my telescope and looked nervously at trakov to see what his reaction was. If it was under my command, I would call artillery commander hogarsky at this moment and order the artillery to fire and intercept the advancing German armored forces with artillery fire. I didn''t expect that trekov didn''t seem to see these, still standing there with his telescope.


    The smoke that filled our position quickly dispersed under the cold wind. However, when the enemy''s tanks were only seven or eight hundred meters away from the front line, the artillery concealed by the guard division opened fire. The white smoke rising from the debris from time to time surprised me to find that our army had deployed no less than 20 anti tank guns in the front.


    At the end of the first round of firing, several German tanks were stopped in the same place because they were hit by bullets and caught fire. However, most of the tanks were still advancing rapidly and stopped suddenly from time to time. They fired two shots at our position.


    "Operator!" Trekov, who had been silent, suddenly put down his telescope and gave an order to the radio operator who was sitting in the corner: "get in touch with artillery commander hogarsky immediately."


    The operator agreed and started yelling at the transmitter. After a while, he stood up and reported to trakov, "Comrade commander, I have got in touch with general hogarsky."


    Trekov put his telescope on the windowsill, walked quickly to the phone, grabbed the earphone, stuck it to his ear, and yelled at the transmitter, "Hello, is that hogarsky? The enemy''s shelling and bombing have stopped, and now their mechanized troops are attacking the tractor factory. I order you to let the howitzer battalion fire immediately and stop fire. " The artillery should have been ready to fire, waiting for the order of trikov to fire. So he gave the order, just went back to the window and raised his telescope, the artillery barrage followed. Shells exploded in the enemy''s armored line, and from time to time tanks or armored vehicles were hit by shells. I saw German soldiers in several armored vehicles after they started to fire. They all got out of the smoke filled vehicles and ran to the rear with dancing hands and feet. But in the end, only a few people, the absolute majority, were hit by shrapnel flying around and fell to the ground one after another. In the face of our intensive artillery interception, the German armored forces had to stop attacking and turn around in the original place in an attempt to return to the starting position. But under the attack of our artillery, the enemy''s retreat was inevitably affected, and the whole battle formation was in a mess. Seeing the enemy''s confusion and retreat, trakov''s face showed a smile. He put down his telescope again and told the telegraph operator, "get me general hogarsky again." After this call, trakov said with a smile, "good call, Comrade General. The enemy''s armored forces have fallen into chaos under your heavy artillery fire. They are now trying to get out of our artillery range and return to their starting position. What? What are you talking about? It''s not enough. It''s not enough. I now order you to immediately organize two Katyusha rocket barracks to launch a salvo fire: one to the silicon products factory; Another shot at the open space in front of the stadium. I have found a lot of enemies gathering in this area Just a few minutes later, there was a series of whistling outside. I looked up at the rocket shells with long tail, which cut through the sky and gradually disappeared in the two directions that trakov had just pointed out. Then there was a terrible roar. The dust from the ceiling was almost all over the people. As he dusted his shoulders, trakov said with a smile, "I didn''t expect that the two rocket barracks could fire together, which was enough for the Germans." Then he went to the operator''s side. Seeing his action, I couldn''t help wondering that he had given orders to hogarsky twice. If he gave orders again, what position would he prepare to bombard the German army. I didn''t expect that after hearing what he told the operator, I knew that my judgment had deviated. He said to the radio operator, "get me general heliujin, commander of the 8th Army of the air force." Only then did I understand that he was not satisfied with the artillery''s attack on the enemy. He wanted to use our air force to teach the enemy a lesson. When he got through to kheliukin, trakov said with a smile, "Hello, is that general kheliukin? I''m trekov. The Germans have concentrated their superior forces and are attacking the factory area defended by our group army. Just now our artillery has taught their ground troops a lesson. Now I ask you to send some fighters to patrol over the city and drive those pesky bandits away from our position. " I don''t know what kheliukin said. Trikov''s smile froze on his face. After a long silence, he said in a low voice, "I see, general kheliukin. Good luck When he put down his earphone and transmitter, I quickly walked over and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? What did general kheliukin say to make you so unhappy Trekov looked at me with a bitter smile and said, "I wanted general kheliukin to send some fighters over the city and try to make the German planes safe. I didn''t expect that general heliukin told me bluntly that because the enemy''s air force tightly blocked the airports of the air force group army, our air force could not take off to carry out the mission over Stalingrad, so he couldn''t help my request. "

 Chapter 742

    I looked at trakov in amazement and said that he could not even plead with the air force assigned to Stalingrad''s front army. The Germans have just suffered a loss, and they will not give up. Next, they will certainly intensify their attack. If we do not have the air supremacy, it will be a passive end.


    Without waiting for me to speak, it suddenly quieted down outside, and the noise of guns suddenly stopped. I quickly raised my telescope and looked out. I saw that the enemy was slowly retreating towards their starting position, while the commanders and fighters of our army were busy rushing to repair the fortifications, cure the wounded comrades, and carry away the bodies of the martyrs. Because the floating bridge on the river was blown off, the traffic on both sides of the river was temporarily interrupted. In order to restore the traffic as soon as possible, the engineer troops of the division began to be busy. I could vaguely see many soldiers pushing the oil bucket down the slope and into the river, and there were ropes and tools to fix it.


    "Has the enemy retreated?" Not far away came the voice of trakov.


    I quickly put down my telescope. Just as I wanted to answer him, I heard the soldier standing at the window reply, "yes, comrade commander. The enemy''s armor retreated and our artillery stopped shelling. "


    Although the enemy has retreated, they will not be reconciled to the defeat of this attack. They will only withdraw to prepare for the next attack.


    "O''shanina," trekov, looking out of the window with his telescope, suddenly asked me, "what do you think the enemy''s intention is?"


    I was stunned by trikov''s question. Judging from the German offensive situation, everything was not very obvious. I just wanted to occupy the defensive zone of our group army, advance to the Volga River Ferry, completely cut off all the contact between the city and the outside world, and let the other groups become isolated forces with no food and grass inside and no reinforcements outside, He successfully occupied Stalingrad and successfully completed the strategic intention of the German headquarters. After a moment''s silence, I hesitated and said, "Comrade commander, the enemy''s intention is very obvious, that is, to concentrate the superior forces, break through the areas defended by our army group, advance to the Bank of Volga, occupy the docks connected with the east bank, and cut off the connection between our army and the outside world."


    "You have a point." After taking the telescope away from his eyes, trakov said thoughtfully, "the enemy is gathering so many troops here for the strategic purpose you just mentioned." At this point, he turned and told the operator: "get me the headquarters of the group army."


    After connecting the headquarters of the group army, I saw that trakov said solemnly: "Comrade military commissar, the enemy''s first attack was repulsed by us. But judging from the current situation, they will not give up. I expect they will launch more fierce attacks in the future. what? Air force?! Unfortunately, no, I just called general kheliukin. He told me with great regret that our air force could not come to Stalingrad to help us because the enemy planes controlled our airfield. What do you and Comrade Krylov think of the current war situation Well, I see. I''ll be back at the right time. "


    When trakov finished the call, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade commander, comrade military commissar, what do they think of the current war situation?"


    Trekov shrugged his shoulders and said with a sad face: "after the members of the Military Commission simply exchanged their views, they all agreed that the situation was very clear. The Germans put in all their strength to deal with our 62nd army. The enemy has absolute superiority in manpower, technical equipment and firepower. Their purpose is to divide and encircle the 62nd group army and then annihilate them individually. At present, the enemy has attacked the area between the Stalingrad tractor factory and the "barricade" factory with decayed teeth, and its short-term goal is to reach the Volga River. From the analysis of the enemy''s troops and weapons and equipment, we can see that the enemy tried his best to prevent our strong reinforcements from crossing the Volga River to reinforce the garrison in the city and prevent the east bank from delivering ammunition to the garrison. It can be said that in the coming days, our 62nd group army will face an unprecedented situation of cruel struggle. "


    After listening to what he said, I just nodded in silence. It seems that the people in the group army headquarters are not dry eaters. They also see through the intentions of the Germans. What they can do now is to try to block the enemy''s tide like offensive. When I think of this, I inevitably think of a group. In this case, they have been erased from the establishment of independent division.


    The enemy''s shelling and bombing began again half an hour later. As the number of artillery and aircraft used by the enemy this time exceeded that of the last time, the vicinity of the observation post was also affected. The dust raised by the blast comes on our faces, so that those of us who stay in the room have to close our eyes and cover our noses, so as not to let the dust fall into our eyes or into our nostrils.


    In the sound of the explosion, the ground trembled violently like chaff. In addition to the dust coming in from the window, the sand from the ceiling also plummeted down. As bombs or shells continue to explode near us, I can''t help but worry that a bomb or shell that deviates from the direction will hit our observation post and cause the danger of collapse.


    Because of the smoke outside the window, even the sun in the sky is blocked. Only when we are lucky, can we vaguely see a round bright spot hanging in the air, occasionally casting a light from the smoke.


    The enemy''s aircraft dropped and ran out of bombs and bullets, flapping away. Although the enemy''s artillery no longer bombarded our army''s forward positions, they began to extend their fire to bombard the factory buildings in the distant factory area, and the armored forces that were ready to go took the opportunity to rush up.


    I don''t know whether our artillery has run out of shells or moved their positions. This time, trakov didn''t give orders to the artillery to open fire. As the German tanks stormed towards our forward position, they were followed by teams of armored vehicles and sporadic tricycles.


    The German tanks learned a lesson this time. They stopped more than 200 meters away from our forward position, suppressed our heavy firepower with artillery fire, covered the infantry coming down from the armored personnel carriers behind, and launched an attack on our position.


    The enemy''s tactics were obviously expected by our commanders and fighters. Perhaps because the German bombardment had not stopped, there were not many troops in the trenches except a few observation posts. In the face of the swarming infantry, sporadic firing on the position is of no help at all. In less than three minutes, the enemy rushed through the first trench and continued to go deep.


    Seeing that the enemy easily broke through our army''s position, trikov was so angry that he cursed loudly: "hell, hell, what happened to the 37th division of the guards? It was so easy for the Germans to break through our defense line. When the battle is over, I will personally send the commander who sticks to this defense line to the military court. "


    The German army, which broke through our first line of defense, didn''t rush far. Before they got close to the river, a building with only two stories left collapsed suddenly fired a lot of bullets. The German soldiers who were charging forward were suddenly knocked down. At the same time, two adjacent windows on the first floor emitted a stream of white smoke at the same time, and I immediately determined that the anti tank guns hidden inside were firing.


    The two anti tank guns had a good sight. They both hit the target. A shell hit a tank in front of it, directly lifted the shell of the tank, and the naked body was soon surrounded by fire. The other shot hit an armored car in the back. The front half of the car was blown to pieces, and the rest was soon surrounded by fire.


    There seemed to be a large number of defenders in the building. Seeing that the attacking enemy was suppressed by our firepower, we immediately launched a counter charge. Hundreds of commanders and soldiers rushed out of the building, in the trenches and beside the cliffs by the river, carrying weapons and rushing to the enemy without hesitation.


    When I saw this unit charging, I found that there were not only soldiers in Khaki Uniform, but also sailors in black navy uniform and militia in civilian clothes. In addition to the submachine guns, machine guns and rifles in the army, there are also the old-fashioned rifles with long bayonets used in the October Revolution to attack the eastern palace. Many militia and sailors have no weapons at all, but bravely rush to the enemy with an engineering shovel or a grenade.


    Although the enemy''s tanks were just a few hundred meters away, when they saw the counterattack troops that were soon entangled with their own soldiers, they were afraid to hurt their own people, so they did not dare to fire any more. The German soldiers, who had lost the cover of artillery fire, were badly beaten by our surprise counterattack and had to fight and retreat to the first line of defense they had just broken through.


    As the German army advanced too fast, it did not consolidate its defense in the first trench at all, so it could not hold on to the defeat and had to retreat to the tank line in the distance. The officers and soldiers of the guard division and the militia quickly entered the trench and, relying on their familiar fortifications, opened fire on the retreating German soldiers.


    The second attack of the German army was repulsed again, but they did not withdraw far. They only withdrew 500 or 600 meters and then stopped. I just thought that when the Germans did this, there might be some conspiracy. The extended fire shrank back and fell back on the front position of our army.


    Seeing this, trakov relaxed instead. He put down his telescope and said with disapproval, "Comrade oshanina, you can''t see that the enemy is fierce, but their playing style is too rigid. It''s impossible to use big guns to blow up airplanes first, and then tanks to cover the infantry charge. " At this point, he pointed to the smoke of the battlefield in the distance, confidently said: "there are now bricks and stones and craters of large and small, the mobility of German tanks is limited, so they can only rely on infantry to charge. I believe that our commanders and fighters can stop the enemy. "


    Trakov''s judgment was accurate. In the next few hours, all the German attacks on the tractor factory were defeated.


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was already one o''clock at noon. From morning till now, I have been eating rice without sticking my teeth. I am hungry. After much hesitation, he finally summoned up his courage and said to trikov, "Comrade commander, now that the enemy''s attack has stopped, they will bombard and bomb our army''s positions again. Why don''t we go back to the headquarters to have a rest and have something to eat?"


    Upon hearing this, trikov raised his hand, looked at his watch, nodded and agreed, "you''re right. It''s getting late. I should go back to the headquarters to learn about the war situation in other areas."


    As we were going out, he apologetically said to me, "Comrade o''shanina, you are hungry. In the morning, I wanted you to go to hogarsky''s place to eat Tula''s specialty. Unexpectedly, it was yellowed by the Germans. Now, when the enemy stops attacking, let''s go back to eat and come back later. "


    When I walked out of the building, I saw many people standing in the traffic ditch across the road. Seeing us coming out, one of them suddenly waved to me desperately. I fixed my eyes on basmanov, the commander of my guard battalion. He and the soldiers of the guard platoon are staying in the traffic ditch across the road. The entrance of the traffic moat is only seven or eight meters away from the exit of the building. It''s only a few steps away. Just as I was about to move forward, someone suddenly called trakov at the back: "Comrade commander, please wait a moment." I turned my head and saw that the operator who ran out of the building was the one who had just come. He came up to trekov and whispered something in his ear. Trekov kept nodding his head as he listened. At this time, suddenly someone was not far away shouting: "air raid, air raid!" Hearing the cry, I quickly looked up into the air and saw an enemy dive bomber hovering over us. I stared nervously at the enemy plane in the air, and at the same time, I cried out to trikov, "Comrade commander, we have enemy planes. Hide." Trikov looked up and said lightly, "it''s OK. Just an enemy plane. It won''t find us." Then he continued to talk to the operator. The German pilot did not know whether it was the blind cat that killed the mouse, or whether he found two big targets below. After circling twice in the air, he suddenly dived down to us. Seeing the dive of the enemy plane, I was scared out of my wits. As soon as I caught trakov, I pulled him out. At the same time, I cried out in a panic: "commander, the enemy is coming, run Trekov seems to have noticed the enemy''s dive as well. After two steps, he overtook me. But he still held my hand tightly and took me to the traffic ditch not far away. Almost the moment we jumped into the traffic ditch, there was an earth shaking explosion behind us.

 Chapter 743

    Almost at the same time when the explosion sounded, I felt something hit me heavily in the back of my head. The huge inertia took me forward and fell into the traffic ditch. Just as my eyes were black and Venus was popping up, I suddenly felt that something was constantly falling on me. Although the movement is not small, but there is no pain, according to my experience, it should be caused by the explosion of the waves of soil fell all over.


    At this time, I suddenly heard the voice of a boiling crowd: "come on, the commander is buried!"


    As soon as I heard a disordered sound of footsteps from far to near, my hands on the ground were caught, and then a huge force led me to stand up from the ground. When I leaned back against the trench wall, I found that it was basmanov and another soldier who pulled me up.


    I took a long breath and gave basmanov a smile. Just as I wanted to say a few words of thanks to him, he had already preempted and asked, "are you OK, sir?"


    I turned around and looked at the place where I had just stayed. I was immediately frightened. A huge floor was across the traffic ditch, and the edge of the floor was parallel to the ground. Seeing this, I was scared out of my wits. If someone was down there, wouldn''t they be smashed into meat sauce by this huge floor? Although there are several commanders and fighters there now, I still pointed there and said nervously to basmanov in a trembling voice, "hurry up, save people. The commander is still down there."


    Basmanov rushed behind, waved and ran with some soldiers. Due to the narrow space of the traffic trench, many soldiers jumped out, found sticks and lifted them with their hands, trying to move the huge wall away.


    At this time, I heard the voice of major gladeshev, the commander of the security battalion of LARCOM, who was shouting: "be careful, everyone. Comrade commander is still down there. Be careful. Don''t hurt him."


    With everyone''s efforts, the wall was slowly moved to one side, and then I heard a soldier cheering: "see the commander, I see the commander."


    Hearing his cry, Gladyshev quickly went over and asked, "where is Comrade commander?"


    The soldier pointed to the deformed traffic ditch and said, "Comrade major, look, comrade commander is there. He is buried in the mud."


    After crouching down and looking at it for a moment, Gladyshev stood up and told the soldiers on the left and right in a loud voice, "what are you doing here? Don''t you hurry up and dig out Comrade commander! "


    "Come on! Come on... Be careful! Take your legs out. "


    "Get your legs out first!"


    "Be careful, be careful... Be careful, be careful,"


    I stood nearby. Due to the occlusion of my sight, I couldn''t see what was going on there. I only heard a series of shouts from different commanders and fighters. My whole heart was raised to my throat, for fear that something might happen to trikov. If that happens, the next battle will be impossible.


    But I soon saw Gladyshev, with his back to me, bending down towards the ruins, and soon he pulled a man out of the ruins. Then two more soldiers came forward, carrying the man''s feet towards us. As they passed me, I saw the person they were carrying. Though they were covered with dust, I recognized that it was trakov. I asked Gladyshev nervously, "major, how''s comrade commander?"


    Gladyshev looked at me and replied solemnly, "Comrade commander is still alive." With that, he stopped, adjusted his posture, put his hands under his arms, crossed his chest, and continued to carry him to the direction of the headquarters with the other two soldiers.


    When they were gone, basmanov came to me again and asked with concern, "are you really OK, sir?"


    I shook my head, said with a wry smile: "I''m ok, just a little dizzy." With that, I waved my head at him. "Come on, follow major gradshev, and we''ll go back to the headquarters, too."


    We followed gradshev and came to the headquarters along the traffic ditch. When we saw that trakov had been carried in, I stopped and said to basmanov, "Comrade captain, you and the soldiers in the guard platoon are looking for a place to hide nearby. If there is anything, I will call you." After he nodded to show that he understood, I got into the half buried headquarters.


    When I got back to the headquarters, both gulov and krailov were startled by my dignity. Gurov quickly came over and took my hand. He turned to look at trekov sitting at the table and asked tentatively, "Comrade oshanina, are you buried in the collapsed wall like the commander?"


    I nodded and replied with a smile, "yes, comrade military Commissar." At this point, I squinted at trakov and said, "fortunately we''re all OK."


    At this time, the slow coming trikov asked slowly, "Comrade chief of staff, report me the latest information."


    Krailov came up to trakov with one, bowed his head and reported to him, "well, comrade commander. Under the cover of powerful firepower, the enemy''s three infantry divisions and two tank divisions launched a fierce attack on the defense line of our group army on the front line about six kilometers wide. The defense zones of our 95th, 112th, 308th and 37th infantry divisions are the key points of the enemy''s attack. In addition to the losses in previous battles, the forces of our divisions, especially the 95th and 112th infantry divisions, have been greatly weakened. At present, the enemy has the advantage of occupying the battlefield. In terms of personnel and artillery, it is more than 0.7 times that of me, 2.8 times that of tanks, and more than 4 times that of combat aircraft.


    German infantry and tanks attacked our position at 8 a.m. The first attack was repulsed and 10 tanks were burning in the front of the position. The death and injury of the enemy are numerous. More than an hour later, the enemy attacked again with more troops. Because the enemy found our firepower point in the first attack, they concentrated their artillery fire and focused their fire. The powerful firepower suppressed us and made our commanders and fighters unable to raise their heads in the position.


    At 10 am, the 109th regiment of the 37th division was defeated by enemy tanks and infantry. The soldiers of the regiment got into the basement and buildings and continued to fight in the encirclement. The enemy used a flamethrower against them. Our soldiers have to fight back and fight with the enemy, while they seize the time to put out the fire. "


    Krailov is in the process of reporting. Suddenly, gradshev comes in with a military doctor carrying a small suitcase. Gurov quickly raises his hand and interrupts him, indicating to let the military doctor examine trakov first. The military doctor''s action is very skilled, it didn''t take a few minutes to complete the examination.


    When he packed his suitcase and planned to leave, gurov stopped him, pointed to me and said to him, "Comrade military doctor, comrade oshanina, like the commander, has just been buried in the collapsed house. Please check for her to see if there is any problem."


    The military doctor nodded, walked up to me, let me sit on the stool, turned up my eyelids, took a flashlight, and asked casually, "Comrade General, what''s wrong with you?" Although he was very polite, there was an obvious impatience in his tone.


    I wanted to send him away immediately, but thinking that my head was still dizzy, I told him straightforwardly, "Comrade military doctor, my head was hit by a brick and stone just now, and now I''m a little dizzy."


    Listen to me so say, originally absent-minded military doctor also nervous up, quickly asked: "hit in which position?"


    I took off my helmet, pointed to the back of my head and said, "here it is!"


    The military doctor quickly pasted it over and touched my hair to carefully check whether there was any wound on it. After a while, he said in a relaxed tone: "Comrade General, your head is not bleeding. It may be a slight concussion. Just have a rest for two days."


    Although the examination process of the military doctor was very simple, even perfunctory, since he said it was ok, I felt at ease. I quickly took the helmet in my left hand, stretched out my right hand to shake hands with him, and said gratefully, "thank you, comrade military doctor."


    "My God, comrade oshanina." I don''t know when gurov came up to me. He looked at my helmet in surprise and said, "what''s the matter with your helmet? How can there be such a big dent?"


    Listen to guroff say so, I quickly put the helmet in front of me. If you don''t look at it, you will be shocked. There is a fist like dent in the back half of the helmet, which is probably hit by the falling brick. Fortunately, I''m very lucky. If I hit the part without helmet, such as the back neck, otherwise I might have gone to see Marx.


    When the military doctor saw such a big dent on his helmet, he was no longer as casual as he had just been. He took out some medicines from his suitcase and handed them to me. Just as he was about to give instructions, there was a huge roar outside. Hearing this sudden movement, the military doctor couldn''t help muttering: "damn the Krauts, they are shelling again."


    I took the medicine handed to me by the military doctor and found that it was just ordinary aspirin, but I still tried to squeeze a smile on my face to thank the military doctor. The military doctor responded politely to me and picked up his suitcase again.


    At this moment, Gladyshev rushed in from the outside with a disheartened face and yelled to gurov, "Comrade commander and military commissar, no good! One of the enemy''s bombs fell down and collapsed our two shelters, burying all the commanders and fighters hiding inside. I''ve asked the soldiers of the guard company to dig earth and rescue them. "


    After gulov heard this, he said to the military doctor who was carrying a small suitcase, "Comrade military doctor, since that''s the case, you should follow the major to have a look and try your best to repair the wounded officers and soldiers."


    After the military doctor and Gladyshev left, krailov continued to report: "I received a report at 11 o''clock that the left wing of the 112th Infantry Division was broken through, and about 50 German tanks ran over the division''s defensive position. Comrade commander, as you know, the Division has gone through all kinds of hardships and dangers and participated in many battles on the West Bank of the Don river, on the Don river, between the Don River and Volga River. By October 13, there were only less than a thousand soldiers left in the division, headed by the division commander, Colonel yermorkin. At present, they form small and scattered units and garrison units, and continue to fight bravely against the enemy in the isolated buildings, in the workshop of the tractor factory, in the town of Niger and on the steep slopes of the Volga River.


    At 1150 hours, the enemy occupied the stadium of the Stalingrad tractor factory. Deeply wedged into my defensive position, less than one kilometer away from the tractor factory. To the south of the stadium is a stone building. A place called six side block has become the support point of our army. It was guarded by a battalion of the 109th regiment of the guards, equipped with artillery. The block has changed hands several times. Chief omelichenko personally led the small anti shock forces to fight with the enemy. "


    At this point, a radio operator not far away suddenly took off his earphone and yelled at krailov, "chief of staff, general rojimzev, the commander of the 13th division of the guards. He said that he had something important to report to you."


    Krailov didn''t go to the operator right away, but waved at me. When I was over, he thrust the telegraph paper in his hand and on the desk into my hand and simply said, "Comrade o''shanina, now it''s up to you to read the war report we received to the commander." Then he turned to answer the phone. I laughed bitterly, flipped the telegram, and began to read for trekov: "the 37th division of the guard infantry reports that the German devils are sending out tanks everywhere to attack... Our tanks are fighting in the annanyevo area, injuring four of them, while near Tkachenko, injuring two, and the guards of the 2nd Battalion of the 118th regiment destroy two. The 3rd Battalion was holding its position along the gully, but the tank column had advanced into jantalnaya. The artillery of the 37th division of the guards reported: "we fired directly at the tanks and destroyed five of them." Comrade brushko, chief of staff of the 37th division of the guards, reported to the headquarters of the group army: "the guards of pushtavgarov (the 114th regiment of the guards), separated by the enemy''s tanks, formed small teams, stuck in the buildings and ruins, and fought in the enemy''s encirclement. The enemy tanks were pounding a battalion in ananyevo. All the officers and men of the sixth company of the battalion under the command of lieutenant Ivanov and instructor yerushmovich of the guards were killed, and only some correspondents survived. " At 12:00, a report came from the 117th regiment of the guards by radio: "commander Andreyev died. The enemy surrounded us. We would rather die than surrender."¡° That''s enough. Don''t read it When I just read this, trakov slapped the table and stood up and said in a loud voice, "the head of the 117 regiment of jinweidi has died. If the soldiers are killed again, that regiment will have to cancel its organizational system. Immediately send a telegram to the division headquarters of the 37th division of the guards and ask them to send reinforcements immediately. "

 Chapter 744

    After hearing the order from trakov, krailov, who had just finished the call, came up and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, which regiment should we call to send troops to reinforce?"


    When krailov said this, not only trakov but also I was stunned. What''s the matter? Krailov is not a new recruit. Doesn''t he know that as long as he calls the division headquarters of the 37th division, the division''s commander, ruolu Geoff, will naturally arrange to send reinforcements. Moreover, this is a telegram sent more than an hour ago. It is uncertain whether the 117th regiment of the guards will survive the German siege.


    After a moment''s silence, it was trekov who asked me the question I wanted to know: "Comrade chief of staff, what''s the matter? Why should we step over the division level leadership and give orders directly to the regiment?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Krailov spread his hands and said with a bitter smile: "after I received this telegram, I immediately contacted general roluev, but I couldn''t get in touch. I sent lieutenant commander Wei yinlubu to the headquarters of the division. Only then did I know that the enemy''s dive bombers bombed the headquarters of the 37th division of Jinwei at 1230 hours. The commander of the division, general ruolujaf, and members of the headquarters of other divisions were buried in the shelter. Wei yinlubu immediately organized people to rescue the buried general and his subordinates. "


    On hearing this shocking news, trakov jumped up from his seat, grabbed Krylov''s arm and asked nervously, "what''s the matter now? Has anyone been rescued?"


    Krailov shook his head and said regretfully, "not yet." Seeing the despairing expression on trikov''s face, he quickly added, "but lieutenant colonel weinlub has already taken measures. He arranged to find a metal tube and insert it into the shelter to deliver air to it, so as not to be suffocated by the people trapped below."


    When krailov finished speaking, trakov said thoughtfully: "judging from the current situation, the situation of the 37th division of the guards is very bad. I don''t think the other regiments can send extra troops to reinforce the 117th regiment. The total strength of the 112th division, which cooperated with them, was only 600. After fighting for such a long time, it is estimated that there are not many left. Chief of staff, "heard his cry, the unknown kreilov quickly agreed. Trekov looked at him and then asked, "do we have any reserves we can use?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." After krailov finished this sentence, he suddenly turned his eyes to me, and then said with some embarrassment, "there is a regiment under Comrade o''shanina, who is now waiting in the vicinity of the tractor factory. I think if you don''t mind, I''m going to send them to rescue the 117th regiment. Where they are hiding, there is our radio station, and you can talk to them directly. "


    "What are you hesitating about, comrade chief of staff? Connect their radio station immediately and assign the task." After looking at me, trakov gave an order to Krylov.


    After krailov left, trakov said to me in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the situation now? You know as well as I do. If you can''t save the 117th guards regiment, their regiment will be canceled, and the important position will be lost. So I ask you to make it clear to your subordinates when you get in touch with them later. "


    After contacting the regiment, krailov turned his head and called to trikov: "Comrade commander, you have contacted the troops. Do you want to give them the task in person?" Trekov pointed to me with his hand and said, "let oshanina talk. After all, these are her subordinates."


    Hearing this, I quickly went to the phone, put on my earphone, took a deep breath, and said loudly to the transmitter, "Hello, I''m oshanina. Who''s calling?"


    Then a familiar voice came from the earphone: "Mr. reporter, I''m a team leader. Do you have any instructions?"


    "Comrade commander," I said solemnly, "the situation is like this. The regimental headquarters of the 117th regiment of the guards, who are holding fast to the tractor factory, are now under siege by the enemy, and their leader has died. I now order you to immediately draw out a battalion and, under the guidance of the guide, rush to rescue them. " Speaking of this, it suddenly occurred to me that every regiment of the guards division seems to have its own flag. If it is lost, even if the regiment''s organizational system is complete, it will not be able to escape the fate of being withdrawn. So I specially told Xie jielikov: "even if the commanders and fighters in the regiment headquarters are sacrificed when you arrive, you should keep their regiment''s flag at all costs, Do you understand? "


    "I see, sir." "I will send the second battalion with the strongest fighting capacity to carry out this glorious and arduous task," he replied in a smooth voice


    Second battalion, when I heard the name, I hesitated for a moment, and then denied his decision: "no, this kind of task can never send second battalion. You know captain Karpov''s people account for half of the battalion. I don''t want them to have any loss."


    After a moment''s silence, shijerikov said again, "well, in that case, I''ll send a battalion. Their combat effectiveness is not weak, and I believe that there should be no problem in rescuing the 117th guards regiment. "


    "In that case, I wish you good luck!" After that, I didn''t wait for him to say anything more, so I took off the earphone and threw it to the operator together with the transmitter.


    "Comrade oshanina, you are very considerate. Even if all the officers and men in the regiment headquarters are killed when the reinforcements arrive, the flag of the guards must be kept. " After praising me, trakov began to turn the topic to the second battalion. However, he obviously misunderstood my intention of not sending the second battalion to attack. Based on his judgment, he said to himself, "after Karpov''s troops were incorporated into the second battalion, although the combat effectiveness of the troops has been improved, these new commanders and fighters are still very worrying politically, If they have any problems on the battlefield, it will be difficult to control the situation. "


    As soon as trikov said this, major Gladyshev ran in again from the outside. Gulov, who had never said a word, raised his head and asked, "what''s the matter, comrade major? Have all the buried commanders and fighters been dug out?"


    Gladyshev nodded, but said bitterly: "most of them were dug out. Four were sacrificed and eleven were injured. Another captain''s leg was crushed by the fallen log. The comrades tried to move the log away. At this moment, the debris fell down and heavily pressed on the captain''s leg. Seeing that he was in danger, the captain begged his comrades to cut off or saw off his leg. But who has the heart to do it, so we are still trying to cure him. "


    "Nonsense, it''s nonsense." Gurov angrily scolded. I don''t know whether he was scolding the officers and men involved in the rescue for being too stupid or the buried captain for being too confused. He said to himself, "who can have the heart to do this to his comrades?" After that, he turned to look at trikov and said resolutely, "Comrade commander, I''ll go and have a look myself. I must try to rescue the captain in good condition."


    Without waiting for trakov to state his position, the flustered Gladyshev persuaded gurov: "Comrade military commissar, you can''t go. Outside, the enemy''s cannons are still shooting and the planes are constantly bombing. It''s too dangerous. "


    "Go, comrade military Commissar." Instead of paying attention to gradshev, trakov said to gurov in a calm voice, "I believe you will be able to save the captain after you go."


    After gurov left with Gladyshev, trakov seemed to think of something he had just neglected. He quickly asked krailov, "Comrade chief of staff, general rojmtsev of the 13th division of the guards is calling you. Is there anything important?"


    "General rodimzev reported that the German army had assembled more than 20 tanks and about two battalions and launched a charge from the square on January 9 towards the defensive area of the 13th division of the guards. After a fierce battle, rodimzev and his men succeeded in fighting back the enemy''s attack. "


    Trikov seemed numb to the bad news. He just nodded slightly and said with a smile, "chief of staff, can you find a way to get us something to eat? I haven''t eaten for a long time with Comrade oshanina."


    "Ah, you haven''t eaten yet?" Krailov quickly called a soldier and told him: "Comrade soldier, go to the cooking class immediately to see if you can find something to eat."


    After watching the soldier trot away, trekov turned to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, keep reading those telegrams."


    I quickly picked up the stack of telegrams that had just been put on the table and began to read to trikov: "the 308th infantry regiment of gudyev reported that the enemy''s tanks were coming towards our position from the north, and the fighting was extremely fierce. Our artillery aimed directly at the enemy''s tanks. The casualties suffered by our department mainly came from the bombing and strafing of enemy planes, so we implore the group army to contact the air force to drive away the thieves for us. "


    After reading the telegram, there was no change in trekov''s face, as if he had not heard it at all. But I know in my heart that it is not that he does not want the air force to support the troops we are fighting hard, but that our air force can not be deployed at all.


    "Any report on artillery?" I was hesitating whether I should continue to read on, when trakov suddenly asked faintly: "don''t want hogarsky''s report, I want to hear the report from the artillery commanders and fighters below."


    "Just a moment, comrade commander. I''ll look for it. " I flurried through the telegraph in my hand, looking for what trikov was interested in. After turning over more than ten pages, I finally saw a telegram related to artillery. After briefly browsing the contents above, I immediately reported to him: "one was sent by the artillery company of the 95th infantry division in gorishne."


    "Read it." Trekov said briefly.


    "Lieutenant Vasili vladimirovitch vladimirovitch, commander of the third company of the artillery company of the 95th infantry division in gorishne, reported that this fine morning began with the sound of a landslide. I am the one we have never met before. Hundreds of planes were buzzing in the air, with bombs and shells exploding everywhere. Clouds of smoke and dust enveloped the sky. It''s breathless. We all know that the German aggressors have launched a strong attack again. Telephone communication was soon cut off. The soldiers risked their lives at any time, went to the cannon and fired rows of shells. Because of the enemy''s bombing and strafing, there were only two or three men left in each gun. Nevertheless, we have not wavered. Deputy company commander yasiko was buried in the earth and many people were deafened. Bombing and strafing continued. There was a sea of fire and dust all around. Casualties and equipment are being destroyed, but we are still shooting and shooting. "


    "Very tenacious, yes, the commanders and fighters are very tenacious." After listening to this telegram, krailov said to trikov with deep feeling: "Comrade commander, if we have such commanders and fighters, the enemy will never be able to defeat us." While they were talking, the soldier who went to the cooking class to help us find food came back. Panting, he ran in and came to us. After raising his hand and saluting, he put the aluminum lunch box on the table and turned back to his post. Trekov pulled the lunch box up to him and said to himself, "this lunch box is very hot. I don''t know what''s in it." When he opened the lunch box and took a look inside, his eyes suddenly brightened and he exclaimed excitedly, "it''s amazing. It''s dumplings." Dumplings, when I heard this word, I was stunned again. Isn''t this the traditional food of the Chinese dynasty? When did it spread here again? However, I saw that the dumplings that trakov handed to me were indeed dumplings, but the shape was far less beautiful than that of the Chinese dynasty. Trekov also warmly called me: "o''shanina, you are hungry. Eat quickly." I see that there are only about ten dumplings in the lunch box. I''m sorry to compete with trekov. I only twist one carefully, put it to my mouth and nibble it gently. This bite, immediately know that the original is mashed potatoes. Maybe I''m a little hungry. It tastes good. Seeing that I began to eat, trekov also twisted one. Before putting it into his mouth, he asked me curiously, "what''s your filling?"¡° Mashed potatoes. " I replied briefly. After taking a bite of the dumpling in his hand, trikov chuckled twice and said to me triumphantly, "my luck is better than you. My dumpling is made of mutton." Said, two swallowed, and then picked up one from the lunch box.

 Chapter 745

    I ate another three or four dumplings, both mashed potatoes and mutton. Because I was very hungry, I ate very fast, but I was fast, and trekov''s hand was not slow. In less than two minutes, there were only two dumplings left in the lunch box. When I hesitated to eat another one, I suddenly heard someone shouting: "Comrade commander."


    Trekov and I turned our heads and looked in the direction of the sound. There was a commander, wet and covered with mud, wearing a cornice hat and a general''s coat, stumbling down the steps and coming towards us. I can''t recognize him at all, because the man''s face is covered with dirt just like the one when he was dug out.


    The comer came to trakov''s side, reached out his hands, grasped his arm, shook it vigorously, and said in a loud voice: "commander, it''s painful. My 37th division of guards is in the battle. As long as there is one person left, we will never retreat!" Then he covered his cheek and sat down at the table.


    Although I still haven''t seen his face clearly so far, from what he said, I have judged that he is major general ruolu Geoff, the commander of the 37th division of the guards. Trekov obviously recognized the man. He took a look at ruolu Geoff, who was sitting at the table. Then he handed me his lunch box and asked, "would you like some more?"


    In the process of trakov handing over the lunch box, I had already seen the dumplings covered with dust. Nine times out of ten, ruolugeoff shook the dust in when he just caught trakov shaking. Although my stomach is still groaning at the moment, it''s really hard for me to swallow the dusty dumplings. So I had to pretend that I was already full, and said politely to trikov with a smile, "thank you, comrade commander. I''m full."


    Trikov saw that I didn''t want to eat any more, so he grabbed the dumplings left in the lunch box, put them into his mouth, and swallowed them a few times. When he finished eating, he put the lunch box on the table, lowered his head and asked ruolu Geoff with concern: "Comrade ruolu Geoff, have all the people in the division been rescued?"


    Ruolugeoff shook his head and said bitterly, "my chief of staff died and the commissar was seriously injured. Three of the operational and intelligence staff officers in the headquarters died and seven injured. "


    At this time, there may be a shell landed near us and exploded, and the soil on the ceiling crashed down. Trikov just looked up and said, "Comrade ruolugeoff, the situation here is not much better. Half an hour ago, I was buried in the ground with the commander of the independent division, comrade oshanina. Right now, there are two hidden departments outside that have been blown down by enemy bombs. The headquarters is organizing people to rescue them. "


    Krailov suddenly ran over from the telephone. He didn''t care to say hello to roluev, so he said to trikov in a hurry: "Comrade commander, no, our telephone communication with all the troops has been interrupted. Only the radio station is working, but the signal is unstable, intermittent and sometimes not. I suggest that communication personnel should be sent immediately to all units to make contact, so as to ensure smooth command. "


    After a moment''s deliberation, trikov said helplessly, "well, chief of staff, it seems that we can only do this. You immediately send the headquarters'' signalmen or staff officers to convey the headquarters'' orders to all units as soon as possible. The order is simple: hold fast and never step back. "


    "I understand!" After a brief reply, Krylov rushed out of the headquarters.


    With the passage of time, the German attack not only did not weaken, but also showed signs of strengthening. By three o''clock in the afternoon, the enemy''s tanks had deeply wedged into our defensive positions and advanced to the tractor factory and "barricade" factory areas. Although the troops holding fast to the area were not complete, they still fought bravely in the encirclement and restrained the enemy''s actions. We learned from the telegrams we received that they used firepower to cut off the contact between the enemy infantry and tanks, so that the enemy tanks could not move forward without the cooperation of the infantry and became the living targets of our artillery and anti tank gunners. However, even so, the enemy tanks still broke into the front of the group army command post, only 300 meters away from us.


    After hearing the bad news, trakov told gradshev, who had just returned with gurov: "Comrade major, I order you to immediately lead the guard battalion of the headquarters into battle. If the enemy gets closer, we will fight with the German tanks. Now there is no other way. We can''t retreat any more. Otherwise, we will lose some of our last communication and command equipment. "


    After receiving his order, gladeshev only agreed, but stood still. Trikov looked at him strangely and asked, "Comrade major, what are you doing here if you don''t carry out the order?"


    When he heard the commander''s question, he turned his eyes to me and said hesitantly, "when general oshanina came, he also brought a guard platoon. I don''t know if they also took part in the battle."


    "Comrade major, it''s natural." The enemy is approaching the headquarters, and trekov''s guard camp is going to work hard. Can my guard platoon still stay in the trench and stand by? So I couldn''t talk to trekov, so I took the initiative to say, "put them in your guard camp, too. These soldiers are veterans who have participated in many battles. With their participation, they will be more confident of blocking the enemy''s attack. "


    But when the guard battalion of the headquarters went to meet the incoming German troops, the radio communication with the outside world began to gradually recover. First of all, there was good news. The commander of the 84th tank brigade, Colonel berey, reported to trikov, "Comrade commander, there are 10 tanks of our brigade hidden in the park of sculipturne. The task I assigned them was not to counter attack, but to ambush in case the German army broke through. Just a moment ago, German tanks flooded into sculiptur Park, where they were ambushed. Our tankers hit the German tanks hard with all their bullets. After paying the price of destroying ten and injuring seven, the enemy has retreated in confusion. "


    Although Colonel berey has brought us good news, the fighting outside the headquarters is not optimistic. Gladyshev sent people to report that although the enemy had been hit by our powerful firepower, they were still pushing forward regardless of heavy casualties. At the moment, they were less than 200 meters away from the headquarters.


    When I heard the bad news, I quietly removed the bullet clip of the submachine gun and checked the bullets in it. If the Germans rush in later, this submachine gun will be much better than a pistol. The last encounter with the German army at mamayev post, there were also gun holes in the trenches where they could hide. Here, unless they jumped into the Volga River to escape, they would only be captured or killed.


    When I was ready for all the fighting, I suddenly heard a radio operator shouting: "Comrade commander, there is a wireless phone from the 117 th regiment of the guards."


    As soon as I heard this number, I immediately remembered that I had just sent a battalion of a regiment to rescue them. Now that they have called, it is estimated that they have successfully extricated themselves. If krailov is there, he must be on the line. But he wasn''t there at the moment, so we all looked at trakov and waited for him to answer the phone.


    I didn''t expect that trikov raised his chin at me and said in a flat tone: "Comrade o''shanina, you can answer this call. Maybe it''s from your subordinates."


    I nodded, went to the operator''s side, put on the earphone, and said loudly to the transmitter, "Hello, I''m major general o''xia Nina, the independent division commander. Who are you?"


    After a moment''s silence, a familiar voice came from the earphone: "it''s me, sir. I''m Elijah


    "It''s commander Elia." the one who talked to me was commander Elia, the deputy head of the regiment. Since he talked to me, it seems that the encirclement of the 117th regiment of the guards has been solved¡° What''s the situation? Have you rescued the officers and men of the 117th regiment of the guards? "


    "Don''t worry, sir." Elia said confidently: "the guards have not been destroyed by the enemy. When we arrived, there were at least hundreds of dead German pirates lying near the regiment headquarters, while our guards continued to fight the enemy tenaciously. After our battalion arrived, we attacked the friendly troops at the command post of the regiment and wiped out all the attacking enemies. "


    "Well done!" After praising him, I asked, "how are the casualties in your battalion?"


    "A battalion commander and another company commander died, 71 people died and 153 people were injured. However, the organizational structure of the unit is relatively complete and can continue to fight."


    After listening to the report of lieutenant commander Elia, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. I didn''t expect that the first battalion had just been fighting for more than an hour, but it had to be reduced by two companies. I quickly told him, "Comrade lieutenant commander, I order you to take over the command of the 117th regiment of the guards immediately and lead the troops to continue to stick to it. Remember, as long as there is still one person in the field, the position can never be lost... "


    Before I said anything, suddenly a hand reached out from the side and grabbed my hand holding the transmitter. Then a low male voice sounded in my ear: "Comrade o''shanina, please let me say a few words to the commander of the 117 th regiment of the guards."


    When I looked around, I found that the speaker was ruolu Geoff, the division commander of the 37th division of Jinwei. I immediately remembered that I was staying in the headquarters, not the division headquarters of the independent division. I arbitrarily appointed my subordinates as the commander of the friendly forces, but I had committed a big military taboo.


    I quickly took off the earphone and handed it to ruolu Geoff. At the same time, I gave a guilty look at trekov not far away. But trekov looked as usual, as if he didn''t approve of my good ideas. I''ll take another look at ruolu Geoff. He took the earphone I handed him, put it on his head as if nothing had happened, and said to the transmitter, "Hello, comrade commander, I''m major general ruolu Geoff, the division commander of the close guard division. Please let the commander of the regiment answer the phone. I have something to tell them."


    When I heard that, I was speculating in my heart what he would say, so I listened carefully. After a while, there seemed to be a sound coming from the earphone, because the gunfire outside was too loud. Even if I was so close, I couldn''t hear what was said inside. If you are the chief of staff of the 117 regiment, that would be great. I''m the division commander, general roluev. Now I''d like to announce an appointment to you. From this moment on, lieutenant commander Ilya from the independent division will officially assume the post of head of your regiment. Do you understand? "


    If ludev would agree with my arrangement, it was really beyond my expectation. As soon as he put down the earphone and the transmitter, I quickly reached out and took his hand, shaking it vigorously and saying gratefully, "thank you, thank you, Comrade General."


    The other side shook hands with me and said with a smile: "Comrade o''shanina, I should thank you. In today''s battle, not only the soldiers of the 117th regiment suffered heavy casualties, but also the commanders at all levels were reduced by half. Thank you for adding such an excellent commander to our division. " When I came back to the table, trekov and gurov gave me a look of approval. It seemed that they also agreed with my temporary appointment. When I politely responded to them with a smile, I was also complaining in my heart. It seems that my camp will be destroyed soon. The German troops who rushed to the headquarters did not succeed in the end. After they were tenaciously obstructed by the guard camp of the headquarters, they had to drop pieces of corpses and retreat in ashes. When I heard this news, I breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the Germans didn''t know that this was the headquarters of the group army. Otherwise, they would have to concentrate their heavy troops to attack here. At that time, we would be faced with an end of burning jade and stone. In the evening, krailov returned to the headquarters, and at the same time, the contact with the various units of the group army almost returned to normal. At this time, we got a relatively complete battle report. Krailov read aloud to us with a stack of war reports he had received: "in the defense of the tractor factory and the" barricade "factory, many workers'' detachments and units fought together until they ran out of ammunition and food, and finally all died in their own positions. In these detachment of Stalingrad workers, there were participants in the defense war of tsarizin during the civil war, most of them were Communists. This afternoon, the workers'' detachment defending the tractor factory and the "barricade" factory launched a fierce battle against the approaching enemy advance detachment. The 112th division of yermorkin and the 37th division of general roluev annihilated the enemy in the square in front of the factory and in the street leading to the factory. Together with the armed factory workers, gorishner, gurdyev and the 95th and 308th divisions, relying on the "barricade" factory workshop, severely attacked the enemy on the street leading to the factory. In the battle, they were supported by the 84th brigade of Colonel berey''s tank and successfully repelled the enemy''s attack. Now thousands of corpses lie in the square and streets, and dozens of burning and destroyed tanks block the streets and passages. However, there are still some scattered enemy units breaking into the Volga river bank, especially the river bank between factories. General hogarsky and the artillery he commanded did not leave the enemy a chance to take a foothold there. With the cooperation of the artillery fire on the East Bank of our army, the infantry of our army made a joint attack from both wings, and the enemy''s corpses were all over the ground and fled. " After listening to the telegram, gurov said excitedly, "great, it seems that we can beat back the enemy''s attack before dark, and completely eliminate the enemy wedged into our defensive position." Trekov''s mouth tilted upward. As he was about to speak, he was interrupted by krailov. He said solemnly: "Comrade military commissar, the situation is far from as simple as you think. Relying on the strong air assault force and the superiority of tanks and infantry, the enemy broke through our defense in some areas and consolidated their positions, resulting in our army being cut off. About 1.5 km between the tractor factory and the "barricade" factory was firmly controlled by the enemy. Enemy fire strafed all the gullies leading to genezhnaya vorozka, and our liaison officers were unable to cross the gullies to the tractor factory. Although we can clearly see the tuomen aircraft factory from our command post, we can''t see the fighting in the workshop. Fortunately, artillery has always been in our hands. At present, the only support we can provide to our soldiers is artillery fire. "

 Chapter 746

    The German attack lasted two days. As a result of the enemy''s powerful artillery and crazy bombing, following the destruction of the 37th division of general roluev''s guards, the 84th brigade of Colonel berey''s tanks and the 70th division of Colonel lyudnikov''s guards were also destroyed one after another.


    Having lost their command post, the commanders had to take shelter in the shelter of the headquarters, but as more and more commanders poured in, the shelter became more and more crowded. In order to accommodate the new commanders, trakov had to order several telephones to be moved to the adjacent shelter to make more space.


    Because these numerous commanders are in this shelter, they can only avoid shells and bombing, and have no way to command their own troops. Seeing this situation, trikov felt it necessary to evacuate the redundant personnel and departments to the other side of the river, so he immediately contacted the headquarters of the front army by radio.


    When trekov and yelimenko were talking, I was standing not far from him, so I could hear their conversation clearly: "Hello, dear Andre Ivanovich!" Trikov politely addressed each other by his own name and his father''s name.


    "Aha! So it''s comrade trakov, "yelomienko responded to him with the same warm voice," you call me at this time. What can I do for you? "


    "Well, comrade commander." "Because the enemy''s offensive was too fierce, many of our defensive positions were broken through by the German army, and the fighting was carried out several times near the headquarters of the group army," he said carefully. Therefore, I ask you to allow us to send some departments and personnel of the group army to the East Bank of the Volga River to set up a reserve headquarters. Of course, my premise is that all the committees of the Military Commission remain in the city. The purpose of doing so is just in case, even if the headquarters of the group army in the city is destroyed by the German army, the reserve headquarters can immediately take over the command and continue to command the troops remaining in the city. "


    "No, comrade trakov, I don''t agree!" Yelolmenko, who had been talking and laughing with trikov, suddenly said in a stern tone: "once the preparatory headquarters is established on the east bank, there is a possibility that the morale of the army will be shaken. At that time, your troops will be driven into the Volga River by the Germans like rabbits."


    After hearing yelimenko''s harsh words, trakov was silent for a moment and asked again: "Comrade commander, the main Artillery Force of our group army and all the artillery of the front army are on the East Bank of the Volga River. Can I send Comrade hogarski, the artillery commander of our group army, to cross the river alone? He can command the troops better on the east bank."


    As for trekov''s request, yelimenko also considered it for a while, and then reluctantly said: "well, I agree to let Comrade hogarsky come to the east bank to command the artillery, but his artillery observers must stay in the city to guide the direction of our artillery."


    "I see, comrade commander." With these words, trakov put down his transmitter and earphone with a gloomy look.


    He went up to the huddled commanders and coughed heavily. With his cough, the commanders who were still whispering suddenly quieted down. Trikov beckoned hogarsky to his face and said to him in a smooth voice, "Comrade hogarsky, I''m going to give you an arduous task. You immediately cross the river to the east bank, where you will direct our artillery and bombard the German army in the city. "


    Facing this good opportunity to leave Stalingrad, hogarsky was not rare at all. He even held up his tears and said to trikov: "Comrade commander, I''m not going... Where you are, I''ll be. If you want to die, I''ll die together..."


    When he heard that hogarsky was going to stay with him to live and die with him, trakov''s eyes turned red. In order to hide his inner excitement, he quickly walked to the table, picked up a stack of telegrams, sniffed, turned around and said loudly to the commanders in the room, "Comrade commander, due to the crazy attack of the enemy, The current situation facing our army is very bad. Next, I will read to you the war reports of the past two days.


    The battle report on October 14 is as follows:


    In the area of the 112th infantry division, the 37th close guard division, the 308th and 95th infantry divisions, the group army had a hard defensive battle against the attacking enemy infantry and tanks. In other areas of the front, the enemy''s small infantry and tank attacks were repulsed and the position was firmly held. Our artillery fired hard at the attacking infantry and tanks. The enemy carried out a major assault on the Stalingrad tractor factory with superior forces. Before dark, the factory was approaching and fierce fighting was now going on there.


    While carrying out the main assault on Stalingrad tractor factory, the enemy, after fierce aerial fire preparation and artillery fire preparation, under the cover of a large number of aircraft, turned into the attack with the troops of three infantry divisions and two tank divisions in the first line of mokrayamechetka River and silicon products factory. A German army rushed near the headquarters of the group army, and they had to withdraw from the battle after the tenacious resistance of the guard camp.


    Enemy air forces bombarded and attacked our battle formation, the whole coastal area and all ferries with continuous and intensive raids. After nightfall, the bombing continued. The enemy dispatched about 3000 planes in a day.


    The war report on October 15 said:


    The group army is engaged in arduous defensive warfare in the northern and middle sections of the front. The southern section is counterattacking the attack of the enemy''s small infantry and tanks. The enemy put in a new force (305th Infantry Division), continued to attack south from Stalingrad tractor factory and towards "barricade" factory, and launched an attack on spaltanovka and renock, attempting to advance along the Volga River to the rear of the group army.


    At 1600 hours, the forces of yermorkin and rolujaf and the right wing of gurtyev division were divided by enemy tanks and were fighting in encirclement.


    Before the end of the day, the enemy captured most of the area of Stalingrad tractor factory, cut off the front of the defense between the 37th and 95th infantry divisions, and inserted its advance troops into the rear of the 308th infantry division and went out to the command post of the group army. The guard battalion of the group army command had to fight 300 meters away from the headquarters again. "


    Before trakov finished reading it, krailov came in from the outside with a telegram in his hand. He went straight up to trakov and reported to him without expression: "the information just learned is that the enemy has surrounded the tractor factory from all sides, and the battle is going on in each workshop."


    This unexpected news shocked every commander on the scene. It is important to know whether the tractor factory can hold on to Stalingrad or not. Trikov still asked calmly, "Comrade chief of staff, is this information reliable?" He asked this question for a reason. Because the German artillery bombardment and bombing led to poor communication, the reports from the army were often contradictory and it was increasingly difficult to find out the truth.


    Krailov nodded and said with certainty: "this news has been repeatedly confirmed, and there should be no mistake." After a pause, he went on to say: "about 75% of the casualties of the fighters of the ruofje and gorishner divisions. In spite of this, many attacks of * * were repulsed and failed to move forward. Today alone, the Germans lost 33 tanks and about three battalions of infantry. Although the German offensive did not stop until dark, our army, which was cut off by the waist, continued to fight. The northern group (the 124th, 115th, 149th infantry brigades and yermorkin''s first division) launched a fierce battle with the enemy''s superior forces in the encirclement. The enemy started from ratashanka in the north and along the mokrayamechetka River Valley in the west, and launched an attack by the tractor factory. Due to poor communication, our contact with the cluster forces has been interrupted from time to time. "


    Trikov sat at the table, tapping gently with his left finger on the table, but when he stopped, he suddenly asked, "where are the reserves to fight?"


    When krailov heard this question from trakov, he turned to look at me, and then solemnly replied, "the regiment of the independent division is hidden in the north of the barricade factory. There are about two thousand troops. Once they enter the battle, they can slow down the German army''s attack on the factory. You know, that''s the weakest defensive front of our army. "


    "What are you hesitating about? Immediately contact lieutenant colonel shejerikov and order him to lead his troops into battle. We must hold back the enemy''s attack on the" barricade "factory." Trikov heard that there was a new force hiding near the battlefield, and immediately gave the order without thinking.


    In these two days of brutal fighting, Elia led a battalion has been killed and injured three quarters. Seeing that the remaining two battalions of a regiment will also be filled in this "human flesh millstone", I couldn''t help but be anxious, and quickly called out: "commander, chief of staff, please wait a moment."


    When trekov heard my cry, he turned to look at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, do you have anything else to say? Although this regiment is your subordinate, and I have promised you that you will not use them casually, our defense line is in danger at present. If we do not put them into battle again, once the enemy breaks through our defense, it will be too late. " Then he would continue to give orders to krailov.


    I rushed to him, grabbed his arm and pleaded: "Comrade commander, you can''t just throw a regiment into the battle, or they will be completely wiped out in half a day."


    With a wave of his hand, trikov broke away from me and said discontentedly, "Comrade oshanina, I remind you that it''s the group army commander, not the division, who commands the group army. So it''s not your turn to give me any orders."


    Seeing that trakov is angry, I know that it will only add fuel to the fire if he continues to plead. The only way to calm his anger is to come up with a good battle plan to maximize the role of the regiment, so that trakov will not have any objection. So I was silent, and my mind was spinning rapidly, thinking about what kind of method should be adopted to reverse the disadvantage under the current situation.


    Seeing that I didn''t speak, trakov snorted heavily, then told krailov to say a few words, and then urged him: "chief of staff, go to contact commander xiejerikov quickly, and let him be ready to fight and ready to fight at any time."


    Krailov promised to turn around and leave. Right here, a bold plan suddenly appeared in my mind, so without thinking, I called krailov: "chief of staff, please wait a moment."


    "What else do you want to say?" Trikov couldn''t help glaring at me when he saw me interrupting again. I guess if he didn''t know me well, I might have been dragged out to court martial¡° Comrade commander, "I was afraid that he would interrupt me, so I said very quickly," I now have a bold plan for the night attack, and it may be possible to restore the position we lost. "¡° A bold plan? " Trekov''s face softened when I said this. He asked curiously, "what''s the plan?"

 Chapter 747

    Krailov asked me tentatively, "Comrade oshanina, you don''t want to risk transferring the troops from mamayev post and beating them up from behind the Germans, do you?"


    When krailov said that, many commanders who were standing nearby gathered around to hear what I would say.


    When he saw so many people coming around, he unexpectedly didn''t turn them out. Instead, he asked me again with great interest, "tell me something, comrade oshanina. I want to hear if your so-called bold plan coincides with the judgment of the chief of staff?"


    It is estimated that only a madman would dare to do such a stupid thing as to withdraw the troops from the mamayev post and take part in the battle for the factory area. So after hearing trekov''s question, I shook my head. After negating his judgment, I said my plan: "Comrade commander, the importance of mamayev post is very clear to you even if I don''t say it. My plan is to take advantage of the night, we are attacking the German implementation of a counterattack


    After hearing about my plan, the commanders who came around with great hope to listen were disappointed. Originally, they wanted to hear something exciting from me, but in the end, I put forward the old anti shock plan, so they all shook their heads and walked away from us.


    Trekov looked up at the people who left, and said to me with an unhappy face: "Comrade oshanina, is this the bold night attack plan you gave me? We have to know that our troops deployed in the factory area are very difficult to defend, let alone to counter attack. "


    Instead of answering trakov at once, I turned to look at berey and weinlub in the crowd and said to them, "Colonel berey and lieutenant commander weinlub, would you please come here?"


    They did not expect that I would call them all of a sudden. After looking at each other, they both turned to trakov and waited for his instructions. After looking at me, trakov nodded to the two men, indicating that they would listen to me. Seeing that trakov had agreed, they had to come over with a stiff head and stood beside us helplessly.


    I looked at Colonel berey, who was a head higher than me, and asked with a smile, "Comrade Colonel, I want to know how many tanks are left in your tank brigade?"


    Although he didn''t understand the reason why I asked, berey did not hesitate to reply: "of the 37 vehicles, five of them had broken tracks or had engine problems, so they had to stay in place as fixed fire points."


    "That is to say, there are 32 more tanks that can move?" When I heard that the number of tanks left in the tank brigade was far more than I expected, I had a lot more confidence in implementing the counterattack plan. However, for the sake of safety, I continued to ask some key data: "are these tanks sufficient in ammunition and fuel?"


    "Needless to say, if the enemy hadn''t shelled and bombed all the time during the day, I would have put them into battle." Angered by my repeated questioning, Colonel berey said impatiently, "general oshanina, I don''t understand the connection between these questions and the counterattack plan you are about to put forward."


    Instead of making any excuses to berey, I turned to trakov and said, "Comrade commander, I know all the information I want to know. Next, I will tell you my battle plan." With that, I pulled the map on the table in front of trekov and me so that he could see it more clearly.


    I pointed to the map and confidently said to trikov, "Comrade commander, please see that the 84th brigade of Colonel berey''s tank is stationed in sculipturne park. My plan is for our tank troops to rush to the side of the German tank division along volhofstroyevskaya street and hit them hard. At this time, because of the darkness, only a few German tanks took part in the battle, and the absolute majority of them were neatly parked behind the attacking troops. After the attack, Colonel berey''s tank troops went straight to the enemy''s camp area and destroyed all the tanks parked here. At the same time, I will let shejerikov''s regiment attack in time and cooperate with the victorious tank troops to launch an attack from the back of the German army. In this way, I am very sure that the German army attacking the "barricade" factory will be completely annihilated or severely damaged. "


    After listening to my plan, Colonel berey, who had a disdainful look on his face, suddenly became stern. He was staring at the map without saying a word. I can judge from his expression that he agrees with my plan.


    After listening to my plan, trakov did not directly support or oppose it. Instead, he said anxiously, "if I remember correctly, there are only two battalions left in the regiment of lieutenant colonel shejerikov. Can their attack really hurt the enemy? You know, I don''t have any extra troops for you now. If there are only a few hundred people left in the 37th division of general ludev''s guards, of which only 84 are left in the 114th regiment, and only 30 are left in the 117th regiment, not counting the battalion led by Lieutenant Colonel Elia. All the 45mm anti tank guns, mortars and anti tank guns of regiment artillery have been destroyed in the battle. "


    On the contrary, I was relieved to hear that. I comforted him and said, "Comrade commander, please rest assured that although there are only two battalions left in a regiment, they all strengthen the establishment of battalions. One battalion has 800 people, plus the troops directly under the regiment, there are almost more than 2000 people."


    "Comrades commander," said Colonel berey, who had been looking at the map before the surprised trakov spoke, "I think general oshanina''s plan is feasible." He pointed to the map and added, "from our hidden area to the" barricade "factory, the streets along the way are very wide, which is very conducive to the deployment of tank troops, so we can quickly rush into the enemy''s new camp and kill all the tanks parked there before they recover."


    Krailov, chief of staff, also looked at the map for a long time, then said with regret: "unfortunately, there are fewer tanks. If there are even ten more tanks to attack from the junction of the tractor factory and the barricade factory, after destroying the enemy who besieged the barricade factory, they can turn around and recapture the positions occupied by the German army."


    After listening to krailov''s words, trakov suddenly said confidently, "as long as there are enough infantry to cooperate, about ten tanks can still be found." Then he said to Wei inlub, "Comrade commander, I order you to go to the tramwainaya Street immediately to take over the command of the 506th battalion of independent tanks. Then you will lead the remaining ten tanks of the battalion to rush out from the junction of the tractor factory and the barricade factory, and attack the tank brigade of Colonel berey from left to right, in an effort to annihilate all the German troops who besieged the barricade factory."


    "Is it the battalion that used to belong to the 235th tank brigade?" Wei yinlubu asked tentatively. Seeing that trakov and krailov both nodded to show that he had guessed correctly, he continued: "please rest assured, commander and chief of staff. I promise to finish this counterattack mission."


    Trekov looked at his watch and then told Colonel berey and lieutenant colonel weinroub, "it''s getting late. You two should get to the army as soon as possible. When the attack is launched, it is set at 1:30 in the morning. "


    Berey and weinlub saluted trekov, krailov, gurov and me, then turned and walked out of the headquarters side by side.


    Gulov, who was regarded as a transparent man by us, was not confident at this time. He said solemnly: "Comrade commander, don''t you think this plan is too risky? We should know that if there is any mistake in the cooperation of the three forces, the whole plan will be wasted. "


    Gulov''s words made trekov''s face hesitant. However, this hesitation was only a flash, and then he chose to stand on my side and firmly supported me, saying: "Comrade military commissar, even if this plan is not successful, the situation will not be worse than now. But if we succeed, we can turn around the local situation. " At this point, he told krailov: "Comrade chief of staff, go to contact lieutenant commander xijerikov quickly, and make his troops ready to attack."


    Looking at kelerov''s back, gurov nodded and said with difficulty, "well, comrade commander, since you are going to take this risk, I have no objection. If anything goes wrong, if the superior wants to investigate the responsibility, you and I will bear it together. "


    "Thank you, thank you for your support!" Trokov was very moved by gulov''s attitude. He grabbed gulov''s hand and shook it vigorously. At the same time, he kept saying some feeling words in his mouth.


    "Mr. oshanina," I heard a familiar voice behind me calling me. I quickly turned my head and saw the familiar faces of lyudnikov and his political commissar jitov. They both looked at me with a smile, and the Colonel waved to me, as if to let me go to him.


    When I came to them quickly, lyudnikov said with emotion: "Comrade oshanina, I have heard your counterattack plan just now. From my heart, this plan is very bold. Once it is successful, the war situation in the factory area can be reversed. But have you ever considered that in case of some accidents, such as the troops attacked by Colonel berey, they can''t destroy the German tanks in time, and when they turn around and attack the German troops besieging the factories, what kind of situation will it be like for the German tanks who have got the information to rush up from behind them? "


    Although lyudnikov''s analysis was normal, I answered him with a clear mind: "don''t worry, comrade colonel. Because the enemy''s attack in the daytime was so smooth, and they took the initiative in the battlefield at the moment, they never dreamed that a mechanized army would rush out from their side. "


    Seeing my stubbornness, lyudnikov looked at the political commissar jitov, then said with a bitter smile, "Comrade oshanina, since you are so confident, I wish you good luck!"


    The counterattack began at 1:30 a.m. In order to facilitate the command, trakov ordered the two telephones to be moved back into the headquarters. And Colonel berey and lieutenant colonel weinroub, through the car radio station, constantly reported to us the latest war situation.


    As the 84th brigade of Colonel berey''s tank is the main force of the attack, it is my focus. From the earphone held by trakov, there are reports from Colonel berey: "the tank brigade has attacked", "no enemy troops are found on the way forward", "the tanks in front of us have destroyed a machine gun position of the German army", "our tank fleet is passing through volkhofstroyevskaya street, Sporadic fire from the enemy was found in the buildings on both sides. I ordered the troops to ignore it and speed up their way through the street


    When I heard every report from berey, my heart would hold tight for a moment. I was afraid that something might happen. Or, as lyudnikov just said, when I arrived at the camp of the enemy''s army, I didn''t find any German tanks. When our tanks turned around and attacked the German troops who were besieging the "barricade" factory, The enemy''s large armored forces emerged from a more hidden area behind. Just when I was worried, suddenly I heard Colonel berey''s voice become shrill because of excitement: "my God, comrade commander, guess what I saw? There are hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles in a neat line. The enemy is unprepared except for a few trained soldiers nearby. " Then I heard his subordinates give orders clearly: "listen to my command, all the tanks are in battle formation, the targets are of their own choice, free shooting. I repeat, target your choice, free shooting Hearing his words, I felt relieved. Since our tank troops have rushed under the nose of the enemy, even if they come back, it''s too late. Next, our tank troops can destroy the enemy''s tanks and armored vehicles one by one, just like shooting targets. Then I went to another phone. This one was Krylov in contact with weinlub. As soon as I came over, I heard Wei yinlubu report: "Comrade chief of staff, our tanks have successfully rushed out of the junction of the two factories and are moving towards the main gate of the" barricade "factory."¡° Did you meet the enemy on the way? " Krylov asked with concern¡° We have encountered sporadic units of the enemy, which have been completely eliminated by our vehicle mounted machine guns. "¡° well. Colonel berey''s troops have stormed the enemy''s camp and are destroying the German tanks there. You need to speed up, rush over and join them as soon as possible. Remember, keep in touch with them all the time, and don''t fight with your own people. "¡° Understand Wei yinlubu replied loudly¡° Chief of staff, "trekov, who put down his earphone and transmitter over there, told krailov," send a telegram to Lt. Col. chejerikov to make him ready for all battles. After Col. berey joins forces with the army of weinroub, immediately attack the "barricade" factory under the cover of tanks. "

 Chapter 748

    Although trakov''s order to krailov was to send a telegram to shejerikov. But he worried that the other party could not receive the telegram in time, so he still used the way of Ming language to communicate. When he gave the order to shejerikov to attack, he specially asked me, "Comrade oshanina, do you have anything to tell commander shejerikov?"


    I nodded, took the earphone in his hand, put it on, and then yelled to sjerykov at the transmitter: "Comrade commander, the mission of your regiment has been made clear. Tell the commanders and fighters to fight hard and not let an enemy go. "


    "Yes, sir." "We promise to annihilate those enemies who are besieging the barricade factory," he replied


    Although shejerikov spoke confidently, I knew in my heart that this was just a talk. It was very good that they attacked from the rear of the enemy''s attacking troops under the cover of tanks, and they were able to inflict heavy damage on the German army, let alone annihilate them completely.


    After returning the earphone and the transmitter to the operator, I looked around and found that both trikov and gurov were not in the room. So I asked krailov in a low voice, "chief of staff, commander and military commissar are not here. Where have they gone?"


    "They said they wanted to see the German tanks destroyed by us, so they went to the observation post outside," Krylov replied with a smile


    The battle in the city is not only in the factory area, but also in other places. While I was talking to krailov, a telegraph operator suddenly raised his head and called krailov: "Comrade chief of staff, it''s general rojmtsev, commander of the 13th division of the guards."


    What''s wrong with rojimtev''s call at this time? With this doubt, I approached Krylov''s ear and listened to rodimzev''s report: "Comrade chief of staff, we are in a terrible situation here. The enemy, who occupied 107.5 Highlands, is launching a company level charge against the Soviet street; In the street of shahejinskaya, where our division defends, we also find signs of the enemy''s heavy troops gathering. "


    On hearing this report, krailov asked solemnly, "have you found out where the enemy in shahejinskaya street came from?"


    "We had several small-scale battles with the enemy and captured some prisoners, most of whom were engineers. After our interrogation, these engineering units were airlifted here from Kerch, milerovo and even from the German mainland. "


    "I see. The main task of your division now is to hold fast to shahejinskaya street. As for the troops coming down from highland 107.5, you don''t have to worry. I will send other troops to destroy them."


    At the end of the call with rodimzev, krailov called lyudnikov, gorishner and others, told them what rodimzev had just reported, and then asked, "what do you think the purpose of the German is to do this?"


    "What else," said Colonel gorishner, commander of the 95th infantry division, with a shrug of his shoulders, "is to strengthen their forces in attacking the factory area and push them to the Bank of Volga as soon as possible."


    "I also agree with Comrade gorishner." After echoing the opinions of his colleagues, lyudnikov raised his own worry: "the 13th division of the guards has limited forces. If the enemy launches a fierce attack, they will not be able to stop it at all. If we let the Germans rush in and join those who are fighting with us, I fear that tonight''s operation will fail. "


    "What do you think?" Krailov didn''t make a statement. Instead, he put the question to me and asked for my opinion: "if the German army really broke through the position of the 13th division of the guards and rushed into the factory area to join the enemy in the area, do you think our operation tonight will be successful?"


    After careful consideration for a moment, I calmly replied, "Comrade chief of staff, we can only try our best to block the enemy from the north and prevent them from entering the factory area."


    When krailov heard me say this, he immediately asked, "what''s the blocking method? We should know that the force of the 13th division is limited. They can''t block the enemy''s attack in two directions at the same time. "


    "It will allow general rodimzev to concentrate his forces on the defense of the shahzinskaya street. As for the enemy from highland 107.5, I can ask the division to send troops to attack the enemy''s flanks and force them to withdraw to the highlands. "


    "All right, do as you say." When krailov finished, he told the operator in front of him: "operator, get in touch with the independent division immediately. And you, don''t be idle. Contact General rojmzev immediately. I have something to say to him. " His last sentence was to the operator sitting opposite.


    When the operator politely told me that I had got in touch with the independent division, I put on the earphone he handed me and said loudly to the transmitter, "Hello, Hello, Hello, who are you? I''m teacher o''shanina."


    A moment later, ahlomeyev''s surprise voice came from the earphone: "ah, it''s Mr. commander." Then I heard him yelling at kirilov and Bantai leiev, "political commissar, deputy division chief, come here, it''s the division chief''s wireless phone."


    Soon kirilov''s excited voice came from the earphone: "Hello, comrade oshanina, this is kirilov. Are you ok? According to the report of the observation Institute, the fire in the direction of the factory area has been raging in the past two days, and the guns have been making incessant noises. We are very worried about your safety. "


    At this moment, the military situation is urgent. It''s not the time to talk about the past at all. So after a few perfunctory remarks, I quickly turned the topic to the main topic: "Comrade political commissar, the enemy launched an attack on the defensive area of the 13th division of the guards from the two directions of highland 107.5 and shahejinskaya street, trying to rush to the factory area and join their troops. At present, general Krylov, the chief of staff of the group army, is giving an order to division commander rodimzev to concentrate his forces to defend shahejinskaya street. As for the enemy from highland 107.5, it''s up to you. "


    Kirilov and I have not been working together for a long time, but they have a tacit understanding. Before I finish my words, he has already guessed the task I am going to assign: "I see, comrade oshanina. I immediately asked the second regiment to dispatch troops to severely attack these enemies from the 107.5 highland from the flank, so that they did not dare to rush to the Soviet street without fear. "


    As soon as I finished explaining the task to kirilov, the excited trekov and gurov walked in, talking and laughing, and happened to hear a few words behind me. When I put down my earphone and transmitter, trekov came to me, restrained his smile, and asked, "o''shanina, what''s the matter? Is there something wrong with chejerikov?"


    Without waiting for me to speak, krailov had given the first reply: "Comrade commander, it has nothing to do with lieutenant colonel chejerikov. Well, general rojmtsev reported that the enemy was rushing in two directions to their defense area. All the way from highland 107.5, they are charging against the Soviet street; The other group of enemies are gathering near the shahejinskaya street and may attack at any time. "


    After hearing what krailov said, gurov came to the map beside the table and looked down for a long time with trakov. Then he asked with a puzzled face: "the enemy launched an attack on the 13th division of the guards in these two areas at the same time. What do they want to do?"


    Krailov was about to explain when he was stopped by trakov''s hand. Without raising his head, he pointed at me with his hand and said, "Comrade oshanina, tell me about your judgment."


    I didn''t expect that trakov would suddenly ask me. After a moment''s panic, I said without thinking what I was thinking: "Comrade commander, I think the enemy''s tactical intention is very obvious: they try their best to attract the main force of our group army to the factory area and contain it there, and then they are ready to carry out a surprise attack in the new area quietly."


    "Yes," trekov said immediately after listening to my analysis. "It''s exactly the same as my judgment. So tonight''s battle must strive to achieve the expected effect. Only by weakening the enemy''s strength can we draw out our surplus forces and use them for defense in other areas. "


    "Chief of staff," a telegraph operator called in a low voice, "it''s lieutenant colonel Wei yinlubu. He said he had the latest situation of the war to report to you."


    Krailov grabbed the earphone and the transmitter from the operator''s hand and asked aloud, "Hello, commander weinlub? This is general Krylov. Please report the latest situation immediately


    Originally, there were whispers from the commanders in the room. After hearing krailov''s question, everyone consciously closed their mouths and listened carefully to Wei yinlubu''s report: "the enemy who was attacking the" barricade "factory was caught off guard by us coming out of their flank, and their attack line was cut off by our tanks. The enemy''s infantry were so frightened that they ran in all directions, and their tanks and armored vehicles turned their heads in an attempt to resist the impact of our tanks. As a result, they made mistakes in their work. Before they could open fire, their limited number of tanks were destroyed one by one by our artillery fire. In addition, the infantry defending in the factory area attacked in time and cooperated with us inside and outside, so that the Germans were defeated. "


    Hearing the good news, all the commanders in the headquarters were smiling. Trikov nodded with satisfaction, and then told krailov: "Comrade chief of staff, immediately call the head of the 397th anti tank artillery regiment and ask him to send a battalion to the barricade factory. In a defensive war, facing the enemy''s armored forces, without anti tank guns, we can''t stop the enemy''s attack at all. "


    The news of victory came from Wei yinlubu''s troops, and the news of victory came from Colonel berey, who had more tanks than him. When the operator said it was Colonel berey''s call, trakov took the initiative to talk to the other party to learn about the fighting.


    Only Colonel berey excitedly reported to trakov, "report commander, we have destroyed all the tanks and armored vehicles in the enemy''s camp. When we attacked, there were still some undecided tankers trying to enter the tank to compete with us. As soon as our soldiers see the moving figures, they immediately use the vehicle mounted machine gun to fire. As for the enemies who get into the tanks or armored vehicles, we use a shell to send them to God... "Those who can hear the voice of bielei laughed at his words. Those who didn''t hear it also laughed after asking their companions.


    All of a sudden, gurov, who has always been kind, turned his face to those smiling commanders and yelled, "don''t laugh, and then listen to Comrade bielei''s report." Seeing that the comrades of the military commissar were angry, all the commanders quickly shut up and continued to listen to the report from Colonel berey It may be that the tank unit of Lieutenant Colonel Wei yinlubu disrupted the enemy''s attack line, and many dizzy tanks and infantry rushed to us foolishly. Our brigade took the opportunity to expand the results, and reimbursed more than 20 tanks and armored vehicles, as well as hundreds of infantry. "¡° Well done. " "But you can''t be proud. After you join with the tank unit of lieutenant colonel weinrub and the infantry unit of lieutenant colonel chejerikov, you immediately turn around and rush to the tractor factory to eliminate all the enemies inside. Even if you can''t eliminate them completely, you have to drive them out of the factory."¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Colonel berey confidently replied, "I''ll immediately order the troops to turn around and drive to the tractor factory, I promise..." when he said this, the communication was suddenly interrupted. Trikov took off his earphone and asked the operator unhappily, "what''s the matter? Why is the communication suddenly interrupted?" The operator replied in a hurry, "I''m sorry, comrade commander, because our communication facilities were seriously damaged in the enemy''s shelling and bombing, all radio communications were intermittent." After listening to the operator''s explanation, trakov didn''t blame him, but urged him to "quickly resume contact with colonel berey, I want to keep abreast of the latest situation on the battlefield." The operator promised to call Colonel berey''s car radio immediately. After calling for half a day, he shook his head disappointedly, took off his earphone and said to trikov, "Comrade commander, we can''t get in touch. The other party has nothing to say."¡° Keep in touch! Until we get in touch. " Trakov gave a brief new order. Just as the operator screamed for berey, the operator sitting opposite stood up, handed the headset and transmitter to trikov, and said, "Comrade commander, Colonel berey wants to speak to you." After putting on his headphones, trakov asked berey, "Hey, comrade Colonel, what''s the matter? Why is the communication suddenly interrupted?"¡° Report to the commander, "belay''s panting voice came from the earphone, as if he had just run a hundred meters sprint," my tank was destroyed by the enemy''s shells, so I had to change a tank. "

 Chapter 749

    What Colonel berey said surprised us all. Trikov asked with concern: "Comrade Colonel, the tank was destroyed. Are you not injured?"


    "Thank you for your concern. I''m fine." After reporting safety, Colonel berey also took the initiative to report the whole story to trikov: "I was talking to you just now when I suddenly felt a sudden shock of the car body, and then stopped. My driver pulled the lever a few times and didn''t respond. As I found that the radio station was out of order, I decided to abandon the car. After leaving the tank, I took several crew members and ran to the place where our tanks were concentrated. The result did not run a few steps, the tank was hit by a shell. The open top turret was instantly overturned by the shell, and then ignited the remaining shells in the car. The body exploded violently, and the tankers behind me were knocked down by flying shrapnel. When I got into a tank and looked at my original car, I found that the whole tank was surrounded by a raging fire. "


    "Where did the cannonball come from?" trekov asked solemnly? Was it fired by the enemy''s anti tank guns hidden in the ruins? " If the enemy has an anti tank gun position nearby, it will pose a major threat to the tank troops that we take part in the counterattack.


    Just as I was worried about the possible anti tank artillery positions of the enemy, Colonel berey promptly answered the question of trakov: "Comrade commander, my tank was not hit by the enemy''s anti tank artillery, but was destroyed by a tank with broken tracks. The enemy in the tank was very cunning, but after the body was shot, the tankers in the tank did not immediately escape from the burning body, but continued to stay in the tank, patiently looking for fighters. In addition to my tank being destroyed, another tank was injured. However, the enemy didn''t get a good deal either. After it was exposed, their tanks were suddenly hit by more than a dozen shells and turned into a pile of burning scrap iron. "


    As soon as he was about to speak, trekov came up to him and handed him a note. Trakov took a look at it, then said to the transmitter, "Colonel berey, our infantry have launched an attack on the tractor factory. Your troops should rush to provide them with the necessary fire support." As he spoke to Colonel berey, he handed me the note.


    I took the note and saw it read: "two battalions of a regiment have launched an attack on the tractor factory and are now engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy who occupied the factory." Because the writing was too short, I felt very uneasy. I went to the telephone that Krylov had just received. I bowed my head to the operator and said, "Comrade operator, please help me to contact the commander, Lieutenant Colonel xijerikov."


    After listening to what I said, the operator did not act immediately. Instead, he looked up at krailov and waited for his order. Krailov looked at me and nodded to the operator. Seeing that the chief of staff agreed that I should contact the front-line forces, the radio operator began to call the troops in which shijerikov was working.


    When the telegraph operator reported to me that he had contacted xiejerikov, I snatched the earphone and transmitter in his hand, and couldn''t wait to ask xiejerikov, "Comrade commander, what''s the situation, and where are the troops of your regiment?"


    Shejerikov didn''t expect that I would be the one talking to him. He was stunned at first. After a moment, he quickly reported to me: "report to division commander, the Third Battalion launched an attack on the enemy position besieging the tractor factory half an hour ago. Because the enemy''s firepower was too fierce, the third battalion commander was shot and wounded and withdrew from the battle. Now captain grakov, the commander of the ninth company, has taken over his command position. "


    "Second Battalion, Second Battalion?" As soon as he finished talking about the situation of the Third Battalion, I couldn''t wait to ask about the second battalion under the command of captain shereblenner. After all, there are a group of officers and men who have just been in the second battalion. If something happens at the critical moment, the counterattack we take the risk of carrying out may fail.


    "I ordered the second battalion to set up a blocking position to the north of the tractor factory in order to prevent German reinforcements in the direction of the tractor factory." Speaking of this, he suddenly changed the topic and asked anxiously, "Comrade division commander, I don''t know when the tank troops supporting us will arrive? To know that we lack effective anti tank weapons, soldiers have to hold cluster grenades, rushed up and the enemy''s tanks died. One of Capt. Karpov''s companies, after repelling the enemy reinforcements twice, had less than half of them left. Captain shereblenne has just sent the most effective company to replace them. If they don''t get the support of anti tank guns or tank troops, they won''t be able to last long. "


    It seems that Karpov''s troops have fought tenaciously and even suffered heavy casualties in the face of the surging Germans. It seems that they are unlikely to rebel. When I heard that xiejerikov was constantly complaining, I quickly responded to him and said, "Comrade commander, you must hold on. In a few minutes at most, Colonel berey''s tank troops will follow the road from the "barricade" factory to the tractor factory. As soon as they arrive, the threat posed by the enemy''s armored forces will be greatly reduced. "


    "Yes, sir. We''ll hold on until the tanks arrive. "


    Before I put down my earphone and transmitter, I suddenly thought of another thing and told sergeant nikov: "Comrade commander, although our army has a large number of people, its equipment is still inferior to that of the Germans. Yes, in the next battle, you should know how to use forces reasonably for attack and defense. Only by first preserving ourselves can we destroy the enemy in battle. In addition, you should attack the enemy in the tractor factory quickly, otherwise it will be difficult to eat the enemy in front of you when the enemy''s plane appears at dawn. "


    "I see, sir." "Before daybreak, I will wipe out all the enemies who occupy the tractor factory," he said to me in a firm voice After I finished the call, I reported the situation of shejerikov''s report to trakov and krailov, and took the initiative to put forward my own suggestions: "commander, chief of staff, now Colonel berey and the tank troops of Lieutenant Colonel Wei inlub are fighting against the tractor factory along the road, and the troops of Lieutenant colonel shejerikov are also attacking the German troops in the factory. Do you think it is possible for the troops in the factory to launch local counterattacks appropriately and coordinate the offensive actions of the peripheral troops? "¡° It''s very difficult! " As soon as krailov heard my suggestion, he frowned and complained: "at present, there are only a few hundred soldiers left in the 37th division of the guards who are trapped in the tractor factory, and there are only less than 600 soldiers in the 112th division of the infantry who cooperate with them. In addition, Commander Elia''s troops, although there are more than 1000 soldiers, still have a lot of fighting capacity. It''s hard to say. Let them fight back, It''s a bit unrealistic. "¡° No matter how difficult it is, we have to fight! " "This is the only chance for us to drive the enemy out of the tractor factory and recapture the factory. Chief of staff, you should contact the troops in the factory, and let them launch counter charge against the enemy in the factory at the right time, cooperate with the troops of lieutenant colonel xiejerikov, and eliminate the remaining enemy in the factory. " Seeing that trakov''s attitude was firm, krailov had to nod his head and call obediently. At this time, the commander of the 37th division of Jinwei, general ruolugeoff, came up to us and asked with a frown: "Comrade commander, if we recapture the tractor factory in the battle at night, but in the coming days, where should we deploy our troops to stick to it?" As soon as I heard that ludev asked this question, I would complain in my heart. My heart said that trakov would not make a direct statement, but put the problem on me. Sure enough, a moment later, trakov turned to look at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, tell me, how can we hold the tractor factory after our army takes it back?" I can only be dumb to eat Coptis chinensis Franch for trikov''s practice. After hard thinking, I solemnly said, "Comrade commander, I think so. In addition to building new fortifications in the factory area, we should also deploy anti tank artillery units, so that when our officers and men are attacked by the enemy''s armored forces, they don''t have to die with the enemy''s tanks with their own flesh and blood. In addition, due to the enemy''s long-term shelling and bombing, almost all the buildings on both sides of the road from the enemy''s starting position to the factory area have been destroyed. I think we should hide Colonel berey''s tanks in these ruins, and when the enemy''s armored forces pass in front of them, we can attack the enemy at a short distance. "¡° After listening to the suggestion, krailov gazed at the map for a while and first expressed his opinion: "in addition to deploying anti tank artillery units in the factory area and ambushing our tanks on both sides of the road, I think we should lay mines on the road to slow down the German advance. When their large forces gather here, waiting for the engineers to open up a passage for them in the minefield, general hogarsky can let the rocket battalion cover the area. "¡° Yes, this kind of deployment is very considerate. I have no objection. " After listening to the opinions expressed by krailov and me, trakov nodded his head and agreed, and specially told krailov: "chief of staff, after taking back the tractor factory, the defense of the factory will do as you say. Don''t forget to put the plan in the memo later. "

 Chapter 750

    I stood in the headquarters, listening to the incessant roar of guns outside, looking at trekov and krailov commanding the troops through the telephone, and secretly lamented that I still had a lot to learn to become such a powerful commander, otherwise, the division of the independent division would be the end of my official career.


    The counterattack against the tractor factory was successfully completed before daybreak, and the troops under his command, with the cooperation of Colonel berey and lieutenant colonel weinrub, basically wiped out the German troops in the factory. At the end of the battle, according to the order of the group army, shejerikov asked the commanders and fighters to build new fortifications as soon as possible.


    After daybreak, I suddenly heard trekov tell krailov: "chief of staff, I want to go outside to have a look. You and the political commissar are responsible for the affairs in the headquarters."


    When I heard that trakov said he was going out to have a look, I thought to myself, won''t you ask me to go with him again? You know, I accompanied him to the observation center yesterday. If it wasn''t for some bad luck, I would have been killed by the falling stone. I was praying to myself that trekov would not ask me to accompany him to the outside to observe the war. Trekov''s eyes had already swept over me. Then he stayed on me, raised his chin at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, what are you still standing there doing? Why don''t you clean up and go outside with me? "


    It''s a blessing, not a curse. I can''t avoid it. Although I''m reluctant to accompany trakov to the observation center, since he publicly announced that he would let me accompany him to the observation center, I had to carry the submachine gun by the wall and follow him out.


    I walked out of the headquarters and scanned the smoldering city. I found that after a day and a night of fighting, the surrounding buildings above the ground were almost destroyed by gunfire, except for a few more dense buildings in the direction of the factory area. I followed trakov, walking cautiously along the traffic moat. When I leave, I have to keep looking down at my feet to avoid tripping over the bricks or corpses that suddenly appear.


    We came to a building with only half a wall left. Trekov stopped, looked up and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, this building is the tallest in the neighborhood. Let''s go up and have a look."


    I didn''t object to his proposal, so I had to say, "OK, comrade commander."


    As the stairs leading to the upper floor were blown off, we climbed to the second floor with the help of the guards. I took a look at the broken stairs below and said in my heart that it would not be easy for us to escape if the enemy shelled us here.


    Because most of the buildings around have become bricks and stones, so our vision here is very wide, everything around is in our sight.


    Trekov and I stood side by side in front of a hollowed out window, raising our binoculars and looking into the distance. At the moment, in the trenches of the tractor factory, many people are busy nervously. It seems that they are carrying out the work of transporting ammunition, collecting the bodies of comrades in arms, and treating the wounded.


    On the open field outside the tractor factory, the wreckage of more than a dozen burned black tanks was lying in disorder. In terms of appearance, there are not only German tanks No. 3 and No. 4, but also our T-34 tanks. There are a lot of our commanders and fighters around the wreckage of the tanks.


    Seeing this scene, trikov pointed to it and asked me curiously, "Comrade oshanina, what are the soldiers doing around the wreckage of the enemy''s tanks?"


    I have just seen the clothes of the commanders and fighters through the telescope, and I know that they are all subordinates of commander shijerikov, so I know the reason why they are wandering around the wreckage of the tank. When I heard the question from trakov, I quickly replied, "Comrade commander, it''s like this. Those commanders and fighters belong to our independent division. They intend to build fire points under the wreckage of tanks, which can kill a lot of German infantry


    "Build fire points under the wreckage of tanks?" After listening to my explanation, trikov frowned and thought for a moment. Then his brow widened and he said with a smile, "yes, that''s a good idea. As long as the enemy''s artillery does not directly overturn the wreckage of the tank, the survival rate of the soldiers hiding below is quite high. Even if the German army finds these firepower points, it will take a lot of time to clear them one by one. "


    In this area where fierce fighting is about to take place, I only saw the troops of shejerikov, the tanks of Colonel bierre and weinroub, but I didn''t see any trace. So I turned my observation to the tramwaynaya street in front of the tractor factory and the area to the West. After careful observation, I finally found the tank troops hidden in the ruins.


    Colonel berey''s troops were hidden two hundred meters away on both sides of the street, because the tanks were hidden in the ruins of one person high and covered with camouflage nets. If you don''t look carefully, it''s really hard to find them. Seeing the positions set up by Colonel berey and lieutenant colonel weinroub, I couldn''t help nodding. Because of the land mines laid on the road, when they destroyed the enemy''s tanks, the German infantry would be blocked by the land mines. However, when the number of enemies gathered reached a certain level, our distant artillery fire could cover them, At the same time, we will not hurt our tanks by mistake.


    Just then, the enemy''s shelling of the city began. Their main target of attack is the tractor factory which has just been recovered by our army, but at the same time, there are still roaring shells falling on the explosion not far away from us, and the air waves caused by the explosion hit the wall Dangdang. At the beginning, I would instinctively squat down to avoid the debris that might fly by and hit people. Later, after I was numb to the explosion, I learned from trakov and stood still in front of the shabby window, looking at the factory area in the distance. Before the enemy''s shelling stopped, I felt the earth trembling slightly. It was the German armored forces approaching. I slowly turned my telescope to the West and saw dozens of German tanks approaching fiercely. After the dust on the road was crushed by the tracks, it was high in the air. The tanks were followed by armored cars and trucks full of soldiers. Looking into the distance, you can see many soldiers getting out of the car and walking, in loose attack formation, marching along the road to the tractor factory. The shells flying in from outside the city passed over the German attack line and landed very densely on the position of our tractor factory. The moving German tanks did not rush forward blindly, but stopped and fired from time to time, or fired at a slow speed. From time to time, fire and smoke rose from the bombarded positions, and the broken logs, parts of various guns and broken limbs and arms were thrown into the air¡° The Germans are so mean. " Although he saw that our army was suffering losses in its position, trakov, who was observing the enemy''s situation, said in a scornful tone: "there are two tank divisions, but you see, they only sent out more than 20 tanks." I just laughed at what trakov said, but there was no interface. But he said in his heart: if it wasn''t for the aging tank troops of Colonel berey and lieutenant colonel weinroub who destroyed hundreds of enemy tanks and armored vehicles last night, what you would see at this time would be a torrent of iron and steel pressing against the tractor factory. With our existing crude equipment, we would not be able to stop the enemy''s attack. When the German tanks entered the range of Colonel berey''s troops, the tanks lying in ambush on both sides fired decisively. In a series of explosions, nearly half of the German tanks on the road were fuming, or simply lying down in their nests, standing in the same place, exploding or burning. All of a sudden, the German tanks stopped moving and tried to turn around to find a safe place to hide. However, because the road was blocked by many destroyed tanks, the space for movement was small, and the evasive action of the remaining tanks led to a chaos on the battlefield.

 Chapter 751

    In addition to the tank troops hidden on both sides of the road, the anti tank artillery battalion in the tractor factory also opened fire on the German tanks in the street in spite of the enemy''s heavy artillery suppression.


    The remaining tanks were blocked in the street due to chaos and became the targets of our army''s tankers and anti tank artillery. More and more tanks were hit by bullets and caught fire. The enemy''s tankers rushed out of the smoky body and ran in the same direction. While those infantry who got off ahead of time to accompany the tank were hit by falling shells or shrapnel produced by the internal explosive ammunition when they tried to bypass the tank. In a short time, a corpse fell near the German tank.


    Several tanks, which escaped the attack by chance, finally managed to raise their heads in the street full of burning tank wrecks, and dashed in the direction of Lai with full power. Some soldiers who were close to each other were immediately knocked down by the tank and crushed under the track because they couldn''t dodge. The soldiers behind rushed to the side of the road to make way for the frantic tank.


    The tanks fled to the rear of the attack line and joined the armored vehicles and trucks at the back before stopping. The infantry, who had lost the cover of the tank, carefully bypassed the burning tank and bent forward along the street. Less than 100 meters away, a group of flames suddenly erupted among the top soldiers. Several soldiers fell to the ground in the smoke of gunpowder. It seems that they have stepped on mines.


    The soldiers who followed saw that the top soldiers in front stepped on the mine and fell to the ground. After a while, some brave soldiers got up and went up to rescue their fallen comrades. The German infantry in the front had to stop because of the mines in the street, but the soldiers behind couldn''t see it. They still kept bypassing the burning tanks and rushing forward.


    Looking at the more and more German soldiers gathered in the street, I couldn''t help looking towards the tractor factory gate. The distance between the two places was more than 800 meters. Even if all the fire points hidden under the tanks in front of the factory gate opened fire, they could only bring down a few soldiers. The rest of them would hide in the ruins around the street because of their vigilance, The next battle is not easy to fight. Thinking of this, I can''t help admiring krailov a little more. He probably thought that after the enemy''s tanks were repulsed, the infantry would be trapped by the mines laid by our army. When the enemy gathered in the street, they would use the rockets on the East Bank of the Volga River to cover the area, so that they could give the enemy heavy damage.


    As soon as I thought about the planned artillery coverage of the enemy, there came the unique whistling sound of rockets in the sky, and then dozens of rockets with long flame tails plunged into the dense German streets. As soon as the place was still crowded, it turned into a sea of fire. The fire rose seven or eight meters high and formed a wall of fire from east to west. The blast sent the wreckage of the German tanks and soldiers high into the air and fell heavily on the ground. It''s just the wreckage of the tank and the soldiers when it''s thrown up, and when it falls down, it turns into broken iron parts and broken limbs.


    When the smoke cleared, I looked around the street. Except for the tanks and armored vehicles at the west entrance of the German army, the middle section and the east exit, I could hardly see any living creatures. The wreckage of the destroyed tanks has now almost become scattered parts, and around the dense craters of different sizes, there are full of incomplete German bodies.


    Seeing that our army''s rocket salvo had achieved such a great success, trekov could not help grinning. He nudged me and said excitedly, "o''shanina, do you see that? One volley of our artillery almost killed thousands of German soldiers. Just do it twice, and I''ll completely cripple the German infantry division. "


    When I was about to say a few words, I suddenly heard someone shouting at me downstairs. I followed the sound and went to the broken stairs. I leaned down and looked down. It was busmanov, the commander of my guard battalion. I quickly asked, "Comrade captain, what can I do for you?"


    Basmanov looked up at me and yelled, "Comrade division commander, the military commissar of the group army has something to ask for you and the commander. I want you to go back immediately."


    When I turned my head and just wanted to pass on what basmanov said to trakov, I found that he was standing not far from me. It was obvious that he had heard what basmanov said¡° Hell, there''s going to be something urgent at this time. " "Let''s go back to the headquarters. What''s the matter?" he said reluctantly


    Seeing that trekov and I were going downstairs, several guard soldiers who were on guard downstairs rushed to help us to get down from the broken stairs to the ground.


    As soon as we walked into the headquarters, trikov couldn''t wait to yell at gurov, who was sitting at the table, "Hey, comrade military commissar, what''s the important thing for you to call me back in such a hurry?"


    As he pushed a telegraph into trakov''s hand, gurov curiously asked, "Comrade commander, I just heard a lot of noise coming from outside. Did the German army attacking the tractor factory be intercepted by our artillery?"


    Trikov took the telegram in front of him, nodded his head and said: "when the enemy''s tank troops advanced to the area where they were ambushed by Colonel berey, they were attacked by our tanks and anti tank guns in the factory area, and they were immediately in chaos. And those infantry who lost the cover of tanks were blocked by our minefields. As they gathered more and more, our rocket artillery group launched a salvo fire, which wiped out thousands of Germans in the street At this point, he suddenly stopped, and after a moment, he was surprised and said, "what, commander yelomienko is coming to the city?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." When gurov learned of our army''s achievements, he just showed a little smile on his face. When he heard trekov''s question, his face suddenly became serious, and he said, "yes, I don''t know what general yelimenko thinks. The situation in the city is so dangerous. As a commander of the front army, he doesn''t stay in the east bank to command the troops, but he wants to take risks in the city."


    "Comrades of the military commissar, we must find a way to stop him." "There''s a pot of porridge all over the city," he said solemnly. Many places are the main points of repeated contention between the enemy and us. Maybe a minute ago they were still in our hands, and a minute later they were captured by the enemy. We can''t let Comrade yeliaomenke take risks in the city. As the top commander of the front army, he has no right to leave his command post. "


    Gulov sighed and said regretfully, "it''s late, comrade commander. After receiving the telegram, I sent a telegram back to the headquarters of the front army, briefly introducing the situation in the city, and imploring general yeliaomenko to cancel this trip. It was Comrade Khrushchev, military commissar of the front army, who sent me a telegram. He said that general yelimenko had already set out after sending the telegram. This time he came to the city, in addition to inspecting our defensive positions, he also specially came to listen to our reports on the war situation in the past two days. "


    "To find a way to stop him, for the sake of his safety, he must not come to our headquarters." After looking around for four weeks, trikov curiously asked, "how many division commanders are there if ludev?"


    As soon as I came in, I felt that there was a difference between the headquarters and when we went out. However, when I listened to the conversation between trakov and gurov, I didn''t find that the headquarters was so crowded that there were only a few telegraph operators and gurov left.


    "The soldiers dug some new shelters not far away, and chief of staff krailov took them to their new command post." After a brief explanation of the reason for the shortage of people in the headquarters, gurov talked about yelimenko again: "Comrade commander, do you have any good way to prevent general yelimenko from coming to our headquarters?"


    "There are ways." When trikov said this, he suddenly turned to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, I''ll leave this matter to you."


    "Give it to me?" After listening to trekov''s words, I asked in a panic, "Comrade commander, what should I do to stop commander yelomienko from coming here?"


    "It''s easy." Trikov had a good idea of how to deal with yelimenko, so he said to me gently, "on behalf of the leaders of our group army, go to the wharf to meet commander yelimenko. When you get someone, you take him to your division headquarters. As for the report, you have been in the headquarters these two days, and you are not unfamiliar with the war situation. " At this point, he went to the table, picked up a stack of paper on the table, looked through it and handed it to me. "This is the detailed war report. You can read it to commander yeliomenko in your headquarters."


    These two days of staying in trakov''s headquarters have been the most terrifying two days and nights since I arrived at Stalingrad. Now it''s not easy for me to have a good opportunity to leave this ghost place. Naturally, I won''t waste it, so I quickly agreed: "please rest assured, comrade commander. I promise to complete the task." With that, he reached out his hands to take over the war report handed over by trakov, and carefully put it into his briefcase.


    When I put the documents in my briefcase, trikov asked with concern, "Comrade oshanina, it''s not very safe on the way from here to the wharf. Do you need me to send some soldiers to escort you?"


    "No, comrade commander." I thought of basmanov, who just called us, and saw that he was not damaged except for his clothes. It was estimated that there were still a few people left in the guard platoon I brought, which was enough to protect my safety on the road, so I politely refused trakov''s kindness: "now the fighting here is very fierce, every soldier is precious, There''s no need to transfer people from important positions to protect my safety. " However, in order to reassure him and gurov, I explained the reason, "my guard battalion commander, Captain basmanov, is outside. With him to protect me, the safety on the road can be basically guaranteed."


    "If that''s the case, let''s get going." After finishing this sentence, trikov couldn''t help but exhort with concern: "you must pay attention to your own safety, and don''t have any accidents."


    I nodded, raised my hand, saluted him and gurov, turned, stepped up the steps and walked out of the headquarters. Basmanov squatted in the traffic ditch not far from the headquarters. Seeing me coming out of the headquarters, he immediately met me and asked nervously, "Comrade division commander, where are we going next?"


    "To the dock." I said simply.


    "What, to the dock?" "What are we going to do at this time?" busmanov asked


    I turned to look at the soldiers who were walking around. I didn''t want to give away the orders of our trip at random. So I turned my face and said to busmanov, "Comrade captain, don''t you know the confidentiality regulations? Can the lower level commander ask the higher level commander what task he wants to perform? " Seeing that he lowered his head in shame, I slowed down and asked, "how many people are left in the guard platoon, let them go with me."


    "Six," busmanov hastily replied, "there are six left, including me. If you don''t think there are enough people, I''ll go to major gradshev and borrow some more. "¡° No, no, "I quickly waved to stop him, and then said," take your soldiers and follow me! "

 Chapter 752

    On the way to the dock, the seven of us didn''t get together. We were divided into three groups, busmanov with a soldier in the front road, two soldiers went to the back, I and the other two soldiers walked in the middle. The interval between each group is 50 meters. At this distance, when any group encounters the enemy, the other two groups can provide support in time.


    When we were bowing through the ruins, in order to make the journey not too boring, I intentionally chatted with the two soldiers around me. First of all, I asked the young soldier walking on my left, carrying a Popov submachine gun: "Hello, comrade soldier, what''s your name?"


    The soldier was stunned for a moment when he heard me ask: "are you asking me, sir?" Before I could speak, he went on, "my name is ruhovitzki. I''m from gulag."


    When I heard this word in Gulag concentration camp, I could not help looking at the soldier around me curiously. Judging from his words and deeds, it seemed that he should have come from a factory or a city before, so I tentatively asked, "Comrade ruhovitzki, how did you get into Gulag concentration camp. Is it because I was late for work three times in a row? "


    "Sir, you are wrong." Without waiting for ruhovitzki to answer me, another soldier had already preempted me and said, "he was arrested and sent to the concentration camp because he refused to hold the portrait of Stalin during the May Day parade the year before last."


    Strange reasons aroused my curiosity. I looked left and right. Except for the three of us, the rest of us were so far away that we couldn''t hear each other. So I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade ruhovitzki, since you participated in the parade at that time, why don''t you want to hold the portrait of Comrade Stalin?"


    "Because I was holding my one year old daughter in my hand at that time, and I couldn''t lift a portrait at all." "I haven''t seen my daughter since I was sent to Gulag, and I don''t know what''s wrong with her now," said jouhovitzki with a gloomy look


    "Don''t worry, comrade joowitzki, when the war is over, you will see your daughter." In order to change the topic, I turned to another soldier and asked him, "Comrade soldier, what''s your name? Like him, are you from Gulag concentration camp?"


    The soldier nodded and replied, "Comrade division, your guess is quite right. My name is Mikhailov, also from Gulag concentration camp."


    "And the reason for the arrest?" At this moment, the soul of gossip in my heart is burning up, and I am eager to find out why the soldiers from Gulag concentration camp were arrested.


    Mikhailov replied with a wry smile: "my accusation is very simple: when I stop a person who makes subversive remarks in the street, I charge the crowd again for his reactionary remarks."


    I can''t laugh or cry at this accusation. It''s more bizarre than the accusation of ruhovitzki. After a silent bitter smile, I asked casually, "what crimes have all your comrades from Gulag concentration camp been arrested for?"


    "A regiment of kestrov used to be an electrician, he joked: there is no need to make a street lamp pole on the street, just give Stalin''s statue the light bulb in his hand."


    "Ignatiev of the second regiment said when drinking with his friends: I''d like to raise a glass to my motherland, if it''s for Stalin."


    "Mishenkov of the first battalion of the second regiment complained:" thank Stalin for leading the people on the broad road, but we don''t even have cows in our family. "


    "Valginets of the third regiment was even more unlucky. He queued for two hours in the grain store. When it was his turn, the grain store closed after work. "What as like as two peas, I''m going to go home and complain on the road: what I want the flour to do, communism is coming, and then we take the plates to the dining hall to get the food, just like the beggars in the street."


    "The fourth regiment''s veszenius threw cucumbers at the portrait of the national leader after he was drunk."


    "Karabatirov of the second company of guards is a Kazakh. He is charged with illegally performing his Maori duties, holding religious ceremonies and collecting fees."


    "And that martshin, after he got drunk, went to the celebration of the anniversary of the October Revolution and made a loud noise when others gave a speech."


    "The most unfortunate one is zaharku, who is in the ninth company of the third regiment. In order to be jealous, he forced his wife to write a reactionary anonymous letter in the name of his opponent. As a result, he was soon detected, and his wife and his wife went to the concentration camp."


    ¡­¡­


    When they talked about their companions in the Gulag concentration camp, they were more and more excited, and their voices became louder and louder. I was frightened by the many accusations they said. It turned out that if I accidentally said a wrong word, it would bring disaster to me. I always speak at random. If I hadn''t been cared by so many thigh level characters, I might have been sent to Gulag concentration camp long ago. Thinking of this, I was shocked out in a cold sweat. In order to prevent the two people from continuing to talk, I quickly changed the topic: "Mikhail ROV, rukhowitsky, you two seem to have a good relationship."


    Mikhailov looked at rukhowitsky and said to me with a smile, "yes, sir, we have a good friendship. Rukhowitsky once saved my life." Without waiting for me to ask, he went on: "I was sent to the Gulag concentration camp in Siberia just in time for the severe winter. Our work at that time was to build fortifications for national defense, which is said to be to guard against possible attacks from Japanese countries in the East. Our daily ration is only 350 grams of bread. At night, we have a bowl of clear soup with only one or two pieces of vegetable leaves.


    Sir, if you think about it, you can''t eat enough food. Let alone work, even lying still is enough. The prisoners who took part in the construction were all puffy and swaying like walking in the swamp. If they did a little heavy work, they would sweat with stars in their eyes. Moreover, the site of the national defense fortification is seven or eight kilometers away from where we live. We have to walk for more than an hour every day. It''s strange that people can''t eat enough when it''s 40 or 50 degrees below zero. Many people just fall on the road. In addition, people who fall to the ground and can''t get up when they are working, people who die every day.


    I was very hungry once. When I was working, I suddenly felt dizzy and fell on the ground. I was sweating all over, my heart beat faster, and I was patiently waiting for death to come. Suddenly someone put a small piece of bread into my mouth. After such a small piece of bread, I slowed down and opened my eyes. It turned out that it was ruhovitzki who saved my life. Sir, don''t underestimate such a small mouthful of bread. Although it''s only tens of grams, it can save a life at a critical moment. "


    I nodded and said solemnly, "Comrade Mikhailov, I understand what you said. I have been to the besieged Leningrad, where people only have 250 grams of food quota every day, and many people die of malnutrition... "When I said this, I suddenly found that basmanov and the soldier stopped and stood beside a pile of rubble, staring in a daze. Seeing their expressions, I don''t know what happened. I quickly changed the topic. "It seems that something happened to captain basmanov. Let''s go and have a look."


    The three of us bent over and trotted all the way to basmanov. A few meters away, I asked nervously, "Hey, comrade captain, what''s the matter?"


    Basmanov looked back at me with a sad face, pointed to the front and said sadly, "Comrade division, please have a look. These are our comrades in arms!"


    I didn''t know why. I followed the direction of his fingers and looked forward. I was shocked by the scene in front of me. There were hundreds of unattended wounded lying in the streets full of craters and debris in front of them, except for the wounded who were too seriously injured to move and were turning over and moaning in pain; The injury was slightly lighter, and the wounded who could bounce were struggling to climb towards the dock.


    Seeing the tragic situation of our army''s heavily wounded, I grabbed basmanov''s arm and asked in a loud voice, "what''s the matter, where are the health workers, and why are so many seriously injured people left here? You know, in such cold weather, if no one cares about them, most of the wounded will not live until dark. "


    Basmanov spread his hands and said in a helpless tone: "Sir, I don''t know what happened. I saw this scene when I came here just now. I also want to save them, but there are only a few of us. There are hundreds of wounded here. How many can we save? "


    "As much as we can save, we can''t watch them die in front of us." Half way through my words, I suddenly thought that it was not far from the third regiment. I immediately thought of a solution, so I told basmanov, "Comrade captain, it''s not far from the third regiment. Let major Godunov send someone to take all the wounded to them."


    "Yes Basmanov agreed and left quickly with the soldier beside him.


    I waited for the two soldiers walking behind to come up, and then I set out again for the wharf. When we passed through the heavily wounded who could not move, the dying soldiers stretched out their bloody hands to us, spewed out words in a hoarse voice, and begged us bitterly: "help, help, help, help, help, help, help us, I, we don''t want to die!"


    I stopped and said to the wounded in a loud voice, "comrades, I''m major general oshanina, the division commander of the independent division. I''ve sent someone back to call the health officer of our division. Don''t worry. I won''t abandon you. Please wait patiently. Our health workers and rescue workers will be here soon. " Because I was worried that staying here for too long would delay my task, so after finishing these words, I had to harden my heart, take a few of my subordinates, carefully step over a cold corpse, quickly pass by the crawling wounded, and walk straight to the wharf.


    As always, the dock was in chaos, with civilians fleeing and soldiers carrying materials. I didn''t know where the ship that commander yelomienko was going to dock, so I had to walk along the river bank for a while, and I didn''t see any ships dock. I grabbed a captain commander who passed by me and asked in a loud voice, "Hello, comrade captain, have you seen any commanders from across the river today?"


    The captain glanced at the rank on the collar of our army''s coat and quickly replied, "I''m sorry, comrade colonel. I''ve been ordered to bring people here to collect materials. I don''t see any commander coming from the other side of the river."


    After thanking him, I let him go. He stood in a daze in the crowd until he saw another commander with a higher rank, a major, in the crowd. He rushed to catch him and asked him if he had seen a senior commander coming from the other side of the river. Unexpectedly, the major also brought people to the dock to collect materials. He never met the person I was looking for.


    Just as I was so frustrated that I couldn''t finish the task given to me by trakov, basmanov trotted to me with seven or eight soldiers. As they ran, they cried out to me: "teacher, comrade teacher, where are you?" I quickly squeezed out of the crowd and went to meet them. At the same time, I loudly promised busmanov, "Comrade captain, I''m here."

 Chapter 753

    When they came to me, without waiting for him to speak, I asked, "Comrade captain, has the third regiment begun to rescue the wounded?" Seeing that he nodded in affirmation, I continued to ask, because I thought of the tragic scene I saw, so my voice was very heavy and severe, "do you know what''s going on? Who left so many wounded people there and let them live and die?"


    Basmanov shrugged his shoulders and answered helplessly: "it''s all clear, sir. I have inquired about the wounded. They are all from the field hospital of the group army. Last night, the hospital informed them that they would be sent to the East Bank of the Volga River. Starting this morning, 470 of their more seriously injured were transferred from the hospital to the open area, waiting for the troops to take them across the river. I didn''t expect to stay there for several hours. Not only did I not see anyone to meet me, but also I was bombarded and bombed by the enemy. The wounded didn''t want to wait for death, so they had to find a way to leave there. According to our preliminary statistics, at least one-third of the wounded died. "


    When I was grieving for the tragic fate of the wounded, basmanov suddenly changed the topic: "by the way, sir, I came to you on the order of the political commissar."


    "Political commissar looking for me?" When I left the independent division, I had transferred the command of the division to kirilov and bantailiev. They could decide all the affairs of the division. What else could they come to me for? At the moment, I was not in the mood to play a guessing game with basmanov, so I directly asked him the answer: "what can the commissar do for me?"


    Hearing this, basmanov suddenly became alert, looked left and right, then came close to me and said to me in a low voice: "Comrade division commander, there are two generals in the headquarters."


    "Two generals?" Seeing basmanov''s mysterious appearance, I knew that he was not an ordinary man. I also asked in a low voice, "do you know who the two generals in the headquarters are?"


    "According to the political commissar, it''s general Yeliao Menko, commander of the front army, and his deputy lieutenant general Popov." Hearing these two names from basmanov''s mouth, I was overjoyed. I really had no place to find. It didn''t take me any time. I had been wandering around the wharf and the river. I didn''t expect that they had gone to my division headquarters first. Thinking of this, I said to busmanov: "come on, comrade captain, come back to the headquarters with me."


    After a short walk, I suddenly felt something was wrong. According to gurov, after sending the telegram, yelimenko left with people, and trekov sent me to meet him. Even if I wanted to inform him, I couldn''t inform him. How could they go directly to the headquarters of the independent division without warning?


    I went back to the headquarters with these questions. As soon as I entered the door, I saw the familiar figure sitting at the table. I quickly stepped up and nodded to kirilov, who was greeting me. Then I went straight to the man and stood at attention. After a salute, I said respectfully, "hello, comrade commander of the front army. Major general o''shanina, the commander of the independent division, reports to you. Welcome to the headquarters of the independent division. "


    Yelomienko stood up with his hand on the table, held out his hand to me with a smile, and said politely, "Comrade oshanina, we and general Popov are going to the headquarters of trakov, passing by you, so we''re here to have a rest."


    Seeing that yelimenko didn''t know anything, I quickly said, "Comrade commander, I went to the wharf to meet you on the order of group army commander trekov and military commissar gulov. I''ve been looking on the dock for a long time, but I didn''t expect that you''d arrived first. "


    "Oh, trekov and gurov asked you to meet us?" "In addition to welcoming us, what other tasks have they arranged for you?" yelimenko asked unexpectedly


    "They asked me to give you a detailed account of the results of these two days." With that, I took out the stack of war reports from my briefcase. While I was hesitating whether to report to him immediately, he had already raised his hand and took the war reports from my hand. After a quick look at a few pages, he turned around and told the general standing beside him who had never said a word: "Comrade Popov, please contact them immediately, and ask major general roluev, the commander of the 37th division of Jinwei, to rush to the headquarters of the independent division immediately."


    "Yes." General Popov agreed briefly, then came to razumeyeva''s side, bowed his head and said a few words to her. Soon, razumeyeva began to use the transmitter to call the headquarters of the group army.


    In the process of waiting for the arrival of rolujaf, yeliomenko threw the stack of war papers on the table and said angrily: "out of trust, we gave the arduous and glorious task of sticking to the tractor factory to the 37th division of Jinwei. But in the end, ruolu failed to live up to this trust and gave up the tractor factory to the enemy. He''s committing a crime. He''s committing a crime. " The more he spoke, the more angry he was, and the more angry he was, the more he patted the table.


    Due to the lack of communication in the near future, kirilov knew that the fighting in the factory area was fierce, but no one told them about the specific situation of the war. Therefore, when they saw yelomienko angry, they could only look at each other. I know more about the fighting in the factory area these two days than anyone else. Seeing that Yeliao Menko is so angry, I understand that he must have some misunderstanding. I quickly stepped forward and politely said, "Comrade commander of the front army, I''ve been staying in the headquarters of the group army these two days. I know a lot about the fighting in the factory area. I think you may have some misunderstanding about the 37th division of the guards, Can I tell you something about the division''s performance in combat? "


    Yelomienko looked me in the eye for a long time. Finally, he nodded reluctantly and said, "well, let''s hear it. I want to know what''s going on. You know, the communication with the 62nd army is not smooth recently, so we can''t get the latest situation in time. "


    Since yelimenko was willing to give me the opportunity to introduce the fighting experience of these two days, I naturally could not waste such reality. After organizing some words in my mind, I began to tell him: "Comrade commander, on October 14, the Germans assembled three infantry divisions and two tank divisions on the four kilometer front and launched an attack on the factory area. The powerful air force and artillery fire preparation started at dawn is the prelude to this attack. Behind the ears, the enemy''s bombing and artillery fire continued until night fell. The number of enemy planes dispatched reached 3000 in one day. When the enemy shelled and bombed, the explosion was deafening, and the air was shaking with the roar. Everything is scorched, dust is flying, smoke is rolling, five meters away, nothing can be seen clearly


    Although I only looked through the war report handed to me by trakov, I remembered most of the above. When yelimenko heard me retelling the contents of the war report, his expression was unusually calm. He even asked kirilov to sit down and listen to my report with him.


    "At eight o''clock in the morning, the German army launched an attack. Their main assault directions were tractor factories and "barricade" factories. The areas defended by the 37th, 95th, 308 infantry divisions and the 84th tank brigade of the close guard infantry were heavily attacked by them. Among them, the 37th close guard division under the command of general rolujaf, although exhausted in the brutal battle, but in the narrow area in front of the division''s defensive position, the enemy put in a full infantry division and dozens of tanks.


    After the terrible aerial bombardment and gunfire, all life on the ground of our army seemed to have been destroyed by the enemy. When the enemy thought they could go through the collapsed buildings and occupy the positions of our army in the blazing and lifeless land, they found that they had miscalculated. As soon as they charged, every inch of land and every stone in front of them immediately regained their vitality. The defenders of Stalingrad skillfully used natural and artificial bunkers and tenaciously held the occupied positions.


    The battle for the tractor factory is extremely fierce. Almost every house, every floor, and even every stairway has to fight fiercely¡® Some isolated buildings and streets between the barricade factory and the tractor factory workers'' new village have changed hands several times. The commanders and fighters of the 37th division of the guards, the 95th division of the infantry and other units of the group army concealed themselves in the ruins of trenches, buildings or collapsed houses, and attacked the enemy with grenades, flasks and various weapons. Mortar teams and anti tank guns fire directly at enemy tanks.


    However, the power gap between the enemy and us is too great. After more than four hours of cruel fighting, the enemy broke through the defense of the 37th division of the guards, defeated the left wing of the 112th infantry division, and went out to the stadium of Stalingrad tractor factory. At 16 p.m., the units of the 112th infantry division, the 37th guard division and the right wing units of the 308th infantry division were surrounded by enemy tanks. The commanders and fighters had to continue to fight in the encirclement, and the command posts of the regiments remained in place to command the troops. The battle went on very cruelly. The headquarters of division commander General rolujaf was hit by a bomb. He and the members of division headquarters were buried in the collapsed shelter. It was commander trakov who sent security forces to rescue him and sent him to the headquarters of the group army. Before that, the command of the 37th division was taken over by the chief of staff of the group army, who directly directed several regiments of the division through radio phones.


    In the evening, the situation got worse. The 389th and 94th Infantry Divisions, the 100th Hunter division and the 14th and 24th tank divisions attacked the factory. There are 250-300 tanks in all. Before each attack, there was a heavy artillery preparation and intensive air bombardment. At the end of the powerful artillery and aviation operations, the tank echelons and follow-up infantry quickly charged to our army.


    On October 15, fierce fighting continued in the tractor factory area and the northern part of the front line of our group army. The enemy put their 305th infantry division into battle again, and attempted to attack South and north along the Volga River, making a detour back to the main rear of our army and annihilating all our troops. The German artillery and air force constantly suppressed our defense positions, and sent out fighters to block the airport on the East Bank of Volga River to prevent our air force from taking off, so as to ensure that the air control power on the battlefield was in their hands.


    At the time when the enemy attacked fiercely, the 37th division of Jinwei was shouldering the heavy burden of the main fighting force. Some of its independent units and some of its troops had been fighting in the tractor factory workers'' new village and the section of minusinskaya street. The 95th infantry division and the 84th tank brigade are also engaged in arduous fighting. The rest of the group army are also fighting with the enemy''s small units in different areas.... "


    When yeliaomenko heard this, he raised his hand to interrupt me and said in a discontented tone: "Comrade oshanina, you have been nagging for a long time. You can''t just say how tenacious the 37th division of the guards was under the crazy attack of the enemy. But does it work? No matter how brave their commanders and fighters are, they will not change the fact that the enemy occupied the tractor factory, will they


    It is true that the tractor factory was once lost. Since yelielmenko said so, I had to nod my head with a bitter smile and say, "yes, comrade commander of the front army, under the strong offensive of the enemy, the garrison in the factory area lost all their lives, and the German army swarmed in and almost occupied the whole factory area." Yelomienko sneered and said with disdain: "although general ruolujaf had a tenacious resistance in the early stage of commanding troops, in the end, they still failed to defend this crucial tractor factory. With this alone, it would not be too much to send him to a military court. " When I heard him say this, I suddenly felt that something was wrong. The lost tractor factory had been recaptured by the shejerikov regiment, which had been cooperated by the 84th brigade of tanks, in the counterattack last night. Didn''t yelomienko know about it, or he would not be angry for losing the defensive area of the tractor factory? Thinking of this, I asked cautiously, "Comrade commander of the front army, don''t you know that the tractor factory has been recaptured by us?"¡° What, the tractor factory has been recaptured? " It wasn''t yelomienko who spoke this time, but general Popov, who was expressionless and didn''t speak all the time, asked me excitedly: "Comrade oshanina, who did you listen to about this matter? Are you not mistaken?" Popov''s words further confirmed my conjecture. It seems that they didn''t get our latest war report at all, so I quickly explained: "general Popov, because the troops participating in the counter offensive are a regiment under my independent division. Under the cover of the 84th tank brigade, the regiment has successfully recaptured the tractor factory after a night of fierce fighting. At the same time, in the course of counterattack, the tank brigade also attacked the German tank division''s camp and destroyed nearly 100 tanks and armored vehicles. "¡° Comrade Popov, "yelomienko asked his deputy solemnly," why do I not know such important information? " After being asked about Popov''s eyes and tongue tied for half a day, he hesitated and said, "Comrade commander, perhaps because of poor communication, this important information was not reported to the headquarters of the front army in time."

 Chapter 754

    Seeing that general Popov was in an embarrassing situation, I quickly summoned up the courage to defend him: "Comrade commander, I didn''t receive the latest war report. I think I may know the reason."


    My words really attracted yeliaomenko''s attention. Instead of pursuing the responsibility of deputy commander Popov, he turned to me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, do you know why?"


    "Comrade commander, while the enemy launched an attack on the factory area, the headquarters of the group army was also shelled and bombed. Two of the shelters were hit by bombs. Because of the more intense fighting, which was just a few hundred meters away from the headquarters, we had no time to rescue the people buried in the collapsed shelters, So that 30 buried officers and soldiers died. I think perhaps it is for this reason, coupled with the lack of smooth communication between the two sides, that individual important intelligence is not transmitted to the headquarters of the front army in time. "


    For my farfetched reason, yelomienko didn''t go deep into it. He just nodded without expression and didn''t say anything. And Popov, who got me out, gave me a grateful smile.


    Looking at Yeliao Menko, who did not say a word but looked at the war report, I planned to say something to ease the atmosphere, but I found that there was nothing to say except to report to him.


    Just then, with a report coming from the door, everyone''s attention was attracted in the past. I saw a haggard face of general ruolu Geoff, standing upright at the door, needless to say that this report was called by him.


    Yelomienko put down the document in his hand, looked up at ruolu Geoff, and then asked drily, "is it major general ruolu Geoff, the commander of the 37th division of Jinwei?"


    When ruolu Geoff heard someone talking, he narrowed his eyes and looked at us for a moment. He saw the questioner clearly. The commander of the front army replied in a loud voice: "yes, comrade commander, I''m ruolu Geoff, the division commander of the 37th division of Jinwei."


    Hearing the affirmative answer given by roluev, yelielmenko slapped the table hard, stood up by the side of the table, picked up his walking stick and limped to roluev. After looking the other party up and down, he snorted discontentedly, and then asked coldly, "Comrade commander, I''ll ask you, how did you leave the factory to the enemy?"


    If ludev seems to have been prepared for a long time, when he heard yeliaomenko''s question, he immediately answered with confidence, "Comrade commander, I can explain this to you."


    "Tell me, I want to hear what''s going on." Maybe it was because he knew in advance that the tractor factory had been recaptured, so yeliaomenke was very reasonable.


    Ruolugeoff agreed, and then began to report the fighting situation of the 37th division of Jinwei: "our division showed unshakable firmness and a high degree of self sacrifice in the fight to defend the tractor factory. The enemy surrounded a small unit of our division in a section guarded by the 114th regiment of the guards. Although the brave guards repulsed the enemy''s superior forces, the strength of the enemy''s attack was not weakened. Six enemy tanks rushed to a hill position in the factory, where only a three man combat team stood. They are Red Army soldier horojuk, division chief Mo Jing and the leader, deputy director and member of the fighting group usaqiov. In the face of the enemy''s siege, they were not afraid, so a battle of great disparity began. In the battle, they used anti tank rifles to shoot at the enemy''s tanks, and from time to time threw bundles of grenades to blow up the enemy''s tanks, burning the enemy''s tanks with burning bottles. In the end, all the six tanks were killed by them, but horojuk and moggin died in the battle, and usachov was seriously injured.


    In the two days of fighting, our division''s officers and men inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, and the overwhelming majority of them died bravely. The glorious guards bravely defended the tractor factory. At the end of the battle, there were only a few hundred soldiers left in the division, including 84 in the 114th regiment and 30 in the 117th regiment. All the 45mm cannons, mortars and anti tank guns belonging to the regiment artillery were destroyed.


    After the death of Colonel Andreyev of the 117th regiment of the guards on the 14th, by the evening of the 15th, the chief of the artillery staff of the division, Captain Pavlov, and deputy battalion political commissar sutrin, had died, and the commander of the 86th regiment of the guards, Lieutenant Colonel sobolevsky, and the Communication Director of the division, Captain solomenko, were seriously injured


    When talking about his sacrificial subordinates, general ruolugeof suddenly became excited. He raised his voice unconsciously and said in a loud voice: "Comrade commander of the front army, didn''t you ask why we lost the tractor factory? At that time, because the enemy sent out thousands of planes to bomb our defensive positions in turn, nearly 150 tanks rushed into us, and the tide of infantry attacked us in turn behind the tanks, but none of us left our positions. All the commanders and fighters of the division faithfully completed their tasks, and did not retreat in the face of the enemy''s crazy attack. At the end of the battle, most of the soldiers and commanders had died bravely, and only then did the enemy occupy the unguarded area. In those positions where there are still guards, the cruel fighting has never stopped. "


    After ruolugeof''s self defense, yelimenko, leaning on his walking stick, returned to the table and sat down. Looking up at ruolugeof standing in the middle of the room, he said flatly: "the headquarters of the front army intercepted an enemy telegram in the evening of the 15th. In the telegram, the German complacently reported to their superiors that the Soviet regiment besieged in the working area of spartanovka had been eliminated and that they had occupied the whole tractor factory. After learning the news, Khrushchev and I were extremely anxious. Originally, I planned to go to the most dangerous area of Stalingrad defense, but in the end, I failed to reach this idea. Because the enemy blocked all the docks and ferries with strong artillery fire, we couldn''t get on the boat at all. "


    Yeliao Menko saw that everyone''s faces were nervous and knew that we were thinking about his safety, so he waved his hand with a smile and said, "don''t worry, I''m the commander of the front army after all. I have more important work to finish. So I''m not going to risk my own life. " At this point, he stopped for a moment, and then went on to say, "in view of the enemy''s occupation of the tractor factory area and its approach to the Volga River in that area, the Supreme Command today instructed me to immediately transfer part of the 300th infantry division to temporarily strengthen the garrison of zaitsevsky and sporney island."


    With these words, he stood up again with difficulty and said to roluev, "Comrade General, please go back to the headquarters of the 62nd group army and tell trikov that maybe when it gets dark, I will visit him in person at your headquarters of the group army and ask him to make preparations earlier."


    Roluev nodded, then politely asked, "Comrade commander, may I leave?"


    Seeing that ludev was about to leave, I suddenly thought of the task given to me by trikov. I was responsible for receiving yelimenko and didn''t let him take risks in dangerous areas. So I didn''t wait for yelimenko to make a statement and said, "Comrade commander of the front army, commander trikov ordered me to receive you, but I didn''t want you to go to the most dangerous defensive areas. As a senior commander, you have no right to risk your own life. "


    I didn''t expect yelomienko to wave his hand at me. Instead, he directly told roluev, "go, general roluev. Don''t forget to tell trakov that I will go to his headquarters soon." Ruolu Geoff gave me a look of helplessness, raised his hand and saluted Yeliao Menko, then turned and left.


    "Don''t worry, comrade oshanina. I''ll make it clear to trikov. He won''t blame you at all," he said with a smile At this point, he waved to Popov and kirilov and said, "go ahead and do your own business. I have a few words to say to Comrade oshanina in private. Come and sit beside me Yelomienko''s last words were to me.


    I don''t know why. I sit next to yelaimenko, waiting for his instructions. Seeing my nervous appearance, yeliaomenko comforted me with a smile: "don''t be nervous, comrade oshanina. I''m just talking to you. How long have you been a teacher? "


    I don''t know why yelaimenko asked this question suddenly. After hesitating for a moment, he replied cautiously: "Comrade report commander, I have been in the position of independent division commander for two months. But before that, I was the commander of the eighth division of the guards under the leadership of general rokosovsky


    "I know all about your previous resume." "Maybe in a while, the headquarters of the front army will appoint you to a more important position," he said


    I was so surprised by the unexpected good news that I suddenly stood up, but then I thought that under the current situation, the higher the position, the heavier the responsibility I would bear. Even if I was just asked to be the deputy of trekov, I could not do it. So after a moment of confusion, I said in a modest voice: "Comrade commander, my ability is limited. Even as the teacher of this independent division, I feel that I am not competent. If I am to be appointed to a higher position, I am afraid I am not competent."


    "Ability can be cultivated slowly." "Anyway, it''s still early before dark. I''ll tell you how to be an excellent commander," Yeliao Menko said Seeing that I stood upright in front of him, I quickly raised my hand and pressed down, "don''t stand, sit down. By the way, take out your notebook. What I''m talking about today is quite long. As a student, you can take good notes. "


    Yeliao Menko''s words let me relax. I quickly sat down, took out my notebook and pen from my briefcase and put them on the table. Then I nodded to Yeliao Menko, saying that I was ready to record.


    Seeing that I was ready, Yeliao Menko nodded and began to tell me how to be an excellent Commander: "first of all, what I want to tell you is the quality that a senior commander must have: diligence. People who are not diligent can not only do things well, but also be military commanders. What you should do by yourself must be seen and done by yourself. For example, if you accept the task of sticking to the mamayev hillock, you have to go to each area on the hillock for field survey, and then deploy the defense according to the actual situation. Don''t be lazy. Military commanders should never be lazy, because laziness will bring danger and failure. For example, when a military commander arrives at a new defensive zone, he shrinks into his headquarters and is indifferent to the situation outside. He is indifferent to the size of his defensive zone, the location of the whole defense line, the number of roads nearby, the situation of the enemy, whether the nearby residents have evacuated, what may happen next, and whether the troops have arrived, We don''t know where the deployed sentry posts are or what the emergency plan is. In this way, if something happens in the middle of the night and the enemy suddenly attacks, there is no way. At that time, even the usually brave commanders will be helpless. As a result, they will betray the trust of their superiors and throw our positions to the enemy. In fact, in addition to the combat effectiveness and equipment of the troops, the commander''s defeat is often due to his lack of ideological preparation, organizational preparation, and his laziness. Therefore, no matter what level of commander you are, you should be diligent, do not hesitate to walk, not afraid of fatigue, use your brain more, and be aware of your heart, eyes, mouth, feet and hands. Before things are done well, you can''t be lazy. There is a hidden root of making mistakes.


    The second point is to find out the intention of the superior. We should really understand the intentions of the higher authorities, truly understand the position and role of the tasks we receive in the overall situation of the campaign and battle. Only in this way can we give full play to our subjective initiative; Only in this way can we break the rules and have the creativity to dare and be good at finding new ways in new situations; Only in this way can we have great courage, strong and resolute determination, dare to win a complete victory, and have a strong attempt and ambition to swallow up the enemy. The bravery of the commanders is mainly manifested in their determination to annihilate the enemy and their correct understanding of the intentions of their superiors. " I can recognize that this is yelomienko''s valuable experience gained in his army for decades, so I nodded and quickly wrote down everything he said in my notebook. I knew that if I understood all these things yelomienko told me, then my abilities in all aspects would be qualitatively improved.

 Chapter 755

    When Yeliao Menko said this, he suddenly stopped. I was wondering why he didn''t say it, but I heard his voice of complaint and ridicule: "Hey, I said Comrade oshanina, even if I''m not your boss and your guest, why don''t you pour me a glass of water?"


    Although yelimenko said this in a joking tone, it still made me feel embarrassed. I turned to kirilov and bantailiev, who were next to me, and they were thinking about who should trouble him to pour a cup of tea for the commander. Akhromeyev had said in advance: "Comrade commander, please wait a moment, I''ll pour tea for you."


    After akhromeyev''s back disappeared at the door, yelimenko began to say: "thirdly, commanders should know how to investigate. We should always have a clear idea of the enemy''s situation, the terrain, the situation of the troops and the social situation. We should touch and ponder every day without interruption. This can not be regarded as repetition. In fact, it is not repetition, but a process of continuous deepening and improvement. It is an indispensable means to get a correct understanding. The more information accumulated and mastered in peacetime, the more systematic it is. In wartime, especially in tense and complex situations, the more calm and effective it is. Therefore, investigation and research work should be carried out in all kinds of work and in the whole process of every campaign and battle. We are opposed to fighting reckless and muddleheaded battles. In particular, we must find out the enemy''s situation. Because the enemy''s situation is alive, the enemy will try to conceal and disguise their real intentions and actions. We should do all we can to continuously conduct reconnaissance, find out the enemy''s deployment and movements, and see what role he plays? Is it the main force or the non main force? Is it arrogant or defeated? How many troops can be concentrated to attack us and block our attack. Understand the characteristics of the enemy''s chief military officer, see what tactics he is used to and good at, judge what tactics he may adopt according to his current attempt, and so on. As long as we have a clear understanding of the enemy''s situation, our situation and the terrain, our determination will be quick, firm and firm. You will not be confused by any illusion, and you will not be frightened by any difficulties. If the situation is not clear, you will be hesitant, hesitant, miss a good opportunity, or reluctantly make up your mind. Once the wind blows, you will be easily shaken by the fear of hardship and incorrect suggestions, and you may lose all your previous achievements. At this point, you should understand why my name is trakov. The situation there is very dangerous, and you still have to go to the most dangerous defensive area to inspect, right


    I quickly nodded in agreement with yelimenko''s statement. As I was about to say something, akhromeyev, who went out to serve tea, came in with an enamel teapot. He went to the table, carefully placed the teapot in front of yeliaomenko, and then said respectfully, "Comrade commander, please have tea."


    Yelimenko nodded to akhromeyev, expressed his gratitude, took a sip from the teapot, and then said to me, "fourth, an excellent commander needs to be a living map. Commanders and staff officers must be familiar with maps and read them frequently. Reading maps well can produce opinions, wisdom, methods and confidence. The way to read is to hang up the map, move a stool, sit down and look at the map. From the general direction to the active area, from the overall view of the area to the topographic features of each section, from rough reading to close reading, read the map piece by piece. Use red and blue pencils to mark out the main mountains, rivers, towns, villages and roads. Read and draw while you read until the map is almost rotten, I''ve almost memorized the map. On the basis of being familiar with the map, we should personally organize relevant commanders and staff officers to carry out on-the-spot investigation of the combat area and battlefield, verify the map, and put the terrain of the battlefield and the deployment of forces of both sides into our minds, so that when we close our eyes, we will have a bright battlefield map in front of us, and even if we leave the map, we can command the operation. In this way, in a life and death battle, we can come faster than the enemy, fight for the first chance, take the initiative and win the battle with certainty. "


    When I heard Yeliao Menko say the fourth point, I could not help blushing slightly. You know, being unfamiliar with the military map has always been my weakness. After a few months in Stalingrad, I was completely unfamiliar with the rest of the area except for the relatively familiar terrain near mamayev post.


    Yelomienko looked up at akhromeyev, who was standing in front of us and never left, and said with a friendly smile, "Comrade major, if I remember correctly, you should be the chief of staff of the independent division?" Seeing that akhromeyev nodded and approved, he quickly pointed to the position beside him, "you can also sit down and listen. Only by mastering these skills can you better cooperate with Comrade oshanina in commanding the battle."


    After akhromeyev sat down next to him honestly, he went on to say: "fifth, when making a combat plan, we should think through all aspects of problems. In every campaign or battle, we should ask people to ask all kinds of questions that may arise. We should ask people to find answers, and we should find answers from the worst and most serious situations. We have answered all the questions raised, and there are no more unanswered questions. Only in this way can we fight without making big mistakes, and if we make mistakes, it will be easier to correct them. A question that has not been answered should not be left unsolved just because it hasn''t been thought out for a long time. If this is very dangerous, at a critical moment, this small problem is likely to emerge, which will make your plan deviate. Of course, in a war environment, there are many questions to consider. It is impossible to ask them all at once or answer them all at once. The whole process of a campaign and battle is a process of constantly asking and answering questions. In a word, we should not be vague about every issue. Only when the questions are answered can the organization of campaigns and battles be considered complete.


    Sixth, commanders should be able to make decisions in a timely manner. Under what circumstances can we make up our mind to fight? The commander must make a good campaign plan with his best effort. In addition, we should do a good job in preparing for campaigns and battles, and strive to do it only when we are sure of it, instead of fighting a battle that we are not sure of. However, it is impossible for any battle to meet all kinds of conditions and be 100% sure. Generally speaking, it''s very good to have a 70% confidence. We should fight resolutely and let go. For example, the German attack on Stalingrad caught us unprepared. In this case, what should we do? Should we let the enemy march in or organize a continuous fight to slow down the German army''s advance towards Stalingrad, so that we can fight for more time to improve the city''s defense. Therefore, in the case of insufficient conditions, we should make up for it by giving full play to the role of human factors, giving full play to the unique political advantages of our Red Army, giving full play to the wisdom and brave and indomitable fighting style of our commanders and fighters, creating conditions with subjective efforts, turning risk-taking into creativity and winning. "


    Kirilov and bantaileiev, after they finished their work, saw that yelomienko was still imparting to me the experience he had summed up in the army for decades. They also gathered around and stood around curiously. When he saw the acquaintances around him, he would not let them stand. He said to them: "don''t stand, everyone. Sit down and listen."


    "The seventh point is to have a good and United team. The leading group should be consistent in thinking and understanding, coordinated in action, vigorous and resolute, and have the spirit of revolutionary heroism. All commanders should be diligent and try their best to do their duty well and complete the task. No bickering, no interference, no bystander attitude. If the leading group is not good, a large number of people is not only useless, but harmful. " At this point, yelomienko looked around and said with great interest: "Comrade oshanina, although the independent division has not been established for a long time, it is estimated that you have a very united leading group that can form combat effectiveness so quickly."


    I can''t help looking up at kirilov''s partners, who are also looking at me. After meeting my eyes, they all gave me a sincere smile. It seems that they have the same feeling for this kind of saying.


    "Eighth, the army should have a good fighting style. Only troops with a good fighting style can fight well and win. First of all, a good fighting style is the spirit of not complaining, rushing to shoulder the most arduous tasks, being able to itch in battle, being brave and indomitable, and not afraid of sacrifice. As our fight against the Communist aggressors is long and arduous, we can not relax after one or two battles. It is necessary for the soldiers to display their fearless spirit of not being afraid of fatigue and deal with the enemy to the end. A good fighting style should be cultivated in peacetime, trained in practice, and trained in intense and cruel battles. Dare not fight a hard battle, evil battle of the army, let him fight a few times to fight out, because he has seen the hard battle, evil battle scene, with experience, with experience, know how to fight.. The key to the formation of a good style of work lies in the commander. The style of a good commander will be the style of the army. Therefore, first of all, we should do a good job in the training of commanders, as long as the commanders make appearances to influence and drive the troops they command. As long as the commanders have a good style of work, command battles well, and win more battles, even the newly-built units or the units with a weak foundation will soon have a good style of work, like hammers. If they hit there, they will be broken. The reason why your independent division can turn a newly formed unit without any combat effectiveness into a hundred battle lion in a short time or two may be related to what I have said. "


    Seeing that everyone nodded his approval, he took another sip of tea and then went on to say, "the ninth and most important point is to pay attention to Zhengzhi and do a good job of Zhengzhi himself. The improvement of the combat effectiveness of the army depends on the strong leadership of the party and strong political work at ordinary times. I think your commander trakov and military commissar gurov have considered this very carefully. They even sent kirilov, director of the Zhengzhi Department of the group army, to the division as political commissar. The political workers at all levels in the division must do their work well, so that they can drum up the revolutionary vigor of all members of the party and League, give full play to their exemplary and leading role, drive the whole division through them, do political work through them, and raise the class consciousness of all the commanders. Therefore, in addition to military training, the party and government work in the division should be done well, so that your troops can always maintain strong combat effectiveness. "


    After imparting his experience, Yeliao Menko raised his hand, looked at his watch and said in a flat tone: "Comrade oshanina, I have finished all the things I can teach you. As for whether you can understand well or not, it depends on your personal understanding. Well, it''s getting late. I have to get to trakov. " With that, he grabbed his cane and stood up with difficulty.


    Seeing that Yeliao Menko had all stood up, it was impossible for us to sit still, so we also stood up one after another. Kirilov also politely advised yelimenko: "Comrade commander, do you really want to go now? You know, it''s not dark yet. You may encounter enemy bombing and shelling on the road, or even with sporadic small enemy troops. It''s too dangerous for you. You''d better wait until it''s dark before you go


    Unexpectedly, yeliaomenko waved his hand and obstinately said, "no, I want to see trakov as soon as possible, otherwise I will not be at ease." At this point, he looked at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, you don''t have to go with me. Just send me a guide who knows the way. Your main task at present is to guard the mamayev post well. I don''t know if the enemy is afraid of being attacked by your division. According to the intercepted telegrams, the enemy will not regard it as a necessary target in the near future. " Since yeliaomenko did not allow me to accompany him to the headquarters of the group army, I did not reluctantly call basmanov and told him: "Comrade captain, I will give you the task of being a guide to the comrades of the commander of the front army. You should immediately transfer a platoon and escort the commander to the headquarters of the group army. " Basmanov agreed in a loud voice, then turned his eyes to yelimenko, who was shaking hands with kirilov, waiting for his further orders. After yelimenko left, akhromeyev excitedly said to me, "Comrade division commander, I didn''t expect that the theoretical level of the commander of the front army was so high and he knew so much." Hearing akhromeyev''s words, bandeleyev suddenly coughed heavily, then muttered in a low voice: "I seem to have heard someone say that in the advanced training class for senior commanders, comrade yelimenko is the most stubborn. Through rare efforts, he has mastered the extensive and rich knowledge stipulated in the syllabus."

 Chapter 756

    When I heard Bantai leiev''s seemingly unintentional words, I could not help but feel a thump in my heart: a person who even has to make rare efforts to master the requirements of the syllabus knows how stupid he is just thinking with his toes. Is the experience summed up by such a stupid person really applicable? This association reminds me of later generations. However, if he had not won Stalin''s trust, he would have been sent to the military court.


    When I was worried with a notebook full of yeliomenko''s experience summary, kirilov came up, patted his old man on the shoulder and said, "Comrade deputy division commander, you can''t say that. You know, comrade Andre Ivanovich yeliomenko has conducted many schools and training courses. He has studied from the early senior cavalry school and the training course for commanders to the one leader commander training course of Zhengzhi academy and the vorongzhi military academy. At that time, his classmates in Leningrad cavalry senior commander training class, such as Zhukov, rokosovsky, bagramian, etc., can now occupy high positions. "


    After listening to kirilov''s words, I don''t have to worry about gain and loss. No matter how later generations evaluate yelomienko, at least after systematic theoretical study and combined with his decades of military career experience, what he summed up is extremely valuable, which can at least help me avoid some detours.


    I turned to see that akhromeyev was in a state of leisure, so I told him, "Comrade chief of staff, do we have any extra maps? If there is one, take it out and hang it on the opposite wall. "


    Akhromeyev first nodded, then said in embarrassment: "Comrade division, there is a map, but it has never been used, and there is no indication of the enemy and ourselves situation on it."


    I waved my hand and said with disapproval, "it doesn''t matter if you haven''t used it. You just need to mark the enemy and ourselves situation near mamayev post."


    Akhromeyev agreed and went to find the map I needed. I asked leiev, "Comrade deputy division commander, have the enemy ever launched an attack on mamayev post in the two days since I left?"


    "No," bantaileiev said with a shake of his head, "the German front position in front of the fourth regiment has been very calm. The enemy has no sign of attacking our division''s defense area except for normal patrols. There is also the 107.5 highland on the west side of the mamayev post. That night, the enemy on the highland launched an attack on the Soviet street, but as soon as the commanders and fighters of the second regiment launched an attack, they immediately drew back, and they did not find any movement in the past two days. "


    "Comrade o''shanina, look at this." Kirilov thrust a document into my hand and added, "it''s the latest document that commander yelomienko brought us when he came."


    Instead of looking at the document immediately, I looked up at kirilov and asked curiously, "Comrade political commissar, do you know what it is?"


    Kirilov shrugged his shoulders and said with some helplessness: "in order to boost morale and eliminate desertion, the supreme command has adopted a new material reward policy, which is prepared to give certain monetary rewards to officers and soldiers who have performed well in combat."


    Give material rewards to outstanding officers and soldiers? When I heard kirilov say that, I thought I heard it wrong. In my mind, the Red Army commanders and fighters are fighting to defend the motherland and Stalin. They usually despise money, on the contrary, they value honor more. This can be confirmed by the fact that only one year after the outbreak of the fighting, dozens of troops with close guard numbers have appeared.


    I had a quick glance at the title of the document and knew kirilov was right. The first column is the reward method for Air Force pilots. The arms involved are: Fighter aviation, short-range bombing aviation and assault aviation, airborne and air force aircraft maintenance personnel. What I care about is the army''s reward methods, so I turned to the second page and saw the title written above: "the order on encouraging officers and soldiers to destroy enemy tanks". The specific provisions are as follows:


    "To destroy an enemy tank with an anti tank gun, 500 rubles will be awarded to the gunner and 250 rubles to the auxiliary operation room;


    When our tank destroys an enemy tank, the tank commander, tank driver and gunner will be rewarded 500 rubles each, while the other crew will be rewarded 200 rubles each;


    For destroying an enemy tank with various kinds of artillery, the gunner and gunner will be rewarded 500 rubles each, and the rest of the gun crew will be rewarded 200 rubles each;


    A person who destroys an enemy tank will be rewarded 1000 rubles. If a group of anti tank fighters destroy a tank together, the bonus amount can be increased to 1500 rubles, and each fighter will share the bonus equally. "


    When I saw this, I calculated silently in my heart that from the establishment of the independent division to now, we have destroyed an estimated two or three hundred enemy tanks. If we follow this latest reward method, we can at least receive a bonus of nearly 200000.


    After calculating the profits from the destruction of enemy tanks, I will go on to look at the following, followed by the "armored tank maintenance personnel reward order". The reward conditions are as follows:


    "350 rubles (minor repair) or 800 rubles (major repair) for repairing a KB tank;


    For repairing a T-34, MK-2 or mk-3, 250 rubles (minor repair) or 500 rubles (major repair) will be awarded;


    For repairing a BT, T-26 or T-40, 100 rubles (minor repair) or 200 rubles (major repair) will be awarded. " Patiently seeing this newly issued material reward order, I can''t help but feel a lot of emotion. It seems that the leaders of the supreme command also understand that it is difficult to really effectively boost morale only by relying on honor, so this material reward policy came out with it. In this order document on combat reward, the amount of reward stipulated is not poor. The reward given to the outstanding officers and soldiers is enough to buy their own car or a house in the suburbs of Moscow after the war. I put down the document in my hand, looked up at kirilov, and asked curiously, "Comrade political commissar, how will this bonus be paid to those commanders and soldiers who have rendered meritorious service?" Kirilov was stunned when he heard my question. It seems that he never thought about the details of how the superior would pay bonus to the meritorious commanders and fighters. After a long silence, he hesitated and said, "I think the superior may directly send the money to the relatives of the commanders and fighters in the rear. We have no place to spend money in the front line." When kirilov finished speaking, bantaileiev also said with emotion: "teachers and political commissars, the war we are fighting now is a sacred war, fighting to defend our motherland. I believe in the awareness of our commanders and fighters. What they want is honor, not money. " I didn''t tangle with Bantai leiev on this issue, because I knew in my heart that even if the superior could cash the bonus, it was estimated that the money would not reach the hands of the commanders and fighters, because everyone was fighting all day long, and with such a huge sum of money on his body, was there still a war of mind? Even if the money is sent to the family members, it is not reliable. Who knows if the family members of the commanders and fighters are still alive. Even if they are alive, they will be evacuated to the rear. With the poor postal system of Lao maozi, it is impossible for them to receive the bonus. So I just said lightly: "Comrade political commissar, I will issue this order about combat reward to all regiments another day, so that the commanders and fighters can have a look. Maybe it can really boost morale." At this time, akhromeyev has put the map on the wall. I went over and looked at the same map. The effect of the same map on the wall is really different from that on the table. After staring at it for half a day, I couldn''t help asking akhromeyev, "Comrade chief of staff, have we sent reconnaissance troops recently to scout our enemies in the north and West?" After listening to my question, akhromeyev shook his head like a rattle: "Comrade division commander, because the enemy''s blockade is too tight, our operations are greatly limited, so we have not sent any reconnaissance troops during this period of time." Although akhromeyev''s answer had been expected by me, I still said discontentedly, "Comrade chief of staff, why don''t you send scouts to scout the enemy''s positions?" Seeing that he wanted to explain, I quickly raised my hand to stop him, and then said, "in order to occupy Stalingrad, the German army put in three infantry divisions and two tank divisions in the factory area. It''s a great fight in the city, but it''s calm here. Don''t you feel strange at all? " Bantai leiev came up to me, looked at the map on the wall for a while, and then said cautiously, "Comrade division, do you think the enemy around us is holding still? Is there any hidden plot¡° I think Comrade oshanina''s judgment is very reasonable, "kirilov and other bantaileiev said in a timely manner:" our actions in front of the enemy are very abnormal. Maybe we are brewing something to hide, so we should send scouts as soon as possible to go deep into the enemy''s rear and find out what the enemy really wants to do. " After hearing what we said, akhromeyev admitted his mistake to me with a red face and said, "I''m sorry, sir, it''s because I didn''t think about it well. Seeing that there was no movement from the enemy near the mamayev post, he took it lightly. Please don''t worry. I''ll arrange it right now. " Seeing that he was going to leave, I stopped him and said to him earnestly: "Comrade chief of staff, please remember, as an intermediate commander, you can''t be glad that the enemy didn''t move. You have to find out why they were desperate to seize our position in the early stage, but now there is no movement at all? With our existing technology, we can''t intercept the enemy''s radio communication, so we can only rely on sending scouts to go deep behind the enemy to find out what''s wrong, so that we can work out corresponding operational plans according to the specific situation of the enemy. " When I saw him nodding in agreement, I waved to him, "go ahead. As soon as it gets dark, I''ll send out the scouts."

 Chapter 757

    After akhromeyev left, I continued to stand by the wall, staring at the map on the wall. I pondered bitterly: the city of Stalingrad has become a pot of porridge, but the mamayevgang in the north of the city is calm. What kind of medicine does the German gourd sell?


    After all, kirilov is not a military officer, and military is not his strong point. So after saying hello to me, he went out to find oberstein to learn about the division''s political and ideological work.


    Bantaileiev came up to me. After a moment''s silence, he suddenly said, "Sir, I have a very bold guess. Is it because of their insufficient strength that the enemy keeps on the defensive at mamayev post?"


    All of a sudden, I was dazzled by Bantai leiev, and I didn''t know how to answer. Because his problem was beyond my expectation. I thought that the enemy was really accumulating strength in order to attack suddenly when we were unprepared and seize the mamayev post we were holding fast to. Now I hear Bantai leiev speculate that the enemy''s failure to attack may be due to the shortage of troops. If he is not my deputy, he may be scolded by me because of this shocking speculation.


    I wanted to ask him: "do you know that in front of us, there are three German infantry divisions, one of which is the 44th infantry division, occupying 107.5 heights on the left side of the mamayev post?" But when I thought that Bantai leiev was a commander with more than 20 years of military service, his analysis must have some truth. Therefore, I tried to calm myself down and patiently asked him with an open mind: "Comrade deputy division commander, what is the basis for you to say that the enemy forces in front of our division are insufficient?"


    "According to it, there must be, sir." Bantaileiev confidently replied to me: "that night, as soon as the second regiment attacked, it only took the spear company in the front to catch fire with the enemy. After only a few shots, the enemy, who had attacked the Soviet Street fiercely, retreated to the 107.5 highland, and nothing happened until today. There are also German forward positions in the front of the fourth regiment. After careful observation these days, I found that except for the daily small patrols, there are almost no people in the trenches. "


    "Comrade deputy division commander, is that what you infer?" Listening to what he said, I also thought that he said that this kind of possibility might exist, so his tone was much more relaxed, "but speculation is not enough. We need to find out the preparation and distribution of the German forces around us, so that we can make a targeted combat plan."


    I was talking with bantaileiev when ahlomeyev came to us and respectfully reported, "Comrade division commander, I have arranged the reconnaissance troops for the evening. I will leave as soon as it gets dark."


    After listening to akhromeyev''s mention of the reconnaissance forces, I couldn''t help asking: "Comrade chief of staff, how many reconnaissance teams have you sent? Which directions are they responsible for?"


    Akhromeyev did not know why I asked, but answered me mistily: "I only sent a reconnaissance team composed of five commanders and fighters. Their main task is to investigate the strength of the German front positions."


    "Not enough. A reconnaissance unit is not enough." At the moment, I can''t judge whether bantailiev''s conjecture is accurate or not, so I can only place the hope of finding out the enemy''s situation on the reconnaissance team that will be sent after dark, "add two more teams, one to the northwest to find out the defense situation of the 44th German division; One boat went down the Volga and went round to the rear of the 113th German division for reconnaissance


    Akhromeyev knew my character very well. After listening to my order, he just nodded and replied briefly, "OK, sir, I''ll arrange it now."


    Bantailiev looked at akhromeyev who came to razumeyeva and contacted the outside world through the telephone. He said with some worry: "Comrade division commander, after the first regiment was transferred, although we still have three regiments, the total strength is less than 3000. This might be enough for defense; If we want to take any initiative against the enemy, our forces will be seriously insufficient. "


    After listening to the deputy division commander''s words, I couldn''t help sighing a long time, saying that there was more than a shortage of troops. As transportation on the Volga River became more and more difficult, even the ammunition of the troops became tense, so that we had to give orders to the troops to let the commanders and fighters save ammunition in the battle.


    We need to find a way to supplement the shortage of troops. However, trikov''s military strength is also seriously insufficient, otherwise they would not have taken away my full regiment. As for the reinforcements from the East Bank of the Volga River, priority must be given to replenishing the front-line troops with serious war losses, and we will certainly not be considered. Now, the only way we can replenish our troops is to learn to gather up the scattered stragglers and the residents who have not had time to leave, and train them into a combat force in the shortest time.


    He made up his mind and was about to discuss with bantailiev when akhromeyev came over from the phone and handed me a telegram after he reported to me about the reconnaissance troops.


    I took the telegram and glanced at it. It said: "the independent division will be transferred to the headquarters of the 62nd group army. Comrade manuilski from Moscow will cross the Volga River in the early morning of the 17th and go to Stalingrad for inspection. Please do a good job in reception. Khrushchev, member of the military committee of the Stalingrad front army. "


    Manuilski, after I read this strange name, I threw the telegram on the table and planned to tell bantailiev and akhromeyev about my plan to supplement the troops. After hearing the name of manuilsky, Bantai leiev rushed to the table, grabbed the telegram and read it quickly. Then he was surprised and said, "my God, comrade manuilsky will come to Stalingrad tomorrow. That''s not good, sir. You should call the headquarters of the front army immediately, Let them stop manuilsky from coming to the city. " Seeing Bantai leiev''s expression, I said with some displeasure, "Comrade deputy division commander, who is this comrade manuilsky, who is worthy of your being so nervous?"¡° Who is talking about Comrade manuilsky? " Suddenly kirilov''s voice came from behind us. Seeing his appearance, Bantai leiev quickly walked towards him holding the telegram paper. When he handed it to him, he said nervously: "Comrade political commissar, please have a look at the telegram you just received." After reading the telegram quickly, kirilov also said in a fuss: "God, I didn''t read it wrong. It''s really manuilsky coming!" I just wanted to ask who manuilsky was and why they were so impolite when they heard his name. Kirilov had already asked Bantai leiev: "Comrade deputy division commander, how long has this telegram been received?" Akhromeyev replied: "the report, comrade political commissar, was just received two minutes ago." Kirilov seemed to be dizzy. Even I didn''t care to say a word to him, so I directly gave orders to akhromeyev: "Comrade chief of staff, please immediately send a message to the front army headquarters in the name of the independent division and tell the military commissar, comrade Khrushchev, that manuilsky is a famous figure in the party. We can''t let him risk his own life. In the heavy shelling and bombing of the enemy, he may have died when crossing the Volga River. Even if he''s alive, we can''t let him go to the army. " Seeing that akhromeyev promised to go to lazumeyeva to send a message, I quickly raised my hand to stop him and asked strangely, "chief of staff, please wait a moment." Then I turned my eyes to kirilov and bantailiev, and asked in a hurry, "political commissar and deputy division commander, who can tell me what is sacred about this comrade manuilsky? It''s worth your fuss. No matter how important his identity is, can he be more important than the commander of the front army? Since general yelomienko can come to the city, why can''t he come to the city? " As soon as I spoke, the expressions on kirilov''s and bandeliev''s faces immediately changed. They stared at me with strange eyes, as if they were looking at a monster from an alien planet. After a long time, kirilov asked tentatively, "Comrade oshanina, don''t you know who manuilsky is?" When I heard kirilov''s question, I said that I had never heard of the name. How could I know who he was. So he shrugged his shoulders, shook his head and said, "yes, comrade political commissar, I don''t know this comrade manuilsky from Moscow. Do you know his identity? Is he a very important person?" After listening to my reply, kirilov raised his hand and slapped himself on the forehead. He said to himself, "my God, I can''t believe that there are still people who don''t know who Comrade manuilski is." Standing beside me, akhromeyev explained bitterly: "Mr. Ma nuilski is the representative of the Executive Committee of our party in the Communist International, and also an important leader." Akhromeyev''s explanation made me blush with shame. It''s a pity that I''ve been here for more than a year, and I don''t even know such an important leader. Thinking of this, I quickly raised my hand to akhromeyev and told him, "in this case, comrade chief of staff, don''t delay and send the telegram to the headquarters of the front army immediately." After akhromeyev left, in order to hide his embarrassment, I quickly said to kirilov and bantailiev, "political commissar and deputy division commander, please come here, let''s study how to supplement the troops."

 Chapter 758

    When they heard that they were going to replenish their troops, kirilov was surprised and happy. He asked, "Comrade oshanina, are there any new reinforcements going to cross the river? Did commander trakov assure you that as soon as the new troops arrived, they would give priority to our independent division? "


    "No reinforcements." I replied briefly, "not only can we not get reinforcements, but even the main force of the group army can not get any supplements in such a serious situation."


    "But I heard that you were going to study the issue of replenishment." Kirilov asked in surprise.


    After glancing at the map on the wall, I sat down in my own place, then raised my voice and said, "yes, comrade political commissar, I did say that we should discuss the issue of replenishing our troops just now. But judging from the current situation, it''s very difficult to get a supplement from the superior, whether it''s soldiers or weapons and ammunition, so we have to find a way to solve the problem ourselves. "


    "But... But... How on earth can we solve this problem?" As kirilov sat down, he returned to the original topic.


    "Do you think we can''t get a supplement without our superiors?" After a rhetorical question, I said in a more stable tone, "although we can''t get any supplement from the group army, we can think of other ways. Do you remember when a regiment pulled down from the northern highlands and there were only a few hundred people left? How can lieutenant commander xiejerikov transform a incomplete regiment into a main regiment with full personnel and strong combat effectiveness in a very short period of time? "


    When kirilov heard what I said, he immediately woke up, nodded and said, "Comrade oshanina, you are right. Since the group army can not give us what we should have, we will try our best to make up for the soldiers lost in the battle. Some time ago, the method implemented by Lt. Col. chejerikov was very good. He collected the scattered small troops and armed the residents trapped in the city, and formed a strong combat effectiveness in a short period of time. "


    Bantaileiev didn''t come to the independent division for a long time, and he didn''t know much about how to supplement the troops. When he heard kirilov''s words, he was immediately attracted. When kirilov finished, he asked tentatively, "Comrade division, is it appropriate for us to take in the scattered scattered soldiers and the armed residents trapped in the city?"


    "There''s nothing wrong with it, comrade deputy division commander." I stressed with solemnity: "when commander shejerikov''s regiment withdrew from the northern highland, there were only two or three hundred people left. It was by this way that the troops were expanded to three thousand in a short period of ten days. The combat effectiveness did not decline, but increased. That''s why the group army transferred them to the factory area where the most critical and brutal fighting was held."


    Perhaps bantaileiev was a cautious man. After hearing what I had said, he said anxiously, "but don''t you need to ask for instructions from the group army command in advance?"


    "Say, old man, what''s the matter with you?" Kirilov could not help but smile when he saw Bantai leiev''s look forward and backward, and said jokingly, "if such a small matter is to be referred to the headquarters of the group army, commander trakov and some of them will not be busy."


    Although kirilov said it lightly, I understand that the matter is not so simple. If he did not communicate with them, he would be blamed for taking in thousands of armed scattered soldiers and residents to enrich the team. Kirilov said this just to reassure bantaileiev.


    How to replenish the troops? After having the specific implementation steps, the next thing to discuss is the ammunition, food and various materials needed by the army. Speaking of this, kirilov and bandeleev were dumb, but they just looked at me and waited for me to come up with a good idea.


    If I am familiar with the leaders of the group army who are responsible for logistics, it would not have been a big deal to get the ammunition, food and various materials urgently needed by the army. However, due to the long duration of the campaign, the leaders of many important positions in the group army almost changed, just like kirilov''s position as director of the Political Department of the group army was replaced by a new leader with his departure.


    After thinking about it for a long time, I still feel that kirilov is the best choice to go to the commander in charge of the logistics of the group army and get the ammunition and materials we need urgently. When I said what I meant politely, kirilov''s face showed an expression of embarrassment: "Comrade oshanina, the commander in charge of logistics of the group army is a new man. If I go to him, I''m afraid it''s difficult to get enough ammunition and supplies."


    "As much as you can!" Under the current situation, I know that it is very difficult to get enough equipment and materials to equip thousands of people at once, and I can only go back to the second place. "In the next week, we will at least try to replenish 3000 troops, that is to say, you only need to get back the equipment and materials that can arm half of the people."


    "What about the inadequacies?" Bantai leiev couldn''t help interrupting.


    "Put the armed commanders and fighters at the forefront, and when they die, let the unarmed soldiers take up their weapons and continue to fight." I said this with my teeth clenched. You know, a few weeks ago, the weapons, ammunition and various military materials seized by the independent division were still piled up. How long after that, they were exhausted in the battle and had to brazenly ask the logistics department to supplement them.


    "But this is not a long-term solution." Kirilov said with a sad face: "it is possible that when many commanders and fighters die, their weapons will be damaged in the enemy''s artillery or bombing, and those who replace them will lose seriously under the enemy''s powerful firepower attack without being familiar with the use of weapons."


    I knew what kirilov said, but I couldn''t do anything about it. When I couldn''t think of a way, I could only look at the map on the wall. Looking at the top of the map, I thought to myself that if there were enough troops, we could carry out a small-scale counterattack to contain the enemy in front of us, and force the enemy not to transfer troops from the vicinity of mamayev post to reinforce the troops in the factory area.


    While I was staring at the map and thinking, akhromeyev came in and reported to me, "Comrade division commander, the troops for the reconnaissance mission at night have been arranged. Three teams will go to your designated area for reconnaissance. The small detachment that goes deep into the enemy''s rear by boat will be led by Comrade safchenko himself. There will be ten people in the whole detachment, carrying communication equipment, and they can feed back the information they have detected to us in time. "


    "Well, you did a good job!" Without looking back, I praised akhromeyev.


    "Comrade oshanina," kirilov asked in a low voice, "I see you''ve been staring at the map. Are you going to take an action against our German army face to face after the reconnaissance results tonight come out?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." I affirm what has the final say: "since Mamaev Gang is the site of our independent division, we can not be passively waiting here to wait for the enemy to attack. When we are fighting where to fight, what we must do is to firmly control the initiative of the battlefield."


    "That''s right! Comrade teacher, you are right After listening to my words, Bantai leiev couldn''t help cheering and confidently saying: "we can''t always hide in the position and wait for the enemy to attack. Since the enemy doesn''t attack, it''s up to us to fight them. We have to fight them all over the place."


    Bantai leiev''s words aroused our kind laughter. After listening to the laughter, akhromeyev immediately said, "since our division held fast to the mamayev post, although the enemy launched attacks again and again, they have never been able to occupy this commanding height."


    Just then, razumeyeva suddenly came over and handed a telegram to akhromeyev. Seeing the telegram in akhromeyev''s hand, my heart could not help hanging up. My heart said that it must not be yelimenko''s bad news. If he had any accident on the way, I would not be able to get away with it.


    Seeing that akhromeyev''s face brightened after reading the telegram, I summoned up my courage and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, what does the telegram say?"


    When akhromeyev delivered the telegram to me, he reported excitedly: "Comrade division, the telegram was sent by lieutenant colonel xiejerikov, a group leader. Today, their regiment has achieved brilliant results in the battle to defend the tractor factory. According to incomplete statistics, they destroyed a total of 28 German tanks. The German troops who attacked the factory dropped more than 2000 corpses and withdrew in ashes. "


    "Great, that''s great!" As soon as I finished reading the telegram, kirilov couldn''t wait to receive it from me. After looking at it for a few minutes, he gave it to Bantai leiev. At the same time, he said with pride, "look, this is the regiment we just talked about. Although they have added more than 2000 soldiers in a short time, they have not affected their original combat effectiveness at all."


    I didn''t make such a gaffe as kirilov. Instead, I calmly told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, go and send a telegram to lieutenant commander sergeant serjerikov to ask how the casualties of his regiment are? Also, if possible, let him find someone to replace captain Karpov and send him to division headquarters. "


    "What, send Karpov to division headquarters?" Kirilov frowned when he heard my inexplicable order, and immediately put forward his own objection, "Comrade oshanina, I have different opinions on your order. Karpov was not only captured, but also a shameful traitor, helping the Germans fight us. Although he finally chose to go anyway, I think we should pay more attention to him to prevent him and his subordinates from going against the water again. Now that they have been sent to the city to stick to the tractor factory, let them fight with the Germans to make atonement for their past crimes with their blood donation. "


    "Comrade political commissar..." as soon as I wanted to refute him, I was interrupted by him. He continued to say discontentedly: "you send someone to remove Karpov from the position, then will his subordinates withdraw? If their troops withdraw from the line of defense without authorization, will it affect the rest of the troops who stick to the tractor factory area and shake their morale? "


    Kirilov''s series of questions left me speechless. When he finished speaking, I finally made the final decision after being silent for a while, so I obstinately ordered akhromeyev: "chief of staff, what are you still standing here for? Don''t you send a message to lieutenant colonel shejerikov?"


    After hearing my command again, akhromeyev looked at kirilov, looked at me again, and finally turned to razumeyeva to send a telegram.


    After akhromeyev left, I tried to give kirilov a smile, and then said earnestly, "Comrade political commissar, what you said is reasonable. But have you ever thought about how much effort we have made to win over Karpov''s troops anyway? Although this plan was reported to the time, it was once opposed by the superior. Have you ever thought about why they finally agreed to our crazy plan? It''s because the leaders at the higher level know that this is not only about fighting for an army, but also about shaking the morale of the enemy, which is of great significance in Zhengzhi. "


    After listening to me, kirilov soon calmed down and apologized to me, saying, "I''m sorry, comrade oshanina. It''s my fault. I apologize to you." After that, he stepped back to bow and apologize to me, but I held him in time. I grabbed his arm and said in a friendly way: "Comrade political commissar, you can understand. If Karpov is alive, his role will be far beyond our imagination. It is on this basis that I will give lieutenant colonel chejerikov an order to send captain Karpov back. "


    Karpov was sent back by basmanov who escorted yelimenko to the headquarters of the group army after dark. When we saw him, we were all shocked. Karpov''s face was black with smoke. He couldn''t see what he was. His uniform was full of dust, and there were big holes in his waist and back. Kirilov first went to shake hands with him and said politely, "Comrade Karpov, welcome back." After that, he said to basmanov, who was standing on one side: "Hey, I said, what are you still doing here? Why don''t you get captain Karpov a basin of water to wash his face, and find a clean uniform to change for him


    After shaking kirilov''s hand, Karpov came up to me, raised his hand and said in a loud voice, "report to Mr. division, Captain Karpov, deputy commander of the second battalion of the first regiment, has been ordered to come and wait for your order."


    As I shook hands with him, I asked with concern, "Comrade captain, it must have been a tough fight. How are you doing? Are your men seriously injured? "


    Karpov didn''t seem to expect that I would suddenly ask this question. First he nodded instinctively. When he found out that it was wrong, he shook his head desperately. Finally he replied, "Comrade division, there are only a dozen soldiers who have followed me from the German side. The rest have died in the battle. I sincerely beg you to let me go back to the tractor factory. Even if I die, I will die with my comrades in arms. "


    Kirilov was moved by Karpov''s statement. He went to Karpov, raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, and said with concern: "Comrade captain, it''s not only the tractor factory that is the battlefield, but also the mamayev post under our feet. The teacher himself ordered you to be called back because there was an important task to be given to you. " At this point, he used Karpov''s blind spot to wink at me.


    I understood kirilov''s purpose of doing this, and quickly followed his words: "yes, Captain Karpov, we are in such a hurry to call you back from the front because we have an important task for you."


    "I don''t know what the task is, sir?" Karpov interposed before I had finished¡° Is it going to open fire with the Germans north of the mamayev post? I''m familiar with the terrain there. If you want to fight back, don''t forget me. "


    Originally, I just wanted to put him off so as to leave him in the division headquarters. Unexpectedly, after hearing what he said, I really decided to fight in the north of mamayev post to contain the enemy. So I nodded and said in a positive tone: "Comrade captain, you guessed right. In a few days, we will launch a counterattack against the German army face-to-face. We will confine more German troops to the vicinity of mamayev post, but there are not many commanders who are familiar with the terrain like you in the division. That''s why we can''t wait to recruit you back from the tractor factory where the fighting is most intense. "


    "Great, that''s great!" After listening to what I said, Karpov was immediately elated and said excitedly, "in this way, we can teach the Germans a lesson and avenge them for killing us at that time." At this point, he hesitated for a moment, and then said in embarrassment: "however, our current strength will not be too small. We need to know that the main force of the Division has gone to the tractor factory with lieutenant commander Sergey reekov, and is trapped there by the enemy''s heavy troops."


    "Comrade captain, you don''t have to worry about that." Although I don''t know how many troops I can add in a few days, in front of Karpov, I said with a puffy face: "when the battle starts, I can let you command at least one battalion, and your rank will be promoted accordingly. But my only request to you is that the troops you lead can achieve outstanding achievements in our counterattack. Do you have any confidence? "


    "Please rest assured, sir!" Karpov replied in a loud voice, "I will live up to your trust."£¨ Want to know more about burning Moscow? Now open WeChat, click the + + on the top right, select add friends in the official account, search "Qidianzhongwenwang", pay attention to the official account, and never miss every update!

 Chapter 759

    When Karpov understood his mission, he then tentatively asked me, "Comrade division commander, can I ask where the troops I am about to command come from?"


    "Comrade captain," when I was hesitating whether I should tell Karpov the truth, kirilov had already taken over the topic: "let me tell you. According to the consideration of the division commander, we are ready to take in the scattered detachment in the near future and arm the residents who will not be able to withdraw from the city in the future."


    "What, arm the residents?" After listening, Karpov asked in surprise and frowned unconsciously.


    Kirilov, who is good at observing words and colors, found his strange expression and then asked, "Comrade captain, from your expression, do you seem to have different views on our armed residents?"


    Karpov looked at me nervously and saw that I looked as usual. After a moment''s deliberation, he summoned up the courage to answer kirilov: "comrades of the political commissar, most of the residents have never been to the battlefield, and they lack experience and courage in the battlefield. They can''t find anything in their training, but once they are pulled to the battlefield and let them fight with the Germans with real weapons, It will immediately show its true shape, and perhaps as long as one or two artillery shells fall near them, the troops will disperse. "


    Kirilov''s face turned ugly when he heard this. He asked calmly, "so, comrade captain, did you ever fight side by side with the armed city dwellers?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." Karpov replied positively, with a sad expression on his face: "when my artillery company was holding fast to the port of Odessa, the local district Soviet often sent us more than 100 armed residents to help us dig fortifications and carry shells in the battle. At the beginning of the battle, when the enemy''s shells landed on our positions, the residents would blow up their nests and throw away their weapons and tools. Some people would not get out of the air raid shelter, others would kneel down and cross desperately to pray for the protection of heaven, and some would bump around like headless flies, Some people ran aimlessly behind others, while others kept going around in circles.


    There are a lot of new soldiers in our company. Originally, they kept calm under the restraint of commanders at all levels. However, when they were collided by these fleeing residents, they got confused. Many new soldiers even ran around with these people with shells in their hands. Later, the company commander decisively shot and killed several soldiers who ran about in disorder, so as to stabilize the team. Otherwise, without waiting for the enemy''s attack, our team would be scattered in the enemy''s shelling. "


    "Comrade captain, it''s impossible," kirilov raised his voice involuntarily because of his anger. "Look at the residents of Stalingrad. They live in the enemy''s bombing and shelling every day, but you can see that there are not many people who will panic, let alone the situation you said."


    See two people at each other''s throats, and bantailiev and akhromeyev beside are a face of embarrassment, a pair of want to persuade but not from where to persuade expression. Seeing this scene, I coughed heavily. When everyone''s attention was focused on me, I went on to say, "Comrade political commissar, I think what captain Karpov said must have happened. You know, at that time, the war just broke out, not to mention the ordinary residents, even our army was not fully prepared to fight against the enemy, so it was inevitable for the new soldiers who had never fought a war to panic when they saw the shells exploding not far from them. "


    After explaining to kirilov, I turned to Karpov and said, "Comrade captain, what you said is not entirely correct. In more than a year''s war, not only our commanders and fighters are growing up, but also our people, especially the residents of Stalingrad, who are used to daily German shelling and bombing of cities. Even those who have not received military training will not panic and escape from their own positions in the face of galloping German tanks. "


    I know what I said is far fetched, and there are so many loopholes that I can''t stand the scrutiny at all. But at this time, I can only say that kirilov and Karpov will not have bad feelings. After I said what I had to say, I pondered for a moment and then told akhromeyev, "chief of staff, contact the three heads of the second, third and fourth regiments immediately and give them our plans in the form of an order. Let them take in as many small detachments as possible, arm the citizens trapped in the city, and make sure to increase the strength of each regiment by more than 2000 within five days. "


    "Two thousand per regiment?" Aghromeyev was startled by the number I proposed. He asked carefully, "Comrade division, how can we supply so many people with the ammunition they need?"


    Thinking of my proposal to ask kirilov to go to the Logistics Department of the group army to get the necessary ammunition, he looked helpless, so I intend to find another way to solve this problem. So when I answered akhromeyev''s question, I said vaguely, "it''s difficult to get all the ammunition and supplies from the Logistics Department of the group army. The leaders of the three regiments should actively use their brains and find a way to solve it."


    I didn''t expect akhromeyev not only didn''t understand what I meant, but also became more at a loss. He seemed to want to break the casserole and ask to the end, and then continued to ask me: "Comrade division commander, if they ask me what way to supplement ammunition and supplies, how can I answer them?"


    "There''s nothing wrong with it." Seeing that akhromeyev kept asking like a lump of elm at the moment, I was very upset, so I no longer hid from him, but said what I thought in my heart: "it''s not easy to solve the problem of supplies and ammunition?! The second and fourth regiments could send small troops to harass the German army and seize the materials they needed from the enemy; And the third regiment, they often have to send people to assist the fleet''s transport ships unloading? Tell major Godunov that every time his people are asked to carry materials, they will secretly move some of them back to their own residence. Anyway, there are so many materials going in and out of the dock every day, even if there is a small part, no one will find it. "


    All the people around me were startled by my words. Kirilov, in particular, came up to me in a hurry and reminded me, "Comrade division commander, you can''t do this. Once this matter is detected by the superior, you may be sent to the military court."


    If it was in the past, I would not hesitate to order akhromeyev to give orders according to what I said. However, I felt guilty when I asked two soldiers about the strange crimes committed by the prisoners in Gulag concentration camp, so I asked kirilov cautiously: "Comrade political commissar, we intercepted some materials for the purpose of beating the Germans, Even if the superior leaders know it, they won''t blame it, will they? "


    "Comrade oshanina, I''m not kidding you." Kirilov looked at me, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said to me solemnly: "the nature of this matter is very bad. It can be said that it is a crime. If it is found by the superior, even if it is not shot, it will be sent to the military court."


    Kirilov''s words made me shiver. Akhromeyev lost no time to ask me, "Comrade division commander, how can I give orders to the three commanders?"


    I glanced at kirilov and saw that he was still staring at me with a serious expression. In order to avoid conflict with him, I had to step through the order of intercepting materials and command akhromeyev: "Comrade chief of staff, order the three commanders to replenish their forces as soon as possible and form combat effectiveness in the shortest time. As for the weapons and supplies needed by the newly added soldiers, let them find a way to solve the problem by themselves instead of coming to the division headquarters. The division headquarters has nothing now. Even if they come to me, I can''t get what they need. "


    As the troops under Karpov''s command could not be in place for the time being, I had to temporarily appoint him as the deputy commander of the guard battalion. At the same time, I asked akhromeyev to inform the third regiment, so that the third company of Captain Beckman''s guards stationed in their defense area could be quickly returned.


    After basmanov left with the new deputy battalion commander Karpov, the leaders of our four divisions sat down to continue the discussion. Bantaileiev first put forward: "after the complete complement of the troops, we should try our best to ensure that each gun has at least 20 bullets."


    I agree with bantaileiev''s proposal very much. I don''t know that the new recruits can achieve the level of three bullets for defense and five bullets for attack, so it''s not a bad thing to give them as many bullets as possible. So as soon as leiev finished speaking, I immediately took over the conversation: "the deputy division commander is very considerate. Recruits have no combat experience. They are easy to be nervous when they first go to the battlefield. They will shoot desperately to embolden themselves. However, 20 rounds are still a little less. I think 120 rounds are about the same, so we should try our best to get rid of more ammunition and come back to replenish the troops. "


    Next, we discussed a series of issues such as the formation, training and distribution of new recruits. On these issues, Bantai leiev, who once served as a new editor, showed his advantage. Almost all night, he was talking alone, while the three of us were desperately recording.


    Time passed unconsciously. It was not until razumeyeva, who was sitting by the telephone, called us and said that there was a call from safchenko that she interrupted leiev''s long speech. When akhromeyev answered the phone, I habitually raised my hand and looked at my watch. I found that it was four o''clock in the morning, and I didn''t know if safchenko was calling on the wireless at the moment. Did he have any important information to report to us.


    After listening to a few words, akhromeyev suddenly called out to me, "Comrade teacher, please come here."


    I went to akhromeyev''s side and saw that his face was uncertain and suspicious. I quickly asked, "Comrade chief of staff, what''s the matter?"


    Akhromeyev handed me the earphone and the transmitter, and said: "the reconnaissance results of the reconnaissance troops have come out. Comrade safchenko has important information to report to you in person."


    After I put on the earphone, I said loudly to the transmitter, "Hello, Hello, is that Comrade safchenko? I''m oshanina, my teacher. Do you have any important information to report to me? "


    "Report, sir," said safchenko''s excited voice from the earphone, "our reconnaissance unit went down the river, went around the enemy''s rear, abandoned the ship and landed. When we sneaked into the village we had attacked before, we found that there was no one in the village. "


    "What, there is no one in the village?" I was stunned by the situation of safchenko. I quickly asked, "Comrade safchenko, are you sure?"¡° Yes, sir Safchenko affirmed: "if I remember correctly, the political commissar of oberstein with a small team attacked here some time ago, so when I found no one in the village, I immediately asked the soldiers to conduct a careful search, but still nothing."¡° What do you do next? " I asked briefly¡° I immediately went north with my team and approached another village, which had been shelled by our army. " When describing, safchenko was deeply afraid that I could not figure out the state, and he specially explained in detail, "when we approached the village, we found that this dilapidated village was surrounded by barbed wire, so we could not see the patrol passing by. After lurking for more than an hour, we finally found an opportunity to attack a three person patrol and capture all of them. " I thought that safchenko knew German, and the purpose of his capture was to get the information we wanted from the prisoners, so he asked casually, "after interrogation, what did the prisoners say?" I didn''t expect that safchenko would say something shocking: "Mr. commander, maybe you can''t think of it. The three prisoners we captured, though in German uniforms, were not German, they were all Ukrainians. "¡° What, what? " I heard that Ukrainians in German uniforms appeared in the rear of the German army, which confused me immediately, so I repeatedly asked, "Comrade safchenko, please make it clear, what Ukrainians in German uniforms? Are they our men in disguise, or are they members of the eastern battalion who surrendered to the German army? "¡° He was a member of the eastern battalion. According to the confession of the prisoners, the German troops quietly moved westward the night before yesterday, and they came here to take over the German defense. "¡° Are they lying? "¡° No, sir "As soon as I found out that they were Ukrainians, I immediately asked the soldiers to interrogate the three of them separately, and all the confessions I got were the same," safchenko replied positively¡° Now that all the Germans have left, what is the purpose of transferring their Eastern camp to do? Is it to let hundreds of them guard a broken village? "¡° Comrade division, you may not have thought, "said safchenko suddenly and excitedly," the village is a temporary prison camp, which holds our commanders and fighters captured by the German army in the process of advancing from the Don River to the Volga River. "

 Chapter 760

    "What, what do you say?" As the current noise from the earphone was very loud, I was afraid I heard it wrong, so I checked it out loud: "you said you found a new German prison camp?"


    "Yes, sir." Safchenko affirmed: "according to the prisoner''s confession, there are more than 1700 officers and men in this camp."


    "Are there any wounded in the camp?" Thinking of the current situation of the shortage of drugs in the division Health Center, in order to determine whether it will be able to receive the wounded among the prisoners of war in the future, I can''t help asking, "or do you know the exact number of the wounded?"


    "There are more than 600 wounded people, all of whom are slightly injured, not seriously injured. According to the prisoner''s confession, when the camp was transferred, the German army shot and killed all the seriously injured people who were difficult to move. "


    "Asshole, these damn German animals!" When I heard that safchenko said that the German army had shot our captured and seriously injured soldiers, I hit the table with a fierce blow and said angrily, "sooner or later, we will ask them to pay back this blood debt."


    "What about these prisoners?" Safchenko asked me.


    Hearing safchenko''s question, I immediately said bitterly, "what else can I do? Of course, I''ll kill them all without leaving any survivors." I was thinking, the Germans are powerful, I can''t help you, but it''s OK to kill a few traitors who help tyranny.


    I didn''t expect that safchenko quickly dissuaded me from this impulsive decision: "Sir, comrade, you can''t kill these prisoners, but you can''t kill them?"


    "Why not kill?" I asked in a stuffy voice. I was puzzled by safchenko''s plea for several unknown prisoners. "You can''t take some prisoners, cross the enemy''s blockade and return to our defense area?"


    Safchenko probably recognized the dissatisfaction in my voice and quickly explained to me: "among the three prisoners we captured, there was a staff sergeant who said that he was Mrs. halko and was forced to surrender to the Germans. If we don''t kill him, he''s willing to commit crimes. "


    "Guilty and meritorious?" When I heard this word, I could not help but sneer, and then asked: "how does he intend to commit crimes?"


    "That''s true, sir." Safchenko said respectfully, "the sergeant said that Captain Nikolay, the commander of his battalion, was from the same village as him. It''s said that there was a Karpov battalion who got our forgiveness and preferential treatment after anyhow, so their battalion commander was also moved and wanted to get in touch with us to see if there was any chance of the same anyhow. "


    Safchenko''s words shocked me even more than when I heard about the POW camp just now. Did Karpov''s words really bring about a chain reaction? Did the rest of the East camp want to break away from the German control and return to our army? Thinking of this, I pondered for a moment, and then said to safchenko carefully: "Comrade safchenko, although the prisoner said so, you still ask when and on what occasion this captain Nikolay said this sentence, and how credible is it?"


    Before I finished, safchenko had already asked in advance: "Comrade division, if the prisoner''s account is completely true, can I contact captain Nikolay, the commander of the eastern battalion?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade safchenko." Although I heard that Dongfang camp was thinking about it again, I didn''t feel happy at all. On the contrary, I was alert and said, "although what the prisoner said seems to be true, after all, his level is too low. He can''t control some things at all, so he still needs to be careful." At this point, I stopped to think about it, and then told safchenko: "you go to interrogate the prisoner again, and report to me when you have the exact information."


    I put down my headphones and transmitter and found kirilov, all three of them standing by. Kirilov took the lead and expressed concern and stability: "Comrade oshanina, what happened? I just saw you angry."


    I took a look at him and said bitterly, "Comrade political commissar, I can''t help being angry. Political commissar oberstein led the night attack troops to bombard the village. The Germans in the village had all withdrawn at some time. After the withdrawal, they set up the POW camp there and sent an oriental camp to guard it. When the German moved the camp, they shot and killed all the seriously injured people who could not be moved. "


    Kirilov and the three of them were stunned by my intelligence. After a long time, kirilov took the lead in saying, "the Germans are so cunning. They secretly transferred their troops when our army could not go deep into their rear area for reconnaissance. At the same time, they also set up a prisoner''s camp in that village, I just want our air force to think that the village is full of Germans, and let our air force bomb kill all our people. "


    "What are we going to do next?" Bantaileiev then asked.


    Then I thought of the last words of safchenko and said to them, "by the way, I almost forgot to tell you something. Comrade safchenko said that the commander of the Oriental battalion, who was in charge of the POW camp, also wanted to follow the example of Captain Karpov and lead his troops to surrender to our army. What do you think of it? "


    "It can''t be such a coincidence," said akhromeyev tentatively in a suspicious tone. "Captain Karpov didn''t have a long time anyway, and soon there were troops of the eastern battalion. Anyway, where is such a coincidence in the world. It''s not the enemy''s plot, is it


    "Comrade chief of staff, you have been over careful." Bantaileiev said unexpectedly: "as Comrade division commander said some time ago, the success of Karpov battalion is not only that we have won a troop, but also that the political significance of its leadership is immeasurable. Perhaps the officers and men of the eastern battalion, after seeing that Karpov had returned to us, had not been liquidated, so they all moved their minds anyway. "


    Seeing that akhromeyev wanted to argue with bantaileiev, I quickly raised my hand to stop them and said to myself, "I''ll ask safchenko to interrogate the prisoners again and discuss the next action after we have a clear understanding of the specific situation." Having said that, I asked akhromeyev directly, "Comrade chief of staff, have the other two reconnaissance teams returned?"


    Akhromeyev shook his head, raised his hand, looked at his watch, and replied, "it''s not long before dawn. It''s estimated that they will be back soon."


    Just then, basmanov''s voice came from the door: "report to division commander, the small team that went to the enemy''s position for reconnaissance has come back, let them in?"


    "Let the leading comrades in." Akhromeyev said briefly.


    A moment later, two soldiers in helmets, raincoats and submachine guns came in. Akhromeyev came out from among us, met the two men, and at the same time asked aloud, "have you made clear the situation of the enemy?"


    "Yes, comrade major." The two scouts replied in unison.


    "Now that the situation is clear, let''s come down and start reporting." Akhromeyev pointed to a soldier and said, "it''s up to you to report first."


    "Yes The Scout agreed and began to report the situation of their reconnaissance: "report to commander, my team has been ordered to conduct reconnaissance near highland 107.5. I took two soldiers to climb up the east slope of the highland quietly. I carefully observed the enemy''s camp and found that there were not many German troops on the highland, only less than one company


    "What? Less than a company? " Without waiting for him to speak, akhromeyev interrupted him in surprise. After looking at the rank on his badge, he asked solemnly, "Comrade sergeant, are you sure you read it right?"


    The Scout Sergeant shook his head like a rattle and replied, "Comrade major, yes, I''m absolutely right. In order to determine the accuracy of the information, I also personally went into the trench and quietly touched the outside of several hiding departments to eavesdrop on the inside. After repeated verification, there will not be more than one German company stationed on the highlands at present. "


    After hearing this, akhromeyev turned to look at us and saw that we were all silent, so he turned to another scout and asked, "what about you, corporal?"?! You and your team are going to scout the German forward position. What do you see? Just now the sergeant said that there is less than one company left on the 107.5 highland. What''s the situation there? There won''t be only one German company left, will there


    The Scout corporal shook his head and denied ahlomeyev''s conjecture. Just when I thought that the corporal could give us some information that we could accept, he said with astonishment: "the enemy in that position has no company at all, only one platoon at most, and they are not German, they are a group of Italians."


    Fortunately, none of us wore glasses, otherwise after hearing his news, there would be a pile of broken glass under our feet. Akhromeyev seemed unable to accept such a reconnaissance result. Just as he was going to continue to ask, he was interrupted by deputy division commander bantaileiev: "OK, chief of staff, don''t ask. I believe what the reconnaissance comrades said is true." Then he waved his hand to the two scouts and told them, "there''s nothing for you here. Let''s go down and have a rest." A scout heard his order, raised his hand to salute us, turned and left.


    After the scouts left, Bantai leiev asked me thoughtfully, "Comrade division commander, you can tell me that there is no German shadow on the defense line near us, so where have they gone?"


    "Maybe they were secretly transferred to the west to reinforce their friends." Kirilov was a little uncertain and said, "but the Germans are too brave. They only left so many troops to hold us back. Aren''t they afraid that we will take their back?"


    After summing up the reports of the scouts, I finally understand why the Germans have been holding their ground in the mamayev Post recently. It turns out that it is not that they do not want to fight, but that they have no soldiers to fight us at all. Now that I''ve seen through the German empty city plan, it''s time to move on. Since they want to teach them a lesson, I don''t mind giving them a good lesson. You know, the Chinese are their ancestors. Thinking of this, I immediately called kirilov and bantaileiev: "political commissar and deputy division commander, let''s discuss how to take advantage of the good opportunity of the German defense line to carry out a bold adventure and teach the enemy a lesson so that they have to transfer their troops back from the factory area or other areas."


    When we sat back at the table and were about to discuss the details of the action, razumeyeva, who was sitting by the wall, suddenly stood up and cried out, "Comrade teacher, it''s comrade safchenko."


    I was about to stand up, but kirilov raised his hand to stop me. He waved his head to akhromeyev and said, "Comrade chief of staff, you can answer this call." Akhromeyev nodded, stood up and went to razumeyeva. Seeing kirilov smiling at me, I knew in my heart that the reason why he asked akhromeyev to answer the phone was to protect me. You know, they almost got into trouble when they instigated Karpov last time. If they instigated other troops without asking for instructions this time, it might really bring me unnecessary trouble.

 Chapter 761

    Bantailiev looked at me, then at kirilov, and finally at the back of akhromeyev who was walking towards the telephone. He nodded thoughtfully. It seems that he also understands why kirilov asked akhromeyev to answer the phone.


    It is understandable that we should take some actions according to the changing situation on the battlefield. Even if we plot against an enemy force without permission, we can be excused. After all, by doing so, we have weakened the enemy and strengthened ourselves. However, due to the numerous regulations, I was so tied up that I had to remain a spectator in this matter. In this way, if someone investigates after the event, akhromeyev can bear the responsibility, saying that he made the decision without permission. As long as this matter has little to do with me, I can intercede for him at the critical moment and save him. If I do this in person and get investigated by others, I can''t escape the fate of going to the military court unless the commander of yelomienko level comes to protect me in person.


    Although all three of us sat at the table and did not move, none of us spoke. We all listened to the conversation between akhromeyev and safchenko with our ears turned to one side: "Hello, is that Comrade safchenko? This is major akhromeyev, chief of staff. Do you have anything to report to the division commander? The teacher is busy and has no time to answer your call. You told me the same thing. "


    After listening attentively for a while, akhromeyev politely said to the transmitter, "Comrade safchenko, I have made clear the situation. This matter is up to you to handle at your own discretion. Please remember a sentence often said by the teacher: a commander should know how to adapt to the changes of the battlefield."


    As soon as akhromeyev came to our side, kirilov could not wait to ask, "chief of staff, what''s the situation like? What does Comrade safchenko say?"


    After akhromeyev sat down, he reported to the three of us: "safchenko said that he had just risked letting go of the sergeant among the prisoners and asked him to go back to contact captain Nikolay, the commander of the east battalion..."


    Before akhromeyev finished speaking, bantailiev frowned and said, "what''s the matter with Comrade safchenko? Why did he let the prisoners go so easily? What should he do if he brought in the enemy''s large forces? In that case, comrade safchenko would be in danger."


    When bantailiev spoke, akhromeyev always kept a smile on his face. After the other party finished speaking, he added: "Comrade deputy division commander, the situation is not as bad as you think. Comrade safchenko reported that after the sergeant was released, he took the rest of the soldiers with him to a safe place, except for one soldier who was on guard. He didn''t show up again until he saw that the sergeant had only brought two or three people back, and there was no change in the camp. "


    "After the connection?" Kirilov asked with concern.


    "Safchenko reported that one of Captain Nikolay''s adjutants had come to invite him to the camp to talk about cooperation." Akhromeyev briefly reported: "he called to report the incident. At the same time, he also said that he would try to rescue thousands of officers and men from the prison camp if he could defeat the army. So I agreed to his request, as long as I asked him to pay attention and act according to circumstances."


    After listening to akhromeyev''s report, I also had a general understanding of the whole matter. When everyone calmed down, I began to speak: "comrades commander, since Comrade safchenko has gone to meet captain Nikolay, there are only two endings. First, he could not agree on the terms, and safchenko went back with the comrades of the reconnaissance team; Second, the terms have been agreed, which involves how we can take over this unit and our comrades in arms who are locked up in the prison camp? "


    "Isn''t that easy?" Bantaileiev said lightly: "just now, the scouts did not report that there was only one platoon on guard in the forward position to the north of the fourth regiment, and they were not Germans, but Italians with extremely weak combat effectiveness. I think it is enough to destroy this enemy force and open a channel by sending a company to launch an attack. "


    "What the Deputy teacher said is reasonable," kirilov promptly supported bantaileiev''s opinion.


    Unlike other officers in the army, I don''t simply give orders. Instead, I habitually ask for everyone''s opinions, so that everyone can have the opportunity to express their own opinions. In this way, when I make the final decision, they will carry out all the orders I give them to the letter. Because of this, when bantailiev and kirilov both expressed their views, I did not express my views. Instead, I looked at ahlomeyev opposite and asked, "what about you, chief of staff?"


    Akhromeyev simply replied, "my opinion is the same as that of the government and the Deputy teachers."


    Seeing that everyone''s opinions were unified, I then put forward a new question: "according to safchenko''s report, there are more than 1700 prisoners of war in the POW camp, plus the Oriental camp, which guards them. This is more than 2000 people. If they all rush into our defense area, how can we settle them?"


    "If captain Nikolay did not think that we would not break up his troops, I would suggest that the battalion should be divided into several regiments as companies. As for those comrades who have been rescued, those who have been injured will be treated and those who have not been injured will be scattered among the units. " When kirilov said this, he hesitated for a moment, and then hesitated to say: "if one regiment can be built in the near future, then I think priority should be given to supplement them. After all, the other regiments can supplement them in other ways."


    My heart sank when I heard kirilov mention a regiment. The position of the second battalion where Karpov is located is not the most fierce fighting area. However, in just one day, there are only a dozen soldiers left under Karpov''s more than 200 soldiers. I believe that the casualties of troops in other areas will be more severe. Maybe tomorrow night, my regiment will be canceled.


    Not only me, but also akhromeyev and bantailiev, when they heard kirilov mention a group, their faces became particularly ugly. It seemed that they were also worried about the unknown fate of the group. Kirilov seemed to find that he had said something wrong, so he quickly closed his mouth and stopped talking.


    Finally, I broke the silence in the headquarters, and I pretended to be relaxed and said, "comrades, what''s the matter with you? We should know that in this war, every day, countless officers and soldiers give their precious lives to defend our motherland. As long as we can defeat the Communist aggressors, no matter how much we pay, it is worth it. I believe that chejerikov and his subordinates can understand this


    With these words, I stood up, turned my head, and yelled at razumeyeva, "Lieutenant, report to me as soon as you have information from Comrade safchenko."


    Razumeyeva, who was named by me, quickly got up from her seat, raised her hand, saluted us, and then replied loudly, "yes!"


    After I sat down again, kirilov asked tentatively, "Comrade oshanina, does this matter need to be reported to the group army command immediately?"


    After thinking about it, I shook my head and denied his proposal: "for the time being, there is no need to report this matter to the higher authorities. First, the communication of the headquarters of the group army has been damaged. If we use wireless communication, it is easy to leak secrets; Second, it''s still uncertain whether this can be done, so we can''t have too much hope for it. "


    "The division commander is right," Bantai leiev said after thinking about it, "should we make a plan to rescue our comrades in arms from the prison camp if Comrade safchenko''s counter operation fails. You know, they are only a few kilometers away from us now, and we are separated by an Eastern battalion, a small number of German soldiers, and a platoon of Italian troops in the forward position. "


    As soon as bantailiev''s proposal was put forward, akhromeyev was immediately interested. He stood up, pushed the map on the table in front of us, bent down, lit the mamayev post and the far away prison camp, and began to talk about his own views: "division chief, political commissar, deputy division chief, let me talk about my own views. In order to rescue our comrades in arms from danger, I propose that after dawn, one part of the fourth regiment should attack the enemy''s forward position, seize and consolidate the position, and then send a part of the troops to rush to the location of the POW camp by truck, forcing the East camp to guard the POW camp. "


    "Is the plan too risky?" Kirilov said uneasily: "if we attack enemy positions and they call for aircraft or long-range artillery fire, then our offensive forces will suffer heavy casualties? I suggest that after dark, let the fourth regiment draw a company and take a wooden boat down the river to join the small team led by safchenko. After the two troops are united in the POW camp, Captain Nikolay''s determination may be strengthened. After the rebellion, except for a few who remained to help rescue the comrades in the POW camp, the rest immediately turned around and rushed up from behind the Italian army. After seizing this forward position, they covered the large army and turned to the mamayev post. "


    "The plans of the political commissar and the chief of staff have their own characteristics." After listening to their plans, bantaileiev said his own views without hesitation: "but have you ever thought that the plans you put forward are all based on the fact that Captain Nikolay''s troops will surrender to us. If Nikolay could not surrender when our troops arrived, and secretly informed the Germans of our action, then our troops would be in danger of being destroyed. Therefore, I think we should be cautious in this matter. At least when Comrade safchenko''s new report arrives, we will discuss how to carry out the plan of rebellion and rescue. "


    I couldn''t help laughing bitterly when I heard that three people had three different views. After pondering for a long time, I think what bantailiev said is most reasonable. Our plans are all wishful thinking that Captain Nikolay will definitely surrender to us, and they all think too much about how to open up channels for them if they take over the troops. I didn''t even think about what we would do if our troops arrived and captain Nikolay suddenly turned back and opened fire on us. Thinking of this, I can''t help laughing bitterly. It seems that I''m still taking things for granted. I almost made the final decision hastily before the whole thing was written.


    Seeing several people looking at me and waiting for my final decision, I coughed gently, cleared my throat and announced to them, "I think everyone''s plans are very good. At the same time, I think the deputy division commander is right to remind us that it''s inappropriate for us to make plans in a hurry before we know what captain Nicholas really thinks, So I decided to wait until Comrade safchenko''s latest report comes, and then we''ll make a plan. " After that, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I found that it was an hour since the last contact between safchenko and Sartre. I turned to ask razumeyeva, "Lieutenant, do you have any information from Comrade safchenko?"


    Seeing that razumeyeva shook her head and said no, I immediately told her, "call Comrade safchenko immediately and let him report their latest progress in time."


    I thought it would take us less than two minutes to get the information from safchenko. But razumeyeva called for a long time, and there was no news from the radio station over there. Seeing that I couldn''t get in touch, I couldn''t help being anxious. I went to razumeyeva''s side and asked her in a loud voice, "Lieutenant, what''s going on? Why hasn''t safchenko been contacted after such a long time? "


    Seeing that I was angry, razumeyeva replied with a crying voice: "Sir, comrade, I have been calling, but there is no movement on the opposite side."


    I suddenly felt someone patting me on the shoulder. I turned around and saw that it was kirilov. He said to me with a smile: "Comrade oshanina, you are a commander. No matter what happens, you should keep an ordinary heart." Seeing that I nodded in recognition, he bowed his head and asked razumeyeva kindly, "Comrade lieutenant, what''s the matter? Why can''t I get in touch?"


    Hearing kirilov''s voice, razumeyeva quickly raised her head and replied, "report to the political commissar. When I just talked with commander safchenko, I found that the voice from the earphone was abnormal. Now I can''t get in touch with them. Maybe there''s something wrong with their communication equipment. "


    "Ah?! What''s wrong with the communication equipment? " Razumeyeva''s words made us dumbfounded. We looked at each other and saw the helplessness from each other''s eyes. If the communication equipment they were carrying had problems like what razumeyeva said, our contact with them would be completely interrupted. At least we would not get any useful information before they returned.


    Watching razumeyeva continue to call in vain, but the other side did not respond at all, I knew that maybe she was right. But I''m still reluctant to drop a sentence: "keep calling until you get in touch." With that, I went back to the table dejectedly.


    Bantai leiev saw me look depressed and comforted me: "don''t worry, sir. Even if the communication equipment carried by Comrade safchenko fails, he will try his best to contact us. Don''t forget, the last time our army''s communication equipment broke down, he also took the risk of using captain Karpov''s German radio station to contact us. "


    My heart was still a little worried about gain and loss. After listening to what Bantai leiev said, I immediately felt that my eyes were bright. Yes, the last time I met Karpov, safchenko used the German radio to contact us. This time he went to plot against Nikolay, he could also draw gourds according to the ladle. Thinking of this, I was in a better mood and could not help saying easily: "Comrade deputy division commander, you are right, although I can''t get in touch with Comrade safchenko for the time being. But once he gets feedback, nine times out of ten it''s good news. "


    The wish is good, but the reality is cruel. More than an hour later, I never received half a day''s news from safchenko. Before I stopped, razumeyeva kept calling. In the end, kirilov couldn''t see it and ordered razumeyeva, who was already hoarse, to stop calling.


    Seeing that it''s daybreak outside, but we still haven''t got any information about safchenko, I can''t help getting upset again. Just then, the telephone on the desk rang out of time. As the communication lines of the group army headquarters have been damaged, the only people who can call at the moment are my regiments. I grabbed the microphone, close to my ear and asked: "Hello, I''m teacher o''shanina. Where are you?"


    Perhaps my tone was too harsh. After a moment''s hesitation, the other party respectfully replied, "Mr. reporter, I''m commander Gaidar, the fourth group leader. I have important information to report to you."


    "What information, comrade commander?" I asked coldly, "did the enemy attack your position? It''s not the first time that the enemy has launched an attack on you. It''s still the old way to resolutely beat them back. " With that, I wanted to hang up, but I heard Gaidar''s voice: "Sir, please don''t hang up. I really have something important to report to you."


    I asked sarcastically, "tell me, comrade commander, I really want to know, what is the important situation that can make you panic?"


    "Yes, sir." Maybe he was afraid that I would hang up. Gaidar spoke so fast that I couldn''t hear many words clearly: "the frontier was attacked... What should we do?"


    "What do you mean, comrade commander?" I recognized that he really had some important information to report, so I slowed down and said to him, "you speak slowly, I can''t hear you clearly. Has your position been attacked by the enemy? " When I asked this question, I was quite puzzled. According to the reconnaissance, there was no large-scale German troops near the mamayev post, so where did the enemy who attacked their highlands come from?


    "It''s not what you think, sir." Gaidar slowed down, and I could finally hear what he was saying. "According to the observation post report, the German position to the north of our regiment''s defense area was under attack. Three German tanks rushed into their positions from behind, followed by a black army of infantry."


    "What? What did you say? " Gaidar''s report confused me. Could the enemy fight with his own people, but it should not. Now it''s daylight. Can''t the enemy recognize his own people¡° Is it the enemy who misunderstood and started fighting? " "It doesn''t look like it," Gaidar said hesitantly. Although the three tanks attacking the position all had the German white cross mark, the infantry following them were not only in German uniform, but also in our uniform. The enemy''s firepower on the position is very weak, and it seems that it will soon be irresistible. " Although Gaidar didn''t finish his words, I already understood what was going on. I quickly gave him an order: "Comrade commander, you immediately order the commanders and fighters to enter the position. When you see that group of people coming through the enemy''s line, don''t shoot. They are all our own people."¡° Who are you? " "But I didn''t hear that we had a big army in the enemy''s rear," he asked¡° Comrade commander, after this unit enters your defense area, immediately ask Comrade safchenko, the leader of the unit, to give me a call. I will personally explain the next matters to him. And your task is to settle the commanders and fighters who pass through the enemy occupied area and prepare some food for them. " Putting down the phone, I excitedly said to the three men around the table, "comrades commanders, I have good news for you. The German front is being attacked by an unknown army. According to my judgment, nine out of ten, comrade safchenko rebelled against Nikolay and their troops and released the commanders and fighters in the prison camp, Attack decisively the enemy positions stuck between them and us, and strive to return to our defense area as soon as possible. " After listening, the faces of the three people all showed incredible expressions, because a few hours ago, we were still sitting around the table, worried about the unknown fate of safchenko. Just a few hours later, things turned around. The German position nearest to our division''s line was attacked by unknown forces. I really didn''t expect such a force to emerge from anywhere except for safchenko. Akhromeyev stood up, picked up the phone I had just put down, and said, "I''ll ask the observation post on the top of the mountain, and let them have a closer look. Are the troops attacking the Italian barracks our soldiers?"

 Chapter 762

    Although gedar and the observation posts of the second regiment on the top of the mountain reported that the troops approaching the mamayev post were wearing both our uniform and German uniform, kirilov still could not believe that what they heard was true. After all, in such a short period of time to instigate a force, and with all the prisoners of war across the enemy''s blockade, it is simply an incredible thing.


    But half an hour later, the mystery was solved, and safchenko called us from the headquarters of the fourth regiment. Although I knew that safchenko had made a great contribution, I was still a little angry when I heard his voice. I asked in a reproachful tone, "Comrade safchenko, why did you stop contacting us after you went to see captain Nikolay?"


    Although I couldn''t see safchenko''s face, I could guess that he was laughing bitterly when he heard my question. He only heard him say: "report to Mr. division, there is something wrong with our communication equipment, so we can''t contact the division headquarters any more."


    "Now that you''ve convinced captain Nicholas to lead the army to surrender, why don''t you contact us on their radio?" I was always a little uncomfortable without hearing safchenko''s convincing explanation, so I went on to ask, "last time you and captain Karpov led a breakout, didn''t you contact us with his communication equipment?"


    "Sir, you don''t know something." When safchenko heard that I was blaming him for this incident, he immediately explained to me: "since captain Karpov and they were killed, the German confiscated all the radio communication equipment of the east battalion in order to prevent the east battalion from getting in touch with our army through radio communication equipment. The usual contact is through wired telephone or sending messengers to deliver messages. "


    Safchenko said that, but he made it clear why they lost contact with us. I then asked, "tell me, how did you persuade captain Nicholas to surrender to our army?"


    When he heard my question, he laughed and said, "actually, I didn''t say anything at all. After meeting captain Nikolay, he asked captain Karpov directly about his whereabouts. I told him that after Capt. Karpov led the regiment, he is now acting as deputy battalion commander of the second battalion of the first regiment. Moreover, we have fully implemented the three conditions he put forward before the regiment. After listening to me finish these words, he immediately asked the adjutant to call several of his company commanders over to discuss how to lead the troops.


    At this point, I have to say that Captain Nikolay''s efficiency is really high. In less than half an hour, he assigned work to the three company commanders. The first company went to deal with the officers and soldiers of the German inspection team, the second company and the third company went to release the officers and soldiers who were held in the prison camp, and the tank company started only three tanks to serve as the assault vanguard of the whole army, To attack the German front. During the release of prisoners of war, in order to prevent misunderstanding, I specially sent several soldiers to assist them.


    Originally, I thought that there would be a fierce battle when breaking through the encirclement, but I didn''t expect that the tank company would rush up and fire a few guns, and the soldiers behind would rush up with guns, and the enemy''s defense would collapse immediately. When I rushed into the position with people, I found that there were only dozens of Italian soldiers in it. No wonder there was no combat effectiveness. "


    I know the general situation, and then I asked my most concerned question: "how many people are there in the four regiments?"


    "We haven''t had time to make statistics. There are at least 2000 people, and there are three tanks, a dozen trucks, and a batch of military materials including weapons and ammunition seized."


    When I heard that a batch of weapons and ammunition had been seized, I was in a better mood. I quickly told him: "first, send all the troops, whether they are captain Nikolay''s men or the comrades rescued from the prison camp, to the third regiment of the residential area. I will inform major gordonov to receive them. After all this, you will accompany captain Nikolay and his company commanders to my division headquarters


    "I understand!" Safchenko agreed loudly.


    After I put down the phone, I didn''t have time to tell kirilov and several of them the details, so I ordered akhromeyev: "chief of staff, call gordonov, the third chief of staff immediately, saying that Comrade safchenko will bring more than 2000 people into his defense area and let him be responsible for arranging the accommodation of these people."


    As soon as I turned around, I saw kirilov and bantailiev standing behind me. They couldn''t wait to know the specific situation. They quickly raised their hands to stop what they wanted to say. They said, "political commissar and deputy division commander, safchenko will come here with Captain Nikolay later. If you have anything to say, you can directly ask them face to face."


    "What are you going to do now?" Kirilov asked curiously, looking at me in a hurry.


    "I''m going to report this to commander trakov immediately," I said to kirilov in a low voice. "Since captain Nikolay''s troops have been in any case, and by the way, more than 1000 or nearly 2000 captured commanders and fighters have been rescued, I don''t think it will be blamed by the superior if this matter is reported at this moment."


    As he was about to walk towards the telephone, he caught a glimpse of busmanov standing at the door. He waved me to him and said, "Captain, you should call Comrade Karpov here immediately. Maybe someone wants to see him later."


    "Who wants to see him?" basmanov asked Instead of answering his question, I glared at him and snorted heavily. Basmanov turned and ran out of the headquarters to find Karpov. Due to the fierce fighting, the communication system of the group army headquarters has not fully recovered. Razumeyeva yelled at the top of her voice for a long time, and finally contacted kelerov. Hearing my voice, krailov was stunned for a moment, and then asked strangely, "Comrade oshanina, you call the headquarters. What can I do for you?" When I heard him ask this question, I immediately understood that he misunderstood that I was trying to find out the whereabouts of yelaimenko. I quickly explained, "report to chief of staff. I have something important to report to commander trakov. Is he in?"¡° He accompanied general yelomienko out to inspect. " Maybe it''s because krailov and yelimenko came to Stalingrad together and had good personal relations with each other. Instead of calling yelimenko''s post, he called him by his first name, "but the comrades of the military commissar are also in the headquarters. If you have anything, you can tell me or the military Commissar. When the commander comes back, we will tell him."¡° Well, comrade chief of staff. " Since trakov was not there, it made no difference to report the incident to krailov or gurov. So I reported to him in detail that I sent safchenko to lead a small team to scout behind the enemy. Under the circumstances of wrong circumstances, I rebelled against another Oriental battalion and rescued more than 1000 and nearly 2000 captured commanders and fighters from the new German POW camp, At present, the army has broken through the enemy''s line of defense and smoothly entered the defensive zone of our division. After listening to this, krailov did not immediately state his position. After a moment''s silence, he said in an impassioned voice, "Comrade oshanina, wait a minute. Comrade military commissar wants to speak to you." As soon as his voice fell, gurov''s familiar voice came from his earphone: "Hello, comrade oshanina? I''m gurov. I''ve heard what you just reported to Comrade Krylov. I congratulate you and your subordinates on your achievements When I heard that gurov didn''t blame us for our good ideas, I was deeply relieved. I held my breath and continued to listen to what gurov said: "it seems that you really took the right step in instigating Karpov''s East camp. With Karpov and Nikolay, I believe that in the next few days, more and more officers and soldiers of the eastern battalion will wake up, break away from the German rule, and return to the fighting sequence of our army. I already know about it. When Comrade trakov comes back, I will tell him about it. " After seeing that I put down my earphone and transmitter, kirilov and Bantai leiev immediately gathered around and asked anxiously, "what do comrades of the military commissar say about this matter?"¡° Comrades of the military commissar praised us for our good work. " As I said this, I looked to the door and saw that Karpov had been called in by basmanov and was standing upright at the door. I waved at him and cried, "Captain Karpov, don''t stand at the door. Come to me." When Karpov heard my call, he came up to me with a blank face. He opened his mouth a few times and seemed to want to ask something, but he didn''t ask in the end. Seeing his embarrassment, I laughed silently and said to him frankly, "Comrade captain, I have something to tell you. A few hours ago, comrade safchenko instigated a rebellion against an army of the eastern battalion and rescued 1000 or 2000 captured officers and men. In a little while, the captain of the east battalion will come to the division headquarters. Because he didn''t hesitate to lead the army after listening to safchenko about you. I''m sure he''ll offer to see you when he comes. That''s why captain busmanov called you here. "¡° What''s the name of the commander of the eastern battalion? " Asked Karpov cautiously¡° Nikolay, Captain Nikolay, is a Ukrainian After giving out the information I knew, I asked, "Comrade Karpov, do you know him?" Karpov frowned and thought for a moment, then shook his head vigorously and replied, "no, I don''t know anyone named Nikolay."

 Chapter 763

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    Before safchenko and Nikolay showed up, two unexpected people came to the headquarters. When I saw the two of them appear at the door, I thought I was dazed. I closed my eyes and reopened them. I couldn''t be sure if I was wrong when I asked, so I hesitated when I asked: "Captain crimov, sidtorin, is that you?"


    The captain, who was called by me, answered me with a smile on his face and said, "Hello, comrade division. I didn''t expect that we would meet again here."


    As soon as the words came to an end, the short soldier next to him pounced on me, put his arms around my waist and cried sweetly, "sister Rita, we meet again."


    Looking at crimov standing straight in front of me, I asked with concern, "Comrade captain, when did you come back? Have you recovered from your injuries?"


    Klimov nodded with a smile and said, "I came back last night, and my wounds have healed. Then I can pick up my gun and continue to fight with the enemy." At this point, he turned his eyes to sidtorin, who was holding me in his arms, and added: "after my military hospital on the east bank, the commander specially sent sidtorin to take care of me. Staying with me in the hospital for such a long time can suffocate the little guy. When he heard that the doctor agreed to let me leave the hospital, he couldn''t wait to pack up and wait for the day to meet the army with me. "


    After a simple greeting, I turned to kirilov and bandeleev and said, "you don''t know them yet. Let me introduce them to you. This is captain Klimov, the adjutant of commander trakov. And this is the commander''s messenger. "


    "Hello, Captain kerimov." Kirilov first went up to shake hands with Klimov and explained, "I heard the commander mention you, but he said that you were sent to the hospital because you were injured, so you didn''t come with him to the 62nd army."


    When kirilov took sidtorin''s hand, I thought he didn''t know sidtorin and was about to introduce him to another identity of sidtorin. Unexpectedly, he said to several other people first: "you don''t know, this little guy''s father was the combat director of the 64th army. He died in August at the Don ferry. After his death, little sidtorin and several soldiers recovered his father''s body from the ferry and buried it in the martyr''s cemetery. Then the 16-year-old boy became trakov''s messenger. "


    After listening to kirilov''s introduction, bantailiev and akhromeyev also came forward one after another to shake hands with sidorin. At the same time, they patted him on the shoulder and said a few words of comfort. I took advantage of the opportunity of their greeting to call crimov aside, because the two of them suddenly appeared in my headquarters. They certainly didn''t come to visit. They must have more important tasks. So I didn''t beat around the Bush and asked frankly, "Comrade captain, did the commander send you to deliver the letter?"


    Crimov, with a smile on his face, nodded his head. Then he took out a paper bag from his briefcase and handed it to me. At the same time, he said, "this is the latest order given to you by the commander. Originally, he wanted to inform you by phone, but because the fault of the telephone line has not been eliminated, he is afraid of divulging secrets by radio communication, So I''m going to send you the order with sidtorin and me


    Instead of opening it immediately, I asked, "Comrade captain, do you know the contents of the order?"


    Crimov nodded his head and admitted that he was afraid of my misunderstanding. He quickly explained: "Comrade division, you know that the situation in the city is very chaotic. Some areas are repeatedly contested by the enemy and us. No one can tell whether the garrison is our own or German when we pass there. So the commander authorized me to destroy the orders I had with me in case of emergency. He specially asked me to read the order once. He wanted me to tell you the contents of the order after destroying it. "


    After listening to his explanation, I nodded. Then I waved to basmanov and told him, "Comrade captain, take captain Klimov and sidorin to have a rest and prepare some food for them."


    Seeing basmanov leave with kerimov and sidorin, Karpov seems to be at a loss. Looking at his uncomfortable appearance, I waved to him and said, "Comrade captain, you should go out first. I''ll send someone to call you when they come."


    When there were only a few division level commanders left in the headquarters, as well as two radio operators, razumeyeva and Najia, I opened the file bag, took out the latest order of trakov from it, and said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, have a look, this is the latest order given to us by the commander!"


    Kirilov quickly took the document in my hand and read it at a glance. However, it took Rao four or five minutes to read the order. After reading the document, he put down his hand and said thoughtfully, "I now understand why several German divisions confronting us have lost sight. It turns out that they were attracted by the Don front army."


    "Don front army?" Bantaileiev repeated this strange number and asked tentatively, "is it the army under the command of general rokosovsky?"


    "Comrade deputy division commander, your guess is absolutely correct. What I said is the Don front army under the command of general rokosovsky." Kirilov said with certainty, and then he knocked the papers on the table with his fingers, and began to talk on and on: "the formation of the Don front army under the command of general rokosovsky includes: the 63rd army under the command of general Kuznetsov, which occupies an area of 200 kilometers long on the north bank of the Don River and controls a small landing site in Mamun area on the South Bank of the Don river; The 21st army, under the command of general Danilov, was stationed in a 150 kilometer long section on the North Bank of the Don river, and there was a small landing site in the areas of yelanskaya, dosti hobelskaya and shirafimovich on the south bank; The fourth group of tanks, under the command of general klujoaquin, occupied the North Bank of the Don River and the 30 kilometer long section between the Volga River and the Don river; The 24th army, under the command of general garanin, guards a 50 kilometer section between the two rivers; The 66th army, under the command of Malinowski, occupies a 20 kilometer long section between the two rivers, with its left flanked by the Volga River.


    In this way, the two group armies occupied the defensive positions of the broad front along the river, and the three group armies took active actions in the middle of the two rivers, threatening the German army group that went out to Volga River. The 24th and 66th army groups between the two rivers also engaged in white hot fighting. As soon as the enemy tried to exert pressure on the defenders of Stalingrad, their forces turned to attack to relieve the pressure on the 62nd and 64th army groups defending in the city. In this way, general rokosovsky''s forces attracted most of the enemy''s forces to the past, forcing the enemy to keep its main army groups between the two rivers. Hitler''s headquarters was afraid that our army would attack the rear of the troops fighting with our Stalingrad front army. A large number of German troops were assembled in the area between the Don River and Volga River.


    The troops of the front army of the Don River stick to two landing sites on the South Bank of the Don river, which is of great significance to us. More than once, the enemy tried to squeeze our troops out of the landing site, so the intensity of the fighting in this area was no worse than that in Stalingrad.


    In view of the current difficult situation of the 62nd army, the headquarters ordered general rokosovsky to launch an offensive campaign in October, in which two units of the front army participated. From the landing site of Don river, the army of Don river carried out active actions to restrain the enemy, making it impossible for them to send reinforcements to Stalingrad. At the same time, the 24th group army of the front army, with its left wing and the 66th group army, defeated the enemy in the north of Stalingrad city and joined our group army. "


    After kirilov''s words, the task is clear. The order given to us by trakov was to launch an attack on the enemy in the front of mamayev post, so as to realize the purpose of joining forces with the Don river front army going south.


    After listening to kirilov''s instructions, bantailiev and akhromeyev sat in silence, as if they were thinking about how to complete the tasks assigned to us by their superiors. I looked at kirilov and asked, "Comrade commissar, when will the attack of general rokosovsky begin?"


    Kirilov picked up the document again, looked at it, and then answered me, "the battle started at 6 a.m. on October 21, that is to say, we only have three days to prepare."


    Hearing the launch time of the campaign, akhromeyev was surprised and said, "what, time is so tight that we are only given three days? We have to know that the total strength of our three regiments now is 3000, and they are not reinforced by tanks and artillery. If we put all these forces into counterattack, once they are entangled by the enemy, the mamayev post will be in danger. "


    Seeing akhromeyev''s face in confusion, I quickly comforted him and said, "Comrade chief of staff, don''t be nervous. Although time is running short, this counterattack is not without the possibility of success." Seeing not only him, but also kirilov and bantaileiev''s faces, I went on to say, "according to our reconnaissance of enemy positions last night and the fact that safchenko instigated Nikolay''s East camp and successfully brought the commanders and fighters back to the defense area, the three divisions that originally confronted us, At the moment, he has been transferred to the direction of Don river, ready to intercept the army of Don river going south. At present, we are facing defensive zones temporarily abandoned by the Germans. Once we launch an attack, we can easily cross these zones and get as close as possible to the southward troops of the friendly forces. "


    Suddenly receiving an order to let us enter the counter offensive not only gave akhromeyev a headache, but also deputy division commander bantailiev an emotion: "to carry out such a large-scale counterattack against the enemy, a large number of troops is essential. However, judging from the current situation, there are only 3000 members in our three regiments. Even if all of them are put in, they will not be able to make much waves in such a large area. If our superiors do not replenish our forces and weapons, the victory rate of this battle will not be high. "


    When kirilov heard this, he quickly raised his hand to stop Bantai leiev''s complaint: "Comrade deputy division commander, it''s impossible to ask the superior to supply us with soldiers and weapons, because the main force of the group army is tied down by the enemy in the factory area. The only thing we can do now is to call the commander and ask for the return of the regiment. In this way, we will have more troops to fight back. "


    When I heard kirilov say this, I laughed bitterly in my heart and said, "what time is it? Do you want a regiment back? If the position of mamayev post is not important, it is estimated that trakov would like to put our entire independent division into the battle in the factory area. " However, in order not to dampen kirilov''s interest, I intend to follow his words and say: "well, comrade political commissar, since you think it is more conducive for us to complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors to transfer the regiment back, then you should negotiate with the headquarters of the group army on behalf of the independent division." Kirilov saw that I agreed with his suggestion, immediately stood up, quickly walked to razumeyeva''s side, and told her: "Comrade lieutenant, get in touch with the headquarters of the group army immediately, saying that there is important intelligence to report." While kirilov was in contact with the headquarters, akhromeyev picked up the document on the desk and read it carefully. I also wanted to see what was said in trakov''s order. Seeing that akhromeyev had the document in his hand, I didn''t insist on it any more. I could only turn around and look at kirilov who was talking with the comrades in the headquarters¡° Trekov''s fight? " Kirilov put down his headphones and transmitter, walked back to the table and sighed softly¡° You know, the 3000 commanders and fighters of a regiment are not weak. It''s no problem to fight against the German army on the mamayev post for a week. But as soon as it was transferred to the factory area, it was almost finished in less than two days. At present, there are only a few battalion commanders and seventy-eight soldiers left in the regiment, half of whom are seriously wounded. " I know very well in my heart that the fate of the tractor factory''s failure has long been predestined by the crazy bombing and long-range artillery attack of the German army. The addition of the headquarters of shijerikov only delayed the failure for a day or two. In order not to affect everyone''s mood, I just smile, no succession. Bantai leiev shivered when he heard the bad news. He asked nervously, "so, can''t you count on a regiment? So what should we do about the counterattack in three days? "¡° Comrade deputy division commander, you don''t have to worry about the soldiers. " Akhromeyev, who had been looking at the documents, suddenly said, "although the regiment has run out, there are still Dongfang camp and 1000 or 2000 officers and men rescued from the prison camp."£¨ My novel burning Moscow will have more fresh content on the official wechat platform. At the same time, there will be a 100% lucky draw for you! Now open WeChat, click the "+" number on the top right, add friends, search the official account "qdread" and pay attention to it.

 Chapter 764

    After hearing this, bantaileiev sneered and retorted: "although there are 1000 or 2000 officers and soldiers rescued from the prison camp, there must be many wounded among them. It is still unknown how much combat effectiveness they can form. What''s more, the combat effectiveness of the troops under Nikolay''s command must be strong, but they have just joined us. Do you dare to use such troops? "


    Seeing signs of a breakdown in their talks, kirilov quickly came to the end: "deputy division chief, chief of staff, don''t argue. I think it''s better to disperse camp Nikolay and the rescued commanders and fighters to the regiments as soon as possible, and combine training with those newly recruited soldiers, so as to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, so that they can fight back in three days. "


    "It won''t work." Bantailiev and akhromeyev suddenly retorted with one voice: "Comrade political commissar, this is not good. If the troops are temporarily disrupted and reorganized, their combat effectiveness will be affected." After they finished, they looked at each other and laughed, and the little contradiction just disappeared.


    "Since both the deputy division commander and the chief of staff said it was inappropriate to disrupt and reorganize the troops, it would be better to keep them as they are for the time being." I took over the topic and said: "now the German defense is empty near the mamayev post. We should take advantage of this rare opportunity to quickly take necessary military action to seize the 107.5 highland occupied by the German army. At the same time, let the fourth regiment draw out troops to occupy the German forward position just broken through by our army."


    As soon as my words came out, the three men were shocked and convinced me one after another: "Comrade division, our troops and combat effectiveness are limited, and we don''t have heavy weapons. I''m afraid it''s not so easy to capture the enemy''s high ground with solid fortifications?"


    My eyes swept over the three of them, and then said with a smile: "the factors that determine the combat effectiveness of the troops come from all aspects. Whether it is the hard training in peacetime, the rich battlefield experience of the veterans, or the command level of the commanders, they can all affect the final result of a battle. These must be improved through a series of small-scale battles. Although Comrade safchenko instigated the movement of the Nikolay battalion, broke through the position defended by the Italian army, and successfully returned to the defense area of our army, the German troops in this area had already been drawn out because they wanted to defend the front army of the Don river. Even if they wanted to recover, it would take time. We will take advantage of this rare opportunity to attack the enemy decisively, and we are sure to achieve unexpected results. "


    After listening to my thoughts, the three of them were silent, as if thinking about the feasibility of this plan. After a while, akhromeyev asked in advance, "Comrade division commander, what forces will we use to launch such an attack?"


    After listening to akhromeyev''s question, I said with confidence: "I asked Gaidar to deploy a company, plus a company of Nikolay battalion, to attack from the north side of 107.5 highland under the cover of three tanks. At present, the organizational structure of the second regiment is relatively complete. I plan to deploy the horushaw battalion to attack the south side of the highland, and captain trushen''s militia battalion to attack from the east side. In order to reduce the casualties of the troops in the attack, the engineer company of captain mihayev should cooperate with them to blast the fortifications on the enemy''s high ground with thunderguns. "


    "Two battalions have been transferred from the second regiment at the same time. Who will coordinate and direct them?" Bantaileiev considered the problem more comprehensively than I did. As soon as I finished, he found one of the loopholes and immediately put it forward to me, "if the two battalions fight separately, it is estimated that even if they capture the Highlands, they will pay a great price."


    "I think a regimental commander should be sent to coordinate and command the two battalions." Kirilov also lost no time to express his views: "I think major Yamin, deputy head of the second regiment, is competent for this position."


    "Do you have any objection to the political commissar''s proposal?" When I heard kirilov recommend major Yamin, an officer from the Ministry of interior, I didn''t express my opinion casually. Instead, I asked Bantai leiev and Akhromeev, "if you have a suitable candidate, you can also put forward it."


    They shook their heads at the same time, and then they answered in unison, "no objection."


    The new battle plan has been worked out. Next we have to talk to captain Nikolay, who has not met us yet. As long as he doesn''t object, our plan to capture highland 107.5 will be half successful.


    While waiting for the arrival of safchenko and Nikolay, everyone was busy. I stood by the wall, staring at the map on the wall, thinking about how to launch the attack in three days. Akhromeyev is notifying the second and fourth commanders Oleg and Gaidar respectively by telephone, asking them to draw out the troops participating in the war and make all preparations for the battle. They will fight immediately at the command of the division headquarters. Bantailiev and kirilov both sat at their desks and wrote at their desks. The deputy division commander wrote down the situation of the enemy''s empty troops near the mamayev post in his report to trikov; The political commissar wrote down the details of camp Nikolay in detail. He planned to let Klimov and sidorin return and ask them to send them to gurov, the military commissar of the group army.


    While they were still busy with their work, safchenko, who we had been looking forward to for a long time, walked into the headquarters with several officers in German uniforms. When I heard the news, I turned around and saw some people who had just entered the headquarters. I quickly called kirilov, and then I took the lead in welcoming them.


    I went up to them, stopped, laughed at them and asked, "who is captain Nikolay among you?"


    After giving me a salute, safchenko turned to a short fat man on his right and said, "Captain Nikolay, let me introduce you. This is our division commander, general oshanina." After that, he turned his head back and reported to me, "Comrade division, this is captain Nikolay."


    The stout officer quickly stepped forward and raised his hand to salute me: "Hello, general. I''m Nicholas."


    I didn''t return the salute. Instead, I went up and took his hand, shook it vigorously, and said enthusiastically, "welcome, welcome, comrade Nicholas used to be our friend in the fight against the Communist aggressors, but now we are our comrades in arms in the same army."


    Nikolay let go of my hand, immediately returned to attention: "I''m very ashamed, if not for the persuasion of Comrade safchenko, I''m still working for the damned German with my subordinates."


    Kirilov also came over, took Nikolay''s hand and said in a friendly way, "Comrade Nikolay, although you have taken a detour, you have come back to our camp in the end." After that, he asked as if he were a layman, "Captain Nikolay, which army were you in before?"


    "Report to the political commissar!" Nikolay glanced at the rank of the political worker on kirilov''s cravat and replied respectfully, "before I was captured, I was" Captain grizenko, where were you captured? " Just now, grecenko''s little action to Nikolay must have been seen by bandeleyev, so he asked with some dissatisfaction, "what''s his position before being captured?"


    Gricenko, who was named by him, quickly stepped forward, straightened up and reported honestly: "report to Comrade Colonel, I was originally from the 16th army and was captured in the Moscow defense war."


    Suddenly I heard a familiar serial number, which immediately aroused my interest. So before he finished speaking, I interrupted him and asked curiously, "Comrade captain, did you say that you were from the 16th army, the 16th army under the command of general rokosovsky?"


    Originally, I intended to wait for him to say yes, and then I would also say my experience in the 16th army, so as to get closer to him emotionally. Unexpectedly, he looked at me and replied leisurely, "Comrade General, I''m sorry, you''ve made a mistake. The 16th army under the command of general rokosovsky was rebuilt later, while the 16th army under my command was under the command of general Lukin. "


    "Lu Jin?" Kirilov was surprised. "Captain grizenko, are you talking about Mikhail Fyodorovich Lukin?"


    Gricenko saw that someone accurately said Lu Jin''s name, eyebrows could not help picking up, and then nodded in affirmation, "you''re right, it''s him." Then he added, "before I was captured, I served as his platoon leader."


    "I heard that general Lukin was also captured by the German army. Do you know the details?" In order to inquire about Lukin''s whereabouts, kirilov rarely used honorifics in his address, "since you are his guard platoon leader, then you must be very clear about the situation before and after his capture."


    "After being encircled by the German army, facing the enemy more than ten times as many as ours, when there was little ammunition left, the food was exhausted, the army relied on the food provided by the local residents and slaughtered horses for food, the medical supplies were all used up, the remaining tents were left for the wounded, and the army could only sleep in the open for three weeks. The fighting in the German encirclement did not stop until the end of October. The commander''s headquarters was hit by the enemy''s long-range artillery fire. When I took people to dig him out of the shelter, I found that all the commanders except him had died. And Comrade commander, he also lost his legs. "


    From the conversation between grizenko and bandeleev, I can tell that he is not a man who is afraid of death. As for the wink he just gave Nikolay, he probably worried that we would deliberately use their troops as cannon fodder. Thinking of this, I quickly comforted grizenko with a smile: "Captain Tongzhi, I know what you are worried about, but we are afraid that we will use your troops as cannon fodder. Once you run out of your men, you will lose your value in our eyes, right Without waiting for him to answer, I went on and gave them all a reassurance. "The reason why we want to put your troops into combat is that there are not many units with strong fighting capacity in the division at present, so we can only use your help temporarily. But please rest assured that I am here to assure you that I will make up for the losses of your troops and decide not to let you be bare commanders. "


    After I finished, I observed Nikolay and grizenko, and found that they all showed a sense of relief. Nikolay took the opportunity to express his determination to me and said: "Sir, please rest assured that we will fulfill your orders and strive to seize the highlands from the German hands as soon as possible."


    As we were talking, busmanov and Karpov, who got the news, walked into the headquarters. As soon as I saw Karpov, I waved to him and called him, "Captain Karpov, come to me."


    Karpov looked at the officers in German uniforms and walked quickly up to me. When he wanted to raise his hand to salute, I stopped him first, then pointed to him and introduced him to Nikolay and said, "I''ll introduce you to captain Karpov, who led the army to leave the German camp some time ago. He is currently the deputy commander of the second battalion of the first regiment. However, this is only temporary. In a few days, he will command a battalion alone. Besides his position, his rank will be promoted accordingly. "


    Nikolay, after listening to my introduction to Karpov, their faces became more relaxed. After shaking hands with Karpov, Nikolay and Karpov came back to me and solemnly asked me, "Comrade division, where should I assemble my troops?"


    Bantailiev turned and waved his head at akhromeyev and said, "Comrade chief of staff, you are in charge of this matter. You take captain Nikolay''s troops to the assembly position first, and then go to see the officers and men who have just been rescued After that, he specially asked me: "Sir, do you agree with my arrangement?"


    I nodded, then said to akhromeyev, "Comrade chief of staff, according to the arrangement of the deputy division commander, take captain Nikolay and his troops to the position of the fourth regiment first." At this point, I looked at Nikolay''s German uniforms and said, "the battle to recover the Highlands later is launched from several directions at the same time. In order to avoid misunderstandings and unnecessary captains, you go to find some military uniforms for captain Nikolay''s troops."


    When akhromeyev left with Nikolay and his party, kirilov called the remaining safchenko aside and asked him carefully about the detailed process of instigating Nikolay camp, so as to add it to his report.


    Bantailiev and I stood by the wall, looking at the map on the wall, and began to discuss whether we should report to the group army headquarters by the upcoming offensive.


    When I heard Bantai leiev remind me to report this operation to the headquarters of the group army in time, I answered with worry: "Comrade deputy division commander, do you think I don''t want to report this operation to the higher authorities? If it''s reported, it''s possible to get artillery support from the East Bank of the Volga River. But no, my deputy division commander, you should not forget that the telephone line from the division headquarters to the headquarters of the group army has been damaged in shelling and bombing. If you talk by radio, it is easy to leak secrets. The last time the two regiments took part in the counterattack, they were intercepted by the Germans because they talked in plain radio, and they arranged traps for them. As a result, the two regiments were almost annihilated. "


    After listening to my explanation, Bantai leiev was still adamant: "but such a big action, if you don''t ask for instructions, is against the rules. Once the higher authorities want to investigate, they will be punished even if they have made contributions. "


    Seeing Bantai leiev bring out the doctrines, I can''t refute them any more. Although these damned doctrines are annoying, if they are not observed, they may cause endless trouble for me. Therefore, I have to say helplessly: "well, comrade deputy division commander, since you say so, please report this to the higher authorities."


    "How to report?" Bandeleev asked me.


    "Just report to the headquarters that we are about to launch an attack on the enemy near the defensive area." Although I finally agreed to Bantai leiev''s request to report to the higher authorities, I still have to be careful about how to report.


    However, Bantai leiev nodded his head and said, "OK, report to the higher authorities like this." Then he ran to razumeyeva''s telephone.


    I picked up the phone on my desk, dialed the fourth regiment and found Gaidar. Then I asked aloud, "Comrade commander, have I assembled your troops?"


    On hearing my question, Gaidar immediately replied, "report to division commander, after receiving the order from the chief of staff, I have sent a company of captain kiricheng to take over the German position on the north side of the highland. In addition, I took out a platoon from the guard company to strengthen the three battalions and seven companies, and led by political commissar Xia Ping to take part in the upcoming battle. "


    "Very well," I nodded with satisfaction at his deployment, and then told him, "the chief of staff will take captain Nikolay and his subordinates to you later. You remember to tell the chief of staff that the attack from the north side of the highland is directed by political commissar Xia Ping."


    I hung up with Gaidar and I dialed the second regiment. However, the commander Oleg was not in. According to political commissar verol who answered the phone, the commander went to assemble the troops in person. After the report, verol asked me anxiously, "Comrade division, is it appropriate for major Yaming to command two battalions to attack the East and south sides of the highland?"


    "Comrade verol, what on earth do you want to ask?" I was confused by her question. I don''t know why she asked this question. Instead, I asked, "do you think this arrangement of the division headquarters is not appropriate?"


    "Comrade division, have you forgotten that major Yaming is an officer from the Ministry of interior?" Verol said to me in a low voice: "the man in the interior department is a layman in directing the war. If he ignores the actual situation and lets our commanders and fighters rush up regardless of the enemy''s dense bullets, maybe they will fight to the end. If the highland is not taken down, all our people will die instead."


    "Comrade veroll," although I didn''t like the Ministry of internal affairs all the time, from the experience of dealing with Yaming, he was not too annoying. In military command, when faced with indecision, he could listen to different opinions. Because of this, I chose him to be responsible for commanding the two battalions of the second regiment to attack the highlands. At the moment, I heard veroll''s reminder. For the sake of unity, I was still saying good words for Yamin, "you can''t look at people with old eyes. Although major Yamin is from the Ministry of interior, after my contact with him, I think he is still a good commander, so I gave him such an opportunity to command the army." After saying this, I felt that it was a little too heavy, so I slowed down and said, "if you don''t trust him, you can take a small troop to his command post. Once you find that he is blind in command, you can immediately take over his command."¡° I see, sir. " After fully understanding my spirit, verol replied decisively, "I''ll take a guard platoon with me when the commander comes back later. As long as I find major Yaming''s command disorderly and play with the lives of our regiment''s commanders and fighters, I will immediately deprive him of his command." As soon as I put down the phone on my side, leiev on the other side of the desk called out again: "Comrade division commander, please come here. Comrade chief of staff of the group army wants to speak to you." I guess Krylov wanted to know about the attack we were about to launch, so he took the earphone from leiev''s hand and put it on. Then he politely called out to the transmitter, "Hello, Hello, is that chief of staff? I''m oshanina!"¡° Oshanina, what''s going on? I heard Comrade bantaileiev say, "are you ready to launch an attack?" I don''t know how Bantai leiev reported to krailov just now. I heard that the other party''s tone seemed to be confused. "What''s the matter?"¡° Well, comrade chief of staff. " For fear of the leakage of Ming language, I could only say vaguely: "the enemy on the left side of our division''s position is always a threat to us. After reconnaissance, we found that the number of them is not large, with our strength, we can easily solve them, so we made this attack plan¡° Are you sure? " When krailov heard what I said vaguely, he didn''t ask for more details. He just asked, "how many troops are you going to use? Do you have heavy weapons?" I quickly and briefly replied: "in this battle, we will put in three battalions of infantry and a tank company. I believe it will not be long before the battle is over."¡° Three battalions? " Krailov asked curiously, "as far as I know, your forces are limited. If you are entangled by the enemy and the enemy attacks your defense area, what should you do?"¡° Please rest assured, chief of staff. "I am deeply afraid that his question is too detailed for me to answer. I can only say briefly," we are fully prepared to ensure that in the course of attack, the area we are holding fast to will never be attacked by the enemy. " Seeing that my voice was so firm, krailov stopped asking questions, just said casually: "well, in that case, once the battle has been concluded, report to the headquarters immediately. Good luck When I put down my earphone and transmitter and saw that the conversation between kirilov and safchenko was over, I called bantailiev to the table and said to them, "today''s attack on Highland 107.5 is just a test of our division''s existing combat effectiveness. Next, we need to do a lot of work. First of all, we need to disperse the rescued commanders and fighters to various regiments. At the same time, we need to take in the scattered scattered soldiers and armed residents according to the plan. He told commanders at all levels that they should seize all the time to train their troops and strive to form combat effectiveness in the shortest time to meet the more brutal battles that follow. " After listening to my arrangement, kirilov first nodded and then asked, "Comrade oshanina, how''s the regiment of commander xijerikov? According to information obtained from the headquarters of the group army, except for a few commanders, the rest of the soldiers either died or withdrew from the battle because of injuries. " I was worried that there would be danger to his life if he continued to stay in the factory area, so I insisted on asking kirilov: "Comrade political commissar, please call Comrade military commissar to see if you can ask him to discuss with the commander, and let lieutenant commander and the surviving commanders return first. After all, we are short of enough manpower here." After hearing this, kirilov immediately nodded and said solemnly, "OK, I''ll call the military commissar right now and ask him to return the regiment of Xie jerikov as soon as possible."

 Chapter 765

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    More than half an hour later, Gaidar and Oleg called one after another to report to me that the offensive troops were in place and could attack the enemy''s positions at any time. After listening to the two men''s report, I just said a short sentence: "now that I''m ready, let''s attack!"


    After giving the order to attack, I turned to look at kirilov and bantaileiev, and asked them with a smile, "political commissar and deputy division commander, don''t you want to see how our troops snatched the highlands from the enemy''s hands?"


    Kirilov laughed and said, "I''d like to see it, but major akhromeyev has gone to the position of the fourth regiment. Someone needs to stay in the headquarters to deal with emergencies. Comrade bantaileiev is not familiar with the situation of the division, so I''d better stay on duty."


    Bantai leiev listened to him and looked at me with a smile on his face. He asked, "Comrade division, can I accompany your observation post on the top of the mountain to observe this battle?"


    "No problem," I agreed without hesitation when I saw that Bantai leiev was willing to go to the observation post on the top of the mountain with me. "Comrade deputy division commander, let''s go."


    Seeing that I was going out with my helmet and submachine gun, kirilov called out to my battalion commander, "Captain basmanov, Captain basmanov." Seeing that the latter''s attention was attracted by himself, he then said, "take a platoon with them to the observation post on the top of the mountain. Remember, we must ensure the safety of our teacher. If anything happens to her, you are the only one to ask


    Since I was almost killed by the German troops in disguise in the second regiment last time, basmanov did not dare to neglect me as long as I went out. Even if the commissar doesn''t tell me, he will lead at least one platoon to follow me. At kirilov''s command, he replied in a loud voice that a platoon of soldiers had been waiting outside.


    When Bantai leiev and I walked along the traffic ditch to the top of the mountain, he looked back at the group of guards who were following us, and couldn''t help joking: "Comrade division, your shelf is almost catching up with the commander of the front army. You know, even if commander yelomienko or military commissar Comrade Khrushchev goes anywhere, he will only be followed by one class of soldiers. But at this moment, there are many more soldiers following us. "


    I heard Bantai leiev say so, with a wry smile, and some helplessly explained: "Comrade Deputy teacher, it''s not that I like to put on airs, but that the political commissar is thinking about my safety. You know, last time a German disguised as our army sneaked into the trench and almost killed me and commander Oleg together. After that, no matter where I go, the political commissar will send at least one platoon of soldiers to protect my safety. "


    When we entered the observation post, busmanov was responsible for protecting our safety. He was also afraid of the well rope once bitten by a snake for ten years. He not only set up guard forces near the observation post, but also set up two firepower points in relatively hidden places. According to his arrangement, even if the enemy rushes into the trench, we will not be able to reach the observation post for a moment and a half, and we will have enough time to evacuate to a safe area.


    In our view, the second and fourth regiments began to advance towards the 107.5 heights occupied by the German army. Bantaileiev was observing the advancing troops of the second regiment, while I focused on the cooperation between the fourth regiment and captain grizenko''s troops.


    Three white cross marked tanks of battalion Nikolay opened the way ahead, followed by hundreds of our commanders and fighters. Although they were all wearing the same clothes at the moment, I could see at a glance that those were captain grizenko''s troops and those were the officers and men of the fourth regiment. I touched Bantai leiev with my elbow and said to him gently, "Comrade deputy division commander, can you tell which are the soldiers of Nikolay battalion and which are the commanders and fighters of the fourth regiment over there?"


    Bantai leiev looked at the telescope to the north. After looking for a while, he slowly shook his head and replied awkwardly, "Comrade division, I really can''t see that everyone is wearing the same uniform. It''s no different."


    "There are still differences, comrade deputy division commander." Seeing that bantaileiev could not distinguish between the two troops, I took the opportunity to show off: "in fact, it''s very easy to distinguish. You see, in the back of the tank, there are three loose attack formations, and it''s captain grizenko''s troops moving forward with neat steps; And those who are crowded together and walk lazily can be seen as the troops of the fourth regiment. Many of them are recruits without special training, so they still have the shadow of the common people more or less. "


    After listening to me, Bantai leiev snorted. He still looked down upon gricenkolian: "although captain gricenkolian''s troops are walking like this, I don''t know how effective they will be when they fight later."


    When the fourth regiment and grizenko''s allied forces entered, only seven or eight hundred meters from the highland, several mortars on the highland opened fire. The cannonball whistled past the tank in front of it and landed in the attack line. Several soldiers in the front row of grizenko company fell down in the explosion. The soldiers in the back row quickly stepped up to fill the gap in the middle. There was no panic. The commanders and fighters of the fourth regiment are much worse. Although the mortar shells are still some distance away from them, most of them still choose to lie down on the spot. The rest are obviously veterans. After the explosion, they wave their weapons and drive the commanders and fighters to get up and move on.


    "Comrade division," said Bantai leiev, who saw the background through the telescope and was so angry that he gritted his teeth with a serious expression, "with just two shells falling down, our troops are basically lying on the ground. It seems that we still need to train our troops."


    Under the cover of tanks, the troops on the north side of the attack were advancing towards the high ground. It would take at least five or six minutes to exchange fire with the enemy, so I turned my attention to the troops of the second regiment. On the south side of the highland was the first battalion of horushov, whose troops formed a loose offensive line and marched forward to the highland. The soldiers in captain trushen''s militia camp, however, formed a dense formation. The soldiers carried weapons side by side and advanced to the high ground.


    Bantaileiev also saw the line of the militia battalion. He frowned and said, "what''s the matter with the commander of the militia battalion? Why do you let the soldiers form such a dense formation? You know, as long as an enemy shell falls in the middle of them, or a machine gun shoots at them, many of them can be killed and wounded. No, they can''t be allowed to attack in this deadly formation. They must be stopped immediately


    I didn''t agree with Bantai leiev''s opinion, and stopped him from sending people to stop trushen''s action. I said to him in a smooth tone: "Comrade deputy division commander, if we go beyond the regimental commander to direct the troops, we will cause chaos in the command system of the troops. Now that we have given the order of attack to each regiment, let these commanders play freely and give them a stage to show their talents. "


    Bantai leiev sat down on a bench beside the wall with a dejected look and said with reluctance: "Comrade division, are you just watching the commanders below command blindly and let our soldiers die in vain?"


    "Comrade deputy division commander, things are not as serious as you said." In order to reassure him, I explained to him the real consideration in my mind: "you should know that our commanders, if they do not sacrifice, will become independent military commanders sooner or later. If they do not even have the ability to cope with emergencies, they are not qualified to stay in their current command positions. Through this small battle, many problems hidden in peacetime will be exposed, and we can make targeted improvements. "


    "Sir, do you think we will win today''s battle?" Bantaileiev asked cautiously.


    I nodded hard and said definitely, "don''t worry, comrade deputy division. Our troops are several times more than the German troops on the Highlands, and our weapons and equipment are not necessarily weaker than them. It''s not difficult to capture the highlands. It''s just that the casualties may be larger, and it will take a little longer. "


    During the time we were chatting, there was a lot of gunfire outside. It seems that our division''s troops have entered the effective shooting range and are fighting with the German troops on the high ground.


    I came to the observation port, raised my telescope and looked to the north. As a cover tank is stopping at the foot of the hill in the highland, with tank guns slowly shelling the exposed fire points on the highland. Although there are still mortar shells falling around the tank and exploding from time to time, they can not cause any damage to it.


    Under the cover of craters and fortifications, Captain grizenko''s troops jumped, rolled and quickly approached the hillside position. The fourth regiment, on the other hand, hid in the crater behind the tank and covered the friendly attack with fire.


    I turned my telescope to the West and saw that the militia camp of trushen had been suppressed by the firepower on the top of the mountain and could not move. Occasionally, a few soldiers who were not afraid of death jumped up from the ground and rushed out with weapons. They were hit by dense bullets and then fell to the ground one after another.


    The attack of the militia battalion was thwarted. What about the attack of the first battalion of horushov? I looked to the south of the highland again, and saw that the officers and men of the first battalion were hiding in the crater at the foot of the mountain. Instead of launching an attack immediately, they helped the soldiers of the engineering company to set up the launching canister of the thunder gun.


    A few minutes later, the thunder guns began to take off. One by one, the explosive packages flew out of the launcher, drew a beautiful arc in the air and landed on the position on the top of the mountain. After the explosive bag fell on the ground and rolled for several turns, there was an earth shaking explosion. In the area where the explosion took place, the figures were torn apart or lifted out of the deep trenches by the waves, turned into blood mist and incomplete limbs, and fell into the scorched dust.


    The effect of the thundergun is far beyond everyone''s imagination, even without a second round of shooting, and there are no moving figures on the hilltop position. At this time, both the 1st battalion on the south slope and the militia battalion on the east slope launched a decisive charge towards the high ground.


    After encountering sporadic resistance, the first battalion and the militia battalion met at the top of the hillside. Then the two battalions joined forces and rushed to the hillside to attack the remaining German troops with grizenko company.


    When I saw this, I put down my telescope, breathed a sigh, and said to laiev, "Comrade deputy division commander, we have won."£¨ The novel burning Moscow will have more fresh content on the official wechat platform. At the same time, there will be a 100% lucky draw for you! Now open WeChat, click the "+" number on the top right, add friends, search the official account "qdread" and pay attention to it.

 Chapter 766

    PS: if you want to hear more about your voice, and want to receive more of your suggestions, search WeChat official account "qdread" and pay more attention to it, and give more support to the burning Moscow.


    Now that our offensive troops have climbed to the high ground from three directions, all that remains to be done is to clear up the remnant enemy. I have no interest in continuing to look at it. So I put down my telescope, turned around and asked Bantai leiev, "Comrade deputy division commander, the battle is coming to an end soon. Shall we go back to the headquarters?"


    At my words, leiev, who was looking at Bantai with great interest, moved his telescope away from his eyes in surprise and asked me strangely, "Sir, why do you want to leave now? You know, the battle on the Highlands is not over yet. "


    I waved my hand and said with disapproval, "the remaining enemies on the Highlands can''t make any difference. We''d better hurry back to the headquarters. Maybe there are still a lot of things waiting for us to deal with there."


    I would have said that casually, but when I got back to the headquarters, I found a lot of people inside. In addition to kirilov and akhromeyev, there are shejerikov, deputy commander Ilya, Captain shereblenne, commander of the second battalion, Captain grakov, commander of the Third Battalion, and several captains I can''t name.


    I was shocked to see so many people crowded in the headquarters, but I soon recovered and understood that the group army headquarters had agreed to our request and let the regiment return. Looking at the commanders with their backs to me and full of gunpowder, my nose can''t help but feel sour. I thought that if I didn''t strongly ask them to come back, maybe tomorrow, or even tonight, they would give their precious lives to defend this great city like a group of 3000 soldiers. Although I feel sorry for the sacrifice of the commanders and fighters, I feel a little lucky to see that so many commanders of the regiment have survived.


    "Sergeant Sergeant kirikov!" After I raised my voice and called, I quickly walked to the other side. Those commanders who had turned their back to me heard my voice, turned around and gave way to both sides, and raised their hands to salute me. I came to shejerikov, raised my hand, grabbed his arm, shook it hard, and said excitedly, "I''m very happy, I''m really happy. I''m glad to see you and your commanders standing in front of me alive. "


    "Comrade teacher." After calling me, he didn''t say no more. The corners of his mouth were twitching violently. It seemed that his language ability was affected by his emotion. I didn''t urge him. I just watched him quietly, waiting for him to recover as soon as possible.


    After a short time, he continued to speak. At this time, his tone became calm and clear: "I''m sorry, comrade division. It''s me who''s bad. I''ve finished all the troops."


    In order not to burden him with thoughts, I comforted him and said, "Comrade xijerikov, don''t blame yourself. I can see very clearly what the situation is like in the factory area. Due to the long-term fighting, the fortifications there have long been damaged in the bombardment of German planes and cannons. It''s a great thing that you can persist for two days and wipe out the same number of enemies as yourself. " Speaking of this, I turned to look at the commanders standing behind me and said in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, although the regiment has been completely destroyed in the two days of fighting, please don''t worry. As long as the commanders of the regiment are still there, we will supplement you as soon as possible. I believe that under your leadership, this unit will soon form combat effectiveness and become the main force of our division. "


    My words immediately aroused the cheers of the commanders, and all the people in the room were shouting "Wula! Wula The cry was so intense that the sadness and depression brought about by the loss of the troops were all gone in the cheers.


    Finally, when the room was quiet, I said to the commanders, "well, comrades, you are tired for a few days. Let''s go out and find a place to rest. I have something else to talk to your commander."


    When the commanders of the first regiment left one after another, kirilov immediately asked me, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the situation with the attack on Highland 107.5? Has the position been taken?"


    Although the battle on the Highlands was not over before bantailiev and I left, I thought our army was sure to win this small battle, so I replied confidently, "yes, comrade political commissar, although there are still some sporadic resistance on the Highlands, it can no longer pose any threat to us."


    After listening to what I said, Bantai leiev quickly walked towards me, stood beside me and said in a low voice, "don''t be so sure, sir. After all, when we left, the battle continued. Although the sky of victory has fallen to our side, no one can predict what will happen on the battlefield, and it is impossible to say what will happen. "


    I gave him a smile, just want to comfort him, the phone on the desk rang in time. Akhromeyev raised his hand, grabbed the microphone and said in a loud voice, "I''m akhromeyev, chief of staff. Where are you?"


    After listening for a few words, he covered the phone with his hand and asked for instructions: "Comrade division, the phone is from verol, political commissar of the second regiment. She reported that the highland has been completely occupied by our army. Next, what about the captured prisoners, and which army should defend the Highlands? "


    "Political commissar, deputy division commander, which army do you think is more suitable to hold high ground?" Instead of making a direct statement, I asked kirilov and bandeleev.


    When kirilov heard my question, he didn''t answer it immediately. Instead, he turned to look at the Bantai. Leiev asked, "Hey, old man, you have a better say than me in military affairs. Which army do you think should be left to hold high 10.5?"


    "Judging from the performance in the battle just now, the most effective are the horushaw battalion of the second regiment and the company of captain grizenko." Bantailiev said solemnly: "but grizenko''s troops have just come here. It''s hard to rest assured to let them guard a highland independently. I think it''s better for camp horushoff to guard the highlands. "


    "Well, do as you say." After I had said this, I went on to command akhromeyev: "Comrade chief of staff, please tell political commissar verol that the first battalion of horushov will be assigned to guard the 107.5 highland. In addition, in order to strengthen the leadership of the battalion, let major Yaming, deputy head of the battalion, also go to the highlands. "


    Akhromeyev was stunned when he heard this inexplicable order from me. Instead of releasing his hand to cover the microphone, he asked in a strange way: "Comrade division, I think captain horushov is fully competent, so there is no need to send other commanders?"


    Seeing that akhromeyev didn''t carry out my order readily, I said with some dissatisfaction, "first pass on my words to political commissar verol. As for the reasons, I''ll tell you later."


    Seeing that I had a sign of anger, akhromeyev had to nod his head and reluctantly conveyed my order to verol: "verol political commissar, division commander''s order: 107.5 highland will be taken over by the first battalion of captain horushov. In order to strengthen the command of highland, let the deputy commander, major Yaming, also go to the highland." After delivering the order, he changed his tone and asked veroll kindly, "Comrade veroll, please take the time to count the results and report them to me immediately."


    As soon as akhromeyev put down the phone, kirilov couldn''t wait to ask me, "Comrade oshanina, why did you send Yamin to highland 107.5? If there are two commanders in a position, the soldiers below don''t know who to listen to when fighting. "


    It seems that kirilov and akhromeyev do not know about the contradictions between the leaders of the second regiment. So I can only explain to them simply: "political commissar and chief of staff, after my observation, I find that major Yaming is actually a good commander. However, because of his sensitive identity, the leaders of the second regiment always guard against him. I put him on the 107.5 high ground in the hope that he can make more contributions and change other people''s impression of him in the next cruel battle. "


    After hearing my very far fetched reason, kirilov and his colleagues suddenly nodded and agreed with my analysis. Then kirilov asked me, "since we have recovered 107.5 Highlands, should we immediately report this good news to the group army command?"


    "It''s natural, comrade political commissar. However, in order to prevent leakage, I think you should report to the higher authorities in written form. Anyway, the adjutant and messenger of the commander are still with us. Let them take the report back. " After kirilov and I finished, we turned to Bantai leiev and said, "Comrade deputy division commander, you have seen the fighting process just now, so please write a detailed report and send it to the headquarters together later."


    After giving an account of the outcome report, I bowed my head to think about it, and then told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, call major gordonov, the third commander, and say that I will go to him with lieutenant commander shejerikov later, and ask him to gather all the commanders from the prison camp, and I will meet them later."


    Looking at the akhromeyev who got my order on the phone, shijerikov asked curiously, "Comrade division, what''s the commander from the prison camp? What are you talking about? I''m confused. "


    "Well, comrade chejerikov." Bantaileiev, who was preparing his pen and paper, raised his head and explained to shijerikov, "you have been in the factory area these two days. You don''t know about the situation in mamayev post. When Comrade safchenko went on a reconnaissance mission last night, he conspired against a unit of the eastern battalion and rescued all the officers and men of our army from the prison camp under the custody of the battalion. "


    "Oh, so it is." After listening to Bantai leiev''s explanation, xiejerikov turned to look at me and asked in a flattering tone, "Comrade division commander, do you want me to accompany you to the third regiment defense area? Do you want to supplement these rescued commanders and fighters to our regiment?"


    "All for your regiment?" I saw him with a lion''s big mouth expression. After rolling a white eye at him, I retorted discontentedly: "if I give you all these 1000 commanders and fighters, then the other three regiment leaders will not come to my headquarters to make trouble?" Then he patted him on the shoulder and said in a loud voice, "OK, don''t stand here foolishly, come with me quickly."


    As soon as I walked out of the headquarters, I found captain Nikolay pacing outside. From his frown, I guessed that he was worried about the tank company and grizenko''s infantry company. Seeing this, I quickly yelled at him, "Captain Nikolay, come to me."


    Shejerikov saw captain Nikolay coming towards us, raised his eyebrows, and then asked warily, "Comrade division, is this the commander of the eastern battalion who has just been rebelled?"


    I nodded and said with admiration, "Comrade commander, it''s not easy to guess the identity of Captain Nikolay at a glance."


    Xiejerikov chuckled and explained to me: "Comrade teacher, I didn''t guess it, I saw it." As he said that, his chin raised forward. "We don''t have our uniform on us, but we still have German helmets on us."


    After captain Nikolay came up to us and raised his hand to salute us, I first introduced him and chejerikov to each other, and then asked, "what''s on your mind, comrade captain? I think you''ve been walking around here all the time, as if you''re not at ease. "


    Nikolay replied with a wry smile, "don''t you know what I''m worried about, sir? I''ve heard that the opposite highland has been captured by us, but Captain grizenko''s troops haven''t come back yet. I''m worried about them. "


    "Captain grizenko''s troops are not seriously injured. The battle is over. They will be back soon. Don''t worry too much." Then I waved my head to him and said, "come on, comrade captain, come with us to the third regiment and visit the officers and men who were rescued by you."


    On the way, from time to time, shejerikov looked back at Nikolay who was following us. After I noticed his little action, I said to him in a low voice: "Comrade commander, I plan to incorporate his troops into your regiment. If you have any questions, you can ask directly. Don''t make trouble for him when he arrives at your regiment. I won''t help you then. "


    With my permission, shejerikov slowed down and slowly approached Nikolay. As they were walking side by side, I heard sergeikov asking, "Captain Nikolay, I want to ask you a question."


    Nikolay did not expect that xiejerikov would suddenly speak to himself. He was flustered for a moment. Then he tried to keep calm and said, "excuse me, comrade commander, as long as I can answer, I will give you an accurate answer."


    "First of all, I want to ask you, comrade captain," he asked in the same tone as usual, "which army were you in before you were captured?"


    "Report as required?" Instead of answering the question immediately, Nikolay asked a question that seemed to be out of the question.


    "Yes," replied chejerikov positively, "it''s the answer according to the regulations."


    "Report, commander," Nikolay replied respectfully, "before I was captured, I was a subordinate of general Petrovsky, commander of the 63rd infantry army. When the army was breaking through the encirclement, several soldiers and I lost contact with the large army because of carrying the general''s body. As a result, I fell into the encirclement of the Germans and was unfortunately captured."


    When Nikolay talked about general Petrovsky, the expression on his face softened. He then asked, "since you are a subordinate of general Petrovsky, why did you join the German side?" Xiejerikov''s question is exactly what I want to know. I also slowed down and tried to listen to Nikolay''s answer.


    Nikolay sighed first, and then said, "Comrade commander, if I say that I was forced to join the German side because I was afraid of death, do you believe it?"


    "I believe it." "I talked to captain Karpov once, and he told me frankly that the Germans called all the prisoners of war together and announced in public that those who were willing to join the German auxiliary forces would be free immediately, or they would all be shot," shejerikov said unexpectedly


    "Captain Karpov is right. I joined the East camp under the same circumstances." Nikolay showed a painful expression on his face. He gritted his teeth and said, "I still remember that day when the Germans called all the people in the prison camp to the open field, more than 2000 prisoners of war stood in a neat square array of hundreds. A Russian speaking German officer brought several German soldiers to a square and asked aloud if anyone would like to join them. Those who would like to join would come out.


    In front of the first phalanx, he yelled several times, but all the prisoners dressed in prisoners lowered their heads and ignored him. When the German officer saw that no one responded to him, he got angry and turned to the soldiers behind him and yelled a few words. With his cry, the soldiers rushed into the line, caught the soldiers in the first row of the square, and ordered them to lie face down. When the soldiers lie down at their command, they shoot them in the back of the head. Then he rushed into the team again, caught the soldiers in the second row, let them lie on the dead, and then shot.


    There are not only male prisoners but also many female prisoners in the camp. We all think that the Germans are cruel to the male prisoners of war, but they may be lenient to the female prisoners of war. Unexpectedly, even the female prisoners of war are not spared by them. They still take them out of the queue and let them lie on the ground. When the female prisoners of war lie on the ground, they shoot at the back of the woman''s head without hesitation, just like killing the male prisoners of war. "


    Hearing Nikolay talking about female prisoners of war, I couldn''t help thinking about it. I thought I had been captured in liuban at the beginning. If I had not happened to meet captain Thomas, I would have been shot by the German like other captured commanders. Thinking of this, my hand trembled slightly with excitement. If a German appeared in front of me at the moment, maybe I would jump forward and strangle him directly.


    "... there are a lot of female prisoners and a lot of male prisoners. The Krauts, according to their morality, think that men and women can''t be mixed up because it''s too unorthodox. Moreover, when they slaughtered prisoners of war, they strictly observed the time. Every half an hour, these German men who were exhausted by killing would come to the shady place beside the wall of the prison camp, eat and drink, so that they could have enough physical strength to continue to kill. At that time, I was shocked: Why did my comrades in arms choose to lie down and wait to die? Is it because of their suffering that they are exhausted, or because they are abandoned by their motherland and hope to end their suffering earlier? Once again, innocent people are waiting for death, while people on the other side are eating and drinking as if there were no one else... "Nikolay''s experience made sjerikov hiss, so his tone became more friendly:" so when the Germans asked about you, you chose to join them? "¡° Yes, comrade commander Nikolay continued: "when asked about the ninth phalanx, the prisoners of war were frightened by the massacre in front of them, but when they heard the questions from the German officers, immediately a man bravely stepped out of the queue and asked to join the German army. One person took the lead, and the others, who had been shaken for a long time, were even more unable to stand up and came out one after another. The German officer asked several soldiers to take the prisoners to one side, and then killed all the remaining prisoners in the square. "£¨ The novel burning Moscow will have more fresh content on the official wechat platform. At the same time, there will be a 100% lucky draw for you! Now open WeChat, click the "+" number on the top right, add friends, search the official account "qdread" and pay attention to it.

 Chapter 767

    PS: if you want to hear more about your voice, and want to receive more of your suggestions, search WeChat official account "qdread" and pay more attention to it, and give more support to the burning Moscow.


    Nikolay''s story silenced everyone who heard it. We have heard some stories about the prison camps. We only know that most of the prisoners were placed in the open air, even in the autumn, without any protection. They lived and died in starvation day and night in the prison camp surrounded by barbed wire. However, we never thought that the German army would slaughter our commanders and fighters so recklessly.


    "And then?" Asked chejerikov, in an impassioned voice¡° What happened to the bodies of those killed prisoners of war? "


    "What else can I do?" Nikolay shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly, "the Germans asked us to dig two big pits, throw all the bodies in, pour gasoline on them and set them on fire. When the body is half burnt, let''s fill the pit with earth. "


    But what I heard was another story. It is said that the Germans strictly registered and managed the prisoners of war in our army, and made special accounting. They had a clear and specific concept of how many prisoners of war there were in which concentration camp, and how much food needed to be prepared and allocated. Every prisoner of war in the concentration camp has a so-called "identity card". On the front is the number and name, and on the back is all personal information, such as nationality, occupation, rank, troops at the time of being captured, place of being captured, health status, injuries and injuries when being captured or transported to the concentration camp, etc. it is often written with the home address. There were fingerprints and photos at the time of registration. The burial site will be added to the card after death. "


    "Comrade commander, I don''t know where you heard that from." Nikolay''s face suddenly became serious. He unconsciously raised his voice and retorted, "I''ve never had enough in my three months in the prison camp. Every day at noon or evening, a few German soldiers would carry a bucket of bread and throw it across the barbed wire towards the prisoners of war. After they finished throwing them, they stood outside the barbed wire fence with cigarettes in their mouths, watching our comrades in arms fighting for a few pieces of bread.


    Most of the prisoners suffered from edema, scurvy, endless diarrhea and tuberculosis caused by hunger. Everyone was so hungry that they were looking for anything to eat all day: grass, roots, insects, leftovers from the canteen and so on. Every day, people die of disease and starvation. Bodies are everywhere, all skinny. You eat everything you can find, including grass and poisonous mushrooms


    When he said this, Nikolay''s voice became choked. He sobbed and said, "if we don''t join the German army and wait for our fate, we will either be shot or starved to death."


    When I heard this, I sighed and stopped. When Nikolay came near, I patted him on the shoulder and said, "don''t be sad, comrade captain. It''s all over. You and your comrades in arms have suffered all the sufferings. In the future, we will let the Krauts pay back ten times and a hundred times. "


    Nikolay touched a tear with his sleeve, raised his head, and asked in a suspicious voice, "do you think there will be such a day, sir? Or do you think we can defeat the Germans who have rushed into Stalingrad? "


    "That''s for sure, Captain Nicholas." If anyone has unswerving confidence in the victory of the Soviet army over the German army, it must be me. Although I can not disclose the date of the counterattack in the battle of Stalingrad, it does not prevent me from telling the final results to the commanders and fighters around me, so as to increase their confidence and morale in fighting against the enemy¡° The enemy''s current offensive is fierce, but their troops are very tired and the intensity of the attack is getting weaker and weaker. It won''t be long before we can launch a counterattack and wipe them out completely. "


    "You said to wipe it out completely," Nikolay looked at me suspiciously, and asked cautiously, "not to defeat the enemy who will make mistakes in the future?"


    I know the reason why Nikolay asked this question. Seeing that the 62nd army had been beaten to death by Paulus, I was here to say that our army could wipe out the enemy completely, which was just like a fool''s dream. If it wasn''t for my highest rank, someone would have pointed at my nose. In order to reassure you, I deliberately turned the topic aside: "this time last year, when goodrian''s troops stormed Moscow, how many people thought we could hold Moscow and defeat the enemy? But in the end, we not only succeeded in smashing the enemy''s attack, but also took the opportunity to recover many areas.


    Don''t see that the Germans have temporarily gained the upper hand in Stalingrad, but you can see how many troops they have invested in our mamayev post and how many attacks they have launched, but they still have not been able to seize the position from us. " When I said this, it seemed that sjerikov and Nikolay were convinced by me. Both of them kept nodding their heads and agreed with what I said.


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I said to sergeant chejerikov, "from today on, Captain Nikolay and his troops will be incorporated into your regiment. Let''s use the name of one battalion." Seeing that sjerykov nodded in agreement, I turned to Nikolay and asked, "Comrade captain, do you have any problem?"


    After shaking his head hard, Nikolay replied decisively, "Mr. reporter, I will obey your orders."


    As we walked and talked, we unconsciously entered the defense area of the third regiment. Godunov and several of his men seemed to have been waiting for a long time. Seeing us in his sight, they took the lead in trotting all the way.


    After standing at attention and saluting me, he respectfully reported to me, "Mr. reporter, the commanders you asked me to call have gathered, a total of 39 people." He pointed to a building not far away and said, "they are all staying in the conference room of that building, waiting for you."


    After shaking hands with Godunov, I shook hands with several commanders he had brought with me. When I got to the last person, I was surprised to find that the commander standing in front of me was not wearing the uniform of the army, but the uniform of the tank soldiers. Looking at the man who looked familiar, but could not remember his name when he was in a hurry, I had to apologize and say: "Comrade tank commander, I look familiar to you, but I can''t remember your name."


    Before the tank commander could answer my question, Godunov, who heard me, came over and said, "Comrade division, have you forgotten? This is wajim, the political commissar of the tank battalion. At the beginning, he was brought by you from the headquarters of the group army with political commissar Xia Ping. "


    When Godunov said this, I immediately remembered that I had asked political commissar Xia Ping and a lot of soldiers from the retreating tank brigade to come back and strengthen the tank battalion of the division, and this wajim was the political commissar of the tank battalion after he came. Thinking of who the other party was, I shook his hand hard and apologized to him, saying, "I''m sorry, comrade wajim. It was too dark when you came here. I didn''t see your face clearly. Please forgive me."


    Wajim showed a brilliant smile on his face, shaking hands with me and saying: "Comrade division, you don''t have much time to come to the tank battalion. It''s normal not to know me. By the way, when will the commander of the battalion, major perskin, be able to return to the army? "


    Wajim''s words remind me of pelsjian whose life and death are uncertain. I had heard that he and Pugachev were sent to the hospital, but I was still at ease. Yesterday, when I saw the wounded lying on the ground groaning and no one cared, I began to worry about their fate.


    I was worried about how to answer wajim when I saw captain Nikolay standing beside me, and I had a major feeling in my heart. So instead of talking about perskin, I asked vajim, "Comrade vajim, how many tanks are there in the tank battalion?"


    When he heard my question, wajim did not care to inquire about perskin''s whereabouts any more. He quickly reported to me: "report to division commander, there are five tanks in the tank battalion, with sufficient ammunition but no fuel. All of them can only be used as fixed fire points here. As for the tankers, since we have recruited some more during this period, there are more than 80 at present. "


    As soon as he finished his report, I immediately pulled captain Nikolay in front of him and introduced him to him, saying, "Comrade wajim, let me introduce you. This is captain Nikolay. He has a tank company and three tanks." Then I told Nikolay, "Captain, in order to strengthen the tank battalion, I have decided to add your tank company to Comrade wajim. Do you have any objection?"


    "No, I obey orders."


    I followed Godunov into the building he was talking about, carefully up the dilapidated stairs to the second floor, and down the gravel corridor to the conference room. Four or five meters away from the door opening, Godunov suddenly raised his voice and called out in a friendly voice: "comrades, our teachers come to see you. Come out!"


    With his shouts, a group of people burst out of the conference room, and the corridor, which was not spacious, was full. Basmanov quickly called out, took several guards over me, and stopped those who wanted to rush.


    I look at these ragged and dirty commanders. They are crazy with joy when they hear me coming. I can''t help feeling flattered. I quickly went to basmanov''s back, across the guard raised his hand to say hello to the commanders inside: "commander comrades, Hello!"


    "Good commander!"


    "Good teacher!"


    Yelled the commanders, who were blocked on the other side by the guards.


    When it was a little quieter, Godunov came up to me and yelled at those people, "OK, everyone, go in. Don''t block the door, or we won''t be able to get in."


    I didn''t enter the conference room until all the people had retreated into the conference city, under their protection. On entering the room, there was a long table in the middle, but it couldn''t be used any more. It was full of stones falling from the ceiling. Not to mention, one leg of the table was broken. And the commanders were standing on both sides of the broken table, saluting me.


    With a smile on my face, I swept over every commander in the room and saw that although their uniforms were worn and rotten, and their hair and beard had not been trimmed for a long time, they all looked energetic at the moment.


    I coughed and then said aloud, "comrades, you have suffered. I declare to you that you are all free. I''m major general o''shanina, the division commander of the independent division. Our people instigated the officers and soldiers of Dongfang battalion to guard you. Anyway, they liberated you all. From today on, you are a member of the glorious independent division. On behalf of the commanders and fighters of the whole division, I welcome you to join us. " With that, I put my feet together and raised my hand to salute the commanders.


    A commander came out of the crowd not far from me and asked me solemnly, "Comrade General, when we were in the prison camp, we heard that all the captured people, no matter whether they resisted in advance or how they got out of danger later, had to be examined by the Ministry of internal affairs and sent to Siberia. Is that true?" I looked at the sallow faced middle-aged man in front of me, and glanced at his badge. The rank mark on it had already disappeared, but from the faint trace, I judged that he was a captain. So I seriously answered him and said, "Comrade captain, I don''t deny what you are worried about. There must be something in other units. But I can tell you responsibly that in my independent division, I will not aggrieve any of our own comrades at all. "£¨ The novel burning Moscow will have more fresh content on the official wechat platform. At the same time, there will be a 100% lucky draw for you! Now open WeChat, click the "+" number on the top right, add friends, search the official account "qdread" and pay attention to it.

 Chapter 768

    PS: if you want to hear more about your voice, and want to receive more of your suggestions, search WeChat official account "qdread" and pay more attention to it, and give more support to the burning Moscow. Looking at the commander in front of me, who looked happy after my reply, I politely asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t know how to address you?" The commander quickly restrained the smile on his face, straightened his body, raised his head and said to me in a loud voice: "report general, I''m an infantry man. When he learned that he was promoted to captain, Nicholas was stunned at first, and then his eyes turned red. He resisted the excitement in his heart, raised his hand and saluted me solemnly, and said in a loud voice:" thank you for your trust, sir. In the days to come, I promise to fulfill all your orders and live up to your trust in me. " I didn''t speak. I just laughed at him. After talking to Xie jerikov for a while, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I found that nearly an hour had passed before I knew it. Then I said to Xie jerikov, "Comrade commander, it''s almost time. Let''s go and see how the new regiment is going." When we came out of the building, we saw that ten square arrays had been photographed outside. I habitually looked up in the air, deeply afraid that such a dense line would be found by the enemy, which would lead to bombing. But fortunately, today''s sky is gray, and there is no commander of the enemy aircraft at all, so I walked forward boldly. Seeing us coming out of the building, several commanders standing in front of the line immediately turned and ran towards us. With sharp eyes, I could see that the leader was major terenkov, the third battalion commander, followed by the other two deputy battalion commanders. After he raised his hand to salute us, he reported to us in a loud voice: "Comrade division commander, major jelenkov, commander of the second battalion, reports to you that the second battalion, the Third Battalion and the regiment guard company have been reorganized. Please give us instructions!" I also asked after a ceremony: "Comrade major, how many people are there in the second battalion and the Third Battalion?" He clearly reported to me that "a total of 1739 people were rescued from the POW camp, except 186 who were treated in the health camp, 48 who were taken away by the tank camp, 137 who were taken away by the artillery camp, and 39 company level commanders. The remaining 1329, 600 in the second and third battalions, and 129 in the guard company. That''s the end of the report. " I nodded with satisfaction at major jerenkov''s report. At the same time, I still said in my heart that the major was a talent. If he had not sacrificed at the end of the battle of Stalingrad, I would have promoted him to a new command position. Anyway, last time yelimenko hinted at me that he would burden me at the right time. Maybe I would command several divisions at that time. Experienced commanders would be in demand at any time. I would assign major jerenkov the post of commander, and no one would gossip. I turned to look at the side of xiejerikov, and said to him with a smile: "Comrade commander, I''ve filled up the regiment for you. I hope you can make the troops form combat effectiveness as soon as possible and make new contributions in the next battle."¡° Please rest assured "I promise you that I will never live up to your trust in me and all the officers and men of the regiment," shejerikov assured me in a loud voice£¨ The novel burning Moscow will have more fresh content on the official wechat platform. At the same time, there will be a 100% lucky draw for you! Now open WeChat, click the "+" number on the top right, add friends, search the official account "qdread" and pay attention to it.

 Chapter 769

    PS: if you want to hear more about your voice, and want to receive more of your suggestions, search WeChat official account "qdread" and pay more attention to it, and give more support to the burning Moscow.


    Back at the division headquarters, I asked akhromeyev two questions: "Comrade chief of staff, have Capt. kerimov and messenger sidorin returned to the headquarters of the group army? What are the troops of the first battalion of the second regiment doing at present? "


    "Report, sir," ahlomeyev seemed to have expected that I would ask, so he did not hesitate to report and say, "yes, Captain krimov and the heralds have returned to the headquarters of the group army with our report. As for captain horushov''s troops, they are building new Fortifications on Highland 107.5 after cleaning the battlefield. "


    I nodded and added, "the German army will soon know about our capture of highland 107.5. As the highland has been occupied by the enemy for a period of time, the wreckage of tanks, armored vehicles and trucks destroyed in front of the position has been completely clear, and the north side of the highland has resumed the situation that it is easy to attack but difficult to defend, the first battalion must build a perfect defense system in the shortest time to fight against the fierce offensive that the enemy may launch. "


    "The division commander is right," added Bantai leiev, deputy division commander. "The enemy is absolutely not willing to lose the 107.5 highland and will definitely send heavy troops to fight for it. It can be predicted that in the coming days, this highland will become the focus of contention between the enemy and us. "


    Kirilov came over, handed bantaileiev a cigarette, and sighed: "no way, we are short of heavy weapons now, otherwise the enemy will not be afraid of more. If you want to keep this high ground, there will be no solid and perfect fortifications, or one day captain horushov''s battalion will be exhausted. "


    I stare at the map on the wall, thinking about the battle to come. In the absence of air supremacy, tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons, it is estimated that the whole second regiment will have to be involved in a war of attrition with the German army at Highland 107.5. But in this way, we will not be able to send enough troops to carry out the task of attacking northward and converging with the Don front army as ordered by the headquarters of the group army.


    Bantai leiev came up to me and asked in a low voice, "Comrade teacher, what are you thinking about?"


    I pointed to the map and said: "deputy division commander, you see, the superior ordered us to attack the enemy in the north on the 21st, and strive to join the Don River Army in the south. However, if we want to ensure the safety of the flanks of the attacking forces, we must firmly hold the 107.5 high ground in our hands. If we want to keep this highland, we must at least keep a regiment of troops. At present, our division has only four regiments, and we need to leave enough troops to guard the mamayev post. In this way, our troops for frontal attack are somewhat insufficient. "


    Bantai leiev looked at the map and said with disapproval, "but the enemy in the north of mamayev post has not been transferred to the north to defend the Don front army? Even if we only send out two regiments, we can easily cross a wide area of tens of kilometers and push forward to the rear of the German army. "


    As for bantaileiev''s optimistic attitude, I can''t laugh or cry. I just wanted to say a few words. Akhromeyev has already helped me out: "Comrade deputy division commander, the situation is not as simple as you believe. Although the scouts reported that the German troops in the camp had basically withdrawn, they only said that the areas they had surveyed were like this, and what the areas they had not detected were like, which nobody knew. In many defensive areas, the battalions of several servant countries or the eastern battalions may be conservative, or the heavy German troops may be on guard. Therefore, the number of troops we take part in the attack must not be small, otherwise we will not be able to complete the plan of joining up with the friendly forces. "


    Bantailiev frowned after hearing ahlomeyev''s words. After a long time, he said slowly, "Comrade division, it seems that we should send people to carry out reconnaissance to understand the enemy''s deployment in this area, so as to formulate a counter attack plan."


    "Chief of staff, it''s up to you to arrange this." Kirilov, who came to us at some time, heard what we were talking about, so he gave instructions to akhromeyev in time¡° We should make clear the enemy''s deployment in this area as soon as possible. "


    "Wait a minute, chief of staff." When I saw akhromeyev pick up the phone and want to call the troops below, I called him again, "send the soldiers under captain gramus and captain Beckman. They are German originally, and all the documents they keep are true. Even if they are interrogated by the German patrol, they won''t reveal their secrets."


    "The division commander is right," Bantai leiev echoed, "tell the commanders in charge that in order to prevent misunderstanding and accidental injury, they should continue to wear our uniform before leaving our defensive area."


    "I understand." With a brief promise, akhromeyev started dialing.


    "Comrade oshanina," a familiar voice suddenly came from the door. Several of us turned to look over, only to see yelaimenko and his deputy, lieutenant general Popov, coming in in in a hurry.


    "Comrade commander," it really surprised me to see yelimenko appear at this moment. I thought he had gone back to the East Bank of the Volga River, but he was still in the city. I quickly took everyone up, raised my hand to salute, and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, why are you still in the city? We all thought that we had gone back to the headquarters of the front army on the other side of the river."


    Yeliaomenko waved his hand and walked quickly to the table. He picked up a teapot on the table and began to drink water. Taking advantage of the commander''s opportunity to drink water, I quietly asked Popov, "Comrade deputy commander, you''ve been to the headquarters of the group army. What''s the situation there?"


    Popov gave a wry smile and replied, "what else? It''s terrible. When we went there, we saw a desolate scene. The shelter where trakov''s headquarters was was like a big crater. Logs were exposed from the soil, and all the objects around were covered with a thick layer of cinder and dust... "Maybe I was nervous when I heard all this, so I quickly added:" but trakov and his political commissar The chief of staff is not safe. "


    "O''shanina, come here." After drinking enough tea, Yeliao Menko sat at the table, stretched himself comfortably, and waved me over, "I have something to ask you."


    I went up to Yeliao Menko and asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"


    Yelomienko looked at me, and then solemnly asked, "when I was at trekov headquarters, I heard that your division was going to attack a position occupied by the enemy. What''s the situation now?"


    Listening to his question, I immediately understood that Klimov and sidorin, who were carrying the report, had not returned to the headquarters of the group army at the moment, otherwise yelimenko would not have known that we had recovered 107.5 highlands. Since he asked, I quickly and honestly replied, "Comrade commander, this is the situation. After reconnaissance, we found that there was only one company of the German garrison on the 107.5 highland to the west of the mamayev post, so we took advantage of the enemy''s defensive emptiness and resolutely mobilized three battalions to fight back to the highland. After a fierce battle, we have successfully recaptured our position from the enemy. "


    My report brightened yelomienko''s eyes, but after a moment''s hesitation, he still asked in a suspicious tone: "Comrade oshanina, you said that the 107.5 highland has been taken back by you?"


    "You are absolutely right." I answered positively: "after seizing the Highlands, I have ordered a battalion of the second regiment to enter the position and let them rush to repair the fortifications, so as to build a perfect defense system in the shortest time to fight against the possible counterattack launched by the Germans."


    "You did it right, you did it right." After praising me for a few words, yelomienko suddenly changed the topic and asked, "have you received the order of trekov to fight back against the Germans in the north on the 21st and join the comrades of the Don front army in the south?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." When I heard yelomienko mention this, I told him the problems I faced: "because we want to keep our troops at mamayevgang and 107.5 highland, the number of troops that can take part in the counterattack will be very limited. In addition, we do not have heavy weapons such as tanks and artillery. If we encounter the tenacious resistance of the enemy, our troops will have the ability to attack, Will not be able to break through the enemy''s defense in the shortest time. "


    "O''shanina, do you know?" Yelimenko suddenly raised his hand to interrupt me and said to himself, "when I was chatting with trakov and gurov in the group army headquarters, they also asked me to replenish their troops and ammunition. They also said that there was no need to replenish the whole division, just some units. More important ammunition is needed, because the combat forces in the city are especially short of ammunition. Although I am the headquarters of the front army and can meet all the conditions proposed by trakov, it takes time to transport troops and ammunition. Do you understand? " He said the back, because excited and grabbed his stick heavily ground a few times.


    Seeing that he was excited, I quickly turned off the topic and asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, according to the order issued by the group army, general rokosovsky''s Don front army will launch an attack on the German army in the early morning of the 21st. Do you know how they are preparing?"


    Yelimenko shook his head and said slowly: "according to the intelligence, rokosovsky is gathering his artillery and tank troops. As the front army of the Don River adopted a defensive posture in the early stage, their artillery and tank forces were scattered and their positions were relatively backward. I am very optimistic about their deployment. On the surface, they don''t support the first line of defense, but they are very flexible. If the German army adopts the method of breakthrough in the middle, our army can let the enemy in and lengthen their front. If the German army attacks in an all-round way, as long as the two armies form contact, then our army can carry out counterattack operations. "


    I heard yelomienko say this and habitually took over the topic: "if the German army adopts the usual Blitzkrieg combat, are our forces too scattered?" As soon as the words came out, I remembered that the commander of the front army was sitting in front of me, and I was surprised to comment on the deployment of another commander of the front army in front of him.


    However, yelaimenko said without any care: "in the current situation, as a defensive side, it is not appropriate to concentrate too much forces. Because if we concentrate our forces at will, we will easily suffer a devastating blow from the German army when we lose our air supremacy. What you said is also reasonable. This kind of plan requires extremely high mobility of the troops. If the enemy is put in and local campaigns cannot be organized in time, the battlefield situation is more likely to deteriorate. "


    Seeing that yelomienko didn''t blame me, I secretly wiped the sweat on my forehead and then asked, "Comrade commander, is our air force cooperating with the attack of the Don front army?"


    "Mr. oshanina, air support is out of the question." The one who answered my question was lieutenant general Popov, who said solemnly: "as planned, the 16th air force group army, under the command of general rutenko, would provide air cover for the ground troops and bomb the enemy fortifications when the Don front army launched an attack. Unfortunately, God seems to be deliberately trying to make it difficult for us. Just when we need the strong support of pilots, cholera, a mouse borne disease, is prevalent in the air force. It is so widespread that special measures have to be taken to protect the personnel from infection and protect the aircraft from damage. Because wherever mice go, they always gnaw at rubber insulation


    After listening to Popov''s words, I suddenly felt that it was dark in front of me. I felt weak all over. I didn''t even have the strength to speak. I could judge the great destructive power this vicious event would bring to the campaign by my direct feeling. Despite the bravery of the commanders and fighters and the support of tanks and artillery, the Don front army, which had lost its air supremacy, could not meet the battle goal of joining the 62nd army under the attack of intensive German air fire and ground artillery.


    Perhaps seeing me out of my wits, yelomienko asked with concern, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the matter with you? Is there something wrong with you?"


    I tried to squeeze a smile on my face, straightened up and assured him: "Comrade commander, no matter how cruel the next battle is, I stand for you on behalf of the independent division. We will certainly complete the orders given to us by our superiors and join the Don river front army going south."


    On hearing my determination, yeliaomenko nodded with satisfaction, then asked with a smile, "do you have any difficulties?"


    "There must be difficulties." I said carefully, "we are short of troops. We can try to arm some citizens or take in the scattered soldiers. However, the weapons we lack at present cannot be solved. You know, the whole division is short of ammunition, and a considerable number of commanders and fighters have no weapons at all. Therefore, I beg you to give us some weapons and ammunition as soon as possible, so that we can better complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors. "


    After I finished these words, Yeliao myenko stared at me without expression, which made me feel embarrassed. He was afraid that he would be angry again for no reason just now. Unexpectedly, after a while, he laughed twice, pointed to me and said, "Comrade o''shanina, you''ve been crying in front of me for a long time. You just want me to give you some ammunition. No problem, I can''t supplement you, but ammunition can give priority to your division. At 12 o''clock this evening, a batch of weapons and ammunition should be delivered. Send someone to the commander in charge of logistics at the wharf and ask him for a batch of ammunition. " With that, he held his cane and looked around.


    I didn''t know what he was looking for, so I asked, "Comrade commander, what are you looking for?"


    Without waiting for yelimenko to answer me, general Popov next to me had taken out a pen and paper from his briefcase and handed it to him. Yeliaomenko took the pen and paper in the general''s hand, glanced at me with disdain, and began to write orders. After writing, he tore off the page and put it into my hand. He said, "well, you can send someone to the terminal to find the logistics director tonight, and give him this order. You should be able to get the weapons and ammunition you want." After that, he stood up, holding the edge of the table, pausing on the ground with his cane in his left hand. Then he reached out to me and said, "Comrade o''shanina, it''s not early. I should go back, too. Good luck


    After yelimenko and Popov left, I unfolded the warrant in my hand, which read: "with this warrant, some of the weapons and ammunition that will arrive at the Volga River Wharf will be allocated to the independent division. General Andre Ivanovich yelimenko, commander of Stalingrad''s front army. 18 October 1941. "


    After I read the warrant, I handed it to kirilov with a smile, and said to him at the same time, "Comrade political commissar, we will not worry about using weapons and ammunition any more." With that, I turned and asked akhromeyev in the back, "chief of staff, have the reconnaissance troops been arranged?"


    Akhromeyev quickly replied, "it''s already arranged. I''m going to prepare five reconnaissance teams with ten people in each team. They are all equipped with communication equipment. They can feed back the information they have detected at any time."


    "Are these people reliable?" I was thinking about military affairs, but kirilov was thinking about political affairs. "Don''t let these former German soldiers defecte by taking advantage of the opportunity of reconnaissance. In that case, the Germans can learn our details from these traitors and have to guard against them."


    "Please rest assured." It seems that akhromeyev has already considered these matters, so he confidently replied: "half of the scouts in each team are our own people, and each team has a political worker. What you said will not happen."£¨ The novel burning Moscow will have more fresh content on the official wechat platform. At the same time, there will be a 100% lucky draw for you! Now open WeChat, click the "+" number on the top right, add friends, search the official account "qdread" and pay attention to it.

 Chapter 770

    Since we have equipped the reconnaissance team with vehicles such as motorcycles or trucks, their reconnaissance area is much larger than that of walking. Just after eleven o''clock, the report of the Scout came back by telegraph.


    According to the report of the scouts, there is a small city called gorodyse 20 kilometers northwest of the mamayev post, where a large number of German troops are stationed.


    "What kind of forces is the enemy?" After hearing akhromeyev read the telegram, I asked back without expression.


    "I... I don''t know," akhromeyev answered me in a flurried way, perhaps not expecting that I would ask, "I just received a telegram from the reconnaissance team and thought it was necessary to report to you immediately, so..."


    "Call back the reconnaissance unit and ask them to report to us immediately what they have detected in detail. With these short words, we can''t judge the scale of the enemy, and we can''t work out the corresponding combat plan." Having said that, as soon as I looked up and saw that akhromeyev was still standing in the same place, I urged him: "chief of staff, what are you still doing here? Don''t you immediately send a message to the reconnaissance unit?"


    While akhromeyev went to telegraph, I continued to discuss with kirilov and bandeleyev about the recruitment of troops. During the discussion, bandeleyev pointed out to me that it was a bit difficult to grasp the scale of what kind of citizens should be armed. As soon as he finished speaking, I immediately retorted, "Comrade deputy division commander, you think the problem is too complicated. To join the army, we need to be qualified in all aspects, but to arm the citizens is very simple, as long as they are qualified in the same way. Our commanders in charge of conscription, just ask them if they want to defend the motherland? Can you carry a gun? If they say yes or yes, then send them a gun and let them join us. "


    "The attack will be launched on the 21st. Can the new fighters be trained in time?" Kirilov asked anxiously.


    Instead of answering his question immediately, I put the map on the table in front of him. First I pointed to the mamayev post where we are, and then I pointed to the front army of the Don river which is still near the Don river. Then I said, "Comrade political commissar, you see, the straight-line distance between our division''s defense area and the friendly army is about 180 kilometers. Do you think the Don front army, without the air supremacy and the supplement of heavy weapons such as soldiers, tanks and artillery, can advance a long distance in a day if they attack the German defense line with solid defense depth? "


    Bantai leiev drew a hand on the map, measured the distance between our division and the Don front army, and then regretfully said: "Comrade division commander''s analysis is very reasonable. Due to the loss of air supremacy, the comrades of the Don front army will fight cruelly after the attack. Even if they seize part of the enemy''s front positions in the shortest time, they will pay a heavy price under the intensive bombing of German aviation. In this way, even the most optimistic estimate is that the daily speed of the troops will not exceed five kilometers. "


    "What, five kilometers?" Kirilov was startled by the data given by bantailiev. After looking at the map, he was surprised and said, "Comrade deputy division commander, if you follow your algorithm, it will take at least a month for friendly forces to advance to mamayev post."


    Bantaileiev added: "of course, if our division has enough strength to follow the command of the group army headquarters and attack northward, it will greatly shorten the time for us to meet with our friendly forces."


    I listened to their conversation. The more I listened, the heavier my heart became. I felt that it was a bit like hitting a stone with an egg to finish the task of joining forces with our poorly equipped and poorly trained troops.


    Seeing that I was silent, they stopped discussing. Kirilov asked, "Comrade oshanina, what are you thinking?"


    "I wonder how many German troops are stationed in the city of gorodyser." Speaking of this, I thought of the question kirilov asked me just now, and quickly answered it for him: "Comrade political commissar, although the group army command ordered us to cooperate with the friendly forces to launch an attack on the 21st, judging from the current situation, the attack time of our division may have to be delayed. In this way, we can spend two or three more days on the training of our troops. "


    "I''m afraid that these new recruits will be scared out of courage by the Germans and will not have the courage to take up guns and fight face to face with the Germans," kirilov once again expressed his worry: "if there are new recruits who are deserting on the battlefield, it will affect the morale of the whole army and lead to the loss of morale of our army."


    "Comrade political commissar, it is your strong point to do political and ideological work." The only way to prevent the newly armed citizens from becoming deserters on the battlefield is to make clear their fierce relationship and let them have the courage to fight with the enemy. So I solemnly said to kirilov, "let the political workers tell every soldier that the German people should not only occupy our city, but also destroy all living creatures, It is necessary to erase the name of the city from the map. If the whole land where the city is located is restored to its original ecology, it will become a difficult to walk swamp, and a toxic miasma will rise above the swamp. Let them understand that this battle is not only to protect the motherland, but also to protect Comrade Stalin, but also to protect their homes and relatives. "


    While we were talking, akhromeyev reported to us: "report to Mr. division commander, the reconnaissance team has sent back the detailed investigation."


    I nodded and said, "chief of staff, read us the telegram." After that, I did it, moved my notebook on my desk to my side, turned to kirilov and Bantai leiev and said, "let''s listen to what kind of intelligence the reconnaissance team has brought us."


    "The reconnaissance unit reported that the enemy''s headquarters were in the school in the city," ahlomeyev read the telegram for the three of us, staring at the telegram in his hand. "On the school playground, there were five cars and two tricycles. In the 20 minutes we observed, three arrived and three left


    "Comrade division," Bantai leiev interjected, "what level of headquarters do you think this is the enemy?"


    "What do you say, comrade Deputy teacher?" Instead of answering his question, I asked in reverse.


    "After hearing all the information, we''ll be able to judge." Bantailiev said, looking up at akhromeyev, "in addition to the cars parked on the playground, do the scouts see the German officers?"


    "Yes, during the period of reconnaissance, we saw nine of them, some going in and some coming out. Among them are two captains, a lieutenant commander and a general. There are also officers who are too dim to distinguish their ranks. "


    When I heard this, I quickly asked, "are they all officers?"


    "Yes, all officers." Akhromeyev did not read the telegraph any more. Instead, he looked at me and replied, "in the dark, you can see that they are all wearing big eaves hats."


    "Chief of staff, I have a problem that I haven''t made clear." After listening to ahlomeyev''s report, kirilov asked confusedly, "since the scouts say that the light is too dark to distinguish the ranks of enemy officers, how can they identify the ranks of the officers just reported?"


    "Comrade political commissar, it''s very easy," bantaileiev said for kirilov. "Maybe when they were waiting outside the building, the car lights reflected their military ranks on their shoulders, so our scouts hiding in the distance could easily identify the military ranks of individual officers. Moreover, don''t forget that one of these scouts turned out to be German. They are very familiar with the rank of the old troops. "


    "Have you read all the telegrams?" When bantailiev finished, I asked akhromeyev.


    "Tell me, there''s still one more paragraph I haven''t read." After akhromeyev''s report, he continued: "during the reconnaissance period, there were two motorcycles of combat signalmen, both of which drove directly in front of the building, and then someone got off the motorcycles and walked into the building."


    Bantailiev seems to pay special attention to the details. As soon as akhromeyev finished reading, he immediately asked, "are these two motorcycles coming at the same time?"


    Akhromeyev shook his head and replied, "no, it''s separate. The first came ten minutes after the latent reconnaissance, while the other came when the scouts were ready to retreat. "


    Seeing that akhromeyev dropped his hand holding the telegram after answering this question, I knew in my heart that he had finished reading all the telegrams, so I asked kirilov and bantailiev, "political commissar and deputy division commander, what grade do you judge the headquarters stationed in the school?"


    After asking, they looked at each other, but no one said anything. I had to ask leiev: "Comrade Deputy teacher, tell me about your judgment."


    Bantaileiev heard me call his name, bowed his head and thought about it, then said with uncertainty: "I think it may be the brigade headquarters of a motorized brigade."


    "Comrade deputy division commander, I don''t agree with your judgment." Akhromeyev put the telegram on the table and expressed his opinion: "because the scout has no report on the enemy''s tanks or armored vehicles in the report, I judge that this unit will not be a motorized brigade. According to the telegram, there was a general, a lieutenant commander, two captains, about a dozen cars, and motorcycles for combat signalmen. So I think it should be a division of the enemy. "


    "Well, comrade chief of staff," kirilov hesitated to agree with akhromeyev''s judgment, and then asked, "since it''s a division, where are their troops stationed? Will this German army pose a threat to us when we attack? "


    As for kirilov''s question, akhromeyev was stunned for a moment before he hesitated and said: "the specific deployment of the German army can only be known after the rest of the reconnaissance teams have fed back the information. However, judging from the position of the unit, once our division attacks to the north on the prescribed day, it is bound to fight against this unit. "


    Before kirilov finished, I suddenly heard razumeyeva''s voice calling for a report. As soon as I looked back, she reported to me, "report, sir, I just received a telegram from the reconnaissance team." Then he handed over a piece of telegraph paper.


    I took the telegram, nodded to her to express my thanks, and then concentrated on reading it. The telegram was sent by another detachment. It said: "my detachment found a German camp 15 kilometers north of highland 107.5. Judging from the scale, there was probably a regiment of troops stationed in it. At the moment, the camp is full of lights, the troops are moving, and it seems that something is about to be done. At the back of the infantry line, we also send messages about tanks, armored vehicles and artillery. " The signature on the back of the telegram is unit 03.


    After I handed the telegram to kirilov, I asked akhromeyev, "Comrade chief of staff, have you numbered all the reconnaissance units sent tonight?"


    "Yes, sir." Akhromeyev replied positively, "I have organized the five reconnaissance teams into No. 01-05. The telegram I read for you just now is from No. 04 team."


    After reading the telegram, kirilov handed it to Bantai leiev, raised his head and said to akhromeyev: "chief of staff, team 03 called and said that they had found a German camp, in which there was probably a regiment garrison. Now they are making a tense transfer. It seems that there is something important. They see tanks, armored vehicles and artillery in the infantry line


    "How do you judge this matter, sir?" When bantailiev handed the telegram to akhromeyev, he politely asked me, "do you think the Germans are going to go north to strengthen their defense, or are they going to turn around and take part in the tough battle in the city?"


    "There are both possibilities," I said, turning to ask razumeyeva, who was sitting in front of the telephone: "Comrade lieutenant, continue to keep in touch with reconnaissance unit 03, let them closely monitor the movement of the German army, and try to find out the enemy''s number."


    Kirilov raised his hand, looked at his watch, looked up and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, it''s getting late. The materials from the east coast should have arrived. I''ll take people to the dock to pick up the equipment. You three know more about military affairs than I do, so you are in full charge. " Then he stood up, nodded to bantaileiev, and walked out.


    Soon after kirilov''s departure, reports from the other three reconnaissance units came in succession. After summing up the reconnaissance reports of all the units, we finally found out that the 295th German infantry division was originally stationed in gorodyser. The three regiments of the division are stationed in the west, North and south of the city. There are only some directly subordinate troops and logistics organs in the city.


    When bantaileiev knew the name of the other party, he did not hesitate to name the commander of the other party: Major General Otto kofes. When he heard that there were only some directly subordinate troops in the city, he said with regret: "Alas, it''s a pity that we are too far away from the city. Otherwise, if we send a battalion with strong fighting capacity into the city, we may be able to capture the German general alive."


    From the bottom of my heart, I agree with his "decapitation tactics". However, our division does not have the conditions to carry out such tactics now, so I can only pour cold water on him mercilessly under the condition of his blind optimism: "Comrade deputy division commander, although there are only a few directly subordinate troops in the city, once there is an exchange of fire and our troops can not withdraw in time, it is easy to be surrounded by German troops coming from several directions. At that time, not only did they not catch their teachers, but they lost a main camp in vain. "


    "If we were sending someone to meet us, would it be better?" Bantai leiev reluctantly asked: "as long as there are troops to take over, I believe the battalion that attacked the city can still retreat completely."


    "Comrade deputy division commander, have you ever thought that our division is all infantry at present, without the cover of artillery and tanks, how can our soldiers resist the enemy''s armored forces once they come forward?" Speaking of this, I timely changed the topic and asked akhromeyev, who was standing by the telephone: "Comrade chief of staff, is there any latest information from team 03? Have they found out in what direction the enemy is going to move? "


    "Report to the division commander," akhromeyev quickly replied, "Lieutenant razumeyeva is receiving the report. We will get the latest information soon."


    Bantai leiev suddenly said behind me, "Comrade division commander, I think it is more likely that the enemy will mobilize troops in the middle of the night to sneak attack on Highland 107.5."


    "Why?" I asked without looking back.


    "If the enemy wants to transfer their troops to the north, they can transfer them to the north and west of gorodyse, but now they are transferring their troops to the south of the city, so I think the enemy may carry out a sneak attack on Highland 107.5."


    "You are right in your analysis." If we had not received reports from several other reconnaissance units just now, we would not be sure what the enemy really wanted to do. However, after knowing the enemy''s deployment, the enemy''s actions became obvious. I turned to Bantai leiev and said, "in this case, you should call major Yaming, the deputy head of the second regiment on the 107.5 highland, and tell him the situation, so that they can be ready to fight all night."


    "OK, I''ll call right away." With that, bantailiev picked up the phone on the desk and called the first battalion of the second regiment stationed on the 107.5 highland.


    Without waiting for his phone to be dialed, akhromeyev had already run to me with a telegram and newspaper, nervously reporting to me: "Comrade division commander, the analysis of deputy division commander is completely in vain. According to the information sent back by the 03 unit, the enemy had about a battalion of infantry, who drove south by truck under the cover of armored vehicles and tanks. Judging from the direction, the enemy''s goal is our 107.5 highland. "


    When I got the exact information, I felt at ease. The soldiers came to block the water and cover the ground. Since the enemy really wanted to attack the 107.5 highland, we should let them suffer a lot. I asked again, "how many tanks and guns are there with the enemy?"


    Ahlomeyev looked down at the telegram and replied, "there are six heavy howitzers, fourteen tanks and the same number of armored vehicles." I silently calculated the remaining heavy weapons in the division. In addition to a few anti tank guns in the fourth regiment, there were three heavy howitzers in the second regiment, but there were few shells left. Each gun probably had only a few shells. Originally, I didn''t plan to use the artillery battalion, but I thought kirilov had already taken people to collect weapons and equipment, and maybe later he could bring back the shells we needed urgently, so I finally decided to put all my eggs in one basket. Seeing that Bantai leiev had finished calling major Yaming, I then told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, immediately call major Morozov, artillery battalion commander, and ask him to inform the anti tank artillery company on the 4th regiment position and the heavy howitzer unit on the 2nd regiment position to prepare for battle." After hearing my order, akhromeyev was stunned and then reminded me in a low voice: "Sir, we don''t have many shells left, especially the shells used by the three heavy howitzers are all dependent on capture. Although the political commissar took people to collect weapons and equipment, there was no need for such shells. Once there are no shells, these guns will be a pile of scrap iron. " I knew in my heart that akhromeyev''s words were very reasonable, but the German troops who came to sneak attack were fierce, and the commanders and fighters of the first battalion of the second regiment had just captured the position for a short time, and they had not yet built a perfect defense system. In the face of the fierce attack of the enemy, they were bound to suffer heavy casualties. In order not to let the second regiment fall into the mire of fighting for the 107.5 highland too early, we must teach the sneaking enemy a good lesson. We have to beat them hard. Before they attack the 107.5 highland again, they will think twice and dare not be so unscrupulous as they are now. After receiving the phone call from akhromeyev, Morozov also raised the same question. I had to take the phone call from akhromeyev''s hand and said to him earnestly: "major, I understand what you mean. I also know that there are few shells left in those heavy howitzers seized from the German army. But if we don''t use artillery fire to suppress the German firepower attacking highland 107.5, the defenders on the highland will lose a lot. If you think about it, how many shells are important, or are the lives of our commanders and fighters precious? " After listening to what I said, Morozov did not dare to be opinionated any more, so he had to honestly reply, "I understand, sir. I''m going to order the anti tank artillery company and the howitzer unit to prepare for battle."

 Chapter 771

    The battle began at the moment when the German infantry stepped on the mines buried at the foot of the highlands. As soon as the mine rang, the soldiers hiding at the foot of the mountain would not hesitate to open fire and beat the German soldiers who were too busy to blow up by the mine. In order to cover their infantry to withdraw from the minefield, the German tanks ignored the fire and tried to suppress our firepower. However, the firelight of the gun''s ejection chamber exposed their position and became the target of our artillery battalion.


    After listening to akhromeyev''s report on the war, I asked curiously, "Comrade chief of staff, where did the mines buried at the foot of the Highlands come from? If I remember correctly, we''ve run out of mines since last week. "


    Akhromeyev laughed but did not answer my question. Bantai leiev, who was next to him, responded quickly. He tentatively asked, "chief of staff, these mines are not moved from the front position occupied by the fourth regiment, are they?"


    Akhromeyev nodded and replied with a smile: "the deputy division commander is right. Major Yaming told captain mihayev privately that these mines are buried behind the positions of the four regiments and one company, which are easy to explode their own people. It''s better to make use of them and let them play a role. So Comrade Mikhail yev took more than 40 soldiers to go over and took out all the mines and buried them under the 107.5 highland. "


    Because of the highland defense war outside, our army is calculating but not intentional. Relying on the favorable terrain on the Highlands, it should be no problem to beat back the German troops coming from afar. So after listening to the report, I told akhromeyev: "Comrade chief of staff, after the battle is over, you should pay attention to the work of replenishing soldiers and strengthening training, We should strive to make the troops form combat effectiveness in the shortest time, otherwise we will all wait to go to the military court. "


    "Why do we have to go to court martial?" Kirilov''s familiar voice suddenly came from the door. I turned around and saw that he and the guard battalion commander basmanov were coming in from the door. Maybe they happened to hear the second half of my speech, so I asked.


    "I''m talking to the chief of staff about urging the regiments to step up recruitment and training." As I spoke, I walked towards kirilov and asked, "Comrade political commissar, have you got all the weapons and ammunition back?"


    Kirilov nodded with a smile and said triumphantly, "I''ve got it back. After seeing the order from the commander of the front army, the commander of the logistics department was very enthusiastic to me and immediately arranged for people to carry weapons and ammunition for us. Because there were too many supplies for us, one company I brought couldn''t finish moving. In the end, we asked the third regiment to transfer two companies to help us, and then we finished moving things. " Then he took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me. "Look, this is the inventory."


    I took over the list and opened it. It read: "1300 rifles, 300 submachine guns, 150 pistols, 20 light machine guns, 4 heavy machine guns, 20000 hand grenades, 200000 bullets of various kinds, 700 anti tank artillery shells..." when I saw half of it, I was overjoyed and excited, and said to kirilov: "political commissar, the superior is really generous, So many weapons and ammunition have been supplied to us. In this way, we can first arm a regiment, and then recruit a large number of new soldiers, so as to form a strong combat effectiveness in a short period of time. "


    Kirilov answered casually and asked with concern, "how is the battle going on on the 107.5 highland? When I came back, I could hear the sound of guns coming from there. The fighting must be fierce, right


    "The German sent infantry to attack the highland, stepped on the land mines at the foot of the mountain, and then our troops hiding around shot decisively." After a brief account of the situation on the Highlands, I finally made a concluding speech: "the enemy came from a long distance and immediately put into battle before they had time to rest. In addition, our army relied on the ready-made fortifications to wait for work. We believe that we can beat them back soon."


    As soon as my voice dropped, the phone on the desk rang, because akhromeyev was standing next to me, looking at the list I handed him, and the work of answering the phone was done by deputy teacher Bantai leiev. After listening for a moment, he covered the microphone and excitedly said to us, "the division commander, political commissar and deputy commander of the second regiment, major Yaming, reported that the enemy who attacked the Highlands had retreated in dismay. Two destroyed tanks, one armored vehicle, five trucks and more than 100 German bodies were left at the foot of the mountain. "


    As soon as he finished, I could not wait to ask, "did major Yaming find out whether the enemy was withdrawing temporarily or leaving completely?"


    "Major Yaming," Bantai leiev quickly moved his hand covering the microphone and conveyed my words to the other party. After hearing the exact answer, he put down the phone and reported to me: "Comrade division, I have asked clearly. After the enemy retreated, major Yaming sent a scout to carry out the reconnaissance. When he found that the enemy retreated for a certain distance, he regrouped and headed north."


    Hearing that the German army had retreated, we all breathed a sigh of relief. Then we began to discuss how to arm the regiment as soon as possible and how to recruit more soldiers to strengthen our strength.


    The attack of the Don front army officially began in the morning of the 21st.


    Half an hour after the beginning of the attack, the headquarters of the group army sent us a telegram, saying that because of the change of the enemy''s situation, the attack of the Don front army was not smooth, so our division stood still for the time being, waiting for further orders from the superior.


    After receiving this order, akhromeyev frowned and said to himself, "since the headquarters of the group army has ordered us to hold still for the time being, what should we do next?"


    "There are many things that can be done, my chief of staff." "For example, we should urge the 1st Battalion of the 2nd regiment to continue to reinforce the fortifications of the 107.5 highland, and then urge each regiment to use this precious time to strengthen the training of new recruits," I said Akhromeyev, flushed with what I said, went to the phone without saying a word.


    Kirilov stood by the wall, looked at the map for half a day, then turned to me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, although the current situation in mamayevgang and 107.5 highland is calm, we can''t take it lightly. If the main force is going north, which regiment do you plan to leave for defense?"


    As I''ve been busy recruiting troops these days, I can''t even discuss which regiment to send to fight in the north. Now kirilov asked me. I pondered for a moment, and then replied, "in this operation, one soldier and one soldier from the second regiment, three battalions from the first regiment, the third regiment and the fourth regiment, were not deployed to form a group to fight in the north. I led the group to join the friendly forces."


    We have argued several times about who will lead the troops to the north. Bantailiev and akhromeyev both wanted to go. As a result, kirilov reported the matter to the headquarters of the group army. After struggling with trekov and gurov, I finally agreed to lead the troops to the north.


    "What about the enemy in gorodyser?" Kirilov said anxiously: "the enemy has tanks and artillery. With our existing weapons, it is almost impossible to break through their defensive positions."


    I also know in my heart that attacking the German troops with solid fortifications and tanks and cannons with our existing strength and weapons and equipment is purely shooting at the stone with eggs. In this way, the tragedy of liuban''s breakout will be repeated again. But if the superior really gives us the order to attack, I can only take the troops to rush forward. Entering is also death; If you don''t enter, you will die. It''s better to simply die than to be shot after being tried in a military court.


    When I was in a dilemma, Bantai leiev suddenly said, "why should we attack the enemy?"


    "Ah?" We were all stunned by his words, and I asked, "Comrade deputy division commander, if we don''t attack, how can we pass through the enemy''s line of defense?"


    Bantaileiev, with a smile, went to the map, pointed to the small town gorodyser, which made me headache, and said without hesitation: "Sir, political commissar, you see, although this small city blocked our way to the north, we just went north to meet with the friendly forces, not to attack the enemy''s well defended city. Since we can''t get through the city, we can think about going around it! "


    Bantai leiev''s words really awakened the dreamer. After listening to them, I raised my hand and patted my forehead fiercely. I secretly scolded myself for how I got into trouble at such a time. Bantailiev was right. The higher authorities only ordered us to join forces with the friendly troops going south, but they did not ask us to tackle the difficult problems. As a result, the simple problems were complicated. Thinking of this, I quickly turned to razumeyeva and yelled, "Lieutenant, contact the reconnaissance team near the small town of gorodyse immediately, and let them try to find a way around the city."


    In the afternoon, the telegram sent by the headquarters of the group army told us in detail the progress of the Don River Front Army: General Malinowski, who was in charge of the frontal attack, was attacked by the German army after wedging into the German defense line for five kilometers. As the enemy firmly held the air supremacy and was assisted by tanks and artillery, the 66th group army suffered heavy losses, We had to give up the occupation and retreat. After recovering the lost position, the German army took the opportunity to follow our retreating troops to the river Dunn. Fortunately, general garanin, commander of the 24th group army, sent a division in time to launch a fierce attack on the flank of the attacking enemy, which forced the enemy to stop the attack.


    Seeing the telegram, kirilov sighed and said with relief, "since the attack of the Don front army is not smooth, it is estimated that our attack time will be delayed. In this way, we will have more time to strengthen the training of our troops. "


    On the 21st, our division stood still at mamayev post. As a result, the next day, we still did not receive the order to attack. It was only in the evening that we received a telegram from the headquarters of the group army saying that the 66th group army and the 24th group army had only advanced three to five kilometers respectively after a day''s fighting. Because the distance is too far, it is not meaningful for the independent division to attack at this moment, so let''s continue to hold still and wait for the next notice from the superior.


    Although we failed to send troops for two days in a row, we did not waste the hard won two days. Through the strict training of each regiment, the newly recruited scattered soldiers and armed citizens barely had a certain combat effectiveness. At least in the face of the enemy''s attack, the troops would not explode because of panic.


    On the afternoon of the 23rd, kirilov was a little worried because he had been waiting for an order all day. He stood by the telephone and kept saying to me, "Comrade oshanina, you once said that the superior might ask us to attack on the 23rd. Today is the 23rd. Do you think commander trakov will let us attack? "


    Just as he was talking, the telephone on the desk rang again. I thought it was the following regiment calling for instructions, so I impatiently told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, go to answer the phone and ask them what''s the matter?" Unexpectedly, as soon as akhromeyev had heard two sentences, he immediately covered the microphone with his hand and nervously said to me, "Comrade division commander, it''s general Krylov, chief of staff of the group army." I looked at the telephone in akhromeyev''s hand and said in a puzzled way: "strange, the telephone line leading to the headquarters of the group army here was not broken by explosion. When was it repaired? Why don''t I know?"¡° It was fixed yesterday, yesterday afternoon. " Bantai leiev said with a smile: "because you and your political commissar went to inspect the troops below, you don''t know about it." I took the phone from akhromeyev''s hand and politely said to the microphone, "Hello, chief of staff of the group army, I''m oshanina, division commander of the independent division. What''s your instruction?"¡° Comrade o''shanina, the situation in the city is very bad! " Krailov said in a hoarse voice: "on October 21 and 22, the living forces of * * attacked the smehotvorov and guriyev divisions along commune street and central street. From that day on, the battle for the "barricade" factory, the "Red October" factory and our Volga River Ferry became increasingly fierce. German air forces began to send out 2000 sorties every day and night to repeatedly bomb our defensive positions. In the past two days, the enemy has lost 15 tanks and more than 1000 infantry due to the tenacious resistance of our army. The German position was so close to our position that we could use the flamethrower. This batch of newly equipped flamethrowers can blow fire within 100 meters, killing all living things. Today, the enemy put the supplementary 79th infantry division into battle together with tanks. They attacked our army again under the cover of a large number of planes. The main direction of the assault was central street, karushelenaya street and the Red October factory. Now, the focus of the battle has shifted to the area from the barricade factory to the bannegou. At noon, at the cost of huge losses, the enemy broke into the main street of stalina (to the bakery) and crossed the factory railway, which was full of destroyed carriages. About a company of enemy automatic Gunners infiltrated the sector northwest of the Red October factory. The battle front approached the Volga river bank for about 300-500 meters, posing a serious threat to the last ferry of the group army. " After listening to krailov''s introduction, I quickly asked, "Comrade General, what is the task of our independent division?" When I said this, I was beating my heart and praying to myself that he would not transfer us into the city again. But fortunately, what I was worried about didn''t happen. He simply ordered: "according to the commander''s order, your division''s troops will go north immediately, meet with the friendly troops going south, and attract the enemy troops from the city."¡° I understand. I promise to finish the task. " When I put down the phone, I asked akhromeyev to inform several regiment commanders who participated in the war to come to the meeting. When the troops were assembled, I immediately took them to the north to join the friendly troops going south.

 Chapter 772

    When I went out of the headquarters with kirilov and bantailiev, we found that hundreds of commanders at all levels had gathered outside. When we saw us coming out, ahlomeyev, who came out a little earlier than us, immediately called out his orders to them. After waiting for these commanders to form a neat square array, he left the team and quickly came to us. He raised his hand and reported to me, "Comrade division commander, the commanders of all regiments have assembled."


    I nodded and walked quickly to the front of the line. I didn''t feel nervous in the face of the dark square array. I stood in the middle of the square, and my eyes swept slowly from right to left. I made a necessary stop at the head of each column. The reason why I did this was that bantaileiev had specifically mentioned it when he was teaching me the skills of leading soldiers in private. He said that this kind of silent eye contact must be paid attention to. Whether a commander looks at his subordinates or not has a great psychological impact on his subordinates. Before he told me the secret, I didn''t understand the secret of eye contact at all. I always stood in the middle, only looked at the three or five rows of people in the middle, and habitually added the word "please" in front of the command. How can I establish my authority? People who don''t come into my sight will feel left out; The people I watched were afraid that their army would be out of order, and they were so upset that the whole team was in fact loose in spirit. But after I got the biography of Bantai leiev, my eyes swept like chicken blood to the square array. All the commanders straightened up and moved with me.


    After two rounds of walking in front of the square array, I stopped and said in a loud voice to the commander in front of me: "comrades, I think we all know that the current situation in Stalingrad is very bad, very bad, especially the brutal fighting in the factory area has not stopped for more than a week."


    "Give an order, sir." As soon as I said that, someone in the team suddenly said in a loud voice, "all our commanders and fighters are ready for battle and can fight at any time."


    When I looked at the place where the voice came from, I saw that it was major terenkov, the acting battalion commander of the Third Battalion of a regiment. Knowing that he did not understand the situation, he mistakenly thought that I was going to lead them into the city, so he quickly corrected him and said, "major terenkov, we are going to fight, but we are not going to the city, we are going north."


    "Going north?" My words are like a handful of salt sprinkled on a hot pot, which makes the square array lively. "What do you want to do in the north? You know, the most intense fighting is in the city. "


    "Yes, there are enemies on the north side of the mamayev post. If we go north so rashly, aren''t we going to die?" I can guess that they must be the commanders of the first or third regiment without looking at them, because they all held fast on the northern highlands and knew something about the enemy.


    Seeing that the scene was getting out of control, Bantai leiev walked up to me quickly and cried out, "be quiet, be quiet, everyone be quiet!" When the voice in the queue was quiet, he angrily criticized the commanders, "comrades, please pay attention to your identity. They are all soldiers. Don''t you know that when the superior speaks, he should keep quiet at all times? "


    After seeing the silence in the team again, I said without a hurry: "commander of the regiment, come to me, and I will convey today''s task to you."


    With my command, one of the commanders, shijerikov, the deputy commander, Ilya, the three commanders, Godunov, the deputy commander, vatorak, and their six battalion commanders all came to me. After glancing at the commanders around me, I said solemnly: "comrades, the higher authorities ordered our division to transfer troops to the north, in order to join forces with the troops of the Don river front army going south, forcing the enemy attacking the factory area to transfer troops to stabilize their rear."


    "But the enemy in the north?" Godunov asked anxiously: "in the past, there were three divisions in the front of our division. Even if they were all transferred, there would be other troops. We only had two regiments that were not trained enough and had no heavy weapons. If we rush in like this, we will lose money."


    I stared at the Grouchy Godunov and said coldly, "major, I think you should know that our independent division has always played differently from other units. My aim has always been: to fight if you can, and to leave if you can''t. In such a large area to the north, the enemy''s forces are limited, so it is impossible to deploy defense everywhere. We should try our best to get through their defense gap. "


    "But, comrade division commander, if we are found by the enemy''s armored forces, they will not be able to block the attack of the enemy''s tanks in the open prairie." When Godunov knew about the task, he seemed to be afraid and stressed the possible difficulties in front of me.


    I glared at him discontentedly, and suddenly heard someone shouting at me in the distance: "teacher, teacher!"


    The voice is so familiar and loud, but I can''t remember who it is in a hurry.


    "Sir, isn''t that the third commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosga? He''s healed?"


    "Is colonel kosga the former head of the third regiment?" Akhromeyev and bantailiev, including kirilov, have never seen kosja, so they curiously asked basmanov, who was cheering: "Captain, is that the commander in the front?"


    "Yes, comrade commissar, that''s Colonel kosga." Basmanov said, and a few guards around the soldiers shouting: "Hello, commander kosja, we are here!"


    I fixed my eyes and saw that the commander who was walking up the traffic ditch was really kosga, followed by two Lieutenant officers. I was excited, excited and surprised to see my men back from injury.


    After a while, kosga came to my front and back, raised his hand to salute, and politely said: "report to Mr. commander, commander of the third regiment, commander kosga, please give us instructions!"


    I didn''t return the gift. Instead, I went up to him and took his hand. I said excitedly, "commander kosga, it''s a great surprise. I thought you were still recovering in the military hospital. Did you fall from the sky?"


    Kosga replied with a smile, "Sir, I didn''t fall from the sky. I was discharged from the hospital after my injury and came by ferry from the east bank." At this point, he looked around and asked in a low voice, "is there a combat mission?"


    "Yes, our division is about to transfer troops to the north and join forces with the troops of the Don river front army going down south." After a brief introduction of the mission, I asked with concern, "Comrade commander, have you recovered from your injuries?"


    "All right, all right, thank you for your concern." At this point, he suddenly stopped, pointed to kirilov and asked strangely, "Sir, who are these?"


    When I heard that, I remembered that he and kirilov didn''t know each other, so I took the initiative to introduce them and said, "Colonel kosga, you don''t know them yet. Here, let me introduce you. This is Comrade kirilov, the political commissar of the division. He turned out to be the director of the Political Department of the group army; This is the deputy division commander, Colonel Bantai leiev, from the new division; This major is Comrade akhromeyev, who comes from the front army of volhof and is currently the chief of staff of the division. "


    After hearing the introduction, kosga quickly went forward to salute and say hello to several people one by one. After that, he went back to me again and pleaded in a sincere tone: "Comrade division, I have been idle in the hospital for a month or two. Since I catch up with the army to carry out the task today, can I go together?"


    "Comrade commander, your injury is just short and you can''t do strenuous exercise," said akhromeyev on behalf of me, who politely refused kosja''s request out of concern for his body. "I think you''d better stay and have more rest."


    "Comrade chief of staff, you can''t say that." After hearing akhromeyev''s words, kosja was a little worried. He tried to retort, "although I have just left the hospital, my injury has already recovered, and it will not affect the battle." At this point, he turned to me for help, "Sir, what do you think?"


    As for kosja''s request, I thought in my heart that although he had been away from the team for some time, he still had a high degree of control over the third regiment. In particular, the commanders of the first and second battalions, who had more veterans, were almost promoted when he was commander in chief. His prestige was far higher than that of major gordonov, who was acting commander in chief, Besides, I am very dissatisfied with Godunov''s timidity and hesitation in his words. Since someone is willing to take over his post, why don''t I? So I pushed the boat forward and said, "well, commander kosga, since you are determined to take part in the battle, I will agree to your request. You''d better continue to be the head of the third regiment and lead your troops to set out with me."


    "Sir, sir," Godunov was a little worried when he heard that I had reappointed cosga as the head of the third regiment. He immediately reminded me, "Sir, I am now the head of the third regiment. What should I do if lieutenant colonel cosga is reinstated?"


    After staring at Godunov, I replied: "Comrade major, if the first and third regiments leave, the residential area will be empty. If the enemy takes the opportunity to sneak attack, it will not only insert a wedge in the rear of our division, but also threaten the safety of the Volga River Wharf at any time. So I decided to let you lead the third battalion to stay and be responsible for the defense of the settlements. Do you understand? "


    "I see!" Godunov weakly agreed, then saluted me, went back to the square array, took the commander of the Third Battalion, and went down the mountain in ashes.


    After I briefly explained the task to several regiment commanders, I went on to say, "Comrade commander, are the tasks clear?"


    "It''s clear." Everyone replied neatly.


    "Well, now that the task is clear, go back and assemble the troops." As I said this, I raised my hand, looked at my watch and added, "we''ll leave in twenty minutes. The marching line is the first and second battalions of the third regiment in the front, the first regiment in the back, and I and the Third Battalion of the fourth regiment in the middle. "


    But after the others left, kosga and the two officers who came with him were still standing in the same place. I asked him strangely, "Comrade commander, who are they?"


    After looking back, kosga explained to me with a smile: "report to division commander, they are the commanders of the 51st army. They were defeated in the battle and were evacuated to the rear to repair. They wanted to come to the battlefield, so they came with me."


    After hearing what kosga said, I looked at the two young lieutenant commanders curiously and said in a calm tone, "two commanders, please tell me your names, ranks and positions you have held."


    The two men came forward in turn and reported, "Captain Rosenberg, former commander of the 51st group army."¡° Captain dubrovsky, commander of the 51st army. " Hearing their ranks and positions, I nodded with satisfaction, and then said to cosga, "very well, comrade commander. After the death of the first battalion commander of your regiment, this post has been concurrently held by major Godunov. Now let captain dubrovsky be the first battalion commander. As for this captain Rosenberg, you also find him a post in the first battalion. If there is a vacancy in the post of company commander, let him be company commander; If you don''t have a position, you''ll make him a deputy company commander first. " Hearing my arrangement, they were overjoyed, raised their hands and turned to leave. I looked at their backs and noticed that something was wrong. Captain Rosenberg seemed to be limping a little. I stopped them immediately: "commander kosga, wait a minute." They stopped and looked at me blankly. Kosga asked in surprise, "what else can I do for you, sir?" I reached out to him and said in a business like tone, "what''s your discharge certificate? Show me. " When I heard the "discharge certificate" in my mouth, the three suddenly got a little flustered. Their actions made me more suspicious. I asked solemnly, "did you sneak out of the hospital before your injuries were healed?" As I said this, I pointed to the uniforms of dubrovsky and Rosenberg. "Although commander kosga is wearing the uniform of lieutenant commander, you two, one is wearing the clothes of a second lieutenant and the other is wearing the uniform of a second lieutenant, are you not other people''s uniforms you took when you slipped away?" Kosja, who had been exposed by me, laughed with embarrassment and explained to me in a low voice: "Comrade division commander, the commanders and fighters of the whole division are fighting with the Communist aggressors tenaciously. How can I always lie in the hospital as a commander? Every day I listen to the rumble of guns coming from outside. I want to go back to my troops immediately and command the soldiers to eliminate the bandits who rush to the city. " Although I can understand cosga''s eagerness to fight, I don''t know whether his body can adapt to the long-distance attack, so I can''t help hesitating. At this moment, kirilov''s voice sounded in my ear: "Comrade oshanina, since Comrade kosga''s mind is no longer in the hospital, even if you send someone to send him back, he will try his best to slip out in a few days." When kirilov came forward to speak for kosja, I gave up the idea of asking them to go back to the hospital to continue to recuperate. I just asked with concern, "commander kosja, we will march for a long time in the coming days. Are you sure your body can bear it? And you two, are you healthy? " Finally, I asked dubrovsky and Rosenberg. Three people heard my question, repeatedly nodded, and a strong expression of determination to me: "Comrade division, please rest assured that our body is not a problem, to ensure that the troops will not be delayed."¡° Well, in that case, go back and assemble your troops. " After all the commanders left, akhromeyev came up to me and handed me a map. At the same time, he said, "Comrade division commander, according to the feedback from the reconnaissance team, I found that there was a fortification built by our army in the south of gorodyser city. At present, there is no German guard. You can pass through here." After I took the map and looked at the place he had marked, I asked casually, "how far is this fortification from the garrison in the south of the enemy city?"¡° It''s about two kilometers. If the troops pass in the dark, it''s not easy for the enemy to find them. " After answering my question, akhromeyev took the initiative to put forward a proposal: "I feel that after the passage of the large army, a small army should be left to occupy the position and enter a state of defense, so as to prevent our army''s return from being cut off by the enemy."

 Chapter 773

    Because we had to March about 20 kilometers in the night to reach the defensive position abandoned by our army. If we walk alone, it will take us at least four or five hours to get there. In order to speed up the March, kirilov and I discussed with them and decisively mobilized more than a dozen trucks brought by Captain Nikolay when he defected to us to let the vanguard advance by trucks. When the truck was two kilometers away from the fortification, the soldiers got off and walked. At the same time, the truck turned around to pick up the troops behind.


    Originally, I planned to set out alone, but when I set out, bantaileiev resolutely joined our northward army. After several persuasions, I couldn''t help but agree to go with him.


    When our troops passed by the foot of the 107.5 highland, bantailiev looked at the highland in the dark and said to me with emotion: "Comrade division, I really can''t see that such a small highland has become the point of contention between the enemy and us. As far as I know, at least three brigades and the same number of regiments of our army have been maimed to varying degrees in the brutal battle for this highland. "


    "No, it was in the battle to capture this highland that Colonel kosga was heroically wounded."


    "Oh, is it here that Colonel kosga got hurt?" My words aroused the curiosity of bandeliev. He couldn''t wait to ask, "what''s the matter? Anyway, it''s ok now. Let''s hear it. "


    I understand that if I walk without saying a word, I will soon feel tired. So I just take this opportunity to introduce lieutenant colonel kosja to Mr. Bantai leiev, the Deputy teacher¡° On the day of the commander''s injury, the independent division just said, "no, it''s not like this, comrade division commander." Terrified by my words, the second lieutenant quickly explained, "it was the battalion commander who found out the enemy''s situation and asked the troops to stop advancing temporarily. At the same time, he asked me to report it to you."


    "Found the Germans, see how many people there are?" When Bantai leiev heard that he had found the enemy, he got excited like a chicken. He grabbed the second lieutenant''s arm and asked: "how far is it from us?"


    The second lieutenant, who was caught by him, saw who was in front of him and immediately reported to him: "report, comrade deputy division commander, it was the front vanguard detachment that sent someone back to report. It said that it might be a patrol of the enemy. There are about seven or eight people. It''s two or three hundred meters away from our army. At present, the vanguard detachment is monitoring the enemy."


    "Comrade lieutenant," after listening to the enemy''s situation, I am deeply afraid that the battalion commander will, on impulse, order to open fire on the enemy. Then we will all be exposed. So I ordered the Second Lieutenant: "Comrade second lieutenant, go back and tell your battalion commander immediately, that is to say, in the prairie in the dark, the gunshot will spread far away. When clearing up this enemy, we must not shoot, try to use a dagger to solve them, and never expose the target." Then I told busmanov: "Captain, you take a class of soldiers, go back with the second lieutenant, and report back to me after confirming that the enemy has been completely eliminated."


    I didn''t expect that basmanov, who had not run far away, was stopped by the person who came running face to face. The man panted and yelled to me: "teacher, make it clear. It''s a misunderstanding. It''s our own people in front of us."


    "What''s going on?" I quickly walked up to the visitor, frowned and asked, "for a while, it''s the enemy, for a while, it''s my own. What''s the matter?"


    A staff sergeant came. After taking two deep breaths, he replied, "Comrade division, it''s like this. The small unit we just regarded as the enemy turned out to be our scout in German uniform. At that time, the vanguard team approached them quietly. Just as they were preparing to start, they overheard someone speaking Russian in the middle. Then they found that they were wrong... In a word, in a few seconds, they might fight with their own people. "


    It turned out to be a false alarm. Although the staff sergeant said something incoherent, I also heard a cold sweat. If we really fight with each other, it would be a shame.


    After the misunderstanding was cleared, our troops continued to march forward, and the scouts acted as guides in front of them.


    After walking for about half an hour, I heard the roar of the car motor in front of me. As soon as I heard the voice, I knew that our truck had arrived, and the stone hanging in my heart was also put down. I said to Bantai leiev with ease, "Comrade deputy division commander, our truck is here, so we can walk a little less."


    Bantai leiev didn''t answer me. Instead, he stood in the same place and peeped into the distance. After looking at it for a while, he said to himself, "why don''t these trucks turn on the lights?"


    "Report to the deputy division commander. It''s the division commander''s order not to turn on the lights." Busmanov quickly explained to bantailiev: "if the car turns on the light, the enemy will find us seven or eight kilometers away. So for the sake of safety, the truck doesn''t turn on the light when it''s driving. "


    A few minutes later, most of us got into the truck. Bantai leiev was in the cab of the first truck, and I was in the second truck.


    Shortly after the vehicle started, the driver said to me with a sad face: "Sir, I have a suggestion. I don''t know if I can say it or not?"


    "Come on, comrade driver." I said affably.


    "Can we drive with the lights on?" The driver said angrily, "I''ve never driven a car like this in my whole life. I''m not allowed to turn on the lights. The light is dark outside. My eyes are too painful."¡° No, comrade driver. " I ordered the driver to turn off the light on such a moonless night. It was really a bit too difficult for them, but there was no way. If the light was on, the target would be exposed, so I had to aggrieve them¡° Once the lights are turned on, the enemy will find us a few kilometers away. Once they attack us with artillery fire, our motorcade will be ruined. " Seeing my resolute attitude, the driver could only sigh and continued to drive. After driving for a certain distance, in order to ease the atmosphere in the cab, I took the initiative to ask, "Comrade driver, how far can we go in an hour?" After listening to this, the driver snorted and said, "it''s no more than ten kilometers in an hour. It''s only a little faster than the rapid march."¡° That''s OK. It''s much faster than letting the soldiers walk. " I pretended to be relaxed and said that seeing the driver still looking unhappy, I immediately comforted him: "don''t worry, comrade driver. After this battle, I''ll ask you for credit in person."¡° "Thank you?" Hearing this, the driver turned his head and asked excitedly, "is this true?" The driver was so distracted that the wheel ran into a pit on the side of the road, and the whole car body suddenly vibrated violently. I nearly hit the glass and had to shout to the driver, "drive carefully." After the car returned to smooth driving, I said to the driver in a positive tone: "don''t worry, comrade driver, as soon as this battle is over, I will give you credit for the battle of the whole team." After driving forward for half an hour, the car in front of me stopped and the car I took also stopped. I thought something had happened and asked the driver, "Comrade driver, what''s the matter?" The driver turned to me with a smile and said, "Comrade division, we are here. We sent them to the last army. But it''s not far from the fortifications of our army. It''s only about two kilometers away. If you walk, you can get there in about 20 minutes. " When he saw that I was late getting off the bus, he worried about what I thought. He added: "if I drive forward, the road is not easy to walk, and the sound of the motor is easy to be heard by the enemy, so I can only get off here." I nodded to the driver, said thank you, pushed the door open and jumped out of the car. At this time, commanders at all levels also came out of the cab one after another, greeting the soldiers in the carriage to get off.

 Chapter 774

    After the troops had assembled, we continued on our way. After walking for about 20 minutes, the battalion commander at the front of the team sent someone to report that he had contacted the third regiment and that the other party was waiting for us in the front fortification. In order not to keep kosja waiting for them, I quickly left the line with bandeleev and walked forward.


    When we got near the fortification, kosja came up with some commanders. After listening to his brief report on the army, I looked at the dark buildings between the two trenches in the distance and asked, "Comrade commander, what are those buildings?"


    After looking around, kosga replied, "Sir, those are some concrete blockhouses. The walls are more than one meter thick. They can resist the direct fire of 76mm artillery. You know, this is a key national defense project. Even the walls of the trench are concrete. "


    After hearing what kosga said, I looked around curiously. Although I could not see far in the dark, I could not feel any trace of fighting here. So I couldn''t help asking in surprise: "Comrade commander, since it is an important national defense project, why didn''t we send a team to stick here at the beginning? Also, since this area is under the control of the German army, why did they not send troops to this important area? "


    Cosga was stunned by my series of questions. He was tongue tied and didn''t know how to answer my questions. At last, Bantai leiev relieved him. He said with a smile, "well, sir, don''t embarrass lieutenant colonel kosga any more. Let me introduce you. The reason why we didn''t leave troops to stick to this fortification in the early stage was that when our troops pulled down from the direction of Don river, almost all of them had lost their organizational system, the communication between the group army and the divisions was not smooth, and the orders could not be accurately given to the troops, so this key fortification was abandoned in vain. As for the reason why the enemy did not put troops in this fortification after occupying this area, I think it is because of the characteristics of this fortification. " At this point, he pointed to the front and said to me, "the main defense direction of this fortification is toward the north. When it is used to resist the enemy from the north, the fortification can still play its role. If the attacking enemy comes from the south, the effect of this fortification will be greatly reduced. This is probably one of the reasons why the enemy did not leave troops here. "


    "Report to the division commander and deputy division commander," kosja returned to normal after being released by Bantai leiev. He reported to us: "after entering the fortification, we had carefully searched and found that there was a sign that someone had lived in a shelter. According to the observation, there are no more than one squad in charge here, but I don''t know why they have all withdrawn. "


    "Has anyone lived here?" Bantaileiev asked curiously, "can we judge whether it''s our people or German?"


    "It''s German," kosga replied without hesitation. "We found a pair of discarded army boots in the shelter, which belonged to German; In addition, we found the remains of flour bags used by the Germans in the trenches. From the analysis of these remains, we can completely determine that the people stationed here must be the Germans. "


    "Well, no matter whether the people who used to stay in this fortification were German or our own people, they are all our own people now." I gave kosga a direct order: "Comrade commander, take us to the trench."


    Under the guidance of kosga, we entered the trench and watched some soldiers sit on the ground to rest, while others put their guns on the edge of the trench and watched the north side of the position with vigilance.


    Kosga took us into a bunker. I saw five or six soldiers inside. There was a light machine gun in front of the black hole. Seeing us coming in, the soldiers quickly raised their hands to salute, and cosga waved to them to leave. After the soldiers left, I quickly walked to the shooting hole, raised my telescope and looked out. Although I couldn''t see far away, I could see that the outside was a flat open land. Seeing this, I can''t help cursing that the German commander''s head is broken. Even if you put such a good fortification here, it will make us have some scruples. But that''s good. We can pass here calmly and continue to go north to join the army of the Don river front.


    Before I put down my telescope, I heard leiev from Bantai saying: "Sir, comrade, we have left mamayev post for almost three hours. According to the reservation in advance, we should receive the telegram from the political commissar."


    I put down my telescope, turned my head, nodded and said, "OK, let the telegraph operator come in and receive the telegrams from the political commissar here to find out what''s new in the city. Captain, you go out and call the operator in The last sentence I said was to basmanov, the commander of the guard battalion.


    While busmanov was out looking for the telegraph operator, I called kosja to him and said, "Comrade commander, you will leave a battalion behind to take charge of the defense here."


    Before I had finished, cosga said in surprise, "what, leave a battalion?" He was deeply afraid that I could not figure out the current situation, and he specially stressed to me, "before our regiment set out, you let major Godunov and the Third Battalion stay. I have only one battalion, two battalions and units directly under the regiment. If one battalion is left to guard the position, our troops going north will be thin. "


    "Don''t worry about that," I comforted him. "You leave captain dobrovsky''s first battalion, and captain Rosenberg. I don''t think he''s healed and can''t adapt to the Long March, so let him stay. When the time comes, combine the battalion of the fourth regiment with your second battalion and continue to go north. Even if you encounter the enemy''s troops, the two battalions can still compete with the enemy. As long as we can hold on for more than half an hour, the regiment led by lieutenant colonel shijerikov will arrive at the battlefield. "


    Just after the assignment, busmanov came in with the operator. Bantaileiev pointed to several stacked ammunition boxes and said, "just put the telephone on this one."


    Because of the long distance of this March, I did not ask razumeyeva or Najia to come, but I found a telegraph operator from the communication company. The operator seems to be a monk, not familiar with the business, put a machine frame, an antenna is in a hurry.


    Bantai leiev asked in a low voice: "Comrade division commander, why do you want to leave a battalion here to hold fast? In this way, our troops will soon disperse? When fighting behind enemy lines, we should not divide our forces at will. "


    I just laughed bitterly at bantaileiev''s worries, and then replied, "Comrade deputy division commander, you must have seen that this is the only way for us to go back to mamayev post. If we don''t send troops to hold fast, once our troops are found by the enemy, they will surely send troops to occupy here and cut off our retreat. How long do you think our army, isolated and short of food and ammunition, will be able to hold out in the enemy''s encirclement? " Seeing his thoughtful expression on his face, I struck while the iron was hot and said, "Comrade deputy division commander, I will set out with the comrades of the third and fourth regiments in a moment. You will stay and wait for the first regiment. When Xie jielikov''s regiment arrives, let them have a rest and then catch up with us."


    I had a talk with Bantai leiev for a while. Seeing that the clumsy operator had finally installed the telephone, I raised my hand and looked at my watch, urging him: "turn on the machine quickly, and watch the political commissar and their telegrams." Then he told busmanov, "Captain, use a flashlight to light up the radio operator, so that he can copy messages."


    Not long after we switched on, kirilov''s telegram came. I received the telegram from the telegraph operator, and then the light of basmanov''s flashlight could hardly identify the above contents. It read: "in order to delay the German attack and relieve the pressure of our defense forces, our group artillery carried out heavy shelling on the enemy tanks and infantry gathered near the ground in the" Red October "factory half an hour ago, It caused heavy casualties to the enemy. "


    After I handed the telegram to Bantai leiev, I walked out of the bunker. I looked towards the red city. Although I couldn''t see it, I could still imagine the intensity of the battle from the dull gunfire. Looking to the East, there is no moving figure. It seems that the troops of shejerikov may still be on the slow truck, and they don''t know when they will arrive.


    I went back into the bunker and began to give orders: "Captain busmanov, send someone to help the operator remove the radio antenna. Commander kosga, go and give my orders. The first battalion will stay. The second battalion and the regiment will leave with us. As for you, comrade deputy division commander, just as we have just agreed, you should stay and wait for a regiment. After their rest, you can come north to pursue us. "


    Because I decided to let the first battalion of the third regiment stay temporarily, when I set out, the troops of the third regiment were once in chaos in the dark, and the commanders at all levels took great efforts to gather up the troops. When I was about to set out, I could see the shadow of a regiment in the East.


    When the troops of the third and fourth regiments started north again, kosga came to me and said in shame, "I''m sorry, sir. I didn''t expect that the troops would be in chaos after a short rest. It''s all my responsibility. I can assure you that we will strengthen the training of our troops when we go back, and there will never be a similar situation again. "


    "It''s not your responsibility, commander kosga. Don''t blame yourself so much." I said amiably to the old commander of the third Regiment: "after the cruel fighting, there are few old soldiers left in the third regiment. Now the regiment is full of new soldiers. Originally, there was not enough time for them to train, but now they are still organizing their march at night. It''s very good to reach such a level. "


    Seeing that I didn''t blame myself, kosga relaxed. He then asked curiously, "Comrade division, if we go all the way north, can we join the friendly forces going south?"


    When I heard his question, I turned to look around and saw that there were people I could trust. Then I lowered my voice and said to kosga, "Comrade commander, we must find a way to hide before dawn. Otherwise, once we are found by the enemy''s reconnaissance plane and do not wait to see the friendly forces, we will be in danger of losing the whole army. "


    After looking around, he said anxiously, "this is the prairie. If the enemy finds us, they just need to send an armored force to surround us, and we will have no way back. At that time, as you said, not only can we not join forces with friendly forces, but we will be destroyed by the enemy. "


    Thinking of the map that akhromeyev gave me before departure, I quickly told kosja: "according to the reconnaissance of the previous two days, there is a hilly area ten kilometers away, which is the weak link of German defense. Before dawn, we can hide our troops there. Commander, you immediately send a small team, speed up the north, to confirm whether the intelligence feedback from the reconnaissance team is correct¡° OK, I''ll send someone to do it now. " Cosga agreed, running away from me, and running quickly to the front of the line, ready to arrange for a scout.

 Chapter 775

    Basmanov came up to me, looked at the back of Col. kosga, and said to me anxiously, "Comrade division, we are marching all the way north, won''t we break into the German ambush?"


    I waved my hand impatiently to the commander of the guard battalion and said, "it''s impossible. According to the reports from the scouts, except for the 295th infantry division near gorodyser, the main force of the German army has all gone north. At present, seven infantry divisions and one tank division are blocking the front of the Don front army. In our region, there are only a few servant troops. Even if they encounter us, we can easily defeat them. " When I said that, seeing basmanov''s blank face, I could only further explain to him: "the camps of these servant troops are far away from each other, forming a no man''s land with a width of three to five kilometers. We just jumped out of these gaps, went around to the back of the German army, and found a chance to hit him, To provide some help for the front attack of the Don front army. "


    "Don''t the troops of the servant state stay in the camp as a whole and send out patrols?" Basmanov murmured unconvinced after listening to me.


    Although he just said that casually, the speaker didn''t mean to listen and the listener meant it. I actually heard it and immediately ordered him: "Comrade captain, your worry is reasonable. We have to guard against the enemy''s patrol. You immediately send someone to the front to inform lieutenant colonel kosga. In addition to the troops to scout the terrain, you also send two small teams to go to the enemy''s camp to take the guard. Once you find any change in the enemy, send someone back to report it to me immediately. "


    Basmanov agreed, and then I heard him whispering to the soldiers beside him: "Hello, Mikhailov, go to the front of the line immediately, find commander kosja, and convey to him the latest order of the division commander: in addition to the reconnaissance troops, send out another two small units to guard near the enemy camps on the left and right sides of the march route, Keep a close watch on the enemy in the camp. If they have any changes, send someone back to report to the division commander immediately. "


    As soon as I heard basmanov call the soldier''s name, I felt familiar. When I heard his voice again, I immediately remembered that this soldier named Mikhailov had talked with me about all kinds of crimes committed by prisoners in Gulag concentration camp two days ago. At this moment, he heard basmanov''s order, and immediately gave a loud promise. Then he ran forward with his weapon in his hand.


    Not long after Mikhailov left, the more I thought about it, the more I felt uneasy. So I said to basmanov, "Comrade captain, I''m still not sure about this matter. Let''s go straight to kosja." With that, I quickened my pace.


    When I found kosja, Mikhailov had already conveyed my order. Kosja was calling a captain to him and ordered him to say, "Captain, you send a platoon to the enemy camp on the left and right of the route to hide nearby and watch the enemy movement in the camp. If you find any change, send someone back to report it to me immediately."


    The captain agreed, ran to the side and yelled, "the guard company is out of line." With his shouts, the soldiers all around us broke away from the marching line and lined up in front of him. Then I heard him shout: "a platoon leader, you lead your platoon to the left side of the route, and go to the enemy''s camp to set up a guard and monitor the enemy''s every move; Second platoon leader, you guard near the enemy camp on the right; The third platoon leader, you stay with the third platoon, responsible for protecting the safety of the commander. Let''s go With his command, the square array immediately divided into three parts and moved in three directions at the same time.


    After the reconnaissance unit and the guard unit were sent out in turn, we continued to march forward. I haven''t come so far for a long time. I''ve walked ten or twenty kilometers tonight. I can''t stand it. Seeing that my pace was getting slower and slower, kosga asked, "are you tired, sir? Why don''t we sit down and have a rest? "


    I waved my hand and went on biting my teeth. After another distance, I turned to kosga and asked, "Comrade commander, how far have we gone?"


    Cosga looked up at her watch and then replied, "it''s about five kilometers." After a pause, he asked with some worry, "Comrade division, what should we do if there are enemy defensive positions in the hills?"


    His words made my heart become uneasy. Yes, I just confirmed that there were no enemy troops in the hilly area where we were going to hide in the daytime according to the report of the reconnaissance team. If the enemy suddenly increased the garrison, our tired division would not seek its own death. I hesitated for a moment, and then said, "well, let''s go another two kilometers and stop to have a rest, waiting for lieutenant colonel chejerikov and them to meet. We''ll hold our ground until your reconnaissance team comes back with accurate information. "


    "OK, that''s it." Cosga readily agreed.


    I don''t know if it was shejerikov''s regiment marching fast, or they haven''t had a rest since they got off the bus. Anyway, as soon as we stopped to have a rest, Bantai leiev and shejerikov came to me together.


    I just wanted to ask them how they came so quickly. Bantai leiev had asked first: "Sir, there is still a distance from our hiding place. Why did we stop?"


    "I''ve sent a reconnaissance team to the front to conduct reconnaissance. We can move on when we make sure there is no enemy in the place where we are going to hide." I was deeply afraid that bantailiev would have any idea, so I said all the questions at one time, "if we rush through like this, even if there is no enemy defense line in the hilly area, even if there are only one or two patrol teams, then our efforts tonight will be wasted."


    Bantai leiev nodded: "what you said is very reasonable. Let''s stop and wait for the scout to come back." Then he turned around and told the next sergeant, "Comrade commander, let the soldiers of your regiment stop and rest."


    Several of our division and regimental leaders sat together and discussed the next action. First of all, Xie jerikov said: "Comrade division commander, we have now reached the enemy''s rear, and our ammunition and food are very limited. Therefore, even if we want to fight, we must fight quickly, or we will fall into the enemy''s encirclement, and the fate of the whole army will be lost."


    "The first group leader is right," bandeleev echoed, "the food and ammunition we are carrying can only last about seven days. That is to say, if we can''t meet with the friendly forces on the fifth day, we should make up our mind to turn around and return to mamayev post. "


    When bantailiev said that the troops only carry ammunition and food for seven days, I immediately thought of the "week offensive" of later generations. Due to the limited carrying capacity of individual soldiers, each battle can only last for one week, so it is also called "week offensive". I didn''t expect that the action we are going to take will only last for seven days. When bantailiev finished speaking, I immediately asked kosja, "third commander, what''s your opinion?"


    "I agree with the deputy division commander and the first regiment commander," kosja also agreed with them. "We are separated from the rear and fight alone, so once we find that we can''t complete the task, we should make up our mind to return to our defense area as soon as possible, so as to avoid fighting with the superior enemy in this area."


    I took a serious look at kosga and immediately said, "since you understand our current situation, although we are facing many difficulties, I still hope that we can create as many favorable fighters as possible, annihilate an enemy, attract the attention of the enemy in the north, reduce the resistance of the Don front army, and put forward a situation that two troops are about to meet, It gives the enemy the illusion that their rear area has been seriously threatened, forcing them to deploy troops from the city to strengthen the defensive forces in the area between the two rivers. "


    As soon as I finished, Bantai leiev hurriedly and cautiously reminded me, "Comrade teacher, is it a little too risky for you to do this? Once the enemy is attracted by us and the friendly forces are unable to provide us with effective help, then we are really in danger of being surrounded. "


    "Deputy division commander, we are really at great risk in doing so. We may not only fail to restrain ourselves, but also expose our strength to the enemy. The enemy only needs to send an infantry regiment that has strengthened the tank battalion, plus the cooperation of the air force, we can easily be completely defeated. " After expressing my worries, I had to harden my head and say, "although our situation is very bad, now that we have come to this stage, we must rise to the difficulties and try our best to complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors."


    As soon as my voice fell, busmanov came over and reported, "Comrade division commander, the soldiers who went to scout are back."


    Hearing what he said, I quickly got up from the ground and said in a loud voice, "Comrade captain, come on, get the scouts here."


    After a while, a soldier in helmet and raincoat came to us with busmanov. After he raised his hand to salute, kosja asked first, "sergeant adir, have you got all the information?"


    "Make it clear, comrade commander." Sergeant adir, the scout, replied respectfully, "I took my comrades in class to the hill. After repeated searching, I found that there were two trenches on the hill..."


    "Two trenches?" Bantaileiev asked in surprise, "do you see the enemy''s garrison?"


    Sergeant adir shook his head and replied, "report, comrade Colonel, there is no one on the hill. Our army should have dug the trenches. Many places have collapsed and are covered with weeds. You can''t find them without walking in." When I heard this, I thought to myself that since the trench had been covered with weeds, it would be better for the troops to hide there. Just listen to sergeant continue to say: "I stand on the hill, looking northwest, one or two kilometers away, there seems to be a village, but did not see a light, I believe there is no German inside."


    "Comrade sergeant, why don''t you send someone to check it?" Kosga said to the sergeant in a reproachful tone, "you should at least put two guard posts in the village, so that if there is an enemy approaching the hill from the northwest, it can give us a warning in advance, so that we have enough time to respond."


    "Well, comrade commander, stop criticizing the sergeant." Seeing that kosja had to go on, I quickly raised my hand to stop him, and explained to sergeant Adil, "maybe sergeant is to come back as soon as possible to report the situation to us, so I didn''t think carefully for a moment, so I didn''t send someone to the village for reconnaissance."


    "Yes, sir." Sergeant adir said gratefully, "I finished the reconnaissance on the hill and saw that there was no light in the village in the distance, so I led the team to come back in a hurry." Now that the situation of the enemy in front of us has been made clear, there is no need for us to continue to stay on this open prairie, so I went on to order: "well, now that the situation in front of us has been made clear, let''s start immediately. Let the troops rush to the hilly area as soon as possible and use those two trenches to hide. " Xijerikov and kosja agreed, turned and ran to their respective troops, shouting to their men to get ready to go. After another half-hour''s March, we finally arrived at the camp. The fortifications on the hill were not as simple as Sergeant adir said. Besides two trenches, there were many shelters and even several command posts. Shejerikov and kosja established their respective command posts in the trenches where their troops were located. The largest division headquarters selected by bantailiev and I is located in the middle of the two regiment headquarters. Without telephone contact, it is also convenient for us to command the troops. After entering the trench, the first regiment and the third regiment were busy reinforcing the fortifications and sent out guard posts in all directions to prevent being caught off guard by the enemy. Bantai leiev stood at the gate of the headquarters, looking at the busy commanders and fighters in the distance, and without looking back, he asked me, "what''s your plan, sir?"¡° Let the troops rest first, and then send reconnaissance troops after daybreak to conduct reconnaissance in the vicinity, especially the village in the northwest, which is our first target of reconnaissance. " In order to avoid him asking me why I didn''t send someone to carry out reconnaissance now, I first explained: "it''s too dark and there''s no moon tonight. It''s very easy to get lost in the dark if we send the reconnaissance troops rashly. If the scouts break into the enemy''s defense zone by mistake and become the enemy''s prisoners, then all our troops hidden here will be exposed."

 Chapter 776

    At dawn, I lay in the trench, raised my telescope and looked to the northwest village. In the morning fog, outside the red, green and yellow village hut, there was no one to see or hear. It was as quiet as a Russian rural landscape.


    "Sir, what are you looking at?" My ear suddenly rang Bantai leiev''s voice, I quickly put down the telescope, turned to the side to see, only Bantai leiev with two guards came along the trench. The soldier standing in the trench, as the Colonel passed them, quickly straightened himself up and raised his hand to salute him.


    I shook my head and said to Bantai leiev, who had just come by, "I didn''t see anything. I didn''t see people or hear anything. It seems that there is no one in the whole village."


    Bantai leiev also raised his telescope to look at the village, and then said: "the village has not experienced war. It seems that the village''s collective farm workers evacuated before the enemy came."


    "And our troops didn''t fight here," I nodded, adding, "otherwise, the village wouldn''t be without a trace of war."


    "What do you do next, send someone to scout?" Bantailiev said, and waved to basmanov, who was standing nearby, and told him, "Comrade captain, go to prepare a reconnaissance team immediately, and go to the village in front of you to make a reconnaissance, so as to find out what''s going on there."


    "I see. I''ll arrange the staff right now." Busmanov agreed, turning around and leaving.


    I quickly stopped busmanov: "Captain, wait a minute." Because at this moment, I think of one of the experiences that yelaimenko taught me last time, which requires that the commander must be familiar with the terrain near the position. What other people reported to me was never as good as what I saw with my own eyes. So at this moment, I made up my mind to take people to the village to see what happened.


    Bantai leiev saw me stop basmanov, and asked politely with a smile, "Comrade teacher, do you have anything else to add?"


    I shook my head and said to busmanov, "Captain, you take a platoon and follow me to the village."


    Bantai leiev heard that I wanted to go to the reconnaissance in person. He was immediately frightened and stopped me immediately. He said, "Sir, comrade, I can''t do this. You are the head of a division. You can''t take risks at will. Otherwise, I''d better take people with me. "


    "Comrade deputy division commander," I gave him a grateful smile for his concern, and then said, "have you forgotten what commander yeliomenko said in our headquarters last time? He said that last night, the commander should go to the place where he should go in person, and understand what he should know in a timely manner, so that he can make a better targeted combat plan. When I take people to the village for on-the-spot reconnaissance, I can find out the terrain nearby, so that I can close my eyes and have a bright battlefield image in front of me. Even if I leave the map, I can command the troops to fight. In this way, we can master the initiative of the battlefield one step faster than the enemy in a life and death battle, and ensure that we have a higher chance of winning. "


    Hearing what I said, bantaileiev knew that further persuasion was useless, so he had no choice but to say, "in this case, I reserve my opinion." Then he said with concern, "but Sir, you should pay more attention to your own safety. There are too few platoons. Why don''t you take the guards with you?"


    "No, No." Although there are 30 or 40 people in a platoon, the goal is not big. If we really take the guard company according to what he said, the movement of more than 100 people is too big. In order to avoid his kindness, I said tactfully, "Comrade deputy division commander, the village is not far from here. Even if something happens, the troops on the hills can come to support us in time. If hundreds of people walk towards the village, maybe they will really expose the target. " Having said that, I saw basmanov still standing in a daze, and urged him: "Captain, what are you still doing? Take a platoon and let me go."


    "Yes Basmanov, hearing my cry, regained his mind. After a promise, he turned around and ran to the direction of the division headquarters, ready to call the troops to follow me to the village for reconnaissance.


    After basmanov left, I saw two soldiers of the guard company standing nearby, Mikhail ROV and ruhovitzki, who I knew. They waved their heads and said, "soldier comrade, come with me. Captain basmanov will catch up with other soldiers in a moment."


    "Comrade division," seeing that the three of us were going to climb out of the trench and go to the village first, Bantai leiev was a little flustered again. He stopped me again and advised me bitterly, "Comrade division, there are only three of you. It''s too dangerous. You''d better wait for captain basmanov to bring people here before you go out."


    I patted the submachine gun on my shoulder and replied with a smile: "Comrade deputy division commander, you can rest assured that as long as we have this submachine gun, even if we encounter a small group of enemy troops, we are fully capable of protecting ourselves." After that, without waiting for him to speak, I took the lead in climbing out of the trench and strode toward the village northwest of the hill.


    After climbing out of the trench, Mikhailov and ruhovitzki walked on both sides of me with their guns. As they walked, they watched all around with vigilant eyes, so as to prevent unexpected accidents.


    On the road from the hill to the village, except for the footsteps of the three of us, we couldn''t understand any sound, and we couldn''t see a figure. It was more and more terrifying.


    After we entered the village from the south of the village and walked along the street, we still couldn''t hear any movement or see a figure. The whole village was as silent as a tomb, only heard the footsteps of the three of us.


    Maybe some villagers were so flustered when they evacuated that they didn''t even close the door. At the door of the wooden house on the street, there were bags, pillows and children''s small boots. We can imagine how the villagers were forced to leave their homes in a hurry under the pressure of the Communist invaders.


    When I first entered the village, I took a chance, hoping to meet one or two villagers in the village. I inquired about the situation nearby. But after walking half a village, I was completely disappointed. I even pushed open the doors of five or six families and went in to have a look. I didn''t even have a personal picture.


    I''m planning to go to the north of the village. If I can''t see anyone, I''ll turn back to the headquarters on the hill. Just then, I heard orderly footsteps coming from behind. I stopped and looked back. It turned out that busmanov, with dozens of soldiers, was trotting towards us.


    It turned out that I was not a villager in the village. The hope just rising in my heart broke like a soap bubble in the sun. Waiting for basmanov to come to me, I told him: "Comrade captain, let the soldiers go to the house in the village and check to see if they can find any people or food."


    "Yes." Basmanov agreed, and then called out several squad leaders in the guard platoon, and asked them to take their own people to search nearby.


    Looking at the scattered soldiers, although I don''t have any hope of finding anyone, I still hope that the soldiers can find some food from the village, which can prolong the time of our lonely army staying behind the enemy.


    As the village was not big, the soldiers who went to search soon came back and reported to me that there was no one in the village. Although we didn''t find the villagers, most of them had some harvest. Some soldiers were holding a few hard and moldy bread, some soldiers were holding a can of half drunk honey, and some soldiers were carrying half a bag of flour.


    Seeing the things they brought back, basmanov pointed to the soldier holding the moldy bread and yelled: "Damn, the bread is moldy and hard as stone. Can it be eaten? Get rid of it. " The soldier who was reprimanded by him could only honestly throw aside the bread that he could not eat at all.


    Busmanov went up to the soldier carrying half a bag of flour and told him, "put down the flour." After the soldier put down the powder bag, basmanov suddenly raised his hand and slapped the soldier''s helmet. Then he cursed: "you are silly, what are we doing with flour now? I can''t prepare two ovens to bake bread for you, can I? "


    Finally, he went to the soldier who took the honey, nodded and said with approval, "you are still smart and know how to take back the honey left by others. After going back later, make honey water for the teacher and Deputy teacher to drink. "


    Basmanov''s flattery made me smile. When he came back to me, I said to him, "Comrade captain, since there is no one in this village, let''s go back."


    "Comrade division, since all the houses in the village are empty, it''s better to let our troops live in the village. It''s much better than the trenches on the hills." Basmanov suggested tentatively to me.


    Without hesitation, I waved my hand and rejected his proposal: "Captain, this village is surrounded by open land. Once the enemy comes, we are likely to be surrounded. Even if we break through the enemy''s encirclement and retreat to the foothills, there will be a lot of casualties on the way. If we are stationed on the hills, the situation will be very different. We can not only have a wide field of vision, but also rely on our position to defend even if the enemy attacks. " At this point, I looked around and said to him, "is everyone here? If we get there, we''ll go back to the mountains. "


    Basmanov also looked left and right, and then replied to me, "Mikhailov and zhuhovitzki are not here."


    Listening to what he said, I looked into the line in front of me. No, Mikhailov and ruhovitzki who came into the village with me did not know where they had gone. I was deeply afraid of what would happen when they and most of them were dispersed. I immediately told busmanov, "Captain, organize people to find them immediately."


    "We are here, sir." Without waiting for basmanov to assign his hands, Mikhail ROV and ruhovitzki''s voice came from a distance. I turned to follow him. They were walking towards us with a lot of glass jars in their arms. While walking, he said: "Hey, guys, don''t stand there foolishly. Come and help quickly. We can''t carry so many things." Basmanov looked at me and waited for my order. Seeing that I nodded and agreed, he immediately waved his hand and asked five or six soldiers to help Mikhailov and rukhowitsky carry things.


    When a group of people came back to me, I saw that they were holding a variety of homemade vegetable cans, including pickled cucumbers, pickled mushrooms, pickled tomatoes, and even a bottle of vodka. Seeing this scene, I couldn''t help asking Mikhailov and zhuhovitzki curiously, "Hey, comrade soldier, where did you get these things from?"


    Mikhail lov waved his head in the direction of coming and said, "Mr. reporter, we found a supply and Marketing Cooperative in the north of the village. All these things were taken from it. There were sweets and enemas, but they were broken, so we only brought home these homemade glass cans and a few bottles of wine. "


    My eyes fixed on the soldiers'' hands and asked, "have you moved all the things in the supply and marketing community?"


    "No," replied jouhovitzki¡° There are at least 50 or 60 cans, and a lot of vodka, but we can''t take any more, so we just came back with a few things. "


    Thinking that the food left here can only rot in vain, or it can solve the problem of food shortage, I told busmanov, "Captain, you should take twenty people to the supply and marketing community immediately and bring back all the food you can eat and drink."


    When I finished, busmanov asked carefully, "do you want all the vodka back?"


    "Not to mention, my comrade captain." I pushed basmanov''s shoulder from behind, and said impatiently: "vodka can not only protect the soldiers on duty at night from the cold, but also be used to clean the wounds of the wounded. Remember, if you see a cart or something, use it to pull things back. "


    Basmanov and a group of soldiers, led by Mikhailov, walked quickly to the north of the village. I said to zuhovitzki and several other soldiers standing in front of me, "put these cans in your backpacks. It''s easy to carry." As they packed tins and vodka into their backpacks, I added, "when you get back to the headquarters, gather all these things and distribute them to the regiments. We stayed behind enemy lines for a long time this time. It''s not enough to let the soldiers chew dry bread. We should let them eat vegetables to supplement their nutrition. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" The soldiers replied neatly.


    When we returned to our position with a full load, bantaileiev, shejerikov and kosja, who were waiting in the trenches, were stunned. Bantai leiev was surprised and asked, "I said, sir, where did you get these things?"


    I waved my head in the direction of the village and said with pride, "these things are from the supply and marketing cooperatives in the village. Shejerikov and kosja, both of you will bring people to the division headquarters to collect things later. "


    Before they could answer me, Bantai leiev frowned and said, "Sir, is it appropriate for you to bring all the things from the village supply and marketing cooperative? You don''t have discipline, do you? "


    "There''s nothing wrong with it." I waved my hand and said to myself, "we have to stay behind the enemy for several days. We can''t let the soldiers chew dry bread with cold water every day. We still need to let them eat some vegetables to supplement nutrition, so that they can have enough physical strength to complete the next combat tasks."


    Originally, I thought Bantai leiev would refute me like a positive character in a movie, saying: "if the soldiers don''t eat vegetables and supplement nutrition, they can''t complete the combat mission and win the battle?" Unexpectedly, he nodded and echoed me: "Mr. teacher, you are right. Well, we''ll divide the cans and vodka equally among the groups later The cooperative attitude of the deputy division commander made it impossible for me to say a lot of things I had prepared in advance. I tried to smile on my face and gave an order to xiejerikov and kosja: "two commanders, find some soldiers to help move these things to the division headquarters, and then we can distribute them."


    On hearing my order, the long-awaited shijerikov and kosja waved to the soldiers around them and asked them to help the soldiers of the division guard company carry things.


    In the division headquarters.


    Looking at the soldiers of the first and third regiments who happily distributed cans and vodka, Bantai leiev said with emotion: "Sir, I''ve convinced you that it''s a good idea to move back the food from the empty village supply and marketing community, It''s wonderful... I never thought of such a simple and practical way to supplement the army''s supplies before. " Speaking of this, he paused for a moment, and then added: "Sir, I think there should be such abandoned villages nearby. When the Germans occupied this area, they searched the villages and found that there was no one inside, they did not destroy the villages, so a lot of useful resources were left behind. I suggest that scouts should be sent immediately to carry out reconnaissance in the vicinity. Once such a village is found, people should be sent immediately to move back all useful things in the village. "


    Seeing Bantai leiev''s exuberant appearance, I couldn''t bear to disappoint him, so I followed his meaning and said, "well, that''s it. Comrade deputy division commander, it''s up to you to arrange the selection of the scouts, and at the same time to set up a temporary carrying team. Once such a village is found, they will be sent to move back all the useful things in the village. "


    When leiev went out to arrange work, I went to the operator and asked him, "Comrade operator, is there any news from the city?"


    "Yes, sir." The operator with headphones said and handed me a telegram.


    I took the telegram to my eyes and saw it written briefly: "early this morning, the first round of the enemy''s attack in the factory area was repulsed by our army and the enemy suffered heavy losses. But after a short rest, the enemy, who was unwilling to lose, put himself into the second echelon and the reserves. At present, the fighting is going on fiercely. "

 Chapter 777

    In order not to reveal the whereabouts of the troops, after sending scouts to several directions, we continued to hide in this work submerged by weeds to rest. For a whole day, it was quiet outside and there was no sound. It seems that the German army did not find our troops that quietly penetrated into their rear, otherwise it would not be so calm.


    In the evening, shejerikov first walked into the division headquarters and reported to me: "Sir, all the three reconnaissance teams we sent out for reconnaissance have returned."


    "Have you detected anything?" I asked.


    Shijerikov shook his head and replied, "no, no German troops were found within ten kilometers of our East and south, except for the camp of the two Valet troops that were monitored last night."


    As soon as the report of shejerikov was finished, kosja also entered the headquarters. He solemnly reported to me: "Comrade division, two of the three reconnaissance teams we sent have returned, and one is still missing."


    "There''s another one. Why hasn''t he come back yet?" Bantaileiev asked strangely, "according to the regulations, should not they all return to the hiding place at this time?"


    My heart sank when I heard that my whereabouts were unknown. I quickly went to kosga and asked, "which direction is this reconnaissance team in charge of?"


    "Kosga replied:" it''s going to the northwest. I''m afraid of encountering the enemy, so I have the most people for this reconnaissance team. There are two teams. "


    When he said that, I could not help sighing. I understood that kosga was kind-hearted and had done something wrong. If there were only five people in the reconnaissance team, like other reconnaissance teams, it would not be a big target. But there are more than 20 people in this group. It is impossible to walk on the open grassland on such a scale without exposing the target. This is in the rear of the German army. If it encounters with a large army, it''s not enough for other armored forces.


    "Maybe this reconnaissance team can''t come back." Said chejerikov in a low voice.


    Seeing kosga''s annoyed face, I asked casually, "who is the leader of the reconnaissance team?"


    "Sergeant Adil, he''s an old scout and has a lot of reconnaissance experience. That''s why I sent him to lead the team. I didn''t expect that... "At this point, kosga couldn''t speak any more, but sighed heavily.


    Within a day of his reunion with his troops, kosga somehow lost a powerful subordinate. It''s strange that he was not sad. I quickly comforted him and said, "well, comrade commander, don''t blame yourself. Although sergeant adir did not come back, it also showed that there were German troops in the direction of their reconnaissance. When it''s dark, you''ll send another reconnaissance team along sergeant adir''s route to find out the enemy''s strength and deployment. "


    After shejerikov and kosja left, bantaileiev sighed again and said anxiously: "sergeant adir''s reconnaissance troops may really have encountered the German troops. If they were all sacrificed, the Germans might think they were just small troops scattered; But if someone is captured, then our hidden forces will be completely exposed. Comrade division, I think we should have made plans early, so as not to surprise us when the enemy who knows where we are hiding rushes over. "


    "Comrade Deputy teacher, how do you think about it?" I''m kicking this problem back to bandeliev.


    Bantai leiev asked him to make up his mind when he saw me. He could not help hesitating and said, "otherwise, in addition to letting the two regiments transfer half of their troops to guard at any time. At the same time, another company was sent to the village to set up an outpost there. Do you think so? "


    From my heart, I really don''t want to send troops to the village, because the village is surrounded by open land. Once surrounded by the Germans, I can''t withdraw. However, in the current situation, I can only sacrifice one army to fight for the transfer time for the big army, so I can only nod my head and agree very reluctantly: "well, since you say so, We''ll send troops from the most powerful regiment to the villages overnight and build the necessary fortifications. "


    While we were talking, there was a sudden sound of footsteps outside the headquarters, and the soldiers on duty rushed to the people and asked for the password loudly. Hearing the movement outside, I instinctively pulled out the pistol at my waist and then pointed to the entrance. But it was kosga who had just left, and I put the gun away.


    After a while, cosga, who was full of surprise, rushed into our headquarters. Standing in front of us, he said breathlessly, "sergeant Adil is back, sir, deputy sergeant."


    When I heard the news, I was stunned, and then I was ecstatic. I thought it was really good. Sergeant adir would bring us some information about the German, so I urged kosga: "Comrade commander, take us to meet sergeant adir, and ask if he has detected any important information?"


    When I pulled kosga to leave, he stood still. When I looked at him with strange eyes, he said haltingly, "the reconnaissance team, including sergeant Adil, only three people came back and were injured."


    "It seems that sergeant adir must have had an exchange of fire with the German army, so it''s more important to find out what happened." I saw that he was still standing in the same place and urged him: "go, I have a lot to ask sergeant."


    We came to the command post of the third regiment. As soon as we entered the shelter, we saw a bloody smell mixed with vodka. Under the dim candle light, there were three wounded people lying inside, and a soldier like a health worker was taking care of them. Sergeant Adil was lying near the door. Although it was cold, he took off his coat to bandage the wound. He lay on the board and allowed the health staff to clean and bandage the wound on his back. When the cotton ball dipped in vodka touched his wound, he bared his teeth and grunted.


    I shivered when I saw the bloody wounds on his back. Just when I was so nervous that I didn''t know how to open my mouth, fortunately, he found out our arrival and took the initiative to say hello to me: "Hello, comrade teacher."


    I quickly took another step forward, stood beside his board, lowered my head and asked with concern, "Comrade sergeant, is your injury OK?"


    Sergeant Adil quickly shook his head twice and replied, "thank you for your concern. I''m fine, but I''ve cut a few holes on my back with stones."


    "Tell me, comrade sergeant." I didn''t forget my purpose of coming here. After caring about his injury, I went on to ask them about the enemy they had detected¡° What happened to your reconnaissance team in the course of reconnaissance? "


    By this time, the health worker had cleaned the wound on his back, helped him up and sat down, and began to bandage the wound for him. Adil sat up straight and reported to me, "Comrade division, we took my team northward, walked about 15 kilometers, came to a hill, and saw a small town in front of us from a distance. In order to find out whether there were enemies in the city, I divided the team into two parts. I led one part of the team to approach the city from the East, while the other team entered the city from the West.


    I didn''t expect that on a small hill one kilometer away from the city, we found that the city was full of Germans, about two battalions of troops. I planned to go to other places to have a look, so I sent a signal to the team in the west to get closer to us. Unexpectedly, when they were only two or three hundred meters away from us, they suddenly met a patrol team composed of two armored vehicles. As soon as the enemy found them, the machine guns on the armored vehicles immediately opened fire on them without hesitation. Three soldiers died on the spot, and the rest of them retreated while fighting. The German soldiers on the bus also jumped down one after another and rushed towards our soldiers with guns. "


    When I heard him say that, my heart was bleeding. My heart said that when you encounter the enemy''s armored car in the open field, is it possible to escape? At the same time, suspicions arose in my heart. The reconnaissance team only came back with three wounded people. It''s not because sergeant adir rushed to rescue his comrades with the rest of the soldiers on impulse, right? Sergeant adir''s next story confirmed my conjecture, "seeing that our comrades in arms are in danger, we naturally can''t stand by, so I took my soldiers to rush towards the enemy and hit them hard from the side."


    I just scolded sergeant Adil for his behavior: extremely stupid! Unexpectedly, Bantai leiev said loudly: "sergeant, you are right. Seeing that your comrades in arms are in danger, as a brave Red Army soldier, you should rush up decisively to destroy the enemy and rescue your comrades."


    I didn''t say yes or no to Bantai leyev''s praise, but asked faintly, "Comrade sergeant, what''s next? Have you wiped out the enemy? Have you rescued those comrades in arms who are in danger? "


    My series of questions made Adil blush. He replied in a low voice: "no, we rushed up and knocked down five or six enemies, but the machine gun on one of the enemy''s armored vehicles turned around and shot us. Immediately, four or five soldiers were shot and fell to the ground. Seeing that the situation was not right, I had to order the soldiers around me to retreat. When I stepped back, I fell into a long ditch in the grass on my back. When I hit the ground on my back, I was cut several wounds by the stones in the ditch. I saw that there were few soldiers left, so I ordered the remaining soldiers to jump down and run south along the ditch with me. After a long run, we didn''t stop until we couldn''t hear anything


    "Sergeant adir," I said impolitely after he finished his statement, "it''s a brave act to see my comrades in arms in danger and go to rescue them bravely. As a person, I admire you. But as a teacher, I will criticize you severely. Your task is to spy on the enemy, not to fight against the enemy. If you and the two surviving soldiers do not happen to escape into a long ditch, it is estimated that your reconnaissance team will be completely destroyed. In this way, the task assigned to you by the superior cannot be completed, but we have to send another unit to carry out the reconnaissance task that should have been completed by you. "


    Sergeant Adil, who was criticized by me, lowered his head deeply and blushed to me: "I''m sorry, sir, I''m wrong. In the future, I will definitely distinguish between the heavy and the heavy, and I will never make similar mistakes next time. "


    "All right, comrade teacher." Bantai leiev came out in time and said a good word for sergeant adir: "although Sergeant they made mistakes on impulse, his starting point is good. After all, they still know the location and general strength of the enemy. These are very useful for us." At this point, he approached me and suggested in a low voice, "Comrade division, since the enemy situation is generally clear, should we go back to study the next action plan?"


    I nodded, turned, pointed to kosga and said, "commander, come with us to division headquarters." Then he told basmanov, "Captain, go to the command of the first regiment and inform lieutenant colonel shejerikov to come to the command of the division for a temporary military meeting."

 Chapter 778

    When all the people came to the meeting, I was about to announce the meeting when Bantai leiev suddenly proposed to me: "Sir, comrade, do you think we can draw a map based on the information provided by sergeant adir, so it looks more vivid."


    I didn''t object to bandeleev''s proposal. Instead, I turned to shejerikov and kosja and asked them, "who can draw?"


    I didn''t expect that when the two leaders heard my question, they looked at each other, shook their heads neatly, and replied awkwardly, "we don''t know how to draw!" Hearing such an answer, I immediately thought that they were all promoted directly from the position of company commander. It''s OK to look at the map. When it comes to drawing, it''s estimated that they don''t know anything like me.


    The four people in the headquarters, I and the two commanders can''t draw pictures, so I can only place my last hope on bantailiev. I gave him a smile and said cheekily, "Comrade deputy division commander, you see, neither I nor the two leaders can draw pictures. Can you do this for me?"


    Bandeleev may have known my background for a long time. Hearing my request, he immediately leaned over the table and began to draw maps on paper with the help of candles. Shejerikov and kosja may not have seen other people drawing, so they all gathered around to watch.


    I went to the operator''s side, lowered his head and asked him: "Comrade operator, has the political commissar sent a telegram?"


    The operator looked up at me, shook his head slowly, and said, "Mr. reporter, it''s not time to receive the report. The political commissar will not send the report."


    At the time of departure, I made an agreement with kirilov that in order to prevent the exposure of troops in the enemy''s rear, we would only receive telegrams and not send them. We would receive them at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. respectively. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was only two minutes before the time to receive the report. I told the operator, "comrade, it''s time to receive the report. Get ready for it." With that, without waiting for the operator to answer, I went out to the headquarters.


    I came to the trench outside the headquarters, and the Sentinels standing on both sides of the gate quickly raised their hands to salute me. A second lieutenant who stayed nearby also ran quickly in front of me and asked respectfully, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"


    I waved to him and said softly, "I''m just coming out to get some air. Go and do your business."


    The second lieutenant saluted me and stepped aside.


    I stood in the trench, looking at the prairie beyond my head in the distance, and I thought to myself, in the next few days, what direction should the troops move in order not to disturb the Germans, but also to get as close as possible to the Don front army which is advancing southward.


    I thought about it for a long time, but I didn''t come up with a clue. With a bitter smile and shaking my head, I turned back to the division headquarters. As soon as I stepped into the headquarters, the operator stood up and reported to me, "Comrade division commander, I just received a call from the political commissar."


    I quickly took the telegram from the operator and nervously checked it. It read: "at 16:30 this afternoon, after a fierce battle, the enemy occupied the middle and southwest of the" barricade "factory. About two battalions of enemy infantry and 17 tanks were approaching the northwest gate of the Red October factory along krasno priesnyskaya Avenue. The 117th regiment of the guriyev Division launched a fierce battle with the enemy, but a few small groups of automatic Gunners of Hitler''s bandits broke into the factory workshop and fought with the guards and armed workers who stuck inside. "


    I came to the desk with the telegram. At this time, Bantai leiev finished drawing the simple map. He stretched his waist and asked curiously, "what does the political commissar''s telegram say?"


    "You see," I said, handing him the telegram. "The situation in the city is very bad. The most brutal fighting is still going on in the factory area. Our troops have been forced to move in many areas."


    Bantailiev read the telegram quickly and asked in surprise, "why didn''t the political commissar inform us of the information of mamayev post?"


    Kirilov and I have been together for quite a long time, and I know a lot about his character. Therefore, as for bantaileiev''s question, I answered lightly, "since the political commissar didn''t mention our division''s defense area, it proves that there is no war at mamayev post today." With these words, I changed the topic again, "Comrade Deputy teacher, have you finished drawing the map?"


    Bantai leiev nodded and pushed the newly drawn map on the table to me. I quickly bent down to look at the fresh map. It has to be said that people with professional background like bantaileiev are capable. Although they are only a sketch of the area where we are stationed, they can still see at a glance what is the hill, what is the grassland, and the nearest city to us.


    Seeing me staring at the map endlessly, Bantai leiev couldn''t help asking, "Comrade division, the Germans have troops stationed in this city. What should we do? Do you want to find a way around or try to eliminate them? "


    "No more detours, comrade deputy division commander." I replied decisively: "in order to get around gorodysea, we have left a battalion to stick to our retreat. If we bypass the city, we are bound to leave troops on guard. Our forces are limited. If we continue to divide our forces in this way, when we get close to the friendly areas, we will have few people left. If we have a sudden encounter with the superior German army, we will not even be able to fight back. "


    As soon as I had finished, bandeleev could not wait to ask, "do you mean to wipe out this enemy?"


    "Yes," I said with certainty, "we will send another reconnaissance unit tonight to conduct reconnaissance outside the city where the enemy is stationed. We must try every means to find out the enemy''s strength and deployment in the city."


    "Whose troops will be sent?" Bantelayev asked.


    As soon as I cast my eyes on xiejerikov and kosja, they volunteered one after another and said, "Comrade division, let the reconnaissance unit of our regiment complete this task. We will never fail your trust."


    "Sir, let the third regiment complete this task. Although sergeant adir''s reconnaissance mission failed, our regiment''s reconnaissance scope is beyond the city. We have the ability to complete this task."


    "Well, don''t argue any more." I interrupted the two commanders and said to myself, "I''ll give this reconnaissance mission to a regiment. Lieutenant sergeant chejerikov, you will call captain Nikolay in a moment, and you will send people from his camp to form a small and capable team to go to the city quietly in the dark to find out the distribution of the enemy''s forces. "


    After listening to my arrangement, chejerikov showed a proud smile on his face. He said confidently, "yes, sir, I''ll call captain Nikolay over later, and you will personally deploy the reconnaissance to him." Although I promoted Nikolay from captain to captain when I put him under the command of a regiment, I used to call him captain. Xie jerikov, a flatterer, didn''t correct me when he heard that I called him the wrong rank. He also called him the captain in my voice.


    Without waiting for me to speak, the voice of the sentry suddenly came from outside: "who? Stop, command


    A voice that sounded familiar to me replied, "Hey, comrade sentry, I''m not from your guard company. How can I know what your password is?"


    Outside came the sound of the sentry pulling the bolt of the gun, and then he snapped, "command, if you don''t answer, I''ll shoot."


    "I''m captain Nikolay, the first battalion commander of a regiment. Next to him is my deputy battalion commander, Captain kostrov. We have something important to report to our teacher. "


    As soon as the people outside show their identity, I know who they are. So I quickly walked to the door, first let the guard put down his gun, and then yelled at Nikolay and kostrov, who were not far from the headquarters: "Hello, is that Comrade Nikolay and kostrov? Come here. " With that, I turned and went back to the headquarters.


    As soon as Nikolay and kostrov entered the headquarters, Xie jerikov took the lead in asking strangely, "battalion commander, what are you two doing here?"


    I saw Nikolay wink at kostrov, who quickly stepped forward and reported to us in a loud voice: "report commander, we have just found that two enemy armored vehicles have entered the deserted village."


    "What, the enemy''s armored car entered the deserted village?" I was sitting, and when I heard the astonishing news reported by kirtrov, I jumped out of my seat. I went up and grabbed kostrov''s arm and asked aloud, "besides these two armored vehicles, have you found any other enemies?"


    "No," Nikolay and kostrov shook their heads together, and Nikolay replied, "we have observed carefully, and found no other enemy except these two armored vehicles."


    "Are you wrong?" Asked chejerikov nervously.


    Nikolay shook his head again and replied, "absolutely not, comrade commander. You know that our position is on a hill with a wide field of vision. If the enemy wants to approach, we can find it from a long distance. Except for the lights of the two armored vehicles, no other lights were found


    After learning that only two lonely armored vehicles had entered the deserted village at the foot of the mountain, Bantai leiev seemed to have some idea. He came to me and asked in a low voice, "what do you think, sir?"


    I was thinking fast in my mind that if there were only 20 people on two armored vehicles, we could easily wipe out the enemy. Moreover, it is more than ten kilometers away from the enemy''s city. Even if there is gunfire, the enemy in the distance can''t hear it. The only thing to be on guard against is that there may be a radio station on the enemy''s armored vehicle, which can contact the distant troops at any time.


    "Have you thought about it, sir?" Bandeleev asked again in my ear.


    At this moment, I made up my mind, so I nodded, and then decisively began to give orders: "commander xijerikov, you send a battalion of troops to sneak into the village and kill all the Germans."


    "Yes Without waiting for me to finish, xiejerikov replied loudly, "please don''t worry, sir. I promise to finish the task."


    "Wait a minute, I haven''t finished. What are you panicking about?" Because he interrupted me, I said in a dissatisfied tone: "there are only about 20 Germans at most. Although they are inferior to you in military strength, you can''t take them lightly. When fighting, we should find a way to control the armored vehicles as soon as possible. On the one hand, we can reduce the casualties of the troops; on the other hand, we can prevent the Germans from using the armored vehicles to escape or using the car radio to report to the outside world. "


    "I see." Then he asked me, "which battalion should I send to carry out this mission?" His question really made me laugh and cry. I even had to ask for instructions on such trifles. I really wanted to kick him hard at that time. But to keep my image in the eyes of the officers and men, I said with ease, "Comrade lieutenant colonel, since I have given this task to your regiment, as to which battalion to send to carry out this task, it is of course your head of the regiment who has the final say."

 Chapter 779

    As a matter of fact, I don''t know which battalion is going to carry out the night attack, but I don''t know which battalion is going to carry out the night attack. Before Nikolay and kostrov appeared, I specially ordered shijerikov to send people from their battalion to form a reconnaissance team and continue to carry out reconnaissance along sergeant adir''s route. Moreover, the two armored vehicles entering the empty village were also discovered by the officers and men of the first battalion. If this task is handed over to other battalions, it is bound to affect the morale of the first battalion.


    Shejerikov obviously understood what I was thinking. He turned to Nikolay and kostrov, and called out their ranks solemnly. "Captain Nikolay and captain kostrov, after my serious consideration, have decided to hand over this glorious and arduous task to your battalion. Are you confident? "


    "Yes!" Nikolay and kostrov replied loudly.


    Shejerikov nodded his head with satisfaction, and then said, "you have heard the two points for attention just now. I will not repeat them here. I would like to add two points: first, every village should be guarded by at least one platoon of soldiers to ensure that no one has missed the net; 2¡¢ We must catch two people alive, because we need to learn from them the movements of the enemy nearby. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" Nikolay and kostrov replied loudly again.


    Shejerikov waved his hand to the two men, motioned them to leave, and said, "now that the task is clear, you can go back and prepare."


    Looking at shijerikov giving orders in front of me, I can''t help nodding to myself. It seems that war is really training people. A small company commander becomes more and more mature after several months as commander in chief. He even thinks of problems that I didn''t consider and explains them to his subordinates. As long as there are a few more battalion commanders like him, someone will share the burden for me in the next battle.


    When Nikolay and kostrov left, I called kosga to him and said, "commander kosga, commander xiejerikov''s regiment is responsible for destroying the Germans in the village. You can''t be idle. While it''s still early, you should go back to the regiment immediately and send two reconnaissance teams to carry out reconnaissance on the cities found in the daytime. You must try to find out the German forces and deployment. "


    "I see," kosga replied with a firm expression, "I''ll go back to deploy. Please rest assured, sir. I promise to complete this reconnaissance mission, or you will dismiss me. "


    After shejerikov and kosja left one after another, bantaileiev asked with a little uneasiness: "Sir, do you think the night attack tonight will be successful?"


    As for Bantai leiev''s worries, I confidently said, "don''t worry, my deputy division commander. Didn''t you see lieutenant commander chejerikov giving orders to his subordinates in front of us just now? From my heart, he has the demeanor of a regimental commander, even taking into account the problems I neglected. It was when our actions were discovered by the enemy that the night attack changed from a sneak attack to a strong attack. Five or six hundred people in a battalion dealt with more than 20 of them, and even trampled them to death. "


    "Sir, don''t be careless!" Bantai leiev kindly reminded me: "although we have a large number of people, if we can''t capture the enemy''s armored vehicles in time, they can use the car radio to ask for help from the outside world. In this way, even if we have managed to wipe out the enemy, this place can no longer stay


    Bantaileiev''s words reminded me that I knew for a long time that the fighting capacity of the Soviet army was poor. Especially when we fought at night in an unfamiliar environment, our army might have suffered heavy casualties, and even let the remaining enemy troops ride through the encirclement in armored vehicles. I walked back and forth in the headquarters with my hands behind my back, thinking about remedial measures.


    Maybe I was afraid to disturb my thinking. When I was walking around the room, bandeleev stood by and waited patiently for me to make the final decision.


    I was thinking, thanks to Nikolay, they put a platoon of troops at the entrance of each village. It''s not so easy for the enemy to rush out. Now the worst possibility is that our troops don''t capture the armored vehicles in time and let these enemies send out the distress signal. When a large number of enemies rush in and there are tanks and armored vehicles to cover the infantry to attack us, it will easily bring our troops down. It seems that the crux of the problem is to seize the enemy''s armored vehicles first and control the radio station on the vehicles so that the enemy can not contact with the outside world.


    Thinking of this, I stopped. Seeing me stop, Bantai leiev immediately asked in surprise, "Comrade teacher, have you come up with any good idea?"


    "Comrade deputy division commander, I plan to send a small team to sneak into the village first, approach the armored vehicle quietly and hide nearby. When the Nikolay battalion began to take action, this small unit would attack decisively, seize the armored vehicle at one stroke, cut off the contact between the enemy and the outside world, use the lights on the vehicle to illuminate the attacking troops, and use machine guns to eliminate those recalcitrant enemies. "


    "Yes, that''s a good idea." After praising bantaileiev, he asked, "which army are you going to send to carry out this arduous task?"


    "Let captain busmanov take a class." Without thinking, I replied: "the combat effectiveness of the division guard battalion is the strongest in the whole division. I think it is appropriate for them to carry out such a task. Besides, during the day, Captain busmanov and I went into the village together. He was very familiar with the terrain there


    "Come on, come on!" Bantaileiev went to the door and cried out.


    With his shouts, the second lieutenant on duty just now appeared at the door and politely asked, "Comrade deputy division commander, do you have any instructions?"


    "Comrade lieutenant, go and call captain busmanov." Bantaileiev said simply.


    The second lieutenant agreed, turned and disappeared from the door.


    After a while, busmanov trotted into the headquarters and asked: "Sir, deputy sir, what can I do for you?"


    "Comrade captain, come here." Bantaileiev called basmanov to his side, explained the task I assigned to him, and then asked, "Captain, are you confident of completing this task?"


    Basmanov nodded vigorously and replied: "please rest assured, I promise to complete the task."


    As I approached him, I said in a kind voice, "Comrade captain, the people who carry out the task should be selected from the soldiers who have been to the village during the day. After all, they are more familiar with the terrain than other soldiers. By the way, I think Mikhail ROV and ruhovitzki are good fighters. They look like elves. Let them join us. "


    After basmanov left, I went to the wall of the headquarters, sat down on a bench, and said to Bantai leiev, "well, comrade deputy division commander, we have finished the assignment; We have also explained clearly the matters needing attention. Next, let''s have a rest as soon as possible. Maybe when we wake up, commander chejerikov and they will bring good news. "


    However, bantaileiev looked a little upset at the moment. He waved his hand and said listlessly, "Comrade division, please have a rest. I''ll study the map again and see how we thousands of people can successfully escape from the dangerous area before the enemy''s encirclement is formed if the German army rushes over."


    Bantaileiev obviously didn''t realize that he made a lot of taboos when he said this. As a division commander, how can we assume that our troops will be surrounded by the enemy at will? This is what I heard. If I was heard by the people in the interior department, I might give him the label of defeatism. Seeing that he didn''t plan to rest, I didn''t force myself. After putting my legs on the bench, I leaned my back against the back wall and began to close my eyes.


    I don''t know how long after that, I vaguely felt that someone was gently shaking my shoulder. At the same time, there was a voice calling out in a hurry: "Hello, teacher, comrade teacher! Wake up, wake up


    I recognized Bantai leyev''s voice. I was so scared that I was lost. I jumped down from the bench and asked aloud, "what''s the matter? What''s the matter?"


    Bantailiev stepped back, and then he reported to me without delay: "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant Colonel chejerikov is here. He wants to report to you about the fighting in the village."


    When I heard Bantai leyev say this, I looked behind him. As expected, I saw a commander, Lieutenant Colonel xijerikov, standing upright. I quickly walked up to him and asked nervously, "Comrade commander, what''s the situation? Have all the German devils in the village been eliminated?"


    Shijerikov nodded with a smile and said in a positive tone, "yes, sir, except for two captured, all the Germans in the village have been wiped out by us."


    Although I heard that the German soldiers in the village had been eliminated, I was still not at ease. I asked, "in the course of your operation, the enemy didn''t use the car radio to communicate with the outside world, did they?"


    "No, sir." "According to the report, as soon as a battalion of troops entered the village, they were found by the enemy''s sentinels, who immediately fired a warning. At the sound of the gunfire, the soldiers of the guard battalion of the division, who had been hidden near the armored vehicles, rushed out and killed the two German soldiers left behind in the armored vehicles cleanly, and illuminated our attacking forces with lights. "


    "Is the battle fierce?" I went on to ask.


    My question silenced him for a moment before he vaguely replied, "it''s not intense. The Sentinels at the entrance of the village were shot and killed by our soldiers. Then a battalion rushed into the village from four directions at the same time. Those German soldiers didn''t expect to be suddenly attacked in this empty village, and we caught them by surprise. Many soldiers carrying weapons, wearing clothes and running out, were swept down by the machine gun on the armored car. After being knocked down by seven or eight soldiers, the rest of them scattered in a mass and fled to nearby houses for shelter. "


    When I heard that the war was not fierce, I felt a little more secure. According to this way of fighting, the casualties of our army were absolutely not much. However, I asked, "how about the casualties of our army?"


    "We killed 17 German soldiers and captured two. One of them was a lieutenant and the other was a corporal." After reporting the results of the war, shejerikov told us the casualties of our army: "11 people were killed and 29 wounded."


    Hearing such casualties, I couldn''t help frowning, and the observant Sergeant added: "yes, sir. After the enemy was scattered, they fled to the nearby houses to hide. Almost all of our casualties occurred when we drove these elements out of the houses. "


    "Damn the German devils." Bantaileiev angrily scolded, and then asked: "when will Nikolay and basmanov, the prisoners they are escorting, be here?"


    "Comrade deputy division commander," said shijerikov respectfully, "I arrived at the division headquarters as soon as I got a report from the soldiers sent back by Nikolay. In terms of time, in a few minutes or so, the prisoners should be taken over. "


    As soon as his voice was heard, basmanov''s voice calling for a report came from the door: "report to Comrade division commander, Captain basmanov, battalion commander of guard battalion, and captain Nikolay, battalion commander of regiment one, escort the captured German prisoners, please give instructions!"


    "Bring them in!" Bantaileiev yelled at busmanov, who was standing at the door.


    Basmanov agreed, put his body to one side, threw his head out, and said in a loud voice, "bring the prisoners in." After that, he came in first, followed by Captain Nikolay, two dejected German prisoners and two soldiers escorting them.


    Bantai leiev beckoned me to answer, sat down at the table, and told xijerikov: "Comrade commander, please help us to make the record."


    So bandeleev and I sat side by side in front of the captives, while shejerikov sat on our left side, acting as a temporary recorder. Captain Nikolay was the necessary German interpreter during the interrogation. After all, he worked under the German for so long, and his German level was not low.


    Bantaileiev looked at the two German prisoners in front of him for a while, then said to Nikolay, "Comrade captain, please translate my words to them. I want to ask some questions to the two captured officers and soldiers. First, ask them to give us their names and ranks. "


    Nikolay translated bantaileiev''s words almost at the same time.


    After listening to the translation, the German Lieutenant stepped forward, put his hands close to the seams of his trousers, and said aloud, "Lieutenant Braun, commander of the motorized infantry platoon of the 297th infantry division."


    As soon as he finished, the young corporal stepped forward and said, "corporal Hans, Lieutenant Braun''s messenger."


    After listening to their ranks and names, bantaileiev did not speak. He just looked at the two German soldiers in silence. I can''t help but see a look of fear on the face of the German under the angry eyes of bandeleev. Seeing this, I couldn''t bear it, so I took over Bantai and asked, "Lieutenant Braun, I want to ask you a question. Where was your division originally stationed? "


    After hearing my question, Lieutenant Braun glanced at my rank and immediately replied without thinking, "report, madam general, our division was originally stationed by the Don River and was supposed to be transferred to Stalingrad. As a result, we got information on the way that your Don River Army was about to launch an attack, so we stopped and came to our present station."


    "Why did you come to this village?" I asked curiously.


    "Because during the day, we found a small group of Soviet troops around the city, so our battalion commander ordered us to line up nearby to search." Braun may have been frightened by my rank, so he replied honestly, "because it''s getting late, I''m taking my patrol to this village to rest. But I didn''t expect... "


    Braun didn''t go on when he said half of it, but bantailiev sneered and said, "what didn''t you think of? Didn''t you expect us to send troops to attack you in the middle of the night? "


    "Yes, Mr. colonel." Braun lowered his head deeply after answering the question.


    "How many troops are there in the city?" I then asked my concern, "is there any defense?"


    After listening to the translation, Braun shook his head like a rattle and said, "no, we just entered that small town yesterday, and we haven''t had time to build fortifications. As for the troops, there were two battalions that suffered heavy losses in the early fighting and were responsible for defending the supplies in the city. "


    When I heard this word, my eyes lit up. My heart was suddenly struck with a small 999. If we can capture the German army''s materials, then we can extend our time in the enemy''s rear. Thinking of this, I turned my head and looked at the nearby Bantai leiev, who also looked happy.


    Seeing that my eyes were on him, he nodded and continued to ask Braun, "Mr. lieutenant, I want to know how many troops are left in the two battalions you said suffered serious losses?"


    After hearing this question, Braun hesitated for a moment, and then tentatively asked, "Mr. Colonel, if I answer the question truthfully, I won''t be shot, will I?"


    "No!" I was deeply afraid that Bantai leiev, who was jealous of evil, would say something wrong. He quickly answered, "we will give you the treatment that a captured officer deserves." After receiving my promise, Braun nodded and then replied, "we only have 20 to 40 people left in each company. Two battalions add up to no more than 300 people, including no more than 100 fighters. The rest are command organs or logistics personnel. Besides pistols, rifles, submachine guns and machine guns, we also have five tanks and a dozen armored vehicles. " Having got the information we needed, bantailiev waved to basmanov and ordered, "Comrade captain, first take the prisoners down and find a place to lock them up. Don''t embarrass them. Maybe we have something else to ask them."¡° Yes Basmanov agreed and asked the two soldiers to take the prisoner out. Nikolay saluted us and then went out. When there were only a few of us left in the room, Bantai leiev suddenly got excited. He said excitedly, "do you hear me, sir? The supplies, the German supplies. If we take these supplies, we can extend our time in the enemy''s rear. "¡° Yes, I heard it. " I also said excitedly: "there are only over 300 enemies. Although there are several tanks and armored vehicles, they are not a big threat to us. Before the attack, we can send small teams to hide around their heavy weapons and seize them as soon as the battle starts. This will not only weaken the enemy''s resistance, but also reduce the casualties of our troops. "¡° And when will it take place? " Asked chejerikov eagerly¡° You are too impatient, comrade commander I teased him and said, "although the German prisoners have provided such information, we still have to check it. At least when the reconnaissance team sent by kosga comes back, we can study how to attack." "Well, we''ll wait for lieutenant colonel kosja and their reconnaissance team to come back," he said helplessly

 Chapter 780

    The Scouts of the cosga regiment came back to the camp around 1 a.m. what I didn''t expect was that they were led by sergeant adir, who was still injured. I was not only surprised to see him show up at the division headquarters behind lieutenant colonel kosga, but also surprised Bantai leyev and xiejerikov.


    After adir saluted us, Bantai leiev asked with a smile: "Hey, Sergeant adir, you don''t stay in the position to recover, how can you take the team to scout again?"


    Sergeant adir, who was asked by him, grinned shyly and replied, "well, comrade deputy division commander, although our daytime reconnaissance failed, I am more familiar with the road than anyone else, so I am undoubtedly the most suitable person to carry out such a reconnaissance mission."


    "Comrade sergeant, did you get anything out this time?" I waited for Adil to finish before I asked, "or have you brought us any useful information?"


    Sergeant Adil quickly turned to me and said, "report, sir, our reconnaissance is going well this time. With the cover of the night, we even sneaked into the city and found out the deployment of the German army


    "Find out the deployment of the German army," Bantai leiev said hastily after hearing the good news, "come on, comrade sergeant, tell me the information you have detected."


    Adil took a folded map out of his pocket and asked, "is that ok?" Seeing that we all nodded and agreed, he went to the table, spread out the open map on the table and explained to us: "teacher, deputy teacher, please have a look. This city is called kongniayi. The enemy set up two Fortifications on the north and south sides of the city. Here and here, in the fortifications piled up with sandbags, each has a squad of troops to guard. The defense on the East and west sides is relatively weak. After our observation, we only found that the enemy set up double posts, and we sneaked in from the west side. "


    "Is there a patrol?" Bantailiev asked solemnly.


    Adil nodded and answered positively, "yes, we met about seven or eight patrols in the city, five in each. Their patrol routes are very fixed, from east to west or from south to north, and they will never change direction in the middle. "


    When I heard about the rigid deployment of the German army, I felt more secure. In order to confirm whether Lieutenant Braun had lied just now, I asked: "sergeant, do you know the forces in the city?"


    Adil frowned at my question. After a pause, he hesitated and said, "Comrade division, I find a very strange phenomenon. The troops in the city are obviously not as many as we see outside the city in the daytime."


    "It''s normal," shijerikov interjected. "It''s a visual error. When ten people stand in front of you, you can see the exact number clearly; But when they stand tens of meters away from you, you will have the illusion that their number is far more than ten. "


    Adir waited for xiejerikov to finish, then he continued: "in addition to the small number of enemy troops, there is a strange phenomenon. Among them, there seem to be more officers than ordinary soldiers." After hearing Adil''s words, I knew that Braun had not lied to us. There were two battalions in the city that had been seriously weakened in the battle. I didn''t plan on adir, but listened to his report quietly. "We hid for a long time near a building with sentries at the door. We found that except the soldiers who were on guard and patrolling, the rest of them were officers wearing eaves hats."


    "Have you found the enemy''s stores in the city?" As soon as his speech came to an end, Bantai leiev immediately asked. You know, just when Braun said that there were German supplies in the city, Bantai leiev could hardly control his emotions, because once the supplies were captured, the chances of our troops surviving behind the enemy''s lines would be greatly improved. Perhaps, in the end, the troops that have been replenished and strengthened will turn the enemy''s rear area upside down.


    Adil pointed to the middle of the city on the map and said, "in the square in the middle of the city, there are lots of things covered with canvas, because there are German guards nearby, so we didn''t take risks in the past. By the way, next to the square to deal with the supplies, there were several tanks and a dozen armored vehicles, but no truck was found


    After listening to the report, Bantai leiev turned to look at me and said excitedly, "Comrade division, the sergeant''s reconnaissance result is completely consistent with the prisoner''s confession. Next, should we teach these Germans a lesson?"


    I didn''t object to bandeleev''s proposal. I pushed the boat forward and said, "now that the situation is clear, call all the commanders of the battalions together. Captain busmanov. " As I yelled, busmanov ran in from the outside and stood straight in front of me. I then said to him, "Captain, immediately send soldiers to call the commanders of all battalions. I have important combat tasks for them."


    After I gave the order, busmanov was still standing where he was. Seeing me staring at him with my eyes, busmanov quickly boldly asked, "Comrade division, can I take the guard company to attack later?"


    Originally in my plan, I planned to make busmanov disguised as German soldiers in 20 soldiers, and take German armored vehicles to sneak into konaiyi city to try to capture enemy tanks and armored vehicles, so as to reduce the strength of resistance encountered by our army when attacking the city and minimize the casualties of the troops. Since busmanov put it forward first, I replied with a smile, "don''t worry, comrade captain. When we assign tasks later, we will certainly arrange important tasks for you." With my promise, basmanov happily ran out of the headquarters and sent someone to convey my order.


    In a short time, the chief and Deputy commanders of the four battalions of the first regiment, the second battalion commander of the third regiment, and the third battalion commander of the fourth regiment all came to the headquarters, standing upright and silent, waiting for my orders. After glancing at the faces of more than a dozen regiment and battalion commanders in front of me, I began to give orders formally: "comrades, in the north of our position, there is a small town called kongniei, in which there are two German battalions that have been seriously weakened in the battle. At present, the total strength is only about 300 people. The reason they were stationed there was to take care of a batch of German military supplies. And now, I will lead you to attack the city, wipe out the German army in the city, and take over the supplies they are guarding to arm us. "¡° Mr. and comrade, give an order! " As soon as I finished speaking, Captain Nikolay in the crowd said aloud, "our battalion has already made all the preparations for fighting, ready to fight at any time."¡° No, comrade captain. " Bantai leiev suddenly broke in and threw a basin of cold water on Nikolay. "Your battalion has been fighting for several hours, now what you need is rest. Therefore, in my opinion, your battalion will not take part in this combat mission. Stay here and stick to this position. " Nikolay was stunned at first, and then retorted, "Comrade deputy, why? We should know that although our battalion suffered casualties in the battle to capture the village, it did not hurt its vitality. When the fighting enthusiasm of the commanders and fighters is rising, you let us stay at the camp. I''m afraid the ideological work of the soldiers is not easy to do. " As soon as his words were finished, Captain kostrov, who was standing beside him, echoed and said, "Comrade battalion commander is right. Our battalion has just won a battle. The soldiers have high morale and are fully capable of participating in the next battle."¡° I don''t think it''s the ideological work of the soldiers that''s hard to do. It''s the ideological work of the two of you that''s hard to do, right? " Bantailiev said sternly to the two battalion commanders who challenged his authority: "don''t you know that the orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed and can only be carried out?" Seeing the disappointed expression on Nikolay''s and kostrov''s faces, I quickly came out to help them out: "well, comrade deputy division commander, I think we should leave it to other battalions. Captain Nikolay''s battalion has made great achievements in the battle just ended. The commanders and fighters are enthusiastic about fighting. If they continue to take part in the battle, they will get twice the result with half the effort. " Nikolay and kostrov were already in despair. When they heard what I said, they blushed with excitement and said in one voice: "please rest assured, sir. We will never fail your trust and promise to complete the combat task you have given us."¡° Which camp will guard this camp? " Bantaileiev saw that I had arranged a task for camp Nikolay, but he couldn''t say anything more, so he had to turn the topic to who would guard the camp. "It''s not good to leave no guards in this camp. After all, we have the wounded to take care of and the bodies of the dead soldiers to come out properly." My eyes swept over the remaining battalion commander''s face, wondering who would stay to take care of the camp. After two rounds, I finally fixed my eyes on the face of the commander of the Third Battalion of the fourth regiment. I said to him with a smile, "Comrade captain, stick to the task of the camp, and I will give it to your battalion. I believe you will be able to complete this task well." The third battalion commander showed a smile that was uglier than crying. He replied with a stiff head, "yes, I promise to finish the task." After arranging the troops to guard the camp, it''s time for me to formally arrange the combat mission. The first thing I ordered was the name of my own guard battalion commander: "Captain basmanov!"¡° Here we are Busmanov stepped out and agreed loudly¡° I order you to lead two guard classes, disguise as German troops, and let the messenger Hans be your guide and sneak into the city. " I always remember those tanks and armored vehicles in the city. If we don''t control these mechanized equipment of the German army, our army, which lacks anti tank weapons, will pay a heavy price in the next attack. Therefore, I specially told busmanov: "we should find a way to get to the place where the enemy stops tanks and armored vehicles, and once the battle starts, We should immediately control these heavy weapons and never allow the German to use tanks and armored vehicles to counter our siege forces. "¡° Yes

 Chapter 781

    Next, I called out the name of shijerikov. When I saw him coming out, I ordered him cleanly: "your mission is to use the night to cover the full speed movement of kneading in the air. You must deploy the three battalions in the north, East and west of the city before 3 a.m., and make all preparations for the battle. Remember, don''t disturb the Germans. We are attacking by stealth, not by force. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" Shejerikov agreed and retreated into the queue again.


    "Colonel kosga!" After assigning the mission of the first regiment, I gave the combat mission to kosja: "you lead the remaining troops of the third regiment to move to the air immediately. Be sure to enter the attack starting position in the south of the city before three o''clock, and make all preparations for the battle."


    After the deployment of the combat mission, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I solemnly announced: "the attack will be launched at four in the morning. Remember to send small troops to sneak attack first and clear away the enemy''s defense force at the entrance of the city. Only when our actions are exposed can we turn a sneak attack into a strong attack. " With that, I waved to them and said, "well, since the task is clear, you all go back to the army and set out in the shortest time."


    The commanders in the room answered in unison, "yes!" Then they turned around and left the headquarters.


    After the commanders left, Bantai leiev came up to me and asked, "what about us, sir? Will you stay in the camp and wait for news, or go to kongnieyi? "


    "Go to empty knead according to!" Although this place name has been mentioned many times tonight, I still unconsciously turned my lips when bantaileiev mentioned this awkward place name again, "if we stay in the camp, we can''t understand the situation of the front line."


    With that, I went to the door and yelled out: "who is on duty outside, two people come in!"


    With my shouts, the second lieutenant on duty and the other two sentinels came in, raised their hands and respectfully asked, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"


    I raised my chin to the position of the radio operator, and told the second lieutenant, "second lieutenant, go and help the radio operator clean up the radio station. We are about to move."


    Seeing that the second lieutenant and they helped the operator start to pick up the phones, Bantai leiev and I walked out of the headquarters and along the trench. Bantai leiev asked curiously, "Comrade division, why do you always emphasize sneak attack instead of fighting with the enemy in a dignified manner tonight?"


    When I heard bantaileiev''s strange question, I asked with a wry smile: "Comrade deputy division commander, what do you think is the hope of success for our army, which has no heavy weapons, to launch a rash attack on the German city? Even if the German forces were limited, they were defending. If we want to successfully capture the city in the shortest time, we need to use at least four to six times the strength of the garrison. Although our troops have met the requirements, we are short of heavy weapons. Even if we attack the city at a heavy price, we have to be prepared for hand-to-hand combat and house to house sweeping. In this way, the time we spent in seizing the city will be infinitely prolonged. If the German army who gets the news encircles us from several directions, what kind of outcome we will face, I don''t know. I believe you can understand it in your heart


    What I said obviously didn''t persuade bandeleev. He opened his mouth and seemed to want to say something to refute me. At this moment, I saw busmanov coming from the front in a hurry and asked, "Comrade captain, what''s the matter with you in such a hurry?"


    Busmanov came up to me, stopped and said in a hurry, "Comrade division commander, the captured German Lieutenant Braun, also wants to participate in our operation."


    "No, absolutely not." As soon as Bantai leiev heard basmanov''s words, he immediately objected and said, "if he was allowed to go, he yelled when the armored car came into the city, won''t you all be exposed?"


    Without knowing what it was, I didn''t immediately express my opinion. Instead, I asked busmanov, "Captain, why does this Lieutenant Braun suddenly say that he wants to work with you?"


    "Yes, sir." Basmanov honestly reported to me: "according to the guards, there were soldiers of the reconnaissance team who heard that they had captured prisoners and went to see the scene. One of the soldiers is the German devils under captain gramus. He seems to have said something to Braun. As a result, Braun saw that we were going to take his messenger away, and offered to act as a guide for us. "


    "Captain, what did the soldier say to lieutenant Braun, you know?"


    Basmanov shook his head and said he didn''t know. Then he said, "but I''ve asked my soldiers to bring the German devil to you for interrogation."


    "Comrade busmanov, bring him here." I said to basmanov faintly.


    Basmanov turned and waved back. Soon a soldier in a German uniform with a white towel on his arm was pushed by two soldiers of the guard company with their hands cut back. When I saw them treat the defectors like this, I could not help being anonymous. I burst out at the two soldiers and said, "what are you doing? Why are you treating your comrades like this? Let go. Let him go at once. "


    Seeing that I was angry, the two soldiers released the hands of the defector in a hurry, stepped back, backed against the trench wall and did not dare to move. I went up to the soldier, gently grasped his arm and asked with concern, "Comrade soldier, are you ok?"


    There was a wry smile on the soldier''s face, and then he answered me in broken Russian: "I''m ok. Thank you for your concern."


    Basmanov came close to me and gave me a sign: "Sir, we must try this German devil well and ask him what he said to Braun? See if there''s any conspiracy in the middle. "


    I was very angry because of the attitude of the soldiers towards the defected soldiers just now. Now I was calm when I heard basmanov say that. I stared at him and said seriously, "Captain basmanov, listen to me. From now on, I''ll hear you call the defected soldiers German devils, and I''ll withdraw your post. Do you hear me?"


    "I hear you." Basmanov whispered a promise and quietly backed back.


    After taking a deep breath, I tried to make my expression more natural. Then I asked the defecting soldier, "Comrade soldier, I heard you went to see the captured Lieutenant Braun just now?"


    "Yes, sir." The soldier replied readily.


    "I don''t know what you talked about?" I put on a kind expression and began to make a confession. "Why does he suddenly want to join us tonight?"


    "We heard that two German prisoners were captured in the just concluded battle, so several soldiers made an appointment to go and have a look. After hearing us, Braun suddenly asked if we were German and why we were in the Soviet army. So we told Lieutenant Braun how we were captured and how we joined the Soviet army. Finally, I would like to repeat what you said to him: when the war is over, we will be heroes of the new Germany. "


    After listening to what the soldiers said, I can understand why Braun''s attitude has changed so much. My feelings are all the good results brought by what I said when I rebelled against gramus. Now that the matter was clear, I readily agreed to Braun''s request: "well, Captain busmanov, since it''s lieutenant Braun who is willing to join us, let him join us. Remember, let him and his messenger stay in an armored vehicle alone. "


    After basmanov left with his soldiers, I asked the soldiers standing in front of me kindly, "Comrade soldier, don''t know what I should call you?"


    "Wingle," the soldier reported with a straight, clear voice, "corporal Wingle."


    I repeated the soldier''s name, comforted him and said, "corporal Wingle, I remember you. Now go back to your company. The army will fight a big battle soon. I hope you can establish your own merits in the coming days. Go


    Corporal Wingle saluted me, then turned and trotted away along the trench.


    After the remaining soldiers of the guard company such as Bantai leiev and I had assembled, we left the camp where we had been staying for a day and headed for kongnieyi city.


    At the beginning, I felt very relaxed, but the more I walked, the harder I felt. Soon after passing through the village, the terrain changed. The tall and disordered weeds and the muddy soil under my feet greatly reduced my forward speed. With difficulty, I pushed away the grass in front of me and walked forward with one foot deep and one foot shallow.


    At this moment, I understood why the German mechanized troops were advancing so slowly on such a wide grassland because of the terrain. On such roads, except for infantry, trucks and armored vehicles are barely OK; If it is replaced by a tank, it is estimated that it will not travel far, and it will fall into the muddy road.


    Perhaps it was to see that I was walking very hard. Bandeliev came up to me and chatted with me to divert my attention. He asked with a smile: "Sir, as far as I know, our division has the strongest siege ability. In the early days of the formation of the army, a settlement occupied by the German army was successfully captured. Can you tell me something about the city''s experience in tackling tough problems? " He was deeply afraid of my privacy, and specially stressed that "although our army is still in the defensive stage, sooner or later it will turn into a counter offensive, and then capturing the enemy and occupying the city will become our primary task."


    "Comrade deputy division commander, since you want to know more about the common sense of urban battle, I''ll tell you what I know." I knew that he was deliberately provoking me, but nothing happened during the boring March, so I said: "I just said that the troops should be prepared for hand-to-hand combat and house to house sweeping after entering the city. When attacking the buildings occupied by the enemy, it is most effective to launch multiple simultaneous attacks on the target buildings in the adjacent buildings. Before the troops rush into the building, they should prepare hand-to-hand weapons and smoke bombs. Once they rush into the building, they must give priority to controlling the stairway, stairway and commanding height. After taking down the whole building, we should immediately deploy defense to resist the enemy''s counterattack. In defense, we should pay special attention to the fact that our own supply lines and flanks should be able to withstand the German counter attack from multiple channels. " At this point, I couldn''t help sighing and said with regret: "it''s a pity that our division doesn''t have flamethrowers, otherwise it''s a sharp weapon for house to house competition. No matter how many people the enemy has in the house, as long as the fire blows in, they will all be ruined. "


    Although the road is still difficult to walk, but because of walking and chatting with Bantai leiev, I diverted my attention and unconsciously came to the hillside in the south of kongnieyi city. Seeing me and Bantai leiev walking up the hill, the second lieutenant on duty immediately asked the soldiers of the guard company to guard around us. I found a position with wide vision, squatted in the waist deep grass, raised my telescope and looked into the city. Except for a few places with lights on, the rest of the city was dark. From the barricade at the south entrance of the city, one or two flares were raised from time to time to make the vicinity of the barricade as bright as day. When the flare landed, the whole area fell into darkness again¡° Comrade teacher, "Bantai leiev came to me, squatted down and asked in a low voice," how much time is left to launch an attack? " At this time, a flare rose into the air. With the help of the light of the flare, I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and answered Bantai leiev: "Comrade deputy division commander, it''s 3:40, and our attack still has 20 minutes to start." After saying this, I was a little embarrassed to say to myself, "I was in the headquarters, so that the commanders and fighters had to enter the offensive position before 3 am. Unexpectedly, we were nearly 40 minutes later than them." After saying this, I heard something nearby. I quickly lowered my voice and asked, "who, who is there?" As I asked, there was a rustling sound. It seemed that someone was coming to us through the grass. Just as I put my hand on the holster around my waist, I heard a familiar voice: "Sir, it''s me, Sergeant Wendell, corporal Wingle." When I heard it was corporal Arsene, I immediately let go and took my hand off the holster. As soon as the other party appeared in front of me, I asked, "corporal, why are you here?" Corporal Wingle explained to me in a low voice: "report, sir, I was originally from the first company of the guard battalion. Some time ago, I was pulled out by the chief of staff to carry out reconnaissance missions behind the enemy lines. Because it has not been built yet, so I stay in the guard company temporarily. "¡° Comrade corporal, "I asked politely after listening to him," Captain busmanov, have they got in? " He turned to the south of the city, nodded and replied, "I think we should get in, because there is no sign of fighting at the entrance of the city."¡° Corporal, do you know where the headquarters of the commander of the third regiment, Lieutenant Colonel kosga, are? " Bantai leiev also came and asked in a low voice. It seems that Wenger is a little afraid of bantailiev. When he asks, he gets flustered. After a while, he stammered and said, "yes, yes, go on, comrade colonel. The regiment headquarters of the third regiment is located in the northeast of this hillside, about three or four hundred meters away from here. "¡° Thank you, corporal I politely expressed my gratitude to him. I wanted to send him away immediately. Suddenly, I thought that there was no suitable person around me, so I decided to leave him temporarily. "The deputy division commander and I need a messenger to pass our orders to commanders in other places at the right time. Would you like to take this position?" Hearing what I said, Wingle nodded his head like a chicken pecking rice and said, "yes, yes, of course. Sir, please rest assured that I will live up to your trust. " He had just expressed his determination to me. Before I could speak, suddenly there was a faint sound of gunfire and explosion in the direction of the city. Hearing the sudden gunfire and explosion, my heart suddenly tightened, but I didn''t care whether it was exposed or not. I suddenly stood up from the ground, looked at the direction of the city, and said stupidly, "Captain busmanov, they were exposed?"

 Chapter 782

    At first, the sound of gunfire and explosion only sounded in the east of the city, then in the north and West, and then in half of the city. Everywhere you can see the rising fire and hear the sound of gunfire.


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was 10 minutes before 4 a.m., and the attack of a regiment on the city actually started. Judging from the intensity of the battle, the attack they adopted was not a sneak attack as we had agreed in advance, but a strong attack. Looking at the still quiet south gate, I felt a little comfort in my heart. My heart said: "although the ability of lieutenant colonel kosga is poor, his work is quite reassuring. Before the attack time, I didn''t let the troops launch the attack rashly."


    Just think of here, suddenly heard the hillside lively, there are people shouting. I listened attentively, and heard as if a commander was shouting, "go ahead!" Then there was a chorus of throats: "forward, forward!"


    "Hell," bantaileiev obviously heard the following news. He said angrily, "what does Colonel kosga want to do? Do you want the soldiers to rush up and die like this?"


    With the help of the light of the flare, I saw countless commanders and fighters standing up in the grass under the hillside, marching towards the city gate in a neat line.


    "Damn Colonel kosga," I said indignantly, "he may have heard that there was a fight in the city, and he was afraid that all the contributions would be taken away by the first regiment, so he couldn''t wait to order the soldiers of the third regiment to attack."


    Seeing the troops rushing out of the grass, the German troops standing in the barricade at the entrance were terrified. While desperately firing flares into the air, while shooting at our troops, the barricade fortifications lit up a large muzzle flame. The rain of bullets of various calibres, like wind, splashed on the officers and men marching forward in a neat line.


    When the distance is far away, the enemy''s bullets are not a threat, but as our troops get closer and closer to the fortifications, casualties inevitably appear. Looking at the fallen soldiers in the queue, my heart was like a knife. I quickly called Vingo to him and told him: "corporal, you go to find commander kosga immediately. Just say it''s my order that he immediately stop the present attack tactics of death."


    "Yes With a promise, Wingle bent down and ran down the hill.


    Although I know that it is impossible for Arsene to convey my order to commander kosga immediately, I am still very anxious to see the falling commanders and fighters. I raised my telescope and looked into the city. I was afraid that if I saw any moving lights on the dark street, it would mean that the enemy''s tanks and armored vehicles were out. In the open grassland, tanks against our infantry without anti tank weapons will be a one-sided massacre.


    I didn''t expect that the more I worried about what was coming, in my telescope lens, there were really moving lights on the street. I quickly patted Bantai leiev and said to him anxiously, "Comrade deputy division commander, look at the streets in the city. It seems that the enemy''s tanks are out."


    Bantai leiev raised his telescope and looked in the direction I was pointing to. Then he sighed and said, "Sir, you are right. It''s really a German tank. It seems to be followed by an armored car. " After that, he said with regret to the commanders and fighters who were rushing bravely to the German position: "Alas, it''s a pity, so many brave commanders and fighters, I don''t know how many people will be left after this battle?"


    The troops of the third regiment were getting closer and closer to the barricade at the south entrance of the city. When they were less than 100 meters away, all the officers and men who rushed in front of them, except those who were shot and fell down, were lying on the ground and shooting at the enemy hiding in the barricade.


    I pointed to the barricade, which was spewing the flame of death, and said indignantly, "damned Krauts, if Morozov''s artillery camp is here, I''ll let him blow you all out with one shot!"


    As soon as the words were heard, there was an earth shaking explosion at the corner of the street. There was a fire in the barricade on the left side of the street, and several soldiers were lifted out of it by the blast.


    Not only me, but also Bantai leiev was shocked by this unexpected change. We looked at each other. After a long time, I asked tentatively, "Comrade deputy division commander, you see, it seems that the barricade of the enemy exploded?"


    "Yes, I saw it, too." Bantai leiev also said mistily: "is it our commander''s bullet that hit the enemy''s accumulated ammunition and caused the explosion?"


    Before we could come to a conclusion, there was another explosion in the street. This time, it was the barricade on the right. If the explosion just now was an explosion caused by our army''s bullets hitting the enemy''s accumulated ammunition, as bantailiev said, then what happened to this explosion?


    When the third explosion sounded, all the answers were revealed. It turned out that the explosion was caused by a shell fired by a tank parked in the street, and the target of the attack was not our troops outside the city, but the German soldiers who were struggling. In such cases, if I can''t figure out what''s going on, I''m not qualified to be a teacher. I excitedly pointed to the place where the fire and smoke were rising, and excitedly said to Bantai leiev: "Comrade deputy division commander, look, look, the German barricade factory has been destroyed by us again. It wasn''t the bullets of our soldiers that hit the ammunition in the enemy fortifications, but the guns of the tanks that stopped in the street. Oh, my God, they must have done it. They must have captured the enemy''s tanks and turned their guns against the enemy''s fortifications. "


    Seeing that the fortifications at the corner of the street were destroyed, the defenders who stood by the fortifications were dead or wounded, and the commanders and fighters who had been suppressed by the enemy''s firepower jumped up from the ground one after another and rushed to the city with weapons. When I saw more and more officers and men rushing into the city quickly over the bombed barricades, I was relieved to know that the city was basically taken.


    Because our troops were absolutely superior, and the enemy was caught off guard by us, the German resistance in the city was sporadic and weak. In less than half an hour, the sound of gunfire and explosion, which had been heard everywhere, became sparse. I know that this is the end of the battle, so I confidently and boldly said to bantailiev, "come on, comrade deputy division commander, when we go from here to the city, all the battles will be over."


    Bantai leiev held up a rifle which I didn''t know from which guard soldier, and said to me with pride: "even if the battle is not over, it doesn''t matter. I haven''t had a face-to-face fight with the German for a long time. My hand is itching. I just want to find some unfortunate men to try this rifle."


    The two of us, surrounded by the soldiers of the guard company, walked down the hillside and met kosja, who was brought by Arsene Wenger. As for the head of the third regiment, I didn''t give him a good look. You know, he hasn''t been under my command for a day or two. In today''s battle, he even arranged such a dense formation to launch an attack, causing unnecessary casualties in vain.


    Kosga was obviously aware of his mistake and stood in the same place. In the end, leiev couldn''t see it, so he came out and said, "well, sir, don''t blame lieutenant colonel kosga any more. He was also eager to fight, so he couldn''t wait to launch the attack. Moreover, the commanders and fighters of the second battalion of the third regiment are almost all the recruits I brought in at the beginning. They are lack of training. They can face the fierce firepower of the enemy. They not only don''t flee, but also bravely rush forward without flinching. I think it''s great. "


    Since Bantai leiev all came out to help them speak and let me teach cosga a lesson in front of the commanders and fighters of the third regiment, I couldn''t do it, so I said gently, "come on, commander cosga."


    Cosga didn''t expect my attitude to change so quickly. He stood still and asked foolishly, "go, where?"


    Without saying a word, I kicked him and said angrily, "where can I go? Of course, it''s going into the city to join the troops of a regiment. " With that, I passed him and headed for the city.


    Walking past the barricade, which was still smoldering with corpses, and then the burning wood in the barricade, I saw a German tank parked in the street in front of me, and there were seven or eight soldiers in German uniforms standing in front of the tank. From the white towel tied on their arms, I could judge my subordinates.


    Seeing the appearance of a large number of us, the people on the opposite side quickly welcomed us. When they approached, I could see that busmanov was leading the team. He came to us and stood at attention. Without salute, he began to report: "Comrade division commander, Captain busmanov, commander of guard battalion, reported to you that we have successfully captured the enemy''s baggage and captured the tanks and armored vehicles parked in the square. In the battle just now, we used the captured tanks to provide necessary artillery support for our offensive forces! "


    "Well done, well done!" Bantaileiev stepped forward, took his hand and said with emotion, "it is precisely because your task has been completed well that our attack on the city today can be so smooth."


    After Bantai leiev released basmanov''s hand, I also went forward to shake hands with him, and asked: "is there a big casualty?" Although I didn''t specify which army had suffered a great deal of casualties, busmanov understood that what I asked was the team he was leading, which pretended to be a German army. He quickly replied, "report to division commander, one person was killed and two others were injured."


    When I heard that they had achieved so much with such a small number of casualties, a smile finally appeared on my face. I nodded with satisfaction, praised him and said, "good job, Captain busmanov. When I get back to mamayev post, I will record the merits for you and your subordinates. When you are free later, you will sort out their names and give them to the Deputy teacher. "


    From here to the occupied German headquarters, we couldn''t go by tank, so we had to walk. When I was walking side by side with busmanov, I asked him curiously, "Comrade captain, tell me how you captured the enemy''s baggage."


    Basmanov agreed, and then began to report to me the process of their seizure of the baggage: "when we arrived outside the city in an armored car, we were stopped by the German soldiers in the barricade. When I heard the German talking outside the car, my heart beat faster. The pistol was only in my hand, and the muzzle of the gun was secretly aimed at Braun. If he gave a hint to the German, I would shoot without hesitation.


    In the end, however, there was no danger. Braun was very cooperative with us. He told the German soldiers outside the car that we had just finished the search and came back to the city to have a rest. When the Germans heard that, they let our armored vehicles go.


    When our armored car came to the square, a German soldier commanded us to stop between the tank and the armored car. At that time, I was very happy. I was still worried about how to get close to the enemy''s tanks and armored vehicles. I didn''t expect that someone would give me a pillow when I was about to doze off. The German actually let us park the car next to the tank. This is really great.


    When we got out of the car, I looked around and found that there were only three soldiers guarding the tanks. On the contrary, there were a lot of German soldiers guarding the baggage, about 20, but they were very scattered. I made a sign to the soldiers around me, and they decisively took out the three German soldiers who were in charge of the tank. Then we divided into two groups to hunt down the German soldiers who were scattered to guard the baggage. When the enemy was almost killed by us, I suddenly thought of a problem, and suddenly I was in a cold sweat. "¡° What''s on your mind? " Bantai leiev asked curiously¡° We''ve killed so many German soldiers at once. If the troops who come to change their posts find that all the people here are gone, will we be exposed soon? " Busmanov replied¡° In the end, it didn''t show I said disapprovingly, and then urged busmanov: "Captain, you go on, what happened?" Basmanov agreed, and then said: "but since we have killed almost all the German soldiers guarding the baggage, it is not so easy to stop. In this way, we have made clear all the German soldiers near the baggage in a few minutes. Soon, a soldier found that there were several tents not far from the baggage, which seemed to be for the rest of the German soldiers guarding the baggage. I''ll send someone to check it. I found four German soldiers sleeping in each tent, all asleep. So, I decisively issued an order to the soldiers, let them two into the tent, with a dagger to solve the enemy inside. As the enemy was asleep, the soldiers who went in to carry out the task soon finished the task and came out. After cleaning five tents in a row, we came to the last one. But when I went in, I found that there was no one inside. When I asked Braun, I knew that this was the tent where the officers were resting. If it wasn''t there, I would have reported to the battalion. I asked the soldiers to hide all the German bodies, and then they dressed as soldiers on guard and stopped in the square, patiently waiting for the German officers to report back. "

 Chapter 783

    On the way to the square, busmanov continued to tell me about their fighting experience in the city. I did not interrupt him, but listened to his report patiently.


    After waiting for half an hour, basmanov saw a tricycle coming along the street towards the square. He immediately ordered the officers and men of the guard company to prepare for the battle.


    After the motorcycle entered the square, it stopped not far from the tent. As soon as the car stopped, a German officer in a cornice hat came down from the sidecar. The officer looked around and saw that there were fewer soldiers guarding the baggage. He frowned and cried out, "come on, come on!"


    Hearing his cry, busmanov quickly grabbed the pistol in his hand and met him with a German fighter. Coming to the officer, basmanov saw that the other side was a captain from the rank on his epaulet.


    Seeing someone appeared in front of him, the captain asked angrily, "what''s the matter? Why are there so few soldiers guarding the baggage? Where are the rest of them? Are they sleeping in the tent?"


    As the officer spoke quickly and quickly, basmanov didn''t understand him at all. He just winked at the soldier next to him and put the pistol under the officer''s chin. The soldier also darted to the motorcycle and pointed the submachine gun at the German soldier who was still sitting on the motorcycle.


    The German officer was put a gun to his chin. Even a fool knew that he was standing in front of the enemy. He wanted to shout, but when he saw the soldier''s sneering face, he closed his mouth.


    Busmanov took the two men into the empty tent, ready to deal with them here. Just as they were about to start, two people came in from the outside. Basmanov looked back and saw that one of his soldiers was Mikhailov, while the other was lieutenant Braun who led us to the city.


    Seeing Braun here at this time, basmanov asked Mikhailov discontentedly, "Mikhailov, what did you bring this German here for?"


    Mikhail ROV saw basmanov angry, had to explain: "Lieutenant Braun just saw you caught the officer who just came back, he said there is something important to tell you, let me bring him to you."


    Basmanov was not good at getting angry with his subordinates in front of the German, so he had to wave his head at the German fighter and said with a displeased face: "ask him, what''s the matter?"


    The soldier came up to Braun, whispered a few words to him, then turned to basmanov and reported, "Lieutenant Braun said that this is his friend, Captain Peller, commander of the 9th company. Before he became a soldier, he was just a worker, not a * *. Please don''t kill him. "


    Braun saw that the soldier had finished his translation, seized basmanov''s hand, and kept on talking in German, as if he had been pleading for his friend. The latter impatiently broke his hand and told the soldier, "you tell him that if this captain Peller is honest and obedient, I can not kill him. If he wants to run away or give information to the patrols who pass by, I will not forgive him


    Although the soldier did not have time to translate, Braun obviously understood basmanov''s words and said thank you in Russian. Then he came to captain Peller''s side and murmured in a low voice. Maybe he was giving notice.


    When I heard basmanov say this, I interrupted him and asked directly, "Comrade captain, there is something I want to ask you. As far as I know, there are soldiers in the guard company who know how to drive armored vehicles, but no one who knows how to operate tanks. Judging from the guns that have just decided the victory or defeat, those who can hit the enemy''s barricades impartially are at least old tank soldiers with many years of rich experience. Can you tell me what''s going on? "


    Basmanov replied with a smile: "a teacher is a teacher. You can see the key problem at a glance. You''re right. The soldiers driving the tanks are not from the guard company, but from a regiment and a battalion. "


    "One regiment, one battalion?" After repeating the serial number that basmanov said, I immediately thought of Captain Nikolay''s troops and asked curiously, "Captain basmanov, if I don''t understand it wrong, you mean that after captain Nikolay''s troops join you, you will select some soldiers who can drive tanks from his battalion, Specially driving the tank to the south gate to help fight? "


    "Where is captain Nikolay?" I remember that in the battle plan, a regiment and a battalion were responsible for the attack in the north of the city, and the sound of gunfire and explosion coming from the city came from their attack area. So now basmanov mentioned Nikolay''s troops, so I asked straightforwardly, "how many casualties are there in the first battalion?"


    As for my question, basmanov pondered for a moment, then hesitated to reply: "Comrade division, as far as I know, when a battalion sent a small unit to sneak into the city to clean up the enemy patrol, it was noticed by the enemy and then exchanged fire. Seeing that the action had been noticed by the enemy, Captain Nikolay decisively ordered the troops to launch a strong attack, broke through the German defense in the north, rushed into the city, and rushed along the street to the square to meet us. In the course of their fighting, German tanks and armored forces also ran out of their resting places in an attempt to drive their own chariots to counter our attack. But we killed all these German soldiers who came in rashly.


    Captain Nikolay brought the battalion to join me. When he heard the fierce fighting in the south of the city, he offered to support the third regiment which was attacking the city. When he saw the tanks and armored vehicles parked in the square, he immediately ordered his subordinates to select the soldiers who had been tank soldiers from the camp, drive the German tanks and go south along the street for reinforcement. "


    As we were approaching the square, we saw a group of people coming in front of us. With the help of the fire in the distance, I saw that Nikolay and his group of colleagues were coming, and quickly stepped forward. As soon as I saw Nikolay''s face, without waiting for him to salute me, I took him by the hand and said in a friendly way, "Comrade captain, your troops are playing well. They broke through the enemy''s defense so quickly and rushed into the city. If you didn''t decisively send out the soldiers who have been tank soldiers and drive the tanks to reinforce the third regiment in time, I think lieutenant colonel kosga''s troops will pay a greater price if they want to seize the barricade. "


    After shaking hands with Nikolay, I went to shake hands with the deputy battalion commander, Captain kostrov, and the company commanders. Bantai leiev and kosja, who were behind me, also shook hands with Nikolay. When kosja and Nikolay shake hands, the former grabs the latter''s hand and shakes it vigorously, expressing his sincere thanks to him.


    After I shook hands with all the commanders, I saw kosga still holding Nikolay''s hand and saying something. I coughed heavily. When everyone''s attention was focused on me, I said in an official voice: "comrades commander, although the battle is over, maybe there are still Germans who have escaped the net here. Are we a group of commanders standing here to target the Germans? "


    After hearing what I said, busmanov first came back to himself and said, "Comrade division, there is a German battalion near here. Let''s go there."


    We followed busmanov into a two-story building and came to a large, beautifully decorated room. Although the room has been sorted out, there are still signs of fighting. On one side of the big wooden table in the middle of the room, there are many grenade fragments and rows of bullet holes. There was a map lying on the table, a corner of which was burned off, and there was still a pool of blood on the ground that had not dried up.


    But I didn''t care so much. I went straight to a chair at the table and sat down. At the same time, I asked the class, leiev, kosja and Nikolay, who followed me to sit down. He also told busmanov: "Comrade captain, when you go outside to arrange the security forces, if you see lieutenant colonel chejerikov, call him and his battalion commanders in by the way."


    After basmanov left, I asked Nikolay, who was sitting opposite me with concern, "Comrade captain, in today''s battle, are there any casualties in your battalion?"


    Nikolay nodded and reported that after the sneak attack was exposed, the troops took a strong attack. After the attack, during the process of marching along the street towards the central square, they were repeatedly attacked by cold guns hidden in the buildings on both sides. The casualties of the whole battalion were large, and almost every class had soldiers who died or were injured. In particular, he played the hardest in a row, with more than half of the casualties.


    Nikolay was reporting to me the casualties of the troops and the results of the war. A group of people came crashing in outside the door. I looked up and saw that it was Xie jerikov and his battalion commander. I immediately called him: "Comrade commander, you are here." After seeing them all sit down one after another, I went on to say this time, "Lieutenant Commander xijerikov, report to me the casualties and the deployment of your regiment."


    Xiejerikov quickly stood up and replied, "report, sir, our regiment''s defense is divided according to the areas occupied by the battalions. Captain Nikolay''s battalion was responsible for the defense of the north of the city; The second battalion of captain shereblenny was responsible for the defense of the west of the city; Major jelenkov''s third battalion is responsible for the defense of the east of the city. As for the casualties, "he said, after looking at his subordinates, he continued," because time is too short to make statistics. In my opinion, let the battalion commanders report to you in person. "


    Shejerikov pointed to major terenkov, the third battalion commander, and motioned him to stand up and report to me. Then he sat down. After standing up, jerenkov solemnly reported to me: "although the German defense force in the east of the city is not very strong, because the commanders and fighters in the battalion come from different forces, their cooperation needs to be strengthened. Therefore, in the course of the attack, the casualties of the troops were also relatively large, and the casualties of the whole battalion were close to that of a company. "


    When I heard that the number of casualties of the Third Battalion had reached one company, my heart sank. This was the strengthening company. After such a small battle, there were more than 200 casualties. I raised my hand and pressed it down. I motioned major terenkov to sit down. Then I turned around and asked shereblenny, who was still sitting there, "Comrade captain, how are your casualties in the second battalion?"


    Captain shereblenny quickly stood up and reported respectfully, "report to division commander, our battalion has lost 21 casualties in the battle tonight, including 7 casualties and 152 prisoners."


    After listening to his report, I thought I had heard wrong, so I asked him to repeat what he had just said. Now, before I could speak, bandeleyev said, "Captain shereblenner, if you don''t lie, this is really amazing. You should know that although the casualties of the 1st and 3rd battalions are not small, the total results they have achieved are not as many as your battalions. It''s just incredible. "


    "Comrade deputy division commander," I saw that Bantai leiev was suspicious of the results of the war reported by shereblenny, and quickly came out to help the latter, saying: "Comrade captain has been there since the establishment of the independent division. The reason why he only paid a small amount of casualties when he achieved such results may be related to the unique tactical characteristics of the independent division."¡° Unique tactical characteristics? " Bantaileiev was a little surprised to hear me say that. He asked curiously, "I don''t know what''s the difference between the tactics of other troops." I wanted to sum up the experience and lessons of this battle after the battle was over. Since Bantai leiev started the conversation, I would follow his meaning: "although I didn''t take part in the battle of the second battalion, I can also guess that when they entered the city and marched on the streets, they were not surrounded by large troops, but divided into several groups, Keep close to the wall and move forward alternately. At the same time, there is a combat team based on the class, which goes into the building and cleans up the remnant enemy inside. " At this point, I turned to shereblenny and asked, "am I right, comrade captain?" When Xie liebolianei heard my question, his face turned red with excitement. He nodded his head vigorously and said, "Comrade teacher, you are absolutely right. That''s exactly what you said." Shejerikov also stood up and expressed his views: "the reason why the 1st battalion and 3rd Battalion suffered a large number of casualties in the battle may be related to the old tactics they used before. In this regard, I have an unshirkable responsibility. In the next battle, I will promote the unique tactics of the independent division in the whole regiment as soon as possible, and strive to achieve the greatest results with the least casualties. " When xiejerikov finished expressing his attitude, bantaileiev looked at kosga and said seriously, "commander kosga, tell us about your regiment." Cosga didn''t expect bandeleev to name himself. He stood up red with shame and murmured, "in today''s battle, I made the mistake of belittling the enemy and advancing rashly. We thought that our forces were several times more than the enemy''s, but the few enemies in the barricade, hundreds of us rushed up and even trampled them to death. The result... "What''s the result?" Bantaileiev may have seen that the third regiment suffered heavy casualties and was stimulated, so he fought against kosga reluctantly: "as a result, you ordered the troops to rush forward under the dense barrage of enemy bullets without firepower cover? If captain busmanov hadn''t brought tanks to support you in time, I think you''d run out of five or six hundred men in the second battalion of the third regiment and couldn''t rush into the city. "¡° All right, all right. Comrade deputy division commander. " I am deeply afraid that if I go on, Bantai leiev will make kosga even worse, so I came out in time to make peace. "I believe that after the small-scale battle just now, commander kosga has realized his shortcomings in the ability to command the army. In the next days, he will certainly improve his ability through learning and practice." As soon as I learned about the casualties and the deployment of the troops, basmanov came in from the outside, leaned down and reported to me, "Comrade division commander, the remains of our soldiers and the bodies of the German army have been collected, and the wounded of both sides have been treated. What should we do next?" Instead of expressing my opinion immediately, I asked, "how many prisoners have been captured in this battle?" Basmanov was stunned by my question. For a long time, he said uncertainly, "maybe more than 100 prisoners have been captured, most of them are officers." After knowing the approximate number of prisoners, I gave an order to basmanov without hesitation: "Comrade captain, you should take people to take these prisoners out of the city immediately and get out of the city from the south of the city..." "Comrade division commander," before I finished, Bantai leiev suddenly interrupted and asked, "don''t you want the captain to take these prisoners out of the city and shoot them?" He also kindly reminded me, "after all, there are more than 100 prisoners. If you kill them all, it is estimated that someone will make trouble for you in the future." I didn''t mean to shoot the prisoner at all. Bantai leiev misunderstood me. So I introduced him with a smile and said, "Comrade deputy division commander, where do you want to go? I don''t mean to shoot them when I say to take them out of the city." Speaking of this, I saw the suspicious expression on the faces of all the commanders, and went on to say: "we have sacrificed so many commanders and fighters, and killed more than 100 or 200 German soldiers, so many bodies have to be buried!"?! I want captain busmanov to take these German prisoners out of the city, so that they can dig a pit to bury the bodies. After a long march and soldiers, our soldiers are exhausted, so we don''t need to trouble them with this kind of physical work. "¡° So it is. " All the commanders listened to me and suddenly realized.

 Chapter 784

    After sending several regiment commanders away, I moved a chair to the wall and sat there dozing off to keep my spirits.


    By the time I opened my eyes, it was bright outside.


    Seeing that I woke up, busmanov quickly came over and reported, "Comrade division, the cemetery has been dug, and the remains of the martyrs can be buried at any time."


    I looked around for a while. I didn''t see any sign of Bantai leiev, so I asked basmanov, "Captain, where has Comrade deputy division chief gone?"


    "The deputy division commander and some regiment commanders went to the temporary cemetery." After answering my question, busmanov asked carefully, "Comrade division, are you going now?"


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was eight o''clock in the morning, so I nodded and said, "it''s late. Let''s go. We should bury our martyrs as soon as possible before the German plane arrives. "


    When I talked about the enemy aircraft, basmanov instinctively looked up and found that he was still in the room. He couldn''t help laughing at himself and said, "Sir, we really can''t do without air supremacy. You see, when I hear you mention the enemy aircraft, I can''t help looking up to see if there is another enemy aircraft hovering in the sky."


    I went to the operator who was sitting by the door and asked him, "Comrade operator, do you have a telegram from the political commissar?"


    The operator quickly handed me a telegram in front of him and explained with fear: "Sir, comrade, this is a telegram received five minutes ago. I think you are still resting, so I didn''t disturb you."


    I took the telegram and immediately got it to see what bad news kirilov had sent me. The telegram read: "of the five reconnaissance units sent by our division to the enemy''s rear, only four have returned, and the other one is still missing. I am afraid it has been annihilated by the enemy."


    After reading the telegram, I thought in my heart that the reconnaissance unit that kirilov said had been annihilated should be the one that corporal Arsene was in. After they joined us, they kept radio silence in order not to reveal the position of the big troops. Kirilov mistakenly thought that it was inevitable that they would be annihilated by the enemy. Although the radio station we are carrying is still in the state of receiving only but not transmitting, the battle of seizing koneyi city has made the enemy find our troops deep into their rear. At this time, it is meaningless to keep radio silence. On the contrary, it will make it impossible for us to get in touch with friendly forces.


    Thinking of this, I put the telegram back on the desk and asked the operator, "if I contact the political commissar now, will it be monitored by the enemy?"


    After thinking about it, the operator replied, "as long as we talk to the rear, our radio station will be found by the enemy, but if the talk time is not long, the enemy will not be able to lock our position."


    "If we are in contact with the division headquarters now, what can we do to avoid the enemy''s eavesdropping?"


    "It''s very simple, sir." As soon as the operator talked about his profession, he began to talk a lot: "we can use code words when talking. For example, tanks are replaced by 29, infantry by 12, and armored vehicles by..."


    I was afraid that he would not finish talking. I quickly raised my hand to stop him and told him: "Comrade telegraph operator, you should immediately talk to the division headquarters and tell the commissar that the missing reconnaissance unit is with us at present." After that, I waved my head to basmanov standing beside me and said, "come on, comrade captain, deputy division commander, they should wait."


    When we came to the outside of the city, we saw a lot of people standing at the foot of the hillside in the distance. We sped up and walked there. When I came to Bantai leiev''s side, I nodded at him and then asked, "Comrade deputy division commander, what''s the situation? Are you ready?"


    Bantailiev pointed to the front and said, "everything is ready. You can only see it and bury the remains of the martyrs."


    I looked in the direction of his fingers and saw a long trench dug on the hillside. Rows of martyrs'' bodies were lying outside the trench. At the moment when I saw the remains of many martyrs, I felt vaguely that they had not sacrificed. They just lay there to rest. As long as I ordered them, they could stand up again and attack the German army lively.


    I took bantaileiev, shejerikov and kosja up the slope to see the trench dug by the German prisoners in the dark. Compared with the trench we used in battle, the long trench is wide and shallow. Although we do not have coffins to cover the martyrs lying on the ground, the living soldiers have carefully cleaned up the remains of their comrades in arms, wiped the blood stains on the martyrs'' faces, and crossed their hands on their chest.


    "Comrade deputy division commander, how many martyrs are there?" I can''t help but turn back and ask Bantai leiev.


    "A total of 237 martyrs." Bandeleev replied briefly.


    "What about the German bodies?" Looking at the two long trenches in front of me, I muttered in my heart that bantaileiev didn''t want to bury our martyrs and the bodies of the enemy in the same long trench, so I specially asked, "where are the bodies of the enemy?"


    Bantailiev pointed to the northeast and said with disdain, "I let the prisoners dig two big pits over there and bury all the German bodies. They don''t deserve to be buried with our soldiers. "


    Seeing that everything was ready, I ordered the soldiers to put the remains of the martyrs into the trench, ready for the burial ceremony.


    With my order, the soldiers of the two companies, who had long been assembled at the foot of the mountain, dispersed in groups, lifted up the remains of their comrades and began to be buried.


    Bantai leiev saw the soldiers put a corpse into the trench. He suddenly pulled me aside and looked left and right. Then he asked me mysteriously, "Comrade division commander, Captain Nikolay and his battalion just came here. Is it appropriate to bury his corpse with the remains of our soldiers?"


    "There is nothing inappropriate, comrade deputy division commander." I glanced at captain Nikolay not far away and said solemnly, "no matter what they have done before, as long as they join us, they are members of our team. The officers and soldiers of the first battalion, like the soldiers of other battalions, have given their precious lives to defend their motherland. Can''t they be allowed to live in peace?"


    After listening to me, bantaileiev stopped talking. He looked around at captain Nikolay, shrugged his shoulders, and stood aside to watch the soldiers.


    When all the remains of the martyrs were put into the trench, all the soldiers who took part in the work could form three rows on the hillside. The soldiers with the shovel stood in the first row. They stood there quietly, waiting for my next order. I walked slowly to the trench with all the battalion and company commanders who had been present, bantailiev, shejerikov and kosja.


    I bent down and picked up a handful of soil from the ground. At last, I took a look at the martyr lying in the long ditch and spilled the soil with one hand. Bantai leiev, standing on one side, immediately ordered loudly, "let the martyrs live in peace and fill the earth." With his orders, soldiers with engineering shovels stepped forward quickly and shoveled the soil outside the trench into the trench.


    Looking at the busy soldiers, I turned my head and said to basmanov, "Captain, remember to mark here later. When the war is over, we will set up a monument for these martyrs, so that our future generations will always remember them. "


    When the burying work is over and the soldiers return to the original line, Bantai leiev orders all the soldiers to raise their guns and shoot in mourning!


    After the ceremony, I made a speech facing the hillside where 237 martyrs were buried: "in front of you is the enemy, and behind you is the motherland. It is because of your fall that the land of the motherland has not been trampled by the Communist aggressors. You have protected the land behind us with your lives. Rest in peace, comrades. Your task is done. The military songs will be loud and clear because of you, and the battle flag will be bright because of you. Please accept our highest salute. All the heroes who have given their precious lives for the motherland are immortal With that, I raised my hand and gave a solemn military salute to the martyr''s cemetery.


    After my words, there was silence behind me, and then there was a tsunami like cry: "Wula! Wula!! Wula


    I turned to look, behind many of the commanders while shaking their arms and shouting, while raising their hands to wipe away the tears inadvertently left from the corner of their eyes. Captain Nikolay was so excited that he burst into tears when he saw that I gave his men such a high evaluation. Even bantaileiev, shejerikov and kosja, who have always been steady, have red eyes.


    After all the funeral ceremonies, all the battalion and regiment commanders and I went back to the temporary headquarters to discuss the next direction of our troops.


    As we have captured the enemy''s map and information, we are not as black as if we had just arrived here. Instead, we clearly know that in the northwest of kongyi, there is an enemy''s highland, which is just blocking our army''s way to the north. If we want to move on, we must pull out this "nail".


    As soon as I put forward my own operational plan, Captain Nikolay got up first and said carelessly, "Comrade division, you can see the combat effectiveness of our battalion in the early morning. I hope you can give the main task to our battalion, and we promise we will live up to your expectations. "


    As soon as his voice fell, the next shereblenny could not hear it. He quickly stood up and retorted, "Captain Nikolay, you can''t say that. In the battle in the early morning, I admit that your subordinates are very tough and brave, but my subordinates are not bad, are they? At present, your troops are seriously reduced, and our battalion has little loss in the battle. I think it is more appropriate for our battalion to complete this main task. "


    Seeing that the commanders of the first and second battalions were arguing about the main task, major jerenkov, the third battalion commander, leaned forward, as if to stand up and fight for the task with his two colleagues. Before he got up, someone else got up first. When terenkov saw this man, he sat down again.


    The new person standing up was the third commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosga. He said excitedly: "in the early morning battle, the performance of our three regiments was not satisfactory, so I hope that the division commander can give this arduous and glorious task to our regiment, so that we can have a chance to be shamed." At this point, he also glanced at Nikolay and shereblenny, as if warning them not to argue with themselves.


    "Commander kosga," when he saw kosga coming to grab the task, xiejerikov couldn''t sit still. He also stood up and said recklessly, "our regiment now has three battalions, but you only have one battalion with one third reduction. I think we should let the division commander give this task to our regiment."


    "You..." when he saw xiejerikov stand up, kosja was not willing to show his weakness. He argued with the other side loudly about who was the main attacker. Bantai leiev was dumbfounded when he saw that they were quarreling with each other. Then he came close to my ear and said in a low voice, "Comrade division, I have been in the army for more than 20 years, but I have never seen anyone argue red in the face in order to grab a main task. It seems that the independent division is different from other units. It''s really different. " When I heard him say that, I couldn''t help but have a deep-rooted idea of obedience in the minds of other army commanders. They only know how to wait for the orders from the superiors, and they don''t have the consciousness of asking for war. They have been under my command for a long time, and their ideas have changed imperceptibly. This is probably the difference between the independent division and other units. I stood up and clapped my hands on the table twice in a row to stop the argument between chejerikov and kosja. After both of them sat down, I said slowly, "let''s see which army will take charge of the main attack. Now let''s talk about how to play the next battle. " Bantaileiev, when I finished speaking, stood up quickly, picked up a piece of information in front of him and read to you: "in our northwest direction, there is a hillside with an altitude of more than 100 meters. It stretches out a mountain leg from east to west, forming a mountain body with three mountain tops. According to the Scout''s report, as the enemy''s defense is focused on the north, there are few Fortifications on the south slope facing us. However, our battle to capture kongnieyi city has obviously alarmed the enemies on the hillside. They are rushing to repair the fortifications on the south slope. " After Bantai leiev finished reading the information, kosga first asked, "Comrade deputy division commander, what are the characteristics of these three mountains?" Bantaileiev stared at him and replied, "the mountain in the west is closest to us, and it''s easy to climb; On the east side, the mountain is steep. First of all, we have to choose a breakthrough between the two mountains, and then we will rush up the mountain to the high ground in the middle, so as to reduce the loss of troops. " After listening to Bantai leiev''s introduction, kosja immediately said confidently, "what''s the difficulty? We''ll concentrate our forces to attack the Western Hills, and then push forward to the middle highland after we get a firm foothold."¡° I can''t, commander kosga. " As soon as his words were finished, xiejerikov immediately refuted him, saying: "if you fight like this, the enemy can completely draw troops from the high ground in the middle to reinforce the Western Hills. At the same time, they can also use artillery to intercept our attacking troops with artillery fire. In this way, we will pay a heavy price." Kosja was obviously not satisfied with this, so he flatly denied his opinion, and immediately asked, "commander xiejerikov, if you want your regiment to attack, how are you going to fight?"¡° It''s very simple, "said shejerikov confidently." I''ll send a battalion to feint at the East Mountain, but the main attack direction is still in the West. If we fight like this, the enemy will not know which side our main attack direction is, and their troops on the high ground in the middle will not dare to use them casually. " Bantaileiev nodded his head with satisfaction after listening to sergeant chejerikov''s plan, then said with a smile, "I think the plan put forward by sergeant chejerikov is operational. According to the report of the scouts, there are only two companies of the enemy''s garrison on the high ground. Facing the simultaneous attacks from both sides of us, they absolutely dare not act rashly. Our success in capturing the high ground in a short time has been greatly improved. " Then he turned to look at me and asked for my opinion: "Comrade division commander, let''s adopt the operational plan of lieutenant colonel chejerikov?" After thinking about it, I shook my head slowly and said, "I don''t agree with lieutenant colonel chejerikov''s plan."

 Chapter 785

    My words stunned everyone.


    After a long time, Bantai leiev tentatively asked: "Comrade teacher, why do you want to oppose the plan of lieutenant colonel xijerikov? You know, the western highland is closest to us, and the terrain is gentle, so it is easy for the troops to climb, and the attack on the highland is easy to work. "


    The expression on his face returned to normal. He asked carefully, "Comrade division, did you deny my plan because you have already thought about the attack plan in your heart?"


    Bantai leiev seemed to hear something from Sergey reekov''s words, so he frowned and asked, "Comrade teacher, do you have a better plan than that proposed by Lieutenant Colonel Sergey reekov?"


    "Comrade deputy division commander, I really have a plan in mind," I said modestly. "Although I don''t know if it''s really better than Comrade xiejerikov''s plan, it''s definitely a super bold plan."


    Bantai leiev angrily returned to his seat and said to me in a sarcastic tone, "since that''s the case, please tell us about your bold plan."


    I stood up and scanned the whole room with my eyes. First of all, I expressed my objection: "comrades commander, the reason why I do not agree with the plan of lieutenant colonel chejerikov is that if we attack from the foot of the mountain on the west side, we will not have an unexpected effect. If we attack one point at the same time and then attack another point, it is easy to form point-to-point contention. On the contrary, it prolongs the fighting time and increases unnecessary casualties. "


    After listening to my reasons, kosga said somewhat unconvinced: "Sir, we all know that the west side of the mountain is gentle and easy to climb, and our attack is easy to work. But now you have denied this direction of attack. Which direction should we attack? We can''t attack the main position directly, can we


    I looked at kosga with some surprise, but he said casually, and really guessed my plan. So I nodded and went on, "Colonel kosga is right. I''m going to send troops directly to attack the main German position."


    As soon as my words came out, the whole room was stunned. Without waiting for anyone to speak again, I said, "my plan is to concentrate our superior forces and attack the enemy''s main positions. On the other hand, we still need to send troops to make feint attacks on the East and West Hills, especially on the west side. We need to put in enough troops to make feint attacks, so that the enemy can not figure out which side our main attack direction is. "


    After I finished, bantaileiev immediately put forward his retort: "Comrade division commander, I think it''s a little too risky to directly attack the main German position. When the troops charge to the main position, they will be killed by fire from the East and West hills. The attack of troops will be frustrated by the enemy''s cross fire; Even if we are forced to seize the position, we will pay extremely heavy casualties. "


    After Bantai leiev''s words, several commanders began to whisper. I know they are talking about the feasibility of my proposal, so I didn''t stop them, but let them continue to discuss. When the discussion gradually subsided, I coughed and cleared my throat and said, "to attack the main position directly, one is that it can surprise the enemy; the other is that the feint attack from the East and West hills will distract the enemy''s attention and make them unable to concentrate on defense. In this way, we can capture the enemy''s position with the least casualties in the shortest time."


    Bantaileiev saw that my attitude was firm and it was not good to argue with me in front of many subordinates. He could only take a compromise. His eyes swept from every commander on the scene, and he said helplessly: "let''s talk about it. What are the different opinions on the plan proposed by the teacher?"


    I also curiously observed the expressions of the commanders, hoping to hear what additional opinions they would have. Colonel kosga looked around, then stood up, leaned forward slightly, put his hands on the edge of the table, and said, "I think the deputy commander''s worry is reasonable. According to the information from the reconnaissance, the distance between the East and West Hills is 800 meters. That is to say, most of the routes attacked by the troops attacking the main positions are in the range of the enemy''s machine gun fire. The attacks we launched are easily defeated by the enemy. "


    "Comrade commander, I don''t agree with you." As soon as he had finished speaking, he immediately stood up and retorted, "I think the teacher''s plan is more feasible. Although the distance between the East and the West was not far, the fortifications on the hillside were built temporarily by the German army, which could not stop our army''s fierce attack. What''s more, the division commander also said that while launching an attack on the main positions, we should also feint attacks on the East and West Mountains. In this way, the enemy will not know where our main attack direction is, so we can''t concentrate our forces on one point to defend. Therefore, we are quite sure that we will capture the enemy''s positions with the least casualties in a short time. "


    When he heard that xiejerikov supported my plan, bantaileiev''s face became more and more ugly. It is estimated that in his heart, he still thought that my playing method was too risky, but maybe it was for my face. Although he didn''t agree with my plan, he didn''t directly say the opposite. Instead, he transferred the contradiction in time: "since the two leaders have talked about their own views, So next, I think we should listen to the ideas of the battalion commanders. "


    As soon as the commander of the second battalion of the third regiment had finished what Bantai leyev said, he immediately stood up and said, "I support the opinion of the commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosga." Then he sat back to his position.


    Then Nikolay and shereblenny stood up one after another. As I expected, they expressed their support for their regiment. The opinion of lieutenant colonel sherekov also indirectly supported my proposal.


    The last one to stand up was major terenkov, the commander of the Third Battalion of the first regiment. He hesitated for a moment, and finally said ambiguously, "I am determined to obey the orders of my superiors. If the higher authorities ask our battalion to fight the main position, we will fight the main position. If we go to the East and west mountain tops to make feint attacks, we will go to the East and west sides to perform feint attacks. "


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It''s almost ten o''clock. If we continue our discussion, I don''t know when we can come to a conclusion. So I stood up and said decisively, "well, you don''t have to talk about it any more. We''ll take the plan of feigning to attack the main position directly on the East and west sides of the mountain. The attack will start at 11 o''clock this morning. Now I will announce the tasks to be undertaken by the battalions in the next battle: the Nikolay battalion of the first regiment is responsible for the feint attack on the east hill; The second battalion of the third regiment was responsible for the feint attack on the Western Hilltop; The main attack task of the front main position was carried out by shereblenny''s battalion, and the Third Battalion of major jerenkov served as the reserve. For the time being, the troops directly under the regiment of the first regiment are responsible for the defense of kongnieyi. After the assignment, do you have any different opinions? "


    As soon as I said it, I regretted it. What I am now has the final say of the highest military officer in the whole division, and what attack plan to take and which troops to attack is entirely up to me to decide. If anyone really puts forward different opinions, it will waste a lot of time in order to unify their opinions.


    What I was worried about soon became a reality. When several commanders stood up and walked outside, Nikolay suddenly said with some dissatisfaction: "Comrade division, I have different opinions."


    "Tell me, comrade captain." Because camp Nikolay has made a great contribution in the battle of seizing konaiyi City, I can only listen to it in time. As long as it is not too difficult for me, I still have to find a way to satisfy him. I sat back in my seat and asked with a headache, "do you have any different opinions?"


    "Sir, why did you send our battalion to perform the feint task?" Nikolay said wrongly: "although our battalion suffered a lot of casualties in the siege, there is no problem in capturing a poorly defended highland. Sir, I want to assure you that we will take down the main position in the shortest time. So I implore you to leave the task of attacking the main position to our battalion. "


    After listening to Nikolay''s complaints, I stood up and said to him in an official voice: "Captain Nikolay, according to the regulations, the commander''s orders are not allowed to be discussed. Since you have ordered your battalion to carry out the feint task, go and carry out it well. In the days to come, we still have a lot of vicious battles to fight. Are we afraid that we will not be able to carry out more important tasks in your battalion? "


    When Nikolay heard me say this, his face was smiling again. He said sincerely, "yes, sir, I will obey your orders." After that, he raised his hand to salute Bantai leiev and me, and turned to leave.


    Looking at his back, I suddenly thought of an important thing, and quickly stopped him: "Hello, Captain Nikolay, please wait a moment, I have something important to discuss with you."


    Nikolay, who had just arrived at the door, stopped, turned to look at me and asked, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"


    I walked up to him quickly and asked quietly, "Comrade captain, how many commanders and fighters in your camp can drive tanks or armored vehicles?"


    "There are probably two platoons," Nikolay did not know why I asked, but he told me truthfully: "they were all tank soldiers before they were captured. The last time you asked major Prikhodko to jump tank soldiers among the released prisoners of war, my soldiers who were tankers were a little excited, but they were afraid of being discriminated, so I didn''t mention it. By the way, I almost forgot. In addition, there are about one platoon of artillery. Each of them has rich combat experience. As long as they have guns, they can immediately form an Artillery Force. "


    Nikolay''s words really surprised me. Originally, I thought it would be good to find out about ten tankers. Unexpectedly, there were two platoons and one platoon of artillery. In any case, in addition to tanks and armored vehicles, there were three 150 mm K18 cannons in the baggage on the square, which could arm them. Thinking of the tanks and cannons that will be put into battle, my voice changed a little: "Captain Nikolay, you leave all these soldiers behind and hand them over to captain busmanov, do you understand?"


    "I understand." Nikolay readily agreed, and then carefully asked me: "Sir, comrade, may I leave?"


    "Go ahead, go ahead," I said excitedly, waving to him, "go back to the army quickly and get ready for battle as soon as possible."


    Looking at the figure of Nikolay''s leaving, leyev, who had just come to the class, said excitedly: "Comrade division, this is really great. If we have tanks and cannons now, it will not be difficult to capture the enemy''s positions any more. I reckon that as long as the cannon goes off, the enemy will have to pay for everything on the hillside, and then let our soldiers rush up and take down the position. "


    Although I decided on the most adventurous attack plan arbitrarily at the meeting just now, I was still a little uneasy. Listening to Bantai leiev''s confidence, I just said with a wry smile: "Comrade deputy division commander, although we have tanks and cannons, which have greatly strengthened our army''s offensive strength, at the same time, we should also see that, The Germans who stick to the high ground have more skilled technical and tactical level and rich combat experience than our commanders and fighters, so we can''t take it lightly at all. "


    The German highland is in the northwest of kongniayi City, only four kilometers away from the city. There is a dirt road passing through the foot of the mountain. If we want to continue to go north, we must seize this highland. With the issuance of the operational order, the whole army moved quickly. In less than half an hour, only one company of a regiment directly under the regiment was left to take up the defensive task in the small town where more than 3000 people were originally stationed.


    Basmanov and I set up our observation post on a small slope two kilometers away from the highland, from which we can clearly see the whole battlefield. As there was no ready-made telephone line, I asked basmanov to take a squad of soldiers from the guard company to act as a temporary Messenger, so that I could give orders to the troops in time.


    At that time, when the needle pointed to eleven o''clock, I nodded to basmanov, so he walked out of the observation post, raised the signal gun he had captured, fired a red signal bomb into the air, and sent out an attack signal to the troops who had been eager to try.


    With the launch of the signal bomb, the commanders and fighters hiding at the foot of the mountain jumped from the ground one after another and rushed to the front hillside with guns.


    Bantai leiev saw a lot of officers and men rushing forward in his telescope. He could not help but nervously remind me, "Comrade division commander, why don''t you prepare for the artillery fire and let the troops attack?"


    I pointed to the Highlands in front of me and said with disapproval, "Comrade deputy division commander, we only have three guns and five tanks. If we want to prepare for the three Highlands, it will be a waste of time. Now our commanders and fighters attack the Highlands without artillery cover. This will give the Germans the illusion that we do not have heavy weapons, and their firepower and heavy weapons will be exposed when they are deployed on the hillside. In this way, we can allow artillery and tanks to destroy the enemy''s fire points one by one and cover the attack of our troops. "


    "Well, sir." Bantai leiev said helplessly after I finished my thoughts: "since you are so sure, we will wait until the enemy''s firepower and heavy weapons are exposed, and then order artillery and tanks to fire."


    As soon as he finished, the German troops on the hillside opened fire. In the direction of the main position, in addition to the long muzzle fire from several civil fire points connected with the trench, there were several mortar shells whistling out of the trench, drawing an invisible arc in the air, and then fell into the attack line on the hillside and exploded. The fire flashed at the explosion point, making a huge noise. At the same time, the flying shrapnel knocked down several soldiers nearby.


    Troops under German artillery fire and fire were evacuated immediately. Some of them lay on the ground and shot, while others, in groups of three, rolled and leaped to approach the enemy''s position under alternate cover of the terrain.


    "Captain busmanov." Seeing the attack from the main attack direction and being suppressed by the enemy''s firepower, I rushed to the door and called my own guard battalion commander.


    As I called, busmanov appeared at the door. Without waiting for him to speak, I told him, "Comrade captain, there are mortars in the German main position, which pose a great threat to our attacking troops. We immediately ordered the cannons platoon to fire and destroy all of them."


    Basmanov agreed, turned around and yelled out. He called a soldier who was a temporary guest messenger. He repeated my order to him and asked him to rush to the artillery platoon immediately to convey the order.


    As busmanov relayed my orders at the door, I turned my attention to camp Nikolay, who was feigning on the east side of the hill. Perhaps it is because the battalion is made up of experienced soldiers. Under the suppression of the enemy''s firepower, they fight very methodically. The soldiers crawl to the enemy''s hillside position, and as soon as they get into the distance, they lie on the ground and drop the grenades directly. The shrapnel exploded in front of and behind the enemy''s trench, and the fire was reduced.


    "Comrade deputy division commander," seeing this scene, I immediately called to Bantai leiev: "you come to see the Nikolay camp, which is performing the feint task on the east side, and they are playing quite well. Their soldiers crawled into the distance, and the grenades put down the enemy''s fire. "


    "It''s good. It''s really good." Bantaileiev watched the battle of the Nikolay battalion for a while, and said with praise, "it''s really a good fight for the veteran troops. In the face of the enemy''s fierce fire, instead of rushing forward in a dense formation, they took the squad as a unit, crawled into the bomb dropping distance, and used hand grenades to suppress the enemy''s fire. If our division can have more such battalions, its combat effectiveness will be greatly improved. "


    I turned the telescope to the nearest mountain on the west side, which made me very angry. The German positions on the hilltop and hillside were frantically shooting at the foot of the mountain, while the troops of the second battalion of the third regiment were lying at a distance of at least 300 meters from the enemy positions to shoot back.


    Bantai leiev may have seen me trembling with anger and asked unexpectedly, "what''s the matter with you, sir?"


    I pointed to the direction of the feint attack of the third regiment and said angrily, "I gave them the task of feint attack, but you see what they have done. They all lie hundreds of meters away from the enemy''s position and shoot. God knows where the bullets are flying."


    After listening to me, Bantai leiev turned his telescope around in a hurry and looked at it for a moment. He also said angrily, "what''s the matter with lieutenant colonel kosga? When he attacked the South Gate in the early morning, he asked the soldiers to queue up to die. As a result, he was criticized by us. Now it''s good. Their troops are lying so far away and firing. Can they attract the attention of the German army and cover our frontal attack? " At this point, he angrily suggested to me, "Comrade division commander, I don''t think lieutenant colonel kosga is suitable to be the head of the third regiment. I suggest that we replace him immediately."


    Although I have a lot of dissatisfaction with lieutenant colonel kosga in my heart, it will affect the morale of the army to change the commander on the spot. Thinking of this, I waved to leiev and said, "Comrade deputy division commander, it''s not right now. Even if we want to remove him, we have to wait until the end of the battle. If someone were sent to replace him now, the third regiment might collapse. "


    "But, sir." Bantai leiev said anxiously: "you see, the commanders and fighters of the third regiment are all lying there, and even the enemy fools will understand that our attack in this direction is only a feint attack. In this way, they may mobilize part of their forces to reinforce the position or use firepower to kill our front attacking troops from the flank."


    "Busmanov!" I yelled at the outside. As soon as the voice fell, busmanov, who had been watching the movement of the station, appeared at the door. I pointed to the direction of the third regiment and ordered loudly: "Comrade captain, let the tanks go out immediately to reinforce the third regiment. Go yourself. By the way, I''ll tell the third commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosga, that if I don''t see his troops launch an attack on the western hill five minutes after the tanks arrive, then he will lose his rank of lieutenant commander and be sent to the military court. "


    "You are right, sir!" Bantaileiev gave timely support to my handling opinions. "In such a battle, the military law should be strict. If the third regiment does not attack the west side of the mountain, not only kosja, the commander of the regiment, can''t run away, but also his battalion commander."


    Seeing basmanov still standing at the door, I yelled at him angrily: "Captain, what are you still doing here? Why don''t you take the tank unit to support the third regiment?"


    Not long after basmanov left, the artillery platoon began to fire.


    A moment later, in my sight, the cannonball landed in the trench on the hillside and exploded. The enemy''s trench area was ablaze with fire, smoke and dust, and pieces of wood, broken parts of various firearms and human remains were thrown into the air. After several rounds of firing, with the fire and black smoke covering the enemy''s firepower points, the original raging firepower network on the enemy''s position weakened, and the commanders and fighters who were suppressed on the hillside quickly jumped up from the ground and rushed to the hillside.


    Seeing our officers and men approaching the hillside position, the artillery platoon extended its fire and began to bombard the German position on the top of the mountain. The German troops in the hillside position were dazed by the explosion. Before they recovered, some agile commanders and fighters rushed into the trench and opened close combat and hand to hand combat with them.


    I turned the telescope to the west side again, and saw five tanks in a neat formation, speeding towards the assembly site of the third regiment. When the tank was about 800 meters away from the highland, it stopped moving forward. Then it lined up and made a good shooting posture. At this time, about fifty or sixty people jumped up from the soldiers lying on the ground and bravely rushed to the hillside.


    Seeing that the troops that had been lying on the ground for a long time finally moved, I swore in a low voice: This lieutenant colonel kosga is really toasting and not eating and drinking. If you don''t send basmanov to threaten you, you don''t know how to send troops to attack.


    My swearing was heard by Bantai leiev, but not much. Because the voice was too small, he didn''t hear it clearly, so he asked me curiously, "what? What are you talking about, sir? "


    Of course, I would not tell him that I was scolding kosga. Instead, I pointed to the west side and said, "deputy division commander, you see, as soon as I sent captain basmanov, the commander kosga sent troops to attack the hillside."


    Bantai leiev looked at the other side casually, then muttered to himself, "this busmanov is really fast. The tank is still so far away from the highland. He actually conveyed your order to lieutenant colonel kosga in such a short time." Then he raised his telescope and looked to the West.


    He only looked at it a few times, and then he suddenly yelled, "Damn it, damn it."


    I was startled by what he said and asked, "what''s the matter, comrade Deputy teacher?"


    He put down his telescope, pointed to the distance and said angrily, "Comrade division, Captain busmanov has not had time to convey your order to lieutenant commander kosga. Commander, maybe he saw the tank you sent and knew that you were dissatisfied with him, so he rushed up with people himself. "


    "What, Lieutenant Colonel kosga himself took people up?" I was startled by the words of Bantai leiev, and I immediately asked, "can''t you read it wrong?" Bantai leiev looked at me innocently and said with a bitter smile, "Comrade teacher, how can I be wrong at such a long distance. Take a look for yourself. One of the people at the front is commander kosga in a big cornice hat. The people around him should be his guards. " I quickly raised my telescope and looked over there. The officers and men who had just rushed up the hillside were lying behind the small earth slopes less than 100 meters away from the hillside position, shooting at the enemy above. A commander in a cornice hat is lying behind a light machine gun, operating the machine gun to shoot at the enemy. When I look at it carefully, the commander of the temporary guest shooter is no other than the commander of the third regiment. Seeing that some commanders and fighters around him were shot and rolled down the hillside from time to time, my heart was raised to my throat. If such a feint mission would cost a regimental commander, then even if we won the highland, we would be defeated. When I was very anxious, the tanks lined up at the foot of the mountain opened fire. Five tank shells landed in front of the hillside position and exploded. The fire and black smoke from the explosion blocked the sight of both sides. As the enemy''s firepower weakened, the commanders and fighters who were lying at the foot of the mountain rushed forward to see their commanders. They also got up from the ground one after another, bent down and rushed up with guns. Seeing this situation, I was relieved that since there were tanks to provide artillery cover, as long as kosga was not an idiot, he could turn feint into a strong attack and seize the western mountain from the German army. I turned my attention to the east to see how camp Nikolay was playing. I was overjoyed to see that although the terrain on the east side of the mountain was steep, the troops of Nikolay battalion had successfully captured the hillside position without the cover of artillery fire, and the troops were marching towards the top of the mountain in the face of a hail of bullets. Bantaileiev soon saw this situation, and again said with emotion: "this captain Nikolay is not simple. It''s just a feint mission, but he turned it into a formal attack." After pausing for a moment, he suddenly uttered a startling remark, "Comrade division commander, I have an idea that he may be the right person to be the head of the third regiment?"

 Chapter 786

    As for Bantai leiev''s proposal, I just gave a faint smile and said nothing. I continued to hold up my telescope to watch the three troops rushing to the top of the mountain.


    Seeing that I didn''t reply, Bantai leiev was in a hurry. "Hello, Hello, sir, can you hear me?"


    I put down my telescope, looked at him with a bitter smile, and said helplessly: "Comrade deputy division commander, I don''t know what you want to hear from me? Do you really want to remove Colonel kosga and let captain Nikolay be the head of the third regiment? Have you ever thought about what will become of the three regiments with low morale and unstable morale? "


    Bantai leiev obviously didn''t expect me to answer him like this. He was speechless by my series of questions. While the iron was hot, I said: "Comrade deputy division commander, you may not know that when the independent division still belonged to me, I saw through the telescope that whether it was camp shereblenner who attacked the main position, or camp Nikolay and the second battalion of the third regiment who feigned to attack the East and West Mountains, they all quickly crossed the mountainside and climbed to the top of the mountain.


    Seeing that the victory has been decided, I can''t help but feel relieved. Originally, I wanted to talk about kosja with bandeleev again, so that he could completely dispel the idea of letting captain Nicholas take over the post of head of the third regiment. His idea is totally unrealistic, not to mention whether Nicholas can take up the post of head of the regiment. Even if he is just a short-term identity, it will arouse the vigilance of the Ministry of interior.


    I just called Bantai leyev, and before I could say anything later, the guard, ruhovitzki, ran in and nervously reported to me, "Mr. division, can you come out for a moment?"


    Seeing the sudden appearance of the guard soldiers, I couldn''t help but be stunned. I raised my telescope and looked at the high ground in front of me. I saw that our troops were progressing very smoothly. No accident happened. What would happen to me when I was called by ruhovitzki? I put down my telescope, turned around and asked ruhovitzki curiously, "what''s the matter, corporal?" Because of his good performance recently, basmanov promoted him and Mikhailov to corporal after consulting me.


    The expression on johovitzki''s face was a little flustered, and he said in a hurry: "Sir, comrade, can you come to the communication room? The operator received a strange call


    "Received a strange call?" After listening to ruhovitzki''s report, I turned to Bantai leiev and saw that he was also at a loss. Knowing that he knew nothing as well as me, I waved my head to ruhovitzki and said, "come on, corporal, let''s go and see what strange call the operator received."


    As early as before the attack, the commanders and fighters who were responsible for building the observation post for us built a simple communication room half buried in the ground nearby and moved the telephone in. Because the distance is not far, less than a minute, I appeared at the door of the communication room, and seriously asked the operator: "what''s the matter, what kind of call have you received?"


    The operator handed me the earphone without saying a word. As soon as I put it on my head, I heard a young and urgent female voice in the earphone: "Don river, Don river, I''m a red star; Don river, Don river, I''m Red Star... "


    I looked down and saw that the transmitter was still on the table, so I asked the operator in a low voice, "what''s going on?"


    The operator also told me carefully: "Mr. reporter, I received this strange call a few minutes ago. From his call code, it should be the Scout sent by the Don front army. "


    "If we respond to them, will the Ming language call leak?" I asked cautiously.


    The operator nodded and replied, "yes, the Ming language calls are vulnerable to German eavesdropping. According to the regulations, we should respond to them in code language. But... "At this point, the operator shut up in embarrassment.


    He was so hesitant that I was really worried. I hastened to urge him: "but what, comrade telegraph operator? Go on


    With my permission, the operator went on to say, "for the sake of confidentiality, there are differences in the code words used by the various front armies. I''m afraid that the wrong code words used in the response will cause their misunderstanding."


    "Since the code language is not good, then use the clear language to talk." I heard the voice of the female soldiers shouting in a hurry. It should be something urgent to report to the higher authorities, so I didn''t care whether it would leak. I grabbed the transmitter on the desk and took it to my mouth.


    Just about to shout, I can''t help hesitating again. The other party has been calling "Don River", but what code should I use to respond to her? When I was thinking about it, Bantai leiev also came to the small communication room. He saw me standing beside the telephone in a daze with earphone and transmitter. He pulled the operator aside and asked the other party in a low voice what happened.


    When he asked what was going on and turned his attention to me again, I saw that he seemed to have something to say, so I moved the transmitter away from his mouth, pulled the earphone aside, and asked in a low voice, "Comrade deputy division commander, you have all the information. Do you have any good ideas now?"


    "Yes, sir." Bantai leiev said thoughtfully: "I guess you are worrying about what code to use to respond to each other? Since the other party is calling the Don river, it obviously refers to the front army of the Don river. And you can use the Volga River as the code, so that if the other side is not too stupid, they can guess that they are friendly. "


    "Good idea!" I gave a thumbs up at the desk. Then I put on my headphones, moved the transmitter to my mouth again, and cried out: "Hello, red star, red star, this is Volga River. Please answer if you hear me! Red star, red star, this is Volga River. Please answer if you hear me


    As soon as I called for the second time, the call in the earphone suddenly stopped. At one time, I thought it was the other party''s communication equipment, but I listened carefully and found that in addition to the shooting sound of various guns and the explosion sound of grenades, there seemed to be someone whispering. I guess the other party was scared by my sudden response and was trying to figure out what was going on, so I stopped calling and waited patiently for another response.


    After a while, the voice came from the earphone again, but it was no longer the female voice just now, but a man''s voice: "Hello, are you a comrade of Stalingrad''s front army?"


    "Yes." Originally, I had to hesitate whether I should show my identity, but in order to gain the other party''s trust more quickly and find out what happened, I decisively showed my identity: "I am major general oshanina, the division commander of the independent division of Stalingrad''s front army. Please tell me briefly, who are you, where are you now, and what risks are you facing?"


    Perhaps it was my identity that made the other side give up their doubts and honestly answered my question: "I am lieutenant trafkin, the reconnaissance platoon leader of the 99th infantry division of the 66th army of the Don river front army. We completed the reconnaissance of the air NYI city in the daytime yesterday, and successfully captured a German officer, who was detected by the enemy on the way back. We have been around for a whole day. Instead of getting rid of the enemy, we are besieged on a hillside about seven kilometers away from kongyi. There are more than 100 Germans and three armored vehicles at the foot of the hill. The soldiers of our reconnaissance platoon are fighting with the enemy tenaciously. "


    Hearing the danger that the friendly forces were surrounded and annihilated at any time, I quickly asked, "where are you?"


    "We are in the northwest of kongnieyi, about seven kilometers away from the city. Just now, I heard the sound of guns in the southeast highland, as if the German troops were fighting with our troops. "


    As soon as travkin''s words were over, I had roughly figured out where they were, so I said to him in a loud voice, "Comrade lieutenant, I know where you are. I command you to stand firm, and reinforcements will arrive soon! " Then, without waiting for travkin to say anything, I took off my earphone and threw it to the operator with the transmitter. Then I yelled at the door, "Captain basmanov!"


    As I yelled, a man ran in from the outside. When I looked closely, it was not captain basmanov, but corporal ruhovitzki. Seeing my angry face, he quickly explained, "report to the division commander, the battalion commander has taken the tank troops to reinforce the third regiment, but he has not come back yet."


    "And corporal Mikhailov?" Since basmanov was not in, I asked another person I knew.


    Corporal zhuhovitzki still shook his head and said, "he only carries out his orders and has not come back yet."


    In order to rescue lieutenant travkin as soon as possible, I did not wait for basmanov to come back, but directly ordered ruhovitzki: "corporal, you immediately go to find a platoon of soldiers, take five armored vehicles to bypass the highland in front, continue to move northwest, about three or four kilometers further, you will find a hillside by the side of the road, A small part of our team is besieged by hundreds of Germans. My mission to you is to rescue them. "


    When he heard that the assignment had been finished, corporal ruhovitzki said with some embarrassment: "Comrade division, since the enemy has more than 100 people and we only have one platoon, even if there are armored vehicles to assist in the battle, it''s not easy to defeat the enemy."


    "Why are you so stupid!" Bantai leiev pointed to corporal ruhovitzki''s nose and said, "armored vehicles can''t beat the Germans, but we still have tanks. When you go, take another tank with you. Even if you encounter the enemy''s armored vehicles and bombard them, I don''t believe the enemy''s armored vehicles can still threaten you?"


    When he heard that tank support could be mobilized, corporal joowitzki got excited. He raised his hand to salute me and Bantai leiev, turned around and ran out of the communication room to carry out my orders.


    Standing in the trench outside the communication room, I watched the armored vehicles full of corporal joowitzki and the rest of the guard company rush away, praying that they would arrive in time to rescue the scouts trapped on the hillside.


    Bantai leiev also came to me and said with some worry, "Comrade teacher, is it time? You know, there are hundreds of enemies besieging the hillside, and there are three armored vehicles to assist in the battle. I''m just worried that the reconnaissance team will be destroyed before our reinforcements arrive. "


    Originally, I was still uneasy about the fate of the reconnaissance unit, but when I heard Bantai leiev say so, my heart was steadfast. I comforted him and said, "don''t worry, it will take only a few minutes for the reinforcements to start from here and get to the area where the friendly forces are trapped. I believe our soldiers will be able to hold on to the end of the enemy''s siege."


    As the tanks stopped on the road that the armored vehicles had to go through, corporal joowitzki only stopped for a moment when they passed there, and then two tanks followed them along the road to the northwest.


    Seeing this scene, Bantai leiev said with a smile and tears, "Mr. division commander, corporal ruhovitzki is really brave. You only asked him to take one tank, but he took two tanks to leave at one time." I raised my telescope and looked at the three hills in front of me. I saw that the battle was coming to an end. That is to say, with or without artillery support, our final victory was certain. Therefore, I said with disapproval: "Comrade deputy division commander, don''t worry. Anyway, those tanks can''t be used for any purpose even if they are parked at the foot of the mountain. Take one more and take one more. In this way, our reinforcements will have a greater chance of winning." When the tanks and armored vehicles disappeared from our sight, I went back to the communication room, put on my headphones again, picked up the transmitter, and asked aloud, "Hello, Lieutenant travkin, this is general oshanina. What''s the situation there?"¡° The enemy is rushing to the hillside from all sides. My soldiers are suffering a lot of casualties. At present, there are only five people who can fight, including the wounded... "Just now, his voice suddenly stopped, and then I heard the female signalman scream. I quickly asked," Hey, hey, comrade lieutenant, what''s the matter? " After a while, travkin''s voice came back from the earphone. At this moment, his voice became very slow: "Comrade General, nothing''s wrong. I was shot by a German sniper on my arm, and the injury was not serious. Comrade nasja, the telegraph operator, has bandaged it for me."¡° Lieutenant, tell the soldiers around you to hold on and hold on firmly I was deeply afraid that before the reinforcements arrived, all the friendly reconnaissance units would be destroyed, so I said in a more emphatic tone, "I''ve sent reinforcements, and they''ll be there in a few minutes. So I order you to stick to the last five minutes, the last five minutes! " After shouting this, I suddenly feel uncomfortable. The words I just called are clearly the lines of the villain in the film and television works. Lieutenant travkin gave a wry smile and said to me in a weak voice, "thank you, Comrade General. Thank you for your kindness. But it was too late. Besides the enemy at the foot of the mountain, I saw the reinforcements coming from the enemy. Farewell, my comrades in arms, don''t forget us, remember that we sacrificed our lives to defend our motherland... "Before his last words were finished, there was an earth shaking explosion in the earphone, and then the communication between the other side was interrupted. That''s it. Lt. travkin died. That''s my first reaction to the explosion. Just as I was dejected by the total annihilation of the Tel avin team, a surprised voice came from the earphone: "hell, how did this German tank fire on its own people?" Just now, there was another violent explosion in the earphone. I was relieved to hear the successive explosions. I said to the transmitter with a smile: "Comrade lieutenant, you are so pessimistic. From the explosion just now, I can guess that it must be my reinforcements. You and your people stay on the hillside. Let my soldiers destroy the Germans who are besieging you. " As soon as I said this, Lieutenant travkin understood immediately. He was surprised and said, "Comrade General, those German tanks and armored vehicles in the distance are not what you call reinforcements, are they?"¡° Yes, comrade lieutenant I said triumphantly, "these are the spoils we seized from kongyi. Now we will use them to teach those damned Germans a lesson." A voice of surprise came from the earphone: "Comrade lieutenant, that''s great. So we don''t have to die here. "¡° Yes, yes, dear Nastia "Our reinforcements are coming, and it''s our turn to wipe out the Germans in a moment," said lieutenant trafkin excitedly Then he opened his voice and yelled around: "comrades, our reinforcements have come up. We must hold the enemy down. We must not let them run away easily. Let these damned German devils go to hell."¡° Teacher, where is the teacher? " Basmanov''s loud voice suddenly came from outside. I quickly took off the earphone and returned it to the operator. I quickly walked out of the communication room and asked busmanov, "Comrade captain, you are shouting here. What can I do for you?" Busmanov quickly came to attention and reported to me in good order: "report, sir, corporal ruhovitzki said just now that you need to transfer a tank to carry out your reinforcement order. I''m worried that if there is only one tank, the artillery will not be enough during the attack, so I sent another one to him. Now I''m here to report this to you. "¡° Comrade captain, you have done a good job As for basmanov''s good ideas, I nodded with satisfaction and said, "it''s because of your own ideas that our rescue operation is particularly smooth. I think when the rescued friendly commanders and fighters know about this, they will be grateful to you. "

 Chapter 787

    I went back to the communication room and asked the operator: "Comrade operator, do you have the latest news from the friendly Scout? Have they joined up with our troops? "


    The operator shook his head and replied, "report to division commander, the fighting is still going on just as before, but the enemy''s attack on the friendly scout has stopped, and is turning the muzzle to stop our reinforcements."


    After listening to the operator, I waved my hand and said, "let the German infantry compete with our tanks to see who is more powerful."


    Basmanov seemed to be very worried about the war situation over there. Listening to what I said so easily, he intentionally reminded me and said, "Comrade division, do you think we need to send more reinforcements?"


    "Reinforcement? What else are we going to reinforce? " I was puzzled by basmanov''s statement and asked him, "Comrade captain, do you think the infantry without anti tank weapons can cope with the two tanks and five armored vehicles we sent?"


    Basmanov replied with a smirk: "that''s too much to handle."


    I snorted at him. Just as I wanted to teach him a lesson, Bantai leiev suddenly came up to me and said, "Comrade division, I think of one thing. I should immediately transfer the Third Battalion of a regiment as a reserve team back to the city and organize them to transfer the city''s supplies out of the city."


    "Get the supplies out of the city?" I was puzzled and asked, "Comrade deputy division commander, why do you suddenly say that?"


    Bantaileiev pointed to the air and reminded me with a melancholy look: "Sir, I''m afraid that we have captured kongnieyi city and this highland, which has already alarmed the Germans. Do you think the Germans will give up after such a big loss? The ground forces may not be able to come for the time being, but their air force is coming. "


    Bantai leiev''s reminding made me sweat. He really ignored it if he didn''t remind me. The Germans are not fools. The cities they occupy have been recaptured by us, and the Highlands they occupy have been taken down by us. The German army, which is comprehensively blocking the front army of the Don river, will never tolerate the existence of an enemy force that will threaten them. Therefore, either this evening or tomorrow day, they will certainly mobilize the nearby forces to launch an encirclement and suppression campaign against us. Before that, the air force would be sent out to bomb us. As for the supplies in the city, they would rather destroy them than leave them to us. To understand this, I immediately told basmanov, "Comrade captain, you should take people to the Third Battalion of the first regiment and find major jerenkov. Let him immediately take the troops back to the city and transfer the supplies outside the city. Remember, priority should be given to weapons and ammunition, followed by food and medicine. As for cotton padded clothes and quilts, wait until the end. "


    Busmanov hastily agreed, raised his hand to salute and then turned to leave.


    When busmanov left, bantaileiev asked me again: "Comrade division, the high ground in front has been taken down. Which battalion are you going to guard? "


    "Which army will hold the high ground?" After repeating Bantai leiev''s question, I shrugged my shoulders and said easily, "who else can it be? Of course, it is the shereblenny battalion who has captured the main position. Even after today''s battle, their battalion still has at least 500 troops. If they stick to such a high ground, their troops should be enough. As for the other two battalions, we need to transfer them all to take part in the movement. Strive to transfer the important materials in the city before the German planes arrive. "


    "What about the division headquarters? Will they stay here?" Bantaileiev then asked.


    "Just stay here." thinking of the German bombers who didn''t know when they would appear, I rationally gave up my plan to move the headquarters back to the city. However, the reason why I stayed was not because I was worried about the enemy''s bombing, but for other justifiable reasons: "we are waiting here for the friendly scouts to see what they have detected. By the way, comrade deputy division commander, don''t worry about the transfer of supplies in the city. Just let xijerikov and kosja be responsible for it. "


    I asked corporal Mikhailov, who had just returned to the observation post, to convey the mission of keeping the camp at the high ground. At the same time, I also ordered him to inform them to come to my observation post immediately when he saw shejerikov and kosja.


    Mikhailov took several soldiers to convey the mission. I went into the communication room again and asked the busy operator, "Comrade operator, what''s the situation?"


    "Report to the division commander," the operator said cheerfully, "the German army has been repulsed by us. All the remaining five Scouts of the friendly army have been rescued. Corporal johowitzki is taking them back."


    "Comrades of division," bantailiev urged me impatiently at the gate of the observation post while I was thinking wildly, "what are you still standing there doing? Come in and listen to the report of lieutenant trafkin."


    Because of the narrow space in the observation center, the three of us could only stand and talk. First of all, I opened my mouth to show my identity again: "Lieutenant travkin, I''d like to introduce myself. I''m major general oshanina, division commander of the independent division under the 62nd group army. The reason why our troops are here is to coordinate the southward movement of the Don river front army. I want to hear what your reconnaissance team has detected. "


    As soon as I finished, Bantai leiev asked politely, "Comrade lieutenant, how many people are there in this reconnaissance unit you are leading?"¡° Report to Comrade colonel Although bantailiev was approachable, he straightened up to our two commanders who were much higher than him. According to the regulations, the report said: "there are 24 reconnaissance platoons in the 99th infantry division. After two days of fighting, there are still five left. The report is over."¡° Let''s talk about it, comrade lieutenant. "I heard that his troops were almost exhausted in just a few days. I couldn''t help but get curious and ask him about the specific situation." are all your casualties today? What''s more, how did your reconnaissance unit get surrounded by the enemy? "¡° We have been ordered to go to gorodysea for reconnaissance. According to the judgment of the division leaders, the last battle we meet with you will be launched in this area. Therefore, it is necessary to find out the enemy''s force distribution. After two days of reconnaissance, we found that the 295th German infantry division was stationed in the city, and the division commander was major general Otto kofes. His troops were deployed in the west, North and south of the city, obviously in order to prevent the defensive formation of our don front army from going south. " When travkin said this, bantailiev interrupted him and said, "Comrade lieutenant, we all know this information, and we should know it in more detail than you, otherwise our army will not be able to successfully pass through the enemy''s defense line and appear outside the city."¡° After completing the reconnaissance task, we immediately turned north and prepared to return to the army within two days to report the situation to the higher authorities. Fifteen kilometers south of here, we also found two camps for Romanian troops. According to the reconnaissance, they were the 1st Cavalry Division and the 20th infantry division

 Chapter 788

    When lieutenant travkin told me that there was a Romanian cavalry unit stationed on both sides of our march the night before yesterday, I was shocked in a cold sweat. Although there was no large-scale use of German armored forces in this wide grassland, it was the most suitable area for cavalry. Fortunately, our action was not discovered by the Romanians at the beginning, otherwise the small troops we stayed near the camp for surveillance would not be able to stop them. As long as their cavalry rush into our March, it will turn into a one-sided massacre.


    I shuddered at the thought of this possibility. After a moment''s silence, I seriously asked, "Comrade lieutenant, have you found out how many enemy troops there are in each of these two camps?"


    Tel avin nodded and answered with full assurance: "report, comrade general, after a day''s reconnaissance, we have basically made clear the situation in these two camps. The cavalry troops stationed in the south are the 12th dragon cavalry regiment of the 6th cavalry brigade of Romanian Cavalry Division 1. The regiment is composed of regiment headquarters, guard platoon, communication platoon and engineering platoon; There are four cavalry battalions, each with four platoons, 178 soldiers and 13 light machine guns; A heavy weapons battalion, including 16 60mm mortars, 12 heavy machine guns and 4 75mm field artillery. In the camp of the 20th infantry division on the north side, there was only one infantry company. Except for one heavy machine gun and four light machine guns, no other heavy weapons were found. A large number of trucks were found in their camp. "


    Bantaileiev, waiting for travkin to finish, slapped each other on the shoulder and said excitedly, "Comrade lieutenant, it''s amazing that you have made the enemy''s situation so clear." Then he suggested to me, "Comrade division, do you think we should send an army to take off the truck camp of the Romanian army?"


    "I agree," I immediately agreed to bandeleev''s proposal. "As long as we get these trucks, we can transport as many empty trucks as possible back to mamayev post according to the city''s supplies. At present, it is very difficult to supply supplies in the city, and the group army can not provide us with too much help, so the army can only find a way to solve the problem by itself. " At this point, I habitually raised my hand and looked at it. I said in my heart, "thank you, jerikov. Why haven''t they come back yet?"? When he comes, the regiment can dispatch a battalion to carry out the task.


    While I was still thinking about which battalion I should give the task to, I suddenly heard Bantai leiev ask again, "Comrade lieutenant, I''m very curious. How are you surrounded by the Germans?"


    I was also interested in this question asked by Bantai leiev. I quickly looked up at trafkin and wanted to hear his answer.


    Lieutenant travkin laughed with embarrassment and replied, "according to the instructions of our superiors, we can''t fight with the enemy, capture the prisoners and avoid exposure when we are carrying out reconnaissance tasks behind the enemy.


    For the first two days, we strictly carried out the orders of our superiors. But on the third day, there was an accident. When our team was marching in the waist deep weeds, it was accidentally found by German convoys passing on the road in the distance, so hundreds of soldiers jumped out of the car and came over from all directions.


    In the process of retreat, we successfully crossed a swamp after losing two soldiers. Since the soldier who was responsible for carrying the whole platoon of grain was also one of the victims, our small army was out of grain after passing through the swamp. In order to replenish the food, we had to hide near the German hospital, attack the wounded soldiers who have just been discharged, and seize the limited food they carry


    "Why did you attack the wounded?" Bantai leiev asked curiously.


    Looking at bandeleev, travkin replied solemnly, "Comrade Colonel, this is a good explanation, because the wounded soldier has just come out of the hospital. Even if he is missing, it will not cause suspicion. The hospital will think that he has returned to the army, but the army still thinks that he is in hospital."


    "Since the wounded soldiers of the enemy have been solved quietly by you," bantailiev asked in surprise, obviously dissatisfied with travkin''s answer, "how was it discovered by the enemy?"


    "Well, comrade colonel. According to the air force''s reconnaissance, there seems to be at least one division of German tanks in a railway station in our reconnaissance area. We have to find out what''s going on. On the way to the railway station, we found several covered trucks parked on the side of the road to rest. From their driving direction, they should be heading for the station. So I asked the Deputy platoon leader to take two soldiers with them. When the enemy didn''t pay attention, we climbed on the truck and took the truck to the station for reconnaissance.


    As soon as the vehicle entered the station, before it could stop, our army''s plane appeared and bombarded the station. And our scouts also got out of the car, while avoiding the bombs falling from the air, while solving the enemy who found himself. When they risked their lives and rushed to the smoky station, they found that the tanks of the so-called tank division were just models made of a pile of wood. While they were moving, the three met a German officer with several soldiers. After a short battle, one soldier died, and the Deputy platoon leader and another soldier managed to escape from the station and snatch a document package from the German officer who was killed. Perhaps it was this operation that led the Germans to find that there were our reconnaissance troops in their hinterland, so they mobilized troops including the Ss to encircle and suppress us. "


    "Comrade lieutenant, in the document package you seized," my focus is different from that of bandeleev. He is concerned about how they were discovered by the Germans, but what I am concerned about is the contents of the document package, "what important documents are contained?"


    Hearing my question, travkin turned to look at it and replied respectfully, "it''s the deployment of the 297th German infantry division and the assembly site of the 24th armored division."


    Although such information is important, it is of little use to us, so I nodded and said casually, "I see. Comrade lieutenant, let''s go on with your next business. "


    Travkin agreed, and then went on: "we arrived the night before yesterday at the armored division assembly site mentioned in the document, which is an abandoned quarry 80 kilometers southwest of kongniai city. There, we saw hundreds of tanks just unloaded from the train, assembling. In the course of reconnaissance, our scouts captured a staff officer of the armored division and seized important documents from him. I guess it was the disappearance of the staff officer with the important documents that attracted the attention of the German army. They deployed a large number of troops to search the area where we were operating in company and platoon units.


    During the transfer, we encountered a German armored vehicle. I immediately ordered my soldiers to lie down on the spot and hide in the weeds by the side of the road. The armored car stopped not far in front of us. The Germans on the car seemed to hear something, but they didn''t come down to search. They just shot at our hiding place with their machine guns and submachine guns.


    After a while of shooting, they saw no movement in the grass, and the armored car drove forward again. However, in the enemy''s strafing, our unit lost a lot, three soldiers died, two were injured, and the radio station carried by the operator nasja was damaged. In order to report the intelligence we have detected to our superiors in a timely manner, after burying our dead comrades in arms, we turn our direction and move towards the enemy''s depth. We are ready to seize a radio station from the enemy''s hands when necessary and report the intelligence to the division headquarters. "


    When he said this, I said with a smile, "so it is, comrade lieutenant. It seems that you soon found the radio station and got in touch with us by accident during the Ming language call. "


    "After daybreak, when we passed a bridge guarded by the German army, we found a hut on the other side of the river. It seemed that the German telegraph operator was contacting the superior. At that time, I decisively ordered the soldiers to cross the river downstream and try to capture the enemy''s radio station. It started very smoothly. We found a gentle River downstream, took off our clothes and headed upstream to cross the river. Of course, even the prisoner passed with us. After landing, we put on our clothes and quietly approached the small room with a radio station


    When lieutenant travkin said that they had all taken off their clothes to cross the river, I couldn''t help but shift my mind to Nastia. I was secretly wondering if this young woman soldier was swimming across the river naked like a male soldier. When I concentrated on it again, the story of travkin had already come to the end, "... When the Germans on the bridge heard the gunfire, they rushed over with weapons, and the machine gun at the end of the opposite bridge also turned around and shot at us. Seeing that they were found by the enemy, the soldiers jumped out of their hiding places, and their guns rang out one after another. For a time, the gunfire on both sides of the bridge kept on, and the Germans and our soldiers were knocked down by the flying bullets. The cry of despair, the wail, poured into my ears. After a while of fighting, I saw high dust in the distance. It seemed that the enemy reinforcements had arrived, so I ordered the troops to retreat.


    My deputy platoon leader gave me a heavy push and yelled, "Lieutenant, you take the men out first, I''ll lead the enemy away.". After shouting this sentence, the Deputy platoon leader and three soldiers rushed to catch up with the German army and fired, running in a different direction from ours.


    After we succeeded in getting rid of the enemy, we found a hiding place, and I ordered nasja to report to the superior immediately. At the same time, we counted the number and found that there were only 14 people left. In a short day, 10 of our soldiers died. "


    After hearing this, Bantai leiev asked with concern, "have you got in touch with your superior?"


    "Comrade Colonel, I''m sorry, No." Travkin replied with a wry smile: "maybe it was the collision that caused the failure of the radio station on the way of our transfer, which made it unable to operate normally. As the position was exposed, the German search forces soon surrounded us from all directions, and we were forced to move again.


    Sergeant Yegor, a squad leader, was at the top with three soldiers, while the rest of the soldiers and I followed them from a distance. When we got close to a camp a few days ago, I suddenly had a feeling of uncertainty, so I stopped and planned to send someone to call them back. At this time, a shell whistling with a sharp whistling fell in front of the middle of the team. With a loud bang, four soldiers were blown up in the fire.


    "Lie down!" I roared at the soldiers and gave orders. A tank came out of the grass in the distance and appeared in my field of vision. The hateful steel giant shook off the floating soil and weeds on the body and rushed towards us. Fifty or sixty German soldiers also came out of the grass, followed behind the tanks and began to attack.


    At this moment, I understand that we are trapped in the enemy''s ambush circle, and immediately order us to fight and withdraw. Fortunately, the four soldiers overturned by the bomb did not all die. Although yegol and another soldier were seriously injured, they were still able to fight. With the cover of their sacrifice, we successfully got rid of the enemy.


    We found that the way back was tightly blocked by the enemy, so we had to take the enemy around the area until we were surrounded by the Germans on the nearby hillside during the day. Comrade general, you know the rest. I won''t repeat it here. "


    I pointed to the nearby communication room and said to him, "Comrade lieutenant, there''s our radio station. We should be able to get in touch with your superiors. You can go there and report the information you have detected to your superiors. "


    Travkin looked at me gratefully, saluted me and bandeliev, and turned away.


    Looking at the figure of travkin leaving, I can''t help but think of the Romanian military camp with only one company. As long as we capture it and find a group of commanders and fighters who can drive, I am sure that most of the materials stored in kongyi will be transported back to mamayev post.


    Just then, led by corporal Mikhailov, shejerikov and kosja entered the trench and were coming towards us. When I saw commander kosga coming, I was very angry. Major gordonov would command the third regiment better than him. After all, he had been away from the army for a long time. Both the commander and the soldiers below were very strange to him. It''s strange that he could command the army well.


    Kosja might have found my face ugly, walked up to me, saluted me with Sergey reekov, and then bowed his head and waited for my attack without saying a word.


    I didn''t pay any attention to him. Instead, I shook hands with shijerikov with a smile, praised him and said, "Comrade commander, good job, really good job. Your regiment is really good in today''s battle. It has easily captured the enemy''s position, and the casualties seem to be small


    After receiving my praise, xiejerikov said with pride: "Sir, do you forget that when our regiment was still sticking to the North highland, you called us to hold a meeting. At that time, I made a statement to you, saying that the German people could not attack the positions we held, but if we attacked the positions held by the German people, even if there were two, we would win them. Well, I''m not bragging, am I


    I didn''t say anything about shejerikov''s complacency. I just nodded with a smile. Then I said hello to captain Nicholas, who was following him. It was meant to be a feint attack by your troops. Unexpectedly, in the end, you turned the feint attack into a real attack. Without artillery cover, you won the enemy''s mountain at one stroke. "


    Nikolay came forward to salute me and Bantai leiev, and then said solemnly, "Sir, the soldiers were very encouraged by what you said at the funeral this morning. When the troops were suppressed by the enemy''s firepower, suddenly a soldier bravely stood up and cried out: "comrades, don''t forget what the division commander said, move forward, move forward!" Under the leadership of this soldier, the soldiers who had been lying on the ground also got up one after another and rushed to the enemy''s position. "


    After hearing what Nikolay said, I asked with great interest, "Comrade captain, where is the soldier you are talking about? I want to see him. "


    Nikolay bowed his head and said with some sadness, "report to the commander that the soldier died in the battle."


    Hearing that the soldier who bravely stood up at the critical moment had died, I sighed with regret, and then said, "Captain Nikolay, although the soldier has died, he has used his life and blood to protect the battalion and his honor, and has also made indelible contributions to the protection of our motherland. Not only you but also I want to thank him. All the commanders and fighters of the independent division should thank him and remember his great achievements. Please pass on my words to the officers and men of the first battalion at the right time


    Because he was moved, Captain Nikolay''s eyes were red. He nodded and assured me: "please don''t worry, sir. I will convey what you said to the commanders and soldiers of the camp word for word."


    After talking to sjerykov and Nikolay, I turned and looked at kosga standing next to me. I said angrily, "commander kosga, your troops are playing well. When you attack koneyi in the early morning, you are the troops with the least casualties. In the battle just ended, the other two battalions bravely charged up against the enemy''s barrage of bullets. And your troops? It was a good performance. Hundreds of people were lying hundreds of meters away from the German position, shooting with crackles. Are you telling the Germans that you are playing feint tactics? Do you want to tell the Germans that the fake attack here will not pose a threat to you, so you''d better use your troops to other places with confidence? "


    I said this in a rage, and kosga was not a fool. He should be able to recognize my dissatisfaction with him from the honorifics and a series of irony I used to him. As soon as I finished, he immediately blushed and apologized to me: "Comrade teacher, I was wrong. I promise I''ll never do it again... "


    "What, next time?" This attack was Bantai leiev. He pointed to kosja''s nose and said, "this fool, fool, as the commander, can''t even command his own troops. In the end, he had to take the guard company to charge himself. I don''t think you deserve to be a regimental commander. You can be a company commander at most. "


    Coaska, who was scolded by bantaileiev, was livid. Maybe at this moment, he thought that he had been demoted from commander to company commander. I saw him open his mouth, as if trying to explain, but in the end he didn''t say anything. Although I have become calm after I scolded kosga, I didn''t come forward to make it over when bantailiev taught him a lesson. It is estimated that he will learn this lesson only when bantailiev scolded him hard.


    I coughed and said slowly, "well, commander kosga, take your troops back to the city immediately and help the Third Battalion of the first regiment to move all the goods we have captured out of the city."


    Kosja didn''t know if he was scolded silly by Bantai leiev. After listening to my order, he asked foolishly, "Sir, why do you want to move the baggage out of the city?"


    I kicked him and said with a smile: "I think you were smart before, but now you are confused. Do you think the Germans will give up when we occupy konaiyi and seize a large number of German military materials? Even if they don''t send ground troops, they will send planes to bomb. Do you want all the materials we captured to be reduced to ashes in the bombing? "


    When I said this, kosga suddenly realized that he quickly agreed, saluted us, turned around and left with his men in a hurry.


    Looking at kosja''s departure, xiejerikov quickly asked me, "Comrade division commander, since the third regiment is going to help carry materials, what is the task of the remaining troops of our regiment?"


    "The second battalion of shereblenny held fast to the high ground, and the first battalion of Captain Nikolay immediately entered the city to take part in the work of transporting materials." At this point, I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and continued, "Lieutenant Commander shijerikov, please remember that the Germans won''t leave us too much time. Their planes will come back to bomb at any time. So you should give priority to transporting the seized guns, ammunition, food, medicine and other materials outside the city. As for the remaining military uniforms and quilts, you can move as much as you can. Do you understand? "


    "Yes, I promise to finish the task." After shejerikov made a statement to me, he raised his hand and left quickly with Nikolay and other commanders and guards.


    Seeing that chejerikov and kosja had left one after another, bandeleev said anxiously, "Comrade division, why didn''t you assign the task of attacking the Romanian battalion to any of the commanders?"


    I waved my hand and said with ease: "Comrade deputy division commander, it''s only a small matter to attack the Romanian military camp and seize the trucks inside. Our immediate task is to seize the time to transfer materials and minimize losses. "


    Bantai leiev saw that I had a clear mind and asked tentatively, "Comrade division, you don''t want to dispatch a troop to carry out the task after the materials in the city have been transported, do you?" Without waiting for my answer, he began to ask himself, "when the troops have finished carrying materials, they have to March more than ten kilometers to attack the enemy''s camp. If the commanders and fighters who take part in the battle are exhausted, their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced. In this way, our casualties in the battle will increase. "


    "Comrade deputy division commander, I understand very well that the officers and men of these battalions are very tired after a long march and two successive battles." "So I didn''t even think about using these battalions to attack the Romanian camp," I said lightly


    "Without these battalions, where are you going to use the troops?" As soon as Bantai leiev asked this question, he suddenly realized, "Oh, I see. What you want to use is four regiments and three battalions."


    "Exactly. Since last night, the Third Battalion of the fourth regiment has been staying in that camp. It is estimated that the commanders and fighters below must be unable to restrain themselves. If such a combat task is given to them, I believe they will surely achieve the desired results. "


    When I said that, Bantai leiev was eager to try. After he reached out and pulled up his left and right arms, he confidently said to me, "Comrade division commander, let me command the fourth regiment and the Third Battalion."


    Seeing that he took the initiative to fight, I couldn''t pour cold water on him, so I had to nod and agree. However, in order to be on the safe side, I took the initiative to say: "Comrade deputy division commander, since you are going to command the fourth regiment and the third battalion to carry out combat tasks, in addition to the soldiers of the guard platoon with one platoon, take all the tanks and armored vehicles we have captured."


    I didn''t expect Bantai leiev to wave his hand and say, "no, No. The Romanians had only one company, and a battalion of five or six hundred of us rushed up and easily wiped them out. It''s better to leave the tanks and armored vehicles behind. If the enemy comes to attack, they can be of great use. "


    "Comrade deputy division commander, no way, no way." Seeing that bantaileiev did not want to take tanks and armored vehicles with him, I knew in my heart that he was not too troublesome, but worried that the German army would send heavy troops to counterattack after learning that konaiyi city and highlands were lost, and leaving tanks and armored vehicles could strengthen our heavy firepower. However, I am also worried about him. Although there is only one company for Romanians, if a light infantry without heavy weapons is allowed to attack, the battle may be stuck. If Romanian cavalry hears the news, they will be attacked from both sides. Therefore, I insist with a strong attitude: "you must take tanks and armored vehicles with you, Only in this way can we eliminate the enemy in the shortest time and seize the trucks we need. If the battle cannot be solved as soon as possible after the enemy''s camp is attacked, once the nearby Romanian cavalry division and the 295th German division come to reinforce, you will be in danger. "


    Seeing that I was obstinate, bantaileiev knew that I could not argue, so he had no choice but to agree to my request.

 Chapter 789

    Less than two hours after bantaileiev left with his troops, sporadic gunfire broke out outside the observation post. When I heard the gunfire, my first reaction was that the enemy came to attack the highlands. He quickly put up his telescope and looked towards the highland, only to find that the south slope of the highland was calm, and the officers and men in the trench were busy reinforcing the fortifications without the slightest sign of panic. What happened to the gunshot?


    I went out to the observation post and wanted to call Mikhailov or ruhovitzki and ask them what happened to the gunfire outside and why they were shooting for no reason? I didn''t expect that as soon as I came out of the observation post, before I could call them, I heard a strange roar in the air. After listening for a moment, I immediately understood what was coming. I quickly ran into the communication room and yelled at the operator in it, "Hello, operator, call commander xijerikov immediately. They said that the enemy plane is coming. Let them lead the troops out of the city immediately."


    When I saw the operator calling for them, my heart went up to my throat. I was afraid that if I couldn''t get in touch with them in a hurry, it would lead to serious losses in the air raid. But fortunately, I soon heard the voice of Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant serge


    I didn''t wait for the operator to speak. I grabbed the transmitter in his hand and cried out, "Lieutenant sergeant chejerikov, I order you to withdraw all the troops from kongyi immediately."


    When the operator saw that I had robbed the transmitter in his hand, he took the initiative to hand over the earphone. When I took it over and looked around my head, I just heard the puzzled voice of Xie jerikov: "Comrade division commander, why should we withdraw our troops from the city? You know, we still have at least half of our supplies. We haven''t had time to move them. "


    "Go to hell with the rest of the supplies." I roared angrily: "the enemy''s plane will come right away, and immediately withdraw you and kosga''s troops to hide outside the city. If the troops suffer heavy casualties in the air raid, be careful that I remove you."


    When he heard that the air raid was coming, xiejerikov also became decisive: "I understand, comrade division commander, I will immediately organize the transfer of troops." Then his voice went down, and I heard him murmur, "it''s a pity that there are so many materials left."


    After I left the communication room, I found a place with wide field of vision in the trench and raised my telescope to look at the city in the distance. First, a few soldiers ran out of the city and rushed to the hillside in the distance, and then more and more people came out one after another


    The first and third regiments had just withdrawn from koneyi, and the German bombers were flying over the city. I looked at the position completely shrouded in the smoke with binoculars in the trench, and said, "damned Krauts, is such a small city worth bombing with so many planes?"


    Thinking of the first regiment and the third regiment which had been transferred ahead of schedule, I felt very lucky. Fortunately, Sergeant Wingle had just sent the radio station of their reconnaissance unit to sergeant chejerikov on a whim. Otherwise, the troops would not be able to evacuate in such a short period of time, and they would certainly suffer heavy losses under the intensive German bombing.


    The enemy planes bombarded koneyi aimlessly, and the city we just captured this morning turned into a sea of fire. In the rising fire and the sound of explosion, the buildings in the city collapsed one by one.


    Shejerikov and kosja came to me along the trench, raised their hands to salute, and cried out, "report to division commander, the troops of the first and third regiments have all withdrawn from the city."


    "Good, you did a good job!" After I finished this sentence, I was surprised to find that because the explosion was too loud, I couldn''t hear myself, not to mention the two of them, so I called them to the observation center, where the noise was relatively small, so it was convenient for us to talk.


    After entering the observation post, I asked them aloud, "are there any casualties in the army?"


    They shook their heads in order and answered with one voice: "report to division commander, because your order was given in time, so the troops withdrew in time." Then kosga said with regret, "nearly half of the supplies have not been moved out and have been blown up by this damned German plane."


    Although I heard that only half of the materials were destroyed, I still asked anxiously, "have weapons, ammunition, food and medicine been moved out?" When I heard that they both moved out, I waved my hand and said, "the rest of the uniforms and quilts are of little use to us. If the Germans like to blow them up, let them blow them up enough."


    When I finished speaking, they unexpectedly found that Bantai leyev was not in the observation center. Xiejerikov asked with concern, "Comrade division commander, where has Colonel Bantai leyev gone?"


    "According to the information provided by the friendly scout, there is a camp of Romanian troops to the east of us. There are a lot of trucks in it, and there is only one company to guard it. So Comrade deputy division commander took the troops to attack the camp."


    "Comrade division commander, which unit did you send?" "The first and third battalions are carrying goods in the city, except for the second battalion of shereblenny, who is on the high ground," he asked in surprise As soon as his voice fell, kosga said, "yes, yes, my second battalion has been in the city."


    Seeing that they didn''t guess which army I sent, I couldn''t help laughing and said with pride, "you can''t imagine that I sent the fourth regiment and Third Battalion left behind in the South Camp."


    "Four regiments and three battalions?" When they heard this, they seemed to remember that in this operation, in addition to the troops of the first and third regiments, the fourth regiment also sent a battalion, which is now stationed in the hillside camp ten kilometers to the south of us¡° After seizing a large number of trucks, can they have enough drivers to drive them back? "


    "Don''t worry about that." To tell you the truth, I didn''t think about the driver at all when I sent Bantai leyev to carry out the task just now. Although xiejerikov reminded me at the moment, I still pretended to be calm and said, "I believe the deputy division commander must have a way to get the truck back."


    I bent over and looked outside. When I found that the enemy planes were still bombarding the burning kongyi, I told them: "you two go back to your respective troops first, let the soldiers hide well, and seize the time to have a rest. Maybe the enemy''s ground troops will come soon, and there will be no time to rest at that time. "


    Xiejerikov and I have been dealing with each other for the longest time. Listening to what I said, I guessed what I might have planned, so I tentatively asked, "Sir, are you going to the highland ahead?"


    I nodded, confirmed his guess, and then said, "yes, comrade commander. I also went to the highlands to get familiar with the terrain, so that in the next battle, I would know how to use the terrain to fight with the enemy. "


    "I''ll go with you." "In any case, it''s all the commanders and fighters of the regiment who stick to the high ground. I''ll go and cheer up my subordinates by the way," he volunteered


    When I saw Xie jierikov saying this, kosja next to him was also eager to try. Knowing that if he agreed to Xie jierikov''s request, kosja would also make the same request, he waved his hand and directly declined Xie jierikov''s good intention: "Lieutenant Colonel, no need. You and lieutenant colonel kosja should go back to their respective troops. As for going to the Highlands, with the soldiers of the guard company and the Scout of the friendly army, you don''t have to worry about it. "


    After sending them away, I went outside the shelter where they were resting and yelled at them, "Hello, Lieutenant trafkin, are you in there?"


    As I called out, the curtain that was blocking the door was lifted. Lieutenant travkin, who was not wearing a hat, poked his head out from the inside and saw that it was me who called him. He quickly came to attention and politely asked, "Comrade General, do you have any instructions?"


    "Lieutenant, take your operator and radio and follow me to the highlands." I gave him a short order and added, "I''ll wait for you in front."


    By the time travkin and nasja had packed up and arrived, Mikhail ROV and johowitzki and I had been waiting for them in the trenches for a long time. With the radio station behind her back, she saw ruhovitzki standing beside me. She immediately ran to him and looked at him with affectionate eyes.


    Even a fool can see that the girl has fallen in love with ruhovitzki when she sees her crazy expression. In front of the public, zhuhovitzki was a little embarrassed by the hot eyes of Nastia. To avoid his embarrassment, I thought aloud, "Hey, corporal joowitzki, are you still a man? When you see a young girl standing in front of you with a heavy radio station on her back, shouldn''t you do something? " When I said that, ruhovitzki scratched the back of his head, grinned sheepishly, and then came forward to untie the telephone on nasya''s back, and carried it on his back.


    I think all the people who should come are here, so I waved my head and said loudly, "since all the people are here, let''s go."


    When I got to the high ground and joined with shereblenny, who had come after hearing the news, I began to inspect the position under his leadership. The north slope and the south slope of the highland are really different. The south slope has only a few trenches and a few sporadic firepower points of civil structures; The north slope is obviously a fortification built by our army before the evacuation. There are not only crisscross trenches and trenches, but also reinforced concrete blockhouses in the middle of the trenches. There are several barbed wire and a wide anti tank trench at the foot of the mountain. There are minefields in the middle of the last two barbed wire fences, according to shereblenet.


    Seeing such perfect fortifications, I nodded with satisfaction and said to shereblenny, "Comrade captain, the fortifications here are much more perfect than our mamayev post. As long as you rely on the existing fortifications for tenacious resistance, I believe that even if the Germans come to a regiment, they will not be able to attack. "


    "Sir, please have a look!" Instead of answering me, shereblenny pointed to the foot of the mountain and said to me, "the road from the city comes round from the left side of the highland and extends to the distance. There is an earthen slope away from our highland highway 34, where friendly scouts are besieged. The road passes under the slope. "


    I raised my telescope and looked in the direction of shereblenny''s finger. Next to the slope, there was a black wreck of an armored car. I knew it was one of the three armored cars that had besieged them, even if I didn''t ask travkin. Without looking back, I asked selebrione, "Comrade captain, even if the road passes under the earth slope, what''s the problem?"


    "Sir, comrade," Xie liebolianei said carefully after I finished, "can I give you a suggestion?" I put down my telescope, turned to look at him and said strangely, "if you have any ideas, please tell me." Then he raised his telescope and looked into the distance. Under the highland is a piece of grassland, because nobody takes care of it, the weeds are at least half human height. With my permission, shereblenny stepped forward and said solemnly, "Sir, I think so. We can''t defend passively. We should take the initiative in the fight. " After hearing what shereblenny said, I guessed that he might have some bold plans, so I put down my telescope and asked him curiously, "Comrade captain, can you tell me more about it? What can we do to take the initiative in the battlefield in our hands?"¡° In order to create favorable conditions for organizing defense and prevent German forces from concentrating their forces to attack our Highlands, I suggest that you send two powerful troops to hide on both sides of the road. One unit is composed of tanks and armored vehicles captured by us, plus an infantry company, hidden on the right side of the road; The other company, made up of infantry, was hidden on the side of the road. When the enemy''s attacking forces enter our ambush circle, the hidden tanks will fire first to destroy the enemy''s tanks, armored vehicles and artillery. Then the machine guns on the armored vehicles fire again to destroy the infantry in the queue. I estimate that when the enemy is suddenly attacked, a lot of infantry will flee to the slope. When they get close, our troops ambush on the slope will use their firepower to kill the enemy''s infantry¡° That''s a good idea. Just follow your plan. But the troops on the high ground can''t be used. The troops in charge of ambush should be taken charge of by other battalions. " With these words, I turned to trafkin standing behind me and said politely, "Comrade lieutenant, please let the telegraph operator get in touch with our regiment. I have important combat tasks to assign to them."

 Chapter 790

    The German bombers bombed konaiyi in the south of the Highlands, but they did not care about our highlands. Shereblenny and I stood in the trench on the top of the mountain, quietly looking at the city shrouded in smoke in the distance.


    Seeing that the enemy planes refused to leave, Xie liebolianei was a little worried. He pointed to the planes hovering over the city and said indignantly, "Comrade division, if we had an anti-aircraft artillery battalion or even an anti-aircraft artillery company, the enemy would not dare to bomb our city so recklessly."


    Looking at the burning konaiyi City, I said with disapproval, "Comrade captain, you should count how many planes the enemy has first. Even if there are not 30, there are more than 20, right? Is one antiaircraft artillery battalion enough to stop so many enemy planes from bombing cities? " Seeing that shereblenny shook his head, I continued, "although this is a small city, we want to protect it from enemy bombing. It is not enough to have only one anti-aircraft artillery battalion. Given the serious shortage of our air defense forces, is it worthwhile to garrison a valuable anti-aircraft artillery battalion in such a city without any strategic significance and let them lose money under the crazy bombing of enemy planes? "


    After I finished, I pointed to the hills on both sides of the East and the West and asked shereblenny, "Captain, how many troops are there on each side of the Highlands?"


    When shereblenny heard my question, he quickly and clearly replied, "on both sides of the mountain, there is a platoon of troops. In the front of the main position, I put a company In order to let me know more about the deployment of troops on the Highlands, he specially emphasized that "the rest of the troops, as reserves, were placed on the south slope of the highlands. The reason why the reserves are here is to reduce the casualties in the German artillery preparation stage


    "Comrade captain, you are very considerate." I was very satisfied with his arrangement, so I praised him and said, "leave enough reserves in the fight so that we can deal with the Germans for a longer time." As soon as I said that, I saw that the enemy planes in the air stopped bombing the cities and began to return one after another, so I stopped and looked up at the enemy planes passing over our heads.


    Shereblenny looked at the returning enemy plane and said happily, "thank God, this damn plane has finally left." Then he warmly invited me: "Comrade division, please come to the command post of our battalion and have something to eat. I think you should be hungry now."


    I didn''t feel hungry yet. As soon as he said to eat, my stomach began to growl. At such a time, I would not pretend to be polite to my subordinates, so I readily agreed and jokingly said, "well, comrade captain, I''ll try your camp''s food today to see if it''s better than ours. If so, I''ll eat with you every day. "


    My words caused a roar of laughter from the officers and soldiers around me. Xie lieboliang put his body to one side and put out his hand to make a gesture of invitation: "Sir, comrade, please go this way." With that, he walked in front to guide me.


    We walked a distance along the trench to the battalion headquarters in shereblenny. This is a reinforced concrete building half buried in the ground. When I walked down the steps into the bunker, I carefully observed the structure of the bunker with the help of two steam lamps hanging on the wall. Fortunately, we attacked from the south slope where there were no fortifications. If we attacked from the north, there would be heavy casualties. It is still unknown whether we can capture the highlands.


    There is a long wooden table beside the wall of the command post, on which a steam lamp shines brightly. After calling me to sit down at the table, Xie liebolianei immediately told the soldiers who followed us to come in: "Hey, I said, what are you still doing here? Why don''t you go and get some food for the division commander?"


    The soldier agreed, turned and ran out. When the soldiers left, Xie liebuliannei explained to me with some embarrassment: "Comrade division commander, he used to be a soldier in the company. He was just transferred to be an orderly for me. I don''t understand many things. Please forgive me."


    I didn''t care about such trifles. I thought that when I was inspecting the position just now, I had a quick look at it. I didn''t go into the shelter where the soldiers stayed to have a look. I didn''t know whether their shelter was so strong. So I asked with concern, "Captain shereblenny, are there many reinforced concrete Fortifications on the battlefield?"


    Shereblenny nodded and said with certainty: "report to division commander, this place should be a national defense fortification. All shelters on the position are reinforced concrete buildings with a thickness of about one meter, which can completely resist the German heavy artillery and aircraft bombing."


    Before we had finished, the soldiers who went to get things had already rushed in from the outside. He came to the table and put what he was holding in his arms on the table. I looked down and saw that in addition to the two oval loaves, there were several square things wrapped in paper and several cans.


    Seeing these things, I couldn''t help but be surprised. Two days ago, basmanov and the soldiers of the guard company searched the abandoned village for a long time, but they didn''t find such abundant food. So I asked in surprise, "Comrade captain, where did you get these things?"


    I didn''t expect that when I asked this question, I was stunned. The soldier next to him explained with a smile: "report, comrade division, these are all seized from the German hands. Some of them were seized in the shelter of the highland, and the commander told us to go to the city and get some back. "


    "Thank you, comrade soldier. It''s none of your business here. Go out first. " When the soldier finished, shereblenny waved him away. Then he picked up a can from the table and pricked it with a knife towards the concave place.


    I saw a pile of food on the table and murmured, "Captain, this is too much. We should not be able to eat so much."


    While prying the can with a knife, shereblenny said to me, "don''t look at so much food on the table, sir. It''s just a day''s rations for ordinary German soldiers." At this point, he stopped his action, pushed two square paper bags in front of me, and further explained to me, "these paper bags are biscuits and bread, besides canned meat and vegetables, there are also coffee, tea, sugar and salt."


    I opened a paper package and saw that it was really biscuits. I couldn''t help but say with emotion, "Comrade captain, it seems that you know German rations very well. While it''s ok now, tell me more about it. "


    "As far as I know, the food supply of German soldiers is divided into three levels: Level I, combat area; Class II, occupied area; Class III, local garrison. Among them, the quantity of grade I food is the most, and it is gradually decreasing below. I''ll tell you a little about the food in the German combat area. " It was obvious that shereblenner knew something about the German logistics, so when he talked about it, he kept on saying, "their daily quotas are: 750 grams of rye bread, 250 grams of biscuits, 45 grams of butter (vegetable butter) or edible fat, 120 grams of sausage (occasionally replaced by smoked fish), 200 grams of jam or artificial honey, 750 grams of boiled potatoes or vegetables, 120 grams of meat, 45 grams of vegetable or animal fat, 15 grams of seasoning, 8 grams of coffee beans (sometimes replaced by black tea), 1 bag of chocolate or candy, 7 rolls of cigarette paper and 2 rolls of tobacco. "


    "Comrade captain," as soon as he finished, I immediately asked myself a question about what I didn''t understand: "what do you mean by cigarette paper and tobacco?"


    "Cigarette paper and tobacco, used by German soldiers to smoke cigarettes." Shereblenny replied briefly.


    After listening to his explanation, it dawned on me that although I had seen soldiers smoking cigarettes by themselves before, they used paper torn from notebooks or flyers, so I didn''t think about that direction at all. Seeing the rich food in front of me, I said bitterly: "German food is much better than us. People can eat meat every day. As a teacher, I haven''t seen meat for more than a month. "


    After shereblenny opened all the cans, we were eating and discussing the defense deployment on the high ground. Before we finished eating, corporal joowitzki ran in from the outside with light steps and ran in front of me. He snapped to attention and said to me excitedly, "report to Mr. commander, Mr. deputy."


    "The deputy is back?" Hearing the news of Bantai leiev''s return, I pushed the unfinished food aside, stood up abruptly, and nervously asked ruhovitzki, "corporal, where is the deputy division commander?"


    "Sir, I''m here." Without waiting for corporal ruhovitzki to reply, bantaileiev''s loud voice came from the entrance, "I have successfully completed the task you gave me, and now I''m here to report it to you."


    I went forward, stretched out my hands, and clasped the four hands of Bantai leiev. I said excitedly: "Comrade Deputy teacher, it''s hard, it''s hard." With that, I released my right hand and made a gesture of "please" to the room: "you must be hungry after working all day. Come and have something to eat with us." Then he took his hand and went to the table.


    Bantai leiev may have gone to command the war, but he didn''t care to eat. Seeing that there was so much food on the table and not being polite to us, he sat down and ate. While he was eating, shereblenny gave him a brief introduction about the basic rations for two German soldiers.


    After listening to what shereblenny said, Bantai leiev said sourly: "I didn''t expect that the damned Krauts were not only better equipped than us, but also better fed than our commanders and fighters. Since I became an independent teacher, I haven''t seen any meat. Sometimes I even think that I became a monk and became a nun. "


    After leiev finished complaining, I asked, "Comrade deputy division commander, can you tell me about your fighting today?"


    Bantai leiev had just dug a piece of meat out of the tin with a spoon. Just as he was about to look at it, he heard me ask, so he quickly put the spoon back into the tin, looked up at me and said, "OK, sir, I''ll report to you right now. After I arrived at our temporary camp with tanks and armored forces, I contacted the commander of the Third Battalion of the fourth regiment and asked him to leave behind two platoons of soldiers, and the rest of the troops would follow me to carry out combat tasks.


    As the speed of infantry is not the same as that of tanks and armored vehicles, I ordered the infantry battalion commander to lead the infantry to set out first and wait for our tanks to rush into the enemy''s camp one kilometer away for the infantry to attack.


    When the infantry set out, I asked the soldiers driving tanks and armored vehicles to have a rest so that they could be energetic in the next battle. After an hour''s rest, I estimated that the infantry were almost close to the enemy''s camp, so I ordered the tanks and armored vehicles to leave.


    As our armored forces approached the Romanian camp, the sentinel who heard the movement just looked at us for a moment, and then came lazily by himself. When I saw the sentry approaching, the tank in front of me didn''t slow down. Instead, I rushed by the accelerator, rolled the sentry under the track, and then quickly rushed to the camp.


    Romanian troops did not expect that the German tanks and armored vehicles outside the camp would rush in so recklessly. They were at a loss for a moment. Most of the soldiers outside the camp stood in a daze. It was not until the machine guns on our tanks and armored vehicles began to fire that Romania understood that they had been attacked. It''s obviously too late to fight back at this time. Especially when we see our hordes of infantry pouring in from outside the camp, the short and futile resistance stops


    A battalion fought against a Romanian company, and there were tanks and armored vehicles to assist in the battle. If the victory was already doomed, I was concerned about how many trucks were captured from the enemy''s camp in this battle, and whether the materials rescued from the city could be transported back to mamayev post, so I asked cautiously, "Comrade deputy division commander, How many trucks did you capture in the camp? "


    Bantaileiev sighed and said with regret: "I interrogated the company commander of Romanian army. According to his confession, there were 60 trucks in the camp, but yesterday the German army of gorodyse temporarily transferred a batch of trucks from them. As a result, we only captured 25 trucks. "


    25 trucks. When I heard this number, I could not help frowning slightly. Even if our commanders and fighters could walk home, we could not pull all the materials back at one time only by these trucks.


    Seeing my brow tightening, Bantai leiev said bitterly: "Sir, what should we do with so many materials in the city? I also know that these 25 trucks will take at least four or five times to complete. The motorcade has to pass through the German defense area to reach the mamayev post. Unless the enemy is blind and deaf, it is impossible for them not to find out. "


    "Deputy division, we don''t have so many materials." In my opinion, bantaileiev seemed to be not very clear about the loss of materials in the city during the air raid. He specially explained to him, "shortly after you left with your troops, the enemy bombed our city. Fortunately, the anti-aircraft sentry set up in the army even fired the alarm, so that we had time to withdraw the commanders and fighters carrying materials from the city, but most of the materials were destroyed in the German bombing. "


    Just as Bantai leiev was very glad for the troops to withdraw from the city in time, a familiar voice came from the door: "is the division commander here?"


    "Comrade commander, I''m here." Hearing the familiar voice of shijerikov, I immediately understood that he was bringing troops to report to me, and quickly called him, "come in."


    Shejerikov came over and first saluted me and Bantai leiev, who was sitting at the table. Then he respectfully reported, "Comrade division commander, I have brought two companies from the Third Battalion. Please arrange the combat task."


    I glanced behind him and saw that there was no one else but him, so I asked in a strange way, "Lieutenant sergeant sharikov, didn''t I ask you and lieutenant colonel kosja to send an army? Why did you come here and don''t see kosga? Where has he gone? "


    "Yes, sir." Seeing that I had a premonition of anger, xiejerikov quickly explained: "at present, there is chaos outside the city, and the materials and prisoners have to be guarded. If there is no regimental commander left there, the situation is difficult to control. So after discussing with colonel kosga, I let him stay there, and I took two companies of the Third Battalion of the first regiment and one company of the second battalion of the third regiment to the highland to accept the task you gave me. "


    "Comrade division," as it is not long before bantaileyev comes back, I have not had time to tell him about the plan of ambushing the German army. Therefore, he heard what shejerikov said and asked unexpectedly, "are we going to attack the enemy somewhere again?"


    I nodded, reached out and took the German map he had captured from shereblenny''s hand, put the food in front of bantaileiev, spread the map on the table, pointed to our position, and said, "Comrade deputy division, according to our observation, just north of the highland, there is a vast prairie, perhaps because of the lack of people, The weeds on the grassland grow very high. So I plan to ambush two troops on the grassland to deal with the German troops who are going to attack us


    "How do you plan to deploy these two forces?" Bantai leiev asked curiously.


    "Comrade deputy division commander, come and see." I pointed to the map and said to him, "the road from kongyi City, after bypassing our highland in the west, extends to the distance through the grassland in front of us. According to our judgment, the enemy who attacks us will certainly follow this road. So I plan to ambush one army on each side of the road, to the German troops invading nearby. Camouflaged tanks, armored vehicles and infantry of two companies are hidden in the grassland on the east side of the road. Their task is that when the German marching line passes in front of them, the tanks will fire first to destroy the tanks, armored vehicles and artillery in the enemy line. Then our infantry will attack the enemy on the road under the cover of armored vehicles. The enemy who has been suddenly attacked will certainly rush forward along the road after being hit and hoodwinked. At this time, our troops ambushing on the west slope of the road will fire again to intercept, which will certainly make the enemy more confused. Under the attack of our two troops, the enemy will be defeated by us. That''s all my plans. Comrade deputy division commander, do you have anything to add? "


    Bantai leiev looked down at the map in front of him and pondered for a long time. Then he slowly shook his head and said, "Sir, you have considered it very comprehensively. I have no different opinions. If there''s any regret, it''s that we can''t deploy artillery positions on the high ground, otherwise we may completely annihilate the invading enemy. "


    Seeing that my plan was approved by bantaileiev, I called shejerikov in front of me, repeated what I had just said, and specially told him, "I mean to hide the two companies you brought together in the grass with tanks and armored vehicles; And the earth slope close to the highland should be defended by the commanders and fighters of the second battalion of the third regiment. "


    "Comrade division commander," listen to me, I gave the task of setting up an ambush on the slope to the third regiment. Bantaileiev reminded me with some worry, "is it appropriate to give such a task to the third regiment?"


    Those who have this kind of worry are not only bandeleev, but also xiejerikov and shereblenny. They all look at me nervously to see if I will change my original decision because of bandeleev''s words.


    Now that my orders have been issued, if they are constantly changed, it will have a certain impact on my authority, so I firmly said: "Comrade deputy division commander, please rest assured, I believe that the soldiers of the third regiment have not performed well in two successive battles. They have long held back their strength and wanted to perform well. This is just a rare opportunity for them." After these words, I found that the people still looked at me seriously and did not speak. They could only patiently explain to them, "don''t worry, the position of the third regiment is very close to the highland. Even if the German army breaks through from them, our troops on the highland can easily defeat the German army which has lost its organizational system."


    Seeing my stubbornness, whether it is bantaileiev or shejerikov, I can only accept my fate. After saluting me, shijerikov turned and left the command post to assign tasks to the commanders and fighters.


    In the evening, shejerikov sent someone to report to me and bantaileiev that all the troops were in place and ready for battle.


    After hearing the report from Sergey rykov, bantaileiev couldn''t sit still in the command post of Sergey Brienne and said to me, "Comrade division commander, is it appropriate for commander Sergeant Sergey rykov''s troops to hide in the grass beside the road? Won''t it be discovered by enemy scouts? "


    I''m not sure about Bantai leyev''s worries, but I said with feigned calmness: "Comrade deputy division commander, Lieutenant Colonel xiejerikov is a commander who has experienced many battles. I believe that he will not make mistakes in carrying out this combat task."


    "But..." although my words have been very clear, bantaileiev is still as restless as an ant on a hot pot. After turning around the room for several times, I just started to say a word, and then I stopped: "Comrade deputy division commander, there is nothing to worry about. If you are not at ease, we might as well go to the front and have a look. Maybe you will feel at ease after reading it. "


    Bantai leiev probably wanted to go outside for a long time, but I didn''t open my mouth. He was embarrassed to say that. Hearing what I said, he nodded and kept saying, "since that''s the case, let''s go to the position and have a look. If I don''t see with my own eyes that their troops are hiding well, I will never be at ease. "


    The two of us, led by shereblenne, came to a nearby observation post. Bantai leiev and I stood side by side in front of the lookout and raised our telescope to look into the distance.


    But my camera pulled back and forth several times, except for the vast prairie, I couldn''t see where their troops were hiding. I put down my telescope, touched the desk with my elbow, and asked leiev in a low voice, "Hello, comrade deputy division commander, do you see lieutenant colonel xijerikov and them?"


    Bantai leiev also put down his telescope, shook his head blankly, and replied, "no, I''ve looked back and forth for several times, but I haven''t seen our hidden troops." Speaking of this, he suddenly asked: "Sir, do you think they haven''t entered the hidden position at all?"


    After listening to what Bantai leiev said, I quickly waved my hand and denied his conjecture: "Comrade Deputy teacher, this is absolutely impossible. I don''t think lieutenant commander sherekov has the courage to take the troops into hiding position. It must have been because they were so hidden that we didn''t find them Then I raised my telescope again and looked into the distance.


    This time, I learned the lesson just now and didn''t search aimlessly. But because of the small slope as a starting point, a little bit to the east to search. I did this, and it worked very quickly. In the grass about two kilometers to the east of xiaotupo, there are several places where the grass is very dense. After careful inspection, I found that there were several tanks and armored vehicles covered with weeds. If I hadn''t paid special attention, I might have missed them again.


    When I found the hiding place of sergeant shijerikov, I quickly raised my hand and patted leiev on the shoulder. Pointing to the position I had just found, I said to him, "Comrade deputy division commander, look in that direction. Our tanks and armored vehicles are hidden in those prominent haystacks. "


    Bandeleev moved the telescope in the direction I was pointing to. After repeated observation, he exclaimed in surprise, "great, great, great!" Then he put down his telescope and said to me excitedly, "Comrade teacher, Lieutenant Colonel chejerikov, they are so well hidden. Let alone the Germans, even if we don''t observe them carefully, we can''t find them at all. In this case, if the Germans don''t come, they will be caught off guard. Sir, do you think the Germans are coming back? " When he said the last sentence, he was obviously a little weak¡° Yes, comrade deputy division commander. " I answered him firmly, "the Germans are sure to come. Either tonight or tomorrow morning, they will be back

 Chapter 791

    Night falls and the moon rises.


    I sat in the command post with bantaileiev and shereblenny, studying the possible retaliation measures taken by the enemy after our ambush around the map on the table.


    Bantaileiev is the most experienced of the three of us. He said solemnly: "Comrade division, once the enemy has been successfully ambushed, I suggest that the tanks and armored vehicles should be moved to the back of the high ground to hide, so as not to be destroyed by German aircraft."


    As for bantailiev''s proposal, I think it is very reasonable. On the grassland in front of the highland, if the armored troops who have completed the mission still stay there, they will easily become the live target of German aircraft. So I agreed almost without thinking, "I agree with the deputy division commander, when the battle is over, Let our armored forces, under the cover of night, come around behind the high ground. Comrade captain, do you dig a shelter for tanks? " My last question is about shereblenny, who is sitting next to me.


    After listening to my question, he shook his head with a wry smile and replied, "I''m sorry, comrade division commander. Since the commanders and fighters have been busy reinforcing the fortifications on the high ground since they entered the position, they can''t send any manpower to dig the shelter that can hide tanks or armored vehicles."


    When I learned that there was no shelter to hide heavy technical equipment on the highland, I sighed and said with disappointment: "since there is no shelter, we can only scatter these technical equipment on the grass behind the highland and try to camouflage better. In the next battle, if we don''t have heavy weapons and face the enemy''s crazy attack, we will pay a heavy price. How many of us will be able to return to mamayev post by then is also an unknown number. "


    As we were talking, corporal joowitzki came panting from the outside, handed a telegram to me, and said, "Comrade division, this is a telegram sent by lieutenant colonel kosja." Seeing the man who had received the telegram, I stared at him suspiciously and hastily added, "according to the messenger, Lieutenant Colonel kosga is now in the headquarters of the provisional division, so our operator is with him."


    Corporal joowitzki''s explanation made me understand why the important telegrams were sent by kosga. I looked down at the words on the telegram and frowned tightly.


    Seeing the change of expression on my face, Bantai leiev asked with concern: "Comrade teacher, who sent the telegram and what happened?"


    I handed him the telegram in my hand and said in a heavy tone: "it was from political commissar kirilov. He said that the German army sent out planes to bombard mamayev post in the afternoon. In particular, the southern highland where the division headquarters was located was the focus of the enemy''s bombing. There were several howitzers hidden in the cave. They were hit by the falling bombs and were killed in the explosion, All the cannons were destroyed and the artillery suffered heavy casualties. "


    After reading the telegram, he put it on the desk and said excitedly, "Comrade division commander, this is really great. The group army headquarters affirmed and praised us for our unexpected attack on the enemy and our successful recapture of kongyi." Seeing that I was still a sad expression, he comforted me and said, "if you lose a few cannons, you will lose them. Anyway, the cannons without shells are a pile of scrap iron in the position. It''s bombed by the enemy today, so we''ll capture it tomorrow. Besides, when we liberated the city, didn''t we seize several cannons? If we try to pull these guns back, we can also strengthen the defensive firepower of mamayev post. "


    Without waiting for me to speak, there was a voice calling for a report at the door. We all turned around and saw a soldier of the second battalion standing at the door. Bantai leiev and I were standing in the same place, but shereblenny quickly welcomed us.


    After saying a few words to the soldier, shereblenny sent him away. Then he answered our side and reported to us: "Comrade division commander, the soldier who went to contact with commander xiejerikov is back. He reported that our troops have been concealed and ready for all combat. As soon as the enemy appears, they can decisively attack and destroy the enemy. "


    "It''s late at night. It must be cold outside." Bantaileiev asked anxiously, "it''s almost November. Maybe it will snow these two days. Soldiers lie on the grassland all night, won''t there be frostbite? "


    "Comrade deputy division commander, please rest assured that it will be all right." "I saw that the regimental commander was ready for the cold before he set out. He asked each soldier to bring an extra German military coat. He said that when he was hiding, he could use it as a cushion under his body or as a quilt over his body."


    Bandeleev felt a little relieved by shereblenny''s words. He nodded his head and said, "Lt. Col. chejerikov is also a commander with rich experience. I don''t believe he will make such a low-level mistake and let hundreds of commanders and fighters freeze all night in the cold suburbs."


    At about ten o''clock in the evening, some soldiers ran in and reported to shereblenny, "Comrade battalion commander, there is a light on the road in the distance. It should be the German troops."


    "The Germans are here at last." When he heard the news, Bantai leiev''s face showed a smile. He waved his head at me and asked in a consultative tone, "Comrade teacher, shall we go to the observation post?"


    I nodded in agreement, and then told shereblenny: "Comrade captain, command the commanders and fighters in the position to prepare for battle. Once the defeated Germans rush to our high ground, we will teach them a lesson with your weapons."¡° I understand "I''ll give you your order at once," replied sherebrian, with a common face Bantai leiev and I came to the observation post, stood in front of the observation port, raised our telescope and looked into the distance. Because of the good moonlight tonight, our vision is very broad. Even if we don''t deliberately look at the tank lights in the distance, we can see the general marching line of the German army. Hundreds of infantry formed two columns on both sides of the road, with German tanks and armored vehicles in the middle of the road. After observing for a while, bantaileiev said to me in a low voice, "Comrade division commander, the enemy has about one battalion of infantry, seven tanks and the same number of armored vehicles. Their armor is about the same as ours. If we fight, our winning rate is very high. " As for his analysis, I just hummed a little to show my agreement. If I can''t succeed in attacking the German area with the same number of people and equipment, then I will assign this ambush in vain. It seems that the German troops did not expect that they would be attacked by us near the Highlands, so they set out the usual March line and slowly approached our ambush circle. Seeing that the German tanks and troops were only two or three hundred meters away from the small slope, bantailiev said impatiently, "what''s the matter with shijerikov? The enemy is almost out of our ambush circle. Why hasn''t he opened fire?" Although I am as anxious as Bantai leiev, I can only pretend to be calm at the moment and say, "don''t worry, comrade deputy division commander. Lieutenant commander xiejerikov is a very experienced commander. He knows when to launch the attack, so we''d better wait patiently. Maybe it will start soon!" As soon as I spoke, there was a fire on the body of a tank in my field of vision, and then an explosion came into the observation post¡° Mr. and comrade, you are really amazing Bantai leiev saw that the battle started outside, and he immediately cried to me excitedly, "you said sergeant chejerikov, they were going to open fire, but they really opened fire."¡° Comrade deputy division commander, "seeing that Sergei rykov has begun to attack, my mood is getting better and better. I said to bandeleev with pride," let''s have a good look at Sergei rykov''s performance and see how he eliminated all the Germans. " The shells flying out of the grass either landed on the enemy''s tanks and armored bodies or on the enemy''s March line. The firelight from the explosion lit up the nearby sky and lit up a flustered face of Zhang Dejun. They were blinded by the sudden attack and ran around like headless flies. When he saw that the enemy was in chaos, he immediately commanded the troops to launch a charge. The soldiers sprang up from the ground, followed by the armored vehicles and rushed to the road, while the tanks stopped and continued to fire, providing the necessary artillery cover for the attacking troops. The German troops, who were in chaos on the road, saw our officers and men rushing towards them under the cover of armored vehicles, and ran noisily along the road towards the high ground. Seeing this scene, my heart can''t help mentioning that if these hundreds of enemies all rush to the small slope, can the soldiers of the third regiment stick to it stop them? When the German army''s rout was about one or two hundred meters away from the slope, the hidden soldiers on the slope began to fire. Dense bullets poured down the German line, making large and small gaps in the crowd. The soldiers in front of them were knocked down. Later, the soldiers running for their lives kept pouring in. After a pause, the gaps made by bullets were filled. Bantailiev was also nervous at the moment. He said anxiously: "Comrade division commander, we only had one company on the slope, and we were the weakest recruits of the third regiment. Was it a little too careless that if the Germans continued to rush forward regardless of death, maybe they would rush up the slope and wipe out our inferior troops?" When I was thinking about how to answer bandeleev, in the lens of the telescope, I suddenly saw a dark little thing flying on the earth slope, and I could see Mars popping up on it¡° It''s a grenade I had this idea in my head right away.

 Chapter 792

    Almost at the same time that I had this idea, the grenades thrown from the earth slope exploded in the German army''s crowded queue, splashing out a large amount of fire and smoke. Through the telescope, I could clearly see groups of German soldiers falling in the vicinity of the explosion point. Some people died on the spot, while others, wounded and still alive, were rolling on the ground.


    The smoke of the explosion had not gone away. Before I called out, the officers and men on the hillside jumped up from their hiding places one after another, carrying guns, and rushed to the scattered German troops at the foot of the slope.


    Compared with the new recruits who rushed down the hillside rashly, the German army was obviously much more well-trained. They knew that if they did not eliminate the enemy who rushed down, they would not be able to move forward, or even be eliminated. So after a short period of confusion, scattered soldiers spontaneously organized to meet our team in groups, and the two teams entangled at the foot of the slope.


    When I saw this scene in the observation center, I was so angry that I secretly scolded the so-called company commander. Why didn''t I know how to kill the enemy on the road with high firepower on the slope and rush out to do something? Originally, the Germans just ran for their lives along the road. When you rush down like this, the Germans will surely stop and fight. Moreover, the two troops are entangled. After their armored forces rush up, they will be afraid of hurting their own people and throw a rat into the trap. In this way, the defeated German may have a chance to escape.


    Not only am I angry, but Bantai leiev, who also saw this scene, was furious. He jumped to the front and yelled: "how does the company commander command, why don''t he let the troops stay on the slope and kill the German soldiers who are fleeing on the road with firepower, but rush down foolishly to fight with them for bayonets? Didn''t he know that those recruits were all untrained, so they were not sent to death? "


    "Comrade deputy division commander," although I was dissatisfied with the company commander who gave the order to attack without authorization, the enemy and our troops had been hanged together at the moment, and there was no way to punish the commander at all, so I had to persuade Bantai leiev: "don''t be impatient. Although the German''s technical and tactical level is higher than our soldiers, their present organizational system has been disrupted, As long as the two companies of shejerikov come up, the battle will be almost over. "


    Under my persuasion, bandeleev closed his mouth and didn''t curse any more, but the anger on his face was still frightening. I guess if the company commander appeared in front of us at this time, Bantai leiev might kill him directly.


    In addition to the German soldiers who fought with our army near the slope, there were many German soldiers scurrying aimlessly on the road a little further away. Seeing the fierce fighting ahead, they seemed to see hope and rushed to this position one after another in an attempt to destroy our army under the slope.


    As soon as they were assembled, several armored vehicles of our army rushed along the road, stopped more than 20 meters away from them, formed a battle formation, and then fired with vehicular machine guns. The long muzzle fire from several cars, if one by one whipped at the crowded Germans, would knock them down in pieces. Then, our soldiers behind the armored car, carrying weapons, quickly passed the armored car and rushed to the German army in front.


    With the participation of this new force, the sky of victory will completely fall to our side. When I saw that the German soldiers, who still had some fighting capacity, were beaten to pieces by us and ran around in desperation, I knew in my heart that we had won this battle again.


    As we were too far apart, and there was no communication equipment between us and lieutenant colonel shejerikov, bantailiev and I had to sit in the observation station waiting for shejerikov''s report.


    After a long silence, Bantai leiev lit a cigarette and asked thoughtfully, "Sir, what do you think is the reason why our ambush tonight can be so successful so easily?"


    "It''s because the enemy belittles the enemy." I didn''t say it was because of the bravery and tenacity of our commanders and fighters, but I said directly: "it was because they despised the enemy that they didn''t expect to be ambushed by our army. So in the next battle, the cooperation between their infantry and armored forces is out of the question. After our sudden attack, the German infantry who were caught unprepared were in a mess, unable to effectively cooperate with the armored forces. As a result, the armored forces without infantry cover were easily destroyed by our artillery fire. "


    "And the lesson?" Bantai leiev then asked.


    "If it''s a lesson." I thought about it and said solemnly, "the soldiers of the third regiment gave up their defensive positions and rushed down the slope to fight with the Germans. Because of their unauthorized attack, the results of our ambush were greatly reduced. Just now I saw through the telescope that at least hundreds of German soldiers had successfully escaped. My personal opinion is that although we have won this battle, we must not lightly spare the company commander, and we must deal with it severely. "


    Bantai leiev looked at me and asked briefly, "how to deal with it seriously?"


    Although I verbally said that I would seriously deal with this company commander who is good at advocating, when Bantai leiev asked how to deal with it, I couldn''t say it. I can''t shoot that company commander just for this matter. After all, we are fighting a victory, not a defeat. After pondering for a moment, I said tentatively, "how about abolishing his post as company commander and making him the monitor of the class?"


    After listening to my opinion, bantaileiev thought about it and nodded slowly: "well, I think this kind of result should be a lesson for him." Perhaps he was afraid that I would be oversensitive, and he specially stressed, "the reason why I asked him to be dealt with seriously is to prevent other commanders from following his example, patronizing heroes and ignoring military discipline. If we let it go, we will lose a lot in the future. "


    As we were talking, shereblenny took shererikov to the observation post.


    Shejerikov quickly came to us, raised his hand to salute, and excitedly reported: "division commander and deputy division commander, our department has successfully completed the ambush of the German army. I''m here to wait for your next order."


    Bantaileiev stood up and went to shejerikov. He shook hands with him and patted his shoulder with his left hand. He said with approval, "good job, comrade commander. You did a very good job He turned his head and looked at it with a smile on his face and said, "the division commander and I have just seen clearly through the telescope. You have a good chance to attack. If it is not for the company of the third regiment, I believe you can achieve greater results."


    I did not get up, but asked with a faint smile: "Comrade commander, how are the casualties in the army? How many enemies have been wiped out, and what about their capture? "


    Shejerikov quickly and gently broke away from Bantai leiev, came to me, stood straight and said: "report to division commander, a regiment of 35 casualties, including 7 casualties, destroyed seven German tanks and two armored vehicles, captured an armored vehicle, killed 187 enemies, captured 61 prisoners, captured a large number of weapons and ammunition, and a briefcase." Then he took down the satchel and handed it to me.


    I took the briefcase, opened it, took out a thick stack of documents from it, and looked at it at will. The documents were both handwritten and printed, but I didn''t know a word, so I had to put them on the table with a bitter smile. Then I asked leiev, "Comrade Deputy teacher, are all documents in German, can you understand them?"


    Bantai leiev also shook his head with a wry smile after hearing this. He turned around and asked shereblenny, "Comrade captain, do you know German?"


    Xie liebolianei shook his head and replied, "Comrade Deputy teacher of the report, although I know a little German, I only stay on the basis of being able to speak and not be able to write."


    Bantailiev went to the table, picked up the stack of documents, looked through them, and said regretfully, "it seems that we can only wait until we get back to mamayev post, and then find someone who understands German to translate these documents. It''s a pity that we don''t know what the German will do next. "


    "Comrade deputy division commander, please don''t worry." "We interrogated several prisoners and learned from them that after the German army learned that we had occupied konaiyi City, they dispatched a tank battalion, two artillery battalions and a regiment of infantry from the area where they were fighting with the Don front army to turn around and go south in an attempt to seize the city from us. What we defeated tonight was only a German vanguard battalion. The armored vehicle of the battalion commander was destroyed in the first round of our tank fire


    I wanted to ask him if he had captured the German battalion commander or something in the battle. I didn''t expect that he had given the answer first. I was disappointed to hear that the German battalion commander had been charred in the burning wreckage of the armored vehicle, because I could get more information from him.


    "By the way, comrade commander." Bantaileiev seemed to think of something. After putting the document back on the desk, he turned and asked shijerikov, "how are the casualties of the company of the third regiment? In your report just now, I don''t think you mentioned it."


    On hearing this question, shijerikov bowed his head and answered with some sadness: "Comrade deputy division commander, the situation of the third regiment is very serious. There are only 17 people left in the company who can fight, and the rest are almost sacrificed."


    "What?" Hearing that, I jumped out of my seat. Unexpectedly, in just a few minutes of fighting, the company of the third regiment suffered heavy casualties. It seems that it is not too much to shoot the company commander. I pressed my sore temple and took a deep breath. Biting my back teeth, I asked fiercely, "what about the company commander?"


    "Sacrificed." Shocked by my fierce expression, shijerikov nervously and incoherently replied, "the company commander died in a hand-to-hand fight with the enemy. According to the surviving soldiers, he was very brave, with at least five or six bayonet wounds and a dozen gunshot wounds. "


    "Comrade division commander," Bantai leiev came to help me sit down, comforted me and said, "since this company commander died in the battle, then there is no need to investigate his responsibility."


    I nodded at Bantai leiev''s proposal, and then asked sergeant sharnikov, "Comrade commander, are there any other commanders in that company?"


    Shejerikov shook his head again and said, "no, all the commanders died in the battle, and the rest were soldiers."


    If such a company with heavy casualties belongs to one regiment, I will certainly merge the remaining soldiers into other companies without hesitation. Anyway, there are many companies that need to be supplemented. But they belong to cosga''s three regiments. If I merge them into one regiment rashly, commander cosga will have some ideas. So I thought about it again and again, and finally announced to sergeant shijerikov, "Comrade commander, since there is no commander in that company, let corporal joowitzki take over the command of the army."


    "Comrade commander, have you finished cleaning the battlefield?" Bantaileiev asked xiejerikov with concern: "if the cleaning is finished, immediately gather all the troops and prepare to move to the rear of the highland immediately to hide, so as not to be blown up by the enemy''s aircraft after dawn. We only have such a little armor, but we can''t sacrifice it for nothing. " When I heard bantailiev''s transfer to shejerikov, I suddenly had an idea in my mind. I remember that it seemed that there was an excellent commander who once commanded the troops to ambush twice at the same place, both of which severely damaged the enemy. Although we have just finished an ambush, we don''t need to move. We can do it again. As far as I know of the Germans, they will never think that we would dare to ambush them again after we have finished their ambush. Thinking of this, I stood up and said to bandeleev, "Comrade deputy division commander, let lieutenant colonel chejerikov cancel their transfer plan, let them continue to stay in place and lurk, ready to ambush the Germans in the Highlands again."¡° what? What did you say, sir? " After a long time, Bantai leiev asked cautiously, "Comrade division, what you said is to let the troops stay in place and prepare to ambush the German army again. Am I right?"¡° No mistake, comrade deputy division commander. " Seeing their exaggerated performance, I feel very proud. Even my colleagues who have been with me for such a long time can''t guess my bold plan, and even the old-fashioned Germans can''t think of it. So I definitely said, "yes, you heard me right. I just let lieutenant colonel chejerikov and his troops continue to lurk in the same place, Prepare for another German ambush. "¡° But our troops have just ambushed the Germans in that area Bantaileiev was frightened by my crazy plan and tried to persuade me to change my mind. "Maybe the troops lurking there will be destroyed by German artillery and bombing. At present, we only have a few newly captured tanks and armored vehicles. We can''t lose them here for nothing. " Seeing that Bantai leiev wanted to go on, I quickly raised his hand to stop him and asked, "Comrade deputy division commander, if this is your ambush, will you let the troops leave after cleaning the battlefield after the battle is over?"¡° Exactly, comrade division. " Bantaileiev shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I will definitely give such an order. Even other commanders, I believe, will give the same order. You say, "is that so?" His last word was to ask about chejerikov and shereblenny. When they heard his question, they both nodded and answered with one voice: "yes, comrade Deputy teacher. We''ll order the troops to retreat after we finish our mission. " Hearing the same answer from all three, I said to them with a smile: "comrades commander, since you all have the same idea, I think that the German commanders who have been attacked by us will make a similar judgment and think that all our troops have withdrawn after the ambush. I just want to make use of the German commander''s habitual thinking to fight the same ambush again at the same place. " After I finished the analysis, bantailief asked dubiously: "Sir, do the Germans really think so?" Without waiting for me to speak, shijerikov had preempted me and expressed his support: "Sir, I agree with your plan." After that, he turned to Bantai leiev and explained, "Deputy teacher, since I met her, she has made the right decisions, so her plan sounds risky, but I still think we can try it."¡° The chief is right As soon as sjerykov finished speaking, shereblenny also said, "I also firmly support the plan of the teacher. I believe it will be successful." Seeing that both xiejerikov and xielebrienne expressed their support for me, bantaileiev finally nodded and said, "well, sir, since you have made up your mind, we can only implement it unconditionally. Lt. Col. chejerikov. " Shejerikov, who was named by him, quickly came to attention and stood upright, waiting for his order¡° Go back and organize the troops immediately, and get ready to camouflage and lurk again. " Bantaileiev decisively gave him an order: "tanks and armored vehicles are still hidden in the grass. As for infantry, my opinion is that they can be placed on that slope to kill the German troops who fled along the road."¡° Comrade commander, "I saw that after listening to the arrangement made by Bantai leiev, xiejerikov turned his eyes to me. He quickly stood up and said," since Comrade deputy division commander has given the order, you can carry it out. "

 Chapter 793

    After shejerikov left, bandeleev said to me in a low voice: "Sir, I admit that your plan is feasible, but it''s too risky. But you are my superior, and your orders can only be executed, not discussed, so I reserve my opinion. "


    As for Bantai leiev''s general performance, I nodded with satisfaction, went up to him and comforted him and said, "don''t worry, comrade Deputy teacher, you will understand me after you get along with me for a long time. Although some of my plans seem risky, I will find that they can often achieve unexpected results after implementation. "


    Bantai leiev said with a bitter smile: "I believe that, sir. After I came to the independent division, I have learned about your resume. If you were not competent, you would not have become a unique female general of our army from an ordinary soldier so soon. "


    "Comrade teacher." When I wanted to say a few more words, our operator came running from the communication room next door with a telegram in his hand. To tell you the truth, when I read the telegram these two days, I''m not sure what''s the bad news on it. I stare at the operator''s face, see his excited expression, I secretly wonder is what good news? Otherwise, the operator would not be so excited.


    When the operator ran to me, I didn''t wait for him to speak. I grabbed the telegram in his hand and took it to my eyes to look at it carefully. I saw it written briefly: "my division was awarded the red flag medal."


    I read this simple sentence several times, but I still didn''t understand it. I handed the telegram to leiev and asked modestly, "Comrade deputy division commander, what''s the matter with this telegram?"


    Bantai leiev took a look at it and jumped up with excitement. He held the telegram in one hand and slapped me on the shoulder with the other hand. He said, "great, great, this is great!"


    I don''t understand why he is so excited. Isn''t it that the independent division was awarded the red flag medal? What''s the big deal? Is it worth the special telegram from political commissar kirilov to report the news? Is it worth Bantai leiev''s gaffe? I moved to the side and avoided the hand that leiev patted on my shoulder. I scolded in my heart: "you used to be a blacksmith. With so much strength, you almost broke my shoulder."


    When I coughed and saw Bantai leiev''s attention refocused on me, I asked slowly, "Comrade deputy division commander, it''s just that our superior awarded us a red flag medal. Is it necessary to be so excited?" But in my heart, I thought: the superior is too stingy. He only gave us a red flag medal. Who should I give this medal to, kirilov, akhromeyev, bantailiev in front of me, or the leaders below.


    On hearing my question, Bantai leyev''s face showed a look of surprise. He asked in surprise, "Comrade teacher, don''t you see clearly the telegram sent by the political commissar?"


    I honestly replied, "I''ve seen the content clearly, but I don''t understand it."


    Bantai leiev first waved to the operator and said kindly, "Comrade operator, you''d better go back to the communication room first. If you have any new telegrams, please send them immediately." The operator agreed and turned to leave.


    Looking at the back of the operator leaving, I secretly congratulated myself that after receiving the last telegram, I decisively sent someone to call the operator who stayed in the observation position in the morning. Otherwise, the call from kirilov would be at least half an hour late before it could reach us.


    I turned around and looked at Bantai leiev. I asked him for advice again with an open mind and said, "Comrade deputy division commander, I don''t see anything to be happy about. Isn''t it that our superior rewarded us with a red flag medal? You know, there are a lot of commanders in the division who can get this honor. Just one medal. Who do you want me to give it to? Isn''t it embarrassing for us to do so? "


    As soon as I spoke, Bantai leiev burst into laughter, which made me confused. Seeing my blank face and laughing out of breath, Bantai leiev explained to me, "my teacher, you have made a mistake. The red flag medal awarded by the superior is given to the independent division as a group rather than an individual. " Seeing that I was still puzzled, he added, "well, after the independent division won this medal, the number of the division changed. In the future, when our superiors address us, it will no longer be "that''s natural." Bantai leiev didn''t know that he was doing science popularization for me. "Even if the independent division was promoted to the outside guard division, as long as the superior didn''t cancel the red flag medal awarded to us, our division''s serial number always carries this glorious title. Even if the higher authorities later awarded the independent division a new medal, these honors will all be added to our serial number


    Although Bantai leiev tried to explain it in simple terms, I still heard it in a vague way. Because of the pressing time, I didn''t ask in detail, so I had to pretend to understand it and say, "so it is. I understand. Thank you, comrade Deputy teacher."


    We were very happy. Before long, the operator came to the command post again and handed a telegram to me. Obviously, this telegram is no longer a good thing. Instead, it is reported that the mamayev post was shelled by the enemy tonight. At the same time, a small group of troops took advantage of the night to attack the northern highland where the fourth regiment was stationed and the 107.5 highland where the second guard was stationed. After a fierce battle, the enemy was successfully repulsed.


    After reading the telegram, Bantai leiev''s face became more serious. He looked at me and asked, "Comrade teacher, how can I call the political commissar back?"


    "Operator, record now." After I called the telegraph operator, I gave kirilov an oral reply: "Comrade political commissar, mamayev post is the glory of our red flag independent division, and it is also our grave. Even if we fight to the last soldier, we can never step back. The evening of October 25, 1942. " With that, I waved to the operator to call him back immediately.


    "Is it really that serious?" Bantaileiev was obviously frightened by the wording I just used in the telegram. He asked cautiously, "in the telegram, the political commissar said that the enemy only attacked our two Highlands with a small group of troops?"


    "Comrade deputy division commander," I intentionally reminded him without even knowing the hidden meaning in his telegram, "didn''t you notice that the political commissar was talking about the northern highland held by the fourth regiment? Do you know that in front of this highland, there is a German Outpost which we captured not long ago? Since the position was not mentioned in the telegram, it was obviously lost. In order to go north this time, we have mobilized half of the forces of the independent division, and the political commissars have to rely on the remaining half of the forces to stick to such a vast area. The situation is very bad. "


    When I said that, bandeleev understood why I would reply in that way just now. He thought for a moment, and then asked for my opinion: "Comrade teacher, what should we do next? Since the situation at mamayev post is very dangerous, why don''t we concentrate our troops all night and go back? "


    Bantailiev''s proposal made me feel excited. In a flash, I almost followed his words and gave the order to let the troops return to mamayev post. But on second thought, under the current situation, we still have to stay here for a few days. One is to see if it is possible to join forces with the forces of the Don front army and lead the main force of the enemy out of Stalingrad; Second, the enemy has mobilized troops to rush towards us. If we retreat rashly and the enemy pursues after us, the troops with baggage will be easily overtaken and defeated, and the loss will not be worth the gain. So I resolutely denied Bantai leiev''s proposal: "Comrade deputy division commander, no, this is not the time to retreat. We must stay here and continue to stick to it."


    "Sir, do you really think that if we stay here, we will be able to join forces with the Don river side going south?" Bantai leiev obviously guessed what was on my mind and said bluntly: "the Germans not only have an advantage in military strength and equipment, but also have the right to control the air. Let alone we have only two or three thousand people, even if we have two or three divisions, it is inevitable that the whole army will be destroyed if we stay here, so you should make up your mind early."


    "Comrade deputy division commander." I saw that he was ready to retreat because of the dangerous situation of mamayev post, but now I was in a dilemma, so I had to harden my head and say, "like you, I am also worried about the danger faced by mamayev post. But what we received was an order to go north and join the Don front army. Without the permission of our superiors, we had to continue to move north even if we had a single soldier left. And judging from the current situation, the Germans who have suffered a lot from us will attack our highlands at the latest after dawn. If we retreat at this moment, the enemy will dare to follow us to catch up. When we get to the open grassland, do you think our army without heavy weapons can withstand the three-dimensional attack of the enemy''s armored forces and aviation forces? "


    Bantaileiev shook his head and said in a low voice, "No


    "Since we can''t, we have to stay here and beat back the Germans who may come tomorrow." To reassure him, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I said, "there''s still an hour left. It''s the 26th. We stay here until the 30th, and I will lead the troops back to mamayev post, no matter whether we join the friendly forces or not. "


    "By the way, since the German forces are coming from the north, will the Germans in gorodyser come from the south?" Bantai leiev asked nervously, "you know, in the camp ten kilometers south of the city, we have only one battalion of the fourth regiment on guard. They don''t have anti tank weapons, so they can''t resist the attack of the enemy''s armored forces."


    "It''s up to fate." I also understand that the defensive force of our rear camp is too weak, but I can''t send troops to reinforce them. I can only say helplessly: "even if they can''t resist the enemy''s fierce attack, I hope they can buy us more time to prepare, so that our big troops can rush out of the enemy''s encirclement under the unfavorable situation."


    While waiting for dawn, I reallocated all three radio stations. One is the radio station that we contact with mamayevgang, so we must not leave us; One was the station of sergeant gunnel''s reconnaissance unit, and I assigned him to lieutenant colonel kosga, who was guarding the supplies; And the radio station that lieutenant travkin''s reconnaissance unit had, I had them taken to the camp south of the city. In this way, we have established a preliminary communication network. When we have any information to convey, we don''t have to rely on the signalmen to convey it.


    As the sky gradually brightened, Bantai leiev and I came to the lookout again, raised our binoculars and looked into the distance. I also specially looked for lieutenant colonel xiejerikov where they were hiding. To my regret, after searching for a long time, I found no tanks and armored vehicles in any position except for the infantry troops hiding on the top of the earth slope and under the west slope.


    At that time, when the needle was pointing at eight o''clock, leiev, who had been unable to see the enemy, was a little worried. He asked in a low voice, "do you think the German will come, sir?"¡° Yes, comrade deputy division commander. " I answered positively, "the Germans will definitely come back. No matter during the day or last night, they suffered so much from us that they not only lost kongyi City, but also lost the materials in the city. Even the vanguard troops who tried to seize our army''s battlefield were defeated in our ambush circle. That''s why I firmly believe that the enemy will come back for revenge. "¡° What kind of forces do you think they will use to retaliate against us? " Bantai leiev asked curiously¡° In the latest report, didn''t Lt. Col. chejerikov say that? " After repeating the data of shejerikov last night, I said: "the enemy has deployed a tank battalion, two artillery battalions and a infantry regiment outside, so I think they will at least put these forces and technical equipment into attacking us." As soon as I finished, bantaileiev suddenly pointed to the distance and said excitedly, "Comrade division, look, there is dust in the distance. It should be the German army."

 Chapter 794

    A few minutes later, I had a clear view of the long German line through my telescope. The first thing that caught my eye was a German armored vehicle, followed by a long line of tanks in a single formation, followed by numerous trucks, some of which were still towing artillery. On the road, the long lines of German tanks and trucks could not be seen at a glance. It seemed that there were at least one or two hundred tanks and trucks.


    When the leading armored vehicles arrived at the area where they were ambushed last night, they stopped, and then the following tanks stopped one after another. Seeing this scene, my heart beat faster unconsciously. My heart said how the Germans stopped. Did I find them?


    But I have this worry. Even bandeleev has found this problem. He said to me anxiously, "Comrade teacher, how can the Germans stop moving forward? Commander shejerikov''s troops are hidden nearby. They won''t be found by the Germans, will they


    At the moment, I''m so confused that I don''t know how to answer Bantai leiev''s question. When he saw that I didn''t speak, he repeated the question just now. Only then did I feel a little calmer and said calmly: "don''t worry, comrade deputy division commander. If the enemy found out about them, they should have fired long ago. Let''s wait and see what the Germans want to do? "


    Soon, one by one, I saw German tanks leaving the road and entering the grassy grassland, lining up towards our Highlands, with their Black Muzzles pointing at us. The artillery towed by the car was also unloaded from the back of the car by the German artillery and pushed to the back of the tank, with the muzzle facing our high ground.


    I realized that the German army had just stopped advancing. It was not that they had found the hidden shejerikov, but that they were ready to shell us first and then send infantry to attack us. Thinking that they were not found by the German army, I can''t help but feel relieved. As long as they attack from the enemy''s side by surprise, they will surely cause heavy damage to the enemy.


    When I saw Bantai leiev with a serious expression, I quickly pretended to be calm and said to him easily: "Comrade deputy division commander, we are lucky that the enemy didn''t find them..." as soon as I said this, there was a earth shaking noise outside. My voice was suddenly drowned by a boom of explosion.


    I know that the German army began to test fire, and immediately took advantage of the gap between the explosions, yelled at a soldier standing at the door as a guard: "Comrade soldier, you go to tell captain shereblenny immediately, let the troops hide immediately, and the enemy will start shelling."


    Shortly after the soldiers left, the distant rows of tank shells and shrapnel shells fell on our position like a storm. Many shells landed near the observation post and exploded, shaking the place under our feet violently. The air in the observation center was full of smoke, which made me cough.


    Bantai leiev heard my cough, turned to look at me, took advantage of the gap between the explosions, and yelled at me: "Sir, the Germans began to bombard us fiercely. I expect that after the bombardment, the garrison on the Highlands will suffer heavy casualties. Do you want them to attack?"


    "No way," I said after hearing what bandeleev said. I immediately rejected his proposal, coughing and shouting: "it''s not the time yet. Now that the battle has just begun, if we attack rashly, the armored forces of shejerikov will not reach the Germans. We must wait until the German tanks charge towards the Highlands before ordering them to attack. "


    As for my obstinacy, bandeleev had no choice but to nod his head and agree with me.


    "Teacher, deputy teacher, where are you?" At the door came shereblenny''s cry of panic. I quickly turned around and glared at the new captain, trying to see if he was frightened by the German artillery.


    He rushed over, reached for me and Bantai leiev''s hand, and went out as hard as he could. At the same time, he kept shouting, "no, it''s too dangerous here. You all go back to the camp headquarters with me."


    "Comrade captain," bantaileiev shook his hand, broke free from the other party''s hand, and exclaimed discontentedly, "we will stay here to observe the changes in the battlefield more clearly."


    "No, absolutely not." Shereblenny seized bandeleev''s hand again and dragged him out with me. At the moment, I understand that shereblenny''s panic was not because he was afraid of German shelling, but because he was worried about our safety. I can''t help feeling a little moved.


    I was about to follow shereblenny back to the command post when a terrible sound came out very close to me. Then it seemed that someone pushed me heavily. The huge inertia made me fall forward and put shereblenny on the ground. Then, I felt a heavy body and hit me heavily, The pain made my tears flow out.


    The soldiers waiting in the trench outside the observation post saw that several of us fell to the ground and quickly came forward to help us. With the help of two soldiers, I stood up and looked at the observation post. I saw that a big hole had been blasted in the wall next to the lookout entrance where bantailiev and I had just stayed. Suddenly, I was scared out in a cold sweat. If it hadn''t been for shereblenny''s timely pulling us out, we would have been very lucky.


    Surrounded by a group of soldiers, we bent down and ran quickly to the command post. Not far away, another shell exploded in front of the trench. With the cannonball, the two soldiers who ran in the front fell down without saying a word. The soldiers who followed them bent down to help them, but heard the roar of shereblenny: "don''t worry about them, send the division commander to the command post first."


    With his shouts, the soldier who was going to cure his comrades straightened up again and continued to run forward with his weapons. When I passed by the two fallen soldiers, I found them lying on the ground motionless. I didn''t know whether they were sacrificed or stunned by the blast of the bomb. Without waiting to come up with a reason, I have been carried forward by the left and right soldiers.


    When I walked into the command post, I saw the operator sitting by the wall and the telephone set in front of him. I turned around and asked the following shereblenne curiously, "Comrade captain, why is the operator here?" I''m not blaming shereblenny for letting the operator come to the command post from the communication room without authorization. I''m just worried about the bad communication signal here.


    Unexpectedly, Xie liebolianei misunderstood me and quickly explained, "Comrade division, since the shelter in the communication room is as strong as here, I asked the health personnel to send the wounded there. Because there are too many wounded people, we have to report to the command post. "


    I took a look at the nervous shereblenny and asked in a smooth voice, "what''s the signal like here? It won''t affect our communication with other troops, will it?"


    After listening to my question, Xie lieboliang immediately understood that he had misunderstood me and quickly reported, "please rest assured, sir, that the communication between here and the outside world will not be affected in any way."


    The soldier helped me to the table and sat down, then consciously stood on both sides. I looked up at shereblenny and said to him, "Comrade captain, please send someone to see the two soldiers immediately. They may be injured. If they are not treated in time, the situation will be very dangerous."


    Shereblenny nodded and told the two soldiers standing beside me, "you two, go and take the wounded soldiers to the temporary medical room."


    Looking at the back of the two soldiers leaving, I gave shereblenny a smile and said gratefully, "thank you, comrade captain. Since you didn''t show up in time, we don''t know what will happen at the moment. "


    As soon as my voice fell, bantailiev limped over, took shereblenny''s hand, shook it vigorously, and said gratefully, "Captain shereblenny, not only the division commander wants to thank you, but I also want to thank you. If you hadn''t risked your life and ran into the observation center in time to save us, my teacher and I would have gone to see Marx. "


    In the face of my thanks and Bantai leiev''s thanks, shereblenny didn''t know what to say and began to laugh sheepishly.


    At this moment, the operator in front of the telephone with headphones and transmitter called to me: "Sir, comrade, commander xiejerikov wants to talk to you."


    Although I didn''t provide them with a special radio station, they could use the car radio in the tank to contact us. When they heard that he wanted to talk to me, I knew that he saw the German troops shelling our highlands. He couldn''t help but wanted to lead the troops to attack.


    As soon as I put on the earphone, I heard the voice of Sergei reekov: "Hello, Hello, is that the teacher? I''m shijerikov. "


    "It''s me," I asked in a flat voice. "What can I do for you?"


    "That''s true, sir." "I see the tanks of the enemy''s artillery are shelling our highlands. I''d like to ask you if you can attack now," said chejerikov in a hurry


    "Attack, why attack?" My rhetorical question left xiejerikov speechless. After listening to him, I explained, "Comrade commander, be patient. The enemy''s shelling on us has just begun, and their infantry are not in position yet. If we attack at this time, German tanks will be able to turn their guns around to destroy you. Even if you''re lucky enough to wipe out most of the German tanks, what about their infantry? There are a lot of anti tank men in it. Do you think that with your few tanks and armored vehicles, you can defeat a infantry regiment strengthened by tanks and artillery? "


    When I finished, xiejerikov asked carefully, "Comrade teacher, when should we attack?"


    "Wait a little longer, comrade commander." I have just observed that the number of enemy tanks is several times more than ours. If we want to gain the upper hand in the battle with them, we must fire from the back of the German tanks so that we can surprise them. In order to prevent shijerikov from losing his breath, I specially stressed to him: "when the German tanks cover the infantry''s forward assault, you will attack decisively to destroy or capture the enemy''s artillery, and then beat them from behind the enemy''s tanks." Speaking of this, I suddenly thought that there was an infantry unit lying in ambush on the slope. I was worried, "by the way, the unit lying in ambush on the slope will not make the mistake of attacking without authorization again, will it?"


    "No, sir, please rest assured." Shejerikov obviously understood what I was saying. Last night, he thought that the company commander had led the troops to attack without authorization. The company suffered heavy casualties and almost made the German win. He solemnly said to me: "I gave orders to the troops who were ambushed on the slope. They said they didn''t see my tanks attack. Even if the German''s leather boots stepped on their nose, they had to lie there motionless. They were not allowed to expose the target."


    After listening to the promise of xiejerikov, the last worry in my heart disappeared. I nodded and said with satisfaction, "well, comrade commander, then I and the deputy division commander will wait for your victory on the high ground." As soon as the earphones and the transmitter were put down, leiev and shereblenny gathered around the bandstand. Bantai leiev asked with concern: "Comrade teacher, what does lieutenant commander xiejerikov say?" With a smile on my face, I answered them, "shejerikov, seeing the Germans shelling our Highlands, was a little upset. He asked me when I was going to attack. I told him that when the enemy''s tanks covered the infantry and advanced to our Highlands, they would resolutely rush to the German artillery positions, strive to capture the enemy''s artillery, and beat the Germans from behind with their artillery and tank guns, so that they could know what the end would be against our red flag independent division. " The frenzied German bombardment of our highlands lasted about twenty minutes. Shortly after the shelling ended, a disheartened observation post ran in from the outside and yelled at us: "report, enemy tanks, covering a battalion of infantry, are coming towards our high ground." At the end of the observation post''s report, I shook my head at shereblenny and said, "come on, comrade captain, let''s go outside and see what''s going on." Then he turned to the desk and said, "Comrade deputy division commander, if you are injured, please stay at the command post. If the political commissar has any telegrams, you can just receive them here. " Bantai leiev recognized my concern for him from what I said, so he didn''t express any objection. He just nodded with a smile and said as I said: "well, since the teacher said so, I will stay in charge of keeping in touch with the political commissar. It''s dangerous outside. Be careful. "¡° Come on, comrade captain After I finished this sentence, I took the lead to walk outside the command post.

 Chapter 795

    Out of the gate of the command post, I saw teams of commanders and fighters running out of the shelter. Then, under the leadership of their own commanders, they bent down and quickly ran to the shooting platform in the trench. They put their weapons on the trench wall one after another, and the muzzle of their guns pointed to the lower part of the high ground.


    Shereblenny and I came to the observation post. After the German artillery bombardment, the top and side of the observation post had been blown down, and the observation post was full of debris. Seeing this situation, Xie lieboliang said with embarrassment: "Sir, you see that this place has been destroyed by the enemy''s artillery fire. Why don''t you change it?"


    "No, I''ll stay here. The view of other places is not as wide as here." With that, I stepped on the pile of rubble in front of me and walked inside carefully.


    The original location of the lookout was only a waist high half of the wall. If I stood and observed as before, it would be easy to expose. So my body approached the broken wall, half squatted down, raised the telescope and looked out.


    If you don''t look at it, you''ll be surprised. When we were shelled, the German infantry quietly approached a place only one or two kilometers away from the highland. The tanks that stopped shelling also came to us in a wedge-shaped line. Howitzers, which have brought us great trouble and casualties, are still in place. Their muzzles point to our high ground. There is almost no shelter in front of their positions. They seem to expect that we have no long-range firepower and can pose a decent threat to them. Therefore, they did not set up artillery positions according to the regulations. This shows the arrogance of the German army.


    I looked down at the positions on the hillside and found that many of the trenches had been destroyed by the artillery fire. Half of the officers and men entering the positions were on guard and half were nervously repairing the collapsed fortifications.


    Xie liebolianei came to me quietly, squatted down and asked in a low voice, "Comrade division, did the enemy find our troops hidden on the slope?"


    I shook my head and replied, "I don''t think so, otherwise it won''t be so quiet down there." I pointed to the troops lurking in the distance. "We can see the troops lurking here, but it''s hard for the Germans to find them. Don''t you see that their infantry have left the road and come from the grassland? In this way, they are less likely to find our troops. "


    "When can they attack?" After hearing what I said, the restless sherebrian asked nervously, "the Germans have more than 20 tanks, and there are so many cannons in the back. Can they beat the enemy just by their armor?"


    With a smile, I put down my telescope and asked, "what''s the matter, comrade captain? Don''t you have any confidence in your commander, Lieutenant sergeant chejerikov? If we think that the enemy has more technology and equipment than us, we can''t beat them? "


    I just wanted to make a joke and enliven the atmosphere. Unexpectedly, shereblenny was frightened by my words. He waved his hands in a hurry and explained to me, "it''s not like this, sir. I don''t doubt their combat effectiveness in defeating the enemy, but worry that they will suffer greatly when they face a powerful enemy. "


    Although shereblenny put it mildly, what he expressed was the same meaning. I didn''t dwell too much on this issue. Instead, I told him, "Comrade captain, there''s nothing for you here. Go back and command the troops." Just as he promised to get up and leave, I suddenly stopped him. "If you see captain busmanov coming back, call him here and let him be responsible for arranging the security personnel near the observation post."


    Xie liebolianei stopped and hesitated for a moment. Then he asked me, "Sir, there are few mines that have not exploded in the minefield at the foot of the mountain after being bombarded. Do you want me to arrange someone to mine them?"


    "To mine at this time?" When I heard his whimsical suggestion, I was surprised and asked, "Comrade captain, don''t you know that the German infantry and tanks are coming towards us? If we send people to mine at such a time, the German tanks only need to fire one or two guns, and the mines killed will wipe out all our soldiers who laid mines. " In order to prevent him from making any ridiculous suggestions to me, I waved him away.


    The speed of German tanks was much faster than that of infantry. When the infantry were seven or eight hundred meters away from our position, the tanks and infantry joined together. Originally, the speeding tanks stopped, lined up neatly and pointed the black muzzle to the high ground. Seeing this scene, I couldn''t help cursing indignantly: Damn the Germans, they want to use tank fire to suppress the firepower on our position, so as to cover their infantry charge.


    I just thought that the German tank guns were firing neatly. More than twenty tank shells came whistling towards our high ground. A moment later, they landed in different areas and exploded. One of the shells fell five or six meters in front of the observation post and exploded. I quickly squatted down and hid my whole body behind the broken wall, but the soil still fell on me.


    I peeped out from behind the wall and found that the German infantry at the foot of the hillside had changed from a walk to a trot, and they were rushing towards our position. Seeing the enemy approaching our position, the commanders and fighters leaned out of the trench and set up their shooting positions no matter the German tanks were still shooting.


    About a company of German infantry rushed to the foot of the mountain and was stopped by the barbed wire there. Just as they were trying to clear the barbed wire, the firepower on the hillside suddenly opened fire. Two light machine guns, seven or eight rifles and more than 30 rifles brought down more than a dozen German soldiers in an instant, and the rest turned around and fled¡° Hell, why did you shoot so early? " Seeing that the commanders and fighters on the hillside position were not able to hold their breath, they opened fire rashly without bringing the enemy closer. As a result, they only killed such a little of the enemy and exposed their own firepower. Next, waiting for them will be the enemy tank fire retaliation. I yelled at the door, "Hey, who''s out there? Someone''s coming in." As I called out, a soldier appeared at the door and asked politely, "what instructions do you have, sir?"¡° Comrade soldier, ask captain shereblenny I said angrily: "ask him, who is commanding the hillside position, who let them shoot first?" Before the soldiers left, shereblenny appeared in front of me first. He should have been hiding in the shelter nearby. He also saw the scene just now and knew that I might get angry. So he appeared in front of me before I sent someone to call him. Seeing that shereblenny appeared in front of me, I repeated what I had just said angrily: "Comrade captain, who asked your men to shoot first?" In the face of my accusation, Xie liebuliannei blushed. He murmured: "Sir, it''s my fault that I didn''t make it clear to them. I''m responsible for this." Ignoring his answer, I continued to question, "do you know the consequences of such recklessness?" Then I pointed to the hillside and said, "look carefully, how many Germans did we kill and how many Germans did we run in that round of shooting just now? For these enemies who attack the Highlands, we do not want to drive them away, but to destroy them. Now that we have driven them away, the German tanks, which are shooting aimlessly, will concentrate their fire on destroying our firepower points on the hillside. Once the firepower point is destroyed by the artillery fire, do you think the existing forces on the position alone can block the enemy''s attack? "¡° Of course not. " Xie liebolianei replied in a low voice, and then he explained to me, "Comrade division, maybe the round of shelling just now has brought out the anger of our commanders and fighters, so as soon as we see the enemy approaching our position, we can''t help it." As soon as I finished, the German tanks no longer fired aimlessly as they had just done, but concentrated their fire on the hillside. The shells exploding in the front and back of the trench forced the soldiers to retreat into the trench without arms¡° Remember, comrade captain, even if you can''t help it. " With a strong wave of my hand, I said discontentedly, "now you go back to your troops to set up your defense and try your best to block the German attack. Do you understand?" Shereblenny nodded in silence and turned away. Several barbed wire nets at the foot of the mountain were torn open by the explosive shells, enough for the troops to pass through the middle. With the cessation of tank bombardment, more than 200 German soldiers rushed up, quickly through several gaps, and began to climb the hillside. As the enemy approached, even without binoculars, I could still vaguely see the German''s face. My heart could not help pounding. I was afraid that they would suddenly speed up and rush past our army''s position on the hillside. When the enemy was only 50 meters away from the hillside position, there was still no movement in the trench. At this moment, I could not help but panic. I said that the commanders and fighters in the position would not have died in the shelling just now, would they? When the German went forward about 20 meters, from the trench suddenly flew out of dense grenades, like a group of crows flying in the sky. The grenade exploded in the German line. Maybe my ears were shocked a little bit in the shelling just now. The short continuous explosion sound was surprisingly small to me. Shrapnel flying around swept down the German soldiers near the explosion point. Some soldiers were directly hit by several grenades at the same time and were blown to pieces¡° Red flag medal? " When shejerikov heard the news, he was stunned for a moment. Then he tentatively asked, "Comrade deputy division commander, do you mean to award the red flag medal to the independent division, not to the individual?" I can''t help but feel very ashamed when I hear that. Even my subordinates know that the award of the red flag medal to the individual and the collective is different, but I, as a teacher, can''t understand it. What a shame. After hearing basmanov''s question, bantailief nodded his head and said, "yes, comrade commander, it''s the higher authorities who award the red flag medal to the independent division, not to individuals. Do you understand the difference between the two? " Xiejerikov also nodded his head vigorously, affirming: "I understand, I understand, comrade deputy division. Of course, I understand that as long as the superior awarded the red flag Medal of the independent division, then our future title will become a glorious red flag independent division. "

 Chapter 796

    Chinese official account: PS: look at the exclusive story behind burning Moscow, listen to your suggestions for the novel, and pay attention to the starting point of the Chinese net public number (WeChat add friends add the official account - enter qdread), quietly tell me!


    After finishing the battle summary, Bantai leiev got up and went to the telegraph operator, gave him the written report, and ordered: "Comrade telegraph operator, send this report back to the division headquarters immediately, and ask political commissar kirilov to report what happened here, such as to the leaders of the group army on the spot."


    When the operator began to send out the message, bantailiev came back to me, looked at shejerikov standing at the table, and said to me excitedly, "Comrade division commander, today, lieutenant commander shejerikov and his armored forces have done a good job. They have defeated the enemy so easily." It''s hard for bantaileiev to praise anyone in front of me when he has been in the independent division for such a long time. His evaluation of xiejerikov shows that he is very satisfied with the result of this battle.


    I also praised with a smile: "yes, a commander like lieutenant colonel chejerikov, as long as he is assigned the task, he will be able to complete it successfully."


    "Comrade teacher, I have an idea!" Bantaileiev obviously said: "since the four battles we have carried out in the past two days have achieved good results, why don''t we take advantage of the victory and pursue them directly behind the German troops who are blocking the southward movement of the Don front army and give them a hard beating. Maybe in this way, the situation will be completely reversed, and we will be able to join the friendly forces in the shortest time. "


    After listening to Bantai leiev''s words, I almost fell to the ground. Holding the table with both hands, I tried to keep myself calm: "Comrade deputy division commander, although we have achieved certain results in these two days'' fighting, you should also see the casualties of the troops. The four battalions participating in the fighting have been reduced by nearly one third."


    "But after the successive victories, the morale of the commanders and fighters is booming." Bantai leiev seemed unwilling to give up this tempting idea and tried to persuade me: "if we use tanks and armored vehicles as the forerunners, trucks full of commanders and fighters behind, and attack the rear of the enemy''s defensive positions, I believe we can achieve unexpected results."


    The unexpected result is the total annihilation of the shock troops, I thought indignantly. Because I didn''t want to argue with Bantai leiev about this, I said to him very tactfully, "Comrade Deputy teacher, your suggestion is reasonable. If we are the whole independent division here, with the reinforcement of tanks and artillery, and the cooperation of Air Force fighters, we can really achieve unexpected results in carrying out raids on the enemy''s rear. "


    As soon as my words came out, bandeleev recognized the meaning of my words. After pondering for a moment, he said in a calm voice: "Sir, I believe you have your ideas against my proposal. Can you tell me something about your use? "


    Seeing that Bantai leiev was so reasonable, I did not hide my true thoughts and said to him frankly: "Comrade deputy division commander, with the number of tanks, armored vehicles and trucks we have captured, we can completely throw a regiment''s forces into the area where we are preparing for war at one time. But have you ever thought that we have only seven tanks, 15 armored vehicles and nine guns in our hands, and we are at a complete disadvantage in terms of technical equipment. Moreover, the air supremacy of the battlefield is firmly in the hands of the German army. Once our shock troops were found by German reconnaissance planes, they would soon be bombarded with bombers. At that time, before our troops saw the enemy''s defensive positions, they would be killed and wounded by German bombing. "


    After listening to me, bandeleev sat down at the table and offered a cigarette without saying a word. I knew that he was thinking, so I didn''t disturb him, but quietly looked at the map in front of me.


    When a cigarette was half smoked, he suddenly threw the cigarette end on the ground and ground it with his toes. After a long sigh of relief, he looked at me and said, "Comrade teacher, you are right. I was dazzled by the victory. I just saw that the enemy was defeated by us one after another and forgot that the enemy''s strength was far better than ours. "


    As soon as Bantai leiev had given up his unrealistic idea, the operator came over in a hurry, handed me a telegram and said, "Comrade division, it''s an urgent telegram from the political commissar."


    When I heard the urgent telegram, I couldn''t help shivering in my heart, thinking that it couldn''t be the loss of mamayev post. He quickly took the telegram to our eyes and looked at it carefully. He found that although the situation was very serious, the mamayev post was still in our hands.


    Perhaps seeing the serious expression on my face, Bantai leiev asked anxiously: "Mr. division, what did the political commissar say in the telegram? Is there something wrong with the mamayev post and it has been occupied by the enemy? "


    I put the telegram on the table, looked up at leiev, and said in a heavy voice, "Comrade deputy division commander, the situation at mamayev post is not good. Today, the German army has invested a large number of troops in the front of our division and launched attacks on mamayev post and 107.5 highland like crazy again and again. "


    "How''s the war going?" Bantaileiev asked nervously.


    "The front position of the fourth regiment was indeed lost, and the enemy attacking their position started from that front position. But fortunately, the fourth regiment''s position defense was solid, and the enemy launched five successive charges, all of which were repulsed by our troops. "


    Bantai leiev then asked, "what about highland 107.5?"


    "107.5 the fighting on the Highlands was brutal. The enemy first used heavy artillery bombardment and aircraft bombing. When the surface position on the high ground was basically destroyed, the enemy probably had a battalion of troops who, under the cover of tanks, launched an attack on the high ground. After two hours of fierce fighting, the hillside position was occupied by the German army. When commander Oleg saw this situation, he immediately sent a reserve team to fight back and recaptured the lost position. " At this point, I pulled the map on my desk to my face, pointed to the location of 107.5 highland, and said anxiously, "according to the reconnaissance, the enemy built a new position about five kilometers northwest of 107.5 highland as the starting point of their attack. In this way, our way back to mamayev post was virtually cut off by this line of defense, and our troops became an isolated army hanging behind the enemy. "


    "What, our retreat is cut off?" Hearing this shocking news, both bantaileiev and xiejerikov were scared out of their wits. After a long time, xiejerikov carefully asked: "Comrade teacher, what should we do next?"


    According to my opinion, since the meeting with the Don front army has become a distant affair, our troops might as well turn around and go south quickly, break through their defensive zone and return to mamayev hillock while the German defense is not stable enough. But now the order from the superior is to join the friendly forces and take them south. That is to say, before the new order arrives, even if our troops are exhausted, we can still stick to the existing area.


    Bantaileiev and shejerikov were both staring at me, waiting for me to announce the direction of the army''s next move. I sighed in my heart, and finally said helplessly: "the order given by the superior is to go north and join the army of Don river. Before the new order is given, our choice is to stay here and wait for the friendly army to go south."


    "What if the friendly forces can''t go south to join us?" After learning about the current serious situation, shejerikov, regardless of his identity, directly asked his doubts¡° Are we going to stay here and wait for the Germans to surround us and destroy us from all sides? "


    "Yes, sir," bantaileiev said after knowing the difficulties we were facing, he was no longer as high spirited as he had just been. He echoed xiejerikov and said, "instead of staying and being surrounded and destroyed by the German army, we should make plans earlier and decisively turn around and go south to break through the line of defense built by the enemy before the enemy recovers, Return to the mamayev post as soon as possible. "


    "Comrade deputy division commander," although I agree with them in my heart, I can only stick to it until I receive new orders, so I can only say vaguely, "we will not wait for the dead and let the Germans surround us. But we need to stay here and wait for further changes in the war situation before we get orders from our superiors. "


    Before we could tell a result here, the operator rushed over and handed me a telegram. At the same time, he said anxiously, "Comrade division commander, this is a telegram from the headquarters of the group army."


    I took over a look, heart suddenly cool half. It is said that "due to the temporary setback of the attack launched by the front army of the Don river, we may not be able to go south to join your division in a short time. I hope your troops will stay in konaiyi for another five to seven days to contain the German forces. "


    After reading the telegram, I handed it to laiev and said bitterly, "Comrade deputy division commander, take a look. This is the order given to us by the headquarters of the group army. We can''t count on retreating. We have to stay in the current area for five to seven days. " At this point, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly, and said to myself, "in five to seven days, even if our troops can fight again, in the face of the enemy coming from all directions, it is estimated that they will not be able to escape the end of total annihilation?"


    "Comrade division commander, do you need to ambush the enemy again?" Shejerikov may have seen me look sad and intentionally diverted my attention. "Since we have achieved good results in both ambushes, I think we can also cause a lot of casualties to the enemy if we do it again for the third time. In this way, we can gain more time."


    I didn''t even think about shijerikov''s proposal, so I waved my hand and rejected it: "commander shijerikov, the enemy is not a fool. They have suffered from us twice in succession. Will they be cheated for the third time? I can tell you with confidence that before the new attack, the German army will concentrate its firepower to sweep the grassland near the highlands. At that time, our troops in ambush will be killed in the enemy''s artillery fire. "


    While I was talking to shijerikov, bandeleev was silent. I looked at him and asked curiously, "Comrade Deputy teacher, why don''t you speak? Have you come up with any good idea?"


    Bantaileiev nodded, then said in an uncertain tone: "I have come up with a way to ask the group army command to give us a new order to retreat. But... "When he talked about the second half, he suddenly avoided answering.


    Seeing his unpleasantness in speaking, I stamped my feet and urged him: "Comrade deputy division commander, if you have anything to say, please say it quickly. Now that our situation is not too bad, we should try our best to move as soon as possible if we can, otherwise we will have to pay a huge price to break through if we really wait for the Germans to encircle us. "


    Seeing that I had already said this, Bantai leiev did not hide it. Instead, he said directly, "Comrade division commander, I don''t know what your relationship with the headquarters of the Don front army is like? If you have acquaintances there, you can ask general rokosovsky to see if the attack of the Don front army will end? If their attack is going to end, we can ask them to send a telegram to our group army headquarters, saying that the plan to join forces will be cancelled... "


    "It''s a solution, and it''s the only feasible one at the moment." Bantailiev''s method is indeed feasible. After nodding and praising, I asked in a strange way, "then why do you say it so haltingly?"


    Bantai leiev said with a bitter smile: "Comrade division commander, I am not familiar with the commanders and fighters of the Don river front army, so whether this proposal can be implemented after it is put forward depends on whether you know the commanders of the Don river front army."


    "Yes, of course!" I''m not familiar with other commanders, but rokosovsky, the current headquarters of the Don front army, is my old superior. If I have anything to ask him, maybe he will stretch out his hand to pull me.


    Thinking of this, I went straight to the operator and asked him, "Comrade operator, can you send a message to the front army of Don river?"


    The operator nodded and replied, "yes, sir. I don''t know which group army headquarters you are going to send power to."


    "To the commander of the front army, general rokosovsky." I replied briefly.


    The operator was startled. After a moment''s confusion, he replied to me, "Comrade division, I can send power to the front army of the Don river, but I don''t know if the commander can see this telegram."


    "As long as you can send a message." Time was pressing. I told the operator straightforwardly, "send a message to general rokosovsky, saying that major general oshanina, commander of the red flag independent division of the 62nd army of Stalingrad''s front army, had something to contact him."


    When the operator began to send out the message, bantaileiev and xiejerikov came to me. Seeing the worried expression on their faces, I quickly comforted them and said, "don''t worry, general rokosovsky was my old superior before. I believe I can contact him."


    After that, there was no one in the room to speak, only the sound of the telegraph operator. Although I was full of confidence when I spoke in front of them, I felt uneasy. Maybe rokosovsky was very busy at the moment, but he didn''t have time to talk to me.


    When I was in a state of uneasiness, the operator suddenly stopped his work, looked up at me and said, "Comrade division, general rokosovsky is by the telegraph, waiting for a call with you."


    "General rokosovsky by the telegraph?" I couldn''t believe it was true, so I asked the operator in an uncertain tone: "Comrade operator, are you sure it''s general rokosovsky in front of the telegraph, waiting to talk to me?"


    "Yes, sir." The operator said positively.


    After taking a deep breath, I began to dictate a telegram to the operator: "Hello, general rokosovsky, this is oshanina. Our department was ordered to go north three days ago to meet your troops going south. "


    After the telegram was sent out, rokosovsky''s reply soon arrived: "yes, I know this matter. Despite the fact that our offensive forces lack heavy weapons and air supremacy, the speed of advancing is very slow, and the time to reach your position is uncertain at present."


    "Our department is now facing the possibility of being surrounded by the German army. Since your troops going south can''t join us quickly, then our department is in danger of being annihilated by the German army."


    "Wait!" This time, rokosovsky''s reply was extremely brief. Not only did I not see it, but also bantaileiev and shejerikov did not understand it.


    Bandeleev read the reply several times and then said to himself, "what does this general rokosovsky mean? Let''s wait. Do we want our troops to stay in the kongnieyi area and wait for the troops to go south, or is there any other meaning? "


    After about seven or eight minutes, but when I was about to despair, the new telegram from rokosovsky came. It said briefly: "since our department is unable to break through the German defense line in a short period of time and realize the strategic intention of joining the Stalingrad front army, I will suggest that your superior headquarters cancel this hopeless meeting."


    "That''s great, that''s great!" Bantailiev could not help crying with joy when he saw the telegram. He kept saying: "it''s rokosovsky who has a clear view of the current situation and knows that even if we wait, we can''t achieve the reunion of the two armies. Instead of letting an army die in vain, let''s withdraw temporarily to accumulate strength and prepare for the next meeting. "£¨ It''s a good activity to drop pie in the sky, cool mobile phone waiting for you! Focus on the Chinese official account (WeChat add friends add official account - enter qdread), join in! Everyone has a prize. Now pay close attention to qdread WeChat official account!

 Chapter 797

    Chinese official account: PS: look at the exclusive story behind burning Moscow, listen to your suggestions for the novel, and pay attention to the starting point of the Chinese net public number (WeChat add friends add the official account - enter qdread), quietly tell me!


    Shejerikov was obviously more anxious than bandeleev. He couldn''t wait to ask me, "Comrade division commander, can I go back and gather my troops to prepare for the transfer?"


    It seemed that they were overjoyed and wanted to leave. I quickly poured cold water on them. "Deputy teacher, lieutenant commander xiejerikov, please be rational. At present, we have only reached a consensus with the comrades in charge of the Don river front army that they will not join forces any more, but what the army should do next depends on what orders the headquarters of the group army gives us. "


    As soon as I said this, the expressions on their faces darkened. It is estimated that they also thought about whether we could withdraw from the possible encirclement of the German army in time. The initiative was in the hands of Group Commander trakov.


    After a short silence, Bantai leiev tentatively asked: "Comrade division commander, do you think we can send a telegram to the headquarters of the group army and report our detailed situation here to them. What kind of decision will the commander make when he understands our situation? "


    After listening to his suggestion, he slowly shook his head and said, "Comrade deputy division commander, don''t forget that the commander''s orders are not allowed to be discussed, they can only be carried out." Seeing that they looked dejected, I immediately comforted them, "but don''t worry too much, since general rokosovsky has clearly pointed out in the telegram that joining forces is an unfinished task. In contrast, commander trakov will make the right decision after understanding the specific situation. "


    I turned to shejerikov and said, "Comrade commander, have the armored forces moved to the rear of the high ground?"


    "Yes, sir." "I''ve ordered all the tanks and armored vehicles to return to the rear of the Highlands, and they should be replenishing their ammunition and fuel at the moment," he replied positively


    "Comrade commander, you have done a good job." After I praised him, I said, "now go back and call the commander of the armored forces. I want to talk to them. If we really want to move, the armored forces can have an unexpected effect


    Bantaileiev looked at the figure of shejerikov leaving and said to me thoughtfully, "Comrade division commander, do you mean to use armored forces to break through the German line of defense?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy division commander." In front of bantaileiev, I expressed my worry, "from here to mamayevgang, it''s almost plain grassland, lack of great defense depth. The Germans will not fail to see this, they will not fail to realize that we may use the captured armored forces to carry out raids on their defensive positions. So I want to have a good talk with the commanders of the armored forces, so that they can open a safe passage for the large forces in the shortest time, so that we can return to the mamayev post smoothly. "


    Not long after, shejerikov returned to the command post. He didn''t come alone, but with him was lieutenant cosga, Captain Nikolay, Captain shereblenne, major jerenkov, and a commander who seemed familiar.


    Shejerikov called the commander in front of me and introduced him to me. He said, "Comrade division commander, I''d like to introduce you. This lieutenant pruli is the commander of the armored forces. He used to be the commander of the tank company under captain Nikolay."


    After listening to the introduction, I wrinkled and called captain Nicholas to him every day. I asked him strangely, "Comrade captain, I''ll ask you. At the beginning, your tank company was under the command of the tank battalion. Why is the commander of your tank company here? "


    Nikolay shrugged his shoulders and answered helplessly, "Sir, this is it. At that time, Lieutenant prulli and his men drove tanks to the tank battalion to report. Unexpectedly, the battalion commander left only three tanks, saying that the tank troops were enough, so he sent them back. I had no choice but to let them serve as infantry temporarily. "


    Although I was particularly dissatisfied with the acting commander of the tank battalion, major Prikhodko, when I first heard this sentence, I was relieved to think of the achievements of this armored force in these two days. If it wasn''t for major Prikhodko, the commander who had just been rescued from the prison camp, who made trouble for them, where could I find such a suitable armored personnel. I patted lieutenant prulli on the shoulder and said in a friendly way, "Comrade lieutenant, you and your men have done well in these two days of fighting. When we get back to the mamayev post, I will ask for credit for you. "


    "Is it true, sir?" When I heard this, Lieutenant prulli, who was held on the shoulder by me, shivered unconsciously. Then he stammered and asked, "can we, who have been running dogs for the Germans, also be rewarded for meritorious service?"


    As soon as Lieutenant prulli''s words came out, the whole command post was quiet. I know in my heart that, except for me and bandeleev, the rest of us are either from Gulag concentration camp or correctional camp. There are even people like Nikolay and lieutenant prulli who have worked for the Germans. They are always worried about their unknown future.


    I moved my hand over lieutenant prulli''s shoulder, glanced over all the commanders, and said firmly, "of course it''s true. I don''t care what you''ve done or what you''ve done before. As long as you''ve made contributions to defend your sacred motherland, you should be rewarded. "


    As soon as I finished, the silence in the room was broken by the telegraph operator: "Comrade teacher, it''s a telegram from the political commissar." Kirilov''s telegram was relatively long, reporting the basic situation of the German army''s crazy attack in the city and mamayev post. The most dangerous part of our division''s defense area is naturally highland 107.5. Although all the surface works in the north of the highland were destroyed in the German bombardment and bombing, the surviving officers and soldiers still fought with the enemy tenaciously by virtue of many craters on the hillside. However, the German troops sent out too many troops, coupled with fierce firepower, the fall of 10.5 highland was only a matter of time. After reading kirilov''s telegram, it seems that I can see the scene of the independent division''s commanders and fighters staying at mamayev post fighting with the German army. I wish I could break through the obstacles of the German army and return to the highlands and teach the German a lesson. But at the moment, we can only think about it, not to mention that the final order of the superior has not been issued. Even if we have more than 2000 troops, it is not easy to move them as soon as possible. Although we have 60 or 70 trucks, so many supplies, wounded and prisoners have to be moved together with the troops. Their existence is very important, It is bound to drag down the speed of the whole army£¨ It''s a good activity to drop pie in the sky, cool mobile phone waiting for you! Focus on the Chinese official account (WeChat add friends add official account - enter qdread), join in! Everyone has a prize. Now pay close attention to qdread WeChat official account!

 Chapter 798

    Chinese official account: PS: look at the exclusive story behind burning Moscow, listen to your suggestions for the novel, and pay attention to the starting point of the Chinese net public number (WeChat add friends add the official account - enter qdread), quietly tell me!


    I was thinking about the transfer when I heard another call from the operator: "Mr. division, telegram." Perhaps to get my attention, he added in a more emphatic tone: "it''s a telegram from the headquarters of the group army."


    "Thank goodness, I''ve finally looked forward to this telegram from my superior." Standing near the operator''s desk, leiev breathed a sigh of relief, happily accepted the telegram, and could not wait to read it.


    Did not think he looked at a few eyes, the smile will be frozen in the face. Seeing him standing in a daze, I went up to him without saying anything. I just pulled the telegram from his hand and looked down. It was not good news. It said: "although it has become an unfinished task to join the Don front army. However, in order to reduce the defensive pressure of the main force of the Stalingrad city group army, you should continue to stick to the kongnieyi area for three to five days to attract German troops to return from the city. "


    After reading this telegram, my heart also cooled. It is clear that this telegram of trakov is to let our troops deep behind the enemy as bait to catch out the troops in the city who are attacking the factory area, so as to relieve the pressure of friendly forces. In this way, the attack on the city may be weakened, but our troops will be abandoned and will be destroyed under the German siege.


    "Sir, what should we do?" Bantaileiev asked in a low voice.


    Although neither Bantai leiev nor I said the contents of the telegram, from our expressions, the commanders on the scene could guess the contents of the telegram, and several people immediately whispered to each other.


    chill! chill! Never panic! This is the most important thing for the commander. Seeing the danger of losing control of the scene in the command post, I reminded myself that this place must not be left. In our front and back directions, the 295th and 297th German infantry divisions, respectively, would be enough to destroy us even if we did not transfer troops from the city. In this case, it is of little significance for our troops to stay here. Apart from sacrificing in vain, they can do little to alleviate the crisis in the city.


    Thinking of this, I coughed heavily, and then sternly scolded the commanders: "be quiet! be quiet! Quiet Please! Don''t forget that you are all commanders, not recruits who just joined the army. Don''t you know that you should keep quiet in the command post and don''t make any noise? "


    When the command post was quiet, I turned to look at the operator and said, "Comrade operator, prepare to send a message to the headquarters." As soon as he was ready, I began to dictate the telegram, "Comrade commander, the German army today concentrated its superior forces and launched a crazy attack on the mamayev post. The 107.5 highland is in danger. If our department does not come back as soon as possible, the north gate of Stalingrad will be occupied. Here, I beg you to allow us to return as soon as possible in order to ensure that the mamayev post will not be occupied by the German army. "


    When the telegraph operator was sending the message, Bantai leiev asked with great misgivings: "Comrade division commander, if you send a telegram to the group army headquarters in this way, can they agree us to return to mamayev post? You should tell the commander our specific situation, and let him know that if we don''t retreat, we are likely to fall into the encirclement of the German army. "


    I am not absolutely sure whether the group army command will allow us to return to mamayev post. I can only take a chance. As for bantaileiev''s question, I can only say vaguely: "Comrade deputy division commander, I think it''s better not to report to the commander about the possible encirclement by the German army. Since the outbreak of the war, many of our troops have been encircled by the German people. In the end, some of the troops were annihilated, while others were successfully surrounded. In the eyes of the leaders of the group army, the troops of our division belong to those who can jump out of the encirclement even if surrounded by the German army. The reason why I mentioned the mamayev post in the telegram is that it is a strategic point in the north of the city, and its success or failure will be related to the fate of the campaign. If the leaders of the group army can think about this clearly, they will certainly allow us to withdraw. "


    Just then, the voice of the operator rang out again: "report to division commander, the reply from the headquarters of the group army has arrived!" Then he handed over the telegraph paper.


    My eyes quickly swept over the paper, only to see that it was written briefly: "agree, you can lead the Ministry back to mamayev post."


    "Comrade deputy division commander, it''s done." Excitedly, I congratulated Bantai leyev, and then called on the group of commanders under my command: "comrades of commanders, come here, let''s study the route for the troops to return to mamayev post."


    With trakov''s telegram, I took the lead to go back to the table, looked down at the map on the table, and found that on our way back, we should not only break through the German defense line in the northwest of 107.5 highland, but also guard against the Romanian cavalry regiment. If they wait for our armored forces to pass and launch a surprise attack from the side of our army, it will bring a devastating blow to our infantry who fall behind.


    If I want to understand the current situation of the enemy and ourselves, my mind will be bright. I dropped the telegram on the table, stood up straight, looked at the commanders around me, and said in a smooth tone: "comrades, if we want to follow the orders of our superiors, we can carry out the transfer. We will have two choices: one is to abandon all the supplies and ammunition, take the infantry troops by truck, follow the tanks and armored vehicles, and rush forward regardless of casualties. Second, under the command of lieutenant prulli, the armored forces assault forward, our tanks tear a hole in the German defense line, and then the infantry in the armored vehicles get off, occupy and expand the gap, and cover the passage of the main force carrying the baggage. With our current strength, there should be no problem in breaking through the German defense line. As long as we return to the mamayev post and the Germans dare to attack again, I will surely teach them a lesson that they will never forget. "


    After listening to what I said, Bantai leiev said with some doubts: "Sir, how can I listen to what you said? These two choices are almost the same. The only difference is that one plan needs to abandon the baggage, while the other one does not."


    "There are differences." At the same time, I let other commanders understand what was going on. "The advantage of the first scheme is that it can ensure the troops to return to mamayev post in the shortest time. The disadvantage is that the captured materials and ammunition have to be left behind, and even the German prisoners cannot be taken away. The second scheme, although it will affect some speed, can ensure that the baggage, the wounded and the prisoners are safely transported back to the mamayev post. "


    "Comrade teacher." "I don''t know which one you prefer?" he asked cautiously after I finished


    "Needless to say, it''s the second plan, of course." Without hesitation, I replied: "at present, the troops at mamayev post are extremely short of weapons, ammunition, food and medicine. If we can get these supplies back, we will be more sure to hold on to mamayev post. As we have to pass near the camp of the Romanian cavalry regiment on our way back, we have to send enough troops to take up the task of blocking


    After these words, I saw that all the commanders were secretly nodding their heads to agree with what I said. Even when they began to give the order: "major jerenkov''s regiment and three battalions, immediately escort all the prisoners south to the South Camp and join the remaining four regiments and three battalions. Lieutenant Colonel chejerikov led the second battalion of captain chelebrone and his regiment''s direct troops, carried all the baggage and wounded onto the vehicle, and went to the South Camp with the armored forces after dark. After the assembly, the second battalion of the third regiment of kosga immediately went south. After passing through the camp in the south, it continued to go south and joined the battalion of captain dubrovsky, who was left behind in the defense fortifications, to strengthen the defense of the area. "


    After I gave the order, Captain Nikolay, who was left out by me, said anxiously, "Comrade division, all the other battalions have tasks, so what is the task of our first battalion?"


    "Don''t worry, Captain Nicholas." I said with a smile to Nikolay who took the initiative to fight: "I have not forgotten you. The task assigned to your battalion is very arduous. You should set up your defensive positions before dark, facing the camp of the Romanian cavalry regiment. Once the enemy perceives our action and tries to attack us from the flank, you must resolutely block them. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" Nikolay answered me loudly with a smile on his face.


    "Now that the task is clear, let''s go back to our respective units." Without hesitation, I gave the order to the commander on the spot, "whether we can return to mamayev post smoothly depends on your preparation, so please don''t take it lightly."


    The commanders saluted me and turned away.


    When Bantai leiev and others were almost gone, they asked me in a low voice, "Comrade teacher, what shall we do next?"


    I raised my hand to look at my watch and said with disapproval, "Comrade deputy division commander, it''s still a few hours before dark. Take time to have a rest. Don''t doze off on the road later. I don''t know what happened when I was captured by the German."


    I was just joking with Bantai leiev to enliven the tense atmosphere. Unexpectedly, he patted the pistol at his waist and said in a straight tone: "Sir, my gun is full of bullets. As long as there is one more bullet, I will never let the German capture me."


    I saw one of my jokes, which made the Bantai leiev a little impatient. I quickly changed the topic: "well, comrade Deputy teacher, there is not much time. Please have a rest." With that, he found a place against the wall to sit down and close his eyes.


    As soon as I closed my eyes, I was woken up by sheijerikov. He, who had already left, did not know when he came back to the command post and stood in front of me, carefully asking for instructions: "Comrade division commander, we are a large army operation tonight. When the armored forces and trucks are moving, will they turn on the lights or turn off the lights?"


    If chejerikov didn''t mention it, I would have forgotten it. Now that Xie jierikov asked, I would definitely answer: "Comrade commander, we are moving on a large scale tonight. There are so many tanks, armored vehicles and trucks. It is unrealistic to try to hide such a big movement from the German people. Anyway, the time we have to fight for now is to let the car go ahead with the driving lights on


    I wanted to go to sleep for a while, but I was so disturbed by Xie jerikov that I didn''t feel sleepy. After he left, I waved my head to leiev and said, "Comrade deputy division commander, I''m going to leave here soon. Don''t you want to go outside and have a look?"


    Bantai leiev nodded and replied, "come on, sir. Although we haven''t been here for a long time, I can''t bear to leave now."


    We came to the observation post which was half collapsed by the explosion. Before entering the gate, Bantai leiev said with a smile, "Comrade division commander, if captain shereblenny hadn''t pulled us out in time, we would be buried under this pile of bricks and stones now."


    Listening to what he said, I didn''t speak, but just laughed. I took the lead in entering the observation station, raised my telescope and looked down the hill. At the foot of the mountain were the wrecks of the destroyed German tanks and the bodies of soldiers. When he saw this scene, bantaileiev, while lamenting our army''s achievements, asked anxiously, "Comrade division commander, the Germans have suffered losses twice in front of our positions. Do you think they will come again?" To his question, I thought about it for a while and answered, "not today. After all, they were ambushed by us twice under the high ground. If I were the commander of the German army, I would not send troops to die rashly. Instead, I would think carefully about how to eliminate the troops lying in ambush nearby. " After listening to what I said, bantaileiev could not help saying happily: "fortunately, the Germans are scared by us these two times. Otherwise, once our troops are entangled by them, it will not be so easy to withdraw." Bantaileiev is glad that the German will not attack this highland again in a short time, so that we have enough time to withdraw our troops calmly. However, I am sorry that I can not join the Don front army. Although I thought it was an unfinished task when I received the order to go north, I was standing less than 100 kilometers away from the troops of the Don front army. The middle part of the way was full of German infantry divisions and tank divisions, which became a natural barrier that we could not cross. At the thought of this, I can''t help feeling very sorry£¨ It''s a good activity to drop pie in the sky, cool mobile phone waiting for you! Focus on the Chinese official account (WeChat add friends add official account - enter qdread), join in! Everyone has a prize. Now pay close attention to qdread WeChat official account!

 Chapter 799

    Chinese official account: PS: look at the exclusive story behind burning Moscow, listen to your suggestions for the novel, and pay attention to the starting point of the Chinese net public number (WeChat add friends add the official account - enter qdread), quietly tell me!


    It was already nine o''clock in the evening when bantaileiev and I arrived at the South Camp. A long way away, I saw a group of people pouring out from the camp. Because of the bright moon and good vision, I easily recognized that Xie jielikov was in the front, and behind him were the company commanders I knew well.


    I stopped in front of them and, without even thinking of greeting them, asked frankly, "commander xijerikov, how are you getting ready?"


    "Report, sir," said shijerikov respectfully, "we have been ready for a long time. We can attack decisively at your command."


    "Very good!" After a habitual compliment, I asked, "have the forces led by lieutenant colonel kosga joined captain dubrovsky?"


    Shejerikov nodded and replied positively, "report to division commander, lieutenant commander kosga sent a soldier back half an hour ago to report that they have joined the dubrovsky battalion left behind in the national defense fortifications and are ready for all combat. You are only waiting for your troops to pass."


    Although I had arranged a lot of things for a long time, I still had to ask them one by one before I could feel at ease. So as soon as he finished, I continued to ask, "where''s captain Nikolay''s army?"


    "Captain Nikolay''s battalion is now deployed in the northeast of the Romanian cavalry regiment camp." Shejerikov seemed to be very confident about Nikolay''s troops, so he said confidently: "I believe that even if the Romanians launch a strong attack, it is not easy for them to break through the defense of Nikolay''s battalion in a short time, so we have enough time to transfer."


    "How many trucks are left to carry soldiers besides the trucks carrying the baggage and the wounded?"


    As for my new question, shejerikov thought about it and hesitated to say, "report to division commander, there should be 12 more vehicles, each of which can carry 20 people. There are just two companies whose soldiers can keep the same speed as the armored forces."


    "Very good," I heard that there were twelve more trucks, so I immediately ordered chejerikov, "free one car, and I will take two classes of soldiers to follow the armored forces."


    "What, you want to follow the armored forces?" My words not only surprised shijerikov, but also made Bantai leiev nervous. He quickly persuaded me: "Comrade teacher, you are the head of a division. You can''t take risks at will!"


    "The deputy division commander is right," xiejerikov quickly agreed with Bantai leiev. "You just stay behind and command. I''ll be responsible for the war."


    After they had finished speaking, I explained the reason why I wanted to go to the front line to watch the battle: "deputy division commander, lieutenant commander xiejerikov, the reason why I want to work with the armored forces is that we are lack of communication equipment, and what happened on the battlefield can not be fed back in time. When I watch the battle in the front, I can know what happened on the battlefield in time, and remedy the possible mistakes. There is another point, and the most important one, but the commanders and fighters know that I am watching behind them, which will certainly boost their morale and make them more courageous in the battle. "


    After listening to me, Bantai leiev knew that it was useless to persuade him again, so he had no choice but to say, "well, sir, since you have made up your mind, I won''t stop you any more. However, please note that you are the commander of an independent division, not an ordinary soldier. You must not go to the front with you. "


    I grabbed the hand of Bantai leiev, shook it gently and said, "don''t worry, comrade deputy division commander. I believe our surprise operation tonight will be very smooth. The work here is up to you. After we break through the enemy''s defense, you must bring your successor troops up as soon as possible. "


    As soon as I arrived at the camp, I parted ways with my companion, bantailiev, and the two guard teams led by Mikhailov got into the truck. Together with the other 11 trucks full of commanders and fighters, I followed the armored forces of lieutenant prulli and drove south with the lights on.


    In the process of driving, corporal Mikhailov, who was sitting beside me, looked left and right, and then asked me in a low voice, "Comrade division, do you think we can break through the German position?"


    I recognized his worry in Mikhailov''s voice and said, "what''s the matter, comrade corporal, are you afraid?"


    Mikhail ROV listened to me and quickly put his head in a rattle like manner and replied, "how can it be, sir. I have participated in many battles, and I have escaped from death several times. How can I be afraid? I''m worried that if we can''t break through the German defensive positions in a short time and wait for the enemy''s large forces to rush up from our side, we will not be able to stop their attack without fortifications. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade corporal." Thinking of going back to mamayev post immediately, I feel very happy. I heard Mikhail ROV''s so-called worry, patted him on the shoulder and comforted him with a smile, saying: "to believe in the combat effectiveness of our armored forces, they have won several battles in succession in the past two days. I believe they will have a better performance in the next battle."


    We were chatting when the truck slowed down and stopped after a while. I frowned and asked seriously, "what''s the matter? Why did the truck stop?"


    Mikhailov quickly stood up, went to the front of the car baffle, leaned down and asked the bridge: "Hey, what''s the matter? The teacher asked why you stopped the car


    The driver in the bridge seems to have promised something, but I didn''t really listen to it. I just wanted to stand up and ask. Mikhailov had turned around and reported to me in advance: "report to Mr. division. The driver said that someone was blocking the car in front of him. It seems that it was commander kosja, the third commander."


    I went to Mikhailov''s side and looked under the car. Then the lights were shining. I saw three people standing five or six meters in front of me. One of them was commander kosga, and the other two with submachine guns were his guards. Seeing that the car had stopped, he quickly ran over, stood under the car, looked up at me and said, "Comrade division commander, the third regiment has made all the preparations for fighting and can fight at any time."


    According to the original plan, the two battalions of the third regiment were responsible for guarding against possible German attacks from the north. However, judging from the current situation, it seems that the 295th German division is not aware of our action, so it seems a bit wasteful to continue to put two battalions here. Thinking of this, I yelled to kosja at the bottom: "Comrade commander, immediately let your captain dubrovsky battalion follow our convoy and join in the assault with the armored forces. And you stay with the second battalion. You can''t leave until all the troops and supplies are connected. Do you understand? "


    "I understand," kosga said loudly under the car, "please rest assured, sir. I promise to finish the task."


    I nodded, waved my hand to him and said, "since that''s the case, comrade commander, you should go back to the army as soon as possible." Then he winked at Mikhailov and motioned him to let the driver drive. Mikhailov immediately understood, slapped heavily on the roof of the bridge with his palm, and cried out: "Comrade driver, keep going!"


    The convoy stopped about a kilometer from the German position. Tanks and armored vehicles left the road and formed an offensive formation in the grass. The soldiers on the truck also jumped from the car one after another and lined up in a neat line under the command of the commander.


    In addition to our car, there are 11 other trucks. After all the soldiers on the car get off, they immediately turn around and drive in the coming direction. They should be to meet the commanders and fighters who are walking behind.


    Mikhailov let the soldiers of the guard class out of the car and set up a guard circle around the car, while I continued to stand in the truck compartment and raised my telescope to look at the German position in the distance.


    Except for a long trench and several civil structure fire points, the position was not even surrounded by barbed wire. It was obviously formed in a hurry. If we don''t have any heavy weapons, the enemy''s position will indeed cause us certain obstacles. But now we have tanks and armored vehicles in our hands. These technical equipment are the enemy of the German trench. There should be no problem in breaking through such defense.


    I put down my telescope and said to Mikhailov, "corporal, go and tell lieutenant prulli immediately that after breaking through the enemy''s position, you should repeatedly attack the enemy''s defense line with tanks and armored vehicles, so as to completely destroy their resistance. They are also on guard against possible attacks by the enemy. Tell the lieutenant to plan to hold on for at least three hours, so as to ensure that the wounded behind us can pass here smoothly. "


    "I understand!" Mikhailov agreed, rolled out of the truck, ran all the way to the front of the tank line, to convey my latest order to lieutenant prulli.


    I raised my telescope again and looked into the distance. I saw that the position was not as empty as before. At the moment, many people were standing in the trench and looking at us. They thought they were trying to find out which side this suddenly appeared armored force belonged to.


    Only two minutes later, I saw the seven tanks in front of me start in turn, slowly heading towards the enemy position, and the armored cars behind me also followed.


    "Report, comrade division," as the carriage shook slightly, and then Mikhail''s voice came from behind, he panted and told me, "your order has been sent to lieutenant prulli, and he has led the troops to attack."


    I nodded and said faintly, "I see it."


    The tanks and armored vehicles started slowly, and then began to accelerate towards the German position. Behind them, more than 200 officers and men charged with weapons.


    In this case, the German army finally found that it was not their own people, but the enemy. They quickly mounted machine guns in the trenches and fired on the approaching armored forces. A few machine guns in the trench kept ringing, and the bullets made the ground dusty. It seemed frightening, but I knew in my heart that these machine guns were not a threat to our tanks. Even if the bullet hits the body of the tank, it will pop away immediately.


    The moving tanks would not be attacked passively. The two tanks at the front stopped and fired decisively at the German position. Two shells fell on the front and back of the trench, exploding, stirring up a cloud of dust, scaring a German machine gunner who was firing into the trench.


    The two tanks fired a shell and then went on. Another tank behind them stopped and fired a shot at the most powerful position of the machine gun. This time, it hit the location of a machine gun very accurately. Suddenly, the machine gun was dumb in the explosion.


    The armored car behind the tank, after entering the effective range, also decisively started shooting with the machine gun on the car, and the dense bullets flew to the German position.


    Most of the defenders were stunned by the sudden attack of our armored forces. In addition to a small number of soldiers in the corner tenacious resistance, the rest of many people are still holding weapons standing in the trenches in a daze. As more and more tank shells fell and exploded in the trenches, the German army began to show signs of chaos.


    At this time, I do not know which idiot commander under the order, so that the soldiers fired a large number of flares into the air. The flares, with dazzling light, were continuously ignited at high altitude, driving away the darkness in front of the German position, so that the machine gun shooters in our armored forces could shoot at the enemy more accurately.


    The fierce gunfire, the explosion of tank shells, and the slogans of our army''s charging troops came into my ears from time to time. With the advance of armored forces and infantry, the German position has now been completely covered by the firenet composed of bullets. The dark red trajectory converged into a firenet and quickly covered the German soldiers in the trench.


    The German resistance lasted only a few minutes, and when our infantry rushed into the trench, the battle was almost over. The German army, which was devastated by our armored forces, left behind a piece of incomplete corpses and dozens of wounded comrades, and fled to the distance.


    Lieutenant prulli led tanks and armored vehicles to follow, and shells and machine gun bullets were thrown at the fleeing enemy like free money. The infantry went into the trenches, cleaned up the remnant enemy, gathered the prisoners, consolidated their positions, and prepared to cover the troops behind. From then on, they passed smoothly.


    When prulli''s armored forces completed their pursuit mission and returned, they returned with 11 trucks of the new force. Captain dubrovsky and company commander Rosenberg of the first battalion of the third regiment stood under my carriage, raised their hands to salute me, and reported, "Comrade division commander, battalion commander, Captain dubrovsky, report to you that the first and second companies of the first battalion of the third regiment have been ordered to come here to fight, waiting for your order, please give me your instructions!"


    Now that the battle is over, I don''t have to stand on the truck any more. With the help of Mikhailov, I left the car and came to captain dubrovsky. I nodded to him with satisfaction and said, "Comrade captain, your troops are coming very fast. But it''s still a step too late. The battle is over and the enemy''s position has been broken through by our armored forces. "


    When I said that, Captain dubrovsky''s face looked disappointed. He murmured, "Comrade division, what''s the mission of our battalion?"


    I pointed to the distant position with my hand and said, "Comrade captain, take your troops there immediately to set up defense. We have captured the enemy''s position, and the enemy will certainly not give up. It is estimated that they will concentrate their forces to attack soon, so your battalion should resolutely block their attack and cover the smooth passage of the main force."


    After captain dubrovsky left, I called Mikhailov over and told him, "corporal, you should immediately send two smart soldiers back to mamayev post to report that we are on the way back to the defense area. Please arrange for the political commissar to prepare for the reception. Don''t fight with your own people."


    "Yes, sir. I''ll arrange it now." Mikhailov then called over the two soldiers of what, repeated what I said to them, and then stressed: "in order to convey the news to the political commissar as soon as possible, one of you will go to highland 107.5, and the other will go straight back to mamayev post. Don''t hesitate, act quickly, act immediately


    The truck that was in charge of picking up people also sent back the news that we had successfully broken through the German defense. So half an hour later, a truck line full of luggage and wounded people appeared in my view.


    The motorcade stopped a few steps away from me. The car door of the co pilot opened and the one who jumped out was Sergey reekov. He excitedly reported to me: "report to Mr. division, the motorcade transporting the baggage and the wounded has arrived smoothly. Please direct the next action."


    "Comrade commander," because of the lack of time, I didn''t care to talk to him. I gave a direct order and said, "you immediately lead this motorcade through the open area between 107.5 highland and mamayev post to enter the defense area of the third regiment. When we get to the place, we should organize people to unload the baggage and the wounded as soon as possible, and then the motorcade will turn around to pick up the troops behind. "


    "I understand!" Xiejerikov agreed. He grabbed the door and stepped on the pedal to get on the bus. I suddenly remembered another thing and quickly added: "by the way, there should be a lot of trucks in the third regiment. Let''s drive all these trucks out and take part in the work of transportation troops."


    After shejerikov left, I looked to the north and muttered to myself that the German army in gorodyser must have known about the battle just now. What will they do next? It''s to stay on the sidelines for a while and find out what''s going on; Or regardless of gathering troops, directly under the cover of tanks and artillery, to launch a counterattack against us.


    Thinking of this, I couldn''t help looking up at the night sky. Fortunately, I didn''t find any enemy planes. At this time, the enemy''s night bombers should have gone to bomb the city. Even if the army turned to them for help, it would not be easy to find such a bombing target at night.


    "What are you thinking, sir?" Perhaps I was in a daze for too long. Standing beside me, Mikhailov asked with concern, "are you worried about the German counterattack?"


    Upon hearing Mikhailov''s initiative to mention this, I asked curiously, "do you think the German army will organize a counterattack and recapture the position that belongs to them after we have defeated it, corporal?"


    After listening to my question, Mikhail first nodded and then shook his head. After hesitating for a long time, he finally gathered up his courage and said, "Sir, I don''t think the enemy will come tonight?"


    "Not coming?" His reply even aroused my curiosity: "Comrade corporal, why are you so sure that the enemy will not come?"


    "It''s a very simple matter, sir." Mihailov shrugged his shoulders and replied, "if we were attacking with infantry, we would take the German position after a hard battle. Then the German army will certainly send troops to fight back, because they will think that our strength is not strong, and it has a certain element of luck to capture their positions. But now, under the cover of armored forces, our troops captured their positions in only ten minutes. In this way, the enemy will be somewhat confused about our reality. They will certainly gather troops and send reconnaissance teams to find out the situation. When things are clear, they will decide whether to attack or not


    Mikhailov''s words surprised me. I didn''t expect him to see things so thoroughly. I was worried about whether the German army would launch a counterattack. Listening to his analysis, I felt a little worried.


    Although I knew in my heart that it was not possible for the German army to launch a counterattack against us because they could not understand our reality, they did not dare to take it lightly and kept the armored forces of captain dubrovsky battalion and lieutenant prulli on guard.


    An hour later, shejerikov returned with a large number of vehicles, and the troops of the 1st, 3rd and 4th regiments, which had just withdrawn from the north, also arrived in the north of the camp one after another. In order to avoid confusion when the troops were waiting for the bus, I specially ordered shijerikov and kosja to command their respective troops to board the bus in order.


    Bantai leiev followed the guard company to join us. Seeing the big scene of waiting for the bus, he urged me to say, "Comrade division, the troops have almost withdrawn. You can go back with the team first, or I will stay behind to break up."


    "No, comrade deputy division." When I spoke, I looked down at his leg and said, "you have injuries on your body. You''d better take the troops back first, and I''ll stay behind and break them." After that, I called basmanov, who was standing behind him, and said, "Comrade captain, I will give you the safety of the deputy division commander. You must promise me that you will send him back to the division headquarters without damage."


    "Yes, sir." Basmanov replied loudly, "I promise to complete the task you have given me." With that, he turned and called for two soldiers, and involuntarily put the Bantai leiev on the cab of a nearby truck.


    With the help of the motorcade, our troops moved quickly. I calculated in my heart that the troops of the baggage, the wounded and the captives had passed, and the only one left was camp Nikolay at the back of the hall. I don''t know if they had fought tonight. It''s not so easy to get out if you''re stuck with Romanian cavalry.


    I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and prepared to send lieutenant prulli''s armored forces to meet me when things were not good. Mikhailov, who was standing beside me, saw that I was constantly facing the west, guessed what I was worried about, and quickly comforted me and said, "don''t worry, comrade division. Captain Nikolay''s fighting capacity is not weak. If you want to deal with a cavalry regiment of the Romanian army, there should be no problem."


    "When an infantry meets a cavalry in the open, it''s a one-sided massacre." When I thought of the fact that the Romanian troops were all cavalry, I was very worried, so I couldn''t listen to Mikhailov''s advice.


    When we were worried, there was a movement on the road in the distance, which immediately attracted our attention. I looked in the direction of the sound, and saw countless shadows on the road coming towards us. Seeing the figure in the distance, Mikhailov pointed to me excitedly and said, "Comrade division, you see, it must be captain Nikolay. They are coming."


    Seven or eight minutes later, the group got closer and closer to us. Although they couldn''t see their faces clearly, from the uniform they were wearing, they were all our troops. It seems that camp Nikolay has come back. I feel happy when I think about it.


    Mikhailov said to me, "Comrade division commander, it''s our own army. I''ll go and see if it''s captain Nikolay." Then he ran along the road with a soldier.


    Looking at Mikhailov''s running back, I looked to the north with worry again. I secretly prayed that the Germans would never attack us at this time.


    When I looked back to the west again, Mikhailov and several other people were only 20 or 30 meters away from me. The corporal opened his voice and exclaimed excitedly, "Sir, sir, it''s really captain Nikolay. They''re back." After listening to Mikhailov''s voice, my face showed a smile. Without waiting for me to make any move, several people around Mikhailov had quickened their pace and walked towards me. He stopped two or three steps away from me, did not salute me, but just came to attention in order, and at the same time, he loudly reported: "Comrade division commander, Captain Nikolay, commander of the first battalion of the first regiment, reports to you that our battalion has successfully completed the task and returned. I''m waiting for your order. Please give me instructions!" I greet them with a smile, shake hands with some commanders who have just returned one by one, smile and say to them: "comrades, welcome, welcome back safely." Then he asked, "Comrade captain, what''s the situation? After discovering our action, did the Romanian cavalry move out? " Captain Nikolay nodded and said with certainty, "yes, sir. Our march was obviously spotted by the Romanian reconnaissance cavalry, who sent a battalion to attack our flank At this point, Nikolay turned to look at some of his subordinates, with a proud expression on his face, and said, "they didn''t expect us to ambush in their passage long ago, when their cavalry entered our ambush circle. At my command, hundreds of officers and men opened fire at the same time, and the cavalry fell from their horses like autumn leaves. The fighting capacity of these Romanian cavalry was really poor. For the first time, they were beaten back by us. After a rest, they attacked us again, but they were still beaten back by us. In this way, they completely retracted and did not dare to go out any more. After I sent someone to scout, I knew that the enemy was hiding in the camp and did not dare to move, so I ordered the troops to move. "£¨ It''s a good activity to drop pie in the sky, cool mobile phone waiting for you! Focus on the Chinese official account (WeChat add friends add official account - enter qdread), join in! Everyone has a prize. Now pay close attention to qdread WeChat official account!

 Chapter 800

    Chinese official account: PS: look at the exclusive story behind burning Moscow, listen to your suggestions for the novel, and pay attention to the starting point of the Chinese net public number (WeChat add friends add the official account - enter qdread), quietly tell me!


    Captain Nikolay was showing off his achievements to me when I suddenly heard a strange shrill sound in the air, from far to near. When I heard this sound, I was shocked. After being on the battlefield for such a long time, I naturally knew that it was the sound of high-speed shells cutting through the air. I broke my throat and screamed, "lie down!" Then he fell to the ground and put his hands around his head. Almost as I lay down, there was a loud bang behind me.


    Hell, it''s the German. It''s the German who fired on us. This is what I heard after the explosion. I said thank you to the soldiers and went on along the trench. At the moment, there are teams of commanders running back and forth in the trench from time to time, so we have to stick to the trench wall several times to let the mobilized commanders pass.


    But fortunately, not far away, we met captain dubrovsky who was coming towards us. Seeing my appearance, the captain was very surprised. He quickly came up and asked in surprise, "Mr. division, how did you come here?"


    I didn''t care to exchange greetings with him. I told him straightforwardly, "Comrade captain, the Germans may have to start shelling our positions. You immediately order the soldiers to prepare for the artillery to avoid unnecessary casualties."


    After listening to what I said, Captain dubrovsky replied with a bitter smile: "Sir, you don''t know that there are no decent fortifications in this temporary German position, except for a few weak civil firepower points, several shelter departments and a command post. Maybe we will not attack them from the direction of 107.5, so there is no decent place to hide our troops except this trench. "


    I looked around and looked at the officers and men crowded in the trenches. I could not help but feel a thump. I said that in such a narrow area, with hundreds of officers and men crowded, if one of the enemy''s shells fell down, we could kill and injure more than ten or twenty of us. Thinking of this, I told dubrovsky: "Comrade captain, one company will stay, and the other two companies will immediately withdraw their positions in batches and move to the mamayev post."


    On hearing my order, dubrovsky, in a hoarse and even angry voice, called out to me impatiently: "but, comrade division, if we withdraw the main force of the battalion, it will be difficult for the rest of our forces to stop them when the enemy attacks."


    Ignoring his attitude, I hastily retorted, "Comrade captain, the main force of your battalion will not be transferred. Do you think that when the enemy''s shelling is over, there will be enough strength to resist the German attack?" After I had said this, seeing that he was silent, I immediately struck while the iron was hot and said, "well, comrade captain, don''t hesitate. Let captain Rosenberg''s company stay, and the other two companies immediately disperse and withdraw to the mamayev post. "


    As soon as I finished my words, the sharp whistling of the shells came from the air. This time, they landed more than 20 meters in front of the trench and exploded. The soil raised by the waves fell from the air and spilled all over us. I shook off the mud on my body, pointed to the distant crater, and said anxiously, "Comrade captain, do you see it? If this shell didn''t fall in the open space, but fell into our trench and exploded, how many officers and men would sacrifice their lives. Soon after the enemy''s test fire, we will be bombarded with heavy artillery. There is not much time left. We will immediately carry out our orders and let the second company and the third company withdraw from their positions and move to the mamayev post. "


    Seeing the power of the shell explosion just now, dubrovsky was no longer opinionated. He yelled to the left and right: "all the company leaders come to me." After shouting, he said to me in a low voice, "Comrade teacher, anyway, I''ll stay with you."


    With his shouts, in less than a minute, several company commanders ran to him one after another. I didn''t have time to listen to what they were talking about. Instead, I looked nervously to the north and prayed that the German artillery would not start before our troops withdrew.


    Although in my impression, Lao maozi was very tardy in his work, the retreat was very fast. With the order of the two company commanders of the second company and the third company, the soldiers of the two companies turned and climbed out of the trench, bowing and carrying weapons, and quickly ran south.


    After the soldiers of the two companies ran out for about two or three hundred meters, the German shelling officially began. A batch of shells roared down our trench and exploded. In the sound of shaking ground, the whole position was filled with smoke and shrapnel. As early as before the German shells landed and exploded, I drew back into the trench in time. I was also shocked by the huge shock wave generated by the explosion.


    The first group of shells had just exploded, and the second group of shells came one after another. After the dazzling flash, two long walls of fire rose up at the same time in front of and behind our trench.


    In the interval of the explosion, dobrovsky squatted beside me and yelled at me. Unfortunately, the explosion outside was so loud that I couldn''t hear him clearly.


    Under such intensive German artillery bombardment, although I was a little self-conscious, I was still secretly glad. Fortunately, just now I ordered Mikhail ROV to let lieutenant prulli''s armored forces transfer. Otherwise, under such a scale of artillery bombardment, it is estimated that most of the tanks and armored vehicles will have to be reimbursed. The shelling continued, and it seemed that there would never be an end to the endless fire. From time to time, the fire rose in front of, behind or in the middle of our army''s trenches. In the area where the fire rose, the figures were torn apart or lifted out of the deep trench by the air waves. After flying in the air for a while, they fell into the scorched dust in front of them. The German bombardment lasted about ten minutes, then came to an abrupt end. Under the ravages of the artillery fire, our position has become miserable. Most of the trenches have been blown down. The soldiers who stay there are either killed or injured, or deeply buried in the soil. Even I was half buried in the clay, and it was captain dubrovsky who stood up first and another soldier who pulled me out. Captain dubrovsky came up to me and asked aloud. I could only see his lips moving, but I couldn''t hear them. I knew that my ears were badly shocked by the explosion. After rubbing them hard, I could barely hear the captain asking me, "Comrade division, what should we do next?" I heard his question clearly, and I called to captain dubrovsky at the top of my voice: "Comrade captain, although the troops who withdrew first have been walking for a long time, they are estimated to have not reached the height of 107.5. So we have to hold on for another half an hour. If the Germans don''t attack, we are organizing the retreat. " Captain dubrovsky nodded, then raised his voice and yelled to the side, "the platoon leaders should seize the time to count the casualties in each platoon, and then report to me." His orders were quickly repeated by the soldiers around him and conveyed to every corner of the trench£¨ It''s a good activity to drop pie in the sky, cool mobile phone waiting for you! Focus on the Chinese official account (WeChat add friends add official account - enter qdread), join in! Everyone has a prize. Now pay close attention to qdread WeChat official account!

 Chapter 801

    Chinese official account: PS: look at the exclusive story behind burning Moscow, listen to your suggestions for the novel, and pay attention to the starting point of the Chinese net public number (WeChat add friends add the official account - enter qdread), quietly tell me!


    In the process of waiting for the platoon leaders to report the casualties, it seems that there is someone''s groan near me, and someone is shouting something. With the shouts, a man with a helmet, a medicine box and a red cross cuff on his arm ran down the trench. After running past me, he ran forward a few steps, then stopped and squatted down.


    I looked curiously and saw a soldier lying on the ground in the corner of the trench. His body was strangely bent and his hands were on his stomach. There was another soldier squatting beside him. Obviously, the health worker came to treat him specially. After taking out bandages and other things from the medicine box, he opened the hands of the soldier covering his stomach and began to treat him.


    I was watching the medical staff treating the wounded when I heard Mikhailov''s voice: "Sir, comrade, I have found you. Are you ok?"


    I turned and saw Mikhailov, who had just jumped into the trench, nodded at him with a smile, and then asked, "Comrade corporal, are lieutenant prulli''s armored units scattered and hidden?"


    "It''s been hidden for a long time." After answering my question, Mikhailov nervously said, "after the order was delivered, I took the armored car and withdrew to the rear of the position with them. As soon as I saw the German troops in the artillery position, I was worried about your safety, so I came back specially. "


    At this time, Captain dubrovsky and company commander captain Rosenberg came to me.


    Seeing two commanders appear in front of me, I asked directly, "how are the casualties of the troops?"


    "Seventeen were killed and thirty-eight wounded." Captain Rosenberg answered preemptively.


    "I see. Before we saw the enemy, we lost 55 people." Hearing such a number of casualties, I can''t help but say sadly, "in this way, there will be less than half of the commanders and fighters left in the company."


    "Comrade teacher, what you said is wrong." As soon as I finished, dubrovsky corrected me and said, "our battalion is a reinforced battalion, with 230 people in each company. In addition to the guard platoon of the battalion, there are a total of 800 people." At this point, he can not help but feel relieved, "fortunately, before the shelling, you let the second company and the third company withdraw in time, otherwise so many people crowded in this trench, we will pay more casualties."


    "Comrades commanders," I said solemnly, looking at the two battalion and company commanders in front of me, "before the German attack begins, you should immediately organize people to repair the fortifications. At the same time, you should send reconnaissance teams to find out the general situation of the enemy, so that we can take targeted deployment."


    The two commanders agreed and turned to carry out my mission. After the two left, I asked Mikhailov: "in the shelling just now, were the casualties of the guard class large?"


    Mikhailov looked left and right for a moment, and said to me with some embarrassment: "Sir, I can''t answer you that. You know, I just came back to the trench after the shelling. " Suddenly he thought of something and said to me, "Comrade division, when I was retreating with lieutenant prulli, I heard him talk about one thing."


    "What''s the matter, comrade corporal?" I asked faintly.


    Mihailov pointed to a place to the north and said to me, "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant prulli told me that he had found a German mine storage site. If I remember correctly, it should be in that position. "


    "Mines?" When I heard this helpful thing, I couldn''t help but feel happy. But then I thought of the intensive German shelling just now, and my heart became cold again. I asked uncertainly, "I believe you can see the German shelling just now in the distance. Can you confirm the location of this mine, which was not destroyed in the shelling? "


    "I don''t think so." Mikhailov affirmed: "although the German shelling was very fierce, I didn''t find that there was an explosion at the place where the mines were stored. I think the mines should still be there intact."


    "It''s a pity that captain mihayev''s engineering company is not here." although I heard that the mines are still intact in the storage site, I can only look and sigh, "otherwise, I can let him lead people to bury these mines in front of the position, so that when the enemy''s infantry rush up, they can still cause certain anti personnel damage."


    "Don''t worry, sir." Mikhailov confidently said: "this matter is up to me. I''ll take the soldiers of the guard team to mine."


    "Well, take more soldiers and try to use all the mines there. If the Germans don''t come, they will. Once they do, they will be given a taste of the power of land mines. "


    I was deeply afraid that Mikhailov''s rank was too low to command a battalion of soldiers. I also specifically called captain dubrovsky over and asked him to arrange some people to follow Mikhailov to carry out the task. When dubrovsky heard that corporal Mikhailov was going to take people to plant mines, he immediately summoned twenty soldiers and followed Mikhailov out of the position.


    Looking at Mikhailov''s back as they left, dubrovsky asked anxiously, "Comrade division, is it still time to lay a mine? I''m afraid that as soon as they start to mine, the German troops will rush up. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade captain. Corporal Mikhailov is also a veteran who has participated in many battles. He will know how to adapt to circumstances. When laying mines, he will arrange special personnel to be on guard. "


    After about twenty minutes, I could see Mikhailov running towards the trench with a group of soldiers from a distance. I took a picture of dubrovsky next to him and said to him with some pride, "well, comrade captain, I''m not wrong. As long as corporal Mikhailov leads the team, nothing will happen. Aren''t they all back safely?"


    As soon as Mikhailov jumped into the trench, I grabbed him and asked, "what''s up, comrade corporal, are all the mines buried?"


    "Bury it, bury it, sir." Replied mihailov breathlessly. After a few breaths, he reported to me, "a total of 110 mines have been laid. As soon as our mines were laid, we found German troops moving towards us in the distance. "


    "The Germans are coming up?" Although I had long guessed that the German army might launch an attack on us after the shelling, I was still a little nervous when I heard that the German army was coming. I quickly asked Mikhailov, "corporal, do you see how many troops they have and do you have tanks and armored vehicles?"


    Mikhailov shook his head and said in embarrassment, "we were in retreat at that time. We didn''t have time to look at it."


    Hearing his reply, I was so angry that I almost kicked him. I was going to send someone to spy on him. Captain Rosenberg came along the trench with a soldier and reported to me, "Comrade division commander, our scout is back. According to his report, the enemy''s troops are moving towards us and will appear in front of our position in a few minutes. "


    When I learned that the scout was standing in front of me, I quickly repeated the question I had just asked Mikhailov, and then quietly waited for the other party''s answer.


    When the Scout heard my question, he straightened up and replied nervously: "report to the division commander, it is estimated that our reconnaissance team has sent out a company of infantry, under the cover of two armored vehicles, moving towards our army."


    "Only two armored vehicles? Comrade scout, are you sure you read it right? " Although my tone was very kind, everyone could hear my suspicion from my words. When the German army launched an attack on our army, they would send tanks to cooperate. This time, only armored cars were sent out, which was just two. It was a bit incredible.


    "Yes, yes, sir." The scouts also recognized my suspicion and quickly explained in a loud voice: "we have repeatedly confirmed that the German army really only sent out one company of infantry and two armored vehicles."


    "I see. Comrade soldier, it''s none of your business here. Go down first. " After I sent the scouts away, I asked dubrovsky, "Comrade captain, what do you think of this?"


    Dubrovsky frowned and thought about it carefully. Then he replied, "Comrade division, I guess it''s just two cases: first, the German army can''t find out what we are, so it''s just sending a small army to test us; Second, the German forces are too scattered to be mobilized at night. It is the only reserve that the German commander can mobilize to attack us. " After that, seeing that I was lost in thought, I quickly added, "in either case, the situation is very favorable for us. Our troops and equipment are almost the same as those of the German army. It should not be difficult to beat back their attack. The only trouble is the two German armored vehicles. We don''t have anti tank weapons. To deal with them, we have to let the soldiers bomb them with cluster grenades. "


    When I heard dubrovsky''s worry, I said with disapproval, "don''t worry. Although there are no anti tank weapons, we still have tanks." Then I told Mikhailov, "Comrade corporal, I now give you a glorious and arduous task. You go back to lieutenant prulli immediately, and let him lead the armored forces to detour from the German flank, cut off the enemy''s retreat, and strive for the complete annihilation of the attacking enemy. "


    Not long after Mikhailov left, there was an earth shaking explosion more than 100 meters in front of the position. I followed the example and saw that the German infantry had entered our minefield. The mines under their feet were trampled one after another. A huge explosion and a heavy smoke and fire with the enemy''s broken limbs and arms were connected. In the sound of the explosion, the screams of the wounded, who tumbled on the ground, could be heard faintly.


    Captain dubrovsky, Captain Rosenberg, and their officers and men all laughed and cheered when they saw this scene. I was afraid that they would be too complacent, so I reminded them: "Hey, Captain dubrovsky, why don''t you prepare your soldiers for battle?"


    Hearing my voice, dubrovsky, ignoring the German tragedy, raised his voice to the left and right and cried, "all at my command, enter the position and prepare for battle!" As soon as his voice fell, the soldiers around him immediately passed on his orders by word of mouth.


    In fact, his command is redundant. The commanders and fighters have been in the trench all the time, and their weapons are on the edge of the trench. The so-called preparation for battle is nothing more than machine gun shooters putting their fingers on the trigger, and the rest of the soldiers take out the grenades in their backpacks, twist off the back cover, and put them neatly in front of them.


    The combat effectiveness of the German army can''t be underestimated. Although the minefields we temporarily deployed caused a lot of casualties to them, nearly half of the soldiers successfully rushed over and continued to rush to our positions with weapons.


    Looking at the approaching German soldiers, staring at captain dubrovsky in front of him, he raised his pistol high and said something in a low voice. When the German army''s sparse line was less than 50 meters away from our trench, dubrovsky yelled: shoot! Then he shot into the sky, leveled the muzzle, and continued to shoot at the swaying German soldiers.


    Although dubrovsky''s command was only heard by the soldiers nearby, the sound of the gun was the command. With the sound of his gun, two light machine guns nearby also clattered, and then more and more weapons joined the ranks of shooting. Under the heavy rain of bullets from our army, the 20 or 30 German soldiers who rushed to the front were like bumping into a transparent glass wall. They all leaned back, or fell straight down, or turned around and fell to the ground again. Some crafty German soldiers saw that our army''s firepower was too fierce, so they quickly lay on the ground and hid in the dead corner of the shooting to fight us.


    The German soldiers were obviously better at shooting than our soldiers. Although their numbers were limited, they also caused us a lot of casualties. The machine gun shooter on my left side was shooting at a fire point in the distance when the gunfire stopped suddenly. Then he jumped forward and pressed on the machine gun.


    Seeing that the shooter of the machine gun was shot and killed, the Deputy shooter quickly pushed away his body, moved the machine gun in front of him, put it on the trench wall, took a simple aim and began to shoot. Just hit a half shuttle bullet, suddenly his left hand covered his right shoulder, fell on his back in the trench.


    I hesitated for a moment when I saw that the Deputy shooter was shot and fell to the ground. Before I thought about whether I would take over the position of the machine gun shooter, someone had already run past me, seized the machine gun and started to shoot at the German army outside. When I look at it carefully, it turns out that it was captain Rosenberg, a company commander, who took over the position of deputy shooter. While the captain was shooting, one of the soldiers bent down and ran to him. He picked up the fallen Deputy shooter in a low voice and helped him to walk towards the distance.


    Seeing that the infantry''s attack was frustrated, the armored vehicles that had provided firepower cover behind the whole line could not hold their breath. They increased their horsepower and rushed to our position. At the same time, the machine guns on the vehicles kept shooting, and the dust splashed over the ground.


    The German armored cars were getting closer and closer to our position. Several brave German soldiers got up from the ground, followed the armored cars and approached our position carefully. I was thinking about whether to ask captain dubrovsky to send someone to blow up the two tanks when I heard the gunfire. Behind the two approaching armored cars, a stream of mud rushed up, and then there was an explosion. Several unfortunate soldiers who followed fell down.


    When I saw the smoke of the shell explosion, the thought flashed through my mind: "what''s the matter? Are the Germans firing again? Are they not afraid to hurt their own people by mistake? "


    There was another explosion, and the body of the armored car on the left suddenly burst into flames. After the armored car was on fire for several meters, the body suddenly tilted and stopped.


    One armored car was destroyed, and the soldiers who had been following were lying on the ground again, but the other car continued to drive out regardless. However, its luck was obviously bad. After driving not far, I saw that it was hit by a high-speed flying object, and the weak armor was immediately torn into a big hole. With an explosion, the armored car was immediately surrounded by raging fire.


    Hearing the roar of the motor behind me, I looked back to see what was going on. When I saw a group of tanks and armored vehicles with the German white cross mark rushing towards us, I was in a panic for a moment, but it soon dawned on me that this was lieutenant prulli''s armored force.


    But as the tank leaped out of our trench, I waved my arms in the roar of the tank motors and cried out, "Lieutenant prulli, move! Go ahead! Go and beat them, beat these damned Germans, and don''t let any of them run away. "


    When we saw that our armored vehicles were destroyed and our armored forces rushed up again, the Germans who were still lying on the ground either got up and turned around or stayed in the same place and raised their hands high.


    Seeing our armored forces rush up, dobrovsky in the trench can''t hold his breath. He jumps out of the trench, stands on the high ground, waves his pistol and shouts loudly: "comrades, move forward, move forward!" After shouting, he took the lead and rushed out. The commander rushed up, and the soldiers in the trench also climbed out of the trench one after another, shouting with weapons and rushing up.


    Five minutes later, the battle was over. The battlefield was filled with the pungent black smoke from the burned armored vehicles and the smell of barbecue. I can''t help feeling nauseous when I think of the smell of barbecue, which comes from the charred German corpses.


    Dubrovsky came back to me and reported to me, "Comrade division, the battle is over. We killed 76 people, killed 217 German soldiers, and had no prisoners. "


    There are no prisoners. As soon as I heard this, I knew that he was lying. Just now I saw so many German soldiers raising their hands to surrender. He must have thought it was inconvenient to carry German prisoners, so he disposed of them without authorization. But now is not the time to blame him. Our top priority is to leave here as soon as possible and return to mamayev post. So I ignored his killing of prisoners. Instead, I ordered him: "Comrade captain, the German attack has just been repulsed by us. In a short time, we should not launch any more attacks. Therefore, we should use this precious time to withdraw our troops."


    "Comrade division, what about the wounded?" As soon as I gave the order, dubrovsky asked.


    I was stunned by his question. What did he mean when he asked this question? Did he want to send a grenade to those who could not move, so that they could stay behind and block the German attack for us? Thinking of this, I could not help frowning, and asked discontentedly, "Comrade captain, what do you mean by that? Do you want to leave them all behind? You know, they are our comrades. Is that appropriate? "


    Unexpectedly, as soon as my words came out, dubrovsky repeatedly waved his hand and said, "Sir, you misunderstood me. I didn''t mean that." At this point, he pointed to the tanks and armored vehicles coming towards the trench, and asked carefully, "I want to ask if we can let the disabled move in armored vehicles, so that we can speed up our March?"


    I saw an armored car stop not far away from us, and several officers and soldiers from the car came towards us almost without hesitation. I looked at the visitors carefully and found that corporal Mikhailov was walking in front of him, while lieutenant prulli was walking with him. I quickly waved to them and yelled, "Hello! Lieutenant prulli, corporal Mikhailov, come to me quickly


    Hearing my voice, pruli and Mikhailov quickened their pace, made their way to the trench and jumped in. Prulli raised his hand to salute me, and respectfully reported: "Comrade division commander, tank lieutenant prulli reported to you that the armored forces have completely annihilated the invading German army, please give instructions!"


    "Well done, comrade lieutenant." After praising him, I asked him in a deliberative tone: "Lieutenant prulli, I think you can see that there were a lot of casualties in the shelling and fighting of the German army just now. If soldiers are allowed to carry the wounded on the March, it will affect our marching speed. So I want the wounded to be transferred in your armored vehicle. Don''t you have any different opinions? "


    Lieutenant prulli shook his head and said, "no, sir." After that, he hesitated for a moment, and then said, "but the space in the armored car is limited, and it is estimated that the number of wounded people who can ride is limited."


    After listening to him, I waved my hand and said, "Comrade lieutenant, you don''t have to worry about this. You can pretend as much as you can. As for the rest of the wounded, it has little impact on us


    In this way, Captain Rosenberg and lieutenant prulli, who received my order, began to arrange for the heavy wounded and the light wounded with leg injuries to be carried onto the armored vehicles, while the rest of the light wounded left on foot with the large army.


    Looking at the wounded people who fish into the car, dubrovsky said to me, "Comrade division, it''s about five kilometers away from 107.5 highland. You might as well take an armored car to leave together." He was so afraid of me that he stressed, "I''ll leave the rest of this to captain Rosenberg and me."


    Dubrovsky''s suggestion really moved me, but it only lasted for a moment and then disappeared. I know in my heart that if I withdraw with the wounded, plus the guards who protect me, at least one armored car will be occupied. In this way, several wounded people will have to endure the pain and follow the troops for a long-distance March, but it will have an impact on my glorious image. After thinking about this matter, I shook my head decisively and said firmly, "no, comrade captain, as I have just said, armored vehicles are for the wounded. Then I can''t break my promise, so I''m going to walk out of here like the rest of your soldiers. "


    Dubrovsky wanted to persuade me again, but I stopped him. I said stubbornly, "Comrade captain, don''t persuade me any more. I''ll take it as an order to you. You have been in the army for such a long time, don''t you know that the orders of the superior are not allowed to discuss and disobey, but can only be carried out? "


    Seeing what I said, dubrovsky had no choice but to agree. Then he assembled his troops and went. While waiting for the wounded to get on the train and assemble the troops, although I said I was calm, I was in a state of great anxiety. I was afraid that the German army would not be reconciled to their defeat and would bombard us here. When so many of us would stay in the open land, wouldn''t it be heavy casualties?


    However, the final facts proved that I was not worried. The German army neither shelled us nor sent any more troops to attack us. Perhaps, as dubrovsky just analyzed, because it was dark, the German army could not mobilize too many troops in a hurry. After losing the only reserve team, it could not attack us again.


    After loading the seriously wounded and the disabled, Lieutenant prulli''s armored forces set out. In front of the seven tanks, followed by a long string of armored vehicles, and then followed by our walking infantry.


    On the way, dubrovsky asked me anxiously: "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant prulli, their tanks and armored vehicles are still painted with the white cross of the German army. Don''t regard the troops who stick to the 107.5 highland as the Germans. If the two sides miss each other, we will make a joke when we fight with each other."


    At first I thought everything was in order, but after listening to what captain dubrovsky said, I felt that this possibility really existed, so I racked my brains to think about how to avoid this misunderstanding.


    At this moment, the front of the team suddenly stopped. Before I could speak, dubrovsky had already asked the front, "Hey, what''s the matter? Why did the army stop?"


    Captain Rosenberg, who was walking in front of the team, ran up to us and reported: "Comrade division, the armored forces in front of us suddenly stopped, as if they were blocked by something. Because the line of armored forces is too long, we can''t see what''s going on in front of us. "


    I know what captain Rosenberg said is true. When the tanks are marching, the queue of seven tanks and 15 armored vehicles with an interval of 50 meters can be as long as 1000 meters. If something really happens in front of them, we really don''t know. I listened. There was no other sound except the roar of the armored car''s motor. It should not have been a misunderstanding with the friendly troops who held high 107.5.


    I was about to send someone to the front to find out what happened when I heard Mikhail lov beside me exclaim in surprise: "Sir, comrade, you see, it''s the truck, it''s our truck team back."


    I quickly looked ahead, and sure enough, I saw seven or eight trucks with big lights, half of them on the road, half of them on the grass, next to the armored forces, staggering towards us. Seeing the arrival of the truck, I had a smile on my face, which made me feel relieved. As long as we have trucks, we can speed up our March. In a few minutes, we will be able to return to mamayev post smoothly, and the Germans will not be able to catch up.


    After the truck passed us, it drove a little further and then turned around on the road. Standing on the road, the commanders and fighters quickly gave way to both sides of the road to make way for the trucks.


    When a truck stopped in front of me, the door on the other side of the co pilot''s bridge suddenly opened, and a commander jumped out of it. He ran quickly in front of me. After standing at attention, he respectfully reported to me, "Comrade division, I''ve come to meet you on the order of the deputy division and the political commissar. Please get on the bus?"


    I raised my hand, patted the other person on the shoulder and said gratefully, "thank you, Captain busmanov." Then he waved his head and said, "what are you doing? Get on the bus."


    There were only about 70 or 80 officers and soldiers walking in a company of dubrovsky battalion. There were about 10 people in a car, which was very loose. When the commanders and fighters finished waiting for the car, basmanov gave an order, and the team began to move forward.


    As our truck passed by the armored troops parked on the road, I asked busmanov curiously: "Comrade captain, you just said that you came to meet us on the order of the deputy division commander and political commissar. Where are they now? "


    "Report sir," basmanov replied respectfully when he heard my question, "they are all waiting for you under 107.5 at the moment."


    When I heard that kirilov had come out to meet me, I was very moved. In order to prevent basmanov from noticing my excitement, I pretended to be angry and said, "I don''t need them to meet me because I can''t find my way. Just wait for me at division headquarters. Why wait for me at 107.5 highland? Besides, what should we do if our superiors give us orders when they are away? "


    Basmanov was really deceived by me. He didn''t notice my abnormality and seriously replied, "Comrade division, it''s like this. The deputy division commander and I went to the 107.5 highland. After we talked with the political commissar on the phone there, the political commissar said that there was a chief of staff on duty in the division headquarters, and he could come out to meet you personally. As for why we have to wait for you in front of 107.5 highland, it is estimated that the political commissar heard that among the returned troops, there is an armored force composed of captured German tanks and armored vehicles. He is deeply afraid that the garrison on the highland will not know the situation and will have a misunderstanding with the returned friendly forces. "


    After listening to basmanov''s words, I couldn''t help nodding. I secretly praised kirilov for his comprehensive consideration. If they hadn''t met him in front of the highland, maybe the garrison on the highland would have found a huge German armored force and fired without saying a word. Once a fight starts, it is bound to cause unnecessary casualties.


    While I was thinking, basmanov pointed forward and said excitedly to me, "Comrade division commander, look, the political commissar and deputy division commander are there."


    I looked in the direction of his fingers, and on the right side of the road ahead, next to the remains of several blackened tanks, stood a group of people. Although we can''t see their faces clearly, judging from their clothes, they are undoubtedly our own troops. I quickly told the driver: "Comrade driver, drive ten meters further and stop the car."


    The driver nodded, and the truck came to a steady stop after driving a certain distance. This place is only four or five meters away from the waiting crowd. Busmanov opened the door first and jumped down. Then he stood beside the car and held out a hand to me. I grabbed basmanov''s outstretched hand, jumped off the bridge and walked quickly towards the crowd. When I got out of the car, the crowd rushed to me. Before I could see the person opposite, I heard kirilov''s familiar voice: "Comrade oshanina, welcome back!" Then a man left the whole team and came to me. He grabbed my hand and shook it hard¡° Hello, comrade political commissar, "when I hold kirilov''s hand, I feel my nose is sore, but I don''t want to cry in front of so many subordinates, so I try my best to restrain myself and hold kirilov''s hand warmly. After shaking hands with Bantai leiev and other officers and men waiting here one by one, kirilov told me to get on a jeep that had been waiting on the side of the road for a long time. Bantai leiev didn''t return with us because he wanted to leave behind the armored troops for lieutenant pruli. On the jeep, I asked kirilov curiously, "Comrade commissar, this Jeep looks quite new. Where did you get it from?"¡° It was sent to us by the headquarters of the front army, saying that it was to congratulate our division on winning the red flag medal. " After kirilov briefly introduced the origin of the jeep, he suddenly turned his face and said to me seriously, "Comrade division, I once again ask you not to take the troops to carry out such a dangerous task yourself in the future, OK?"¡° Comrade political commissar, "I don''t know why he said that, so he pretended to be relaxed and said," how can I call this adventure? You know, I have not only consulted the headquarters of the group army in advance, but also the deputy division commander with me. "¡° If the headquarters of the group army agrees, it will not do. " Kirilov said reluctantly: "you know, after the headquarters of the front army learned that you personally led the troops to the north, the commander and the military commissar were furious. A few phone calls a day asked about your situation, and said that if you had any good or bad, we would not come to a good end." Kirilov''s words stunned me. Although I met with yelolmenko and Khrushchev several times, my relationship was not very good. How could they be angry with kirilov for my little teacher? Before I could think of a reason, the jeep had reached the foot of the mountain where the division headquarters was. Along the trench, we quickly came outside the division headquarters. Looking at this familiar place, I can''t help feeling that I can still come back here alive. It''s really not easy£¨ It''s a good activity to drop pie in the sky, cool mobile phone waiting for you! Focus on the Chinese official account (WeChat add friends add official account - enter qdread), join in! Everyone has a prize. Now pay close attention to qdread WeChat official account!

 Chapter 802

    When I walked into the headquarters, the chief of staff, major akhromeyev, was on the phone. Seeing me, he was obviously stunned. For a while, he looked at me in a daze. When I saw his surprised expression, I couldn''t help laughing and saying, "Comrade chief of staff, I haven''t seen you for just a few days. Don''t you know me?"


    Hearing me, akhromeyev stood up abruptly, threw the phone on the table and exclaimed in surprise: "teacher, are you really back?" With that, he pushed aside the bench and rushed to meet me.


    When he shook hands with me, he said to me excitedly, "Comrade teacher, you can come back. We can always think about you these days. How are you? Did you have a good journey back? "


    "Not bad. It went well." When I said this, I pointed to the microphone on the table and asked, "chief of staff, are you talking to anyone?"


    "Who else can it be, commander gaidal, the fourth commander?" Akhromeyev replied somewhat reluctantly: "he said that he heard the rumble of guns coming from the northwest and hoped to send a reconnaissance force to see what was going on."


    "What he heard may be that the Germans were shelling our newly occupied positions at that time." After a brief account of the fighting, I added, "you''re not going to make it clear to lieutenant colonel Gaidar."


    "All right," akhromeyev readily agreed, and walked over to the table. "I''ll tell him what''s going on." When he picked up the receiver again, he said with a smile: "Hello, commander Gaidar, I''ll tell you the good news first. Comrade division is back at the headquarters." After a short pause, he continued to say, "the gunfire you just heard was that the German army was shelling the positions occupied by the division commander... No, no... the division commander was all right, not even a hair was hurt. So you don''t have to send any more scouts to scout. You''d better strengthen night patrol and concentrate on guarding your high ground. Don''t let the Germans touch your position in the middle of the night. "


    Seeing akhromeyev go away, razumeyeva and Naga, who have been sitting in front of the telephone, came to me one after another, hugged me and welcomed my smooth return.


    When akhromeyev hung up, kirilov and I had both gone to the table and sat down. Akhromeyev asked with concern, "where are the troops that have been withdrawn?"


    "I''ll have Colonel bantelayev put them all in the third regiment." When I talked about this, I thought of something. Before I could explain it to akhromeyev, I immediately told him: "Comrade chief of staff, we have gained a lot in this operation. We have captured seven German tanks, 15 armored vehicles, nine artillery and a lot of military materials. At present, they are also stored in the third regiment. In addition to weapons and ammunition, there are also a lot of food and medicine in this batch of materials. You will inform the regiments to get the materials they need later. "


    Akhromeyev agreed to stand up and prepare to get the phone on the table. At this moment, kirilov suddenly asked, "Comrade chief of staff, has the headquarters of the front army called?" He shook his head, said no, then picked up the phone to call several team leaders, told them to get their own supplies.


    While akhromeyev was on the phone, I asked kirilov in a low voice, "Comrade political commissar, what do you mean by the call from the headquarters of the front army?"


    Kirilov gave a wry smile and said, "what else do you mean? For you, of course. " Seeing my blank face, he went on to say, "commander yelomienko and military commissar Comrade Khrushchev call almost every day to greet you. Although I once explained to them that you personally led your troops north with the consent of commander trakov of the group army, I was scolded several times by them. " He raised his hand and looked at the watch on his wrist. He muttered to himself, "it''s usually this time when I call. Why haven''t I called today? Is there something to delay?"


    Akhromeyev called commander Oleg of the second regiment, acting commander Godunov of the third regiment, and commander gedar of the fourth regiment in turn, informing them to go to the residence of the third regiment to collect the materials of each regiment. Even the health team I didn''t mention, he specially called and asked shimakova to take people to get the medicine urgently needed by the wounded


    When he put down the phone, he reported to me with a smile: "Comrade division commander, the phone call to each regiment has been finished. Several leaders said that they would send people to collect materials immediately."


    Kirilov said with a smile: "I know these commanders very well. I heard that they are asked to collect materials. It is estimated that they will start to arrange manpower as soon as they put down the phone. Within half an hour, their people will be able to reach the place where the materials are stacked. By the way, Mr. division, "he said, suddenly turning to look at me and saying in a deliberative tone," I think the distribution of materials should be entrusted to Mr. Bantai leiev, deputy division commander. "


    I nodded and said, "OK, I agree with you. Colonel Bantai leiev will be responsible for the distribution of materials..." before I finished, the telephone rang on the desk.


    Akhromeyev quickly grabbed the phone and said in a loud voice, "Hello, this is division headquarters. I''m major akhromeyev, chief of staff. Where are you?" With these words, he was silent, as if listening to what the other side said.


    "Hello, comrade military commissar, comrade division commander has just returned to the headquarters," akhromeyev replied urgently, "I just wanted to report to you, your phone call came..." I heard akhromeyev''s nervous voice, and I knew that the person who was talking to him was Comrade Khrushchev, military commissar of the army. Sure enough, a moment later, akhromeyev put his hand over the microphone and handed it to me. At the same time, he reminded me in a low voice, "Comrade division commander, it''s the phone of the military commissar of the front army..." before he finished, I took the microphone in his hand and said politely, "Hello, military commissar of the front army..." unexpectedly, Khrushchev interrupted me, He roared at me: "major general oshanina, I would like to draw your attention to your own identity. Now you are the division commander and general of the red flag independent division, commanding a division. It''s not that when you were a regiment commander or battalion commander, you could go out if you wanted to lead the troops to attack by yourself. You are a division commander and your post is in your own command post. You have no qualification or right to take risks with your own life. Do you understand? " Because the sound from the headphones was too loud, I had to move the microphone away from my ears to avoid deafness. When his words finally came to an end, I began to defend myself: "Comrade military commissar, please listen to my explanation?"¡° Come on, "said Khrushchev angrily," I want to hear what you have to explain. " Kirilov and akhromeyev stood beside me and looked at me sympathetically, but I could only make a helpless gesture to them, and then explained to Khrushchev, "Comrade military commissar, it''s like this. It is very important for our division to join up with the friendly forces of the Don front army. If we let others go, I am not sure. In addition, in order to prevent exposure, the radio kept silent most of the time, so that even if there was any emergency, it could not ask the division headquarters for instructions. If I go, I can overcome this problem. I can adjust my deployment in time according to the changes in the situation of the enemy and myself. "¡° What''s the result of your going out this time? " Although there was still anger in Khrushchev''s voice, his tone was obviously softened. Although I clearly know that the telegram I sent to kirilov was soon forwarded to yelolmenko and Khrushchev by trekov and them, I honestly described the battles I had experienced and the results I had achieved in the past few days. At the end of the day, he added: "in fact, I personally led the troops to the north. I didn''t make any good suggestions. I asked commander trakov and military commissar Comrade gulov to get their permission before leading the troops to set out." After listening to me, Khrushchev said to me kindly, "never again. Remember, even if it''s approved by trakov, it won''t work. Before the men in the front army are dead, you must not take risks in the enemy''s rear with your women alone. Otherwise, what can I do when I assign captain Bantai leiev to your division as deputy division commander? " When I heard that Khrushchev''s tone had obviously changed, I was deeply relieved. At the same time, I said with a smile, "I understand. Comrade military commissar, I will pay attention to it in the future. I will never let similar things happen again."¡° Now that you''re back, have a good rest. " Khrushchev''s tone at this time completely returned to stability, "tomorrow I will personally go to mamayev post to see you." Then he hung up without waiting for me to speak. After Khrushchev hung up the phone, I was still in a daze, holding the phone. I thought to myself, since he already knew that I was back and scolded me, why would he risk crossing the Volga River to mamayev post tomorrow? Kirilov saw that I was in a daze and asked with concern: "Comrade teacher, what''s the matter with you?" Akhromeyev thoughtfully took the phone from me and put it on the base of the phone. I repeated what Khrushchev had just said to them, and then asked them in a puzzled way, "what are you two talking about? The military commissar said that he wanted to go to mamayev post, what is it for?"¡° I don''t want to see what you''ve captured and what you''ve captured? " Akhromeyev said tentatively¡° No way, "kirilov immediately denied his conjecture." Comrade Khrushchev has so much work every day. How can he risk crossing the Volga River to mamayev post for such a small matter? I think there must be something important about his coming this time. "

 Chapter 803

    The three of us pondered for a long time, but we didn''t come up with a reason. I''m not interested in guessing any more. I briefly told the two of them the course of the northward battle. After listing the meritorious service list of the commanders and fighters, I yawned and went to the wall. They prepared a march bed to sleep.


    Perhaps because this period of time is too tired, so a lie in bed and then unconsciously fell asleep.


    I didn''t know how long I had slept, until someone was gently shaking his shoulder. At the same time, a familiar voice was shouting: "Comrade teacher, comrade teacher, wake up."


    I recognized that the person calling me was chief of staff akhromeyev. I opened my eyes in a daze and asked weakly, "chief of staff, what''s the matter?"


    Akhromeyev leaned down, approached me and said in a low voice, "Comrade division commander, comrade military commissar of the front army is here."


    It turned out to be the military commissar of the front army. When I heard ahlomeyev''s identity, I just nodded and closed my eyes again. As soon as I closed my eyes, I repeated this duty again in my mind. My drowsiness suddenly disappeared. My God, the military commissar of the front army, isn''t he Khrushchev himself? How long did I sleep? I didn''t wake up when Khrushchev arrived at my headquarters.


    I quickly opened my eyes again, lifted the blanket on my body and sat up. Khrushchev, kirilov and some commanders I didn''t know very well were standing just a few steps away. Even Bantai leiev, who was distributing materials in the third regiment, was among them. I quickly jumped out of bed, not even care to put on my boots. I raised my hand and saluted Khrushchev. At the same time, I said, "I''m sorry, comrade military commissar, I fell asleep, so I couldn''t meet you outside."


    With a smile on his face, Khrushchev said amiably, "our female teacher, I should say I''m sorry. You are so tired at this time that you should have a good rest, but I''m sorry to disturb your rest. " With that, he came to me and reached out his hand.


    Seeing Khrushchev''s initiative to extend his hand, of course, I couldn''t shake hands as casually as I did with my subordinates. I bowed half in a hurry and stretched out my hands to shake hands with him at the same time. When it was released, he bent his body lower and made a posture of please sit on his side. After he sat down, he put on his boots and told captain busmanov to pour tea for him.


    After Khrushchev sat down, the burly general standing next to him also sat down, while the four Lieutenant officers who came with them stood upright behind Khrushchev.


    Because I don''t know Khrushchev''s real intention this time, my heart is particularly uneasy. I took a close look at the major general sitting next to me, and recognized that it was major general varenikov, the logistics Minister of the headquarters of the front army. At that time, I felt a thump in my heart, saying that Khrushchev did not come here to ask us to hand in the seized materials, did he? So he asked cautiously, "Comrade military commissar, do you have any important business when you come to our independent division today?"


    I didn''t expect Khrushchev to wave his hand at me and say, "I''ll talk about that later." Then he turned around and asked akhromeyev, "Comrade major, how long will it take to gather the company commander and the commander of the northern army here?"


    Although akhromeyev did not understand the original intention of his question, he raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he replied respectfully, "report to Comrade military commissar, it will take ten minutes at the most." After he finished, he seemed to be afraid that Khrushchev would not be satisfied, and he added assertively, "this is already the fastest speed. It can''t be any faster."


    "Comrade major, I''ll give you twenty minutes." Khrushchev said magnanimously, "will you call these commanders here immediately?"


    Akhromeyev agreed and began to contact the commanders of the regiments. Because Khrushchev was sitting at the table, instead of using the telephone on the table, he went to razumeyeva and contacted the regiments through walkie talkie.


    While akhromeyev went to make a phone call, Khrushchev pointed to the general sitting next to him and introduced to me, "oshanina, I''d like to introduce you. Major general valennikov is the new chief of staff of the headquarters of the front army. I think you should be familiar with him."


    Although I am also a major general, my gold content is obviously less than that of the new chief of staff in front of me. After listening to Khrushchev''s introduction, I quickly stood up and took the initiative to extend my hand to the other side. At the same time, I said in a friendly way: "Hello, chief of staff, I''m glad to see you again. Welcome to the independent division to guide my work."


    Major general varenikov also gave me a friendly smile and said warmly, "Hello, comrade oshanina. I didn''t expect that we would meet again so soon. "


    Kirilov, a little puzzled, asked: "Comrade division commander, did you know general varenikov before?"


    "Yes, it is, comrade political commissar." In order to satisfy kirilov''s curiosity, I briefly told him that I knew General varenikov when I withdrew to the East Bank of Volga river last time. Finally, I said, "when I met general varenikov last time, he was still the logistics Minister of the front army. Unexpectedly, he became the chief of staff in just a few days."


    "As the higher authorities have made another appointment to the former chief of staff, major general Zakharov, major general valennikov has been appointed to replace him." Khrushchev raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he looked up and asked akhromeyev, who was walking this way, "Hey, comrade major, have you informed all the people who should be informed?"


    Akhromeyev quickly stopped, stood in the same place, respectfully said: "all the comrades of the military commissar have been informed." after answering, he went back to the table. Because his rank was too low, he did not sit down as usual, but stood behind me.


    "Comrades of the military commissar, since they have already called, I believe those commanders will arrive in a short time." Kirilov, who didn''t know the other party''s intention all the time, tentatively asked, "can you tell us your intention while waiting for them?"


    "Yes!" After Khrushchev said this, he turned to a captain commander behind him and said, "Comrade captain, please give me what you have in your backpack."


    At his command, the commander on the far left stepped forward, took off his shoulder bag and handed it to Khrushchev. Khrushchev took the knapsack, gave thanks to the captain and put it on the table. He patted his knapsack with his hand and said to us with a smile, "you may not think it. I''m here specially to honor the troops going north."


    "What, award?" When I heard this news, I jumped up from my seat, and Khrushchev, who was observing carefully, noticed my little action. After he and major general valennikov looked at each other, he said to me with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, the last time was the last time, this time is like this. We can''t mix it up. Besides, it was only the headquarters of the group army that honored you last time; But this time, I, the military commissar of the headquarters of the front army, was in charge of the award, and the Supreme Commander himself told me that. "


    Khrushchev''s words made me even more puzzled. How could the Supreme Commander himself have time to pay attention to such a small teacher as me? But in front of so many people, I can''t ask in detail.


    Just then, one after another, some commanders who had been informed by major akhromeyev entered the headquarters. I quickly turned around and winked at akhromeyev, signaling him to receive these commanders.


    Akhromeyev nodded, turned and walked towards the commanders who entered the headquarters. One or two minutes later, akhromeyev walked back to us, straightened up and reported to me, "Comrade division, all the commanders have assembled and are waiting for your order. Please give us instructions!"


    I stood up, held the table in my hand, and said to Khrushchev opposite, "Comrade military commissar, all the commanders have assembled. Please give them instructions." Then he made a gesture of please.


    There were more than 20 commanders called to the headquarters. They stood in two rows in the room, with regimental and battalion commanders in the front row and company commanders in the back row. I took Khrushchev to the far right of the team and began to introduce his subordinates to him: "Comrade military commissar, this is lieutenant colonel xijerikov, head of the first regiment. His regiment is the main force of the troops going north this time."


    "Good job, good job, comrade commander." Khrushchev took his hand and said in a loud voice, "the results you have achieved this time have greatly boosted the morale of our army. Not only the whole front army knows about this, but even Comrade Stalin has learned about it in our report. He is very satisfied with the results you have achieved."


    Even the Supreme Commander himself knew about the achievements of the regiment. The commanders could not help but get excited. Seeing that someone in the queue began to whisper, I coughed heavily to remind them to pay attention. After all, there were superior leaders standing in front of them.


    After the team calmed down, I introduced the commander on the left side of shijerikov, "this is Lieutenant Colonel Ilya, the deputy commander. He is a new editor from Colonel bantailev. I believe you have met him on the East Bank of the Volga River."


    Khrushchev took commander Elia''s hand and said with a smile, "yes, of course. I talked to him at that time." Then he said to Elijah, "I didn''t expect that you made great achievements not long after you arrived at the independent division. It''s not easy."


    When I next introduced the third commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosja, Khrushchev frowned involuntarily, and then said to me, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the matter? Why is there no political commissar in the regiment?"


    "Yes, comrade military Commissar." Kirilov, who followed me, quickly explained: "Comrade oberstein, the political commissar of the first regiment, was transferred to be specially responsible for the political guidance of the recruits, so he did not stay in the army for the time being."


    Khrushchev nodded and then shook hands with the third commander, major kosja, and the second commander, major vatorak. When I introduced him, I was standing in front of him and awarded the Suvorov Medal of the third rank, including the commander of the first regiment, Lieutenant sergeant chejerikov, the deputy commander of the first regiment, Lieutenant Ilya, the commander of the third regiment, Lieutenant coaska, the deputy commander of the third regiment, major vatorak, and the commander of the second battalion of the first regiment, Captain shereblenne;


    The order of Alexander Nevsky was awarded to captain Nikolay, commander of the first battalion of the first regiment, Lieutenant pruli, commander of the installation force, Captain dubrovsky, commander of the first battalion of the third regiment, Captain Rosenberg, commander of the first company, and others;


    To the commander of the Third Battalion of the first regiment, major jerenkov, the commander of the guard battalion, Captain basmanov, and all the commanders above the company level in the northward army, the second class Patriotic War Medal. " After major general varenikov read out the commendation order, Khrushchev personally wore the medal for us, while the four Lieutenant officers picked up the medal box on the table and followed. When Khrushchev was going to say this to him, I didn''t know how to answer. I just laughed, then raised my hand to salute him, and said aloud, "serve the Soviet motherland!" At the end of the award, the commanders who won the medal unexpectedly left one after another happily. Seeing that the commanders were almost gone, Khrushchev turned to the four commanders and said, "you go outside and wait. The chief of staff and I will go out later." In response to Khrushchev''s order, the four Lieutenant officers did not say anything, but raised their hands and saluted. They turned around neatly and walked out of the headquarters. When I saw Khrushchev''s arrangement, I wondered if he had anything to say to me, so I said to razumeyeva, who had been sitting in front of the telephone: "girls, it must be very hard for you to stay in the headquarters every day. Now go out for a breath of fresh air, and come back when I call you." Razumeyeva and Najia agreed, got up and left. Seeing that there were only me, Khrushchev, varenikov, bantailiev, kirilov and akhromeyev left in the headquarters, he asked frankly, "Comrade military commissar, there are only so many of us left in the headquarters. You can say anything boldly." Then I added, "don''t worry, what you said today will never be disclosed." After listening to my words, Khrushchev and major general varenikov looked at each other, and they laughed. When the laughter stopped, Khrushchev said to varenikov, "well, comrade chief of staff. I still remember that on the way here, I told you that as long as I drove some of my staff out of the headquarters, comrade o''shanina could guess that I had something to say to her in private and would make corresponding arrangements. Am I right? "¡° That''s right, that''s right. You''re very predictable. " Major general valennikov said flatteringly, "it seems that you know Comrade oshanina best."

 Chapter 804

    Khrushchev let us sit back at the table, while he walked back and forth in the headquarters with his hands behind his back.


    After walking back and forth for a few laps, he stopped and said to me, "listen to me, comrade oshanina, after the ceremony just now, do you think that I, the military commissar of the front army, came here from the East Bank of the Volga River to honor you?"


    Khrushchev''s words confused me, and I said confusedly: "Comrade military commissar, I don''t quite understand. Even if the superior wants to award us the search for our achievements in the north, it is enough for the leaders of the group army to come forward. Why should you risk your life to enter this dangerous city from the east coast?"


    "Yes, this time I''m here, there are more important things besides awards." Khrushchev did not beat around the Bush and said to me directly, "this time I''m here mainly for you."


    "For me?" When he said that, I was even more confused. I don''t know where my little division commander is worthy of such a big leader to cross the Volga River and enter this precarious city at the risk of German bombing and shelling.


    "Yes, according to the wishes of the Supreme Commander himself, he intends to appoint you as the deputy commander of the 62nd group army to assist trekov in directing the city''s defense." When Khrushchev saw that I was stunned, he added: "at the same time, you are still the teacher of the red flag independent division."


    The deputy commander of the 62nd group army, who was personally proposed by the Supreme Commander himself, immediately stunned by this unexpected appointment. How could I be worthy of Stalin''s care?


    After staying for a long time, I was puzzled and excited and asked, "Comrade military commissar, what''s the matter? I''m confused by you."


    "You will find out," Khrushchev said. He sat down in his position just now and continued, "after a long period of investigation by the relevant departments, comrade Stalin thinks that you can be competent for more important positions according to your ability."


    "Investigation, what investigation?" Khrushchev constantly put one riddle after another in front of me, which made me feel a little at a loss. "However, comrade military commissar, it seems that I have never been investigated by any superior?"


    "Yes, comrade oshanina." Khrushchev seemed to see that if he didn''t understand what he said, I would always be at a loss, so he began to explain to me: "since you were demoted from major general to major in January this year, and transferred to the lifeline on the ice, the investigation on you began." Perhaps he was afraid that I might interrupt him, and his speaking speed was accelerated unconsciously. "When a leader at a higher level inspects a cadre, he will exercise, inspect and observe a comrade in a different environment when necessary. Sometimes, you don''t know that it''s the test of your superiors. You think you''ve made some mistakes and are punished. As everyone knows, in fact, your every move is in the investigation of organizing the troops. Only after you pass all the tests, can you have a chance to go one step further. Without knowing it, some commanders thought their future was over, and they began to abandon themselves, so they were soon eliminated. And you have performed well in the 64th and 62nd group armies since you became the commander of the antiaircraft artillery battalion on the ice transportation line, whether in the battle of liuban, the battle of the siniavino bulge, or in Stalingrad. In particular, after commanding the newly formed independent division, he made numerous outstanding achievements from the river crossing basin to the mamayevgang. "


    When Khrushchev said this, I finally got a general idea. When he stopped, I quickly interjected and asked, "Comrade military commissar, but there are many excellent commanders in the army. Why did Comrade Stalin choose me?"


    Perhaps all the people present were trustworthy, so Khrushchev didn''t have much scruples when he said, "before the war broke out, we old Bolsheviks thought that the enemy were paper tigers. Even if they took the lead in attacking us, our brave army would defeat them. But actually? From the beginning of the war, we were in a passive situation and had to retreat in the continuous fighting, which led to the occupation of a large area of our territory.


    The reason for this situation is very simple. In our army, there are very few commanders who really understand modern war, most of them have outdated and rigid tactical ideas, the logistics support ability of the army is weak, and the military and cultural qualities of the commanders and soldiers are very low. When the forces are roughly equal, it is still difficult to deal with the troops of the servant countries, but it is even worse to deal with the German forces. "


    When Khrushchev said this, people around him were silent. I know in my heart the reason why everyone is silent. These words are really too bold. If another person says it, he will be sent to the military court or put in the prison of the Ministry of interior soon.


    "I''ve studied every battle you command carefully." When Khrushchev saw that no one was speaking, he continued: "when other troops were defending, they were hiding in trenches or fortifications. If the Germans didn''t attack, they would secretly be glad; When the Germans attack, even if they fight to the last person, they will not take a step back. But the troops you command are different. If the enemy attacks, you are resisting; But when the enemy stops attacking, you don''t passively defend and let the troops stay in the fortifications. Instead, you take the way of night attack to attack the enemy continuously. Your way of playing has made the Germans who have already mastered the conventional way of playing in our army very unaccustomed. As a result, they have paid a heavy price. "


    "Comrade military commissar, you are right." When Khrushchev stopped, bantailiev cut in in time and said, "this time I went north with her, I learned her unique tactics..." then he told the commanders in detail that I had set up two ambushes in the same place and defeated the German army with a small number of troops.


    After listening to the introduction of Bantai leiev, kirilov asked in surprise: "Damn, comrade deputy division commander, why did you not introduce such cases in detail in your telegram to the division headquarters, but simply report how many enemies have been eliminated and how many weapons and ammunition have been seized." At this point, he looked at me with adoring eyes and said from the bottom of his heart: "if these two ambushes can be written into military school textbooks, they will become classic examples of war in the future. Think about it, comrade division commander. When every Cadet of a military academy opens the textbook and sees this example, he will firmly remember your name. "


    "As for whether or not to write in the textbook, that is the future." Khrushchev interrupted kirilov and said, "Comrade oshanina, the reason why Comrade Stalin demoted you at the beginning was that you were promoted too fast and your foundation was not solid. If you think about a recruit who has only been in the army for a few months, he suddenly becomes a general from an ordinary soldier. Although he is promoted because of many achievements, the commanders who have been in the army for more than ten or twenty years and whose rank is lower than you don''t think so. They will think that you are promoted through nepotism, Their dissatisfaction will affect a large number of people, which will easily affect the morale of the army.


    But after more than half a year''s observation and test, the Supreme Commander himself thinks that you have the ability to assume a higher command position, so he will take the initiative to offer you the post of deputy commander of the 62nd group army. "


    Although the name of the deputy commander is very big, I know in my heart that the actual power is not equal to that of the division commander of my independent division. So after Khrushchev finished, I asked carefully, "Comrade military commissar, I can be the deputy commander of the group army, but I have a request. I don''t know if you can agree?"


    "What request, tell me?" Asked Khrushchev curiously.


    In fact, not only Khrushchev but also kirilov looked at me curiously, waiting for my final answer.


    I coughed gently, cleared my throat and said, "Comrade military commissar, at present, there are many army numbers in the city, and the communication is not smooth, so my appointment can''t be conveyed to them in the shortest time, so if I go to command them, there may be a situation of command inaction. So I ask you to let me stay in the independent division and cooperate with commander trakov to command the forces in the city at the right time. "


    After listening to my request, Khrushchev readily agreed: "no problem, you are also the teacher of the independent division. Stay where you think it''s better to stay. Now the 13th division of the guards nearest to you can be under your command. "


    I stood up, took Khrushchev''s hand and said gratefully, "thank you, thank you, comrade military Commissar. Please rest assured that I will live up to the trust of the Supreme Commander himself and you. " A month ago, my independent division was under the command of general rodimzev''s close guard 13th division. I didn''t expect that I would be in charge of his troops now.


    "Major general oshanina," major general varenikov, who had been silent, took out a document from his briefcase and handed it to me. At the same time, he said, "this is the letter of appointment for you. I didn''t know when you would be able to come back from the north, so I took office on November 1st. "


    "Comrade military commissar, may I ask you a question?" While I was reading the papers, kirilov took Khrushchev and asked in a low voice, "is that ok?"


    "Ask, comrade kirilov." Khrushchev and kirilov should be acquaintances. They seem to be very casual.


    "I think you''ve already learned from commander trakov''s report about Mr. o''shanina''s going north in person?" Kirilov said that when he saw Khrushchev nodding his head in affirmation, he asked in a puzzled way, "then why do you call us every day to scold us and say that we are good at asserting without asking for instructions?"


    "Old man." From their conversation, I recognized that they were really acquaintances. "Comrade Stalin called to inquire about the whereabouts of o''shanina in person. Do you think we can take it lightly? How can we account to the commander in chief if something happens to her in the battle? "


    "So it is. I see." Kirilov finally realized.


    "Major akhromeyev," I think Khrushchev had finished what he had to say, and quickly told akhromeyev, "go and call razumeyeva and them in."


    Looking at the back of akhromeyev''s departure, Khrushchev suddenly asked another question that I was most reluctant to answer: "by the way, comrade oshanina, I heard that you are married and have a child."


    "Yes, comrade military Commissar." I replied in tears and laughter, "I got married before the war and had a son."


    "Where are they now?" I shook my head and replied in an uncertain voice, "I''m not sure. My husband oshanin was seriously injured during the Moscow defense war and was sent to a military hospital, but I never heard from him again. As for my son, I followed my mother from where she lived to Leningrad and later evacuated from the city. The mother died soon after she left the city, leaving only her son wandering around. When liuban broke through, I met him by accident and took him out of the encirclement. However, I gave him to a female health worker who was wounded and retreated before the beginning of the campaign of the bulge, and now there is no whereabouts of him. " After listening to my family''s message, Khrushchev sighed and said, "Comrade oshanina, this is war." After a moment''s silence, he said to himself, "my son Leonid hasn''t written to me for a long time, and I don''t know how he''s doing now." Kirilov heard what Khrushchev said to himself. He quickly took over and said, "Comrade military commissar, you can call your son. With your present position, you have such right." I didn''t expect Khrushchev to shake his head and say, "no, comrade kirilov, you know how busy the wartime communication lines are. How can I occupy this precious line for my own personal affairs." I know Khrushchev''s feelings for his son in my heart, otherwise he would not kneel down to Stalin to save his son''s life later. Seeing that this is an opportunity to please him, I agreed with kirilov and said, "Comrade military commissar, kirilov''s political commissar is right. You should call your son and ask about him. But it''s not as a military commissar of the front army, but as a father who calls his own children. I believe everyone can understand that. " My words made Khrushchev silent, but I can see that he was moved by my words. After a short consideration, he finally nodded and said with some difficulty, "well, since you all say that, I''ll call him when I get back to the east bank in the evening."

 Chapter 805

    Khrushchev stood up to say goodbye to us, but he seemed to see something by accident. He just took two steps and stopped. His eyes crossed my shoulder and stayed in a corner behind me. I looked around curiously, trying to find out what was there that would attract his attention.


    I looked at the corner carefully and found that there was nothing else except the flag leaning against the wall. Was it the flag that attracted Khrushchev''s attention?


    Khrushchev passed us and quickly came to the wall. He held the flag in his hand and asked, "Comrade oshanina, is this the flag of your independent division?"


    "Yes, comrade military Commissar." Hearing his question, I quickly came to his back and said, "this flag was awarded to our independent division by commander trakov himself."


    Khrushchev pulled off the outer flag cover. The general flag spread out and looked at it. Then it slowly rolled up and put on the flag cover again. Then he slowly said, "it''s well kept." After leaning against the wall again, the general flag turned around and asked me, "how many soldiers have your division arranged to take charge of the flag?"


    "Ah, the soldier in charge of the flag?" I was confused by Khrushchev''s words. It was the first time that I heard that there would be special staff to take care of the wrong flag, so I was immediately dumb.


    Seeing that I was at a loss, Khrushchev''s face showed an expression of discontent, but he patiently said to me, "Comrade oshanina, you have been in the army for a short time and you have been fighting all the time. You can be excused for not knowing something. However, I think it is necessary to make it clear to you that our army has had a strong feeling for the flag since the Czarist era. As a symbol of organizational system and honor, the military flag issued to the regiment level and above is not only strictly regulated in terms of specification, size, style and material, but also equipped with special flagpole, flagpole head and flag cover, which must be kept by a specially assigned person. When the officers and soldiers of the Army take the oath, they should put out the flag. After the oath is completed, each person should kneel down and kiss the flag


    I heard what Khrushchev said for the first time, so I kept my head nodding while I kept it in mind. After he finished his speech, I quickly said, "please rest assured that I will set up a class of soldiers as soon as possible to take charge of the custody of the military flag."


    After hearing my statement, Khrushchev nodded with satisfaction, raised his hand, looked at his watch and said, "things are done here. It''s time for me to go back to the east bank. Good luck to you Then he reached out to me.


    When he shook hands with bantaileiev, the latter took the initiative to ask him, "Comrade military commissar, we have captured more than 200 Germans this time. Do you think we can take them to the east bank by the way?" Perhaps for fear of Khrushchev''s disagreement, he specially stressed that "the situation in the city is very bad now, and there are no conditions for accepting prisoners. If we don''t send them to the east bank, we will have to get rid of them in order not to be rescued by the Germans. "


    Khrushchev clearly understood the meaning of this treatment. In the Katyn Forest two years ago, they had dealt with thousands of captured Polish officers in this way. Therefore, Khrushchev was silent after hearing bantailiev''s request.


    I didn''t speak. I just listened to the conversation. At this moment, I suddenly felt someone tugged at my sleeve and turned to see that it was kirilov. He saw that I turned my head and quickly nuzui to the side, motioned for me to look aside. He was standing next to captain busmanov, who ran in from outside at some time. From his expression, it seemed that there was something important to report to us.


    Because Khrushchev and bantailiev were talking, I was afraid of affecting them. I only waved to basmanov to come to me. Busmanov came up to me and stood close to my ear, ready to report to me. At this moment, Khrushchev found basmanov. He stopped talking with bantailiev, looked at the captain and asked sternly, "Comrade captain, what are you doing here?"


    Basmanov may not have thought that Khrushchev would suddenly speak to himself. For a moment, he was at a loss. He looked at the other side and looked at it again. He opened his mouth a few times, but finally he didn''t say anything. He could only keep silent in panic.


    Seeing basmanov''s delay in answering his question, Khrushchev''s face faintly showed anger. He raised his voice and asked again: "Comrade captain, didn''t you hear me? Why didn''t you answer? I asked you, "what are you doing here and what happened?"


    Basmanov took a deep breath, then straightened up, put his hands close to the seams of his trousers, took a step forward, and replied in a loud voice: "report to Comrade military commissar, there is a captured German lieutenant who wants to see the division commander."


    His words surprised everyone, including me. Khrushchev stopped in front of basmanov, frowned, looked at him with puzzled eyes, and asked discontentedly, "what kind of German prisoners want to see Comrade oshanina?"


    "The German commander captured in the northward operation." In the face of Khrushchev''s severe questioning, basmanov replied in panic: "as soon as I left the headquarters just now, some soldiers came to report to me that a captured German officer wanted to see the division commander, so I decided to..."


    Khrushchev interrupted and asked, "what do German prisoners do when they see Comrade oshanina?"


    Instead of answering immediately, busmanov gave me a sidelong look. When he looked at me like this, I began to wonder which German prisoner wanted to see me. If I can''t tell you clearly, I think the good image I just set up in Khrushchev''s mind will be greatly reduced.


    "Captain, what''s the matter with you? Are you dumb?" When Khrushchev saw that basmanov did not speak, he raised his voice and asked angrily, "why don''t you answer me?"


    "Comrades of the Military Commission." Basmanov was not so nervous at the moment. He reported clearly: "it''s a German lieutenant named Braun. After he was captured, he helped my troops successfully enter konaiyi city."


    After listening to basmanov say the name of Braun, I guess what''s going on. Seeing that basmanov was too restrained in front of Khrushchev, he also asked and answered questions one by one. I don''t know how long it will take to go on like this, so he quickly took the initiative to explain this matter: "Comrade military commissar, let me explain it to you. This German lieutenant was captured in the first battle of our army going north. Maybe it was because he talked with the defectors in our army. When we attacked konaiyi city secretly, he helped our troops disguised as German army to enter the city successfully, thus reducing our casualties in the battle of seizing the city. "


    After listening to my explanation, Khrushchev nodded and asked basmanov, "did Lieutenant Braun say that he wanted to see Comrade oshanina? What is it for?"


    "Yes, comrade military Commissar." The calm busmanov quickly replied: "he said he wanted to stay in our army and asked not to send him to the prison camp."


    Basmanov''s words made Khrushchev sneer again and again: "if he wants to stay in our army instead of going to the POW camp, he is too whimsical." Then he turned to look at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think?"


    I have a good impression of this Lieutenant Braun. If he didn''t cover basmanov''s small troops to sneak into the city on the day of attacking konnyi, it is estimated that we would pay several times the price in the battle of seizing the city. Hearing Khrushchev''s question, I pleaded for him and said, "Comrade military commissar, I think we can keep Lieutenant Braun. Maybe it will play an unexpected role in the future."


    "Well, since oshanina, you don''t think it''s a problem for him to stay in your division," Khrushchev said. After thinking about it for a moment, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "then stay."


    When we sent Khrushchev away from the headquarters, he walked side by side with me. At the same time, he also told me: "today''s award is of course a recognition of your achievements. But it''s important to let all the officers and men of the red flag independent division know that their achievements will not be buried. In this case, I can be confident that they will accomplish any task. Besides, as a division commander, you don''t have to squat in the bunkers on the front line all the time, because your position should be in the division command post, where you should lead the whole fighting process. But as a commander at a higher level, when he foresees that the war situation is extremely critical, he should not be far away from the front, but should be as close to his soldiers as possible. That''s what they did, trakov. Because in this way, even if the situation is more dangerous, the soldiers will not complain about you. On the contrary, they will cover you with their chest and try to complete their tasks. "


    When he shook hands with us and said goodbye, he finally told me: "remember, everyone is worried about the fate of mamayev post. If it is occupied, then the enemy will control the whole city and Volga River. So I ask you to hold on to this place


    When kirilov shook hands with him to say goodbye, he also reminded him with concern: "Comrade military commissar, don''t forget to call your son when you have time to get to know his current situation."


    "OK, I''ll remember." This is the last sentence Khrushchev said to us before he left. But when he returned to the headquarters of the front army, did he call his son? In later days, he didn''t say, and I didn''t ask rashly, so as not to arouse the pain of his son''s death.


    I arranged for basmanov to accompany Khrushchev to the third regiment to take over the German prisoners. Then I went back to the headquarters with kirilov and began to study the current situation of the enemy and ourselves near the mamayev post.


    When I saw that all the members of the division were there, I asked kirilov curiously, "Comrade political commissar, how did the German Army take back the frontier we occupied?"


    When he heard my question, kirilov gave a wry smile, turned to akhromeyev and said, "Comrade chief of staff, it''s up to you to report to the division commander."


    "OK," said akhromeyev. He got up from his seat, took out his notebook and put it on the table. After turning a few pages, he began to report to me: "the day before yesterday, that is, during the day of the 25th, the German army suddenly launched an attack on my forward position and 107.5 highland at the same time. As there were no solid fortifications in the front positions of the fourth regiment, there were not many officers and men left who could fight after the enemy''s shelling and bombing. In the face of the enemy swarming under the cover of tanks, although our soldiers resisted tenaciously, because they were outnumbered, they all died bravely in the end. "


    When akhromeyev reported, I didn''t speak, just listened silently. At the same time, I didn''t blame commander Gaidar, the fourth leader of the army. When I saw that my front position was in danger, I didn''t send troops to reinforce it. I thought to myself: in such a smooth open land, our reinforcements would become the targets of German tanks and artillery. Now that I know that even if I have made a great sacrifice, I may not be able to hold that position. I might as well not send reinforcements. If I were Gaidar, I might have made the same decision.


    "What are the casualties of the troops on Highland 107.5?" When akhromeyev''s report came to an end, I asked a question of my own concern, "apart from a battalion of the second regiment that sticks to the highland where the division headquarters is located, how many troops are still available on Highland 107.5?"


    "Report to division commander, in these two days of fighting, the three battalions holding high 107.5 lost a lot of personnel." Akhromeyev looked down at the data in the book and replied, "there are 179 soldiers left in the first battalion of captain horushov, 95 soldiers left in the second battalion, and 46 soldiers left in the militia battalion of captain trushen."


    I calculated in my mind that there were only about 300 people left, which was equivalent to a two-thirds reduction¡° Can this force hold the high ground? " I asked uncertainly.


    "Major Yaming, the deputy commander, called the division headquarters yesterday evening," kirilov said. "He assured us that even if there was only one person left on the 107.5 highland, he would never leave his position to the Germans. At that time, our troops were limited, and we could not even send troops to reinforce the highlands. But now, comrade division commander, you have returned with your troops going northward, so that our division''s defensive strength has been strengthened. I wonder if we can transfer one or two battalions from the third regiment to the 107.5 highland... "


    While we were discussing which troop to send to reinforce the highland, the telephone on the desk rang out untimely. Akhromeyev picked up the phone and said in a loud voice, "Hello, this is division headquarters. Where are you?"


    I''m going to talk about how to strengthen the 107.5 highland defense after akhromeyev''s phone call. Unexpectedly, akhromeyev put his hand over the microphone again and said in a low voice, "Comrade division commander, comrade commander of the group army."


    I quickly stood up, took the phone from akhromeyev''s hand and said respectfully, "Comrade commander, I''m glad to hear your voice again. How are you?"


    "I''m fine," he said with a hearty laugh. "I''m calling you today to congratulate you on your assumption of the post of deputy commander of the group army."


    "Thank you, comrade commander." I politely expressed my thanks to him, and then asked for instructions: "I want to ask, from today on, is my command post in mamayev post, or in the headquarters of the group army?" Although Khrushchev told me just now that he could continue to stay in mamayev post to command the troops, I was not sure if he didn''t talk to trakov about this matter. So I took this opportunity to ask.


    After hearing my question, trakov was silent. After a while, he continued: "oshanina, what''s the situation here at the group army headquarters? I think you are very clear about my personal opinion. I suggest you stay at mamayev post, so that you can direct your troops."


    With trekov''s permission, the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. After a deep sigh of relief, I asked, "Comrade commander, what''s the situation in Stalingrad now?"


    "The German onslaught in the factory area had gradually weakened in the evening of the day before yesterday. According to the report of our scouts, the German army began to transfer part of its forces outside the city. I think it was transferred to the kongniei area where your department is located. " "On the evening of the 25th, after the German attack on us completely stopped, the Military Council once held a meeting to study and judge the situation in the city. Finally, we all agree that Paulus'' current military strength is limited and it is impossible to launch a strong offensive like that of October 14-25. In addition to sending troops to encircle and suppress you, it also needs a longer breathing time to supplement the artillery shells, bombs and tanks needed by the troops. This time is about 10 to 20 days. At the same time, however, it is also clear to us that there are about two divisions of the enemy''s reserves in the areas of gomrak and voroponov that can be put into combat. We believe that after three to five days of fighting, the two German divisions will be weakened, and Paulus will have to weaken the offensive. At that time, our group army will be able to take advantage of this time to take a rest, redeploy troops and strengthen fortifications. However, the current problem is, if we are short of troops, how can we hold on for three to five days?


    You know, although the group army has the 37th guard division, the 308th infantry division and the 193rd infantry division in its hands, in fact, these troops are just some nicknames, with only two or three hundred people in each division. We paid a heavy price to fight against the German attack. "


    Although I had known for a long time that the divisions holding fast to the factory area were fighting extremely hard, I didn''t expect that the casualties were so heavy. According to trakov, many of the regiments under these divisions were estimated to have only serial numbers left, and all the commanders and fighters were sacrificed. If I were only a teacher of an independent division at the moment, maybe I would stay out of it and keep my defense area. But now I''m the trusted deputy commander of the group army. If I don''t show it as soon as possible, it''s estimated that the commanders of other divisions will not be satisfied. So after pondering for a moment, I asked with a stiff head: "Comrade commander, do you want me to take any action?"


    As for my volunteering, trekov laughed and said happily, "Comrade oshanina, I''m thinking about how to say this. I didn''t expect you to say it first." When I heard trekov say that, I really want to take two mouths out of my mouth. I really don''t speak through my brain. I can''t find pleasure for myself. Just listen to trekov continue to say: "since your troops captured konaii City, the German army rarely carried out night attacks. It seems that they are convinced that the attack at night will not achieve the desired results, but may be attacked by us. As a result, the enemy changed the way they played, took time to rest at night, and prepared to fight during the day. In response to this tactical change of the enemy, the headquarters of the group army is considering whether it is possible to disrupt the enemy''s planned offensive preparations by using small teams to attack at night, in coordination with unexpected artillery and air force attacks, so as to make the enemy restless day and night and make night our activity place. " It seems that he does not advocate launching a counterattack in the daytime without any hope of winning. Instead, he intends to attack at night to contain and consume the enemy. After he finished, I immediately replied, "please rest assured, comrade commander. After dark tonight, I will send troops to attack the enemy''s camp."

 Chapter 806

    Now that I have boasted to trakov that I want to attack the German camp, it should be implemented as soon as possible. When I put down the phone, I began to discuss the night attack plan with kirilov and the three of them.


    The first thing we talk about is the direction of attack. Bantailiev was the first to speak. He solemnly put forward to us: "I think the direction of the night attack should be the German forward position on the Volga river bank, because it is only three kilometers away from the position of the fourth regiment. It will only take two hours for our troops to resolve the battle and successfully withdraw to their starting positions. "


    "Comrade deputy division commander, I don''t agree with you," akhromeyev retorted as soon as bantailiev finished his words. "As the German forward position had been attacked several times by us, now they are on very tight guard. In addition to laying a large number of minefields in front of the position, they also set up a few machine guns on duty. As long as they hear anything in front of the position, They''ll shoot immediately. Earlier last night, several Scouts of the fourth regiment were killed when they were scouting in front of the position and attracted German machine gun fire. "


    "Even if we don''t attack the enemy''s forward position, will their defense be relaxed?" Bantaileiev retorted unconvinced: "last time, it was captain mihayev who led the engineering troops to take out the enemy''s mines and bury them quietly in the German positions. We can use the same method to deal with them."


    "Comrade deputy division commander," if bantailiev had not been higher than his position and rank, perhaps akhromeyev would have been angry. At this moment, he could only patiently explain to the other side: "since the Germans have suffered from our losses, don''t they know how to learn from them?"


    After listening to akhromeyev''s words, bantailiev could not be more stubborn, so he had to ask tactfully: "since the chief of staff thinks that we should not take the German front as the target of night attack, where do you think is more suitable to carry out our night attack?"


    Akhromeyev thought for a moment, then said cautiously: "we sent night attack troops from highland 107.5 to attack the German troops stationed in the northwest, so as to disrupt the enemy''s attack plan in the daytime."


    "Nonsense, it''s nonsense." As soon as akhromeyev''s words came out, bantailiev clapped the table and stood up. He said angrily, "Comrade chief of staff, please use your brains. Last night our northward troops beat the Germans everywhere. Don''t they want to reply? Maybe the troops sent to us tonight will not meet the German infantry in the trenches, but the German tanks and armored vehicles that have been prepared for a long time. Do you think the flesh and blood of our soldiers can block the enemy''s shells and machine gun bullets? "


    Kirilov, who kept silent, turned to me and asked with a smile, "Comrade o''xanina, now our deputy division chief and chief of staff have their own considerations. It seems that their opinions are difficult to be unified. Otherwise, who would you like to support?"


    Hearing kirilov''s words, bantailiev and akhromeyev stopped their quarrel and turned their eyes to me to see whose opinion I would support. I didn''t support either of them, but said to myself: "judging from the current situation of Stalingrad, if we take a passive defense in the mamayevgang District, the enemy will be able to attack the factory area with all his strength, so as to defeat our defense forces in the center of the city. In order to prevent such a dangerous situation, we must launch containment operations against the enemy as soon as possible. " At this point, I stopped for a moment, looked at the anxious bantailiev and akhromeyev, and then said slowly, "where to fight with the German army should be analyzed according to the specific situation. You don''t think it''s much easier to annihilate the enemy on the ruins of the city than on the prairie between the Volga and don rivers. "


    "Annihilate the enemy on the ruins of the city?" Bantai leiev unconsciously repeated what I said and asked tentatively, "Comrade division, do you mean that our target of attack is not the enemy to the north of mamayev post, but the enemy in the city?" Seeing that I nodded in affirmation, he added anxiously, "but the enemy is gathering heavy troops in the city. Compared with them, our troops are at an absolute disadvantage."


    When I heard his worry, I said with a smile: "although the enemy''s forces are strong in the city, they are unable to exert their strength when fighting in narrow streets and bombed buildings. They always suffer heavy losses and are in a passive situation. They often don''t understand where the bullets that hit them came from and where death is waiting for them.


    Our soldiers and commanders all know that we can no longer retreat, there is no place to retreat, behind is the Volga River. The most important thing is that they all understand that the * * aggressors are not made of iron, and they can be defeated. The machine guns, submachine guns and rifles in our hands can pierce the enemy''s body. Don''t we have an anti tank rifle company? Transfer them to the city and let the anti tank men hide in the ruins of their houses. When the German tanks are only 50 to 100 meters away from them, they will fire decisively, so that they can be destroyed very accurately. "


    After listening to my plan, kibantailiev and akhromeyev felt fresh and fresh. They no longer tangled about which area of the enemy camp north of mamayev post the troops should attack, but began to study where the troops should be sent to the city, so as to achieve the goal of controlling the enemy.


    After listening to a few words, I found that something was wrong. They both advocated that the troops transferred from the division should be sent to the factory area to strengthen the defense there. My original idea was to use the night attack to contain and inflict heavy damage on the enemy, but according to the plan of the two men, our troops were placed in fortifications to fight a brutal positional war with the attacking enemy. Hearing this, I finally couldn''t help interrupting their discussion: "deputy division chief and chief of staff, stop talking. I don''t agree with your arrangement. At present, the factory area is an area of fierce fighting between the enemy and us. Even if we put more troops into it, it will not be enough to consume them. " Seeing that akhromeyev still wanted to explain, I added in time, "Comrade chief of staff, don''t forget how the 3000 people in the first regiment were polished off?"


    Hearing what I said, akhromeyev, who wanted to say a few words, could only shut his mouth and no longer express his views. Bantaileiev saw that ahlomeyev did not say anything, and asked cautiously, "Comrade division commander, which direction do you intend to put your troops in?"


    "Come and see," I stood up and pulled the map on my desk in front of me. Seeing that everyone''s attention was focused on me, I went on to say: "according to the information provided by the superior, general rodimzev''s close guard 13th division now controls the croto gully, the 2nd dyke Street, the ''January 9'' Square, the sun Street, the Communist street, and the main street Kursky street, Orlovsky street, proletarian street, Gogol street, and the vast area of the zarica river. But in my judgment, in these areas, the German troops and their lines of defense are intertwined. My idea is to send troops to assist the rodimzeff division and make clear all the German troops in the area under their control. As long as we fight, the German deployment will be disrupted by us. In order to consolidate the defense lines in these areas, they have to recruit troops from other areas. In this way, the pressure on the group forces in other directions will be greatly reduced. "


    When I said these words, no matter bantaileiev, kirilov or Akhromeev, they did not speak. Instead, they were staring at the map in front of them and quietly considering the feasibility of my plan.


    After a long time, bantailiev took the lead to look away from the map, nodded after a long breath, echoed me and said, "I think the plan of the teacher is quite good. The Germans are already familiar with the way our army plays. They will surely think that we will continue to invest a large number of troops in the most intense places in order to ensure that our cities are not lost. But this kind of playing method of teachers, it is unexpectedly hit in their weakest place, can hit the German pain. So that they have to draw troops from the key areas of attack to consolidate the areas they originally occupied. "


    "Yes, comrade deputy division commander is quite right." Akhromeyev and bantailiev finished, and then said: "the division commander''s use of troops has always been unique. Even our deputies who stay by their side every day can''t think of a plan, the Germans can''t even think of it. I don''t have any objection, so I''ll follow the plan of my teacher. "


    After they both spoke, kirilov said calmly, "compared with you, I am an absolute layman in military affairs, so I will not express any opinions. As for which army to deploy and which area to fight in, let''s ask Comrade oshanina to decide. "


    Instead of answering kirilov immediately, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I said, "Comrade Khrushchev arrived at the division headquarters at five this morning and left at six thirty. And now it''s seven o''clock. According to the practice of these days, what time does the German army attack our highlands? "


    Kirilov instinctively lowered his head to look at his watch, then answered me without looking up: "the German Army started shelling and bombing us at about 8 a.m. yesterday and the day before yesterday."


    "So the Germans gave us an hour." Seeing that there was still plenty of time, I told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, call lieutenant colonel kosja, the third chief of staff, and ask him to seize the time to dispatch elite troops from the regiment to form a 300 member commando team to prepare for the night attack. As for the commander of the night attack team, the former acting commander, major gordonov, will be the commander. "


    "By the way, sir, there is something I haven''t had time to tell you." As soon as I gave an order to akhromeyev, kirilov suddenly said, "the third regiment was bombed by the German army the day before yesterday. A bomb directly hit the command post of the third regiment, and all the commanders in it died at that time."


    I had already sat down, and when I heard the bad news, I jumped up from the table, grabbed kirilov''s arm, and asked nervously, "what about gordonov, what about major gordonov?"


    "Before the bombing, Godunov called a meeting of all the battalion and company commanders of the Third Battalion. Not long after the meeting, major Prikhodko, acting commander of the tank battalion, came to him and told him that several tanks in the battalion should be hidden instead of being placed in the open. He specially discussed with him where to hide the tanks. The two men came to the place where the tanks were parked. While they were studying, the German bombing began. Because there was a shelter nearby, they hid in the shelter, while the commanders who stayed in the command post were killed in the bombing. "


    When I heard that gordonov was still alive, I felt a little more secure. Then I asked, "the commanders of the third regiment and the Third Battalion have all died. Is there no mess in the army?"¡° Fortunately, "kirilov replied with a smile more ugly than crying," after the bombing, gordonov and major Prikhodko organized people to rescue the commanders buried in the ruins. Seeing that all the commanders had died, Godunov specially called all the soldiers in the battalion to speak, so as to stabilize the troops. "¡° There is another problem, comrade teacher. " As soon as kirilov''s words were finished, akhromeyev added: "we are not very familiar with the defensive area of the 13th division of the guards. I am afraid that if we rush in like this, we may go to the German." Akhromeyev''s words make me worry. I know he has a good point. At present, the city has been bombed into ruins. If no one who is familiar with the road leads the way and rashly enters the defense area of the 13th division of the guards, he will either enter the German defense area by mistake or misunderstand his own people. After thinking about it for a long time, I didn''t come up with a good solution. Then I frowned and asked akhromeyev, "chief of staff, do you have any good solution?" Akhromeyev thought for a moment and answered me, "Comrade division commander, in our health camp, we took in a lot of wounded people who originally belonged to the 13th division of the guards. After they recovered, some of them returned to the 13th division of the guards, while others stayed in my troops. I know a captain named Dragan. He used to be the company commander of the 1st company, 1st Battalion, 42nd regiment of the guard infantry. He was wounded in the battle of leading his troops to defend the central railway station, and was sent to our clinic by the soldiers of the company. At present, he has recovered from his injury and is acting as company commander in the second battalion of the fourth regiment. " Having participated in the battle of defending the central railway station, I know that he is a commander with rich combat experience just by listening to the battle he has participated in. So after listening to the brief introduction of akhromeyev, I immediately told him: "chief of staff, call commander Gaidar immediately and ask him to inform Captain Dragan to come to the division headquarters." When akhromeyev called, kirilov asked me in a low voice, "Comrade division commander, what do you want this captain to do in the division headquarters? Do you want him to be the commander of the Third Battalion of the third regiment? " Without waiting for me to answer, kirilov said to himself, "since this commander has led his troops in the battle of defending the railway station, I believe he must have rich combat experience. It is very suitable for him to go to the Third Battalion." As we spoke, busmanov walked back into the headquarters. As soon as I saw him appear, I immediately asked him aloud, "Comrade captain, comrade military commissar, have you taken all the prisoners away?"¡° Yes, sir Basmanov replied respectfully, "except for Lieutenant Braun and His Messenger, corporal Hans, and the captain named Peller, the rest of the prisoners have been taken away."¡° What, a German captain left behind? " Kirilov asked in surprise, "Comrade captain, who gave you the right to be a good advocate? Why did you leave German prisoners without asking for instructions? "¡° Well, comrade political commissar. " Seeing that kirilov showed signs of anger, I quickly came out to make ends meet. "Captain Peller, I know, is a friend of lieutenant Braun. Since he wants to stay, he can stay. Maybe he can be used in the future." At this point, I went on to ask busmanov, "where do you put these three prisoners?"¡° I sent them all to captain Grimes'' company Basmanov said, seeing that I didn''t express any opinions, he added, "I think since they are all German, they should have a lot to say to each other." As for his wishful thinking, I just smile and don''t express any opinions. Just as I was about to ask if akhromeyev could get through on the phone, basmanov suddenly said, "by the way, comrade division commander and Comrade military commissar, before leaving, let me tell you something. He said that in a few days, he would send you a capable guard company. He said that this would be worthy of your position as deputy commander of the group army. " Basmanov''s words surprised me. Although the guard battalion of the independent division was dissatisfied with the establishment, it still had three companies. Is it necessary to add another one? But to find out what happened, I asked, "Comrade captain, do you know what kind of guard company it is?" Basmanov shook his head and said in embarrassment, "I''m sorry, sir. I don''t know. After that, the military commissar left, leaving me no chance to ask questions. " Seeing that basmanov couldn''t find anything here, I had to wave my hand and said helplessly: "since you don''t know, forget it. In any case, wait a few days, and the answer will be completely revealed. " As soon as my voice fell, there was a rumble of guns outside the cave. Akhromeyev, who had just finished the phone call, raised his hand and looked at his watch. He angrily scolded, "damn the German, the shelling today is half an hour ahead of schedule."

 Chapter 807

    For the German artillery and bombing, no matter in the northern highland or the southern highland, even in the 107.5 highland troops have had experience. I heard kirilov say that the third regiment was bombed two days ago, and almost all the commanders left behind were killed. So as soon as I heard the gunfire, my heart hung to my throat, and I was worried that the third regiment would suffer heavy casualties in the shelling.


    Akhromeyev also thought about what I was worried about. He picked up the phone on the desk, shook through the three regiments, and asked aloud, "commander kosja, have you hidden all the supplies?"


    "Comrade chief of staff." Kosga also replied with a loud voice: "although our camp has not been shelled by the German army, the troops have been concealed. There are also materials. If the materials are concealed properly, you can rest assured. "


    After putting down the phone, akhromeyev reported to me, "Comrade division commander, the materials stored in the third regiment have been properly concealed and should not be hit by German artillery."


    After listening to akhromeyev''s report, I suddenly thought of something and couldn''t help asking him: "chief of staff, although captain Dragan, who you just mentioned was wounded in the health camp, had participated in the battle to defend the central railway station, if I guess correctly, he should have been injured not long after the 13th division of guards entered the city, Then he is not familiar with the roads of the city. Would it be appropriate for him to lead the way for the shock troops? "


    Kirilov, listening to me, asked with some hesitation, "Comrade oshanina, is that the way to let captain Dragan go to the Third Battalion?"


    "Comrade political commissar, since this matter has been decided, it cannot be changed." What I said just now is that Captain Dragan is not familiar with the terrain of the city. It''s not to change his decision to send him to the third battalion as commander. "According to the chief of staff, Captain Dragan is an excellent commander with rich combat experience, and what the third battalion lacks is just such talent, so let him serve as commander, It can''t be more appropriate. "


    "What position do you intend him to take?" Asked akhromeyev tentatively.


    "As for the specific position!" Since akhromeyev mentioned Dragan just now, I have planned to assign him an independent position. However, when it comes to specific positions, I still hesitated. After all, I haven''t met the other party and I don''t know his level, so I hesitated and said, "when Captain Dragan comes, we''ll talk to him, I don''t think we should give him another job. "


    "The teacher is very considerate, so let''s do it." After bantailiev echoed me, he reminded akhromeyev: "chief of staff, call commander Gaidar of the fourth regiment and major Yamin of 107.5 highland respectively, and ask them how things are going there?"


    Akhromeyev nodded and first dialed the fourth regiment. He asked Gaidar in a loud voice, "Hey, comrade commander, what''s the situation there?"


    "Report to the chief of staff," I heard Gaidar''s voice from the receiver from a long distance. "At the beginning of the shelling, except for a few observers, the rest of the officers and men hid in the shelter or the blast hole." He knew what akhromeyev was concerned about, so he went on to report that "according to the observer''s report, there was no sign that the enemy in the German forward position was attacking. It is estimated that they just wanted to suppress us with fire."


    The situation here in the fourth regiment is still good, but the situation on the 107.5 highland is much worse. According to major Yamin''s report, the observers who remained in the position were unable to provide accurate information because of the German artillery fire. However, there was a lot of dust in the northwest of the highland, and it was estimated that a large German army was moving towards the highland.


    When akhromeyev was on the phone, everyone around him heard major Yamin''s report. Bantai leiev first said, "Comrade division commander, our people on the 107.5 highland are dying. Should we send troops to reinforce them immediately?"


    "It''s no use, comrade deputy division." Without waiting for me to speak, akhromeyev expressed his own opinion: "the 107.5 highland is under the heavy artillery attack of the German army, even if more troops are thrown into it, it''s also..." speaking of this, he obviously hesitated for a moment, and then went on to say, "it''s all cannon fodder!"


    "What, cannon fodder?" When Bantai leiev heard this word, he suddenly burst into a rage. He slapped hard on the table, then pointed to akhromeyev''s nose and said, "what do you say, our soldiers are cannon fodder!"


    Seeing that a quarrel would inevitably break out between them in a few seconds, I quickly stood up and stopped them. Then he told akhromeyev: "Comrade chief of staff, you call major Morozov, the artillery battalion commander, and ask him if he can cover the German troops with newly captured howitzers when they attack highland 107.5? As long as our artillery can suppress the enemy''s attack, we can not send reinforcements to the Highlands for the time being. We should put more troops into the night containment operations. "


    Akhromeyev soon got in touch with major Morozov. Recently, the other side has been worried about the lack of enough artillery in the artillery camp to provide artillery cover for the comrades who stick to the high ground. Last night, he finally added nine cannons and enough shells, which made him very happy. But it was said that the artillery could not fire at the enemy without my permission, and he became extremely depressed. At the moment, when he heard that he could cover the enemy''s offensive troops, Morozov said excitedly, "Comrade chief of staff, please tell the division chief that I will beat the German invaders to pieces."


    We are busy, we call captain Dragan, accompanied by a soldier, into the headquarters. He came up to me, raised his hand and said, "report to Mr. commander, Captain Dragan has been ordered to report to you and wait for your instructions."


    "Captain Dragan," kirilov said with a smile, looking at the short but alert young man in front of him, "can you tell me your father''s name and real name?"


    "Anton kuzmitch Dragan." Captain Dragan replied respectfully.


    "Well, comrade Anton kuzmitch, tell us your story." Kirilov said with great interest: "although the chief of staff, comrade akhromeyev, has said something about you, he doesn''t seem to know much about it, so I want to hear from you."


    Captain Dragan hesitated at kirilov''s request. He turned to me for help, as if waiting for my order. Seeing this, I nodded and said encouragingly, "come on, comrade captain. I also want to hear how you defend the railway station. "


    When Dragan saw that I had said the same thing, he did not delay it any longer, but immediately began to tell: "on September 15, a day soon after our division entered the city, I received the order of general rojmtsev, the division commander, and immediately led the troops to drive the enemy out of the central railway station.


    As soon as I got to the church in Pushkin square with my troops, I met commander trakov passing by. As soon as we met, he asked bluntly, "Captain, where are your men?" Looking at the dozens of officers and soldiers behind me, he continued, "Oh, they are all here. Then accept my order and drive the prisoners out of the railway station immediately. Are you clear?"


    I agreed to accept his order and immediately led the company to the station. As soon as we got close to the station, the Germans inside opened fire on my troops. Unfortunately, the soldiers in the front were shot and fell down. The soldiers in the back quickly fell down on the spot or hid in the ruins, and launched a counter fire with the Germans.


    Major chervyakov, the battalion commander, caught up with me. He came to me with two soldiers, and while wiping his glasses, he reminded me: "cut off the enemy and contain them. We should stick there for a long time and take more grenades. "


    I led the company in the dark to the railway roundabout of the station, where simple fortifications were built. At night, we are surrounded by the sound of shooting and explosion. The soldiers in the company took the combat group as a unit and used the fortifications built in some destroyed houses to fight against the enemy''s attack very hard.


    During the battle, I realized that the building of the station was in the hands of the enemy. So we went through the railway subgrade on the left. At the intersection, we saw a damaged tank of our army. There were more than ten tankers nearby. When we met with them in the past, we started a close fight with the enemy. First it was a grenade, then our soldiers rushed up. The sudden attack made the enemy run for his life and shoot in the dark.


    In this way, our company occupied the station. When the enemy wakes up and knows that we have only one company, the solid fortifications have been occupied by us. Although the enemy attacked me many times from three directions, the station was still in our hands before dawn


    The morning came unconsciously. It was a dreary morning in Stalingrad*** In the light of the dawn, hundreds of bombs were dropped on the station. The bombing was followed by artillery fire. The building of the station was on fire, the walls collapsed, the exposed steel bars twisted, but the soldiers continued to fight... "


    In the middle of Dragan''s story, the gunfire outside stopped, and then the telephone on the desk rang. Akhromeyev picked up the phone and recognized that the caller was major Yaming, commander of 107.5 highland. He quickly and loudly asked, "Hello, comrade major, what''s the situation there?"


    "The situation is very bad, comrade chief of staff." Yamin also loudly reported: "at present, our troops are entering the positions on the north slope from the south slope. Almost all the fortifications repaired last night were destroyed by German artillery fire. Therefore, I had to give up the hillside position, and only temporarily deployed a limited number of troops in the fortifications on the top of the mountain. The enemy infantry are coming towards our high ground under the cover of tanks. I implore the division headquarters to send reinforcements to me as soon as possible, otherwise we can''t stop the enemy''s attack with our present strength. "


    After hearing what he said, akhromeyev frowned and said discontentedly, "major, please don''t panic. When the enemy attacks your Highlands, we will provide you with necessary artillery support."


    "Well," major Yamin recognized the dissatisfaction in akhromeyev''s voice and said helplessly, "I will do my best to hold the position."


    "All right, chief of staff." When akhromeyev put down the phone, I ordered him decisively: "call major Morozov immediately and let him fire immediately to suppress the incoming enemy."


    When akhromeyev called, I said to Dragan, "Comrade captain, I officially announce to you that from now on, you are the commander of the Third Battalion of the third regiment. You will lead an army to the defense area of the 13th division of the guards tonight, and join your former comrades in arms to eliminate as many damned bandits as possible. Do you understand? "


    Dragan was stunned when he heard that he had been appointed as battalion commander. He didn''t wake up until I asked him one last sentence aloud. He answered me loudly, "I see!"

 Chapter 808

    The battle that followed was far more brutal than I thought.


    The German infantry attacking highland 107.5, though attacked by the artillery barracks of Morozov, retreated without any doubt. But not long after, our artillery position in the south of mamayev post was attacked by long-range German artillery fire. Because the hills of mamayev Hill blocked the sight of the German artillery observers, the shells that passed from the top of the hill never hit the target, and they all fell hundreds of meters away from the artillery position and exploded.


    When major Morozov saw the situation badly, he immediately asked me for instructions through walkie talkie, saying that the position of our artillery position had been found by the German army, which might lead to German bombers, and asked me whether to transfer immediately. When I got his report, I immediately thought that these howitzers are hard won and the only heavy firepower of our division. If we lose, we will have to pay more in the next battle to hold the position. It seems that it is necessary to keep the howitzers.


    As soon as I was about to give the order, I thought of the weak troops on the 107.5 highland. I could not help hesitating. If there were no strong artillery fire to suppress the attacking German army, major Yaming would be very difficult for them to block the German army''s attack. When I think about it, I''m in a dilemma.


    Seeing that I didn''t speak for a long time, Morozov, who was talking to me, was worried. He urged me desperately: "Sir, are you still there? What shall we do next, please give us your instructions! "


    When I heard Morozov yelling like death, I said angrily, "what are you yelling about? I''ll listen."


    Morozov quickly lowered his voice and asked for instructions from me: "Comrade division, you have not said what we should do. Is it to shift positions or to continue shelling the German forces? "


    I consider that the howitzers on the artillery position are not towed by trucks or carriages, but by the manpower of the artillery soldiers. The mobility is too poor. If they are really bombed by the German air force, it is estimated that the whole army will be destroyed. But I''m not willing to let the artillery withdraw. After much deliberation, he finally told Morozov: "Comrade major, don''t you have six howitzers? For the sake of safety, only three cannons were left to continue firing, and the other three cannons were immediately moved and concealed. Don''t hesitate. Act now. "


    When I finished my conversation with Morozov and came back to the table from the telephone, kirilov, who had just received a call, looked serious and seemed to be full of worries. I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade political commissar, what''s the matter? What''s the matter?"


    Kirilov nodded his head and then said to me, "according to the information transmitted by the group army command, the German army is attacking the defense areas of the 64th and 57th army while attacking our mamayev post. The situation is very bad for us."


    I just wanted to ask kirilov why the group army headquarters relayed such information to us. Just as I was about to speak, I suddenly remembered that I was the new deputy commander of the group army. It was normal for them to inform us of the information of the friendly forces. Thinking of this, I shut my mouth.


    Kirilov looked at the two female operators in the distance, then suddenly lowered her voice. With the voice that only four division commanders can hear, kirilov asked cautiously, "Comrade oshanina, from the present situation, the situation is very unfavorable to our army. Do you think we can keep Stalingrad


    After listening to kirilov''s difficult questions, I couldn''t help laughing. Although the current situation is good for the German army, the situation is far from as bad as kirilov worried. I comforted him with a smile and said, "Comrade political commissar, you are too worried. Because Stalingrad was backed by the Volga River, the German army could not completely encircle Stalingrad. After the German army''s attack along the river bank was blocked, several groups of our army in the city always kept a number of ferries in their own hands and kept the water transportation line behind them. In this way, our army can rely on the water transportation line of Volga River to continuously reinforce the effective forces to Stalingrad city. It was the new troops who came in many times that rescued Stalingrad from the brink of collapse and strengthened the defense of Stalingrad city. Without these new forces, no matter how tenacious our army is, Stalingrad will fall into the hands of the German army sooner or later under the attack of the German army, which has a huge advantage. Don''t forget that our division has been replenished several times. If it hadn''t been replenished again and again, our division would have been abolished.


    In addition, from a strategic point of view, Stalingrad is behind the vast strategic rear of the Soviet Union. The reinforced forces and weapons have reliable guarantee and can accumulate a strong counter offensive force. "


    When I made such an analysis, not only kirilov''s face showed a smile, but also bantailiev and akhromeyev, who had never spoken, breathed a sigh of relief.


    In the following time, the German army launched three more attacks on Highland 107.5, but they all failed. However, the casualties of our army were not small. There were only less than 100 troops left on the highland, so I had to change my mind temporarily. I transferred a reinforced company of three regiments from one regiment and took a truck to 107.5 highland quickly for reinforcement. The artillery position of the Morozov battalion was destroyed by the bombs dropped by the German planes. The three cannons on the position became piles of scrap iron, and about 20 artillery officers and soldiers died in the bombing.


    We were discussing whether the German army should send reinforcements to major Yamin again after the fifth charge on 107.5 highland. Basmanov rushed in. He came to me quickly and said in a low voice: "Comrade teacher, something''s wrong."


    What he said surprised me. The first thing I thought was that the Germans had touched the headquarters of the division? Thinking of this, my eyes immediately cruised around, searching for the position of my submachine gun. If there was to be a firefight, the submachine gun was much better than the pistol that was easy to jam.


    Before I could find the location of the submachine gun, busmanov went on to say, "there''s something wrong with our sniper."


    "What happened to the sniper?" Hearing basmanov say so, I quickly turned my attention back to the commander of the guard battalion in front of me and asked in surprise, "what''s the matter?"


    "Yes, sir. We sent three sniper teams to the city today, but a few minutes ago, I got the news that two of them were completely destroyed. "


    "Comrade captain, what do you mean? What is the total annihilation of the army?" Bandeleev then asked, "you know, each of our sniper teams has three people. How could six people have died? Are you mistaken? "


    Regarding Bantai leiev''s query, basmanov quickly explained: "Comrade deputy division commander, yes, what I said is true. The news was brought back by lieutenant Vassily, the leader of the third sniper team. " At this point, he said in a low voice, "their team also sacrificed a soldier, only he and the gunner Sergeant Boris came back."


    Knowing that so many snipers have been killed, I can''t help fighting a cold war. If we can kill so many snipers at once, we can imagine the strength of the other side. When I heard that one of the survivors was lieutenant Vassily, whom I was familiar with, I didn''t care whether to send reinforcements to highland 107.5. Instead, I quickly asked busmanov, "where is lieutenant Vassily?"


    "Just outside the headquarters."


    "Then what are you doing here?" I stood up and gave busmanov a strong push, urging him. "Please bring in lieutenant Vassily. I''ll ask what happened."


    After a while, Lieutenant Vassily appeared in front of us. I looked him up and down. He was wearing a helmet, a cotton uniform, a raincoat and a rifle wrapped in cloth. Instead of greeting him, I asked frankly, "Comrade lieutenant, can you tell me what''s going on here?"


    "Yes, sir." Lieutenant Vassily and I had a lot of time to deal with, so he didn''t seem nervous and restrained at the moment. He told me what he had experienced: "today, our team, as usual, went to carry out the sniper mission, and there were two other teams working with us. The location of this ambush was in Gogol street. Although it was nominally the defense area of the 13th division of the guards, most of the area was in the hands of the German army, so our three groups chose one place and quietly lurked in the ruins, waiting for the Germans to break into our guns.


    Our group seems to have bad luck today. Until around ten o''clock, we still don''t see any German. Just when we were disappointed, corporal Nikolay Kulikov, my observer, suddenly found a German helmet moving slowly behind a pile of gravel 100 meters away. He immediately told me what he found. I turned the muzzle of the gun, observed with the sight for a moment, and found that the trajectory of the helmet was very uneven, which should be a fraud.


    Seeing that I didn''t move, Kulikov was a little impatient and urged me to shoot again and again. When he heard me say that it might be a deception of the enemy, he unbelievedly poked his head out of the hiding place and raised his telescope to observe. At this time, a bullet hit him, he fell to the ground, rolling back and forth in pain, I quickly climbed over to treat him, only to find that his carotid artery was interrupted by the bullet, blood donation gushed out like a fountain, it was impossible to save, I can only watch him die in pain in front of me.


    I wanted to find out where the German sniper who killed Kulikov was, only to find out that a team of German soldiers came out carefully from behind the ruins and approached us with guns. Because I was outnumbered, I had to drop Kulikov''s body and move quietly with sergeant Boris. "


    "Comrade lieutenant, have you found the position of the German sniper?" After listening to his story, I suddenly had the lens of "soldiers on the city". There were a lot of Soviet snipers in it, who became the ghost of this excellent German sniper. Even Vasili almost died several times.


    Vassily nodded and said in an uncertain tone: "I think I may have found the location of the German sniper. When we were moving, I found that in the middle of a pile of bricks in the distance, there was a dazzling reflection of the lens. If I didn''t see the German team rushing towards our hiding place, I thought maybe I would try to kill this sniper. "


    "What about the other two groups?" I continued.


    Vassili was silent for a moment, then said haltingly: "Sir, I think they were killed by the same sniper, because almost all of them were shot in the head. You know, these snipers have a lot of fighting experience, but they were killed quietly today. I think they should be snipers who met the German army. "


    "What expert is so powerful?" Bantai leiev asked unhappily, "it''s so easy to kill our seven snipers."


    The sacrifice of seven snipers made my heart ache. I''m more and more convinced that the German colonel who killed many Soviet snipers in the movie is real. It seems that Vasili Zaitsev and his family are really in big trouble. Seeing that Bantai leiev seemed a little distrustful of Vasili''s words, I quickly came out to make it over: "well, comrade deputy division commander, stop talking. I believe what the second lieutenant said is true. Maybe this mysterious sniper is the one the German army specially found to deal with our sniper. "


    "The teacher has a point." Kirilov, who had not spoken for a long time, suddenly said: "because our sniper troops are developing rapidly, the growing sniper troops have annihilated no less than 1000 enemies in this period of time. Both the newspapers of the group army and the leaflets of the divisions have reported this.


    I think it is certain that some leaflets have fallen into the hands of the enemy. The German who suffered a great loss began to study our snipers'' fighting methods and began to take positive measures against our snipers. Personally, I think that although we publicize the achievements of our snipers in newspapers and magazines, it can boost our morale, but it also exposes our sniper''s combat experience. The result of doing so is to make the enemy know the operational characteristics of our snipers prematurely. As long as we kill one or two of the officers, degan will immediately bombard my predetermined ambush site. "


    "The political commissar is right," akhromeyev echoed, "the arrival of this communist sniper has put forward a new task for us: to find him, study his idiosyncrasy and means, wait patiently for the opportunity, and end his evil life with an accurate and decisive shot."


    "Lieutenant Vasili," I felt a little helpless in the face of this headache German sniper. I could only ask Zaitsev in front of me, "what can you do to deal with this German sniper?"


    Instead of answering my question immediately, Zaitsev asked cautiously, "Mr. teacher, can you give me some time to think about it? I''ll go back and discuss with other sniper comrades, maybe I can figure out some way


    "In that case, go back first." I readily agreed to his request. At the same time, I reminded him: "don''t sit there alone and rack your brains to find a way. You should communicate more with other snipers, especially with your sniper instructor, Captain Grimes. He used to be a German officer. He should know a lot about the training methods of German snipers. Maybe you can get something useful from him. "


    Lieutenant Zaitsev nodded, raised his hand and left the headquarters.


    Although the mysterious German snipers killed seven of our snipers, they were negligible compared with the situation outside, so as soon as Vasili Zaitsev left, we started to study the defense of highland 107.5 and the night attack tonight.


    Because Morozov''s artillery position was destroyed by the German air force, and the remaining artillery did not dare to continue to fire, so the German army once again launched an attack on the 107.5 highland, the pressure was much less, and they once rushed into the second regiment''s position on the top of the mountain and fought hand-to-hand with our defenders. Fortunately, the second commander, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg, personally led two companies to rush up, and then drove out the German troops who rushed into our fortifications.


    As the second regiment dispatched troops to reinforce the 107.5 highland, the southern highland where the division headquarters was located had no other troops except one company of the second regiment and three unsatisfied companies of the guard battalion, and the defense strength of the whole highland suddenly became much weaker. Seeing this situation, akhromeyev asked me, "Comrade division commander, do you think we have so few troops in the highland where we are? Should we draw troops from other regiments to strengthen it?"


    Instead of expressing my own opinion, I asked, "Comrade chief of staff, which regiment do you think is more appropriate to deploy troops to strengthen the defense of the Highlands?"


    Akhromeyev thought for a moment, and then put forward: "Comrade division, judging from the results of this trip to the north, the results of the first battalion of the third regiment are second only to the first battalion of the first regiment of Nikolay and the second battalion of the first regiment of shereblenny. Do you think we should transfer captain dubrovsky''s battalion here? "


    "I don''t have any opinions," I asked kirilov and bantailiev habitually after I finished this sentence, "political commissar and Deputy teacher, what are your opinions?"


    "No problem." The two replied in unison.


    "Well, now that we have come to an agreement, let''s transfer the first battalion of captain dubrovsky to strengthen the defense of the division''s high ground." After I finished my statement, I specially stressed: "as for the three regiments and three battalions that Captain Dragan is the commander of the battalion, the plan for the night attack will remain unchanged. The only difference is that the third battalion is no longer in charge of the night attack task. The chief of staff will call later to make this clear to lieutenant colonel kosga


    After dark, the troops led by Captain Dragan divided into three groups and went into Kursky street, Orlowski street and proletarian street to attack the German troops stationed in these areas. Before the troops set out, I tried my best to contact major general rojmtsev, informed him of the whole incident and asked for his assistance.


    After hearing my briefing, rodymzev was overjoyed and immediately declared his position to me that he would send special personnel to serve as guides for our troops, so as to avoid the situation that our commanders and fighters would delay their fighters because they were not familiar with the road.


    At about 11 p.m., the battle reports about the night attack were continuously transmitted back to the headquarters through captain Dragan''s three walkie talkies: after successfully seizing a building occupied by the German army, a company in Kursky street was found by the German army in the process of advancing to other buildings, and the two sides were engaged in fierce exchanges of fire.


    In the two company of Orloff street, the situation is almost the same. They captured two or three buildings occupied by the German army without dreading the enemy, and only by means of daggers and shovel. They were finally discovered by German troops when they expanded their fruits, and both sides were relying on the buildings occupied by themselves.


    The proletarian Street forces were the third company and some other units of the battalion under captain Dragan''s command. They had the worst luck. As soon as they entered the proletarian street, they were found by the German sentry and fired a gun to the police. With the gunfire, hidden in the buildings, ruins and sewers, German machine guns, one after another from these places to our soldiers shot hard.


    More than a dozen soldiers rushed to the front and gave their precious lives under the intensive fire of the enemy, while the rest of the soldiers fell down on the spot and shot back from behind the ruins or rubble.


    Seeing that we were overwhelmed by the fire, the German army launched a counter charge to the area where the third company was located. They came to the third company in a dense formation in an attempt to defeat our troops. Caught unprepared by the German army, Captain Dragan had to command his troops to retreat while fighting, and then he retreated to the area defended by the 13th division of the guards.


    Because of Captain Dragan, they used every building to fight as they retreated. It was only when the floor and clothes were on fire that they withdrew from the temporary position. In this way, it took two or three hours for the enemy to advance less than 200 meters.


    At the intersection of red Petersburg street and Communist Youth League street, Captain Dragan''s troops joined a small unit of the 13th division of the guards and quickly occupied a three story building at the corner, from which all the approaching roads could be effectively controlled. Captain Dragan ordered all exits to be fenced, and all windows and openings in the walls to be used as firing holes against the enemy.


    Seeing such a report, I couldn''t help frowning. I thought that Captain Dragan would lead his troops to attack the enemy and get good results. I didn''t expect that the company led by the captain was defeated by the German troops stationed in proletarian street. I was so disappointed.


    Bantai leiev saw the unhappy expression on my face and asked carefully, "Comrade division commander, Captain Dragan, their progress is not smooth. Why don''t you let me take an army to reinforce them


    "No, comrade deputy, you can''t go." Although I understand that Bantai leiev is also kind-hearted, he does not want to see my first night attack after becoming deputy commander of the group army turn into what it is now, so he tries his best to help me remedy it. Although I also know that if we don''t send reinforcements, tonight''s sneak attack may turn into a war of attrition, it''s a bit too much to make a fuss for a deputy division commander to come out in person. So after I denied his offer, I told akhromeyev: "Comrade chief of staff, call Commander xijerikov immediately and ask him to send a battalion immediately, To reinforce captain Dragan on proletarian street


    After receiving my order, shejerikov immediately sent the second battalion of shereblenny to skillfully pass through the crisscrossed streets of several enemy and our defense lines. After arriving at the proletarian street, where the troops were idle, they cleared the remaining German troops in several buildings, and most of them rushed up from behind the German troops who were attacking captain Dragan, The German army was beaten to pieces, and the third company was rescued.


    After receiving the war report from shereblenny, I showed a happy smile on my face. I patted the war report on the table and excitedly said to kirilov and bantaileiev: "let''s have a look. The commander like shereblenny can use it at ease. As soon as his team went up, it was easy to defeat the German army. At present, the results are expanding."


    After I finished, bantailiev added: "Comrade division commander, we should take advantage of the victory to pursue, let the sherebrian camp turn around and develop towards Kursky street and Orlovsky street, and strive to eliminate all the German troops in these three areas before dawn. In this way, first, we can contain the German troops and disrupt their deployment; Second, after exchanging the complete defense area with the 13th division of the guards, our flank safety will be more guaranteed. "


    "The deputy division commander''s opinion is quite right." after briefly affirming bantailiev''s proposal, I gave an order to akhromeyev: "chief of staff, contact captain shereblenny immediately, ask his troops to divide immediately, push forward to Kursky street and Orlovsky street, strive to meet with the friendly forces fighting in the above blocks, and before dawn, Clean up all the German troops in three blocks and hand over the complete defensive zone to the 13th division of the guards. "


    At six o''clock in the morning, he excitedly reported to me through a walkie talkie: "report, comrade division commander, after fierce fighting, we have eliminated all the German troops in Kursky street, Orlowski street and proletarian street. At present, two companies of the 13th division of the close guard infantry are entering the above blocks. " After the report, he asked me again, "Comrade teacher, what should we do next?"


    "Comrade captain, according to the original order, immediately lead your troops back." After pondering for a moment, I replied to him, "as for the defense of these three blocks, only the two incomplete companies close to the 13th division can''t hold. You will send my order that Captain Dragan will lead all the officers and men of the Third Battalion and stay for the time being to assist the friendly defense. "


    At the end of the call with shereblenny, I went back to the table and informed kirilov of the results of the second battalion of the regiment. After clearing the German army in the block, I hesitated for a moment and then tentatively put forward: "comrades, I believe you have seen the performance of captain shereblenny. I believe you have no objection to his series of results?"


    Kirilov and the three of them shook their heads in unison and replied, "no!"


    "In this case," I saw that everyone''s attitude was very unified, so I struck while the iron was hot and said, "I think he''s only a captain at present, which is a bit unfair to him. So I would like to propose that he be promoted to the rank of captain. Do you have any objection? "


    The three shook their heads in order to show that they had no objection. And Bantai leiev looked around and then took the initiative to say, "Comrade division commander, Captain shereblenny has also performed very well in this northward operation and has achieved a series of excellent results. If we just promoted him to captain, wouldn''t it be a bit petty? I think it''s better to directly promote him to major. Anyway, you are now the deputy commander of the group army, and you have full power. "


    "I agree with Comrade bandeleev." Kirilov said: "at present, the commanders of the battalions in the division are either captains or majors. Only shereblenne and basmanov are captains. I agree with Comrade bantailiev''s proposal to promote captain shereblenny to major. At the same time, I strongly recommend that captain busmanov, the commander of the guard battalion, be promoted to the rank of major. "


    I have always felt very guilty about basmanov''s low rank. Now that kirilov has offered to promote him to his rank, I have also agreed.


    As soon as we had finished our discussion, basmanov came in from the outside and reported to me, "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant Vasili Zaitsev is here."


    Last night, I was thinking about how to capture the three blocks. I had forgotten about the German sniper. When I heard busmanov mention Vassili''s order, I remembered this matter and immediately told him, "let him in."


    As soon as Vasili Zaitsev appeared in front of me, I couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade lieutenant, after a night''s discussion, have you come up with any solution?"


    Vassily nodded and replied, "Mr. reporter, I had a heated argument with several good snipers in the shelter. Each of them has published his own suggestions and ideas, which they sum up by carefully observing the enemy''s forward positions every day. All kinds of schemes and temptations have been put forward. Although on the surface, what they say is very good, the characteristic of sniping technology is that although others have rich experience, the final result depends on the shooter himself. When you meet the enemy face to face, the shooter should innovate, invent and take new actions every time. Sticking to the rules is suicide for snipers. "


    Seeing that he wanted to talk on and on, I interrupted him and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, I asked you to ask captain Grimes for advice. Did you go?"


    "Yes, sir." After answering me in the affirmative, Vassily continued, "Captain Grimes asked me a lot of detailed questions after listening to me. Finally, he came to a bold conclusion that the mysterious sniper who killed our seven snipers should be the instructor of a Sniper School in Germany. According to his judgment, the person who can reach this level should be major Erwin Konig, the principal of the school. "


    Hearing Vassily say so, I can''t help but be stunned. I think it''s not the colonel in the movie. How can I become a major now? "What else did captain Grimes say?" he asked casually


    "No, the captain said that although he had heard of the headmaster of the Sniper School, he had never dealt with him and could not give me any valuable advice." Vassily shook his head and replied regretfully, "when I got back to my shelter, I got the good snipers together and started talking.


    "Where are the snipers from Berlin?" We ask each other questions. I''m very familiar with the shooting and camouflage characteristics of the snipers, and I can easily tell which ones are experienced; Who are the novices; Who are cowards; Who are the stubborn and resolute enemies. However, what is the characteristic of this German "super sniper" is a mystery to me. As it was the first time I met him yesterday, I didn''t find any obvious characteristics of him. It''s hard to say where he is. It''s possible that he often changes positions and is looking for me as carefully as I am looking for him. "


    After hearing these words from Vassily, I thought to myself that although captain gramus said that he was not familiar with the headmaster of the Sniper School, judging from the fact that he repeatedly asked Vassily for details, I think he was lying. Maybe he and the headmaster are very familiar friends, but they just don''t want to see their friends die under the gun of the Soviet army, so they shirk that they don''t know each other. However, as it was only my own conjecture, I did not say it. Instead, I asked Vassily, "Comrade lieutenant, what are your plans today?"¡° Mr. report, "Vassili replied respectfully," I''m going to take two excellent snipers out today and let them try their luck with me. Maybe with their experience, we can find some clues. " Although there have been snipers in the independent division for a long time, I''m not a good sniper except Vassily. So I take this opportunity to ask, "Lieutenant Vassily, who are you going to take today?"¡° Corporal Morozov and sergeant shaykin, "Vasili said confidently," they are the best snipers in our team. With their company, I believe we can find this mysterious sniper. " Corporal Morozov, that''s the first name I''ve heard. But sergeant shaykin, I am very familiar with him. Last time he was attacked by German troops disguised as our army, he led the enemy away regardless of safety and saved the lives of commander Oleg and me. For his marksmanship, I have some impression that he is an excellent sniper, which is not too much¡° Well, now that you''ve chosen your men, let''s go as soon as possible. " Then I reached out to him and said, "good luck to you!"

 Chapter 809

    Yesterday, the German attack on Highland 107.5 was a must. Although we finally repulsed the German attack, the second regiment paid a heavy price of more than 400 people. So today, just after dawn, I took major basmanov to the observation post on the top of the mountain to pay close attention to the movement of highland 107.5.


    I didn''t expect that until the end of the day, I still didn''t see any movement from the German army, neither shelling nor bombing, let alone attacking troops. Basmanov, who was working as a guard outside, also noticed this abnormality. He went into the observation center and carefully prompted me to say, "Sir, the Germans are very abnormal today. They have all arrived at this point, but they haven''t seen any movement. Will there be any conspiracy?"


    I didn''t speak. I just looked at him. Then I turned around, picked up the phone and dialed the division headquarters: "Hello, chief of staff, what''s the matter with you?"


    Akhromeyev quickly reported to me: "Comrade division commander, according to the feedback from the group army command, today''s factory area is as calm as ours, and almost all the fighting is carried out in the defense areas of the 64th and 57th army. Perhaps, as the commander has analyzed, the enemy needs a period of time to replenish its forces, weapons and ammunition, so there is not enough strength to attack us for the time being. "


    I think akhromeyev''s words are very reasonable. At this point, the German army has not made any movement. It seems that they will not attack today. They can just use this time to repair the fortifications. So I ordered akhromeyev: "in this case, the chief of staff is of the same mind. We can''t waste our time. We should immediately contact the commander of the engineering company, Captain Mikhail yev, Let him take his troops to 107.5 to repair the fortifications. With a solid and perfect defense system, we can greatly reduce the casualties of our troops in the next battle. "


    Although I said that sending engineers to help repair fortifications was to reduce the casualties of the troops, what I thought in my heart was that the Soviet counterattack would start in about 20 days. If the mamayev post was lost before the counterattack, it would be an extremely tragic fate waiting for me. Therefore, I tried my best to take preventive measures to avoid such a tragedy.


    As there are many trucks in the division now, when the engineering company goes to highland 107.5, it does not go on foot, but by car. So less than half an hour later, I saw the army led by Captain mihayev, busy on the northern slope of the highland.


    Basmanov stood beside me for a while. Seeing that I didn''t speak, he took the initiative to retreat. After looking at Highland 107.5 for a while, I turned my attention to the German front in the northeast.


    In the long trench, I saw some soldiers with helmets passing by from time to time. Several firepower points that we had destroyed were rebuilt and carefully reinforced. To the south of the trench, there were two barbed wire fences with an interval of 70-80 meters, and the open field in the middle, needless to say, must be the minefield laid by the German army.


    I silently looked at this front position which we had captured several times but could not keep. I thought with regret that it was a pity that there were too few artillery in the division. Otherwise, as long as we put all the artillery on the high ground of the fourth regiment and bombard them every day, we could cause a lot of casualties to the enemy.


    I was just in my head when the phone rang suddenly. Before I turned to answer the phone, busmanov came in from the outside and took the lead in picking up the phone: "Hello, this is the observation post. Where are you?"


    Although I didn''t look back, I guessed that most of the calls were from the division headquarters. Sure enough, I soon heard basmanov calling me: "Comrade division chief, it''s the chief of staff."


    I quickly put down my telescope, turned and walked up to basmanov, took the phone from him and said, "Comrade chief of staff, it''s me."


    "Comrade division commander," akhromeyev asked in a consultative tone, "can you go back to the division headquarters immediately?"


    I recognized his anxiety from his voice, and immediately guessed that there must be something in the headquarters that I need to go back immediately, so I quickly asked, "what''s the matter?"


    "Yes, sir. Just now, comrade commander called to ask where you were. I said you were in the observation center. He said that as soon as you go back, I will call him back immediately and say that I have something important to ask for you. "


    It must not be a trivial thing for trakov to come to me at such a time. Thinking of this, I immediately agreed, "OK, I''ll go back right away."


    When I walked into the headquarters, akhromeyev took the initiative to call the headquarters of the group army. When I got through, he said respectfully to the microphone, "Hello, please help me find commander trakov, general oshanina of the independent division. I have something to report to him."


    I walked quickly to him, took the microphone and put it to my ear. After a while, from the receiver came trakov''s majestic voice: "I''m trakov!"


    "Hello, comrade commander." I heard trakov''s voice, quickly confessed his identity, and then asked him: "I don''t know you call me, what can I do for you?"


    "Well, comrade oshanina." In a gentle tone, trakov said to me, "since we talked in your headquarters, I have put forward the proposal of launching a sniper movement in various units. The Military Commission of the group army headed by Comrade gurov also supports this initiative very much. The group army''s newspaper, defending the motherland, publishes every day the number of bandits killed by our snipers, and publishes pictures of excellent snipers. All political departments and party and League organizations participated in leading the sniper movement, discussed this issue at the party and League meeting, and formulated various measures in detail to improve the skills of sharpshooters. Each sniper takes on the task of training several shooting experts and training them to be independent snipers. Since we launched this campaign, the democracies who have been dazed by us have suffered a lot. At least thousands of German soldiers have fallen under the gun of our snipers. " I don''t understand that trikov suddenly mentioned this, so he could only echo and say: "yes, comrade commander, I also know this from all aspects. Although we didn''t invest a lot of troops, our achievements were not small, and even far exceeded those of one or two divisions."¡° Although our snipers have achieved good results, but... "Trekov''s tone suddenly became severe," but today, our snipers have become the targets of other people''s hunting. " Trekov''s words surprised me. Did the sniper of other troops also encounter the headmaster of the Sniper School? In order to find out what happened, I asked directly, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter?" "Half an hour ago, I received reports from the commander of the 95th infantry division, Col. gorishner, and the commander of the 37th guard division, major general roluev. The snipers they sent to yelman district and jerrensky district were all killed by the German snipers," he said solemnly When I heard that another 11 snipers were killed by mysterious snipers, I couldn''t help worrying about Vasili and the three of them, deeply afraid that they would also encounter something unexpected. Maybe I was so worried that I didn''t hear what trakov said. It wasn''t until trakov raised his voice and called me several times that I woke up and quickly replied, "Comrade commander, I''m here. Do you have any instructions?"¡° Did you listen to me again when I spoke to you? " "I''ve been talking to you for a long time, but you didn''t even respond," he asked When I heard that trakov was angry, I quickly explained, "Comrade commander, it''s like this. Our division also encountered this situation yesterday. Seven snipers who went out to carry out the task were killed by the German mysterious snipers. "¡° What, your division also encountered this kind of situation, then why don''t you report it to me in time? " As for trekov''s reproach, I bitterly explained to him, "Comrade commander, in order to find out who this German sniper is, I have sent three of the best snipers in the division headed by lieutenant Vassily this morning to look for the German secret sniper."¡° How long have they been out? " Trekov asked¡° We set out before dawn. " My answer made trikov very satisfied. Instead of pestering me about not reporting this matter in time, he slowed down and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, once lieutenant Vassily and them come back, no matter what the situation is, you should report it to me in time. Do you understand? " Just as I was about to answer, there was a rush of footsteps at the door. At the same time, someone was shouting outside. I covered the microphone and just wanted basmanov to go out to see what happened. Among the crowd, Lieutenant Vassily was walking in the front. He looked so embarrassed that he didn''t even have a helmet on his head. And behind the crowd, there are two stretchers, as soon as they enter the headquarters, the room suddenly appears crowded¡° Hello, comrade o''shanina, "came the roar of trakov from the receiver," why don''t you speak? "¡° Report commander, "I released my hand covering the receiver and reported to him," it''s lieutenant Vassily. It''s lieutenant Vassily and his companions coming back. "¡° Oh, Lieutenant Vassily is back? " There was a surprise voice from the receiver: "let them report immediately. How is the task being completed?"

 Chapter 810

    "Comrade commander, please wait a moment. I''ll ask them right away." With these words, I gently put the microphone on the table and walked quickly to Vasey. After glancing at the two stretchers on the ground, the soldiers lying on them were covered with blood. The soldiers on the left stretcher were still moaning quietly, while the soldiers on the right stretcher were still lying motionless. Seeing this, I couldn''t help but clapping in my heart and said in secret, did he sacrifice? I looked back at Vassily, who was embarrassed, and asked in a low voice: "Comrade lieutenant, tell me what happened?"


    I didn''t expect Vasili to sit on the ground, and the sniper gun rolled to one side. He just buried his head in his chest and grabbed his hair with both hands.


    Seeing Vasili''s gaffe, kirilov came up to me and asked the officers and men standing beside the stretcher, "who can tell me what happened?"


    "Report to the political commissar of the regiment," a lieutenant walked out of the crowd. After he raised his hand to salute us, he respectfully reported: "we are from the 308th infantry division. When we passed yelman District, we unexpectedly saw the second lieutenant and two soldiers who fell to the ground. In the opposite ruins, there was an enemy sniper obviously hidden, so I rushed with people. The enemy''s sniper may have seen a lot of us, fired two shots in a hurry, killed two of our soldiers, and fled through the hidden channel. When the enemy''s sniper was expelled, I went back to the second lieutenant. After inquiry, I knew that he was an independent division, so I sent him back with the other two wounded soldiers. "


    After hearing the other party''s report, kirilov nodded, then went to shake hands with the lieutenant and said in a friendly way, "Comrade lieutenant, thank you. Thank you and your men for sending our sniper back."


    The lieutenant reached out his hands and shook kirilov. Then he politely asked, "Comrade political commissar of the regiment, since the people have been sent here, can I leave?"


    "Go ahead, comrade lieutenant." Kirilov said to him with a smile: "on behalf of all the instructors of the independent division, I thank you again."


    After saluting us again, the lieutenant turned and left with his men.


    I looked at Vassily, who was still sitting on the ground, pulling his hair and looking miserable, and went back to the table. I picked up the microphone on the table and put it in my ear. After a sigh, I said to trakov who had not hung up: "Comrade commander, Lieutenant Vassily Zaitsev is back."


    "I know, I know, you just told me that lieutenant Vassily and his comrades are back." Trekov may not hear the movement of the headquarters, still excited to say: "how, did they kill the enemy''s sniper?"


    Originally, I was in a dilemma and worried about how to report this to trikov. After hearing his question, I didn''t know how to answer it.


    "What''s the matter with you, comrade oshanina? Why don''t you speak?" From the receiver came trakov''s dissatisfied voice. "I ask you, Lieutenant Vassily, how are they doing? Did they kill the enemy''s snipers?"


    "No, comrade commander." I answered in a low, fuzzy voice.


    "What''s the matter with you? Why is your voice so low? Is there something wrong with your voice?" he cried angrily


    "Excuse me, comrade commander." Hearing that trakov was angry, I raised my voice and said with some difficulty, "Lieutenant Vassily, they''re back. They didn''t kill the German snipers." After a pause, I added, "to be precise, only lieutenant Vassily came back safe and sound, while one of the other two snipers was killed and the other wounded."


    "What''s the matter?" Trekov asked.


    I took a look at lieutenant Vassily, who was still in a state of gaffe, and answered trakov helplessly and briefly: "Lieutenant Vassily''s mood is very unstable. I can''t figure out what happened for the time being."


    "Then you should report to me as soon as you know what happened! Do you understand? " "Trekov ordered categorically.


    "Yes, comrade commander." I quickly agreed.


    "I order that you must kill the German sniper in two days." After that, there was no sound in the receiver. He should have hung up directly.


    I put down the phone, walked up to Vassily again, bent down and picked up the sniper gun that fell on the ground. I stand straight body, see Vassily is still that pair of decadent expression, I can''t help being anonymous, yelled at him: "Vassily lieutenant, stand up."


    My roar made Vassily tremble. He raised his head in horror and looked at me nervously. At the same time, his hands, which were pulling his hair, were lowered. I wanted to get angry with him, but I couldn''t bear to see his pitiful appearance, so I lowered my voice and repeated what I had just said: "Lieutenant Vassily, if you are still a man, stand up."


    Kirilov and akhromeyev, who were standing nearby, quickly bent over and helped him stand up from the ground with one arm. While Bantai leiev, who stood silent, told basmanov: "Comrade major, find some soldiers to come in and carry out these two stretchers first."


    When Vasili was helped by kirilov and akhromeyev to sit down at the table, I also went over, put his sniper gun on the table, and told akhromeyev in a low voice to find some wine, because I knew that in a corner of the room, there were several water bottles filled with vodka. When they stayed up late, they would take time to drink.


    After akhromeyev left, I lowered my head and asked Vasili with a kind face: "Comrade lieutenant, can you tell me what happened?"


    Before Vasili spoke, akhromeyev had returned to us and handed the kettle with the lid turned off to Vasili. Vassily grabbed the kettle, looked up and poured the spicy vodka into his throat. Maybe it was too much, which made him cough violently.


    Akhromeyev took the kettle in his hand with one hand and patted him on the back with the other. When his cough stopped, akhromeyev asked carefully, "Comrade lieutenant, how are you?"


    After nodding his head hard and thanking akhromeyev difficultly, Lieutenant Vasili began to tell us what happened today: "Comrade division, we are on your order this morning to go to yelman district and search for German snipers that may exist. When we entered a building, we found a German tricycle in the distance. In addition to two motorcyclists, there was an officer wearing a big cornice hat.


    Seeing this situation, corporal Morozov took the initiative to say to me, "look, comrade lieutenant, there is a tricycle coming in front of us. There are three enemies on it. We can just destroy one by ourselves."


    Sergeant shaykin echoed him and said, "yes, comrade lieutenant. Anyway, we don''t know where the German snipers are hiding. It''s not too late to kill these Germans first and then go."


    After listening to what they said, I thought about it. I felt that it would not take much time to eliminate these Germans, and it would never affect us to look for German snipers. So I nodded and agreed.


    So we found our respective sniper points in the building and concealed them. According to the prior agreement, I fired the first shot to kill the motorcyclist. Corporal Morozov fired the second shot to kill the German soldier sitting behind the driver. Sergeant shaykin was responsible for killing the German officer.


    When the German motorcycles saw our building, I shot decisively. It hit the motorcyclist accurately. The bullet went through his forehead, pulled blood foam from the back of his head, and hit the soldier''s forehead with inertia. The motorcycle suddenly ran out of control and hit the side of the road. Before the German officer in the sidecar understood what had happened, Sergeant shaykin''s bullet killed him. "


    "That''s great. That''s great." When kirilov heard this, he couldn''t help saying, "it''s amazing to kill two German soldiers with one shot."


    "Comrade political commissar, please keep quiet." I interrupted kirilov, who was a little excited, and said steadily, "in the friendly forces, there is a female sniper named Lyudmila pavrichenko who killed 309 German soldiers during the battle of Sevastopol. As far as I know, she once set a record of killing three German soldiers with one shot. Unfortunately, her superior finally wiped out only one enemy with the result of this shot. "


    Hearing what I said, bantailiev and akhromeyev were stunned, but kirilov''s expression was even more exaggerated. He jumped up from his seat and asked in surprise: "Sir, are you sure you heard me correctly, 309 instead of 39?"


    "There can be no mistake, my political commissar." I said lightly, "according to the information I got, she was wounded in the battle. Comrade Stalin personally instructed the navy to take her from Sevastopol and send her to Moscow for treatment."


    "Sir, I don''t know where this female sniper is now?" Bantaileiev asked cautiously as soon as I finished.


    My understanding of Lyudmila is limited to the number of snipers she killed in the battle and later became a major general of the Navy. As for where she is at this time, I really don''t know. However, I vaguely remember that after her recovery, she was sent to the United States for a visit, so I could only vaguely say: "I don''t know her specific situation. I just heard that Moscow has organized a youth delegation to visit the United States, and this female sniper named Lyudmila is also a member of the delegation. " At this point, in order to prevent them from continuing to entangle on this issue, I urged Vassili, "Comrade lieutenant, continue to talk about your affairs today."


    As for what I said just now, the shock to Vasili was not small. His face was always surprised. When I called him, he recovered from his absence. After taking a deep breath, he continued to tell the unfinished story: "after we eliminated three Germans, we moved towards the pre selected sniper point.


    The sniper point was in the outpatient department of a two-story hospital which was destroyed by the bomb. A corridor in the middle was broken by the bomb, and there was a gap about two meters wide. If you want to go to the sniper point, you can only jump over it.


    We''ll skip the gap and hide at the sniper point. After a few hours, we saw small German troops passing by from time to time. Because of their large number, we didn''t shoot. Until noon, an armored car stopped nearby. Two German officers got off the car and leaned against the car to smoke. We found the target and shot them decisively.


    The German soldiers left in the armored car saw that the commander outside the car was killed by us. They immediately turned the machine gun on the car and fired at us. The dense bullets splashed debris on the wall, but sergeant shaykin, who had been lying on his sniping position, didn''t move. He fired a shot in no hurry. The loaded bullet hit the shooter''s forehead, and the crazy shooting machine gun suddenly stopped.


    At this time, Sergeant shaykin turned to me and said, "Comrade lieutenant, our sniper point is exposed. Let''s go to the next sniper point."


    We packed our weapons, turned around and went back down the corridor. When we reached the gap, Sergeant shaykin threw our backpacks first, and then jumped first. I wanted to jump first, but corporal Morozov said he wanted to compete with me to see who could jump further. I didn''t refuse, so he stood on the outside side of the corridor and I stood on the inside side. We both stepped back to run up and take off. As we flew through the gap, I felt some warm liquid splashing on my neck.


    When I landed, I found that shaykin was standing alone, but corporal Morozov was not seen. As I was about to continue searching for him, shaykin grabbed my arm and pulled me down. At the same time, he said in a low voice, "Lieutenant, get down. It''s the enemy''s sniper."


    After I squatted down, I touched my neck and my hands were covered with blood. I immediately understood that just now when we were jumping over the gap, the German sniper hiding nearby shot us, and corporal Morozov was unfortunately shot, and his blood splashed on my neck.


    I lay on the ground and looked carefully downstairs. Corporal Morozov was lying on his back like a big character on a pile of bricks and stones, and his head was covered with blood.


    I drew back and asked shaykin in a low voice, "Comrade sergeant, do you know where the German sniper is?"


    Shaykin, leaning back against the wall, replied in a low voice, "from the direction of the bullets, the German snipers should be hiding in the direction of three o''clock."


    Listening to shaykin''s words, I tried to recall the terrain I observed on the way here. I found that there was an abandoned factory building on the opposite side. German snipers had enough space to change their hiding places after shooting. It was very difficult to kill him. In desperation, I could only give shaykin the transfer order, and planned to come back at the right time to snatch the remains of corporal Morozov back.


    We wandered around other places for several hours. I thought the German snipers should have moved, so we took shaykin back to the clinic building. We found the remains of corporal Morozov on the ruins of the first floor, and we took turns carrying them back.


    When we turned to the next block, I tripped over the ground because I was walking too fast to notice. As I leaned forward, I felt the helmet on my head hit by something, and then rolled to one side. When I fell to the ground, I knew that I had met a German sniper. I rushed to shaykin, who was following me, and said, "lie down, sniper."


    When shaykin heard my cry, he fell to the ground, and the body of Morozov on his back fell to one side. However, at this time, we did not care about the bodies of our comrades in arms. Instead, we were lying behind the rubble not far away and talking in a low voice. I picked up the helmet on the ground and put it on again. Then I said to shaykin, "sergeant, this German sniper is very accurate. He knocked off my helmet with one shot. You should be careful."


    Shaykin replied in a low voice, "don''t worry, lieutenant. I''ll find him." With that, he tentatively extended his sniper gun from the crevice of the rubble, carefully looking for the German sniper''s hiding place. After observing for a while, he said to me in surprise: "Lieutenant, I found him. He''s in our two o''clock direction... "Before he finished, I heard the sound of bullets sliding through the air, and then the sight of his sniper gun was smashed. Seeing shaykin covering his face with both hands and writhing painfully on the ground, I was filled with indignation and didn''t care to hide. I stood up and pulled the trigger in the direction of the bullet.


    After two shots in a row, I squatted down. Almost at the same time when I squatted, my helmet was knocked heavily by something, and I fell backward by the huge inertia, and fell heavily on the ground. The next thing, I think you all know, is that the troops passing by the 308th infantry division rushed up regardless of casualties and drove out the German snipers, otherwise I might not be able to come back. "


    After listening to Vassily''s story, I didn''t comfort him. Instead, I asked, "Lieutenant Vassily, the sniper Lyudmila I just mentioned is a female soldier, but her achievements are beyond the comparison of many male snipers. In my mind, you are a great sniper. Although you were sniped twice by German snipers today, you are lucky to survive, proving that the enemy can''t kill you. So I think you have to continue to finish the task of sniping German snipers. "


    "Can I, sir?" Vassili asked in an uncertain tone after listening to me.


    "Yes, absolutely." In fact, my confidence in Vassili comes from the movie "soldiers on the city". Although the German sniper and Vassili temporarily gained the upper hand in several competitions, they finally died under Vassili''s gun. Although it''s just a movie, I think it must be based on the real story, so I''m confident that Vasili will kill the enemy''s sniper¡° You immediately go to the company and pick out two more snipers. Tomorrow, I''ll accompany you to the mission. "


    After listening to my words, although Vassily''s expression is still serious, I can see that his confidence is recovering. I believe that after finding the right assistant, he will be able to complete the task I assigned.


    After Vassily left, I called trakov and repeated Vassily''s words. Then I said, "Comrade commander, I order lieutenant Vassily to select two assistants and continue to search for the whereabouts of the enemy''s snipers tomorrow. We must kill this annoying enemy."


    After listening to me, trikov was silent for a long time, and then said slowly, "Comrade oshanina, do you think you can kill the enemy''s snipers by sending out three snipers? It''s too easy for you to think


    Trikov''s words stunned me. Our three snipers dealt with one of the enemy''s snipers. Besides, there was such a rebellious talent as Vasili Zaitsev. We had a good chance of killing the German snipers. However, in order to find out what trikov wanted to say, I humbly asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what you mean?"


    "The German sniper is very cunning. He won''t be fooled easily." "You have to find a way to put bait in front of him and let him honestly deliver himself to your sniper''s muzzle," trikov said briefly


    With that, trakov hung up. Looking at me holding the microphone in a daze, the next desk leiev couldn''t help but ask curiously: "what did the teacher and commander say to you?"


    As I put down the phone, I said, "Comrade commander said that the German sniper is an old hand and very cunning. It''s not easy for our people to catch him. So let''s find a way to give him some bait, so that he can take the initiative to our sniper''s muzzle


    Trakov''s vague words made us all fall into meditation. After a while, akhromeyev opened his mouth and broke the silence in the room: "Sir, I want to ask a question. When a sniper sees a group of enemies enter his sniping range, who will be the first one to kill?"


    "Of course, it''s officers." Kirilov heard akhromeyev''s question and replied without hesitation: "ordinary soldiers are of little value. If you snipe the commander of an army, you can make the army fall into chaos after losing command. In addition to officers, the next thing to snipe is machine gun shooters or gunners. "


    When kirilov said these words, a smile appeared on akhromeyev''s face. As soon as kirilov finished speaking, he immediately expressed his opinion: "since the enemy wants to snipe our commanders, we will prepare some commanders for him. When he''s exposed, our snipers will be able to take care of him. "


    "No, No." As soon as akhromeyev''s suggestion was finished, Bantai leiyev was impatient. "There are not many experienced commanders in the division. How can we let our commanders die in vain in order to eliminate a German sniper?"


    When I saw bantaileiev saying this, akhromeyev was laughing but not saying anything. I knew that what he was thinking was different from what bantaileiev was thinking. I quickly came out and said, "well, comrade deputy division chief, don''t worry, first listen to what the chief of staff said." Then he looked at akhromeyev and said, "come on, chief of staff, don''t play the game and say what you think."


    Akhromeyev, seeing that I had seen through his little trick, laughed sheepishly, and then said to us, "I''m going to find some soldiers, put on Officers'' uniforms, and walk around the area where lieutenant Vassily and his men are lurking, so as to attract the attention of German snipers. If he shoots at our fake commanders, Lieutenant Vassily, who is hiding nearby, can easily kill him. "


    "Comrade oshanina, what''s your opinion?" After listening to akhromeyev''s suggestion, kirilov didn''t express his own opinions. Instead, he leaned over to ask for my opinions.


    "I agree with the chief of staff. Personally, I think this plan is feasible. " I unconditionally support akhromeyev''s proposal.


    "So where should we draw soldiers to impersonate the commanders who act as bait?" Kirilov then raised his second question.


    "From the guard camp." Without thinking, I replied, "take two shifts, led by corporal Mikhailov. From tomorrow on, walk around the place where lieutenant Vassily and his men are hiding."


    I remember that in the movie, it was a political commissar who automatically acted as a bait and attracted the attention of German snipers. When he was shot down at the same time, exposed the target of the German sniper also became Vasili under the gun. But I can''t bear to use the real commander as bait, so I can only bear the pain to let the soldiers in the guard camp undertake this dangerous task.


    The next day, Lieutenant Vassily took with him two other excellent snipers he had found: Anatole Chekhov and Victor Medvedev. According to Vasili, Medvedev is a sniper he taught by hand, and his sniping skills are also excellent.


    However, the German sniper is also an old hand. I don''t know whether he didn''t show up in the area where lieutenant Vassily and his men were hiding, or whether he was not interested in corporal Mikhailov and their fake commander. In the evening, Vasili, they were disappointed to return with nothing.


    On the morning of the third day, that is, October 30, Vasili and the others lurked in the dzerzhinsky District, quietly waiting for the German snipers to take the bait. But Mikhailov, with a few fake officers and a dozen soldiers, walked on the ruins several times, but the crafty German sniper still didn''t take the bait.


    On the morning of the 31st, when they set out again, trakov called. He asked impatiently, "Comrade oshanina, how is the task I gave you finished? You know, in the past few days, we have at least 20 more commanders and snipers killed by this experienced German sniper. If you can''t finish the task, I''ll consider letting others carry out the order


    I was so impolite to listen to what trikov said that I could only respectfully reply: "please rest assured, comrade commander, if I can''t finish the task today, I will take the team to carry out these tasks tomorrow. If I don''t kill this sniper, I will never come back alive."


    I didn''t expect that my words only changed back to one of trekov''s: "it''s really puzzling, don''t you know your command position, is it in the division headquarters? Don''t forget, you are still the deputy commander of the group army. " With that, he hung up the phone.


    I put down the phone and kirilov and the three of them gathered around. Kirilov asked with concern: "Comrade division, what''s the matter. Is Comrade commander angry because we have not finished our task so late? "


    I nodded and said with a bitter smile, "German snipers have killed many of our commanders and snipers in the past two days. In this case, everyone will be angry. "


    Akhromeyev said indignantly: "the commander doesn''t think about it. Don''t we want to destroy the German snipers? Stalingrad is so big that it is impossible for us to search every inch of the land and take the damn sniper out of the hiding place.... "


    "Chief of staff," kirilov interrupted him before akhromeyev finished, and said discontentedly, "please pay attention to your identity. How can you vent your discontent with the superior leaders in public?"


    "Come on, comrade political commissar, stop it." I saw that akhromeyev was flushed by kirilov. In order to prevent them from arguing, I came out in time to stop them, and expressed my own idea: "if there is no harvest today, I think we should increase our military input."


    "How to increase the input of troops?" Bantelayev asked.


    "Vassili and the other two snipers are excellent. I''m going to divide them into three groups tomorrow. Each group will take an army with fake officers to ambush in different areas. The success rate of three pronged approach is higher than that of only one area. "


    "The teacher is right. I agree with her." Bandeleev took the lead in expressing his support for me.


    Then kirilov and akhromeyev also expressed their support one after another.


    We had just arranged for tomorrow''s ambush, and the need to send security forces, when basmanov suddenly rushed in from the outside. Before and after he came to us, he said excitedly, "report to the division commander, political commissar, Lieutenant Vassily is back!"


    Lieutenant Vassily is back?! Hearing basmanov''s report, I habitually raised my hand and looked at my watch. How could I have come back so early at 11 a.m? But after a short period of confusion, I suddenly thought of a possibility. I grabbed basmanov''s arm and asked nervously, "major, do you think lieutenant Vassily is back? Did he come back alone, or did a group of people come back? "


    "A group of people are back, of course." Basmanov''s face was full of joy, and he replied excitedly, "listen to them, that German sniper has been killed."


    "The sniper''s been killed?! That''s great. " Ginger is still spicy. Kirilov, after hearing basmanov''s report, woke up from his shock before I did. He immediately told basmanov, "major, please go and bring in lieutenant Vassily immediately. I''ll ask him about the battle."


    Vasili soon came in after basmanov. When he saw that he was carrying a sniper gun on his shoulder and another sniper gun in his hand, I knew in my heart that he really killed the German sniper because he was holding a German sniper gun.


    When Vasili put the captured sniper gun on the table, he began to tell how they killed the German snipers: "our hiding place today is in the ruins of the tractor factory, and the troops led by corporal Mikhailov are hidden in a building two hundred meters behind us. After daybreak, the battle in the tractor factory started again, and the shells creaked in the air. But we were quietly lying behind the rubble, watching what was going on in front of us through the sight of the sniper gun.


    "Isn''t that him? Look at my fingers!" Medvedev on my left suddenly got excited. He almost leaned out of the parapet because of negligence. But that''s enough. The terrorists hurt him. Of course, only experienced snipers can shoot so accurately. On the other side, Chekhov quickly climbed past me and bandaged Medvedev with shoulder injury.


    I watched the enemy position for a long time, but couldn''t find the sniper''s ambush. Based on the direction and speed of the bullet, I concluded that the sniper was hiding somewhere directly facing us. I continued to observe the ruins ahead. On the left, there is a damaged tank; On the right, there''s a launch point*** Where on earth are the activists? In a tank? No, sophisticated snipers don''t hide there. In the launch site? It''s impossible. It''s blocked. On the flat ground between the tank and the launch site was a pile of rotten bricks with an iron plate in the middle. It has been there for a long time, and it is not noticeable. I think from the position of the enemy: where is the best position for snipers? Is there a shelter under that iron plate? Is he lurking in the dark every day and hiding there? Yes, he may be there, under the iron plate in the neutral zone that neither side has occupied. I decided to check it. Then he told Chekhov, who had just finished dressing Medvedev''s wound: "Hey, you send a signal to the commanders and fighters in the back to let them come out to attract the attention of the German snipers." When the team led by Mikhailov appeared just a few tens of meters away from us, the * * elements took the bait and fired. A soldier in a cornice hat fell. From the sound of the gun, I can judge that the sniper of the * * elements is under the iron plate¡® There''s the villain! " Chekhov, who was lying in ambush next to me, also found the enemy''s position and scolded in a low voice. Then he signaled to Mikhailov, who was hiding behind them. After receiving the signal, Mikhailov got up from the hiding place and bent over the ruins to make the enemy think that they were going to reinforce our position. The deceived sniper opened fire. This damned Hitler thought that he could wipe out the small army that was going to be reinforced without fear. So he stretched out half his head from under the iron plate. I''m waiting for this opportunity, and without hesitation, I''ll shoot right away and accurately*** The molecule''s head fell, but the optical sight of his rifle was still in place, and the lens was shining in the sun. Although the enemy did not move, but I still lie in place. I asked Chekhov to send another signal to Mikhailov to send a few soldiers to check. They didn''t get shot this time. I did kill the German sniper. Sir, please see, this is the sniper gun used by the German sniper who was killed by me. "

 Chapter 811

    Vasili Zaitsev waited for the four of us to see the captured sniper gun. After that, he took out a document from his coat pocket, handed it to me in both hands, and said respectfully, "Comrade division, this was found from the German sniper who was killed."


    I took the sniper Certificate in Vassily''s hand and opened it. There was a picture on it. It was a serious German officer, who should have been the sniper killed by Vassily. But I didn''t know any of the words on the certificate. So I handed it to kirilov and asked, "Comrade commissar, do you know the words on it?"


    Kirilov took the document I gave him, looked at it, and then said, "it seems that captain gramus guessed well. The German sniper who was killed by lieutenant Vassily is indeed major koningler, the headmaster of the German sniper school from Berlin." He closed his certificate, handed it to Bantai leiev, and then tentatively asked me, "Comrade division, should we report this matter to the commander immediately?"


    After dialing the phone, trekov heard my voice and seemed a little impatient. Maybe he thought I called him to complain to him, hoping to postpone his deadline. I explained the situation quickly before he hung up. After listening, trikov exclaimed excitedly, "what, comrade oshanina, what did you say? You said Comrade Vasili Zaitsev killed the enemy''s snipers? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." I replied briefly, "the German sniper who killed many of our snipers and commanders has been killed by lieutenant Vassily."


    On hearing my reply, trakov became more cautious. He tentatively asked, "are you sure that the sniper who was killed is the one who has been giving us a headache recently?"


    As far as I know of trakov, I had long guessed that he would ask, so I immediately replied in a positive tone: "Comrade report commander, according to the documents found by lieutenant Vassily on the dead German sniper, he is major koningler, the principal of Berlin Sniper School."


    Hearing my affirmative answer, trakov said with relief, "great, our snipers are great." Then he asked, "who else is on this mission besides lieutenant Vassily?"


    "Report to commander," I said drily, according to the order, "in addition to lieutenant Vasili Zaitsev, there are two guard teams led by his deputy Anatoly Chekhov and Victor Medvedev, as well as corporal Mikhailov."


    Trikov asked a little puzzled: "o''shanina, to destroy a German sniper, do you need to send so many commanders and fighters?"


    I quickly explained to him: "Comrade commander, you don''t know that the German sniper is very cunning and patient. He won''t open fire easily until he sees any valuable target. So I took two classes from the guard camp, led by corporal Mikhailov, and some of the soldiers pretended to be commanders and a reinforcement team to attract the attention of German snipers. "


    "So it is. I see." When trakov finished, he hung up decisively.


    Trekov hung up so fast that I didn''t have time to ask how to reward Vassily. After putting down the phone, I praised Vassili a few more words and sent him back to rest.


    As soon as he left, I told basmanov to call in corporal Mikhailov, who was assisting Vasili in his mission. Mikhail lov had been waiting at the door. As soon as he heard his boss''s greeting, he quickly entered the headquarters.


    Standing in front of me in a second lieutenant''s uniform and looking at the dust all over his body, I can imagine how difficult and dangerous the tasks he has been carrying out these days. After looking him up and down, I asked with concern, "Comrade corporal, have all the soldiers on the decoy mission come back?"


    When Mikhailov heard my question, his face muscles twitched violently, and then he answered with difficulty: "report to Mr. commander, we have 21 people participating in the mission this time, including me. Now there are 14 people coming back."


    "What about the other seven soldiers?" Before I could ask, kirilov next to me asked first.


    Mikhailov heard kirilov''s question, lowered his head to his chest, and answered bitterly: "the remaining seven soldiers were all killed by the sniper of the enemy."


    Although Vassili made such an understatement when he reported to me the process of eliminating German snipers, I knew in my heart that the real situation at that time was far more dangerous than what he said, otherwise, the casualties of Mikhailov''s team would not be as high as one third.


    In the evening, trakov''s adjutant, Captain krimov, and the heralds came to the division headquarters. I was quite surprised to see the two men appear in the division headquarters. I immediately asked Klimov, "Comrade captain, why are you here? Is there any important order from the commander?"


    Klimov raised his hand to salute me and replied, "Comrade General, I and herald sidtorin have sent you medals on the order of the commander." After that, he took out a document from his briefcase and handed it to me. "This is the list of awards personally signed by the military commissar of the group army."


    With a puzzled look on my face, I took over the list of awards that krimov had handed me and looked at it carefully. It read: "in order to honor the officers and men who made great contributions in the battle of defending Stalingrad, we hereby award the following medals of comradeship:


    He was awarded the first class Patriotic War Medal of excellent sniper lieutenant Vasili Zaitsev;


    Awarded sniper Anatoly Chekhov the second class Patriotic War Medal;


    Awarded sniper Victor Medvedev the second class Patriotic War Medal;


    The second class National Defense Medal was awarded to corporal Mikhailov;


    The rest of the participants will be decorated with corresponding military medals. "


    After reading the list, I handed it to kirilov, and then asked Klimov, "Comrade captain, where is the medal?"


    "Sister Rita, I have it." After calling me sweetly, sidtorin took out a pile of medal boxes from his backpack and put them neatly on the table.


    While sidtorin was looking out of the medal box, I first told basmanov, "major, go and call in all the officers and men on the medal list. Except for lieutenant Vassily who participated in the sniping mission, the three of them and the soldiers of the two classes led by Mikhailov."


    After basmanov left, I told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, there has been no news from the enemy in the past two days. You call the heads of all regiments and say that a temporary meeting will be held tonight for commanders above the battalion level to attend."


    Akhromeyev nodded, picked up the phone from the desk, and then asked me, "Comrade teacher, what''s the topic of the meeting?"


    "Comrade chief of staff, is that true?" Kirilov said: "what else can we do, of course, is to inform them to come to the Vassily''s conferring conference."


    It''s a bit of a fuss to ask a group of battalion and regiment commanders to attend the ceremony of honoring ordinary soldiers. After kirilov finished, I said to akhromeyev with a smile, "chief of staff, you tell them that tonight you will introduce the current situation of enemy and ourselves and how to organize guerrilla warfare in cities."


    Lieutenant Vassily, their ceremony was very simple. After announcing the list of awards from the headquarters, kirilov personally put on a brand-new medal for Vassily and 17 of them, and said a lot of words of encouragement, which moved many soldiers to tears. As for the seven soldiers who died, the medals they received were kept by kirilov for the time being. After the battle of Stalingrad, he sent them to their homes.


    After the soldiers who won the medals left, the battalion and regiment commanders who received the notice began to come to the command post in groups. Basmanov, who was in charge of reception, saw the commanders coming in, so he arranged them to sit on the temporary bench.


    When all the battalion and regiment level commanders arrived, I looked at the crowd sitting below and was shocked. I didn''t expect that there were so many people, including the head, deputy head and political commissar of each regiment, and the battalion commander and deputy battalion commander of each battalion. There were more than 40 people. Most of the people present were not sure why I suddenly called them here, so they could not help whispering to each other, trying to figure out what was going on.


    When kirilov saw that all the people were coming, he tilted his head to my side and asked in a low voice, "Comrade division, all the commanders of the meeting are here. Are you ready for the meeting?" Seeing that I nodded in agreement, he stood up slowly, took two steps forward, and coughed softly. With his cough, the original noisy headquarters suddenly quieted down, and all the commanders looked up at him, waiting for his next words.


    "Comrades commanders," kirilov was still a little excited when he saw so many subordinates sitting in front of him, "there are several purposes to call you here today. 1¡¢ Due to the fierce fighting, many command posts in the division have been replaced with new commanders. We can take this opportunity to get to know each other, which will greatly enhance the cooperation of all units in future battles; 2¡¢ The chief of staff will introduce to you the current situation of the enemy and ourselves at mamayev post and 107.5 highland; Third, the division commander himself will tell you how our troops should carry out guerrilla warfare in cities. "


    Kirilov didn''t say much. After he finished speaking, he abdicated to the chief of staff, akhromeyev, to introduce to you the current situation of the enemy and ourselves at mamayev post and 107.5 highland.


    After talking about the current situation for about five minutes, akhromeyev stopped, turned to me and said in a low voice, "Comrade teacher, I''m finished. Please go ahead."


    I nodded, stood up, followed kirilov''s example, took two steps forward, stood in front of the commanders, and then began to instill into them what I knew about urban warfare: "urban warfare is a special kind of warfare. This kind of battle not only depends on strength, but also on wisdom, skill, adaptability and surprise. The buildings in the city are like breakwaters, which cut off the enemy''s battle formation in attack, so that the enemy can only advance along the streets. Because, we firmly adhere to some particularly solid buildings, and organize a small number of teams in these buildings. Even when surrounded, these teams can organize a ring defense. In particular, when we use solid buildings as fire support points, the small teams that stick to them can use these support points to exert the power of machine guns and submachine guns, kill countless aggressors and make it difficult for the enemy to move. In this regard, the 42nd regiment of the 13th division of the close guard did a good job. The detachment led by Sergeant Pavlov of the regiment occupied a building next to the square of January 9, where it caused great damage to the enemy attacking the city. At present, both regiment 1 and regiment 3 have built new fortifications. I hope that when these strongholds are attacked by the German army, they will also cause heavy damage to the enemy like Pavlov building.


    When we carry out counter assault, due to the limitation of terrain, I do not advocate that we should use large troops or many units to attack. The first battle after the formation of our division was to capture a settlement occupied by the German army. At that time, we organized a number of strike teams. Although the number of them was small, they had strong attack power, were brave in fighting and were as flexible as snakes. The targets occupied by the Communist Party were immediately attacked by various assault teams, and the elements of the Communist Party were rarely able to withstand the attack of artillery, explosives, and then grenades, bayonets, and engineering shovels. The two sides competed fiercely for each building. In the building, they fight for every basement, every house and every corridor. On the contrary, the streets are empty and the square is empty.


    Our soldiers and commanders should learn to be as close to the enemy''s position as possible when preparing for the fire and artillery of the enemy''s aviation forces, so as to protect themselves from casualties. German pilots and Gunners are afraid to hurt their own people and are not willing to take the risk to attack my battle formation. Therefore, we often use close combat tactics, at least into the grenade drop distance.


    ***The aggressors did not like close combat, or rather were unfamiliar with it. Their nerves couldn''t bear it. They didn''t have enough courage to look at the soldiers in red army uniform face to face. We can see the soldiers at the enemy''s front posts from a distance, especially at night, because they always shoot a few shots with submachine guns every 5-10 minutes to embolden themselves. Our troops involved in the night attack can easily find them, then climb up to them and kill them with a bullet or a bayonet. "


    Although a lot of what I said is platitude, I have to say that because there are too many commanders at all levels in the division, many of them are transferred from other units, and they are not familiar with some unique tactics and playing methods of the independent division. I can only use this opportunity to force my own ideas into them.


    I went back to the table, picked up the teapot on the table, drank a few water, and then said, "night is our world, and night fighting is my independent division''s specialty*** The aggressors were not good at night fighting, but we learned to act on the enemy at night in accordance with the law of tit for tat. During the day, the plane of * * swaggered over our battle formation, which made us unable to look up. But at night, we are not afraid of them. During the day, we are more defensive, trying to repel every attack of the enemy.


    Without the cover of planes and tanks, the enemy seldom attacks us. At this time, it is our turn to eliminate them by various means. For example, we know that not all of them are watching us in the windows and shooting holes. Most of them are resting in the shelter. In order to get them from the shelter to the windows and shooting holes, we should organize small teams, often shouting "Wula" at night near the German defense area, and exploding several grenades from time to time, as if we had launched an attack. At this time, the enemy will panic to the window or blockhouse shooting hole, ready to fight back. As long as they open fire and reveal their position, our concealed snipers can open fire decisively and clean up the enemy''s fire points, causing them great losses. "


    When I was speaking above, the commanders sitting below took out their notebooks and pens and carefully recorded what I said in the notebooks. They were ready to digest after the meeting.


    When I finished my knowledge of urban warfare, I raised my hand and looked at my watch, and found that it was already eleven o''clock. So I said to the commanders here, "comrades, this is the end of tonight''s meeting. Let''s all go back to our respective units. " Seeing that all of you stand up from your seats and want to leave, I emphasize: "I hope you will not only keep in mind what you have learned today, but also keep it in mind. At the same time, we will try to put it into practice, so that we can maintain our advantage in the next battle."


    When the headquarters was quiet again, I was discussing with Bantai leiev how to better use snipers in the night harassment operation. Major basmanov, who had just gone out, trotted in all the way and reported to me in a panic: "Comrade division commander, there is an army just coming from the east bank. According to the commander, they are ordered to join our division."


    As soon as I was halfway through, I was interrupted by basmanov, so I waved impatiently and said to him, "Comrade major, the number of the second regiment has been greatly reduced at present. You should supplement the new troops to lieutenant commander Oleg. Don''t bother me with such trifles in the future."


    I didn''t expect basmanov still stood in the same place and murmured, "Comrade division commander, this unit is a special guard company sent by your superior. It can''t be added to other regiments."


    "Special guard company?" Some time ago, Khrushchev once sent a message through basmanov that he wanted to equip me with a capable guard company. I didn''t take it seriously. I didn''t expect to come here now. I quickly told busmanov: "major, you immediately go to the company commander of the guard company to come in!"


    Basmanov agreed, then turned and went out. After a while, he came in with a commander with a helmet, came quickly to me and reported, "Comrade division commander, the company commander of the guard company is coming."


    I looked up at the commander of the special guard company. I didn''t wait for me to see what the man looked like. He had already bypassed busmanov and came to me. He stood at attention and said in a trembling tone: "report to general, Captain Yushchenko of the interior department reports to you. I have been ordered to lead a company of the interior department to report to you and ask for your instructions."


    "Yushchenko?" The name sounds familiar. I''ve heard it somewhere before. I stepped forward to the captain and looked at him carefully. Under the light of the steam lamp, the man looked very kind, but he couldn''t remember where he had seen him. Seeing that I didn''t speak, I just looked at myself. The captain lost his temper, quickly took off his helmet and said in a loud voice, "Comrade division, don''t you really know me? I''m Yushchenko, Captain Yushchenko. It''s the company commander of the guard when you were the commander of the eighth division When Yushchenko said this, my memory suddenly recovered. It turned out that it was him, my former guard company commander. When I was arrested by the interior department, he tried to take someone to protect me. I didn''t expect that the superior would send him to mamayev post to continue to be my guard company commander at this time.

 Chapter 812

    I was overjoyed to see my former subordinates reappear in front of me. I couldn''t help but stretch out my hands, grasp his arm, shake it hard, and say excitedly, "it''s you, Captain Yushchenko."


    Yushchenko''s face also showed a knowing smile, he replied: "yes, sir, I didn''t expect that after such a long time, we met again." When he said this, his eyes swept over my badge, and his smile became more brilliant. "Comrade division, congratulations on your regaining the rank of general."


    I took him to the table to sit down. I was very surprised at his appearance. Why did the superior send my old guard all the way here? In order to find out what''s going on, I asked major basmanov to pour tea and asked Yushchenko curiously, "Comrade captain, who sent you to mamayev post?"


    As for my question, Yushchenko looked at kirilov with vigilance, and then cautiously replied, "Comrade division commander, it was general bezikov''s personal order that sent us here."


    After listening to Yushchenko''s explanation, I realized that they were sent by my old friend bezikov. At the same time, I also felt that he had a prosperous official career and was promoted from a colonel to a general. In the Central Guard Corps, it''s much more difficult to be promoted from a colonel to a major general than a combat force.


    I quickly introduced Yushchenko to kirilov: "political commissar, deputy division commander and chief of staff, I''d like to introduce to you this captain Yushchenko from the Ministry of interior, who used to be the guard company commander when I was the division commander of the eighth division of guards. From now on, he has officially become a member of our red flag independent division."


    When I introduced him to several other division commanders, Yushchenko stood up from his seat and stood upright. Next, when I introduced the members of the division to Yushchenko, without mentioning a name, he saluted each other and then extended his hands to hold each other''s extended hands.


    As soon as I introduced them, busmanov came over with a teapot and a smile. I took the teapot from him, handed it to Yushchenko in both hands, and said, "Captain Yushchenko, I haven''t had time to introduce the major to you. He''s major basmanov, the commander of the guard battalion, and he''ll be your immediate superior. "


    After I finished, basmanov explained to me with a smile on his face, "Comrade division commander, when the captain came just now, we had already introduced ourselves." But after that, he looked at Yushchenko and said politely, "Comrade captain, let''s meet again. I''m major basmanov, commander of the guard camp of the red flag independent division. Welcome to the independent division." Then he reached out to Yushchenko.


    Yushchenko put the teapot on the table in a hurry. He first raised his hand to salute basmanov, and then extended his hands to hold each other''s hands. At the same time, he said politely, "Hello, comrade major."


    After the mutual introductions, Yushchenko suddenly said to me, "Comrade division commander, before coming this time, general bzikov specially asked me to bring you a gift."


    "Gift, what gift?" Although bezikov and I have a good relationship and lived and died together, it seems that we have never given each other gifts. Hearing captain Yushchenko''s words, I can''t help but ask curiously, "Comrade captain, I don''t know what gift general bezikov asked you to bring?"


    Yushchenko didn''t speak. Instead, he took off a long gun behind him, handed it to me in both hands, and said respectfully, "Comrade division, general bezikov knows that you like this new weapon, but your original gun was lost when liuban broke through, so he asked me to bring you another one."


    I excitedly took Yushchenko''s assault rifle, the famous AK47 assault rifle of later generations. I specially checked the number on the gun and found that it was No. 77. You know, seven is the most auspicious number in Russia. It took bzikov a lot of trouble to get this assault rifle. It was an old friend who gave me such a sweet gift.


    "What kind of gun is this, sir?" Among the people around, except kirilov, who was a political worker, were all real soldiers. When they saw this new weapon that they had never seen before, they were all in front of their eyes. Akhromeyev had seen this kind of assault rifle before when he was in the front army of Volkhov, and he was calm. When Bantai leiev saw this gun, he was even more elated. He snatched the new assault rifle from my hand and looked it up and down. At the same time, he asked curiously, "when was this new gun developed? How come I''ve never seen it before?"


    When I saw the assault rifle that Yushchenko gave me, I was excited for a moment, but then I thought of this weapon beyond this era. Once it was captured by the German army on the battlefield, with their strong military production capacity, it would not be long before this new type of rifle could be imitated and a large number of troops could be equipped. At that time, for the Soviet army, It will be an unimaginable disaster. Therefore, after hearing Bantai leyev''s question, I said anxiously: "Comrade deputy division commander, since the launch of this kind of gun may be a major progress in the history of the development of light weapons in the world, its development is absolutely confidential. During the Moscow defense war, a number of troops were produced, but only a small number of troops were equipped to prevent leakage. "


    After saying these words to bandeleev, I asked Yushchenko, "Captain, how many assault rifles have you brought this time?"


    "Assault rifle?" When Yushchenko heard my question, he was stunned. Then he understood that what I was talking about was the new rifle he had just given me. He quickly replied, "Mr. reporter, we have 121 people here this time. Each of us has one of these new rifles, and each of them is equipped with ten clips."


    I calculated in my mind that one clip can hold 30 bullets, and ten clips are 300 bullets. Because the bullets used in these assault rifles don''t match the bullets we use now, once the bullets run out, these guns can only be used as firesticks.


    Bantai leiev obviously didn''t notice my difference, and excitedly asked me: "Sir, do you know the characteristics of this gun and its technical parameters?"


    I couldn''t bear to dampen bantaileiev''s interest, so I told him what I knew: "compared with the present rifles, this kind of assault rifle has shorter body, shorter range and shooting distance of 300 meters, which is suitable for close range assault combat. For example, when we were fighting with the German army in the building, this kind of gun could be put to great use.


    The assault rifle adopts the automatic principle of air guiding. The air guiding pipe is located above the barrel, and the piston pushes the gun to move. Rotary locking gun machine. The 7.62mm caliber special short barrel bullet is produced. The arc-shaped cartridge clip holds 30 rounds. The safe fast / slow machine is on the right side of the casing. The semi-automatic or full-automatic launching mode can be selected. The pull handle is on the right side of the casing. Insurance settings are: insurance, full bullet, semi-automatic.


    Our commanders and fighters in charge, often in order to overcome their own fear, pull the trigger to the end, hold the trigger and shoot all the bullets. The assault rifle will only shoot one shot, greatly saving bullets and improving safety. The action of its gun is reliable, and its mechanical structure can still ensure its continuous work even when it is continuously fired or when there are dust and other foreign matters entering the gun. "


    After listening to my introduction, Bantai leiev said: "I didn''t expect this gun to be so powerful. I really want to try the actual combat effect right away."


    I waited for Bantai leiev to finish, then poured a basin of cold water on him: "Comrade deputy division commander, it''s a pity that it''s dark now, otherwise you can really try the gun."


    But basmanov said abruptly: "Sir, there is a moon tonight. In addition, there is a heavy snow in the evening, which has laid a layer on the ground. Now the light outside is very good, which will not affect the effect of the gun test at all."


    After listening to basmanov''s words, I gave him a fierce look. I wanted to kick him in my heart. At the same time, I secretly scolded him: this idiot, can''t you see that I''m deliberately shirking. I just don''t want Bantai leiev to test the gun, but he still disagrees with me.


    Basmanov also saw the unhappy expression on my face, but he didn''t know what he had done wrong. He closed his mouth and stood in front of us innocently. When Bantai leiev heard that the light was good outside, he quickly pulled basmanov out.


    I thought kirilov would come out to stop bantaileiev''s rash action, but when I looked back, I found kirilov sitting at the table with no expression on his face, and didn''t seem to notice what bantaileiev was going to do. In this case, I can''t wipe the face of the deputy division commander in public, so I have to harden my head and let basmanov compensate bantailev to test the gun. At the same time, I also told Yushchenko: "Comrade captain, you go out with major basmanov. Let him give you a place to live with the officers and men of the special guard company. "


    Looking at bantaileiev going out to test the gun, even akhromeyev couldn''t sit still. He offered to me: "Sir, although I have seen this new type of gun long ago, I have never used it. Will you allow me to try the gun with the Deputy teacher? " I didn''t speak, I just nodded in agreement.


    After seeing bantailiev, akhromeyev, basmanov and Yushchenko disappear outside the door, kirilov suddenly called my rank in a low voice and asked, "Comrade division commander, tell me, what does the superior send us such a special guard company to do?"


    As for the guard company sent by the higher authorities, and the company commander who led the team was my old subordinate, after hearing kirilov''s question, he naturally said, "Comrade political commissar, is this still true? Of course, it''s to protect the safety of the division. "


    Unexpectedly, kirilov sneered and said, "Comrade oshanina, do you really think they are just here to protect your safety? You know, they are all from the Ministry of internal affairs. In addition to protecting your safety, they must have accepted the task of monitoring you. "


    Kirilov''s startling words made me sweat. In these two months of brutal fighting, the troops of the independent division were close to the edge of being wiped out several times, and I had to put my own guard camp into combat many times. I thought that the security company sent by my superior was to strengthen the security force of the independent division, but I didn''t expect that it was sent to monitor me.


    I sat in my seat, all my strength seemed to be drained. At this moment, I felt cold. I didn''t expect that I worked so hard to defend the north gate of Stalingrad, but my superior still didn''t trust me and sent troops from the Ministry of internal affairs to monitor me. In order not to arouse my suspicion, they even sent my former guard company commander.


    After sitting in my seat for a long time, I woke up. I lowered my voice and asked kirilov, "political commissar, who do you think they will be sent?"


    Kirilov did not immediately answer my question. Instead, he asked, "Comrade oshanina, please tell me first, who is the general bezikov that Captain Yushchenko said?"


    "General bezikov is the commander of the Central Guard Corps, whom I met when I went to the Kremlin for a military meeting." I gave a general account of my acquaintance with bezikov. As for the part about Stalin''s double, because it involves top secret, I naturally omit it. It was only vaguely said that on the way back to the city we were escorting important figures, we encountered a German detachment around the rear of our army. Fortunately, bezikov was able to drive and successfully took us out of danger.


    After listening to my story, kirilov thought for a while, and then said thoughtfully, "Comrade oshanina, let''s analyze who is the most likely. Khrushchev told you what the special guard company wanted to do through basmanov. Although he was at a high level, he failed to transfer the power of the Ministry of interior. General Zhukov is currently Deputy Commander in chief. He can mobilize the troops of the Ministry of internal affairs, but with your relationship with him, I believe he will not send someone to monitor you. Just now, all that was left was... "Speaking of this, he didn''t say any more, just pointed up with a finger.


    I knew immediately that he was talking about the Supreme Commander himself. At this moment, I suddenly think of the plot in the movie I saw before: before the great counterattack in Stalingrad, one day Stalin was working in his office. Suddenly, a subordinate named laplenkin ran in and gave him a small report, solemnly reporting: "Comrade Stalin, according to some materials provided by the people arranged by Zhukov''s side, according to reliable information, Zhukov described your victory in the Moscow campaign as his own credit. There are signs that he has become arrogant and dare to openly accuse you of your mistakes. "


    Stalin was silent for a long time after listening to the report. Later, perhaps considering Zhukov''s irreplaceable position, he asked laplengin to keep the matter secret for the time being. However, in this way, he also planted a thorn in his heart, so that in the implementation of the "Uranus action" plan, he would support Zhukov, who made the plan, far away, and would not let him participate in the command of the great counterattack under Stalingrad.


    When I thought about it, I began to think about whether I had anything that could easily arouse the suspicion of my superiors. I really don''t want to know. I was really shocked when I thought about it. For example, I left the defected German soldiers in the army without asking for instructions; He put forward the plan of "replacing soldiers with water" to blow up the dam of Volga River; In defiance of the orders of the supreme command, they not only failed to censor the officers and men who had been captured by the German army, but also rebelled against the two eastern battalions on their own. Either one of these can take me to a military court or even kill me.


    When I think of the things I''ve done, I''m in a mess. I looked at kirilov in front of me and asked nervously, "Comrade political commissar, what should I do in the future?"


    Kirilov has more experience in this field than I do. Seeing that I was so flustered, he quickly stood up and came to me, raised his hand and patted me on the shoulder, comforted me and said, "don''t worry, comrade oshanina. Since captain Yushchenko was your old subordinate, I believe he won''t report any information against you to the superior casually. In any case, you should remember that if you encounter any major events in the future, you should never be good at making any claims. You should ask for more instructions and report more, and leave all the troubles to your superiors to solve them. "


    What kirilov said was a kind of wise strategy generally adopted by commanders who were temporarily promoted to important posts after the great purge. No matter how big or small the matter is, they have to ask for instructions from their superiors. Although they did this to protect themselves, after the outbreak of the war and the interruption of their communication with their superiors, these commanders with no ideas were helpless in the face of the surging enemy. They only knew how to drive their soldiers to death.


    When we were really talking, we suddenly heard bantailiev and akhromeyev''s laughter coming from the door. It seems that they have come back to test their guns. Kirilov quickly lowered his voice and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, just let me know what we have just said. Don''t let others know."


    Seeing that several of them had entered the headquarters, I didn''t speak, but nodded silently to show that I knew.


    Bantai leiev came to me quickly, put the used assault rifle on the table and said excitedly, "Comrade division, this gun is really wonderful. If we can arm a regiment, then in the street battle with the German army, we can have an absolute advantage. "


    I saw captain Yushchenko standing behind them. Although I had a thorn in my heart, I politely asked him, "Captain Yushchenko, has major basmanov arranged your camp?"


    Yushchenko quickly stepped forward two steps, and answered loudly, "report, sir, it''s all arranged."


    I nodded, and then said to him, "Comrade captain, you must be exhausted after so many days of driving. Since the major has arranged your accommodation, you should go back and have a rest early."

 Chapter 813

    Early in the morning, I was awakened by akhromeyev in my deep sleep. He gently shook my shoulder. Seeing that I woke up from my sleep, he immediately reported to me: "Comrade division commander, the call from the headquarters of the group army." Listen, I just gave a vague hum, and he quickly added, "it''s commander trakov himself."


    When I heard that it was trekov, I was worried that he had something important to report to me. I quickly got out of bed, rushed to the table with a few quick steps, grabbed the microphone on the table, and said nervously, "Hello, comrade commander? This is o''shanina. What''s your instruction


    When trekov heard that it was my voice, he jokingly said, "Comrade oshanina, your independent division is very powerful. I''ve heard that you just received a supplement from an elite army yesterday. Although there are only over 100 people, they are carrying new weapons that we have never seen before. Is that true? According to professional analysis, a company with this kind of equipment can form combat effectiveness at least equal to one battalion of ordinary troops. "


    "Comrade commander, look what you said. It''s not so exaggerated." I replied sheepishly: "last night, a small unit came. It was a special guard company assigned to me by the superior. The company commander was my old subordinate when I was the commander of the eighth division of the guards. The guns they are carrying are all new weapons that have just been developed and will not be listed in the army for the time being. " At this point, I suddenly think of the arrival of the special guard company. I didn''t report it to the group army command. How did trakov know? Did he also put his eyes and ears around me? If that''s the case, it would be too chilling for me.


    Thinking of this, I can''t help holding the phone and looking at kirilov, Bantai leiev and akhromeyev who asked me to answer the phone nearby. I guess which of them reported this to trikov in private?


    Just as I was suspecting my colleagues, I was relieved by his next sentence: "last night, when general lobov, the Minister of logistics, was commanding the army to carry materials on the dock, he suddenly saw a small army with a strange rifle get off the ship. The captain also asked him about the way of your division headquarters. Then he knew that this army was newly added to you."


    After listening to trekov''s words, I felt relieved and said in my heart that it was Yushchenko who met general lobov, not the people around me. Since trekov didn''t put a watch on me, I felt more secure. I changed the topic and asked, "Comrade commander, what''s the current situation in the city?"


    "According to the information we have and the current fighting process, we can see that the Germans are as exhausted as our troops. After ten consecutive days of fighting, the Germans once again divided our army into two parts and occupied the tractor factory, but they did not achieve the goal of destroying the main force of our army. " "In order to ensure the continued attack on the city, the German army could only send reserve troops from depth to fight, or even new troops from the German mainland," he said.


    Obviously, in November, the German continued to attack Stalingrad not for military needs, but for political purposes. Of course, the German generals, as before, underestimated the strength of the Soviet people and the Red Army, and their attacks will still be completely smashed by us.


    In the first few days of November, the task of our group army is to disturb the enemy with all our strength and make it restless. If the German general suddenly decides to withdraw from Stalingrad, we must bite them tightly and not let them escape. "


    "Comrade commander, please rest assured." For me, who knows the outcome of the campaign, I understand that the German army does not dare to retreat even when it is surrounded. What''s more, at present, the German army still has the advantage. At least on the surface, they still have the possibility of seizing Stalingrad at any time. So when I heard what trakov said, I immediately expressed my determination to him: "our independent division will certainly attract the enemies in front of the Highlands, and will never let them leave Stalingrad easily."


    After finishing the current situation, trakov brought the topic to my guard company again: "Comrade oshanina, what''s the combat effectiveness of your new guard company?"


    "Comrade commander," although I didn''t know the meaning of trekov''s question, I answered truthfully, "this company belongs to the Ministry of interior, and many of its commanders and fighters have rich combat experience."


    "Comrade oshanina, I''d like to discuss something with you," trekov said abruptly


    "Comrade commander, please go ahead." I don''t understand why trikov behaved so impolitely, so I politely said, "as long as it''s within my ability, I will do my best."


    "Well, comrade oshanina." Trakov said with some difficulty: "as you can see, we lost too much soldiers in the battle some time ago. Even the guard battalion of the group army headquarters was added to the fighting forces. At present, I can only rely on staff officers and logistics personnel to ensure the safety of the headquarters. So I ask you, can I have some people from your new security company to strengthen the security work of the headquarters? "


    When I heard that trakov begged me in such a low voice, I knew in my heart that what he said was true. If he had not been at the end of the mountain, he would not have made such a request to his subordinates. For his request, I will not refuse, can not refuse, so I readily agreed: "Comrade commander, no problem, I will send you a platoon immediately."


    "Great, that''s great." "With this platoon, I believe the security of the group army headquarters can be guaranteed," he said Put down the phone, I immediately had Yushchenko called over and announced to him, "Comrade captain, immediately send a platoon from the company and let them report to the headquarters of the group army." Hearing what I said, Yushchenko was stunned and then asked, "Comrade division commander, may I ask, what is the purpose of dispatching a platoon to the headquarters of the group army?" I patiently explained to Yushchenko: "Comrade captain, as the situation in the city is very bad now, the guard camp of the group army command has been supplemented with combat troops. In order to ensure the safety of the commander, I decided to transfer one of your platoons to carry out the security work."¡° But, comrade teacher. " Yushchenko did not immediately carry out my order, but argued: "the order I received was to go to the independent division to protect your safety. I can''t carry out your order without receiving a new one. "¡° Comrade captain, "kirilov came out to criticize Yushchenko when he saw that he was not willing to carry out the orders I gave him." don''t you know that the orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed? What''s more, the army headquarters of the group army is empty. If the senior commander is killed due to the attack of the German army, then the command system of the whole army will be in chaos. What kind of consequences will there be? Even if I don''t say, can you think of it? " After kirilov said that, Yushchenko stopped talking, raised his hand to salute us, turned and left. Kirilov and I walked out of the headquarters. The cold wind made me shiver. Then I found that it was already white and plain outside. It seemed that the snow last night was not small. I said to kirilov with emotion: "Comrade political commissar, it''s snowing. In this way, the time for the enemy''s planes to go out is much less, which is very beneficial for our defense." Unexpectedly, kirilov said solemnly: "don''t be happy, comrade oshanina. Heavy snow is good for us, but it is also harmful." He pointed to the Volga River in the distance and said, "if the weather is colder, the Volga River will freeze. At that time, the supplies and soldiers on the other side of the river will not be able to come. At that time, we will enter the most difficult period. "

 Chapter 814

    Kirilov pointed to the Volga River in the distance and said to me, "our northern residents in Russia like spring at the end of April, sometimes in May. At that time, white billed crows were flying in the sky and ice floes were floating in the river. Everyone is waiting for warmth and flowers, ready to work in the field. Before 1942, as far as I know, all rivers, in late autumn or early winter, quietly put on a layer of ice, as if to sleep under its cover. Often, the river is still flowing gently at night, but in the morning, when you look again, the river has become a mirror like ice bed.


    Autumn on the Volga River is quite another sight. It takes weeks, months to freeze slowly. The temperature dropped to minus 10 degrees, the Volga River was still unfrozen, and the river was steaming. When the temperature dropped to minus 12 degrees, small pieces of ice drifted on the river. At minus 15 degrees, after small pieces of ice, large pieces of ice finally began to appear. And then there''s a continuous mass of ice moving. At this time, you can see armored boats and individual bold people, with poles in their hands, jumping from one ice block to another and crossing the Volga River. But only the warriors of the native Volga dare to do so. Even the sailors from the Far East don''t dare to ask for help. "


    When I heard kirilov say this, I couldn''t help but ask curiously, "Comrade political commissar, if the river freezes, will our reinforcements and supplies come in a steady stream soon?"


    Kirilov gave a wry smile and said, "Comrade o''shanina, you think too simply. Although the Volga River was frozen, the ships could not be navigable, but it was impossible to transport our army''s urgently needed soldiers and supplies through the ice. Because the ice is too thin, not to mention trucks, even sleds can''t get through. "


    "In that case, the supply from the east bank to the city will not be interrupted because of the freezing of the Volga River, will it?" Kirilov''s words made him worried. If it is true, as he said, as long as the Volga River freezes, the supply of the whole army will be completely cut off. Can they withstand the German attack at that time?


    Just as he was daydreaming, basmanov came out of the headquarters and told kirilov and me that the chief of staff had something urgent for us.


    As soon as I entered the headquarters, I couldn''t wait to ask akhromeyev, "what''s the matter, chief of staff? Are you in a hurry to call me and the political commissar back? What''s the matter?"


    Akhromeyev, who was sitting at the table, quickly stood up and replied, "report division, I just received the weekly war report from the headquarters of the group army. I think it is useful for your next command, so I asked major basmanov to invite you in."


    I went back to my seat and sat down. Then I raised my chin at akhromeyev and said, "Comrade chief of staff, read the war report I just received."


    Akhromeyev nodded, picked up a stack of war reports on the table and began to read: "on October 25, the enemy launched a full-scale re attack on the front of the group army with heavy troops. An infantry division with tanks raided the town of spartanovka, causing a serious situation in the front of the North group army.


    The German infantry, with the support of air and tanks, forced the 149th infantry brigade to retreat and successfully occupied the wukeng area south of the gumlak vladimirovka railway and the center of spartanovka town. When the situation was extremely dangerous, the ships of the Volga fleet came to assist the 149th brigade of bolvinov in the North group. They used the guns of the warships to inflict heavy damage on the attacking enemy.


    On the same day of October 25, the right wing forces of the 64th army turned to attack in the kupolosnoona area.


    The enemy''s two attacks on October 26 and 27 failed. Bolvinov''s 149th brigade, supported by the Volga fleet warships, drove the aggressors out of the town of spatanovka.


    On October 27, major kochmalev, chief of staff of the 149th brigade, was killed when he was directly hit by German shells while commanding the battle in the forward position.


    On the other day, ryudnikov and gurdyev''s troops in the central military of the group fought for a "barricade" factory. Judging from the intensity of the battle, the new German forces are not good at close combat. Although we have only a small number of soldiers in the factory, the enemy, who has a five fold advantage in strength, has not gained any advantage in front of our small troops.


    On 27 October, the left wing of the ludnikov division and a regiment of the gurtyev division were defeated by the enemy. The enemy automatic Gunners took mezinskaya street and tuwenskaya street and began to fire the area near our last ferry. At this time, the troops of smehotvorov and guriyev repulsed the attacks of the 79th German infantry division, which mainly targeted the Red October factory.


    ***The automatic Gunners infiltrated the sparsely populated battle formation of the above troops. They approached the 39th division headquarters and threw grenades at guriyev''s shelter. When commander trakov learned the news, he quickly sent the guard company of group army headquarters to rescue guriyev. The guard company and guriyev''s troops cooperated in the attack, repulsed the enemy''s automatic Gunners from near the division headquarters, and took advantage of the victory to follow them until they reached the "Red October" factory. At the end of the battle, the guard company sent by the group army did not return to the headquarters, but stayed there and added to the guriyev division to strengthen their strength. "


    "So it is." When kirilov heard this, he said thoughtfully, "no wonder commander trakov has the cheek to ask us for a platoon soldier today. He is really going to work as a guard in the headquarters." At this point, he looked up and said to akhromeyev who had stopped, "read on, chief of staff."


    "... the enemy continued to carry out raids on the ferry and the" Red October "factory. At about 15 o''clock, our army successfully repulsed the enemy''s attack, but before dark, the bandits still successfully occupied mashenaya street.


    In the area between the "barricade" factory and the "Red October" factory, the enemy was only about 400 meters away from the Volga River. The enemy''s automatic gun fire and artillery fire strafed the gully from the west to the Volga River. Now to move forward along the river bank, you have to crawl. It''s very inconvenient for us. Soon, our engineers set up two wooden gratings across the gully, with stones in the middle to intercept bullets. "


    After listening to akhromeyev read a thick stack of war reports, kirilov first said: "although the German offensive was very fierce some time ago, and they once had the upper hand, they failed to drive our troops to the Volga River in the end. Now that the enemy''s strength has been exhausted, I don''t think they will launch any more large-scale attacks. "


    "Comrade political commissar, you are too optimistic." As soon as kirilov finished speaking, deputy division commander bantaileiev said: "although the German army did their best not occupy the whole city, and their troops were greatly weakened in the battle. But if, on the basis of this point, we think wishfully that the enemy has no strength to attack, and thus relax our vigilance, we will suffer a great loss. "


    "It''s not as serious as you said, old man." Kirilov retorted unconvinced: "after the hard fighting in October, our commanders understand that the Hitler bandits can no longer prepare for such a large-scale offensive in the short term. The piles of corpses and destroyed equipment of the enemy proved that it was not easy for attackers to stride over these "obstacles" left by themselves


    I didn''t express my opinion on the two men''s argument, but I agree with bandeleev''s analysis in my heart. Although the German army suffered a great loss in the October offensive, we should also see that our army suffered more casualties. If the German army attacks again with the same intensity, whether the 62nd group army can withstand the German attack is a big problem.


    Seeing that the argument between kirilov and bandeliev was becoming more and more fierce, I was going to express my own opinion to stop the argument between them. The telephone on the desk rang untimely, just interrupting the argument.


    Akhromeyev picked up the phone and listened for a while, then handed it to me. At the same time, he said, "Comrade division, it''s commander Gaidar. He said that there is an important intelligence report."


    I took the phone and said in a loud voice, "Hello, commander Gaidar? I''m o''shanina. Do you have anything important to report to me? "


    "Yes, sir." Gaidar said hastily on the phone: "just now the observation post on the top of the mountain reported that there was a change in the enemy''s front position. I went to the observation post on the top of the mountain with political commissar Xia Ping to check. After discovering that the enemy was in their forward position, they laid an artillery position with about two artillery battalions. It seems that they want to fire close to our high ground. "


    Before I had time to speak, leiev, who was next to me, reminded me: "Comrade division commander, ask the lieutenant commander if you can go out and try to destroy the German artillery position."


    Gaidar obviously heard Bantai leyev''s voice and was afraid that I would give him such an order. He immediately reminded me, "Comrade division commander, there are tanks deployed beside the enemy''s artillery positions. Our troops are already short of heavy weapons and anti tank weapons. If we attack the enemy''s positions rashly, it will be almost like death. "


    "Pay close attention to the movements of the enemy." because Gaidar''s report was too concise, I couldn''t guess the enemy''s sudden attempt to set up artillery positions in the forward position. I could only command him to say, "if you have any information, please report it to me at any time."


    When I put down the phone, I frowned and thought, why did the enemy suddenly become so active after they stopped attacking us for so many days? Did they get any supplement from somewhere? In order to find out about this, I dialed the headquarters of the group army. After hearing krailov''s voice, I immediately asked, "Hello, chief of staff, what''s the news of the enemy in the city?"


    "Yes, comrade o''shanina, according to the reports of the divisions, the German forces in front of them are undergoing intense mobilization, and it seems that a major offensive is brewing." Krailov said solemnly, "it seems that the enemy is not reconciled to their failure, but also wants to recover their reputation by attacking again."


    "Is Comrade commander in?" When krailov finished, I asked tentatively, "I have something important to report to him."


    The receiver soon heard the familiar voice of trakov: "I''m trakov, comrade oshanina. Do you have anything to report to me?"


    "Comrade commander," I heard that it was trakov''s voice. After I organized some words in my mind, I began to report to him, "just now, the four commanders reported to me that the enemy had set up an artillery position behind the forward position on the north side of the highland, perhaps to prevent our army from rushing in. They also sent tanks to cover the artillery position."


    "The enemy''s attempt is obvious, comrade oshanina." After listening to my general situation, trakov immediately expressed his opinion: "the enemy has not given up the attempt to capture the mamayev post. I expect that they will launch a fierce attack on the mamayev post today. You must make all preparations in advance."


    "All right, comrade commander, I will make the troops ready for all battles." After that, I repeated what I had just heard kirilov say to trikov.


    After listening, trikov was silent for a long time, and then he said, "Comrade oshanina, you are right. At present, our group army is facing a serious situation of fighting on both sides: fighting with the enemy on the one hand; On the other hand, we are fighting against the natural disasters on the Volga River.


    After estimating the possible complex situation, the military committee of the group army submitted a detailed plan to the logistics command in advance, demanding to ensure the needs of the city combat department. The plan calls for: first, the transportation of additional personnel and large quantities of ammunition (without these, the group army will suffer); Second, bring in food and medicine; Third, the winter clothing needed by the army should be brought in. In addition, as early as a few days ago, we had intentionally reduced food to make our commanders and fighters adapt to the severe cold. However, when we realized that the enemy was preparing to attack, we could no longer be short of both men and ammunition. In this situation, without ammunition, it''s just like waiting to die.


    A lot of ammunition is needed, and the more the better. The soldiers are also well aware of this. They are trying their best to collect and store some bullets, grenades, mines and shells. We all know in our hearts that we would rather suffer from hunger and cold than without ammunition.


    I handed over the supervision of the inventory, distribution and storage of ammunition to spasov, Sokolov and Zinoviev. They stay in the city all the time and report the arrival of materials to me in person every day. The distribution plan (to whom and how many reserves) is decided by the Military Commission of the group army.


    However, your division is not under the distribution plan. As far as I know, the materials you captured this time are enough to support your fight for half a month to a month, so you''d better leave the materials to the troops that need them most. "


    Trikov''s words let me feel relieved. It turned out that he only included our division in the list of no distribution of materials, and did not intend to let us adjust some of the materials to support the friendly forces. In this way, I feel much more secure.


    As I was trying to find a reason to hang up, trikov suddenly said, "Comrade oshanina, in a few days, the great October Revolution Day will be held. In order to celebrate this grand festival, the group army is going to launch a large-scale counter attack against the enemy on the day before, that is, November 6. You can''t be an exception. You should cooperate with the group army''s overall action and launch an attack on the enemy face to face. Are you ok? "


    Trekov asked me, can I say no? So I could only bite my teeth and promise, "please rest assured, the commander, the independent division will never drag the whole army behind. We will attack the enemy face to face after the counter attack begins."


    When I put down the phone, akhromeyev, who heard part of our conversation, quickly asked with concern, "Comrade teacher, what''s the matter? Where and on what scale does the commander intend to counter the enemy? "


    Before I said anything, kirilov was not satisfied and said, "counterattack, counterattack again. We don''t have to look at the current situation. Our troops are limited and we are barely enough to defend. If we use them to attack, we will be a bit stretched


    "Comrade political commissar, you can''t just say that." I was deeply afraid that kirilov was so excited that he said something he shouldn''t have said. He stopped him immediately and expressed his views to a few people: "although we have limited forces now, we can''t make any big counterattack, but small-scale counterattack can still be done. This counterattack was specially organized by commander trakov to celebrate the great "October Revolution Day."


    As soon as I said that, all the people stopped talking, because this counterattack is associated with celebrating the great festival. If anyone objects, it will seriously affect their future. Therefore, in this case, silence is their best choice.


    Bantai leiev first broke away from the topic: "Comrade teacher, I have a hunch." Seeing that everyone''s attention was focused on him, he went on to say, "the enemy is setting up an artillery position so far away from our position. Its purpose is not only to bombard our Highlands, but also to bombard our ferries on the Volga River in an attempt to cut off our logistics supply. "


    "Comrade Deputy teacher, do you have any good ideas?" After bantailiev finished speaking, akhromeyev looked down at the map for a while, then raised his head and asked, "or in what way should we destroy the enemy''s artillery positions to ensure the safety of the highlands and the transport line of the Volga River?"


    "Since the enemy has set up an artillery position, we can also set up an artillery position on the south slope of the north." Bantailiev seems to have considered all kinds of possibilities for a long time, so after hearing ahlomeyev''s question, he immediately answered with confidence, "during this northward journey, we captured a lot of enemy cannons. Although we lost three cannons in the battle some time ago, the remaining cannons are more than enough to destroy the enemy''s artillery positions."


    After listening to Bantai leiev''s words, kirilov pondered for a moment, turned to me and said, "Comrade division commander, I think the deputy division commander''s method is good. He can set up an artillery position at the back of the fourth regiment to destroy the enemy''s artillery position with artillery fire." After that, seeing that I had not expressed my position for a long time, he said cautiously, "why don''t we call major Morozov over now and ask him what he thinks?" As for kirilov''s proposal, I didn''t say anything. I just nodded to acquiesce. When akhromeyev saw that I agreed, he immediately picked up the phone on the desk and contacted Morozov, ordering him to rush to the division headquarters immediately, saying that he would assign important combat tasks to him. Morozov came very quickly. Within two minutes after akhromeyev finished the call, he appeared in my headquarters. Perhaps it was because he heard that there was an important combat task to be arranged. As soon as he entered, he could not wait to ask, "Comrade division commander, major Morozov, artillery battalion commander, has come to report to you. I don''t know what important task you have to give us?" Kirilov and I looked at each other for a smile, then asked molozov jokingly, "Comrade major, what''s the matter? I can''t calm down?"¡° Of course, comrade political commissar. " Morozov replied shyly, "seeing that other commanders and fighters are decorated and awarded titles, our battalion''s commanders and fighters are very anxious. Everyone came to my command post every day and begged me to fight with the division headquarters, but I couldn''t persuade them... "Before Morozov finished speaking, kirilov interrupted him with a smile:" Comrade major, it may be you who can''t calm down. Has it been a long time since there was a war, and it''s hard to see other people confer awards? "¡° "It''s like this," Morozov said with a embarrassed smile when he saw that his little trick had been recognized. He then said, "although our battalion is not fully organized, there are still several newly captured heavy guns, which can provide necessary firepower cover for our troops in the battle..." before Morozov finished his words, the telephone on the table rang again. Akhromeyev picked up the phone, put it down after listening for a while, raised his head and said to me, "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant Colonel gedar reports that the enemy has started shelling their positions."¡° I see After I finished this sentence in a steady tone, I turned around and told Morozov: "Comrade major, I order you to build a heavy artillery position on the south slope of the highland where the fourth regiment is located as soon as possible to suppress the enemy''s artillery position. Of course, it is the best way to destroy them. I will give you credit at that time." When he heard that I was going to record merit for them, Morozov was as excited as a chicken. He came to attention with a slap and replied loudly, "please rest assured, sir. I will build this heavy artillery position in two hours. Before dark, I guarantee that this artillery position of the enemy will no longer exist. "

 Chapter 815

    Although Morozov kept his promise to destroy the enemy''s newly built artillery position with heavy artillery after dark. Gedar''s fourth regiment and the second regiment, which held fast to highland 107.5, successfully repelled the German attack. Although the independent division achieved great success in the battle on November 1, it destroyed an artillery position of the enemy, more than 10 tanks and 700 German soldiers. But such a victory was concealed by the defeat of the group army that day.


    When we all feel that the German forces attacking Stalingrad are exhausted and will not launch the same fierce attack as before in a short period of time, it turns out that our judgment is wrong. After a period of pause, the German army resumed its fierce attack on the 62nd group army. With their rapid mobility, they transferred the troops that confronted the Don front army some time ago.


    I learned from the war report from the headquarters of the group army that, despite the resistance of our army, the enemy still occupied the south of the "barricade" factory in the evening, and from here they went out to the Volga River. The situation faced by the 62nd army was aggravated by the freezing of the Volga River.


    At noon, the Hitler elements entered the reserve. Their infantry and tanks defeated the battle formation of the right wing of the 241st infantry regiment of the gorishner division. They advanced 300 to 400 meters and came out to the Volga River on the front of 500 to 600 meters. The group army was divided for the third time, and the liudnikov Infantry Division was cut off from the main force.


    However, in other areas of the front, the group army firmly held its position. Paulus'' superiority in military strength was not brought into full play. They did not complete the scheduled plan and failed to drive the 62nd army to the cold Volga River.


    After reading the war report, I was also annoyed by another thing. According to lieutenant colonel Gaidar''s report, a large number of huge ice sheets appeared on the Volga River, which made the ships of the Volga river fleet unable to move and had to stop transporting urgently needed materials and soldiers to the city.


    After much deliberation, I reported the bad news to trekov over the phone. After hearing this, trikov sighed and said, "Comrade oshanina, we have already considered what you said. In order to rush more materials to the city as soon as possible, from three days ago, I ordered the commanders of all units to select the soldiers and commanders who had been fishermen and sailors, let them build their own boats, and then collect grenades and mines from the warehouses of the group army and the front army, and transport them to the city. Of course, this is not without danger. Many small boats loaded with ammunition often sink in the night because they are not parked in the right place or hit on ice.


    In addition, it is not uncommon for small boats to be caught between ice blocks and become targets of enemy artillery. To this end, the headquarters of the group army had to set up another rescue team. The rescue team is equipped with poles, ropes and ropes on board. They are on duty on the shore at night. When they find that the ship sends out a distress signal, they immediately go to the rescue.


    In this way, within a few days, before the formation of the ice sheet and before the enemy launched a new attack, the ammunition of the group army was guaranteed. We also store a lot of grain in this way, and I have my own secret warehouse, which is managed by lieutenant colonel spassov. There are about 12 tons of chocolate stored in the emergency reserve of the group army. I intend to give half a dollar to each of the commanders and fighters of the group army in difficult times, so that the army can last for a week or two before the Volga River is frozen and the regular supply is not restored. "


    After listening to trekov''s words, I admire him a little more. As a commander, his consideration is more comprehensive than mine. What I just thought of, he put it into practice a few days ago. Just as I wanted to say a few words of admiration to him, I heard him say, "Comrade oshanina, once the Volga River freezes completely, our connection with the east bank will be completely broken. I remember that you once stayed in Leningrad. You must know something about the famous "lifeline on the ice."


    "Yes, comrade commander." I replied briefly, "I used to be a battalion commander on an ice transport line."


    When I finished, trikov said solemnly, "Comrade oshanina, I''m going to give you an important task. Do you have confidence to complete it?"


    Although I didn''t know what task trekov would give me, I answered firmly, "please rest assured, comrade commander. I promise to finish the task." After expressing my determination, I asked carefully, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what kind of task you are going to give me?"


    "The task is simple, but it''s also hard." "When the Volga River is completely frozen, you will send someone to the ice to check the thickness of the ice and confirm when people can walk on the ice safely and boldly," he said


    When I heard what trakov said, I immediately realized that he also wanted to open up an ice transportation line on the Volga River. So after I finished the call with him, I immediately called captain Mikhail yev, the commander of the engineering company, and handed over the task of inspecting the ice to his engineering company.


    In the next few days, frequent snowfall and Snowstorm Weather began. But the ice on the Volga River is still impassable.


    Every morning, the explorers set off from mamayev post in a hurry to go to the crisp and thin ice to check how hard the ice was at night. Their reports are contradictory. Some teams confirmed that the thickness of the ice had increased by one to two millimeters. On the contrary, the ice has become thin. In the middle of the Volga River, the team led by Captain mihayev found a large area of water completely free of ice.


    Trikov also attaches great importance to whether the Volga River is completely frozen. Every morning, in the middle of the day and in the evening, he calls to ask how the ice survey is going?


    His phone call was very simple, just a sentence: "how is the ice on the Volga?"


    Although the person who answers his phone is different every time, the answer is the same: "sorry, comrade commander, the ice is too thin to pass."


    "There is still a large area of water in the middle of the river that is not frozen and cannot be bypassed."


    Every time he heard such an answer, trakov would sigh helplessly and put down the phone. But at the scheduled time, he would call again to ask about ice.


    Trekov was worried. I was just as worried as the others in the division headquarters. After putting down trakov''s phone this time, kirilov said, "Comrade oshanina, according to my experience, it takes seven centimeters of ice to bear the weight of people. A sled carrying a ton of goods pulled by a horse. The thickness of the ice should be at least 15 cm, and for a ton and a half truck carrying goods, it should be nearly 20 cm. "


    "But when will the ice be so thick?" In the past two days, under the repeated influence of kirilov, I am very familiar with this group of figures. However, if the temperature does not continue to drop, it will be difficult for people to walk on the ice surface of the river, even by sleds and trucks.


    Just when we are worried about the kindness of the ice on the river every day, the military committee of the group army decides to carry out counter attack against the enemy, whose task is to drive the enemy away from the front of our defense. In the order given by trakov, the 45th Infantry Division was required to carry out a major assault in the area between the barricade factory and the Red October factory. The guriyev division was ordered to launch an attack in this defensive zone and move forward on the railway line to shewernaya station. The order required all offensive units and units to move forward bravely and rapidly.


    When we learned of the order, akhromeyev asked me curiously, "Comrade division commander, why did the commander think yesterday that the group army was in imminent danger, and today he decided to carry out counter attack?"


    For akhromeyev''s question, I shook my head with a wry smile, because I could not understand trakov''s intention. At this time, putting limited troops into the counterattack was tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst.


    When I asked trekov this question, he replied, "Comrade oshanina, this is the law of war, especially the situation we were in at that time. Imagine the situation of the 62nd army, which had been defending for about three months in the narrow area along the Volga River. If the group army does not seize the opportunity to attack the tired enemy and drive it back 200 to 300 meters from the shore, the group army itself may be driven down the river. Could we sit on the banks of Volga and wait for the enemy to recover? Can we tell the enemy that we can only defend? It would be foolish to wait for the enemy to strike first without trying to change the situation, even if it is a little bit, to make it beneficial to me.


    The counterattack we launched on November 3, I think, was a major victory. We pushed forward about 100 meters in some areas and occupied the west section of CAYA Avenue and the west part of the orchard in novo sheris; In the "Red October" factory, we recaptured the open hearth workshop, model workshop, profile workshop, classification workshop and finished product warehouse. The most important thing is that we prove to ourselves and to the enemy that we can not only defend, but also attack, and recover what we have lost. The result of this counterattack is that we, not the enemy, carried out the final assault. "


    When I stopped my conversation with trakov, I asked akhromeyev with concern, "Comrade chief of staff, is there any news from the engineering company that went to explore the way back?"


    Akhromeyev shook his head and said regretfully, "sorry, comrade division commander, we have lost contact with captain mihayev''s team now, and we can''t get further information."


    After listening to akhromeyev''s words, bantailiev sighed and said with the same regret: "Sir, I think we are doing useless work. According to my experience, the thickest ice in Volga River will not be earlier than January next year. Before that, even if the river is completely frozen, it will not be able to open up a transport line that can provide us with enough supplement. " Akhromeyev, who has always been fond of contradicting bantaileiev, kept silent abnormally after hearing these words.


    Kirilov looked at akhromeyev and asked curiously, "Comrade chief of staff, I think you like to argue with the deputy division chief most. What''s the matter today? Why didn''t you say a word?"


    On hearing kirilov''s question, akhromeyev said with a wry smile, "Comrade political commissar, I think the deputy division commander has a point. Although there is a large area of ice on the Volga River, the ice is too thin to walk, let alone sleds and trucks. Therefore, I think that the ice surface after January mentioned by the Deputy teacher is suitable for opening up ice transportation lines, which is completely correct. "


    "In January, we can''t make it to January without the supply of troops and materials." After they had finished, I also expressed my own opinion: "according to commander trakov''s judgment, the ammunition and materials currently stored by the group army can barely last for about two weeks. If, as you say, we can''t open ice transportation lines until January, then our troops won''t have to be attacked by the enemy, and they will starve to death. "


    "What shall we do?" After hearing this, akhromeyev asked, "even if we are in a hurry and God refuses to help us cool down, the ice on the river still can''t reach the necessary thickness." As soon as akhromeyev had finished speaking, the three of them had a discussion about you and me. But I was sitting beside, quietly thinking about their own thoughts, did not care what they said. Three people said for a long time, found that I was silent beside, all coincidentally closed their mouths. After a while, kirilov asked cautiously, "Comrade oshanina, do you have any good solutions under the present circumstances?"¡° Comrade political commissar, I have an idea. " When the three of them were talking, an idea suddenly appeared in my mind. At this time, when I heard kirilov''s question, I had the impulse to say: "have we fallen into a wrong thinking area, always thinking about waiting for the river to freeze, but not thinking about how to remove such a thin ice layer?"¡° Remove the ice? " Kirilov asked in a puzzled way, "how can I get rid of it?"¡° Comrade political commissar, do you think that''s possible? " I tentatively said what I thought: "we invite the sailors of the Volga fleet to send some icebreakers from other fleets. The icebreaker is in front of us, and our fleet of supplies is behind us, so that we can keep the supplies flowing to the city. "¡° Is that all right? " Kirilov asked hesitantly¡° Comrade political commissar, I think that''s a good idea. " After hearing my proposal, Bantai leiev was immediately excited. "Anyway, the ice on the river is not thick. I don''t think it''s a big problem to transfer the icebreaker used in Antarctica to clear a passage for our transport fleet."¡° I agree with the teacher When akhromeyev saw that bantailiev had already said what he should have said, he did not add to the story, but simply echoed it. After hearing my proposal, trekov was startled and said in a hurry, "Comrade oshanina, who made this proposal to you?" I don''t know the purpose of his question, so I can only honestly reply, "Comrade report commander, I thought it out myself." In order to dispel his worries, I went on to explain: "according to recent observations, the ice on the river is so thin that it''s difficult for people to walk. It''s hard to pass heavy equipment. If you want the ice to be as thick as sleds and trucks, it will take at least January. Judging from the current situation of our group army, neither the soldiers nor the materials can sustain for such a long time. That''s why I came up with a way to let the icebreaker open the way and resume our water transportation. " After listening to what I said, trikov was silent for a long time before he hesitated and said, "Comrade oshanina, the exploration work on the ice still needs to continue. As for the dispatch of icebreakers, I need to report to the higher authorities. After getting permission, I can consider whether your plan is feasible." Although I felt no heart at Chuikov''s promise to this matter, I knew that cucuv had difficulty. Such a case involving friendly forces was not his has the final say. He had to report to the superior, and the negotiation between the superior and the friendly forces. After I put down the phone, kirilov asked with concern, "Comrade division, what''s the situation? Did the commander agree? " I shook my head and said disappointedly, "Comrade political commissar, the commander said that he can''t decide this matter and needs to ask for instructions from his superior." As we were talking, Mikhail entered the headquarters under the leadership of basmanov. Seeing the appearance of mihayev, I felt a glimmer of hope again. My heart said that maybe he had explored a channel. So when he came to me, I couldn''t wait for him to salute, and asked, "Captain Mikhail, what''s the situation? Have you brought me any good news?" Mihayev shook his head and replied bitterly: "I''m sorry, sir, I''ve let you down. After several days of exploration, the current ice on the river is too thin to open up an ice transportation line. " Seeing that captain mihayev''s exploration was still fruitless, I sighed with disappointment, then waved to him and said, "well, comrade captain, you''ve been busy for so many days and you''ve worked hard. You''d better go back and have a rest early. After dark, you can send two groups of people to try other people''s places. Maybe you can find a suitable place. " Mikhail nodded, raised his hand to salute me, then turned and left.

 Chapter 816

    On the evening of November 6, I received a call from trakov from the city. His words were very brief: "Comrade oshanina, after dark, come to the headquarters of the group army immediately. We are going to hold an important meeting."


    I put down the phone, turned around and looked behind me. I was surprised to find that busmanov, who usually stayed in the headquarters, was not here today. I turned to akhromeyev and asked, "chief of staff, do you see major basmanov, the commander of the guard battalion?"


    After hearing my question, akhromeyev shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands to show that he didn''t know anything. And then kirilov said, "Comrade division, I sent major basmanov to work?"


    Since I didn''t find out when busmanov left the headquarters at all, after hearing kirilov''s words, I casually asked, "Comrade political commissar, when did you arrange for him to leave? Why don''t I know?" After that, I realized that I was not polite to kirilov. He was the political commissar of the division. He sent a small guard battalion commander to do something. It was a matter of course. He didn''t need to report to me at all.


    But kirilov didn''t care about my attitude. Instead, he said excitedly, "Comrade division, don''t you forget that tomorrow is the October Revolution Day. I asked major basmanov to go to the wharf to find commander spasov, who is in charge of logistics, hoping to find some meat from him, so that the soldiers can have a meal of Siberian Dumplings tomorrow."


    "Siberian Dumplings?" It was the first time I heard such a statement, so I asked, "Comrade political commissar, what are you talking about?"


    Kirilov waited for me to finish and asked in surprise, "Comrade oshanina, have you never eaten Siberian Dumplings?" Seeing that I shook my head to say no, he enthusiastically introduced to me: "there should be at least two kinds of meat in the stuffing of authentic Siberian Dumplings - beef and pork. It would be better if there were more mutton or poultry. The second condition for a Siberian dumpling to be delivered is that it must be frozen before cooking. Maybe it''s the freezing before cooking that makes Siberian Dumplings juicy and delicious, so everyone likes to eat them. Also, dumplings are usually cooked in chicken or beef soup, and they are eaten with sour cream


    I always thought dumplings came from China. Even last time I ate dumplings with trikov in the headquarters, I thought it was the skill of the 88th international brigade. I didn''t expect that Russia also had its own authentic dumplings. After listening to kirilov, I can''t help drooling. I can''t wait to eat this delicious Siberian dumpling as soon as possible.


    Kirilov also said: "Comrade oshanina, I think so. Anyway, it''s cold now. We can freeze the dumplings on the snow all night, and the taste will become more delicious when they are cooked tomorrow."


    After talking about dumplings with kirilov, I suddenly thought that I would go to the headquarters for a meeting, and quickly told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, call captain Yushchenko, the company chief of special security, and ask him to come to the division headquarters."


    As soon as Yushchenko entered the headquarters, kirilov went forward and told him, "Comrade captain, the division commander is going to the headquarters of the group army for a meeting. You should immediately gather a platoon to protect the division commander and go to the city. Remember, let all the soldiers be armed. " He also deliberately accentuated the word "fully armed.".


    Yushchenko heard kirilov''s command, quickly agreed, turned and walked out of the headquarters.


    I just didn''t pay attention to kirilov''s emphasis on the word "fully armed". When I walked out of the headquarters and saw the orderly guards outside, I was stunned. I saw more than 30 soldiers standing in front of me. In addition to an AK47, each of them was wearing a piece of armor like that worn by ancient knights. It''s more appropriate to say that it''s like armor, rather than like bulletproof vests of later generations. Because of the metal shell, perhaps to facilitate the soldiers to operate their weapons, the whole right shoulder is completely exposed.


    Seeing the strange decoration of the guards, I quickly called Yushchenko over, pointed to the strange steel plate on the soldiers, and asked curiously, "Comrade captain, can you explain to me what the soldiers are wearing?"


    Yushchenko reported to me very simply: "Mr. division, these new bullet proof clothes are newly developed."


    Bullet proof clothes. When I heard this word, my heart trembled and thought: first AK47, then bullet proof clothes. What do those military workers want to do? Do they want to change history?


    Seeing that I was silent, kirilov, who was standing beside me, quickly said, "Comrade oshanina, this kind of sn-42 armor bullet proof vest. It is 2mm thick and weighs 3.5kg. It can resist 9mm bullets fired by German MP-40 from 100m away. According to the latest information, this kind of bullet proof clothing will be equipped in a small area, and the priority equipment will be the assault engineers of the key troops. "


    When I heard kirilov''s parameters, I immediately became interested. I didn''t expect that the weight of the body armor was so light. It seems that I will have to make a suit to wear in the future. In this way, I don''t have to worry about being hurt by stray bullets on the battlefield. Although I couldn''t wait for a bullet proof suit, I pretended to be casual and asked, "by the way, comrade captain, there''s something I forgot to ask you. Is the platoon sent to the group army headquarters equipped with these bullet proof vests? "


    "Yes, sir." Yushchenko replied positively, "because we are on a special mission, our company is equipped with this new type of bullet proof vest before we leave." After that, he waved to the distance, and a soldier immediately ran over with something in his hand. When the soldier came near, I could see that what he was holding in his hand was actually the bullet proof clothes that made me excited. Yushchenko took the bullet proof clothes from the soldier''s hand and asked, "Comrade division, is that ok?" After getting my permission, he put on this bullet proof vest for me, which can save my life on the battlefield. After I put it on, I moved my body and found that it had no effect on my flexibility at all. I nodded with satisfaction and then told Yushchenko, "Comrade captain, it''s getting late. Let''s go."

 Chapter 817

    We walked through the ruins of the city. Under the guidance of the commanders and fighters we met, we successfully avoided the enemy''s firepower points and arrived at the headquarters of the group army without danger.


    When we were 50 or 60 meters away from the headquarters, from a collapsed building on the side of the road, a stern voice suddenly came out: "who, stop!"


    Hearing the sudden sound, I instinctively crouched down and hid behind a pile of bricks and stones. Looking back, I found that the accompanying soldiers and Yushchenko were still standing in place. I thought they didn''t react, so they yelled to Yushchenko in a low voice: "Hey, Captain, what are you doing there? Why don''t you squat down?"


    After listening to my words, Yushchenko didn''t squat down. Instead, he took a step forward and asked aloud in the direction of the voice: "is it lieutenant vorenzov?"


    When I heard Yushchenko asking the people who were shouting, I immediately guessed that he might be nervous. I quickly stood up from the squatting place and looked at the ruins of the building attentively. From the gap on the wall, several helmeted commanders and fighters came out quickly. Seeing their familiar bullet proof vests, I knew that they were all members of the guard platoon that we sent to protect the safety of the headquarters of the group army.


    A second lieutenant came to Yushchenko quickly. After standing at attention, he straightened his body and reported to him, "report to company commander, special guard company, one platoon and one group are carrying out the guard task, please give instructions!"


    Yushchenko nodded, and then told him briefly, "keep alert!"


    The second lieutenant turned and told the soldiers who followed him out of the gap: "all go back and continue to guard!" After that, he came to me and stood at attention. Then he said in a loud voice, "Sir, please allow me to guide you to the headquarters."


    "Lead the way ahead."


    After hearing my order, the second lieutenant turned around and acted as a guide for us.


    After a while, we came outside the underground shelter of the headquarters. Lieutenant vorenzov, the guide, stopped, pointed to the entrance where two Sentinels were on guard and said, "Comrade division, after you go in there, go straight ahead and you will see a fork in the road. Turn left. The second room on your left is the commander''s headquarters. There are many commanders meeting in it tonight."


    I took off the AK47 I was carrying and handed it to Yushchenko, who was following me. At the same time, I told him, "Comrade captain, take your people to hide nearby and shoulder the work of the guard headquarters side by side. Do you understand? " When I said the last sentence, I accentuated it.


    "I understand!" Yushchenko replied loudly: "I will immediately arrange for people to guard the neighborhood. I will never let a German approach here."


    I walked into the half buried headquarters, walked along the low narrow passage, and kept raising my hands to salute the commanders and fighters who saluted me. The more I go in, the more uncomfortable I feel. It''s not only stuffy, but also a bad smell. If I''m not going to a meeting, I really don''t want to stay here for a second. And trakov, they live in such an environment every day, and they don''t know how they stick to it.


    I followed the instructions of lieutenant vorenzov and went to the outside of trakov''s headquarters. It was full of people. I didn''t care to check what people were in it, so I strode in. After seeing the location of trakov and gurov, I raised my hand to salute them, and loudly reported, "report commander, comrade military commissar, division chief of red flag independent division, o''shanina, has come to report to you, waiting for your instructions."


    "Comrade o''shanina is here." The nearest guroff stood up, and at the same time extended his hand to me with a smile.


    After I shook hands with gurov, I shook hands with trekov who stood up. Trekov''s hands were all bandaged. Instead of touching my hand directly, he put his palm on my wrist. After clenching it, he shook it a few times, which meant he had shaken it.


    I stared at trakov''s bandaged hand and asked nervously, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with you? Have you been wounded in the battle?"


    "It''s all damned eczema, and it''s so wet here that my hands are infected, so I have to put on gauze." After that, he stared at the strange shape of the bullet proof clothes I was wearing and asked with a smile, "Comrade o''shanina, do you think this so-called bullet proof clothes are really as powerful as those in the legend? If we can really stop the bullets coming from the opposite side, our soldiers will become invulnerable. In that case, do we still use the plane cannons that are afraid of the bandits? "


    Trikov''s words caused the commanders on the scene to laugh, and the atmosphere of silence became relaxed. I know that trekov is teasing me, so I don''t mind. After everyone finished laughing, I solemnly asked trekov, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what the main topic of this meeting you are holding today?"


    "What else can be discussed? Of course, it''s about festivals." Trikov happily replied: "I''m going to make the commanders and soldiers of the whole army eat a hot Siberian dumpling. So I ordered commander spasov, who is in charge of logistics, to distribute meat to all divisions to ensure that each soldier has 200 grams of meat. After the meeting, you can send someone to spasov to collect the necessary materials. As for the second point, "his expression suddenly became serious," since tomorrow is the October Revolution Day, we must do something as a gift to this important festival. On this day of last year, in our great capital, Moscow, there was a military parade that the enemy did not expect. After leaving Red Square, the troops participating in the parade went directly to the front line and continued to fight with the ferocious enemy stubbornly. "


    As trakov spoke, I looked around curiously and found many familiar faces. In addition to the chief of staff and the director of the political department, they are also the division heads of various divisions, such as lyudnikov, rodimzev, guriyev, roluev, gorishner, and their deputy division heads and political commissars. When everyone and my eyes met, they all nodded to me with a smile, which was regarded as greeting me. When trakov finished, there was a sudden silence in the room. After a while, general rodimzev took the lead in asking, "Comrade commander, if I understand correctly, do you intend to launch an attack tomorrow to celebrate our great festival with victory?"¡° Exactly right, comrade rojmtsev. " Seeing that rodymzev had guessed his intention, trakov nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "we will teach the enemy a lesson tomorrow, so that they can no longer do as they like now."¡° Comrade commander, with all due respect. " Lyudnikov stood up and said, "I want to ask where and with what kind of forces the group army command plans to launch a significant counterattack against the enemy tomorrow."¡° "Colonel lyudnikov," said trakov in a regretful tone, "under the present circumstances, we can not get any supplement, so we can only rely on the existing forces to counterattack the German forces face to face and try to drive them away from our position." After listening to trakov, lyudnikov sat down without a word, while Col. gorishner, who was sitting next to me, sighed softly. Gurov''s ears were very good. He heard the groaning of gorishner. He called his name and asked, "Comrade Colonel, I want to ask you, why do you sigh?" Gorishner got up from his seat, looked at trakov first, then at gurov, and asked cautiously, "Comrade military commissar, can I tell the truth?" After grunting from his nose, gurov said angrily, "no matter how beautiful a lie is, I just want to hear from your heart." After gorishner got gurov''s permission, he had a lot of confidence. He said carefully: "I think it''s meaningless to simply drive the enemy away from our position. Because our troops are limited now, even if we recover these defensive areas, we will not have enough troops to defend them. When the new round of German attack begins, our troops will have to give up these places because they can''t resist it. " Guriyev first disagreed with gorishner''s words. As soon as gorishner''s words were finished, he immediately stood up and gave a tit for tat opinion: "I think it was in the recent battle that Colonel gorishner was terrified by the temporary strength of the Communist aggressors that he made such absurd remarks."¡° General guriyev is right. I agree with him. " Major general ruolujaf, the commander of the 37th division of the guards, promptly supported guriyev, pointed the spearhead at gorishner and said: "although we have fewer people, our soldiers are all fearless warriors, and no force can defeat them." For the dispute between several teachers, whether it is trekov or gurov, did not interrupt them, but quietly listen to them expound their own views. After all three of them finished, trakov turned to look at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, I want to hear your opinion. What do you think of your counterattack tomorrow?"¡° Comrade commander, "I cautiously replied when I heard trekov ask me this question," I think your idea is correct. In addition to a victory to celebrate the great October Revolution Day, we also need to make use of this battle to strengthen the confidence of the commanders and fighters of the whole group army to continue to fight, so that they can understand that although the Germans have the advantage, in the end, the German army will continue to fight, They are bound to be defeated by us. "

 Chapter 818

    Although I saw that many teachers and political commissars were not willing to participate in the meeting, in the face of the counterattack made by Cui KOV and implemented on November 7, due to the orders of the higher authorities, they could only show unconditional obedience by holding their noses.


    After the meeting, trikov specially left me to discuss with him whether he could transfer troops from mamayev post to support the counterattack in the area. When I heard what trakov said, I felt very difficult. To tell you the truth, I really didn''t want to give my troops to the headquarters of trakov at such a time. Not to mention that perrskin and Pugachev, who are still lying in the military hospital, even the strongest regiment of shejerikov, were given his command for just over a day, and there were few more than 3000 people left. Now it''s only a few days before Stalingrad''s big counterattack. If I give these troops to trakov to squander, it will be very difficult for the independent division to achieve any brilliant achievements in the final stage of the campaign.


    After much deliberation, I said to trikov, "Comrade commander, I understand that the situation in the city is very bad, but the mamayev post is also very important. After several fierce battles, the army of the independent division was also seriously reduced. If the troops are transferred into the city again, I am afraid that the remaining troops will be difficult to resist the fierce German offensive. "


    After listening to my words, trikov slapped the table and stood up to attack. Gulov, who was sitting next to him, grabbed his hand and motioned him not to be angry for a while. Then he said to me kindly, "Comrade oshanina, I know what you said is true, but have you ever thought about the area defended by the 70th division of lyudnikov''s close guard, Once broken through, the enemy will not only advance to the Volga River, but also occupy the logistics supply warehouse of our army group. In that case, our commanders and fighters will not be able to support any more. "


    Gurov''s words made me hesitate. It seems that they are still very polite to me. They even discussed with me about the transfer of troops. If they were replaced by other troops, maybe they would give a direct order: how many companies would be drawn out of the division and directly assigned to lyudnikov''s troops. There would be no room for negotiation.


    Under such circumstances, it is obviously unwise for me to stick to my own opinions any more. Therefore, I can only say with a stiff head: "Comrade military commissar, since this is the case, I will certainly find a way to transfer troops and support Colonel lyudnikov."


    Seeing that I agreed with his proposal, trekov turned to the door and called out, "come in, comrade colonel." With his shouts, lyudnikov came in through the door. Looking at my eyes fell on him, he became a bit at a loss. After two dry smiles, he choked out a nonsense: "Comrade o''shanina, you haven''t left yet."


    I thought to myself, if I leave, who would you ask for troops to strengthen your defense area? You should know that under the current situation, except for the relatively complete organizational structure of my independent division, although the other units in the city still have division numbers, the actual strength is only about one battalion.


    Trikov coughed and said gravely to lyudnikov, "Comrade Colonel, don''t you want to borrow some soldiers from oshanina? I''ve conveyed your idea to her, and she agreed. Next, you go to the next room to discuss the deployment. "


    "Yes." When lyudnikov heard what trakov said, he breathed a sigh of relief and saluted them. After that, he reached out to me and made a gesture of invitation.


    We came to an empty room next door. I didn''t want to stay in the headquarters for a long time, so as soon as I sat down, I said frankly, "Comrade Colonel, you and I are all acquaintances, and we have fought side by side more than once. If you need anything, you can directly ask for it. You don''t need to send a message through the commander."


    "Well, comrade oshanina." Lyudnikov giggled and said, "I think you know as well as I do what''s going on in the city. After the brutal fighting, the divisions and brigades were severely reduced. Some divisions even had only one or two hundred people left. It was difficult for them to defend the existing area, let alone help us. Therefore, I had the cheek to ask you for help. For fear of being rejected by you, I asked the commander to help me


    "Come on, comrade Colonel," I interrupted him and said to myself, "in the recent battle, the number of the independent division has been reduced very seriously. At present, there is only one vacant number left in the second regiment, so even if I have to send troops to supplement, the number of troops I can draw out is very limited."


    Lyudnikov listened to me with a look of disappointment on his face, but he asked reluctantly, "Comrade oshanina, I want to know how many troops can you send me?"


    I stretched out a finger and said in an understatement, "a company."


    "What, a company?" Lyudnikov jumped up from his seat and said, "you just gave me a company. What''s the purpose of this force? If we put them in the position, we can wipe them out with only one round of enemy shelling. "


    I coughed gently, and then explained to lyudnikov, "Comrade Colonel, you don''t know much about the situation of the independent division. Our establishment is a little different from that of other divisions. Each company has 200 people. And the company I''m going to send to you is one of the most effective units in our division. "


    Lyudnikov was still reluctant to hear me say this: "Comrade oshanina, just now you also heard what the military commissar said. Behind us is the logistics warehouse of the group army. Once captured by the German army, it will be a huge disaster for the whole group army." I know what lyudnikov said is a fact. Once the logistics warehouse of the group army is occupied by the German army, we will face the tragic fate of running out of ammunition and food. So after hesitating for a moment, I gritted my teeth. Finally, I gave up two fingers and said to lyudnikov, "well, comrade Colonel, I''ll give you two more companies, You''ve almost doubled your strength, and you''re more confident of dealing with the Germans. " Seeing what lyudnikov seemed to want to say, I quickly raised my hand to stop him and said in an indisputable tone: "Colonel, there are only three companies. I think we are old friends and take care of you. I don''t think a single soldier will support them if we change to other divisions. "

 Chapter 819

    As soon as I got back to the division headquarters, I told akhromeyev to get captain Karpov immediately. When akhromeyev saw my serious face, he did not dare to ask more questions. He picked up the phone and called the command post of the guard camp to inform the officer on duty to ask deputy battalion commander Karpov to come to the division headquarters to accept the task.


    Kirilov hesitated for a moment while akhromeyev was on the phone, and then nervously asked, "Comrade oshanina, why do you look so serious after you come back from the meeting? Is something wrong?"


    "The commander said that tomorrow is the October Revolution Day. In order to let every commander and soldier in the group army eat delicious Siberian Dumplings, he told all divisions at the meeting to get the materials for making dumplings." I didn''t directly talk about the transfer of troops, but first threw out a relaxed topic¡° He also stressed that each soldier should guarantee at least 200 grams of weight. "


    As soon as I said this, kirilov and bandeliev both showed a knowing smile on their faces. Bantai leiev also said with emotion: "it''s really wonderful. In this way, the commanders and soldiers of the division can change their taste and have a delicious dumpling during the festival."


    Kirilov was not only happy, but also keenly aware of my worries. So as soon as leiev finished speaking, he immediately asked, "Comrade oshanina, this is a good thing, but why do I think you are still worried?"


    I said with a bitter smile: "the commander intends to launch a small-scale counterattack against the German army in the defensive area of the group army tomorrow. In order to complete the counterattack, he wants to transfer troops from our division to strengthen the friendly forces. "


    As soon as my words came out, all the people were silent. After a while, akhromeyev murmured: "recently, the German army''s attack on mamayev hillock and 107.5 highland has become more and more fierce. However, our troops are only depleted in the battle, and can''t be replenished. If we transfer our troops again, how can we fight the next battle?"


    "Comrade chief of staff, you can''t say that." Bantai leiev, who always has a tradition of opposing him, said: "although the number of independent division has been greatly reduced in recent battles, you should also see that the casualties of friendly forces fighting in the city are even more serious. If we don''t help them, the counterattack launched by the headquarters will have little hope of success. "


    "Yes, the Deputy teacher is right." Kirilov sighed and echoed: "I believe you still remember the battle report a few days ago. In order to strengthen the fighting troops, the commander even sent out the guards around him, so that later he had to borrow a platoon from us to take charge of the security work of the headquarters."


    When kirilov said that, everyone was silent. I also reflected to myself that even the guards around him could be sent to the front without hesitation, so what''s wrong with transferring three companies from my division to strengthen lyudnikov''s troops?


    "What''s your plan, sir?" Kirilov knew that I had to take the final idea, so he looked at me and asked, "shall we send troops to support the friendly forces?"


    "I personally promised Colonel lyudnikov that three companies would be sent to strengthen his forces." If a few minutes ago, I was reluctant to send troops to the 70th division of the guards and dim sum. After thinking of trakov''s selfless act, I was no longer stingy, but said generously: "after my consideration, if only three companies are sent, even if they are all strengthened companies, the strength is still very limited, so I decided to send another company to Colonel lyudnikov."


    "Which regiment shall we draw troops from?" After listening to me, bantaileiev asked cautiously, "it may be a little difficult to transfer troops to other regiments in an organized way, as we know that there is a lot of staff reduction in each regiment at present."


    As for how to transfer troops, I have already had a good idea. At this moment, I heard Bantai leiev asking, and I said casually: "at present, the second regiment of commander Oleg has the most serious reduction, so I will not transfer troops from them. The first regiment has the most troops, with two companies, while the third and fourth regiments have one company each. The four companies drawn out form a mixed battalion, and captain Karpov will be the commander of the battalion. "


    As soon as I finished, Karpov entered the headquarters. He came to me, raised his hand to salute, and carefully asked: "Sir, comrade, you asked me to come, do not know what instructions?"


    "Well, comrade captain." Bantailiev said: "we plan to transfer troops from the 1st, 3rd and 4th regiments to form a mixed battalion, with you as the battalion commander and assigned to the commander of Colonel lyudnikov of the 70th division of the guards. Do you understand? "


    "I understand, comrade deputy division." Karpov replied aloud. Then he turned his eyes to me again and asked respectfully, "I don''t know what the army can do to start?"


    I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and replied, "Captain Karpov, it''s one o''clock in the morning. The newly formed mixed camp shall start no later than four o''clock in the morning. "


    On November 7, 1941, a military parade of great significance was held on the Red Square, which greatly inspired the morale of our army and strengthened the confidence of all the officers and men to defeat the enemy. The German army was worried that we would do the same thing again and make some unexpected moves in Stalingrad. So before dawn, the enemy''s large-scale attack on Stalingrad began.


    As the German army invested heavily in the front of mamayev post, they launched a crazy attack on the northern highland defended by the fourth regiment and the 107.5 highland defended by the second regiment. Listening to the roar of guns from outside the cave, kirilov said angrily, "damn the Germans, they''ve taken the lead in attacking us again. In this way, all our plans are in vain." Listening to kirilov''s words, akhromeyev asked cautiously, "do we still carry out the counterattack order issued by the group army command?"¡° Comrade chief of staff, "Bantai leiev retorted angrily," you can guess how fierce the enemy''s attack is without hearing how intensive the gunfire is coming from outside. At this time, let our soldiers fight back. Do you want them all to die? "¡° Come on, don''t even say it. " I saw that akhromeyev seemed to want to retort, quickly stopped him, and then said: "as a commander, you can''t blindly obey the orders of your superiors. You should know how to adapt to the changes of the battlefield, so that you can win the war. Don''t look at the fierce offensive of the German army, but since they failed to take the mamayev post from our hands before, then in the future, the mamayev post will still be firmly in our hands. " The German attack began to weaken at noon. By about two o''clock in the afternoon, the German attack had stopped completely. As soon as the fighting ended, Gaidar of the fourth regiment and Oleg of the second regiment called to report their situation to me. Gaidar excitedly reported to me: "report to Comrade division commander that all the enemies who attacked our regiment''s positions have retreated. According to incomplete statistics, there are at least 400 corpses left by the enemy in front of our positions. "¡° Good results, comrade commander. " I believe in the combat effectiveness of my own troops. If they want to block the enemy''s attack, it''s not a big problem. So after praising him, I went on to ask, "how are the casualties of your regiment?"¡° More than 200 people were killed and more than 100 injured. " When Gaidar heard me ask this question, he began to falter, at the same time, he tried to explain: "the vast majority of the casualties of our regiment were caused by German shelling."¡° Commander gedar, your casualties are still too great. " When I heard such a ratio of casualties, I couldn''t help worrying again. If such an attack is repeated a few times, it is estimated that we will not survive the day of the great counterattack. The people who fell down before victory are the saddest tragic figures. Therefore, I especially stressed to Gaidar: "remember to build more solid Fortifications on the Yituo position and kill the enemy while preserving ourselves. Do you understand? "¡° I see, sir. " As soon as Gaidar''s call was hung up, Oleg''s came in. Although I can''t see his expression, from the voice coming out of the receiver, I guess he must have a look of dejected at the moment. I asked sternly, "commander Oleg, the fourth regiment has wiped out more than 400 enemies in today''s battle. How many enemies have your regiment wiped out? " After a long silence, Oleg murmured, "Comrade division commander, our regiment has been reduced by three-quarters in the recent battle. If you don''t give me more reinforcements, I think it''s very difficult for us to resist the next German attack." Instead of paying attention to his complaint, I asked bluntly, "Comrade commander, I will replenish your troops when necessary. But now, please tell me, in today''s battle, what are the results of your regiment, how many enemies have been destroyed, how much equipment have been captured, and what are the casualties of your regiment? "¡° Report to division commander, in the battle just ended, we totally eliminated more than 200 German soldiers and seized more than 100 rifles and submachine guns. As for the casualties of our regiment, "Oleg hesitated for a moment, and then continued," because our regiment lacks solid fortifications, our troops suffered heavy casualties in the enemy''s shelling. According to statistics, the number of casualties should be more than 300. " When I put down the phone, kirilov looked at me and asked anxiously, "Comrade oshanina, do you think we can finally block the German attack?" After listening to him ask this question, I answered with a smile: "Comrade political commissar, don''t worry. Although the enemy is crazy now, I believe our independent division will be able to block all their attacks. And now, "I said, pausing for a moment, then confidently," it''s just the darkness before dawn. "

 Chapter 820

    From November 7, in the next few days, our troops and the German army were fighting incessantly in the streets, buildings, factories, Volga river bank, mamayev post and other places. The various units of the group army suffered heavy casualties and were forced to shrink their forces and defend many small "islands" in Stalingrad.


    Seeing that the situation was getting worse and worse for our army, trikov had to send a telegram to the headquarters of the front army on the East Bank of the Volga River for help. Yelomienko obviously understood the importance of Stalingrad more than all of us. He would not allow the city to fall into the hands of the Germans, so they ordered the 64th army around the city to attack the enemy.


    On November 10, the 64th group army launched a counter attack on the flanks of the troops attacking from the south in kupolosnoye and green grassland, forcing the German army to transfer most of its air, artillery and tanks from the troops attacking Stalingrad to resist the attack of the 64th group army.


    It is precisely because the resolute counter assault carried out by the 64th group army has alleviated the difficult situation of our group army and once again smashed the enemy''s attempt to capture Stalingrad. At the meeting that night, trakov said with emotion: "without the assistance of the 64th group army, our 62nd group army would not be able to support us, and Stalingrad might fall into enemy hands."


    While trakov was analyzing the current situation of the enemy and ourselves, I, sitting in the meeting below, began to lose my mind unconsciously. In my memory, in the plan made by Zhukov and vasilevsky, the Soviet southwest front army and the Don front army turned to attack on November 9, while the Stalingrad front army turned to attack on November 10. However, due to the slow assembly of troops and weapons, the southwest front army and the Don front army had to be postponed to November 19, and the Stalingrad front army had to be postponed to November 20.


    When I think of the big counter offensive that will start in ten days, I feel excited that I have to endure the bitter days. I have been frightened for several months, and finally I see a glimmer of dawn!


    I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn''t hear what trekov asked me. It was only when crailov, who was sitting next to me, touched me gently that I woke up. Seeing that trakov''s brow was locked, he knew that he had a problem with me when I was distracted from the meeting. He asked in shame, "Comrade commander, are you talking to me?"


    "Last time I asked you to send someone to explore the ice and look for areas where you can build transportation lines on the ice." Up to now, trakov has not given up building an ice transport line on the Volga River to transport urgently needed soldiers and supplies to the city. Because he is always thinking about this matter, he speaks to me in a heavy tone: "it''s nearly half a month since now, haven''t he found a suitable area yet?"


    It''s no use even if you''re in a hurry to set up an ice transportation line. If God doesn''t cooperate, no one can help. I don''t know why trikov is angry with me for this, so I don''t know how to deal with it in a hurry.


    Seeing my embarrassment, gurov quickly explained to me, "Comrade oshanina, the commander is too anxious. At the latest, the headquarters of the front army sent a company to try to enter the city through the frozen Volga River. As a result, nearly half of the soldiers fell into the water when they reached the center of the river because the ice was too thin. Although most of the soldiers were rescued after rescue, seven of them are still missing. "


    Although gurov was very euphemistic, every commander on the scene understood that if he fell into the water in the cold winter, if he could not be rescued in time, the missing person would have no hope of survival. Under such circumstances, I can only harden my head and say to trikov, "Comrade commander, please rest assured that I will continue to send the engineering company to find a suitable place to cross the river."


    After he had finished the empty ice transportation line, trakov began to cheer up the division leaders who came to the meeting: "comrades, although the fighting we have recently experienced is very cruel and the casualties of our troops are very large, we should also see that the enemy is exhausted at this time. It is confirmed from the prisoner''s confession that the number of enemy troops and regiments is very small. The morale of not only the soldiers but also the officers has dropped sharply. Few people believe that they can live out of this hell where they have been fighting for several months, which is very distressing. "


    "Comrade commander," Guriev asked aloud, "do you think the Germans will launch a new attack in the near future?"


    After hearing guriyev''s question, trakov looked at gurov, the military commissar beside him, and Krylov, the chief of staff beside me. Then he answered with confidence, "Comrade guriyev, you are too worried. I just said that the German army is very tired. They have no ability or enough troops to launch a new attack on us."


    Although trakov said confidently, the merciless fact slapped him in the face.


    At 6:30 on November 11, after preparing for aerial fire and artillery fire, German troops turned to attack in the defensive zone of our group army. According to the information transmitted from the general command of the group army, there were five infantry divisions (389th, 79th, 305th, 100th and 295th divisions) and two tank divisions (24th and 14th divisions) participating in the attack. They were also strengthened by the 294th Infantry Division''s industrial barracks airlifted from rososhi and the 161st Infantry Division''s industrial barracks airlifted from milerovo. The attack was launched from the front of volkhofsroyevskaya street to bannegou, about 5 km wide. The German divisions that took part in the attack were all supplemented, and their combat formations were highly concentrated during the fighting.


    According to various signs, Paulus attempted to defeat the infantry divisions of lyudnikov, gorishne, Sokolov and guriyev at one stroke, and went out to the Volga River. Throughout the day, fierce battles were fought for every inch of land and every brick, and grenade and white-edged battles continued for several hours. At the same time, the northern group of the group army moved southward from the railway bridge at the mouth of the machetka River to the tractor factory. The city was in full swing, as were the battles at mamayev post and 107.5 highlands. Commander Oleg, who stayed in the secluded Department on the south slope of 107.5 highland, called me several times, saying that the second regiment was not strong enough to withstand the German attack, and asked me to send reinforcements as soon as possible. He exclaimed excitedly on the phone: "Comrade division, there are only less than 300 people left in our regiment, many of them are wounded. The Germans are several times more than us, and they have the support of aircraft and artillery. If there is no more troops, I am afraid that the 107.5 highland will not be able to hold Oleg''s words shocked me. You know, two days ago, I just added more than 400 new recruits to a regiment. I didn''t expect that all of them would be wiped out so soon. But considering the importance of highland 107.5, I had to bite my teeth and say to him, "commander Oleg, I''ll send you reinforcements immediately. I have only one requirement for you, that is, at all costs, you must firmly hold the 107.5 high ground for me, and you are not allowed to step back. " As soon as I put down Oleg''s phone call, I immediately told akhromeyev, "chief of staff, call the third regiment and ask commander kosja to send a battalion to reinforce the second regiment." Akhromeyev had just finished calling the third regiment, but Gaidar also called me to ask for help: "Comrade division commander, the German offensive against us is very fierce, and there are many casualties in the army. I hope the artillery battalion can provide us with artillery cover, otherwise it will be very difficult for us to hold our present position. "¡° Commander Gaidar, "I said faintly to his alarmist remarks," if the northern highland is lost, I will not send you to the military court. " At this point, I stopped for a moment, and then in the surprised eyes of kirilov and others, I said viciously, "I will shoot you myself!"

 Chapter 821

    As for the requests for help from commander Oleg and commander Gaidar, I only met the former''s request and sent him the first battalion of captain dubrovsky, the most effective of the three regiments. But the request of the fourth regiment was directly ignored by me. It was very unwise for the German army to rashly dispatch our remaining artillery when it occupied the air superiority. Good steel is used in the blade, and I plan to wait until the big counterattack begins, so that the artillery battalion of Morozov will show its magic power.


    As night fell, the German army, which had lost the cover of the air force, stopped attacking mamayev post and 107.5 highland. However, the fighting in the city continued. The divisions in Stalingrad used their familiarity with the terrain in the night to launch a counterattack against the unstable German army with one small force after another.


    Before dawn on the 12th, I received the war report sent by general Krylov from the headquarters of the group army. I learned from the war report that our troops advanced about 100 meters in some areas and occupied the west section of Kaya street and the west part of the orchard in novo sheris; In the "Red October" factory, the open hearth workshop, model workshop, profile workshop, classification workshop and finished product warehouse were recaptured. At the end of the war report, there is another remark that is obviously filled in by trakov: Although the battle last night did not expand our defensive positions or destroy too many enemies, it was a rare victory, because we proved to ourselves and the enemy that we can not only defend, but also attack, and also recover what we lost.


    Kirilov, they all blushed with excitement when they saw the war report. Bantai leiev even said optimistically: "Comrade division commander, although the enemy has aircraft and artillery, and the troops are several times more than ours, they are still defeated by us. If the weather is colder and the ice on the Volga River is thicker, our badly needed soldiers and supplies will be able to enter the city continuously through the ice transportation line. At that time, we will not only block the German attack, but also drive them out of Stalingrad city. "


    Just as everyone was jubilant, the German army launched another fierce offensive in several areas after dawn. In spite of the tenacious resistance of the troops in the city, the German army still occupied the south of the "barricade" factory in the evening, and from here they went out to the Volga River.


    I read in the war report that: at 11:30 noon, the Hitler elements threw themselves into the reserve. Their infantry and tanks defeated the battle formation of the right wing of the 241st infantry regiment of the gorishner division, pushed forward 300 to 400 meters, and went out to the Volga River on the front with a width of 500 to 600 meters. The group army was divided for the third time, and the lyudnikov division, which had just been supplemented by us, broke off contact with the main force of the group army.


    However, the German attack in the direction of mamayev post did not achieve any effect. They not only made no progress in mamayev post, but also failed in the attack on Highland 107.5. At the foot of the mountain, several damaged tanks and two or three hundred German bodies were left.


    Shortly after the defeat of the German army, akhromeyev received a report from the observation post on the top of the mountain, saying that soon after the retreat of the enemy, several small teams of the second regiment came out of the fortifications to collect guns and ammunition from the killed German soldiers on the hillside.


    Hearing such a report, kirilov said with emotion: "this lieutenant commander Oleg seems to have a good brain. If the weapons on these German corpses are collected, their ammunition reserves can be maintained for a period of time even if the ice transportation line cannot be opened up for the time being."


    As the judgment made by the headquarters of the group army on the strength and weapons of the enemy was finally confirmed, the battle on the 12th achieved good results, and our troops repulsed the German crazy attack in all defensive areas.


    In the two days of fighting, the German army was seriously wounded and killed, and thousands of soldiers fell on our positions. In addition to sending a whole bag of documents seized from the dead enemy soldiers and officers to the group army headquarters, other divisions also sent all kinds of booty including documents.


    When major busmanov, who was going to send German documents, came back, he brought back an order from trakov. The order read: "the enemy attempted to break through the front of me in the southeast of the Red October factory and go out to the Volga River. In order to strengthen the left wing of the 39th infantry division and eliminate all the enemies in the factory, I hereby order the division commander of the red flag independent division, o''shanina, to immediately dispatch a battalion to strengthen the central and left wing battle formation of the 39th infantry division. The task is to comprehensively restore the situation and eliminate the enemies in the factory. "


    It''s a real headache for me to see this unexpected order. As the German army''s offensive became more and more fierce, the number of independent divisions without any supplement was particularly reduced. Many battalions only had more than 100 people left, which was only equivalent to a strengthened company some time ago. When we are short of such forces, if we need to transfer another battalion to strengthen the 39th division of the guards, our forces will become even thinner.


    After pondering for a long time, Bantai leiev cautiously suggested to me: "Sir, do you want to call the commander, tell him the situation here, and ask him to take back this order?"


    I can only smile bitterly at bantailiev''s proposal. Since trakov has given such an order, it proves that he has made up his mind. It is obviously unrealistic for us to disobey the military order and not send troops. But where can I find troops to strengthen the 39th division of the guards now?


    When I was at a loss, kirilov came out to solve the embarrassing situation. He said solemnly, "Comrade oshanina, although the enemy is very rampant at present, don''t you find that this may be the last attack of the German army? I firmly believe that it is impossible for the enemy to organize superior forces and obtain new technical equipment, especially the supply of tanks, ammunition and fuel, as it did in October. Without these, especially without technical equipment, the enemy will not be able to help us. Since the headquarters of the group army has ordered the transfer of troops, we should resolutely carry out this order. "¡° Comrade political commissar, "asked akhromeyev curiously," then which regiment should we transfer to reinforce the 39th division of the guards? "¡° I think we can draw people from Comrade shijerikov''s regiment. We should know that although their regiment has been greatly reduced in the fighting, they have recently recruited many new soldiers from the scattered troops, the recovered wounded soldiers and the desperate refugees. "¡° In this case, "I heard kirilov mention a regiment on his own initiative, and then I understood that he had thought it over carefully, so I pushed the boat along with the current and said," then the chief of staff will call Sergey reekov of the first regiment and ask him to immediately transfer his staff to reinforce the 39th division of the guards. " After receiving the phone call from akhromeyev, shejerikov did not reply immediately, but euphemistically said that he wanted to speak to me personally. I quickly took the phone from akhromeyev''s hand and asked, "Comrade commander, this is oshanina. Do you have anything to tell me?"¡° That''s right, comrade teacher. " Shejerikov explained to me why he didn''t reply to akhromeyev immediately. "The reason why I didn''t reply to the chief of staff is that our newly added soldiers have not had time to train. Even if they are sent to the battlefield, they will not play any role."¡° Comrade commander, you can''t think so. " Although I know that to send untrained recruits to the battlefield at this time is to send them to death, under the current situation, I can only do so with a stiff upper lip. "The situation of the 39th division of the guards is very bad. They have very few troops and are surrounded by the German forces from the north, West and south. If we don''t support them, They would be driven by the Germans into the cold Volga River. Do you understand? " After hearing what I said, xiejerikov finally made up his mind and said, "Comrade division commander, I fully understand. I''m going to dispatch my troops and ask them to rush to the defense area of the 39th division of the guards as soon as possible."

 Chapter 822

    I put down the phone and thought to myself that there is still a week to go before the great counter offensive. If we allow our division''s forces to be consumed at the present speed, we will be transferred to the rear for rectification soon. When we reward our merits, our division''s honor will be greatly reduced. In order to prevent our troops from being transferred to the rear at a critical moment by our superiors, We must find a way to replenish the troops. Thinking of this, I immediately ordered akhromeyev: "Comrade chief of staff, call the military commanders of the four infantry regiments, artillery battalions and tank battalions, and ask the regiment leaders, deputy regiments leaders, political commissars and commanders of several special arms to come to the division headquarters for a meeting after dark."


    As for the order I gave, kirilov was a little puzzled and asked, "Comrade division commander, are you going to launch a counterattack against the enemy when you hold a temporary military meeting at this time? Although this is a good idea, I don''t think it''s the right time, because the Division has lost more than two-thirds of its troops in recent days. If we attack the enemy with such a small number of troops, we will be unable to defend the mamayev post. "


    When I heard kirilov say this, I understood that he had misunderstood me and quickly explained to him, "Comrade political commissar, I''m not calling the commanders of the regiments to have a meeting tonight to fight back. Now you are all very clear about the situation in the division. If we continue to fight like this, the whole division will be wiped out. So I decided to hold this meeting temporarily to let the regiments spare no time to replenish their troops so that we can continue to maintain our strength. "


    After dark, the commanders at all levels who received the notice came to the division headquarters one after another. I stood at the table and talked to Bantai leiev. At the same time, I raised my hand to salute the commanders who saluted me. Among these people, I unexpectedly saw a regiment political commissar oberstein who hadn''t seen each other for a long time, and peiersjian, the tank battalion commander who had just returned from injury. I quickly ended my conversation with Bantai leiev and walked over to shake hands with them, At the same time, I''m asking about their recent situation.


    When all the people came and sat down, I coughed, cleared my throat, and said, "comrades, this evening, to call you here is to inform you of an important matter." At this point, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then, in the whispers of the participants, I continued, "first of all, please report your existing troops. First of all, Lieutenant Colonel chejerikov, a group leader, said


    Shejerikov, who was named by me, took the lead to stand up and replied loudly: "the current strength of a regiment is 1152, of which two thirds are new recruits who have just been added." Then he sat down again.


    Then the second commander of the report, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg, said with a sad face: "the current strength of the second regiment is 211, of which 195 are fighters."


    "The current strength of the third regiment is 763."


    "The current strength of the fourth regiment is 497."


    When the leaders of the regiments reported, I recorded the figures they said in my notebook. After a brief calculation, I found that there were only more than 2000 people left in the division, and half of them were recruits. It is estimated that it would be very difficult to succeed in counterattack against the German army with such strength.


    As I was busy counting the troops and didn''t speak at once, some of the commanders sitting below were impatient and couldn''t help asking in a loud voice: "Comrade division commander, is the division headquarters ready to fight back against the German army?"


    I looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the questioner was major Yaming, the deputy head of the second regiment. With a smile, I asked, "major Yaming, what do you think? You might as well talk about it in front of everyone."


    Yaming stood up and replied respectfully, "Comrade division commander, as far as I know, all units of the group army are engaged in counter offensives of different scales in their own defensive areas. But at mamayev post, I don''t think such a counter offensive is appropriate. "


    "Why, comrade major?" Yaming''s words aroused Bantai leiev''s interest. He asked curiously, "tell me your reason."


    Encouraged by bantaileiev, Yamin expressed his opinion in public: "although our troops are larger than other divisions of the group army, the terrain of mamayev post is different from that of the city. Once our troops leave the fortification and launch a counterattack against the German army, they will be exposed in open land, The long-range firepower of German tanks and artillery can make us pay a heavy price. "


    When Yaming expounded his point of view, all the people kept silent and listened to him quietly. Individual commanders kept recording in small books. After he finished, akhromeyev first expressed his support for his statement: "major Yamin has a very reasonable point. The counterattack carried out by the divisions in the city achieved good results because their defense lines were intertwined with those of the German army. During the battle, the German army could not obtain the support of aircraft and artillery, and could only engage in close combat with our army with the light weapons in hand. But our situation here is very special. Outside the position is the plain with a clear view. If we do not get our air supremacy and artillery support, the counterattack is a kind of suicide. "


    After akhromeyev finished speaking, neither I nor kirilov nor bandeleyev expressed different views. The commanders on the scene thought that I had acquiesced in akhromeyev''s views, and they all stood up to express their opinions. However, their views are poor. They just put what ahlomeyev and Yamin said in another way.


    After everyone calmed down, I coughed again and began to announce my plan to you: "Dear commanders, first of all, I want to make it clear that you are not called here tonight to discuss any counter attack plan, but to make us try to replenish our forces in the near future and prepare for a big battle."


    When I said this, I caught a glimpse of the disappointment on the faces of some of the unfamiliar commanders sitting below. I thought they were determined counterattacks. I heard that they would not fight back for the time being, so I felt lost. I hastily added: "although we will not fight back against the German army in the near future, it will disappoint some commanders and fighters. But if we don''t counterattack in the near future, it doesn''t mean that we won''t counterattack in the future. I want you to find a way to replenish your forces in order to prepare for a major counterattack in the future. "


    "Comrade division," major vatorak, deputy head of the third regiment, stood up and asked politely, "because of the freezing of the Volga River, our contact with the other side has been completely broken. Where should we recruit soldiers?"


    I looked at the major in front of me, and then at the deputy commander of the regiment who was not far away from him. My heart said that you are all new recruits from Colonel Bantai leyev. But why does other commander know how to recruit the scattered soldiers and the residents who have no place to hide to fill the army, while you only know how to wait for the troops from the other side to supplement, No wonder Elijah is a major and you''re just a major.


    Before I could speak, layev, vartorac''s old superior, stood up and said in a reproachful tone, "Comrade major, don''t you know what''s going on in the city? Even if there are new troops coming from the east coast, priority will be given to those who keep fighting in the city, and it will not be our turn for the time being. "


    Vartorac blushed with shame at bantaileiev''s words. He bowed his head and admitted his mistake to bantaileiev and said, "I''m sorry, comrade deputy division commander, I''m wrong. However, I am also worried to see that our regiment''s officers and men are constantly being withdrawn, but they have not been supplemented. "


    "If you are in a hurry, is it useful to be in a hurry?" Bantaileiev continued to teach him: "if we are in a hurry and can make the troops with serious losses be replenished, then we don''t have to do anything. We just need a group of people around us to sigh."


    "Come on, comrade deputy division commander, stop talking." When kirilov saw that major vatorac had been taught a little too much, he lost no time to come out and fight. He went up to vatorac, patted each other on the shoulder and said, "Comrade major, do you know why the regiment has the most troops?" When vartorac shook his head foolishly and said he didn''t know, he continued, "because Lieutenant Colonel Ilya organized the staff to recruit the scattered scattered soldiers, the newly cured wounded and the homeless refugees, and to enrich them into the army, so that the regiment can always maintain sufficient strength. At this point, you should learn from your former colleague, Lieutenant Colonel Elia. Don''t always think about letting your superiors supplement your troops. You should also think about more ways. "


    "Comrade political commissar, I understand." Vartorac assured kirilov, "as soon as I get back to the army, I''ll try to recruit soldiers to supplement the third regiment."


    After they had said that, I continued: "since everyone knows the reason why I called you for a meeting, what commanders at all levels should do after returning to the army is to try every means to increase the number of your troops and form combat effectiveness in the shortest time."


    As soon as I had finished speaking, Lieutenant Colonel xiejerikov stood up and asked on behalf of all the people, "Sir, I want to know what the shortest time limit is?"


    "Today is November 12," I said in a determined tone after reciting the start time of the counterattack again. "I can only give you five days. That is to say, on the 17th, the strength of your regiments should be more than doubled and combat effectiveness should be formed."


    Bantai leiev came up to me and reminded me in a low voice, "Comrade division commander, is five days too short? It may be too late to recruit and train soldiers in such a short time."


    Before he finished speaking, I raised my hand to interrupt him, and repeated my order in public again: "remember, you only have five days, if the regiments can''t finish the task I set by then. In that case, I will think that the military officers in charge of the regiments are not competent enough to hold their present posts. I will let others take your place. Do you understand? "


    The following commanders agreed: "I understand!"


    "Now that you understand, let''s break up."


    In the next few days, the regiments were fighting and trying every means to expand their forces. Seeing this situation, kirilov said anxiously: "Comrade division, is this appropriate? Although the number of our division has increased rapidly in the short term, due to the large number of new recruits, the combat effectiveness of the troops has not only not been improved, but also been diluted. "


    As for kirilov''s worries, I comforted him and said, "political commissar, don''t worry. Since the independent division was established, almost all the troops used are recruits without combat effectiveness. After the baptism of fighting, they will form a strong combat effectiveness in the shortest time. This time, I ask the regiments to expand their forces in order to prepare for the future. "


    After dealing with me for a long time, kirilov immediately heard something from me. After looking around, he asked in a low and mysterious voice, "Comrade oshanina, did you get any inside information from your superiors? That''s why you actively asked the regiments to replenish their forces." At this point, he stopped to think for a moment, and then tentatively asked, "is our comprehensive counterattack going to start?" Although kirilov''s voice was very low, because the headquarters was very quiet, bantailiev and akhromeyev, who were not far away from us, also heard it. They immediately gathered around. Akhromeyev asked excitedly, "Comrade division, is this true? Are we going to start a full-scale counterattack against Paulus'' forces? "¡° There''s nothing wrong with it. " Although I know the specific time of the great counterattack better than anyone else, at this moment I can only pretend to be confused: "when to launch the great counterattack is something that even the commander of the front army doesn''t know. Do you think I, a small division commander, can understand such top secret information?" Akhromeyev and they all looked disappointed when I said that. Just then, the telephone rang on the desk. Ahlomeyev turned and walked over, grabbed the phone and said in a loud voice, "Hello, I''m major ahlomeyev, chief of staff. Where are you?" Because of the distance, I couldn''t hear the voice from the microphone clearly. After listening to two sentences, akhromeyev suddenly raised his voice: "what did you say? I didn''t hear you clearly. Say it again?" The other side seemed to repeat what he had just said. Akhromeyev''s face showed an expression of surprise. He covered the microphone, turned his head and told me in a loud voice, "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant Colonel shijerikov reported that there is a fleet coming towards us at risk."¡° What, fleet? " When I heard akhromeyev say that, I thought I heard wrong. The Volga River is already frozen. How can the fleet come here? In order to find out what happened, I rushed to him, snatched the microphone from his hand, and asked aloud, "Hello, is that xijerikov? I''m o''shanina. Please report to me again There was an excited voice from the receiver: "report, sir, according to my observation post, there is a fleet coming towards us." Although I heard that Sergey rickov had made a definite report to me that a fleet was coming, I still couldn''t believe it. I had to verify it again: "Comrade commander, are you sure your observation post is correct? You know, the Volga River froze a few days ago¡° Sir, you don''t know something. " Hearing my skeptical voice, at this time, shejerikov said: "the temperature has picked up in the past two days, and the ice in some areas has melted. Maybe the sailors on the east bank saw that the ice on the river was thinning, so they took a bold risk¡° Comrade commander, for the sake of safety, I order you to go to the observation post on the top of the mountain. When you have a clear picture of the situation, report it to me. Do you understand? "¡° Understand Shejerikov agreed briefly and hung up¡° That''s great. That''s great. " Kirilov heard that a fleet was coming towards us. They were excited. Before the intelligence was finally confirmed, they planned to report the good news to trikov. Fortunately, I was calm enough to quickly stop kirilov''s risky behavior, and reminded him, "Comrade political commissar, wait a minute, we will report to the headquarters when the new report of Xie jerikov comes."

 Chapter 823

    When the information confirmed by Xie jerikov himself was reported to the division headquarters again, kirilov was so excited that he repeatedly urged me: "Comrade division commander, since the information has been confirmed, please report to the group army headquarters immediately. I believe that recently, they are also worried about the interruption of the waterway. They should inform them of the good news immediately. "


    When trekov got my call, he was surprised. He asked in an unbelievable voice, "Comrade oshanina, are you sure what you said is true? Is it too dark for your observation post on the top of the mountain to read it wrong? "


    "No, comrade commander." As for trekov''s suspicion, I replied positively: "when I first heard the report of lieutenant colonel chejerikov, I also felt incredible, so I ordered him to go to the observation station on the top of the mountain to observe and confirm. After about five minutes, I got a call from him again, and he definitely told me that there was a fleet coming to us. " In order to make my words more convincing, I also explained to trekov, "maybe the temperature of these two days picked up and the ice layer on the river became thinner, so the sailors of Volga river fleet took a risk to try."


    After listening to my report, trakov was not as ecstatic as I imagined, but fell into silence. After a long time, he said to me in a heavy voice, "Comrade oshanina, I want to inform you of something." When I heard trakov speak in this tone, I got nervous and knew that what he was going to say was not a good thing.


    Sure enough, he continued: "major general ruolu Geoff, commander of the 37th division of Jinwei, unfortunately died in the daytime fighting. At present, his deputy, regimental political commissar, comrade sherbina, is succeeding him. I plan to assign the division to you from today on, and I will inform shelbina to report to you later. "


    "I see, comrade commander." When I heard that another well-known commander had died, my heart was still sad. For the arrangement made by trakov, I naturally promised, "I will stay in the headquarters and wait for Comrade shelbina to arrive."


    Kirilov obviously knew the senior commanders of the divisions. When I mentioned sherbina, he had a puzzled expression on his face. As soon as I put down the phone, he asked curiously, "Comrade oshanina, what did the commander say? Why did Comrade shelbina, the political commissar of the 37th division of Jinwei, come to our division headquarters? "


    Looking at kirilov, I sighed and said, "Comrade political commissar, commander of the 37th division of Jinwei, general ruolugeoff, died bravely in the battle with the bandits. The commander said that from now on, the 37th division of Jinwei will be under our command. In a little while, comrade sherbina, the political commissar of the division, will come to us to report. "


    After hearing this, Bantai leiev was a little upset. He said thoughtfully, "the enemy''s division headquarters are usually located a few kilometers or even farther away from the battlefield. However, our division headquarters are only a few hundred meters away from the position. Once the defense line is broken through, our headquarters will be in danger immediately. "


    Before he finished, akhromeyev said, "deputy division commander, I don''t know why you said that. Do you want to suggest that division commander move our division headquarters backward at such a time?"


    "It''s impossible," kirilov said in time before I could speak. "Under no circumstances will our division headquarters move backward. Comrade o''shanina once said, "where the troops fight, our headquarters should be. In this way, it is easy to command, and at the same time, it will make the troops full of confidence to win."


    I knew in my heart that bantailiev''s sudden remark was because if general ludev''s sacrifice stimulated him, he would tactfully put forward the proposal of transferring the division headquarters for the sake of our safety. The big counterattack is around the corner. If the division headquarters is transferred at such a time, my image in their mind will be greatly reduced. As soon as kirilov finished speaking, I went on to say, "Comrade deputy division commander, I know that you proposed to transfer the division headquarters out of good intentions. However, under the current circumstances, the headquarters can not be moved casually. Once it is moved, it will arouse the suspicions of the commanders and fighters below. They will think whether the division leaders have no confidence in the positions they are holding, so they will move the headquarters ahead of time, which will have a bad impact on morale. "


    The appearance of political commissar sherbina in time resolved the embarrassing atmosphere in the headquarters. I quickly stood up and walked towards him. A long way away, I took the initiative to extend my hand to him and said in a friendly way, "political commissar sherbina, Hello, welcome to the headquarters of the independent division."


    Shelbina was not tall, with a dark face and bright eyes. Perhaps it was because of the sacrifice of his partner, general roluev, who still had a light sadness on his face. After shaking hands with us one by one, he took out a broken piece of paper from his briefcase and handed it to me. He said, "general o''shanina, this is left by our division commander."


    I took the piece of paper in his hand, and when I saw that the handwriting on it was still clear, I could not help but read it out: "alive, you know, we are fighting to stay by the dark Volga river because we don''t want to leave this land and can''t leave. Our death is for your life."


    After I finished reading, kirilov took the paper from my hand, saw it with his own eyes, and then handed it to bantailiev. When the paper turned around in the hands of bantailiev and akhromeyev and returned to kirilov''s hands, he sighed and said, "this is the last words of general roluev. We must keep them well and send them to the future war memorial after the war, so that our future generations can always remember them." Then he took political commissar sherbina to the table and sat down to chat.


    While I was rummaging about what to say to the sherbina commissar, there was a rumble of gunfire outside the cave. Hearing the gunfire, I could not help shivering and said in my heart, did the Germans attack the mamayevgang in the dark?


    Just wanted to make a phone call to ask the observation station on the top of the mountain, akhromeyev had taken the lead to pick up the phone on the table and began to dial. After a phone call, he put down the phone and reported to me, "Comrade division commander, the observation office reported that the enemy is shelling our river crossing fleet."


    If I had heard such a report half a month ago, or even earlier, I would have directly ignored it, because we lacked long-range artillery to suppress the German artillery positions that bombarded our warships. However, the situation at this time is different from that in the past. This may be the only opportunity for the 62nd group army to obtain external supplies before the start of the great counterattack. I must not let the German long-range artillery destroy this fleet. So I decisively ordered akhromeyev: "chief of staff, call major Morozov immediately and order him to push the heavy guns out of the hiding place and use the artillery fire to suppress the German artillery."


    When ahlomeyev heard my order, he did not immediately carry out it as before, but said in embarrassment: "Comrade division commander, we have too few heavy artillery. If we bombard the German artillery, we will not only fail to achieve the desired results, but also lead to the annihilation of the whole army because we have exposed the target."


    "Chief of staff, in order to cover the fleet carrying supplies, we must try to attract the attention of the German artillery." Although I pretended to be nothing on the surface, my heart was bleeding. Maybe in this way, all my artillery would be finished¡° In order to ensure that the group army can get the urgently needed materials, the necessary sacrifice is worth it. "


    As soon as major Morozov''s artillery battalion started firing, it really attracted the attention of German artillery. Apart from leaving a few guns to continue to bombard the ferryboat in the Volga River, most of the guns turned their muzzle and blasted in the direction of mamayev post.


    At dawn, major Morozov came to the division headquarters and reported to us the shelling at night. When he talked about the destruction of two cannons, all the officers and men of the two artillery teams died.


    After listening to his report, kirilov turned to me and asked, "Comrade division, shall we go and have a look?"


    As kirilov''s questions were so unintelligible, I didn''t understand what was going on for a moment, so I asked in a dazed way, "Comrade political commissar, what are we going to see?"


    "To the artillery position, we should go and see the artillery officers and men who died." Kirilov replied.


    "All the people there were killed, comrade political commissar." Morozov said to us in a low voice: "except for the several artillery crews who were withdrawn, all the others were killed. Don''t you believe what I said? "


    "In that case, I should go and see for myself," kirilov repeated, "and see for myself." Speaking of this, he asked me again, "Comrade oshanina, will you come with me to have a look?"


    Kirilov and I walked out of the headquarters together and went to the temporary artillery position at night. According to Morozov''s report, after they successfully attracted the enemy''s fire, except for two cannons, the rest of the heavy guns were moved and concealed in time.


    When we came to the gun position last night, we were stunned. In front of me was a terrible crater made up of crisscross craters, two cannons were blown askew, and the air was filled with the smell of bloody smoke.


    Kirilov and I went into the pit and searched hard, hoping to find the survivors of the two artillery teams. We came here for this purpose. But what we saw was shocking. The pit was full of bloodstains. The dead were so bloody that they could not be identified according to their uniforms and faces. The fragments of the empty shell box, the rags of the army coat and the shell cases were mixed up. Kirilov plucked and searched among the fragments and shells, as if trying to find a few survivors.


    I stood still and gazed at everything here for a long time. I knew in my heart that these sacrificial artillery commanders and fighters did not panic in the face of the fierce artillery fire of the enemy, but fought tenaciously to the last moment of their lives.


    "Sir, your phone number." Major basmanov''s voice came from the top of the crater. I looked up and saw him squatting by the crater. I noticed him and quickly added, "it''s from the headquarters of the group army."


    After listening to basmanov''s words, I knew it was time to leave, so I called kirilov who was busy: "Comrade political commissar, it''s time for us to leave. It''s a call from the headquarters of the group army."


    I went back to the headquarters with a heavy heart, took the microphone from akhromeyev''s hand, politely said to the microphone: "Hello, comrade commander, I''m oshanina, what''s your instruction?"


    From the receiver came trakov''s voice: "Comrade oshanina, I heard that in order to cover the transport fleet''s smooth passage through the Volga River, you decisively ordered the artillery to fire on the enemy and contained most of the artillery fire of the enemy. How about the artillery casualties of your division? "


    "Two cannons were destroyed by the enemy''s fire, and all the soldiers of the two artillery squads died bravely."


    After listening to my report, trikov was silent for a long time before he continued: "Comrade oshanina, the sacrifice of these soldiers is valuable. Last night, the Volga fleet sent the 11th, 12th, 13th, 61st and 63rd armored ships to open a passable route for ships carrying soldiers and materials. Thanks to the cover you provided in time, apart from one ship which was hit and sank by gunfire, the other ships, Pugachev, Spartak and Panfilov, have all arrived at the wharf by the way. In addition to the large amount of materials urgently needed by the group army, there were two battalions on board. "


    "Did the ship go back?" I asked instinctively as he finished.


    "For the time being, because of the barrier of the Volga ice, these ships could not return to the east coast in the daytime, otherwise they would become the targets of German aviation and artillery. So the boats stayed on the dock for a while, and we used parachutes, white sheets and pockets to camouflage them in the color of ice and snow. " After that, trakov told me, "o''shanina, come to headquarters in the evening. You are now the deputy commander of the group army. You have to attend some important meetings. "


    Fortunately, the German army did not launch an attack on the mamayev post today, so I arranged for basmanov to send people to help Morozov, and they restrained the bodies of those killed artillery commanders and fighters.


    In the evening, I took Yushchenko and a platoon guard soldier into the ruins of the city, carefully bypassed the German guarded area, and quickly rushed to the headquarters.


    When I entered the headquarters, I saw a lot of people in the room. In addition to trakov, gurov, and Krylov, there were also artillery commander General hogarsky, political director Vasiliev, and armored deputy director Lieutenant Colonel Wei inlub. They were sitting around the table listening to trakov talk about today''s war situation.


    After I saluted you, I also found a vacant seat to sit down and listen to trakov''s introduction of the situation in the city quietly: "the supplemented Colonel wachuk division and the 92nd infantry brigade are constantly fighting back against the German army between the main force of the group army and the lyudnikov division. At the same time, other troops in our city are gradually taking back buildings and shelters from the enemy''s hands in other areas of the front of the group army, to be exact, the whole front. The northern group was attacked by the enemy to the tractor factory; The Sokolov and guriyev divisions attacked the Red October factory; The rojmzeff division occupied the German occupied buildings in their area. Judging from today''s attack, the result is not bad. Every unit has captured booty and captured prisoners. "


    After trakov finished, we talked about the possibility of further positive action. As a new person, I did not express my opinions rashly, but listened to you carefully. At that moment, the telephone rang by the wall, and the nearest krailov got up and went to pick up the phone. After listening for a while, he put down the phone, went back to the table, and reported to trikov, "Comrade commander, it''s the call from the headquarters of the front army, informing us that there will be important orders to be issued soon. Let''s wait by the telegraph."


    As for the inexplicable notice from the superior, all of you are at a loss. Finally, general hogarsky said, "Hey, what important orders will the superior give us at this time?"


    When we were still pondering over the question raised by hogarsky, my heart beat faster. After several months of waiting, the great counterattack was finally coming.


    Guloff, who was sitting opposite me, may have been inspired by the joy on my face. He patted himself on the forehead and said excitedly, "I see. This order must be about a big counterattack!"


    After listening to gurov''s words, trakov got up and walked out without saying a word, and we followed him quickly. We followed trakov to the nearby communication room, where a group of people crowded together, waiting impatiently for the operator to crackle out the long-awaited order on the Bodo telegraph.


    This wait lasted for more than two hours, until around midnight, we finally looked forward to the important orders from our superiors!


    Standing behind the telegraph operator, my heart was beating wildly, and I saw letters skipping, forming lines of words on the long and thin telegraph strip, one by one orders: the southwest front army and the Don front army turned to the direction of Karachi from kretskaya and ilovlinskaya in the early morning of November 19; Later on November 20, Stalingrad''s front army will start from rygorod region and lake sarpa, Lake Chacha and lake balmanchak, and turn to the direction of Soviet town and then to Karachi for counterattack. The task is: to break through the enemy''s front, encircle and annihilate it.


    The telegram just received was snatched by trakov before it could be pasted on the special paper. After he had read it, the telegram passed on among all of us. Although everyone knows every letter in the telegram, the combination of them makes us confused. We can''t immediately understand the meaning of the upcoming event. We went back to the headquarters and continued to study this important telegram. Even so, it took a long time for the leaders of the group army to really understand that this counterattack is different from any previous one. The order of the front army depicts the outline of the whole intention of the supreme command of the Soviet Union. It talks about counter attack, encircling and annihilating all the enemies under the city of stargrad. This campaign is no longer a local one, because there are three front forces attacking. It can be seen that the supreme command has mobilized and assembled heavy troops to carry out this assault, and its purpose is to completely eliminate the German troops in Stalingrad. After making clear the intention of the superior, trakov said: "comrades, we are sticking to the struggle of Stalingrad, and our army''s tenacious resistance to the attacking enemy is coming to an end. As long as the enemy is deeply trapped in the street battle, as long as the German forces are held in Stalingrad, its two wings will be fatally threatened. "¡° The commander is right, "Krylov continued." our army is limited. It is unrealistic to launch a large-scale attack on the German army. So what we can do now is to act like a magnet to firmly attract the German army in the city, so that they can not easily escape from the city. " After Krylov finished, trakov and others said, "the two primary tasks of the group army are: one is to destroy the enemy who came out to Volga River and join the liudnikov division; Second, we should continue to hold fast to the mamayev post and the 107.5 high ground, so as to maintain the defense depth at the present 4.5 km, and eliminate the enemy observation post that monitors the battle formation of our group army and the approach of Volga River. " Gulov looked at his watch and said, "it''s early morning of the 19th, that is to say, the attack of the Don front army and the southwest front army will officially start in a few hours. We should convey this news to all divisions as soon as possible, so that all the teachers can have a clear idea of it. Only in this way can we realize the strategic intention of attracting the enemy in the city and making it impossible to retreat. " Trikov nodded, agreed with gurov''s proposal, and then told Krylov: "Comrade chief of staff, you should convey the order of counterattack to all divisions as soon as possible, so that everyone can prepare for all battles." After that, he turned his head and looked at me and said, "besides, comrade oshanina, he immediately rushed back to mamayev post overnight and let the troops make all preparations for the battle. But we must not lose mamayev post and 107.5 highland before the start of the great counter offensive."¡° Please rest assured, commander! " I quickly stood up and assured him: "as long as there is a soldier in the position, we will never give the mamayev post to the German."

 Chapter 824

    When I hurried back to the division headquarters, it was two o''clock in the morning on November 19. Kirilov saw that as soon as I returned to the division headquarters, he hurriedly ordered akhromeyev to call the heads of the regiments and inform them to come to the meeting immediately. He could not help but ask curiously, "Comrade oshanina, what are the latest instructions from the headquarters? Why do you call all the commanders to a meeting as soon as you come back? "


    Although I know better than anyone the time of the beginning of the great counterattack and the end of the whole campaign, when this time is really close, I still look very nervous and excited. When I heard kirilov''s question, I grabbed his arm, shook it vigorously, and answered him in a tone changed voice: "comrade political commissar, it''s a counterattack, a great counterattack, Under Stalingrad, the real all-round counter offensive is about to begin! "


    Kirilov and bandeliev looked at me with a kind of neurotic gaze, their eyes staring like brass bells. After a long time, kirilov said tentatively: "Comrade oshanina, I see your face is red. Did you drink when you were just in the headquarters of the group army?"


    Kirilov''s words stunned me at first, and then I understood the reason why he said it. At present, under the fierce attack of the German army, we are almost beaten to jump the Volga River. Where is there enough strength to counterattack, let alone a comprehensive counterattack? No wonder he thought I was talking drunk.


    I didn''t talk to them either. I directly pulled them to the table, pointed to the map on the table, and told them about the plan of the upcoming counter offensive. At the end, I specially emphasized: "this counter offensive is different from any previous counterattack. The supplemented southwest front army and the Don River front army will bombard the enemy''s defensive positions at 7:20 this morning. After the artillery preparation is completed, hundreds of thousands of our troops will launch a comprehensive counterattack against the German army in both directions. "


    When they heard me say this, kirilov no longer suspected that I was drunk. Instead, they asked cautiously, "what about the front army of Stalingrad?"


    "Because our 62nd army has been greatly weakened in the fighting in recent months, and it can not get enough supplies in the early stage of the counter offensive, the main forces of Stalingrad''s front army''s counterattack will be the friendly 64th army, 51st army and 57th army. Our task is to try every means to hold down the enemy so that they can not easily withdraw from the city, so as to achieve the goal of encircling and annihilating it. " After that, I turned around and found that sherbina, the political commissar of the 37th division of Jinwei, was not there. I asked kirilov curiously, "Comrade political commissar, why is sherbina not in the headquarters? Where has he gone?"


    Kirilov, listening to my question, raised his head and looked around. Then he asked akhromeyev, who had just finished the phone call: "Comrade chief of staff, have you seen political commissar sherbina?"


    Akhromeyev quickly nodded his head and replied, "political commissar sherbina said he would go to see if the commanders and fighters of the 37th division of the guards have been settled, so I asked major basmanov to accompany him."


    Knowing that shelbina was going, I specially told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, the meeting later is very important. You must inform him to attend."


    After a while, commanders at all levels who received the notice came to the headquarters one after another. I sat in my seat and watched the commander coming in. I silently remembered which regiment''s battalion commander he was, and from time to time I raised my hand to my forehead to salute those commanders who saluted me.


    As more and more people gathered in the headquarters, there was a buzz in the room. The tank battalion commander, major perersian, approached molozov''s ear and said in a low voice, "it seems that something important has brought us here..." when he saw that my eyes were fixed on him, he gave me a shy smile, and then he pulled molozov aside to whisper.


    After a while, kirilov came close to my ear and asked in a low voice, "Mr. division, everyone is here. Can we start?" Seeing that I nodded and agreed, he stood up, went to the commanders, and said in a loud voice: "comrades, please keep quiet. Next, comrades of the division have something important to announce to you." The room suddenly quieted down, and all the people turned their eyes on me, quietly waiting for me to announce important things to them.


    After a short silence, I stood up, with a smile on my face, walked slowly to the commanders, raised my voice and said, "comrades, I have an important thing to announce to you when I call you here." At this point, I suddenly found that I couldn''t go on because of excitement. The joy of seeing the dawn soon disrupted my prepared speech outline. I can only calm my excitement by slowly looking around the commanders at the meeting.


    After a while, I waited for my mood to recover, and then I continued: "comrades, in the morning of November 19, that is, this morning, our southwest front army and don front army will attack the German army from two directions at the same time, and our Stalingrad front army will also launch a containment attack on the German army in the existing area, They can''t easily get out of the city. The purpose of this great counterattack is different from the previous ones. It is not just to repel the enemy from the vicinity of the city. We need to surround the enemy and bury them thoroughly under the city of Stalingrad. "


    After what I said, the headquarters fell into a silence, and no one recovered from what I said. Except for kirilov, the rest of the commanders looked at me stupidly¡° Commander comrades, what''s the matter with you? " Seeing everyone''s reaction, akhromeyev stood up and said in the same tone as usual, "don''t you understand the teacher?" When he said this, he couldn''t help raising his voice. "Don''t you understand that it''s time for us to carry out a comprehensive counterattack and collect blood debts from the Germans?" Everyone was stunned for a moment, and did not know who was the first to clap. Then the applause in the room rang out. I waited for the applause to ring for a while, then raised my hands and pressed them down to signal everyone to be quiet. After the applause in the room stopped, I went on to say, "comrades, although the southwest front army and the Don front army are going to launch a counterattack this morning, our Stalingrad counterattack will be a day later." In order to prevent the commanders and fighters from whispering and interrupting me, I purposely sped up and said, "the task of our division is to firmly guard the mamayev post and 107.5 highland, ensure that the strategic depth of the group army will not be compressed, and at the same time, firmly attract the enemy in the front, so that they can not easily get away."¡° Comrade division, "as soon as I had finished, major Morozov, commander of the artillery battalion, stood up and asked in a loud voice," will you allow me to ask questions? " Seeing that I nodded in agreement, he asked repeatedly, "Comrade division, please allow me to ask a question. What is the task of our artillery battalion?"¡° Your task is still simple, "I said lightly instead of blaming him for his recklessness." it is to provide necessary artillery support for our troops when they attack. " At this point, I turned my eyes to the tank battalion commander, Mr. pelsjian, who was sitting next to him, and called his name out loud: "major pelsjian!"¡° Here we are Pelsky jumped out of his seat with a loud promise¡° When you go back, you should check whether the tank has enough ammunition and fuel, and be ready for all battles. " After the counterattack started, the air supremacy of the battlefield must be in our hands, so I can confidently and boldly use pelsken''s tank battalion, "remember, let the soldiers remove the * * cross mark on the tank as soon as possible, otherwise it will not be worth it if they are blown up by our planes and German tanks at the beginning of the attack." When I finished, bantailiev stood up and said to the commanders who attended the meeting, "comrades, some time ago, the division commander ordered us to seize the time to expand our troops. Now it''s time to check whether you have carried out this order well. Starting from the first regiment, each regiment should report your actual strength. " As soon as bandeleev''s words were finished, Xie jerikov, who first stood up, loudly reported: "after the expansion of the regiment in recent days, the total strength of the regiment is 3267, of which more than 1000 are unarmed." After xiejerikov sat down, the second commander, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg, stood up. He said with some embarrassment, "Comrade division commander, because of our geographical location, it is difficult to replenish our forces as much as a regiment. So far, there are only 786 soldiers in the regiment, but every soldier has a weapon in his hand."¡° The current strength of the third regiment is 1536. "¡° The current number of the fourth regiment is 2475. " After listening to the numbers reported by the regiments, I could not help nodding with satisfaction. I did not expect that they carried out the orders thoroughly. In just a few days, the total strength of the whole division was several times higher than that at the last meeting. With so many troops, in tomorrow''s counterattack, we will not have to stay in the trenches and wait for the troops of the Don front army to join us. Instead, we can take the initiative to attack the German troops in gorodyser under the cover of tanks. After counting the figures of each regiment, Bantai leiev raised his hand, looked at his watch, and turned to ask for my opinion: "Comrade division commander, it''s getting late. Can you let the commanders go back to their respective units for preparation?" I nodded and answered briefly, "well, now that the task is clear, let''s break up!"

 Chapter 825

    Stimulated by the news that the friendly troops would launch a counterattack in the early morning, kirilov, bandeleev and shelbina were still chatting excitedly around the table when I went to bed.


    Before seven o''clock kirilov urged me to go to the observation post on the top of the mountain, saying that I wanted to see the spectacular scene of the simultaneous counter offensive of the two front armies. Although I understand that the attack area is more than 100 kilometers away from the mamayev post, let alone look at it, I can''t even hear the noise, but in order not to dampen kirilov''s interest, I reluctantly agreed to his request.


    Walking out of the headquarters, I saw that it was dark outside, and everything around was submerged in the Milky fog. As the early morning outside was very cold, I wrapped up my military coat and muttered in a low voice: "Damn, it''s really cold."


    In the past, kirilov or bantailiev and I used to go to the observation post at the top of the mountain. Today, kirilov, bantailiev and sherbina all follow me to the observation post, except for Akhromeev, the chief of staff on duty. The four of us crowded the little observer. It turned out that the observer had to go outside and stay with them.


    Waiting is the hardest. As time goes by, the time for launching a counterattack is getting closer and closer, but the fog here is not rare. The next Bantai leiev was a little impatient. He was so anxious that he walked around the room and kept saying, "hell, if the fog doesn''t disperse, it will be very difficult for us to prepare for the enemy''s targets, and our air force can''t move."


    As soon as bantaileiev finished speaking, before kirilov or I could express their opinions, shelbina suddenly made a silent gesture, listened to the movement outside for a while, and then said to us, "you hear, the voice outside."


    After listening to what shelbina said, I thought he had a good hearing and heard the sound of our army''s attack. So I listened to the outside sound. But after listening for a long time, I didn''t hear any gunfire, so I didn''t ask curiously, "commissar shelbina, why can''t I hear the gunfire coming from outside?"


    "Well, I didn''t hear the gunfire either." Kirilov said, and then asked shelbina, "by the way, comrade shelbina, how did you hear that?"


    "Gunfire, what gunfire?" Asked shelbina, puzzled. After a moment''s pause, he took the initiative to explain: "I''m asking you to listen to the voice coming from the direction of the Volga River. The ice is constantly hitting the bank. It seems that the river is freezing again."


    Although we can''t see the overwhelming attack of our army here, or even hear the sound of guns, it doesn''t affect the interest of kirilov and others. From the outbreak of the war to the present, in the previous orders issued by the higher authorities, they used to "block and crush the enemy''s attack" and "repel them from the vicinity of a certain city". But this time, for the first time, the word "encirclement and annihilation" was used. How could kirilov not feel extremely excited.


    When the three of them were discussing the spectacular scene of our army''s attack, I stood in front of the lookout, looking at the vast white fog in front of me, thinking that I had seen films about the battle of Stalingrad before. Under the heavy artillery attack of our army, the ordinary German officers and soldiers ran around like headless flies, while the helpless commander knelt in his headquarters, Facing the image on the wall, he kept drawing a cross on his chest. After receiving the news that the troops were heavily shelled by our army, Paulus issued an order to his chief of staff in time to transfer the 16th and 24th tank divisions belonging to the 14th tank army to the areas that might be hit by our army. At the same time, he also promptly called the army general Baron von Wilkes, who was still sleeping, and informed him of the attack of our army.


    Time passed unconsciously. It was ten o''clock in the morning. The thick fog outside gradually became thin, and my vision gradually widened. After analyzing and studying for several hours, the three commanders finally stopped. Bantai leiev picked up the phone and called the division headquarters to ask akhromeyev who was staying there: "Hello, chief of staff, this is Bantai leiev. Do you have the latest battle report from the group army headquarters?"


    I''m far away from the telephone, and I can''t hear how akhromeyev answered. But I know very well in my heart that at the moment, like us, trakov is anxiously waiting for the war reports from the southwest front army and the Don river front army. Since even he does not know the specific attack, let alone akhromeyev. Of course, I am the only one who knows the progress of the battle. Unfortunately, I can''t tell anyone what I know.


    Bantai leiev put down the phone and said to everyone regretfully: "the chief of staff said that he had not received any information from the group army headquarters. It seems that even commander trakov is not clear about the current situation."


    After kirilov sighed, he suddenly saw me standing in front of the lookout with a calm expression. He went to me and asked tentatively, "Comrade o''shanina, do you think the counter offensive of the Don front army and the southwest front army today can be successful?"


    It''s a hell of a failure. You know, this is the great turning point of the Second World War. I said so in my heart, but on the surface, I had to pretend to be thoughtful. After pretending to think about it, I immediately replied, "Comrade political commissar, this great counter offensive is different from any previous offensive. The higher authorities immediately put in three front forces. We are not only in military strength, Even the number of tanks and artillery far exceeds that of the enemy, and they firmly hold the air supremacy of the battlefield. You said, under such circumstances, can our troops still defeat the enemy? "


    Bantaileiev and shelbina, who had been dejected because they could not get the exact information, became elated again after hearing what I said.


    After a moment of excitement, Bantai leiev solemnly asked me, "Comrade division, I don''t know when our attack will start tomorrow?"


    Once again, I looked at the thick fog that had not completely dispersed outside, and casually said, "wait until after noon."


    "After noon?" When Bantai leiev heard this time, he was stunned at first, and then asked: "Comrade teacher, is it too late?"


    I left the lookout, went to the middle of the room, and said to some of them, "comrades commander, although we all know what today''s attack is about, the Germans do not know that they will think that the counterattack we launched, like many previous counterattacks, is a hasty containment action to save Stalingrad from collapse. According to my speculation, the German army will attack our mamayev post tomorrow. "


    "Ah?" My words startled the three people. They were stunned for a while. Kirilov asked: "if the German army really attacks tomorrow, we will be far behind them in weapons and equipment. If we attack them, we may suffer greatly."


    "Comrade political commissar, you are too worried." I waved my hand and said with disapproval, "I think the German attack will still focus on Highland 107.5. As long as the second regiment can hold on firmly, we will take the opportunity to launch a counterattack when the German attack weakens at noon. Once the German army is defeated, our infantry will follow the enemy''s rout and rush to their defensive positions under the cover of tanks. If we are lucky, we may be able to capture the German occupied city of gorodyser


    As an old soldier, Bantai leiev had a more comprehensive perspective than me. As soon as I finished, he immediately put forward his own question: "Comrade division commander, what should we do if our offensive troops encounter German air strikes?"


    "Don''t worry, my deputy teacher." When I heard his worry, I laughed and answered lightly, "since it is a major counter offensive of our army, the air supremacy of the battlefield will be firmly in our hands, and our air force will not give German fighters a chance to take off."


    Towards 12 o''clock, as the sky brightened, the dense fog that enveloped the earth completely dispersed. There was no German bomber or fighter in the clear sky. When we left the observation post and went back along the trench, a German reconnaissance plane appeared in the air. It circled over the mamayev post a few times, flapped its wings and flew West.


    Bantai leiev, who was walking in front of me, stopped, looked up at the departing reconnaissance plane, and said thoughtfully, "Comrade division commander, seeing that the friendly attack is very smooth, has attracted the enemy''s air force."


    "That''s a good sign, old man." Kirilov, who followed me, also stopped and said excitedly: "it proves that the enemy''s air force can''t carry it, so they are all concentrated in the west, and have no time to take our mamayev post into consideration. When I heard o''shanina talking about the attack tomorrow, I was worried that the German planes would make trouble. Now it seems that this worry is unnecessary. I believe the enemy will be defeated by us. "


    When we returned to the headquarters, akhromeyev immediately welcomed us. He handed me a telegram and said excitedly: "Comrade division commander, this is the telegram just received. It is the latest war report of the Soviet intelligence agency transmitted by the headquarters of the group army."


    "The latest war report?" Hearing this word, I looked curiously at the telegram in my hand. It simply said, "today, November 19, 1942, our Great Red Army turned to attack in Stalingrad." Although such a vague war report still made kirilov''s eyes full of tears.


    Akhromeyev then handed me an envelope and said, "Comrade division commander, this was just sent by the headquarters of the group army. He said that you would sign it and send it back."


    I took the envelope in akhromeyev''s hand and took out a piece of writing paper from it. On it, I saw the handwriting of trakov: "dear comrade Stalin, we defenders of Stalingrad, now write to you, and please tell the people of the whole Soviet Union that we are in high spirits and firm will, and our hands are beating the enemy ceaselessly. Our letter was written on the cliffs of Volga, the great Russian River. We are determined to stick to Stalingrad and send it out from the trenches. We swear that in front of our heroic elders who have defended tsarizin, in front of our comrades in arms on every front, in front of the flag of our Red Army, and in front of the people of the whole Soviet Union, To swear: to the last drop of blood, to the last breath, to the last beat of the heart, we must guard Stalingrad and prevent the enemy from entering the Volga River. "


    It turned out to be a letter written by trakov to Stalin. At the back of the letter, there were many people''s signatures. The first one was trakov, followed by the signatures of gurov, Krylov, Vasiliev, hogarsky, and teachers such as rodimzev, lyudnikov and guriyev. I took this undelivered letter, walked quickly to the desk, picked up the pencil on the desk, and wrote my name in the back.


    After signing the name, I found that there was no signature from the political commissar or deputy division commander except the names of the division heads, so kirilov was not asked to sign the letter, just let a few people pass it around. After they finished reading it, I carefully put the letter paper back into the envelope and handed it to akhromeyev, and solemnly told him: "Comrade chief of staff, this letter is very important. Immediately send a squad of soldiers to send this letter to the headquarters."¡° Comrade division commander, "when he heard that he was going to send the letter back to the headquarters of the group army, Bantai leiev volunteered," I''d better take someone to deliver the letter myself. "¡° No, absolutely not! " As soon as Bantai leiev''s words came out, I stopped him immediately. How can I ask a deputy teacher to deliver the letter? In case of any accident on the way, what can I do? I glanced at basmanov, who was standing next to me, so I called him in front of me and gave him the arduous task of delivering the letter. After basmanov left, we gathered around the map beside the table and began to study the battle plan for tomorrow. Bantaileiev and his colleagues spent half a day at the observation post on the top of the mountain and got a lot. He first pointed to the map to talk about his views: "Comrade division, this is my consideration. Tomorrow, after our artillery preparation, the counter attack troops should be divided into two. On the right side of the road, the fourth regiment was the main force, attacking the German forward position on the north side of the highland. After seizing the position, the following regiment dispatched enough troops to hold on, and the main forces of the two regiments continued to advance northward. Under the cover of tank battalions, the troops of the second and third regiments advanced deep into the German army, striving to rush out of gorodyser in two hours and be ready to attack the city. " After listening to Bantai leiev''s plan, I didn''t express any opinions. Instead, I asked the other commanders, "do you have any different views on captain Bantai leiev''s plan?"¡° No! " All the people answered neatly.

 Chapter 826

    After dark, trakov specially called me to inform me that the great counterattack under Stalingrad had officially begun and that our counterattack date was still November 20.


    After listening to trekov''s notice, although I have already known the battle that happened today in the historical materials of later generations, I still have to pretend to ask trekov how it is, otherwise my calmness will arouse his suspicion.


    Trekov may have been waiting for me to ask him this question when he called. Hearing my real question, he immediately excitedly briefed me on the situation of today''s friendly counter offensive: "at 7:20, all kinds of artillery and mortars concentrated on the main breakthrough area with a length of about 28 kilometers entered combat preparation. At 7.30, orders came to fire. 3500 guns and mortars hurled a ton of steel and explosives at the enemy''s positions. After one hour of sabotage, another 20 minutes of suppression.


    Oshanina, you know what? This was the first time in the Great Patriotic War that our army carried out such a powerful artillery assault. Our artillery attack caused great losses to the enemy and made them panic.


    At 0850 hours, the tanks of the southwest front, the infantry and tanks of the 5th and 21st group armies, and the assault group of the 65th group army of the Don front turned to attack at the same time.


    At noon, the fast group of the 5th group army (1st and 26th) and the 4th group army of the 21st group army successfully broke through the German tactical defense and went out to the campaign area. Our army has broken through the enemy''s resistance, the attack is developing smoothly, and the battle has been launched in the depth of the enemy''s defense. "


    When I relayed what trakov said to the other commanders, everyone got excited. Kirilov, who has always been calm, unexpectedly suggested: "Comrade oshanina, today is an important and memorable day. Why don''t we have a drink to celebrate it?"


    I looked at kirilov suspiciously and asked in surprise, "comrades of the political commissar, if you know that we are going to command a war tomorrow, don''t you worry that drinking will delay our business?"


    Kirilov replied with a smile, "it''s all right, comrade oshanina. We''ll just drink a little. It won''t delay our business." Then he went to the wall, lifted the map on the wall, and magically pulled out a flat stainless steel wine pot from behind. I can''t laugh or cry at his action. I don''t know when he hid the wine pot behind the map.


    Kirilov came back to us with the jug, unscrewed the lid, raised the jug high and said aloud, "for the great counterattack!" With that, he looked up and took a sip. After drinking, he gave me the bottle and said, "Comrade o''shanina, have a drink, too."


    Although I don''t want to drink, it''s hard to be gracious. Especially in this case, if I refuse rashly, kirilov will be unable to get off the stage. So I took the bottle, raised it high like kirilov, and said loudly: "for our victory!" Then he got close to his mouth, took a small sip, and handed the bottle to Bantai leiev.


    After all the people in the headquarters, including major basmanov and lieutenant razumeyeva, had a round of drinking, kirilov put away the wine pot, and then our commanders sat down around the table and got down to business.


    Bantaileiev first asked: "Comrade division, since the Germans are beaten so badly by the comrades of the Don river front army and the southwest front army today, I don''t think they are likely to attack mamayev post tomorrow. Should we adjust the time for launching a counter attack?"


    I shook my head slowly and said in an indisputable tone, "no, the time of the counter attack can''t be changed. It''s better to bombard the enemy at 12 noon tomorrow before launching a counterattack."


    "Why?" Bantaileiev asked somewhat unconvinced.


    "Comrade deputy division commander, the reason why I don''t agree to change the attack time is very simple." I know bantaileiev is a reasonable person. As long as the reason is clear to him, he can understand me, "because the German army will attack our mamayev post tomorrow."


    As soon as my words came out, there was a scream. On behalf of others, political commissar sherbina asked me, "Comrade deputy commander, if, according to what commander trakov said, the German troops are dazed by our artillery attack, it is estimated that their organizational system is now in disorder, and they are too busy to spare enough force to deal with our mamayev post?" At this point, he paused for a moment, then lowered his voice and said cautiously, "are you a little too nervous?"


    What will happen tomorrow, for them, is an unknown with many uncertain factors, but for me, it is a history that has already happened. Although the counterattack launched by the two Soviet front forces today was very powerful, it did not make the German Sixth Army feel the direct threat. Therefore, Paulus thought that our counterattack would be the same as those in the past and end in failure. So at 18 PM, he sent a notice to the German army in the city, Get them ready to attack the next day.


    However, Baron von weix, commander of group B of German army, found that the situation was a little bad. He sent a new order to Paulus at 22:00: "in view of the situation in front of group 3 of Romanian army, we are forced to take resolute measures, so as to quickly deploy troops to cover the wing of group 6 army, and guarantee lihaya (south of kamensk shahejinski)," he said The security along the railway in the Qier river section (the group army relies on it for supplies). To this end, I order:


    1. Immediately stop all offensive operations in Stalingrad, except the operations of the reconnaissance units. The intelligence of these units is essential for organizational defense.


    2. The 6th group army immediately took out two motorized regiments and one infantry division from its formation, and took out another auxiliary motorized regiment as far as possible, and assigned these units to the command of the 14th tank army; In addition, we should draw out as many anti tank weapons as possible, and assemble these groups on your left wing in echelons, so as to carry out raids to the northwest or the West. "


    However, after receiving this order, Paulus didn''t take it seriously at all, and didn''t even convey it to his subordinates. He was still thinking about how to achieve greater results in the battle of attacking Stalingrad the next day. He didn''t know that their end had come quietly.


    I am very familiar with this period of history, so I can decisively make the decision not to change the time of the counter offensive. However, it is difficult for me to persuade my subordinates. After all, a lot of things are going on or have not yet happened. Let alone my little division commander, even if the group army commander trekov and even the front army commander Yeliao Menko don''t know, how can I know before them?


    Hesitated again and again, finally I had to put out the regulations as a shield. I put a face on my face and said solemnly, "political commissar sherbina, you have not been in the army for one or two days. Don''t you know that the orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed and can only be carried out?"


    Hearing what I said, all the people shut up and no one mentioned the change of the counter offensive time.


    The night passed.


    Before the fog had cleared, the German attack on mamayev hill and 107.5 highland began.


    Seeing the war situation, as I judged, the whole headquarters was silent. Several commanders stood beside me, learning from me, looking up at the map on the wall.


    I heard shelbina say to whom in a low voice: "Comrade deputy commander''s judgment is so accurate that the Germans really launched an attack. Fortunately, we are now relying on fortifications to resist the German attack. If we leave our position to fight with the enemy in the open field, our troops will pay a heavy price. "


    Then I heard Bantai leiev say: "now the fog outside is too big for our air force to move. Even if we send out tank battalions to cover the infantry to charge, the results will be very limited."


    Instead of paying attention to bantailiev and sherbina, I turned around and called ahlomeyev: "Comrade chief of staff."


    Akhromeyev quickly came to me and asked in a low voice, "what instructions do you have, sir?"


    I said briefly, "you call commander Oleg and ask them what''s going on there?"


    When akhromeyev went to make a phone call, kirilov came close to me and asked in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, why do you only ask the chief of staff about the situation of the second regiment and the situation of the fourth regiment by the way? Don''t you worry about Lieutenant Colonel gedar at all?"


    "Comrade political commissar, you can rest assured." I lightly comforted him and said, "the northern highland held by the fourth regiment has a relatively perfect defense system. It is very difficult for the German army to attack. However, the 107.5 highland held by the second regiment is not the same. Due to the lack of solid fortifications, the troops in the position have been fighting with the enemy. So far, thousands of officers and soldiers have been sacrificed on this high ground. When victory is coming, we must not give up the land that permeates the blood donation of the martyrs to the Germans. "


    After listening to what I said, kirilov, after a moment''s silence, took the initiative to put forward to me: "Comrade oshanina, if that''s the case, we should send the troops of the third regiment earlier. Once the position of the second regiment is in danger, they can take it up in time."


    I thought that the thick fog outside had not cleared away, and the troops would not be attacked by the German army during the mobilization process, so I simply agreed to kirilov''s proposal, and then turned to ask razumeyeva, who was sitting by the wall, "Comrade lieutenant, contact commander kosga of the third regiment immediately, and let his troops move to the rear side of 107.5 highland ahead of time."


    As soon as I gave the order to mobilize the troops, akhromeyev held the microphone at the table and called me, "Comrade division commander, it''s commander trakov."


    I heard it was a call from trakov. I rushed to the table, took the call from him, and politely said, "Hello, comrade commander, what''s your instruction?"


    From the receiver came trakov''s voice. He said with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, are the Germans attacking your position now?"


    "Yes, comrade commander. The German army is attacking the northern highland of the fourth regiment and the 107.5 highland held by the second regiment at the same time. " After reporting the situation, in order to reassure trikov, I specially explained to him, "but we are confident to hold the position and wait for the time of counter attack!" When I mentioned the counterattack, trakov could not help sighing and said with regret: "originally, our attack time was at seven o''clock in the morning. Unfortunately, because of the damned fog, the artillery observers could not see anything, so the time for artillery preparation had to be postponed." I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Seeing that the pointer had already pointed to eight o''clock, I asked casually, "Comrade commander, do you know when our artillery preparation is going to be delayed?" Trekov may have looked at his watch, and then he replied, "I think the artillery preparation before the attack should start at about 8:30. By that time, the thick fog outside almost dissipated." At the end of the call with trakov, I looked up and asked akhromeyev, "chief of staff, you''ve spoken with lieutenant commander Oleg. What''s the situation there?" Akhromeyev shook his head and answered with a worried face: "Comrade teacher, the situation is very bad. After the German artillery attack on Highland 107.5, thousands of infantry, under the cover of more than a dozen tanks and dozens of armored vehicles, are launching a fierce attack on the highland. Although the second regiment fought very hard, a unit of the enemy has already rushed into our hillside position and is engaged in a white-edged battle with our commanders and fighters. Lieutenant commander Oleg has asked the commander of the first battalion, Captain horushov, to take the reserve to reinforce them. "¡° Comrade division commander, "bantailiev immediately reminded me after hearing ahlomeyev''s report," we should send reinforcements immediately. We must never let the enemy occupy the 107.5 highland, otherwise we will be very passive. " I waited for bantaileiev to finish, but did not make a statement. Instead, I turned to ask razumeyeva in the distance, "Comrade lieutenant, are the troops of the third regiment going now?"¡° Report to the commander, "razumeyeva stood up and replied," after receiving the order, the third commander, lieutenant commander kosja, immediately ordered major Godunov to lead the Third Battalion and drive to the 107.5 highland. It is estimated that they will arrive at the designated position in a few minutes. " It was said that the reinforcements of the third regiment had been sent, and all the people on the scene breathed a sigh. Bantailiev said: "as long as the Third Battalion can get to the 107.5 highland in time, then the Germans will never take the position away from us."

 Chapter 827

    About a quarter of an hour later, lieutenant commander Oleg called the division headquarters and reported that the German attack was repulsed and the situation in Highland 107.5 was eased because the fresh troops of the third regiment arrived on the battlefield in time.


    Although Oleg repeatedly assured me on the phone that with the support of the third regiment, he was sure to hold the position firmly. But at the critical moment with a few hours to go before the counterattack, I didn''t dare to take it lightly. After I finished the call with him, I took the initiative to call the third commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosga. On the phone, I asked sternly, "Comrade commander, your third battalion is now fighting the Germans on Highland 107.5. When can the rest of the troops get there?"


    "Report, sir," kosga replied hastily, "the first battalion has just started by truck, the second battalion is assembling, and it can start in five minutes."


    "Well done, comrade commander." Seeing that kosga''s action was so quick, I praised him with satisfaction, and then told him, "remember, keep communication open so that you can get in touch at any time."


    After I finished the call, akhromeyev, who had just returned from the telephone, reported to me: "Comrade division commander, the enemy who attacked the fourth regiment''s position has retreated in ashes after leaving 70 or 80 bodies and nearly the number of wounded."


    After listening to the situation of the fourth regiment, I asked akhromeyev, "how is the situation of the first regiment?"


    "According to lieutenant colonel chejerikov, the officers and men of the first regiment are full of fighting enthusiasm. They can only rush towards the enemy with their heads held high by the order of attack."


    "What about the artillery and tank battalions?" Kirilov and akhromeyev immediately asked him about the other two independent combat units.


    "Major perskin reported that the tanks had sufficient fuel and ammunition to be ready for combat. As for the artillery battalion, "ahlomeyev said here, looking at me unconsciously, and then hesitated to say," they are ready to fight at any time. They are now waiting for the division commander to give the order to enter the position. "


    "Chief of staff, call major Morozov and tell him not to worry. The counter offensive of our division begins at 12 o''clock. Before receiving my order, they should continue to stay in the hiding Department... "As soon as I said this, my words were interrupted by a strange sound from outside, as if something was flying over our headquarters.


    People in the headquarters heard this voice. Political commissar sherbina came up to me and asked nervously, "Comrade deputy commander, this voice is so strange. Is it some new weapon used by the enemy to attack mamayev post?"


    I didn''t pick him up. Instead, I raised my legs and ran out. If the German army really used any new weapons, I would have to figure out the Countermeasures in advance. When I ran out of the headquarters, I found that the fog outside was gradually dispersing, and the strange sound just heard was coming from my head. I quickly looked up and saw objects with long tails flying at a high speed over the mamayev post towards the West. At this moment, I suddenly understood that it was our army''s rockets that fired, and the sound I heard was the sound of rockets flying in the air.


    Shelbina may not have seen flying rockets before. He looked at the rockets that drew arcs in the air in surprise and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, what''s flying in the sky?"


    His question immediately aroused laughter from several of us. Kirilov asked him with great interest, "Comrade shelbina, have you never seen such a weapon before?"


    "I haven''t seen it." Shelbina shook his head and asked modestly, "what kind of weapon is this?"


    "Rockets, our Rockets!" Kirilov said with pride: "it seems that the counterattack of our Stalingrad front army has begun. It must be the artillery preparation before the attack."


    "This is the rocket?" "Few infantry people have ever seen this kind of strictly confidential mobile device in the near future," said shelbina with self mockery


    When I heard what shelbina said, I couldn''t help frowning and thinking about it. It seems that it''s true. I''ve been in the army for a year, and I''ve never seen a Soviet rocket at close range.


    We were standing outside the headquarters, looking at the Rockets flying in the sky happily. Suddenly major basmanov ran out of the headquarters, ran to me, stopped and said aloud, "Comrade division commander, the commander of the group army has called and said that he has something important to inform you."


    As soon as I put the receiver close to my ear, I heard trakov''s excited voice: "Comrade oshanina, you see, our artillery has opened fire. This is the preparation for the attack. It''s enough for the Germans to drink.


    After the artillery preparation is over, the assault of the front army will be carried out in the sarpa Lake area 6 or 70 kilometers away from the headquarters of our group army. It was our group army and our neighbor that turned to attack. I was startled by the words of trakov. It was a supreme honor to name a battalion in his own name. You know, even if you get ten red flag medals in battle, it''s far less than this honor. No matter how many medals a person gets, to remember him is to be familiar with his superiors and comrades in arms; Even if it takes decades or even longer for a battalion to be named after itself, as long as it is mentioned, the name of the heroic battalion commander will be mentioned again by later generations.


    I took a deep breath, and when my mood was a little more stable, I solemnly said to trikov, "Comrade commander, I will convey your message to the commanders and fighters. Please rest assured that the independent division will definitely achieve more brilliant results in this great counterattack. " At the end of the conversation with trakov, I couldn''t calm down for a long time. For this supreme honor, I even had the idea of leading my troops to the city of gorodyser. But soon, I tried to drive this tempting idea out of my mind, because I am a division commander and deputy commander of the group army. My post is in the headquarters, and I can''t take the troops to attack like an ordinary battalion commander. Kirilov when they came back from the outside, they noticed my difference. Kirilov quickly came over and asked with concern, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the matter? What''s commander trakov saying on the phone?" I repeated trekov''s words to several people in a voice that was a little bit out of tune with excitement. I didn''t expect that several people''s reaction was worse than mine. They were stunned at first, and then they cheered. After the cheering, akhromeyev took the initiative to ask me to fight: "Comrade division commander, when this great moment comes, I can''t do nothing in the division headquarters, so I ask to go to the front-line combat forces, even if I only command a battalion or a company."¡° No, absolutely not. " Without waiting for me to speak, kirilov had already stopped ahlomeyev''s immature idea: "major ahlomeyev, don''t forget that you are the chief of staff of the independent division. Your command position is to assist the division commander in commanding the battle in the division headquarters, not to rush into the army." After that, he told akhromeyev, "chief of staff, call the heads of the regiments immediately and convey the words of commander trakov to them." Seeing akhromeyev pick up the phone, I immediately added: "chief of staff, by the way, how are the enemies in front of the second and fourth regiments?"

 Chapter 828

    The reports of the second and fourth regiments were soon fed back. After the defeat, the German army retreated for two kilometers and was nervously redeploying its forces for another attack. The German troops attacking the mamayev post have all withdrawn from their starting positions after being beaten back by the commanders and fighters of the fourth regiment.


    After hearing the report, I thought that the counterattack of Stalingrad''s front army had officially begun. I no longer had to be afraid of wolves before and tigers after, so I decisively ordered akhromeyev: "chief of staff, call major Morozov and let his artillery enter the position immediately to prepare for shelling the German army in front of our field."


    Akhromeyev agreed happily, so he picked up the phone and prepared to call major Morozov. Unexpectedly, kirilov raised his hand to stop him, and then cautiously said to me, "Comrade oshanina, will you wait and see what happens?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade political commissar." I understand in my heart the reason why kirilov prevented ahlomeyev from calling. He was worried that this counterattack would become the kind of counterattack that paid a huge price but did not achieve any results in the previous several times. That''s why he wanted to be cautious. I knew the outcome of the counterattack very well, so I comforted him confidently and said, "don''t you see the Rockets flying over the mamayev post? But the artillery of the front army is firing. After the fog is completely cleared, our air force should be out. Since the air supremacy is in our hands, what''s so terrible? When the Germans have not recovered, they will be beaten completely. When we fight back later, we will also have less resistance. "


    "But," kirilov said, still full of misgivings, "if after the fog has cleared, it is not our fighters but German bombers that appear in the air, then all the artillery units left in our division will be finished."


    "Comrade political commissar, at this time, we have to gamble." At this point, I gave him a mischievous wink, and then said, "and I''ve always had good luck in gambling. I believe that when the fog clears, it will be our fighters that will appear in the air. " After that, I solemnly told akhromeyev, "chief of staff, what are you still doing? Why don''t you call major Morozov soon?"


    Although kirilov was not fully convinced by me, this time he saw akhromeyev on the phone, but did not speak. He just sighed a long time, still with a worried expression.


    When akhromeyev was on the phone, I thought silently that since the artillery battalion had entered the position ahead of time, the tank battalion of major pelsken should also move to the rear of highland 106.5 ahead of time, and the major counter offensive had begun. I would no longer have to worry about the German air attack during the mobilization.


    After akhromeyev finished his call to Morozov, I ordered him to call major perskin and let the tank battalion enter the attack position ahead of time. Perhaps I was too excited, and the following orders were not only messy, but also contradictory. However, akhromeyev gave full play to the qualities of an excellent chief of staff at the moment, transformed what he understood into orders, and arrived at all departments in an orderly way.


    About half an hour later, after receiving a phone call, akhromeyev reported to me, "Comrade division commander, major Morozov reported that the artillery battalion is ready and waiting for your order."


    I took a look at him and gave a short order: "fire immediately, bombard the German front in the East, and then turn around to bombard the German army in front of highland 107.5."


    Akhromeyev nodded, then said in a loud voice to the microphone: "the teacher ordered that the gun be fired immediately. First bombard the German front in the East, then turn around and bombard the German army in front of 107.5. "


    When the gunfire outside rang out, I suddenly had a whim and suggested to kirilov: "political commissar and deputy division commander, we can''t see anything here. We''d better move our headquarters to the observation post on the top of the mountain. What do you think? "


    "I agree with the teacher''s proposal." Bantaileiev first expressed his support for my proposal. He also helped me to explain to other commanders: "if we all stay here, we can''t command the troops according to the changes in the battlefield situation, so I think it''s very appropriate to move the headquarters to the peak observation post."


    At the end of bantailiev''s speech, both akhromeyev and sherbina political commissar expressed their support in time. Kirilov, seeing that everyone had the same opinion, had no choice but to nod his head. Then he expressed his own opinion: "since we want to move the division headquarters to the observation post on the top of the mountain, I suggest that we also move the radio station, so that we can command the troops by radio."


    Next, the headquarters began to move. In order to facilitate the command, not only a telephone should be moved up the mountain, but also the telephone line should be pulled up to keep in touch with the headquarters. And kirilov said to me when we started to be busy: "Comrade oshanina, I have something to do. I''ll leave for a while, and I''ll find you at the observation post on the top of the mountain later."


    When I heard kirilov say this, I was very surprised. I said that there was something more important than moving the new headquarters at this time. However, on second thought, since he had to leave at this time, it proved that what he wanted to do was still very important, so I nodded and agreed very readily.


    Standing at the lookout of the observation post on the top of the mountain, I saw the shell coming out of the high ground, whistling and landing in the German queue in the distance. In the rising fire and smoke, the German army was blown up, and I was very happy.


    At eleven o''clock, the artillery barracks of Morozov stopped shelling. At this moment, both the German front positions and the German troops assembled in front of 107.5 highland suffered heavy losses. Just as the enemy was in a dilemma, our fighters appeared in the air. Our fighter planes in the formation of four planes swooped down from high altitude, dropped bombs and strafed, making the German army, which had suffered heavy losses, even worse.


    Akhromeyev came up behind me and reported to me in a loud voice: "Comrade division commander, the telephone has been installed and the communication with the regiments is smooth. Please give an order."


    My eyes have been fixed on the German troops who were blown up and fled by our warplanes. Without looking back, I told akhromeyev, "chief of staff, contact all the commanders immediately, and I will personally give them the order to attack."


    Akhromeyev agreed, went to the phone, grabbed the transmitter, and called out in high spirits: "I''m Shizhi, I''m Shizhi! One group, one group; Second regiment, second regiment You all listen carefully. The teacher wants to speak to you, and the teacher wants to speak to you! "


    Hearing akhromeyev contacting the regiments, I put down my telescope and walked slowly to him. Akhromeyev contacted the rest of the commanders, handed me headphones and transmitters, and reported to me in a low voice, "all the commanders are connected."


    Holding the transmitter, I said in a voice that was a little bit agitated: "comrades commander, our division has been fed up with the cowardice of the Germans in mamayev post these months. Now it''s time for us to pay them back their blood debts. Comrades and brothers, for the sake of our great motherland, for the sake of our great commander Stalin, for the sake of Stalingrad, which we have defended, and for the honor of our red flag independent division, march forward! "


    Not long after the order of attack was issued, I suddenly heard the melody of holy war. At this moment, I thought it was my illusion, but when I saw kirilov standing outside the observation post with a smile on his face, I immediately understood that it was not an illusion. He had installed a tweeter on the battlefield before, but never used it. Just now, he left just to activate the tweeter.


    At the same time, a red signal bomb, representing the attack signal, was raised on the mamayevgang and 107.5 highland. Then the mountain tsunami like cry came into my ears, originally looked at the empty hills appeared thousands of officers and men, they chanted "Wula!" He rushed out of his hiding place with a weapon.


    The officers and men of the first and fourth regiments flooded over the top of the North highland like a tide, and then quickly rushed to the foot of the mountain. The soldiers charged straight forward, trying to rush into the enemy''s forward position as soon as possible, with mortars and heavy machine gunners dragging their own equipment behind the charge troops.


    In the face of the tide of our troops, the German front kept silent. However, when our officers and men were only more than 100 meters away from them, the enemy in the position opened fire and returned fire. The soldiers who rushed to the front were caught off guard and fell down a lot. The rest of the soldiers fell down on the spot and fired back relying on the crater. The mortars and heavy aircraft Gunners seized the time to choose their own positions, and used artillery fire and machine gun fire to suppress the German troops in the trenches.


    "Chief of staff," seeing this, I could not help roaring, "immediately ordered Morozov''s heavy artillery to open fire and destroy the German resistance."


    Bantai leiev, who was standing beside me, quickly stopped my impulsive order and explained: "Comrade division commander, you can''t open fire. Our soldiers are too close to the enemy. Once you order the heavy artillery of the artillery battalion to open fire, you will hurt your own people by mistake."


    I gave such an order on impulse just because I saw that the attack of my troops was blocked. When I heard Bantai leiev''s words were very reasonable, I no longer insisted on my opinion, but turned my telescope to the direction of 107.5.


    In my imagination, the battle in Highland 107.5 is much more cruel, so I will equip them with tank battalions in advance. I didn''t expect that at this moment, the situation is totally different from what I imagined. About ten tanks of the tank battalion opened the way in front, followed by the same number of armored vehicles, and then dozens of trucks full of soldiers.


    107.5 the enemy in front of the highland has long been defeated by our artillery and bombing. On the battlefield, fear is the most likely factor to affect the morale. When fear envelops the German officers and men, no matter how strong their will is, they can not avoid the fate of collapse. Seeing our armored forces rushing towards them, the morale of the surviving officers and soldiers suddenly disappeared, and hundreds of rout soldiers threw down their weapons and spread their feet and ran North madly. This escape completely doomed their fate.


    It wasn''t long before I could see the battle going on in the second and third regiments. I just imagined that the battle was still going on according to the sound of guns coming from afar and the dust column of black soil and white snow rushing high into the sky.


    Looking back at the first and fourth regiments attacking the German forward positions, we can see that the firepower in the German trenches was greatly reduced under the suppression of our mortar and heavy machine gun firepower. Some of the officers and men who were close to the trench also bravely climbed out of the crater where they were hiding. In the face of the enemy''s barrage of bullets, they crawled forward, tumbled and jumped, and quickly approached the German trench. Seeing that our soldiers were about to rush into the German trench, I suddenly felt someone pulling my sleeve. Turning around, it turned out to be akhromeyev. Seeing that I turned around and yelled at me, "Comrade division commander, your phone number." I thought which group leader was calling, so I put the receiver close to my ear and cried out, "Hello, I''m oshanina. Who are you?"¡° It''s me, comrade oshanina. " I heard trakov''s voice coming out of the receiver. "What''s going on there?"¡° The second and third regiments have completely defeated the German troops in front of the 107.5 highland. At present, the battle is in the depth of the German troops. The first and fourth regiments are attacking the German forward positions. It is estimated that they will be able to seize the German positions in a short time and further develop in depth. "¡° Comrade o''shanina, I just talked to the commander of the friendly army on the phone. According to them, the progress of all the troops is very smooth. As most of the troops of our group army have been seriously reduced, we are unable to launch a decent attack on the enemy, so we have to hand over this heavy task to your division. In other words, no matter which army is the first to rush into the city of gorodyser, I will name the battalion after its commander. Please convey my message to the soldiers. " When I heard the old words of trakov, I quickly made a statement to him: "please rest assured, commander. I will convey your words to every commander." After I finished my call with trakov, I turned to akhromeyev and said, "chief of staff, please get in touch with the regiments immediately and repeat what the commander said last night: no matter which army rushes into gorodyser first, it will order the army in the name of the battalion commander." As soon as I finished, kirilov and bantaileiev cheered in front of the lookout: "it''s great, it''s great, our commanders and fighters have captured the German front position."

 Chapter 829

    I can''t see the progress of the left-wing counter offensive forces composed of the second and third regiments because of the barrier of highland 10.5. The right-wing counter offensive forces, which are composed of regiments one and four, are all fighting on open ground, so we can clearly see their fighting situation when we stay in the observation post.


    After seizing the front position of the German army, the right wing forces left some troops to guard and then continued to advance. Although the German army was expelled from the position by our army, they did not run around like the left-wing enemies, but retreated in an organized way.


    Our air force has been suppressed by the German air force during this period of time, and they have been holding a fire in their hearts for a long time. At this moment, they are venting their anger on these helpless German forces. Our warplanes hovering in the air adopt the intensive surprise tactics of four aircraft formation. As soon as they see the German troops piling up, they immediately dive down, throw bombs and strafe with machine guns, so that our ground attack troops can attack more smoothly and faster.


    The first and the fourth commanders, shijerikov and Gaidar, were all experienced commanders. They soon found out that the air force was guiding and covering its own attack, and immediately commanded the troops to follow the attack points of our fighters. As soon as the German guarded areas were bombed, our battalions and companies of infantry swarmed on, completely drowning the surviving German troops in the sea of people. Because the attack speed is too fast, it''s hard for the mortars and heavy machine gunners who are following. They are carrying barrels, ammunition boxes and heavy machine guns. Although they have been trying to catch up with the infantry in front, the distance between them is still growing.


    Seeing this situation, bantaileiev said to me with emotion: "Comrade division commander, according to the attack speed of the right wing forces, I don''t think there will be any problem in winning gorodyser before dark."


    Although our army has made great progress, I have no hope of winning gorodyser before dark. After all, the German army has been there for several months, and there must be a lot of fortifications built. Because of our division''s existing ability to attack fortifications, it is almost impossible to capture the city with heavy guards and fortifications in the shortest time.


    When kirilov saw that I was worried, he came over and asked with concern, "what''s the matter with you, comrade oshanina? You look very unhappy. Is there something on your mind?"


    Instead of answering his question, I pointed to the north and asked, "Comrade political commissar, do you think we can take gorodyser, which is heavily guarded by the German army, before dark?"


    As for my question, kirilov gave me a strange look and then asked, "at present, the overall situation is good for us. You see, "he pointed to the warplanes circling in the sky," our air force has controlled the air supremacy of the battlefield. If we encounter the stubborn resistance of the German army during the siege, the air force can provide us with the necessary support. "


    I replied with a wry smile: "Comrade political commissar, we can''t be too optimistic. We should know that although the German army attacking our position has been defeated, we still have to clearly realize that the enemy''s strength is stronger than ours. Do you think that after the left and right wings join together under gorodyser, we can easily seize the city from the German army who is waiting for work?"


    "What should we do then?" Kirilov could not help worrying when I said that, "because the main force of the group army suffered heavy losses in the early fighting, it was very difficult to stick to its own defense line, let alone provide support for us. If our attack is thwarted, the enemy may turn around and eat us


    "Comrade deputy division commander," I called Bantai leiev, who was standing in front of the lookout, and told him, "in an hour or two, our left and right wings will meet under the city of gorodyser. Although the four regiments have a large number of troops, they do not have a unified command, so I intend to send you to take on the important task of command. Is there a problem? "


    Seeing my serious expression, Bantai leiev said nothing nonsense. Instead, he nodded and replied very simply, "OK, sir, I''m going to gorodyser city."


    Bantailiev was working with the artillery battalion of Morozov. Standing in front of the lookout, I looked down at the truck with guns at the foot of the mountain and drove through the open space between our place and 107.5 highland in an orderly way. It makes me very happy to see this kind of March in broad daylight. Before today, if we want to move our troops, we must be in the night or the bad weather when the enemy planes can''t go out, so as to avoid air attack. Today is different. Our counter offensive has begun. Now it''s the enemy''s turn to dodge our air attack with fear.


    After several trucks hauling heavy howitzers passed by, I was surprised to see that the trucks behind were hauling a strange kind of multi barrel gun. He called ahlomeyev over, pointed at the strange gun below and asked him curiously, "Comrade chief of staff, do you know what gun is towed behind the truck?"


    Akhromeyev looked down and immediately replied, "report to division commander, this is the 41 type 150mm rocket captured by artillery battalion from the enemy."


    I quickly called kirilov over, pointed to the strange guns, and said to him with great interest, "Comrade political commissar, do you look at the German rockets like our homemade" thunderguns "


    Kirilov looked around at the Rockets passing by at the foot of the mountain and nodded in agreement: "well, comrade oshanina, you really don''t have to say, it''s quite like our" thunderbolt. "


    Akhromeyev, when we finished, introduced to us: "division commander and commissar, this German model 41 150 mm rocket is a six company rocket, with six launch tubes arranged in a hexagonal shape, assembled together and mounted on a tow wheeled car. The length of the rocket launch tube is 1.3 meters, the outer diameter is 160 mm, and the launch tube has five rifles. In order to keep the rocket stable in the launch tube, there are three 17 mm guide rails in each launch tube.


    There is an inverted bracket on the two wheeled tractor car, which should be put down and fixed when shooting, so as to play a stabilizing role. The rocket launch tube can have a pitch angle of 5 to 15 degrees on the launcher, and can rotate 27 degrees left and right. The firing interval is two seconds, and it takes about 90 seconds to load six rockets. The total combat weight of the whole system is 536 kg, which is usually towed by trucks or armored vehicles. The ignition mode is wired, which is quite similar to our "thunder gun". The ignition cable is generally 10 meters, so as to ensure that the post spray flame does not harm the soldiers who operate. "


    At 3:30 p.m., Bantai leiev got in touch with me through a group of telephones. Instead of calling him by name to prevent German eavesdropping, I asked, "what''s going on?"


    Bantailiev was stunned when he heard my question, but he soon understood the reason why I said so. He also briefly reported that "the left and right wings have converged to control the East, South and north directions of the city. When Morozov is ready, he can officially launch an attack."


    "Have you made clear the distribution of the enemy''s forces?" I continued.


    "According to the confession of the prisoners, there was a division headquarters of the 295th infantry division in the city. There was a regiment in the East and south of the city to defend, and there were solid fortifications." At this point, he asked me with some worry: "as far as I know, some companies of the shejerikov regiment have a gun for every three talents. Is it appropriate to throw them into such a cruel battle?"


    "Well, take the shejerikov regiment as the general reserve." I knew Bantai leiev was telling the truth, because the expansion of the first regiment was too fast, and thousands of soldiers had no weapons at all. If these unarmed commanders and fighters were allowed to charge, they would be killed. I had no choice but to announce that the first regiment would be changed into a reserve team. "As for the attack, it would be handed over to several other regiments. The city of gorodyser is relatively spacious, which is conducive to the attack of armored forces, so you must do a good job in the cooperation of the troops. "


    As soon as I finished, Bantai leiev began to cry bitterly: "it''s the first time I''ve heard the word" Bu Tan synergism ". What should I do?"


    Bantai leiev''s words made me laugh and cry. I forgot that he had been in the division headquarters for the rest of his time except for the northern mission since he was in the independent division. He had never been anywhere. How could he know the tactics of "cooperation between steps" we used before? However, at such a time, even if I want to replace someone temporarily, I can only harden my head and say to him, "Comrade deputy division commander, you can ask xiejerikov about this. He has experience."


    After I finished my call with Bantai leiev, kirilov said to me with a serious face: "Comrade oshanina, it seems that we are dazed by the victory at noon and forget that the enemy in front of us is far stronger than us. I estimate that there will be a fierce battle next, and the casualties of the troops may exceed one third. Now I want to know, what are your plans? "


    I know that the decision made at this moment will affect the life and death of the independent division, so I am very cautious. After thinking about it for a few minutes, I said to kirilov carefully: "Comrade political commissar, I think it''s unrealistic for us to attack north and join the Don river front army in the South with our current strength. Maybe we''ll be wiped out before we see the shadow of our friends. So I think about it this way. First, we will concentrate our forces to take the nearest city of gorodyser, and then we will send a troop northward to attack konayi again. After occupying the northern highland, the troops will stop and turn into a defensive state, waiting for the confluence with the Don front army. "


    Akhromeyev made a mark on the map according to the war report he received. At this time, the telephone on the desk rang. As the division finger and the regiments are now contacted by telegram, nine out of ten calls that can be made at this moment are from the headquarters of the group army. He quickly put down his pencil, picked up the phone and politely said, "this is the headquarters of the independent division. Where are you, please?"


    After listening for a while, he stood up from his seat and said politely, "Comrade commander, please wait a moment. I''ll let my teacher answer the phone."


    When I heard that it was trakov''s phone call, I quickly came to akhromeyev, took the phone from his hand and stuck it in my ear. Trakov''s voice came out of the receiver: "Comrade oshanina, what''s the situation there?"


    "Report, comrade commander," I quickly stood up straight and replied respectfully, "at present, the four regiments of our division have arrived outside the city of gorodyser, surrounded the city from the East, South and North, and are preparing to attack the German army in the city." After a brief report on our situation, I turned to the counter offensive of the front army, "Comrade commander, do you know that the counter offensive of the front army is progressing smoothly?"


    Hearing this question, trikov replied with a smile: "the counter offensive of the army is progressing very smoothly. At noon, the troops of the front army made a breakthrough in the enemy''s line of defense. At 1300 hours, the mechanized Fourth Army entered a breakthrough. And the 13th army of tanks is developing rapidly to the enemy''s defense depth in its own area at the moment. " After introducing the situation of the friendly forces, he suddenly asked, "do you have any plans next?" Listening to his question, I quickly repeated what I had just thought to him. In the end, I said with some worry: "if our division is pressed up, then the defense of mamayev post will become empty. In this way, in case of German sneak attack, the highland will be lost."¡° You don''t have to worry about it. " Trikov made a quick decision and announced to me, "I will send Colonel wachuk''s 284th infantry division to mamayev post before dark. As for highland 107.5, I''m going to send the 92nd infantry brigade who lost the highland before. After you and the commanders of these two forces hand over your defense, you can go down to gorodyser as soon as possible to command your troops. "¡° I see. Comrade commander, I''ll make arrangements now. " After I put down the phone, I told kirilov what trikov meant. After that, I suddenly caught a glimpse of sherbina, the political commissar of the 37th division of Jinwei, who had been ignored by me, standing beside him. Suddenly, I had an idea. I quickly walked up to him and said politely, "political commissar sherbina, I have something to discuss with you."¡° Comrade deputy commander, you are very kind, "sherbina replied politely." if you have anything, please tell me directly. As long as it is within my ability, I will do it well. "¡° In this case, political commissar shelbina, "seeing that he readily agreed to my request, I would not go around the Bush and say directly," I would like to ask you to lead the officers and men of the 37th division of the guards to temporarily take over the defense of highland 107.5, and stay there waiting for the 92nd Infantry Brigade sent by the headquarters to take over. "¡° Yes, "shelbina agreed to my request very simply," I''ll go back and assemble my troops and go to highland 107.5 immediately. "

 Chapter 830

    I wanted to get out of gorodyser as soon as possible to command the battle, so after the handover of 107.5 heights to the 37th division of the guards, I asked the guard company of akhromeyev and captain Beckman to stay, waiting for the 284th infantry division of Colonel wachuk to take over the defense of mamayev post.


    It''s more than ten kilometers from here to gologiche, so it''s impossible to walk all the way. So when busmanov listened to my arrangement for the house, he had already sent someone to contact our car team.


    We took two security companies and an engineering company to the truck site. Kirilov and I got into the cab of the second truck and the third truck. Before I got on the bus, busmanov asked me which route to go to gorodyse. I understand that he asked us which army on the left and right wings we should follow. After a little thought, he replied, "just follow the route of the left wing army. This road is close. We can get there early and join the deputy division commander." After listening to my instructions, basmanov immediately turned to the cab of the first truck and led the way in front of the whole team.


    The vehicle passed through the open space between the two highlands and entered the open space in front of the position. As a result of several hours of shelling and bombing, the road was full of craters, large and small. Around the craters, there were broken bodies. Judging from the fragments of uniforms on the bodies, they were basically the same German army, and our commanders and fighters were not found.


    A few kilometers away from the city of gorodyser, I found the artillery position on the roadside by accident. I was surprised to see that all the artillery on the position were doing nothing, so I immediately asked the driver to stop.


    As soon as my car stopped, the following motorcade stopped. Basmanov''s head car, after several hundred meters, also stopped. After kirilov got off the bus, he came over from behind and asked me curiously, "Comrade oshanina, why did you stop here?"


    I pointed to the artillery position on the side of the road and replied, "I see that the artillery position is located here, but the artillery seems to have nothing to do, so I came down to ask what''s going on."


    As I speak, Captain Yushchenko and more than a dozen soldiers have set up a guard around us. I turned to look at the truck basmanov was riding in. When the truck was reversing, I shook my head at kirilov and said, "come on, comrade political commissar, let''s go and see what happened."


    Seeing a group of people walking towards the artillery position, the commanders on the position immediately got the news, and soon several commanders left the position and ran towards us. When they got closer, I found that it was not major Morozov who led the way, but his deputy battalion commander, Captain valginets.


    After captain valginez saluted us, I asked with a straight face, "Comrade captain, I want to ask, what are you doing here? Are you camping out?"


    On hearing my reproach, Captain valginez''s face showed an embarrassed expression. He hesitated and said, "report, sir, we are also ordered to rest here."


    "Ordered to rest?" When I heard valginez say this, I was furious and yelled at him: "the city of gorodyser in front is still in the hands of the German army. You don''t provide the necessary artillery support for the infantry attacking the city, but you stay here doing nothing. It''s a good thing to say that you are ordered to rest! I want to know, which son of a bitch gave such an order? "


    Seeing that I was furious, kirilov quickly pulled my sleeve beside me and said in a low voice, "don''t be angry, comrade oshanina. Let''s find out what''s going on." Then he turned and asked captain valginets, "Comrade captain, where is major Morozov, your battalion commander?"


    Captain valginets, who was in a dilemma, sighed with relief when he heard kirilov''s question. He immediately reported: "Comrade political commissar, the battalion commander has been informed by the deputy division commander that he has rushed to the temporary headquarters in the south of the city for a meeting."


    When Captain valginets reported this, I immediately understood what was going on. Needless to say, the order to stop the artillery battalion and rest must have been given by Bantai leiev. I knew that I had wronged captain valginets, but in front of many of my subordinates, I could not help apologizing to him. I could only snort heavily and turned to the truck.


    The motorcade drove another two kilometers and came to a trench which was obviously just excavated. I guess the temporary headquarters of bandeleev should be nearby, so I asked the driver to stop again. After I got out of the car, I looked around and walked decisively towards the location where many tanks, armored cars and trucks were parked. As far as I know, bantaileiev''s temporary headquarters must be located in this area.


    As I expected, the temporary headquarters of Bantai leiev was set up in a small circle surrounded by several armored vehicles. A group of commanders squatted on the ground and looked down at a map lying on the ground. Bantai leiev was explaining something to them.


    "Comrade deputy division commander," kirilov saw that my face was not good-looking. He was deeply afraid that I would get angry if I spoke first, so he said hello to laiev in the class first: "originally, your headquarters is located here. What''s the situation like now?"


    Bantai leiev heard kirilov''s voice, turned his head and looked over. He was a little stunned for a few seconds before he stood up and welcomed us. At the same time, he said, "teacher, political commissar, you are here!" After shaking hands with us one by one, he continued: "the situation is not very good. We launched two attacks on the city, both of which were repulsed by the well defended German army. In the battle, we lost two tanks, seven armored vehicles and more than 700 casualties. At present, our troops have returned to their respective starting points for attack. "


    The group of commanders who used to squat also stood up from the ground after we arrived. I glanced at the commanders and found that the regimental leaders, political commissars, artillery battalion commanders and tank battalion commanders were all there. So I pointed to Morozov in the crowd and said impolitely, "major Morozov, come out for me!" Morozov squeezed out of the crowd and stood innocently in front of me, waiting for my instructions. I glared at him and asked, "Comrade major, I need an explanation from you. Why doesn''t your artillery battalion fire at the city and cover our troops to attack, but stay where you are and do nothing For the sake of my question, Morozov opened his mouth several times without making any sound, so he had to look to the side for help. From the direction of his eyes, I judged that it must be Bantai leiev who gave the order, not his little artillery battalion commander. There was a cough in my ear, and then I heard leiev''s embarrassed voice: "Sir, comrade, please don''t blame major Morozov. It''s my decision not to let the artillery battalion take part in the war."¡° Why? " I turned to bantaileiev and asked coldly. Bantai leiev shrugged his shoulders and answered helplessly: "Comrade division commander, at present, except for howitzers, artillery barracks are rocket guns, which are all heavy firepower. Once they were allowed to fire, I was afraid that gorodysea would turn into a mass of ruins, so I thought about it again and again and decided not to let the artillery fight, but to use tanks to cover the infantry to attack the city. "¡° Comrade deputy division commander, "when I heard his theory that he would not let the artillery fire, I couldn''t laugh or cry. Holding back my anger, I said to him," the city has become a ruin, and we can rebuild it; But if for this reason, let our soldiers go to die without knowing it, is that right? " With that, I stopped talking about Bantai leiev, turned to the commander line in front of me and asked aloud, "report to me immediately where your regiments are now."¡° Report to division commander, our regiment is currently in the south of the city, serving as the reserve team of the whole division. " As soon as I had finished speaking, he took the lead in answering. Then came the report of the second regiment leader Oleg: "the second regiment is in the north of the city at present."¡° The third regiment is in the east of the city. "¡° The fourth regiment is in the south of the city. " After finding out the distribution of the regiments, without consulting anyone, I decisively issued my own order: "now I announce the battle order. Major Morozov will immediately return to the artillery battalion and fire on the German defensive position in the city ten minutes later."¡° Yes Murozov agreed in a loud, smiling voice¡° The shelling lasted for 15 minutes. At the end of the shelling, major perskin''s tank battalion charged into the city, and major gedar''s fourth regiment followed the tanks and pushed into the city. The third regiment launched a containment attack in the east of the city, so that the German army could not be reinforced from the east of the city. " As soon as my voice fell, Oleg, who had not received the task, was worried. He repeatedly asked, "Comrade division commander, what is the task of our second regiment?" I took a look at him and said faintly, "commander Oleg, because your second regiment has lost too much personnel in the early stage of the battle, your regiment will not take part in the next attack. You just need to stick to your existing position." When I finished these words, I announced decisively without waiting for Oleg to say anything more: "since the tasks of the troops have been made clear, go back immediately and make arrangements as soon as possible." When I saw the commanders dispersed and left, I specially stopped Morozov. Morozov, who was left behind by me, looked at me blankly and asked strangely, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"¡° Comrade major, move forward the artillery position immediately after your shelling mission. "¡° Move forward? " Morozov first looked left and right, and then asked, "I don''t know where our new position should be?" I pointed to the direction of the city and told him, "keep pushing forward, at least within 500 meters of the city." Although my order was a little puzzling, the obedient Morozov didn''t dare to say much, but he honestly agreed: "yes, I will obey your order firmly!"

 Chapter 831

    When I was still at mamayev post, I took the initiative to hand over the command of the army''s attack on gorodyser city to bantaileiev, but now I found that his play was too standard. If we play according to his style, our siege will easily become a war of attrition, even if we barely capture the city, it will be a tragic victory. In order to make a quick decision and recapture the city from the German army as soon as possible, I decisively took back the command of the army from bantaileiev.


    After all the commanders left, I frowned and thought about what I had left out. After thinking about it, I really found a problem. I forgot to take the German artillery into account. In the morning, the positions of 107.5 highland and the fourth regiment were bombarded by them. If Morozov''s artillery barracks opened, they would suppress their fire, How should we deal with it? Thinking of this, I quickly turned around and asked leiev, "Comrade deputy division commander, do you know where the German artillery position is?"


    Kirilov, who was standing beside to make soy sauce, was nervous when he heard me. He immediately asked leiev: "old man, do you know the position of German artillery position?"


    Instead of answering us immediately, bandeleev turned to one side and yelled, "Hello, Lieutenant travkin, come here, please."


    With his shouts, a young lieutenant appeared in front of us. I have a close look. The new lieutenant is lieutenant travkin, the Scout of the Don front army who was rescued by us some time ago. As we retreated from konnyi, he followed us back to mamayev post. Because of the shortage of manpower in the newly established reconnaissance company, I sent him to the company as the deputy company commander.


    Bantailiev walked up to travkin and said to him solemnly, "Comrade lieutenant, please report to the division commander about the German artillery you have detected."


    Lieutenant travkin quickly turned to face me, raised his hand to salute and reported, "Comrade division, according to our reconnaissance, most of the German artillery was destroyed by our air force, and the rest of the artillery was scattered and hidden in solid buildings. The two attacks we launched were frustrated because the tanks in the open road were destroyed by the German artillery hidden in the building, and the infantry behind lost their cover, so they became the targets of the enemy''s shooting... "


    "Come on, comrade lieutenant." Before travkin finished, bandeleev impatiently interrupted him, then waved to him and said, "it''s none of your business here. Go back to your troops first."


    Although travkin had reported that most of the German artillery had been destroyed by our air force, kirilov said anxiously: "Comrade division, what about the enemy''s artillery hidden in the building? If we don''t get rid of them completely, a new round of attack will be frustrated. "


    I understand what kirilov said is true. If we can''t clear these German defensive positions equipped with guns for a long time, our commanders and fighters will pay a heavy price for every step forward. However, judging from the reaction of the German army, they did not carry out counterattack after our army''s attack was frustrated, which proved that they were either limited in strength or scared out of courage by our air force. Although the latter is more likely, the sky is gradually getting dark, and the planes that had been hovering over the battlefield are flying away one after another. In the following time, our new attack on the city can only be completed with the support of a very small number of tanks and artillery.


    Just then, Morozov''s artillery battalion opened fire. Pieces of shells and rockets fell on the streets of the city and exploded. The smoke and dust filled the sky. The whole city was immediately shrouded in smoke.


    Kirilov''s voice suddenly came to my ear, because the explosion was very loud. Although he yelled in my ear, I still felt that the voice seemed to float from a very far place, and I didn''t really hear it. Maybe he saw that our shelling was too fierce, so he kindly reminded me: "Comrade division, if this kind of shelling continues, the city will be completely destroyed."


    I didn''t pay attention to kirilov''s warning. I just kept holding up my telescope and looked ahead. I said in my heart that the war has been fought to this extent. Is it necessary for our commanders and fighters to pay a higher price in order to save a small city?


    In the course of the shelling, perskin and his men entered the tanks and armored vehicles parked nearby, and launched the vehicles. We stayed in the middle of several armored vehicles. As soon as the vehicle started, there was a stream of black smoke from the rear of the vehicle, so we had to find another place.


    As soon as the shelling was over, pelsjian''s tank battalion took the lead in rushing to the still smoky city, followed by the infantry of the fourth regiment behind the tanks and armored vehicles.


    Looking at the troops flooding into the city, kirilov said to me in a loud voice, "Comrade oshanina, can we succeed in this attack?"


    "Comrade political commissar," I turned to look at him and said helplessly, "I don''t know. It depends on the effect of the fourth regiment''s attack before we can draw a conclusion."


    Due to the well prepared artillery, the attack was smooth, and the tank battalion and infantry quickly rushed into the smoke. Because I can''t see the situation inside clearly, I can only judge the intensity of the battle according to the sound of guns coming from the front.


    However, this situation did not last long, and Gaidar''s information soon came back through the telephone


    "The first battalion has captured several buildings guarded by the German army and is now developing in depth!"


    "The second battalion rushed into the bus station in the south of the city and was fighting with the enemy hiding in the waiting hall!"


    "The third battalion is advancing towards the central square of the city under the cover of armored forces!"


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    After hearing the series of reports, kirilov and banteliev both had smiles on their faces. Kirilov also said with satisfaction: "this lieutenant colonel gedar is really good. How long has this battle been going on, and the fourth regiment has occupied almost a quarter of the city."


    I''m still very dissatisfied with the speed. It''s going to be dark. Once it gets dark, the role of our artillery and tanks in street fighting will be greatly reduced, so I hope they can achieve greater results before it gets dark.


    I immediately ordered the operator to contact the third regiment and ask them how the situation was there. Commander Oleg reported to me that they had succeeded in seizing several German firepower support points after attacking enemy positions. At present, the German army is concentrating its forces to counterattack them and try to take back all these positions.


    Due to the stubborn resistance of the German army in the city, the attack from the East and the South stopped. Commander Gaidar reported that "... As the Third Battalion approached the central square, it was blocked by the German troops hidden in the church. The tanks and armored vehicles in the open road were destroyed, and the infantry following were also seriously injured."


    When I heard that the attack had been frustrated and that the army had suffered heavy casualties, I was also worried. I simply said to Bantai leiev, "Comrade Deputy teacher, I''ll leave it to you." Then he waved his head to kirilov, who was standing beside him, and said, "come on, comrade political commissar, let''s go to the city and have a look."


    Kirilov and I had just walked out a few steps when we suddenly remembered something. We immediately stopped and told Bantai leiev, "Comrade deputy division commander, if the artillery battalion comes later, you should ask major Morozov to come to me in the city."


    In order to ensure kirilov''s safety, I asked one of the remaining soldiers to take off his bullet proof clothes and put them on. Then I took a group of security soldiers to the city.


    More than ten minutes later, we came to the headquarters of Colonel Gaidar, a building hundreds of meters away from the central square. As a result of our shelling, the building collapsed in half, and Gaidar set up his headquarters in a relatively good room. This room has a good view. You can see the central square clearly from the window.


    I raised my telescope and looked into the distance. With the help of the burning light, I saw that the magnificent church next to the central square, which is seven or eight meters above the ground, has become a solid fortress. All the doors and windows are blocked by bricks and stones, leaving only cold bullet holes pointing to all directions. On the platform outside the church were barricades built by the German army with sandbags and wood. Rifles, machine guns or machine guns are protruded from each gunhole and shooting hole. The three-dimensional fire network in the church Fort covers the whole square and several intersections around. The road leading to the central square is full of the remains of our division''s killed commanders and fighters and the wreckage of destroyed tanks and armored vehicles.


    Gedar stood beside me, pointed to the front and said with grief: "Sir, the German army has turned this church into a strong fortress. The shelling just now has not destroyed it at all. As long as our troops rush to the square, they will be shot madly by the enemy hiding in the church. We''ve rushed three times, and the stairs to the platform are inaccessible except for throwing hundreds of bodies at each time. "


    "Comrade oshanina, what shall we do?" Kirilov is a political cadre in the end. As soon as he sees that our attack is frustrated, he is somewhat confused. "If we don''t destroy the enemy''s fortress, no matter how many troops we send, we can''t attack it."


    "Comrade political commissar, don''t worry!" Although kirilov and Gaidar were worried, I calmed down at the moment. Since the opposite church is the defensive support of the German army, once it is destroyed, the enemy''s resistance will will be affected, and our attack will be smooth in the next battle¡° I''ve come up with a way to get rid of this fortress. "


    "Ah, have you found a way?" Kirilov asked in disbelief, "the church occupied by the German army is so strong that even our tanks can''t use it. Do you have any way to destroy it?"


    Without waiting for me to speak, a familiar voice came from the door: "Hello, comrade soldier, is the division commander here?"


    I recognized that it was Morozov''s voice, so I turned to look at the door and cried out, "is it major Morozov? Come inside quickly. "


    When Morozov came in, he saw kirilov and I were there. He gave a simple and honest smile and would raise his hand to salute us. I was anxious to destroy the German fort, but I didn''t care to talk to him about these empty rites. I grabbed his arm, pulled him to the window, pointed to the church in the distance and asked him, "Comrade major, do you see the church in front of me? The German built a strong fortress there, blocking the way of our army. Do you have a way to kill it? "


    Morozov looked at the church in front of him, then held out his hands for a long time, and finally regretfully answered me, "Comrade teacher, it''s very difficult. The reason why the church was not destroyed in the early shelling was because of its special location. Most of the shells landed near it, occasionally hit one or two, and the damage to it was not great. I think it''s very difficult to destroy it directly. "


    I was a little disappointed when I heard what Morozov said, so I had to remind him, "Comrade major, I don''t think you understand what I mean. I want you to set up your artillery positions in the streets and fire directly at the German fort. "


    After listening to what I said, Morozov was so surprised that his chin almost fell to the ground. It took a long time for him to refute me and say, "Comrade division, you should know that heavy artillery is used for indirect targeting. If direct targeting is used, it is a serious violation of military regulations."


    "To hell with the regulations." I said impatiently, "immediately put your battalion''s heavy guns on the street, and all those rocket launchers on the street, aiming directly at the German fort."


    When he saw that I was angry, Morozov did not dare to refute. He could only give an honest promise. Then he turned and ran out of the room and set up a new artillery position.


    A quarter of an hour later, the prepared artillery positions began salvo fire. The sound of the gun was deafening, the fire of the muzzle became one, and the rocket with the tail flame flew to the target. In the light of the rising fire, the broken bricks and tiles, together with the broken limbs and arms of the German soldiers, were thrown into the air. Many of the gun holes, shooting holes and barricades reconstructed with doors and windows were blasted away in an instant. During the shelling, several surviving tanks of our army slowly approached the platform of the church and fired directly at close range with tank guns and vehicle mounted machine guns.


    As soon as the shelling was over, our commanders and fighters, hidden in the nearby buildings, rushed out with shouts and rushed to the blazing German positions in groups. After our close shelling, there were not many German officers and men who survived, so their resistance to the influx of our officers and men was weak, even negligible.


    Seeing such a result, both kirilov and Gaidar were stunned. After a long time, Gaidar murmured, "my God, I didn''t expect that heavy artillery could be used in this way, and the effect was so amazing."


    I gave him a smile and said with pride, "Comrade commander, this kind of fighting method is called" bayonet on cannon ", which is specially used to deal with the enemy''s strong fortress. You must bear in mind that in future battles, the rational use of all kinds of technical equipment can effectively reduce the unnecessary casualties of our commanders and fighters. Do you understand? "


    "I see, sir." Col. Gaidar replied with ecstasy: "in the future, I will use all kinds of technical equipment reasonably to reduce the casualties of our troops."


    After the German stronghold was destroyed by our artillery fire, the morale of the garrison in the city was seriously hit. In the next few hours of fighting, they retreated step by step to the west of the city. Seeing that the enemy was demoralized, I decisively put the shejerikov regiment as a reserve team into battle.


    The participation of the shejerikov regiment has become the last straw to crush the camel. Before daybreak, we succeeded in occupying the whole city, while the surviving German troops withdrew from the west side of the city where we deliberately left.


    At the end of the telegram, I begged him to contact the air force to provide us with the necessary air support in the next battle to capture konaii.


    Trekov''s reply arrived half an hour later, with only a few words on it: "Air Force pilots will carry out intensive raids on German defensive positions in your battle of seizing koneyi!"


    With trekov''s promise, I immediately had a lot more confidence, so I immediately called several leaders together and assigned tasks to them. As the first and third regiments have all participated in the northward operation, their two regiments will play the leading role in today''s battle.


    I said to all the commanders in high spirits, "comrades, in yesterday''s battle, we all performed very well. The first one to attack the city was the fourth regiment, one battalion and one company. According to commander trakov''s prior agreement, the serial number of the first battalion of the fourth regiment will be named after the commander of the battalion." Seeing that everyone was envious of Gaidar, I struck while the iron was hot and said, "there are still many opportunities for meritorious service. I hope you can seize this opportunity and make new contributions in the battle!"


    Seeing that everyone''s enthusiasm was aroused by me, I began to assign tasks: "the main task of koneyi city will be undertaken by a regiment of lieutenant colonel chejerikov. As the city was bombed by German planes some time ago, I don''t believe there will be too many defenders in the city, so a regiment will quickly seize the city under the cover of the air force. After seizing the city, the third regiment of Colonel kosga attacked the Highlands north of the city. After occupying the highland, we will stick there and wait for the army of Don river going south to join us


    After the first and third regiments set out, the second and fourth regiments stayed in the city to clean up the battlefield and seize the time to rest.


    At 3:00 p.m., xiejerikov excitedly informed me on the telephone that "Mr. reporter, kongnieyi city has been seized by us."¡° What are the casualties of the troops? "¡° One company was killed and wounded, "said sergerykov excitedly, after briefly reporting his own casualties." we annihilated a battalion and two companies of the German army, and killed the battalion commander, the deputy battalion commander and three company officers of the battalion. " Hearing this result, I nodded with satisfaction, and then asked, "what''s the situation of the third regiment?"¡° As like as two peas, Semyon Jerry Kopf, who was leading the troops in the long time, was attacking the highlands. "When I heard the question of the three regiment, I answered cautiously," according to our subordinates, the attack steps he took are exactly the same as those you commanded. I believe it won''t take long to capture the heights. " It was said that the Highlands would be captured soon. As a result, I couldn''t get in touch with lieutenant colonel kosga until an hour later. I was very worried about what happened to him. Just as I was about to ask sjerykov to send someone to see what had happened to the third regiment, commander kosga finally got in touch. When he heard my voice, he excitedly reported: "Comrade division, we have captured the enemy''s high ground." After listening to his report, I snorted and said, "Comrade commander, xiejerikov captured kongnieyi an hour ago, and now you have captured the enemy''s weak defensive position. It''s too slow!" Unexpectedly, he suddenly said: "Sir, comrade, you must have never thought that we have joined forces! Join the friendly forces

 Chapter 832

    "What, what? What did you say? " Kosga''s words startled me. In my memory, the meeting of Stalingrad''s front army and friendly army was not today, nor with the Don front army, but with the southwest front army. I was afraid that I had heard it wrong, so I asked him to repeat what he had just said, "I didn''t understand what you just said. Please say it again!"


    Commander kosga thought I really didn''t hear it, so he raised his voice and repeated it. Because his voice is very loud, kirilov and bantaileiev standing on one side also heard it.


    "Comrade oshanina," kirilov came up and asked aloud, his voice trembling slightly with excitement. "Lieutenant Colonel kosja reported that they had joined the friendly forces?" Is that true? "


    "Comrade political commissar, I think it should be true." After that to kirilov, I asked out loud to the transmitter, "commander kosga, please tell me more about it. Where did you join forces with? Who are the commanders and fighters from both sides? "


    After listening to what I said, Lieutenant Colonel kosga found that he was a little too happy. He only said that he would join the friendly forces, but he didn''t make it clear which unit of the friendly forces would join. He quickly added: "Comrade division, please listen to my explanation. When our regiment was about to seize the highland, there was a fierce gunfire from the north side of the highland. I was quite puzzled at that time. I immediately asked major vatorak, the Deputy Commander: major, did you send your troops back to the back of the German highlands?


    Vartorac shook his head and replied very simply, "no, comrade commander. Since the beginning of the battle, I''ve been with you and never left. "


    I then asked, "what''s the matter with the gunfire coming from behind the high ground?"


    Major vartorac thought for a moment and said tentatively, "is it possible that the German troops defeated by the Don front army have retreated here and misunderstood their own people?"


    After thinking for a while, I shook my head and said, "Comrade major, this is impossible. It''s day time, and the German troops on the Highlands will never mistake their troops for ours. " At this point, I also made my own guess, "is it possible that the guerrillas we left behind are attacking the Highlands?"


    Major vartorac immediately denied my conjecture and explained his view: "guerrillas? This is absolutely impossible. If they really had the ability to attack German solid positions, the last time our division went north, they would not have been absent. "


    I''m even more puzzled when he said that. I don''t think the troops of the northern highlands of the German army attacked by Lt. Col. sergeant sharkirikov were sent to support our troops, but why didn''t he say hello to me in advance? "


    Although kosga seemed a little wordy when he told the story of the reunion, I didn''t interrupt him in order to find out the whole story. Instead, I listened to him quietly.


    "... at that time, major Godunov, the commander of the Third Battalion, came in to report his work. I had an idea and gave him the task. I ordered him to find out which army was attacking on the other side of the German highland. After commander Godunov left, major vatorak and I went out of the command post to observe the battle for the Highlands in the trench.


    By this time, the first and second battalions had occupied the two hilltops on the left and right respectively, while the third battalions were making a final attack on the main position on the top of the mountain. At this time, the positions on the top of the mountain were filled with fire and smoke, and it seemed that a fierce battle was going on.


    Major vartorac next to me suddenly touched my arm and excitedly said to me, "Comrade commander, do you think it will be the army of the Don front?"


    I listened to what he said and quickly raised my telescope to carefully observe the position on the top of the mountain. After looking at it for a while, I saw that our helmets were shaking in the trench, and now the troops of the Third Battalion had not rushed to the top of the mountain. In this way, I immediately concluded that the people on the top of the mountain who are fighting with the enemy are not necessarily the commanders and fighters of the Don front army, but they must be our friends. "


    Kirilov, who had been listening to me for a long time, could not help but snatch the transmitter from my hand and yelled at kosga: "Hey, comrade commander, you''ve been talking about it for a long time, but you haven''t talked about our main concern. Now I ask you, which army joined you, and which commanders and fighters of both sides joined you? "


    With kirilov''s roar, kosja did not dare to talk any more. He quickly replied, "it''s the tank advance unit of the 65th group army of the Don front army who joined us, comrade political commissar. The leader''s lieutenant colonel is sipiakin. According to him, general Batov, commander of the 65th group army, in order to quickly break through the German defense line, organized several tank assault units with infantry to plunge into the German defense from several areas, in order to achieve the goal of dividing and encircling the German army. "


    When kirilov heard this, he suddenly said to the operator, "Comrade operator, give me your pencil and paper." When he got the pencil, he began to record it, and at the same time, he repeated aloud: "we have... Commander of the Third Battalion, major Godunov... Commander of the first battalion, Captain Rosenberg... Sergeant adir, commander of the Don front army, Lieutenant shipiakin... Captain guzhaven. It''s all written down. Thank you, comrade commander


    Kirilov put down his transmitter, raised the paper in his hand, and said happily, "we''ve finally come to this day. We''ve joined the army of the Don front!"


    After hearing kirilov''s words, bandeleev immediately suggested to me with emotion: "Comrade division commander, I think we should report to the headquarters immediately and report the good news to commander trakov."


    When trakov heard the news of the meeting, his reaction was more intense than I expected. His excited roar came from the earphone: "what, comrade oshanina, what do you say? Have you joined up with the friends of the Don front? But is it really the case? Are you sure you''re not kidding me? "


    In response to this reaction, I replied very calmly, "yes, comrade commander. The troops of the third regiment joined up with the advance troops of the 65th army of the Don front army in the Highlands north of kongnieyi. " Then I picked up the paper kirilov had put on the table and read out the names of the commanders and fighters of the two sides.


    When I finished reading the list, trakov suddenly said, "o''shanina, please wait a moment. Comrade military commissar wants to talk to you." Soon, gulov''s voice came out of the earphone: "Hello, comrade oshanina. I would like to extend my congratulations to you on the successful reunion of your troops with those of the friendly forces. " Speaking of this, his tone suddenly changed, "according to your report, only a small friendly army joined us, and you can''t complete the anti encirclement of the German army with your strength, so in the next time, you may have to face the crazy counter attack launched by the German army who is not willing to lose. You need to be sober about this. "


    I had been wondering in my heart: did I inadvertently change history when the third regiment joined up with the advance troops of the 65th Army today. When I heard gurov''s words, I realized that I was too early to be happy. The troops of lieutenant colonel sipiakin, who joined us, were just a small force passing through the gap of the German defense. They could contain the German army, but they played a very limited role in the whole war. After the meeting, all we can do is to stick to the area we are occupying and make sure that the German army will not take it again before the friendly troops arrive.


    After the call with the headquarters, I immediately began to arrange the defense of each regiment. In the past two days, the area we have occupied has expanded a lot, but our current forces have lost a quarter of them in the fighting. If we do not deploy them carefully, we may suffer a great loss in the next fighting.


    At present, there are two regiments and four regiments in gorodyser city. There are no German formed units in the East and south of the city. Therefore, I am confident that I will boldly divide the two regiments into two parts and use them for defense in the East and the south. The four regiments, with strong troops, had one battalion guarding the city, two and three battalions in the north and west of the city respectively.


    Because most of the buildings in the newly captured konnyi city were destroyed by the German bombing, there were not many troops in the city, so I asked shejerikov to leave only one battalion in the city, and the remaining two battalions. One was deployed in the hidden camp in the south of the city, and the other was deployed in the west of the city to build a temporary defense line, As the first barrier to protect the city. In the third regiment of Colonel kosga, except for one battalion, the remaining two battalions and commander sipiakin''s troops were deployed at the rear of the highland.


    However, the situation was better than I expected. In the afternoon of that day, the German army only sent out a few small troops to fight back against konaiyi. But as soon as they launched an attack, they were bombarded by our air force, and their attack finally disintegrated in the bombing.


    The next day, that is, November 22, until noon, there was no German attack on our division. Bantaileiev was very surprised by the abnormal performance of the enemy. He looked at the map for a long time, and finally said: "Comrade division, why don''t the enemy attack us? Don''t they want to take back the two lost cities?"


    I chuckled and said, "my deputy teacher, don''t you think the Germans care about these two cities? Seeing that we had captured the cities and seized their stock of goods, the German commander was probably bleeding in his heart and dreamed of taking back the two cities. But now they are powerless. Even if they want to launch a counter offensive against us, they can''t deploy enough troops. "


    "Comrade o''shanina is right." Kirilov said: "as our three front forces launched counter attacks against the German forces from different directions at the same time, the German defense zones are all too busy at the moment. How can we draw up forces to capture these two meaningless cities?"


    "Is that so?" Bandeliev asked in a somewhat uncertain way.


    "Of course it is." Kirilov continued: "from the information we have, the counterattack went well. We beat the German troops in a mess. The command system was even in chaos. Under such circumstances, how can their troops fight and how can they fight? "


    "The commissar is right." When kirilov finished speaking, I also agreed with him in time, saying: "Comrade deputy division commander, our main task now is to hold fast to the existing defense area, wait for the main force of the Don front army to go south to join us, completely surround Paulus''s troops, and wait for time to encircle and annihilate them."


    On the morning of November 23, the German troops around our defense area still showed no sign of attacking. At noon, Lieutenant travkin, who led the team out for reconnaissance, came back to report to us that the German army was shrinking its forces and building defensive positions. It seemed that they were going to fight a protracted war with our army. As for the report brought back by travkin, bantailiev first expressed his opinion: "the division commander and political commissar, according to the intelligence from the reconnaissance and the return, have proved that our army''s counter offensive in several directions is progressing very smoothly. Otherwise, the Germans who have always been good at attacking will never be able to build fortifications in one area honestly. This situation is very important and needs to be reported to the higher authorities immediately. " Today, akhromeyev, who has just returned, habitually goes against him: "Comrade deputy division commander, I think we should check this situation again. Before we have a clear idea of the German army''s intention, we should report the enemy''s information rashly. If there is any deviation, it will affect the normal decision-making of the headquarters."¡° Chief of staff, "bantailiev said to akhromeyev impolitely," I believe lieutenant travkin is a scout with rich experience. I think what he reported must be true... "Although most of the disputes between the two people revolve around their work, they always make me feel upset. At this moment, I see that they are going to pick up again, He quickly stood up and said, "OK, OK, for the sake of safety, I think we should send scouts in several directions at the same time to confirm that the enemy is shrinking and building fortifications." Seeing that I stood up to speak, both of them stopped arguing and nodded to agree with me. In this way, Lieutenant travkin, who had just returned to the headquarters, took a group of scouts and went to various regions to carry out reconnaissance missions. At 5 p.m., Lieutenant travkin and his men returned one after another, and the result reported to me was still that the German forces were shrinking and building fortifications nervously, as if they were going to fight a protracted war with our army. After the intelligence that lieutenant travkin brought back was confirmed, I called trakov again to report the results of the reconnaissance. After listening, trekov, eh, said faintly, "I know the situation." Just when I thought he would not say anything more, he suddenly said, "by the way, comrade o''shanina, I almost forgot to tell you something. At 16 p.m. today, the 4th tank army of the southwest front army under the command of major general Kravchenko and the 4th mechanized army of the Stalingrad front army under the command of major general walski joined forces in the Soviet and Karachi regions, forming a formal encirclement of the German army. "

 Chapter 833

    "Comrade commander," although I already know the answer to many things, I can''t help but confirm it again. So I asked, "how many German troops are there in our encirclement?"


    As for my question, trekov thought about it, and then cautiously replied: "the specific force is still unclear, but judging from the situation in all aspects, we surrounded the whole 6th group army of Paulus. In this way, there are at least 300000 German people in the encirclement."


    I then asked, "what do you think Paulus would think about getting his troops out of the way when he found out that his troops were under our siege?"


    Trikov sneered and said contemptuously, "they want to run. Is there such a light thing? If we want to withdraw, Paulus'' troops will have to discard all the technical equipment, all the heavy weapons and all the artillery. We will let them get into our fire net, so that only a very small number of people can escape from the ruins of the city. "


    When I finished my conversation with trakov, kirilov asked me with concern, "Comrade oshanina, what did the commander and you say?"


    When they heard me repeat what trakov said, they were all excited. Three people actually sat around the map and began to study the fate of the 6th army of Paulus.


    I stood by, staring at the map on the table, listening attentively to their discussion. After listening for a while, I suddenly had a strange idea in my mind. Maybe Hitler ordered Paulus''s troops not to retreat and to stick to the existing position. In fact, it was not a blind command, but the best way to preserve the troops.


    Imagine the fate of Paulus''s 6th army under the attack of heavy snow, storm and our army? When Napoleon escaped from Moscow and came to the Berezina River, he was completely annihilated. Even if Paulus broke through the encirclement of our army, he left all the technical equipment and artillery troops to break through the grassland, which would only destroy faster. Hitler not only did not make the decision to let the troops break through, but ordered his generals to organize ring defense on the spot and hold on to the end. In this way, he will be able to use the more than 300000 troops besieged by Paulus to hold down the five branches of our army to form a group army. Otherwise, these five groups will be able to greatly strengthen our offensive in the campaign area, enable our army to carry out a surprise attack in Rostov on the banks of the Don river, put the "a" group army in the Caucasus into a big pocket, just like the encirclement of the Paulus group army, and then separate and eliminate it.


    Thinking of this, I can''t help feeling that Hitler is not as stupid as we think. At least his seemingly simple order to turn the German army into defense can restrain our main force and avoid the enemy''s attack on the Caucasus.


    Just then, someone came in from the door. I looked up and found that it was sherbina, the political commissar of the 37th division of Jinwei, who was staying in Highland 107.5. I quickly welcomed him and said, "sherbina, you are here. 107.5 has the defense of highland been handed over to friendly forces? "


    After shaking hands with me, sherbina went to shake hands with kirilov and said, "yes, comrade deputy commander, our department has officially handed over defense to the 92nd infantry brigade." After that, he asked kirilov with a smile, "Comrade political commissar, when I came in, I saw you all looking happy. Is there any good news?"


    "No, there are happy events in the world." Kirilov, with a smile on his face, said mysteriously, "Comrade shelbina, you may not know yet?"


    "Comrade political commissar, don''t worry about me," said shelbina anxiously. "You also know that I just came from 107.5 highland, and I can''t get in touch with the outside world. I don''t know what happened." At this point, he stopped and frowned for a moment, then tentatively asked: "is kongnieyi also occupied by you?"


    Shelbina''s words caused us to laugh, and our laughter made him even more confused. After laughing, kirilov took his arm to the table, pointed to the map on the table and said to him, "Comrade shelbina, kongnie was captured by us yesterday. What makes us happy is not that our division captured the small city, but that our Stalingrad front army and the southwest front army joined forces in the Soviet and Karachi regions, formally forming a siege circle for the German army, which included the 6th regiment of Paulus. "


    "What, the Sixth Army of Paulus?" Sherbina was so surprised that he almost hit his chin on the ground. He looked down at the map on the table and kept asking, "Comrade political commissar, where are the troops of the southwest front army and where are the troops of the Don river front army?"


    After dark, trakov took the initiative to contact me through the telephone, perhaps because our army is currently in the dominant position, so he is not worried about divulging secrets. He confidently told me in the Ming Dialect: "before the end of the day, the infantry regiments of the 1st group of guards of the southwest front army and the 5th group of tanks went out to the lekriwaya River and the cheer river, And occupy solid defenses there. At the same time, the 51st group army of Stalingrad''s front army and the 4th cavalry army advanced to the east of grosmoscow, lavka, Aksai, umanzewo and sadovoye. As a result of these actions, the encirclement campaign has been reliably guaranteed in both the West and the south. "


    Just as I was happy with the good news, trakov added, "by the way, I almost forgot something. The Volga River is frozen again. Send your engineering company back to mamayev post tonight, and let them continue to survey the ice layer on the river to see if there is any possibility of establishing an ice transportation line. "


    "Well, comrade commander, I''ll arrange it now." As for trekov''s request, I agreed without hesitation, because I knew in my heart that if the ice transportation line was not established, the connection between the 62nd army and the East Bank of the Volga River would be completely interrupted, and the troops and materials that needed to be replenished would not be transported.


    When the conversation with trakov was over, I sent for captain mihayev to enter the headquarters. As I haven''t arranged any tasks for the engineering company recently, Captain mihayev heard that I was looking for him and immediately trotted all the way to the headquarters excitedly. As soon as I saw my face, a salute came and he said, "report to Mr. division commander, captain of engineering company, Mikhail. He has been ordered to come here and wait for your instructions."


    "Comrade captain, now I order you to take the soldiers of the engineering company back to mamayev post immediately." Thinking that the ice transportation line to be opened up is related to the life and death of the 62nd army, I solemnly told Mikhail: "your task is to continue to survey the ice layer on the river and find the suitable location for opening the transportation line."


    When I heard that this task was arranged for him, mihayev said somewhat difficultly: "Sir, it''s very difficult to do this. The temperature is not low enough, so it''s very difficult for the ice layer on the river to reach the ideal thickness."


    Before he finished speaking, I raised my hand to stop him, and then said to him sternly, "Comrade captain, I think you know that due to the appearance of ice sheets and the freezing on the river in the early stage, the contact between the 62nd army and the other side of the river has been completely interrupted. If we can''t open up the ice transportation line as soon as possible and transport the soldiers, equipment and materials urgently needed by the group army, we will not be able to accumulate enough strength to launch a counter offensive against the German army. "


    When I finished, Mikhail yev was still not happy, but he simply answered me, "yes, I promise to finish the task."


    "Take a walkie talkie and get in touch with me as soon as you get any news." After I said this, I sent someone to take mihayev to razumeyeva to get the walkie talkie.


    Originally, I thought that Mikhail yev''s investigation would come back in vain. Unexpectedly, at one o''clock in the morning, razumeyeva, who was on duty in the headquarters, suddenly called me excitedly: "Comrade division commander, it''s captain Mikhail yev. He wants to talk to you and say that he has something important to report to you."


    I guess it might be related to the ice transportation line, so I quickly came to the walkie talkie, grabbed the earphone and transmitter, and asked aloud, "Hello, is that captain mihayev? I''m o''shanina. What''s the situation there? "


    "Report to Mr. commander," mikheiev''s excited voice came from the earphone: "you may not have thought that when we just got to the Volga River, we saw a huge piece of ice floating from zaitsevsky island. It destroys everything on its way, smashes large and small pieces of ice, and changes their flow direction. Several logs frozen together, like light floating pieces of wood, were smashed to pieces. This scene is really amazing! This huge piece of ice, almost as wide as the Volga River, slowed down when it arrived near the mamayev post.


    I was anxiously waiting. If the ice stopped, it meant that we would have a natural bridge to connect with the east coast; If we can''t stop and continue to drift downstream, the soldiers and materials on the east bank will still be unable to be transported to the city.


    But we seemed to be lucky that the huge ice stopped in front of us. When I was happy, I divided the engineering company into three groups, and gave them a simple order: go along the ice to the other bank, and then come back. "


    "Have all the engineers returned smoothly?" As for when the traffic between the 62nd army and the east coast was restored after the counter offensive, I really don''t know. So when I heard Mikhail speaking about this, I was particularly nervous.


    "All returned smoothly." Mikhail yev confidently said: "next, comrade division commander, as long as we lay two planks on the ice, then our troops can walk through the Volga River along the planks on the ice."


    "That''s great, that''s great!" Hearing such good news, I was also excited. I said loudly to the transmitter, "Captain Mikhail, in recognition of the merit you have established, I will personally ask the headquarters for your credit."


    After dawn, when I was informed by mihayev that the planks on the ice had been paved and could pass normally, I took the initiative to report the good news to trakov. Trikov readily agreed to my request for meritorious service for mihayev. At the same time, he said, "Comrade oshanina, I will personally discuss this matter. When the war is more stable, I will go to the independent division to personally honor them."


    Before I could thank him, he announced an unexpected news to me: "according to the latest order we just received from the headquarters of the supreme command, the 112th division of yermorkin, the 193th division of smehotvorov, the 37th division of joludev''s guards and two infantry brigades, exhausted by continuous fighting, are to withdraw from the army of the group and transfer to the reserve, Go and reorganize. That is to say, you should let political commissar sherbina take the remnant of the 37th division of Jinwei to mamayev post later, and then cross the river to the east bank. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." I called shelbina in front of me and told him of trakov''s notice to get ready to leave as soon as possible. After hearing this, shelbina''s mouth twitched violently, as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn''t say it. Kirilov stepped forward, took his hand and said in a friendly way, "political commissar sherbina, your division''s mission in Stalingrad city has been completed. Go back to the east bank with ease. I will never forget the days when we fought side by side." When I said the last sentence, I saw that kirilov''s eyes were full of tears, as if he could not bear to leave political commissar sherbina. After shaking hands with bantailiev and akhromeyev, shelbina came to me again, took the initiative to extend his hand to me and politely said, "Comrade deputy commander, I''m leaving. Take care. I hope I can return to your command one day and take part in the battle under your command." With that, he released his hand, stepped back, raised his hand and saluted us. When we raised our hands in return, he tried to squeeze out a bitter smile on his face, then turned away and walked out without looking back. Only now do I know that it''s hard to part emotionally with those comrades who have lived and died together, especially with my comrades in arms. Seeing the back of shelbina''s leaving, my nose can''t help but feel sour. My mind once again shows the scene of every battle with the 37th division of the guards. I don''t know when we will see these officers and men who have fought side by side with us. I feel very sad to think that they are going to leave Stalingrad and go to the East Bank of the Volga River.

 Chapter 834

    Seeing off shelbina, we sat down to study the next tasks of the independent division. Although from the beginning of the great counterattack, the offensive and defensive roles of both sides have been lost, the situation is not optimistic. Compared with us, the German army still has an advantage in strength and equipment. It''s a very easy thing to change from offensive to defensive. However, it''s very difficult for us to change from defensive state to offensive state. If we don''t know the state clearly, we will blindly fight and rush, and there may be the danger that the whole army will be destroyed.


    I knew in my heart that in the following encirclement and annihilation, it was difficult for the 62nd group army to achieve anything because of the shortage of troops, so that even the great credit of capturing Marshal Paulus had to be given to the 64th group army. The purpose of today''s meeting is to unify our understanding and put an end to the idea of belittling the enemy.


    As before, I didn''t express my attitude first, but simply said: "our main topic today is to discuss the focus of the next work of the independent division. Who will speak first? "


    After I finished, bantailiev looked around and saw that kirilov and akhromeyev were silent, so he took the lead and said, "let me say a few words. At present, the 6th army of Paulus has fallen into our encirclement. In this case, I think our independent division should actively launch an offensive and launch a final attack on the besieged German army. "


    "Attack? That''s easy to say After listening to his speech, akhromeyev sneered and said, "Comrade deputy division commander, you are going to launch the final attack. May I ask where we should attack the enemy and what forces we should use? "


    "Needless to say, after the traffic with the east bank is restored, the headquarters of the front army will send troops to us continuously. I believe that in a week''s time, our independent division will be fully loaded." Bantaileiev responded optimistically: "by then, not only will we have enough troops, but I expect that we will also be provided with a lot of technical equipment. Coupled with the cooperation of the air force, it will be an easy task to eliminate the enemy in front of us."


    It occurred to me that in all the films and TV works reflecting the battle of Stalingrad, it seemed that at the beginning of the Red Army''s counterattack, the German army had no resistance to the Red Army''s crushing attack. Only after I have experienced the situation can I know how harmful such propaganda is. If the German army were really so vulnerable, they would not have pushed eastward from Kharkov to Stalingrad on the Volga River, and would not have been surrounded by several times their own Soviet army for two months without replenishment of troops and a lot of supplies. It was not until their ammunition, food and grass were gradually exhausted and their morale was at the bottom that the Soviet army launched the last thunderbolt to completely defeat them.


    Akhromeyev continued to refute bandeleyev: "you must know very well what technical equipment we have now. The tank battalion has five tanks and seven armored vehicles, while the friendly army has 20 tanks, which is less than a full tank battalion. Our tanks were captured from the German army. Ammunition and fuel are not a problem. They can be replenished from the materials just captured. However, friendly tanks can supply them with fuel, but there is nothing they can do about ammunition supply. There are also artillery battalions. Now there are only four heavy howitzers and the same number of anti tank guns, plus twelve mortars and one anti tank rifle company. With such strength, do you think it is possible to attack German positions? "


    After akhromeyev''s words, kirilov and bandeleyev are both looking down and pondering. Perhaps the series of data reported by the chief of staff make them understand that the current situation is far from as good as they think.


    After a while kirilov looked up at me and asked in a consultative tone, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think I want to hear?"


    "I have listened carefully to the speeches of the deputy division chief and the chief of staff just now." I didn''t beat around the Bush and said frankly, "I think the chief of staff made a lot of sense. Although we turned to attack, our strength is still very weak compared with the German army. Therefore, in the coming days, our division''s main task is to hold down the enemy and not let them escape, rather than to attack them rashly." At this point, I turned around and told akhromeyev, "chief of staff, give a call to the second group leader Oleg and the fourth group leader Gaidar, and ask them to come to the headquarters immediately."


    While akhromeyev was on the phone, kirilov asked me curiously, "Comrade oshanina, what are you doing here with these two commanders?"


    When I heard kirilov''s question, I immediately explained to him: "Comrade political commissar, the city of gorodyser has now become our rear. If the German army wants to attack here, it must bypass several defense areas of our army, so we should shift the focus of our defense to kongyi. It''s of little significance for the division headquarters to stay here. I think the division headquarters should move to kongnieyi city as soon as possible. "


    Kirilov and bandeleev immediately agreed with my views. Kirilov also said with relief: "Comrade oshanina, in fact, I wanted to mention this matter to you yesterday, but I was afraid that you would have any other consideration, so I hesitated for a long time and didn''t mention it at last. Since our division headquarters is going to leave, which unit will defend gorodyser? After informing the headquarters, will it be handed over to the friendly forces? "


    I shook my head and replied, "Comrade political commissar, the strength of the group army is limited at present. They not only need to defend the existing areas, but also need to dispatch troops to fight with the enemy in the street. They can''t spare any manpower to take over gorodyser''s defense. Therefore, I plan to leave the second regiment behind and take charge of the city''s guard while trying to supplement it."


    "Do you think the superior will give us more troops?" When kirilov heard what I said to let the second regiment supply, he seemed to see a glimmer of light and could not help mentioning the past.


    I shook my head again and said to him with a bitter smile, "Comrade political commissar, maybe you don''t know. Before this counterattack, commander rokosovsky''s Don front army was supplemented by only three infantry divisions, all of which were 60% of the troops. Not only did our group army not get replenishment from its soldiers, but even the badly needed ammunition and materials were not replenished much because of the damned freezing of the Volga River. Although traffic on the Volga River has been restored, the priority for the additional soldiers coming from the east bank must be the divisions or brigades still fighting in the city. Besides, I also heard that the commanders are now concentrating their forces to launch an attack on the German army and prepare to rescue the ludnikov division, which is besieged by the German army. "


    Kirilov was surprised by what I said. He asked in surprise, "what, Captain lyudnikov''s troops are still surrounded by German troops, so isn''t the battalion under captain Karpov dangerous?"


    "There is no way, comrade political commissar." Bantaileiev helped me and said: "the fighting in the city is far more cruel than that in our mamayev post. Don''t you forget that there are more than 3000 officers and men in shejerikov''s regiment. They can be transferred to the factory area for only one day, and the rest of them, including the wounded, are less than 200. Since the day captain Karpov''s mixed battalion was transferred, I have removed them from the establishment of the independent division in my mind. "


    After listening to Bantai leiev''s words, kirilov said with a sigh: "well, if other commanders and fighters died, it''s OK to say, but Karpov was the first commander of the eastern battalion who wanted to fight against our army. His name was even known by the Supreme Commander himself. If anything really happens to him, I''m afraid the higher authorities will blame Comrade oshanina. "


    Kirilov''s words really startled me. When I think about it carefully, the tasks I assigned to Karpov are the most dangerous every time. It seems that I intend to weaken his strength by fighting. Before I could speak, akhromeyev, who came back after the call and heard the whole story clearly, gave me some advice: "Comrade division commander, do you think you can call the commander and ask him to discuss with colonel lyudnikov to let captain Karpov come back to our division?"


    "Comrade division commander, I think the chief of staff''s proposal is very good," Bantai leiev, who has always been fond of contradicting akhromeyev, saw that this matter involves my interests, and also expressed support for akhromeyev''s opinions. "We should immediately contact the commander and try to find a way to transfer captain Karpov back. We need to know that his existence is no less than a few divisions. "


    Kirilov was amused by bantaileiev''s remarks. He asked with a smile: "Hey, old man, you are exaggerating. Karpov is just a little captain. How can he be equal to several divisions? "


    "Comrade commissar," although kirilov was an old friend of his own, Bantai leiev said discontentedly at the moment, "don''t you forget what happened to captain Nikolay and his battalion last time? It''s just because of Karpov''s role model, otherwise there will be no more Nikolay camp in the current regiment, and the 1700 prisoners of war will not successfully return to our troops. "


    While bantailiev was talking, an idea came into my mind that I would call trakov immediately and bring captain Karpov back from the most dangerous place before he died. As soon as bantaileiev finished, I quickly stood up and reviewed with several people: "the deputy division commander is quite right. Captain Karpov is a typical example we set up. His existence can have an unexpected effect on the disintegration of the eastern battalion forced to serve for the German army. It''s my thoughtlessness to put him in an extremely dangerous position. I''ll call commander trakov and try to find a way for the captain to come back to our division. " Then he told razumeyeva, who was sitting not far away, "Comrade lieutenant, connect me with the headquarters of the group army."


    But I seem to be out of luck. Not only is trekov out of the headquarters, but also is military Commissioner gurov out. Krailov, the chief of staff who spoke to me, asked strangely, "Comrade oshanina, what''s your emergency?"


    After hearing what krailov said, I quickly told him the importance of Captain Karpov. I hope he can discuss with lyudnikov to see if captain Karpov can come back, even if he comes back from the 70th guard division alone.


    I didn''t expect that krailov said to me with a smile: "Hey, comrade o''shanina, you won too many battles. Are you a little confused with your joy?" After he made fun of me, without waiting for me to speak, he continued, "don''t you forget who you are now? You are the deputy commander of the group army. You can give orders directly to Colonel lyudnikov to let Karpov under his command return to the army. "


    "Is that all right?" I asked suspiciously, "if captain Karpov is transferred back, will it affect the overall defense of the 70th guard division?"


    "After fighting for such a long time, the battalion you sent to is estimated to have few people left." Krailov''s address to me has changed from "you" to "you". I also understand the importance of Captain Karpov. Perhaps, as your deputy division commander said, he can hold up several divisions by himself, even to the officers and soldiers of the eastern battalion who are still working for the German army. When they know his experience, they will waver, We can strengthen ourselves while weakening the enemy. Comrade oshanina, do it boldly. I will report this to the commander when they come back. "


    With Krylov''s permission, I had a lot of confidence when I called lyudnikov. When I heard lyudnikov''s familiar voice coming out of the earphone, I said to him in a loud voice, "Hello, comrade Colonel, this is oshanina. How are you?"


    Hearing my voice, lyudnikov was stunned and then said excitedly, "Hello, comrade deputy commander, I''m glad to hear your voice. Do you have any instructions? "


    "Well, comrade colonel." I spoke to lyudnikov about the importance of Karpov on the transmitter. At last, I said to him with regret: "so, comrade Colonel, in any case, I need him to return to the independent division immediately. As for the commanders and fighters who went with him to the 70th division of the guards, in order not to affect the overall defense of your division, I will not withdraw them. "


    "I can''t do that because he''s fighting, comrade deputy commander!" I didn''t expect lyudnikov to say unexpectedly, "besides, I ask you to let him stay with me. Our division has not only lost 80% soldiers, but also few commanders. I want him, Captain Karpov, to be my commander."


    "But, comrade Colonel..." I wanted to emphasize the importance of Karpov again, but he interrupted me in advance. "Dear Rita mushdakova, I''m sorry to interrupt you. Captain Karpov is a commander with fighting spirit. No matter how fierce the German attack is, his troops are holding fast to the area, Don''t even think about moving forward. I don''t think it''s right to leave such a commander in your division as the deputy commander of the guard battalion. "


    "Colonel lyudnikov, my independent division doesn''t need your orders!" I also impolitely interrupted him, "do you think I want to leave him in the guard camp? It''s just that there is no suitable position for him in the fighting forces. Well, we''ll talk about captain Karpov later. I have only one task for you - to keep his life safe in any case. "


    When I put down my earphone and transmitter, I knew in my heart what a big problem I had given lyudnikov. In such a cruel battle, the life of major general roluev, commander of the 37th division of the close guard, could not be saved, let alone a little captain. Fortunately, Oleg and Gaidar walked into the headquarters, so I could put this annoying thing aside for a while and give them new tasks.


    I went up to them, and without waiting for them to salute me, I said, "two comrades of the lieutenant colonel, I have called you here because I have a new task to give you."


    When he heard that there was a new mission, Gaidar looked happy and asked in surprise: "Sir, is there another new offensive mission?"


    I shook my head with a bitter smile and said to them, "although our encirclement is like a chain around the neck of the German, our division is just a small iron ring in the long chain. It''s not our turn to strangle the enemy. Our task is to ensure that our own iron ring does not break when we tighten the neck of the enemy. Well, next, I''d like to announce a new task to you: the second regiment, with the least troops, is responsible for the defense of gorodyser City, and at the same time, try to supplement the troops; The fourth regiment immediately packed up and prepared to follow the division headquarters and turn north to kongniayi city. "


    After listening to me, Col. gedar was full of joy, while Col. Oleg was downcast, because he knew that the opportunities for the left behind troops to build meritorious deeds were far less than those for the combat troops. I stepped forward, patted him on the shoulder, comforted him and said, "Lieutenant Commander Oleg, there are still many battles to fight next. As long as your regiment can quickly complete the replenishment, there will be many battles for you to fight in the future. Are you worried about not having the chance to make contributions?"


    Oleg, who I said was on his mind, giggled twice, raised his hand to salute us, turned around and left the division headquarters with Gaidar.


    As soon as they left, I immediately told akhromeyev, "chief of staff, hurry up and pack up. We will start in an hour."


    As soon as I finished commanding akhromeyev, razumeyeva, who was sitting by the telephone, stood up again and called to me: "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant Colonel xiejerikov, the first group leader, is online. He wants to speak to you."


    Sergeant shejerikov, when I heard the name of a group leader, I could not help but feel a thump in my heart and began to think wildly: "did the German forces concentrate their superior forces to attack konaiyi?" After I went to pick up the earphone and the transmitter, my voice changed slightly because I was nervous: "Hello, commander xijerikov? I''m o''shanina. What''s the matter? "

 Chapter 835

    Shejerikov didn''t seem to notice my abnormality, but excitedly reported to me: "Comrade division commander, general rokosovsky, commander of the Don front army, and general Batov, commander of the 65th group army, are here. They are in my command post at the moment. Just a moment, Admiral rokosovsky will speak to you. "


    Rokosovsky''s familiar voice soon came from the earphone. He asked kindly, "Hello, dear Rita, I haven''t seen you for a long time. How are you doing?"


    Suddenly I heard rokosovsky''s voice, I was so excited that I couldn''t speak properly: "Hello, comrade commander of Don river front army, I''m... I''m... Very good, how are you?"


    "I''m very good. Today our army of the Don front has advanced to the vicinity of kongniai city. General Batov, commander of the 65th army, and I know that your troops are stationed in the city. We are here to see you." Rokosovsky briefly introduced the reason why he went to kongnieyi, and then said: "Rita, you are really amazing. In order to ensure that the mamayev post can be used as the support point of counter attack and the most important gateway to defend Stalingrad in the future, the independent division has been holding on until the Red Army launched a comprehensive counterattack, your clever deployment and tenacious defense, All played a key role in the coming final victory. "


    "Comrade commander, you flatter me." I was a little flattered by rokosovsky''s praise. I said humbly, "I didn''t do enough. In the defensive phase of the campaign, our independent division didn''t destroy enough enemies and contain enough German forces."


    "Come on, Rita, stop being modest." Rokosovsky interrupted me and said with a smile: "if you are free now, I hope you can get to konaiyi as soon as possible. I will assign you a defense task. At present, although our two troops have joined forces, the German forces in our encirclement are still very strong. It is unrealistic to eat them all at once. So you need to adjust the deployment as soon as possible, and set up defense in the dangerous terrain. Do you understand? We should set up solid defenses to prevent the German attempt to launch a counterattack. The troops can''t step back until they get a new order from the superior; Also, you can''t just take a step forward, understand? "


    When I heard that rokosovsky used two "do you understand" in his words, I realized the seriousness of the problem and quickly agreed: "I understand, comrade commander!" After finishing this sentence, I pause for a moment, and then said: "I will arrive at kongnieyi in the shortest time to accept your order!"


    "Good. I''ll be waiting for you in your command post." Rokosovsky said that, he broke off contact with me.


    After I put down my earphone and transmitter, I turned to kirilov, who was standing not far away, and they said, "general rokosovsky said that there was an important task to assign to us, so I had to go to konnai immediately. Comrade political commissar, you are with me; The deputy division commander and chief of staff will stay and wait for the fourth regiment to assemble before they arrive at kongnieyi. "


    Listen to me, kirilov, who has always been cautious, agreed without hesitation to my proposal to start immediately.


    We walked out of the headquarters and found captain Yushchenko, the company commander of the guard, outside. Yushchenko, who was chatting with several soldiers, saw us walking towards him, waved at the soldiers, sent them away, and then trotted all the way to meet them. Stand at attention in front of us and politely ask, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"


    "Comrade captain, the political commissar and I will go to kongnieyi city at once. You can find two cars and take some soldiers with you to go with us."


    After listening to my instructions, he then asked, "Sir, is it a jeep or a truck?"


    When we recovered gorodyse two days ago, we seized several jeeps belonging to the Soviet army. That''s why Yushchenko asked. After thinking about it, it''s not too far from here to kongnieyi City, and the roads are almost all under the control of our army. There''s no need to take too many soldiers with us, so there''s no need to use trucks. So I replied, "Comrade captain, it''s not too far from here to kongnieyi City, there''s no need to use trucks. Go find two jeeps."


    "Yes Yushchenko agreed and turned away.


    As soon as Yushchenko left, busmanov, who got the news from somewhere, ran over. Seeing that kirilov and I were still standing by the side of the road, we quickly came up to us and said, "Sir, political commissar, I heard that you are going to kongyi soon. Do you need me to gather the guard company to escort you?"


    Kirilov listened to him and waved his hand and said, "no, comrade major. It''s not a long way from here to kongniayi, and there are our troops along the way, so we don''t need too many people to go with us. "


    "But, comrade political commissar, you once said," seeing that kirilov didn''t intend to let him go with us, major basmanov, the commander of the guard battalion, was in a hurry. He even moved out what kirilov had said before. "You once said that as long as the division commander leaves the headquarters, no matter where he goes, at least one platoon of soldiers should follow him. But now you only have two jeeps. Isn''t the number a little too small? "


    "Comrade major, I said that before," kirilov did not deny what he said, "but the situation was different then. At that time, the enemy might rush to the high ground at any time, so the division commander would be in danger wherever he went. That''s why I gave you such an order. But now the situation is different. The German army is surrounded by us. We are in constant panic all day. We don''t attack them. They have been hiding in the trenches for entertainment. How can they send people to attack us? " At this point, he stepped forward, patted basmanov on the shoulder, and said in a friendly way, "don''t worry, comrade major. How effective is captain Yushchenko''s guard company? I think you are very clear. With their protection, we will be safe and sound."


    As I was talking, I saw three jeeps coming towards us in the distance. Maybe Yushchenko thought it was a little less to send only two cars, so he found another jeep.


    After the jeep stopped a few steps away from us, Yushchenko jumped down from the co driver''s seat of the first car and came to us to report: "teacher, political commissar, the jeep is ready. You can take the one in the middle."


    Kirilov and I sat down in the back seat of the second jeep and saw the driver and another heavily armed soldier sitting in front of us. As the car in front started, our driver started the engine and followed.


    I asked the soldier who was sitting in the co pilot''s seat curiously, "Comrade soldier, how many people have you come?"


    Hearing my question, the soldier in the front row quickly turned around and said, "report to the division commander, the political commissar, the two jeeps in front and behind, including the driver, each with five people."


    After listening to the number of people in the front and rear cars, I calculated in my mind that if there were five people in each car, then there would be ten commanders and fighters, plus the driver and guard of our car, then Yushchenko, they had 12 people to escort us to kongyi.


    In the process of driving, I looked out of the window and saw that there was a desolation all around, and there was a vast expanse of white everywhere. Except for our military fighters occasionally flying in the air, I couldn''t see a single person on the ground.


    Kirilov suddenly asked, "Comrade oshanina, do you think the Don front army will launch a final attack on the German army in the near future?"


    "The last attack?" Hearing the word kirilov used, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly, "Comrade political commissar, it''s too early to say the final attack. We must know that the enemy''s strength is still very strong. Although we have surrounded them, it will take a long time to completely eliminate them. "


    "I don''t know how long it will be?" Kirilov asked cautiously.


    "At least two months or so." As for kirilov''s question, I just gave him a vague time. At the same time, I explained to him: "because the German army is surrounded by us, their ammunition, food and military supplies are interrupted. Therefore, they dare not risk launching a big counterattack. They can only stay in the positions they occupy and wait for their reinforcements."


    When I said this, kirilov sneered and said in a scornful tone, "can Hitler still send Paulus reinforcements who can save him?"


    Without waiting for me to speak, there was an explosion just ten meters away from us. The soil and snow near the explosion point were thrown high into the air, and then it fell down again, making our jeep roof bang bang.


    The driver slammed on the brake, and kirilov and I hit the back of the front seat with great inertia.


    "What''s the matter?" Kirilov asked aloud.


    "Enemy attack, enemy attack!" The soldiers in the front row turned and yelled at us.


    "Where''s the enemy..." before kirilov finished, there was another earth shaking explosion around me, and then our car rolled over. My body smashed on kirilov''s body. Without waiting for me to make any response, kirilov pressed on me again as the car turned over.


    When the car stopped rolling, I found myself face up on kirilov again. Just want to struggle to stand up, suddenly someone grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the ceiling torn by shrapnel. After leaving the jeep, another shell exploded not far from us. I was so scared that I was ready to stand up and lay on the ground again. At the same time, I saw the soldier just sitting in the front row, squatting beside the overturned jeep, grabbing a man''s arm and pulling it out. With sharp eyes, I saw that the man he was holding was kirilov. I quickly bent over and ran over, grabbed kirilov''s other hand and dragged him out with the soldiers.


    As soon as kirilov left the jeep, the soldiers urged us: "division commander, political commissar, get out of the jeep, maybe it will explode soon."


    "But the driver is still in it." Although kirilov had just been pulled out, he soon found that there were only three of us around him. He was unwilling to leave like this. "We must save him, too."


    "He has died," the soldier said with a cry, "go quickly, it will be too late if you don''t go any more."


    I looked around and found that the front and rear jeeps had also stopped. The soldiers used the jeeps as shelters and fired at the enemy in the distance. Seeing this, I didn''t hesitate any more. I growled: "political commissar, let''s leave here." Then he told the soldiers, "lead the way ahead."


    Without saying a word, the soldier took us to the crater more than 20 meters away. After hiding in the crater, I can carefully observe that the enemy who attacked us came from the legitimate. Originally, seven or eight meters south of the road, there was a German tank and five or six tricycles. Needless to say, it must be this tank that shelled us.


    More than a dozen German soldiers came to us in a scattered formation, but under Yushchenko''s blocking, they had to lie down in the snow and shoot us. At this time, Yushchenko''s AK47 has a chance to show its power. As soon as the German Army stood up and could not make two steps forward, it would fall under the precise firing of the guard soldiers.


    Although our light weapons were dominant, the German tanks were not vegetarians either. Seeing that our firepower was very strong, they slowly turned the turret and fired another shot at us. The gun shell fell near the rear car and exploded. Immediately, two soldiers were overturned, and their firepower was weakened. The German tanks fired again, hitting the jeep directly, and the soldiers hiding behind the jeep flew out screaming in the explosion. Seeing that Yushchenko''s firepower behind his jeep continued, I quickly patted the soldier who was hiding beside me and told him in a loud voice: "Comrade soldier, go tell captain Yushchenko not to hide behind the jeep any more. It''s easy to become a target for the Germans and let them find a place to hide." The soldier nodded, jumped out of the crater, bent over and ran quickly towards Yushchenko. Just as he was only a few steps away from Yushchenko, a shell fell on his side and exploded. The soldiers were blown to pieces, limbs and arms scattered everywhere, and some fell directly on Yushchenko''s side. Yushchenko may have heard something fall behind him and instinctively looked back. Seeing Yushchenko turning back, I quickly ventured out of the crater and gestured desperately to him to take people to a safe place. Yushchenko, they had just left the jeep, when the vehicle was hit by a shell and began to burn. Seeing this scene, I was lucky. If Yushchenko didn''t look back just now, they would be as dangerous as the soldiers in the back car. Seeing that we stopped shooting, the German army got up from the snow and rushed towards us with weapons. When I saw the enemy coming closer and closer, I was very anxious. There were only a few of us left. The number of us was less than that of the German army. Besides, there were no heavy weapons. There was no way to take the most dangerous tank. But I didn''t want to wait to die like this. I quickly put the AK47 on the edge of the crater, aimed at the direction of the German army, and pulled the trigger. For the German troops tens of meters away, the assault rifle was much better than the submachine gun. I only fired four or five bullets and hit a German soldier. The German soldier, who was charging forward, was shot. He threw his weapon in his hand, covered his chest, and after two circles, he fell into the snow¡° Good fight Kirilov''s voice came from my side. I turned my head and saw him lying on the edge of the crater, pulling out his pistol and pulling the trigger at the German soldiers in the distance. I don''t know if it''s a matter of range or kirilov''s shooting is too bad. Anyway, I think he shot out all eight bullets in the gun at one go, and didn''t see a German soldier fall down. Yushchenko found a hiding place and started shooting at the German again. After three men fell down in succession, the German army fell on the ground again to shoot us. And the annoying tank was still firing at us, and the shells landed near us or Yushchenko''s hiding place and exploded. Just as I glared at the German tank and imagined how to kill it if I had an anti tank rifle in my hand, a violent explosion happened next to the tank. In the explosion, the turret was separated from the car body, flying more than ten meters away, and then it hit the snow heavily. I was surprised to see the snowflakes splashed by the turret. I was just thinking about how to hit it with an anti tank gun, but I didn''t expect it to explode. At this moment, I suddenly heard kirilov beside me shouting excitedly: "Comrade oshanina, look, plane, our plane." I followed kirilov''s finger and looked up into the sky. Sure enough, I saw a plane of our army circling in the air. It turned out that it had dropped bombs and destroyed the German tanks. After turning a circle in the air, the plane dived down again. At the same time, it used the machine gun to shoot the German soldiers lying on the snow.

 Chapter 836

    After strafing the ground, our fighters pulled up their nose again and circled in the air for several times. After confirming that there was no danger on the ground, they turned around and flew north.


    Yushchenko with two soldiers came to the crater, squatted down and asked our situation with concern: "division commander, political commissar, are you not injured?"


    I first looked at the back of the two soldiers who ran to the back of the car to check. Then I shook my head and said, "I''m ok. I don''t know what happened to the soldiers in the back of the car."


    Yushchenko turned to look at the burning jeep and saw that two soldiers were squatting beside their fallen comrades for inspection. He could not help sighing and said with regret: "the German artillery fire is too fierce. It is estimated that they have all died."


    Soon after his words, the two soldiers ran back quickly and stood in front of Yushchenko, shaking their heads solemnly, indicating that all the soldiers in the car behind had died.


    Hearing that all his subordinates had died, Yushchenko suddenly stood up, turned around and ordered the two soldiers standing behind him: "you two go to the enemy''s corpse to search for any survivors."


    After the two soldiers left, Yushchenko crouched down again, reached out to kirilov and me and helped us both climb out of the crater.


    When I got up from the crater, I felt a slight pain in my chest. Looking down, I saw that there were several depressions in the left chest of the bullet proof vest. This was just when the bomb was beside the car, a fragment hit the chest armor. But fortunately, the quality of this bullet proof vest is not bad, it has not been pierced, otherwise I may become a cold corpse like the driver.


    It wasn''t long before the two soldiers who went to check the body of the German army came with a terrified German soldier. When the soldier pushed the German soldier in front of me, I first looked left and right, and then asked, "who knows German?" I intend to interrogate the captured German soldier and find out what happened to the ambush.


    Yushchenko also looked at the left and right soldiers, then shook his head and said to me, "Comrade division, no one here knows German. Otherwise, we''ll take the prisoners to konaii, where we''ll find someone who knows German


    As soon as Yushchenko''s words were finished, kirilov, who had been silent, suddenly said, "I''d better interrogate him." With that, he stepped forward and asked the German prisoners in fluent German. When the German soldiers heard kirilov speak fluent German, they were stunned at first, and then chatted with kirilov.


    When the communication between the two ended, kirilov said to me with a bitter smile, "Comrade oshanina, I''ve got it all figured out. The German tank broke down and broke down on the side of the road. These Germans were riding motorcycles to repair the tank. As a result, they just saw us passing by, so what happened next. "


    When kirilov finished speaking, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. It seems that my luck is so bad that even such things happen to me. But on second thought, fortunately, I only brought three jeeps and a dozen people out. If a guard platoon took a truck to work with me, it would have been reimbursed by the German artillery.


    "Comrade oshanina, how can we go to kongnieyi?" Seeing the three burning jeeps, kirilov asked anxiously, "it''s about five kilometers away from the destination. If you want to walk there, it will take at least an hour."


    "Comrade political commissar, we don''t have to walk." As soon as kirilov finished, Yushchenko immediately said, pointing to the distance, "you see, there are still several German motorcycles. We can take them to kongyi."


    With my permission, Yushchenko and four of his men ran to the place where the German motorcycles were parked, rode one by one, and rode back all the enemy''s tricycles. Yushchenko''s motorcycle was driving in front of him. Kirilov and I were sitting in front of him. We quickly walked up to him and stood still. We raised our hands to salute him. At the same time, we said, "Comrade commander of the front army, rokosovsky explained to me:" Comrade malining is now the chief of staff of our don front army, He also misses the days when he worked with you


    After the greetings, we walked into the regiment headquarters in shejerikov. Because the room is not big and there are too many people here, except for a few senior commanders of the Don front army, me, kirilov and xiejerikov, the rest of them are blocked outside the command post.


    When he looked back at me, I asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, do you have a quiet place here? I want to take off my bullet proof vest. "


    "Yes, sir." Shejerikov quickly led me to the front of a room, pushed the door open and said to me, "this is my lounge. You can go inside to change clothes."


    When I entered the room, I closed the door behind me. In addition to a bed, there was a small wooden table and a armchair. I took the AK47 off my shoulder and put it on the table. Then I sat down on the chair and took off my bullet proof clothes. I took off my bullet proof vest and put it under my feet. I took off my military coat, lifted the pullover inside, and found several huge blue and purple areas in front of my chest, which was obviously caused by the shrapnel just now. Seeing such a scar, I can''t help feeling scared again. If it wasn''t for the bullet proof clothes that helped me block the shrapnel, I would have been very lucky.


    When I walked out of the room, I saw that everyone was sitting around a wooden table, and rokosovsky was telling kirilov something. I quickly walked over and sat down beside kirilov, and then I heard what rokosovsky said clearly: "for this big counterattack, we were preparing a month or two ago. In the process of mobilizing troops to Stalingrad, we overcame many difficulties. These difficulties were caused by the weak railway transportation capacity in the area north of Stalingrad and the East Bank of Volga River, the muddy roads in autumn, and the continuous attacks of German aviation and artillery on the Volga River Ferry. The German air force also carried out raids on the railway lines leading to Stalingrad. The troops and supplies transferred to the southwest front army and the Don front army had to pass through the line of Balashov povorino Saratov ilovria; The troops and supplies transferred to Stalingrad''s front army should pass through the line of ulbach baskonchak ahtuba (East Bank of Volga River). The transportation volume of military materials in Stalingrad was 22292 wagons in September and 22126 wagons in October. So far in November, the number of wagons used has far exceeded that in October. Even so, there was still a shortage of cars, so some troops and regiments had to go on foot from Astrakhan and kameshin to the assembly area, with a distance of three or four hundred kilometers. "¡° Comrade commander of the front army, "kirilov and other rokosovsky said that they fell behind for a while, and asked curiously," what strength did our three group armies possess before the counter offensive? " After taking a drink from the tea cup on the table, rokosovsky continued: "we have three front armies in total to take part in this great counterattack. The southwest front army of general vatukin, including the 21st group army, the 1st group army of guards, the 5th group army of tanks, the 2nd and 17th group army of aviation, was launched in the area of 250 km from Pavlovsk to kletskaya on the East Bank of Don river. There are 18 infantry divisions, 3 tank troops, 2 cavalry troops, 1 tank brigade, 1 motorized infantry brigade, 3 tank regiments, 1 motorized regiment, 1 artillery division (a total of 8 regiments), 1 fighter brigade, 59 artillery regiments and mortar regiments in the formation of the front army. They have to deal with 21 divisions and 2 brigades of the 8th Italian army and the 3rd Romanian army. Although the enemy has some advantages in numbers, they have fewer tanks, artillery and mortars. The Don front army, which includes the 65th, 24th and 66th army groups and the 16th army group of the air force, is fighting in the 150 km long area from kletskaya to yerzovka. There are 24 infantry divisions, 1 tank army, 6 tank brigades, 2 fortification areas, 40 artillery regiments and mortar regiments in the formation of the front army. We have to deal with 10 divisions of the German Sixth Army. The enemy is not as good as our army either in number or in artillery and mortar. Stalingrad''s front army, including the 62nd, 64th, 57th, 51st and 28th group army and the 8th group army of the air force, was launched in the 450 km long zone from the northern suburb of Stalingrad to Astrakhan. The 62nd and 64th army groups continued to hold fast to Stalingrad City, while the 57th, 51st and 28th army groups covered the lower Volga River from Stalingrad to Astrakhan from the West. The front army consists of 24 infantry divisions, 17 infantry, fighter and motorized infantry brigades, 1 mechanized army, 1 tank army, 1 cavalry army, 7 fortification areas, 63 artillery regiments and mortar regiments. There are 19 divisions to deal with part of the sixth German army, the fourth tank army and the fourth Romanian army. " When rokosovsky reported a series of data like a treasure, kirilov quickly took out a pen and paper from his briefcase to record. I looked up at rokosovsky. Seeing that he didn''t mean to stop kirilov from recording, I knew that these military data were not top secret at the moment, so I listened to rokosovsky patiently. After talking about the strength of all front forces, rokosovsky turned to malining and said, "chief of staff, please tell Rita how our troops broke through the German defense." Malining nodded and stood up to introduce to us how the 65th and 24th army, the main forces of the Don front army, broke through the German defensive positions on the first day of the counter offensive During the period from November 22 to 23, general Batov''s 65th group army, with its own right wing regiment, together with the 3rd army of the close guard cavalry of the 21st group army of the southwest front army, occupied the settlements of zimlovsky, Platonov, olekhov, Rogowski, upper bujinovka, golubaka, Wencai, etc. The 15th and 376th German infantry divisions and the 14th German tank division, which were defeated by them, have retreated to Stalingrad to join their main forces. " After malining introduced the current situation of the enemy and ourselves, rokosovsky took over the topic and said, "the situation of the enemy is clear now, Rita, talk about your next consideration!"

 Chapter 837

    "Although the 6th army of Paulus is surrounded by us, it is not easy to eat them in one bite." As I adjusted my thinking, I said carefully: "now the offensive and defensive situation has changed from attacking us a few days ago to attacking us. However, the German army is just dazed by our sudden counterattack, and their overall strength is not seriously damaged. Even in our encirclement, with their troops and material reserves, they can support us for a long time. In this way, they can rely on the existing fortifications to resist our attack while waiting for their reinforcements to arrive. "


    "How many troops can Hitler draw to rescue their besieged troops?" When malining heard this, he shrunk his mouth and said with disapproval, "you must know that the current situation of the national battlefield is favorable to us. The enemy can''t draw forces from other battlefields to rescue Paulus and them in the encirclement."


    "Comrade chief of staff of the front army, you see the enemy too vulnerable." As soon as malining finished speaking, rokosowski immediately refuted him: "don''t think that the enemy is trapped in our encirclement, so we can have a good sleep.". What we have to consider now is how to wipe out the enemy in the encirclement completely and cleanly in the shortest time, so as to draw up enough troops to reinforce our troops in other battlefields. " Then he raised his chin at me. "Rita, go on."


    I nodded, and then said, "the 295th German division, which is holding fast to gorodyser, and the 297th German division, which is holding fast to kongnieyi City, retreated to the southwest after being repulsed by us. According to the report of the scout, they occupied a defense position that originally belonged to us more than ten kilometers away, and set up fortifications there."


    "Comrade oshanina, the situation is very serious." After I finished speaking, general Batov sighed and added: "the defense fortifications there are built on a hill. At the foot of the chalky cliff, there are deep ditches. The steep slope is as high as 20-30 meters, and there is little place to climb. And the chalky soil is wet and slippery. If we attack hard, we will pay a great price. "


    "Comrade political commissar, what is chalk soil?" While general Batov was speaking, I secretly asked kirilov next to him¡° It''s the first time I''ve heard the word


    Although my voice is small, it is still heard by rokosovsky sitting opposite. He said to Batov with a smile, "general Batov, my female teacher doesn''t know any chalk. Please explain it to her."


    Rokosovsky''s words made me feel ashamed, but I could only listen to Batov''s explanation of "chalk soil" with a red face. Batov looked at me and said with a smile: "on the sea, there are many tiny animals and plants floating. One of them is a single celled animal called "multicotyle", whose shell is made of lime. When these organisms die, their tiny bodies sink to the bottom of the sea. In the long run, it has accumulated into a thick shell. Of course, this process will take millions of years to complete. This layer gradually binds together and compresses into a kind of soft limestone, which we call "chalky soil."


    As soon as bartov finished, I nodded my head to show that I understood, so as not to be ridiculed by them again. Then I quickly turned off the topic: "Comrade commander of the front army, to conquer the defense fortifications occupied by the German army, we must use heavy artillery. However, our division''s existing technical equipment is limited, so it is estimated that it will be difficult to undertake this crucial task. "


    "Don''t worry, Rita." I thought I was so pushy. Even if rokosovsky didn''t get angry on the spot, his face would be as cold as ice. I didn''t expect that when he heard me finish, he just waved his hand and said with disapproval: "as I said, your independent division''s attack ability is not enough, so you don''t have to take part in this attack. You just need to stick to the existing line of defense. Without my order, you are not allowed to step back or move forward. Do you understand? "


    When I heard that our division was not needed to take part in the attack on the German army, the stone hanging in my heart immediately fell to the ground, and I replied loudly: "I understand, comrade commander of the front army."


    "General Batov, the task will be handed over to your 65th army," rokosovsky asked, looking at Batov. "When can we launch the attack?"


    "Report to commander," Batov quickly rose from his seat and replied respectfully, "I intend to send the 173rd infantry division to carry out this crucial task. At the same time, the 1107th and 1166 artillery regiments and the 275 howitzer regiment of the 1st artillery division were transferred to provide necessary artillery support for the offensive forces. "


    "Tell me about your plan." Rokosovsky said briefly.


    Seeing that rokosovsky was going to discuss the battle plan, it was very inappropriate for me to stay here as an outsider, so I quickly stood up and said to rokosovsky, "Comrade commander of the front army, since you are going to discuss the battle plan, let''s avoid it first." Then he called kirilov and went out.


    I didn''t expect that rokosovsky just glanced at me, then raised his hand and pressed it down, and told me: "Rita, you don''t have to leave. Just sit here and listen. It''s also very helpful for you to command the battle in the future." After that, he told Batov, "go on, Comrade General."


    Batov took a look at me, saw that I was back in my position, and continued: "I plan to move the infantry to hide only one kilometer away from the German position by dawn tomorrow, and the artillery will be placed three kilometers behind the infantry. First, we launched a 20 minute rapid attack on the German position with intensive artillery fire. Then, when they were dazed by our artillery, we let the infantry attack decisively, seize the defense fortification at one stroke, and tear open a hole in the enemy''s tight defense line. "


    After listening carefully to Batov''s plan, I felt a little disapproved. This kind of fighting method was a bit of bullying. Heavy artillery bombarded the German positions first, and then charged after the enemy was severely damaged by the artillery fire. If I had weapons like the 65th army, I would have beaten the Germans all over the place.


    I was wondering if I should say a few words when I caught a glimpse of Captain Yushchenko trying to come in through the door, but he was stopped by the guard at the door. The sentry should belong to the Don front army. No matter what Yushchenko said, the sentry standing in the door always shook his head and refused to let him in.


    I was afraid that Yushchenko would come to me for anything, so I leaned forward and said to rokosovsky in a low voice: "comrade of the front army command, my guard battalion commander is outside. It seems that there is something urgent for me. I want to go out and have a look."


    Rokosovsky looked at the door and spit out a word to me: "go!"


    I quickly got up, walked quickly to the door, stood behind the sentry, and whispered to Yushchenko outside, "Comrade captain, what can I do for you?"


    "Comrade division," Yushchenko answered me hastily, "the bodies of those soldiers who died have been pulled back. What should we do with them?"


    After listening to Yushchenko''s report, I immediately remembered what kirilov had said when he pulled Yushchenko aside before entering the command post. Now I remember that it should be arranging Yushchenko to deal with the remains of the martyrs. I quickly put aside the guard in front of me, quickly walked out of the command post, pulled Yushchenko to one side, and asked in a low voice, "have all the remains of the martyrs been pulled back?"


    "All of them are back. There are many of them." Yushchenko was deeply afraid that I would not believe what he said, and he specially stressed: "it was I and the soldiers who carried the remains of the martyrs onto the bus, and none of them was pulled down."


    I nodded, even said: "good! Good! Our independent division is not in the habit of leaving our comrades behind. Today, you go to collect the remains of the martyrs in person. I am a teacher. Thank you I raised my hand and saluted him.


    When Yushchenko saw me salute him, he was stunned at first. Then he raised his hand and saluted me back: "Comrade teacher, this is what I should do."


    "Find a place to bury these martyrs." Because I had to rush back to attend the meeting, I had to leave the affairs of the martyrs to Yushchenko, "go and choose a good place for them, and I''ll leave it to you."


    When I returned to my seat, I saw marinin signing the attack order on the paper, while bartov stood by, his eyes fixed on the pen that was moving rapidly in marinin''s hand. Rokosovsky took me seriously back to his position and asked with concern, "Rita, what''s the matter?"


    I gave rokosovsky a wry smile. In order not to affect malining and Batov, I reported Yushchenko''s report to him in a low voice. At the same time, he also told him about our distress on the road.


    Rokosovsky''s face became serious after listening. When Batov took the combat order issued by malining and went out to send a report, he said to me earnestly: "Rita, you are not only the deputy commander of the 62nd army, but also the division commander of the red flag independent division. Your safety is no longer your personal matter, but is closely related to thousands of commanders and fighters. Once you have an accident, the command system of the independent division will fall into chaos. Have you ever considered the consequences? "


    Although I feel that rokosovsky is making a fuss in my heart, on the surface, I still have to pretend to be sincere and admit my mistake to him: "Comrade commander of the front army, your criticism is right. I will pay attention to it in the future and never make similar mistakes again."


    Rokosovsky was very satisfied with my attitude. He nodded, looked at kirilov sitting next to me and shejerikov standing behind us. After coughing, he said, "is it political commissar kirilov?"


    "Yes, comrade commander of the front army." Kirilov heard rokosovsky call his name, did not know what the other party would command, quickly stood up, leaning forward slightly, respectfully waiting for rokosovsky''s instructions.


    Rokosovsky said to him politely, "Comrade kirilov, Lida just told me that your company commander, Captain Yushchenko, is going to hold a funeral for several soldiers who died. These soldiers all died bravely. If captain Yushchenko presided over the funeral, it would seem that he did not pay enough attention to it. Therefore, I plan to let you and my chief of staff, comrade malining, preside over the funeral of these soldiers together. What do you think? "


    "Comrade commander of the front army," kirilov said respectfully, "I am very happy to obey your orders. I''m going to preside over the funeral of the martyrs. "


    Seeing that malining and kirilov both got up and walked towards the door, while xiejerikov was still standing in the same place foolishly, rokosovsky looked at him and asked strangely, "Comrade commander, what are you still doing here? Why don''t you follow your political commissar to the martyrs'' funeral?"


    "Yes, comrade general, I''ll go right away," he replied With that, he quickly ran after kirilov and their back.


    I know that rokosovsky sent these people away. There must be something important to tell me. Sure enough, when he saw everyone''s back disappear at the door, he suddenly lowered his voice and said to me, "Rita, I heard that a few months ago, you were almost shot by someone from the interior department because you were implicated by Vlasov?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." When I heard him ask about it, I knew that he was concerned about my safety. My heart was full of gratitude to him, so I answered truthfully, "if the pistol that killed me didn''t happen to jam and general fijiuningsky arrived in time, I would not have seen you."


    After listening, rokosovsky stood up, came to me from the other side of the table, raised his hand and patted me on the shoulder, and said in a voice that only the two of us could hear: "Rita, maybe you don''t know. During the Anti Japanese period, I was also sentenced to death. I was on death row for more than three months, and I was taken to the execution ground at night, Standing on the edge of the bunker waiting to be shot. The generals on my left and right sides were shot, but an empty bullet hit me in the back of the neck. Because I didn''t confess my crime and bite others, I was able to survive. Later, because the Soviet army was not successful in the Sufen war, the Supreme Commander himself decided to release some experienced commanders to command the battle, so that I had the opportunity to put on my uniform again. "


    Rokosovsky''s words surprised me, because I never knew that he had faced death so close as me, but we were lucky to survive. Seeing that I was still in a daze, he continued: "if you have the ability that others can''t replace, then you will become very safe and your life will be truly guaranteed. Can you understand me? "


    When I heard him say that, I was still at a loss, but I soon figured it out. The reason why I have been able to survive to the present in this particular historical period is probably related to my own ability to save myself from danger again and again. Otherwise, I would have been buried in the soil for a long time.


    One hour later, Batov''s artillery troops gradually appeared in konaiyi city. I vaguely heard Batov report to trikov that because the infantry had no transport vehicles, they had to walk on both legs and could not arrive until dark at the earliest.


    In the early morning of the 25th, Batov''s infantry and artillery left kongniai city to quietly occupy the so-called offensive starting position. Rokosovsky and I were standing on the second floor of the command post, looking out at the troops. Rokosovsky suddenly asked, "Rita, do you want to see how our troops captured the enemy positions?"


    "Can we go and watch the war?" Although I had long wanted to see how Batov''s troops captured the defense fortifications occupied by the German army, I had to stay in the command post and wait for news before I got rokosovsky''s permission. Now when I heard him ask, I pushed the boat forward and said, "if I can, I still hope to follow you to the front, See how our brave commanders and fighters capture the enemy''s positions. "


    In this way, before dawn, our party came to an observation post behind the incubation point of the 173rd infantry division. When we came in, Batov was bending over and putting his eyes close to a gun mirror to observe the movement of the defense fortifications in the distance. Hearing the movement behind him, he stood up straight and turned to look back. See walking in the front is rokosovsky, quickly stand to salute the latter.


    Rokosovsky raised his hand and returned a salute. He asked frankly, "general Batov, what''s the situation? Is there any movement in the German position?"


    "Report, comrade commander," Batov replied honestly, "our transfer seems to have been discovered by the German. I can see that the German in the trench have entered their respective shooting positions."


    "General Batov, do you think the Germans are blind and can''t see the movement of thousands of people here?" Rokosovsky then asked¡° How many guns does the artillery regiment have? "


    On hearing rokosovsky''s question, general Batov quickly replied, "report to commander, the three artillery regiments have 40 cannons and 20 howitzers, a total of 60 guns."


    Rokosovsky raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he went to the mirror, bent down to learn from bartov, and put his eyes close to the mirror to observe the movement in the distance. After a long time, he stood up straight again, turned to us and said, "now that the Germans have found us, let them stay in the trenches first. When we start the shelling later, we can wipe out a few more Germans. By the way, general Batov, you should let the soldiers have a rest as soon as possible, so that they can always maintain their full strength in the battle. "

 Chapter 838

    At seven in the morning, before dawn, sixty guns of the 65th army opened fire together. Continuous shelling for half an hour, shaking the ground, the highland was originally shrouded in darkness exploded into flames.


    When the artillery division''s artillery preparation was over, Batov went to the observation post''s telephone, picked up the receiver and said in a loud voice, "Colonel holikov, the artillery is over. It''s up to your division''s performance next. Ask the 1311st infantry regiment to attack the German position immediately. For victory, for the honor of you Muscovites, march forward


    If Batov didn''t mention the honor of the muscovite, I didn''t pay much attention to the troops to be launched. After listening to him, a piece of information about the division suddenly appeared in my mind. If I remember correctly, the 173rd infantry division should be the 77th infantry division of the famous guards. In the Encyclopedia of the Soviet army, the description of the division was adapted from the 21st division of the Moscow militia formed in July 1941. But I know very well in my heart that the division originally belonged to the Kiev special military region. In the early days of the war, the division was surrounded by German forces in Kiev, and the main force of other southwest front forces was destroyed. Later, it was rebuilt on the basis of the Moscow militia division 21. When I think of the series of meritorious deeds that the division made during the whole Patriotic War, I am full of expectations for their upcoming attack.


    I went to rokosovsky, raised my telescope, and focused on the hidden position of our army in front of me. I saw countless shadows from the ground to get up, shouting forward.


    I turned the lens of the telescope to the flaming highland, and saw that it was quiet and there was no movement. It seemed that the German soldiers in the position had been destroyed by our artillery fire.


    When our troops were more than 200 meters away from the highland, the enemy on the highland began to shoot from a commanding height. Along with the sound of machine guns, there were rumbling guns. It seems that some German artillery troops survived the shelling just now, but from the scale of the explosion, they were all small caliber guns.


    The German machine guns and artillery formed a dense fire net, which made a big and small gap in the attack line of the 173 division. In the face of the dense firepower of the enemy, our commanders and fighters are still rushing forward without hesitation. I saw through the telescope that the pistol wielding commander rushed in front of me. From time to time, some people were shot and fell to the ground, but many others took their place and continued to rush to the high ground.


    On the high ground, the German army can only see countless flashes of muzzle flame. Facing the powerful attack of our army, the German army is doing its best to shoot, trying to block our attack road with firepower.


    Perhaps it was because our army suffered too many casualties that the front-line commanders adjusted their tactics in time. Except for a small number of troops who continued to rush forward under the barrage of bullets, the rest of them lay down on the ground, relying on the terrain and the German troops on the high ground to launch counter fire.


    As for the tactical adjustment of the front-line commander, I did not move my face to judge in my heart. I felt that his decision was very right. In the face of the enemy''s intensive firepower, it would not be possible to just rely on the courage of the commanders and fighters to move forward. Even if our commanders and fighters are brave, can human flesh and blood block bullets and shrapnel flying around?


    "Comrade Batov, what are you going to do after you break through the German defense?" I suddenly heard the voice of rokosovsky next to me. I turned my head and saw that he was talking to Batov sideways.


    "After the breakthrough, the 1311 regiment will continue to attack forward, while the 1313 regiment and 1315 regiment, which will keep up in time, will detour to the two wings of the German army and strive to wipe out all the enemies on the highlands."


    As far as rokosovsky and Batov are concerned, there are new changes ahead. More than 300 officers and soldiers approach the highland and jump into the deep ditch at the foot of the highland. After a while, I saw the soldiers begin to climb the cliff, for a time, the cliff is full of dense figures.


    The German soldiers in the hillside position saw that our commanders and fighters were climbing the cliff. They jumped up from the trench and came to the cliff. They leaned forward and shot down with guns in their hands. And they soon became the targets of our army''s commanders and fighters. Those who were shooting against the German army turned their guns one after another and fired at these German soldiers who had left the fortification. These soldiers who tried to prevent our army from climbing were often hit by a lot of bullets before they fired two shots and fell by the cliff.


    When I saw that the German army was trapped in the trench by our firepower and did not dare to move, and our officers and men climbed higher and higher along the cliff, I was relieved. I said that in a few minutes at most, our troops would be able to rush to the high ground. Just as I was about to put down my telescope, I suddenly saw black things flying out of the trench. There were still sparks on those black things.


    "No, it''s dynamite." Two months ago, I had seen our officers and men blow up the German army with explosives at night, so I immediately recognized what was flying out of the trench and falling into the deep ditch at the foot of the high ground.


    Dozens of explosive packages fell into the deep ditch and exploded among our commanders and fighters, splashing out large amounts of fire and smoke, shrapnel flying around, sand and stone flying in the air, and human limbs flying into the sky can be clearly seen through the telescope.


    With the help of the fire lighting on the highland, I found that all the commanders and fighters who had climbed the cliff had disappeared. I was heartbroken at the thought that all the commanders and fighters had suffered an accident in the earth shaking explosion just now. I put down my telescope and turned to look at rokosovsky. He seemed to be aware of my eyes. After moving his eyes away from the lens of the gun mirror, he stood up and said to Batov beside him: "general Batov, there is no victory without blood in the world. The attack of 1311 regiment can''t stop. Immediately transfer the artillery regiment of the 173 division up, use artillery fire to suppress the enemy on the high ground, and cover the infantry for another attack. "


    Batov nodded, went to the telephone, picked up the receiver and said in a deep voice, "I''m general Batov. Connect me with 979 artillery regiment of 173 division immediately." After the phone call, I heard him telling the other party: "Comrade commander, the German army still has artillery on the high ground, which is a great threat to our offensive forces. I order you to transfer the Second Artillery Company of kurishenko to destroy the enemy''s artillery and machine gun fire points on the high ground."


    After waiting for Batov, rokosovsky asked him curiously, "Comrade Batov, who is this kurishenko? You seem to know him very well


    Batov glanced at me, who was standing beside me and the soul of gossip was burning. He hesitated for a moment, but he truthfully reported to trikov: "Comrade commander of the front army, this lieutenant kurishenko was assigned to serve in the 979th artillery regiment of the 173rd infantry division of the Kiev special army flag a few days before the outbreak of the war, and his rank is lieutenant.


    After the outbreak of the war, the division took part in the fighting within the organizational structure of the eighth infantry unit of the 26th group army of the southwest front army. The division took part in the fighting in the front line at the beginning, and fell into the encirclement of the German army in Kiev. Kurishenko was lucky enough to escape from the encirclement and was assigned to the rebuilt army of his original number


    After listening to Batov, I knew in my heart that my memory just now was correct. Maybe he was afraid to say that the whole army of the 173 division had been annihilated, so he only looked at me with such complicated eyes before reporting to rokosovsky.


    "... after kurishenko arrived in the new army, he still served as the commander of the second company of the 979 artillery regiment. The reconstituted army quickly entered the Moscow defense war at 173:00. First, within the formation of the 33rd group army of the reserve front army, it entered the German battle in the southwest of Kirov City, Kaluga, on October 2. At the end of October, the division was incorporated into the Western Front Army under the command of general Zhukov. On November 21, the division was incorporated into the 50th group army and carried out arduous defensive operations in beliov, vinyov and kasila regions. When they retreated to Moscow, there were only 109 people left in the division, and kurishenko was one of the lucky ones.


    After replenishing the offensive, the division transferred to the 49th group army and launched a great counter offensive under Moscow. By January this year, the division had returned to the organizational structure of the 50 group army. Kurishenko was seriously injured in the battle on February 14, and the 173 division was reorganized because of the huge losses.


    In August, the division was incorporated into our group army. I saw the name of kurishenko for the first time in the honours application submitted by the then division commander, Colonel hohrov. I had a few conversations with him when I was honoring him. I thought he was a good young man. He not only had rich experience in combat, but also was very smart. He was a sign of an excellent commander, so I was very impressed with him. From September to now, kurishenko''s artillery company has destroyed more than 300 enemy officers and soldiers, three artillery companies, two arsenals, eight heavy machine gun positions and a large number of enemy materials. "


    Rokosovsky waited for Batov to finish, nodded, and then said: "in the next battle, we will wait and see if this lieutenant kurishenko is really as capable as you said."


    After listening to Batov''s introduction, I became very interested in the new lieutenant kurishenko. What the independent division lacks most now is the commander of artillery and tank troops. If he is really a capable person, I want to dig him into the independent division. The artillery battalion of the division will be expanded into artillery regiment sooner or later. If he comes, I can at least give him the post of artillery battalion commander.


    The day began to light up, and the view outside also broadened a lot. I saw an artillery company made up of nine guns building a simple artillery position more than 500 meters away from the highland under the fire of the enemy. When all the guns were in place, there was a volley on the high ground.


    Several plumes of smoke rose from the German position. Before the smoke dispersed, another batch of shells landed in the front and back of the trench, and the hillside position was filled with smoke. Several fire points that were desperately shooting suddenly died. The infantry of the 1311 regiment, who relied on the terrain and launched counter fire against the German army, saw that our artillery fire was suppressing the German army, climbed up from the ground one after another and rushed forward with weapons.


    When our officers and men climbed up the cliff again, the German army tried to do the same thing again, using explosives to destroy our attack again. But only a few explosive packs were thrown, and the trench was covered by dense artillery fire. Seeing the fire and the earth shaking explosion in the trench, I guess one or two shells hit the German explosive pack, which caused a devastating explosion.


    Many of the officers and men who were climbing the cliff were shocked by such a violent explosion and fell off the cliff, but the officers and men behind still climbed up without hesitation. When several soldiers climbed to a flat place, took off the guns on their back and rushed to the enemy''s trench, in order to avoid accidental injury, the artillery company''s fire began to extend to the top of the mountain. When the troops of 1311 regiment occupied the hillside position and charged to the mountaintop position, the other two regiments stayed in their own position without any movement. When I was about to ask about this, I saw dozens of soldiers with backpacks on their backs. After climbing up the high ground, they stopped moving forward and squatted beside the cliff, nervously busy¡° Comrade commander of the front army, "Batov''s voice sounded in my ear. He was explaining to rokosovsky what these people were doing." these people are engineers. They will blow up the steep cliff with explosives to open up a passage for the troops behind. " As soon as his words were finished, there was a rumbling explosion in front of him, and big rocks rolled down the hillside. When the smoke dispersed, I saw that with the fall of the rock, several relatively gentle passages appeared on the original cliff. Then a red signal bomb rose in the sky, which seemed to tell the soldiers behind that the passage had been opened. With the rise of the signal bomb, the commanders and fighters who had been hidden in the position got up and rushed forward with their weapons in their hands. Soon they rushed to the foot of the mountain, slowed down and went up the high ground along the road opened up by the engineers. I can see from the telescope that the whole position is burning, weapons and ammunition are burning, the corpses on the surface of the position are burning, even the soil and craters are burning. And our officers and men bravely rushed to the top of the mountain in the smoke. After the officers and men of 1313 and 1315 regiments reached the highland, they quickly detoured to both sides and wrapped dumplings for all the German troops who held fast to the highland. The battle ended half an hour later, and we wiped out all the German battalions and three companies except more than 100 prisoners. The battle to capture the Highlands successfully opened a breakthrough in the German defensive front. When I counted the results, I specially checked the results of lieutenant kurishenko''s artillery company. The war report read: "Lieutenant kurishenko''s artillery company destroyed one gun, three heavy machine guns, one observation post, two trenches and a reinforced field command post." Seeing such amazing results, I am more determined to dig the corner of Batov''s wall. I intend to find an opportunity to ask him to transfer this capable lieutenant to me.

 Chapter 839

    After cleaning the battlefield, rokosovsky and Batov met the commanders in the observation station. At such a time, I definitely can''t stay in the house any longer and find an excuse to leave.


    There are dozens of commanders standing in the trench outside the observation post. Judging from their badges, they are all commanders from company level to division level. The first three people to go in were not too young. In addition to a colonel and a middle school, another was a political worker with the rank of division commander, political commissar and chief of staff.


    After only a few minutes inside, they came out again, followed by a lieutenant, who stood at the door and said loudly to the commanders not far away, "Lieutenant kurishenko, commander of the second company of the 979th artillery regiment."


    This familiar name immediately attracted my attention. I watched the commander from behind come to the lieutenant quickly. After standing at attention, I reported to the other party, "commander, I''m lieutenant kurishenko. Is it the commander who wants to meet me?"


    I was surprised to see kurishenko up close. I thought that a commander with rich combat experience like him was at least middle-aged, but I didn''t expect that he was so young, at most in his early twenties, tall, thin and handsome.


    The lieutenant standing at the door looked him up and down, then waved his head and said, "come on, Lieutenant kurishenko, two comrades are waiting for you." With that, he turned and walked into the observation post first, while kurishenko was stunned for a moment and followed him.


    In my heart, I was feeling that kurishenko had been young for a long time. Suddenly, I heard someone behind me carefully asking, "are you commander oshanina of the friendly army?"


    Hearing the question behind me, I quickly turned around and saw a second lieutenant standing in front of me. I asked with great interest, "Comrade second lieutenant, I''m o''shanina. What can I do for you?"


    The second lieutenant quickly came to attention, then handed me a piece of paper, and said: "Comrade General, this is a telegram just sent by your division, saying that it will be given to you immediately."


    I took the telegram from the second lieutenant, nodded my thanks to him, and looked down at it. The telegram was sent by trakov, and the content was very simple: "the lyudnikov division is in danger. After you hand over the existing defense area to the friendly forces, you will immediately return to the division city and carry out rescue operations against the division."


    After reading this telegram, my heart suddenly sank. I didn''t expect that the great counterattack had begun for several days. However, the situation in lyudnikov division was not only not getting better, but getting worse. Now I am facing the fate of being completely annihilated by the German army. It seems that the rescue for them is imminent.


    I quickly came to the gate of the observation station and asked, "are you allowed in?" according to the regulations


    As soon as my voice fell, there came rokosovsky''s voice: "come in, Rita."


    As soon as I walked into the observation post, before I could speak, rokosovsky added, "Rita, what''s the matter? From what I know of you, if there is nothing important, you will never break in so rashly. "


    "Comrade commander of the front army, this is the telegram I just received from commander trakov." Then I handed the telegram to rokosovsky.


    He took the telegram, looked at it twice, and then handed it back to me again. He said, "Rita, since the situation in the city is not optimistic, you should take the troops back as soon as possible. The defense of konnyi and gorodyser should be handed over to general Batov''s troops."


    "Comrade commander of the front army, I will leave major akhromeyev, chief of staff of my division, in charge of transferring defense to general Batov''s forces." When I finished, I raised my hand and saluted trakov. I turned around and left. But as soon as I turned around, I saw lieutenant kurishenko standing upright in the middle of the room, and I stopped again.


    When I was just outside, I had been thinking about how to send kurishenko to my division, but I had to rush back to my division as soon as I could. Now that he is in front of me, if I don''t take this opportunity to make a request to Batov, I don''t know that I will have a chance until the age of monkey. As soon as I gritted my teeth, I turned to rokosovsky and Batov and said, "comrades commander, I have another request."


    Rokosovsky thought that the request I said was related to the transfer of defense, so he said carelessly, "Rita, if you have any request, just put it forward. As long as we can do it, we will do it for you."


    I glanced around at kurishenko, who was standing next to me. Then I turned to Batov and said, "commander Batov, you know that my troops are only a few months old, and there is a shortage of combat backbones and commanders at all levels in all arms. This time, if we want to go back to the division city to rescue the friendly forces, we can use artillery as well as infantry. With our present Artillery Force, it is very difficult to suppress the enemy''s firepower points when attacking the fortified positions. So I venture to ask you to allow lieutenant kurishenko to support our division. "


    After my words, there was silence in the room.


    After a while, the recovered Batov said politely but firmly, "excuse me, general oshanina. Lieutenant kurishenko is the commander of our 65th army." After finishing these two sentences, he turned his eyes on kurishenko and said to him in an official tone: "it''s none of your business here, comrade lieutenant. You can go now."


    Kurishenko snapped to attention, raised his hand to salute us, and turned to leave. General Batov''s words, let my heart, completely fell into the ice, see kurishenko to leave, I can''t help but want to rush up to hold him.


    Just when I was about to despair, suddenly rokosovsky said, "Comrade lieutenant, please wait a moment." Kurishenko, who had already arrived at the door, stopped and turned around again, still holding a stand at attention position, looking straight ahead, quietly waiting for rokosovsky''s instructions.


    Rokosovsky laughed and then said to Batov, "Comrade Batov, when it comes to joining forces, our troops with Rita are comrades in arms and comrades; But when it comes to supporting our commanders to the friendly forces, you become as fussy as Grandet... "With these two words, rokosovsky quickly came to lieutenant kurishenko, put his hands on his shoulder, and asked calmly," Comrade lieutenant, what do you think about it, are you willing to go to the independent division of the female general? "


    After a quick glance at me, kurishenko gave a loud reply: "Comrade commander of the front army, I firmly obey all your orders."


    When I heard rokosovsky speak just now, I was ecstatic. At this moment, when I heard lieutenant kurishenko say that he would obey the arrangement of the superior, I was even more happy.


    After kurishenko finished his statement, rokosovsky came to me again and asked with concern, "Rita, do you want lieutenant kurishenko alone?"


    When I heard rokosovsky''s question, I nodded my head desperately and said, "yes, comrade commander of the front army, although our division lacks enough artillery, as long as general Batov agrees to let lieutenant kurishenko take up the post in our division, then I will be satisfied."


    After I finished, rokosovsky did not express any opinions, but frowned and walked back and forth in the observation station. After a few laps, he stopped, turned to me and said, "Rita, when your division enters Stalingrad, it will be a vicious battle. It won''t help much to send you an artillery commander. What''s more, it will take a long time for lieutenant kurishenko and his new subordinates to cooperate with each other. What you lack most is time. In my opinion, the artillery can be placed under the command of your division. What''s your opinion, Comrade General His last sentence was directed at bartov.


    I saw the expression of resentment from Batov''s face, and knew that he was not willing to give me such a good artillery commander, even if he was only a junior commander at present. Rokosovsky''s words were even worse. He clenched his teeth and showed a painful expression on his face. However, decades of military life made him form a good habit of obeying the orders of his superiors. After taking a deep breath, he tried to reply in a smooth tone: "Comrade commander of the front army, since you have given the orders, I will obey them firmly."


    I know that in this case, I put forward this kind of request to dig a corner, and got the support of rokosovsky. Batov, who suffered the loss, must hate me to the bone. But in order to find the talents urgently needed in the division, even if I knew that I had offended Batov, I had to stick to my head and do it.


    After receiving Batov''s reply, rokosovsky nodded with satisfaction, then went to lieutenant kurishenko and said to him, "Comrade lieutenant, what are you still doing? Don''t you report to your new superior soon?"


    After listening to me, kurishenko quickly turned to face me, raised his hand to salute, and loudly reported: "report to Mr. commander, former commander of the second company of 979th artillery regiment of 173 division, Lieutenant kurishenko, report to you..."


    "Wait a minute," I interrupted lieutenant kurishenko before he finished. I knew in my heart that although I used the power of rokosovsky to poach him from general Batov''s hands, it would be difficult for him to identify with the independent division if he was not given any advantages. So I solemnly said to him, "Comrade kurishenko, from now on, you are the commander of the second artillery battalion of our red flag independent division, and your rank is no longer lieutenant, but captain. Report it to me again. "


    Kurishenko got an unexpected promotion with a surprise expression on his face. After he reported to me again in accordance with his new rank and position, I went on to say, "in addition to your promotion, all the officers and soldiers of the former artillery second company, platoon leader to company leader, squad leader to platoon leader, and soldiers to squad leader. Please convey my order to the soldiers later. "


    When kurishenko and I left the observation post and passed in front of the group of commanders waiting outside, I suddenly heard someone calling kurishenko: "Hello, lieutenant, where are you going?"


    I looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the speaker was a commander standing in front of the line. When kurishenko heard the commander''s inquiry, he ran to him, raised his hand to salute him, leaned forward slightly, and whispered in his ear. Although I couldn''t hear what he was saying, I understood that he must be reporting to the other party what happened in the observation station.


    As kurishenko spoke, the lieutenant commander gave me a curious look from time to time. From the analysis of kurishenko''s attitude towards him, nine out of ten of them are the head of the 979th artillery regiment. After kurishenko''s words were over, the lieutenant commander came over with him, stood in front of me, raised his hand and said politely, "Comrade General, lieutenant commander babayevsky, head of the 979th artillery regiment of the 173 infantry division, reports to you."


    I raised my hand to give him a salute and said politely, "Hello, comrade commander."¡° Although lieutenant kurishenko is young, he is a rare artillery commander. "Although babayevsky dealt with me for the first time, he was still reckless in speaking for the future of his subordinates." so please make good use of him so that he can give full play to his strengths. "¡° "Commander babayevsky," I said with a smile and friendliness to the commander who was concerned about the future of his men, "please rest assured that I will take good care of captain kurishenko. I believe that before long, he will become an excellent artillery commander with outstanding achievements. " After these words, I quickly changed the topic: "I''m sorry, commander babayevsky, we still have an urgent task. We''ll be here today. We''ll have a good chat when we have a chance." After leaving the trench and walking into an open area, I stopped, looked at the artillery position in the distance, and turned to kurishenko: "Comrade captain, how long will it take for your artillery company to move?" Kurishenko raised his hand, looked at his watch, and then replied to me, "it''s going to take at least an hour to report to Mr. commander."¡° Then I''ll give you an hour and a half. "Because I wanted to go back to the headquarters in the city immediately to find kirilov, I gave him a short order:" after the troops are assembled, you will take them to the intersection in the south of kongniayi City, and I will bring the big troops to join you soon. "¡° Yes, I promise to finish the task. "

 Chapter 840

    As soon as he returned to the command post, akhromeyev came up to me and reported, "Comrade division commander, the order has been sent to the troops, and the troops of the first, third and fourth regiments are assembling. In order to avoid causing chaos, the regiments will withdraw from the city one after another, in the order of one regiment, four regiments and three regiments. "


    "Comrade chief of staff, you have done a good job!" I am very satisfied to see that akhromeyev and they have arranged all the steps for the troops to withdraw when I am not in the command position. Seeing kirilov and bandeliev sitting at the table talking in a low voice, they hurried over to greet them.


    As soon as I sat down, I informed them that an excellent artillery commander and an artillery company were coming from rokosovsky''s hands. After hearing this, Bantai leiev immediately said with a smile: "Comrade teacher, this is really wonderful. In the following street battles, we need artillery in many places, but major Morozov''s artillery battalion was almost disabled, which can provide enough artillery support for our offensive troops. Now with such an Artillery Force, I think they can be of great use in the next battle. "


    It is said that I am going to have another artillery company. Unlike kirilov and akhromeyev, kirilov is more comprehensive. He asked me cautiously, "Comrade oshanina, according to what you just said, this artillery commander named kurishenko, you dug him up from commander Batov?" Seeing that I nodded in affirmation, he went on to say, "although commander rokosovsky went out to work for you, would it offend general Batov to do so?"


    Bantailiev and akhromeyev, who were excited by the new army, became more serious when they heard kirilov''s words. They turned their eyes to me and wanted to hear how I explained this matter.


    I didn''t know that I had done something to offend others. However, when I thought that the arrival of kurishenko could make our division reduce a lot of casualties in the lane war, I felt that it was worthwhile to do so. So after a moment''s deliberation, I said to kirilov word by word, "Comrade political commissar, I know that this will offend general Batov. However, I was also forced to do so. We should know that our division is going to enter the city to fight with the German army in the street. If there is not enough artillery support, we will pay a heavy price in the battle. For the sake of victory, for the sake of the officers and men of the independent division, even if I know that I want to offend others, I can only do it with a stiff head. "


    Kirilov, after listening to what I said from the bottom of his heart, stood up, put out his hands, held my hands, and shook them vigorously. After a long time, he spoke out a few words: "Comrade oshanina, I have wronged you!"


    According to the prior arrangement, kirilov, I, the first regiment and the security company first made an offer to gorodyser. After we set out, bantailiev and akhromeyev led four regiments and three regiments to follow up.


    Kirilov and I left the ruins of the city in our jeep and went outside. At the edge of the road leading to gorodyse, trucks with guns lined up.


    I saw captain kurishenko and several commanders standing by a jeep from a long distance. After seeing our jeep appear, he immediately trotted over with the commander. I asked the driver to stop the car, then pushed the door open and went down the jeep with kirilov.


    Kurishenko, they came to us, stopped, and then raised their hands to salute kirilov and me. Then he loudly reported to me, "Comrade division commander, the second artillery battalion of the independent division is ready to fight at any time."


    After the completion of kurishenko''s report, I pointed to kirilov next to him and said, "Comrade captain, I''d like to introduce you to kirilov, the political commissar of the independent division, who is from the Central Committee."


    On hearing my introduction to kirilov, kurishenko and his subordinates quickly and neatly saluted and politely called out: "good commissar!"


    Next, kurishenko introduced his subordinates. The commander with the rank of lieutenant was his deputy company commander, and the commander with the rank of second lieutenant was his company commanders.


    "Are you ready, comrade captain?" When I got off the bus, kurishenko once reported to me that the troops were ready and ready to leave at any time, but I asked habitually.


    To my unnecessary question, kurishenko patiently replied, "yes, sir, everything is ready. I''ve checked with the platoon leaders and all the people are ready to fight. "


    "Now that you''re ready, let''s go." After I said this, I asked Kuleshov, "Comrade captain, who should lead the way? You or me? "


    "Let my deputy company commander lead the way. He is familiar with the terrain." Kurishenko replied briefly.


    "Comrade captain," kirilov seemed to like the new captain very much, and said friendly, "let your deputy company commander lead the way, and you will take the same car with us."


    Kurishenko was very calm when a commander who was much higher than himself invited him to go with the car. He first explained a lot of precautions to his subordinates. After they were sent away, he turned and walked to the jeep, opened the door and asked us to get on.


    Kirilov and I were in the back, while captain kurishenko was in the front co pilot''s seat. Looking at the trucks stopping at the roadside starting in turn and heading for the lurking, I curiously counted the number of trucks. Unexpectedly, I found something wrong. In my impression, kurishenko''s artillery company had only nine guns, but I found 12 trucks with guns.


    When our jeep started, I asked curiously to kurishenko in front of us, "Comrade captain, I remember that your artillery company has only nine guns, but now it has become twelve. What''s the matter?"


    When kurishenko heard my question, he quickly turned to look at me and replied, "Comrade division commander, this is true. When I was assembling my troops, I met my former division commander, Colonel horikov. He said that on the order of general Batov, commander of the group army, he specially added three guns to me in order to strengthen the combat effectiveness of our department."


    After hearing this, kirilov said to me with a smile: "Comrade oshanina, I was just worried that you would offend general Batov by asking captain kurishenko to come to our division. Now it seems that I am worried too much." With these words, he turned to kurishenko in the front row and asked, "Comrade captain, how old are you this year?"


    "Comrade commissar," kurishenko replied politely, "I was born in 1922, and I''m just 20 years old this year..."


    When I heard the mistakes in kurishenko''s grammar, I couldn''t help laughing. Kurishenko, who was reporting to the commissar, immediately stopped and just looked at me in surprise. Seeing kirilov also cast a puzzled look at me, I quickly corrected kurishenko: "Comrade captain, you should say that you were born in 1922, not 1922."


    Kirilov burst into laughter, and even the driver chuckled twice. Although kurishenko was red with laughter, he went on to say: "I joined the army in the month of my birthday in September 1940. After a period of artillery officer training, I was assigned to serve in the 979th artillery regiment of the 173 infantry division of the Kiev special military region in June of 41 with the rank of lieutenant." He gave kirilov a brief account of his experience.


    After kurishenko introduced his resume, kirilov went on to ask, "Comrade captain, do you have any idea that we want you from the Don front army?"


    On hearing kirilov''s question, kurishenko was silent for a moment, as if thinking about how he should answer the question. He spoke very slowly, as if constantly considering the appropriate words: "Comrade political commissar, I think so... Anyway, it''s all for the sake of defending the motherland, so it''s the same to fight the Communist aggressors in the front army of Don river or Stalingrad. Are you right? "


    Kirilov nodded with satisfaction to kurishenko''s reply and said with approval, "Comrade captain, you are right to think so. I''ve been worried about your coming from the 173 division. What do you think At this point, he timely changed the topic, "if you have any request for us, just put forward it. As long as we can do it, we will try our best to achieve your wish."


    Kurishenko frowned and thought about it, then began to say, "Comrade division, it''s like this. There are only 120 people in my company. Now our superior has given us three more guns. In this way, our manpower is a little nervous. I wonder if the division can give us some more artillery? " Kirilov did not speak, but turned to look at me, waiting for me to make a decision.


    When I heard that kurishenko only made such a simple request, I immediately replied, "no problem, I will supply you with the necessary staff as soon as possible." In order to reassure him, I further explained to him, "last month, we rescued a group of captured officers and men. From these men, we selected nearly 200 artillery men and added them to the division''s artillery battalion. Because there are not many kinds of artillery in the division, these artillery are mostly used as infantry. When we get back to Stalingrad, I''ll ask major Morozov to transfer the surplus Gunners of the battalion to your battalion. "


    "Thank you, sir." Although kurishenko tried his best to keep calm, his face was still full of joy.


    We were talking when the car slowed down. I raised my hand and patted the driver on the shoulder and asked him strangely, "Comrade driver, why is the speed slowing down?"


    The driver quickly glanced at me behind him and replied, "there''s a tricycle coming towards us. It looks like Captain Yushchenko, the commander of the special guard company, is sitting on it."


    I tilted my head through the windshield in front of me and saw a motorcycle coming. All three people on the motorcycle were wearing special bullet proof clothes. I guessed that Yushchenko had something to report to me. He immediately told the driver, "Comrade driver, stop by the side of the road."


    As soon as our car stopped on the side of the road, the motorcycle came to our car and stopped. Then captain Yushchenko, who was sitting in the sidecar, jumped out of the car and quickly came to my window. After raising his hand and saluting, he reported, "Comrade division, we have carefully investigated the way from here to mamayev post, and we have not found any enemy."


    Last time I was attacked on the road, it was a lesson for me. So today, before we set out, kirilov sent captain Yushchenko''s special guard company out and asked them to play a temporary role as scouts to check whether the road leading to mamayev post was safe. I don''t want to be attacked by the German army again during the March¡° Thank you, comrade captain After thanking Yushchenko politely, I told him, "you should go to gorodysea immediately, and tell the second commander, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg, to keep him on guard in the city until the friendly troops come to change their guard." As our jeep drove on, kirilov asked kurishenko, "Comrade captain, your artillery battalion will be used in street fighting in Stalingrad. What do you think of this?" When kirilov asked him what he was good at, kurishenko talked about his opinion without hesitation: "because for a long time, my artillery company has been fighting a defensive war, now it is suddenly changed into an offensive war, and it is a tough battle in the city, so the commanders and fighters need to have a process of adaptation."¡° Comrade captain, how many days will it take to adapt Kirilov asked gravely. Kurishenko thought for a moment and replied, "it will take at least three days."¡° No, comrade captain, I will not. " When I heard the conversation between them, I couldn''t help interrupting and saying, "I''ll give you one night at most, and you''ll have to fight in the daytime tomorrow at the latest. Moreover, street fighting is very different from your previous fighting methods. Because there are many buildings in the city, the artillery''s vision will be affected, so you can''t establish a fixed artillery position. In order to better support the infantry''s attack, I ask you to spread out the artillery, take two or three guns as a group, follow the infantry forward, and once you find the fortifications or firepower points of the enemy, destroy them cleanly. " Kurishenko was stunned by what I said. When I finished, he murmured, "Comrade division, this kind of fighting method you said is not in line with the artillery related regulations..." "let the regulations go to hell," I said impatiently, "in order to win, of course, you can fight as you like; Don''t stick to rigid rules. Do you understand? "¡° I see, sir. " Kurishenko replied helplessly.

 Chapter 841

    It was getting dark as our motorcade passed through mamayev hill and 107.5 highland. I looked out at the darkening sky outside the car window. Then I turned around and discussed with kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, it''s getting dark. Shall we find a place to settle our troops first?"


    After listening to me, kirilov was stunned, and then asked, "Comrade oshanina, the troops are not going to the city tonight?"


    I shook my head and answered him, "we are not familiar with the situation in the city. If we drive our troops into the city rashly, it is easy to misunderstand with friendly forces in the dark, causing unnecessary casualties. So I''m going to let the troops gather in the residential area behind the mamayev post first. You and bantailiev will gather the regiment and battalion commanders of each regiment to have a meeting to study how to fight tomorrow? "


    When I finished, kirilov asked curiously, "Comrade oshanina, won''t you go to the residential area with us?"


    "I also immediately went to the headquarters of the group army to ask the commander about the situation of the lyudnikov division, so as to work out the battle plan for tomorrow."


    "For your safety''s sake, I think you should take at least a row of soldiers with you." When I heard that I was going to the group army headquarters to accept the mission, kirilov worried about my safety again, so he told me to take more troops with me.


    In fact, even if he doesn''t say it, I will consider my own safety. Victory is in sight. If I am killed by a bullet that doesn''t know where to fly, it''s really unfair.


    I arrived at the headquarters of the group army safely. As soon as I entered the gate, I was seen by kreilov, who was sitting facing the gate. He turned to the side and said, "Comrade oshanina is coming!" Then he got up to meet me, and at the same time he stretched out his hands to me.


    When I shook hands with him, I saw several more people standing at the table. I fixed my eyes and found that it was trakov, gurov or Vasiliev, director of the political department. After shaking hands with Krylov, I went to salute and shake hands with some of them.


    After greeting, trikov asked about the details of our division''s meeting with the army of the Don river. Although I had sent several telegrams to the headquarters of the group army to report this time before, I saw that trakov wanted to know the specific situation, so I got up from my seat and reported it to them in detail.


    When I reported to you, I saw that all of you were at ease. I couldn''t help thinking: has the lyudnikov division broken the siege of the German army, or else their expressions would be so calm?


    As soon as my report was over, gurov turned to trakov and said, "Comrade commander, no wonder the German attack in the city has completely stopped in the past two days. It turned out that the attack launched by general rokosovsky had effectively restrained the main forces of the German army, so that they had to transfer troops to fill the breach opened by our army, So I can''t compete with us in the city any more. "


    "That''s fine." "Since the Germans don''t have the ability to attack us, it''s our turn to attack them," he said


    As soon as trikov finished, I couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what''s the situation of Colonel lyudnikov now?"


    Trikov looked up at me, turned his head to the direction of Krylov, and said, "chief of staff, it''s up to you to introduce Colonel lyudnikov to Comrade oshanina."


    Krailov nodded, stood up and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, the lyudnikov division is surrounded by the German army. It''s a one kilometer long, 300 meter wide narrow area by the Volga River. After the great counterattack, we ordered the 95th infantry division of Colonel gorishner, who was only 300 meters away from the division, to attack the German troops stationed in the middle of the area together with the ludnikov division, so as to break the siege and realize the purpose of joining forces.


    After the beginning of the battle, the commanders and fighters of the two divisions were very brave, especially many of the commanders and fighters of the lyudnikov division. When they ran out of ammunition, they dropped their guns, held grenades, bravely advanced against the enemy''s bullets, and used grenades to blow up one firepower point after another occupied by the German army. At the end of the first day of fighting, the two divisions lost nearly 500 casualties, but only pushed less than 100 meters in the middle. When we studied the war reports at night, we found that we could neither annihilate the enemy who came out to the "barricade" factory area nor rescue the lyudnikov division as soon as possible by the attack of infantry alone. Because we have neither tanks nor reserves.


    What should we do? How can we save the ludnikov division?


    Just as we racked our brains and couldn''t come up with a good way, the artillery commander of the group army, hogarsky, suddenly proposed that at this time, our artillery on the left bank of the Volga River could be used to destroy the enemy with the artillery fire on the east bank.


    As soon as general hogarsky put forward his own proposal, Lieutenant Colonel Wei yinlubu, deputy director of the tank corps, first raised his objection, saying that there are many difficulties for us to carry out this operational plan: to shoot at every enemy stronghold very accurately, it requires a magic gunner. We have the magic gunners, but it is very difficult to carry out shooting correction from the West Bank, because the impact of ice often interrupts the wired communication, and the effect of wireless communication is too poor and unreliable.


    In view of these problems raised by Lieutenant Colonel Wei yinlubu, after repeated research and verification, we finally decided to mark the area occupied by the enemy from north to south, from Volga River to the forefront, with a pole that can be seen clearly from the east bank. In this way, a large profile of 600-800 meters wide is formed in the molecular circle. Our artillery can clearly see this line from the east bank and bombard the enemy''s firepower point with no missed bullets.


    The firing was carried out with the help of the school shooters on the West Bank, who observed and accurately pointed out the target and the deviation of the projectile, reported the results to the artillery observation stations, which then relayed the results to the firing positions.


    The infantry units of lyudnikov and gorishne, seeing the devastating bombardment of the enemy by our artillery, quickly entered the distance where they could throw grenades. Seeing that our troops rushed up, the artillery pressed the luminous signal to stop the artillery fire on the east bank. At this time, the infantry unit, mainly the assault team, launched a short impact with hand grenades to attack and capture the enemy hiding in the civil firing point and basement. "


    When I heard that the situation of lyudnikov division was better than I expected, I could not help but feel relieved. I said that if their division could get direct support from the East Coast Artillery, it would not be difficult to break through the enemy''s encirclement. Why did trakov bring our division back from such a far place? Isn''t it unnecessary?


    I am very familiar with trekov. According to my previous character, I will ask in a slightly resentful tone: since the situation of division lyudnikov has improved, why do I have to transfer our division to the city in a hurry? However, I have learned a lot from rokosovsky during the day I spent with him to save my life in troubled times. First, I should make a good relationship with my superiors so that he will not kill you; Second, we should make more contributions to make our superiors feel that you are very important, and that if they want to kill you, it will be a matter that is not worth the loss.


    So after krailov finished speaking, I tried to squeeze a smile on my face, pretended to be respectful and asked, "Comrade commander, do you have any other tasks besides rescuing the lyudnikov division this time?"


    Trikov didn''t seem to notice my difference. He said as usual: "oshanina, the first task of your division at present is to get through the middle between the ludnikov division and the gorishner division, and destroy or defeat the German troops stationed in this area. Do you understand? "


    As soon as his words were finished, I immediately replied without hesitation, "I understand. I promise to finish the task!"


    Gulov looked up at me and said slowly: "Comrade oshanina, although the distance between the two divisions is only 150 meters, because this is the key defense area of the German army, the attacks launched by the two divisions have not worked, but increased a lot of casualties. I want to hear what you think. "


    When gurov said this, the headquarters became quiet again, and everyone''s eyes turned to me, waiting for me to come up with a good way to reassure them.


    After thinking about it, I decided to tell them my consideration: "I think that it is inappropriate to use tanks in cities full of ruins and craters, so I only intend to use artillery to provide artillery support for infantry."


    "Wait a minute, o''shanina." Before I finished, krailov interrupted me and said anxiously, "the reason why our two divisions can''t join up is that they can''t capture the area occupied by the German army. The buildings in this area were blocked by the buildings along the river, so that our artillery on the east bank could not destroy them with artillery fire. As far as I know, the number of artillery of the independent division is limited at present. Can the attacking infantry really get the necessary artillery support in case of street fighting? You know, those buildings are very strong. They can''t be destroyed without guns. "


    As for Krylov''s worry, I explained in detail: "Comrade chief of staff, please rest assured that I want a new artillery company with 12 guns from general rokosovsky. In tomorrow''s battle, I will break these guns into parts, follow the assault teams, and push them towards the city. Once our infantry encounter the suppression of the enemy''s firepower points, then the artillery following can quickly destroy the enemy''s firepower points. "


    After I finished my thoughts, I looked at trakov nervously, worried whether he would agree with me to adopt this new style of play in the street fight tomorrow. You should know that many tactics are deeply rooted in the Soviet army. If you change them without authorization, it will bring you some unnecessary troubles.


    After listening to me, trikov frowned and stared at me for a long time. Finally, he said calmly, "well, since Comrade oshanina is so confident, we''ll fight the street fight tomorrow according to your idea."


    After leaving the headquarters of the group army, under the protection of Yushchenko, I returned to the division headquarters in the settlement. As soon as I walked in, I saw a lot of people sitting inside. Seeing me enter the door, the commanders who were sitting stood up in unison and straightened their waists like a telegraph pole.


    I walked quickly to the table, raised my hands and pressed them down. I ordered everyone to sit down Seeing that all the people were seated, I sat down beside kirilov and asked him in a low voice, "Comrade political commissar, are all the people here?"


    "The second regiment is still in gorodysea." Kirilov answered me in a low voice, and added: "general rokosovsky has just sent a telegram saying that the receiving troops will not arrive at gorodyse until noon tomorrow, so let our troops stay one more day."¡° Let''s have a meeting I nodded, then turned and rushed to akhromeyev, saying briefly. Although during the battle of Stalingrad, the main defense direction of the independent division was the enemy from the north of mamayev post, we were not unfamiliar with street fighting. Not to mention that when the independent division became an army, its first combat task was to capture the occupied residential areas. Even while firmly guarding the mamayev post, the 1st, 3rd and 4th regiments successively stationed in the residential areas sent out small teams to enter the city together with the sniper teams, and carried out small-scale urban guerrilla warfare with the German army in the city, which also achieved great results. Now it''s not a trivial matter to fight such street battles again. Akhromeyev has been in the independent division for quite a long time, so he has a good understanding of some guerrilla tactics and common sense of street fighting in the division. Therefore, he has a clear idea of how to set up tomorrow''s offensive tasks. The next day, at the dawn of the day, our offensive battle aimed at saving the friendly troops began. We didn''t prepare for the fire before the attack. The second battalion of the first regiment, as the main attack task, broke the whole regiment into parts, took the class as the unit, used the surrounding terrain, walked through the ruins of the city, and quickly approached the buildings occupied by the German army. Deputy division commander Bantai leiev and I were standing in front of a wall hole on the second floor of a building. We raised our binoculars and looked at the troops who were getting closer to the enemy building. Bantai leiev saw that the enemy''s building was not moving, so he pointed to the dense corpses in the street and kindly reminded me: "Comrade division, is there any conspiracy for the enemy to delay firing? You see how many officers and soldiers we have sacrificed on this street, four or five hundred of them. It can be seen from this that the defense of the enemy in front of us must be very strong. I think it is necessary for us to remind lieutenant colonel chejerikov to make the commanders and fighters more alert. " I put down my telescope, turned to Bantai and said, "don''t worry, comrade Deputy teacher. Sergeant chejerikov has a lot of experience in street fighting. The German fortifications can''t help him... "As soon as I finished, there was a lot of gunfire in front of me. I quickly raised my telescope and looked at the gunshot. I saw a building on the upper and lower floors of more than a dozen windows, there were signs of the German, they were carrying guns on the streets of the second battalion officers and men shooting fiercely. Unfortunately, more than a dozen soldiers rushed to the front were shot and fell down. The following officers and soldiers hid behind the ruins and shot back at the enemy. Seeing the fierce German firepower, I could not help but frown and think to myself: Hell, where is captain kurishenko''s artillery battalion? Why don''t they fire? At this time, a violent explosion took place in the rear of the German army. The wall facing us fell like paper paste, and the German army who had been shooting at the window fell down one after another.

 Chapter 842

    Then there were several explosions, and the roaring shells hit the building again. Just now our artillery hit the target from the rear side of the building, but this time it hit directly from the front. In the sound of successive explosions, broken bricks, stones and wood mixed with fragments of weapons and human limbs, scattered around the building. Seeing that the building was shrouded in smoke, more than a dozen officers and men immediately got up from the ground, carrying weapons, running zigzag, and quickly approached the building.


    Before they rushed into the building hit by the shell, the two soldiers in the front fell to the ground. The rest of the officers and men quickly stopped and hid behind the debris.


    "Hell, what''s the matter? How did our soldiers get shot?" Bantai leiev cried in surprise when he saw that our soldiers were shot and fell down¡° Where is the enemy''s point of fire? "


    "Comrade deputy division commander," after the soldier was shot, I immediately observed several buildings nearby. I didn''t find any muzzle fire from the German army. I immediately understood what was going on and said to Bantai leiev, "it''s not a fire point. They should have been knocked down by the enemy''s Snipers."


    With these words, I looked back and saw Yushchenko and several other soldiers of the guard company standing behind us. I waved to one of the soldiers and told him, "Comrade soldier, you should go downstairs immediately to find lieutenant colonel xiejerikov and ask him to send out our sniper team and destroy the German snipers as soon as possible."


    When my attention returned to the front battlefield, I heard Bantai leiev say: "Comrade division, I don''t understand. In this middle zone less than 200 meters long, there are only seven or eight buildings that are not very strong, and two of them were half collapsed by German shells or bombs. But why did our two divisions attack each other for several days and fail to join forces? "


    After hearing what he said, I didn''t answer immediately. Instead, I turned my telescope to the Volga River. In that direction, I saw a row of buildings which were destroyed in the battle. It was their existence that blocked the view of our artillery on the east coast, so that our artillery could not effectively destroy the seven or eight buildings in the open area, Let our two division commanders and fighters still can not pass the short distance of 200 meters after paying heavy casualties.


    Looking at the remains of our soldiers who died in various postures in the open field, my mind is like a movie, imagining the scene when Col. gorishner''s 95th infantry division and lyudnikov division attacked. The enemy was set up in the firepower points of several buildings and fired madly at our commanders and fighters who were flooding up. Intensive firepower will charge our soldiers fight bloody, fell in pieces on the road of charge. The ups and downs of the waves of people as if hit a solid levee, instantly disappear without a trace.


    Despite the heavy casualties, the brave officers and men of our army are still rushing forward in an endless stream, shouting and rushing forward bravely, no matter how heavy the casualties are. After all, they could not stop the bullets. At last, under the intensive fire of the enemy, they waved their hands one by one in vain and fell to the ground reluctantly.


    "Comrade oshanina, what''s the situation here?" Behind me suddenly came trekov''s familiar voice: "is the attack going well?"


    For the arrival of trakov, I was startled. My heart said, how can he come to such a dangerous place? You know, it''s less than 300 meters away from the building in front of you. If the German sniper lurks around, isn''t he in danger? Thinking of this, I worried and asked: "Comrade commander, how did you come here?"


    "I''ll see how you get through the middle." Trekov went to the hole in the wall, raised his telescope and looked out. Then he asked, "what''s going on?"


    I can see that the smoke in front of me has been blown away by the river wind, and that the bullet hit building has been completely exposed. Because there is no wall to block it, we can clearly see our commanders and fighters searching the building layer by layer. The sporadic officers and men who survived the artillery fire tried to resist and were soon wiped out by our soldiers. After all, all the officers and men of the independent division had been trained in the battle for buildings.


    I pointed to the building that was almost occupied by our army and said to trikov, "Comrade commander, please see that our commanders and fighters are cleaning up the enemy in the building. It won''t be long before they can attack the next building."


    Trekov looked at me for a moment, put down his telescope, turned to me and asked, "Why are there so few of you? I counted that there were more than 40 troops searching in the building, while there were only about 200 people waiting outside. What about the rest? "


    "Report to commander," I explained to him in detail as soon as I saw the discontented expression on trakov''s face, "as the enemy occupied several buildings in the middle of the open field, we can suppress our offensive troops from a commanding position. If we put too many troops in at one time, it is easy to cause greater casualties."


    "You''re not going to fight like this, are you?" Trekov asked briefly.


    "Yes, comrade commander." In front of trakov, I didn''t hide my real intention: "I plan to send troops to fight floor by floor. If I occupy one place, I will consolidate it. The enemy will never take it back. Although the speed may be a little slower, the effect is obvious. I am confident that I will join the forces of the lyudnikov division at noon. "


    Just as he was talking, the sound of guns began to rumble outside. I couldn''t wait to talk to trikov and looked out to see where our artillery were shelling. Another building 30 or 40 meters to the west of that building was hit by gunfire. The shell burst out bursts of fire and smoke on the wall. The violent explosion took countless German body fragments and weapon parts into the air, and they danced all over the sky with the broken concrete bricks.


    Seeing our soldiers rush to the building that has just been shelled and the smoke of gunfire has not yet spread, trekov, holding a telescope, exclaimed, "Comrade oshanina, you are so wonderful. How can you come up with such a good idea to let the gun shoot directly? Under the attack of our direct fire, the enemy''s fortifications are like paper paste. "


    I quickly put down my telescope and introduced it to him in detail: "Comrade commander, our fighting method has been tested in actual combat and is very effective in street fighting. Although the buildings occupied by the German army were vulnerable to the attack of artillery, they were difficult to destroy in the face of the attack launched by our army without the cover of tanks and artillery. "


    Trekov nodded and agreed with me. He pointed to the buildings and said to me, "these buildings were rebuilt according to the new defensive positions invented by your division. According to the reports of lyudnikov and gorishner, their soldiers managed to rush under the building under the intensive fire of the enemy, but because all the doors and windows were blocked by bricks and stones, only the shooting holes were left, and they could not throw grenades into the building, so they had no way to take these fortifications. "


    "Comrade commander," as trikov finished his words, the next Bantai leiev suddenly said, "may I ask you a question?"


    I don''t know what Bantai leiev would ask trekov at such a time. After a curious look at him, he turned his eyes to trekov to see his reaction.


    Trakov turned to bantailiev, nodded and said, "ask, comrade colonel."


    Bantailiev looked at trakov and asked, "Comrade commander, since we have opened the ice transport line, why don''t we send the reinforcements and supplies to Colonel lyudnikov through the ice on the Volga River, so that they can break the German encirclement alone?"


    Bantaileiev asked, and I suddenly remembered that a few days ago, Captain mihayev used a huge piece of ice floating down the upstream to build an ice transportation line that could freely communicate with the east coast. But why did they not make good use of this rare transportation line? I really don''t understand.


    After hearing this, trikov gave a bitter smile and said bitterly, "do you know? Yesterday morning, we supplied some ammunition to lyudnikov through the ice transport line, and 150 wounded people were transported out. Just as we were preparing to bring in more ammunition and bring out more wounded people, the ice broke due to the rising temperature and the continuous shelling of the city by the east bank. Many of the officers and men carrying ammunition fell into the cold river. Although most of them were rescued, all their precious ammunition was lost. Under such circumstances, after discussion by the military committee of the group army, it was temporarily decided to transfer your independent division back to relieve the siege of the lyudnikov division. "


    "Will the lyudnikov division attack from the opposite side to coordinate our offensive forces?" After looking at the battle situation of the second battalion with a telescope, bantaileiev continued: "launching attacks from both sides at the same time can greatly speed up the advance of the troops."


    "Seeing that your attack is going well, I believe that Colonel lyudnikov will cooperate with you in launching the attack." After that, trakov turned to me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, your troops have captured two buildings in a row and are attacking the third building. I believe they will take back the building occupied by the German army in a short time. Judging from the current situation of fighting, even if you don''t send infantry to cooperate, you can still destroy all the German troops in the middle zone by using your artillery battalion. "


    "You can''t say that," I replied impatiently when I heard trakov say that, "when we can''t treat artillery as infantry, in close combat, the combat effectiveness of an artillery battalion is estimated to be inferior to that of an infantry platoon..." as soon as these words were uttered, I suddenly remembered that I was talking to trakov instead of lecturing my subordinates, How can I use such a stern and impatient tone? So I immediately apologized to trikov and said, "I''m sorry, comrade commander."


    Trekov didn''t care about my attitude. He waved his hand casually and continued to ask, "why? Tell me your reason


    I was relieved to see that trikov was not angry. Seeing that the doubts on the other side''s face had not dissipated for a long time, I had to explain myself: "Comrade commander, the role of artillery is not to defeat and destroy all the remaining enemies alone, but to ensure that the infantry can continue to advance and squeeze the living space of the German army step by step. Because even if they destroy the whole building, there will certainly be survivors in it. In this case, infantry need to search and clean up the enemy. You see, with the cooperation of the artillery, the infantry of the second battalion advanced very quickly. In just half an hour, they occupied two buildings. Now they are attacking the third building. I believe they will occupy there soon. "


    Our attack attracted the attention of the opposite lyudnikov division. Perhaps seeing that the attack on our side was going well, Colonel lyudnikov wanted to help us and let the division''s troops launch the attack. When I saw one or two hundred officers and men rushing out of their concealed fortifications or buildings with weapons, my heart was raised to my throat, and I scolded lyudnikov bloody: what are you sending people to rush at this time? In half an hour to an hour at most, my troops will be able to clean up the enemy in the middle. You sent troops to such a rush, didn''t you increase the casualties in vain? With the charging of the lyudnikov division, dozens of German soldiers rushed out of the building nearest to them. Then they scattered, hid behind the piles of rubble in front of the building, put up their weapons, and waited for the soldiers of the lyudnikov division to approach. Seeing this situation, I quickly turned around and told Yushchenko standing behind him: "Comrade captain, go immediately to inform lieutenant commander xiejerikov, and ask him to immediately put the first battalion and the Third Battalion into battle, so as to end the battle in the shortest time. Let''s go. " Trikov looked at Yushchenko''s back and asked in surprise, "Comrade oshanina, why did you suddenly order a regiment to put all the remaining troops into battle?" I pointed to the commander of the lyudnikov division, who was rushing towards the German army, and said anxiously, "Comrade commander, you see, the lyudnikov Division has launched an attack on the enemy''s fortifications. With their existing strength, they can''t capture the German army''s battlefield except for making sacrifices in vain."¡° What can I do? " Trekov asked in a serious way as soon as I said that¡° Please give Colonel lyudnikov an order to stop this ineffective attack immediately. " I said hastily, "let them return to their starting position and wait for our troops to come and join them." Trakov had no objection to my proposal. He turned to the operator he had brought with him and said, "Comrade operator, get in touch with colonel lyudnikov immediately and say I have something important to look for him." The operator soon got in touch with lyudnikov. He picked up the transmitter and said in a loud voice, "Hello, Colonel? I''m trakov. I order you to withdraw your troops immediately to the starting point of the attack. "

 Chapter 843

    This inexplicable order of trakov confused lyudnikov. He asked in a confused voice: "Comrade commander, why do you want the troops to withdraw? According to my fighters, a force is attacking a German stronghold in the middle. I let the troops go out to help them. "


    Trikov glanced at me standing next to him, and then said to lyudnikov, "at the moment, oshanina''s independent division is attacking the German army in the middle. Under the cover of the artillery battalion of the division, their officers and men are advancing very smoothly. Maybe in another half an hour or less, they will be able to eliminate the remaining enemy in the middle and join you. "


    "Comrade commander, since it is general oshanina''s troops that are launching an attack, we can''t stand idly by. I think my troops should act more actively to attract the attention of the German troops so that they can''t concentrate on dealing with the friendly forces. Our whole division will fight side by side with the commanders and fighters of the independent division. "


    Before lyudnikov had finished, trakov interrupted him: "come on, comrade Colonel, stop talking." Perhaps he felt his tone was too stiff, and then he slowed down and said, "your division has no heavy weapons now, and it''s not strong enough to attack the fortification of the German army. Even if you have made a great sacrifice, it''s difficult for you to attack it. Let the independent division finish the battle of seizing the middle zone alone."


    Although lyudnikov accepted the order, it will take some time for the order to reach the troops. At that moment, the German army, hidden behind the buildings and the rubble, had opened fire on lyudnikov''s attack team, and the soldiers in front of them were immediately injured.


    In the open land, there were more than ten corpses of our soldiers lying on the ground, the rest of them lying on the ground. A light machine gun temporarily set up swept the enemy''s hidden debris, making dust splash. Several German soldiers had to curl up and hide in the position where the bullets could not hit.


    Seeing that the enemy''s firepower was sparse, the machine gunner jumped up from the ground with the machine gun and ran forward quickly. When the dense bullets hit the ground around his body like a pot, he had already jumped into a crater, put up his machine gun again and continued to fire at the German army.


    As soon as he hit half the shuttle, he was hit by a dense bullet and fell on the machine gun. Almost at the same time that the shooter of the machine gun was shot and fell down, another soldier who was suspected to be the vice shooter of the machine gun jumped into the crater. Seeing the sacrifice of the bullet in the hand of the machine gun, he quickly went forward to embrace the body and retracted into the crater.


    After a while, the machine gun co shooter showed his head again, grabbed the machine gun and fired at the German army hiding behind the rubble. The machine gun clattered incessantly. The machine gun trembled violently in the assistant shooter''s hand. The cartridge case burst out to the side continuously. The bullets from the muzzle of the gun beat several German bandits out of their bodies.


    A barrage of bullets from the top of the building hit the co shooter. His body twisted backward, still clinging to the machine gun in his hand. When he fell back into the crater, a long string of bullets flew into the air


    Seeing that the soldiers of lyudnikov division were constantly injured and killed under the intensive fire of the enemy, I was so anxious that I couldn''t help them in a hurry.


    I don''t know whether the soldiers received lyudnikov''s retreat order, or whether they felt that the German firepower was too strong to rush up with their current strength. They began to retreat under the dense firepower of the enemy. Some soldiers carry weapons and run to their own positions; Some fighters turned on two shots and ran around, running several times and stopping to shoot.


    Seeing this scene, Bantai leiev was so angry that he scolded: "Damn, damn! How did we fight this battle? We didn''t see how fierce the enemy''s firepower was, but we let our officers and men charge the enemy''s defensive positions without any cover. Didn''t we let them die? "


    Trikov put down his telescope, looked at him and said seriously, "Comrade Colonel, there is no victory without blood. In order to defend our great motherland, it is worth paying no matter how much."


    Bantai leiev was speechless when he heard what trakov said. He could only raise his telescope and continue to watch our division''s commanders and fighters fighting.


    Although bantaileiev did not dare to speak, I saw the casualties of the ludnikov division and said sadly: "Comrade commander, you see, the charge launched by Colonel ludnikov has paid the cost of casualties of 40 or 50 officers and men, but not even the enemy''s fortifications."


    Trikov gave a wry smile and turned the topic to other directions: "o''shanina, what''s your plan after you''ve cleared the 70th division of the guards?"


    I didn''t know what trakov meant when he asked, so I could only honestly answer, "I obey your orders."


    I didn''t expect that trakov didn''t assign me a specific task. Instead, he continued to ask, "I want to hear what you really think."


    To tell you the truth, my original intention was to follow rokosovsky to the end of the battle of Stalingrad. Anyway, it will not be long before the front army of Stalingrad will be under the command of his Don river front army. It is still very important to have a good relationship with the superior leaders as soon as possible. Unexpectedly, a telegram from trekov called me back from empty kneading. Judging from the current situation, the remaining troops in the city have suffered heavy casualties, and our independent division will definitely play the leading role in the next counter offensive. Instead of waiting for trakov to give me a task, I''d better show a high profile and take on some dangerous tasks.


    Thinking of this, I quickly and respectfully said to him: "Comrade commander, this is my consideration. Even if Colonel lyudnikov''s troops are rescued, they will not be able to achieve anything in the next battle due to their limited strength. Therefore, I think we should let them rest on the spot and let our division continue to sweep the nearby German troops. The first thing to deal with is the five German divisions still in the factory area. "


    Trekov waited for me to finish with a smile on his face. He said to me with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, it''s not easy for you to guess the tasks assigned to you by the group army. Tell me, what are you going to do with the five German divisions. You know, although they have suffered a lot in the fight against us, and there is little ammunition and fuel left, it is not easy to eliminate them. "


    "Comrade commander, as the enemy''s strength is several times that of ours, it is unwise to rush into their positions." As I thought about it, I said to trakov, "but because the air supremacy of the battlefield is in our hands, the German tanks are afraid of being bombed and dare not attack at will, which greatly reduces our attack pressure. In order to be on the safe side, I think we should take the strategy of consolidating one place after occupying one place, and push forward step by step to the enemy''s depth. "


    "Is it too slow to play like this?" Trikov''s point of view was different from mine. After listening to me, he immediately put forward his own doubt: "if you push the enemy step by step, you can''t wipe out all the German troops in the city in a month or two. If during this period Hitler sent reinforcements from the rest of the battlefield to rescue Paulus, our plan of encirclement and annihilation would be completely defeated. "


    Although I knew in my heart that the battle of Stalingrad would continue for another two months due to various objective reasons, I could only keep this in my heart, but I could not tell trakov.


    Just when I didn''t know how to answer trekov''s question, I suddenly heard Bantai leiev cheering: "great, great, our soldiers are great! Commander and division commander, come and see. Our soldiers are rushing up. They have captured three buildings and are rushing towards the last two buildings. "


    Hearing the shouts of Bantai leiev, I quickly picked up my telescope and looked into the distance. Almost the whole regiment rushed up. Some of the thousands of officers and men were still rushing forward carefully around the ruins. Some of them had already rushed into the buildings that had been occupied by us to strengthen the defense of the buildings.


    The officers and men of the second battalion are searching for the enemy in the newly occupied building. Many of them have been specially trained. Almost all of them are armed with the same engineering spade. As soon as they find the enemy, they quickly wave the engineering spade and rush up to kill the enemy. Although the distance is far, I can''t hear the movement in the building, but when I see the blood splashing around, I can think of how strong the visual impact effect of this fighting method on the enemy is. indeed. A moment later, the only remaining enemy completely lost their courage. They threw down their weapons and ran back recklessly. There are also scared soldiers, standing directly in place, raised their hands high.


    Covered with the enemy''s blood, the red eyed officers and men of the second battalion did not stop. After driving the enemy out of the building, they chased after them and rushed to the next building. The German soldiers, who had been hiding behind the rubble, saw a large group of enemies coming and wanted to shoot. They were afraid of hurting their own people. They could only see our commanders and fighters rushing in front of them and had to fight a white-edged battle they did not want to fight. The two battalion''s officers and soldiers waving their shovel wantonly, as long as the German troops still standing, they will immediately spit blood five times to the Yellow River.


    A few minutes later, a large group of troops flooded into the last two houses. The machine guns on the German floor shot for a moment, and then there was no sound. It is estimated that the machine gun shooters inside had been killed by the officers and men we rushed in.


    Trekov was stunned by what he saw. I saw him secretly wipe the sweat on his forehead. Then he turned to me and asked, "o''shanina, where did your soldiers learn this kind of fighting method? I don''t think the Germans are able to fight at all. We should popularize your style of play in the whole army group, so that we can win more victories in the following street battles. "


    I replied with a smile to trikov, "Comrade commander, have you forgotten that when our independent division was first established, the task we received was to recover a residential area occupied by the German army. At that time, our weapons were limited. I had no choice but to let the soldiers practice using cold weapons to fight in the enemy''s house. I didn''t expect that this kind of fighting method could have such a good effect in the fight against the enemy''s house by house. I didn''t expect that. "


    The battle ended in more than 20 minutes. About 20 German soldiers, holding their hands high, were escorted out of the building by our commanders and fighters. At this time, with a long breath, trakov turned to me and said, "come on, comrade oshanina. Now that the enemy in the middle zone has been eliminated, we can go to Colonel lyudnikov."


    Under the protection of the guard platoon led by Yushchenko, we passed through the area full of ruins and bodies, and walked quickly to the forward liudnikov division defense area.


    When lyudnikov appeared in front of us, I could hardly recognize him if he didn''t take the initiative to speak. His face was full of beard, and he looked black and thin. His short fur coat was full of mud, and he couldn''t see what he was. After a few simple greetings, he turned to salute me and expressed his gratitude for our rescue. At the end of his speech, I could not wait to ask, "Comrade Colonel, I don''t know where Captain Karpov I sent to you?"¡° Captain Karpov? " Lyudnikov couldn''t keep up with my jumping thinking. After repeating my name, he suddenly said, "Oh, comrade oshanina, do you mean the commander who brought a mixed battalion from the independent division to support me last time?"¡° Yes, comrade colonel I saw lyudnikov think of Karpov and asked tentatively, "is he still alive?"¡° To live, of course, to live, he doesn''t die that easily Lyudnikov said, turning his head and calling a commander behind him, he told him: "second lieutenant, go and call captain Karpov from the independent division here, and say that general oshanina of the independent division wants to see him." Seeing the back of the second lieutenant leaving, I couldn''t help muttering again. I said that I didn''t know how many people were left in the camp I sent him last time¡° Comrade oshanina, "trikov asked me in a low voice after the second lieutenant left," is this captain Karpov the commander of the eastern battalion who led the army last time? "¡° Yes, comrade commander. That''s him. " After answering this sentence, I explained: "last time I called you, I wanted to transfer the captain back from Colonel lyudnikov''s troops, but because they were surrounded by the enemy, I had to give up this idea for the time being." After listening, trakov was silent for a long time before he said, "you''ve done the right thing. We''ll try our best to ensure his safety."

 Chapter 844

    The reason why trakov said that was because he knew in his heart that if he treated officers and soldiers like Karpov and Nikolay well, it would not only have military significance, but also political significance. Once more commanders of the eastern battalion learn about the preferential treatment they received from their former companions in our camp, they will waver. Even if they do not immediately join us, at least their loyalty to the Germans will be greatly reduced. In the future large-scale campaign, the German army not only did not dare to use the eastern battalion as confidently and boldly as before, but also specially dispatched troops to monitor them, which would weaken their strength in disguise.


    Although I had been prepared for the casualties of camp Karpov, I was heartbroken when I saw that there were only four soldiers following the second lieutenant out of the ranks of the lyudnikov division. You know, at that time, I reinforced the lyudnikov division with a reinforced battalion of 800 soldiers, but now there are only four.


    Looking at the four officers and men who met us, trikov instinctively frowned and then asked me, "Comrade oshanina, which of these four is captain Karpov?"


    I looked at the officers and men who were approaching us and found that they were all bearded and haggard, and their ragged uniforms were covered with mud. After watching for a long time, I didn''t recognize Karpov. I had to shake my head and answer trakov shamefully: "sorry, comrade commander, I can''t recognize captain Karpov now."


    "And you, Colonel lyudnikov." "Can you recognize captain Karpov?" trekov asked to lyudnikov, who was standing in front of us


    Lyudnikov looked back for a long time and finally shook his head and said, "sorry, comrade commander, I can''t recognize captain Karpov."


    Although lyudnikov and I did not recognize Karpov, the answer was soon revealed. The four of them, led by the second lieutenant, came to us in a neat row. After the second lieutenant reported to lyudnikov, the commander standing on the far right stepped forward, raised his hand to salute us, and then said in a loud voice: "comrades commander, Captain Karpov has been ordered to come, please give instructions!"


    Seeing Karpov standing in front of him, trakov''s face showed a smile. He stepped forward, took his hand, and said with approval, "Hello, Captain Karpov."


    Karpov was a little nervous when he saw trakov holding his hand. He said excitedly, "Hello, comrade commander, I''m glad to see you here!"


    While shaking hands with him, trakov looked at me sideways and said, "Comrade captain, I''m here with your division commander oshanina today to welcome you to meet the independent division again, in addition to helping the 70th division of the guards


    Hearing the unexpected news, Karpov, who was shaking hands with trakov, was stunned. After a while, he tentatively asked me: "Comrade teacher, is this true?"


    "It''s true, of course." I replied to Karpov with a smile, "Comrade captain, red flag independent division, welcome back!"


    After a few more conversations with me, trekov followed lyudnikov back to his division headquarters. While I was arranging for people to clean the battlefield, I sent people to gather kirilov, akhromeyev and the regiment commander in the city. I was going to hold a temporary military meeting to discuss the next attack direction of the independent division.


    Our meeting was held in a newly recovered building. In order to ensure safety and prevent being attacked by the enemy during the meeting, bantaileiev even transferred the tank battalion of pelsjian and placed the only few tanks outside the building.


    After the meeting, bantailiev first informed the commanders on the scene about the fighting in the morning. After the briefing, he turned to kirilov and I at the table and asked, "teacher, political commissar, who will speak next?"


    Kirilov turned his eyes to me and asked in a consultative tone, "Comrade oshanina, you''d better tell the commanders, and arrange the next combat task for them."


    Listening to what the commissar said, I didn''t refuse. After nodding, I stood up and said to the commanders in front of me: "comrades, in this morning''s battle, the cooperation between artillery and infantry was very good. With more than 60 casualties, I recovered the middle zone occupied by the German army for one month, and destroyed and captured more than 200 German officers and soldiers. Next, the task of our division is to eliminate the German troops who stay in the north and the middle of the city. "


    Gaidar, the fourth commander sitting below, suddenly asked, "Comrade division commander, can our attack be supported by friendly forces?"


    In response to Gaidar''s question, I replied with a bitter smile: "as a result of these months of brutal fighting, the troops in the city have been seriously weakened. They will not be able to provide us with any help until they are replenished with new troops and weapons. That is to say, in the next half month or even longer, our division will be fighting alone. "


    "Sir, don''t see that the enemy has more troops than us, but their combat effectiveness is already vulnerable." Commander kosga''s voice rang out in the crowd. "As long as we launch a few more attacks like this, the enemy will not be able to stop it."


    Kosga''s words immediately caused a light laugh around, it seems that the vast majority of battalion commanders have a similar view with him. But I frowned in laughter and found that this morning''s attack was too smooth, which was not a good thing. Many commanders have already had the feeling of belittling the enemy, so they will suffer greatly in the next battle.


    After everyone had laughed, I coughed heavily, cleared my throat, and then said, "comrades, I want to draw your attention to one thing. The reason why we made such a smooth progress in the battle of seizing the middle zone in the morning is that apart from the good cooperation between the commanders and fighters of the first regiment and the artillery battalion of the division, it is more important, It was the enemy who was frightened by our aircraft and artillery after our counter offensive began. Seeing that their friendly forces were attacked, their heavy weapons and technical equipment were hidden for fear of being bombed, and they did not provide the necessary firepower support for the friendly forces, so that we could seize the enemy''s positions so smoothly. If we think that the enemy''s forces have lost their fighting capacity in this way, we will suffer unexpected losses in the next battle. "


    My words made the cheery commanders silent. Obviously, everyone was confused by the small victory in the morning just now. They thought that the enemy was at the end of the crossbow. As long as we launch another fierce attack, the enemy will be completely destroyed by us. I didn''t speak when everyone was silent. In my impression, except for the first few days, there was almost a month left after the start of the great counter offensive. There was no record of the 62nd army in the historical materials, which made me worried. If you play well in the city, you will surely write a lot in the history books; But now it''s not mentioned at all. Is it because the counterattack under the command of trakov didn''t make the German army suffer due losses, but he was beaten to the teeth by the German? In such a situation of uncertain prospects, I have to keep enough vigilance.


    Seeing that there was no one to speak to, I looked down at the map on the table, and then said, "at present, the German army has gathered forces of about five divisions in yerman District, jerrensky District, Red October District, barricade district and tractor factory area, and two of them are armored divisions.


    According to the judgment of the headquarters of the group army, the enemy we dragged in the city is facing the fate of running out of ammunition and food. Therefore, it is the best time for us to launch an attack on them at this time.


    In the next battle, I plan to send a regiment every day to attack the enemy occupied area under the cover of two division artillery battalions. After the capture of yerman District, they launched an attack on the German army in the dzerzhinsky district. I don''t ask you to push forward many blocks every day, but I ask you to strengthen the defense of the area every time you occupy a building and take back a street, and never let the Germans take back these areas from our hands. "


    "Comrade division commander," akhromeyev asked immediately after I finished saying, "how should the order of attack of each regiment and the area to be attacked be allocated?"


    Without thinking, I replied, "I''ll give the task of seizing yelman district to the third and fourth regiments. The attack will start at two o''clock this afternoon, and the attack will be completed by the third regiment."


    Gaidar, the fourth group leader, stood up from his seat and asked respectfully, "Sir, may I ask you a question?" Seeing that I nodded my permission, he continued, "I don''t know how much time our two regiments have to complete the task of occupying yelman?"


    "A week." I stretched out a finger and solemnly said to Gaidar and kosja who stood up, "when you two regiments attack, you should pay attention to the cooperation with the artillery and try to reduce the casualties of the troops. Can you do that?"


    After listening to me, Gaidar and kosja looked at each other, and then answered in unison, "I can do it!"


    After the two of them sat down, I ordered from sergeikov and Oleg, and announced to them, "two comrades of lieutenant colonel, I will give you two regiments the task of seizing the dzerzhinsky district. As soon as the third and fourth regiments have successfully recovered yelman, you two regiments will attack immediately! "


    "Yes Two people agree neatly, also double take a seat.


    I was just about to ask kirilov to do political agitation work for you. As soon as I turned around, I heard someone calling me after me: "Sir, comrade, please wait a moment." When I looked back, I saw that the speaker was major perskin, the commander of the tank battalion. With a smile, I asked him, "Comrade major, what can I do for you?"


    "Comrade division," major perskin asked with an aggrieved face, "I want to ask, what is the task of our tank battalion?"


    "Tank battalion?" I was stunned for a moment, and then I thought that I had really forgotten about the tank battalion when I just assigned the task. However, the existing technical equipment of the tank battalion will not be of any use in the following street battles, so I said to pelsjian, "Comrade major, due to the limited technical equipment of the tank battalion, it is difficult to provide our infantry with necessary firepower support in the following battles, so I will not arrange your combat tasks for the time being."


    "Comrade division commander, even if the number of tanks in the tank battalion is limited, we still have hundreds of tankers who can use their original infantry." Seeing that I didn''t assign tasks to the tank battalion, Perls was very anxious. They didn''t plead with me and said, "please believe that we can achieve better results than the infantry."


    "Yes, sir, please believe us." Seeing that major perskin was pleading with me to assign a task, his deputy battalion commander, major Prikhodko, and battalion political commissar wajim could not do it any more. They stood up one after another to help the battalion commander ask for a task from me. When I saw that they were eager to fight and could not bear to attack their enthusiasm, I went up to several people and said to them earnestly: "three commanders, it''s not that I don''t want to assign tasks to you, but that the next two districts to be captured are all fighting floor by floor. The elevation angle of the tank is not enough to destroy the enemy hiding on the roof. If our tanks enter the street without completely clearing the enemy, they will become the target of the enemy''s anti tank hands. We have a limited number of tanks and can''t afford such losses. Once all the tanks are lost, there will be no tanks available when we attack the factory area. Do you understand? " After listening to my words, the three of them answered neatly, "I see!" No longer entangled with me, and sat down again. In the following time, the third and fourth regiments first launched an attack on the German occupied yeerman district. Because the tactics used by our army are very different from those used by other units of the group army, the enemies who stick to this area are not adapted to our way of playing. After only five days, they have to withdraw from this area. After the capture of yelman District, the first and second regiments immediately launched an attack on the jerrensky district. The first two days went well. From the third day, that is, December 3, the German troops who were familiar with our tactics not only blocked the successive attacks of regiments 1 and 2, but also launched counterattacks against the areas we occupied from time to time. Because of the enemy''s counterattack, the original one-sided attack turned into a tug of war. Some streets in the dzerzhinsky district were occupied by our army during the day and lost again at night under the frenzied counterattack of the German army. During the day, they were afraid of the bombing of our air force and did not dare to use heavy weapons. When they counterattacked at night, they used mortars to provide firepower support for the infantry. They not only drove our infantry out of the occupied buildings, but also eliminated several artillery guns of captain kurishenko''s artillery battalion. Seeing that the enemy''s resistance was so tenacious, I immediately put the regiment that had been on standby into battle, trying to recover our army''s advantage in the dzerzhinsky district. With the addition of the new force of the fourth regiment, the sky spirit of victory began to tilt towards us again. On the evening of the 12th, only a few houses on the last street were left in the district. Shejerikov, who was in command of the battle in the front, assured me that as long as the troops launched another charge, they would wipe out all the enemies in the dzerzhinsky district. But without waiting for the news of Xie jerikov''s success, I heard the rumble of guns from outside. Then Gaidar, the fourth commander fighting in the area, reported to me: "Comrade division commander, when our regiment was making a final charge against the enemy, the German army suddenly concentrated intensive artillery fire on our attacking troops. At present, the troops with heavy casualties have withdrawn to their starting positions." Before I could verify what happened, and why the German army was so bold that they should risk our air attack and use intensive artillery fire, trekov called. He ordered me on the phone: "Comrade oshanina, the attack on dzerzhinsky district will be suspended. Your troops will stand by and wait for further orders!"¡° What, stop attacking? " Trikov''s words confused me. I couldn''t wait to ask on the phone, "Comrade commander, why is that?"¡° Because the enemy''s reinforcements have arrived and are attacking the friendly rear. The friendly forces had to turn around and fight against them. "

 Chapter 845

    After the call with trakov, I sat down and tried to recall the battle of Stalingrad in history. What actually happened during this period would affect the encirclement and annihilation of the three front armies against the German army. I racked my brains for a long time. I vaguely remember that in order to rescue Paulus'' troops, Hitler ordered Marshal Manstein outside the encirclement to launch the counterattack operation code named "winter storm". With Holt''s tank, I turned and looked at Bantai leiev. I was silent for a long time, Only then cautiously said: "the better solution is to hand over the battle command to one person, so that the command troops can be more handy." After hearing my startling words, all the people were silent, because this issue was considered by the Supreme Commander himself. Not to mention my little division commander, even the commanders of the front army such as yelimenko and rokosovsky had no right to speak. After a long silence, kirilov asked carefully, "Comrade oshanina, if what you said will become a reality, who do you think will be handed over the final command of the army? Is it one of the three existing commanders of the front army, or general Zhukov or general vasilevsky, chief of the general staff? "¡° Comrade political commissar, according to the current situation, only the Don river front army and Stalingrad front army are likely to be merged, while general watujing''s southwest front army may remain unchanged. " Although I am very clear about the situation after the merger of the two front armies, I still pretended to ponder for a long time before I went on to say, "as for the commander of the merged front army, I will definitely not let general trakov or chief of general staff vassilevsky serve as the commander. I can only choose from the existing two commanders."¡° Will the new Commander come from the current commander? " After listening to my so-called analysis, kirilov couldn''t help thinking, "who would that be?"¡° Is that true? " Akhromeyev said without hesitation: "since we are fighting under the city of Stalingrad, the commander of the newly formed front army must be general yelimenko. Don''t forget that his military commissar, comrade Khrushchev, is a member of the Central Committee. If he is not a commander, who can be a commander? "¡° Comrade chief of staff, I don''t think so. " Bantailiev and he sang the opposite tone: "I do not deny that general yelimenko''s qualifications are higher than general rokosovsky, and his military commissar is Comrade Khrushchev. But don''t forget, if the two front armies are really merged as the division commander said. In the selection of a commander, the Supreme Commander considers who is more capable of serving as the commander, rather than simply considering his qualifications and who is his deputy. So I think general rokosovsky is more likely to be commander. "

 Chapter 846

    After listening to their analysis, I looked at bantailiev with admiration, and said that ginger is still spicy. Although this bantailiev colonel is usually old-fashioned, his experience in the army is much richer than that of akhromeyev, a younger generation. I will just say that casually, he can actually accurately analyze who the new commander of the front army is.


    Thinking of the imminent merger of the two front armies, I can''t help thinking about my own way out in the future. After the battle of Stalingrad, it is unlikely that he will stay in the 62nd army. He is likely to be transferred to other front forces. The most likely one is the Leningrad front army or the Volkhov front army of general meletskov. If I am transferred, the current independent division will not go with me. Then I will be alone again. I feel lost when I think of the difficulties I may face in the new environment.


    I thought about my own affairs, forgetting that I was still staring at Bantai leiev. He was a little embarrassed by my stare and coughed hard, which woke me up from my meditation. Then he asked me carefully, "Comrade division, there are still more than 30000 residents who have been rescued in yelman district and jerrensky district. How can we resettle them?"


    Before my mind returned to the normal track, kirilov added: "the Deputy teacher is right. These refugees are short of food and medicine, and our food reserves are not enough. If they are not settled as soon as possible, I am afraid that many people will die of cold and hunger. "


    In the recovery of yelman and jerzinski districts, we rescued as many as 40000 residents from the enemy''s hands. When I found that there were so many residents in the enemy occupied area, I immediately reported to the headquarters of the group army. Trakov was not in the headquarters at that time. The one who answered the phone was military Commissioner gurov. After hearing this news, he kept silent for a long time. Finally, he said to me in embarrassment: "because of the influence of climate, the transportation capacity of the ice transportation line is limited, and only a small number of soldiers and limited materials can be transported to the city every day. Under such circumstances, it is unrealistic to evacuate all these refugees to the East Bank of the Volga River, so they can only stay in your division''s defence area for the time being. "


    When I heard gurov say this, I was in a hurry: "Comrade military commissar, the daily food consumption of more than 30000 residents is an unexpected astronomical figure. With the existing food stock of our division, we can not meet the needs of the refugees."


    Hearing my complaint, gurov also said helplessly: "Comrade oshanina, you can''t support these tens of thousands of people, and we can''t do as well. But please rest assured that our group army headquarters will do its best to provide the refugees in your area with necessary food. "


    Although gurov has vowed to provide us with food supplies, we have not received any supplements in food, medicine, guns and ammunition in the past ten days. Seeing that the supplies promised by the group army were not in place, I had to reduce the ration of each resident from the initial 300 grams to 200 grams. At the same time, I also organized small teams to send the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled who could still walk to the east bank in batches, so as to reduce our supply pressure. After more than ten days, only tens of thousands of people were sent away, and more than 30000 people were left. At this time, there was a problem in our food supply.


    After thinking about it for a long time, I put forward my own idea to kirilov: "Comrade political commissar, in order to maintain the status of these refugees, we can only reduce their food ration again. From now on, 150 grams of bread per person per day for adults and 75 grams per person for children. "


    Before I finished my words, akhromeyev exclaimed, "Comrade division, this quota is too small. Before long, the residents will suffer from malnutrition. Especially for children, it''s time to grow up. This is good for them... "


    I raised my hand to interrupt his words behind him, and said to him solemnly: "Comrade chief of staff, please remember that our division is also facing food shortage now. If we do not control the distribution of food to the residents, our soldiers will soon be too hungry to carry weapons. How can they fight against the fierce Germans?"


    Seeing that akhromeyev was speechless by me, I couldn''t bear it, so I added: "well, all the residents who have joined the militia or helped our soldiers to reinforce the fortification work will be given another 200 grams of dried bread."


    When I said that, akhromeyev''s face softened a lot. He nodded and said, "OK, I''ll call the leaders of the regiments and pass your order on to them."


    When akhromeyev called, I said to kirilov in a low voice, "Comrade political commissar, at present, the food reserve in the division can only last two or three days. Do you think it''s up to you to negotiate with Comrade military commissar and ask the headquarters of the group army to provide us with a batch of food so as to solve our urgent problem?"


    After listening to me, kirilov nodded his head and said, "I''d like to talk to Comrade Vasiliev, director of the Political Department of the group army, about this matter. If he is here to help us, it will be easier." At this point, he stopped, frowned and thought about it. Then he asked me very seriously, "Comrade oshanina, I want to ask you something. Now that the Germans have launched an attack on the outside of our encirclement, can our encirclement and annihilation plan against the polusian regiment continue as originally envisaged


    Bantaileiev heard the conversation between kirilov and me. He looked around and asked in a low and mysterious voice: "yes, comrade division commander, will the Paulus troops in the encirclement be destroyed by us? In other battlefields, we have encountered the situation of encircling the enemy but not eating it. As a result, the enemy''s reinforcements came up and completely annihilated our troops. "


    Seeing that my two deputies doubted whether we could win the battle of Stalingrad, I couldn''t laugh or cry. But at this time, I can''t tell them the final outcome of the campaign. I can only say vaguely, "political commissar and deputy division commander, you think too much. Although the enemy is still very tenacious at present, their living strength will be consumed by us in the next battle."


    After akhromeyev finished the call, he went back to the table and reported to me, "Mr. division, your order has been passed on, and several leaders are adjusting the food quota for the residents."


    "How is the defense going in the dzerzhinsky district?" Compared with the food quota issue, I am more concerned about the defense of the regiments. So as soon as akhromeyev finished his report, I immediately asked, "can their fortifications resist the German attack?"


    Akhromeyev nodded his head vigorously and said with certainty: "no problem, sir. According to the reports of the 1st and 4th regiments, all the doors and windows of the building they occupied were blocked with bricks and stones on the side facing the German defense, leaving only the shooting holes. Even if the German army touched it at night, it could not carry out the fire inside the building. The second regiment has a relatively small force, and they are responsible for the defensive work at the junction of yerman district and jerrensky district. "


    Hearing that every regiment had done a good job in defense, the stone hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground. Next, I called several division commanders stationed in the rear of our division one by one, informed them of our defense deployment, and reminded them to be on guard against possible German attacks.


    After daybreak, I took a guard platoon to the dzerzhinsky district to inspect the defense of several regiments. Not far away from the headquarters, a woman with a headscarf, holding a child with the same headscarf, came to me. When I saw us, the woman, who could not see her age, suddenly let go of the two children and rushed at me.


    Yushchenko, who was in charge of protecting us, saw the woman rushing towards me. He was afraid that I was in any danger. He quickly yelled and welcomed me with two soldiers. Although the woman is very tall, she may have been hungry for a long time and her feet are floating when she walks. She is not the match of the three strong men at all. Just a face-to-face, she obediently put her hands down.


    Seeing that his mother was caught by two soldiers, the two children in the distance were scared to cry. Confused by what happened before my eyes, I immediately ordered Yushchenko to bring up the woman, and called two soldiers to bring the child. I wanted to find out what happened.


    When the woman was brought to me, looking at the old woman in front of me, I didn''t think she wanted to do something wrong to me. First, I waved to catch her and let the soldiers let go. Then I put on an amiable look and asked, "Comrade woman, what can I do for you?"


    The woman looked left and right with vigilance. Seeing that the soldier had released her hand, she rushed towards me. She grabbed my arm and said in a weak voice, "Comrade commander, please have pity on me. My child and I haven''t eaten for several days and are starving to death. Give me something to eat."


    In our division''s defense area, there are more than 30000 refugees. Although each regiment distributes food every day, I know that some residents can''t get the food they need to live on. So when I knew that this woman was blocking my way just to beg for some food for herself and my children, I didn''t mean to blame anyone. Instead, he turned around and asked the left and right soldiers, "which of you has something to eat?"


    One of the soldiers standing on my right agreed: "Comrade division, I have one here." With that, he took off his backpack, opened the bag, and took out a piece of black bread, which was square in shape and weighed one jin, and handed it to me. I want to take the bread, after thanking the soldier, I handed it to the woman in front of me.


    Originally, I thought this woman would call her two children in front of her when she took the bread and tear a little crumb of bread for them to eat. Unexpectedly, after the woman took the bread, she grabbed the bread in one hand, and the other hand kept tearing the pieces off and stuffing them into her mouth. Regardless of the two children holding her legs, they kept shouting, "Mom, I''m hungry, I''m hungry!"


    Seeing this, my nose was sore. I will close my eyes tightly, so as not to burst into tears. After I opened my eyes again, I turned to the soldier who had just given me bread and asked apologetically, "Comrade soldier, do you still have bread there?"


    The soldier shook his head and said regretfully, "I''m sorry, sir, there is no more."


    "I have it here." Just as I looked back, a piece of bread came to me. I followed the hand holding the bread and saw that it was captain Yushchenko who offered his bread. I nodded to him with a smile, picked up the bread in his hand, carefully pulled it into two pieces, and handed it to the two crying children.


    When we moved forward again, I heard soldiers around me muttering: "this mother is really selfish. When she has food, she only cares about her own food and doesn''t care about her children at all."¡° It''s too selfish to be a mother. " As soon as his voice fell, the soldiers immediately echoed him¡° Comrades, I think that woman did the right thing. " Hearing the comments of the soldiers, I can''t help but also want to talk about my own point of view: "you only see the appearance that she only cares about eating for herself after she gets the food, regardless of her two children, but you don''t see that she does it for the sake of children."¡° Sir, why do you say that? " Next to a soldier puzzled to ask: "clearly she self-care to fill his stomach, regardless of children, how to say is for the sake of children?" Seeing that all the soldiers around were puzzled, and even Yushchenko was puzzled, I had to further explain to them: "as you can see, her two children are still very young. If the mother starves to death, who will take care of their future life? Do you think that under the current situation, Will they have the ability to take care of themselves? " Speaking of this, I thought of Rita''s child alik for no reason, and my heart pricked inexplicably. Seeing that all the people shook their heads and thought that the two children did not have the ability to take care of themselves, I continued, "only when the mother survived can the two children continue to survive." As soon as we entered the jerrensky District, we met the checkpoint set up by the second regiment. The commander on duty was captain horushov, a battalion commander I was familiar with. I took horushov''s hand and asked with concern, "Comrade captain, long time no see. How are you doing recently?" While shaking hands with me, horushov said with a wry smile, "Comrade division commander, when I was a battalion commander, I had seven or eight hundred soldiers under my command, but now you can see," he said with a smile. "There are only 25 soldiers left in the whole battalion, including me, and I have changed from a battalion commander to a platoon commander." Seeing that he looked dejected, I immediately comforted him and said, "Comrade captain, don''t worry. Although the number of people in your battalion is a little less, in a while, the superior will supplement our division, and I will give priority to the second regiment." Horushov was rejoicing when I said that. When we heard that we wanted a regiment''s defense area, we immediately called a soldier to come and let him act as a guide for us. Guided by the guide, we walked cautiously along the streets full of craters and debris. Along the way, I carefully observed the buildings on both sides of the street, and found that many buildings on the street side, doors and windows were blocked by bricks and stones. Some buildings are connected by traffic trenches. In order to avoid being found by the enemy, they are covered with cover plates. If you don''t look carefully, you can''t find them. When he arrived at the command post of the first regiment, the commander of the regiment was not present. He went to the defense area of the fourth regiment, leaving only the deputy commander of the regiment, commander Ilya. Seeing me enter the command post, Elia immediately stood up from her seat and came to salute me and report the current situation of the regiment. Although I heard what lieutenant commander Elia said, I was still not at ease when I saw a regiment''s defensive position with my own eyes, so I asked Elia to take me to the front to have a look. In order not to expose the target, except for Elia and me, there were only two soldiers with Captain Yushchenko. Elia took me to a loft that had not been destroyed by shells and bombs, and had a bird''s-eye view of the enemy and ourselves defense area below. Elijah pointed to the following and said to me, "Comrade division, the fortification where our soldiers are hiding is only 50 meters away from the enemy in the opposite building." "What defensive measures have you taken?" I asked casually as I raised my telescope¡° In addition to facing the enemy side of the doors and windows are all blocked with bricks, leaving only the shooting hole. We also planted mines outside the building, and a combat team with a machine gun, two submachine guns and ten rifles formed a small defensive zone. In this way, as long as the enemy steps on the land mines, our combat team hiding in the building can take advantage of their dizziness and give them heavy damage. " In my telescope lens, the German soldiers in the opposite building of our army walk around the window without scruple, and some even boldly lean out half of the body from the window. Seeing this, I put down my telescope, turned to Elijah and asked, "Comrade commander, do you see the enemy in the opposite building?" Elijah glanced at the distance from the corner of her eye, quickly took it back, nodded at the same time, and said with certainty, "yes, sir, I see it. These Germans are very arrogant. They not only swagger and don''t cover up their whereabouts when they change posts, but also often smoke at the window after they change posts. They don''t pay attention to our army at all. " My brow frowned and I asked discontentedly, "are you used to the enemy''s performance?" After hearing this, Elijah nodded and seriously replied, "yes, sir, we have long been used to the arrogance of the enemy."

 Chapter 847

    When I heard what Elia said so naturally and reasonably, I was not famous at once, so I put my face on him and said to him seriously: "Comrade commander, I remind you that the street in front of the Germans is not the street of Paris. Why should we let them swagger in front of us? We should teach them a lesson so hard that they can''t even show their heads. "


    Seeing that I started the fire without warning, Elia''s face turned red. After I finished, he wiped the sweat on his forehead and carefully explained: "Comrade division, the military gap between us and the enemy is too big. If we attack the enemy rashly, it is likely to attract their revenge, and then it will cause unnecessary losses."


    I snorted and said discontentedly: "muddle headed, it''s muddle headed! If we don''t fight the enemy, won''t they attack us? " I looked at the building with my hand in the distance where our army commanders and fighters were stationed. I could not help but command him: "immediately transfer some snipers to the building and kill all the exposed Germans."


    "How many enemies can a sniper kill?" Elia said reluctantly: "if you can supplement the reserve team, you can deploy at least one platoon in the building. In this way, you can not be afraid of the enemy''s attack, and even implement counter charge to pick up the opposite building."


    I couldn''t laugh or cry at his words. Just now I thought that he was deliberately avoiding the battle for fear of the enemy''s power. Now I know that he was disgusted with the small scale of the battle. I pointed to him and said, "Lieutenant Elia, you have a very bad idea. If you look carefully at the results of lieutenant Vassily''s sniper team, you won''t say that. In more than a month, they killed more than 400 enemies, which is equivalent to killing two full-length German company officers and soldiers. "


    I saw that after listening to my words, he began to bow his head and think about it. Instead of interrupting him, he deliberately left him a little time to think. When he looked up again, I went on to say: "the next task of the regiment is to stick to the existing area and confront the opposite German army. There may not be any chance to attack again in a short time. Therefore, if we want to achieve great results, we can''t only think about fighting big battles, but despise the small fights of using snipers. Do you understand? "


    "I understand, sir." Elijah readily agreed.


    While we were talking, Yushchenko next to us suddenly called out, "the enemy is coming up!"


    I quickly stopped talking with Elijah, turned to look downstairs, and saw a dozen enemies emerge from the ruins, bent over with weapons, and cautiously approached the building defended by our army. Seeing that they were getting closer and closer to the building, and there was no movement in the building, my heart could not help but raise my voice. My heart said that the soldiers in the building would not be sleeping, otherwise the enemy would be so close to the building, how could they not open fire?


    I turned to look at Elijah and saw that he looked downstairs as usual, as if the German attack was just an ordinary exercise. I lowered my voice and asked discontentedly, "Comrade commander, the enemy is about to rush into the building. Why don''t our soldiers open fire?"


    Elijah grinned when she heard my question, and then said easily, "don''t worry, sir. The doors and windows on this side of the street are blocked by bricks and stones. The enemy can''t get in at all."


    Speaking of this Kung Fu, the enemy has rushed downstairs, they obviously also found that the doors and windows are blocked. The soldiers, who had been huddled together, immediately dispersed and looked around for access. As soon as their troops dispersed, there was a loud bang. Several soldiers were lifted up by the blast, and then fell down heavily.


    When I saw the soldiers struggling on the ground, my first reaction was who fired the gun. It was so accurate that nearly half of the Germans were reimbursed. When I just thought about it, Elia cheered beside me. He told me excitedly: "Sir, the Germans are stepping on our mine."


    With the explosion of the mine, the building that had been silent opened fire. The German soldiers standing downstairs immediately became targets, and all of them fell under the fire of our army in an instant. On the other hand, the German soldiers in the building opposite the road, seeing that their companions were killed by our army''s firepower, quickly concealed themselves and poured their anger into the building defended by our army with various weapons.


    Seeing that the two buildings were shooting at each other, Elia quickly pulled my sleeve and said to me in a pleading tone, "Comrade division, it''s too dangerous here. You''d better go back to the regiment headquarters with me."


    I looked at the building in the distance where there was an exchange of fire. I felt that our army would not suffer any loss, so I nodded and followed Elia to leave the attic and go back to the command post of the first regiment.


    Back to the command post, I found that shejerikov had returned to the command post. He was very happy to see me coming. He welcomed me with political commissar oberstein, stopped in front of me and raised his hand to salute me.


    After I returned the salute, I first shook hands with shijerikov, and then with oberstein, whom I had not seen for a long time. Thinking that he was recruiting troops for a regiment during this period, I asked in a friendly way, "Comrade political commissar, what''s the situation with the supplement of soldiers in the regiment recently?"


    Oberstein quickly reported to me: "after a week''s recruitment, Mr. reporting Division has taken in 79 scattered soldiers who have lost contact with the army, 45 wounded soldiers who have recovered, and 277 recruits from the residents. Both the scattered and wounded soldiers have rich combat experience, and I have incorporated them into the combat forces. And recruits may have to go through a period of training before they can enter the battlefield. "


    "Well done," I nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile, "Comrade oberstein, the training of new recruits is going to be hard. Because we can''t get the soldiers supplied by our superiors in the near future, these recruits will play a vital role in the next battle. "


    "Please rest assured, sir." After I finished, oberstein immediately said, "I will live up to your expectations and train these recruits into qualified soldiers in the shortest time."


    Standing beside him, Sergeant shijerikov broke in and said, "according to the report from the front, the enemy troops are moving towards our regiment''s defense area. I think they will attack next. So I arranged two classes of the division''s artillery battalion behind the first line of defense. Prepare to give the enemy a head-on blow when they attack. "


    When I heard that the enemy was about to launch an attack, I guess I just saw that the German soldiers might be the enemy''s leading forces, and the large forces were still behind. Thinking of this, I couldn''t stay for a long time. I urged Xie jerikov: "Comrade commander, take me to your observation post to have a look."


    Shejerikov did not immediately agree with me. Instead, he turned to look at Elia behind me. The commander immediately replied, "I just went to observation post No.1 with my division commander, where I can see the area where the fierce fighting is going."


    After hearing this, Xie jerikov said to me, "Sir, I''ll take you to our observation post No.2, where the vision is broader."


    As a result, I, who had just returned to the regiment command post, followed behind shijerikov and hurried to observation post No. 2 of the first regiment. Not long after we left the headquarters, sjerikov took us into a traffic ditch by the side of the road. After five or six minutes'' walk along this traffic ditch without a top cover, we arrived at observation post 2.


    The observation post was located in a concrete bunker next to a completely collapsed building. There were four or five soldiers in it. When they saw us coming in, they immediately stood upright and saluted us. Shejerikov asked one of the soldiers, "what''s going on?"


    The soldier quickly replied, "report to commander, under the cover of artillery, the enemy infantry launched an attack on the No. 7 Building of the first battalion, but they were all defeated by our army. Two squads of the second artillery battalion, carrying two guns, have entered the left firing position and are ready to fight at any time. "


    When the soldiers reported, shijerikov waved to them, indicating that they could leave. The soldiers raised their hands to salute us again and turned away. I went to the left shot hole, raised my telescope and looked out to see where Captain kurishenko''s artillery was.


    About three or four hundred meters away from us, there is a group of buildings that have already been razed to the ground, and the artillery class that the soldiers said is arranged there. After all the soldiers left, he came to me and said with great interest, "Comrade division commander, the artillery of the second artillery battalion are all good. They are equipped with 57mm artillery, which can not only attack the enemy''s tanks but also infantry. They have achieved great results."


    "Comrade division commander, the enemy has begun to attack." Before I could speak, Yushchenko''s voice rang out in the observation center. I quickly turned around and walked to the shooting hole where he was. I raised my telescope again and looked out.


    The building I saw in observation No. 1 just now is now under sporadic German artillery bombardment, with fragments of bricks and stones flying around in the smoke of explosion. At the back of the German building, more than ten tanks, armored vehicles and infantry were rushing through the ruins towards the building our army was guarding.


    Just now, I heard from lieutenant commander Elia that there was only a combat team of about ten people in the building. I was afraid that they would not be able to hold their position in the face of the enemy''s attack. I was going to ask sjerykov to send reinforcements. But I saw that many soldiers from all directions, carrying weapons, bent down and quickly ran to the building. It should be the troops from other areas who took the initiative to reinforce.


    When our two guns on the left side saw the enemy''s tanks and armored vehicles covering the infantry getting closer and closer to our fortifications, we couldn''t help but fire first. Because the shooting was too hasty, it failed to hit the target in two rounds of shooting. The shells all landed on the left and right of an armored car rushing in front of it, and exploded, setting off groups of scorched earth with snow powder.


    However, the armored car in the front, after two rounds of shooting, was finally hit by our artillery. The smoky armored car immediately collapsed and could not move. When our artillery saw that the enemy''s armored vehicles had been hit, their morale was greatly boosted. They turned their muzzle and aimed at the other two armored vehicles following them, and began to shoot them fiercely. The two armored vehicles were unlucky. They were shot and caught fire before they drove far away. The ammunition killed in the car also knocked down a lot of German soldiers who followed around the armored car.


    Three armored vehicles were destroyed in succession, and the German tanks and armored vehicles were disorganized. Our artillery seized the opportunity of the enemy''s chaos and fired decisively again, destroying an armored vehicle that ran like a headless fly. Because the smoke of the German armored vehicles was full of smoke, which blocked the artillery observer''s vision, the next few rounds of artillery bombardment, shells all hit the ground without exception, the flying shrapnel only cut down a few unfortunate German soldiers, but the enemy''s tanks and armored vehicles were not damaged.


    Because of the continuous firing of our artillery, their positions were exposed. German tanks, which had been running around all the time, drove to the back of the rubble pile one after another and concentrated their fire on our artillery positions. Dozens of artillery shells fell nearby and exploded. Some of them hit the artillery shield, and some of them cut our Gunners down, but it didn''t affect our artillery to continue to shoot tenaciously. A gunner standing behind the shield, his helmet shrapnel flying, he did not care to pick it up, but continued to stick to his post. After several rounds, a German tank rushed out from behind the rubble and rushed to our artillery. However, it didn''t rush far away. Our two guns concentrated fire on it. Soon, two shells were fired on the body of the tank, and it stopped in the middle of the road, emitting black smoke. As soon as a tank was solved, two armored vehicles drove out from behind the rubble pile. Learning the appearance of that tank, they quickly rushed to our artillery position. But they didn''t get far, so they were shot and caught fire one after another. The German driver didn''t take advantage of the situation, so they turned around and ran away without driving a smoky armored car. The German infantry, who were charging towards our army, were so flustered that their tanks and armored vehicles were shot one after another and caught fire that they turned around and ran behind them. Seeing that the enemy was about to run, our artillery quickened their firing speed. Before the shelling stopped, at least two more armored vehicles were destroyed, one tank was injured, and more than 30 infantry troops were destroyed. When the battle was over and I went to pay homage to the artillery, I learned that in order not to lose the fighter plane and wipe out the enemy, the artillery ignored the technical requirements of the maximum firing rate of six rounds per minute and used the maximum physical strength to maximize their firepower. The loader was too tired to stand because he was loading dozens of shells continuously, so he knelt on the ground to continue loading. Because of the long firing time and the fast firing speed of the gun, the gun barrel was red. After listening to the introduction of the artillery, I specially went to check the artillery with shijerikov, and found that the military green protective paint on the barrel of the two artillery had turned to Copper Brown. If I hadn''t seen it with my own eyes, I couldn''t believe it was true.

 Chapter 848

    Because of his outstanding performance on the battlefield, the division saw that the officers and men of the second artillery battalion were awarded by the superior, and the officers and men of the first artillery battalion were envious. The next morning, major Morozov walked into my headquarters. With an aggrieved face, he said to kirilov and me, "division commander, political commissar, I''m here to ask you to fight on behalf of the whole battalion?"


    Kirilov and I looked at each other and asked with a smile, "major Morozov, please fight, please what fight? Didn''t you hear the order issued by the division commander not long ago that all the division''s officers and men should stick to their present positions and maintain confrontation with the German army? "


    After a quick glance at me, Morozov complained bitterly to kirilov: "Comrade political commissar, when the soldiers saw that the newly joined second battalion had made such great achievements, our battalion was always on standby in the back. They were all in a mood..."


    "I don''t think it''s the soldiers who have emotions, it''s you who are the battalion commander." Without waiting for him to finish, kirilov interrupted him, put away his smile and began to teach him a lesson: "Comrade major, although our division has the largest number of troops in the whole group army, the enemy we are facing is much stronger than us. If we attack without the cooperation of our friends, we will soon be annihilated by the enemy. Therefore, we must also stick to the existing defensive areas, withstand the impact of the enemy on us, contain their forces, and gradually build up our strength. At the critical moment, we can give the enemy a thunderbolt and wipe them out completely. "


    After sending Morozov away, I called bantailiev and akhromeyev in front of them to discuss with them how to assign combat tasks to the regiments. Bantaileiev said: "Comrade division commander, I think your previous arrangement is good. Although our division has the largest number of troops in the whole group army, we are now in a state of deep and isolated forces. If we attack the enemy without the cooperation of friendly forces, we may be surrounded and annihilated by the German forces."


    "Comrade Deputy teacher, you are too pessimistic." Akhromeyev is obviously much more optimistic about the current situation of the enemy and ourselves. He refuted bantailiev and said: "although the German army is still on the defensive in the defense area of our group army, the friendly forces in other directions are constantly attacking the enemy. I believe it won''t be long, Several other army groups belonging to the front army can join us in the city. "


    "Join up?" Bantai leiev repeated the word and said with a sneer: "Comrade chief of staff, I remind you to pay attention to one thing. Nearly a month has passed since the beginning of the great counter offensive, but the troops of all front forces have always stayed in the areas occupied in the early stage. I think you must have a clear idea of this. Moreover, the German reinforcements are constantly attacking the outside of our encirclement, and they may join forces with Paulus troops in the encirclement at any time. Once they join forces, maybe Paulus will give up his plan to break through the encirclement completely and launch a counter attack on our troops, driving us into the Volga River completely. "


    Kirilov didn''t express any opinions to the two people in the dispute. Instead, he turned to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, tell us what you have in mind, so that we can all know."


    Kirilov''s words made bantaileiev and Akhromeev calm down. Like kirilov, both of them turned their eyes to me and waited for me to say what I thought.


    I took a look at them, and then I gave a simple order: "the regiments should strengthen their positions, stick to the existing defense area, and block the German attack. At the same time, we should seize the time to train new recruits and wait for the final counterattack. "


    In the next two days, the German army launched several attacks on the defense area of the first regiment. But without exception, it all ended in failure. The regiment not only successfully blocked the enemy''s attack, but also took the initiative to seize several buildings occupied by the enemy.


    On the evening of the 16th, I received a call from general Krylov from the headquarters of the group army, saying that trakov asked me to go. On hearing this, kirilov''s first reaction was that the final attack was about to begin.


    But I''m not as optimistic as the three of them. Manstein''s troops are still attacking outside the encirclement circle. The final attack of encircling and annihilating the Paulus army will not begin until he is defeated.


    After arriving at the headquarters, I saw that in addition to the commanders of the group army headquarters, there were also division commanders such as lyudnikov, guriyev, rodimzev and wachuk who attended the meeting. As soon as I look at this posture and look at trakov''s face, I know that I will not discuss the topic of the final attack tonight. Instead, I will tell you what area of friendly attack has been frustrated again.


    Seeing me coming, chief of staff Krylov nodded at me and announced the meeting. He picked up a piece of paper on the table and read it out in public: "in the recent battle, although the German offensive force has been exhausted and can no longer launch a large-scale attack on our group army''s defense area, it is still very difficult to seize the position from them. Especially on December 16, when the news came that the Holt 4th armored group army had broken through the upper line of the 51st group army on the Aksay River, the officers and men of Paulus, who were hopeful, were as excited as chicken blood. They forgot their hunger and fatigue and encouraged each other. When the German troops in voroshlov District faced the fierce attack of the 64th and 57th group armies of our army, He was very stubborn. After a day of fierce fighting, the two groups'' attacks ended in failure, and they made no progress except in front of the German defensive positions.


    In the face of the German troops who stuck into the outer side of our encirclement and the German positions that were unable to be captured in the city, the morale of our army was seriously affected. Individual commanders have become panic stricken, and some troops have even seen a lot of deserters. "


    After listening to krailov''s introduction, the commanders here began to talk to each other. It is understandable that the attack failed. After all, in everyone''s mind, Paulus''s 6th army is the elite of the German army. However, it was difficult for us to understand the desertion, so the discussion focused on this aspect.


    I didn''t join them in the discussion. I just laughed bitterly in my heart. The commanders mentioned by krailov probably worried that they would not be able to encircle and annihilate Paulus'' troops in the end. On the contrary, their troops would be surrounded by the reinforcements of man Stein. By then, the German army will have to cooperate with each other, and we will not be able to escape the end of the whole army.


    I am more aware of the reasons for the defeat of the 57th and 64th group armies. The attack mode of the Soviet army had been mastered by the German army for a long time, so they formulated a set of targeted defensive tactics, that is, when the infantry of our army charged intensively, the sniper first shot the commander in the army, and our army would fall into chaos because of losing command, and finally had to retreat all the way. As soon as the infantry retreats, our tanks lose their protection. At this time, the German army would give priority to destroying our command tanks with radio receiving and transmitting devices, because it was the only one that could issue orders, and other tanks were only equipped with receivers. Once the command tank is killed, the other tanks will be at a loss because of no command, so that the German anti tank hands have a chance to destroy these tanks one by one.


    Trakov didn''t stop everyone''s whispering. He just glanced at everyone here to see how everyone reacted. After the discussion gradually subsided, trakov turned his eyes to me and asked directly, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think of the failure of the 57th and 64th army?"


    Although I have just sorted out the reasons for the failure of the Soviet army in my mind, at the moment I heard trakov ask, I did not immediately say what I thought in my heart, but instead asked: "Comrade commander, do you have any detailed war reports of the 57th and 64th army?"


    Upon hearing my question, trikov turned his head to the commander of the group army who was standing beside him and asked, "Colonel zalijuk, do the friendly forces have any detailed War Reports besides simple reports?"


    Colonel zalijuk shook his head and replied, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. So far, I haven''t received any detailed reports from the friendly forces."


    Trikov glared at him and said, "don''t you go to the communication room immediately and ask the communication director, Colonel Yulin, to see if they have received the latest telegram?"


    Col. zalijuk did not dare to argue and agreed. He turned and ran out of the headquarters. He went to the communication room to find the communication director and asked if he had received the latest war report.


    Although there is no latest war report yet, trakov continued to say to you by using the skill of waiting for telegrams: "in today''s battle, three divisions and one brigade of the 57th and 64th army groups were disabled."


    The words of trakov caused a lot of confusion. However, this time, instead of letting it go, trakov decisively stopped everyone''s private discussion and said with a straight face: "maybe you will think that the German army has a lot of troops here, which led to our army''s heavy casualties. I tell you, you are all wrong. " At this point, he slapped the table, stood up and said bitterly, "according to the reconnaissance of the friendly forces, only two dissatisfied German battalions were stationed in the two blocks of voroshlov District, and there were no tanks or armored vehicles, and the number of artillery was very limited. That''s why our friendly forces took these two blocks as a breakthrough, and they prepared for half a month''s attack and ended in failure. "


    After trakov finished, rodim tsev, who had a good relationship with him, tentatively said: "Comrade commander, maybe all the soldiers in our army are recruits and lack enough combat experience. That''s why we suffer such a big loss. We should know that the German officers and soldiers are far better than us in terms of equipment and training. Even the veterans can''t take advantage of one-on-one competition with them, let alone the recruits. For those untrained recruits, the German army can kill dozens of us by itself. "


    In the past, rodimzev''s words were the embodiment of defeatism. Trakov or gurov could immediately remove him from the military and send someone to take him to the military court. But after hearing what he said, not only trakov but also the other teachers kept silent. It seems that they all agreed with what rojmzev said.


    After listening to this, Colonel lyudnikov snorted softly, as if he didn''t agree with what rojmtsev said. Gulov''s ears were sharp. He heard lyudnikov''s hum and asked curiously, "Colonel lyudnikov, do you have any different views on general rodymtsev''s words?"


    On hearing gurov''s question, lyudnikov quickly stood up from his seat and answered in a loud voice: "Comrade report military commissar, I can''t agree with general rodymtsev''s speech just now. He said that the equipment and training of our army is worse than that of the German army, which I admit. But when it comes to the fact that recruits without training can''t fight, and dozens of people can''t fight the German army alone, I can''t agree with that. "


    Lyudnikov''s words aroused everyone''s curiosity. Even trakov asked with great interest, "Comrade Colonel, why do you say that?" Lyudnikov looked at me and said, "Comrade commander, I think what general rodymtsev said, at least, does not apply to general oshanina''s troops. You know, since the establishment of her independent division, most of the soldiers in the division are new recruits without any training, but it has not affected the independent division to win again and again in the battle of defending Stalingrad. " Lyudnikov''s praise for me made everyone pay attention to me again and made me feel ashamed. Trikov looked at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, if Colonel lyudnikov doesn''t mention it, I''ll forget about it. Tell me about it. Do you have any tips on how to train such a strong army? " Hearing the question from trakov, I quickly stood up and answered in a loud voice, "report to the commander. In fact, there is no secret. After the recruits enter the army, I will arrange special political workers to carry out political and ideological work on them, because only the Red Army soldiers dressed up with Stalin''s ideological weapons are invincible." Because this is too numb to say, when I say it, I have goose bumps on my body, and the rest of us can imagine. But when I finished speaking, gurov took the lead in clapping, and I was seated again in the warm applause. As soon as the applause stopped, Col. zalijuk returned to the room. He reported to trakov, "Comrade commander, the 64th army has sent a telegram saying that the fierce fire of the enemy directly led to the failure of their attack." After reading the telegram that zalijuk handed him, trikov frowned and looked at it. Then he threw it on the table. Then he stood up and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, it seems that it''s unrealistic to try to find out what happened from the friendly army''s war report. Therefore, I now decide to give you this task. You must find out the cause of the failure of the friendly attack within three days. Can you do it? " Trikov''s order immediately made me silly. My God, there is a distance of more than 30 kilometers from our division''s dzerzhinsky district to voroshlov District, where the friendly army failed to attack. Moreover, there are all German troops in the middle. It''s an impossible task to cross the German defense line and find out what happened. Seeing my helpless face, trekov added: "Comrade oshanina, I know that this task is very important. For the commanders and fighters of other divisions, it may be an impossible task; But for your independent teacher, it''s much easier. " At this point, he put a smile on his face, "don''t you have many defecting German soldiers in your division? This task can be completely entrusted to them. "

 Chapter 849

    When I went back to my teacher and told kirilov what I had heard at the meeting, several people were stunned. After a long time, akhromeyev tentatively said: "Comrade division commander, can the friendly army''s war report be correct? You know, the German army can''t find a full-scale army at the present stage of fighting. Now they have only about 200 soldiers in one battalion and more than 400 soldiers in two battalions. How can they cripple three divisions and one brigade of the friendly army? "


    "Yes, sir." Bantailiev unexpectedly did not contradict akhromeyev, but was in line with his saying: "our three divisions and one brigade, even if they are not full, are close to 20000 people at least. How can they be defeated by more than 400 German troops? Isn''t this a rumor made by saboteurs? "


    Regarding Bantai leiev''s conjecture, I shook my head and said in a positive tone: "Comrade deputy division commander, this battle report has been repeatedly verified by commander trakov. At the meeting, the commander handed over to our division the task of finding out why the German army could defeat the friendly army, and asked us to give him a reply within three days. "


    "Three days," kirilov asked in surprise, "but the voloshilov district where we are fighting is more than 30 kilometers, and there are so many German troops stationed in the middle. How can we get through the blockade of the enemy?"


    "Political commissar, if you want to pass the blockade of the enemy, I don''t think it''s a big problem." Akhromeyev said thoughtfully, "don''t we have a lot of defecting German officers and men in our division? It''s up to them to cross the line. But I don''t think it''s going to make much difference if they''re sent, because they can''t ask the German army about it


    Kirilov, listening to ahlomeyev''s words, was like a drowning man seizing a life-saving straw. He immediately told him, "Comrade chief of staff, you should call captain Grimes and ask him to come to the division headquarters. Let''s talk about this matter with him and listen to what he said."


    After receiving a call from akhromeyev, Captain Grimes soon came to the headquarters with his newly discharged adjutant, second lieutenant gretka. After they saluted us, I explained the purpose of recruiting them. After that, I thought that gramus'' Russian was not very good, so I looked at gretka and asked, "how about it, comrade Lieutenant? Can you do it?"


    Second lieutenant gretka was shocked by what I said. After a few twitches in the corner of his mouth, he forced a smile and said to me, "Comrade division, I think we may not be able to complete your task?" With that, he turned to Grimes, who, after listening to him, nodded in agreement.


    "Why?" When gretka finished translating for gramus, I asked solemnly, "don''t you want to carry out this reconnaissance mission?"


    "Sir, you have misunderstood me!" Seeing that I was angry, gramus quickly began to explain in his poor Russian: "we... We can''t... Pass..." because his Russian level was so poor that he didn''t express his meaning for a long time, so he had to make a gesture to gretka to show that he explained to me.


    I turned to gretka and made a sign to him to tell him what was going on. Gretka turned to look at his superior, then turned to me with courage and said, "this is the situation, sir. Because the German troops are too tightly deployed in the area we are going to cross, I don''t think we can pass those temporary checkpoints. "


    "Comrade lieutenant, why can''t you pass those checkpoints?" Gretka''s words aroused kirilov''s curiosity, so he asked with great interest: "in principle, all the military certificates you used are true, which should not arouse the suspicion of the German army?"


    Gretka turned to kirilov and explained to him, "Comrade political commissar, you don''t know. If we want to go from dzerzhinsky district to Voroshilov District, we must have a pass in addition to a military pass, otherwise we will be caught as deserters and shot on the spot."


    Bantaileiev listened for a while, and then he had a new idea: "I think the German soldiers who confront us should have the passes you need. If we go to attack their positions, catch some prisoners and let you use their passes, is that ok?"


    Unexpectedly, gretka immediately shook his head and rejected his proposal: "Comrade deputy division, this is impossible. In order to prevent deserters from appearing, officers and soldiers at the forefront, let alone their passes, have their military personnel passes confiscated by officers. In this way, a large number of deserters can be prevented in the event of failure. Without documents, those soldiers who leave the army will be captured by the SS soon. "


    Listening to gretka''s words, I understand that we all think too simply. In the past, every time we sent the subordinates of gramus out to carry out the tasks behind enemy lines, the success was due to the scattered deployment of German troops to a great extent. But now the German troops of several divisions are gathered in the factory area and voroshlov area. If we want to sneak in quietly, we can''t do it at all.


    Akhromeyev also proposed that the scouts should dress up as ordinary citizens and pass through the German defense line. As soon as his proposal was exported, I immediately denied it: "no, this plan won''t work. All the residents in the German occupied area are under their close supervision. It is impossible to accomplish such a task. On the contrary, it puts our scouts in danger. "


    We discussed for a long time, but we didn''t work out a reason. So I had to play fagrams and they left. Looking at the back of their departure, Bantai leiev said indignantly: "Sir, I used to think that it would be very helpful for us to keep these defecting Germans in the team, but I didn''t expect that he could help us at all."


    "You can''t say that, old man." After listening to bantailiev''s words, kirilov immediately retorted: "when Grimes and Beckman surrendered, they had 150 men under them. However, after several months of fighting, half of the officers and men died in the German bombing and shelling. At the same time, more than a dozen officers and men died in the reconnaissance mission behind the enemy. At present, the total number of German officers and men in the two companies is less than 70. "


    As I have not worked out a practical way to get through the enemy occupied area, I put it aside for the time being and intend to go to the headquarters of the group army to admit my mistake to trekov as soon as the three-day deadline arrives.


    In the next two days, I ordered the two artillery battalions under the division to cooperate with the 1st and 4th regiments to launch a small-scale attack on the area occupied by the German army. By the evening of the 18th, we had cleared all the German troops in the dzerzhinsky district and pushed the line of defense to the vicinity of the "Red October" factory step by step.


    Seeing that our division steadily pushed the line of defense into the vicinity of its own defense area, the German army was a little flustered. Instead of being beaten passively two days ago, they launched a counterattack against us.


    When I heard the reports from sjerykov and gedar on the phone, I asked bantaileiev and akhromeyev on my own initiative: "deputy division chief and chief of staff, tell me, the German army has launched a counter offensive against us in the past two days. What do they really want to do?"


    Akhromeyev thought for a while and took the lead in saying his analysis: "maybe our attack in the past two days is too fierce, so the enemy has to transfer reserve teams from other areas to strengthen their defense."


    "Chief of staff, I don''t agree with you." Bantailiev and akhromeyev sing the opposite tone: "the German troops surrounded by us are being attacked by our troops from all sides. How can they send troops to reinforce the enemy near the" Red October "factory?"


    "Comrade deputy division commander," said akhromeyev reluctantly, "according to the war reports from the front, we can see that this enemy is different from the previous ones. We are afraid of all the enemies confronting our division. In the face of our attack, they can only retreat step by step and shrink their lines of defense. However, these enemies counter attacked our army when we launched our attack. Don''t you find that strange? "


    "Comrade chief of staff," I saw that they were going to argue about it again. I quickly interrupted them, and then asked akhromeyev, "did you catch any prisoners in the battle?"


    After taking a look at the war report on the table, akhromeyev reported to me, "the first regiment has captured 15 prisoners, and the fourth regiment has captured several."


    "Let them send the prisoners to division headquarters." After hearing this, kirilov decisively gave an order to akhromeyev.


    The prisoners were soon brought over by the soldiers of the first and fourth regiments. As there was not enough space in the city in the headquarters, it was impossible to bring all the German prisoners in, so I only ordered the officers to be brought in for interrogation. At the same time, I also called lieutenant gretka to be our interpreter.


    When two German prisoners stood in front of us, I asked with a straight face, "officer, name, rank, position and unit you belong to." Then he motioned greteka to translate for me.


    After listening to the translation, the two German officers said their names, ranks and troops without hesitation. Bantaileiev was obviously stunned when he heard the number of the army. Then he put his head together and said to me in a low voice: "Comrade division commander, according to our information, this German army should be deployed in Voroshilov district. Do you know why they are in our defense area? "


    After shaking my head, I said to gretka, "Comrade lieutenant, ask them, when did the troops enter the dzerzhinsky district?"


    After listening to the two German prisoners, gretka respectfully reported to me: "report to division commander, they said that because the German forces here are under too much pressure, the superior forces temporarily transferred their company from voroshlov district."


    When I heard that they repeatedly mentioned voroshlov District, I suddenly had a flash in my mind. Since they came from voroshlov District, which we wanted to reconnoitre but could not go to, maybe they were frustrated in their attack on our army the day before yesterday and could know something about it. Thinking of this, I couldn''t think of any interrogation skills. I couldn''t wait to ask, "Sir, since you are all from Voroshilov District, I have something to ask you."


    "Go ahead, general!" After listening to gretka''s translation, the German officer bowed slightly forward and asked respectfully, "as long as I know, I will report to you honestly."


    Seeing that the German officers agreed so readily, I asked them straightforwardly, "the day before yesterday, in Voroshilov District, our troops once launched an attack there, and the battle lasted a whole day. But unfortunately, after paying huge casualties, our attack failed. I want to ask, "do you know what''s going on?"


    After listening to my question, the two officers looked at each other, and then the officer on the right asked, "Madam general, if we tell the truth, can you promise not to shoot us?" When I heard the German officers reply like this, I was very happy. I knew that I might know the cause and effect of the whole battle from their mouth. So I pretended to think about it for a while, and then pretended to be embarrassed and said to me, "two officers, if you can tell me the truth, I can promise you that I will not shoot you; But if you don''t tell the truth, I can''t guarantee your lives. " Under my coaxing and fright, the two officers soon explained what they knew. It turned out that on the morning of the 16th, the artillery of the 57th and 64th group armies carried out heavy shelling on the German occupied Voroshilov district. The dense barrage seemed to destroy all the lives in the encirclement. The whole voloshlov district was shaking like an earthquake. All the German troops got into bunkers or basements and curled up to avoid the disaster. They knew in their hearts that when our artillery fire was ready, there would be tanks and infantry coming in like a tide. After the shelling, the surviving German soldiers who crawled out of the bunker found a 37mm anti tank gun which they didn''t know was left behind. Its performance was good, but the sight had been damaged. It might have been left to be repaired by the friendly troops stationed here before, but they were left here because of the hasty retreat, which made them feel more lucky, Yes, they also found several boxes of shells. Facing the coordinated attack of our army, the German army immediately pushed the 37mm anti tank gun into the position to hide, and the muzzle was aimed at the direction of the enemy''s attack. First, a column of T-34 tanks entered the range, but the German Gunners did not open fire easily. Instead, they patiently waited until the enemy tanks reached a distance of 40 meters before firing four rounds in succession. The first shell destroyed the pilot tank, the second one paralyzed the middle one, but the other two failed to do any damage to the third one. However, it was obviously deterred by the precise firing of the German gunners, and quickly turned around and fled without firing a shot. The German army knew our attack tactics very well, and knew that our attack followed strict schedule and principle, that is, in a few hours after an attack was frustrated, they would never launch a second attack at the same place. As a result, these German artillery were able to move the only anti tank gun from the place where they had already fought to the area where they expected our army to attack. Towards noon, the German troops were supplemented with an anti tank gun, so that they did not have to move the only anti tank gun around. At 1 p.m., our infantry in tawny uniforms appeared again in the German observation post''s telescope, and they were like ants from a distance, closing closer and closer to the German position. Due to the limited German ammunition, all officers and soldiers were ordered to wait for the enemy to enter the range of all weapons before firing. When the infantry were only more than 100 meters away from the German position, the line gave way to both sides, allowing a tank unit to pass through the channel, turning into a horizontal formation in front of the infantry, and forced to the German position with the cooperation of infantry and tank. The German snipers who took the lead in firing, they kept hunting our commanders in the line. Seeing the commanders around him fall one by one, the line of infantry charging began to shake. Seeing the chaos in our line-up, the German machine guns fired decisively. Facing the intensive German firepower, our infantry immediately stopped attacking and turned around and ran backward. At the beginning, it was a retreat, and then it became a rout. The German anti tank guns seized the opportunity to "roll call" the tanks without infantry cover one by one. The anti tank team also bravely rushed up and blasted with explosives, killing at least two-thirds of our tanks.

 Chapter 850

    Bantaileiev was angry when he heard this. He growled and pointed to the noses of the two German officers, saying that they were lying and deliberately spreading rumors in an attempt to shake our morale. He also threatened to drag them out and shoot them all.


    Although the two German soldiers could not understand what Bantai leyev was shouting about, they were frightened by the ferocious expression on his face. Not only the two of them, but also lieutenant gretka, who worked as a translator nearby, was too quiet to continue translating.


    Seeing this, I quickly stood up and stopped Bantai leiev in the fury: "Comrade deputy division commander, take it easy. What''s the truth of the matter? After they have all finished speaking, we can find out. We don''t need to be so angry."


    Although kirilov frowned tightly when listening to the two German officers, he pulled labanteleiev''s coat and said to him in a low voice: "old man, listen to Comrade oshanina. Don''t get angry. First sit down and listen to what the Germans say."


    Seeing that kirilov and I were persuading ourselves, bantaileiev could only resist his anger and sat down with an angry face. When I saw him sitting down again, I said kindly to gretka, who was scared to death: "Comrade lieutenant, the deputy division commander was just impulsive. It''s ok now. You can continue to translate. Let them go on


    After listening to me, Lieutenant gretka turned his eyes cautiously to Bantai leiev, fearing that the other party would suddenly explode again. When Bantai leiev saw that gretka was not moving, he turned his eyes to him. He was so angry that he patted the table again and scolded the other party in a loud voice: "Lieutenant, what do you think I''m doing? Didn''t you hear what the teacher said? I''d like to translate her words to the German people and let them explain them. "


    After gretka sent my words to the German officers, the two men hesitated for a moment. The officer on the left gathered up his courage and then said, "after fighting back the Soviet attack, two artillery officers with rich combat experience and special courage came to our defense area to serve as temporary artillery observation posts. Their main task was to observe Soviet targets that threatened our army in the distance. Once a certain target is determined, the azimuth parameters of the target are calculated immediately, and then the radio operator they bring will transmit the target parameters to the artillery troops behind.


    Because of the excellent work of these two artillery officers, it takes only five minutes at the fastest from target determination to shell falling. The shells coming from our rear would hit the Soviet assembly site accurately. For those tanks in motion, they will also calculate according to their moving trajectory to guide the shells to hit the area they want to reach. In this way, the successive attacks of Soviet tanks and infantry were repeatedly defeated by our witty and tenacious resistance. Seeing that we blocked the Soviet Army''s fierce attack, the army''s low morale and confidence began to rise gradually. "


    The words of the German officers gave me a further perceptual understanding of the battle. I thought to myself that if this attack was carried out by our independent division, we would not have paid such a heavy price, even if we could not capture the streets occupied by the German army. Perhaps seeing me frowning and meditating, the German officer who was speaking stopped and looked at me in horror.


    I saw two officers nervous and knew that they had to say something to relax. Then I bit their teeth and asked, "officer, how do you think our commanders and fighters are doing in the battle?"


    "Is that true? Very brave. Very brave. " After listening to gretka''s translation, the officer on the right couldn''t wait to say: "although the Soviet soldiers were attacked by our artillery, they still bravely moved towards our position. Under the fierce firepower attack of our army, the infantry walking in the front soon fell into the snow, but the rest of the people behind continued to stride forward fearlessly over the corpses of their comrades, and entered the dense firepower network composed of our army''s firepower. Then more people fell, and their corpses overlapped on the soldiers killed in the previous attack. "


    When I heard this, I secretly scolded the commanders of the 57th and 64th army. Don''t you let them die at the enemy''s gunpoint? Originally, I wanted to have the two officers taken down, but when I heard that officer was still talking, I knew that he must have a lot to say, so I forbade my anger and continued to listen to him.


    "When we saw the mountain of corpses piled up in front of the position at 3 p.m., the Soviet army, which had been badly damaged by us in the future, would stop attacking. I didn''t expect that they would attack again soon. Moreover, it was in the place where the attack had just taken place that the troops launched another attack after restructuring. " The officer seemed to open his mouth and kept on saying, "after their attack was defeated, they reorganized their troops and launched another attack. In this way, they launched five attacks against us in an hour. Although each attack was defeated by us, we paid a great price for our continuous attacks. Our defense area was eaten by the Soviet army, and the first and second lines of defense were lost, Most of our soldiers had to retreat into buildings on both sides of the block to continue their resistance.


    At this point in the battle, it seemed that the Soviet army could seize the whole block with another fierce attack. But the terrain we were in was very favorable. The narrow streets made it possible for the Soviet troops to launch any battle formation. They had to huddle shoulder to shoulder and charge forward.


    The soldiers we retreated to the building, mounted machine guns and submachine guns in the windows near the street, and fired fiercely at the swarming Soviet infantry. It is more appropriate to say that it is a massacre than a battle. The bullets of the Soviet soldiers who rushed to the front fell to the ground, and the soldiers who followed them couldn''t dodge, so they were tripped by the corpses, which made the pile of people and corpses higher and higher. The soldiers who didn''t stumble were strafed by our machine guns and submachine guns, and some of them even had no space to fall to the ground after being shot, so they directly leaned against their companions. As a result of the continuous shooting, the lethal bullet penetrated the bodies of the dead soldiers and the soldiers behind them, which made the dead and the living cool


    When the German officer said this, he stopped and whispered something to gretka. Then gretka faithfully translated his words: "Comrade division, he wants to drink some water."


    "Give him a cup of tea." I didn''t refuse the officer''s request. I gestured to captain Yushchenko, who was standing by the door, and said, "Captain, pour the officer a glass of water."


    Yushchenko immediately carried out my order, picked up the teapot by the wall, poured a glass of water, carried it to the officer, and handed it to the other side without saying a word. The officer took the teapot, looked at me gratefully, and took a big drink regardless of whether it was hot or not. After handing the teapot back to Yushchenko, the officer continued: "however, under the deadly impact of the Soviet army, many buildings on both sides of the street were also lost, and we had to retreat to the back.


    However, at this time, the battalion commander will be the rest of the soldiers formed a reserve, in the other side of the street set up a defensive formation. When our soldiers ran in front of them, they immediately went into battle. First, they fired grenades and grenades at the Soviet soldiers. After the grenades and grenades exploded in the front of the crowd, they marched along the road with firm steps, while they were shooting with submachine guns and machine guns.


    The soldiers in the front row were either submachine guns or MG34 machine guns. The Soviet soldiers in the crowd could not fight back. No one could stand where our army''s fierce firepower had strafed. Once it fell, it was a large area. The vast majority of Soviet soldiers could not stand on the ground without firing a shot. Under the intensive fire of our army, the surviving soldiers in the front row began to hold the crowd behind and step back. In the face of such heavy casualties, the Soviet soldiers took the initiative to retreat, and then they ran for their lives in a hurry, while we recovered all the positions we had just lost.


    Although their attack was repulsed by us again, they did not give up the idea of seizing Voroshilov district. In the hours before dark, they sent new troops to continue the attack. These soldiers continue to trample on the corpses of their comrades everywhere, trample on the thicker and thicker pile of corpses left behind by their comrades in arms after each failed attack, and launch a life-threatening attack again and again. Some of these attacks were coordinated by tanks; But most of them are pure infantry charges. But without exception, they were beaten back by our army. "


    When he finished, I coughed gently, cleared my throat and asked, "Sir, I''ll ask you again. Since your troops are playing so well in Voroshilov District, why are you transferred to the Red October factory?"


    The officer I asked looked at me in surprise. His eyes seemed to be saying, didn''t I just answer you this question? However, when he heard my question again, he honestly replied, "it''s because our troops were outstanding in the battle on the 16th, so when your troops attacked here fiercely, the superior thought of us and thought that after we were transferred, we could create a miracle similar to that of voroshlov district. But I didn''t expect... "Speaking of this, he didn''t go on, just lowered his head deeply.


    "All right, comrade captain." Kirilov stood up, made a sign to Yushchenko not far away, and told him: "take these two prisoners down, and don''t let them talk nonsense here any more."


    After the two German officers were taken away, akhromeyev said thoughtfully: "division commander, political commissar, I always thought that the attack launched by the 57th and 64th group army was due to the disconnection between infantry and tanks in the battle. In order to avoid unnecessary sacrifice, infantry had to crawl on the ground or hide in the corner of the wall, while tank troops were alone, Lunging to the German position, the result was a heavy blow by the German anti tank hand. But now when I listen to these two German officers, I think it''s different from my own imagination. "


    I saw Bantai leiev open his mouth. It seemed that there was a sign of contradicting akhromeyev. He quickly took the lead and said, "Comrade chief of staff is right. Our commanders and fighters never lack courage. What they lack is excellent commanders. The reason why our troops are so covered with corpses in front of the enemy''s positions and have not achieved any results is entirely due to wrong command. "


    Kirilov sighed, stood up, looked at me, and asked in embarrassment: "Comrade oshanina, the confession of the German officer just now should be the truth of our army''s failure. Do we need to report to the group command immediately? "


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." Thinking of the fact that trekov asked me to investigate the failure of the friendly army, now it has come to the conclusion. In order to avoid the similar mistakes made by our group army in the next battle, leading to unnecessary heavy losses, I think we should report the investigation results in time¡° We must report the results of the investigation as soon as possible, so that the commanders can have a clear idea of the reasons for the failure of the friendly forces. " When I called the headquarters, it was Vasiliev, director of the political department, who answered the phone. After being stunned for a moment, I politely asked, "Hello, comrade Vasiliev, is the commander in?"¡° I''m sorry, comrade o''shanina. I''m not here Vasiliev told me with regret: "not only the commander is not here, but also the military commissar and chief of staff." I used to call the headquarters of the group army. Even if trakov and gurov were not in the headquarters, the chief of staff, Krylov, would be there. But today, the three of them left the headquarters together, which proved that something important must have happened. So I quickly asked, "do you know where they went?"¡° Comrade o''shanina, don''t you know? " Vasiliev said in surprise, "something''s wrong!"¡° What''s the big deal? " I asked nervously¡° The 57th armored force of the German Holt 4th armored group army has broken through several lines of defense of our front army and approached the area only 50 Russian miles away from the southern bread ring. The commanders have been summoned by the headquarters of the front army to hold an emergency military meeting. " After these words, Vasiliev seemed to remember that I would not call the headquarters of the group army if I had nothing to do. When I called trakov at this time, there must be some important information to report. He quickly asked, "Comrade oshanina, do you have anything to do with the commander?"¡° Yes, comrade Vasiliev, I''d like to report to commander trakov the results of the investigation into the failure of the friendly forces to attack the voroshlov district. " Then I gave him a detailed account of the confession of the two prisoners. After hearing this, Vasiliev gave a hum, and then said solemnly, "OK, I''ve got all the details. I''ll report to the commander as soon as he comes back."

 Chapter 851

    Put down the phone, I instinctively asked: "how many kilometers is a Russian mile?"


    After listening to my question, akhromeyev gave a brief reply: "Mr. reporter, one kilometer is equal to 0.937 Russian miles."


    When I was calculating in my mind how many kilometers 50 Russian miles is equal to, kirilov next to me asked anxiously, "Comrade oshanina, what are you doing and what''s wrong with this?"


    "Comrade political commissar, the current situation is very bad." I didn''t intend to hide the bad news I just got, so I told kirilov honestly: "the enemy''s 57th armored army has broken through several lines of our army in a row, leaving only the last 50 Russian miles from their encircled troops."


    The unexpected bad news surprised everyone. Bantaileiev asked anxiously: "Comrade division commander, with the assault ability of German armored forces, they may be able to join the besieged Paulus troops one day. In this way, our encirclement of the German army will be broken, and the plan of encircling and annihilating the German army will be completely defeated, and there is even the possibility of being counter encircled by the German army. "


    Bantailiev''s worry was echoed by others. Akhromeyev, who always likes to sing against him, also expressed a similar view: "Comrade division, if this is really the case, it will be sooner or later that the siege will be broken by the German army. At such a time, should we study what measures we should take if the two German forces join forces? "


    Kirilov was obviously more comprehensive than both of them. After akhromeyev finished, he asked me calmly, "Comrade oshanina, what does Comrade commander say?"


    I shook my head and said helplessly: "the commander, the military commissar and the chief of staff are not in the headquarters. They all went to the headquarters of the front army to attend the emergency military meeting." I added in an uncertain tone, "perhaps commander yelomienko asked them to discuss how to deal with the current crisis."


    Kirilov could not help sighing a long sigh when he heard that trakov and his military commissar had gone. Then he asked my opinion: "Comrade oshanina, what do you think of the current situation? Will the meeting of the German forces in our encirclement lead to the reversal of the whole war situation? "


    Seeing that the three men were worried about the situation of our army, I immediately comforted them and said, "don''t worry too much. Although the German army is now making a fierce offensive outside the encirclement, it is not easy for them to get through the 50 Russian miles and realize the reunion. I believe the commanders of the front army will take corresponding measures to deal with such a crisis."


    "Comrade division," said akhromeyev in a suspicious tone after listening to me, "do you really think our troops can block the German armored forces in the open area?"


    As for his question, I nodded and said in a positive tone: "Comrade chief of staff, the reason why I think our friendly forces can prevent the German armored forces from continuing to attack is that the air supremacy of the battlefield is firmly in the hands of our aviation forces. No matter how many tanks the enemy has, it is difficult to break through our three-dimensional defense line composed of aircraft, artillery and tanks. You see, in a few days, Hote''s fourth Panzer group will retreat in dismay. "


    After I finished, Bantai leiev immediately asked me, "Comrade division, do you think Paulus''s troops will escape from our encirclement with them?"


    "Paulus'' forces want to get out of our siege?" I repeated bantaileiev''s words and said contemptuously: "if the German army could escape, it would have escaped long ago, and it would not be as foolish as it is now to stay in our encirclement, waiting for the rescue of its own friends."


    "Do you mean that the Paulus troops in the encirclement circle will not retreat casually even if they join up with the friendly troops coming to the rescue?" Akhromeyev interposed and asked, "Comrade teacher, is this possible?"


    Although I know this period of history very well and know the final fate of Paulus'' troops clearly, I can''t tell the truth in front of them. I can only say vaguely: "according to the judgment of the supreme command, the reason why Hitler didn''t let Paulus''s troops break through is to let him contain our three front forces here, So that the German "a" group, which is fighting in the Caucasus, will not fall into our encirclement. So even if Hote''s armored forces and Paulus''s forces join forces, Paulus, who did not get Hitler''s permission, did not dare to give orders to his subordinates to withdraw at will, so they still could not escape being encircled and annihilated by our army in the end. "


    After a while, bantaileiev asked me again, "Comrade division commander, when can we launch the final attack on the besieged German troops?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy division commander." I said to him with a smile, "I believe this day will come soon."


    After that, I told akhromeyev: "Comrade chief of staff, call several commanders and ask them to temporarily stop small-scale offensive operations and maintain confrontation with the German army in the existing positions."


    "Yes Akhromeyev agreed and was ordered to call several commanders.


    Kirilov took a look at ahlomeyev''s back, and then whispered to me, "Comrade oshanina, do you really think Paulus''s troops will not escape from our encirclement?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." I said with a firm voice: "they have no way to escape, only to stay in the encirclement and wait for us to annihilate."


    "Yes, sir." Bantai leiev, who was looking at the map, suddenly looked up and said to me, "there is one thing I almost forgot to report to you."


    Bantai leiev''s words surprised me. He said in secret that there would be no mistake. So he quickly asked, "what''s the matter, comrade Deputy teacher?"


    "Two days ago, I saw German transport planes Airdropping materials into the German occupied area of the city. Due to the problem of wind direction, a lot of materials have floated to a place not far from the first and fourth regiment defense areas. " Bantaileiev tentatively suggested: "I have an idea, can we send troops to grab these airdropped materials when the German army airdrops?"


    "Comrade Deputy teacher, your suggestion is good." Thinking that Paulus''s troops are surrounded by us, and the supply of the troops can only be limited by the air force, after hearing bantailiev''s plan to draw salaries from the bottom of the barrel, I agreed without thinking: "you are responsible for this matter, and I will let the first regiment and the fourth regiment draw two companies to cooperate with you."


    "What plans are you discussing, sir?" After the call, akhromeyev just heard what I said at the back and asked curiously, "do you know if there is anything I can do for you?"


    "Well, comrade chief of staff." To carry out such a task, akhromeyev must help to give orders, so I told him straightforwardly: "the deputy division commander said that a lot of German airdropped materials every day fall not far from the defense area of our 1st and 4th regiments, and he planned to take the troops to grab some airdropped materials."


    "Our current material supply situation is also very bad. We just use the stolen airdropped materials to supply the troops." Without waiting for akhromeyev to speak, kirilov said excitedly: "we can even ambush around the air dropped materials, and catch the Germans who come to carry them by surprise."


    Akhromeyev did not finish, but pulled the map on the table in front of him. After reading it for a while, he pointed to the map and said: "Comrade division, according to the information reported by the regiments in recent days, there is an open space in front of the defense area of the fourth regiment, which is also an airdrop point of the German army. The German army will come here every day to collect their airdrop materials. But there was a four story house in the middle of the open space, which was occupied by the German army. If we want to grab their airdropped materials, the German troops in the building can use intensive firepower to kill our commanders and fighters


    Bantaileiev looked around, then said firmly: "then before the enemy airdrops begin, we will send troops to seize the buildings occupied by the enemy. As long as we occupy this building, we can block the whole airdrop site with fire. If the Germans don''t show up, they will. Once they do, we can beat them and run away. "


    "Since the Deputy teacher is so confident, let''s carry out the plan." Seeing that bantailiev had given detailed consideration, so I nodded my head and agreed, and told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, call commander Gaidar, the fourth commander, and ask him to dispatch the strongest company to take part in the attack."


    The attack on the German building took place at dawn the next day. Bantai leiev and I were standing in the bunker two or three hundred meters away from the building. Holding a telescope, we watched about a platoon of our army officers and soldiers divided into several groups, bent over with guns, and rushed to the building where the enemy was.


    Before our soldiers got close to the building, they were found by the enemy in the building. A few windows on the first floor suddenly burst out of gunfire, and several soldiers who rushed to the front fell to the ground in the sound of gunfire. The soldiers in the back quickly fell down, fighting back with their weapons, and throwing the white smoke grenade into the window of the building.


    After a series of explosions, the fire on the first floor was obviously weakened. Our soldiers jumped from the ground and rushed into the building quickly. Although the firepower on the first floor has weakened, there are still many remnants of the German army. The flash from the building shows that our commanders and fighters are fighting with them house by house.


    Seeing that the troops in front of us rushed into the building, dozens of soldiers jumped out of the fortifications near us and rushed towards the building with weapons. The German army upstairs saw another army rushing up and fired flares into the air. With the launch of several flares, the figure of our charging soldiers was clearly exposed in the open ground. The windows on the second and third floors of the German army burst out with countless muzzles. They tried to block the way of our army with intensive fire.


    Under the intensive fire of the enemy, more than a dozen of the officers and men of the second echelon were killed and injured at one time. The rest of them fell down on the spot and used the bodies of their fallen comrades as bunkers to shoot at the German troops upstairs.


    Judging from the firepower of the German army, they are much stronger than our offensive troops. Without artillery cover, it is very difficult for these infantry to seize the building. Thinking of this, I put down my telescope, turned to the door and yelled: "Hello, who''s outside, a person comes in."


    With my shouts, Yushchenko came in from the outside. He straightened up and asked me, "Sir, do you have any instructions?" There is no communication equipment in this fortification. I have to send someone to convey any order. When I saw Yushchenko appeared in front of me, I told him: "Comrade captain, go to the regiment command post immediately to find lieutenant colonel gedar, and order him to contact the artillery to open fire on the German troops in the building to cover our infantry charge." When I turned my attention again to the building I was fighting for, I found that several German soldiers jumped out of the window on the second floor and rushed into the building with weapons. When I saw this, I cried in my heart that these German soldiers who jumped down from the second floor obviously wanted to sneak attack our first row of commanders and fighters who rushed into the building from behind. If the second group of commanders and fighters could rush into the building in time, they would be able to wipe out the German soldiers who had just jumped from the building. However, they are now in the open ground and are overwhelmed by the fire in the building. Just when I was worried, suddenly there was a whistling sound in the air. Then I saw a row of shells hit the top floor of the building. In the fire and smoke, the top two floors of the original intact four story building were suddenly blown into ruins. The broken bricks and stones mixed with limbs and meat were flying all over the sky, and then scattered evenly around. The sudden fire weakened the fire in the building again. The officers and men trapped outside the building jumped from the ground and rushed into the building with their own weapons¡° Comrade deputy division commander, how many people have rushed in? " I didn''t put down my telescope and asked without looking back. Bantaileiev was silent for a moment, then replied, "nine people rushed in." Think of just the second batch of charge line has dozens of soldiers, but at the moment into the building only one person, the rest fell on the open ground in front of the building. I don''t know if the soldiers who rushed in can occupy the building after meeting with the first group of soldiers¡° Tell me, I''m back. " Yushchenko''s voice sounded behind me. I put down my telescope and nodded back to him. Then I asked, "Comrade captain, the artillery is firing very fast. What''s the matter?"¡° That''s right, comrade teacher. " Yushchenko honestly reported to me: "when I went, the artillery battalion commander, major Morozov, was also at the regiment headquarters. His heavy howitzer had already aimed at the building where the enemy was, waiting for the order to fire. When I went to deliver the order, he decisively ordered the artillery to open fire. " It turned out that the cannon that bombarded the opposite building was our heavy howitzer. No wonder it was so powerful that it turned the upper two floors into ruins.

 Chapter 852

    The heavy artillery bombardment weakened the German firepower in the building. As our troops attacked the building, the muzzle flames of the windows disappeared one after another, proving that the fighting had been carried out in the building instead. Another group of regiments of infantry, and lost no time in the building is fighting launched a charge.


    At this time, there was another violent explosion, and the wall on the left side of the bottom of the building was full of fire and smoke. When the smoke cleared, I saw a big hole in the wall. And just rushed to the front of the building''s officers and men, have poured into the building from this gap.


    "This major Morozov has a very good brain." I murmured to myself, "if we use the way we attack gorodyser, let alone an ordinary building in front of us, even the reinforced concrete fortifications will be destroyed under the bombardment of heavy howitzers."


    With the addition of the new force, the Germans in the building gradually couldn''t resist it. I saw many more soldiers jumping from the windows on the second floor. However, this time, they didn''t encircle our soldiers in the building from behind, but turned around and ran to the distance. But soon our soldiers leaned out of the window, carrying their weapons and shooting at the fleeing German soldiers. In addition to a few legs quickly escape from the sky, the rest fell at the muzzle of our soldiers.


    The troops of the fourth regiment had just captured the building in the center of the airdrop field. Before I could give any orders, a second lieutenant officer ran in and reported to me, "Comrade division commander, there''s a call for you in the regiment command post." In order to attract my attention, he specially stressed that "it was the Group Commander himself who called."


    When I heard that it was trekov''s phone call, my heart said what he wanted me to do at this time. Is there any arduous task to give me? But I didn''t dare to delay. I followed the second lieutenant and rushed to the command post of the fourth regiment.


    In the command post, besides Gaidar, his political commissar Xia Ping and the commander of the 1st artillery battalion of the division, major Morozov, were there. When they saw me enter, they stood up from their seats and raised their hands to salute me. I nodded at some people, then went to the table, picked up the phone on it, and politely said to the receiver, "Hello, is that Comrade commander? Hello, I''m o''shanina. What''s your instruction


    "Comrade oshanina," came trakov''s hoarse voice from the receiver, "I just came back from the headquarters of the front army, and I heard Comrade Vasiliev say that you once called to report to me the cause of the failure of the friendly forces." At this point, he stopped for a moment, and then tentatively asked, "are you telling the truth?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." To trekov''s question, I answered positively, "these truths are based on the confessions of the prisoners."


    "Don''t you think the prisoner is lying?" After listening to my reply, trakov was still dubious.


    "I think what the prisoner said is true." In order to make my words more convincing, I specially added: "there is no need for prisoners to lie on such matters, because if we only interrogate a few more prisoners, their lies will be exposed. And from the details they described, it''s our army''s consistent offensive style. " Speaking of this, it suddenly occurred to me that trikov had left the headquarters yesterday to attend a meeting in the front army. Until now, he had just returned, which proved that the meeting he held was very important. So I asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, you went to the meeting all day. I don''t know what the head of the front army said?"


    In the past, I would never ask these questions casually, but now I still hold the title of deputy commander of the group army, and it''s natural for me to inquire about these things from trikov. After hearing my question, without any hesitation, trakov said what I wanted to know: "the 4th armored group army of Hote outside the encirclement is advancing very fast. It was 50 Russian miles away from Paulus''s troops in the daytime yesterday, but under their fierce attack, our defense line has been broken through again and again. Now the distance between the two German troops is only 10 Russian miles, Both sides can see each other with high-power telescopes. "


    Trikov''s words startled me, saying that because of my appearance, the German army failed to capture the mamayev post throughout the campaign, and the Soviet army also sacrificed thousands of officers and soldiers. In this case, the situation of the Soviet army is much better than in history, but why is it still so embarrassed by the German army? Could it be that my appearance led to the deviation of the known history in this place, that the battle of Stalingrad would end in the defeat of the Soviet army?


    Thinking of this, I was shocked out of a cold sweat. After a while, I summoned up courage and continued to ask, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what measures the front army is going to take to prevent the German army from joining forces?"


    "General yelomienko decided to let the 57th army stop attacking the city," trakov told me without any concealment. Instead, he told me what he had decided at the meeting. "He turned around to cooperate with the allies of the southwest front army to stop the German forces coming from the encirclement. And the task of entering the siege was accomplished by the 64th army alone. " At this point, he sighed, and then said with some helplessness: "general shumilov, commander of the group army, asked me to ask you if there is any way to break through the German position in the shortest time and further compress the enemy into the city. In this way, the distance between the two German forces will be widened again. "


    As for the performance of the 57th and 64th army groups a few days ago, I was very angry. If I were not a former subordinate of general shumilov, I would not give advice to him. After thinking for a moment, I said to trikov truthfully, "Comrade commander, I think general shumilov should be allowed to attack the enemy''s positions. It''s a kind of continuous attack. We can no longer retreat after losing a certain amount of troops as before, but we should increase the offensive forces one after another. At the same time, the German positions were bombarded continuously, even if they hurt their own people. I don''t think the enemy can persist in this kind of fighting with will and fighting spirit. "


    After listening to my suggestion which is similar to a bad idea, trakov was stunned. After a long time, he hesitated and said, "Comrade oshanina, if general shumilov''s troops really fight in the way you said, the casualties of the troops will be astronomical."


    "Comrade commander, in order that we can win the final victory, we can''t care so much." Seeing that my proposal was rejected, I was worried: "if the 64th group army followed their original way of playing, it could not cause any substantial damage to the German forces who were sticking to their positions, except for constantly making heavy sacrifices. Instead of losing our valuable soldiers in futile attacks, we should concentrate on the main force and go all out, which may have an unexpected effect. "


    Obviously, he was not convinced by me. He still hesitated and said, "this matter is too much involved. For the sake of safety, I will consider it first and then decide whether to tell general shumilov."


    At the end of the call with trakov, I put down the phone and asked Gaidar, "Comrade commander, the building in the middle of the airdrop field has been taken down. What are you going to do?"


    "Comrade division commander, I plan to garrison a company in the building, under the command of captain kiricheng, a company commander, equipped with more machine guns to block the whole airdrop field. Once the enemy is found to be in this area, I will carry out fire suppression and wipe them out." At this point, he stopped for a moment, and then asked hesitantly, "Comrade division, the target of this building is too obvious. If our army enters, will it not be shelled and bombed by the German army?"


    I laughed at his worries, and then said, "Comrade commander, you think too much. The German army has been trapped in our encirclement for such a long time, not to mention that their shells are almost consumed, even the fuel of the tanks is estimated to be running out. Otherwise, in recent attacks, they have used tanks and artillery to support infantry attacks less and less? As for bombing, you don''t have to worry any more. Don''t you see that the air supremacy of the whole Stalingrad region is in the hands of our aviation forces? "


    Before Gaidar and I finished speaking, bandeleev came in from the outside and said to me on his own initiative, "Comrade division commander, the airdrop field outside has been controlled by our army. Next, I want to see the area of a regiment. If we can also occupy an airdrop field, then we can greatly reduce the supply that the enemy can get. "


    "Comrade deputy division commander, I agree with you. Go quickly." At the beginning, I asked bantaileiev to be responsible for the first and fourth regiments fighting for the airdrop of materials with the German army. Now the fourth regiment has completed half of the task here, and there is no practical significance for him to stay here any more. So I readily agreed to his request, and finally said with concern: "pay attention to safety on the road!"


    I stayed in the command post until ten o''clock, and walked into a lieutenant from the outside. He just wanted to speak, but unexpectedly found so many people sitting in the command post, so he closed his mouth in time and stood in a daze. Gaidar stood up and said to the lieutenant, "Comrade lieutenant, if you have anything to do, please report it to the commander."


    After listening to Gaidar''s words, the lieutenant raised his hand and saluted me. At the same time, he respectfully reported: "Comrade division, the enemy''s air force has begun to air drop."


    Thinking of the fact that our army has occupied the airdrop field for several hours, I am deeply afraid that the German army has changed the airdrop area, so I tentatively asked, "Comrade lieutenant, is the enemy''s transport plane still airdrop in the airdrop field just occupied by us?"


    The lieutenant nodded his head hard and answered in a affirmative, "yes, sir, the enemy is still Airdropping in the same place."


    After thinking about it, I turned to Gaidar and said, "Comrade commander, immediately order lieutenant Vassily to organize all the snipers assigned to your regiment and concentrate fire on parachutes in the sky. These airdropped materials must not drift to the enemy''s defense area with the wind."


    "I''ll arrange it now." Gaidar reached out and picked up the phone on the table.


    "Lieutenant Vassily? I''m Colonel gedar As soon as the phone rang, Gaidar gave a direct order to Vasili: "the division commander ordered that all your snipers be organized immediately to shoot at the parachutes in the air and let as many materials as possible fall into our control area. Do you understand I see. That''s very good. I hope you will not let down the trust of your teachers and comrades. " Then he hung up.


    After he put down the phone, he reported to me, "Comrade division, Lieutenant Vassily will lead the sniper to attack immediately."


    I nodded, and then told Gaidar: "Comrade commander, when the airdropped materials are landing, you should not only send troops to carry the materials, but also be alert to the German counterattack, and never let the enemy snatch the materials from under our eyes."


    Without waiting for Gaidar to show his determination to me, Morozov next to him said, "please rest assured, sir. Our artillery will cooperate with the soldiers of the fourth regiment and resolutely guard the airdrop site. We will never let the German take away the materials." When I heard Morozov''s statement, I remembered that he had just bombarded the building with heavy artillery. I raised my hand and knocked heavily on his helmet. I laughed and scolded, "major Morozov, I just want to criticize you. When dealing with an ordinary building, you should bombard it with heavy artillery at such a short distance. You are not afraid to blow up the whole building and bury our commanders and fighters together. " Morozov took off his helmet, scratched the back of his head and replied with a embarrassed smile: "Comrade division, I was also worried. Seeing that the resistance in the building was too fierce, I was afraid that our troops would pay too much, so I ordered the heavy howitzers to fire. But please rest assured that in the next defense, as long as the German army does not send out tanks, I will only use the Rockets captured from the German army to provide artillery support for our troops. " With the sniper team led by lieutenant Vassily, most of the materials slowly falling over the airdrop field fell into the airdrop field after the parachute was punctured, and the materials floating to the German positions were very few. When the German army saw that so many materials had fallen into the area controlled by our army, it immediately organized a large-scale army to snatch them. But as soon as they entered the airdrop site, they were first strafed by the machine guns of the infantry of our army who stood in the building, and then bombarded by the artillery battalion of Morozov. Finally, they lost 70 or 80 bodies and withdrew in ashes. According to the final statistics, except for 13 packages of 200 packages dropped by German transport planes, the rest were captured by the officers and soldiers of the fourth regiment. Bantaileiev also called at noon, saying that after seizing the enemy''s airdrop field, a regiment also seized a large number of German airdrop materials.

 Chapter 853

    When the German army appeared, commissar Xia Ping left the command post with Morozov and went outside to organize troops to fight back against the German army. Shortly after the end of the battle, he reappeared at the command post. He leaned over, rushed to the door and said loudly, "come in, all of you. Just put your things on the table."


    As soon as his words were over, three soldiers walked in from the door. They took turns to put the cloth bags on the table, then stepped back and stood in a neat row beside the wall, waiting for Xia Ping''s next instructions.


    Seeing that the bags in the soldiers'' hands were all on the table, Xia Ping waved to indicate that they could leave. Three soldiers raised their hands to salute us, then turned and walked out of the headquarters.


    Gaidar stares at the cloth bag on the table and asks Xia Ping strangely: "I say, comrade political commissar, what is it?"


    Shapin went to the table and took out the things in the bag one by one. Seeing the bread, canned meat, coffee and other things he put on the table one by one, I knew what Shapin was bringing, so I took over Gaidar''s words and said, "this is the German individual rations." Then I asked Xia Ping, "Comrade political commissar, is this the seized German airdrop material?"


    "Yes, sir." After Xia Ping gave me a positive answer, he said with admiration: "I didn''t expect that there are so many things in the German soldier''s rations, which are much richer than ours."


    "Not to mention, the German men''s individual rations are quite abundant," Gaidar added. "The last time the first regiment and the third regiment went north with their division commander, they seized a lot of German materials in kongniei city. Later, when you came back, the third commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosga, sent a lot of them to us


    "In addition to food and medicine, there are also a lot of weapons and ammunition." Xia Ping said triumphantly: "in this way, our regiment''s German equipment doesn''t have to worry about the shortage of ammunition."


    "Comrade division," Gaidar asked respectfully, "we have seized a lot of materials this time. Do we need to send some of them to the division?"


    I waved my hand and declined his kindness: "Comrade commander, your regiment has not been replenished for such a long time. There is a serious shortage of ammunition and materials. Let''s leave all the materials seized today. When you seize German supplies another day, it will be no later than to send them to us. "


    After leaving the command post of the fourth regiment, under the protection of Yushchenko, I went to the position of the first regiment along the newly excavated traffic trench, intending to see how they had captured shejerikov.


    As soon as we entered the position of a regiment, we heard the sharp whistling of the shells cutting through the air, and then two shells landed in front of us one after another and exploded, splashing mud all over us. Seeing this situation, Yushchenko pulled my sleeve and loudly reminded me: "Comrade division, the enemy is shelling here. We need to find a place to hide immediately."


    "All right, comrade captain." The battle of Stalingrad is in sight. I don''t want to die in the German bombardment at this time, so I yelled at Yushchenko: "go to find a shelter."


    Yushchenko straightened up, looked left and right, and then yelled, "follow me!" Then he ran out of the trench and stooped to run far away. Several other soldiers and I also learned from him. In the sound of the guns, we climbed out of the traffic ditch which only reached the waist and ran forward behind him.


    Not long after running out, Yushchenko stopped, turned around and waved to me desperately, shouting anxiously: "Comrade division, come here, there is a gun shelter." When I ran into him, he grabbed my arm and pulled me into the gun shelter.


    There are five or six soldiers in the bunker. Once we enter, the small bunker will be crowded. We can hardly turn around when we stand in the same place. Yushchenko stood beside me and said apologetically, "I''m sorry, sir. For the sake of safety, I can only aggrieve you to stay here for a while."


    "Don''t mind, comrade captain." After I responded with a smile, I turned to an elderly soldier next to me and asked, "Hey, comrade soldier, how long does the German artillery usually last?"


    The soldier glanced at my badge and replied loudly, "I''m sorry, Comrade General. Please forgive me. It''s so crowded here that I can''t lift my hand to salute you. "


    "Never mind, comrade soldier." In this special environment, I didn''t care whether he saluted me or not. Instead, I asked, "you haven''t answered my question just now."


    The soldier frowned and thought for a moment, and said, "the Germans bombard our positions every day, but the frequency of bombardment is getting less and less every day. I don''t think it will be long before the enemy''s shelling stops. "


    "Comrade General, do you think we will not be killed by German shells?" Before I could express my thanks to the soldier, a trembling voice came from behind. I painstakingly turned to look back and found a young recruit in civilian clothes. Although he was holding a gun in his hand, his body kept shaking, as if he was frightened by the shelling outside.


    "What a coward," said the soldier who had just answered my question, staring at the recruit in a discontented tone, "Comrade General, you don''t know that this coward has never stopped shivering since the German artillery bombarded our area."


    "No, comrade soldier, we won''t be killed by German shells." I comforted the recruit¡° The Germans have been surrounded by us. The shelling they are carrying out is just a dying struggle. " My words obviously didn''t work. The young recruit pushed past me without saying a word and walked out of the gun shelter quickly¡° Hey, you coward, where are you going? " The old soldier yelled at the back of the new recruits: "you don''t want to run to the Germans, do you?"


    Yushchenko heard the soldier''s curse and said to me in a low voice: "Comrade division, I''ll go out and have a look." Seeing that I nodded in agreement, he went out with another guard soldier.


    Not long after they came out, I heard a clear shot outside.


    Yushchenko, who had just chased out, came back soon. He came back dejected and had a gun in his hand. It was the gun that the recruit had just held. He told me bitterly: "Comrade division commander, the recruit committed suicide."


    "Coward, what a coward." Seeing the rifle in Yushchenko''s hand, the old soldier scolded angrily and reported to me, "Comrade General, this new recruit just joined the army yesterday and has no combat experience. Maybe he was frightened by the enemy''s artillery fire."


    I nodded, then turned back and told Yushchenko: "Comrade captain, I will leave two soldiers and find a place to bury the body of the recruit."


    After the shelling, I took Yushchenko to the command post of the first regiment. Here, I met not only lieutenant colonel chejerikov and political commissar oberstein, but also Bantai leiev, who was supervising the war here. When I told them about the suicide of the new soldiers, oberstein took over the topic and said, "Comrade division, because we have a lot of soldiers to supplement and we have no time to train, many new soldiers will panic in the face of the enemy''s shelling."


    "I don''t get it, commander sergeant kirikov." After listening to oberstein''s explanation, I turned to look at shejerikov and asked, "why is it that the fourth regiment is not bombarded by the enemy, but you are bombarded by the enemy every day?"


    Xiejerikov replied with a wry smile: "Comrade division, is that still necessary? Of course, it was related to the second artillery battalion of the division. Because of their accurate fire, the German army was terrified, so they concentrated the only fire and shelled our regiment''s defense area every day in an attempt to wipe out captain kurishenko''s artillery battalion. "


    "But don''t worry, sir," oberstein told me confidently. "Judging from the scale and time of German artillery bombardment in these two days, their shells are seriously insufficient. If we hadn''t captured their airdrop fields and most of their airdrop materials today, I don''t think they would have shelled us. "


    I felt that oberstein''s words had something to say, so I specially asked, "political commissar oberstein, if I am not immediately wrong, do you mean that the enemy''s shells are almost exhausted?"


    Oberstein nodded and replied with a smile, "absolutely right, sir. As long as we continue to capture the German airdrops as we do now, their ammunition will soon be exhausted. We are in the next attack, the resistance will be reduced a lot


    "I agree with commissar oberstein." Bantai leiev echoed: "from what I have observed today, if we had not taken the initiative to seize the enemy''s airdrop field and a large number of airdrop materials, I believe the enemy would not have jumped out of the wall and shelled a regiment''s defense area."


    If he doesn''t make a mistake in his analysis, the enemy''s ammunition and materials will be exhausted. As long as we firmly control the enemy''s airdrop field, they will soon be unable to eat. As long as we trap them for a week, it will be estimated that the absolute majority of the German troops will not have the strength to carry weapons, and our troops will be able to rush directly to capture the prisoners.


    Thinking of this, I said to Bantai leiev: "Comrade deputy division commander, during this period of time, you will continue to stay in the forefront and be responsible for commanding the 1st and 4th regiments to seize airdropped materials. You must try every means to cut off the enemy''s air supplies."


    After returning to the division headquarters, I took the initiative to call trakov and reported to him that the fourth regiment of the first regiment had captured two German airdrop supply points.


    After hearing this, trakov was very happy. He cheered repeatedly on the phone, and then said: "Comrade oshanina, although according to our reconnaissance, there are no less than ten enemy airdrop points in Stalingrad city within the scope of our group army alone, you have successfully captured two airdrop points, which has seriously affected the enemy''s supplies. It''s really amazing. I will report this to the whole group army, so that all the troops can learn from you. We must seize the remaining airdrop sites as much as possible, so that the Germans have no bullets in their guns, no food in their stomachs, and the wounded have no medicine. Let''s see how they can persist. "


    I didn''t say anything about trekov''s praise. I just giggled. After all, it''s a rare thing to get the praise from the commander. When I heard that trakov was still talking, I didn''t know how long it would take to finish. I stood for most of the day, and my legs were too tired, so I sat down in my own position.


    But as soon as he sat down, trakov suddenly said, "by the way, comrade oshanina, there''s another thing I forgot to tell you. I relayed your suggestion to general shumilov in the early morning. After listening to it, he repeatedly said, "yes, so his troops adopted the new tactics you proposed in today''s battle."¡° Really? " Hearing what trakov said, I was so excited that I almost jumped out of my seat¡° It''s true that from 9 a.m., the officers and men of the 64th group army have been attacking the German troops in the Voroshilov district. Although they paid a great price, they succeeded in seizing two blocks. " Trikov didn''t seem to notice my abnormality, and he went on saying to himself: "general shumilov said that if you didn''t fight according to the tactics you proposed, you would have suffered heavy casualties and got nothing today." When I heard that shumilov''s 64th army had captured two blocks after paying huge casualties, I felt a little more secure. If they still got nothing in the case of heavy casualties, it is estimated that my ability will be questioned by my superiors, which will have a negative impact on my future. I took a deep breath, stabilized my mood for a moment, and then asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what effect the counterattack of the 57th group army against the 4th armored group army of Hote has achieved?"¡° Oh, even if you don''t ask about it, I''m going to tell you. " Today, trikov was a bit like a chatty old lady, and his words became nagging. "Our 57th group army, with the cooperation of the 21st group army, the 5th group army of tanks and the 2nd group army of air force of the southwest front army, launched a counter attack on the German army outside the encirclement. After a day of fighting, Hote''s armored group has been repulsed by them for 30 kilometers. " As soon as trakov finished, I couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade commander, if the German reinforcements are repulsed, when will our counterattack begin?" Trekov was silent for a moment and replied, "we will launch a final attack on Paulus'' forces on the night of December 25."

 Chapter 854

    "December 25." I read this date silently in my heart. My heart said that this day is not Christmas in Europe and America. The Germans are sure to celebrate this festival, so we can catch them by surprise.


    I was about to end my conversation with trakov when gurov''s voice came from the receiver: "Hello, dear comrade oshanina, I want to talk to you."


    Gurov said this, which made me feel nervous. He always asked trakov or krailov to report anything in the past. But today he wants to talk to me in person. What''s the matter? Although I felt uneasy, I politely said, "Hello, comrade military commissar, I''m waiting for your instructions!"


    Gurov said with a smile: "don''t be so restrained, comrade oshanina. I''m just chatting with you." Then he talked to me a little bit. Finally, he changed the subject and asked kindly, "I heard that you ordered your company commander, Captain Yushchenko, to shoot and kill a deserter. Is that the case?"


    "Deserter, what deserter?" I answered mistily, "Comrade military commissar, you have confused me. I don''t understand what you mean. I have never ordered captain Yushchenko to shoot any deserters."


    "Comrade oshanina, think about it," gulov''s voice became official. He reminded me coldly, "think about it again. It happened at noon today."


    "What happened at noon today?" After hearing gurov''s suggestion, I frowned and thought hard. I thought about all my trip from this morning to now, but I didn''t think of a reason. I covered the microphone, waved to Yushchenko who was not far away, called him to the front, and asked in a low voice, "Comrade captain, comrade military commissar of the group army said that we shot a deserter today. Do you remember that?"


    Yushchenko was also dazed when I asked him this question. He asked in surprise: "Comrade division, we have never used weapons today. How can we shoot any deserters?"


    "But comrades of the military commissar definitely said that they were the deserters who were shot today." Although Yushchenko''s answer was extremely decisive, in order to give an accurate answer to gurov, I asked: "Comrade captain, are you sure you didn''t shoot today?"


    "No, sir." Yushchenko replied without hesitation. Seeing that his answer was so positive, I felt that he would not lie in front of me. Maybe it was from whose mouth gulov heard some inaccurate rumors that such a misunderstanding would occur. Just as I released the palm of my hand covering the microphone, Yushchenko suddenly exclaimed, "wait, comrade teacher, I suddenly think of something?"


    I quickly covered the microphone again and asked in a discontented tone, "Comrade captain, do you think of something?"


    Yushchenko nodded vigorously, then said to me in a low voice: "Comrade division, do you forget that we were shelled by the German army on the way to the first regiment, and we hid in a gun shelter?"


    When Yushchenko reminded me, I immediately thought of the young recruit in civilian clothes who climbed out with a gun and shot himself because he couldn''t stand the German artillery. Thinking of this, I tentatively asked Yushchenko, "Captain, do you mean the recruit who shot himself?"


    Seeing Yushchenko''s affirmative nod, I had a clear idea of the matter. After sorting out my thoughts, I opened my hand to cover the microphone again and said to the microphone, "report to comrades of the military commissar, the situation is clear."


    "What''s the matter?" Gurov asked briefly.


    I hastened to report to him in detail about the German artillery attack we encountered on our way from the fourth regiment to the first regiment. We hid in a gun shelter and met the timid recruit.


    Gulov, listen to me, the recruit was not shot because he escaped, but because he was frightened by the German artillery and collapsed. After a moment''s silence, he asked me again in a cold voice, "Comrade oshanina, can you guarantee that this soldier committed suicide and was not ordered to be shot by you for being a deserter?"


    "Comrade military commissar, I can promise." I affirmed: "Yushchenko, the weapons they used are the latest weapons developed by the base camp, which are different from the weapons used by our troops. You just need to send someone to examine the wound of the dead, and you can understand what''s going on


    "Well, I see." When I finished, gurov returned to his usual friendly tone. "I''ll send someone to investigate this."


    Just as gurov was about to hang up the phone, I suddenly thought of another thing and called out: "Comrade military commissar, please wait a moment."


    Gulov didn''t know what I called him, so he asked curiously, "is there anything else? O''shanina. "


    "Yes, comrade military Commissar." I don''t know if I can do what I think of on a whim, if I please give it to gurov, so I''m a little hesitant.


    "If you have anything to say," gurov said to me encouragingly, probably for the first time when he heard me say something to him in such a dilemma, "we are all old acquaintances. As long as we are within my ability, I will help you do it well."


    "Well, in a week, the day we attack, it''s Christmas." In order not to confuse Christmas in Europe and America with that in the Soviet Union, I specially emphasized: "it''s the German Christmas."


    "Krauts can''t get through Christmas. What''s your business?" Asked gurov, puzzled.


    Seeing that I had already said this, I would not continue to beat around the Bush and said directly, "well, comrade military commissar, there are a number of defecting German officers and men in our division. Since it''s time for the festival, we should always prepare some gifts for them so that they can have a sense of belonging to our independent teachers. "


    "A sense of belonging!" After repeating what I said, gurov said with great interest, "your statement is quite novel. What are you going to give them? "


    "Originally, I wanted to ask you to allocate a batch of chocolate from the commander''s private warehouse, but there are a lot of chocolates in today''s seized materials, so I don''t need to trouble the commander to use his precious stock." After a short time of thinking, I resolutely said to gurov, "please prepare a batch of apples for them."


    "Apple?! Apples are not good in this season When guloff heard my request, he was embarrassed and said, "what''s the point of giving apples at Christmas?"


    I remember reading about the tradition of sending apples in Europe on the Internet, but I can''t remember whether it''s Germany or Czech. But I can''t manage so much now, so I retell what I remember to guroff: "in German Christmas tradition, cutting apples is a prediction of the coming year. They cut the apple, if the first can see the apple core, it indicates good luck in the coming year; If not, it means the coming year is not going well. "


    "In that case, I''ll find a way to help you get a batch of apples." Gurov said carefully: "as you said just now, this will make your defectors have a more sense of belonging to your independent division. Don''t worry. I''ll send someone to deliver the apples you need as soon as possible. "


    After I put down the phone, kirilov immediately came up and asked, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the matter? It is clear that he is just a timid soldier. He broke down in the enemy''s shelling and shot himself. How can it become that you ordered captain Yushchenko to execute the deserters in a twinkling of an eye? "


    Seeing that kirilov seemed to want to go on talking, I quickly raised my hand to stop him and said, "OK, comrade political commissar, this is the end of the matter. Don''t mention it any more." Although I would not let kirilov mention it again, I thought to myself: were there any members of the Ministry of interior among the soldiers who stayed in the gun shelter that day?


    In order to distract kirilov and akhromeyev from their attention, I briefly introduced what trakov had just said on the phone. Seeing that they didn''t know that the 25th was European and American Christmas, they simply popularized science for them.


    When I had finished, akhromeyev looked down at the map in front of him and studied which direction we should break through the German defensive position on Christmas Eve. Kirilov was curious to ask me about the custom of sending apples at Christmas.


    At the moment, my mood stabilized, and I finally remembered that the custom just mentioned should be Czech, not German. So he introduced the German Christmas custom to kirilov: "in Germany, it is said that Santa Claus will put nuts and apples in children''s shoes. He travels around in a two wheeled carriage to observe people''s behavior, especially children. If he behaves well, he will get apples, nuts, sugar and many other prizes; Those who do not perform well will be whipped. Parents have adopted this legend to encourage their children to be obedient, and presented apples to praise their children. "


    After hearing this, kirilov laughed. After laughing, he said, "Comrade oshanina, gramus and Beckman, these German officers and men, have performed really well in our division. They deserve such a reward." At this point, he seemed to remember that the version I told him was different from the version I told gulov. He also kindly reminded me, "it seems that you have made a mistake about the customs you told the military commissar just now. Do you want to call to correct it?"


    Hearing his suggestion, I repeatedly waved my hand and said, "no, No." I knew in my heart that it was a bit too much to make a fuss to call gurov to trouble him for such a trivial matter that was not worth mentioning, so I rejected his proposal: "the military commissars still have a lot of important things to do. We can''t trouble them with such a trivial matter."


    "If so, forget it." When kirilov saw that I had no objection, he did not insist any more.


    Akhromeyev looked up at me from the map and said, "Sir, I have an idea that when we attack on Christmas Eve, our division should concentrate its main strength on the current area of a regiment." Then he pushed the map in front of me, pointed to it with a red and blue pencil, and introduced it to me: "you see, at present, the buildings of the regiment on the edge of the dzerzhinsky district are only about 200 meters away from the German occupied position of the" Red October "factory. Once we break through the German position, our troops can quickly rush into the factory area, join up with the remaining friendly troops who stick in the factory area, and wipe out all the German troops who occupy the factory area. "


    I stare at the map without saying a word, silently thinking about the feasibility of akhromeyev''s plan. Kirilov looked askew for a while, then raised his head and asked, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think of the chief of staff''s plan?" After kirilov finished, I nodded and said thoughtfully, "the Germans were busy with Christmas. They must have been very relaxed. Maybe the commander would gather the soldiers to celebrate. At this time, shelling them could cause great damage to them. When the artillery attack is over, they will be killed and injured severely, and the survivors will not be able to form a battle in a short time. At this time, we will rush up quickly and clean up the German troops in the position thoroughly. "¡° Sir, I have a suggestion. " Akhromeyev, standing beside him, suddenly looked serious and said to me solemnly, "can''t you say it or not?"¡° Comrade chief of staff, please let me know what you think. " With a smile on my face, I said to my chief of staff, "although everyone is familiar with it, if your plan is unrealistic and can not be implemented, I will not hesitate to deny it." My words caused kirilov''s laughter, and akhromeyev''s face was tense and smiling. After getting my approval, he boldly expressed his own idea: "Comrade division commander, I think we should not only fight military wars, but also learn to fight political wars."¡° Political war? " Kirilov heard the new words and asked akhromeyev curiously, "chief of staff, what do you mean? Can you be more specific?"¡° Comrade political commissar, I will make a detailed explanation next. " Akhromeyev expressed his thoughts unreservedly: "I remember that in the past, after our army was surrounded by German troops, German commanders usually sent officers and soldiers who knew Russian to shout at our commanders and fighters with loudspeakers to persuade them to lay down their arms and surrender in order to reduce the casualties of their troops."¡° I see, chief of staff. " As soon as akhromeyev was halfway through, he was interrupted by kirilov. He excitedly said to me, "Comrade oshanina, I understand what the chief of staff said. He wanted gramus to persuade the German troops who had been fighting in the corner to surrender to us through their loudspeakers in the counterattack on Christmas Eve. I think it''s a good idea. What do you mean? " In fact, I had this idea in my mind when I left gramus and his subordinates, but the conditions have not been mature, so gramus and his subordinates will always be hidden by me. Now it''s finally time to let them use it, so I nodded very simply, and then told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, Call captain Grimes and ask them to come to division headquarters immediately. "

 Chapter 855

    Among the former German officers and men who came to the headquarters were Capt. gramus, Capt. Beckman, and Lt. gretka, who spoke Russian almost as well as his native language, as well as Lt. Braun, who covered our sneak attack troops into konnai last time they went north.


    When I saw the former German lieutenant, I was stunned and said, "who told him to come?"? Thinking of this, I turned my head and looked at akhromeyev next to me, trying to find out if he had taken the initiative to call the officer who had not yet been officially loyal to us. Who knows that after akhromeyev''s eyes met me, he spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders and made a "I don''t know" expression.


    But now that Braun is here, it doesn''t seem appropriate to throw him out. After a cough, akhromeyev told us that we were going to let them fight against the German army on the battlefield. Because Braun, a German officer who didn''t know the details, was there, he didn''t say the specific attack time, but only said that our army would launch an attack on the German army in the near future. After that, he habitually asked, "do you have any ideas?"


    As soon as the words came to an end, Lieutenant Braun took the lead in speaking. The more Braun spoke, the more ugly their faces were. Because I couldn''t understand Braun''s German, I asked gretka in a loud voice, "Comrade lieutenant, what''s lieutenant Braun talking about?"


    Gretka takes a look at Braun next to her, with a look of embarrassment on her face. From his reaction, I knew that Braun''s estimation was something I didn''t want to hear, so I was at a loss.


    "Comrade lieutenant," kirilov, who was sitting next to me, said sternly with a straight face, "didn''t you hear the order of the division commander? Immediately translate what the lieutenant said to the division commander. "


    Although kirilov used a very severe tone, Lieutenant gretka hesitated and did not translate for me. In order to find out what Braun said, I said to gretka with a smile: "Comrade lieutenant, no matter what the former German Lieutenant said, I hope you can translate it for me truthfully. You just need to be in charge of the translation. I won''t blame you for Braun''s excessive remarks. "


    With my encouragement, gretka boldly translated to me: "Comrade division, Lieutenant Braun said: we are not the opponents of Manstein. Marshal will break through the encirclement of the Soviet army and rescue the encircled Paulus troops."


    Braun may have heard Manstein''s name from gretka''s mouth, and suddenly blood gushed into his face and yelled: "Marshal Manstein! The conqueror of Sevastopol, the German God of war, is invincible


    Kirilov can understand German. For Braun, he is so angry that he orders Yushchenko standing aside: "Captain Yushchenko, what are you still doing? Why don''t you drag this bullshit out of here?"


    Yushchenko promised that the soldiers outside the door would come in and catch Braun. I quickly raised my hand to stop him, looked at Braun in an excited state, and asked calmly, "Lieutenant Braun, tell me your reason. I want to hear why Manstein is invincible?"


    After listening to gretka''s translation, Braun''s mood stabilized a lot, but when it comes to Manstein, he said with reverence: "after the Polish war, marshal Manstein personally formulated the" Manstein plan ", which eliminated France, the first military power in Europe, within two months; After the outbreak of the battle between the Soviet Union and Germany, he led his troops to the foot of St. Petersburg; And a few months ago, he captured Sevastopol, who is known as "invincible", and captured hundreds of thousands of defenders surrounded by us in just two months


    I heard him smile instead of anger when he finished. Then, in front of the public, I commented on Manstein: "from the heart, Manstein is an excellent commander. He is good at coordinating the overall situation, especially at tackling difficult problems and large-scale roundabout. It is precisely because of these characteristics that he has made a series of outstanding achievements. He has defeated us before, and even has a chance to defeat us in the future. But what I want to tell you is that he is defeated by us now. In today''s battle, our troops outside the encirclement not only blocked his attack, but also drove his troops back for dozens of kilometers. "


    Seeing that not only Braun, but also gramus, there were incredible expressions of surprise on their faces, I said while the iron was hot: "we intercepted a telegram from count lightning to Paulus, which said: don''t give up, I will come to save you, Manstein. It was this telegram that gave Paulus illusory hope that the German army in the city could continue to resist tenaciously. However, I can now tell you very responsibly that marshal Manstein will never be able to rescue Paulus'' troops from our encirclement. The end of the 6th group army, which is running out of ammunition and food and full of wounded soldiers, is coming. If you can take the initiative to cooperate with us in persuading those German officers and men in desperate situation, you can save them from the brink of destruction. I have finished what I should say. I respect the choice of all of you if you are willing to help us persuade the encircled German army to surrender


    After I finished, I quietly looked at a few people to see what kind of reaction they had. In any case, Manstein was a God in the eyes of the German soldiers, just like Zhukov in the eyes of the Soviet army. It was very difficult to persuade them with a few words.


    After a long time, they didn''t speak. Just as I was about to lose patience, Grimes took a step forward and said aloud in broken Russian, "Sir, I''ll follow your instructions!"


    Seeing that Grimes took the lead to set an example, gretka and Beckman also stepped forward one after another and said to me, "Comrade General, we are determined to obey your orders."


    Seeing that the three people cooperated so well, I nodded with satisfaction and said to them, "I believe you will be proud of your choice today. Not only the officers and soldiers saved by you will thank you, but also their relatives and friends in China. When you return to your homeland, I believe people will welcome you like heroes


    I turned my eyes to lieutenant Braun, who was standing still. I was about to tell captain Yushchenko to take him down and lock him up. Unexpectedly, he also stepped forward. However, gramus stood side by side, raised his hand and saluted me solemnly. Then he began to murmur. Gretka translated for me in time: "general, German Lieutenant Braun is at your service


    A few days passed in a flash. On Christmas afternoon, Captain gurov sent us more than ten apples and a batch of chocolates in stock, as well as several bottles of vodka, which he said were Christmas gifts for the defectors.


    When Grimes, Beckman and their former officers and men were gathered by me to distribute gifts, they were stunned at first and then cheered in unison. Some were shouting "hooray" in German, while others were shouting "Wula" in Russian!


    In the face of this unexpected holiday gift, not to mention the ordinary soldiers were overjoyed, even gramus was very happy. Beckman, who has always deliberately kept a distance from me, also expressed his thanks to me on behalf of his subordinates for the first time.


    In the evening, I took Yushchenko, gramus, gretka and others along the crisscross traffic moat to a building at the forefront of the regiment. As soon as we entered the building, the soldiers on duty at the entrance of the corridor led us to the observation post on the second floor.


    As soon as we entered the observation post, Bantai leyev and shejerikov, who were watching the enemy''s movements in the distance by the window, heard the news. They left the window, walked up to me and raised their hands to salute me. After I returned a gift, I walked to the window and asked casually, "what''s the enemy doing?"


    "No!" "These Germans have been staying in their fortifications and never attacked us since the Manstein troops outside the attack pack were repulsed," he said clearly. Now, they can hardly see more people in their positions than sporadic sentries. "


    Although I have to listen to the contents of the report by Xie jierikov several times a day, when I listen to his report again, I don''t show any impatience. I went to the window, raised my telescope and looked into the distance. I didn''t hide my body at all, because I believe that at this time, the German army would never find any more powerful snipers.


    Because of the bright moonlight at night, from the telescope, I can see clearly that there is a long collapsed wall 200 meters away, which should be the wall wreckage of the "Red October" factory. In front of the wall, there was a new German trench. In the trench, except for a few swaying figures, no other German soldiers could be seen. Within the fence, about 70 or 80 meters away, there are dozens of German tanks, armored vehicles and trucks. However, from the fact that they have not launched any more attacks, it is estimated that the ammunition and fuel of these vehicles have been consumed.


    Bantai leiev came up to me and asked in a low voice, "Comrade teacher, what are you doing here with these Germans?" The words are full of distrust of gramus and them.


    "If we can persuade some of the German officers and men to surrender, our resistance to attack will be much weaker." After I finished this sentence, I turned to ask sergeant sharjkov, "Comrade commander, have you done all the things that the chief of staff told you?"


    "All ready, sir." When shejerikov heard my question, he quickly came forward and said, "the loudspeakers and the letter of persuasion are in the next room."


    I pointed at them with my hand, and said to shejerikov, "now that they are all ready, then, comrade commander, you will take captain Grimes and them to the next room, and immediately persuade them to surrender to the German army through the loudspeakers."


    Not long after shejerikov led grams and they left, I suddenly heard a huge voice not far from the window. Bandeleev, who knew a little German, translated it for me and said, "officers and men of the sixth group army of the German defense forces, are you still waiting for Manstein''s rescue? What''s more, I will come to rescue you, ¡¯He was inspired by his words. I regret to tell you that you have all been cheated. Manstein''s troops suffered defeat again in yesterday''s battle. Under the heavy attack of the Red Army, they retreated 200 kilometers and got further and further away from you. "


    With the sound of the broadcast, a lot of helmets appeared in the trench in the distance. It should be the German officers and soldiers who were hidden in the trench. When they heard the broadcast, they all went out to listen to it.


    Seeing more and more German officers and men coming forward, bantaileiev stopped translating and said with emotion, "the Germans are coming out of their hiding places. If we have a shelling at this time, we will be able to destroy most of their troops." I raised my hand, looked at my watch and said to Bantai leiev, "don''t worry, comrade deputy division commander. In another hour, our shelling will begin. If these German officers and men are ignorant of the current situation and surrender to us, let the artillery on the east coast send them to hell later. "¡° With this broadcast, will they surrender? " Bantelayev asked in a suspicious tone. I shook my head and answered with a bitter smile, "no, they will never surrender until they are bombarded with devastating artillery." Our persuasion broadcast not only attracted the attention of German soldiers, but also attracted the attention of German commanders. I saw several officers in eaves hats in the trenches. They were wearing black leather gloves, holding pistols, holding them high above their heads, waving desperately, and running back and forth in the trenches, as if they were appeasing the soldiers who were shaken. The time of the shelling was 8 p.m. when it arrived. A series of sighing and groaning sounds came from the air, and then the arrows of fire cut through the sky, passed over our heads and disappeared into the German position. Then there was a terrible roar. With the explosion coming, Bantai leiev and I stepped back from the window to avoid the strong wind. Through the window, the light of the explosion lightened our dim observation place. In the sound of explosion on the ceiling and walls, dust fell from time to time, falling all over me. My eardrum was so buzzing by the huge explosion that I couldn''t hear anything. I didn''t expect that the rockets on the east bank would be so powerful when they happened together. I couldn''t help but scold them in a low voice. I strode to the window and raised my telescope to have a look. The place where I could see the trench just now had turned into a sea of fire. The flames rose up and formed an insurmountable wall of fire.

 Chapter 856

    After only one round of rocket fire on the east bank, howitzers and cannons continued to bombard the factory area of "Red October". The huge explosion broke through the silent winter night. With the shrill sound of countless shells cutting through the air, the German army was completely covered by the gunfire, and the shells poured down in the north side of the factory like a rainstorm.


    Looking out from the telescope, we can see that after each shell landed, a deep pit within ten meters was formed in the center of the explosion point. If it happened that the German troops in this center were blown to pieces, and many German officers and soldiers who were lucky to be far away from the explosion point did not escape the flying shrapnel and fell to the ground in pieces. The whole camp has been reduced to a living hell. The German soldiers who have never been hit by such heavy artillery do not even know what to do. They can only run around like headless flies. Tanks and cars are constantly destroyed by the roaring shells, overturned by the air waves, and even the ammunition stacked around them is detonated by the shells, causing chain explosions, It caused more casualties to the German soldiers who ran around.


    When the artillery bombardment was most intense, I suddenly felt that someone was patting me on the shoulder behind me. I quickly put down my telescope and looked back. Behind me stood shijerikov. When he saw me looking back, he quickly yelled at me. However, I felt that his voice seemed to come from a very distant place. He quickly turned his ear to me, It was clear that he was saying, "Comrade division commander, there is a friendly commander coming outside. He is waiting for you in the opposite room."


    A friendly commander? What are they doing in my area? With this question, I followed behind xijerikov to an empty room opposite. There were three commanders with big cornice hats standing near the window. When I came in, they came to me.


    Shijerikov closed the door behind me, and the explosion from outside was much quieter. With the help of the moonlight coming through the window, I saw several people standing in front of me. I was surprised and asked, "aren''t you Colonel Sokolov, the commander of the 45th division? I don''t know what you are doing in our division''s defense area so late? "


    Sokolov heard me call out his name, quickly stepped forward, raised his hand to salute me, and said: "Comrade General, commander of the 45th infantry division, Colonel Sokolov reports to you, I am ordered to lead the troops to cooperate with the operation of the independent division, waiting for your orders!"


    "Oh, oh." At a loss, I looked at the commanders in front of me. I didn''t know how to answer Sokolov''s report in military language. I felt that they came too suddenly, because no one told me that there would be friendly forces other than artillery to cooperate with us.


    Instead of caring about my indifferent attitude, Sokolov introduced to me the political workers standing beside him: "Comrade General, this is my deputy political division commander and regimental political commissar, comrade gramazda."


    When gramazda heard Sokolov introducing him to me, he quickly stepped forward, raised his hand, saluted me and said with a smile, "Hello, Comrade General!"


    I quickly raised my hand to return a gift to him, and said in a flurried way: "Hello, comrade political commissar at the regiment level."


    "Comrade division commander, this commander is captain beliffer, commander of the 6th company of the 178th regiment of the 122mm howitzer artillery." Sokolov pointed to the commander who was standing still and said to me, "his artillery company is specialized in providing artillery cover for our attack."


    After Sokolov''s introduction, I asked, "Comrade Colonel, may I ask, by whose order are you here?"


    When Sokolov heard me say this, he looked surprised: "Comrade General, have you not been informed?"


    "What notice?" I asked, puzzled.


    "In today''s attack, commander trakov intends to wipe out the enemy in the factory area of Red October." Sokolov quickly repeated the order of his superior to me: "he was afraid that you would not have enough troops, so he temporarily decided to transfer our division to cooperate with your attack on the" Red October "factory area."


    As the artillery fire on the east bank might stop at any time, I could not care to find out why I had not been informed, so I asked Sokolov straightforwardly, "Comrade Colonel, what are you going to do when you attack later?"


    Sokolov turned to his commissar and said with a smile, "Comrade commissar, please give me the map." Gramazda nodded, took a rolled map out of the bag that was slung over his shoulder and handed it to him. Sokolov took the map and looked left and right, then spread it flat on the ground.


    To make sure we could see the map on the ground, everyone avoided the side by the window so that we could see the map by the moonlight. However, Rao is so, I still feel a little hard to see the words on the map. Sokolov seemed to find out the problem and immediately told the artillery captain beside him: "Comrade captain, I used your flashlight for a while."


    At Sokolov''s command, belifel quickly took off his carry on backpack, took out a flashlight from it and turned it on to light us. Seeing that the words on the map became clear in the light, Sokolov squatted on the ground and explained to me the attack route of the 45th Division: "Comrade General, we plan to break through the German peripheral defense line, rush into the factory area, and then rush into the model workshop, classification workshop and mechanic workshop occupied by the German army in three ways. After clearing the enemy inside, we can enter the western part of the factory, So as to complete the encirclement of the enemy. "


    My original idea was to send a regiment to the area guarded by the 39th division of the guards after breaking through the German defense line. After meeting them, I would turn around and destroy the German army in the factory. But now with the cooperation of the 45th division, we have a greater grasp of encircling and annihilating the German troops in the Red October factory area.


    In order to make Sokolov''s troops better cooperate with our division''s operations, I pointed to the map and explained my operational intention to him: "Comrade Colonel, I plan to send a battalion of troops to break into the factory area after the artillery preparation is over, and quickly rush to join the 39th division of the guards who are holding their positions in the factory area. Then I turned over and divided the German troops into small pieces. After dawn, under the cover of the aircraft cannons, they ate them bit by bit. However, with your cooperation, we can join forces and attack several workshops occupied by the German army. Remember, try to squeeze the Germans to the east of the factory, where there are no strong fortifications, and we can easily defeat the enemy. "


    However, after listening to my thoughts, Sokolov showed a worried expression on his face: "Comrade General, although our artillery has defeated the enemy, they have an advantage in the military strength after all. You only send one battalion to join the 39th division of the guards. Is it too thin?"


    I understand why Sokolov is worried about the shortage of our troops. After several wars, many division level units have only a few hundred people. According to his idea, it''s good to have 100 people in one battalion. So I laughed disapprovingly and said easily, "don''t worry, comrade colonel. The battalion in charge of meeting with the friendly forces is now fully loaded, with a total force of 800. There is still no big problem in breaking through the German positions. "


    "Eight hundred?" After I gave this figure, I really surprised Sokolov. Sokolov turned to his political commissar and said, "Comrade political commissar, there are so many people, almost half of our division."


    When I heard that the sound of guns outside became sparse, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I asked Sokolov, "Comrade Colonel, where are your troops?"


    "Comrade General, please give it to me." Sokolov led me to the window, pointed out and said, "you see, my troops are hidden in the fortifications there, and they can attack immediately at the command."


    With the help of the bright moonlight and the explosion of artillery shells in the distance, I saw that in the crisscross trenches, there were shaking helmets, so I nodded with satisfaction: "good. As soon as the shelling stopped, I will order your troops to rush up."


    Just then, I vaguely heard a noise outside the door. I turned around and asked the man standing at the door, "Comrade commander, what''s going on outside?"


    He shook his head blankly, and then said, "Comrade teacher, I''ll go out and have a look right away." With that, he turned to open the door and went out.


    After a while, he came in with a soldier from the outside. After closing the door, he reported to me, "Comrade division commander, this soldier is from the division headquarters. He said that there is an order from the superior to be handed over to you."


    "Show it to me." I said briefly.


    I took the order of shejerikov to turn around, and captain belifel next to me lit my flashlight to make sure I could read the words on the paper. The order was issued by trakov, who officially informed me that after the night''s artillery preparation, the 45th infantry division of Colonel Sokolov would cooperate with our attack.


    After reading this order, I raised my head and asked the messenger, "Comrade soldier, when did the political commissar ask you to send this order to me?"


    Hearing my question, the soldier lowered his head and said in shame, "about an hour ago."


    "What, more than an hour ago?" When I heard this time, my blood rushed to my head. Fortunately, trekov only informed me that there were friendly forces to cooperate with us. If it was other orders, would it be a mistake soon? So my voice to the soldier was very strict: "it''s ten minutes'' journey from the division headquarters to here at most, but it took you more than an hour. Aren''t you afraid that the order didn''t arrive in time and the plane would be delayed?"


    "Sir, please listen to my explanation." The soldier was scared out of his wits and explained to me in a hurry: "after I received the task, I was afraid of delaying the work, so I trotted all the way to this side. However, because the road is not familiar, ran in the wrong direction. By the time I found this mistake, I was far away from here... "


    "Well, no more." At such a time, when I had no time to listen to his explanation, I told sergeant sharnikov, "Comrade commander, lock him up first, and deal with him after the battle is over." Shejerikov agreed, grabbed the soldier by the arm, ignored his entreaties, and dragged him out.


    After about half an hour, Bantai leiev came to tell me that the fire on the East Coast had weakened and shifted to other directions. After listening to bantaileiev''s report, I told Sokolov, "Comrade Colonel, order your troops to attack."


    Sokolov agreed loudly, then turned to gramazda and said, "go ahead, my Commissar."


    When gramazda heard his command, he nodded, then walked quickly to the window, opened the holster, pulled out the gun, and fired into the air. With the sound of his gun, a red flare rose into the air. Seeing the attack signal from the building, the earth shaking cry came out of the window: "go ahead! Wula At the same time came the sound of countless pairs of boots stepping on the snow. When I heard the news from outside, I knew it was the soldiers of the 45th division who started to attack. When Sokolov heard the news outside, he raised his hand to salute me and politely asked, "Comrade General, will you allow me to command my troops?"¡° Go, comrade colonel I raised my hand to give him a gift. After Sokolov and the two of them left, the artillery company commander came up to me and said tactfully, "Comrade General, I have a request. The artillery of our company has no vehicle to tow. I need you to send someone to help me pull it."¡° No problem. I''ll send a company of infantry to help you later I readily agreed to the captain''s request. As soon as the artillery captain left, several of them came to me and asked for instructions: "Comrade division commander, the army''s attack has begun. Shall we follow up and cooperate with their military attack to launch a political offensive?"¡° Yes, come with me. " With these words, I took Yushchenko and gramus, and they left the building, followed the route of the army attack, and headed for the factory area. In front of the trench which existed not long ago before the wall, the strong smoke mixed with the pungent smell of blood. You can see the ground full of broken limbs and flesh, and the blood flowing into a river. In the distant roar of rows of artillery fire, the wounded soldiers who have not yet lost cry and cry. It seems that this place has become a hell on earth. Seeing his compatriots struggling on the edge of life and death, gramus was a little impatient. He came to me and suggested, "Comrade division, you see so many wounded soldiers, we can''t watch them die. I would like to ask you to send medical staff to treat them. How much can you save? " I looked at gramus, then nodded and said, "well, comrade captain, I''ll leave it to you and lieutenant gretka." Then I said to Beckman, who was standing by, "Captain, follow me to the factory area. Maybe there are still many of your compatriots waiting for you to help. "

 Chapter 857

    Beckman, who has always kept a distance from me, unexpectedly nodded after hearing what I said. Perhaps for fear that his former comrades would die worthless, he took Lieutenant Braun and a dozen soldiers to run from the depths of the factory area, including his own subordinates and soldiers of the guard company. The former is to persuade the German soldiers who are still struggling, while the latter is to protect their safety.


    Looking at Beckman''s back, Yushchenko murmured dissatisfied: "Sir, are we too good to these Germans? Not only to treat their wounded, but also to persuade those German soldiers who will soon be destroyed by us. I think it''s unnecessary. "


    "When are you still thinking about this?" As for Yushchenko''s complaints, I gave him a gloomy look, and then said to him in a tone of teaching: "Comrade captain, I ask you to make it clear that although captain Beckman and his men were German soldiers before, they have joined us and become our comrades now. If captain Beckman can tell those German officers and men who are still fighting stubbornly that marshal Manstein, who came to rescue them, has been repulsed by our army, completely breaking the illusion of the enemy''s heart, and obediently laying down his arms and surrendering to us, how many casualties will we reduce in this way, have you considered? "


    Yushchenko, who was reprimanded by me, did not defend. Instead, he scattered the soldiers of the guard company who came out with us, and let them form a loose circle around me to protect me to go deep into the factory area.


    The area of the "Red October" factory is bigger than I expected. After walking for nearly half an hour, it is not close to any workshop where the enemy and us are fighting.


    "We can''t go any further, sir." Yushchenko, who was walking beside him, suddenly said to me in a loud voice: "we are very close to the area of the exchange of fire. If we go further, there will be danger. He was either killed by a shell or by a stray bullet... "


    Maybe it''s to add persuasion to his persuasion. His voice just dropped. A shell flying from the deep of the factory landed 30 meters to the right of us and exploded. The roar nearby overwhelmed all the other voices. The soil splashed at the blasting point, and shrapnel flew around with howling sound. Two soldiers walking on my right suddenly gave a cry of pain, and then fell to the ground at the same time.


    "What''s the matter, what''s the matter?" Seeing the soldiers beside me fall down, I couldn''t help getting flustered. I repeatedly asked, "have you been hit by the cold gun of the German?"


    Yushchenko rushed to the two soldiers, squatted down and asked in a deep voice, "what''s the matter?"


    "I was hit by shrapnel!" One of the soldiers replied bitterly.


    "Does it matter?" Yushchenko asked again.


    The soldier shook his head and replied, "the shrapnel is blocked by the armor. The injury is not serious."


    Hearing that the soldier was not seriously injured, Yushchenko quickly stood up and came back to me. He spoke as fast as he could and said, "Comrade division, you can''t go any further. Our bullet proof clothes may be able to block the stray bullets flying in the distance, but they can''t block the shells at all. If that shell had just landed a little closer to us, I believe many of us have really fallen down. "


    After his words, I found that although the soldiers around didn''t speak, they all turned their eyes to me and waited silently for me to make the final decision.


    The scene just now made me understand that it''s not the time to be a hero. If I was really killed by a shell, I would be wronged. However, since I have entered the factory, it is not appropriate for me to go back. I might as well find a hiding place nearby to observe the progress of the fighting in the factory.


    Thinking of this, I tried my best to keep calm and said to Yushchenko: "Comrade captain, since we have entered the factory area, it is impossible to retreat again. Retreat at this time means escape. I can''t be an escape general, so we must stay here anyway." After expressing my determination, I asked him, "Comrade captain, go and find out if there is a suitable place nearby for us to hide for a while. After daybreak, we''ll move on. "


    Yushchenko looked around for a moment, then pointed to my left side and said directly, "Sir, there seems to be a ditch dug by a truck. Let''s go there first. As long as it is not directly hit by German shells, I believe there is no danger. "


    "Well, let''s go there first." Hearing Yushchenko say that there is a place to hide nearby, I waved my hand and said aloud, "Comrade captain, you lead the way ahead."


    The ditch for car repair is more than ten meters long and more than one meter deep. When we went there, we found that the ditch was full of German corpses. I was hesitating whether to change the place when Yushchenko had begun to command the soldiers to lift the bodies out of the trench.


    After the corpses were carried aside, I jumped into the ditch without hesitation, found a position with wide vision, raised my telescope, and looked in the direction of the distant workshop where there was an exchange of fire.


    The workshop in the telescope is burning at the moment, but I don''t know whether the burning is caused by artillery fire or grenade explosion. Many of the German soldiers at the windows of the factory are shooting continuously. Some of our soldiers hide in the crater in front of the factory and shoot against the German soldiers. The other part, under the cover of the terrain, approaches the factory quickly. When it was not far from the factory, he raised his hand and threw a grenade. When the firelight and smoke of the grenade explosion rose, they rushed forward decisively, jumped into the factory from the window of no one, and engaged in a new battle with the German army inside.


    When I was looking at it, there was a voice behind me. It seemed that a group of people were dragging something forward. I quickly put down my telescope and looked back. A large group of soldiers were dragging several large caliber guns towards us.


    When I saw such a large number of people, I knew that it was the artillery company of the 178th artillery regiment, because in addition to the artillery, there were also infantry sent by chejerikov to help them pull the artillery. So I told Yushchenko, "Comrade captain, go and call the company commander of the artillery company."


    Yushchenko agreed, took orders, turned and ran away quickly.


    It wasn''t long before Yushchenko answered me with the artillery captain. Because I forgot the name of the company commander, I could only ask vaguely, "Comrade captain, where are you going to put your artillery company?"


    The artillery captain looked around for a while and answered me, "report, comrade general, there is a distance of one to three kilometers from the fighting workshops. So I plan to deploy the artillery positions here to provide necessary artillery support for the attacking friendly forces."


    "No, comrade captain." As soon as the artillery captain''s words were finished, I shook my head like a rattle. "It''s too far. In such a long distance, you can''t suppress the enemy''s firepower with your only guns."


    "Comrade General, what should I do?" The artillery captain was a little flustered when I said that. After a short silence, he asked me, "where should I put my artillery company?"


    I waved my hand forward and said, "Comrade captain, let your artillery continue to push the cannon forward. Push to a place only two or three hundred meters away from the enemy''s fortifications, and then set up artillery positions to provide necessary artillery support for our offensive forces. "


    "What, push the gun to a place only two or three hundred meters away from the enemy''s position, and shoot close." Since the other side is to cooperate with our division, I will teach him my own tactics without stint¡° With the caliber of your artillery, no matter how strong the fortifications of the enemy are, they will not be able to resist the bombardment of the artillery. "


    "But, Comrade General." Although I heard this new way of playing, the artillery captain hesitated and said, "it''s too close. The shells will hit our own people."


    "Comrade captain, you may not know." Regarding the artillery captain''s worry, I said with disapproval: "a few days ago, when the 64th group army captured the streets of Voroshilov District, the artillery that provided artillery support for infantry never stopped shooting. It was only when the enemy could not fight back that our troops were able to smoothly break through the enemy''s line of defense. Although there may be accidental injury, but in order to achieve the final victory, no matter how big the price is worth it


    The artillery captain heard me say so, had no choice but to agree. Then he turned and ran quickly back to the crowd dragging the cannons, and I heard him shouting from a distance, "keep going!"


    When the artillery passed through the trench and gradually walked away, Yushchenko whispered in my ear, "Comrade division commander, is it appropriate for the artillery to set their positions so close to the enemy fortifications? You know, even if the enemy doesn''t have artillery, their machine guns can directly threaten our artillery positions. "


    "Captain Yushchenko," I said impatiently to Yushchenko, who had been whispering in my ears, "there are still many troops in front of the fortifications. They see that the enemy''s machine gun fire points threaten the artillery positions in the rear. They will try to solve these problems themselves." After that, I told him, "Captain, in order to keep abreast of the progress of the battle, you should send some people to inform the commanders of the battle and ask them to send me all the battle reports."


    After being informed by Yushchenko, the battle reports of the first regiment and the 45th division were sent to me in an endless stream. From the war report, I learned that although our army occupied most of the workshops, the German soldiers who had suffered a lot in the street battle learned to use the most solid buildings and basements as the support for their stubborn resistance. Although our troops paid a great price in capturing the German firepower support points, they made slow progress.


    The battle lasted until dawn. After fighting for more than ten hours, our army gradually eliminated all the enemies in the model workshop, classification workshop and mechanic workshop, realized the meeting with the 39th division of Jinwei, and completed the encirclement of the German officers and men in the factory. The remaining officers and men of the enemy fought and retreated, and fled into the office building that they had transformed into a powerful defense hub.


    When I heard that several attacks organized by Sokolov and shejerikov were all backed down by the German troops in the building, I insisted on coming to the mechanic workshop where the headquarters of the 45th division was located, regardless of Yushchenko''s opposition. Here, in addition to Sokolov, I also met the commander of the 39th division, general guriyev, and the first commander, Lieutenant Colonel xiejerikov.


    Seeing my arrival, general guriyev welcomed me with a smile. At the same time, he took the initiative to extend his hand and warmly called me: "Hello, comrade deputy commander, nice to meet you here!"


    When I shook hands with guriyev, I said with concern, "Comrade General, it''s too dangerous here. You''d better take your troops to the back to have a rest, and leave the rest to us."


    Guriyev, with a smile on his face, listened to me and released my hand. At the same time, he put a face on his face and said seriously, "Comrade deputy commander, how can you say that? You can come to the most dangerous places. Why can''t I stay here? " When he said that, I suddenly felt that my cheek was hot. Perhaps he saw my embarrassed expression and quickly slowed down his tone and said, "our soldiers of the close guard division have been fighting here for two months and are very familiar with the environment of the factory area, so I think we should hand over the task of the active building to our division."¡° Comrade Colonel, general guriyev said that they are very familiar with the factory and want to take over the task of seizing the office building. " Instead of answering guriyev immediately, I turned to Sokolov and asked, "do you agree with him?"¡° No, absolutely not. " Sokolov was anxious to hear me say this, and said to Guriev: "Comrade General, after a night''s fighting, my division''s officers and soldiers are very tired, but there is no problem in seizing the office building occupied by the German army." At this point, he turned to me and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, I ask you to hand over the task of seizing the building to our division. On behalf of the 45th infantry division, we are confident to complete all the combat tasks you have given us. " I beckoned to sjerykov, who was standing behind a few people, called him to me and asked, "Comrade commander, I heard that several attacks you organized have been defeated by the enemy who stood in the building. Is that true?" Xiejerikov nodded his head vigorously and answered positively, "yes, sir. Because the enemy''s fortifications were solid and the firepower was fierce, all the three charges we organized before and after were repulsed by the enemy. "¡° Where''s the artillery? Where''s the artillery? " Hearing that the other side''s fortifications were solid, I looked around for the captain from the 178th artillery regiment. At the same time, I asked strangely, "isn''t there a howitzer company to cooperate with you? Why don''t you bombard the German fortifications with howitzers?"

 Chapter 858

    As for my question, Sokolov quickly replied, "Comrade deputy commander, it''s like this. Because the German army in the office building has artillery, and the mechanical workshop is surrounded by open space, all in the German artillery range and so on, we are unable to establish a suitable artillery position for the time being. "


    "It''s a joke. Since it''s impossible to build artillery positions outside the factory building, why can''t you build positions inside the factory building?" I pointed to the side of the factory facing the office building and said, "you put up your guns on the windows of the factory. As long as you fire a few guns at the building occupied by the enemy, their so-called solid defense will collapse immediately."


    On hearing this, guriyev shrugged his shoulders, pointed around and said with a helpless face: "Comrade oshanina, look at the situation in this workshop. There are bricks and stones everywhere. The howitzers of the artillery company can''t be towed in. How can we build artillery positions?"


    I looked around the environment and found that the huge factory had no roof, the surrounding walls were damaged by shells or bombs, and the walls in many places had collapsed, leaving only isolated reinforced concrete columns standing there, and the fingers of thick and thin steel bars were exposed. Many processing machines placed in the workshop were also covered by collapsed bricks or steel beams. The whole workshop is full of bricks and stones with a height of more than half a person. It is difficult to walk empty handed, let alone pull in such heavy howitzers.


    Looking at me staring at the bricks and rubble on the ground in a daze, Xie jerikov, who is familiar with my character, quietly walked into my side and said in a low voice: "Comrade division, it''s about 200 meters from here to the opposite office building. If there is no artillery support, our charge commanders and fighters will become the targets of German shooting in the open field."


    "We have to find a way to provide artillery support for our soldiers," I said to myself after listening to what shijerikov said. "Otherwise, no matter how many people we put in, we will only be the victims of the German guns." But how to provide artillery cover for the infantry made it difficult for me. Let the East Coast Artillery bombard the opposite building? No, this idea was denied by me as soon as it came out. I''m joking. We are only 200 meters away from the building where the German army is located. Maybe the shells flying from the east bank didn''t hit the enemy, but they all fell on our heads. That''s a joke.


    I walked back and forth in the temporary command post in the middle of the rubble, thinking about how to change the current unfavorable situation. While I was racking my brains to find a way, I heard guriyev whispering to Yushchenko: "Hey, comrade captain, what''s this thing on you? Is it made of iron?" Then I heard the sound of finger calibre metal plates. It should be guriyev checking Yushchenko''s bullet proof clothes.


    "Comrade General, this is the bullet proof vest that the superior distributed to us." Yushchenko replied in a low voice: "this kind of clothes can block the enemy''s bullets at a distance of 100 meters. Originally, it was used to equip shock engineers. Because we were temporarily transferred to Stalingrad, we were equipped first. "


    "Is this kind of bullet proof clothing integrated or assembled?" Guriyev kept asking like a curious baby.


    "Comrade General, look at what you said." Yushchenko replied with a smile: "if the clothes are a whole, storage is a big problem. It''s pieced together. After being disassembled at ordinary times, a few bullet proof vests can be put in a box, and then they can be taken out and put on when fighting... "


    Yushchenko didn''t mean to speak, but I meant to listen. He was chatting with guriyev, but I found inspiration from what he said. Since our bullet proof clothes can be disassembled, so can our guns. Since the complete cannon can not be pulled into the workshop, it is necessary to dismantle the artillery and let the artillery carry parts into the workshop for assembly. Thinking of this, I stopped and said to the people waiting anxiously beside me, "I''ve come up with a way to build an artillery position in the garage."


    "What can I do?" Several people asked in unison.


    I did not answer immediately, but first told Sokolov: "Comrade Colonel, please call the artillery captain of the 178th regiment, and I will give him the task myself."


    Sokolov agreed, then turned and gave two orders to a commander behind him. Shortly after the commander was ordered to leave, I heard a cry in the workshop: "Captain beliffer, Captain beliffer, where are you?"


    With little effort, Captain belifel, led by the commander of Sokolov division, appeared in front of me. After he raised his hand to salute me, he politely asked, "Comrade General, what instructions do you have?"


    "Comrade captain, I now order you to immediately break down your company''s howitzers and move them into the workshop one by one," I said, pointing to the wall facing the office building and continuing, "and reassembling them on the wall, so that they can fire directly at the enemy''s fortifications."


    "Comrade General, I obey your orders." Captain belifel accepted my order without thinking, but instead of leaving immediately, he said to me in embarrassment, "but the number of my subordinates is limited. It will take a lot of time to move in the decomposed artillery parts."


    When I heard belifel complain about the shortage of manpower, I frowned and asked faintly, "where''s the infantry company that lieutenant colonel chejerikov assigned to you?"


    Berefel glanced at chejerikov and murmured, "after we captured the mechanic workshop, the infantry company came back."


    As soon as I turned my eyes to sjerykov, he said busily, "Comrade division, you don''t have to say that. I''ll send the infantry company to assist the artillery company right away."


    "One company is not enough," I snorted and said discontentedly, "send another company."


    "Yes, sir." "One company is not enough, add another company," he repeated without hesitation. I''ll arrange it now. " Then he turned and left.


    "Comrade deputy commander, there are many people and great strength," guriyev said on his own initiative after hearing my order. "Our division can also transfer a company to assist the artillery brothers in carrying artillery." Seeing guriyev''s statement, Sokolov did not want to lag behind. He immediately ordered his political commissar to dispatch a company to cooperate with the artillery to carry the artillery.


    It''s easy to do things when there are many people. After only a few minutes, I saw the artillery and the infantry sent to assist them, carrying gun tubes, shields, tires and other parts, shouting neat numbers, moving into the workshop.


    At this moment, I vaguely heard someone shouting: "Comrade deputy commander, are you here? Comrade deputy commander, comrade deputy commander, are you here?... "


    Not only did I hear the shouting, but several commanders around heard it. They all looked at me as if they were asking who would come to you at this time? I winked at Yushchenko. He nodded and ran up a half man high pile of rubble. After looking for a moment, he waved his hand to the distance and cried out: "Hello, comrade major, comrade deputy commander is here."


    When I saw a middle-aged man in a cap and a black woollen overcoat coming from behind the rubble, I quickly met him. After a few steps, I saw that one of the commanders was major gradseff, the commander of the security battalion of the group army command. He said to him with a smile: "Hello, major gradseff. I didn''t expect that we would meet again so soon."


    Hearing my voice, Gladyshev quickly stopped, raised his hand to salute me, and politely said, "Hello, comrade deputy commander." Then he put his body to one side and introduced the middle-aged man in casual clothes to me. "I''ll introduce you to Comrade Walter ublishi from Moscow."


    "Major, let me do it myself." Without waiting for Gladyshev to finish, ublishi interrupted his words behind him. After two steps toward me, he reached out to me and said in a friendly way, "Hello, general oshanina. I''m ublishi. General trakov sent me to help you."


    "Hello, comrade ublishi." When I greet each other, I wonder in my heart what accent he is talking about, and his surname is a bit odd. I think that the guerrilla leader defending Sarajevo is not a fellow townsman.


    While I was thinking wildly, ublish had introduced himself to me: "Comrade General, I am the leader of the German anti Communist alliance and the national front of" free Germany ". I have just arrived here from Moscow with a group of cadres of the German Communist Party. Our task is to carry out propaganda work on the battlefield against the war of aggression of the Communist Party of China against the hoodwinked German officers and men, and call on them to turn their guns to Hitler, who is against the people. "


    When I heard him show his identity, I knew that he was German. No wonder his accent was so strange. However, since his mission was to launch a political offensive against the German army, which coincided with my original arrangement, I sent someone to call in captain Beckman who was shouting outside and introduce him to Ulrich.


    After half a day of chatting in German, they went to the wall of the factory building and began to shout to the German troops in the opposite building with their loudspeakers: "German officers and soldiers, are you still waiting for Marshal Manstein to come to rescue you?"?! I tell you, he won''t come. Just yesterday, a tank division and an infantry division of kojelinikovo were completely destroyed under the fierce attack of the Red Army.


    The reason why your superiors hide such information from you is that they worry that you will lose your fighting spirit when you know your situation. They want you to live in fantasy, defend them to the death, and fight to the last bullet. "


    When he yelled at Ulrich, gramazda kept translating what he said for us. The more I heard, the more I felt that with the words of ublishi, maybe the resistance against the German army would weaken, or even some people would come out to surrender.


    Before the end of ublishi''s call, artillery captain belifel ran to report and said, "Comrade General, all the cannons are ready for battle and ready to fire at any time. Please give instructions!"


    "Comrade beliffer, just a moment, please." After I said this to belifel, I told Yushchenko, "Captain Yushchenko, go and tell Comrade ublishi immediately that the German army in the office building will have three minutes to think about it. If they don''t surrender by then, we will blow down their building."


    After Yushchenko left, I turned to several commanders around me and said, "comrades commanders, let''s also find a place to see if the Germans in the building have voluntarily come out to surrender after hearing the cries of their own compatriots."


    As soon as my voice fell, Sokolov took the initiative to say, "Comrade deputy commander, I know a place with good vision, and it''s not easy to attract the attention of enemy snipers."


    Under the leadership of Sokolov, we came to a relatively complete window beside the wall. Because there are mountains of bricks and tiles piled up outside the window, and this is on the side of the office building, it''s not easy to attract the attention of the snipers. Moreover, the vision is very broad. We lean against the wall and look out of the window, Can clearly see the outside hidden behind the rubble or trenches of the officers and men.


    Despite ublish''s shouts, several German soldiers with high hands came out of the opposite building, and they came towards us in line and trembling. Seeing that the enemy had come out of the building and surrendered, guriyev sighed, and then said to beliefer, "Comrade captain, it seems that your artillery company is useless."


    As soon as his words were heard, there was a lot of gunfire outside. A machine gun suddenly stretched out from a window on the second floor and fired at the German soldiers who were coming towards us. In an instant, the soil under the feet of the soldiers was beaten like a pot. In just ten seconds, all the soldiers fell into a pool of blood.


    Seeing this scene, I was furious and scolded the enemy who shot: "even if you don''t surrender, you dare to shoot those who surrender to us." So I turned around and said to belifel, "Comrade captain, let the artillery company fire immediately. First, blow off the window on the second floor and kill all the Germans inside."


    "Yes With a loud promise, belifel turned and ran away.


    "Colonel Sokolov," after the artillery commander left, I told Sokolov, who was standing nearby, "when the shelling begins, and the enemy is in chaos, immediately order your troops to charge. Do you understand? "


    "I understand, comrade deputy commander." Sokolov took orders and turned away.


    "Comrade deputy commander, what about the tasks of our division?" Seeing Sokolov leave, guriyev was a little worried: "our commanders and fighters have been in the factory area for several months. If they are not allowed to participate in this final attack, I think they will have emotions."


    Seeing Guriev''s eagerness to fight, I was not good at attacking his enthusiasm, so I followed him and said, "well, general Guriev, let your soldiers be ready. Once the attack of Colonel Sokolov''s troops is defeated by the German army, it''s their turn to rush up."


    Xiejerikov led Sokolov and guriyev to leave one after another. He was a little anxious. He came up to me and said in a flattering way: "Comrade division commander, my regiment was not reduced much in last night''s battle. Do you think we can also participate in the final attack?"


    After looking at him, I said coldly, "Comrade commander, do you think the German army in the opposite building can withstand the repeated attacks of the two divisions after being shelled by us?"


    After listening to me, Xie jielikov knew that it was useless to say more, so he had to shut his mouth and stand by me honestly, watching the movement outside.


    As soon as the three minute deadline for the German army arrived, belifel''s artillery company opened fire decisively.


    At such a close range, I have a clear idea of the effect of direct fire with such a large caliber howitzer, so I have great expectations for the next infantry charge.


    After a round of shooting, several big holes appeared in the solid wall, and the second floor window that was just fired was also blasted by the shell. Before the smoke of the explosion cleared, Sokolov''s troops jumped from the hidden place and rushed towards the building in droves with weapons.


    Seeing the charge of our army, many windows in the building began to shoot. The soldiers in the front were constantly knocked down by the commanding bullets, but the soldiers in the back still rushed forward without hesitation, shouting slogans.


    Belifel saw that the enemy was using fire to suppress our charge team, and risked the risk of accidental injury to carry out another round of shelling, blowing off some of the most powerful fire points. Seeing that the fire of our army was so fierce, the German army in the building began to shake. Many windows stretched out guns with white shirts and white sheets, waving them desperately to avoid being hit by our fire again. While our infantry soldiers took advantage of the enemy''s weakened firepower and rushed into the fortified office buildings one after another.


    "That''s great, that''s great!" Seeing more and more white flags sticking out of the windows of the building and our soldiers pounding the German occupied office building one after another, sjerikov standing behind me cheered.


    With a long sigh of relief, I put down my telescope and turned to shejerikov and said, "Comrade commander, gather your troops. After Sokolov''s and guriyev''s troops capture the opposite building, your regiment will be responsible for the task of cleaning up the remaining German troops in the factory."


    After xiejerikov left, I said with a smile to Yushchenko, who just came back, "the guard troops in the office building are completely finished."

 Chapter 859

    Because of ublishi''s propaganda to the German army and the power of our guns, the German army in the office building became demoralized and demoralized. When our army rushed into the building, many windows had white flags. Our army''s fighting in the building was also very smooth. Except for a few diehards who fought to the death, the rest of the soldiers raised their hands to surrender as soon as they saw our commanders and fighters rushing past.


    As the German prisoners came out of the building one after another under the escort of our soldiers, I saw that ublish and captain Beckman were coming towards me from the corner where they had just been shouting, and they met me in a hurry.


    I took Ulrich''s hand and said gratefully, "thank you, comrade Ulrich. If it wasn''t for your shouting that broke the morale of the German army, we might not have taken down the office building so easily. "


    "Comrade o''shanina, you are very kind. This is what I should do." With a smile on his face, ublishi replied, "I just talked to the captain and knew that he had defected to the Soviet army and was given preferential treatment in the independent division. It''s amazing that you''ve done so. At least you can save the lives of many soldiers. " At this point, he released my hand, raised his hand to look at the watch on his wrist, and then said: "you see, it''s late, I have to go to other places, so I won''t talk to you. Goodbye. I hope we can meet again in the future. "


    Looking at his back, I vaguely felt something wrong. He seemed to have something to say. If I leave Beckman and his defectors in the division, I can save many soldiers'' lives. What''s the connection between the two?


    Before I could think of a reason, Beckman said, "Sir, do you think what ublishi said is a little abstruse?" Seeing that I nodded in affirmation, he added, "if you hadn''t taken us in, we would have been sent to the prison camp. I don''t want to tell you what''s going on there. I believe you have a good idea. After several years in such an environment, it is really unknown how many people will come back to their hometown alive. "


    After listening to Beckman''s explanation, I realized in my heart that ublish was talking about this. Looking at the expressionless Beckman, I raised my hand and patted him gently on the shoulder, comforting him and saying, "don''t worry, comrade captain. You can go back to your hometown safely for two years at most."


    Beckman listened to me with an incredible expression on his face. He was surprised and asked, "Comrade teacher, are you telling me the truth? Can my men and I go back to Germany alive? "


    "Yes, comrade captain." I answered with certainty: "the German forces besieged in Stalingrad will soon be wiped out by us. When we have solved the enemy here, we can spare our hands to reinforce other battlefields and wipe out all the enemies who invade our country. When the war is over, you can go back to Germany safely. "


    More than an hour later, shejerikov came to report to me that the Germans in the factory had been completely eliminated. I just used a regiment''s telephone to report the results of the Red October factory to trikov.


    When trikov heard that I had annihilated all the enemies in the factory and successfully recaptured the Red October factory, he cheered excitedly in the microphone. After a while, he solemnly told me: "Comrade oshanina, use your existing forces to strengthen the fortifications in the factory, increase the defensive forces, and ensure that the factory will not be occupied by the German army again."


    When I heard that trakov ordered us to strengthen our defense rather than continue to attack, I was stunned for a moment. Then I asked, "Comrade commander, you asked us to build a defense in the factory area. Don''t you intend to let the German army continue to develop in depth?"


    "The task is clear, comrade oshanina, first hold the present position firmly," trekov repeated his order to me, and then continued to say: "while you hold the position, you should organize more capable teams to attack the German position with sudden and rapid attack, Continue to contain and consume their living strength and technical weapons. " Perhaps to make me understand why he issued such an order, he added: "due to the drop in temperature, the ice transportation line is basically stable, and the materials and troops assembled on the east bank are now driving far away from the ice into the city. We are building up our strength, waiting for the right time, and then give the exhausted German army a thunderbolt, which will surely wipe them out completely. "


    "I see, comrade commander," after listening to trekov''s arrangement, I quickly replied, "I''ll arrange to dispatch troops from various divisions to form a capable combat team."


    At the end of the call with trakov, I immediately ordered Yushchenko to call Sokolov, guriyev and xiejerikov and convey trakov''s order to them. Then I began to arrange for the formation of a capable team. Due to the limited strength of the 39th division of the guards, I was unable to deploy manpower to form a team. So I handed over the defense work on the West and north sides of the factory to guriyev. Sokolov''s and shejerikov''s troops, on the other hand, each deployed a battalion to form a capable combat team with a platoon as a unit to engage in close combat with the German forces in the city and gradually encroach on the area they occupied.


    As the officers and men of the first regiment have rich combat experience, they have achieved a lot in the next few days. Almost every day, they could occupy a block or two and wipe out all the German troops, compressing their positions a little bit.


    On the evening of December 31, when I was thinking about whether I should send something to the soldiers for the new year, I suddenly received a call from trakov himself. He said excitedly on the phone, "Comrade oshanina, I order you to come to the headquarters of the group army immediately. There is something important to tell you."


    "We?" Because I heard that trakov said "you" instead of "you" on the phone, which proved that there must be other people going to his headquarters besides me, so I asked in a hurry, "Comrade commander, I don''t know who else is going to the group army headquarters besides me?"


    "In addition to you, please call on political commissar kirilov, deputy division commander bantaileiev and all regimental leaders. As for the division headquarters, it is entrusted to the chief of staff, major akhromeyev, and the command power of each regiment is temporarily transferred to the deputy head of the regiment or the political commissar. "


    When I heard that trikov was going to call so many of us to a meeting at one time, I couldn''t help beating a drum. After all, what happened to my heart? Why did so many people go to the meeting suddenly? Although I was full of doubts, I honestly summoned all the commanders for the meeting.


    Suddenly received orders of several regiments, flurried from their command post ran. The first one to arrive was lieutenant commander Oleg, the second commander. As soon as he entered the division headquarters, he asked aloud, "Comrade division commander, do you have any important combat tasks to call us back from the front at this time?"


    Instead of answering his question, I asked him to sit down and wait for the other team leaders. The leaders of the third, fourth and first regiments came one after another. When they came in, they all asked the same questions as Oleg, but I just laughed and asked them to sit down and wait, avoiding talking about why they were called.


    When I saw that all the people had arrived, I announced in public, "comrades commanders, I have called you all here today because I received a call from commander trakov, asking me to take you to the headquarters of the group army to attend an important meeting."


    "Attend the meeting?" As soon as I finished, the four commanders began to whisper, "why did the commander call a meeting at this time? Do you think our attack speed is too slow? I don''t think so. Our fourth regiment has been very good recently. In addition to killing thousands of German soldiers, we have captured at least five or six hundred prisoners and recaptured seven streets. "


    "Yes, our regiment is also good at fighting," and when Gaidar Desser was finished, shejerikov also began to show his meritorious service: "our regiment, with the cooperation of friendly forces, captured 11 streets, killed and injured more than 2000 German soldiers, and at least thousands of prisoners were evacuated."


    "I don''t think it''s about that." The second group leader Oleg said thoughtfully, "tomorrow is the new year. Does it have something to do with giving more benefits to the soldiers to call us a meeting at this time?"


    "It''s impossible." "As far as I know, ten tons of chocolate in the warehouse under commander trakov''s personal control has long been emptied. Maybe there''s nothing good to share with you," Col. kosga said


    "Well, don''t say any more." I was afraid that they would not finish what they said, so I interrupted them in time and said discontentedly, "what did the commander tell us to do? When the group army headquarters, everything will be clear. Stop chatting and get ready to go. " At this point, I turned to akhromeyev, who was sitting at the table, and said, "Comrade chief of staff, the chief military officers of the division and regiment are not in the army. Once something happens, I can count on you all."


    Akhromeyev quickly stood up and said to me, "please rest assured that I will do my job well."


    I nodded, then looked back and waved to the leaders standing in front of me, and said loudly, "let''s go!"


    Now that we don''t have to worry about German air raids and shelling, we will go to the headquarters of the group army on foot instead of by jeep.


    On the way, kirilov, who was always uneasy in his heart, asked me anxiously, "Comrade oshanina, what on earth would it be that Comrade trakov asked us to go to the headquarters of the group army?"


    I shook my head and said regretfully, "sorry, comrade political commissar, I really don''t know what the commander called so many of us to the headquarters to do. But fortunately, the road is not too far, and the answer will soon be revealed. "


    When our motorcade arrived at the gate of the headquarters, it was Colonel wittkov, deputy staff officer of the group army, who came out to meet us. When he saw me get off the jeep, he immediately welcomed me with a happy face and said politely, "Comrade deputy commander, you are here. Comrade commander has been waiting for you in his headquarters for a long time. I''ll take you there


    Under the leadership of Colonel wittkov, we came to the door of trakov''s new headquarters. When I look at the door, I see a lot of people you are doing. At the table, there are trakov, gurov, Krylov and Vasiliev. On the bench opposite them, there are some teachers or brigadiers who have dealt with me.


    When Colonel witkov reported that we were waiting at the door, trakov got up from the table, waved to us and said, "Comrade oshanina, comrade kirilov, here you are! Don''t stand outside the door, come on in


    I took a group of my subordinates to trokov''s headquarters and raised my hand to salute the senior commanders sitting at the table. I saw that there were some benches next to the division commanders and brigadiers. I was about to walk over with kirilov and sit down with them when I heard gurov''s voice: "Comrade oshanina, come to me!" Hearing the voice of the military commissar, I quickly stopped and rushed away. Kirilov, who was next to me, laughed apologetically. Then I went around him and came to gurov. Gurov pointed to the empty seat beside Vasiliev and said with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, please sit with the director of the political department." After everyone was seated, trikov stood up and said with a smile, "Comrade commander, tomorrow is the new year. I''ll call you here to express new year''s congratulations to you and sincerely say: Happy New Year!" As soon as his voice fell, there was a sound of "Happy New Year". After waiting for silence, he said mysteriously, "next, I will give an unexpected new year gift to the commanders here. This afternoon, we received an order from the supreme command that in order to strengthen the command of the troops, it was decided to resume the infantry which was withdrawn at the end of 1941. It''s a great honor that our group army has a quota to set up military level units. " At this point, he turned to krailov and said with a smile, "Comrade chief of staff, please read out the order of the supreme command to everyone." Krailov nodded, then picked up a piece of paper on the table and stood up. Seeing the chief of staff of the group army standing up, I wondered to myself: at present, there are many close guard divisions in Stalingrad. Is it necessary to set up a close guard army? On the other hand, all the other troops have official numbers. If we set up an infantry army, maybe my independent division will be divided into various guard divisions. I feel a little nervous when I think about this. Only krailov read aloud: "the supreme command has decided that major general oshanina''s red flag independent division, Col. gurtyev''s 308th infantry division, Col. wachuk''s 284th infantry division, Col. andryushchenko''s 115th infantry brigade, Col. gorohov''s 124th infantry brigade, Col. bolvinov''s 149th infantry brigade, and Col. berey''s 84th tank brigade will be responsible, Form the 79th infantry army. " When I heard the name of the 79th infantry army, I almost sat on the ground by ray. Isn''t this the army that later occupied the Capitol and put the red flag on the roof? We should know that the flag of the 150th division is the first victory flag to appear in every Red Square parade. With so many troops forming a single army, I don''t know who will be the commander? Thinking of this, my eyes can''t help flying to the group of commanders sitting next to me. Looking at this one, it looks like a commander. Looking at that one, I think it''s possible to become a commander. Just when I was absent-minded, I suddenly heard my name clearly from krailov''s mouth: "major general oshanina, commander of the 79th infantry army, political commissar and military commissar, served by Vasiliev, director of the Political Department of the group army..." before I woke up from the shock, I heard krailov announce again: "from now on, the number of the red flag independent division, Officially changed to the 150th division of the red flag. " When I heard that I was awarded an independent teacher, I felt like I was dreaming. I secretly pinched my thigh, and the pain immediately told me clearly: This is not a dream, but a real thing.

 Chapter 860

    Krailov continued to announce the establishment and personnel arrangement of the Army: "since I am now the commander of the 79th infantry army, I will try to achieve good results in the closing battle of Stalingrad, so as to change the unfortunate fate of this army. After a while, wittkov came to the table and sat down. He asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what are you thinking?" I looked up at him and asked involuntarily, "is the commissar back?" Vetkov shook his head and reported to me, "not yet. It is said that he has received a lot of materials this time, and may not be back until the afternoon at the earliest..." "well," I interrupted him and asked thoughtfully, "chief of staff, if we want to attack the enemy in the city center, where do you think we should choose as a breakthrough?"¡° I think we should take the railway station as our main attack direction. " "Once we capture the railway station, we can connect our scattered positions as a whole," wittkov said without thinking¡° Railway station?!... " I couldn''t help frowning when I heard this place name. You know, this area is a lot repeatedly contested by the enemy and us. Unexpectedly, after more than a month''s counterattack, our army has not recaptured this crucial area from the hands of the German army¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Colonel wittkov obviously misunderstood the reason why I frowned. He went on, so excited that his voice became dumb. "According to our interrogation of prisoners, the headquarters of the Sixth Army of German general Paulus is currently located in the basement of the central department store, only a dozen blocks away from the railway station." At the group army headquarters in Paulus, when witkov said that it was in the basement of the central department store, which was only ten blocks away from the railway station, my eyes suddenly lit up. Just as I wanted to sleep, someone immediately gave me pillows. I was thinking about how to make the 79th infantry Army make a great contribution. Witkov gave me such a good suggestion. After staring at the location of the central department store marked on the map for a long time, I looked up at Vitkov and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, if we occupy the railway station and launch an attack on the location of the Sixth Army, do you think we can succeed?" Listening to my question, wittkov''s mouth twitched violently. After a long time, he said helplessly: "Comrade commander, I think it''s impossible."¡° Why? " Now that I know the location of the German headquarters, I am thinking that we can concentrate our forces, cut through the German defense line, boldly intervene and attack the headquarters of Paulus. As long as the capture of Paulus and his group of generals, the loss of command of the German army can only obediently lay down their arms and surrender. Wittkov pointed to the map and said to me, "Comrade commander, you don''t know. Although it''s only ten blocks from the railway station to the central department store, this area is also the most heavily defended area of the German army. They have at least one and a half divisions here. And our troops are at a disadvantage in terms of weapons and strength, and they can''t break through such a solid defense line. " Wittkov''s words were like a basin of ice water pouring from the top of my head, which made my heart cool. I knew in my heart that what he said was true. Although I was commanding an army in name, the strength of the independent division accounted for half of the total strength of the whole army. It was not sure that I would win with such a force to attack the German army.

 Chapter 861

    Since our current troops and equipment are unable to launch a direct assault on Paulus'' central department store, I have to take second place. The German garrison in the railway station is a lonely army at present. If we want to eliminate them, there must be no problem. As long as we recapture the railway station, we will successfully pull out a nail that the German army has wedged into our defense line and connect the scattered defense areas.


    Thinking of this, I looked up again from the map and said to Vitkov, "Comrade chief of staff, please call Colonel bere of the 84th tank brigade and ask him to come to the headquarters immediately."


    "Comrade commander," vetkov stood still and asked me tentatively, "are you going to let Colonel berey come here to cover our infantry charge with his tanks?"


    "Yes, chief of staff." I nodded and affirmed, "that''s how I think about it."


    "But Comrade commander," wittkov murmured with an embarrassed expression on his face, "Colonel berey''s tank brigade suffered a heavy loss in the early battle. There are only two tanks left in the brigade." Seeing my disappointment, he added hastily, "but please don''t worry. As far as I know, some new tanks have arrived on the east bank. Maybe the tank brigade of Colonel berey will be replenished in the next two days."


    After listening to wittkov''s words, I couldn''t help worrying and said to myself, "hell, if we don''t have the cover of tanks, let our infantry charge with the enemy''s intensive firepower, don''t we let them die? No, we must not fight like this, otherwise we are wasting our troops in vain. "


    At this moment, my ear suddenly thought of Vitkov''s voice: "Comrade commander, I have a suggestion."


    "Go ahead, comrade colonel." Thinking that I had become a commander who didn''t live up to my name, and that the strength and weapons I could use were not even comparable to the heyday of the independent division, I said impatiently, "if you have any suggestions, please let me know."


    Witkov was aware of my dissatisfaction, so he was very careful when he said: "you see, whether we should call the division leaders to a meeting, first, to increase mutual understanding, and second, we can discuss how to carry out the next combat action."


    As soon as I listen, this suggestion is not bad. Since I was the commander of the army last night, I have never met several of my division commanders, let alone understood the strength of the other three divisions, so I readily agreed: "chief of staff, your proposal is good, I agree. You''ll call several division commanders and ask them to come to the army headquarters for a meeting as soon as possible. "


    Half an hour later, four teachers who received the call came to my headquarters. After I asked them to sit down, I didn''t beat around the Bush and said frankly, "comrades, we are going to attack the railway station occupied by the German army soon. We plan to transfer a division to take on the main task. I don''t know what you think, so you can say it boldly."


    Colonel gurdyev of the 308th infantry division first said, "Comrade commander, I believe you have seen all the fighting in the city in recent months. During the brutal fighting, the original backbone of the divisions were almost lost. Although many soldiers were added one after another, they were all new recruits without any training, and they could not be compared with the veterans. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." The 284th division commander sitting next to him, vachuk, continued: "although the newly added soldiers have participated in many battles, they have also accumulated some combat experience. However, the training of the troops is still too poor. In the battle, the forward troops are too slow to launch, and the assault is not decisive enough. The support troops at the back are either too far away from the front, or they are simply crowded together with the slow forward troops. "


    I saw that the newly appointed commander of the 171st division, Col. andreushenko, did not speak. He was just frowning and thinking about the problem. Then he turned his head and asked Bantai leyev, who was sitting on the left side: "Colonel Bantai leyev, tell me what you think."


    Bantai leiev nodded and thought for a moment, then said: "comrades, in the brutal fighting in the past few months, many troops suffered heavy losses, so they were transferred back to the rear for repair. It is the most terrible thing for a unit to be annihilated in a systematic way. Generally speaking, even if a unit loses more than half of its losses in battle, as long as new recruits are added in, veterans who have experienced fierce battles before can play the role of backbone of the battle and make the unit form combat effectiveness quickly. The annihilation of the organizational system means that the detachment has completely disappeared. "


    As soon as bantailiev finished his speech, andreushenko, who had never spoken, said in an impassioned voice: "Captain bantailiev is right. My 115th motorized infantry brigade had only 120 people left in the early fighting, of which less than 10 were fighters. Later, although the group army added 500 recruits to us, it was unable to form combat effectiveness at all, So that our brigade is now reduced to a garrison. "


    Four division commanders expressed their opinions in turn. After listening for a long time, I realized that except Bantai leiev, the other three division commanders all euphemistically said that their combat effectiveness was too poor to undertake the task of attacking the railway station.


    Bantai leiev and I are familiar with each other. He can tell from my expression whether I am angry or not. Seeing that I am sullen after listening to your speeches, he knows that I am sulking and hurry out to make a round: "comrades, our independent division... No, it should be called the 150th red flag infantry division now, although it has lost a lot in recent battles, But we are willing to take on the task of mainly attacking the railway station. I''m here to make it clear to the commander that our division will successfully complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors. "


    As for Bantai leiev''s rescue, I gave him a grateful smile. Then I stopped looking at the other teachers and said with a smile: "Colonel Bantai leiev, tell me about your plan. How do you plan to attack the German garrison in the railway station?" After listening to what I said, Bantai leiev knew that I was going to give him a chance to show his face, so he stood up and said to several teachers around him, "comrades, my attack plan is like this. In the front of the railway station, where the fountain is located, use tanks to cover the infantry for assault... "" Comrade Colonel, "before he finished his words, guldyev interrupted him. The other side said in a sarcastic tone:" the streets and the square in front of the station are full of bricks, stones and craters. The tanks can''t speed up when they rush up, It''s going to be taken out one by one by German antitank men. Once the tank is destroyed, the infantry following will be easily defeated. "¡° Comrade Colonel, "bantaileiev immediately refuted gurdyev''s sarcasm. After a heavy snort, he confidently said," since the establishment of our division, we have trained in urban tough battles. I don''t think our experience in street fighting is worse than any other unit. "¡° Colonel bantailiev, I remind you... "Gultyev was very unconvinced with bantailiev''s retort, and also made a tit for tat retort."... "When they were arguing, vetkov, who was sitting next to me, asked in surprise:" Comrade commander, there are only two tanks left in captain beley''s tank brigade, Whether it can be used or not is still a question. How could Colonel Bantai leiev suggest that tanks should be the forerunner to cover the infantry attack With a smile, I said to him in a low voice, "chief of staff, you don''t know, there is a tank battalion in the independent division, there are ten captured German tanks, and a similar number of armored vehicles. There are also two artillery battalions, including several 155 mm heavy howitzers seized from the German army, as well as 10 meter anti tank guns, and an anti tank rifle company After listening to a series of data reported by me, Colonel wittkov was very surprised. After a while, he said with emotion: "Comrade commander, I didn''t expect that the independent division had so many heavy technical equipment. No wonder the German army could not move forward in any way when they stood at mamayev post." After talking with wittkov for a while, I suddenly looked up and found that bantailiev and gurdyev were still arguing. Seeing this, I raised my hand and repeatedly patted the table. At the same time, I yelled, "come on, don''t make any noise. Be quiet. Keep quiet for me." Under my intervention, bandeleev and gurdyev stopped quarreling and sat back to their own positions. I coughed and said to bantaileiev, "Comrade Colonel, please go on with your attack plan." Then he turned to warn gurdyev: "Colonel gurdyev, please listen quietly to Mr. Bantai leiev finish his plan and don''t interrupt him, OK?" Gultyev, who had been warned by me, blushed with shame. He nodded embarrassed, and then said in an inaudible voice, "I see, comrade commander." Seeing that gurdyev was no longer competing with himself, bantaileiev continued: "because the German troops were hidden in solid fortifications or basements, our shelling didn''t cause much damage to them. Therefore, we had to send tank troops as pioneers to cover the forward assault of infantry and destroy those firepower points on the way forward with tank guns. If there are some solid firepower points that can''t be destroyed by tanks, the heavy howitzers of the artillery battalion of the division will approach and shoot... "After Bantai leiev finished his plan, vetkov and I looked at each other and asked Bantai leiev:" Comrade Colonel, I don''t know how many days it will take your division to capture the railway station? " Bantaileiev frowned and thought for a moment, then raised his hand decisively, stretched out two fingers and said in a positive tone: "two days. Comrade commander, in two days at most, we can recapture the railway station occupied by the German army. "¡° Good I nodded with great satisfaction to Bantai leyev''s statement, and then said, "two days, two days. I''m waiting for the good news of your victory!"

 Chapter 862

    As soon as the meeting was over, several teachers stood up, raised their hands to salute Vitkov and me, then turned around and walked out of the headquarters. Bantai leiev took a few steps and suddenly heard it. He turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, I almost told you something. According to the confession of the German prisoners captured by yesterday''s night attack team, they all received a strange order. "


    "Strange command?" Bantai leiev''s words aroused my interest. I immediately asked, "Comrade Colonel, tell me quickly. What strange order is it?"


    "According to the prisoner''s confession, the commander ordered them to open fire only when they were attacked by our army."


    After listening to bandeleev''s words, wittkov, who was standing beside me, showed a smile on his face. He turned to me and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, so to speak, the German army is in a serious shortage of ammunition at present."


    "Absolutely right, my chief of staff." As for Vitkov''s judgment, I nodded in agreement and said, "maybe it''s not just ammunition. Under our siege, it''s estimated that they don''t have enough food."


    "Comrade commander, you have guessed very accurately." Bantaileiev said triumphantly: "the prisoners said that they were eating less and less. Each soldier had only one piece of bread a day. Fifteen soldiers ate one kilogram of potatoes. There was no difficulty in drinking water, because there was a lot of snow." He said the last sentence with an exaggerated shrug.


    When he left the headquarters, it suddenly occurred to me that when he was a deputy division commander, he often had conflicts with akhromeyev. Now that he is a division commander, akhromeyev, the chief of staff, may be suppressed by him. Therefore, I specially remind him: "Comrade Colonel, although there were many contradictions between you and akhromeyev in the past, But after all, it''s all about work. You don''t have any personal grudges, but you must pay attention to unity. "


    As for my reminder, bandeleev nodded and said obediently, "I understand, sir. I will have a good relationship with chief of staff akhromeyev."


    Then I suddenly thought of another thing, and suggested to him, "Comrade Colonel, there is another thing I almost forgot. Captain Dragan, the commander of the 3rd Battalion of the 3rd regiment, was originally the company commander of the 1st battalion and 1st company of the 42nd regiment of the 13th guard division. He once led the troops to defend the central railway station. He should be very familiar with the terrain there. He can also take part in this attack on the railway station. "


    "I see, comrade commander." Bantai leiev nodded his head and told me what he thought: "in this case, I''ll let the third regiment take up the main task of the railway station."


    Three regiments?! I had thought that he would transfer captain Dragan from the third regiment to the regiment that would take charge of the main attack, but I didn''t expect that he was going to let the third regiment take charge of the main attack directly. Thinking of the unsatisfactory performance of the third commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosga, in the past two months, I almost want to veto his plan immediately. As soon as I was about to open my mouth, I suddenly remembered that Bantai leiev was the commander of the 150th division at the moment. As a commander, I could not interfere too much in his command, so I changed the topic in time: "Comrade Colonel, how long will it take you to attack the railway station?"


    "It will take at least two hours to gather the three regiments together and to move the tank battalion." Bantai leiev told me after a brief thought: "that is to say, we will launch an attack on the railway station no earlier than one o''clock in the afternoon."


    "Comrade Colonel, we must take into account all the unfavourable factors that may arise in the course of fighting." When I saw him speak, I felt a little disapproval. I was deeply afraid that he would underestimate the enemy and lead to failure. I also specially reminded him: "at last, we should draw a battalion with strong combat effectiveness from the first regiment and the fourth regiment as the second echelon. Once the third regiment fails in the attack, we can immediately put them into the battlefield."


    "Yes! I am determined to obey your orders. " Bantailiev agreed very readily to my reminder. Then he asked carefully, "can I leave now?"


    I nodded, then extended my hand to him, and said, "good bye, Colonel bandeleev. I wish you good luck."


    Before Bantai leiev left, he told me that the troops would attack around 1 pm, but it was not until 2 pm that I received a phone call from Bantai leiev, who briefly reported to me: "Comrade commander, the troops have entered the starting position and can fight at any time."


    After listening to the report from leiev, I immediately said in a loud voice to the microphone, "go ahead, comrade Colonel, immediately order the troops to attack the railway station."


    When I put down the phone, I turned to Vitkov and said, "Comrade chief of staff, the battle of attacking the railway station is about to start. Let''s go ahead and have a look." After that, without waiting for him to make a statement, I apologized to Vasiliev, the political commissar who just came back, "Comrade political commissar, when we are not here, you will be responsible for the affairs in the army for the time being."


    After arranging for Vasiliev to stay, I took wittkov, Yushchenko and a platoon of the guard company to watch the battle near the railway station that was about to fight. For the convenience of contacting with the troops, I specially brought a telegraph operator and a radio station.


    After leaving the army headquarters, we passed through the defense area of Colonel wachuk''s troops, passing by the soldiers who were staying in the trenches or firepower points. These trenches and firepower points were owned by the German army a few days ago, and now all the bodies of the enemy have been removed.


    Is walking forward, suddenly in front of a dense sound of gunfire. Hearing such news, I knew that the attack of the third regiment had begun. While speeding up, I urged wittkov: "chief of staff, hurry up. There is already a fight ahead."


    We walked two or three hundred meters further and entered a building with only two floors left. When I came to the second floor, I found that I had a good view. I could clearly see the railway station in the distance and the troops attacking.


    As soon as I tried to raise my telescope, I heard wittkov next to me ask, "Comrade commander, is that your cooperation with Tanzania?"


    I quickly followed the direction of his fingers and saw that in the open field in front of the railway station, the four tanks of the 150th division lined up, covering the rear of the car and charging forward. Then I nodded and replied to wittkov: "yes, comrade chief of staff, this is the original independent division''s cooperative operation between infantry and Tanzania, with tanks driving in front to destroy the German firepower; The infantry who follow are responsible for clearing the anti tank fighters who rush out from the roadside. "


    The German soldiers who stood at the station saw that our army had launched an attack and immediately began to stop and shoot. Under the intensive fire of the enemy, among the soldiers who followed the tanks around, people were constantly shot and fell to the ground. Seeing that the enemy''s firepower was fierce, the moving tank stopped, aimed at the enemy''s firepower point or machine gun position, fired a gun, and drove forward slowly.


    When I saw that our tank was getting closer and closer to the sculpture of "six young pioneers dancing around the crocodile" in the middle of the square in front of the railway station, I thought to myself that the tank driver would not be a fool. There was such a wide road next to him that he had to run straight into the sculpture. You know, in the fighting in the past few months, thousands of shells and bombs fell on the sculpture and exploded, but the sculpture was like wearing a layer of invulnerable protective clothing and was always safe. If my subordinates crash this sculpture with tanks, maybe I will be criticized by my superiors after the campaign.


    Fortunately, my worry was superfluous. The tank at the front suddenly made a big turn, bypassed the sculpture and continued to rush forward. Just as I was breathing a sigh of relief, a machine gun suddenly started to fire behind the broken wall of the sculpture reservoir, knocking down half of the soldiers following the tank. A German soldier jumped out from behind the broken wall and rushed to the moving tank. He stuck something he was holding on to the tank''s body, pulled the lead with his hand, turned around and ran back. When he got to the broken wall, he jumped and flew in. Then there was a loud noise, and the turret of the tank flew aside in the light of fire and smoke.


    "Damn it Vitkov yelled: "the Germans use magnetic mines. It''s better to deal with tanks than our anti tank mines."


    Following the other tanks, the commanders and fighters stopped when they saw that the open tank had been destroyed. The machine gun behind the broken wall turned its muzzle again and swept towards the stunned commanders and fighters. In an instant, it knocked down a dozen more. Seeing his comrades in arms falling down one after another, the soldiers were in a panic. When they saw someone retreating, they immediately fell back, leaving only a few tanks to rush forward alone.


    The German army in the railway station saw that our tanks and infantry were completely out of touch, so they pushed two anti tank guns to the front of the position without any fear. After a round of salvo fire, one of our tanks was reimbursed. Then, the German anti tank guns carried out the second and third rounds of salvo fire, killing the remaining two tanks of our army one by one. Without the cover of infantry, the tankers who escaped from the tanks did not escape far and died under the random guns of the German army.


    See this scene, I immediately blood to the head. I put down my telescope, walked quickly to the operator, and told him in a loud voice: "connect me to division headquarters of division 150 immediately."


    As soon as I got on the phone, I yelled at the transmitter angrily, "Hello, Captain Bantai, what''s going on? It''s not the first time that you''ve used the tactics of coordinated operation between infantry and Tanzania in the city. Why have you been beaten so badly by the Germans? One of the four tanks is left, and all of them have been killed by the German army. "


    Obviously, the news of the defeat of the attack has not been reported back to the division headquarters, so Bantai leiev was confused about my blame. After I finished, he asked carefully, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? I''m confused. "


    I took a deep breath, and when my mood was a little bit more stable, I told him what had just happened, and specially pointed out: "the cooperative combat ability between the troops of the third regiment and the tanks is not good at all. They fight separately in the operation, and they can''t think of effective cooperation with the armored forces, Let the armored troops without infantry cover be exposed to the enemy''s anti tank guns. Tell me, when did our troops become so friendly? Can more recruits make an independent division with a glorious history so unbearable? I order you to withdraw the third regiment immediately, transfer the second echelon composed of the first regiment and the fourth regiment, and take down the railway station in the shortest time. "


    When I finished the call with Bantai leiev, vetkov asked me carefully: "Comrade commander, will it cause chaos if we change new troops to take part in the attack at this time?"


    "There is no way. We have no choice." With a gloomy face, I said, "anyway, the combat experience of the first and fourth regiments is much better than that of the third regiment. I feel at ease when they take up the main attack task..." speaking of this, I turned to the outside, looked at the third regiment which is reorganizing, and then decisively said, "our troops are limited. We can''t be here at the railway station, Fight a war of attrition with the Germans, otherwise, even if we win the station, we will win miserably. "


    Before the second echelon of four regiments was in place, trakov''s call came after him. "Hello, comrade o''shanina," he asked hastily in the receiver, "are your troops attacking the railway station?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " To trekov''s question, I didn''t hide anything. Instead, I honestly replied, "the third regiment of the 150th division just launched a charge and was defeated by the German army." As soon as I finished, I heard a "um" from trekov. I knew that he was expressing his dissatisfaction and quickly added, "but I''ve transferred the second echelon up and ready to charge again. These commanders and fighters have rich combat experience, and I believe they will soon be able to take the railway station from the enemy. "¡° In that case. " Seeing that I said so clearly, trikov couldn''t say anything more, so he had to say vaguely, "well, I''ll wait for your news in the headquarters." I know in my heart that if we simply rely on tanks to cover the infantry charge, the fighting time will be very long. Only by transferring the artillery can we speed up the fighting process. So when I finished talking to trakov, I told the operator, "take over Colonel lyev for me." When I heard Bantai leiev''s voice coming out of the receiver, I immediately told him: "Comrade Colonel, immediately transfer major Morozov''s artillery battalion and let them bombard the German positions with heavy howitzers and rockets. Even if we can''t blow them all up, at least we should drive them out of the position outside the railway station. " When I went back to the window again, wittkov asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, I heard that you are going to use heavy howitzers to bombard German positions. Are you not afraid to hurt your own people at such a short distance?"¡° Chief of staff, don''t worry. " Seeing witkov''s worried face, I quickly comforted him and said, "the artillery battalion of the Division has used heavy artillery many times in street battles. It won''t go wrong. You can rest assured."

 Chapter 863

    Morozov''s artillery battalion put the captured 41 type 150mm rockets on an open field with the muzzle pointing to the direction of the railway station. At the same time, the soldiers of the battalion are pulling the remaining heavy howitzers into the newly established artillery positions.


    Witkov looked at the gun in the distance and asked me curiously, "Comrade commander, what kind of gun is that gun with multiple barrels? I''ve never seen it before?"


    "That''s the 41 type 150 mm rocket captured from the German army," I knew what he was asking, so I introduced it to him without looking back. "This is the standard rocket with German artillery. Six launch tubes are arranged in hexagonal shape, assembled together, mounted on a tractor, and it''s very convenient to transfer. The ignition mode is wire ignition mode, and the ignition cable is generally 10 meters, so as to ensure that the post spray flame does not harm the soldiers. The firing interval is two seconds, and it takes 90 seconds to load six rockets. "


    "Compared with our rockets, how powerful is it?" Vetkov kept asking like a curious baby.


    I shrugged my shoulders and said in an uncertain tone, "it''s not as good as our rockets, but it''s more than enough to suppress the German troops in the railway station."


    All the guns are in position. I saw several soldiers ignite the ignition cord behind the rocket, then ran to a safe place to hide. After a while, the Rockets flew out of the shells one by one and headed for the railway station.


    The shell went right into the strong station building and caused a earth shaking explosion. I can see from the telescope that the building has become a sea of fire. Many soldiers have been blown to pieces by the shells. Fortunately, the surviving soldiers are running around in the fire. Some soldiers covered with fire jump down from the gap of the collapsed wall and roll on the ground in an attempt to extinguish the flame that ignited their clothes.


    As soon as the rocket fire was over, the howitzer began to fire. After the powerful shell landed and exploded, the German simple defense positions in front of the railway station buildings were blown to pieces, and the rubble piles that could hide people were destroyed. Under the impact of the shell explosion, the bricks and stones were excited to fly everywhere, and then scattered from the air, which made the German soldiers hiding behind cry and howl. The newly exposed anti tank guns were also hit beyond recognition.


    Although the shelling of the artillery battalion continued, the attack of the second echelon was in full swing. At the front, five tanks of pelsky''s tank battalion, followed by about a dozen armored vehicles, drove rapidly towards the gate of the railway station. After the armored vehicles drove out more than 100 meters, groups of infantry formed a scattered formation and strode forward.


    Witkov saw such a combination of attacks and asked in surprise: "Comrade commander, the 150 division''s playing style is really special. I''ve never seen other troops adopt such an attack style."


    I put down my telescope and said to him with a smile: "Comrade chief of staff, this is a set of fighting methods I have found out, covering with artillery and attacking with armor. In this way, we can form a strong assault force and break through the German fortifications in the shortest time."


    "Artillery coverage and armored assault?" After repeating what I said, wittkov nodded thoughtfully: "this tactic is quite novel. If possible, it should be promoted in the whole army."


    As far as we were concerned, the tanks of the tank battalion had bypassed the fountain in the square and approached the German simple defensive position. In order to prevent accidental injury, the artillery battalion of Morozov stopped shooting. The armored vehicles that had been following accelerated past the tanks, apparently trying to stop in front of the station buildings so that the commanders and fighters on the vehicles could get off and attack.


    "Boom", did not wait for the armored car to stop, an anti tank shell that did not know from what hit one of the armored cars. In the violent explosion, several soldiers with fire all over them struggled to escape from the car. After a few steps, they fell to the ground one after another.


    Before the armored car in the back stopped, the commanders and fighters jumped from the open door and rushed to the railway station with weapons. Several German soldiers rushed out of the building with guns. Before they could open fire, they were splashed with their weapons. As soon as we killed the German soldiers at the gate, our soldiers rushed in without looking back.


    Our tanks and armored vehicles lined up in front of the station building, using tank guns and vehicle mounted machine guns to suppress the fire points revived because of the stop of shelling. The following infantry arrived one after another at this time. Seeing that the infantry in front of them had successfully rushed into the station building, their morale was immediately boosted, and they rushed into the building in droves, shouting to get over the tanks and armored vehicles that had stopped in the square and opened fire.


    The battle in the station lasted about half an hour. Witkov, who was close to me, suddenly pointed to the southeast of the station and yelled, "Comrade commander, look, the German garrison in the station has been defeated by us."


    When I heard the word, I frowned slightly and turned the lens of the telescope in the direction of Vitkov. I saw hundreds of enemies escaping from the station, retreating in an orderly southeast direction. Although they were in the process of retreat, the troops did not appear confused at all. Hundreds of soldiers were divided into several teams to retreat. The front team first occupied a favorable position and established a defense to cover the retreat of the troops behind; After passing the position of the front team, the rear team also found a place to establish defense and cover the front team to withdraw.


    Seeing that the German army was orderly covering the retreat alternately, I couldn''t help saying to wittkov with emotion: "Comrade chief of staff, the German commander in charge of defending the station, it seems that it''s not easy."


    When he heard me say this, wittkov did not speak, but looked at me blankly. He obviously did not understand why I said this inexplicably.


    Seeing this expression on his face, I had to explain to him: "most commanders think that retreat is easier than attack, but it is not the case. We should know that the retreaters will always be in a very unfavorable situation, because retreating will make the soldiers depressed. If we do not grasp it well, orderly retreat will turn into rout. " Speaking of this, I can''t help but think of the scene when I went to the western front with Zhukov. For the first time, I saw konev being reprimanded by Marshal voroshlov. When konev defended himself, he said: "retreat is the most complex form of fighting, it needs higher fighting quality." Now I agree with him a little. After a brief pause, I went on to say, "from a military point of view, retreat is the most complex maneuver. The commander must be good at mastering the situation and withdraw the troops from the nose of the enemy with the least loss, so as to preserve and then accumulate strength for new assault. And all this should be carried out under the condition that the initiative is in the hands of the enemy, and it is difficult to determine in which direction the enemy is going to carry out the next assault and where it is going to set traps for you. "


    As for what I said, wittkov didn''t express any opinions, just kept nodding. Perhaps today''s relationship with me made him understand that the independent division''s playing style is quite different from that of other units. If he wants to get familiar with this unit, he still has a long running in period.


    Seeing a red flag flying on the building of the station, I knew that we had captured the station. At the same time, I thought of the flag that had never been used by the independent division. Now that the number has changed, should the flag be changed?


    While I was thinking about it, the telegraph operator called to me: "report to the commander, commander of the 150th division, Captain leiev wants to speak to you!"


    I took the earphone, put it on, and said to the transmitter in a loud voice, "Hello, Captain leiev? I''m o''shanina. I''ve seen the whole process of your seizing the railway station. However, the soldiers of the first and fourth regiments fought bravely and tenaciously. The tank battalion of pelsjian and the artillery battalion of Morozov performed well. If they had not successfully used the coordinated tactics of infantry and artillery, they would not have been able to capture the railway station occupied by the German army in such a short time. "


    "Comrade commander," Bantai leiev asked respectfully, "do you have any further instructions?"


    Hearing Bantai leiev''s question, I organized some words in my mind, and then told him: "Comrade Colonel, hurry up to repair the fortifications of the railway station, and turn it into an invincible fortress in the shortest time. The German army must never take the railway station away from us again."


    "I understand."


    "In addition, I am very disappointed by the performance of the third regiment today, so we should dispatch commanders with rich combat experience from the first regiment and the fourth regiment to the third regiment as soon as possible to enrich their command force." At this point, I couldn''t help raising my voice: "if I find that the combat effectiveness of the third regiment is so unsatisfactory in the next battle, then I will withdraw the regiment."


    "Yes Bantai leiev was obviously frightened by what I said, and quickly replied, "please rest assured, comrade commander. I will dispatch experienced commanders from the 1st and 4th regiments as soon as possible to enrich the 3rd regiment."


    After the call with Bantai leiev, I took the initiative to call trakov and report the good news that our army successfully recaptured the station. After hearing trakov''s voice, I immediately said aloud, "report to commander comrade, after fierce fighting, the 150th division succeeded in seizing the railway station from the enemy."


    "Great, that''s great." Trikov was very excited when he heard that the railway station had been recovered. He said repeatedly, "Comrade oshanina, you have done a wonderful job. Now that we have recaptured the railway station, we must guard it well and never let the Germans recapture it again. "


    "Please rest assured, comrade commander. I promise you that as long as there is one soldier alive in the 150th division, the German will never take away the railway station." Speaking of this, I suddenly thought of an important thing, and quickly reported to him: "Comrade commander, I also found a strange phenomenon."


    "What strange phenomenon?" Trekov asked curiously.


    "The enemy seems to be short of ammunition." I said cautiously: "according to the interrogation of the prisoners, they all received an order that they could only shoot if they were under attack."


    "Well, the situation you mentioned has also been reported by other troops." Trakov said in a sarcastic tone: "Paulus''s troops are surrounded by us. If we want to get supplies, we have to rely on airdrop. Now many of their airdrop sites are in our hands. It''s perfectly normal that they can''t get enough supplies, and there is a shortage of ammunition, medicine and even food. "


    "Comrade commander, what shall we do next?" Seeing that trakov knew the current situation of the German army very well, I was deeply afraid that he would have any new ideas, so I asked: "do you want to continue to attack the streets occupied by the German army, or consolidate the existing positions and trap the German army in the city?"


    After a moment''s silence, trakov replied, "although the German troops are short of ammunition and materials, they still have a huge advantage in strength and equipment compared with us. So my opinion is to consolidate the existing positions, supplemented by small-scale attacks, and nibble at the areas occupied by the German troops bit by bit." At this point, he suddenly thought of another important thing and reminded me, "by the way, I almost forgot. Half an hour ago, your military and political commissar, comrade Vasiliev, called me and said that Colonel vaschuk''s 284th division was launching an attack on the enemy''s defensive positions. If you have time, you can go to the front and have a look. " When I heard that Colonel wachuk led the army to launch an attack without my permission, I immediately got flustered and quickly agreed to trakov: "OK, comrade commander, I''ll go to the front to see the progress of the attack." At the end of the call, I told wittkov, "chief of staff, you stay here and wait for the 150th regiment to clean up today''s results. I want to rush to the 284th division immediately." At this point, I couldn''t help adding angrily, "this Colonel wachuk, who didn''t even fight me, led his troops to attack the front German position without authorization." When I got to wachuk''s command post, his troops launched a second attack. More than 100 officers and men were shouting "Wula" and rushed to a lonely building more than 200 meters away with weapons. Behind them, several mortars providing artillery support fired several times and then stopped. Seeing the fallen bodies of our soldiers all over the snow in front of the building, I couldn''t help asking wachuk anxiously, "Comrade Colonel, why don''t the mortars fire? Without the support of artillery, these attacking soldiers would have been knocked down by the German army as targets in the snow. " Wachuk shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands out, and said helplessly, "Comrade commander, do you think I don''t cherish the lives of soldiers? But I can''t help it. The artillery of our division was almost exhausted some time ago. There were only a few mortars left, and all the shells were used up. That''s all I can do for the infantry. "

 Chapter 864

    When I heard what wachuk said, I couldn''t help crying bitterly. Although the building was half collapsed, from my position, we could see the rows of black holes on the rubble outside the enemy building. Our soldiers rushed up like this. No matter how brave they were, they couldn''t stand the three-dimensional firepower of the German army behind the window upstairs and the rubble on the ground. But now that the troops have rushed up, it''s too late to call them back.


    The next thing happened as expected. When our officers and men rushed to the German position only a hundred meters away, the German troops upstairs and behind the rubble fired decisively. Under the intensive fire, our troops soon lost more than half of their lives. At least 50 or 60 of them were killed or injured, and the rest of the officers and men were too pressed by the fire to move in the craters on the snow.


    In addition to machine guns, submachine guns and rifles, mortar shells kept flying out of the building to attack the area crawling with our army officers and soldiers. The shells exploded around the surviving soldiers, and the soil with snow, weapon parts and broken limbs and arms were constantly thrown into the air, and then kept falling on our soldiers, covering them up little by little.


    Seeing this, I can''t help but scold in my heart: these damned Krauts must have captured our new fortifications and used them against us after careful study, otherwise they would not have arranged mortars in the building.


    When wachuk saw that his army''s attack was frustrated again, he was very angry. After taking a deep breath, he turned to the back and ordered: "chief of staff, call two companies again and let them continue to rush forward. Before dark, he must seize this building for me."


    I didn''t expect that the chief of staff didn''t follow his orders to make a phone call. Instead, he said with tears in his eyes: "Comrade division commander, we can''t make a phone call like this any more. We can''t break through the enemy''s defense without artillery support. This attack has just been going on for more than an hour, and our division has killed two or three hundred people! If we continue to fight like this, it won''t be long before the whole division will be finished. "


    After glancing at me, wachuk yelled angrily at his division chief of staff, "no! We must take down the enemy''s position! Don''t you understand that the enemy of the building in front of us is a nail wedged into our division''s defense line. If we don''t remove them, we can''t move on! I ordered the charge to continue, even if it was "this thing!" I interrupted wittkov''s later words with a smile, saying that you are just hearsay, but I have seen this new rank which is about to be changed, so I put on a look of disapproval and said, "I thought it was a great event. It was just a change of rank. I knew about it a month ago. As far as I know, the ranks of political workers will be abolished. In the future, there will be no more talk of political commissars at the military level, division level or regimental level. Instead, they will all be changed to the corresponding ranks. For example, our political commissar, comrade Vasiliev, will be awarded the rank of major after the implementation of the new rank. "


    After hearing this, Vasiliev''s face was suddenly enlightened, and then said to me: "so it is. I just feel strange today. Why is the military commissar of the Don front army not a political worker, but a major general. When Comrade commander said that, I understand that they have already implemented a new rank in the army. " After a pause, he could not help asking, "Comrade commander, do you know what the new epaulets are like?"


    Although I was a true puppet fan in later generations, I didn''t know much about weapons and equipment, but I was very familiar with military rank. When I heard Vasiliev''s question, I couldn''t help showing off to him: "the expression of military rank of new epaulets is like this: marshal of the Soviet Union is a big silver star;


    Commander, marshal, wavy floor, service symbol of arms and star emblem of Marshal;


    Generals, wavy floor, embroidered star emblem, 4 generals, 3 generals, 2 generals, 1 major general, all in vertical arrangement;


    There are three colonels in triangular arrangement, two colonels in horizontal arrangement, and one major;


    For a lieutenant, a vertical bar is embroidered longitudinally and the star emblem of the lieutenant is decorated. There are four captains in two horizontal and two vertical directions, three captains in a triangle, two lieutenants in a horizontal direction and one second lieutenant;


    Sergeant, embroidered horizontal bar, a vertical and a horizontal T-shaped for Senior Sergeant, a wide horizontal bar for sergeant, three narrow horizontal bars for sergeant and two narrow horizontal bars for corporal;


    The soldier, the superior, has a narrow horizontal bar, and the epaulet of the private is an empty board. "


    After my explanation, wittkov said thoughtfully: "such a large-scale replacement of new ranks can''t be completed in a month or two. As we are still at war with the Germans, we do not know when we will be able to change our ranks? "


    "Comrade chief of staff, you don''t have to worry about such things." I remember clearly in my heart that the German army surrendered on February 2, so I said confidently: "now our group army has been put under the command of the Don front army. The commander of the front army, rokosovsky, is a commander who prefers to attack. I believe that he will issue the order of final attack on the German aggressors soon. In the face of our powerful offensive, the German officers and men who have run out of ammunition and food and are demoralized can not resist at all. I believe that the German troops in the encirclement can be completely annihilated in one month at most. "


    "Really? Comrade commander. " Vasiliev asked excitedly: "if so, it would be great."¡° Of course it''s true, my political commissar. " After I responded to Vasiliev with a smile, I solemnly put forward to them: "political commissar and chief of staff, before the final attack begins, we should go to the troops of several divisions under our jurisdiction. First, we should get familiar with each other and second, we should talk with them, We should let every defender of Stalingrad understand that we are the Red Army armed with Stalin''s thoughts, that our cause is just, that we are defending a progressive society and a bright life for future generations. The enemy will surely perish! It''s not a slogan, it''s not a speech at a mass rally, it''s our eternal belief, it''s the driving force of our combat effectiveness and the source of our brave fighting. "¡° Comrade o''shanina, please rest assured! " Vasiliev confidently said: "let me do this. It''s my strong point to do political and ideological work. I will make every soldier understand that the enemy can''t escape the fate of destruction, and the final victory must and will only belong to us." When I heard that Vasiliev had undertaken the political and ideological work in an all-out way, I turned to Vitkov and said, "Comrade chief of staff, although we are a military in name, our troops and weaponry are very limited, so we should make use of the short truce time and the weaponry and personnel transported from the east coast to quickly supplement our troops."¡° Don''t worry, commander Wittkov assured me with resolute expression: "I will complete the task you gave me, replenish the troops in the shortest time, and let them form combat effectiveness in the shortest time."

 Chapter 865

    January 7th is Orthodox Christmas.


    Early in the morning, I called the division leaders and told them to find a way to make more beef, mutton and poultry stuffing, make Siberian Dumplings, and prepare Russian red vegetable soup, Cheese Potato, potato salad, potato stewed beef, so as to improve the food for the commanders and soldiers and make them have a good festival.


    Just after calling several teachers, I received a call from trakov unexpectedly. I thought he would say something like happy holidays to me, so when I heard his voice coming out of the receiver, I said, "Hello, comrade commander, I wish you a happy holiday!"


    "Festival, what festival?" Trikov was confused by my blessing, but he immediately understood what was going on. He laughed and said, "Oh, you mean Orthodox Christmas?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." I hastened to explain to him: "I have just given orders to the division leaders to prepare Siberian Dumplings, Russian red vegetable soup, cheese potatoes and so on, to improve the food for the soldiers, so that they can have a peaceful Christmas."


    "Well, that''s a good arrangement for you." After praising me, trakov went on to say, "we''re going to hold an important military meeting. Come here immediately."


    "Yes, I''ll be right there."


    Putting down the phone, I said apologetically to Vasiliev, the political commissar sitting next to me: "Comrade political commissar, I''m going to go to the group army headquarters for a meeting right now. Originally, I was going to inspect the work of the 171st division at noon, so I can only let you go alone."


    "No problem, comrade commander." Vasiliev replied very readily, "let me know about the inspection of the 171 division. As for the reason why you can''t go, I''ll explain it to Colonel andreushenko


    I nodded and yelled out the door, "Captain Yushchenko!"


    As I yelled, Yushchenko, who had just been appointed commander of the military and police barracks and was promoted to captain, appeared at the door. He raised his hand to salute me and asked, "Comrade commander, what instructions do you have?"


    "Comrade captain," although I can''t go to the 171 division for inspection, I can''t take Vasiliev''s safety lightly. So I told Yushchenko, "the political commissar will go to the 171 division for inspection at noon. In addition to the original guard platoon, you can transfer another class from the special guard company to strengthen the security of the political commissar."


    "Comrade commander, don''t bother." When Vasiliev heard what I told Yushchenko, he quickly stood up, shook his hands desperately and said, "a platoon of soldiers is enough. There is no need to transfer your special guard company."


    "Comrade political commissar, don''t refuse." As for Vasiliev''s refusal, I firmly said: "on the way from here to the 171 division, no one can guarantee that they will not meet the Germans, so for the sake of safety, I''d better bring more people."


    Seeing that I was stubborn, Vasiliev could not say anything more, so he nodded in embarrassment and agreed to my arrangement.


    Under the protection of the guard platoon led by Yushchenko, I drove to the group headquarters. As soon as I entered the headquarters and saw trakov and gurov sitting at the table, I planned to raise my hand to salute. However, trakov interrupted me. His eyes looked behind him and said to me, "report to general rokosovsky, comrade oshanina!"


    Only then did I find out that behind trakov was a commander in a military coat, with his back to me, looking at the map on the wall. Seeing that my old acquaintance appeared here, I quickly stepped forward and reported in a voice that was a little hoarse with excitement: "Comrade commander of the front army, deputy commander of the 62nd group army and major general oshanina, commander of the 79th infantry army, report to you. I have been ordered to come to the group army headquarters, and now I''m waiting for your instructions!"


    On hearing my report, rokosovsky turned around, nodded to me with a smile, then raised his right hand and pressed it down, saying, "Rita, sit down first. We''re going to have a meeting."


    After I sat down, rokosovsky took two steps forward, went to the table, held the table in his hands and said to us, "comrades, the counterattack code named" winter storm "launched by German Marshal Manstein has been completely smashed by us. The German troops who came to bail out Paulus have been repulsed for 200 kilometers. Next, We can launch a war of annihilation against the German army in Stalingrad. "


    "Comrades of the front army command, we have been waiting for this day." Krailov added excitedly when rokosovsky finished.


    As for the interlocutor Krylov, rokosovsky looked at him with a smile and continued: "the German forces are exhausted, so we don''t have to worry about their counter attack, so we will start the attack code named" battle of the rings ". I''m going to launch the final general attack on the German army in three days, on January 10. " At this point, he turned to look at trakov and said, "dear Vasili Ivanovic, the German army is still occupying an area of 60 kilometers wide and 40 kilometers deep in the front. Once the general attack begins, they will certainly retreat from outside the city into the city to resist. Can your 62nd army resist their fierce attack?"


    "Comrade commander of the front army, of course." Trakov said he wanted to stand up, but rokosovsky put his hand on his shoulder and gently pressed it down to signal that he didn''t have to stand up. So trakov sat in his seat and said to rokosovsky, "since Paulus'' troops didn''t drive us into the Volga River in October, now, he can''t take a step." At this point, he drew a circle on the map in front of him with his hand, and said contemptuously, "what is in front of us now is not a group army, but a huge prison camp. It''s just that we haven''t laid down our weapons for the time being."


    As soon as trikov''s voice fell, it immediately caused a burst of laughter. Rokosovsky also said with a smile: "Comrade trakov, I didn''t expect you to be so confident. That''s good, but now, "he said solemnly with a straight face," it''s too early to call them concentration camps, and the enemy has to fight madly, so you must not underestimate them. "


    "I see, comrade commander of the front army." Seeing what rokosovsky said, trikovsky said in a hurry: "I will warn the commanders and fighters of all divisions that even if the enemy in front of them has completely lost their fighting capacity, they should not be taken lightly, and they should not cause unnecessary losses because they despise the enemy."


    After hearing this, rokosovsky nodded, and then said, "however, it''s no big deal. In our upcoming" battle of the rings ", the German army will be completely annihilated by us." With these words, he turned his eyes to krailov and asked, "general krailov, has your army been supplemented as it should?"


    When krailov heard rokosovsky ask him, he immediately stood up and respectfully reported: "during this week, our group army has been supplemented by 29000 soldiers, some of whom are veterans with rich combat experience; At the same time, it has been supplemented by 360 guns, 200 tanks, more than 1000 transport vehicles and other weapons and equipment. "


    When rokosovsky heard this, he glanced at me and asked, "how much has major general oshanina''s 79th infantry been supplemented? You know, her troops have always been the main combat task of your army. "


    "Major general oshanina''s 79th infantry is our priority supply." Krailov, as chief of staff, immediately reported a series of data after hearing rokosovsky''s question: "they have received a total of 14000 additional troops, including 4000 in the 150th division, 3000 in the 171st division, and 3500 in the 284th and 308 divisions respectively; The 84th brigade of Colonel berey''s tanks was supplemented by 68 tanks, all of which were newly manufactured T-34 tanks; In addition, we have put the 266th artillery regiment, which has just been completed, under the command of the 79th infantry army. "


    As for Krylov''s reply, rokosovsky nodded with satisfaction and said: "the 150th division of the 79th infantry army has a remarkable performance in the whole campaign. After being supplemented and strengthened, I believe they will achieve more brilliant results in the next battle."


    "Comrade commander of the front army," gurov stood up and asked after rokosovsky finished saying, "what should we do in these days before the final general attack?"


    "What else can I do?" Rokosovsky replied with a smile: "of course, we should continue to let the comrades of the anti Communist alliance carry out anti war propaganda against the German army, hoping to shake their morale."


    While rokosovsky was speaking, major gradseff, commander of the group army''s guard battalion, came in. He went up to guroff, leaned down to his ear and whispered something.


    "Hello, comrade gurov, who is this major?" When rokosovsky saw that someone had sneaked into the headquarters while he was talking, and even whispered with the military commissar of the group army, he asked with some dissatisfaction, "what''s the matter with him?"


    When gladeshev heard rokosovsky''s question, he stood up straight and said nothing behind gurov. Finally, it was gurov who released the siege for him in time: "Comrade commander of the front army, let me introduce to you. This major is Comrade gladeshev, the commander of the guard battalion of our group army. He came in to ask me for instructions and said that it''s noon now. Should we have dinner?"


    After listening to gurov''s explanation, rokosovsky raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he shrugged his shoulders and said, "I didn''t realize it was so late. Now that it''s time for dinner, let the major serve our lunch."


    Several of us were having lunch when there was a roar of aircraft motors outside the house, accompanied by a noisy sound. At the sound from outside, rokosovsky stopped, listened to it for a moment, pointed up with his hand and said, "you all heard it. This is our reconnaissance plane. It''s shouting to the German soldiers with loudspeakers. "


    After listening to what rokosovsky said, all the people in the room did not speak. Instead, they concentrated on listening to the voice coming from outside. Although I don''t know much German, I can recite some sentences when I listen to the shouts of the anti Communist alliance soldiers and the defectors of gramus to the German army every day. Now out of the loudspeaker on the plane is one of the passages: "please pay attention to the besieged German soldiers and officers in Stalingrad, please pay attention to..."


    After everyone listened for a while, rokosovsky said to trakov, "now that the task is clear, you should seize the time to prepare for the battle." Then he waved his head at me. "Rita, come out with me. I have something to say to you."


    "Rita, is the commander of the infantry still used to it in front of him?" In a traffic ditch outside the headquarters of the group army, rokosovsky asked kindly, calling my nickname affectionately while smoking.


    "Well, I''m used to it. Thank you for your concern. "


    "Rita, in fact, I''ve been asked to come this time." Rokosovsky hesitated for a long time, and finally said his true intention: "general Zhukov, let me ask you if you are willing to go back to work in Moscow after the battle in Stalingrad is over. Of course, you will no longer be in such a dangerous position as a combat force. Instead, you will be placed in an important position. For example, a unit such as the district Soviet should serve as a deputy. "


    I recognized the meaning of rokosovsky''s words. He and Zhukov wanted me to leave the army and take up a position in a local area. They could not help shivering. In my impression, because the Soviet army had been in a disadvantageous situation, there were relatively few infighting in the army; If I go to a place to hold a post, I will probably count the money for others even if I am sold by others. So almost without hesitation, I replied, "Comrade General, please tell general Zhukov that I thank him for his kindness. I think I''m more suitable to stay in the army."


    "Don''t you really think about it any more?" My answer seemed to have been expected by rokosovsky. After hearing what I said, he didn''t show any surprise on his face. Instead, he continued to try to convince me: "Rita, I personally think it''s better for you to work in a place, because it''s much safer than in the army after all."


    "Comrade commander of the front army," in order to show my determination to stay in the army, I solemnly called rokosovsky''s official title, "I like the feeling of staying in the army, so I..."


    Before I finished speaking, Yushchenko''s series of shouts came from a distance: "Comrade commander, comrade commander, no, something''s wrong! Something''s wrong! "


    I heard Yushchenko''s voice and turned to look in the direction of the voice. Yushchenko and another soldier of the guard company helped a sergeant quickly along the traffic ditch. When I saw the one shouldered bullet proof vest worn by the sergeant who was standing in the middle, I could not help but feel a thump in my heart. I secretly said that there was nothing wrong with political commissar Vasiliev, right?


    When the three stopped in front of me, I saw that the sergeant''s bullet proof clothes were full of dents at the tip of my eyes. My feeling of uncertainty became more and more intense. Yushchenko continued to support the faltering sergeant, and at the same time reported to me: "Comrade commander, this is sergeant songjik who I sent to protect the political commissar of Vasiliev."


    I was even more flustered when I heard that it was really related to Vasiliev. I grabbed the sergeant''s arm and asked aloud, "Hey, comrade sergeant, tell me quickly, what''s the matter?"


    "Report to the commander," sergeant songjik told me with a sad face, "political commissar Vasiliev has died!"


    "What?! The commissar died? " I held out another hand and grasped songjik''s other arm, shaking him with both hands, and asked aloud, "what happened? Why did the political commissar sacrifice?"


    "Sergeant sonjik, I''m general rokosovsky, commander of the front army." Rokosovsky, who was standing next to me, was much more calm than I was. After he made his identity known to the sergeant, he asked in a smooth voice, "you tell us exactly what happened?"


    It is said that the commander of the front army is standing in front of him. Song Jike, who is supported by two people, stands up straight, raises his hand and gives a solemn salute to rokosovsky. After that, he respectfully tells us the whole story of the incident: "report to the commander of the front army, we are ordered to protect political commissar Vasiliev and his guard platoon at noon, and go to the defense area of the 171 division for inspection.


    When I passed an open field full of ruins, I suddenly had a sense of foreboding. I have walked this road several times, because on both sides of the road are only buildings with frames and piles of rubble, which have little fortification value. Therefore, neither our army nor the German army have troops to fortify here.


    I carefully observed the surrounding terrain, and found that it was still as usual, quiet, no one could see, but I felt a kind of unspeakable embarrassment. So I stopped the platoon leader of the guard platoon and told him my worries. When we asked the political commissar for instructions, we divided the team into three parts: two soldiers in our class and five soldiers in the guard platoon formed a vanguard team, walking in the front of the whole team; The platoon leader and more than 20 other soldiers are in the middle of protecting the political commissar; And I was at the bottom of the line with the rest of the guard squad.


    When we came to the middle of the open field, suddenly a shell with a sharp whistling landed in the middle of the vanguard team¡® After a loud bang, five or six soldiers were blown up.


    "Lie down!" Seeing that the soldiers in front of us were knocked down by the shells, I knew that we might have been found by the Germans, so I yelled and fell on the ground first. At this moment, a German tank and two armored vehicles emerged from the building with only frame left and drove slowly towards us. At the same time, more than 100 German officers and soldiers climbed out from behind the rubble, followed the tanks and armored vehicles and charged us. Seeing the sudden emergence of the enemy, I realized that we had been ambushed and the enemy only appeared in two directions. We still had the possibility of breaking through the encirclement, so I immediately ordered the soldiers in the class to come forward and save the political commissar. In the face of the German officers and soldiers who were shouting and rushing, the surviving soldiers around the political commissar were firing. Although they were lying on the ground, they had no terrain to rely on. They were oppressed by the enemy''s intensive firepower and couldn''t lift their heads at all. Sometimes they fired back, but the bullet hit the armor plate of the enemy''s tank or armored car, only splashed a few sparks, There is no threat to the enemy at all. When I rushed to the commissar, most of the soldiers in the guard platoon had died, and I had only two soldiers left. Another soldier and I set up a political commissar on the ground and rushed to the road regardless. Another soldier was fighting and retreating behind us with a weapon. At the same time, he used his bullet proof clothes to block the stray bullets for us. There is a pile of rubble not far in front of us, and behind it is a long traffic ditch. As long as we rush in, the probability of successful escape can be greatly increased. Just when we were a few meters away from the rubble, the political commissar who was standing in the middle suddenly broke away from us and threw himself forward. Then he fell heavily on the ground, and his cornice hat rolled to one side. The soldier and I bent down, grabbed the commissar''s arms and dragged him behind the rubble. When he was about to take him off the traffic ditch, he unexpectedly found that the political commissar was out of breath. A bullet went into his back brain and flew out of his front brain, directly taking his life. " When songjike finished, I bit my back teeth and asked, "was the commissar hit by a stray bullet?" Song Jike shook his head and said bitterly: "Comrade commander, it''s not a stray bullet. It''s a sniper from the German army."¡° What measures have you taken? " Although rokosovsky also looked sad, he still kept calm and continued to ask songjik, "report to the superior immediately, or just run to the group army headquarters?"¡° Report to the commander of the front army, "Song Jike carefully replied," after the surviving soldier and I put the remains of the political commissar in the traffic ditch, we rushed to the 84th tank brigade nearby and reported the matter to Colonel berey. Now the tank brigade has sent more than a dozen tanks and a company''s infantry to the fighting area for reinforcement. When I thought about it, I felt obliged to report it to the commander immediately, so I let the soldier serve as a guide for the tank brigade, and I came here directly. "

 Chapter 866

    After confirming the news that Vasiliev had been killed by German snipers, I leaned powerlessly against the wall of the traffic trench as if I had been drained. If it wasn''t for trikov to inform me to come to the group army headquarters for a meeting, I would go to the 171 division to inspect with Vasiliev. When we were attacked by the German army equipped with tanks and armored vehicles, we did not have accompanying armored forces and necessary anti tank weapons. We only relied on infantry carrying light weapons to deal with the enemy''s tanks. No matter how many people there were, we still could not escape the fate of being slaughtered by the German army.


    At this time, they also got the news of Vasiliev''s sacrifice. They came out of the headquarters one after another and came to us along the traffic ditch. Still far away, trikov yelled at me, "Hey, o''shanina, you know what? Your political commissar, comrade Vasiliev, was killed by the enemy''s snipers and died bravely. "


    I nodded at him and replied feebly, "yes, comrade commander, my subordinates have just reported this to me. I''m going to report it to you."


    "Comrade Vasiliev can''t die in vain," gulov, who walked up to him, said angrily, "we need to fight back immediately to let the Germans know that we are not easy to bully."


    After listening to what gurov said, I reluctantly smile. Vasiliev''s sacrifice makes my heart very sad. I also want to avenge him, but how can I avenge him? Can''t I order all the officers and men of the army to attack the German defense area regardless of their priorities?


    I leaned against the moat wall in a daze, listening to the conversation between rokosovsky and trakov.


    "General rokosovsky, comrade Vasiliev can''t sacrifice so freely. I think we should retaliate against the German army with a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye," trakov said


    After listening to trakov, rokosovsky did not reply immediately. Instead, he looked at sergeant songjik standing next to him, and then solemnly asked me, "Rita, if I''m not mistaken, did you send a squad of special guard company to go with political commissar Vasiliev?"


    I nodded, then turned my eyes to songjik. After the sergeant''s eyes met me, he immediately understood that I wanted him to answer this question. He quickly stepped forward and replied respectfully, "report to Comrade commander of the front army, there are 12 of us, 10 of us died in the battle."


    "Your weapons, comrade sergeant." After listening to song Jike''s words, rokosovsky suddenly turned his face and asked the sergeant in one shoulder bullet proof suit sternly, "did you leave all the weapons carried by the sacrificial soldiers to the Germans when you retreated?"


    "Comrade General, please forgive me!" Song Jike was a little flustered when he heard rokosovsky''s question. He nervously defended himself: "at that time, the enemy''s firepower was too fierce, and I had to cover the commissar to break through, so I didn''t collect the weapons lost by the soldiers who died in the class on the battlefield."


    The conversation between rokosovsky and songjik surprised me in a cold sweat. You know, even the soldiers of the special guard are equipped with AK47 which does not belong to this era. Once the German army gets this weapon and returns it to the country. With their super industrial ability and all the military factories in Europe under their control, they can carry out large-scale imitation. In less than two months, this kind of weapon will be loaded into the German army, and it will be a disaster for the Soviet army, which is backward in light weapons.


    I knew in my heart that the AK47 would never fall into the hands of the German army, or the Kalashnikov rifle would help them change everything. Thinking of this, my fear immediately disappeared. Before rokosovsky spoke again, I said, "Comrade commander of the front army, please allow me to rush to the place where political commissar Vasiliev died immediately to deal with the aftermath."


    Instead of immediately agreeing to my request, rokosovsky asked with concern, "do you need my air force to cooperate?" At this point, his eyes glanced at trekov, who was standing opposite him. "Or let the group fire cover the German positions in that area?"


    Air force support and artillery coverage sound very attractive, but after thinking for a moment, I still shook my head and resolutely refused: "Comrade commander of the front army, thank you for your kindness. Just with the German tanks, we can''t use the air force. Just with our tank brigade and artillery regiment, we can get rid of them all."


    "Well, since you are so confident, you can go." After listening to my statement, rokosovsky first nodded, and then specially told me: "you must pay attention to your own safety."


    "Yes After I raised my hand to salute him, I quickly walked up to trekov and asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, can you allow me to use the communication room?"


    "Absolutely." Trikov understood that I was going to use the communication room. He quickly turned to the communication director in the back, Colonel Yulin, and said, "Captain, you take oshanina to the communication room."


    I followed Yulin to the communication room and immediately dialed my army headquarters. When I heard the voice of chief of staff Vitkov coming from the opposite side, I immediately said, "Hello, chief of staff, this is oshanina. I order you to immediately dispatch the sniper unit of lieutenant Vassily of the 150th division to the place where the political commissar died. In addition, we will dispatch a battalion from the 266th artillery regiment newly assigned to our army. "


    "I see. I''ll pass on your order right away." After witkov said these words, he asked me carefully: "Comrade commander, I don''t know when you will return to the army headquarters."


    "I''ll rush to the place where the political commissar died immediately to deal with the aftermath. I can''t go back to the military headquarters for the time being." For his concern, I said apologetically, "so please stay in the headquarters."


    "Comrade commander, the political commissar has died. Can''t you have another accident?"


    "Don''t worry, chief of staff," I said in disapproval of the microphone, "I will pay attention to safety. The bullets that the enemy can kill me haven''t been made yet."


    Ten minutes later, I took Yushchenko and his guard platoon to the spot where Vasiliev was attacked. Many of my commanders have gathered here. In addition to bere of the tank brigade, there is colonel gorohov, the deputy division commander of the 171st division, who came to reinforce after hearing the news. He also brought more than 200 infantry.


    When they saw me, berey and gorohov came up. They didn''t salute me because they were worried about German snipers nearby. They just stood straight in front of me.


    I remember sergeant sonjik once told me that after they got out of danger, they were the first to go to the tank brigade for help, so the first to arrive at the scene should be colonel berey and his tank unit. I looked at BIE Lei and asked in a low voice, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the situation?"


    When Colonel berey heard my question, he shook his head and replied bitterly: "when our tank unit arrived, the German army had retreated. After our inspection, the political commissar was killed because he was hit in the head by the enemy''s sniper. And the accompanying Guard soldiers, 29 people were killed, 11 people were injured, and another 2 people were successfully out of danger. "


    "Captain Yushchenko," after listening to berey''s report, I turned and told Yushchenko behind me, "take someone to check the weapons of the soldiers, and see if they are all there?"


    "Yes Yushchenko agreed and took songjik and a dozen soldiers to the open field full of corpses.


    When Yushchenko and I left, I asked berey, "Colonel, where is the commissar''s body?"


    "There it is!" said berey, turning his mouth toward a pile of rubble in the distance Seeing that I was about to walk there, he quickly called me, "Comrade commander, I advise you not to go."


    I was surprised at my dissuasion, so I stopped and asked, "why, comrade Colonel?"


    When I asked, Colonel berey began to falter, not saying why for a long time. After looking at him, gorohov stepped forward and said to me, "Comrade commander, please allow me to report to you."


    "Go ahead, comrade colonel." Although gorohov is my subordinate, he has hardly dealt with him before, so I am very polite to him.


    "Comrade commander, Colonel berey is also very kind." When gorohov spoke, he took another look at bere beside him, and then explained to me, "because the political commissar was hit in the head by a German sniper, the bullet went from the back of the head to the front of the head, and the whole face was broken by the bullet. The brain and blood were all over the ground. In the split head, you can see the white skull. Two of the soldiers I''ve just sent to collect their bodies can''t help vomiting. "


    "I see." although I''ve been used to life and death for a long time, when I heard about Vasiliev''s tragedy, my heart still bristled, so I quickly went down the slope and said, "in this case, I''ll leave it to you to bury the remains of the political commissar. "Colonel berey," I said, turning my attention to berey, "is there any place nearby where I can see the enemy''s position?"


    Bielei nodded quickly, pointed to the building where two of our tanks were parked in the distance, and said, "Comrade commander, you can clearly see the enemy''s position in that building."


    "Come on, show me." After that, I said to gorohov with a smile, "Colonel gorohov, come along, too."


    Due to the bombing and shelling some time ago, almost all the walls of the six story house collapsed, leaving only a large frame. Several of us walked up the broken stairs, because the handrail had already been broken. With the height rising, my heart instinctively tightened.


    Starting from the first layer, each layer is filled with bricks and stones that have been blown down. According to the introduction of Colonel berey, the German infantry just hid here and surprised us, while the sniper hid in this building and successfully killed political commissar Vasiliev.


    When I came to a wall on the ground floor that didn''t completely collapse, I could see the dilapidated buildings and the German trenches in front of the building at a glance. Even without a telescope, I could clearly see the German soldiers walking back and forth in the trenches.


    Just then, a propeller reconnaissance plane of our army appeared in the air. It flew very low, only about 100 meters high. The loudspeaker on the plane called out: "please pay attention, the besieged German soldiers and officers in Stalingrad, please pay attention to..."


    Unexpectedly, the low flying plane was strafed by the German machine gun. The pilot pulled the plane up in a hurry to avoid the bullets coming from the ground. But it seemed to be a slow step. I saw a puff of black smoke coming out of the back half of the fuselage, and then the whole plane staggered away.


    "Damn it, damn it!" When we saw that our plane was hit by the German army, gorohov next to us was so angry that he yelled: "damn the Germans, they even beat the plane to persuade them to surrender. It seems that they don''t want to live." Seeing the furious Colonel gorohov, I still kept calm enough. When he stopped talking, I said lightly, "Comrade Colonel, since you also think the German should die, you can send them to hell yourself!"¡° Send them to hell? " Gorohov was confused by what I said. He looked at me and at bere, and asked blankly, "Comrade commander, I don''t understand you. You have confused me?" Colonel bere, who had dealt with me many times, understood my voice out of the picture and said to gorohov with a smile, "don''t you understand, Colonel gorohov? Comrade commander is going to destroy the German position in front of you and let your troops take up the main task of attack. "¡° Is that so, comrade commander? " Gorohov saw that I nodded to agree with bere''s statement, and immediately said excitedly, "well, I''ll lead the troops to take back the enemy''s position." After that, he turned around and was about to leave. I quickly stopped him: "don''t worry, Colonel. When our artillery regiment comes, first cover the enemy''s position with artillery fire, and then have Colonel berey''s tank unit to cover your infantry charge, so as to seize the front position for me in the shortest time." Gorohov looked at the area occupied by the German army in front of him, shrunk his mouth, and said with disapproval: "Comrade division, there are only four or five houses and a few trenches in the front position, and the enemy holding there is no more than 100 people. I have brought enough troops of a battalion. As long as I charge, I may be able to take down the position."¡° Comrade Colonel, "I felt a little dissatisfied when I heard that he despised the enemy so much. I reminded him with a straight face and said," please note that every soldier''s life is precious. As commanders, we have no right to risk their lives. Therefore, before the attack, we should saturate the enemy''s positions and attack them so that they have no strength to fight back, and then launch the final charge. Only in this way can we achieve the maximum results at the minimum cost. Do you understand? "¡° I understand Gorohov, who had been reprimanded by me, replied, blushing¡° Let''s go. I''ll go downstairs. " Downstairs, the 266th artillery regiment and Vasili''s sniper unit have arrived. When they saw me coming out of the building, they immediately reported to me, "Comrade commander, second lieutenant Vassily and the sniper team are ordered to come and wait for your order!"¡° Major kloming, artillery battalion commander of 266th artillery regiment, has been ordered to come and wait for your order I nodded to them, and first said to major kloming, "major, expand your artillery battalion on the spot and bombard the German position in front of you for no less than ten minutes. Do you understand?"¡° Understand Major kloming replied loudly. Then I patted Vassily on the shoulder, pointed to the building where I had just come out, and said to him, "Lieutenant, you take your sniper team to the building. When our infantry attack, your task is to kill the German commander, machine gun shooters, mortars and other important targets. Is the task clear? "¡° It''s clear! " After answering, Vasili turned and waved to a dozen snipers waiting nearby, shouting, "follow me!" Then he took the lead to rush into the building. Seeing Yushchenko coming to me, I asked in a low voice, "Captain, what''s the situation? Are the weapons here?" Yushchenko nodded and said to me in a low voice, "a total of 12 assault rifles. Two of them were on the two surviving soldiers. One of them was damaged by German shells in the battle. We have recovered all the remaining 9 rifles." Hearing that the AK47 lost on the battlefield did not fall into the hands of the Germans, I could not help but sigh a sigh of relief, and then said to Yushchenko in a tone of approval: "Captain, well done. After this battle, I will personally ask for credit for you."

 Chapter 867

    I set my temporary headquarters in the middle of the rubble next to the traffic moat, where I could see the German positions in the distance, and I could use the traffic moat to quickly evacuate to safety even if there was any danger.


    Just as the artillery battalion commander, major kloming, reported to me that the guns were all in place and ready to fire, I caught a glimpse of a famous soldier in a bullet proof suit coming up to Yushchenko quickly and whispering something to him.


    Seeing Yushchenko''s embarrassed face after listening to the soldier''s report, I was worried about what happened. I immediately asked him, "Captain Yushchenko, what happened?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Yushchenko came to me and reported to me, "the soldiers of the guard company have come to report that some comrades from the anti Communist alliance and the 150th division want to see you. It is said that they intend to persuade you not to fire on the German positions for the time being."


    "The anti Communist alliance and the 150th division?" Hearing this combination, I couldn''t help frowning and thinking about how bandeleev''s subordinates got mixed up with the Germans of the anti Communist alliance. To find out what was going on, I told Yushchenko, "Captain, go and bring them here!"


    But when the people Yushchenko brought back appeared in front of me, I couldn''t help but be happy, because I knew all the people behind him, one was ublishi, whom I met some time ago, and the other was lieutenant gretka, whom I knew very well.


    When they came to me, I took the initiative to extend my hand to ublishi. At the same time, I asked with a smile, "Hello, comrade ublishi. I''m glad to see you here again. What can I do for you, please


    As he shook hands with me, ublish said excitedly, "Comrade oshanina, I''m glad to see you again. I heard that you are going to order artillery to bombard the German position opposite, so you are here to stop you


    After hearing this, I restrained my smile, took back my hand and asked seriously, "Comrade ublish, can I ask why?"


    "Well, comrade oshanina." Ublish didn''t notice the change of expression on my face. He said to himself, "we have carried out anti war propaganda for the German troops in front of us for almost three days. From the effect, if we don''t fight them, someone will surrender to us in two or three days. If you''re lucky, you may even join the party in a systematic way. "


    Seeing the confident expression on ublishi''s face, I asked coldly, "Comrade ublishi, I want to ask, on what basis do you judge that the enemy will surrender to you in two or three days?"


    Ublish finally found the abnormality on my face. He didn''t understand what would change my face so quickly. He was speechless for a moment. And the next gretka saw ublishi''s embarrassed expression and quickly came out to help him out: "report to the commander, it''s like this. When we yelled at the opposite position for the first two days, the soldiers there fired at our position. Since yesterday, they have not fired at us any more, but patiently listened to us. It seems that our propaganda has achieved certain results. If we bombard their positions now, our efforts in recent days will be wasted. "


    Gretka''s words made me understand one thing. Maybe the German troops who attacked Vasiliev were lurking here. They wanted to kill their anti war propaganda team, but Vasiliev accidentally broke into the German ambush circle and sacrificed their lives in vain. Thinking of this, I couldn''t help humming heavily.


    Seeing my frosty expression, Ulrich seemed to notice something. He raised his hand to stop gretka, who was about to go on. Instead, he asked with concern, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the matter?"


    I raised my chin in the direction where the remains of Vasiliev and the soldiers of the guard platoon were placed, and said with a deep heart, "Comrade ublishi, look there. The remains of my political commissar Comrade Vasiliev and dozens of soldiers are there. They were all killed by the Germans in the opposite position more than an hour ago. "


    Ublishi was startled by what I said and didn''t care if his behavior was impolite. He rushed to Vasiliev''s body in a few steps, turned his back to me and lifted the old military uniform on the political commissar''s head. After watching for a while, I heard him sigh a long time, covered the political commissar with his military uniform again, stood up slowly, turned and walked back to me. Maybe he was stimulated, and his face was pale and not a bit of blood. After a moment of silence, he gritted his teeth and said, "Comrade oshanina, your decision is right. The blood debt should be paid with blood. Since these German soldiers don''t know what''s good or bad, we should teach them a lesson. "


    Gratified by the change of ublishi''s attitude, I ordered kloming, who was waiting beside him: "Comrade major, use your cannons to teach these Germans a lesson and let them taste the taste of being bombarded."


    After major kloming left, I said to berey and gorohov respectively, "Colonel berey, when the shelling is over, immediately order the tank units to attack the enemy positions. And you, Colonel gorohov, sent infantry to follow our tanks. After seizing the position, we should seize the time to repair the fortifications, consolidate the position, and prevent the German army from counterattacking. "


    "What about the captives?" Gorohov glanced at Ulrich, who was not far away, and then asked in a low voice.


    To his idiotic question, I said impatiently, "Comrade Colonel, look at the political commissar Vasiliev who is still lying there. Don''t you know what to do?"


    "I see, comrade commander." Gorohov said with understanding, "I will convey your instructions to every commander and soldier who participates in the war."


    After ten minutes of artillery bombardment, the soldiers of the 171st division rushed to the enemy under the cover of tank units. After only a few minutes, the battle over the position was over. All the more than 100 German officers and soldiers who held the small position were annihilated.


    Originally, I arranged Vasiliev''s funeral the next morning, but before the funeral started, I received a call from rokosovsky himself. He said on the phone in a commanding tone, "Rita, I have an important task for you. You immediately find a commander who is proficient in German, and when the car arrives, you will set out together. "


    I didn''t know what task rokosovsky was going to give me, so as soon as he finished, I asked carefully, "Comrade commander of the front army, do you have any important tasks to give me?"


    "It''s like this, Rita." Judging from rokosovsky''s voice, he seemed a little hesitant, but in the end they said what I wanted to know: "before the battle of the rings begins, I intend to make a final effort to send someone to persuade Paulus to surrender. I thought about it for a long time, and I think you are the most suitable for this task. So I''ll give you the task of submitting the letter of persuasion to Paulus. Any comments? "


    God, I feel like crying when I hear rokosovsky''s arrangement. It''s OK to send a second lieutenant for this kind of thing. Is it necessary to send me as the infantry commander? It''s a real anti-aircraft attack on mosquitoes. But now that rokosovsky has given the order, I can only harden my head and promise, "I will obey your order."


    When I put down the phone, vetkov came over and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what order the commander of the front army gave you?"


    I said to him with a bitter smile: "Comrade chief of staff, the commander of the front army intends to make another effort to persuade Paulus to surrender before launching the campaign. He gave me the task of sending the letter of persuasion. "


    Wittkov was shocked by what I said. He said nervously, "Comrade commander, you are the head of the army. How can you do such a messenger thing? No, no, absolutely not. I''ll call the commander of the front army and ask him to take back this ridiculous order. " Then he reached for the phone on the desk.


    I pressed my hand on the hand where he grasped the phone, shook my head at him and said, "chief of staff, you have not been in the army for one or two days. Don''t you know that according to the regulations, the orders of the higher authorities are not allowed to be discussed and can only be carried out? Since the commander of the front army has given such an order, even if there is a sea of fire ahead, I will go there without hesitation. " At this point, in order to ease the tense atmosphere in the room, I laughed at him and said, "you don''t have to worry, Paulus won''t kill me. I will come back safely."


    "Shall I send a special guard company to accompany you?" As Vasiliev died yesterday, vetkov was particularly worried about my safety. If I had any more accidents, the 79th infantry would be in a state of no leader.


    I shook my head again and said with a smile, "chief of staff, I''m going to send a letter of persuasion to Paulus, not to attack his position. I don''t need to take a guard company. Even if we have to fight, what role can these 100 people play? Can they protect me from breaking out of the hundreds of thousands of German troops? "


    Hearing what I said, vetkov knew that it was useless to persuade him again, but he still asked reluctantly, "Comrade commander, this time you go to the enemy, don''t you take any one with you?"


    Wittkov''s remark reminds me that if I want to submit a letter of persuasion to Paulus, my German level is not good. I have to take a commander who knows German with me. Who are you taking? The first thing I thought of was captain Mikhail yev, the commander of the Engineering Battalion. But he gave up the idea when he thought that he was leading the troops to maintain the ice transportation line on the Volga River. After thinking about all the officers and men of the original independent division, he found that the most suitable person was lieutenant gretka, whom he met yesterday. So he told wittkov, "Comrade Colonel, please call commander Bantai leiev of the 150th division and ask him to send lieutenant gretka of the guard camp to the army headquarters immediately."


    Gretka, who had been informed, had just arrived at the headquarters, and so had the officer rokosovsky sent to pick me up for the mission. The visitor was a captain. He came into the headquarters and saw me. He immediately raised his hand and saluted me. He loudly reported, "Comrade General, I''m chief of staff of the headquarters of the front army. Sania, on the order of the commander, will go to the headquarters of the German army with you to submit the letter of persuasion."


    We came to the door and saw a jeep with only one driver on the street outside. I turned to gretka and said, "Lieutenant, you take the co pilot''s seat." Then I''ll pull the door open and get on. Unexpectedly, Captain Sania stopped greteka. "Lieutenant, you''d better sit in the back with the general. I''ll show the driver the way in front of you."


    Captain Sania was a man of few words. He didn''t take the initiative to turn back and talk to me all the way. It was only when I asked him what he would turn back and simply answer.


    As we approached the German position, Sania asked the driver to stop. He put a white flag out of the window and waved it back and forth regularly.


    Seeing the waving white flag, although I knew that this was to prevent the unknown German officers and soldiers from firing on us, I was still very uncomfortable.


    After a while, a German tricycle drove out of their position and came to us. After the motorcycle stopped in front of us, a German officer jumped out of the sidecar. He walked quickly to the jeep, bent down and looked into the car, then said a few words in German.


    I was just about to ask gretka to respond, but I didn''t expect that Sania had pushed the door open and walked down, and communicated with each other in fluent German. Gretka was translating for me in a low voice: "Comrade commander, Captain Sania is showing our identity and intention to each other. The German commander said that he was not in charge of this matter and would send someone back to ask for instructions. "


    When gretka''s interpreter arrived, the German officer turned and walked to the tricycle and gave the motorcyclist a few orders. The other side nodded, and then drove the motorcycle to the same place.


    After the motorcycles left, the German officers returned to Sania and continued to talk with him. Perhaps seeing the hope of survival, the officer had a flattering smile on his face throughout the conversation.


    I looked at the officer who was talking with Sania outside the car and asked gretka, "Lieutenant, we are going to the German headquarters later. Are you nervous?"


    After a moment''s hesitation, gretka shook his head and said insincerely, "no, comrade commander, I''m not nervous at all." Said not nervous, but his voice became hoarse because of tension.


    Instead of tearing him down, I said with a smile, "I''m still very nervous at the thought of meeting this famous general Paulus soon. Don''t be nervous now, lieutenant, as long as you don''t be nervous when you see Paulus later. "


    We waited for about ten minutes and drove out of the German position four tricycles, each with two soldiers. Seeing the motorcycles coming towards us, the officer who was talking to Sania stopped and met the motorcycles. After a brief communication with his subordinates, he went back to Sania and said a few words.


    Sania nodded to him, then went back to the car, opened the door, leaned in half and reported to me, "Comrade General, the German officer said that we could only go to three people on their motorcycles, and all of them had to be blindfolded. I don''t know what you mean?"


    I knew in my heart that the German might have blindfolded us all for fear that we might peek at their defensive positions. Just because I wanted to understand this, I said to Sania with special cooperation: "yes, comrade captain, do as they say." With that, I pushed open the door beside me and went down.


    When the officer saw a female general coming out of the jeep, he was stunned. Then he came up to me and asked tentatively, "are you general o''shanina?"


    Hearing the officer''s question, I was stunned again. My heart said, am I so famous now, as long as the German troops who deal with me know me? But out of politeness, I replied in broken German, "yes, I''m o''shanina."


    After confirming my identity, the officer said a lot to me with a smile on his face. After that, he tilted his head at gretka beside me and motioned for him to translate for me. Gretkali was about to translate the officer''s original words to me: "Hello, general oshanina! I''m glad to meet you here. I''ve heard a lot about you. It''s my pleasure to be of service to you. But according to the rules, if you want to go to our headquarters, you and your subordinates must be blindfolded. I hope you don''t mind


    Sania and gretka and I got into the sidecar of the tricycle after being covered with black cloth by the German army. When I heard the officer yell, the motorcycle turned its head in the same place and sped forward.


    After more than ten minutes, I felt my motorcycle stopped. Then a hand reached out and helped me down from the sidecar. After hearing a series of German commands, the black cloth that blindfolded me was also untied, so that I could see everything in front of me.


    In front of me, is a tall marble building, here should be the famous central department store. On the platform at the door, there is a sandbag bunker on the left and right of the door, with machine guns on it. A German officer of higher rank stood on the platform and saw that our blindfold had been unfastened. He walked down the marble steps, raised his hand in front of me, saluted me, and said politely, "I am Colonel Adam, the adjutant of general Paulus. I have come out to meet you on the order of the commander."


    I put my hands behind my back and said humbly to the German adjutant in front of me, "Hello, Mr. Colonel, please take me to see general Paulus. I have something important to see immediately."


    Colonel Adam said with a smile, "the commander is waiting for you in the headquarters. Please follow me." Then he turned and took the lead up the steps. After we entered the building, led by Colonel Adam, we went down the long stairs into the basement. As soon as I passed through the huge iron gate, a sour smell came towards me. I saw German soldiers sitting or lying on both sides of the wide corridor. I guess it was because there were too many people here and the air circulation was not good that such a strange smell appeared. When we walked inside, most of the German soldiers on both sides sat in a daze, staring at the front without focus, except for a few whose eyes moved with us. When we walked into Paulus'' headquarters, in the dim candlelight, I saw a German officer in a military coat sitting on the leather chair opposite the long conference table. Although I couldn''t see each other''s face from a distance, I guess it was Paulus. Besides Paulus, there were many officers sitting on the left and right sides of the table. When they saw us enter the door, they all looked at us. But because Paulus did not speak, the officers did not speak, just looked at us in silence. I went to the table and stood still. I said to Paulus in a loud voice, "general Paulus, I''m here today on the order of general rokosovsky, commander of the Don front army, to submit a letter of persuasion to you." With that, I turned to Sania, who was standing behind me, and said in a low voice, "Captain, give them the letter of persuasion." Sania took a document bag from his briefcase and gave it to Colonel Adam, who was standing beside us. Adam took the paper bag and walked quickly to the other end of the table. When he comes to Paulus, he respectfully gives the paper bag to Paulus. Paulus took the bag, did not even open it, so he threw it directly on the table and said to me in a disdainful tone: "this lady, please show your identity, so that I can know who is the person who sent me the document?" As soon as Paulus''s voice fell, it immediately attracted the laughter of the officers around him. I remained calm to the jeers of the officers. After laughing, they turned their eyes away from me and began to whisper. My eyes swept over the officers at the table, and I said in my heart: don''t be complacent. All the officers present will be our captives before long. When I looked back, I said calmly, "Mr. Paulus, I am major general oshanina, the new commander of the 79th infantry of the 62nd group army of the Don front army. Although you don''t know me, I know you very well, because my troops have been fighting with your troops since the Don River Valley. " As soon as I finished talking about my identity, the original whisper stopped, and the officers looked away at me again. After a brief silence, an officer stood up and asked in a trembling voice, "is it oshanina, the division commander of the independent division of the Soviet army who is holding the mamayev post?"¡° Yes, it''s me. " Seeing his rank clearly, I turned out to be a major general and said politely, "Mr. general, I used to be the division commander of the independent division, and now I am the commander of the 79th infantry." After hearing this, the major general straightened up, raised his hand and saluted me. At the same time, he said, "Hello, general o''shanina, nice to meet you here. I''m your loser, commander of the 295th infantry division, major general Otto cofes

 Chapter 868

    I nodded to major general cofes for the kindness he had shown me. At the same time, I said slowly in unskilled German, "Hello, sir. I''m glad to meet you, too."


    Then another general stood up next to cofes and said to me with a smile: "Hello, general oshanina, I''ve heard your name for a long time. Please allow me to introduce myself. I''m Paulus, wearing presbyopic glasses, reading slowly and carefully. It seems that he wants to read every letter in the book of persuasion clearly. On the way here, I heard captain Sania say that this letter of persuasion was dictated by rokosovsky and handwritten by another German staff officer. In this way, the trouble of retranslation is omitted, and grammatical errors are not easy to occur, resulting in the situation that words fail to convey their meaning.


    While Paulus was reading the letter of persuasion, I leaned back on the back of the leather chair, folded my hands in front of my chest and waited patiently.


    I don''t know whether it was five minutes or ten minutes later, Paulus finally took his eyes away from the book of persuasion, took off his glasses and put them on the table. Then he said slowly, "general oshanina, your superior general rokosovsky''s conditions in the document are very respectable: all the prisoners are given" standard rations. ", The wounded and frostbitten will be treated, and the captured can retain their military rank, medals and personal finance. Can all these conditions be fulfilled? "


    Hearing Paulus'' question, all the generals focused on me again, waiting for the answer I was about to give. I sat up straight and said, "general Paulus, I can tell you very responsibly that since general rokosovsky has made such a promise, he will certainly fulfill it."


    After I finished, Paulus stared at me for a while, put down the document in his hand, and unexpectedly said: "general oshanina, with all due respect, although my troops are surrounded by your troops and it is difficult to supply them, there are more than 200000 troops after all. It may not be easy for your troops to annihilate us completely, right? What''s more, although Marshal Manstein''s troops have been repulsed by you for the time being, they may come back one day. Will your troops have the good luck to repulse them again? "


    After listening to lieutenant gretka''s translation, I knew that Paulus despised the fighting capacity of the Soviet army and felt that it was a shame to order his troops to lay down their arms to the defeated generals in the past. I didn''t get angry about his attitude. I just said to him with a smile: "general Paulus, I admit what you said is very reasonable. But I don''t know if you have ever thought about how long it will take to organize a new attack after Manstein is defeated by us? And can your troops wait that long? "


    In order to enhance the effect of persuasion, I also specifically stressed: "Mr. Paulus, I want to remind you that at this moment, the cold wind of the severe winter has hit the southern grassland, and there is snow everywhere. The temperature has dropped below zero. The besieged German army is in a very awkward situation: the tanks are short of fuel, the cannons are short of shells, and the horses are slaughtered, The soldiers drink only snow water... I can say that your men are suffering from hunger, cold and artillery bombardment, crouching in the trenches, waiting for the fate of destruction. "


    After I finished all this, I found that Paulus and the German generals didn''t respond to what I said. They just stared at me in a daze. Then I found out that lieutenant greteka didn''t translate my words to the other party in time, so I turned around and glared at the lieutenant behind me, and said discontentedly, "Hey, I said lieutenant greteka, what are you doing? Don''t translate what I just said to them."


    Gretka didn''t know what he was doing. Being reminded by me, he nodded in a hurry and translated what I had just said to Paulus and the surprised generals.


    Paulus, after greteka finished translating, suddenly said a few words. Before I could ask gretka what he meant, he had already made up his mind to communicate with Paulus. Sania, on the other side, leaned slightly down to my ear and said in a low voice, "Comrade General, Paulus is asking if the second lieutenant you brought has served in the German army before? After hearing this, the second lieutenant first gave the other side a positive answer, and then said his name, rank, and his former unit. "


    After a few words of conversation, Paulus leaned back, put his head on the back of his chair, and said, "general oshanina, although your troops are very difficult and cause us a lot of trouble, even yesterday, your troops captured a small position of ours. But in the Russian army, you can''t find a second one as effective as your army. As for the reasons, you only need to compare how many brigade commanders of your divisions were killed by us in this campaign, and how many other commanders of our same level were killed. So let''s lay down our arms and surrender to the enemy we have defeated. Unfortunately, we can''t do it! "


    "Commander," as soon as Paulus finished his words, Captain Sania translated for me before gretka. Perhaps the latter had just communicated with Paulus, which aroused his suspicions, so he automatically took over the post of translator without asking me. After listening to Sania''s translation, I stood up and said politely to Paulus: "I think it is necessary for me to remind you of the fact that our middle and senior commanders have suffered a lot of casualties in the battle because their command post is usually located only a few hundred meters away from the most intense part of the battle. And your generals, except general Lazer, who was captured by me, have set up their headquarters in a safe place a few kilometers away from the front line. "


    At this point, I sat back in my chair and said in a relaxed tone: "although the combat effectiveness of our troops is not as good as that of the 6th group army, even so, you can''t drive them into Volga River and capture Stalingrad completely with all your troops in summer and autumn. Well, now that you are a hungry and cold army, you can never defeat us. "


    Paulus sat up straight again, picked up the persuasion book on the table again and read it carefully. I can tell from the trembling details of Paulus'' hand holding the document that he did not want to review the contents of the persuasion book in his hand, but to cover up his panic.


    Just then, there was a loud noise outside, which immediately attracted the attention of the generals. Their eyes turned to the door, trying to find out what had happened. Paulus put down his papers, frowned, and said to the adjutant standing beside him, "Hello, Colonel Adam, go out and have a look. What''s going on outside?"


    After captain Adam left, Paulus apologetically said to me, "general oshanina, something seems to have happened outside. I''ve asked my adjutant, Colonel Adam, to go out and have a look." Then he assured me, "but please rest assured that no matter what happens, your personal safety here can be guaranteed."


    Although I knew that my mission was not dangerous, I said politely to Paulus for his friendly attitude: "thank you, sir. I believe that your control over your own troops can not be shaken."


    After a while, Colonel Adam came into the door with an officer who was struggling with his hands cut by two soldiers. He went straight to Paulus and reported to him.


    I recognized the officer who had escorted us to the headquarters, but why was he arrested by Colonel Adam? Thinking of this, I leaned over and asked Sonia in a low voice, "Captain, what''s going on? What''s Colonel Adam talking about?"


    "Report to general," Sania replied respectfully, "Colonel Adam told Paulus that the captain had been waiting outside since he had just escorted us to the headquarters. Perhaps it was too cold, and the officer outside, out of kindness, asked him and his men to come in and get warm. But I don''t know what happened. As soon as he entered the underground bunker, he began to get angry. The soldiers on duty came forward to stop them, and several of them were knocked down by him and his subordinates. "


    "What''s your name, captain? What''s more, "Paulus''s face was full of anger. It was obvious that he was extremely dissatisfied with the subordinate who dared to commit the following crimes, but he was still trying to exercise restraint in front of me, an outsider. He gritted his teeth and asked," please tell me honestly, why do you want to do this? "


    "My name is Danglars. I''m captain Gerhard Danglars of the national defense forces." After hearing Paulus'' question, the captain stopped struggling and answered the commander''s question truthfully: "I''m escorting the Russians to the headquarters today. I just walked into the basement division, and I almost fainted. There is a strong smell of cigar, brandy and barbecue in the air. This makes me extremely angry. We should know that our troops in the front line have basically run out of food, some companies have even begun to eat the bodies of their comrades in arms, while our superiors still have meat, brandy and so many other things. Why don''t we and my subordinates feel angry? "


    Paulus coughed awkwardly after listening to captain Danglars'' explanation, and then explained dryly, "Captain, because we are under siege, we can only rely on airdrop or airlift for logistics supplies. However, the transport planes used to transport food, ammunition, fuel and evacuate the wounded on the return journey need a large number of fighters to cover. Due to the needs of the war, these fighters have to be temporarily used on other fronts. Therefore, we can only temporarily reduce the rations of the troops. "


    Captain Danglars took a look at us, and then said viciously, "since we can''t hold on, why don''t you declare surrender? Anyway, the Russian negotiators are in your headquarters. "


    All the generals on the scene were indifferent to the remarks made by Danglars. They just stared at Paulus silently to hear how he replied to his subordinates.


    After a moment''s silence, Paulus did not avoid me. He said to Danglars calmly, "Captain, it''s very simple for you. You''re just fighting face to face with the enemy. But here in the headquarters, I need to make decisions at a higher strategic level. "


    Although Paulus said this to captain Danglars, I understand that he was telling me tactfully that although he was the commander of the group army, he could not help himself to make the final decision according to the actual situation, so he would never surrender.


    After listening to this, Captain Danglars snorted heavily and said with disdain, "Your Highness, these words are meaningless to me. You are just a coward''s excuse."


    Paulus didn''t get angry at captain dangla''s taunt. He waved to the two soldiers who had caught him and sent them out. Then he said, "Captain, the hard time has come, and the initiative has shifted to the lower officers." When he said that, he turned his eyes to me, and then said to the captain, "with the honor of being a soldier, you must promise me that you will send general oshanina and her men back."


    With that, he stood up, nodded at me and asked, "general oshanina, I don''t know how much time you left for me in your ultimatum?"¡° 24 hours, "I answered immediately after listening to Sania''s translation," that is to say, if you and your troops have not laid down their weapons after 24 hours, we will launch a final attack on you. "¡° 24 hours! " Paulus repeated the time, nodded bitterly, and then told his adjutant, "Adam, let captain Danglars send general o''shanina and them away." With that, he turned and walked slowly towards a room next to him. When his figure entered the hut, the door was closed. Colonel Adam came to me with Danglars, made a gesture, and politely said, "general oshanina, please! I''ll order captain Danglars to escort you away safely. " Leaving the basement of the department store, blindfolded again, we sat in the motorcycle sidecar of Captain Danglars'' army and returned to the place where the jeep was parked. Captain Danglars himself untied the black cloth tied to my eyes. When I thank him, he murmured, "Sir, I have a request. I don''t know if you can accept it?" After listening to gretka''s translation, I nodded and said in a friendly way, "please go ahead, captain. As long as it''s within my ability, I can accept it." After receiving my promise, Captain Danglars hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth for the last time, and said decisively, "Sir, I want to lead my company to surrender to your troops. I don''t know if you can accept it?" I was startled by Danglars words, and I asked in surprise, "Captain Danglars, you mean you want to lead the army to surrender, I heard you right?" Danglars nodded his head hard and said in affirmation: "Sir, just now in the headquarters, you must have heard what commander Paulus said. He said that the command has been transferred to the lower officers. It was on my way here that I understood the true meaning of his words. There are so many generals in the headquarters. Everyone is so cowardly that they dare not surrender. I''m just a little captain, but he told me that if you want to surrender, you should surrender. You should bear the consequences. If Hitler wants to settle accounts with me in the future, I''ll have to be lucky. After understanding this sentence, I told myself that since he gave me the right to surrender, I will do it decisively. " After listening to Danglars'' words from the bottom of my heart, I understood why his determination to surrender was suddenly so strong, so I took the initiative to reach out to him and said in a friendly way: "Captain Danglars, on behalf of all the officers and men of the 79th infantry army, welcome to join us!" When shaking hands with him, in order to dispel his worries, I went on to say, "I know that many officers and soldiers have the same mind as you, and want to lay down their arms and surrender, but they are still bound by their own vows. Yes, everyone is bound by it. Whoever wants to break it will betray the motherland. As far as I know, it will be sentenced to death. Even officers and generals are no exception. For officers, it''s important. Paulus, for example, felt that if they surrendered as generals, they would be ruined in the eyes of the German people. But for ordinary officers and soldiers, whatever oath, let it go to hell. " After Danglars released my hand, he stepped back and saluted me solemnly. Then he said, "general oshanina, please wait here. I''ll send someone back to the company and call the rest of the officers and soldiers. Today, I will lead 47 officers and soldiers of the company to formally surrender to you and your troops."

 Chapter 869

    "Say, Rita, now, according to your observation, will Paulus surrender?"


    After leaving the German position, I asked lieutenant gretka to take the defected captain Danglars and his subordinates back to the site of my army headquarters, and I followed captain Sania to the front army headquarters of rokosovsky. Rokosovsky asked my opinion as he poured tea for me.


    I shrugged my shoulders, spread my hands, and said with some helplessness: "it''s a pity, Comrade General. According to my observation, although the generals under Paulus are not averse to surrender, Paulus himself can''t make up his mind. I think he will ask Hitler for instructions on whether to surrender."


    "If you really ask Hitler, it will be a dead end." Malining, the chief of staff who heard me, said with a look of loss: "I thought the German army, which was hungry and cold, would seize the olive branch that we stretched out voluntarily in this desperate situation. I didn''t expect that they were still so stubborn. It seemed that they were going to fight against us to the end."


    "Comrade chief of staff, the Germans will not surrender so easily." Major general jieliejin, a military commissar of the front army I just met, said: "according to my analysis, in addition to the fact that some officers and soldiers still have a fluke mind about the rescue of the friendly camp, some are afraid of political revenge after being captured, more people dare not disobey their vows. They are bound by their vows. They are afraid that if they break them, they will betray their motherland. No matter they are sentenced to death, even their families in China will be implicated and sent to concentration camps. For a general like Paulus, he has more concerns. In addition to his own life and death and the safety of his family, he also has to consider whether he will be ruined because he ordered to surrender. So he will certainly ask Hitler for instructions so that he can, with permission, declare his surrender to us with dignity, without damaging his reputation. "


    "It''s a beautiful idea of him." After listening to jerekin, rokosovsky snorted heavily, "in the ultimatum I gave him, I only gave him 24 hours. If he has not let the German troops lay down their arms and surrender to us after this deadline, then I will order the troops to launch a final attack on the besieged German troops. "


    While listening to rokosovsky''s opinions, I suddenly thought of what captain Danglars said to me. So as soon as he finished, I immediately stood up and said, "Comrade commander of the front army, there is another situation I haven''t reported to you. If I report to you now, it may be helpful for the next battle."


    "What''s the matter?" Asked rokosovsky in surprise.


    "Well, comrade commander." So I told captain Danglars all over again. At last, I concluded: "recently, comrade Walter ublish, his anti Communist alliance and the National Committee of" free Germany "kept telling the besieged German officers and soldiers the truth of what happened on the front line and in Germany, It played a certain role in shaking the morale of the enemy. If the German army was not a well disciplined army, and its officers and men were bound by their vows, I think there would have been thousands of soldiers who had surrendered to us. "


    After listening to what I said, rokosovsky sat in his seat and did not speak. He frowned and began to meditate. However, major general gilekin said with joy, "great, comrade oshanina, the information you have provided for us is very important. I think as long as we launch a political offensive against the German army at the same time as the military offensive after the final general offensive, their so-called solid defense will soon collapse. "


    "Yes, comrade military Commissar." As for the statement of gilekin, chief of staff malining expressed great agreement: "in the past, we only relied on the bravery of the soldiers and the correct command of the commanders in fighting. We never thought that we would have to pay a huge price to win the final victory at the same time of military attack and political attack. Now with the help of this kind of political work, the commanders below generally feel that the attack is easier than before, and the casualties of the troops are also greatly reduced. "


    "My chief of staff, political offensive is very important, but it is not a panacea." At this time, the thoughtful rokosovsky raised his head again, took malining''s words and said: "if we don''t have a strong military strength, we still can''t win the final victory." At this point, he stood up and said firmly, "chief of staff, give orders to all units immediately to make them ready for all battles. As soon as the 24-hour deadline is over, we will launch a final attack on the besieged German forces. "


    Seeing that malining was ordered to issue an order in the communication room next door, I hesitated for a moment, and finally gathered up the courage to say to rokosovsky: "Comrade commander, I have a request." As soon as I said this, I regretted it in my heart. I secretly said that I would offend the commander of the friendly army if this matter was spread. So I just said one word and I shut up.


    Rokosovsky was a little worried when he saw that I wanted to talk and stop. He urged me to say, "Rita, if you have any requests, just ask them. As long as it is within my ability, I will agree. "


    With the encouragement of rokosovsky, I finally blushed and said my thoughts: "Comrade commander, I don''t know if we can hand over the task of seizing the central department store to our 79th infantry army?" After listening to my request, rokosovsky was stunned, then stared at me for a long time, and then looked at the military commissar jieliejin next to him. Then he nodded and said, "Rita, I can''t find any reason to refuse your request. After all, you led a division''s forces to carry the four German divisions'' repeated attacks at mamayev post. For such brilliant achievements of your division, the reward I can give you now is to give you the honor of capturing Paulus. " Originally, I just had a try to make this request to rokosovsky, but he agreed so readily. I quickly raised my hand to salute him and said gratefully: "thank you, thank you, comrade commander! Thank you for your trust in our army. Thank you for giving us such a glorious task. I assure you that our 79th infantry will live up to your expectations. " When I finished, rokosovsky pushed the map on the table towards us, pointed at it with his finger, and said to me solemnly, "Rita, you see, your army is eleven blocks away from the German headquarters, while the vanguard of general sumilov''s 64th army is only five blocks away. Although I gave you the task of capturing the German headquarters and capturing Paulus, if you can''t catch up with the friendly forces and approach the central department store, I will give you the task. Do you understand? "¡° I understand I have carefully studied why the army that finally captured Paulus was shumilov''s 64th group army, not trakov''s 62nd group army. The reason is that the latter was seriously damaged in the whole campaign. Apart from holding fast to contain the German forces, he had no ability to launch an active attack on the German forces. But now history has made a little deviation here because of my appearance. Naturally, I will not let go of such a good opportunity. So I confidently answered rokosovsky: "please rest assured, commander. I promise to complete the task." Seeing that my answer was so simple, rokosovsky''s face showed a happy smile. He reached out to me and said at the same time, "Rita, since you are so confident, I am here waiting for the news of your victory."

 Chapter 870

    That night, I saw the telegrams intercepted by our army from Paulus to Hitler in the headquarters of trakov. Paulus asked Hitler by telegram whether he could surrender. He wrote in the telegram: "if we continue to defend, it is meaningless and tragedy is inevitable. In order to save the living, I ask for immediate approval of our surrender, which is to save our nation and people. Paulus Hitler''s answer was simple and direct: "I will never allow surrender. The group army must hold its own position until it is shot to death. Hitler. " I put the telegram on the table and casually asked trakov, who was sitting beside me, "Comrade commander, what''s Paulus'' reaction to Hitler''s reply?" With a sneer, trakov picked up another piece of paper from the table and said in a sarcastic tone: "this is the order Paulus gave to his officers and soldiers after receiving Hitler''s call back. I''ll read it to you:" soldiers, you know how we will be threatened if we stop resisting. Now we only have one way, Fight to the last bullet. Fighting, only by fighting constantly, can we delay our last time. We also want to hope for the coming Savior, who is on his way here. "¡° What''s on the way here? " I asked in a confused way. Krailov, who had just come in from the outside, heard my question and replied with a smile, "what else can it be? Death, of course! And the death it will bring to the Germans! " When trekov heard kreilov''s voice, he raised his head and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, has the command of the front army come down?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Krailov said and handed the telegram in his hand to trikov. At the same time, he reported that: "in order to separate the German encircled group, after the attack, general Batov and general chisgakov''s group troops carried out the main assault from the West; The group of generals Zadov and galanin moved from the north, and the group of generals shumilov and torbhuin from the south to attack at the same time. The task of our group army is to attract more enemies from the East with positive actions. If the enemy tries to break through the frozen Volga River by force, they will resolutely block their way. " Gulov, who had not spoken for a long time, also expressed his own opinion after listening: "comrades commander, the task of our group army is very arduous. Although we have been thinking of Comrade oshanina all this time, I am not interested in vasilevsky''s promotion to general, so I didn''t speak. Instead, I quietly looked at trakov and waited for him to tell me the third good news. Unexpectedly, he turned and looked at gulov sitting next to him, and said with a smile, "Comrade military commissar, I think it''s better for you to announce the third good news to oshanina in person." Hearing that the last good news had something to do with me, I quickly turned to face gurov and straightened my back, waiting for him to announce the final answer to me. Gurov stood up with a smile on his face and said to me with ease: "Comrade oshanina, I formally announce to you today that your application for joining the party has been approved after discussion by all members of the Military Commission of the group army. From now on, you are an official member of the Communist Party of China (Bolshevik). Here, I congratulate you After shaking hands with gurov, trekov and krailov shook hands with me respectively and expressed their sincere congratulations to me. And I still feel like I''m dreaming. I didn''t expect that after only a few days, my application passed so easily.

 Chapter 871

    On January 22, our troops outside the city, after adjusting their deployment and under the cover of the air force, launched a full line attack again on the second German position. On January 23, the day after the route to the east of gumenrac was cut off by our army, the airport of gumenrac was successfully occupied by our army. At this point, all the German retreat roads were completely blocked.


    That evening, trekov called me. He said excitedly on the phone, "Comrade oshanina, I have good news for you. The main force of the Don front army has approached the outskirts of Stalingrad, and the task of our group army to contain the German army has been basically completed. Commander rokosovsky ordered us to take a break and prepare to launch a new attack on the German army on the 25th. "


    "Great, comrade commander. That''s flattering." I was overjoyed to hear the news that we could attack again. Thinking that the current Army''s ability to attack was not enough, I asked trikov what I was concerned about: "I don''t know when the two shock engineering battalions assigned to our army will arrive?"


    On hearing this question, trakov was silent for a moment, and then said, "I asked commander rokosovsky about this. He said that the engineering units assigned to our group army would arrive on the 26th."


    "What, the 26th?" When I heard that it would take three days for the engineers to feel it, I was disappointed and said, "it''s too late. When they arrive, the war will be almost over."


    As soon as I said that, I knew that I had slipped my tongue. The main force of the Don front army had not yet entered Stalingrad. Who could say when the war would be over? Perhaps in rokosovsky''s mind, they all thought that the war would not end until March or even April. However, trikov didn''t notice my blunder. Instead, he said to himself, "I don''t think we can rely too much on the Engineering Battalion even if they come here. After all, they are not familiar with the terrain of the city when they first came here. In the area occupied by the German army, the firepower points were light and dark, including high-rise fortifications and bunkers. The barricade fortifications were like firepower support points. Once fired, they could form cross firepower. Engineers who are not familiar with the terrain rush up, that is, they will die in vain. So I still consider using ublish''s anti Communist alliance to launch a political offensive against the German army in the city. If the majority of the enemy can be eliminated without bloodshed, the casualties of our army will be greatly reduced. "


    A few days ago, relying on the anti war propaganda of the anti Communist alliance, our department successfully persuaded many defenders to surrender and occupied two streets without a single shot. I was going to continue to do this next time. When I heard that trakov''s idea coincided with mine, I quickly followed him and said, "Comrade commander, as far as I know, comrade ublishi is still in our army. I wonder if you can send him to our army''s defense area to help us for a few days?"


    After hesitating for a moment, trikov resolutely agreed to my request: "OK, I''ll send someone to contact Comrade ublishi and ask them to get to your headquarters as soon as possible."


    Less than half an hour after the end of the call with trakov, Sergeant songjik, who was on duty outside, came in to report that ublishi and several comrades of the anti Communist alliance had come.


    Hearing song Jike''s report, I felt that it was a bit impolite to sit in the room waiting for others to come in now that others had already arrived at the door, so I asked chief of staff Vitkov to go out to meet them.


    Following ublishi, there were two other anti communist allies, all wearing brand-new Soviet uniforms and helmets. They came to our headquarters with an air of poise and a light footstep after Ulrich.


    I quickly stepped forward to meet ublish, took the initiative to shake hands with him, and politely said: "Hello, comrade ublish, I''m glad to meet you again."


    Ublishi held my hand tightly and said with a smile, "Hello, general oshanina. I didn''t expect that we would meet again so soon. I have come to assist you on the order of general trakov. "


    When ublish shook hands with Vitkov, I went to shake hands with the second person. This is a young man of medium build, looking only in his early twenties. When shaking hands with me, ublishi introduced to me: "Comrade General, this is private Heiner. He was captured in the battle of Kharkov and joined our anti Communist alliance after our education. After we came to Stalingrad this time, he successfully persuaded more than 20 officers and men to lay down their arms and surrender to us. "


    After listening to ublishi''s introduction of Heiner, I said with a smile to the young man in front of me, "Hello, comrade Heiner, welcome to us."


    When ublish introduced me to his last companion, he showed hesitation on his face. At last, he simply said to me, "general o''shanina, this is Lieutenant Enrique, who just surrendered to us two days ago."


    After listening to ublishi''s introduction, I immediately understood why there was hesitation on his face. It turned out that this member of the anti Communist alliance was a newly joined defector. Seeing the embarrassed expression on Lieutenant Enrique''s face, I quickly went forward and grasped his hand, shook hands with him warmly, and said, "Hello, lieutenant, welcome to our house."


    After they got into the headquarters, I immediately ordered songjik to pour tea for them. In order to dispel the doubts of Heiner and Enrique, I intentionally talked with ublishi for a while. When they were less wary, I talked about them.


    Because of ublishi''s translation, they gradually let go and told their feelings and experiences one after another, which made them very relaxed and happy. In particular, young Heiner, once put down his scruples, is just a chatterbox¡° Comrade general, there is one thing I think I should tell you. " Heinel said to me with ease: "I entered the enemy line last week in disguise, just in time for a colonel in his car to come to the front line. When he saw that all the officers and soldiers in the front line were listless and demoralized, he said to them in a loud voice: "brothers, what''s the situation now? We all know very well. I won''t say more. But I want to make one point clear: Although we are besieged by the Russians in Stalingrad, as long as we resist for one more day, the Russians will not be able to draw out their forces to besiege the friendly forces in the north Caucasus, and our comrades in arms will be more secure. I hope we can exchange our efforts and sacrifice for the final complete victory! Remember, we are all members of the Bundeswehr. After our sacrifice, our bodies will become the cornerstone of our motherland! " After listening to the Colonel''s encouragement, the frustrated officers and soldiers all cried out "long live Germany!" When heinel finished, I could not help frowning and thinking. It was thought that the morale of the besieged German army would drop to the bottom when they ran out of food, and they would be vulnerable to our attack. Unexpectedly, they just heard their officers say a few words, the desire for victory to overcome hunger. It seems that in the next battle, we should not take it lightly, otherwise we will suffer a great loss¡° Comrade general, I just defected two days ago. " Enrique interrupted: "as our defense line was compressed by the Soviet army, we even got less and less supplies. Later, the superior slaughtered all the horses of the Romanian cavalry division and gave them to us as food. We were hungry for several days. When we tasted the delicious food, the atmosphere in the company became a little more active. Just as we were enjoying our meal, I don''t know who muttered: "how many days can we eat this horse meat?" Hearing this, everyone was depressed again. When I reprimanded my subordinate, I found that I could not find a proper reason to reprimand him, because what he said was true. The horse meat was soon eaten up, and even the mice, cats and dogs that could occasionally be seen in the rubble were gone. The soldiers who lacked nutrition were becoming weaker and weaker, and even had no strength to build fortifications. Injury means death. Because of the severe cold and the lack of medicine, suicides of the patients emerge one after another. At this time, the superior issued a ridiculous order, saying that suicide is a disgrace to soldiers and should be resolutely stopped. Just on the day the order was given, one of my soldiers was dying because of the deterioration of his injury. Although it was very cold, his forehead was very hot. As he lay in the snow, his lips kept opening and closing. I leaned over to hear him saying, "I''m hungry... Hungry... Give me something to eat..." my nose was sour. I took out the only crumbs from my pocket and put them into his mouth. He was a little better after eating the crumbs. Just as he was able to survive after me, but at night, he began to moan bitterly and loudly: "kill me... Please... I can''t stand it..." the soldiers around looked at me, waiting for me to make a decision. After half a day''s hesitation, I took out my pistol and looked around. I saw that everyone nodded, and a few people didn''t have the heart to look. After nodding, they turned their heads to one side. The wounded soldier looked at me with grateful eyes. I stood up and saluted him. Holding the pistol with shaking hands, I aimed at the wounded soldier''s heart. He said, "I''m sorry!" Then he pulled the trigger. After a wisp of smoke came out of the muzzle of the gun, the head of the wounded soldier tilted to one side, and I also sat down on the ground powerlessly. " When Enrique said this, his eyes were red, and the tears in his eyes might fall down at any time. I quickly pushed the teapot gently in front of him, and asked politely, "Lieutenant, what happened after killing the wounded soldier? How did you come to us?"

 Chapter 872

    Enrique''s tears finally flowed down. After all, it was he who killed his comrades in arms. Even for the sake of relieving the pain of dying robe, it was hard for him to bear psychologically. While wiping his tears, he continued to say, "I didn''t know who reported to the superior about killing the wounded soldiers. The next morning, I was called to the battalion.


    In the battalion headquarters, in addition to the battalion commander, the company commander is also there. Seeing me appear, the company commander and the battalion commander looked at each other, patted the table and yelled at me: "Lieutenant Enrique, how dare you defy the orders of the superior and help the wounded soldiers commit suicide without authorization? Do you believe I will shoot you immediately?"


    The battalion commander stopped the angry company commander and said to me slowly, "forget it, Lieutenant Enrique. If you are not a soldier who is in urgent need of defending the position, I will put you in jail even if I don''t shoot you. However, you are not fit to continue to serve as platoon leader. I formally announce to you that you will be removed from the post of second lieutenant. "


    I left the battalion and went back to the platoon. I saw that the soldiers in the platoon were hiding in the trenches in the ruins. Several people crowded together to warm themselves with each other''s body temperature. And the body of the wounded soldier, I do not know who covered with a layer of rubble, was simply buried. Compared with us, he was lucky, at least he didn''t have to die in cold and hunger, and no one destroyed his body after he died. I have heard more than once that in other companies, the bodies of some soldiers who have just died will be dismembered by a group of living soldiers like butchers, pulling out his liver and lungs and eating them.


    There was no officer to stop the brutality of the soldiers. Because many of the people who continue to survive in this miserable and desperate environment have lost their senses and become insane. And those sober people, in order not to be frozen to death or starved to death, can only take off the uniforms of their dead companions and eat their bodies. "


    When I heard Enrique say that he was eating the corpse, I felt sick. In order to divert my attention, I interjected and asked, "Lieutenant Enrique, please wait a moment. I just heard you say that in order not to be frozen to death, I will go to pick the uniform on the corpse of my dead companion. What''s the matter? Don''t you have enough winter clothes? "


    When I asked this, I thought to myself: during the Moscow campaign, because the German army did not have enough winter clothes, thousands of officers and soldiers were frozen to death when the cold came. If Hitler didn''t know how to prevent similar tragedies in the battle of Stalingrad a year later, he would really be a donkey.


    Enrique shook his head and replied, "Comrade General, it''s not what you think. Shortly after the Soviet counter offensive began, our army had planned to break through the Karachi area which had not yet been lost. Our commander ordered us to be ready to burn all the materials we couldn''t take away and never leave anything to the enemy. The commander also said that if you only run in military uniform, you can run faster, so you have a great chance of getting out of danger. So we took our coats, lined up in a long line, and threw them into the fire one by one to burn them


    Hearing this, the curious vetkov couldn''t help interrupting and asked: "Lieutenant, I want to ask, since you moved to Karachi long before the encirclement was formed, why were you still surrounded in the end?" In order not to hurt Enrique''s face, he put it mildly and deliberately said that escape was a transfer.


    Enrique gave a wry smile and said in a sarcastic tone: "but when our troops set out near Karachi, they received a notice from commander Paulus, saying that no breakthrough is allowed without Berlin''s consent. If it is not stopped immediately, the commander of the troops will be punished.


    After receiving this sudden order, the breakthrough operation was cancelled, and we had to return to our original station. Many soldiers complained in private that if Paulus allowed us to break through, he might be sent to a military court or even sentenced to death. But it''s better for a German army general to be sentenced to death than for thousands of soldiers to starve to death. "


    "You''re wrong, lieutenant." When witkov heard this, he said sternly to Enrique, "you don''t know these generals. For them, soldiers on the battlefield are numbers, not lives. They will never willingly sacrifice their lives for a pile of boring numbers. And Mannstein, who came to rescue Paulus, was beaten back by us. I don''t think anyone will come to rescue the troops besieged in Stalingrad any more. "


    Enrique, after witkov finished, nodded vigorously and said in agreement, "you''re right, Colonel. We didn''t expect that they would abandon us. It''s unbelievable to see a whole army fall. Such a thing is totally incredible. I can''t believe they will sacrifice 300000 German soldiers. We can''t understand such a move. "


    "Lieutenant, how did you get... Er, on our side?" I wanted to ask him how he was captured, but when I was halfway through it, I thought it was inappropriate. I was worried that it would hurt his self-esteem, so I changed a more euphemistic word.


    When I asked him how he came to us for the second time, Enrique continued to tell his own story: "I stood in front of the remains of my comrades in arms. I didn''t know how long I stood. I didn''t wake up until someone next to me grabbed my arm and shook it hard. Turning around, it turned out that it was his subordinate, corporal Kuhn. When he saw me looking back, he handed me a folded piece of paper and said, "it''s his letter to my family." Said toward the body covered with rubble Nu mouth.


    When I opened the letter, it read: "dear, I can''t describe to you the pain we are facing in words, and it will only get worse and worse. Many people die here, but their families will never know their final result. If you don''t have any news, take me as one of them. Maybe when you received the letter, I was injured and became a prisoner, or I was frozen to death or starved to death. I''m sorry, dear. This letter seems to be our last letter. I don''t know how long we can live... "


    I put the letter into my pocket, and Kuhn, who was next to me, saw that I had finished reading the letter, looked left and right, approached me and said in a low voice, "Lieutenant, do you know? I''ve heard that soldiers of other units, without weapons, can sneak into the enemy''s positions and get food to satisfy their hunger. "


    After hearing this, I frowned and asked, "won''t they be shot when they are found by their own officers?"


    Kuhn shook his head and replied, "Lieutenant, although they climbed to the enemy''s position and asked for food, they finally returned to their own position. If the Russians attack at this time, they will still shoot as before. When it comes to shooting, it''s impossible, because when they go to the enemy''s side, they all get the tacit consent of their own officers, and when they come back, they don''t forget to bring their officers some food. "


    Just then, the big horn opposite our position sounded again, and a man with an obvious German accent said in a loud voice: "German officers and men besieged in Stalingrad, are you still waiting for Manstein to rescue you? To tell you the truth, his troops are retreating under the continuous attack of the Red Army. Now they have been driven to your area of 200 kilometers by the Red Army With the collapse of the gumenrac airport, your contact with the outside world has been completely interrupted. The food and ammunition airdropped by the limited transport planes of the Goering air force simply can not meet the needs of your 300000 people. So, German soldiers and officers, your daily rations will soon be reduced to 100 grams of bread and 10 grams of sausage. "


    When he heard this, Kuhn spat hard on the ground and scolded angrily: "hell, we can only get 100 grams of bread in about two days now. As for sausages, we can''t even see anything except the officials."


    When I heard Kuhn whine, a bold idea came to my mind. When I made up my mind, I patted him on the shoulder and asked, "corporal, would you like to take a risk with me?"


    Kuhn obviously guessed what I was going to say. He straightened up and said, "Lieutenant, I will obey your orders."


    Seeing that he had no objection, I announced to him, "corporal, put down your weapon and follow me across the street to find something to eat."


    As soon as I spoke, corporal Kuhn took off his submachine gun and threw it into the trench. Then he took off his belt. Then he stopped and told me, "Lieutenant, I''m ready to go."


    I also took off my belt and threw my weapons into the trench. I shook my head at Kuhn and said, "corporal, let''s go."


    We were not far away from the trench when we heard someone behind us shouting, "Hey, Lieutenant Enrique, corporal Kuhn, where are you going?"


    When I looked back, it turned out that two soldiers in my platoon were leaning out of the trench and looking at us. Before I could speak, Kuhn raised his hand and pointed to where we were going. Although he didn''t speak, the two soldiers immediately understood. They took off their belts one after another and threw their weapons aside. They ran out of the trench with their hands and feet and ran towards us.


    In this way, the four of us walked through the thick snow, toward the ruins covered with snow and the sound of trumpets in the distance. Because of hunger and fatigue, we walked very slowly. We didn''t know how far we had gone. Suddenly, there was a solemn low roar around us: "stop, raise your hands."


    I looked in the direction of the sound and found that five or six Soviet soldiers in white camouflage came out of the snow at some time. They surrounded us and pointed their weapons at us. Seeing this, my men and I raised our hands obediently.


    Maybe I was an officer. An officer in a big cornice hat came up to me and searched me from head to toe. Then he stood up straight, stepped back and put his hand to his waist. When I saw his action, my heart was cold. My heart said that we all laid down our weapons. Would we all be killed? But then I thought, even if we don''t come here, we will die sooner or later. It''s better to let him die than to wait until then without the strength to commit suicide.


    Just as I closed my eyes and waited to die, something hit me on the chest, and then it fell to my feet with a slap. I opened my eyes and saw that there was a paper package on the snow. I looked up at the commander in the cornice hat. He waved from the other soldiers. They packed up their weapons and left. I bent down and picked up the paper package on the ground. When I opened it, it turned out to be a piece of black bread. After I gave the bread to Kuhn and the three of them, I tried my best to put it in my mouth.


    After eating the bread, my strength recovered a little. At this time, Kuhn, who was still eating the bread, asked me vaguely, "Mr. lieutenant, what should we do next? Shall we go back to our position?" After hearing this, I said to Kuhn with a bitter smile, "corporal Kuhn, I don''t want to go back. I''m going to surrender to the Russians." When I said this, one of the soldiers nervously reminded me, "Mr. lieutenant, you have to think clearly. I''ve heard that when the Russians catch our officers, they shoot them directly. You can''t take risks. " As for the advice from the soldiers, I shook my head and said stubbornly, "didn''t you listen to the radio? As long as they lay down their arms and surrender, they will guarantee the safety of all people''s lives. Even if I really want to be shot, I will accept my life. Anyway, I will go back to the position now, and I won''t live a few more days. If you die sooner or later, it''s better to gamble. " After hearing this, Kuhn made up his mind to stay with me, while the other two soldiers shook their heads and returned to our original position. After they left, I took Kuhn into the Soviet position. Under their leadership, I found Comrade ublishi and his comrades in the anti Communist alliance. " After listening to Enrique''s story, we chatted for a while. Seeing that it was late, I arranged to take some of them to rest. When ublish and some of them left, vetkov said with some dissatisfaction: "Comrade commander, did you listen to the story of lieutenant Enrique just now? I think he is a speculator. If he is not desperate, he will not surrender to us at all. Therefore, I think we can''t let him stay in the anti Communist alliance. We should send him to the prison camp immediately. " I just gave a little smile to wittkov''s complaint, and then said, "Comrade chief of staff, don''t you find that in the chat with Lieutenant Enrique, we got a lot of useful information, which is very beneficial to our next battle."¡° Useful information? " When witkov heard me say this, he couldn''t help saying to himself, "but I didn''t hear any useful information for us?" I called the 284th division commander, Colonel wachuk, and asked him to come to the headquarters immediately. After putting down the phone, I said to wittkov, "the German officers and men in the city are in a dilemma of starvation and cold because of insufficient supplies. If we launch a military attack and increase the intensity of political persuasion at the same time, we will achieve unexpected results." Although I said that, wittkov was still a little upset: "Lieutenant Enrique, when they came to our army, there were four men. After eating, two soldiers returned to their positions. Maybe in the next battle, the German who ate our food will still shoot our commanders and fighters."¡° Chief of staff, you are quite right. " I first affirmed his statement and then expressed my own opinion: "but even if our political offensive only disintegrates a small number of soldiers, the strength of the enemy has also been weakened. In this way, we can reduce the casualties of our officers and men in the battle. " Just then, there was a voice of wachuk calling for a report at the door. I rushed to the door and said, "come in!" I didn''t expect that after a minute or two, I didn''t see wachuk at the door. I thought he didn''t hear me, so I raised his voice and yelled, "is that Colonel wachuk out there? Come in, we are waiting for you

 Chapter 873

    As I called, wachuk''s figure appeared at the door. But it''s strange that he didn''t come right away. Instead, he stood still and didn''t pay any attention to me and Vitkov waiting in the room.


    Seeing his action, I felt a little dissatisfied. My heart said that although you are older than me and qualified older than me, I am your superior after all, and my rank is higher than you. You can''t be so rude to me. When I was about to attack, I was surprised to find that wachuk was not standing in the same place, but moving forward. I don''t know if it was his leg problem or why. He moved slowly towards us in centimetres.


    Surprised, I stepped forward to him, took his left arm, and asked with concern, "what''s the matter, Colonel wachuk? What''s the matter with your leg?"


    The black and thin Colonel wachuk grinned, showed his white and neat teeth, and explained to me, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. My leg was frostbitten in the snow when I was fighting with the White army of Finland two years ago. As long as the weather is cold, the pain is very severe. If there is no one to help, you can hardly walk


    Witkov heard what wachuk said. He quickly came over, took wachuk''s other arm, and helped him to the table with me. When witkov went to pour the tea, I said to wachuk in a reproachful tone, "Colonel, your leg is not good. You should have told me this when you just got my call, instead of trying to be so brave now."


    After listening to my criticism, wachuk said with a smile: "Comrade commander, I think you must have some important tasks to hand over to our division when you let me come to the military headquarters so late, so I put down the phone and came here in a hurry."


    "Colonel wachuk," vetkov said with concern, after sitting down beside him with a cup of hot tea in front of wachuk, "since your legs are inconvenient, you should train some qualified assistants in the division. With their help, you will be more relaxed."


    Hearing wittkov''s words, wachuk nodded and said, "Comrade chief of staff, you are right. My commander, Lieutenant Colonel mitelev, is a good commander. Sometimes when I leave the headquarters and go to the frontier for inspection, he is the one who takes over my command. "


    "Oh, commander miteleev." I repeated the name and asked, "where is he?"


    "Right outside the door." Wachuk replied briefly.


    "Chief of staff," said wachuk, his lieutenant colonel mitelev was at the door, and I immediately told Vitkov, "bring the lieutenant in quickly."


    Vetkov nodded, went to the door and called out, "mitelev, is lieutenant colonel mitelev out there?" After hearing a reply from someone outside, he went on to say politely, "Comrade commander, don''t stand outside. Please come in and come to the headquarters."


    As soon as wittkov''s voice was over, he hurried through the door to a tall commander in a gray cylinder fur hat and a military coat. After he came in, he raised his hand to salute us and said aloud, "comrades in chief of the army and chief of the staff! Infantry "Colonel wachuk," I began to teach the hero''s division the knack of street fighting: "the independent Division I used to command is very experienced in this kind of street fighting. After you rush into the street, the troops should disperse immediately. It''s the platoon as a unit that enters the buildings on both sides of the street to search for the enemy. It''s not crowded together and rush forward foolishly. That way, apart from becoming the enemy''s target, it won''t play any role at all. In addition, when fighting in the house, the most suitable weapon is the shovel on the soldiers. When you see the enemy, there is only one thing you can do, that is to grab the shovel and swing it at the enemy. As long as you hit the other person''s vital point, a little bit under the head, you can cut off his artery and kill him instantly; Even if his head doesn''t hit his vital point, it can make him lose his resistance temporarily and can''t cause any damage to our soldiers. "


    After hearing this, wachuk nodded, then turned to miteleev and said, "commander, do you hear what the commander said? Write down these tactical points and pass them back to commanders at all levels. "


    When wachuk was about to leave, I yelled out, "sergeant sonjik, come in." When the sergeant appeared in front of us, I pointed to wachuk and said to him, "Comrade sergeant, please help the lieutenant commander to send Colonel wachuk back."


    The next morning, I got a call from trakov. He said happily, "o''shanina, do you know? The troops of the Batov group army and the chisgakov guard group army, who attacked from the west, had approached the western suburbs of Stalingrad. According to commander rokosovsky, he is going to ask our group army to dispatch several troops to hold a grand meeting ceremony with the friendly forces. "


    "Very good, comrade commander. This is very good." I am also very happy to hear this news, because there are not many elite troops left in the group army. If we want to transfer troops to join forces, we will certainly transfer troops from the 79th infantry army. So I asked triumphantly, "are you going to transfer one or two troops from our army?"


    "O''shanina, you guess a lot. I just want to draw a division from your army to participate in this meeting. " I couldn''t help but be overjoyed when I heard that from trekov. The most outstanding division of the 79th army is the 150th division of Bantai leiev, which is the red flag independent division that I used to be the division commander. At this time, the next words of trakov made my smile freeze on my face. "I plan to transfer the 284th infantry division of Colonel wachuk to participate in this meeting."


    The 284th division participated in the meeting, not the 150th division of Bantai leiev. When I heard the news, I almost threw the phone and lifted the table in front of me. At this moment, ten thousand grass mud horses have been galloping in my heart, and I secretly scold: why don''t I act as the teacher of the independent division? Should the independent division be discriminated against and not be allowed to witness this moment of great historical significance? I resisted my dissatisfaction, tried to keep my voice steady, pretended to be nothing, and asked trakov, "Comrade commander, why did you arrange the troops of Colonel wachuk?"¡° This time, I wanted to transfer the 150th division of bantailiev. "When I heard him say this, although I knew he couldn''t see my expression, I still nodded my head desperately. I couldn''t wait to ask: since you have considered the independent division, why did you finally decide to transfer the 284th division? Trikov didn''t notice my difference at all, and he said slowly: "but considering that the division is the most effective unit in your army at present, if you want to capture the headquarters of Paulus as soon as possible, it''s really impossible to leave them, so I chose the 284th division of Colonel wachuk as my second choice." Oh, it turns out that trekov didn''t discriminate against my independent division, but wanted to use them in more important areas. After I found out what trikov really thought, my mind was immediately balanced. Only listen to trekov asked: "o''shanina, do you have any different opinions on my arrangement?" When I heard trekov''s question, I quickly replied with a smile on my face, "no, comrade commander, I have no different opinions. I firmly obey your order." Speaking of this, I suddenly thought of the injury to wachuk''s leg and the actual situation of walking difficulties. I quickly added, "however, Colonel wachuk''s physical condition is not very good."¡° Not in good health? " "He was wounded in the battle?" trekov asked in surprise¡° No, comrade commander. " I hastened to give trakov a brief account of what wachuk said yesterday¡° Well, so it is. " After listening to this, trakov didn''t respond very much. Instead, he said to me, "Comrade oshanina, I''ve known something about Colonel wachuk for a long time. Although I haven''t known him for a long time, I found three valuable qualities in him: firm command, brave fighting and strong party spirit. He is a man of both seriousness and integrity. He is formidable and respectable. According to the political workers of the headquarters below, although his legs were injured and he barely moved step by step, he never sat in the bunker. In order not to let the superior take special care of him, he tried every means to cover up his injury to us. Every day, he went to the front line or observation station on crutches, and often supported the adjutant''s shoulder when he came back, but only when no one saw him at night. Try every means to cover up their injuries. He is a straight man. He speaks the truth frankly to any superior and subordinate. Although sometimes it hurts people''s self-esteem, he still keeps on telling me the truth. What''s more, the reports he submitted are always well founded. Even without verification, we can confirm that they are completely true. It is precisely because of his advantages that I will give priority to him when I choose the commander who will participate in the meeting. " When I put down the phone, wittkov asked me curiously, "Comrade commander, the commander is calling. Is there anything important?"¡° The commander said that he would join up with the friendly forces in a few days, and that a unit would be drawn from our army. " I picked up the teapot on the table and took a sip. Then I said, "he has chosen the 284th division of wachuk. You can call the Colonel later and ask him to assemble his troops as soon as possible and move to the designated place." Witkov was surprised to hear that wachuk''s troops were about to be transferred. He asked nervously, "but what should be done with the task of attacking the enemy''s streets as soon as the 284th division leaves?"¡° What else can we do? Another unit to replace the 284th division. " Considering that the division''s defense area is not far from the 150th division of bandeleev, I said lightly, "you call Colonel bandeleev and ask him to transfer the shejerikov regiment to take over the defense area of the wachuk division. When it comes to street fighting, the whole group army really can''t find a more experienced force. "

 Chapter 874

    Two hours later, bantailiev''s troops took over the defense of the wachuk division. Although it was early in the morning of the 25th, I immediately called bantailiev, andryushchenko, gurdyev, the tank brigade commander, Colonel berey, and the artillery commander, Lieutenant Colonel kavilin, to the headquarters for the final pre war mobilization.


    "Comrades in command, according to the instructions of our superiors, we will launch a final attack on the German forces in Stalingrad today and completely annihilate them." Although I was very excited by the end of the battle of Stalingrad, I still tried to make my voice as usual before my numerous ministries, as if I was just giving them routine tasks¡° As Colonel wachuk''s 284th division is removed, the 150th division, which will replace them, will attack in both directions at the same time. In order to reduce our casualties and destroy the German firepower support as soon as possible, I intend to divide the artillery regiment of lieutenant colonel kaverin into three parts and assign them to three infantry divisions respectively. "


    After listening to my arrangement, wittkov frowned and said, "Comrade commander, if we split up the artillery regiment, we will not be able to cover the German army. Once the attacking forces encounter the German fortifications, they will pay a huge price. "


    I waved my hand and directly refuted his view: "Comrade chief of staff, the kind of artillery coverage you mentioned is used in attacking field fortifications, and it is not appropriate in street warfare. If you think about it, in the past few months, we have to endure the German artillery and bombing every day, but in the end, we tenaciously held the city. Now we have to attack and defend the enemy. If we don''t change our tactics, it is estimated that even if we pay a heavy price, we will get very little success. "


    "Comrade commander, I don''t know how you plan to fight?" Vitkov asked politely.


    "Comrades, in order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, we should first persuade the enemy''s defenders to surrender before attacking." Instead of answering wittkov''s question directly, I said to all the commanders, "if they don''t agree, push the artillery of the artillery battalion over and shoot directly at the German fortifications. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" Three infantry division commanders and one artillery regiment leader replied together.


    After everyone had finished, Colonel berey, who had never spoken, stood up, raised his voice and asked, "Comrade commander, do you allow me to ask questions?"


    When I saw Colonel berey who took the initiative to stand up, I looked at him in surprise and said, "what questions will he ask at such a time?"? Although I was full of doubts, I said to him in a friendly way: "Colonel berey, if you have any questions, just ask them."


    "Comrade commander," said berey, repeating the question aloud, "please allow me to ask you a question. What is the mission of the 84th tank brigade in this final attack?"


    "Colonel berey," wittkov said with obvious dissatisfaction after hearing berey''s question, "didn''t you attend the meeting the other two days? If you take part, it should be clear that the task of your tank brigade is to stop at the starting position and support the assault forces with artillery fire. "


    "But, comrade chief of staff." Belay looked at wittkov and said in a loud voice, "when the soldiers of our tank brigade can do more, they can not only provide artillery support for the infantry, but also take the infantry charge..."


    "Don''t get excited, Colonel ray." As for the tank brigade commander who once fought with the independent division, I said very politely: "the reason why I didn''t let your tank brigade go out is that the streets to be attacked are too narrow for tanks to be used. In a narrow street, it is difficult for a moving tank to quickly turn around and fight back when it is attacked by the enemy behind or on the side. In addition, the elevation angle of the tank gun is limited, so it can''t fire at the top of the building. But the enemy''s anti tank hand, actually may hide in the roof to aim at you


    After listening to my explanation, don''t Leighton understood the reason why I didn''t let them directly participate in the attack, and his face turned red with shame. Seeing his embarrassment, vetkov came up to him, raised his hands on his shoulders and pressed them down slightly. At the same time, he said, "Comrade bere, I know you see that other troops have specific offensive tasks, but you only provide some artillery support in the rear, and the effect of this kind of fire support will depend on the participation of artillery, And it''s much weaker. In this case, your disappointment is understandable. "


    When berey sat down, vetkov returned to his position, picked up a document on the table, glanced at the commanders present, and said, "comrades, commanders! I will now read out the report of the Military Commission of the group army to all the commanders and fighters of the 62nd group army. "


    Hearing what he said, several commanders immediately stood up from their seats. Seeing that everyone stood up, I could not continue to sit in my seat, so I had to stand up.


    "Comrades, all the commanders and fighters of the 62nd army," wittkov read aloud, "at present, we have turned to the final decisive attack, which will determine the future of our motherland. The Paulus troops surrounded by us will be completely destroyed under the attack of iron fist


    The Military Commission believes that all units of the 62nd army will be able to perform their duties to the motherland with honor and success


    Fight bravely, comrades! Please remember, Stalingrad''s survival and freedom depend on you!


    Glory belongs to the brave soldiers in battle!


    Let your glorious and victorious fighting flag fly high forever!


    Fight, brave soldiers, fight to the death with the enemy, let them hear our name, they will tremble unconsciously... "After reading, wittkov put the letter to all the commanders and fighters on the table.


    "Wula Several commanders cheered at the same time.


    "Sit down, comrades commander." Wittkov made a posture of asking everyone to sit down. He also sat on the stool. He pointed to the papers on the table and said in a smooth tone: "our attack will start at 9 am, so we must read the order to all the commanders and fighters before the battle, so that every soldier will know the order." With that, he turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, I''m finished."


    When witkov finished his speech, I immediately stood up and announced, "comrades commanders, this is the end of today''s meeting. You can go back to your own team."


    At eight o''clock in the morning, divisions that had already entered the offensive positions began to attack. According to my prior arrangement, they first arranged for the comrades of the anti Communist alliance to shout at the German army opposite. I didn''t expect that they were faced with a group of outlaws, not only did they not surrender, but also used mortars to bombard the positions of the preachers, or machine guns to strafe. Seeing that the persuasion was ineffective, the commanders of the divisions immediately ordered the artillery to fire and destroy the German fortifications.


    By noon, most of the buildings in the four streets attacked by us had fallen into the hands of our army. Although the divisions are progressing smoothly, I can''t concentrate all the time. I always wonder where the friendly troops from the west side should be now?


    Whenever I have free time, I will call Krylov. On the surface, I am concerned about the situation of the wachuk division. In fact, I want to know the progress of the troops gathered in the factories and dormitories in the western suburbs.


    At the beginning, Krylov was patient enough to introduce the situation to me. When I called more times, he became impatient. When I called for the last time in the evening, he finally lost his temper: "Comrade oshanina, I remind you that what you should pay attention to is not how long the other forces of the group army will meet with the friendly forces, but how long it will take to consider your troops and push them outside the headquarters of Paulus." After he finished, he heard me say nothing. Maybe he felt that his tone was a little heavy and hurt my self-esteem, so he slowed down and said, "OK, o''shanina, I''ll tell you the general situation, so don''t call me all the time. The six divisions that went out to the factories and dormitories in the western suburbs this morning, including the gorishner division, the Sokolov division, the lyudnikov division, the guriyev division and the rodimzev division, have turned to the north to destroy the enemy groups in the factories and dormitories; The wachuk division, on the other hand, turned to the south, focusing on the heavy army groups that had fled there. Let me tell you another piece of good news. Now there is only one Red October town between our group army and friendly forces. The straight-line distance is only the last 500 meters. "


    When I heard that Carreras had told me all the information I wanted to know, I did not pester him. Instead, I repeatedly said, "thank you, thank you, chief of staff! Don''t worry, I won''t call you any more. "


    Although I verbally said that I would not cause any trouble to Krylov, early the next morning, after I handed over the work of the army to Vitkov, I took Yushchenko and a guard platoon and rushed to the headquarters of trekov.


    Seeing my sudden appearance at the headquarters of the group army, I first found that my trikov had a stiff face and asked sternly, "Comrade oshanina, how did you come here?"


    "Comrade commander," I quickly saluted him with a smile and said with a smile, "it is said that our army of the group army will soon join the friendly army. As the deputy commander of the group army, I naturally have the right to know the good news at the first time."


    "O''shanina," gurov, who had just found me, came to me and said with a smile, "I guess you want to go to Red October Town, don''t you? I understand that if conditions permit, I can''t wait to get there myself. " At this point, he took a look at trekov next to him, and then said to me, "the commander and I, as well as the chief of staff, are going to stay, waiting to contact the head of the front army. Well, on behalf of the leaders of the group army, you can witness this historic moment of great significance. "


    "Thank you, comrade military commissar, and Comrade commander!" When I saw that krailov was not in the headquarters, I was deeply relieved. I repeatedly expressed my gratitude to trakov and gurov, then raised my hand to salute them, turned and walked out of the headquarters quickly.


    When our car came to the north of a post near Red October, it was stopped by a newly built checkpoint. A little soldier came to my car, raised his hand to salute me, and politely said, "Comrade General! Corporal gilsanov, the commander of the 13th division of the guard infantry, reports to you that our class is carrying out the task of inspection. "


    "At ease!" I pushed the door open and got out of the car. I asked kindly, "corporal, do you know where your division commander, general rojmtsev, is?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." Gilsanov replied respectfully, "may I be your guide?"


    "Comrade corporal, this is very good." I was worried about where I should go to find the teachers after getting off the bus. Now that someone is willing to take the initiative to act as a guide, I can''t wait. I said to the corporal friendly, "please show us the way. I have something urgent to see your teachers."


    As we followed the corporal and walked up the hillside under the snow, I saw countless craters on both sides of the road. Around the craters, there were still many corpses, both German and our own. We could see how fierce the fighting was.


    When we came to a building on the hillside where three walls had been blown down, we saw a group of commanders in white camouflage suits and gray cylindrical leather caps talking around the door. From their backs, I quickly recognized rodymzev standing in the middle. After thanking the corporal who led the way, I walked quickly towards them.


    Still far away, I would shout to them: "Hello, comrades commander, how are you!"


    Hearing my shouts, the commanders looked back at me and saw me with a look of surprise on their faces. They came to me in a hurry. Rodymzev, who was at the front, asked in surprise, "Comrade oshanina, why are you here?"


    As I shook hands with him, I replied, "I''ll see the meeting of our group army and friendly forces." Seeing that he wanted to speak, he quickly added: "the commander and the military commissar agreed."


    Seeing that everyone''s eyes were focused on me, I asked, "are you ready?"


    When rodimzev heard my question, he immediately replied, "report, comrade deputy commander, we have prepared the flag for the division. But the battalion commanders of all battalions want to lead the charge in person. In this case, they can''t stop them at all. "


    If I were not a commander now, but a division commander, I would also like to lead the charge. After all, this scene of joining forces, which can be recorded in history, is not likely to happen to some people once in their lives, so I timely turned off the topic: "where is the flag of joining forces?"


    Rodymzev turned to the back and called out, "Hey, Captain Cushing, bring us the flag we have prepared."


    With his shouts, a guard captain in a gray cotton cylinder cap and a white camouflage suit came up. He came up to me and stood still. After he raised his hand to salute, he unfolded the red flag in his hand and saw the words "January 26, 1943 reunion Memorial" written on it.


    After reading the words on the red flag, I nodded, and then said to rojimzev, "Comrade General, time is up. Let''s go."


    At my command, rodimzev called out to his subordinates, "comrades, go back to your positions." With that, he nodded at me and took the lead to walk to the other side of the hillside.


    Looking at the back of the commanders leaving, I was going to find a place to watch the grand meeting of the two armies. Then I heard a familiar voice behind me: "Hello, Comrade General!"


    I turned to look behind me, and a familiar face came into my eyes. When I saw someone coming, my face showed a smile. When I was about to speak, I found that there was a thick bandage around their neck. I immediately asked with concern, "Sergeant Pavlov, what''s the matter? Are you hurt?"


    Sergeant Pavlov, standing opposite, touched the bandage on his neck with his hand and said with a embarrassed smile, "Comrade General, it''s OK to accidentally let a bullet bite on his neck. The only regret is that he can''t turn back. But since it''s a charge, there''s no need to go back. " At this point, he glanced aside, and then asked me carefully, "it seems that my troops are about to start charging. Will you allow me to go back to my troops?"


    "Go, Sergeant Pavlov, be safe."


    "Yes Pavlov agreed, saluted me again, turned and ran quickly towards his line.


    I looked around and found that the half collapsed house in front of me was suitable for observation, so I took Yushchenko and they went in. Find a place facing Red October Town, raise your telescope and look down.


    "Boys," rodymzeff''s voice suddenly came from a distance. I quickly turned the lens of the telescope to the direction of the sound. He was waving a pistol in his hand and yelling loudly to the left and right: "forward!"


    With his shouts, thousands of people came out of the silent hillside, 40 or 50 of them in a row, carrying weapons and walking down the hillside in a neat line. The red flag flying on the right side of the first row of the line is the special flag for the Division I just saw. The flagman holding the flag of the 13th division of the guards is advancing side by side with rodimzev.


    Although the enemy in the town was besieged by iron walls, they saw our army''s attack and took action quickly. A minute or two later, some mortar shells landed in the middle of the attack team and exploded. The air wave and shrapnel overturned more than a dozen soldiers, but the gap in the line was soon filled by the soldiers who came up quickly.


    When the line in white camouflage clothes came to the foot of the hillside, several more lines of sailors in black uniforms and black cotton caps appeared in my field of vision. They followed up with guns and heads high. All of a sudden, I heard a whistle, and then the sailors took off their cotton caps one after another, took out their brimless caps and put them on their heads. I saw that one of them was a little familiar with his back. When he yelled at the officers and Men nearby, I recognized him as Sergeant horol, a marine of the 92nd infantry brigade¡° Commander, look, tanks, our tanks. " Next to Yushchenko suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "just south of town, our tanks are coming." In the sporadic gunfire came the roar of tank motors, the distance appeared in our uniform troops. In addition to these, I also saw our army''s unique heavy tanks, with the words "Chelyabinsk collective farm farmer" and "ural metal worker" written on the turret. The troops on the downhill saw the friendly troops coming from the opposite side. Their morale was greatly boosted and their walking speed became faster and faster. Finally, they simply ran towards the town that had already become ruins. The German soldiers hiding behind the ruins, seeing our army rushing up like a tide, fired a few shots in a panic, turned around and ran towards the middle of the town. A German officer in a big cornice hat was very stubborn. Although there were deserters running past him from time to time, he stood still and shot at our soldiers with his pistol. Seeing our soldiers getting closer and closer to him, he grabbed a grenade from the side, pulled the string and threw it out. The grenade fell in our line and exploded, knocking down four or five soldiers. But he didn''t pick up the second grenade, and the soldiers swarming in had already turned him into a hornet''s nest. As more and more soldiers poured into the town, the desperate German officers and men knew that there would be no result in any further resistance. They threw down their weapons one after another and stood on the side of the road and raised their hands high. But our officers and men didn''t care about them at all. They rushed straight to the friendly officers and men. A few minutes later, thousands of officers and men of the two armies hugged each other, and their cheers could be heard even hundreds of meters away. But the heavy tanks passed by the town. The tankers leaned out of the hatch and waved to the infantry comrades. They did not stop. The strong tank column continued to move towards the city¡° Comrade commander, "Yushchenko said in a loud voice beside him. His tongue was a little inflexible because of his excitement." I''m not dreaming, am I Has our 62nd army really joined up with the friendly forces? "¡° Of course, we joined forces. Don''t you see that the soldiers of our group army and the commanders and fighters of our friendly army are embracing in Red October town? It looks like there''s something wrong with your eyes Although I said it very easily, I was also affected by the historic reunion scene. When Yushchenko didn''t pay attention, I quietly wiped away the tears from my cheeks.

 Chapter 875

    An hour later, rodim ZEV and I went back to the headquarters of the group army and reported to them the whole process of joining forces.


    Although I have reported the meeting process I saw to trakov and gurov through the telephone for a long time, in the headquarters, I reported it to them and Krylov again. After all, no one wants to hear such good news of historical significance twice. After I finished, rodimzev told me the details of his division. He said excitedly: "after receiving the flag of division presented by us, Captain ushenko of Batov group army specially came to report to me:" Comrade General, the red flag given to us by your famous guards has been accepted. We swear that we will let the red flag fly forever, Long live the brave red army commanders and fighters, Wula! "


    General Krylov couldn''t help interrupting and asked, "general rojimzev, how do you answer this friendly guard captain?"


    After looking at krailov, general rodimzev said with a smile: "I said to captain ushenko:" Comrade captain, please tell your commanders that today is our happiest day, because after five months of hard and tenacious fighting, we have finally joined forces! "


    After the report, krailov went to the new map beside the wall, pointed to the red and blue arrows representing the enemy and us on the map with a detailed explanation stick, and told us the current situation in the city: "comrades commander, please see, with our meeting with the friendly forces, we are now trapped in Stalingrad City, running out of ammunition and food Hungry and cold, I raised my hand to rokosovsky. After saluting him, I took the initiative to extend my hand to Ruskin, who was beside me, and expressed my sincere congratulations to him in a friendly way: "chief Ruskin, I would like to express my sincere congratulations to you. Congratulations to you and your troops on the successful capture of German Marshal Paulus. " Although I said this with a smile on my face, my heart was bleeding constantly: the capture of Paulus was a great achievement. Unexpectedly, it was robbed by this acquaintance in front of me.


    After I shook hands with Ruskin, rokosovsky took the initiative to introduce the general standing next to me: "Rita, I''d like to introduce you. This is general Voronov, deputy national defense people''s commissar and artillery director."


    Deputy national defense people''s commissar, isn''t that the Vice Minister of national defense? This is a big shot. With a smile on my face and leaning forward slightly, I reached out to Voronov and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade deputy national defense people''s Commissar. I''m major general oshanina, commander of the 79th infantry army. I''m glad to meet you here."


    "Hello, comrade oshanina." Voronov held my hand tightly and said kindly, "I''ve heard your name for a long time. I didn''t expect you to be so young."


    After greeting everyone, rokosovsky first asked me to sit down, then went to the door and said to someone outside, "go and bring him here."


    After I sat down at the table, I asked rokosovsky curiously, "Comrade commander, do you have any important tasks for me to ask me to come to the headquarters?" After asking this, I know I shouldn''t ask like this. Rokosovsky has always been a person who doesn''t like to go over the command. If he really has a combat mission, he will give it to trakov first, and then trakov will assign it to me, instead of calling me directly to his headquarters.


    "I want you here to meet someone." Instead of answering my question directly, rokosovsky said mysteriously, "someone you know."


    "People I know?" I was racking my brains to figure out which acquaintance rokosovsky wanted me to meet when several people came in from outside. When I looked up, my doubts suddenly became clear. I saw Paulus, who was tall, thin and well proportioned. Beside him were two soldiers and a second lieutenant.


    Rokosovsky waved at the two soldiers, sent them out, and then politely said to Paulus, "please do it, marshal Paulus." The second lieutenant standing nearby immediately translated this sentence to Paulus. Then I realized that the second lieutenant who was still in the room was a German translator.


    "Marshal Paulus, although I''ve been looking forward to meeting with you," rokosowski said bluntly without introducing the people present to Paulus, "I didn''t expect to meet you under such circumstances."


    Paulus saw me sitting next to rokosovsky, and nodded to me politely with a smile. Then he stood up and said to rokosovsky, "Mr. general, although I am your prisoner, please don''t force me to answer questions that violate the military oath, because then I will say to you: ''no comment!"


    After listening, rokosovsky was not angry at all. Instead, he pushed the plate of cigarettes and cigars on the table towards Paulus. He said politely, "Marshal Paulus, please have a cigarette." With that, he picked up a cigarette and put it in his mouth. I quickly picked up the match on the table and lit the cigarette for rokosovsky.


    See rokosovsky lit a cigarette, Paulus also picked up a cigarette, sat down. Voronov, who didn''t smoke, picked up the teapot, walked up to Paulus and asked with a smile, "marshal, do you need a cup of hot tea?"


    For Voronov''s enthusiasm, he readily agreed and pushed the empty cup forward.

 Chapter 876

    I don''t know the tea drinking habits of the Germans, and I don''t know if they put sugar or honey in their tea, just like the Russians, so I watched nervously as Voronov filled Paulus''s cup with tea. Paulus gave thanks in stiff Russian, picked up the cup, sniffed it up, and drank it down. After drinking the tea in the cup, he handed it to Voronov again and said in German. The translator immediately translated it for us in time: "Mr. general, please have another cup." The atmosphere in the room, after Paulus finished drinking with cooperation, and then sat down, a German general who was not far away stood up and said to me with a smile: "Hello, general oshanina, I didn''t expect that we would meet again so soon." I looked at the speaking general and found that it was "what weapon?" Sedlitz asked with interest, looking at trakov as if he didn''t understand¡° Gentlemen, this is an obvious thing Trekov repeated patiently, "captured generals are not allowed to carry any weapons with them." Hearing this, sedlitz took something from his pocket and put it on the table. He pushed it in front of him and said, "Your Highness, this is my only weapon." I thought that what he pulled out was a small browning weapon, but when I looked at it carefully, I couldn''t help laughing. It turned out that his so-called weapon was just a pencil sharpener. After seeing what sedlitz had put in front of him, trikov couldn''t help looking good. He gave the penknife back to the other side and said politely, "general sedlitz, I think you misunderstood me. In our opinion, the "weapons" you hand over are not real weapons at all, so you''d better put them away yourself. " When sedlitz put the pencil knife back into his coat pocket, he sat down and asked trakov, "Your Highness, I want to ask you a question. At this time, it should not be classified. Where are you and your group headquarters during the city battle before November 19? " Trekov shrugged his shoulders and said in a flat voice, "general sedlitz, where else? Throughout the campaign, my command post and group headquarters have been in the city, on the West Bank of the Volga River, and the final location of the command post and headquarters is where we are now. " After hearing this, general sedlitz had a look of despair on his face. After a long time, he murmured, "it''s a pity that we didn''t believe the information provided by our scouts at that time. We had a chance to wipe you and your headquarters off the earth. " At this moment, when sedlitz was regretting for his conceit, I was thinking that even if he did not believe the intelligence provided by the German scouts and concentrated his forces to attack the headquarters of the 62nd group army, there were still many dangers in the whole campaign. Once, if I was half an hour late, maybe they would be killed by the German army. At the end of his talk with the German generals, trakov ordered the commander of the guard battalion, major gradschev, to escort the prisoners to the headquarters of the front army. When sedlitz came to the door, he suddenly stopped and turned to trekov. "Commander, I want to talk to you alone." Trekov left the interpreter, asked Gladyshev to take the rest of the prisoners away, and then asked sedlitz to sit down again. Then he asked leisurely, "Mr. lieutenant, I don''t know what else you want to say?" Sedlitz got up from his seat, straightened up and said respectfully to trikov, "Your Highness commander, I want to cooperate with the Soviet army."¡° Cooperation, how is a cooperation law? " "You know, you are our prisoner. What can you do to cooperate with us?" he said¡° Commander, I feel that I am fully qualified to cooperate with the Soviet Army! " Perhaps fearing that trakov would interrupt him, sedlitz went on: "I think we can draw people from the captured German officers and men to form an anti Hitler army to fight side by side with you!"

 Chapter 877

    After sedlitz''s words, the room suddenly fell into a silence, except for the sound of our breathing, there was no other sound. This startling suggestion shocked everyone in the room.


    I thought to myself: sedlitz''s idea is really bold. He even thought of recruiting people from German prisoners of war to form an anti Hitler army to fight with us. However, although this idea is bold, it has great feasibility. Since the German army can transfer personnel from the prisoners of war of our army to form the "Oriental battalion" and form the "Russian Liberation Army" two years later, why can''t we treat them in their own way and also form a "German liberation army" composed of German prisoners of war to deal with those Germans?


    As soon as this tempting idea came into being, I couldn''t get it out of my head. I tried to stay calm and look at trakov to see how he would react to it. Trikov''s smile froze on his face, staring at sedlitz without saying a word, as if thinking about how to answer each other.


    But I heard Krylov murmur in a low voice: "nonsense, this is nonsense! They are all prisoners. I don''t know how to stop. "


    Seeing that all the people kept silent, sedlitz seemed a little flustered. He tried to explain to us: "Your Highness commander, I make such a request not because I am afraid of death, but to rescue my motherland and people from Hitler''s brutal rule..."


    "Well, general sedlitz, you don''t have to say any more." Before the other party finished, gurov interrupted him and said politely, "we are not qualified to reply to the proposal you just put forward. We need to ask the superior for instructions."


    At this time, trikov also returned to normal. He quickly echoed gurov and said, "yes, general sedlitz, we will give you the final reply to your proposal after we report it to our superiors. It''s late now. I''ll let my men take you to the headquarters of the front army first. "


    Hearing the answers from trakov and gurov, sedlitz sighed with disappointment, raised his hand, saluted, turned and followed the interpreter out of the room.


    "Comrade commander, this general sedlitz is crazy!" After cedritz''s back disappeared from the door, krailov looked back at trakov and said, "he''s too fanciful. Does he think he''s a great man? It''s just a daydream to set up our own army to cooperate with us


    Trekov turned to look at us and asked noncommittally, "what do you think of this?"


    "Comrade commander, I think this matter has completely exceeded our authority." Krailov answered in advance: "we should report to the commander of the front army immediately and give him the decision-making power."


    Trekov nodded and asked me, "what do you think of oshanina?"


    In my memory, there is no such military organization as the "German Liberation Army". There must be something wrong with it. So when I answered trakov''s question, I said with great caution: "Comrade commander, general sedlitz offered to cooperate with us soon after he was captured. We should be cautious about his enthusiasm, and we can''t pour cold water on him blindly, otherwise it will make him cold. "


    After what I said, trakov turned to gurov again. Without waiting for him to speak, gurov said carefully: "I think both oshanina and Krylov have a point. It''s the first time for us to meet the German general who will cooperate with us soon after being captured, so we must be cautious in treating him. However, as we do not have enough authority to handle such matters, I think we should report this matter to the headquarters of the front army immediately and ask general rokosovsky to make a decision. "


    After listening to gurov''s advice, trakov told krailov: "chief of staff, go to the intelligence department to find out if there is any information about general sedlitz. If there is, bring it here and let''s study it."


    After krailov left, trakov picked up the phone from his desk and called the headquarters of the front army. After hearing rokosovsky''s voice, he straightened up and said, "Hello, Constantine konstantinovich, this is trakov. I have something to report to you... "Then trakov reported what just happened to rokosovsky.


    While they were talking, I leaned my ear to hear what rokosovsky was saying, but because the phone didn''t leak, I didn''t hear anything except what trakov said.


    As soon as trakov put down the phone, gurov could not wait to ask, "Comrade commander, how did general rokosovsky reply?"


    Trikov had no secret from gurov. Hearing his question, he immediately replied, "the commander of the front army said that he would talk to general sedlitz in person. If we really want to draw people from German prisoners to form troops, he may also need to report to the headquarters and listen to the opinions of the Supreme Commander himself. "


    "Do you still read about cedritz?" Gurov asked briefly.


    "Look, of course." Trekov replied positively: "even if the matter of selecting people from German captives to form an army is not passed in the end, I don''t think sedlitz will be put in a prisoner''s camp. Maybe there is a chance to cooperate with us, so we need to know him thoroughly."


    Just then, krailov hurried in from the outside. He stopped in front of trakov, handed him a document bag in his hand, and said, "Comrade commander, this is the information about German generals collected by the intelligence service."


    Trakov opened the file bag, took out a thick stack of information from it, looked at it twice, and read it aloud to us: "von Seidlitz kurtzbach, born in 1888 in a family of hereditary officers of the Prussian army in Hanover, Germany. His family name shows his great family background and noble family.


    He has been a principal officer in the Prussian army since he was 20 years old. He participated in the first World War, and the division''s rank at the end of the war was artillery captain. From 1918 to 1933, sedlitz took hostages in the artillery grass-roots units and the national military department, and his rank was promoted from captain to major. In 1939, he returned to the army. He was promoted from artillery battalion commander to artillery commander, and his rank was promoted from lieutenant colonel to colonel. He was promoted to major general in January 1939.


    From March 1940 to June 1941, he was the commander of the 12th infantry division of the German army and led the troops to invade France and the Netherlands. According to our data, Hitler''s war of aggression against Western Europe made this officer''s position soar rapidly and his prospects are bright all the way.


    In June 1941, after Hitler''s gang invaded our territory, sedlitz was ordered to lead the Ministry to the East and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general in less than half a year. In March 1942, the Communist invading army, which had a good journey, was defeated for the first time and fell into the encirclement of our army in the jamyansk swamp northwest of Moscow. Sedlitz was ordered to lead his own name of the assault troops to the rescue, after the defeat of our army, he successfully rescued the besieged troops. This battle made him famous. He and his "cedritz" commando team attracted the attention of the general headquarters of our army. Of course, Hitler regarded him as a rare general, and then ordered him as an artillery general to command the 51st infantry of the 6th German army and take part in the attack on Stalingrad. "


    After reading this, trakov put down his information, turned to gurov and said, "Comrade military commissar, it seems that this sedlitz is still a great man. If he really wants to cooperate with us, I think this matter can be considered."


    Gulov nodded and said with approval, "yes, if such an outstanding German general cooperates with us, it will have a certain effect on the disintegration of German Sergeant spirit. But there is nothing we can do until we get a reply from the headquarters of the front army. "


    After a few words of conversation, gurov found that I was still standing by, so he stopped talking to trekov, turned to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, there is something I almost forgot. Yesterday, German propaganda minister Goebbels delivered a speech on the radio. Our intelligence staff has recorded all of his speech. When you go back later, you can take this recording back to Comrade ublish by the way. "


    I went back to the army headquarters with a recording of the Goebbels speech that gurov had given me. Ublish, who was informed to collect the recording, played Goebbels'' speech for us in the headquarters with the equipment he brought. Because it was all German, he asked us to act as a translator: "in the end, although it sounds cruel, there is no difference for soldiers, whether in Stalingrad or lerev, whether in desert Africa or in ice and snow Norway. They will also fail and die, and they will sacrifice themselves, Because they died for the people. "


    When ublish finished translating all the contents of the speech, chief of staff Vitkov slapped the table and said excitedly, "great, great, this speech by Goebbels is really wonderful!"


    I can''t help frowning when I heard that he praised Goebbels'' speech so highly. Just as he wanted to get angry with him, he found my difference and explained to me with a smile: "Comrade commander, you must be very strange. Why do I say Goebbels'' speech is great?"


    When I heard him say this, I knew that there must be some afterwords, so I nodded and waited patiently for him to say the following words. He coughed, and when his mood was a little more stable, he continued: "Comrade commander, Goebbels'' speech is tantamount to declaring in disguise those German soldiers who are still resisting that we have completely abandoned you. For the glory of Germany, you can only choose death. In this way, the illusions in the hearts of the German officers and soldiers who have been looking forward to being rescued will be completely shattered, and our next attack will become easier. "


    "The chief of staff is right." After witkov finished, ublish added: "this speech will be the last straw to defeat the camel, which will lead to the collapse of the morale of the surrounded German officers and soldiers. I think that in a few days, these German forces besieged in the "barricade" factory area and tractor factory area will lay down their arms and surrender to us. "


    Listen to two people say confident and so can''t refute, I had to half doubt nodded.


    The next day, that is, the attack on February 1, I ordered the 171st and 308 divisions on the left and right wings to stop advancing, and from the 150th division of bantaileiev to the dormitory area of the tractor factory to launch an attack on the enemy.


    Before the attack, as usual, Ulrich and his comrades in the anti Communist League played a piece of German music. As soon as the music was over, the recording of Goebbels'' speech was immediately played, and at the end of the day, a routine call was made to the German positions as usual. Needless to say, with the recording of Goebbels'' speech, their political offensive today has achieved quite good results. As soon as the call was over, I saw through my telescope that several white flags hanging on bayonets were stretched out from the windows of the buildings nearest to our starting position. The officers and men of the 150th division had rich experience in fighting. Seeing that the enemy began to wave the white flag and surrender, several small units ready to surrender immediately left the position and quickly ran towards the buildings. As soon as they left the trench, they were found by the stubborn German troops in other buildings, and the machine guns in the buildings immediately fired at the soldiers who ran. Although from time to time someone was hit and fell by a bullet, the rest of them still ran to the buildings waving the white flag. Seeing that our commanders and fighters rushed into the building, the artillery concealed behind the position decisively opened fire on the building where the fire point was exposed. In the light and smoke of the explosion, the German officers and soldiers who hid behind the wall and shot down from the height with the collapse of the wall. But when the artillery began to extend to distant buildings, the commanders and fighters hiding in the starting position jumped out of the trench with a cry and rushed forward with weapons. Witkov, who was standing beside me to observe the situation of the war, could not help but worry when he saw that our troops launched a charge. "Comrade commander, if there is no tank to cover the infantry charge, will it lead to unnecessary casualties?" Pointing to the densely populated residential buildings in front of me, I explained to wittkov, "chief of staff, you see, the buildings in the factory dormitory area are too dense. If our tanks rush up, they will easily become the targets of German anti tank fighters. With the direct fire of the artillery battalion, even if the enemy hides in the building to shoot, it will not pose a great threat to our attacking troops. "

 Chapter 878

    Goebbels'' self righteous speech helped those German generals who wanted to resist. When the 150th division of bantaileiev attacked the dormitory area of tractor factory, the resistance was far weaker than I thought. Before the attack, I looked at hundreds of buildings in front of me and said that in so many houses, the German army had at least deployed thousands of defenders. Even if our attack was successful, it would take at least two days to occupy all of them. It took more than a month for the German army to seize the dormitory area from the 37th division.


    Unexpectedly, as soon as our troops attacked, most of the defenders who stuck to the half collapsed buildings put on a few symbolic shots and spontaneously raised the white flag one after another. Of course, there are also those who have resisted tenaciously. The cross fire network composed of firepower inside and outside the building suppresses the commanders and fighters who are lying in the snow. At this time, the two artillery battalions of the 150th division and the artillery battalion of the 266th artillery regiment attached to the division would not hesitate to open fire and smash dense shells at the enemy''s buildings. When the buildings collapsed in the dense artillery fire, white flags would tremble in many places where they were charred and still emitting smoke. As soon as our army commanders and fighters rushed up, groups of prisoners would come out of the ruins with both hands raised.


    At noon, at the front of the squad, leiev called to report to me: "report to the commander, after a morning of fierce fighting, our division has basically occupied the dormitory area of the tractor factory, and only a few buildings still have the remaining enemy in the corner. We have sent a small team into the building to eliminate them. We think it will not be long before we can completely eliminate them."


    "Which regiment is the main player in the morning?" Although I now have four infantry divisions, a tank brigade and an artillery regiment under my command, I always pay the highest attention to my own army: "I played relatively well, and basically occupied the dormitory area occupied by thousands of German troops in half a day."


    "Reporting to the commander of the army is a regiment of lieutenant colonel chejerikov," bantailiev truthfully reported to me, "the first echelon of the regiment is the shereblenny battalion."


    At the beginning of the great counterattack, trakov promised the officers and men of the independent division that the name of the unit that first rushed into gorodysseh would be the name of that unit. At that time, the first battalion of Captain Nikolay and the second battalion of major shereblenny rushed into the city at the same time. Later, when I reported to the headquarters of the group army, I proposed that both battalions should be named after the battalion commander, but it was rejected by trakov. He said that the first battalion of Nikolay was almost all officers and soldiers anyway. If they were given such high honor, it would make the commanders and soldiers of other troops dissatisfied. Therefore, in the end, only the second battalion of shereblenny was named "shereblenny battalion".


    Although it took only half a day to capture the dormitory area, I did not dare to take it lightly when I thought of the battle to capture the factory area. So I nervously asked, "Captain Bantai leyev, since you have captured the dormitory area, it''s time for you to attack the factory area. Which regiment do you plan to send?"


    "I''m going to have commander Oleg''s second regiment do it." Without waiting for me to ask in detail, bantaileiev took the initiative to explain: "since the second regiment lost a lot of personnel in the early battle of sticking to the 107.5 highland, they hardly took part in any decent fight after the great counterattack began. Yesterday, lieutenant commander Oleg came to my headquarters and pestered me to assign him combat tasks. He said that all the commanders and fighters of the second regiment were full of fighting passion. If they were not allowed to undertake important combat tasks, everyone would be suffocated. "


    I didn''t express any opinions on the arrangement of the division. After all, I am not the commander of the independent division now. As long as bantailiev doesn''t make a big mistake in command, I will not go over him to command the troops below. After thinking about it, I asked the other side two questions: "Colonel, what time will the attack start? How are you going to attack the German fortifications outside the factory gate? "


    "The attack of the second regiment will begin in half an hour, that is, at one o''clock at noon." As for my question, bandeleev should have made a good draft for a long time. As soon as my voice was heard, he replied clearly: "we intend to adopt the tactics of cooperation of infantry, tank and artillery in this attack, so as to capture the enemy''s defensive positions outside the factory gate in the shortest time, and quickly break into the factory."


    "Very good. I''ll follow your schedule." After listening to the arrangement of ryev, I nodded with satisfaction. After agreeing with his plan, I put down the phone.


    Witkov saw me finish the call with Bantai leiev and immediately asked, "Comrade commander, we can''t observe the troops attacking the factory area at this position. Do we need to transfer the observation points immediately?"


    After listening to wittkov''s words, I knew that he should have chosen the place to set up the observation post long ago, so he did not beat around the Bush and asked directly, "Comrade chief of staff, do you have a suitable place to set up a new observation post?"


    Vetkov nodded and said with certainty, "yes, comrade commander. We can set up the new observation post on the grandstand of the tractor factory stadium, where we can see clearly the troops attacking the tractor factory gate. And even if we are bombarded by the German army, we have enough space to move. "


    "In that case, let''s move it immediately."


    As soon as our new command post was completed, the 150th division began to attack the tractor factory.


    I stood in the gap of the wall and watched the sparse procession move forward slowly in the snow. On the starting position behind them, there were a bunch of directly aimed guns. Besides the artillery, there were many infantry who were helping to carry ammunition. In the boundless wilderness, there are more than ten tanks moving forward. From the appearance of the tanks, I can see that this is the tank battalion of major perskin. They are not using the Soviet T-34, but seizing all the German tanks. The white cross mark on the tank has been removed, and a small red flag is inserted on each turret as an identification mark. Behind these tanks, small groups of infantry were moving. Facing the interception of German machine gun and mortar fire, they sometimes fell down, sometimes jumped up and moved slowly.


    The closer to the German defensive position, the more corpses lying in the snow, in addition to the German, there are also our commanders and fighters, lying there alone or in groups, the snowfall in December and January covered them with a thick shroud.


    "Comrade commander," wittkov, who was standing next to me, said suddenly, "I don''t deny that the speed of troops delivery can be accelerated by allowing infantry to take tanks. But you see, there are seven or eight commanders and fighters standing on a tank. As long as a shell falls on the side of the tank and explodes, the commanders and fighters on it will suffer heavy casualties. "


    As soon as his voice fell, several shells fell near a tank, and the moving body was immediately shrouded in smoke. I know that as long as the mortar shells don''t directly hit the tank, or fall into the open top of the turret, the damage to the tank is almost negligible, but thinking of so many commanders and fighters standing on the body of the car, my heart is tight.


    When the smoke dispersed, I saw that there were few commanders and fighters left on the tank body. Except for two people who were still lying on the rear body, the rest of the commanders and fighters fell into the snow. I moved my telescope to the two officers and men lying on the tank to see if they were still alive.


    A commander with a walkie talkie on his back should be a telegraph operator. At the moment, he stood still on the tank. He didn''t know whether he was stunned or sacrificed. The man lying next to him was still breathing and his arm was still moving. He reached for the handle on the turret and tried to stand up.


    Just as he stood up with his hands on the handle, the gray cylinder cotton cap on his head did not know how to fall off, revealing his long golden hair. Witkov, who saw this scene, exclaimed: "hell, it''s a woman?"


    In fact, even if Vitkov didn''t yell, I could see that the commander alive on the tank was a woman. After I saw the woman commander''s face clearly, blood rushed to my head. I put down my telescope and quickly came to the telephone. I told the operator, "connect me with the 150th division immediately."


    When I heard Bantai leiev''s voice coming out of the earphone, I immediately roared at him angrily and said, "Captain Bantai leiev, let me ask you if the male commanders of the second regiment are all dead. Why let Comrade verol, the political commissar of the regiment, lead the team to charge in person?"


    "What, comrade verol, political commissar of the second regiment, led the team to charge in person?" Bantai leiev was also shocked by the unexpected news. After a moment''s silence, he solemnly replied, "Comrade division commander, before the attack, I once said hello to the leaders of all regiments, asking them to stay in their command positions and not charge like ordinary soldiers. As for the fact that political commissar veroll took the lead in charging, I really don''t know if you don''t tell me. Just a moment, please. I''ll get in touch with Commander Oleg and ask him to send someone to take political commissar verol down


    "No, even if you send someone up at this time, you won''t be able to pull verol down." I have gradually calmed down at the moment, and I know that it was when I saw verol injured that my mood got out of control. If I were still an independent division now, maybe I would take someone to charge myself¡° The infantry moved too slowly behind the tanks, making them easy targets in the snow. I suggest that you immediately put the armored vehicles of pelsken''s tank battalion into battle and carry infantry to attack quickly. "


    I raised my telescope again and saw verol standing on the tank without a hat, holding the armrest, holding the pistol high in his hand, waving and shouting.


    Seeing that our troops on the move were intercepted by the enemy''s artillery fire and machine gun fire, the artillery staying at the starting position opened fire decisively, and the enemy''s fire point was soon covered by our army''s dense artillery fire. At this time, our fighter planes appeared in the air, and the flying formation composed of four planes raided the enemy''s positions. They dived down from high altitude and accurately dropped the bombs they carried to the fire point where they were still spraying death.


    Under the three-dimensional firepower of artillery and air force, the firepower of the fortifications outside the tractor factory became sparse, and the offensive troops gradually accelerated their pace of advance. When I was in the independent division, I used to instill in the following commanders the theory of charging with explosive points. From this point of view, they are very good at this kind of tactics. As soon as the shelling and bombing were over, the attacking troops approached the collapsed factory gate. The infantry went through the piles of ruins outside the door and rushed bravely towards the inside, while the tanks stopped in front of the bricks and stones, providing the necessary firepower cover for the infantry in front of them with artillery fire.


    Seeing that the second regiment had broken through the German defense outside the factory gate, bantaileiev promptly put in the third and fourth regiments to consolidate and expand the breakthrough, and at the same time continued to make the troops develop in depth. Wittkov put down his telescope, turned to me and suggested, "Comrade commander, the German army''s peripheral defense line in the tractor factory has been broken through by our army. In order to expand the results of the battle, I suggest that the 171st division and the 308th division as the reserve should also be put into battle."¡° I agree! " After I agreed with him, I added: "let Col. andryushchenko and Col. gurdyev only draw one regiment each, and then enter the breach. The rest of the troops will outflank the German troops from both wings, and don''t let them escape. Besides, the terrain here is very suitable for armored assault. Send captain berey''s 84th tank brigade to it as well. " Before dark, our army''s three infantry divisions and a tank brigade almost occupied the whole tractor factory. The German officers and men who could not resist the attack of our army, waving white flags, came out of their fortifications and bunkers and surrendered to our army. Witkov and I went to the gate of the factory and stood on a high ruins, watching thousands of prisoners escorted by the commanders and fighters passing by us. All the soldiers and sergeants were extremely weak. They were all in rags. Although it was 20 degrees below zero, I found that many soldiers had no boots on their feet, only a piece of cloth was wrapped around them, and even some were barefoot. In sharp contrast to them, the officers were all wearing warm military coats, and their pockets were full of sausages and other food. It seemed that in the case of material shortage, they enjoyed more rations than their soldiers. I pointed to the fat officers in the crowd and said to wittkov, "Comrade chief of staff, look at those German officers. Their soldiers are starving to death, but they are as fat as pigs." After listening to this, wittkov laughed. As soon as he wanted to speak, he suddenly heard the operator next to him calling me: "Comrade commander, comrade commander of the group army wants to talk to you." I went to the operator''s side, took the headset from his hand, put it on, and then politely said to the transmitter: "Hello, comrade commander, I''m o''shanina, what''s your instruction?"¡° Oshanina, I heard that your troops successfully occupied most of the tractor factory and captured more than 20000 German prisoners. " The tone of trakov''s voice changed because of his excitement, but I can understand his gaffe. After all, it was not common for the Soviet army to catch more than 20000 prisoners in one battle¡° I congratulate you on your great success. "¡° Comrade commander, "although he only congratulated me and didn''t talk about awards, I still reported to him with a steady attitude:" one day at most, I can wipe out all the enemies in the tractor factory. "¡° Tomorrow morning, comrade gurov and I will go to the office building of the "Red October" factory, where we will witness how our troops encircle and annihilate the enemy trapped in the "barricade" factory. Come along then. " I was thinking about whether to turn off trakov''s invitation, because in my known history, the German army surrounded by Stalingrad was completely destroyed on February 2. It''s enough for me to witness the destruction of the remaining German army in the tractor factory. I don''t have to go to the "Red October" factory. I didn''t expect that trakov''s subsequent words made me change my mind: "by the way, oshanina, there''s another thing I forgot to tell you. The commander of the front army has agreed to ask general sedlitz to help us persuade the rest of the enemy. He will go with us tomorrow¡° I see, comrade commander. " "I''ll get to the office building of the Red October factory on time tomorrow morning," I replied

 Chapter 879

    "General oshanina, here you are." A familiar voice suddenly rang out behind the Lieutenant with baby face. Then the adjutant of trakov, Captain krimov, came to me through the crowd and urged, "come on up, commander. They''ve been waiting for you for a long time."


    When the lieutenant saw that crimov knew me, he waved to his men and made way for me. I politely said thank you to lieutenant baby face, and then followed krimov along the wide corridor.


    When the Lieutenant with the baby face was a little away from his soldiers, I asked Klimov in a low voice, "Comrade captain, who are the people guarding the stairway?"


    "It''s from the front command." Klimov answered my question cleanly: "that German general sedlitz was escorted by them."


    In a conference room on the fourth floor of trakov''s observation room, there was a huge hole in the south wall, but it had been stacked with sandbags that were chest high. There was a long conference table with a circle of chairs around it. Trekov and gurov sat on two of the chairs, while general sedlitz sat opposite them, with an interpreter standing behind him.


    I went to the table, raised my hand to salute trekov and gurov, and at the same time, I loudly reported: "commander, comrade military commissar, major general oshanina, commander of the 79th infantry army, has been ordered to report here, and is waiting for your instructions!"


    After a few words of greeting with trikov, I took the initiative to say hello to sedlitz. And the German general got up from his seat when I saluted them. Seeing that I said hello to him, he responded politely: "Hello, general oshanina, I''m glad to see you here!"


    Sedlitz and I shook hands and sat down next to guroff. I pretended to be very casual, leaned slightly towards gurov, and then asked in a low voice, "Comrade commissar, do we really want to cooperate with general sedlitz?"


    "Absolutely right," gurov also told me in a low voice: "commander rokosovsky has agreed in principle to cooperate with general sedlitz. The reason why he was sent here today is to use him to persuade commander Strecker of the 11th army to surrender 50000 German troops trapped in the" barricade "factory."


    "Fifty thousand German troops?" To tell you the truth, I was startled by this number. Although I knew that the barricade factory and dormitory area were equivalent to a medium-sized city, I was surprised that there were so many German troops in this area.


    I looked around and found that in addition to a few of us, on the other side of the conference room, there were a lot of signalmen, who had set up two telephone sets, and there was a wired telephone beside the wall. It seems that today, trakov is not only here to watch the progress of the battle, but also intends to direct the battle here.


    When I entered the room, they were talking with sedlitz, and they temporarily interrupted the meeting because of my arrival. Now that everyone is seated again, the conversation between trikov and sedlitz can continue.


    Trikov asked sedlitz with a smile, "how are you thinking, general?"


    Although trikov''s questions were endless, I guessed that it must have something to do with persuading him to surrender. I watched sedlitz carefully to see how he would react. After listening to the translation, the latter said in a loud voice: "Your Highness, I think it is unrealistic to persuade general Strecker and his men to lay down their arms. You know, he still has at least 50000 troops and solid fortifications. It''s very difficult for you to eat him in one bite. "


    With a smile still on his face, trakov asked, "general sedlitz, how long do you think we can wipe out the troops trapped in the barricade factory area if we attack?"


    Hearing this question from trakov, sedlitz frowned and thought for a moment, then resolutely replied: "Your Highness commander, according to my understanding of the combat effectiveness of the two armies, if you want to completely eliminate general Strecker''s troops, even with the support of artillery and air force, it will take at least a week. This is already a very optimistic estimate. The time can''t be any shorter. "


    Trikov and gurov looked at each other and said with a smile, "general sedlitz, we don''t have that long. Our superiors asked us to end the battle as soon as possible. That is to say, we only have two days at most. "


    "What, two days?" Sedlitz almost jumped out of his seat when he heard what trakov said. "Excuse me, commander. This is impossible."


    "Nothing is impossible, general sedlitz." With a wave of his hand, trikov said confidently: "in order to eliminate the German troops in the factory area and dormitory area of the" barricade ", today our group army will take part in the attack with gorishner division, Sokolov division, guriyev division, rodimzev division and stegori brigade. The friendly army will also have the same number of divisions or brigades to attack from the West and northwest at the same time. In addition to the support of the air force, we have also concentrated a large number of artillery units, with an unprecedented number of 338 guns per kilometer. "


    Sedlitz listened to trakov finish, suddenly the whole person fell into a state of shock. Seeing his expression, gurov said while the iron was hot: "Sir, in order to avoid unnecessary sacrifice of your compatriots, I suggest you call lieutenant general Strecker, commander of the 11th army."


    Sedlitz bowed his head and thought for a long time. At last, he nodded helplessly and said, "well, I''ll call general Strecker right now. I hope he can listen to my advice and let the troops lay down their arms and surrender to the Soviet army. Don''t let the German boys make unnecessary sacrifices."


    Trekov immediately ordered the signalman to get through to the headquarters of the encircled 11th German army. When sedlitz was calling his former colleague, gurov asked me in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, are the attacks on the other side of the tractor factory arranged?"


    I nodded and said with confidence: "please put down the military Commissar. After yesterday''s battle, the remaining German troops in the tractor factory have been compressed into several workshops in the west of the factory. The offensive forces were under the command of the chief of staff, Colonel wittkov. If there''s no accident, we can get rid of the remaining two thousand German remnants before noon. "


    After I reported the situation in the army, I saw that sedlitz was still on the phone and asked gulov in a low voice: "Comrade military commissar, I don''t know what the commander of the front army is going to do with the captured German general."


    Gulov looked at sedlitz, who was calling from the other side, and then whispered, "commander rokosovsky said that he would come here in person after we have completely annihilated the enemy surrounded in the" barricade "factory area. At that time, he will take sadlitz to the newly established prisoner''s camp and select the right soldiers to form a special force. The military officers at all levels will be our men, while the officers in the German captives can only serve as deputy. "


    Before I could comment on the upcoming German POW unit, sadlitz had finished his call. He spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders, and said reluctantly, "Your Highness, I regret to tell you that my request to persuade general Strecker to lay down his arms has been rejected. He said that for the honor of German soldiers, he will lead the troops to fight to the last moment. "


    Although the failure of persuasion has been expected for a long time, we are still a little disappointed when we can hear sedlitz personally testify.


    "Since the enemy does not surrender, we will wipe them out thoroughly!" After finishing this sentence, trakov turned to his adjutant and said, "Captain kerimov, call Comrade ublishi of the anti Communist alliance and ask him to take people to the front line for radio propaganda." At this point, he raised his hand, looked at his watch, and then said, "no matter how effective the broadcast propaganda to the enemy is, it should end at 11:50."


    What trikov discussed with us next was actually where the prisoners should be placed after the total annihilation of the enemy. With a scornful expression, he said: "the capture camp should be located on the East Bank of the Volga River. Let the captured soldiers and officers march towards the Volga River, which they have been trying to break through for nearly six months, and go to the other bank of the river through the frozen river."


    "I agree with you." As a good partner of trakov, gurov immediately and unconditionally expressed his support for the plan: "since they have not given up their attempt to reach the east coast for a long time, we will now satisfy their wishes and send them all to the captivity camp on the other side."


    Towards twelve o''clock, trakov called us to the big hole, stood in front of the chest high sandbag fortification, and together raised the telescope to watch the upcoming battle. In order to let general sedlitz see how the rest of the German army was destroyed, trakov specially selected a high-power telescope for him.


    When the needle was pointing at 12 o''clock, thousands of cannons deployed around the factory area of "barricade" opened fire at the same time.


    I saw through the telescope that the whole factory area suddenly turned into a sea of fire. On the fire, thick black smoke rose, making the clear sky dim. Although our conference room was far away from the shelled area, my ears were still hurt by the earth shaking explosion, and the dust wave and shock wave on the wall and ceiling kept falling.


    When the shelling stopped and the enemy was still scurrying in the smoldering ruins, our army, which was already ready to go, launched an attack, and the infantry, under the cover of tanks, launched an attack on the enemy''s position.


    Although the preparation time for artillery fire was very short, the enemy''s fortifications suffered heavy losses. In the front line of fortifications full of ruins, we saw our troops rushing up, only a few sporadic resistance. Because of the weak resistance, our troops quickly occupied the front line position.


    At this time, the German troops in the second line of defense slowed down and bravely launched a counterattack in an attempt to drive our army out of their front line. In the face of the German troops separated from the solid defensive position, our army''s aviation formation, which just appeared in the sky, immediately dived down from the air and launched bombs and strafe. In addition, the artillery deployed on the starting position opened fire again, forming an insurmountable wall of fire between the two positions, and the German officers and men who launched the attack were instantly destroyed.


    By three o''clock in the afternoon, the offensive forces of our group army had successfully occupied most of the factory area, and joined forces with the friendly forces coming from the West and northwest, compressing the remaining German troops in a narrow area.


    In the face of the continuous attack launched by our army, the German army was finally unable to resist. Almost at the same time, countless white flags were raised within my field of vision.


    When he saw this, he put down his telescope and breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to sedlitz, who was standing beside him, and said, "Mr. general, do you see that? Although general Strecker still has 50000 officers and men under his command, they can''t resist under our powerful attack force. You see, didn''t they just put down their arms and surrender? " With these words, he turned around and walked quickly to the telephone beside the wall, and told the messenger: "the telegraph operator, contact all the division and brigade commanders immediately, and let them report to me after the battle."

 Chapter 880

    Sedlitz, who was still observing the war, listened to the sound of guns and watched groups of German officers and soldiers raise their hands and be escorted out of the trenches or buildings by our soldiers. He murmured a lot. Because I didn''t understand, I gently pulled the translator standing behind me and asked in a low voice, "what did he say, comrade translator?" The translator said in a low voice: "he said, it''s incredible. The whole army of 50000 German elite troops was destroyed without support for three hours." Looking at the stunned cedritz, I thought about how to communicate with him. If he was just an ordinary captured officer, I would say that classic line to him in a sarcastic tone: "deserve it, 50000 people in three hours, driving ducks is not so fast." But I think he will be our partner soon. It would hurt his self-esteem to say that again. Just as I was still thinking about how to persuade sedlitz, gurov, who was next to me, was the first to ask, "general sedlitz, what do you think when you see your 50000 elites defeated by us in such a short time?" After listening to the translation, sedlitz turned his head and looked at gurov and did not speak. After a long time, he sighed and said: "in the face of your powerful attack, it is meaningless to continue to resist. Only by surrendering can we avoid the tragedy and save more young lives. The result is that lieutenant general Strecker has made both sides pay an unnecessary price. " After confirming that all the encircled enemies had stopped resisting, the excited trakov called rokosovsky to report what happened here: "report commander, I am excited to report to you that the remaining Hitler elements could not resist our final attack, put up the white flag and began to surrender systematically." Because I think in "a few prisoners, die." Gurov waved his hand disapprovingly and said, "even if the child is wrong, you can''t beat him." He put his hand on the boy''s shoulder, gently pulled his body over, and asked softly, "where is your home, child?"¡° No, my home is gone. " After a long time in his eyes, the boy finally burst into tears. He wiped his tears and said, "my parents died in the German bombing. I''m the only one left."¡° How did you survive? " Gulov asked curiously when he heard what the boy said¡° Comrade political commissar of division level, please allow me to answer you. " The soldier said: "he is our little scout. He lives with us all the time, so he has enough food to make a living."¡° So it is, "gurov nodded, and handed the boy over to the soldiers again. At the same time, he said kindly," then I will give him to you, take good care of him, and make sure that he lives to the day when we win the final victory. "¡° Yes After holding the boy''s hand, the soldier replied loudly, "please rest assured, I promise to finish the task well." Gurov nodded, turned to me, waved his head, and said, "come on, comrade oshanina, let''s go back to the headquarters."

 Chapter 881

    We walked towards the gate of "Red October" in the direction of the prisoners'' March. After a short walk, a ragged soldier rushed to me and put his dirty hands in front of me. At the same time, he kept talking. Before I could react, the next captain Yushchenko rushed up, kicked the prisoner to the ground with one foot, and then pointed his assault rifle at the other''s head.


    I was afraid Yushchenko would shoot the prisoner to death, so I quickly raised my hand to stop him. Although I didn''t understand what the prisoner said just now, I could guess that he must have been starving and risked being killed to get out of the line. The prisoner, who escaped from death, got up from the ground with difficulty and looked at Yushchenko, who pointed at him with the muzzle of his gun in horror. His body was shaking like chaff.


    "Captain, do you have anything to eat?" Seeing the embarrassed prisoner in front of me, I couldn''t bear it, so I turned to Yushchenko and said politely, "give him some."


    Yushchenko always carried out my orders unconditionally. He put his assault rifle on his shoulder, took out a small paper bag from his briefcase, opened it, took out two biscuits from it, and handed them to the terrified prisoner. The prisoner took the biscuit from his hand, put it into his mouth and ate it with a gulp.


    Yushchenko came forward, grabbed the prisoner by the shoulder and pushed him into the line. Although he didn''t say a word, the prisoner understood it and went to the troop honestly. Yushchenko may be because he gave his precious food to the prisoner. He felt extremely uncomfortable, and raised his foot to kick the prisoner''s ass.


    Seeing that the prisoners returned to the ranks and staggered along with the crowd, I went back to gurov standing next to him and said to him with some embarrassment, "Comrade military commissar, let''s go back."


    Gurov looked at me and nodded. He didn''t say anything. He just stepped forward.


    When we entered the building and walked up the stairs full of bricks and rubble, gurov suddenly said, "o''shanina, you may not know that because of the freezing weather and transportation difficulties, we may not be able to provide the necessary food, medicine and winter clothing for these prisoners for a long time. Even if there are supplies to be delivered, we should first ensure that our commanders and soldiers are fed, and then the remaining residents of the city. If there is extra food, we will give priority to those who are captured


    Gulov''s words made me take a breath. If the situation is really like what he said, thousands of prisoners will die of hunger and cold. What''s more, I also know that German prisoners often encounter Soviet commanders and fighters on the way to the prison camp. They recklessly shoot at the prisoners regardless of the order. Once these things are spread out, it will be more difficult for the German officers and men to surrender willingly in the future.


    Gurov was good at observing words and expressions. Seeing the strange expression on my face, he said earnestly, "o''shanina, do you think we don''t want to fulfill the promise to the German soldiers in the book of surrender? But I can''t help it. If we weren''t lucky at the beginning, an iceberg happened to float down from the upstream and stop at the ferry pier, which made us build an ice transportation line overnight, we now estimate that we can''t even guarantee the basic weapons, ammunition, food and medicine of the army. "


    When I heard him talking about the iceberg floating down the upstream, I shrunk my mouth and said to myself, "what''s the luck? It''s clear that there are too many ships sunk by the German army near the wharf, so the iceberg will just be stuck in that position when it floats down. Otherwise, I don''t know where it has gone."


    When we got back to the temporary headquarters, the commanders inside were going out one after another. When we saw the two of us standing outside, we all raised our hands to salute when we passed by. When I saw wittkov and bantaileiev come out talking and laughing, I quickly stopped them: "chief of staff, and captain bantaileiev, please wait for me in the car downstairs. I have something to say to you later."


    As I walked into the conference room with gurov, trakov looked at us, then asked faintly, "have you sent General sedlitz away?"


    "See you off." Gurov answered with relief, "and sent the trouble away."


    I couldn''t help staring at gurov when I heard that. I couldn''t understand why he said such a thing.


    After hearing what he said, trakov nodded his head unexpectedly and said with approval: "if we really cooperate with general sedlitz, we can draw people from the aggressors who once plundered our motherland to form a new army. To be honest, it''s hard for me to accept psychologically. "


    "Yes, comrade commander, I totally agree with you." Gurov also expressed his views unreservedly: "if general rokosovsky hadn''t flown to Moscow today and shelved his cooperation with sadlitz, I really don''t know whether I should accompany him to the prison camp to choose the right person."


    Listen to the two of you and I kept talking, I finally figured out what was going on. On the surface, they are very polite to sadlitz, the German general who offered to cooperate with us, but from their heart, they are very resistant to this kind of cooperation.


    "Comrade o''shanina, take a look at this." I was listening to trekov and gurov talking when krailov, who was sitting next to me, suddenly handed me two pieces of paper.


    "Comrade chief of staff, what is this?" I asked and took what he had.


    "It''s a letter from the German mail we seized. I''ve had it translated. Have a good look." When krailov finished these two sentences, he specially added: "the commander and the military commissar have also read this letter."


    I put the original German letter aside and looked attentively at the translation. The letter was written by an ordinary German soldier to his family in China. In the first half of the letter, he confided in his family the pain of Acacia, and then talked about his experience in Stalingrad. The letter wrote: "people are dressed in rags. You can see that women have begun to cut off meat from rotten dead horses. The smell is unbearable. Injured women and children die slowly without medical treatment. They live and die like animals until they die. I saw a piece of shrapnel on a woman''s face. Her nose and mouth were full of craters, and her eyes were protruding. Everything was festering and waiting for death. "


    Seeing the last date of the letter, I couldn''t help asking krailov in surprise: "chief of staff, this letter was seized in October?" When I said this, I couldn''t help feeling sad for the residents who were trapped in the German occupied area at that time. For several months, they couldn''t get any food and medicine, and they didn''t even have enough clothes to protect themselves from the cold. In the end, they could only die slowly in hunger and cold.


    "Good! "This letter was seized in October," Krylov said excitedly after giving me a positive reply. "If the Germans had not attacked Stalingrad, these civilians would not have died. If we want to cooperate with these ferocious enemies, even if we can agree, it is estimated that the soldiers below will not agree. "


    After hearing what krailov said, gurov stopped talking with trakov and said, "Comrade oshanina, I know you are too soft hearted to see German prisoners suffer from hunger and cold, but you forget how they treat those civilians. In the case of serious food shortage, our superiors are not willing to provide food for German prisoners of war. Nowadays, many Red Army soldiers are not satisfied, let alone the surviving civilians. Therefore, any idea of providing food to the aggressors who once plundered their motherland is against common sense. "


    Without waiting for me to speak, trakov broke in and said, "according to the order, these prisoners will be sent to dubovika concentration camp north of Stalingrad, and those who can''t hold them will continue to go northward to becktovica concentration camp farther away. The 20000 prisoners captured by your army, as just agreed, will not be sent to the concentration camp for the time being. The ruins of the city need to be cleaned up and tens of thousands of corpses need to be buried. These things need a lot of manpower. Let the prisoners do these things. "


    When trakov finished, I stood up and said in embarrassment, "Comrade commander, the prisoners have so much work to do. If we don''t give them some food and medicine, we can do it in a short time, and there will be no more prisoners left."


    After my request was made, trakov shook his head and said in an unquestionable tone: "Comrade oshanina, the political commissar has just said that we can not provide food and medicine for the prisoners. Whether the prisoners will die of hunger, cold and fatigue in the course of labor is not something you should worry about. Since they are aggressors, they should have the consciousness of being punished like this. "


    I left the headquarters dejected with the task given to me by trakov. When I came to the outside of the building, I saw wittkov and bandeleev, who were standing by the jeep chatting with Yushchenko, and remembered that they had just asked them to stay and wait for me, saying that they had something to discuss with them.


    I went to the jeep I was in and said to the three of them, "Captain Yushchenko is in the car, and captain bantailev is in the front row. And you, chief of staff, sit in the back row with me. I have something to tell you. " With that, I opened the door and got on.


    When the jeep arrived at the gate of the factory, the long line of captives was not over. Yushchenko slowed down slightly and honked his horn to pass through the middle of the line.


    The car drove towards the direction of our army station. After driving for a certain distance, leyev, who was sitting in the front desk of the passenger car, turned around and took the lead in breaking the silence in the car: "Comrade commander, I don''t know if you want to leave me. Do you have any instructions?"


    "Which regiment is in charge of the prisoners?" I left Bantai leyev because the more than 20000 prisoners captured yesterday were under the jurisdiction of the 150th division. I called him to go to the scene to arrange how to use the prisoners. "Are the prisoners still honest?"


    "Don''t worry, commander." Bantaileiev respectfully said to me: "the prisoners were guarded by the third regiment of kosga. At the beginning, the prisoners incited trouble. When I ordered the leaders to be executed on the spot, the prisoners were honest."


    Wittkov, who was sitting next to me, and so on, asked curiously as soon as leyev had finished saying, "Colonel, what''s the trouble with these prisoners?"


    Bantaileiev shrugged his shoulders and said in a sarcastic tone, "what else can we do? Of course, we want us to provide them with enough food and water, and even the necessary medicine for the wounded."


    When I heard Bantai leiev say this, I suddenly opened my eyes and asked, "what did you say just now, Colonel? You haven''t provided them with any food or water for a whole day since yesterday? "


    Although bantaileiev didn''t know why I asked, he nodded and answered truthfully: "the officers and men in the division only have three days'' rations. How can they provide extra food for these German men. As for water, let alone snow. They can use it to quench their thirst


    Wittkov not only did not refute bandeleev''s words, but also nodded in agreement. From their attitude towards the German prisoners, I knew that I had become another kind. It was estimated that only the East had preferential treatment for the prisoners. Here, the prisoners were a bunch of irrelevant consumables.


    I didn''t want to argue with my subordinates on this matter, so I tried to hold back my anger and explained to them the task that had just been assigned by trakov: "Captain bantaileiev, according to the order of the higher authorities, the German prisoners under the supervision of your division don''t need to be sent to the concentration camp for the time being. Instead, they all stay in the city to work, Responsible for clearing the ruins of buildings and burying the remains of the dead. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" Bantaileiev replied loudly.


    At this time, the jeep suddenly bumped violently, so that my head almost hit the ceiling. As a result of this accident, I suppressed for a long time anger finally broke out, I yelled at Yushchenko: "Captain, what are you doing, why don''t you drive well?"


    Yushchenko turned his head and said to me innocently: "sorry, sir, because the snow is too deep, I didn''t see the dead horse buried in the snow, so I bumped it accidentally."


    I looked out of the car window and saw that there was a vast expanse of white everywhere. Knowing that Yushchenko was right and that he didn''t mean it, I waved my head at him and said, "OK, comrade captain, you can drive well. Let''s forget it this time."


    Under the guidance of bandeleev, we came to the place where the 150th division held the prisoners. But when I got out of the car and saw the environment of the prisoners, I immediately understood why the death rate of German soldiers captured by the Soviet army was so high. More than 20000 German prisoners of war were held in a damaged building without a roof. Almost everyone had a thick layer of snow on his body. If the temperature dropped again at night, I don''t know how many people would be killed.


    See our arrival, next to a relatively complete building ran out of two commanders. I looked at them and found that they were all acquaintances. At the front of them was captain dubrovsky, the commander of the first battalion of the third regiment, and immediately after him was captain Rosenberg, the company commander.


    After they saluted me, I asked in reply, "Captain dubrovsky, how can you keep the prisoners in such a place?"


    Dubrovsky took a look at the position of the prisoners and answered me, "report to the commander, shut the Germans in a building without a roof, so that our soldiers deployed in the nearby building can observe them. If they are found dishonest, our snipers can kill them."


    Although I knew that captain dubrovsky could not provide any help for the prisoners, I still took a chance and asked, "Captain, have you provided food for them?"


    Captain dubrovsky immediately shook his head like a rattle and replied, "no, comrade commander. We don''t have enough food of our own. Where can we provide them with extra food. You see, "he said, turning and pointing to the distance," those are the bodies we cleaned out of the captives today. "


    I looked in the direction of his fingers and saw the frozen German bodies in front of a row of buildings in the distance. They were neatly placed in an invisible wall. Seeing this scene, my heart is particularly heavy. Although the dead are all our enemies, they all put down their weapons, but still did not escape the fate of death. I bit my back teeth and asked, "Captain, how many people died in one night?"


    "Almost two thousand." Captain dubrovsky replied excitedly, "if we had been able to wipe out so many enemies every day some time ago, Paulus'' army would have been finished."


    "Captain," seeing his jubilant look, I was so angry that I raised my voice and said to him, "these prisoners are very important to us. We still have a lot of work to do for them. If they die, who will do the work?"


    After hearing this, Captain dubrovsky scratched the back of his head and said in a dilemma, "Comrade commander, you know, with the more than 4000 prisoners who surrendered today, there are more than 20000 people in total. I''m afraid it''s very difficult for us to provide them with enough food."


    As for the question raised by dubrovsky, I bowed my head for a moment, and then said to him, "Comrade captain, you should immediately send a group of strong prisoners to form a special unit to collect food nearby under the leadership of our soldiers. By the way, when we just came here, we saw some dead horses on the road. Take them to get them back, so that they can at least fill many people''s stomachs. "


    "Comrade commander, even if we get all the dead horses back, we can''t eat them." Dubrovs base station did not move in place, and continued to tell me about the difficulties: "if there is not enough to make a fire, you can''t let the prisoners eat raw meat." I looked at the captain in front of me, who was obviously short of a string in his head. I wanted to kick him, but I finally managed to control my emotions. I pointed to the buildings in the distance and said to him, "Captain, do you see the buildings that were destroyed? You can have prisoners go there to collect furniture, doors and window frames to make a fire, not only to keep warm, but also to cook food. Do you understand? "¡° I see! " As soon as captain dubrovsky had answered this, he turned away with Captain Rosenberg and went to carry out my orders.

 Chapter 882

    Looking at the back of captain dubrovsky''s departure, I turned to bantaileiev and asked, "Captain, how often do the soldiers guarding the prisoners change their posts?"


    Bantai leiev quickly stepped forward and truthfully reported to me: "Comrade commander, we change posts every hour during the day. Because of the low temperature at night, we usually change posts every half an hour."


    I nodded, then pointed to the German prisoners in the distance, and said to him tactfully: "Colonel bandeleev, these German prisoners will be used for a lot of purposes in the future. Even if they can''t be satisfied with food and medicine, I don''t want too many prisoners to freeze to death because of the low temperature at night, otherwise we have to arrange people to bury them. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" Bantai leiev agreed and proposed to me thoughtfully, "Comrade commander, it''s too cold outside. Let''s go inside first." At this point, he specially pointed to the building where dubrovsky and his family had just come out and said to me, "although there were only two floors and a basement left in the German bombardment and bombing, we stationed two companies in it. Even if the German prisoners wanted to riot, they could be defeated in the shortest time."


    I followed Bantai leiev to dubrovsky''s command post. It was a room on the ground floor with a marching bed beside the wall. In the middle of the room was a broken wooden table and some chairs. On the table stood two candles for lighting.


    I went to the table, pulled out a chair and sat down. I asked vetkov and bandeleev to sit down as well. After they were seated, wittkov asked carefully: "Comrade commander, I want to ask, commander, have they disclosed our army''s next combat mission?"


    "What''s next?" After repeating wittkov''s words, I tried to think about whether the Soviet army had launched any major campaign after the battle of Stalingrad in my known history? After thinking about it for a long time, apart from having a little impression of the battle of Kursk, I can''t remember any famous battles launched by the Soviet army. So I shook my head and said, "I''m sorry, chief of staff. Commander trakov didn''t give me any information about this. I think our next task should be to clean up the city ruins and bury the dead. Moreover, burying corpses is the most important task. Otherwise, when the temperature rises and the ice and snow melt, so many corpses will definitely cause a large area of epidemic disease. "


    After listening to me, wittkov was silent for a moment, and then asked me anxiously, "Comrade commander, in other words, in a quite long period of time, our army will not have any combat tasks?"


    I nodded: "I think the higher authorities should consider this." Witkov and bantaileiev were both disappointed. They immediately comforted them and said, "even if the superior did not arrange us to take care of the prisoners, it is possible to transfer our army to the rear to rest as a reserve of a certain front army."


    "Anyway, our division is the main force of the group army, but I didn''t expect that as soon as the campaign ended, we were assigned tasks that even the militia could complete. I''m afraid that the commanders and fighters would have emotions." After listening to my words, Bantai leiev said reluctantly, "Comrade commander, can you discuss with commander trakov to transfer our division to other battlefields?"


    "Colonel bantailiev," wittkov said with a smile, patting bantailiev on the shoulder, "I know your fighting enthusiasm is high, but our commanders and fighters are not made of iron. After months of cruel fighting, they have become exhausted. We have to give them a good rest for a while before they can get back into the fight. "


    After listening, Bantai leiev meditated for a while, nodded and said thoughtfully, "the chief of staff is right. I''m too worried. During this period, our division has added a lot of new recruits from Siberia, so we can take advantage of this free time to train. "


    "Captain bantailiev," I suddenly remembered that he and akhromeyev always liked to argue. I don''t know how they cooperated after I left, so I asked, "how are you getting along with major akhromeyev?"


    Bantaileiev was stunned at first, and then said with a little embarrassment: "Comrade commander, I understand the reason why you asked me this. It turns out that when you were the commander of the division, I did often have conflicts with chief of staff akhromeyev, but it was all for work, not personal enmity. After I became a division commander, I occasionally had disputes with the major over the formulation of the operational plan, but I soon reached a consensus. "


    After listening to Bantai leiev''s words, I couldn''t help saying a few more words: "Colonel, I personally think major Akhromeev is a good commander, otherwise I wouldn''t have wanted him from the front army of warhoff. If you have such a deputy who is familiar with the situation of the division, you will spend less energy in future battles. "


    Bantai leiev nodded and wrote down what I said to him in a notebook. Looking at the thick notebook in his hand, I couldn''t help but wonder what was recorded in it. After a slight cough, I asked tentatively, "Colonel Bantai leyev, when I was still in the independent division, I used to see you keep recording with this notebook. Can you show me what you have written?"


    I thought Bantai leiev would find an excuse to refuse me, but he gave me his notebook which he never left. I took the notebook and opened it carefully. What I saw was his daily affairs when he was still a new editor. For these things that have nothing to do with me, I have no interest, so I speed up the page turning speed. When I turned to the middle, I suddenly saw a lot of content written in succession. Just before he was transferred to the independent division, he looked at it carefully.


    It says: "now, we have lost the advantage of human resources and grain reserves. If you continue to retreat, you will commit suicide, and you will be subjugated.


    Every inch of land we lose will strengthen the enemy and greatly weaken our defense and our motherland. Therefore, we must fundamentally eliminate the endless theory of retreat, and eliminate the argument that "our country has a vast territory, abundant resources, a large population, and inexhaustible supply of grain.". These arguments are wrong and harmful. It will weaken our fighting spirit and increase the prestige of the enemy. If we don''t stop retreating, we will lose all our food, fuel, steel, raw materials, factories and railways. Thus, it is time to stop retreating.


    "Don''t step back." this should be our main slogan at present. We should stick to every position and every inch of territory at all costs of blood and sacrifice, and stick to every piece of territory until the last breath. "


    See here, I quickly closed the notebook, red face handed back. What can be recorded in bandeleev''s book should be said by the leaders at a higher level. These remarks directly refute my view of "exchanging space for time". Bantai leiev has been deputy for such a long time, but he has never raised any objection to the tactics I used. It is also a respect for me.


    Just at the same time, Captain dubrovsky, who was out on the mission, came back. After entering the door, he raised his hand to salute me, and then reported to me, "Comrade commander, Captain dubrovsky, I report to you that the task you gave me has been successfully completed."


    In order to get rid of my embarrassment, I stood up and said to dubrovsky, "Comrade captain, take me to have a look." Seeing that wittkov and bandeleev were about to stand up, I quickly raised my hand to stop them. "You two don''t have to go. Stay here and have a rest. I''ll go and have a look and come back."


    After leaving the building, Captain dubrovsky and I, under Yushchenko''s protection, walked through the thick snow towards the prisoner''s place. As I walked, I asked the captain, "how many horses have you got?"


    "Four of them were killed by shells. It''s not a long time to die, and it''s cold, and it hasn''t rotted yet. " The captain said hastily, "I''ll let some of the captives get the dead horse back, and then I''ll order captain Rosenberg to take the rest of the people around, so that they can''t find any other food."


    "Comrade captain," I nodded with satisfaction at dubrovsky''s arrangement, and then said to him, "we may not be able to provide enough food for the Germans in the short term, so if we want to prevent them from starving to death, we have to start them up and search for food everywhere."


    "But Comrade commander," dubrovsky said, shaking his head in embarrassment, "the city has been besieged by the German army for several months. It is estimated that the food it can eat has been searched by the residents, our soldiers or the Germans. It is very difficult to find enough food here."


    This food problem is not only his dilemma, but also my headache. If the superior doesn''t give us food, I can''t produce food out of thin air. I deliberately avoided this topic, pointed to the prisoners in the ice and snow, and told dubrovsky what I had just said to bandeleev: "Captain, I hope you can promise me that even if you can''t provide enough food and medicine to the prisoners, you can''t let too many people freeze to death on a cold night. Can you do that?"


    After listening to my instructions, dubrovsky said, "Comrade commander, I can only do my best. In addition to sending captain Rosenberg to take people to look for food, I also sent a platoon of soldiers with a group of prisoners to collect all things that can be burned in the nearby ruins. I''m going to make some bonfires to keep the prisoners warm on a cold night. "


    As we spoke, we came to the place where the prisoners were. In a dilapidated building without a roof, the ground was full of German soldiers wrapped up tightly. On the ground in the middle of them, there was a dead horse whose skeleton was exposed. A soldier was cutting the meat with a dagger. Every time a piece was cut off, he handed it to the soldiers who had been waiting for a long time, and then continued to cut it. The soldiers who got the horse meat immediately put the meat on the iron wire and wooden sticks, surrounded by a newly lit bonfire, holding the meat on the bonfire for barbecue, and the whole air was filled with the smell of barbecue.


    I can see that these soldiers have been starving for a long time. They haven''t eaten for several days. Without waiting to cook the frozen horse meat on the campfire, they put the half cooked frozen meat into their mouth one by one, and gobbled it up, as if they were eating delicacies. And I can''t help feeling sick when I see them putting bloody horse meat in their mouths. At the same time, I also feel sad for these soldiers. They thought they would get enough food after surrendering, but now it seems that they will be disappointed.


    I don''t want to look any more and turn away without saying a word. After a short walk, I heard the rapid footsteps coming from behind. I knew that dubrovsky had caught up with him. I stopped and turned to him and said, "Captain, let these prisoners go to work at dawn. First of all, we should bury all the bodies that can be found nearby. After all this, we can let them clean up the ruins of the buildings and build shelter for themselves. "¡° Yes, comrade commander. " "I''m determined to finish the task," dubrovsky replied calmly As soon as Vitkov and I got back to the army headquarters, the telephone on the desk rang before we could have a cup of tea. Wittkov stepped forward, picked up the phone and listened. Then he handed it to me and said, "Comrade commander, it''s commander trakov''s phone."¡° O''shanina, where are you going? Why are you answering the phone now? " As soon as I was put on the receiver, I heard trakov''s impatient voice: "there is something important to inform you, and no one can be found." When I heard him say something important, the first thing I thought of was: should our army be transferred to other battlefields? Although he thought so in his heart, he still said respectfully: "Comrade commander, I just went to see the prisoners with chief of staff Vitkov, so..." "OK, let the prisoners go to hell!" Before I could finish, trikov interrupted me, a little elated, and said, "I have good news for you. Commander rokosovsky has just called from Moscow, saying that after the discussion in the base camp, we have decided to change our 62nd group army into the 8th group army of guards. All divisions and regiments that have participated in the battle to defend Stalingrad will be awarded the title of guards. "¡° Should all troops be awarded the title of "close guard" Listening to what trakov said clearly, I can''t help but be overjoyed. If the troops are promoted to guard forces, the ranks of division commanders will be promoted accordingly. So I asked excitedly, "do you know the new numbers of the four infantry divisions, one tank brigade and one artillery regiment of the 79th infantry army?"¡° The serial numbers of various units must be changed after they are awarded the title of the guards. But don''t worry. These things will be done after commander rokosovsky comes back from Moscow. " Trikov said without hesitation: "although you don''t know your name for the moment, your four colonels, bantaileiev, gurtyev, wachuk and andrushenko, will definitely be promoted to generals. As for you, because you have just been promoted to general, you will not be promoted this time. " Although this promotion is not my share, I don''t worry at all. After all, my foundation is too shallow and it''s not a good thing to promote too fast. Besides, all the four infantry divisions under my command have become close guard divisions, and the 79th infantry army may also be changed into a close guard army, so I will be promoted as a commander sooner or later. Trikov ignored my feelings and said to himself, "commander rokosovsky also said that we would leave Stalingrad in two days and go to the villages along the ahtuba river. Then the whole army group will rest and replenish there and get new weapons. " When I heard that the troops would soon leave, I could not help worrying about the fate of the more than 20000 prisoners. So I asked trekov, "Comrade commander, if we want to leave Stalingrad, what should we do with the more than 20000 prisoners in our military area?" After listening, trakov was silent for a moment, and then said, "when your department is transferring, hand over these prisoners to general shumilov''s 64th army. You don''t have to worry about the rest." Now that trakov has said this, I can''t help the fate of the more than 20000 prisoners. I can only pray in my heart that as many prisoners as possible will survive after the 64th army takes over.

 Chapter 883

    I thought that the battle had just ended, and our department had to rest for two days in Stalingrad. I didn''t expect that wittkov would stare at the epaulets of the commanders and fighters after they got off the bus. For a long time, wittkov was surprised and said, "Comrade commander, you see, they seem to be wearing the new military rank in legend."


    "It''s not like it is." Then I patted wittkov on the shoulder, waved my head at him, and said, "well, my chief of staff, don''t stand here to study the new rank. It won''t be long before we can change it."


    A group of us walked along the steps into the semi underground headquarters made of logs. Under the guidance of an officer on duty, we came to the room where the meeting was going to be held.


    At the moment, there were only dark people sitting in the room. I stood at the door for a moment, waiting for my eyes to adapt to the light. I soon found out that the military ranks of the commanders here are not only the badges I wear, but also the epaulets like those outside the door.


    When I looked at the table directly opposite, I found that in addition to my expected trekov, gurov, krailov and other leaders of the group army, there were rokosovsky and malining sitting at the long table. Next to malining was a general wearing a new military rank, who looked very familiar, and the work of the guards, Captain Klimov came in with five or six soldiers carrying a pile of boxes. With a smile on his face, gurov stood up and personally handed the boxes containing the newly established new medals to each commander.


    I opened the box and took out the medals carefully. The medal is made of gold-plated copper. On the front of the medal are the silhouettes of four soldiers with weapons. It also reads "reward for defending Stalingrad". I turned the medal over and found the words "for our Soviet motherland" on the back.


    While most of the commanders were appreciating the medals in their hands, I was surprised to see malining close to rokosovsky''s ear, say a few words, and stand up casually. As soon as he got up, I guessed that he must have something more important to announce. Sure enough, he went to the front of the table, faced us, bowed his head and read the document in his hand: "in consideration of the need to promote the fighting experience of Stalingrad''s defense war, the supreme command decided to disperse some combat experienced units originally belonging to the 62nd group army to each group army. Therefore, only the 39th division under the command of general Guriev, the 74th division under the command of general Sokolov, and the 79th division under the command of general wachuk were incorporated into the 8th group army. In order to replace the transferred troops, the 27th division under the command of general grebov, the 88th division under the command of general Vladimirov, and the 28th division under the command of general Vladimirov were decided The 82nd division under the command of Makarenko was incorporated into the 8th group army. All the newly added divisions have participated in the offensive campaign of Stalingrad and have excellent fighting tradition and rich offensive experience.


    Gurov, a member of the military committee of the group army, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. He was transferred from the group army to a member of the military committee of the southern front army. The position of the military committee of the group army was taken over by Colonel cherneshof, a political commissar of the 39th division of Jinwei; Krailov, chief of staff, was transferred to the post of commander of the 21st army, and the post was taken over by major general Vladimirov. "


    After reading out the order, malining introduced to us the new military commissar and chief of staff of the group army. It turned out that the major general sitting next to cherneshov was the new chief of staff, who was also the division commander of the 88th division of the guards.


    "Comrade commander," vetkov next to me touched me gently and asked in a low voice, "the commander left the wachuk division in the group army, but what about the rest of our army? Will they be assigned to other units? "


    In my mind, I was thinking about why the higher authorities wanted to give the Bantai leiev division such a long and obnoxious name. When I heard wittkov''s question, I said absently, "don''t worry, chief of staff. The higher authorities will make overall arrangements."


    "Comrade commander of the front army," as I finished, I suddenly thought of wittkov''s sonorous tenor in my ear, "allow me to ask questions?"


    For the sudden appearance of this voice, it immediately attracted everyone''s attention. Everyone looked up curiously at Vitkov standing beside me.


    "Comrade commander of the front army," vetkov asked directly, ignoring everyone''s curious eyes, "from the order just announced by general marinin, general wachuk''s close guard 79th army, which belongs to our army, has been left in the close guard 8th Army just reorganized from the 62nd army, but what about our 79th infantry army? Why didn''t you say how to arrange us? "


    When I heard wittkov ask this question, I was afraid of making rokosovsky unhappy. I stared nervously ahead to see his reaction. Directly, rokosovsky raised his head, looked at wittkov in bewilderment, and then turned his eyes to trakov next to him.


    "Colonel witkov," trakov said with obvious dissatisfaction, "although you are the chief of staff of the 79th infantry army, it is up to the headquarters of our group army and the headquarters of the front army to decide how to arrange the fate of the troops."


    "But, comrade commander,...." wittkov was unconvinced to explain something, but was interrupted by rokosovsky who stood up. He looked at wittkov and said slowly, "Comrade Colonel, I can tell you now about the fate of the 79th infantry. After the study of the supreme command, it was decided to transfer major general oshanina''s 79th infantry army to the 6th group army under the southwest front army of general watujing. In two days, your army will report to the new army. "


    Hearing this arrangement, I couldn''t help but be stunned. I thought that even if my 79th infantry army could not stay in the battle sequence of the 8th group army, it could be transferred to other front forces as reserves. Unexpectedly, it would be transferred to the southwest front army under the command of general watujing. Seeing that all the commanders were at a loss, malining continued to say on behalf of rokosovsky: "comrades commanders, our army successfully carried out the battle of ostrogozhsk - rososh and the battle of Voronezh - castornoy in January this year. In this way, the German army''s defense in the direction of Kursk and Kharkov will be strengthened, There is a gap of 400 kilometers wide. The supreme command decided to take advantage of the good opportunity that our army had just won the battle of Stalingrad and severely damaged the Manstein troops to continue to launch a new offensive against the enemy. At this moment, the Red Army fighting in the south wing of our territory is divided into two main assault directions: one is the southwest front army under the command of general vatukin, which launched an attack from the lower reaches of the Donets River and rushed all the way to the Dnieper River, trying to recapture the Donbas Industrial zone from the enemy''s hands and cut off the links between the Caucasian German army and the Ukrainian German army. On the other side is the Voronezh front army under the command of general Golikov. In front of them are the 2nd group army of the German army and the battle group of "RANTZ". There are nearly 15 infantry divisions and tankers, but most of them have suffered heavy losses in the process of rescuing Paulus. In this case, we have the conditions to launch the Kharkov campaign again. In order to strengthen the strength of the southwest front army, all the troops drawn from the 8th group army of Jinwei will be assigned to the southwest front army. "

 Chapter 884

    I don''t know why, as soon as I heard malining mention the battle of Kharkov, I couldn''t help shivering. Xin said that in May last year, the battle of Kharkov under the command of Marshal Timoshenko officially opened the prelude to the battle of Stalingrad. The victory of German forces in crimson and Kharkov exhausted the hard won reserves of the Soviet Union. At the same time, the south wing was seriously weakened, allowing the German forces to regain part of the strategic initiative and temporarily stay in a dominant position. After seizing the balvinkovo bulge, the German army successfully occupied the favorable starting position to attack Stalingrad. Now, just after a super large-scale battle, the participating troops have not been fully recuperated and replenished, so they have to rush into the new battle. Is this really good?


    When malining finished speaking, rokosovsky said to wittkov, "Colonel, after the meeting, you and Comrade oshanina will stay together. I have other things to explain to you."


    "Yes The reckless vetkov quickly agreed, and then asked in a tone of asking for instructions: "Comrade commander of the front army, may I sit down?"


    "Sit down, comrade colonel." Rokosovsky replied with a smile, then turned to trakov and said, "now let''s invite Comrade Vasili Ivanovic to speak."


    Trakov''s speech was very simple. He mainly informed the commanders of the upcoming series of rest and replenishment plans. I didn''t listen carefully because my troops would be transferred soon. After finishing his speech, trakov turned to rokosovsky and said, "I''m done, constantinovic."


    Rokosovsky nodded after listening, and then said: "since Comrade trakov''s words have been finished, then the meeting will be over. Comrades in command can go back to their troops. "


    The other commanders (including my group of teachers) got up and walked out, leaving me and Vitkov sitting still.


    When the commander who came to the meeting was almost gone, rokosovsky waved to me and said enthusiastically, "Rita, don''t sit down here. Come to me."


    Vetkov and I got up and went to the table, but instead of sitting down at rokosovsky''s command, we stood upright in front of him.


    "Rita, you and your troops are about to be transferred to the southwest front," rokosovsky said politely to me. "If you have any requirements, just ask them."


    Since it was rokosovsky who asked me to make the offer, I would not be polite. After thinking for a moment, I said decisively, "Comrade commander of the front army, I have two requests. First, my military political commissar, comrade Vasiliev, died bravely because he was sniped by German snipers some time ago. At present, there is no political commissar in the army. In order to strengthen the leadership of the army, I hope the higher authorities can send us a new political commissar. "


    After listening to my first condition, rokosovsky turned and asked trakov, "Comrade trakov, what''s your opinion?"


    "Comrade commander of the front army, comrade oshanina''s 79th infantry, is the main force of our 62nd army. I think he should be equipped with a capable deputy." After saying this to rokosovsky, trakov turned to me and asked, "o''shanina, do you have a suitable person?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." In fact, not long after Vasiliev''s death, I had a suitable candidate, but because I was fighting every day, I didn''t put forward it for the time being. Since trakov asked me to recommend a candidate, I said without hesitation: "Colonel kirilov, the political commissar of Bantai leiev division, had been working with me for several months. He is a suitable candidate."


    "Let Colonel kirilov be your Commissar. That''s right, "trekov reminded me." in this way, the division commissar of bandeleev will be vacant? Who do you think is the most suitable person to take over the post? "


    As for the commanders at all levels in the bantaileiev division, I am very familiar with them. When trakov asked who was suitable to take over the post of political commissar of the division, I put forward my plan at one go: "after Colonel kirilov took up the post of political commissar in the army, his vacant post can be filled by lieutenant colonel oberstein, political commissar of the first regiment. Major safchenko, the instructor of the first battalion of the second regiment, is the most suitable political commissar of the first regiment. " Nowadays, political workers have been awarded new military ranks, and their job titles have been adjusted accordingly. When talking about their positions, I feel that they are not as obnoxious as they used to be.


    After listening to my arrangement, trikov nodded and said with satisfaction, "Comrade oshanina, you have considered it very comprehensively. I know all the political workers you mentioned. They are very good commanders. I have no opinion about the candidates you proposed. And you, comrade military commissar? " His last word was to guloff.


    "I also agree with the candidate proposed by Comrade o''shanina." With a smile on his face, gurov added, "I suggest that Colonel kirilov be put in the army today."


    Rokosovsky waved with a smile: "well, Rita, we have passed your first condition. Go on to your second request. "


    Because of the second condition that I am about to put forward, and because only rokosovsky can do it, I said to him, "Comrade commander of the front army, my troops lost a lot in the early fighting. Although we had once added new soldiers, with the transfer of general wachuk''s close guard 79th division, our troops became weak again, I hope you can give us 8000 to 10000 new recruits. In addition, there are fewer tanks in Colonel berey''s tank brigade. It would be better if the front army could supply us with about 100 more. "


    After I finished, rokosovsky took a look at trakov next to him. Then he said with a smile, "Rita, you really expect too much from me. But I''m sorry that I can''t meet your request. You know, during this period, the entire don front army was only supplemented by 12000 soldiers, and the technical equipment such as tanks, artillery and aircraft were even more limited. "


    "But Comrade commander," although rokosovsky refused my request, I still said reluctantly, "you know, after our army is transferred to the southwest front army, we will face one hard battle after another. If our troops and technical equipment are not supplemented, we may suffer a great loss."


    Rokosovsky listened to me. Instead of speaking immediately, he frowned and thought. After looking at each other, trikov and gurov took the initiative to help and said, "Constantine konstantinovich, I think what Comrade oshanina said is very reasonable. We should find a way to replenish her troops with necessary soldiers and technical equipment."


    If I am the only one to make a supplementary request, even if I have a close relationship with rokosovsky, I may be rejected by him. After all, I am about to be transferred from the Don front army, and he can''t waste the limited supplement he gets on my army, which will soon not belong to him.


    Rokosovsky saw that trakov was also speaking for me, with a hesitant expression on his face. After a moment''s silence, he looked at marinin and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, I want to hear your opinion?"


    Seeing that the hope of getting supplies fell on malining, I quickly turned my attention to the chubby chief of staff of the front army, staring at the expression on his face. Malining saw that rokosovsky threw the problem to himself, and did not dare to claim it without authorization. He looked at rokosovsky and me, and finally said in embarrassment: "Comrade commander, I know that the supply from the base camp is limited recently, but from the perspective of improving the combat effectiveness of the army, comrade Lida really needs to supplement here. But I don''t think she has the final say for her own troops or weapons.


    Seeing that malining skillfully threw the problem to himself, rokosovsky finally couldn''t help laughing. He stood up and said to me, "Rita, since the chief of staff thinks that your troops should be supplemented, I''ll give you a part of it. Chief of staff, record orders. " Seeing that marinin took out a pen and paper from his briefcase, he began to dictate the order, "immediately supply the 79th infantry with 3000 recruits, 10 tanks and five guns. Well, that''s all. Comrade chief of staff, it''s up to you to arrange this. "


    Marinin put away his pen and paper, straightened up, and said aloud, "yes, I''ll arrange it right away." Then he turned and rushed to krailov, who was standing nearby, and said, "general krailov, please come with me. The new reserve troops need you to receive them in person."


    After the two chief of staff left the headquarters side by side, rokosovsky waved to me again, indicating that I would stand beside him. I knew in my heart that when he asked me to go there, there must be something important to explain. Maybe he explained to me the situation of the enemy and ourselves in Ukraine. So I walked around the table and came to him.


    Rokosovsky moved the map on the table towards me, pointed at it with red and blue, and introduced the current situation of enemy and ourselves to me like a geography teacher: "Rita, you see, this is Stalingrad where we are now, and you can reach Donetsk all the way west. This is the position of general vatukin''s southwest front army. To the northwest of Donetsk is general Golikov''s Voronezh army. According to our reconnaissance, the headquarters of German Marshal Manstein is in zaborosh, an important town at the great gulf of the Dnieper River. "


    It aroused my interest to hear that Manstein''s headquarters were in zaborosh. However, when I saw that the distance between Donetsk and zaborosh was more than 200 kilometers, I promptly gave up the idea of sending troops directly to the other party''s headquarters. In such a long front, we do not know how many insurmountable lines the German troops have laid out. I asked casually, "Comrade commander, I don''t know how many troops Marshal Manstein has at present?"


    Because rokosovsky was in a different position from us, and he had much more information than us, when he heard me ask about the situation of Manstein''s troops, he casually said a lot of important information: "Manstein''s" Don River group army group "in order to save our besieged Paulus troops some time ago, We sent the most elite 4th tank group army under the command of general Holt, which broke through our layers of defense and approached only 30 kilometers away from Stalingrad. Fortunately, Paulus was indecisive and did not dare to disobey Hitler''s orders. He refused to lead his troops to break through the encirclement. As a result, Hote''s rescue operation was on the verge of success.


    In this case, the German army''s "Don River group" had to fight in three aspects at the same time. One was to save the besieged Paulus''s sixth group army, but to protect the German army''s transportation lines that were attacking the Caucasus. Another important task was to ensure that they were not eaten by our superior army.


    It is precisely because of the loopholes in their defense line and the fact that our army is several times stronger than them and enjoys freedom of movement that we can continue to detour back to the two wings of the German army with large regiments, and Li Qiang can annihilate a larger number of German troops. However, the Germans are very cunning. They have seen through our plan and successfully disintegrated our encirclement and annihilation plan by relying on the ingenious defense of the hollett group army and the 4th tank group army. They have reestablished the defense line between the sea of Azov and the Donets river. "


    Rokosovsky''s explanation gave me a perceptual understanding of the situation in Ukraine. According to him, German Marshal Manstein''s troops were in a situation of being attacked on all sides, and he was able to mobilize only a fraction of our troops. In addition, the collapse of Paulus'' army had a serious impact on the morale and morale of the German army, which made the vast number of officers and men have no desire to fight. Therefore, after our army launched the attack, we quickly achieved great results¡° Rita, you are against the enemy and ourselves situation in Ukraine. " Rokosovsky saw me staring at the map all the time. He raised his voice and asked, "are you clear?"¡° It''s all clear, comrade commander. " I quickly straightened my back and replied loudly. Although I have made it clear, I am still unfamiliar with the new battlefield I am going to. However, rokosovsky can only help me. The rest of the information I have to ask watujing or the commander of the 6th army after I go to the southwest front army. After a moment''s hesitation, I asked cautiously, "I don''t know when my troops will start?"¡° When chief of staff malinin and general Krylov have completed their replenishment of your army, they will set out immediately. " With these words, rokosovsky raised his hand, looked at his watch, and then said, "today is February 5. You can start in the morning of February 7. I will ask the Logistics Department of the front command to dispatch 1000 trucks to transport your troops and supplies to Donetsk. "

 Chapter 885

    As soon as wittkov and I got back to the army headquarters, my old partner, the new military political commissar, Colonel kirilov, came into the room. He came to me, raised his hand, saluted and said excitedly, "Hello, comrade oshanina! I''m very happy to be your partner again. "


    From his facial expression and voice, I''m sure he is very emotional. His excitement also infected me. After I raised my hand in a hurry to return the salute, I took his hand and shook it hard. I said, "Hello, comrade political commissar, I''m glad that we are together again so soon, and it''s at this time when the troops are about to leave for a new battlefield."


    While we were talking, wittkov came to us, reached out to kirilov, and said in a friendly way, "Hello, Colonel kirilov, welcome. I didn''t expect that we would have the chance to work in the same headquarters again. " Wittkov said this because kirilov used to be the director of the Political Department of the group army and was an old acquaintance with him.


    After the greetings, kirilov, who has already played the role of military and political commissar, suggested to me: "Comrade o''shanina, our troops will start the day after tomorrow. Do you think we should call up the commanders at the division and regiment levels to hold a meeting to let them get ready to start first?"


    "Comrade political commissar, your proposal is good. I''ll do as you say." In fact, even if kirilov doesn''t say anything, I plan to gather the commanders of divisions, brigades and regiments to hold a meeting to explain to them the enemy and ourselves situation in the new battlefield, so that they can have a clear idea.


    As the troops were scattered, it took nearly an hour after receiving the call from Vitkov before all the division commanders, brigade commanders and commanders arrived.


    After everyone arrived, as usual, vetkov spoke first. He first introduced kirilov, the new military and political commissar, to all the commanders. Then he explained to you why Bantai leiev told you the truth. Actually, I didn''t know why the superior changed such a long and obnoxious name for my independent division. I heard vetkov explaining to the commanders, I also listened very carefully. After listening to this, I suddenly realized that this is the case. Fortunately, I only got two medals. If I got a few more medals, I might not be able to write down the serial number on a page.


    After introducing the origin of the new name of bantaileiev division, wittkov went on to say the more important content: "with the collapse of the German army besieged in Stalingrad, our friendly forces took advantage of the victory and launched a great counterattack. At present, the "Don River group army group" of Manstein, who came to rescue Paulus some time ago, is losing ground under the strong attack of our southwest front army and Voronezh front army. In order to eliminate Manstein''s forces as soon as possible and cut off the contact between the Caucasian German forces and the Ukrainian German forces, the base camp transferred our troops from the battle sequence of the 62nd group army and strengthened the southwest front army of general vatukin. "


    The commanders of divisions and brigades in the room had heard what wittkov said at the headquarters of the group army a few hours ago, and those commanders had heard it for the first time. It is said that our army has won many victories on the battlefield. They all seem to be in high spirits. They are eager to lead their troops to the front line immediately.


    After witkov finished introducing the situation, I stood up and said to the commanders sitting in front of me, "comrades, after receiving the additional soldiers and technical equipment from the front army, our army will officially move to Donetsk the day after tomorrow, February 7." Speaking of this, I stopped for a moment, glanced over the commanders present one by one, and saw that they were all sitting in a tight seat, staring at me. Then I asked briefly, "is there a problem?"


    After I asked, the commanders remained silent. I knew in my heart that at such an important moment, the people who attended the meeting seemed to have nothing to say.


    Just as I was about to announce the end of the meeting, a loud voice came out of the crowd: "Comrade commander, do you allow me to ask a question?"


    Following the direction of the voice, I saw that it was Colonel berey, the commander of the tank brigade, who stood up. I was slightly stunned. Then I took my head and said kindly, "please go ahead, comrade colonel."


    "Comrade commander, since our troops are going to leave on February 7, I would like to ask you," Colonel berey asked coldly in a business like tone, "I don''t know when we should send forward fighters?"


    "The front stop?" I was confused by the word that suddenly came out of Colonel berey''s mouth. After repeating it, I asked in a misty way, "what''s the front station operator? I don''t understand you


    "Comrade commander, please wait a moment." Witkov saw that the situation was not right, and quickly stood up to help me out: "it''s up to me and Comrade berey to talk about this." Then he turned to berey and asked, "Comrade Colonel, are you going to send someone to explore our march route and set up supply points in suitable areas?"


    Colonel berey''s attention was immediately drawn by Vitkov, who nodded his head and said with certainty: "absolutely right, chief of staff. From here to Donetsk, the March is as long as 500 kilometers. In addition, it''s also very cold in winter. If we don''t set up supply points on the march route for supply and repair, at least two-thirds of the tanks will lie down due to faults when we get to Donetsk... "


    I sat at the table and listened to the conversation between them. I was surprised to find that the establishment of the tank brigade was far from as simple as I thought. Besides the tank troops, there were a series of subsidiary units, such as armored battalion, armored maintenance company, motorized infantry battalion, motorized communication company, armored reconnaissance platoon, and Quartermaster company responsible for fuel and ammunition supply. If it''s a short March, it''s not a big problem whether there are supply points or not. But this time, we have to March 500 kilometers in one day to Donetsk. If we don''t take corresponding measures, when the tank brigade arrives at the destination, it''s estimated that most of the tanks will lose their combat effectiveness in a short time due to failure, as berey said.


    After they finished speaking, I stood up again and said, "don''t delay this matter, Colonel. After the meeting, you will immediately arrange for your staff to carry out this task. After the supply point is set up, ask the commander in charge to send back a map showing the driving route, stopping point and camping place. Remember, fuel, hot food and boiled water must be prepared at the new supply point


    After Colonel berey sat down, wittkov announced the marching order of the troops to the commanders on the scene: "this time, the whole army will still be divided into three echelons. The first echelon consists of the 171st infantry division of Colonel andreushenko and the 84th tank brigade of Colonel berey; The second echelon is composed of the 22nd division of the close guard of major general bantaileiev and the army''s direct troops; The third echelon is composed of the 308th infantry division of major general gurdyev and the 266th artillery regiment of lieutenant colonel kaverin. The departure time of the first echelon is 8 a.m. on February 7, the second echelon is 10 a.m. and the third echelon is 12 a.m.... "


    Two days later, after a short rest and limited supplement, our Department officially moved to Donetsk.


    Kirilov and I were riding in a jeep, sandwiched in a long convoy of covered trucks, slowly heading towards Donetsk in the face of a snowstorm.


    I was looking at the snowflakes flying outside the window. Sitting in the co pilot''s seat, vetkov turned to me and said anxiously, "Comrade commander, with such heavy snow, our marching speed does not exceed 30 km. We can''t reach our destination before dark."


    I heard him say so, sighed, helplessly said: "no way, the snow outside is too big. Fortunately, commander trakov sent us so many trucks. Otherwise, our commanders and fighters would have to walk to their destination in the snowstorm. In that case, we will arrive at Donetsk later. "


    After driving in the heavy snow for more than an hour, on both sides of the road, you can see the bodies of German officers and soldiers, charred tanks, deformed cannons, and the wreckage of the crashed plane, showing a black outline from the thick snow.


    Seeing this situation, kirilov could not help saying with emotion: "o''shanina, look outside. If only the enemy''s blood were all flowing here and the enemy''s technical equipment were all destroyed, how wonderful it would be! Unfortunately, tens of thousands of our commanders and fighters have also fallen on our own land. They have sacrificed their precious lives in order to recapture this land from the enemy. Under the cover of the snow, there are also the wrecks of our planes, the destroyed tanks and the cannons that we have turned into scrap iron. "


    After he finished, I immediately said, "yes, comrade political commissar. In order to defend our great motherland, our army and people have paid a huge price. But as long as we can drive the aggressors away from our country, it will be worthwhile to pay even a heavy price. "


    "Comrade commander," wittkov, who was sitting in the front row, suddenly called out, "there''s a three wheeled motorcycle coming up behind. Maybe there''s some order from the superior." Then he patted the driver on the shoulder and motioned him to park on the side of the road and wait for the motorcycle to catch up.


    Our car had just stopped on the side of the road, and the motorcycle slowed down and stopped by our car. A commander in a cornice hat jumped from the sidecar. He quickly came to our window, raised his hand to salute, took out an electric newspaper from his briefcase and handed it in through the window.


    I think kirilov took the telegram and asked casually, "Comrade political commissar, what new instructions does the superior have?"


    "Comrade oshanina, the telegram was sent by general vatukin, commander of the southwest front army." kirilov '', The troops started on the spot to build a defense line and eliminate the nearby German forces. "


    "Chief of staff, bring me the map." Donetsk is a big city. I didn''t know its location until I was on the map of rokosovsky two days ago. I haven''t heard of the two cities that vatukin ordered us to enter.


    When the map was spread out among the three of us, vetkov quickly found the two places on the map, pointed to me and said, "Comrade commander, these two cities are in the southwest of Donetsk. Dokuchaev is about 100 kilometers away from Donetsk, while vornowaha is even further away, and has to go south for 70 or 80 kilometers. "


    After seeing the location of the two cities clearly, I had plans in my mind. He said to wittkov, "chief of staff, record my orders. The first echelon was ordered to turn south to the city of warnowaha after reaching the gukovo area; The destination of the second and third echelons was adjusted to dokuchaev. "


    After witkov finished writing the order, he tore the page off the notebook, then pushed the door open and jumped out. From the front of the car around to the parking position, the hand of the paper to the telegraph commander, and told each other a few words. After folding the paper, the commander carefully put it into his briefcase, raised his hand and saluted wittkov. Then he turned into the sidecar of the motorcycle and drove in the direction of the coming. After the jeep was restarted, kirilov frowned and said to me solemnly, "Comrade oshanina, it''s terrible. The first echelon will be stationed in the city of volnovaha, which is more than 150 kilometers away from Donetsk. According to the current marching speed, they will arrive at least tomorrow morning. If the German army launches a counterattack against the city at this time, the consequences will be unimaginable. " As for kirilov''s worries, I laughed, patted him on the shoulder and said with ease, "don''t worry, my political commissar. The wind and snow outside are so heavy that the German who lacks enough winter equipment will not fight in such bad weather. "

 Chapter 886

    Thinking that I had never met the current commander of the sixth group army, kirilov and Vitkov had worked in the headquarters of the group army, and kirilov was also from an important department in Moscow. They should know more than me, so I coughed and asked, "political commissar, chief of staff, What do you know about the Sixth Army we are going to visit? "


    As soon as the words came out, I found that both of them were looking at me with strange eyes. They did not speak, but looked at each other. Then kirilov slowly rolled up the map and handed it to Vitkov. Seeing that the other side had stuffed the map into his pocket, he asked me: "Comrade oshanina, don''t you have time to know about the Sixth Army we are going to join these two days?"


    As for kirilov''s question, I shook my head and said with embarrassment, "these two days, I''ve been busy checking the combat readiness of divisions and talking with commanders and soldiers. On the contrary, I''ve ignored the most important thing."


    When I saw kirilov''s face, I could not help but feel flustered. However, because of my identity, he gave me a step down. He said to wittkov, who was sitting in the front row, "Hey, chief of staff, I think you''ve been collecting relevant information these two days. Do you want to take this opportunity to give a good talk to the chief of the army?"


    When I heard kirilov say that, I felt warm in my heart. It''s better for him to be an old partner and take all the things I didn''t expect into consideration. Vetkov nodded, took a stack of papers out of his briefcase, looked at them a few times, and pulled one out of the middle. Before I could put the rest of the documents in my briefcase, I began to read them for me: "the sixth group army was established in Kiev special military region in August 1939. In September, he joined the front army of Ukraine and took part in the battle of marching into western Ukraine. After the outbreak of the patriotic war, he was incorporated into the southwest front army and took part in the wuman campaign. Because of serious losses, his organizational system was withdrawn. At the end of August 1941, it was reconstituted on the basis of the 48th infantry army. It was successively incorporated into the southern front army and the southwest front army, and participated in the battle of dunbas and the battle of balvenkovo lozowaya. In May 1942, he was encircled in the battle of Kharkov, so he abolished his organizational system again in early June. At the beginning of July, the reserve Sixth Army was transformed into the Sixth Army, which was first incorporated into the Voronezh front army and transferred to the command of the southwest front army last month. "


    "Chief of staff," after listening to wittkov''s reading of the army''s information, I asked, "do you have information about the commander of the group army?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Wittkov replied respectfully. Then he took out another document and read to me, "so far, there are four commanders in the Sixth Army. The first commander, lieutenant general Ivan Nikolayevich muzichenko, was a veteran of cavalry. Because of his excellent military quality, he was highly valued by Marshal Zhukov. He was the first successor of the fourth cavalry division under the command of Marshal. He commanded the infantry division in the battle of Karelia isthmus in early 1940, and was appointed commander of the group army six months later. Vashujin, a military and political commissar, liked the young group commander very much. Once he gave him such a comment: "mujichenko is a commander with a bright future. The only drawback is that it''s too stiff. He will be a good group commander in wartime. "


    When I heard that general muzichenko was a talent valued by Zhukov, I was very surprised that I had never heard of him. So before witkov finished reading, I raised my hand to interrupt him and asked curiously, "Comrade chief of staff, since this general is so famous, why have I never heard of him?"


    "Comrade oshanina," without waiting for Vitkov''s reply, kirilov next to him said preemptively, "may I ask you a question?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." I answered without hesitation, "as long as I know, I will tell you the truth."


    Kirilov looked at wittkov in the front row and asked steadily, "in September 1941, I don''t know where you were at that time?"


    Although I was surprised that kirilov heard such a question, I answered him truthfully and said, "Comrade political commissar, at that time I was still in the Leningrad front army, holding the position of platoon leader in the anti-aircraft machine gun company on the polkovo highlands."


    "No wonder." Kirilov''s face was suddenly enlightened, and then he said for wittkov, "the reason why you haven''t heard the name of general muzichenko is that this determined commander was not lucky in the beginning. The 6th army lost a lot when fighting with the German army on the border, fought with the 12th army and retreated to uman. The result did not expect to be encircled by the German army, and the two group commanders were both captured. "


    "Alas, it''s a pity. If such an excellent commander can get out of danger smoothly, he may have made a lot of achievements in the past two years." After a few words of emotion, I urged wittkov: "chief of staff, what are you still doing? Continue to read."


    "The second commander is general rojion Yakovlev Malinowski..."


    "Won''t you be captured by the German again?" When I heard wittkov read out another very strange name, I couldn''t help interrupting again, saying in a sarcastic tone: "if the commander had not been captured or sacrificed, I don''t think the unit would have been withdrawn for the second time."


    "My God, comrade oshanina, what are you talking about?" I didn''t expect that kirilov, who was sitting next to me, was in a hurry as soon as I said, "how can you talk irresponsibly like this?" With these words, he reached out and patted the driver on the shoulder in front of him, and said sternly to him, "I said, comrade driver, it was the commander who was joking just now. If I knew that someone was passing on what she said, I would not say it. You should know what it was."


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." Although the driver was driving, he quickly turned back and assured kirilov, "I was driving all the time just now and didn''t hear anything."


    After listening to the driver''s reply, kirilov said coldly, "you just understand that."


    The first time I heard kirilov speak like this, I was immediately shocked with a cold sweat. My heart said that I didn''t say anything just now, so I jokingly asked the second commander if he was also captured. I didn''t expect that he had such a big reaction.


    After greeting the driver, kirilov turned to look at me and said solemnly, "Comrade oshanina, maybe your time in the army is too short, so you don''t know general Malinowski. I won''t worry about you this time, but this time alone, if there is another time, you will bear the consequences independently. "


    I don''t know why kirilov made such a frightening remark. He just nodded like a chicken pecking rice: "don''t worry, comrade political commissar, I will never say such irresponsible words again. By the way, what kind of person is this general Malinowski? Can you tell me? "


    Seeing my sincere attitude, kirilov''s face softened. He then told me about the experience of the second Commander: "after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, when our troops one after another fell into siege in the great German offensive, general Malinowski suddenly emerged, He quickly became one of the few generals in the Red Army who had the ability to command the army; The three divisions under his command at that time were all heavily understaffed infantry divisions. In the face of the fierce Blitzkrieg attack of the German army, they set up a front along the Prut river. According to the practice at that time, the senior commanders of the troops generally hid in the rear of their own troops to command operations; But Malinowski is not. He usually goes to the critical front-line fan-shaped battlefield to accompany the soldiers and encourage their morale. Because of the great disparity between the enemy and us, our army was unable to stop the German army which was superior in quantity and technology and had rich experience in combat. So general Malinowski led the remnant troops to flee along the black coast. The German army tried several times to encircle and destroy Malinowski''s troops, but they all failed. In the end, although the German army successfully surrounded his troops, general Malinowski quickly led the troops to break through the enemy''s encirclement and to garrison in Dnepropetrovsk.


    In August, he was sent to the defeated sixth group army of the Red Army as chief of staff, and soon he was promoted to commander of the group army. He successfully blocked the German army''s fierce offensive on the front line, and was promoted to lieutenant general. Later, the army was forced to retreat to dunbas, and Malinowski led the sixth and 12th army to join the defensive war, repelling the German army from leaving the defensive area again; In December 1941, he was appointed commander of the southern front army of the Soviet Union by his superior. Under his command, there were only three broken army groups and two armored forces with only tank divisions. Under the condition of insufficient personnel and equipment, Malinowski even directed his troops to launch a fierce attack on the defense depth of the German defense line.


    At present, general Malinowski, as the commander of the southern front army, is engaged in a fierce battle between the Rostov area command troops and the German army of Manstein. "


    After listening to kirilov''s introduction, I finally realized what a stupid joke I had made. If kirilov and vetkov were not the people who heard this, maybe my future would be destroyed because of this sentence. You know, a few years later, Kulik, who once served as a marshal, was sentenced to death because of a few private complaints.


    After kirilov''s introduction, wittkov asked carefully, "commander, commissar, can I read on?"


    "That''s to say," kirilov estimated that he was choking and could not get angry with me at the moment, so when he spoke to Vitkov, his voice was a little louder: "of course, he continued to read."


    "The third commander was lieutenant general avikshenti Mikhailovich gorodnyanski." When witkov read this, he stopped for a moment and looked at me specially. He was afraid that I would interrupt him. Seeing that I had no response, he continued to read: "in the second battle of Kharkov in May 1942, the 6th army suffered a great sacrifice. Among the senior generals killed in the battle were the commander, lieutenant general gorodnyanski, the commander of the 47th infantry division, major general matikin, the commander of the 337th infantry division, major general Vasilev, the commander of the 21st tank army, major general Kuzmin, the commanders of three tank brigades under the 21th tank army and the 23rd tank army, and the commanders of a motorized infantry brigade, Col. dimidov, Col. gorchikov Colonels delozdorf and kagamanov were also killed. Major general zusmanowich, the logistics director of the group army, was captured by the German army on the way to lead the army to break through the encirclement. "


    After listening to a series of tragic fates of the 6th group army, my heart became heavy. I waited for wittkov to finish reading and asked casually, "who is the current group army commander?"


    "The current commander is lieutenant general haridonov. He joined the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik) in 1918 and joined the army the following year. He took part in the civil war. He graduated from the senior Infantry School in 1931 and served as the head of the regiment. He graduated from the advanced training class for senior leaders of the Military Academy of the general staff in 1941. At the beginning of the Soviet German war, he served as deputy chief of staff (major general) of the southern front army. He was commander of the ninth group army since September 1941, and participated in the battles of Donbas and Rostov. In July 1942, he was transferred to the commander of the sixth group army, participated in the battle of Stalingrad, and was promoted to lieutenant general in December 1942. "¡° Thank you. Thank you, chief of staff. " After learning about the Sixth Army, I expressed my gratitude to Vitkov. At this time, my heart became more and more heavy: the troops had been withdrawn twice; Two of the three former commanders were captured or killed. When I think about the 6th group army of Paulus, which was just annihilated by our army in Stalingrad, I feel a little afraid of the 6th group army. No wonder the Russians hate the number "6" most and think it is the code name of the devil. Judging from the final fate of the troops of the same number in two countries, it''s really no nonsense. Perhaps seeing that I was silent all the time, kirilov asked with concern: "Comrade oshanina, why don''t you speak? What are you thinking?"¡° Comrade political commissar, do you know where the headquarters of the sixth group army is? " Since the base camp has assigned our army to the command of the 6th group army, it is impossible to change this order. The only thing we can do is to stay away from the headquarters of the group army so as not to get into their bad luck. So I asked calmly, "do we need our army to send troops to protect the headquarters?"¡° It doesn''t work, "vetkov said, shaking his head." as far as I know, the headquarters of the sixth group army and the headquarters of the front army are both located in Donetsk. There are also three infantry divisions and a tank division stationed nearby. We don''t have to worry about their safety. "¡° What, is the headquarters of the group army in Donetsk? " Although I was overjoyed when I heard the news, I still pretended to be depressed on the surface. "We are so far away from the headquarters. When the battle starts, will the commanders and their troops be affected?"¡° I don''t think so. " Witkov didn''t find out my sinister intention, but answered me honestly: "we can keep in touch with the headquarters through the wireless phone."

 Chapter 887

    Our car drove for more than two hours and stopped at the side of the road. As I kept my eyes closed, I felt that as soon as the car stopped, I immediately opened my eyes and asked nervously, "what''s the matter? Why did I stop? Is there another telegram? "


    Kirilov laughed and said, "o''shanina, you are too nervous. We stopped, not because the communications staff came to send telegrams, but because we arrived in surovigino, where there is a newly established supply point. Let''s go down and have something to eat and ask the driver to fill up the car


    After listening to kirilov''s words, I turned to look out of the car window. There were more than ten tents on the side of the road. There were several simple wooden tables on the side of the road, on which were large steaming pots. Several cooks were pouring the hot soup into the lunch boxes in the hands of the soldiers. The soldier took the hot soup, took a few steps forward, took the dried bread from another cook, and then found a place to squat or sit down, and began to enjoy his simple lunch.


    A few minutes later, kirilov and Vitkov and I were sitting in a tent, eating the same lunch as the officers and soldiers outside. The only special thing was that the chef put some fine beef in the soup for us. After drinking two mouthfuls of soup, vetkov said with emotion, "I didn''t expect that there are really capable people under Colonel bere. You see, this supply point can not only supply fuel for tanks and cars, but also prepare hot red vegetable soup for every commander and fighter. "


    Although we were sitting in the tent, the cold wind blowing in from the door still made me shiver. I thought that it was so cold during the day. If the commanders and soldiers were allowed to sleep in the tent at night, I didn''t know how many people would freeze to death overnight. Thinking of this, as soon as wittkov finished speaking, I immediately added: "Comrade chief of staff, it''s too cold to let the soldiers live in this windy tent at night. They will freeze to death. It''s better to put them in civilian houses."


    "Comrade o''shanina is right." As soon as my voice dropped, kirilov went on to say, "early February is the coldest day of the year. I estimate that the temperature will drop to about minus 40 degrees tonight, so we should do a good job in keeping our commanders and fighters warm. Don''t think that a few bonfires can keep the commanders and soldiers warm. You know, the chest is warm before the fire, and the wind is cold behind it. The German prisoners we took care of some time ago were frozen to death every night. Many people even sat near the campfire and were frozen to death. "


    "I see," wittkov obviously had experience in this field, and quickly replied, "I''ll send a telegram to the division commanders and ask them to arrange the accommodation for the commanders and fighters at night. There must be no non combat casualties caused by cold weather." With these words, he picked up the lunch box, drank all the soup left in the lunch box, and then got up and walked out of the tent.


    After witkov left, kirilov saw that there were only two of us left in the room and said to me in a low voice, "Comrade o''shanina, we are old partners. I have a question for you. I hope you can answer me truthfully?"


    After hearing this, I nodded, gestured to him and said politely, "excuse me, comrade political commissar."


    Kirilov hesitated for a moment, and finally tentatively asked, "do you think the campaign launched this time can wipe out all the German troops in Ukraine?"


    "It''s impossible, comrade political commissar." When I heard his question, I immediately replied without hesitation, "this battle may cause heavy damage to the German army, but it is impossible to wipe out the German army in Ukraine," I added with a shrug of shoulders and a look of regret


    "What are you talking about?! It''s impossible to wipe out the German army in Ukraine? " Kirilov was startled by what I said, and his face showed an incredible expression: "Comrade oshanina, did you make a wrong judgment this time? You should know that the German allies in our two aspects are losing. Maybe in ten days or less, they will be able to completely annihilate Manstein''s troops, Just like the troops that destroyed Paulus in Stalingrad the other day. "


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." Although I don''t know the final outcome of the battle of Kharkov, I remember that the Soviet army, in order to completely drive Germany out of its territory, pushed the war abroad and forced Germany''s vassal states to withdraw from the war. From the middle of January 1944, on the line of defense about 4500 kilometers from the Barents Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south, ten successive annihilating strikes were carried out against Germany and its subordinate countries, namely the famous "ten strikes". Since the German army was completely driven out of the border in 1944, it proved that this battle would be a flash in the pan. Therefore, I said with great certainty: "according to my feeling, although our army is currently in the dominant position, it is still impossible for us to completely defeat such famous German generals as Mannstein."


    Kirilov and I have been dealing with each other for a long time. After listening to my words, we can''t help being silent. After a long time, he asked cautiously, "if our campaign will end in failure, what are you going to do?"


    What should I do? It''s a real headache to hear kirilov''s question. Soon after the reconstruction of the 6th group army, the cooperation among the various units is certainly not ideal. It''s OK to fight a downwind battle. Once the attack is frustrated or counter attacked, it''s really hard to predict what will happen. Therefore, I must take precautions and consider a way out for myself and the troops in the future.


    After pondering for a long time, I raised my head and said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, the 22nd division of Jinwei is our old army. You and I are very familiar with both soldiers and division commanders. On the battlefield, the most reliable force is such a force. So I''m going to assign a battalion of Colonel berey''s 84th tank brigade and lieutenant colonel kaverin''s 266th artillery regiment to the Bantai leyev division and let them take up the main task. The battle effectiveness of the 171st division of Colonel andreushenko is the weakest. I intend to put it on the right side of the bantaileiev division. There are other forces of the group army around them. Even if the battlefield situation changes, I believe they can protect themselves. The 308th division of major general gurdyev is deployed on the left wing of the bantaileiev division. "


    After listening to my plan, kirilov closed his eyes and thought about it for a while. At last, he nodded and agreed: "well, comrade oshanina, I''ll do as you say. The two divisions deployed on the left and right wings, while assisting the friendly forces in fighting, must also build necessary fortifications. "


    Before he had finished his words, wittkov came in. Just as he heard the following words, he couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade political commissar, what kind of fortification do you want to build?"


    Kirilov heard wittkov''s voice, looked at him and said, "chief of staff, you''d better come. Sit down quickly. We have something to tell you." After he sat down, kirilov told him again what I had just suggested.


    After hearing this, vetkov frowned and began to think. After a while, he asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, do you really think our campaign will end in failure?"


    "It''s quite possible, comrade chief of staff." If I am not sure about my judgment just now, I am more convinced that my judgment is correct when I hear wittkov''s question, so I confidently said: "although we have just won the battle of Stalingrad, it does not mean that we will win in the next battle. Don''t forget how the battle of Kharkov last May failed? It was because of that defeat that the German army occupied the ideal offensive position and launched an orderly attack on Stalingrad with heavy troops. "


    Seeing that I was so sure, vetkov no longer doubted my judgment. He nodded and said with certainty: "Comrade commander, although I have worked with you for less time than the political commissar, I will also choose to trust you unconditionally. When I was still the deputy chief of staff of the group army, I heard about the fortifications on the mamayev post you were holding fast to. It is because of these fortifications that our troops are able to block wave after wave of enemy attacks. So I suggest that general bandeleev send a group of experienced commanders to the other two infantry divisions to guide them in building fortifications. "


    "I agree." I immediately agreed to his proposal. Out of respect for kirilov, I specially asked, "Comrade political commissar, what''s your opinion?"


    "I agree." Kirilov raised his hand, looked at his watch, and suggested to me, "o''shanina, we''ve been here a long time. Should we start?"


    "Let''s go," I said to the two men, standing up. "Try to get there before dark."


    Because of the heavy snow and the deep snow on the road, we couldn''t speed up all the time, so we barely entered the territory of Ukraine before dark and arrived at a small city called "krasnoton" in the east of Ukraine.


    When I entered the city, I looked out through the window and saw that the buildings on both sides of the street were relatively intact, proving that I had not experienced the ravages of war. However, we have been driving for a long time, and we have not seen any residents in the city. It is estimated that soon after the outbreak of the war, all the people here have been evacuated.


    After the troops were encamped in the city, I called Bantai leiev to the temporary headquarters to ask him about the current situation of the troops and whether the officers and men sitting on the trucks had frostbite during the 300 km journey. However, the situation is better than I expected. As there is a supply point every 100 kilometers on the road, which provides food and hot soup for the officers and men, so that they have no frostbite so far.


    Next, we began to study the march route of the next day. As the headquarters of the front army has temporarily adjusted our location, some of our original plans have to be adjusted accordingly.


    While we were studying the map, I suddenly heard someone calling for a report at the door. Wittkov straightened up from the table, went to the door and cried out, "come in!"


    With his shouts, from the door quickly walked into a soldier covered with snow, his shoulders and helmet, are thick snow. After he came in, he didn''t care to brush off the snow, but raised his hand to salute. At the same time, he reported to Vitkov, "chief of staff, deputy battalion commander of reconnaissance battalion, Captain travkin, I have finished the task of reconnaissance of the enemy around me. Please give me your instructions."


    Travkin was a scout I used to dig from the Don front army. When I was promoted to commander, I transferred him from bantailiev to the reconnaissance battalion as deputy commander, and promoted him to captain. When I heard that it was him, I raised my head and asked with a smile, "Comrade captain, I don''t know if you have gained anything from your reconnaissance this time?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." "I found an old hunter in the forest to the southwest of the city. According to him, there were many Germans in their village, so I brought him here," he said respectfully¡° Where is the old hunter? " Wittkov said in a voice: "bring him here quickly. We need to know about the German army from him."¡° It''s just outside the building. " "With my men, I''m going to bring him," he said, shaking his head With that, he turned and walked out of the headquarters quickly. While waiting for travkin to bring the old hunter back, the people in the headquarters were silent. It took a long time for Bantai to break the silence: "Comrade commander, since the enemy is stationed in the village, I don''t think there will be too many of them."¡° How many Germans are there? Who knows now? Only after asking the old hunter. " "Although they are stationed in villages, I think there are at least two companies or more," wittkov said anxiously Soon, under the leadership of travkin, an old hunter covered with snow came into our headquarters. Under the light of the steam lamp, I saw the old hunter dressed in rags, with a dog skin hat on his head and an old-fashioned shotgun on his shoulder. Seeing the old man''s appearance, kirilov quickly welcomed the man who took the initiative to seize the old man and said enthusiastically, "Hello, old man. I wonder where you are from? " The old hunter coughed, looked at us carefully, and said, "my name is Matvey. I''m from Liming collective farm."¡° "Collective farm of dawn," Vitkov repeated the name and came to the table. He leaned down and looked up the place the old man said on the map. But after looking for a while, he shook his head and said to himself, "strange, why isn''t this village on the map?"¡° Comrade commander, "Matvey said without expression," our village is too small for you to find on such a small military map. " Kirilov listened to what he said, and then he said with a smile, "master Matvey, can you tell us where your collective farm is?"¡° Out of the city, go south, through a forest, you can reach our village The old hunter was still stiff and said, "it''s about 15 kilometers from here." Kirilov didn''t care about the expression on the old man''s face, because he knew that it was not the old man''s deliberate airs, but because it was too cold, and the muscles on his face had been frozen to lose their regulating function. He still asked enthusiastically, "do you know what kind of army that is and how many of them are there?" The old man frowned and thought about it. He replied, "I''ve heard that it''s a ski camp of the German mountain infantry division. I don''t know how many people there are, because we are never allowed to enter their camp. "

 Chapter 888

    "We?" After repeating this word, Bantai leiev frowned and asked, "Sir, I want to ask you, who do you mean by" we "


    Bantai leiev''s words made us alert to the old hunters. I even wonder why this 70 or 80 year old man suddenly appears near the city. He is not a spy sent by the German, is he?


    Perhaps the old hunter was aware of the strange look we cast on him, tried to squeeze a smile on his face, and explained to me, "comrades commander, the situation is like this. Except for the young people who went to be soldiers, the rest of our collective farm did not evacuate. So now there are more than 100 men, women and children in the farm."


    The old hunter''s reply obviously did not dispel Bantai leiev''s suspicion. He pointed to the old-fashioned shotgun on the old man''s shoulder and asked: "since you said there were Germans in the farm, why didn''t they take your shotgun and let you carry it around? Aren''t they afraid that you would use this gun to kill their officers and soldiers?"


    I had already let down my heart to the old hunter. Hearing Bantai leiev''s question, I could not help but heighten my vigilance. My hand unconsciously touched the LEATHER HOLSTER around my waist, and I was ready to take the initiative to kill him once I found out that he was trying to shoot. I''m sure he''ll shoot anyone in the room first.


    Unexpectedly, the old hunter nodded and said to Bantai leiev, "Comrade commander, you are right. My shotgun was seized by the Germans after they came, but they gave it back to me later. "


    Listening to the old hunter''s honesty, I moved the hand that had touched the holster away, and stopped Bantai leiev who still wanted to ask: "OK, comrade Colonel, I believe this old man." Then he turned to wittkov and said, "chief of staff, pour me a cup of tea."


    When the old hunter sat down to drink tea, I had guessed the reason why the German returned the shotgun to him, so I tentatively asked, "Uncle Matvey, I think the reason why the German returned the shotgun to you is that you want to be the village head and cooperate with them in managing the farm."


    As soon as my words came out, the old hunter jumped up from his seat and stared at me with eyes open and tongue tied. He stammered nervously: "general, how... How... How... Do you... Know?"


    Seeing that I had guessed correctly, I went around the table to him, put my hand on his shoulder, pressed him gently downward, motioned him to sit down, and asked with a smile, "Uncle Matvey, can you tell me how you refused the German''s rude request?" The reason why I ask is that I see anger on several faces around me, so I want to tell them the truth through Matvey''s mouth.


    Sure enough, as soon as I said this, everyone''s faces softened. They stood quietly, waiting for the old hunter named Matvey to tell his story.


    "Here''s the thing," the old hunter said with some difficulty. "Because I''m a hunter, not a farmer of the collective farm, my house is far away from the farm on the edge of the forest, where my grandson Vasha and I live. I don''t usually go to the farm if there''s nothing important. When the Germans came, they might find that I had no close relationship with the people in the farm, so I knew that the reason why the Germans made such a friendly request to me was that they could not successfully cross the forest and get close to the city without a guide. For this kind of thing, I certainly won''t agree, so I politely refused.


    I didn''t expect that the German commander would not give up, took my hand and made a wish to me, saying: if I lead the way for them, in addition to providing me with money, flour and fire oil, I would also be given a German brand double barreled shotgun that all hunters dream of.


    When I heard that from the Germans, I guessed that some coward in the farm had told them that I was familiar with every swamp, every tree, every stone and every mysterious hunting mark here, and that I was an ideal guide. That''s why the Germans offered me such an offer to tempt me. I was thinking that if there were any troops in the city, I could tell them that there were German troops in the farm and let them destroy the invaders.


    I was deeply afraid that if I agreed too readily, it would arouse German suspicion. So I pretended to be greedy and said to the officer, "Sir, a good gun is not enough. Can I have some more money?"


    When the officer heard this, he cried out excitedly and asked the interpreter to tell me that the German commander always respected the people who worked for them and did not care about spending money on those who were willing to serve them faithfully.


    As soon as the officer and his interpreter finished, he hastily added: "if you are willing to scout the enemy for us and act as a guide for us, I will reward you a lot and give you a thousand rubles."


    At this time, everyone was attracted by Uncle Matvey''s story, listening to him quietly about what happened, and no one interrupted him¡° After listening to the translation, I pretended to be thinking hard. It took me a long time to say to the officer, "Sir, this money is too little. You know I can take a lot of risks. You can''t buy me off at such a cheap price."


    "A thousand rubles is too little? That''s fifteen! " Seeing that I still shook my head, he immediately raised the reward again: "two thousand rubles, no more. Otherwise, I''ll send someone myself. "


    I quickly pretended to be satisfied and said, "two thousand is two thousand, but you have to pay half in advance."


    After discussing with the interpreter, the officer took out a stack of banknotes from the drawer and carefully counted out the number I wanted. Then he asked me to come to the city as soon as possible for reconnaissance, and asked me to go back to the farm before noon tomorrow and tell them the intelligence I found. "


    Hearing this, vetkov suddenly clapped his hands and said, "great, this is great." Then he turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, since the enemy has only one ski camp, we can lead them out, ambush them in the forest and wipe them out. What do you think? "


    As for wittkov''s proposal, after thinking for a moment, I resolutely agreed: "well, comrade chief of staff, as you said, after we set up an ambush circle in the forest, let uncle Matvey lead the Germans. Then, when they are tired, they will attack suddenly and wipe them out completely. "


    "Do we need to set up the ambush now?" Kirilov, who had been silent, suddenly asked.


    "Comrade commander, I don''t think it''s necessary. It''s too cold. If our soldiers lie in the snow for more than ten or twenty hours, they will freeze to death. " The old hunter broke in and said, "let''s just go back and tell the Germans that there are small units of our army stationed in the city and try to lead them out. Then I''ll send my grandson to inform you that I''ll take the Krauts around the forest a few more times to give you enough time to set up the ambush circle. "


    "That''s a good proposal." "Uncle Matvey, can you tell us where is the right place to set up this ambush circle?" bantaileiev said


    "In the southwest of the city, near the edge of the forest, there is a deep gully with many bushes. There is an open area nearby, where your troops can ambush." When the old hunter said this, he rushed to pick up the map and ready to hand it to him. Vetkov waved, "Comrade commander, I can''t understand the map. Why don''t you send a few people with me, and I''ll take your people there to see the terrain. "


    "Captain travkin!" When the old hunter said this, I called to trafkin who was standing beside him. When he passed by, I told him, "you''ve taken some people with you to go with uncle Matvey."


    After travkin left with Matvey, kirilov approached me and asked in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, do you think this old hunter is reliable?"


    "Sure." First I nodded in affirmation, then I asked strangely, "what''s the matter, comrade political commissar? Are you still doubting anything?"


    Kirilov frowned and replied, "he said the Germans sent him to scout. Why didn''t they send several soldiers to scout with him? Is that how the Germans believe him? "


    "Comrade political commissar, you think too much." As for kirilov''s worry, I didn''t take it to heart. I said in a tone of disapproval: "it''s so cold now, and the temperature in the forest at night is even colder. Except for old hunters like Matvey, I don''t believe that the Germans can endure such cold."


    I thought this far fetched reason would cause everyone''s refutation. Unexpectedly, several people agreed and nodded. Bantailiev also said excitedly: "when we started the counter offensive under Moscow City, the reason why we were able to achieve so much success in the early stage was that the German army, which lacked winter clothes, lost its combat effectiveness in the cold. I think the commander is right in his analysis. The Germans in the collective farm at dawn may lack enough winter clothes, so they dare not walk into the forest full of snow


    While we were discussing it, the operator sitting by the wall suddenly called me: "Comrade commander, there is a call for you. It''s from the headquarters of the group army."


    Group army command? Hearing the name of this unit, I quickly came to the telephone, and took the earphone and transmitter from the operator.


    A strange and gentle voice came out of the earphone: "is it Comrade oshanina?"


    "Yes, I''m o''shanina!" I''ve never heard this voice, and I don''t know who the other party is, so I politely asked in a business tone, "I don''t know who I''m lucky to be talking to?"


    "I''m haridonov, the current commander of the Sixth Army."


    After hearing the other party''s identity report, I straightened up and said in a panic: "Hello, comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"


    "Comrade oshanina, where are your troops going?" Asked haridonov.


    I quickly gave him a detailed report on the current positions of several divisions.


    I didn''t expect that after hearing this, he said with some dissatisfaction: "Comrade oshanina, no, your troops are too slow. It took a day, but I still haven''t reached the designated position. How can I do that? "


    "Comrade commander, I..." when I was hesitating whether I should report the actual situation on the road to him, he said to himself: "at present, our army is progressing very smoothly. A part of general Golikov''s Voronezh front army has just captured Kursk occupied by the German army; The other main forces are approaching Kharkov. It is estimated that the final attack on the German army will be launched within these two days. After consolidating the Donetsk defense line, our front army will continue to push westward to attack the Dnieper River, completely cut off the links between the Ukrainian German army and the Caucasian German army, divide them into two groups that cannot be contacted, and then use the heavy army group to encircle and annihilate them. "


    Perhaps infected by the victory of the battle of Stalingrad which just ended, the words of the commander of the group army were full of excitement. He naturally thought that the German aggressors had no power to resist the strong offensive of our two front armies. As long as there are two more battles, the German army in Ukraine will be completely annihilated. When he talks to me at this time, he naturally wants to hear my compliments. I know that if I''m rebellious at this time, it''s easy to be labeled as "defeatism". How did Yang Xiu die in the Three Kingdoms period? Although he was a smart man, he was just too talkative. As a result, he killed himself unconsciously. I don''t want future generations to write an article "the death of o''shanina" when they write this history. Therefore, I said with a smile and flattery against my heart, "yes, comrade commander, judging from the current situation, the morale of the German army, who has just suffered a disastrous defeat in the battle of Stalingrad, is so low that it is impossible to resist the joint attack of our two front armies. I believe that it will not be long before they are completely destroyed." Haridonov was very satisfied with what I said. He specially told me: "you should continue to March tomorrow as soon as possible, and strive to arrive at the designated place as soon as possible to participate in the final attack on the German aggressors. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander. " I assured him on the transmitter, "please rest assured that our army will arrive at the assembly place designated by the superior on time." When I put down the earphone and the transmitter, wittkov asked me strangely, "Comrade commander, why don''t you report to the commander that we are going to ambush the German here?" Without waiting for him to finish, I raised my hand to stop what he said behind, and said solemnly: "I declare a discipline. In order to prevent the leakage of secrets, all important combat intelligence can only be transmitted by telegram, cable telephone or manpower, and never by wireless communication, so as not to be monitored by the German army. Do you understand? "¡° I understand The commander in the room replied neatly.

 Chapter 889

    Although the only troops I can command directly at present are the guards of Bantai leiev. When they appeared on the open ground in front of the deep ditch, I didn''t know that the soldier was too tired to bear and took the lead in sitting on the ground. With the leaders, there are immediately imitators. More and more soldiers out of the forest sit in the snow. Some people sit on the ground and gasp, while some soldiers take out their cigarettes and light them in their mouths, shivering and smoking. Some sergeants stood on the edge of the forest, shouting at the stragglers to gather in the open. Seeing that the German army had entered our ambush circle as expected, I put down my telescope and nodded to sjerykov. He immediately turned to a telephone, picked up the phone and announced decisively, "fire!" With his orders, the clear sound of machine gun fire suddenly broke out, and the cries of the German sergeants were suppressed. A string of bullets from several directions towards the German assembly place, on the ground raised a stream of snow. Before many soldiers had time to figure out what happened, they all collapsed on the snow in panic. The blood from the corpse quickly covered the snow under them. When the Germans woke up and were about to flee into the forest, the weapons in the hands of the commanders and fighters who emerged from the deep ditch also opened fire fiercely. The soldiers screamed in horror, threw away everything they thought was a burden, and ran to the forest. Seeing the fierce battle ahead, I carefully searched for the figure of the old hunter Matvey. After searching for a long time, I found that he was standing on a small mound beside the forest. The hat on his head had already disappeared, and the wind had disturbed his long black hair. He stood still like a carved villa, gloating at the fleeing German soldiers. Seeing the old man standing still on the hill, I stamped my feet in a hurry. My heart said why he didn''t find a safe place to hide. What if he was hit by a stray bullet? At this moment, a German officer with a big cornice hat appeared from somewhere. He rushed to the old man with a pistol and pointed it at him as if he was saying something. Unfortunately, it was too far away for me to understand. When I was thinking about whether to send a sniper to kill the officer, the old man suddenly fell on his back¡° Oh, dear I couldn''t help exclaiming in surprise. The officer who knocked down the old man turned around and was about to run when a string of bullets from behind hit him. He leaned back and put his hands high in the air, as if trying to catch something, but he couldn''t. After holding this position for more than ten seconds, he tilted to the side and fell directly into the snow¡° Grandfather! "Grandfather!" My side suddenly rang out heartrending cry, and then the short felling summer over the snow wall, stepping on the thick snow to the old man fell position rushed past.

 Chapter 890

    On the battlefield of fierce fighting in the distance, the sound of "Wula" sounded, and the sound became louder and louder. The soldiers hiding in the deep ditch all rushed out from their hiding places. In order to prevent accidental injury, our machine guns stopped shooting. The commanders and fighters were running and shooting in the wilderness, chasing the enemies who survived the machine gun fire. After they rush up, they drop the living enemy to the ground and disarm them. Leaving some people to guard the captives, the rest rushed to the snow filled forest along the footprints left by the enemy in the snow. Vasha, the grandson of the old hunter, was chasing the fleeing enemy with a submachine gun in his hand. It seemed that he wanted to kill several German devils and avenge his grandfather.


    The fighting ended in less than half an hour, and a few German soldiers who fled into the forest were either killed or captured alive. Seeing that the victory was decided, kirilov, shejerikov and I took a group of soldiers through the open field full of German corpses to the hill where Matvey died.


    The old man''s body was lying on the hillside with a military uniform covering his face. Major shereblenny and several soldiers were digging a pit with an engineer''s shovel. Vasha, the little grandson, knelt down beside the old man and wept bitterly. I squatted down, trying to lift the old man''s military uniform and look at his last appearance. As soon as I reached out, before I could touch my uniform, major shereblenny, who was standing beside me, reached out to stop me and said in embarrassment, "Comrade commander, you''d better not look. The damned Krauts shot him in the face, and his whole face was broken... "


    Although shereblenny''s words did not speak, I knew that he was afraid that his bloody face would frighten me. I drew back my hand and looked at Vasha, who was crying, and asked softly, "Vasha, how old are you this year?"


    When he heard my voice, Vasha stopped crying. He wiped the tears on his cheek and answered with a cry voice: "Comrade General, I am 13 years old."


    "13 years old!" After repeating his age, I asked with concern, "Vasha, your grandfather is dead. Do you have any plans to go to school in the future? If you like, I can send someone to send you to the rear, in order to arrange a suitable school; If you don''t want to, I''ll have you sent to a relative. "


    Vasha stood up, straightened up and said, "please allow me to report, Comrade General. I don''t go to school or my relatives. I want to fight and avenge my dead grandfather. "


    "Vasha, read first." I don''t feel at ease that such a young boy let him stay in the army, so I tried to persuade him and try to change his decision: "when you finish your studies and become an officer, go to war again!"


    Vasha''s head was like a rattle. "No, I can''t do it. If I go to school, by the time I finish, the war is over. " After glancing around, he pleaded with me: "before I go to the battlefield, you will wipe out all the bandits. Comrade general, please leave me


    I can''t help thinking of trikov''s Herald, sidtorin, who stayed in the army to inherit his father''s will. In front of me, I strongly demanded to join my army because of my heroic sacrifice. I couldn''t bear to pour cold water on his enthusiasm. After a moment''s silence, I threw this difficult problem to kirilov: "Comrade political commissar, what do you say to do with this matter?"


    Kirilov went up to Vasha, took him by the shoulder, and asked kindly, "son, where are you going, to be in the company or to stay in the headquarters as a messenger for us?"


    "Comrade commander," Vasha said aloud, looking up at kirilov beside him, "I want to go to the company and take up arms and fight face to face with the bandits. I''ll go to study again after all the Communists have been eliminated. I''m still young, and I''m not over the age, comrade commander. "


    Kirilov laughed a few times, called shereblenny in front of him, pointed to the child and said, "Comrade major, I''ll give you this child. Do you want to promise me that as long as there is one person alive in your camp, you must ensure his safety, can you do that? "


    "I can do it." Xie lieboliang gave a loud answer, then turned to look at me and asked, "Comrade commander, can we bury the old man first?"


    I saw that the soldiers who dug the pit had stopped working and were taking off their helmets and wiping their sweat. There was a rectangular shallow pit beside them. In such cold weather, it is not easy to dig out the hard frozen soil.


    Kirilov suggested that the funeral should be carried out in the military mode. I have no objection. I left the decision to him and let him arrange everything. The old man''s body was slowly put into the earth pit, his face was still covered with the military uniform, and he was buried with the old hunting gun that followed him for many years. During the first sprinkling of soil in the pit of the Vasha Dynasty, kirilov specially dispatched a guard group to shoot them in the air for three times.


    After the funeral, I called shijerikov to my side and asked, "Comrade commander, have you got the statistics of today''s results? How many enemies have been annihilated, how many guns have been captured, and how about our casualties? "


    Shejerikov replied with a smile: "report to the commander, we have killed 217 German soldiers and captured 49 prisoners. We have seized more than 200 rifles and submachine guns. In addition, we have also seized the machine guns and supporting ammunition put on the sled by the enemy. Seven people in our department were slightly injured. They all sprained their feet or bumped their heads when charging. It doesn''t matter. After simple treatment by health workers, they have almost recovered to normal. "


    "What? What did you say just now, commander chejerikov? " As for the report of shijerikov, kirilov asked incredulously, "nearly 300 enemies were destroyed and captured, but none of our army was killed. This is really incredible. Are you sure you are not mistaken?"


    "Comrade commissar," he explained to kirilov with a smile, "please rest assured that I will not make a mistake. Although the enemy is a battalion, its combat effectiveness must not be too poor. But when they march, their rifles and submachine guns are safe, not to mention the machine guns on the sleds. So when we suddenly hit them, they didn''t have the strength to fight back. " Then he pointed to the hill where the temporary command post was located, and added with a schadenfreude tone, "the commanders and fighters of the tank battalion of pelsken and the artillery battalion of Morozov, who had been freezing in the snow for several hours, wanted to teach the Germans a lesson. It turned out that the whole battle was over before they fired. "


    Kirilov and shijerikov and I stood on the hill, watching the soldiers escort the prisoners and carry the captured guns and ammunition. As for the German corpses, our soldiers had no strength to dig holes for them in such cold weather, so they all threw them into the deep pit that had just been hidden.


    As the three of us went back, I whispered to the man who was walking beside me, "Comrade commander, although I assigned Vasha to camp shereblenny, I don''t want him to carry out any dangerous tasks. I must ensure his safety."


    "No problem." He replied very simply. After a moment''s silence, he took the initiative to put forward to me: "Comrade commander, I have an idea. Since Vasha is a hunter''s child, he must be familiar with guns. Maybe his shooting method is good. I want him to be a sniper in lieutenant Vassily''s sniper unit. What do you mean? "


    sniper? When I heard the name of this branch of arms, I could not help but see that it was a good profession. I immediately thought that at the beginning of "war on the city", Vassily''s grandfather trained him to fight wolves. Vassily lived with his grandfather for so many years, and maybe he also practiced his good shooting skills. Thinking of this, I nodded and said to sjerykov, "OK, you can let lieutenant Vassily take the men away later. Maybe, as you say, this kid is a good sniper. "


    As soon as I got back to the army headquarters, wittkov rushed over, lowered his voice, came close to my ear, and said in a hurry, "Comrade commander, you can come back. Haridonov called you to ask why you were in the evening, and all the troops have not reached the designated position." Then he pointed to the earphone and transmitter in the operator''s hand, indicating that haridonov was still waiting for me on the line.


    I went to the operator, took the earphone from his hand, put it on, and then said to the transmitter, "Hello, comrade commander! This is o''shanina. Do you have any instructions? "


    "Comrade oshanina," haridonov''s loud voice sounded particularly excited in the earphone, "I come to ask you, now it''s dark, where are your troops?"


    I quickly and respectfully replied, "Comrade report commander, up to now, most of our army''s 171st infantry division, 84th tank brigade, 266th artillery regiment, 308th infantry division and 22nd guard division should have reached the designated positions."


    "And you? Where are you now? " Haredonov continued impolitely: "as the head of the first army, should you stay with your troops?"


    "Comrade commander, please listen to my explanation. This is the case." For fear that he would interrupt me, I sped up and told him the whole story in detail.


    Haridonov was a very reasonable man. After listening to my story, he sighed and said in a suspicious tone: "Comrade oshanina, the child is too young. Do you think it is appropriate to leave him in your army to fight?"


    "Comrade commander, I wanted to send my child to the rear to study or to his relatives'' home, but he refused." I tried to stand in the neutral position and explained to haridonov, "maybe I saw my grandfather killed by the German. He was dazzled by hatred. Even if we forced him to the rear, maybe he would sneak to the front. So after thinking about it, I decided to keep him in the army and let him work as a sniper in lieutenant Vassily''s sniper team. "


    "Now that you have made a decision, let''s do it." After harridonov finished this, he told me again, "Comrade oshanina, in any case, you and your army headquarters must arrive at the garrison site by noon tomorrow. The Voronezh front army has launched an attack on Kharkov City, and our southwest front army will continue to push towards the Dnieper River to the West. You can''t drag the whole front army behind you. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." When I heard what haridonov said, I immediately assured him, "I assure you that the headquarters of the 79th infantry army will arrive in dokuchaev on time by 12 noon tomorrow."


    When I finished my call with haridonov, vetkov came over and asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, we are more than 200 kilometers away from dokuchaev. Can we arrive at noon tomorrow?"


    Hearing wittkov''s question, I replied with a bitter smile: "Comrade chief of staff, it seems that we can only gamble our luck. If it doesn''t snow tomorrow, the driving speed of the team will be improved a lot, so that we can get to dokuchaev on time, there is no problem. You call lieutenant colonel chejerikov and ask his troops to have a rest. We''ll leave on time at six tomorrow morning. " Although it didn''t snow the next day, the speed of the whole team couldn''t get up at all because of the deep snow on the road and the craters everywhere. Witkov watched the tortoise''s fast-moving motorcade, anxious as ants on a hot pot. Although I was also worried, I could not help saying that witkov was extremely anxious: "Comrade chief of staff, the speed is not fast because of the road condition. It''s no use worrying. It''s better to think about how to launch an attack on the German army when we get to the new headquarters than to be anxious. " Witkov, hearing what I said, turned to look at me and said in a strange way, "Comrade commander, I think we should wait for the orders from our superiors, and then carry out the combat tasks according to the orders." When I heard wittkov say this, I rolled my eyes at him. Just as I was about to teach him a lesson, kirilov, who was familiar with my fighting style, had taken the lead and said, "Comrade chief of staff, you have a terrible idea. We should know that the situation of the enemy on the battlefield is ever-changing, and the command is far away from the front line. The orders they give are not necessarily accurate. Therefore, it requires our commanders at the grass-roots level to adjust their deployment and tactics in time according to the changes in the enemy''s situation, so that they can win the battle. " Later, kirilov told wittkov about many specific combat examples of the independent division, and wittkov nodded repeatedly. As soon as the tarpaulin behind the carriage was lifted, about ten soldiers jumped down, quickly stood behind the carriage or on both sides of the carriage and began to push the cart out of the crater as soon as possible. As our jeep passed the car, I was surprised to find Vasha pushing in the crowd. The ragged sheepskin hat on his head had been replaced by a brand-new military hat. He was wearing a cotton military uniform which was obviously too large. He was wearing a wide belt around his waist, which made him look very energetic. At the moment, like other soldiers, he was shouting and pushing the truck hard.

 Chapter 891

    It was three o''clock in the afternoon when we arrived at dokuchaev. As soon as we finished the arrangement of the army headquarters, we received an urgent telegram from the headquarters of the group army.


    The telegram was signed and issued by haridonov himself. The telegram said: "in order to clear the obstacles of the main force of the front army on the way forward, your department should launch an attack on the enemy troops west of dokuchaev in kinotsga, Norway on the evening of February 9, so as to restore the smooth flow of highway H20. The battle must end before 10 a.m. on February 10."


    When I saw the telegram, I raised my head and asked wittkov, "chief of staff, do you have any detailed information about the German army?"


    Wittkov nodded and handed me a telegram he had just received. He said solemnly, "kinotsga, Norway is seven kilometers southwest of our city. It''s 15 kilometers away from wolnovaha. The enemy built a large number of civil bunkers and firepower points here, firmly controlled the whole road, and completely cut off the contact between our front army and the southern front army. "


    When I received the telegram, I didn''t read it immediately. Instead, I asked casually, "what kind of forces is the enemy?"


    "According to the reconnaissance of our army," wittkov had already memorized the contents of the telegram. Hearing my question, he immediately replied unambiguously, "the German army has placed a battalion in the town with two infantry companies and an artillery observation post. Once the garrison is attacked, they can call for long-range artillery support. As a result, several operations launched by the sixth group army to open up traffic lines ended in failure. "


    I took the telegram and quickly found the location of the town of kinotsga in Norway on the map. It has to be said that the position chosen by the Germans is very good. It not only seriously threatens the flank of our army, but also restricts our army''s movement. It''s like a fishbone stuck in our throat. It''s really disgusting.


    "Comrade commander, how are you going to fight?" When Vitkov asked, he unconsciously raised his hand and looked at his arm. Maybe he was worried that we didn''t have enough time to attack¡° You know, the friendly forces have launched several attacks on this town, but they all failed under the enemy''s fire. So if we want to attack, we must find a way to destroy the enemy''s artillery observation post, so that when the enemy is attacked by us, he can not provide firing data for the artillery. "


    "You are very considerate, chief of staff." I seriously considered vetkov''s proposal and said, "well, send out lieutenant Vassily''s sniper team immediately and let them find a way to kill the enemy''s artillery observation post. As for the next battle, "when I said this, I couldn''t help but look at my watch and found that the clock had already pointed to four o''clock." first, I''d like to call up some teachers to hold a meeting and make a good plan. "


    When Vitkov accepted my order to call the commanders of each division, kirilov approached me and said in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, the time given to us by the superior is too short. If we meet in such a hurry, I am afraid our attack will be..."


    Before kirilov finished speaking, I quickly raised my hand to stop him from going on, glanced at the busy communication staff, and whispered to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, I understand. Our troops have just arrived here, and they are still unfamiliar with the surrounding environment. If they rush into battle, they will suffer greatly. But the order from the higher authorities is clear. In any case, we must resolve the battle before 10 a.m. tomorrow. "


    "Are you sure?" Kirilov asked anxiously.


    I tried to squeeze a smile on my face and said calmly: "Comrade political commissar, you should not forget that our independent division, though not established for a long time, has always been an outstanding and experienced unit. When we covered the retreat of the main force of the 64th group army to Stalingrad, we also severely damaged the 29th motorized infantry brigade of the German army and captured their division commander through the night attack. I believe that in tonight''s battle, the commanders and fighters of the Bantai leiev Division will surely make new contributions. "


    As the 171st infantry division and the 84th tank brigade stationed in the volnowaha area are too far away from us, the military commanders of these two units were not allowed to participate in this military meeting. Only bantaileiev, gurdyev and artillery commander kavilin from dokuchaev attended.


    Maybe it was because of yesterday''s victory, I found him in a particularly excited state from Bantai leiev''s entrance. He and major general gurdyev beside him talked and laughed loudly. After all, nearly 300 enemies were annihilated in the first World War, but none of them were killed. As the division''s military officer, he really had the proud capital.


    Seeing that everyone sat down, Bantai leiev pulled kaverin beside him excitedly and said again. Kirilov could not help frowning. He patted on the table twice and said to Bantai leiev discontentedly: "Comrade General, we are going to have a meeting soon. Please keep quiet." After kirilov''s training, Bantai leiev gave us a shy smile and closed his mouth.


    Wittkov stood up and said solemnly to the participants: "comrades, in order to get through highway H20 and restore the connection between our southwest front army and the southern front army. The head of the group army asked us to launch an attack on the German army in the town of kinotsga in Norway tonight and to settle the battle by 10 a.m. tomorrow. "


    After listening to wittkov''s announcement, bantailiev stood up. He frowned slightly, looked at wittkov seriously, and said in a low voice: "Comrade chief of staff, the time for our troops to arrive at dokuchaev is very short, and the commanders have no time to get familiar with the surrounding environment. I would like to ask how our commanders, in a strange environment, direct their troops to attack the enemy occupied town? "


    "General bandeleev, please sit down." Before answering his question, vetkov politely asked him to sit down, and then said, "as there is a German artillery observation post in the town, we have sent a sniper team of lieutenant Vassily. Their task is not only to snipe the German artillery observers, but also to light two fires outside the town to guide our artillery to fire targets."


    For wittkov''s answer, bandeleev nodded with satisfaction and did not speak again. Kirilov looked at gurdyev and said, "Comrade gurdyev, if you have any opinions, you can also tell me."


    Gurdyev thought about it and replied, "Comrade political commissar, I want to know the attack sequence of the troops. What is the task of our division this time, as a main attack or as a reserve team? "


    Kirilov did not answer his question, but turned to look at me, waiting for me to give gurdyev an accurate answer. I stood up, coughed and said to gurdyev, "Comrade General, since your division has a large number of new recruits, it may not be very effective for you to be the main attack in such a night battle. Therefore, according to the arrangement, your division will continue to be the reserve team, and the main attack will be in the charge of major general leiev of Bantai." Seeing gurdyev''s silent face, I comforted him and said, "the reason why I chose them to take on the main attack task is that there are always enough fighting backbones in their division. As long as new recruits are added in, the whole army will be able to form combat effectiveness in a short time, and they have rich experience in night attack, It''s perfect for the enemy in town. "


    When I finished speaking, wittkov asked me, "Comrade commander, do you have any plans for the 171st infantry division and the 84th tank brigade stationed in the volnowaha area?"


    "Chief of staff, record orders." Seeing that wittkov had prepared his pen and paper, I continued: "the 171st division dispatched a regiment under the command of the chief of staff of the division, Colonel bolvinov, and cooperated with colonel berey''s tank brigade to move towards kinotsga town in Norway at night. When the artillery preparation of our army is over, we will immediately launch an impact on the town. " Seeing that he had finished recording the order, I waved to him and said, "send the order by telegraph immediately."


    The shelling before the attack was set at 7 p.m. when the shelling started, the assembled 22nd division of the guards would take a truck to quickly approach the town of kinotsga in Norway and get off at about two kilometers away from the town. As soon as the shelling was over, they charged into the city.


    Kirilov and I stood at the fourth floor window of a building on the edge of the city, overlooking the distant direction of kinotsga, Norway. Outside, the moon was covered by leaden clouds, and the sky was very low. The snow on the field outside the city, only a faint reflection. I looked through the telescope for a long time, but I could only see the dark outline of the town. I couldn''t see anything else clearly.


    After a long wait, I suddenly saw two flashing lights outside the town. Almost at the same time, kirilov also saw the bonfire of lieutenant Vassily, pointed to the distance and excitedly said to me, "Comrade oshanina, look, the fire in the distance must be the fire to guide the artillery."


    I nodded, turned and went to the middle of the room. I picked up the phone on the desk. After shaking it twice, I heard the voice of lieutenant colonel cavelin. I ordered him decisively: "Comrade commander, let''s go!"


    "Yes I heard cavelling say yes, and then I yelled at the others, "start shelling!"


    As soon as I put down the phone, there was a thunderbolt outside, and then the dense gunfire sounded like thunder. The cannons of 266th artillery regiment and the heavy howitzers of artillery barracks of bantaileiev division opened fire at kinotsgar, Norway, from different distances and positions at the same time.


    The battle started and the unbearable wait ended.


    Before we started, our actions were not discovered by the Germans, which made me very satisfied. Before that, I was concerned about whether it could start smoothly. After that, I was concerned about how to win. In order to correctly deal with all kinds of accidents that may happen in the battle, I tried to go over my plan again in my mind, and found that there were no mistakes, so I was relieved.


    I went to the window, raised my telescope and looked at the town in the distance. A very spectacular picture was immediately displayed in front of us. The town was full of fire and the sky nearby was all orange red. One building after another collapsed in the light of the fire.


    Seeing this scene, kirilov said excitedly: "the artillery preparation of lieutenant colonel kaverin is very good! I think that as soon as the shelling is over, the troops will rush into the town and wipe out the remnant enemy. "


    Seeing that the town occupied by the German army was bombed into a sea of fire by our artillery, I should be very happy. But at the moment, I had an uncertain premonition in my heart, so I said noncommittally, "Comrade political commissar, we can''t be too optimistic. It''s hard to say whether we can completely annihilate the German army in the town because we are fighting in a strange area after all."


    "Yes," kirilov said approvingly, "the Germans are not reconciled to their own defeat. After our troops rush into the town, they may encounter the enemy''s stubborn resistance." Staring at the burning town in the distance, I said thoughtfully, "Comrade political commissar, under our heavy shelling, in addition to the heavy casualties of the German army, the destruction of the town must be particularly serious. If Colonel berey''s tank brigade arrives at this moment, it will not be able to expand in the town. Instead, let them change their mission, detour to both sides of the town and cut off the retreat of the German army. "¡° Comrade o''shanina, you''ve been very considerate. I have no objection. " Kirilov has always been very supportive of my work. Most of the time, he agrees with my proposal, and now is no exception¡° I''ll call the chief of staff immediately and ask him to inform Col. berey that the tank brigade should make a detour to both sides of the town. The retreat of the German army must be cut off. It must be cut off. " With that, he went to the phone and made a phone call. After half an hour, the shelling finally stopped. The decisive infantry attack finally began. As the town is still burning, I can see the black crowd pouring into the town from all directions. Seeing more and more people entering the town, I breathed a sigh of relief and went back to the table in the middle of the room to sit down, while gently beating my legs, which were sore from standing for a long time. Suddenly, a walkie talkie operator who used to be sitting in the corner came up to me and said nervously, "Comrade commander, the first unit of the second regiment who first rushed into the town was blocked in the attack!" When he saw me looking up at him, he took a mouthful of saliva nervously and finished what he said later¡° Major Yaming, deputy commander of the second regiment, died, and captain horushov, commander of the first battalion, is commanding in his place. " Hearing that the attack of the second regiment was blocked and the deputy head of the second regiment died, kirilov and I jumped out of our seats. To tell you the truth, major Yaming came from the Ministry of interior. Although he showed remarkable courage and command level in the battle of defending mamayevgang and 107.5 highland, he never got my attention, and even didn''t give him a rank. Now listen to the operator said that he died, my heart as if something was severely stabbed. I took a deep breath and said to the operator, "tell captain horushov to talk to me!" When the operator contacted horushov, he handed me the transmitter and earphone. I put a set of earphones on my head, held up the transmitter in one hand and said, "Comrade captain, you''ve done a good job! The army should not have a disordered command because of the sacrifice of a commander. For the enemy''s fire point, first, destroy it with mortar! Second, we should leave a small number of troops to contain us, and the large forces should bypass it for the time being to eliminate the enemy in other areas, so as not to let a bandit escape from our hands. " After I returned the earphone and the transmitter to the operator, I picked up the place on the desk, dialed the army headquarters, and decisively ordered wittkov: "chief of staff, please contact Colonel berey immediately. After their tank troops complete the encirclement of the town, they should use tank guns to support the infantry who rush into the town and provide them with necessary artillery support." Speaking of this, I covered the microphone and asked kirilov standing opposite, "Comrade political commissar, do you have any amendments or supplements?" Kirilov shook his head and said, "No." Seeing that kirilov had no objection, I resolutely ordered wittkov: "well, comrade chief of staff, let''s give my order to Colonel berey. At the same time, order the troops of the other three regiments to speed up the attack! " The battle was going on tensely. The German artillery seemed to understand that our army was attacking the town of kinotsga in Norway. Several shells fell in the middle of our attacking team and exploded, causing certain casualties to us. More shells fell on the open wasteland and exploded, sending up piles of snow mixed with soil.

 Chapter 892

    Our army''s offensive force is dozens of times that of the enemy''s garrison. In addition to the well planned, calculated and unintentional raids, it''s strange that the Germans can resist. Although they fought to the death after our shelling, their resistance became weaker and weaker as more and more commanders and fighters rushed into the town. Nearly an hour later, the final German resistance in the town came to a complete stop.


    With the fall of the garrison in the town, the German artillery in the distance also stopped shooting in vain. Kirilov couldn''t sit still when he heard that the gunfire had stopped completely. He urged me to say, "Comrade oshanina, the gunfire outside has stopped. Look, shall we go to the town?"


    "No, absolutely not." Kirilov''s words were immediately interrupted by me¡° It''s just the end of the battle and it''s too dark. We can''t be sure if there are any remaining German troops nearby, so even if we want to check, we have to wait until dawn. Kirilov, who is going to do what we are doing now, heard my ridicule and laughed twice. Then he continued: "if commander haridonov asks for meritorious service from his superiors for our army, he can provide the popularity of our army. If we win a few more brilliant victories, our army will probably be promoted to the close guard army. "


    The guards, when I heard the name, I couldn''t help beating my heart. You know, the ranks of the guards are much higher than the ordinary infantry. The division commander of Jinwei division is generally a major general, so it is very possible for the commander to become a lieutenant general. I can''t help but feel complacent when I think that in the next battle, as long as we fight a few more such battles, we will be promoted to the guards, and my rank will be promoted from major general to lieutenant general.


    After daybreak, kirilov and I went to the town of kinotsga in Norway, which was occupied by our army. As the jeep gets closer and closer to the town, I can see that there are only a few wisps of smoke in the burning town. The whole town was razed to the ground by gunfire, and the ground was full of traces after the battle. In addition to a set of craters, there were still many bodies of officers and soldiers of both sides lying around the craters, while our soldiers were still busy clearing the ruins and carrying the bodies.


    When our car was more than 100 meters away from the town, I saw a tent by the side of the road and soldiers standing guard at the door. I thought it might be the temporary headquarters of Bantai leyev, so I ordered the driver to stop and go in to have a look.


    As soon as kirilov and I got out of the car, before we could move on, the people in the tent were informed by the guard at the door and took the lead to lift the curtain and come out. It was bantailiev who took the lead, followed by several commanders, such as Xie jerikov and Oleg. They came to the car and raised their hands to salute us.


    After returning a salute, I asked casually, "Comrade General, have all the remnant enemies in the town been eliminated?"


    "Yes, they are." Bantailiev finished this sentence, and specially added: "because of the fierce fighting at night, and the Germans are fighting hard, so after the battle, we did not find the surviving defenders."


    After listening to bantaileiev''s report, I thought to myself: there are more than 200 German soldiers. No matter how fierce the war is, there will still be a few survivors. Since he made such a report, it goes without saying that all the captured German soldiers will be executed. Even if he does not give this order, the commanders and fighters of the second regiment will not let go of the killers who killed their Deputy commanders. I didn''t go on asking about it in detail, but turned away from the topic and asked: "in the battle last night, Lieutenant Vassily and his sniper team made great contributions. If they hadn''t cleared the German artillery observation post in advance and lit bonfire outside the town to show the direction of the artillery, our battle would have been harder. By the way, what about Lieutenant Vassily? "


    Bantai leiev listened to my question and quickly replied, "report to the chief of the army, Lieutenant Vassily has gone to town with the chief of staff of the division and has not come back yet." Then he turned to one of the soldiers next to him and said, "go to the town immediately and get the chief of staff and lieutenant Vassily back."


    The soldier agreed, turned and ran quickly to the town.


    Bantai leiev then called kirilov and me: "commander, political commissar, it''s too cold outside. We''d better go to the tent to get warm and have a cup of hot tea."


    Kirilov nodded, raised his legs and headed for the tent. But I stood at the same place and waved to the class platform. Leyev said, "I won''t go in the tent. Please have a good chat with the political commissar. I''ll walk around."


    I took some soldiers along the road towards the town. As soon as I walked out, I heard a young voice calling me: "Comrade commander!"


    I turned to see the person calling me, and I couldn''t help smiling. I went up to him, leaned down and patted him on the shoulder. "Vasha, why are you here?" I asked with concern


    "Report to the commander," said Vasha, straightening his back and old as an adult, "I''m here to fight."


    "To fight?" Vasha''s words aroused my interest. I asked curiously, "what kind of battle are you here for?"


    Vasha pointed to the direction of the town and said to me with pride, "report to the commander, I came to the town with lieutenant Vassily last night to snipe the German artillery observer, and I killed one myself." At this point, he added with more pride, "after we have eliminated the enemy''s artillery observers, it''s the bonfire outside the town that Comrade lieutenant and I personally lit."


    "Sniped and killed an artillery observer, and set fire to a campfire directing artillery fire." I was very surprised by Vasha''s achievements. I didn''t expect that a little boy could make great achievements in the battlefield. I stood up, took a deep breath, patted him on the shoulder again, praised him and said, "good job, Vasha. After this battle is over, I will not only award you a medal, but also raise your rank."¡° Really? Is that true? " When Vasha heard my promise, he regained his childlike innocence and asked, "can I really get both a medal and a promotion?"¡° Yes, yes, dear little Vasha I said to him with a smile, "I''m the head of the first army. If I say something, it must be true."¡° Comrade commander, comrade commander. " While I was talking to Vasha, a familiar cry came from the distance. I turned my head and looked in the direction of the sound. I saw lieutenant Vassily with a sniper gun running all the way towards me¡° Come on, Vasha I took Vasha by the hand, led him to Vassily, and said, "let''s meet your lieutenant Vassily."

 Chapter 893

    From a long distance, I saw a medal hanging on the chest of lieutenant Vassily. This is the "medal for the defense of Stalingrad" officially awarded to every commander and fighter who participated in the battle of Stalingrad a few days ago. Seeing this medal, I can''t help complaining about myself. Vassily and his sniper team have made so many contributions, but I haven''t even applied for a medal for them. If I were in other troops, maybe Vassily would have at least five or six medals on his chest. As soon as I get back to the headquarters later, I''ll ask kirilov to report Vassily''s meritorious service. It''s normal for him to get a few medals based on his achievements.


    When I was three or four meters away from Vasili, a sudden change occurred. A dull explosion and a tragic voice came to my ears. At the same time, my body was knocked backward by a sudden impact. When I fell to the ground solidly, the snow powder all over my body.


    I saw little Vasha squatting beside me, shaking my body hard, and my mouth was shouting something, but my ears were buzzing all the time, and I couldn''t hear what he was shouting. I tried to sit up. As soon as I moved, I felt intense pain coming from my chest.


    "What''s the matter? What''s the matter? " I asked myself in my heart, was it the cold shoulder of the German? I tried to take a deep breath and found that in addition to the needling sensation in the heart, the internal organs of my whole body seemed to have been shaken and displaced.


    When bandeleev''s familiar face appeared in front of me, I tried to squeeze a smile on my face. As soon as I wanted to ask what happened, he was pulled aside. Then kirilov''s anxious face appeared in front of me, and he repeatedly asked, "Comrade o''shanina, what''s the matter with you?"


    Although my tinnitus symptoms relieved a lot, I didn''t understand kirilov''s question until he asked me for the second time. I gave a wry smile and answered with difficulty: "Comrade political commissar, this fall has made me feel like I''ve shifted all my internal organs. Let me lie on the ground for a while, and I''ll be fine soon. "


    "No, absolutely not." Kirilov said nervously, "you can''t lie here in such cold weather. You''ll get frostbite." Then he turned to the back and yelled, "Hey, what are you still doing? Why don''t you find a stretcher to carry the commander to the tent?"


    When kirilov looked down at me again, I asked him in a low voice, "Comrade political commissar, what happened just now?"


    Kirilov looked around again, then said to me with a sad face, "it was lieutenant Vassily who accidentally stepped on a German mine."


    "What, Lieutenant Vassily stepped on a mine?" When I heard this news, I was shocked and broke into a cold sweat. I supported the snow with both hands and wanted to do it. But kirilov stopped me. He said anxiously to me, "Comrade oshanina, you''ve also been hit by some shrapnel. Don''t move before the arrival of the military doctor."


    When I heard kirilov say that, I quickly reached out and felt the armor armor bullet proof clothes in front of my chest. As expected, I found some metal pieces that tied my hands. If I didn''t wear this kind of clothes at any time, I might have just explained here. Seeing that my injury was not serious, I immediately asked Vassili''s injury: "Comrade political commissar, is Vassili seriously injured?"


    Kirilov nodded, then shook his head, and finally said in embarrassment, "o''shanina, it''s hard to say. He seems to have been injured by shrapnel. Some soldiers are dressing his wounds. " At this point, he could not help sighing, "even if the injury healed, it is estimated that he can no longer be a sniper, alas, what a pity!"


    Just then, a stretcher was placed beside me, and then seven or eight hands reached over and lifted me onto the stretcher. When I lay on the stretcher, someone immediately lifted it up. I looked up and saw that the two people who raised my head were actually Sergei reekov and the new division commissar, Lieutenant Colonel oberstein; Then he turned to the front and saw the commander Oleg and the chief of staff of the division, major ahlomeyev. I can''t help feeling warm at the sight of these division and regiment leaders acting as my temporary stretchers.


    When the stretcher was carried into the tent, I immediately smelled the choking smoke inside. I don''t know how many cigarettes they had just smoked inside to reach such a choking level. When they carefully put down the stretcher, they did not leave immediately, but all stood aside, patiently waiting for the arrival of the military doctor.


    When I saw the headquarters at all levels standing around me, I could not help frowning. I raised my hand and called leiev to the front of the class. I told him, "Comrade division, let''s not stay here. Let''s go about our own business. They won''t be able to help until the military doctors arrive. "


    At my command, Bantai leiev stood up without saying a word and waved to the other commanders in the tent. After saluting me together, they stormed out of the tent.


    When there were only kirilov, bantailiev and akhromeyev left in the tent, I called akhromeyev and said to him, "Comrade chief of staff, we should immediately arrange to send lieutenant Vasili to the group army field hospital. He is our hero. We must ensure that he can recover as soon as possible."


    After akhromeyev agreed to take orders to leave, I said to kirilov: "the political commissar, Lieutenant Vassily and his sniper team not only made great contributions to the battle of defending Stalingrad, but also made great contributions to the battle of seizing kinotsgar town in Norway last night. They should immediately submit their commendation application form to the headquarters of the group army. I''ll stay here and wait for the military doctor to check up. Go back to the military headquarters first. "


    Bantailiev saw that akhromeyev and kirilov had left one after another. When there were only two of us left in the tent, he came up to me, leaned down and complained to me and said, "Comrade commander, you are now the head of the first army, but you can''t run forward as you used to be a division commander."


    "What happened to the mine that lieutenant Vassily stepped on?" As for Vassili''s inexplicable stepping on the land mine, I didn''t understand it all the time, so now that there are only two of us in the tent, I want to ask the truth¡° If I''m not mistaken, last night''s offensive troops rushed into the town from the road outside. How could there be mines left where thousands of people have stepped


    "Comrade commander, please listen to my explanation." Bantailiev had an embarrassed look on his face at this time. He blushed and said to me: "the Germans may have laid a lot of mines on the road in order to block the H20 road. In last night''s attack, one third of our division''s casualties were caused by stepping on mines. As you know, we have just captured the enemy''s town and are still cleaning up the battlefield, so it is too late to clear up the mines laid on the roads by the enemy. "


    "General bantailiev," I said solemnly after listening to his explanation, "we must immediately send engineering troops to inspect the whole road, and we must take out the mines laid by the enemy, so as not to cause unnecessary casualties." With these words, it suddenly occurred to me that the tank brigade of Colonel berey came from the south. Under the crush of the tanks, the mines on the road should have been cleared almost, so I added: "as for the south side of the road, don''t worry. You should concentrate on clearing the mines on the north side of the road."


    As soon as the task was assigned to Bantai leiev, the curtain of the tent was lifted. Two people came in from the outside. In front of him was an ordinary soldier with a helmet. After he came in, he saluted Bantai leiev and loudly reported: "Comrade division commander, the military doctor has arrived."


    Bantai leiev nodded, then stepped forward, grabbed the military doctor''s hand, pulled him to my stretcher, pointed to me and said, "Comrade military doctor, our commander was injured by a mine. Please check her quickly."


    The military doctor nodded and put the suitcase on the table next to him. Then he said to Bantai leiev, "Comrade division commander, please avoid for a moment. I want to give the commander a comprehensive examination."


    Hearing what the military doctor said, I was afraid that bantailiev would feel embarrassed. I quickly cut off the topic: "by the way, general bantailiev, you can arrange the engineer to clear the mine now. This can''t be delayed."


    Bantai leiev raised his hand to salute me, then turned and walked out of the tent.


    The military doctor helped me to sit up first and took off the steel armor bullet proof clothes that saved me. He looked at the thin bullet proof clothes with his hand and said with emotion: "Comrade commander, you are very lucky. You see, the positions where these fragments are inlaid are the key points of the human body. Without the protection of this layer of steel armor, you may have died gloriously. "


    When I was lying on the stretcher, the military doctor examined my whole body carefully, and finally asked with concern, "Comrade commander, do you have any discomfort except for the bruises on your chest?"


    "A little dizzy." I didn''t feel much when I was lying on the stretcher. When the military doctor helped me sit up and take off my bullet proof clothes, I felt dizzy and slightly nauseous. At the moment, when the doctor asked, I said, "I don''t know if I hit something hard when I fell to the ground."


    After listening to me, the military doctor picked up the helmet that I put on the table and looked at it. Finally, he said with approval, "Comrade commander, you guessed right. Judging from the dent left on your helmet, when you were knocked down by the blast, your head hit the hard object on the ground heavily." At this point, he was silent for a moment, and then said: "according to my experience, you should have hit a stone. You feel dizzy, probably because of the violent collision, caused by concussion. I''ll give you some medicine, and you''ll get back to normal after a few days'' rest. "


    "Thank you, comrade military doctor." When I saw the military doctor taking medicine from his small suitcase, I sat up on my own and began to wear the uniform I had thrown aside. Although there is a stove in the tent, I''m still very cold. If I don''t put on my clothes, I may catch a cold.


    When I was dressing, I suddenly thought of lieutenant Vassily who was injured in the eye. I couldn''t help asking the military doctor, "Comrade military doctor, what happened to lieutenant Vassily who stepped on the mine?"


    "Lieutenant Vassily?" The military doctor was asked by my sudden question. After a while, he suddenly realized and said, "Oh, comrade commander, you are talking about the sniper." He shook his head and said with regret: "it''s very bad. Even if you don''t lose your eyesight, your eyesight will be seriously affected after you recover. It seems that he has no chance to be a sniper in his life. "


    When I got out of the tent with the help of the military doctor, Captain Yushchenko, who was waiting outside, met me. After he raised his hand to salute, he took the initiative to review to me: "sorry, comrade commander, it''s all my fault. If I had been with you, that would not have happened. " I have no doubt about what Yushchenko said. According to his habit, every time he protected me, there were soldiers from the guard company in front of me, around me. In the case of mine explosion just now, I believe there will be soldiers blocking the shrapnel flying towards me with their bodies. As for his remorse, I just laughed, went forward and patted him gently on the shoulder, comforted him and said, "Comrade captain, this is an accident. You don''t have any responsibility. You don''t have to blame yourself."¡° Comrade commander, do you still want to go into the town? " When Yushchenko finished listening to me, he did not have any surprise expression on his face, but nervously asked: "you know, the situation in the town is very complicated. Although our troops have occupied the town for a long time, no one can guarantee that there are no remaining Germans hiding in any corner. I know Yushchenko was frightened by the situation just now. At this time, I would not insist on going to the town for inspection, so I pretended to raise my hand to look at my watch and said, "well, comrade captain, it''s not too early now. Let''s go back to the army headquarters first." After I agreed to return to the army headquarters, Captain Yushchenko was relieved. He turned and waved to a jeep that was not far away. The jeep came quickly and stopped steadily in front of us. Yushchenko stepped forward, opened the back door and politely said to me, "Comrade commander, please get on the bus." When I returned to the army headquarters, as soon as I entered the door, the chief of staff Vitkov rushed over, grabbed my arm and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, I heard major general Bantai leiev''s report that you stepped on a mine outside the town. Are you ok now?" Then he looked me up and down to see if I was missing my arms and legs¡° Don''t be so nervous, chief of staff. " His reaction made me laugh. I patted him on the arm and said easily, "I''m ok. After the examination of my military doctor, I only had a slight concussion. Well, "I took out the medicine from my pocket and showed it to him," and gave me a lot of medicine. As long as you insist on taking the medicine for two days, you can return to normal. "

 Chapter 894

    The town of kinotsga in Norway was successfully recovered. Before I could catch my breath, the superior issued a new attack order. I took the earphone that the operator handed me and put it on. Immediately I heard a strange voice: "Hello, is that major general o''shanina?"


    Although I don''t know who the other party is, just now when the operator handed me the earphone and transmitter, he told me in a low voice that the call was from the headquarters of the front army, so he replied respectfully, "yes, I''m o''shanina. I don''t know who I''m talking to? " After finishing the last sentence, I felt the cold sweat on my forehead. Sometimes the way Lao maozi talked was really uncomfortable.


    "I''m major general pilipiaco, chief of staff of the front army," the other side said quickly after indicating his identity: "commander watujing ordered: while ensuring the smooth flow of H20 Road, your department should dispatch the main force to Freda City, eliminate the German forces in the area, and protect the flank safety of the main force of the front army. Is there any difficulty? "


    "Report to chief of staff, there is no difficulty. I will dispatch troops to ensure the smooth passage of H20 Road, and mobilize the main force to attack the German forces in the city of Freda." In order to further understand the situation of the enemy and ourselves, after finishing this sentence, I asked cautiously, "Comrade chief of staff, may I ask how the situation on the battlefield is?"


    "Yes, of course." Pirico said with a hearty smile: "Comrade o''shanina, you may not know that the current situation is extremely favorable to our army. The 60th group army of Voronezh''s front army successfully captured Kursk on the 8th, consolidating the rear of the front army. The main force under the command of general Golikov, the commander of the front army, has surrounded Kharkov. At present, the troops are storming the city. In order to cut off the ties between the Kharkov German army and the German army in the Dnieper River area, the main force of our front army is now moving towards the Red Army Village in the northwest direction. "


    I can''t help but worry when I hear pilipiect speak casually about the current deployment in the telephone. Is he not afraid to be eavesdropped by the German army when he so brazenly discloses our army''s important information in wireless communication?


    After the call with piripanko, the more I thought about it, the more wrong I was, because I was no longer the deputy commander of the group army, but just an ordinary infantry commander. Why did the headquarters of the front army cross the group army and give me orders directly? So I immediately asked the operator to contact the headquarters of the group army on the telephone to ask what was going on.


    Harritonov himself answered the phone. He was a little surprised and asked, "commander oshanina, you are calling at this time. What can I do for you?"


    "Well, comrade commander." I politely relayed the order given by chief of staff of pilipiect to him, and then asked for instructions: "as this order was given by the headquarters of the front army, there is no group army in the middle of it, so I specially asked for your instructions, whether to follow the order given by chief of staff of the front army?"


    "Comrade o''shanina, is that true?" After listening to what I said, haridonov said with a trace of reproach: "since you have received the order, then carry it out. Don''t you know that the order of the superior can''t be discussed?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." As for the rigid regulations of the Soviet army, I can only say helplessly: "I resolutely carry out the orders of my superiors, and immediately mobilize the troops to go out to the city of Freda."


    Haredonov was very satisfied with my statement: "Comrade oshanina, this is the right thing to do. Let me tell you, the main force of the group army will attack malinka and kulahovo. If you can capture the city of Freda in time, you can effectively cover the left wing of the group army. "


    While listening to what haridonov said, I searched for the place names he mentioned on the map and found that the whole direction of attack of the southwest front army was westward. I tried to join the forces of Voronezh front army who went down from Kharkov. No one thought that we should transfer the troops to the south to join the southern front army who was fighting in another direction.


    As for the imperfection of the campaign deployment, I just kept it in my mind silently, and did not foolishly put it forward to haridonov, because this attack plan must have been made by the headquarters, not to mention that he was a group commander, even the commander of the front army, vatujing, had no authority to change.


    Now that I have found the loopholes in the deployment, I need to formulate corresponding measures. After I called kirilov and Vitkov to the table, I repeated to them what haridonov had said and the order given by pilipingo, chief of staff of the front army.


    After I finished speaking, wittkov asked me for instructions as usual: "Comrade commander, what should we do next?"


    I frowned and thought for a moment, and then replied, "we''d better follow the plan we discussed two days ago. Major general bantaileiev''s close guard division 22 will be the main attack task, while gurdyev''s division 308 and Colonel andreushenko''s division 171 will be responsible for protecting his left and right wings." At this point, I looked up at wittkov and said firmly, "in order to strengthen the assault capability of the 22nd division of the guards, I decided to strengthen the tank brigade of Colonel berey and the artillery regiment of lieutenant colonel kaverin to them."


    After listening to my arrangement, wittkov also frowned. After a long time, he hesitated and said, "if we strengthen the tank brigade and artillery regiment to the middle troops, the strength of the left and right wing troops will be greatly weakened. If we want them to participate in the offensive war behind, it is estimated that they will not be able to do what they want."


    "Chief of staff, you think too much." Kirilov spoke for me and said: "it is an effective tactic that we explored in the Stalingrad defense war to use tanks and artillery together. By doing so, we can tear up the enemy''s defense line in the shortest time and greatly shorten the fighting process. Therefore, I think that this arrangement made by Comrade o''shanina is completely correct and effective. "


    As soon as kirilov and Vitkov finished, they mentioned a new question: "so which army should we send to protect the smooth flow of H20 road? You know, our jurisdiction is 200 kilometers long. "


    "It''s very simple." As for how to ensure the safety of the highway, I had a mature plan in my mind. When I heard wittkov''s question, I immediately said without hesitation: "take the third regiment of bantailiev division out as the guard force of H20 highway. At the same time, the three shock engineer battalions of the army''s direct units were assigned to the division and formed into three temporary regiments, with major Godunov as acting head of the regiment. "


    My arrangement made wittkov dumbfounded. It took him a long time to put forward his different opinions: "Comrade commander, it''s better to let the Engineering Battalion guard the road than to let the shock Engineering Battalion and the third regiment of bantailiefu division exchange. What''s more, the regiment''s troops are guarding such a long traffic line. Isn''t it too thin? "


    With a wave of my hand, I said in an unquestionable tone: "Comrade chief of staff, what''s the combat effectiveness of the assault Engineering Battalion? I think you''ve probably heard of it, even if you haven''t seen it with your own eyes. Is it too wasteful to let such a unit act as a garrison? As for what you said, the force guarding the traffic line is too thin, which I can''t agree with. We need to know that our troops are limited. Even if we send two regiments or even more troops to guard, there will not be many people per kilometer. On the contrary, a large number of combat backbones will be deployed, leading to the decline of the army''s ability to attack key positions. This is totally undesirable. "


    "I see." Wittkov and I have been partners for a period of time, and have a certain understanding of my character. He knows that I have said so, and that will not change, so he quickly promised: "I will give orders to the following troops immediately. Comrade commander, do you have anything else to tell them? "


    I thought about it, and then said, "major general jangurdyev and Col. andreushenko, when building fortifications, had better rely on the ready-made hilly terrain in order to get a good view. What''s more, in addition to digging a large number of fortifications in the front of the enemy, we should also dig fortifications in the back of the hillside, build trenches, and build solid anti slope positions. "


    When Vitkov gave my orders to several division commanders, the troops began to move nervously. At noon, I called bantailiev to the headquarters, pointed to the city of Frieda on the map, and said to him, "Comrade bantailiev, look, there are still three big towns on the road from kinnotsga town in Norway that you occupied to Frieda town. How many days do you think your division can capture Frieda?"


    Bantaileiev looked at the map for a while and cautiously replied, "Comrade commander, the Germans have not been here for a day or two. I think there should be a lot of fortifications in these towns. If we attack along the road, it will take us at least two to three days to reach the city of Freda?"


    "What, it will take two or three days to get to Freda?" Wittkov heard bantailiev say so, and immediately exclaimed excitedly: "you know, the main force of the group army is attacking malinka and kulahovo. If we can''t occupy the city of Freda in time, we can''t effectively guarantee the left-wing security of the main force of the group army."


    "Comrade bantailiev," I added, seeing bantailiev frowning and staring at the map without saying a word, "I have assigned you the tank brigade of Colonel berey and the artillery regiment of lieutenant colonel kaverin. In addition, I temporarily transferred the third regiment of major kosga from your division to take on the duty of guarding H20 highway. "


    "Comrade commander, if the third regiment is removed, the strength of our division will be greatly reduced." Listen to me, I want to transfer the third regiment to form a highway defense team. Bantai leiev is in a hurry. He pleads with me: "can you draw less troops?"


    "No way, old man. It''s the commander''s order. It can''t be changed." Kirilov turned down Bantai leyev''s request at once. Seeing his old man''s expression of chagrin, he quickly comforted him and said, "but the 22nd division of Jinwei is the old army of Comrade oshanina, and you will not suffer. In this book, she incorporated the three shock engineer battalions originally assigned to us by the 62nd group army into your division to form a temporary third regiment, headed by major Godunov. "


    After hearing the good news, Bantai leiev, who had been frustrated, was so excited that his face turned red. He said in surprise, "what, to incorporate three shock engineering battalions into our division? My God, this is really wonderful. You know, the combat effectiveness of a shock engineer battalion is comparable to that of my regiment. Unexpectedly, three more came at once. Now I have more confidence in seizing the city of Freda. "


    I said to him with a straight face: "general Bantai leiev, I have assigned the tank brigade of Colonel berey and the artillery regiment of lieutenant colonel kaverin to your division. I don''t know how many days you can take the city of Freda with such a configuration?"


    Bantaileiev frowned again, thought for a long time, and finally stretched out a finger and said, "Comrade commander, with the reinforcement of the tank brigade and artillery regiment, I promise you that my troops will arrive at the foot of Freda by two o''clock tomorrow afternoon." Seeing Bantai leiev full of confidence, I nodded with satisfaction, then waved to him and said, "since you have the confidence to win, do it boldly. I''m waiting for the good news of your victory." Bantaileiev''s troops started at three in the afternoon. Because of the generosity of trakov, he didn''t take back the thousands of trucks that were sent to us, so at present our march is to transport troops by trucks. According to my guess, even if there is anything to report, Bantai leiev will have to wait until the next day at the earliest. I didn''t expect that before five o''clock, the telegraph operator in the headquarters called me and said that general bantaileiev was online and had something important to report to me. When I was wearing earphones, my heart was beating all the time. My heart said, why did Bantai leiev report to me so early? Was there any accident on the way? So when I speak to the transmitter, my voice becomes hoarse because of nervousness: "Hello, comrade Bantai leiev? I''m o''shanina. Do you have anything to say to me? "¡° Report to the commander. " From the earphone came Bantai leiev''s excited voice: "I am now honored to report to you that my troops have arrived under the city of Freda. The vanguard of the shejerikov regiment is engaged in a firefight with the German garrison guarding the city."¡° What, comrade Bantai? What do you say? " After hearing the report from bantaileiev, I can''t help wondering how Dou Dunsheng could have pushed under the city of Fleda and exchanged fire with the garrison so quickly, for it was more than 70 kilometers from here to Fleda, and there were three small towns occupied by the German army in the middle¡° You say that you have reached the city of Freda and are engaged in a fierce battle with the garrison in the city? "¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Bantaileiev said triumphantly: "absolutely right, that''s what happened. My troops broke through three German lines in a row and successfully arrived at the foot of the city of Frieda."¡° Comrade bantailiev, what''s going on? " This report confused me, so I wanted to find out what was going on: "are the German troops in those three towns on the road defeated by you so quickly?"¡° Report to the commander. We didn''t bring it down. " Bantaileiev regretfully told the truth: "to be exact, it was the Germans who voluntarily gave up their positions and fled to the west, making way for us. So far, although we have exchanged fire with the Germans, we have not destroyed many enemies, and the three towns add up to only 100 people. "¡° Why can''t the Germans keep a platoon in every town with such a small result? "¡° One can''t be defeated. According to my observation, the Germans have at least one company in every town. " In order to make me understand more clearly, Bantai leiev specially explained: "when the enemy saw our troops coming, they fired a few guns sparsely. As soon as the tanks started firing, they left their positions and ran away on motorcycles. And our trucks are all parked behind the infantry who participate in the attack, and there is no time to catch up with them, so the results are very small. " After hearing this, I asked noncommittally, "Comrade bantailiev, what do you think of this matter? Why did the Germans retreat in a hurry after a little resistance?" After a moment''s silence, bantaileiev said confidently: "maybe the enemy was frightened by our army''s offensive, and the officers and soldiers were demoralized and didn''t want to fight again. That''s why the situation is so fragile."

 Chapter 895

    Kirilov and wittkov were both overjoyed when they learned that the German army was attacked by our army and ran away with a little resistance, but I had an unexpected premonition in my heart. What they see is how many miles our troops have advanced and occupied several towns or settlements; But what I can see is that the Germans are gradually shrinking their forces, and our supply lines are getting longer and longer with the rapid advance of the troops. Every time we occupy a place, we have to leave our troops behind to defend. In this way, our main force for tackling difficulties will inevitably be weakened.


    Kirilov was very good at observing words and expressions. Seeing that I looked gloomy, he went to me and sat down. He asked with concern, "o''shanina, why do you look unhappy when you hear the report from Comrade Bantai leiev?"


    I pushed the map in front of him, and then raised my head to greet Vitkov, who was still standing by: "chief of staff, please come here, too. I''ll tell you what I''m worried about now."


    After witkov was seated, I pointed to the map and said to them, "political commissar and chief of staff, although general bantailiev''s progress is very fast, it worries me because they only annihilated a small part of the German troops in the battle of seizing the three towns. What do these small battles tell us about the paltry results? " Seeing that neither of them spoke, I asked and answered myself¡° My superficial conclusion is that since Paulus'' troops were annihilated in Stalingrad, the German army has become unable to fight. The morale of the soldiers is low, the morale of the soldiers is lax, and they have no intention to fight at all. That''s why they are vulnerable in the battle. "


    "Of course, we succeeded in encircling and annihilating the troops of Paulus, which greatly shocked the German officers and soldiers and made them understand that they can''t do whatever they want in our territory." Wittkov misunderstood what I meant and said excitedly: "if we continue to move forward at the current speed, I think our troops will be able to occupy Kuban in a week and directly threaten the zaborosh area where the German command is located."


    "Chief of staff," kirilov saw the apathy on my face when I was listening to wittkov''s words. He guessed that I must not be satisfied with wittkov''s statement, and kindly reminded the other party, "I think you may have misunderstood oshanina''s meaning. Even if the German army lost the 6th group army of Polus, it would not be vulnerable immediately, I think there must be some unknown reason. "


    "The commissar is absolutely right." I echoed kirilov''s view in a timely manner: "if the enemy leaves at one touch every time, then our logistics supply line will be longer and longer, and we simply can''t deploy enough troops to protect this long supply line. Once the German army implements a large-scale detour, our army may be cut off and surrounded by the German army. "


    After hearing this, wittkov scratched the back of his head and said in an uncertain tone: "Comrade commander, the situation is not as bad as you think. You know, our army currently has three front armies in Ukraine, and its strength is several times more than that of the German army. Even if Manstein is a famous commander of the German army, but his strength and equipment are absolutely inferior, do you think he still has the possibility to win? "


    "You see," I didn''t entangle with wittkov on specific issues, but analyzed them with my finger on the map: "according to the intelligence, the main forces of Voronezh front army and southwest front army are on our north side. After the battle of Rostov, general Malinowski''s southern army successfully recovered Rostov and will successfully cross the MIUs river. At present, their main force is stationed in Taganrog, and the closest to our army is the second group army of the guards, which has successfully occupied Mariupol in Ukraine. "


    Wittkov and kirilov looked at each other and exchanged a meaningful look. Then he asked, "Comrade commander, we can see everything you said from the war report provided to us by the group army command. But I can''t think of any connection between this and your feeling of German abnormality? "


    "Very simple, my chief of staff." I couldn''t laugh or cry about his stubbornness, so I had to point to the map and analyze it to him and say, "take a good look at the map. There is a gap between the southwest front army and the southern front army, which is hundreds of kilometers wide. The reason why our army was transferred here from the 62nd group army is probably to plug this gap. At present, the war situation is extremely favorable for our army. I believe that both the front army command and the group army command want to make a quick decision, push the troops to the Dnieper River as soon as possible, and cut off the links between the German army and the friendly forces in Ukraine. " Speaking of this, I hesitated for a moment and looked around. In addition to the three of us, there were two telephone operators sitting near the wall. However, they were all wearing earphones. They should not be able to hear our conversation, so I boldly analyzed: "the two wings of our army are very far away from the friendly army. Once we move forward quickly, It''s very easy to be cut off by the circuitous forces of the German army and fall into a tight encirclement. "


    "However, comrade commander" vetkov, though patiently listening to my analysis, still insisted on his own opinion¡° Under the attack of our three front forces, the German army is rapidly retreating. Under such circumstances, I can''t think of any place from which the German army can draw forces to carry out a circuitous encirclement of our army? "


    I went on to analyze: "according to the report of general bandeleev, maybe tomorrow, they will be able to capture Fleda. Next, the group army headquarters will give us a series of offensive tasks when we see the smooth progress of our attack. If we continue to move forward at the current speed, we will soon be alone. The Germans are not stupid either. Once they find that we are separated from the main force of the front army, they will concentrate their forces on us. Now the supply line behind us is only one or two hundred kilometers. When the supply line reaches more than 400 kilometers, do you think the guard troops we left behind can block the fierce attack of the enemy? "


    Wittkov listened to me and thought about it. Then he shook his head and said, "if our supply line exceeds 400 kilometers, there will be only a few defenders per kilometer. No matter what, we can''t stop the enemy''s attack."


    "That''s right." I saw that he agreed with me and continued to persuade him patiently: "Comrade chief of staff, don''t feel that the enemy has no combat effectiveness just because you see the German army leaving their positions and fleeing under our attack. It''s not necessary to belittle the enemy. When the enemy retreated, it may be that Manstein was adjusting his deployment. He achieved the purpose of shrinking his forces by giving up some irrelevant settlements, small towns, and even small cities. After our army recovered these places, we had to mobilize a considerable part of our troops to guard them. When Manstein feels that our main logistics supply line is too long and our flanks are very weak, he may seize the opportunity to catch us unprepared. This is probably the "space for time" tactics he learned from us


    When I finished speaking, vetkov raised his hand and wiped the sweat on his forehead. His voice became hoarse because of excitement: "Comrade commander, what should we do if the situation you analyzed really happens?"


    "Comrade o''shanina, if things really develop as you have analyzed, it would be too dangerous." Kirilov, who has been listening in, also expressed his opinion at the moment: "I think we should call the commander of the group army, comrade haridonov, to wake him up and avoid such a tragedy."


    As for kirilov''s proposal, I nodded, and then told wittkov: "Comrade chief of staff, since the political commissar also thinks so, please call commander haridonov and report the analysis results to him."


    Looking at wittkov who was on the phone, kirilov asked me quietly, "Comrade oshanina, do you think the commander of the group army will believe your analysis?"


    If the army I am staying in is still in the front of the Don river, then I am 80% sure that I can make rokosovsky believe my judgment; In the 62nd army, I have at least 50% confidence that I can speak of trakov. However, in the Sixth Army of haridonov, I had a gambling mentality and asked Vitkov to give it a try. But according to my hunch, vetkov is 90% doomed.


    Sure enough, after a while, wittkov came over with a sad face. Kirilov asked in advance, "Comrade chief of staff, how did commander haridonov reply after listening to your report?"


    Kirilov replied with a bitter smile: "the commander''s answer is very simple: absurd!" Then he asked me, "Comrade commander, what should we do in the future?"


    I had been prepared for haridonov''s reaction for a long time. I was the commander of the group army. When I saw that the army was in full swing, suddenly a subordinate called me and said that the enemy might attack our weak flank. It was estimated that I would curse him. At this moment, hearing wittkov''s inquiry, I said my plan: "Comrade chief of staff, we can''t control other troops, but our army must take a steady approach to the West. As I said before, the Bantai leyev division, strengthened by the tank brigade and artillery regiment, was the main attacker, while the 308th and 171st divisions were responsible for protecting the two wings of the division, and necessary fortifications had to be built. "


    "O''shanina, if we do this, our army''s advance will be greatly slowed down." Kirilov asked with some misgivings: "maybe you will be criticized by your superiors for this."


    "Comrades of political commissars, even if they are criticized, there is nothing they can do about it." I sighed, and then said, "these two days, there is always a voice in my mind that reminds me that although we have won the battle of Stalingrad and wiped out hundreds of thousands of German troops and their servants, the strength of the German army has not been greatly reduced. They will certainly not be reconciled to the failure they suffered some time ago. They must still be planning to get back. "


    Seeing that wittkov recorded what I said in his notebook, I went on to say: "besides, we can''t rely on the information provided by the group army headquarters for the enemy''s intelligence. We should send our own reconnaissance troops to the enemy''s defense area to investigate and master the first-hand information."


    "Yes, comrade commander." Vetkov nodded his head and said, "I''ll give captain travkin an order in a moment, and let him lead the team and bring the radio station to sneak into the enemy''s rear for reconnaissance."


    "Also," I suddenly thought of some former German officers like Grimes and gretka, who had been snowed by me again, and specially emphasized, "some defecting German officers and soldiers will be transferred from the guard camp to cooperate with our scouts to complete the reconnaissance task."


    "Defecting German officers and men?" After repeating what I said, vetkov asked in surprise, "let them join our reconnaissance team, won''t anything happen?"¡° Chief of staff, you don''t have to worry about that. " Kirilov said with a smile: "as early as when we were defending the mamayev post, we used the joint reconnaissance team composed of defectors and our commanders and fighters for many times. They provided us with a lot of valuable information, which is of great help to our next war plan." The task of reconnoitering behind the enemy lines was soon assigned by wittkov to travkin. After receiving the order, travkin formed seven ten person reconnaissance teams, each group consisted of half of the defectors and half of our officers and men, carrying the necessary communication tools to feed back the information in time. In order to speed up the March, vetkov also equipped each reconnaissance team with motorcycles, so as to ensure that they can get behind the enemy as soon as possible. As soon as it was dawn, travkin''s first reconnaissance report came back. "We attacked a German company command post in a small town and seized a lot of documents," he said in the report. After the identification documents of the former German officers and soldiers of the group and our interrogation of the German prisoners, we learned that. They have all received an order from the commander at a higher level that when they are attacked by our troops, in addition to leaving a small number of troops to be cut off, the rest of the troops should immediately move to the rear and rush to large-scale strongholds or cities for assembly. " After reading the telegram, vetkov slapped it on the table and said to me in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, it seems that your analysis is completely correct. The reason why the Germans were so easily defeated was not that their morale was low and their morale was lax, but that they deliberately gave up their strongholds and towns to induce us to disperse our forces. This is a big conspiracy against our army. "

 Chapter 896

    Looking at the emotional wittkov, I didn''t express any opinions, just listened to his endless speech in silence. As soon as he finished, I stood up to comfort him and said, "Comrade chief of staff, please keep calm. Although the Germans are deliberately abandoning some unimportant towns in order to achieve the purpose of shrinking their forces and adjusting their deployment. But for us, it''s not necessarily a bad thing. "


    "It''s not bad for us!" After repeating what I said, wittkov asked in surprise, "Comrade commander, I don''t understand why you said that? You know, the Germans are setting a trap for our army. They want to encircle our sixth group army, even the whole southwest front army, and then eat them at one stroke. "


    I said with a smile: "Comrade chief of staff, our army has not attracted much attention from the German army at present. While they are paying attention to the Voronezh front, the southwest front and the southern front, we can make a bold bet. "


    "How can I make a bet?" Vitkov asked mistily.


    With my eyes fixed on the map, I pointed heavily at the position of the command of Manstein with my fingers and said straightforwardly: "it is very difficult for the German army to defend from three directions at the same time. With their current strength, it is very difficult to establish a complete defense system in a short time. Therefore, we should take advantage of this rare opportunity to find out the loopholes in the German defense line, boldly intervene and attack zaborosh, where their headquarters is located. Can you imagine what kind of impact it will have on the German forces in Ukraine if we take down the German headquarters? "


    When I said this, kirilov and Vitkov both put their heads together and looked at the map for a long time. Finally, witkov pointed to the map and said with a lot of misgivings: "Comrade commander, judging from the map, our current position is only 1780km away from zaborosh. Theoretically, it only takes one day or even more than ten hours to rush to the bottom of the city. However, in such a vast field, there is no suitable road at all. If we want to advance to the German headquarters, we can only approach our final destination by following the existing roads and seizing the towns along the way. "


    I had considered vetkov''s worries for a long time. As soon as he finished speaking, I immediately said, "Comrade chief of staff, the weather is very cold at present, and the average temperature has been maintained at more than 20 degrees below zero. The cold weather made the original muddy plain hard enough to carry tanks and trucks. In this way, we can safely and boldly follow the road that no one has ever walked, and make a surprise attack on the site of the German headquarters. "


    "It''s a bold plan, comrade o''shanina." After I finished, kirilov also began to express his opinion: "we can first send scouts to poloi and Kuban to detect the German defense in these cities. At the same time, the tank brigade should be prepared for the attack and launch an assault as soon as the result of the reconnaissance comes out. These two cities are only 50 km and 80 km away from the German headquarters in zaborosh. As long as we quickly occupy any of these cities as the starting point of attack, there will be no problem in seizing zaborosh. "


    After listening to kirilov''s views, I couldn''t help but cast a curious look at him. At the same time, I said with approval, "the political commissar''s proposal is good, I have no opinion." Then I told wittkov, "chief of staff, you should immediately send a telegram to captain travkin and ask him to lead two reconnaissance teams to move westward as far as possible to investigate the deployment of the two cities just mentioned by the political commissar. In addition, after you let Mr. bantailiev capture the city of Freda, only a small number of troops were left to defend, and the main force of the division immediately turned around and moved westward. We need to capture boloi in the shortest time. The andelius Division also followed suit. After our army successfully captured boloi, we attacked huri Abel, seven kilometers to the north, to ensure the right-wing security of the Bantai leiev division. "


    "What about general gurdyev''s 308th division?" After recording a series of orders I issued, vetkov stood in the same place and asked, "or should we let them stay in volnowaha to ensure the rear safety of our army?"


    "The 308th Division will not move for the time being." For the first time, I felt that I could not command so many troops to fight in such a large area alone. After looking at the map again, I said slowly, "when the Bantai leyev division and the andelius division occupy the departure position, let the 308th division move westward to take over Bantai leyev''s defense, so that they can free up their hands, Concentrate on zaborosh. "


    When wittkov went to telegraph and called, kirilov, who was sitting next to me, suddenly said to me, "Comrade oshanina, I have something to discuss with you."


    I don''t know what kirilov meant when he said this. I looked at him with some surprise and said, "Comrade political commissar, if you have anything to do, just let me know. As long as it is within my ability, I will agree. "


    "The leadership of our military headquarters is somewhat weak, and I think it should be strengthened." After kirilov looked at me, he continued: "at present, chief Vitkov''s work is very heavy. We should find someone to share it for him."


    "Comrade political commissar, who are you going to share his work with?" I knew kirilov would not put any disorderly people into the army headquarters, so I politely asked, "if it''s the right person, I can let him take office immediately."


    Kirilov nodded and then said, "the person I want to recommend, you know, is akhromeyev, chief of staff of bantailiev division. We have all worked with him for a period of time. We can see that he is a commander with both ability and rich combat experience. We can consider transferring him to the army headquarters. As for the post, I think we should temporarily appoint him to the post of director of operations. "


    I don''t have any opinions about akhromeyev''s appointment as the commander of military operations, but I was puzzled by his abrupt recommendation, so I asked curiously, "if major akhromeyev works in the army, who will take over the post of chief of staff of the division of the 22nd Jinwei division?"


    "Comrade o''shanina, you don''t have to worry about this." Kirilov said with confidence: "general bandeleev thinks his former subordinate, Lieutenant Colonel Ilya, deputy head of the first regiment, is very suitable for this position."


    When I heard kirilov say this, I suddenly realized that what I was worried about had happened. The contradiction between bantailiev and akhromeyev has become so irreconcilable that they have to replace the chief of staff with their own people. However, this is not a bad thing. For me, akhromeyev is a good deputy. Otherwise, I would not have wanted him and the second lieutenant training team from general meletskov. By transferring him to the army headquarters to assist wittkov in his work, we can improve the efficiency of many things.


    Thinking of this, I immediately said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, please call Mr. bantailiev in person later and ask him to ask major akhromeyev to report to the army headquarters immediately. As for the selection of the new chief of staff of the division, let''s do what he wants. "


    Seeing kirilov''s happy face, I added: "after major akhromeyev comes, he can take up the post of director of intelligence as well as the post of director of operations. Let him as soon as possible from the various units of the army to draw appropriate personnel, to enrich the two


    When kirilov went happily to call bandeleev, I sat at the table and pondered. At the time of the most brutal fighting, we can still think and work together. Now the situation has just become favorable to our army, and private intrigue and rejection of attacks have begun to appear. If this situation is allowed to spread, then the combat effectiveness of the troops will be greatly affected. After the end of this campaign, if I can continue to stay in the position of commander, I must have a good talk with Bantai leiev.


    After receiving the transfer order, akhromeyev immediately rushed to the army headquarters and formally exercised the rights of his director of intelligence and director of operations at 3 p.m. that day.


    In the evening, kirilov and Vitkov and I were discussing how to ensure the logistic transportation of the troops. At the door came akhromeyev''s voice: "report!"


    "Come in!" I stare at the map in front of me and shout without looking up.


    As soon as akhromeyev took office, in order to obtain the latest information in time, he left us a wired telephone and a telephone set, and he concentrated all the wireless communication equipment in the military headquarters in the communication room next door. He will send us the latest war report or notice in time. And now he actually came to send information in person, which proved that the information was very important. So I heard akhromeyev''s footsteps come to me, stop, stand up straight, turn to look at him and ask, "Comrade major, what''s the latest information?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Akhromeyev replied without expression: "we have just received a report from the forward reconnaissance team that lieutenant travkin, deputy battalion commander of the reconnaissance battalion, has unfortunately died."


    "What?" Akhromeyev''s words not only surprised me, but also kirilov and wittkov jumped up from their seats. Wittkov also grabbed akhromeyev''s arm and asked nervously, "major, Captain travkin died. What''s the matter? What''s in the telegram?"


    Akhromeyev did not answer his question immediately. Instead, he turned his eyes to me. Seeing that I nodded my tacit consent, he picked up the telegram and read: "when our reconnaissance team approached the periphery of huri Abel, we found traces of German fortifications in a distance. The captain said that in order to understand the enemy''s deployment, we need to grasp a "tongue". With that, before it was dark, he left the reconnaissance team and began to run to the enemy''s trenches. He got into the deep snow and crept forward in the snow very skillfully. Because the white camouflage suit he was wearing was exactly the same color as the snow, the comrades who watched him could not see him in just a moment.


    But when he was only about 20 meters away from the enemy''s position, the accident happened. The captain slightly raised his head, probably to see clearly the enemy''s deployment, but was found by a German soldier staying in the trench. We heard a burst of gunfire, then the captain opened his arms and fell back. Then silence returned to the German trenches.


    It''s getting dark, and we can clearly see his immobile body, still holding his hands high, lying where he fell. Several Germans jumped out of the trench and tried to get close to his body, but we opened fire decisively and beat them back. "


    "Comrade major," my nose was sore with the sacrifice of travkin. After sucking my nose hard, I asked akhromeyev in a loud voice, "Captain travkin''s body can''t lie in front of the German trench. Let the reconnaissance team, at all costs, snatch the captain''s body back." After that, I turned to Vitkov and asked, "chief of staff, who else is in charge of your reconnaissance team besides captain travkin?" After thinking for a moment, wittkov replied decisively, "second lieutenant gretka, and second lieutenant gretka, who defected. He is the second person in charge of the reconnaissance force. "¡° I see When I heard that the other person in charge was gretka, I felt a lot more confident. Although he was a defected German officer, his loyalty was not a problem. So he turned his head and said to akhromeyev, "major, send a telegram to lieutenant gretka immediately, and let him take over the command of the whole reconnaissance force, except for the body of captain travkin, Reconnaissance of the enemy''s defensive positions will continue. "¡° Yes After a loud promise, akhromeyev turned and walked out of the army headquarters. As for the sacrifice of travkin, kirilov could not help but sigh: "Alas, what a good commander he is. As long as he has two more battles, he will be a major. I didn''t expect to die like this. What a pity¡° Yes, comrade political commissar. " As soon as he finished, I went on: "when I led the troops north, travkin and his reconnaissance team were surrounded by the German army on a small mound. The situation at that time was extremely critical. As long as our support was a few minutes late, they would all die. I didn''t expect that he would die in such a reconnaissance mission. "

 Chapter 897

    I stare at the place name "Kuban" on the map in a daze. Although it''s only 80 kilometers away from zaborosh, from what we know, there are an unknown number of German armored troops stationed in tokmak on the south side of the city and vorifka on the southwest. Once we have captured Kuban, Manstein will certainly mobilize the armored forces of these two cities to attack our flanks under the direct threat to his headquarters. In the face of the enemy''s strong offensive, the lack of heavy weapons and necessary air support, "Comrade oshanina, I agree with you." Kirilov, after listening to my commendation proposal to travkin, immediately and simply replied, "I''m going to prepare the medal and the commendation order." At this moment, witkov had read the intelligence from travkin and asked me, "Comrade commander, what shall we do next?"¡° Comrade chief of staff, it''s no use saying that? " Now that I have a certain understanding of the enemy''s deployment, I can easily arrange tasks¡° The Bantai leyev division was ordered to leave behind a small number of troops and continue to attack the city of Freda. The rest of the main forces, together with the tank brigade and artillery regiment, turned to the West and made a direct attack on Huli Abel. At the same time, the 308th division should also take active action and set out to attack the city of poloi overnight, so as to launch an attack on the city before dawn. " After listening to my series of deployment, vetkov said with a face of embarrassment: "Comrade commander, do you really not report such a big action to the group army headquarters?"¡° It''s too late to report. " Although I knew in my heart that the existing communication equipment of the Israeli army could not be reported to the group army headquarters, even if it was reported to the front army headquarters at a higher level, it was not a problem, but I said with a strong argument: "therefore, we should act immediately, seize the good opportunity of the enemy to defend the void, and resolutely attack the predetermined area. After we have captured the above starting positions, we will report to the higher authorities according to the specific situation. " Witkov was so determined to hear what I said, and knew that it was useless to oppose it, so he tore off the paper that had recorded the order from his notebook, handed it to akhromeyev, and said, "Comrade commander, immediately send the latest order of the general to all divisions by telegram. They are required to arrive at the designated place within the prescribed time and quickly attack the enemy''s empty defensive position. " After akhromeyev left, the pale wittkov said to me, "Comrade commander, your order will soon be sent to all divisions and brigades. As for the final effect, we can only gamble our luck." Hearing this, kirilov stood up, raised his hand, patted the nervous wittkov on the shoulder, comforted him and said, "don''t worry, chief of staff. As far as I know, the decision she made is not wrong. After our troops have occupied the scheduled starting position, you''ll be waiting for your meritorious service to be awarded. "¡° But, comrade political commissar. " After listening to kirilov''s words, wittkov asked: "even if the enemy''s forces are empty, we can successfully occupy the starting position. But what should we do if the enemy from other directions comes over? "¡° Chief of staff, "I saw kirilov being asked by wittkov, and quickly stood up to help him out." now we are fighting for time with the Germans. Before they recover, we quickly rush to zaborosh, take out the command of Manstein, and disrupt the German command system. In this way, even if we are isolated, we will have a chance of survival. "

 Chapter 898

    Not long after the order was issued, another good news came: the city of Freda was captured by the gedar regiment of the 22nd division of the guards, and the garrison in the city was completely annihilated.


    When the news came, I was still stunned for a moment. I thought that with the withdrawal of the main force, tank brigade and artillery regiment of the 22nd division, the fighting in this city would last for two days. I didn''t expect that it would be so easy to attack. But when I think about it, I''m relieved to know that this army, which I set up by myself, is the best at street fighting. Moreover, it has made many achievements in the battle of defending Stalingrad. It''s really not a big problem to capture such a small city.


    Now that the city of Freda has been successfully occupied, we can rest assured and boldly carry out the offensive plan of the western front. But before that, I think it''s necessary to report the good news of the capture of the city of Freda to the headquarters of the group army, so that commander haridonov can enjoy it.


    Thinking of this, I called Vitkov over and told him, "Comrade chief of staff, immediately send a telegram to the headquarters of the group army to report the results of our capture of the city of Freda."


    After listening to my instructions, wittkov asked with some embarrassment: "Comrade commander, do we really not report our combat plan to the higher authorities? If it is successful, it will be OK; But if something goes wrong and leads to a setback in the attack, the consequences will be unthinkable


    Wittkov''s reminder made me hesitate. If I don''t report the combat plan I just made, if anything goes wrong, the consequences will be very serious. I walked back and forth in the headquarters with my hands behind my back, my brain was spinning fast, thinking about the advantages and disadvantages of doing so. Kirilov and Vitkov stood by, staring at me, waiting for my final decision.


    To tell you the truth, in the Soviet army, taking military action without asking for instructions was taking risks with one''s own head. But if we report our plan to the group army headquarters, whether it can be approved or not, we may be transferred to the west of Donetsk, together with the main forces, to take part in the battle of attacking the German defensive solid positions.


    The word "seeking wealth in danger" suddenly appeared in my mind, which made my thinking suddenly clear. He said to himself in his heart: this battle has not been written in the history books of later generations, which proves that the Soviet Army''s attack failed in the end, and it is estimated that it will still be very miserable. In this case, we simply take a second risk. If we have achieved good results when other friendly forces are defeated by the German army, who will be responsible for our unauthorized actions?


    Thinking of this, I stopped and decisively ordered wittkov: "chief of staff, send a telegram to the headquarters to report the results of the battle of Fleda. In addition, he told the headquarters of the group army that due to the lack of ammunition and materials, we are unable to carry out new fighting in the short term, and hope to supply our department as soon as possible. " At this point, I looked down at the map with the red and blue arrows on the table and said calmly, "for the future of our 79th infantry, I think we should gamble."


    "But, comrade commander." As an old soldier who has been in the army for more than 20 years, vetkov tried to persuade me to change my mind: "it''s too risky to do this. Would you reconsider..."


    "Comrade chief of staff," as my old partner, kirilov stood up in time to express his support to me. He patted wittkov on the shoulder and said in a friendly way, "just do what Comrade oshanina said. With my understanding of her, her decision will not be wrong."


    "Well, comrade Commissar." Seeing kirilov''s unconditional support for me, vetkov could only sigh and accept the fact that he could not change. "I''m going to send a telegram to the headquarters of the group army."


    After witkov left, kirilov, who had just expressed unconditional support for me, asked anxiously, "Comrade oshanina, I also think you are too risky to do so. To be on the safe side, would you like to send a secret telegram to general rokosovsky or Marshal Zhukov and report your operation plan to them? In this way, even if something goes wrong in the future, someone can come out to deal with it for you. "


    I know kirilov said this out of good intentions, but I firmly rejected his proposal and explained to him: "Comrade political commissar, this plan can neither be reported to Marshal Zhukov nor informed to general rokosovsky, which will make things more complicated."


    As for how complicated things will become, I did not say, nor did kirilov ask. What he was concerned about was another question: "I don''t understand, comrade oshanina. According to my observation, it seems that you don''t want us to fight with the main force of the group army. What''s the reason?"


    When answering kirilov''s question, I looked to the left and right as usual. Seeing that the radio operator with earphones on the wall didn''t pay attention to us, I whispered, "Comrade political commissar, have you heard of the Somme River battle?"


    "The battle of Somme?" Kirilov repeated what I said, nodded and replied, "I know something. It was in the first World War when the British and French allied forces launched an attack on the German army in the Somme river area. The left wing of the British Army adopted a dense attack formation and was seriously damaged by the German machine gun and artillery fire. In just one day, nearly 60000 people were killed and injured." Speaking of this, he stopped for a moment, and then asked in surprise, "o''shanina, what do you want to do with this? Is what you want to say next related to this example of war?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." I said politely, "I think the tactics of many commanders in our army are too outdated. They mechanically copy the tactics they learned in military academies. They have a deep-rooted belief in their mind that if they want to seize the enemy''s positions, they can achieve a breakthrough as long as they invest more troops than the limit of the enemy''s firepower density, But I didn''t expect to encounter the cobweb like trench and the honeycomb like dense machine gun fortress, our officers and men''s lives are only reaped.


    Nowadays, some important commanders have no experience in commanding large regiments. If the tactical level, mobility and firearm equipment of both sides are primitive, our soldiers can still be effective if they rely on courage, tenacity and fierce fighting. But look at the enemy''s equipment. There are tanks and artillery on board and under. If we adopt the old tactics, I can see what hope we can win, except that our commanders and fighters will donate their blood and lives in vain. "


    After listening to my rebellious words, kirilov was silent for a long time, and finally said with difficulty: "well, comrade o''shanina, no matter what kind of decision you make, I will firmly support you."


    Kirilov''s attitude made me feel warm. I went forward to hold his hand, shook it hard, and said gratefully, "thank you, comrade commissar! But please rest assured that not only will there be any vicious consequences in the future, I will bear them all. "


    "Comrade oshanina, you think too much." Kirilov listened to me and quickly expressed his attitude again: "since I am your political commissar, if anything goes wrong in the future, I will share part of the responsibility for you."


    As we were talking, vetkov came in from the outside with a smile on his face, followed by akhromeyev, who also had a full face. When they came to us, akhromeyev took the lead and said, "Comrade commander, there is an old subordinate of yours who has been discharged from hospital. He came to report to you specifically. Do you want to see him?"


    "My old man?" Akhromeyev''s words confused me. I have tens of thousands of subordinates. How can I guess who came to me to report? He was about to wave akhromeyev to send him away, but seeing that he and vetkov were both smiling, it proved that they both knew each other, and the level was not too low, so I changed my mind and told akhromeyev: "Comrade major, please call the people in."


    "Yes Akhromeyev agreed, turned and walked towards the door. He came to the door and called out, "come in, comrade commander, let you in!"


    With his shouts, an officer in a big cornice hat came out of the door. He quickly came to us, raised his hand to salute, and said in a loud voice: "report to division commander, political commissar comrade, major Pugachev, acting head of the second regiment of the independent division, I have recovered and discharged from the hospital, please return to the team, please give instructions!"


    "At ease!" I called a command casually, but I didn''t reply. I grabbed his hand, shook it vigorously, and said excitedly, "major Pugachev, when did you leave the hospital?" We haven''t seen each other since the last time we went to the group army headquarters of trakov and he was sent to capture the artillery observation point of the school. I even thought he died. At the moment, seeing him standing in front of me full of energy, I was overjoyed. While shaking hands with him, I asked with concern: "Comrade major, are you all healed?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." It was just because he was excited that he called me and kirilov by his old position. Now when he formally reported to me, he called me by the correct rank: "after more than three months of recuperation, my injury has fully recovered." At this point, he suddenly became a bit awkward and asked me, "I heard that lieutenant colonel Oleg has returned to the post of commander of the second regiment. I don''t know how you plan to arrange my work?"


    When Pugachev mentioned this, I immediately remembered that after he was injured, I merged the second regiment and the fifth regiment, and let the former commander of the second regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg, take the post of commander again, and let the first level instructor, verol, take the post of political commissar of the regiment. Now that major Pugachev is back from injury, as the acting head of the regiment, he can''t go back to the second regiment to compete with Commander Oleg for the post of head of the regiment. He can only rearrange his post. Thinking of this, I turned to kirilov and asked, "Comrade political commissar, how do you think about major Pugachev''s work arrangement?"


    Kirilov frowned and thought for a while. Finally, he shook his head and said regretfully, "Comrade oshanina, as far as I know, Mr. bantailiev has made a great personnel adjustment in the division recently." speaking of this, he gave a meaningful look at akhromeyev standing in front of us, and then said, "many commanders joined him from the new editor, They have been promoted to different degrees. Therefore, I think it may not be appropriate for Comrade Pugachev to return to work in the 22nd division of the guards. "


    Kirilov''s words made my heart heavy. Unexpectedly, less than two months after I left the independent division, bantailiev began to place confidants everywhere to repel others. Even akhromeyev, chief of staff of the division, was squeezed out of the division. Pugachev has been away from the army for quite a long time. It is estimated that even if he goes back, he will not be assigned any good posts. Rather than that, I might as well leave him in the army headquarters, or at least have one more subordinate who can weigh his hands. But what position should he be given? I can''t help worrying.


    When I was in a dilemma, akhromeyev stepped forward and said to me in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, I have an idea. Can I say it?" I was upset when I heard what ahlomeyev said. I couldn''t help waving my hand and said in a bad mood: "Comrade major, you are my old subordinate. If you have anything to say, don''t beat around the bush."¡° Comrade commander, I think so. " Akhromeyev heard me say this, so he didn''t beat around the Bush any more, but said directly: "thanks to your trust, I''ve been assigned two posts of director of operations and director of intelligence. I don''t think it''s appropriate for me to hold two posts by one person, so I suggest that major Pugachev take over one of them." After listening to akhromeyev''s suggestion, I stared at Pugachev and began to think: he is a commander with rich combat experience. He has participated in many battles and made a lot of contributions. What he lacks is the experience of working in the headquarters. It''s time for him to exercise. After consideration, without consulting with kirilov, I formally announced to akhromeyev and Pugachev: "major akhromeyev, after my consideration, in order to give full play to your strengths, I intend to let you serve as the chief of the military staff and the chief of the intelligence department, and the vacant post of the chief of the combat department will be taken over by major Pugachev." Speaking of this, I asked kirilov beside me: "Comrade political commissar, do you have different opinions?"¡° No comment. " Kirilov nodded and said, "I think your arrangement is very suitable." Witkov saw my eyes sweeping towards him. Without waiting for me to speak, he immediately said, "Comrade commander, I don''t have any opinions. I''m determined to dive into your order."¡° Since we all have no objection, "I saw that the political commissar and the chief of staff expressed their support for my proposal, and finally said," from now on, Pugachev will be the chief of operations of our army. "

 Chapter 899

    It is very easy to give orders to the subordinate troops. But when the troops were mobilized, something unexpected happened. The officers and men of the 308th division stationed in the city of warnowaha were stationed in the surrounding villages by company or battalion. Since the communication equipment was only equipped to the battalion level, gurdyev had to send a large number of personnel to convey the departure order to those companies without communication equipment by motorcycle or truck after receiving the order.


    At noon the next day, the 22nd division of the guards, the tank brigade, the artillery regiment and the 171st division of the infantry had all set out to the designated location, but gurdyev''s troops had not yet completed the assembly.


    After reading the telegram sent by akhromeyev, witkov was so angry that he took off his military cap and fell on the table. He said with a curse: "what the hell is this gurtyev trying to do? The order was given last night, but now more than ten hours have passed, and their division has not yet assembled. If the plane is delayed, isn''t he afraid to go to the military court? "


    I stared at the map on the table and quietly considered all kinds of possible situations. After witkov finished speaking, I called akhromeyev to him and told him, "major, you go to send a telegram to general gurdyev and ask him to immediately lead the assembled troops to the designated place, leaving the political commissar lieutenant colonel svelin to continue to assemble the troops." Speaking of this, I lowered my voice, like talking to myself, and wanted to say to everyone: "although the straight-line distance from volnovaha to poloi is not far, the speed of troops'' March will be greatly affected by such heavy snow, and there are three towns occupied by the German army on the way. It''s not even a question of whether we can get there before dark, let alone capture boloy. "


    After akhromeyev left, wittkov put the cap on his head again, sat down at the table again and asked me, "Comrade commander, this is not good. If the 308th division is delayed too long, then poloi''s defenders will take the opportunity to strengthen their defense and increase the difficulty of our siege. If Manstein draws reinforcements from other places to strengthen Kuban''s garrison, then our next battle will be difficult


    "Yes, comrade oshanina." Kirilov also said, "from your new order to the 308th division of gurdyev, it will take an hour at the fastest. Coupled with the delay on the road, the plan to capture boloi city can not be completed before dark. Do you think that after the 22nd division of the guards has captured Huli Abel, general bantailiev will send troops to the south to attack poloi


    Although the events of akhromeyev and Pugachev make me feel bad about bantailiev, under the current situation, the division is still the most effective unit in our army and has the ability of continuous combat. Otherwise, kirilov would not have made such a proposal to me.


    After staring at the map without saying a word for a long time, I felt that although kirilov''s proposal has some truth, if it is really implemented, it will not be as easy as we think. Although the German army has only one company in the cities of Huli and Ebola and poloi, if we can''t attack the two cities at the same time as planned and make Manstein alert, the next battle will be difficult.


    I thought for a long time and finally made a difficult decision. I raised my head and said to Vitkov, "chief of staff, send a telegram to general bandeleyev, and transfer major gordonov''s new third regiment to turn around and go south. With the cooperation of major pelskin''s tank battalion, I will capture the city of boloi." Although I know that it is taboo to divide troops before the battle begins, in order to occupy and consolidate our starting position as soon as possible, I have to take the risk with a stiff head.


    "After taking poloi?" After listening to me, wittkov immediately asked with concern, "let the new third regiment stay in the city for defense?"


    "The new third regiment is composed of assault engineering battalions with strong combat effectiveness. Their specialty is to attack cities and plunder land, not to defend passively." As for wittkov''s proposal, I immediately rejected it without hesitation: "in addition to leaving a company in the city waiting for the 308th division''s troops to take over, the regiment''s main forces and tank battalions continued to go south, looking for suitable areas to launch combat formation, and to be responsible for guarding the German armored forces that might come from tokamak."


    In the evening, the battle reports from the front came back one after another. Since our main attack directions are the city of Huli, Aberdeen and the city of poloi, the reconnaissance is mainly concentrated in these two directions. I didn''t expect that the 308th division was suddenly attacked by the small German troops stationed in the small town in the process of advancing to boloi city. After the troops were attacked, the whole marching line was disrupted, and the commander could not organize effective counterattack in a short period of time. He had to watch the Germans bite us hard and then withdraw from the battle calmly.


    In four hours, the 308th division exchanged fire with small German units 17 times, killing 29 German officers and soldiers, while our side lost 315. When I saw such a battle report, I was so angry that I slapped the telegram on the table and walked back and forth in the room with my hands behind my back.


    "Comrade commander," the voice of Pugachev suddenly came from the door. I stopped, turned to look in the direction of the voice, and saw the new chief of operations come in with a happy face. Seeing that I noticed him, he raised a piece of paper in his hand and said to me in a loud voice, "good news, comrade commander. Major Godunov called to report that the new third regiment he led had successfully captured the city of poloi, and all the garrison in the city had been eliminated. "


    When I received the telegram in his hand, I asked casually, "what''s the situation with general bantailiev? Has the city of Huli and Abel come down If we think that gordonov''s regiment can easily capture the city of boloy, then it''s a piece of cake to occupy the city of Huli Abel, which is led by bantailiev and composed of regiment 1 and regiment 2, plus the tank brigade and artillery regiment.


    Unexpectedly, after listening to my question, Pugachev slowly shook his head and replied, "according to the latest war report, the city of Huli Abel is still in fierce fighting. The German army just reinforced two companies at noon today, but our scouts didn''t find this in time, so that the current fighting is stuck."


    When I heard the unexpected news, I just sighed. I didn''t mean to blame captain travkin at all. After all, their reconnaissance area is too large. This small-scale movement of the German army may be in their blind spot. After glancing at the telegram, I handed it to wittkov, who was standing nearby, and asked Pugachev, "major, what is the position of the 171st division of Colonel andryushchenko?"


    "Report to the commander that they have reached the northeast of the city of Huli and are standing by." Pugachev knew that I would not suddenly ask about the position of a troop. He would certainly have his own consideration. So after reporting the whereabouts of the 171st division, he asked curiously, "do you have any new arrangements for them?"


    "Major Pugachev, since they are not far from the city of poloi, you will send a message to Colonel andreushenko. Let him immediately lead the troops south to take over the defense of poloi. " At this point, I felt a little indifferent to gurdyev''s 308th division, and then said, "after taking over, let the Colonel transfer the 149th infantry regiment to take over the 308th division."


    Looking at the back of Pugachev''s departure, wittkov said with emotion: "Comrade commander, in this way, maybe the positions of the divisions will be readjusted."


    I nodded and said with certainty, "yes, comrade chief of staff, that''s for sure. Let the 171st division and the 308th division exchange ground defense. As for the 22nd division of the guards, no matter whether they can capture the city of Huli Abel tonight, they must attack the city of Kuban tomorrow


    "I understand." When I said this, wittkov immediately said, "I will send your order to the army as soon as possible." He raised the telegram I had just handed him, adding: "after clearing the remnants of the German army in flerda, the fourth regiment of Colonel gedar left behind a company to defend, and the main force of the regiment also left for the city of Huli eberler overnight."


    The battle of bantaileiev division''s attack on the city of Huli Abel ended at two o''clock in the morning. Except for a few German troops who escaped, the remaining defenders were either killed or captured alive. Bantai leiev sent a telegram to me asking for instructions, saying that the troops were too tired. Would they rest for one or two days before launching an attack on Kuban?


    After reading it, I handed the telegram to kirilov and asked noncommittally, "Comrade political commissar, general bandeleev asked to postpone the attack on Kuban city for a day or two. How do you think about it?"


    "No, absolutely not." Kirilov put forward his own objection without thinking, and said angrily: "our troops suffered a great loss in the battle tonight due to the unexpected reinforcement of the enemy. If we take a day or two rest in the existing position, it will give time for Kuban and zaborosh''s German troops to set up defense, which is quite unfavorable for our next battle. I suggest that we immediately send a message to bandeleev and tell him that the original order remains unchanged and that the 22nd division of the close guard must attack Kuban tomorrow morning. "


    "Comrade chief of staff," I saw wittkov still standing in a daze after listening to kirilov''s words, and said to him straightforwardly, "immediately send a telegram to general bandeleev, saying that his request has been rejected. The original attack plan remains unchanged. The 22nd division of the guards must attack Cuban tomorrow morning


    When the day came on February 13, after a night of fierce fighting, the 308th infantry division finally arrived at the new garrison site, the city of Huli Abel, where they would rest and cover the right wing of the 22nd guard division attacking Kuban.


    After hearing that the 22nd division of the guards had launched an attack on Kuban, I asked akhromeyev, "Comrade major, what''s the situation in boloi?"


    Akhromeyev, as the chief of staff and chief of intelligence, is already familiar with these situations. At this moment, he listened to my question and quickly stepped forward and reported to me: "Comrade commander, the city of boloi and the surrounding villages and towns are under the control of the 171st division of andriyuke."


    "What about major Godunov''s third regiment and captain travkin''s reconnaissance?" I continued.


    "Report to the commander, major Godunov''s forces and the reconnaissance forces of trafkin, in order to create favorable conditions for organizing defense and prevent the German forces from carrying out a surprise attack on the city of poloi. Godunov sent two powerful reconnaissance teams to tokamak. "


    "Two powerful reconnaissance units?" When witkov heard this, he couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade major, I''d like to hear what kind of unit it is. Can they block the attack of German armored forces?"


    Akhromeyev turned to Vitkov and said, "Comrade chief of staff, major Godunov''s two reconnaissance detachments are composed of 10 tanks and an infantry company with tanks under the command of captain travkin; The other is made up of eight tanks and an infantry company, under the command of major perskin¡° So Godunov split major pelskin''s tank battalion and used it. " After hearing this, kirilov said: "Comrade commander, I think major gordonov''s arrangement is very correct. We should know that he is commanding assault engineers with strong combat effectiveness, which is far beyond the general combat forces. I think it''s appropriate for them to stop the sudden attack that might be launched by the German army. " As for kirilov''s statement, I nodded in agreement, and added: "major Godunov''s arrangement is very appropriate, but the rest of his troops can''t stay in place and do nothing. They should find a suitable place to build fortifications. You know, if Tokamak''s German armored forces really go out, it will be very difficult to block the enemy just by sending out two reconnaissance detachment. " At this point, I looked at akhromeyev and said, "major, go immediately and give my latest order to major Godunov." After akhromeyev left, my eyes were fixed on the map, and I said to the remaining people, "I have sent troops to cover the left and right wings of the bantailiev division, so that they can attack Kuban without scruple." Although I said it lightly, I still felt uneasy about whether Bantai leiev could win Kuban successfully¡° Comrade commander, you can rest assured. " Perhaps to see that I still have scruples about this battle, wittkov unexpectedly comforted me and said, "with the fighting capacity of the 22nd division of the guards, plus the cooperation of the tank brigade and the artillery regiment, there is no problem in capturing Kuban."

 Chapter 900

    As the city of Huli Abel was defended by guards, he came to us and raised his hand to salute. He reported: "Comrade commander, Captain bolvinov, commander of the 149th regiment of the 171st infantry division, has reported to you that our regiment has completed the task of taking over the friendly forces and is returning to the city of boloy. Please give us instructions!"¡° There is nothing to direct, comrade colonel I quickly asked him to sit down, and at the same time, I said with a kind face, "have you received general gurdyev''s 308th division?" Bolvinov sat in a chair with his legs together and his hands on his knees. He sat in front of us in the standard military posture of a soldier. When he heard my question and just wanted to stand up, I raised my hand to stop him. He sat on his seat and told us the rescue process. From the plain description of Colonel bolvinov, I can still feel the difficulty of fighting last night. In particular, I heard that more than 100 enemy troops occupied a small village and fought tenaciously against the two sides of our army, so that the vanguard units of the 149th regiment and the 308th division were only 500 or 600 meters apart, but they could not join forces. After launching more than ten charges in a row and paying the price of more than 300 casualties, we completely annihilated the remaining enemy in the village. Hearing such a fierce battle, I asked bolvinov with concern, "Comrade Colonel, how are the casualties of your regiment?" Bolvinov heard my question and said with a bitter smile, "Comrade commander, the situation is very bad. In last night''s battle, we wiped out less than 200 enemies, but our casualties were more than double that of the enemy. "¡° Why is this happening? " Wittkov asked puzzledly, "you know, the firepower of your division is very good. There is a mortar company in the regiment, a heavy machine gun platoon in the camp, and each company has at least five light machine guns. With such firepower, it costs so much to kill so many Germans?" Bolvinov pondered for a moment and replied, "Comrade chief of staff, although our firepower is far better than the equipment used in the defense of Stalingrad. However, due to the serious reduction in the number of troops in the battle, the new recruits who have no combat experience are added in the later period, and they are not proficient in the use of weapons, so it is inevitable that you just don''t understand the situation. " Without waiting for bolvinov to speak, kirilov came out to help him out. He patted the Colonel on the shoulder and said with a smile to Vitkov, who was about to attack: "Comrade chief of staff, Colonel bolvinov and his troops had been fighting with the Germans last night. I think they must be very tired, so I suggest that the Colonel go back to rest first." There are many reasons for the weak combat effectiveness of the army. In order to improve the combat effectiveness, we must strengthen the training of the army. Thinking of this, I stood up and said to bolvinov, "Comrade Colonel, we all know the situation. There is nothing for you here for the time being. You can go back to berroyev first." Bolvinov stood up and agreed. He turned around and wanted to leave. Kirilov stopped him and said, "Comrade Colonel, we may take a day or two off to launch an attack, so you should seize the time to train your commanders and fighters. You can have a big fight with the German army in different environments."¡° Don''t worry, comrade political commissar. In the next battle, our regiment will certainly make more contributions and let the Germans know the strength of our Red Army! " Kirilov gave him a satisfied smile, then waved to him and said, "go As soon as Colonel bolvinov left, akhromeyev came in with a telegram. Seeing his arrival, kirilov asked with a smile, "Comrade major, look at your hurry, do you have any good news to tell us?"¡° Well, comrade political commissar. " Akhromeyev raised the telegram high in his hand, shook it a few times, then handed it to me, and said: "the telegram was from major perskin. He said that in the early morning of this morning, a German column of about a regiment, with tanks and cannons, was moving towards the ambush site of our reconnaissance unit. The scouts waited until the German army was within the direct range of the tank guns and began to fire, destroying several German tanks. Then, the soldiers of the reconnaissance detachment launched an attack and captured three prisoners, an armored vehicle and some combat documents. After interrogating the prisoners, it was learned that the attacking German forces were armored troops stationed in Tokamak. They got orders from their superiors that they had found a small group of our troops near boloi and asked them to come to carry out the suppression. "¡° Where is the enemy now? " When I heard that tokmak''s German armored forces had moved out, I immediately got up to 12 points and asked, "what kind of actions have captain trafkin and major perskin taken?"¡° Report to the commander, "akhromeyev replied," after defeating the German vanguard, major perskin immediately contacted major Godunov and captain travkin. The three are now adjusting their forces and preparing to organize defense in the direction where the enemy may appear. " After listening to him, I quickly walked to the telephone by the wall and said to the operator, "Comrade operator, get me major gordonov immediately. I want to talk to him." Although I have repeatedly stressed that it is not allowed to use wireless communication, at this moment, it is urgent and I have to make an exception.

 Chapter 901

    When Godunov''s familiar voice came through the earphone, without any greetings, I asked directly, "major Godunov, what''s the situation now?"


    Hearing my voice, gordonov immediately replied respectfully, "Comrade General, it''s all set up. Although we are less than the enemy in strength, I still divide our troops into two echelons: the first echelon is composed of two shock engineer battalions, which built a defensive position five kilometers south of boloi; The second echelon consists of a tank battalion and a shock Engineer Battalion, which are mainly used for ambush and counter attack. "


    "Do you know the number of the German troops?" As gordonov''s telegram did not mention the number of German troops, I specifically mentioned this issue.


    "Make it clear, Comrade General." Godunov clearly replied, "it''s part of the 11th German armored division, which is headed by major general Herman balk."


    "Well, I see." Because I was using wireless communication and didn''t use any code, I worried that the content of the call would be intercepted by the enemy, so I said in a hurry, "I will send major akhromeyev to you to check the specific deployment." Then, without waiting for Godunov to answer, he interrupted the communication.


    After putting down the phone, I called kirilov, vetkov, akhromeyev and Pugachev to the map, briefly explained the deployment of Godunov''s report, and then said: "judging from the current situation, the German forces in the tokmak area are far beyond our imagination. In addition to the 11th armored division, it is estimated that there are a lot of infantry. Once the German army takes a coordinated approach to poloi, it is still a question whether the 171st division can resist their attack. "


    "Comrade commander, please wait a moment." Before I finished, vetkov interrupted me. He ignored my displeasure and said to himself, "what''s the German number you just said? The 11th German armored division Seeing that I nodded my head to confirm, I asked carefully, "is their teacher major general balk?"


    "Yes, the commander of the armored division is balk." When I answered wittkov''s question, I tried to recall that I only said the name of the German army, not the name of the commander. How did wittkov know. Thinking of this, I couldn''t help but ask tentatively, "why, chief of staff, have you heard of this German commander?"


    Wittkov nodded his head and said, "Comrade commander, it''s this balk who killed hundreds of tanks of our tank army with 50 tanks in the battle on the banks of the river zier at the end of last year."


    Fifty tanks kill hundreds of tanks?! I was startled by such a huge achievement, and my heart said: isn''t this Rommel''s achievement? Can''t it be wittkov''s mistake?


    I was not the only one who was surprised. Kirilov, akhromeyev and Pugachev were also shocked. After a moment, kirilov asked, "Comrade chief of staff, can you tell us what''s going on?"


    Wittkov nodded again and began to tell me about the achievements of the 11th German Panzer Division: "on December 7, last year, in order to destroy the 336th German division which occupied the position between lower zir and surovigino on the banks of the zir River, our 1st tank army crossed the zir River on their left wing, And to the residential area of the 79th state farm, far behind their riverine defenses. At that time, the 11th German armored division had just left Rostov. After learning the news of our army''s attack, they were ordered to move to the state farm to restore the original situation of both sides.


    On December 8, the 15th German Armored Regiment attacked our motorized infantry column which was driving from the north. As our army was on the March, we did not take any precautions against the enemy''s attack. As a result, the whole column was annihilated by the German army in a very short time. Then, with the direct support of armored infantry and artillery, the Armored Regiment advanced to the rear of our tank troops defending the state farm.


    Although our troops, trapped in the encirclement of the German army, showed bravery and tenacity, it was impossible for them to break through the encirclement because they were within the range of the enemy''s artillery fire. In the evening, the tank troops stationed in the farm were completely destroyed, and 51 tanks were destroyed... "


    When wittkov talked to kirilov about the achievements of the 11th armored division of the German army, I couldn''t help thinking: a tank army has hundreds of tanks and a considerable number of infantry, but it still can''t stop balk''s 11th armored division. Now we have only one infantry regiment in the south of boloi, with a tank battalion of only 18 tanks, It''s impossible to block their attack.


    Not only have I noticed the crisis we are facing, but also political workers like kirilov can feel it. As soon as wittkov finished speaking, he asked me nervously: "Comrade oshanina, the situation is very unfavorable for us. Once the enemy''s 11th armored division launches an attack, it will not be able to stop only by the gordonov regiment and pelsjian''s tank battalion. We must send troops to strengthen them."


    "Strengthen, how to strengthen?" As for kirilov''s proposal, I said angrily: "at present, there is only the 171st division of andreushenko in boloy. With their equipment and combat effectiveness, even if they are all sent up, they will not be able to block the enemy''s attack. If we let the enemy take boloi in vain, our whole army will be in danger of being defeated. "


    At this moment, akhromeyev suddenly said: "Comrade commander, in fact, things are not as pessimistic as you think. It is entirely possible to block or even defeat the 11th German armored division with our current strength."


    Akhromeyev''s words gave me a glimmer of victory, and I immediately couldn''t wait to ask, "major, tell me about your plan."


    "As far as I know, the present 171st infantry division is composed of the original 115th, 124th and 149th infantry brigades. In their original organizational system, there is a tank battalion and two anti tank artillery companies. Although the original brigade has been reorganized into a regiment, the organizational system of tank battalion and anti tank company still exists." Although akhromeyev has just been in office for a few days, he knows more about the situation of all the troops in the army than I know. "I suggest that the tank battalions and anti tank artillery companies of the 115th and 124th regiments of the 171st division be transferred to the defense area of the gordonov regiment immediately."


    "Comrade major, after sending the tank battalion and anti tank artillery company to the defense area of gordonov regiment," witkov''s confidence was restored when he heard akhromeyev say so. He asked with great interest, "how do you plan to deploy?"


    "The two battalions of the first echelon will be spread out side by side, each battalion will strengthen a tank company, and the tanks will occupy the flanking positions in the defensive area; At the same time, each battalion was assigned an anti tank gun company. The remaining tank units and anti tank artillery companies, together with another shock Engineer Battalion, form a second echelon for ambush and counter attack. " Major akhromeyev, as the director of both the staff and intelligence services, has worked out the most detailed operational plan in the shortest time according to the resources he has at his disposal: "while the tank battalion of pelsteen, which is dispatched, takes a small amount of infantry and detours to the flanks of the German army."


    After listening to akhromeyev''s plan, I studied the map for a while and thought it sounded good. Then I raised my head and asked wittkov, "Comrade chief of staff, what do you think?"


    Wittkov nodded and said without expression, "I think we can try the major''s plan."


    Seeing that wittkov did not raise any objection, I did not ask kirilov or the chief of operations, Pugachev. After all, time is pressing and we must fight against time, so I decisively announced: "I declare that this battle will be under the full command of major akhromeyev." Then I looked at akhromeyev and told him, "major, you''re going to the 171st division. Let Colonel andreushenko transfer the troops you need to you. Don''t stop for a moment. Go to the defense area of gordonov regiment immediately."


    Witkov, seeing that I had handed over the command of the battle to akhromeyev, nodded in agreement and said on his own initiative, "I''ll call Colonel andreushenko first and ask him to assemble the troops to be mobilized. In this way, when the major arrives at the 171 division headquarters, the troops will be almost assembled and ready to leave at any time. "


    When akhromeyev left, we began to wait anxiously and long. On the way, gurdyev and bandeleev sent telegrams successively to report to me the current position of the troops and the corresponding deployment. However, as I was always concerned about the upcoming battle on the south side of the city, I just glanced at the telegram sent by the two men and threw it on the table.


    There was no news from akhromeyev. Not only I was worried, but kirilov and Vitkov were also worried. Kirilov sat at the table, staring at the roof as if something wonderful had caught his attention. Wittkov, on the other hand, kept circling the room with his hands behind his back, and sighed twice from time to time.


    At two o''clock in the afternoon, news finally came from akhromeyev. Pugachev, who had been staying in the next telecommunication room, rushed in with a telegram and exclaimed excitedly, "commander, comrade commander, it''s a telegram from major akhromeyev."


    Before he came to me, I couldn''t wait to ask, "major Pugachev, what''s the situation on the battlefield?"


    After Pugachev came up to me and handed me the telegram, he said excitedly: "report to the commander, after the German army launched a fierce artillery attack on our defensive position, it opened up in columns to our first echelon defensive position with the strength of about a regiment under the guidance of more than 20 tanks. When they entered the ambush area, our second echelon suddenly shot at the column. We caught a German army unprepared, and immediately the formation was in disorder, and the coordination between infantry and Tanzania was out of balance. Our troops seize this favorable opportunity, give full play to their firepower advantage and kill the enemy in large quantities. The 61st motorized infantry battalion of the enemy has retreated hastily after our army destroyed six tanks, 15 armored vehicles and killed more than 100 soldiers. "


    Now that Pugachev had said all the contents of the telegram, there was no need to read it again. I handed it to Vitkov, who was waiting anxiously beside him, and then continued to ask, "what about major perskin''s tank battalion? What results have they achieved? "


    Pugachev shook his head and replied, "according to major akhromeyev''s report, when he arrived at the defensive area, he sent major pelsken''s tank battalion to detour in the southwest direction of Livni, ready to go around behind the 11th German armored division and teach them a lesson."


    "What, a detour to livny?" When witkov heard Pugachev say this, he put the telegram into kirilov''s hand, leaned down at the table and searched for Livni''s position. After a while, I heard him slap the table heavily and then cry bitterly: "Damn, what''s the matter with major akhromeyev? How can we make the tank battalion detour towards Livni? You know, the advantage here is between the two cities of tokamak and vosrivka. If the enemy armored forces of vosrivka move out again, they will fall into a dangerous situation of being attacked from both sides. " At this point, he looked up at me and said, "Comrade commander, I suggest that we immediately send a telegram to major akhromeyev, and ask him to call back major perskin''s tank battalion to avoid their fate." I looked at rivney, who was so small on the map that it was almost negligible. I quickly thought about whether I should follow wittkov''s advice and withdraw pelsky''s tank battalion and continue to block the attack of the 11th German armored division in the existing area. When I was in a dilemma, kirilov''s voice rang out: "oshanina, major akhromeyev has worked with us for several months. According to my observation, he is not only a qualified staff officer in the headquarters, but also an excellent commander in the battlefield." Kirilov''s words made me feel like I was in a daze. I''m right. Akhromeyev was the person I trusted most when he was the chief of staff of my division. When I was not in the headquarters, he was responsible for the division''s work. I personally gave him the command of this battle. Why should I worry about it? Thinking of this, I stood up straight and said to Vitkov, "Comrade chief of staff, I know major akhromeyev very well. Since he wants to send major pelsky''s tank battalion to detour in the direction of Livni, he must have considered it carefully. As the superior commanders, we should have confidence in our subordinates and not interfere too much in their decisions. " Listen to me, vetkov had no choice but to say: "well, since the commander has said so, we can only continue to wait and see what kind of good news major perskin can bring us." Then he told Pugachev: "Comrade major, please go back to the communication room first. If you have any latest information, please report it to us at any time." Although I have shown full confidence, I am not at all sure that a battalion of pelsken has to deal with so many German troops. After all, this is an adventurous assault, and no one can predict what the final result will be. But this time we didn''t wait long. About ten minutes later, Pugachev came to the headquarters with a telegram. As soon as he entered the door, he announced in a loud voice: "commander, political commissar, good news! Major perskin''s tank battalion wiped out the 15th German Panzer regiment. "¡° What, one of our tank battalions wiped out an Armored Regiment of the enemy? " When witkov heard the news, his first reaction was that it was impossible. He asked suspiciously, "is there a mistake?"¡° That''s right, chief of staff, "said Pugachev, looking at me and nodding at me, he handed the telegram to wittkov, and said," the telegram was sent by akhromeyev himself. It''s clearly written that major pelsken''s tank battalion destroyed 37 tanks of the 15th Armored Regiment of the German army without any loss. "

 Chapter 902

    When I saw Pugachev''s face when he entered the door, I guessed that it was the good news related to the pelsken tank battalion. I only thought that they had defeated the German troops, but I didn''t expect to achieve such good results. So I waved to Pugachev, and he came to me and asked curiously, "major, tell us what''s going on?"


    Pugachev took a look at wittkov, as if he had collected the telegram and read it to us first. However, seeing that the three of us were all focused on him, he gave up the idea and told us the battle process of pelsken tank battalion from his own memory: "during the movement of tank battalion towards Livni, In front of the reconnaissance team riding motorcycles, found an oncoming German tank troops. When the major learned of the situation, he immediately ordered all the tanks to hide behind a hillside and prepare for an ambush by the German army.


    After more than an hour, the powerful German tanks in battle formation appeared in front of major perskin, and they were heading for the northeast. After the enemy''s tanks passed the hillside, the major immediately ordered the tank battalion to attack, and the only 18 tanks in the battalion quietly followed the German army. Without waiting for the German army to find something strange behind them, they decisively fired. In just a few minutes, they destroyed 37 German tanks without any damage. Judging from the documents seized from the dead officers, what they destroyed was "can" belonging to the German army I nodded and agreed with kirilov''s proposal. Then I asked, "Comrade political commissar, what medal do you think is suitable for him?"


    Kirilov looked down for a moment and said, "I think major pererskin already has a red flag medal. Otherwise, apply for a Red Star Medal for him. It is awarded to Soviet officers and soldiers, troops, fleets, regiments, collective workers, organs, enterprises and social organizations who have made outstanding contributions to the cause of national defense in wartime and peacetime. Apart from the major, the tank battalion deserves the same honor. "


    "Comrade political commissar," I replied with a smile after listening to him, "it''s your duty to apply for awards and award medals to the commanders and fighters, so you are in charge of this matter."


    Kirilov took a pen and paper out of his briefcase and began to write down the list of applications carefully. And wittkov came back from the telephone and reported to me, "Comrade commander, the telegram of victory has been sent to the headquarters of the group army."


    I nodded and asked casually, "how did the superior reply?"


    Vetkov shook his head and said, "there is no reply yet..."


    Before he finished speaking, the operator sitting in front of the telephone suddenly turned back and yelled to us: "the commander and chief of staff, it''s the group army headquarters, it''s the commander himself!"


    When I heard the call from the operator, I could not help but clatter. I was really afraid of anything. I was worried that the use of wireless communication would leak secrets. I didn''t expect that harritonov would use this device to communicate with me in Ming language. Although my heart is full of heartache, my superiors have called. I can''t be absent either. I have to walk over with a stiff head, put on the earphone, and say respectfully to the transmitter: "Hello, comrade commander, I''m o''xia Nina."


    Haredonov''s serious voice came from the earphone: "Hello, commander oshanina, I want you to give me an explanation. According to the deployment of the group army command, your army should gather near the city of Freda at this moment, ready to cooperate with the friendly forces to capture the city of kulahovo, but why are you running to the southwest of huri, Abel and boloi now?"


    "Report to the commander," I replied with fear when I heard that his tone was not good. "According to the reconnaissance, I found that the German defense in the southwest direction was quite weak, so I mobilized the troops without asking for instructions and launched an attack on the cities of Huli, Abel and poloi..."


    "Well, there''s no need to explain, comrade oshanina." Harridonov''s voice suddenly softened. "Comrade Stalin once said that the winner should not be blamed. Now that you''ve successfully captured two cities, stay there. From the map, your area is not far from the city of Kuban. I hope you can seize the city as soon as possible and open the road to zaborosh. "


    Every time haridonov said a place name, my heart trembled. He complained in his heart: if our calls were eavesdropped by the Germans, it would be exposing our deployment to the enemy. I took a deep breath and summoned up the courage to say to haridonov, "Comrade commander, in order to avoid the leakage of secrets, I think it is more appropriate to report the specific combat deployment to you by telegraph."


    "Ha ha ha!" Haridonov suddenly burst into laughter without warning. He said with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, although you are an excellent headquarters, you are also a lesbian, so it is understandable that you are a little suspicious." Ignoring my possible fury, he continued, "leak? Do you think our current wireless calls will be eavesdropped by the Germans? "


    "Comrade commander, I think it is quite possible." I carefully reminded him that "in the battle of Stalingrad, our troops were eavesdropped on the whole battle plan by the Germans because of using Ming language to communicate, which led to the failure of the battle."


    "Can that be compared with what it is now?" Haridonov confidently said: "now our army has the right advantage in the battlefield. Just from the comparison of forces, the ratio between us and the German army has reached an unprecedented eight to one. Even if they eavesdrop on our situation, it''s useless. Under our iron fist attack, the * * aggressors will be completely eliminated. " Seeing that haridonov is so confident, I can''t argue with him any more. After all, he is my superior. If we want to show due respect for him, we can only agree with what he said. Finally, he said, "I heard that you have dealt a heavy blow to the German army. When I heard the titles of" Venus Medal "and" Soviet hero ", my heart beat so fast that it almost jumped out of my throat. The last time I was in Stalingrad, I had a chance to win the "Venus Medal". As a result, I was cancelled because I recruited the defecting German soldiers. This time, as long as we completely defeated major general balk of the German army, I found that harritonov had already been off the line until the operator called me gently. After I switched the headphones and the transmitter to the operator, I went back to the desk and repeated what haridonov had just said to them¡° What, the Venus medal? " Hearing this reward, kirilov, who had always been calm, jumped up from his seat and murmured: "defeat the German army. Just as kirilov was sighing, Pugachev hurried in from the outside. Looking at the telegram in his hand, vetkov asked with a smile, "Dear major Pugachev, what kind of good news have you brought us?" I didn''t expect Pugachev to reply seriously: "I''m sorry, chief of staff. I think I''ve brought a very unfortunate bad news this time. The Germans concentrated their superior forces and launched a fierce attack on the defense line of our first echelon. " Then he handed the telegram to wittkov¡° Major Pugachev, what''s the matter? " When I heard that Pugachev said it was bad news, I restrained my smile and asked solemnly, "what did major akhromeyev''s telegram say?" Pugachev had long remembered the contents of the telegram, and when he heard my question, he immediately reported to me: "Comrade commander, according to major akhromeyev''s report, there are about 50 German tanks advancing along the road towards the first echelon of positions. When approaching our defensive position, we launched a battle formation, launched an impact from the March, and about 10 tanks broke into our defensive position. An anti tank artillery company defending the area engaged in a fierce battle with German tanks. But because the enemy''s tanks are followed by a large number of infantry carrying armored vehicles, our commanders and fighters suffer heavy casualties, and the anti tank guns on the positions are destroyed one by one by the enemy, and the whole defense line is in danger of being broken through. "

 Chapter 903

    In the face of the tension of wittkov and kirilov and Pugachev''s confusion, I tried to keep my final composure and asked in a calm tone: "Comrade major, are the commanders and fighters in the current position still fighting?"


    Pugachev didn''t know why I asked, but he nodded his head and said, "yes, comrade commander, although the enemy broke into our position, our commanders and fighters are still fighting tenaciously. As long as there is one more person, they will never step back. "


    As soon as wittkov and Pugachev finished talking, he immediately suggested to me: "Comrade commander, the 11th German armored division is far superior to our army in combat effectiveness and equipment. Since they can easily defeat one of our tank troops, the defense line set by major akhromeyev will soon be broken through. "


    After hearing what he said, I asked noncommittally, "in this case, chief of staff, what measures do you plan to take to resist the German offensive?"


    "The 115th regiment of the 171st division was immediately transferred to reinforce the first echelon in the southern suburbs." as for the defense of the southern suburbs of poloi, vetkov may have considered it carefully. Hearing my question, he immediately said without hesitation: "the 124th regiment was also transferred to the south at the same time, building a second line of defense behind the first echelon, leaving only the division headquarters of the 171st division and the 149th regiment in the city, To be responsible for the defense of the city. "


    From the heart, wittkov''s arrangement is well-organized, which is very suitable for the current defensive war. So I didn''t raise any objection. I said directly to Pugachev, "major, record the order. The 115th and 124th regiments were ordered to move immediately to the southern suburbs. The 124th regiment built new fortifications five kilometers south of the city to prepare for the impact of German armored forces. After the first echelon repulsed the German attack, the 115th regiment immediately exchanged defense with the gordonov regiment. "


    "Changing guard?" When Pugachev, who was recording the order, heard me say this word, he could not help but stop and asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, you are talking about the change of defense between the 115th regiment and the gordonov regiment?"


    "Yes, when the German attack is repulsed, let the two regiments change their guard as soon as possible." I was deeply afraid that Pugachev could not fully understand what I meant, and I specially stressed that "the troops after the change of defense are under the unified command of major akhromeyev."


    "Comrade commander, I don''t understand why you made such a decision." Vitkov could not help it. He asked in surprise, "don''t you know that changing defense on the battlefield will cause unnecessary chaos?"


    "Comrade chief of staff." I turned to look at him and said, "the reason why I made the decision to change the defense is that the unit that is sticking to the defense line at the moment is the shock Engineer Battalion assigned to us by the former commander of the 62nd group army. What they are good at is attack rather than defense. Instead of putting them on the front to die in vain, they should withdraw and let them play a greater role in the next battle of Kuban or zaborosh. As for the 115th regiment, the situation is different. They learned how to defend in the battle of defending Stalingrad. It would be most appropriate for them to change this good defensive force to deal with the attack of the 11th armored division. "


    After listening to my somewhat farfetched explanation, vetkov no longer insisted on his opinion. He waved to Pugachev and said, "Comrade major, immediately convey the commander''s order."


    After Pugachev returned to the telegraph room, kirilov, who had never spoken, asked me anxiously: "Comrade oshanina, you know, the 11th armored division is the elite of the German army. They once severely damaged our first tank army with 50 tanks in two weeks. We can''t take such an enemy lightly. Do you really think our line of defense can hold back the German attack


    Although I feel like 15 buckets to draw water now, I still reply with a stiff head: "Comrade political commissar, I believe major akhromeyev''s command ability, in the face of German tank assault, he will not have no backhand. Let''s just sit here and wait for the news. I believe it won''t be long before good news comes. "


    "Comrade commander," a cry came from the wall. I turned to look in the direction of the sound. I saw the operator standing in front of the telephone, nervous, with earphone and transmitter in hand. Seeing that I noticed him, I quickly raised my voice and said to me, "the commander wants to speak to you."


    I quickly walked towards the operator, and at the same time, I thought to myself: haredonov had just talked to me not long ago. How could he talk to me again soon? Did he know that the position in the southern suburbs was in danger?


    When I took something from the operator, he suddenly lowered his voice and said to me, "it''s the commander of the front army."


    When I heard that the person who called me was not haridonov, but watujing, commander of the front army, I couldn''t help shivering. My heart said what such a big leader called me to do. Did he come to ask for a crime? I put on the earphone and said to the transmitter, "Hello, comrade commander of the front army, I''m o''xia Ningna. What''s your instruction?" As soon as I spoke, I found that my voice became a little hoarse because of tension.


    "Hello, comrade oshanina." Vatukin''s loud voice came out of the earphone: "I heard general haridonov report that your army decisively attacked and successfully won huri Eberle and poloi, only one step away from the city of Kuban. Once you succeed in capturing Kuban, you can pose a threat to the Manstein command in zaborosh. Well, is there any difficulty now? "


    I''m much more confident to understand that watujing didn''t come to ask for a crime. Since he asked us what difficulties we had, I would not pretend to be polite. Instead, I said frankly, "Comrade commander, our army has a small number of artillery and tanks. It''s OK to deal with the enemy''s infantry division. If we meet the enemy''s armored division, we will be at a disadvantage in terms of equipment. In addition, we do not have air support. Once the enemy''s air force comes out, we will be in a passive situation. "


    After listening to my words, vatujing said with a smile: "Comrade o''shanina, you have a lot of difficulties. But I can''t help you now. You know, other troops can''t compare with you either in strength or equipment. I believe that even with the existing equipment and strength, you can capture zaborosh without the support of friendly forces. After all, your army now has more than 20000 people, accounting for one third of the total strength of the sixth group army, and it is also the strongest one third. No matter where such forces are placed, they are likely to have a decisive impact on the whole war situation. "


    When I learned from vatukin''s words that we could not get any support from our superiors, I was disappointed. Thinking of the fierce battle in the southern suburbs, I complained to vatukin: "Comrade commander of the front army, our flank is being attacked by the 11th German armored division. According to the latest battle report, the enemy''s tanks have burst into our defensive positions. The whole defense line is in danger of being broken by the German army at any time. Once the German army opens the breach, then their tanks can directly rush to the city of poloi. Once our main force is entangled by the German armored division, I think we may not be able to mobilize enough forces to capture Kuban and threaten zaborosh. "


    After listening to my words, vatukin was silent for a long time. Just when I was worried about whether I had angered him, he finally said: "I know that the 11th German armored division is very powerful. It almost completely annihilated one of our tankers in the battle on the banks of the river zier. But after a long battle, they have been greatly weakened. According to the situation, didn''t you just annihilate their 15th Armored Regiment? In this way, I don''t think there will be any problem in blocking them with your existing forces. Now the left wing of the 6th army is in your charge. I order that the 11th armored division of the German army be blocked at all costs. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Listening to him say so, I quickly expressed my determination to him, "I promise you that as long as there is one person in the 79th infantry army, it will never give up its position."


    Although he didn''t ask watujing for supplies of soldiers and technical equipment, he personally promised that our army would be separated from the 6th group army and have more freedom of movement, so that we would not have to take part in the offensive that is not worth the loss.


    When I told kirilov and Vitkov what vatukin said, there were worried expressions on both faces. With a smile, I comforted them and said, "political commissar, chief of staff, what''s the matter with you? Although our superiors can''t provide us with any support of soldiers and technical equipment, can''t we defeat an incomplete German armored division with our existing strength and equipment? "


    I didn''t expect wittkov to say pessimistically: "Comrade commander, although the 11th Armored Division has been greatly reduced in the battle, and our army has also severely damaged the 15th Armored Regiment, it is still very difficult to block their attack."


    Just as I was speechless, I caught a glimpse of Pugachev at the door. From his happy expression, I knew that there was good news coming, so I asked aloud, "Comrade major, did you bring us good news this time?"


    Pugachev nodded vigorously, raised a telegram in his hand, and said with emotion: "report to the commander, the German attack has been repulsed by us."


    Witkov was close to the door. Hearing the good news, he rushed to Pugachev, snatched the telegram from his hand and read it quickly.


    "Tell me, comrade major." Knowing that the telegram in wittkov''s hand would not return to me for a while, I asked Pugachev straightforwardly, "what''s the matter? How did our troops repel the enemy''s attack? "


    Pugachev got used to my habit of asking about the situation of the war directly without looking at the telegrams. He immediately reported: "report to the commander, when the enemy''s tanks burst into our army''s position and are gradually destroying our anti tank guns, the tank battalions of the 115th and 124th regiments of the second echelon circled up from both sides of the enemy and fired fiercely at the enemy from the side. The German tanks, which were attacking forward, were immediately dazed by the sudden heavy artillery fire and had to withdraw from our position in a hurry. In the battle, only four tanks of the first company of the tank battalion of the 115th regiment destroyed nine German tanks and destroyed one infantry company.


    The German tanks, which were suddenly attacked by us, were forced to retreat to a depression one kilometer away, ready to assemble there and attack our position again. Before the enemy attacked again, the pelsteen tank battalion came back from rifney. Major akhromeyev ordered all the tanks to concentrate their fire on the German troops in the depression. Under the attack of our intensive artillery, the German formation in the depression was in chaos, and the soldiers and equipment were badly damaged.


    In this battle, we lost five tanks, two of which were burned down on the battlefield, and the remaining four, led by other tanks, are returning to the repair points in the city. Although the loss of tanks was not great, our shock Engineering Battalion and anti tank artillery company suffered a great loss. " When I heard that the blocking battle was won under the command of akhromeyev, I automatically ignored the casualties of the infantry, and then asked Pugachev, "what''s the plan of major akhromeyev next?"¡° The major thought that if he continued to stick to the existing position, the troops would probably suffer heavy casualties in German shelling and bombing, so he suggested that the troops retreat two to three kilometers backward and build new fortifications. At the same time, major perskin''s tank battalion and the other two regimental tank battalions continued to ambush in front of the line, actively looking for suitable fighters. "¡° Major Pugachev, you immediately send a telegram back to Comrade ahlomeyev: the military command fully agrees with your operational plan. " After hearing a series of achievements made by akhromeyev, I have more confidence in him, so in reply to his request, I added: "the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. In order to ensure the victory of the battle, I grant you the right of discretion on the spot. You can adjust the deployment of troops according to the specific situation. You don''t have to ask for instructions in everything, so as not to delay the fight." After Pugachev left, vetkov asked me in surprise, "Comrade commander, is it appropriate for you to give major akhromeyev such great power?"¡° There is nothing inappropriate, comrade chief of staff. " When I thought of the rigid offensive tactics of the Soviet army, I couldn''t get angry. But at the moment, I still had to be patient and explain to wittkov, "our army has a clear advantage in the battlefield many times, but it can''t win in the end. The reason is that our army''s offensive actions are well-known, and the commanders don''t know how to be flexible, The stupid repeated attacks on a certain defensive point, the formulation of artillery firepower organization, and the inability to choose the terrain for attack all show that the grass-roots commanders lack creativity and rigidity in thinking when performing their tasks. As for akhromeyev''s commanders who know how to adjust their deployment in time when the battlefield situation changes, we should boldly delegate power to them so that they can give full play to their talents. I don''t want to see the situation that clearly we have an advantage in the battlefield, but because the superior doesn''t give new orders to the subordinate in time, the result can''t be expanded. "

 Chapter 904

    After fully understanding my operational philosophy, wittkov unexpectedly put forward a proposal to me: "Comrade commander, since we have achieved great success in our defense in the daytime, we should not take it lightly. In addition to strengthening the existing defense areas, we should also send troops to the back of the enemy to establish landing sites."


    "Landing site?" When I heard this word, I couldn''t help frowning. I said that wittkov didn''t drink today. Why did he talk nonsense? There are neither rivers nor oceans in front of us. How can we start to build a "landing site"?


    Perhaps wittkov saw my doubts in my eyes and explained to me: "what I said about the landing site is different from what you imagined. Before each attack, our army will first carry out extensive infiltration activities, with some small units and reconnaissance teams infiltrating into the enemy''s defensive positions. " Speaking of this, vetkov''s face was full of pride. "No one can catch up with us with our tactics. Even if the enemy''s defense is more rigorous, we can skillfully penetrate into it and quickly dig a shelter. This penetration technique is the most troublesome for the German people. There is almost no sound in the whole process and no shot is fired. Even though their Sentinels were alert all night, the next morning they would find that our armed detachment appeared near their own defense line, and even dug a shelter. We have used this penetration tactic hundreds of times and achieved significant results. "


    After hearing what he said, I asked in a suspicious tone, "is this penetration tactic really so effective?"


    "No, the effect is really great." Wittkov continued with high spirits: "the characteristic of our big regiment''s operations is that no matter where we are, no matter what time we are, we must establish landing sites in advance to serve as a base for the next attack. The "landing site" under our control is a great threat to the German army. If they ignore these landfills, or do not clear them in time, they will pay a heavy price.


    Our landing site, when it was first built, may have been very small in scale, and seemed to have little harm to the Germans. But given a little time, we can turn it into a position that is very harmful to the German army and a stronghold that is difficult to conquer. When it gets dark, the landing site occupied by one of our infantry companies will be expanded to at least one regiment by the next morning. If we are given another night, it will become a strong stronghold equipped with heavy weapons. It can have everything it needs to make it almost indestructible. "


    I listened to wittkov''s explanation patiently and thought to myself that this kind of "landing field" he said might be the kind of "tunnel approaching operation" tactics I knew. Thinking of this, I couldn''t help looking at kirilov next to him. I wanted to blame him for his good tactics, but I never told him. However, seeing that he listened with great interest, he immediately understood his mistake. After all, before the battle of Stalingrad, he was still engaged in civilian work. Maybe he didn''t know that our army had such tactics at all.


    I coughed gently and cleared my throat. Then I asked wittkov curiously, "chief of staff, listen to what you say, our" landing site "is impeccable. Don''t the Germans have any measures to deal with it?"


    When witkov listened to my question, he replied awkwardly: "the Germans learned to be smart after they suffered losses several times. As soon as they find out that we are building a landing site or a forward position, they will immediately concentrate their superior forces and launch a fierce attack. Because they understand that if they are delayed for one hour, they may suffer setbacks in attack. If they are delayed for two hours, they will definitely suffer setbacks. If they are delayed for one day, they will suffer devastating disaster. Therefore, as soon as they find our landing site, even if there is only one infantry platoon or one tank, they will attack immediately. They should launch an attack decisively when we are not stable and easy to deal with, when we have no time to organize an effective defense, and when our heavy weapons are not in motion, because they understand that once time is wasted, it means failure, and only decisive and timely action can resolve their crisis. "


    After listening to wittkov''s introduction to the "landing site", I thought that we could send Godunov''s troops to try and win the enemy''s position. I dare not expect that he could lead his troops behind the 11th German armored division to contain some of the enemy''s forces, because they could not attack poloi with all their strength, so that we could have enough time to improve our defenses. So he began to give orders: "chief of staff, record my orders: after the two shock engineering battalions of gordonov regiment withdraw from the battle, they will move towards Tokamak in the dark to find a suitable area to build a" landing site ", so as to contain the German army and urge them to divide their forces, so as to reduce the pressure on our army''s frontal defense."


    After witkov quickly recorded my order, he quickly walked up to the operator and ordered him to send it to major Godunov in the form of telegram.


    Kirilov turned to look at Vitkov who was busy and asked me curiously, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the matter with the 11th German armored division? It beat our troops in a mess in the battle on the Bank of the Zell, but when they met us, they looked so vulnerable. Not only two infantry battalions were wiped out by us, but even the most elite 15th Armored Regiment was also severely damaged by us. "


    As a matter of fact, I have been thinking about kirilov''s question. Since he asked now, I thought about it carefully and said, "Comrade political commissar, I think the reason why the 11th armored division suffered a great loss in front of us is that, first of all, they were severely reduced in the early fighting and did not get timely supplement; Second, they got the wrong information, thinking that only small units of our army were able to underestimate the enemy in the boloi area, so that during the March, they did not send corresponding reconnaissance units, and as a result, they were ambushed by our second echelon.


    However, even if we beat the 11th armored division in a row, we can''t take it lightly. You know, this division commander named balk is not simple. According to what the chief of staff just said, in the battle of Keer River, balk skillfully grasped the loopholes in our army''s command, took advantage of the inconsistency in attack time between our army''s fighting units and the lack of coordination between a large number of infantry divisions, and went to fight one of our troops calmly and then another, When our offensive forces are weakened to a certain extent by them, they can even withdraw and deal with our newly arrived forces. "


    As soon as I finished, there was a faint explosion outside. I listened and asked wittkov, who was also at a loss: "chief of staff, call the observation office outside and ask what happened to the explosion? It doesn''t sound like gunfire. It sounds like a bomb dropped by an airplane is exploding. "


    Vetkov nodded, picked up the phone from the desk and dialed. As soon as the phone rang, he said in a loud voice, "Hello, observation post? I''m the military headquarters. I ask you, what''s the matter with the explosion outside and where did it come from? " After listening for a while, he put down the phone and reported to me, "Comrade commander, the observation office has reported that the enemy has sent out more than a dozen bombers and are carrying out indiscriminate bombing on the original positions of the first echelon."


    When I heard that the German air force was bombing our position, I was a little flustered. I asked nervously, "has the first echelon retreated to a new position?"


    Vetkov shook his head slowly and said, "as major akhromeyev has not sent back the latest information, we can''t know what''s going on in the first echelon now."


    When I was thinking about whether I should go to the telegraph room in person and ask Pugachev if he had received the latest war report, Pugachev appeared at the door in time. Looking at the telegraph in his hand, I quickly asked aloud, "Comrade major, are you holding the telegram from major akhromeyev?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Pugachev quickly walked up to me and handed me the telegram. At the same time, he reported: "as soon as our troops withdrew from the position, more than a dozen bombers bombed our position indiscriminately. However, due to the timely withdrawal, the German bombed an empty position and did not cause any casualties to us. "


    I heard that under the command of akhromeyev, our troops withdrew from the position in time and escaped the bombing of the enemy planes. My heart immediately became more secure. I took the telegram in my hand and read it at a glance. In addition to what Pugachev has just said, akhromeyev also took the initiative to report to me his next troop deployment: the 115th regiment has entered the position, while the 124th regiment has built Fortifications on the edge of the city. Under the leadership of major Godunov, the two shock engineering battalions, which had been replaced, were quietly making a detour towards the rear of the German army. Three tank battalions of the second echelon, as well as a shock Engineer Battalion, are now concealed on their flanks, and new ambush circles have been rearranged, ready to teach a lesson to the impetuous armored forces.


    When I saw akhromeyev''s telegram, I was immediately overjoyed and said that akhromeyev was not simple. I just asked Vitkov to send a telegram to Godunov, asking him to lead his troops to detour to the rear of the German army and infiltrate into the rear of the German army to establish a "landing field". Unexpectedly, akhromeyev had arranged it for a long time. Moreover, he readjusted the deployment of the second echelon so that they set traps for the German army again.


    After reading the telegram, kirilov also said with emotion: "Comrade oshanina, although major akhromeyev is so young, it''s really not easy. If you look at his platoon arrangement, even those senior commanders who have been in the army for decades are not necessarily better than him. "


    "Comrades in chief," wittkov suggested to me after kirilov finished his speech, "is it a bit too condescending to transfer major akhromeyev, who used to be the chief of staff under your command, to be the chief of intelligence and staff now? When he comes back from his mission, can he be promoted to my deputy chief of staff? "


    Although I know that wittkov said this out of kindness, I still waved my hand and refused his proposal: "Comrade chief of staff, major akhromeyev, although he has rich combat experience and amazing military accomplishment, he is too young after all. He should exercise for several years at the grassroots level."


    After listening to my statement, vetkov did not say anything more, but reminded me once again: "although our troops have laid an ambush on the road leading to the city, we still need to be vigilant. As far as I know, major general balk is a very experienced commander. He has a famous saying: "the night army is our Savior!"


    When I heard the last sentence, I was stunned, and then asked: "chief of staff, what does Mr. balk mean by this sentence? How can I be more confused when I listen to it?"¡° Well, comrade commander. " Wittkov patiently explained to me: "during the battle of the chil River, the 11th Panzer Division moved at night for several weeks and reached the most convenient attack position before dawn. And before our troops attacked, they attacked at the worst vigilance moment, causing heavy casualties to our troops. Although the use of such tactics will consume a lot of energy and physical strength of the troops, the casualties are very small, because this kind of play often takes us by surprise. "¡° Comrade chief of staff, "kirilov, who had been listening for a long time, could not help but express his opinion and said," can we send scouts again to crack down on the German commanders and learn from them about the next action of the 11th armored division? "¡° It''s no use, comrade political commissar. " Wittkov poured a basin of cold water on kirilov with a bitter face: "their combat orders are oral without exception. If the division commander decides to set the next day that night, he will give the necessary orders to the commander orally on the spot. Then he went back to the headquarters and discussed his intentions with the superior commander. If approved, power will be generated to the regiments: "no change", so everything goes according to plan. If there is any important change, the division commander will go to each regiment that night and give oral orders again. His forward position on the battlefield, commanding the division''s operations, his position, together with the main assault troops, went to the regiment several times a day. The division''s headquarters are a little more backward, and generally do not change their positions during operations. The headquarters is responsible for collecting and sorting out enemy information materials, taking charge of the supply of troops, and mobilizing and strengthening troops. Communication between the division commander and the headquarters is maintained by radio, and only in a few cases by telephone. " I can''t help but sweat when I hear that balk is so smart and sophisticated. It would be impossible for him to prevent us in this way. But now, the dead horse can only be regarded as a living horse doctor. I thought about it for a long time before giving Vitkov an order: "chief of staff, let the military reconnaissance battalion send reconnaissance troops with walkie talkies in all directions. As soon as we find out the whereabouts of the German army, we will report to the army headquarters immediately. "

 Chapter 905

    After the deployment of the mission to wittkov, I always felt that I had forgotten something important. After walking back and forth in the room with my hands behind my back, I finally figured out what I was worried about. Today, I spent almost all my energy on the troops under the command of major akhromeyev, but I have been indifferent to the situation of the bantailiev division and the gurtyev division.


    After witkov gave the order to the reconnaissance battalion, I asked thoughtfully, "Comrade chief of staff, do you have any intelligence reports from the Bantai leyev division and gurdyev division today?"


    "Yes, comrade commander," wittkov reported to me after answering in the affirmative, "division gurdyev sent a telegram at noon saying that his division was cleaning up the remnants of the German army around the city. As for the 22nd division of the guards, "he said, pausing for a moment, picked up a pile of telegrams that had been thrown on the table, flipped a few times, took out one of them, and began to read aloud to me." general Bantai leyev said in the telegram that they were assembling troops, adjusting their deployment, and making the final preparations before attacking Kuban. "


    It is very helpful for the gurtyev division to eliminate the remnants of the German army scattered in the villages around the city to consolidate the right wing of our army, so I nodded at random and focused on the 22nd division of the guards. After all, they are the main forces attacking Kuban. So I pointed to the telephone on the table and asked, "chief of staff, Can I get in touch with Mr. leiev on this phone? "


    When witkov heard my question, he gave me a strange look and then answered me positively, "yes, comrade commander. At present, our phone can directly communicate with Bantai leiev division and gurdyev division. " Then he asked cautiously, "do you want to talk to general bantaileiev now?"


    I nodded and said, "well, I want general bantailiev to send troops all night to infiltrate into the periphery of Kuban''s German position, establish a" landing site ", and then send more troops to this position to shorten our siege distance."


    "I see, comrade commander." Wittkov said politely, "I''ll call general bandeleev and tell him what you mean."


    When Vitkov was calling bandeleev, kirilov came up to me and whispered, "Comrade oshanina, there''s something I want to talk to you about."


    Kirilov''s words made me a little confused. What important things would he say to me? After thinking about it for a moment, he couldn''t understand it. He could only politely say to him, "Comrade political commissar, if you have anything to do, please say it directly."


    Kirilov said to me with a heavy face: "Comrade oshanina, I don''t know if you have found today that the contact between us and major akhromeyev, whether it is your orders or the results he reported, is all accomplished by telegram."


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." Although I didn''t understand the purpose of kirilov''s words, I honestly replied, "although the speed is a little slow, it can ensure that our military intelligence will not be eavesdropped by the Germans."


    "In this case, it doesn''t matter if the feedback speed of intelligence is slower." Kirilov waited for me to finish, and said slowly, "if the troops use this kind of communication mode when they are transferring, I think it will delay a big event."


    After listening to kirilov''s words, I couldn''t help nodding. Now, under the situation of slow conversion of attack and defense rhythm, it is an effective way of communication to send orders and send and receive war reports by telegraph. But if our troops are moving, or worse, running for their lives under the pursuit of the German army, it would be a bit inappropriate to use this method again. It occurred to me that kirilov would not easily ask this question. He must have some new ideas in his mind. So I humbly asked him, "Comrade political commissar, do you have any good suggestions?"


    Kirilov hesitated for a moment and tentatively said, "Comrade oshanina, two thirds of the soldiers in our army are from Kazakhstan or other Central Asian countries. There are not many Russian speakers among them, and most of them still use the language of their respective countries..."


    Before kirilov finished, I understood what he was trying to say. I can''t help but think of the Whisperer that later generations have seen. In order to prevent Japanese pirates from eavesdropping on their own information, the American people have specially replaced the telegraph operators with Indians. When communicating, they use the language of their respective countries, so that even if the Japanese pirates eavesdrop on their calls, they can''t understand what they are saying. Kirilov stressed to me that most people use their own language. Does it imply that I should select new operators from these people to be responsible for making clear language calls with the divisions, so that the German people who monitor our communication can not understand what they are saying.


    "Comrade political commissar, do you want to transfer personnel from these commanders and fighters to the post of telegraph operator?" As soon as kirilov finished, I asked directly, "do you have the right person?"


    Kirilov listened to my question, nodded and said, "there are more than ten candidates. They are all commanders and fighters from Kazakhstan, and they are completely reliable politically..."


    I saw that wittkov finished the call with Bantai leiev and was about to put down the microphone. He quickly interrupted kirilov''s words: "well, comrade political commissar, I understand what you mean. Actually, you think their loyalty is OK, so put them all in the communication company. Let them get familiar with the business as soon as possible, and strive to be independent in two or three days. "


    "I understand," kirilov readily agreed, seeing that I agreed to his proposal. "Comrade o''shanina, please rest assured that I will make these commanders and fighters qualified as soon as possible."


    I turned to Vitkov and asked, "chief of staff, what does Mr. bantaileiev say?"


    "General bantailiev said that he would send four regiments tonight to sneak around the enemy''s positions in the dark and build our latest fortifications." Wittkov said, drawing a circle on the map with a red and blue pencil, and said with pride, "Comrade commander, what''s your situation? This is the infiltration site they chose. Once this stronghold is successfully established, the starting point for our attack on Kuban will be three to five kilometers ahead, only a few hundred meters away from the enemy''s field fortifications. "


    As vetkov once told me what a "landing site" was, when I heard his arrangement, I didn''t express any objection. Instead, I agreed: "bantailiev has been in the army for more than ten or twenty years, and I believe he also knows how to establish a" landing site ". Let him be fully responsible for this matter."


    In the next two days, the forces under the command of major akhromeyev, in the process of constantly shifting their positions, caused great losses to the German forces who tried to rush to the city. The shock Engineer Battalion led by gordonov also established its own stronghold beside the German defense line near tokamak.


    As for bandeleev''s troops, after two days of fierce fighting, they succeeded in seizing Kuban from the German army. Although Kuban city completely fell into our army''s hands after fierce fighting, bantailiev''s attempt to move forward became an impossible thing. Because the German army was unwilling to lose such an important city as Kuban, they sent a large number of troops to launch counter attacks against Kuban, in an attempt to take the city away from our army again. In the face of the fierce attack of the enemy, bantaileiev had to mobilize his forces to open a brutal positional war with the enemy.


    We are fighting hard here, but the enemy is not much better. According to the information from akhromeyev, the troops fighting with them were not only the motorized infantry regiment of the 11th armored division of the German army, but also the 336th infantry division of the German army. The fighting between the two sides was stuck, so that we could not transfer our forces to other directions.


    Although the direction and situation we are in are not going well, the main forces of Voronezh''s front army and the southwest front army are reporting good news. Following the successful capture of Kharkov by Voronezh''s front army on February 16, a part of the southwest front army adopting the great detour tactics has successfully broken through the enemy''s defense and approached zaborosh, where the Manstein command is located, from our north.


    When I heard the conversation from the commanders of the divisions on the telephone, I felt very uneasy. Although we succeeded in seizing a series of towns and settlements, the two wings of the army were unconsciously exposed to two powerful German groups. What''s worse is that our commanders and fighters are not aware of the danger they are in. The generals, including the commander of the southwest front army, general vatukin, are optimistic that the Germans have been beaten to death after the winter counterattack. As long as the Red Army continues to pursue them, they will escape the Dnieper River all the way, As for the enemy''s counter attack, it is impossible at all. Stalin, the equally optimistic commander-in-chief, agreed. The lower ranking officers of the Red Army expressed all their optimism when they were talking on the radio.


    The troops of the southwest front army are advancing rapidly to the West. Others only see how many towns the main force can capture, how many enemies it can annihilate and how many kilometers it can advance. However, I find that the troops have not been replenished in time after consumption, so that most of the companies are dissatisfied with the formation.


    At noon today, bantaileiev saw that the German attack was repulsed again, and promptly dispatched the 84th tank brigade to counter charge the enemy in the open field. At the beginning, the progress was very smooth, but less than an hour after leaving the city and driving westward, the German army met with tenacious resistance, and the tanks would soon be repulsed by the enemy.


    After three successive attacks ended in failure, bantaileiev finally found out that the German army was in a distant position and did not know when to deploy a large number of anti-aircraft guns. The three attacks launched by the tank brigade were all retreated by these damned antiaircraft artillery. Our army has at least 20 tanks of various types, which have been turned into burning scrap iron in front of the enemy''s positions.


    Bantailiev sent me a telegram asking me whether to let Godunov''s regiment return to the army, because after continuous fighting, the whole division was seriously reduced. If the regiment can''t be built, its combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced in the next battle.


    Witkov stood beside me with the telegram in silence, waiting for my orders. I walked back and forth a few times in the room with my hands behind my back, thinking whether I should withdraw the gordonov regiment, which is restraining the German forces near tokmak, and strengthen the bantailiev division, which is responsible for the offensive task? After thinking for a long time, I finally made a decision. Although Godunov involved about a regiment of German troops near the stronghold he established, he could not weaken or weaken the enemy. Instead of letting them fight a war of attrition there, it was better to withdraw them and join the battle against zaborosh with Bantai leiev.


    Thinking of this, I stopped and told wittkov: "chief of staff, immediately send a telegram to major Godunov, so that he can quietly withdraw his troops from the present stronghold after dark and turn to Kuban."¡° Yes Vetkov agreed and ran to the telephone to send the message. Kirilov looked at wittkov''s back and asked me anxiously, "Comrade oshanina, if you withdraw major Godunov''s troops from the direction of tokmak, then the enemy can concentrate their forces and press against the line of defense held by major akhromeyev. In the face of repeated attacks by an armored division and an infantry division of the German army, major akhromeyev, can they hold the position? " As for kirilov''s worries, I waved my hand and said with disapproval, "Comrade political commissar, although gordonov''s troops had been in the enemy''s rear for three days. But their role is only to contain and not to completely eliminate the enemy. Based on this consideration, I agreed to bantailiev''s request to let Godunov''s regiment return and quickly move towards Kuban to strengthen the 22nd division of the close guard, which was trapped in a bitter battle there. " Wittkov soon came back from the phone and nodded to me, indicating that the telegram to Godunov had been sent. I was thinking about what to say to him when major Pugachev, the chief of operations, came into the headquarters with a telegram. Seeing his serious face, I knew it was not a good thing, but I politely asked, "Comrade major, what kind of news have you brought us?"¡° Comrade commander, major akhromeyev called "He said that after days of fighting, the 115th regiment lost more than half of its personnel and the 124th regiment lost one third of its casualties. He hopes to get some supplement from us, so that he can delay the enemy for another three days or so. "

 Chapter 906

    In recent days, akhromeyev''s troops have been fighting against the successive attacks of the 11th armored division and the 336th infantry division of the German army. Although he adopted reasonable tactics, the infantry held the position, and at the same time, he concentrated the armored forces and attacked the German army repeatedly, resulting in heavy losses to the German army. However, due to the differences in strength and equipment between the enemy and us, the 115th and 124th regiments, which were firmly in their positions, inevitably suffered a large number of casualties under the enemy''s fierce attack.


    After listening to Pugachev''s report, wittkov asked me anxiously: "Comrade commander, what should we do? Is it right to transfer the 149th regiment up now? "


    Staring at the map in front of me, I began to think about Vitkov''s suggestion. After much deliberation, I found that this was not a good proposal. Once the last remaining regiment of the 171st division was put into battle, the city would become empty. If the German army bypassed our defensive position and made a direct attack on poloi, the city would be in danger of being lost.


    So I slowly shook my head and said to wittkov, "no, comrade chief of staff. Once we put the 149th regiment into combat again, boloi will become an empty city. If the German army bypasses major akhromeyev''s defense area and pours directly on the city, do you think the city can still hold


    "Since the 149th regiment in the city can''t be used, why don''t we give the removed gordonov regiment back to akhromeyev?" Seeing the first proposal, I denied it. Wittkov immediately put forward the second proposal, "although their regiment has suffered a lot of casualties in the fighting these days, their combat effectiveness is still very strong."


    "Comrade chief of staff," although I didn''t want to hurt vetkov''s face, I stubbornly denied his second proposal, "don''t forget that our main goal now is to seize zaborosh as soon as possible. At the moment, the 22nd division of the guards, the tank brigade and the artillery regiment, which are fighting hard in front of them, have been tenaciously blocked by the German army. Without the reinforcement of the troops, they will not be able to break through the German defense line. "


    Seeing that his proposal was repeatedly rejected by me, vetkov became impatient. After walking back and forth in the headquarters for two laps, he stopped and turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, at present, the main force of the group army is progressing smoothly, approaching zaborosh from our north. Since all the friendly forces are in the north of our army, there is no need for the right wing of the 22nd division to defend with another division. I suggest that one regiment be left in huri Abel to defend, and the other two regiments be transferred to the southern suburbs of Kuban and poloi respectively, so as to strengthen the forces of the Bantai leyev division and major ahlomeyev. "


    Although I have been worried about the possibility that the 22nd division of the close guard, which was on the offensive mission, would be cut off by the German army from its flank. However, judging from the series of achievements made by the southwest front army in the past two days, I feel a little worried. After all, our army just won the battle of Stalingrad, but the morale of the German army was low. I even began to doubt my own judgment. Judging from the current situation, our army does not look like it will lose. After all, we have several times more troops than the German army. Even if we trade a few people for another, we will still have a surplus.


    It was because I had doubts about myself that I didn''t refuse wittkov''s new proposal again. Instead, I seriously considered it: since our friendly troops are all in the north, it would be a waste to keep a whole division in the city of Huli Abel. Anyway, I don''t have enough troops now, so I''ll transfer them to solve the current predicament first.


    Just as I was about to answer wittkov''s request, my reason stopped my impulse. My brain seems to have a person constantly saying to me: "before the situation is clear, gurdyev''s 308 division can not be used casually." It was because of this inexplicable voice that my words came to my lips and became something else: "chief of staff, although you have a good point, the 308th division can''t move until the enemy situation is clear."


    When I saw what he wanted to say, I raised my hand to stop him and said, "chief of staff, I plan to go to Kuban to see what''s going on there, and the headquarters will be handed over to you for the time being." Then I lowered my head and asked kirilov politely, "Comrade political commissar, would you like to go to Kuban with me to see the situation there?"


    "All right, comrade oshanina." Kirilov stood up from his position, arranged his uniform, and said decisively, "we have been in the headquarters for too long, so we should go out for a walk."


    As we were sitting in a jeep bound for Kuban, kirilov suddenly asked me in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, may I ask you a question?"


    Although I don''t understand why kirilov said that, I still nodded my head habitually and said, "Comrade political commissar, if you have something, don''t beat around the Bush, just open your mouth."


    Kirilov quickly glanced at the driver in the front row and asked thoughtfully, "just now, Colonel wittkov was right. The main force of the group army has approached zaborosh from the north. That is to say, at present, our army''s right wing is all friendly forces. But why do you want to put a whole division in Huli Abel? What''s more, this division was also an army that made many achievements in the battle of Stalingrad. Why did it set them aside as a garrison


    As for kirilov''s question, I was silent for a long time before I said slowly: "Comrade political commissar, the reason why I decided to let the bibantalyev division be the main force of the army to attack the fortified positions and put the two divisions on the two wings was that they were afraid that they would attack too fast and expose their weak wings to the enemy. Once they were surrounded, they would be able to attack the enemy, There''s a risk of total annihilation. However, judging from the recent fighting situation, I have doubts about my own judgment. Under the continuous attack of our army, the German army has little resistance and is losing. It may not be long before they give up zaborosh and flee to the other side of the Dnieper


    After listening to what I said from the bottom of my heart, kirilov pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Comrade oshanina, do you doubt that our army can win?"


    I nodded my head habitually. Suddenly, I found kirilov''s topic too sensitive. Then I shook my head and replied in a panic: "how can this happen, comrade political commissar. You know, I have never doubted that we will defeat the enemy in the end. What I am worried about is that in the next battle, the German army will adopt the usual tactics, detour back to the two wings of our offensive troops, and cut our troops into two sections. "


    "Comrade o''shanina, your worries are well founded." Kirilov is obviously over optimistic that we will win this campaign. He said confidently: "but at one time and another, our army is taking the initiative in the battlefield. It is impossible for the German army to block our attack with its existing troops. If our attack is not fast enough and other friendly forces rush into zaborosh, you will miss another chance to capture the German marshal. "


    Kirilov''s words filled my heart with a sense of loss. Half a month ago, my troops were only a few blocks away from the headquarters of Paulus. As a result, with the order of the superior, my troops turned north and attacked the German north group, giving a chance to make a great contribution to the 64th army. This time, if the friendly forces rush into zaborosh first, I will be making wedding clothes for others again.


    Thinking of this, I coughed and said to kirilov solemnly: "Comrade political commissar, when we go to Kuban to see the specific situation of the front line, we can decide how to use general gurdyev''s 308 division. You see, is that all right? "


    "I hope you can make the right decision quickly after watching Kuban''s situation." Kirilov said with some gaffe, "if we don''t act fast, our hard work these days will be in vain."


    Bantai leiev, who received the notice, was waiting for us at the entrance of the eastern suburb of the city with several soldiers. Kirilov saw the crowd coming to welcome us. He patted the driver on the shoulder and told him to stop by the side of the road.


    As soon as the jeep stopped, Bantai leiev trotted over and opened the door for me. Without waiting for me to speak, he began to report his work first: "Comrade commander, I will report the current fighting situation to you first."


    I raised my hand to stop what he would say later, and said to myself, "general bantailiev, zaborosh is only tens of kilometers away from us, but what about you? You and your troops, who have been held up by the German army for several days and nights, are still not moving forward


    On hearing my criticism, bantaileiev showed an embarrassed expression on his face. He murmured: "Comrade commander, we have done our best to face the anti-aircraft guns specially used to fight tanks on the enemy''s positions. Our commanders and fighters rushed forward without hesitation. Unfortunately, the enemy''s firepower is too fierce, except for causing certain casualties, There''s no progress at all. "


    I waited for Bantai leiev to finish complaining, and then I said, "Sir, I want to see the situation on the battlefield. Where is your observation post? Take me and the political commissar over."


    As Bantai leiev said it would take at least half an hour to walk to the other end of the city, kirilov and I got back in the car and asked the driver to follow Bantai leiev who was leading us.


    I look through the car window at this city which has just been recovered by us. The buildings on both sides of the street have collapsed most seriously. If I go inside, the buildings scattered all remain intact. It seems that the street battles happened some time ago are mainly concentrated in the buildings on both sides of the street.


    I was just thinking about it when I heard kirilov coughing heavily. Then I heard him ask me, "Comrade o''shanina, I found something wrong with your mood these days. Did you encounter any trouble?"


    I turned to look at kirilov and said with a bitter smile, "Comrade political commissar, you have been working with me for quite a long time. You should know that I like to go to the grass-roots units when the battle is going on. But since I became the commander of the army, I have been in the headquarters every day, commanding the battle according to the battle reports and maps I received, so it is difficult to accurately understand the exact situation on the battlefield. "


    Kirilov listened to me, nodded thoughtfully, and then said to me earnestly, "Comrade oshanina, the senior commander is just like you. He stays in the headquarters every day, looks at the map in front of him, and adjusts his troop deployment and combat plan according to the battle report he receives. You can''t do this. With your ability, you will never end up as a small commander. Maybe you will take on more important positions in the future. So you must get used to the current way of command. After all, you are the commander of an army, not a small company commander. It''s no longer your turn to rush into battle. All you have to do is to command the battle in the headquarters according to the information you have. "


    After our car arrived at the destination, bandeleev led us into a four story building. When walking up the stairs, Bantai leiev took the initiative to introduce himself to me and said, "Comrade commander, my headquarters is located on the fourth floor, from which you can clearly see the overall situation of the battlefield." Standing in front of the gap in the wall, I raised my telescope and looked into the distance: there were craters and charred land left by the explosion everywhere on the white snow, the traces of tank rolling were clearly visible on the snow, and there were piles of tankers left by our army. It may be that the battle is not over for a long time, and the remains of our tanks are still burning. Bantaileiev came up to me, pointed to the German position in the distance, and said to me, "Comrade commander, you have a look. That''s the German artillery position. They changed the 88mm antiaircraft gun to anti tank gun. The tanks we lost were destroyed only after they were hit through the front armor by this kind of antiaircraft gun. " I looked in the direction of his finger and saw the simple artillery position built by the German army in the middle of the snow. It was almost the same 88mm antiaircraft gun. This kind of weapon is really the enemy of our army''s tanks. If we don''t destroy this artillery position, it''s almost impossible to continue to attack forward. I frowned and asked Bantai leiev: "Sir, where did the Germans get so many anti-aircraft guns?" Hearing this question, Bantai leiev shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "sorry, comrade commander, I don''t know. When we attacked Kuban, according to the Scout''s report, there was no enemy artillery position here. When we occupied Kuban and planned to move forward, the enemy''s artillery seemed to come out of the ground and stood in front of us. "

 Chapter 907

    "Do you know the number of German troops and technical equipment on the opposite side?" I looked through my telescope at the German artillery position in the distance, bit my back teeth and asked, "besides these antiaircraft guns, do they have any other artillery positions nearby?" The reason why I asked this question was that I took a chance and thought that if there were no German artillery positions around, I could use lieutenant colonel kaverin''s artillery regiment to take off the enemy''s anti-aircraft artillery positions.


    After I finished asking, I didn''t hear from Bantai leiev. I frowned, put down my telescope, turned to look at Bantai leiev, and asked discontentedly, "Comrade teacher, didn''t you hear my question? Why didn''t you answer me?"


    Bantai leiev replied awkwardly: "Comrade commander, that''s right. Our reconnaissance intelligence was two days ago. At the time of reconnaissance, there were no German artillery positions near here, but it''s hard to say whether there are now. "


    "In this case, comrade bantailiev, should you immediately organize people to scout the enemy''s positions?" After listening to his explanation, I said angrily, "if you want to attack again, you have to find out the enemy''s deployment first, don''t you?"


    Bantai leiev blushed with shame, nodded his head and said, "yes, comrade commander, I''ll arrange people to go to the enemy''s rear for reconnaissance."


    Seeing that he wanted to walk towards the telephone set at the door of the room, I suddenly thought of something. I called him and said, "Mr. Bantai leiev, there is something I need to remind your scouts. Many of our troops have just changed their ranks from the original collar to shoulder bands, so that they can pay attention to identification during reconnaissance, Don''t mistake our troops for Germans. "


    "I understand," Bantai leiev promised with great candour, "I will definitely explain to the scouts, so as to avoid the Oolong incident of regarding my own people as the enemy of the land." At this point, he asked carefully, "Comrade commander, do you think it''s necessary to call Colonel berey and lieutenant colonel cavelin here?"


    I wanted to give my consent, but then I thought that the observation post was facing the enemy''s anti-aircraft artillery position. Although it was several kilometers away, no one knew whether it had been found by the enemy''s artillery observers. If a group of our commanders are meeting here and get two shells, the command system of the army will be completely destroyed. Because of this, I shook my head and replied, "no, sir. For the sake of safety, let them both go to your division headquarters, where we will hold a temporary military meeting later. "


    When kirilov went to make a phone call in bandeleev, he came up to me, raised his telescope and looked into the distance. Then he said to me anxiously, "Comrade oshanina, this anti-aircraft artillery position of the German army should be killed as soon as possible. If we do not eliminate them one day, our troops will not be able to advance to zaborosh."


    Seeing kirilov''s anxious face, I couldn''t help asking him curiously: "Comrade political commissar, why do you think the Germans would deploy such an anti-aircraft artillery position to the west of Kuban? You know, if we have a strong force and complete technical equipment, even if the German anti-aircraft guns are doubled, we can break through their defense line. "


    Kirilov thought for a while and tentatively analyzed: "could it be that the enemy found out our intention to attack zaborosh, so they sent anti-aircraft artillery troops from other places to stop us from rushing to zaborosh?"


    "Comrade political commissar, we have been fighting with the Germans here for several days." I patiently explained to kirilov, "I think the Germans have already guessed clearly where our next attack target is. With this position alone, it is impossible to block our armored assault. I estimate that their intention of setting up this antiaircraft artillery position is to slow down our army''s advance speed, so that Manstein can have enough time to deploy his troops. "


    Kirilov listened to me with a relaxed expression on his face. He said with disdain: "even if Manstein is given a few days to deploy his troops, it still can''t stop the progress of our troops. It just can give those Germans who are hit by us a few more days to survive. According to the progress of the current war situation, in three or five days at most, all the Germans will be driven over the Dnieper River by us. "


    I don''t agree with kirilov''s blind optimism. As soon as he finished, he expressed his own opinion: "Comrade political commissar, I don''t think things are so simple. Some time ago, we were able to go smoothly because Manstein let his subordinates give up some towns on their own initiative, so that when we occupied one town after another, we had to leave troops to defend. In this way, our offensive force gradually weakened after seizing a large number of towns. If Manstein is going to withdraw with his troops across the Dnieper River, how can he set up a temporary Anti-aircraft Artillery Force to take such a defensive posture on our way forward? "


    "Comrade o''shanina, do you mean that the German army has set up a defensive formation in front of us in such an unusual way, is it a conspiracy they want to engage in?" Kirilov quickly recognized what I was saying and said anxiously, "if this is the case, how can we deal with it?"


    "I don''t know." After I casually uttered this sentence, I found that there was something wrong with this statement and quickly corrected it, saying: "I''m just guessing now, and there is no conclusive evidence. We can''t make an accurate judgment until the Scouts of the 22nd division of the close guard give back the information they have detected. "


    We chatted for a while, until Bantai leiev came to report to me that the scouts for the mission had been arranged, and at the same time, we informed Colonel berey and lieutenant colonel kaverin of the meeting at the division headquarters.


    Half an hour later, we returned to a solid building in the center of the city, which was originally the Soviet office building. Although the roof of the building was blown through, it did not affect Bantai leiev''s headquarters here.


    Berey and kaverin arrived earlier than us. When they saw us enter the door, they quickly stood up from their seats, raised their hands and saluted me. At the same time, they reported: "Comrade commander, the commander of the tank brigade (artillery regiment) reported to you that we are ordered to move forward and wait for your instructions!"


    After I raised my hand to salute them, I shook hands with them and asked them to sit down: "please sit down, comrade commander. We are about to hold a military meeting to discuss what actions our army should take in the next operation in order to disrupt the enemy''s deployment. "


    After listening to my words, Colonel berey, who sat down again, complained to me with a bitter smile: "Comrade commander, my tank brigade has four battalions, a total of 110 tanks. In the early stage of the battle, I lost five or six, but this time, I lost one battalion of tanks in vain just to capture Kuban and advance to zaborosh. "


    "Comrade Colonel," I asked berey with a smile after he finished, "if you are allowed to direct this attack, how would you like to play?"


    "Is that true?" After listening to this question, Colonel berey gave me a strange look and said to himself, "of course, concentrate all the tanks to attack quickly, and the infantry in the truck will follow. Once the tanks break through the German lines, our infantry can get out of the car to occupy the trenches and expand the breach. "


    "Yes, comrade Colonel, you are very thoughtful." In order not to attack Colonel berey''s mood, I followed his words and said, "this German antiaircraft artillery position has completely blocked our way forward. If you want to continue to pounce on zaborosh, you must first seize the enemy''s position. "


    After listening to my thoughts, bielei nodded seriously and then asked, "Comrade commander, do you have any new orders?"


    "The current situation of the enemy is not clear. We know nothing about the enemy except for the anti-aircraft artillery array to the west of Kuban." Although I also want to rush to zaborosh as soon as possible, I don''t want to take risks easily until I have a clear idea of the enemy''s situation, so I seriously said to berey, "Comrade Colonel, we need to wait until the scouts have a clear idea of the enemy''s troop deployment before we adjust the offensive department."


    "Comrades commander," kaverin, who had not spoken for a long time, finally summoned up his courage and asked, "what is the task of our artillery regiment? Or is it to increase the necessary artillery support for the troops when they attack? "


    Instead of answering kaverin''s question, I turned the topic aside and asked, "Comrade commander, how many guns do you still have in your regiment and how about the ammunition?"


    "Report to the commander." when I asked about the number of cannons and ammunition, kaverin quickly straightened up and said to me, "we still have 24 cannons left in our regiment, each with two bases." Speaking of this, he said to me with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, I don''t know when the supplementary ammunition will arrive? You know, at present, this kind of shell can only provide artillery support for infantry once at most. As soon as the shells are out, we can only stand behind and watch the excitement in the next battle. An artillery regiment without big guns is not as good as an infantry battalion. "


    "About the shells, I will contact the Logistics Department of the group army and ask them to transport the supplementary shells as soon as possible." After I finished these two sentences, I asked kaverin with some embarrassment: "Comrade commander, if you have enough ammunition, can you eliminate this anti-aircraft artillery position that is blocking our way forward?"


    Hearing my question, carvelling instinctively looked left and right, and then a proud expression appeared on his face. He confidently said to me: "Comrade commander, as long as there are enough shells, it''s only a small matter to kill the anti-aircraft artillery position on the opposite side. Those 88mm anti-aircraft guns are OK to fight planes in the sky or tanks running on the ground. They are not qualified to compete with our cannons. "


    Kaverin''s words caused a lot of laughter, and the atmosphere in the room became relaxed. At this time, a familiar voice came from the door: "everyone is laughing happily! Tell me what''s good, and I''ll be happy. "


    I looked in the direction of the sound and saw a commander in a military coat and a gray cylindrical leather hat at the door. In the dim light, I narrowed my eyes for a long time before I recognized that the person who came in was Mr. oberstein, the political commissar who took over kirilov''s post.


    Oberstein walked into the room and was stunned to see so many people there. When he recognized kirilov and I sitting at the table, he quickly stepped forward to us and raised his hand to salute us.


    I raised my hand and asked with a smile, "how are you, commander oberstein. Long time no see. Where did you just come back from? "


    "Report to the commander." although oberstein is now the political commissar of the division, he is still respectful in front of me: "commander Elia and I went to each regiment to learn about the political and ideological work in the army."


    After listening to his reply, I nodded, pointed to an empty seat nearby, and said politely, "please sit down, comrade commander. We are meeting to discuss how to break through the German position and seize zaborosh as soon as possible. I''d like to hear if you have any good suggestions. " I just asked casually out of politeness, but after listening, oberstein immediately stood up from his seat, straightened up and said, "report to the commander, I have an idea. I don''t know whether to say it or not?"¡° Go ahead, comrade commander. " When I saw oberstein standing up from his seat, I remembered that although he was a political worker, he had a lot of military talent. So I encouraged him with a friendly tone and said, "tell us what you think and let us evaluate whether it is feasible." Oberstein agreed, and then began to talk about his views: "Comrade commander, I think that with the strength of the 22nd division of the guards, even if we break through the German anti-aircraft artillery position, it is very difficult to occupy zaborosh in a short period of time. It may turn into a seesaw war like Stalingrad."¡° Why? " His statement immediately aroused my interest, so I couldn''t help interrupting¡° After continuous fighting and two divisions, the current strength of the 22nd Division has been greatly reduced. " Oberstein did not hide his point of view. He said frankly: "it''s hard to capture a city like Kuban with such forces and equipment, not to mention zaborosh, a city with an important German command system. There must be a heavy German guard there. The whole division''s sacrifice is a small matter, but if it affects the whole campaign, the consequences will be very serious. "

 Chapter 908

    After listening to oberstein''s words, I nodded in agreement, and then asked seriously: "commander oberstein, what do you think we should do to make the 22nd division of the close guard recover and win zaborosh''s strength?"


    Before answering my question, oberstein glanced at bantaileiev, who seemed to be asking for advice. I saw bantaileiev nodding slightly with an almost imperceptible gesture, and then oberstein went on to say, "I think the priority is to let the two regiments transferred from our division return. Even if the two regiments can''t be built at the same time, it''s better to let major Godunov''s new third regiment be built first. "


    I think the reason why oberstein said this was that he had to be angry with bandeleev in advance, so he didn''t beat around the Bush and said directly, "don''t worry, political commissar oberstein. Long before I came here, I had ordered major Godunov to withdraw his troops from the "landing site" near Tokamak overnight and return to Kuban. As for the old third regiment of Colonel kosga, they are not allowed to use their troops because they are responsible for defending the logistic supply lines of our army. "


    When I said that, oberstein and bandeleev looked at each other, with a satisfied smile on their faces. Seeing their reaction, I knew I had guessed the truth. But on second thought, it''s not bad. As long as they can cooperate closely, it will be helpful to lead the 22nd division well.


    The next topic to be discussed at the meeting is how to clear the enemy''s artillery position. After listening to your speeches, I stood up, pointed to a temporary sketch on the table, and said solemnly: "this artillery position of the German army is just stuck in our throat leading to zaborosh. If we don''t take it here, we can''t push forward any more.


    Let''s see how much threat this defensive area, which is composed of many civil fire points, anti tank trenches, barbed wire and concealed anti-aircraft gun firing positions, poses to us. If we only send tanks and infantry to attack this position, we will not be able to seize it even if we pay a huge price. Therefore, I decided that before the formal attack, our artillery should saturate the enemy''s position and destroy the anti-aircraft guns arranged by the enemy, so that our tank brigade can safely cover the infantry, attack forward and successfully seize the position. "


    "Comrade commander," I said. Lieutenant commander kaverin quickly stood up and reminded me, "I have just reported to you that there are only two bases left in the army''s ammunition, and it is impossible to achieve saturation artillery attack on the enemy''s positions."


    As for cavelin''s worry, I said to him with a smile: "Comrade commander, don''t worry about the shells. I believe the superior will send them to us soon. Moreover, our attack will not start until noon tomorrow or the morning after tomorrow at the fastest. You have enough time to wait for the shells to arrive. "


    After the meeting, kirilov and I did not leave, but stayed here waiting for the report of the Scout. After all, this is the old army of both of us. When we stay here, we feel like going home.


    When we were having dinner, bantailiev asked kirilov with some embarrassment: "old man, I heard that major akhromeyev held the post of chief of staff and chief of intelligence in the army?"


    "Yes, comrade bandeleev, your information is absolutely correct." Kirilov replied with a smile: "in addition to being the director of double materials, he is now commanding almost a division of troops, fighting tenaciously in the southern suburbs of boloi, with the 11th German armored division and the 336th German infantry division, who are trying to capture the city."


    "What? One of our divisions is going to deal with an armored division of the German army and an infantry division, old man. Am I right? " As for kirilov''s words, bantailiev seemed to have some disbelief. He asked unconvinced: "it''s OK for major akhromeyev to be a staff officer. It''s estimated that he will suffer a great loss if he is allowed to command the army."


    "Mr. bantailiev," I felt very uncomfortable about bantailiev''s skeptical comments on akhromeyev, so I retorted impolitely: "I handed over the command of the southern suburb troops to major akhromeyev. Judging from the fighting in recent days, he performed very well. It not only severely damaged the 15th Armored Regiment of the German army, but also killed a large number of officers and men of the 336th infantry division of the German army, so that the German army spent a few days trapped in the southern suburbs, unable to pose a threat to the city of poloi that we occupied. "


    Just when Bantai leiev was blushing with shame at my accusation, the chief of staff of the division, lieutenant commander Elia, came in in a hurry, raised a piece of paper in his hand and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, the intelligence sent back by the scouts."


    I heard Elijah say so. Instead of immediately rising to pick up the telegram in his hand, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I found that the pointer had just pointed to seven. Normally, the reconnaissance troops are sent out after dark. If they want to get the information back, they have to wait until the second half of the night. How can they get the information back so early? Thinking of this, I asked curiously, "commander Elia, the Scout should have just been sent out, but how come there is a telegram? Are you sure there is no mistake? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Commander Elia asked me to ask him in a suspicious tone and quickly explained, "this information is just sent back by our scouts."


    When I heard him say this, I frowned and was about to have an attack. Oberstein next to me quickly explained to me, "Comrade commander, please be calm. I''ll tell you what''s going on. After we found the enemy''s artillery positions, we sent a number of reconnaissance teams to infiltrate the enemy''s rear quietly to spy on military intelligence or do some damage. This intelligence should have been sent back by one of them. Comrade chief of staff, what does the telegram say? " His last sentence was addressed to lieutenant commander Elia.


    Elia looked down at the telegram and reported to us the intelligence reported by the Scouts: "we found a small village occupied by the German army about four kilometers behind the anti-aircraft artillery position. After we sneaked into the village, we didn''t see a villager except the German soldiers who appeared from time to time. After our careful observation, we found that all the villagers in the village were killed by the German army, and their bodies were casually thrown at the mass grave


    "Touch!" Before Elijah finished reading, kirilov, who was opposite me, was so angry that he began to clap his case. He angrily scolded: "animals, animals, these damned Krauts are not human beings. They actually started the business of slaughtering civilians."


    "Comrade political commissar, remember this blood debt well. One day, we will ask the Germans to repay this blood debt." I was afraid kirilov would lose his temper because of this incident, so I stopped him in time and said politely: "as long as the scouts can find out the deployment of the German forces, we can launch another attack soon."


    After what I said, bantaileiev, oberstein and others also denounced the crimes committed by the German army. Kirilov, who has always been relatively calm, also said angrily: "as long as I catch this damned German, I will shoot them all."


    As we were talking, another staff officer came through the door. He handed a new telegram to Elijah, and then turned away. Elijah looked down at the telegram, then looked up at me and said, "Comrade commander, the scouts have made a great discovery."


    "A great discovery?" Puzzled, I asked, "is there any significant discovery in the telegram?"


    Elia continued: "the scouts found the German airfield three kilometers southwest of zaborosh. In addition to a few fighters, there is also a FW-200 large four engine aircraft. According to the situation of the defense around the plane, it seems that a great person has come, because the SS soldiers in black uniforms are standing guard around the plane. And the police force at the airport is on high alert. "


    "Comrade commander, tell me what kind of big man you are going to be?" "Judging by the presence of the SS in the troops on duty, I think the people who come here are at least commanders above the division level," oberstein asked cautiously


    "Chief of staff, call back the reconnaissance team and ask them to find out the enemy''s troop number as soon as possible." I heard that there was a big man in zaborosh. My first reaction was that he was at least equal to Manstein, otherwise he would not turn a blind eye to the troops at the airport¡° If possible, let them grab a "tongue" and come back. We need to figure out what big people are coming. It can make a panicked army so capable of fighting, and block us from advancing in our present position. "


    After Elijah left, bantailiev complained to me: "Comrade commander, at this time, some important people come to zaborosh to inspect. Will the German Army take big actions next?"


    "You''re right, comrade bandeleev." The reaction of the German army is unusual. If there is no conspiracy, it is impossible. My purpose of letting the scouts grasp the "tongue" is to find out what big people are coming and why they appear in zaborosh at this time. Did they set a trap for us¡° If I''m not mistaken, if it wasn''t for the appearance of this great man, the German defense line would have collapsed long ago. The remaining troops that have not been destroyed by us must be racing against the clock to cross the Dnieper River and flee to the place they think is safe. "


    "Comrade o''shanina, who do you think is here?" Although kirilov had always been steady, he was also a little uneasy at the moment. He asked anxiously, "can they command the army of Manstein?"


    As for kirilov''s question, I shook my head with a bitter smile and said, "Comrade political commissar, I don''t know that either. However, according to my analysis, the person who can improve the security level of the airport must be an important person. That''s why I told the scouts to come back with a tongue. "


    While we were waiting for the new telegram, Bantai leiev suddenly said to me, "Comrade commander, I have an idea. Can we send a small team to the enemy''s rear quietly to attack the airport. If you can capture this mysterious big man alive, you''d better kill him if you can''t. "


    "Mr. bantailiev''s suggestion is good, I agree with it." As soon as bantailiev finished, kirilov began to express his support.


    In fact, even if bandeleev doesn''t make this suggestion and kirilov doesn''t agree, I''m going to do it. This mysterious great man, at least a man of the same level as Manstein, can cause great losses to the German army as long as he is killed, and our harvest is no less than winning a small-scale battle. So when I saw that everyone''s eyes were focused on me, I nodded and said decisively, "I also agree with Mr. bantailiev''s proposal. When the Scout sends back the prisoner''s" tongue "and finds out who it is, we immediately send troops to attack the German airport."

 Chapter 909

    The new third regiment, which was supposed to arrive at Kuban in the middle of the night, did not arrive at the designated position within the prescribed time. Seeing that the new third regiment was not in place, I was dissatisfied with major Godunov and directly told commander Ilya, chief of staff of the division, "Comrade commander, go and send a telegram to major Godunov to ask where his new third regiment has gone and why it has not arrived in Kuban?"


    Ilya was ordered to contact Godunov. After a while, he returned to the headquarters and gave me a telegram. At the same time, he reported: "report to the commander, major Godunov said in his telegram that his troops had just left the" landing site "when they were besieged by the superior German forces. The troops could only fight and retreat and re-enter the original position. The current situation is that the enemy can''t get in and they can''t get out. "


    Although Elia had reported the contents of the telegram to me, I took it to my eyes and read it carefully several times. Finally, he handed the telegram to Bantai leiev, who came by, and said with regret: "Comrade division, according to this telegram from major Godunov, it is possible that the new third regiment will not be able to take part in the battle of seizing zaborosh."


    Bantaileiev took the telegram, looked at it, handed it to oberstein, and then asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, can you let lieutenant colonel kosga''s" pa! " Seeing that the German prisoners were so arrogant, bantaileiev slapped the table angrily, raised his voice and continued to ask, "tell me your name, rank and position in the army."


    However, the leader of the SS squadron was quite stubborn. He still ignored gretka''s translation. He just sneered at ryev.


    Bantaileiev trembled with anger at the prisoner''s non cooperation, and his hands trembled involuntarily. I watched the scene calmly, wondering if bandeleev would send someone in to drag the SS prisoner out and shoot him if I didn''t sit next to him.


    Bantaileiev repeated the original question several times, but the prisoner still ignored it. Seeing that Bantai leiev is on the verge of violence, I think it''s time for me to come out, at least to help Bantai leiev. Thinking of this, I stood up, walked slowly to the prisoner''s side and stopped. After looking him up and down, I have to admit that the Aryan blood is good. Almost all men are handsome.


    Seeing that I was looking at myself, the prisoner turned his eyes on me. When his eyes swept from my badge, his disdainful expression immediately converged, and then he straightened up and said something respectfully to me.


    Although I have learned German with the commanders and soldiers who know German for a few days, I really can''t understand this fast speaking German. So I had to turn to major gretka in the back for help.


    The second lieutenant noticed him, stood up quickly, straightened up and reported to me, "Comrade commander, is he asking if you are general o''shanina? He said he had heard about you for a long time, and you are one of the commanders he worships most. "


    "Yes, Mr. squadron leader, level three." Since the other party recognized me, I did not hide my identity: "I am major general oshanina, commander of the 79th infantry army of the Soviet Red Army. Can you tell me your name, rank and position?"


    The prisoner hesitated for a moment, and then answered aloud. Gretka interpreted in a timely manner: "Sir, my name is Schmidt. I''m the commander of the third SS commando squadron. I''m the communication staff of the" skeleton "armored infantry division."


    When I learned his identity, I was very happy. I didn''t expect that this guy was actually a communications adviser of the SS. I could get a lot of useful information from him. As soon as he finished, I immediately asked, "tell me, your honor, commando squadron leader, what did you do to finish the airport?"


    I also know that I can''t get any reply when I ask this question. What happened next was exactly what I expected. Schmidt looked at me without saying a word and didn''t want to answer me at all.


    Seeing his expression, I knew that it would be more difficult for me to get useful information from him according to the conventional interrogation method than to go to heaven. Therefore, I had to go to another way to get the proper effect.


    I stood in the same place and thought for a moment. Then I asked schumidter with a smile: "Sir, have you seen Hitler''s my struggle?"


    When I heard this question, not only gretka, a translator, was stunned, but also bantailiev and oberstein, who were in charge of the trial, were stunned. No one expected me to ask this question. In fact, this is also a trial technique. If you ask any questions directly, you may be perfunctory. Now, I''m deliberately moving the topic to a place where the wind and the horse are not in touch, so as to distract the prisoner''s attention, so that we can have a chance to know what we want to know from his mouth.


    After hearing my question, Schmidt nodded his head vigorously: "is that true, sir? In our country, almost all children who are literate have read this book. "


    "Very good!" Seeing that schumidter''s attention was attracted by me, I thought to myself and then said, "Hitler is a great man. It took him only a few years to make Germany grow rapidly from a defeated country to a world power. Are you right, sir, the squadron leader of the third level commando? "


    Schumidte was obviously confused by my wild questioning. When he heard me ask him, he nodded his head and showed a confused expression on his face.

 Chapter 910

    "Comrade oshanina, this is..." my abnormal behavior caused kirilov''s doubt. He stood up from his seat to ask what happened, so that I asked some inexplicable questions.


    I didn''t wait for him to finish, then I raised my hand to stop what he said later, and continued to say Hitler''s good words to Schmidt. When I found out that the other party had been led by my nose, I suddenly asked, "your honor, the squadron leader of the third level commando team, I have one thing I don''t understand. You SS are not around the head of state to protect his safety. What are you doing in zaborosh?"


    After listening to gretka''s translation, Schmidt said unconvinced: "who said we don''t protect the head of state, we are not carrying out this task now..." when he said that, he suddenly found that he had let slip, and then he closed his mouth wisely. However, it was too late. After his words were translated by gretka, everyone in the audience heard them.


    Bantaileiev stood up and waved to adir to take the prisoner down. After the demoralized prisoner was taken away, bantaileiev said excitedly: "Comrade commander, do you think the prisoner''s words are possible? Would Hitler come to zaborosh at such a time? "


    After he asked, everyone in the room focused on me, waiting for me to answer. To tell you the truth, I don''t know if Hitler has ever been to zaborosh. However, the information about his coming to zaborosh was just blurted out by the German prisoners when they were unprepared. It should not be false.


    Thinking of this, I said word by word: "comrades of commanders, I think the information that this prisoner inadvertently disclosed is accurate, and Hitler may appear in zaborosh at this time."


    As soon as I finished, bantaileiev retorted: "Comrade commander, you must know that under the joint attack of our two front forces, the German army is in danger. If I guessed correctly, the German headquarters in zaborosh was ready to retreat. Would Hitler come here at such a time, at great risk? I don''t think it''s possible. "


    After listening to bantaileiev''s words, both kirilov and oberstein nodded in agreement, indicating that they agreed with his statement. I didn''t speak. I just looked at gretka and asked softly, "Comrade lieutenant, what do you think of this?"


    Gretka, who had been standing at the table, heard my question, straightened up her waist and replied in a loud voice, "report, comrade commander, I think your analysis is correct."


    I didn''t know why gretka believed my judgment so much, so I said to him in a friendly way, "Comrade lieutenant, give me your reasons."


    "Report to the commander," gretka said respectfully, "I think the Fuehrer..." I heard him use the honorific title to Hitler. I could not help frowning and coughing. Gretka heard my cough and immediately said, "I think the reason why Hitler appeared in zaborosh at this time may be related to our army''s capture of Kharkov. You have to know that it is an important industrial city in Ukraine. Hitler knows what will happen if it is captured by the Soviet army, so he came here mostly to let Manstein discuss how to take back the city. "


    After listening to gretka''s analysis, I nodded with satisfaction. I didn''t expect that the defected German officer could analyze the matter so thoroughly in a few words. I must reuse him in the future. I turned to kirilov and they said, "have you all heard lieutenant gretka''s analysis? I think what he said is very reasonable. " Seeing that Bantai leiev''s face was full of shame, I quickly comforted him and said, "of course, general Bantai leiev''s analysis is reasonable. Our army conquered Kharkov, and the two front armies oppressed the German army on the East Bank of the Dnieper River. Maybe Manstein was packing his bags and preparing to escape. "


    When I said this, everyone burst into laughter. After the laughter stopped, bandeleev asked me, "Comrade commander, if our judgment is correct and Hitler is really in zaborosh, do we need to report this to the higher authorities?"


    "Comrade bantailiev," without waiting for me to speak, kirilov, the political commissar next to him, had already preempted his speech and said, "is that still necessary? Of course, report to the superior. It is unrealistic for us to rush into zaborosh and capture Hitler alive with our present forces. We need to report the matter to the higher authorities, and let the group army send friendly troops to cooperate with us in seizing the city. Are you right, comrade oshanina? " His last words were addressed to me.


    "Yes, comrade political commissar, this information needs to be reported immediately." After that, I told Bantai leiev: "Comrade division commander, immediately use your radio to send a report to the group army headquarters, report Hitler''s possible information in zaborosh to commander haridonov, and ask him to send friendly troops to help us capture zaborosh."


    "Yes After Bantai leiev agreed, he turned around and told his chief of staff, "commander Ilya, do you hear the commander''s order? Immediately send a telegram to the headquarters of the group army and report the situation detected to the higher authorities. "


    When Elia went to telegraph next door, I tried to control my mood and walked back and forth in the room, thinking about whether to transfer the 308th division to zaborosh with the 22nd division. If Hitler could be captured or killed alive, it would be a real miracle. In contrast, the credit for the capture of Paulus is not worth mentioning.


    When I was thinking about how to deploy the troops of the two divisions, Elijah came back from the communication room next door. When he came in, he handed me a telegram and said, "Comrade commander, this is a telegram from the headquarters of the group army."


    When I saw that Colonel Elia''s face was particularly ugly, I felt a sense of uncertainty in my heart. I guessed that something must have gone wrong. Take the telegram you just received to your eyes and check it carefully. It made me tremble with anger. It said: "absurd, it''s just ridiculous. General oshanina, I don''t know who instilled such wrong information into you. In a day or two at most, the German troops under the command of Manstein will be driven across the Dnieper River by us. Hitler is not a fool. How could he be in zaborosh in this situation. If your scout told you about this, I suggest you shoot him immediately. Maybe he is a spy sent by the German. He may spread false information to you. " The last signature is: commander of the 6th group army, haridonov.


    After reading the telegram, I quickly walked to the table and heavily patted the telegram on the table. Regardless of the strict rank of the army, I angrily said to a group of my subordinates, "look at what commander haridonov''s telegram says?" With that, I sat down in my own position.


    After reading the telegram, kirilov asked cautiously, "Comrade oshanina, since the commander said so, what are you going to do next?"


    "What can we do, what else can we do?" I said angrily: "since the group army headquarters does not believe our report and does not send troops to assist, we will do it ourselves. I immediately ordered major general gurdyev to transfer his troops to Kuban, and as soon as daylight came, I immediately launched an attack on the German position to the West. After seizing the position and then continuing to assault zaborosh, I don''t believe that with the strength of two divisions and the support of the tank brigade and artillery regiment, I can''t capture the city. "


    "Comrade commander, I have different views." After reading the telegram, Bantai leiev handed it to oberstein and said to me solemnly, "even if we can successfully break through the artillery positions in the western suburbs of the city, Hitler may have escaped by plane before we launched an attack on zaborosh. In that case, it would be meaningless for us to launch an attack. Instead of doing so, it is better to send an army first to seize the enemy''s airport and completely cut off Hitler''s retreat. "


    I was sulking at harritonov''s telegram. When I heard bantailiev''s words, I couldn''t help shivering. I thought it was dangerous. If he hadn''t reminded me, I would have ignored Hitler''s flight from the battlefield. When we attack the artillery positions in the western suburbs of Kuban, we can''t fight down in a short time. When we capture the enemy''s positions and advance towards zaborosh, Hitler and Manstein will have enough time to escape by plane.


    Thinking of this, I stood up and said to Elijah politely, "Comrade commander, please go and invite sergeant adir, the scout, in. I''ll ask him about the distribution of German forces at the airport."


    Elia agreed, turned and walked out of the headquarters to find sergeant adir. Kirilov, as a commissar of the armed forces and politics, did not think about military issues, but political issues. As soon as Elia left, he cautiously asked me, "Comrade oshanina, although your report has not attracted the attention of commander haridonov, should we report this to other commanders at a higher level?"


    A higher level commander? When I heard this word, I was stunned for a moment, and then I realized that kirilov asked me to report this to vatujing, commander of the front army. I nodded and said with approval, "Comrade political commissar, what you said is reasonable. This matter is of the greatest concern, and must be reported to the higher authorities. Since commander haridonov does not believe in our intelligence, he should send a telegram to general vatukin, commander of the front army, to report this matter and see what his attitude is. "


    As commander Elia went out to find sergeant adir, he didn''t know when to answer, so oberstein took the initiative to send a message to the next telegraph room. Looking at oberstein''s back, I felt more and more uneasy. I thought to myself, what should I do if vatukin doesn''t believe our information and doesn''t allow us to attack zaborosh?


    "Comrade commander," I was just thinking, when I heard Bantai leiev calling me. Looking up, I saw him standing opposite me, leaning forward, with his hands on the edge of the table, as if he was looking at the map in front of me. I quickly turned my eyes to the map, waiting for him to continue. When he saw that my attention had been attracted by him, he went on to say, "you see, on the north side of our army, there are five divisions under the group army, but they are not used together. Instead, they are evenly distributed on the wide Ukrainian plain. In this way, it is difficult for the troops to form a strong ability to attack key positions; Once the enemy strikes back, the troops will be broken one by one. "


    I carefully looked at the place that bantaileiev pointed to with his hand. According to the situation marked by the red and blue pencils on the picture, as he said, several divisions, which were originally powerful, are now laid flat on the attack front nearly 200 kilometers wide, and the troops have no defense depth and no reserves. Once the German forces concentrate their forces to attack one of them, It''s going to throw the whole force into chaos.


    Elia took adier back to the headquarters. Without waiting for adier to raise his hand to salute us, I called him to the table and asked him kindly, "Comrade sergeant, have you finished the reconnaissance of the airport?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Adir answered me positively: "we had completed the reconnaissance of zaborosh airport before we captured the German prisoners."¡° Let''s talk about the situation. " I said faintly. At the same time, I felt a lot more confident. As long as our scout''s work on the airport is completed, the next battle will be easy to fight¡° According to our reconnaissance, the German army probably has two companies of national defense forces and a platoon of SS in the airport. " Adil replied in accordance with the regulations: "at the entrance of the airport, there is a tank and two machine gun fire points. In the airport, there are three patrols of ten people who are patrolling continuously... "When adir told us about the situation of the airport, I asked," sergeant, if we want to send troops to attack the airport, how many troops do you think we need to send? " Adil listened to my question, frowned and thought about it, and then replied, "Comrade commander, if our troops can have a tank company and two infantry companies, I think it''s no problem to win the airport."¡° Oh, comrade sergeant, how can you be so confident? " I didn''t expect Adil to be so confident that he could not help but ask him curiously, "can you tell us the reason?"¡° Comrade commander, according to my observation, due to the limited area of the airport, the Garrison''s dormitory is next to the fuel depot and ammunition depot. As long as our assault tank troops accurately hit these two targets and detonate the fuel depot and ammunition depot, how much do you think the enemy can have left after the violent explosion? "

 Chapter 911

    After adir finished, Bantai leiev coughed gently, and then said to me respectfully, "Comrade commander, I have two plans. Do you want to hear them?"


    "Go ahead, comrade bandeleev." I didn''t expect Bantai leiev would give me some advice. After a little consternation, he soon returned to normal and encouraged him with a friendly tone, saying, "you know, I will definitely give you division to finish the task of attacking the airport. Now that you have a complete attack plan, let''s talk about it. Let''s study it and see if there is anything that needs to be improved. "


    Bantailiev pointed to the map and said to me, "Comrade commander, the first plan, which you just mentioned, is to concentrate our division and gurdyev division to launch a fierce attack on the German anti-aircraft artillery position on the west side of Kuban. Once the breakthrough is completed, the troops will take advantage of the situation and rush to zaborosh to seize the city; Second, when our two divisions attacked German positions in turn, they sent an elite detachment to bypass the enemy''s positions and plunge directly into the German airfield. As long as we capture the German airfield, it will cut off Hitler''s retreat. When we launch the final attack on zaborosh, Hitler and Manstein have only two choices: one is to lead the troops to retreat to the opposite side of the Dnieper River; the other is to lead the troops to retreat to the opposite side of the Dnieper River; The other is to remain in the city as our prisoner


    As for the two plans put forward by bantailiev, I nodded noncommittally, secretly comparing the advantages and disadvantages of the two plans. After thinking for a moment, we found that the two schemes have their own shortcomings. Although the first plan is safe, it is a waste of time. Who knows how long it will take our troops to seize the German artillery positions and how long it will take them to reach zaborosh? When we attack the city, the cauliflower will be cold. Maybe Hitler will be gone. The second plan is a bit risky. There are more troops going to attack the airport, which is easy to expose our intention in advance; There are fewer people going to the airport, and we can''t quickly destroy the garrison at the airport. As soon as the German army in the city comes out to meet us, our team will be in danger of being destroyed.


    Without waiting for me to give Bantai leiev a definite answer, oberstein, who went to the telegraph room next door, came back. He didn''t come back alone, and was followed by lieutenant razumeyeva, the company commander of division communication company I was familiar with. When I saw the two men appear in the headquarters at the same time, I had a sense of foreboding. When they came to me and stopped, I asked sternly, "commander oberstein, what''s the matter? Why did you call lieutenant razumeyeva? "


    Oberstein''s mouth twitched for a moment, then handed me a telegram paper and said in a helpless tone: "Comrade commander, this is the reply from the headquarters of the front army. They also did not believe that Hitler would appear in zaborosh at this time and ordered our army to temporarily stop all military operations and stay in place to cover the left wing of the friendly forces, so as to prevent the German armored forces deployed in the Tokamak area from attacking our flanks. "


    When I heard that my report was questioned, my blood rushed to my head and I was so angry that I slapped it on the table. Originally, I wanted to scold these arrogant superiors, but when I saw that there were all my subordinates around, I swallowed these words back. I could only sit in my own position and sulk.


    "Comrade oshanina," after a while, I heard kirilov''s voice ring in my ear and quickly turned to look at him. Kirilov saw that I had noticed him and went on, "what are you going to do next? Do you follow the instructions of your superiors and simply ensure the flanks of the friendly forces, or do you have other plans? "


    Instead of answering kirilov, I looked up at oberstein standing in front of me. Normally, oberstein was only ordered to send a telegram to the communication room next door. No matter how the superior replied, he would come back alone. There''s no need to bring the company commander. He must have some ideas when he does this. I have to figure out what''s going on. So I asked, "Comrade commander, I want to ask you, why did you think of calling lieutenant razumeyeva?"


    "Comrade commander, with all due respect." Oberstein said to me with a smile: "as far as I know, in the face of such a good fighter, no matter what the superior said, you will not give up easily." Seeing that I nodded in agreement with his statement, he went on to say, "since neither the group army nor the headquarters of the front army believe your report, then we can go beyond the ranks to report it to the higher leaders."


    Oberstein''s words brightened my eyes. Yes, haridonov and vatukin didn''t believe my report because they didn''t understand me. If I could report this information to the senior commander I am familiar with, it would be a different picture. Thinking of this, I stood up, went to razumeyeva, reached for her arms, and asked softly, "Lieutenant, can you still contact Marshal Zhukov''s radio station?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Razumeyeva respectfully replied: "I still have a communication channel with the Soviet marshal, which can send the latest information to the Marshal''s headquarters."


    "In that case, comrade lieutenant," I urged her with two gentle slaps of my hands on her arm, "go back to the telegraph room immediately and send another copy of the information we have to Marshal Zhukov."


    "Please rest assured that I will complete the task." Razumeyeva raised her hand to salute me, then turned and left. In order to grasp the situation in time, Elia, chief of staff of the division, walked out of the headquarters behind razumeyeva.


    After they left, the rest of us sat at the table, no one spoke, thinking about their own thoughts in silence. At this time, I felt a bug flying around in front of my left eye. I raised my hand to drive it away and scolded in a low voice.


    Kirilov heard my curse and asked with concern, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the matter?"


    "Nothing, comrade political commissar." As I continued to wave away the mosquitoes flying around in front of my left eyes, I replied, "there is a disgusting mosquito, always flying around in front of me."


    "Mosquitoes?" When I said that, kirilov''s face showed a look of surprise. He asked in surprise, "my God, this mosquito is so tenacious. The temperature of minus 20 degrees didn''t freeze it to death."


    Oberstein, who saw me waving, put his head together and tried to help me get rid of the annoying mosquitoes. But after looking at it for a while, he asked me in surprise: "Comrade commander, I didn''t see any mosquitoes?"


    "I''ve been flying around in front of my eyes. Don''t you see that?" When I just wanted to show them where the damned mosquitoes were, the mosquitoes that were always flying in front of me disappeared.


    "Comrade commander," bantailiev saw that I had stopped repelling mosquitoes, and asked me again, "if the Soviet Marshal agreed to our request, which plan should we adopt to deal with the German airport?"


    "Comrade bantailiev, your two plans are very good, but they are far from perfect." I politely said to bandeleev: "the first plan takes too long, and it is not likely to achieve the desired results; The second plan is too risky. If the small team attacking the airport can not seize the airport in the shortest time, they may be besieged by the superior German troops who come from the city to reinforce them. "


    After I finished, Bantai leiev asked carefully, "then, comrade commander, do you have any good plan?"


    "I have a plan. Let''s talk about it." As for how to seize the enemy''s airport, I personally prefer to take advantage of intelligence rather than attack by force. Therefore, the plan I have put forward is mainly based on sneak attack: "I intend to send a unit to disguise as a German unit to sneak attack the enemy''s airport. In any case, we have seized a lot of German materials in the past few days of fighting, among which there should be a lot of their military uniforms, which can be used for purposes. "


    "Comrade commander, is this necessary?" As for my plan, bantaileiev first expressed his opposition, "the number of German troops in the airport is limited. As long as we send out a battalion or so of troops, coupled with a tank company, we can easily seize the airport. Why do we have to disguise ourselves to sneak attack?"


    As for Bantai leiev''s doubts, I patiently explained to him: "Comrade division, although the number of garrison at the airport is small, their combat effectiveness can not be underestimated. You know, our scouts were not weak in combat, but they had an encounter with the garrison at the airport. After the war, only sergeant adir and another soldier got out of danger. If we make a strong attack, once we can''t take down the airport in the shortest time, and when German reinforcements rush in from the city, our troops will fall into an embarrassing situation. How many people will come back alive by then is an unknown number. "


    When I heard that the troops attacking the airport might be surrounded by German superior forces because they could not occupy the airport in a short period of time, bantaileiev was silent.


    Oberstein saw that bantaileiev did not speak, so he quickly came out of the fight: "Comrade commander, which army do you plan to carry out the sneak attack? You should know that Godunov''s troops are still dragged by the Germans near Tokamak, so they can''t be transferred out in a short time. "


    "Comrade political commissar, what''s your opinion?" Before answering oberstein''s question, I habitually turned around and asked kirilov, "which army do you think is suitable for this task?"


    When kirilov saw that I had given him the difficult problem, he gave a smile and then replied, "Comrade commander, the combat effectiveness of the military and police barracks is good at present. I suggest that two companies be drawn from them and another company be drawn from the reconnaissance battalion to form a mixed battalion to carry out the task of this sneak attack."


    I heard kirilov say this, nodded with satisfaction, and then added: "the strength of the guard battalion and the reconnaissance battalion alone may be a little weak. I suggest that two more companies be transferred from gurdyev division. In addition, the tank company cooperating with the operation will seize the enemy''s airport, so there will be no big problem. "


    "I agree." As soon as I finished, kirilov expressed his support in time: "I believe that with such a force, there is no problem in seizing the airport guarded by only two companies of German troops. Even if we can''t capture the airport, as long as we blow up the runway of the airport and destroy all the planes in the airport, Hitler will be unable to fly. There is no other way for him to go but to flee to the other side of the Dnieper, or to remain in the city as our prisoner. "


    With that, kirilov took action. He picked up the phone on his desk, dialed the army headquarters, and conveyed my order to chief of staff Vitkov. After he transferred the troops, he immediately came to Kuban by truck to assemble. As soon as kirilov''s phone call was over, Elia came in in a hurry and reported to me with an excited look on her face: "the return call from comrades commander and field marshal of the Soviet Union has arrived." Then he handed me a telegram. I took the telegram and scanned it quickly. Zhukov really trusted me very much. He not only believed the situation I reported to him, but also proposed that if the headquarters of the group army and the front army did not agree to my attack, I could act easily. If anything went wrong, he would bear it. When I saw Zhukov''s telegram, I felt completely at ease. I stood up and announced aloud to the commanders on the scene: "comrades, Marshal Zhukov''s telegram says that we can specify the necessary battle plan according to the enemy''s situation on the battlefield, so I now officially announce that I will personally direct the attack on the German airfield."¡° What? " All the people were startled by my words. Kirilov was the first to speak and said, "Comrade oshanina, this operation is too dangerous. As the head of the first army, you can''t risk yourself! Otherwise, give the task to the commander you can trust in the bantailiev division, such as commander xiejerikov, commander Oleg or commander Gaidar. Anyway, as a commander, you can''t take risks easily. "¡° Yes, political commissar kirilov is right. " Hearing kirilov''s words, others also said, "this sneak attack on the airport can send other people, you can''t take risks."¡° Well, don''t argue! " I was afraid that they would continue to make trouble like this, and I didn''t know when it would end, so I decisively interrupted them and used my authority to suppress their different opinions: "you are all veteran soldiers. Don''t you know that the orders of the superior can only be carried out and are not allowed to be discussed?" Seeing what I said, several people had no choice but to say, "well, since that''s the case, we will obey the order!"

 Chapter 912

    When the troops of raiding the airport were assembling, the telephone on the desk of the headquarters suddenly rang, and I picked up the microphone¡° The commander of the first regiment, Lt. Col. chejerikov, reports to you that my observation post has just called. " From the receiver came the voice of chejerikov. He thought that the person who answered the phone was Bantai leyev, so after making clear his identity, he continued to report: "Comrade division, the enemy has increased troops to their artillery positions. According to the Observatory''s report, the enemy''s reinforcements are composed of seven tanks and just one truck, probably one tank company and one infantry company. "


    "Comrade commander," I said to him in a loud voice immediately after listening to the enemy''s report, "let the soldiers prepare for all battles. Our attack on the enemy''s positions will soon begin."


    "Yes "I''m sorry, comrade commander. I didn''t know you answered the phone..." he said in a low voice


    "Come on, comrade commander, stop talking nonsense." I did not wait for him to finish, then promptly interrupted what he had to say later, and again told him to say: "hurry up and assign tasks to your soldiers."


    After I put down the phone and introduced the latest information of German reinforcements to bandeleev, I gave orders to Colonel bere and lieutenant colonel kaverin who had just arrived at the headquarters: "after the assembly of the surprise troops, I will lead the troops to leave from the south of Kuban. At two o''clock in the afternoon, the artillery regiment of Colonel kaverin opened fire on the German artillery position. After hitting an ammunition base, the tank brigade should seize the good fighters that the enemy never recovered and launch an attack immediately. And you, Mr. Bantai leiev, "when I said the last sentence, my eyes turned to Bantai leiev standing on my right," let the infantry follow the back of the tank, and clear the German troops at the fastest speed. "


    After I finished a series of tasks, Captain Yushchenko in German uniform came in from the outside. He raised his hand to salute me, and then reported: "Comrade commander, the troops raiding the airport have assembled and are waiting for orders outside. Please give instructions!"


    I nodded, then turned to kirilov and said, "Comrade political commissar, I''m going to start now. You and Mr. Bantai leiev will be in charge of directing the battle."


    Kirilov reached out and held my hands tightly, shook them hard, and said with concern, "Comrade oshanina, although I can''t stop you from leading your team to attack the German airport, I still hope to see you come back safely."


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." Kirilov''s concerned words warmed my heart. I tried to smile on my face and said to him, "please rest assured that I will come back safely." When I let go of his hand, I turned and shook my head at Yushchenko. "Come on, comrade captain, let''s go."


    The troops involved in the raid, in neat formation, stood in front of tanks, armored vehicles or trucks, waiting for my review. I stood in the middle of the road, looked at the left and right can not see the end of the team, decisively waved, loudly ordered: "get on!"


    After Yushchenko straightened up and agreed, he immediately began to give orders to the troops waiting for orders: "everyone, listen to my command, get on the bus!" Soon, I heard shouts around me, "get in the car! Get in the car With the release of the password, the troops who originally stood in front of the car began to board the car one after another.


    Originally, Yushchenko wanted me to get into an armored car. After hesitating for a moment, I still shook my head and refused. I turned to a truck and sat in the co driver''s seat I used to sit in.


    After leaving the city of Kuban, our troops drove about three or four kilometers south, then turned northwest, passed through the snow covered fields, and quickly headed for the airport south of zaborosh.


    The troops stopped in a forest two kilometers away from the airport, because there was a vast plain ahead. We had hundreds of people and so many tanks and armored vehicles. It would be strange if we drove towards the airport without being found by the garrison. If the fighter planes and bombers in the airport take off to bomb us in an emergency, even if we rush forward recklessly, the troops will suffer heavy casualties when we rush to the airport, and they will not be able to attack the defenders in the airport any more.


    I took Yushchenko and a dozen soldiers to the edge of the forest facing the airport, found a suitable position, raised my telescope and looked at the airport. I carefully looked at the situation in the airport and found that there was only one huge aircraft parked on the airport, which should be the FW-200 large four engine aircraft that adir said. No other planes, whether reconnaissance, fighter or bomber, have been seen, and they don''t know whether they are moving or going out on a mission.


    Yushchenko also looked through the telescope for a long time, and then asked me in a puzzled way: "Comrade commander, it seems that the situation is not right. This airport is not as guarded as Sergeant Adil said. You see, "he said to me, pointing to the front," the sergeant said that the German army had a tank at the entrance of the airport and two fire points. But after watching for a long time, I found only two sandbag fortifications, which seemed to have two German machine guns. In addition, in front of the simple building on the north side of the airport, there are two black cars and five trucks with awning. It seems that there are big people at the airport now. "


    Seeing that the defense of the airport was empty, and it was obvious that some important people were staying in the airport, I decisively ordered Yushchenko: "Comrade captain, I will give you the task of attacking the airport. You immediately lead a company to attack the enemy''s airfield with tanks and armored vehicles. " The reason why I didn''t let the troops take trucks to charge behind the tanks was that I found that the road ahead was in poor condition, so it was impossible for the infantry to take cars to accompany the attack, and they had to take tanks to carry out cooperative operations.


    "Yes Yushchenko agreed, and turned to gather the offensive troops.


    Before long, five tanks full of infantry roared out of the forest and headed for the distant airport, followed by a dozen armored vehicles carrying infantry.


    Although the defense of the airport was empty, the remaining garrison was particularly vigilant. Seeing the tanks and armored vehicles rushing out of the forest, they immediately knew that the airport would be attacked by the enemy. Almost when they opened fire at two fire points at the entrance of the airport, the sentry also issued an enemy attack alarm, because I saw that groups of soldiers were rushing out of the buildings on the north side, In turn, we entered the fortifications facing the direction of our attack.


    Soon, a mortar shell landed near the assault tank and exploded. From time to time, some soldiers fell from the tank. They didn''t know whether they were hit by shrapnel or machine gun bullets.


    As our tanks and armored vehicles got closer and closer to the airport, I saw a group of tall and well-known officers running out of the building with cars parked at the door, and a short man in an army coat running towards the plane. Seeing a big fish appear, I immediately got excited. Holding a telescope, I carefully looked at the group of people who were running for their lives, and looked to see whether the big man among them was a general or a marshal.


    When the group of people ran to the plane and boarded the plane one by one along the small stairs, I finally saw the little man''s "true face of Lushan Mountain". It was Hitler! When I saw Hitler scramble onto his special plane with the help of his subordinates, my hand trembled and almost dropped the telescope to the ground.


    I was afraid that I would be dazzled, so I rubbed my eyes hard and raised my telescope again to look at the cabin door of the plane. At this time, the man who looked like Hitler had disappeared, and another SS officer in general''s uniform was climbing the stairs.


    Seeing the SS officers and men facing the enemy around the plane, the last doubt in my heart immediately disappeared. Since we can get so many SS officers and men to protect us, and we have a senior SS officer to accompany us, it is undoubtedly Hitler himself. If we can catch them, we will become world famous immediately.


    Thinking of this, I turned to a guard soldier next to me and yelled, "Hey, soldier comrade, you go to find a truck right away, and then with lieutenant gretka, let''s go to the airport."


    "But, comrade commander." When the soldier heard my order, he still stayed where he was. He said to me in embarrassment, "there is still a fierce battle going on at the airport. It''s too dangerous now, isn''t it?"


    "Asshole!" I was afraid that because of the soldier''s hesitation, the chance to capture Hitler would be missed in vain, so I yelled at him: "don''t you see Hitler on that plane? If we rush over and catch him, we''ll win the battle. "


    "Yes! Comrade commander. " When I heard that Hitler was on the plane, the soldiers suddenly got excited like chicken blood. With a promise, they turned and ran away to convey my order.


    As soon as the soldier left, I suddenly thought that there were so many troops in the forest. Instead of letting them stay here and be frozen, I would let them charge immediately. As long as we put these hundreds of people into battle, we can get rid of the garrison at the airport in the shortest time. So I called another soldier and asked him to inform the company commanders of each company and immediately lead the troops to attack the airport.


    As all the soldiers around me knew that Hitler was in the airport two kilometers away, the soldiers accepted my order very readily, and then ran to the place where the truck was parked at the speed of 100 meters.


    While waiting for the truck to arrive, I raised my telescope again and looked at the airport in the distance where the battle was going on. At the moment, the cabin door of the plane was closed, the propeller on the wing was spinning rapidly, and the plane was sliding forward slowly. Seeing this scene, my heart was raised to my throat, and I cried wildly in my heart: it''s over. Hitler is going to run away. What should I do?


    If I had artillery around me at the moment, I would let them cover the runway and the location of the aircraft. But at the moment, I have only a group of guards with AK47. It''s OK for them to deal with the German infantry. It''s impossible to shoot down Hitler''s plane with assault rifles at such a distance.


    When I was very anxious, our tanks stopped, lined up less than 100 meters away from the trench outside the airport, and fired neatly into the airport.


    Seeing the smoke and fire rising in the airport made me even more anxious. I was deeply afraid that the tank man would accidentally blow up the plane, so we would only get Hitler''s charred body. However, my worry is obviously superfluous. Apart from the tank artillery shells falling on the enemy''s trenches or fire points exploding, the rest of the shells hit the open runway.


    When I saw this situation, I was relieved to say that Captain Yushchenko''s reaction was very fast. As long as the runway was damaged, the German plane would not be able to take off. When our troops rushed up, we could catch turtles in a jar. Before the infantry launched a full-scale attack, I called all the company commanders in front of me and said to them in a loud voice, "comrades, I have good news for you: Hitler, the chief leader of the bandits, is on the plane in front of us. We can catch him as long as we rush over. If you want to build immortal meritorious service, then, immediately lead your troops and bravely rush up. "¡° Wula I don''t know who took the lead in yelling, and then all the people around me yelled. The echoes reverberated in the forest, and the snow fell from the branches above. When I sat in the co pilot''s seat of the truck, followed by hundreds of soldiers shouting "Wula", who were as excited as chicken blood, and headed for the airport, the plane had to stop because the runway was full of craters and could not take off. Seeing that they could not escape, the people on the plane got off the plane one after another. A large group of people surrounded Hitler and wanted to run back to the building. Before they ran far away, a shell landed near them and exploded. When the smoke dispersed, I saw almost all the people lying on the ground, several people rolling on the ground, it seems that they were hit by shrapnel. Although the defenders in the airport are at a disadvantage compared with us, perhaps because Hitler is here, all the soldiers are very stubborn. Even if it is shot down, as long as the gas is not cut off, it will ring the grenade and our soldiers will die together. Seeing this scene, I felt to myself that the combat effectiveness of these SS forces is really strong. If their strength and weapons are equal, my troops are definitely not their opponents. However, it is useless for them to be tenacious. After all, there is a big difference in the strength between the two sides. First, several firepower points were destroyed by tank fire, and then several gaps were opened in the barbed wire of the airport. Our soldiers flooded in from these gaps.

 Chapter 913

    When the truck was more than 100 meters away from the entrance of the airport, I saw a lot of sacrificial soldiers lying on the road ahead. If the vehicle drove further, it would run over their bodies, so I raised my hand to signal the driver to stop the car.


    I wanted to walk into the airport, but as soon as I got off the bus, I found that my legs were weak, and I was still shivering. Let alone walking, I could not stand steadily, so I sat on the pedal of the door. I know in my heart that this is too tense. Let alone me, even Zhukov, rokosovsky or trakov, who are in important positions, can''t compete much with me when they see that Hitler himself is about to become his own prisoner.


    "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with you?" I was taking a deep breath, trying to calm myself down when I heard a familiar voice asking me. Looking up, it turned out to be sergeant songjik who had just come down from the carriage. He stood in front of me, bent down and looked at me nervously. Maybe he was afraid that something might happen to me.


    I reached out and grabbed songjik by the collar, pulled him closer to me, pointed to the direction of the airport where the gunfire was exploding with the other finger, and told him in a loud voice: "sergeant, please go to the airport to find captain Yushchenko, and tell him: don''t kill Hitler, you must catch him alive! Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" Songjik gave a loud promise. When I let go of his collar, I turned and ran quickly to the airport.


    Watching songjike run away, I took two deep breaths. Feeling a little calmer, I stood up with the car. But after two tentative steps, I still felt that my legs were a little weak, so I stopped and looked around to see if I could find someone familiar to help me.


    Near the truck stood more than a dozen soldiers of the special guard company, who, like songjik, had just come down from the carriage. I saw lieutenant gretka standing in the middle of them and beckoned him to come to me. When the second lieutenant came to me, I whispered to him, "second lieutenant, my legs are soft. Give me a hand."


    After hearing this, he quickly reached out his hands, grabbed my right arm and helped me walk towards the gate of the airport. When I took the first few steps, my legs were still shaking. After more than ten steps, my mood was a little more stable, and the feeling of stepping on cotton disappeared. After politely thanking gretka, I gently released his hand that held my arm and walked steadily towards the airport with a group of soldiers.


    As the gunfire became sparse, the battle in the airport was drawing to a close. Most of the recalcitrant SS officers and soldiers were wiped out, and the rest of them were lying around the big plane, shooting desperately at our soldiers. After a group of soldiers who rushed to the front fell down, the first-line commanders adjusted their tactics in time to let the armored vehicles rush in front, and the soldiers all followed.


    Under the large caliber machine gun on the armored vehicle, the number of German soldiers still fighting near the aircraft was rapidly decreasing. When I was only 50 or 60 meters away from the aircraft, the German resistance had completely stopped. Occasionally, one or two shots were fired. It was our soldiers who were repairing the wounded German soldiers.


    I looked ahead and saw hundreds of soldiers and several armored vehicles forming a big circle around the plane. Everyone held weapons in their hands and aimed at the center of the circle, but no one fired. Seeing this, I immediately understood that the one surrounded by our soldiers must be Hitler who had not been killed. Thinking of this, I can''t help but quicken my pace.


    When I went outside the circle, the soldiers who came with me quickly passed me and pushed towards the crowd. At the same time, they cried out, "the commander is coming. Let''s give way."


    With the shouts of the soldiers, the commanders and fighters made way for me. I walked quickly into the circle, first smelling the bloody smell, and then saw the bodies of German soldiers everywhere. There was a short man with a moustache, waving a pistol and growling in the same place.


    The man in front of me, although I met him for the first time, I have seen his appearance in countless film and television works of later generations. He is Hitler, the head of Germany. He kept making circles in the same place, yelling loudly at the same time, raising his pistol and pulling the trigger around from time to time. But I don''t know when the pistol had run out of bullets, and now it was a piece of scrap iron in his hand.


    Seeing my arrival, Yushchenko came up to me and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, we have killed all the German soldiers except Hitler."


    I nodded, then turned to look at lieutenant gretka next to me and said to him, "Comrade lieutenant, go over and ask Hitler to put down his arms and raise his hands!"


    Gretka quietly agreed and took a few steps forward. I was surprised to find that his body was shaking. It seems that although Hitler is the fish on our chopping board, for the defecting officers and soldiers like gretka, there is still a god like existence. Tension and fear are inevitable.


    Gretka stopped less than ten steps away from Hitler, and then called out in a trembling voice, "hi... Hi... Hitler, henderhoff£¨ Hands up! "


    Seeing gretka''s gaffe, my heart suddenly gets upset. My heart says that Hitler is waiting to kill the lamb. Are you afraid of farting?! So I took a few steps forward, stood side by side with gretka, and yelled at Hitler, who was still circling in circles: "Hitler, henderhoff!"


    Hitler stopped and looked at me with his unarmed pistol in a daze. I thought he didn''t hear me. I raised my voice and called out, "Hitler, henderhoff!"


    "Hitler, henderhoff!" Captain Yushchenko, who was standing behind me, followed me when I finished.


    "Hitler, henderhoech!" The same cry broke out all around us, first two or three people, then all of them with one voice.


    In the roar of the tsunami, Hitler shivered. After a moment of panic, he slowly raised his hands and surrendered to us.


    Just as I thought the dust was settled, out of the pile of bodies at Hitler''s feet, an officer in a black SS uniform struggled to get up, pointed a pistol at Hitler, and at the same time, he was shouting German that I didn''t understand. When I saw the situation, I immediately pulled out my pistol. Although I didn''t understand why the officer pointed the gun at Hitler, I still fired several shots at him decisively. One of the bullets hit the officer''s right shoulder, his body swung back, and the pistol fell to the ground with a slap.


    As Yushchenko himself led people up to capture Hitler, I turned to gretka and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, what was that SS officer shouting about?"


    "Report to the commander," gretka said to me as he watched Hitler bound by our soldiers. "He said that only the head who died for Germany, not the head who was captured by the enemy." At this point, he shrugged his shoulders involuntarily. "Maybe he didn''t want the Fuehrer to be our prisoner, so he wanted to kill him."


    When gretka said that, I understood the officer''s action very well. A dead Fuehrer and a living Hitler are really two very different effects. I nodded and then asked gretka, "Comrade lieutenant, do you know who the SS officer is?"


    Gretka looked at the position where the SS officer was lying and said cautiously, "Comrade commander, if I''m not mistaken, that man should be general Theodore Ike, the founder and commander of the SS skeleton division. He''s a thug who is famous for his ferocity in the middle of the party."


    I heard that the officer I hit just now was actually a general. I rushed to Yushchenko in front of him and said, "Hey, comrade captain, do you think the German who just got shot by me is still alive?"


    Yushchenko heard my voice, went to the position where Ike fell down, crouched down to look at it for a moment, then turned to me and yelled, "Comrade commander, he is still alive!"


    When I heard that Ike was still alive, I began to calculate in my heart that today I not only captured Hitler, but also captured a general of the SS. Such credit is not small. Maybe our army will be promoted directly to the guards or the group army. Thinking of this, I immediately called to Yushchenko: "Comrade captain, get him a health worker to treat him. Don''t let him die. This is a big man."


    After Hitler and Ike were taken care of, Yushchenko came to me with several company commanders, waiting for me to deploy the next task. Seeing that the company commanders were here, I began to issue a series of orders: "Captain Yushchenko, deploy the tank company and a guard company in the direction of zaborosh to prevent the enemy from coming from the city."


    When the task was almost finished, I called the accompanying radio operator and said to him, "Comrade radio operator, ask Mr. leiev, where is his army?"


    After listening to my instructions, the operator immediately asked, "is it a telegram, comrade commander?"


    "No, use wireless communication, use Ming language." Although I know that the German army will monitor my communication with bantaileiev, Hitler is in our hands at the moment. If the German army is allowed to spread the news, it will cause a fatal blow to their morale.


    When I heard Bantai leyev''s voice coming from the earphone, I didn''t show him any politeness. I asked him directly, "Comrade division commander, where is your army now?"


    "Report to the commander," I can tell from Bantai leiev''s voice that he is in a good mood. "We have successfully captured the enemy''s anti-aircraft artillery positions and cleared all the remaining enemy," he reported aloud. At present, we are heading for the airport with the fourth regiment as the guide. "


    "Very well, general bandeleev." After praising him, I said lightly, "we have captured Hitler. You should move quickly. Maybe the Germans will send troops to rescue their leader later."


    "What, what?" From the earphone came the surprised voice of ryev: "Comrade commander, what did you say just now? You''ve captured Hitler? Is that right? "


    "No mistake, general bandeleev." I said confidently and with a little pride, "we have captured not only Hitler, but also general Theodore Ike, the division commander of the skull division."


    "Comrade commander, please rest assured that I will immediately order the troops to speed up the March." After listening to my reply, Bantai leiev''s voice became serious again: "in half an hour at most, the leading troops of the fourth regiment can arrive at the airport to strengthen your defense there."


    Half an hour later, the jeep carrying kirilov appeared with the leading troops of the fourth regiment. As soon as the car stopped not far from me, kirilov immediately jumped out of the car and trotted to me. He couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade oshanina, did you really capture Hitler?"¡° Yes, comrade political commissar. " Looking at the partner standing in front of me, I replied with a smile: "we not only captured Hitler, but also captured Theodore Ike, the division commander of the skeleton division."¡° What, besides Hitler, you have Theodore ike? " After kirilov confirmed the news, he said to me in surprise: "you know, the skull division is the most elite German army. You have captured their division commander. That is to say, this army will not pose too much threat to us before the new Commander takes office."¡° Let''s go, comrade Commissar. I''ll take you to see Hitler. " With that, I took him to the jeep on the side of the road. More than ten minutes later, after seeing general kirilov of Hitler and Ike, he sat silent in a temporary command post. After a while, he raised his head and asked me, "Comrade commander, are you going to report this to the higher authorities?"¡° Comrade political commissar, what''s the matter with you? " Kirilov asked so inexplicably, which made me feel very strange, so he asked: "such a big thing, I must report it to the superior. First report the victory to general haridonov, commander of the group army, and then to general vatukin, commander of the front army. I believe they are very happy to hear such good news. " However, after I finished, kirilov shook his head and raised an objection: "Comrade oshanina, I think that for the sake of safety, this matter should not be reported to the front army or the group army for the time being."¡° Why? " Kirilov''s statement confused me. I asked mistily, "why can''t we report such good news to the front army or the group army?"¡° Comrade oshanina, "kirilov, who had seen Hitler and Ike, returned to his normal mood after a brief excitement. He put forward a particularly safe suggestion to me:" once the news of Hitler being captured by our army gets out, our army is bound to be attacked by German forces from all sides. In order to recapture their head of state, I believe that the German officers and men will work very hard. In that case, we are not the enemy of the German army only with our existing strength and weapons. I think it is not suitable to disclose this matter to the outside world for the time being. " After listening to his analysis, I thought a little for a moment, and then said, "Comrade political commissar, if such a big thing as capturing Hitler alive is concealed, the consequences will be very serious. Well, since you say that you can''t report to the front army or the group army, we''ll go over these two levels of command and report directly to Marshal Zhukov. Do you think that''s ok? " Kirilov immediately showed great support for my proposal. After he wrote the battle report, he called the accompanying radio operator razumeyeva and said, "Comrade lieutenant, please send a telegram to Marshal Zhukov, saying that we have successfully captured zaborosh''s airport and captured Hitler and Theodore Ike, division commander of the" skeleton division. " Ten minutes after the telegram to Zhukov was sent, we received a reply from the other party. There was nothing in the telegram, just a big "?" number. I saw the "?" on the telegraph paper He could not help laughing. He said that it seemed that no one believed the brilliant result of Hitler''s capture. Even Zhukov, who trusted me the most, expressed doubt, not to mention vatukin and haridonov, who were unfamiliar to me.

 Chapter 914

    Kirilov, on the other hand, was the opposite of my relaxed reaction. He grabbed the telegraph and fixed his eyes on the "?", I haven''t spoken for a long time.


    "Comrade political commissar, what''s the matter with you?" In order to relieve his nervousness, I said to him in a humorous tone: "have you never seen a telegram with only one question mark?"


    I didn''t expect kirilov''s face was still expressionless after hearing this. After staring at the telegram for a while, kirilov raised his head and said to me with a straight face: "Comrade oshanina, I always feel something is wrong!"


    "Something''s wrong. What''s wrong?" I was puzzled by his words, so I asked, "Comrade political commissar, do you find something wrong?"


    Kirilov nodded and went on¡° Comrade o''shanina, do you think that we have captured Hitler too smoothly? According to sergeant adir''s report, there are tanks at the entrance of the airport. There are many fighters and bombers in the airport, as well as the national defense forces of two companies. But when we attacked, only one company of the national defense forces and a small team of the Ss were at war with us. Not only are there no airplanes in the airport, but also the tanks parked at the door. You know, even if Manstein went out, he couldn''t bring only a little security force, let alone Hitler, the head of state? "


    After listening to kirilov''s words, my heart began to get nervous. My heart said that it could not be the trap that Manstein intended to set for us, right? But on second thought, it should not be. The "bait" he used was too big. He actually used Hitler himself. Isn''t he afraid that the guns are blind and he accidentally injured Hitler in the scuffle?


    When kirilov and I were speechless, bandeleev and a group of his commanders came towards us. After they saluted us, I told Bantai leiev: "Comrade division commander, now you are responsible for the security work of the airport. On the positions facing zaborosh, we must put on the most effective troops. I am afraid that the enemy will rush to the airport madly when they know the news of Hitler''s capture. It''s up to your division to stop their crazy attack. Is that clear? "


    "Clear, comrade commander." Bantai leiev agreed, turned around and began to give orders to several regiment commanders under his command, arranging the defensive positions of regiments and battalions.


    While bantailiev was arranging the task, kirilov and I began to discuss how to reply to Zhukov''s telegram. Kirilov asked sadly, "Comrade oshanina, how do you plan to reply to Marshal Zhukov''s telegram?"


    After thinking about it, I replied, "well, comrade political commissar. Another telegram was sent to Marshal Zhukov, saying that our department had captured zaborosh''s airport and captured Theodore Ike, the division commander of the skull division, and a German suspected of Hitler. "


    As for my proposal, kirilov thought for a moment, and readily agreed: "well, comrade oshanina, just send another telegram to marshal. By the way, what should we do with Hitler?"


    After the discussion, I told razumeyeva: "Comrade lieutenant, immediately send another telegram to Marshal Zhukov, saying that we have captured Ike, the division commander of the German" skull division ", and a German who is very similar to Hitler. How should Marshal deal with this?"


    After receiving the order, razumeyeva turned and sent a message to the temporary communication room. Bantaileiev also ran to us after finishing the combat task and said to us in a flattering tone: "commander, political commissar, I heard that Hitler was captured by us. I don''t know if I can meet him? You know, we''ve only seen Hitler painted on the target before, but we''ve never seen a real person before. I want to see a real person today. I don''t know if it''s ok? "


    I couldn''t find a reason to refuse bantaileiev''s request, so I raised my chin to the plane surrounded by our soldiers on the far runway and said, "Comrade division commander, Hitler and the general of the Ss are on the plane. In order to prevent his escape, I specially sent a platoon of the special guard company to guard."


    These two words of mine immediately caused the Bantai leiev''s laughter. He said with a smile: "don''t say there is a big pit in the airport. Even if there is no big pit, it is impossible for Hitler to escape, unless he can fly the big plane himself." With that, he raised his hand to salute us and ran to the distant plane with some of his men.


    Kirilov looked at bantaileiev and asked thoughtfully, "Comrade oshanina, how will the marshal reply to us when he receives our telegram?"


    Hearing his question, I shook my head and said with a bitter smile, "Comrade political commissar, I don''t know. I didn''t expect that seizing Hitler not only didn''t bring us any benefits, but also became a big trouble for us. At present, this matter has not been reported to the commanders of the group army and the front army, and I don''t know how they will see us when they know about it. "


    There was a rumble of gunfire in the distance. It seemed that the enemy coming out of zaborosh had caught fire with our troops. I listened, only to the sound of tank guns, mortars and machine guns. It seems that the Germans are wary of using heavy weapons such as cannons. Hearing this, I feel much more relieved. As long as the German army does not dare to use heavy artillery or aircraft bombing, then there is no problem for us to hold the airport.


    Razumeyeva came out of the temporary communication room and reported to us, "Comrade commander, the return call from the marshal has arrived."


    "What does the telegram say?" I asked habitually when I received the telegram.


    When razumeyeva heard my question, she was stunned and then fluently reported: "Comrade commander, marshal said that he will arrive at zaborosh by special plane in two hours. Please clear the runway so that the plane can land smoothly."


    "What, comrade Marshal will come here by special plane in person?" Kirilov was startled by the unexpected news. He said to me nervously, "Comrade oshanina, we should stop the marshal from coming here. You know, from Moscow to here, you have to fly over the enemy occupied area. If the plane is intercepted by anti-aircraft fire, the marshal will have his life. "


    I understand what kirilov said is true. Zhukov''s plane will fly hundreds of kilometers in the area occupied by the German army. If it is attacked by ground anti-aircraft fire, his special plane may be shot down. However, according to my understanding of Zhukov, the more dangerous he is, the more he wants to take risks. Even if I send a telegram to stop him, he will not easily change his decision. Thinking of this, I said to razumeyeva: "Lieutenant, call the marshal back. We have made all preparations to meet him at zaborosh airport. Please let him come to zaborosh as soon as possible."


    As razumeyeva turned to leave, kirilov quickly stopped him, turned to me and said in a loud voice, "Comrade oshanina, don''t you know the danger here? The German troops coming out of zaborosh are attacking our positions. When the Marshal''s special plane arrives, it is still unknown who has the airport. We have no right to let a Soviet Marshal take the risk. I beg you again to send a message to Comrade Zhukov to cancel this crazy plan. "


    I waved my hand and said to him helplessly: "Comrade political commissar, with my understanding of Marshal Zhukov, as long as it is his decision, no one can modify it. What we can do now is to try our best to block the German attack and make sure that the airport is still in our hands when the Marshal''s special plane arrives. " At this point, chongrazumeyeva waved and motioned her to go back to the communication room to send a message.


    After watching Hitler on the plane, bandeleev came back to us in high spirits. He said with disdain: "what a coward is the Fuehrer. See me with a few people into, scared to hide in the corner trembling. It''s a pity that he doesn''t know Russian. Otherwise, he will use our language to ask for mercy. "


    "General bantailiev," I ordered him as soon as he finished saying, "I just received a telegram from Marshal Zhukov, and his special plane will arrive at zaborosh in two hours. I order you to immediately organize people to fill the craters in the airport to ensure that the Marshal''s plane can land safely. "


    "Comrade marshal is coming here?" Bantaileiev was also startled by the news, and then he said nervously, "Comrade commander, can you send another telegram to the marshal, saying that the airport is being attacked by the German army, and for his safety, ask him to cancel this operation?"


    "All right, comrade bandeleev." I waved to him and said impatiently, "it''s not something you should care about. Now you have two things to do. One is to beat back the German attack on the airport and ensure that when the Marshal''s special plane lands, the airport is still under our control. Second, immediately organize people to fill up all the big pits on the runway of the airport, so that the Marshal''s transfer plane can land smoothly. "


    Before going to perform the task, Bantai leiev pointed to the side and said to us in a concerned tone: "commander, political commissar, it''s cold outside. You''d better go back to the tent."


    I looked in the direction of Bantai leiev''s finger and noticed that he was referring to a tent that had been built for a long time. Originally, this was the temporary command post of kirilov and I. It was because of Hitler that we stood outside and froze for an hour without realizing it.


    When Zhukov''s special plane and two escort fighters appeared in my telescope lens, the German attack on the airport had been repulsed again, and the runway of the airport had been completely repaired, which was enough for Zhukov''s special plane to land safely.


    Seeing that the altitude of the plane was getting lower and lower, I quickly gathered Bantai leiev and several battalion leaders under him to stand beside the runway with my special guard company, patiently waiting for the landing of the special plane.


    When the special plane landed successfully and came to a stable stop near us, I quickly took you up. I quickly walked up to Zhukov, raised my hand to salute him, and then said in a loud voice, "welcome to zaborosh, marshal. Major general oshanina and all the officers and men of the 79th infantry are waiting for your orders."


    "Where is Hitler?" Zhukov just nodded at me and then asked, "are you sure it''s him?"


    Zhukov''s words stopped me. In a hurry, I didn''t know how to answer his question. I opened my mouth a few times and found that I couldn''t answer Zhukov''s question, so I closed my mouth wisely.


    "Why don''t you talk?" Zhukov saw that I didn''t reply him. He frowned and snorted heavily.


    Seeing that Zhukov was on the verge of anger, I immediately straightened up and said, "report to marshal, Hitler and the wounded" skull division "division commander are locked in the next big plane, which is Hitler''s special plane."¡° Take me to see. " Zhukov did not introduce to me the group of commanders who were following him. After giving me a simple order, he headed for Hitler''s special plane. We passed through the soldiers guarding the plane, went up the gangway and down the corridor to Hitler''s position. At the moment, Hitler was sitting haggardly in his chair, looking out of the window in despair, while the wounded Ike was lying on a large sofa opposite him. Looking at the naked Ike wrapped like a mummy by the health worker, I know how badly he was injured in the battle. When Hitler saw so many people standing in front of him, he got up from his seat in a hurry. Instead of the domineering expression, he spoke to Zhukov in a low voice with a humble attitude. Gretka, who was standing beside him, translated Zhukov''s words in time. Seeing Hitler''s reaction, my heart can''t help but thump. My heart says, is this German captured by us really Hitler? When I think of this, a word suddenly comes into my mind: double, yes, double. During the Moscow defense war, Stalin''s stand in visited rokosovsky''s 16th army. Now it is not surprising that Hitler''s stand in appears near zaborosh. After listening to gretka''s translation, Zhukov said a few words to the real and fake Hitler, then turned to me and said, "Rita, this Hitler''s identity is very suspicious. We can''t confirm whether he is himself or a stand in, so I''ll take him back to Moscow and give him to the comrades of the Ministry of interior for trial to find out what''s going on." For Zhukov''s decision, I dare not have the slightest objection. I just pointed to general Ike lying on the sofa and asked, "marshal, is this general of the SS going with me?" Zhukov looked at Ike and said in disgust, "I''m not interested in this kind of dying man. I''d better leave it to you to deal with it." Then he took his body aside and waved to the men who followed him on the plane to take Hitler away.

 Chapter 915

    As Hitler was taken away by several fighters, after the routine, the next topic relaxed. Zhukov and I are old acquaintances. We don''t talk in an official way. Instead, we ask amiably, "how about it, Rita. How do you feel when you become a commander? "


    Hearing Zhukov''s question, I quickly answered with a smile: "Comrade marshal. Since I became the commander of the infantry army, I feel that I have a great responsibility on my shoulders, so every major decision I make has to be carefully considered. "


    "Very good," Zhukov agreed. "Judging from the current situation of the battlefield, the German army can''t support for a few days." Zhukov continued to say to me, "as long as the Voronezh front army and the southwest front army have a division, then the German army on the East Bank of the Dnieper River will be either eliminated by us or driven across the river, and we will soon launch a campaign to eliminate the German army in Ukraine."


    When I heard Zhukov''s optimism, my heart twitched violently. Why did everyone, including Zhukov, an excellent commander, blindly and optimistically think that Manstein''s troops were vulnerable, as if as soon as we stretched out our hand, the German army, a giant of foreign strength and middle strength, would fall down suddenly?


    Perhaps seeing that I was full of worries, Zhukov asked unexpectedly, "Rita, what are you thinking? I think you are worried about something?"


    I nodded, looked at Zhukov and said, "with respect, marshal, are we too optimistic about the situation? We are all optimistic that the Germans have been beaten to death after our winter counterattack. As long as we continue to launch the attack, they will escape the Dnieper River all the way. As for the counterattack, it is impossible at all. "


    I thought that my words would arouse Zhukov''s vigilance, but after hearing this, he nodded unexpectedly and asked, "yes, judging from the current situation of the enemy and ourselves, it''s just like what you just said. The morale of the German troops in Ukraine has been extremely low. Under the strong attack of our two front forces, their collapse is inevitable. Do you think that''s not the case? "


    "Yes, comrade marshal." If I am in front of other superiors, I will keep some things in my heart so as not to bring disaster to myself. But in front of the familiar Zhukov, I have to say something: "although Manstein is our enemy, I think he is an excellent commander. The troops he commands can''t be so vulnerable. According to the confessions of the prisoners captured by our army, they received orders from their superiors. When they were attacked by our army, apart from leaving a small number of troops entangled with our army, the rest of the troops and technical equipment quickly left the battlefield and turned back. "


    After listening to me, Zhukov frowned and asked, "Rita, what do you mean by saying these things to me?"


    Seeing that Zhukov''s voice was full of suspicion, I quickly explained, "marshal, I suspect that Manstein''s doing this is a huge conspiracy. It should be said that the purpose of Manstein''s previous retreat of the German army in the south line was to lure our army to go deep and far away from the logistics base. Judging from the current position of our army, it seems that his goal has been achieved. "


    "Come on When trekov heard this, he yelled at me, which made me shiver. He almost thought he was going to have me arrested.


    With his shouts, an officer with the appearance of a staff officer came up, raised his hand, saluted and politely asked, "Comrade marshal, what instructions do you have?"


    "Bring me a map!" Zhukov yelled at each other.


    After listening to his order, the officer said with some embarrassment, "report to marshal, all the maps are on your special plane."


    "Then what are you doing standing here?" Zhukov glared at each other, then said sternly, "go and get a map." With a promise, the officer turned and ran off the plane to get the map Zhukov needed.


    Zhukov''s plane, which is a special plane, is actually a transport plane that has been simply transformed. Not to mention that there is no luxury desk, even the seats are very poor. Compared with here, the environment there is a world of difference. I welcome Zhukov''s temporary office on Hitler''s special plane. I immediately ordered lieutenant gretka to take the injured ike to the rear of the plane and clear up the vacated office area.


    When Zhukov was sitting in the sofa by the porthole, I heard him murmur in a low voice: "damn Hitler, he made the plane so luxurious."


    I saw that Zhukov liked the plane very much, so I took the opportunity to suggest to him, "marshal, anyway, it''s a waste to park the plane here. Why don''t you let the pilot fly away when you leave later?"


    Zhukov looked around the facilities inside the cabin for a moment, then said, "where is the pilot of this special plane now?"


    I heard Zhukov say that, and I knew that he was also thinking about the plane, otherwise he would not ask the German pilots. I turned my head and looked at captain Yushchenko standing next to me. He immediately stepped forward and reported to Zhukov, "Comrade marshal of the Soviet Union, the German pilots were all killed by us in the battle."


    "All killed?" Zhukov tentatively asked Yushchenko. Seeing that he nodded his head in affirmation, he said in a regretful tone: "Alas, it''s a pity that such a plane needs at least two pilots to fly, while there are only two pilots on my special plane. If one of them comes to fly, it may not be possible for the last two planes to return safely. Well, let''s forget it this time. Anyway, it won''t be long before our troops can successfully capture zaborosh, and then we''ll find the pilot to fly the plane back. "


    The officer brought the map and a stack of war reports that were said to be new. Zhukov read the war report for a while, then frowned and looked up the current position of the troops on the map. After a long time, he called me to his side, pointed to the map and said to me, "Rita, it seems that your analysis is correct. Since the beginning of the winter counterattack, our troops have pushed about 6 or 700 kilometers on the roads in winter under the wind and snow. Because the roads and bridges along the way have been completely destroyed by the German army, the logistics supply base and airport of our army are far from keeping up with the advancing speed of the fighting forces. So far, after three months of fighting, our troops are not only seriously depleted, but also very short of supplies and necessary air support. In particular, the situation of general vatukin''s southwest front army is particularly bad. There are only 137 tanks left in Popov''s fast cluster and the fourth tank army, and many tanks in this cluster can hardly move because there is no fuel. "


    I listened silently to Zhukov''s account of the current situation between ourselves and the enemy. I didn''t express my opinion, because I knew in my heart that Zhukov would take the initiative to ask me when he wanted to hear my opinion. Before he spoke, I kept silent.


    Zhukov saw that I didn''t speak or ask for my opinion. He said directly: "the other troops of the 6th group army are only tens of kilometers away from zaborosh. They will attack zaborosh under the cover of the 25th tank army. Due to the current shortage of fuel and ammunition, I ordered the tank army to temporarily stop advancing and continue to rest in place for a short time while waiting for the supply of fuel and ammunition. Their attack will resume the day after tomorrow, February 19


    In the evening, Zhukov''s special plane, escorted by fighters, flew in the direction of Moscow. Looking at the plane in the air going away, I turned and told kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, call all battalion and regimental commanders to have a meeting." With that, I headed for Hitler''s special plane. It was better to work on the plane than in a tent with wind all around.


    In order to keep the communication with the troops below unblocked, I let lieutenant razumeyeva and some members of the communication company also get on Hitler''s special plane. After they had assembled the message, I gave the first order to razumeyeva: "Comrade lieutenant, immediately send a message to the group army headquarters, saying that our army has successfully captured zaborosh''s airport after fierce fighting. Please ask the headquarters to direct the next action."


    After about ten minutes, harridonov''s reply arrived. His order was very simple. He asked our army to suspend all attacks and rest in place. When the main force of the group army and the 25th army of tanks launched an attack from the northeast of zaborosh, they sent a force northward to cover the flanks of the friendly forces.


    At this moment, all the battalion and regiment commanders who could come to the meeting got on the plane. Because of the limited seats, except for the two division commanders bantailiev and gurtyev, and several regimental commanders who had seats, the rest of the battalion commanders stood aside.


    After reading harritonov''s telegram to all of you, I asked, "comrades, you can tell me what you think of this telegram from your superiors."


    As soon as my voice fell, lieutenant commander xiejerikov took the lead in standing up and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, give this glorious task to our regiment, and we will guarantee to complete it."


    "No, you can''t have all the good things." As soon as he finished, some people stood up to express their dissatisfaction. When I heard the familiar voice, I didn''t look at it, and I knew it was Gaidar, the fourth commander, who said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, you''d better leave it to our regiment to cover the flanks of our friendly forces. I promise you that as long as our regiment is there, we will never let the Germans threaten the flanks of our friendly forces."


    "Lieutenant Commander Gaidar, your mission is to ensure the safety of the airport. It is a heavy responsibility and can not be transferred casually." Speaking behind him was lieutenant colonel Oleg, the second group leader. "This task should be completed by our regiment."


    When I saw my old subordinates fighting for the task, I couldn''t help but put a smile on my face. But when I saw gurdyev and his three commanders, I felt a little uncomfortable. I said that several commanders of bantaileiev division were fighting for tasks, and you and your subordinates were sitting in a daze like clay sculpture.


    Kirilov, who is good at observing words and expressions, may have found something strange on my face. He coughed a few times and stopped the argument between them. Then he looked sideways at gurdyev and asked with a smile, "general gurdyev, which unit do you think should be sent to carry out this task?"


    On hearing kirilov''s question, gurdyev quickly stood up from last night, straightened up and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, can I give you an opinion on behalf of all the officers and men of the 308th division?"


    Give me advice, which is quite new. I nodded and said with a smile, "go ahead, general gurdyev, if you have any advice, you can speak freely here." Speaking of the latter, I turned to kirilov and jokingly said, "no matter what you say is right or wrong, you will not be blamed. We will certainly change what we have and encourage what we have not." With my encouragement, gurdyev continued: "I think you look down on our 308th division. You give all the tough battles to your old troops, but you always let our division serve as a reserve force, or carry out some unimportant vigilance tasks. You know, our division fought bloody battles with the German army for several months in the defense of Stalingrad, and all the surviving officers and soldiers were good. If there is no war, it will hurt their self-esteem. Therefore, I firmly request that our division go north to carry out this task of covering the friendly forces. "

 Chapter 916

    After determining the troops to serve as the flank cover, in order to avoid long night dreams, I ordered gurdyev to lead his troops that night to move to the northeast of the airport, find suitable areas and build necessary fortifications.


    Although the main force of the group army did not launch an attack on zaborosh until the 19th, in order to check the construction of the 308th division''s defensive positions, I decided to go and see for myself rather than stay in my own army headquarters and listen to boring reports. That''s not my style. So at noon the next day, I took Yushchenko and the special guard company and rushed to the temporary defensive zone of the 308th division.


    Learning of my arrival, gurtyev came out of his tent with a group of commanders to meet him. After shaking hands with him, I looked at the tents behind him. These dark green military tents are particularly dazzling in the boundless snow. I couldn''t help but snort. Then I asked angrily, "general gurdyev, why don''t you set up the headquarters in the semi underground hidden department according to the regulations?"


    In the face of my reproach, gurdyev laughed two times, and then replied awkwardly: "Comrade commander, the 25th army of tanks will cooperate with our infantry to attack tomorrow. Look at the vast plain of Ukraine, which is very suitable for the assault of tank troops."


    "Yes, I''ve known for a long time that the plains here are suitable for armored assault operations." Although I didn''t understand the reason why he said that, I followed his words and then asked, "but what does this have to do with your failure to establish a headquarters according to the regulations?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Seeing that I was still aggressive, gurdyev''s face turned red. He tried his best to explain: "I think the enemy is vulnerable under the strong attack of our army. Maybe it will only take two or three hours for our troops to rush into zaborosh. Since the fighting time will not last too long, I don''t think it is necessary to build a semi underground concealment department at all. "


    "General gurdyev," I heard his overconfident reply. Suddenly, I felt an unnamed anger and raised my voice. "Is it because you think our troops can attack the city in two or three hours, so you didn''t let them build fortifications according to the regulations? In that case, why is it necessary to put your division here to defend the flanks of the friendly forces? "


    "But, comrade commander..." gurtyev wanted to explain something, but I interrupted him impolitely. I said with a straight face, "general gurdyev, tomorrow on the plain ahead, our army will launch an attack on the German army. Don''t say that the battle will take two or three hours or even longer. Even if the whole battle is only two or three minutes, you have to repair the fortifications for me according to the regulations. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Seeing that I was angry, gurdyev knew that it would be no good not to build the shelter of the headquarters according to the regulations. He quickly promised, "I will immediately arrange people to build the semi underground shelter, and strive to complete it before dark."


    Seeing gurdyev''s initiative to be soft, I was no longer aggressive, but slowed down and said, "Comrade General, where is your defense line? Take me to have a look. I hope the field fortifications of your division were built in accordance with the regulations. "


    Gurdyev left his political commissar and staff behind to build a new division headquarters. He took me to the front to check the construction of the position.


    Although gurdyev''s division headquarters was very convenient, only a few tents were set up in an open area, the positions built by the two regiments in the front of the division were in order. A regiment''s position is built according to the mountain. In addition to the trenches and trenches, there are also many shelters and civil fire points. The regiment headquarters built according to the regulations is located on the reverse slope of the hill. Even if the front position is heavily shelled by the German army, it can ensure the normal operation of the command system here.


    The other regiment was further north. They dug several long trenches on the broad plain and connected them with traffic trenches. And when I stood at a high place, I could see that the commanders and fighters in the position were not idle. They were still digging shelters and building firepower points.


    When I saw this scene, I nodded with satisfaction and said to gurdyev: "Comrade General, the two regiments in the front of your division have done very good work. Even if the German army attacks our defensive zone, we believe our commanders and fighters can stop them. "


    Gurdyev nodded and then said to me, "Comrade commander, the defense positions of the friendly forces are not far from us, less than five kilometers away. Do you want to have a look?"


    "Where is it?" I heard that I could see the friendly defense zone on this hill, which aroused my curiosity. So I urged gurtyev to say, "Comrade General, take me to see it quickly."


    Gurdyev led the way and led us along the long trench. After walking for a while, he pointed to a crude bunker on the hill and said to me, "Comrade commander, that''s our observation post, where you can see the situation of friendly positions."


    When we entered the observation post, the two soldiers who were observing the battlefield turned their heads and saw a group of commanders coming in. They stood up straight and saluted us. Gurtyev waved his head, and they immediately walked into the observation post with deep understanding.


    I came to the retractable mirror in front of the observation port, leaned down and looked out towards the lens. Soon saw a lot of trucks parked in the wide plain, thousands of officers and men are digging several long trenches, it seems that they intend to use here as their starting position for attack.


    I looked at it for a while, straightened up and asked gurdyev, "Comrade General, which friendly army is building fortifications?"


    For my question, gurtyev shook his head and replied awkwardly: "Comrade commander, I haven''t sent someone to contact them, so I can''t find out the number of the opposite party. But one thing is clear. They are definitely one of the main forces of the sixth group army. "


    When I heard him say that, I couldn''t help chuckling. I said in my heart that what you said is not nonsense? Since we have been ordered by the headquarters of the group army to cover the flanks of the friendly forces, the troops directly ahead must belong to the sixth group army. The idea of sending someone to contact me just flashed through my mind and then I left it behind. Because I think from the current situation, our army will not stay in the 6th group army for a long time, so there is no need to deal with these friendly forces, lest those division commanders will think that I want to fight for the command of the army.


    By the time I left the 308th division, the semi underground shelter for the division headquarters had been basically completed. I pointed to the shelter department and said to gurdyev sincerely: "Comrade General, no matter how long the battle will be tomorrow, we must first ensure the safety of your headquarters, so that the army will not be in chaos due to the paralysis of the command system."


    "I see, comrade commander." Obviously, gurdyev also realized that he had made a mistake because he was lazy for a while. He quickly assured me that "in the future, no matter what scale of fighting, I will build fortifications according to the regulations to ensure the safety of the division headquarters."


    I nodded, waved to him, boarded the waiting jeep with Captain Yushchenko, and returned to the army headquarters at the airport with a truck full of soldiers from the guard company.


    When I entered the command post in the special plane, kirilov met me and asked with concern, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the situation with general gurdyev?"


    "Not bad, comrade political commissar." Although I had just fired at gurtyev because the division headquarters didn''t meet the regulations, I said in a light tone in front of kirilov: "the two regiments of the 308th division in the front line built good fortifications, which should be able to withstand the German attack."


    "Need more reinforcements for them?" It was wittkov, the chief of staff, who just arrived last night, who asked, "they don''t seem to have any heavy weapons. Except for simple defense, they don''t have the ability to attack the German army."


    After thinking about it, I nodded my head and agreed. At the same time, I told wittkov, "Comrade Colonel, please bring Colonel bere here. I want to ask about the situation of the tank brigade."


    "OK, I''ll call him right away." Witkov finished, and went to the position of the telephone.


    After a few minutes, Colonel berey appeared at the headquarters. After he raised his hand to salute us, he asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, please come to me. Do you have any instructions?"


    "Sit down first, comrade Colonel!" After I asked him to sit down, I asked frankly, "how many tanks do you have in your tank brigade?"


    When he heard my question, bielei immediately stood up and answered in a loud voice: "report to the commander, after this period of fighting, there are still 47 tanks left in the brigade. Ten of them broke down and couldn''t move. We had to put them in the north of the airport as a fixed fort. "


    "Comrade Colonel, we will leave the ten tanks that are out of order and continue to use them as fixed batteries." I don''t know what scale of battle will take place on the open plain tomorrow. Just in case, I decided to transfer Colonel berey''s tank brigade to be a reserve team, so that I could cope with any accident.


    The attack on the German army began at 9 a.m. Due to the recent supply difficulties of the southwest front army, the artillery preparation before the attack was cancelled. Nearly a hundred tanks of the 25th tank army formed a five way column and came in a mighty way from behind the friendly defensive positions.


    Gurdyev and I were standing in the observation post. When we saw our armored forces advancing toward the southwest, we could not help but feel our blood boiling. Guldyev said excitedly: "Comrade commander, look at our armored forces. With their momentum, they can''t be resisted by the German men who were beaten by us."


    With these words, he leaned down, put his eyes close to the lens of the gun mirror, and said triumphantly: "our armored forces have begun to attack. Let me see what kind of reaction the German guys have..." he stopped at the middle of his words.


    I saw the twitching expression on his face, and I couldn''t help asking strangely, "Comrade General, what''s the matter with you? What do you see in the camera?"


    Seeing that he didn''t reply, I couldn''t help being anonymous again, so I pushed him away and put my eyes close to the lens to look inside. At that time, I was shocked in a cold sweat. High dust also appeared from the southwest. German tanks also used five way columns to rush towards our positions. Although there were not as many as our tanks, there were at least 70 or 80 of them. Behind the tank array, there is a team of motorcycles and armored vehicles, followed by black infantry.


    We are just in the middle of the two troops. Looking at the two approaching armored forces, my heart goes up to my throat. I asked myself in my heart: Although the number of German tanks is less than ours, how many tanks will be left when our troops rush to zaborosh? Thinking of this, I immediately went to the middle of the room, picked up the phone from my desk and dialed Colonel berey''s brigade headquarters. As soon as I heard his voice, I immediately said, "Comrade Colonel, I order you to take your tank brigade to the defense area of the 308th division. You are needed here."¡° Yes "Don''t worry, commander. I''ll lead the troops there right away," said Colonel berey in a loud voice on the phone When I put down the phone and came back to look in front of the mouth, I found that the tanks on both sides were less than two kilometers apart. Instead of grabbing the observation mirror with gurdyev, I directly raised my telescope to check the situation on the battlefield. Five of our tanks, which were in front of us, slowed down. Then there was a burst of gunfire, and they flew directly towards the German tank line. I quickly turned my telescope around and looked at the German tank array. Except for one shell that missed and landed on the ground and exploded, the remaining four shells hit the German tank accurately. Seeing the smoke of gunpowder rising from the German tank body, I applauded in my heart. At the same time, I heard gurtyev also yell: "great, our tankers are great, five shots and four hits. Let these damned Germans go to hell." But we seemed to be happy too early. When the smoke of the gunfire cleared away, the four German tanks still drove forward at the same speed. Just when I was surprised, the German tanks stopped for a short time, and then their bodies were shocked, and the tank shells roared towards our tank array.

 Chapter 917

    When I saw that the front of a tank of our army was hit by a shell, I still had a sense of fluke. My heart said that it was the most advanced T-34 tank of our army. The turret had 60mm front armor with 32 degree oblique angle, and even the armor on the side was 45mm thick. The shells of German tanks No. 3 and No. 4 were easy to be bounced away even if they were hit. At such a long distance, the German tanks could not be fired, It''s impossible to penetrate our tanks.


    But it backfired. As soon as I thought so, the hit tank exploded into a fireball, and the turret was even lifted to the sky by the lethal ammunition inside the body, and then hit the ground heavily.


    "What the hell is going on?" In a moment of anxiety, I couldn''t help crying out: "at this distance, how can German tanks break through the front armor of the T-34?"


    Guldyev, who was bending over to observe the battlefield through the gun mirror, stood up straight and said to me solemnly: "Comrade commander, I find that the German army seems to have used a new type of tank, and the gun barrel of the other No. 4 tank is also improved compared with before."


    "What, new tanks?" When I heard the word that made me jump out of guldyev''s mouth, I quickly raised my telescope and looked at the German tank line carefully. From this view, we can see the problem. The tanks at the front are obviously different from the tanks No. 3 and No. 4 I used to know. Judging from our army''s limited tank knowledge, this kind of square headed and square brained tank should be the famous Tiger tank of the German army in World War II.


    When I think of these tanks that are rushing towards our army''s armored square array, that is, the T-34 star killer Tiger tanks, my heart cools. The weapons and equipment of both sides are obviously not at the same level. How can we fight this battle? The 76mm tank gun equipped with T-34 can''t penetrate the 102mm thick front armor of the Tiger tank at all, while the 56 times diameter 88mm gun of the German Tiger tank can easily punch a hole in the front armor of the T-34 tank at a distance of 1000m or more, just like shooting at a shooting range. Think of here, big cold days, I am nervous palms sweating.


    With the dull sound of German tank guns, one tank after another of our army was destroyed in the snow, and some of the tank turrets and I quickly recalled this article in my mind. After deleting some temporarily useless contents, we began to teach berey how to deal with Tiger tanks: "don''t worry, comrade Colonel, Although the new German tanks are powerful, they are not insurmountable. You also know that the mobility of a tank depends on the driving mechanism - the driving wheel, the driving wheel, the load wheel and the track. These parts can be destroyed by any caliber shells, and the driving wheel is particularly vulnerable, so it can be the preferred target.


    The new tank has two armor plates on each side. Part of the lower armor is covered by wheels. This armor protects the engine and gasoline in the rear of the tank just above the two rear wheels. You can use the tank gun to attack the low armor plate. When the gasoline is ignited, the tank will catch fire. Another way to set the tank on fire is to fire the side upper armor, which can attack the ammunition compartment and cause an explosion. The rear armor protects the tank''s gasoline and engine. As long as it is ejected by our armor piercing, it can paralyze the tank. "


    After I told berey what I knew, I gave him the order to attack: "Comrade Colonel, since you already know how to deal with the new German tanks, you should attack immediately. Remember to keep in touch with me at any time, and I will give you new orders according to the changes in the battlefield. "


    "Yes As soon as I had finished, Colonel berey replied loudly.


    When I put down the earphone and the transmitter, gurtyev, standing beside me, asked strangely, "Comrade commander, I don''t understand. How do you know these ways to deal with the new German tanks?"


    Gultyev''s words almost scared me out of a cold sweat. I just wanted to teach Col. berey the experience of dealing with Tiger tanks. I forgot that the Soviet commanders and fighters at the moment had never seen such a new German tank, let alone mastered how to deal with it.


    As for his question, I had to cough and say in an official voice, "general gurdyev, don''t forget that I am good friends with tank general katukov. After getting along with him for a long time, it''s not a great thing to learn how to deal with German tanks."


    After listening to my explanation, gurdyev only let out a cry, then went back to the mirror with doubts on his face and continued to observe the situation on the battlefield.


    There are burning tanks all over the plain, including our own and German ones, but now the only tanks that can still run everywhere are German Tiger tanks. The German tank guns are firing, the vehicle mounted machine guns are also firing, and even some arrogant tankers open the top cover of the turret, stand in the hatch, and use their submachine guns to sweep away the running tank members of our army.


    Seeing this scene, I was so angry that I wanted to find some snipers to kill all the German tankers. However, our observation post is two or three kilometers away from the battlefield. Even if there are the best snipers, they can do nothing to the enemy beyond the range. Although the snipers could not reach the enemy, the tank brigade of Colonel berey was also a threat to the German army. At this moment, they have successively appeared behind the trenches of our first line of defense.


    I quickly went to the phone again and contacted Colonel berey. I yelled at the transmitter and said, "look, Colonel berey, use high explosive bombs to bombard the joint of the German army and the infantry immediately, and separate the enemy''s tanks and infantry!" As the order was given, the tanks of the tank brigade stopped, lined up behind the trench, and fired at the far junction of the German army and the infantry. The high explosive shells fired by the tanks fell between the German tanks and the infantry. The mud and snow caused by the explosion of the shells flew so high that several soldiers near the explosion point were blown up. The sudden bombardment blinded the German infantry. The soldiers on the motorcycles jumped out and fell down on the spot. The soldiers who had been following the tank troops all the time fell down on the spot and stood in a daze after the bombardment! The German infantry began to fall into chaos after being continuously fired by the tank brigade. At this time, the tank that had stopped to fire moved. The tank soldiers made full use of their power and launched a decisive assault on the side of the enemy, directly into the joint of the German infantry and tanks¡° That''s great. That''s great! " Seeing our tanks charging up from the flank of the German army, gurdyev exclaimed excitedly: "Comrade commander, look, our tanks are charging up. After our shelling, the German infantry has become chaotic. " I held up my telescope and looked at the German tanks, but I didn''t feel the slightest joy, because I saw that the infantry following the German tanks were not the ordinary national defense forces, but the SS in black uniforms. Their combat effectiveness is much better than that of the national defense forces. Although they were caught in a short period of chaos under our artillery attack, I believe that they will soon recover and organize effective resistance. By that time, Colonel berey''s tank brigade will be more or less dangerous. As the German tanks were advancing rapidly, they didn''t expect that such a tank unit would rush out of the slash. They were caught off guard by the tank brigade. After being shot in the side, several invincible Tiger tanks stopped, and there was thick smoke in the same place. The tank crew in the tank fled from the tank in a panic and ran away. Colonel berey was a very good tank commander. His tank brigade ran through the joint of German tanks and infantry. He used machine guns to shoot infantry running around. He used tank guns to destroy German Tiger tanks and No. 4 tanks from the side or behind. Under their heroic attack, the German tanks and infantry were completely separated. After crushing several anti tank guns and flattening several trenches, several German tanks that rushed to friendly defensive positions were destroyed by our brave soldiers with anti tank grenades and flasks. Seeing the signs of the collapse of the German offensive, I can''t help but feel relieved. I also regret that if we let Colonel berey lead the troops earlier, maybe our 25th tank army would not have made such a great sacrifice. I went to the telephone and asked the operator to contact the group army headquarters. I need to report the situation here to haridonov¡° Major general o''shanina, is that you? " From the earphone came harritonov''s anxious voice: "what''s the situation there? I''ve heard that the 25th tank army has been completely destroyed. Are the German forces now attacking the position of the 4th Infantry army? "¡° Yes, comrade commander. " I replied respectfully, "because of the new tanks used by the German army, our 25th army of tanks was caught off guard, so it was quickly destroyed. I saw that the situation was critical, and I sent Colonel berey''s tank brigade to attack from the German flank. At present, they have severely damaged the German tank troops, and completely separated the remaining tanks and infantry... "When I said this, I suddenly heard gurdyev next to me exclaim:" hell, what a hell! Comrade commander, come and have a look. There are enemy planes in the sky. They are attacking Colonel berey''s tank brigade! " I pulled off the earphone on my head and threw it to the operator with the transmitter. I rushed to the observation port and looked up at the sky. In the sky at the moment, a German four plane formation was hovering above the tank brigade. Soon an enemy plane dived down toward the ground and dropped a bomb at the same time. After the bomb landed and exploded, the smoke wrapped two adjacent tanks in. Before the smoke dispersed, I saw another fire rising there. Then the turret of a tank was blown up high and whirled to the side, smashing an empty tricycle to pieces. When the smoke dispersed, I found that in addition to the body of a tank without turret, the other one was no better. It rolled over next to a large crater and was still emitting plumes of smoke.

 Chapter 918

    "Comrade commander," I heard the voice of a telegraph operator behind me. Seeing that our tanks were destroyed by German planes, I was choking with fire. When I heard the telegraph operator calling me, I couldn''t help being anonymous. I turned around and yelled at him: "what''s the matter?"


    Holding earphone and transmitter in his hand, the operator timidly said, "Comrade commander, comrade commander of the group army is still on the line. He wants to talk to you."


    Listening to what the operator said, I remembered that before our tanks were bombed by the German army, I was talking with haridonov, so I quickly went to the operator, took the earphone and transmitter from his hand, took a deep breath, calmed down my excitement, and then politely said, "Comrade commander, I''m oshanina."


    "Comrade oshanina," haridonov obviously heard gurtyev''s voice, so as soon as he heard my voice, he couldn''t wait to ask, "what''s the matter? Is the situation on the battlefield dangerous now? "


    "Yes, comrade commander of the group army." With the emergence of German planes, the situation faced by our army is getting worse, so I have to tell haridonov the truth and let him know: "our 25th tank army was completely annihilated by the German army equipped with new tanks, although I ordered Colonel berey''s tank brigade to attack from the flank in time, destroying and injuring some German tanks, A lot of infantry was wiped out. When we saw that the German infantry and tanks were about to be completely separated, the German aircraft appeared. Because our tanks lack the means of air defense, I estimate that in a short time, they will be completely destroyed in the bombing and strafing of German aircraft. "


    Haridonov heard me say this, sighed a long time, and asked: "Comrade oshanina, what kind of action do you think the German army will take after the total annihilation of the tank brigade?"


    "It''s obvious, comrade commander." What will happen next is that the German tanks and infantry are converging to attack the defense area of the Fourth Army of the guards. So I said frankly, "as long as our tanks are eliminated, the German tanks and infantry will gather again to launch a new attack on our defense position."


    "Do you think the 4th Army can hold the position?" Harridonov asked, after listening to me, in discreet and polite terms.


    "Comrade commander, with all due respect, our position can not be held." Without waiting for him to ask, I took the initiative to explain the reason: "the 45 mm anti tank gun shells on the ground of our army only left one or two white marks on the body of the new German tanks, which could not resist the impact of the German armored forces. Once our defense line is torn by German tanks, then the German infantry will encircle and annihilate our defenders. Judging from the defensive zone of the Fourth Army of the close guard infantry, they lack the necessary defense in depth. As long as the front is broken through, the German army can smoothly break into the rear of our army. "


    After all this, it suddenly occurred to me that if the German army really broke through the friendly line of defense and developed in depth, as I said, then the group army headquarters in the rear would bear the brunt of the attack. I immediately reminded harridonov, "Comrade commander, if the German army broke through the friendly line of defense, Then their tanks may soon rush to the position of the headquarters of the group army, so I suggest that you order the troops to build fortifications as soon as possible to fight against the possible German troops. "


    When I went back to the observation port, I saw that our tanks on the battlefield were in a very bad situation. At the moment, the enemy planes in the sky were no longer just four, but more than a dozen. From time to time, the enemy planes dived at the fast-moving tanks of our army, dropping bombs one by one, or using machine guns to strafe the tank soldiers who escaped from the destroyed tanks.


    I could see the tanks of the tank brigade destroyed one by one by German planes, or by the far turned Tiger tanks shelled by tanks; One by one, the tankers who escaped from the destroyed tanks fell to the muzzle of the plane''s machine gun or armored vehicle''s machine gun. My nose was sore, and I felt like a knife. But I couldn''t help what happened in front of me. My clenched fist hit the earth wall of the observation station.


    After the German army solved our tank brigade, they began to regroup in the open field. In this time and space, the hovering planes dived toward the friendly positions, bombed and strafed, but they ignored our positions, as if they didn''t see us at all.


    When the enemy planes ran out of bombs and bullets and turned around and flew West, the German ground attack began again. Led by tanks, they stormed to our friendly positions again.


    Seeing that the German army launched the ground attack again, the brave anti tank artillery climbed out of the position full of holes, quickly ran to the front of the position which had not been destroyed, adjusted the firing angle of the artillery, loaded the shells, and fired at the coming tank. Although their shells caused little damage to the German tanks, they still shot tenaciously, until all the Gunners fell in the fire, or were crushed by the German tank''s crawler with guns, and then they stopped shooting at the German tanks.


    Perhaps because of the tragic sacrifice of the artillery brothers in front of them, the infantry on the position jumped out of the trench one after another, holding burning bottles or anti tank grenades, and rushed bravely to the German tanks in groups without hesitation.


    In the face of the swarming of our army''s commanders and fighters, the only remaining more than 30 German tanks stopped at the same place and fired shells into the crowd. The vehicle mounted machine guns kept sweeping away, quickly harvesting the lives of our army''s commanders and fighters. In particular, tank shells fall in the crowd and explode, often one shell explodes, which will blow more than ten or twenty commanders and fighters into the sky.


    Seeing that our friendly troops were being slaughtered by the enemy, gurdyev could not hold his breath. He stood up and asked me in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, we can''t watch the Germans kill all our comrades. I suggest that we immediately send our division''s regiment deployed at the forefront to strike them from the flank of the Germans, so as to relieve the pressure on the comrades of the Fourth Army of the close guard infantry. "


    As for gurdyev''s proposal, I refused it unambiguously. I pointed to a few enemy planes that just appeared in the sky and said anxiously, "general gurdyev, without air force support, let your commanders and fighters give up their existing defense work and fight in the field with the German troops who have the air control power, strength and equipment, This is undoubtedly unwise. So I can''t agree with your proposal. "


    "But, comrade commander." After being rejected by me, gurtyev did not give up and continued to try to convince me: "can we just watch the Germans break through the friendly positions and drive straight into the rear of our army to defeat the main force of the group army?"


    "Comrade General," in order to make him understand the current situation, I had to emphasize and say to him seriously, "I remind you that the task of our army is to cover the flank of the main force of the group army, and we are carrying out this task in front of us. If the German army turns around and attacks us, we can''t give up our position even if we fight to the last man. We must resolutely stop the German here. Do you understand? "


    After listening to what I said, gurdyev probably understood that I would not allow him to send troops to reinforce the friendly forces. He could only weakly promise, "I see, comrade commander."


    "And Comrade General." When I thought of the tank brigade that was surrounded and annihilated by German tanks and planes, I felt heartbroken and forced to bear the indignation in my heart. I told gurtyev to say, "after dark, you should send people to the battlefield to search. If you meet the wounded of the tank brigade, you must rescue them all. In particular, Colonel bere, who lives to see people and dies to see corpses, can not leave his body to the Germans even if he is sacrificed. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." For my order, gurtyev agreed very readily. He said to me in a loud voice, "I''ll call the commander of the forward regiment and ask him to organize a search and rescue team to search the battlefield and treat the wounded of the tank brigade."


    Half an hour later, the German army broke through the defensive position of the Fourth Army, and the tanks ran over the defensive area of the Fourth Army of the infantry, advancing rapidly to the East. As the enemy never attacked our position, and I needed to return to the army headquarters to take control of the situation, I left the observation post of gurtyev division and drove back to the airport.


    When I walked into the command post in the cabin, kirilov and wittkov met me and asked with concern, "what''s the situation ahead? Is the German army still pushing deep into the defense of the group army?"


    "Yes, political commissar and chief of staff," I said solemnly to them, "the current situation is very bad. The German army has torn a gap in the defense line of the Fourth Army of the close guard infantry. More than 30 tanks and a large number of infantry have rushed to the rear of our army from this gap. But our defense line has not completely collapsed, and the guards are still fighting tenaciously. "


    After introducing the situation, I asked wittkov: "Comrade chief of staff, what''s the situation on this side of the airport?"


    "The German infantry attacked twice under the cover of tanks." Wittkov said lightly: "because they did not use heavy artillery and bombing, their attack was easily repulsed by our army."


    "Do you know the German number of the attack?" If we think that all the units attacking the Fourth Army of the close guard infantry are from the SS, we can''t be the national defense forces here, so I want to find out what part of the enemy is.


    "It''s all clear, comrade commander." Wittkov waved to Pugachev, who was standing beside him. At the same time, he said, "Comrade chief of operations, please introduce the German army to the commander."


    Pugachev nodded and immediately reported to me, "Comrade commander, according to our reconnaissance and interrogation of German prisoners, we know. It was the imperial armored infantry division affiliated to the SS Panzer that attacked the fourth position of the guards. The troops attacking the airport were the "skeleton" armored infantry division under Ike''s command. They also got the information and knew that their division commander, general Ike, was in our hands, so they seemed to be a bit tied when attacking. This is also their willingness that their attack can be easily repulsed by us. "


    After hearing this, I called kirilov and wittkov to the map at the table, pointed to the position of our army on the map, and said to them, "comrades commander, our north side is the German" empire "armored infantry division which broke through the defense line of the guards, the south side is the 11th armored division, and the front side is the powerful" skeleton "armored infantry division. The situation is very bad. Our army has fallen into the three encirclement of the German army unconsciously. If they send a unit to cut off our supply lines, we will be left alone. "


    After listening to my analysis, vetkov said with some disapproval: "Comrade commander, are you talking too seriously? You know, although the German army broke through the defense line of the guards today, their strength is limited. Facing the strong offensive of our two front forces, they will soon be in a desperate situation. "¡° Comrade chief of staff, it may be our army that is about to fall into a desperate situation. " As soon as wittkov finished speaking, I immediately raised my voice and said, "in the early battle, in addition to leaving a small number of troops to deal with our army, the main force quietly withdrew to the vicinity of the Dnieper River. Now they have an absolute advantage in local areas. As long as we launch a surprise attack on our troops, our campaign may end in failure. "¡° Comrade commander, what shall we do next? " Frightened by my analysis, Pugachev asked cautiously, "should we gather our forces and retreat to the east?"¡° Major, why retreat eastward? " Kirilov asked in a puzzled way after hearing Pugachev''s question. Hearing kirilov''s question, Pugachev coughed, cleared his throat, and explained: "Comrade political commissar, in our east is the weakest link of the German army. Once the situation is critical, we choose to retreat eastward, we can get strong support from the troops in the Don River Basin, and quickly get out of danger."¡° Major, you think too simply. " Wittkov rebutted Pugachev impolitely: "the situation is not so bad, you even think about the retreat. You''d better listen to what the commander said." Seeing that everyone''s eyes were focused on me, I also went around the circle and said my plan frankly: "I will definitely not take the road to the East, which is to be a deserter; North or south, because the superiority of troops and weaponry is on the German side, it is not in my consideration. The last direction left, "I pointed to zaborosh on the map and solemnly announced," we will concentrate our forces to attack here tomorrow. "

 Chapter 919

    As soon as my words came out, the room became quiet, and everyone was shocked by my wonderful ideas. After a long time, wittkov hesitated and asked, "Comrade commander, if I heard you correctly, you just said that our next attack target is zaborosh, where the Manstein command is located?"


    "Yes, chief of staff," I said with certainty, "you heard me right. I said zaborosh."


    "But why, comrade commander?" Wittkov asked in surprise: "you know, not long ago, the German troops broke through the friendly defense line in our North and went straight into the depth of our group army. Is it appropriate to attack under such circumstances? " Maybe he was afraid that I would forget the German troops in the west of the airport, and he reminded me that "don''t you forget that the German" skeleton "Armored Infantry Division has been attacking our airport all the time."


    "The skeleton division is not terrible," I said. Looking at the tail of the cabin, I could barely see Ike lying motionless on the floor. My heart said that the attack of the skeleton division in the past two days is not very fierce. Is it because they know that the division commander is in our hands, so they dare not attack us? Thinking of this, I continued: "although they attack the airport every day, compared with the brilliant achievements of the imperial division, they are not so much attacking as conducting offensive and defensive training."


    "Attack and defense training?" This time, kirilov said, "Comrade o''shanina, can you tell me more details? This kind of riddle like statement sounds very difficult to us."


    Since kirilov asked this question, I stopped beating around the Bush and said frankly, "the imperial division of the Fourth Army of the attacking guards only spent an hour or two annihilating the 25th army of our tanks and the tank brigade of Colonel berey, and easily broke through the direction of the infantry and went straight into the defense depth of our army. And the "skeleton division" is as famous as the SS troops. If they really want to seize the airport, they may be able to reach their destination in a few hours. But now? They fought for several days, but they didn''t get into the gate of the airport. What are the reasons for this? "


    After my words, Pugachev said tentatively: "Comrade commander, you are right. The attack of the" skeleton division "in the past two days is a bit abnormal. It gives people a sense of perfunctoriness."


    "That''s right," I said positively to Pugachev''s analysis. "According to my analysis, the attack of the" skeleton division "on us was not to seize the airport, but to keep our troops near the airport, so that we could not concentrate our strength to attack the flanks of the" imperial division "and support the defense operations of friendly forces."


    "Even if the" skeleton division "attack is perfunctory, but with our strength to attack zaborosh, is it a bit too risky?" As soon as I finished speaking, wittkov immediately expressed his views: "at present, our 308th and 171st divisions are entangled by the German army, so they can''t be withdrawn at all. If you want to attack, you can only rely on general bantailiev''s close guard 22nd division. At present, there are only three regiments that can be used by this division. It is almost impossible for this force to conquer a city that may be heavily guarded. "


    "Comrade chief of staff, your analysis is very correct." After I agreed with wittkov''s words, I went on to say: "as I have just said, our army is now surrounded by the German army. In order not to be destroyed by the German army, apart from retreating eastward, the only thing we can do is to take the risk of attacking zaborosh, destroy the German headquarters and make their command system into chaos, This is tantamount to supporting friendly forces under German attack in disguise. "


    Seeing that I had made up my mind, the plan to attack zaborosh could not be changed, and vetkov no longer tried to persuade me, but began to consider how to make a combat plan. He thought for a moment and asked me, "Comrade commander, do you need to prepare for artillery fire before attacking?"


    I understand the meaning of his question. Although the artillery regiment of lieutenant colonel kaverin added a batch of shells two days ago, the quantity is limited. Each gun can only guarantee three base numbers of ammunition. If it is necessary to provide artillery support for the attacking forces, the artillery will face the situation of no shells in the next battle. After thinking about it, I said to him, "Comrade chief of staff, in order to reduce the casualties of our troops attacking zaborosh, it is necessary to prepare for the necessary artillery fire."


    "Well, I''ll call lieutenant colonel cavelin right away." Although vetkov still had a helpless expression on his face, listening to me, he had no choice but to say, "arrange the artillery regiment to provide necessary artillery support for our infantry in tomorrow''s attack."


    Seeing that he was going to make a phone call, I immediately stopped him and told him, "by the way, comrade chief of staff, there are two artillery battalions in the 22nd division of Jinwei, so they should be used together."


    "Yes Vetkov agreed and turned to call the artillery regiment.


    As soon as wittkov left, kirilov quickly asked, "Comrade oshanina, what are you going to do tomorrow?"


    "Comrade political commissar, according to my estimation, the German" skeleton division "will attack our positions tomorrow morning." Hearing kirilov''s question, I told him what I thought without reservation: "when their attack is repulsed, we will bombard the German positions outside zaborosh. After the shelling, in addition to leaving a part of the troops to continue to confront the "skeleton division", the rest of the troops launched an attack on zaborosh


    "Is that all right?" After listening to my thoughts, kirilov''s face became even more worried. He asked anxiously, "Comrade oshanina, when our troops charge zaborosh, will the troops of the" skull division "stand by? If they attack from our flanks, then our attacking forces are in danger of being destroyed. "


    I know that my plan is not perfect, or even purely a product of slapping my head. If I attack according to my plan, then we will have half of the chance to capture zaborosh and the whole army. In order to ensure the success of the operation, I took the initiative to postpone the attack for one day, and then issued two new orders to Pugachev: "Comrade major, send a message to major Godunov immediately, so that he can withdraw with his troops before dawn tomorrow and arrive at the airport to join us. In addition, we should send scouts to reconnoiter the German defensive positions in zaborosh overnight, and we must make clear the firepower distribution of the German positions. "


    "I see, comrade commander." Pugachev respectfully finished this sentence, turned away from the headquarters, and went to the next telegraph room to send a message.


    Wittkov, who came back from the phone call, heard me postpone the operation, nodded and said with emotion: "Comrade commander, postpone the attack until the day after tomorrow, so that we have more time to prepare. As long as we have a clear picture of the enemy''s deployment in the city, and then carry out targeted attacks, I believe our success rate in capturing the city will greatly increase. "


    For Vitkov''s lack of confidence, I just gave a wry smile, because I had no idea whether the attack would succeed or not. I only hope that major Godunov can bring back more commando engineers. With these well-trained commando engineers, we will have a great advantage in the upcoming street battle.


    Because of the fact that gordonov was blocked by the German army when he led the army to transfer last time, I didn''t have much hope that they could withdraw from the German encirclement this time. I didn''t expect that the more hopeless things are, the easier it is to bring surprise to people.


    I was sleeping on the March bed by the wall when I felt someone shaking my shoulder. Then I heard kirilov''s familiar voice: "Hello, o''shanina, wake up, wake up."


    I tried to open my eyes, looked at kirilov standing in front of my bed and asked slowly, "Comrade political commissar, is it daybreak outside?"


    "It''s still early in the morning," kirilov said excitedly with a happy face. "I have good news for you. Godunov and his troops have successfully withdrawn from the German encirclement."


    "What, major Godunov is leading the Department out?" Hearing this news, I suddenly sat up from the March bed, but I didn''t care to put on my shoes. I stepped on the ground barefoot and couldn''t wait to ask kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, where are they now?"


    Kirilov saw that I was in a hurry and said with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, you are in a hurry. Major Godunov has just called to say that he has led the troops to Kuban and is in the process of recuperation. " At this point, he stopped for a moment, and then said to me in a deliberative tone, "after days of fighting, their commanders and fighters are very tired, so I decided to let major Godunov lead the Department to rest in Kuban, and then lead the troops to come back at noon."


    When I heard that gordonov and his troops were still in Kuban, I sat back on the March bed and put on my boots and said, "since they are resting in Kuban, let them rest a little longer. Anyway, the attack will start tomorrow. By the way, is there any new information from the group army? "


    Kirilov nodded and replied: "the group army headquarters sent a telegram saying that the German army broke through the line of defense of the Fourth Army of the close guard infantry yesterday, advanced nearly 100 kilometers and approached the location of the headquarters. At present, the commander is commanding the army and launching a fierce battle with the German army."


    "Where is general gurdyev?" After asking about the situation of the group army, I was concerned about the 308th division, which was supposed to serve as the flank of the cover. "What happened to the Germans in front of their positions? What''s more, I asked him to send a search team to look for survivors of the tank brigade on the battlefield. What''s the result? "


    "According to general gurdyev, there are currently no German troops in their front." Kirilov picked up a telegram and read it to me: "after intensive collection, the search team sent out that night rescued about 40 wounded soldiers of our army, 15 of whom were seriously injured. No sign of Colonel berey was found."


    Hearing this, I suddenly stood up and said angrily, "what''s wrong with gurtyev? It''s such a big place that he can''t find anyone. It''s rubbish." After walking in the room with my hands behind my back for two times, I stopped and said to wittkov, who was standing beside me: "Comrade chief of staff, send a message to general gurdyev, and let him send more people to continue searching. If you want to see people alive or dead, you must find the whereabouts of Colonel berey."


    "Yes Wittkov agreed, handed me a telegram, and reported: "Comrade commander, this is the telegram just received. It''s a joint telegram from major akhromeyev and the commander of the 171st division, Colonel andreushenko. They said that the 11th armored division and 336th infantry division of the German army were pressed up from both directions at the same time, which seriously compressed their circle space and forced them to engage in brutal positional warfare with the German army. "


    "Ah?" Kirilov, who was close to me, was shocked when he heard the news, and then asked me, "Comrade oshanina, why does this happen?"¡° It''s very simple, comrade political commissar. " As for his question, I shrugged my shoulders and said helplessly, "major Godunov''s troops have successfully withdrawn from the German encirclement. Then the German troops, which were originally restrained by the new third regiment, will have no worries. They will be able to move to attack our 171st division calmly."¡° With the troops and weaponry of the 171st division, it is impossible to resist the attack of an armored division and an infantry division of the German army. " Kirilov said anxiously, "what are we going to do next? Are we going to watch them destroyed by the German army?"¡° Don''t worry, comrade political commissar. Things are not so critical yet. " I quickly comforted kirilov and said, "as our army''s current strength is too scattered, I intend to let major akhromeyev withdraw to Kuban under alternate cover, and build new fortifications there to resist the German attack. Once we succeed in seizing zaborosh, we will withdraw the 171st and 308th divisions into the city and stay there waiting for help. "¡° That''s a good idea. I agree. " It''s said that my plan is to withdraw more than 10000 or 20000 people of the whole army into the city to continue fighting after zaborosh is captured. Kirilov''s confidence will be restored immediately. "Maybe in this way, we can successfully replicate a" Stalingrad style "street battle in zaborosh until the main forces of the Southwest front army and Voronezh front army arrive, Just under the city of zaborosh, surround and annihilate the German troops. "

 Chapter 920

    After working out the plan, before I could speak, vetkov took the initiative to ask for instructions: "Comrade commander, does this combat plan need to be reported to the headquarters of the group army?"


    Despite the series of recent battles conducted by our army, I did not ask for prior instructions or report afterwards to the headquarters of the group army. But this time, the situation was different. The German troops broke through the defense lines of the friendly forces and directly threatened the security of the group headquarters. I''m afraid that haridonov will temporarily send us to destroy the German troops wedged into the defense line, so we must report it, so that we won''t suddenly receive the order from the superior when we are attacking zaborosh with all our strength.


    As soon as wittkov finished speaking, I immediately nodded and agreed: "well, comrade chief of staff, send a report to commander haridonov immediately, and report our plan to attack zaborosh to him."


    Seeing that I promised to report the plan to the group army command so cheerfully, kirilov asked strangely, "Comrade oshenina, you have been worried about the reported combat plan. Is it possible to disclose it? Why do you agree to the chief of staff''s proposal and report the plan to the group army headquarters this time? "


    "Comrade political commissar," in order to answer kirilov''s doubts, I patiently explained to kirilov: "yesterday, the German imperial division broke through the line of defense of the Fourth Army of the close guard infantry and went straight into the headquarters of the sixth group army, where fierce fighting was still going on. If commander haridonov sent our army to reinforce, the skull division, the 11th division of the disguised armour division or the 336th division of the infantry division nearby would come up from behind us like a hungry wolf and bite us hard. In order to avoid this situation, we must report our combat plan to our superiors this time, so that they can have a clear idea of it, so as not to give us an order to mobilize our troops inexplicably and cause unnecessary confusion when our army is in the middle of fierce fighting. "


    After listening to my explanation, kirilov frowned and thought about it. Then he nodded and said, "Comrade oshanina, you are very considerate. For such a big action, you need to get through with your superiors in advance. Otherwise, when our fighting gets stuck, the superior who doesn''t know the situation suddenly gives an order to send our troops to reinforce, and then we will be in trouble. "


    Since we need to know the reply from the superior at the first time, this combat plan is sent through the telephone in the headquarters. While waiting for a reply, wittkov asked me again: "Comrade commander, do you think the superior will agree with our combat plan?"


    "Yes, comrade chief of staff." As for wittkov''s question, I said with certainty: "once our army launches an attack on zaborosh, a large number of German troops will be held in the vicinity by us, so that they will not be able to mobilize forces to strengthen those troops that break through our defense line, which will greatly relieve the pressure on the main force of the group army at present, It''s what they want to see. "


    As we were talking, the operator suddenly yelled to us, "Comrade commander, the commander of the group army is online. He wants to speak to you."


    The Group Commander wants to talk to me? When I heard the operator shouting, my first reaction was that he was wrong. But on second thought, this operator is very capable and will never make such a low-level mistake. It should really be harridonov who wants to talk to me. I hastened to the telephone, grabbed the earphone and put it on, then politely said to the transmitter: "Hello, comrade commander, I''m o''shanina, what''s your instruction?"


    "I just finished reading the battle plan you reported." There was a slow voice from the earphone. "So, are you going to attack zaborosh tomorrow?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." When I heard him talking in Ming language, I had no scruples to tell us our battle plan. I really couldn''t laugh or cry. I could only vaguely reply: "at present, there are German troops on three sides of our army. Only by launching a decisive attack can we resolve the current crisis."


    Listening to my vague words, haridonov seemed to understand something. In the following words, he did not mention zaborosh again. After a few simple greetings, he said briefly: "well, comrade oshanina, I agree with your plan. Tomorrow I will be waiting for your victory in the headquarters of the group army. Good luck With that, he broke off contact.


    I returned the earphone and transmitter to the operator. As soon as I turned around, I saw Pugachev hurried in from the outside. Worried about what important information he had received, he asked bluntly, "major, have you received any latest information?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, it''s good news." "General gurdyev has just sent a telegram saying that his search team has found Colonel bere..." Pugachev said with a happy face


    When I heard the name of Colonel bere, I rushed to Pugachev with a lunge, grabbed him by the shoulder and asked, "I found Colonel bere. How is he? Are you still alive? " When I asked the last sentence, I couldn''t help lowering my voice for fear of hearing the news of berey''s sacrifice.


    "He''s still alive, comrade commander." Pugachev simply replied, "but he''s hurt."


    When I heard that bielei was still alive, the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. As long as I was still alive, no matter what kind of injury I suffered, there was hope of cure. Because of this, my next question was much easier: "where is he hurt, is he serious?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander. He can''t die." "According to general gurdyev''s report, his search team found Colonel bere next to a rollover tank," Pugachev said easily. After the tank was destroyed, the Colonel may have suffered a lot of injuries. After escaping from the tank, he fainted in a crater next to a rollover tank nearby. The first wave of the search team started because they were worried that there were still Germans on the battlefield. They were not careful in their search, but failed to find Colonel berey. When your order was given, the 308th sent a search team to search the possible hiding place of the Colonel carefully, and then found the wounded and dizzy colonel. After the examination of the military doctor, it was found that he had multiple skin injuries on his body, and fractured the forearm of his left arm. He was able to walk on his own


    Kirilov and Vitkov, who were nearby, were both relieved after listening to Pugachev''s story. Kirilov also said to himself, "thank God, Colonel bere is so lucky. After lying in the snow all night, he can still survive. It''s a miracle."


    After kirilov finished his speech, I asked Pugachev, "major, did general gurdyev say where Colonel bere is now?"


    "The general has sent a car for the colonel." When Pugachev said this, he raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he continued: "in a few minutes, he will be at the army headquarters."


    A few minutes later, berey appeared in the army headquarters. With the help of two soldiers, the Colonel staggered up to us and raised his hand to salute us. At the same time, he reported: "comrades commander, captain of the tank brigade, Colonel berey, report to you that all the commanders and fighters of the 84th tank brigade have died bravely after a tough battle."


    I stepped forward, took the hand he held down from his forehead, helped him to sit down at the table, and asked with concern, "Comrade Colonel, how is your injury?"


    "Please rest assured, comrade commander. My injuries are not serious. Although there are many injuries on my body, they are all skin injuries. I can recover in a few weeks. It will be more troublesome to have a broken arm. It is estimated that it will take two or three months at the fastest to recover completely. " When he said this, he might be afraid that I would let him go to the rear to take care of his injury. He specially added: "as long as the superior gives me new troops, even if the injury on my arm is not over, I can command the troops to fight."


    After listening to him, I said with a smile: "Comrade Colonel, I have seen the whole process of the tank brigade fighting. If it wasn''t for the sudden appearance of German planes, the victory of this battle would belong to us. Although the tank brigade has run out now, don''t worry. When the campaign is over, the superior will give us a supplement. " I have also made a special explanation of his concerns¡° As for now, your first task is to heal the wounded. Only by doing so can you lead a new army to carry out more arduous combat tasks. "


    "Comrade commander, at such a time, I don''t want to go to the rear to heal the wounded," said Colonel berey. After listening to my words, he was deeply afraid that I was perfunctory, and solemnly asked me, "you must ensure that I can return to my command post as soon as possible."


    "Don''t worry, comrade colonel." To tell you the truth, I am very short of commanders at all levels. How can I let go of such an excellent tank commander as Colonel berey? Seeing what he said, I quickly added: "I promise you that in half an appointment at most, your tank brigade will be rebuilt, and then you will be the commander of the tank brigade."


    With these words, I waved to Pugachev, and then said to him, "Comrade major, Colonel berey needs a rest. You can find a place for him to have a good rest."


    "Yes Pugachev agreed, called the two soldiers standing at the door, and asked them to help Colonel bere leave the division headquarters.


    Watching Colonel bere stagger away from the headquarters, kirilov could not help sighing: "Comrade oshanina, the tank brigade is over. When we attack zaborosh, after the artillery preparation is over, we can only let the infantry charge to the city without the cover of tanks."


    As soon as kirilov finished speaking, wittkov immediately said: "Comrade political commissar, although the tank brigade has run out, our infantry can still get a small amount of tank support when they attack zaborosh."


    "We still have tanks?" Kirilov was surprised to hear wittkov say this and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, who told you that we still have tanks?"


    "Comrade political commissar, the chief of staff is right. We should have tanks to support the infantry attack." Although wittkov didn''t make it clear, I understood what he said about the tank troops in my heart, so I explained to kirilov, "don''t you forget that there is a tank battalion in the 22nd division of the close guard of Bantai leiev?"


    "The tank battalion under major perskin?" Kirilov asked in surprise, "aren''t they under the command of major ahlomeyev, in the southern suburbs of boloi, fighting with the German army?"


    "As the German forces rushed to poloi from several directions at the same time, their range of activities became narrower and narrower," I continued. "In order to ensure that our army can successfully capture zaborosh, I decided to leave the tank battalion of the 171st division behind, and major perskin''s tank battalion immediately withdrew from the fighting and arrived in Kuban by this evening." In the evening, I received a call from major perskin from Kuban. His excited voice came out of the earphone: "Hello, commander, I''m peresjian. My tank battalion and I are waiting for your orders. Please give us instructions!"¡° Major, "I was holding a telephone with a telephone line. I didn''t have to worry about being eavesdropped by the German army, so I said to him without concealment," our troops are going to attack zaborosh tomorrow. I want to ask you, can your tank battalion fight and cover the attack of infantry? " After a short silence, peresjian replied decisively: "Comrade commander, although there are only six tanks left in our battalion, there is no problem in covering the infantry attack on zaborosh."¡° Very well, comrade major. " Hearing his reply, I nodded with satisfaction, and then told him: "you and your troops will rest in Kuban for the time being, and come to the airport with major gordonov''s new third regiment before dawn tomorrow." When I put down the phone, wittkov said with satisfaction: "Comrade commander, now we have an additional regiment and a tank battalion, and we are all fighting with experienced troops. With their support, I believe we have no problem in capturing zaborosh." I was about to speak when a report came from the door. I turned around and found that standing at the door was captain travkin, deputy battalion commander of the reconnaissance battalion. Looking at his clothes, he should have just returned from the reconnaissance mission. So I beckoned him to come to me and asked, "Comrade captain, how are you doing with your reconnaissance mission? Have you got a clear idea of the deployment of German forces in the German "skull division" and zaborosh? "¡° Comrade commander, our reconnaissance mission has been completed, "said travkin with a serious face when answering my question." but the situation has changed unexpectedly. "¡° Unexpected changes? What''s the change? " Hearing this, I was shocked. I thought that the German army had increased its troops to zaborosh? If that''s the case, our attack tomorrow will be to hit the stone with the egg. So he asked tentatively, "did the German army send more reinforcements to zaborosh?" After hearing this, travkin shook his head and said, "zaborosh''s garrison did not get any reinforcements, but unexpectedly retreated quietly."

 Chapter 921

    After the report, the first reaction of the three of us was to shout, "it''s impossible." The three of us stopped together after shouting this sentence at the same time. Kirilov and wittkov looked at each other and motioned for me to ask the truth.


    I coughed habitually, cleared my throat, and then asked solemnly, "Comrade captain, did you say that the German troops in the city have retreated? Did you see it with your own eyes or did someone tell you that?" This matter matters most, so when I asked travkin, I tried to be more detailed.


    "Comrade commander is right." as soon as my voice fell, before travkin had time to answer, wittkov next to him couldn''t wait to remind him: "if you didn''t see it with your own eyes, either your scout was wrong, or your scout was captured by the German, and was deliberately put back to spread false news."


    As for witkov, who doubted the result of the reconnaissance, travkin only took a look, then faced me, straightened his back, and solemnly reported to me, "Comrade commander, I saw the German retreat with my own eyes." In order to strengthen the persuasion, he added: "when the Scout I sent to the city came back to report to me, I didn''t believe the result of the reconnaissance, and even threatened the scout who reported to me that if he lied, I would shoot him. But the Scout assured me that he had seen all the German troops withdraw. In order to confirm his news, I went to the city specially. After a search, I found that zaborosh had become an empty city. "


    After listening to the report of travkin, I walked back and forth in the headquarters with my hands behind my back, thinking about what medicine the German army sold in the gourd. They were near zaborosh, with several divisions and at least one division in the city. Compared with us, in addition to their geographical advantages, they also have the advantage of convenient military strength and weaponry.


    Looking at my delay in speaking, vetkov was a little anxious. He said with a roar: "Comrade commander, I think there is something wrong with it. The main force of the German army has not been damaged at all. It is very easy to block our attack. But now, without firing a shot, they quietly withdraw from the city. There must be some conspiracy. Maybe they have dug a trap and are waiting for our troops to jump in. "


    I stopped, looked up at wittkov, nodded and said, "Comrade chief of staff, you are quite right. It must be a problem that the German army withdrew from the city so quietly. Manstein now has two elite troops, the imperial division and the skull division. If we really want to fight, we can''t compete with any of them. So I think the enemy''s quietly withdrawing from the city this time must be brewing some big conspiracy. "


    "What shall we do now?" As soon as I finished speaking, wittkov immediately asked me for instructions.


    What should we do? Wittkov''s problem really baffles me. It''s getting late now. If the German army has an ambush in the city and I rush to send troops into the city, I may suffer heavy losses. Before I made a final decision, kirilov had offered to me: "Comrade oshanina, although the German army has retreated from the city, we have not yet sent troops to occupy the city. According to my opinion, this matter will not be reported to the higher authorities for the time being. As for what''s going on in the city, we''ll send an army to check it out after daybreak, and then we''ll decide what to do next. Do you think I can make such an arrangement? "


    "Comrade political commissar, you have considered it very comprehensively." As for kirilov''s proposal, I only thought about it for a few seconds, then I resolutely agreed with it, and then told wittkov: "chief of staff, you should call Godunov and pereskin in Kuban, and ask them to leave at six o''clock tomorrow morning and report to the army headquarters."


    "OK, I''ll call them right away." After receiving the order, wittkov immediately picked up the phone on the desk and dialed Kuban''s line. After a short silence, I heard him saying in a loud voice, "Hello, operator, this is colonel witkov. Get me the new third regiment of Kuban immediately. Yes, the new third regiment. Find me major Godunov, the leader of the new third regiment. "


    Soon I heard Godunov''s voice coming out of the receiver. I quickly stepped forward, took the phone from Vitkov''s hand, and said to the receiver, "Hello, is that major Godunov? I''m oshanina


    "Hello, comrade commander." Hearing my voice, Godunov asked respectfully, "would you like to call me at this time? Do you have any combat tasks to hand over to our regiment?"


    "You are right, comrade major." As I was not worried that the cable phone would leak, I told him straightforwardly: "according to the report of the scout, the German army has quietly withdrawn from zaborosh. At present, the whole city is an empty city."


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." before I finished, Godunov said hastily, "I''ll gather the troops immediately and arrive at zaborosh overnight. We must control all the important fortifications in the city before dawn."


    "Comrade major, you are too anxious." I couldn''t help laughing at Godunov''s eagerness to fight. Then I said to him, "your regiment will continue to rest and leave at six tomorrow morning to meet us at the headquarters at the airport. By the way, before you set out, call major pelsjian up to guard zaborosh. You can''t rely on your infantry alone without tank troops. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Godunov replied loudly, "I''ll pass your order on to major perskin."


    "Comrade commander, we have several regiments from the 22nd division of the guards, and they are not far from zaborosh. But why do you want to move from Kuban to major gordonov''s new third regiment After I put down the phone, wittkov asked in a puzzled way, "I''m confused by your arrangement."


    "Chief of staff," kirilov said to wittkov with a smile, "I''ve been with Comrade oshanina longer than you, and I know more about her. Since she arranged it in this way, she must have considered it carefully. Do you think so? " He asked me the last sentence.


    "Yes, comrade political commissar, you are quite right." Although kirilov expressed his support and trust to me, I knew that he had doubts about my arrangement. So I took the opportunity to explain to them: "the new third regiment is composed of assault Engineering Battalion, and what they are good at is attack. This point is incomparable with other regiments of the 22nd division of the guards. The reason why I let the new third regiment enter the city was to prevent the German army from setting ambush in the city. With the combat effectiveness of shock engineers, even if they are ambushed by the German army, I believe that with their strength, even if they can''t fight the enemy''s attack, they can successfully withdraw from the city. "


    "So it is." After listening to my explanation, kirilov and wittkov nodded with a sudden look.


    At about seven o''clock the next morning, the dusty Godunov and pelsky arrived at the headquarters on the plane. After they saluted us, I went forward to shake hands with them one by one and asked them about their recent situation.


    They didn''t stay in the headquarters for long, so they accepted the new task assigned to them by Vitkov. After saluting us again, they left the headquarters and led the troops to zaborosh.


    Less than an hour after they left, the operator reported to me, "Comrade commander, major Godunov is online. He wants to talk to you."


    Seeing the happy expression of the operator, I knew that it must be good news. So I went over to put on my earphone and said to the transmitter with a smile, "major Godunov, do you have any good news to tell me?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Godunov excitedly reported to me that "our regiment and pelskin''s tank battalion have taken control of the whole zaborosh. After careful search by our soldiers, no German was found in the city."


    "Well done, comrade major." When I heard Godunov say that the whole zaborosh is under our control, I let down the boulder hanging in my heart, and then I said to him, "immediately send troops to the fortifications built by the German army, and make all preparations for fighting, so as not to let the Germans return."


    When I put down my earphone and transmitter, I couldn''t help but say to kirilov and wittkov, "commissar, chief of staff, it''s good news. Major Godunov reported that his and major perskin''s forces had taken control of the whole city of zaborosh, and no German troops were found in the city. "


    "That''s really good news." When kirilov said this, he and Vitkov looked at each other with a smile, and then suggested to me, "Comrade oshanina, I think we should report this matter to the group army command immediately, so that commander haridonov can be happy."


    "Well, comrade political commissar, I agree with your proposal." After nodding my approval, I handed over the report to wittkov: "Comrade chief of staff, the telegram to the headquarters of the group army will be drafted by you."


    "Well, I''ll draft the telegram immediately." As soon as he finished, there was a dull explosion outside. When I heard the voice, I immediately frowned and asked discontentedly, "what happened? Where did the explosion come from?"


    Wittkov went to the door of the cabin and went out to listen to the direction of the sound. This is another explosion. As we are all listening attentively, the explosion is clearer. Wittkov returned to the cabin, went to the desk, picked up the phone, dialed Bantai leiev, and asked aloud, "Hello, general Bantai leiev? I''m Vitkov. Did you hear the explosion just now? Is the "skeleton division" attacking you again


    "No, comrade chief of staff." Judging from Bantai leiev''s voice, I think he is confused about the situation. His next reply soon confirmed my conjecture: "today the German army did not attack us, so I sent people to the German Garrison for reconnaissance. According to the report of the returned scouts, the German garrison was empty. They may have moved to the other side of the Dnieper overnight. "


    "I see." With these words, wittkov put down the phone, looked at me with a puzzled face and said, "Comrade commander, this is really strange. Not only did the German troops in zaborosh withdraw, but even the "skeleton division" in front of us didn''t know where to go. What is the name of this man Stein


    Although I knew that Manstein''s action must be his conspiracy, I couldn''t understand it in a hurry, so I had no choice but to command wittkov: "chief of staff, please draft the telegram to the group army command first. And try to figure out what happened to the explosion


    As soon as I finished, the operator turned around and called out, "Comrade commander, major Godunov wants to talk to you. He says he has important information to report to you." I didn''t know what gordonov was going to report to me, so when I spoke to the transmitter, I felt a little uneasy: "Hello, major, I''m oshanina. What''s the matter with you?"¡° Well, comrade commander. " "According to the observation post, the enemy has just blown up two floating bridges on the Dnieper River," gordunov reported with great speed When Godunov said this, I understood what happened to the explosion I heard a few minutes ago, so I relaxed and said to him, "maybe the Germans were afraid that we would use the floating bridge to cross the river, and then the bridge would be broken. Don''t worry, major. Since we can''t get by, so can the enemy. "¡° It''s not like that, comrade commander. " Godunov replied with some confusion: "the German army blew up the pontoon, just because their heavy equipment could not come over, but their infantry could rush into zaborosh at any time through the frozen river."¡° what? Can the German infantry rush into the city through the ice on the river After listening to Godunov''s report, I seemed to understand why Manstein would withdraw his troops. But I didn''t immediately put out my guess. I simply told gordonov, "set up the defense in the direction facing the river, and I''ll get to the city immediately."¡° What''s the matter? " Kirilov saw that I looked serious and asked with concern, "what new enemy situation has major gordonov reported?"¡° Well, comrade political commissar. Major Godunov reported that the German army had blown up two floating bridges over the Dnieper River. "First, I would like to explain to kirilov and wittkov what the explosion sound was, and then I would say something else:" after blowing up the floating bridge, although the German army''s heavy equipment could not pass, their infantry could rush into the city through the frozen river at any time. Now the situation has become more complicated. I have to go to the city immediately to see what''s going on Kirilov listened to me and immediately said, "Comrade oshanina, I''ll go with you. As for the affairs here, let the chief of staff be in charge for the time being. "

 Chapter 922

    When kirilov and I visited the river on the north side of the city, I finally understood why Manstein ordered the troops to withdraw from the city so decisively. Zaporosh, located in the great bend of the Dnieper River, is surrounded by plain terrain. It is flat in the East and south, which is good for attack but not good for defense. The north and west sides are close to the Dnieper River. Due to the cold weather, the ice on the river has not thinned and melted, so the German infantry can rush directly from the ice.


    Seeing the terrain, kirilov''s expression became more serious. Even if I didn''t say anything, he must understand why the German army gave up zaborosh so easily and withdrew to the other side of the Dnieper River. After a long silence, he asked cautiously, "Comrade oshanina, the situation is very clear now. The withdrawal of the German army is a complete conspiracy. They try to lure our main force into zaborosh, surround our army headquarters in the city from several directions, and then rely on their air supremacy and superiority in weapons and equipment, There will be a war of annihilation for us. "


    After listening to kirilov''s analysis, I nodded silently, because what he said coincided with what I thought. After a while of silence, I sighed and said helplessly, "Comrade political commissar, you are right. Manstein threw the city to us at this time to attract our troops here. As long as the main force of our army is stationed in zaborosh, his troops will come from all directions. You may have noticed that both the East and south directions of the city are the Great Plains, which are very conducive to the assault of armored forces. And, "speaking of this, I pointed to the Dnieper River, which is covered by ice in front of me." the river in the West and north of the city is ten kilometers wide. If the German army rushes over from the ice, how many troops should we use to hold the river bank? "


    "What''s your next plan?" After kirilov asked carefully, he kindly reminded me, "Comrade oshanina, I remind you not to give up zaborosh." Without waiting for me to ask the truth, he went on to explain, "whether it''s taking zaborosh or destroying the headquarters of Manstein, it''s a great victory. If you give up the city easily, you may be sent to the military court to accept the most severe punishment


    I don''t understand what kirilov said, but now I know that zaborosh is a decoy laid by the Germans, waiting for the main force of our army to enter here, and then implementing the tactics of encircling all sides, so as to achieve the goal of encircling and annihilating our troops.


    "It''s our old army to transfer Comrade bantailiev''s close guard division 22 to the city. It''s easy to use it." Since the city can not give up, then I can only consider how to keep it. If we put all our troops in the city, although they seem to be of great strength, if they are surrounded by the Germans, they can''t run away. Instead of waiting to die like that, it''s better to put the three divisions in a "pin" formation and support each other. So in the next order, I said decisively, "send a message to andriuschenko and akhromeyev, ask them to give up boloi, lead the troops to withdraw to Kuban, and build solid fortifications in the city, To deal with the following German 11th armored division and 336th infantry division. Gurdyev''s 308th division remained in place to prevent the German imperial division from turning south. "


    When the telegraph operator faithfully sent my order to the 171st and 308 divisions by telegraph, kirilov reminded me: "oshanina, since we have occupied zaborosh, should you report this to commander haridonov immediately?"


    "Well, comrade Commissar." In fact, I have long thought of reporting the occupation of zaborosh to the headquarters of the group army. The reason why we didn''t report to the police was that commander haridonov would order our army to keep the city at all costs. Through kirilov''s reminder, I have understood that this city, which has become a "bait" of the German army, can not be easily given up under any circumstances. Therefore, the report to the higher authorities can not be further delayed. "After the telegraph is sent, I will personally talk to commander haridonov and tell him about the occupation of the city."


    After the telegraph operator finished sending the telegram and contacted the headquarters of the group army, I put on my earphone and started to talk with haridonov with my transmitter. "Hello, comrade commander, I''m oshanina. I have information to report to you."


    Hearing my voice, haridonov said happily, "it''s our female general. Do you want to contact me at this time to tell me that your troops have launched an attack on zaborosh, which is occupied by the German army?"


    Hearing harritonov''s excited voice from the earphone, I gave a wry smile and then replied, "sorry, comrade commander, we didn''t launch an attack on zaborosh."


    "What?" When haridonov heard my reply, his tone changed and he asked impolitely, "Comrade oshanina, look at the time. It''s almost noon now. Why hasn''t your troops launched an attack on zaborosh?"


    "Comrade commander, please listen to me. The situation is not what you think." When I heard haridonov''s voice change, I knew that he had misunderstood. I quickly explained to him, "although my troops did not attack zaborosh, now the city is in our hands."


    "Comrade oshanina, what did you say just now? Zaborosh has been occupied by your troops?" When haredonov heard me say this, he asked in some surprise, "but you told me clearly that your troops have not launched an attack on the city. I''m confused about what''s going on. "


    "Well, comrade commander." I patiently explained to him, "last night my scouts reported to me that the German army in the city had quietly withdrawn from the city and to the other side of the Dnieper River without our knowledge. As the enemy''s intention to do so was not clear at that time, I ordered the troops to hold still for the time being. It was not until this morning that I sent a regiment into zaborosh. After a careful search, I found that all the German troops in the city had retreated. "


    "The Germans retreated to the other side of the Dnieper because they couldn''t withstand our attack." After learning that zaborosh had fallen into our hands, haridonov''s mood became a little excited: "Comrade oshanina, I order you to immediately move all your troops into zaborosh, seize the time to build fortifications, and turn it into a solid fortress to resist the possible counterattack of the German army."


    "Comrade commander, I think there is a big conspiracy for Manstein to give up the city. He should want to send troops to encircle us from all sides after the main force of our army enters zaborosh." I was careful to tell haridonov my judgment so as not to fall into the trap of the German army.


    "Surround us with troops!" After listening to me, haridonov said with disdain, "is there any more troops available for Manning? You know, we have several times more troops than them now, and there''s no way for us to take advantage of his troops. You can safely and boldly move your troops into zaborosh. As for the empty cities, I will immediately send troops to take over the defense. "


    "But, comrade commander, if all our troops move into zaborosh, we will easily fall into the siege of the German army." Hearing what I was most worried about happened, I quickly explained to haridonov, "so I plan to stay in Kuban and the north of the airport, except for the 22nd division of the guards entering zaborosh. In this way, no matter which direction is attacked by the German army, the other two divisions can provide the necessary support. "


    "Comrade oshanina, you think too much." Haridonov said optimistically: "although our group army suffered a little loss in the battle with the German imperial division two days ago, their division alone could not have any impact on the whole campaign. So don''t worry and boldly lead the troops to zaborosh. If the German troops really rush to zaborosh from all directions, our main forces can easily defeat them. " Maybe he was afraid that I would talk to him again. He specially added: "this is the order of the superior. Carry it out."


    In this case, I can only reluctantly agreed: "yes, comrade commander, I firmly obey your order."


    When I put down the transmitter and earphone, kirilov came to me and asked with concern, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the situation? What''s the commander saying?"


    I replied with a wry smile: "Comrade political commissar, what do you think the commander will say? Of course, let our whole army march into zaborosh, turn it into a Battle Fortress, and resolutely defend the city under the fierce attack of the enemy."


    "All the troops are moving into zaborosh?" Kirilov was surprised and asked, "what about the cities of poloi and Kuban? Are they all handed over to the Germans?"


    "That''s not true, commander haridonov said. He will send troops to take over the defense of those cities." I said with a wry smile: "that''s what I said, but when the next defense force will arrive, it''s something nobody can tell."


    "Since we all know that it is an unwise decision to drive the whole army into the city." Although kirilov was also dissatisfied with his superiors, he still used very euphemistic words to make a vague criticism, and then asked me, "Comrade o''shanina, what are you going to do?"


    "It is not advisable to move all the troops into the city." Although haridonov gave me an order to drive the whole army into the city, I am not going to follow his order completely. You know, even if the 171st division withdraws from the battle, the enemy''s large forces will pursue them and easily occupy the towns that we abandoned. When the group army''s reception troops arrive, they will have to stare. After careful consideration, I gave an order again: "the 308th Division will continue to stick to the existing defense area, while the 171st Division will withdraw to Kuban area as planned. After a day or two of rest, they will enter the airport and build a solid defense line in the south of the city. "


    Then it''s time for me to talk to the chief of staff. Under the current situation, I can''t care to talk in Ming language. I will be eavesdropped by the German army. With a transmitter, I give a direct order to wittkov who is still at the airport: "chief of staff, you now give an order to general Bantai leiev to lead the whole division''s commanders and fighters into zaborosh immediately."


    "Apart from the 22nd division of Jinwei, how should the other two divisions be arranged?" When I finished, vetkov asked cautiously, "do you want them to stay in the existing defense area?"


    "It seems impossible to stay in the original defense area now." With a bitter look on my face, I said to the transmitter, "the headquarters of the group army has ordered us to give up any area except zaborosh, and there will be friendly troops coming to take over these empty areas."¡° Comrade commander, the situation is becoming more and more unfavourable to our army. " Wittkov tactfully pointed out to me: "our neighborhood is full of German troops. Once we give up these towns or defense areas and wait for friendly troops to enter, I''m afraid they will be occupied by German troops. Therefore, I think we should continue to retain a certain number of our troops in these areas."¡° It''s very thoughtful of you, chief of staff. " For his consideration, I nodded with satisfaction and continued: "after the 171st division arrived in Kuban, let them rest for half a day or a day, and then enter the airport to protect the safety of our south wing. As for the 308th division, let''s leave a regiment to hold its position and let the rest go into zaborosh. " Wittkov said hastily, "Comrade commander, there is one more thing I must ask for your instructions."¡° Comrade chief of staff, you are welcome to say anything? "¡° What about the German "skull division" commander Ike, who is in our army headquarters? " Wittkov carefully reminded me: "because the bullets on his body were not taken out, and there were not enough anti-inflammatory drugs for him, so his injury became more and more serious. What should we do with him?" To tell you the truth, I want to order these captured SS officers to be shot directly. They are all heinous. Even if they were shot ten or eight times, it would not be too much. But now, when Vitkov asked me what to do with this prisoner, I couldn''t make up my mind to kill him. After thinking about it for a moment, I said to Vitkov, "chief of staff, let him stay in the plane, while leaving a platoon of soldiers to take care of him. If I see that the airport can''t be defended, I will authorize the top commander who sticks at the airport to deal with Ike. " After my orders were finished, there was no sound coming from the earphone. Just when I thought wittkov was offline and was about to take off the earphone, I heard wittkov''s voice again: "Comrade commander, if our whole army enters zaborosh, will we really be surrounded by the German army?"

 Chapter 923

    Wittkov''s words, let me come up with two idioms: shut the door to beat a dog and catch a turtle in a jar. If our whole army enters zaborosh, then Manstein''s plan will be half successful. As long as his troops come up from all directions to encircle us and annihilate us, it is only a matter of time. After much deliberation, I finally told my chief of staff the truth: "yes, comrade wittkov, this situation is bound to happen."


    "Comrade commander, even if our army is surrounded by German troops," wittkov said carefully, "can''t we just stick to Stalingrad, when the enemy stands firmly out of the city. We have to know that our troops in Ukraine are several times more than those of the Germans. As long as we stick to the city for about a week, our main forces will be able to come and carry out anti encirclement against them. "


    "Comrade chief of staff, you have considered the problem too simply." As for Vitkov''s unrealistic idea, I mercilessly refuted it: "zaborosh is just an ordinary city. It can''t be compared with Stalingrad. The city named after the supreme commander has its own special meaning, Not to mention the wide Volga River ensures that Stalingrad''s defenders will not be threatened from behind. It is the great sense of honor to defend the city ordered by the commander-in-chief, and it gives all the commanders and fighters the determination to fight to the end. Therefore, we can persist in the fierce German offensive and finally encircle and annihilate the enemy! " Although I said so much at one go, there is still one key thing that I didn''t say. The wide Volga River makes it difficult to retreat. Therefore, the defenders in the city can only choose to fight against the enemy''s back water, while they have to face the German attacks from all sides when they stay in zaborosh. With our current strength and equipment, we can''t defend them at all.


    "I see, comrade commander." After listening to me, vetkov did not hold his own opinion, and then said: "I will convey your order to the following units as soon as possible."


    After I finished the call, kirilov, who had been standing in front of the window looking out at the frozen river, suddenly said, "Comrade o''shanina, I have a bold idea to reduce the defensive pressure in the West and north of the city."


    "Oh, comrade political commissar, what do you think of it?" Kirilov said that there was a good way, which immediately aroused my interest. I hastened him to say, "let''s talk about it."


    Kirilov pointed out the window and said, "if we bombard the river with cannons, can we blow up the ice? In this way, the German infantry can''t rush over the ice. We will correspondingly reduce the defensive forces in these two directions and deploy them to important areas."


    Kirilov''s proposal really made me laugh bitterly. I had to explain to him, "Comrade political commissar, your idea is really good. Unfortunately, we can''t do it now." Seeing his puzzled look on his face, I further explained to him, "with such a thick ice layer, the mortar''s power is too small. One shot at most is an ice hole. It''s a pity that the heavy artillery of lieutenant colonel kaverin''s artillery regiment can shatter the ice. Unfortunately, their shells are limited at present, so they need to be reserved for the use of city defense in wartime. They can''t be wasted on such meaningless things. "


    After hearing what I said, kirilov sighed helplessly, and then said, "Comrade oshanina, if what you said really happens, then even if we deploy a division by the river, we will not be able to block the German attack."


    "Comrade commissar, it''s time for us to go back to major Godunov''s command post." The terrain of the city has been almost checked, and it''s meaningless to stay. It''s time to go back to Godunov''s command post in the center of the city. "We''ve been outside for so long, comrade major, they should be worried."


    "Well, let''s go back to the command post and wait for wittkov and other comrades in the military command." Kirilov finished, gestured to Yushchenko, asked him to send someone to help the operator put away the phone, then waved his head at me and said, "come on, comrade oshanina."


    An hour later, I stood in front of the map on the wall of the army headquarters with Vitkov and bandeleev, who had just arrived. Witkov pointed to the map and reported to me the deployment of the divisions. After that, he asked: "Comrade commander, at present zaborosh has only the 22nd division of general bantailiev''s guards. How do you plan to deploy the city''s defense?"


    As I was about to begin to deploy the mission, I suddenly thought of the third regiment of major kosga, who was still far away from us and was charged with the task of defending the long traffic line. I rushed to Pugachev, who was standing on one side, and said, "major, you should immediately send a telegram to major kosga, so that he can gather troops immediately and arrive at Kuban overnight, Take over the defence of the region from the hands of Colonel andrushenko. "


    "Comrades commander, the third regiment of Col. kosga is defending the long traffic line of our army at present," wittkov told me carefully after listening to such an inexplicable order from me, saying: "if we withdraw them, the safety of the traffic line of our army will not be guaranteed."


    "Chief of staff," I said with a shrunken mouth, "if our army is surrounded by the German army in zaborosh, do you think the weapons, ammunition and supplies in the rear can smoothly pass through the layers of German encirclement and enter the city? Since we can''t guarantee it, instead of letting a strong fighting force idle in the rear, we''d better transfer them to strengthen the defense force in the city. "


    "I see, comrade commander." After listening to my explanation, wittkov immediately told Pugachev: "major, immediately send a message to lieutenant commander kosga, so that he can immediately assemble the troops on the long traffic line, and rush to Kuban overnight to take over the defense of the 171st division while most of the towns are still in our hands."


    When Pugachev went to send a telegram, I pointed to the map and said to bantailiev: "Comrade division, the north and west sides of the city are rivers. Although the German army destroyed two floating bridges that can pass through heavy weapons, their infantry can rush to the city from any place through the frozen river, so the defense on the river must be strengthened."


    "General bantailiev, zaborosh is not a city suitable for defense. How do you plan to defend it?" After what I said, the next one to ask was Vitkov.


    Bantaileiev frowned and looked at the map for a while, then replied, "I''m going to dig a circular trench outside the building next to the river and connect it with the building behind. In this way, when the German forces attack, we can use the high buildings and trenches to form a strong cross fire and eliminate those enemies who dare to rush to the city. "


    "The East and south of the city are plain terrain, and the German army will certainly use armored forces to carry out assault." I waited for them to finish, and then said, "if my estimation is correct, the main forces of German attack will be the skull division and the imperial division. Although the "skeleton division" has not played well recently, it is because their teachers fall into our hands that they feel constrained in fighting. This attack on the city will be different. As an elite German army, they will never see another "imperial division", which is known as an elite army, rush into the city before them. "


    "So what we''re going to fight next is going to be a fierce battle?" Kirilov asked nervously: "I remember that the regiment of lieutenant colonel shejerikov, which had more than 3000 people, could be transferred to the factory area. In less than one day, it was almost completely annihilated. I don''t know how many days our army will be able to hold on under the fierce attack of the German army? "


    I took my eyes away from the map and looked at Bantai. Leiev said, "Comrade division commander, don''t deploy all the troops on the hard front line. We should keep the reserves properly, because we are going to fight a cruel war of attrition."


    I don''t want to say too much, otherwise I will interfere with the command of Bantai leiev. In that case, I might as well be the commander of the 22nd division of the guards. What I have to consider now is how to use the three divisions of the 79th infantry army to deal with them for a longer time without being destroyed by the German army. At this point, I waved my hand to Bantai leiev and ordered him to say, "general Bantai leiev, please go back to the division first, and seize the time to build the fortifications in the city. If you are not finished by the time the German forces encircle us, you will have to continue to work in the German bombardment and bombing. "


    Bantai leiev raised his hand to salute me and turned away.


    In the next few hours, based on the feedback, I will know where andrewshenko''s 171st division, gurdyev''s 308th division and commander kosga''s third regiment have arrived and whether they have completed the defensive deployment I have designated.


    It wasn''t until dark that I received a call from bandeleev from his division headquarters. I knew that he was reporting to me about the construction of the fortifications, so I asked frankly, "Sir, how are the fortifications in the city?"


    "Report to the commander," bantaileiev respectfully reported, "as captain mihayev''s engineering troops have played a great role in the whole construction process, we have built effective fortifications or barricades in most blocks at present."


    "You''ve done a good job," I said after praising him. "As the German army will definitely use armored forces to rush into your defensive positions, the fortifications you build should be able to limit the movement of the enemy''s armored forces as soon as you enter the city."


    After I finished, bandeleev went on to introduce: "the East and south sides of the city are commercial areas and office areas, so we used these solid construction departments to build a large number of solid firepower support points, and deployed major gordonov''s new third regiment in these areas. As long as the German armored forces rush into the urban area, they will be unable to move. I''ve deployed one regiment of Colonel shejerikov in the west of the city, and four regiments of Colonel gedar in the north of the city. They are building fortifications by the river nervously. "


    In such a short period of time, bandeleev can do so well, which is very good. So I nodded and said with satisfaction: "Mr. Bantai leyev, in this battle, I will not interfere with your command. Except for reporting the battle report in time or contacting me when you need the help of friendly forces, you can treat me as if I don''t exist in the rest of the time, and the whole city defense war will be carried out according to your idea." When I finished, I felt a little uneasy, so I added two words to remind him: "I remind you that this battle is related to the life and death of our new infantry army, so we should not blindly fight with the German army. As long as we can eliminate the enemy, it is necessary to retreat appropriately."


    "Yes, comrade commander!" Bantai leiev replied loudly at the other end of the line The next morning, before my troops were fully deployed, the German counterattack against zaborosh began. They shelled the riverside positions in the West and north of the city. When I heard the rumble of guns, I did not immediately contact Bantai leiev, because I had promised him that I would not interfere with his command. About ten minutes after the gunfire outside, gurdyev called and reported to me that there were German SS troops in front of them. According to the observation from the front, it should be the German "German division" of the German army, which is currently fighting. When I heard that the German army was coming up from the East, I called Col. andreushenko of the 171st division again after the call with gurdyev. I wanted to know about the situation in the south of the city. Hearing andreushenko''s voice coming from the receiver, I immediately asked, "Hello, Colonel andreushenko? I''m o''shanina. What''s the situation there? " Andreushenko said in a loud voice in the microphone: "Comrade commander, a German armored force has emerged from somewhere and is attacking our defensive position from the southwest of the airport."¡° Is it the 11th panzer division and the 336th infantry division that are following you? " As the fighting between these two forces and the 171st Division has never stopped, the first thing I think of when I hear about the presence of German troops is them¡° No, comrade commander. " Andreushenko replied somewhat flustered: "it''s not the 11th panzer division and the 336th infantry division. It''s a SS unit. Their firepower is so strong that they can''t hold up our commanders and fighters in the position. Comrade commander, we are short of anti tank weapons now. If the enemy''s tanks rush up, we can''t stop them at all. "¡° Is there a tank in major akhromeyev''s hand? " Although andrieusenko was constantly complaining, I thought of akhromeyev who was with him, so I asked: "if there is any, let major akhromeyev lead his troops around the flank of the German army, and teach them a lesson so that they can''t attack us without fear."

 Chapter 924

    "No, comrade commander, we don''t have a spare tank." From the receiver came andreusenko''s crying voice: "the 11th armored division of the German army came over from Kuban. In order to prevent them from seizing the city and cutting off the rear of our army, major akhromeyev, with the remaining six tanks and a battalion of infantry, went to reinforce the third regiment of commander kosja who had just arrived in Kuban."


    "Comrade Colonel," when I heard that Kuban had also been attacked by the German army, my heart immediately rose to my throat and asked, "do you know what kind of forces the German army is using to attack Kuban?"


    On hearing my question, andreushenko was stunned for a moment, and then answered in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, we have received a call from lieutenant commander kosga, saying that German was found near his position, which may attack the city, so major akhromeyev hurriedly led the troops to set out."


    "So it is. I see." Knowing that I didn''t know much from him, I didn''t want to ask him any more. Instead, I told him, "Comrade Colonel, you must guard the airport and resolutely block the German attack." Speaking of this, I emphasized, "if the airport is lost, then the German army can rush to the city of zaborosh."


    "I understand!" After listening to my order, andreushenko immediately replied decisively, "please rest assured, as long as there is still one commander and soldier alive in the 171st division, we will be nailed to the position like nails, and we will never step back."


    To save land and lose people, to lose people and land; Save people and lose land, save people and land. When I heard what andreushenko said, my brain suddenly came up with such words. At present, our weapons and equipment are not as good as those of the Germans. If we fight hard, we will certainly suffer a great loss. If we just want to hold the position and consume all the troops, how can we fight the next war? Thinking of this, I slowed down and said to andreushenko: "Comrade Colonel, judging from the current situation, under the strong attack of the German army, the airport can not be held at all. It can only slow down the German army''s progress. So you should use tactics flexibly, consume as many German troops as possible, and reduce the pressure of our army in the next battle. "


    "I understand." Andrewshenko agreed in a positive tone and asked carefully: "Comrade commander, if the airport is really lost, what about the German general on the plane? Take him back to zaborosh with you, or dispose of him on the spot? "


    "Comrade Colonel, the next battle will be very hard, and many of our officers and men will certainly be injured or even killed." I had a way to deal with Ike in my heart for a long time. When I heard andrewshenko''s question, I immediately said without hesitation, "we are very short of materials, not only weapons and ammunition, but also medicines. It''s unnecessary to waste precious medicines on a dying German general. I don''t know how many wounded commanders and fighters our lives can be saved by these medicines. So I now authorize you to blow up the German general and the plane as soon as the airport situation is critical. Do you understand? "


    "I understand." Andreushenko replied firmly: "I promise to finish the task!"


    Putting down the phone, kirilov immediately asked with concern, "o''shanina, what''s the situation at the airport?"


    I shook my head and said solemnly, "Comrade political commissar, the situation over there is very bad. They are being attacked by a SS unit. I think it may be the" skeleton division "that disappeared suddenly yesterday. The 171st division is short of anti tank weapons at present. It is bound to pay a great sacrifice to block the German armored forces. "


    "Don''t major akhromeyev have a few more tanks?" Kirilov obviously has a fresh memory of akhromeyev''s armored detour tactics some time ago. Listening to the difficulties at the airport, kirilov immediately raised his own question: "he can completely use the method of playing outside the city of boloi, detour to the flank of the German offensive forces, and take advantage of the time when they are still on the March and have not yet started the battle formation, Give them a good lesson. "


    After listening to kirilov''s question, I waved to him and said with some helplessness: "long before the battle broke out, they received a phone call from lieutenant commander kosja saying that German troops had been found near Kuban. It seemed that there were signs of attacking the city, so major akhromeyev took the troops to reinforce them."


    "German found near Kuban?" Kirilov could not help frowning after listening. He looked at the map on the desktop for a while, and said anxiously, "if Kuban fails, then our back road will be cut off, so we have to hold there now."


    As for kirilov''s concerns, I nodded in agreement, and then said, "Comrade political commissar, that''s what I think. Once Kuban is occupied by the German army, our supplies will not be able to come in. With our existing ammunition stock, it may not take two days. If we run out of ammunition and food, we will have to stay in the city and be captives


    "Comrade oshanina," kirilov said to me suddenly and seriously, "how can you say that? These are all defeatist arguments. Let alone the fact that the Germans have not cut off our way back, even if we have cut off our way back, all our commanders and fighters will fight bravely to the last one. " Then he took a pistol out of his coat pocket, held it tightly in his hand, and said firmly, "this gun has been with me since the battle of Stalingrad. As long as there is one bullet left, I will never let myself be a German prisoner."


    In my impression, kirilov may have said such heavy words to me for the first time, because I complained that we would be prisoners, which made him so unhappy. Seeing this, I quickly cut off the topic: "by the way, I''m going to call lieutenant colonel kosga immediately and ask about Kuban." Then he picked up the phone on the desk.


    When I got in touch with colonel kosga, I didn''t talk nonsense with him. I said frankly, "Comrade commander, I''m o''shanina. Report to me immediately the German situation in your area. "


    I didn''t expect kosga to be silent after listening to me. When I heard that he didn''t speak, I urged impatiently, "Comrade commander, why don''t you speak? I''m asking you what''s going on with the Germans near Kuban, have they launched an attack on the city? "


    "This is the situation, comrade commander." Hearing my sternness, kosja replied in a panic, "it was my men who reported to me that German troops had been found near the city. So I decided to call Colonel andreushenko at the airport, hoping that he would send troops to support us... "


    "What''s the situation with Kuban?" I interrupted him and asked impolitely.


    But he took a silent attitude to my question.


    Seeing that he didn''t answer my question for a long time, I couldn''t help getting angry. I raised my voice and asked, "commander, what''s the matter with you? You''re deaf. Why don''t you answer my question?"


    "Comrade commander!" Cosga finally calmed down and told me clearly: "it was a company commander stationed in the East who called me. He said with certainty that the Germans... "


    "What kind of forces are the Germans, using tanks and artillery?" Listening to kosja''s report, I realized that akhromeyev''s reinforcement might have been wrong, so I interrupted him impatiently again.


    "I''m not sure yet." Kosga''s reply became a little hesitant, but he went on in a polite way: "but I heard that there are Germans nearby. I think we must seize the opportunity to ask for help from friendly forces, so as not to delay the fight."


    "Comrade commander," kosga''s report made me more and more angry. "I''ll give you five minutes to find out the situation before reporting to me. Remember, it''s only five minutes. " With that, I didn''t want to listen to his nonsense and hung up directly.


    Putting down the phone, I said to kirilov and wittkov standing nearby: "Lieutenant Colonel kosja didn''t know the details at all. He just heard one of his company commanders say that there were Germans nearby, so he called Colonel andreushenko in a hurry to ask for reinforcements."


    "Comrade commander," wittkov said cautiously after listening to me, "if so, major akhromeyev''s troops may have gone for nothing. But it was because of Col. kosga''s irresponsible phone call that he transferred the airport''s important defense forces. As a result, the defensive pressure of the garrison increased. At this time, I think this kind of thing should be dealt with seriously. "


    "I agree with the chief of staff." As soon as wittkov''s words were finished, kirilov agreed in time: "if the loss of the airport occurs because major akhromeyev''s troops leave the airport for reinforcement, then commander kosja should be sent to the military court to accept the most severe punishment. What''s your opinion, comrade o''shanina? "


    As for kirilov''s question, I nodded and said with approval, "I also agree to take commander kosga seriously. It turned out that he had a good command of war, and he was very brave in the battle. But since he was injured in the attack on 107.5 highland, he was discharged from hospital and returned to the army, it was like a new man. Not only do they fear their head and feet, but also their command level is greatly reduced, which makes the third regiment the weakest force in the 22nd division. Kuban, for us, is a very important city. We must not lose it easily. But I don''t think it''s appropriate for commander kosga to continue to be the top commander of Kuban''s garrison. We should find someone to replace him


    "Who is fit to take over the post?" After listening to my proposal, wittkov began to think with a frown.


    "I think major akhromeyev will take the post." Kirilov said suddenly, "I have worked with the major. I know his level. It''s more than enough to be a commander. Moreover, he is leading his troops to Kuban, and it is most appropriate for him to take over the command. "


    After discussing who would be the top commander of Kuban''s garrison, I gazed at the map and announced a new order: "except one of the 308th division''s troops continued to hold its original position and resist the imperial division''s attack, the remaining two regiments, one regiment continued to withdraw into zaborosh according to the opportunity, while the other regiment changed its march direction, They will be deployed in the area between Kuban and the airport as a reserve of the whole army. "


    "But, comrade commander." Hearing my arrangement, wittkov said with an embarrassed face: "if we do this, the defense force in zaborosh will be weakened, and the German attack may not be able to be stopped..."


    "Comrade chief of staff," I interrupted him and said to myself, "at present, our 308th and 171st divisions have restrained the two SS divisions of the German army respectively, so the current attacks on the city are only from the north and the West. The pontoon on the river was blown up by the German army. Heavy equipment such as tanks could not pass through the ice. They had to rely on infantry to charge us. With the fighting power of the first and fourth regiments, it was not difficult to stop them. "


    We were talking when the phone on the desk rang. I picked up the phone at any time, put the receiver close to my ear and said in a loud voice, "Hello, I''m o''shanina. Where are you?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " From the receiver came the timid voice of Colonel kosga: "I am reporting to you the German movement near Kuban."¡° Go ahead, comrade commander. " "What kind of forces is the enemy?" I said coldly, emphasizing business¡° The enemy is probably a reconnaissance team, with three motorcycles and seven people. " "After a short battle, they have all been wiped out," kosga reported in a loud voice over the phone¡° Commander kosga, remove the company commander who first reported the enemy to you, and let him be an ordinary fighter in the class. " If it wasn''t for the current critical situation, I would not hesitate to order the company commander to be shot and killed. Now, I want him to be an ordinary soldier and give him a chance to commit crimes. Whether I can grasp it depends on him¡° Yes, comrade commander. " "I''ll remove him immediately and put him down to be an ordinary soldier in the class," cosga replied¡° And you, commander kosga. " After the disposal of the unknown company commander, it was cosga''s turn. I said angrily, "because of your mistake, the garrison at the airport was in danger. You should also be punished for this. "¡° Comrade commander, I''m wrong. " "I''m willing to take all the responsibility and accept your punishment," kosga said in a low voice¡° Well, in that case, I''ll dismiss you as the commander and take over the post of company commander. " After announcing his punishment, I asked, "where is major akhromeyev?"¡° The major is right next to me. He has just led his troops to Kuban Cosga replied quickly¡° Give him the phone I said briefly. Soon, akhromeyev''s voice came out of the receiver: "Hello, comrade commander, I''m akhromeyev. What instructions do you have? "¡° Major, I officially announce to you that from now on, you will officially take over the post of head of the third regiment and be responsible for the defense work in the Kuban area. Do you understand? "¡° I understand, comrade commander! "

 Chapter 925

    At the end of the call with akhromeyev, I was just about to call Bantai leiev to ask about the fighting by the river. Unexpectedly, the operator turned around and yelled at me, "Comrade commander, the commander of the group army is online. He wants to talk to you."


    I scolded in my heart, put the receiver I just picked up back on the base of the phone, and walked towards the telephone. Although I am extremely dissatisfied with the fact that haridonov called at such a time and affected my command of the army, when I spoke to the transmitter, I still tried to say politely, "Hello, comrade commander, this is oshanina. What''s your instruction?"


    "Comrade o''shanina, what''s the situation there?" Haridonov asked politely, "is there any trace of German troops near zaborosh?"


    Listening to his question, I could not help but feel a thump in my heart. My heart said that we are surrounded by the German army now, and our troops are already stretched. You old man will not transfer my troops at this time, will you? In that case, it would be even worse. The battle that had a chance to win would also be completely defeated because of the transfer of living forces.


    Without waiting for me to speak, he continued: "according to the report from the front, among the German troops attacking our army, the serial numbers of the 48th and 57th armored forces of the 4th armored group army were found. Judging from the direction of their attack, they are planning to join the SS armored forces wedged into our group defense area. Comrade oshanina, our current situation is very bad. Once the German troops join forces, the whole group army will be in danger of encirclement. Therefore, I want to transfer a division from zaborosh to launch an attack from the rear of the German imperial division to contain the German forces. "


    When my conjecture was confirmed, my heart was half chatted. My heart said that you really dare to speak. I have only three divisions in total, and they are all fighting with the German army. Which division do you want me to send out to reinforce you? What''s more, you promised me that you would send troops to take over the defense of those towns where our army had withdrawn. Now it seems that you can''t count on it at all.


    When I was thinking about how to reply to him, he could not wait to urge me: "Comrade oshanina, the situation is critical now. Which division are you going to send for reinforcement?"


    At present, zaborosh is fighting with the German army all around, but haridonov obviously does not know this situation, otherwise he would not give such an order. At this time, the three divisions in my hand had already caught fire with the German army in several directions at the same time. It was impossible to transfer any of them. Thinking of this, I knew that rejecting haridonov''s order at this time would offend him, and even risk going to the military court because of disobedience. However, I stubbornly refused him: "sorry, comrade commander of the group army, I don''t think I can carry out your order!"


    "What, what do you say?" Haridonov obviously didn''t expect me to reply like this. He asked aloud in an unbelievable voice: "if I heard you right just now, what you said is that you can''t carry out my dispatching order."


    "Yes, comrade commander, I can''t send troops to support you." Now that the words have been spoken, there is no room to turn back. In order to prevent haridonov from getting angry on the phone and directly dismissing my post, I said in one breath: "the German army has concentrated its superior forces and is attacking zaborosh from four directions at the same time. All my forces are contained, and there is no surplus force to transfer."


    "What, the Germans are attacking zaborosh?" "Are you sure the German forces are attacking zaborosh with all their strength, rather than launching a feint to contain your forces in order not to let you support us?" he asked suspiciously


    "Comrade commander," I can understand haredonov''s suspicion. If any of my commanders said what I just said when I needed troops, I would doubt the truth of what he said. So when I answered haridonov''s question, I was very cautious: "I just contacted the commander at the front, and basically found out the number of the German army attacking zaborosh. To the south is the German skeleton division, and to the East is part of the imperial division. And the German army, who had retreated to the other side of the Dnieper River with Manstein, was also bombarding our position by the river with artillery fire. It was estimated that their infantry would rush over the frozen river as soon as the artillery fire stopped. "


    "Zaborosh is in such a bad situation?" Although I tried to report the situation here to haridonov truthfully, there was still a trace of doubt in his voice: "are you sure the German army is really attacking, not feigning to cover up their real strategic intention?"


    "Report to Comrade commander." From haredonov''s voice, I felt his distrust of me, but this was not the time to argue with him. I could only patiently say to him, "I can assure you that this German attack is not a feint, but a long-standing attack. The German army deliberately gave up zaborosh and gave way to our army on the road to the city. When our troops entered the city, they immediately surrounded it from all directions, trying to take advantage of the terrain here, which is easy to attack and difficult to defend, and annihilate all our troops in the city. "


    After listening to what I said this time, haridonov kept silent for a long time, and finally said slowly, "Comrade oshanina, if the situation is really like what you said, then my order just now will be revoked. I order you to concentrate your forces on defense, and zaborosh must not fall into the hands of the Germans again."


    "Comrade commander," I was afraid that he would be too optimistic about the current situation, so I specially gave him a preventive injection: "the German army''s strength and weaponry far exceed us, and our ammunition supply is difficult. Under such circumstances, our time will be very limited."


    "Comrade oshanina," haridonov said solemnly when he heard my pessimistic remarks, "although the German army seems to have the advantage in the past two days, you should not forget that in Ukraine, our troops are several times more than them. Even if we beat one out of five, we will still be rich. So you should have the consciousness of turning zaborosh into a second "Stalingrad" and go on fighting with the German army here until our main forces arrive and encircle and annihilate them all under the city. "


    "I see, comrade commander." Now I am anxious to get information from bandeleev, so I have to vaguely promise haridonov and promise him: "as long as we don''t receive the withdrawal order from the superior, our 79th infantry army will fight bravely to the last man in zaborosh."


    "Comrade o''shanina, your attitude is right." On hearing my statement, haridonov''s tone was much more relaxed. He added, "don''t worry, three days at most. Our southwest front and Voronezh front forces will be able to reach the periphery of zaborosh and surround the German forces besieging the city. I''m waiting for the news of your victory. Finally, I''ll say to you: good luck


    I put down my earphone and transmitter, turned my head and asked wittkov, who was standing at the desk, "chief of staff, have you contacted leiev?" Just now, when I was talking with haridonov, I heard that Vitkov seemed to be on the phone. That''s why I asked.


    "Yes, comrade commander." When witkov heard my question, he immediately replied, "the German artillery bombardment of the riverside position has ended. At present, their infantry, under the cover of mortars and machine guns, are rushing towards the city from the ice, and the commanders and fighters of the first and fourth regiments are fighting tenaciously."


    "How are the buildings in the city damaged?" I thought that if the German army rushed into the city, it would be time to fight in the street, so the next thing I want to know is the damage of the buildings in the city.


    After listening to my question, wittkov shook his head and replied, "report to the commander, the German artillery only destroyed some buildings along the river, and the buildings in the city were not damaged." Seeing my puzzled face, he analyzed it for me and said, "I think Manstein probably also wants to take this city as the location of his headquarters, so he ordered the artillery not to bombard the city, so as not to beat the city too badly."


    "Is that possible, comrade chief of staff?" After listening to wittkov''s explanation, kirilov asked with doubts: "if the Germans don''t bombard the city, aren''t they afraid that we will use buildings to turn it into an impregnable fortress?"


    "Comrade political commissar," at this moment, I thought clearly about Manstein''s intention. After all, this is no better than Stalingrad. No matter how tenacious our troops are, they will soon run out of ammunition and food. He didn''t destroy the city. Maybe he wanted to wait for the pontoon to be repaired, so that the tanks that rushed into the city would not be affected by the bricks and stones everywhere. So I explained my guess to kirilov: "if we don''t destroy the city, no matter which direction their tanks rush into the city, their mobility will not be affected by the debris everywhere, which will bring greater threat to our army."


    At noon, several German attacks across the Dnieper were repulsed by our officers and men guarding the river. After receiving the report from Bantai leiev, I picked up my assault rifle and put it on my shoulder. Then I said to kirilov and Vitkov, "political commissar, chief of staff, I''ll go to the river and have a look. I''ll give it to you here."


    When kirilov heard that I was going to risk again, he quickly stood up from his seat and stopped me: "Comrade o''shanina, don''t forget that you are the top commander of our army. How can you go to the dangerous front?"


    It''s not a whim that I want to take a look at the frontier. In addition to understanding the real situation of the front line, I also hope that when I appear on the front line, I can boost my morale. Therefore, as for kirilov''s dissuasion, I just shook my head and then said firmly, "Comrade political commissar, thank you for your kindness. It is at such a dangerous time that I should go to the front and talk with the commanders and fighters who take part in the battle to boost their morale. "


    Kirilov knew my character very well. He knew that once I decided something, no matter what he said, I would not change my mind. So he nodded and said helplessly, "well, comrade oshanina, since you have decided to go to the front, I will not stop you." At this point, he raised his hand to stop wittkov who wanted to speak, and waved to Yushchenko who was standing at the door. When he came to him, he specially told him, "Comrade captain, it''s up to you to take people to protect the commander''s safety. You must promise me that even if you all die, you must ensure the safety of the commander. Can you do it? "


    "Please rest assured!" Yushchenko took a look at me, straightened his back and replied loudly, "as long as we have one person left, we will never let the commander hurt a hair." More than half an hour later, our party came to the front position of a regiment by the river. There were more than a dozen trenches far away from the river. They were riddled by German shells and were full of craters. A lot of craters are empty soil. If you step on them, they will sink down immediately. If Yushchenko didn''t pull me in time, I don''t know how many times I fell. Walking along the dilapidated trench for a while, several soldiers sitting in front of us smoking in the trench found us and immediately stood up from the ground and stood upright in the trench. As soon as I went there, I heard a familiar voice: "Hello, comrade commander, welcome to our inspection." I looked in the direction of the voice and saw sergeant adir, who I knew well, standing in the middle of several soldiers. He quickly stepped forward two steps, walked up to him and offered his hand. When I shook hands, I asked curiously, "sergeant adir, I remember you were a scout. How did you come to the trench to be an infantry?"¡° Well, comrade commander. " Adir respectfully reported to me: "the commander said that our current task is to carry out defense, so there is no reconnaissance task for the time being, so I signed up for the front position to take part in the battle." I looked at the veteran soldier in front of me and asked curiously, "is he the monitor?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. When I first came here, I was the monitor. The order from the higher authorities is very simple, that is, no matter how much we pay, we must stick to our position and never let the German invaders cross the river. " With that, he pointed to the frozen river and continued: "the German troops came rushing in groups from the ice. When they approached our position, we opened fire with all our firepower and knocked the Germans down in pieces on the ice. Comrade commander, you see, the Germans have dropped at least 200 bodies in front of our positions. " There were German bodies all over the ice, and the closer they were to the trench, the more they were. I can believe how Hardy adir were in their fight against the coming enemy. I nodded with satisfaction, then patted Adil on the shoulder and promised him, "Comrade sergeant, as soon as this battle is over, you will be promoted to platoon leader, and I will take care of it myself." Sergeant Adil would immediately thank me for what I said. I didn''t expect that after listening, he was silent for a moment, and then he said to me: "Comrade commander, I am now... Now... Already... Already a platoon leader!"

 Chapter 926

    "Already a platoon leader?" Sergeant adir''s words made me stunned. I said in my heart that sergeant xiejerikov''s action was very sharp. I''m going to promote Adil to platoon leader after today''s battle. I didn''t expect that you had done it ahead of time. I raised my eyebrows and asked tentatively, "Comrade sergeant, is it lieutenant colonel chejerikov who appointed you?"


    Adier shook his head and said with a confused face: "it''s not the team leader. He has so many things to worry about. How can he have time to ask me about such trifles as being the platoon leader?" Seeing my puzzled expression on my face, he quickly explained: "our platoon leader died in the battle just now, so the company commander temporarily appointed me as the acting platoon leader." When he said this, he turned to look at the collapsed building behind him, and said in a gloomy tone: "the remains of the platoon leader and the dead comrades in arms are parked in that building."


    "How are the casualties in your platoon?" Since he talked about the sacrifice of the platoon leader, I followed his words and asked, "how many people are left now?"


    "Report to the commander," adir reported to me in accordance with the regulations, "all the original 56 people, after fierce fighting, sacrificed 11 people, injured 25 people, and all the seriously wounded have been evacuated. At present, there are 37 people who still have fighting capacity in the position."


    I had just heard adir''s report and was about to speak when I saw several people coming towards us along the trench in the distance, led by a lieutenant and followed by two soldiers with submachine guns. I guess it may be the top commander in this section of the position. He may have got the report from his subordinates, so he came to have a look in person.


    Adil looked at me and said nothing, but his eyes turned to one side. He quickly looked over there. After seeing the person clearly, he reported to me, "Comrade commander, it''s our company commander, Lieutenant antonic."


    As soon as he finished, the lieutenant came to me. Fearing to salute and expose the target, he straightened up and reported to me: "Comrade commander, Lieutenant antonic, commander of the sixth company of shereblenny''s battalion, reports to you that our company is holding the position by the Dnieper River. Please give us your instructions!"


    I laughed at the lieutenant, and then asked kindly, "Comrade lieutenant, how many people are there in your company? After the battle in the morning, how many people are left now, can you hold the position?"


    After hearing my question, Lieutenant antonich straightened his waist and reported to me: "Comrade commander, there are 224 people in the company. 41 people were killed and 65 people were injured in the battle. In addition to the seriously injured people who were evacuated, there are 150 people in the position. At present, we are defending the area from the south to the pontoon, and the front is one kilometer. " At this point, he couldn''t help raising his voice. "Our battalion is named after the commander of the battalion, major shereblenny. Every commander and soldier in our battalion cherishes this hard won honor. As long as one of our company''s soldiers is alive, the Germans will not try to rush through our position. "


    "Very well, comrade lieutenant, you said it very well. You are good After praising antonich, I turned to look at the soldiers standing in a row in the trench and said aloud, "comrades, you are all good." In my praise, each soldier raised his chin high, as if proud of the praise I gave them.


    Leaving the front line, I took Yushchenko to a regiment headquarters a few blocks away. Seeing my arrival, xiejerikov was shocked and then asked in a panic: "Comrade commander, how did you come to me? It''s too dangerous here. Why don''t you go back to the army headquarters? "


    I waved my hand, went straight to the table, sat down, looked up and asked him, "Lieutenant sergeant chejerikov, tell me about you here."


    He frowned and said, "Comrade commander, although the German forces, under the cover of mortars and machine guns, launched several charges against our defensive positions by the river. But judging from the strength of their attack, it seems that their intention to seize our army''s Riverside positions is not firm, and their attack is more like a feint to contain our army''s forces. "


    "Feint?" I was surprised by this statement made by chejerikov. I asked in surprise, "Comrade commander, why do you say that the enemy''s attack is just a feint attack?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Shejerikov pushed a map in front of me, pointed to it and explained to me: "after shelling the riverside positions of our regiment and the fourth regiment, the German army launched several waves of attacks. If they seize the time to repair the pontoon while our army''s attention is attracted by the infantry coming from the ice, their tanks will soon be able to rush over the pontoon. However, the German army did not adopt this simple and limited attack mode, but used the infantry attack mode of fighting consumption. With the command level of Mannstein, would he make such a low-level mistake? I think he must be brewing a big conspiracy by doing so. "


    I am also confused by the words of chejerikov. If Manstein took the initiative to withdraw from zaborosh in order to lead us into the urn, then it was a wrong decision for him to blow up the pontoon. Because even if the floating bridge is still there, can we rush across the bridge with our strength? But now, before the "skeleton division" and "imperial division" arrived at zaborosh, he hastily ordered the troops to launch an attack from the other side of the Dnieper River, and even adopted the most stupid way of infantry attack. Is he not afraid that his elite troops will be exhausted in the attack?


    Before I could think of a reason, the telephone on the desk rang. He picked it up, listened to it, handed it to me, and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, your phone is from the chief of staff."


    I took the microphone in his hand and said in a loud voice close to his ear, "Hello, chief of staff? I''m o''shanina. What do you want to report to me? "


    "Comrade commander, this is the situation." Wittkov did not beat around the Bush and said frankly, "major akhromeyev called to say that a German infantry division of 336 launched an attack on our garrison from the east of Kuban."


    It was said that even Kuban had exchanged fire with the German army. I asked nervously, "chief of staff, what''s the situation with Kuban now? Has the enemy''s attack been defeated?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Wittkov said in a positive tone: "the position of the German attack is exactly the company under the command of lieutenant colonel kosga. Our commanders and fighters are very stubborn in the face of the fierce attack of the enemy. Col. kosga even acted as a heavy plane gunner himself, killed dozens of enemies, and directed the troops to launch a counter charge against the enemy, killing nearly 200 German soldiers, and blowing up three armored vehicles and a dozen trucks. "


    "I see, chief of staff." When I heard that the enemy''s attack in Kuban''s direction had been repulsed, I felt a little more secure, so I told wittkov: "pay close attention to the German movement in Kuban''s direction, and call me as soon as there is any new situation. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Vitkov replied briefly.


    After I put down the phone and gave a brief explanation to Xie jerikov, I hurried to the division headquarters of bantailiev to learn more about the defense of the 22nd division.


    I went into the headquarters and saw a busy scene. The chief of staff, lieutenant commander Elia, was talking loudly on the phone beside the wall, while bantaileiev and political commissar oberstein were facing me, looking at a map hanging on the wall, as if they were studying something.


    I went behind them and coughed heavily. When they turned around, they asked, "general bantailiev, commissar oberstein, what are you looking at?"


    "Hello, comrade commander." Bantailiev first straightened up and saluted me, and then reported, "we are studying the deployment of the city. We should know that although zaborosh is not very big, once thousands of people of our division are scattered everywhere, the troops in each defensive area are very weak. If the German forces rush into the city, we can''t beat them back, let alone destroy them, with our present strength. "


    I shrugged my shoulders and said helplessly, "Comrade General, although I want to strengthen your close guard 22nd division, I can''t do it. I have a limited number of troops now, and the German army has launched attacks on us from several directions at the same time. Every defensive zone needs a lot of troops, so I planned to supplement your two regiments, Now we can only give one. "


    After hearing what I said, bantaileiev and oberstein looked at each other and said, "Comrade commander, don''t talk about a regiment, even if you only give us one additional battalion, then we can deal with the Germans for a long time."


    "You can''t just deal with the Germans." When I said this, I went to the bench beside the table and sat down, and continued, "we have to find a way to eliminate their living power as much as possible. Otherwise, when we break through in a few days, we will play very hard


    "Break through?" Bantaileiev and oberstein were startled by this word. After they looked at each other again, oberstein asked: "Comrade commander, our army now has more than 10000 or 20000 people, and its weapons and equipment are not bad. They are fully capable of guarding the city. Why should we consider breaking through?"


    I looked at Bantai leiev and saw that he was staring at me and seemed to be waiting for my answer. Then I coughed gently, cleared my throat and said to them, "you may think that with our present strength, even if we can''t eliminate the Germans, we can contain them under zaborosh and wait for the main forces of our two front forces to arrive, When they are surrounded, is it another victory of the "battle of Stalingrad"


    Seeing that they both nodded their heads at the same time, I knew that they, like harridonov, were optimistic about the current situation, so they specially reminded them, "don''t forget that there is a wide Volga river behind us in the defense of Stalingrad, which makes it impossible for the German army to encircle us from the back, and at the same time, it can keep sending troops and soldiers to the front Weapons, ammunition and various materials were continuously transported into the city. But what do we have now? The German army came from all sides. The only place where our army kept in touch with the outside world was Kuban. At this moment, it was about to be attacked fiercely by the German army. Once this access to the outside world is blocked, we will be left alone. How many days of fighting can we sustain with our weapons, ammunition and materials? When we run out of ammunition and food, it will be the end of the whole army. " Because of the mention of being a prisoner in front of kirilov, he turned his face, so in front of them, I carefully avoided the word "prisoner" and replaced it with another word "total annihilation".


    After listening to my analysis, their faces became ugly. After a while, bantailiev took the lead in asking: "Comrade commander, our army has several times more troops in Ukraine than the German army. Is it really helpless for us to take advantage of the German army?"¡° Yes, comrade commander, "oberstein echoed," our commanders and fighters will be replaced by one German, and we will win in the end. " At this point, his voice suddenly lowered, "do you think things are too pessimistic?"¡° Political commissar oberstein said, "although oberstein''s words sounded harsh, I still kept restraint and tried to make them understand what the current situation is like." the "skull division" and "imperial division" around us are two German forces with strong fighting capacity, while there are several other similar forces in Ukraine at the moment. With their combat effectiveness, one division can easily defeat one of our armies. The imperial division defeated the Fourth Army of the guard infantry a few days ago, which is a lesson for us. Under such circumstances, it is unrealistic to imagine how to eliminate them. What we have to consider is how to maintain ourselves under the strong German offensive, and find the weak links of the enemy at the right time, so as to highlight the encirclement decisively. Do you understand? " I don''t know if they really listened to me, but they all said, "I see." I changed the topic and asked oberstein: "Comrade commissar, have you sent someone to search around to see if there are any materials left by the German army?" As soon as my voice fell, oberstein shook his head like a rattle: "Comrade commander, since our troops entered the city, I sent a lot of search troops to check whether there were missing weapons or urgently needed materials in the original German warehouse." At this point, he shrugged his shoulders and said regretfully, "it''s a pity that the German army moved the warehouse very clean and left us nothing."¡° Yes, comrade commander. " As soon as oberstein finished, bandeleev also said, "the residents of zaborosh, perhaps before the German army occupied the city, evacuated to the rear. Without the residents, even if we want to find some food, it is impossible. " As we were talking, the sound of guns came from outside. Bantai leiev turned to lieutenant commander Ilya who had been on the phone and asked, "chief of staff, where are the German troops shelling again?" Elijah stood up straight, covered the microphone with his hand, and reported to us, "report to the commander and division commander. According to the report of the observation post, the German Army started shelling the riverside positions of regiment 1 and regiment 4 again, and was about to launch a new attack."

 Chapter 927

    "Call the two commanders immediately. Except for leaving a small number of observation posts on the position, the rest of the soldiers go to hide." After listening to the report of his chief of staff, Bantai leiev did not ask for instructions from me, so he directly began to give orders: "at the same time, we should pay close attention to the movement of the two floating bridges. Once we find that the German army repairs the floating bridge when our army is bombarded and unable to observe, we should immediately report to the division headquarters."


    Lieutenant commander Elia agreed, hung up the phone, dialed the first regiment and the fourth regiment again, and wanted to convey the order just issued by Bantai leiev. Bantailiev turned around and reported to me at the table: "Comrade commander, I judged that the German army might secretly repair the destroyed pontoon during the shelling, and then use the armored forces to carry out the assault on the city. Therefore, I think we should send reconnaissance troops to closely monitor the German movement on the other side of the river. "


    After listening to bantailiev''s words, I nodded in agreement with him, and then said, "Manstein''s recent behavior is very abnormal. Let alone the siege like now, even if he orders only one unit of the" skull division "to launch a fierce attack, it will be enough to defeat our army and destroy one or two regiments or even one division. But he didn''t do it. I think he must have some conspiracy. So your concern is right. In order to prevent the German army from quietly repairing the pontoon and using armored forces to attack the city, it is necessary to send reconnaissance forces. "


    As soon as I finished speaking, a telephone on the desk suddenly rang. Oberstein grabbed the phone and listened for a while. Then he replied loudly, "yes, yes, chief of staff and chief of army are here. Do you need to let her answer the phone?" I heard wittkov''s voice vaguely, then oberstein handed me the phone and said respectfully, "Comrade commander, your phone number is from Colonel wittkov''s military headquarters."


    I took the phone and asked aloud, "Hello, chief of staff? Is something wrong? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Perhaps for fear that I could not hear you clearly, wittkov also replied loudly, "there is something important for you to make a decision. Can you rush back to the army headquarters immediately?"


    Listening to wittkov''s serious remarks, my heart could not help tightening and I asked, "what''s the matter?"


    Wittkov said with some embarrassment: "Comrade commander, it''s inconvenient to talk about this matter on the phone. You''d better come back in person."


    From wittkov''s words, I know it must be very difficult, otherwise he would not be able to say it on the phone. So as soon as I put down the phone, I said to Bantai leiev and oberstein, "there''s something wrong in the army. I want to go back to the headquarters immediately."


    Bantai leiev asked with concern: "Comrade commander, is something wrong?"


    As I didn''t know what happened, I had to shake my head and said helplessly: "at present, I don''t know what happened, but I don''t think it has much to do with you. I can give you the defense of the north and the west of the city. I hope you won''t let me down. "


    "Please don''t worry, commander," bantaileiev said to me. He quickly assured me, "we will never let the German army rush into the city."


    I would have said a few words, but I thought I had said that how to fight in the twenty-second division of the guards has the final say, so I opened my mouth and finally did not say it. I just called Yushchenko who was waiting outside the door and returned to the army''s finger center in the city with me.


    Entering the headquarters, I saw wittkov standing by the telephone, wearing earphones and yelling at the transmitter: "take back, comrade commander, I order you to organize a counter charge immediately and take back the lost position for me."


    When I heard this, I couldn''t help clapping in my heart. What did I say was lost? It would make wittkov so impolite. I heard him call the other party''s rank as commander just now. Is Kuban lost? Thinking of this, I quickly walked to the table, leaned down and asked kirilov, who was still sitting there looking at the picture: "Comrade political commissar, what''s the matter?"


    Kirilov, hearing my voice, raised his head and said in a somewhat unexpected way, "it''s you, comrade oshanina, back?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar. I''m back. " I want to find out what''s going on as soon as possible, and I don''t want to beat around the Bush and ask, "what''s going on?"


    Kirilov said with a wry smile to Vitkov, who was talking to the troops below: "the situation is very bad, comrade oshanina. The 2nd Reich Panzer infantry division of the German army broke through the defensive position of the 308th division on the north side of the airport and rushed to zaborosh. But you don''t have to worry. It''s not a big deal. The chief of staff is arranging the troops to fight back... "


    The defense line of our army has been broken through. Such a big thing is not important, so what kirilov told me next will be more serious. I nervously urged him to say, "Comrade political commissar, tell me what else happened."


    "Well, comrade oshanina." Kirilov pushed the map on the table in front of me, pointed to it and said to me, "the 1st Hitler Panzer infantry division and the 2nd imperial Panzer infantry division of the three SS divisions have completely broken through the defense depth of our 6th group army, and joined forces with the 48th and 57th German Panzer troops in pavlogle, We''ve cut off our Sixth Army''s lines of communication completely. "


    "What, the Sixth Army was cut off by the German army?" The news, like a bolt from the blue, shocked me. It took me a long time to recover, and I asked feebly, "have you contacted commander haridonov? What remedial measures does he have for the cut-off of the main traffic line of the group army? "


    Kirilov looked at Vitkov, who was on the phone, and then said to me, "commander haridonov called to inquire about the fighting here."


    When I heard that haridonov was asking us about the situation here again, I had an uncertain premonition in my heart. Maybe at this critical moment, he was still planning to transfer troops from our army. In order to have a clear idea, I cautiously asked kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, how did you reply?"


    "If the chief of staff communicates with the commander, he simply replied that we are fighting here." Kirilov said bitterly: "the commander first asked if you were in. When the chief of staff said you were not in, he told you to rush back to the army headquarters as soon as possible. He has something important to discuss with you."


    The important thing, the important thing, is not to send troops from me to reinforce them. He didn''t think that we were besieged by the German army. We were already short of troops. How could we draw out our troops to help them? Thinking of this, I asked kirilov, biting my back teeth, "Comrade political commissar, what do you think is important for the commander?"


    Kirilov gave me a strange look and then said cautiously, "Comrade oshanina, can''t you really guess? Since the traffic line of the sixth group army has been cut off, it is necessary to deploy elite troops to fight back and reopen the traffic line with the rear. I think the matter that the commander will discuss with you is how many troops will be drawn from our army. "


    "Do you think we should send troops to them?" After kirilov finished speaking, I didn''t express any opinions, but asked in reply.


    "No, comrade commander." Vitkov, who had just finished the call, just heard my question to kirilov, and hurriedly answered: "at present, our forces are already tight. If we forcibly transfer our forces again, we will not be able to hold zaborosh. So, I think when the commander calls again, we have to find a way to turn him down. "


    "Political commissar, chief of staff, you two need not worry." I saw kirilov and wittkov were worried, and quickly comforted them, saying: "in the present situation, not to mention harritonov, the commander of the group army, even if general vatukin, the commander of the front army, came out, I would not send one soldier to them."


    As soon as I finished, I heard the operator calling me: "Comrade commander, your phone number is the commander of the group army. He wants to talk to you."


    I quickly came to the telephone, grabbed the earphone and put it on. Then I politely said to the transmitter, "Hello, comrade commander, I''m o''shanina. What instructions do you have for our army?"


    "Comrade oshanina, you must have learned from Colonel wittkov the present situation of our army." Without even a simple greeting, haridonov said bluntly: "the German army not only cut off the communication line of our group army, but now the 40th German armored army, which has three armored divisions and armored infantry divisions, is launching a fierce attack on Popov group, which has no fuel in the rear of our army. As all the units of the sixth group army are restrained by the German forces, I intend to draw the 22nd guard division and the 308th infantry division from you to attack the rear of the German army to the East, restrain their forces, and let the main force of the group army get out of the predicament quickly. "


    Let the main force of the group get out of the predicament? That''s a pretty thing to say, but the price is that our 79th infantry might be wiped out. After weighing the pros and cons quickly, I replied decisively, "sorry, comrade commander, please forgive me for not being able to carry out your order. The two divisions you mentioned are now in a state of exchange with the German army. If they withdraw from the battlefield rashly, they will be defeated or eliminated by the German army before they enter the attack position you designated. "


    "Major general oshanina!" When he heard that I refused his order, haredonov could not help getting angry. He raised his voice and yelled, "don''t you dare to disobey the orders of your superiors? Aren''t you afraid to go to the military court or I''ll enforce the battlefield discipline on you?"


    "Comrade commander, I''m very timid. I''m afraid of going to the military court and being disciplined on the battlefield by you." Now that he has turned over, there is no need to be respectful to him any more. I said impolitely, "but before that, I ask you to make it clear that at least five German armored divisions and armored infantry divisions near zaborosh are attacking our defense area from four directions at the same time. Under the siege of the superior German forces, we not only could not get the aid of the friendly forces, but also had to dispatch two-thirds of our limited forces to carry out a counter offensive with no chance of winning. I firmly refuse to carry out such a wrong order, even if you shoot me for it, I can''t carry it out. "


    "Major general oshanina!" From the sound coming from the earphone, I can be sure that haridonov is on the verge of violence. If I stood in front of him now, maybe he would have taken out a pistol and shot me. But at the moment, he can only be on the other end of the phone, in vain to rage: "do you believe I''ll dismiss you now?"


    "Comrade commander, I believe you have such power." I was deeply afraid that he would, on the spur of the moment, really withdraw my post and appoint a person who would listen to his orders to be the commander of the army, so that our army would be in a desperate situation. Therefore, I made it clear to him that "but under the present circumstances, you have no right to do so. Because if you remove me, not only zaborosh will be lost, but even the 79th infantry will be in danger of being destroyed. Have you ever thought about the consequences? " After I finished, I held my breath and waited for the final sentence of haredonov. Unexpectedly, after a long time, he did not speak. Just when I could hardly hold my breath, I heard him sigh, and then there was no sound in the earphone. Obviously, he interrupted the contact with me. When I returned to the table, kirilov asked me anxiously, "Comrade oshanina, when you speak to the commander in this way, you also intend to disobey his orders. Are you not afraid to go to the military court?"¡° Now are you afraid that''s going to work? " I looked at kirilov and said with a bitter smile, "once I accept his unrealistic order, our army will be destroyed in a few hours. If I can save the whole infantry by sacrificing myself, I am willing to make this sacrifice. " Kirilov thought for a moment, stood up and said resolutely, "Comrade oshanina, as the political commissar of the infantry army, I am willing to share the responsibility with you. Whether it''s going to the military court or being disciplined by the superior, I''ll face it with you. "¡° And me, comrade commander. " When kirilov said that, wittkov followed suit¡° Well, don''t do that. All the commanders in the army are in trouble. Who will command the army? " After I said this, I turned to Vitkov and asked, "what''s the situation with the 308th division?" After listening to my question, wittkov remembered that he had not yet had time to report the war situation to me, and quickly replied, "the commander said that he would immediately block the breach and concentrate his forces to destroy the German troops that rushed into our direction."

 Chapter 928

    After witkov finished his report, he asked me, "Comrade commander, a regiment under the command of general gurdyev of the 308th division is not far from the area to be broken through. Do you want to order them to launch on the spot and stop the enemy who rushes into our defense line?"


    "Chief of staff, if so, do as you say." As for wittkov''s proposal, I immediately agreed with him. "In addition, the German army has completely cut off the supply and transportation lines of the 6th group army, and then they can send more troops back to attack us. Therefore, in addition to one regiment transferred into the city to participate in defense, the remaining two regiments are under the command of general gurdyev, Rely on the existing fortifications to resist the German attack. "


    "I understand." Wittkov agreed and turned to contact gurtyev.


    As soon as wittkov walked away, kirilov kindly reminded me, "o''shanina, since you have contacted the deputy commander, Marshal Zhukov, you might as well send him a telegram about the incident of disobeying orders. In this way, even if someone investigates after the event, someone can say a few words for you. "


    Kirilov''s reminder brightened my eyes. Yes, how could I forget that there was a mountain like Zhukov behind me. I was worried for nothing just now. I quickly sat down and drafted a telegram for Zhukov, stating the actual situation near zaborosh and the reasons for my disobedience.


    When I finished writing the telegram, I looked up and saw Pugachev standing nearby. I handed it to him and said, "Comrade major, send this telegram to Marshal Zhukov immediately. Remember, when you receive a telegram from the marshal, come back and report to me Pugachev took the telegram from me and immediately turned and walked out of the headquarters.


    "Comrade political commissar, what''s the situation at the airport?" At present, fighting is taking place along the river and in the northeast of zaborosh. It is estimated that the situation of the nearest 171 division defense area will not be much better. So I asked kirilov, "does Colonel andreushenko have the latest enemy information reported?"


    "The Colonel called half an hour ago," kirilov said, pushing the map in front of me as usual, explaining, "the new fortification they set up on the south side of the airport has been broken through by the German armored forces. Although our officers and men fought tenaciously, destroyed four enemy tanks, and killed hundreds of SS soldiers, one battalion of the 115th regiment died. At present, the regiment has retreated to the second line of defense and is ready to continue to fight against the German attack. "


    Seeing the current position of the 115th regiment, I nodded and said, "the second line of defense they are currently in was originally built by German soldiers. When the 22nd division of the guards entered the airport, it was specially reinforced. It should be OK to block the Germans here for two or three days." I pointed to Kuban and asked with concern, "what''s the situation with major akhromeyev? Have you had another fight with the German troops?"


    "Another battle was fought, but on a small scale, and the attacking enemy was soon defeated by them." After kirilov finished talking about Kuban, he asked anxiously, "Comrade oshanina, I''m afraid that when the German army comes up, it will not be able to stop with the strength of major akhromeyev. You see, is it possible to draw some troops from somewhere to reinforce them? "


    "I can''t stop it, I can''t help it." With the change of the battlefield situation, the importance of Kuban is far less than that of the previous two days. Regarding kirilov''s worries, I said: "since the main supply and transportation lines of the group army have been cut off, it is only a matter of time before our transportation lines are cut off by the enemy. It''s better to concentrate on a real fight with the German army than to spend too much force there. "


    As soon as I finished, vetkov came over. Seeing that both of them were in front of me, I did not hide my thoughts any more. Instead, I said frankly, "political commissar, chief of staff, there is something I hope you will be prepared for. According to our present strength and weaponry, we will not be able to support the German forces for a long time. Therefore, I intend to stay here for another three days at most, that is to say, the remaining troops of our army will carry out a breakthrough operation on February 25. "


    Although I have mentioned many times in front of them that I can''t stick to zaborosh for a long time, when I really said that I wanted to prepare for the breakthrough, they were silent.


    After a long time, kirilov tentatively asked, "Comrade oshanina, is it true that there is no turning point? We have to know that the total strength of our southwest front army and Voronezh front army is several times that of the German army in Ukraine. Even if we exchange several people for one of them, the final victory will surely belong to us. "


    Wittkov nodded in agreement with kirilov''s statement. Seeing that their opinions are so unified, I understand that it is very difficult to persuade the commanders below if they are not convinced first. In that way, I will encounter all kinds of obstacles in the implementation of my plan to break through the encirclement. So I said to them earnestly: "political commissar and chief of staff, as commanders, we can''t do without mathematics when we fight. Whether we can win in the battlefield depends on many factors. We should not only calculate the forces of both sides, but also calculate who has more tanks and artillery and who controls the air supremacy. Only by doing so can we see clearly who will win in the end when the situation of the enemy and ourselves on the battlefield continues to develop. "


    "As you say, comrade commander." Wittkov was still a little unconvinced with what I said: "if we don''t have air supremacy on the battlefield, and the number of tanks and artillery is not as large as that of the enemy, then it is very difficult for us to win?"


    I listened to his tone, and if I went on talking about the battle of Stalingrad again, I raised my hand and interrupted his words: "OK, chief of staff, I know what you want to say next. It''s true that under extremely difficult circumstances, we held fast for several months in Stalingrad and finally wiped out Paulus''s Sixth Army. " When I talked about the 6th army, my heart could not help shivering. My heart said that the destroyed German army was the 6th army, and we are also the 6th army now. This is not a good omen¡° But how many troops did we put in Stalingrad and how many troops did the German army put in? Although one month after the outbreak of the city defense war, we will no longer count our own casualties, but you and I should have a rough idea of the number of casualties. At present, our army is surrounded by the German forces in zaborosh. As long as we fight for a few days, we will run out of ammunition and food. In addition, there are no foreign reinforcements. In this case, do you think we can still create a miracle like the battle of Stalingrad? "


    After listening to what I said from the bottom of my heart, wittkov remained silent for a while. At last, he slowly shook his head and said with certainty, "Comrade commander, I agree with you. Once there is such a situation as you said, it is the fate of the whole army that awaits us. "


    When kirilov saw that Vitkov agreed with me, he was no longer opinionated. Instead, he asked me modestly, "Comrade oshanina, if we want to break through the encirclement, which direction should we stand out from?"


    "Comrade political commissar, let''s look at the map first." I called them to the table, leaned down, pointed to zaborosh''s position, and said to them, "from the current situation, our south side is the 3rd" skeleton "armored infantry division of the German SS; To the northeast, it was part of the 2nd imperial armored infantry division; To the East, the 11th German Panzer Division and the 336th German infantry division. The combat effectiveness of these troops is among the best in the German army. That is to say, if we break through the encirclement from these three directions, we may still be unable to break through the encirclement after fierce fighting. "


    Vetkov''s eyes swept back and forth on the map. Suddenly, his eyebrows were raised and he asked unexpectedly, "Comrade commander, you don''t intend to break through from the position of the headquarters of Manstein, do you?" He patted twice on the Dnieper River next to zaborosh with his hand. "In that case, our troops must cross the Dnieper River first and rush into the depth of the Germans without thinking back."


    As for wittkov''s understanding ability, I nodded with satisfaction, and then said: "the chief of staff is quite right. Although the number of German troops on the other side of the Dnieper River is more than that in other directions, their vigilance should be the lowest. They never thought that we would cross the river and break through. In this way, our chances of success will be greatly improved. "


    "Is there a good chance to break through in this direction?" Kirilov asked suspiciously.


    "Comrade political commissar, under the present circumstances, this risk is worth taking." In order to dispel kirilov''s doubts, I specially explained to him: "shortly after the outbreak of the war, when the German army was crossing the Dnieper River on a large scale, the commander of the 63rd infantry army, petrevsky, who was standing by the river, unexpectedly led his troops across the Dnieper River, rushed to the enemy''s rear, and took the opportunity to recover several occupied cities, It successfully held back the German advance to Moscow. Now, our breakthrough is just a copy of his classic example. "


    "In that case, I have no objection." Kirilov was obviously relieved to hear that this tactic had been carried out and succeeded. He added: "we''d better find someone to inquire about general petrevsky''s detailed war report, so as to provide a necessary basis for the formulation of our breakthrough plan."


    "Comrade commander," without waiting for me to speak, Pugachev''s voice came from the door. When I looked up, he came to me with a piece of paper in his hand. When he handed me the paper, he said, "it was Marshal Zhukov who sent you the telegram himself."


    I snatched the telegram from his hand and took it to my eyes. I couldn''t wait to see it. It says: "the battlefield situation is changing rapidly. As long as you can achieve the goal of containing and consuming the enemy, you can adjust the deployment of troops according to the actual situation. I grant you permission not to carry out all the wrong orders from your superiors. Zhukov


    After reading it, I felt relieved. I handed the telegram to kirilov and said, "Comrade political commissar, please have a look. The marshal not only failed to investigate the responsibility of our disobedience, but also allowed us to adjust the deployment of our troops according to the actual situation of the battlefield."


    After reading the telegram at a glance, kirilov handed it to wittkov and asked me, "do we need to report the breakthrough plan we just mentioned to marshal immediately?"


    I quickly waved my hand and said decisively, "Comrade political commissar, you don''t need to report to the police for the time being. At present, only a few of us are aware of this breakthrough plan. We must not disclose it. Otherwise, the morale of the army will be shaken and the morale will be low, and the next battle will be impossible. "


    Kirilov nodded after hearing this, then called the operator to stand beside Pugachev and said to them, "our army will implement the plan to break through the encirclement in the near future. So far, only five of us know about it. Before the order is officially given to all divisions, I hope you two will keep secret and don''t let out this plan. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade political commissar. " Pugachev and the operator replied in unison: "we have studied the confidentiality regulations, and we will never let this secret out."¡° Good Kirilov was very satisfied with the two men''s attitude, then waved to them and said, "go back to work." As soon as they left, the telephone on the desk rang again. When I saw witkov answer the phone, I thought to myself: where is this call from? Can''t something happen? Wittkov listened for a moment, then said solemnly to the microphone, "I see, general bantaileiev. Now that the German tanks are coming up, you should try to kill them all. If you have any information, report it to the army. " Then he hung up. When I heard that tanks appeared in the defense area of the leiev division in Bantai, I was surprised and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, what happened and where did the tanks come from?"¡° Well, comrade commander. " Wittkov respectfully reported to me: "general bantailiev reported that the German army sent engineers to repair the pontoon where a regiment was located when our army was bombarded and could not observe. Several tanks had rushed along the pontoon."¡° Did general bandeleev take any measures? " Kirilov asked nervously, too. Wittkov turned his head to kirilov and said: "a regiment had an anti tank gun in the riverside position, but after several rounds, it was unable to destroy the enemy''s tanks after hitting the German tanks. Bantai leiev called to ask us what to do? "

 Chapter 929

    It''s said that the German army has really repaired the pontoon on the Dnieper River. Although only one of them has been repaired, it''s enough to make me anxious. If the German army, under the cover of tanks, rushes across the Dnieper River and stops in the city, then I just mentioned that crossing the river and breaking through will be fatal.


    I quickly grabbed the assault rifle that I was leaning against the table, stood up abruptly, and said to kirilov and Vitkov, "political commissar, chief of staff, I''ll go to the front and have a look. I''ll leave it to you."


    Kirilov got up from his seat, went around the table, stood in front of me with open hands, and earnestly advised me, "Comrade oshanina, it''s too dangerous outside. You can''t go!"


    Seeing kirilov''s action, wittkov immediately recovered. He quickly stood by kirilov''s side and helped to persuade him: "yes, comrade commander, the situation in the 22nd division of the guards is very dangerous. We don''t even know whether the enemy will break through our position by the river and rush into the city. As the head of an army, you have no right to risk your life. "


    "Political commissar, chief of staff." I knew in my heart that if we didn''t persuade them, we couldn''t get out of the headquarters today, so instead of rushing in, I stood in the same place with assault rifles and said to them sincerely: "in our next plan, whether the riverside position can be controlled in our hands is the key to the success of the operation. Let''s sit in the headquarters and wait for the news. I can''t do that. I thank you for your concern for me, but please rest assured that I will not go directly to the riverside position. Finally, I will go to the command post of the first regiment to learn about the progress of the battle. "


    Listen to me, kirilov slowly put down his hands and stopped me from leaving, but he was still worried. He stepped forward, grabbed my empty right hand and said, "Comrade o''shanina, you must pay attention to your safety. The future of our 79th infantry army depends on you alone."


    I slung my rifle on my shoulder, patted the back of his hand with my left hand, and said gratefully, "thank you, comrade political commissar, for your concern. Don''t worry, I will come back intact. I will take our 79th infantry army all the way to Berlin. How can I sacrifice my life so easily? " With that, I gently pulled my right hand out of his palm, stepped back, and raised my hand to give him a solemn military salute.


    He and wittkov also quickly raised their hands to salute me and said in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, you should be more careful on the road and never try to be brave. Once we encounter the enemy who rushes into the city, we should move as soon as possible. After all, there are still many troops in the city. They can eliminate the enemy who rushes in in the shortest time. "


    As soon as kirilov''s words were finished, wittkov yelled out to the outside, "Captain Yushchenko, Captain Yushchenko, come in."


    With his shouts, armed Yushchenko rushed in from the outside. He ran to Vitkov and stood at attention. He asked in a loud voice, "chief of staff, what instructions do you have?"


    Wittkov raised his hand to me and said, "Comrade captain, the commander should go to the first regiment defense area of the 22nd division of the guards immediately. I order you to bring more soldiers to protect the commander''s safety. You want your life and honor to promise me that even at the expense of your lives, you must ensure the safety of the commander. "


    Yushchenko looked at me and then replied in a loud voice, "please rest assured, chief of staff. The order I received before I led the special guard company to Stalingrad is to ensure the safety of the commander at all costs. As long as there''s one more of us, we''ll never let the Krauts hurt the commander. "


    When we came out of the headquarters, Yushchenko told me to wait for a while, and then he yelled at the opposite house. As soon as he cried out, a platoon of soldiers came out of the building and quickly formed a four-way column in the street. Seeing that all the soldiers are the same as me, wearing sh-42 body armor and bulletproof vest, carrying assault rifles, I knew in my heart that these soldiers were all excellent soldiers brought by Yushchenko at the beginning.


    Seeing that the troops had assembled, Yushchenko yelled at the troops: "Sergeant Lazarev!"


    A staff sergeant standing on the right of the first group trotted to him and stood at attention, staring at Yushchenko, waiting for him to give orders to him.


    "Sergeant," Yushchenko did not say anything to Lazarev. He gave him a direct order: "you take a class, sit in the front, and lead the way. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade battalion commander." Razalev nodded and replied loudly. Then he turned to the line and called, "class one, follow me!" With that, he took away and ran to the west of the city. A group of soldiers who received his order followed him.


    Seeing that the avant-garde class was 50 or 60 meters away, Captain Yushchenko waved his hand to the troops and said in a loud voice: "all of you, listen to my command, let''s go!"


    Although we all trotted all the way when we started, because our chest armor was too heavy, we didn''t run far, so we all changed trot into fast walk. The streets and roads were full of roadblocks and barricades made of sandbags and wood. Except for the openings for pedestrians and vehicles, the rest of them were blocked by fortifications. As the residents of the city had been evacuated for a long time, the officers and men of the 22nd division of the guards were busy reinforcing the fortifications.


    As I walked, I said to Yushchenko, "Comrade captain, you are too cautious. You have also sent a class of troops to be the vanguard in the front. Not to mention that the regiment''s position by the river has not been lost. Even if it is lost, there are our commanders and fighters all around, and the Krauts can''t get here smoothly. "


    Yushchenko looked at me and said coldly: "Comrade commander, my responsibility is to protect your safety. Therefore, we must be cautious in terms of safety and never make any mistakes. "


    I knew in my heart that Yushchenko''s duty was to try every means to protect my safety. Instead of talking, I went along with the troops in silence. But Yushchenko was still a little nervous. Even if the German army broke through a regiment''s position by the river, it was not so easy for them to break through the layers of defense in the city and rush to the city.


    We are getting closer and closer to the first regiment''s defense area. As long as we go to the intersection seven or eight meters ahead and turn right, we can see the command post of the first regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Sergey rickov. Listening to the more and more clear gunfire coming from the front, I hastened to urge Yushchenko: "Comrade captain, let''s speed up. The regiment headquarters of the first regiment will arrive soon."


    As soon as my voice fell, before Yushchenko could speak, there was a burst of gunfire in front of me. I watched helplessly as the group in front of me was knocked down by bullets coming from the buildings on both sides of the road. Almost at the same time, Yushchenko threw me to the ground, and at the same time, he cried out: "battle alert, all hidden! Battle alert, all hidden


    When all the people were lying down or hiding behind the sandbag fortifications, I heard Yushchenko yell, "fire cover, class three, class four, class two!" Then the clear fire of the assault rifle rang out in all directions.


    I lay down next to a simple semi-circular sandbag. I patted Yushchenko gently with my backhand, indicating that he would leave me alone and concentrate on directing the battle.


    When Yushchenko''s body moved away, I crawled to the gap of the sandbag and carefully went out to watch. I saw a group of soldiers who had been knocked down by the German army. At the moment, many of them were squatting or lying down, fighting back towards the buildings on both sides of the road. The second group of soldiers who went up for reinforcement were divided into two groups, and quickly approached the fierce battle position close to the wall.


    The number of German troops in the building seems to be small. Under the combined attack of class one and class two, and the suppression of the firepower of class three and class four, their shooting gradually became sparse. I saw Sergeant Lazarev, who had fallen to the ground, stand up wobbly with his hands over his chest. It seems that he was just hit in the chest by a bullet. He stood there for a moment, took a few steps forward with his weapon, and seemed to rush into the building through the door.


    Just then, a German officer with a pistol and a big cornice cap burst out of the building. He hit Lazarev''s chest with his shoulder, which made the chief stagger back several steps. He seemed not satisfied with the result, and then he raised his pistol and fired several shots at the chief.


    I thought that Sergeant Lazarev would be killed on the spot by such a close shot. Just as I wanted to lift my assault rifle to kill the damned German, I saw Lazarev pulling the trigger at the German officer in front of me with his gun. A series of bullets were shot from the muzzle of the gun and hit the German officer solidly. There was a thick mist of blood. The officer leaned back and fell to the ground without saying a word.


    When the German officer was shot and killed, the shooting in the building stopped completely. Three German soldiers holding rifles came out of the building and surrendered to our soldiers.


    I don''t know if there are any remaining Germans in the building, so I still lie on the ground. Finally, Yushchenko squatted down and reported to me, "Comrade commander, you can get up. All the German soldiers who ambushed have been eliminated."


    I got up from the ground, escorted by Yushchenko and a dozen soldiers, and came to the area where the fierce battle had just started. I looked at the body of the German officer whose chest had been beaten to blood and flesh. Then I turned around and asked Lazarev standing in front of us with concern, "Comrade sergeant, are you seriously injured?"


    Unexpectedly, razalev shook his head and replied in a loud voice: "please rest assured, commander. I''m only slightly injured. It won''t affect my next fight."


    I looked down at his chest armor and saw seven or eight bullet hit dents on it, but they were only dents, not punctured. It seems that his injury is not fatal. After nodding, I asked, "how are the casualties of class one?"


    "Report to the commander," razalev told me after looking at his subordinates behind him: "one was killed and seven people were injured, but none of the injuries will affect the next battle."


    After listening to Lazarev''s report, I stared at his chest again and said to myself, "what a hell, I saw that the German officer fired several shots at your breastplate, but at such a close distance, he didn''t get through it."


    "Comrade commander, please let me explain to you what happened." Yushchenko''s voice sounded in his ear. He might have come to see that I had been staring at the breastplate to study one, so he took the initiative to explain to me: "after a period of actual combat, I found that the mp40 submachine gun equipped with 9mm bullets, which is often used by the German Army in close combat, can pierce our ordinary helmets within an effective range of 200m, But when shooting from 100 meters away, you can''t penetrate this hard body armor. But I didn''t expect that it could effectively defend the penetration effect of Luger 9mm pistol bullet in such a short distance. "


    After listening to Yushchenko''s explanation, I nodded with satisfaction. With this kind of body armor, my chances of surviving in the battlefield will be greatly improved. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. The fight just started in less than five minutes. I turned and asked Yushchenko, "Comrade captain, have you interrogated the Germans, how did they sneak into the vicinity of the command post of a regiment?" Yushchenko shook his head and replied, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. There are no German speaking soldiers here, so I sent some soldiers to escort the prisoners back to the army headquarters. " Because I couldn''t find out how the German army infiltrated at the first time, I was disappointed. But at present, the most important task is to go to the regiment command post of the first regiment and find out about the situation on the front line with lieutenant colonel shejerikov. So I waved my head and said to Yushchenko, "come on, comrade captain, we need to get to the command post of the first regiment immediately." On the way to the command post of the first regiment, I couldn''t help muttering: the fighting place is so close to the command post of the first regiment, but the troops in charge of security didn''t notice it at all. If the German army did not ambush us just now, but went to attack the command post of shejerikov, wouldn''t they be in danger of being attacked by the German army¡° Stop, who are you We had just passed the crossroads when there was a shout in front of us: "stop, I''ll shoot if I don''t stand there any more!" When I went along the road, I saw a machine gun fortification piled up with sandbags on the roadside in front of me. Two machine gun shooters were ready to shoot, and a corporal was asked to talk to us. He was standing next to the machine gun with a rifle in his hand, aiming at us. I raised my hand and asked Yushchenko and the soldiers in the guard platoon to stand still, so as not to stimulate these nervous soldiers. I slowly walked forward two steps, then stopped, put my hands behind me, and asked the corporal who raised his gun at me, "don''t you know me, corporal?" The corporal listened to me and looked at me carefully. Then he lowered the muzzle of the gun and asked the machine gunner next to him to turn off the safety to prevent the fire from escaping. After finishing the work, the corporal came up to me, raised his hand to salute me, and reported, "sorry, comrade commander, please forgive me for not recognizing you just now. We just heard a lot of gunfire in front of us, but because there are few people, we can''t go to check it, so we have to strengthen our guard. "¡° I''m going to find your commander. Is he in the command post? " I asked briefly¡° Yes, comrade commander. " The corporal replied busily, "the commander has been directing the battle in the command post all day, and he has never left."¡° Sergeant Lazarev, you and the first group stay and help the corporal guard this intersection. " With these words, I called Yushchenko out loud again: "Captain, take the rest of you to the regiment headquarters with me."¡° Yes Yushchenko agreed, and then began to give orders: "class one and Sergeant Lazarev stay, class two, class three and class four follow me!" Perhaps because of the shortage of troops in the regiment, we never met any other security forces in the distance of more than 100 meters from the fortification to the command post. When I came to the gate of the regiment headquarters, I saw two sentries standing guard. Seeing this situation, Yushchenko frowned and said, "Comrade commander, the defense strength of the regiment command post is too weak. If the German troops come to even one platoon, they will be destroyed."

 Chapter 930

    As soon as I walked into the regiment command post, I felt like I had come to the vegetable market. The telegraph operator yelled at the top of his voice, and the telegram ticked. At the same time, there were many communication or staff members going in and out, too busy. No matter whether they are going in or out, when they see me, they have to stop and salute me.


    I nodded at them and walked quickly to behind shijerikov. At this time, he was facing me with his back, one hand covering his ear, the other hand holding the microphone, and yelled loudly: "Captain Nikolay, I order you to immediately organize your troops to carry out counter attacks, and eliminate all the enemies wedged into the defensive positions of your battalion..."


    After he finished his call with Captain Nikolay, he dialed a number again, because the voice in the command post was so noisy that I didn''t know which army he was contacting. After he said a few words in front of the microphone, he suddenly covered the microphone with his hand and yelled at the signalmen and staff officers: "be quiet, be quiet. I can''t hear what''s on the phone at all when you''re so noisy! "


    With his roar, the room suddenly quieted down. Shejerikov let go of his hand covering the receiver and said to the other party in a loud voice, "Hello, operator, this is lieutenant commander shejerikov. Get me the sixth company of sherebrian camp immediately. Yes, find me lieutenant dongnechi of the sixth company. "


    As the room was very quiet at the moment, I heard a familiar voice from the receiver: "Hello, comrade commander."


    "Where''s lieutenant antonich?" Asked chejerikov.


    "The company commander just died in the battle. Report to commander, we have destroyed two tanks coming from the pontoon, and we have repulsed the infantry following us. "


    "Who are you? Who''s talking to me? " Asked chejerikov, puzzled.


    "It''s me, comrade commander. It''s me, Sergeant Adil... "


    "It''s you, Sergeant Adil." Shejerikov continued: "besides you, are there any other commanders in the company now?"


    "No, comrade commander." Sergeant Adil replied quickly: "the rest of the commanders either died or were wounded and evacuated. At present, I have the highest rank in the company. "


    Shejerikov was silent for a moment, then asked, "how many troops do you have now?"


    "Report to the commander that there are 43 people in the company, including the wounded, who are still capable of fighting."


    "Do you have the confidence to hold the position?"


    Adil was silent for a long time before he hesitated and said, "Comrade commander, I''m not sure if I can stop the next German attack. If you can add 30 people to me, I think I can stay in the position until noon tomorrow. "


    When sergeant Adil said that, I couldn''t help but feel a little anxious. Without thinking, I raised my hand to grab the microphone in jerichov''s hand. Xie jerikov, who was talking to adir, noticed that someone was behind him. He turned around and was about to lose his temper. When he saw that the person who wanted to grab the microphone was me, he quickly and respectfully handed me the microphone.


    "Comrade sergeant," I said to the microphone, "I''ll give you a company. Can you hold it?"


    Adil immediately recognized my voice and quickly assured me, "Comrade commander, please rest assured that as long as the company you added to me arrives, I will firmly hold the position and never let the enemy rush over the pontoon again."


    I put down the phone and told Yushchenko who was following: "Comrade captain, transfer a company from your guard camp to sergeant Adil''s position. Move quickly, and be sure to get into the fighting position before the German attack again. "


    After Yushchenko left, I turned and asked shijerikov, "Comrade commander, where is the battle going on?" In fact, my question is a bit superfluous. The shooting sound of rifles and machine guns from the outside is clear and audible. The dust on the roof and ceiling is not falling from the top with the explosion of shells.


    I didn''t wait for the answer from sjerikov. I asked another way: "how did the German army rush into the city?" At the end of this question, I added reluctantly, "it''s the pride of your regiment, the shereblenner battalion, who held the riverside position. How could the German army break through their position so easily?"


    On hearing my question, shijerikov bowed his head and replied in shame: "Comrade commander, it''s like this. The German army took advantage of the opportunity when our army was bombarded and could not observe, and sent elite engineering troops to repair the pontoon. As soon as the bridge was repaired, five German tanks rushed over. Since our anti tank guns could not destroy the enemy''s tanks, we could only watch them rush into the city. Seeing the enemy break through our line of defense, the officers and men in the position fell into chaos. After major shereblenny immediately organized his men to blow up the tanks rushing into the city, he found that the scene was out of control. "


    "Out of control?" After listening, I frowned and asked, "how can I not control it?"


    "The German infantry came in droves from the ice when our regiment was in chaos." Shejerikov explained to me with a sad face: "although our commanders and fighters fought tenaciously, there were still many enemies rushing into the city. At present, I have sent three battalions and my guard company to wipe out the German troops in the city


    After listening to Xie jielikov''s words, I know why we can''t see any vigilant troops near the regiment headquarters. Originally, they were sent out by him to clear up the enemy who had entered the city. I gave a wry smile and said lightly, "Comrade commander, we were just on our way here when we were stopped by a small group of German troops. Fortunately, the guard platoon I took was very effective. It took only a few minutes to wipe out the enemy. "


    "What, you were ambushed by the German army?" He looked me up and down nervously, and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, are you not hurt?"


    I waved my hand and said, "don''t worry about my safety. The bullet that can kill me hasn''t been made yet. By the way, what''s the matter with Captain Nikolay? I just heard that he was attacked by the German army? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Speaking of camp Nikolay, the expression on his face became gloomy again. "His camp is at the junction of our regiment and the fourth regiment. Just now, about one company''s infantry, under the cover of several tanks, broke through the position of the second company and wedged into the defensive depth of the battalion. I just called to urge captain Nicholas to send troops to fight back and wipe out the enemy as soon as possible. " At this point, he stopped and came for a moment. He asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, this captain Nicholas used to work under the German army. Seeing that the situation is not good for our army, he won''t lead the army to change sides, will he?"


    "Lt. Col. chejerikov." When I heard sjerykov express his worries, I immediately sternly reprimanded him: "although captain Nikolay had worked under the German before, it was in the past after all. The more critical the moment is, the more our commanders have to trust their subordinates, so as to ensure the stability of the military. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." I have been taught two sentences of Xie jierikov face embarrassed to reply.


    "What''s the situation in the fourth regiment?" After learning the situation of the first regiment, I asked jerikov about the situation of the fourth regiment.


    "According to the intelligence, the German army did not repair the floating bridge in the direction of the fourth regiment. In the whole front of the defense, the enemy still only launched an attack from the ice by infantry."


    "Sergeant chejerikov, since the fourth regiment is under little pressure at present, you should immediately call commander Gaidar and ask him to send troops to reinforce you from the flank." I was deeply afraid that shijerikov would delay his business and urged him to say, "don''t delay. Call him immediately."


    Shijerikov nodded, went to a telephone, took the earphone from the operator''s hand, put it on, regardless of the code, and yelled at the transmitter: "Hello, Hello, commander Gaidar? Hello, do you hear me, commander gedar? I''m shijerikov. Do you hear me? German tanks and infantry broke through our regiment and rushed into the city. Please support, please support! "


    "You are not the only one who has been attacked." Gedar''s familiar voice rang from his earphone. He said unhappily, "German infantry are constantly attacking our regiment''s position from the ice. My troops are fighting. It may be difficult to send troops to reinforce you."


    Hearing Gaidar''s unwillingness to send troops for support, I raised my hand and patted Sergey on the shoulder, signaling him to give me the transmitter and earphone. I put on my headphones and said solemnly to the transmitter, "Hello, commander gedar, this is oshanina."


    "Army commander and comrade, it''s you!" When he heard my voice, Gaidar looked a little flustered. He said nervously, "what instructions do you have?"


    "Colonel gedar, I''ll ask you." As for his performance that he just failed to save himself, I asked with great dissatisfaction: "why do you not want to send troops to reinforce a regiment when you see it in a critical situation?"


    "Well, comrade commander, please listen to me." According to the frontier report, German engineers are repairing the pontoon, and the gathering of German tanks can be seen by the river in the distance. I think as soon as the pontoon is repaired, German tanks will rush over. So I have to leave enough troops to cope with the possible German attack


    When Gaidar finished, I calculated the strength of the fourth regiment in my mind and told him straightforwardly, "commander Gaidar, if we remember correctly, the organizational structure of the fourth regiment is four battalions, each battalion has five companies, and each company has 200 people. Even though there were many casualties in the early fighting, your regiment still has at least 3000 people. I now order you, as commander, to immediately dispatch two companies to the defense area of a regiment and a battalion to assist captain Nikolay in destroying the German troops in the area. "


    "I see, comrade commander." For my arrangement, Gaidar did not dare to oppose, but reluctantly agreed: "I will immediately send troops to reinforce camp Nicholas."


    After I finished the call with Gaidar, I went to the table again, picked up the phone on the table, and connected to one of Nikolay''s battalions. When I heard Nikolay''s voice coming from the receiver, I asked with concern, "Hello, Captain Nikolay, what''s the situation there?"


    Nikolay was very excited to hear my voice. He said in a loud voice, "report to the commander, my troops are charging against the buildings occupied by the German army. Because the enemy stopped outside the building and the tanks that served as the firepower and battery were very strong, our anti tank guns could not penetrate its armor, so a charge just launched ended in failure. "


    "Comrade captain, if the attack fails, let''s do it again." I cheered for captain Nikolay on the phone, "since the enemy''s tanks are too strong, then you should not organize a frontal attack. It''s no different from being killed in vain. You can attract the attention of German tanks with fire in the front, and send an offensive force around to the back of the enemy and beat them from behind their buttocks. As a commander, if you want to win, it''s not enough to be brave. You have to learn how to think, fight skillfully, and win the most with the least casualties! Comrade captain, do you understand? "¡° I understand, comrade commander. " Nikolay said excitedly on the phone: "I will immediately deploy a new round of attack according to your arrangement." Just as he was talking, the door suddenly heard the sound of intensive gunfire, mixed with the sound of grenade explosion. I was just about to ask shejerikov to send someone to see what was going on when Yushchenko rushed in from the outside with a gun. As soon as he entered the door, he reported to me in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, there are probably more than 50 German soldiers coming towards us along the street. The enemy is now engaged with sergeant razalev''s security squad and the machine gun fire point of a regiment. "¡° Comrade captain, "when I heard that the German troops were rushing towards the command post of the first regiment, I directly ordered Yushchenko to" leave a squad to protect the security of the command post of the regiment, and the rest of them immediately go to support razalev and his troops. "¡° Yes Yushchenko agreed loudly, turned around and ran out with the gun. As soon as Yushchenko left, I turned to shejerikov and said, "Comrade commander, you can''t have no security forces in your command post, otherwise, as long as the enemy comes to dozens of people, you will be destroyed." After listening to me, xiejerikov shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly, "Comrade commander, do you think I want to do this? But there is no way. All the troops are sent out, and there is no surplus force to serve as the guard of the regiment headquarters. "

 Chapter 931

    When I heard that, I really wanted to give an order to bandeleev immediately, asking him to draw a company from the guard camp of the division to protect the command post of the first regiment. But just as I was about to open my mouth, I closed my mouth in time. Long before the battle began, I handed over the battle command in the city to bantailiev. Since he did not send reinforcements to xiejerikov now, he must have more far-reaching consideration. I can''t interfere in his command casually.


    The fighting outside the regiment headquarters did not last long. Although the German soldiers have high quality and strong combat effectiveness, it also depends on who they are compared with. If they are compared with our ordinary commanders and fighters, they will not have any problem fighting one company at a time. But when I met the soldiers of my well-equipped and powerful special guard company, they were no match at all.


    In less than ten minutes, Yushchenko walked back into the headquarters with his assault rifle, raised his hand and reported to me, "Comrade commander, we have annihilated all the enemies who came here. A total of 39 German soldiers were killed. Five of us were killed and 21 were injured. Three of them belonged to the first regiment. "


    "Good." After I finished this sentence, I thought that since the German army was attacking the position of the first regiment, it must be ready to move in the direction of the fourth regiment. I want to rush to the defense area of the fourth regiment immediately to see how their defense deployment is going? Thinking of this, I told Yushchenko: "Comrade captain, you take a squad with me to the fourth regiment position, and the rest of the soldiers will stay here, temporarily responsible for the security work of the first regiment command post."


    "Comrade commander!" When they heard my arrangement, they both called out. After they finished shouting, they closed their mouths together. After looking at each other, xiejerikov coughed softly and said to me, "Comrade commander, your safety is very important. You''d better take all the soldiers to the fourth regiment together! As for the security work here, I can draw some people from the staff and logistics to form a guard platoon. Captain, they, "shejerikov said to me in a low voice when he said this," they are all the "imperial guards" sent to you by Comrade Stalin. "


    When I heard this word, I shivered. Yushchenko, who had traveled all the way from Moscow to Stalingrad, became my special guard. I never thought why Stalin sent them. After listening to Xie jielikov''s words, I realized in my heart that they were actually the "Royal Guards"! In the past, he loaned them to trikov to take charge of the security work of the headquarters of the group army. Now that they are the guards of a regiment command post, the rank of chejerikov is too low. Even if I insisted that they stay, shijerikov did not dare to use them. Since this is the case, I will not impose difficulties on others. I have to say with regret, "Comrade commander, since this is the case, I can only trouble you to set up a temporary guard platoon from the logistics and staff to protect your regiment headquarters."


    After leaving the command post of the first regiment, under the guidance of Yushchenko, I went to the defense area of the fourth regiment along a passage still under the control of the new third regiment. On the way, Yushchenko complained to me in a low voice: "Comrade commander, some Germans have already rushed into the city. Although the road we are taking is relatively safe, who doesn''t know if any Germans will suddenly come out and attack us. In my opinion, we''d better go back to the army headquarters first. Anyway, you can learn the specific situation there. "


    "Comrade captain," I can''t say anything serious about the commander of the guard battalion who protects my own safety. I can only say euphemistically, "although I can get the information from the subordinates at any time in the military headquarters, it''s not true after all. The reason why I went to the defense area of the fourth regiment was to find out if there were any loopholes in their defense, so that the German army would not break through their defense line as soon as the pontoon was repaired and several tanks rushed into the city. "


    When I said that, Yushchenko shut up and quietly led the way for me. At the same time, he looked warily at the windows of the buildings on both sides of the road, fearing that a German would suddenly shoot a bunch of bullets at us.


    I clenched my assault rifle and looked left and right as I walked forward. From the window of the roadside building, you can see the garrison moving inside. Some of the officers and men standing at the window raised their hands to salute us when they saw us passing by.


    After walking for about half an hour, I came to the defense area of the fourth regiment. Behind the barricade and the firing point, I saw the figures of the commanders and fighters. Seeing this scene, Yushchenko said in surprise: "Comrade commander, look, the fourth regiment has deployed so many defensive forces in the direction of facing the city."


    I took a look at Yushchenko, nodded and said, "Colonel gedar was famous for his good defense when he was an independent division. It''s normal for him to deploy his defense forces like this."


    As we were talking, three commanders and soldiers came out of the barricade in front of us, looked at us, and then trotted all the way. They stopped five or six meters away from me. One of the officers raised his hand to salute me and reported: "Comrade commander, Captain Ke Licheng, commander of the first company of the fourth regiment, has reported to you that the first company is carrying out a defensive task. Please give us instructions!"


    I also a gift, light said: "please continue, comrade captain." Then he stepped forward, reached out to him and said, "Hello, comrade captain. I didn''t expect that we would meet again so soon."


    He quickly took my hand in both hands and politely said, "Hello, comrade commander, welcome to our fourth regiment to inspect defense. Please follow me. I''ll take you to the regiment headquarters We followed captain kiricheng, went down to the traffic ditch by the side of the road, and walked along the half deep ditch. While walking, I said with emotion: "Captain, are there many traffic trenches in your defense area?" Corichen, who was walking in front of me, turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, there are such traffic trenches in every street. The commander said, "dig more trenches like this. Once the German army rushes into the city, we can not only use them as trenches, but also block the German tanks. This is a good thing to kill two birds with one stone."¡° Did the commanders and fighters of your regiment dig so many traffic trenches themselves? " I think that there are almost ten streets in the fourth regiment''s defense area. If they are allowed to dig every street, it will be a lot of work¡° No, "currichen shook his head and replied," at least less than half of the traffic trenches were dug by ourselves, and the other half, I don''t know whether it was the Germans or our own people who dug them before they left the city. " When we came to a stone building and saw several sentries standing at the door and two machine gun fire points piled up with sandbags, I knew that I had come to the command post of the fourth regiment. Although it is three or four blocks away from the river, the sound of gunfire and cold explosions from the river can still be heard clearly. Corichen asked us to wait for a moment in the same place, while he climbed out of the traffic ditch and quickly ran to the sentry standing guard and said a few words to each other. After listening to him, the sentry looked at us for a while, then turned and walked into the command post. After just a few minutes, Gaidar''s familiar figure appeared at the gate of the command post, and he was followed by his deputy, political commissar Xia Ping. After saluting them, he pointed to our direction and said something to them. After listening to the captain''s report, they turned their eyes together. As soon as they saw where we were, they immediately welcomed us with a smile. They came up to us and raised their hands to salute me. Then Gaidar asked with a smile, "Comrade commander, why did you suddenly come to me?"¡° What''s the situation by the river? " I did not return the gift, but asked directly, "has the enemy''s pontoon been repaired?"¡° Not yet. " After he said this, Gaidar made a gesture of invitation to me and said, "Comrade commander, it''s not a place to talk outside. Let''s go back to the command post." I didn''t object to his proposal. I just nodded silently and signaled him to lead the way. As I passed by Captain kiricheng, I reached out to him again and politely said, "thank you, Captain kiricheng! Thank you for bringing us to the regiment headquarters. "¡° Comrade commander, "my thanks made captain kiricheng feel a little embarrassed. He took my hand in his hands and shook it vigorously." this is what I should do. " As soon as I walked into the command post, the busy scene of shejerikov appeared in front of me again. However, once the door of the room inside Gaidar command post was closed, the noise was immediately blocked outside. I sat at the table, staring at the map on the table, and said to them, "tell me about the situation. What happened to the enemy on the other side of the river?" They stood straight in front of me. When they heard my question, Gaidar stepped forward and said to me in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, please allow me to report to you!"¡° Go ahead, comrade commander. " Looking at the map marked with red and blue pencil in front of me, I said faintly: "tell me the specific situation. I''m listening."¡° The German infantry, under the cover of artillery fire, made four attacks on our riverside positions Gaidar clearly replied: "but under the tenacious resistance of our regiment''s officers and men, their attack was beaten back."¡° How many enemies have you wiped out, and how many casualties have you suffered? " I knew in my heart that it was wishful thinking for the German army to rush over from the ice without the cover of tanks. Let alone having a clear view of the ice, there was no shelter. Even the speed of charging would be too slippery to mention. I ask this question because I want to know how Gaidar, who is good at defending, is doing in today''s battle?

 Chapter 932

    "Report to the commander." After gazing at each other, Gaidar and political commissar Xia Ping said to me with some pride, "there are at least more than 300 corpses of the Communist aggressors on the ice in front of our riverside position, and there are at least hundreds of injured people who fled back. But we only killed less than 200 people, and almost all of them were caused by German artillery


    I was very surprised by the results of the fourth regiment. In my imagination, although the fourth regiment was in a defensive position, it would lose at least one battalion under the German artillery attack. I didn''t expect that the casualties would be so small. After I asked them to sit down, I was a little surprised and asked, "commander gedar, why are the casualties of your regiment so small? You know, the German artillery is not weak?"


    Gaidar replied with a smile: "Comrade commander, when the enemy''s shelling started, our officers and men temporarily hid in the basement of the building near the river. When the enemy''s shelling is over, return to their respective positions. "


    "The regiment did the same, but their casualties were far more than yours. As the hidden building was hit by German artillery fire, teams of officers and men were buried under the collapsed building To his answer, I said dissatisfied: "the question I want to make clear is: why do their commanders and fighters hide in the basement of the riverside building and suffer heavy casualties, while you suffer very little?"


    Hearing my question, political commissar Xia Ping stood up and said to me, "Comrade commander, please allow me to report to you." Seeing that I nodded in agreement, he went on to say, "you don''t know that the houses near the river are stone buildings, almost all of which are made of big stones, so the damage in the shelling is much smaller than those brick and concrete buildings in a cluster. Alas, it''s a pity that after the war, zaborosh, like Stalingrad, may never find a century old building. "


    After listening to Xia Ping''s words, I just want to ask why there will be no more centenary buildings in the city after the war. Hearing the cold explosion outside, I immediately understood the meaning of Xia Ping''s words. At the end of the battle, it was estimated that all the buildings in the city were either destroyed by German artillery bombardment or became ruins in the air raid. Those buildings with a long history could not escape the fate of ashes.


    As it was getting dark, the gunfire outside gradually stopped. First, I called chejerikov and asked him about the situation of the first regiment''s defense area. Shejerikov said with relief in the microphone: "Comrade commander, the German charge has been defeated by us again, and the enemy who rushed into the city has been basically eliminated by us..."


    Hearing his report, the stone hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground, and my mood became relaxed. Before putting down the phone, for the sake of safety, I specially told him: "at night, we should send troops to guard near the floating bridge to prevent the Germans from rushing across the bridge again at night."


    "Yes, comrade commander." "I''ll immediately arrange for the troops to be on guard at night," he replied quickly


    I put down the phone and listened to the sound of no guns outside. Then I said to the two people in front of me, "I want to see the position by the river. Which one of you will accompany me?"


    Gaidar and Shapin''s face immediately appeared embarrassed. They looked at each other again and simply made eye contact for a moment. Then Shapin said with a smile: "Comrade commander, in my opinion, you don''t want to go. If you want to know about the frontier situation, I''ll call the frontier commander and ask him to report to you in detail. The same is true! "


    I shook my head and said firmly, "no, I''m going to see the position by the river myself."


    "Look, comrade commander." Xia Ping pointed out the window and said, "it''s getting late. When we get to the river, we can''t see clearly."


    I understood that Xia Ping was worried about my safety, so I didn''t blame him. Instead, I said with a smile, "political commissar Xia Ping, just now you didn''t let me go to the river because there was an enemy attack. Now that the enemy''s attack has stopped and you say it''s going to be dark, it''s not clear that you don''t want me to check your regiment''s positions! "


    Listen to me, Xia Ping knew that his delaying tactics had no effect, so he said with a bitter smile: "well, comrade commander, since you insist on going to the river, I''ll go with you! As for comrades in charge, let him continue to command the troops. "


    We walked along the traffic moat of the street, and the further we went, the more craters there were. Several sections of the traffic moat were blocked by fallen bricks and stones, so we had to climb out of the traffic moat and pass through the middle of the smoky buildings.


    But as we approached the riverside position, the strange smell of blood and smoke in the air told us that there had been a fierce battle not long ago.


    "Comrade commander," a soldier who didn''t know where to come from stood in front of us and reported straight to me, "Sergeant a geifu, deputy platoon leader, reported to you that our platoon is cleaning the battlefield." With that, he stood motionless in front of me, waiting for my order.


    "Take a moment, comrade Sergeant!" I asked politely, "do you have a lot of work to do?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Ah gei Fu replied positively, "we just collected the bodies of our comrades and put them in the corner of the house. We will bury them after we have cleaned up the bodies of the Germans."¡° Are you casualties in the battle? " Seeing the soldiers'' bodies neatly placed in the corner of the room in the distance, I couldn''t help feeling sad. I tried to control my mood and asked Sergeant a geifu in a smooth tone: "where is the platoon leader?"¡° Our platoon sacrificed 19 people, injured 11 people, the platoon leader died in the battle After answering my question, azif asked, "are we allowed to continue, comrade commander?"¡° Of course, that''s enough to say, "I answered him in a flurry," go on with it! " We came to the position by the river and walked along the heavily bombed trench. Xia Ping was deeply afraid that I could not understand the situation on the position, so he explained to me as he walked: "Comrade commander, this position we are in is on an earth slope by the river. In front of it is a gentle bank, and then past it is the frozen Dnieper River. On the other side of the river is the German position, but they don''t seem to worry that we will rush through. They don''t even have simple fortifications. The army''s camp and tents for storing materials are not far from the river. " At this point, Xia Ping sighed. Before I asked him why he sighed, he said, "it''s a pity that we don''t have long-range artillery, otherwise we can bombard the enemy''s assembly areas and let them taste the strength of our artillery." After hearing what he said, I could only reply with a bitter smile: "although your division has two artillery battalions, under the current situation, they must be deployed in the East and south of the city to deal with the armored assault that may be launched by the German army."¡° Comrade commander, "Xia Ping looked around and saw that all the soldiers except Yushchenko were keeping a distance from us. He asked me in a low voice," do you really think the German army will attack zaborosh from the East and the south at the same time? "¡° Yes, commissar Xia Ping In response to his suspicions, I replied without hesitation: "you can see that the two German attacks seem powerless, but there is a huge conspiracy hidden in them. Manstein took the initiative to withdraw from zaborosh in order to lure more of our troops into the city, so that he could fight a beautiful encirclement and annihilation. Today, although only our army entered the city, in other directions, the German army has made great achievements, even successfully cutting off the transportation and supply lines of the sixth group army. In this way, it doesn''t matter how many troops are surrounded in the city. The German army''s priority is to eat us as soon as possible. "¡° Is the situation really so dangerous, comrade commander? " Xia Ping was shocked by what I said. He asked in a somewhat impolite way, "is it the fate of being encircled and annihilated by the German army that finally awaits us?" In order not to cause his panic, I deliberately understated: "don''t worry, political commissar Xia Ping, things have not reached the most dangerous moment, we still have the chance to turn defeat into victory." After hearing me say so easily, Xia Ping''s face showed a smile again. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead and said happily, "Comrade commander, I''m relieved to hear that." After inspecting the positions of the fourth regiment, I returned to my own army headquarters. Seeing me back, kirilov and vetkov''s faces were smiling with relief. After I had drunk the tea from Vitkov, kirilov handed me a thick stack of paper and said, "Comrade oshanina, take a look at this. It will be very helpful for our next battle." I took the stack of paper, did not immediately look at it, but curiously asked kirilov: "Comrade political commissar, what did you give me?"¡° What else can it be? "Kirilov''s face showed a trace of discontent." don''t you want to find the war report of general petrevsky, commander of the 63rd infantry army? These are all the war reports reported by the general when he was fighting in the Dnieper region. I''ve sorted it out for your convenience. "¡° Thank you, comrade political commissar. " When I heard that the stack of paper in my hand actually recorded the fighting experience of Petrovsky in those years, I immediately got excited. The current situation is so similar to that of him at that time. As long as I read all these information, I believe I can work out a detailed plan for breaking through the encirclement as soon as possible.

 Chapter 933

    It took me hours to get this thick stack of battle reports about general Petrovsky. After watching it, my first reaction was: how can the content in the war report be so different from what I saw in the film? In the movie, Petrovsky asked Marshal Timoshenko to fight on his own initiative. But in fact, he received orders from his superiors, asking him to lead the main force to cross the river and attack the German troops who rushed to the Dnieper River.


    I put the war report on the table, looked up and asked kirilov and Vitkov, "political commissar, chief of staff, have you both read this information?"


    After they nodded their heads in order, vetkov suggested to me, "Comrade commander, according to the war reports left by general Petrovsky, we can turn the breakthrough into an offensive."


    I asked curiously, "turn a breakout into an offensive? Comrade chief of staff, it seems that when you read the war report, you also considered how our next battle should be carried out. How do you think about it? "


    "It''s very simple. We''d better send a reconnaissance unit to cross the river according to the way of general Petrovsky. In addition to reconnaissance, we are also responsible for cleaning up the garrison by the river." Wittkov confidently told me his idea: "when they have cleaned up the garrison by the river, the main force of our army will launch a large-scale cross river battle, quickly plunge into the depth of the German army, and completely disrupt their defense system."


    "Chief of staff, your idea is very good." I saw that wittkov''s proposal was not far from my original idea, so I pushed the boat forward and said, "in this case, you should immediately call the commanders of the three divisions and ask them to come to the army headquarters overnight to discuss the plan of crossing the river."


    While wittkov was on the phone, I stood in front of the map on the wall and looked at the red and blue arrows, flags and other symbols representing the situation of the enemy and us. I imagined them as thousands of my commanders and fighters, silently demonstrating the offensive and defensive operations of both sides in my mind. Compared with the actual combat, we can''t hear the sound of machine guns, rifles and submachine guns firing on the map, the sound of shells and bombs exploding, the sound of countless wounded people, and the bodies of the enemy and us all over the wilderness.


    Kirilov came up to me and asked with concern, "Comrade oshanina, what are you thinking?"


    Pointing to the map on the wall, I replied, "our army''s current situation is similar to that of the 63rd infantry army at that time. Several divisions are also distributed on a wide front, fighting against German attacks from several directions. We must first shrink our forces, reorganize and adjust the deployment of our forces before we can launch an attack on the enemy forces in the West Bank. "


    "O''shanina, do you think we can make it?" Kirilov asked cautiously.


    Hearing his question, I thought about it a little, then nodded and said with certainty: "Comrade political commissar, I have every reason to believe that our sudden attack will certainly repeat the history set by general Petrovsky and surprise the enemy on the other side of the river."


    Although I have said so, kirilov still asked uneasily, "are you really so sure?"


    "Yes, yes, my political commissar." I could guess what he was worried about. I nodded and said, "I know what you are worried about, but please rest assured that the German invaders launched a fierce attack from the other side, just to contain our forces and prevent us from deploying more troops to strengthen the East and south of the city. Manstein destroyed our hope, They all depend on the imperial division and the skeleton division. He will surely think that if we want to break through the encirclement, we will choose to go eastward, open a channel from their defense line, and join the main force of the 6th group army, which is also surrounded. He never thought that we would choose the opposite direction to break through the encirclement. "


    After listening to my explanation, kirilov nodded with satisfaction and called Vitkov who had just finished the call: "chief of staff, let''s discuss the position of each division in the offensive battle."


    Wittkov walked up to us with a smile and said humbly, "Comrade political commissar, I think it''s up to Comrade commander to make up her mind. I think she already has a detailed plan."


    Seeing that wittkov gave me the initiative to make the plan, I did not refuse. Looking at the map on the wall, I dictated the order: "the main task is still the 22nd guard division of major general bantailiev. After completing the task of crossing the river, the Department should quickly push westward to capture Maha City. Major general gurdyev''s 308th infantry division moved northwest to cover the exposed right wing of the 22nd guard division. However, the 171st division of Colonel andreushenko stayed in zaborosh for the time being, delaying the advance of the German imperialists and skeletons to the Dnieper River


    Witkov, holding a pen and a notebook, listened and recorded what I said, while nodding. It seems that he also agrees with my plan.


    After we had worked out our plan and deliberated several details repeatedly, the teachers who received the notice of the meeting came to the headquarters one after another.


    After the three division commanders sat down, vetkov did not say any nonsense and announced my battle plan to the three directly. After witkov finished speaking, gurdyev stood up first and raised his own question: "Comrade commander, although some people say that" attack is the best defense ", like our current situation, I think we should stick to it and wait for help."


    "Waiting for help?" As soon as his words were finished, andreushenko, who was lower than his rank, stood up and retorted, "Comrade General, I don''t know what you said about the reinforcements. How long do we have to stay in the city before the reinforcements can arrive?"


    Guldyev was asked by andreushenko''s series of questions. After glancing at the three of us, he said stubbornly, "Comrade Colonel, have you forgotten that the main force of our sixth group army is only ten or twenty kilometers away from us? If they advance at a high speed, I would like to stick to it for a day or two at most, They will be able to counter encircle the German troops who are attacking the city. "


    "Is that so, Comrade General?" Andreushenko sneered twice and asked in a sarcastic tone: "if I remember correctly, you should have seen with your own eyes the other day how the German imperial division broke through the line of the Fourth Army of our guards? Don''t you find anything different from the German attack strength suddenly strengthened today? "


    "Different, what different?" This time, it''s gurdyev''s turn to be confused about what andreushenko said, "the German weapons are better than us, and it''s not surprising that they have such attack strength."


    As soon as they continued to talk, they might quarrel. I quickly raised my hand to stop them. Then he looked at andreushenko and said, "Comrade Colonel, you have observed very carefully. Today, the German army has indeed strengthened its overall offensive strength. They want to rush into the city as soon as possible and join the German army on the West Bank of the Dnieper River. And you, "I said, turning to stare at gurdyev," Comrade General, I don''t intend to hide our situation from you. At present, not only our army is surrounded by the German army, but even the main force of the group army is cut off by the German army. The situation is very unfavorable to us. "


    "What, the main logistics supply line of the group army has been cut off?" The shocking news made all three teachers in this room look silly. After a while, Bantai leiev asked on behalf of the other two teachers, "is this news true?"


    "It''s true, old man!" Kirilov then said: "this news is the group army commander General haridonov personally informed us. He had planned to move your two divisions away from zaborosh to attack the German rear. But his wrong order, "he said, turning to look at me, nodding with a smile, and going on," was rejected by our commander. "


    After kirilov''s words, the eyes of the three teachers turned to me. From their eyes, I saw deep worry, as if they were worried about my future. I quickly waved my hand and said with a smile, "teachers, don''t worry about me. I have reported the matter of disobeying military orders to the deputy commander, Marshal Zhukov, and obtained his permission. In other words, in the next few days, whether we attack or break through, we will get permission from our superiors. "


    After hearing this, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief. Andreushenko was the most exaggerated. He even took off his big cornice hat and wiped a sweat on his bald head with a handkerchief.


    In order to enhance the confidence of each division commander, vetkov picked up a piece of paper on the table that excerpted Petrovsky''s war report and read it to them: "general Petrovsky thinks that in order to complete the task of crossing the river on a wide front, the army''s combat team should be put into combat in one echelon. On the right wing, the 61st Infantry Division was given the task of crossing the river in the zporovo area and attacking in the direction of gomini, falevitch and stileni. In order to ensure that the division''s exposed right wing, after occupying ozereni, it was necessary to divide a reinforced battalion for defense to prevent counterattack from the North. In the middle, Rogachev area, where the 167th division crossed the river, their mission was to occupy Rogachev and then attack vorosevic. On the left, the 154th infantry division just arrived. After taking over the 117th division, they had to cross the river on the line of lebedevka zhylobin, occupy zhylobin, and then develop their attack along the zhylobin boboruesk railway.


    On the night of July 13, various reconnaissance teams crossed the dniebe River covertly and reached the West Bank. At the same time, the first echelon of each division also reached the east bank in secret, and the troops prepared all kinds of crossing tools: fishing boats, rafts, and rubber rafts.


    Early in the morning, after 20 minutes of artillery preparation, the 63rd infantry began to cross the dneb river. Because of the heat in July 1941, it was not cool at night. Therefore, the Communists did not expect that our army would suddenly launch an attack. They all hid in the houses of Rogachev and zherobin for the summer. Not only were their weapons not at hand, but many of them even took off their military uniforms. Just then our artillery fell on the enemy. Because the enemy was too insensitive, there was very little organized resistance to our army at the beginning. It was not until one of our troops arrived in the suburbs of Rogachev and zlobin that the * * elements came to their senses. Using railway subgrade, water tower and buildings as cover, they began to resist our army''s attack, and their resistance became more and more tenacious.


    By nightfall, all divisions were engaged in offensive fighting. To be exact, they were using bayonets and grenades to clear the prisoners hiding in houses and bunkers house by house and street by street. In these battles, many soldiers and units performed well. A battalion of the 437th infantry first broke into zhylobin. The next morning, the enemy tried to encircle the camp. Our soldiers not only did not retreat, but also made the bandits scurry. Captain batarov, the commander of the battalion, directed his battalion to carry out six attacks, two of which were cruel white-edge battles with the enemy, and finally wiped out the enemy. "


    When witkov''s words came to an end, bantailiev stood up again and asked, "chief of the army and political commissar, from what the chief of staff has just read, I think our attack has a great chance of success. But now I have a question, I don''t know whether to say it or not? "¡° Comrade division, "I looked up at him and said friendly," if you have any questions, just ask. As long as the political commissar and I can answer, we will give you a satisfactory answer. "¡° In that case, I would like to ask, "how can the reconnaissance troops who crossed the river get in touch with the troops in the city?" Bantailiev asked solemnly: "if you send a message, it''s too slow and easy to delay the plane; Let''s talk in Ming language. It''s easy to be eavesdropped by the Germans and reveal the whereabouts of our army. Our army suffered losses in this respect during the war of defense in Stalingrad. "¡° General bantailiev, you have considered the problem very comprehensively! But you don''t have to worry. We''ve already thought about what you said. " I turned to look at kirilov beside me and asked him with a smile, "comrades of the political commissar, have all the arrangements been made?" Kirilov nodded and said confidently, "don''t worry, comrade oshanina. I have a clear idea of this matter." Then he stood up and said to bandeleev, "don''t worry, old man. I trained a group of telegraph operators from Kazakhstan. When they were talking in Ming language, they were not afraid of being eavesdropped by the German army. It was estimated that they couldn''t find anyone who understood Kazakstan in a hurry. By the time they found the right person, our offensive troops would have rushed to their door. By then, even if they decipher our conversation, what''s the point? " Kirilov''s words made everyone laugh, and the atmosphere in the headquarters became relaxed. Then, we discussed the reorganization and deployment of troops, as well as some details in the operational plan. After all the questions you should ask, I stood up and said, "since general Petrovsky was able to cross the Dnieper River by surprise when our army was losing and the German army was at its peak, he caught the Germans by surprise. So what we have to do now is to repeat this glorious history and teach the Germans a lesson. " With that, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Finally, I added, "the operation will start tomorrow night. Let''s go back and get ready." The three teachers stood up in unison and answered neatly, "yes, we promise to finish the task!" When the teachers walked out, I suddenly remembered another thing, and then yelled at Bantai leiev''s back: "general Bantai leiev, please wait a moment, I have something to ask you." The other two teachers also heard my cry, but they only looked back at Bantai leiev and kept walking outside. Bantaileiev stood in the same place, looked at me in confusion, did not speak, quietly waiting for me to ask him questions. I walked up to him, first showed a smile, then asked: "Sir, comrade, I want to ask you, which regiment do you want to be afraid of taking the lead?"¡° Third regiment. I plan to send the third regiment to be the avant-garde regiment of the whole division. " On hearing my question, bandeleev replied without hesitation. Perhaps for fear of my confusion, he also specifically stated: "it''s not the new third regiment of gordonov, but the old third regiment of Colonel kosga."¡° Commander kosga? " Thinking of this commander, who had been demoted to company commander by me due to poor command, I asked curiously, "why should their regiment be an avant-garde regiment?"¡° Report to the commander, "bandeleev replied respectfully," because lieutenant colonel kosga is Ukrainian, and his hometown is on the West Bank of the Dnieper River. I think it is appropriate for a commander familiar with the terrain to direct the battle. Comrade commander, what do you think? " Since Bantai leiev strongly supports the third regiment of Colonel kosga as the avant-garde regiment, I can''t object to it. After all, I told him that I would not interfere in the command of the 22nd division, so I had to harden my head and nod my head to agree.

 Chapter 934

    Before dawn on February 23, the main force of the 308th division in the east of the city and the 171st division in the south of the city began to withdraw from their positions in an orderly manner. Even the third regiment in Kuban was ordered to give up their positions and cover the retreat towards zaborosh in turn.


    Looking at the light outside, kirilov said with a sad face: "Comrade oshanina, it''s going to light. If the retreating troops are found by German scouts, will they be attacked by enemy planes? "


    I knew in my heart that kirilov was telling the truth. The German army firmly held the air supremacy. Once our retreating troops were found by them, it was very likely that they would send groups of planes to bombard the marching troops. However, I have nothing to do about the fact that our army has no air supremacy. Let alone being a commander of our army, even the commanders of the two front forces, vatukin and Golikov, who command hundreds of thousands of troops, may not be able to let our air force seize the air supremacy from the hands of the German army, otherwise the battle of Kharkov would not have been so hard.


    Just as he was talking, the radio operator sitting by the wall suddenly stood up and yelled at us: "Comrade commander, comrade commander of the front army wants to talk to you."


    The commander of the front army wants to talk to me? When I heard the operator say this, I couldn''t help but feel nervous and screamed that it was not good. My heart said that maybe watujing had come to ask for a crime.


    I didn''t expect that the more I was afraid, the more I was afraid. I was worried that watujing came to ask for punishment because of disobedience. I didn''t expect that he really made trouble for me for this matter. Only his low and gentle voice came from the earphone: "major general o''shanina, I ask you to find out one thing. It''s me who command the front army, not others. Therefore, you must carry out the orders given by general haridonov, commander of the 6th army. Before dark today, the two divisions he will transfer must appear in the designated positions, or you will be sent to the military court. " At the end, he habitually asked, "what do you think of the orders I gave you?"


    After listening to these words, my mind is still angry. First, I hate haridonov, the commander of the group army. I have clearly told zaborosh about the situation and tried every means to make him understand that if I follow his orders to mobilize the troops, I will be overthrown by the whole army. Unexpectedly, he even sued me in front of watujing. Second, he hated vatukin''s inflexibility. Listening to his tone, Zhukov must have said hello to him, but regardless of the actual situation, in order to maintain his authority as the commander of the front army and support haridonov, he gave me such absurd orders directly.


    Although the nature of self disobedience is relatively bad, I can''t help but see a unit with complete organizational structure and strong combat effectiveness destroyed by wrong orders. However, in the face of such a senior leader as vatukin, I could only suppress my anger. After taking a deep breath, I tried to explain to him in a smooth tone, so that he could understand why I refused to obey: "Comrade commander of the front army, I also know that the orders of the superior commanders are not allowed to be discussed and can only be implemented unconditionally. But do you know the current situation of our army in zaborosh? "


    After hearing my rhetorical question, vatujing said slowly: "Comrade haridonov has reported to me the situation near zaborosh. He said that there is an imperial division near the city and a skeleton division near the airport. After several days of fighting, he has made no progress. I think that since the combat effectiveness of the German army is not strong, you can leave one division to guard the city, and transfer the other two divisions to reinforce general haridonov. "


    His words almost brought tears to my eyes. I secretly scolded you for being the commander of the front army? The German army is almost encircling zaborosh. Do you think you need only one division in the city to cope? Before I could speak, I heard him continue to say: "at present, our troops in Ukraine are several times as many as the German troops. Even if they can gain some advantages in some areas, they will not escape the final doom. Comrade oshanina, don''t be intimidated by the bravado of these bandits. Even if you have only one division in the city, you can block their attack. When our two front armies meet in zaborosh, it will be the end of the German army. "


    After listening to his optimistic analysis, I was deeply afraid that he would give more absurd orders in a moment of excitement, and quickly said, "Comrade commander of the front army, the situation of zaborosh is much more serious than you know."


    "More serious?" After repeating this sentence, watujing asked in a relatively gentle tone, "what''s the matter? I''m confused. Comrade o''shanina, you''d better give me some information. "


    Hearing that he wanted to know the real situation of zaborosh, I did not hesitate to report the situation of our army to him truthfully: "Comrade commander of the front army, this is the situation. In addition to the "skull division" and "imperial division" as you know, the German troops attacking zaborosh also have the 11th armored division and the 336th infantry division of the German army in the Kuban area. There is also a German division on the West Bank of the Dnieper River who participated in the attack on us. "


    "Ah, what? Why did the German army put so many troops into zaborosh? " Vatukin was startled by the information I provided him. After a short silence, he asked in bewilderment, "but why is the information given to me by general haridonov so different from what you said?"


    Although I resent haridonov at the moment, I still have to save face for him in front of our common superior, so I vaguely said: "Comrade commander of the front army, there are plains near zaborosh. Maybe the scouts sent by commander haridonov can''t get close to the German defense area, so they can''t grasp the German movement in time."


    "Well, I see." "Since the situation is so serious, I will withdraw the order just given and not mobilize your troops," said watujing with understanding


    Vatujing''s words made my heart relaxed. I repeatedly said to him, "thank you, comrade commander of the front army. Your decision is tantamount to saving our 79th infantry army from the danger of total annihilation."


    "Don''t be so polite, comrade oshanina." With a little apology, vatukin said: "I didn''t know the specific situation, so I gave you the wrong order. For this, I want to apologize to you! By the way, how do you plan to deal with the German attack next? "


    When I was about to speak, I suddenly thought that I was talking to him in Ming language, and it was easy for the Germans to eavesdrop on me. So when I said it, I said something else: "Comrade commander, I intend to withdraw the troops scattered outside the city to zaborosh one by one. Rely on the fortifications in the city to fight against the German attack and wait for the rescue of friendly forces. "


    "You have a good idea." Vatukin inadvertently changed his address to me from "you" to "you", and then asked with concern, "are there enough fortifications in the city?"


    "Yes, comrade commander. The defense system in the city is very perfect. One part of the fortifications was built when we entered the city, and the other part was built temporarily after we settled in. " Although I concealed an important battle plan from him, I told him the truth about the defense situation in the city, because the German''s familiarity with the city is no worse than ours. If they want to deceive the enemy, they must add a lot of truth while telling lies to influence their judgment.


    After listening to my report, vatukin said with satisfaction: "since there is a complete defense system, and all the troops are contracted to the city, we have the strength to block the German attack. Don''t worry. As long as you insist on it for about three days, the Voronezh front army and our front army will join forces under the city. At that time, the German army besieging zaborosh will fall into our encirclement, and their fate will be the same as that of the Paulus regiment. "


    I couldn''t help laughing bitterly when I heard what he said. I didn''t expect that after winning a battle to defend Stalingrad, the senior commanders of the Soviet Army belittled the enemy so much because of their complacency. However, they can only understand some things in their own mind. They must not say them, otherwise they will offend many people. So, I followed his words and said with a ha ha: "yes, yes, comrade commander of the front army, you are absolutely right. As long as our army stubbornly confines the main force of the German army around the city, the day when the two front armies meet will be their end."


    After the call with watujing, I went back to the table and sat down, only to find that my vest was wet with sweat. At this moment, I can''t help but feel scared when I think back to the scene of the call. If watujing was a stubborn commander, he would have given the order to remove me directly, but fortunately, he passed the test without danger.


    "Comrade oshanina," kirilov pushed a fresh cup of tea in front of me and asked with concern, "what did the commander of the front army say on the phone?"


    I picked up the teapot and tried the temperature of the water with my tongue. I felt it was not hot, so I took a sip. He put the teapot on the table and said, "what else can we do? We can''t do it just by asking us to carry out the wrong order given by commander haridonov, and to dispatch two divisions to attack the flank of the German army, so as to reduce the pressure on the main force of the group army."


    "Comrade commander, such an order can''t be carried out." Before I finished speaking, vetkov could not wait to interrupt me and said, "if two divisions are really deployed to reinforce, it is estimated that they will be strangled by the three-dimensional firepower of German planes and tanks and artillery before they leave zaborosh''s area, leading to the collapse of the whole army."


    After witkov finished complaining, I nodded and said, "yes, chief of staff, I share your opinion. Let alone the fact that we need a large number of troops to take part in the river crossing operations. Even if I don''t have such a plan, I don''t intend to hand over my troops casually and let them be consumed in meaningless places. By the way, do divisions have the latest information to report? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Wittkov listened to my question and quickly reported that "just now, Colonel andreushenko, the commander of the 171st division, called and asked me for instructions on how to deal with the captured" skeleton division "commander ike?"


    General Theodore Ike, division commander of the skull division, I almost forgot this man if Vitkov didn''t mention it. As soon as he said this, I immediately remembered that the German general was dying, so I asked casually, "how is he now?"


    Vetkov frowned and replied: "the situation is very serious. There is a large area of infection in the wound. The high fever has never subsided, and he has been talking nonsense all the time. It is estimated that he will not live long."¡° Comrade oshanina, what should we do with him? " Kirilov also asked for my opinion after witkov finished his speech: "is it to blow him up with people and planes according to the original plan, or to leave him alone?" On this issue, I pondered for a moment. The plan of blowing up the plane with people was a necessary measure to be taken when the German army rushed into the airport. But now it''s time for us to give up the airport and blow up the plane again. I can''t bear to throw him in the snow and let him live and die on his own. On second thoughts, I finally said to wittkov, "chief of staff, call Colonel andreushenko and ask him to send some men to carry ike to the city on stretchers."¡° Comrade commander, is it necessary? " At my command, vetkov''s face showed a embarrassed expression. He said reluctantly: "if you don''t have the heart to blow him up with the plane, I think you''d better leave him at the airport. Anyway, his injury is so serious that he won''t live long. Let him live and die on his own. Why do you want to bring him to the city?"¡° Comrade chief of staff, just carry out the order. " At the moment, I suddenly didn''t want ike to die like this, so despite vetkov''s objection, I stubbornly told him: "after entering the city, find a room to place him and send someone to guard him. As for whether he can survive after this battle, it depends on his personal luck." As soon as I finished, the sound of guns came out of the window. After listening for a moment, I found that the gunfire was coming from the river. I saw that the German army on the West Bank of the Dnieper was preparing for the gunfire again. As soon as the gunfire stopped, their ground attack would begin again. I picked up the phone on the desk and dialed the division headquarters of the 22nd division of Jinwei. When I heard Bantai leiev''s voice coming from the receiver, I asked the other party directly: "Comrade division commander, listen to the voice, the German army is shelling the defense area of the first and fourth regiments again. Are you sure you can block the enemy''s attack¡° Don''t worry, commander Bantaileiev confidently said: "in order to deal with the German tanks, a regiment planted a lot of anti tank mines near the pontoon. If the German tanks don''t come, they will come. As long as they come, we will discipline them

 Chapter 935

    In the following time, I didn''t pay much attention to the battle of the 22nd division. Since they were able to annihilate all the German troops that rushed into the city yesterday, their performance in today''s battle will not be too bad. At present, what I am most concerned about is whether the 171 and 308 divisions, as well as the third Regiment under the command of major kosga and major akhromeyev, can be safely withdrawn into the city.


    Almost every half an hour, wittkov would call the observation post in the city and ask them, "did you find the German plane in the air?"¡° Did you see our retreating troops in the city


    "No, comrade chief of staff." The other person answers him with the same words every time.


    Seeing that wittkov was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, although I was equally anxious, I still wanted to comfort him: "Comrade chief of staff, what''s your worry? We need to know that the retreating troops are not one or two companies, but two divisions, enough for seven or eight regiments? In addition, it''s a good thing that we don''t see enemy planes in the sky. At least the probability of our troops successfully withdrawing to the city has been greatly improved. "


    Wittkov sat down in his seat and said dejectedly, "Comrade commander, before the troops were withdrawn from the city, I was never at ease. Without them, the 22nd division of a close guard alone would not have been able to defeat the enemy. "


    Kirilov waited for me to finish and said cautiously, "Comrade oshanina, we can''t just wait here. Should we make some preparations?"


    "Comrade political commissar, you remind me of that." After that, I immediately told wittkov: "Comrade chief of staff, please call lieutenant colonel kaverin, head of artillery regiment, and ask him to come to my headquarters with his battalion commander. I have important tasks to assign to them. By the way, there are major Morozov and captain kurishenko, the artillery battalion commander of the guard division. Let them join in the meeting. "


    "Call all the artillery commanders to a meeting?" As soon as kirilov heard these names I said, he asked strangely, "are you going to discuss with them the preparation of the artillery before the attack tomorrow?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." As for his question, I did not hide anything. I answered truthfully, "our army has a limited number of guns and not many shells, so we must use them intensively in order to make the most of them."


    When the six artillery commanders, led by lieutenant colonel kaverin, stood in front of me, I pointed to the map on the wall and said to them, "comrades, artillery commanders, our troops will cross the Dnieper River tomorrow morning and attack the German defense area." Seeing these people''s expressions of joy, I continued, "before the attack, you will take the lead in shelling the German defensive zone."


    "Comrade commander." When I said that, Lieutenant Colonel cavelling stepped forward and asked clearly, "may I ask where the target area of our shelling is?"


    "Right here - HAMA!" I pointed to the city named HAMA on the map and said to him, "the 22nd division of the guards will send reconnaissance troops to the vicinity of the city to carry out reconnaissance and clean up the German patrols to clear the way for our next crossing. Once our shelling starts, only God knows what the shell can hit. It may be German devils or open space. But, comrade commander, I need your shells to hit the target, so tonight you also need to send artillery observers to cross the river with the reconnaissance troops to indicate the accurate target for our artillery. Do you understand? "


    Lieutenant Colonel Calvin nodded his head vigorously and said aloud, "I see, comrade commander. I will send experienced artillery observers to cross the river at night with our scouts. "


    "One more thing, comrade commander." I pointed to Morozov and kurishenko and said to kavilin, "they are the commanders of the artillery battalion of the 22nd division of the guards. In tomorrow''s battle, their troops will be under your unified command. Morozov, kurishenko. " After I finished, without waiting for kaverin to speak, I called out the names of the two artillery battalion commanders.


    "Here it is They agreed with one voice, and took a step forward, standing straight in front of me.


    "From today on, you two artillery battalions will be under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Calvin." After the announcement of the decision, I was worried about their concerns and added, "I will tell general bantailiev about this in person."


    They nodded, turned to kaverin, raised their hands and said, "Hello, comrade commander, we are at your command!"


    After giving them a salute, kaverin said politely, "please take a moment. On behalf of the 266th artillery regiment, welcome to join us."


    After arranging the artillery business, I then recruited the tank battalion commander in the city. When he stood in front of me, I solemnly said to him, "Comrade major, you may have known that our tank brigade had been completely destroyed in the battle of the other day in order to rescue friendly forces under the heavy bombardment of German planes. The remaining tanks of your battalion and the 171st division are the only armored force of our army. "


    After listening to what I said, pelsjian said solemnly: "Comrade commander, please rest assured that our tank battalion has been fighting a tough battle since its establishment. In the battle of Stalingrad, the whole battalion lost all our tanks several times, but as soon as we were supplied with new tanks, the troops would immediately become effective again. "


    I understood what he meant by this, that no matter what kind of arduous task I gave them, the commanders and fighters of the tank battalion would go forward without hesitation. I nodded and continued with a smile: "tomorrow, when the artillery regiment''s artillery attack on the enemy is over, you will lead your tank battalion to set out from the position of the first regiment and rush to the opposite bank along the enemy''s pontoon to cover the attack of our troops."


    "But, comrade commander." After listening to my order, peresjian became a little hesitant. He asked cautiously, "the German army has deployed a lot of tanks on the other side of the pontoon, and there may be anti tank guns of various calibres. Can we rush through just by our tanks?"


    "You don''t have to worry about this." Although our large troops have not yet withdrawn into the city, I am full of confidence in tomorrow''s attack. I comforted him with confidence and said, "major, I believe that before you go into battle, the German troops on the other side of the pontoon will be wiped out by our reconnaissance troops who have dived over the ice. If you''re lucky, you may be able to capture a few German tanks in good condition. "


    "Comrade commander, this is very good." After finishing this sentence, perschien took the initiative to say to me: "please allow me to return to the army immediately, check the condition of the existing tanks, and replenish the ammunition and fuel."


    "Go, comrade major." I took the initiative to reach out to him and said in a friendly way, "good luck to you!"


    Looking at peiersjian''s leaving back, kirilov standing on one side said with emotion: "o''shanina, a commander like peiersjian, is relieved to use it. In this way, the success rate of our cross river operations tomorrow will be greatly improved. "


    I nodded my head and looked at Vitkov on the phone. Judging from the change of his face, it seems that he heard some good news. As soon as he put down the phone, I immediately asked, "chief of staff, is there any good news to tell us?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Wittkov replied with a smile: "major Godunov, the head of the new third regiment, called and said that the two regiments of the 171st division have entered his position one after another. He is arranging defense areas for the new troops."


    "Where is general gurdyev''s 308th division?" When kirilov heard that the 171st division had been in place one after another, he could not wait to ask, "and the third Regiment under the command of major akhromeyev, where are they now?"


    Wittkov took off his cornice cap, raised his hand, scratched the back of his head, and said slowly, "general gurdyev reports that the German imperial division is attacking his defense area. Because of the fierce German offensive, the regiment that had been with him had to return to stand by again to prevent the German army from breaking through their first line of defense and rushing straight to zaborosh. As for major akhromeyev''s troops, they have now arrived at the airport to join the regiment left behind by the 171st division, and are ready to withdraw to the city after a short rest. "


    Kirilov and I were relieved after listening to wittkov''s report. Although the situation of the 308th regiment is not good at present, as long as the main force of the 171st division and the third regiment of the 22nd division of the guards return to the city, our attack plan for tomorrow will go on as usual.


    Wittkov''s idea obviously didn''t keep pace with mine. He also asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, if the main force of the 308th division can''t successfully withdraw to the city before dark, will it affect tomorrow''s offensive battle?"


    "No, comrade chief of staff." I said confidently, "even if the 308th division is entangled by the enemy, we can adjust our deployment in time and swap their tasks with those of the 171st division. The task of protecting the right wing of the 22nd division of the guards was completed by the 171st division, while the task of holding fast to the city was undertaken by the 308th division of general gurtyev. "


    "I agree." As soon as I spoke, kirilov first agreed.


    Vetkov frowned, thought about it, nodded, and said helplessly, "since that''s the case, I don''t have any different opinions. Let''s do it according to what the commander said." At this point, he thought of another thing and immediately reported to me: "another thing, the captured German general Ike has been sent to the city. I asked major Godunov to find a basement for him."


    "Comrade oshanina," kirilov asked after hearing wittkov''s words, "under the present circumstances, I think we should get rid of this general as soon as possible."


    "Get rid of it? How to deal with it? " Although I detest the SS, when I heard kirilov say so, I couldn''t help but ask, "can you shoot a dying man?"


    Kirilov shook his head and then said helplessly, "I can''t do it either. Well, forget it. Let him live and die on his own. Whether he can survive depends on his own fortune. "


    We were talking when the telephone on the desk rang. Wittkov went to pick up the phone, listened to it, and then handed it to me. At the same time, he said, "Comrade commander, it''s major akhromeyev. He seems to have something urgent to report to you." I answered the phone and said, "Hello, major akhromeyev. I''m glad you''ve made it to the airport. How long will it take for the troops to rest before they can withdraw into zaborosh? "¡° Comrade commander, it''s almost time for the troops to rest. They can withdraw to the city at any time. However, just a few minutes ago, the German "skull division" suddenly shelled the airport¡° Shelled the airport? " I was startled to hear akhromeyev say that because Ike was always in my hands, the "skeleton division" did not dare to bombard the airport with artillery. What happened to them today? Are they crazy? I asked nervously, "Comrade major, are there any casualties in the army?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Akhromeyev replied: "a battalion of the 171st division deployed on the runway of the airport suffered heavy casualties under the attack of German artillery. The shelled people on the runway have turned into headless flies and don''t know where to run. The shelling of the German army made them terrified. Even the ordinary people were not as good as those who lost their organizational units. They had no brains and no thinking. All they had left was to run instinctively and run to where there were many people. When commander kosga went to direct their evacuation, he was also hit by shrapnel flying across the country and was injured again. "¡° What, commander kosga''s hurt? " I was surprised again and asked excitedly, "is the injury serious?"¡° He was hit by about a dozen shrapnel in his back. At present, military doctors are treating him, but he may not be able to fight again in a short time. "

 Chapter 936

    Wittkov heard the news of kosga''s injury nearby, and his face showed an unexpected expression. He said to kirilov in a low voice: "Comrade political commissar, it seems that commander kosga was injured in the German artillery bombardment."


    When kirilov heard the news, he was also surprised and asked me with concern: "Comrade o''shanina, is what the chief of staff said true? Is colonel kosga seriously injured? "


    I covered the microphone with my hand. As soon as I wanted to answer kirilov''s question, I heard ahlomeyev''s voice coming out of the receiver: "Comrade commander, what should I do now? Send someone to send Comrade commander back to the city?"


    Hearing akhromeyev''s voice, I quickly gave kirilov an apologetic smile, released my hand covering the microphone, and said to the microphone, "yes, comrade major. As soon as the military doctors had dealt with Col. kosga''s injury, they sent him to the city. By the way, did the German army attack the airport after the shelling? "


    "No," akhromeyev replied, "the German army just shelled the runway and blasted it to pieces, but did not damage the special plane on the side of the airport. The selective shelling is over, but according to the report of the front line, there is no movement at the starting position of their attack. "


    After listening to akhromeyev''s report, I surmised to myself that the German army might have carried out a round of shelling for fear that some important people would leave by that plane. Thinking of this, I told akhromeyev: "Comrade major, since the enemy has not moved, in addition to leaving a small force on guard in the airport, you should immediately lead a large force back to the city."


    "Yes, comrade commander, I will carry out your order at once."


    After I put down the phone, I said to kirilov, who was very anxious beside me: "Comrade political commissar, the German army has just shelled the airport. Because a battalion of the 171st division was in chaos when it was shelled, Lieutenant Colonel kosga was unfortunately hit by shrapnel when he went to maintain order. At present, the military doctors are treating it."


    "Comrade commander, can he still command the battle?" Kirilov asked with concern.


    "He''s been hit by more than a dozen shrapnel, and has temporarily withdrawn from the battle." I said with a little regret: "it seems that the task of leading troops to attack HAMA can only be completed by others."


    As soon as I finished, wittkov asked, "Comrade commander, who do you think is suitable to take his place?"


    "I think it''s up to major akhromeyev to complete this task." Although kosja was injured, there are still many people who can take over his command, but the first thing I think of is akhromeyev, the former chief of staff of the division¡° When the third regiment was stationed in Kuban, it was under his command. I believe major akhromeyev will do well in the attack tomorrow. "


    "Well, comrade commander." After listening to what I said, vetkov nodded and said, "I''ll call general bandeleev and tell him about this so that he can make adjustments in time."


    Maybe enemy scouts have been monitoring the movement of the airport. According to akhromeyev''s report, not long after our troops withdrew from the airport, the forerunners of the "skull division" seized the airport. The main force of the 308th division, which was attacked by the German army, successfully withdrew from the city before dark after fierce fighting.


    When the "skeleton division" and the "imperial division" surrounded zaborosh from both sides of the South and East, wittkov asked me, "Comrade commander, do you still convey the order that you mentioned today to exchange missions between the 171st division and the 308 division?"


    Considering that general gurdyev''s 308th division suffered a lot in the battle with the German army today, but its combat effectiveness has not been greatly affected. It should still be able to carry out the task of protecting the right wing of the 22nd division of the guards, I shook my head and replied, "no, comrade chief of staff. At present, the combat effectiveness of the 308th division is still there. There should be no problem for them to attack the German positions on the right wing of the bantaileiev division. If they exchange orders with the 171st division, they do not have to convey them down. "


    At ten o''clock in the evening, Bantai leiev called me. On the phone, he reported to me: "Comrade commander, I have sent the reconnaissance troops of the division. At present, I am quietly passing through the ice and going to the other side of the river. They were accompanied by two observation groups from the artillery regiment. "


    "Comrade division commander," when I heard that the reconnaissance troops of the Jinwei division had set out, I immediately asked with concern, "how many reconnaissance troops have you sent?"


    "There are 50 men, all of whom have rich combat experience." Bantaileiev patiently explained to me: "in order not to be found by the German sentinels on the other side, they all climbed over the ice. The third regiment, as the first echelon, is also ready. Only when the scouts clear the German sentries on the bank and send a signal, they will follow them across the river


    "Very good, sir. You have done a good job." After praising him casually, I added: "please keep in touch with the reconnaissance forces at any time. If you have any information, please report it to me immediately."


    When I put down the phone, wittkov said with some uneasiness: "Comrade commander, I''m still a little uneasy. Can''t the Germans discover our actions? "


    I looked at him and replied with a bitter smile: "Comrade chief of staff, we can only gamble our luck at present. I hope that the German defense will be relaxed and our troops will be able to reach the other side of the river successfully. Otherwise, we can stick to zaborosh and wait for reinforcements. "


    In our anxious waiting, time passed by. At four o''clock in the morning, the telephone on the desk suddenly rang. Vitkov, who had been waiting for a long time, grabbed the microphone and said in a loud voice, "Hello, I''m captain Vitkov, chief of staff. Where are you?"


    "Chief of staff," I vaguely heard bantaileiev''s voice: "after the reconnaissance troops cleared the guard posts by the river, the third regiment led by major ahlomeyev had passed the Dnieper River from the ice, entered the attack starting position, and successfully eliminated the enemy near the pontoon. In this way, our tanks can rush over the bridge by the way. "


    "That''s great. That''s great." When he heard that the floating bridge of a regiment''s defense area had fallen into our army''s hands, wittkov said excitedly: "Comrade General, which commanders and fighters participated in the battle of seizing the floating bridge, report their orders to me immediately, and I will ask for credit for them. OK, go ahead and let me make a record of it... "


    While witkov was recording the list of meritorious personnel, kirilov said to me in a quiet voice: "Comrade oshanina, since our army has captured the floating bridge that can pass through the armed forces, the chance of winning today''s battle has been greatly improved. Do you think we need to report our attack plan to our superiors now? "


    "No, comrade political commissar." When kirilov told me to report the attack plan to the higher authorities, I quickly waved my hand and objected: "now the German army is very strict in eavesdropping on our communications. I am worried that if we report the operation plan, there will be leakage. Therefore, it is not too late to report to the higher authorities after we have captured the position. "


    Kirilov couldn''t object to what I said so firmly. He could only nod his head to show his agreement.


    Now that the pontoon has fallen into the hands of our army, we must make a quick decision so as not to have too many dreams at night. I quickly interrupted wittkov, who was talking to Bantai leiev, and said decisively to him: "chief of staff, please immediately tell division commander Bantai leiev to make his troops ready for battle. As soon as our artillery preparation is over, we will immediately attack HAMA city."


    Wittkov covered the microphone and said to me in some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, it''s not dawn yet. Is it too early to launch an attack now?"


    "Chief of staff, tell Mr. leiev that the attack will start in an hour. Let him be ready for the attack." In order not to let vetkov have any bad ideas, I specially added: "if we wait for daybreak, as soon as our artillery fire, German planes will rush to our artillery positions and blow them into a sea of fire."


    When I said this, wittcofton understood the original intention of my order. After nodding, he said to the microphone, "general Bantai leiev, the commander has a new order. The attack will start in an hour. I want you to make all preparations for the attack. As soon as our artillery preparation is over, we will attack HAMA city immediately. "


    After wittkov finished his call with bandeleev, he dialed lieutenant colonel kaverin. As soon as he heard the other party''s voice, he said aloud, "Comrade commander, the commander has orders. An hour later, we launched an artillery attack on the German army. Did your artillery observers send back the specific coordinate information? "


    "The coordinates have been sent back, chief of staff." Kaverin replied in a low voice, "the artillery can be ready in half an hour and bombard the marked German positions."


    "To be on the safe side, I''ll give you an hour." Wittkov said in a reasonable way: "in 60 minutes, I want to hear the sound of artillery from the artillery position."


    Then he called up pelsjian and asked, "Comrade major, how many tanks do you still have in your hand?"


    "Report to the chief of staff!" After hearing wittkov''s voice, perlsjian immediately reported respectfully: "at present, I have 12 tanks, 20 armored vehicles and the same number of three wheeled motorcycles. As long as the pontoon in the regiment''s defense area can be taken down, I can lead the troops across the river. "


    "The pontoon has been occupied by major akhromeyev''s forces. Your armored forces can swagger across the Dnieper River from the pontoon." After briefing him briefly about the availability of the pontoon, wittkov asked with concern, "how much fuel and ammunition are there for the tank?"


    "Please rest assured the chief of staff." "All the tanks and armored vehicles have just been replenished with fuel and ammunition. They have been fighting for a long time. I don''t think there is any problem," pelsjian replied confidently


    An hour later, there was a rumble of artillery outside the headquarters. It was the artillery regiment of kaverin preparing for the attack. I quickly walked out of the headquarters, came to the third floor, and looked in the direction of the fire. Although I can''t see the spectacular scene of our army shelling the German army because of the shelter of other buildings, I can still imagine how the unprepared German army was bombed.


    The shelling ended in about ten minutes. This is not because kaverin did not dare to carry out longer shelling because they were afraid of being found by German planes. It is because our ammunition reserves are limited and we may have exhausted all the shells in the shelling just now. I was about to go downstairs when I saw a soldier running up the stairs in a hurry. He came to me and raised his hand to salute. He flurried and said, "Comrade commander, chief of staff, please go back to the headquarters and say that there is a phone call from the 22nd division of the guards." I went back to the headquarters, took the phone from Vitkov''s hand, heard the voice of leiev in the receiver, and said in a loud voice: "Sir, I''m oshanina. Do you have anything to report to me?"¡° Report to the commander Bantailiev reported to me excitedly on the phone: "the third Regiment under the command of major akhromeyev is launching an attack on HAMA city. Several other regiments of our division are crossing the Dnieper River one after another. In an hour at most, these troops will be able to launch an attack on HAMA city. "

 Chapter 937

    "Major general Bantai leiev, please tell all the commanders and fighters of the guard division." In order to let bantaileiev understand the importance of my command accurately, I did not call him his position any more, but called him his rank for the first time, "after the attack, the attack on HAMA city should be faster! The main position of your division crossing the river is no more than seven kilometers away from the defensive position outside HAMA city. Ask commanders at all levels to seize the time to attack with all their strength. First, don''t worry about the consumption of ammunition; second, don''t worry about the casualties of the troops, just launch a fierce attack on the enemy''s position. Before dawn, I want to see HAMA occupied by our army. "


    After I put down the phone, kirilov said to me in surprise: "Comrade commander, every time you ordered, you would consider how to complete the superior''s order and reduce the casualties of the troops. It''s the first time I''ve heard from you about such an unusual order today. "


    Not only kirilov was confused by my orders, but wittkov also looked at me in surprise. Seeing their expressions, I can only explain to them: "the political commissar, chief of staff, the German imperial division and the German skeleton division are oppressing from the East and the south of the city. With the present strength, equipment and combat effectiveness of the 171st division, they can not stop these two elite German divisions. So what we can do now is to seize a foothold or two on the other side and transfer all our troops to the West Bank of the Dnieper River. "


    As for my statement, wittkov immediately expressed his support: "Comrade commander is right, we can blow up the floating bridge on the river after the whole army crosses the river, so that the German armored forces can not use the floating bridge to rush to the West Bank in the shortest time."


    "The chief of staff is right." seeing that wittkov understood my intention, I continued to explain to kirilov: "the temperature has picked up recently, and the ice on the river began to gradually thin. In another two days, with the melting of the ice, their infantry could not get to the other side of the river unless they swam. On such a cold day, even if we don''t shoot them and let them swim, it is estimated that when they go ashore, they will lose their fighting capacity because of the freezing water. That is to say, as long as we make it impossible for the German army to repair the pontoon, we can stabilize the front line in the Dnieper River in the short term. As long as we confine the German troops here for a period of time, the superior leaders will be able to use this precious time to deploy troops, adjust the deployment of troops, and turn the unfavorable situation on the battlefield at one stroke. "


    Although bantailiev assured me that the main forces crossing the river would be able to attack the German forces in HAMA within an hour, together with the three regiments under the command of major akhromeyev. But their speed to HAMA city was affected by the slippery road in the dark. After an hour and a half, the main force is still three kilometers away from HAMA city. At this time, through the war report sent back by major akhromeyev, I knew that the battle between the third regiment and the German army had fallen into a stalemate.


    I asked the operator to call ahlomeyev directly. I want to know the latest situation from him. After I got in touch, I didn''t care if I was eavesdropped by the German army, so I spoke in Ming language: "Hello, comrade major, it''s me. What''s the situation there? "


    "Report to the commander," perhaps because the call was not effective, akhromeyev yelled at the top of his voice, "Captain dubrovsky''s battalion, Southeast of HAMA City, took the lead in rushing into the city. However, his troops were blocked by intensive German fire and could not continue to move forward. They are now sticking to a few blocks southeast of the city. "


    "Major, where is the main force of the third regiment?" It''s said that some troops have rushed into the city, but they can''t continue to advance because of the great strength of the German army. I asked akhromeyev anxiously, "have you sent troops to reinforce them?"


    "No, comrade commander." Akhromeyev said with some embarrassment: "because the enemy''s firepower is strong and the troops are more than us, at present we and the first battalion have been separated by the German army. But from the sound of guns coming from the front, I can tell that my troops are still fighting tenaciously. "


    "Major akhromeyev, the attack cannot stop." I said to him sternly, "the main force of the guard division is coming to you. If you persist for another half an hour, the reinforcements will arrive."


    "Yes, comrade commander." Akhromeyev assured me that "as long as there is one person in the third regiment, our attack on the German positions will not stop."


    Listening to akhromeyev''s tragic words, I said impatiently, "come on, comrade major, don''t say that in front of me. There are still many battles to fight. You can''t just die. Remember that as soon as the reinforcements arrive, you should cooperate with them and work together to eliminate the remaining enemies in the city. Now the first thing to do is to send someone to contact the 1st battalion and ask them how things are going there. Do you understand? "


    "Yes," akhromeyev replied very simply, "I''ll send a correspondent to contact the first battalion right away."


    At the end of akhromeyev''s call, I asked the new Kazakh operator to get in touch with gurtyev division and ask them about the situation there.


    After shouting at the transmitter for a long time, the Kazakh operator put the earphone and transmitter on the table. Then he went to the table and raised his hand to report to us: "Comrade commander, I have just contacted the 308th division. They are approaching the town of kliloway along highway H08. In about ten minutes, the attack on the town will start."


    "Comrade telegraph operator," witkov reached out to him as he saw the telegraph operator turn to return to his position. He asked with concern, "have they carried out any reconnaissance on the situation in the town?"


    "According to the report, they have mastered the distribution of German forces in the town, and gurdyev is assigning combat tasks to commanders at all levels," the operator nodded and replied positively


    "Very well, comrade telegraph operator, you have done a good job." After hearing this, vetkov patted him on the shoulder and then said to him, "there''s nothing for you here. Go back to work first."


    After witkov and the other operators left, he looked at the map on the table, then looked up to me and said, "Comrade commander, at present, our two main divisions have all crossed the Dnieper River and are advancing towards the depth of the German army. But in this way, we become empty here. There are only more than 4000 people from the 171st division in the city. I think it is an impossible task to block the German imperialists and skeletons. "


    I nodded in agreement with wittkov''s analysis, and then said, "chief of staff, you are quite right. The city of muzaborosh was very empty. At dawn, even if the German army only launched a wave of attack, maybe the city would be occupied by them. Therefore, we must speed up our attack, take HAMA, which is nearest to us, and take it as the center to build a new defensive position against the German attack. "


    "Comrade oshanina, are you really not going to fight a hard war with the German army in zaboroshiri?" Kirilov saw that I gave the order to give up the city, so he asked anxiously, "if you want to know, it''s OK to fight with the troops of the 171st division and delay the German army in the city for a day or two."


    "Comrade political commissar, although we are not going to fight against the German army in the city today, we will continue to stay on the West Bank of the Dnieper River in the near future to contain the German army so that they can not dispatch more troops to attack our Sixth Army."


    About half an hour later, the old telegraph operator stood up and reported to me, "Comrade commander, commander of the 22nd division of Jinwei, general bantaileiev wants to talk to you."


    When I heard that Bantai leyev was looking for me again, I couldn''t help muttering that he must have something to ask me when he came to me at this time. So when I heard his voice, I didn''t talk nonsense with him, but directly asked: "major general Bantai, what''s the matter?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Bantaileiev began to pour out bitter water to me: "our division''s first regiment, second regiment, fourth regiment and new third regiment have reached their designated positions respectively. The officers and men of the second and third regiments attacked the enemy together. However, due to the fierce firepower of the German troops relying on fortifications, our several attacks have failed and ended. I ask you to provide our offensive forces with the necessary artillery support, even a few mortars


    I have participated in a lot of battles. Even if the attacking forces are not covered by artillery fire, they will surely pay a heavy price if they only attack with their flesh and blood and braved the enemy''s barrage of bullets, which I do not want to see. Thinking of this, I said to Bantai leiev, "don''t worry, sir. I will solve the problem of artillery support for you."


    Put down the phone, I thought, although we have five battalions of artillery in name, the number of artillery we can use is very limited. Even if artillery support is provided, the effect will not be very good. After much deliberation, I got the telegraph operator to get through to perskin''s tank battalion.


    When I heard pelsjian''s voice mingled with the roar of the tank motor, I yelled at the transmitter, "Hey, comrade major, where''s your unit?"


    "Report to the commander," peresjian had to shout at the top of his voice because of the loud noise, "our battalion has passed the pontoon successfully and is heading for HAMA city. At present, it''s only two or three kilometers away from HAMA city. It only takes us a few minutes to get to the battlefield and provide artillery cover for our troops when they attack. "


    "Great, that''s great." I was overjoyed to hear that. As long as the tank battalion arrived at HAMA on time, the next attack would be much easier. So I yelled at the microphone and said, "major, order your troops to speed up and get closer to HAMA city. When you arrive at your destination, you will rush directly into the city and smash up the German army''s organizational structure and command system, so that the enemy will be in chaos on the battlefield, so that we can have a chance. "


    The tank battalion is about to arrive at HAMA city. If it doesn''t communicate with the friendly forces and doesn''t get the active cooperation of the infantry, then the tanks rushing into the city will be destroyed one by one by the enemy''s anti tank fighters like shooting at a target. So what I''m looking for next is Bantai leiev, and I said to him in a loud voice: "Comrade division, major pelsky''s tank battalion will soon arrive outside HAMA city. You immediately order the second and third regiments that are carrying out the attack to suspend and make way for the tank battalion. At the same time, let the infantry units follow behind the tanks and attack the city. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Bantaileiev replied in a loud voice: "I immediately called the heads of the second and third regiments to ask them to stop attacking temporarily and make way for the tanks."


    When I see that I have explained all the problems that should be explained to the following. Wittkov asked me tentatively, "Comrade commander, when will our military headquarters be transferred?" Seeing me looking at him with a puzzled look on my face, he quickly added: "once the day comes, the German army may bombard and bomb the enemy. If we do not move until then, we are bound to pay some unnecessary casualties. Therefore, I suggest that the headquarters be divided into two parts. You and the political commissar should take part of the personnel and communication equipment of the headquarters to the other side of the Dnieper River; And I''ll stay in this headquarters with the rest of you, and I''ll be responsible for the command tasks before you take command. " I didn''t immediately express my position on wittkov''s proposal. Instead, I turned around and asked kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, how did you consider this matter?" Kirilov, with his brows constricted, gazed at wittkov for a long time before he said, "Comrade oshanina, I agree with the chief of staff. You are the head of an army. You should lead part of the headquarters personnel and communication equipment to the other side of the river as soon as possible. And I stayed with the chief of staff to command the 171st division against the German attack. "¡° Comrade political commissar, what did you say? Would you like to stay in the headquarters and go across the river with me to build a new headquarters? " When I heard kirilov was going to stay, I couldn''t help getting worried. I kindly reminded him, "once it''s dawn, the city will definitely be the focus of German aircraft bombing. It''s too dangerous for you to stay here. You''d better go to the other side of the river with me?" Kirilov waved his hand and said firmly again: "Comrade oshanina, I have decided to stay in the city with the chief of staff to stabilize the morale of the army, and strive to block the German attack longer, so as to gain more precious time for you on the other side of the river." Seeing that I still wanted to persuade him, he waved his hand and said to Pugachev, "with the help of the major, I believe the new headquarters will be put into use soon. It''s getting late. You''d better take people away as soon as possible. Otherwise, it will be too late to wait for dawn. "

 Chapter 938

    I understand kirilov''s concern. He is worried that if he and I withdraw to the other side of the river, it will have a negative impact on the commanders and fighters who deeply trust us, and seriously affect the morale of the defenders in the city.


    For this reason, I didn''t persuade kirilov any more, so I sighed, reached out to him and said, "Comrade political commissar, I''ll go to the other side of the river to set up a new headquarters and wait for you and the chief of staff. You two must pay attention to your own safety. As soon as our defensive position on the West Bank is stable, you will lead your troops across the river as soon as possible. "


    Kirilov listened to me, nodded and said to me with concern, "Comrade oshanina, the situation on the other side of the river is much better than ours. You should pay more attention to safety."


    When witkov shook hands with me to say goodbye, he had only one simple sentence: "Comrade commander, please take care!"


    When I heard him say that, my nose became sour. In order to prevent myself from tears in public, I didn''t dare to speak, but just pursed my lips and nodded. After loosening wittkov''s hands, I waved my head to major Pugachev standing next to me and motioned him to come with me.


    As members of our provisional headquarters were crossing the Dnieper River before the battle on the West Bank was completely over, I ordered that the provisional headquarters be set up on the island of holticha in the middle of the Dnieper River. The island used to be the place where the German troops were stationed. Most of the officers and men who crossed the river had been stationed here.


    I learned from the battle report of Bantai leiev that there were two German companies stationed here. But when they shelled HAMA City, they had quietly crossed the second regiment of Dnieper River and gave the German a thunderbolt, which made the German army dizzy and disorientated in sleep. In addition to the fact that dozens of quick reaction soldiers escaped in disheveled clothes, The rest were either killed or captured by our army.


    The room where our headquarters is located was probably the German battalion headquarters. As the enemy fled in a hurry, they didn''t even have time to take the map from the wall. I stood alone in front of the map while Pugachev was leading the people to set up the headquarters, and learned about the enemy''s force distribution according to the standard red and blue arrows on the map.


    But when I came to the conclusion that there were not many German troops in the West Bank, the headquarters were in place. Pugachev reported to me: "Comrade commander, we have seized some German documents here. It seems that the contents of the documents are related to the intelligence of the enemy''s troop mobilization and defense deployment."


    I took the documents from his hand, looked at them casually, and found that they were all written in German that I didn''t understand at all. Then I handed them back to him, and said, "Comrade major, please give these documents to lieutenant gretka, and let him translate them for us. What about the enemy''s deployment in the vicinity?"


    After Pugachev left with the papers, I continued to study the map on the wall. Although we occupied the German battalion command post and captured their battle map and some documents, I don''t expect to learn too much useful information from it. After all, the rank of battalion officers is too low, and the superior only needs them to carry out their own forces. They can''t know how the next campaign will be carried out.


    I went up to the operator and told him, "Comrade operator, contact major akhromeyev for me. I want to ask him how things are going there."


    The operator''s business is skilled, only a few minutes to contact akhromeyev. When I heard the major''s voice coming from the earphone, I didn''t talk too much nonsense. Instead, I asked directly, "major, what''s the situation there?"


    "Report to the commander." Akhromeyev''s voice excitedly reported that: "as major perskin''s tank battalion arrived in time, we have mastered the initiative of the battlefield. As long as our tanks fire at the windows that are still blazing fire, the enemy''s resistance will stop immediately. "


    "When the tanks were attacking the city, did you send troops to follow up in time?" I was afraid that he would stay in the fortification and watch the tanks rush into the city. He was also worried to remind him that "tanks without infantry cover will become the targets of German anti tank fighters in the streets of the city."


    "Please rest assured, the tank battalion is divided into three small units to attack the city. I have sent a company of infantry behind each unit. In addition, more than 20 armored vehicles of the tank battalion also followed closely behind the tanks and advanced towards the city. At present, our troops have occupied three quarters of HAMA City, and we are sure to solve the battle in 20 minutes for the rest. "


    "What happened to captain dubrovsky''s battalion?" When I heard that HAMA was about to be occupied by us, I suddenly thought of a battalion that had just been separated by the German army, so I asked, "have you sent someone to contact them?"


    "I have been in touch with you for a long time, comrade commander." Akhromeyev respectfully reported to me that: "the German army launched five charges against the area firmly guarded by the first battalion, and even one charge into the defense area of the second company. The company commander, Captain Rosenberg, personally led a platoon of commanders and fighters to counter attack, and even launched a white-edged battle with the enemy."


    "The white sword battle?" To be honest, this is the last word I like to hear in defensive warfare, because it means that both US and the enemy will pay a heavy price in battle¡° How about the casualties of the second company, and how many officers and men are left to continue fighting? "


    "Two companies are in shovel wars, because the soldiers are using spades almost, so we are far less casualties than the enemy." Akhromeyev carefully reported to me: "however, due to the heavy casualties of the second company in the early fighting, so far, there are less than 50 people left in the company with more than 200 people."


    "I see." It''s said that there are still nearly 50 people left in the company. I feel much more secure. Fortunately, the 22nd division of the guards has a large number of troops. If it were replaced by the 171st or 308 division, many battalions would not have 200 troops¡° Please tell captain Rosenberg not to worry about the casualties of the troops. Those positions will be victorious as soon as possible. As for the soldiers lost in the battle, I will try to supplement them. "


    Just after the call with akhromeyev, Pugachev came in from the outside with lieutenant gretka. They came to me and stopped. After Pugachev raised his hand to salute, he reported to me, "Comrade commander, I have considered that there are too many documents. If we wait for Comrade gretka to translate them to you, it may take a lot of time, so I called him over and asked him to translate them for you on the spot."


    "It''s very thoughtful of you, major Pugachev." As for Pugachev''s self assertion, I laughed with satisfaction and said sincerely, "in this way, our work efficiency will be greatly improved."


    With these words, I turned my eyes to gretka, who was standing next to me. I pulled down his hand which was raised on his forehead, held it tightly, shook it a few times, and said in a friendly way, "Comrade lieutenant, please help me translate these documents I just captured. First, start with the most important documents."


    Gretka agreed, took the document from Pugachev''s hand and began to look through it. He is very quick to turn over. Maybe he wants to find out important documents from the middle as soon as possible. I''m thinking about whether I should find something else to do first, so as not to wait like this. At this moment, gretka suddenly stopped, took out a document and looked at it carefully.


    Seeing his brow tightening, I knew in my heart that what he had found must be an important document. I immediately asked, "Comrade lieutenant, what have you found? Is it an important document? "


    After hearing my question, gretka read the contents of the document at a glance, then he raised his head and reported to me, "Comrade commander, this is an important document issued by the German command."


    "Important documents?" When he heard that, he immediately aroused the interest of Pugachev standing next to him. He asked curiously, "Comrade lieutenant, tell me what''s written in the document?"


    Gretka didn''t answer immediately, but turned to me. Seeing that I nodded my permission, he coughed, raised the document with his right hand, and said in a leisurely manner: "the German command ordered the commander of this battalion to continue to feint at zaborosh in the following days, making a situation that the main German force was still on the West Bank of the river, so that our army did not dare to cross the Dnieper River rashly."


    "Since the enemy wants this battalion to be the main force, their main force is certainly not here." I vaguely heard the hidden conspiracy of Manstein from this document. In order to find out what was going on, I asked: "where are the main forces of the German army?"


    Gretka came to the map with the document, pointed to the German place name on it, and continued to report to me: "Comrade commander, the main force of the enemy has turned north, trying to cross the Dnieper River from Dnepropetrovsk to attack our department of Voronezh front army."


    After listening to gretka''s words, I just let out a whisper, and didn''t take the matter to heart at all. My consideration is that if Manstein really took the main force of the German army northward to cross the river and attack the Voronezh front army of general Golikov, we would be in front of the extremely empty rear of the German army, and we would make a world shaking here. From the day I disobeyed the military order of haridonov, I told myself silently in my heart: no matter what other people think, I must do things according to my own ideas. As a person who does not exist in history, I don''t care what the future history will be like.


    Thinking of this, I asked gretka again, "Comrade lieutenant, does this document say how many German troops have left on the West Bank?"


    Gretka took a look and quickly replied, "according to the document, before he left, Manstein left two companies on the island and a battalion in HAMA. Most of the other small towns have mobile phones, but the number is usually only about one row. "


    "What a cunning man Stein." After listening to gretka''s words, I had to praise his "empty city plan" after I secretly scolded Manstein. The tank assault method he used yesterday almost disrupted the deployment of our city. If a Soviet commander was replaced, he must have tried every means to strengthen the fortifications to resist the German attacks from all sides. But he didn''t expect that he met a man who didn''t play cards according to common sense. He didn''t want to fight a war of attrition with his elite troops in zaborosh, but unexpectedly crossed the Dnieper River and fought a counterattack from the German army.


    After I understood Manstein''s intention, I had a new idea about the next military deployment. I quickly came to the telephone and told the operator with earphones, "connect me with general gurdyev immediately. I want to talk to him."


    When I contacted gurdyev, I just gave a "hello" to the transmitter, and then I heard the other party''s excited voice: "Comrade commander, I have good news for you. Our division''s vanguard troops have successfully captured the town of krilova, and are now cleaning up the remnant enemies in the town. The German army on the West Bank of the river was really vulnerable. We only launched a company level charge and broke through the German defense positions... "Comrade General," I didn''t wait for him to finish, but I directly interrupted him and said mildly, "I don''t know whether the combat effectiveness of the German army is vulnerable. But I want to tell you something else. Perhaps before we sneaked in last night, the main German forces had withdrawn from the vicinity, leaving only a small number of left behind forces to contain our troops deployed by the river. "¡° What, the main force of the German army has shifted? " When gurdyev heard the news, he was also surprised. He asked in surprise, "where is the main force of the German army now?"¡° According to the information we have captured, the enemy intends to cross the Dnieper River from Dnepropetrovsk to attack general Golikov''s Voronezh front army. " At this time, I don''t care whether my Ming language calls will be overheard by the German army. I just hope that my commanders can understand the German army''s movement in the shortest time, so that they can adjust their deployment according to the changes of the battlefield in the next battle¡° I see, comrade commander. " After listening to what I said, gurdyev immediately declared his position to me: "after clearing up the remnants of the German army in kerilova Town, I will send troops to continue to advance northward and build fortifications in suitable areas to prevent the German army from suddenly going south and launching attacks on our army."¡° Very well, general gurdyev. You have considered it very comprehensively. Do as you wish. "

 Chapter 939

    At dawn, HAMA was bombed by German planes. At the same time, "imperialist division" and "skeleton division" also launched an attack on zaborosh.


    Hearing the dense explosions coming from both directions at the same time, I stood in the middle of the headquarters and kept yelling: "how come the telegraph operator hasn''t contacted the political commissar? And you, major Pugachev, get in touch with the 308th division and the 22nd division immediately. By the way, ask general bantaileiev: did the German army send any ground troops besides the air force bombing? "


    At my urging, the operator quickly raised his voice and called the operator who stayed in the city army headquarters to the transmitter. Pugachev turned and ran out in a hurry, and went to the temporary telecommunication room next door to contact bandeleev and gurtyev.


    When the operator finally contacted the city and handed me the transmitter and earphone, I found that he also raised his hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead. It seems that he was scared by me just now.


    Hearing wittkov''s familiar voice coming from the earphone, I felt a lot more at ease. I asked nervously, "Comrade chief of staff, what''s the situation in the city?"


    "Report to the commander, the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, launched a fierce attack on the city from two directions at the same time. Within a quarter of an hour of the battle, many defensive positions of the 171st division were declared lost, and the regimental leaders had to order their troops to withdraw to the reserve positions and continue to fight against the German attack. "


    From wittkov''s report, I know in my heart that the lost positions are all field fortifications outside the city. Although there are many civil fire points in the trenches, it''s OK to block the attack of enemy infantry without enough anti tank weapons. For tanks that even anti tank guns can''t penetrate the front armor, In addition to sending anti tank grenades or flasks to blast up, the defenders have no way to deal with it. But there are infantry behind the German tanks. It is estimated that our soldiers who rush out of the trench will suffer a lot. Instead of letting them fight with the German army on the plain, we should let them retreat into the city and let our commanders and soldiers fight close combat with the German soldiers. In this way, the enemy''s tanks and artillery will lose their use.


    Thinking of this, I said to the transmitter, "Comrade chief of staff, order Colonel andreushenko to withdraw his troops to the city. Take advantage of the fortifications in the city to fight street battles with the Germans. Now there is still a battalion of Godunov''s new third regiment in the city, which is a special unit for street fighting. With their cooperation, the 171st division can spend more time with the enemy in the city. "


    Hearing what I said, wittkov asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, as far as I know, the situation on your side is not very good. Do you think I''ll lead the 171st division to stay in the city for a few more days? "


    I understand wittkov''s intention is to hold back the main German forces, so that we can have more time to consolidate the occupied position on the West Bank of the Dnieper. If we really follow his proposal, we will have a lot more time to consolidate our occupied positions on the West Bank, but the troops remaining in the city are in danger of being annihilated. In view of this, I coughed and said to him tactfully, "Comrade chief of staff, it is the elite German troops who attack zaborosh. It is very difficult for our garrison in the city to resist their attack for a long time. Anyway, after dark today, you and the political commissar will lead the remaining troops out of the city and cross the river to join us. "


    "But our troops are entangled with the German army, and will not be found by the enemy when they retreat?" Vitkov asked with some uneasiness. He seemed a little worried that the army would not be able to get rid of the German army.


    "Chief of staff, don''t worry about that." Although I also know that our transfer may be discovered by the German army, I still comfort wittkov at the moment, saying: "you can let the troops break into parts and cover the evacuation alternately in batches, which can greatly reduce the risk of being detected by the German army." Speaking of this, it suddenly occurred to me why I didn''t hear kirilov, so I asked, "by the way, where has the political commissar gone?"


    "Well, comrade commander." When I asked about kirilov''s whereabouts, wittkov quickly explained to me: "the casualties of the 115th regiment were large, and even the commander was seriously injured. When the political commissar heard the news, he took several soldiers to the station of the 115 regiment. After seeing the injured commander, he appointed a temporary regiment commander. "


    "Well, I see." With these words, I specially told him: "chief of staff, please tell andreushenko and the following commanders that it is not good to fight with the enemy in the city. On the one hand, our weapons and equipment are not comparable to those of the enemy; on the other hand, the technical and tactical level of our commanders and fighters is not comparable to that of the German elite infantry. Therefore, it is decided that our fight in the city is only to delay the enemy, not to destroy him. So don''t make unnecessary sacrifices. The most important thing is to keep yourself


    After learning about the situation in the city, Pugachev also came in from the outside and reported to me the situation of bantaileiev division and gurdyev Division: "Comrade commander, according to the information fed back by the two divisions, the German army dispatched 12 planes to bomb HAMA city occupied by the 22nd division of Jinwei. Only a few small German troops were found near the defense area of the 308th division. "


    When I heard that the enemy situation faced by the two divisions was not serious, I ordered Pugachev: "Comrade major, immediately inform the two division commanders to come to my headquarters, and I will discuss with them the next battle plan."


    The two teachers came faster than I expected. It took 20 minutes from Pugachev''s notice to the two teachers'' arrival at my headquarters. As soon as they arrived, I didn''t talk much nonsense. I took them to the map on the wall. At this moment, the German map has been removed and replaced with our own map, and the difference between the enemy and ourselves has been re marked. I pointed to the map and said to them, "two general comrades, please have a look. As the main force of the German army was crossing the river in Dnepropetrovsk, it attempted to go north from here to attack the Voronezh front army that occupied Kharkov. According to the documents we captured, the enemy did not have many troops left on the West Bank of the Dnieper, that is, their rear was empty. " When I said that, I stopped, looked at gurtyev with an excited face and asked, "general gurtyev, what do you think of the current situation?"¡° Comrade commander, please allow me to talk about my own ideas. " "Since there are no German troops near the main force of our army, we are free to attack any city occupied by the German army and let them take care of one thing and lose the other," gurdyev said excitedly¡° That''s a good idea. " After praising him, I asked, "which German occupied city do you think we should attack first?"¡° Comrade commander, please have a look Gurtyev took a step forward towards the position of the map, pointed to it and said: "Dnepropetrovsk is nearly 200 kilometers away from us. I can send a regiment to find a suitable position in the middle to build a defensive position to prevent the German army from suddenly stopping crossing the river and turning south to attack us. The nearest city to us is kafbas, about 130 kilometers away from us. It is a big city in Ukraine and a transport hub for the German army. Once we seize this place, we can not only capture a large amount of urgently needed materials, but also cut off the German supply. " Seeing the position of his finger, I frowned and thought for five minutes. After thinking about the available forces and the possible difficulties, I finally made up my mind and said decisively, "well, general gurtyev, I agree with your suggestion. Our next target is kafbas, the German transport hub. "

 Chapter 940

    Determined the direction of attack, the next thing to discuss is how to capture the city. But before that, the first thing to do is to carry out reconnaissance to find out how many German troops there are in kafbas.


    So I called captain travkin, the deputy battalion commander of the general reconnaissance battalion. In front of bantailiev and gurdyev, I told him, "Comrade captain, I order you to bring some smart and capable scouts, disguised as Germans, and quickly find out the deployment of German forces in Kafkas."


    Although I was giving orders to him, he still unconsciously glanced at the two division commanders next to him from the corner of his eye, and then tentatively asked, "Comrade commander, do you want to start now?"


    "Yes, comrade captain." In order to let him understand the importance of this reconnaissance operation, I said with a stern face: "you and your troops set out immediately. In order to act more like Germans, it''s better to take a few more Germans with you."


    As soon as I finished speaking, he immediately replied, "I see, comrade commander. I''m going to organize a twelve man reconnaissance team later, and I''m going to include the defecting Lieutenant Braun and corporal Wingle. What do you think? "


    "Very well, comrade captain." Although I heard that two Germans were included in the reconnaissance team, I still confidently said to trafkin, "now that you have considered it, don''t dally. Go back and set up the reconnaissance team as soon as possible."


    After travkin left, I said to the two teachers: "general bantailiev, when you return to HAMA City, organize people to repair the fortifications in the city to cope with the possible German counterattack. As for you, general gurdyev, send a regiment from the town of krilova to advance to the north, find a suitable place to build fortifications, and prepare to resist the main German forces who suddenly turn south. "


    Shortly after they left, the operator turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, your phone number. Comrade commander of the group army wants to talk to you."


    When I heard that haridonov was going to talk to me again, I couldn''t help frowning. I said in my heart, at this time, what else did he call to do? Did he want to mobilize my troops again? But the dissatisfaction in my heart can''t be revealed when I speak, so when I speak to the transmitter, I still try to use a respectful tone: "Hello, comrade commander, I''m o''shanina, what''s your instruction?"


    "Comrade oshanina," haridonov said to me in a deliberative tone, "all the troops of the Sixth Army are now under heavy German siege. I beg you once again to send even one division from your 79th infantry to attack from the back of the German army, so as to relieve the pressure on us, will you


    When I heard that haridonov spoke to me in such a low voice, I couldn''t help feeling soft. I even considered whether gurtyev division should be allowed to cross the Dnieper River from other areas to attack the German rear and relieve some pressure on the main force of the group.


    While I was meditating, I suddenly heard haredonov''s voice again: "Hello, comrade oshanina, do you hear me? Why don''t you answer me? Hello! Hello!... "


    His voice awakened me from my meditation. I suddenly thought that the 79th infantry army was facing a critical moment of life and death. We must rush to the depth of the German defense emptiness to contain and eliminate more German troops. If, as I just thought, gurdyev was ordered to find a suitable place to cross the Dnieper River again and attack the rear of the main German army. Maybe in the end, not only can we not relieve the pressure for the friendly forces, but we have brought disaster to the top. Thinking of this, I gritted my teeth and said firmly: "sorry, comrade commander, I can''t send a soldier to you."


    "What?" Perhaps stunned by my answer, haredonov asked rudely, "Comrade oshanina, please explain to me why you are doing this?"


    "It''s very simple, comrade commander." I tried to control my emotions and told him the truth tactfully: "the German imperial division and the skull Division launched an attack on zaborosh at the same time. Some troops even rushed into the city and were fighting in the street with our army. Moreover, the 11th armored division and 336th infantry division of the German army are now assembled near Kuban and are on standby. If necessary, they can fight in the shortest time


    I was startled by haredonov''s words. He didn''t speak after listening, and seemed to be digesting the bad news I told him. After two sentences, he asked difficultly, "Comrade o''xanina, are you telling the truth? Is your city really surrounded by German troops? "


    "Yes, comrade commander, there is no doubt about that." I replied clearly: "the German army has broken through the field fortifications our army is becoming from two directions in the southeast, and is developing to the depth of the city, but our soldiers are using every street, every barricade fortification and every building to fight to the death with the enemies who rush into the city." However, I was worried that my disobedience would stimulate him. I also said in a euphemistic way, "Comrade commander, please rest assured, although I can''t transfer troops to reinforce you for the time being. But as long as we continue to surround zaborosh, we can contain several divisions of the German army here, which can also reduce the pressure on the main force. "


    "In that case," said harridonov hesitantly after hearing this, "then you don''t need to send troops to reinforce us for the time being. But please bear in mind that I hope you can delay the German troops in zaborosh for a few more days and buy us a few more days to eliminate the German troops attacking us. " I can''t help but laugh at what haridonov said, but at the same time, I have to pretend to be obedient and promise him: "I see, comrade commander. Please rest assured that as long as one of our 79th infantry is still alive, we will keep the German army firmly in zaborosh. " As soon as the conversation with haridonov was over, the telephone on the desk rang again. I grabbed the phone, because this line can only contact my subordinate troops, so I said aloud: "Hello, I''m o''shanina, where are you?"¡° Report to the commander, "Godunov''s voice came from the receiver. His troops were stationed in the town of babriga, just across the island, saying that it was to prevent the German army from rushing to the Dnieper River again, but in fact, his troops played the role of protecting the army headquarters. Hearing my voice, he asked cautiously, "well, our new third regiment still has a basic full shock Engineer Battalion in the city. I want to ask, when can they return?" When I heard Godunov''s question, I hesitated for a moment, and finally told him the truth: "Comrade major, this shock Engineering Battalion may not be under your command in a short time. The German troops have already rushed into zaborosh. It is difficult to keep the city for a long time only with the strength of the 171st division, so the battalion you left in the city will play their due role in the next street battle. " Hearing what I said, Godunov sighed with disappointment and asked helplessly, "Comrade commander, in the next battle, don''t you know what our regiment''s new task is?" When I worked out my plan to capture kafbas, the most important consideration in my mind was which army to send as the main attack force. After thinking about all the regiments in the three divisions, I think that the new third regiment, which is under the command of gordonov and adapted from the shock Engineering Battalion, is the most suitable for this task. After all, these shock engineering battalions were specially set up by the higher authorities for the purpose of siege and street fighting. However, the first thing we need to know now is how many troops are left in the regiment. So I asked, "Comrade major, how many people are left in your two battalions?" Godunov thought for a moment and replied, "report to the commander. The original strength of the shock engineering battalion is 500. The three battalions, plus some auxiliary arms, have a total of 2000. Now the camp in the city is almost full of 567 people. The total strength of the two battalions I have now is 420. " I was a little disappointed when I heard the data reported by gordonov. I didn''t expect that there were only so many troops left under him. But on second thought, even if there are only a few people left in the shock Engineering Battalion, their combat effectiveness can still be comparable to that of a regiment of ordinary troops. It seems that the task of shock can be completed by them. After a moment''s deliberation, I said to Godunov straightforwardly, "Comrade major, our next task is to attack kafbas, where the German defense is idle. And the task of your regiment is to take on the main task. "¡° Is our regiment the main task? " Hearing what I said about the mission, gordonov was silent. Although I can''t see his expression, I guess the muscles on his face must be twitching violently, because this task is no different from death to him. Sure enough, after a while, he asked timidly, "Comrade commander, is it appropriate for us to attack the cities with German combat effectiveness by our hundreds?"¡° Don''t worry, comrade major. " Although we do not know the deployment of German forces in kafbas at the moment, in my estimation, the defense force there must be quite weak. It is not a big problem to seize the city with the strength of Godunov''s headquarters. I said to him with a smile: "according to reliable information, the main German forces on the West Bank of the Dnieper have been drawn out, and the situation is very favorable for us. With the strength of our army, we can fight wherever we want to, so that the German army can''t look at each other head to tail and turn their rear area upside down. "

 Chapter 941

    In the evening, kirilov and the remnants of the 115th regiment withdrew from zaborosh and came to the island headquarters to meet me. After listening to my battle plan, he pondered for a moment, and then suggested to me, "Comrade oshanina, gather the commanders above the battalion to hold a meeting here, and tell the comrades about the battle plan for the occupation of kafbas, so that they can have a clear idea. If we keep them in the dark and take our troops around the enemy''s rear, it will affect the morale and combat effectiveness of our commanders and fighters. "


    As for kirilov''s proposal, I nodded my head and agreed almost without thinking. I echoed: "Comrade political commissar, you have a point. We should inform commanders at all levels of our strategic objectives, and let them know that the reason why we stay in the enemy''s rear is to disrupt the enemy''s deployment, contain their forces, and cooperate with the main forces of our army fighting in the front battlefield. It is not because we are unable to stand out the enemy''s encirclement that we have to stay. " At this point, I yelled out, "major Pugachev!"


    With my shouts, Pugachev quickly ran into the headquarters, stood upright in front of me and asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, what instructions do you have?"


    "Call two division commanders, bantailiev and gurdyev, and inform them to lead all battalion commanders to the headquarters for a meeting." After giving this order, it suddenly occurred to me that Lao maozi was always the same. If these two division commanders really brought all their battalion level cadres, leaving only company and platoon level commanders in the army, in case of any accident, these two troops would not even have a unified command, they added: "tell them, Don''t forget to keep the battalion commander on duty. "


    "Yes Pugachev agreed, turned and walked out of the headquarters.


    Kirilov raised his hand, looked at his watch, and then asked, "Captain travkin, how long have they been off?"


    Hearing this, I also raised my hand and looked at my watch. I replied, "they started in the morning. They have been walking for almost seven hours. I don''t want to get their information very long."


    "I hope so." After kirilov finished this sentence in an uncertain tone, he worried about the safety of wittkov and the other two regiments who were still in the city: "the German offensive was very fierce. Although our troops successfully used the tactics in the battle of Stalingrad, the enemy pushed forward very fast, and our headquarters had to move to the west of the city. I just hope that the chief of staff can hold on until dark, and then they can get rid of the enemy and withdraw to the West Bank. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade political commissar." I looked out of the window and saw that it was getting dark. I comforted him and said, "it won''t be long before it gets dark. When night comes, the Germans will stop attacking the city, and then the chief of staff will be able to withdraw smoothly. "


    We were just chatting when Pugachev rushed in from the outside. He raised a piece of paper in his hand excitedly and said to us excitedly: "commander, political commissar, reconnaissance unit led by Captain travkin, intelligence is back."


    I heard that travkin''s information had returned. Instead of reaching for Pugachev''s information, I asked directly, "what did the captain say in the feedback?"


    Pugachev took the paper to his eyes, stared at the contents and began to report to me: "Captain, their reconnaissance team arrived at the outskirts of kafbas at 4 p.m. they hid their motorcycles and went on foot to the edge of the forest near the city for reconnaissance. In the process of reconnaissance, one of the scouts hears what seems to be happening in the rear, turns around and looks as if some people in the distance are quietly approaching them under the cover of trees... "


    "Yes, comrade major, go on, go on." When Pugachev just stopped for a moment, kirilov couldn''t wait to urge him, "who are all the people coming? Were they found by the Germans?"


    "The Scout immediately told captain travkin about this." When Pugachev heard kirilov''s urging, he went on: "the captain immediately ordered everyone to turn around and choose their own defensive positions, ready to compete with the enemy who came to sneak attack. When they are ready for all the fighting, they may exchange fire with each other in a minute or two. Suddenly, the captain finds that most of the people who are approaching are wearing casual clothes, and a small number of people are wearing our army''s uniform and holding our army''s standard weapons. Seeing that it was the guerrillas who had come, the captain immediately sent someone to contact them, so that the two sides could clear up the misunderstanding. "


    Guerrillas, I haven''t heard this word for a long time since I left liuban. After I breathed a sigh of relief, I asked Pugachev, "did the captain say who is in command of this guerrilla group and how many people are there?"


    Pugachev nodded and replied, "the guerrillas now have more than 100 people. The main members are small units of our army that were scattered after the outbreak of the war. Their commander''s name is... "When he said this, he looked down at the paper in his hand and then added in a positive tone," Romanov, yes, the name of the guerrilla commander is Romanov. "


    I had just sat on the stool, when I heard the name, I couldn''t help jumping up from my seat. He grabbed Pugachev by the collar and asked nervously, "Romanov?! Is it general Romanov, the former commander of the 172nd infantry division? "


    Pugachev was startled by my action. He instinctively wanted to step back, but because I held him too tightly, he had to stand in the same place and nervously replied, "Comrade commander, I don''t know, because it''s not clear in captain travkin''s report. He only said that this Romanov was a division commander of our army, Wounded and captured in battle. Later, he did not know how to escape from the concentration camp with a group of soldiers and set up a guerrilla group. It may be that the superior punished the captured seriously, so they did not withdraw to our defense zone, but stayed in Ukraine to fight guerrillas. "


    "Comrade major, contact captain travkin immediately." After listening to our conversation, kirilov also got up from his seat, went to Pugachev and told him, "let him find out the identity of this Romanov as soon as possible, and send someone to send him to our headquarters."


    "Comrade political commissar," Pugachev was clearly speaking to kirilov, but his eyes were not on the political commissar, but on me: "is it appropriate to let the guerrilla leader leave his command post?"


    "There''s nothing wrong, comrade major." Since Pugachev was looking at me, I did not wait for kirilov to make a statement. I said to myself, "we are going to attack kafbas. We need to understand the reality of the German army in the city. If Comrade Romanov and his troops are fighting guerrillas nearby, he must be more familiar with the situation in the city than we are. We asked him to come and tell us about the situation in the city. What''s wrong? All right, you should quickly reply to captain travkin and ask him to send Comrade Romanov to the headquarters as soon as possible. "


    After Pugachev left again, kirilov asked curiously, "Comrade oshanina, have you heard of this Romanov before?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." Although my understanding of the general is only limited to the limited scenes in the film, he is still a bit of a leader in terms of the fact that the troops under his command can tenaciously block the German attack when the Soviet army is defeated. At present, there is a shortage of Commanding Personnel like him in the army. If his guerrillas are included, then I can have another right-hand assistant. In the face of kirilov''s question, I answered vaguely, "when I worked in the Western Front Army, I had heard of his name and a series of achievements." After I said these words with some guilty heart, I stared at kirilov nervously, for fear that he would break the casserole and ask to the end. If I had to ask about the achievements of general Romanov, I would not know how to answer.


    Still, my worry is superfluous. Kirilov didn''t find my abnormality at all. His thinking had already jumped to something else. He went to the map, spread out his palm, patted the position of kafbas, and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, it''s at least 100 kilometers from us to kafbas, isn''t it?"


    "Yes, about 130 kilometers." I don''t know the purpose of kirilov''s sudden question, so I honestly replied, "there is no road between us and kafbas. If we want to go around from other directions, we have to walk at least more than 100 kilometers."


    "Comrade oshanina, I''m worried about one thing. Can our troops arrive at kafbas in a day and a night after the battle order is passed on? " When it comes to the next battle, kirilov''s face is more worried: "even if our commanders and fighters are all Scud, they can march hundreds of kilometers in one night, but when they arrive at kafbas, will they still have the strength to fight?"


    What kirilov said is also something I am worried about. However, thinking that there are still hundreds of cars transferred from the city on the island, I pretended to be relaxed and said, "Comrade political commissar, although there is no road connection between here and kafbas, there are still many areas where vehicles can pass. Now we still have a lot of trucks in our hands, which can be used to transport the commanders and fighters to a certain area, and then let them walk, which can greatly shorten their march distance. "


    "I see that''s good." Kirilov nodded and said with satisfaction: "although the temperature has picked up recently, the ice and snow on the plain has not yet begun to melt. I think most sections of the line leading to kafbas can pass vehicles, so that we can quickly drop our troops near the city, effectively shorten their march distance, and let our commanders and fighters save their physical strength, After reaching the designated position, they can quickly put into battle. "


    After dark, the commanders came to the meeting one after another. Because the temporary headquarters was too small to accommodate so many people, Pugachev called them to a nearby barracks. Before the barracks were requisitioned by the German army, it was a warehouse for storing crops. Although the space inside was not small, dozens of people packed the barracks as soon as they went in.


    Kirilov and I had just entered the barracks when we heard a roar: "attention, salute!" Then dozens of commanders standing neatly in the room raised their hands to salute us at the same time.


    I went to the front of the team, raised my hand to salute you, found a bench, stood up with kirilov''s help, and said aloud, "comrades commander, we occupied zaborosh, crossed the Dnieper River, and came to the back of the Germans. Do you know what we are here for?"


    After I asked, the commanders were silent. Even bantailiev and gurdyev, who knew my next battle plan, kept silent. They seemed to be waiting for me to reveal the final answer for them. When I saw that the commanders did not speak, I said to myself, "comrades commanders, according to the latest information, the German army has very few troops outside the four divisions near zaborosh and on the West Bank of the Dnieper River."¡° Comrade commander, where have all the main forces of the enemy gone? " Someone in the crowd boldly asked¡° The main force of the enemy is now crossing the Dnieper River from Dnepropetrovsk, ready to attack the forces of the Voronezh front army that we have occupied Kharkov. " Anyway, I have to explain the combat tasks to all the commanders next, so I have no intention to hide the latest enemy situation from them: "only a small number of German troops are left around us. When we come to the enemy''s rear, we will not only clear away the small troops they left behind, but also seize the opportunity to replenish us with the combat materials that the German army hoarded. According to the information we have, there are a lot of German supplies in kafbas, 130 kilometers northwest of us. Commander comrades, you said, "what should we do next?" When I said that, the commanders were all excited, and everyone was in high spirits. They raised their chin as if there were countless honors waiting for them in front of them. I don''t know who yelled again: "destroy the German devils and take kafbas!" His words immediately aroused the resonance around, and more and more people followed him and yelled: "destroy the German devils, take kafbas!" I specially turned to look at kirilov''s expression. He looked at the passionate commanders with a smile and nodded with satisfaction.

 Chapter 942

    As soon as the pre war mobilization meeting was over, bandeleev and gurdyev returned to the army with their extremely emotional commanders. According to my order, the troops set out for kafbas as soon as they had assembled. In order to have a unified command of the army, I handed over the command to Bantai leiev. After all, he used to be my deputy. I know his situation better. In addition, his qualifications are older than gurdyev''s. If he was asked to command the army, gurdyev would not have any complaints. As for the vanguard force, it is of course major gordonov''s new third regiment.


    Kirilov and I stayed in the headquarters, waiting for the arrival of the mysterious guerrilla captain Romanov. Seeing me walking restlessly back and forth in the headquarters, kirilov couldn''t help but ask curiously, "Comrade oshanina, the incoming guerrilla leader, comrade Romanov, used to be just a division commander. You''ve seen commanders higher than him. Don''t be so nervous."


    When I heard kirilov''s words, I realized that I was a bit impolite. I quickly went back to the table and sat down. I coughed, cleared my throat, and said calmly, "Comrade political commissar, you don''t know. Although the guerrillas can''t destroy the German army, they can cause endless troubles to the enemy. Although the rank of this comrade Romanov is not high, he has, after all, been commanding the troops in the enemy''s rear for one or two years. He must be much more familiar with the terrain of Ukraine than we are. With such a guide, we can act in the enemy''s rear area more like a fish in water. "


    Kirilov listened to me, frowned and thought about it, then said thoughtfully, "well, you have a point. Although we are now in the empty rear of the German army, if we are not familiar with the terrain and the distribution of the enemy''s forces, we will feel constrained when we fight. "


    "Yes, that''s it." In order to hide my true thoughts, I followed kirilov''s words and said, "if there is no suitable guide, we will send scouts to conduct reconnaissance before we capture an enemy town. This is not only a waste of time, but also easy to delay the fight. Therefore, the arrival of Comrade Romanov can greatly improve the efficiency of our attack. By the way, comrade political commissar, what kind of post do you think is more suitable for him to hold in our army? "


    After thinking for a moment, kirilov raised his head and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think of him as deputy chief of staff


    "The deputy chief of staff in the army?" After listening to the post mentioned by kirilov, I immediately shook my head and denied it: "no, comrade political commissar, if this comrade Romanov was really a general before, do you think it''s appropriate for him to serve as a deputy under a Colonel?"


    "Yes, chief of staff vetkov is only a colonel. If Romanov, a former general, is allowed to serve as deputy, he will be treated with a little disrespect." Kirilov frowned again and thought about it, then said, "well, since he is a general, if you want to keep him in the army headquarters, let him be the deputy commander."


    "Deputy commander?" When kirilov mentioned this position, I hesitated a little. Although I am the head of the first army, I really don''t have the right to appoint someone as the deputy commander. He was about to shake his head and deny kirilov''s proposal, but seeing that he was staring at me and waiting for me to make a final decision, I couldn''t help changing my mind. "Comrade political commissar, as you know, I have no power to appoint a deputy commander under my authority. Well, I''ll appoint him kirilov for the time being. Seeing that the relationship between them turned out to be between the superior and the subordinate, the smile on their faces became more intense. He stepped forward, introduced Romanov and said, "Comrade General, I''d like to introduce you. Colonel Vitkov is now the chief of staff of our 79th infantry army." At this point, he took the initiative to reach out to Romanov and said in a friendly way: "Comrade General, let me introduce myself. My name is kirilov, political commissar of the 79th infantry army."


    Hearing kirilov show his identity, Romanov immediately salutes again. At this time, there was an earth shaking explosion outside, and even the ground under my feet was shaking slightly. Without waiting for me to ask what happened to the explosion outside, there was a second explosion.


    "Comrade commander," wittkov explained to us in a raised voice, "this explosion was caused by our soldiers blowing up the floating bridge on the river to prevent German tanks from rushing over the bridge."


    "You blew up the pontoon. Although the German tanks could not rush over the pontoon for the time being, their infantry could rush across the river from the ice." It was Romanov who said this. He asked with some worry, "have you left any defensive forces by the river?"


    "Comrade division commander, please rest assured that I have left a guard force by the river." As for Romanov''s worries, vetkov said with a smile: "moreover, due to the rising temperature, the ice in many river sections has become thinner. When my troops withdrew from the city, several officers and men crossing the river from the ice fell into the water due to the ice breaking. By the way, sir, have you had a good two years? "


    "Well, chief of staff, let''s talk about the past between you and general Romanov later." As there was something important to talk about, I didn''t wait for Romanov to answer, so I said, "let''s discuss the plan of seizing kafbas next."


    "Comrade commander." When I finished, Romanov said politely, "I don''t think it''s difficult to capture kafbas. Just one battalion is enough to capture the city. " As for Romanov''s attitude, I asked a little strangely, "Oh, comrade Romanov, listen to what you say, do you think it''s a very easy thing to seize this city?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Romanov still said politely: "it turns out that there are two battalions of German troops stationed in kafbasri, but I don''t know why. The German troops suddenly transferred most of their troops during the day yesterday, leaving only two platoons in the city."¡° what? There are only two German platoons in kafbas Romanov''s information stunned me. Kirilov and I asked in one voice, "you can''t be mistaken." Romanov shook his head and replied, "it can''t be wrong. There are many of us among the residents in the city. It was after I got the information that I took the troops to the vicinity of kafbas and planned to sneak into the city and destroy the German army. I didn''t expect to meet your reconnaissance troops outside the city. " When I heard this information, I called Pugachev to him and told him in a hurry: "Comrade major, you should send a message to major Godunov immediately, so that his troops can arrive outside the city of kafbas, join captain travkin''s reconnaissance team, and immediately attack the city without waiting for other troops to arrive."¡° Yes When Pugachev heard the order, he happily agreed and turned to give the order. Since there was no garrison in the city, our fight went very smoothly. Before dawn, the joint telegram of Godunov and travkin arrived. The message was very simple: "our army has eliminated the garrison in the city, successfully captured kafbas, and seized a large number of military materials accumulated by the German army here."

 Chapter 943

    At the time of receiving this telegram, kirilov and I were in a jeep that was only seven or eight kilometers away from kafbas. After reading the telegram, I handed it to kirilov and looked out of the window. I thought there was no road between the island and kafbas, so the jeep we took might not last long, so we had to get off and walk. I didn''t expect that because of the cold weather, the originally impassable road became very suitable for vehicles.


    Looking at the trucks full of soldiers in front of the jeep, I looked back at ease, patted the driver on the shoulder and said to him, "Comrade driver, drive directly to kafbas."


    "Comrade commander," heard my order, Romanov, who was sitting in the front row, looked back and kindly reminded me, "although our troops have occupied kafbas, the enemy in the city may not be completely eliminated. If we go in at this time, we may encounter danger."


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander." Although Romanov is still wearing casual clothes, a few hours ago, I sent a telegram to vatukin to suggest that Romanov, who has rich experience in fighting, be appointed as my deputy. Originally, I just had a try in my heart, but I didn''t expect that he readily agreed. In this way, Romanov became my deputy commander. At the moment, seeing that he had scruples about kafbas, he comforted him and said, "don''t worry. Although Godunov''s new third regiment has a small number of people, it''s very effective. It''s easy to deal with two platoons of Germans."


    "By the way, comrade deputy commander, we still have some time to get to kafbas anyway." Kirilov, who had just finished reading the telegram, said with great interest when he handed the telegram to Romanov, "why don''t you tell us something about your guerrillas?"


    Romanov took the telegram and looked at it only a few times, then he handed it back to me again, because there was so little content on it that he could read it all at once. When kirilov said this, he nodded and said, "well, since the commander and the commissar want to hear my story, I''ll take this opportunity to tell it." Then general Romanov told us his story: "the first battle of my 172nd division was carried out outside the city of Mogilev in Belarus. At that time, the headquarters of the Western Front Army led by Marshal Timoshenko wanted to move to the East Bank of the Dnieper River, so they had to leave troops to stop the enemy, so they chose our division. When I left the headquarters after accepting the mission, I saw a colonel coming to the headquarters to accept the mission. Guess who he is? "


    "Who is it? Comrade deputy commander. " The number of senior commanders I know is limited. If I want to guess, I can''t even guess the darkness, so I asked straightforwardly, "should we know him?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Romanov nodded unexpectedly and replied, "if it''s someone else, you may not know him, but this colonel is really famous. He is Petrovsky, commander of the 63rd infantry army."


    Lieutenant general Petrovsky, I almost jumped out of my seat when I heard the name mentioned by Romanov. At the moment, I find that I have made a big mistake. Before, I always thought that general Petrovsky''s troops, after crossing the Dnieper River, were fighting with the German forces in Ukraine. Who knows now that they are actually in Belarus. But I can''t blame it. On the Soviet map, Ukraine and Belarus are not marked as clearly as later maps, so mistakes are inevitable.


    "Yes, general Petrovsky is very famous." Kirilov said: "because he resolutely led his troops to the enemy''s rear and recaptured Rogachev and zherobin, he effectively restrained the main force of the enemy. After learning of his heroic deeds and the results of the war, comrade Stalin decisively announced that he would be promoted from Colonel to lieutenant general. Later, he was even appointed commander of the 21st group army. If he had not died when he broke out of the siege, he might have made more outstanding achievements. "


    Romanov nodded and then said, "at that time, we only built simple fortifications outside the city of mogilyov. Besides our division, the troops defending the city were several militia battalions composed of workers from various factories.


    After the outbreak of the war, the German army did not encounter any decent resistance, so the German troops who attacked mogilyov were particularly rampant. On dozens of tanks in battle formation, we can see that the tankers show half of their bodies from the open hatch. On the three wheeled motorcycles in the middle of the tank, the motorcyclists'' guns were carried behind them, as if they were not fighting, but going out for an outing. What''s more arrogant is a radio car following behind the first row of tanks, playing a march with a high pitched loudspeaker.


    Seeing this, I made the artillery ready to fire. When the German tanks were only 200 meters away from our forward position, I decisively ordered the artillery to fire. Our artillery are all good. They lifted the radio truck four wheels to the sky with one shot. The tankers, who were still leaning out, retracted their tortoise shells one after another when they saw the shells fall on their side and explode. After a moment of confusion, they fired back at us.


    As our division had few anti tank guns, the enemy''s tanks soon crossed our first trench and rushed towards the rear position. When I saw that some commanders and soldiers and militia gave up their positions and ran to the second line of defense because of panic, I again gave orders to the commanders along the front line to blow up the enemy''s tanks with flasks. As one German tank after another crossed the trench and was ignited by our commanders and fighters with burning bottles, the chaos on the battlefield gradually subsided.


    During the 23 day battle outside the city of mogilyov, our division restrained part of the German 2nd tank group and inflicted heavy damage on the enemy. Of course, because the enemy is stronger than us, our division has also suffered huge losses. When we received the order to evacuate mojiliov, there were only more than 900 soldiers left in the division, including the militia who had cooperated with us in the war. "¡° The casualties of the troops are so great. " When kirilov heard this, he said with emotion, and then asked with great interest, "Comrade deputy commander, how did you get captured later?"¡° At that time, not to mention our division, even the whole western front army was surrounded by the German army. " Romanov said helplessly: "it''s easy to say, but it''s not the same thing to do. There are Germans all around. Where are our superiors and friendly forces, and where can we break through? One day, my troops withdrew to ovruchi in Ukraine and met with the large German troops. After a long time of fighting, our personnel and equipment were insufficient. As a result, we were separated by the enemy''s tanks as soon as we exchanged fire with the German army. I was also injured in the battle and I was in a coma. When I woke up, I found that I had been locked in the prison camp with thousands of captured officers and soldiers. My injury is very serious. I have a high fever every day. If there were not several good soldiers who could cool me down with wet towels at any time, I would have died long ago. Later, my injury gradually recovered, and I found that the German army had to transfer many of our guards away because of the war on the front. So I took advantage of this opportunity to gather more than 200 soldiers, took advantage of the night to push down the weak barbed wire around the prison camp, escaped from the prison camp, and then opened guerrillas in Ukraine. "¡° It''s not easy, comrade Romanov. " After listening to his experience, kirilov sincerely praised: "you did a good job, not only did you not compromise with the bandits, but also led more than 200 soldiers to escape from the prison camp, and formed a guerrilla group in the enemy''s rear, which made them headache, effectively controlled the enemy''s forces. Yes, you really did a good job." As for kirilov''s praise, Romanov replied with some embarrassment: "Comrade political commissar, don''t praise me like this. You know that I have been captured by the Germans after all. If I don''t stay behind the enemy to form guerrillas, I will be sent to the military court or the punishment camp even if I return to the rear."¡° Comrade deputy commander, don''t worry. I will explain to you when it is appropriate that you were captured. " I considered that I was once captured. Although I don''t know many people, I can''t hold fire after all. In case of exposure, I don''t know what kind of fate is waiting for me. Therefore, I will try my best to help Romanov get a good result. This is not a bad thing for me¡° I believe that the superior will have an overall consideration of this matter, and the handling of you should not be as serious as you think. " Hearing what I said, Romanov breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Comrade commander, if it''s really what you said, that''s great."

 Chapter 944

    Although Romanov did not give a detailed account of how he led the army to fight guerrillas in Belarus and Ukraine, I can restore their difficult journey behind the enemy lines according to some films and TV works that I have seen in later generations.


    In the rest of the journey, none of us spoke, just staring out of the window, thinking about our own thoughts. What I''m thinking about is, after taking kafbas, where should we choose our next attack target? The German army had occupied zaborosh, and it was impossible to move eastward; Manstein''s heavy army group is gathering in Dnepropetrovsk, and our northward journey is undoubtedly a trap. There are only two roads left: one is to attack kilovgrad, which is not a small city, more than 100 kilometers away to the West; Or go south to capture the port city of Nikolayev.


    Before I could think of it, the jeep stopped. As I kept thinking about things, I didn''t notice where the car was. As soon as the car stopped, I immediately asked the driver, "are we in town?"


    The driver turned to his side and said with some embarrassment, "sorry, comrade commander, the road ahead can''t pass. You can only walk the rest of the way." Maybe seeing my face showing an unhappy expression, he quickly added, "just walk a few hundred meters in front, and you can enter the city."


    When I heard the driver say that, I estimated that the vehicles in front of me might not be able to drive through, otherwise, he would not dare to help me to leave it only a few hundred meters away from the city. I said to kirilov and Romanov, "commissar, deputy commander, since the car can''t go on, let''s go down for a walk."


    At first, I had some doubts about whether the driver was cheating me. When I got off the bus, what the driver said was true. A long dirt road ahead had turned over because of melting ice and snow. On such a road, even if our driver drove forward reluctantly, he would be trapped if he could not drive far. Several trucks that followed us also stopped, and the commanders and fighters jumped out of the car one after another, lined up beside the car, ready to follow us into the city.


    I waved to Yushchenko, called him in front of me and asked him, "Comrade captain, did you see the guards division and the 308th division on the way here?"


    Hearing my question, Yushchenko quickly waved his head and replied, "Comrade commander, I didn''t see any friendly troops on the way. I think there are two possibilities. One is that they have already entered the city; Second, the route of their march is far away from the route we passed, so we didn''t see them. "


    Seeing that the security forces had assembled, I waved my head to Yushchenko: "Comrade captain, it seems that the forces have assembled. Let''s go now."


    Kirilov and Romanov, together with more than 100 fully armed soldiers, cautiously passed the muddy dirt road ahead and walked towards Godunov and travkin, who were waiting in the north of the city.


    When we were about ten meters away from the crowd, both gordonov and travkin stepped forward and stood at attention. Gordonov said to us, "report to the commander and commissar, major gordonov. We have successfully completed the task of seizing kafbas. Please give us instructions."


    "Well done, comrade major." With a smile, I reached out to Godunov, praised him in public, and said, "you''ve done a good job. It''s so easy to take kafbas down."


    While shaking hands with me, Godunov said with embarrassment: "Comrade commander, there are not many Germans in the city. He said that there are two platoons, but the total number is only about 30 people, and the defense is lax. We didn''t even find it in the city, so we killed all the Germans in their sleep with cold weapons. "


    "Well done, comrade major! What a beautiful job you''ve done Kirilov went forward to shake hands with gordonov again, and repeated my praise.


    After shaking hands with travkin, I found that neither of them paid any attention to Romanov, who was standing next to me in civilian clothes. I coughed and said to them, "major Godunov, Captain travkin, I''d like to introduce you. General Romanov is now the deputy commander of our army."


    Deputy commander, when they heard what I said, they were stunned. Then they turned to face Romanov, straightened up and politely said, "Hello, comrade deputy commander."


    After the two sides exchanged greetings, it''s time to go to the city and go to the headquarters that gordonov prepared for us. As our team was marching along the street, I suddenly heard a woman''s scream coming from the building next to me. I stopped and looked in the direction of the sound.


    A middle-aged woman with a flower scarf and a black cotton padded dress rushed out of the corridor and rushed to give me a bear hug. The tiger backed aunt hugged me tightly, excited incoherent: "I... I didn''t... Didn''t see... Wrong. Really... Really is our team fighting back? "


    Because the middle-aged woman just appeared so suddenly, she hugged me tightly before Yushchenko, who was following me, came back. At the moment, Yushchenko, who came back with an angry face, called two soldiers to come, and was about to pull away the middle-aged woman. I quickly waved to him to show them not to be rash. I patted her on the back with my hand and replied kindly, "yes, we''re back."


    Hearing my words, my aunt may realize her recklessness and quickly let me go. She stepped back, raised her hand, wiped her tears and said excitedly: "I''ve been looking forward to you for nearly two years, and finally I''ve been looking forward to you back. After the German occupied the city, we suffered a lot. When you come back this time, you won''t leave again, will you¡° No, no, No Without waiting for me to speak, kirilov quickly came forward to help me out. He took the middle-aged woman''s hand, shook it a few times, and said, "this time we''re back, we''re going to drive the Communist aggressors out of our territory." With this episode, on the way to the headquarters, I had a new understanding of Godunov''s command ability. He had led the troops to capture the city successfully, but the residents of the city had not found that the troops in the city had changed from German troops to Soviet troops. If there are any more sneak attacks in the future, they can be handed over to major gordonov. Under Godunov''s guidance, we came to the headquarters in the city. When entering the gate, travkin introduced to me: "Comrade commander, according to the prisoner''s confession, this was their regiment level command post. Two days ago, because of the shortage of troops in front of them, they urgently needed to be supplemented by soldiers. Therefore, except for leaving two platoons to guard materials, the rest of the troops were transferred away." Hearing that travkin mentioned German materials, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade captain, I don''t know how many German materials you have seized this time?"¡° Comrade commander, please allow me to report to you! " Listening to my question about the seized materials, Godunov quickly stepped forward and took the initiative to say to me, "we have seized all the German materials stored in the warehouse. In addition to a batch of German standard weapons and supporting ammunition, there are German winter uniforms, food, medicine and so on." After listening to Godunov''s report, Romanov said with some surprise: "Comrade major, you have seized a lot of things." Then he asked, "is the material safe now? Did you send someone to guard it?"¡° Please rest assured, comrade deputy commander. " Godunov politely replied to Romanov: "the German army has built two large military warehouses in the city, where their materials are stored. At present, I have sent 60 soldiers to guard the supplies, which should ensure the safety of the supplies. " When Yushchenko was in charge of the headquarters, Romanov''s eyes were sharp, and he found a radio in the corner of the wall. He could not help walking quickly to the waist high old radio. After his fiddling, the sound came from the radio, to be exact, music, Russian music. Hearing the long lost Russian music, kirilov couldn''t help walking towards the radio and said curiously, "I didn''t expect that the radio in the German headquarters could receive our channel." After listening to kirilov''s words, I can''t help but be stunned again. My heart says that no matter which country makes the radio, as long as the frequency is adjusted correctly, the corresponding program can be heard. When I just rang to say a few words, a voice came out from the radio: "comrades, dear comrades! Please listen to the emergency war report of the Soviet intelligence agency!... " The sound coming from the radio made me walk to Romanov and lean down to listen to what the announcer wanted to broadcast next The latest war report: Our Army led by general Golikov defeated Marshal Manstein''s army head-on and successfully occupied new Moscow Under the attack of our powerful Armored Regiment, one German division was annihilated, two suffered heavy losses, and the enemy left more than 5000 corpses on the battlefield... "When kirilov and Romanov were cheering for the battle report they had just heard, I went back to the wooden table and bent down to find the location of new Moscow¡° Comrade oshanina, are you looking for the position of new Moscow Before I found the place I was looking for, Romanov''s voice sounded behind me, which made me jump. When he saw that I nodded and accepted his conjecture, he went to the table, pointed to the map with his hand, and said definitely, "new Moscow is here."

 Chapter 945

    I looked in the direction of his finger and was stunned to see that new Moscow was next to Dnepropetrovsk. However, even if they were overjoyed, if the war report on the radio was true, the German troops who had been badly damaged by Voronezh''s front army were likely to be the troops of Manstein. They had just crossed the Dnieper River and had a taste of defeat in new Moscow.


    Also influenced by the war report of our army, kirilov came over with a smile and sat down beside me. He looked at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, after listening to the war report of the Soviet intelligence agency, do you have any ideas? Should we study the next action direction of our army?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, let''s talk about your feelings first." Instead of answering kirilov''s question immediately, I kicked the ball at Romanov''s feet and wanted to hear what he thought¡° The most important thing is what the political commissar has just said, to study our army''s next operational direction. "


    "Comrade commander, I think so..." Romanov frowned and thought for a moment, then picked up a red and blue pencil on the table, drew a line from the position of kafbas to the northwest, and according to his thinking, he said: "judging from our army''s war report, the main force of the German army will be tied by general Golikov''s forces on the other side of the Dnieper River, near us, It''s going to be hard to find the heavy German army. So that''s what I''m going to do. We''re going to take kilovgrad and Alexandria in two different ways. Most of the residents in these two cities have not been evacuated. After seizing the cities, we can select suitable people from the residents and workers to supplement our troops... "


    "Wait a minute. Please wait a minute." Before Romanov finished, kirilov suddenly interrupted him and asked strangely, "how do you know that the residents in these two cities have not been evacuated?"


    As for kirilov''s question, Romanov laughed and politely replied, "Comrade political commissar, you may have forgotten my troops, but you have been fighting guerrillas in Ukraine. You know something about the situation in various cities."


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander, I almost forgot if you didn''t tell me." After listening to Romanov''s explanation, kirilov said with embarrassment, "go on."


    Romanov nodded and went on to say, "the troops occupying Alexandria can not only get the supplement from the city, but also send people to contact the guerrillas operating near znaankaduha." At this point, he stood up straight and added with a little pride, "there are about a thousand guerrillas here, almost all of them; They come from the scattered regular army, and their combat effectiveness is better than that of ordinary guerrillas. "


    "Guerrillas?" Romanov''s words aroused my interest. It was the first time that I heard someone suggest that I should recruit guerrillas to supplement the army. However, the composition of the guerrillas active in Ukraine is too complex, both against the Germans and the Soviet army. It was in Ukraine that vatukin was attacked by the so-called guerrillas and died. So I asked cautiously, "Comrade deputy commander, do you understand this guerrilla commander?"


    Romanov was a smart man. When he heard my question, he immediately understood it and quickly replied, "Comrade commander, please rest assured that this guerrilla unit I''m talking about, like us, is composed of small units that have retreated from Belarus. There is absolutely no problem in terms of loyalty to the motherland."


    When I heard that it was a trustworthy guerrilla, I nodded with satisfaction. Then I gave Romanov a chin and motioned him to continue. Romanov went on: "as long as we have control of Alexandria, we can threaten clemenzue and the city of Communist Youth on the other side of the Dnieper at any time, and contain the German forces in these two cities. Once our troops have established themselves here, we can send the troops occupying kilovgrad to continue to advance to the northwest and to Kiev. "


    When I heard Romanov talking about Kiev, I could not help sneering. I said that it was OK to make trouble in the enemy''s rear with our existing forces and equipment. If we attack Kiev, which is heavily fortified by the German army, we will be killed. However, I was embarrassed to attack Romanov''s enthusiasm, so I had to switch the topic: "Comrade deputy commander, if we don''t develop to the northwest, but attack Nikolayev in the south, and then threaten Odessa, and cut off the German supply from the sea, wouldn''t the effect be better?"


    "Comrade commander, it is not advisable for us to attack south." After he said this, he stopped to observe my reaction. Seeing that I was just staring at him without expression, he continued: "if we occupy Nikolayev, our troops will have to bear the attack from several directions. One is the German army on the other side of the Dnieper River, and the other is the German army from Romania. And the German warships moored near the port will also bombard us with their guns. "


    "Comrade o''shanina, I think the deputy commander is very reasonable." After Romanov finished his speech, kirilov slowly expressed his views: "in addition to the reasons he just said, I would like to add that we are now fighting alone behind the enemy lines and can not get any support from the outside world. We can only rely on ourselves. Similarly, there is no rear operation. I agree with the deputy commander''s proposal. Although moving to the northwest will also lead to fierce fighting, it is relatively close to the area under our own control. Even if we are surrounded by the German army, we can break through in the direction of Moscow. As for Nikolayev, "he said, shaking his head and in a low voice," once our troops are surrounded by the German army here, let alone break through, even if the enemy gives us a way to retreat, we will not be able to reach our defense area in three or five days. "


    As soon as kirilov finished speaking, I immediately nodded and said, "political commissar and deputy commander, you two are quite right. Going south is a dead end. Attacking Northwest can disturb the German rear and take the initiative in the battlefield. It''s up to us, not the Germans, to decide where and how to play. Next, let''s talk about the 171st division of Colonel andreushenko and the two regiments we have on the Dnieper River? Do you want to stay and stick to your present position, or do you want to withdraw and join us and concentrate on attacking the northwest? " As soon as my question came out, kirilov and Romanov were silent. After they looked at each other, no one said anything. They just looked at me as if they were waiting for my final decision. Although Romanov gave me a good first impression, I don''t know much about his command ability. In order to find out his level, I intentionally asked him, "Comrade deputy commander, how do you think about it?" After a moment''s silence, Romanov said calmly, "Comrade commander, at present our troops are limited. I think we should concentrate all our troops."¡° Oh, gather the troops together. " When I heard that his idea was close to mine, I asked with great interest, "if we withdraw all the troops by the river, what will we do if the German troops on the other side cross the river to catch up?" Hearing my question, a smile suddenly appeared on Romanov''s face. Seeing my blank smile on his face, he then explained: "Comrade commander, you may forget that there is no road from the island to kafbas. The reason why our troops can reach the outside of the city and launch an attack in such a fast time is that this section of the road that could not be walked is frozen. Now the weather is getting warmer, and maybe tomorrow night, or even in the afternoon, the roads here will become muddy and impassable again. "¡° I see, comrade deputy commander. " When kirilov heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting and saying, "you mean that our troops should seize the time to pass through this area quickly before the road freezes and come to kafbas to join us. Even if the German troops cross the river to pursue, they will be slowed down by the muddy road, so that we have enough time to build defense and implement the next battle plan. "¡° Exactly, comrade political commissar. " For kirilov''s supplement, Romanov nodded approvingly and said definitely: "we just need to make a time difference skillfully when the enemy doesn''t notice. When the Krauts come back and try to pursue our troops, they will find it''s too late. " Seeing that everyone agreed, I cried out to the door, "major Pugachev." With my shouts, Pugachev quickly ran into the headquarters, stood in front of us and asked, "Comrade commander, what instructions do you have?"¡° Send a telegram to the chief of staff immediately. "Because of the time constraint, I didn''t say anything nonsense. I said to Pugachev straightforwardly," let him immediately lead the 171st division and the two regiments on the river to withdraw to kafbas before dark. "¡° Yes Pugachev promised that he did not leave immediately, but stayed in the same place and reported to me: "Comrade commander, the troops led by general bantailiev and general gurdyev have arrived. I believe they will report to you at the army headquarters in a short time."¡° I see I waved to Pugachev and told him, "major, don''t stand here foolishly. Go and send a telegram to the chief of staff immediately, so that they can gather their troops and prepare for the transfer." This time, without hesitation, Pugachev raised his hand to salute the three of us, then turned and left the headquarters and went back to the telegraph room next door.

 Chapter 946

    When bantailiev and gurdyev came to my headquarters, Romanov told them the whole battle plan in detail. After Romanov finished, he turned to me and asked, "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"


    I nodded, went to the two men, stood still, and said to them solemnly: "two general comrades, at present, the enemy does not know that we have captured kafbas, and the main German force led by Mannstein is also tied down on the other side of the Dnieper River by the forces of Voronezh''s front army, which creates a good fighting environment for us. I now declare that the task of seizing kilovgrad is to be completed by the 22nd division of general bandeleev''s guards; General gurdyev''s 308th division was responsible for the capture of Alexandria. Remember, after you have captured the city, you should quickly add soldiers from the residents (mainly workers). And you, general gurdyev, immediately after you completely occupied the city, you sent your liaison personnel to znaankaduha in the northwest to get in touch with the guerrillas there. "


    After listening to what I said, gurdyev hesitated and said, "Comrade commander, as far as I know, the composition of guerrillas in Ukraine is very complex. Although many troops want to fight with the Germans, they will also fight with our troops. How do I know if this guerrilla is trustworthy? "


    "General gurdyev," heard this question, Romanov took the initiative to say: "although I have never had contact with the guerrilla commander, but as far as I know, they are still very determined to the German war, and the troops are stationed in the forest most of the time, never to harass the local residents."


    "Harassing residents?" As soon as Romanov finished, kirilov immediately asked curiously, "Comrade deputy commander, what''s the matter? Can you tell us?"


    "Since the political commissar wants to hear it, I''ll tell you about it." With a wry smile, Romanov told us about his suppression of several guerrillas: "last autumn, the crops were ripe, and the plain was full of invisible waves of wheat and sunflowers. A small guerrilla group lurked in the sunflower forest because they had been out of food for several days and had to find a way to replenish food. Because this is German territory, they are very cautious, because it is very difficult to rob food from German hands. In addition to killing many people, many bullets will be wasted, which is not easy to come by.


    What great patriotic war, for these civilians with guns and a face of hooliganism, is bullshit. As long as they can survive, they dare to do anything that is heartless.


    When they found out that in a village a few kilometers away, there were no Germans, not even male villagers, only a group of women. So they rushed into the village and took everything they could, even a group of young women. When they left the village, they brutally killed the remaining villagers and set the village on fire.


    These things are very skilful for them. Because in their minds, even if our army reoccupied the place and found the dead bodies of villagers and charred houses, they would put all these crimes on the German head.


    However, they were very unlucky this time. I happened to lead the troops to pass by. I met a middle-aged woman who escaped from the village. I knew what had happened from her mouth, so I ordered the troops to rush up decisively to eliminate the bandits under the banner of guerrillas. After interrogating several captured bandits about the series of crimes they committed against our people, I ordered that they all be executed. In the next half a month, I will lead the troops to operate in the vicinity and wipe out the scum of the guerrillas who endanger the residents. "


    After Romanov''s words were over, everyone understood what happened. Gurdyev quickly said, "I understand. Comrade deputy commander, if this guerrilla is useful to us, I will try to recruit them. If they are bandits who commit crimes, I will not hesitate to wipe them out."


    "Comrade General, I very much agree with your consideration." Kirilov took the initiative to express his attitude towards gurdyev''s statement: "we can never tolerate the black sheep under the banner of the guerrillas. We must resolutely, cleanly and thoroughly eliminate them." With these words, he turned to look at me again and asked my opinion, "Comrade o''xanina, what''s your opinion?"


    "Comrade political commissar, my view is the same as yours."


    Bantai leiev, who had never said anything, saw that we agreed, so he asked: "Comrade commander, when can we start?"


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I said to them, "two generals, let your troops have a rest. When it''s getting dark at 5 p.m., we''ll move forward to your respective goals."


    "Comrades in chief," Romanov immediately reminded me in good faith after hearing such an order from me, saying, "comrades in chief, the five regiments led by the chief of staff may not arrive on time in the evening, and there will only be direct military units left in the city. Is that appropriate?"


    For Romanov''s reminder and worry, I waved my hand and said easily: "Comrade deputy commander, don''t worry about this. According to my analysis, the German army has no idea that we have occupied kafbas, so we are very safe here. "


    "But this is the German transport hub after all. If they have a transport convoy passing by, they will easily find out that the city has been occupied by our army." Romanov patiently explained the interests to me, hoping that I could change the order just now: "as long as they issued a warning to the higher authorities, the German troops would come from all directions, and the enemy would also send out air force to carry out air strikes on our city. At that time, we would be passive."¡° Comrade deputy commander, the troops are precious and fast. Now we are going to take advantage of the fact that the German army has not come back to its senses and decisively attack their vital parts, so that they can not look at each other head and tail. This will help our army to take the initiative in the battlefield. " When I saw that some of them still looked worried, I continued: "if we wait until chief of staff Vitkov leads the troops to arrive, and then send two divisions of bantailiev and gurtyev to set out, are you not afraid to delay the fight?" Kirilov and Romanov were silent when I spoke so seriously. I was waving bandeleev back to rest when Pugachev hurried in outside the door. When he came to me, he came close to me and reported the latest information to me. Seeing his action, I said with some displeasure: "Comrade major, if there is anything, you can say it here to let everyone understand what happened." Before fighting, I always advocate that commanders and fighters should understand the purpose and significance of fighting. The advantage of doing so is that our commanders and fighters know what they are doing and what they are going to do, so that the troops can form a cohesive force. Pugachev, who was reproached by me, immediately straightened up and reported to the people present: "we have just received a telegram from the chief of staff. Apart from the troops left to serve as guards, the large troops are moving in an orderly manner. According to the Scout''s report, due to the thinning of the ice layer on the river, the German army is looking for a suitable area to rebuild the floating bridge and try to rush across the river. "¡° Comrade oshanina, I think this is the enemy''s discovery of our army''s action. " Kirilov didn''t wait for Pugachev to finish, then he interrupted: "maybe they want to follow our troops and rush towards kafbas."¡° Comrade political commissar, "I said helplessly," the Germans across the Dnieper River are not blind. How can we hide the actions of tens of thousands of people from their scouts. Maybe there are German scouts in ambush on our retreat route. Go on, major¡° The chief of staff also said that according to the reports of our scouts on the east coast, the German imperial division, the skull division and the 11th armored division had turned north, leaving only the 336th infantry division. " I heard that there was only the 336th German division left in zaborosh. I quickly turned around and walked to the table. I leaned over to look at the map on the table. After looking at it for a while, I had a relatively complete plan in my mind, so I called Pugachev to my side and asked him to record my order: "let the chief of staff choose the right place to set up an ambush circle in the process of withdrawal, and strive for the complete annihilation or annihilation of the first German army, which has reduced the attack pressure that kafbas may bear in the future." After recording the order, Pugachev reported to me: "Comrade commander, the retreated troops have consumed almost all their ammunition after repeated battles, and they are in urgent need of replenishment at present."¡° It''s easy. You can arrange ten trucks and send them some ammunition. " After giving this order, I suddenly thought of the bad road conditions outside the city, and quickly asked: "is the road suitable for heavy trucks?"¡° No problem, comrade commander. " "Today, the temperature outside is still very low. I believe most of the areas are still able to pass trucks," Pugachev said with certainty¡° That''s great. " When Pugachev finished speaking, I urged him: "Comrade major, you should first send a message to the chief of staff, convey my order to him, and inform him that the ammunition supplied for them will be delivered soon. After the telegram is sent, you immediately arrange for the truck to deliver the ammunition to the chief of staff. Troops with insufficient ammunition can''t fight. "

 Chapter 947

    When it was dark, the troops of bantailiev and gurdyev had just set out, and the faint sound of explosion and gunfire came from the north of the city. When I heard the news from outside, my first reaction was: did the German pursuers enter the encirclement of chief of staff Vitkov? But shouldn''t the fighting be carried out in the southeast? Why are the gunshots and explosions coming from the Northeast?


    I listened to what was going on outside for a while and was thinking about sending Pugachev to find out where the fighting was going. I didn''t expect to wait for my name to be Pugachev, but it was suddenly quiet outside.


    "Commissar, deputy commander," I asked, looking at kirilov and Romanov, "did you hear the gunfire and explosion outside?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Romanov took the lead in answering: "judging from the sound of gunfire, it should be our standard weapons shooting, only a few sporadic German weapons shooting, and our army also used mortars."


    "Is it chief Vitkov''s forces, fighting with the German forces that are catching up?" Kirilov asked tentatively after Romanov finished.


    "I don''t think so." I answered kirilov in a positive tone: "if it was the exchange of fire between Colonel wittkov and the catching up German troops, the fighting would be much more fierce. It would never end so soon."


    Romanov said to himself, "where did the fighting take place?"


    "We''ll find out, comrade deputy commander." When I had finished, I called out to the outside, "major Pugachev, major Pugachev."


    As soon as my voice fell, I heard the sentry at the door shouting for me: "major Pugachev, the commander is looking for you."


    With the help of the sentry, Pugachev quickly ran into my headquarters and stood in front of me, waiting for my orders.


    "Major, did you hear the gunfire and explosion just now?" Seeing that Pugachev nodded in affirmation, I went on to say, "go and find out where the fighting happened. Report to me as soon as you have any news. "


    "Yes Pugachev agreed and quickly ran back to the next telecommunication room.


    As soon as Pugachev left, wittkov''s telegram came, in which he wrote briefly: "there are about two battalions of German troops following our troops into the plain which has not yet completely thawed. The fourth regiment of the 22nd division of the guards has set up an ambush circle under the command of commander Gaidar. The newly replenished ammunition has been distributed to the front-line combat forces, and we are confident that we will defeat or even wipe out the enemy in the shortest possible time after the battle begins. "


    After reading the telegram I gave him, kirilov turned to the telegraph operator and said, "Comrade telegraph operator, please call back the chief of staff and say that we wish him victory."


    When the operator was sitting by and beeping, Pugachev came in with a smile on his face. He came to the three of us, stood still and reported to me, "Comrade commander, the situation is clear. The reconnaissance company led by the former captain travkin exchanged fire with a transport convoy of the enemy. "


    "What''s the matter, where''s the enemy?" When I heard Pugachev say that there was an exchange of fire between the reconnaissance battalion and the German transport convoy, I immediately became nervous and asked, "what''s the situation like now? Did the enemy escape or were we annihilated?"


    "Report to the commander," Pugachev still said with a smile, "the German transport fleet has been completely annihilated by us, and 43 German officers and soldiers have been killed except 11 captured. Except for the five trucks that we destroyed, the rest of the nine trucks were captured by our army. "


    "Be more specific, comrade major." Romanov may have thought that Pugachev was vague, and he specially said something.


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." When Pugachev heard Romanov asking himself, he turned slightly to Romanov and said, "according to captain travkin, when they were going out to survey the terrain, they suddenly heard the sound of the motor of the car. At first, when they thought it was a friendly movement, their motorcade climbed to the nearby hills to check.


    On the hillside, the captain found that on the road at the foot of the mountain, there were nine covered trucks in long lines, one by one speeding along the road from north to south. When he found the enemy coming, he immediately ordered the accompanying mortars to intercept.


    Unable to figure out how many enemies there were in the car, the mortars didn''t even use the base, so they fired directly. The shell fell on the road and exploded, and a group of gray black smoke rose in the middle of the motorcade. The truck in the front was hit by a mortar shell. After the fire broke out, it drove forward for a certain distance before stopping. Then there was a violent explosion.


    Later, when the car saw that the road ahead was blocked, it turned around and tried to run back. However, our mortars did not fire them. They fired at the trucks behind them, destroyed the last two trucks and completely blocked the road, leaving the enemy trapped in the middle with no way back.


    Then travkin led the infantry around him to charge. There were few enemies in the convoy. We saw our soldiers rush down the hillside and fight back in a hurry. As our soldiers rush up, it won''t be long before the battle is over. "


    "What are the casualties of our army?" After listening to the results of the war, it seems to be a habit for me to ask directly about the casualties of our army¡° One of our soldiers died and 17 were injured, but none of them were seriously injured, which did not affect their participation in the next combat mission. "¡° Captain travkin, have they interrogated the prisoners? " Kirilov added: "have you figured out where this enemy is coming from?" Pugachev nodded and said: "it is clear from the interrogation that these enemies are transporting goods from Dnepropetrovsk. They said that there are some troops on the front line, and they only have enough food for one day tomorrow. Tomorrow there will be a convoy of 50 trucks coming to kafbas to carry the food they need Hearing what Pugachev said, Romanov said in surprise: "great, it''s really great. At present, the German army is short of food. As long as we firmly control kafbas and cut off the German supply line, the morale and morale of their army will suffer a heavy blow. At that time, the hope of the friendly army to win will be greatly increased. " Kirilov also agreed with Romanov''s point of view. He even suggested to me, "Comrade oshanina, do you think we should send an army to set up ambushes on both sides of the road to the north of the city to destroy the German convoy?"

 Chapter 948

    I agreed to kirilov''s proposal without thinking. Because we used the tactics of sneak attack to capture kafbas, and the battle just ended so quickly, it is estimated that up to now, the German army does not know that kafbas has fallen into our hands. As for the 336th infantry division of the German army following wittkov, they may think that our commanders and fighters chose the hard and inaccessible wasteland in order to escape. I did not expect that our troops would retreat to kafbas in a planned way instead of being defeated. Under such circumstances, it is entirely possible for us to ambush the Germans in the north of the city.


    When I arranged the combat mission, Pugachev said with some embarrassment: "Comrade commander, our troops are limited. If we want to set up an ambush in the north of the city, then the defense strength of the city will be insufficient. Once the German forces come from the south, we will be in great danger. "


    "Don''t worry, major Pugachev." At present, I have a clear idea of the lack of troops in the city. When I heard Pugachev''s initiative to raise this question, I immediately comforted him and said, "a guard company is set up in the south of the city, and two companies are left in the city. The rest of the troops will go to the north of the city to ambush. Even if the enemy forces are strong, as long as they can hold on for a few hours, the troops led by chief of staff Vitkov will arrive. "


    "Well, I''ll arrange it now." With that, Pugachev turned and left the headquarters.


    Looking at Pugachev''s back, Romanov said to me, "Comrade commander, I think there are too few commanders in the headquarters. Sometimes comrades like major Pugachev have to be responsible for several aspects at the same time."


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander, you are right." Kirilov also agreed with his statement, but as for our current situation, we can only say with regret: "we have always lacked commanders with rich combat experience, so major Pugachev had to play the role of a generalist temporarily."


    "Political commissar, deputy commander." After kirilov finished speaking, I said, "not only do our troops lack experienced commanders, but all the troops are in urgent need of such commanders and combat backbones, but we can''t place our hopes on our superiors." Speaking of this, I turned my eyes to kirilov. "Comrades of the political commissar should know that major Pugachev used to be an ordinary low-level commander, and he also gradually grew up in the long-term battle. So to solve the problem of insufficient commanders at all levels, we have to rely on us to train them. "


    Just then, the sound of guns came from outside. Romanov listened attentively, and then said definitely, "Comrade commander, the gunfire is coming from the south. It must be that the troops of chief of staff Vitkov and the German pursuers are on fire."


    "Won''t our troops suffer?" Hearing what Romanov said, kirilov could not help but ask anxiously, "do you know that our officers and men are exhausted after many battles and long journeys. Can they block the enemy''s attack?"


    "Comrade political commissar, please rest assured." Regarding kirilov''s concerns, Romanov said confidently: "Col. Vitkov is also a commander with rich combat experience. At his level, it is estimated that the troops will not retreat blindly. He may carry out a counterattack from time to time to slow down the advance speed of the German army, so as to ensure that our army has enough time to ambush on the way forward. The gunfire we hear now may be that they are encircling and annihilating the German troops who have broken into the encirclement. "


    At this time, after receiving a telegram, the operator in the headquarters came over. He stood in front of us, holding the telegram in his hand, looking at us nervously, not knowing who to give it to. At last, I took the lead in speaking. As I didn''t want to read any telegrams, I said to him, "Comrade telegraph operator, please give the telegram to the deputy commander."


    Romanov took the telegram from the operator''s hand, looked at it a few times, and said to us happily, "commander, political commissar, the telegram is from chief of staff Vitkov. He said that the enemy had entered the ambush circle he had set up, and the battle was now fierce. He is confident that he will wipe out the enemy in an hour and end the battle. "


    "Great, that''s great." After hearing this, kirilov said excitedly, "chief of staff, after they have completely annihilated this enemy, they can immediately enter the city to join us, so that we will not worry about the shortage of troops."


    Although the German pursuers entered our ambush circle, they were caught off guard by us. However, their combat effectiveness is strong. Facing the siege of our army in all directions, their enemies rely on their own terrain to carry out tenacious defense. The fighting went on fiercely and lasted for a long time. It was not until midnight that the whole besieged German battalion was completely wiped out by the troops under the command of wittkov.


    However, when Vitkov and andryushchenko returned to my headquarters, I only exchanged a few words with them and ordered andryushchenko to set up the city''s defense. As the 171st division was disabled, there were less than 2000 people left, so I gave them the defense work in the city. In the south of the city where the enemy might appear, I placed the fourth regiment of Gaidar.


    Fearing that the troops ambushing in the north of the city were all light weapons, even if there were several armored vehicles in the German convoy, they would be very difficult to cope with, so they called Pugachev and told him, "there are still six tanks left in major pereskine''s tank battalion. In addition to keeping two of them on guard in the city, you should send three to captain trafkin. The remaining one will be sent to gedar regiment as a fixed fort. "


    Travkin led three companies and spent the night lurking on the hillside in the north of the city. He did not see the enemy''s convoy to transport goods. At dawn, travkin called me to ask what to do? After thinking about it, I replied, "Captain, although there is no sign of the enemy now, the ambush circle can not be withdrawn for the time being. Well, you let the commanders and fighters take turns to rest and eat. The enemy''s materials on the front line are consumed so fast that sooner or later they will send convoys to the warehouse to pick up the materials. " The north is safe, but the south is in trouble. Gaidar called and reported to me, "Comrade commander, the situation is not good. A German army is coming along the road to our regiment''s defense area."¡° What, the German army? " When I heard Gaidar''s report, I was startled and asked, "Comrade commander, where did you get the information?"¡° It was my scout who reported it to me on a walkie talkie¡° How many troops does the enemy have? " When I heard that it was the scout who reported it, I asked, "what kind of equipment do you have?"¡° According to the Scout''s report, the enemy''s convoy consisted of twenty trucks. " Gaidar said in a hurry: "because they are covered trucks, the scouts can''t see how many troops there are, but behind the three trucks in the front of the convoy are towed guns, and they are all large caliber guns."¡° I know, Colonel gedar According to gedar''s description, the German army has at least one heavy artillery company, so I ordered him: "get the commanders and fighters ready for battle immediately, and put the tanks equipped for your regiment on the hillside, so that it can attack the German army''s convoy and provide you with the necessary artillery support." Putting down the phone, I immediately said to wittkov: "Comrade chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar has just reported that a convoy of 20 trucks was found in the regiment''s defense area, three of which later carried heavy artillery. You immediately order the tanks staying in the city to move forward to the position of the fourth regiment. " After giving the order, I looked back at kirilov and Romanov, because I planned to go to the front personally. I had to find someone to accompany me, otherwise my movement would be limited. My eyes swept on them for a long time, and finally decided to let Romanov accompany me. So I said to Romanov, "Comrade deputy commander, I''m going to go to the front. Can you come with me?"¡° No problem, comrade commander. " Romanov readily agreed: "I''ll go with you."

 Chapter 949

    Before the battle in the south of the city began, Romanov and I went to a building on the southernmost side of the city. We stood at the window on the fourth floor and raised our binoculars to look at the battlefield in front of us.


    I don''t know how many vehicles have run over the road in my field of vision. The thick snow has been pressed into a shiny ice layer, which is particularly dazzling under the sunshine. Four regiments about a battalion of soldiers, motionless lying in the trench dug out overnight, the muzzle of the gun pointed to the road.


    Seeing this situation, Romanov came close to me and asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, how come the German motorcade hasn''t appeared yet? Have they found our ambush circle?"


    "No, absolutely not." As for Romanov''s worry, I explained to him: "the reason why the enemy''s motorcade has not appeared may be two reasons: first, the reconnaissance team of the fourth regiment is far away from here; Second, the road was slippery, and the German motorcade had to slow down. Comrade deputy commander, be patient. You can see the enemy''s motorcade after a while. "


    "Well, since Comrade commander says so, we''ll wait." With these words, Romanov raised his telescope again and continued to observe. After watching for a while, I suddenly heard him say in a soft voice: "thank God, the German team has finally arrived."


    I was looking at the concealment of the officers and men of the fourth regiment. I heard Romanov''s voice and quickly moved my telescope back to the road. In the distance, a group of trucks with awning were driving slowly towards this side. Maybe it''s really because of the slippery road. The speed of the vehicles is not fast at all. I quietly counted them up: "one, two, three... Nineteen, twenty. Yes, the Scout is right. The enemy is twenty trucks, three trucks in the front and artillery in the back."


    I put down my telescope, turned around and looked into the middle of the room. When the signalman saw me looking back at him, he picked up the phone on the desk and quickly dialed the headquarters of the fourth regiment. Then he reported to me, "Comrade commander, the phone is connected."


    I went over, took the phone from the signalman, and said, "Hello, is that Colonel Gaidar? The enemy''s motorcade has appeared. Is your regiment ready to fight? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Gaidar respectfully reported: "we are all ready. As soon as the German convoy enters our ambush circle, it will open fire and destroy the front and rear trucks, so that the vehicles in the middle are blocked on the road, so that they have no way to escape."


    When I saw the artillery towed by the back of the truck, I had the idea of seizing the three heavy guns. But on second thought, if I gave such an order, it might make Gaidar feel constrained when they fight. It''s better to let them play freely. As for whether they can capture the artillery, it depends on their luck.


    As the motorcade drove into the ambush circle step by step, the tank, which was originally stopped behind the fourth regiment, also started. After a puff of black smoke from the rear of the tank, it drove slowly up the hillside. After stopping at the top of the hill, the long gun barrel stretched downward and slowly turned to the direction of the convoy.


    Our tanks make so much noise that the officers and men in the German convoy are not blind. It is impossible that they can''t see it. Therefore, the truck in the front has slowed down and seems to want to stop.


    But it was too late. A fire burst out from the muzzle of the tank. A moment later, the head car on the road soared into the air, even higher than the slopes on both sides. When the truck fell down heavily, it was immediately torn apart, and the soldiers sitting in the truck were also thrown out like flying girls, lying motionless on the snow. I don''t know whether they were stunned or killed on the spot.


    The second shell directly hit the cab of the second truck, and the flaming truck suddenly tilted to the side. When the vehicle turned, the towed gun tilted to the ground, and the hook connecting the gun and the car clattered out. With the help of strong inertia, the gun slid out on the smooth road, It didn''t stop until it hit the deformed gun held by the front car.


    Then I saw the tank on the hillside launch for the third time. This time, the shell did not hit the truck, but landed next to it and exploded. The explosion overturned the truck that had just stopped. When the truck rolled to the side of the road and stopped, the soldiers in the carriage, like the seeds scattered by the seeder, were everywhere on the snow-white ground.


    "That''s great. That''s great! Comrade commander, do you see that? Our tank soldiers are good. Three guns hit the target accurately. It''s amazing. We should give him credit and honor... "After talking so much, Romanov said with regret:" it''s just a pity that these three heavy guns, judging from the shelling effect just now, at least two of them have been reimbursed. "


    Romanov said this for a reason. After firing all the shells, the artillery regiments of our army destroyed the cannons one after another and withdrew to the West Bank of the Dnieper River with the main force. Because of the absence of artillery, commander kaverin''s troops can only be used as infantry temporarily. After Romanov assumed the post of deputy commander, he proposed to me several times that new artillery should be seized from the enemy''s hands as soon as possible and the artillery regiment should be rearmed. Today, it''s strange to see that you could have captured heavy artillery and reimbursed it under your own eyes.


    Seeing his sad face, I quickly comforted him and said, "Comrade deputy commander, in the next few days, I plan to command the troops to attack the towns occupied by the German army like guerrillas. If we don''t fight regular offensive battles, it doesn''t matter whether we have these heavy guns or not. On the contrary, if we have these guns, they will become a burden when the troops move. "


    Just as we were talking, the gedar regiment had successfully cut off the way for the German army to advance and retreat, and was charging towards the German army trapped on the road. When we saw our soldiers rushing down from the highlands on both sides like tigers, the German officers and soldiers who were not reconciled to defeat were still lying on the ground or hiding behind the car, making the final resistance.


    After a careful observation of the battlefield, I found that the number of German soldiers was very small. Except for the first three trucks, which could have about ten people in each truck, the rest of the trucks, including the drivers, were only five or six people. It seems that the trucks in the back came to the warehouse of kafbas to collect materials. Only when they met the German artillery company on the road, the two sides merged into one and came to kafbas together, But we stumbled into our ambush circle. For such a weak enemy, although the fourth regiment has only sent one battalion, it is very easy to eliminate them.


    Listening to the increasingly sparse gunfire and watching the weakening resistance of the German army, I dialed Gaidar again. When I heard his voice coming out of the receiver, I simply said, "Comrade commander, you are playing very well. Seize the time to clean the battlefield, or the German plane will blow up all the trucks on the road first, so you should hide the trucks as soon as possible. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Gaidar replied in a loud voice, "I''ll immediately arrange for people to move the truck and hide it."


    Back at the army headquarters, as soon as I entered the gate, I saw witkov standing in front of me with a smile on his face. I thought he knew the result of the battle in the south of the city, so I also asked with a smile: "chief of staff, you know all about it?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Wittkov said with a little excitement: "I just received the war report. They did a great job."


    "Got a telegram?" When I heard this, I couldn''t help wondering. It''s not far from the city to the army headquarters, and there are telephone lines. Just make a phone call. Is it necessary to send a telegram? So I asked in surprise, "why, comrade chief of staff, commander Gaidar reported the war to you and sent you a telegram?"


    "Colonel gedar, send me a telegram? No? " Wittcofton was at a loss when he heard my question. He turned to kirilov, who was still sitting at the table: "Comrade political commissar, did Colonel Gaidar of the fourth regiment send us a telegram? I remember that he only made a phone call and reported to us about the fighting in the south of the city. "


    Seeing kirilov nodding his head, I felt that I might have made a mistake. I coughed quickly to hide my embarrassed expression, and then asked, "chief of staff, I just heard that you had received the telegram of good news. I thought it was from lieutenant colonel Gaidar. I was wondering that it was such a short distance from the south of the city to the headquarters, even if I sent a messenger to report it, It won''t take long. Why send a telegram. By the way, who on earth sent the telegram you said? "


    Wittkov gave me a silent look, and then reported, "it was from general bandeleev. His troops have successfully captured kilovgrad, and a company in the city has been completely annihilated. At present, they are organizing workers and residents to build fortifications in the city. "


    "Oh, kilovgrad has been occupied. General bantaileiev has done a good job." Hearing that the 22nd division of the guards had successfully completed its task, I asked about the situation of another unit: "what about the current situation of the 308th division of general gurdyev?"


    When I asked about gurdyev''s troops, wittkov frowned: "there are probably two German companies in Alexandria. When gurdyev launched a sneak attack, he was accidentally found by the enemy, so the sneak attack turned into a strong attack. According to his telegram, our troops have occupied two-thirds of the area and are launching a final attack on the remaining enemy. "


    Hearing such an official report, I asked with some displeasure, "did general gurdyev say how long will he be able to end the fighting?" There is a reason why I am so angry. There are at least 5000 fighters in the 308th division. Even if the German army has two companies with 400 soldiers, our army also has an absolute advantage in the comparison of forces. If we can''t solve the battle in a short time, it''s a bit unreasonable.


    Wittcofton was silent about my question. After a while, seeing that he did not speak, I asked impatiently, "Comrade chief of staff, do you think the 308th division can capture Alexandria in half an hour?"


    Seeing that I had a sign of anger, wittkov hesitated and said, "Comrade commander, I think general gurdyev is still very good. Under his command, the 308th division is still very strong in fighting."


    "Chief of staff," I saw wittkov''s wrong answer, so I was really angry: "I asked whether the 308th division could capture the city in half an hour, not how general gurtyev and his 308th division were doing!"


    "Don''t worry, comrade o''shanina. Take your time when you have something to say." Kirilov may see that if it goes on like this again, the scene in the headquarters will get out of control and quickly come out to be a peacemaker. After persuading me, he turned to Vitkov and said, "Comrade chief of staff, since the chief of military has asked you a question, you can answer what you think." Seeing what kirilov said, wittkov finally got up his courage and said, "Comrade commander, I think it''s very difficult for the 308th division to solve the battle in half an hour. After all, it''s a big city, and most of the buildings are stone buildings. The German army can use these solid buildings to resist." I''ve been working with wittkov for so long, and I''ve never blushed with him for work. But I don''t know what''s going on today. I''m very upset. I just want to get angry for no reason. When he finished, I waved to him and said, "forget it, don''t give general gurdyev their time limit. You''ll send him a telegram later and ask if the regiment you went to last night has returned to Jianwei? " Wittkov agreed and was about to send a message. Unexpectedly, before he got to the telephone, the operator had already got up and reported to him, "Comrade chief of staff, the telegram from the headquarters of the front army." A telegram from the headquarters of the front army. The origin of this telegram startled me. My heart said that at this time, watujing sent me a telegram to arrange some combat tasks for our army? Thinking of this, I immediately asked witkov: "Comrade chief of staff, what does general vatukin say in the telegram?" Wittkov raised the telegraph in his hand and said excitedly to me, "Comrade commander, you really use your arms like a God. The commander of the front army said in the telegram that in order to contain the German forces near the Dnieper River and cover the confluence of the Voronezh front army and our southwest front army, we should immediately send troops to capture kafbas and cut off the enemy''s supply lines. And they wait for an opportunity to advance into kilovgrad and Alexandria, to contain the enemy''s forces and to prevent them from increasing their forces across the Dnieper River. " After listening to wittkov''s telegram, I saw approval and admiration from the faces of the people who looked at me. Even kirilov''s eyes were full of laughter.

 Chapter 950

    I was a little embarrassed by everyone''s eyes. I coughed and cleared my throat. If I were in that mysterious ancient country in the east at the moment, maybe I would say a few modest words, but here, there is no need at all. So I brazenly said: "it''s no surprise, I have long estimated that the superior will have such an arrangement in tactics. All my decisions are just to realize the superior''s intention ahead of time." After saying this, I felt my face burning. I waved my hand and said to wittkov, "OK, chief of staff, please hurry up and send a message to general gurdyev to learn about the fighting there. Once they succeed in capturing Alexandria, they will immediately report the results to the headquarters of the front army. "


    I sat at the table, staring at the map on the table, listening to kirilov and Romanov''s chat: "Comrade deputy commander, after general gurdyev has completed the task of seizing the city, he can send people to contact the guerrillas nearby. In this way, the strength of the 308th Division will be improved."


    "Political commissar, I think so." Romanov continued: "after the 308th division occupied Alexandria, it can be thought of as a threat to the German occupied Kremenchug and the Communist Youth City. Then the 22nd division of the guards can''t be idle. I think they should also move to the northwest to occupy smira. With this foothold, we can pose a threat to Kiev. Even if we don''t have the ability to capture Kiev, general bantailiev''s troops can attack like cherkaser. Once we can eliminate the enemy here, we will establish contact with the Voronezh front army on the other side of the Dnieper River, which will become a nail for our army to enter the heart of the German army. "


    Every time Romanov said a place name, my finger would move to that position, while seriously considering the feasibility of the ideas he said. When he finished, I sighed, straightened up and said to him, "Comrade deputy commander, what you just said is very good. But our present strength is limited. If we use our strength equally on such a wide front, it will be easily defeated by the German forces. "


    "But aren''t the main forces of the German army all around the Dnieper and held back by the main forces of our army?" Wittkov didn''t know when to come over. When he heard what I said, he couldn''t help interrupting.


    "Yes, comrade oshanina." Kirilov is also in line with wittkov''s opinion: "the main force of Manstein has been restrained by our two front forces on the other side of the Dnieper River, and in order to fight against our fierce offensive, the troops on this side of the river have been almost evacuated, that is to say, we can hardly find any organized German troops around us."


    After kirilov finished speaking, I nodded and said, "political commissar, deputy chief of army and chief of staff, you are all right and reasonable." Don''t underestimate this sentence. It''s a very powerful speaking skill. What they said is not the answer I want, but I am affirming what they said. It is very important to know such affirmation, because it is a key step to make them accept my idea.


    Even if they were all wrong, if they were denied immediately, the result of the conversation would be either a bad word or an unhappy parting. Although in my capacity, they can''t speak ill of each other to me, they still have a bad heart. I don''t want to quarrel with them. I just want to reason with them. Of course, it''s right to say that I want to brainwash them.


    "But," I used a turning point, and then I began to think about what I had in mind: "although the German forces were weak in terms of the places we occupied, we knew nothing about the enemy''s strength in these cities, such as uman to the west of kilovgrad, pevomesk to the southwest and Nikolayev to the south, So the 22nd division of the close guard must leave enough troops in kilovgrad to defend. In this way, the number of troops they can use to move northward will be very limited. If there are only a small number of defenders in the area just mentioned by the deputy commander, they still have the possibility of winning. Once they meet the German army''s heavy group, they are in danger of losing the whole army. "


    After my words, the headquarters fell into silence. After a while, vetkov coughed and asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, if we don''t attack these German cities, how can we accomplish the task of containing the German forces entrusted to us by the headquarters of the front army?"


    "If we want to contain the German army, we don''t have to attack the enemy''s cities everywhere. If we encounter a fortified city and our army is short of heavy equipment, it is meaningless except to make unnecessary sacrifices in vain." As for how to contain the German army, I had already made a good calculation in my heart. I just took this opportunity to explain to them: "kafbas is an important hub on the German transportation supply line. If we occupy here, it is equivalent to cutting off the main artery of the German army. If we can''t transport food and ammunition and the wounded, I can''t see how long Mannstein can support us."


    When I said this, kirilov hit the table excitedly and said happily, "yes, instead of dispersing his forces to attack other cities, it''s better to build fortifications in kafbas to cope with the possible German counterattack."


    "By the way, chief of staff," I suddenly thought of something. Without hearing kirilov finish, I turned to Vitkov and asked, "what''s the situation in the north of the city? Is there a German convoy?"


    Vetkov shook his head and replied, "before you came back, I called travkin who was still laying ambush on both sides of the road. He said he didn''t find anything from the enemy. He suspected that the prisoner had lied to us."¡° Since no enemy has been found in the north, let the captain keep them on guard. " After I said this, I looked at Romanov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, we have seized a lot of materials. I think we should seize the time to build fortifications in the city and arm workers and citizens to defend kafbas. I''m going to leave this matter to you. Do you have any objection? "¡° No problem, comrade commander. " Romanov agreed to stand up, clasped his belt with both hands, and readily agreed: "you can trust me to take charge of this matter." Just as Romanov was about to go out, major Pugachev suddenly rushed in with a look of panic, and at the same time, he cried out: "Comrade commander, it''s not good, it''s not good!" Vitkov, who was nearest to him, grabbed his arm and asked nervously, "major, don''t be so flustered. Tell us quickly. What''s the matter?" Pugachev took a deep breath, looked at me, and reported to me: "Comrade commander, I just received a telegram from commander svelin, political commissar of the 308th division. They had just captured the city and were cleaning up the battlefield when the German planes bombed the city, and two battalions rushed to Alexandria from the North. About one of the German companies, with their familiarity with the terrain, rushed to the side of the division headquarters. General gurdyev immediately organized the staff of the division to fight back. As the enemy''s firepower was too fierce, Comrade General had to lead more than 20 Division staff officers to retreat while fighting. At this time, a German plane dived from the air and shot at them. The general held up a machine gun and fired at the air. The enemy plane was hit by the fuel tank and exploded in the air. At this time, a shell from a distance fell on his side. With an explosion, Comrade General died on the spot¡° what? General gurdyev died? " This sad news made me as if I had been struck by thunder. I was stunned on the spot and kept thinking: "no, no, how could gurtyev have sacrificed so easily? It must be the person who sent the telegram who made a mistake. I can''t. I need to find out about it right away. " When I recovered my sanity, I found that everyone''s eyes were on me, as if waiting for me to make the final decision. Under such circumstances, I coughed and said to Pugachev, who brought the bad news: "Comrade major, please send a telegram back to lieutenant commander sveling to confirm whether the telegram just sent is wrong. I don''t believe that general gurdyev would sacrifice like this?" With that, he pushed him with his hand and raised his voice abruptly, "go and find out this matter quickly, go quickly!" Then I told wittkov: "Comrade chief of staff, immediately send power to the headquarters of the front army and report to commander vatukin that our army has successfully captured kafbas, an important transportation hub of the German army, yesterday, and sent troops to capture kilovgrad and Alexandria one after another today."¡° Comrade commander, "vetkov looked at me, looked at kirilov and Romanov standing nearby, and carefully reminded me," is it right to send this telegram to the headquarters of the front army after the news of whether general gurdyev has died or not has been implemented? "¡° Comrade chief of staff, "perhaps because I heard the news of gurdyev''s sacrifice, I was very upset. I couldn''t help yelling at wittkov:" whether general gurdyev''s sacrifice or not is not in conflict with our report to the headquarters of the front army. As a soldier, don''t you know that the orders of the superior can only be obeyed? " After yelling at wittkov, I felt a little regret, so I said to wittkov, "sorry, chief of staff, I''m in a bad mood now, so I''m angry with you. Please forgive me." Seeing that I was a little out of control, kirilov quickly came out to be a peacemaker. He patted wittkov on the shoulder and said, "chief of staff, please listen to oshanina and report to the higher authorities the achievements of our army."

 Chapter 951

    Wittkov quietly went to the operator''s side, according to my order, to the head of the front army. Kirilov comforted me and said, "don''t worry, comrade oshanina. Major Pugachev has gone to verify the information. I believe he will report the correct information to us soon." After these two sentences, he seemed to feel that there was something left to say. He added, "maybe general gurtyev didn''t die, but was injured." As for kirilov''s feeble consolation, I could not help sighing gently. At the same time, I knew that it was unnecessary for Pugachev to verify it. As commander swilling heard wittkov''s last "but", my heart thumped, and my heart said that it was bad. Maybe vatukin gave me a task that could not be completed, and hastened wittkov: "chief of staff, but what? You go on Wittkov continued with a sad face: "commander vatukin told us to divide our army into two groups at the right time and continue to push northward. We need to find suitable fighters to capture the two cities of uman and smira occupied by the German army, so as to show that our army will continue to go north to capture Kiev. "¡° Comrade o''shanina, with our present strength, this is an impossible task. " After listening to wittkov''s words, kirilov immediately reminded me in a panic: "do you want to report the actual situation here to the higher authorities, so that they can have a clear idea?"¡° Comrade chief of staff, you will immediately report the news of the death of general gurdyev to the headquarters of the front army. " After finishing this sentence to wittkov, I hesitated for a moment, and then continued to say: "at the same time, I telegraphed the commander of the front army that our army had met the stubborn resistance of the German army when seizing the above-mentioned three cities, and the divisions suffered heavy casualties. At present, we are unable to continue to expand the results of the war. I request that we be allowed to take a short rest in the existing defensive positions." Maybe it was because I was angry not long ago, so as soon as I finished speaking, wittkov turned to the operator and urged him to send a telegram. Then I turned to Romanov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, the situation of Alexandria is not optimistic. You can go there now to take over the command of the army." Seeing that he nodded to show his understanding, I yelled to the outside, "Captain Yushchenko, come in." Yushchenko may have been on standby. As soon as I called him, he ran in from the door. After standing in front of me and offering a salute, he asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, what instructions do you have?" I pointed to Romanov with my hand and said, "as general gurdyev died in the battle, the 308th division is now facing a situation of no leader. Therefore, the deputy commander immediately rushed to Alexandria to take over the post of division commander. I now order you to immediately withdraw a platoon from the guard camp, one of which must be a member of the special guard company, who will escort the deputy commander to the 308th division. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander. " Yushchenko agreed loudly, went to Romanov''s side, made a please gesture, and then; He said politely, "Comrade deputy commander, please come to me. I''ll arrange for you to escort your security forces. " Romanov nodded, stood up straight, saluted kirilov and me, and then walked out of the headquarters behind Yushchenko. Witkov saw the figure of Romanov''s leaving, and asked: "Comrade commander, is it really appropriate for the deputy commander to command the 308th division?" I looked at wittkov and replied firmly, "yes, of course. I don''t think anyone is more suitable for this position than him. "

 Chapter 952

    The German army didn''t know what to do. Their motorcade was ambushed by us twice near kafbas. Although only small motorcades were lost, the enemy didn''t react at all, as if they didn''t find the city occupied by us at all.


    When I put forward my question, vetkov said with disapproval: "Comrade commander, you may have been too careful. The time of these two ambushes was very short, and there was no radio station in the German convoy that we destroyed. Even if some soldiers missed the net, they could not spread the news of the ambush in such a short time. "


    With a sneer, I replied, "Comrade chief of staff, you think things are too optimistic. If my estimation is not wrong, kafbas, as an important supply point for the German army, will surely bring in a large amount of materials every day, and a lot of materials will be transferred from here to the front line. Since we occupied the city yesterday, we have only eliminated two small-scale enemy convoys. What does that mean? " Without waiting for Vitkov to reply, I said to myself, "it shows that the enemy has sensed our capture of kafbas, so the convoy has stopped temporarily. Next, what they need to do is to mobilize troops to encircle and suppress us. "


    While chatting, the telephone on the desk suddenly rang. Vetkov picked it up and listened for a moment. Then he covered the phone with his hand, turned to look at me, and said solemnly, "Comrade commander, Captain travkin, they stopped a German car. Besides the driver, there was a lieutenant commander and a captain on it. When the captain saw them appear, he didn''t order to shoot because there was a white flag in their car. "


    "White flag?" Hearing what wittkov said, not only me, but kirilov also got up from his seat. After looking at me, he asked in surprise, "the German car is carrying a white flag. Is it to surrender?"


    "I don''t think so." I was confused by the report of travkin. Judging from the current situation, the German army didn''t want to surrender to us. In order to find out, I immediately gave Vitkov an order: "chief of staff, tell the captain to bring the two German officers in person. Remember to cover their eyes and not let them see the defense deployment in our city. "


    After about ten minutes, I heard a car stop at the door. Soon, there were heavy and clear footsteps coming from the outside, and soon the dusty trafkin appeared in front of us. Two blindfolded Germans, with the help of four soldiers, walked into the headquarters.


    When travkin reported to me, I waved to him and ordered, "Comrade captain, untie them."


    While travkin was removing the blindfolded cloth, I looked at the two German officers in front of me, trying to figure out their intentions. Both of them were wearing military coats, epaulets with silver thread and cornice hats, but after standing in place, they kept standing upright.


    After the strip was untied, I went to the commander who was about my height and politely asked, "Mr. commander, can you tell me who you are and what you are here for?"


    "Sir," said the German Lieutenant Colonel politely to me in Russian, "I am Lieutenant Colonel Huber, adjutant to field marshal Manstein, commander of the southern army group of the German army. This is my assistant, Captain mitzlaff."


    "Lieutenant Colonel Huber, please explain your intention!" I asked in a polite and stern tone, "I don''t think Marshal Manstein sent you here just to chat, did he?"


    Middle school Huber nodded and said, "general oshanina, we know from the intercepted telegram that your army has occupied kafbas and cut off our logistics supply line. After learning this sad news, the marshal decided to send me to talk to you. "


    "Talk about it. What can I talk about?" When witkov heard this, he broke in and said, "your only choice is to lay down your arms and surrender to our army. Otherwise, when our two front armies meet on the left bank of the Dnieper, it will be too late for you to surrender. "


    Commander Huber burst into laughter when he heard wittkov say so. I wanted to see what medicine he was selling in the gourd, so I stood beside him and watched his performance quietly.


    Huber laughed for a while. Seeing that all the people on our side kept silent, he coughed awkwardly and bluntly said to wittkov, "Mr. Colonel, although you have many times more troops than us, our army will not be defeated by you under the guidance of a good commander like Manstein. Maybe in three or five days, you will be completely defeated by us. By the way, I almost forgot to tell you something. Your Popov group has been defeated by our 40th armored force. Moreover, our "Adolf Hitler" Division also killed the commander of your sixth group army, haridonov, this morning, and annihilated many 7000 officers and soldiers.... "


    "Nonsense, you are making a rumor!" When kirilov heard this, he could not help but burst into a fit. He thumped the table with his fist and said angrily, "our troops are many times more than you. How can we be defeated by you. What you said is all lies and shameless rumors! "


    After kirilov''s attack, Huber shrugged his shoulders and said to me, "Sir, although I admit that your soldiers are brave, the factors that determine the outcome of the war are not only bravery, but also equipment and tactics. Without enough heavy weapons, how can the flesh and blood of your soldiers compete with the torrent of our armor? Even if you double your strength, we will defeat or destroy you in the end. "¡° Mr. commander I was deeply afraid that Huber would tell us more embarrassing information when he went on, so I interrupted him and asked impatiently, "please tell me your origin."¡° Yes, sir Huber''s face returned to calm. He looked at me and said politely, "Marshal Manstein asked me to give you a message. He admired your opponents very much. Now you have become a lonely army whose retreat has been cut off. Even if you continue to run in our rear, it will not have any effect. Therefore, Mr. marshal, I suggest that you immediately lead your troops to surrender to our army. We are making a formal promise to you that we will ensure the safety of everyone''s life. "¡° Mr. commander, are you here to persuade me to surrender? " After I understood Huber''s meaning, I could not help sneering. I glanced at him with disdain, and then said in a sarcastic tone, "how can you and your Marshal Manstein be sure that our army is at the end of its tether?"¡° Yes, sir Huber didn''t see my sarcasm, and continued to faithfully carry out his mission: "you and your troops have shown great admiration for your courage and ability in the battle of encircling mamayev post. So he ordered the reinforcements from Romania to temporarily stop advancing to kafbas, hoping that you would voluntarily lay down your arms and surrender to us, so as to avoid more blood flow... "Before he finished, my mouth gently spat out a word:" get out! " Hu Bo was stunned when he heard what I said. Seeing him standing in a daze, I raised my voice and yelled at him: "get out of here!" Then he winked at travkin and motioned to him to take the two Germans away. After the two German officers were blindfolded again and taken away, wittkov nervously asked me, "Comrade commander, do you think what the Germans said is true? Is it true that our Popov group has been defeated by them, that the 6th group army has been seriously damaged by them, and that the commander of the group army, general haridonov, has really died? " As for wittkov''s long list of questions, kirilov coughed and said with a bit of self deception: "Comrade chief of staff, don''t you see that this is a German plot? He lies in front of us in an attempt to shake our morale and achieve their ulterior goal. " I raised my hand to interrupt kirilov''s words, and said weakly, "let''s leave these unconfirmed news alone for the moment. The first thing to know is whether general Romanov has arrived in Alexandria, organized troops to repel the enemy and consolidate his position." Wittkov nodded, turned and went to the door, shouting out, "major Pugachev, major, come here." Soon, I saw Pugachev run to Vitkov and accept his instructions. I turned to kirilov and said in a low voice, "Comrade political commissar, I think what the Germans said is probably true. If necessary, we need to send a telegram to the headquarters of the front army for verification. "¡° Is that all right? " Kirilov seemed hesitant about my proposal¡° Comrade political commissar, don''t you find that the orders of the higher authorities in the past two days were directly sent to us by the headquarters of the front army, and they didn''t pass the level of the group army? " Anyway, there was no outsider nearby, so I said all my guesses: "maybe the superior worried that the news of general haridonov''s sacrifice would shake our morale, so they didn''t inform us."¡° Well, when you say that, I think it''s really like that. " After listening to my analysis, kirilov nodded in agreement with me and said, "if so, should we reconsider our way out in the future?"¡° Political commissar, you are right. "At the moment, I also realize that our army is in danger. We are surrounded by German troops, and German reinforcements are coming from Romania. In any case, our present military strength is limited, and we can''t make waves in the enemy''s rear. Instead of being consumed by the enemy, we''d better plan ahead and find a way to break out of the encirclement. At this moment, wittkov came over from the door and reported to us: "the commander, political commissar, major Pugachev reported that general Romanov had officially taken over the army and repulsed the German attack. But now they find that the enemy has encircled Alexandria from several directions, and there are still a lot of troops. There will be a vicious battle next. "

 Chapter 953

    "How did the German army react so quickly this time? Less than a day after we occupied Alexandria, the enemy came from all directions." After listening to wittkov''s story, kirilov asked nervously, "is our combat plan also intercepted by the German army?"


    "Our battle plan was not issued by radio, but I personally conveyed it to the two division commanders face to face. Only a few of us knew it. How could the German army know?" After thinking for a moment, I came up with a possibility and said directly: "I think the German troops who are rushing to Alexandria should have been sent to reinforce the front line by Manstein from other places. Just when we captured the city, the German headquarters ordered these troops to stop and turn around to destroy us first, so as to completely relieve their worries. "


    "Comrade commander, what should we do next?" After we finished, wittkov immediately asked solemnly, "although we don''t have any surplus troops, I think we should help them. We can''t watch the 308th division be destroyed by the German army."


    "Comrade chief of staff, let the business of the 308th division go first." I didn''t immediately say whether to reinforce the 308th division. Instead, I asked, "what''s the situation with the 22nd division of the guards? Have you found any trace of the enemy?"


    After listening to my question, vetkov, though puzzled, truthfully reported to me: "at present, there is no report from general bantailiev. But I don''t think there should be any problem with him? "


    "Comrade chief of staff, we should take a long view." I could not help frowning at wittkov''s carelessness, and then said sternly to him, "although there are a large number of German troops near the defense area of the 308th division, we should not be too careless about kilovgrad, where the 22nd division of the guards is located. Come and see. "


    I called wittkov and kirilov to the table, picked up a red and blue pencil, pointed to it and said to them, "you see, occupying the 22nd division of kirovgrad''s close guard can effectively cover the side rear of the 308th division, so that general Romanov will not be attacked on all sides. When Alexandria is in danger, we can send troops to reinforce him. However, their situation is not optimistic. The German army in uman, pewomeisk and Nikolayev can advance rapidly along the road and rush under the city of kilovgrad in a few hours. Therefore, we have to order general bantailiev to organize the citizens and workers as soon as possible, together with our army, in the west, Southwest and east of the city Fortifications were built in the three directions of the south to prevent German raids. "


    "Is it really that serious?" After listening to my analysis, kirilov asked suspiciously, "why don''t the Germans take back kafbas first, but go to kirilovgler and Alexandria first?"


    "It''s easy." What I doubt about Kirilov is that I explained to him: "if only the 308th division and the twenty-second division of Konoe were eaten by the German army, we would stay in the Kraft bass forces and would be trapped in the German army''s heavy encirclement. If we become the meat of their plates, when they want to eat it, they has the final say."


    "What are we going to do next?" Kirilov heard me say, "you know, we don''t have any extra troops. Can we just watch our troops being destroyed by the enemy?"


    Kirilov''s question made me silent. My eyes were fixed on the map in front of me, trying to think about the next direction of the army. If we hold still, the troops scattered in the three cities will soon be defeated by the German forces. Crossing the river back to zaborosh? This is the most unrealistic. There is only one German 336th infantry division in the city that has been disabled by us. But as soon as we attack, "skeleton division" and "imperial division" will come like sharks smelling blood. It will be not far from our total annihilation. The only feasible way is to give up kafbas, let the troops take most of the seized materials and move to the area where they were transferred, rely on the cities of kilovgrad and Alexandria to resist, search for an opportunity to cross the Dnieper River, and go north to join the main forces of our army.


    Thinking of this, I stood up straight and told wittkov: "Comrade chief of staff, first contact General bantaileiev and tell him that no matter whether there is any trace of German troops around them, we should rush to repair the fortifications."


    "What shall we do?" After listening to my order, vetkov stood still and continued to ask, "really don''t you go and help the 308th division?"


    "Captain, help may be necessary, but the first thing you need to do now is to send a message to general bandeleev, so that he can quickly build fortifications in kilovgrad and prepare for a city defense war." When I saw wittkov''s puzzled expression, I specially added: "after you send the telegram, I will give you a detailed description of my deployment."


    Wittkov readily agreed and ran to the telephone to arrange for the operator to send the message. As soon as he left, kirilov could not wait to urge me: "Dear Rita, tell me what you think."


    When I heard that kirilov''s address to me had changed by accident, I was stunned for a moment, but soon recovered and explained to him, "Comrade political commissar, this is how I think about it. Our troops leave kafbas tonight, turn north, and the 171st division moves to Alexandria, under the command of general Romanov. And we and our troops went to kilovgrad. As for the materials in the city, you can take as much as you can. If you can''t, you can burn all the fire. You can''t leave them to the Germans completely. "


    After explaining the contents of the message to the operator, wittkov went back to the desk. He just heard a few words behind me and quickly added: "Comrade commander is right. We must not let these materials fall into the hands of the enemy again. In order to improve the efficiency of transportation, I suggest mobilizing the residents of the city to participate."¡° I agree with the chief of staff. " Kirilov echoed wittkov''s opinion in time, "we will not get any supplement in the next long time, so we should try our best to transport as many materials as possible."¡° By the way, comrade commander. " Wittkov suddenly thought of something and asked me, "we found more than 5000 German winter uniforms in the warehouse. What should we do? Are they all burned? " I didn''t know the meaning of wittkov''s question, so I didn''t immediately express my position. Instead, I asked, "chief of staff, how do you think about these German uniforms?" When I asked, wittkov''s face was embarrassed: "Comrade commander, this is how I think about it. Although March is approaching, the weather is still very cold. Instead of burning these military uniforms, it''s better to give them to the residents in the city, so that they can have more clothes to protect themselves from the cold. " I was surprised that wittkov gave me such an idea. I thought about it for a moment, and then rejected his suggestion: "no, comrade chief of staff, this is not good. Even if we distribute our uniforms to the residents of the city, they will be taken over by the Germans once they come back. If you feel a little uneasy about letting residents work for us, you can give them more food. For them, food is much more useful than a German uniform. As for this batch of military uniforms, I also think it''s a pity to burn them, so we can simply load them together and transport them to kilovgrad. "¡° However, comrade commander, there are more than 5000 military uniforms in the warehouse. " Wittkov was stunned by my wonderful ideas. After a moment of silence, he began to persuade me: "if you load a truck, it will take at least thirty trucks, so you can''t transport more other materials..." "OK, chief of staff." Without waiting for him to finish, I interrupted him and said to myself, "let the drivers work hard and run twice more in the night. Anyway, this batch of military uniforms must first be transferred to kilovgrad. " With these words, I told wittkov, "chief of staff, call Colonel andreushenko immediately and ask him to come to me immediately. I will assign the task to him myself." I didn''t have much time, so andreushenko appeared in my headquarters. Looking at the Colonel standing upright in front of us, I coughed gently and said to him, "Comrade Colonel, after dark, we will abandon kafbas and move north." When I said this, I watched andrewshenko to see how he would react to the news. He did not expect that after listening to me, his face was still calm, so he continued: "the military headquarters and the troops directly under the army will be transferred to kilovgrad, and you will lead the 171st division to Alexandria to strengthen the defense of the area. Is there any problem? "¡° No Andreushenko replied loudly: "please rest assured, comrade commander. My troops and I will ensure to complete the task you have given us." Kirilov stepped forward, raised his hand and patted him gently on the shoulder. He said in a friendly way: "Comrade Colonel, since our troops will not be supplemented for a long time to come, your troops should go to the warehouse to get enough guns, ammunition, food and medicine before they leave. You can take as many as you can."¡° I understand Andrewshenko replied very briefly¡° Well, it''s getting late. Go back to the army first and make preparations. " I raised my hand to him, indicating that he could go, "I''ll send someone to greet the commander who guards the warehouse later, and ask them to provide you with the materials you need."

 Chapter 954

    As in the past, kirilov and I went ahead with the troops in this transfer, while Vitkov stayed behind to deal with the aftermath.


    Our jeep was not far from the city, so I asked the driver to drive to the foot of a hillside, and then walked with kirilov to the top of the mountain, overlooking the troops on the road below.


    On the rough road, a long convoy of covered trucks, full of infantry and various military supplies, was lumbering and rumbling along the road.


    With the help of the bright moonlight, I raised my telescope and looked around. Then I put down my telescope and said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, although the temperature is still very low, the surrounding fields are half thawed. In this way, if the German armored forces want to attack us, they have to go through this road. As long as the road is destroyed and minefields are laid, the purpose of delaying the German advance speed can be achieved. "


    Kirilov nodded in agreement with me and then added, "Rita, I''m sure chief Vitkov can think of what you said. It''s too cold at the top of the mountain. Let''s go on. "


    I just nodded. Before I could speak, there were several trucks dragging guns on the road at the foot of the mountain. Seeing this scene, kirilov pointed to the foot of the mountain and asked curiously, "when our artillery withdrew from zaborosh, didn''t they blow up all the guns? Where did these guns come from?"


    I turned to look at the shapes of the artillery towed behind the car, and then said, "these should be the anti tank guns captured in the warehouse. So, with these anti tank guns, we can also reduce some unnecessary casualties when dealing with the German armored forces. "


    When our jeep passed one truck after another and gradually approached the front of the team, there was a huge motor roar in front of us. In this increasingly noisy voice, kirilov said to me in a loud voice, "Rita, it should be major pelskin''s tank battalion in front of us. They''ve made a lot of noise."


    I turned my head and looked out of the window. There were six German tanks in a long line. They were lumbering and crawling forward. The soldiers who wrapped themselves up were sitting on the body of the tank, covering their faces with their gloved left hands to defend against the attack of the cold wind. They put their mud covered felt boots on the armor plate. Their right hands clenched the weapons in their hands and watched the movements of the four sides with vigilant eyes.


    Our jeep overtook the tank unit and drove on. Behind us were only three trucks full of soldiers from the guard company.


    Just a few kilometers away from the outskirts of kilovgrad, the driver, who had been concentrating on driving, suddenly sat up straight from his seat, wiped the fog on the windshield with his gloves, and exclaimed in surprise, "what the hell is that? Where do these people come from? "


    "Comrade driver, what do you see?" As soon as he saw the driver''s reaction, kirilov asked alertly and reached for his waist.


    "On the left, comrade political commissar." The driver turned to us and yelled, "on the hillside on the left side of the road, there are a group of people, a group of women. Hell, I don''t know where they came from."


    I quickly looked to the left, and sure enough, I saw a group of women on a hillside not far from the roadside. They waved at us and yelled at us.


    "Comrade driver, drive over." Although I couldn''t see who they were because of the bad light, I gave the order to the driver decisively.


    The driver slowed down, turned his head, hesitated and said, "Comrade commander, we don''t know the origin of those people. Is it dangerous to drive like this


    "Obey orders, comrade driver." When kirilov saw that the driver was a little timid, he said impolitely, "since Comrade commander asked you to drive, let''s go. If they were enemies, they would have opened fire on us long ago. Do they have to wait until now? "


    The driver didn''t dare say anything more, so he drove to the left and stopped at the foot of the mountain. Here, I can clearly see the group of women on the hillside, their hands on their chest, waving their headscarves. When they saw our car stop, they immediately ran down the hillside and surrounded our car. Yushchenko, who was closely behind, was afraid of an accident, so he took a group of security soldiers who had just got off the bus and surrounded the women.


    One of them, a middle-aged woman of short stature, was shouting something at us outside. Although she didn''t shout in Russian, I was surprised to understand that she was speaking Ukrainian: "comrades, please, help us."


    Seeing that there was no extreme performance on our side, another tall woman without a headscarf kept repeating the same sentence: "comrades, comrades, comrades..."


    I pushed the door open and got out of the car. I was immediately surrounded by them. Their thin, haggard faces were ablaze with fanatical joy, and their eyes were red and swollen with tears. Some of the women who grabbed my arm even burst into tears. Seeing that each of them was very excited, I turned to look at kirilov who got off from the other side of the car, spread out my hands to him, shrugged my shoulders, and indicated that under the current situation, it is difficult to ask who they are, why they are here, and why they want to stop our car.


    As a precaution, Yushchenko pushed up to me and tried to get rid of the women. I didn''t expect that as soon as he came, the women who couldn''t catch me shifted their target, surrounded him tightly, and began to touch his metal breastplate, his military cap, and his assault rifle. And a little old lady with black hair, grabbed his hand, put it on her lips and kept kissing. At the same time, he said vaguely: "relatives, dear, you are our relatives... After waiting for so long, we have finally waited for you to come back, but we have all waited for you to come back..." Yushchenko frowned at the old lady''s action, then threw away her hand, and said impatiently: "what are you doing, kissing hands! You know, I''m not a priest, I''m not a German. You don''t have to be so enthusiastic about me. " Although Yushchenko''s words are a little too much, but I unexpectedly did not make a statement, but kept silent. Because in the early days of the patriotic war, the choice of most Ukrainians was to cooperate with the Germans, and even went to the streets in groups to welcome the Germans who occupied the city. It''s normal for Yushchenko to have such a reaction to what they did. I didn''t expect that the old lady in rags, shivering with cold, after hearing these words, suddenly straightened up, raised her head, raised her chin high, spat on Yushchenko, and said angrily, "bah, what are you thinking? Do you really think I''m kissing you? I kiss the hand of the great Soviet Red Army, because the Red Army liberated us, because the red army defeated the Germans and came back here again. But you treat us like this... "Then she turned to me and said to me in Russian with a Ukrainian accent:" Comrade commander, we are all farm workers in the nearby collective farm. Before dark, we caught several German soldiers who fled to our village. According to them, kilovgrad has been recovered by our troops. That''s why I brought my comrades here to see you. I want to ask who should be handed over these prisoners to? "¡° Captain Yushchenko, "after hearing the old lady''s words, I didn''t care to ask them why they didn''t send the prisoners to the city, so I immediately told Yushchenko," send some people to the village and bring the captured Germans here. "¡° Yes, "Yushchenko agreed, turning to the crowd and shouting," Sergeant Lazarev! " With his shouting, someone outside the crowd immediately agreed: "Comrade battalion commander, I''m here. Do you have any instructions?" Yushchenko didn''t even press outside, so he rushed out and yelled, "take a squad immediately, follow the women comrades to their villages, and bring back some German prisoners who were held there."¡° Yes Sergeant Lazarev outside agreed loudly. At this moment, kirilov came around from the front of the car, squeezed in front of the old lady with black hair, and said to her kindly, "Hello, old man, I''m kirilov, military and political commissar. What can I do for you?" The old lady took a look at kirilov standing in front of her, and then introduced herself and said, "Comrade commander, my name is Katerina. I''m the vice commissar of the village Soviet in the nearby drofia village. We have prepared something for the comrades in kirilovgrad. I hope you can accept these things." Then she turned to the tall man next to me who didn''t have a turban and called, "Mila, give me the list we''ve prepared." The tall woman named Mira wiped the tears on her face, turned her hand to Katerina, took a document out of her arms and handed it to Katerina. When Katerina, vice committee member, got the document, she held it in her hands and handed it to kirilov in front of her. Kirilov took the document in a puzzled way, and after looking at it for a few minutes, his face was full of joy. He turned and handed me the document again. At the same time, he said, "look, Rita, the farm comrades have given us a lot of presents."

 Chapter 955

    The contents of this document were carefully transcribed in Juanxiu''s handwriting. It says:


    "To the Red Army headquarters, the collective farm Committee of droffia:


    We sincerely ask you, on behalf of the brave Soviet Red Army who liberated us from the slavery of the Communist Party, to accept our supply of five tons of flour, ten tons of potatoes, fifteen frozen pigs and three Communist bandits who were captured and managed by us.


    At the same time, please consider that those of us who have been bullied in the enemy occupied areas have a strong desire for revenge from the evil bandits and allow us all to join the Red Army. Please be sure to approve our request.


    Katerina, vice member of the Soviet Union of zhuofeia collective farm


    After reading this document, I am filled with emotion. The appearance of these women is in sharp contrast to their solemn tone in the document. You know, we are now in the enemy''s rear. We just occupied several empty defensive cities of the German army. Immediately, members of the local collective farms risked their lives to provide us with materials. It seems that it is also the will of the people to drive away the German invaders.


    I folded the document carefully and put it in my briefcase. I went up to hold Katerina''s cold hands and said warmly, "Hello, comrade Katerina. I''d like to introduce myself. I''m major general o''shanina, commander of the infantry Army..."


    Before I finished, there was a cry of surprise around me: "God, she''s a general, a female general!"¡° Yes, a commander! Sisters, it seems that we have a chance to join the Red Army... "


    I coughed and said in a loud voice, "women, please be quiet, please be quiet!" When the people around me stopped talking, I pointed to kirilov and introduced to Katerina, "I''ll introduce you to kirilov, my military and political commissar."


    After listening to my introduction, Katerina immediately and warmly said hello to kirilov, then turned to me and said, "Comrade General, I want to ask you something. We have two seriously ill women here who need to be sent to the hospital in the city immediately for treatment. We have carried them here. Can we give them a lift? "


    I turned to look at the jeep behind me and the trucks parked a little further away. Then I looked back and said decisively, "no problem, comrade Katerina. Where are they? Bring them here." Then he gave orders to Yushchenko, "Comrade captain, you take some soldiers to carry the sick women over and take them to the hospital in the city with your truck."


    After listening to my arrangement, Katerina held my hand tightly and said thank you. Then she turned to her assistant and yelled, "Mila, you should go with me."


    Tall Mira came up to us, looked at me, and asked Katerina in some embarrassment, "Comrade vice commissar, how can I go?"


    "Take my car!" Katerina and they aroused my curiosity. I wanted to visit their village, so I turned to kirilov and said, "Comrade political commissar, please go to kirilovgrad with the motorcade first. I want to visit zhuofeia farm."


    Originally, I thought kirilov would stop me, but after listening to me, he just nodded, then waved his head to Mila and said, "get in the car, comrades. We need you to be our guide."


    As soon as kirilov''s jeep and trucks left, I said to Katerina with a smile, "Comrade Katerina, take us to your village."


    When I said that, Katerina had a smile on her face. She looked left and right, then cried out in her voice, "sisters, take our comrades back to the village. Go Then she took my hand and pushed towards the crowd.


    Her words were like a clarion call. The women around her had dispersed. At first, two people held Yushchenko''s arm, and the others also found their own targets. One or two people, holding a soldier of the guard company, happily walked to the distant village.


    The cold wind lifted the scarf on Katerina''s head and disordered her hair. At the moment, perhaps it is because she is in a good mood at happy events that she appears to be very energetic. I carefully looked at her from the side and found that she was not old, that is, she was in her thirties. She was very different from the old lady I saw for the first time.


    When we came to the village, Katerina pointed to a large wooden house not far away and said to me, "Comrade commander, the German who was caught by us is locked up in that warehouse, and I have sent five people to guard it."


    "Are they all women?" I looked at the women walking around me and guessed that there might not be any men in the village, so I asked.


    "Yes, comrade commander, you are right." When Katerina said this, she sighed heavily, "there are no other men in the village. After the outbreak of the war, all the men went to join the Red Army, leaving only a few old men who could not even walk. In this way, when the Germans came to our village to collect food, they killed them all. "


    "Comrade commander, look Yushchenko crowded to my side from behind, pointed to the front and said to me pleasantly, "look at the red flag on the top of the house. Good guy, I haven''t seen our flag flying on the building for a long time."


    I followed the direction of his fingers and saw a red flag flying in the wind on the top of the big wooden house. He stopped to ask Katerina what was going on.


    Before I could speak, Katerina said, "Comrade commander, it was just dawn yesterday morning, and we heard the sound of guns coming from the direction of the city. I went to the window and listened to it. Judging from the voice, it was not like the guerrillas, because they could not make such a big noise. It must be our main force coming back. " Before we finished, we arrived at the door of the warehouse. At this time, Sergeant Lazarev, the platoon leader, and the five soldiers he brought were standing upright outside. Beside them were five young girls holding headscarves, German rifles and old-fashioned shotguns. Seeing us coming, they are still looking at us curiously.


    I went up to Lazarev and asked, "sergeant, if I remember correctly, Captain Yushchenko''s order to you is to take the German prisoners away from here."


    "Yes, comrade commander," as soon as Lazarev opened his mouth, I smelled a strong smell of vodka. "Our order is to take the German prisoners back from here."


    Smelling the smell of the wine coming from his mouth, I could not help frowning. After a step back, I asked, "why, sergeant, did you drink?"


    Lazarev replied with a smile: "Comrade commander, it''s too cold. The girls took two bottles of wine from home to protect us from the cold, so I took two drinks."


    "Comrade commander, it''s all my fault." Yushchenko may see that I have the premonition of anger, quickly came forward to admit his mistake to me, "I''ll lock them up later."


    "No," in the current situation, as long as they are not drunk, I don''t want to be too harsh on them, so I raised my hand and said with disapproval, "as long as it doesn''t affect the war, it doesn''t matter to drink." I looked at the locked door and asked Lazarev, "won''t the prisoner escape?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Razalev said carelessly: "we just went in to check. The prisoners were tied to the posts with hemp ropes. They can''t run away."


    After listening to his confident reply, I nodded: "sergeant, before we leave, you and your people will continue to stay here, absolutely can''t make any mistakes, understand?"


    Seeing that I would not punish him for drinking, razalev quickly and loudly agreed, "I see, comrade commander."


    After a while, we sat in the former village Soviet office. Except for a wooden table and a few benches, we were destitute. According to Katerina, the better things were robbed by the Germans. Although the room was cold and uncomfortable, I sat patiently and chatted with Katerina, trying to get useful information from her mouth.


    "Comrade commander, I want to ask you," Katerina asked cautiously, seeing that there were only me, Yushchenko and a few women with whom she had a good relationship in the room. "Are the Germans going to be defeated by us soon?"


    Her question made me feel a little embarrassed. You know, we won''t be here long, because of the approaching of the German army, after a little resistance, we will move to other areas. But at the moment, I can''t tell the truth to the new village Soviet vice commissar in front of me, so I said vaguely, "Comrade Katerina, we have two powerful front armies fighting fiercely with the German army on the other side of the Dnieper River. We are seven or eight times as strong as the German army. I think our final victory should not be too far away. "


    Katerina, after listening to me, turned to the women standing beside her and said excitedly, "did you all hear that? Two front armies, how can there be hundreds of thousands of people? Can we not fight against the German people who are much smaller than us? Wait, before long, the whole territory of Ukraine will be wiped out. " The women nodded in agreement when she said so.


    When Katerina looked back at me again, I hesitated for a moment, then asked cautiously, "Comrade Katerina, are there any Germans near you?"


    "German?" Katerina hesitated for a moment when I asked her this question, and then replied positively, "there are Germans stationed in the town more than ten kilometers west of the village, but they don''t seem to have many troops."


    There are German and Katerina''s intelligence in the nearby town, which makes Yushchenko nervous. I noticed that he gently pulled the corner of my coat beside me, as if he had something to say to me. I gave Katerina a a smile and said politely, "I want to have a word with my battalion commander." Then he leaned over to Yushchenko and asked, "what''s the matter?"


    "Comrade commander, there are too few of us," Yushchenko said in a low voice. "If the Germans detect us and send troops to rush here, we can''t stop them with more than 20 of us."


    "Don''t be nervous. I know it." Having said this to Yushchenko, I sat up straight again and asked Katerina across the street, "Comrade Katerina, is there any forest in the middle of the open land between the village and the German town?"


    Although my words were more obscure, Katerina understood them. She quickly replied, "Comrade commander, there is an abandoned defense line two kilometers west of our village. In addition to a two kilometer trench, there are also many reinforced concrete blockhouses. "¡° Yes, comrade commander. " A woman nearby, waiting for Katerina to finish, immediately added: "when I went to visit my relatives two weeks ago and came back, I encountered a blizzard and spent the night in one of the blockhouses. In addition to knot a lot of spider webs, but clean up, or can use When I heard what the women said, I secretly applauded that if this fortification could be used, then I could arrange an army here to slow down the German army''s advance towards kilovgrad. I talked with Katerina for more than half an hour to learn more about the surrounding villages. Just then, I heard someone outside asking, "is Comrade commander here?" Yushchenko heard the voice, quickly stood up from his seat, went to the door, and asked, "the commander is here. Where are you from?" After a while, Yushchenko came in with two soldiers. The soldier on his left was carrying a submachine gun on his chest, and the soldier on his right was carrying a walkie talkie behind him. Without waiting for them to speak, I guessed their origin, so I stood up and asked, "are you the signalmen sent by the political commissar?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " The soldier with the submachine gun raised his hand to salute me and reported, "we are the communication soldiers of the 22nd division of the guards. We are ordered to accept your command. This operator is from Kazakhstan. " The reason why the soldiers emphasize that the operators carrying the telephone are Kazakhs is that kirilov trained a group of operators to talk in emergency in the early stage. Because their language is incomprehensible to the German people, they don''t have to worry about being eavesdropped by the German army even if they talk in Ming language. After the telegraph operator had set up the walkie talkie, I gave him the first order: "order general Bantai leiev to transfer the pelsteen tank battalion, the artillery battalion of the second division, and two infantry companies with strong combat effectiveness to the collective farm of cheffia."

 Chapter 956

    After hearing my order, the Kazakh operators immediately yelled at the transmitter in their own language, and then copied the feedback back to me.


    Seeing the reply from Bantai leiev above, I nodded with satisfaction, and then said to Yushchenko, "Comrade captain, send two soldiers to the place where we get off to meet the coming troops."


    "Can our troops arrive so soon?" Yushchenko was full of curiosity about bantailiev''s quick response.


    "Major perskin''s tank unit is now on the road outside." Although Yushchenko''s level is not high, I have a lot of things to hand over to him, so I want to make it clear to him here, "as for the infantry company, two companies will be transferred from the fourth regiment of gedar. In order to unify the command, he decided to send Godunov


    "Major Godunov?" When Yushchenko heard my name, he said in surprise: "isn''t he commanding the new third regiment of the 22nd division of the guards? Why doesn''t the acting commander do it, but he has to run to command two infantry companies? "


    "The new third regiment no longer exists, comrade captain." As for Yushchenko''s question, I replied solemnly: "in the early fierce fighting, all the troops of the new third regiment were exhausted. Don''t think that commanding two companies is the only way to achieve success. No matter where an excellent commander is, he can achieve good results. Don''t talk nonsense. Arrange for people to meet them. "


    Katerina heard my conversation with Yushchenko and quickly volunteered: "Comrade commander, let the women in our village meet the commanders. They are familiar with the road..."


    Before Katerina finished, I raised my hand to stop her. If she were to send someone, it would take a lot of talking to make Peregrine trust them. So I said tactfully, "Comrade Katerina, if we only send the women of the collective farm, our commanders and fighters may not know them. Well, I''ll ask the captain to send two soldiers with your men. When our soldiers receive the troops, they will be brought here by your people who are familiar with the terrain. You see, is that all right? "


    Katerina listened to my suggestion and thought about it. Then she nodded her head and said, "OK, comrade commander, do as you say. I''ll arrange for you to act as a guide."


    After Yushchenko and Katerina left the house, the operator reported to me again: "Comrade commander, the political commissar called and said that the superior was inquiring about the whereabouts of our army. Did he ask for instructions to report truthfully?"


    When I think of the German wiretapping methods that are now beyond defense, I can''t confirm whether the intelligence will be mastered by the German army after I report the whereabouts of the 79th infantry army to the headquarters of the front army. I walked around the room with my hands behind my back, thinking about how to reply to my superiors.


    I don''t know how long it took, but the operator called me softly again: "Comrade commander!"


    I stopped, looked at him and asked blankly, "is there anything else?"


    "Well, comrade commander." The operator nervously replied, "the political commissar is still on the line. He is waiting for your final reply."


    "Why didn''t you say that earlier?" After blaming the telegraph operator, I told him, "reply to the political commissar immediately and say that I agree to report the current whereabouts of our army to the higher authorities. However, we should not disclose the direction of our army''s next move. "


    "Yes The operator agreed, then went back to the walkie talkie and yelled at the transmitter.


    After about an hour, I heard the huge roar of tank motors outside, and I knew that it was major perskin''s tank unit. Then I walked out.


    As I stood at the door, I saw tanks with headlights in the distance, staggering towards me along the illuminated muddy village road. When the tank was seven or eight meters away from me, the leading tank suddenly stopped. First, the soldiers sitting on the tank body jumped down one after another to move their frozen bodies. Then, the top of the turret was lifted and a tank man in the uniform of a tank soldier emerged from inside. He stood on the car body, looked at us, jumped off the car body and ran to me. Come to me, stand at attention, salute and report: "report to commander comrade, tank battalion commander of the 22nd division of Jinwei, major peiersjian has been ordered to come, I''m waiting for your order, please give me instructions!"


    "You''ve come very quickly, comrade major." As I took perskin''s hand, I asked with concern, "are the vehicles carrying the fuel and ammunition coming up?"


    "Comrade commander, you can rest assured." Although there is a big difference between the level of me and that of pelsjian, he didn''t feel the slightest constraint in front of me. He pointed to the back and said, "there are seven trucks in the back, three of them are loaded with ammunition, and the other four are loaded with fuel."


    After listening to Peres'' report of his fortune, I said with some regret: "it''s a pity that the armored vehicles of your battalion were all lost in the defense of zaborosh and the next battle. Otherwise, it''s also a force that can''t be underestimated in the battlefield."


    Peiersjian shook his head behind him and said with pride, "Comrade commander, although our armored vehicles are all lost, our mechanized infantry are still there. You don''t see, they''re all sitting on tanks when they''re marching. Once the battle breaks out, they can follow the tanks and charge the enemy''s positions. "


    I looked at the dark commanders and fighters in the distance, nodded in agreement, and said politely: "good boy, they are good boys."


    Pelsky arrived, and then captain kurishenko of the artillery battalion and captain kiricheng of the infantry company arrived one after another. Instead of calling them to a meeting immediately, I asked Katerina to arrange accommodation for our new fighters. When all the soldiers lived in the houses, Godunov came late.


    Seeing gordonov''s muddy uniform and black face, I went over and patted him on the shoulder and said with emotion, "Comrade major, you are a good team leader. It''s really good!"


    Hearing my praise, Godunov bowed his head and said with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, you flatter me. I''m not competent as a commander. You gave me the three most elite shock engineer battalions, and now there are less than 50 people left. "


    "Comrade major, since the fighting during this period has been quite brutal, not only you but also all divisions have been downsized to varying degrees. It''s not easy for you to reserve some seeds for the shock Engineer Battalion." After comforting him for a few words, I couldn''t help asking the whereabouts of the remaining commanders and fighters, "by the way, Godunov, you just said that there are still 50 soldiers left. Where are they now?"


    "They came with me to the village, where people are arranging accommodation for them." After finishing this sentence, gordonov suddenly suggested to me, "Comrade commander, I don''t think there are many guards around you. Let them stay with you and be responsible for your safety."


    "The arrangement of these commanders and fighters will be discussed later." I turned around and told Yushchenko, who was standing beside me, "go and call the other commanders here. Let''s hold a military meeting as soon as possible."


    When everyone came into the room, our temporary meeting officially began. First of all, I said to them, "comrades, more than ten kilometers to the west of the village, there is an enemy town. It is said that there are many troops stationed there. Once the German army found out that we had abandoned kafbas and retreated to kilovgrad and Alexandria, they would send troops to encircle us from all sides. As long as the fighting starts, this village will become an important defensive support for us. "


    "Comrade commander, can I ask you a question?" It''s captain kiricheng, the commander of the fourth regiment. With my permission, he stood up and asked, "with all due respect, it''s almost impossible to build a fortification in a short period of time with our current strength."


    After what he said, although other people didn''t follow suit, I can see from the eyes they looked at me that they all had the same concerns as captain kiricheng, but they were sorry to say it to my old superior.


    "Comrade Katerina of the village once told me that in the west of the village, there was a national defense fortification built by our army before the outbreak of the war. In addition to a trench several kilometers long, there were many reinforced concrete blockhouses." After informing several people of Katerina''s situation, I confidently said, "after we set up garrisons in these blockhouses, the enemy will not be able to pass through this area without paying several times the price."


    "Built before the war?" Godunov asked suspiciously, "it''s almost two years now. Can these blockhouses and fortifications still be used?"


    "According to a woman in the village, she visited her relatives in the town some time ago. When she returned, she encountered a snowstorm and spent a night in one of the blockhouses temporarily." In order to increase everyone''s confidence, I very seriously quoted what the woman said: "according to her, except for a lot of cobwebs in the bunker, the rest of the facilities have not been damaged. A simple repair can put them into normal use."


    After what I said, there was a moment of silence, and then Godunov spoke on behalf of you. He stood up and said to me, "Comrade commander, if the enemy takes town as the starting point of attack and adopts armored assault, can we hold it?"


    "I don''t think it''s a big problem." Seeing that all of them were worried, I quickly comforted them and said, "comrades, although we don''t have as many tanks and artillery as the Germans, and we don''t have the right to control the air, as long as we use the tactics properly and have the collective farm members who support our army, we are still likely to win."


    As for what I said, Godunov was the first one to stand up and make a statement: "since Comrade commander said so, I will resolutely obey the order. As long as we have one more person, we will never let the Germans pass from our position. " After his words, the rest of the commanders also stood up to me and said they would obey my arrangement.


    Seeing that everyone''s opinions were unified, I began to assign tasks again. I took out the map that Katerina had drawn for me, spread it out on the table, and let everyone around the table. Then I told them about my troop plan: "there is a forest to the north of the position, where major perskin''s tank unit can lurk, wait until the enemy''s tank passes in front of you, and then attack decisively, Cut off the connection between German tanks and infantry, and beat the enemy from behind their tanks. "


    "Please don''t worry about the commander," perlsjian said to me immediately after hearing the order. "I will never let a tank run back intact."


    I nodded and then arranged the characters: "major Godunov, the two infantry companies under your command are deployed in the defense fortifications in the west of the village. Remember, when the machine guns are placed in the blockhouse, the losses of our heavy and heavy machine guns can be minimized in the enemy''s shelling and bombing. "¡° Yes Gordonov also stood up to show his attitude¡° And you, Captain kurishenko. " I pointed to the southwest position of the fortification and said to him, "you put the artillery battalion here. When you see the enemy''s tanks appear, you immediately fire at them and completely disrupt their attack formation, so as to cover major perskin''s tank unit to launch a surprise attack from the side." Kurishenko didn''t answer me immediately. He looked at the map on the table for a moment, and then asked me a question: "Comrade commander, the temperature is getting warmer now, and many areas are becoming muddy. If we want to lay out qualified artillery positions, we must cut down some trees to strengthen the artillery positions. "¡° It''s a question you''ve raised, captain After I said this, I thought about it, and then said, "I can ask Katerina to take people from the village to help you cut down trees and reinforce fortifications."¡° Is that all right? " Captain kurishenko said with some embarrassment, "they are all women."¡° What happened to women? " At this moment, I can''t help humming: "women can still hold up half of the sky. There is no need to discuss this matter, so it is decided. After the meeting, I''ll go to China. Katerina said it. Do you have any other questions? If not, the meeting will be over. "¡° Comrade commander, please wait. I have a problem. " This time it was Godunov, who was in charge of the infantry. I stare at him, some not angry to ask: "major, tell me, what do you have not understand?"¡° Comrade commander, "I don''t know if gordonov didn''t recognize the dissatisfaction in my tone, or he deliberately ignored it. Anyway, he still asked politely," how can I arrange the fifty commanders and fighters I brought? "

 Chapter 957

    Fifty commando engineers. When I heard Godunov bring up the old story again, although the weather was very cold, my heart was still warm. I know what he means. He wants these commanders and fighters to stay with me to protect my safety. Naturally, I couldn''t live up to his kindness, so I pretended to think for a moment and then replied, "if the enemy wants to attack, our village will also be their target. At present, there are only about twenty soldiers in the village, and their strength is very weak. Well, major Godunov, if you don''t mind, I''ll leave them behind and strengthen the garrison in the village. "


    When gordonov heard me say this, his face immediately showed a smile, and he quickly replied: "Comrade commander, I have no opinion. I will resolutely obey your order, so I will leave them to strengthen the garrison force in the village."


    After deploying the mission and sending some commanders to leave, I asked Yushchenko to call Katerina in, saying that there was something important to discuss with her.


    In fact, Katerina didn''t go far. She was in the next room. When she heard Yushchenko say I was looking for her, she immediately ran over. As soon as he entered the door, he asked in a hurry, "Comrade commander, I heard that you are looking for me. Is there anything important?"


    "Well, comrade Katerina." I politely said to her, "after all, the national defense fortifications in the west of the village have not been used for nearly two years. Some sections may need to be reinforced. However, our manpower is limited. I wonder if you could send someone to help us? "


    "No problem, comrade commander." Katerina replied carelessly: "when the Germans just broke into our territory, we not only sent all the men in the village to the battlefield, but also gave all our things to the Red Army who fought in the front line. Now that you''re going to fight the Germans, we''ll do our best to help you. "


    "How many of you?" After I finished this sentence, I found that there was something wrong. The village was full of women, and there were also elderly or sick people. They could not be counted among them, so I added, "how many people can take part in the construction?"


    "There are still 217 people in the village now," Katerina said without hesitation after listening to my question. "There are about 170 people who can take part in voluntary labor, except those who are old and sick. They are all good hands at farm work, let alone repairing the works. "


    170, which is more than I expected. Moreover, in my impression, women in the Soviet Union are more hardworking than men, so they nodded and said, "Comrade Katerina, this is really great. Please take the women comrades to the fortifications in the west of the village at eight o''clock tomorrow morning and ask major Godunov to arrange work for you. "


    "All right, comrade commander." Katerina readily agreed, and then she took the initiative to say to me, "it''s getting late. You should have a rest early."


    After Katerina left, Yushchenko asked uneasily, "Comrade commander, is it really appropriate for the women in the village to help us reinforce the fortifications? You know, women are born with less physical strength than men. "


    Hearing Yushchenko''s remarks that he looked down on women, I said with some dissatisfaction: "Comrade captain, you are right. In terms of strength, maybe women are born weak. But don''t forget that they are no weaker than men in terms of hard work. It''s not just strength that builds and strengthens fortifications. "


    After teaching Yushchenko a lesson, I went to the operator and asked him, "Comrade operator, during this period of time, is there a new telegram coming?"


    "No, comrade commander." The operator quickly stood up and reported to me, "so far, there have been no telegrams."


    "Well, keep working. Report to me as soon as a telegram comes


    "Yes The operator agreed loudly.


    In recent days, I haven''t had a good rest because I have been very busy. I went to the table and sat down. I just wanted to have a rest at the desk. I didn''t expect that I didn''t have much time and fell asleep.


    It was not until I was shaken up by Yushchenko that I sat up straight and asked lazily, "Comrade captain, what time is it?"


    "It''s seven o''clock, comrade commander." When Yushchenko finished, he quickly explained the reason for waking me up, so that I would not blame him: "just now major Godunov sent someone to report that they had started to reinforce the fortification. And Katerina worked with the women and the soldiers


    After hearing Yushchenko''s report, I immediately stood up from my seat and said to him, "go, comrade captain, accompany me to have a look." Then he walked around the table and toward the door.


    Yushchenko quickly followed, called several soldiers at the door, and followed me to the defense fortifications in the west of the village.


    The fortifications in the west of the village were a busy scene. The soldiers, in groups of two, were carrying the logs cut down from the woods in the distance and heading for the trench to reinforce the collapsed area.


    Seeing our arrival, Godunov immediately welcomed us. After saluting me, he reported: "Comrade commander, we are repairing the fortifications. Please give us instructions!"


    "Please go on, comrade major."


    "Don''t stop, everyone. Keep working." Godunov yelled at the officers and men who stopped working because they saw me. Seeing that everyone was back to work, he said to me, "Comrade commander, I have checked. Except for the reinforced concrete blockhouse, most parts of the trench were collapsed by rain, and must be reinforced again. It''s a lot of work. I don''t know if we can finish all the reinforcement work before the enemy attacks. "


    Maybe seeing me coming, Katerina came from the place where she was cutting down trees. Still far away, she yelled at me: "Hello, comrade commander, do you see? Our women don''t have to be inferior to the young men in your team to work


    "Well, comrade Katerina." I replied with a smile: "all the comrades in your collective farm are good. We can get your help and we believe that the reinforcement of the fortification will be completed soon."


    At this moment, a soldier came from a distance. Seeing his look of panic, Godunov frowned, then pointed to the soldier and said to me, "commander, that soldier is one of the scouts I sent to town. Looking at his expression, I think something is wrong."


    The Scout ran to us very quickly. He supported his waist with both hands and said breathlessly: "report... Report... Less... Comrade major..."


    "Don''t worry, speak slowly." Godunov came up to him, reached for his arm, shook it twice, and asked, "what did you find when you went to town for reconnaissance?"


    The Scout company took a few deep breaths, then panted and said, "report major, when we were reconnoitering outside the town, we found that a large number of German troops had entered the town. The platoon leader decided that the situation was very serious. He ordered me to come back immediately and report to you. At the same time, he and other comrades continued to stay and watch the enemy."


    "Comrade soldier, how many German troops have entered the town?" I was surprised to hear that the enemy had really increased troops in the town. I quickly stepped forward two steps, walked up to the scout and asked nervously.


    When the Scout saw me suddenly appear in front of him, he immediately straightened up and reported to me, "yes... Sorry, comrade commander, I didn''t notice you just now."


    "Come on, don''t say it''s useless." Seeing the terrified scouts, I waved my hand and urged impatiently, "tell me quickly, how many troops does the enemy have?"


    The Scout calmed down a little, and then replied, "there are about ten tanks and the same number of armored vehicles entering the town. Behind them are thirty covered trucks full of infantry. It is estimated that there are at least two companies."


    "Do they have any sign of moving towards us?" I then asked. At the same time, I thought that if the German army really moved to our side in a short time, we would not have time to repair all the fortifications, then the commanders and fighters would have to rely on the damaged fortifications to fight a hard defensive war with the German army.


    After hearing this question, the Scout immediately shook his head and replied, "report to the commander. According to our observation, it seems that the German troops have gone through a long journey. Maybe it will take a period of rest before they can fight again."


    After listening to the Scout''s report, I turned to Godunov and said, "Comrade major, the situation is very bad for us now, so if you want to speed up the reinforcement of fortifications, you must finish the repair work before the enemy attacks. Are you confident? "


    Listening to my question, Godunov quickly straightened up and reported to me, "please rest assured, commander. I promise you that we will complete the repair work of the fortifications before the enemy''s attack begins."


    "Good, then I''ll be at ease." With these words, I turned to Katerina and said, "Comrade Katerina, it is estimated that fierce fighting will break out in a short time. For your safety, as soon as the repair work is finished, you can lead the women to a safe place."


    Katerina, after hearing this, shrugged her shoulders and said unexpectedly, "Comrade commander, as long as the Krauts are still on our land, there is no place safe here. I strongly ask you to leave our people behind and let them stay in the trenches with the Red Army soldiers and take revenge on the hateful invaders. "


    "No, it''s too dangerous here." I pointed to the busy commander not far away and said to Katerina, "do you see that? Many sections of the fortifications here can''t be used at all. I don''t trust women without any combat experience to stay in such dangerous places. "


    Seeing Katerina''s unhappy face, I slowed down and explained to her, "Comrade Katerina, there are many young girls among you. As a commander of the army, I have no right to let my future mother die worthlessly on the battlefield. "


    "How can it be said to be worthless?" Although she heard what I said, Katerina still said stubbornly: "many of us have mastered certain military skills after the outbreak of the war, and can fight like a soldier. Please make sure that all our people stay


    Seeing that she was so stubborn, I knew that it would be very difficult to persuade her in a short time, so I decided to step back so that the matter could be satisfactorily solved. After coughing and clearing my throat, I said, "Comrade Katerina, since all the women comrades in the village have such high fighting enthusiasm, it seems a bit inappropriate to refuse you directly." As soon as I spoke, Katerina''s face immediately showed a bright smile. She said with pride, "Comrade commander, you are right. I''ll tell you the good news right away. " With that, she was about to turn and leave. I took her by the arm and said, "don''t worry, comrade Katerina. I haven''t finished yet."¡° You haven''t finished yet? " Katerina looked at me and asked, "what else do you have to say?"¡° Well, comrade Katerina I quickly explained to her, "although some of you have mastered combat skills, there is no need to put all of you in the trenches. Well, you choose twenty suitable people to join Major Godunov''s forces. The rest of them were divided into two teams. One team was responsible for guarding the village with my security forces, in case of the Germans who came to attack the village by bypassing our defense line; The other team should not only be responsible for sending ammunition and supplies to the front line, but also try their best to carry the wounded back to the village for treatment. You have no problem with my arrangement? "¡° No problem, comrade commander. " Katerina seemed satisfied with my arrangement, and then she said, "if you don''t have anything to do, I''ll go and arrange the staff."¡° Go ahead, comrade Katerina, "I waved to her, and told her," if there is anything, you can come to major Godunov at any time. " As soon as Katerina left, Godunov whispered to me, "Comrade commander, is it appropriate to let the women in the village take part in the war? I''m afraid they''ll get panicked when they see shells falling on their sides, exploding, bullets whizzing over their heads, and tanks coming fast. If they can''t support it and turn around and run away, it will shake our morale. " Godunov''s words are very reasonable. When I went to the battlefield for the first time, I trembled with fear. It is estimated that the performance of these women who have never been to the battlefield in the village will not be much better than me. It was with this in mind that I thought about it for a while, and then I told Godunov, "major, the women who will take part in the battle will be arranged in the bunker, where it is relatively safe. As long as they listen to more gunfire, they will soon be able to adapt to the battlefield

 Chapter 958

    Godunov listened patiently to my deployment and nodded his head, indicating that he would carry out my orders without any discount. Perhaps for the sake of concern, as soon as I finished, he immediately said, "Comrade commander, there will be a battle here soon. I suggest you go back to kilovgrad immediately."


    Naturally, I understand his kindness, but at this time, I really don''t want to go back to kilovgrad. First, there are kirilov, wittkov and bantaileiev. They are in command; Secondly, once the war broke out, the city would certainly become the key target of the German army. In addition to shelling the city, the enemy would even send out planes to carry out indiscriminate bombing. It''s much better to stay in the village of drofia. German people don''t waste their bombs for such a small village. The biggest possibility is that the enemy will use small-scale artillery and tank guns to bombard the villages.


    I didn''t want him to know the small calculation in his heart, so I waved my hand and said with a little impatience: "OK, comrade major. Please pay attention to your identity. It is the major general who commands the major, not vice versa. By the way, is the telephone line between you and the artillery battalion ready? "


    "Please rest assured, comrades in chief," gordonov nodded and said positively, "the Division has sent us several communication soldiers. Not only have the telephone lines to the artillery battalion been laid, but my command post can even directly communicate with the platoons."


    "Good. Then get ready. " With these words, I turned and walked towards the village.


    On the way back to the village, Yushchenko said to me cautiously: "Comrade commander, I think major Godunov has a point. Zhuofeya village is not very safe. We should..."


    "Comrade captain," before he finished speaking, I interrupted him directly, frowning and discontented, and asked, "do you want to let me escape and go back to the city?"


    "No, it''s not like that, comrade commander." Yushchenko saw that I was angry. He waved his hand desperately and said unexpectedly, "I''m not asking you to go back to the city, I''m asking you not to set the command post in the village."


    "Why? Comrade captain. " Yushchenko''s answer aroused my curiosity, so I stopped to ask.


    "I think once the battle starts, in addition to the fortifications we just left, the villages will also become the focus of German artillery attack." Yushchenko shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "Comrade commander, as you know, the village is full of wooden houses. As long as two or three of them are shot and set on fire, the whole village will soon be engulfed by fire and smoke. If we want to transfer the headquarters at that time, it is estimated that our casualties will not be small. "


    As for Yushchenko''s statement, I stood in the same place and thought it was reasonable. So I nodded and then told Yushchenko, "Comrade captain, you have a good point. The headquarters must not be set up in the village. But where can we move to to ensure safety and see the situation on the battlefield in time? "


    "Comrade commander, please have a look." Yushchenko pointed to a small slope not far away and said to me, "I think I can see the whole battlefield from there."


    I looked at the surrounding terrain. This slope should be the highest position nearby, and it is five or six hundred meters away from the village. Even if the German army shelled the village, it would not be affected much. Thinking of this, he waved his hand forward and ordered loudly, "come on, comrade captain, let''s go up and have a look."


    Without much effort, I came to the top of the earth slope, raised my telescope and looked in the direction of the national defense fortifications. We found that we can not only have a panoramic view of Godunov''s defense area and the plain in front of us, but even the town more than ten kilometers away. Seeing this, I can''t help but feel happy. I have a wide field of vision and can build an observation post.


    I put down my telescope and said to Yushchenko, who was standing beside me, "Comrade captain, gather your men immediately, build an anti slope shelter behind the slope, and build an observation post on the top of the slope. Speed up, the enemy will not leave us much time. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Yushchenko agreed in a loud voice, and then ordered a member of the Ministry to go down and call in the staff.


    After a while, not only the commanders and fighters who stayed in the village came, but also the two signalmen who stayed in the headquarters followed them.


    I looked at the operator and asked, "Comrade operator, what''s the matter? Do you have a telegram?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." "Just a few minutes ago, the chief of staff sent a telegram in person. I was just about to send it to you when the captain''s men came to call us and said that you were going to set up the headquarters on the hillside. "


    "Yes, comrade telegraph operator, you two will stay there after the anti slope bunker is repaired." After receiving the telegram from him, I suddenly thought of another thing and quickly added: "by the way, if possible, you should seize the time to lead me a telephone line leading to the front line. After all, it''s too easy to be eavesdropped by the enemy if you talk with a telegraph."


    "Please don''t worry, commander. We''ll do it right away." The two signalmen replied in unison.


    The battle officially began at 2 p.m.


    The enemy''s fourteen tanks formed a battle formation, divided into two rows, seven in each row, and stormed towards major gordonov''s position. Behind the tank, there were sporadic tricycles and infantry in scattered formations.


    I stood in the observation station on the top of the slope, holding a telescope in one hand and a telephone in the other, shouting at the microphone: "Hello, Hello, Captain kurishenko, the German tanks are coming towards us. You must stop them. Major Godunov''s infantry don''t have any long-range anti tank weapons. Once the enemy approaches, they can only let the soldiers rush up and blast the tanks with anti tank grenades and flasks. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." At the other end of the line, Captain kurishenko replied in a hurry, "Twelve anti tank guns of our battalion are ready to fire. However, the enemy''s tanks are still far away, at least two kilometers away from us. At such a distance, the shells can''t penetrate the front armor of the enemy''s tanks. We have to put them closer and hit them again. "


    "All right, comrade captain." When I heard what kurishenko said, I had no choice but to say, "as soon as the enemy''s tanks enter the effective range, they will fire immediately. Do you understand?"


    "I understand!" Kurishenko replied loudly.


    But before kurishenko''s artillery battalion could fire, the enemy tanks fired first. Their shells landed in front of and behind our trench, exploded left and right, and set off billows of snow. There was even a shell directly hit one of our blockhouses. In an instant, the blockhouse was shrouded in smoke.


    When the smoke cleared, I found that the blockhouse was intact except for a pit. Seeing this, I feel much more at ease. As long as the enemy''s tank guns can not penetrate our blockhouse, then the next battle will be much easier.


    When the enemy''s tanks were only 500 meters away from our position, the artillery battalion of kurishenko opened fire decisively. Under the heavy artillery fire, five of the seven tanks in front of them suddenly became piles of burning scrap iron. Seeing his companion''s experience, the tanks in the back row were in a panic. Some of them began to wander, while others began to reverse, causing a great confusion in the formation of the infantry following the car.


    When I saw the artillery barracks'' effect, I applauded and regretted that if the heavy artillery barracks were there, the German tanks would not be able to advance so close. All the tanks would have been destroyed by our powerful artillery fire in the process of advancing.


    After all, the German army was well-trained. After a short period of confusion, they returned to normal. The tanks in the back bypassed the burning debris and continued to move forward. The artillery positions that have just been fired have become their primary targets. Seeing the enemy''s tank shells fall on the artillery positions and explode, our artillery soldiers constantly fall down in the smoke and fire, my heart is bleeding.


    I also observed the situation of the battlefield and found that the German troops in the town had already moved out. The more than 300 infantry following the tanks should be all the German troops could use. I put down my telescope, took the earphone and transmitter from the operator''s hand, and contacted perskin, who was waiting in the forest: "Hello, major perskin? I''m oshanina. Do you see that? The enemy''s tanks have passed in front of your ambush position. I order you to attack immediately, but all the remaining German tanks will be killed. Don''t hesitate, major. Let''s go


    "Yes, comrade commander." I heard pelsten''s excited voice in my headphones, and then he was shouting to his driver, "comrades, the commander gives orders and starts attacking. I order, assault begins


    At the end of the call with pelsky, I picked up the phone again and rang Godunov. As soon as I got on the phone, I couldn''t wait to ask, "Hello, major, what''s the situation there?"


    "Report to the commander," Godunov said calmly, "when the enemy''s tanks shelled our army, the soldiers were hidden in the trenches or bomb shelters. Except for a dozen officers and men who were injured, none of them died. By the way, all the women from the village of drofia were placed in the nearest bunkers to the battalion headquarters, and there were no casualties. "


    "Well done, well done." After I had praised him, I went on to say, "Comrade major, as soon as you see pelsky''s tank battalion coming out from the side of the German army, you will lead the troops in the trenches to carry out a counter charge. It''s better not to let an enemy run away. "


    Although he knew that it would be difficult to complete the task, gordonov readily replied, "I see. Comrade commander, I''ll inform the two company commanders below and ask them to organize the commanders and fighters quickly. As soon as the enemy''s offensive line falls into chaos, we will carry out counter charge. "


    "Good luck, major!" Then I hung up.


    As soon as I put the receiver on the base of the telephone, the operator stood up and handed me a piece of telegraph paper. At the same time, he said, "it''s an urgent telegram from the political commissar. It seems that there is something important."


    I heard that there was something important, so I quickly put the telegram in front of me and looked at it at a glance. It turned out that kirilov had informed me that the captured German general Theodore Ike had forgotten him in the carriage because of the negligence of the nursing staff during the transfer last night. As a result, the seriously injured General of the SS was frozen to death. At the end of the message, he asked me what to do with Ike''s body.


    I took a look at the operator who was still standing in front of me waiting for the order, and simply replied, "tell the commissar to bury the body on the spot." Seeing that the operator sat back by the telephone and was ready to start sending telegrams, I quickly stopped him, and simply ordered him: "there is no need to send a telegram, just talk to the political commissar in plain language." After explaining this, I turned my attention to the battlefield. Yushchenko, who had been standing beside us and didn''t speak, said excitedly at the moment: "Comrade commander, you see, our artillery battalion and tank battalion have done a great job. The artillery destroyed more than half of the German tanks, and the remaining tanks were also destroyed by the tank battalion that we suddenly rushed out of the forest. When the enemy infantry saw that the tanks they relied on were destroyed by us, they were scared out of their courage. You see, they are turning around and running away one after another. " At this point, he snorted and added contemptuously, "the Krauts don''t look. Can they run past the tracks of our tanks on this plain?"¡° Come on, comrade captain, don''t be too complacent. " While I was holding up my telescope to watch our infantry commanders and fighters chase the German infantry who ran away in a hurry under the cover of tanks, Yushchenko said with a smile: "although our army has an advantage in the battlefield, it''s really difficult to completely annihilate this enemy. We have too few troops." The battle ended in half an hour. The burning debris on the battlefield are all German tanks destroyed by our army, and pelsken''s tank battalion is intact. Most of the corpses in the snow in the distance were German soldiers. Thinking that captain kurishenko''s artillery position had just been shelled by German tanks, it seemed that there were still many casualties, I quickly dialed the artillery battalion. When I heard kurishenko''s voice coming from the earphone, I immediately asked with concern, "Hello, comrade captain, I just saw that the enemy''s tanks had shelled your positions. How about the casualties of the troops?"¡° Report to commander, "kurishenko replied gravely," there are 12 anti tank guns in the whole battalion. Three of them have been destroyed in the battle just ended, and the other one has been seriously damaged and is in urgent repair. 28 Gunners were killed and 41 wounded. The combat effectiveness of the whole battalion is basically complete. "

 Chapter 959

    When gordonov came to report the results, Katerina and two middle-aged women were also behind him. Looking at Katerina, the joy on their faces and the German rifle on their back, I know that they have gained a lot in the just concluded battle.


    Several people came to the gate of the observation post on the slope, and when they saw me coming out from inside, Katerina and Katerina stopped. Instead, gordonov came forward alone and reported the results to me.


    Although the battle was over, in order to prevent German snipers from lurking, Godunov stopped in front of me. Instead of saluting, he straightened up and reported to me, "Comrade commander, in the battle just ended, we destroyed 14 German tanks, totally annihilated two infantry companies, killed 219 people and captured 83 people alive, including five officers. A number of weapons and ammunition were seized, and in addition to replenishing our troops, the rest was given to Katerina and them. "


    After listening to his report, I asked flatly, "how are our casualties?"


    "With the exception of major perskin''s tank unit, there were casualties in infantry and artillery. I haven''t got time to count the casualties of the artillery, but it''s estimated that it''s not too small. On the infantry side, 46 people were killed and 69 people were injured, of which 11 were seriously injured and needed to be sent to the health camp immediately for treatment. "


    "Major, we need to send the seriously wounded here immediately." I raised my hand, looked at my watch and looked at the gray sky. I thought that when I went to kilovgrad at this time, I would not be attacked by enemy planes. I added, "when I return to the army headquarters, I will take the wounded to the city by the way, so that they can receive proper treatment."


    As soon as Godunov left, Katerina came over, held up a German submachine gun, showed off to me with a happy face and said, "Comrade commander, what a good weapon! I handed it over from the Communist aggressors myself."


    "Then stay, comrade Katerina." I wanted to say to her, "not only this submachine gun, but also the weapons that major gordonov gave you. Because you are the only ones who are armed, so even if the Germans come back, you don''t have to worry. "


    As soon as I spoke, the expression on Katerina''s face suddenly became serious. After she waved the two middle-aged women to leave, she took two steps closer to me, looked left and right, and then asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, what do you mean by that? The Germans are coming back. Are you going to give up here again and leave us to the Germans again? " Speaking of the back, she couldn''t help raising her voice.


    I put my hand on her shoulder and said with a kind face, "Comrade Katerina, don''t you think it hurts when I give the order to give up these places? If you know that this is the land of our Soviet motherland, can I bear to see the Communist aggressors ravaging her? If there is even a little possibility, I am not willing to give up easily... "


    Katerina didn''t wait for me to finish, but she broke in and said, "but we''ve just won a battle and wiped out two or three hundred Communist aggressors. I''ve heard that there are still tens of thousands of main forces in the city of kilovgrad. If they win a battle like this and wipe out nearly as many enemies as they have, then you can have a foothold here. "


    As for Katerina''s one-sided understanding, I didn''t interrupt her casually. After she finished speaking, I went on to say, "Comrade Katerina, although we have won a trivial victory, it is of no help to the whole situation. Although we have more than 10000 people, we are now in the rear of the enemy. It is difficult for us to get timely supplies of ammunition, food and medicine. In a short period of time, the enemy may have nothing to do with us, but if they don''t fight for a long time, our troops will gradually lose their combat effectiveness because of insufficient supplies. We should know that the German army has hundreds of thousands of troops in Ukraine, not to mention that they have a large number of aircraft, tanks and artillery. Even if we fight for the number, we are not their opponent. "


    "Ah, how serious is the situation?" Frightened by what I said, Katerina nervously asked, "what are you going to do next?"


    Although I don''t intend to conceal her, I can''t tell her some specific details. I can only say in a broad way: "first, we should deal with the German army near kilovgrad. If the situation is not good, we should find a suitable direction to break through the siege of the German army and cross the Dnieper River to join the friendly army to avoid being annihilated by the enemy."


    "To cross the Dnieper?" After listening to my analysis of the fierce relationship with her, Katerina no longer worried that we would give up their business again, but frowned and thought about the future of our army: "now the ice on the river is beginning to thaw, it''s not realistic to cross the river from the ice layer; And the water is too cold. If you swim, most people will be frozen to death before you swim to the other side. Even if the rest of the people barely reach the other side, they will basically lose their fighting capacity. "


    I listened to Katerina''s analysis so thoroughly that I was immediately intrigued to see that she had signs of stopping and urging her: "go ahead, comrade Katerina, go on."


    Katerina nodded and went on: "in this way, you only have two choices: one is to cross the river from a section with a bridge, but it seems unrealistic. This kind of place must be guarded by German soldiers. If you want to break through by force, you will pay a great price. The last way left is to find a boat to cross the river, but... "Speaking of this, she stopped and seemed to be afraid to go on because of scruples.


    I coughed and added, "Comrade Katerina, I see what you mean. You are worried that so many of us are going to cross the river and we can''t find so many boats in a hurry, are you? " Seeing that she nodded her approval, I went on to say, "and even if we can barely find a boat that can cross the river for more than 10000 people, all the heavy weapons have to be discarded. Am I right? "


    After listening to me, Katerina slapped her thigh and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, no wonder you can be a general. I can even guess what I think. It''s amazing."


    For her evaluation, I gave a wry smile and said in my heart, in fact, I have thought about all that you just said. If there was a safe plan to cross the river, I would have gone north with my troops to join the front army of Voronezh. Would it be necessary for me to wander in the rear of the German army? I didn''t want to dwell on this issue any more. Instead, I asked, "Comrade Katerina, what are you going to do next?"


    Katerina shrugged her shoulders and said, "what else can I do? Except for the old and the disabled, the rest will follow you Seeing my surprised face, he continued: "for example, my deputy Mira is very familiar with the terrain near the Dnieper River. If you''re going to cross the river, maybe she can help you


    Just then, I saw a large group of people coming towards us in the distance. Katerina took a look, and then excitedly said to me, "Comrade commander, look, major, they brought not only our wounded, but also the German prisoners."


    I followed the direction of her fingers, and sure enough, a large group of people were coming towards us. There are more than ten stretchers in front of us. Although the stretchers are carried by German prisoners, the wounded of our army lie on them. Seeing that there were no serious wounded lying on stretchers among the following prisoners except a few wounded who wrapped their heads or hung their arms on their chest, I couldn''t help saying to myself, "it''s strange that there are no serious wounded among the German prisoners."


    Katerina laughed and said triumphantly, "in fact, when cleaning the battlefield, we found some wounded German soldiers who could not move. It was the major who said that they could not be saved anyway. It was also a waste of our precious medicine to keep them. Let the soldiers solve them all."


    In fact, I just had this idea in my heart. When Katerina said it carelessly, I still couldn''t bear it. But when you think about it, just kill it. Anyway, it won''t be long before we will carry out a breakthrough. At that time, how to carry our own wounded is a problem, let alone the enemy''s wounded. With such a killing, we have virtually removed a big burden.


    Seeing that the stretchers were neatly placed in the open space at the foot of the mountain, and the prisoners under the care of our soldiers were honestly standing in a square, Katerina and I went down the hill to have a close look at the prisoners.


    As soon as I got to the foot of the mountain, Godunov came out of the crowd with two soldiers and reported to me, "report to the commander, our seriously injured soldiers have been brought here. In addition, we have also brought the prisoners here. We want you to take them with you when you go back to the city. "


    I nodded and took a look at the two soldiers behind Godunov. They were armed with bobosha submachine guns and were wearing the steel armor of Assault Infantry. I couldn''t help laughing, and then joked to Godunov: "Comrade major, I thought you left all the soldiers in the assault infantry battalion to me, but you left two of them yourself."


    "Comrade commander, I..." although I said this to Godunov in a humorous tone, he was still nervous. He quickly explained to me: "I really didn''t mean it. I think... "


    Before Godunov finished his reason, I caught a glimpse of a prisoner in a black tank uniform moving his body in a strange way. I quickly raised my hand, interrupted Godunov''s words behind, and turned my eyes to the prisoner. At the same time, I grasped the assault rifle in my hand.


    When I was about to ask Godunov to take the prisoner out of the crowd, the tank soldier prisoner took out a pistol from somewhere, put it on the shoulder of a prisoner in front of him and aimed at me.


    Soon after that, I saw the enemy''s muzzle aimed at me. Before I had time to respond, I heard a young voice roar: "commander, be careful!" Almost at the same time when I heard the gunshot, a tall figure stood in front of me.


    "Pa Pa Pa", with three shots, the soldier in front of me tilted back, and the huge impact force knocked me back a few steps.


    "Dada... Dada!" Before I could give an order, there was a lot of gunfire around me. In front of them, the German prisoners fell to the ground like rice.


    Then I heard Godunov''s majestic voice: "stop shooting!"


    The shooting around him stopped in his shouts, but there were only a few dozen prisoners left in the dense captivity team. And the survivors all huddled together, shivering.


    "What''s the matter, comrade major?" Seeing that the situation had subsided, I quickly stepped forward and asked Godunov in a loud voice, "Why are the prisoners still armed?"


    In the face of my reproach, Godunov bowed his head and replied in shame: "Comrade commander, the prisoner who fired the gun is a tank soldier. Maybe our soldier was negligent when searching his body and let him hide a pistol on his body." I snorted heavily, looked at the bloody bodies of German prisoners, and said impolitely, "major, remember the lesson of this time. The target of this assassination is me. Next time it may be a commander with a higher rank. If something really goes wrong, I guess you can''t keep your head. " With that, I stopped talking to him. Instead, I turned around and asked the soldier standing beside me, rubbing his chest with my hand. I asked with concern, "Comrade soldier, are you ok?"¡° It''s all right, comrade commander. " The soldier replied with a silly smile: "it''s only because of this breastplate that the captured bullet didn''t hit me. But the impact of the bullet is too strong, and my chest is still a little painful. " I took the soldier''s hand and shook it hard, saying gratefully, "thank you, thank you! Comrade soldier, if you hadn''t reacted quickly, I would have lost my life. By the way, what''s your name? " After the soldier released my hand, he straightened up and said, "report to the commander, my name is yazov. I''m a soldier of the first battalion of the new third regiment, and now I''m a guard of major Godunov." Yazov, I think this name seems to have been heard somewhere. It sounds familiar. Then I asked, "Comrade soldier, what''s your father''s name and real name?" When the soldier heard my question, he immediately replied without hesitation, "Dmitry tymofeevich yazov." Dmitry tymofeevich yazov? When I heard the name, I almost sat down on the ground. It turned out that it was him, the future marshal of the Soviet Union. I didn''t expect that he was the one who saved my life. No wonder I feel so familiar when I heard his name.

 Chapter 960

    Although yazov tried to act as if nothing had happened, I was keenly aware of the painful expression on his face. I grabbed his arm and yelled at Katerina, who had just been stunned by the scene: "Katerina, comrade Katerina."


    I yelled twice in succession, and then the stupefied Katerina woke up from the shock and asked in a trance, "referring to... Commander and... Comrade, what''s the matter with you


    "Come and give me a hand and help the soldier to the stump in front of him." I saw that she had not fully recovered from the bloody scene, so I raised her voice: "don''t be stunned, come here!"


    Maybe my last roar woke Katerina from her state of being lost, and helped me to help yazov sit down on a nearby stump. At this time, the health worker also rushed to me, after saluting me, he bent down and told yazov: "Comrade soldier, please take off your clothes, I''ll check your injury."


    When yazov took off his chest armor, his military coat and his pullover, I saw several red marks on his chest. If his chest armor hadn''t blocked the bullets, he would have died long ago. The health worker may be afraid that his rib will be broken. He touches his rib with his hand and asks him if it hurts while checking.


    After the examination, the health worker stood up and reported to me: "Comrade commander, the soldier''s rib is not broken, but some skin injuries. As long as you take some medicine, it will be cured in a few days."


    From the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Yushchenko running towards me with two soldiers, probably to inform me that the security forces were ready to leave. I leaned down, raised my hand and patted yazov on the shoulder, and said to him with a smile, "Comrade soldier, thank you again for saving me. We have a chance to see you again. " Then he took the initiative to reach out to him.


    Sitting on the stump, yazov saw that I wanted to shake hands with him, but he didn''t care about the pain. He quickly stood up, stretched out his hands, held my hand tightly, shook it vigorously, and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, you are the head of the first army. You should pay more attention to your safety in the future."


    "I will, comrade yazov." After that, I pulled my hand out of his hand, nodded to him, and turned to meet Yushchenko.


    "Comrade commander, the security forces have assembled." Yushchenko reported to me the situation of the troops, and then asked, "can we start?"


    "Come on, comrade captain." The fight was over, and there was no point in staying, so I waved my hand and said, "you take the guards and come back to kilovgrad with me."


    Yushchenko followed me for a few steps, looked back at a dozen prisoners standing in the corpse pile, and asked carefully, "Comrade commander, what are you going to do with these prisoners?"


    I stopped and turned to look at the terrified prisoners, who stood shivering in the corpses. My heart softened and I told Yushchenko, "take them back to the city with the wounded."


    About an hour later, we returned to the city smoothly. When I appeared at the gate of the army headquarters, I was surprised to find that, in addition to kirilov, wittkov and Pugachev, commander svelin, the political commissar of the 308th division, was also there. Beside him, there were three junior commanders in old tank uniform.


    Just as I was in a daze at the door, Pugachev found me and exclaimed in surprise: "the commander is back!" Then he met me, took the assault rifle from my hand, and asked with concern, "how was your journey?"


    "Very well, comrade major." I handed the assault rifle to him and walked quickly to the middle of the room, shaking hands with kirilov and others.


    After shaking hands, I looked at the three commanders who were standing nearby and some of them were at a loss. Then I turned to Vitkov and asked, "chief of staff, are these three commanders


    When witkov heard my question, he didn''t answer it directly. Instead, he looked at lieutenant commander sveling next to him, turned to me and said with a smile, "Comrade commander, these three commanders are brought by lieutenant commander sveling. I''d better let him introduce them to you."


    After listening to wittkov''s words, I turned my attention to sveling and said with a smile, "political commissar sveling, since you are the one who brought me the man, let me have a brief introduction."


    After that, he went up to the three commanders, turned and introduced himself to me, and said, "Comrade commander, these three commanders are now the commanders of the zanaankaduha guerrillas." Then from the far left to introduce: "this captain shamrih, tank company commander; Political instructor saberwalenko, tank company instructor; Lieutenant yakuda, deputy commander of the tank company. When the war broke out, they were all tank 22nd brigades under the special military region of Belarus. "


    After svelin''s introduction, I went forward to shake hands with the three commanders whose uniforms were full of patches one by one, and politely said to everyone, "Hello, nice to meet you!"


    Kirilov didn''t know when he came to me. After I shook hands with the three commanders, he first asked them to sit down again. Then he said to me, "Rita, we were just listening to the three commanders about their fighting experience. Since you are back, let''s sit down together." Then he waved to them, "Captain shamrih, what are you still doing? Don''t tell your story to the commander again. "


    Captain shamrih stood up and agreed, and began to tell me formally what they had experienced: "before the outbreak of the war, our tank brigade was stationed in the Poltava area, where there was an endless prairie, which was divided into two parts by many steep bays of the lush pushhor river.


    When the war broke out, several German armored divisions broke through our defense line in September, crossed the Dnieper River, and then directly rushed to Kharkov. Although our tank brigade suffered heavy losses in the air raid and enemy tank battle, the surviving tanks still continued to fight.


    After our company was separated from the main force, we stayed in the pushore River Valley and continued to fight the German army to the death. Taking advantage of our familiarity with the terrain, we ambushed along the road leading to Kharkov, attacked the enemy''s transport convoys, attacked the transport command post on the roadside and the small number of garrison troops in the village. "


    "Comrade captain, please wait a moment." When I got here, I couldn''t help interrupting him and asked curiously, "since you have lost contact with the main force, I''m very curious about where you get supplies. Is there any combat readiness warehouse of our army that hasn''t been found by the German army in your area?"


    "No, Comrade General." Captain shamrih shook his head and replied without expression: "although our tanks have run out of fuel for a long time, our soldiers still try to get enough fuel from the abandoned tractor station and collect ammunition from the destroyed tanks parked on the battlefield of recent battles to ensure that we can continue to fight.


    The continuous attacks we launched finally attracted the attention of the German army. They even ordered the troops going to the front to stop and turn around to encircle us. After countless battles, our company''s strength was finally exhausted. Our last tank was also destroyed in the battle near olshez.


    There are only eight people left in the company. Besides the three of us, there is also a staff sergeant and four soldiers. Although we are a group of tank soldiers who have lost their tanks and their conventional weapons, and although we are deeply behind the enemy, none of us has ever thought of posing to the head portraits of the Communist aggressors, saying that we will continue to fight with the aggressors doggedly.


    When the eight of us entered the woods and I announced that we would stop to have a rest, the instructor, comrade saber walenko, took out from his arms a military flag wrapped in his shirt and unfolded it in the moonlight through the leaves. He held the glorious flag tightly to his chest and said to his comrades in a solemn and resolute tone: "comrades, as long as one of us is still alive and armed, as long as the glorious flag is still with us, our tank brigade will not be destroyed by the enemy. It''s still there, it''s still fighting. Comrades, let us swear in front of this flag: we will never disgrace it because we are timid and disheartened; As long as we are alive, we will never lay down our arms. As long as the heart of one of us is still beating, we must encircle this glorious banner and strike hard at the Communist aggressors. "


    After hearing the instructor''s words, I felt my blood boiling at that time. Even if there were a hundred bandits in front of me at the moment, I would bravely rush towards them with weapons. So I was the first to kneel down on one knee and take the lead in saying, "I swear!" And kiss the corner of the flag. Then every comrade followed me and did the same thing. "


    Hearing this, I couldn''t help standing up and asked excitedly, "Captain, where is the flag of your tank brigade?"


    After hearing my question, shamrih turned to sabervalenko, who was still sitting in his seat, and said, "Comrade instructor, show our flag to Comrade General."


    Sabervalenko quickly stood up, untied his coat, took out a red silk flag embroidered with gold from his arms, and unfolded it with both hands. Seeing the head of Lenin in the middle of the red flag, kirilov couldn''t help walking forward, kneeling on one knee, holding a corner of the flag in both hands and kissing it.


    Now that kirilov has set an example, wittkov and Pugachev also kiss the flag one after another. Seeing kirilov and the three of them kissing the flag in turn, I, as the head of the first army, can only do it according to the gourd. After kissing the flag and standing up, I turned to the other people in the room and said loudly, "to our party, to our motherland and people, we swear: let us always be loyal to Lenin''s flag and defend our sacred motherland with our own blood and life. We swear


    As soon as my voice fell, a neat and solemn voice rang out in the room: "we swear!"


    After everyone was seated again, kirilov asked curiously, "Comrade captain, how did you come to Ukraine from Belarus?"


    Shamrihlian stood up from his seat and continued: "after losing all the tanks, our group of walking tank soldiers began to fight guerrillas. Our team became more and more powerful because of the scattered small troops, or the local residents, workers or farmers who were not satisfied with the German rule.


    Just in the autumn of 1941, I can''t remember how many German transport teams were intercepted, how many cars were burned, how many enemies were killed in ambush on the grassland, and how many German grains were burned or returned to the local people. "


    "Why don''t you count it? Comrade captain. " When witkov heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting. The captain grinned shyly, and then said, "Comrade Colonel, we were just acting at that time, and we didn''t care to count the results. The way we fight is very clever. Always suddenly appear on the grass, and suddenly disappear, leaving no trace. It is precisely because of our mysterious tactics that the German army became panicked. The German headquarters in Poltava even issued an order "to fight with the Soviet airborne troops who were wearing tank helmets and had about thousands of soldiers in vilichelen, kobeliak and rechekilov.". In the instructions, the German command asked the officers and soldiers of the German army and the vassal state to be cautious when passing through the grassland, and prohibited them to go out after dark, and prohibited vehicles of less than 15 to pass alone without escort. The night guard of the German command increased, and the village garrison moved from the farmhouse to the public buildings. At the same time, they put up signs everywhere to tell the local residents that if they could provide clues to the Soviet "bandits wearing tank helmets", or if they could take one of them, dead or alive, to the German headquarters, they would get huge bonuses and many other benefits. After their notices were posted, no one came to them to tell the truth, or to send guerrillas alive or dead. Under the circumstances of all kinds of scoundrels, the German army had to transfer a large number of SS members from far away places to the pushore River to carry out large-scale search, tracking and arrest in various villages. The cavalry columns of the field police trained on the grasslands, searched the valleys and streams, and set fire to the withered reeds. They are trying to force us out of our hiding places and drive us to open places to be completely annihilated. "

 Chapter 961

    Seeing that we are still focusing on him and knowing that we still want to know the following story, shamrih went on to say: "after winter, we are still fighting against the Communist aggressors. The enemy who has suffered repeated failures has no choice but to report us in their reports because they can not grasp our whereabouts, It is said that our army was airlifted by the Soviet army from a secret base in the rear to make an attack, and then transported back in the same way. "


    Kirilov couldn''t help laughing when he heard this. He looked around and said, "comrades, have you heard that? The enemy has no choice but to tell such a big lie to their own people, so that the morale of the army can be shaken. "


    "Political commissar, please don''t speak. Listen to captain shamrih." Deeply afraid that kirilov''s words would distract everyone''s attention, I immediately interrupted him and urged shamrih: "Comrade captain, please go on."


    Shamrih nodded, then added: "our guerrillas are supported by the residents. They accept us voluntarily and invite us to their villages for rest. Even if the SS and the field police surround the village, we don''t have to move or hide, because these loyal friends will disguise us as shoemakers, fishermen and even farmers until the search is over and the area returns to normal. And then they helped to get the weapons and equipment out of the hiding places and send us out of the village. "


    "Then how did you leave Belarus and come to Ukraine?" When witkov heard that sharmlich had always mentioned a series of achievements they had made, but he did not mention why they came to Ukraine, he could not help asking.


    Hearing this question again, shamrih blushed to the root of his neck and answered with shame: "after the war in Ukraine subsided, the German army dispatched many troops into Belarus to strengthen the search and encirclement of our area. Under such circumstances, an unstable element appeared in our army. Because he could not stand the hardships of long-term fighting and coveted the rich rewards of the German army, he secretly ran to the German army and informed the enemy of our intelligence. As a result, the enemy immediately sent out two armored regiments, surrounded our camp and launched an attack from several directions at the same time.


    Fortunately, the local villagers found out when the enemy deployed troops. They came to us all night and informed us, so that we could have enough time to move to the new camp and let the enemy''s encirclement and suppression plan fall through the air. "


    When I heard that there was a traitor in the army, I immediately thought that his guerrillas were bound to suffer heavy casualties under the encirclement and suppression of the enemy, and finally retreated to Ukraine with their troops when there was no way out. However, when I heard him say that they got the information in advance and jumped out of the enemy''s encirclement before the enemy''s encirclement, I couldn''t help but "eh". However, I didn''t interrupt him casually, but listened to him quietly.


    "... an empty bandit becomes more and more crazy. Under the guidance of traitors, they retaliated against the villages that had helped us. In addition to the common way of gathering all the villagers together and shooting them with machine guns, they also developed many ways of killing people. For example, for villages with a small number of people, they will let the villagers dig a big pit themselves, then push everyone into the pit and throw grenades into it until they kill everyone. There is also a village in the mining area. The bandits divided the villagers into small groups and carried them to the shaft one by one. They pushed them down the shaft tens of meters deep one by one. The Germans were deeply afraid that so many people would be thrown into the shaft at the same time and not all of them would die. Finally, they pushed down two coal trucks. I arrived there three days later with my troops. Standing by the well, I could still clearly hear the voices of those who had not died... "At this point, shamrih couldn''t go on because he choked.


    "Damned bandits!" When kirilov heard this, he slapped the table, stood up and said in a loud voice, "comrades commander, remember, remember the heinous crimes they have committed against the people of our motherland. Sooner or later, we will pay them back the blood debt. "


    Kirilov''s words immediately aroused everyone''s resonance. Vetkov then said indignantly, "we''re going to kill all these damn invaders. Sooner or later, we''re going to burn all their Berlin and blow up their Hitler!"


    After everyone had finished speaking, shamrih continued to talk about what happened later: "in order to prevent the German from continuing to retaliate madly, and to protect the villagers who support us, we did not stay in the village any more, but camped in the forest or valley. Because of the difficult conditions, more and more people who were not firm in their stand left the team one after another and became shameful deserters and traitors.


    After several successive encirclement and suppression by the German army, we lost a lot of troops. Now there are less than 70 troops left in the army of more than 500. After my discussion with the instructor, we decided to leave Belarus and go to a new area to carry out guerrilla warfare. So we came to the banks of the Dnieper River and went south into Ukraine.


    When we arrived in the Chernobyl area, we found that the enemy''s strength here was weak and a large number of guerrillas were active. Originally, we planned to establish a new guerrilla area here, but soon I found out that many of the so-called guerrillas were running dogs of the Germans. They not only did not fight the Germans, but also sent troops to rob villages everywhere, and even had several conflicts with us. In this case, we had to choose a new guerrilla area. After several twists and turns, we finally came to the znaankaduha area. From the geographical position, after crossing the Dnieper River northward, as long as we continue to go northward, we can join forces with our troops. So we will stop here, actively expand our strength, and plan to join forces at the right time, To join the main force of our army to the north. "


    After listening to shamrih''s talk about their fighting process, I looked at the flag held in my arms by the instructor, saberwalenko. A thought suddenly came to my mind: because the 84th brigade of tanks was completely destroyed, there were no armored forces in the army. Before the higher authorities replenish the new troops for Colonel bere, can we gather the remaining tanks in the army and rebuild a tank brigade 22, with the commander of the brigade being represented by Colonel bere, and the tank battalion of major pelsken formally incorporated into the formation of the tank brigade.


    As soon as the idea came out, I decided to put it into practice immediately, so I turned to kirilov and Vitkov and said, "political commissar, chief of staff, I have an idea to talk about."


    Hearing what I had to say, kirilov said with a smile, "go ahead, Rita."


    "I''m going to reorganize captain shamrih''s tank 22nd brigade." With these words, I paid special attention to the expressions of captain shamrih and saberwalenko, who were both whispering with excitement because of the unexpected good news. He continued: "the three divisions of the army have their own tank battalions. Although our tanks are almost exhausted at present, we can still gather the tank soldiers who have lost their tanks and build up the framework of the tank brigade first. The rest of the tanks can wait until the conditions are ripe."


    "What about the 84th brigade?" After listening to what I said, wittkov asked: "although all the tanks were lost in the battle some time ago, after all, the brigade commander, Colonel berey, and many tank soldiers are still alive. Do you want them to cancel the number?"


    "Comrade chief of staff, didn''t you hear clearly just now?" Lieutenant commander svelin, who had not finished speaking, said to wittkov: "the commander said that after the reconstruction of the tank 22nd brigade, Colonel berey was only allowed to act as brigade commander for the time being. Once the tank 84th brigade has completed the replenishment, other people will take over the post."


    I nodded and agreed with svelin''s interpretation. Then I said to wittkov, "although there are only a few of them left in the tank 22nd brigade, and none of them has a tank, they have overcome all difficulties and saved their glorious flag. To this end, we should rebuild the tank brigade as soon as possible."


    "I agree with the commander!" After I finished, kirilov was the first to make his stand. He said to all the people, "the officers and men of the 22nd tank brigade, after losing contact with the main forces, fought tenaciously in the enemy''s rear for nearly two years. I think they should be rewarded for their achievements. In the shortest time, the reconstruction of this heroic tank brigade is their greatest affirmation. If I say so, do you have different opinions? "


    As soon as he finished, I immediately expressed my attitude: "I have no problem!"


    Then sverin and Pugachev also successively said, "I agree with the commissar''s opinion!"¡° I firmly agree with the commander and commissar! "


    After several people who are qualified to express their opinions, wittkov, who is half a beat slow, also said: "I have no different opinions. But should we ask the superior for instructions on this matter? "


    "To whom?" When I heard wittkov say such irresponsible words, I was discontented and a little displeased, so I asked: "don''t you know that our group army headquarters has been defeated, and what orders are given by the head of the front army? And at this time, rashly send a report to the superior, once the intelligence is intercepted by the German army, then all our details will be exposed to the enemy. "


    As for my consistent practice of cutting first and then playing, vetkov, who had already had immunity, had no choice but to say, "well, comrade commander, since this is the case, let''s set up the 22nd tank brigade first, wait for the right time, and then report to the higher authorities."


    Seeing that wittkov could understand my intention, I was still a little proud. Then I told Pugachev, "major, I''ll give you the responsibility for rebuilding the tank brigade. You hurry up, all the tanks of the divisions are assembled. By the way, Colonel bere, who is still recovering, you should go to inform him in person to see if he can attend the reconstruction ceremony in person. "


    "What about major perskin''s tank battalion?" When I finished, Pugachev asked another key question: "they are now stationed in the village of drofia. If they withdraw, will it affect the defense of the area?"


    "Bring them back." I think back to the battle a few hours ago, and I think it''s a bit like painting a snake and adding fuel to it to set up a tank unit there. We have just annihilated all the attacking German troops. We don''t know how long it will take for them to launch a new attack. Instead of leaving them idle, they should be transferred back to the city to help defend. When I made up my mind, I said to Pugachev, "major, bring them back first. If the tank brigade does not even have a tank to rebuild such a large site, what''s the matter? "


    Then, I said to the three of them who were tearful beside him, "Comrade captain, you three should follow the major. If you need any help, just tell him that the major will help you deal with it."


    "Thank you, thank you, Comrade General." After thanking me excitedly, the three men left the headquarters behind Pugachev.


    When there were only three Army leaders and political commissar of the 308th division in the headquarters, I looked at him and asked, "Comrade commander, can you tell me something about Alexandria?" The reason why I asked this question now is that I found that he was very indifferent when I entered the headquarters. I knew that there was no major event in the defense area of the 308th division, and he would not bring three commanders to the military headquarters in person¡° Comrade commander, "upon hearing my question, swilling quickly got up from his seat and reported to me," the enemy who rushed to the city from several directions and made a firefight with our garrison, then they left one after another. According to the report of the scouts, the enemy has only left a small number of troops in the north, West and east of the city to monitor the movements of our army, while the rest of the main forces are turning north and crossing the Dnieper River on a large scale. "¡° Comrade commander, since the main force of the enemy is crossing the river to the north, what shall we do next? " Witkov took a look at my reaction, and then carefully asked, "do you want to continue to stick to the present two cities, or do you want to find the right fighter to attack the enemy, or do you want to find the right location to cross the river to join the friendly forces?" After thinking for a moment, I replied, "as long as the German troops on this side of the river are reduced, the pressure on our next action, whether in war or defense, will be greatly reduced. Since the German army has left its troops to monitor our army, let''s hold still for the time being. After the German army has crossed the river, we will find another chance to make a havoc in their rear. "

 Chapter 962

    After learning the general situation of Alexandria from swilling, I asked wittkov, "Comrade chief of staff, what''s the situation here? Has the German army ever launched an attack?"


    "Report to the commander," vetkov respectfully reported, "the enemy only sent out small troops to attack the front of our army. As long as our troops fire back and strike back, they will immediately withdraw their starting point. "


    "How are the enemy forces deployed near kilovgrad?" For his answer, he did not say yes or no, but then asked, "is it equipped with tanks and artillery?"


    I asked wittkov this question at once. It took a long time for him to reply, "Comrade commander, since the 22nd division of the guards has been building fortifications in the city and has not been able to send reconnaissance troops in time, we are not very clear about the German situation near the city."


    "General bantailiev''s troops can''t send out scouts. Can''t our army directly send out scouts?" I was not satisfied with wittkov''s answer, so I immediately told him: "call captain travkin immediately, and let him immediately arrange for reconnaissance. We must make clear the enemy''s forces and deployment, so that we can make the next combat plan. Do you understand? "


    "I understand." Vetkov agreed steadily. Then he went to the table, picked up the phone, dialed a number, and said to the phone, "Hello, reconnaissance camp? I''m chief of staff, Colonel witkov. Is your deputy battalion commander, Captain travkin in? Let him come to the army headquarters immediately. The commander has a task to give him. "


    When witkov put down the phone and came over, I said to him with all my heart and soul: "Comrade chief of staff, we are now behind the enemy. We need to fight not only offensive but also defensive. In the course of city defense, we should not only defend for the sake of defense, but also take active defense and counterattack against the enemy at the right time. If we can''t figure out the enemy''s deployment of forces and weapons, how can we fight back? "


    "Comrade commander, I''m wrong." After listening to my criticism, wittkov immediately admitted his mistake to me and said, "in the future, when the troops arrive in a new area, I will immediately arrange people to carry out reconnaissance and find out the enemy''s reality."


    "That''s right, comrade chief of staff." As soon as I finished praising him and wanted to say a few more words, I saw that trav Jinxing hurried into the headquarters, left vetkov behind and went to the deputy commander of the reconnaissance battalion: "Captain, you''re here."


    "Comrades commander," hearing my voice, travkin quickly straightened up and reported to me, "Captain travkin has been ordered to come and wait for your orders, please give me instructions!"


    "Captain, I''ll ask you." Instead of giving him a direct assignment, I asked, "how many people are there in the reconnaissance battalion?"


    "There are 195, including commanders."


    "195 people, the number is a little less." Although the figures given by travkin are far lower than what I expected, I don''t mean to blame him at all. After all, in recent battles, the guard battalion and the reconnaissance battalion in the army have been used as ordinary troops for many times, so it''s inevitable that casualties will be reduced. But with nearly 200 people, it''s not difficult to fulfill my orders, I then said, "I want you to send scouts immediately to scout the German defense areas around the city and quickly report back the latest situation."


    My order surprised travkin. When I finished, he asked carefully, "Comrade commander, will you send a reconnaissance team now? You know, as soon as you leave the city, there will be a vast plain outside. Every move we make will fall into the eyes of the Germans. "


    My intention was to get them to set out immediately to spy on the enemy. Hearing this, he knew that he was a little too hasty, so he sighed and said to him, "in that case, you should organize the reconnaissance units first, and then send them in batches after dark."


    "Does the reconnaissance unit carry communication equipment?" After I gave the order, travkin quickly asked.


    I gave him a strange look and asked, "Comrade captain, this is obvious. You used to carry communication equipment with you every time you went out on reconnaissance missions? In this way, we can report any important enemy information to us immediately through the radio, so as to avoid the situation of delaying the fighters. "


    "We lost a lot of communication equipment in the early stage. At present, there are only three walkie talkies left in the whole battalion." Travkin said with some embarrassment: "in order to carry out reconnaissance in several directions in the shortest time, I have to send at least six reconnaissance teams. That is to say, half of the units will have no communication equipment. In that case, if they detect the situation, they will have to send someone back to report it... "


    "All right, comrade captain." I didn''t wait for travkin to finish, so I raised my hand to interrupt his later words and made a special explanation on his worry: "we have a batch of communication equipment in the seized materials in kafbas. You can go directly to major Pugachev later and say that I told him to provide all the materials you need."


    "Yes Travkin agreed and left happily.


    I went back to the table and said to kirilov and Vitkov, "comrades commander, although we have to fight a defensive war in kirovgrad and Alexandria, it does not affect us to fight another offensive war at the right time."


    As soon as I said that, kirilov asked excitedly, "Rita, do you have another good idea?"


    "It''s not a good idea. It''s just my personal idea. I don''t want the enemy to encircle and annihilate us so easily. Let''s see, "I asked you to come around and pointed to the map and said to them," from the current situation, it is certain that our two front forces on the other side of the Dnieper River are attacking fiercely and the enemy is hard to resist. Only then will they rush to transfer our troops to the other side for reinforcement. In this way, our army can take advantage of this rare opportunity to continue to harass the enemy''s rear and even point to Kiev. "


    "What, Kiev?" Wittkov was surprised when I said this. He kindly reminded me: "Comrade commander, as early as when our strength was far stronger than it is now, I suggested to you that we should push forward to Kiev after the troops occupied kilovgrad and Alexandria. But this proposal was rejected by you. Why did you take the initiative to put forward this plan today?"


    "Comrade chief of staff, the situation on the battlefield has changed. As commanders, we should adjust our original deployment of forces according to the changes in the situation." In order to convince him, I went on to further explain: "from the report of Lieutenant Colonel swilling, we can find a fact that the enemy''s main force has crossed the Dnieper River to the north, but it has reinforced the friendly forces on the other side, leaving only a small number of troops to monitor us. That is to say, with the northward transfer of troops, many big cities occupied by the German army will face the situation of insufficient troops. In this way, even if we tackle the difficulties, it won''t be too difficult. "


    "Comrade commander, I think we should be cautious in this matter." Wittkov also became more cautious at the moment. He reminded me again: "since we didn''t carry out reconnaissance on the enemy''s location, we still don''t know the real situation of the enemy. So I suggest that, for the sake of safety, we should continue to hold our ground and take a rest as soon as possible. After March, Try again to attack the enemy''s big cities


    "Time does not wait, comrade chief of staff." When I think of the German troops transferred from Romania, I have a headache. The troops there have not gone through many wars, and their equipment and morale must be excellent. It is absolutely a safe bet to fight with a tired division like ours. Based on this consideration, I ordered them to seize the time to carry out reconnaissance and find out the enemy''s deployment and equipment, so that we can make corresponding adjustments in time¡° We don''t know when the enemy''s troops in Romania will come down to the city. We can''t compete with such a new force, so we must leave the existing defensive area and turn to a new target before they arrive. "


    "Comrade commander." Suddenly behind me came the voice of Pugachev.


    When I heard the cry, I stood up straight, turned around, looked at Pugachev standing at the door and asked, "Comrade major, has captain travkin come to you to collect the supplies? Give them all. They will give whatever they want. This is my own order. "


    Unexpectedly, Pugachev shook his head like a rattle and replied, "no, comrade commander. Captain travkin, I''ve sent someone to accompany them to the warehouse to collect the supplies they need


    "What is that?" Since it''s not about travkin and their material collection, and Pugachev doesn''t have any telegrams or newspapers in his hand, I really can''t understand his intention for a moment.


    Seeing that I was still speechless, Pugachev quickly stepped forward two steps and said to me in a low and mysterious voice: "Comrade commander, don''t come, Colonel ray."


    "Oh, here comes the Colonel!" Hearing that bielei had come to my headquarters, I was overjoyed and asked, "where is he?"


    Pugachev looked in the direction of the door and replied, "it''s at the door."


    After listening to Pugachev''s reply, kirilov immediately excitedly told him, "quick, quick! Major, hurry up and bring in Colonel berey


    Pugachev agreed, walked quickly to the door, and cried out, "Hello, two comrades of the soldiers, bring your colonel in quickly."


    As soon as his voice dropped, I saw two male health workers with stretchers at the door. The man lying on the stretcher was carrying a long military coat. Although he was facing us, I could easily recognize him from his figure as the commander of the tank brigade, Colonel berey.


    When the stretcher was placed on two benches, I took the lead to come over and asked the captain lying on the stretcher, "don''t ray, don''t ray!"


    As I called, Colonel berey slowly turned over and opened his eyes. But when I saw that we were standing in front of him, I put my elbow on the stretcher and tried to sit up. The soldier next to him came forward to help and helped him sit up.


    Bielei raised his hand to salute us and said in a feeble voice, "Hello, comrade commander! Hello, comrade political commissar! I don''t know. Do you have any instructions for me to come here? "


    I quickly stepped forward, leaned down, took Colonel berey''s cold hand, and asked with concern, "Comrade Colonel, how is your injury? Are you better?" Bielei looked up at me and said slowly, "don''t worry, comrade commander, you can''t die yet. I''m waiting for you to replenish my tank brigade and take part in new battles. " Seeing that berey''s injury was not alleviated, but aggravated, I looked up at the two health workers standing around him and asked angrily, "what''s the matter? Why is the Colonel''s injury not getting better, but aggravating? Say, why don''t you talk? Who can explain to me what''s going on? " When the two health workers bowed their heads because of shame, berey patted me twice on the back of my hand. When he saw my attention returning to him, he tried to squeeze a smile on his face and said to me, "Comrade commander, you blame them wrong. During the period of the health workers, they took good care of me. However, due to the limited medical conditions, several shrapnel on my body could not be removed, resulting in the purulent wound, which aggravated the injury. " Don''t ray say so, suddenly let me think of that inexplicably dead general Ike. He turned to kirilov and said, "Comrade political commissar, there is one more thing that I have not understood. I want to ask what is going on."¡° Excuse me, Rita Kirilov said politely with a smile on his face¡° How on earth did Theodore Ike die? " I asked, looking at kirilov¡° Well, comrade commander. " Before kirilov could speak, vetkov said, "Ike came to the city in a truck with our wounded. Because when unloading, two health workers in charge of lifting Ike had not had time to lift him out of the car, they received other orders and went to other places. It was a whole day and night before they remembered that Ike was still in the car. When they arrived, they found that Ike was frozen to death on the covered truck. That''s what happened. I''ve ordered these two soldiers to be locked up. If my comrades in the army commander think that my punishment is too light, then I can extend their confinement. "¡° No, chief of staff. It''s not necessary to deal with our soldiers. We''ll let those two out later. " After I had finished speaking to Vitkov, I leaned down and said to berey, "I''m sorry, Colonel. I didn''t know you were so seriously injured that you were carried here from the health camp."¡° Comrade commander, I understand. If you don''t have anything important, you will never disturb me At this point, with the help of two health workers, he sat up straight and said to me with firm expression: "as long as I can do it, I will live up to your trust."

 Chapter 963

    I leaned down again and said to him, "well, comrade Colonel, we are going to rebuild the tank 22nd brigade. You are specially invited here today to accept our flag at the reconstruction ceremony and to act as the commander of the tank brigade for the time being. " At this point, I looked at bere, who was supported by two soldiers, and his body was shaking slightly. I added with some regret, "but judging from your current physical condition, you may not be qualified for this task."


    "Comrade commander, if I remember correctly, the tank 22nd brigade belongs to the Belarusian special military region. Soon after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the whole army was annihilated and the number of the tank 22nd brigade was cancelled by the supreme command." As a tank captain, berey knew more about the intelligence of mechanized troops than I did. As soon as I gave the serial number of the 22nd brigade, he said what he knew: "how did you think of reorganizing this unit?"


    "You are right, Colonel." After affirming what berey said, I explained to him, "this tank brigade is indeed almost exhausted after the outbreak of the war, but they also have a tank company cut off behind the enemy. They not only persisted in guerrilla warfare for two years, but also kept their flag intact."


    "Comrade commander, where is the glorious flag?" It''s said that there are some units that have been removed from the organizational system, but the complete flag has been preserved. Colonel berey is excited. He grabs my arm and asks nervously, "let me have a look."


    I straightened up and told Pugachev, who was standing beside me, "major, go and show the flag to Colonel berey."


    Pugachev agreed and walked out of the headquarters. After a while, he came to us with the neatly folded silk flag in his hands. When I saw the flag in Pugachev''s hand, I nodded at him and then ordered, "major, spread out the flag and show it to the colonel."


    Pugachev seized the two corners of the flag, shook it and launched the flag of the tank brigade.


    Colonel berey looked at the flag in front of him, reached for the sickle and hammer in the middle of the flag, and wrote the number of the army. While touching the flag, he said excitedly: "Comrade commander, yes, yes, this is the flag of the 22nd tank brigade. When the tank brigade was established, I accompanied marshal timoshinger to teach the flag. I thought this glorious flag had been lost with the collapse of the tank brigade in the battle. I didn''t expect to see it again. By the way, where did you find the flag? "


    "Well, comrade colonel." It was kirilov who came out to explain to him. He told Colonel berey about captain shamrih''s glorious achievements and how to preserve the flag.


    After listening to kirilov''s story, berey wiped tears from his face, looked up at kirilov and asked, "Comrade political commissar, where are these glorious tank soldiers? I want to meet them."


    "No problem. I''ll arrange for you to see them right away." After I said this, I asked Pugachev, "major, Captain shamrih, where are they now?"


    "I arranged for them to rest in the next room." When Pugachev heard me ask, he straightened up and said, "do you need to call them over?"


    "That''s not to say, comrade major." When I heard that several of them were resting in the next room, I immediately ordered Pugachev: "call them all here immediately, and let them all come to meet with the acting commander of the tank brigade, Colonel bere."


    After Pugachev left, Colonel bere raised his head and said to me difficultly, "Comrade commander, I want to ask, which troops are you going to transfer from the reconstructed tank brigade?"


    As soon as berey''s question was finished, I replied, "each of the three infantry divisions has its own tank battalion. Although the tanks of several tank battalions have been completely lost in the continuous fighting, there are still many tank soldiers. I plan to gather all the tank soldiers in the three divisions and rebuild the tank 22nd brigade. "


    "Comrade commander, do we still have tanks?" "If there is no tank, the importance of the reconstruction ceremony will be greatly reduced," he asked with regret


    "Don''t worry, comrade colonel." After listening to his worries, I quickly comforted him and said, "there are six tanks in the tank battalion of the 22nd division of the guards. I have ordered the battalion commander, major pereskine, to drive his troops from the village of drofia immediately to participate in the reconstruction ceremony of the tank brigade."


    "How do you plan to set up a tank brigade?" Asked Colonel berey.


    I thought for a moment and answered, "for the time being, the whole brigade will be divided into four battalions, the tank battalions of three infantry divisions will be divided into 123 battalions, and captain shamrih''s forces will be divided into four battalions. Judging from your physical condition, there is no way to accept the flag in person. Well, at the beginning of the reconstruction ceremony, you and the leaders of our army will watch the ceremony, and the honor of receiving the flag will be given to major perskin. "


    "Comrade commander, I have no problem. I will obey your arrangement." Don''t listen to me, ray replied without hesitation.


    With these words, Pugachev and three tank commanders walked into the headquarters and stood in a row on the stretcher facing bere. Seeing that their eyes were involuntarily turned to bielei, I quickly bypassed the stretcher and walked to them. From left to right, I''d like to introduce to you three tank commanders: Captain shamrih, commander of the tank company; Political instructor saberwalenko, tank company instructor; Lieutenant yakuda, deputy commander of the tank company


    After introducing the identities of the three, I turned to face them again, pointed to bere sitting on the stretcher and said, "three commanders, it''s my turn to introduce you. This is colonel bere, commander of the 84th brigade of the tank. Now he is acting commander of the 22nd brigade of your tank. You all go and say hello to your commander. "


    After listening to me, the three quickly stepped forward, raised their hands and saluted bielei solemnly. They said in one voice: "Hello, comrade brigade commander."


    "Hello, comrades." Colonel berey returned the salute to the three men on the stretcher, and said to them with a smile, "please forgive me for my impoliteness, because the injury is so serious that I can only sit and talk to you."


    "Comrade brigade commander, if you have injuries, don''t be so polite." With that, Captain shamrih went to the stretcher and whispered to berey. Seeing the company commander talking with the brigade commander, the instructor and the deputy company commander standing beside me also went over.


    While they were talking, I turned around and asked Pugachev, who was standing beside me, "major, is pelsky''s tank battalion here?"


    He shook his head and replied, "I''ve asked the observation post in the south of the city. They haven''t seen any tanks yet." Seeing my anxious face, he asked in a low voice, "do you need me to call to urge you?"


    "No, major perskin is not a slow commander." As for Pugachev''s proposal, I immediately shook my head and denied it. At the same time, I also defended Peres: "he didn''t come late. He must have met something on the road, otherwise he would have been in the City long ago. By the way, have you assembled all the tank soldiers in the city? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Pugachev replied respectfully, "the tank battalion of the 22nd division of the guards who stayed in the city have all assembled, while the tank battalion of the 171st and 308 divisions are heading towards us by truck. It is estimated that they will arrive in the evening."


    I was talking to Pugachev when I heard the telephone ringing on my desk. I thought Vitkov and his men were right next to the telephone. They didn''t have to worry that no one would answer the phone, so I continued to say to Pugachev, "in the newly formed tank brigade, the most powerful one is captain shamrih''s Fourth Battalion, but I don''t think there are many real tank soldiers in it, So you have to transfer the technical backbone from the other three battalions to exchange with the ordinary soldiers from the fourth battalions to ensure that the whole tank battalion can form a strong combat effectiveness in the shortest time. "


    Just then, I heard wittkov calling to me: "Comrade commander, comrade commander!"


    I quickly ended the conversation with Pugachev, turned to Vitkov and asked, "chief of staff, what''s the matter?"


    Wittkov raised his microphone to me and said, "Comrade commander, it''s general Romanov, deputy commander. He said that he has important information to report to you."


    Important information, when I heard this word, my heart could not help but thump, my heart said, is something wrong with Alexandria? Otherwise, why didn''t he report directly to Vitkov, but specifically to me? I went around the stretcher to the other side of the table, took the phone from vetkov''s hand, and said to the receiver, "Hello, is that Comrade deputy commander? I''m oshanina


    "Comrade commander, I have something important to report to you." Romanov''s low voice came from the receiver: "the German army sent a lieutenant commander to my headquarters and said that they would negotiate with us."


    "What can I talk about?" When I thought of the commander Berg who tried to persuade me to surrender last time, I immediately lost his reputation and said to the microphone: "we have nothing to talk about with the German guys. Comrade deputy commander, you can just send them away."


    "Comrade commander, I think you should come to Alexandria in person." After a moment''s hesitation, Romanov said to me decisively, "they come here to exchange with us."


    "Exchange?" I was stunned for a moment by what Romanov said, and then I asked, "deputy commander, what''s going on? Did the Germans say what kind of exchange they would have with us? "


    "The German lieutenant colonel who came to negotiate is Huber. He said he had dealt with you before..."


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander, he is right." I said angrily: "last time he tried to persuade us, I scolded him away. I didn''t expect that he would come here again


    "Lieutenant Commander Huber said he wanted us to return the body of general Ike, division commander of the skull division. In return, "Romanov may be a little excited, speaking very fast:" he will return the body of general haridonov, commander of the Sixth Army Group, as well as the 200 wounded captured. "


    I don''t think I will pay any attention to the other conditions proposed by the German army, but this time they proposed to exchange the remains of the commander of the sixth group army and 200 captured wounded for the bodies of IKE buried in the soil. We are not at a loss in terms of this deal. After a moment''s thinking, I said decisively to Romanov, "Comrade deputy commander, you should stabilize the German negotiators first, and I''ll go there immediately."


    As soon as I put down the phone, I asked wittkov, "Comrade chief of staff, do you know where Ike''s body is?"¡° Ike''s body? " When witkov heard me say this, he was stunned and then replied, "it seems that he is buried somewhere outside the city. Major Pugachev is responsible for this matter. Only he knows the specific location." After witkov said this, I immediately turned to Pugachev and said, "major, take some people with you immediately, dig Ike''s body out of the cemetery, wipe it clean and put it on the truck. Do you understand? " Pugachev didn''t ask why he gave me the order. He just agreed and left the headquarters. After Pugachev left, kirilov asked in surprise, "Rita, what do you want Ike''s body for?"¡° Well, comrade political commissar. " The exchange with the German army is the most important thing, so I have to communicate with kirilov and vetkov: "the German army sent a negotiator to Alexandria and put forward conditions to the deputy commander. They said that as long as we return Ike''s body, they will hand over to us the remains of general haridonov, as well as the 200 captured wounded. I asked the deputy commander to stabilize the negotiators first, and then I went to talk to the German representatives myself. "¡° Then you won''t take part in the flag ceremony of rebuilding the tank brigade? " Kirilov, when I finished, asked cautiously, "who are you going to send to take your place in this ceremony?"¡° Who else, of course, is you, my political commissar. " The flag ceremony and the exchange of prisoners are both very important. I can only choose to preside over the exchange ceremony when I can''t have both. Thinking that they would not be able to attend the flag ceremony, they would be very disappointed. After a few words to kirilov, I went to berey''s stretcher, held his hand, and said apologetically, "Comrade Colonel, although I would like to personally preside over the flag ceremony for the reconstruction of the tank brigade, I have more important things to deal with, So I can only say sorry to you. As for the ceremony, it will be presided over by the political commissar and the chief of staff. "¡° Comrade commander, I just heard that. " As for my apologies, Colonel berey said with great understanding: "although I hope you can personally preside over our flag ceremony, there are 200 soldiers waiting for you to rescue in Alexandria. You can go with ease. I believe the commanders and fighters of the whole brigade can understand you."

 Chapter 964

    I set out to Alexandria. In addition to bringing Yushchenko and a special guard platoon, I also asked bantaileiev for the company commander of the division''s communication company, razumeyeva. After all, I had been with her for some time and knew each other very well.


    Razumeyeva and I were sitting in the back of the jeep. While waiting for the soldiers to get on the bus, razumeyeva suddenly saw that a soldier was carrying a coffin onto the truck. She asked curiously, "Comrade commander, who is in the coffin? Is it also a general?"


    I was considering whether I should report this matter to the higher authorities after negotiating the exchange terms with the German army. When I heard razumeyeva''s question, I casually replied, "yes, it''s a general."


    "When the lieutenant heard me, he was stunned for a moment. Then he understood that the deputy commander I was talking about, general Romanov, who is now the division commander of the 308th division, quickly replied," yes, comrade commander. The negotiations between the comrades of the division and the German army. "


    I didn''t care that what he said was not the division commander, but the mayors. Instead, I directly told him, "Lieutenant, the commander of my communication company is still in the car outside. Please find someone to arrange her accommodation."


    "Yes, comrade commander." The lieutenant replied quickly¡° I''ll arrange it now. "


    I stepped forward, pushed open the heavy door and stepped in. There was a long table with exquisite workmanship in the room. At the end facing the door, there were two people, Romanov and the commander of the 171st division, Colonel andriuschenko, and several other commanders on both sides of the table.


    "Hello, general oshanina. Nice to see you again." Before I could see where the German negotiators were, I heard a familiar voice.


    I looked aside and saw German Lieutenant Colonel Huber standing up from the table by the door. Seeing that I noticed him, he quickly closed his legs, slightly bent over me, and then said with a smile: "general, last time we had a little misunderstanding, please don''t mind, don''t affect our negotiation today."


    "Good to see you again, commander Huber. Please have a seat. I''ll go on talking with you. " With that, I asked him to sit down, and then I went straight to Romanov''s position.


    In fact, shortly after I entered the room, all the commanders, including Romanov, got up from their seats, stood upright and silently saluted me.


    Romanov came out of his position, held out his hand to me, and whispered, "Comrade commander, you are here. This German guy is so cunning that he wants us to exchange Ike''s body first and then the body of general haridonov and the captured wounded for us. "


    I nodded slightly and answered in a low voice, "OK, comrade deputy commander, let''s handle this matter." Then he went to the place where Romanov let out. Andreusenko, who was sitting next to Romanov, shook hands with me and took the initiative to sit next to him.


    I sat down in the middle of the seat, across the long wooden table, at the distant commander Huber, and said aloud, "Mr. commander, please repeat the exchange terms of Marshal Manstein."


    After hearing what I said, Huber, who had just sat down, stood up again and said humbly, "Sir, our Marshal''s meaning is to ask you to return the body of general ike to us first, and then return your body of general haridonov and the other 200 captured wounded to your army after it is confirmed to be correct."


    After listening to Huber''s words, I sneered twice and then asked in a sarcastic tone, "what if we give you Ike''s body first, and you can''t fulfill your promise after you confirm it?"


    After half a day''s silence, Huber replied, "Sir, I''ve only come to discuss the exchange with you on the order of Marshal Manstein. However, I can assure you that once we receive the body of general Ike, I will do my best to ensure that our army fulfils its agreed obligations. "


    "Guarantee?! Hum I stood up, snorted heavily, and said to Huber, "Mr. commander, please go back and tell Marshal Manstein that we are going to hand over the scene. As we hand over Ike''s body to you, you must also release our wounded and return general haridonov''s body. "


    "This, this..." my proposal made Hu Bo''s face look extremely embarrassed. After a long time, he said to me as if he had made up his mind: "Sir, I have no such authority. I have to go back and ask the marshal for instructions."


    I nodded and said generously, "Mr. commander, your proposal is very reasonable. I totally agree with it. Go back and consult with Marshal Manstein. Once you have the letter, you can ask your troops stationed outside the city to send someone to inform us. "


    Hu Bo picked up the cap on the table, put it on his head, saluted me, turned and walked to the door. Sitting at the door of a commander quickly jumped up from the seat, rushed to help open the wooden door. Hu Bochong nodded his thanks and walked out of the door.


    After Huber left, Romanov immediately asked, "Comrade commander, do we really want to make a deal with the Germans?"¡° Yes, comrade deputy commander. " Although Romanov is now the acting division commander of the 308th division, I still used to call him the deputy commander. "We can''t let the remains of general haridonov fall into the hands of the Germans. No matter what the cost, we have to get back the remains of the hero. Besides, Ike is dead, which poses no threat to us. If we return a worthless corpse to the German people, we can exchange it for the remains of the general and 200 wounded captured soldiers. No matter how we look at this deal, we will not lose out. "¡° But, comrade commander. " A major sitting next to him suddenly said, "didn''t the Supreme Commander say that we have no prisoners of war, only traitors of our motherland? Is it appropriate for us to exchange the corpses of German generals for the return of a group of traitors? " The major''s abrupt words immediately reduced the atmosphere in the room to freezing point. I looked at the major with a gloomy face. I wanted to slap him in the face. My heart said, didn''t you make me feel embarrassed in public? Without waiting for me to speak, Romanov patted the table: "major, what are you talking about? Didn''t you hear the Germans say that all the wounded are going to be returned to us? What is the shame of our officers and men fighting tenaciously with the enemy on the battlefield and being captured because they lost their fighting capacity? I was captured because I was injured after the outbreak of the war. Am I a traitor to my motherland? " Romanov''s wounded soldiers, who were about to be exchanged, remembered his humiliating history, so he said so much to the major who made inappropriate remarks at the wrong time that he blushed and buried his head deeply¡° Comrade deputy commander is right! " I know that at such a time, I should take the initiative to show my attitude and unify the thoughts of the commanders on the scene, so I took a clear stand from the perspective of Romanov and said, "since the enemy wants to return these wounded to us, it proves that they are all good. Even if they are in prison, they have not given in to the enemy." I stared at the major, "exchanging wounded soldiers captured by our army with the Germans is a decision I made after consulting with other army leaders. Major, do you mean to create chaos in the army or to compete with the leaders at the military and divisional levels? " The major, who had no reason to speak, sat in his seat silent, but with his head down and a cold sweat on his forehead. Seeing the major''s expression, I thought of forgiving others. After all, I felt that I had exchanged prisoners with the German army without asking for instructions from my superiors. If the above really went into depth, I still could not get rid of the relationship, so I slowed down and said, "major, listen to me. Today''s business is over. From now on, if I hear from you that the wounded are traitors of our motherland, I will remove you from your post and take you to the military court. Do you understand? " The major quickly raised his head, looked at Romanov, looked at me again, and answered with an iron face: "I see, comrade commander. I''m wrong. I shouldn''t talk. I''ll review it! " When there were only three people left in the conference room, I and Romanov, andrieuchenko, Romanov asked cautiously and with concern, "Comrade commander, without asking for instructions from the higher authorities, it won''t be any trouble to have a private exchange ceremony with the Germans, will it?"¡° Deputy commander, don''t worry. " Seeing his uneasy appearance, I quickly comforted him and said, "although I didn''t ask for instructions from my superiors this time, it''s because our army has been fighting all the time. It''s normal that we can''t get in touch with our superiors. After the exchange ceremony is completed, I will report to my superiors and I will not eat. "¡° Is this, is this OK? " The speaker is andrewshenko, who is also worried about the upcoming exchange ceremony¡° There''s nothing inappropriate. I''m the head of the first army. I have the right to make any decision according to the specific situation and my own judgment. " In order not to get entangled in this matter, I deliberately checked the topic: "by the way, Colonel andreushenko, where is your division after you arrive at Alexandria?"¡° It''s all set up, "said andreushenko. He got up and went to the wall, picked up a rolled map from the table beside the wall, went back to the table, spread it out in front of us, and reported to me," Comrade commander, please have a look. After arriving at Alexandria, our division deployed to the West and south of the city to cover the flanks of the 308th division. "¡° Good, good. " After watching the deployment of the 171st division, I turned to Romanov and said, "by the way, comrade deputy commander, there is one more thing I haven''t had time to tell you. The guerrilla unit originally under captain shamrih''s command has been reorganized into the Fourth Battalion of the 22nd tank brigade, which will be transferred to kilovgrad by tomorrow at the latest. " In order to prevent Romanov from having any bad associations, I specially explained that "although there are a large number of guerrillas, their combat effectiveness is too weak. They were transferred to kilovgrad to mix them with the troops with rich combat experience, so as to form a strong combat effectiveness as soon as possible."

 Chapter 965

    After a few words of chatting, andreushenko suddenly turned the topic back to the exchange. He asked me with half confidence: "Comrade commander, do you think the Germans can agree to our terms and exchange with us face to face?"


    "Comrade colonel." Without waiting for me to speak, Romanov took the lead and said to andreushenko solemnly: "you have not been under commander oshanina''s command for one or two days. Do you still doubt her ability? When was she wrong in her judgment and decision? So I believe that this time will not be an exception. The German will certainly agree to the conditions we put forward according to her analysis. "


    Although Lao maozi didn''t speak modestly, I was ashamed to hear that Romanov gave me such a high evaluation. Seeing that he wanted to continue to reprimand andeliuxianke, he quickly came out to make ends meet: "well, comrade deputy commander, don''t say any more. Col. andreushenko should know all you said. He just cares and worries that our wounded can''t escape the enemy''s clutches. That''s why he worries so much. "


    The reason why I want to stop Romanov from going on is that although his military rank is higher than andrewshenko''s, after all, both of them are the head of the same division. It is estimated that andrewshenko will not feel comfortable to be criticized by the commander of the same level.


    After hearing what I said, Romanov realized that he had made a mistake. He coughed and apologized to andreushenko: "I''m sorry, comrade colonel. I''m so impatient. I shouldn''t be angry with you. I''m officially sorry."


    Andreushenko waved his hand after listening and said magnanimously, "Comrade deputy commander, you are right. I should trust the commander and not doubt her judgment at will." At this point, he looked back at me and apologized to me, saying, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. I''m wrong. I shouldn''t doubt your judgment or challenge your authority."


    As for andrewshenko''s low profile, I laughed twice and then said, "OK, let''s not talk about that. At present, the German''s behavior is very abnormal. If yesterday they caught general gurdyev and just died, and general Romanov has not yet taken office, "you have done a good job, comrade deputy commander." Under the current circumstances, Romanov''s treatment of gurdyev''s remains is the most appropriate, so I nodded and agreed: "when the war is over, I will inform the general''s family and ask them to move the remains back to their hometown for burial."


    "Are there any anti tank weapons in the city?" I asked a moment later.


    "Yes, but very few." Romanov said with regret: "when the 308th division captured the city, it seized a number of German weapons and equipment, including four anti tank guns and five anti-aircraft machine guns, all of which are our standard weapons. These weapons should be stored in the warehouses occupied by the German army in those years, so the ammunition is effective and cannot support long-term operations. "


    As for Romanov''s complaint, I could only look up to the sky with a long sigh and said helplessly: "Comrade deputy commander, although we have captured a number of enemy anti tank guns in kafbas, the number is limited and we can only barely equip the 22nd division and artillery regiment of the guards. Since your anti tank force here is weak, I''ll call the chief of staff later and ask lieutenant colonel kaverin to draw a battalion from the artillery regiment to strengthen you. "


    "Very good, comrade commander. This is very good." When Romanov said this, he looked at andreushenko and said with emotion: "with this artillery battalion, we will be more confident when we deal with the German armored forces."


    As we were talking, the big wooden door of the conference room was suddenly pushed open, and a second lieutenant came in from the outside. Came to us, raised his hand after a salute, stood in place, did not speak, seems to be hesitant to whom to report.


    Romanov saw the second lieutenant''s Dilemma and quickly said to him, "second lieutenant, if you have anything, report it directly to the commander."


    "Yes The second lieutenant agreed, and then reported, "Comrade commander, just received a call from the front line, and the German army sent a liaison to them."


    Although I had known for a long time that the German army would agree to my exchange terms, I was still worried before I got the exact information. As soon as the second lieutenant said that the German army had sent a liaison, I couldn''t wait to ask, "what do the Germans say?"


    "They said the exchange would take place at 8 a.m. tomorrow. As for the location," the second lieutenant said, pausing for a moment, as if recalling the call. But he was quick to say with certainty: "outside the front of the city''s northeast."


    "I see, comrade lieutenant." When I got the exact news, my heart fell to the ground. Then I told him, "you go to the front line to call back and say that we agree with the time and place proposed by the German army. The two sides will exchange at 8 a.m. tomorrow on time."


    "Yes The second lieutenant agreed, turned and walked back, ready to carry out the order I had just given.


    As soon as the second lieutenant walked out of the meeting room, Romanov asked me, "Comrade commander, let me have the exchange ceremony tomorrow morning."


    "No, comrade deputy commander. I''m worried about the German plot. For the sake of safety, you should stay in the headquarters with the commander, and I will be responsible for the exchange ceremony. " As soon as his voice fell, andreushenko raised his objection. He said solemnly, "even if something happens to me, you can command my 171st division."


    "Comrade captain, I am the Supreme Commander here. I has the final say of who will be responsible for this matter." Romanov also said: "in the current situation, I don''t think the Germans dare to make any small moves. After all, the exchange place is at our forefront. Once we find any change in the enemy''s position, we can withdraw to our position in time. There will be no danger. "


    Andreushenko seems to want to seize this dangerous task, so as soon as Romanov''s words were finished, he immediately added: "but, Comrade General..."


    "Come on, come on! You two teachers should stop arguing. " Seeing that they were about to start an argument, I quickly interrupted them and said to myself, "you don''t have to go tomorrow. You''d better stay in the division and take charge of your troops. I''ll be responsible for the exchange of prisoners of war. "


    "What?" When the two people in dispute heard what I said, they both stopped at the same time. After a short silence, they urged me to speak of it in unison: "Comrade commander, you are the head of the army. You can''t take any risks."


    I laughed at the kindness of the two men, and then said with disapproval: "just now, the deputy commander also said that the exchange site is outside the front position of our army. Once I find out that the enemy has any plot, I can return to the front position in time." In order to make them feel at ease, I specially stressed that "old soldiers like Manstein, who are somewhat chivalrous, disdain to play such a small plot that can''t be on the stage. You can rest assured that I will not be in danger. "


    Although my words were so clear, Romanov was still not at ease. He took the initiative to put forward: "Comrade commander, there are not many troops in the forward position, only half a battalion. For the sake of safety, I will send you another company?"


    I nodded and said, "this is the best way. When I come here, I only bring a guard platoon with me. If I ask them to help carry the wounded, it is estimated that the number is not enough. With your company and the original troops in the position, it will be more than enough. "


    The next morning, with Yushchenko and the soldiers of the guard platoon, I arrived at the front position early. As soon as I entered the trench, two commanders came to report to me. One of the captains was the company commander holding the position, while the second lieutenant was the company commander sent by Romanov to me.


    Because the weather outside is a little cold, so we all stay in the observation station which is not too cold, quietly looking at the North Road. When Yushchenko saw that it was getting closer and closer to the appointed time, he could not help getting anxious. He kept saying in my ear: "Comrade commander, why don''t you come? Is it possible that the Germans lied to us... "


    I was distracted by his chanting, so I gave him a fierce look. Then I said angrily, "come on, comrade captain, stop chanting. Although the Germans are our enemies, since they say they will come, they will certainly come. Wait patiently. "


    "Yes." Yushchenko, whom I scolded, immediately shut up. But I knew in my heart that although he didn''t say anything, he was still dubious that the German army would send our captured wounded as agreed.


    A few minutes before eight, the German convoy appeared. In the front is a three wheeled motorcycle, in the middle is a convoy of more than ten covered trucks, followed by more than ten motorcycles, followed by two armored vehicles. Perhaps to prevent misunderstanding, the officer sitting in the sidecar was still holding a white flag.


    Seeing that the German army stopped 100 meters away from the front line and did not move forward, I knew in my heart that it was the official exchange place chosen by the German army. I said to the captain of the garrison, "Captain, for the sake of safety, let your soldiers prepare for battle." Then he waved his head to Yushchenko and the lieutenant and said, "come on, go to the Germans for me."


    After the three of us left the trench, the soldiers of the special guard platoon also climbed out of the trench and followed us in a scattered formation. The coffin, which contained Ike''s body, was carried by eight strong soldiers, who followed us closely towards the German convoy.


    The two sides met. Commander Hu Bo, who had just come down from the cab of the leading truck, was surprised to see that I had only one platoon. After a simple greeting, he tentatively asked, "Sir, you only have so many people. Are you not afraid that our motorcade is not your wounded, but our elite troops?"


    I laughed and confidently replied, "I''m not afraid. I believe Marshal Manstein is a soldier with chivalry. He will never engage in such tricks that can''t be put on the table."


    When I said that, lieutenant commander Huber laughed a little awkwardly, then waved to the back, and immediately six soldiers trotted along with a coffin.


    After the coffin was put down beside us, Huber pointed to me and said, "Sir, the coffin is the body of your army general haridonov. Do you need to check it?"


    "No more." I''ve never seen haredonov before. Even if I open the coffin, I can''t tell whether the general himself is. He just pretends to be generous and says to Huber, "Mr. commander, I trust you." With that, he turned to the eight soldiers standing behind, waved and ordered, "give them the coffin."


    After handing over the coffin containing the body of the other general, Hu Bo pointed to the crowd not far away and said, "that''s the wounded captured by your army. You can send someone to receive it." With that, he turned to me and said solemnly, "Sir, my task is finished. Please allow me to leave."¡° Thank you, commander Huber Although we are hostile to each other, I took the initiative to extend my hand to the other side and politely said, "I hope we can still cooperate in the future." Listen to me, commander Huber''s face suddenly showed a smile and cry. But he soon returned to normal, took my hand and politely said, "good bye, sir. See you later!" With that, he raised his hand and saluted me. With the six soldiers carrying coffins, he walked towards the motorcade.

 Chapter 966

    When the German convoy turned and drove away, I took people to the wounded who had gathered in the open space. Although I''ve been on the battlefield for quite a long time, I''ve seen thousands of wounded people, and I''ve been injured several times, when I saw these wounded people who just broke away from the German army, I felt a deep sadness. On the ground lay more than ten stretchers, on which lay the severely wounded who could not move. Even the wounded standing, the situation is not much better. It can be seen from the bandages on their bodies that their injuries are not light. Many of them are still short of arms and legs. People who are short of one arm are OK. Soldiers who are short of one leg can''t even stand alone. I saw us walking towards them, but still standing in a neat line with the help of crutches and the help of people around us. Every wounded man straightened his waist and stood in line without saying a word. No one hummed because of the pain of the injury. The eyes of all of us here are attracted by the unyielding wounded. Seeing a wounded man standing in the front row with one leg missing, Yushchenko, who was walking beside me, quickened his pace and planned to help him, but I raised my hand and stopped him. Seeing Yushchenko looking at me with puzzled eyes, I said softly, "Captain, don''t help for the time being. They are brave soldiers and heroes of our motherland. Let them finish the last assembly before they come back to us. " Although my voice was not big, it was heard by all the soldiers around me. In addition to Yushchenko, there were other people who wanted to help, but after hearing what I said, they stopped and stood in the same place, looking at the wounded opposite with admiration, waiting for them to complete the final assembly¡° Comrade commander, "a heartrending cry suddenly came out from the wounded line opposite," we are all traitors of our motherland. Why do you want to change us back? We are all so miserable. Are you going to send us to Siberia to live and die? " With this sudden cry, the square array of wounded soldiers, which had been standing neatly, suddenly became chaotic. Except for a few of the wounded, who were still standing in the same place, the rest of them were crowded together, talking loudly and talking about their unknown fate¡° Be quiet, everyone I yelled at the team, trying to calm everyone down, but my voice was soon drowned by the cries of the wounded, and no one heard me at all¡° Pa Pa Just then, a few clear shots rang out in my ear. I turned around and saw that it was captain Yushchenko who had fired. He might have fired at the sky because he saw that I couldn''t stop the wounded soldiers. With the gunshot, the wounded all shut their mouths and looked nervously at the location of the gunshot. Seeing that the scene was temporarily under control, I took another two steps forward and said aloud to the wounded in front of me, "comrades, who told you that I would send you to the labor camp in Siberia?" After that, I stopped for a moment. Seeing that no one spoke, I continued, "you are not traitors. On the contrary, you are heroes of our motherland. You fought tenaciously against the Communist aggressors on the battlefield. You were honored and injured for the sake of the motherland and the people, and even some people were disabled for life. However, even though you were in prison, you did not yield to the enemy and were still fighting. Is there such a traitor in the world? As soon as my voice fell, someone in the wounded line could not help crying. Although it''s a bit shameless for men to cry in public, I understand them very well in my heart. After all, people''s psychology is relatively fragile after being injured. In addition, it''s inevitable to cry with joy just after they get out of the tiger''s mouth. I didn''t think much about it. I just waved and ordered the commanders and fighters standing around me: "go up and help!" With my order, the long irresistible commanders and fighters rushed forward to help carry stretchers and help the wounded who had difficulty walking. When I saw that our number seemed to be more than that of the wounded, I knew that the commanders and fighters who had been waiting in the trenches had quietly come behind us at any time. As soon as I heard my order, they rushed up to help. As he walked back, Yushchenko whispered in my ear, "Comrade commander, even if many of the wounded are cured, they can no longer serve as soldiers. How can we arrange for them?" When I heard his question, I sighed and said helplessly, "first send them to the health camp for treatment. As for the wounded who are too seriously injured or unable to return to the team, I will arrange them in the residents'' homes. So even if our troops withdraw, they will have a place to live. "¡° Yes, I''ll do it right away Yushchenko said, called on two soldiers, then ran away.

 Chapter 967

    I made the decision to leave the seriously wounded and those who would be disabled, which was also a last resort, because in a few days, our troops would be transferred. The presence of a large number of wounded will certainly slow down the movement of the troops, so that we can hardly stand out from the siege of the German army.


    Back at the 308th division headquarters, there were only Romanov and a few staff officers, as well as a few signalmen, and razumeyeva was also among them. Seeing my return, Romanov immediately asked with concern, "Comrade commander, have everything been done?"


    I nodded and replied, "yes, the wounded are back, and the body of general haridonov has been replaced. I''ve specially let the soldiers who know the general recognize it. It''s really the general himself. At present, I''ve arranged for someone to store the coffin in the church. If we want to move, we''ll find a suitable place to bury him first. "


    "How are the wounded?" Romanov then asked, "if the troops are to be transferred urgently, the presence of so many wounded people will not affect our marching speed."


    "I''m sorry, comrade deputy commander." As for his question, I can only answer with regret: "among the 200 wounded, one third of them are the seriously wounded who are not able to move and the disabled. I have ordered captain Yushchenko to temporarily resettle the wounded to the residents'' homes after treatment, except those who must stay in the medical rescue. So we can have someone to take care of them when we leave. "


    When Romanov heard my arrangement, he was stunned and then asked in surprise, "Comrade commander, if you leave these wounded people in the city, what will be their fate if the Germans come? We have just rescued them today. Can we retreat them into the fire like this? "


    "No way, comrade deputy commander." I spread my hands, shrugged my shoulders and said helplessly, "do you think I don''t want to take them? But now that we are behind the enemy lines, no one knows what kind of bad situation we will encounter in the future. They still have hope to live. If they follow us, most of the seriously injured will die because of lack of medical care and good treatment environment... "


    Before I finished, razumeyeva, who was busy at one side, suddenly came up to me and handed me a telegram, saying: "Comrade commander, it''s a telegram from the headquarters of the front army."


    In the telegram from the headquarters of the front army, when I heard that from razumeyeva, I couldn''t help but be stunned. My heart said that watujing would send me a telegram at this time. What would happen? Thinking of this, I took the telegram to my eyes and read it carefully.


    It read: "according to the German intelligence intercepted by the intelligence forces of the front army, general Ike, the division commander of the German" skull division ", died due to a plane fault when he visited the Kharkov front line on February 26. A grand funeral will be held for him soon. Your ministry reported that Ike was captured alive in the early stage. Why did he still visit the front line of Kharkov? I hope major general o''shanina will call back immediately after receiving the telegram to explain the situation to the headquarters. "


    When I saw the telegram, I handed it to Romanov and began to think about how to reply to the headquarters. After reading the telegram, the somber looking Romanov put it on the table, raised his head and asked, "Comrade commander, how do you plan to reply to your superiors?" Although there was no change in his expression, the worry in his eyes could not be covered up.


    "How else to report?" I shrugged my shoulders and said slowly, "naturally, I will explain the actual situation to the commander of the front army. Even if we don''t report the exchange with the German army, our superiors will know it through other channels. Instead of waiting for us to fall into passivity at that time, we''d better take the initiative and report it to them truthfully. "


    After hearing what I said, the expression on Romanov''s face suddenly became firm. He straightened up and said to me, "Comrade commander, as the deputy commander of the 79th infantry army, I ask you to sign my name in the telegraph. Even if the superior wants to blame me, I should share the responsibility with you. "


    Romanov''s words made my nose ache and tears almost burst out of my eyes. Although kirilov has said that many times, after all, he has been working with me for a long time. He knows me very well and knows that my decisions have their own reasons. However, Romanov, a veteran general who has known me for a few days, can give me such trust and is willing to advance and retreat with me. How can I not be moved.


    Then he turned to razumeyeva and said, "Comrade lieutenant, please record the message. The German SS general Ike, captured by our headquarters of the front army, was killed on the night of February 26 because he was seriously injured. After getting this information, the German army sent out personnel to exchange information with our army. As the enemy offered to exchange the body of general haridonov, who died in our army, and 200 wounded people who were captured by our side for the body of Ike, we accepted the other party''s terms and exchanged them. "


    Listening to Romanov''s telegram, I couldn''t help but insert a sentence: "Lieutenant razumeyeva, I am responsible for adding the unchanged exchange ceremony at the back." Seeing that she had finished recording the order, I took the message from her hand and signed my name at the back. Then Romanov also signed his name at the back of the message.


    After the telegram was sent out, Romanov and I sat at the conference table, and no one spoke. Everyone was anxiously waiting for vatukin''s reply, waiting for him to pronounce his fate. Perhaps seeing my nervous expression, Romanov also kindly put forward to me: "Comrade commander, if the superior blames me, you can push this matter to my head, that is to say, I have agreed to deal with the German army without asking for your instructions."¡° Mischief, comrade deputy commander, is this not mischief? " His words touched my heart a little, but on the surface, I still put on the appearance of blaming him: "I am the head of an army. I will bear all the responsibilities." When I said this, my heart opened a small abacus, thinking that the situation was wrong. I asked razumeyeva to send a telegram to Zhukov and report what happened to him. Maybe he will not only be innocent, but also be meritorious after knowing the actual situation. Just thinking about this, I suddenly saw razumeyeva jump up from her seat, then trot all the way to me with a smile and handed me a telegram. From the expression of razumeyeva, I know this time I must have saved the day. I immediately received the telegram and couldn''t wait to read it. There was only one word on it: "I know!"

 Chapter 968

    Although the contents of the telegram are very simple, I understand that vatukin is trying to tell us that no matter what happened here, he will let bygones be bygones. With his telegram, I can finally deploy my troops safely.


    While I ordered razumeyeva to call andeliushenke, the commander of the 171 division, and ask him to come to the division headquarters of the 308 division immediately, I called Romanov to the table. Pointing to the map, he asked, "Comrade deputy commander, tell me about the deployment of German forces around the city."


    Romanov leaned down, picked up the red and blue pencils on the table, pointed to Alexandria''s position and said: "according to our reconnaissance, the German troops left Alexandria one after another, one of them retreated northward along the road to the direction of the Dnieper River; The other retreated southward along the road to Patrick Hart. The enemy between us and znaankaduha has been completely eliminated. "


    "What about the enemies in other directions?" After listening to Romanov''s introduction, I pointed to the South and the West and asked, "won''t the enemies in these places also retreat?"


    "In the South and west of the city, there are only some small villages and residential areas, and the number of defenders is very limited. In some villages, there are only four or five German soldiers," Romanov said easily. "I plan to take some comrades who are familiar with the terrain from the guerrillas, and let them act as guides for the regular army to be responsible for eliminating the scattered scattered scattered soldiers."


    "Our troops are limited," my eyes always fixed on the map. When Romanov finished speaking, I asked with some worry, "if we send troops to eliminate these sporadic German troops, then we will not be able to carry out large-scale fighting with the German troops who may invade."


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Romanov''s reaction was quick. He immediately judged what I was worried about and explained to me: "I just said that the German forces in this area are not only small, but also scattered. We only need to draw out a few platoon level teams, which will be enough to eliminate them all. "


    Romanov''s proposal of using small units to eliminate the German stragglers immediately reminds me of the plot of a film in which a small unit goes to eliminate the bandits in the dangerous mountain stronghold. From this, I judged that his proposal was very appropriate, so I nodded and said with approval, "Comrade deputy commander, your plan is good. With a small number of troops, we should eliminate the scattered scattered scattered in the depth of our army. Although there are not many enemies to annihilate each time, all the results are no less than a small-scale battle. It''s so decided. You can arrange it immediately. "


    Just when Romanov called his men, andriyusenko, who received the order, came to the headquarters. I called him to the map. Before the official assignment, I first asked, "Comrade Colonel, how many people are there in your division now?"


    "Report to the commander," andreushenko quickly straightened up after hearing my question and said, "our regiment had more than 1900 people. After arriving in Alexandria, we mobilized more than 800 workers and residents to join our team and equipped them with weapons."


    Although I know from the report of andreushenko that the total strength of the 171 division is about 2800, if the war really starts, the new soldiers who have just joined will only be able to gather a number of people and will not form any combat effectiveness at all. Thinking of this, I continued to ask, "how do you distribute these recruits? To form a new barracks alone, or to disperse and replenish them among the regiments? "


    To my simple question, andreushenko replied with a smile: "Comrade commander, we are fighting now. How can we put them into the new barracks and train them slowly. I have dispersed and added them to the regiments that had been seriously reduced in the early stage. I hope that under the leadership of the backbone of the fighting, the new recruits can form combat effectiveness as soon as possible. "


    "Very well, comrade colonel." As for andrewshenko''s arrangement, I gave him a thumbs up and praised him on my face: "your arrangement is very suitable. The reasonable combination of veterans and recruits is very conducive to the formation of combat effectiveness in the shortest time."


    "Comrade commander, what are you talking about?" Romanov, who just came back from the phone call, just heard the two sentences behind us, and could not help asking curiously, "what''s the reasonable match between veterans and recruits?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." Since Romanov asked about this, I also explained patiently to him: "because the 171st Division has just added more than 800 recruits, in order to improve the combat effectiveness as soon as possible, Colonel andreushenko scattered the recruits to each regiment and adopted the way of veterans leading recruits to rapidly improve the combat effectiveness of the troops. By the way, how many new recruits have you added to the 308th division? "


    Hearing this question, Romanov and andriyusenko looked at each other, and then they laughed. Before I asked them what they were laughing at, andreushenko took the initiative to explain to me: "Comrade commander, you may not know. The first thing Comrade deputy commander did after he took over the division commander to drive away the German troops attacking the city is not to recruit a large number of new soldiers. As far as I know, he recruited more than 400 military trained workers from the Red Star Machinery Factory. In addition to the workers in several other factories and the residents who supported our army, the 308th division added nearly 2000 people. "


    "What, two thousand?" To tell you the truth, this data really gives me a surprise. You know, we''re going to fight a vicious battle next. When we add so many new recruits, we can see that the number is large, but the combat effectiveness of the troops is diluted. I grabbed Romanov''s arm and asked nervously, "Comrade deputy commander, how do you arrange these recruits?"


    "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with you?" Romanov looked at me strangely and said, "after the new recruits are added to the army, they will naturally be directly scattered into the regiments like the 171st division. I told the following three commanders that the ratio of recruits to veterans in each company should be kept at two to one, that is to say, every two recruits should have one veterans in charge of them. This way of combining the old with the new is conducive to the new soldiers to quickly integrate into our collective, increase the cohesion of the troops, and at the same time, rapidly improve their technical and tactical level. "


    "Very well, both of you have done well in this matter." After praising them, I went back to business: "OK, let''s write down and discuss our next battle direction." I pointed to the map and said to them, "according to the deputy commander''s report just now, the enemy forces that originally attacked the city have retreated to the Dnieper River and pikehart respectively. For the moment, we need not pay attention to the German troops in these two directions. We just need to send troops to monitor them. Then you gather the main force, take znaankaduha as the base, and move northwest. As long as we find out which city''s defenders are weak, we will rush up and teach them a lesson. As long as we eliminate the small German forces in these cities, then we can get additional soldiers and weapons, which will be of great help to our next battle. "


    Romanov''s fingers glided slowly on the map, as if considering the feasibility of my proposal. All of a sudden, his fingers stopped moving and his brows wrinkled. Seeing his expression, I wondered if he had thought of something, so I quickly asked, "Comrade deputy commander, do you have any idea?"


    "Comrade commander, I suddenly have a bold idea. Please have a look!" Romanov pointed to Alexandria, where we are, and then moved northwestward along the road. Then he said, "it''s less than 300 kilometers from znaankaduha to Kiev, and there are only two or three small cities in the middle. I believe the German army will not have too many forces in the city, because the forces on the other side of the Dnieper River are tight, It is possible that all the troops in these cities will be drawn out. We can seize this gap and push forward to Kiev decisively to see if it is possible to take the city back from the hands of the German army. "


    After listening to his ideas, I looked at the map noncommittally and said in my heart: "at the beginning, Zhukov saw that Kiev''s troops were in danger of being surrounded by German troops. He proposed to Stalin to abandon Kiev and withdraw his troops from the Dnieper River. As a result, Stalin sent them to the reserve army. This shows how much Stalin valued Kiev. If I can lead the army and recapture Kiev from the German army, even if I only stick to it for a few days, it will be a wonderful achievement. Maybe Stalin will directly promote me to lieutenant general as soon as he is happy. " When I think about it, I can''t help but feel excited about Romanov''s plan, and I begin to think about the possibility of winning.


    But after watching for a while, my reason finally overcame the impulse. I shook my head and said to Romanov, "Comrade deputy commander, your proposal is very good. However, our army is not only short of troops, but also lacks heavy equipment such as tanks and artillery, and has no air supremacy. If we want to capture Kiev, which is heavily defended by the enemy, it is simply an unfinished task."


    Listen to me, Romanov''s face showed the expression of regret, but he was still reluctant to say: "Comrade commander, I think this is a once-in-a-lifetime good opportunity, we should try."


    I looked up at him and glanced at andreushenko standing beside him. Seeing that he was also disappointed, I specially explained to them: "two commanders, you can''t just see that the German forces around us are weak. You can''t imagine that the German guard forces in all the cities are weak. You can let us play. I tell you, if you hold this kind of thought, you will suffer greatly. Take a look at the terrain near Kiev. As long as we can''t occupy Kiev within 12 hours, the German troops from Belarus will surround us from behind, cooperate with the defenders in the city and eat us all. "


    When I said that, they were silent, just looking at the map and thinking about what I just said. After a while, Romanov raised his head and said to me, "Comrade commander, I admit that what you said is very reasonable, but it''s a pity that such a good opportunity is placed in front of us to give up without trying..."


    "Well, comrade deputy commander, you don''t have to say any more." Without waiting for him to speak, I interrupted him decisively, but in order not to hurt his self-esteem, I put forward a compromise: "well, you can send a reconnaissance team as soon as possible to catch up with Kiev to reconnoiter the enemy''s force distribution."


    "Yes, I''ll arrange it now." Hearing what I said, Romanov''s worried face was swept away. As soon as he finished his words, he couldn''t wait to run to the telephone beside him. He planned to immediately give the reconnaissance order to the division''s reconnaissance company by telephone.


    Seeing Romanov with a telephone in his hand, cheerfully giving orders, it suddenly occurred to me that yesterday I ordered wittkov to send troops to the vicinity of kilovgrad for reconnaissance. I don''t know what the final reconnaissance result is. I must ask immediately. Thinking of this, I went to the back of razumeyeva and patted her on the shoulder. As soon as she turned her head, I immediately asked, "Lieutenant, can you contact the army headquarters in kilovgrad immediately? I have something to talk to the chief of staff. "¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Razumeyeva said and pushed a phone in front of me, and reported to me: "this phone can directly communicate with the military headquarters. Do you need me to connect you?" Seeing that I nodded in agreement, she immediately dialed the number. Because these wired phones are much more secure than wireless calls, I heard wittkov''s voice coming out of the receiver. Without going around the circle, I asked directly, "Hello, chief of staff, have the reconnaissance results of the reconnaissance battalion come out?" From the receiver came wittkov''s excited voice: "Hello, comrade commander. The reports of several reconnaissance units of captain travkin are all in front of me. I was just about to take time to report them to you. I didn''t expect you to call first From wittkov''s voice, I judged that the reconnaissance effect of the reconnaissance battalion last night must be good, so I quickly asked, "tell me, comrade chief of staff, what''s going on?"¡° Comrade commander, you may not even dream of it. " Wittkov said mysteriously: "according to captain travkin''s report, when he personally led a reconnaissance team to sneak into the German position, he found that except for two or three sentinels, there was no sign of the enemy. And the German soldiers we see in the trenches with telescopes during the day are just a group of dummies in military uniforms and helmets¡° What, chief of staff When I heard that except for a few soldiers in the enemy''s position, the rest were dummies, I immediately felt a sense of humiliation. I asked aloud, "since there are dummies in the trenches, where are the main forces of the German army?"¡° According to our interrogation of the prisoners, the main force of the enemy has quietly bypassed our defensive area and moved towards the Dnieper River. " When witkov heard that I was angry, he immediately reported to me truthfully: "according to our analysis, they should be ready to cross the river to reinforce Manstein." Putting down the phone, I turned to Romanov and andreushenko, who were standing behind me, and said, "comrades commander, the German army is very cunning. Apart from leaving a few troops to watch us, the rest of them went to the Dnieper River. Now, I agree with the deputy commander that once the reconnaissance of Kiev is completed, the 171st and 308th divisions will immediately move to Kiev. " At this point, I stopped for a moment, biting my back teeth and said, "since the Germans want to play a conspiracy, we must teach them a lesson that will never be forgotten."

 Chapter 969

    If we want to defend Kiev, which may be weak for the German army, we need the unified action of the whole army. Because, I temporarily decided to return to kilovgrad to deploy the next combat task for the troops. Romanov and andriyusenko were also commanders at the meeting, so I asked them to hand over their command to their deputy and then returned with me to kilovgrad.


    On the way, andreushenko, who was sitting in the co pilot''s seat, turned and asked, "Comrade commander, what kind of forces are you going to use to go to the German troops in Kiev?"


    "I intend to leave a regiment in kilovgrad and a regiment in Alexandria to ensure the security of our rear." Seeing that there was no outsider in the car, I told them truthfully: "as for the main forces of the three divisions, they concentrated their forces to attack the northwest. After seizing smira, they put on a posture that our army was ready to capture cherkaser and cross the Dnieper River, so that the Germans could not understand our real intention." Speaking of this, I can''t help but turn my head and ask Romanov sitting next to me, "Comrade deputy commander, have the scouts been sent?"


    "Yes," said Romanov, looking up at his watch and continuing, "they should have started. In order to improve the speed of reconnaissance, I asked them to disguise as German troops and equipped them with captured motorcycles. I believe they will be able to feed back the intelligence of reconnaissance to Russia by tomorrow night. "


    As soon as I got back to the headquarters, I first asked Pugachev to inform bantaileiev and kavilin, and asked them to come to the military headquarters immediately for a meeting. Kirilov, who was standing beside me, immediately asked with concern, "Rita, I heard that you took people with you this morning to exchange Ike''s body for general haridonov''s body and 200 captured wounded people?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." As for kirilov''s question, I answered truthfully: "after the coffin containing Ike''s body was handed over to the German army, the enemy also gave us the remains of general haridonov and 200 wounded prisoners." I know that he asked this because he was worried about the adverse consequences. Before he asked again, he comforted him and said, "don''t worry, my good political commissar. After the exchange, I have reported this matter to commander watujing. Nothing will happen."


    Kirilov saw that I had guessed his mind. He laughed and said, "that''s good, that''s good." He glanced at Romanov and andriyusenko, who were talking to Vitkov, and then tentatively asked, "I see the other two teachers are also coming. Is there any big action?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar," I nodded and said with certainty, "judging from the current situation, the main forces of the German army have been basically transferred to the other side of the Dnieper River, while there seem to be only a few sporadic forces near us. The reason why the Germans will take the initiative to exchange with us may also be to stabilize us and gain precious time for them to defeat our army on the other side. "


    "What? What did you say? " Kirilov was startled by my words, and his address to me changed from "you" to "you": "what did you just say? If I heard right, you said that what the German army is doing is to confuse us and make us dare not act rashly, so that they can deploy enough troops to strengthen the troops on the other side of the river, so as to defeat our army as soon as possible? "


    "Well, comrade political commissar." I replied positively: "after all, we are an army of tens of thousands of people, and the German army does not have enough strength to fight on two lines for the time being. That''s why the crafty man Stein gave us such a hand, so that we can''t act rashly. As long as we stay in the existing place for another three to five days, then his plot will succeed. "


    I said my judgment at one go, but kirilov didn''t think about it at all. He murmured, "it''s impossible, Rita. You know, our army is several times more than the German army. Even if we can''t encircle and annihilate the main force of the German army, we won''t be defeated, will we?"


    "Comrade political commissar, nothing is impossible." In order to convince him, I also gave the example of the fourth guard army: "last time I took the 171 division and the 84th tank brigade to cover the flanks of friendly forces, but in the face of the fierce attack of the German imperial division, the defense line of the fourth guard army was easily broken by the enemy. We should know that although our troops are several times more than those of the German army, the technical and tactical level of our commanders and fighters is not as high as that of the German army. In addition, the lack of cooperation between the various forces and fighting on their own made it very easy to be defeated by the German forces which had local advantages. The main force of the 6th group army and the mobile forces of Popov group were defeated by the German forces, which made our defense line full of loopholes. The German forces could break through from any point to any depth. "


    My words made kirilov''s expression become dignified. As he was about to continue to ask some questions he cared about, Bantai leiev, who was informed, walked into the headquarters quickly. After greeting wittkov and the other two division commanders, he quickly came to me and the political commissar, raised his hand to salute us, and said respectfully: "report to the commander, political commissar, commander of the 22nd division of Jinwei. Leiev has been ordered to come and wait for your orders, please give us instructions!"


    "Come on, come on," kirilov said jokingly, waving his hand to him when he looked so serious. "Old man, we are old friends for many years. Don''t be so formal. I''m not at ease."


    Bantai leiev chuckled twice, turned to look at the positions of Romanov and andreushenko, and then asked me in a low voice, "Comrade commander, do you have any big combat task to call all the commanders of the three divisions together?"


    "Now that everyone is here, let''s have a meeting." As for Bantai leiev''s question, I just nodded my approval, because at this moment, kaverin also walked into the headquarters and announced loudly, "everyone, come here to the map." With that, I took the lead in walking towards the map on the wall.


    When several commanders who attended the meeting gathered around me, I picked up the explanation stick placed by the wall, pointed to the map and said to you, "comrades, according to the information collected from all sides, there are no organized German troops near kilovgrad and Alexandria, and there are only sporadic garrisons in some towns and villages. The main forces of the German army, at the command of Manstein, crossed the Dnieper one after another to join the attack on our two front forces. "


    "These damned Communist aggressors are just overpowering themselves." As soon as my voice fell, I heard Pugachev standing on one side muttering in a low voice: "I don''t see that our army is several times more powerful than them. I''m just going to die."


    Although Pugachev''s voice was not loud, it was very quiet in the headquarters, so as soon as his words came out, everyone present heard them clearly. Romanov immediately frowned and retorted: "major, on the battlefield, we can''t simply use mathematics to calculate the outcome of a battle. We should know that the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. If we can''t adjust our tactics and deployment according to the specific situation, even if our troops and equipment are dominant, we will still be defeated. "


    "Comrade deputy commander is right." As Romanov has not been in our army for a long time, I am afraid that his rash criticism of Pugachev will cause dissatisfaction in the hearts of other commanders. He quickly spoke in support and said: "there are many factors that determine the outcome of the battlefield, and it is not that a large number of people will win the final victory. Well, let''s get down to business. I''m calling you here today to plan the next step. "


    What I said was that I stopped intending to observe the expression of everyone, and that everyone''s attention was focused on me. Then I continued: "since the German army has removed the main force, now we has the final say in fighting where we are fighting on the river of the nip". If we don''t know how to grasp such a golden opportunity and teach the German a lesson, then even if we go to see Marx in the future, he will not forgive us. "


    My words immediately caused a burst of laughter in the headquarters, and the original tense and solemn atmosphere became relaxed. Bantai leiev said: "Comrade commander, tell me, how do you plan to deal with the Germans? We will resolutely carry out your order. "


    "Commander cavelin," I asked, turning to the silent cavelin, "how many guns do you have in your artillery regiment?"


    After hearing my question, kaverin immediately straightened his back and reported to me: "Comrade commander, there are still 25 artillery guns in the regiment, including 14 anti tank guns, 6 76.2 mm cannons and 5 150 mm howitzers. We have added enough shells to the supplies seized from kafbas and kilovgrad. The existing artillery and ammunition reserves can attack infantry in medium-sized cities and provide sufficient artillery support. "


    "Very well, comrade commander." Carvelling is also a flexible person. He can accurately guess my mind from my questions and tell me all the answers I may be interested in before I ask new questions.


    After learning about the artillery, I used the tip of the explanation stick to draw a big circle on the map, which is our final destination - Kiev. Then he said in the same tone as usual: "Kiev is an important city for the German army to defend. Once we attack the city, or even find our troops marching towards Kiev, it will cause the panic of Manstein. In order not to let Kiev lose, in addition to sending troops on the other side of the river back, he may also send air forces to bomb our march line. "


    When I finished, I saw no one to take over. Everyone''s attention was focused on the map. It seemed that they were thinking about the reason why I valued Kiev.


    "My plan of attack," I continued after a short pause, "is to concentrate the main forces of the three divisions, advance to the northwest, quickly capture the cities along the way, and give the enemy the illusion that we will attack Kiev..."


    "Comrade commander, I have a question." The one who interrupted me was no one else. It was chief of staff Vitkov. He asked in a puzzled way, "you said to create a false impression on the enemy. Then do we fight Kiev or not?"


    "At present, the situation in Kiev is still unclear. We do not know how many troops the enemy has there, nor how effective these troops are. If we rush to attack Kiev," he said Although I''m talking to wittkov, I''m also talking to all the commanders about my own ideas: "if we can''t solve the battle in the shortest time and get entangled by the enemy, then our offensive troops will soon be surrounded by the enemy coming from all directions, and finally the whole army will be annihilated by the enemy''s attack."


    I will lean the stick against the wall, return to the table and sit down. In a leisurely voice, I will say the simplest and most common thing: "maybe some people will ask, since our success rate in attacking Kiev is not high, why should we go to Kiev?" With these words, I stopped for a moment, waiting for the commanders who were sitting down at the table to ask their own questions. After they sat down, no one said anything, so I went on: "because this can help the friendly troops fighting with the German army on the other side of the Dnieper River, and make the German army dare not transfer their troops to the other side without fear."¡° Comrade commander, let''s talk about your specific deployment. " Romanov saw that everyone was silent. As soon as I finished speaking, he immediately stood up to help me out, "so that all the commanders can have a clear idea."¡° My idea is to leave a regiment defense in kilovgrad and Alexandria, and then concentrate the main force of the three divisions to advance northwestward along the kilometer to capture smira and threaten the German city on the Bank of the Dnieper, cherkaser. After the replenishment of troops in smira, we will meet again and go north to make a direct approach to Kiev and disrupt the deployment of Manstein on the other side of the Dnieper River. "¡° Comrade commander, I have a question. " After listening to my plan, Bantai leiev said carefully, "if we are advancing towards Kiev, and the German forces concentrate their superior forces to press us from behind, what should we do?" I couldn''t help smiling when I heard Bantai leiev''s question. It seems that the commander doesn''t only know how to obey, but also how to pick out some problems from my plan. I replied without delay: "general bantailiev, if the situation you said really happens, then we will continue to march to the northwest, occupy munivka, and send troops to attack kaniv on the Bank of the Dnieper River. The river here is narrow and the current is not fast, which is conducive to the strong crossing of troops. " As soon as I finished, wittkov stood up and said with emotion, "the plan of the commander is really wonderful. We set out to march towards Kiev to attract the main German forces on the other side to come back. If the enemy does not come back, we can turn the false into the true and attack Kiev; If the enemy comes back and the Kiev garrison is on guard, then we can quickly cross the Dnieper River and turn towards Moscow after we have captured kaniv. " With such an analysis by the chief of staff, the commanders in the room suddenly understood the real purpose of my plan¡° When the main force goes north, the two regiments left behind are also crucial. The 22nd division of the guards can keep commander Gaidar''s four regiments; The 171 and 308 divisions each drew two battalions to form a mixed regiment, which was responsible for the defense of Alexandria. Do you understand? "¡° I see! " The three teachers answered in unison¡° Now that everyone''s tasks are clear, let''s go back to the army and get ready for all battles. " I raised my hand, looked at my watch and said, "it''s four o''clock in the afternoon. I hope your troops will be on the way to smira at seven o''clock. As long as we seize smira before dawn tomorrow, we can achieve the purpose of threatening Kiev and mobilizing German troops. "¡° Comrade commander, I have another question. " Seeing that the commanders all stood up and prepared to go out, Bantai leiev suddenly asked, "I want to ask, are the artillery regiment and the newly formed 22nd tank brigade also following our division to smira?"¡° Exactly, general bandeleev. " Even if he doesn''t, I''m going to arrange it like this. Although both the 171st and 308th divisions lacked heavy weapons, they needed artillery and tank support during the attack. But now, if the tank brigade and the artillery regiment travel tens of kilometers to Alexandria and Romanov, their troops will join and then move to smira. I don''t want to talk about the delay, and it''s easy to cause them to come back, so I finally decided to let them follow the guards'' 22nd division and drive to smira city¡° When the tank brigade and artillery regiment arrive outside smira, they will give you temporary command. "

 Chapter 970

    The German reaction was faster than I thought. Less than two hours after our army occupied smira, thirty-six German bombers flew over the city and began their indiscriminate bombing.


    Countless bombs and incendiary bombs fell from the sky and exploded in smira city. When the enemy plane bombed, it was blowing a strong wind. For a moment, the fire took advantage of the powerful wind to help the fire. Fire dragons devoured houses and streets, and hundreds of buildings collapsed in the bombing. Smoke and fire covered the sky, the whole smira into a sea of fire.


    When all this happened, our army and I were two or three kilometers away from the city. When I saw this scene through the telescope, in order to avoid more losses, I ordered the troops to stop and hide in a nearby forest. At the same time, she ordered the temporarily seconded razumeyeva to call the garrison in the city with a telephone.


    In the makeshift tent, razumeyeva, wearing earphones, kept shouting at the transmitter for the radio station of the 22nd division. I stood behind her, anxiously looking forward to the reply from Bantai leiev. But I didn''t hear anything except razumeyeva''s voice.


    Seeing that I couldn''t get in touch with the city, the air in the tent solidified. Not only was I depressed, but kirilov and wittkov were serious. We all felt great pressure.


    Kirilov came up to me and asked in a low voice, "Rita, we can''t get in touch with the city. What should we do?"


    Instead of answering his question immediately, I beckoned to Vitkov to come to me. After he came, I said, "Comrade chief of staff, under the current circumstances, the three of us will study and work out an emergency plan, and send special personnel to send the order to the city."


    "Comrade commander, I agree with you." Wittkov replied without hesitation: "if we don''t get in touch with the troops in the city, they will lose unified command and fall into chaos."


    Wittkov''s words are very reasonable. Now there are three separate infantry divisions, artillery regiments and tank brigades in the city, but I have not appointed a commander to command the troops. Although Romanov has the title of deputy commander, because he has not been in our army for a long time, the commanders and fighters are not familiar with him. It is still a question whether they can obey his orders. Another suitable person is Bantai leiev, the commander of the 22nd division of the guards. In addition to his division, the other two divisions have a large number of commanders who know him. If he is in charge of unified command, the effect may be much better than Romanov.


    In order not to affect razumeyeva''s call, the three of us came to a corner of the tent, stood and began to discuss. First of all, I said, "political commissar, chief of staff, I think so. In order to prevent the three divisions in the city from fighting on their own, I decided to appoint a commander to take charge of the unified command. Do you have any comments? "


    Kirilov and witkov shook their heads neatly. Then wittkov asked, "Comrade commander, who do you think is suitable for this position?" After asking this question, he continued without waiting for me to answer, "although general Romanov is the deputy commander, there are few commanders who know him. Maybe the following commanders will not pay for his orders. If not, we''d better appoint general bantailiev. After all, he has been here since the formation of the 79th infantry army. He is familiar with many commanders of various divisions. We should implement the orders unconditionally. "


    When I heard wittkov''s opinion, I nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "with unified command, the next thing to do is two things: first, if no enemy ground forces are found near the city, then it is necessary to make a gap for the enemy to leave, evacuate the main forces as soon as possible, and do not stay in the city to be bombed; Second, in this round of bombing, the casualties of the residents in the city must not be small. As soon as the bombing stops, the remaining troops in the city should take active actions to save and rescue the wounded at the same time. "


    As soon as my voice dropped, kirilov continued: "yes, listening to the explosion of bombs coming from the direction of the city, and looking at the smoke and fire over the city, I seem to hear the dying wounded, women and children crying miserably and calling for help. As a result of the German bombing, the shadow of disaster and death shrouded every family in smira


    While kirilov expressed his feelings, wittkov had finished writing the order to the army. He went to the tent door, yelled at the outside, then took a step back, waiting for the outside people to come in. From the outside came Pugachev, who straightened up and stood in front of Vitkov, waiting for his order.


    Wittkov handed the written order to him, and said: "major, this is the order to appoint general bandeleev as the temporary commander-in-chief of smira city. You should copy this order and send more correspondents to the city to convey the order."


    "I understand," Pugachev replied simply, and then asked, "Comrade chief of staff, do you have any other orders to convey?"


    Wittkov looked at me and said, "this matter should be explained to you by the commander himself."


    When I saw Pugachev standing still, I went to him and said, "major, tell general bantailiev that after the German air raid, as long as no large-scale German ground forces are found around the city, we should evacuate the main forces out of the city as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary losses in the bombing. In addition, after the air raid, the army in the city should mobilize all the citizens who have been set up to lead them to put out the fire, protect the factory and its valuable equipment from damage, rescue valuable materials from the fire, evacuate the children and the wounded from the city and find suitable places to hide. "


    "To make sure that the order goes on, you have to send at least ten signalmen to the city. Give my orders to every messenger. As long as one person can see bantaileiev, he can pass on my orders. " After I finished, I waved to Pugachev: "time is running out, go and carry out the order quickly."


    "When the house leaks, it rains at night, and when the boat is late, it blows." before contacting smira, another operator in the tent gives an emergency telegram to wittkov. After witkov read it, he was shocked. Seeing the expression on his face, I couldn''t help clapping, but still asked calmly: "chief of staff, what''s the matter?"


    "It''s a telegram from major Godunov." As he handed me the telegram, wittkov reported: "they were attacked by German forces from the new Ukrainian Ka area. Besides tanks and artillery, the enemy also sent out planes to bomb their fortifications. The village of drofia has been razed to the ground in the bombing. " When he said that, his tone was low. "The major also said that Comrade Katerina, vice member of the village Soviet, died in the air raid in order to rescue the wounded."


    I read the contents of the telegram at a glance and saw that it was completely consistent with wittkov''s story. I crumpled the telegram into a ball and threw it on the ground. I said angrily, "damn the Germans, I think they are ready to attack. The reason why they didn''t do it was because Ike was still in our hands, so they didn''t dare to act rashly. Now that we have replaced Ike''s body, we can do it without fear. "


    "Need to send commander gedar''s fourth regiment to reinforce major Godunov?" Vetkov asked cautiously, looking down at the ball of paper I had thrown on the ground.


    After thinking about it, I shook my head and said, "the fourth regiment is also a light regiment, and there are no heavy weapons. To let them immediately reinforce Godunov with strong fortifications is to let them die. Well, order the troops remaining in Alexandria and the fourth regiment of gedar to abandon the city immediately and move quickly to smira. "


    "Comrade commander," wittkov''s face changed greatly when he heard my order. He reminded me nervously, "in this way, major Godunov, they are abandoned."


    "Comrade chief of staff," I said, staring at wittkov, "under the present circumstances, there must be troops to contain the attacking enemy and cover the other two regiments to join us here. Next, there will be a series of fierce battles. Only by concentrating all our troops can we form a strong fist and strike hard at the weak points of the enemy. "


    "Rita, since you are going to let major gordonov''s troops stay to fight, I think you should talk to major gordonov in person." after hearing what I said to Vitkov, kirilov came to me and said meaningfully, "let them understand the current difficulties faced by our army and the significance of this fight."


    "The commissar is right," wittkov said immediately after kirilov finished his speech. "If we don''t explain the significance of this blocking war to major Godunov, once his men find that the garrison in the city is retreating, it will cause panic and shake the morale of the army."


    As for what they said, I think it''s very reasonable. After nodding, I went behind razumeyeva and patted her on the shoulder. Razumeyeva stopped calling, turned around and saw that it was me. She quickly stood up and asked in her hoarse voice: "Comrade commander, what instructions do you have?"


    "It''s hard work, lieutenant." After that, I ordered her, "call Godunov immediately and say I have something to talk to him."


    "Comrade commander," vetkov came up to me and asked again, "how long should we let major Godunov''s troops hold out in the fortifications outside the village of drofia?"


    "Stick to it until dark." from my heart, Godunov''s troops are not weak. I don''t want to be wiped out by the German army, so I set a deadline for them: "as long as it''s dark, major Godunov can take his troops out of the battle."


    "How many people are left in major Godunov''s place, can they hold out until dark?" Kirilov asked anxiously.


    Kirilov''s words really awakened the dreamer. I just thought of the fortification outside the village of drofia, but I forgot that gordonov''s command was limited. Thinking of this, I patted myself on the forehead and said to wittkov, "Comrade chief of staff, in the retreat telegram sent to lieutenant colonel Gaidar, I added a sentence, leaving a company to strengthen our army field outside the village of drofia."


    "Yes Wittkov agreed, and sent the message to another operator. After contacting major Godunov, in order not to divulge the secret, I did not say the place name and his name. I asked directly, "Hello, major, how many people are still under your command?"¡° Report to the commander, I still have 173 fighters and 46 women comrades. In addition, the artillery company has two anti tank guns and 20 officers and men left. " When gordonov listened to my question, he immediately understood my intention. During the report, he deliberately concealed the number and position of the troops. After reporting the number of his current troops to me, he asked, "do you have any instructions?"¡° It''s like this, major I didn''t hide the crisis that we are facing now. I said to him honestly, "all the troops will move to where we are now. That is to say, you will soon become an isolated army. Next, you should firmly resist the enemy and strive for precious time for the transfer of large forces. "¡° Don''t worry, commander. "Before I finished the meaning of this attack, Godunov began to show his determination to me:" I promise you that as long as we have positions, as long as there is one person, we will never let the enemy pass through our defense line. "¡° Very well, comrade major. " For Godunov''s statement, I am very satisfied. In order to reassure him, I specially added: "I let Gaidar draw a company and add it to you. You just need to hold on until it''s dark today, and you can immediately withdraw and move to our position. I''ll send troops to meet you then. " At the end of the conversation with gordonov, I took the transmitter away from my mouth and asked wittkov, who had just sent the telegram: "Comrade chief of staff, have you made it clear in the telegram that the fourth regiment should leave behind a company to strengthen major gordonov?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Wittkov replied positively: "I sent the telegram according to your order. I have ordered major gedar to leave a strong fighting force and go to the village of drofia to strengthen major Godunov."¡° Do you hear me? Comrade major. " When I got the exact news, I said to the transmitter, "reinforce your troops. It won''t be long before they arrive. Good luck to you

 Chapter 971

    As soon as I finished my conversation with Godunov, I heard the sound of footsteps outside. The sentries on duty outside the tent were asking questions loudly, but it was Pugachev who had just left. Then the curtain of our tent was lifted and Pugachev ran in from the outside with a happy face.


    "Commander, comrade commander." Pugachev stood in front of me, gasping for breath. He seemed too excited. It took him a long time to report to me: "Comrade commander, just as I sent out the signalmen, I met the messenger sent by general bantaileiev, saying that our main forces had basically withdrawn from smira before the German bombing started, Hidden in the forest in the West and north of the city. "


    On hearing Pugachev''s report, I first widened my eyes and looked unbelievable. Then I showed the same ecstasy as Pugachev. I turned to kirilov and Vitkov and said, "commissar, chief of staff, do you hear me? Before the bombing, general bandeleev led the troops to withdraw from the city safely. "


    "Now that the troops have safely withdrawn from the city," vetkov said, with no surprise on his face. Instead, he asked with a puzzled look on his face, "but why can''t our radio station contact them all the time?"


    "Comrade major," when I heard wittkov''s question, I suddenly felt that something was wrong. I quickly asked Pugachev in a loud voice, "major, where is the man sent by general bandeleev? Come in, please. Come in, please Although I still don''t know why the radio station couldn''t contact the 22nd division of Jinwei, I heard that the main force of our army had successfully withdrawn to the outside of the city. Just now, my uneasiness suddenly disappeared, leaving only excitement and excitement.


    An officer in a steel helmet and snow camouflage suit, under the guidance of Pugachev, went into the tent. I''m familiar with the people who came here. They are Lieutenant Glen, the deputy battalion commander of the second battalion of the first regiment. They have dealt with each other several times. Bantai leiev sent him here, presumably to let me understand that the information reported by the comer is true.


    As soon as captain Glenn entered the tent, he raised his hand and saluted me. He said, "report to the commander, commander of the division. General bantaileiev asked me to report to you that in order to avoid German retaliation, the 22nd division of our close guard, after successfully seizing smira, except for leaving a few troops as guards, the main force was before the enemy''s bombing, He successfully retreated to the forest in the suburbs to hide


    After that, Captain Glenn took out a document from his satchel and handed it to me respectfully. At the same time, he said, "Comrade commander, this is the report from Mr. bantaileiev." I took the document and looked at the handwriting on it. It''s Bantai leyev''s handwriting. That''s right. I read bantaileiev''s report carefully again and then decided to make sure that what Glen said was completely true. Seeing the other party''s tired face, I knew that he must have suffered a lot in order to find our whereabouts, so I politely asked him to have a rest first.


    I handed the report of Bantai leiev to Vitkov. After reading it, he handed it to kirilov again, but he still said in a puzzled way: "Comrade commander, although there is a report of general Bantai leiev here, I still don''t quite understand: first, why can the 22nd division of Bantai leiev''s close guard successfully withdraw outside the city before the enemy''s air attack? 2¡¢ Where are the 308th division under the command of general Romanov and the 171 division of andeliuschenko, and why are they still unable to contact each other? "


    The two problems mentioned by wittkov are exactly what I have been thinking about. If it is true that the 22nd Division has successfully withdrawn to the outskirts, why can''t we get in touch with their radio station? Seeing such a question, we can only come to the conclusion when we see bantailiev.


    But this is obviously not the time to delve into these problems. I turned to razumeyeva, who was sitting by the telephone, and said, "Lieutenant, the call to the 22nd division of the guards will not continue. You can change the communication channel of the 171st division or the 308th division to see if you can get in touch with them. "


    Razumeyeva promised, after adjusting the frequency, began to call up the other two division radio stations. This time, we''re obviously lucky. We didn''t make a few calls, but there was a response from the earphone.


    Hearing the news from the other side, razumeyeva immediately called me excitedly: "commander, comrade commander, I have contacted the radio station of the 308th division."


    I took the earphone from her hand, put it on, and yelled at the transmitter, "I''m o''shanina. Ask your commander to answer the phone."


    Soon, the voice of Romanov came from the earphone: "it''s me, Romanov."


    When I heard Romanov''s voice, it didn''t look like I was defeated. The stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. I then asked, "where are you now?"


    "Report to the commander," Romanov immediately replied, "I''m in hudoli with andriuchenko."


    "Hudoli." While talking to him, I grabbed the map and carefully searched for the location he said. But when I saw the place name he said, I couldn''t help exclaiming, "Damn, comrade deputy commander, what are you doing in the suburbs of chelkarther?" From the map, the town of hudoli that he said happened to be a small town connected with cherkaser.


    "Well, comrade commander." Romanov truthfully reported: "after seizing smira, we found a small group of enemies fleeing towards the northeast of the city. From the direction, they should have fled to cherkaser. In order not to let the enemy find out our army''s movement too early, I sent a troop to pursue it. Our pursuers exchanged fire with cherkaser''s defenders near the town of hudoli. Because the weather was too dark and the German firepower was too fierce, the commander of the team asked me for help. I was afraid that the German forces in the city would be strong and that if there were too few reinforcements, I would suffer a loss. So I called Comrade andreushenko and asked him to come to hudoli with me. "


    "What''s the situation now?" I heard that they were exchanging fire with the garrison in the city. I asked with concern, "have you found out how many troops the enemy has in the city?"


    "According to the interrogation of the prisoners, the enemy probably had a battalion of garrison in the city." Romanov reported: "at the beginning, the German Army thought we were just small troops, so we were caught off guard. When we occupied half of the city, the German army finally recovered and realized that it was not a small army that launched the attack. At present, they are relying on buildings to fight with our army house by house. "


    When I heard Romanov''s report, I had a sense of time and space disorder, as if I was back to the time of the battle of Stalingrad. Thinking of the tragic death and injury of the residents in the whole campaign, I could not help worrying about the innocent people in the city and asked nervously, "are there any residents in the city?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Romanov gave me a positive answer, saying: "half an hour ago, the German army carried out a counterattack against the area occupied by our army. They let the captured residents walk in front of the counterattack team, followed by about two platoons of German soldiers


    "What happened?" I asked anxiously.


    When Romanov heard my question, he said lightly: "the enemy''s counterattack was repulsed by us, and the residents who were held were rescued."


    Although he said this matter in a very relaxed tone, I guess the casualties of those residents must be not small, but now is not the time to pursue these matters, so I did not continue to ask, but changed the topic and asked: "general Romanov, how long do you think it will take before you can completely occupy cherkaser?"


    After a moment''s silence, Romanov replied: "at present, the enemy relies on solid buildings and has temporarily built many firepower points. Our officers and men are not familiar with the terrain and suffer a lot of casualties in street fighting."


    "I''m not familiar with the terrain. I can find the residents in the city to be your guide." When I heard that the troops suffered heavy casualties in the street battle, I couldn''t help being anonymous. You know, our troops, however, were drawn from the city garrison of Stalingrad. Their field combat ability may not be strong, but when it comes to street fighting, they can definitely be German teachers. But now we are fighting such a small city, but we have paid huge casualties. What''s the matter? Because I said impatiently: "also, when the troops attack in the street, don''t charge in a dense formation. That will become the target of German shooting and cause unnecessary casualties."


    "Yes, comrade commander." Romanov replied respectfully: "when it comes to street fighting, Colonel andreushenko''s level is much higher than mine. But when my division''s attack was frustrated because of the increase in casualties, it was the commanders and fighters of the friendly forces who pushed up in time and defeated the enemy troops


    After I finished my call with Romanov, I just wanted to report the situation of the other two divisions to kirilov and Vitkov. Vitkov handed me several telegrams and said solemnly, "Comrade commander, our situation is not optimistic. As soon as Alexandria''s troops withdrew from the city, they were attacked by German planes, killing more than 100 people. And the fourth regiment is not peaceful on the way to our place. A pro German Ukrainian guerrilla not only laid mines on their march, but also hid on both sides of the road and fired cold shots at our March, which has resulted in seven deaths and 19 injuries to the gadar regiment. "


    I smashed my fist on the table, then said: "these damned bastards, one day I will wipe them out completely." After that, I asked wittkov, "what''s the situation with gordonov?"


    "I haven''t heard from the major yet," wittkov said tentatively. "But no news, sometimes it means good news. Maybe there''s no fighting at all."


    I walked out of the tent and looked at the city in front of me. Then I said to kirilov, who followed me out of the tent, "Comrade political commissar, the enemy''s air raid is over. Should we go to the city and take part in the rescue?"


    Before kirilov made a statement, wittkov, who finally came out of the tent, heard what I had just said and quickly stopped: "Comrade commander, you can''t go to the city like this. It will be dangerous. The enemy''s bombing of the city has just ended. Who knows if they will come back?". If you come into the city, you will be bombarded by enemy planes again, what can you do? "


    I pointed to the tent behind me and said, "are we going to set up our headquarters here to direct the war?"


    Wittkov took a look at the tent, and then replied, "Comrade commander, even if the conditions here are poor, the safety factor is higher than that in the city, so I think you should still stay here to command the battle." As we were talking, kirilov suddenly pointed to the distance and said, "look, there are three jeeps coming in front. Which commander should have come to the army headquarters to report." None of us spoke. We just stood in the distance and looked at the jeep. When the jeep arrived more than 20 meters away from us, it stopped in turn. Then, a lot of commanders came down from the car. When they came towards us, I recognized Bantai leiev in the crowd at a glance. I nudged kirilov beside me and said, "it''s general bandeleev." With that, I went straight ahead. When I came to Bantai leiev, I grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously without waiting for him to raise his hand. At the same time, I said, "Comrade General, you have worked hard." Then kirilov and wittkov came up one after another to greet bantaileiev. When the four of us returned to the tent, kirilov, an old friend of Bantai leiev, sat down and asked with concern, "old man, when we saw enemy planes bombing the city on the road, the commander was worried about you. After setting up the temporary headquarters here, because she couldn''t get in touch with you all the time, she specially arranged ten signalmen to go to the city to find you, let you act as the commander in chief of the garrison in the city, and ordered you to lead the troops to withdraw from the city temporarily at the right time and hide in a safe place in the suburbs. However, I didn''t expect that. Later, I found out that our worries were unnecessary. You took precautions and led the troops out of the city. "¡° Tell me, Comrade General. " Wittkov asked curiously when kirilov finished¡° How did you think about it at that time? Why could you withdraw the main forces from the city before the enemy plane bombed? Are you a prophet? " After listening to them, bantailiev stood up and first expressed his gratitude to me for my concern for him. Then he began to explain to us the reason why he let the troops leave the city: "in fact, I am not a prophet at all, but I think that two days ago, shortly after the 308th division occupied the city, it was attacked by the German army, resulting in heavy casualties of the troops, and even the commander of the division, general gurdyev, died. So after destroying the garrison in the city, I ordered the troops to withdraw to the forest in the suburbs for the time being, and at the same time, I also moved many residents of the city to a safe area. "

 Chapter 972

    "What about the tank brigade?" After waiting for bantaileiev to finish, wittkov asked coldly, "Comrade General, where are you going to deploy the 22nd brigade of the tank?"


    Hearing wittkov''s question, bandeleev quickly turned to him and replied, "chief of staff, I sent them along highway H01 towards Kiev. If we find that the enemy''s defense along the way is slack, we will find the right fighter to fight."


    "What, you let the tank brigade move towards Kiev?" When witkov heard this, he was a little worried: "general bantailiev, you are just making a fool of yourself. The 22nd tank brigade is said to be a brigade, but they only have six tanks, and there are about 200 tank soldiers without tanks. With such strength, you will let them rush to Kiev? This is for them to die. " Speaking of the excitement, vetkov could not help clapping the table.


    When I saw witkov''s anger, bantaileiev''s face was always smiling, so I guessed that he had his intention to do so. As soon as wittkov''s voice dropped, I came out to make a round: "Comrade chief of staff, don''t get angry first, let''s listen to Comrade Bantai leiev''s words." Then he made a sign to Bantai leiev to tell him what he really thought.


    Bandeleev took out the map, spread it out in front of us, pointed to the position marked with the red arrow on it, and said, "please see, from smira north to Kiev, except obukeshiv is a big city, the rest are small towns, so the enemy''s garrison must be very limited, With the strength of the tank brigade, these enemies can be easily solved. " Maybe it was to reassure us. At the end of the day, he looked up at Vitkov and explained, "chief of staff, you don''t know that the tank brigade has a lot of troops. Besides six tanks, there are more than 800 infantry, most of them are guerrillas under captain shamrih. They are very familiar with the terrain because of their long-term activities in this area, In addition, they have just been changed and their combat effectiveness has been greatly improved. "


    After listening to bantailiev''s explanation, wittkov looked at the map again, and then said: "although it''s a bit risky, on the whole, your deployment is quite good. If the tank brigade can successfully eliminate the German troops in the towns along the way and create the situation that we are about to attack Kiev, it will disrupt the overall deployment of the German forces. "


    At this time, kirilov, who had been acting as a bystander, turned to me and suggested, "Rita, do you think we should send a telegram to the headquarters of the front army about the movement of our army?"


    To tell you the truth, since our army was incorporated into the sixth group army of the southwest front army, I have never met the commanders of the two command organizations, the front army and the group army. Because I was afraid that if I acted according to their command, I would die in the end, so I was almost alone. Not only did I not ask for instructions before taking action, but I would resolutely refuse orders from my superiors as long as I felt they were unreasonable.


    In the past, it could also be used as a reason for confidentiality. Instead of sending a telegram for instructions before the operation, it could only report the results after the battle. At present, my troops are only more than 100 kilometers away from Kiev. It seems that there is still a great chance of seizing the city. If such an important matter is not reported, no one will be able to protect me when I am sent to the military court.


    Thinking of this, I told wittkov: "chief of staff, immediately draw up a telegram to report to the headquarters of the front army, saying that we have successfully occupied smira, and that some troops have gone out to the vicinity of obukeshiv, asking them to direct our next action." After witkov put his notebook on his knee and sorted out a telegram according to my meaning, he added, "send another telegram to Marshal Zhukov."


    After listening to this, wittkov was stunned. Then he gave a loud promise and tore the page off the notebook. He got up and went to the telephone and handed it to razumeyeva, who was on standby.


    While witkov was supervising razumeyeva''s report, bantailiev asked quietly: "Comrade commander, if we don''t report to our superiors, once we find that the battlefield situation is unfavorable to us, we can cross the Dnieper River from cherkaser or kaniv and retreat to Moscow. If we report it to the higher authorities, I think it is very likely that they will let us attack Kiev... "


    "Yes, general bandeleev." Before he finished speaking, I interrupted his later words, "your analysis is very correct. After receiving our telegram, general watujing will report to the higher authorities immediately; After receiving the telegram, Marshal Zhukov will report directly to the Supreme Commander himself. As long as you can understand the importance of Kiev, you can imagine that the last instruction they got was to take back Kiev at all costs. "


    "Comrade commander, the scouts sent to Kiev have not yet sent back the information." Wittkov came over and said anxiously, "even if we receive orders from our superiors to recover Kiev, we can''t make a plan to attack Kiev without knowing the enemy''s deployment."


    "Wait a little longer, chief of staff." I said with disapproval: "even if the superior really gives the order to attack Kiev, we have to wait for our scouts to find out the deployment of the German forces. Moreover, if we want to capture Kiev, it is impossible to rely on such a light armed force as ours, which is not full and has no heavy weapons, without the cooperation of friendly forces and the support of the air force. "


    Seeing that wittkov seemed to continue to ask, I raised my hand to stop him and told him directly: "chief of staff, please contact the deputy chief of the army immediately and ask if they have taken cherkaser. And where are the troops from kilovgrad and Alexandria now? "


    "Kiev, Kiev." Kirilov repeated the place twice and said, "if I remember correctly, when Marshal Zhukov was still the chief of the general staff, he was transferred to the reserve commander because he proposed to the Supreme Commander himself to give up Kiev. This shows how important Kiev is in the eyes of the supreme commander. What I am worried about is that once the higher authorities give us the order to recover Kiev, and we are unable to complete this task, will it bring serious consequences? "


    As soon as kirilov''s words came out, the air in the tent seemed to solidify. There was no sound except the ticking of razumeyeva''s message. We all began to think about this serious problem raised by the political commissar. Once we receive the attack order from the higher authorities, and we are unable to complete the task in the end, what kind of fate will be waiting for us.


    Seeing the solemn expression on everyone''s face, I coughed quickly, turned around and asked leiev, "I said, comrade general, there''s something I haven''t had time to ask you, why can''t your division''s radio station contact you?"


    My question immediately attracted everyone''s attention. Seeing that we were all looking at ourselves, Bantai leiev blushed, then admitted his mistake to me and said, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. To prevent exposure, I ordered the division radio to remain silent. After the German bombing, I was busy checking the troops and residents hidden in the forest, and I forgot to cancel the order for a moment. "


    "Nonsense, it''s nonsense." Kirilov was the one who criticized Bantai leyev. "Do you know how worried the commanders were about your safety when we lost contact with your division. To this end, the commander also sent a large number of signalmen to the city at risk to find your whereabouts. Who knows, who knows... "At the end, kirilov was so angry that he couldn''t speak, only the hand pointing at Bantai leiev kept shaking.


    "Come on, comrade political commissar, stop talking about it." I stretched out my hand to pull kirilov''s raised hand down, and then said, "general bantaileiev didn''t do it on purpose either. He was also negligent for a moment. I believe he won''t make this mistake again." After that, I turned to Bantai leiev and asked, "Comrade General, am I right?"


    Bantai leiev wiped the sweat on his forehead and nodded to me again and again to admit his mistake: "yes, comrade commander, I will pay attention to it in the future. I will never make similar mistakes again."


    "Well, there''s nothing for you here. Go back to the army first." I don''t want to get entangled in this matter any more, so that the communication officers in the division will not be punished at last, so I closed my eyes and let it go: "when I get back to the division, I will immediately send troops to the city to organize the residents, put out the fire and treat the wounded. You have to ask yourself about these things. Do you understand? " Then, without waiting for him to speak, I waved to him, "go!"


    "Yes Bantaileiev agreed, raised his hand to salute us, looked at kirilov who turned his back because he was angry, turned, lifted the curtain and went out.


    As soon as bantaileiev left, I could not persuade kirilov, so I turned and asked wittkov, "chief of staff, have you got in touch with general Romanov? Have they occupied the city? "


    Wittkov nodded and said with certainty: "there are no German troops in the city. Only a few areas have sporadic resistance. The German troops at the ferry took a bad turn and drove all the ferries to the other side of the river. That is to say, our main force can''t cross the river from here. "


    "If there is no ferry, there will be no ferry. It''s no big deal." The river here is too wide to have enough ferries. It will take us a long time to cross it with more than 10000 people and equipment¡° I think the most suitable river crossing area is kaniv. Not only the river is narrow, but also the water flow is gentle, which is suitable for large troops to pass through. "


    "The call back from comrades in chief and Deputy commander-in-chief has come." Just at this time, there was razumeyeva''s voice: "I haven''t received a reply from the headquarters of the front army yet."


    When I picked up the telegram from Zhukov, it read: "at present, the main forces of the German army in Ukraine are being held down on the left bank of the Dnieper River by our Voronezh and southwest front forces, and the garrison in Kiev is limited. Your ministry should seize this favorable opportunity to launch a decisive attack on Kiev and strive to seize this important city in the shortest time. Make a good attack plan, report to us immediately, and I will arrange the ground troops and air force to give you enough support. "


    Witkov stood beside me and watched Zhukov''s reply with me. Then he said with some helplessness: "Comrade commander, it seems that your judgment is correct. The superior really gave us the order to seize Kiev. But with our present strength, can we accomplish this glorious and arduous task? "


    Kirilov came over and asked for the telegram from my hand. After reading it, he looked up and said to Vitkov, "chief of staff, have confidence. In the past, when our independent division stuck to the mamayev post, the situation was no better than it is now. But with our tenacious defense, the enemy will never be able to occupy the highlands. "


    The speaker did not mean it, and the listener meant it. Kirilov just wanted to cheer wittkov up. He took the brilliant deeds of the independent division as an example, but it made me suddenly think of a problem. In real history, mamayev post was a place repeatedly contested by both sides. Until the end of the campaign, the highland was still half occupied by both sides. However, with my appearance, history has shifted here, and the mamayev post has become an insurmountable gate for the German army. Since the history of the battle of Stalingrad has changed because of me, will the next attack on Kiev be another opportunity to change the historical track? Thinking of this, I interrupted kirilov, who was still cheering for vetkov, and said to himself, "political commissar and chief of staff, when it gets dark, our scouts should have already grasped the situation of the enemy near Kiev. At that time, we will call together the three division commanders and jointly make a plan for seizing Kiev." The expression on the two faces became relaxed again because of my words. I quickly asked wittkov, "chief of staff, how are the two regiments withdrawing to smira?"¡° Commander Gaidar''s fourth regiment, which has cleared the guerrillas of the harassing forces, is speeding towards us. At present, it''s less than five kilometers away from here. In about an hour, we can meet. " At this point, he suddenly said with some embarrassment: "but the situation of withdrawing from Alexandria is not so good."¡° What''s the matter? " Listening to what he said, I asked nervously, "are they entangled by the enemy?"¡° Yes, comrade commander, your judgment is very accurate. " Vetkov pulled the map up to me, pointed to znaankaduha on it and said, "here, their guards and German pursuers are on fire. At present, fierce fighting is going on. "

 Chapter 973

    I heard that some troops were surrounded by the German army. I grabbed wittkov''s arm and asked nervously, "how many of our troops are surrounded by the enemy. Do they have any hope of getting rid of the enemy?"


    After hearing my question, vetkov shook his head and said with regret: "Comrade commander, according to the telegram I received, there are only 33 people left in the company after being cut off, including five communication soldiers who have no combat effectiveness. It is impossible to escape from the enemy''s hands several times more than them."


    "33 people!" After reciting this figure, I couldn''t help sighing for a long time. I knew that this number of troops was not enough for the pursuers. I just hope that they can hold on to the position for a while and gain precious time for the retreating troops. The most urgent task is to build the necessary defensive positions outside the city of smira to resist the attacks from the East and the south. So, after looking at the map, I told Vitkov: "chief of staff, when gedar''s fourth regiment and the troops withdrawn from Alexandria arrive, let them take charge of the defense of the south of the city."


    "Yes Vetkov promised to turn around and leave, but I stopped him.


    "Wait a minute, chief of staff. I have something else to tell you." I reorganized what I had to say in my mind, and then I continued: "send a message to major perskin, so that his tank troops will stop advancing towards Kiev and move towards kaniv, striving to seize the city and occupy the bridge on the river."


    "Comrade commander, why did you give such an order?" Upon hearing my order, wittkov immediately reminded me: "since the superior has ordered us to attack Kiev, if our tank troops can approach Kiev and occupy the starting point of attack, our attack distance can be greatly shortened."


    "Comrade chief of staff, do you think that the Germans are all fools and will allow us to wedge a nail in their defense area? I can tell you responsibly that as long as the tank brigade seizes any city near Kiev, it will attract the German army''s crazy counterattack. With the limited strength of the tank brigade, it can''t hold the position at all. " I saw that he didn''t understand my intention of giving this order, so I had to tell him my intention: "the reason why I asked them to stop and turn to kaniv is to paralyze the German army and make them think that our goal is not to capture Kiev, but to cross the river for their lives."


    "I see, comrade commander." In my words, wittkov finally came to realize, "first, let the enemy have the illusion that we are just going to cross the river for our lives instead of going north. They will relax their vigilance. When our campaign is launched, their resistance will be much weaker."


    When Vitkov urged the operator to send a message, kirilov asked thoughtfully, "Rita, we just sent a telegram to the headquarters of the front army and Marshal Zhukov at the same time. Now the Marshal''s telegram has been received, but there is no news from commander watujing, and I don''t know how he thought about it


    I am also very puzzled that watujing has not returned the telegram. But as a subordinate, I can''t send a telegram to urge him, so I have to say helplessly: "Comrade political commissar, wait a little longer. I think commander watujing can''t make his own decision after receiving our telegram, so I have to ask for instructions from the higher level. I think he is also waiting for orders at the moment."


    We were talking when witkov, who was standing next to the telephone, suddenly gave a "Gee" in surprise. Then he came quickly, with a faint and irrepressible excitement on his face.


    Seeing the expression on his face, I asked jokingly, "Comrade chief of staff, do you have any good news to tell us when you look so happy?"


    Wittkov immediately said triumphantly: "of course, there is good news. It''s a telegram sent personally by general vatukin, commander of the front army. Congratulations, comrade commander


    After listening to wittkov''s words, I was stunned and immediately said, "what commander, chief of staff, are you kidding us?"


    Wittkov handed me the telegram and said, "you''d better see for yourself."


    While Vitkov and kirilov were whispering, I took the telegram to my eyes. The content of the telegram was only one point: in order to facilitate the beginning of the Kiev campaign, from now on, the 79th infantry army and the 3rd tank group army of Voronezh front army merged to form the Dnieper River Campaign cluster, with major general oshanina as the commander of the campaign cluster.


    After reading this telegram, I couldn''t help wondering why this promotion order was sent to me by vatukin instead of Zhukov? What''s more, watujing is the commander of the southwest front army. He has no right to mobilize the troops of Voronezh''s front army?


    Seeing that I was depressed, kirilov came up to me and asked with concern, "Rita, why are you so unhappy when your superior asked you to be the commander of the cluster?"


    I handed the telegram in my hand to kirilov and answered bitterly, "Comrade political commissar, please have a look. This telegram from general vatukin says that our army and the 3rd tank group army of Voronezh''s front army should be merged to form the battle group of Dnieper River."


    "What''s wrong?" Kirilov took the telegram from me and asked curiously, "it''s very clear in the telegram that you are appointed commander of the campaign cluster, so you don''t have to worry about the command."


    "It''s not like that, comrade political commissar." I think kirilov misunderstood my meaning and quickly explained: "general vatukin is now the commander of the southwest front army, while the 3rd tank group army is the Voronezh front army under the command of general Golikov. If only by this telegram, I think I can''t command this tank group army. "


    Kirilov frowned when I said that. After thinking for a while, he suggested to me, "you see, are we sending a telegram to Marshal Zhukov to implement this matter to him?"


    "Well," I said immediately after kirilov''s voice, "send a telegram to Marshal Zhukov and report the appointment to him as well."


    Before we could send a message, razumeyeva rushed to me with a telegram and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, this is a call from Marshal Zhukov."


    I took it over and saw that the above contents first included my appointment as commander of the newly formed battle group of Dnieper. Then, it lists the number of the troops that the campaign cluster belongs to: the 79th infantry army; The 3rd tank group army, which has jurisdiction over the 12th and 15th tank armies; Major general grebov''s close guard infantry division 27; Major general wachuk''s close guard 79th division; Major general Makarenko''s commander of the 321st infantry division.


    Finally, the telegram also said: the 12th tank army and the 321st Infantry Division will launch an attack on priluki in the early morning of March 2; At the same time, the 15th army of tanks and the 27th and 79th divisions of close guard infantry will attack pretti. Once the two places are successfully captured, the two forces will join forces and continue to attack bruvalli. And the 79th infantry army, which arrived in the south of Kiev, formed a double attack.


    After reading Zhukov''s telegram, I handed it to wittkov, and then said, "in the evening, no matter how the fighting goes, all the division commanders must be called together for a meeting to study how to play Kiev."


    Witkov read the telegram at a glance, and said with some worry: "Comrade commander, although our superiors have equipped us with so many teams, they are too far away from us. Can they arrive within two days from a distance of several hundred kilometers?"


    "Yes, it''s a problem." When I finished reading the telegram, I thought about it. But when Vitkov asked this question, I didn''t think of any measures to deal with it, so I could only say vaguely, "let''s study this matter slowly when we meet in the evening."


    Before dark, our army headquarters moved to a church in the city that had not been bombed down. Meanwhile, all kinds of information came back one after another. The 171st and 308 divisions had firmly controlled cherkaser and built the necessary fortifications at the river ferry; The main forces that had withdrawn from Alexandria and the four regiments of Gaidar were now building fortifications in the city; Major Godunov, after completing the interdiction mission, is leading the remaining troops to smira.


    When the three division commanders I called arrived at the army headquarters one after another and were about to start the meeting, major Pugachev suddenly rushed in from the outside with a telegram, and at the same time, he yelled out: "Comrade commander, good news, good news."


    Seeing his face full of joy, I knew that he must have brought a lot of good news, so I asked with a smile, "major, what''s the good news? Just when the three teachers are here, they will say it to make everyone happy. "


    "Well, comrade commander," said Pugachev, standing upright, but still smiling on his face, "the troops that withdrew from Alexandria this morning were not pursued by the German army?" Seeing that I nodded, he continued, "the telegram is from the small army after it was cut off."


    "Oh, a telegram from the small unit?" After listening to Pugachev''s words, I got excited and asked, "what''s the situation, comrade major? How many of them survived? "


    When Pugachev heard me say this, he was stunned at first, then shook his head and said, "Comrade commander, they have all come back safely, without any sacrifice."


    "What? No one died? " When I heard Pugachev say this, my first reaction was that he must have made a mistake. The German army was several times the size of the garrison and was also equipped with tanks and artillery. If we want to stop the enemy''s attack like this, even if all the troops are not destroyed, at least there will be heavy casualties. Maybe not even one of them has been sacrificed.


    Apart from me, the commanders in the military headquarters who attended the meeting also had incredible expressions on their faces, as if they had heard something out of the blue. Seeing that everyone didn''t believe it, Pugachev quickly raised the telegram in his hand and said to us, "comrades commander, when I just received this telegram, I thought it was a mistake, and I''m going to send a telegram to check it. After confirmation, I came to report it to you."


    "Don''t worry, comrade major." Kirilov saw Pugachev''s gaffe and quickly comforted him, saying, "read the contents of the telegram to everyone, so that we can understand what''s going on."


    Pugachev nodded, unfolded the telegram in his hand, and read to us: "we have occupied a small unnamed highland by the side of the road, where we are tenaciously fighting against the German attack.


    The German sent out 30 tanks and a battalion of infantry to encircle our highlands. In the face of the dominant enemy, Captain Ji Mufu, commander of the company, was fearless in the face of danger. He called all the people together and cheered everyone up: "calm down and get closer." The German army was getting closer and closer to our position. At the command of the company commander, the soldiers with anti tank grenades rushed out and blew up several tanks in front. Although the German army lost the tanks at the beginning, the remaining tanks still rushed up regardless. The tank quickly rushed to the front of the position. Our warrior rushed out of the bunker again, threw a burning bottle at the right angle, and then rolled into the bunker. One of the German tanks was hit and drove for a while in thick smoke, but it did not move. Then the soldier destroyed two tanks in the same way. Watching the German tanks destroyed one by one, our commanders and fighters who were holding fast to the position immediately gained confidence, picked up the flasks one after another and smashed them at the enemy''s tanks. Even the five most ineffective signalmen picked up the flasks and threw them at the enemy''s tanks. During the whole day, we killed 150 invaders and destroyed 27 tanks. When Pugachev finished reading the telegram, kirilov nodded and said to me, "Rita, it''s a great victory. We''ll give these warriors credit." For kirilov''s proposal, I immediately expressed support: "yes, not only to record merit, but also to promote." Later, I turned around and told Pugachev: "Comrade major, go back immediately and find out the names of these commanders and fighters. We will honor every commander and fighter who has participated in the battle. For those who have made outstanding performance, we will also promote their ranks. Go ahead. "¡° Yes After receiving the order, Pugachev agreed and ran out of the headquarters happily. As soon as Pugachev left, I turned to look at Romanov and andriyushenko, and said to them with a smile, "comrades, it won''t be long before we know which one of you belongs to this heroic army."

 Chapter 974

    Before major Pugachev came back to report his findings to us, another telegram from Zhukov came first.


    The telegram officially announced: "I agree." As soon as I spoke, kirilov immediately agreed, "I''ll arrange for them to be decorated after the meeting."


    "Well, I''ve said everything that needs to be said." After kirilov finished, I said, "next, we should discuss how to take Kiev."


    "Comrade commander," vetkov interjected, "but the report of the scout has not yet been sent back. We have no idea about the enemy''s troop deployment. We can''t make a specific operational plan at all."


    I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and continued, "I believe it may not be long before we receive the report from the Scout. However, before that, in order to confuse the enemy, they could not understand our operational intentions. First of all, we need to send more troops to kaniv area and put on the illusion that we are ready to cross the river and flee to the north, so that the enemy can not focus on Kiev area, so that we can take advantage of it. "


    "Comrade commander, which unit are you going to send to reinforce the tank brigade of caniv?" After witkov asked these questions, he scanned the commanders present and said in embarrassment: "at present, our three divisions are seriously reduced. If there are fewer troops sent to kaniv, it will not be able to confuse the enemy; If we send more soldiers, then our defense strength in smira and cherkaser will be weakened. "


    As for wittkov''s worries, I hastened to explain: "Comrade chief of staff, you need not worry. I estimate that the German forces on the right bank of the Dnieper River are limited. After they have reoccupied kilovgrad and Alexandria, they may stop for a while and wait for new forces to arrive before they can advance to the area we are occupying. "


    As soon as I finished, I saw that almost all the people were relieved. Seeing this, I was deeply afraid that they would underestimate the enemy. I quickly said, "comrades, don''t think we can take it lightly if the German ground forces stop advancing. At present, the air supremacy of the battlefield is in the hands of the German army. They can send out air forces at any time to bomb the cities we occupy and the lines in the March. Therefore, the air defense work of all units can not be relaxed at all. "


    "Comrades commander," Romanov suggested to me, "do we take advantage of the opportunity when the German ground forces stop advancing to gather the troops of the three divisions together, and with the exception of a few remaining to hold on to smira and cherkaser, the rest are quietly moving towards Kiev. Once the time is ripe, we can attack Kiev in the shortest time. "


    As for Romanov Russia''s proposal, I thought about it for a moment. Just as I was about to nod my head, I heard razumeyeva sitting by the wall calling me: "commander, comrade commander."


    Although I have been appointed commander now, people in the headquarters still call me commander. I saw razumeyeva holding earphone and transmitter in her hand. Knowing that it must be another important commander who wanted to talk to me, I hurried over and asked, "what''s the matter, Lieutenant?"


    "Comrade commander, a commander wants to talk to you."


    "Who?"


    Razumeyeva shook her head and replied, "I don''t know, but he said he''s rebarko. You can know who he is just by name."


    It was said that rebalko was looking for me. I hurriedly took the headset from razumeyeva and put it on. Then I nervously said to the transmitter, "general rebalko, Hello! I''m oshanina


    "Hello, comrade commander. I''m reporting to you. My troops and I are willing to accept your command. "


    When I talked with rebalko, I was very nervous. I was afraid that he would have any dissatisfaction because he didn''t become commander. When I heard him say this, I was even more upset: "Comrade General, look what you said, my rank is lower than you, how can I command you. I think it is more appropriate for you to take up the post of commander. "


    "To appoint you as commander is the meaning of the supreme commander. As a soldier, I will give orders from my superior unconditionally." After hearing what I said, rebalko may have guessed my worry and explained immediately: "our tank group army only cooperates with you in fighting. We should know that it is infantry, not tanks, who decide to win the battle in the end. So I think the appointment of the superior is completely correct. "


    After listening to what rebalko said, I feel completely at ease. As long as he is willing to obey my orders and does not disobey the law, then we are quite sure that we will win the Kiev campaign. After a pause, I suddenly remembered that I didn''t know the organizational structure of the tank group army. I quickly asked, "Comrade General, can you tell me the number of your troops and the name of your commander?"


    "No problem, comrade commander." Rebalko readily agreed: "in order to prevent leakage, I will send you the number of the army and the name of the commander by telegram." After that, he was silent for a moment, and then went on to say, "I''m in touch with you at this time because I want to inform you of something."


    Rebalko''s words, let my heart thump for a while, the heart said bad, may be something. But he still insisted: "Comrade General, if you have anything, please let me know."¡° Well, comrade commander. " "Due to the transportation problem, the infantry divisions cooperating with our attack have not yet entered the combat position, so the scheduled attack may not start on time," rebalko said with some embarrassment Although I knew for a long time that tomorrow''s attack could not be carried out on time, when this possibility really became a reality, my heart was still particularly lost¡° When can it start? " I asked weakly. After a period of silence, rebalko replied in a positive tone: "the time of attack is delayed for 24 hours at most. Our troops will be able to attack the German forces in the designated area. "¡° Well, in that case, comrade general, I''ll wait for your good news. " Because Zhukov''s decision to launch the Kiev campaign was too hasty, all preparations had to start from scratch. It would be very difficult for the troops to enter the designated area and launch an attack the day after tomorrow, that is, March 3¡° I wish you good health¡° I wish you good health When rebalko said that, he cut off contact with me. When I returned to the conference table, kirilov quickly asked, "what did general rebalko say, Rita? Why did they delay the attack?" I shook my head and replied, "although general rebalko didn''t say the specific reason, I believe the commanders here can guess it. It was only during the day that the Supreme Command made the decision to set up the battle cluster of Dnieper and launch the Kiev campaign. It is not true that the troops participating in the war will be able to be in place. It may take two or three days for some troops to arrive at the designated offensive position even if they set out now. Under such circumstances, we need to speed up the deployment of troops to kaniv so that the enemy can think that our goal is to cross the river and join the forces in the north. Maybe they will deploy the existing garrison in Kiev to attack our flanks. "¡° As soon as the defenders in the city leave, Kiev will become an empty city. " Before I finished my words, almost all the commanders guessed the result. Wittkov said excitedly, "as long as we are in the city, Kiev will fall into our hands like a ripe apple." With that, he cried out to the door, "Pugachev, major Pugachev!" With his shouts, Pugachev came in flurried from the outside, faced him and asked, "chief of staff, what instructions do you have?"¡° The scout to Kiev, have you got a report back? " Vitkov asked. Pugachev nodded and replied, "yes, chief of staff, the scouts are sending information, but they haven''t received it yet. I''ll report to you as soon as I finish receiving the telegram. " After listening to his reply, wittkov glared: "since the situation of the Scout is sending information, what are you still doing here? Don''t go to the communication room to guard. As soon as the telegram is received, you will report to us immediately." Pugachev agreed in a loud voice, turned and ran out. At this time, razumeyeva came up to me, handed me a message, and said: "Comrade commander, this is a telegram just sent by general rebalko." I took the telegram and nodded to her. After she left, I took it to me and read it carefully. According to the telegram, the establishment of the third group army of tanks is as follows: the 12th army of tanks, including the 30th, 97th and 106th brigades of tanks and the 13th brigade of motorized infantry. The commander of the army is the colonel of Mitrofanov''s tank soldiers; The 15th tank army is composed of 96th, 105th and 113th tank brigades and 17th motorized infantry brigade. The commander is major general kopzov. After reading the message, I handed it to Vitkov and said with a smile to everyone, "I didn''t expect that there were two infantry brigades in general rebalko''s tank army. In this way, in the next battle, even if they were not equipped with infantry units, they could attack and occupy the city alone." As soon as I finished, Pugachev came in again from the outside and handed the message in his hand to wittkov. Wittkov quickly brought the telegram to his eyes and watched it carefully. After watching it, he looked up at me and said, "Comrade commander, according to the report of the scouts, the German army in Kiev has two infantry regiments, a motorized infantry brigade and a tank regiment, with a total force of more than 5000 people and 70 tanks."

 Chapter 975

    After listening to wittkov''s words, I can''t help silence. Although Kiev''s defenders are weak, the number is far beyond my imagination. It is very difficult for our army to capture a big city like Kiev from the hands of the German army, even though our troops and equipment are not dominant. And even if we do, we will have to pay a huge price. Once the German army launched a crazy counterattack, we simply did not have enough troops to hold the city.


    Seeing that I didn''t say a word, vetkov might have guessed what was on my mind. After sighing, he said, "Comrade commander, although there are only over 5000 German troops, there are still about 70 tanks left. Even if they only defend but don''t attack, we can''t do anything with them just by our strength."


    "That''s right," said Romanov as soon as wittkov''s voice was over. "At present, our artillery regiment has only a few big guns left. It''s OK to attack and defend. If we want to attack, our strength is too weak. Moreover, the total strength of our army now is only over 13000, of which 4000 are new recruits who have just been replenished. We should use these forces to attack fortified forces... "His words stopped here, and then he shook his head and sighed.


    "Yes, comrade commander." Wittkov added: "our troops were replenished after the end of the battle of Stalingrad. The training level and equipment standard were very poor. During this period of time, through continuous fighting, the troops have been greatly reduced, and the addition of new recruits has further diluted the combat effectiveness of our army. Our current situation is that not only the material support is poor, but also the commanders and fighters of the army have not been well trained. It is almost impossible to conquer a big city like Kiev. "


    The problems pointed out by wittkov and Romanov are the key to the success of the Kiev campaign. While I was having a headache for these problems, razumeyeva came to me again. When she handed me a telegram, she whispered, "Comrade commander, it''s the new telegram from Marshal Zhukov."


    As soon as I took the telegram, I could not help but frown. It said: "the logistics forces and bases are too far away from the assembly area, which greatly increases the difficulty of the support work of the combat forces. In addition, the area where the troops are assembled has just been liberated from the hands of the enemy, and there is no condition to accommodate a large number of troops, combat equipment and materials. Building bases, roads and organizing logistics can only be carried out at the same time as preparations for the attack.


    At present, there is only one kastornoye Kursk railway branch line, and a very short line along the front line of livne marmeige. The trains on this branch line can only reach the higra station. Continuous snowstorms buried the road, and there was thick snow everywhere. In the section of zolotuchino budanovka, the vehicles transporting materials can only run on the railway subgrade.


    Under such conditions, the 3rd tank group army and several infantry divisions under general rebalko''s command will not be able to launch an attack on the enemy occupied cities as planned tomorrow, March 2. The new attack will be delayed until noon on March 3, and the existing ammunition and fuel of the tank group army can only last for one day. "


    After reading the telegram sent by Zhukov, I am more and more pessimistic about the prospect of the battle in Kiev. I threw the telegram on the table and asked Pugachev, who was standing beside me, "major, how many German troops are there on the other side of kaniv?"


    "Report to the commander. According to the report of major perskin of the tank brigade, there are two German companies on the other side." Hearing my question, Pugachev quickly walked towards me, straightened up and replied, "they built Fortifications on the other side of the iron bridge, and were also equipped with war guns. We failed in several attempts to seize the bridge."


    When I heard that there were only two German companies on the other side of kaniv, I felt more secure. I immediately told Bantai leiev, "Comrade General, please send a regiment to kaniv overnight to reinforce the weak tank brigade."


    "Yes Bantai, who stood up to accept the order, agreed and sat down again.


    "Comrade deputy commander," I then gave an order to Romanov: "in addition to leaving a battalion in the 308th division to stick to the ferry, the rest of the troops, together with the 171st division, put on the German uniform and went northward along the road overnight to capture the city of obukeshiv south of Kiev, which will be the starting point of our next attack. Remember, after occupying the city, we should pay attention to blocking the news, so as not to let the enemy know that we are under his nose. "


    After listening to my command, Romanov did not immediately reply me. Instead, he turned to andreushenko, who stood up with him, and said, "Comrade Colonel, are the commander''s orders clear?"


    "Clear, comrade commander." Andreushenko replied loudly.


    Romanov added: "the battalion defending the ferry is under the command of captain yevjifeyev, who made great contributions in today''s defensive battle. It happened that the commander of the battalion withdrew from the battle because he was wounded in the daytime, so he needed an experienced commander like the captain to take his place. "


    When I saw Romanov giving orders to andreushenko, I remembered that he was no longer the deputy commander, nor the commander of the 308th division, but the new commander of the 79th army. Thinking of this, I couldn''t help but smile bitterly. Without interrupting him, I continued to listen patiently to his assignment.


    After they sat down, kirilov asked me curiously, "Rita, I want to ask you, what are you doing in sending troops to caniv? Are you really going to take the bridge over the river?"


    "Yes, comrade political commissar." I answered positively: "the attack of the friendly forces will be delayed for various reasons. Therefore, if our lone army attacks Kiev rashly, it will expose our campaign intention to the Germans. But before the friendly forces begin to attack, we can''t stay where we are. We have to make some noise to attract the attention of the German forces. "


    "Who are you going to direct this attack, Rita?" Kirilov asked with concern.


    "Comrade political commissar, who else can there be?"?! It''s me, of course When I said this to kirilov with a smile, seeing his face darken, I hastened to add, "of course, besides me, you have to go with me."


    When I said this, kirilov had a smile on his tense face. He said with pride, "Rita, that''s right. I''m your political commissar and your partner. No matter where you go, just take me with you."


    "Commander, political commissar," witkov saw that kirilov and I reached an agreement in a moment, and quickly advised: "kaniv is too dangerous, let me command it."


    "Chief of staff, you still have more important work to do." I raised my hand to stop the words behind wittkov, pointed to Romanov and said to him, "your job is to assist Romanov commander to get familiar with and command the troops. Do you understand? "


    "I understand." Listen to me, vetkov had no choice but to agree very depressed, and sat down again.


    After explaining the rest of the tasks, kirilov and I left the headquarters and went to kaniv together with the three regiments of akhromeyev who were transferred by bandeleyev.


    When I got to kaniv''s command post, I met major perskin, the temporary top commander of the tank brigade. When he saw me coming, he looked a little flustered. After he raised his hand to report to us, he put his hand on his forehead because he was nervous.


    I raised my hand, pulled his hand down from my forehead, and then asked in a flat tone, "major perskin, I heard that you failed in your battle to seize the bridge today. Can you tell me what happened?"


    Kirilov also said: "yes, comrade major, you and Comrade commander are old acquaintances. If you have anything to say, we will not blame you even if you are wrong."


    "Comrade commander?" When he heard this address, he had a strange expression on his face. He even slightly turned his head and looked behind me to see if he was still following a commander he didn''t know.


    Seeing his action, akhromeyev, who came in with us, said to him with a smile, "Comrade major, what are you looking at? Aren''t we all in front of you?"


    "I''ve just heard the commissar talk about the commander," Perls muttered. "I want to see if he''s following you into the command post."


    As soon as his voice fell, it caused a burst of chuckles from several of us. After laughing, akhromeyev pointed to me and said, "apart from us, what other commanders are there. To tell you the truth, the higher authorities have just set up the battle cluster of Dnieper River Based on our army, and our commander is the commander of this cluster. "


    On hearing the unexpected news, peregrine was stunned. Then he raised his hand and saluted me. At the same time, he said to me sincerely with a smile: "Comrade commander, please accept my congratulations to you."


    When the four of us sat down, I asked the question again. "It''s like this, comrade commander," he replied When he told me, he didn''t realize that he still called me the former commander rather than the current commander, but I didn''t correct him. I just listened quietly to him describe today''s fighting situation: "after fighting, the enemy was driven out of the city by us, major Prikhodko personally drove a tank and led hundreds of soldiers, Followed the enemy up the bridge. At that time, I was on the top floor of a building, and I saw this scene with a telescope. I was optimistic that we had completely occupied the bridge which could lead to the other side of the river, but an accident happened.


    We rushed to the troops on the other side. As soon as we left the bridge, we were ambushed by the German troops who had already ambushed behind the fortifications. Our commanders and fighters immediately fell into the German firepower network composed of machine guns, mortars, and defensive guns, and those who rushed in front of them fell under the enemy''s muzzle.


    In order to cover the infantry''s retreat, major Prikhodko drove his tanks to the enemy''s positions. He wanted to crush the enemy''s machine gun positions with crawlers and destroy the enemy''s mortars with tank guns, so that more commanders and fighters could escape from the enemy''s ambush circle. But unfortunately, when his tank was more than 30 meters away from the enemy''s trench, it was hit by a defensive gun and caught fire. He escaped from the burning tank and was killed on the way back to our military base. "


    When perskin said this, he might have seen the serious expression on kirilov''s face and me, and then he quickly explained: "there are more than 120 commanders and fighters rushing across the bridge, most of them are fighters of the shamrih guerrillas. Due to lack of experience in regular warfare, there are a lot of casualties, and only a dozen of them finally returned to our square."


    As soon as he said that, suddenly the people outside the door were shouting excitedly: "Comrade major, good news, good news." Then a commander in a political uniform rushed into the house. The people who came in obviously didn''t know that there would be so many people in the room. After a short period of confusion, he came up to us, raised his hand to salute me and reported, "Hello, comrade commander. Vajim, the instructor of the first battalion of the 22nd brigade of the tank, reports to you. I''m at your command. Please give me instructions! " I recognized that it was wajim, the political worker I had brought to the tank battalion. I stood up, laughed, reached out to him, and politely said, "it''s you, comrade wajim." After shaking hands, I asked curiously, "Comrade instructor, you just said there is good news. I want to know what the good news is that can make you happy like this. "¡° Well, comrade commander. " When I asked him this question, wajim got excited: "during the day, we launched an attack on the other side of the river, but the troops rushing across the bridge were ambushed by the enemy, resulting in heavy casualties." When I heard this, I nodded and said with regret, "yes, comrade instructor, major perskin was just telling us about it. Unfortunately, major Prikhodko, the deputy commander of the tank battalion, died in vain¡° No, comrade commander, major prihodko did not sacrifice. " Before I finished, I was interrupted by the emotional wajim: "he''s just injured, he''s just come back, and now he''s outside."¡° What, comrade instructor, what do you say? " When perskin heard this, he rushed over and grabbed wajim by the shoulder, shaking hard, and asked aloud, "I saw him fall by the enemy''s gun. How can you say he didn''t sacrifice? You must be mistaken. "¡° Yes, comrade major Although wajim was almost shaken apart by Perls, he said in a positive tone: "Comrade deputy battalion commander didn''t die. He''s still alive. After he was wounded, he fell into a crater to avoid the enemy''s intensive fire. As soon as it was dark, he crawled back secretly. And not only did he come back alone, but three other wounded people crawled back together. They''re out there now. "¡° Then why are you still standing here? Take me to have a look. " Because of his excitement, he even forgot that we were still on the field and pushed wajim to walk outside.

 Chapter 976

    "Wait a minute, comrade major." Fortunately, wajim didn''t lose his head in excitement, and quickly whispered to peiersjian¡° The commander and commissar are still here. "


    When he heard wajim''s warning, pelstenton thought that there was a commander with a higher rank here. He quickly stopped and sincerely apologized to me, saying, "sorry, comrade commander, I''m a little too excited to hear that my deputy battalion commander didn''t sacrifice. Please forgive me."


    I know that perlsjian''s gaffe was caused by his comrades'' over excitement, so I didn''t mean to blame him at all. He just waved at him, then looked at wajim and asked, "Comrade instructor, where is major prihodko?"


    "It''s in the corridor at the door." Vajim replied,


    "What are you still doing? Take us to have a look immediately." It is said that major Prikhodko, who has just survived, is out in the corridor. First, I urged vajim to show us the way. Then I turned to kirilov and said, "Comrade political commissar, let''s go and have a look."


    Led by wajim, we walked out of the command post and came to the corridor outside. I saw four stretchers on the wall on one side of the corridor. On each stretcher, there was a person lying next to them, and the health workers were dressing them.


    I didn''t know who was major prihodko, so I stopped and asked vajim, "Comrade instructor, I don''t know who is major prihodko?"


    As soon as my voice dropped, the health worker squatting next to the second stretcher quickly raised his hand and said to us, "here''s the major."


    I went to the stretcher, crouched down, looked at the mummified wounded lying on it, and asked with concern, "major, I''m oshanina. Can you hear me?"


    Hearing my voice, the wounded man whose head was bandaged so that only his facial features were exposed tried to struggle to sit up. I quickly pressed his shoulder to prevent him from sitting up, and repeatedly said, "major, you have injuries on your body. You''d better continue to lie down." Major prihodko gave a double hum and lay down again.


    "Comrade hygienist," I asked the hygienist squatting beside me, after waiting for Prikhodko to lie down, "is the major seriously injured?"


    After listening to my question, the health worker shook his head and replied, "except for the shot in the left leg, it''s all skin injuries. You can recover in ten days and a half months."


    After listening to the introduction of the health worker, I feel a lot more at ease. At least the major in front of me, who is covered with bandages, escaped from death temporarily as long as there is no accident.


    After a few words with major Prikhodko, I stood up and stood aside, waiting for perschien and wajim to squat down one by one to express their sympathy to their comrades in arms.


    When I came back to the command post, I asked akhromeyev frankly, "major, if you let your third regiment attack the opposite side of the bridge tomorrow, are you sure you can take down the bridge?"


    After listening to my question, akhromeyev was silent for a moment, and then replied cautiously: "Comrade commander, if we only attack from the front. Well, I can tell you that even if we pay a heavy price, we may not be able to seize the bridge on the river. "


    Akhromeyev''s answer was unexpected. I frowned slightly and asked coldly, "major, why do you say that?"


    "According to major perskin, the enemy''s firepower on the other side is very strong, and our whole charging road is within the enemy''s firepower coverage area." In explaining the reason, akhromeyev''s face was embarrassed: "no matter how brave our commanders and fighters are, our flesh and blood can never stop the enemy''s dense bullets and heavy artillery fire."


    "Major ahlomeyev is right, Rita." As soon as kirilov and akhromeyev finished speaking, they immediately said, "if we blindly attack, we will pay a huge price."


    After kirilov finished, I nodded, and then asked akhromeyev, "major, do you have any good idea of seizing the bridge from the German army?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Akhromeyev answered with confidence: "we can smuggle a small force by boat at night. When the attack starts tomorrow morning, the small force can suddenly appear in the enemy''s rear and take them by surprise. In this way, our frontal attack will rush up again and attack them back and forth to wipe out the enemy on the other side of the river completely. "


    "That''s a good idea." Akhromeyev''s proposal was very close to my heart, so after listening to it, I nodded with satisfaction and continued to ask, "how many troops are you going to send to sneak in?"


    "There can''t be too many troops, or they will be found by the enemy on the other side." After a moment''s meditation, akhromeyev said to me, "I think one company is enough."


    "Comrade commander." As soon as akhromeyev''s words were finished, without waiting for me to speak, peresjian said hastily, "ice is broken everywhere on the river, which will crush our ships carrying troops. So I ask the commander to consider major akhromeyev''s plan carefully."


    If we don''t send troops to sneak in, we will have to risk the enemy''s intensive firepower and employ people to fill in tomorrow; If you send troops, I''m really afraid that the boat carrying troops will be smashed by the floating ice on the river.


    Seeing my delay in speaking, akhromeyev was a little worried. He urged me to say, "Comrade commander, time is pressing. Make up your mind quickly."


    "Yes, Rita, make up your mind." Kirilov also urged me.


    "Comrade commander, you should think it over carefully." Without waiting for me to make any decision, peregrine reminded me again.


    It''s always a tactic that I won''t use to let the commanders and fighters fill in with their lives. So after thinking about it again and again, I finally decided to use akhromeyev''s method to send small troops to sneak across to the other side. When they attack the enemy head-on tomorrow, let them rush out from behind and take the enemy by surprise.


    After making up my mind, I officially announced, "major akhromeyev, I''ve decided to use your method to send small troops to sneak across the river. But because there are so many ice floes on the river, you can only send one platoon at most. Who are you going to send to command this small unit? "


    "Captain Rosenberg," ahlomeyev said the name of a commander without hesitation. He was afraid that I didn''t know about the commander, and he specially explained to me: "he was originally from the 51st group army. When he was wounded, he joined our independent division because he couldn''t find the original army."


    "Well, major, I know captain Rosenberg, and I deal with him. He was in the army when I led my troops to leave mamayev post and go north to meet the friendly troops. " As for the man recommended by akhromeyev, I immediately nodded my head and agreed: "he is a commander with rich combat experience, and a small part of this smuggling is under his command." At this point, I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and then told akhromeyev, "major, it''s getting late. I''ll arrange for captain Rosenberg to sneak into the boat."


    "Yes Akhromeyev agreed, then turned and left the command post to arrange the smuggling mission.


    Akhromeyev''s work efficiency is very high. In less than 40 minutes, I received his call from the river in the command post. He said: "Comrade commander, the smuggling unit has set out. There are three boats with 30 officers and men under the command of Captain Rosenberg. Every ship is equipped with a flashlight, and once they get to the other side, they will send us a signal. "


    "Very good," I said to him after a loud compliment on his efficiency. "Pay attention to the movement on the river. Once they land successfully, report to me immediately."


    "Yes," replied akhromeyev, "I will report to you in time."


    I think that this section of the river is only over 200 meters wide, and the smugglers can successfully reach the other side in 20 minutes at most, so I have been staring at my watch, hoping to hear the good news from akhromeyev soon. The pointer, which usually walks very fast, seems to stick to the surface today, and hardly moves.


    Just as I was very anxious, the telephone on my desk rang.


    When I heard the bell ring, my first reaction was to grab the phone and say in my heart: this must be a call from major akhromeyev to report the good news. When I heard the major''s voice coming from the receiver, I was in a good mood and asked with a smile, "major, has our army successfully landed on the other side?"


    Unexpectedly, akhromeyev replied in a deep voice, "I''m sorry, comrade commander, our illegal immigration failed."


    "Failed?" Akhromeyev''s report confused me. I listened to it with my ears turned to the outside. I didn''t hear the sound of guns. I should not have been found by the enemy, so I asked, "major, what''s the matter? Please tell me in detail."


    "Report to the commander." Akhromeyev replied respectfully, "a small boat was pushed back to the shore by the ice floes just a little way from the shore."


    "One boat was pushed back to the shore by the ice floe." the bad news made me feel depressed, but thinking of two more boats, I asked, "what about the other two boats?"


    "The other boat was in the middle of the river, and it was smashed by the ice floe, and all the officers and men on board fell into the water." Akhromeyev also took a deep breath when he told, "after our rescue, all the people were saved. However, eight people were injured, one of them seriously injured, and another soldier died. "


    "And captain Rosenberg?" When I heard that two boats had failed in smuggling, I had to place my hope on the last boat and asked repeatedly, "which boat is captain Rosenberg on? Is he OK?"


    In response to my repeated questions, akhromeyev quickly replied, "Comrade commander, we have lost contact with Captain Rosenberg and their ship at present. So far, the soldiers who are responsible for observing the river have not found any light contact signals on the opposite side. "


    "I see. Comrade major. " I told him feebly, "send someone down the river to search, Captain, and see if they''ve been washed downstream."


    "Yes, comrade commander." Akhromeyev replied respectfully, "I''ll send someone to search along the river."


    Seeing that I put down the phone and looked dejected, kirilov immediately understood that tonight''s smuggling was very dangerous. In order to confirm this, he quickly asked, "Rita, is there something wrong with the smuggling unit?"


    After listening to what he said, I first took a look at pelsjian next to me. I knew that if I had listened to him, I would not have failed tonight. Then I turned to look at kirilov, nodded and said helplessly, "yes, comrade political commissar, the smuggling operation of the detachment has completely failed." Then I told him what I had said on the phone, and the three of them, perschien and wajim, said it again. Kirilov''s face became dignified after listening to me. He scratched the back of his head, sighed, and said in a regretful tone, "Oh, what a pity. Since tonight''s illegal immigration has failed, we can only use human lives to fill tomorrow''s attack. "¡° Major perskin, "thinking of letting so many officers and men go through fire and water, I was a little impatient, so I took a chance and asked perskin," how many tanks are there in the tank brigade? " Peles quickly got up from his seat, straightened up and reported to me, "Comrade commander, there are still four tanks left in the brigade, and there are more than 600 tank soldiers without tanks. If necessary, all the commanders and fighters of our brigade can also be involved in tomorrow''s attack. "¡° To use well-trained tank soldiers as infantry, "I said solemnly to his proposal," I would never do such a thing. The task I''m going to give you is to provide the necessary artillery cover for the three regiments that launched attacks across the river. "¡° Comrade commander, please rest assured. " Wajim also came forward to show his determination to me: "although we only have four tanks, today we seized eight mortars from the German armory. When attacking tomorrow, in addition to bombarding the enemy''s positions with tank guns, we can also use mortars to suppress the enemy''s firepower points and cover our commanders and fighters to launch attacks. "¡° That''s great. That''s great. " Originally, I thought that the commanders and fighters of the third regiment could only get limited tank fire support in tomorrow''s attack, but now there are eight more mortars, so our firepower to cover the infantry attack will be greatly strengthened. But not long after I was happy, I thought of a key question and asked vajim, "are there enough artillery?"¡° Comrade commander, please rest assured. " For my worry, wajim immediately gave me a reassurance: "we have a lot of qualified Gunners in the hands of tanks. If we give these mortars to them, they will be no worse than professional artillery."

 Chapter 977

    Although last night''s illegal crossing failed, the fight to capture the North Bank of the bridge should be carried out as soon as the day comes.


    At dawn, kirilov and I arrived at the command post of the third regiment at the south end of the bridge.


    Walking into the command post, I happened to see akhromeyev assigning combat tasks to his men. When kirilov and I came in, he suspended the meeting and ran to us.


    When he finished saluting me, I asked directly, "major, how are you getting ready?"


    "It''s all ready." After a brief reply, akhromeyev put forward a request to me: "Comrade commander, please tell the commanders a few words, so that they can have the confidence to win in the battle."


    I understood that he wanted me to boost my morale, so he took two steps forward without hesitation. Facing those company and battalion commanders who stood upright, he first asked, "comrades, are you clear about the next combat tasks?"


    "That''s clear." A dozen commanders replied neatly.


    I nodded and then said, "although we are fighting an offensive war, there are only two German companies on the other side, but we have one regiment. One regiment is fighting two companies of the enemy. Do you have the confidence to win them? "


    After a moment''s silence, the commanders answered neatly again, "I can win!"


    "Very good!" I was very satisfied with the confidence they showed, and then said, "since everyone is so confident, I''m relieved. I have only one requirement for you, that is, when you attack, you should fight hard and fiercely, so that you can take back the position of Qiaobei from the enemy in the shortest time. Do you have confidence? "


    "Yes!" All the commanders in the room roared in unison.


    When the room was quiet again, I turned to akhromeyev and said, "major, I''m done. You can continue to command your troops. "


    Akhromeyev, when I finished, waved to the commanders and said in a loud voice, "everyone go back to their respective troops and make preparations for all battles as soon as possible. As soon as eight o''clock arrives, attack the other side of the bridge immediately. "


    As soon as all the battalion and company commanders left the command post, I solemnly asked akhromeyev, "major, how sure do you think it is to seize the bridge?"


    To my question, akhromeyev didn''t answer immediately. Instead, he pushed a hand-painted map in front of me and said, "Comrade commander, please look at this map. The enemy''s defensive position is 100 meters north of the bridge. There is a circular trench in which there are several reinforced concrete blockhouses. Even if our commanders and fighters rush over the bridge in the dense fire of the enemy, as soon as they leave the bridge, the German firepower in the circular trench can fire at them from three directions at the same time. "


    Kirilov listened to akhromeyev and looked up at me and said, "Rita, according to what the major just said, our soldiers will be killed by fire from three sides as soon as they leave the bridge. In this way, the situation is very unfavorable to us. Even if we pay a huge price, we may not be able to seize the bridge. "


    Instead of expressing my concern about kirilov, I turned to akhromeyev and asked, "major, do you have any good idea?"


    "Comrade commander," akhromeyev explained to me, pointing to the German Fortifications on the map, "although there are several reinforced concrete blockhouses in the trench, because they were originally built to prevent attacks from the north, the shooting holes of the blockhouses all face the north. That is to say, the German machine gun fire points are arranged in trenches rather than blockhouses. At present, there are only two war defense guns dismantled by the German army, which are installed in the blockhouse. "


    "Comrade major," after listening to the information reported by akhromeyev, I said, "how much do you think we will pay to destroy the enemy on the north bank?"


    My question made akhromeyev silent for a long time. As I was about to ask, he finally said, "Comrade commander, if you want me to tell you the truth, I can only regret to tell you that even if there is tank fire support, we have to pay at least one battalion''s sacrifice to capture the German position on the other side."


    Kirilov was startled by akhromeyev''s reply, and he stammered: "God, do you want to sacrifice so many people? We should know that the equipment and combat effectiveness of the third regiment are among the best in our army. Comrade commander, do you think this attack can be cancelled? You must know that according to the plan, this is only a feint to attract the attention of the German army. "


    Thinking of the confrontation between us and the German army in the Dnieper River, if there is no action, it will certainly arouse the suspicion of the German army. Therefore, I can only bite my teeth and say, "major, no matter how much we sacrifice, this battle will continue."


    Before the fighting started, we were led by akhromeyev to a building not far from the bridge. On the third floor, we found a room with a panoramic view of the battlefield and used it as our temporary command post.


    I stood by the window, raised my telescope and looked out. On the south side of the bridge, there was also a circular trench on our side. Our offensive troops were hiding in the trench, waiting for the order to attack.


    I continued to observe the situation outside for a while, and felt that the time was almost up, so I put down my telescope and raised my hand to see the time. Seeing that the pointer was pointing to eight o''clock, he turned his head and told akhromeyev, who was standing behind him with a microphone in his hand, "major, it''s time to attack."


    After listening to my command, akhromeyev repeated my command loudly to the microphone: "attack!"


    With his order, the voice of shouting "Wula" came from outside the building. I quickly moved the telescope to the direction of the sound, and saw hundreds of commanders and fighters jump out of the trenches where they were hiding, with weapons in hand and slogans in mouth, rushing towards the opposite bank quickly.


    As soon as the forward of the army rushed to the bridge, the machine gun fire point opposite began to fire. After the soldiers in the front were shot and fell to the ground, the officers and men in the back immediately evacuated, rushed forward a few steps, then stopped, hid behind the steel arch on the bridge deck, and shot back at the German firepower point in the distance.


    I counted. In the German trench in the distance, there were about seven or eight machine guns firing continuously. The counterattack of our soldiers did not play any role, only to see more and more officers and men fall under the enemy''s muzzle.


    Seeing this scene, I can''t help but get angry. I said that when the infantry attack, will the tank units and mortar units provide artillery support for them? Now our officers and men have rushed through the middle of the bridge, but we haven''t seen pelsjian''s men appear.


    Kirilov was obviously aware of the problem. He said indignantly, "what''s the matter with major perskin? Where is he? Can''t you see that the infantry have launched an attack?"


    The impact speed of the infantry was very fast. Within two or three minutes of our conversation, many soldiers had rushed over the bridge and entered the death zone blocked by German fire.


    When we saw our commanders and fighters break into their range, there were only a few machine guns firing in the trench, and suddenly there were countless muzzle flames. Under the intensive fire of the enemy, the soldiers who entered the open field fell to the ground one after another, except for a few quick responders who fell to the ground to fight back.


    The first attack of our army ended in failure in less than five minutes. No more than one-third of the 200 soldiers who charged successfully returned to the South Bank of the bridge. The rest were either sacrificed on the spot, or fell to the ground after being injured, unable to return to our offensive starting position on their own.


    Just as I wanted akhromeyev to call to urge pelsjian, there was a roar of tank motors downstairs. I looked down and saw two tanks heading towards the bridge.


    When the tank stopped at the end of the bridge, the turret slowly adjusted its angle and fired at the opposite German position. Two shells landed near a fire point of machine gun, and exploded. When the smoke dispersed, there was no movement at that fire point, and it seemed to be destroyed by the fire.


    After the first round of firing, our tanks continued to fire, hitting the exposed German firepower points in turn. As one firepower point after another was destroyed by the artillery fire, the commanders who stayed in our trenches seemed to see the arrival of a good opportunity to attack. They jumped out of the trenches one after another, waving their pistols and greeting the soldiers to charge with them.


    The tank soldiers charged again when they found our infantry, and one of them stopped shooting immediately. After a puff of black smoke from the back of the car, the body of the car was shocked, and then the infantry were led to rush to the opposite bank.


    "Can this tank run smoothly to the enemy''s position?" When I saw the tank rushing to the enemy''s position without hesitation, I suddenly had this idea in my heart.


    But the tank rushed to the other side, and as soon as it left the bridge, the German artillery opened fire. Scattered shells fell on the tank around the explosion, so that the tank in order to avoid the enemy''s fire, had to walk the S-shaped. But it didn''t last long. When it was more than 30 meters away from the German trench, unfortunately, it was hit by the shell, and the body immediately burst into flames. After driving a few meters forward, it stopped completely.


    Seeing that our tanks were destroyed, the following officers and men did not dare to fight and left their dead and wounded comrades behind. They ran and fired guns at the back and fled back from the bridge deck in confusion.


    Seeing that two successive attacks were easily repulsed by the German army, my face was dissatisfied with the frost. Before I could speak, akhromeyev, who was good at observing, yelled at the microphone: "Hello, Hello, is that captain dubrovsky? I''m major akhromeyev. I order you to immediately organize the troops to launch another attack. Remember, tell all the commanders and fighters to attack faster. The faster you rush, the less bullets will hit you. "


    Soon after his order was given, I saw another wave of soldiers rush out of the trench and rush to the bridge. German machine gun fire blocked the bridge deck, the bullet hit the cement slag on the bridge deck, rebounded 2 or 30 cm high. The five or six people who rushed to the front of the bridge fell down in an instant, struggling, rolling and struggling on the bridge. Although the comrades in front fell down, the officers and men behind still rushed forward one after another.


    Because a tank of our army is providing firepower support for infantry, the German mortar does not dare to open fire at will. Otherwise, as soon as it exposes the target, the tank shells will fly past like eyes and smash them to pieces. However, due to the existence of the enemy''s anti war artillery, the only remaining tank of our army did not dare to attack casually. It could only stop at the bridge and act as a fixed fort to provide limited artillery support for the infantry.


    "Major, call major perskin." Seeing the one-man tank at bridgehead, I could not help turning to akhromeyev and shouting: "ask him, where are the other tanks? And the mortar unit he promised, where is it? " Hearing that I began to lose my temper, akhromeyev did not dare to neglect me and called to the microphone. After a while, he put down the phone and reported to me, "Comrade commander, major pelsken reported that there was something wrong with the other two tanks, which had just been repaired and were coming towards the bridge with the newly formed mortar unit."¡° When they come, the day lily will be cold. " After I muttered in a low voice, I turned to kirilov and said, "Comrade political commissar, you stay here. I''ll go ahead and have a look." As soon as my words came out, kirilov and akhromeyev were startled. Kirilov quickly dissuaded me and said, "Rita, it''s too dangerous ahead. You see, the enemy''s machine gun bullets can hit the trench on our side. You''d better not take risks." Akhromeyev also quickly cooperated with kirilov in persuading me: "yes, comrade commander, if you are not at ease, you and the political commissar will stay here, and I will go to the front to direct."¡° No, I have to go to the front. " When I saw that two successive attacks failed and the third one was frustrated again, I couldn''t stay in this temporary command post for a minute because I obstinately said, "Comrade political commissar, stay here. Major ahlomeyev, you come with me With that, he took off the assault rifle on his shoulder, put it in his hand and walked out. Seeing my determination, akhromeyev, who was familiar with my character, had no choice but to look at kirilov, picked up a submachine gun and walked out of the command post behind me. As soon as we left the building, we made a quick trench. In order to prevent being hurt by the enemy''s stray bullets, I bent down and ran forward along the trench. Akhromeyev and Yushchenko followed me closely with their weapons. As soon as I found captain dubrovsky, a battalion commander in the trench, the roar of tank motors came from behind. I turned around and saw that there were two other tanks of our army coming towards us along the street.

 Chapter 978

    Several German machine gunners on the other side may have found our tanks driving in the street, and they fired more wildly in our direction, regardless of the danger of being destroyed by gunfire when the tank stopped at the bridge was found. Listening to the bullets whizzing over my head, in order to prevent being hit by stray bullets, I had to lie down and squat in the trench to explain the task to dubrovsky.


    I said aloud to dubrovsky, who was squatting opposite me: "Captain, the number of German troops on the other side is limited. If we attack harder, the enemy will not be able to defend. Now that our tanks have come up, I''ll give you an hour to take down the opposite position. "


    As soon as I finished, akhromeyev, who squatted behind me, added in a loud voice: "Comrade captain, can your battalion complete the task? If you can''t finish it, just say it, and I''ll give the task of attack to another battalion immediately. "


    Although akhromeyev''s tone could tell that this was an obvious provocation, dubrovsky was still trapped. He stood up straight and said in a high voice with his head down, regardless of the bullets flying over his head: "commander, commander, please rest assured that even if my battalion is all gone, I will take down the enemy''s position."


    With that, he pulled out his pistol from his waist, climbed all over the trench and stood in front of it. Looking around at the officers and men still in the trench, he opened his voice and yelled, "follow me in a row!" Then, holding a pistol, he ran forward. A company of officers and men quickly climbed out of the trench, shouting and following.


    I raised my hand and looked at my arm. It was exactly 8:30. I turned to ahlomeyev and said, "major, do you think captain dubrovsky and they can make it?"


    After listening to my question, akhromeyev nodded his head vigorously and replied positively, "please rest assured, comrade commander, that the first battalion is the most effective unit of the third regiment. I believe that since captain dubrovsky has personally led the charge, we will soon have a good rest."


    As we were talking, two tanks rumbled past us, but I was stunned when I saw the car following us. It took me a while to recover. I patted akhromeyev on the shoulder and asked in a loud voice, "Hey, comrade major, did I catch a glimpse of the car following the tank? It seems to be our army''s Katyusha rocket?"


    Akhromeyev nodded like a chicken pecking rice and replied, "yes, comrade commander, it''s really our Katyusha rocket."


    Although I got a positive answer from akhromeyev, I was still puzzled by the sudden appearance of the rocket: "hell, where did they get the rocket from?"


    "I think the German captured it from our army." Akhromeyev frowned and analyzed for me: "maybe they saw only one, thought it was useless and left it in the warehouse. It''s probably major perskin who recaptured the rocket from the warehouse after they captured kaniv


    By this time, dubrovsky''s leaders had rushed to the north section of the bridge, but they were blocked by the enemy''s intensive fire, and they were suppressed on the ground and could not look up.


    At the moment, I focused on the two tanks that had just arrived at the bridge, and the Katyusha rocket. I wanted to see how they supported the infantry in the front with artillery fire.


    Two tanks stopped next to the original tank, three tanks lined up, firing towards the opposite German position, one by one destroying the machine gun fire points that were frantically spraying death.


    When he saw the Katyusha rocket staggering to the side of the tank and stopped, the soldiers in the cab got out of the car. While preparing for the launch, akhromeyev couldn''t help exclaiming: "God, they don''t want to shoot like this, do they? At such a close distance, the blast wave of the explosion will hurt our own people. "


    Before akhromeyev jumped out of the trench to stop the artillery''s risky action, the rocket on the rocket launcher flew out in flames. Soon after that, the rocket with its long tail flew in the air for only a second or two, and then plunged into the position on the west side of the German army. Then there was an earth shaking explosion. The hit area was immediately shrouded by smoke and fire, and countless pieces of cement, parts of weapons and human limbs were thrown into the air.


    As the explosion site is too close, we not only feel the ground shaking, even the huge explosion sound, but also my eardrum shaking pain. Akhromeyev was shouting at me. My ears were filled with cotton. His voice seemed to come from a distant place. I couldn''t hear what he was saying.


    I quickly rubbed my ear with my hand and listened to him closely. Then I heard him saying: "Comrade commander, we can''t let the rocket fire. You see, although they destroyed the German positions in one breath, the wide killing area of the rockets and the huge explosion sound will hurt our own soldiers by mistake. They have to stop shooting. "


    After hearing what he said, I waved to him and said aloud, "go, comrade major. Tell major perskin that Rockets will not be involved in shooting any more than tanks continue to provide artillery support for our infantry. "


    "Yes After a loud promise, akhromeyev climbed out of the trench and bent forward.


    As soon as akhromeyev left, Yushchenko, who had been following us all the time, quickly persuaded me: "Comrade commander, it''s too dangerous here. We''d better go back to the temporary headquarters."


    I looked at the smoke on the other side, the sound of guns, and the stray bullets still passing overhead from time to time. I really wanted to return to the relatively safe temporary headquarters immediately. Just as he was about to nod his head, he suddenly saw that there were still many officers and men of the third regiment in the trench. He immediately changed his mind and felt that he could not leave here for the time being. If you go back to the command post in the building in front of so many commanders and soldiers, it will still affect the morale of the army.


    Thinking of this, I quickly waved to Yushchenko, pretending to be calm and said: "Comrade captain, I will not go anywhere until major akhromeyev and they seize the opposite position." Seeing that he still wanted to persuade me, I stopped him immediately. "In the shelling just now, the enemy in the position has been severely damaged, and they will not last long. I''ll go back to the headquarters as soon as the fighting here is over. "


    When Yushchenko saw that I was so stubborn, he did not dare to continue to persuade me. He only agreed wrongly and stood by honestly, fulfilling his duties.


    On the west side of the German ring fortification, under the attack of rockets, the recalcitrant officers and soldiers inside were in a mess of death and injury. Almost all the firepower points were destroyed, which no longer constituted a threat to us. Only the German troops in the trenches and fortifications to the north and East were still shooting at us.


    Although we have three tanks firing at the enemy''s position, the artillery on the enemy''s position is not to be outdone. The concentrated artillery fire is bombarding our tanks. Sporadic shells fell on our tanks around the explosion, flying shrapnel from time to time to cut down the nearby commanders and fighters.


    Captain dubrovsky and his men were still lying on the north part of the bridge and did not move. I don''t know if the explosion just happened, which made them temporarily lose the ability to attack. When I was hesitating whether I should send someone to call dubrovsky back and let the Rockets fire two more rounds of coverage to wipe out the German troops in the position, and then launch an attack.


    Yushchenko, standing at the back, suddenly grabbed my arm and exclaimed excitedly: "Comrade commander, look, look, there seems to be chaos on the east side, on the east side of the German army. It seems that someone is fighting with them. "


    After hearing Yushchenko''s warning, I murmured in a low voice: "nonsense, our people are still lying on the bridge and dare not move. Where will anyone rush into the German position and fight with them?" As soon as I finished speaking, I suddenly remembered that the group led by Captain Rosenberg, the second company commander, was missing. I thought they had all died in the river. Did they successfully land on the other side last night and hide behind the enemy? At the thought of this possibility, I quickly turned the telescope and looked in the direction Yushchenko showed me.


    From the lens of the telescope, I can see that in the trench on the east side of the opposite bank, there is a close combat going on. Several of them were desperately shooting machine guns that were suppressing our troops at the end of the bridge, but suddenly they were silent, and the enemy in the trench was in chaos. After a while of observation, I found that some of the helmets swaying in the trenches were of our own standard, so I immediately determined that the unit that was engaged in an exchange of fire with the German army must be captain Rosenberg''s team.


    Not only did I find the difference in the German position, but also dobrovsky, who was suppressed at the end of the bridge. The officers and men who had been lying on the ground stood up Hula and bravely rushed to the front of the enemy''s position in the face of the enemy''s bullets.


    The German army, which was suppressed by our army''s artillery fire, was already struggling to support. Unexpectedly, a small detachment of our army would suddenly rush out of their side, and they were in chaos. Seeing that the commanders and fighters, who were suppressed by their firepower at the end of the bridge, rushed like a tiger down the mountain, they were immediately out of breath. They either turned around and climbed out of the trench to the north, or they stayed in the trench and obediently raised their hands to surrender.


    After the battle, I took Yushchenko to the bridge. At this time, the health team, with the assistance of some commanders and soldiers, carried down the bodies of the wounded and martyrs in front of them one after another.


    Standing at the bridge, I first saw the remains of our army officers and soldiers on the bridge, and then saw the wounded lying on the stretcher covered with blood, carried by my side. What worried me most was a second lieutenant who was lifted down. His skull was lifted by shrapnel or bullet, and his white brain was flowing down the stretcher with bright red blood. When I saw this scene, I shivered and looked away.


    Fortunately, at this time, I saw akhromeyev with dubrovsky and captain Rosenberg, who had just established his meritorious service, coming towards me quickly. I hastened to meet them. Far away, I took the initiative to extend my hand to them and said aloud, "major, I congratulate you. Congratulations on your successful capture of the enemy''s position. "


    The three stopped in front of me, straightened up and said, "serve the Soviet motherland!"


    When I went to shake hands with them one by one, especially with Captain Rosenberg, I said in a friendly way, "Comrade captain, I''m glad to see you still alive. By the way, since you successfully crossed the Dnieper River last night, why didn''t you send a signal to the regiment according to the regulations? And your commander, major akhromeyev, thought you had died. " When Captain Rosenberg heard my question, he replied with a wry smile, "report to the commander..." at this time, akhromeyev interrupted him and reminded him, "now we should not call the commander, but the commander. Our commander was promoted to commander of the new campaign group yesterday. " On hearing what ahlomeyev said, Captain Rosenberg immediately brightened his eyes and immediately reported to me again, "Comrade commander, please allow me to report to you the situation of crossing the river last night." Seeing that I nodded my permission, I went on to say, "when our boat was in the middle of the river, it was smashed by ice floes. The officers and men swam desperately to the north bank with the broken boards in their arms. As for why I didn''t send a signal according to the regulations, it was because my flashlight fell into the river, so I couldn''t send a signal to the regiment according to the regulations. "¡° So it is. " After listening to what he said, I immediately understood the whole story, and then asked with concern, "how are the casualties of the detachment?"¡° When crossing the river, one of the soldiers was missing. It is estimated that he died. " Rosenberg said that when he was crossing the river with himself, when he died in the river, he had a sad expression on his face: "in the battle just now, two soldiers were injured and three died."¡° Whether it''s martyrs or survivors. " As soon as captain Rosenberg finished speaking, I immediately said, "they are all our heroes. I want to record their merits and honor them. I also want people to record their deeds and let our children and grandchildren remember them forever. Captain, you will give me their names later, and I will let the political commissar follow up the matter in person. "¡° Yes Answered captain Rosenberg in a loud, excited voice. When akhromeyev and I returned to the temporary headquarters, we saw that the ground floor had become a temporary hospital. Almost all the wounded people who were brought back were lying here, and the only few health workers were busy dressing their wounds nervously. I stood there for a while and saw a health worker who had used up bandages and tourniquets in his medicine box. He tore his shirt into strips to bandage the wounded. Seeing this, I turned to akhromeyev and said, "major, send someone to the hospital in the city immediately to see if we can find enough bandages and tourniquets, as well as the necessary medicines, and send them here immediately. Since our soldiers have not died on the battlefield, we can not let them die here. Do you understand? "¡° Yes, "akhromeyev replied in a low voice," I''ll arrange the staff to do it immediately. "

 Chapter 979

    Seeing that the bridge on the Dnieper River was successfully occupied by our army, I stayed in kaniv for a while, then returned to smira with kirilov to learn about the situation of the troops on the left bank of the Dnieper River.


    On returning to the headquarters, I saw the thick stack of telegrams in Vitkov''s hand. In order to let me know the situation on the battlefield as soon as possible, wittkov put the most important telegrams on it, so that I can browse them first.


    At the top is a telegram from general rebalko. "After arriving near priluki, the 30th tank brigade of the 12th tank army and the 13th motorized infantry brigade found that there were only less than one battalion of German infantry in the city, so they resolutely launched an attack. After two hours of fierce fighting, they successfully defeated the defenders and occupied priluki.


    The 96th tank brigade of the 15th tank army, outside the city of Preti, joined the 27th division of the advance guard infantry and successfully captured Preti. At present, the battle is developing in depth. "


    After reading rebalko''s telegram, I raised my head to wittkov: "Comrade chief of staff, what does general rebalko mean when he said that our army has occupied pretti and the battle is developing in depth?"


    "Comrade commander, please have a look." Wittkov picked up the map on the table, unfolded it in front of me, pointed to the position on it and said, "according to the follow-up telegram from deputy commander rebalko, we can see that our 27th division of the close guard infantry is heading south to attack hrebinka. Once they occupy the city, they only need to push another 80 kilometers south to join our forces in kaniv. "


    After staring at the map for a while, I found rebalko''s playing method very interesting. He eliminated the enemy on the flank of the attack Road, and at the same time, he also made us isolated behind the enemy establish contact with the main force of the campaign cluster. Even if the next war doesn''t go well, we can follow this path and retreat smoothly towards Moscow.


    I picked up a second telegram from general Romanov, who led the attack on obukeshiv. He reported to me that the troops had successfully occupied the city. The Germans in the city never dreamed that our troops would disguise and sneak attack. When thousands of troops quietly arrived at the city of obukeshiv, how could the sleeping hundreds of German troops resist?


    According to the general shovel provided by general Romanov, the battle went smoothly. Under the guidance of the scouts, the officers and men came out with cold weapons such as bayonets and spades, but they did not even fire one shot. After the settlement of the sentry in the city, the German troops in the barracks became lambs to be slaughtered. After the battle, except for the smell of blood in the air, the whole city of Li Ming was quiet, and the residents never dreamed that the original garrison in the city had been replaced by our own troops.


    After reading this inspiring telegram, I handed it to kirilov and said excitedly: "Comrade political commissar, look, general Romanov has done a great job. They won obukoshev quietly, so we are very close to Kiev."


    While kirilov was reading the telegram, I asked wittkov, "chief of staff, how did you reply to general Romanov''s telegram?"


    When witkov listened to my question, he quickly replied: "in my reply to the general, I asked them to continue to disguise as German troops, and strictly block the information. The whole city was under martial law. The enemy could only enter but could not leave. We would never let them know that our troops had been under their noses. In this way, as soon as the friendly forces on the left bank of the Dnieper arrive, they can launch an attack on Kiev immediately. "


    After reading the telegram, kirilov said excitedly, "Rita, general Romanov has done a great job. We won''t hurt a soldier, we won''t cost a shot, and once we do, we will occupy obukeshiv near Kiev. "


    As soon as he finished, I immediately added: "general rebalko''s tank army also performed very well. Without waiting for all the troops to be in place, his commanders decisively launched an attack on the two targets of priluki and pretti, and successfully captured the two cities."


    "Comrade commander," vetkov asked respectfully after I finished, "what do you think the German army will do next to deal with our attack?"


    I took the map in his hand, put it on the table with the telegrams in my hand, and then said, "you see, if there is no accident, general rebalko''s troops and the troops of the other three divisions will be able to push forward to bruvalli in a large scale tomorrow, which will put a kind of pressure on Kiev''s garrison. In this way, in order to keep the east gate of Kiev, bruvalli, the enemy may transfer the garrison of the city to the East. As long as the garrison in the city airstrikes, then our chance will come. "


    "However, comrade commander, the enemy now knows that our army has captured smira and kaniv," wittkov pointed to our location and expressed his worry: "can the enemy send troops to bruvalli with confidence?"


    "Chief of staff, you don''t have to worry about that." Looking worried, I quickly comforted him and said, "I believe that our army''s battle to seize the bridge over the kanyvodenibo river today must have attracted the attention of the German army, coupled with general rebalko''s active military action. I believe it has created an illusion for the German army that the intention of our army''s action is to break through the encirclement and join the friendly forces on the left bank. In this case, the enemy may only send a part of its troops to see where we are going, while the majority of the garrison will be transferred to bruvalli to strengthen its defensive forces there. "


    "Chief of staff," kirilov, who had just finished my words and read the telegram, suddenly asked, "what''s happening to the enemy who occupied kirovgrad and Alexandria in our south?"


    Witkov shook his head and replied: "according to the report of the scout, the German army may have stopped after occupying the two cities because of its limited military strength, but at the same time, it cleaned up the residents who had dealt with our army in the city, as well as the families of the commanders who had just joined the team."


    "Are there German planes bombing today?" Thinking that the German army bombed smira yesterday, causing heavy casualties to the residents who did not evacuate from the city, I couldn''t help asking with concern: "there are also those residents who withdrew from outside the city last night, many of whose houses have collapsed in the bombing, have they been properly installed?"


    "Comrade commander, please rest assured. Those who have lost their houses, I have placed them in several schools in the city. Although the conditions in the school are worse, it''s better than freezing in the open air. " After giving an account of the resettlement of the refugees, he stopped for a moment, and then said, "at dawn, there were several reconnaissance planes, which made two turns over the city and then flew away. Judging from various signs, if the German Army wanted to bomb, it would have done so long ago. It''s afternoon. I don''t think the enemy''s plane will come again. "


    Seeing that there is no possibility of a large-scale battle around us at the moment, I told wittkov: "chief of staff, after dark, immediately hand over smira''s defense to commander gedar''s fourth regiment. We went to obukeshiv overnight and were there to direct the next battle. "


    "What shall we do if the enemy finds that there are not many defenders in smira and mobilizes a large army to attack us?" As the chief of staff, Vitkov almost every time he hears an order from me, he has to consider the whole situation: "if we can''t take Kiev for a long time, and the German forces attack from behind us, then we are in danger of losing the whole army."


    "Chief of staff, don''t worry. As long as we make good preparations in the early stage, the next battle will go very smoothly." After I had said this, I ordered him to say, "you should send a telegram to general Romanov, telling him that while blocking obukeshiv, we should not hold still. We should quickly divide our forces, take the battalion as a unit, and clear all the German forces around obukeshiv and the surrounding towns, so as to lay a good foundation for our next action."


    "Chief of staff, please wait." Kirilov saw that wittkov turned around and was about to send a telegram. He quickly stopped him and added: "after clearing up the German troops around, we should quickly form several guerrillas that can cooperate with us by transferring trustworthy people from the local residents." Maybe he was afraid that I would object to his opinion. After that, he turned to me and said, "these newly formed guerrillas are all local people. No matter how poor their combat effectiveness is, they can help us deliver materials or guard prisoners, so that we can use more forces for front-line operations."


    I agreed to kirilov''s consideration almost without thinking. I nodded and said to wittkov, "chief of staff, have you heard what the political commissar said? Add this part to the telegram, let general Romanov try his best to eliminate the German forces near Kiev and mobilize our people. "


    But in the evening, when we were preparing to transfer smira''s defense to lieutenant colonel gedar, razumeyeva suddenly came up to me with a telegram and said solemnly, "Comrade commander, this telegram from deputy commander rebarko."


    When I saw her expression, I knew that the telegram would not be so good again. It said that the 97th brigade had just left priluki when it was bombarded by German dive bombers. After half an hour of bombing, the brigade lost 20 tanks, as well as a dozen ammunition and fuel tanks, and more than 200 officers and soldiers were killed or injured. As the brigade lost one third of its living strength in the air raid, it had to stop for the time being and rest in a forest near the road.


    When I read the telegram, vetkov craned his neck from the side and came to read it with me. After reading the above content, he snorted heavily, and then said indignantly: "damn the Germans, because they have the air supremacy, they bombard our troops in advance. Sooner or later, we will take revenge."


    After reading the telegram, I folded it and put it in my briefcase. Then I said to wittkov, "Comrade chief of staff, we must take revenge on the German for this revenge. But now, what we have to do is to move immediately and rush to obukeshiv overnight, where we will command all the troops in the campaign cluster. The political commissar and I will go first, and you will be responsible for the rest of the aftermath. " With these words, I waved my head to kirilov standing beside me and said, "Comrade political commissar, let''s go first."


    Our jeep bumped on the road for more than two hours and finally arrived in the southern suburb of obukeshiv. Here, we met a group of leaders who have been waiting for us.


    When our jeep stopped steadily by the side of the road, Xie jerikov quickly ran out of my window, raised his hand to salute me, and reported, "Comrade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Xie jerikov, head of the first regiment of the 22nd division of the guard infantry, has been ordered to meet you and the political commissar. I''m waiting for your order, please give me instructions!"


    After his report, I didn''t talk too much nonsense, just said a short word: "get in the car!" When xiejerikov sat in the co pilot''s seat, the driver blew the gas, and our jeep continued to move forward. Looking at the German uniformed patrols outside the car window, I asked the front row sergeant, "Comrade commander, have you been seen through by the residents of the city?" On hearing my question, xiejerikov quickly shook his head and said, "Comrade commander, please rest assured that our disguise has never been seen through by the residents. They seem to be very afraid of the Germans. When they see our army patrol on the street, they stay away. "¡° Comrade commander, "kirilov heard the dialogue between me and chejerikov. He emphasized that it was business, so he quickly came out and said," did your regiment send troops to participate in the action of cleaning up the German troops in the nearby towns? "¡° Yes, comrade political commissar. " Xiejerikov quickly turned his eyes to kirilov and truthfully replied, "the shereblenny battalion I sent, which is named after the battalion commander, has the strongest combat effectiveness. It is not only the leaders of our regiment, but also the teachers themselves who are at ease to let them carry out such a task. This afternoon alone, they wiped out the German troops in two villages and one town in the south of the city, and wiped out about 60 people. Except for five minor injuries, none of them died. " Kirilov, after listening to the report, turned to smile at me and said happily, "Rita, lieutenant commander, they are worthy of the old foundation of the independent division. In such a small-scale battle, their performance is better than other troops. If we can win Kiev with more troops like this, there will be no problem at all. "

 Chapter 980

    Without waiting for my answer, there was a faint sound of gunfire in the distance. Although the sound is not too loud, but for me, it is no different from a thunder around.


    I yelled, "stop the car!"


    As I yelled, the driver slammed on the brake, and the huge inertia almost knocked my body into the back of the chair in front of me. I supported the back of the chair in front of me and listened to the sound of guns outside. At the same time, I said to kirilov, "political commissar and commander, do you two listen to the exchange of fire?"


    Shejerikov listened for a moment, and immediately cried out: "Oh, no, this voice is from Lutsk. Is the troops attacking there discovered by the German army?"


    Hearing this, I felt even more flustered. I quickly raised my hand and patted the driver on the shoulder, urging him: "driver, drive quickly, and go to the army headquarters immediately."


    Under the guidance of chejerikov, the driver drove along the wide street quickly, and soon stopped at the gate of Romanov''s army headquarters. As soon as the car stopped, I immediately pushed the door open, jumped down and trotted into the building. I couldn''t take care of the commanders and soldiers standing at the door to salute me.


    As I gasped for breath to march into the headquarters, I found that there was a mess of messengers on the wall, some shouting at the transmitter, some sending telegrams. And in front of the wooden table in the middle, a large group of commanders were discussing something nervously.


    I stopped and looked at it for a while, then walked quickly behind Romanov and asked aloud, "general Romanov, what''s the matter?"


    Hearing my voice, the commanders standing at the table turned their heads together. It was me who saw the visitor. Romanov quickly came to me, nodded and reported to me: "Comrade commander, after our troops entered luzk, they found three small patrol boats parked by the river, so they planned to go up to disarm the enemy. I didn''t expect that the troops on board were not the general national defense forces, but the SS. So when our soldiers tried to board the ship, they were immediately rejected by the other side. Undue delay may bring trouble. The captain of the brigade, who is afraid of having more dreams, will force the boat to go on board. The soldiers will rush to shovel the enemy on the patrol boat with daggers, bayonets and spades.


    When our soldiers forced to board the ship, the German soldiers on guard saw the troops and immediately fired at our soldiers. At the sound of the gun, our whereabouts were completely exposed, so the soldiers of the first battalion also shot back and soon killed more than a dozen SS soldiers on board.


    But as a result, the gunfire alerted the German troops in the nearby barracks. The enemy immediately realized that they had been attacked by us, so they rushed out of the barracks and began to shoot at our troops.


    Seeing the failure of the sneak attack, Captain horushov decisively changed the sneak attack into a strong attack and ordered the first company to act as a guard against other directions, while the second, third and fourth companies organized firepower to launch a strong attack, preparing to resolutely destroy the enemy in the barracks.


    The German commander saw that the offensive of our army was very fierce, and on the one hand, he commanded the troops to rely on the fortifications in the barracks to resist tenaciously. At the same time, he also called the nearby troops for help. After we captured obukeshiv, we kept all the enemy''s communication systems, leaving trustworthy German defectors on guard. Just now, they also received a call for help from Lutsk. "


    "How far is Lutsk from the nearest town?" After listening to Romanov''s report, I asked angrily, "will the enemy nearby be disturbed by such a big noise along the river?"


    After listening to my question, Romanov showed an embarrassed expression on his face: "Comrade commander, luzk is only three or four kilometers away from buliujin. I think even if luzk''s SS doesn''t ask buliujin''s garrison for help, as long as the enemies in buliujin town are not deaf, they can hear the sound of guns coming from the river bank of luzk."


    "What measures did you take after this happened?" I asked sternly.


    "Report to commander," commander Oleg, the leader of the second regiment, came out of the crowd. He respectfully reported to me, "after hearing the gunfire from Lutsk, I immediately sent captain trushen''s camp to the river to reinforce captain horushov."


    "Lieutenant commander, have you ever thought that if the garrison of burukin sent out a large force to attack our army in Lutsk," Oleg said that it was captain trushen''s militia battalion that was sent to Lutsk for reinforcement. I immediately said in an emphatic tone, "do you think they can stop the enemy?" My words silenced commander Oleg.


    "Comrade commander," a messenger quickly ran to Romanov and handed him a telegram he had just received.


    After looking at it, Romanov raised his head and said to me, "commander, there is a small German army which has started from buliujin and directly attacked Lutsk. It seems that it is going to reinforce the garrison in the city and attack one of our battalions."


    "There should be several armored vehicles in the city. Send them out immediately." Although Romanov is now the commander of the army, I can''t help but carry out a super command at such an urgent moment. "With the support of armored vehicles, I believe we can eliminate Lutsk and the enemy reinforced by buliujin in the shortest time."


    "Yes, I''ll arrange it immediately." With these words, Romanov turned around and called a commander and explained his task to the other side.


    After the commander who had received the order left, I saw that there were bantaileiev, andrushenko and the newly appointed commander of the 171 division, Colonel gorohov, standing in the room.


    Kirilov and I sat down one after another, and then asked the rest of the commanders to sit down. After everyone was seated, I turned to Romanov and asked, "Comrade General, what are your plans after the garrison in Lutsk is completely annihilated by us?"


    "Plan, what plan?" Romanov asked me this unexpected question. After a while, he tentatively said to me: "because our army had a fierce battle with the enemy''s defenders in the battle of seizing Lutsk. In this way, there is no need for us to continue to hide in obukeshiv. I suggest attacking Kiev overnight before the enemy is fully prepared. "


    "Comrades commander," bantailiev echoed as soon as Romanov''s words were finished: "I think general Romanov is right. We should launch an attack on Kiev as soon as possible and take Kiev out of their hands before the enemy can recover."


    After listening to bantailiev''s words, I couldn''t help sneering, and then said, "general bantailiev, I want to draw your attention to one thing. In Kiev, the German army has 5000 defenders and 70 tanks. With our current strength, even if we carry out a sneak attack, do you think we can win?"


    My words choked bantaileiev. Seeing the old man''s face, kirilov was a little impatient. He quickly came out and said, "Rita, at present, the enemy has found our action in Lutsk. Kiev''s defenders are bound to strengthen their defense. If so, even if general rebalko''s troops arrive at the designated attack site, the German army may not easily take out the garrison in the city. "


    "Comrade political commissar, don''t be so pessimistic. There is still room for things to turn around." After I said this, I saw that all the people''s faces were surprised. Without waiting for them to ask, I took the initiative to say: "general bantailiev, you will personally call captain horushov later and tell him that once the enemy is eliminated, we must try every means to seize the enemy''s radio station or other communication equipment. If Kiev calls for information, it will be up to captain gramus''s department to take care of them. "


    Romanov seemed to have guessed what I thought when I said that. He tentatively asked, "Comrade commander, do you mean that when the enemy calls or sends a telegram to ask what happened to Lutsk, we can make an issue about it?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." Seeing that he understood my intention, I nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "when the enemy asked, our soldiers told each other that Lutsk had been attacked by a small group of guerrillas, and that after being reinforced by the brigands, all the guerrillas had been destroyed."


    "That''s great. That''s great." After listening to my idea, Romanov could not help clapping his hands and exclaiming: "in this way, the German army in Kiev will not put too many troops in the defensive zone towards us. And once general rebalko''s forces attack bruvalli, the enemy will transfer the forces in Kiev to the area to fight against our fierce offensive. " With these words, he called a messenger and asked him to send what I had just said to horushov in the form of a telegram.


    As Romanov is now the commander of the 79th infantry army, I can''t do anything for him, so I will give him full responsibility for directing the battle.


    When kirilov and I were alone at the table, he looked around and then whispered to me, "Rita, do you think it''s appropriate for the superior to appoint general Romanov as commander of the 79th infantry?"


    I saw Romanov standing by a telephone and talking to the commander below. I lowered my voice and asked, "general Romanov was a general in the early days of the war. If he had not been captured midway, but stayed in the army all the time, he might have become commander of the Group Army long ago, and at worst he would have been awarded the rank of lieutenant general. "


    "I just want to talk about his capture," kirilov said in a lower voice. "Don''t you know that the officers and men who have been captured must be examined? This time he can be promoted to commander, it is estimated that Marshal Zhukov made such a decision just because of your face. Don''t you ever worry that when the situation is dangerous, he will turn around? "


    After listening to kirilov''s doubt, I quickly shook my head to defend Romanov: "Comrade political commissar, you think too much. Although I haven''t known general Romanov for a long time, I absolutely trust him. " Speaking of this, I said in my heart that if Romanov wanted to be a traitor, he would not have been killed by the German army in 1943 in real history. By the way, to dispel kirilov''s doubts, I added in an emphatic tone: "Comrade political commissar, we have been working together for quite a long time. You should know what I think of people. I said that general Romanov is an excellent commander, his loyalty to the motherland is beyond doubt, that is absolutely right. Please don''t use the assumed tone to evaluate an important commander in the future. It will make him cold. "


    After my long speech, kirilov nodded: "I know you very well, Rita. Since you say so, I will trust general Romanov unconditionally like you in the future. " As soon as he had finished, Romanov walked quickly back to the table. I looked up at him and asked, "Comrade General, is there any good news to tell us?"¡° Yes, yes, yes! Comrade commander, there is indeed good news. " Romanov leaned forward, holding the edge of the table in both hands, and reported to kirilov and me: "according to captain horushov''s report, with the help of captain trushen''s battalion, they annihilated the enemy in Lutsk''s barracks, and then turned around to encircle and annihilate the enemy reinforced from buliujin. None of the prisoners ran away, and they successfully captured all their communication equipment. "¡° Have the enemies of Kiev made contact with the enemies of Lutsk? " Kirilov asked nervously as soon as he finished. Romanov nodded again and said, "I have contacted you. Captain horushov replied to the enemy according to your instructions. He said that there was a pro German guerrilla group. I don''t know why there was a rebellion. As a result, this unit was completely annihilated in a fierce battle."¡° This captain horushov is good, "I immediately praised horushov after listening to Romanov''s report." I believe his answer will not arouse German suspicion. In the process of waiting for general rebalko, the enemy will not find our main forces hidden in obukeshiv. By the way, general rebalko, do you have any news? "¡° Operator, "Romanov stood up straight, turned to the back and yelled," do you have any news from general rebalko? " The operator, who was called by him, quickly took off his earphone, stood up from his seat and truthfully reported to him, "report to the commander, I haven''t received any message from the friendly army yet."¡° Comrade telegraph operator, go on with your work. " Romanov waved to him and said, "report to me as soon as you have any news."

 Chapter 981

    Less than half an hour later, the operator handed a newly received telegram to Romanov. Seeing that Romanov''s face was blue and his hands were shaking after reading the telegram, I suddenly got up with an uncertain premonition. I quickly stood up, walked up to him and asked nervously, "Comrade General, what''s the matter?" At the same time, he reached for the telegram in his hand.


    Romanov looked at me, handed me the telegram and said, "it''s the information from our troops sent to lengdi town. According to our interrogation of the prisoners, ten kilometers southwest of the city, there is a town called lengdi, in which a company of Dongfang battalion is stationed. I sent a battalion of 171 division, disguised as German army, to disarm them. "


    I didn''t look at the phone that Romanov handed me. I handed it to kirilov and asked, "did the enemy see through the troops we went to disarm?"


    After hearing this, Romanov shook his head and said, "I don''t think so. According to the following commander''s report, as soon as they entered the town, the sentries on the street fired warning shots, and the two fire points at the entrance of the town also fired, injuring seven or eight of our soldiers."


    "Comrade General, do you mean that the garrison in the town shot decisively as soon as they found our troops?" When I heard what he said, I found something strange and began to ask the details: "did our soldiers shout at them and give them their disguised German names?"


    After listening to my question, Romanov took off his hat, scratched the back of his head, and then replied, "after the enemy opened fire, our commanders and fighters immediately concealed themselves and gave them our camouflage number. They not only didn''t stop fire, but also used mortars."


    "Did the enemy see through the camouflage of our troops?" After reading the telegram, kirilov asked, "but I don''t think it''s like that. As soon as our troops appeared, the enemy opened fire on them. What''s going on? "


    I sat down at the table and tried to think about this strange thing. I felt that the response of Dongfang camp was too unreasonable. If you see other troops appear, you shoot them. It may be the wrong signal sent by the sentry because of nervousness. But their next action was even more abnormal, especially after our commanders and fighters reported the fake German number, their shooting was even more fierce, and even used mortars.


    After thinking about it for a long time, I suddenly had a strange idea in my mind. The reason why this army saw the appearance of the troops dressed up by the German army and fired was that it saw that the current situation was not good for the German army and had plans to turn back on the water in private? As soon as this idea appeared, my heart beat faster.


    I stood up and said to Romanov, "Comrade General, please immediately send a telegram to the commanders in lengdi Town, so that they can show our true identity to the enemy."


    "What? Who we really are? " Romanov was stunned by my shocking news. He was stunned for a long time before he hesitated and asked, "Comrade commander, are you sure you want to do this?"


    "Carry out your orders, Comrade General." I nodded and said to Romanov calmly.


    "Be careful, Rita Looking at Romanov turning to carry out my order, kirilov quickly stopped him, and then persuaded me: "do you think about it again?"


    "I have thought it over very clearly, comrade political commissar." Although I think it may have an unexpected effect to report our real number to the enemy, I couldn''t explain it to them clearly for a moment and a half, so I waved to Romanov and urged him: "go and report it quickly. When you shout to the enemy, tell them the number of our troops."


    But Romanov nodded. When he went to send the message, kirilov grabbed my arm and took me to sit down. At the same time, he whispered, "Rita, you are crazy. We are now trying to hide our whereabouts, but you have to tell our real name to a group of enemies who have betrayed our motherland. Is that all right? "


    "Comrade political commissar, our troops and the enemy in the town have been on fire. Even if we don''t give the real number, the fighting will continue." At this point, I shrugged my shoulders and said with disapproval, "in this case, why don''t we gamble? It''s just because we want to fight back."


    "Backwater?" When kirilov heard this, he was stunned and then retorted, "no way. Although there used to be two eastern battalions who surrendered to us, I don''t think they have heard of us in the remote areas. How can they have the idea of fighting against the water? "


    "Comrades of the political commissar, take it easy." Seeing Romanov coming towards us, I quickly cut off the topic and said, "we''ll soon know the answer. Now the first thing we need to know is how many towns around obukeshiv have fallen into our hands in silence."


    While waiting for a call back from the front, Romanov patiently told us that the towns around the city had been successfully occupied by us, how many defenders were there, which army were they, and so on.


    When I waited for him to finish his report and just wanted to ask which division he was going to arrange to play the main role in the attack on Kiev, the telegraph operator quickly came to him and handed him the newly received telegram.


    I knew that this telegram must have something to do with lengdezhen. I stared at Romanov nervously, trying to judge the situation there from the change of expression on his face. Romanov read the telegram quickly, with a look of amazement on his face, and then a look of joy on his face.


    Seeing the joy on his face, I knew that the matter of lengdi town might have been properly dealt with, so I asked with a smile, "Comrade General, is there any information about lengdi town?"


    Hearing this, Romanov quickly handed the telegram to kirilov and replied with a smile, "yes, comrade commander. You''re right. It''s really from lengdi town. "


    Although I suspect that the enemy may have stopped resisting and surrendered immediately after knowing the real number of our army, I still tentatively asked, "has the enemy surrendered?"


    Romanov nodded and said excitedly: "when our commanders yelled at the town that we were general oshanina''s troops, the enemies in the town immediately stopped resisting and, under the leadership of their company commander, came out to surrender to our troops."


    After reading the telegram, kirilov and other Romanov said with a smile: "I didn''t expect that Rita''s reputation on the enemy''s side was so big. As soon as her name was reported, the enemy immediately surrendered."


    Although I listened to kirilov''s words with a smile on my face, I had a bad feeling in my heart. My name is known by many middle and senior German commanders in the German army, but we don''t know much about it. Every time I come into contact with a new commander, I have to introduce myself again and again.


    I turned to Romanov and said, "Comrade General, since the troops of the eastern battalion have surrendered, we should inform our commanders to disperse the officers and men of this company into their troops. By the way, there is the company commander. Send someone to send him to me immediately. I want to have a chat with him. "


    "Yes Romanov agreed with a smile, went to the operator''s side, and told him to send a message to the commander of lengdi town.


    This time, as soon as Romanov walked away, kirilov gave me a thumbs up and said sincerely, "Rita, you are so wonderful to know that the enemy will lay down their arms and surrender as soon as they hear our name. Can you tell me how you judged it? "


    "Comrade political commissar, it''s very simple." Anyway, when the matter is settled, I have a sense of leisure to explain to kirilov why I made that decision: "you may remember the original telegram. As soon as the sentries in the town found our troops, they immediately fired warning shots, and the fire points outside the town also opened fire."


    "Yes, I remember it in the telegram." Kirilov nodded as he listened and urged me: "you go on talking about your judgment. I''m listening."


    "If it was the initial firing, it was a misunderstanding. But when our troops gave a false number, and it was the number of a force that had just been eliminated by us. In this case, the enemy in the town can''t judge whether the serial number is true or false. After hearing the report, I boldly judged that since the enemy still did not cease fire after hearing the number, and even increased the investment of firepower, there is only one possibility left, that is, they are ready to fight back. "


    "That''s right, Rita. You have a good analysis." When kirilov heard what I said, he immediately realized it, and added to me on his own initiative: "no wonder you are so confident that you want to order general Romanov to inform the troops to report the real number of our army to the enemy. That''s what happened."


    Back at the table, Romanov''s face was almost bursting with laughter, which surprised kirilov and I. Kirilov couldn''t help but ask, "general Romanov, what''s the happy event that makes you so happy?"


    "Commander, commissar, it''s a great event." Romanov put the telegram in his hand in front of us, and then said: "the defecting company commander took the initiative to tell our commander that there was a hidden military warehouse left by our army in the forest near the town, and took the initiative to act as a guide, but our commander went to check."


    Romanov''s words remind me that when I led a small team to reconnoiter behind enemy lines, I found a huge warehouse and armed four or five hundred rescued officers and men with the weapons. I think that the war has been going on for almost two years, and our military warehouse still exists in the enemy''s rear.


    I took a deep breath and asked Romanov in a smooth tone: "Comrade General, what weapons and equipment are there in this hidden warehouse?"


    "Comrade commander, if we equip our army with these weapons, the overall strength of the army will be greatly enhanced." After Romanov said these words, in order to let kirilov and I have a more vivid understanding, he picked up the telegram and read the above equipment data for us: "all the underground warehouses we found were full of armored vehicles, and there were 30 tanks and 200 trucks, all of which were unused. There are cannons, anti tank guns, mortars, heavy and heavy machine guns, submachine guns and rifles. After a preliminary inventory, these weapons should be equipped according to the standards of our two infantry divisions. Because there are too many bullets, shells and grenades, they are now being counted. "


    After listening to the telegram, I stood up from my seat and told Romanov in a hurry: "Comrade General, we should send more troops immediately to get these weapons and ammunition out as soon as possible. Tanks and armored vehicles, in particular, are good things. When we attack Kiev, if we have these technical equipment, then the fighting process can be greatly accelerated. " After listening to my instructions, Romanov immediately reported his thoughts to me: "Comrade commander, I plan to send the 171st division to receive this batch of equipment, and at the same time send the 22nd brigade of tanks. After all, not everyone can drive tanks. Do you have anything else to add? "¡° What can I add? " After repeating Romanov''s words, I jokingly said, "Comrade General, have you forgotten that there are all kinds of guns in the warehouse? It happened that the artillery of the artillery regiment of lieutenant colonel kaverin was insufficient. It was just right that they could hand over the captured artillery and anti tank artillery to them. This time, go to the receiving troops and add in lieutenant commander kaverin Romanov nodded, picked up the phone on the desk, dialed number one, and said to the receiver, "Hello, 171 division headquarters? I''m general Romanov. Please call your division commander. I have an important task to give him After hearing the series of seizures reported by Romanov, kirilov was so excited that he grabbed my arm, shook it hard and said, "great, Rita, that''s great. If our troops have this kind of equipment, even if they are in the enemy''s rear for another month or two, there will be no problem. "¡° Comrade political commissar, haven''t you been in the enemy''s rear enough? " I said to him with a smile: "what we have to do now is to seize Kiev as soon as possible, and wedge a nail into the enemy''s defense depth to make them restless day and night. As long as we can hold Kiev, the Voronezh front army and the southwest front army in Ukraine can quickly come to join us. With Kiev as a foothold, we can send more troops here. In that case, the elimination of the German army in Ukraine is just around the corner. "

 Chapter 982

    Before the officer of lengdi town arrived at the headquarters, general rebalko''s telegram came first. Although Romanov is now the commander of the 79th infantry army, he took the telegram from the operator. Without looking at it at all, he turned and handed it to me.


    I took the telegram from rebalko and looked it over carefully. The situation on the left bank of the Dnieper River is much more optimistic than I expected. The troops of the 12th tank army have quietly arrived in a small town called kanevka northeast of bruvalli; The troops of the 15th tank army had advanced to the city of Borispol, less than ten kilometers from bruvalli. As soon as it gets light, both units can attack bruvalli at the same time. At the same time, a part of the 79th division of the close guard infantry is advancing rapidly towards kaniv, and it is estimated that it will not be long before it can join the akhromeyev regiment left behind in kaniv.


    After I saw the inspiring telegram, I handed it to kirilov. I looked up to talk to Romanov, but I found that he was standing by the telephone, leaning over to say something to the operator.


    When he came back to me, I asked curiously, "Comrade General, have you just given any orders to the army?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Romanov replied positively: "I asked the telegraph operator to send a message to the reconnaissance unit which is hiding near Kiev at the moment, so that they can pay close attention to the movement of the enemy in the city. Report to me as soon as you find any signs of German troops moving. "


    As for Romanov''s preparation, I nodded with satisfaction and said, "Comrade General, you are very considerate. Although general rebalko''s troops are advancing towards the enemy''s defensive zone at night, it is impossible for them not to be noticed by the enemy. Facing the approaching of our army, the defenders in the city of bruvalli are bound to ask Kiev for help. The enemy should have been attracted by our fake operation in canyvo, so it is imperative for them to mobilize the garrison in the city to reinforce bruvalli. "


    "Our scheme will not be seen through by the German army, will it?" Romanov asked anxiously.


    While Romanov didn''t pay attention, I quickly rolled my eyes at him, saying that the Germans had already understood the rigid tactics commonly used by the Soviet army, and they must have used the same tactics to deal with the Soviet army. It''s strange that they didn''t mobilize troops to reinforce bruvalli. Although he was dissatisfied with his skepticism, he had to say to him politely on the surface: "Comrade General, the German army never thought that obukeshiv had fallen into the hands of our army, so they would focus their defense on bruvalli in the East. By day tomorrow at the latest, Kiev''s defenders will be massively reinforcing bruvalli. "


    "If the enemy really goes to reinforce bruvalli," Romanov said after listening to me, he also thinks seriously, "then, when should we launch an attack on the city?"


    "Although we have just captured a number of weapons and equipment, we have no air supremacy. Even if Kiev is an empty city, if we want to launch a strong attack, we will certainly pay a heavy price. " Before I talk about the arrangement of the attack, I will first tell Romanov the shortcomings of our army, so that he will not have the thought of belittling the enemy: "therefore, our attack can only be arranged at night. When the enemy is suddenly attacked by us, it is very difficult for them to organize effective resistance. In addition, without air support, it is very difficult for them to defend the city. "


    Just then, a staff officer came in from the outside and reported to Romanov, "Comrade commander, the commander of the uprising Dongfang battalion has arrived. Do you need to see him immediately?"


    Romanov did not immediately reply to the other side, but put the eyes of the consultation on me. When I nodded my head to show that I could, he told the staff officer, "go and call him in."


    The staff officer went to the door and called out: "come in, the commanders are waiting for you inside!"


    Soon, a short but strong officer in a German uniform came in quickly. After his eyes quickly swept over the three of us, he raised his hand to salute me and said respectfully, "report to general Comrade, Red Army sergeant Constantine sukhanov, your order, please!"


    I didn''t speak. I turned around him with my back. Then I glanced at the rank of lieutenant on his shoulder and said, "Lieutenant suhanov, it seems that you are doing well in the German army. You are promoted from sergeant to lieutenant."


    When he heard me say this, he was silent for a while. Then he seemed very excited and said to me, "Comrade General, after the outbreak of the war, I took part in several fierce battles. Later, I was wounded in the battle and was captured. If I had not been injured at that time, I would never have been a prisoner. "


    "Come on, Rita, don''t scare him." Kirilov saw sukhanov''s emotion was very excited, quickly came out to ease the atmosphere. He patted each other on the shoulder and said friendly, "Lieutenant, don''t be afraid. None of us blame you for being a prisoner. After all, you were wounded before you were captured."


    "Yes, I don''t think it''s a shame to be captured without resistance." Romanov also showed himself at the moment, he shrugged: "shortly after the outbreak of the war, I was wounded and captured by the enemy."


    Hearing what Romanov said, suhanov turned his head and looked carefully at the general in front of him. After a long time, he tentatively asked, "are you general Romanov?"


    Romanov was surprised that an officer who had just defected could recognize himself. He asked curiously, "why, comrade suhanov, did you know me before?"


    Sukhanov nodded his head vigorously and replied in a affirmative way: "yes, comrade general, although I am not your subordinate, my troops also took part in the battle to defend mojiliov. Later, when we broke through the encirclement, our troops were scattered, and I was also captured with a group of wounded people because I was wounded. "


    "There''s something I''m curious about, Lieutenant sukhanov," I said to sukhanov after their reminiscence. "Can you give me an answer?"


    "Comrade General, please ask." Sukhanov respectfully said: "as long as I know, I will answer truthfully."


    "What I want to know is, why do your sentinels shoot as soon as they see our troops appear, and your firepower becomes more fierce when they give the German name?" I really wanted to know what sukhanov thought when he gave the order, so I asked straightforwardly, "when you hear the real number of our army, immediately cease fire, lay down your arms and surrender to our army. I haven''t figured it out yet. I hope you can give me an answer. "


    "Well, Comrade General." Sukhanov spoke very pure Russian and said: "although my men and I were picked out of the prison camp by the Germans, they never really trusted us, and we never worked for them wholeheartedly. Two weeks ago, when my subordinates heard about the performance of your troops along the Dnieper River, some of them left for you.


    As a result, they were not lucky. As soon as they left the barracks, they were found by the German inspectors in the company. After they were captured, the Germans shot them all without saying a word, and moved our company from obukeshiv to the present town of lengdi. For fear of further German retaliation against us, I announced in the army that if we find troops approaching our town at night, we can shoot directly without warning. It is because of this order that the Sentinels, as soon as they see your presence, will decisively fire a warning, and the fire points outside the town will fire immediately. "


    After listening to sukhanov, kirilov asked, "Lieutenant, I don''t understand. Now that your deserters have been shot by the Germans, how will they retaliate against you? "


    "Well, comrade commander." Suhannov looked at kirilov, but because he could not figure out the rank of the other party, he had to give a vague address, and then said, "I''m afraid the Germans will touch our camp in the middle of the night, and when they disarm us, they will either shoot us on the spot or send us back to the prison camp. Because I heard my subordinates say that the troops outside the town said that they were German troops. When we were asked to cease fire immediately, I made up my mind decisively. Anyway, it''s a death. I just don''t do it twice. No matter how many Germans I can kill, it''s better than waiting to die. "


    "Well, I see." Romanov added: "when you hear that the troops outside the town, not the Germans, are our troops disguised as the enemy of the city, you immediately order a cease-fire and take the initiative to disarm our troops?"


    "Well, Comrade General." Sukhanov nodded his head and replied positively.


    "By the way, Lieutenant sukhanov, what''s the matter with the armory in the forest?" After finding out the reason why sukhanov and his family were fighting back, I continued to ask the sudden appearance of the armory: "did you or the Germans find it?"


    Sukhanov replied without hesitation: "report, comrade general, the Germans don''t know the Arsenal at all. Two days ago, my men found several Soviet soldiers in the forest. It happened that my men knew one of them. After a question, they found out that they were soldiers left behind in the warehouse. Because they lost contact with their superiors and didn''t get orders, they had to stay. Because the forest road leading to the warehouse was destroyed by them, the Germans never found that there was such a perfect ammunition warehouse so close to Kiev. "


    "How did they survive these two years?" It was said that there were still small units of our army left behind in the forest, which aroused kirilov''s interest: "have they never been noticed by the Germans?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Sukhanov truthfully replied: "in the past, they relied on the food in the warehouse and hunting in the forest to maintain a normal life. But now that the food in the warehouse is finished, they have to venture to the town to find something to eat. As a result, they are discovered by my people. I didn''t give them to the Germans, I hid them in our troops. "


    "Good job, Lieutenant sukhanov." After listening to sukhanov''s story, Romanov couldn''t help but be overjoyed. He came forward and slapped each other on the shoulder, praising repeatedly: "you may not think how important these weapons are to us. In this way, even if we recruit a few thousand more people among the urban residents, the weapons will be enough. "


    After Romanov finished, I said to sukhanov, "Lieutenant sukhanov, you should be tired after a busy night. Go and have a rest." With that, I yelled to the staff officer who was still standing at the door, "staff officer, take lieutenant sukhanov to have a rest."


    As soon as sukhanov leaves, I''ll ask Romanov to call together the three division commanders, as well as the artillery commander kaverin and the tank brigade''s adjutant major perskin to the headquarters to discuss the details of tomorrow''s attack on Kiev. Wittkov, who stayed in smira to deal with the aftermath, returned to the headquarters before the other commanders arrived. But when he heard that we had found enough ammunition to equip two divisions, he was overjoyed and said to kirilov and me: "commander, commissar, that''s great. On the way here, I''m still thinking about how to reduce the casualties of our army in the attack on Kiev by relying only on major perskin''s tanks and the limited artillery of lieutenant colonel kaverin''s regiment. Now, with so many weapons, especially the 30 tanks, our army''s ability to attack difficult positions has been greatly improved. " With these words, the commanders who came to the meeting went to the headquarters one after another. Seeing that wittkov had successfully returned to the headquarters from smira, they also came up to greet him. When I saw that the meeting was almost over, I patted the table with my hand and announced in a loud voice, "comrades, please be quiet. We are going to have a meeting." When I heard this, the commanders, who were talking with Vitkov enthusiastically, calmed down and went back to their seats. They all focused on me, waiting for me to announce a new battle order. I coughed, cleared my throat and said, "comrades, first of all, I want to tell you the good news. General rebalko''s troops on the left bank of the Dnieper River have entered the attack position one after another. Tomorrow they can launch an attack on bruvalli, which is occupied by the German army, and form a pinch attack on Kiev with our army. As for the detailed plan to attack Kiev, it is up to your commander, general Romanov, to announce it to you. " With that, I turned to Romanov and said, "Comrade General, it''s up to you to assign combat tasks to them." Romanov agreed, stood up and began to announce to the commanders on the scene the operational plan that the three of us had just drawn up to seize Kiev from the enemy.

 Chapter 983

    Romanov said in his thick bass, "comrades commander! The decisive moment has come, the time to pay for Kiev''s blood debts, and the time to punish the enemy for the sufferings of the people of Kiev!


    Because of this attack on Kiev, we will do it at night. So we''re going to attack the city without artillery preparation. Now, I declare the offensive routes of the divisions in battle. "


    Although everyone was surprised to hear that before the attack, when there was no artillery preparation, no one spoke, just quietly listening to Romanov''s assignment.


    "The tank 22nd brigade, under the command of major perskin, will be the vanguard of our army. After you enter sumska street from the south of the city, make a surprise attack along the street to the north and eliminate every enemy you see along the way. When the troops arrived at the "October Revolution square" in the center of the city, while the main force continued to rush to the airport in the north of the city, a small number of troops should be left to build fortifications in the area, so as not to be cut off by the German army.


    The 22nd division of general bandeleev''s guards launched an attack from the east of the city and pushed north along the street. In the shortest time, we should occupy St. Sophia''s Cathedral, pejorsk monastery, cave church, St. Vladimir''s Cathedral and other places, so as to avoid the German troops defeated by our armored forces from hiding in these solid buildings and resisting tenaciously.


    Colonel andreushenko''s 308th division, following the route of the tank brigade, advanced to the airport in the north of the city and cleared the German troops in the buildings along the way.


    As for Col. gorohov''s 171st division, it launched an attack from the west side of Kiev and quickly made a detour back to the north side of the city, waskhood, to cut off the enemy''s escape route to the north. "


    Seeing that the three infantry divisions and tank brigades all had their own tasks, lieutenant commander kaverin, who had not received the order of artillery preparation before the attack, stood up from his seat and asked aloud, "Comrade commander, what is the task of our artillery regiment?"


    Seeing that kaverin stood up and interrupted his later words, Romanov said with obvious dissatisfaction: "Comrade commander, I told you that we will attack at night. In order to avoid injuring the residents of the city, there is no need to prepare for the fire before the attack. Your regiment will not take part in this battle for the time being. "


    "But, comrade commander." Hearing what Romanov said, kavilin was a little worried. He told him: "there are a lot of Ukrainian soldiers in our regiment. Let them stay in the rear and watch other friendly forces fight with the enemy. I''m afraid that many officers and soldiers will have emotions."


    "I think you are in the mood, comrade commander." As soon as he finished, Romanov said impolitely, "now that the order has been given, your regiment will be in obukoshiv. By the way, get familiar with all kinds of artillery just added to you."


    "General Romanov," I saw lieutenant colonel kaverin''s face full of disappointment, and quickly came out to make a comeback. "Although we don''t need artillery preparation before attack, artillery can still be used in street warfare." Then I said to kaverin, "Comrade commander, when the attack begins, you let your artillery move forward with the infantry, and when they meet the enemy''s fire point, they will be destroyed by direct aim. Let''s put bayonets on our guns and strike the enemy hard at close range. "


    "I see, comrade commander." When he heard my order, cavelin replied loudly. Then he looked at me again and asked with embarrassment, "may I sit down?"


    "Sit down, comrade commander." I answered him with a smile, and then said to the commander on the spot: "all the commanders and fighters who participated in the attack should wear German uniforms, so that when the enemy was attacked by us, they could not understand what happened. In order to prevent accidental injury, we all tie a white towel on our left arm. "


    After I finished the assignment, kirilov stood up and yelled at the commanders on the scene, probably for the sake of boosting morale: "comrades, after the liberation of Kiev, I''ll invite you to the biggest restaurant in the city to eat the most famous cold trout and cream baked mixed food in Kiev. Do you agree?"


    As soon as kirilov''s voice was over, a neat cry rang out in the room: "good!"


    As soon as the shouting stopped, Bantai leiev, who had a good relationship with kirilov, stood up and said to him with a smile, "Hey, old man, we''ve been eating dry bread for such a long time. You can''t send us off with just two courses. At least Ukraine''s most famous Salo and red cabbage soup can''t be less. "


    "Yes, Comrade General is right." As soon as bantaileiev finished, someone immediately said, "there are still many famous dishes in Ukraine, such as potato cakes, chicken livers and green melon and mustard pancakes. They can''t be missing."


    Kirilov turned to look at me, then said with a smile in the direction of the voice: "no problem, as long as you can liberate Kiev, no matter what you want to eat, comrade commander and I will satisfy your wishes. Don''t you think so, Rita? "


    "That''s right!" When I heard kirilov and the commanders report a series of dish names, I couldn''t help drooling. When kirilov asked me, I immediately said to you, "just like the political commissar said, as long as Kiev is liberated, you can eat whatever you want. I''ll let you eat enough at one time."


    Romanov and others were almost noisy, and then solemnly announced: "comrades, the task has been made clear. I''ll let you know the specific attack time. It''s all right now. Let''s go back to our respective units. "


    After all the commanders left, kirilov, who was standing behind the telegraph operator with me, raised his hand and looked at his watch and said to me, "Comrade commander, as long as the scouts find out whether the German troops in Kiev have transferred to Kiev, we can determine the attack schedule."


    "Hey, I said, anyway, the scouts haven''t sent back the information of the enemy, so don''t stand by the telephone and influence the operator. Come here. I''ll show you something. " Kirilov, who was sitting at the table, probably thought we had ignored him, so he called out to us.


    When Romanov and I returned to him, he looked up at me and said mysteriously, "Rita, general Romanov, I''ll show you something." Then he took out the party card from his pocket, opened it in front of us, and took out a piece of orange red paper in the middle.


    I took the rough piece of paper in his hand, and when I saw that it was full of words, I looked at it curiously. After watching for a moment, I recognized it as a ticket to a football match. After I handed the ticket to Romanov, I asked kirilov mistily, "Comrade political commissar, what do you want to do to show us the ticket to the ball game?"


    Before kirilov spoke, Romanov, who had just received the ticket, suddenly exclaimed, "my God, comrade political commissar, isn''t this the ticket for the Khrushchev Republic stadium? The date is June 22, 1941, which is exactly the date of the outbreak of the war. " Then he handed the ticket back to kirilov and asked, "what''s going on? You''ve confused me."


    Vitkov, sitting next to kirilov, reached for the ticket, looked at it, handed it to kirilov, and said, "yes, it was the ticket for the Khrushchev Republic Stadium on June 22, 1941. Comrade political commissar, tell us about the origin of this ticket. "


    Kirilov took the ticket and carefully clipped it back into the party card. He looked up and said to us, "Rita, Romanov, Vitkov, you may not know that the new stadium in Kiev was renamed" Khrushchev Republic Stadium "after its reconstruction two years ago. In order to celebrate the completion of the stadium, a grand football match is scheduled to be held at the opening ceremony on June 22, 1941. Since I was on a mission in Kiev at that time, I was lucky enough to get a ticket. I wanted to attend the opening ceremony of the Moscow stadium and Leningrad stadium, the third largest stadium in the Soviet Union. Unexpectedly, on the day of the opening ceremony of the stadium, the war broke out... "


    Kirilov''s words came to an abrupt end. Romanov gently sighed and comforted him, saying: "don''t be sad, comrade political commissar. We are near Kiev now. It won''t be long before we can liberate this city which has been occupied by the enemy for nearly two years. At that time, I''ll accompany you to the stadium. "


    A few of us were talking and laughing when the operator rushed over and handed a telegram to Romanov. Romanov only looked at it once, then repeatedly applauded. Then he handed the telegram to me and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, the situation is really the same as you judge. After the enemy realized that our troops were approaching bruvalli, they mobilized the troops in the city to reinforce bruvalli."


    "How many troops are there in the city?" Instead of reading the telegram, I handed it to wittkov and asked Romanov straightforwardly, "did the enemy''s tank troops go to reinforce?"


    Romanov nodded his head vigorously and answered positively: "according to the report of the scout, the enemy has not only transferred a large number of troops from the city, but also many tanks."


    Hearing Romanov''s general reply, I asked with some dissatisfaction: "did the Scout provide the specific number?"


    Upon hearing my question, wittkov, who had just read the telegram, immediately replied, "according to the report provided by the scout, there is still a German regiment and two tank companies left in the city." After finishing the specific data, he could not help but say with emotion: "in such a big city, it''s almost the same as an empty city with such a small number of troops. As soon as our tank brigade and three infantry divisions rush in, the enemy''s defense will collapse. "


    "Chief of staff, never underestimate the enemy." Seeing that vetkov was a little complacent, I quickly reminded him, "don''t mention that there is a regiment of thousands of defenders in the city and two tank companies with more than ten tanks. Even if one enemy doesn''t have one, we can''t take it too lightly. If you belittle the enemy, you will suffer a great loss. "


    After hearing what I said, wittkov nodded and admitted his mistake to me: "Comrade commander, I despise the enemy too much. I will pay attention to it later." After these words, he solemnly asked me, "since we find that the enemy has increased troops to bruvalli, do we need to report this information to general rebalko, so that he can prepare ahead of time?"


    "Comrade chief of staff, you are very considerate." As for Vitkov''s proposal, I immediately approved it. At the same time, I also said, "general rebalko, they may have a clear idea of the German forces'' deployment in the city of bruvalli, but they will never think that the enemy will send such forces to reinforce bruvalli at night. Once they fight, they may suffer a great loss. Don''t waste your time. Send the news quickly. "


    Less than half an hour after the telegram to remind rebalko was sent, the reply arrived. Rebalko wrote in the telegram: "our department has readjusted the deployment of troops according to the enemy''s troop increase and appropriately strengthened the offensive force of the 15th army of tanks. Please rest assured that the third group army of tanks and the three infantry divisions will be able to perform their duties to our motherland with honor and success. After turning into a decisive offensive, they will resolutely smash the enemy troops resisting in front of us and quickly push forward to Kiev. Liberate this great city under the iron feet of the Communist aggressors. " As soon as kirilov finished reading the telegram, he became excited again. He said repeatedly: "it seems that general rebalko''s men are in high spirits. Bruvalli, a small city, can''t stop them at all. If they go well, they are expected to arrive at the foot of Kiev tomorrow night. " After hearing kirilov''s passionate remarks, Romanov turned his head and asked me cautiously: "Comrade commander, if general rebalko''s troops will advance to Kiev in the afternoon tomorrow, do we need to advance our attack plan?"¡° General Romanov, that''s not necessary. " As for Romanov''s question, I explained to him: "we are still tens of kilometers away from Kiev. If we march in the daytime, we are easy to encounter enemy air strikes. And even if we get to Kiev smoothly, the defenders in the city will be on guard, so our sneak attack will turn into a strong attack. In the absence of artillery preparation, to attack this fortified city, we will pay more than expected casualties. No matter how they fight tomorrow, general rebalko, we will carry out the plan and wait until after dark before the whole army advances to Kiev. " After that, I told wittkov: "Comrade chief of staff, call general rebalko back and wish him victory!"

 Chapter 984

    At eight o''clock the next morning, the troops under the command of general rebalko launched an attack on bruvalli on time.


    At the beginning of the battle, the fighting progressed smoothly. Before nine o''clock, the troops attacking from both directions broke through the German positions outside the city of bruvalli one after another, rushed into the city from several open gaps, and started a street fight with the enemy.


    First of all, vetkov, who got the battle report, was very excited. He raised his telegram and said to me: "Comrade commander, although bruvalli''s German army has been strengthened by the Kiev garrison, it is difficult for them to form an effective defense under the attack of general rebalko''s powerful armored forces. You see, less than an hour after the battle, we broke through the enemy''s fortified peripheral positions one after another. If we continue to fight like this, we may be able to capture bruvalli at noon. "


    Influenced by wittkov''s mood, Romanov and kirilov are also excited. They even studied on the map which road general rebalko would take to get directly under Kiev after he captured bruvalli.


    For the three of them because of the victory of the good news, the reaction shown, I just returned with a faint smile. I know in my heart that although our army has the advantage on the battlefield at present, the German army will not be willing to fail. They will certainly fight back madly next. Apart from other things, the air supremacy of the battlefield is not on our side, which is a headache for me. Even if our armored forces are doubled, as long as the German planes are out, they will only be the targets of bombing.


    After ten o''clock, after the friendly forces occupied the East and south of the city, with the resistance of the German forces compressed into a piece becoming more and more tenacious, the speed of their advance to the city gradually slowed down, and some areas even fell into repeated competition, and the war became more and more fierce.


    Witkov was upset when he saw the telegram from general rebalko. He walked back and forth in the room with his hands on his back, and his mouth was still murmuring: "hell, hell. It''s just street fighting. Our troops are several times more than the enemy''s. even if we change a few for another, we have already captured the city. "


    "Chief of staff," a telegraph operator stood up from his seat and called to Vitkov, who was not far from him, "a new telegram has arrived."


    "Is there any bad news?" Vetkov went to receive the telegram and came to me muttering. When he came to me, he just finished reading the telegram, and then said with a heavy face: "Comrade commander, the situation is very bad. The enemy sent out the air force to bombard the assembly points of our offensive forces. In order to avoid unnecessary casualties, general rebalko intends to order the troops to suspend the attack, evacuate and hide on the spot, and prepare for air defense. "


    "Damn the Krauts." Romanov, sitting next to him, could not help but scold angrily when he heard this hour.


    After I looked at Romanov, I told wittkov: "call general rebalko back, agree to his request, let the troops stop attacking temporarily, and cover up air defense on the spot. After the enemy''s plane flies away, it will continue to rush into the city. Besides, the situation on the battlefield is changing so fast that he doesn''t have to ask for instructions on everything. Let him decide what he can do. "


    Although vetkov was not happy, he did as I told him to send a telegram to rebarko.


    As soon as our attack stopped, the German forces in the city of bruvalli, under the cover of the air force, counterattacked the positions occupied by our forces. Although our officers and men were fighting tenaciously, some of the positions they had just occupied were lost one after another because of the enemy''s air superiority.


    Witkov was a little crazy when he saw one telegram after another with bad news. He said to me in a hoarse voice, "Comrade commander, the situation is getting worse and worse for us. If we only defend and do not fight back, all the positions captured this morning will be taken back by the German army at the latest when it gets dark. "


    "Fight back? Chief of staff, tell me how to fight back? " I saw that wittkov was a little feverish, so I threw a basin of cold water on him impolitely, "let our commanders and fighters, in the face of the fierce bombardment of the enemy planes and the intensive gunfire of the German army in the city, carry weapons and sing songs to charge? Do you think that, no matter how brave the commanders and fighters are, their flesh and blood can block the enemy''s bullets and shrapnel? "


    Wittcrofton was silent when I said that. The next Romanov opened his mouth and seemed to want to say something, but kirilov pulled his sleeve hard and closed his mouth obediently.


    I saw that all the people were silent, and then said, "although general rebalko and they have suffered setbacks for a while, our forces are stronger than those of the Germans after all. Even if we are fighting for consumption, we can still afford it. Even if the positions captured in the morning are lost, it doesn''t matter. Anyway, as long as general rebalko''s forces can keep the main force of the German army on the left bank of the Dnieper River, the pressure on us to seize Kiev will be greatly reduced. "


    As soon as I finished, vetkov raised his head again, and his lost confidence was restored. He straightened up and said to me, "Comrade commander, I understand. Kiev is our main target. Whether we win or lose the battles in other areas, we can contain the enemy and cooperate with our actions to capture Kiev. "


    As for wittkov''s understanding ability, I nodded with satisfaction and said: "as a senior commander, we should keep a good attitude, so that when commanding a large army, we will not have a series of wrong instructions issued due to the impulse of the moment, which will lead to the defeat in the final battle. Well, you can continue to be responsible for the intelligence from general rebalko. I''ll consider the plan of attacking Kiev in the evening and see if there are any details that need to be improved. " After witkov left, I gazed at the map in front of me, carefully thought about every step of the attack plan, and carefully thought about whether there was any need to adjust. After a long time, I raised my head and said to Romanov, "Comrade General, please inform your men that the troops will leave at seven o''clock this evening. The first tank brigade to launch an attack must reach the offensive position before eight o''clock. " After I finished, Romanov asked again, "it''s about 50 kilometers from here to Kiev. If the infantry walk, they may arrive in the early morning. Is there any problem with the tank brigade fighting alone?"¡° Don''t we still have hundreds of trucks? " I saw that he had the idea to let the infantry walk. He reminded him immediately, "don''t forget, our commanders and fighters who participated in the attack tonight are all wearing German uniforms. They can walk to Kiev in trucks. Even if we meet the enemy on the road, as long as we go to reinforce Kiev, it will not cause doubt. " Pugachev, who was in the telecommunication room next door, suddenly ran in from the outside. As soon as he came in, he exclaimed excitedly, "good news, comrade commander, good news!" When we heard the good news, everyone''s frowns stretched out. I asked Pugachev with a smile: "Hello, comrade major, I don''t know what kind of good news you have brought us all?" Pugachev straightened himself up in front of me and replied, "I just received a call from major akhromeyev. He said that the vanguard of the 79th division of the close guard infantry had successfully arrived at kaniv and joined their regiment."¡° Have you joined up? " On hearing this news, kirilov was the first to react. He said to me excitedly, "Rita, in this way, we will no longer be alone behind enemy lines. At least there are channels that can be connected with the main defensive areas of our army. " I nodded to him with a smile, then turned back and asked Pugachev, "what else did major ahlomeyev say?" Pugachev nodded slightly and replied, "yes, major akhromeyev asked me to ask you if we can send away the 2000 wounded in kaniv through this newly opened channel." Although at the beginning I was prepared to give up the severely wounded who were difficult to move when I had to, I couldn''t bear it in the end and finally transferred them all to kaniv. As a result, thousands of our wounded soldiers were suddenly added to the small city, of which 2000 were the most seriously injured. What akhromeyev proposed is to transfer these seriously wounded to the rear of our army through the newly opened channel. Of course, I had no reason to object to his proposal, so I nodded hastily and told Pugachev: "Comrade major, please tell major akhromeyev that besides the wounded, all citizens who are willing to leave can also be sent to the rear of our army through this newly opened channel." Some of us couldn''t close our mouths because of the good news, but new bad news came. Wittkov received the new telegram from the operator. After looking at it for a few minutes, he suddenly changed his face. Then he reported to me in a panic: "Comrade commander, something''s wrong!"¡° What''s the matter? " When I heard him say this, my heart hung in the air and asked, "is it the telegram from general rebalko?"¡° Yes After answering my question in the affirmative, he went on to say, "general rebalko reported that the enemy planes had bombed the headquarters of the 15th tank army in Borispol. During half an hour''s bombing by enemy planes, a bomb directly hit the headquarters of the tank army, in which the staff officers suffered heavy casualties. Major general kopzov, commander of the army, unfortunately died! "

 Chapter 985

    The bad news reported by wittkov solidified the air in the headquarters. Everyone was silent and the room was silent. After a while, Romanov took the lead to take off the big cornice hat on his head, and bowed his head to the sacrificial commander in silence. Kirilov, wittkov and even the telegraph operators in the headquarters took off their hats one after another.


    I took off my helmet and bowed my head in silence. Although I have never met general kopzov, I feel heartache for his sacrifice at the moment. Shortly after the beginning of the battle, my men lost a general commander. If they continue to fight, I don''t know how much they will pay.


    When the silence was over and the helmets were on again, I asked wittkov, "chief of staff, who is commanding the 15th tank army?"


    After witkov looked at the telegram, he replied, "after general kopzov died, general rebalko appointed lieutenant colonel lozovsky, the military commissar of the army, to take over the command of the army."


    After hearing this, I nodded and said: "although lieutenant colonel lozovsky''s rank is a little lower, since general rebalko can appoint him as commander, it proves that he is qualified for this position. I hope that his performance will not disappoint us in the next battle."


    The German air raid on rebarko''s headquarters did not last long, but had to stop because the weather suddenly became bad. When Pugachev, who came in from outside, reported to us that there was a snowstorm outside, kirilov immediately jumped up from his seat excitedly and said to me excitedly, "Rita, it''s snowstorm outside. That''s good news. If the enemy''s aircraft can no longer take off to fight, then our troops attacking Kiev will be able to start ahead of time. "


    "Comrade political commissar, I think so too." I gave kirilov a smile, then turned to Romanov and said, "Comrade General, you can give orders to commanders at all levels to start immediately in the snow." At this point, I raised my hand, looked at my watch and set a time for him. "It''s three o''clock in the afternoon. I hope that at five o''clock, the troops of the tank 22nd brigade can launch an attack on Kiev."


    "No problem, comrade commander." Romanov replied cleanly, "I''ll arrange it." After that, he picked up the phone on the desk, dialed the number and said in a loud voice: "Hello, the 22nd division of Jinwei? I''m Romanov. Let your commander, general bantaileiev, answer the phone


    I sat next to him, listening silently to him call the three infantry divisions, as well as the military commanders of the tank brigade and artillery regiment one by one, ordering the troops to set out immediately in the snow and launch an attack on Kiev no later than 5 p.m.


    Before the troops set out, Zhukov''s telegram came. "The supreme command is waiting for the good news of your liberation of Kiev," he wrote briefly in the telegram


    Holding this telegram with only one short sentence, I feel a lot of pressure. Although Zhukov''s words are short, the meaning is very clear: the supreme command is waiting for your good news. If you can''t take Kiev, you will be fully responsible for the consequences.


    After reading the telegram, kirilov, wittkov and Romanov all showed the same dignified expression as me. It seems that they also understood the meaning of Zhukov''s telegram.


    I sat at the table and thought for a moment. Then I looked up to Vitkov and said, "chief of staff, send a telegram to general rebalko to inform him of our impending attack on Kiev. He also ordered him in my name that once the fighting started in Kiev, his troops must re-enter the attack on bruvalli, firmly contain the enemy there, and not allow them to return to Kiev to rescue. Any commander or fighter who hesitates in battle and delays the flight shall be shot on the spot. "


    Kirilov opened his mouth wide in surprise when he heard my order. He was also shocked by my severe order. Seeing that wittkov was going to send a telegram, he quickly stopped the other party and cautiously reminded me, "Rita, is your order to general rebalko too strict? Will the general have any bad associations after reading the telegram? "


    "Comrade political commissar, I can''t care so much." As for kirilov''s hesitation, I said without hesitation: "although the content of Marshal Zhukov''s telegram is very brief, I think everyone knows what he means. Once we fail to capture Kiev successfully, we may all be sent to the military court." With that, he waved his hand to wittkov, who was still standing in the same place. "Chief of staff, send the news immediately."


    As soon as wittkov left, I turned to Romanov and said, "Comrade General, please go and tell the commanders who are going to fight. In combat, we should not blindly fight and rush, but rely on firepower to suppress the enemy. Anyway, we have just captured a batch of ammunition. As long as we can reduce the casualties of the troops, it doesn''t matter if the ammunition consumption is larger. "


    "Yes, I''ll tell them now." With that, Romanov went out of the headquarters to find the commanders who were going to Kiev.


    "From Marshal Zhukov, do you need to send him a telegram?" When there were only two of us left at the table, kirilov asked in a low voice, "will you let him know that we are about to attack, so that he can rest assured?"


    After thinking about kirilov''s proposal, I finally shook my head and denied it: "no, comrade political commissar, I can''t report to the higher authorities for the time being. If we report to the marshal, it is necessary for us to report in detail the time of launching the attack, the deployment of troops and the various routes of the attack. Once the intelligence is cracked by the enemy, the consequences will be very serious. Our battle to liberate Kiev has reached the most critical moment. We must not make any mistakes, otherwise all our previous achievements will be wasted. "


    "What can we do now?" Kirilov continued.


    With a bitter smile, I answered him, "Comrade political commissar, all we can do now is wait. I hope the snow doesn''t stop too early, so our troops don''t have to worry about the German air attack and can safely get outside Kiev. "


    Perhaps seeing that we didn''t return the call, Zhukov sent us another telegram. In the telegram, he told us that the fortifications in Kiev were solid. In addition to the fortifications built by our army before, there were also fortifications added by the German army after it was stationed, which was conducive to defending. Therefore, our attack on Kiev must be fast, otherwise our siege troops will be surrounded as soon as the German reinforcements arrive. At that time, not only Kiev will not be won, but the whole army will be destroyed.


    Seeing Zhukov''s second telegram, not only kirilov, but also wittkov and Romanov were worried. Seeing the anxious expression on their faces, I put the telegram on the table, looked up and asked, "the battle against Kiev is about to start. What do you think?"


    "Comrade commander, after reading this telegram from the marshal, I am very worried." The first speaker was Romanov, who said anxiously: "are we too optimistic about winning Kiev? Although it was impeccable in terms of plan, our scouts did not know about the German defense in the city because of time. It''s a bit too risky to attack a big city with strong fortifications like this? "


    I glanced at Romanov discontentedly and said in my heart that all of you were cheering when making the plan. But now that Zhukov''s telegram comes, you''re in a panic. Now that you''ve played the retreat drum. But some words can only be thought of in mind, but can not be said, so he politely said: "Comrade General, what''s your idea, let''s listen to it?"


    Hearing my question, Romanov cautiously replied, "I think we should send a message to the front-line commanders immediately. When they arrive at the periphery of Kiev, they should stop immediately to build fortifications. When the situation in the city is clear, they can launch an attack."


    After hearing this, I did not immediately express my opinion. Instead, I turned to Vitkov and asked him, "Comrade chief of staff, what''s your opinion?"


    Witkov, who was frowning and pondering hard, heard my question and quickly stood up and replied, "Comrade commander, I don''t think general Romanov''s plan is desirable. Our original plan of seizing Kiev was originally based on sneak attacks, and then turned from sneak attacks to strong attacks when our whereabouts were exposed. If we really stop outside the city and build fortifications, then the enemy will be aware of our actions. Even if the troops in bruvalli do not withdraw, their air force bombing will cause us heavy casualties. "


    "The chief of staff is right." As soon as kirilov heard what wittkov said, he immediately expressed his attitude. Then he said to Romanov, "Comrade General, your plan sounds very well considered, but it is not advisable in practice. Once the German forces are on guard and attack with our current strength, even if they pay a heavy price, they will not be able to capture the city. In my opinion, we should continue to adopt the plan of the commander, with sneak attack as the main method and strong attack as the auxiliary method. We should wait until the battle starts to see what to do next. "


    Romanov heard kirilov and Vitkov''s opinions were highly unified, so he did not ask for my opinions, so as not to run into a wall again, so he had no choice but to promise: "well, we''ll wait for the latest news from the front line."


    As soon as five o''clock arrived, Pugachev ran in from the outside. He handed a telegram to me and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, it''s a telegram from Colonel andreushenko. He said that the battle against Kiev has begun!"


    When I received the telegram, I was afraid to see any bad news, so I handed it to wittkov. I tried to pretend nothing happened and said to him, "chief of staff, look at what Colonel andreushenko''s telegram says. Read it for all of us."


    Witkov read the telegram at a glance, and then excitedly said to some of us: "Colonel andreushenko reported that when the tank brigade arrived at the periphery of Kiev, it immediately led the infantry of the 308th division with the battalion as a unit to carry out an interspersed attack in the city of Kiev and directly attacked the October revolution square in the pexcela District of the city center. Specific war reports will be reported at any time. "


    After listening to wittkov''s words, I breathed a sigh of relief, and then told him to say, "chief of staff, you should immediately send a message to general rebalko that our attack on Kiev has begun, and let him immediately attack bruvalli, so that the enemy''s heavy army group must be firmly contained there."


    "Yes, I''ll send it immediately." Vetkov agreed and ran to the telephone to supervise the operator.


    I took a look at Pugachev, who was still standing in front of me, and said to him, "major, go and send a telegram to Marshal Zhukov, saying that our attack on Kiev has officially started. We will report the specific war report to him at any time." After wittkov came back from the telephone, he specially reported to me: "Comrade commander, in addition to sending telegrams to general rebalko, I also sent telegrams to Colonel andreushenko and general bantailiev respectively, ordering their troops to fight boldly and resolutely smash all the enemy''s stubborn resistance after breaking into the city. When they meet the enemy''s firepower points, they will be destroyed by the artillery of the Artillery Corps, so that the enemy will not have the capital to fight our army tenaciously. "¡° Yes, chief of staff. " I nodded with satisfaction at wittkov''s deployment, praised him and said, "you have arranged it very well. Only by quickly and decisively destroying the enemy''s firepower points can the German resistance in Kiev be destroyed in the shortest time. In this way, our chances of taking Kiev will be greatly increased. " Before long, Pugachev came in again. From the smile on his face, I know that he must bring good news. Sure enough, he reported to us that "... According to reports from the front line, our vanguard troops have approached the October Revolution square. Maybe the enemy didn''t expect us to attack Kiev at all, so there were no barricades in the streets. In the face of our army''s attack, the enemy could only hide behind the vehicles, large and small, which were parked on the roadside. In the face of the enemy''s cross fire of rifles, submachine guns and machine guns, there is no threat to our tank forces. At first, the vehicle mounted machine guns made the enemy unable to hold up their heads. Then our tanks rushed up one by one, driving the stubborn enemy hiding behind the vehicle to pieces with tracks. When we saw our tanks rushing forward along the street, the enemy panicked. Many people rushed out of the nearby buildings and tried to destroy our tanks with cluster grenades. But how can the soldiers on the armored vehicles behind the tanks let them succeed and immediately use intensive firepower to fight these audacious enemies with blood and flesh... "

 Chapter 986

    The battle continued. Not only did the tank brigade and the 308th division advance smoothly, but the resistance of the bantailiev division was also very weak. At seven o''clock, the 22nd division of the guards not only successfully occupied several churches, but also controlled two bridges leading to the left bank of the Dnieper River, completely cutting off the contact between the German forces on both sides of the Dnieper River.


    And the 171st division, which detoured to the north of the enemy, also sent a telegram saying that they had successfully made a detour to the north of Kiev. Besides leaving a regiment to monitor the enemy in Kiev, the main force was launching a fierce attack on VOS hornod. As long as the city was successfully captured, the German escape route to the North was completely cut off.


    Everyone was overjoyed to see the good news coming one by one. Kirilov even suggested to me: "Rita, judging from the current situation, all departments are progressing very smoothly. It is estimated that if we win Kiev in the daytime tomorrow, there will be no problem. Do you think it''s time to send a telegram to Marshal Zhukov and tell him the good news


    Although he suggested that I send a report to Zhukov a few hours ago, I had no idea whether the troops could launch an attack on time, so I didn''t agree with his suggestion. At this moment, we can see that the troops are progressing smoothly, but the unprepared German army is defeated under our fierce offensive. I believe that in about ten hours, the troops will be able to completely occupy Kiev. Now that the situation is clear, it''s time to send a telegram to Zhukov to make him feel at ease.


    Thinking of this, I nodded and said to wittkov: "Comrade chief of staff, send a telegram to Marshal Zhukov to give him a detailed report on our army''s successful invasion of Kiev. At the same time, we should also explain to him that in order to achieve the purpose of the surprise attack, all the officers and men who took part in the battle were dressed in German uniforms, so that after the battle started, the confused enemies could be completely thrown into chaos, so that they could not organize decent resistance. "


    After listening to my instructions, vetkov didn''t immediately arrange for the operator to send the message. Then he asked, "where is general rebalko? Do you need to send him a telegram?"


    "Yes, as soon as the message to the marshal is sent, it will be sent to general rebalko." Wittkov''s reminder was timely. It reminded me that in addition to the 79th infantry attacking Kiev, on the left bank of the Dnieper River, another army under my command was launching a fierce attack on bruvalli, where the enemy''s heavy troops had gathered. To announce to them the news of our army''s invasion of Kiev can also play a role in boosting morale¡° Tell the general that our army has successfully entered Kiev and is waging a fierce battle with the defenders in the city. Let them speed up their attack and come to join us as soon as possible. "


    After witkov sent a telegram back, I suddenly thought of an important question and asked cautiously, "chief of staff, did you mention the situation of the residents in the city in the war report fed back from the front line?"


    Witkov didn''t know the purpose of my question. He shook his head blankly, and then truthfully replied, "no, the telegram from the front didn''t mention the residents of the city."


    When Vitkov finished, kirilov asked me curiously, "Rita, why do you want to ask about this. Are you worried that the German forces in Kiev, like the enemies of cherkaser, will push the residents out to block bullets? "


    As for kirilov''s conjecture, I waved my hand and then said what I thought: "we are here to liberate Kiev. No matter how hard we fight with the German army, we can not ignore the lives and property of hundreds of thousands of civilians. Although our progress is very smooth and the damage to the city is very small, there are still some residents in some areas who will be impressed. Comrade chief of staff, we need to generate electricity for the frontier. If we find those residents who have escaped from their homes, we must evacuate them in time and hide them in a safe place to minimize the casualties of the residents. "


    After hearing this, kirilov pondered for a moment and said, "Comrade Rita is very considerate. The people of Kiev have lived under the iron feet of the Communist aggressors for almost two years and have been looking forward to the return of our troops to liberate them. If we cause heavy civilian casualties during the attack, it will bring inconvenience to our management after the liberation of Kiev. General Romanov, go immediately to the commander in front of you and pass on Rita''s opinion to them. "


    "OK, I''ll go right now." Romanov agreed and went to the operator.


    Pugachev, who came in from the outside, brought us a new telegram. General rebalko said in the telegram that after a fierce battle, the troops who rushed into bruvalli occupied two-thirds of the city. At present, the main forces are launching attacks on the areas occupied by the remnant German forces. At the same time, special companies have been deployed to clear and suppress the scattered German forces in the occupied areas.


    After reading the telegram, wittkov said optimistically: "Comrade commander, according to general rebalko''s playing style, I think his troops will arrive in the eastern suburb of Kiev by dawn at the latest. At that time, the 22nd division of the guards will be able to rush across the river, attack them from east to west, and annihilate the remnant of the German army in the east of the city. "


    I was deeply afraid that he would be too complacent. I immediately reminded him, "chief of staff, don''t be so happy. Unexpected things may happen at any time before the end of the battle. Therefore, it is very necessary for us as commanders to keep calm all the time."


    Just then, Romanov came back from the telephone, put a telegram on the table, and said, "Comrade commander, we''ve got some trouble in our attack."


    When I saw wittkov reach out and pick up the telegram, I raised my head and asked Romanov, "Comrade General, what''s going on in the front line?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Romanov shrunk his mouth and said solemnly: "although the German army was dazed after our sudden attack, the enemy had a little taste of it after such a long time of fighting. They set up fire points in the buildings on both sides of the street and shot down our infantry charging behind tanks and armored vehicles, It caused some casualties to our troops.


    What''s worse is that about a multi battalion German army retreated to the October Revolution square along the grushevsky street, and retreated into the malinsky palace to the north of the square, blocking our advance with artillery and machine gun fire. After losing seven or eight tanks and armored vehicles, major perskin''s tank battalion 1 was suppressed by German firepower in malinski park on the south side of the square. "


    When witkov heard this, he said thoughtfully: "malinsky palace is a stone building, which can resist the direct fire of tank guns. It seems that if we want to take this building, we will have to pay a huge sacrifice. "


    I thought about it for a moment, and thought that wittkov was right. We were lack of heavy artillery to attack the city. If the German army took refuge in the malinski palace, we would not be able to seize the building in the shortest time even if we took human lives to fill it. The only way is to destroy the building so that none of the enemies hiding inside can survive. So I opened my mouth and said to Romanov, "Comrade General, please send a message to major perskin, and ask him to transfer the rockets from the camp to the park. In addition, commander kavilin''s artillery forces will concentrate their fire on the malinsky palace."


    After my order was given, Romanov''s expression was still calm, but wittkov was shocked. He said painfully: "Comrade commander, if you use rockets, it is estimated that this building with a long history will go up in smoke. I suggest organizing troops to attack malinski palace under the cover of tank fire. As long as our troops can successfully rush in, they may compete with the enemy house by house. It is only a matter of time before we can eliminate them with our superiority. "


    I glared at him and said discontentedly, "Comrade chief of staff, is it the malinski palace that is important or the lives of our commanders and fighters that are precious? If we destroy the building, we can eliminate the invaders inside. After the war, we can build better and more beautiful buildings there. If our soldiers die, they will never live again. "


    Listen to me, vetkov is silent. Seeing that the air in the room would solidify again, kirilov came out in time and said, "Rita is right. No matter how good or beautiful the building is, can it be as valuable as the lives of our commanders and fighters? General Romanov, don''t be stunned there. Go and send a message to the commanders in Kiev. "


    Seeing that Romanov turned to the telephone without saying a word, I got up from my seat and said to kirilov and Vitkov, "political commissar and chief of staff, you two will stay in general Romanov''s command post for the time being..."


    Before I finished, kirilov asked warily, "Rita, what do you mean by that? Do you want to go to the front line again?"


    As for kirilov''s conjecture, I nodded and said with certainty: "whether we can win Kiev depends on the progress of the fighting tonight. If I don''t see with my own eyes that the enemies of malinski palace have been destroyed, I''m not sure. So I must go to the city to have a look. "


    "You can''t go alone." Kirilov after I finished, involuntarily said: "we are partners, but where you go, I will follow you."


    I know kirilov''s character is superficial and easygoing, but once he decides something, nine cows will not come back, so I readily agreed: "well, comrade political commissar, you can go to Kiev with me. And you, chief of staff, will continue to stay here and coordinate and command the fighting among the various units. "


    Witkov saw that kirilov and I left him behind again. Although he was dissatisfied, he had no choice but to say, "yes, I will obey your orders."


    When kirilov and I got into the jeep, I asked the driver, "Comrade driver, we are going to Kiev. How long will it take you to get there?"


    The driver looked out of the window and then replied, "Comrade commander, the heavy snow outside has stopped. It is estimated that we will be outside Kiev in 40 minutes."


    "Good. Let''s drive."


    After the jeep started, kirilov asked, "Rita, what are your plans after you take Kiev?"


    Kirilov''s question really bothered me. What I''ve been thinking about all this time is how to command the troops to capture Kiev and turn it into a bridgehead for our army''s attack. I really haven''t thought about anything superfluous.


    After a long time, I answered him with a special official reply: "what else can we plan to do? Since we have captured Kiev, we should try our best to keep this city from falling into the hands of the enemy again."


    After listening to my reply, kirilov asked noncommittally, "do you think our troops can hold Kiev after we capture Kiev and under the enemy''s crazy counterattack?" This new question really left me speechless. At the beginning of the war, more than 700000 people in the southwest front of the Soviet army failed to defend Kiev. If I want to block the German attack with tens of thousands of troops, it''s a bit like a dream. However, kirilov saw my dilemma and did not continue to ask. Instead, he sighed and turned his eyes out of the window. It was not until we entered the urban area of Kiev that we came to an end. Kirilov looked at the complete buildings on both sides of the street, and passed by our army officers and men in German uniform and tied with white towel on their left arm from time to time. He couldn''t help but say in surprise, "Rita, it seems that the fighting tonight is not too cruel. Look at the buildings on both sides, even the glass on the windows is complete." With these words, our jeep, guided by the soldiers in the city, came to malinsky park. Here, I met the commander of the 308th division, Col. andreushenko, the artillery commander, Lt. Col. kaverin, and the tank battalion commander, major Peregrine. After all three of them stood in front of us, the first thing I asked was, "how is it? Has the malinsky palace been taken down?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Andreushenko, on behalf of the three people, answered me: "after the heavy artillery attack, the walls of the malinski palace were riddled with holes and crumbling by our cannons. Our infantry followed the tanks and armored vehicles and shot down the enemies who were still fighting in the ruins. The garrison in the tallest LADA building next to us may have been frightened by our thunderous means. Before we launched an attack on them, they put up a white flag on the window and surrendered to us. I''ve just sent a battalion into the building to accept the German surrender and collect their weapons. "

 Chapter 987

    After listening to andreushenko''s report, I asked perersian: "Hello, major, what''s the situation with the tank brigade?" Although Colonel berey is the acting brigade commander of the 22nd tank brigade, because he has been recovering from injuries, the daily affairs of the tank brigade are all in the charge of the tank battalion commander peresjian.


    When he heard my question, pels stepped forward and reported to me with a smile: "Comrade commander, Captain shamrih''s tank battalion and a unit of the 308th division have successfully occupied the airport in the north of the city."


    "What, occupying the enemy''s airport?" The unexpected good news surprised me¡° When did it happen? Why don''t I know? "


    "Ten minutes ago, I sent a telegram to the headquarters." After saying this, peiersjian may have seen the dissatisfaction on my face and quickly added: "you were on the road at that time, so you didn''t receive the latest report in time."


    "What did you get?" The last time smira was bombed by the German army, I estimated that the enemy plane took off from the Kiev airport. At the moment, I heard that the airport had been occupied by our army. I can''t wait to know the result of the battle: "how many enemy planes have been destroyed and how many more have been captured?"


    After listening to my question, perschien didn''t answer immediately. Instead, he looked at andreushenko with a smile and said politely, "Comrade commander, our tank battalion just cooperated with the infantry to break through the German defensive position at the airport. The rest of the fighting was fought by the infantry of the 308th division. The colonel should report it to you."


    "Yes, comrade commander." Andreushenko quickly added: "because it''s dark now, when our troops attack the airport, the plane can''t take off, so our infantry, under the cover of tanks, easily broke through the German defense at the airport and rushed in. After some fighting, a company guard and dozens of pilots at the airport were all killed. Of the 24 aircraft of various types parked at the airport, except for three which were damaged in the battle, the rest are intact. "


    I captured 21 airplanes. When I first heard that, I was still a little excited. But on second thought, there are no pilots who can fly airplanes in the army, and these airplanes are of no use to us. It''s a pity to blow it up; Stay. It''s not sure when the German army will fight back. These planes will fall into their hands again.


    While I was thinking about what to do with the seized aircraft, kirilov whispered in my ear, "Rita, shall we find a place to set up the temporary headquarters first? In this way, we can also keep abreast of the situation on the battlefield. "


    As for kirilov''s proposal, I very much agree with it. Although there are all our troops nearby, we can''t command the battle in the park with wide vision. So I asked andreushenko, "Colonel, where can I find a building nearby that can build a temporary headquarters?"


    Andreushenko looked around, then pointed to the southwest and said, "Comrade commander, there is a room of the park management office over there, which can be your temporary headquarters."


    I looked in the direction of andreushenko''s finger and saw the shadow of a one story building 100 meters away. I felt that the location was not bad, so andreushenko nodded and said, "please show us the way, Colonel."


    There are only three rooms in the park management office, but the area is not small. I arranged for Yushchenko and them to work in the outermost room as the security of the headquarters. The headquarters is located in the middle room. In the innermost small room, there are several single beds. It should be the place where the park staff sleep and watch.


    While the operator was setting up the telephone, andrewshenko came up to me and offered to me: "Comrade commander, I have a request. I hope you can agree to it."


    "Go ahead, captain." As the battle to capture Kiev went smoothly tonight, I heard andriyusenko''s request and said very frankly, "as long as I can do it, I will promise you."


    "Comrade commander, it is like this." Although I have promised andrewshenko, he still hesitated: "I hope I can change the clothes for our division?"


    Change clothes?! Andreushenko''s request puzzled me. Although the 308th division is now equipped with German and Soviet weapons, after all, everyone has weapons. What equipment do you need to change? Just because I didn''t understand this, I asked curiously, "Colonel, didn''t the army supply you with a batch of weapons and ammunition some time ago? What else do you want to change? "


    "Well, comrade commander." Seeing that I was confused, andreushenko quickly explained to me, "the weapons and equipment of the 308th division are our own and those of the captured German army. At present, we can''t get supplies from our own logistics, so if we fight one or two more battles at most, our army''s equipment in the hands of the soldiers will become a pile of scrap iron because of the depletion of ammunition. Therefore, I ask you to replace all the equipment of our division with German equipment, so that it can be replenished at the end of the battle. What do you mean? "


    I understand what andriyusenko said is true, but when attacking Kiev, the ammunition consumption of each unit must be quite a large number. If the 308th division is completely replaced with German equipment, will it affect the replenishment of other units after the end of the battle. It is precisely because of this that I have not given a positive answer to andrewshenko''s request.


    "What are you thinking, Rita?" Perhaps because I was silent all the time, kirilov was deeply afraid that andreushenko would be ignored. He quickly reminded me that "Colonel andreushenko is still waiting for your reply."


    I was awakened from kirilov''s meditation, and then I gave andreushenko an apologetic smile, and said, "Comrade Colonel, I understand what you mean. However, it''s difficult for me to give you a definite answer now, because I don''t know whether it will affect the supply of other troops after changing the equipment of your division. "


    "Comrade commander, please rest assured." Andreushenko understood the reason why I was so slow to speak. He was relieved, and then said, "our division has occupied the enemy''s armory. The weapons and ammunition in it, let alone three divisions, are more than enough, even if we count all the friendly forces on the left bank of the Dnieper River."


    Andrewshenko''s words immediately made me overjoyed to see that Kiev is the right way to play. There are constant surprises in front of us tonight. First, they occupied the German airfield and seized 21 fighters of various types; Then he occupied an ammunition depot that could arm tens of thousands of people.


    Now that there are enough weapons and ammunition for the reserve, I will generously say, "well, comrade Colonel, since that is the case, as soon as the battle against Kiev is over, I will completely change your division."


    Seeing andreushenko cheering, I added: "Colonel, since the airport has fallen into our hands, your division will be responsible for the security of the airport. At the same time, the German airport''s anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns were used to quickly form air firepower and prevent German bombing of the airport. "


    After they were sent away, the communication equipment in the headquarters began to operate normally. With us came to Kiev''s razumeyeva, soon after the power on, received several telegrams.


    When I received the telegram, I found that it was all from Vitkov. In the telegram, he reported to me that our troops had successfully occupied the enemy''s airport and seized a large number of airplanes and supporting fuel and ammunition. General rebalko''s forces have completely wiped out the German forces in the city of bruvalli, and the main force is advancing towards the eastern suburbs of Kiev.


    Seeing this series of good news, I felt very relaxed. Seeing that razumeyeva was still standing in front of me, I immediately told her, "Lieutenant, send a telegram to Marshal Zhukov and report our information to him." When I saw that she was about to leave, I added at the back, "and, immediately establish a telephone contact with the 22nd division of the guards. I want to speak to general bantaileiev in person."


    Razumeyeva and her subordinates were very efficient. In less than ten minutes, they connected the telephone line with the 22nd division of the guards. When I heard leiev''s familiar voice coming out of the receiver, I quickly said hello to him: "Hello, Comrade General. What''s the situation there? "


    "Report to the commander that at present our division has taken control of all the bridges on the Dnieper River, in addition to the designated monasteries and churches." Perhaps influenced by the smooth fighting, bantaileiev said with a little complacency: "as long as you give us an order, we can immediately rush across the bridge and wipe out the enemy on the other side."


    "Comrade General, you will have a chance to destroy the enemy." I was deeply afraid that he would suffer unnecessary losses by belittling the enemy, so I specially told him: "at present, general rebalko''s troops are driving towards the eastern suburbs of Kiev after clearing up the remnants of the German army in the city of bruvalli. Your division''s task now is to firmly guard the ferry and the two bridges over the Dnieper River, so that the enemy in the city can neither escape to the left bank nor rush into the city. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Bantaileiev replied in a low voice, "we have built a solid fortification at the end of the bridge. As long as one of our commanders and fighters is still alive, the enemies on both sides of the Strait will never have a chance to meet."


    "Well done, Comrade General." As for the arrangement of Bantai leiev, I paid a compliment and then put down the phone.


    Just after the call with Bantai leiev, Zhukov''s reply arrived. Even kirilov thought it a little incredible that the reply came so quickly. He said in a low voice: "in the past, we used to send a message to the marshal, and we could not receive a reply until an hour later. I didn''t expect that not long after today''s telegram was sent, the Marshal''s reply arrived. Look, Rita. What did the marshal say in the telegram? "


    After reading the telegram, I said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, the marshal is very satisfied with the present performance of our army. He hoped that we would make persistent efforts to annihilate the Kiev garrison before dark tomorrow. In addition, he also said that tomorrow, two transport planes will land at the airport in the northern suburb of Kiev, and all of them will arrive at random are excellent air force commanders and fighters of our army. After they take over these planes, at least our army will get some control over Kiev. "


    "Good, good, good!" After listening, kirilov said three "yes" in succession, and then added: "marshal is marshal, and consideration is more comprehensive than us. All of us are still thinking about how to beat back the enemy''s attack. What he wants is to regain the air supremacy over Kiev. "


    "Comrade political commissar, whether we can win Kiev on time or not." After kirilov finished, I said to him cautiously, "the troops of Manstein will come from our South. We need to adjust our deployment. "¡° How to adjust the deployment? " After asking this question, kirilov was deeply afraid that I would not think about some things carefully. He also specially reminded me that "our troops are limited. If we are sent to strengthen the defense of nearby cities, Kiev will become an empty city. When the Germans fight back, it is also a big problem whether we can defend the city."¡° If we didn''t attack Kiev, we could cross the river from kaniv to the left bank of the Dnieper after giving up all the cities. " Seeing the situation of the enemy and ourselves on the map, I said helplessly: "now that our army''s operation in Kiev has started, the original plan must be adjusted. At least cities like smira and chelkather can''t give up. As long as we guard these cities, Kiev can have enough strategic depth, and we can only persist for a longer time under the fierce attack of the enemy. "¡° But our troops are limited. Which army do you plan to send to guard these cities? " Kirilov, because of his nervousness, unconsciously changed "you" into "you". I pointed to kaniv and said, "at present, major general wachuk''s 79th division of the close guard infantry is here in kaniv. He can send his troops south to replace smira and cherkaser and replace the 79th army. Comrade political commissar, can you do this? " Kirilov stared at the map, gesticulated on it for a while, nodded and said, "I think your arrangement is reasonable." Then he raised his head and looked at me, "then immediately send a telegram to general rebalko, and ask him to order major general wachuk''s 79th division of close guard infantry to garrison smira and cherkaser overnight to take charge of the defense task in the south of Kiev." Seeing that kirilov and I had reached an agreement, I quickly called razumeyeva to come over and dictated the order to her: "Lieutenant, send a message to general rebalko, and order him to immediately let the 79th division of the guard infantry garrison in smira and cherkaser overnight to take charge of the defense on the south side of Kiev, so as to ensure that the enemy can not move forward before the end of the battle to liberate Kiev."

 Chapter 988

    At daybreak, the sound of gunfire and explosion from outside the house gradually became sparse. According to my battlefield experience, this is a sign that the battle is coming to an end.


    As early as a few hours ago, bantailiev''s headquarters began to attack the east side of the bridge occupied by the German army, but because the enemy resisted tenaciously with strong fortifications, several charges were unsuccessful, and they also paid a great price. As the sky gets brighter and brighter, if we can''t win the position on the other side and join forces with the friendly forces, we will suffer even greater losses once we wait for the enemy''s plane to arrive.


    I rubbed the vaguely painful temple, then rushed to Pugachev, who had just arrived at the headquarters, and said, "major, call general bantailiev and ask him about the situation there to see if he has joined the friendly forces."


    Pugachev agreed and walked quickly to the desk. Just as he was about to pick up the phone, the phone on the desk rang first. He grabbed the microphone and said in a loud voice, "Hello, this is the headquarters. Where are you?"


    After listening for a moment, he suddenly exclaimed excitedly: "what, meeting with the friendly forces?"?! Where? Near No.1 Bridge, before Levchenko could explain, a tank soldier who just came to her began to introduce to us: "comrades commander, maybe you don''t know that in the battle, Levchenko saved 168 wounded people, captured an enemy and captured a machine gun from Romanians. Later, because of serious injury, he was diagnosed and treated as unable to continue to serve, and should have retired. But she can''t help but refuse to accept the diagnosis and treatment that she can''t continue to serve. She also strongly demands to learn tank driving skills and join the tank army. "


    I know that tank soldiers are special arms, and they can''t join if they want to. Besides, she is still a wounded who is diagnosed and treated as unable to continue to serve. If she wants to join, the difficulty coefficient will be higher. I was attracted by her legendary experience, so I can''t wait to know how she joined the tank Army: "Mr. chief, can you tell me how you joined the tank army later?"


    "Comrade General, when my request to join the tank army according to the normal procedure was rejected, I did not give up, so I went to the commander of the tank army, general Fedorenko." Levchenko told me about her experience of joining the tank army without concealment: "at first, the general refused me without hesitation. But instead of leaving, I cried to the general that my hometown voroshlovgrad had fallen into the hands of the Communist aggressors. As a Ukrainian, I couldn''t watch my compatriots struggling under the iron feet of the enemy, so I insisted on joining the tank troops to fight against the Communist aggressors and rescue our enslaved people as soon as possible.


    Maybe it was my words that moved general Fedorenko, who finally agreed to my request to join the tank army. When I was rejected by the doctor because of the disability in my right arm, it was general Fedorenko who let me pass the physical examination and entered the tank Academy in Stalingrad for a quick study of relevant courses. "


    Hearing her mention of Stalingrad, I couldn''t help asking, "so you also participated in the defense of Stalingrad?"


    She nodded and said with certainty, "yes, Comrade General. My army, which had fought with the German army in the Don River Valley, suffered heavy losses and was evacuated to Tula, near Moscow, for repair. Not long after the completion of the rectification, he was transferred to the front line to take part in the battle for the liberation of Ukraine. "


    After listening to her experience, not only did I nod my head in admiration, but also Yushchenko, who was standing behind me, kept whispering to the soldiers beside me: "great, this girl is really great!"


    We were talking when several armored cars came from a distance, followed by a truck with a canopy. The motorcade stopped 20 or 30 meters away from us. Seeing the soldiers jumping from the truck, they quickly set up a guard formation near the armored car. They knew that general rebalko must have arrived.


    I was hesitating whether to meet the past, just from the armored car down the group of commanders, has come towards me. At this time, I can''t stand still, I can only face it.


    The burly Round faced general who walked in the front stopped a few steps away from me, raised his hand and saluted, and said aloud, "Hello, comrade commander


    "Hello, general rebalko." I hastened to return a gift, stepped forward, reached out and shook hands with him: "welcome to Kiev!"


    Rebalko shook my hand and said, "Comrade commander, you are really amazing. But when I learned from Marshal Zhukov that you planned to launch an attack on Kiev, I didn''t feel at ease. I thought that in a big city like this, the German army must be heavily guarded. Without a month or two, it would never be able to attack it. But I didn''t expect that in just a dozen hours since the attack, most of Kiev has fallen into our hands. The capital of Ukraine finally broke away from the hands of the Communist aggressors and returned to the embrace of the motherland. "


    "General rebalko," I said politely after he finished, "although we have captured Kiev, the enemy will certainly not give up. Manstein, who is at war with the Voronov front army and the southwest front army of our army, will surely deploy heavy troops to counter attack Kiev in the shortest time. With the strength of the 79th infantry army, it is very difficult to defend Kiev, so you should transfer your troops to Kiev as soon as possible to participate in the defense. "


    Rebalko listened to me, nodded and echoed: "this is no problem. When we have cleared the remnants of the German army on the East Bank of Kiev, we can transfer all the main forces into the city to strengthen the defense force in the city." Kirilov, after rebalko released my hand, also extended his hand to him and introduced himself: "Hello, comrade deputy commander. I''m acting military Commissioner kirilov. Nice to meet you here. " Next, general rebalko introduced to me the commanders who followed him. Except for the commanders of the 12th and 15th armies, the rest were the commanders or political commissars of the tank brigades. After the greetings, kirilov kindly reminded us: "general Rita and general rebalko, although they are all our people nearby, they are on the battlefield after all. There are no scattered soldiers hidden by the enemy nearby. For the sake of safety, we''d better go back to the headquarters."¡° Where is the headquarters? " After hearing kirilov''s words, rebarkov immediately asked curiously, "is it in the malinski palace?" Kirilov shook his head and replied, "Comrade deputy commander, you may be disappointed. In the battle a few hours ago, the malinski palace was destroyed by the artillery fire of our army. Although it has not completely collapsed, it can no longer be used as the location of the headquarters. So just before I came here, I had ordered my men to move the new headquarters to the highest LADA building opposite the malinsky palace. " Rebalko felt sorry when he heard that the malinsky palace had been destroyed, but he said casually: "since the new headquarters is located in the supreme LADA building, let''s go now. The government building is also a stone building, and there is a basement under it. Even in case of enemy bombing, we can move to the basement below in time. "

 Chapter 989

    The new headquarters is located on the first floor of the tallest LADA building. The spacious conference room is divided into two parts. It is usually the place where we command operations, while the other half is the place where communication equipment is placed. Maybe rebalko was worried that our communication situation would not be able to meet the requirements of commanding campaign cluster operations. He also brought two communication companies and supporting communication equipment.


    As soon as we arrived at the headquarters, the division commanders called one after another, saying that the German remnant enemy had been eliminated in the area they occupied.


    Hearing one good news after another, rebalko said with emotion: "Comrade commander, I didn''t expect you to capture Kiev so soon. In my imagination, we can''t conquer Kiev with solid fortifications in 10 days and a half months with only one tank group army, one infantry army and three infantry divisions. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, everything is possible." Hearing that Kiev had been completely occupied by our army, kirilov was in a very good mood. He said to rebalko with a smile, "don''t you see that our commanders and fighters are all wearing German uniforms? It is precisely because our attacking troops are all wearing the enemy''s uniform that we are unprepared when the enemy is attacked, which greatly increases the probability of successful sneak attacks. "


    After listening to kirilov''s words, rebarko turned his eyes to me and said in an appreciative tone, "Comrade oshanina, tell me the truth. When I heard Marshal Zhukov put my tank army under your command, I was very unconvinced. I think that a woman can''t command an infantry army at most. If she is allowed to command a campaign group, then the possibility of failure in this campaign will be very great. " At this point, he shrugged his shoulders, "but it turns out that I was wrong. I apologize for my doubts about you." Then he reached out to me.


    When I held hands with him, I politely said, "general rebalko, your rank is higher than mine. It is reasonable to say that this battle cluster should be under your command. I am very happy to be your deputy..."


    "Don''t say that," rebarkolen said sincerely, waving his hands. "If I were in charge of this battle, our troops would not be able to resist Kiev, let alone liberate this enslaved city from the enemy for nearly two years."


    "Well, two comrades in command," kirilov reminded us when he saw the mutual modesty between rebalko and me, "next, shall we discuss what to do after we capture the city?"


    On hearing kirilov''s warning, I called Pugachev over and told him, "major, send a telegram to Marshal Zhukov immediately, telling him that we have joined forces with general rebalko''s troops and successfully captured Kiev."


    As soon as Pugachev left, kirilov reminded me, "Rita, is it necessary to set up some air defense positions in the city to prevent the enemy''s possible crazy bombing of Kiev?"


    "Yes, the military commissar is right." As soon as kirilov finished speaking, rebalko continued: "we have no air supremacy. When the Germans know that we have captured Kiev, they will send planes to bomb. If we don''t make preparations in advance, there will be heavy casualties."


    "Kiev is too big. With our existing strength and equipment, we can''t give consideration to all areas at all. Therefore, we can only set up air defense positions in important areas." It''s an indisputable fact that the enemy''s air force is stronger than ours, so the preparations must be made ahead of time. "In addition, there are 21 captured airplanes of various types at the airport in the north of the city. Unfortunately, there are no suitable pilots in our troops who can fly these airplanes, so we have to wait patiently for the arrival of the pilots sent by the marshal to us."


    Speaking of this, Pugachev, who came back from the direction of the telephone, reported to me: "Comrade commander, the garrison of the airport called and said that the two transport planes from Moscow had landed smoothly. There were 30 pilots on board, led by an air force lieutenant commander, who came to accept the plane. At the moment, they are waiting for your order at the airport. "


    When I heard that the pilots sent by Zhukov had arrived, I felt a lot more confident. As long as there were pilots, the planes parked at the airport could be used. We would not only be attacked by German bombs, but at least had the air counterattack ability. I quickly told Pugachev: "major, call the commander of the airport and ask him to take the pilot to receive the plane. It is necessary to be familiar with the performance of the aircraft as soon as possible, and be able to take off in time when an enemy aircraft is found. "


    When rebalco heard that the pilot assigned to us was in place, he was very excited: "great, really great. As long as we have a plane, we won''t get bombed on the ground. " Speaking of this, he looked dejected. "In yesterday''s battle, if it wasn''t for the heavy losses of our tanks caused by the indiscriminate bombardment of enemy planes, bruvalli might have been taken down in the daytime. When the tanks saw the words of Venus medal and" Soviet hero "in the telegram, my heart beat faster. My God, I won Kiev by chance, It gives me such a high honor. I was so excited that I didn''t even know when kirilov took the telegram from me.


    "Rita, please accept my congratulations to you and general rebalko for winning the Venus medal and the title of" Soviet hero. " Kirilov''s excited voice awakened me from my meditation. Seeing his hand in front of me, I quickly reached for it and said thank you. After kirilov and rebalko shook hands and expressed their congratulations, I coughed, cleared my throat, and tried to say in a calm voice, "next, we''ll wait for Manstein here, and we must let his troops meet under our Kiev City to break the blood flow."

 Chapter 990

    The German ground forces were not close to Kiev, so the first to retaliate was their air force. Although our Air Force stationed at Beijiao airport launched an attack in time, it started a fight with the enemy aircraft in the air. Although they have shot down seven, wounded two, and lost five of them, and successfully drove away the enemy planes, there are still a lot of bombs falling in the city, of which more than ten bombs fell near the headquarters and exploded, and the gray smoke shrouded the broad streets.


    Because there are our fighters fighting with the enemy planes in the air, rebalko and I did not move to the basement, but remained in the original headquarters. According to the latest information received, the troops entering the city were transferred to the areas that needed to be defended.


    By noon, the 12th tank army and the 321st infantry division had all arrived in Kiev and were assigned to the new defensive zone. The 15th army, however, had not fully restored its command system because of the sacrifice of its commander. For the sake of safety, rebalko left them on the left bank of the Dnieper River, firmly guarding the cities occupied by our army and protecting the newly opened traffic lines.


    We were having lunch with Vitkov, who had just arrived at the headquarters, when the telephone rang on the desk. Major Pugachev came over and picked up the microphone. After listening to it, he covered the microphone and reported to me, "Comrade commander, the officer on duty at the airport reported that a transport plane from Moscow had landed at the airport. When it came, two fighters were escorting it."


    When I heard Pugachev''s report, my first reaction was: is there a big man coming? He quickly stood up and asked nervously, "is there any commander sent by the superior?"


    Pugachev shook his head and replied, "it''s not a big man. It''s a liaison officer sent by the marshal. He said there are important orders to give you." After the report, he immediately asked, "do you want me to send someone to the airport for an order?"


    If I think about sending someone to the airport, it will take at least an hour. I guess this order should be very important, otherwise Zhukov would not send a telegram to us, but send a liaison officer to send a message. With this in mind, I shook my head and said to Pugachev, "major, let the airport send people to get that liaison officer here."


    "Yes!" Pugachev agreed, released his hand covering the microphone, and said to the other party, "the commander has an order to send someone to escort the liaison officer to the headquarters. Remember, make sure the liaison officer is safe. "


    Watching Pugachev finish the call, kirilov said curiously: "the marshal doesn''t even send a telegram, but specially sends a liaison officer to send orders. What kind of command would it be? "


    After waiting for kirilov to finish, rebalko said in a puzzled way: "Comrade Marshal just sent us a telegram this morning. If there is anything important, he should say it together. Why do we send liaison officers to give us orders at such a time? "


    Instead of speaking, I turned to Vitkov to listen to him. With his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand, wittkov said thoughtfully, "maybe the marshal, seeing that we have successfully captured Kiev, thinks that we can continue to expand our achievements, so he has set us new targets for attack?"


    I think everyone expressed their own views and could not help saying: "we have just won Kiev. The first task now is to consolidate our existing defense line and prevent possible German counterattack. It is reasonable to say that our superiors will not add new tasks to us at such a time. "


    After hearing what I said, rebalko waved his hand and said, "it''s absolutely possible. After all, we have just finished the battle of Kiev. It''s absolutely necessary to launch a new battle while the enemy hasn''t recovered."


    In my mind, the concept of a campaign is to fight for a month or two with hundreds of thousands of troops. But we only fought a few battles with the German army in a small area. Is this also a battle? With this question in mind, I asked tentatively, "general rebalko, is the battle we just ended a battle?"


    Rebalko nodded his head vigorously and said with certainty: "yes, although we did not invest a lot of troops this time and the scale of the battle was not large, the successful capture of Kiev is a great victory. Such a battle is not a battle. What kind of battle can be regarded as a battle? "


    Although there is a certain difference between what rebalko said and my understanding, I didn''t ask any more, but nodded my head to show that I understood. Then, in time, I turned off the topic: "general rebarko, you see that major general grebov''s 27th division of the close guard infantry is still stationed in bruvalli. Do you need to transfer them to strengthen Kiev''s defense?"


    After staring at the map for a while, rebalko shook his head and said, "Comrade commander, I don''t think it''s necessary. If major general grebov''s troops were in bruvalli, they could help us fight the German offensive from the East. If they are transferred to Kiev, then our strategic depth will be gone. The enemy can rush under the city of Kiev, or even rush into the city to fight with us in the street. Then we will be in a passive position. "


    Wittkov promptly supported rebalko''s view. Seeing that they had the same opinion, I also looked at the map for a while. I felt that once Manstein''s troops got rid of the contact of Voronezh''s front army, they could launch an attack on Kiev from the East, and bruvalli, who was held by the 27th guard division, would become Kiev''s eastern barrier. So instead of sticking to my own opinion, I said with approval, "Comrade General, you are right. We must leave enough troops in bruvalli to resist the attack from the East. In that case, let the 22nd division of the guards stay in bruvalli


    Then, we studied how to deploy troops in the occupied area, so that the liaison officer who arrived from the airport went into the headquarters, and I didn''t find out in time.


    Pugachev came up to me and reminded me in a low voice, "Comrade commander, the liaison officer is here."


    At that time, I was looking at the defense area divided by rebalko for the 79th division of the guards. When I heard Pugachev''s words, I didn''t respond to them. Instead, I asked casually, "liaison officer, what liaison officer?" As soon as the words came out, I suddenly thought of the liaison officer sent by Zhukov. I quickly raised my head and asked him, "where is the liaison officer?"


    Pugachev pursed his lips to the side, and I looked in the direction he directed. I saw a major of medium build standing quietly at the other end of the conference table.


    "Come here, comrade major." I said politely to the major opposite.


    The major came up to me with neat steps, raised his hand, saluted and reported to me, "Hello, general oshanina. I''m the liaison officer sent by Marshal Zhukov. I''ve been ordered to give you a secret letter. " With that, he took out a sealed envelope from his briefcase and handed it to me.


    I took the envelope, pulled out the letterhead and read it. After reading it, I couldn''t help thinking: "what''s the matter? Why did Zhukov let me go back to Moscow immediately? Doesn''t he know that we have just liberated Kiev, and there are still many things to do next? How can I leave my troops and go back to Moscow at such a time? "


    When kirilov saw that I had finished reading the order, he kept silent and asked with concern, "Rita, I don''t know what kind of order the marshal gave you?"


    Thinking that the secret message was not necessary for them to keep secret, I handed the letter to him and said to rebalko and Vitkov: "the marshal ordered me to hand over the command of the troops to general rebalko immediately, and then the liaison officer who came with the secret message returned to Moscow together."


    My words surprised everyone. Pugachev was not far from the liaison officer. I heard him ask him in a low voice, "major, do you know why you want to call the commander back to Moscow?"


    The liaison officer shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly, "I''m sorry, comrade major. I''m only ordered to send a letter to Comrade General. As for what''s written in the letter, I don''t know."


    After kirilov finished reading the letter, rebalko immediately took it over and looked at it carefully. After reading it, he said solemnly: "Comrade oshanina, in this letter, Marshal Zhukov only asked you to hand over the command of the army to me, but he did not explain the reason why you were recalled to Moscow. I think that this order was given by the Supreme Commander himself, and the marshal just conveyed it. "


    For rebalko''s analysis, I think it is very reasonable. If Zhukov wants to call me back to Moscow, he just needs to send a telegram instead of sending someone to send me a letter in person. Thinking of this, I asked the liaison officer, "Comrade major, am I the only one to go back to Moscow?"


    After listening to my question, the liaison officer first looked at the people who focused on him, and then replied, "you are the only commander recalled to Moscow, but you can take several security guards back with you, such as captain Yushchenko."


    When I heard that the liaison officer mentioned Yushchenko''s name, even the title of his rank, was still the original rank of captain, I knew better that the person who gave the order might really be a higher level person than Zhukov.


    "Major, when can we start?" I asked the major.


    The liaison officer replied without expression: "Comrade General, I am ordered to escort you back to Moscow after you have gone through the procedure of transferring command."


    After listening to the liaison officer''s words, I turned my head and said to rebarko standing beside me, "Pavel semunovic, we don''t have time to pay too much attention to the situation. Since several commanders of the campaign cluster are here, let''s take over the command of the army."


    Then I picked up a red and blue pencil on the table and wrote in a corner of the map, "hand over the command of the battle of Dnieper." Then I wrote the date on the back, signed my name, and pushed the map to rebalko.


    Without saying a word, rebalko took my pencil and skillfully wrote in the other corner of the map, "Pavel semunovic rebalko takes over command of the battle of the Dnieper."


    Seeing that rebalko had signed, I looked at my watch and then said to kirilov and Vitkov, "political commissar, chief of staff, from now on, you will be under the command of general rebalko."


    As soon as I had finished, kirilov came forward, took my hand, shook it vigorously, and said with concern, "Rita, have a good trip. I hope we can see you again soon."


    "See you later, comrade commander." As soon as kirilov released my hand, wittkov immediately extended it to me.


    "And me, comrade commander." Pugachev said not to be outdone¡° Please take good care of yourself. We''re looking forward to your coming back soon and continuing to instruct us to teach the Germans a lesson. "


    After shaking hands with several commanders, I went to shake hands with the staff officers and signalmen sitting next to me one by one. After all this, I waved my head to the liaison officer and said, "come on, comrade major." Yushchenko and I were in a jeep that didn''t stop until we reached the hatch of the transport plane in the middle of the airport. But when I got off the bus, the driver turned around and said, "Comrade commander, I wish you a pleasant journey and hope to see you return to the army as soon as possible." I nodded to the driver with a smile, turned and walked to the front of the plane, and went up the gangway. After flying in the air for more than an hour, the plane landed in a military airport south of Moscow. Before the plane landed, I looked out of the porthole at the boundless forest, turned to the liaison officer and asked in a loud voice, "major, this airport seems very remote."¡° Yes, Comrade General. " Because of the noise in the cabin, the liaison officer had to shout at the top of his voice: "in order to avoid enemy planes bombing our airport, we have built many such temporary airports in the forest."¡° When the plane lands, will someone come to pick us up? " Feeling the landing gear of the plane down, I asked aloud. The liaison officer shook his head and replied, "no one answers, Comrade General. The order I received was to take you out of Kiev and send you directly to Marshal Zhukov''s headquarters. " With little effort, our plane landed steadily at the airstrip. The liaison officer took me to a car parked near the runway, opened the door and invited me to get on. I looked back at Yushchenko, who was following me, and several guards, and asked the liaison officer, "what do they do?" The liaison officer looked back and replied, "please rest assured that there will be a car to take them to the city later. Please get on the bus. I think the marshal is in a hurry. " Hearing what the liaison officer said, I stopped checking, nodded and sat in the back of the car. After closing the door, the liaison officer went from the back of the car to the other end, opened the door, sat in the co driver''s seat, and told the driver: "drive!"

 Chapter 991

    Our jeep drove for about half an hour, passed seven or eight heavily guarded checkpoints, and finally entered the downtown area of Moscow. Seeing the familiar buildings on both sides of the street, I was very excited. If it wasn''t for the unfamiliar liaison officer and the unknown driver sitting in the car, I would yell at the top of my voice: "I''m Hu Hansan back!"


    Of course, it''s just in my mind. If I really yell like this, even if the liaison officer and the driver don''t regard me as a madman, they will ask me this and that curiously, until I have nothing to say.


    After several rounds of investigation, we finally arrived at Zhukov''s headquarters. After entering through the gate of the sentry forest, the vehicle slowly drove to the tall building and stopped. The liaison officer turned to me and said, "Comrade General, here we are."


    I looked out, and before I could see what was there, I casually replied, "Oh, here we are." After a pause, I asked, "major, did you take me to the Marshal''s office?"


    Unexpectedly, the liaison officer shook his head and replied, "I''m sorry, Comrade General. My task is to take you from Kiev and send you to the commander''s headquarters. Now that my task has been completed, the task of sending you to the marshal will be completed by other commanders. "


    What the liaison officer said made me feel crazy. He said that you brought me all the way back from Kiev and finally got to the gate of Zhukov headquarters. As a result, you said that the task was completed, you slapped your ass to leave, and you left me here alone. What''s the matter?


    Before I got angry, the liaison officer said slowly, "when we left the airport, the airport should have informed the Marshal''s subordinates of your arrival. You see, "he said, looking out of the window," there''s a captain coming out of the building. He''s supposed to be here to pick you up With that, he pushed the door open, got out of the car and went to meet the captain who had just come out of the building.


    I also pushed the door open and got out of the car. Just as I was about to follow the liaison officer, I suddenly found a small black dot shaking in front of my left eye. I thought it was some scum falling from the air. I reached out to catch it, but it was empty.


    I thought I was dazzled, so I laughed and walked forward. After a few steps, the little black dot appeared again. I quickly closed my right eye, staring at the front with my left eye, and found that the black spot also stopped in front. At the moment, my heart surged up a trace of ominous premonition, is his eyes in addition to the problem?


    Before I could think of a reason, the liaison officer came to me with the captain. The captain raised his hand and saluted me. Then, in a polite tone, he asked, "is that general o''shanina?"


    I nodded and answered in the affirmative, "yes, I''m o''shanina."


    "Comrade Marshal asked me to meet you. He has been waiting for you for a long time." With that, the captain stepped back, took one side of his body and made a gesture to the direction of the building.


    Instead of walking into the building at once, I turned to the liaison officer, held his hand, and said gratefully, "thank you, major. Thank you for bringing me to Moscow. We''ll see you later. "


    After releasing the liaison officer''s hand, I turned to the captain and said, "come on, comrade captain, please show me the way ahead."


    I walked into the building behind the captain and saw that the building was full of commanders walking around. When they saw me, they stopped one after another, put their bodies on the wall, raised their hands to salute me, and I also raised my hands to salute one by one.


    The captain and I quickly came to a room and stopped. He said to the lieutenant on duty who had just stood up from the table, "Lieutenant, this is general oshanina whom the marshal will call."


    After looking at me, the lieutenant didn''t speak. Instead, he went to the door, pushed open one of the two tall wooden doors, glanced inside and closed it again. Then he came up to me and said apologetically, "I''m sorry, Comrade General. The marshal is still talking with other commanders. Please wait a moment." With that, he pointed to a row of chairs not far away against the wall. "Please sit on the chair and have a rest."


    I nodded, went to the position of the chair, and found a chair to sit down. I wanted to ask the captain to sit down, but he came up to me and said respectfully, "Comrade General, my task has been completed. Please allow me to leave!"


    "Go, comrade captain." I smile and thank the captain who brought me to Zhukov command: "thank you!"


    As I sat in my chair waiting for Zhukov to meet me, I tried to close my right eye and look at the ceiling with my left eye alone. When I found that annoying little black spot, moving with my eyes, my heart was half cold. It turned out that there was something wrong with my eyes and I would not be blind, right? If you have time another day, you must go to the hospital for examination.


    I heard the door ring and turned to look at it. Two serious looking generals came out of the room. Seeing them appear, the lieutenant on duty, who had been sitting at the table, quickly stood up and straightened up. When I saw that the ranks of the two generals were higher than mine, I quickly stood up and raised my hand to salute them.


    The two generals were talking in a low voice. They saw someone nearby saluting them. After glancing at them, they gave them a salute and walked along the corridor.


    I look at the back of the two generals, and I don''t know if they are one of the famous generals in history. At this time, I heard the voice of the lieutenant coming from behind: "Comrade General, you can go in now."


    I turned to see that the lieutenant had opened the door and stood upright at the door, waiting for me to enter.


    I walked quickly to the door. After thanking the lieutenant, I went into Zhukov''s headquarters.


    As soon as I entered the room, I saw a long conference table in the middle of this spacious room, surrounded by exquisite wooden chairs. Zhukov was at the other end of the table, looking down at the map in front of him. Hearing someone come in, he asked without looking up: "what''s the matter?"


    I quickly stepped forward, raised my hand to my forehead, and said in a loud voice, "report to marshal, major general o''shanina has been ordered to come from Kiev, and I''m waiting for your order. Please give me instructions!"


    Hearing my voice, Zhukov raised his head and looked at me with a smile on his expressionless face. He walked quickly towards me and said aloud, "it''s Rita!"


    When he shook hands with me, he asked with concern, "did you get off the plane and come straight here?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." As Zhukov''s handshake was too strong, I bit my back teeth in pain and replied, "I think there must be something important when you call me back from Kiev, so I got off the plane and came here immediately."


    Zhukov called me to the place where the map was placed, pointed to a chair and said in an imperative tone, "sit down. I want to have a good talk with you." With that, he opened a chair and sat down first. After sitting down, he pushed the map toward my position and said, "first, let''s see the situation of the enemy and ourselves in Ukraine."


    I rigidly sat in his designated chair, looked down at the map on the desktop, and saw that it was covered with dense arrows and various lines of defense. Because I didn''t see a name at the moment, I just looked at the picture and didn''t dare to speak casually.


    Zhukov didn''t notice the details. He grabbed a pencil on the desk, pointed at the map and said to me, "Rita, come and have a look. Manstein''s troops successfully captured Donetsk two days ago, forcing the southwest front army under the command of general vatujing to retreat to Lugansk. Under the fierce attack of the enemy, general vatukin was ready to command the troops to withdraw from Lugansk one after another. But with your successful capture of Kiev, the dilemma faced by the southwest front army has changed. The German army stopped its attack on Lugansk at 10 a.m., leaving behind a small number of troops to keep in touch with our army, and the rest of the main forces have gradually withdrawn to the West. "


    When I heard Zhukov''s words, this idiom suddenly appeared in my mind. If I hadn''t thought of attacking Kiev on a whim, it would be estimated that vatukin''s troops would have been defeated by the onslaught of Manstein''s troops.


    The pencil in Zhukov''s hand pointed to Kharkov again: "and here, the Voronezh front army under general Golikov''s command is a little weak because the third group army of tanks has been transferred to you. The supreme command has sent the central front army under the command of general rokosovsky to reinforce. However, due to the muddy road, it is difficult for us to deploy a large number of troops in the designated positions in the shortest time, because general Golikov can only rely on his own strength to deal with the counterattack German forces in Kharkov. " At this point, he threw his pencil on the table and said in a relaxed tone, "but with the liberation of Kiev, this unfavorable situation has been completely improved. According to the reconnaissance of our air force, the main force of the enemy has also turned to the West and moved in the direction of Poltava. It is estimated that they are preparing to concentrate their forces to attack Kiev, so as not to cut off their way back by us. "


    When I heard that the two front armies had turned the corner, I could not help but feel relieved. At the same time, I was worried about the fate of the battle group of Dnieper, which is currently deployed near Kiev. Originally, our forces were limited. If more than 100000 German troops abandoned the Voronezh front army and the southwest front army, who were fighting against them head-on, and rushed to Kiev regardless, could general rebalko block the fierce German offensive? And the two front forces who have been out of trouble, when they see that the situation of friendly forces is dangerous, will they stretch out their hands to help them?


    When I was troubled by these problems, I heard Zhukov ask, "Rita, what do you think of the current situation? I want to hear your opinion."


    Seeing that the troops deployed near Kiev are in danger of being encircled by the German army, I can not help but feel anxious: "Comrade marshal, I want to ask a question?"


    "Ask!" Zhukov readily agreed.


    Pointing to the location of Kiev, I said to Zhukov, "marshal, general rebalko and I have deployed our troops around Kiev. But our troops are limited. Once the German army''s heavy army group is surrounded, I wonder if we can get the support of friendly forces? "


    To my question, Zhukov was silent for a moment, then replied: "this may be difficult. Although our military strength is superior to that of the German army, our officers and men are very tired because of the difficulties in logistics and long-term fighting. Once the German army launches the siege of Kiev, I think it may be difficult to provide enough support for the defenders in the city in a short period of time. "


    After listening to Zhukov''s words, my cold sweat has come down. If it is true, I will wait for the fate of the commanders and fighters of the current campaign cluster in Kiev, either to be completely annihilated or to be captured. I looked up at Zhukov to hear what he would say next and whether he would send me back to Kiev at the worst. After waiting for a while, seeing that Zhukov didn''t speak, I couldn''t help but ask first, "Comrade marshal, I want to ask, what''s the matter with this sudden recall of me to Moscow?"¡° It is the Supreme Commander''s own intention to recall you to Moscow. " As soon as Zhukov opened his mouth, he directly explained who ordered me to be recalled. He said without hesitation: "he said that you have been fighting for a long time, so you should come back to have a rest for a while, and go to military academies for further study, so as to improve your level of military theory, so that you can play a greater role in a more important position in the future."¡° But it''s Kiev. What about Kiev? " After hearing the news from Zhukov, I felt ecstatic, but then I worried about my comrades who were still in Kiev: "can we just watch them surrounded by the German army and do nothing?" Zhukov looked at me with an unhappy look on his face and said, "Rita, we don''t care about them. But at present, our defense line is scattered by the German counterattack, so we need a force to attract the enemy, so that we have enough time to repair our defense line, strengthen our forces, and accumulate strength to launch a new attack. " At this point, he saw that I was dejected. He suddenly changed the topic and said, "Rita, there''s one more thing I want to remind you. Now that you are a general, you can''t follow the way you used to do when you were company commander and battalion commander. If you have to deal with everything, you will make a mess of it. You should learn to focus on the big and let go of the small, and only do the most important and unimportant things, leaving them to your subordinates. You are only responsible for observing whether they do it correctly, recording their performance in the process of implementation, and finally summing up who is suitable for what. Only in this way can you improve your work efficiency and become a qualified senior commander. "

 Chapter 992

    What Zhukov said made me confused. I don''t know why he suddenly said these things to me¡° Don''t he know now that the troops under my command are all formed on a temporary basis, not to mention the excellent commanders, even the soldiers with combat experience are seriously insufficient. " I thought wrongly: "if I am equipped with excellent soldiers, then I can stay in the headquarters every day, and command the troops to fight according to the map and the war reports I received. I don''t have to run to the risk whenever there is anything. Unexpectedly, Zhukov waved his hand and said with a smile," it''s useless for you to say this to me now, Because I''m not in charge of awards. " Maybe I saw the expression of amazement on my face, and then added, "your ceremony of honoring will be held tomorrow morning, and the members of the presidium of the Supreme Soviet will honor you."


    Zhukov''s words calmed me again, and I asked in surprise, "what? What did you say, marshal? I''m honored by the members of the presidium of the Supreme Soviet, aren''t you? "


    "That''s right. In recognition of your merits, the standard of this award is decided by the Supreme Commander himself." After hearing this, Zhukov replied with a smile, "the place of the award is in the Kremlin."


    "After the award?" Although I knew that I would be rewarded with the highest honor in the Kremlin, I was not happy at all, because I knew what fate I was waiting for next, so I asked cautiously, "shall I go back to Kiev to command the troops?"


    Zhukov shook his head and replied, "it''s not possible to go back to Kiev. Because the battle group of Dnieper was originally a temporary establishment, it will be disbanded after completing its mission. As for your arrangement, the Supreme Commander himself asked me to consult you on whether I would like to transfer to local work. After all, the front line is too dangerous for women to stay there for a long time. "


    "Marshal, I don''t think local work is suitable for me." After answering Zhukov truthfully, I expressed my opinion along this line: "since the outbreak of the war, I have been almost always on the front line. That is to say, I have adapted to this kind of life in the war. Once I return to the rear, I may not be able to adapt. "


    "I can''t adapt. I can adapt slowly." When Zhukov heard my reply, his face showed a trace of discontent. "None of us has the right to let a young mother stay in a place where the man should be for a long time."


    "But, comrade Marshal..."


    As soon as I opened my mouth, Zhukov raised his hand and interrupted me: "OK, stop talking. This is an order given by the Supreme Commander himself, which can only be carried out and no bargaining is allowed. " After that, he slowed down and said, "if I remember correctly, your husband and children are still alive. If you work in the rear, you can have a family reunion. "


    Hearing Zhukov mention oshanin, my heart can''t help shivering. If I''m afraid of the real Rita''s husband, I''ll feel uncomfortable every time I think of his name.


    Seeing my hesitation, Zhukov continued, "Rita, think about it! This is the special care of your superiors. "


    In this case, if I still stick to my own way, I will offend Zhukov. When I think of o''shanin who was injured in the Moscow defense war and sent to the rear, I have no information. As long as I can''t contact him all the time, then I won''t be in danger of crossing. Thinking of this, I said with difficulty: "Comrade marshal, but now I don''t know where my husband and son are?"


    "You don''t know where they are?" Zhukov was surprised by my reply. He asked curiously, "haven''t we contacted each other since we last met on the outskirts of Moscow?"


    "Well, comrade marshal." I explained to Zhukov, "oshanin was wounded in the battle outside Moscow, sent to the rear, and then we lost contact."


    "Since then, no more contact?" Zhukov was surprised and asked, "has he never written to you from the hospital in the rear?"


    I shrugged my shoulders, looked aggrieved and said, "marshal, you know, I have been changing troops since the end of the Moscow defense. First Leningrad''s front army, then volhoff''s front army, then Stalingrad''s front army, and the Southwest''s front army that we stayed in not long ago. "


    "Yes, you''re right." Before I finished, Zhukov nodded his head and said, "in the past year or so, you have been in many troops. It''s really not easy to get in touch with you. By the way, where''s your son? Did you find him? "


    As for Zhukov''s question, I nodded and said definitely, "yes, marshal, when I was breaking through liuban, I accidentally met my son alik who was wandering there in a village."


    "Where are you wandering?" After repeating what I said, Zhukov asked, "why did your son appear in liuban? Isn''t he accompanied by adults, such as your relatives and friends? "


    "Before I joined, I gave my son Alek to my mother." I looked at Zhukov and told him about the real family background of Lida: "at present, I have arrived in Leningrad with my child. Because of the lack of food in the city, my mother and her child evacuated to the outside of the city. She contracted a serious illness in a village near liuban and soon passed away, leaving alik alone."


    "Where is the child now?" Zhukov asked with concern. I shook my head and replied again, "at that time, when the troops under my command wanted to move, I gave my son to a female health worker who was sent to the rear because of the injury, and asked her to take the child to a safe place." Zhukov opened his notebook, picked up the pencil on the desk and asked, "what''s the name of your son, and what''s the name of the woman who took him away?"¡° My son''s name is Alek, and the woman''s name is Nina. He belongs to the front army of warhoff. " I truthfully answered Zhukov''s question, and then I made a request to him: "marshal, can you inquire about oshanin''s whereabouts?"¡° No problem. " Zhukov wrote down the last stroke in his notebook and readily agreed: "I will ask the comrades of the health department to inquire about this matter for you. I believe you will hear the good news in a short time." With all that to say, I stood silently in front of Zhukov, waiting for his next order. Zhukov looked up at me, frowned and thought about it. Then he picked up the phone on the desk and said, "Lieutenant, come in." Finish saying, then put down the telephone directly. The door of the closed room suddenly opened, and the lieutenant on duty stood upright at the door, waiting for Zhukov''s order. Zhukov took a few steps towards him and said, "Lieutenant, arrange for the driver to take general oshanina to the hotel."¡° Yes The lieutenant stood where he was and agreed. After shaking hands with Zhukov and thanking him, I was about to head for the lieutenant. He suddenly added after me, "by the way, Rita, I''ll send someone to pick you up at the ceremony tomorrow morning." I turned to him and nodded my thanks with a smile, then quickened my pace towards the door. The lieutenant took me to the parking lot outside the building, went straight to a jeep with a driver, said hello to the other side, and ordered him: "sergeant, you are responsible for taking comrade general to the hotel." When the driver heard the order, he quickly came out of the cab and took the initiative to open the back door for me, asking me to get on the bus. After thanking the lieutenant and the driver, I bent down and got into the car. When the jeep came to the hotel not far away, I couldn''t help smiling because I had been here several times. After thanking the driver, I pushed the door open, got out of the car and went straight to the hotel gate. As soon as I entered the gate, a female commander in a cornice hat came towards me. At the same time, the other side politely said, "Hello, comrade commander, what can I do for you?" I listen to the voice of the other side is very familiar with, take a close look, it is the person in charge here, Liu da. Glancing at the new rank on her shoulder, she found that she had been promoted to lieutenant. She said with a smile, "what''s the matter, Lieutenant Liuda, don''t you know me?" When the other party heard that I was so familiar with saying hello to myself, he was stunned and looked me up and down. After watching for a long time, she shook her head and said regretfully, "sorry, comrade general, I don''t seem to know you." Hearing her say so, I can''t help feeling a little disappointed. I took off the helmet on my head, took a step back, opened my arms, and said helplessly: "Liuda, take a closer look, do you really don''t know me?"¡° Rita, it''s Rita. " Without waiting for Liuda to respond, a young woman soldier came to me. She rushed to me and gave me a big hug. At the same time, he said, "Rita, I didn''t expect you to be alive. That''s great. That''s great." I also put my arms around the young soldier in front of me and said, "aksala, long time no see. Are you ok?" The woman soldier I hugged was aksala, the waiter in the hotel. She didn''t expect to meet me at this time, so she was very excited. He choked and said, "Rita, dear Rita, I thought you were sacrificed. It''s great to see you again." Liu Da, who didn''t say a word, finally found out my identity after seeing aksara''s performance. She accompanied me with a smile and said, "sorry, comrade general, the last time you stayed here is far away, so you didn''t recognize you in time. Please forgive me!"

 Chapter 993

    Looking at Liuda''s apology, I said with a smile: "Liuda, I haven''t seen you for more than a year. You are already a lieutenant." When I said that, Liuda blushed slightly, and then said in a respectful tone, "Comrade commander, you and I take a deep breath, wait for my mood to stabilize a little, and asked in an incredible tone:" Comrade Colonel, are you sure this is something for me? "¡° Of course, "bzikov replied without hesitation," it was the box sent by the supreme command to me, saying that it was a new uniform for you, comrade oshanina. " Maybe it was about business, so his address to me became formal. With that, he took out a document from his briefcase and handed it to me. At the same time, he said, "this is the order from the superior. In recognition of your achievements in killing the commander of German "skull division" Ike and capturing Hitler''s substitute in Ukraine, you are officially promoted to the rank of lieutenant general with the approval of the Supreme Commander himself. " I took the document from bzikov''s hand with trembling hands, opened it and looked at it carefully. I found that it was basically the same as what bzikov said. I carefully folded the papers, put them on top of my uniform, and closed the box. As I looked up to thank bzikov, he reached out to me and said with a smile, "Rita, please accept my congratulations on your higher rank!"¡° Thank you, thank you, Colonel bizikov! " As soon as he released bezikov''s hand, Yushchenko came up to me, reached out to me with a happy face, and politely said, "Comrade commander, congratulations on your rank as lieutenant general. Please accept my congratulations."¡° Thank you, thank you, Captain! " Then aksala, who was standing next to me, rushed over, hugged me, gave me a big kiss on the face, and said excitedly, "Rita, it''s amazing that you''ve been promoted to lieutenant general. Allow me to express my heartfelt congratulations to you. " After everyone congratulated me, I looked at bzikov and asked, "Colonel, what did you do with that Hitler double?" After listening, bzikov shrugged his shoulders and replied, "what else can I do? Of course, I''m shot." Hearing that Hitler''s substitute was directly shot, I can''t help but feel some regret. I also said with regret: "we can actually use him as propaganda to let the German soldiers know that the leader they saw on the battlefield is not themselves, but just a substitute. This is of great help to the disintegration of their morale."¡° It''s not as easy as you think, Rita After listening to what I said, bzikov''s expression suddenly became serious: "if we really use the matter of Hitler''s stand in for propaganda, they also have a way to fight back. Don''t forget how we both suffered from prison in the first place. " Bezikov''s words made me silent. When I rescued Stalin''s double on the battlefield with him, I was almost shot by the people of the Ministry of interior as a German spy. It seems that he is right about his worries. If we really choose Hitler who appears on the battlefield, we will be a stand in; Then the Germans can also make an issue of this matter, saying that Stalin, who is still in Moscow, is also a substitute, and there will be endless war of words between the two sides. Or now the disposal method is simple, one shot will be killed, it''s all over.

 Chapter 994

    Bzikov looked up at his watch and said to me, "Rita, there''s one more thing I almost forgot to tell you. Your ceremony will be at nine tomorrow morning. I''ll pick you up at eight


    After thanking bezikov again, I took him to the door. Before I stepped out of the room, he raised his hand to stop me: "Rita, let''s send it here. It''s getting late. You''ve just come back from the front line. You must be very tired. You''d better rest early. " With that, he raised his hand to his forehead, saluted me, then turned around and left with his men.


    The first thing I did when I came back to the room was to ask Yushchenko with concern, "Comrade captain, where do you live?"


    Hearing my question, Yushchenko immediately replied, "we all live in a room for eight people at the end of the East corridor on the first floor. The rest of the soldiers are resting in the room at the moment. I''m worried that you have something to do, so I specially come up to have a look. As soon as I got to the top of the stairs, I met a comrade colonel who came to give you a new uniform. "


    When Yushchenko said this, I finally found out why he appeared at the same time as bzikov. I nodded and asked casually, "Captain, have you had dinner?"


    Seeing Yushchenko shaking his head, I immediately turned to aksara, who was still sitting at the table, and said politely, "aksara, you see my men and I haven''t had dinner yet. Can you help us get something to eat?"


    "No problem. I''ll get you something to eat right away." Aksala jumped out of her seat and rushed out of the door to the restaurant downstairs to get us food.


    As soon as aksara left, I asked Yushchenko to sit down at the table and asked tentatively, "Captain, I remember you used to be under the jurisdiction of bezikov, right? Did he give you any new orders when you came back to Moscow this time? "


    After hearing this, Yushchenko shook his head and said, "Comrade commander, since I went down to Stalingrad with my department, it has really been under your command. It has nothing to do with colonel bezikov."


    "Do you or your men have any relatives or friends in Moscow?" As soon as he finished, I asked with concern, "if you want to visit relatives and friends, I can give you a temporary holiday."


    Yushchenko waved his hand and refused my kindness: "thank you, comrade commander. But we don''t need a holiday, because almost all of our families are not in Moscow. One of the soldiers is from Moscow, but his family evacuated to the rear soon after the war broke out. Besides, our responsibility is to protect your safety. We will not leave you at will until we get new orders from our superiors. "


    As soon as I finished, Yushchenko immediately asked, "Comrade commander, just now Colonel bzikov said that the Supreme Command intends to let you take the post of chief of staff in the reserve army. How do you think about it?"


    Hearing his question, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. My heart said, "I haven''t received systematic education in combat command. If I didn''t understand some historical process, I would not be as good as an ordinary squad leader." But these words can only be kept in my heart, but I can''t say them out. I can only say vaguely: "Captain, with my ability, I can''t command an infantry army. Now let me be the third leader of the front army. I feel that I''m not qualified for this position."


    As soon as my words came out, Yushchenko was silent. He knew that he had no voice in this matter, so he could only laugh twice, and then he drank tea with his cup in his arms.


    Fortunately, aksala soon came back with dinner, which freed us from the embarrassing atmosphere.


    Aksara sits next to Yushchenko, watching him gobble down his dinner. When Yushchenko was about to eat, she took the napkin on the table and wiped his mouth. At the same time, she asked, "Comrade captain, can you tell me your battle story?"


    When Yushchenko heard aksara''s request, he looked at me a little surprised. He seemed to be asking for my advice on whether he could tell the young waitress about her fighting experience. I knew that aksara didn''t mean anything else. She just wanted to hear the battle story. She nodded to Yushchenko and said with approval, "Captain, tell her about it."


    "But what should I say?" Seeing that I asked him to tell a story to aksara, Yushchenko was a little flustered. "Comrade commander, you know that I have been with you all the time in the battle of Stalingrad. You should know what happened."


    "Tell me something I don''t know." In order to avoid aksara pestering me to tell stories, I withdrew the burden to Yushchenko and prompted him to say, "for example, some stories happened on your way to Stalingrad with your troops."


    Yushchenko''s eyebrows wrinkled, as if recalling what he had experienced. After a while, he finally spoke. He said in a heavy voice, "I have been ordered to lead my company to Stalingrad under the command of the commander. On reaching the East Bank of the Volga River, due to the shortage of boats, I took two soldiers to a nearly full ferry.


    As the ship was approaching the West Bank, the enemy plane appeared over the ferry. These German bandits not only dropped bombs on the ships moored on the docks, but also dived down to the most crowded places, and fired at our peaceful residents with airborne machine guns.


    I stood at the bow of the boat, watching the women with their children in their arms, the limping old men, and the residents with their luggage, big and small, all running down the burning street, through the burning flames, towards the Volga River.


    Although I have seen too many such scenes after the outbreak of the war, and may see more in the future, it is unlikely that there will be any more such unscrupulous bombing of residents by enemy planes. My heart became heavy with anger. I even imagined that the rifle in my hand could be turned into a broom in the giant''s hand, and all these damn airplanes in the sky could be photographed.


    The boat we took landed, and before the people on board finished getting off, the residents waiting on the dock swarmed on. An old man with blood all over his body crowded in front of me. He only held two children in his hands. One was already dead, the other was still angry, but his arm and leg were broken by the explosion. I guess the old man might be the child''s grandfather, and he''s completely out of his mind at the moment. He cursed at the enemy planes in the sky: "you damned villains, don''t you even want to let go of such a small child?"


    Then he collapsed feebly on the deck and howled, "my grandson, my grandson!" After a while, he cursed the enemy plane with vicious language in the sky: "you damned villains and executioners, even if I become a ghost, I will curse you constantly."


    At this time, two stretchers carrying an injured woman on board. For fear that she would be damaged in the crowded crowd, the soldiers and I put her in a relatively spacious place at the stern of the ship. I saw that she was dying, and she was about to die, but she just held the baby in her arms, because the enemy planes were still bombing and shooting at the dock at the moment... "


    When Yushchenko said this, he turned sideways and secretly wiped the tears off his face with his sleeve. Aksara, who is listening to the story attentively, has been crying. In this kind of atmosphere, I also feel that my nose is sour. I quickly hold my nose with my hand, so as not to burst into tears again.


    "Because our air defense firepower is not enough, the enemy''s air strikes on the dock have been uninterrupted. I still remember, "Yushchenko continued in a voice changed and emphasized by excitement," a ferry full of wounded people was hit by enemy planes shortly after it left the shore, and the whole ship was immediately shrouded in smoke and fire. On the deck were all the seriously wounded. The wounded who did not die immediately crawled around on the deck, crying for help desperately and crying out in pain.


    Seeing that the ferry carrying the wounded was shot and on fire, many boats anchored on the shore rowed towards them one after another to rescue the wounded. And the brave health workers, no matter their hair and clothes are burning, only know how to lift the wounded and carefully send them to the boat. Thankfully, at this time, two fighters of our army flew over to fight bravely with the German flying bandits who were several times more than themselves. After shooting down two and injuring one, they finally drove the enemy plane away from the wharf over the Volga River.


    I stopped on the dock, waiting for my troops to cross the river. It was not until dusk that the ferry carrying our company soldiers appeared in my view. Just then, the damned enemy plane flew over again. A wooden boat full of children evacuated from kindergarten became the target of enemy aircraft.


    The wooden boat was hit by fire and sank rapidly. Our engineers and sailors on the shore rushed out of their hiding places on the cliffs and drove small boats toward the sinking wooden boats to rescue the children. The damned enemy plane is still circling the sinking wooden boat, shooting at the boats with machine guns. In the face of the enemy plane''s crazy shooting, no one retreated. They waved their oars and rowed forward quickly, because no one wanted to see hundreds of children die in front of them.


    When I saw a small hand floating on the river, it pulled my heart. I saw a woman who might have been a kindergarten teacher jumping off the side of the boat with a child in her arms. Lying on his back on the surface of the water, he hit the water with his feet and lifted the child out of the water with both hands.


    I saw that she was only 50 or 60 meters away from me. I quickly handed her rifle to the soldiers nearby, took off the steel armor and military coat that were in the way, jumped into the water with a plop, and swam quickly towards the woman. When I saw that it was only 20 meters away from her, I yelled at her: "honey, do more, do more. Honey, I''ll help you! " Just when the distance between us was reduced to less than 10 meters, an enemy plane dived down and a series of bullets were fired into the river, just hitting the woman. The poor woman and the child in her hand went down like a stone, and what remained in front of me was a stream of water dyed red by blood donation. "


    At this point, Yushchenko could not control his emotions and roared: "are they still human? Even such a small child. No wonder even Comrade Stalin called them "wild animals.". Yes, they are a group of inhuman beasts. "


    It never occurred to me that Yushchenko had gone through such an unforgettable experience before reporting to my headquarters. After he finished venting, I sucked my nose and tried to ask in a flat tone, "Captain, how many children did our officers and soldiers rescue later?"


    Hearing my question, Yushchenko''s face was more ugly than crying: "after the full rescue of our commanders and fighters, nine of the 312 children and teachers on board were successfully rescued, two of them were teachers." Speaking of this, he involuntarily accentuated his tone because of his excitement: "but since I joined your independent division, every time you go to the front line, I will follow you all the way, hoping to pay back the blood debt to the German one day. Once, where you went to inspect, there were a group of captured German soldiers. Although they are all bearded and dirty, and their uniforms are in tatters, some of them even can''t stand up because of injuries. A large group of people are huddled in a corner, waiting for us to deal with them. As soon as I saw them, I thought of the dead on the dock, and I was furious. Every time I hold my rifle tightly, waiting for your order. Even if you don''t speak, even if there is a hint in your eyes, I will kill all these damned animals mercilessly. " At this point, he looked up at me and said with determination: "Comrade commander, I think I can now understand why you ordered all the captured German officers and men to be executed when you were in the village of petrichevo. It turns out that you did so out of your boundless love for the people of your motherland and your incomparable hatred for the wild animals. " I laughed at Yushchenko''s heartfelt words and didn''t answer him immediately. Instead, she raised her hand to wipe the tears from her face and comforted her by saying, "aksala, don''t be sad any more. This is the war. As long as we have completely defeated the Communist aggressors, such a tragedy will not happen again. " Then I turned my head and said to the emotional Yushchenko, "don''t worry, comrade captain. There are still many opportunities to teach the Germans a lesson in the future. When we return to the army, will you stay with me as a guard battalion commander or go to the army below, but I will respect your choice as a grass-roots commander. " Hearing my promise, Yushchenko immediately stood up from his seat, raised his hand and said in a loud voice, "thank you, thank you, comrade commander. Please rest assured that I will live up to your expectations. "

 Chapter 995

    As I was going to the ceremony, I got up early the next day. After washing, I stayed in the room waiting for bzikov to pick me up.


    After waiting for an hour, the soldier sent by bezikov appeared at the door. He told me respectfully that the colonel and the car that picked me up were waiting downstairs. Please let me follow him downstairs.


    When my car started, bzikov, who was in the front co pilot''s seat, turned his head and said to me with a smile, "Rita, the ceremony will be held in the Kremlin. Comrade Molotov will honor you on behalf of the supreme commander."


    I heard that the ceremony was held in the Kremlin and that Molotov was honoring Stalin. I''m supposed to be excited, but now I''m worried. Because I went to bed together, I found that the eye disease in my left eye was obviously aggravated. Yesterday or a small black spot, with the eye movement, and everywhere. Today, the small black spot has been expanded more than ten times, and it is completely blocked by the shadow wherever it moves. This discovery scared me. I said in my heart that it would not be the precursor of insomnia, would it?


    Although the situation looked terrible, I kept it in my heart. I didn''t mention it to either aksala, who came to deliver breakfast and clean my room in the morning, or bezikov, who took me to the Kremlin.


    When bezikov finished, he saw that I didn''t respond at all. Maybe he thought I was too excited to speak. In order to ease the atmosphere, he took the initiative to stretch out his hand to me and said in an envious tone, "Rita, congratulations. Please accept my respect."


    I reached out, gave him a gentle shake, and politely said, "thank you. Thank you. Don''t, Colonel zikov."


    We took the car along the Moscow River, came to the famous St. Vassili church, drove along the slope to the entrance of the Kremlin and stopped. A second lieutenant on duty came with two guards. They went to the car and looked down into it. The second lieutenant saluted bzikov and said politely, "Colonel bzikov, please show me your identification."


    When I heard the second lieutenant''s address to bezikov, I was shocked. Obviously, the second lieutenant is very familiar with bezikov, but he even has to check his ID. the Kremlin''s security measures are really strict. However, bezikov seems to have been used to this kind of inspection process for a long time. He took out his ID from his coat pocket and handed it to him in silence.


    The second lieutenant took the certificate and gave it back to bezikov without looking at it casually. He not only looked at it carefully, but also compared the photos on the certificate with those of bezikov. Although bezikov didn''t have the slightest impatience on his face and even cooperated with the inspection of the second lieutenant, I was not well-known in the back row and said to myself: from your address, maybe bezikov is your immediate superior. Is it necessary to go through this meaningless inspection process?


    After returning bezikov''s papers to him, the second lieutenant went to my position, bent down and looked at me, and politely said, "Comrade General, please show me your papers."


    After listening to the second lieutenant''s words, I spread out my hands and said, "sorry, comrade second lieutenant, I don''t have any identification right now. In a long time of fighting, I have been in danger several times, resulting in the loss of my military ID card, so I can''t provide you with my ID card. " After I said these words, I felt a little flustered. I was afraid that if the second lieutenant insisted on his principle and didn''t let me in, he would lose face.


    What I said surprised bzikov. He turned his head and said in surprise, "Rita, what do you say? You don''t have any identification on you?"


    "Yes, comrade colonel." Hearing what bzikov said, I seemed to grasp a life-saving straw and quickly explained to him, "you should know my situation very well. I have been somewhere for more than a year."


    Before bietzikov could speak, the second lieutenant said, "I''m sorry, Comrade General. You don''t have documents. According to the regulations, you can''t enter the Kremlin. "


    "Don''t you know who she is, Lieutenant?" At the second lieutenant''s words, bzikov suddenly sank his face and said sternly, "if you delay your business, can you afford the responsibility?"


    After hearing this, the second lieutenant hesitated for a moment, and then replied, "please wait a moment. I''ll ask the superior for instructions." With that, he turned and ran to the house on duty, while the other two soldiers were still standing in the same place, looking at me curiously in the car.


    After a while, the second lieutenant ran back, stood in front of my window, bent over and said with a smile, "Comrade General, I''ve already called. It says you can go in, please!" Said, then stood straight body, made a please posture.


    After entering the Kremlin, bezikov became my guide. We passed by the cannon king and the bell king, passed through the uneven square, and came to a building shrouded in camouflage nets.


    After a rigorous inspection and handing over the weapons I had with me, bzikov took me into the building and down the corridor into a spacious hall. There is a long table on the north side of the hall, and there are three elegant back chairs behind the table, which should be the positions of several hosts. In front of the long table, there are more than ten rows of hundreds of chairs, which should be the position of the people who will attend the ceremony later.


    Bezikov led me to the place where the chair was placed and said to me, "Rita, the ceremony will not begin until a while. Please sit here and wait for a while."


    I looked around and found that there were only two of us in the hall. Listening to his voice, he seemed to be leaving. He asked nervously, "where are you going, Colonel?"


    Bzikov grinned and replied, "Rita, my task is to bring you here and to take you back to the hotel after the ceremony. As for the middle of the time, "he said with a shrug of his shoulders," there are still many things waiting for me to deal with in the guard group, so I can only say goodbye to you for a while. "


    Although I feel guilty about letting me sit alone in this hall, I can''t force biezikov to stay with me until other people arrive. So I can only act as if I don''t care and say to him smartly, "well, comrade Colonel, go and do your business, I''ll stay here alone until the ceremony begins. "


    Bezikov nodded, turned and trotted out of the hall.


    After bezikov left, I reclined on the back of my chair and closed my eyes. First, I chatted with aksara very late last night to make up for my drowsiness; Second, I''m afraid that when I open my eyes, I''ll see more and more shadow area in front of me, which will make me upset. I just can''t see my eyes, and I''m not upset.


    I don''t know how long later, I heard a heavy step in the hall, slowly coming towards me. When I think of the Kremlin, I have no other acquaintances except bezikov. The people who are coming here certainly don''t know each other, so I don''t open my eyes, but continue to close my eyes.


    "Comrade General," as the footsteps stopped beside me, an old and familiar voice sounded in my ear, "can I sit here?"


    I was sitting on the outermost chair. Hearing the old man''s question, I thought he wanted to sit inside. I quickly opened his eyes and stood up and politely replied, "of course, of course. Please come in."


    The old man said thank you and walked past me. He sat down next to my chair with my right hand. Then he patted the chair with his left hand and said to me warmly, "Hello, general Rita, don''t stand. Please sit down, too."


    I smile and sit back in my place. I turned to look at the old man, want to chat with him casually, did not expect to see the real face of the old man sitting next to me, my heart suddenly accelerated. After a long time, I pointed to him and said in surprise, "you... Are you senior engineer fronin?"


    There was a helpless look on the old man''s face, shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands and said, "it''s me, Comrade General. I thought your rank was high and you didn''t know me. "


    "Hello, comrade engineer!" I am very excited to see this old man from 1975. Although he is not from the same age as me, he is a passer-by after all. I quickly stood up again, stretched out my hand to hold him tightly, and said excitedly, "nice to see you again!"


    After I sat down again, I looked around and saw that there were only two of us in the hall. But for the sake of stability, I asked in a low voice, "Comrade engineer, how are you doing recently?"


    "Very well, Rita. I''m very well. Thank you for your concern." After finishing this sentence, he suddenly said with a gloomy look: "and the group of skilled workers who came with me were taken away by the people of the interior department a few months ago, and then I never heard from them again, and I don''t know whether they are still alive."


    Although I thought that all these workers might be killed for the need of confidentiality, I still comforted Florin against my heart and said, "engineers, don''t worry. Maybe the people from the interior department will take them to other cities to develop new weapons."


    "I hope so," he muttered, as I finished


    "By the way, comrade engineer, I have a question for you." It''s really puzzling for me to find out what''s going on: "why can you walk around without being watched now?"


    Hearing my question, Florin said with a smile, "I''d like to thank you for my present treatment."


    "Thank you!" "What does this have to do with me?" I asked


    "Yes, of course it does." "If I didn''t listen to your advice when I came to this world and pretend to lose my memory, maybe I will disappear with those skilled workers now," said Florin confidently


    After listening to what Florin said, I just nodded and then changed the topic: "by the way, comrade engineer, have you launched any new weapons recently?" In order not to let him misunderstand me, I purposely pointed out, "I''m talking about the weapons and equipment of the troops in your era."


    "Yes," said florin, looking left and right, and seeing that there was no one else in the hall, he said mysteriously, "we just launched the RPG-7 anti tank rocket launcher."


    As a blind soldier, my knowledge of rocket launchers is limited to the fact that they are made in the Soviet Union and those in the United States. When it comes to models, I don''t know anything about them. Now that there are experts in front of me, I will not miss this opportunity to ask him modestly: "Uncle florin, can you tell me more about it?" Florin was always grateful for my life-saving benefactor. When he heard that I asked him for advice, he did not hide his secrets, so he introduced to me in detail: "the shape of the RPG-7 is similar to the bazuka rocket launcher of the United States, but in order to be easy for infantry to carry, we redesigned the structure of the launcher body, which is made of alloy steel, and the total weight of the rocket launcher is lighter, In addition, the fixed target distance of ranging optical sight and rocket extended range engine are increased, and the warhead of single unit is improved. At the same time, low light level sight and infrared night vision sight can be used to enhance its night combat capability under starlight or other low light level conditions. RPG-7 ammunition mainly consists of ordinary armor piercing ammunition, tandem warhead armor piercing ammunition and kill grenade. The fuze of RPG-7 rocket is usually trigger fuze, but most of them are equipped with timing device. The time for the rocket to explode after leaving the target is controlled at 4.5 seconds. At the same time, the maximum flight distance of the RPG-7 rocket is limited to 1000 meters to prevent accidental injury. RPG-7 has a very good penetration capability. It penetrates 350 mm to 400 mm of Rolled Homogeneous Armor and has a direct distance of more than 400 meters. At the same time, it also increases the killing grenade (the killing radius is 15 meters, which can effectively kill the enemy soldiers), and can attack infantry and other living targets Listening to a series of jargon that came out of Florin''s mouth, I could not understand it, but nodded and echoed. But it mentioned the direct distance of 400 meters and the parameters that can penetrate 350 mm to 400 mm armor, which made me very excited. My heart said that as long as the troops are equipped with such weapons, even if we encounter with the German armored division, we will not be in a disadvantage. When his words came to an end, I couldn''t wait to ask: "engineer, I don''t know when such anti tank weapons will be installed in the army?"¡° The samples will be produced soon after the new year, "Florin said with a smile." we passed the performance test not long ago, and I expect that we can have a large-scale army in May. "

 Chapter 996

    "What about tanks? Are there any new tanks?" Although the RPG rocket launchers from later generations exist, I''m still not satisfied. I think it''s not like playing if I can launch another batch of main battle tanks in the 1960s and 1970s to clean up the German Tiger and leopard. So I repeatedly asked florin, "have you developed several main station tanks of your time?"


    "Of course "Don''t forget that I''m a senior engineer in the ordnance factory. Although my factory only produces light weapons, I also worked in the tank factory for ten years. Let''s put it this way. Except for planes and warships, I''m not familiar with all the weapons and equipment of the army. As long as you give me time, I can make them available ahead of time. "


    "I don''t know what type of tank you are going to launch?" I continued to ask curiously.


    ¡°T-72£¡¡± "It was the best main battle tank of our time," said Florin with pride


    "What about quality? How about quality?" Make complaints about the later generation in the post, the Egyptian tank forces tucked the old Mao tanks: poor quality, bad repair every day, not water leakage, oil leakage, hanging files, heavy brake, failure of the brake, fire control backward, low artillery power and so on. I can not help but ask Flonen: "how is the viability of the new tank battlefield? Or, to be exact, can it be compared with the Tiger tank just launched by the German army? "


    Florin frowned, as if speechless at my idiotic question. After a while, he said leisurely: "when dealing with tanks of the same era, one-on-one doesn''t look very good, but once there is a group to group situation, you will know its strength. As for the German Tiger tanks, "Florin said with a proud look on his face," even if our army only sent out ten t-72s and met with 50 of the latest German Tiger tanks, we could win them. "


    Although the tone of this is very loud, I know what he said is true. If you know the t-62 of later generations, ordinary anti tank guns can''t do anything with it. Even if the 40 rocket launcher is fired at close range, it can''t break through its side armor. The T-72 that Florin will soon launch is obviously better than the former. If our army can be equipped with a large number of such tanks, we can easily defeat the German armored forces in the coming battle of Kursk. Thinking of this, my curiosity is even stronger: "I don''t know when I can train troops?"


    "Column troops?" After repeating what I said, Florin shook his head and said regretfully, "I don''t think you can achieve your wish before 1947."


    "Ah, what do you mean, this kind of tank couldn''t be equipped with troops 47 years ago?" I can''t help but feel very sorry to hear fronin say that if this latest type of tank can be used to train troops after the end of the patriotic war, it will completely lose the significance of its early launch.


    "Yes, Rita." "At present, many technologies are too backward to carry out large-scale production. Even the prototype car took ten months to produce after I provided a full set of drawings. Now it is undergoing various performance tests. The superior thinks that instead of wasting time to produce a limited number of super tanks, it is better to spare no effort to produce the T-34 tanks urgently needed by our army. " Seeing my silent face, he specially added, "because of the sudden outbreak of war, many heavy industrial production bases like Kharkov have fallen into the hands of the Germans. Although our military enterprises are operating at full capacity, their production capacity is still very limited."


    Seeing that the army''s equipment of new tanks in a short period of time is no longer possible, I turned the topic to a question of my urgent concern: "Comrade engineer, I want to ask you, what is the final outcome of the ongoing Kharkov campaign?"


    "The battle of Kharkov?" As soon as I heard this question, Florin''s brow was wrinkled. After a long time, he said slowly, "I found a lot of history, which is quite different from what I know. For example, Rita, you are just a character in a novel, and you died bravely when you followed brigadier vaskov to stop the German Paratroopers. But when I came to this world, we chatted a few more words. Ustinov said to florin, "Comrade engineer, I have something important to tell you. Let''s go to the other side. Let''s leave it to Comrade krochkov and oshanina to talk about the past."


    After the two left, krochkov asked curiously, "Comrade oshanina, I heard that the superior intends to transfer you to the reserve army as chief of staff. I don''t know when to take office?"


    Although bezikov announced to me that he would go to the front army of the reserve team, it was not the notice from the superior after all. As for when he would take office, I really can''t answer. So I shook my head and said to krochkov, "I haven''t received any formal orders from my superiors, so I don''t know when I can take office."


    After saying this, I suddenly thought of my own eye problems, and quickly asked: "Comrade krochkov, do you know which hospital has the best medical standard?"


    "The best doctors have been evacuated to the rear. Almost all of the remaining doctors were called up to serve the sick and wounded in military hospitals. " After saying this, he couldn''t help looking me up and down, and asked unexpectedly, "is your injury recurred and you need to go to the hospital for treatment? In that case, I will accompany you to the nearest military hospital after the ceremony. "


    Seeing that he misunderstood me, I quickly waved my hand and explained to him, "Comrade krochkov, it''s not what you think. It''s not that my old injury has recurred, it''s that there seems to be something wrong with my eyes. " My answer was unexpected. He asked in surprise, "what''s wrong with your eyes? Tell me, what''s going on? " Seeing that krochkov asked, I quickly told him the symptoms of my eyes. After hearing this, he said thoughtfully, "o''shanina, I think your eye disease is not mild. It may not be useful to go to an ordinary military hospital. You need to go to a special hospital to see an ophthalmologist. Well, when the ceremony is over, I''ll take you to a hospital. I know a very skilled ophthalmologist there who can help you find out what''s wrong with your eyes. " If I have always had a grudge against krochkov, after he said that, I began to regard him as my friend. I took his hand and said gratefully, "thank you, thank you, comrade krochkov." As soon as my voice fell, a familiar voice rang out not far away: "isn''t this comrade o''shanina? Long time no see. How are you

 Chapter 997

    I looked in the direction of the voice and found that it was another person I knew. I quickly let go of krochkov''s hand and welcomed him. And respectfully used his father''s name and his own name to call him: "Hello, dear Alexander vasilijevich, nice to meet you here!"


    The visitor was dressed in a brand-new general uniform, and the Venus on the epaulet was very eye-catching. Seeing that I went up to greet him, he held out his hand with a smile, took my hand, and said with compliments, "Comrade oshanina, the last time we met was in the defense war in Moscow. I didn''t expect that more than a year later, you are still so young and beautiful, not only won the promotion in the rank, but also won the title of "Soviet hero."


    "O''shanina, you may not know. Comrade Alexandrov won the first prize of Stalin prize for his creation of Bolshevik party song and a series of military songs. Not long ago, he was awarded the Lenin medal and the rank of major general for his 60th birthday and the 40th anniversary of his artistic creation. " Krochkov, who came to me, after introducing the story of Alexandrov to me, also put out his hand to each other with a smile.


    After Alexandrov and krochkov finished shaking hands, I said to him with a smile, "Comrade Alexandrov, as long as your red flag singing and dancing troupe appears on the battlefield, it can greatly boost the morale of our army commanders and fighters. Although there are only a dozen of you, your role is no less than that of two teachers. You and your song and dance troupe are the precious wealth of our Red Army. "


    As for my flattery, the head of the red flag song and dance troupe with a wisp of moustache couldn''t help laughing. At this time, krochkov lost no time to ask: "by the way, comrade Alexandrov, I heard that you are creating a new national anthem recently. How is your progress?"


    Alexandrov, who was still in a state of joy, immediately became serious when he heard krochkov''s question. He shook his head and replied, "we have a long history of using the Internationale as the national anthem. It''s not easy to find a suitable song to replace it."


    Krochkov seemed to have a clear idea of Alexandrov''s answer. He nodded his head and said with emotion: "yes, the notice of collecting the new national anthem has reached all units since 1940, but so far, no suitable works have been found in the songs recommended by units at all levels."


    Seeing their sad faces, I suddenly remembered that the new national anthem of the Soviet Union was created on the basis of the Bolshevik party song. I couldn''t help saying, "Comrade Alexandrov, I have an idea. I don''t know whether to say it or not."


    When alessandrov heard me say this, he asked unexpectedly, "Comrade oshanina, do you know how to compose?"


    I shook my head and replied with a smile, "although I don''t know how to compose music, I''m a layman and I can tell you my idea."


    As soon as I finished, without waiting for any response from Alexandrov, krochkov took the lead and said, "Comrade Alexandrov, I believe what oshanina said will enlighten you a lot. But should we take our seats and chat slowly so as not to get in the way of other comrades? "


    At krochkov''s suggestion, the three of us found a suitable seat and sat down. As soon as he was seated, Alexandrov couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think?"


    I quickly organized the words in my mind, and then said, "I think the new national anthem should have the characteristics of forcefulness, solemnity, magnificence and distinctive national style." At this point, I pause a bit to see Alexandrov''s reaction. Seeing that he nodded his head in affirmation, he continued to say, "my conception of the national anthem is to fuse the victory march, exquisite folk songs and broad Russian epic narrative tunes."


    As soon as I finished, Alexandrov slapped himself on the thigh and exclaimed excitedly, "great, comrade o''shanina, what a wonderful idea you have! Thank you, thank you Then he reached for my hand and shook it vigorously.


    Maybe it was because his voice was too loud when he just lost his manners. A general sitting in the front row turned around and glared at us with dissatisfied eyes, as if to criticize us. When he saw Alexandrov''s face clearly, his angry face immediately turned into a smile. He leaned over, stretched out a hand, and said hello to the latter with a smile: "Hello, comrade Alexandrov, I don''t know when you can bring the song and dance troupe to our reserve army to perform. The commanders and fighters have been looking forward to you all the time."


    When I heard about the reserve army and looked at the three Venus on the general''s shoulder, I immediately guessed the identity of the other party. He was the commander of the reserve army, the superior of liejier. He quickly stood up, raised his hand, saluted him and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade commander."


    Liejer sat at the table and saluted me. After glancing at my epaulets, he said with a smile, "it''s comrade oshanina. Congratulations on winning the Venus medal and the title of" Soviet hero. "


    "Thank you, thank you, Comrade General." Since I haven''t officially reported to the front army of the reserve, I don''t have any subordinate relationship with Admiral Leijer. After a little chat, he turned around and continued to chat with the people nearby.


    Krochkov then found the opportunity to ask Alexandrov: "Alexander vasilievych, after listening to oshanina''s proposal, what do you think?"


    Alessandrov answered with confidence: "I have considered that the tune of the Bolshevik party song should be modified, and the famous poets Sergei vladimirovic Mikhalkov and El lekiski should be asked to fill in the lyrics again. I think it won''t be long before the new national anthem comes out. "


    When I heard Alexandrov''s words, I couldn''t help feeling in my heart. It seems that the head of the red flag song and dance troupe is really capable. I just mentioned it casually so that he could have a comprehensive consideration in such a short time. It seems that the appearance of the new national anthem of the Soviet Union can be much earlier than the real time in history.


    Seeing more and more people entering the hall, I couldn''t help looking at my watch and found that it would be nine o''clock in five minutes, but the three chairs left for the host behind the long table were still empty. I said in my heart, Lao maozi has no idea of time. Will the ceremony be postponed?


    While I was in my head, Alexandrov, who was sitting next to me, noticed my abnormality and asked me curiously, "Comrade oshanina, I think you are very nervous. Have you never experienced such a big scene?"


    After listening to Alexandrov''s question, I quickly shook my head and said, "no, comrade Alexandrov, I think it''s time soon, but the leader who presided over the ceremony hasn''t arrived, so I''m a little worried about whether the ceremony will be temporarily cancelled."


    After I finished, Alexandria looked at krochkov sitting on his right hand and said with a smile, "don''t worry about that. Comrade Molotov is always famous for being punctual. You''ll see later. As long as the clock points to nine o''clock, he will appear in front of you on time."


    Although I heard what alessandrov said, I didn''t see Molotov and them. I was still not at ease. I was talking to alessandrov absently and looking nervously at the entrance of the hall.


    Just when I was in a state of anxiety, three people appeared at the door of the hall. With my sharp eyes, I recognized Molotov at the front, marshal Voroshilov at the back, and behind marshal Voroshilov was an old man with a goatee and eyes.


    With the appearance of the three people, the whole hall suddenly quieted down, even the sound of breathing can be heard clearly. Seeing that the three people came to the long table and sat down one by one, my heart relaxed. My heart said that in this case, the ceremony would not be cancelled or postponed.


    After a few words of whispered conversation, Voroshilov stood up from his seat, faced everyone and said excitedly, "comrades, I''m sorry to have kept you waiting. But we came here so late for a reason. Before we came here, the front line just sent out the latest war report. In order to report the good news to you in time, we stayed in the telegraph room for a while and came here after receiving all the war reports. "


    Voroshlov said that, after pausing for a moment, he scanned the whole audience with his eyes and said in a cadenced voice: "in the morning, our southern front army and southwest front army stopped here in Molotov, and turned their eyes to where I was. At this time, Alexandrov, who was sitting on my right hand side, gave me a gentle push and said in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, it''s your turn to appear. Hurry up to Comrade Molotov and accept the honor you deserve. "


    I stood up in a hurry, reorganized my military appearance, stepped forward quickly, straightened up and stood in front of Molotov, waiting for his next order.


    Molotov, smiling and holding out his hand to me, said friendly, "Comrade oshanina, I congratulate you!"


    As I shook hands with him, I politely replied, "thank you."


    Seeing that Molotov and I held hands together, there was a burst of applause in the hall.


    In the warm applause, Molotov put the Venus medal that he had just taken out of the box on my left chest, above the other medals. After wearing the medal, he turned around and took a medal from voroshlov''s hand, holding it in both hands and handing it to me.


    Then voroshlov and the old man with a goatee shook hands with me and congratulated me.


    Then Molotov simply said a few words and announced the official end of the ceremony. They all stood up and applauded to see off Molotov. After they left, the three of them also left their positions and walked out of the hall.


    I was thinking about whether I should go outside to find bzikov immediately, but he came first. He glanced behind me with disgust on his face and asked me in a low voice, "Rita, shall we go back now?"


    "Comrade Colonel," without waiting for me to speak, krochkov''s voice came from behind, "Comrade oshanina, if you want to come with me, will not go back with you for the time being."


    "What?" When bzikov heard this, he immediately asked fiercely, "Comrade krochkov, who gave you the right to detain the commander who came back from the front line at will?" With that, he felt for the pistol at his waist.


    When I saw that he had misunderstood, I quickly grasped his hand, so as not to cause an accident on his impulse. At the same time, I explained to him, "Comrade Colonel, you have misunderstood. Comrade krochkov did not take me back to the Ministry of the interior, but to the hospital. "¡° hospital? What do you do in the hospital? " Bzikov listened to me, and though he was still hostile to krochkov, his hand was removed from the holster. Seeing that bzikov was looking at me mistily, I had to make a further explanation to him: "there seems to be something wrong with my eyes. Comrade krochkov said that he knew an ophthalmologist and was going to take me to have a look."¡° So it is. I''ll go with you. " After that, bezikov turned to krochkov and asked sarcastically, "do you have any objection?"

 Chapter 998

    When we left the Kremlin, in order to be safe, bezikov turned out the driver and drove me and krochkov to the hospital.


    It''s funny to say that the three of us in the car, originally krochkov was our enemy, but now he became my friend. And bzikov has always been bitter about krochkov because we were almost shot last time. This can be guessed from the way he glares at krochkov in the back seat through the rearview mirror from time to time. However, krochkov only gave a faint smile in return for this provocative action of bezikov.


    I didn''t pay attention to the secret contest between them. Instead, I thought about it on my own. Today''s award ceremony really brought me a lot of benefits. In addition to meeting such a big man as Ustinov, I also completely resolved my grudge with krochkov.


    During the Moscow defense war, I had a chance to make a rapid progress because I was appreciated by Zhukov and rokosovsky and made a little contribution. However, officers who are too conspicuous and climb too fast are far less mature and stable than those who have worked in the army for more than 10 to 20 years and have been promoted step by step. They lack experience of experience. If they encounter setbacks, they may perform badly.


    After he was demoted, he was first sent to Leningrad, and then to Stalingrad. Although he nearly lost his life several times, he had rich combat experience, accumulated a lot of contacts, and even had an army that could be completely controlled by himself. He didn''t need to wipe it where he needed it.


    I was just thinking about it when the car was parked in the yard of a hospital. Krochkov asked the driver in a sarcastic tone, "Comrade Colonel, here we are. Would you like to get out of the car and go in with us, or stay in the car and wait? "


    After listening to what krochkov said, bzikov looked back at him with an angry look on his face. Then he bit his back teeth and said, "of course we went in together. How can I know if you''re going to do anything more?"


    After krochkov listened, he turned to me and said, "o''shanina, let''s get out of the car." With that, he pushed open the door on his side and jumped out of the car.


    Instead of immediately following krochkov out of the car, I politely said to bzikov, "Comrade Colonel, please find a place to park, and then we''ll go in together." With that, I pushed the door open and got out of the car.


    Krochkov, who was standing at the door of the outpatient hall, waited for me to come up to him. He took a look at the car that was driving towards him. Then he asked in a low voice, "o''shanina, will Colonel bzikov come in with us?"


    I nodded and politely said to him, "yes, comrade krochkov, Captain, now stop the car and come in with us later."


    We both stood at the door waiting for a short time, and bzikov, who had parked the car, came in a hurry. He came up to us, shook his head at me and said in a loud voice, "come on, Rita, let''s go in and find the doctor."


    Seeing that bzikov finished saying this, he walked into the outpatient building without looking back. Krochkov laughed helplessly and said to me, "this bzikov is still angry with me. O''shanina, let''s go. Let''s go to the doctor. "


    In Soviet hospitals, there was no need to register, just wait outside the doctor''s clinic. The three of us came to the outpatient clinic of the Department of facial features. There were many people standing on the corridor outside, at least 30 people. I calculated in my mind that even if the doctor sees a patient in five minutes, it will be at least two hours before my turn.


    Seeing this situation, I could not help but beat the drum of retreat. I gently pulled lacrochkov''s sleeve and said to him in a low voice, "Comrade krochkov, there are too many people today. Can we come back another day?"


    Krochkov looked at me and said strangely, "tomorrow? Why wait until tomorrow? "


    I pointed to the long line outside the clinic and said helplessly, "you see, there are so many people outside. When it''s my turn, I don''t know how long I''ll have to wait."


    To understand what I was worried about, there was a smile on krochkov''s face. He said with disapproval, "o''shanina, you are worried too much. If you''re going to see a doctor, you don''t have to wait that long. "


    After hearing what he said, bzikov turned his head and rolled his eyes at him. He said angrily, "Damn it, you want to abuse his power again."


    Krochkov didn''t care about bezikov''s sarcasm. He walked quickly to the front of the line, took out a dark red certificate from his coat pocket, raised it high above his head, and said loudly to the patients in line: "citizens, I''m from the interior department. There''s a commander who just came back from the front line to see a doctor. Because her time is very precious, please wait a little while and let her see a doctor first." Then, without waiting for any reaction from the patients, he waved to me, "o''shanina, come here."


    He used his authority to go through the back door, which made me feel embarrassed. I passed the long waiting line with a red face and came to krochkov''s side.


    Krochkov pushed open the door of the clinic, shook his head at me and said, "o''shanina, go in." I nodded, forced my way into the clinic, and krochkov followed. After he came in, he turned to stop bzikov, who wanted to follow him. "Well, comrade Colonel, there are not many people in the clinic. You''d better stay outside and wait." Then he closed the door.


    The doctor in the outpatient room was guiding the nurse to deal with an ear injured patient. When he saw an unexpected guest break in, he looked back at us and said discontentedly, "what''s the matter with you?"


    Krochkov was not in the least irritated by the doctor''s reproach, but said to him with a smile, "Dear Sergey, don''t you know me?"


    The doctor, known as Sergey, squinted at krochkov for a while, and then suddenly a smile appeared on his face. He immediately welcomed him with open arms, and said happily, "krochkov, it''s you. It''s a pleasure to see you still alive. "


    They hugged each other and separated. Sergey asked warmly, "krochkov, you busy man, how can you come to me today?"


    Krochkov pointed to me and said, "well, comrade Sergei, I''m here with the commander who just came back from the front line. There seems to be something wrong with her eyes. I want you to have a good examination for her. " Perhaps in order to attract the other party''s attention, he also specially stressed that "she just attended the ceremony of conferring honor and won the title of" Soviet hero "at the ceremony."


    The effect of krochkov''s introduction was immediate. Sergey immediately respected me. He asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, what''s wrong with your eyes and what''s the symptom?"


    Sergey frowned as I explained the symptoms in detail. Seeing his expression, I had a bad feeling in my heart: "doctor, is the condition of my eyes very bad?"


    Sergey was silent for a moment and said, "according to the symptoms you said, it may be retinal detachment. However, in order to avoid misdiagnosis, I want to check your mydriasis first. We will be able to find out what the specific situation is after the inspection. " With that, he told the nurse who had just treated the wound for the patient to come and drop eye drops for me to treat mydriasis.


    I was lying on the bed covered with curtains, waiting for the nurse to give me mydriasis, when I heard krochkov outside asking the doctor, "Sergey, is the retina falling off seriously?"


    "Damn, comrade krochkov, don''t you even have this common sense?" Sergey may have heard krochkov ask how low-level questions, some dissatisfied words said: "the retina is like a photographic film in a camera, dedicated to photographic imaging. When we look at something, the image of the object falls on the retina through the refractive system. Once the retina completely falls off, it can lead to blindness


    I shivered when I heard that I might be blind. If it wasn''t for the nurse who was giving me eye drops at this time, I would have rushed out to see Dr. Sergey.


    After a moment''s silence, krochkov asked, "if it''s retinal detachment, is there any way to prevent blindness?"


    When I heard krochkov ask me what I was concerned about, I lay on the bed with my ears on my side, listening carefully to the conversation outside. Just listen to Sergei said: "of course, it''s surgery. After the operation, although her vision can not be restored to the original level, it can avoid blindness in her left eye and affect the vision of her right eye. "


    After hearing this, krochkov took a cool breath and said, "this matter has too much to do with. I want to report it to my superiors immediately."


    "Wait a minute, krochkov." Sergei immediately stopped him and said, "don''t report to the higher authorities first. At present, the condition of the female commander is only my judgment based on my past experience, which is not necessarily accurate. As for the condition, we have to wait for mydriasis examination before we can confirm it. "


    "When can the inspection be carried out?" Asked krochkov.


    "Thirty minutes at the most." After answering this sentence, Sergey said to krochkov tactfully, "anyway, it''s still early. Do you think you should go outside first and wait for a while. During this time, I can see a few more patients."


    "Well, I''ll talk to the female commander first." When krochkov finished, he went to my bed, chatted about the curtain, and said to me, "o''shanina, Dr. Sergey will examine you in half an hour. In order not to affect his work, I''ll wait outside first. "


    To the polite krochkov, I said with a smile, "OK, you go."


    Krochkov nodded, lowered the curtain, said hello to Sergei, opened the door and went out. Not long after he went out, the door rang again. Someone came in from the outside. From the conversation between the other party and the doctor, I recognized that it was a patient. When I heard that a patient came in, the nurse and I said hello and went out to receive the patient.


    I heard that five or six patients entered the outpatient department in front of me. After listening patiently to the patients, Sergey sent them away in a few words, while others asked the nurses to deal with the injury and then opened a pharmacy to let the patients go to the nearby pharmacy to buy medicine.


    Just when I was impatient, I heard Sergei''s voice from outside: "Comrade commander, please come out for inspection." As soon as Sergey''s voice fell, the nurse came over, pulled the curtain, helped me out of the bed, helped me to a chair against the wall, and turned on an incandescent lamp on my head. Sergey stood in front of me, leaned down, opened my eyelids, carefully observed my eyes with a magnifying glass with a condenser, and from time to time told me to look up, down, left and right in different directions. After looking at it for a long time, he stood up straight, sighed, glanced at my epaulets, and then asked, "Comrade General, have you been hit on the head recently?"¡° Whack? " I repeated this word. I went through my experience in my mind like a movie, and found that I didn''t seem to have encountered any severe blow to the head. Just as I was about to shake my head to deny it, I suddenly thought that outside the town, when I met Vassily, he accidentally stepped on a mine, and the blast blew me away. When I landed, my head hit the stone heavily. Fortunately, I wore a helmet, otherwise I might have been honored at that time. Thinking of this, I quickly told Sergei about it. After that, I asked uneasily, "don''t worry about my eyes, doctor." Sergey replied solemnly: "Comrade General, it is precisely because of such a heavy blow that your retina appears the precursor of detachment. Because you have not been treated in time, it will fall off now." Sergey''s words made me even more frightened. I asked with a flustered look: "doctor, will I be blind then?" Hearing my worry, Sergey thought for a moment and replied, "if the operation had been carried out in time, it would not have been possible."¡° When can I have an operation? " I asked quickly¡° Although it has been confirmed that it is retinal detachment, it still needs to be observed for another two days before surgery can be performed. " When Sergey finished these two sentences, he went back to the desk, picked up his pen and began to write the case. As he wrote, he said, "Comrade General, the inpatient department is behind the outpatient department. Later, you can take me to write the case for you and go to the doctor on duty. He will arrange the ward for you."

 Chapter 999

    When I came out of the clinic, I saw two people waiting outside, krochkov and bezikov, talking and laughing at a window in the corridor. The conflict between them seemed to have been completely resolved. Seeing me coming out, they immediately welcomed me and asked in one voice, "what''s the situation?" When they heard each other and themselves open their mouths at the same time, they turned their heads and looked at each other, with friendly smiles on their faces. Then they turned their eyes on me, waiting for my answer. I closed my right eye and looked at them with my left eye. I found that the world in front of me was blurry. I quickly opened my right eye again and saw the two people standing in front of me again. I went up and grabbed them by the arms and dragged them to the corridor where there were few people. When Kwai found a location far away from the crowd, I stopped and said to the two, "the diagnosis comes out of the retina. It should be operated as soon as possible, otherwise it will lead to blindness." Krochkov had been psychologically prepared for this, and behaved normally. But biezikov was surprised. I snatched the case in my hand and looked it up carefully. After reading it, he frowned and asked, "what''s going on, Rita? Why does this happen all of a sudden?" Seeing that not only bzikov was concerned about it, but also krochkov was staring at me, I went over again what happened when Vasili stepped on the mine and the blast affected me. After hearing this, bzikov frowned even tighter. He said with a very serious expression, "Rita, there''s something I haven''t told you yet. After being injured, Vasili Zaitsev was sent to Moscow and stayed in this hospital. "¡° Ah, he lives in this hospital, too? " I was surprised to hear that one of my valued subordinates was also living in this hospital. I immediately asked, "how is his injury now?"¡° During the explosion, his hands and feet were injured to varying degrees. " The one who answered my question was not bezikov, but krochkov who stood beside and didn''t speak. "After a period of treatment, these injuries were almost cured. The most troublesome thing is that his eyes are also injured. Although he is not blind, he can no longer be a sniper. " Vasili has been injured for so long. I''m still afraid that krochkov will attack again after hearing this. They hurriedly rush to the interface and say, "it doesn''t matter. If I don''t wear this uniform, I''ll be the same as ordinary people." Speaking of this, it suddenly occurred to me that bezikov said that Vasili also lived in the hospital. He quickly added, "by the way, doctor comrade, I heard that Vasili, the famous sniper, also lived here. Could you arrange the bed outside his ward for me?"¡° Comrade general, are you talking about Vasili Zaitsev? " When the doctor on duty heard Vassily''s name, he couldn''t help smiling. He said with some pride, "I didn''t expect you to know him. When he was in the battle of Stalingrad, he killed more than 300 members..." "doctor comrade, of course, general oshanina knew Vassily." When bizikov heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting the doctor''s words and said impatiently, "Vassily is her subordinate, and the reason why she has eye problems has nothing to do with Vassily. Don''t talk nonsense here. Find someone to arrange the bed quickly. " Bezikov''s words froze the doctor''s smile. After a moment, he restrained his smile, turned to the nurse and said, "nurse, go to the hospital logistics immediately and ask them to arrange a bed for the general in the corridor."

 Chapter 1000

    If I were an ordinary soldier, I might live in the temporary hospital bed in the corridor from admission to discharge when the hospital bed is tight. But the rank on my epaulet is doomed that I can''t enjoy the treatment of ordinary people. As soon as the logistics staff of the hospital set up a new bed in the corridor, the president of the hospital, who got the news, came with several people in a hurry.


    By the time they arrived, krochkov had left first, leaving bezikov sitting by the bed chatting with me. He said to me, "Rita, although most of the doctors are called into the army, they can''t deal with the seriously injured people who are sent back from the front line every day. Where can they spare the energy to do such a delicate operation for you. So I think your operation is more suitable for this kind of ordinary hospital


    The president with a few medical staff came to me, nodded and said hello to me: "Hello! Is that general o''shanina, please


    "Yes, I''m o''shanina." I looked at the old man in a white coat in front of me. Because I couldn''t figure out his identity, I asked tentatively, "who are you, please?"


    "I''m o''siminin, the president of this hospital. Originally, I was attending a meeting held by the municipal health department. When I heard that you were admitted to our hospital, I came back immediately." With these words, he stood up straight, turned his head to the doctor on duty standing behind him, and said sternly, "doctor comrade, how can you let a general, a hero of the motherland, live in this cold corridor?"


    "Comrade president, please listen to my explanation." The doctor on duty replied in a panic: "all the wards in the inpatient department are full, and even there are many people living in the corridor. In addition, Comrade General himself proposed to live in the corridor, so I asked the logistics comrades to make a bed for her here..."


    "Comrade Dean," I saw Kwai min, who was angry with the doctor in the rush class. I hurriedly came out to make a round. "This is not a doctor, but there is no bed in the inpatient department, and my eyes need to be operated as soon as possible, so I strongly urge the doctor to arrange a bed for me in the corridor," said Dr. Oce.


    "General oshanina, look what you said." O''siminin turned his head and said to me, "how can you live in the corridor? You know, there is no heating in the building, and the corridor is extremely cold, which is very bad for your postoperative recovery. Therefore, even if the beds in the inpatient department are tight, we have to find a way to arrange a room for you, preferably a single room. " Then he turned again and said to the people behind him, "go and clear up the storage room, and then move general o''shanina''s bed."


    Seeing that osimin is so enthusiastic, I can''t beat his enthusiasm. So when he turned to ask for my opinions, I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Comrade osimin, since you are the president, I will obey your arrangement."


    When I agreed to my arrangement, osimin''s face showed a smile, and then he said to me in a deliberative tone: "Comrade General, it may take some time to set up your room. During this period of time, would you like to go to other places, such as my Dean''s office? "


    Bizikov, who had been sitting on the bed without saying a word, stood up and said to me, "Rita, didn''t you just say you were going to see your wounded man? Anyway, there is still time. Let me accompany you to visit the wounded. "


    Osimin glanced at bzikov''s epaulets and asked cautiously, "Comrade Colonel, I don''t know which wounded you are going to visit."


    "Vasili, Vasili Zaitsev." After I gave the name of Vassili, I was deeply afraid that because there were too many patients and wounded in the hospital, osimin didn''t know this person, and specially explained: "he is an excellent sniper. Because of his eye injury, he was treated in this hospital."


    "Yes, yes, of course!" "How can I not know such a hero?" osimin replied. It''s a coincidence that his ward is not far ahead. Let me take you there. "


    Bezikov and I followed behind osimin, passing through a dozen beds in the corridor, lying patients or the wounded, and walked into a ward, which was densely packed with a dozen beds.


    As soon as he entered the door, osimin stopped. When we came in, he pointed to the corner of the wall and said, "Comrade commander, Vassily''s bed is by the wall."


    I looked in the direction of his fingers. On a bed near the wall, there was a man in a hospital uniform, whose eyes were wrapped in white bandages. It should be Vassili, as osimin said.


    I walked quickly to the bed, leaned down and asked tentatively, "is that Vassily?"


    The man lying on the bed was stunned when he heard my voice. Then he stretched out his hands to the air and asked excitedly, "commander, commander, is that you?"


    I grabbed Vassily''s outstretched hands, and though I knew he couldn''t see them, I still said with a smile, "yes, comrade Vassily, I come to see you on behalf of my comrades."


    Listen to me, Vassily''s mouth twitched violently and said in frustration: "Comrade commander, listen to the doctor, my eye injury is very serious. Even if it''s cured, I can''t be a sniper any more."


    I looked at osirminin standing beside me. He nodded his head with understanding, indicating that everything Vassily said was accurate.


    To tell you the truth, Vasili can no longer be a sniper, which is a pity for me. Seeing his dejected appearance, I quickly comforted him and said, "Comrade Vasili, although you can''t continue to be a sniper, you can go to the Sniper School as a teacher after you are well injured, so that you can impart your sniper knowledge to more snipers. Although you have killed more than 300 Communist aggressors, the students you teach will be able to wipe out more enemies in the future. "


    Under my persuasion, Vassily''s mood was slightly calmed, but he still asked with half faith: "Comrade commander, are you true? When I get back to the army, can I really go to the Sniper School as a teacher? "


    "Yes, yes, comrade Vassili." Seeing that his heart had not been completely untied, I continued: "of course what I said is true. However, I don''t think you are in a stable mood today. It''s not suitable to say too much. Take a rest, and I''ll see you tomorrow. "


    "Tomorrow, can you spare time?" When I said I was leaving, Vasili''s mood became low again.


    "Don''t worry, Vassily." I patted him twice on the back of his hand and said, "I may have to stay in the hospital for a long time. I''ll come to see you whenever I have time."


    "What, you have to stay in the hospital for a long time?" Vassily listened to me and immediately asked with vigilance, "are you, are you also injured?"


    In the face of Vassili, the initiator, I gave a wry smile, but still forced a cheerful reply: "there is no big problem, that is, there is something wrong with my eyes, which needs to be treated for a period of time. At present, the military hospitals in the city are full, so I have to live in this ordinary hospital temporarily. "


    "What''s wrong with your eyes?" Vasili asked with concern


    "It''s no big deal," I said lightly, fearing to increase his psychological burden. "It may be that I''ve been using my eyes too much recently, and I''ve been seeing things a little indistinctly, so I''ll take the opportunity to come back to Moscow and have a look in the hospital. Well, have a good rest. Comrade president and I still have something to discuss. "


    "Thank you, thank you, comrade commander!" Vassily held my hand tightly and said gratefully.


    As we walked out of the ward and toward the dean''s office, osiminin, who was walking beside me, suddenly talked and said, "Comrade General, if you are free, please go to enlighten Comrade Vasili more. Since he was injured and sent to the hospital, he has been in a very low mood and does not cooperate with our treatment, so the recovery of his eye injury is not ideal."


    When I heard o''siminin''s words, I could not help but clatter. Did Vasili''s injury be serious? "Comrade president, please tell me the truth about Vassili''s injury," he asked


    Ossiminin slowed down and said to me solemnly: "Comrade Vasili''s eye was scratched by the shrapnel of the mine. It''s very serious. If he doesn''t keep a happy mood and actively cooperate with our treatment, it is estimated that his eyes will be lost. "


    "If a sniper doesn''t have eyes, then he will suffer more than death." "Especially for a sniper like him, the situation will be even more serious," he said


    With these words, he came to the dean''s office of osimin unconsciously. After he asked us to sit down, he turned back and asked the doctor on duty who followed us, "how''s bolev?"


    The doctor on duty obviously didn''t expect that the president would suddenly ask this question. For a moment, he didn''t know how to answer it.


    "Bolev," osimin repeated the name he had just said, and reminded him, "is the wounded man whose leg was injured who was sent from the countryside yesterday."


    "I had an operation." The doctor on duty replied, "all the shrapnel on my legs have been taken out. After a week''s rest, I can try to get out of bed and walk."


    "How''s the old lady in the first ward on the second floor?" Osimin then asked, "is it getting better?"


    "Excuse me, are you talking about the old lady chekovna?" The doctor on duty asked tentatively.


    "Exactly. I''m talking about her." "She often faints because of her long-term poor diet. As long as she has enough nutrition, her illness will be improved..." osimin said positively


    Listening to osimin discussing his illness with his doctors, I can''t help admiring him secretly. As the president of the hospital, he can remember so many patients and their diseases.


    After the doctor on duty left, osimin sat down behind the table opposite us, picked up the case on the table, looked at it for a while, put down the case and said to me, "Comrade General, judging from Sergey''s diagnosis, your situation is not optimistic. You need an operation immediately. However, for the sake of safety, it will take two days to observe before the operation. I will perform the operation myself. But in these two days, I suggest you stay in bed all the time, so as not to increase the area of retinal detachment


    Osimin''s performance just now makes me full of confidence in his medical skills, but what I want to know more is when I can return to normal work after the operation, so I asked cautiously: "Comrade president, I don''t know how many days after the operation I can leave the hospital?"


    "Generally, after the operation, the stitches can be removed in three days and discharged in seven days at most." He may have seen a relaxed expression on my face and immediately added: "but in three months, you can''t exercise violently, otherwise the retina will fall off again." His words cooled my heart. I asked tentatively, "Comrade president, what do you mean by strenuous exercise?"¡° Running and jumping are not allowed, let alone going to the front to fight. " "So in the next three months, you''ll have to do some light work," osiminin said of the doctor''s orders, just as he told ordinary patients Just as I was about to ask a few more questions, a nurse ran in from the door and loudly reported to osimin, "Dean, Comrade General''s ward is ready." After listening to the nurse''s report, o''siminin quickly asked me with a smile: "Comrade General, the ward is ready. Let''s go and have a look?" The newly decorated ward has seven or eight square meters. There is only one symptom and a bedside table in it, so there is no room left. As soon as I entered the door, I smelled a pungent smell of disinfectant. Seeing that I was frowning, osimin quickly apologized and said, "I''m sorry, Comrade General. Because this room used to be a storage room, the comrades of the logistics department disinfected it with disinfectant when they were cleaning it." I waved my hand and said to him with a smile, "it''s OK. Stay a little longer and you''ll get used to the smell. Comrade president, it''s none of your business here. Go and do your work. " As soon as ossiminin left, bzikov immediately came up to me and said, "Rita, I want to report to Marshal Zhukov about your hospitalization. And, to make sure you''re safe, I''ll have captain Yushchenko and them come over and set up sentries at your door. " I know that I must report such a big matter as my hospitalization to my superior. Since bezikov is willing to do it for me, I can''t help it. As for asking Yushchenko to come to the hospital to be on guard, I thought it was a little too exciting and quickly objected: "Comrade Colonel, I''m in hospital here. There should be no danger. I don''t think it''s necessary to ask captain Yushchenko to come and stand guard." I didn''t expect that bzikov said stubbornly, "no, if you are still a lieutenant commander or other rank, maybe you don''t need soldiers to stand guard for you. But look at your epaulets. You are a general now. Your safety must be guaranteed, so I will arrange Yushchenko and them to protect your safety as soon as possible. "

 Chapter 1001

    On the night when I was hospitalized, Zhukov, who got the news, sent zikov to inform me that the appointment of sending me to the reserve front army as chief of staff was cancelled, which made me feel at ease to stay in the hospital, and then reconsider my work arrangement after I recovered.


    I thought that when I heard the news, I would have a deep sense of loss. Unexpectedly, after bezikov announced Zhukov''s order, I breathed a sigh of relief. After more than a year''s continuous fighting, I felt physically and mentally exhausted. Now that my superiors take the initiative to give me a holiday, I will take this opportunity to cultivate for a period of time.


    After reading out the order, bezikov was deeply afraid of my bad ideas and comforted me, saying, "Rita, as you know, it''s a time of war. Although the reserve front army is a reserve force, the post of chief of staff can''t be vacant for a long time, so a new chief of staff has been temporarily appointed. You can be at ease in the hospital for treatment. When you are fully recovered, with your friendship with Marshal Zhukov, he will certainly be able to arrange a proper job for you. "


    I gave bezikov a grateful smile and then said, "don''t worry, Colonel bezikov. I won''t have any psychological burden. Even after fighting for more than a year, I''m tired. I''ll take advantage of the opportunity to have a good rest for a while. "


    "Are you really OK?" Although bzikov heard me say this, he still asked with half faith: "we are friends. If you have something on your mind, you must tell me."


    "It''s OK. It''s really OK. Don''t, Colonel zikov." I saw that he had doubts about my words, so I quickly made it clear to him: "I will not bear any psychological burden for such a small matter. You''ve been out for a long time today. You''d better go back early. Maybe the superior has any tasks to assign to you. "


    "Well, since you say so, I''ll go back first." When he went out, he specially told me: "if there is anything, you can call directly, or ask captain Yushchenko to send someone to find me."


    "All right, Captain, I see." After that, I asked Yushchenko, who was standing outside the door: "Captain, do you hear what the Colonel just said?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Yushchenko replied respectfully, "if I have something to do, I will send someone immediately to find Comrade colonel."


    When bezikov heard Yushchenko say this, he nodded with satisfaction and turned away from my ward.


    For the next two days, the nurse came to give me eye drops in the early morning. After mydriasis, doctor Sergey came to check me. After the next day''s examination, Sergey said to me politely, "Comrade General, I want to operate on you tomorrow. Do you think it''s ok?"


    "Comrade Sergei, you are a doctor, and I am only your patient." Has the final say, "what time do you have to do the surgery?"


    When he saw that I agreed to have an operation tomorrow, he continued: "Comrade General, you must know that no matter what operation, there will be certain risks, that is, no matter how skillful doctors are, there will be accidents in the process of operation. I''m telling you this now to prepare you psychologically. "


    When I heard Sergei say that, my heart immediately panicked. My heart said that there was an accident. What accident would happen during the operation? According to the medical knowledge I learned from the nurses, I know that to do retinal repair surgery is to open the eyeball. If you have any accident when you do the surgery for me, won''t my eyes be reimbursed? If I''m a pirate, I''ll be a one eyed pirate; But now I''m a general. If I become a Cyclops, how can I go out to meet people.


    Sergey didn''t know that there was a fierce struggle in my heart, and said to himself: "when repairing the retina, you need to open the eyeball, which may affect your cornea..."


    Before he finished, I raised my hand and interrupted him. I couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade Sergei, I want to find out one thing. Will I be in danger of blindness after this operation tomorrow?"


    Sergey may not have thought that I would suddenly ask this question, but he was stunned. After a moment''s silence, he said carefully: "Comrade General, I have just said that even if the medical skill is excellent, accidents may occur during the operation. I''ve been in this business for more than ten years, and I''ve done more than 500 eye surgeries, with a success rate of about 90%... "


    Although the proportion is very high under the current medical conditions, I''m still not sure. I''m afraid that I will become one of the hapless 10%. Thinking of this, I cried and said to Sergei, "Comrade Sergei, I beg you, tomorrow''s operation must be successful. I don''t want to wear a black eye mask when I go out in the future."


    My words made Sergei silent again. After a long time, he gritted his teeth and said to me, "Comrade General, don''t worry. Although I''m the chief surgeon tomorrow, the president of the hospital, o''siminin, will also come to the scene to observe and guide. I think the chance of your successful operation is still very high."


    When I heard Sergei''s promise, I was finally relieved. Besides, I remembered that krochkov had said that he was an excellent ophthalmologist. It should be no big problem for him to operate on me. After putting down the big stone in my heart, I was deeply afraid that he would bear too much psychological burden in tomorrow''s operation because of my identity, so I comforted him in turn and said, "doctor, don''t care what level I am now, just treat me as an ordinary patient, and treat me as you should."


    When I finished this sentence, I found that Sergey seemed to be relieved. I suddenly realized that he was nervous when he just gave me the preoperative doctor''s advice.


    On the day of the operation, just at eight o''clock, a male nurse pushed a wheelchair into my room, parked the car in front of and behind my bed, and respectfully said to me, "Comrade commander, please sit up. I''ll push you to the operating room."


    I nodded and sat on it carelessly. He pushed me out. As soon as he got to the door, Yushchenko put out his hand to stop the nurse. Then he bent down and asked me, "Comrade commander, do you want us to go with you?"


    I looked at Yushchenko, who was fully armed, and the two soldiers standing there like nails outside the door. I slowly shook my head and said, "no, comrade captain. If you go to the door of the operating room in this dress, it will cause great psychological pressure to the doctor in charge of the operation and affect his normal performance. You''d better stay here. Anyway, it''s a small operation and it won''t take long


    After Yushchenko let me go, the nurse pushed my wheelchair and walked along the corridor. When I got to the end of the corridor, the wheelchair turned a corner and let me see the two closed glass doors of the operating room at a glance. The nurse pushed the wheelchair to the glass door, stopped, went around to the front, opened the door, turned back and pushed the wheelchair into the operating room.


    The nurse pushed me to an operating bed, made a gesture and said to me, "Comrade commander, you will have an operation here later. Please lie down first. The doctor will come soon."


    I got out of the wheelchair, climbed onto the operating bed and lay on my back. At the same time, I politely and sincerely said to the nurse, "thank you!"


    "Never mind, comrade commander!" After the nurse politely replied to me, he pushed the wheelchair out of the operating room.


    I was lying on the cold operating table, and I was very nervous. I didn''t know when Sergei would come for my operation. I''m even thinking that it''s better to get out of bed and walk around than to lie here and wait.


    Just as I was daydreaming, I heard the door of the operating room ring, and then came the footsteps of several people. Before I could look back, I heard osimin''s familiar voice: "good morning, Comrade General!"


    Hearing that there was osirminin, I quickly stood up and said hello to the old president: "good morning, President osirminin!" Seeing that Sergei was next to him, I added, "Hello, comrade Sergei!"


    Seeing that I wanted to sit up, Sergei quickly stepped up to me, held me up and said, "Comrade General, lie down. We''re going to have an operation on you soon."


    After I lay down, I looked at Sergei and asked, "how long will it take for today''s operation?"


    "It won''t be long. It will be soon." After answering me, Sergey said hastily, "I''ll change first, and I''ll talk to you later." With that, he went to the next dressing room with osimin and the nurse.


    After I lay on the operating bed for a long time, Sergei and osimin, who had changed into surgical clothes, came to me again. O''siminin lowered his head and said to me with a smile: "Comrade General, today''s operation is operated by Dr. Sergey. I will be watching all the time. You can rest assured."


    Seeing the dean and the doctor with the highest skill standing in front of me, I nodded with satisfaction and said, "if you''re ready, let''s start."


    Sergey turned to the nurse next to him and said, "it''s time to prepare for the operation."


    With his instructions, the nurse came to me, bent down and carefully cut off the eyelashes of my left eye with medical scissors. After the preparation, she stood up and nodded at Sergey.


    Then it was Sergey''s turn to do it himself. He cautiously gave me three injections in the corner of my left eye and three injections in my lower eye. But I could not help shivering when I heard the sound of the needle piercing my skin.


    Sergei, who was in the process of injection, noticed my little action. He quickly stopped and said to me, "Comrade General, I''ll give you an anti-inflammatory injection and anesthetic. Don''t worry. It won''t hurt too much."


    Because the tip of the needle is staying in the position of my eye socket, I can''t nod my head, I can only reluctantly give a "um" to show that I know.


    After anti-inflammatory injections and anesthetics, the nurse who just trimmed my eyelashes came over and pasted a piece of khaki tape on my eyes. When I was in the dark and didn''t understand what was going on, I heard the sound of the tape being cut by the scalpel, and then my left eye was bright again. At this moment, I understand that the original tape is to fix the eyelids, to facilitate the next operation.


    When Sergey''s scalpel carefully cut a hole in my eyeball, I couldn''t help holding my breath nervously. I was afraid that my tiny movements would affect the scalpel in his hand.


    When Sergey was skillfully repairing the retina through the incision, osimin, who was standing beside him, kept whispering something, because his speed was too fast and his voice was too small. I didn''t hear a word clearly, but I could guess that he was guiding Sergey.


    I don''t know how long after that, I vaguely heard Sergey breathe a sigh of relief, and stopped his action. I just wanted to ask if the operation was over. But heard him turn to the side of the nurse said: "intraocular pressure is too low, injection of 5cc gas." The nurse agreed, took a needle tube from the side, stabbed it at my eyeball. When I didn''t work hard, I felt my eyeballs were swollen. It should be the gas injected by the nurse that had an effect. After the nurse finished the series of operations, I heard o''siminin say to Sergei, "you can sew it up. You can come in person."¡° All right Sergey readily agreed and sewed up the wound on my eyeball. I waited for him to finish all this and stand up straight again before I asked tentatively, "Comrade Sergei, is the operation finished?"¡° Yes, Comrade General. " Without waiting for Sergei to answer, osimi Ning next to him answered, "the operation has been completed. It''s very successful. Next we''ll send you back to the ward."¡° Thank goodness, it''s finally done. " I said, trying to sit up and go back to the ward by myself. Unexpectedly, Sergei pressed my shoulder and said nervously, "Comrade General, don''t move. Be careful to crack the wound that has just been sewn." Then he looked up and said to the nurse standing next to him, "Comrade nurse, go and call the nurse in and ask them to push the general back to the ward." Not long after the nurse left, she came back with two male nurses. Osimin pointed at me and said, "you two, take the general back to the ward." Two nurses agreed to go forward and push my operating bed. When we returned to the ward, Yushchenko met us and said anxiously, "thank God, comrade commander, your operation has been finished. We''re going crazy waiting here. " Looking back on my experience in the operation, I felt that it didn''t take long. But why was Yushchenko so anxious? He asked casually, "how long has the operation been done?"¡° Five hours, five hours Yushchenko spread his palm in front of me and said, "you went in at eight in the morning. It''s one o''clock at noon now."

 Chapter 1002

    When I had an operation, I didn''t feel much after I took the anesthetic. As soon as the effect of the anesthetic was over, my eyes after the operation were swollen and painful, which made me hard to sleep. Because I feel thirsty, I want to get up and pour a glass of water. I didn''t expect that when I stepped on the ground, I felt like I was spinning around. If I hadn''t grasped the railing at the head of the bed in time, I would have fallen to the ground.


    Yushchenko, who was guarding outside, heard the movement in the room, ran in and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter?"


    I grabbed the railing with both hands, gave him a bitter smile, and said with self mockery, "I''m a little thirsty. I want to pour a glass of water, but I didn''t expect that I was so dizzy that I almost fell down as soon as I got out of bed."


    "Comrade commander, I''ll help you." Yushchenko went to the table, picked up the thermos, poured a glass of water and brought it to me.


    I took the cup in his hand, sat back on the bed and drank. Then I looked out the door and asked, "Captain, how many soldiers are on duty outside the door besides you?"


    Yushchenko quickly straightened up and replied, "we have three people on duty during the day, and we rotate every 12 hours; Two people are on duty in the evening, changing posts every four hours. "


    "It''s a long way from our hotel to the hospital." Hearing Yushchenko say so, I can''t help but worry about the soldiers who will change their posts in the future. "They don''t have night passes. If they are allowed to run back and forth like this every day, if they are interrogated by the patrol, they may be caught as deserters."


    "Don''t worry, commander." Yushchenko confidently said: "I have considered your worries for a long time, so we all moved out of the hotel and lived in the outpatient building opposite. Now those soldiers who are not on duty are sleeping in the doctor''s office


    It''s said that Yushchenko has solved the problem of soldiers'' accommodation, and I feel much more at ease. After another drink, I handed the cup back to Yushchenko, yawned and said, "Captain, after all, this is in the rear. The enemy''s spies can''t get here. There''s no need to arouse the public. After you change your post later, you''ll find a place to have a good sleep. "


    "Yes." Yushchenko agreed, put the cup I handed him on the table, turned and left my ward.


    On the afternoon of the second day after the operation, the doctor on duty came to the ward and told me to check the recovery of vision and let me go to the diagnosis room on the second floor with him. As soon as I got to the door, I met Yushchenko, who had just fallen asleep. When I heard that I was going to check, I volunteered to accompany me.


    After entering the diagnosis room, the doctor on duty carefully removed the gauze from my left eye, covered my right eye with an eye mask, and took out an eye chart to test my vision recovery.


    I had always closed my left eye. When I heard the doctor ask me to look at the chart, I opened my eyes carefully. I thought I could see the visual chart on the wall as soon as I opened my eyes, but unexpectedly I found that it was dark in front of me. I said in my heart, what happened to the doctor on duty? If the lights are not on in the room, how can I see the vision chart.


    I just wanted to make fun of him, but I heard him ask, "Comrade commander, can you see clearly where the letter on the eye chart opens?"


    The doctor''s words surprised me. I gave a wry smile and said wrongly, "doctor, you didn''t even turn on the light. How can I see the vision chart on the wall?"


    As soon as my words came out, there was a complete silence in the room. After a while, Yushchenko, who followed me in, said weakly, "Comrade commander, the light is on."


    With the light on, why can''t I see anything? I blinked and tried to look around, but it was still dark and I couldn''t see anything. At this time, I couldn''t help but panic and said nervously, "Captain Yushchenko, don''t lie to me. I can''t see anything now. I''m sure I didn''t turn on the light!"


    "Say, doctor, why don''t you talk." When I was in a panic, I suddenly heard Yushchenko''s voice asking the doctor loudly: "yesterday''s operation was very successful. Why can''t our commander see anything?"


    The doctor was shaken by Yushchenko. He replied with trembling: "it means that... The commander is with... Comrade, but... Maybe yesterday''s operation failed."


    "Nonsense," I heard the doctor on duty say, immediately interrupted him, said harshly, "yesterday your Dean told me personally that my operation was successful."


    "Then... Then i... I don''t... Don''t know... How... How to return to..." Yushchenko and I were in trouble one after another, which scared the doctor out of his speech.


    "Who can tell me what''s going on here?" Just as the place was in a mess, a majestic voice suddenly rang out.


    First I heard the heel of my boots touching, then Yushchenko said respectfully, "Hello, comrade krochkov."


    Perhaps for my sake, krochkov asked politely, "Captain, can you tell me what happened?"


    "Well, comrade krochkov." Yushchenko did not hide and told krochkov the truth.


    "Come on Krochkov suddenly yelled, "arrest this German spy who is trying to murder general oshanina."


    "I''m not a German spy," the doctor said aloud. "I don''t know why the commander''s eyes can''t see things, but I''m really not a spy..." before he finished his words, he was interrupted, as if he was covered by someone''s mouth and only made a series of "wuwuwu" sounds.


    When I heard that krochkov was going to arrest the doctor on duty as a German spy, I quickly lifted the blindfold over my right eye. When everything around clearly appeared in front of me, I saw Yushchenko standing by the door, next to him was krochkov with an angry face. The doctor who examined me was now being held back by two soldiers, apparently from the Ministry of interior, with a pitiful look on his face. I said to krochkov, "Comrade krochkov, please wait a moment. I believe this doctor is not a German spy. Please order your people to let him go first."


    "You can''t see anything with your eyes. Maybe it''s him." "I''m going to take him back for questioning to see who told him to do it," krochkov said with a strained face


    Seeing krochkov''s tough attitude, I knew in my heart that if he was allowed to take the doctor away, the doctor would not have any hope of survival. I hastened to explain, "yesterday''s operation was done by your acquaintance, Dr. Sergey. Maybe only by calling him over and asking, can we find out what happened."


    Krochkov listened to me and waved to his two hands, signaling them to let go of the doctor. Then he called another soldier over. After a few simple commands, he immediately went to the outpatient building to call Dr. Sergey.


    After the soldier left, I asked krochkov to come in and sit down. Then I turned to the doctor on duty and asked, "doctor, tell me, why can''t I see anything?"


    The doctor on duty was scared out of his wits by what krochkov had just done. When he heard my question, he couldn''t speak a whole word except a few words that no one could understand.


    When krochkov saw the doctor, he was so angry that he slapped the table and was ready to stand up. Just then, Sergey''s voice came from the door: "dear krochkov, nice to meet you here!"


    Hearing his old friend Sergey''s voice, krochkov restrained his anger, stood up with a smile and said to him, "Hello Sergey, I''m glad to see you here, too."


    After a simple greeting, Sergei turned to me and said, "Comrade General, today is your review day, so as soon as I finished the work in the outpatient department, I came here immediately and happened to meet someone sent by krocchikov at the door. What''s the result of the examination? " His last sentence was aimed at the doctor on duty who was shivering with fear.


    "It''s terrible, comrade Sergei." I saw that the doctor on duty was still shaking, so I answered instead of him, "after removing the gauze, I can''t see anything, I don''t even have a sense of light. I was just about to ask you what happened."


    "Comrade commander, what do you say? Your left eye doesn''t even have light sense?" Hearing what I said, Sergey''s face showed an incredible expression. He quickly walked up to me and first told the bewildered doctor on duty: "go and get the dean." Then he put on a microscope with a mirror and began to examine me.


    After a long inspection, Sergey sat with his back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling, in a daze. I opened my mouth just to ask, but I was pulled by crotchekov, who was sitting next to me. He gave me a wink and indicated that I would not disturb Sergei.


    Sergey had been staring at the ceiling until osiminnin arrived, while krochkov and I sat opposite and looked at him without saying a word.


    "Sergey, what''s the matter?" When I heard o''siminin''s voice at the door, I was relieved. I said that since he came, I could find out where the mistake was. Osimin nodded at us, walked quickly to Sergei, and asked in a low voice, "why is there no light sense?"


    Sergei took off the microscope from his head, handed it to osimin, and said feebly, "Comrade Dean, have a look."


    So, this time it was osimin''s turn to examine my eyes repeatedly. After a while, he took off the microscope, turned his head and asked Sergei, "do you know why?"


    After I saw Sergei nodding his approval to osimin, I immediately couldn''t wait to ask, "president, comrade Sergei, what''s the matter? I won''t be blind, will I?" When I said this, I didn''t feel low. I was afraid that they would give me a positive answer. In that case, I would be not only the first female general in the Soviet army, but also the first one eyed general.


    Sergey suddenly said a few words to osimin. I understood what Sergey said, but I didn''t understand a word. But I''m sure he didn''t speak Russian or German. But osimi Ning is very common, it seems that they often use this language to communicate, very casually use the same language to chat with each other.


    Finally, when they had finished their conversation, I asked again: "can you tell me what happened?"¡° Well, comrade commander. " He frowned and said, "after repeated examination by Dr. Sergey and I, we all agree that the reason why your eyes have no light perception may be due to the fact that your intraocular pressure was too low and the injected gas made your crystal turbid during the operation yesterday."¡° What should I do then? " Listen to o''siminin say so, my heart more uneasy, "my eyes have to wait for how long, can see things?" After listening to my question, osimin said slowly, "in the next few days, you need to lie in bed for rest. We will prescribe some medicine for you to make the crystal clear as soon as possible, so that you can restore your normal vision."¡° As long as the crystal is clear again, is there a risk of blindness? " As soon as osimin''s words were finished, krochkov next to him asked with concern, "this matter is very important. I hope you can tell me the truth."¡° Don''t worry, comrade krochkov. " When osimin said this, his eyes were looking at me. "After repeated examination by Dr. Sergey and I, although my vision will be affected to a certain extent after recovery, I will never lose sleep." After leaving the diagnosis room, krochkov whispered to me, "oshanina, let''s go back to your ward first. I have something important to inform you." I know that as krochkov, I don''t come to a place like a hospital. The reason why he is here today is probably that he has something important to say to me. There are too many people coming and going in the corridor. It''s really not a place for conversation. There are soldiers standing guard at the door of my ward. I can''t get close to other people. It''s very suitable to discuss some important things in private. When we got back to the ward, krochkov asked the two soldiers who followed him to guard at the door like Yushchenko, and then walked into the ward with me. He didn''t say business first, but urged me: "o''xia Nina, just now the president asked you to rest in the ward, you lie down first, I''ll tell you what it is slowly." Maybe just finished the operation not long, let my body become particularly weak, stand for a while will feel dizzy. On the way back from the diagnosis room to the ward, if Yushchenko had not been clever enough to help me from time to time, I would have fallen to the ground. Now that krochkov asked me to lie down and talk to him, I would not be hypocritical any more. I would just lie down on the bed and say to him, "well, comrade krochkov, now you can explain your intention."¡° Although your appointment as chief of staff in the reserve front army has been cancelled, the Supreme Commander himself has not forgotten you. " Krochkov said to me gently, "he intends to let you go back to Stalingrad to organize and participate in the reconstruction of the city."¡° Stalingrad? " When I heard this place name, I almost jumped out of bed and finally left the meat grinder. I didn''t expect to go back so soon. I tried to cover up my confusion, pretending to be calm and asked: "are you going to serve in the garrison?"¡° Not as a commander in the army, but as a member of the municipal government. " Deeply afraid that I couldn''t understand, krochkov specially added: "to be precise, it''s from military to civilian. Do you have any different opinions on such an appointment? " Krochkov has made it very clear in and out of his words that it is the Supreme Commander''s own intention to let me work in Stalingrad''s municipal government. If I have any objection, I am not fighting with my superiors. Then I am not worried about my future. As a result, I had no choice but to reply with feigned joy: "Comrade krochkov, don''t worry. I will not only do what I will do in the future, but I will resolutely obey the arrangement of my superiors."

 Chapter 1003

    After krochkov left, I lay in bed and thought a lot about the work I might have to undertake after I went to Stalingrad.


    The city has become a ruin in the war. The destroyed houses must be rebuilt; Damaged power and urban water supply and drainage systems should also be restored as soon as possible; More importantly, it is necessary to clean up the corpses of tens of thousands of officers, soldiers and citizens left in the city as soon as possible, otherwise, when the evacuated citizens return to the city on a large scale, it may cause an epidemic.


    Without more than five years, we can''t finish all this work. That is to say, as long as I stay in Stalingrad, the capture of Berlin has nothing to do with me. At the thought of this, I immediately became worried about gain and loss.


    I was lying in bed sighing when I heard Yushchenko''s voice outside the door: "Hello, comrade Colonel, are you coming to see the commander?"


    "Yes." Berzikov''s voice also came from outside the door, "is she there?"


    "Yes, yes," Yushchenko quickly replied, "she is resting in it. Please come in."


    Listening to someone coming into the ward, I quickly looked over and saw that it was bezikov who came in. I said to him, "Colonel, you are here."


    Bezikov pulled a chair to my bed, sat down, and then said, "Rita, I see the gauze on your eyes has been removed. So, can you see things? "


    Hearing his question, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. After shaking my head slowly, I said wrongly, "Oh, don''t mention it. I thought that everything would be ok if I had an operation. But I didn''t expect that when I took off the gauze and checked it today, I found that I couldn''t see things clearly and didn''t say anything, and I didn''t even have a sense of light. "


    "What, your eyes don''t even have light perception after surgery?" After listening to me, bzikov sprang up from his seat and asked nervously, "where''s your doctor in charge? What did he say after the examination? "


    "Take it easy, captain. Sit down first." I raised my right hand, pressed it down, motioned him to sit down, and then said, "during the inspection today, the Dean, o''simi, explained to me that this kind of situation needs to lie in bed for a few days, and it will gradually get better. Let me not worry too much."


    After bizikov slowly sat down again, he did not beat around the Bush and asked me directly, "did crochikov come to see you in the hospital today?"


    "Yes, I have." I don''t know why bzikov asked, or answered him truthfully: "are you here with any mission today?"


    I didn''t ask this without a definite aim, but considering that he and I have been included in Zhukov''s Department, he came to visit me at this time and specifically asked about krochkov, obviously for what purpose.


    Sure enough, after I asked him this, he nodded and replied, "yes, Rita, I''ve come to see you on Marshal Zhukov''s order, and I''ll inform you of Marshal Zhukov''s decision."


    "Marshal''s decision?" Bezikov''s words not only aroused my curiosity, but also saw a turning point, and quickly asked: "I don''t know what decision?"


    "Well, marshal, I heard that boskelebeshev suggested to Comrade Stalin that you should go to Stalingrad to participate in the reconstruction work. You must have known all about it. " Bezikov stopped for a moment, nodded his head to show his approval, and then continued: "Marshal thinks that you have a strong ability in military command. If you transfer from the army to the local area, it will be a waste of talents. Therefore, he intends to suggest to the Supreme Commander himself that you should be assigned a suitable position in the army. So I''ve been ordered to ask for your advice on which army you want to go to? "


    Listening to what bzikov said, I can''t help feeling a little confused. Didn''t I just cancel my appointment as chief of staff of the reserve front army? How could I be assigned any position in the army? However, as far as I know, the senior commanders of all front forces are highly respected and experienced generals, so I can''t play such a small role. However, since Zhukov sent zikov to ask for my advice, I could not say a word, so I had to ask: "I don''t know which army Marshal intends to send me to?"


    "The marshal plans to let you go to the grassland front army and also serve as the chief of staff." Perhaps because I was afraid that I might not know the situation, I specially added: "the commander of the grassland front army is general konev."


    Hearing this strange army number, I felt that it should belong to the rear army. In such an army, it is estimated that there are not many opportunities to make contributions. Just thinking of this, I asked reluctantly, "is there any other army besides the grassland front army?"


    "Another option is to go to the Kalinin front." It is estimated that before bezikov came, Zhukov explained to him in great detail. Seeing that I had no clear attitude towards the grassland front army, he turned to introduce me to a new army: "at present, the chief of staff of the front army is lieutenant general zaharov. If you are willing to go, the Marshal will transfer zaharov to the chief of staff of the grassland front army."


    As for the two choices given by Zhukov, I prefer the latter. After all, Kalinin''s front army has more opportunities to fight, so as the chief of staff of the front army, I have more opportunities to make contributions, which is conducive to my future development. Although I was a little excited, I didn''t immediately reply to bzikov. In order to know more about this army, I then asked, "Colonel, can you tell me something about the Kalinin front army?"


    "No problem," bezikov readily agreed, and then introduced the situation of Kalinin''s front army to me: "Kalinin''s front army is a campaign strategic Corps formed to unify the command of troops covering Moscow from the northwest according to the instruction of the supreme command on October 17, 1941. It has jurisdiction over the 22nd, 29th, 30th and 31st right wing group army of the Western Front Army. The field command office was rebuilt from the headquarters of the 10th group army of the reserve. The first commander was general konev. In August, 42, after general konev was transferred to the position of commander of the grassland front army, general prkayev took over the post of commander. "


    What bezikov said made my heart beat. However, after a while, I thought of a key question and asked, "Colonel, but Comrade krochkov has just announced the order to transfer me to Stalingrad. Is it a bit too late for marshal to send you to ask for my advice?"


    Unexpectedly, after listening, bzikov shook his head and said, "as long as the written order is not issued, there are still variables." Looking at my worried face, he couldn''t help laughing, "as long as you don''t want to go to Stalingrad, even if the written order is issued, it doesn''t matter. If you want to cancel the order, it''s just a sentence from the marshal."


    What bzikov said made me very surprised. Although krochkov''s immediate superior was boskelebeschev, Zhukov was the deputy commander, and he was definitely better than the former in speaking in front of the Supreme Commander himself. Thinking of this, the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground, and I said with ease, "Comrade Colonel, please go back and tell Marshal Zhukov that I''m not able to take up a new post because of my current physical condition. Can you wait a month or two before he can arrange work for me?"


    After looking at it, bzikov nodded and agreed, "well, I''ll take your words to marshal." After that, he stood up and politely said goodbye to me. "If there is nothing wrong, I will go back and reply to the marshal."


    "Go, comrade colonel." I said very politely, "thank you. Thank you for visiting me today."


    As bezikov left, I closed my eyes and began to think about my future. Judging from the current situation, I can still stay in the army. As for the grassland front army going to konev or Kalinin front army going to pulkayev, I''d better follow Zhukov''s arrangement.


    When I was thinking about it, I suddenly heard Yushchenko''s voice coming from the door: "comrade, please stay. You can''t enter this ward casually."


    "Comrade captain," he said with a smile, "don''t you know who I am?"


    There was a moment of silence outside, and then Yushchenko''s voice came: "sorry, I never seem to have seen you, so I can''t let you into the ward at will."


    "In that case, comrade captain, could you please go in and ask general oshanina for instructions?" the man continued patiently, not angry at Yushchenko''s tough attitude: "a man named Ustinov wants to see her."


    Ustinov, when I heard the name, I almost jumped up from the hospital bed and scolded Yushchenko in my heart. I dare to block Ustinov, the people''s committee member of the weaponry department. So I didn''t wait for Yushchenko to come in and report, so I yelled at the door, "is it Comrade Ustinov? Come on in, please. Captain Yushchenko, let the guests in


    At my command, Yushchenko immediately changed into a respectful attitude. He took the initiative to say to Ustinov, "please come in. Comrade General is lying in the ward."


    As soon as Ustinov entered the room, I struggled to sit up straight and said hello to him: "Hello, comrades of the people''s Committee. I''m glad to meet you here!" Then I reached out my hands to him.


    When he and I clasped hands, he said politely, "Comrade o''shanina, I heard that you have an operation and are in hospital, so I''ve come to see you and talk to you about something."


    I asked with a smile: "comrades of the people''s Committee, do not know what I can do for you?"


    "I heard that your order to serve as chief of staff in the reserve front army was cancelled because you were hospitalized." Ustinov said to me with a smile: "how about, are you interested in coming to the Armament Department to help me?"


    Weapons and equipment department? After a moment''s hesitation, I asked cautiously, "Comrade member of the people''s Committee, I don''t understand what you mean. You know, I''m a complete layman in weapons manufacturing and the like. If I really go to your place, I may not only be unable to help you, but also make trouble for you. "


    "Comrade oshanina, how can you think so?" Ustinov said with a smile: "although you have been in the army, I have heard a lot of people about you and know that you are a very capable person. Since you can''t stay in the army for the time being because you are in hospital, you might as well come to my department. Specific work, when you get out of the hospital, we are slowly studying. Are you satisfied with this arrangement? "


    Just when I didn''t know how to answer him, I heard Yushchenko''s voice coming from outside the door: "Hello, comrade general, may I ask you..." as soon as he said this, there was no voice. A moment later, suddenly came a cry of surprise, "my God, you are Alexandrov, Alexandrov of the red flag troupe?"


    Ustinov obviously heard what was happening outside. He leaned over and said to me with a smile, "I didn''t expect that Alexandrov would come to see you." As soon as alessandrov came in, he said to Ustinov excitedly, "Hello, dear Dmitry Fedorovich. Nice to meet you here." Ustinov got up from his seat and joked to Alexandrov with a smile: "Comrade General, have you moved your plan to recruit Comrade oshanina to your command?" When alessandrov heard Ustinov expose his little trick, he just laughed a little, and then said to Ustinov, "I once heard that oshanina''s singing level is good, so I came here to ask her if she is interested in joining our red flag dance company?" After listening to Alexandrov''s words, Ustinov immediately shook his head like a rattle: "no, no, absolutely No. I have wronged her to be my deputy in the Armament Department, but now you want her to go to your red flag singing and dancing company. It''s absolutely impossible. " As soon as Ustinov finished speaking, Alexandrov turned to look at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, I don''t know what your plan is? Give us both an accurate answer. "¡° Thank you, general Alexandrov! Thank you, comrade Ustinov. " For the invitation, I said euphemistically: "I am still in the period of postoperative recovery, and it is estimated that the recovery time is not short. How about this? When my eyes are almost recovered, I will go to the red flag song and dance troupe and the weaponry department respectively. Then decide which unit to go to. " Ustinov obviously saw that I was shirking, but in this case, he could not say too much. He just nodded and said in a business tone, "well, since that''s the case, we''ll wait a little longer. I hope you can recover as soon as possible." After they left together, Yushchenko ran in from the outside. He looked at me with adoring eyes and said, "Comrade commander, the leaders of such departments have come to invite you to participate in their work. You are really amazing!"

 Chapter 1004

    For Yushchenko''s flattery, I just laughed, and then told him: "Comrade captain, can you help me find a mirror, I want to see what I am now."


    At my command, Yushchenko''s smile froze on his face immediately. After a long time, he hesitated to confirm: "Comrade commander, you mean to ask me to find a mirror, right?"


    Seeing Yushchenko''s dawdling, I felt a little discontented and said, "yes, I do say I want you to find a mirror." Seeing that he turned to leave, I added, "also, don''t call me commander in the future. I''m an idle person without position. If people with ulterior motives hear such a name, it may cause us unnecessary trouble."


    Yushchenko agreed to go out of the ward and look for a mirror for me.


    When Yushchenko left, I closed my eyes and thought about my current situation. Although I also know that I am a brick, where I need to move, from my heart, I still hope to stay in the position I like and fully show my ability. Whether it''s Ustinov''s weaponry department or Alexandrov''s red flag dance company, it doesn''t appeal to me. For me, only the front line is the place I most yearn for. Only there can I have the opportunity to build immortal meritorious deeds.


    In my memory, the famous battle of Kursk will begin in a few months. This was not only one of the decisive battles in the Soviet German battlefield, but also the last large-scale strategic offensive launched by the German army against the Soviet Union in an attempt to regain the strategic initiative. This campaign was the watershed of the Soviet German war. Before the campaign, the German army had a certain degree of strategic initiative and could independently choose the offensive campaign and direction; Then, after the end of the campaign, the German army completely lost its strategic initiative and was forced to take a comprehensive strategic defense, and the Soviet Army officially launched a large-scale comprehensive attack to recover its territory.


    If I can get to the front of the battle, return to the army, and command a single army in a certain direction. Then when the campaign is over, my rank and position will be further promoted. If I can''t return to the army in time, I will miss a good opportunity to make contributions. In that case, maybe when the battle of Berlin breaks out, I can only maintain my current rank and matching position.


    "Comrade General, here comes the mirror you want." I was just thinking about it when I heard Yushchenko''s voice. He remembered what I had just told him. Instead of calling me commander, he called me my rank. Seeing that he was rushing into the room, he quickly reached out to him and said, "give me the mirror quickly."


    Yushchenko handed me a big round mirror and said in a low voice, "I''m looking for a nurse to pick it up. I''ll give it back later."


    Although I had long guessed that my image was in a mess, I was shocked when I saw my image in the mirror. I saw the left eye swollen like a peach, eyeball blood red, looking at the pretty people. After seeing his ugly shape clearly, I suddenly understood the reason why Yushchenko had just said that. Maybe he was afraid that I would fall off the mirror because I lost control of my emotions after looking in the mirror, so he said that I would return the mirror later.


    I handed the mirror back to Yushchenko, sighed softly, and said to him, "well, comrade captain, go and give it back to someone else."


    "You don''t look in the mirror?" Yushchenko didn''t expect that I could maintain such a calm mood after watching my own image. He asked incredulously, "do you really want me to return the mirror now?"


    "Go ahead, go ahead," I said impatiently. "Go and give the mirror back to someone else."


    After Yushchenko left, I closed my eyes and continued to think about the battle of Kursk. Judging from the current situation, it is not realistic for me to command a single unit before the outbreak of the campaign. How can I make contributions without commanding the troops?


    Just when I was worried, I vaguely heard the conversation between soldiers and others from outside. First, the soldier on duty asked: "I said, aren''t you in the tank army? How did you become an infantry again?"


    Then, a strange voice replied, "no way. The tanks of our tank brigade were totally lost in the battle, and the infantry were short of manpower, so I was assigned to the infantry. Not long ago, our company was transferred back to Moscow. After rectification, we were sent to take charge of the security work of this hospital. "


    Two people''s dialogue, a keyword caused my attention. Tanks, yes, tanks! The battle of Kursk is the battle of tanks between the Soviet and German sides. In the face of large-scale German tank attack, the most conducive to defense is the famous Golan trench. Although I didn''t use this kind of fortification at mamayev last time, this time, I can use this kind of anti tank trench in the battle of Kursk. Last time there were no conditions for digging anti tank trenches, otherwise German tanks would not be allowed to drive down the hills repeatedly to provide necessary artillery support for their troops.


    I feel relaxed when I think that I can play a role in the battle. But the battle area of Kursk is so large that I can''t dig the Golan trench in all places. I have to build it in the area where there will be a tank duel to give full play to the advantages of this kind of anti tank trench.


    I vaguely remember that at that time, the German army broke through the two lines of defense of the Soviet army in succession, repulsed the counterattacks organized by vatukin again and again, arrived outside a certain city, and staged a decisive battle with the Soviet tanks. But I can''t remember the name of this city in a hurry.


    If I have a map in my hand at the moment, I just need to check the names of the towns near Kursk, and I will remember which city the tank war was carried out near. But I can''t find a map at the moment, so I can only try my best to find out where this famous battle started.


    After thinking about it for a long time, I didn''t think of a reason. However, when I was upset, I suddenly heard Yushchenko talking with others. It seems that he returned the things and came back. "Captain, comrade captain," I cried out He answered outside and told him, "come in."


    A moment later, Yushchenko stood in front of me and asked respectfully, "Comrade General, what instructions do you have?"


    "Do you know what cities are around Kursk?" I asked.


    "Near Kursk?" Yushchenko repeated what I said and nodded, "I know a few cities."


    "Tell me the names of those cities!"


    "Oreal, oboyan..." Yushchenko seems to be familiar with the cities near Kursk. When I asked him to report the place names, he said seven or eight times.


    As I listened, I could not help frowning, because the places he reported to me were relatively short, and I remember that the name of the city where the tank war took place was quite long. Thinking of this, I raised my hand to interrupt him and asked, "Comrade captain, is there a city with a longer name?"


    "Yes, like Prokhorovka..."


    "Stop, this should be the place." As soon as I heard Yushchenko talking about the city of Prokhorovka, my memory became clear. I interrupted Yushchenko again and said excitedly: "the terrain outside the city is open, so it should be a good place for decisive battle."


    "Comrade General, what are you talking about?" Yushchenko asked mistily, "what''s a good place for a decisive battle? Are we going to fight? With whom? You know, this city is under the control of our army at present. "


    "Come on, comrade captain, there''s nothing for you here. Go out." Naturally, I will not tell Yushchenko that in a few months'' time, there will be a world-famous tank battle on the outskirts of the city, so I said to him lightly, "one person will be on duty at night, and the rest will go to rest."


    "Yes Yushchenko did not continue to ask, promised, then turned out of the ward.


    Now that we know the specific location, the rest of the business is easy to handle. The enemy attacking Kursk must have come from the territory of Ukraine, so the construction direction of this Golan trench should be in the south of Prokhorovka.


    Early the next morning, the nurse had just finished my eye drops, and bzikov came to my ward. Considering that he was the easiest person to approach Zhukov, I asked him to sit down at the table and talk to him: "Comrade Colonel, how is the battle going in Ukraine? Have our two front armies driven the enemy across the Dnieper?"


    Hearing my question, bzikov replied bitterly: "well, forget it, our two front forces can''t beat the German army, which is only one fifth of our strength. We let others surround Kharkov. Judging from the present situation, the garrison in the city can only hold on for a week at most. "


    When I thought of the war in Kursk and that Kharkov was still in the hands of the German army, I no longer cared about the fate of Voronezh''s front army. Instead, I asked rebalko, "what about Kiev?"


    "The forces of the German central group army are pressing towards Kiev from the north; And the German troops from Romania, after repulsing our southern front army, are also advancing northward. " Bezikov replied solemnly: "in the face of the fierce German offensive, general rebalko is organizing his troops to carry out tenacious defense. However, if they are not supplemented in the near future, the fate waiting for them will be encircled or defeated. "


    In real history, on October 12, 1943, the Soviet army who won the battle of Kursk launched the battle of liberation of Kiev. However, due to the tenacious resistance of the German army, the two attacks of the Soviet army have failed. It was not until after the third attack on 3 November that general rebalko''s forces successfully stormed into Kiev. But today''s history has changed because of my unexpected appearance. The time for the liberation of Kiev has been advanced eight months. Therefore, I care more about the gains and losses of Kiev than anyone else: "since the situation in Kiev is so bad, I don''t know if Marshal Zhukov has taken any measures?"


    "The marshal has transferred five divisions and three tank brigades from general rokosovsky''s central front army to Kiev." Bezikov simply introduced to me: "as long as this army arrives in Kiev, the city''s defense force will be greatly strengthened, and we will be able to firmly defend even in the face of the enemy''s crazy attack. We will never tolerate this "pearl on the Dnieper" falling into the hands of the Germans again


    When I heard Zhukov''s resolute attitude towards Kiev, my heart immediately became more solid. I turned the subject around again and asked cautiously, "Captain, I have another question, if, I mean if. If our troops can''t hold Kharkov and let the enemy recapture the city, where will the troops of Voronezh''s front army retreat? " For my question, bezikov was silent for a while, then said leisurely: "where else can we retreat? Maybe we can only retreat to Kursk and build fortifications in the area. We should know that Kursk is only over 500 kilometers away from Moscow, and German tanks can rush out of Moscow in two days. In order to prevent the worst situation, we must build necessary fortifications in the Kursk area. " After listening to these remarks, I did not ask whether it was Zhukov''s original words or just his personal judgment, but at least made one point clear: the Soviet command had plans to fight the German army in Kursk. In this way, my proposal to bezikov to build an anti tank trench in Prokhorovka is not so abrupt. I said to him with a smile, "Comrade Colonel, if the German army really reoccupies Kharkov, then they will certainly continue to push North and threaten Moscow."¡° Of course, if the German forces recapture Kharkov, they will certainly take it as the starting position for the attack and launch another attack on Moscow. " When bezikov said this, his face became more dignified: "then Kursk may become a crucial battlefield."¡° I have a suggestion. I hope you can pass it on to Marshal Zhukov for me. "¡° Suggestions, what suggestions? " What I said aroused great interest of bzikov. He urged me to say, "listen to me. When I see Marshal later, I will be able to relay your suggestion to him."¡° To the south of Kursk, build several lines of defense to form a defense depth wide enough. " I calmly told bezikov about my idea: "the whole defense system is composed of a large number of closely coordinated trenches, barbed wire, anti tank fire points, anti tank trenches and minefields, and gathers a large number of troops and fire forces in the most likely direction of German attack."

 Chapter 1005

    After listening to my suggestion, bzikov''s face showed disappointment. Perhaps to take care of my face, he said mildly, "Rita, even if you don''t say it, I think the marshal will order the troops stationed there to do so. To tell you the truth, the marshal is most worried about the Great Plains to the south of Kursk, which is conducive to the movement of German armored forces. If we want to block the enemy''s attack, we are bound to deploy a considerable number of tanks there. But in the current situation, the Armament Department is not able to provide us with enough tanks. "


    I can hear the implication from his words. I know that he thinks what I said is too insipid. As long as the commander of the same level as me can say what I just said. I laughed and said, "Comrade Colonel, even if we don''t have as many tanks as the enemy, it''s not a big problem to block the German armored forces."


    "How to stop it?" "If Kharkov is really lost, it will only take one day for German tanks to advance to the city of Kursk, and our fortifications will only play a delaying role at most," bezikov said anxiously


    "If there is an anti tank trench, it can make the German armored forces helpless." My heart was ready to sell him the Golan trench, so as soon as he finished, I immediately asked, "I wonder if marshal is willing to promote this kind of anti tank trench in important defensive areas after listening to my idea?"


    "New anti tank trench?" Listen to me, don''t zikov''s eyes shine. But a moment later, his face darkened again. He said with disapproval: "the tank trench can block the German tanks, and it will also limit the movement of our tanks. I think it may be difficult for the marshal to agree to promote it in the defensive area."


    His rejection of the new anti tank trench has long been expected by me. I asked with a smile, "Captain, I haven''t said what my new anti tank trench looks like. Can you know that marshal won''t agree to promote it?"


    Listen to me, because of his affection, he had to force a smile on his face and said reluctantly, "Rita, please tell me. I can convey your meaning to the marshal, but I can''t help him if he adopts it."


    The reason why I recommend the Golan trench to him is that the comparison of the armored forces between the German army and the Soviet army is similar to that of later Syria and Israel, so I strongly recommend this famous anti tank trench to him.


    "... this anti tank trench is six meters wide at the mouth, four meters wide at the bottom and nine meters deep. The soil excavated from the general anti tank trench should be piled up on both sides of the trench, but this kind of soil should be piled up on one side of our side, forming a soft embankment more than two meters high. "


    At first, bzikov was absentmindedly listening to me. In the middle of listening to me, he suddenly came to the spirit and asked curiously, "can we block the German tanks rushing to Kursk with such anti tank trenches?"


    "Yes, Colonel bzikov." After I gave him a positive answer, I explained in detail: "when the German troops rush to the anti tank trench, it will give them a headache. Fill the trench with bulldozers. The soil is all piled up in our army. They have no soil to fill. Just like general katukov, fill the trench with tanks as a bridge. The trench is nine meters deep. It''s useless to fill the trench with tanks more than two meters high. Even if they call engineers to build a bridge, but because our side is more than two meters high, the bridge they build is one high and the other low, and the high end is built on the soft embankment, which will make the tanks crossing the bridge shake left and right, and turn into the ditch if they are not careful. "


    "Well, Rita, the anti tank trench you''re talking about sounds good." After listening to what I said, bzikov nodded with satisfaction, but still said with some uneasiness: "if the German tanks slow down the speed of crossing the bridge, there will still be many tanks successfully crossing our trench. How can our army deal with these tanks?"


    Hearing his worry, my smile grew stronger: "don''t worry, Colonel. The tanks that get away with crossing the trench will suffer a more miserable fate. Because when they cross the embankment, the bottom of the armor will be exposed; And when you come down over the embankment, the fragile top will be exposed. In this way, the anti tank guns deployed behind the embankment are provided with two excellent opportunities to aim and shoot, making them the living targets of our anti tank guns. "


    "Although this kind of anti tank trench can block the enemy, it also limits the movement of our army." After being happy for a moment, bezikov suddenly thought of another question. He asked cautiously, "since the enemy can''t pass the trench smoothly, aren''t our tanks facing the same problem?


    When I heard his worry, I laughed and reminded him that "don''t forget, Colonel, the accumulated soil is piled on our side. If the troops turn to the counter offensive, the bulldozer can easily push the accumulated soil into the trench, so as to ensure our tank troops to pass quickly and launch an attack."


    After listening, bzikov raised his hand and patted himself on the forehead. He scolded himself regretfully: "muddle headed, it''s muddle headed." Then he stood up and said to me with a smile, "Rita, the anti tank trench you just mentioned is really very different from the tank trench we know. Well, I''ll go back and report to the marshal immediately to see what his attitude is


    "Go ahead, go ahead." I waved to him and said easily, "if Marshal has any questions, you can come back and ask me at any time."


    When bezikov left, I thought I could see him again the next day at most. Who knows, he left for four or five days, and I didn''t see him. I intended to ask Yushchenko to inquire about the information, but thinking of the place where bzikov is, Yushchenko is not qualified to go, I gave up this unrealistic idea.


    In recent days, thanks to Sergei''s careful treatment, my vision in my left eye began to recover slowly. Although I still looked like I was separated by a layer of ground glass, it was much better than no light perception at all.


    On this day, Sergey checked my eyes, relieved, and then said to me, "Comrade General, according to my judgment, your eyesight will return to your pre-operative level in half a month." See my face secretly happy expression, quickly added, "remember, this period of time or can''t do strenuous exercise, otherwise it will lead to retinal detachment again."


    "Don''t worry, doctor." I carelessly said: "I''m walking outside now, not much faster than a snail."


    As soon as I said that, the little nurse beside Sergey giggled. Sergey turned to look at her and snorted discontentedly, which made the little nurse shut up. Sergey said to me with a smile, "Comrade General, if there''s nothing wrong, I''ll go to another ward for rounds."


    As soon as I wanted to wave him away, I thought of Vassily lying in the ward. I stopped him and asked with concern, "by the way, doctor comrade, how is Vassily, my subordinate?"


    "Vassily, which Vassily?" Sergey asked in a misty way.


    "Doctor comrade," the little nurse quickly reminded him, "is the famous sniper Vasili Zaitsev."


    "Oh, it''s him. I know." When Sergey found out who I was asking, his expression became more serious. He said regretfully, "his eye injury is too serious, especially his right eye. Even if he is cured, he can only have a weak sense of light and can no longer be a sniper."


    After hearing Sergei''s words, I couldn''t help sighing and regretting for Vassily. If there is no such accident, with his ability, he will be able to achieve better results and win more honors. If there is something wrong with his eyes, his best place to go is to be a teacher in the Sniper School as I told him, so as to train more excellent snipers for our troops.


    Sergey and they were walking out when bezikov came in from the outside in a hurry. He nodded at Sergey and then said aloud to me, "Rita, change your clothes. I''ve been ordered to take you to a place."


    "Comrade colonel." Hearing this, Sergey, who had already walked out of the door, turned back, frowned and asked him, "can I ask, is it far where you are going later?"


    Although bezikov did not understand the reason for Sergei''s question, he answered truthfully, "no, it takes about an hour by car."


    After hearing this, Sergei took a look at me and said to bezikov, "Comrade Colonel, general oshanina''s eyes are still recovering. If I ride for a long time, I''m worried that the violent turbulence will cause her retina to fall off again. For the sake of her eyes, I suggest it''s better to wait another two days. "


    Sergey''s words embarrassed bezikov. He said bitterly, "but I''ve been ordered to pick her up. If she doesn''t accompany me to this trip today, I won''t be able to do it in front of the superior. "


    Before I could speak, Sergei tried to warn bzikov again: "Comrade Colonel, general oshanina''s eyes are recovering slowly because they missed the best treatment time. If you go out by car today, because of the violent turbulence, the retina will fall off again, there will be the risk of blindness. "


    Seeing the embarrassed expression of bezikov''s dilemma, I quickly came out to make it over. I said to Sergei, "doctor comrade, since the colonel is here, it proves that he has been ordered. Although you are not a soldier, you should also know that the orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed, they can only be carried out. "


    Hearing what I said, Sergei had no choice but to say, "well, comrade general, since you insist on going out, I can''t stop you. But I would like to remind you that when vehicles pass through uneven areas, they must slow down, so as not to crack your wounds and lead to the loss of vision. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade Sergei." Listening to Sergey''s tone slowing down, bzikov patted his chest and said, "today is my car. I have all the precautions you said. I''ll slow down when it''s bumpy. "


    Half an hour later, I was in the co driver''s seat of the jeep in my brand new uniform. Before driving, bzikov reminded me with a good heart: "Rita, sit tight, I''m going to drive." With that, as soon as he stepped on the gas, the jeep drove slowly forward.


    We didn''t drive fast because there were barricades and checkpoints all over the city road. After my initial worries, I turned to the driver and asked him, "Colonel, where are we going?"


    "It''s a secret test base in the suburbs," bezikov replied as he drove¡° Secret test base? " I repeated the word and asked, "what am I going to do there?"¡° I''m not sure Bezikov shrugged his shoulders and replied in a smooth tone: "it''s the order from the marshal, and I''m only ordered to send you there." After listening to bzikov''s reply, I knew that if I continued to ask, I would not get more useful information, so I would not continue to ask. Instead, I would lean back in my chair and close my eyes to refresh myself. I don''t know how long later, the car suddenly stopped. I quickly opened my eyes and asked bzikov, "Colonel, have we arrived yet?" After asking, I looked out of the window with my right eye, which was in good condition, without waiting for bzikov to answer. I saw a checkpoint on the road ahead, and a railing in the middle of the road blocked our way. A captain, with two fully armed soldiers, came to us with neat steps. When the three men came to the car and stopped, the captain took two steps forward, slightly bent down and asked, "is that general oshanina and Colonel bezikov?"¡° Yes, it''s us. " Bezikov, who was beside me, immediately replied in a loud voice, "Comrade captain, do you need to check our papers?" The captain shook his head and replied, "no, don''t, Colonel zikov." Then he said to me, "general o''shanina, I''ve been ordered to send you to the base. Please get off." Hearing the captain say so, I can''t help looking back at bzikov and asked, "am I alone? What about the Colonel?" The captain replied humbly, "Comrade General, my order is to send you in alone. As for the colonel." As he said this, he took a look at bezikov on the bridge and said, "there is a rest room next to our checkpoint, where the Colonel will inform you to wait for you."¡° Rita, you go with the captain Bezikov seemed to be used to this kind of situation, so he said, "I''ll wait for you here."

 Chapter 1006

    I followed the captain into the checkpoint and headed for a car that was parked on the side of the road and painted gray green. Seeing us coming, the driver rushed out of the car, ran to the back, opened the door, and stood upright. The captain walked quickly to the door of the car and made a gesture of invitation to me. Then he said respectfully, "Comrade General, please get in the car!"


    The car we took slowly drove forward along the simple road in the forest. Seeing that there are some fortifications like bunkers in the forest with continuous walls on both sides of the road, I can''t help but ask the captain sitting in the co pilot''s seat curiously: "Comrade captain, where are we going?"


    Hearing my question, the captain immediately turned around and said faintly, "Comrade General, I''ve just been ordered to take you to the next checkpoint, and then someone else will take you to your destination."


    I felt a little annoyed at the captain''s reply, but it couldn''t happen. After all, he was only acting on orders. Knowing that it was useless to ask further, I had to look out of the window again, looking at the primitive forest like a wall outside.


    In the middle of the road ahead, there are two tall iron gates. On both sides of the gate are the earth yellow walls that extend to the depth of the forest, with dense barbed wire on the walls. There are three or five groups of patrols outside the wall blocking people''s vision. Almost every Patrol has a military dog. Seeing all the soldiers on patrol as if they were facing the enemy made me curious about the base I was about to enter.


    The car stopped just a few meters away from the gate, then the captain and the driver pushed the door open and got out of the car, standing upright on both sides of the car. Their behavior made me wonder to the extreme. I don''t know why they didn''t even call me, so they just got off the bus.


    Before I decided whether to get off, I saw two people coming out of the small open door on the iron door. The captain, standing beside the car, saw the two men, quickly met them, raised his hand to one of them, pointed to me with his hand, and then led them to the car.


    When they came to the car, I saw that it was a major coming with the captain. The major bent down and looked into the car. Then he raised his hand to salute me and said politely, "Hello, general oshanina. I''ve been ordered to wait for you here and take you to the base."


    I nodded and said politely, "thank you, comrade major. Please get on the bus."


    Originally, I thought the major would come directly to the back row, but I especially moved to the side. Unexpectedly, he directly opened the front door and sat in the co driver''s seat, while the man he brought sat in the driver''s seat. The major and other departments got on the door and ignored the captain outside. They directly told the driver, "drive!"


    As soon as our car started, the door that was originally closed was opened. As soon as our car passed, the two gates closed again. I learned the lesson just now, and knew that the commander who led the way would not answer any questions, so I simply did not ask. Anyway, when I got to the place, I knew what was going on.


    The car drove for about five minutes and turned right at a fork in the road. Sensing the driver''s slowing down, I quickly looked out from the gap between the driver and the major. In the middle of the road ahead, there were two big iron gates with walls, and outside stood seven or eight fully armed soldiers. Seeing our car passing by, one of the officers went to the middle of the road and raised his right hand high to signal us to stop.


    When the car stopped, the major opened the door, got out of the car and went to the officer who was in the way. After talking to each other for a few words, he showed them some identification. Then the officer put his body to one side and made a gesture of invitation. The originally closed door slowly opened again.


    As soon as the major got back in the car, he immediately ordered the driver to go ahead


    Our car drove into the iron gate at a slow speed. I saw a simple duty room behind the iron gate. The officer just now was calling someone with a telephone.


    "Major, is there a checkpoint ahead?" After seeing the iron door behind me close again, I asked cautiously.


    "Yes, Comrade General." The major leaned over and replied respectfully, "we have to go through a checkpoint to get to our final destination."


    After a few minutes, the car turned a corner again, and the iron gate with a wall appeared in front of it. Maybe it''s because behind the door is the secret base I''m going to arrive at, so the guard is more tight. In addition to more patrols and soldiers on duty, there are also permanent fire points of reinforced concrete on both sides of the road. From the firing hole of the fire point, the black muzzle of the machine gun was exposed.


    This time the major didn''t get out of the car, but sat in the car waiting for the officer on duty to come. The officer informed by his subordinates came through the side door of the iron gate. He opened the door, raised his hand to his forehead and said, "Comrade major, welcome back!"


    The major handed him a document without saying a word. The officer took the certificate, simply looked at it and gave it back to him. After finishing this procedure, the officer bowed his head and asked me, "excuse me, general oshanina?"


    "Yes I gave the officer standing by the car a positive answer.


    After hearing this, he straightened up and stepped back, raised his hand and saluted me. Seeing that the iron door closed in front of him opened slowly, the major slammed the door and ordered the driver to drive again.


    Soon, the car stopped next to a tall reinforced concrete bunker. At a glance, I saw four soldiers and an officer on duty standing outside the iron gate of the entrance.


    The major opened the door first, jumped out of the car and took the initiative to open the rear door for me. I said thanks to the major and got off the train slowly. Looking at the tall building in front of me, my heart said, "is this the secret base that Marshal Zhukov asked me to come to? But it doesn''t look very special, and the area of the building is too small. At best, it''s the area of a swimming pool. "


    While I was still looking at the building, the officer standing at the door came up, raised his hand to salute me, and politely said, "Hello, Comrade General. Please come in. Comrades of the people''s Committee have been waiting for you for a long time. "


    "Members of the people''s Committee?" I heard that the person waiting for me inside was not Zhukov, but an unidentified member of the people''s Committee. I couldn''t help wondering, "who is the member of the people''s Committee?"


    "Comrade Ustinov of the Ministry of weapons and equipment." The officer said to me respectfully, "Comrade General, please, I''ll take you to the people''s Committee."


    I followed the officer and walked into the reinforced concrete building. Walking along the long corridor, I saw a fully armed soldier every ten or twenty meters. Seeing such a tight guard, I couldn''t help chatting up with the officer and said, "your guard here is very strict."


    With a polite smile on his face, the officer replied, "yes, comrade general, this is the core area of the base. It''s natural that we are heavily guarded."


    We walked forward for a long time, and even went down forty or fifty steps twice. The more I move forward, the more I become interested in this mysterious base. Although it''s not too big to see from outside, most of the whole base seems to be deeply buried on the ground. If someone didn''t lead me, I would never have thought that there would be such a big base underground even if I went to the periphery.


    This is a tortuous long tunnel, with many large and small caverns on both sides. Many soldiers or technicians in white coats pass us in a hurry with documents or equipment in their hands.


    But when we came to the outside of a room with sentries, the officer stopped, turned to me and said, "Comrade General, comrade members of the people''s Committee are inside. Please come in quickly." With that, he pushed the door open and made a sign to me that I could go in.


    After nodding my thanks to the officer, I opened the door and went in. The light in the room was much brighter than that in the corridor. As soon as I entered the door, I saw Ustinov sitting at the long table. I quickly walked up to him, raised my hand and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade member of the people''s Committee."


    Ustinov was talking to others. Hearing my voice, he quickly turned his head and said to me with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, you are here!"


    "Yes, comrades of the people''s Committee." I don''t know where he called me to this mysterious base, so I can only honestly reply, "I''ve been ordered to report to you, and I''m waiting for your orders. Please give me instructions!"


    "Come on, it''s not the army here. There''s no need for so much etiquette." Ustinov asked the staff next to him to bring me a chair and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, please take a seat. I''m sorry to have called you here before you fully recovered from your injury. "


    As soon as I sat down and heard Ustinov say so, I quickly stood up from my seat again: "comrades of the people''s Committee, thank you for your concern. I''m just a little hurt. I''m not in the way."


    After I sat down again, Ustinov pointed to several engineers sitting around the table and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, they are all our military experts. Under the leadership of Comrade florin, they are responsible for the development of new weapons."


    I nodded to those military experts and said that I knew nothing about weapons and equipment. What did you call me to do? Just as he was about to ask Ustinov the truth, he said, "Comrade oshanina, perhaps you are very strange. Why did I call you here all of a sudden?"


    "Yes, comrades of the people''s Committee." Seeing that he asked me so directly, I didn''t hide what I thought in my heart. I said to him truthfully, "I''m a complete layman in the field of weapons and equipment. I don''t know what''s important about your calling me here?"


    "As far as I know, Comrade General." A military engineer not far from me asked, "you are the first users of the assault rifle developed by Comrade Florin. I want to hear your comments on this weapon."


    "Comrade engineer," I said politely to the engineer with a smile, "I think this new type of assault rifle is very good. In the process of using it, I have never had any jamming or other faults, and the shooting accuracy and power are also very good."


    "Do you think that if this kind of weapon is installed in the army, the combat effectiveness of the army will go up to a higher level?"


    I was overjoyed to hear that AK47 assault rifles might be installed in the army. He nodded to the engineer and said, "you are right, comrade engineer. My special guard company is equipped with such assault rifles. Although they only have more than 100 people, they can compete with the German troops of at least one battalion and win the final victory. But... "


    When the engineer listened to my praise of the assault rifle, he showed a satisfied smile on his face. When he heard the "but" I said later, he suddenly became nervous again and quickly asked, "but what, Comrade General?" I sighed and replied, "it''s a pity that there''s not enough ammunition. Once the assault rifle has run out of ammunition, it can only become a decoration. If we can build a production line for this new type of short cartridge, then it will become a reality to load assault rifles into the army. " As soon as I had finished, Ustinov continued: "comrades, you have all heard what general oshanina said. The power of assault rifles on the battlefield is absolutely superior to our existing light weapons, so we need to complete the construction of short cartridge production line in the shortest time. Do you have any comments? "¡° No! " Several military experts replied neatly. After a moment of silence, another engineer spoke. However, this time he said not to me, but to Ustinov: "comrades of the people''s Committee, since a consensus has been reached on the bullet production line of assault rifles, should we consider the issue of new tanks next?"¡° I think everyone can see the power of the new tank. " As if Ustinov had been prepared for the engineer''s question, he immediately replied: "within 200 meters, not only our T-34 tank guns or anti tank guns, but even the captured German tanks can not cause any damage to the new tanks. But it can destroy the latest German Tiger tank at a distance of 1500 meters or more. "¡° This kind of tank is good, but we can''t meet the standard of some production technologies. " The engineer called kuliantiandi and said, "if we can produce a few cars, I think we will have to wait at least two years for mass production."¡° What, two more years? " When I heard the engineer say this, I couldn''t help but interrupt and say, "Comrade engineer, have you ever thought that in two years, the Germans will be defeated by us, and then we will use this kind of tank to train our troops, what''s the significance?"

 Chapter 1007

    "We can beat the Germans in two years?" The speaking engineer glanced at my epaulets quickly and said mildly, "Comrade General, I didn''t get it wrong, did I?"


    When I saw the curious expression on Ustinov''s face, I gave a smile to the engineer who was in trouble and said lightly, "yes, comrade engineer, you have no wrong understanding. We can defeat the German in two years at most. As for the reason, "when I said this, I deliberately stopped for a moment to attract everyone''s attention, and then said in an official voice," the German army began to go downhill after Stalingrad''s disastrous defeat. Coupled with the various defects of the military, political and economic constitution of * * Germany, it was doomed that they would eventually fail. "


    After I had said that, I turned to Ustinov to see how he would react. Did not expect that his face is not only not the slightest smile, but covered with a layer of dignified expression. I didn''t know what I said touched his mind, so I quickly cut off the topic and asked, "Comrade member of the people''s Committee, I don''t know what you want me to do today."


    When Ustinov heard my question, he didn''t reply immediately. Instead, he stood up and said to the engineers, "comrades engineers, I think oshanina is right. If we really wait for two years and then use this new type of tank in the armed forces, it doesn''t mean much. Therefore, I beg you to seize the time to overcome all difficulties. We must let all our tank soldiers run such tanks in the shortest possible time. "


    After listening to Ustinov''s words and whispering to each other for a while, an older engineer stood up and assured him, "comrades of the people''s Committee, I stand for you on behalf of all people. We must overcome the problems faced by the new tanks within three months, and strive to arm our troops with such tanks before August. "


    As for the engineer''s reply, Ustinov nodded with satisfaction, "since everyone''s opinions have been unified, give me a detailed report as soon as possible, so that I can prepare the necessary raw materials and provide you with enough manpower." With these two words, he waved his head at me and said, "Comrade o''shanina, follow me out."


    I guessed that he might have something to say to me in private, so I got up and followed him out of the door.


    As we walked along the dimly lit corridor, several of the guards behind us deliberately lagged behind to avoid interfering with our private chat. But Ustinov walked forward without saying a word, maybe to take care of me. He walked slowly, so that I could keep up with him.


    Walking, he suddenly stopped, turned to me and said seriously, "o''shanina, do you know? Kharkov lost last night. "


    "What, Kharkov lost?" This unexpected news startled me. I didn''t expect that even if our army occupied Kiev and dispersed the enemy''s forces, it still could not change the fate of Kharkov''s fall. Instinctively, I asked, "is Kiev still in our hands?"


    "The German army rushed into Kharkov on the 11th. At that time, the German army that rushed into the city divided into two columns and pushed north of Kharkov along the Belgorod Kharkov railway line. But when they rushed to Alexandria, a small unit of our army, guided by a T-34, counterattacked the German army and successfully drove them out of the city.


    Later, the German army, supported by powerful intermediate air artillery including dive bombers and assault guns, invaded the city again. After repulsing the counter offensive launched by our army from Kharkov airport and destroying many T-34 of our army, we established a base of attack in the residential areas in the northern suburbs.


    On March 12, the German armored division broke through the strong defense line of our army in the northern residential area, launched a fierce house by house battle with our army, and quickly pushed towards the city center


    When Ustinov talked about the course of the battle of Kharkov, I was worried about Kiev. With the fall of Kharkov, rebarko and his troops would be trapped in Kiev. If they could not get the support of their superiors, even if the German army did not attack, the troops in the battle of Dnieper would collapse because of the depletion of materials.


    After Ustinov finished, I saw that he didn''t mention Kiev. I just wanted to ask him again. As a result, he said ahead of time: "go, accompany me to the top to have a look."


    Listening to what he said, I couldn''t help complaining. My heart said that I had just followed the officer here for at least ten minutes, and the wound on my eye was still tearing and aching all the way. If I walk back like this again, I''m really worried about the worst, which will lead to retinal detachment again.


    Before I could speak, Ustinov raised his legs and walked forward. Seeing this, I had to follow him. Fortunately, not long after I left, I found that the situation was a little different from what I imagined. Ustinov took me to an elevator. Seeing our arrival, the sentries on both sides of the elevator quickly took the initiative to open the elevator door for us and invited us to enter.


    The two of us got on the phone, and the guards who had been following also came in. After closing the elevator door, they pressed the up button of the elevator and let our elevator go up slowly.


    When the elevator stops, the guard opens the door and goes outside to act as a guard. Ustinov made a gesture of invitation to me, and then he led the way out. Out of the elevator, he stood in the same place, looked around, then pointed to the right and said, "let''s go outside and have a look."


    We went through a long corridor and finally came to the outside of the building. On the wall of the building, several tanks covered with camouflage nets were placed in order. From the shape of the tank, it should be a new type of tank produced with the technology brought by Florin.


    I thought Ustinov would let people uncover the camouflage net on the tank, and let me see woodlouse''s newest tank.


    We walked forward for a while, and I suddenly saw that there was a raised embankment on the open ground in front of us, and there were many people standing on the embankment, and several T-34 tanks were parked nearby. When I saw this strange phenomenon, my heart said that Ustinov had taken me so far, he didn''t specially take me to see the earth dike, did he?


    As soon as I got closer, I could see the acquaintance flonin standing on the embankment and the wide and deep pit under the embankment. I immediately understood that this was the "Golan trench" I proposed. The width and depth of this anti tank trench are in line with the standards I said. Because they only test the applicability of this anti tank trench, the length of the trench is only 30 meters.


    Florin walked around the ditch and came to us. After greeting us, he stood by and introduced the advantages of the anti tank trench to Ustinov.


    After listening to this, Ustinov said uneasily: "Comrade engineer, are you sure this anti tank trench can block the German steel flood?"


    "Comrades of the people''s Committee," Florin said cautiously, "after our tests, even though the tanks on the offensive side had exhausted all means, they still could not successfully cross the trench. Just do the test, there is even a tank turned into the ditch, resulting in the car driver also injured


    After listening to this, Ustinov turned to me with a smile and said, "Comrade oshanina, it seems that the anti tank trench you have developed can really be of great use."


    I didn''t expect Florin to hear what he said. He looked at me in surprise and asked, "Comrade people''s commissar, you just said that this kind of anti tank trench was groped out by Comrade oshanina?"


    "Yes, it was from Marshal Zhukov that I learned about the idea of Comrade oshanina," he said with a smile. "After I heard that, I was dubious. But in order not to save the Marshal''s face, I agreed to dig an anti tank trench like this. I didn''t expect the effect to be so good. I estimate that as long as we have a large number of such anti tank trenches at the front, it will definitely give the Germans a headache. "


    When Ustinov went to the ditch to see the effect, Florin came up to me and asked in a low voice, "Rita, I want to ask you something. How do you know about Golan trench?"


    The words of Florin made my heart tight. My heart said it was over. Did he guess that I was also a passer-by. When he was considering how to answer him, he said to himself: "this kind of anti tank trench appeared in the Middle East war in 1973. At that time, the weak Israeli army not only blocked the enemy''s attack, but also launched a counterattack to annihilate the invading enemy."


    When he finished, I pretended to be mysterious and said, "Comrade engineer, in fact, this is what I came up with. At that time, I thought that after this plan was reported, it would be left unattended. I didn''t expect that you spent so much money to build such an anti tank trench. "


    "Is your idea just emerging, or is it the product of long deliberation?" asked Florin cautiously


    "Well thought out, of course." As soon as I talked about the Golan trench, I was a little overjoyed. In order to let fronin understand, I said in a special place: "in fact, as early as the defense war in Stalingrad, I had thought of digging such an anti tank trench in front of our mamayev post, so that every time the enemy attacked, their tanks would rush to the foot of the mountain to cover the infantry attack on us."


    "Since as early as the battle of Stalingrad, you thought of such an anti tank trench." "Why don''t you send someone to dig one at the foot of the mountain? Don''t you know that such an anti tank trench can block the enemy''s armored assault? "


    With a long sigh, I reluctantly said to florin, "engineer, it''s not that I don''t want to repair it, but that I have no conditions. You can only use the antitank trench''s earthwork area too large, without special mechanical cooperation, let our soldiers dig with shovel. It is impossible to dig out for one or two months. At that time, the enemy was hovering near the mamayev post. Would they give us enough time to repair the fortifications? "


    After listening, Florin shook his head and said with approval, "you''re right, Rita. It is impossible for the Germans to let you build such an anti tank trench under their eyes. It is estimated that the enemy''s armored forces will rush in front of you before your trench is repaired. "


    I looked around and found that the person nearest to us was 10 meters away. I asked in a low voice, "have you heard about Kharkov?"


    "I know that the battle of Kharkov in history ended with the defeat of our army and the victory of the German army. Although the casualties of our army were far greater than those of the German army in this battle, it was a victory that was not worth the loss for the German army. A large number of their elite troops were consumed by us in the battle. As a result, the combat effectiveness of their troops is greatly reduced, so that they will fight in the next Kursk... "When fronin said that Kursk, obviously aware that he was still in 1943, not 1975, and could not reveal too many secrets, he stopped directly. I heard him mention the battle of Kursk. Knowing that the main play was coming, I asked in a low voice, "Comrade engineer, can you tell me the details of the battle of Kursk?" After hearing this, he just gave me a white eye and said stubbornly, "Rita, there are some things you''d better not know. If I say it at this time, maybe there will be a deviation in history. Let''s just let it go. " Seeing that Florin''s attitude was very firm, I continued to ask about the battle of Kursk. Instead, I was concerned about the new tanks: "Comrade engineer, can those tanks really deal with German Tiger tanks? If you want to know their tank, we can''t do anything with 45 mm anti tank. " After listening to what I said, Florin sneered twice and said with disdain, "what is tiger style? In front of our T-72, it''s just vulnerable. We only need ten t-72s to deal with the tanks of a German regiment. " At this time, Ustinov came back from the ditch. He said to me with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, I can tell you why I called you here at this time." Looking at me and looking at him blankly, he added, "I''m going to let you take charge of the daily affairs of this secret base. What do you think? If you like, you can take office tomorrow! "¡° What, comrades of the people''s Committee, what do you say? " I was stunned by Ustinov''s words, and I asked in disbelief, "are you going to let me take charge of the secret base?"

 Chapter 1008

    "Yes," Ustinov gave me a positive answer, looked at the nearby Florin and said meaningfully, "the reason why I want you to be in charge of this secret base is that you are one of the insiders who know the real history of Florin engineers."


    Ustinov''s words made me shiver, saying that I do know that Florin is a passer-by, but if I don''t promise to be in charge of this base, are you going to kill me? Thinking of this, I felt my heart beating violently, and the corners of my mouth twitched violently. After a few times, I took a deep breath and asked difficultly, "comrades of the people''s Committee, is this an order that must be carried out?"


    Ustinov''s eyebrows picked, restrained the smile on his face, shrugged his shoulders: "oshanina, don''t be so sensitive, even if you don''t want to take this position, there will be no bad consequences."


    Listening to what he said, I immediately relaxed. I really don''t want to be the person in charge of the secret base. Now that he has said that even if he refuses, there are no sequelae, I can choose according to my heart. I pretended to ponder for a moment, and then said tactfully: "Comrade people''s commissar, thank you for your kindness. I don''t think I am suitable to be the person in charge of the secret base. I still like to stay in the front line and fight face to face with the enemy."


    My reply seems to have been expected by Ustinov. After listening to it, he didn''t even change his face. However, he did not give up, and still made the final attempt: "Comrade oshanina, do you really decide not to be in charge of this secret base?"


    "Yes, comrades of the people''s Committee." I answered firmly: "I feel that it is difficult for me to be competent for this important position with my own ability. I''m sorry


    After I made my attitude clear again, Ustinov could not help sighing and said with regret, "Oh, that''s a pity. Comrade Zhukov once said to me that you prefer to stay in the front line to command and take part in battles rather than work in the rear. Even such an important position will not be accepted easily. Now it seems that Comrade Zhukov is right! "


    "And Comrade oshanina." Perhaps Ustinov saw my embarrassment and quickly comforted me and said, "although you didn''t accept the position I offered you, don''t worry about the adverse consequences. Perhaps, as Zhukov said, the most suitable position for you is at the front line. "


    "Yes, comrades of the people''s Committee." Listening to what he said, I quickly echoed: "maybe I''ve been in the front line for a long time, and I''ve already adapted to that kind of life style. Suddenly I was transferred to the rear, but I still don''t adapt."


    "O''shanina, it''s getting late. I''ll take you out first." Then Ustinov patted me on the shoulder and said calmly, "I was going to take you to visit some research laboratories deep underground after you agreed to take the post of head of the base. Now that you''ve turned down my offer, I can''t take you to these labs. "


    When the three of us returned to the vicinity of the tanks, Florin suddenly said to Ustinov, "Comrade people''s commissar, I think we should let Rita have a look at our new tanks. What do you mean


    Ustinov stopped, looked at me sideways, then nodded and agreed, "well, let her see what our new tank looks like." Then he yelled at several soldiers standing near the tank, "lift the camouflage net."


    With the release of Ustinov''s order, the soldiers stepped forward to lift the camouflage net covering the tank, revealing the true face of T-72. Looking at the behemoth in front of me, I can''t help thinking that this tank was originally designed for large-scale rapid assault. If it can''t appear in the form of cluster, the effect is not good. If it is used in a small amount, it is only suitable for low-intensity conflict operations. The t-72s in front of me may play a starting role in local battlefields. If they are used in battlefields with hundreds of tanks, their role will be greatly reduced.


    Perhaps Ustinov saw me staring at the tank in a daze and asked, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think of our new tank?"


    I quickly replied, "yes, it looks great!"


    After listening, Ustinov said to me with a smile: "our new tank not only looks great, but also will surprise you when it comes to the battlefield. Let''s not say anything else. For the common German tanks No. 3 and No. 4, we can hit them at least ten by one. "


    When I looked at the 125mm main gun, I couldn''t help smiling. My heart said that you don''t know the power of the T-72 at all. Let alone ten German tanks, even if they come to 20 or 30, they still can''t help this new tank from later generations.


    My smile made Ustinov misunderstand again. He then asked with a little dissatisfaction, "why, comrade oshanina, don''t you believe what I said?"


    "You are mistaken, comrade member of the people''s Committee." I quickly explained to him: "since the assault rifles provided by engineer Florin have excellent performance in the battlefield, the power of the tanks produced under his guidance can be imagined."


    After listening, Florin''s face showed a satisfied smile. He raised his hand, looked at his watch, and said to us, "I''ll go back to the anti tank trench to see if there''s anything to improve, so I won''t accompany you."


    "Do as you please." Ustinov said politely to him.


    After Florin left, Ustinov took me around the building and toward the parking lot. After walking for a while, he looked back at the guard who was far behind us, and then said to me in a low voice, "oshanina, I''ll tell you a piece of news in advance. In the middle of April, we will organize a delegation to the United States. Comrade Zhukov recommended you to the Supreme Commander himself."


    When I went to the United States, when I heard Ustinov say so, I couldn''t help wondering: "Comrade member of the people''s Committee, may I ask, what''s the purpose of our going to the United States?"


    "Very simply, members of the delegation are responsible for introducing to the American people the great deeds of the Soviet government and people in bravely fighting against the Communist aggressors." "Of course, if possible, we also hope that they will provide us with more military assistance and persuade the politicians and the people there to support the Allies'' counter offensive against Europe. The Supreme Commander himself is very eager for the United States and Britain to open up a second battlefield and force the * * to divide their forces, so as to relieve the pressure on us. "


    As Ustinov had a lot to introduce, we went to the parking place, but his words were not finished. The major who sent me saw the appearance of Ustinov and wanted to say hello. Unexpectedly, he just walked towards us a few steps, but was turned away by Ustinov.


    Ustinov continued to say to me: "at the end of last year, in order to urge the allies to open up a second battlefield, we sent Ludmila, a female sniper with outstanding military achievements, to visit the United States. She was not only loved by the American people, but also gained the friendship of Mrs. Roosevelt... Because the Kremlin was very satisfied with the heroine''s performance, after she returned home, she was promoted from lieutenant to major, and was awarded the title of "Soviet hero"... "


    In this way, we stood not far from the car and talked for more than half an hour before Ustinov said, "well, comrade oshanina, I have finished what I should say. If it''s possible, you can go back and study English as soon as possible. Maybe it will be useful then. "


    "Yes I waited for him to finish, quickly and respectfully promised: "I will not let you down."


    When I got out of the secret base and got back in the car that bzikov was driving, he turned to me and said, "Rita, I just got a call about you."


    "It''s about me?" Bezikov''s words made me feel at a loss. I asked mistily, "is it from the hospital?"


    He didn''t give me an immediate answer. When the bus arrived and the checkpoint was not visible, he replied, "it''s not the hospital, it''s Marshal Zhukov. He knew I was sending you here, so he called directly to the checkpoint


    "Marshal''s call?" Bezikov''s words surprised me. I asked vaguely, "what can he do for me?"


    "It''s about Kiev." Bzikov answered briefly as he drove.


    "Kiev?" When I heard this place name, my heart could not help hanging up, some flustered to ask: "what''s the matter there?"


    "Well, one of your former subordinates, a commander, ordered that all the more than 200 captured German officers and soldiers be shot without asking for instructions." Bezikov looked at me sideways and said quickly, "after general rebalko learned about this, he ordered the commander to be detained and reported the situation to the marshal. Comrade marshal, I want to ask for your opinions on how to deal with this regimental commander. "


    Hearing this, I quickly and seriously asked, "what''s the name of the regiment leader?"


    "Lt. Col. chejerikov, head of the first regiment of the 22nd division of the guards."


    It''s said that it''s shijerikov. I can''t help thinking about it. In my impression, shijerikov has always been a man of stable personality. How could he order the slaughter of prisoners at will? There must be something unknown. Thinking of this, I then asked, "Captain, do you know why?"


    Bezikov nodded and replied, "yes, Lieutenant Colonel shejerikov led the army to capture the hilez concentration camp north of Kiev, where a large number of dead bodies were found. It is said that this concentration camp was built in June 1942, mainly for prisoners of war, anti * * and Jews. Many people die every day. According to statistics, the concentration camp has taken at least 25000 lives. "


    When I heard what bzikov said, I immediately understood why shijerikov was so unconventional, "anything else?"


    "Moreover, according to the prisoners'' confession, after they occupied Kiev in September 1941, they carried out systematic massacres in the babiya Valley, not far from the concentration camp." In order to let me know the whole story, bezikov also gave a detailed explanation: "from September 24 to 28, 1941, the buildings used by the bloody German occupation forces in the city exploded one after another, resulting in the death of a large number of Germans. Originally, these actions were carried out by our underground resistance organizations, but the Germans put the blame on the Jews. The leader of the occupying forces decided to put all the Jews in the city to death.


    There were 160000 Jews in the city, 100000 of whom had been evacuated to the rear before Kiev fell. On September 28, the SS put up signs everywhere in the city, saying that Jews came out of their houses the next morning and gathered in the street. At 8 a.m. on the 29th, all the Jews were summoned to a few blocks, and then the SS drove them to the babya valley. The Jews who entered the valley were asked to take off all the valuable things in their hands and all their clothes. Ten people in groups went to the deep valley. As soon as they enter the predetermined location, they will be shot by machine guns, and a large number of Jews will be killed. In just two days, 33771 Jews were killed. Over the next few months, thousands of Jews were captured and sent to the valley of babya for execution. Besides Jews, many prisoners of war and Gypsies of our army were also killed there... "After bezikov introduced the whole situation, I couldn''t help getting angry, biting my back teeth, and said fiercely:" if I were Xie jerikov, I would not hesitate to give the same order when I saw the bones in the concentration camp. Because our soldiers did not kill people at all, but a group of dehumanized German beasts. "¡° Rita, how are you going to reply to marshal? " Although bezikov asked without thinking, I knew in my heart that he was talking about how to deal with chejerikov. So I said without hesitation, "Colonel, I personally believe that in this incident, not only should lieutenant colonel chejerikov not be punished, but he should also be commended. Please tell the marshal what I mean After hearing this, bzikov showed a smile on his face. He said in a friendly way, "no problem. I''ll take your original words to marshal." He comforted me and said, "don''t worry, marshal knows that this lieutenant commander is your favorite general. Otherwise, I won''t ask for your advice on how to deal with him. Well, you should be tired after coming out today. I''ll take you back to the hospital

 Chapter 1009

    When I came back from the secret base, I became a forgotten person. Except for the doctor Sergey who came to the ward every day, the nurses who took eye drops, and the guards who stood guard outside the door, no one else appeared in my ward.


    After almost a week, not only krochkov didn''t come, but even bezikov, who is closest to me, didn''t see any trace. What''s the meaning of this? In the face of this abnormal situation, I can''t help thinking about it. I pondered and pondered in my heart. I recalled every word I said with Ustinov in the base that day. I found that I didn''t say anything wrong. I should not fall into the fate of being snowed. Why didn''t anyone come to see me?


    Just as I was about to fall into despair, there was a sound of footstep at the door. It was bezikov who came, and the thought came to me immediately. Then I lifted myself up with my elbow and looked eagerly at the door.


    After I saw the people at the door, I sighed in my heart and lay down again in disappointment. Then I asked casually, "what''s the matter, Dean osimin?"


    Osiminin came up to me, leaned down and said respectfully, "Comrade General, after this period of treatment, doctor Sergei and I agree that you can be discharged. What do you mean? "


    When I heard that I could be discharged from the hospital, I cried "thank God" in my heart. My heart said that if I lie down in bed like this, my people will soon fall apart. Flurried to sit up, nervously asked: "Comrade president, do not know what I can do discharge procedures?"


    "General, if you like, you can go through the discharge procedures at any time," osimin said with a smile With these words, he explained to me, "if the beds in the inpatient department are not very tight recently, and even the corridor is full of patients, you can stay here for another period of time."


    I found out about the shortage of beds in the inpatient department for a long time. I wanted to rest for another two days and ask when I can leave the hospital after my eyesight has completely recovered. Now that osimin has taken the initiative to put forward this matter, I will naturally say, "I''ll arrange someone to help me go through the discharge procedures." With that, I called Yushchenko''s name out loud.


    When Yushchenko came in, I immediately told him, "Comrade captain, you will follow Comrade president to the office later and help me go through the discharge procedures."


    "Thank you, comrade oshanina. By the way, I think I need to remind you that although your wound has completely healed now, it''s better not to do strenuous exercise within three months. "


    "I remember, comrade president." As I was in a hurry to leave the place where I had been staying for more than half a month, I hastily urged Yushchenko after finishing this sentence with osimin: "Comrade captain, it''s getting late. I''ll go with Comrade president quickly to finish my discharge procedures."


    After Yushchenko and osiminin left, I worried about where to stay after I was discharged. If I''m ok, I can brazenly go to Zhukov and ask him to arrange a place for me to stay. But now there are eight security personnel besides me, so the accommodation arrangement is not so convenient.


    When I was worried, I heard a rush of footsteps coming from outside the door. My heart says that Yushchenko''s action is quite sharp. He came back so soon after finishing the formalities. As I was packing, I asked without looking back, "are all the procedures completed?"


    "Procedure, what procedure?" When the new comer heard my question, he couldn''t help but ask back.


    Hearing the familiar voice of bezikov, I couldn''t help but feel happy. It seems that Zhukov still hasn''t forgotten me, and finally sent bezikov to find me. This time, there must be some important task. Thinking of this, I stood up straight, turned around and asked bzikov with a smile, "Comrade Colonel, long time no see. How are you doing?"


    When bezikov saw my officer on the bed, he asked tentatively, "are you going to leave the hospital?"


    "Yes." I nodded and gave him a positive answer: "President osimin has just been here. He said that my eye wound has almost recovered. I can leave hospital and go home for rest."


    Berzikov looked at the door and asked, "where are you going?"


    I was worried about where I would go next. When he asked me this, I immediately followed him and said, "Captain, even if you don''t ask about it, I''m going to ask you for help. You see, eight or nine of us can''t sleep on the street. "


    "Sleeping out on the street?" After listening to what I said, bzikov could not help laughing and said, "hell, you are a general now. Who has the right to let you and your department sleep on the street at your level. Don''t worry. I''ll arrange the accommodation for you later. "


    Now that the accommodation has been settled, the stone in my heart has fallen to the ground. It''s not like you''re here to talk about the past with me when you see bzikov in such a hurry. There should be some important task. So, after a moment''s silence, I asked, "Captain, you''re here today. What''s the matter with you?"


    "Well, it''s not for the current situation." Bezikov sat down on my bed, looked up at me and said, "after defeating our southwest front and Voronezh front, the German army concentrated its superior forces and pressed over Kiev."


    I heard that the situation in Kiev is not optimistic. I can''t help worrying about my old subordinates who stay there: "Colonel, what''s the situation there? Can we withstand the German offensive?"


    Bezikov shook his head slowly and said, "the situation is not optimistic. Although we have two tanks, one infantry and three infantry divisions there, we are still at a disadvantage compared with the German forces. Moreover, the German army has much more tanks, artillery and air supremacy in the battlefield than ours. In my analysis, it''s a miracle that general rebalko can stay there for a week. "


    "What will the marshal do?" Thinking of rebalko, if they were encircled, they would only be captured or killed, so I couldn''t wait to ask, "is he going to send reinforcements, or will general rebalko withdraw from Kiev before the enemy''s encirclement is formed?"


    "Withdraw from Kiev?" After listening to what I said, bzikov gave me a strange look and said to himself, "according to the intention of the superior, no matter how much sacrifice you make, you can''t easily give up Kiev. A few days ago, the troops transferred from rokosovsky''s central front army were bombed and blocked by the German army on their way to Kiev. After a few days of fierce fighting, they had to retreat back to the starting point of the attack. "


    After listening to bzikov''s words, my heart sank suddenly, worrying about the fate of tens of thousands of troops left near Kiev. At the beginning of the patriotic war in Kiev, more than 600000 Soviet soldiers were captured by the German army. Now we have only tens of thousands of them. It''s not easy to resist the fierce attack of 200000 German troops.


    After a long time, I said in a heavy voice: "Colonel, general rebalko, they are short of enough supplies. Once they are surrounded by the German army, they will soon run out of ammunition and food. Even if the German army does not attack, hunger can make them lose their fighting capacity."


    As to what I said, bzikov nodded and said with approval, "you''re right, Rita. At that time, hundreds of thousands of people did not wait to block the enemy who rushed to Kiev. They wanted to let general rebalko''s tens of thousands of people block the enemy''s attack and firmly hold Kiev, unless there was a miracle. "


    As we were talking, Youxian Kexing came in from the outside in a hurry. As soon as he entered the door, he said to me in a loud voice, "Comrade General, the discharge procedures have been completed. Can we start?" After speaking, he found that there was still bezikov in the room. He came to attention and said hello to bezikov.


    Seeing Yushchenko coming back, bzikov stood up, straightened his belt around his waist, and then said to me, "all right, Rita, comrade captain is back. Let''s go now. "


    "I don''t know where to go, Colonel?" Yushchenko asked blankly.


    "Zhukov asked me to find you some vacant houses near his headquarters, and then you will live there." After that, he said to me, who was still in the hospital uniform, "Rita, please change your clothes as soon as possible. Captain Yushchenko and I are waiting for you outside." With that, he took Yushchenko and went out. At the same time, he did not forget to take the door with him.


    The house that bizikov arranged for us is on the same street as Zhukov''s headquarters. We can get there in seven or eight minutes'' walk at most. When arranging rooms for us, bezikov specially introduced to me: "almost all the residents in this street evacuated to the rear when the German troops were approaching Moscow. And after our headquarters moved here, for the need of work, they temporarily requisitioned all the vacant houses here to accommodate our commanders and fighters. "


    "Colonel," seeing that bezikov had arranged everything, he had plans to leave. I stopped him and asked, "what can I do to see Marshal?"


    Bezikov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he said, "you have a rest here. I''ll go back and ask the marshal to see when he can meet you." With that, he nodded at me and went out.


    Seeing bezikov''s back, Yushchenko came up to me and asked in a low voice, "Comrade General, the place where I live has been settled. What can I do with the food?"


    "Food?" I looked at Yushchenko and said, "if you want something to eat, you can buy it on the street by yourself. You don''t need to ask me for instructions."


    When I said that, Yushchenko''s face was embarrassed. He murmured to me: "Comrade General, you don''t know something. When you were in hospital, we were all touched by your light and ate hospital food. But now that we have left the hospital, we need to find a new place to eat. We need to know that the city now implements a rationing system. Without the rationing certificate issued by the city, even if you have money, you can''t buy things. "


    When he finished speaking, I immediately understood the reason for his dilemma. But in the current situation, I can''t solve the problem of ration cards for them. I can only wait for bzikov to come back later and let him think about something.


    Seeing Yushchenko still standing in front of me waiting for my reply, I waved to him and said, "Captain, take your men to clean the room first. As for the ration card, when Colonel bzikov comes back, I will ask him to help us solve this problem."


    It''s easy to say, but I''m worried. After all, there are very strict regulations for the issuance of ration cards. Even with the help of bezikov, it''s not easy to get enough ration cards. In the afternoon, as soon as bizikov appeared, I immediately took him and told him about our lack of ration card. After hearing this, he was silent for a moment and said, "Rita, at present, the management of ration cards is very strict in the city. Even if I go out and the other party doesn''t see me, you can give me two more ration cards. Now you have 89 people. It''s impossible for you to have one each." When I listened to him like this, my face suddenly showed a look of worry. If there is no ration certificate and I can''t buy things with money, then my subordinates may starve to death? He was going to ask biezikov to help us think about something. Unexpectedly, he said, "well, I''ll get you three ration cards so that you can get the necessary food. As for the rest of the people''s rations, I can send someone to send you some. " Although it''s hard to be satisfied with such an arrangement of bezikov, I know in my heart that this is the greatest help he can provide for us in my face. On behalf of all the people, I''d like to express my thanks to him. As soon as I finished speaking, he took my sleeve and walked out. At the same time, he said, "come on, Rita, let me go to the headquarters. The marshal is waiting for you there." Yushchenko was the only one who left the room with us. The rest of the soldiers stayed at home to clean up. On the way, bzikov said to me with a worried face: "Rita, the situation in Kiev is worse than we thought. According to the latest information, the material transportation line between us and them has been cut off by the Germans. In two days, they will be out of food completely. Comrade Marshal asked me to call you over to see if you have any good ideas. " I couldn''t help laughing bitterly at what bzikov said. My heart said that I was not an immortal. The army was besieged by the German army. A famous general like Zhukov couldn''t do anything. What can I do? Bezikov led me into Zhukov''s office, walked to Zhukov, who was looking at the map. He straightened up and said, "marshal, I have brought general oshanina."

 Chapter 1010

    After hearing the report from bezikov, Zhukov stood up straight, looked me from head to foot, and said with a kind smile, "Rita, you are really not simple. In just one year, you have so many medals on your chest, and even got the Venus medal that everyone dreams of. That''s right. You''re so good! "


    I''m very happy with Zhukov''s praise. My heart says that if he suddenly recruited me here, is he going to send me to the front again. So as soon as his words came to an end, he said, "marshal, even if you send me back to the front line immediately, I will try my best to live up to your trust in me."


    "It''s not time to go back to the army." Zhukov said vaguely.


    When I heard Zhukov say that, I knew that the chance of returning to the army immediately was not great. I was a little disappointed.


    Zhukov pulled out a chair, patted the back of the chair and said to me, "Rita, your eyes haven''t healed yet. Don''t stand too long. Sit down first."


    As I obediently sat down in my chair, Zhukov turned and said to bzikov, "Colonel, go and get two bottles of the drink that our American allies gave us..."


    "Coca Cola!" When bizikov saw that Zhukov could not remember the name of the drink, he reminded him in a low voice.


    Zhukov patted his forehead with his hand and said with a smile, "yes, that''s Coca Cola. Go and bring two bottles to serve Rita and let her taste the drinks of American allies."


    Seeing that bzikov left the room, I quickly asked Zhukov, "marshal, what''s the situation in Kiev?"


    Zhukov shrunk his mouth and said solemnly: "from the present situation, the German army can form a siege of our army in Kiev by the evening of tomorrow at the latest."


    I judged from various signs that the base camp was not willing to give up the recaptured Kiev easily, and Zhukov could not give an order for rebarko to withdraw. Therefore, I asked politely, "Comrade marshal, should we do something to rescue them from their current predicament?"


    After listening to me, Zhukov waved his hand and said, "at present, rebarko, they must firmly hold Kiev at all costs. Our air force will provide them with the necessary air support."


    Before he had finished, bzikov came back, carrying two bottles of Coca Cola in his hand. He came to us and asked Zhukov with a smile: "Comrade marshal, open it?"


    "Of course, there''s no need to say that." Zhukov said, "open both bottles."


    Bzikov agreed, put the cap against the table, slapped it hard, and the cap flew out. After the cap was opened, he picked up an empty glass and poured half of the coke into it.


    I was just about to reach for it, but what happened next stunned me.


    Bezikov picked up a water bottle next to him and poured water into the coke. When he saw that the water was full, he took the small plate with the sugar and politely asked me, "Rita, how many pieces of sugar do you want to put in it?"


    Seeing his outrageous behavior, I couldn''t help taking a cold breath, and then asked carefully, "Comrade Colonel, do you usually drink coke like this?"


    Bezikov nodded and asked in surprise, "yes, how can I drink if I don''t drink like this?"


    "Not bad!" After zikov finished, Zhukov also said: "to tell you the truth, the drinks provided by our allies are really bad. If it wasn''t for your taste, I would have sent these drinks to other places


    When I found out that Zhukov didn''t know how to drink Coca Cola, I suddenly had a feeling of madness. I only heard that when coke entered China, because everyone didn''t know how to drink it, there was such a wonderful way to drink it. I didn''t expect that even Zhukov would make similar mistakes. I coughed and asked weakly, "don''t you know how to drink this Coca Cola, marshal?"


    Seeing Zhukov shaking his head, I quickly took another bottle of coke from bezikov''s hand, poured half a cup directly into an empty cup, handed the cup to Zhukov, and said respectfully, "Comrade marshal, have a taste and see if it''s different from what you usually drink?"


    "Just drink it like this?" Zhukov asked blankly.


    "Yes, comrade marshal." I explained to him with a smile, "that''s how you drink this drink. You don''t have to add water or sugar."


    Zhukov took my drink, frowning and sipping tentatively. When the drink stops in his mouth for a moment and slides down his throat into his stomach, his brows stretch. So he decisively drank the coke left in the cup. When he put down the cup, he said with a smile: "I didn''t expect that this coke was drunk like this. When I see Comrade Stalin another day, I must tell him the right way to drink. "


    I can''t help shivering when Zhukov mentioned Stalin. Fortunately, today I just corrected Zhukov''s way of drinking. If I face the Supreme Commander himself, even if I see him drinking coke in the wrong way, I dare not remind him. I can only keep silent.


    This is the end of coke. Next, Zhukov will explain to me the current situation in Moscow. "According to the latest war reports, the German army has turned from Poltava and krasnograd to attack, exerting heavy pressure on the intersection of our Voronezh and the southwest two front forces," he said


    Seeing the rapidly deteriorating situation between the enemy and ourselves, Zhukov and I could not wait for him to ask me a question, but said: "marshal, I think we should try our best to allocate troops from the transport team of the supreme commander and the friendly front army to prevent the German army from seizing Belgorod and launching raids in the direction of Kursk."


    "Rita, your opinion coincides with my consideration." After praising me, Zhukov explained to me: "after reporting to the Supreme Commander himself, he has ordered the 1st group army, 21st and 64th group army of tanks to enter bergorod to block the German troops who are trying to push northward. What do you think we should do next? "


    Zhukov''s question, with a certain element of investigation, seems to want to understand my real strength through this question. Based on my understanding of him, I can naturally give the answers that he is interested in. Staring at the pictures on the map representing both sides of the enemy and us, I said, "marshal, no matter how many troops we have assembled in this area, I suggest you not turn to the counter offensive first. We can exhaust the enemy in the defensive position, destroy their tanks, then put in new reserves, turn to the general attack, and finally reach the target of annihilating the main German forces. "


    When I mentioned the elimination of German tanks, Zhukov said thoughtfully, "Rita, I asked Comrade Ustinov to test the anti tank trench you mentioned last time. The result is very good, especially against the German armored assault Corps. Today, I have just given orders to the central front army, the Western Front Army, the Bryansk front army and the grassland front army to build fortifications in the existing areas, especially the new type of anti tank trench that you have explored. "


    When I heard Zhukov say that he planned to carry out the "Golan trench" in all defensive zones, I felt a lot more at ease. If his orders can be carried out to the letter by the following commanders, the German army will suffer more losses in the Kursk battle in the near future than in history.


    I was just about to ask him the details of how he planned to support Kiev, but I heard him say leisurely: "Rita, there is one more time, I think it is necessary to tell you. General Golikov, the former commander of Voronezh''s front army, has been relieved of his post today and replaced by general vatukin of the southwest front army. "


    "Who will take over the post of commander of the southwest front army?"


    In response to my question, Zhukov readily replied, "the post left by general vatukin will be taken over by the deputy commander, general rojion Yakovlev Malinowski."


    "What about general Golikov?" As for this former superior, I am still very concerned about his whereabouts after he was dismissed. I am deeply afraid that he will be shot like general Pavlov, who lost his teachers and insulted his country at the beginning of the war.


    "He has now been recalled to Moscow by Comrade Stalin." Zhukov saw his worries and specifically explained Golikov''s future direction: "it is said that he intends to appoint him as deputy national defense people''s Committee to be in charge of cadre work."


    When I heard that Golikov would not be shot, and that he was lucky enough to hold a position similar to that of the Deputy Minister of defense, I fell to the ground.


    At this time, I heard Zhukov say: "after general vatukin took office, he immediately, together with Comrade Khrushchev, the military commissar of the front army, informed Stalin that he proposed that we should concentrate our forces to carry out a preemptive assault on the German forces deployed in bergorod Kharkov."


    This unexpected news surprised me. You know, the German army has just defeated our two main front forces. When the morale is low and the morale is low, launching a new round of attack on the German army is like hitting a stone with an egg. Knowing that Stalin had the final say in such matters, I immediately asked Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, what is the opinion of the Supreme Commander himself?"


    "He is also vacillating, unable to decide whether to deal with the enemy''s attack with a firm defense or with a pre emptive assault." Zhukov glanced at bezikov, who was standing upright beside him, and said with some dissatisfaction: "Comrade Stalin said that our defense would not withstand the German attack, as if our army were still in 1941 or 1942."


    Looking at Zhukov''s helpless expression, I quickly stood up and said to him in a firm tone: "marshal, I beg you to talk to the Supreme Commander again, so that he can give up the idea of counterattack at this stage. Because our troops have just lost the battle, not only the organizational structure of our troops is no longer complete, but also the morale of our troops is low. It is not suitable to launch another offensive without any hope. We should let the German army consume and get exhausted in our deep echelon defense, and then we will strike the enemy with a strong counterattack along the direction of bergorod Kharkov and Orel. "


    "Yes, Rita, you have a good idea." As soon as I finished, Zhukov immediately praised me loudly, and added: "I, vasilevsky, Antonov and many members of the general staff do not agree to attack the German army at this stage, which has no hope of success. Although I reported your opinions to Comrade Stalin, he was attracted by the attractive results they said, so he wavered all the time and couldn''t make a final decision. "


    "Can''t Comrade Stalin be convinced by you?" When Zhukov said that, I asked nervously. Because I clearly remember that before the outbreak of the battle of Kursk, the Soviet army had almost no offensive action. If Stalin was really instigated by vatukin and Khrushchev and rashly ordered his troops to launch an attack, he would be doomed to a disastrous defeat. Zhukov shook his head slowly and said, "after listening to my report, he didn''t immediately state his position. Instead, he said he would consider giving me an answer." Seeing the situation of the enemy and ourselves on the map, an idea suddenly came into my mind and said, "Comrade marshal, I have an idea. I don''t know whether to say it or not."¡° If you have any idea, just say it. " Zhukov said helplessly: "I asked bzikov to call you here just to hear your opinion and see if it can help me."¡° I think we should first support Kiev and send the air force to air drop materials for them to ensure that they have enough strength to hold on to Kiev. " I am deeply afraid that Zhukov does not agree with his opinion. He also specifically stated: "as long as they hold Kiev, they can contain a large number of enemies around them. In this way, the number of German troops deployed in the direction of Kursk will be greatly reduced."¡° Well, that''s a good idea. I think we can have a try. Later I''ll say hello to the commander of the first group army of the air force and ask him to send transport planes to air drop supplies and weapons and ammunition for the troops in Kiev. " Just when I was a little overjoyed, I heard Zhukov''s next sentence: "Rita, after my repeated consideration, I intend to arrange for you to meet Comrade Stalin. It should be more effective for you to explain to him the current situation on the battlefield than for us."¡° What, let me persuade Stalin? " When I heard Zhukov say that, I immediately sat down in a chair. After a while, I asked Zhukov: "marshal, I don''t know whether you said it wrong or I heard it wrong. Let me go and persuade the Supreme Commander himself. It''s too far from the mark¡° That''s right, Rita. You heard me right. I just want you to persuade Comrade Stalin. " In order to dispel my doubts, Zhukov specially said: "in fact, comrade Stalin has been thinking about you for more than a year, otherwise he would not have sent Yushchenko''s special guard company to protect your safety. I''ll send someone to see you to the supreme commander in person later. You should think about what to say after meeting. "

 Chapter 1011

    When I heard that Zhukov was going to arrange for me to meet Stalin, my heart beat faster. I ask myself, in the face of such a stubborn person as Stalin, even Zhukov can''t convince him. Can I get better results than him when I play such a small role? It was out of this consideration that I said with some embarrassment, "Comrade marshal, is this appropriate?"


    Zhukov waved his hand and said carelessly, "there''s nothing wrong with it. Let Colonel bezikov accompany you later. As long as he leads you, you can enter the Kremlin without calling."


    "But, but what should I say when I see the Supreme Commander himself?" Although Zhukov was very relaxed, I dare not take it lightly. I can only ask cautiously, "if he asks if he should fight back against the German army, how can I answer him?"


    For my series of questions, Zhukov only thought for a moment, then decisively said: "you can answer what you think, without any scruples." Seeing my worried face, he comforted me and said, "don''t worry. According to my judgment, comrade Stalin is very willing to listen to your real ideas, so I will arrange for you to see him."


    After spending a long time in Zhukov''s headquarters and chatting about unimportant matters, I came to the Kremlin accompanied by bezikov.


    Maybe Zhukov had called in advance to pass through the ditch. As soon as our car stopped in the square, a colonel ran up to me. After thinking about the experience of zikov, he turned to me and asked, "is that Comrade oshanina?"


    "Yes, comrade colonel." I knew that this might be the officer who came to meet me. After nodding, I tentatively asked, "are you accompanying me to see the Supreme Commander?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." The Colonel politely said to me, "I''ve been ordered to take you up. Please come to me."


    When I entered Stalin''s office building under his leadership and went up the stairs, I walked cautiously because I was worried about the wound. Naturally, I couldn''t afford the speed. The Colonel obviously knew about me, so he could not help slowing down when he saw that I was walking very slowly.


    As we walked slowly along the corridor, the Colonel asked with concern, "Comrade General, are you in pain?"


    I nodded and replied, "yes, comrade colonel. Although I had the operation ten days ago, the healing of the wound is not ideal. If I walk too fast, I am worried that it will crack the wound. "


    We soon came to a tall door. The Colonel asked me to wait a moment. He opened the door and went in. I heard him clearly saying, "report Comrade bosklebshev, general oshanina is here."


    "Let him in." Through the door came the flat voice of bosklebshev, Stalin''s chief of staff.


    "Yes With a promise, the captain came out of the door, stepped aside and made a sign that I could go in.


    After thanking the colonel, I stepped through the door and saw bosklebshev, a short, shaved, uniformed office director, standing at the writing desk. He gave me a little smile and said politely, "Hello, general oshanina!" Then he reached out to me.


    I quickly reached out to take his hand and said politely, "Hello, bosklebshev. Nice to meet you."


    After releasing his hand, he said in a low voice, "the Supreme Commander himself is waiting for you. Please come in." Then he went to another door leading to the inner room.


    He took the lead in, stood at the door and said, "Comrade Stalin, comrade oshanina is coming!"


    "Let her in." Stalin''s voice came from the room.


    Bosklebshev went back to the door and said to me without expression, "please come in, comrade oshanina. The Supreme Commander himself is waiting for you."


    I nodded to him and walked into the spacious office. The first thing that came to my eyes was a capital desk. On the other side was a long table, which should be used for meetings. There are several portraits on the wall, three of which I recognized as Lenin, Marx and Engels in the shortest time. Stalin himself was walking slowly back and forth in front of the portrait with his pipe in his mouth.


    Seeing Stalin in front of me, I forced myself to restrain my inner excitement and walked forward quickly. He stopped five or six steps away from him, raised his hand and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander in chief, lieutenant general o''shanina has come here on your order and is waiting for your order. Please give us instructions!"


    Stalin stopped, took his pipe away from his mouth, and with a smile on his face, said amiably, "Rita, you have been to many battlefields and made great achievements in more than a year. Hard work


    Hearing what he said, I quickly and habitually replied, "I''m willing to serve the motherland of the Soviet Union!"


    Stalin nodded with satisfaction, put his pipe in his mouth again, and said, "it seems that you have done a good job. You have so many heavyweight medals."


    For his praise, I didn''t say anything, just a polite smile.


    Perhaps seeing my constraint, Stalin asked me to sit down at the table and said slowly, "Rita, I''ve got something to ask you for today." As soon as his voice fell, I got up from my seat and said respectfully, "I''ll follow your instructions!"¡° The situation is like this, "Stalin said to himself as he raised his hand and motioned to me to sit down." the new commander of Voronov''s front army, comrade vatukin, and the military commissar, comrade Khrushchev, called me and suggested that a counterattack should be carried out against the German army in the near future, so as to recapture Kharkov while their foothold was not stable. " When he said this, he stopped for a moment, as if waiting for me to speak. Seeing that I was just looking at him without saying a word, he continued to say: "but Zhukov and vasilevsky, they put forward completely opposite opinions, and suggested that I should stick to the existing defensive zone and carry out the final counterattack after the German troops were consumed. I don''t know what you think about this. I want to hear your opinion Although Stalin said he was asking for my opinions, I knew that he had a plan for a long time. When he asked me this question, he just wanted to find someone to echo his opinions. Thinking of the fact that before the Kursk war in history, the Soviet army did not take any major military action, I said boldly: "Comrade Stalin, please forgive me. I don''t think our army is suitable to launch a counterattack against the German army under the current situation." Stalin''s face didn''t show any surprise when I said that. He sat down in the empty chair next to me and pointed at me with his finger holding his pipe. "Tell me what you think."¡° Comrade Stalin, "I said euphemistically," judging from the current situation, although we have more troops than the German army, the German army has an advantage in weapons and equipment. In addition, our front-line airport has been damaged by the German army, and the spare airport is too far from the front line, so the air supremacy is basically in the hands of the German army. I don''t think there''s any chance of winning by launching a counterattack under such circumstances. "¡° Do you agree with Zhukov? " After hearing this, Stalin asked noncommittally, "do we really want to wait for the enemy Kharkov to gain a firm foothold before we fight a big battle with them?"¡° I don''t think it''s appropriate for general vatukin to rashly make a decision to attack when he has just taken over the Voronezh front army and is not even familiar with the troops below. " I guess Stalin hesitated, but he didn''t want to launch a counterattack that was not sure of victory, so he boldly said: "I suggest that Marshal Zhukov and general vatujing should inspect all the units of Voronezh''s front army, help the commanders to estimate the situation and make future plans. I believe that through this inspection, Marshal Zhukov will be able to make a comparison between the situation of both sides and prepare a set of new advance plans for the battle. " After I said that, I immediately looked at Stalin, waiting for his comments on me. Stalin took a puff from his pipe and then said, "Rita, your view is more appropriate. I will immediately arrange for Zhukov to go to the troops for inspection, and then decide whether to launch a counterattack after we have found out the situation of the enemy. " When I heard Stalin''s approval, I was relieved. Before I was happy, he suddenly asked, "Rita, if the German army is going to attack the Kursk area occupied by our army, where should we build the main defense area?" Although I''m not a worm in Manstein''s stomach, I remember the general process of the battle of Kursk in history, so I answered with a clear mind: "Comrade Stalin, I think we should arrange a heavy military group in Prokhorovka area, because this is the barrier to the south of Kursk, and the German Army from Kharkov will certainly seize it, And turn it into a starting point for attacking Kursk. "¡° Yes, your analysis coincides with that of the general staff. " As soon as I finished, Stalin agreed with my analysis, "vasilevsky said that if the enemy and us really want to start a war in the direction of Kursk, then Prokhorovka area will become the focus of contention between the enemy and us." After Stalin finished, I carefully said: "Comrade Stalin, according to my judgment, although the German forces forced our Voronezh front army and the southwest front army to retreat, they did not have the ability to launch large-scale battles in a short period of time, so we have enough time to deploy our troops and strengthen our defense system."

 Chapter 1012

    After listening to me, Stalin asked with great interest, "Rita, how do you judge that the German army is not capable of launching a large-scale campaign? We should know that they have just defeated hundreds of thousands of our troops, and their morale is high. Even if they do not have new soldiers and weapons, they can continue to push forward our defense in depth. "


    As for Stalin''s question, after a little reflection, I replied: "Comrade Stalin, after a long battle, not only the officers and men of the German army were very tired, but also all kinds of military materials needed for the battle were extremely scarce. In this case, they have to stop the pace of attack to consolidate the existing defensive zone and carry out short-term rest


    My answer obviously did not satisfy Stalin. He got up, walked slowly around the room with his pipe in his mouth, and seemed to be thinking about something. And I dare not take it lightly. My eyes stay on him all the time and move with him.


    When I saw him stop and turn slowly towards me, I guessed that he might have something to ask me, so I quickly stood up. He turned to see me get up from my seat and pointed to me with his pipe hand, ready to ask me questions.


    Just then the door rang. Stalin and I both looked in the direction of the voice, and Percival klebshev stood upright by the open door. Seeing that we had noticed him, he quickly said, "Comrade Stalin, general rokosovsky is here!"


    "Ask him in!" After Stalin had said this, he went to the door.


    Not long after boskelebeshev left the door, rokosovsky, dressed in military uniform, came in. As soon as he entered the door, he raised his hand and saluted Stalin, who appeared in front of him. At the same time, he politely said, "Hello, comrade Stalin, I have been ordered to report to you and wait for your order. Please give me instructions!"


    Stalin changed his pipe to his left hand, then pulled rokosovsky''s hand down from his forehead with his right hand, held it tightly, shook it vigorously, and said warmly, "welcome, comrade rokosovsky."


    Seeing rokosovsky and Stalin walking towards me side by side, I quickly smile, raised my hand, saluted him and said, "Hello, comrade commander of the front army."


    He gave me a salute, then came up to me, took my hand and said friendly, "Hello, Rita. I heard that you are in hospital. I''m going to see you in two days. I didn''t expect to meet you here today. "


    "Well, comrade rokosovsky, when you have time later, you two can talk about the past." Stalin interrupted our conversation and urged: "first, let''s talk about the situation of the central front army."


    On hearing what Stalin said, rokosovsky straightened up and respectfully reported: "Comrade Stalin, the central front army launched an offensive campaign in the direction of shefsk from February 25 to today, advanced 30 to 60 kilometers, successfully approached shefsk and cut off the railway line of Bryansk + konotop..."


    During the more than half a month since I was hospitalized with surgery, although biezikov occasionally came to tell me some of the latest war reports, most of the time I was isolated from the world. At this moment, when I heard that rokosovsky was reporting the war report to Stalin, I focused on listening carefully to every word he said.


    After listening to his report, Stalin asked: "Comrade rokosovsky, do you think that under the current circumstances, we can concentrate the strength of several front forces to carry out a counterattack against the German army that just occupied Kharkov?"


    As soon as his voice fell, rokosovsky shook his head like a rattle: "no, comrade Stalin, it''s not the right time for us to attack now after all. It can only weaken our strength in vain." He said, pausing for a moment, and then, as if with great courage, he said, "before I came here, I received instructions from the base camp: immediately send the 21st army to the oboyani area under the command of the commander of voronesh front army. It turned out that a large number of enemy troops had broken through in the direction of Kharkov and Belgorod, posing a threat to Kursk.


    Comrade Stalin, here I have to report to you that our situation is going from bad to worse, that the combat units and logistics departments of the front army have not arrived, that the problem of material supply has not been solved, that the enemy has greatly strengthened its military strength against our front army, and that the transfer of the 21st group army has made the balance of forces completely unfavourable to me. "


    Stalin did not immediately express his position after listening to rokosovsky''s words. He turned to me and asked, "Rita, if you are allowed to make a decision, what are you going to do?"


    As for Stalin''s abrupt problem, I didn''t panic at all. Instead, I said with confidence: "Comrade Stalin, I think the current task of the central front army should be to turn to defense immediately." In order to be more accurate, I looked at the map spread out on the table and read the place names on it, "the defensive areas are gorokieche, little Arkhangelsk, trosna, liujiege and kolenevo. At the same time, the central front army should be supplemented with the 48th army of general romanenko, the 13th army of puzhenfu transferred from the front army of Bryansk and the area occupied by it, and the 60th army of chernyahovsky transferred from the front army of Voronezh and the area occupied by it. "


    Although the place in front of me was not marked with the assigned positions of the troops, I still cleverly described the deployment of the Soviet troops before the Kursk war according to my own memory.


    As soon as I finished, Stalin asked rokosovsky with a smile: "dear comrade rokosovsky, do you have anything else to add?"


    Rokosovsky first looked at me in surprise and then replied, "Comrade Stalin, we must build a defense that the enemy can''t break. The defense should be arranged in echelons of depth. First of all, it should be able to defend against enemy tanks. We know clearly from the painful lessons of previous battles that the enemy will use a lot of tanks when launching attacks. Therefore, first of all, we should be prepared to deal with enemy tanks.


    Also, the reason why we lost Kharkov and Belgorod so quickly. I think the reason for our failure is that we didn''t pay attention to forming the reserve team in time. When the enemy attacked, our strength was exhausted, and the front line was drawn a long line away from the rear base. Another reason is that our campaign strategic reconnaissance is too poor. In this way, it is possible for the enemy to form a large-scale army group and carry out a sudden counter attack while retreating, while we have no strength to repel its attack. We have no campaign reserve in the depth of our defense, so that the enemy can break through our front in a narrow area and complete the encirclement of our army almost without any resistance. "


    Stalin put his pipe in his mouth and said with admiration, "yes, comrade rokosovsky, you have considered the problem very comprehensively. At present, there is a 200 kilometer arc in the middle of the enemy''s defensive zone. I intend to give the task of defending this arc to your central front army and the Voronezh front army of vatukin. And in your rear, I will deploy a newly formed reserve force, a unit of the front army. "


    "And tanks, comrade Stalin." As soon as Stalin and rokosovsky finished, they could not wait to say: "the German army is equipped with a new type of tank. Even if our anti tank guns are at a distance of 400 meters, the armor piercing projectiles fired by them can not penetrate the armor of this kind of tank."


    After listening to what rokosovsky said, I knew in my heart that his troops must have met German Tiger tanks. He quickly turned his eyes to Stalin to see what he would say next.


    "Comrade rokosovsky, you don''t have to worry about this new type of German tank." Stalin took his pipe out of his mouth, held it in his hand, and said slowly: "as early as the battle to break through the blockade of Leningrad was still going on, Zhukov had reported to me that our artillery had destroyed a German tank. From the appearance of this tank, it is not the same as the tank type we are familiar with. Moreover, after the tank was destroyed, Hitler''s bandits tried every means to drag it away from the destroyed position.


    We are very interested in this report. We ordered a special detachment composed of an infantry platoon and four tanks to capture the enemy tanks and drag them to our army for detailed study. In order to ensure the success of the operation, we also prepared strong artillery fire to provide fire cover for the small unit.


    The detachment, led by Captain kosalev, began to carry out this combat mission after dark. The enemy kept firing at the site of the destroyed tank. However, the tank was towed back. Even the broken tracks of the tank were picked up from the snow. The construction of tanks is really unusual. It was found that it was a test sample of a new type of heavy tank of "tiger-i" type, and it was sent by Hitler''s headquarters to the front line of warhoff for testing.


    Our experts made a comprehensive study of the captured tank and found out its vulnerable parts by means of experiments. The research results have just been sent to me two days ago, and will soon be transmitted to all our troops. In this way, our tankers and Gunners will dare to fight against it alone in future battles. "


    When I heard Stalin say about the process of seizing the German Tiger tank, I can''t help but think of the t-62 whose track was broken by anti tank mines on a small island in the East. In order to prevent this new tank from being robbed, the Soviet Army unfortunately covered the area where the tank was located with artillery fire until the wreckage of the tank sank into the water.


    "Rita! Rita! " I thought so much that Stalin called me twice before I heard him. Seeing that I was a little absent-minded, he said with some dissatisfaction: "you have been to the secret Research Institute, and tell Comrade rokosovsky what you know about tanks and anti tank weapons."


    I promised, and then introduced to rokosovsky the top secret information I knew: "Comrade commander of the front army, I''d like to introduce to you some new weapons developed by the Institute. The first one is assault rifle, which is a light weapon for infantry. I think you have seen it for a long time? "


    I have a reason to ask this question, because after he launched this weapon, he sent it to the 16th and 20th army at that time and let a few commanders and fighters try this new gun. So when he introduced the new weapons, he first heard the assault rifle, so that rokosovsky could have a perceptual understanding of the new weapons mentioned later.


    Sure enough, after listening to me, rokosovsky nodded and said with certainty, "yes, I''ve seen this kind of assault rifle. It combines the advantages of both the moxingan rifle and the bobosha submachine gun. However, I don''t understand one point. Since this kind of weapon has been developed for a long time, why hasn''t it been installed in the army after more than a year? "


    "The reason for the delay in loading troops is the problem of ammunition." I saw rokosovsky''s blank expression and explained to him, "this kind of assault rifle uses a kind of short cartridge bullet. With our existing military production technology, it can''t be produced on a large scale for the time being. Therefore, this kind of assault rifle can''t be loaded into the army."¡° When can we train troops? " Asked rokosovsky impatiently¡° At present, the Institute has set up a production line for short cartridge, "I said gently." if there is no accident, it will be two or three months before the troops can be loaded on a large scale. " As soon as I finished, rokosovsky asked, "besides assault rifles, are there any new weapons?"¡° Yes I went on to introduce: "among the anti tank weapons, a new type of anti tank rocket launcher is introduced, which is not only smaller than the bazuka rocket launcher of the United States, easy to carry, but also powerful. It can penetrate the front armor of German tanks at a distance of 200 meters." Seeing the excitement on rokosovsky''s face when he heard this information, I threw another "heavy bomb": "in addition, the Institute has developed a new type of tank. Compared with the German Tiger, it has thicker armor and stronger firepower. According to the testers, the existing six tanks can easily be used against a German tank battalion. But I don''t think what they said is true. " "What''s the matter?" he asked nervously? Can''t you fight at all? " When I looked at Stalin and saw that he was smoking a pipe with a smile on his face, I knew that he knew something about the power of the new tank. The only one in the room who didn''t know was rokosovsky¡° It''s not that they can''t beat them, but that these researchers have underestimated the power of the new tanks. Not to mention a tank battalion, even a tank regiment, our six tanks can still win. "

 Chapter 1013

    "What? Six new tanks can deal with a German tank regiment? " Rokosovsky''s face showed an incredible expression. If he didn''t know something about me, he would have refuted it.


    "Yes, comrade rokosovsky." Stalin stood up at this time and supported me: "what Rita said is true. Our newly developed tank is an invincible existence for the German aggressors. "


    Although Stalin did not tell rokosovsky that these new tanks were made under the guidance of later engineers for the sake of confidentiality, he was overjoyed. He excitedly calculated the armored forces of the enemy and us: "six can be a tank regiment of the German army. If our central front army can be equipped with 120, even if the result is discounted, then at least we can pay thousands of German tanks."


    "Comrade rokosovsky, you are too early to be happy." Stalin suddenly poured cold water on the somewhat complacent rokosovsky: "with our existing production process and steel-making technology, it is temporarily impossible to mass produce the special steel needed for new tanks. In other words, it is totally impossible for our troops to equip new tanks in the near future. "


    Stalin''s words not only surprised rokosovsky, but also surprised me. I didn''t expect that after this new type of tank was manufactured, it would be unable to train troops on a large scale because of the lack of special steel. Then in the next battle of Kursk, there would be no chance for the new tank to show its power.


    "But Comrade Stalin, I have another question." After a moment''s absence, rokosovsky soon returned to normal. He respectfully asked, "when can the tank army of our front army get the tanks that they are supplied with?"


    On hearing this question, Stalin thought for a moment and replied, "I think it will be as soon as the middle of June before your central front army can be supplemented with tanks and other technical equipment."


    "Comrade Stalin, with all due respect." After listening to Stalin''s reply, rokosovsky said: "from Kharkov to Kursk, there are almost plains, which is very conducive to the large-scale mechanized assault of the German army. If we don''t have enough armor to fight against it, we can''t stop hundreds of German tanks. "


    Stalin was very tolerant of rokosovsky''s complaints. After smoking a cigarette, he said: "Comrade rokosovsky, although the base camp can not provide enough tanks for the central front army for the time being, there are other defensive means to deal with the German tanks. A series of experiences and lessons in the war tell us that the success or failure of anti tank battle is the key to resist the German attack. At the beginning of the war, our army was beaten to the ground by the German army, which was directly caused by the failure of anti tank operations. They were first defeated by the German tanks, and then surrounded and annihilated by a large number of German infantry


    "Comrade Stalin, I don''t know what kind of defensive measures we should take to deal with the large-scale armored assault that might be launched by the German army?" "Even if we have a defense depth of one or two hundred kilometers, our defense will not be able to cope with the assault of German tanks," rokosowski said anxiously


    "Don''t worry, comrade rokosovsky." Stalin said slowly: "although the base camp has not provided enough tanks for your front army for the time being, there are other means of defense. For example, the rocket launchers that are being mass-produced or the assault rifles that will soon be installed in the army. There is also an anti tank trench He told rokosovsky about the length, width and height of the "Golan trench" I reported


    After listening to this, rokosovsky pondered a little and asked with half faith: "Comrade Stalin, this kind of anti tank trench you mentioned sounds like a powerful one, but I don''t know how effective it can be in actual combat."


    Stalin pointed at me with his pipe holding hand and said, "after the launch of this new type of anti tank trench, the small team led by Comrade Ustinov had made a special test. From the report he gave me this morning, we can see that no matter how powerful the German armored forces are, there is nothing they can do in front of such an anti tank trench. Since this kind of anti tank trench was developed by Rita, I suggest that it be named after her surname, that is, "o''shanina trench."


    Stalin''s words almost made me sit on the ground. Originally an anti tank trench named after the Minister of defense of Israel, it turned into an anti tank trench named after myself.


    After a short silence, Stalin said with a smile, "Rita, I don''t know if you are interested in commanding a front army alone? If you have this wish, I can consider appointing you as the commander of the newly formed reserve front army, which will be deployed in the northeast of Kursk as the reserve of the central front army and Voronezh front army. "


    Although Stalin himself said this, I can only take it as a joke. My qualifications and prestige in the army are not enough. If I want to take charge of the overall situation in a certain direction, I will certainly attract a lot of opposition. Besides, I have no experience in commanding the overall situation, so I can''t do it well.


    I knew very well that I was not suitable to be an independent commander, so I truthfully reported to Stalin and said, "Comrade Stalin, thank you for your kindness. However, judging from the current situation, my ability is limited and I can''t be the commander of the newly formed front army for the time being. Please choose someone else. "


    Stalin seemed ready for my answer. After hearing this, he did not express any opinions. Instead, he called rokosovsky and I to the table, pointed to the map above and said to me, "take a look at this map. I''ll tell you about the deployment of new forces.


    The Western Front Army will be deployed near Kaluga. In addition to the 11th group army, the remaining 10th group army, 50th group army, close guard 1st group army, 61st group army, and air force 1st group army will be mainly responsible for the defense of the Oka River Valley and monitor the German central group army group in the Bryansk and Oreal regions.


    The buliansk front army, which is composed of the 4th group army of the guards, the 3rd group army of the tanks, the 3rd group army of the infantry, the 63rd group army, and the 15th group army of the air force, will be responsible for the flank defense of the Western Front Army.


    Next, your central front army and Voronezh front army of vatukin will be responsible for building sufficient defense depth in the Kursk area to resist the possible German attack. "


    Before concluding his speech, Stalin also asked a specific question: "Comrade rokosovsky, do you really think it is not suitable for us to fight back against the German army now?"


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." On hearing Stalin''s question, rokosovsky immediately replied without hesitation: "because the weather is getting warmer and the roads are muddy due to melting snow, the supply situation of troops is very bad, and many troops are very tired after a long battle. If we launch a hasty counterattack against the German army under such circumstances, I don''t see any hope of success. "


    After rokosovsky''s words, Stalin said thoughtfully: "up to now, except for vatukin and Khrushchev, both Zhukov and vasilevsky strongly request me not to launch a rash counterattack against the German army under the current situation, so as not to consume the elite troops that have been hard accumulated."


    "Exactly, comrade Stalin." Rokosovsky listened to Stalin say what he wanted to say, and quickly echoed: "so I suggest that our troops stay in the existing defense zone for the time being and build fortifications. We will launch the final counterattack after we have consumed a lot of the enemy''s strength in our defense. "


    After rokosovsky finished, Stalin walked to the telephone not far away, picked up the phone and dialed a number. A moment later, I heard him asking, "Hello, is that Comrade Zhukov? Have you received any information about the enemy? "


    Because the room is very quiet, even if I stand four or five meters away from Stalin, I can still hear the voice in the receiver clearly. Zhukov replied slowly, "yes, comrade Stalin, I just received the reconnaissance report from Voronezh''s front army."


    "Send someone to me immediately." Stalin ordered briefly.


    Zhukov quickly replied, "Comrade Stalin, I have sent the latest information to you. I believe you will see it soon."


    Almost at the same time, there was another noise at the door. Then, with a piece of paper in his hand, bosklebshev walked quickly to Stalin''s side, and then stood still.


    Stalin glanced at him and said to the microphone, "Comrade Zhukov, I think the information sent by you has arrived. I will contact you after I have read it." Then he hung up.


    Stalin took the piece of paper in bosklebshev''s hand and frowned after looking at it. After reading it, he slowly came up to us, handed the paper to rokosovsky, and said in a flat tone: "Comrade rokosovsky, have a look at the latest information."


    When rokosovsky was looking at the intelligence, I couldn''t help but put my head close to see what was written on it, which could make Stalin''s expression so serious. If you don''t look at it, you''ll be in a cold sweat. It says:


    "At present, the enemy of Voronezh''s front army is:


    1. There are nine infantry divisions in the first line (26th, 68th, 323th, 75th, 2555th, 57th, 332nd, 167th and one with unknown serial number). These divisions occupied and defended the Red October village, grand chernetchener, krasnopolier and kazatskoye. The unknown division, according to the prisoner''s confession, was on its way to sauerdatskoye to change shifts with the 332nd infantry division.


    The information is being verified. There is unconfirmed intelligence that the enemy has six infantry divisions in the second echelon. The locations of these divisions have not yet been identified and this information is being verified. According to radio reconnaissance, there is a Hungarian division headquarters in Kharkov region. The division may have been transferred to a secondary direction.


    2. At present, the enemy has six tank divisions (big Germanic, Adolf Hitler, skeleton, Empire, 6th and 11th tank divisions), three of which are in the first line, and three of them (big Germanic, 6th and 11th tank divisions) are in the second line. According to radio reconnaissance information, the headquarters of the enemy''s 17th tank division has moved from aleksyevsky to tashagovka. This shows that the l? The tank division is moving north. According to the current strength, the enemy may transfer three additional tank divisions from the southwest front to the Belgorod region.


    3. Therefore, it is expected that the enemy may form an assault group of 10 tank divisions and at least 6 infantry divisions in Voronezh. The cluster will have 1500 tanks in total, and is expected to be concentrated in the regions of borisovka, Belgorod, Murom and qazachialopan. The assault group is likely to be supported by a strong aviation force of about 500 bombers and at least 300 fighter sails. The enemy''s attempt was to launch a centripetal assault from the bergorod region to the northeast and from the Oreal region to the southeast, so as to encircle our troops west of the line between bergorod and Kursk. Later, it is expected that the enemy will assault the flank and rear of our southwest front army in the southeast direction, so as to ensure the future combat in the north direction. However, this possibility cannot be ruled out, that is, within this year, the enemy will give up the plan to attack the southeast and, after completing the centripetal assault carried out by the region of Belgorod and Orel, attack the northeast again to bypass Moscow. This possibility should be anticipated and the reserves prepared accordingly. " While I was reading information with rokosovsky, Stalin picked up the phone again. He said, "Comrade Zhukov, what do you think of the information provided by vatukin and Khrushchev?"¡° Yes, comrade Stalin. " Zhukov said in a smooth tone: "we should let the commanders and fighters of the central front army and Voronezh front army seize the time to build strong fortifications in the direction of korsk to prevent possible German attacks." After Zhukov finished, Stalin asked politely, "when do you think the German attack will start?"¡° Judging from the current situation, the enemy is not ready for a large-scale attack. The attack is not expected to be launched earlier than 20 April this year, or it may be in early May. " After finishing his analysis, Zhukov, perhaps in order to enhance Stalin''s confidence, specially stressed: "the troops of general rebalko who occupied Kiev will also contain some German troops and technical equipment, so that they must spend more time to prepare for the attack." With a long sigh, Stalin said reluctantly, "Comrade Zhukov, you are right in your analysis of the enemy''s situation. Under the present circumstances, we should not rashly counter attack the German army, so as not to lose the troops we have managed to accumulate in a hopeless counter attack. As you said, all the troops turned to defense on the spot to prepare for the coming German attack. "

 Chapter 1014

    When I heard Stalin say these words to Zhukov, I suddenly realized that Zhukov didn''t expect me to persuade Stalin to change his ways. Instead, he just asked me to set up a good persuasion environment for the later rokosovsky, and finally to throw out the prepared reconnaissance and analysis report, In order to achieve the ultimate goal of persuading the Supreme Commander himself. Judging from the current situation, he has obviously achieved his goal.


    Although I found out Zhukov''s real intention, I didn''t mean to blame him at all. After all, he created an opportunity for me to meet the Supreme Commander himself. In this way, whether I continue to stay in the army or work in local areas, it will be of great benefit.


    When Stalin put down the phone and walked back to us, he said to rokosovsky slowly, "Comrade rokosovsky, when you return to the army, you should put the work of building fortifications first and last, especially the construction of the" oshanina trench ", and you should personally supervise the work. Because only by completing the construction of the anti tank trench before the German attack can we effectively resist the assault of the German armored forces. "


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." Rokosovsky replied solemnly: "when I return to the army, I will personally inquire about the construction of various fortifications."


    Stalin nodded, then turned to me and said, "as for you, Rita, maybe you don''t have much free time."


    When I heard him say that, I wondered in my heart whether he was going to send me to help rokosovsky. Thinking of this, I can''t help glancing at rokosovsky standing upright beside me. I didn''t expect Stalin to wave his hand when he saw my little action. He wanted to see through my heart: "Rita, you are wrong. I won''t send you to the central front army of Comrade rokosovsky for the time being. Your mission is to follow the delegation to the United States in mid April. "


    Seeing that there was no change in the expression on my face, Stalin thought that I didn''t care about it at all, and made a special explanation: "as early as the end of last year, we sent a female sniper Lyudmila with outstanding military achievements to visit the United States with our youth delegation. Her mission, on behalf of the supreme command, is to persuade the politicians and the people there to support the Allies'' counter attack on the European continent, open up a second battlefield, and force the * * to divide forces, so as to reduce the pressure on us. "


    When his words came to an end, I asked carefully, "what is my task?"


    Stalin pointed at me with his fist clenched in his pipe and said, "although Lyudmila called on Roosevelt, she became one of the first Soviet citizens to visit the White House and successfully established a friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. But it may be that her rank is too low, just a lieutenant, so her appeal to the second battlefield has not received any response. This time, I decided to send you to follow the delegation to the United States to continue to complete the tasks that lieutenant Lyudmila did not complete. Are you confident? " He deliberately accentuated his tone when he said the last sentence.


    I dare not answer Stalin''s question casually. As I know that Normandy was landed in 1944, even if I was sent to the United States to lobby, the time for opening up a second battlefield would not be advanced. Because of this, it took me a long time to say, "Comrade Stalin, I will do my best."


    With these words, I stared at Stalin nervously, fearing that he would be furious at my reply. Fortunately, my worry was superfluous. He only looked at me once and then walked around the room without saying a word.


    Seeing Stalin''s action, rokosovsky, standing beside him, cast a reproachful look at me. However, I could only smile bitterly at him, saying that there are too many aspects involved in opening up a second battlefield. How can Britain and the United States decide to open up a second battlefield without hesitation because of a few words from a little-known person like me.


    Stalin walked for a while, and finally stopped. He seemed to forget my reply just now, but said to himself, "Rita, I''ll send someone to teach you English these days, so that when meeting with the US military, you don''t have to bring an interpreter at any time, and you can prevent the leakage of secrets."


    His words make me complain again and again. Do you think English is so easy to learn. In just over a month, even if I''m a language genius, it''s very good that I can master the vocabulary necessary for basic communication. If I want to memorize those military professional vocabulary, I feel like I''m on the shelf.


    However, the thought of the reply just now made Stalin look unhappy. If I put forward any more difficulties at the moment, I think it would leave a bad impression on him. So he said with a puffy face: "yes, comrade Stalin, I will use this time to study English seriously. I can assure you that I will master this foreign language skillfully before I go to the United States. "


    My reply gave Stalin a satisfied smile. He nodded and said, "good. I''m very satisfied to see that you have such confidence. It''s getting late. You can go back first. I have something else to talk with Comrade rokosovsky. "


    When I heard that he had ordered me to leave, I felt relieved. I quickly raised my hand to salute him and rokosovsky. Then I turned and walked towards the door.


    I went to the outside room. Sitting at the table, bosklebshev, who was busy, raised his head and asked with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, are you going back?"


    "Yes, poskelebershev." To the chief commander''s office director, I said respectfully, "can you tell me where I can find the colonel who sent me?"


    "Just a moment, please. I''ll have him come right away." Boskelebeshev said. He picked up the phone from the desk, dialed a number, and then said to the receiver, "Hello, I''m boskelebeshev. General oshanina is going to go back to her residence. Please ask the colonel to come over."


    When he put down the phone, he pointed to the empty chair beside him and said, "Comrade o''shanina, sit down first. The colonel who escorts you home will come right away."


    After I sat down, he didn''t talk to me any more. Instead, he looked down at the papers in front of him.


    After about two or three minutes, the entrance to the corridor suddenly opened, and the colonel who sent me appeared at the door. Seeing his appearance, boskelebeshev raised his head again and said to him, "Colonel, as Colonel bezikov has other business, I will give you the task of escorting general oshanina home."


    The Colonel agreed, then turned aside, made a gesture of invitation to me, and politely said, "Comrade General, please, I''ll take you home."


    I got up, and after thanking boskhlebeshev, I went out with the colonel.


    When I got back to my residence, Yushchenko, who had been waiting for me at home for almost a day, was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. He finally saw me appear. He immediately welcomed me and politely asked, "Comrade General, you are back. Dr. Sergey has been waiting for more than four hours."


    "Dr. Sergey?" When I heard the name of my doctor in charge, I couldn''t help wondering, the stitches had been removed for a long time, and I was officially discharged from the hospital. What else did he come after me to do? Although I had many doubts in my heart, I still pretended to be calm and asked, "where is he?"


    "In the living room." Yushchenko simply replied.


    As I walked into the room with him, I asked, "Captain, did Dr. Sergey say why he came to me?"


    Yushchenko shook his head and replied, "I don''t know. I asked him once, but he said that he would not let you know the latest news until you came back. "


    Inexplicably, I secretly scolded in my heart, then came to the living room and saw Sergei who had been waiting for a long time. As soon as I saw his face, I took the initiative to extend my hands to him and said politely, "Hello, Dr. Sergey. Welcome to my house." But when I saw the empty wooden table next to Sergey, I turned and told Yushchenko, "Comrade captain, go and get the doctor a cup of coffee and something to eat."


    As soon as Yushchenko left, I sat down at the table and looked at Sergey, who was still standing. I asked curiously, "doctor, what''s the important thing for you to come to me at this time?"


    "Well, Comrade General." Sergei said with a serious face: "after our examination, your subordinate Vasili Zaitsev''s eye injury is serious, and there may not be any cure. Therefore, after consulting with the military representatives, President osimin decided to perform enucleation for Comrade Vasili. "


    "What, enucleation?" Sergey''s words startled me, and I asked nervously, "if Comrade Vassily takes off his eyeballs, won''t he be blind?"


    Sergey nodded and said with great certainty: "you are right, Comrade General. Once his eyeball is removed, he will not only be unable to engage in the profession of sniper, but also be out of control because of blindness."


    "Dr. Sergey, what is your purpose in coming to me?" I couldn''t understand Sergey''s sudden appearance, so I had to break the casserole: "also, is there any possibility of changing this operation plan?"


    "This is where I came here to find you, Comrade General." Sergey said to me nervously, "only you can prevent this kind of tragedy."


    "In fact, according to my diagnosis, although Comrade Vasili''s eye injury could not be cured, it was because a shrapnel had been inserted into his eyeball, which affected his recovery and could not reach the level of removing his eyeball." Sergey may be more excited, so his speaking speed has become very fast: "so I venture to come to you, I hope you can come forward, go to the above people to negotiate this matter, to avoid the tragedy of making an excellent sniper blind."


    Sergey''s words made me aware of the seriousness of the matter, and I quickly asked, "in order to prevent this tragedy, who should I talk to about this matter? Is it to the president, comrade osimin?"


    After hearing what I said, Sergei hesitated, shook his head and replied, "maybe even President osimin can''t do anything about it. The person who gave the order to do the operation for Vassily is the military representative of the hospital."


    "Military representative?" When I heard this term, I was very surprised. I couldn''t help asking curiously, "what does this military representative do?"


    "Comrade General, as you know, it''s during the war." When Sergey explained this to me, his expression was full of helplessness: "all the hospitals are under the management of the army, and our hospitals are no exception. And this military representative was sent to our hospital by the army. " After listening to what he said, I understood that the rank of the military representative must be higher than that of osimin, and he was a great talker in the hospital. So after a moment''s hesitation, I asked, "what''s his rank?" When I asked this, I seemed to have no confidence. I said that as long as the other party''s rank was equal to or higher than mine, then I had to go to Zhukov to coordinate¡° Lieutenant, Comrade General. " Sergey quickly replied, "he''s just a lieutenant. Although he''s much lower than you, he''s a good talker in the hospital." When I heard that the other party was just a little lieutenant, my confidence came up. As soon as he finished, I immediately asked, "when is Vasili''s operation scheduled?"¡° Tomorrow morning. " Sergei said anxiously: "the operation will be performed by President osimin himself." Although I just came back from the outside, I couldn''t stay any longer when I heard such a big event. I immediately told Yushchenko, "Comrade captain, go to the headquarters and borrow a jeep. We''ll go to the eye hospital immediately." Yushchenko just stood by and listened to all the conversations clearly. He was also worried about Vasili''s fate. When he heard my instructions, he immediately agreed and ran out quickly. Looking at Yushchenko''s departure, Sergei continued: "Vassily''s eyes, on the surface, can not be cured, but according to my recent research, as long as another operation is performed to remove the shrapnel left in his eyes, his eyes are still hopeful of recovery." Seeing my face glowing, he quickly added, "but even if my eyes are good, his eyesight will be seriously damaged, and then he will have to wear glasses." As for his worries, I shook my hand and said with disapproval: "doctor comrade, for an excellent sniper like Vassili, no matter how poor his eyesight is, it''s definitely better than being blind." Thinking that Sergey had been waiting for me for several hours for this, I said to him with a smile, "thank you, Dr. Sergey. On behalf of Comrade Vasili, I would like to express my sincere thanks to you."

 Chapter 1015

    Sitting on the bus to the hospital, I shook my head with a bitter smile. My heart said that I was really hard-working. Not long after I left the hospital, I had to go back to deal with such trivial things. But then again, if Vassili was not my valued subordinate, maybe I would not have made a special trip. Anyway, the military representative of that hospital was a lieutenant, and Yushchenko could handle the matter well.


    As the car approached the gate of the hospital, I noticed that the two soldiers standing at the gate were acting abnormally. As soon as our car entered the gate, they came together and pointed in our direction, as if talking about something.


    When I saw this scene in the rearview mirror, I asked Sergei, who was sitting beside me, discontentedly, "Comrade Sergei, why don''t the two soldiers stick to their posts and get together to chat?"


    Sergey turned to look at the gate, then shook his head, some helplessly said: "these are the soldiers sent to us by the garrison headquarters, the jurisdiction is in the military representative, our hospital has no right to intervene."


    Our car stopped at the door of the inpatient department. Just as we were about to get off, we suddenly saw a group of soldiers running out of the outpatient building and rushing into the inpatient department through the open ground full of snow.


    "What the hell is going on?" Yushchenko, who had just got off another jeep, came up to me and asked Sergei mistily, "Why are they so flustered?"


    Sergey shook his head at first and said, equally puzzled, "I don''t know. We should know that although these commanders and fighters are responsible for the safety of the hospital, they usually stay in the outpatient department and seldom come to the inpatient department. Is there really something serious? "


    "Comrade captain, let''s go in and have a look." With that, I took the lead in walking towards the building.


    After entering the building, I immediately felt that it was in a mess. On the corridor, there were many patients in hospital uniform, talking about something. I went to the nearest patients and politely asked, "excuse me, what happened in the building?"


    An elderly old man looked at me sideways, put his mouth on the ceiling, and said, "Comrade commander, it seems that there is something wrong with the ward on the second floor. There are a lot of soldiers in charge of hospital safety."


    "Do you know what it is?" Yushchenko asked as soon as he finished.


    The old man shook his head and replied, "I don''t know that very well. The stairway is guarded by soldiers, so we ordinary people can''t go up at all. "


    Yushchenko, seeing that he could not find any valuable information from the old man''s mouth, turned to look at me and waited for my next instruction. I looked at the stairway not far away and saw that there were several soldiers with weapons guarding. It seemed that there was something wrong with the second floor. So I waved my head and said to Yushchenko, "come on, comrade captain, let''s go to the second floor and have a look."


    When we came to the stairway, a guard soldier immediately raised his hand to stop us and politely said, "Comrade commander, I''m sorry, you can''t go upstairs without the consent of the military representative."


    "What did you say?" Hearing these words, Yushchenko, who was standing behind me, immediately burst out: "don''t you see the rank of general clearly? Don''t mention your military representatives. Even if your commander comes, he must obey her orders obediently. "


    With that, he pushed the soldier aside, then turned to me and said, "Comrade General, please."


    For Yushchenko''s rude way of handling, I nodded with a smile. For this kind of people who don''t know the current affairs, we should take some tough measures. Seeing me raise my leg, I went upstairs, followed by Dr. Sergey and Yushchenko.


    When we came to the second floor, we saw that the patients crowded the place. Many of the patients standing on the outermost floor were still looking inside with their toes. Seeing this, I felt even more uneasy. I immediately told Yushchenko, "Captain, let these patients make way for us first."


    Yushchenko agreed and pushed forward with several other guards. At the same time, he yelled, "comrades, please step aside, please step aside." As he said, he pushed forward. Several people forced me out of the crowd.


    I walked a few steps along the passage and found something wrong. The place surrounded by the patients was Vassily''s ward. Seeing several soldiers standing in a row hand in hand at the door, my heart could not help but thump. My heart said that Vassily had no problem?


    I came to the front of the soldier''s wall and asked solemnly, "Comrade soldier, what''s the matter with you?"


    The soldier I asked glanced at my epaulets and immediately straightened up and reported to me, "Comrade General, there is a wounded man who is going to commit suicide. The military representative and the president of the hospital are persuading him."


    "What, is there a wounded person who wants to commit suicide?" I was startled by the soldier''s reply, so I quickly told him, "let me have a look."


    "Comrade General." The soldier''s face showed a embarrassed expression, "it''s too dangerous inside. The wounded has a gun in his hand. I''m afraid he will hurt you by mistake."


    "Go away." Yushchenko didn''t talk to the soldiers either. He grabbed his collar and pulled him aside, opening a gap for me.


    After I came into the ward with curiosity, I was immediately shocked by the scene in front of me. Vasili Zaitsev, whose eyes were still covered with gauze, was sitting on his own bed, waving a pistol in his hand, and exclaiming excitedly, "go away, you all go away! Even if I die, I won''t let you take off my eyeballs. " As he yelled, the gun in his hand stood against his temple for a while, and then pointed to the others in the room according to his own feeling.


    In the room, he was confronted by more than a dozen armed soldiers. Their rifles and submachine guns pointed at Vasili. It seems that as soon as they find something wrong, they will shoot immediately. The two closest to Vassily''s bed were president osimin, and the other was a lieutenant, who should have been the military representative mentioned by Sergei.


    I raised my hand and pressed down the muzzle of a rifle beside me. At the same time, I said in a loud voice, "what are you doing? Who gives you the right to point your muzzle at a hero who has made outstanding achievements in war? All of you. At my command, put down your guns. "


    Hearing my voice, the soldiers with guns looked at each other, but no one lowered the muzzle. And the military representative standing in front of me also looked back at me curiously. At this moment, osimin came close to his ear and said a few words quickly.


    After hearing o''siminin''s introduction, the military representative quickly raised his hand, waved it quickly, and then ordered his subordinates loudly: "you''re deaf. Didn''t you hear the general''s order? Put down your guns. "


    O''siminin trotted all the way to me, looked at Sergey standing behind me, then leaned forward slightly and asked in a flattering way, "Comrade General, why are you here? You should know that although the wound on your eye has been removed, it will take a long time to recuperate. You run around like this every day, which is very bad for your recovery. "


    Seeing Vassili, who was still excited, I asked coldly, "Comrade president, can I ask what''s going on here?"


    Without waiting for osimin to speak, the military representative came up to me, raised his hand and politely asked, "can you report, Comrade General?"


    "Well, comrade lieutenant, go ahead." In order to prevent him from talking nonsense for a long time, I specifically told him: "tell me in the shortest words, what''s going on here?"


    After looking at Vasili, the military representative replied honestly, "Comrade General, when I checked the case of Vasili today, I found that the injury of his eye was deteriorating, so I discussed with the president to remove one of his eyeballs. Who knows this news does not know how to be known by Vassili himself, so it is noisy. " At this point, he spread his hands, "in order to ensure the safety of other patients in the hospital, I can only take some special measures."


    "Comrade president." After listening to the Lieutenant''s report, I just nodded noncommittally, and then asked osimin, "do you really need to remove Comrade Vassily''s eyeball? You know, for a good sniper, it''s psychologically unacceptable to be blind. "


    "But Comrade General," osimin said with some embarrassment, "according to the immediate situation, comrade Vasili''s right eye is seriously infected. If the sick eye is not removed in time, the relatively intact left eye will also be affected."


    For these medical matters, I am totally layman, so I can''t help hesitating when I hear o''siminin say so. I turned and asked Sergei, "Comrade Sergei, is Comrade President right?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." Sergei first echoed osimin''s opinion, and then took the initiative to talk about his own opinion: "but it''s not the worst yet, there''s still room for recovery. I''m going to do another operation for him tomorrow to clean up the abscess in his eyeball and try my best to ensure that he won''t be blind. "


    O''siminin, listening to Sergei''s words, just gave him a cold look, but said nothing. However, the military representative was a little dispirited and said, "Comrade General, I think we should follow Comrade president''s diagnosis and perform enucleation for Comrade Vasili."


    To the military representative who broke in suddenly, I asked discontentedly, "Comrade lieutenant, how many years have you been in the army?"


    The military representative obviously didn''t expect that I would ask him this question suddenly. After a short silence, he replied loudly: "report to general, I have been in the army for four years. He once participated in the war of liberating Poland and smashing the invasion of Leningrad by the Finnish White army, and has rich combat experience... "


    "Comrade lieutenant, I''m not interested in your fighting experience." Before the military representative finished, I cut him off and asked, "what was your occupation before you joined the army?"


    Some military representatives in a hurry replied, "before joining the army, I worked in the Kirov factory in Leningrad. I was a Miller, a four level Miller."


    "Miller, it turned out to be a mechanic." After I repeated his previous career, I said angrily, "since you were not a doctor before, what right do you have to ask about the treatment of patients?"


    "Comrade General," the military representative said wrongly, "but I am the military representative of the hospital." I heard from his voice out of the picture that he wanted to explain that since he was the military representative in charge of the hospital, he had the right to intervene in all affairs of the hospital.


    After a heavy snort, I said impolitely, "Comrade lieutenant, please make it clear. As the military representative of the hospital, your main task is to ensure the safety of the hospital, not to interfere with the doctor''s treatment plan. The layman is not qualified to command the expert. Do you understand? " I deliberately accentuated my last sentence. The military representative blushed with shame at my accusation. Although he wanted to refute it, he saw that my rank was much higher than his, so he had no choice but to agree: "yes, Comrade General. I remember that my job is to be responsible for the safety of the hospital, not to interfere with the doctor''s treatment plan I was worried that Vassily''s mood would be unstable if they continued to stay here, so I waved to the army representative and said, "Comrade lieutenant, there''s nothing wrong here. You and your subordinates should leave first."¡° But, Comrade General. " The military representative looked back at Vasili once more and said nervously, "this wounded man has a gun in his hand. I''m afraid he will pose a threat to your safety."¡° You think too much. "Seeing that he didn''t want to leave, I explained to him in a hurry:" this wounded man is my subordinate. He is very familiar with me and will not pose any threat to me. You''d better take your men and leave first. " Seeing my resolute attitude, the military representative did not insist either. After saluting me, he left the ward with more than a dozen of his subordinates. After I, osimin, Sergei, Yushchenko and a few guards were left in the room, I walked forward carefully, stopped two or three meters away from Vassily and said to him, "Vassily, I''m oshanina! Can you hear me? " Perhaps hearing that most of the people in the room had left, Vasili''s mood became more stable. He listened sideways and asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, is that you?"¡° Yes, it''s me. " Seeing that he slowly put down his pistol, I quickly stepped forward, went to the bedside and sat down next to him. As he gently snatched the pistol from his hand, he said, "Comrade Vassily, why are you so impulsive. This gun is used to hit the enemy, not to threaten one''s comrades or to end one''s life. "¡° Comrade commander, I don''t want to. But, "Vassily''s voice choked when he heard me say this," but they''re going to have surgery to remove my eyeballs and make me blind. A sniper becomes blind. What''s the point? Let me die. "

 Chapter 1016

    In the middle of the speech, he suddenly stopped, put his head down to his chest, sobbed silently, and his shoulders were shaking.


    I raised my hand, patted him gently on the shoulder, comforted him and said, "Vassily, don''t worry. With me here, no one has the right to make you blind. But tomorrow''s operation must be carried out as usual, and Dr. Sergey will clear the abscess in your eyes, otherwise you will be blind


    Vassily looked up as if he didn''t hear me and said to himself, "the most precious thing for a sniper is his eyes. If you make him blind, then he will live worse than death. "


    "Don''t worry, Vassily." I continued, "I promise you, you will never be blind."


    Vassily turned his head as if trying to hear what I was saying. Then he asked bluntly, "are you comforting me, comrade commander?"


    Listening to his question, I quickly and positively replied, "yes, Vassily, I''m comforting you. Now I''m comforting you to have the courage to go on living. "


    Not only did my words not make Vassily relax, but also made him suddenly Alert: "are you sure I won''t be blind?"


    Hearing what he said, I suddenly turned my head and looked at osimin and Sergey standing in the room. Without deliberately choosing words, I naturally asked, "Dean, Dr. Sergey, can you promise me that Vassily will not be blind after tomorrow''s operation?"


    My question made osimin a little flustered. He replied with some panic: "Comrade General, it is not realistic to have an operation under our current conditions if we want to achieve 100% success. All I can say is that we will do our best. "


    I frowned slightly at osimin''s ambiguous answer, then turned to Sergey and asked him directly, "Dr. Sergey, what do you mean?"


    Sergey seemed to be thinking. When he heard my question, he hesitated for a moment. Then he looked at me closely and said, "Comrade General, although the risk is greater, I''m willing to try."


    I also looked him in the eye and said, "Dr. Sergey, I trust your skill. I believe you will succeed."


    He nodded silently and then said nothing.


    "Do you hear me, Vassily?" I turned around and comforted Vassily, who was in a stable mood. "Dr. Sergey said that although there are certain risks in the operation, it can guarantee that you will not lose your sight." In order to enhance his confidence, I added, "by the way, I almost forgot to tell you that he is responsible for my eye surgery."


    After what I said, Vasili responded again. He raised his head, pointed to Sergey''s position and said sincerely, "thank you, thank you, doctor." Then he turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, thank you. Don''t worry. I will cooperate with Dr. Sergey to do the operation tomorrow."


    I can''t help but breathe a sigh of relief when I hear that Vassily has finally untied his heart. At this moment, osimin came up to me and touched it with his elbow. After drawing my attention, he nuzzled at the pistol on the bed, then winked at me and motioned to me to put it away so that Vassily would not do anything stupid again.


    I shook my head, reached out my left hand, grasped Vassily''s right hand, gently pulled it to the angle of the palm facing the sky, and then took the heavy pistol from my bed and carefully placed it in his palm.


    Vassily held the pistol in his hand and asked me with a smile: "Comrade commander, don''t you worry that I will do stupid things again if you return the pistol to me?"


    "Yes, don''t worry." I said stiffly, "but I remind you that our guns can only be aimed at the enemy, not at ourselves or our comrades. Do you understand?"


    "I see, comrade commander." Vassily agreed and thrust the pistol back under the pillow.


    "It''s getting late. It''s time for me to go back. Have a good rest With that, I stood up, shook my head at osimin and Sergey, who were standing beside me, and said, "Dean, doctor, you are going with me."


    When I got to the door, I saw that the corridor was still full of sick people, but they didn''t come because my guard stopped them. I winked at Yushchenko and motioned to him to disperse the crowd. Yushchenko immediately understood my hint, quickly took a step forward, went to the patient, and said in a loud voice: "comrades, what are you doing standing here? Don''t forget that you are still patients. If you don''t cultivate yourself well, your stay in the hospital will be extended indefinitely. Let''s go back to our respective wards and have a rest. "


    After the patients dispersed, I followed osimin to his Dean''s office. When he closed the door, I finally lost my temper after a long time of patience. I asked angrily, "Comrade president, please explain to me what''s going on? Who on earth told Vassily himself about the removal of his eyeball? "


    Seeing that I was angry without warning, osirminin was scared out of his wits and said repeatedly, "general... With Comrade... I... I... Don''t... I don''t know."


    Sergey saw that osiminin was scared to death, so he quickly came out to help him out: "Comrade General, I think this matter has nothing to do with Comrade Dean. It may be that the nurse who went to the ward to change the dressing inadvertently let it slip."


    "Well, even if the nurse accidentally let it slip, what did you, the president of the hospital, do after the incident?" When I thought that a group of people had just pointed their guns at Vasili, I was so angry that I said, "if you didn''t deal with it in time, you even let the military representatives of the hospital with a group of fully armed soldiers point their guns at our hero."


    Seeing that osimin was so frightened that he wiped the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief, I still said, "do you know who Vassily is? He is an excellent sniper who has made outstanding achievements in war. The newspaper that published his heroic deeds has been placed in front of Comrade Stalin more than once. If I go a little late and any accident happens, and the higher authorities trace it down, even if you and that military representative are shot ten times, it will be hard for the higher authorities to get rid of their anger. "


    My last words became the last straw to crush osimin. He fell to the ground with a puff and murmured, "no, don''t shoot me. I''m loyal to Comrade Stalin..."


    Originally, for Vassily''s sake, I wanted to teach osimin a lesson, but seeing him sitting on the ground in a mess, I couldn''t help feeling a little softhearted. I turned and told Yushchenko, "Comrade captain, help the president up."


    Yushchenko agreed, stepped forward to osimin''s side, bent down to help him up. I didn''t expect that osimin didn''t look fat, but Yushchenko didn''t pull him up. Fortunately, Sergey didn''t stand by. He also came forward to help. Together with Yushchenko, he helped osiminin to sit on a bench.


    I went to the dejected osiminin, coughed and said to him in a slow voice, "Comrade president, the operation tomorrow will be performed by Dr. Sergey, and you should be his assistant."


    When osimin, who had been in despair, heard me saying this, he felt as if he had grasped a life-saving straw. He didn''t know where the strength came from. He suddenly stood up and jumped in front of me. He grabbed my arm, patted my chest and assured me: "Comrade General, don''t worry, I will be a good assistant for Dr. Sergey in tomorrow''s operation."


    "That''s the best way." After I said this to him coldly, I waved my head to Yushchenko: "Comrade captain, let''s go back."


    On the bus back to the station, Yushchenko asked me curiously, "Comrade General, I don''t quite understand two things. Would you like to know?"


    As soon as his words came out, I knew what he wanted to ask, so I politely said, "you can ask. As long as I can answer you, I will certainly tell you the answer. "


    "First, since President osimin has obviously put down his great mistake, why don''t you ask the health department to replace him?" After getting my permission, Yushchenko couldn''t wait to ask his question: "as for the second point, why didn''t you deal with the military representative at that time and just drove him out? You know, at your level, even if you remove him on the spot, you can do it. "


    After hearing Yushchenko''s question, I sighed and said, "Comrade captain, do you think I have no such idea? But I can''t. I don''t know the health department at all. Even if I say anything, no one will pay for it. As for the military representative you mentioned, the reason why I didn''t punish him is that the regular army is responsible for hospital security. Compared with the ordinary militia, their strength is not a bit stronger. If they are transferred away, who knows what the new army will look like, so I will turn a blind eye to the mistakes made by this military representative. "


    As soon as we got back to our residence, one of the two soldiers left behind came up to me and said, "Comrade General, there is a major waiting for you."


    "Is it under Colonel bezikov?" I asked strangely as I walked in.


    The guard bit his head desperately and replied, "no, comrade general, I don''t know the major here. He''s a stranger."


    "A stranger?" After repeating the soldier''s words, I said in some unexpected ways, "since it''s something for me, why didn''t Marshal Zhukov send Colonel zikov instead of a major he didn''t know?"


    The guard didn''t know how to answer me. He just shook his head in a funny way. Then he said, "I''m sorry, Comrade General. I really don''t know what happened."


    When we walked into the living room where we met, I saw another guard sitting at a table with a major, chatting over tea. They laughed from time to time.


    The sound of our footsteps startled them. They stopped talking and looked at the door. Seeing my appearance, they stood up from their seats and straightened themselves up.


    I went up to the major and asked with a smile, "major, are you looking for me?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." The major replied loudly, "I have been ordered to speak to you."


    I went to an empty chair and sat down. Then I said to him, "Comrade major, what is the mission of Marshal Zhukov to send you to us at this time?"


    "Marshal Zhukov?" After repeating Zhukov''s name, the major shook his head and said in a positive tone, "sorry, comrade general, I think you may have made a mistake. I don''t know Marshal at all. How can he give me any orders? "¡° You''re not under Marshal Zhukov? " The major''s reply aroused my interest, so I asked with a smile, "major, if you allow, can you tell me whose subordinate you are?"¡° Report to Comrade General. " The major did not care about my sarcastic tone. He respectfully reported, "I have come to see you at the order of general rokosovsky."¡° General rokosovsky I was very surprised by the major''s words. I didn''t know that rokosovsky would send someone to look for me. So I asked mistily, "what did he ask you to come to see me for?"¡° Comrade general, "the major said to me solemnly with a straight face," commander rokosovsky asked me to inform you that three days later, that is, March 29, please go to the front line with him to inspect the troops. At that time, I''ll pick you up and join the commander. "¡° Rokosovsky asked me to go to the front with him to inspect the troops? " This unexpected news, let me a little at a loss, I nervously asked: "major, what do you know?" There was a sunny smile on the major''s face: "Comrade General, as far as I know, the commander was inspired by the Supreme Commander himself to make such a decision." After that, he did not wait for me to recover, but asked, "will you allow me to leave, Comrade General?" Hearing what he said, I nodded instinctively, waved to him and said, "you go, comrade major." Long after the major left, I didn''t wake up from the shock of this unexpected news. Just then, I heard Yushchenko say with admiration, "Comrade General, if I''m not mistaken, you''ll be lucky!"¡° Lucky, what''s your luck? " I didn''t understand Yushchenko''s thoughtless words, so I asked back with some dissatisfaction: "Comrade captain, don''t play riddles with me any more. Can you make things clear and let me understand what''s going on, OK?"

 Chapter 1017

    Seeing that I had a sign of anger, Yushchenko did not dare to play tricks any more and asked me tentatively: "Comrade General, before I answer your question, can I ask you two questions?"


    "Captain, if you have any questions, please ask them quickly." I was impatient with his mysterious behavior.


    Seeing that I agreed to his request, Yushchenko carefully asked: "Comrade General, if, what I said is if, if you are a commander of the group army and want to get to know another commander of the group army who you have never met, is there any other way besides meeting and cooperating with each other?"


    As for his question, I frowned and thought about it, and found that there was really no other way to make friends besides the two situations he said. Moreover, as a group commander, without the permission of the higher authorities, it would cause unnecessary suspicion to make friends with friendly commanders who do not belong to each other. Thinking of this, I nodded silently and agreed with what he said.


    He then asked: "moreover, even if you know other group army commanders, can you enter each other''s defense area at will to check his defense deployment?"


    Before Yushchenko''s words were finished, I immediately guessed what he wanted to express. I raised my hand and patted my forehead, and said with chagrin, "I''m so confused, I''m so confused!"


    As soon as I spoke, Yushchenko turned red with shame and closed his mouth awkwardly. As for his reaction, I was stunned. Then I understood that he misunderstood me and scolded him. I quickly explained, "don''t get me wrong, comrade captain. I''m not talking about you, but about myself. I understand such a simple truth only when you remind me. Isn''t that stupid? "


    Yushchenko did not speak after listening to me. He just gave a wry smile.


    I went on to say what he wanted to say: "Captain Yushchenko, I see what you mean. Do you want to tell me that this time I went to the front line with general rokosovsky, I would have the opportunity to meet many senior commanders I could not have known, and increase my contacts in the army. At the same time, the construction of forward defense positions, put forward their own unique views, can also increase the sense of identity of these commanders to me. Am I right? "


    After hearing this question from me, Yushchenko''s face finally showed a happy expression. He nodded his head vigorously and said definitely, "yes, Comrade General. That''s what I want to say. " After a pause, he asked tentatively, "it''s getting late. Would you like something to eat?"


    He didn''t say, I didn''t realize my stomach was already hungry. When he said this, he felt very hungry and sweating. He nodded and urged him: "Captain, I''m really hungry. Let the guards outside get something to eat."


    He nodded and went to the door. He called a guard and gave a few orders in a low voice. The soldier agreed and left quickly along the corridor.


    Yushchenko came back to me and reported to me, "Comrade General, I have sent for dinner. Just a moment, and you''ll be able to have dinner. "


    Anyway, dinner would have to wait for a while, so I chatted with Yushchenko: "Comrade captain, how long do you think we can stay in the front with general rokosovsky?"


    As for my question, Yushchenko thought about it and replied, "I think it''s about a week at most."


    "A week?" After listening to Yushchenko''s reply, I asked with great interest, "may I ask, what is the basis of your judgment?"


    After listening to my question, Yushchenko laughed: "Comrade General, according to the arrangement of the higher authorities, you are going to go to the United States with the delegation in mid April. Have you forgotten?"


    If Yushchenko didn''t mention going to the United States, I really didn''t remember, because in my mind, apart from thinking about going to the front line inspection with rokosovsky, I was thinking about whether Vasili''s operation could be successful tomorrow.


    When I think of Vassily''s operation, I can''t help worrying about the gains and losses. I looked up and asked Yushchenko, "Captain, do you think Vassily''s operation will be successful tomorrow?"


    After hearing this, Yushchenko first nodded his head. A moment later, he shook his head again and said with some embarrassment, "Comrade General, it''s hard to say. Although Dr. Sergey made a statement that he would do his best in the operation tomorrow. But I don''t think he has enough confidence to say that. "


    Just then, the guard sent by Yushchenko to look for food came in with a tray. In addition to bread slices, sliced sausages, there are even several steaming baked potatoes in the tray.


    When the guard put all the things on the table one by one, Yushchenko took out two bottles of cola like juggling, and said to me with pride, "Comrade General, the comrades of the headquarters have sent us a lot of this kind of American cola. You can have a taste tonight."


    I saw him take off the cap of coke bottle cleanly, take two tea cups from the side, and prepare to pour coke into it. I was deeply afraid that he had made the mistake of adding water to coke again. I immediately reminded him, "Captain, this kind of coke is drunk directly. Don''t add water and sugar to it."


    He was stunned when I said that. After a while, he retorted weakly, "Comrade General, but I think all comrades in the headquarters drink like this."


    I snorted heavily and said, "if their drinking methods are all wrong, do you follow them?"¡° No? " When Yushchenko heard me say this, he said in disbelief: "one or two people''s drinking method is wrong, which is reasonable. But if all the people in the headquarters drink like this, do you think their drinking method is wrong? "¡° Comrade captain, "I patiently explained to Yushchenko," there are some things that most people don''t think are right, they are right. As far as I know, even some high-level commanders drink coke in the wrong way. This drink can be drunk without adding water and sugar. But in the summer when drinking, put a few pieces of ice in the coke, can have the effect of heatstroke When Yushchenko saw that I was sure, he didn''t flush the coke, but took a big drink from his glass. When I saw his brow tightening, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Captain Yushchenko, how does it taste?" He picked up the glass again, took a sip of coke gently, and then replied, "although this drink is sweet, I can''t get used to it."¡° Drink a few more times and you''ll get used to it. " After I finished this sentence casually, I asked again, "the superior said that he would send an English teacher to me. I don''t know if he came here when we left." Yushchenko had just put a piece of bread into his mouth. When he heard my question, he replied in a flurried voice: "Comrade General, I''ll ask." Then he got up from his seat and went to the door again. After two or three minutes, he walked over to me again and sat down. He reported to me: "Comrade General, I just asked the left behind guard. He said that before general rokosovsky came down, there was a sergeant. Sergeant wearing a pair of round glasses, people look polite, said that the superior sent to your English teacher. Because you were not there at that time, our soldiers have sent him away and asked him to come back tomorrow. " Next, I asked about the accommodation arrangements of Yushchenko and several other security guards, and I turned to Kiev. I asked, "Comrade captain, how many of our special guard company are still in Kiev?"¡° There are about 70 people left. " Yushchenko recognized what I wanted to ask from my words and quickly replied: "the weapons they are equipped with are assault rifles, but the number of bullets is very rare. At most one more battle, these effective ammunition will be consumed. Do you think we should send a telegram to general rebalko to order the soldiers of the special guard company to destroy all these weapons at the last critical moment, so as not to fall into the hands of the Germans? " After thinking about it, I finally shook my head and said, "no, Kiev is besieged by the German army, but it will not be in great danger for the time being. After all, the main force of the Germans is still to be used against our heavy military group in the Kursk region. They dare not deploy too many troops to counter Kiev. " After thinking about it, I added, "also, in a while, assault rifles will be equipped with troops on a large scale. Even if the German army seizes a few and takes them back, they will not be able to complete the development and production of short cartridge bullets in a short time."¡° If that''s the case, I''ll be relieved. " Yushchenko said. After a few mouthfuls of bread, he stood up and asked me, "may I leave, Comrade General?" I nodded at him and said, "go back and have a rest. We''ll go to the hospital again tomorrow. I''m not sure if I don''t see Vassili''s successful operation. " Early the next morning, I came to the hospital with Yushchenko and two other guards. Just in time, Vassily was in a wheelchair and was about to be pushed into the operating room. I quickly stopped the nurse of the cart, went over to hold Vassily''s hands, comforted him and said, "don''t be nervous, comrade Vassily. Dr. Sergey is very skilled. He will be able to remove all the pus from your eyes successfully. I believe that before long, your eyesight will return to normal The last time I had an operation, four or five hours passed unconsciously, and I didn''t think it was long. Today, Vassili''s operation, which has been used for almost the same time, makes me anxious like an ant on a hot pot. I keep walking around the operating room with my hands on my back, hoping to see a nurse come out to get something. Then I can ask her about the situation in the operating room. Unfortunately, for several hours, the access control of the operating room was closed, and no one came in and out.

 Chapter 1018

    Seeing my anxious appearance, Yushchenko came to me and said in a low voice, "Comrade General, why don''t we go into the operating room and have a look?"


    Hearing his bad idea, I glared at him and said: "nonsense, it''s nonsense. Are you not afraid that we will rush in so rashly that Dr. Sergey''s operation will be affected? "


    After being trained by me, Yushchenko had to go back to the chair by the wall and sit down, patiently waiting with me.


    I don''t know how long I waited, but the door of the operating room suddenly rang. I turned my head and looked, and a nurse with a mask came out. I quickly came forward and grabbed her way, and asked with concern, "Comrade nurse, have you finished the operation inside?"


    The nurse shook her head and said, "sorry, comrade commander, there was an accident during the operation. The time may be prolonged."


    There was an accident during the operation. When I heard the news, I suddenly got nervous. I grabbed her arm and asked in a panic, "what''s the accident, will it lead to the failure of the operation?"


    The nurse shook her head again and replied, "when Dr. Sergey was cleaning up the abscess in the eye, he found a fragment that had not been removed during the last operation. Because of the small size of this shrapnel, it may take a little time to take it out. " After that, she said to me in a pleading tone, "Comrade commander, the drugs in the operating room are used up. I''m in a hurry to get the medicine now. Will you allow me to leave?"


    I found that I was still holding her arm tightly. I quickly loosened my finger and stepped back. I said apologetically, "sorry, comrade nurse, I delayed your work." Then he made a gesture of "please."


    Yushchenko came up to me again, looked at the nurse''s back, and said: "hum, no wonder Vassily''s eyes can''t recover. It turns out that there are still shrapnel left."


    "Comrade captain, it''s not the doctor''s fault." Sergey operated on me, and I knew in my heart that he was a serious and responsible doctor. The reason why he didn''t find the shrapnel in Vassily''s eyes might be because of his small size. Seeing Yushchenko''s indignant look, I could only explain to him: "the residual shrapnel volume should be very small. I think it''s similar to sand, so Dr. Sergey missed it when they were debridement last time."


    After listening to my explanation, Yushchenko went back to the wall and sat down again.


    Time passed by, and just as I was about to lose patience, the door of the operating room rang again. This time two doors were wide open, and two male nurses pushed out the operating bed where Vassily was lying. I hastened to meet him, holding the edge of the operating bed, followed him for a few steps, and asked Vassily lying on it with concern, "Hello, Vassily, can you hear me?"


    Vassily, whose eyes were tightly wrapped in gauze, heard my voice. After a sound, he said to me in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, I feel very good. Thank you!"


    When I heard that he was full of confidence, I was finally relieved and said to Vassily, "you go back to rest first. I''ll see you later." Then he stood up straight and took a step back, and asked the nurse to push the operating bed to the ward.


    I turned and walked towards osimin, who had just appeared at the door. When I was two steps away from him, I took the initiative to stretch out my hands and said: "Comrade president, it''s hard work!"


    "General, I didn''t let you down. The operation was very successful. Comrade Vasili''s eyes can be removed in a week at most. Although his eyesight can''t be compared with before, at least he won''t be blind. "


    After talking with him for a few words, I suddenly found that up to now, I haven''t seen Sergey''s shadow, so I asked curiously, "Comrade president, I don''t know where Dr. Sergey is? I''m going to thank him personally. "


    Osimilin pounced on the operating room and said, "where else can it be? It''s inside, of course." At this point, he sighed and added bitterly, "five or six hours of surgery have worn him out. If it is in peacetime, such an operation is not a big deal for him. But now it is during the war, everything is rationed, and many of our doctors are unable to insist on long-term surgery because of malnutrition. Dr. Sergey was no exception. In the last half hour of the operation, he could hardly stand


    After hearing o''siminin''s story, my heart seemed to be pulled by something, and I felt very uncomfortable. I turned my head and told Yushchenko, who was standing in the back, "Comrade captain, go back to our place immediately and get something to eat, especially enema. Take as much as you have."


    After listening to my instructions, Yushchenko did not act immediately, but continued to stand in the distance without moving, with a embarrassed expression on his face. Seeing this, I raised my voice and asked him, "Captain, what''s the matter? Didn''t you hear my order?"


    When Yushchenko saw that I was angry again, he could only honestly reply, "Comrade General, I heard you. But our food is limited. If we bring it to Dr. Sergey, we may be hungry at night


    "I''ll talk about the evening." I interrupted Yushchenko''s words and ordered him firmly, "now go back and get the food immediately, do you hear me?"


    "Yes Yushchenko reluctantly agreed, turned and walked out along the corridor.


    I asked where Sergey was and went straight in. Standing at the door of the open dressing room, I saw Sergey sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. A nurse squatted beside him, wiping sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.


    "Dr. Sergey." After I called, I went into the dressing room, then squatted down beside him and asked with concern, "what''s the matter with you?"


    Sergey looked at me with a smile on his face and said, "Comrade General, I''m ok. It''s just that I''m standing a little too long and my feet are a little soft. I''ll be fine after a rest."


    Without waiting for me to speak, the nurse squatting on the other side said angrily, "Dr. Sergey, what''s wrong with you? Your feet are weak after standing for a long time. It''s because of long-term malnutrition that your body can''t bear such a high-intensity operation..."


    "Come on, Elena, stop it." When Sergey stopped the nurse from going on, he gave me a wary look, as if he was afraid that the nurse''s words would irritate me.


    I coughed gently to comfort him and said, "don''t worry, Dr. Sergey. I know what the nurse said is true. Now the ration card system is implemented, and the food you can get every day is very limited. For doctors like you who are engaged in heavy work every day, this food is far from enough. I will respond to my superiors as soon as possible and ask them to increase your daily quota. "


    When I said that, Sergey''s eyes brightened and then darkened. He shook his head and said feebly, "thank you, Comrade General. But it''s useless, because after all, you are not in charge of the health department and have no right to adjust the treatment of medical staff. "


    Instead of continuing to struggle on this issue, I turned to Vassily''s operation: "Dr. Sergey, I want to ask you why the shrapnel in Comrade Vassily''s eyes was not completely removed during the last operation."


    "Well, Comrade General." When Sergei heard me ask about this, he explained to me immediately: "when Comrade Vassili was sent to our hospital, his eye injury was already very serious, which may be related to the improper disposal of the field hospital. We performed debridement twice in a row to clean up the shrapnel and various impurities in his eyeballs. As for the fragment found today, it was too small, only a little larger than the sand, so it was not found in time at that time. "


    When I heard Sergei''s statement, which was similar to what I had guessed, I stopped pestering about it. Instead, I continued to ask, "how long will it take for Vassily to recover after this operation?" Although oshiminin just gave me the answer, I wanted to get further information from Sergei, so I asked again.


    When Sergei regained some strength, he said to me, "Comrade General, you can rest assured that Vasili''s operation was successful. After clearing the fragment, I searched several times to make sure there were no other fragments left, and then I sewed it up. If there is no accident, Vasili can remove the stitches in a week at most. Although his eyesight will never return to the previous level, he will never be blind


    As soon as Sergey finished speaking, Elena suddenly said to me, "Comrade commander, although you are out of the hospital now, in order to be safe, you should not do any strenuous exercise in three months, so as to avoid retinal detachment again. With our current medical conditions, the anesthetic injected for your second operation will have bad side effects on your brain. "


    When I heard the nurse''s advice, I nodded my head and assured her, "don''t worry, comrade Elena, I will be very careful about what you remind me."


    As we were talking, Yushchenko came in with a backpack on his face. I winked at him and motioned him to give it to Sergei.


    Yushchenko saw my eyes and immediately understood. He squatted down and put his bulging backpack in front of him.


    Seeing the backpack in front of him, Sergey''s face looked surprised. He asked strangely, "Comrade General, what is this?"


    "Nothing, just something to eat." I shrugged my shoulders and said lightly, "I think you have been working hard recently, so let my subordinates bring you something to eat. I hope you can take it."


    Irina, the nurse next to her, heard that her backpack was full of food. She couldn''t help reaching for it, but Sergey grabbed her hand. Sergey shook his head at her, then turned to me and said, "Comrade General, you''d better take back the food. I know that you are all from outside the city, and you don''t have a ration card. It''s very difficult to get these food. How can we have the right to eat the food you managed to get? "


    Without saying a word, I grabbed my backpack on the ground and thrust it into Elena''s arms. I said in a strong voice, "Comrade nurse, these foods are for you and Dr. Sergey. You can only accept them, but you can''t refuse them. This is my order. Although you are not soldiers, you should also know that the orders of your superiors can only be obeyed. You can''t discuss this. "


    In the face of my aggressiveness, Elena''s backpack in her arms was like a time bomb, which made her feel embarrassed and just glanced back and forth over Sergey and me¡° Since it''s the general''s kindness, let''s take it. " Sergey guessed from my actions that I would never give up if he didn''t take these things, so he nodded to Elena and said, "I''ll give them to the doctors and nurses in the inpatient department later."¡° Good Hearing Sergey''s words, Irina readily agreed, stood up with her backpack in her arms, went to the other side of the dressing room, and carefully placed her things on the table. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Seeing that it was past noon, I stood up and said to Sergei, who was still sitting on the ground, "doctor, it''s getting late. We won''t disturb you. Have a good rest." With that, I turned to Yushchenko, who was standing beside me, and waved my head and said, "Captain, let''s go!" When Yushchenko and I got on the jeep, I asked, "Captain, is there anything important during my absence?" Yushchenko, sitting in the co pilot''s seat, heard my question, turned to me and said, "Comrade General, there''s nothing else, but the teacher who wants to teach you English is coming. He''s waiting for you at our residence."¡° Drive, comrade driver. " I leaned forward, reached out and patted the driver on the shoulder, and told him: "hurry back to our residence as soon as possible, don''t let the teacher wait for a long time." Five minutes later, our car stopped outside the house. Yushchenko got out first, went to the back, opened the door and waited respectfully for me to get out of the car. As soon as I got out of the car, a soldier ran out and asked Yushchenko with a smile, "Comrade captain, you are back." Yushchenko didn''t talk nonsense to him either. He asked directly, "is the teacher still in there?" The soldier nodded his head desperately and answered definitely, "yes, comrade captain, the teacher has been waiting for the general to come back." I went to the soldier and told him, "take us to the teacher. I think he must be in a hurry."

 Chapter 1019

    On the appointed day, rokosovsky''s men came to my house to pick me up. I followed the major outside and saw a truck with a hood in addition to a jeep. He stopped and turned to ask the commander, "Comrade major, can you take my men with you?"


    The major nodded and replied with a smile, "Comrade General, my order is to take you and your subordinates to join the commander of the front army."


    After listening to the major''s reply, I turned and looked at Yushchenko behind me, pointed to the truck in front of me and said, "Captain, you and your men, get on the bus." Yushchenko agreed and immediately asked the rest of the guards to get on the truck.


    When we got to the meeting place, I saw rokosovs standing next to a jeep with a serious face. He quickly stopped the driver, got out of the car and ran towards him. I went up to him, raised my hand and saluted him politely: "Hello, comrade commander of the front army, I''m here on your order, please give me instructions!"


    Seeing me, the expression on rokosovsky''s face softened. He asked me with a smile, "how are your eyes recovering, Rita?" After asking, he looked at me carefully and frowned, "what''s the matter? How big and small are your eyes? You''re not very good-looking. "


    I have found out what rokosovsky said for a long time. I even asked Sergei privately if my eyes will be so big and small in the future? Sergey comforted me that after the operation, it would return to normal in six months at most. At the moment, when I heard rokosovsky''s question, I quickly replied, "Comrade commander, this is because of the operation. It will be back to normal in a few months."


    After I finished, rokosovsky raised his hand to look at his watch, then called me and said, "OK, it''s late. Let''s go. There are still hundreds of kilometers left. If we don''t hurry up, we can''t reach Kursk in the dark. "


    When I got on the bus, I found that the driver was a lieutenant, while the co driver was a major general, and he looked familiar. After rokosovsky settled down, he introduced the general sitting in front of me: "Rita, I''d like to introduce you to major general jerekin, the military commissar of the headquarters of the front army."


    When rokosovsky finished speaking, jerekin took the initiative to extend his hand to me and politely said, "Hello, general oshanina, nice to meet you here!"


    "Me too, general jerekin." I shook his hand gently and said politely, "we''ve met before, but it''s too long. Please forgive me for not recognizing you in time."


    After I shook hands with jerekin, rokosovsky immediately told the driver, "Lieutenant, drive. Try to keep the car steady. General o''shanina''s eyes have just been operated on. If it''s too bumpy, it''s easy to break open the wound. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." The lieutenant agreed and slowly started the car.


    However, after the car situation stabilized, rokosovsky said to the front jieliejin, "Comrade military commissar, since Rita is with us on the front inspection, you can tell her about our central front army."


    Jerekin nodded, leaned over and began to introduce the troops to me: "on the 11th of this month, our assembled 21st army was transferred to the south by the base camp to defend against the possible attack of Manstein. Although the 3rd, 48th and 13th army groups originally belonging to the Bryansk front army were put under our command at the same time, these forces had been disabled by the German army in the early fighting and lost their combat effectiveness completely.


    In the next half a month, the German ninth group army counterattacked us, almost completely annihilating the cavalry group that we went deep behind the enemy. Then the German second armored group army attacked us from east to west, the German second group army from west to East, and the German ninth group army attacked us from the front. We tried our best to mobilize all the troops we could to meet the enemy, so as to avoid the threat of being cut off.


    At present, our large-scale battle with the German army has come to an end, but our troops have been beaten back to the original attack site by the enemy. The 3rd, 13th, 48th, 65th and 70th group army, the 2nd tank group army and cavalry group of the front army lost nearly 300000 people, including 90000 people who were killed, missing and captured. "


    After listening to the introduction of jerekin, I can''t help but take a breath. I only know that our army was defeated by the German army, but I didn''t expect such a terrible defeat and so many casualties. After a while, I woke up from the shock and tentatively asked rokosovsky, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what caused this failure?"


    Rokosovsky gave a wry smile and replied: "the main reason for this failure is that we are not well prepared for the attack. This can be seen from the fact that almost all the army groups join the attack from the March."


    I was a little surprised when I heard rokosovsky''s reply. Anyway, the Supreme Command had the unshirkable responsibility for this failure. If they had not transferred the 21st army from rokosovsky''s hands without authorization, the situation would not have become so difficult to deal with. But even in the face of such a mess, rokosovsky still has no complaints about the headquarters, and still takes the responsibility to himself, which makes me look up at his character.


    "Rita, general jerekin came back from the front line overnight." After finishing this sentence, rokosovsky asked the front row of jerekin: "Comrade military commissar, how is the construction of fortifications on the front line going?"


    When jerekin heard rokosovsky''s question, he could not help sighing and said helplessly: "Comrade commander, the progress of building defensive positions is not smooth. Now it''s time for snow melting in spring. It''s muddy everywhere. Many places planning to build fortifications can''t start work at all. " At this point, he quickly glanced at me and added, "it''s the oshanina trench that the supreme command ordered us to build. It''s hard to dig a section. But the next morning, when he got up, he found that the anti tank trench had become a pool. If it wasn''t too cold, the soldiers would have gone swimming."


    Rokosovsky couldn''t help laughing when he said this, and jokingly said: "it''s good to become a pool. At least the German tanks haven''t learned how to swim. Facing such an anti tank trench, they can''t pass at all."


    Although I know that rokosovsky deliberately digs off the topic for fear of embarrassment, I still can''t help saying: "Comrade commander, maybe it''s not suitable to build this kind of anti tank trench in the current season. Otherwise, let''s postpone the construction time a little and wait until May. "


    I didn''t expect that rokosovsky immediately frowned after listening to my proposal. He said to me sternly, "Rita, we don''t know when the German army will attack us again, or how long they will leave us to improve the fortifications and assemble the troops. If we can''t make use of the precious time of the truce to repair the fortifications, what can we do to stop the German armor flood when the German army attacks again


    When I heard what rokosovsky said, I could hardly help telling him that the German army would not launch an attack in the short term. A real large-scale battle will not take place until early July. But when it came to my mouth, I swallowed it back. If I really said this, I might regard them as lunatics; When the battle of Kursk begins, I will be sent to some secret Research Institute, which will be handed over to the researchers to conduct thorough research and Analysis on me. In order not to suffer such a fate, I can only keep my mouth shut and keep silent.


    "By the way, comrade commander." Jerekin, who has been listening to us all the time, suddenly remembered an important thing and said to rokosovsky: "I almost forgot that chernyahovsky, commander of the 60th army, is waiting for you in the headquarters. It seems that he has something important to discuss with you."


    At first, I was a little absent-minded when I saw the negotiation between jerekin and rokosovsky, but when I heard the name of chernyahovsky, I felt refreshed. I can''t wait to ask jellykin: "Comrade military commissar, I don''t know what the full name of general chernyahovsky is?"


    "Ivan danilovich chernyahovsky." After saying the name of the commander of the 60th army, jerekin asked me curiously, "do you know him?"


    Hearing his question, I quickly shook my head like a rattle: "I don''t know him. I''ve never dealt with him before. How can I know him?"


    Although I tried my best to deny that I knew chernyahovsky, my mind immediately came up with the comments of later generations: "I have a decisive style, rich experience in organizing and commanding large regiments, good at concentrating a large number of troops in the main assault direction, good at using tank regiments, interleaving and circuitous, dividing and encircling. He is good at using rich practical experience to train the army, and has the outstanding ability of organizing and commanding the army. The major campaigns he organized and directed better reflected the military academic principles of the former Soviet Union. "


    He is different from other generals in that he cherishes his officers and soldiers very much and never lets them make unnecessary sacrifices. This is quite like me. Otherwise, I would not be sympathetic to him. If he wasn''t a bit out of luck and died near melsack, he would have been promoted to marshal.


    The roads in Moscow are fairly smooth. As soon as they enter the suburbs, especially those roads opened up in the forest, they become muddy and difficult to walk because of melting snow and being crushed by countless vehicles. At the beginning, we could still get off and push for a while, but the more we walked, the more impassable the road became. In desperation, rokosovsky had to order his subordinates to go to the forest to cut down trees and use firewood to pave the road, so that the vehicles could continue to move forward.


    When we were standing by the jeep and waiting for the soldiers to cut down trees, I asked lokosovsky curiously, "Comrade commander, I don''t know where your headquarters are located?"


    "Rita, come and see." Rokosovsky spread a map on the hood, pointed to a location and said to me, "this is yeletz, a railway hub."


    I looked in the direction of his finger and saw that although this place was in a very convenient place, it was also a particularly conspicuous target, which did not attract the attention of the German people. Thinking of this, I immediately reminded him: "Comrade commander, I think it is very inappropriate to set the headquarters in such a position."


    "Why?" Before rokosovsky spoke, jerekin rushed to ask, "Comrade oshanina, don''t you see that the traffic in this place is very convenient? Comrade commander, do you think so? " Rokosovsky did not agree with his opinion, but laughed at me and waited for me to say what I thought. Because I may be in rokosovsky''s headquarters for a period of time, for the sake of my own safety, I immediately expressed my views without hesitation: "commander, comrades of the military commissar, come and see. Yeletz is an important railway transportation hub, which we not only know, but also know compared with the German. " Seeing that the two men nodded their heads and agreed with me, they went on to say, "now that the enemy knows that our headquarters is here, they will surely send out air forces to bombard this area. However, our air force is unable to suppress the German air force under the current situation, so it should be transferred to other areas for the sake of the safety of the front command. " After listening to this, rokosovsky asked me in the tone of a teacher''s examination: "Rita, if you were the commander of the front army, where would you set up your headquarters?" I looked down at the map and tried to find the familiar place. Then I pointed to it and said decisively, "this is it, comrade commander." Rokosovsky and jerekin put their heads together and looked at the position of my fingers. Jerekin also read out the place name: "Svoboda, comrade oshanina, do you mean that we should set our headquarters in this humble residential area north of Kursk?" Because the place I pointed out to them happened to be the site of a former headquarters of the central front army, I simply replied, "yes, comrade military Commissar. Not only is the safety factor here higher than yeletz, but it''s also closer to the army, which is conducive to your control of the army. " After looking at what I put forward, rokosovsky made a decisive decision: "yes, Rita''s position is very good. Comrade military commissar, then when we get back, we will immediately transfer the headquarters to Svoboda. "

 Chapter 1020

    After we got back on the road, in the bumpy jeep, with the permission of rokosovsky, jerekin began to introduce to me the situation of the 60th Army: "the 60th army was formed in November 1941 in the Moscow military region, and was reorganized into the assault 3rd army at the end of December. In July 1942, the third group army of the reserve front army was reorganized after changing its number, and incorporated into the Voronezh front army to fight in defense north of Voronezh on the left bank of the Don river. At the beginning of this year, he participated in the battle of Voronezh kastornoye and the offensive battle of Kharkov. A week ago, it was incorporated into our central front army. Chernyahovsky is the third commander of the group army. The first two are prkayev and antoninuk


    I waited for jerekin to finish, and then asked, "I don''t know where the main forces of the group army are deployed?"


    Jerekin put a map in front of me, pointed to a position next to Kursk and said to me: "at present, the 60th group army is deployed in Kurchatov and ligov areas, facing the second group army of the German army. Their right wing is the 65th and 70th army; On the left are the 38th and 40th army groups. " When he rolled up the map and put it back in the map bag, he specially added, "except for half of the 60th group army, the other four groups army have less than one third of the troops. If the German army doesn''t attack, we can still hold the existing defense line. Once they launch a fierce attack, we will gather forces in the Kursk region and fall into a siege. "


    Hearing what he was worried about, I laughed and said with disapproval, "Comrade military commissar, you have been over careful. According to my judgment, the German army has no ability to attack our defense area in the short term."


    As soon as I said that, it immediately aroused rokosovsky''s interest. He asked curiously, "Rita, if I remember correctly, the last time you said the same thing to Comrade Stalin in the Kremlin. I want to ask, "why do you have such confidence?"


    Of course, I would not tell him that I learned this from the history books of later generations. I quickly pretended to be serious and said, "Comrade commander, after a long battle, the German army has not only suffered a serious loss of troops, but also a great shortage of weapons and ammunition. Under such circumstances, it is not realistic to launch a large-scale attack."


    "But, general o''shanina." After hearing what I said, jerekin said unconvinced, "just two days ago, many of our defensive areas were attacked by the German army. You can''t say that the enemy won''t attack again in a short time. "


    "Yes, Rita." Rokosovsky echoed jerekin and said: "I also think your reason is too far fetched. Manstein''s forces were indeed weakened in the battle against the Voronezh front and the southwest front. But the central army group they deployed near Moscow has not suffered much. Once they find that our army is weak, they may launch a new attack on us at any time. "


    The problem of rokosovsky really gives me a headache. I can''t tell him that I came from later generations. According to the history books, before the battle of Kursk in July, the German army will not launch a large-scale attack at all. In this way, I was either regarded as a madman or sent to an experiment.


    When I was in a dilemma, I suddenly heard jerekin murmur in a low voice: "hell, we have come so far, and the road is still so muddy. It seems that we can''t catch up with Kursk before dark."


    I heard a key word "muddy" from his words, and immediately got an idea. I leaned over to rokosovsky and said, "Comrade commander, I have a basis for saying this. Although the German army''s offensive was fierce a few days ago, due to the muddy road, the transportation was inconvenient, and the German army was far away from their supply base, they had little ammunition left, so they could not launch a new attack. "


    "When do you think they will attack us again?" Rokosovsky asked as soon as I finished.


    I pretended to think for a moment, then said to rokosovsky: "I think the German army should first consolidate the area they occupied, and replenish the soldiers, weapons and ammunition. In terms of their computing power, the German army will not be able to launch a new attack on us until the middle of June. "


    "Comrades commander, if it is really like the analysis of general oshanina, I think the Germans will definitely choose a special day to launch an attack on us." After listening to my analysis, jerekin turned to rokosowski and made his own judgment: "for the Germans, the most memorable day in June is the 22nd. Because on this day two years ago, they did not declare war on us, and once they took the initiative in the whole battlefield. "


    Jerekin''s words, let rokosovsky into meditation, for a long time, he kept frowning posture, seems to be trying to think about something. After he stretched his brows and took a long breath, youyou said, "Comrade military commissar, what you and Rita have said is reasonable. According to the analysis of various signs, if the German army is going to launch a large-scale attack, it will take at least three months to gather forces and accumulate ammunition. The possibility that they will launch an attack at the end of June is entirely there. "


    "Then our main task now is to build fortifications near Kursk to resist the possible large-scale German attack." After these words, jerekin said with some embarrassment, "it means thousands of people are needed to build so many fortifications in such a large area. Where should I go to find so many people?"


    "As for the construction of fortifications, when you get back to the headquarters, you should go to communicate with major general pushlyakov, director of the engineers of the front army, and ask him to work out a specific schedule as soon as possible." Perhaps in order to let me understand the situation on the front line, rokosovsky assigned tasks to jerekin in front of me: "the fortifications in the main defense zone are built by the army, while the construction of the second and third defense zones, as well as the defense zones behind the group army and the front army, in addition to the army, also requires the active participation of local residents. In all the orders and instructions issued by the headquarters of the front army, it is necessary to build a solid multi-channel defense zone with deep echelon configuration, and to have the most complete engineering facilities in the depth of the whole defense campaign. "


    "I see, comrade commander." "When I get back to the headquarters, I''ll go to general pushlyakov and work out a detailed construction schedule with him as soon as possible."


    Then they began to study some trivial things in the front army. After listening for a while, I was confused, so I simply leaned against the back of the chair and closed my eyes. Although I closed my eyes, I didn''t fall asleep. My mind kept thinking: before the outbreak of the Kursk battle, the defense focus of the Soviet army was in the northwest of Kursk, which was far away from the defense direction deployed at the moment.


    However, on second thought, rokosovsky and his colleagues only deployed defense zones based on the information they obtained from the battlefield. It is inevitable that the focus of defense deviated. In any case, as long as the Kursk battle does not break out one day, they will always have the possibility to adjust the deployment of their forces, and there is no need for me, an outsider, to worry about nothing.


    It was about seven o''clock in the evening when we arrived at the central front army. Fortunately, chernyahovsky, who is waiting for rokosovsky here, has not left yet, which gives me a chance to meet this legendary young commander-in-chief.


    When he finished his salute to rokosovsky, I stepped forward to salute him regardless of his rank, and politely said, "Hello, general chernyahovsky!"


    Chernyahovsky was startled by the sudden appearance of me. While looking up and down at me with strange eyes, rokosovsky had introduced us: "Comrade chernyahovsky, you may not know her yet. Let me introduce you. This is lieutenant general o''shanina


    "It''s you, comrade o''shanina." When chernyahovsky heard my name from rokosovsky''s mouth, he immediately showed a surprise expression on his face. He stretched out his hands and said excitedly: "Hello, Hello! I''ve heard a lot about you before. I didn''t expect to see you here. I''m so lucky. "


    Chernyahovsky''s praise to me aroused rokosovsky''s curiosity. He asked chernyahovsky in surprise: "Comrade General, I don''t know what kind of legends you have heard about Rita?"


    Hearing rokosovsky''s question, chernyahovsky shrugged his shoulders and replied, "there are many legends about the youngest female general in our army. First, in the battle of Stalingrad, she commanded a newly formed independent division, which blocked the German army at mamayev post for several months; The second is that not long ago, she commanded the troops to move around behind the enemy, not only inflicting heavy losses on the enemy and effectively containing the forces of Manstein, but also successfully recovering Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, greatly boosting the morale of our army. "


    Seeing that chernyahovsky had signs of continuing to speak, rokosovsky quickly raised his hand to stop him and asked in advance: "general chernyahovsky, you can continue to praise Lida later. What I want to know now is that you rushed to the headquarters of the front army and waited for me for several hours. Is there anything important? "


    "This is the situation, comrade commander." Upon hearing rokosovsky''s question, chernyahovsky immediately ignored me and solemnly reported to rokosovsky: "I found a problem when I was studying the map, so I came to consult with you to see if it is necessary to adjust our military deployment immediately."


    "Adjust the deployment of troops?" Rokosovsky frowned again when he heard chernyahovsky say so, but instead of expressing his opinion, he asked, "general chernyahovsky, I want to know why you have such a strange idea in your mind?"


    "Comrade commander." Although rokosovsky''s tone was a little bad, chernyahovsky replied humbly: "I think our defense direction is wrong. If we don''t make large-scale adjustments, we are bound to pay a heavy price when we are attacked by the German army."


    "Tell me, how should we adjust our forces?" After listening, rokosovsky asked without expression.


    "Comrade commander, please have a look." Chernyahovsky called rokosovsky to the table, pointed to the map on the table and said: "our current defense focus is on the German 2nd army in the sheyim River Basin west of Kursk. However, according to the intelligence analysis I have, what we should defend is the north of Kursk, where the 9th group army, the 2nd group army of tanks and the 6th air force of the German army are deployed in the Orel and Bryansk regions. " When I stood by and heard chernyahovsky''s analysis, I couldn''t help nodding. No wonder he became an excellent commander and looked at problems more comprehensively than other commanders. I know that the defense focus of Kursk battle lies in the north and south, because I learned all this from the history books, while chernyahovsky pointed out the wrong direction of our army''s defense focus based on the limited information he had. After listening to chernyahovsky''s explanation, rokosovsky didn''t express his opinion. Instead, he turned to me and asked, "Rita, how do you think of chernyahovsky''s judgment?" I didn''t expect that rokosovsky would suddenly ask for my advice, and I was stunned. But a moment later, I came back to myself and answered decisively, "Comrade commander, I think general chernyahovsky''s judgment is quite accurate. At present, apart from Kharkov''s and bergorod''s Manstein troops in the south, the only direction we want to defend is the German Orel group in the north of Kursk. The enemy forces in the South were confronted by the Voronezh front army of general vatukin; And the main German force we are going to deal with should be in the north¡° O''lear group After repeating this word, rokosovsky couldn''t help laughing: "Rita, your expression is very accurate. It''s quite accurate to call the German army a group in terms of the German troops assembled near Orel."

 Chapter 1021

    Just then, a few people came in from the door. Before I looked back to see who was coming, I heard a familiar voice: "Comrade commander, you are back!"


    "Yes, comrade malining." Rokosovsky replied with a smile: "I just came back from Moscow and brought you an old friend."


    "Old friend?" I heard marinin ask in a puzzled voice, "who is it?"


    "Who else, of course I am." I didn''t wait for rokosovsky to speak, then I turned to malining standing by the door and said with a smile, "Hello, chief of staff, nice to meet you here!"


    Seeing that it was me who was talking to him, marinin immediately showed a surprise expression on his face. He quickly extended his hands to me and said, "it''s you, Rita. Welcome, welcome to our headquarters. "


    "My chief of staff, Rita is not only a guest here." Rokosovsky deliberately explained my intention to malining with a straight face: "she came to check our deployment under the command of the headquarters."


    After listening to rokosovsky''s words, malining''s strength increased a little bit and said more warmly: "since he is the representative of the base camp, he is more welcome."


    After our greetings, rokosovsky suddenly waved to a tall and thin general who was still standing by the door and said, "general proshyakov, what are you doing standing there? Come to me. I really have something to discuss with you."


    General pushlyakov walked quickly to rokosovsky, kept a standing posture, and asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, what instructions do you have?"


    "General pushlyakov," rokosovsky said thoughtfully, "we will fortify the existing defense zone in the next few months, so your Engineering Agency will start to calculate the construction works in the Kursk defense zone. I hope you can work out the project schedule as soon as possible in these two days. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" Proshyakov agreed in a low voice, frowned and thought for a moment, then said to rokosovsky: "Comrade commander, the calculation of fortification works and the preparation of project schedule are a heavy work. It requires taking into account the terrain and determining the number of manpower, building materials, automobile transportation and various machines for construction. If it is to be completed in two days, I need your help. "


    "No problem, general proshyakov. I have already chosen the person to assist you in your work. " When rokosovsky said this, he turned his head and said to the nearby jerekin: "Comrade military commissar, from tomorrow on, you will assist general pushlyakov to complete this arduous task. Is there a problem? "


    "No, no problem, comrade commander." Jieliejin stood up from his seat and answered in a positive tone: "considering that the enemy''s forces for assault must be very strong, in addition to building fortifications in the main defensive zone, we should also build the second and third defensive zones, as well as the defensive zones behind the group army and the front army."


    Hearing this, rokosovsky turned his head and looked at the nearby jerekin. After they looked at each other, they both laughed. This smile stunned him. He asked mistily, "commander, military commissar, am I right?"


    "No, comrade proshyakov, you are quite right," he said with a strong smile. We laugh not because you said something wrong, but because what you said is exactly the same as what the commander said on our way back. "


    After explaining to proshlyakov, jerekin turned to rokosovsky and said, "comrades commander, such energetic and active comrades as general proshlyakov can be completely trusted. I believe that under his command, our construction project can be completed on time with quality and quantity guaranteed. "


    As soon as pushlyakov and other jellykin finished speaking, he immediately summoned up courage and said to rokosovsky, "we should not only build fortifications in Kursk, but also set up minefields in many areas in front of the positions. These minefields should be obstacles to the enemy''s direct attack on the Kursk line. However, the chief of staff and I just went to inspect and found that we could not collect the necessary amount of mines and explosives from the warehouses under the command of the engineers of the front army or from places where materials could be found. I ask you to apply to your superiors to provide us with the necessary military supplies. "


    Unexpectedly, after listening to him, rokosovsky shook his head decisively and replied, "general proshyakov, you should know very well. It is not only our central front army that needs to build fortifications. We have already given you all that can be allocated to you. "


    "But, comrade commander." hear; As for rokosovsky''s reply, proshyakov stubbornly retorted: "before you went to Moscow, you said that you would go to the base camp to ask for the materials we need. We have to know that in the next battle, we may face both sides of the German attack at the same time. If we don''t have enough materials, it will be difficult for us to complete the construction of the whole fortification in the shortest time. " Seeing rokosovsky''s expressionless listening to his statement, pushlyakov could not help slowing down his tone, "even if Moscow allocates us a small amount of materials, even if we only give us mines and no explosives, we can accept it."


    As for the request of proshyakov, rokosovsky shook his head again and said helplessly: "general proshyakov, I made this request when I met Comrade Stalin in the Kremlin. I''m sorry that my request was turned down. Because we are not the only place where there is war, and there is a more important direction than us, we should give priority to providing these materials to them. And we can only make good use of local resources. "


    When he heard what rokosovsky said, he had nothing more to say. He shrugged his shoulders a little at a loss, and then stood in the same place without saying a word.


    "Comrade commander, I want to ask a question." Chernyahovsky, who never spoke, suddenly asked in a loud voice, "are there no more tanks you promised to our army?"


    Rokosovsky nodded with a bitter smile and said with difficulty, "yes, comrade chernyahovsky. I know that there are no tanks in your group army''s tank brigade, so I sincerely ask Comrade Stalin to give us 100, even 80, newly developed tanks. However, he once again refused my request unequivocally, saying that only six new tanks have been produced, and that it is impossible to train a large number of troops in a short period of time. "


    As an insider, I can only feel in my heart what rokosovsky said. Although the secret base obtained the detailed design concept, drawings and parameters of the T-72 tank selflessly provided by florin, it is not easy to train troops in a short time.


    First, Kharkov, the main research and production base of tanks, is still under the control of the German army, and the production capacity of tank factories in other areas is very limited. In addition, there is not enough special steel for the new tank, so it is difficult to make the new tank come out ahead of time.


    "What shall we do?" Although chernyahovsky is good at using tank regiment to fight, he doesn''t have a tank in his hand now. It can be said that he can''t make a meal without rice. In the face of the enemy''s assault, he is helpless, so he can''t help but take a trace of anger when he speaks: "if there is no tank, after the battle starts, We can only use tank soldiers as ordinary infantry, which is not only a waste of troops, but also a crime. "


    For chernyahovsky''s complaints, rokosovsky did not get angry, but comforted him after a long sigh: "Comrade chernyahovsky, don''t worry. Although we don''t have tanks now, it doesn''t mean we will never have tanks. Maybe in a month or so, the newly produced T-34 tank will continue to supply energy to the army. "


    "What should we do before the new tanks arrive in the army?" Although rokosovsky made a promise, chernyahovsky asked reluctantly, "what if we still can''t get the tank supplement in a month''s time?"


    Seeing rokosovsky''s embarrassed expression, I said decisively, "general chernyahovsky, please don''t worry. Before your tank brigade is supplemented by tanks, the possibility of German attack is very small. What you need to do now is to urge the commanders and fighters at all levels below to build solid and reliable fortifications in the existing defensive areas as soon as possible to fight against the possible German attack. "


    Chernyahovsky looked at me and asked puzzledly, "general oshanina, I want to ask you, how do you judge that the German army will not attack our defense area in the short term?"


    "Intuition, I rely on my intuition." I don''t want to be entangled in how to judge from the enemy''s intelligence that the German army will not launch an attack in the short term. Instead, I said straightforwardly: "you may think it''s ridiculous, but I tell you that women''s intuition is very accurate. It is with this intuition that I have commanded the troops to defeat the enemy many times. "


    Chernyahovsky probably didn''t expect me to give such a reason. After a while, he said with a smile instead of anger: "well, since you can command the troops to win the battle according to your intuition, we still need the scouts to detect the enemy''s situation. Just find some female soldiers and let them judge the enemy''s next move according to their intuition."


    "Well, comrade chernyahovsky, please stop saying that." Rokosovsky suddenly interrupted chernyahovsky and went on to talk. He came out to help me out: "Lida and I have known each other for more than a year, nearly two years. I agree with her intuition. If she didn''t have this intuition, I would not be in this world. "


    All the people present, even me, were shocked by the words that rokosovsky suddenly said. We all focused on him, waiting for him to go on. When he saw that all of us were waiting for his answer, he coughed softly and said, "I heard Comrade Stalin say it himself. He said that during the Moscow defense war, Rita once went to see him and said she dreamed that I would be in danger somewhere. Although Comrade Stalin was dubious after hearing this, he mobilized an army to set up a garrison near the village. I didn''t expect that a few days later, as soon as my headquarters and I withdrew to the village, we were besieged by the enemy. Fortunately, with the support of troops deployed there in advance, we managed to escape from the encirclement of the German army. "


    At this point, he looked at chernyahovsky and said solemnly, "Comrade General, after hearing this, do you still doubt that Rita''s intuition is unreliable?" Chernyahovsky finished listening to rokosovsky, looked at me, then shook his head and said, "Comrade commander, since you say so, then I would rather believe it is true." Then, he gave me a smile and said apologetically, "I''m sorry, comrade oshanina. I dare not doubt you. Please forgive my recklessness." As soon as chernyahovsky''s words were finished, malining interrupted: "Comrade commander, I almost forgot to tell you something. This afternoon, I received a phone call saying that Marshal Zhukov is inspecting the defense area of the 70th group army today and will come to our front army headquarters at noon tomorrow. Do you want to stay in the headquarters and wait for him¡° Well, now that it''s over, don''t mention it any more. " After listening to malining''s words, rokosovsky came out again to help us out. He said to chernyahovsky, "Rita was sent to us from the base camp to inspect. Originally, I wanted to take her to the troops below. But if the marshal is coming tomorrow, I can only give you this arduous task. You can take her to the infantry division and tank brigade below and talk to the commanders and fighters. I believe it will be very helpful to improve the morale of the commanders and fighters. " Now that rokosovsky had spoken out, chernyahovsky would not object. He nodded and said, "well, tomorrow I will personally accompany general oshanina to my troops. Besides asking her to check our deployment, I can also ask her to say a few words to our soldiers, Let''s get to know our outstanding female general. "

 Chapter 1022

    The little soldier listened to chernyahovsky''s words and could not help touching the middle-aged uncle standing beside him with his elbow. He said ostentatiously, "do you hear me? The commander said that he would personally present me with a medal in the future. " The middle-aged man gave him an envious look, and then said in a low voice, "let''s compete well in the battle to see who killed more enemies and captured more weapons." Chernyahovsky took a few more steps forward, crouched down again and asked a young man with glasses, "Comrade soldier, what did you do before you joined the army?" The man with glasses straightened up and replied in a loud voice, "report general, I''m the librarian of Lenin library. After the outbreak of the war, I applied to join the army, but the conscription commander didn''t think my eyesight was good and rejected my application. Last June, a militiamen came to our library to recruit people, so I signed up to join the militiamen. Not long ago, my militia battalion was incorporated into your army. " Chernyahovsky, with a smile on his face, asked the man with glasses, "are you still used to the life in the army?"¡° Yes, comrade commander, I like this kind of camp life very much. " After the spectacle man finished his routine, he suddenly asked anxiously: "Comrade General, I want to ask, can our newly formed army stop the fierce German on the other side? You know, they just defeated our army, which is several times more than them. " As soon as this shocking question was asked, the air around seemed to solidify. I found that the major standing behind chernyahovsky glared at the spectacled man fiercely. If the anger in his eyes could burn people to death, he would be reduced to ashes. Chernyahovsky was silent for a long time before he came slowly. He looked at the frightened bespectacled man. Then he pointed to me with his hand and said in a loud voice, "comrades soldiers, I''d like to introduce a woman named oshanina, who is the only female general in our army." He looked at me and said firmly, "in the recent battle of Stalingrad, she commanded a newly formed army and tenaciously adhered to the commanding point on the north side of Stalingrad - mamayev post. In the course of several months, the bandit tried every means, but he was still unable to cross the strong "gate" established by her and her subordinates. I asked her to tell you all, can our newly formed army stop the bandits who are coming towards us? Please, general o''shanina, please say a few words to us

 Chapter 1023

    I didn''t expect that chernyahovsky would suddenly ask me to speak to the soldiers. I couldn''t help but panic. But soon I stabilized my mood and said aloud to the soldiers standing in the trenches, "comrades, your commander asked me to have a word with you. In fact, I have nothing to say. I''ll just have a word with you."


    After the first few words, it was much easier to say the following: "just now a soldier asked the commander, saying that you are a newly formed army, can you stop those fierce Germans who are armed to the teeth?" At this point, I deliberately pause for a moment and look down at the soldier with glasses, who quickly lowers his head when I look at him.


    I didn''t want to embarrass the soldier, so I turned my eyes to other directions and continued: "I think it''s not only the soldier who has this idea, but also many of you who have this idea. Before I answer your question, I would like to tell you about my taking over of the troops at that time. When I saw such an army at that time, I felt like crying. It was more appropriate to say that it was not so much an army as a group of people in new military uniforms. They had not only not received military training, had not participated in combat, and even had no weapons. Later, I went to the commander of the group army and pleaded with him for a long time before I gave us a quarter of the weapons. "


    "Comrade General," the major next to him heard this and asked, "with so few weapons, can you block the enemy''s attack?"


    "Good question, comrade major." I''m worried that it''s not easy for the commanders and fighters to resonate when I sing alone. Since the battalion commander took the initiative to ask me a question, I would naturally push the boat along the river and answer it with him: "my independent division had tens of thousands of commanders and fighters at that time, but only more than 2000 of them had weapons in their hands. Guess how I solved the weapon problem for the commanders and fighters later? "


    When the major heard my question, he frowned and thought about it. Then he shook his head and said with a bitter smile, "sorry, comrade general, I can''t think of it."


    "Since we can''t get the weapons we need from our superiors, we''ll go to the enemy for them." In your eyes of astonishment, I continued: "to me, the enemy is our transport team. They have weapons, ammunition, food, medicine and even military uniforms that we urgently need. I have no way to deal with the enemy with strong strength, so I will deal with the enemy with weak strength. If I can''t fight a regiment, I''ll fight a battalion or even a company. As long as the enemy is eliminated, the weapons, ammunition and various materials that originally belonged to them will become ours. " At this point, I turned to face the commander standing in the trench and raised my voice, "are you right?"


    "Yes After hearing what I said, the officers and men in the trench all showed a sudden understanding expression on their faces, and then yelled in unison.


    After everyone''s shouts subsided, I said while the iron was hot: "comrades, in fact, the Germans are nothing to be afraid of. They are ordinary people like us. When a bullet hits them, they will get through one eye; If you are hit by a shell, you will still be bloody. So what you have to do is when the Germans show up in front of you, you just need to aim at them and pull the trigger. Can you do it? "


    "Yes! Yes!! We can do it The officers and men below heard me and cried out in unison. The cry rang through the air, and people were boiling with blood. I even thought that if an enemy appeared in the sight of the commanders and fighters at this time, it might be shot into a sieve in the shortest time.


    But when we left this position and went to a new site for inspection, chernyahovsky said with emotion: "Rita, I really didn''t expect that your words would arouse the fighting enthusiasm of the commanders and fighters, which is no less than the effect of our political workers'' propaganda for a few hours."


    I didn''t get carried away because of chernyahovsky''s praise. Instead, I said to him solemnly: "Ivan, I just observed that the equipment of the army is not very good. It is bound to pay a heavy price to fight against the elite German army with such weapons and equipment."


    Chernhahovs nodded and agreed with me, and then said, "Rita, you don''t know. My 60th army is a large force, but it is poorly equipped and poorly trained. Besides the mosinlagan rifles, the maxim machine gun and 82mm mortar are the best weapons they can get. At the same time, although the number of guards in other group armies is far less than that of our ordinary troops, their equipment and training are completely prepared to win the cruelest battles. The most expensive, advanced and most effective technical equipment is the priority equipment. Only after they are equipped, can they turn to other troops. "


    Hearing what he said, I thought of the assault rifles and new rocket launchers that would start loading troops. I couldn''t help asking, "Ivan, I heard that there are some new weapons in the near future. If you want to start loading troops on a large scale, you can apply to commander rokosovsky. I believe he will allocate these weapons and equipment according to the actual situation. Even if you can''t make your whole army change clothes, even if you only change clothes for one or two infantry divisions, you can greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of your troops. "


    "New weapons?" When chernyahovsky heard what I said, he was stunned. Then he turned his head and looked at Yushchenko and others. He slowed down and asked me in a low voice, "Rita, is that the strange weapon that your guards are carrying?"


    I nodded and said with certainty: "yes, this assault rifle was developed during the Moscow defense war, but it has not been promoted in the army because the bullets needed are different from those used by the army now. But now, with the efforts of military workers, the bullets of this kind of weapon can be produced on a large scale, so it is possible that this kind of weapon will be loaded into the army in the near future. " When I said this, I actually laid a lot of ambush. When I entered the secret base that day, I had no chance to see many new products of the research laboratory. I still don''t know how many weapons from later generations have been released ahead of time.


    After listening to what I said, chernyahovsky said with a bitter smile and a helpless face: "even if the superior assigned us new weapons, but in my estimation, it may not be enough to arm a division." When he said this, he stopped for a moment and suddenly asked me, "if your troops were assigned new weapons, how would you distribute them?"


    When I heard chernyahovsky''s question, I immediately murmured in my heart. If I really want to distribute freely, then it must be AK47 who is the submachine gun commander, one for each class leader and one for each deputy; Sks as a Combat Rifle, one for each soldier; RPD as a class machine gun, a class with one.


    However, we can only think about such a good thing. Chernyahovsky''s group army is a universal force, and the number of new weapons available is certainly very limited. Thinking of this, I can only vaguely say: "I think even if the new weapons allocated to you are less, at least we can guarantee that each class has a few, for example, this kind of assault rifle, you can give each class leader a person to accompany a, when submachine gun use."


    "Even so, the problem of light weapons is only barely solved. And we continue to use a large number of tanks and artillery to strengthen the defense and offensive capabilities of our troops. " Chernyahovsky said here, his face has become depressed: "I went to commander rokosovsky several times, but he said that because of the snow melting season, not to mention the distribution of new weapons, even the normal transportation of materials has been seriously affected."


    "Ivan, since we''re all friends, you can say anything." From his words, I recognized his dilemma. It seemed that I had something to ask for help, but I was embarrassed to start. So I asked frankly, "as long as I can do it, I will help you."


    "Really? That''s great. " When chernyahovsky heard my statement, he rubbed his hands excitedly, then extended his hand to me and said gratefully, "Rita, on behalf of the officers and men of the 60th army, I thank you."


    Seeing his reaction, I was more sure that he had something to ask me for help. I always want to have a good relationship with this excellent commander, but I have no chance. Since he has something to ask for, as long as I can do it, I will do it properly for him. As I shook hands with him, I said politely, "you''re welcome. If you have anything to do, please tell me."


    "It''s like this, Rita." Although chernyahovsky and I are very close, he was a little embarrassed when he asked me: "I would like to ask Marshal Zhukov if you can provide us with a sufficient number of tanks and artillery while providing us with new light weapons?"


    "Tanks and cannons?" If chernyahovsky wanted a small weapon like AK47, I might not hesitate to agree with him. But in addition to light weapons, he also needs a lot of tanks and artillery, which is a bit difficult to do. Even if I can speak in front of Zhukov, if the number is large, I will still be rejected by the other party.


    After hesitating for a while, I asked tentatively, "Ivan, how many tanks and cannons do you need for your army?"


    "I have four tank brigades under my command. Each brigade will provide us with 40 tanks, a total of 160 tanks. New and old tanks will do." Chernyahovsky pointed to me about the number of tanks and artillery he needed: "and artillery, there are five regiments. A regiment should have at least 20 cannons. In this way, it should have at least 100 cannons with caliber of 100, 122 and 152. "


    I thought chernyahovsky would make a big opening when he heard that I would help him apply. I didn''t expect that he wanted only such a few tanks and cannons, and there were no limits on models and calibres. This shows how poor the equipment of the 60th army is.


    When he finished, I immediately nodded and said to him in a positive tone, "don''t worry, Ivan. As soon as I get back to the city, I will go to see Marshal Zhukov and apply to him for the weapons you need."


    On hearing my statement, chernyahovsky once again expressed his thanks to me. At this time, we had unconsciously returned to the jeep, he took the initiative to open the door for me, made a gesture of please, said to me: "come on, Rita, it''s late, first to my group army headquarters for lunch, we''ll visit the tank brigade and artillery regiment in the afternoon."


    As we drove to the headquarters, I suddenly remembered something and asked, "Ivan, do you have rocket barracks in your army?"¡° Rocket camp? " After listening to my question, chernyahovsky shook his head and said with a bitter smile, "as far as I know, there were rockets in Voronezh''s front army, but because of the difficulty in logistics, they left these equipment to the central front army. And soon after our group army was assigned from Voronezh''s front army to general rokosovsky''s command, we will certainly not be equipped with such advanced weapons. " Before our car arrived at the headquarters, a three wheeled motorcycle came towards me. As soon as chernyahovsky saw the officer sitting in the sidecar, he immediately told the driver, "pull over to the side of the road. It seems that the officer has something to ask for me." As soon as our jeep stopped on the dirt side of the road, the motorcycle began to slow down. The officer with the sidecar didn''t wait for the car to stop, so he jumped down and ran quickly to the door where chernyahovsky was. Chernyahovsky pushed the door open and asked the officer standing outside, "Comrade lieutenant, what can I do for you?"¡° Comrade report commander, I have just received a call from chief of staff malining of the front army. " The second lieutenant, standing upright, reported to chernyahovsky, "he said that Marshal Zhukov, who was accompanied by commander rokosovsky from Moscow, was coming to our group defense area to inspect and let you do a good job in reception." When chernyahovsky heard the news, he turned to look at me and said in some surprise, "Marshal Zhukov is coming to my defense area?" Then he turned back and asked the second lieutenant, "do you know where the marshal and the commander are?" The second lieutenant nodded and replied, "at present, the marshal and the commander have arrived in korchatov. They are inspecting the tank brigade there and calling all the commanders of the brigade together to speak."¡° I see. Thank you, comrade lieutenant. " Chernyahovsky closed the car door with a bang, and then told the driver: "drive to the tank brigade of Kurchatov." after the car started, chernyahovsky said to me with a smile: "Rita, it seems that I can use the opportunity to see the marshal to apply for weapons and equipment. At that time, you''ll have to say something nice for me. "¡° No problem, Ivan According to my understanding of Zhukov, since he came to the defense area of the 60th group army, it proves that he still attaches great importance to this army. I believe he will readily agree to chernyahovsky''s application.

 Chapter 1024

    It''s more than 30 kilometers from ligov to korchatov. If the road is not muddy, we can get there in about half an hour. But now more than an hour has passed, the jeep that chernyahovsky and I are riding on is still bumpy on the road.


    Holding the back of the chair in front of me with both hands, I said to chernyahovsky with a wry smile, "Ivan, the road in your defense area is too bad. If you have time, you can organize people to repair it. Otherwise, if there is a real war, your material transportation will be greatly affected."


    Chernhahovs nodded his head and replied in a loud voice, "no, our jeeps can''t speed up on this part of the road, let alone the trucks carrying supplies. It''s such a bad road condition that trucks can''t go faster at all. " After that, he asked the adjutant in the co pilot''s seat, "how far is it from Kurchatov?"


    On hearing chernyahovsky''s question, the adjutant turned his head and said, "Comrade commander, there are three or four kilometers left at most before we can reach the tank brigade."


    Just as the adjutant was answering, I caught a glimpse of two sparks splashing on the hood of the jeep. I asked the driver in a hurry, "Comrade driver, what''s the matter?"


    The driver looked out of the left window, and then yelled, "hell, the enemy is attacking. There are enemy cavalry rushing out of the forest over there." With that, he jerked the steering wheel, and the car quickly turned to the right.


    As the incident happened so suddenly, chernyahovsky, who was talking to the adjutant, did not recover. He saw the driver''s head tilted back, and then the whole person jumped on the steering wheel. Almost at the same time, the jeep stopped abruptly, and our bodies all rushed forward, and then heavily backed back and hit the back of the chair.


    Chernyahovsky slammed open the door on his side, jumped down quickly, then turned to grab my arm and pulled me off the car with a drawstring.


    When I jumped out of the car and squatted with my back against the jeep, I saw that the two covered trucks in front of and behind us also stopped. The soldiers in the car lifted the tarpaulin at the back of the car and jumped out of the car one after another to find a hidden place to shoot back.


    With courage, I looked sideways from the back of the car towards the direction of the bullets. I saw that many cavalry were racing towards us. They were very far away from each other, shooting at the same time.


    Hearing the sound of bullets hitting the car body or passing overhead, I couldn''t help but panic. When I went out today, I thought I was going to inspect chernyahovsky''s defense area. In order to save trouble, I didn''t carry the assault rifle that never leaves me, or even the pistol. Listening to the approaching sound of the horse''s hooves, my heart was raised to my throat, because as long as they rushed, unarmed I was either chopped to death or captured.


    Chernyahovsky and his aide were busy, standing up and squatting from time to time, shooting at the incoming enemy cavalry from the position of the hood.


    Among the soldiers hiding behind the truck shooting were Yushchenko and several of my other guards. Perhaps seeing that the situation here was critical, Yushchenko caught a soldier and pointed to me and gave him a few orders. The soldier nodded, bent over with his assault rifle and ran towards me at a fast pace.


    There was a gap of about 20 meters between the two vehicles. When the soldier was only four or five meters away from me, an enemy cavalry broke through the firepower network of our army and rode past the soldier. The knight on the horse wiped the sword with his hand, and the soldier covered his neck with one hand, turned a few times, and fell to the ground directly. And the assault rifle in his hand also flew out, drew a beautiful arc in the air and landed in front of me a few steps away.


    The cavalry who had killed the soldiers rushed forward for more than ten meters, turned the horse''s head, made a circle, waved the saber and rushed towards me again. After a while, I jumped out, grabbed the assault rifle on the ground, bent on the ground, raised the muzzle, and held the fire in the general direction.


    "Bang bang" a series of gunshots went off, and I heard the horses neighing. When I looked up, the horse stood up, the front two hooves kicked wildly, then fell sideways and hit heavily on the muddy land, splashing a large amount of mud on my body.


    After the rider on the horse was dropped, the horse struggled to stand up and ran to the side. At this time, chernyahovsky and they came back to their senses. Chernyahovsky bent down and ran to me, squatted down and asked aloud, "Rita, what''s the matter?"


    I put my hand to the body of the enemy lying on my back in the mud and said, "a cavalry broke through the fire net and rushed behind us, but I''ve killed him."


    Chernyahovsky raised his hand and patted me on the shoulder, saying sincerely, "good job, Rita." With that, he slightly raised his body, bent down and ran to the body of the enemy. After picking up two things, he quickly ran back to me.


    He showed me what he was holding and said, "it was not the Germans who attacked us, but the Hungarian cavalry. This gun was their m1939 submachine gun. And this necklace is m1936 Then he pointed to the corpse and said, "a cavalry sergeant who was killed by you was wearing a white light green thickened winter suit that can be worn both positively and reversely. It''s a pity that all your bullets hit him in the chest, otherwise we can wear them ourselves."


    I looked around the environment and found that it was about 100 meters away from the forest. There was open land in the middle. If we wanted to give up the car and go back to the forest, even if the enemy didn''t shoot, we would not be able to run the four legged horses. Before we entered the forest, we would be completely annihilated by them. In this case, the only thing we can do is to rely on cars to fight back, stop the enemy''s charge, and wait for our reinforcements.


    When I got back to the jeep, I just wanted to look out again to see what kind of troops the enemy was. However, chernyahovsky grabbed me. He sternly scolded me and said, "Rita, you don''t have to worry about the enemy''s stray bullets."


    I was so afraid that he misunderstood me as a reckless man that I quickly explained, "I want to see how many troops the enemy has."


    "I just counted roughly. There are more than 50 people, all cavalry." Fearing that I would venture out again, chernyahovsky explained to me, "in addition to the three of us, there are twenty-four soldiers on our side. They rely on cars to fight back. They should be able to support the arrival of reinforcements."


    Just then, leaning against the jeep, I suddenly found a lot of people pouring out of the forest in front of me. I was in a panic. I couldn''t help shouting at chernyahovsky: "Ivan, look, the enemy is rushing out of the forest here again. We are surrounded by the enemy."


    Chernyahovsky, who had just stood up, fired a few rounds and squatted down, heard my cry. When he looked at the people who had just rushed out of the forest, his face lightened, and he said happily, "Rita, you''re wrong. It''s not the enemy, it''s one of his own. They must have heard that there was a battle here, and they came here specially to reinforce. "


    Although chernyahovsky said that he was his own man, I was still dubious. When I carefully saw that the man who came out of the scattered formation was really our army commander, the stone hanging in my heart was falling to the ground. Xin said that there should be no problem in dealing with an enemy force with less than 50 people.


    At this time, I found that there were two people carrying something out of the forest. As soon as they came out of the forest, they put what they were carrying to the ground. At this time, a soldier with a box stopped and squatted beside them. At the same time, I couldn''t help smiling. My heart said that what they just put on the ground should be mortars and so on, which would be enough for these Hungarians to drink.


    Soon, there was an explosion behind me. Maybe the explosion point was too close to us, and the mud was lifted and fell on the top of the jeep.


    "Hell, where are you idiots fighting?" With the end of the explosion, the adjutant squatting down to load the pistol, pointing to the direction of the mortar gunner, yelled: "don''t see the enemy is still in front, fight at the place where the enemy gathers, you damn idiots."


    But just now that shell was just the test firing of the mortars. Now at least five mortars have been set up outside the forest. After all the shells come out of the chamber, they skim over our heads and fly straight to the enemy''s position.


    At this moment, the reinforcements are close to us. One of the lieutenants speeds up and rushes to us. He squats down and asks chernyahovsky, "Comrade commander, what should we do?"


    "Lieutenant," chernyahovsky said decisively after glancing at his rank, "lead your soldiers forward and destroy all the enemy cavalry. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" The lieutenant gave a loud promise, stood up, turned his back, raised his pistol high, and yelled at the officers and men behind him, "brothers, follow me!" After shouting, he waved a pistol around the jeep and rushed out.


    Looking at more and more officers and men rushing past us with guns, I finally found the opportunity to look out at the situation of the enemy. On the other side of the road lay the bodies of many horses and soldiers. Some of them were just a step away from our jeep. I don''t know if they were killed by chernyahovsky and the adjutant.


    For the rest of the Hungarian cavalry, there was no one on horseback. The surviving soldiers, hiding behind the squatting horses, shot desperately. Our soldiers were sprinting forward while shooting. Although some people were shot and fell down from time to time, they were getting closer and closer to the enemy''s position of stubborn resistance.


    Chernyahovsky, who also saw the scene, breathed a long sigh and said to me easily, "Rita, it''s OK. It''s only a matter of time before these remaining enemies are eliminated. After counting the results, we will continue to set out. "


    Although I know that the enemy will be destroyed soon, my heart is still heavy, because I remember again that chernyahovsky and vatujing, the commander of Voronezh''s front army, were attacked on the way from one place to another, and they were tragically and heroically killed.


    Thinking of this, I solemnly remind chernyahovsky: "Ivan, you are now the commander of the group army, commanding tens of thousands of troops. Except for any accident, the whole army will lose its unified command and fall into a state of no leader."


    Before I had finished, chernyahovsky raised his hand to stop me from going on. He nodded and said with certainty, "Rita, thank you for your concern. I also know that if I often run outside, I will encounter such and such dangers. But as a commander, I can''t stay in the headquarters all day just because there is danger outside. In this way, my commanders and soldiers will regard me as a coward who is afraid of death. " When he said this, he saw that the expression on my face was particularly ugly. In order to save face for me, he slowed down and said, "but what you said is very reasonable. When I go out, I will take more guards to ensure my life safety. Is that all right? "


    I nodded, although did not speak, but the heart is saying, can remind things, I have reminded you. There are only so many people who can help you. As for whether you can avoid the disaster two years later, it depends on your personal fortune. When the combat commander returned to us, I found his left hand wrapped in bandage, hanging on his chest, and quickly asked with concern, "Lieutenant, are you seriously injured?" The lieutenant shook his head, and a smile appeared on his bloodless face: "Comrade General, I was wiped by a bullet. I didn''t hurt my bones. I can return to normal in half a month at most." After answering my question, the lieutenant turned to chernyahovsky and said, "Comrade commander, we have killed 41 enemies and captured 14 alive; 35 horses were killed and 20 were captured; 15 submachine guns, 40 rifles, 6 pistols and matching bullets were seized. "¡° Well done. " After praising this sentence, chernyahovsky asked a question I often asked: "how are the casualties in the army?"¡° We lost 29 people and injured 44. " After that, the lieutenant took a look at captain Yushchenko, who was standing next to us, looked at the two trucks in front of and behind the jeep, and replied, "your security forces have killed six people and injured 11 people." Chernyahovsky, after the Lieutenant''s reply, turned to look at the driver''s body carried out of the cab by the adjutant and Yushchenko. Then he stepped forward, put his hands on the Lieutenant''s shoulder, and said solemnly, "Comrade lieutenant, I want to ask you something. In a moment, you''ll organize your staff to dig a hole for my driver and the dead guards. " On hearing this order, the lieutenant nodded and said, "Comrade commander, please rest assured that I will complete the task you gave me." I saw chernyahovsky, after loosening the Lieutenant''s shoulder, looking down at the driver''s body on the ground. Perhaps because of his sadness, his eyes were red. Seeing this, I coughed and whispered in his ear, "Ivan, can we go?"¡° Let''s go! " Chernyahovsky was stunned at first. Then he understood what I was saying and quickly replied, "yes, we need to get to the station of the tank brigade immediately. Marshal Zhukov is still waiting for us. "Adjutant," he said, turning his head to the adjutant, "get a driver."¡° No, Ivan. My battalion commander, Captain Yushchenko, will drive. He will drive the rest of the way Seeing chernyahovsky nodding in agreement, I immediately told Yushchenko, "Comrade captain, get in the car. You will drive the rest of the way." Although the driver''s seat had been scrubbed by Yushchenko, when I got back in the car, I still smelled a strong smell of blood. I thought chernyahovsky would see things, but when I turned to look at him, his expression had returned to normal. As soon as he closed the door, he immediately told Yushchenko, who was sitting in the driver''s seat, "you can drive, comrade Lieutenant!"

 Chapter 1025

    The next journey, chernyahovsky and I did not speak, are quietly thinking about their own thoughts. It occurred to me that the guard who had been cut down by the Hungarian cavalry would have been killed by the cavalry''s saber, chernyahovsky, me and the adjutant, if he had not picked up the gun he had dropped in front of me.


    Fortunately, the road was not far away, and soon we entered the area where we could see pedestrians and vehicles. The officers and men who came along the road, seeing our three cars, all gave way to one side of the road and raised their hands to salute us.


    Yushchenko, under the guidance of the adjutant, parked the car outside a large wooden house. Seeing several jeeps and covered trucks neatly parked outside, I knew that in addition to Zhukov and the commanders of the tank brigade, maybe rokosovsky was also there.


    At the door stood more than a dozen soldiers. Judging from their costumes, they were from both the Moscow garrison headquarters and the field forces. When we saw chernyahovsky and I walking side by side, the captain standing outside raised his hand to salute us. Without going in to report, he pushed open the closed wooden door and politely said, "please come in, comrades general."


    Chernyahovsky and I went into the cabin and found that there were a lot of people here. Zhukov and rokosovsky sat side by side behind a wooden table facing the door. Behind them stood major general jerekin. Another five or six school level officers stood respectfully at the table with their backs to us. One of them was reporting to Zhukov.


    When we came in, the Colonel''s report was just drawing to a close. I know he said: "Comrade marshal, this is the current situation of our brigade. My report is over. " After that, he did not immediately return to his colleagues. Instead, after a pause, he said, "marshal, my political commissar has a special situation to report to you. Is that ok?"


    "Special circumstances?" Zhukov, who was always expressionless, frowned. A moment later, he asked in a smooth voice, "I don''t know who is the commissar of the tank brigade?"


    On hearing Zhukov''s question, a lieutenant colonel on the right side of the Colonel''s rear stepped forward and answered aloud, "Comrade marshal, I am the political commissar of the tank brigade."


    Zhukov looked up at him and asked faintly, "Comrade political commissar, your brigade commander said that you have special circumstances to report to me. If you have anything, please report it to me now. "


    "Well, comrade marshal." "Sergeant Maria otskaya was seriously injured in last week''s battle," the commissar said quickly. Although it was timely sent to the group army''s field hospital for treatment. But from the current situation, her injury not only did not improve, but there are signs of aggravation. On behalf of the brigade Party committee, I implore you to send her to the military hospital in Moscow for treatment. "


    After hearing what the political commissar said, Zhukov said impatiently, "Comrade political commissar, isn''t she a sergeant? Just send someone to take her to the military hospital in the city. Is it necessary to report such a small matter to me? "


    "Comrade marshal." The commissar recognized the dissatisfaction in Zhukov''s tone and quickly explained: "you don''t know, Sergeant Maria otskaya is not an ordinary person. She''s an infantry soldier. "Comrade marshal, may I go on?" Seeing Zhukov and rokosovsky chatting, the tourism commissar did not dare to disturb them. It was not easy for him to wait for the end of their conversation before he said carefully, "I haven''t finished my words yet."


    "Come on, comrade brigade political commissar." This time, rokosovsky made a gesture, indicating that he would continue to say: "report everything you know to the marshal."


    With the permission of rokosovsky, the political commissar of the brigade went on to say: "after the German army lost the settlement, because it was unwilling to lose, it quickly mobilized the reserve team to fight back against the settlement. The headquarters ordered the tank troops to stop attacking, build new fortifications in place, and defend the newly occupied area in any case.


    Maria''s "female comrades in arms" stopped at the roadside and became a fixed fire point. When the German forces charged our position, they used all their firepower to attack the enemy''s attack line. Even when the bandits threw away their weapons and fled towards the starting point, the "female comrades in arms" did not let them go and chased them with dense bullets.


    The enemy''s counterattack was smashed, and not a meter of the land we occupied was given to the enemy. In today''s battle, the "female comrade in arms" has eliminated at least two platoons of the bandits.


    Some time ago, when we launched another attack on the enemy, the "female comrade in arms" took the lead in rushing to the occupied residential areas. However, when approaching the enemy''s first trench, unfortunately, he was hit by the German artillery, and the track was broken again, so the tank stopped on the open ground.


    When the other crew members of the tank group were fighting with the enemy like an infantry with weapons, Maria got out of the tank again, risking the enemy''s bullets, nervously repairing the broken track. Just as she was about to repair the track, a shell fell on her side and exploded. When the smoke dispersed, the crew of the tank group found Maria had fallen into a pool of blood. "


    "Where is she now?" When Zhukov heard this, he could not help but stand up and asked with concern, "how is the injury?"


    After hearing this, the brigade political commissar shook his head and said sadly, "marshal, she has been lying in the field hospital for ten days. She has been unconscious since yesterday and still has a high fever. According to military doctors, due to the limitation of conditions, she still has more than a dozen shrapnel left on her body. If she is not sent to the military hospital in Moscow as soon as possible, her life will be in danger. "¡° In that case, why don''t you send her to Moscow immediately? " When Zhukov heard what the brigade political commissar said, his tone became severe again unconsciously: "are you going to watch our heroine die like this?"¡° It''s not like that, comrade marshal. " Recognizing Zhukov''s dissatisfaction, the brigade commander helped his political commissar to explain: "as you know, our army and hospital are not the same system. Usually, after the wounded are sent to the hospital, we can''t decide whether to stay in the field hospital or send them to the military hospital in Moscow. "¡° Comrade rokosovsky. " As soon as Zhukov and his brigade commander finished speaking, he immediately turned around and told rokosovsky, "I''ll leave you in charge of the transfer of Comrade Maria to hospital for treatment. Before dark today, I want to hear that she has arrived at the Moscow military hospital. "¡° No problem, comrade marshal. " "I''ll arrange it immediately," rokosovsky replied¡° At this time, chernyahovsky, who had been standing by the door with me, couldn''t help it any more. He took a few steps forward, stood in front of Zhukov and rokosovsky, and said to them, "this is my negligence. I immediately called the field hospital and asked them to send a car to take Maria to Moscow." Then he went to the phone by the wall, picked up the earphone and dialed a number. After a short wait, he asked aloud, "is it a field hospital? I''m chernyahovsky, commander of the group army. Let your Dean answer the phone. " We all looked at him, because the safety of Maria, the female tank hand, depended on the call he made. After a while, he said to the microphone, "Hello, comrade president, this is general chernyahovsky. I heard that in your hospital, there is a wounded female tank driver named Maria. Yes, yes, that''s her. She''s the pilot of the woman in arms. How''s she doing? What, bad? What''s the matter with you? Have you taken any rescue measures? Ah, I see. I''ll call you later. " Then he put down the phone and said to Zhukov, "marshal, I just asked about the field hospital. At present, they are operating on Sergeant Maria and are unable to send her to Moscow for the time being. " After hearing this, Zhukov turned to rokosovsky and said to him slowly, "Comrade rokosovsky, although Comrade Maria is undergoing an operation at the moment, we should be ready to send her to Moscow at any time. Well, you immediately send an ambulance from the field hospital of the front army to wait outside the field hospital of the 60th army. As soon as Sergeant Maria''s operation was over, she was sent to the military hospital in Moscow with the permission of the hospital. You have to deal with this matter in person. You must not be careless. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade marshal. " When Zhukov finished speaking, rokosovsky immediately assured him, "I will personally inquire about this matter and guarantee that Comrade Maria will be sent to the military hospital in Moscow as soon as possible." Zhukov nodded with satisfaction, looked back at chernyahovsky and me, and asked strangely, "what''s the matter with chernyahovsky and you, Rita? Why is there so much mud on your clothes? Is there any trouble on the way? "

 Chapter 1026

    Although Zhukov asked me, he looked at chernyahovsky and seemed to want to get the answer he wanted from him. Seeing this, I shut my mouth wisely and turned my eyes to chernyahovsky, waiting for him to tell Zhukov about our adventures on the way.


    As soon as chernyahovsky and Zhukov finished talking, he immediately replied, "report to marshal, on the way to the tank brigade, Rita and I met an enemy cavalry attack of more than 50 people. With the support of the reinforcements, we have wiped out all the cavalry. "


    "Enemy cavalry?" After listening to chernyahovsky''s brief introduction, Zhukov turned to look at rokosovsky and asked in surprise, "Comrade rokosovsky, do the Germans have cavalry?"


    Rokosovsky shook his head and said with a blank face: "since the German army has such a powerful armored force, cavalry is an indispensable branch for them. In the information I got, except for a few cavalry used for communication and reconnaissance, the Germans have never heard of any formed cavalry units."


    "Well, comrade marshal." Chernyahovsky found that Zhukov and rokosovsky had misunderstandings and quickly explained: "what we encountered was not German cavalry, but Hungarian cavalry. They should have bypassed our defense line and crossed through the forest. They happened to meet our motorcade, so the battle took place. "


    After listening to chernyahovsky''s narration, Zhukov walked around the table to me and asked with concern, "Rita, are you not hurt?"


    "No, comrade marshal." I was deeply afraid of Zhukov, so I quickly replied, "the enemy has been killed before they get close to me."


    "Is it really all right?" Without waiting for Zhukov to speak, rokosovsky came around the back of the table, came up to me, looked up and down, and asked nervously, "are you sure you''re not hurt?"


    "Comrade rokosovsky, don''t worry about Rita. She''s very lucky. She''ll be fine. " After confirming that I was not injured, Zhukov''s face became relaxed, so that he jokingly said to rokosovsky: "during the Moscow defense war, I took her to the front line for inspection, and I had encountered with German tanks, but in the end it was safe."


    Then the two men and chernyahovsky shook hands with him after giving some guidance on the deployment of the 60th army.


    When I was thinking about whether I should stay or return to the headquarters of the front army with rokosovsky, Zhukov, who passed by me, stopped, looked at me and asked, "Rita, what are you still doing here?" Before I could speak, he added, "come back to Moscow with me." With that, he and rokosovsky walked out side by side.


    "Yes I said yes aloud, then turned my eyes to chernyahovsky and saw the reaction. Chernyahovsky and I looked at each other, opened their mouths and said something silently. Although there was no sound, I still analyzed it from his mouth shape. What he said was: "don''t forget to mention to the marshal about replenishing our equipment."


    I nodded at him, saying that I would take his business to heart. Then I turned around and followed Zhukov and walked out of the headquarters of the tank brigade.


    A few of us didn''t go far out of the headquarters. Zhukov stopped and asked rokosovsky, "where are you going next?"


    Rokosovsky quickly replied: "I plan to go to the defense area of the 38th and 40th army. They are next to the incomplete Voronezh front army. Once the German army moves northward from bergorod, their position will be the focus of the enemy''s attack."


    "In that case," Zhukov said thoughtfully, "then you and Comrade jerekin should get there as soon as possible." Seeing rokosovsky''s promise, he turned around and was about to leave. He quickly stopped him and told him, "Lida had just been attacked by the enemy on her way here. To ensure safety, when you go later, bring more people with you. "


    "Yes, comrade marshal. I''ll go with a company of guards. " After these words, rokosovsky also said to Zhukov with concern, "marshal, although from here to Moscow, it is our defense area, but for the sake of safety, I will send you more troops."


    "No," Zhukov simply refused rokosovsky''s proposal and said, "your troops are limited. How can you send these valuable troops back with me? I don''t need you to worry about my safety. The soldiers who came with me from two trucks are all experienced in many battles. They are able to cope with all emergencies. "


    After he finished, he saw that rokosovsky wanted to persuade him again, so he raised his hand to stop him and said stubbornly: "besides, the return route is all within the defense line of our army. Even if we encounter the enemy''s sneak attack again, as long as we can persist for half an hour, the nearby reinforcements will arrive."


    When rokosovsky saw Zhukov''s obstinacy coming up, he didn''t pester with him. Instead, he turned his attention to me: "Rita, please worry about the safety of marshal all the way."


    "Come on, comrade rokosovsky, why do you talk so much nonsense? I''ve never been to the battlefield. When I''m in danger, don''t I know that I need to protect myself and ask others for help? " With that, he quickly walked to the jeep, opened the front passenger''s side door, and yelled at me: "Rita, what are you doing there? Don''t get on the bus quickly!" With that, he stooped into the car and slammed the door shut.


    I raised my hand and saluted rokosovsky, and said to him with a smile: "Comrade commander, you can rest assured that as long as I am here, there will be no accident for marshal. Goodbye, see you later! "


    "See you later!" He said, reaching out to me and giving me a firm grip.


    As soon as I sat down in the back row, Zhukov ordered the driver, "drive!"


    When our car was driving on the muddy road, Zhukov didn''t look back and said, "this rokosovsky is too cautious. The areas we passed are all in the depth of our defense line. At most, there are sporadic German scouts mixing in. They can''t pose any threat to us."


    When I heard Zhukov say this, I couldn''t help looking back at the two trucks behind me. My heart said, "even if I encounter the kind of sneak attack I experienced today, the strength of Zhukov''s guard is more than enough." I looked back and wanted to hear what Zhukov had to say, but he leaned back in his chair, lowered his head and began to shut his eyes.


    Zhukov can shut his eyes, but I have to be alert after the attack. I clenched the assault rifle in my hand and looked warily to both sides of the road, fearing that a group of people would emerge from the forest.


    I didn''t expect that the more I worried about something, the more I worried about it. After our car was driven for about ten minutes, I suddenly saw a group of people pouring out of the forest on the east side of the road from a distance, and immediately cried out nervously: "there''s an enemy, driver, stop, stop quickly, there''s an enemy in front." With that, I will pick up the assault rifle, ready to shoot.


    "Enemy, where is the enemy?" The jeep''s sudden brake and my panic call awakened Zhukov, who had closed his eyes. He asked warily, "where is the enemy?"


    "At the right front of the road, comrade marshal." I replied with a flustered look: "just out of the forest, there are at least ten or twenty people."


    Zhukov looked in the direction I said. After a while, he turned to me and said, "it''s not the enemy. It''s our own people. Don''t you see that they are all wearing our military uniform? Driver, drive over. "


    When I saw the driver follow Zhukov''s order and drive towards the group of people, my heart went up to my throat. My fingers kept on the trigger. I was ready to shoot as soon as I found something wrong.


    As we got closer and closer to that group of people, I finally saw that they were wearing our army uniforms. Except for a few people who had weapons in their hands, most of them were unarmed. Seeing this, I breathed a sigh of relief, saying that since their weapons were seriously insufficient, even if they were disguised by the German army, there was nothing to be afraid of. Thinking of this, I took my finger off the trigger.


    The group of people obviously heard the movement, and they all stopped and stood in place, waiting for our car to drive by. When the car stopped in front of them, Zhukov pushed the door open and yelled at them, "which one of you is the commander, come here."


    With his shouts, a second lieutenant in a helmet came out of the crowd. He had a beard, his uniform was covered with dry mud, and a bobosha submachine gun was hanging on his chest. He came to the car, raised his hand to salute Zhukov, politely said: "Hello, comrade marshal of the Soviet Union, what instructions do you have?"


    Zhukov looked at the second lieutenant in front of him and asked seriously, "second lieutenant, where are you from?"


    "From around Belgorod." The second lieutenant answered in a hoarse voice, straightening up.


    "Belgorod," Zhukov said with a sneer after hearing the name. Then he looked at the second lieutenant and asked impolitely, "the German captured Belgorod a week ago. Where did you escape from?"


    "No, comrade marshal." The second lieutenant replied humbly, "we belong to the Voronezh front army. After Kharkov was broken up by the German army, our battalion withdrew to Belgorod, where we fought another battle with the German army and retreated into the forest. We''ve been walking in the forest for a week, and we''re here today. "


    "Where is your battalion commander?" Zhukov continued.


    "I''m the battalion commander." The second lieutenant replied.


    After looking at him up and down, Zhukov asked with great interest, "I don''t know what you''ve done. How can you be promoted so fast?"


    "At first I was just a platoon commander. When the company commander was killed, I became the company commander." The second lieutenant continued to reply in the original tone: "after the sacrifice of the battalion commander, I was the highest ranking of the rest, and naturally became the battalion commander. There are twenty-one people left in the battalion, all of them here. "


    "Where are you going?" When the second lieutenant said that, Zhukov''s tone became friendly.


    "I don''t know," said the second lieutenant, shaking his head. "When we retreated into the forest, we were separated from the big army, so we had to retreat in the direction of Moscow, hoping to meet the main force and join them."¡° Comrade lieutenant, you are now farther and farther away from the Voronezh front army and have entered the defensive area of the central front army. " Zhukov took out his notebook, wrote a few strokes on it with his pencil, then tore off the page and handed it to the second lieutenant, saying, "Comrade second lieutenant, you and your people don''t have to withdraw to the North any more. Find a nearby army to join them. You give this piece of paper to the commander of that army, and they will arrange you properly. " The second lieutenant took the paper from Zhukov''s hand. Just as he wanted to speak, a commander on the back of the car rushed over to salute Zhukov and asked, "marshal, what can I do for you?" Zhukov looked sideways at his subordinates and at the embarrassed soldiers in front of him. Then he told the officer, "take something to eat from the car and give it to the second lieutenant. After they have been in the forest for so long, there will be no more food." Seeing the officer running behind to get food, the second lieutenant standing beside him raised his hand to salute Zhukov and said excitedly, "thank you, thank you, comrade marshal. We will always remember your kindness to us. " Zhukov closed the door noncommittally and told the driver again, "drive!" I turned my head and looked out the window at the ragged but upright soldiers. I said to Zhukov with emotion, "marshal, these commanders and fighters are good. As long as we let them have a good meal, have a good sleep, and then equip them with weapons, they will be another excellent teacher." When I mentioned the issue of replenishing weapons, Zhukov was silent. After a long time, he said, "Rita, some time ago we planned to install the new assault rifles in your hands for the troops, but judging from the current situation, the installation time may be greatly delayed."¡° Time has to go back. Why, comrade Marshal? " Zhukov''s words surprised me. In a hurry, I forgot the difference between the top and the bottom, and asked straightforwardly, "is there anything wrong with our production line?"¡° There''s nothing wrong with the production line, "Zhukov said to me, looking back." there''s something wrong with the raw materials. The materials needed for the new assault rifles have to be stopped because of the delayed arrival of American aid materials. "

 Chapter 1027

    Zhukov''s words puzzled me. I couldn''t help but ask in my heart that AK47 was developed and produced by the Soviet Union itself. It has nothing to do with us aid. Why did it stop work because of lack of raw materials? With this question in mind, I tentatively asked Zhukov, "marshal, I don''t understand. What is the relationship between the production of our assault rifles and the US aid materials?"


    Instead of answering my question immediately, Zhukov reached out to me and said, "give me your gun."


    I don''t know why he wanted to see my assault rifle, but he handed it to him honestly. After he took the gun, he patted the handle of the gun with his right hand and said, "look, Rita, this handle of the assault rifle is made of plastic. However, our existing production capacity is not yet able to produce a large number of plastics matching this kind of weapon, so we can only rely on aid materials from the United States. " Then he handed the gun back to me.


    I took the gun and said, "marshal, can''t the handle of this gun be made of wood instead of plastic?" When I said this, I pointed to the boundless forest outside the car window and said with emotion, "look at these forests. If they are used to make handlebars, they can''t be used up in a hundred years."


    "With wood?" When Zhukov heard what I said, he was stunned, and soon a smile of approval appeared on his face. "Yes, I didn''t think that wood could replace plastic. When you return to Moscow later, you will go with me to see Ustinov and tell him about it. " After a pause, he praised me and said, "it''s still your brain that works well. What bothers so many military experts can be solved in a few words."


    "Comrade marshal," I felt a little embarrassed about Zhukov''s praise, and quickly said, "I''m just saying that casually. As for whether this proposal can be adopted by the comrades of the people''s Committee, it''s still unknown."


    Zhukov waved to me and said with no doubt: "I think your proposal is completely feasible, and Ustinov should have no doubt. Don''t worry. Once the Armament Department takes your advice, a medal won''t run away. "


    I was stunned by Zhukov''s words. Although I made a suggestion, I could still get the medal. I was deeply afraid that Zhukov was wrong, so I tentatively asked: "marshal, this proposal I put forward seems not up to the level of awarding medals?"


    Zhukov pounced at the medal on my chest and said, "it''s definitely impossible to present you with this kind of red flag medal, but another kind of medal of honor, which was established by the order of the Soviet Central Executive Council on November 25, 1935. It is specially awarded to individuals or collectives who have achieved high targets in creative production, made outstanding achievements in scientific research and cultural and sports activities, made inventions and creations in technology, and made contributions in improving the combat effectiveness of the Soviet army and strengthening the national defense of the Soviet Union. "


    As soon as Zhukov''s words were finished, I understood that I deserved such a medal. It seems a trivial matter to change the grip of assault rifle from plastic to wood, but it can make assault rifle mass production in a short period of time. After the troops get new weapons, their combat effectiveness will be greatly improved in a short period of time. If they can''t get the medal in this way, It''s a little hard to say.


    After hearing our conversation, the driver didn''t drive to Zhukov''s headquarters, but drove directly outside the office building of the Armament Department. The guard at the door reached out and stopped our car. When he came and bent down to say something, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Zhukov sitting in the co pilot''s seat. He immediately stood at attention and saluted. Then he ran to move the railing at the door. The driver is not polite. As soon as he stepped on the accelerator, he drove into the compound of the equipment department.


    After we got out of the car, Zhukov explained a few words to the commander of the guard who came from the back car, and then led me into the building of the equipment department. According to my intuition, Zhukov must have come here many times. He took me up the second floor and walked along the corridor. On the way, we met our staff members who let us pass one after another, clinging to the wall. The people in military uniform also raised their hands to salute us.


    When we came to the two closed doors, the soldiers sitting at the table stood up, raised their hands to salute Zhukov, and said respectfully, "marshal, the people''s Committee is in there. Do you want me to report?"


    "No Zhukov said carelessly, then quickly stepped forward, raised his hand and patted it twice on the door. Without waiting for any movement inside, he pushed the door open and took the lead in. I gave a smile to the soldier standing by the door and walked in quickly.


    In the spacious room, there is a big desk in the middle. Two people are sitting next to the desk, looking down to discuss something. They both looked up at us when they heard someone coming in. I recognized Ustinov and Florin at first sight.


    Seeing Zhukov coming in, they stood up immediately. Ustinov also went around the table and came up to shake hands with Zhukov. He said politely, "Hello, comrade deputy commander, do you have anything important to do when you are here today?"


    Zhukov didn''t answer his question immediately. After shaking hands with him, he leaned over and pointed to me and said, "I have something important to discuss with you when I''m here with general oshanina today."


    I quickly stepped forward, raised my hand to salute Ustinov, and said: "Hello, comrades of the people''s Committee."


    When Ustinov shook hands with me, he laughed at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, have you changed your mind when you come to me today and intend to accept my appointment as the person in charge of the secret base?"


    "Comrades of the people''s Committee," I didn''t expect that Ustinov would suddenly say so. I couldn''t help getting a little flustered and quickly explained, "no, I came here with the marshal because I had something else to do."


    "Excuse me, comrade Ustinov." Zhukov said politely but firmly at the same time: "general oshanina is more suitable to stay in the army and command the troops. With her ability, she will certainly have a better development."


    "All right, all right, comrade deputy commander!" Ustinov said with a smile: "as long as I mention to let Comrade oshanina come to work in our weaponry department, you will be very unhappy."


    "Well, comrade Ustinov, let''s get back to business." Zhukov said to Ustinov in an official voice: "when do you plan to officially start the production of assault rifles?"


    "Excuse me, comrade Zhukov." It was florin, still standing behind the table, who said politely, "as things stand, we can''t start the production of new weapons by late May."


    "Why Zhukov looked at Ustinov and asked, "what''s the matter again?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." Ustinov sighed and said helplessly: "an hour ago, I just received a report from the port that because of the muddy road, the transportation has been seriously affected, and the arrival time of the latest US aid materials in Moscow may be delayed by one month."


    When Zhukov found out what was going on, his face relaxed. He waved his hand, sat down in a back chair beside the table, looked up at Ustinov and asked, "if I''m not wrong, the reason why you have to postpone the production date is that the plastic used to make the grip of assault rifles has not arrived?"


    Ustinov turned his head to look at Florin. Seeing that the other party nodded at him, he said with certainty, "yes, comrade deputy commander, without this batch of plastics, we would not be able to produce the grip of assault rifle."


    "Why do you have to use plastic to make rifle handles?" With a smile on his face, Zhukov asked, "can''t you use wood as a substitute?"


    "Make a grip out of wood?" Florin repeated Zhukov''s words, then put his right hand on his forehead and said, "my God, why didn''t I think of this way? In fact, using wood to make a grip has the same effect. " With these words, he walked around the table to Zhukov, bent slightly, stretched out his hands, and said, "Marshal Zhukov, you are so amazing that you can come up with such a good idea."


    Zhukov held out his hand to shake him gently. After releasing it, he did not take credit for it. He pointed to me and said, "Comrade engineer, you don''t have to thank me. In fact, oshanina thought of this method. If you really want to thank her, thank her. "


    After hearing Zhukov''s words, Florin came up to me, took my hand and said gratefully, "Rita, I didn''t expect you to solve our urgent problem so easily. Thank you so much!"


    I took the old engineer''s hand and said with a smile, "you''re welcome, comrade engineer. I just came up with an idea on a whim, and I don''t know if it will help you


    "Yes, of course." This time, Ustinov took my hand and said excitedly, "maybe it''s a trivial idea for you, but it solves the big problem we are facing." Speaking of this, he turned to Zhukov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, with the idea of Comrade oshanina, in two days at most, our arsenal will be able to carry out large-scale production of new rifles."


    "Great, that''s great." On hearing the good news, Zhukov could not sit still in his seat. He stood up and said, "in this way, we can equip our assault rifles with rokosovsky''s troops in mid April. After they are familiar with the new weapons, we can prepare for a new offensive campaign."


    When Zhukov said this, I paid special attention to the expression on Florin''s face. The corner of his mouth twitched, as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed it back. At this time, I heard Ustinov say to Zhukov, "deputy commander, since Comrade oshanina''s proposal has solved our problem, should we consider awarding her a medal of honor in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the combat effectiveness of our army?"


    On hearing Ustinov''s suggestion, Zhukov''s face showed a smile. He said with ease, "Comrade Ustinov, it''s within your authority to award the medal of honor. You don''t need to ask me for instructions."


    Usjinov didn''t expect Zhukov''s promise to be so straightforward. First he was stunned, then he said with a smile: "since that''s the case, I''ll arrange the next thing."


    Then he turned to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, because of your contribution in improving the combat effectiveness of our army and strengthening the national defense of the motherland, I have decided to award you the medal of honor. The ceremony will take place in two days, along with engineer Florin As he said this, he looked at Florin. "According to his contribution, he will be awarded the red flag of labor, the scythe and hammer medal, and the medal of honor." After hearing these words, Florin immediately took two steps forward, stood in front of Ustinov, straightened his back and said loudly, "I''d like to serve the motherland of the Soviet Union!"

 Chapter 1028

    Zhukov, after waiting for Florin to make his statement, beckoned us to sit down on the chairs around the table, and then said to me solemnly, "what you''re going to hear next, Rita, will be top secret. You have to promise me that you can never let it out, or you will know the consequences. "


    When I heard Zhukov say this, I immediately stood up and said, "marshal, please rest assured that I will never disclose to anyone what I hear next." With these words, I couldn''t help beating a drum in my heart. My heart said whether I should find a reason to leave, otherwise I would be in danger of being killed at any time if I knew too many things I shouldn''t know.


    "You''d better understand that. I''m sure you can keep your promise." Zhukov listened to me, nodded with satisfaction, raised his hand, pressed it down, and ordered, "sit down."


    After waiting for me to sit down, Zhukov asked Ustinov, who was sitting opposite him: "Comrade Ustinov, there is no outsider here. Oshanina also knows the origin of engineer fronin. Can you tell me something about the new equipment that will be installed in the army? "


    "No problem, comrade deputy commander." "But since engineer Florin is in charge of this matter, it is most appropriate for him to explain it to you," Ustinov replied very readily


    "Marshal Zhukov," Florin stood up from his position, took the stack of materials from Ustinov, bowed slightly to Zhukov, and said respectfully, "please allow me to report to you the new equipment currently developed. In more than one year, we have produced 50 t-54 and 50 t-55 tanks, six T-72 tanks, 100 pt-76 water tanks, 200 zsu-57-2 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, and so on


    "Wait a minute, comrade engineer." In the middle of hearing this, Zhukov suddenly interrupted the words behind Florin and asked, "judging from the tank model you mentioned, the T-72 tank should be the best, but why only six tanks have been produced?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." Seeing fronin''s expression of embarrassment, Ustinov rushed out to explain: "with our existing technology, we can''t produce enough special steel for T-72."


    "So it is." Zhukov said softly, with an expression of regret on his face. After a while, he looked up at florin, waved at him and said, "Comrade engineer, please introduce to me the characteristics of these new tanks."


    When Zhukov asked about his major, Florin said, "the t-54 tank evolved from the t-44 tank. The first prototype was made in 1946." Perhaps seeing Zhukov''s blank face, he specially added: "t-44 tank is a medium-sized tank which appeared in 1944. It not only inherits the advantages of T-34, but also creates a new era of tanks in our country."


    When Zhukov heard fronin say this, he just gave a simple "Oh", nodded his head and said to him, "Comrade engineer, please go on."


    "The initial design of the t-54 started in October 1944 and was carried out by okb-520 Design Bureau. The prototype design was completed in December of that year, and the prototype car was also manufactured by the 183rd Stalin Urals tank factory in February 1945. The prototype car was tested and passed in March and April 1945, and was named t-54 by the military. The body structure and power unit of the prototype are the same as those of the t-44, but the difference is that the armor is thicker: the front armor is 100 mm in the upper part, 90 mm in the lower part, 90-150 mm in the side, 30 mm in the top, the diameter of the turret base is increased to 1800 mm, and it has a newly designed cockpit and observation window. " Although there are still many problems and defects in the t-54, it was officially put into service on April 29, 1946 and began mass production in 1947


    "Comrade engineer, I want to ask you a question." When Zhukov heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting Florin''s words again. Seeing his attention focused on himself, he then asked, "how did the t-54 tank perform against the German tanks?"


    After the introduction of the materials was interrupted, the expression on his face was very serious. When he heard Zhukov''s question clearly, he could not help smiling: "Comrade marshal, you are worried too much. Our t-54 has no chance to compete with the German army, because they were defeated by us in 1945. "


    "We beat Germany in 45 years?" Zhukov looked suspiciously at Ustinov, who was sitting beside him. The latter nodded with a smile and said with certainty, "yes, comrade deputy commander. Although engineer Florin''s amnesia is very serious and he can''t remember the specific battle, he told me more than once that we completely defeated Germany in May of ''45. "


    After listening to Ustinov''s words, Zhukov turned to Florin and asked carefully, "Comrade engineer, if I understand correctly, our t-54 tank, which is about to be put into actual combat, has never competed with German tanks in real history. Am I right? "


    "Exactly, comrade marshal." Florin gave Zhukov a positive answer.


    "You absolutely use these tanks. Can you fight against Fu''s Tiger tanks?" Zhukov asked cautiously: "you know, in the previous battle, we had a large number of T-34 tanks, which were destroyed by the German tigers. Even the 45mm anti tank guns could not help them."


    "Don''t worry, comrade marshal." For Zhukov''s worry, Florin immediately gave him a reassurance, "once our t-54 tank is put into actual combat, the battle damage ratio should be around 1:8."


    For such data, Zhukov obviously heard it for the first time. He was surprised to grow his mouth. After a while, he asked: "the battle loss ratio is 1:8, which may not be too exaggerated?"


    "Comrade deputy commander," Ustinov said again, "this is only a conservative estimate. After all, what we are going to equip our troops with is a new type of tank that transcends this era. I think this battle damage ratio is credible."


    "Yes, comrade marshal." Florin also lost no time to add: "if our T-72 is put into actual combat, the battle damage ratio can even be increased to 1:20 or higher..."


    Rao shizhukov was a high-power man with a wide range of knowledge. However, after listening to the words of Ustinov and florin, he still looked back at me and said with a bitter smile, "Rita, if I didn''t know that Florin engineer came from the future, and Comrade Ustinov was also a man who never lied, I would think what I heard was Arabian Nights."


    "Marshal, like you, I feel that what I have heard is totally incredible." Although I was not surprised that a military expert like Florin could launch such a new weapon, in front of the three of them, I tried to put on a look of surprise: "if these tanks are really put into the battlefield, then even if the German tanks have a numerical advantage, they will still be defeated by us."


    Zhukov nodded in agreement with what I said, and then asked florin, "what''s the matter with land and water tanks and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns?"


    "Pt-76 light amphibious tank is a light amphibious armored vehicle developed by China after World War II. It can completely replace T-26, BT and other light tanks or cruise tanks "According to the statistics of the armed forces of the Soviet Union, about 68% of the enemy planes were shot down by 25-37mm small caliber anti-aircraft guns during the whole Patriotic War. Therefore, the Armament Department proposed to develop a 37mm self-propelled antiaircraft gun. In 1945, based on the su-76m self-propelled gun body, zsu-37 type 37mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun was developed, which simply installed l63m1939 type 37mm anti-aircraft gun on the armored combat vehicle In 1955, the zsu-57-2 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun was finalized and produced with t-54 main battle tank as the chassis and an open thin armored rotating turret. The body is composed of armored chassis, turret, dual artillery, engine power assembly, aiming system, communication and fire fighting equipment


    Although Zhukov and Ustinov listened with great interest, I, who knew little about weapons, fell asleep. I secretly pinched my legs to keep myself from falling asleep because of the dullness of what Florin was saying, and pretended to be absorbed in it.


    It took him an hour or two to finish. When I was looking for a chance to ask Zhukov when he could leave, Zhukov turned to me and asked me, "Rita, let me ask you, if you want to assign these tanks to the central front army, which group army are you going to give them to?"


    I had been worried about how to help chernyahovsky to ask Zhukov to replenish tanks and artillery. When I heard him ask, I couldn''t help but feel ecstatic. On the surface, however, I had to pretend to be indifferent. After half a day of thinking, I slowly replied, "Comrade marshal, according to my observation and understanding in the central front army these two days, I think this batch of tanks can be given priority to general chernyahovsky."


    After that, I took a furtive glance at florin, and saw a smile on his face and a slight nod of the head. From the reaction of florin, I knew that there was no problem with my proposal, so I turned my eyes to Zhukov.


    After hearing this, Zhukov didn''t immediately express his opinion. Instead, he asked with a smile, "Rita, why do you want to assign these new tanks to chernyahovsky''s 60th army?"


    "Well, comrade marshal." I finally found the opportunity to say a good word for chernyahovsky. Naturally, I would not miss it easily: "according to my observation, general chernyahovsky is a very capable commander. He has a decisive style, rich experience in organizing and commanding large regiments, and is good at concentrating a large number of troops in the main assault direction to carry out assault on the enemy. In particular, he was good at using the tank regiment to weave and encircle the German army. Therefore, I think that he can make the most of his new tanks. "


    "You have a good point," Zhukov said after I finished talking about his views: "general chernyahovsky once served as the commander of tank division and tank army, and had his own unique views on commanding tank operations. I''m very relieved to give him these new tanks. "


    When I heard Zhukov''s promise to assign the new tanks to the 60th army, I fell to the ground, and I finally lived up to chernyahovsky''s expectations. After the new tanks entered the group''s defense area, chernyahovsky remembered me even if I didn''t say anything. Then Zhukov and Ustinov worked out a detailed plan for which factory to participate in the production of tanks and assault rifles. Because it''s all confidential, so I didn''t look closer, but deliberately kept a certain distance from them. When everything had been arranged, Zhukov stood up and said to me, "Rita, it''s getting late. Let''s go back." Long waiting impatiently, I heard Zhukov''s words. If I listened to the sounds of nature, I quickly stood up and promised loudly, "yes, I will follow your instructions!"

 Chapter 1029

    Early the next morning, Zhukov sent me to his headquarters.


    When I went into the big room of the headquarters, I found that in addition to Zhukov, there was another general I didn''t know. They were leaning over the table and looking at the map. They both looked up at me when they heard the door.


    When Zhukov saw that it was me, he pointed to the general beside him and introduced him to me: "Rita, let''s get to know him. This is Comrade khluliov, director of the Logistics Department of the Red Army. Khrushiev, this is general oshanina. " With that, he continued to stare at the map in front of him.


    I saw the rank on khrushiev''s shoulder and stepped forward to him. Although I have never met the general, I have long heard of him, so after raising my hand, I respectfully said, "Hello, general! I''ve heard a lot about you. It''s my pleasure to meet you here today. "


    In his early fifties, khrushiev looked like a kind old man. When he shook hands with me, he also said with a smile, "Hello, general oshanina. I''ve heard a lot about you, too. You are the only female general in our Red Army. "


    After we exchanged greetings, Zhukov said, "now that we all know each other, let''s all sit down. Next, we have more important things to discuss. "


    When I sat down, Zhukov looked at me and said, "Rita, I''ve called you here today to inform you of something important. Originally, the Supreme Command intended you to visit the United States in mid April with a friendly delegation. But now the situation has changed, and your schedule needs to be adjusted. "


    When I heard what Zhukov said, I could not help feeling a little flustered. My heart said, did my trip to the United States come to nothing like this? But Zhukov''s next words surprised me again. He only heard: "Comrade Stalin intends to let you go to the United States with Comrade Molotov, accompanied by general khrushov." Here, he looked at khrushiev with a smile and continued, "you three have their own division of labor. Comrade Molotov is responsible for consolidating the diplomatic relations between the two countries, and general khrushiev is responsible for negotiating a new round of us aid with the military. And you, as the representative of the base camp, have to work with those American generals to study when and where to launch the second battlefield. "


    Zhukov''s last words, let me worry about gain and loss again, I am an ordinary person, let me deal with those American generals who are more proficient than monkeys, don''t you want me to show my shame? Thinking of this, I quickly stood up and said to Zhukov: "marshal, I have never participated in such work, and I have no experience in this field. I am worried that I am not qualified for such work..."


    Before I finished, Zhukov interrupted me with a wave: "your task is assigned by Comrade Stalin himself. No one has the right to change it."


    As soon as Zhukov''s words came out, I knew that my arrangement for dealing with American generals was a firm one, and there was no possibility of any change. Had to harden the scalp to promise a, again sit to return to own position.


    After explaining this to me, Zhukov turned his attention to khrushiev and said in a different tone, "Dear Andre vasilievych, let''s discuss what we need to ask our American allies. First, tanks, anti tank weapons and anti-aircraft guns, as well as a large number of armored steel plates and various types of aircraft. Besides, we need American cars. "


    When he heard this, khluliov interrupted Zhukov and politely asked, "Comrade deputy commander, with respect, the off-road performance of our domestic gascar is no worse than that of the multi-purpose off-road vehicle of Willis automobile company. I think it''s more appropriate to use domestic vehicles for transportation, so at least we won''t worry about spare parts. "


    Unexpectedly, Zhukov shook his head and immediately rejected his proposal: "Comrade khrushiev, all our automobile factories now produce tanks or armored vehicles, so transportation vehicles can only be provided by our allies."


    While recording quickly in his notebook, khrushiev read in a low voice: "tanks, anti-aircraft guns, airplanes, armor plates, cars." After writing this, he looked up at Zhukov and asked, "is that all?"


    Zhukov frowned for a moment and said, "I think we need a lot of barbed wire for our defense zone in Kursk."


    "How much wire do you need?" Asked khrushiev.


    "At least 500 tons." Zhukov slowly said a number. While I was calculating how wide the barbed wire can be used, I heard what he said: "even if it is less than 500 tons, we can provide 400 tons of barbed wire every month. I think they can do this."


    After adding this variety to the book, khrushiev took it up and read it to Zhukov: "Comrade deputy commander, I''ll read it to you to see if there is anything else to add. Every month, we will provide 500 tanks, 400 aircraft of various types, 5000 jeeps, as well as anti-aircraft guns, anti tank guns, armored steel plates and 500 tons of barbed wire. " When he put down the book, he added, "by the way, do we still need American armored cars?"


    Zhukov waved his hand and directly denied his proposal: "no, that kind of car is of no use to us. With our strength, we can create more advanced armored personnel carriers. By the way, if possible, let the Americans provide us with transport trucks. Our domestic trucks are basically one and a half ton trucks, and they are in urgent need of three and a half ton trucks. "


    Khrushiev nodded and wrote a few more in his notebook.


    When Zhukov finished, he suddenly asked, "how many armor plates can we get from our allies every month?"


    "A thousand tons." Said khrushiev, without expression.


    "Only a thousand tons?" Speaking of this number, Zhukov''s face showed an expression of displeasure, "but as far as I know, the annual steel production in the United States is 50 million tons."


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander, your data are very accurate." After flattering him, khrushiev explained to him, "the United States not only needs to provide us with military aid, but also needs to provide Britain with necessary war supplies. In the short term, they are unable to increase the production of steel."


    "It''s easy to solve the problem of increasing the production of armor plates by adding proper additives." Zhukov said in a sarcastic tone, "don''t the American capitalists understand what every steelmaker knows?"


    At this time, I heard a noise from the position of the door. I turned around and saw the officer on duty outside the door standing in front of the open door. Seeing that the attention of the people in the room was focused on him, he quickly reported: "Comrade marshal, two commanders of Voronezh''s front army are here."


    "Invite them in!" Zhukov said in a very dignified tone.


    The officer agreed. Then he made a gesture of invitation to the people outside the door and said, "please come in, comrades general!"


    As soon as he spoke, two big commanders in military coats and grey beaver caps marched into the headquarters. When the officer saw that they had entered the room, he quietly backed out and took the door with him.


    The two generals came to Zhukov with a chill, stood still, raised their hands, and then reported: "Marshal comrade, commander (deputy commander) of Voronezh''s front army, general watujing (apanashchenko) reported to you, we have come to report on your order, please give us instructions!"


    Zhukov raised his hand to return a salute, and then thought of shaking hands with them one by one and greeting them. Next, khrushiev came forward to shake hands with them, and chatted with watujing.


    When they finished greeting each other, I quickly went to watujing, raised my hand to salute the new general, and politely said, "Hello, comrade commander of the front army!"


    When watujing shook hands with me, he complained and said, "Comrade oshanina, although you have been in the southwest front army under my command for a period of time, as your superior, I have never seen you." At this point, a smile suddenly appeared on his face, and he shook my hand and said, "you are good, lieutenant general o''shanina. That''s what I want to tell you!"


    Then he turned to apanashchenko, who had the same rank as him, and said, "Comrade deputy commander, this is Comrade oshanina, whom I mentioned to you on the way. She led her troops to fight tenaciously on the right bank of the Dnieper River. She not only made a mess of the enemy''s rear, but also successfully liberated Kiev."


    "So you are o''shanina." After listening to watujing''s introduction, apanashchenko took the initiative to extend his hand to me and said friendly and candidly, "I envy you very much, Comrade General. After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, although I command an army of millions of people, I have never fought. I feel very ashamed in front of you. "


    When I heard apanashchenko''s words, I was speechless. I didn''t know what to say in response to him, so I had to smile bitterly and keep silent. Fortunately, Zhukov saw my embarrassment and came out in time to help me out: "Comrade apanashchenko, the Far East Front Army under your command has loosened 17 infantry divisions, 3 tank divisions, 2 cavalry divisions, 2 airborne brigades and 4 infantry brigades, dozens of bombers and fighter regiments for the front in the past two years. The combat experience of these troops has played a significant role in the war. And because of your excellent management, we have provided a strong guarantee for our victory and avoided the dilemma of our army in two line operations. "


    For Zhukov''s praise, apanashchenko gave a simple and honest smile and said modestly, "marshal, all I have done is to adapt to the requirements of the war, and strive to turn the Far East into a fortress ready to fight. Each of our troops and soldiers in the Far East is always ready to resist the Japanese attack, or go to the western front to fight. This is the need of the leaders, the army, and the country and the nation. "


    After listening to apanashchenko''s statement, Zhukov nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile, "general apanashchenko, you are a very capable commander. It is because of this that Comrade Stalin personally ordered you to be promoted from the position of commander of the far east front army. He intends to give you an opportunity to command a fighting front army, a fighting front army, so that you can become a marshal after the end of the war, because you once led a decisive front army in the final stage of the war. "


    At this point, Zhukov took a look at watujing and patted apanashchenko on the shoulder. He continued: "don''t mind that you are the deputy commander of the front army. Although you were a general long before the outbreak of the war, you didn''t experience the war last night, We also need to accumulate more experience around Comrade watujing so that we can command a front army alone in the future... "While they were talking, I was looking at the commander and deputy commander of Voronezh and sighing for their future destiny. Vatukin died a year later when he was attacked in Ukraine. Apanashchenko, however, suffered from the enemy''s air attack in his forward command post during the Kursk battle in a few months, and unfortunately died a heroic death. Otherwise, these two generals will definitely get the rank of Marshal after the war.

 Chapter 1030

    The delegation led by Molotov left for the United States on April 5. We took the train for two days and two nights to Yekaterinburg, which is located on the Eurasian boundary. We changed planes here and flew to Alaska. After flying to Seattle, we had a rest day and flew to Washington in the morning of the 9th.


    Because the comfort of aircraft in this era can''t be compared with that of later generations, when the plane landed at the military airport in Washington, I was on the plane for several days. I feel like I''m going to break up.


    After the plane stopped and put down the gangway, a round faced old man with glasses came up with a group of people. After the introduction of general khrushiev, I learned that this smiling old man was actually Soviet ambassador to the United States Maxim livinov.


    After shaking hands with everyone, livinov guided Molotov to a luxury car and opened the door for him. After Molotov got on the bus, he followed.


    Khrushiev and I were sitting in a car behind them. After the car started, I couldn''t help but ask khrushiev curiously, "Comrade minister, how long has this comrade levinov been an ambassador in the United States?"


    After thinking for a moment, khrushov replied, "after the outbreak of the patriotic war, comrade Stalin appointed livinov as the foreign affairs representative and the Soviet ambassador to the United States. After he became an ambassador, he signed the "lease treaty" with the United States in 1942. This time, when we talked about military aid with the United States, we still need him to help me. "


    After listening to khluliov''s introduction to livinov, I turned to Molotov. I glanced at the driver in the front row, approached khrushiev and asked in a low voice, "do you think we can accomplish this mission?"


    "I don''t think it''s a big problem." Khluliov said confidently: "although you are responsible for the discussion of opening up a second battlefield, comrade Molotov has already laid the groundwork for you. As early as last year, when he met with US President Roosevelt at the White House, he held talks on the issue of opening up a second battlefield occasionally. "The second battlefield issue is not only a military issue, but also a political issue, but mainly a political issue," he said at the meeting Through negotiations, the two sides also signed an agreement on the second battlefield. "


    Looking at the high-rise buildings on both sides of the street and the people coming and going on the street, I continued to ask, "where are we going? Is it the Embassy in the United States?"


    He looked out of the car window, then shook his head and said, "I''ve been to Washington once before. From the route, it''s not like going to the embassy, it''s a bit like going to the White House."


    When I went to the White House, khrushiev''s words made me shiver. I thought I would have to rest for at least one or two days before I went back to see Roosevelt. I didn''t expect that I would get off the plane and go directly to the White House. But I still held a skeptical attitude and asked with half a doubt: "Comrade minister, if you really want to see President Roosevelt, you should see the person he sent to meet us at the airport." I stopped to think about it, and then said, "as Comrade Molotov, at least Secretary of state hull is needed to receive him."


    Khluliov is obviously much more experienced than me in this respect. He said lightly, "don''t worry, comrade oshanina. According to my analysis, the US side doesn''t want too many people to know about our visit, so the people who welcome us will wait at the door of the White House. Maybe not only hull, but also Hopkins."


    I thought khrushiev was just guessing, but I didn''t expect that when our team arrived at the door, they were really received by hull and Hopkins outside the White House.


    A few minutes later, when Roosevelt and I were sitting around the same round table in the White House conference room, I thought I was dreaming. I pinched my leg. The pain made me realize that I really came to the White House, not a dream.


    Many people sat around the round table, including President Roosevelt, Secretary of state hull and Hopkins, Secretary of war Stimson and chief of Staff General Marshall. On our side, there are only Molotov, khluliov and me. Behind us, there is a translator provided by the US side.


    "Mr. President, first of all, I would like to thank you and your country for supporting us in fighting against the German Communist aggressors for a long time, and give you Comrade Stalin''s letter." Molotov stood up, went up to Roosevelt and handed him a thick envelope.


    Roosevelt took the letter, weighed it in his hand, put it directly on the table without looking at it, and then said to Molotov with a smile, "Mr. Molotov, I think the content of Marshal Stalin''s letter has something to do with when and where we will open up the second battlefield?"


    To Roosevelt''s conjecture, he replied positively, "yes, Mr. President. If Britain and the United States can open up a second battlefield as soon as possible, we can defeat the Germans as soon as possible and change the pattern of the whole world. "


    "Mr. Molotov, you have said before that opening up a second battlefield is a military issue," Roosevelt asked, leaning back against the back of his wheelchair, raising his eyebrows slightly. "Are you here to discuss this issue with us on behalf of the Soviet military?"


    "Mr. President," Molotov said politely, "the person in charge of the negotiation with your military is selected by Comrade Stalin himself." After that, he pointed to me and introduced to Roosevelt, "this is lieutenant general o''shanina. She will be fully responsible for discussing the second battlefield with your military."


    Roosevelt looked at me in the direction of Molotov''s finger. When he looked at me, he gave me a smile. There was a trace of curiosity in his eyes. Then he said in a calm voice, "Mr. Molotov, I have a suggestion. Do you want to hear it?"¡° Mr. President, go ahead Molotov said politely¡° It''s a time of war, and the steps of some things can''t be the same as in peacetime. " Roosevelt said without hesitation: "I know you have a special mission this time. In order to reach your destination as soon as possible, I suggest that we should conduct decentralized negotiations to improve each other''s efficiency."¡° Separate negotiations? " After listening to Roosevelt''s words, Molotov couldn''t help looking back at khrushiev and me, and then turned to write to each other, "I don''t know how to talk?" Roosevelt kept a smile on his face and said, "you are here to normalize diplomatic relations between the two countries. You can talk to Secretary of state, Mr. hull; General khrushiev, on the other hand, came for the purpose of leasing the bill, which was in the charge of Mr. Stimson, Minister of war; General oshanina and General Marshall will be invited to the war hall to discuss the second battlefield. What do you think? " What Roosevelt meant was to let the three of us separate and negotiate in three aspects at the same time. Molotov gave a little thought to his suggestion and readily agreed. I followed Marshall out of the conference room, ready to go to the war room in the war room. In order to prevent language barrier, the US side specially equipped me with a portable translator. When we got out of the White House and got into the car parked outside, I asked Marshall cleverly, "admiral, are we going to the Pentagon next?" After hearing the translation, Marshall looked at me blankly and said, "general o''shanina, you may be disappointed. The Pentagon you mentioned, the future office building of our War Department, was just completed at the beginning of the year. Now it is undergoing interior decoration, and it will not move in until June at the earliest. " When I heard that I couldn''t go to the Pentagon, I was somewhat disappointed, but I was still reluctant to ask, "where is the war hall we are going to?"¡° Because of the space problem, the office space of our war department is scattered in many places. " When I asked about the office location, Marshall said helplessly, "for example, national square, Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia all have our office location. But we''re going to the war hall. It''s in the national square. It''s not far from here. It''ll be there in a few minutes. You can see the famous Washington Monument from the window, as well as many famous buildings of time. " With these words, he suddenly stopped and did not speak. He just looked at the front silently, as if thinking about something important. Looking at this chief of staff from the side, I thought with great interest that the reason why the United States has only five-star admiral but no Marshal Rank is related to Marshall. Because the pronunciation of "marshal" in English is very close to "Marshall", if he is awarded the rank of Marshal, others will call him "Marshall". Therefore, in order to avoid such an embarrassing title, the United States does not set up the rank of Marshal, but only the rank of five-star general. After we got off, we entered a building, crossed a long corridor and came to a wide war room. The people inside knew that we were coming, and they all stood at the door waiting for us. Seeing that the people who welcomed us were almost uniform school officials, and the generals who occasionally appeared in my field of vision were only brigadier general level. I feel a little more down-to-earth. As long as there is no officer with a higher rank than me, I will not be too nervous in the next negotiation. When I finally walked into the war room after shaking hands with the generals introduced by Marshall, I found another general standing with his back to the door. Looking at his broad back and big bald head without a military cap, I suddenly had a feeling of deja vu. When I took a few tentative steps forward, the general turned slowly and looked up and down at me with provocative eyes. Seeing the familiar face and the three stars on his badge representing the rank of lieutenant general, my heart beat faster. I took a deep breath, tried to control my situation, reached out to him, and politely said in English, "Hello, General Patton, nice to meet you here!"

 Chapter 1031

    I didn''t expect Barton to look at me, snorted scornfully, looked his hands behind him, his chin raised high, his eyes fixed on the ceiling of the war room, as if there was something beautiful on it that attracted him.


    My outstretched hand just froze there. Just as I was about to take my hand back, Marshall, who was beside me, quickly stepped forward, walked up to Barton and said in a loud voice, "George, let me introduce you. This is general oshanina from Soviet Russia."


    The interpreter standing behind me immediately translated Marshall''s words to me. Although I had understood what Marshall said to Barton for a long time, I still pretended to be serious and listened to what the interpreter said in order to hide my embarrassment.


    I took back my outstretched hand, pretended to be careless and said, "our cavalry forces are equipped with a kind of m1913 cavalry saber assisted by American allies, which can change the standard slashing action into stabbing. Soldiers love this saber and call it" Patton Saber ". I just wanted to ask General Patton, Ask if he designed this kind of cavalry saber himself


    After listening to other people''s translation, Barton looked down at me, and the arrogant expression on his face was also restrained. Although his mouth was slightly upturned, his words were still cold: "yes, that kind of saber was designed on a whim after I learned fencing skills from Mr. Clary of France. Why, is this kind of saber very popular in Russia? "


    "Yes, Mr. general." Although I have never visited the cavalry unit, and I don''t know the cavalry''s evaluation of this kind of saber, it doesn''t affect Barton who is standing in front of me at all. Anyway, he can''t send people to understand: "in our cavalry unit, because the number of this kind of saber is limited, there are only excellent soldiers or soldiers who have made great achievements, To have this kind of "Barton saber."


    As soon as I finished, Barton turned his head and couldn''t wait to ask the interpreter behind me, "when did she just say that?" The translator immediately translated what I said to him.


    After hearing this, Patton''s face became more friendly. With a slight grin, he reached out to me and said, "general o''shanina, I always think war is a man''s business. Women should stay at home, have children and do housework."


    I took Barton''s powerful hand and answered with a smile, "general, don''t you think I''m already neutral? The war has erased people''s gender. I hope others will treat me as a soldier first, and then as a woman. You have also said that a soldier is also a citizen, and the highest obligation and right of a citizen is to take up arms to defend the motherland. "


    Barton couldn''t help laughing when I said his famous words. Seeing that there was no more tension between Barton and me, Marshall said with a smile, "general oshanina, I don''t think you''re right. As long as the war doesn''t kill you, you will always be a woman. And a beautiful woman. " Then he patted Barton on the back and said, "George, don''t stand here. Go back to your seat. We have something important to discuss."


    As the highest ranking soldiers in the room were Marshall and Barton, Marshall let Barton sit on his right side while I sat on his left side. As for the interpreter I was equipped with, he sat a little outside between me and Marshall.


    When I looked at Barton, it suddenly occurred to me that according to historical records, he should be in Africa now. How could he suddenly appear in Washington? When I carefully told Marshall my question, instead of asking my source, he said to me with a smile, "general oshanina, George took over the post of commander of the second army on March 6 and appointed General Bradley as his deputy. In the Tunis campaign that started on the 17th, although his troops were only responsible for the auxiliary task, they succeeded in capturing Gafsa and successfully repelling the German and Italian armored forces. He was temporarily recalled to Washington this time to coordinate the fight with the British forces. "


    When I heard Marshall talking about his achievements, Barton''s face showed a proud expression, and my original vague memory became clear. Barton''s troops should be marching towards Gabes at this time, putting pressure on the mares defense line of the German Italian alliance. Because his troops didn''t get the air support promised in advance, he had a dispute with rear general Arthur of Raf. Maybe he was transferred back temporarily, which has something to do with it.


    After finishing Barton''s business, Marshall coughed and began to get down to business: "gentlemen, today I''m here with general o''shanina of the friendly army to discuss the opening up of the second battlefield." After a moment''s pause, he said to a colonel opposite, "Colonel pug, it''s up to you to introduce information to our allies."


    The middle-aged colonel in army uniform stood up from his position, bowed slightly in our direction, then went to the big map beside the wall and began to explain to us: "gentlemen, at the Casablanca meeting in January this year, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill passed the decision to land in Sicily in the first half of the year, Put off landing on the European continent until August 1943. At the same time, the British and American Special Plan staff was established to formulate landing plans in Europe, with general Morgan of the British army as chief of staff. According to the provisions of the resolution, once it is decided to land on the European continent and open up a second battlefield, the special staff department will immediately start working out operational plans. "


    Colonel Pug picked up a stick leaning against the wall and continued: "according to the experience and lessons of previous landing operations, the landing site should have the following three conditions: first, it should be within the radius of the fighter plane taking off from the British airport; 2¡¢ The sailing distance should be as short as possible; 3¡¢ There should be a large port nearby. There are only three suitable places on the 480 km long coastline from the Dutch city of vrisingen to fargesburg At this point, Pug turned around and lit the map on the wall with the explanation stick. "It''s the Constantine Peninsula, Calais and Normandy."


    After captain Pug put down his stick and went back to his position, Marshall turned to me with a smile and said, "general oshanina, although general Morgan of England is responsible for opening up the second battlefield, we can also discuss some feasible plans for him so that we can work out a more suitable landing plan. Continue, you are the representative sent by Russia. Can you tell us your views on landing operations? "


    "Yes, general oshanina." Patton also kindly echoed: "give us your opinion, maybe we can give people who are involved in the plan a better inspiration."


    I know in my heart that Marshall and Barton are so polite on the surface, but they can''t see the Soviet clearly from the bottom of their bones. Otherwise, Zhukov will not toast Barton at the victory banquet of conquering Berlin two years later, and they will not only encounter a wall, but also be cursed by him.


    I got up, walked around the table with the interpreter, came to the map and stood. He raised his hand to salute all the people present, and then politely said, "Dear General Marshall, General Patton, gentlemen, since General Marshall asked me to express my views, I would like to talk about some of my views on the selection of landing sites for the allies. If there is anything wrong, I would like to ask General Marshall, General Patton and all of you to criticize and correct me. "


    Seeing that Marshall nodded slightly, I picked up the stick beside the wall, pointed to the map and began to talk on and on: "as far as I know, as early as last March, General Eisenhower and the staff of the war office put forward the basic idea of how to open up a second battlefield, that is, to concentrate a large number of US troops in Britain, The British and American air forces gained air superiority over Europe and then crossed the Strait from Britain to France and Germany.


    From the explanation given by Colonel Pug just now, I can see that General Eisenhower''s war theory has been well implemented. At present, on the landing coastline chosen by the Allied forces, only the three areas of Constantine Peninsula, Calais and Normandy are suitable.


    Let''s take a look. The narrow terrain of the Constantine peninsula is not conducive to the deployment of large forces. I don''t think it''s suitable to open up a landing site for allied forces. We can cross it out of the candidate list.


    Second, Calais. The advantage of this place is that it is the closest to Britain. Not only can it obtain the air cover of the Royal Air Force in the shortest time, but also the transport fleet can quickly drop troops into Calais. Although Calais has such advantages, its disadvantages are also obvious. Because it is close to the German mainland, the German army can reinforce the beach garrison very easily. In addition, the German army has the strongest defense force here, and the elite German troops stick to the complete and solid fortifications. In addition, the five large ports nearby also lack inland transportation lines, and they do not want to develop in depth after landing by the Allied forces. "


    At this point, I deliberately stopped and turned to see the reaction of the officers present. See originally hang on their faces as if without the color of irony disappeared, replaced by a dignified expression. Marshall was also serious. He saw me stop. After a moment of hesitation, he waved to me and said encouragingly, "please go on, general o''shanina, tell us what you really think."


    With Marshall''s permission, I went on to say, "now only Normandy is left. Although it is far away from England, the advantage is that the German defense is relatively weak, and it is only a few kilometers away from the largest port in northern France, Cherbourg. In addition, the terrain here is open, and more than 15 divisions can be deployed at the same time... "Although I clearly remember that Normandy can deploy 30 divisions, in order not to be too shocking, I intend to reduce the number of troops by the other half.


    Having said what I had to say, I put down my explanation stick and went back to my seat.


    After a long time, Marshall stood up, his eyes swept majestically from every officer on the scene, and said solemnly, "I think you''ve heard general o''shanina''s speech clearly." After receiving all the people''s approval, he added, "what you just heard is top secret. No one is allowed to reveal a word to the outside world, or you will be punished severely."


    Then Marshall turned to me: "general oshanina, I''d like to invite you to work out the landing plan for the second battlefield with us. Do you think it''s ok?"


    "General Marshall," my mission to the United States this time is to urge the United States to work out a plan to open up a second battlefield as soon as possible. Since there is such a good opportunity in front of me, I can''t give up easily, so I said with a smile, "I''m very happy to serve you."


    When Marshall faced his men again, he simply said, "all the officers except Colonel pug and General Patton, go out."


    At Marshall''s command, the officers sitting around the table stood up one after another, saluted him and fished out of the headquarters. The last of the staff officers also closed the door.


    But when there were only four of us and an interpreter left in the room, Marshall was not polite. He asked me directly, "general o''shanina, how do you plan to make the Allied landing plan in Normandy?" After listening to the translation, I didn''t immediately answer how to suppress the beachhead Garrison and how to land on the beach. Because I have learned about Marshall from later biographies, and I know that he hates to blurt out important questions. He thinks that there is a lot of speculation in this way of giving answers without thinking, and this kind of person is not worthy of his trust. Although I am not one of his subordinates, if I show such a character, it will also arouse his antipathy. Even if he doesn''t say it, he will be on guard against me in his heart. In this way, when he adopts my suggestions, he may be able to pick the bone from the egg. I pretended to think for a moment, and then said slowly, "General Marshall, this matter matters a lot. Please allow me to go back and think about it first, and then answer your question when I have the overall consideration, OK?" To my reply, Marshall said with a smile, "good!" Maybe because I didn''t know English, he took out a notebook and wrote down my name in it, with a special note on the back: "this person is completely trustworthy!" But after he closed the book, he politely said to me, "general oshanina, I will report your analysis to President Roosevelt later..." While he was talking, a telephone in the room suddenly rang. Colonel Pug went to get it. After listening for a moment, he turned to Marshall and said, "it''s your phone, Mr. chief of staff." Marshall put his notebook on the desk, got up and went to the phone. I stare at the notebook on the desk and look at Barton, who is smiling at me. I can''t help but think of the contents mentioned in Marshall''s biography, the three comments Marshall gave Barton in his notebook. The first comment: "this man can lead the army through fire and water." The second comment: "put a rope around his neck." The third comment: "as soon as there is an armored force, give it to his command immediately!" It is said that as long as the person on Marshall''s notebook, it is possible to become a higher officer. Just as he was daydreaming, Marshall, who had answered the phone, came back and said to me with a smile, "general o''shanina, I have reported this to President Roosevelt. He is going to ask Sir Frederick Morgan to come to Washington overnight to join him in the implementation of the landing plan. It''s getting late. Go back and have a rest first. " After shaking hands with me and saying goodbye, he told the interpreter standing beside him: "you are responsible for sending general oshanina back to the Soviet embassy!"

 Chapter 1032

    When I came back to the embassy, neither Molotov nor khluliov had come back. Only livinov stayed in the embassy. Seeing me coming back first, livinov quickly and politely asked me to sit and drink tea in the hall and wait for the other two persons in charge to come back.


    Anyway, we had nothing to do, so we chatted over tea. From the content of his conversation, plus the sporadic historical memory in my mind, I have a more detailed understanding of the old man in front of me.


    After the October Revolution, Lenin appointed him as the representative of the Soviet Union in Britain. Under his mediation, the British government ended its economic blockade against the Soviet Union, and a number of European countries signed trade agreements with the Soviet Union. After being appointed as foreign minister by Stalin in 1930, for the sake of national security, he did his best to create a good international atmosphere with Britain and France, and successfully convinced the United States to formally recognize the Soviet government as the legitimate government in 33 years.


    He also actively promoted the process of the Soviet Union''s accession to the League of nations, and served as the Soviet Union''s representative in the League of Nations for four consecutive years. He also tried to unite European countries against Hitler''s Germany, but his efforts failed because Europeans did not trust Stalin as much as they did Hitler.


    On his 60th birthday in 36 years, he also received a Lenin medal from Stalin. Stalin also wrote in Pravda: "Comrade livinov is one of the most important representatives of the great era of the October Revolution and socialist construction. He embodies the Soviet Union''s foreign policy and the Soviet Union''s struggle to ensure peace among the people of all countries. His name will go down in history."


    In September 1938, Britain, France and Germany signed the Munich agreement, and Germany annexed Czechoslovakia. After Stalin decided to form a strategic alliance with Hitler, the Soviet Union began to adjust its foreign policy. Livinov was removed from office in early May 1939, and Molotov took over his job. Stalin did so because livinov had Jewish blood, which was not conducive to signing the Treaty of non aggression between the Soviet Union and Germany.


    After livinov finished his experience of becoming an ambassador in the United States after the outbreak of the patriotic war, I suddenly remembered that since he had been in so many places, he might know something about general Morgan whom I will see tomorrow, so I took advantage of the gap between his words and asked, "Comrade livinov, do you know general Morgan of England?"


    "General Morgan?" After repeating the name, levinov frowned and thought. After a moment, his brows spread out, and he suddenly realized, "Oh, I see. General Morgan you are talking about must be Sir Frederick Morgan?"


    I remember when I left the war room, I heard Marshall mention Morgan''s full name, then nodded and said definitely, "I think so."


    After receiving my confirmation, livinov gave me a brief introduction about Morgan: "Sir Frederick Morgan, a British officer, served as commander of the first army of the Royal Army in October 1942. Under the command of Eisenhower, he was prepared to land in the west of the Mediterranean Sea to strengthen the initial landing and organize the German army to march into Spain. This spring, he served as the deputy chief of staff of the supreme command of the Allied forces and was responsible for specifying the operational plan for attacking northwest Europe. "


    I guess that levinov may have his own special intelligence source, so I have no doubt that what he said will be different from the facts. The only thing that puzzles me is that since lieutenant general Morgan is responsible for the formulation of the Normandy plan, why he is only the deputy chief of staff of the supreme command of the Allied forces? You know, he is not the only one who holds this position. When I asked my question, livinov shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "almost everyone thinks that he is the chief of staff of the supreme command of the allied expeditionary force, but General Eisenhower insisted that Smith be the chief of staff and Morgan be Smith''s deputy. For such an appointment, many people who fight against injustice for Morgan think that he will not accept the post. But who knows, Morgan said happily: "I don''t care about my position. I just want to do my duty in my own position."


    Although I''ve never heard of Morgan before, I can''t help but feel good for Morgan through his brief introduction. I thought to myself, if Morgan is really like what levinov said, then he must be a very easy person to get along with.


    Just then, an embassy staff member came into the hall from the outside, quickly came to livinov''s side, and said to him in a low voice, "Comrade ambassador, the motorcade is back."


    Livinov looked up at the staff in front of him and asked, "is it Molotov''s team or general khluliov''s?"


    The staff was stunned at first, and then replied: "the motorcade of the two of them has come back together!"


    Levinov nodded and politely said to the staff, "I see. Thank you." Then he stood up and said to me apologetically, "general oshanina, I''m going out to meet Comrade Molotov. I can''t have tea with you any more. Please sit here for a while."


    It is said that he is going out to meet Molotov and khluliov. I can''t sit here any longer. Otherwise, Molotov will see me and tell me in front of Stalin that I have too much airs, and I can''t afford to walk away. So I stood up and said to levinov with a smile, "Comrade ambassador, let me go out with you to meet them."


    When the two of us came to the door, the motorcade had already arrived at the door. The car I saw at the airport stopped in front of us after the two guards drove by. As soon as the bus stopped, livinov stepped forward, opened the rear door, and Molotov, who was sitting in the back row, helped him out. At the same time, like a secretary, he took the briefcase in his hand, put it under his armpit, and respectfully invited him into the embassy. When I saw this scene, I couldn''t help shaking my head. You know, Molotov was dissatisfied with Stalin because he often praised him and tried to kill him. In this case, livinov should be well aware, so he tried his best to show humility in front of Molotov and try to eliminate the other party''s murderous intention. Seeing Molotov getting off the bus, I stepped forward and raised my hand to salute Molotov. Molotov looked at me and asked faintly, "when did you come back?" After a quick estimation of the time, I replied, "I''ve been back for more than an hour." Molotov nodded and stood still. He turned his head and quietly watched khrushiev come out of the car that had just stopped and come to us. Then he said, "Comrade khrushiev, as well as you, comrade oshanina, all come to my room and report the progress of the matter to me."

 Chapter 1033

    "Now, o''shanina, how are you doing with General Marshall? Did he say when Britain and the United States can open up a second battlefield in Europe? "


    The three of us came to Molotov''s room and sat down on the sofa in the living room of the outer chamber. After Molotov kicked them out, he couldn''t wait to ask me.


    Before answering his question, I thought about how to call him. It may not be appropriate for me to call him Comrade Molotov directly because I am reporting to him formally. It is better to call him an official post. Considering that he is now the first vice chairman of the people''s Committee of the Soviet Union and also a member of the people''s Committee of foreign affairs, while we are carrying out foreign affairs tasks, it is obvious that the latter is more suitable. After consideration, I began to say, "comrades of the people''s Foreign Affairs Committee, General Marshall said that judging from the current situation, the time for the Allied forces to open up the second battlefield will not be earlier than August 1943." Then I gave a brief introduction to the meeting today.


    "After August?" Molotov stood up from the sofa and started walking back and forth in the room. At the same time, he said angrily, "it''s too shameful. These damned capitalists, as early as 1941, said that they would open up a second battlefield, but they put it off again and again. They just want to wait for us and the Germans to fight against each other and finally come out to pick up a bargain."


    I was originally sitting to report to Molotov. Seeing that he was suddenly angry and was not good enough to sit in his seat, I had to stand up and explain to him: "according to my judgment, the Americans are really preparing to open up a second battlefield in Europe this time. However, due to the fact that at least millions of troops, tens of thousands of planes and two or three thousand ships will be deployed by the British and American sides in this cross sea offensive, it is inevitable that the preparatory work will take a longer time. "


    After I finished speaking, khrushiev, who was sitting on the sofa, echoed: "yes, comrade Molotov, I think oshanina is right. If Britain and the United States really want to use millions of troops to attack, the number of weapons, ammunition and various materials they need will be unimaginable. Without a few months, they will not be ready at all."


    At this point, he pondered a little for a moment, and then added: "there are only four months between now and August. It is very difficult to gather so many troops and store enough supplies to sustain the war in such a short period of time. So I think the opening up of the second battlefield between Britain and the United States may be delayed, or even delayed until next year. "


    "What, could it be put off until next year?" Even though Molotov''s brow was frowning more tightly, he kept on asking, "general khrushiev, in your estimation, when will the Allied forces open up a second battlefield in Europe?"


    Khrushiev did not say a word. He seemed to be thinking about how to answer Molotov''s question.


    "O''shanina, you answer my question." Seeing that khrushiev did not answer his question, he pointed the spearhead at me, "tell me, when will the Allies open up a second battlefield?"


    I did not expect that Molotov would suddenly ask me again. I could not help but flurried and replied, "I think general khrushiev''s analysis is very reasonable. It takes time to gather troops and hoard materials." After that, my mood returned to normal again. I found that I had not finished my words. I quickly added, "moreover, the United States has to send its troops and materials to Britain by sea and air. It takes a lot of time to do these things."


    Before Molotov could continue to ask, khrushiev had finished thinking. He asked solemnly, "Comrade oshanina, I want to ask, according to your judgment, does the Allied forces really intend to use millions of troops to open up a second battlefield in Europe instead of sending some British divisions symbolically from Persia to the Caucasus?"


    Although I don''t know what happened to the British divisions mentioned by khrushiev, I gave him a positive answer: "yes, comrade minister, although I guess the data just now, it should be close to the actual number." After giving out the data of half reduction, I could not help but feel guilty and quickly added, "maybe according to the international situation before the attack, the Allied forces will increase their forces."


    "It''s not your business to think about whether the allies will increase their forces." After Molotov interrupted me, he asked khrushiev, "Comrade General, what''s your opinion?"


    When Molotov finished speaking, khluliov slowly replied, "with the existing transportation capacity of the United States, it will take six to ten months at the earliest to transport hundreds of thousands of troops and huge quantities of materials to Britain. When they are deployed, it will be almost February next year. If we add in the time for training and running in the troops, it will take at least two or three months. In this way, the time for the allies to open up a second battlefield will be around May next year. "


    After listening to khrushiev''s analysis, I can''t help but give him a thumbs up. From just a few data I said, he can tell more accurately the approximate time of the Allied landing in Normandy. It''s really very capable. Of course, it is also possible that because he has been engaged in logistics for a long time, he can roughly calculate the US military''s material transportation capacity and the speed of troops being put into the battlefield.


    After listening to this, Molotov did not express his views. Instead, he asked me again, "oshanina, is it true that General Marshall is going to let you participate in the formulation of the landing plan?"


    "Yes, comrade member of the people''s Foreign Affairs Committee." I replied respectfully, "there is a British expert in charge of planning who is going to Washington tonight. As long as he arrives on time tomorrow, then I can participate in their plan making. "


    "Good! If you have any latest progress, please report to me in time. " After these words, Molotov waved his hand to me: "well, comrade oshanina, there''s no business for you. Go back to your room first."


    I know what they will discuss next may involve top secret, and what they said is not what people of my level can listen to, so without saying a word, I raised my hand to salute them, then turned and walked out of the room.


    My room is also on the same floor. Because I have a special mission, the embassy has arranged a single room for me instead of a four person room.


    Although the room is small, it has a lot of furniture, a desk and two armchairs, a single bed with dark blue sheets, and an electric light hanging from the ceiling and covered with a white lampshade in the middle of the room.


    I lay in bed with my hands behind my head, and it was like a dream to think about what happened today. I met not only Roosevelt and Marshall, but also General Patton, whom I adored most. Even at the meeting, he helped them choose the landing site for the allies to open up the European battlefield.


    I think it''s funny to think of the British general Morgan I''ll see tomorrow. It was after repeated weighing that the British and American commanders eliminated the Constantine Peninsula and Calais, and finally decided to land in Normandy. My analysis today has brought the time for the two countries to formulate the "overlord plan" ahead of schedule. I don''t know if the landing operation will be advanced on the basis of the plan?


    I thought Marshall would send someone to take me to the war hall the next morning. I didn''t expect that after Molotov and khluliov left home one after another, I still didn''t wait for Marshall to send me an interpreter.


    When I had nothing to do, I just wandered around the embassy, chatted with levinov and his embassy staff, and learned about the local conditions and customs of Washington. I even said to one of the female staff that we would go shopping on the day of her rest.


    As it was getting late, just when I didn''t have any hope of going to the war hall, a staff member came to my room and said that a US officer was looking for me outside.


    When I followed the staff out of my room and came downstairs, I saw the interpreter waiting outside. Seeing me appear, the interpreter trotted up to me, raised his hand and politely said, "Hello, general, chief of staff Marshall ordered me to take you to the war hall."


    When I heard the translator say that, I was overjoyed. I didn''t expect that I could take part in such a major historical event. So after I raised my hand to return the gift, I politely said, "please lead the way ahead."


    As soon as I entered the war room of the war hall, Marshall brought a few people to meet me. I saw that Barton and Pug went to school, and there was a tall, thin old man in a British uniform with a moustache, who should be today''s protagonist, lieutenant general Morgan..


    After Marshall''s introduction, I know that the old man standing in front of me is really lieutenant general Morgan. After shaking hands with him, we all came to yesterday''s table and sat down. As soon as I was seated, Marshall handed me a stack of papers and said, "general o''shanina, this is the Normandy landing plan made by Sir Morgan. Do you have anything to add?"


    I took it, glanced at it, handed it back to Marshall, and said apologetically, "I''m sorry, General Marshall, I can''t understand the English documents."


    Marshall was dumbfounded, then apologized to me and said, "I''m sorry, I''m sorry, general oshanina. I forgot you don''t understand English. Well, let me give you a brief introduction to the landing plan. What do you think? "


    When I nodded my head, I began to talk about it. Although my English level is not too long, there are too many military terms in Marshall''s plan that I can''t understand at all, so I can only rely on the translation behind him to fully understand what he said.


    His plan is exactly the same as what I know: "the Allied forces are going to land with three divisions on the beaches of Omaha, king and Juno between kalantan and Caen, and parachute two brigades behind the enemy. The second echelon consists of eight divisions, which will occupy Cherbourg in two weeks. "


    After seeing Marshall put down the document, Morgan sighed and said helplessly: "the biggest problem in our plan is the port problem. In other words, before we occupied Thurberg, how to solve the logistics supply of landing forces? We should know that in May and June in Normandy, there were strong winds and strong waves, and the landing beachhead alone could not guarantee the logistics supply. "


    After listening to Morgan''s worries, I laughed and said, "Sir Morgan, since there is no natural port, we will build an artificial port. Now the United States or the United Kingdom will complete the construction of accessories, and then transport them to Normandy to assemble them. "


    "Artificial port?" After listening to the translation, Morgan repeated the word, then slapped it on the table, startling Marshall. But instead of apologizing to Marshall, Morgan gave me a thumbs up and said, "genius, genius, general o''shanina, you are a genius." After finishing these two sentences, he looked at Marshall and said excitedly, "Mr. chief of staff, if there is an artificial port, the supply problem that we can''t do anything about will be solved." After hearing this, Marshall nodded, turned to me, looked at me with approval, and asked modestly, "apart from the port, do you have any supplement to the landing plan ahead?" If he asked me this for the first time, he was more or less perfunctory. Now he sincerely asked me for advice. Facing Marshall''s modest advice, I said that since I had borrowed general montbarton''s ideas, it would not be a big deal to borrow Eisenhower''s views on the "overlord plan". Thinking of this, I took a sip of the coffee in front of me and took the opportunity to recall the difference between the planned version and the landing version. After thinking about it, I put down my coffee cup, laughed at Marshall and Morgan, and then said, "Dear General Marshall, sir Morgan and General Patton, to tell you the truth, this landing plan is well done. If it is carried out according to the rules, it will definitely win, but the final price will be not small." Barton, who had never said a word, couldn''t restrain himself any longer. He interjected: "general o''shanina, can you give me your opinion on the modification of this landing plan?" I nodded, and then said, "first of all, the front of the attack is too narrow, and there is not enough shock force in the initial attack. I think the first echelon should be increased from three divisions to five divisions. At the same time, the front of landing should be correspondingly expanded, and the landing beachhead should be increased from three to five, and the beaches of Utah and sword should also be added. The number of airborne troops of the two brigades is too small to do anything in the enemy''s rear, so it''s better to put in two or three divisions at one time. " When I talked about the changes, Marshall, Barton and Morgan all wrote them down quickly in their notebooks. From their expressions of nodding while recording, I know that they must very much agree with this amendment. After all, what I told them was the final version of the "overlord plan". After recording what I said, lieutenant general Morgan closed his notebook, bypassed Marshall and Barton, came to me, reached out his hands to me and said with emotion, "general o''shanina, thank you very much for your amendment. Compared with your plan, my plan is full of holes. While expressing my sincere thanks to you, I also feel deeply glad that you are our ally, not our enemy, otherwise you will become a nightmare for the soldiers of our two countries. "

 Chapter 1034

    After Morgan, Marshall also came forward to hold my hand and said sincerely, "general oshanina, what I want to say is the same as Sir Morgan. I am very glad that you are our ally and not our enemy, otherwise our landing forces will face one-sided massacre when they step on the beach. On behalf of those officers and men who have survived for this, I would like to express my gratitude to you! " At this point, he released my hand, stepped back, raised his hand and saluted me solemnly.


    As soon as I finished the ceremony, Barton came up¡° General o''shanina, "in my impression, Barton, who was always rebellious, seemed to speak in a trembling voice, but he soon calmed down." I used to think that women could not enter the army, let alone be officers. Because I always think that they are always at a disadvantage compared with men. In this war that belongs to men, they should go far away. But judging from your performance, I find that I am wrong, and I am quite wrong. I believe that if you were a man, you would be a great commander like Kutuzov. "


    Even if a bomb landed next to us and exploded, the noise would not be greater than that of Barton apologizing to me in public, especially when Marshall, who knew him well, looked at his subordinate with his mouth wide open like a stranger. I want to respond with a smile, but I regret to find that I was too excited to speak for a while.


    "Now, general," Patton said hastily, seeing that I did not respond to his words, "if you think my apology is enough, please give it to me. I think a person will always make some mistakes. When he realizes his mistakes, he always hopes to be forgiven by others. "


    Trying to control my emotions, I reached out to Barton. He shook his hand with an expression of awe. Then he turned to Marshall and said, "chief of staff, if general oshanina can be the commander of landing operations, then I''d like to be her deputy."


    Barton''s words made me feel dizzy. My God, Barton, the famous general in the US Army, is willing to be my deputy. I''m not dreaming. I kept saying to myself: hallucination, hallucination, it must be hallucination. I don''t think a commander of my level can get into Barton''s eyes at all. I can''t expect to be his superior. It must be the illusion that I''ve been so tired recently.


    Just as I was still in my head, I heard Marshall''s voice: "general oshanina, I''ve never heard little George take the initiative to say that he would like to be someone else''s subordinate, let alone a foreign general."


    Marshall''s words sobered me from my reverie. I stabilized my mood for a moment, and tried to smile in a smooth tone. "Don''t you recognize that General Patton is joking with me, chief of staff? He''s been in the army longer than I am. He''s almost in command of me. Which round can I command him? "


    After listening to the translation, Marshall and Barton''s face showed a frustrated smile. Morgan picked up the papers and notebooks in front of him, put them under his arm, stood up and said politely to Marshall, "chief of staff, I''m sorry. I''ll excuse you. I need to go back and make a new battle plan immediately and try to report to Ike earlier. "


    The translator may worry that I don''t know that Ike is someone else''s nickname for Eisenhower, so when translating me, I still mean to translate this name into Eisenhower.


    After hearing this, Marshall nodded and said to Morgan, "Sir Morgan, if Ike thinks there is no problem, please report it to the president immediately, because this plan also involves communication with your Prime Minister Churchill, so the sooner you report it, the better."


    Sir Morgan agreed very simply and went out with his things between his fingers. As he passed me, he reached out his hand and politely said to me, "general oshanina, we''ll see you later!"


    I''m not worried at all that Sir Morgan''s plan, which was based on my proposal, will be rejected by Eisenhower, because what I put forward is his final version. Seeing that Morgan wanted to shake hands with me, he quickly reached out and said politely, "Sir Morgan, I hope we have another chance to meet. Goodbye and good luck to you."


    After Morgan left, Marshall asked me to sit down again, glanced at Patton on his right hand, and then said, "general o''shanina, after you left yesterday, George and I studied your case of sticking to mamayev post in the battle of Stalingrad. After our repeated deduction, we can''t understand how you relied on an infantry division with insufficient training and backward equipment to firmly hold the highland north of Stalingrad, so as to avoid the fate of the garrison in the city being cut off from the traffic line on the river. Can you give us an answer? "


    As for Marshall''s question, I scratched the back of my head and said, "maybe it has something to do with the fortifications we built on the high ground."


    After looking at each other, Marshall and Barton continued to ask, "I don''t know what kind of fortification can resist the repeated attacks of several German divisions?"


    Considering the war on the peninsula a few years later, in order to prevent the United States from mastering the method of fortification from my narration, I deliberately avoided talking about the fortifications on the mamayev post, and just said in general: "although our commanders and fighters are not afraid of death, our flesh and blood can never compete with steel, Facing the strong ground to air firepower of the German army, only by building various underground and semi underground civil Fortifications on the mamayev post has naturally become an effective means for our commanders and fighters to maintain themselves and eliminate the enemy. Especially for us who reject passive defense, the construction of the position should not only facilitate the protracted and tenacious fight against the enemy''s attack, but also facilitate our army''s implementation of recoil and upgrading, and rely on the position to attack the enemy


    ... in the overwhelming German artillery fire and uninterrupted bombing, the fortifications on the Highlands not only saved the precious lives of our countless commanders and fighters, but also made the enemy who attacked the Highlands pay a heavy price, so that in the whole Stalingrad defense war, the German army did their best and could not seize our positions. "


    After listening to what I said, Barton held a cigar in his mouth, but it didn''t light. He asked me thoughtfully, "you''ve been fighting with the Germans for two years, so you must have accumulated a lot of valuable experience. We just started a war with the Germans, and we need to know something about this. I wonder if you can tell us something? "


    I didn''t refuse Patton''s request. After all, the Soviet Union and the United States are allies. Every time they destroy one more enemy, the pressure on our side will be reduced. So I imparted the valuable experience I had accumulated on the battlefield to Barton very readily: "the German attack has the following characteristics: first, they have made full preparations before the attack, and they have always been able to find out the defense situation of our army by means of tanks, aircraft photography and reconnaissance team activities. Their main areas of attack are usually the open areas of highways and the joint parts of our army departments. They are good at circuitous encirclement of our army''s defense forces, repeatedly fighting for the defense points and commanding heights on both sides of the highway, and never give up until they reach their goals.


    They often carry out successive and echelon raids. When the first echelon fails to attack, the second echelon will continue to attack. As a result, our defense forces have no chance to breathe, and the casualties rise sharply, so as to achieve the goal of occupying our army''s positions at one stroke. However, after our army has broken through the breach, we will adopt the tactics of advancing hand in hand and fighting steadily to expand and consolidate the occupied positions.


    ... before the attack, the artillery observer will calibrate the target to be attacked in case of sudden and accurate shelling when the artillery is ready. During the attack, the air force is usually used to bomb first, and then the distant artillery is used to bombard, so as to destroy our front fortifications, suppress the deep defensive reserves and artillery positions, and kill a large number of our effective targets, and then cover the infantry for multiple continuous charging. If the attack fails, the enemy will withdraw the troops to 100 meters away, quickly attack our position with heavy artillery fire, and then attack again


    ... during the attack, German tanks usually occupy favorable terrain 300 to 500 meters in front of our army, aim at the fire points on the ground of our square array, destroy the fire points in front of our army, and then cooperate with the infantry to detour behind our army


    ... the enemy''s defense depth and traffic arteries to our army are mostly blocked by air force and artillery in turn, especially at night, so as to disrupt our army''s adjustment of deployment, cut off our army''s logistics supplies and transport of the wounded... "


    Marshall and Barton recorded and said from time to time, "great, great. Such experience is very useful to our army. "


    After I finished, I felt thirsty. When I held the coffee cup in front of me for another sip, I found that it was already empty. I didn''t know when I had drunk all the coffee. Just as I was hesitating whether to ask Marshall to send me another cup of coffee, a young blonde staff officer came up to me, put a cup of hot coffee in front of me, and said in stiff Russian: "coffee, please!"


    Although her grammar is not correct, but I did not correct her, but smile at her and say "thank you" in English.


    Just as I picked up my cup and sipped my coffee, I heard Marshall say, "general oshanina, we and the British troops are launching the" Tunis campaign "in Africa. Can you give us an analysis of the progress of the next campaign?"


    I was choked by his words and coughed violently. The beauty consultant who had just delivered coffee came to help me clap my back. After I stopped coughing, the female staff officer turned and left. Looking up at Marshall, I was very dissatisfied with his performance of "winning the dragon and looking forward to Sichuan". To provide them with the final version of the "overlord plan" was to help them hang up. It''s not necessarily a good thing to instruct them in the "Tunis campaign" and let them kill the Germans and Italians smoothly. If Britain and the United States are more powerful than in history, the Soviet Union will have a hard time.


    With the mentality of no longer giving advice to the US side, I resolutely refused to say: "I''m sorry, chief of staff, the battle of Tunis is under the command of General Eisenhower of your country. I believe that with his command ability, he can command the British and American allied forces to defeat the German and Italian allied forces completely."


    Despite my refusal, Marshall was still reluctant to ask, "what do you think our campaign will achieve?"


    I can tell from Marshall''s words that he has something to test my ability. However, it is understandable that the Normandy landing is a top secret plan of great importance. Although I have just made a clear statement, many details need to be further deliberated before the final decision can be made. The credibility of my words depends on how I evaluate the "Tunis campaign".


    After thinking about it, I said slowly, "Sir, the general military and political situation formed by the annihilation of German and Italian troops under Stalingrad and the winter offensive of the Soviet Red Army in almost the whole Soviet German battlefield, as well as the great superiority of the Allied forces in military strength, It has created extremely favorable conditions for rapidly annihilating the enemy of Tunisia and ending the whole war situation in North Africa. Once the Allied forces capture the whole North African coast of the Mediterranean, they will be able to ensure the safety of the Mediterranean traffic lines and create favorable conditions for attacking Sicily and the Apennine peninsula. Through this campaign, the British and American allied forces can gain experience in carrying out large-scale offensive campaigns and breaking through the enemy''s preset defensive positions, so as to lay a good foundation for landing operations when opening up the second battlefield in the future. "


    "When do you think it is most appropriate for us to end this campaign?" Marshall continued. I think that in history, because the British and American allied forces repeatedly delayed the end of the "Tunis campaign", the German side did not feel too much pressure and was able to continue to dispatch reserves from the west to the Soviet German battlefield without hindrance. Thinking of this, I said straightforwardly: "the most ideal situation is that the campaign should end in the middle of this month, and the situation should continue to attack Sicily or Apennine Peninsula, so that the Germans do not dare to transfer their reserves from these areas to the eastern battlefield." I have said all that I need to say, but I know in my heart that it is useless. When the Tunisian campaign will end, not only I can''t decide, but even Marshall doesn''t have the right. Only by ensuring the maximization of the interests of Britain and the United States, will the victorious campaign end at the time they think fit. After hearing what I said, Marshall just gave a wry smile, but did not speak. After a while, he raised his hand to look at his watch, and then politely said to me, "general o''shanina, it''s getting late. I''ll send someone to take you back." After walking outside for a few steps, the translator and I suddenly thought that we had met Roosevelt yesterday. We didn''t know if we would have a chance to see the president and his wife again. So we stopped and asked Marshall, "chief of staff, when can I have a chance to see President Roosevelt again?"

 Chapter 1035

    Marshall was silent because of my words. Looking at his embarrassed expression, I didn''t want to embarrass him any more. I said hello casually and planned to leave with the interpreter.


    I didn''t take two steps, but I was stopped by him. When I heard that he asked me to stay, I could not help but wonder if he was going to make an exception for me to meet Roosevelt alone. He quickly stopped again and asked calmly, "chief of staff, what else can I do for you?"


    "Well, general oshanina." Marshall hesitated and said, "there will be a new destroyer launched at Norfolk Naval Base tomorrow. Would you like to see it?"


    When I heard that Marshall asked me to see the launch of a new ship, my heart was still a little uncomfortable. My heart said that I wanted to see Roosevelt, but you arranged for me to go to the naval base. I just didn''t want me to appear in front of the president of the United States. But on second thought, I''ve never been to a naval base before. I''m just going to see what the US aircraft carrier fleet looks like. He nodded and readily agreed, "thank you. I''d be very happy to visit your naval base. But I don''t know who I should call tomorrow. Why don''t you come with me? "


    "Colonel Henry!" Marshall turned and yelled into the room. An officer in a white navy uniform squeezed out of a group of army officers and came quickly to Marshall to stand. Marshall pointed to me and said, "Captain, you will accompany general o''shanina to Norfolk Naval Base tomorrow."


    When the tall captain gave a loud promise, Marshall turned to me with a smile and said, "o''shanina, I''ll let Colonel Victor Henry accompany you to Norfolk Naval Base tomorrow."


    After the officer behind me finished translating for me, I went forward to shake hands with colonel Henry, and said politely, "Captain, please."


    "General," said Colonel Henry, holding my hand and without expression, "I''ll pick you up at eight tomorrow morning. Please be prepared in advance."


    "All right, Captain, I''ll be ready by eight." After these words to Henry, I turned to Marshall again. After thanking him, I turned and left with the interpreter.


    Back at the embassy, Molotov called khrushiev and I to his room as usual to inquire about the progress of today''s negotiations. When I said that I would go to Norfolk Naval Base tomorrow to watch the launch of a new ship, Molotov didn''t say anything, but khluliev was surprised to say: "the Atlantic Fleet is under the leadership of the naval forces and the naval operations minister in peacetime, and under the command of the commander of the US Atlantic headquarters in wartime, Marshall, the chief of staff of the army, had the right to let people see the launch of the new ship? "


    After listening to khrushiev''s words, my heart could not help but clatter, saying in secret, is Marshall cheating me? Before I could understand it, Molotov waved his hand to refute khluliov, saying: "Comrade minister, the United States is in a state of war at present, and the division of labor within the U.S. military should be adjusted in a way that we do not know. As General Marshall, he certainly would not casually promise oshanina what he could not do. "


    After my presentation, Molotov kicked me out of his house as usual, saying that there was something important to discuss with khrushiev. I know that in my current identity, there are many secrets that I can''t listen to. Otherwise, I can''t rule out the possibility of being killed in the future.


    When Captain Henry came to pick me up the next day, the interpreter came with me. He sat in the front co pilot''s seat and kept translating for Henry and me.


    I asked Henry curiously, "Colonel, how far is it from us to Norfolk Naval Base?"


    "582 kilometers." Henry gave the answer without hesitation.


    Hearing this figure, I calculated it silently in my heart. If we change Norfolk at the speed of 60 km / h, it will be dark. What new ships will be launched. Thinking of this, I tentatively said: "Colonel, Norfolk is so far away from Washington. When we get there, isn''t it evening? Can we catch up with the launch of the new ship?"


    "No delay, general." Henry didn''t care about my worries at all. He said confidently, "we''ll go by military plane. It''ll be an hour at most."


    Listening to what Henry said, I know that he must have been ready for a long time. He just needs to go with him. He doesn''t have to worry about missing the launching ceremony of the warship. Instead of asking further questions, he leans back in his chair, lowers his head and begins to close his eyes.


    A transport plane was parked at the military airport. A pilot in a flying cap was waiting beside the plane. When he saw our car passing by, he ran over. He raised his hand to salute Colonel Henry who had just got off the bus and asked, "is that Colonel Henry, please?"


    "Yes, captain." After glancing at each other''s ranks, Henry asked politely, "are the planes ready?"


    "The plane can take off at any time. I''m at your command." The pilot captain replied respectfully.


    Colonel Henry turned to look at me, gestured please, and said, "please, general." Seeing that I stepped on the gangway into the cabin, I turned around and told the pilot, "get ready to take off."


    On the way to Norfolk Naval base, I asked Henry in a loud voice amid the deafening roar of the motor: "are you a combat officer, Colonel?"


    After hearing this, Henry shook his head and said, "no, I''m the captain of a warship. Originally, I was appointed captain of the California, but before I took office, my ship was bombed and sunk in Pearl Harbor by the damned Japanese, so I was re appointed captain of the Northampton. At present, my warship is still under repair in the shipyard, so I am temporarily seconded to Washington to work When our plane approached Norfolk, he began to introduce the local conditions and customs: "Norfolk is an important industrial and commercial center across the river from Portsmouth, Hampton and Newport News. After the outbreak of the war, the city developed rapidly and established huge naval and air force facilities one after another. It is the location of the Atlantic Fleet Command of the United States. Norfolk Area is the largest concentration of naval activities on the east coast of China. It is located in the southeast of Virginia and has a large number of shipbuilding facilities and cargo handling terminals in Newport News. The area includes Norfolk Naval base, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Atlantic Fleet Combat Training Center, Naval Amphibious Base, naval ammunition depot and naval aviation base. Norfolk Naval base is the largest naval base in the world at present. It can enter the ocean about 18 nautical miles to the West. There are 15 docks for ships to berth. There are about 90 ships of various types in the harbor at any time. They are moored in the harbor for repair, modification and training. The naval base is the home port for aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, large amphibious ships, submarines and Logistics ships. " When our plane landed, I saw a jeep coming in the distance and stopping not far from the plane. Out of the car came a second lieutenant, wearing a cornice hat and a starched white navy uniform with gold-plated buttons, standing straight outside the cabin door. When Captain Henry got off the plane, the second lieutenant quickly saluted him. After glancing at me, he said to Henry, "Captain, I''m here to meet you."¡° Have you arranged the location for the ceremony? " Henry asked in a low voice. Although the translation behind me didn''t translate this sentence for me, I still understood it. Just because I understood, I couldn''t help muttering again, wondering if we had to hide from everyone when we arrived? The second lieutenant nodded and said with certainty, "yes, Captain, the position has been arranged for you. Please follow me." I sat on the jeep driven by the second lieutenant and looked towards the port. I saw a lot of buildings on the water, which made me wonder. Xin said that there are only dozens of ships. They all look so spectacular. If all the 5000 or 6000 ships landed in Normandy were concentrated in one place, what an amazing sight it would be. Our car stopped at the door of a gray container on the bank. The second lieutenant turned to Henry and said, "Captain, here we are. In the box reconstructed from the container, you can clearly see the whole process of launching the new ship."¡° Lieutenant, where are you going? " Asked Henry curiously. The second lieutenant shrugged his shoulders and said, "where else can I go, of course, I''ll stay in the car waiting for you to come out." Then he handed a bunch of keys to Colonel Henry. Henry took the key in his hand, said thanks, took me to the door of the container, and opened the door with the key. I walked in and saw that the facilities inside were very simple, with a long table on the left and several chairs on the right. Maybe it''s because people often watch the launching ceremony of the new ship here, and there are some telescopes on the table. Henry went over, then picked up a telescope and headed for the window at the other end of the container. I quickly followed him to the window and looked out. Only a few hundred meters away, there is a brand-new gray warship, is parked on the water side of the berth. Seeing this situation, I can''t help but wonder, because in my impression, ships are usually launched by floating docks similar to super large aircraft carrier ships, and longitudinal launching mode suitable for most ships. At the moment, the warship parked on the berth doesn''t look like it will launch in either way. I just wanted to ask Henry how this new ship will be launched. He had turned to me and said with a smile, "general, I don''t think you''ve seen a new ship launched. Did you see the destroyer? It''s called the Eldridge, and it''s going to launch in a way you don''t expect

 Chapter 1036

    The Eldridge, when I heard the name of this new destroyer, I immediately felt a very familiar feeling, as if I had heard of it somewhere before. But before I could figure out where I had heard the name of the destroyer, the launching ceremony of the new ship officially began.


    The destroyer Eldridge seemed to have been pushed by an invisible hand, and then the whole hull slid into the water along the inclined berth. The huge ship, made of thousands of tons of steel, fell into the water in an instant, aroused huge waves of emptying, quickly righted itself, swayed violently for several times, and finally came to a steady stop in the water. This process of changing from static to static, from dynamic to static, although not long, still caused me a strong visual impact and spiritual shock.


    Captain Henry turned and said to me, still staring at the water in a daze, "general, what''s the matter? You''ve never seen a ship launch like this before, have you?"


    I immediately shook my head and answered honestly, "Colonel Henry, it''s the first time I''ve seen a ship launch with my own eyes. However, I heard that the ship was launched either floating or longitudinal. Why did the ship launch longitudinally? "


    Seeing my blank face, Colonel Henry explained to me: "general, we take this kind of lateral slide into the water, using a shorter lateral slide, the ship uses gravity to roll laterally into the water, and then relies on buoyancy to straighten the ship and float in the water. This kind of side slip launching method is more suitable for shipyards where the water area is small, the slipway length is insufficient, and there is no open water for longitudinal launching. It is especially suitable for shipyards where soldiers build ships in bulk. "


    After waiting for him to finish, I thought for a moment and asked, "Captain, this kind of lateral sliding will bring great vibration and impact to the ship. Will it cause deformation or damage to the equipment installed on the ship?"


    As soon as my voice fell, before the translator behind me could translate it, Henry''s face showed an expression of surprise. He said to himself in Russian: "general, it''s not easy for you to find the defect of this way of launching. That''s right. Due to the large vibration and impact of sideslip launching on the hull, the requirements for ship structure are higher, especially for outfitting structure when launching. Otherwise, it is easy to cause deformation or damage to the installed equipment on the ship. The Eldridge will stay in port for another day or two to replenish the ship, and let the mechanics check for any major faults. When it''s ready, it''ll leave for Philadelphia


    I looked at commander Henry in surprise and asked, "Colonel, you can speak Russian?"


    Commander Henry nodded and said with certainty, "yes, general. At the end of 1941, as a military officer of the negotiation group of the lease treaty, I went to Moscow and lived there for almost a year. It''s not surprising that I know Russian


    I grinned. I wanted to smile, but I couldn''t, so I just said, "you''ve only been in Moscow for one year. It''s really not easy for you to speak so fluent Russian. You... "When I said this, I jumped back to the place he just said the Eldridge was going to, and then asked in a hurry," Captain, you just said where the destroyer Eldridge will go in a few days? "


    "Philadelphia!" Henry thought I didn''t know where Philadelphia was, and he told me, "it''s in Pennsylvania."


    Philadelphia and Eldridge, two words that were not related to each other, immediately pieced together the fragmentary memory fragments in my mind and formed a term "Philadelphia Experiment" in the shortest time.


    Yes, the Philadelphia Experiment.


    On October 28, 1943, the U.S. Navy conducted a secret test of artificial strong magnetic field in Philadelphia, namely the famous "Philadelphia Experiment". In the experiment, the destroyer Eldridge and its crew were successfully put into another space. During the experiment, the experimenters started the pulse and non pulse devices to form a huge magnetic field around the ship. Then the whole ship was covered with a green light, and the ship and crew began to disappear from people''s sight. At the end of the experiment, the ship had been transferred to Norfolk 479 kilometers away, and returned to Philadelphia after a few minutes.


    According to some people familiar with the matter at the time, when the Eldridge reappeared in Philadelphia, something incredible happened to the crew on board. Most of the crew on the ship were disgusted and couldn''t tell the direction, and some of them disappeared without any reason. What''s more surprising is that five crew members were inlaid on the wall and deck, completely integrated with the steel plate on the ship. Later, some of the crew members who participated in the experiment were forced to retire. Affected by this experiment, they always disappeared without any reason in their life, and then appeared again, which surprised the onlookers.


    Although the United States has made a lot of films and TV dramas based on the "Philadelphia Experiment", there are still many people who can think that the so-called "Philadelphia Experiment" is nothing at all, and cite a lot of data to refute those who believe in it.


    To tell you the truth, I am also curious at the moment. If this experiment is not half a year away, I really intend to stay and see if this "Philadelphia Experiment" with different opinions really exists.


    Seeing that the Eldridge in the distance was surrounded by small motorboats, and many workers or sailors boarded along the gangway, my idea of going aboard became more and more intense. After repeated ideological struggle, I finally got up the courage to say to Henry, "Colonel Henry, can I go to the ship to have a look?"


    "General, would you like to see the boat?" After a moment''s hesitation, Col. Henry asked cautiously, "this ship should be in a mess now. There''s nothing to see."¡° I just want to go up and see how the damage to the ship is when I slide into the water Of course, I couldn''t tell Henry what he really thought. All I could do was to say, "just let me know. What do you think, Colonel?" He hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded decisively and said, "general, please wait a moment. I''ll call for instructions." With my permission, he went to the table, put the telescope on the table, picked up the microphone and quickly dialed a number. Soon I heard him say, "Hello, operator? I''m captain Victor Henry. I have something important to ask the chief of staff. Please transfer me to the combat room immediately After the phone was connected, Colonel Henry said directly without saying hello or any prologue, "chief of staff, today I am accompanying a general from the Soviet Union to watch the launching ceremony of the destroyer Eldridge. Now she wants to go up and have a look, OK?" He didn''t speak for a while. He just listened to the chief of staff''s reply in silence. Then he said, "no, chief of staff, she''s not a navy, she''s just an army general. She just wants to visit the destroyer, absolutely not..." when I saw Henry''s silence again, I felt a sense of foreboding, Did the chief of staff think I was going on the Eldridge to steal information from the US Navy? If I had known that it would be so troublesome, I would not have asked Henry to do so. As a result, it is difficult to ride a Tiger now. I saw that Colonel Henry''s face was red. I should have been blamed by the chief of staff on the other end of the line. I was just about to say to him that I was going to give up the idea of going on board to have a look, so that he would not get into such an embarrassing situation. But he saw that Colonel Henry straightened up and said obstinately, "Comrade chief of staff, general o''shanina was my order to accompany chief of staff Marshall to the Norfolk Naval base to watch the launching ceremony of the Eldridge. Moreover, General Marshall himself put forward this matter. I think since he can trust friendly generals so much, why can''t we also trust her? " With these words, he did not speak again. I only heard his breathing become heavy and urgent, as if he was very angry by the chief of staff who answered the phone. All of a sudden, Colonel Henry raised his voice and said sternly, "chief of staff, since you don''t want to be responsible for this, let me be responsible for it. If anything goes wrong, I''ll take full responsibility. " With that, he took the microphone away from his ear and quickly put it on the base of the phone. When Henry put down the phone, he turned to me and said, "I''m sorry, general. I asked the chief of staff to board the destroyer Eldridge, but he refused Although such an answer has long been in my guess, when I really heard him answer me like this, I was still slightly disappointed. I waved my hand and said helplessly, "Captain, since your chief of naval staff does not agree that I should board the Eldridge, let it be, so as not to embarrass you." After listening to me, Henry bowed his head for a moment, then looked up and said to me, "although the chief of staff doesn''t agree with you to board the warship, I can go directly to the captain of the Eldridge and ask him to let you board the warship secretly. Come with me With that, he stepped out. I wanted to see how he could find the captain of the destroyer Eldridge, so I followed him out of the container converted observation post. When Henry got out of the house, he walked quickly to the jeep parked outside and asked the second lieutenant in the car, "do you know who the captain of the destroyer Eldridge is?" The second lieutenant didn''t know why Henry suddenly asked, but he answered honestly, "Lt. Elman!"¡° Do you know where to find him? " Continued Colonel Henry¡° Yes, Captain The second lieutenant''s answer was very straightforward. After hearing this, Henry opened the back door, turned to me and said, "get in the car, general. Now let the second lieutenant take us to lieutenant Elman."

 Chapter 1037

    The second lieutenant drove his car to a crowded wharf. After parking beside a two-story building, he turned to Henry and said politely, "Colonel, this is an office on the wharf. Lt. Elman should be in it. You wait here. I''ll go in and have a look. "


    "Please, Lieutenant!" Henry looked at the back of the second lieutenant and said gratefully.


    Looking at the second lieutenant''s back disappearing from the door of the building, I couldn''t help saying to Henry with some emotion: "Captain, the regulations of the US Army and our army are quite different. If we change our commander, we will never leave without permission from our superiors. But look at this Navy Lieutenant, "I said with a big mouth toward the building," if you just say hello like him and leave without permission, even if you are not confined, you will be scolded severely by the superior commander. "


    Henry listened to me and just laughed but didn''t speak. The interpreter in the co pilot''s seat took out the cigarette from his pocket and handed it to Henry with the box, but Henry waved it down. The interpreter put the cigarette box in front of me and politely asked, "general, don''t you want one?"


    I also waved my hand and said to him with a smile, "sorry, I don''t smoke."


    When I got out of the car to smoke, Henry and I were left in the car. He took a look at the entrance of the building. Before the second lieutenant came back, he chatted with me about his family custom: "general, your name sounds like your husband''s surname. But it seems that I have never heard of a general with this surname in the Soviet army. May I ask your husband, the officer o''chanin, where he is now? "


    "You''re right, Colonel. He''s not a general. He''s just an ordinary captain." From the tone of his speech, I could see that the reason why Henry asked o''shanin was that he didn''t want to make the atmosphere in the car too dull, so he talked to me about home affairs. I answered truthfully: "before the war broke out, he was a captain in the frontier post. He was captured by the German army in the battle, but he soon escaped back. During the Moscow defense, he joined the dog death squads, which are specialized in dealing with German tanks. He was seriously injured in the battle and sent to the rear. Then we lost contact


    "I''m sorry, general. I shouldn''t have mentioned your sad past." When Henry heard me say that, he immediately apologized to me. "I''m so reckless."


    I have a good feeling for this polite middle-aged naval colonel. Hearing what he said, I waved my hand and said with a smile, "it''s OK, Colonel, you don''t have to blame yourself so much. There must be sacrifice in war. " As I didn''t know how to explain o''chanin to him next, I digged off the topic, "how many children do you have, Colonel?"


    "I have two sons. They are married," he said with a smile


    "You look so young that you didn''t expect your two sons to be married." I didn''t expect that the sons of Colonel Henry, who looked in his early 40s, were married. So I asked tentatively, "do they have any children?"


    "The eldest son has a daughter, who is three years old." When I asked about my family, Colonel Henry had a smile on his face and said happily, "my second daughter-in-law is pregnant, and the baby will be born in July."


    "Where do they work?" The smile on Henry''s face also infected me. I was completely liberated from the bad mood of just hearing that the chief of staff refused me to go on the warship. "Do you work in a factory or in the army?"


    "They''re all in the Navy." Henry said happily: "the eldest son works on the submarine, and the second son is a pilot on the hornet." He may have thought that I didn''t know the common sense that the same family was not allowed to serve on the same ship, and he also directed me to popularize science: "originally, their two brothers were on the Bumblebee, but after the war broke out, the president gave an order that the same family was not allowed to serve on the same ship, so his eldest son went to the submarine army."


    When he wanted to say something to me, he suddenly heard the interpreter outside shouting in a low voice: "Captain, the second lieutenant is out."


    The two of us looked out of the window and saw the second lieutenant come out of the building in a hurry, followed by a lieutenant. It seems that he did not find captain Elman.


    Henry pushed the door open, got out of the car and stood quietly beside it. I quickly opened the door on the other side, got out of the car and went around to Henry''s position, waiting with him for the second lieutenant''s reply.


    The second lieutenant came up to salute me and said nervously, "Colonel, this is the officer on duty of the Eldridge. He said that lieutenant general Elman has gone on board."


    As soon as the second lieutenant finished, the Lieutenant with the red armband on his arm stepped forward and asked respectfully, "Captain, I''m the duty officer of the Eldridge. What can I do for you?"


    Although the rank of the officer in front of him was much lower than that of himself, Colonel Henry asked politely, "Lieutenant, I have something to see Lieutenant Elman. I wonder if you can take us to the destroyer?"


    The young lieutenant hesitated for a moment, then nodded and replied, "yes, captain. Please follow me With that, he made a gesture of please and then led the way in front of us.


    Henry looked at the second lieutenant and the interpreter beside him and said to them, "general o''shanina and I will just board the Eldridge. You two will stay here and wait for us."


    To his order, two low rank officers agreed in unison: "yes!" At the same time, he raised his hand to salute Colonel Henry.


    Henry turned his head and said to me with a smile, "general, let''s go." Then he said with self mockery, "the lieutenant who is leading us is really fast. If he doesn''t keep up, he will be gone."


    We followed the lieutenant around the building and down the steps by the river. At the end of the replacement, I saw a small motorboat stopped. There were two sailors in white uniforms and brimless streamer caps on board. They were busy.


    When they got to the motorboat, the two sailors noticed our arrival and stopped their work and raised their hands to salute us. The lieutenant turned to Henry enthusiastically and said, "Captain, you can go there in this boat later." Then he told the two sailors, "you two are responsible for sending the colonel to the Eldridge. Do you understand?"


    "I see." The two sailors answered in unison.


    The lieutenant did not leave immediately after giving orders to his men. Instead, he watched us leave by boat. He saluted us again before turning back.


    When the motorboat with us came to a steady stop by the gangway of the destroyer, Henry said thanks to the two sailors and made a sign to me to follow him up the steep gangway to the ship.


    Seeing the two of us climbing up the steep gangway to the ship, a nearby officer on duty came up immediately. Without waiting for him to speak, Colonel Henry raised his hand to salute the flag hanging on the flagpole. A moment later, he saluted the officer and said, "I beg permission to board."


    Ever since I stepped on the deck of the Eldridge, I have been following every move of Colonel Henry. I have seen him salute the flag and the officers on duty, as well as salute the flag and officers of the US Navy.


    Although the young officer heard what Colonel Henry said, he looked at me and said in an official voice, "yes, sir!"


    "My name is Victor Henry!" Captain Henry didn''t beat around the Bush and said, "I have something to ask for Lieutenant Colonel Elman. Do you know where he is?"


    "Yes, sir!" The officer on duty replied respectfully, "I''ll send someone to inform him, sir." After these two words, he turned to the man who was busy on the deck and called, "Herald!"


    With his shouts, a sergeant in a bonnet came up, raised his hand to salute the three of us, faced the officer on duty and asked, "Sir, what''s your instruction?"


    "Sergeant, do you see Colonel Henry next to me? He''s got something important. He''s looking for commander Elman The officer on duty sternly ordered the sergeant in front of him: "go to the cabin immediately to find the captain and report this to him. Do you understand? "


    "I see, sir!" After receiving the order, the sergeant agreed loudly, turned around and ran away quickly along the deck.


    After the sergeant left, Henry said to the officer on duty in a deliberative tone: "your captain may have to wait a while to come. I want to walk on the deck first. Do you have any suggestions?"


    Hearing Henry''s question, the officer on duty immediately got flustered. After a nervous look at me, he said with some embarrassment, "Sir, we can''t allow outsiders to walk on the ship without permission from the superior."


    Henry looked at the officer on duty and said sternly, "this general is a guest of our country. I''ve been ordered to take her to see the launching ceremony of the Eldridge. Do we need to ask you for instructions when we walk on the deck?"


    The officer on duty was frightened by Henry''s expression. He hesitated for a moment and then said cautiously, "Sir, before the captain arrives, you can only walk on the deck, but you can''t enter the cabin at will. Otherwise, I can''t bear the consequences."


    "I see," Henry said impatiently, waving at him. "We were just walking around on the deck until commander Elman showed up." After that, he turned to look at me and said with a smile, "general, under the current circumstances, we can only walk on the deck temporarily. We can only wait until the captain comes to visit the facilities on the ship."


    We walked along the front deck, carefully avoiding the sailors squatting on the ground to wipe the deck and the workers wearing blue overalls to repair the equipment.


    When I got to the side of the ship, I held the railing, looked at the berth where the Eldridge had just stayed, and asked Henry curiously, "can I ask you, Captain, how many ships can your shipyard produce in a month?"


    As soon as I said that, I realized that I was wrong. This is a secret of the US Navy. How can I tell an outsider at will. Just as I was annoyed, I heard Henry respond politely: "Richmond shipyard built 13 freeships in 37 days," he said smoothly, pointing to the distant berth. "These freeships, like the Eldridge today, launched in a lateral sliding way. At that time, I was also at the scene. I saw a row of ships standing on the shore, which were kicked into the sea one by one by an invisible giant. I still remember the spectacular scene


    Captain Henry''s answer was so clever that it didn''t hurt my face or reveal the secrets of the U.S. Navy. I responded to his reply with a kind smile. Suddenly, I thought of another thing. I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Captain, what is a freewheel?"¡° "Freighter," Henry explained to me with a smile when he heard my naive question, "is a merchant ship of about 10000 tons. Because of its rapid construction and low price, apart from providing part of it to Britain and your country under the Leasing Act, the rest will be used to replace the merchant ships sunk by German submarines. "¡° Hello, sir A strange voice came from behind us. When we turned around, we saw a stout naval commander standing in front of us, and behind him, followed by the sergeant just now. I guess the person in front of us might be commander Elman of the Eldridge. Henry raised his hand to return the salute, reached out to the other side with a smile, and said warmly, "Hello, commander Elman, we meet again. It seems that you''ve been doing well for more than a year. I saw you last time as a major, but now I''m a lieutenant commander. The advantage of war is that you can improve quickly. " Then he took the initiative to introduce me to the captain of the Eldridge: "general, this is lieutenant commander Elman, who used to be my subordinate and is now a captain." Then he turned to Elman and said, "this is general oshanina from the Soviet Union. She''s here today to watch the launching ceremony of the Eldridge."¡° Hello, sir Commander Elman saluted me. When shaking hands, he thought I didn''t understand English, so he asked Henry in a low voice, "Sir, you''ve been to Moscow with the first" lease act "mission. Did you know this general at that time?"¡° No, "he said Henry simply replied, "she came with the Soviet diplomatic corps, and I took her to Norfolk Naval Base on the order of General Marshall. By the way, she wants to visit your destroyer. You can arrange it as soon as possible. " When commander Elman heard this, he released my hand and asked Henry in a business voice, "Sir, do you have a written order from the chief of staff or the commander of the Navy?"¡° No Henry said with some embarrassment: "we also decided to visit temporarily, so we didn''t wait for the written authorization of the officials at all levels."¡° I''m sorry, sir Elman heard Henry say so, also said in an official voice: "without the written order of the superior, I have no right to let you visit the warship." Perhaps he was afraid of his former superior''s ugly face, and asked in a low voice, "without written orders, it''s OK to get the oral permission of the officer."¡° No, neither Henry replied with a wry smile.

 Chapter 1038

    Hearing Henry''s reply, Elman''s face showed an unexpected expression. He finally understood that his old superior had not given me permission to take me on the destroyer.


    I carefully observed the look of Elman center, and I could see that he was also hesitating. Although I didn''t know what the regulations of the US Army were, it should not be allowed to take people on a warship without the permission of the superior. Even if Colonel Henry was Elman''s old superior, there was no possibility of flexibility.


    Henry saw Elman''s embarrassed expression, looked at me, turned to Elman and said, "commander, if this makes you embarrassed, we''ll get off the ship immediately."


    I had thought that Elman would push the boat with the current and agree that Captain Henry would take me with him. But he reached out to stop Henry, turned and whispered a few words to the sergeant.


    "Yes, sir!" The sergeant made a loud promise and turned to leave.


    After the sergeant left, Elman said to Henry with a smile: "Captain, you can''t take your guests to visit our warship without permission from the superior, but it doesn''t prevent me from inviting you and your guests to have a cup of coffee in the cabin. It''s time for you to have lunch with me. " Then he made a sign to Henry, "Sir, please!"


    I followed Elman and Henry to the narrow command cabin and saw a long table fixed on the deck covered with White Linen Tablecloth, with folding chairs on both sides of the table.


    When Elman called us to sit down, he yelled out, "come on in."


    At his command, four sailors in white cooks'' hats came in from the hatch. At the front was a black man. He put his shining knife and fork in front of the three of us one by one. Then he stepped back and stood with his back against the bulkhead. The remaining three sailors put lunch in front of us.


    After the sailors left, Elman first broke the silence. He pointed to the rich lunch on the table and politely said to me, "Sir, please try our American sailors'' food."


    I purposely waited for Colonel Henry to translate for me, then I said thank you to Elman with a smile, and then I took up the knife and fork to deal with the delicious food in front of me. The U.S. Navy''s lunch was really rich, with hamburgers, eggs, large pieces of pork ribs, a salad with ham and vegetables, and a cup of steaming coffee, which was more than any meal I''ve had in the past six months.


    "Isn''t it delicious, general?" Henry showed a friendly smile on his amiable face. "If you think the food is delicious, you should eat more and have more after eating." At this point, he seemed to think of something, and added, "I know that because Ukraine, the largest granary of the Soviet Union, was occupied by the Germans, what you are now implementing is the supply system, and the food you can get is very limited. But you can rest assured that your food supply will be improved in one month at most, because our aid materials for the Soviet Union include a large number of canned meat, sausages, lard, vegetable oil, egg powder, milk powder and cheese. "


    I know what Henry said is true. Before he went to Russia to do business, he always thought that after the great defeat in the early days of the patriotic war, the Soviet Union finally held its ground and could barely resist the attack of the German army with its own strength. The assistance of the United States was nothing but icing on the cake and became the last straw to crush the camel of Germany. But when I was in Moscow for a few years, I was stunned to see the US military''s aid list occasionally. It''s more than just a straw, which obviously pushes the whole camel up.


    With 500000 transport vehicles, 2.6 million tons of oil, 22000 tanks and armored vehicles, and 14000 aircraft of all kinds, the Soviet Union would be a real "ah Dou" if it could not defeat the Germans. Zhukov himself said after the war: "if there were no American gunpowder, we would be in a very difficult situation. We could not produce so much ammunition for the war; We can''t transport our cannons without American stebeck cars. They really guarantee our front-line transportation to a considerable extent. The special steel that is needed in all aspects of the war is also provided by the United States. "


    "... the Americans rapidly produced and supplied us with a lot of materials, without which we could not build our reserve forces and continue the war. We don''t have explosives and gunpowder. Without these things, rifles don''t have bullets. The Americans sincerely produced and provided us with a lot of steel. Without the steel provided by the Americans, can we produce tanks quickly? "


    "... without the assistance of the west, the Soviet Union could not win the patriotic war, nor could it even resist the invasion of Germany, nor could it produce enough weapons and technical equipment, nor could it guarantee the fuel and ammunition used in the war."


    Although I have been in this world for more than a year, there is one thing I have never understood, so I took this opportunity to ask: "Captain, I have a question to ask you."


    "Excuse me, general." Said Colonel Henry politely.


    I organized some words in my mind, and then asked, "Colonel, I want to know why American aid to the Soviet Union is not transported from the mainland of the United States, via Canada to Alaska, and then from the Bering Strait to the Far East of the Soviet Union?"


    When he heard my question, Henry sighed softly and said, "if you look at the local geographical environment and the climate change in the four seasons of the year, you will understand that it is very difficult to transport materials on this line, and the loss on the road will be amazing. Even if we managed to reach the Far East, we were still tens of thousands of kilometers away from the Soviet front. "


    "That''s why," Herman continued, "the fleet of goods and materials would choose to transit through Britain, take the Arctic Ocean, and finally reach the Soviet Union''s Murmansk, which is a natural ice free port. All the supplies for the Soviet Union were unloaded there and then transported to various regions of the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, this road is not very safe. It is easy to be attacked by German submarines. Almost every time you go out, you will lose several ships. "


    "By the way, commander, there''s something I want to ask you." After Henry translated Elman''s words to me, he suddenly turned to ask the other side, "will the Atlantic Fleet deliver a batch of ships to Russia next month?"


    Elte looked at me alertly when he heard Henry''s question. Henry probably saw his worry and said in a low voice, "don''t worry. She doesn''t understand English. You can think that there are only two of us here. You can say it boldly."


    After I understood what Henry said, I went on eating and listened to the conversation.


    "Yes, according to the plan, we will provide landing ships to the Russian Pacific Fleet next month, so that they can use them in landing war on the Japanese mainland," Elman said in a nagging voice. There are two types of landing ships to assist Russia, LCI and LCT. The former can carry 21 soldiers each, while the latter can carry 250 soldiers. However, as our navy is also in urgent need of landing ships of various types, the delivery date of landing ships to the Russian navy has been postponed to one year. "


    "The decision of the commander of the navy is not very wise." As he sipped his coffee, Colonel Henry expressed his opinion: "since we have agreed with Russia on the delivery date of the ship, when it comes to the delivery time, we have to postpone the date by one year. I think Russia will be very angry."


    "It''s OK. Although they don''t provide landing ships for the time being, it has no impact on their next strategy. Anyway, they won''t have any landing operations this year." "We will provide them with 10 am minesweepers and UMS minesweepers," Elman said


    "Yes, this is the ship they need badly." Henry put down his coffee cup and continued: "after the outbreak of the Soviet German war, one third of their Baltic Fleet was sunk by German mines. Last May, the UK provided them with a number of minesweepers that could use sound and electromagnetic systems. The Soviet army had never used such an advanced minesweeping system before. "


    "Yes," Herman continued, "the minesweepers we provide to Russia are very advanced. Among them, the AM type is 914 tons, the speed is 14 knots, the ship is of steel structure, equipped with sound detection system, and the weapons on board include nine guns. The UMS is a wooden ship with a displacement of only 350 tons... "


    "Is there no warship?" Henry asked curiously, "you know, it won''t take long to build a ship at our industrial level."


    "There are also four Tacoma class frigates," they really thought I didn''t know English, because sitting opposite me, they talked about the secrets of the US Navy recklessly: "this kind of ship has a displacement of 2270 tons, a speed of 19 knots, a cruising distance of 15000 km, and its weapons include three 76mm naval guns, two 40mm naval guns and nine 20mm naval guns. In order to make them better able to deal with * *''s submarines, this type of ship is specially equipped with sonar system and deep-water bomb. And we also provide radar and sonar to their navy every month. "


    "Report!" Just as I was trying to hear more U.S. Navy secrets from them, a voice calling for a report came from the door. "Come in!" Elman called without looking back


    Soon, the person who called for the report appeared in front of the three of us. It turned out that it was the sergeant just now. Henry looked at him and asked, "sergeant, what can I do for you?"


    "Sir, I''m sending a call back to Fleet Command for the captain." The sergeant quickly straightened up and reported to Henry.


    "Show it to me." Before Henry could ask again, Elman reached out to the sergeant and was ready to take the message. Sergeant is also smart, quickly handed the message to the captain''s hand.


    Henry waited for Elman to finish reading the telegram and put it on the table before he asked, "what did Fleet Command say in the telegram?"


    "Sir!" Elman looked at Henry and said solemnly, "I just ordered the sergeant to send a telegram to the Fleet Command to report what happened here and ask if you are allowed to visit the ship. Now the reply from the command is back."


    Henry glanced at the telegram on the table. Instead of reaching for it, he asked slowly, "what does the telegram from the headquarters say?"


    "Sir, the command''s order is very clear. Visiting warships is absolutely not allowed." Elman said with some tears and laughter: "but you can introduce the parameters of the ship to the commander of the friendly forces."


    "In that case, commander, you can introduce yourself." Henry heard the command is such an order, but also some helplessly said: "anyway, the general, she is only the army, also do not understand the Navy, even if you take her to visit, it is estimated that in the end nothing can be remembered, it is better to directly report to her the parameters of this destroyer, let her have a general understanding."¡° This is also a way, so I''ll give her a brief talk here. " At the same time, Elman begged Colonel Henry: "Sir, I need you to translate for me." Seeing Henry nodding in agreement, Elman turned to me and said politely, "general, I can''t show you my warship because I haven''t got permission from Fleet Command. But in order not to let you fly this trip, I can still tell you about our destroyer. " After Henry finished his translation, I put on a regretful expression and said, "it''s a pity that I can''t go around the ship. However, if I can hear the commander''s brief introduction about the situation of the warship, I will be worthy of this trip. "¡° General, our ship is a frigate destroyer. Its main task is to escort the merchant fleet. " When commander Elman saw that Henry was ready, he began to introduce the situation to me: "we are Mahan class destroyers. Although we don''t have the firepower control of attack weapons and destroyers, and we don''t have faster speed, then our ship has more maneuverability and a smaller turning radius than destroyers. In order to keep up with the aircraft carriers, warships and cruisers in the fleet, destroyers often need a speed of more than 30 knots, while a escort destroyer only needs to be able to maneuver relative to the slow escort transport team, and can resist the attack of enemy aircraft, detect, pursue and attack the enemy''s submarines. These lower requirements greatly reduce the size of the ship The cost and the crew required to escort the destroyer. "¡° All right, commander, be brief. " After translating the series of words for me, Henry suddenly whispered to Elman, "don''t talk about what you shouldn''t say." Elman nodded and then introduced: "Eldridge is 104 meters long, 10.8 meters wide, 3.2 meters deep, and its maximum speed is 37 knots. It is equipped with five 5-inch 38 times diameter main guns, four 50 mm machine guns, three quadruple 533 torpedo launching tubes and two deep-water bomb launching tracks. "

 Chapter 1039

    It was completely dark when Colonel Henry sent me back to the embassy.


    When I walked into the hall, I saw levinov talking to the staff in the hall. Seeing me enter the door, he hastened to speed up and said two words to the staff, then left the other side and walked towards me. At the same time, he said politely, "Comrade oshanina, you are back!"


    It''s very awkward to hear someone call me a general or officer for a day and suddenly hear someone call me a comrade. After a moment''s absence, I quickly nodded to levinov and said in a friendly way, "yes, comrade ambassador, I''m back."


    Without waiting for me to ask anything, he took the initiative to say, "Molotov and khluliov are in the room. They once told me that if they saw you coming back, they would ask you to go to Molotov''s room."


    I smile, thank levinov, and then walk through the hall, up the stairs, and toward Molotov''s room.


    When I went outside Molotov''s room, I saw two tall security officers standing at the door, both of whom I knew. Just as they wanted to speak, one of them had turned around and knocked twice on the door. When a voice came from inside, he pushed the door open a crack and put him in. I heard him say soberly: "comrades of the people''s Committee, general oshanina is here!"


    Then in the room came Molotov''s stern voice: "ask her to come in!"


    The security officer promised, while retracting his head, he pushed the door more open. At the same time, he turned to me and said politely, "general, comrades of the people''s Committee are waiting for you inside. Please come in!"


    I nodded to the security staff with a smile and walked into the room. As soon as they entered, the security personnel closed the door gently. I walked quickly to Molotov and khluliov sitting on the sofa, raised my hand to salute them, and said, "comrades of the people''s Foreign Affairs Committee and the Minister of logistics, I''m back."


    Molotov looked up at me and asked coldly, "what did you get from going to Norfolk Naval Base today?"


    "Yes, comrades of the people''s Committee," I don''t know why. Standing in front of Molotov, I always feel a little uneasy. Maybe it''s because he is equivalent to a marshal in the army, which makes me feel a sense of awe. When he asked me about the harvest of my trip, I told the truth about the process of launching the destroyer Eldridge from the beginning to the end. Of course, when I overheard the conversation between Henry and Elman, I deliberately concealed it, because I didn''t want anyone to know that I knew English, otherwise there would be countless troubles for me.


    After reporting my trip to Norfolk Naval Base today, I stood still, waiting for Molotov''s next instructions. After listening to what I said, khluliov said to Molotov sideways, "comrades of the people''s Committee, oshanina''s harvest today is not small. If we can really take the way of lateral sliding of ships into the water, we can build large ships in some small shipyards to make up for the ships lost by our navy in the war."


    "Well, it is." Molotov obviously knew something about the manufacture of ships. After listening to khluliov''s words, he said casually, "those small shipyards can only build some fishing boats. If they can also build the ships needed by the navy in this way, the ships lost by the navy can be quickly replenished."


    When I saw Molotov talking, I didn''t even glance at me. It was estimated that, as usual, it was time for me to leave again. So I asked carefully, "comrades of the people''s Committee, do you allow me to leave?"


    Molotov didn''t speak. He just waved to me to let me go.


    Just as I turned to go outside, I heard khrushiev''s voice coming from behind: "Comrade oshanina, please wait a moment."


    I don''t know why khrushiev stopped me, so I quickly lowered my raised leg, turned to look at him, and waited for his further instructions. However, he turned to Molotov and said, "comrades of the people''s Committee, I think there are some things that we should let Comrade oshanina know. After all, she has an important mission to come to the United States with us."


    After hearing these words, Molotov stood up from the sofa and looked at me for a long time. Then he bit his back teeth and said to khrushiev, "Comrade minister, maybe you are right. In that case, please show her the result of your negotiation today. " With these words, he reached out and pointed to the empty sofa beside him, and said in an imperative tone, "sit down."


    I sat on the sofa designated by him and took the document that khrushiev handed me. When I opened the folder and saw the contents, I was surprised, because khrushiev showed me the list of materials provided by the United States to assist the Soviet Union.


    In addition to the tanks, airplanes, anti-aircraft guns, anti tank guns, transport vehicles, oil and other materials I know about, there are also reconnaissance vehicles, battlefield telephones, underwater and submarine cables, aluminum, tin, lead, molybdenum, nickel, copper and other metals, tank armor plates and various steel products, petroleum products, various industrial machines, rubber and leather, as well as various food and medicine. On this list, there are 72 kinds of materials that the United States needs to assist the Soviet Union every month, which is far beyond my belief.


    When I put the folder on the coffee table in front of me, I said with emotion: "I really didn''t expect that the United States would help us with so many things."


    As he took the folder away from me, khrushiev said, "yes, the American aid to us is far more than we originally thought. Only an industrialized country like the United States can provide us with so many materials. If it is replaced by another country, even one fifth of the materials will be enough to drag down their national strength. "


    After hearing this, Molotov said impatiently, "although the Americans have given us so many materials, they are not giving them for nothing. The foreign debt of 9.8 billion US dollars they lent us needs to be paid back to them in batches after the end of the war. "


    "Comrades of the people''s Committee," khrushiev interjected, "in the memorandum of the meeting two days ago, didn''t the US side say that the US $10.9 billion lent to us was suddenly reduced by 1.1 billion?"


    "What 10.9 billion? It''s only 9.8 billion. " Molotov''s tone became more and more impatient: "in 1941, the weapons and materials they assisted us with Britain agreed that they would be given away free of charge. As a result, in the negotiations two days ago, it was proposed that these things should also be charged. Our Soviet motherland resolutely refused to recognize this unreasonable increase of US $1.1 billion. "


    "But, comrades of the people''s Committee." I was surprised at Molotov''s obvious performance of defaulting on his debts, while khluliov directly expressed his scruples: "you and I all know that the Allies first assisted our navy after the United States formally joined the war at the end of 1941. Britain and the United States assisted 200 torpedo boats, which improved our navy''s coastal defense capability. The torpedoes, with a maximum speed of 41 knots, are equipped with two torpedoes and a 20 mm automatic antiaircraft gun. These torpedo boats are worth a lot of money. "


    "Comrade minister, I draw your attention." Molotov rebutted khluliov very impolitely, saying: "don''t forget, the United States has also provided us with 60 small hunting submarines. However, due to the lack of search system, these submarines can only be used by our navy for coastal patrol. It''s totally unreliable equipment, and it''s so easy to charge us money. "


    When I saw that they had a dispute over the US aid, I was really embarrassed. As I am, I don''t have to be a peacemaker between them, so I can only keep silent and look on coldly. At the same time, I was still wondering whether they were arguing as they are now after every time I left.


    After a long time, I asked carefully, "Comrade people''s commissar, I don''t know if President Roosevelt mentioned in front of you that the allies will open up a second battlefield in the right place."


    Molotov''s face softened after hearing what I said. He said: "today, in his meeting with President Roosevelt, he mentioned this to me. He said that because you have provided excellent ideas for them to make landing plans, the time for making plans will be greatly shortened. In a week at most, I think the latest landing plan will be officially launched. "


    Molotov said that the Normandy landing plan could not be launched until a week at the latest, which is somewhat disappointing. But on second thought, for such a huge landing plan, one week is really fast. Although my final landing plan was approved by General Marshall and Sir Morgan, because it is of great importance, they will certainly carry out repeated verification in some details when formulating the plan. In this way, it will naturally take a long time.


    Molotov waved to me again and said, "Comrade oshanina, you must be very tired after running so far today. You''d better go back and have a rest early."


    I stood up, saluted them and turned away. When I got to the door, I suddenly thought of something. I stopped and asked Molotov, "comrades of the people''s Committee, how long can our delegation stay in the United States?"


    Molotov had a puzzled look on his face when I asked this question suddenly. He asked, "Comrade oshanina, what do you want to do with this? Is there anything else important for you in America? "


    When I heard Molotov''s suspicious question, I immediately felt a sense of uncertainty. I knew that if I didn''t give him a convincing reason, maybe the first thing I would do after I returned to Moscow was to be sent to the Ministry of interior for examination. So I answered in a flurry, "well, comrades of the people''s Committee. Before I became a member of your delegation, I was ordered to join a friendly delegation to visit the United States, which was responsible for telling the American people how our army and people fought against the Communist aggressors, and calling on Britain and the United States to open up a second battlefield very quickly. According to the date, it''s almost time for that delegation to arrive. "


    My reason made Molotov''s expression relaxed again. He said with disapproval, "Comrade oshanina, your role in my delegation is far greater than that of the friendly delegation. In that regiment, even if you talk too much, you won''t attract the attention of American politicians, and the military won''t do anything. And this time, as the representative of the base camp, you went directly to negotiate with the US military to open up a second battlefield. The effect is not very obvious. At least they did not shirk the prevarication as before, but seriously studied and worked out landing plans. "


    "That''s right," khrushiev and Molotov echoed as soon as they finished saying, "Comrade oshanina, for your performance in this visit, comrade foreign people''s commissar has reported to the Supreme Commander himself in a telegram. As far as I know, he is very satisfied with your excellent performance. As for when to return home, it all depends on our next talks with the US side. " Knowing that I could not get any more useful information from them, I saluted them again, opened the door and went out. Back in my room, I couldn''t help thinking again. I had no chance to see Roosevelt a second time, except that on the day I came, I had a chance to meet Roosevelt. If I can''t see him again, I will have no chance to make friends with Mrs. Roosevelt. I can''t go directly to the White House to find First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and then say to her, "I am your admirer, from the Soviet Union thousands of miles away, and I want to win your friendship." If I did, I would be repatriated the next day and sent to the military court. It''s good to be sent to gulag. Maybe the interior department will shoot me. I was just thinking about it when there was a knock at the door. I thought it was the staff of the embassy who came to deliver things, so I got up and went to open the door. As soon as I opened the door, to my surprise, it was levinov standing at the door. He looked at me with a smile and asked, "general, may I go in?"¡° Come in, comrade ambassador. " As I said this, I turned sideways and made a gesture to the room. When I saw him go to the table, pull out a chair and sit down, I closed the door and asked with a smile, "Comrade ambassador, I don''t know what you''ve come to see me so late. What can I do for you?" When livinov heard my question, he showed a smile on his face. He said calmly, "Comrade oshanina, I''ve come to see you because someone has a strong interest in you and wants to meet you at the right time. So let me ask if you have any intention in this regard."

 Chapter 1040

    "Who?" I didn''t wait for livinov to finish, I asked alertly¡° Who wants to see me? "


    Seeing my vigilant expression, livinov laughed and said a name that made me excited: "Eleanor Roosevelt, President Roosevelt''s wife, first lady of the United States."


    Although I always wanted to meet the first lady in my heart, when levinov said that the other party wanted to see me, he was a little flustered. I quickly weighed the pros and cons in my mind, and finally asked cautiously, "Comrade ambassador, I don''t know about this matter. Have you reported it to the people''s Foreign Affairs Committee?"


    When I mentioned Molotov, the expression on livinov''s face stagnated. After a while, he said to me with a bitter smile, "Comrade oshanina, the first lady''s appointment with you this time is private. I will arrange your meeting as soon as you like. As for Molotov, you just need to say hello to him. I don''t think he will interfere with such a good thing that can enhance the friendship between the Soviet Union and the United States. "


    After listening to levinov''s words, I still asked with great misgivings, "is it really appropriate to meet the first lady in private like this?"


    Levinov laughed. "Comrade oshanina, when you went to Norfolk Naval Base today, did you meet the commander of Atlantic naval command or the commander of the base? If not, your trip to Norfolk is also personal. "


    I savored levinov''s words carefully, and thought it was quite reasonable. Although Marshall offered to let me go to Norfolk, Captain Henry, who accompanied me, did not take me to see any senior commander of the base or fleet at all, and even to visit the Eldridge, he was hindered by many obstacles. Perhaps it was only in order to thank me for my help in the formulation of their "overlord plan" that Marshall asked Col. Henry to accompany me to Norfolk Naval Base in his personal capacity. The right was to return my favor.


    Mrs. Roosevelt sent a message to me through levinov, hoping to have a personal meeting with me. If Molotov didn''t know about this, she would be hated by him in the future. After all, he is one of the most trustworthy people around the supreme commander, and he has the ability to solve me easily. In contrast, levinov, who is sitting in front of me, is a marginalized figure. Although Stalin still likes him, from all kinds of signs, he may not have any chance to be reused again. Too close relationship with him will bring me disastrous consequences.


    Thinking of this, I took a deep breath, and then said firmly to livinov: "ambassador livinov, I am very grateful that you can give me an opportunity to meet Mrs. Roosevelt. However, whether it is a formal meeting or a private meeting, we must ask Comrade Molotov for instructions in advance. Only with his consent can I give you a definite answer. "


    My words made the expression on livinov''s face more complicated. After thinking about it again and again, he finally nodded reluctantly and said difficultly, "Comrade oshanina, since you must insist so much, do as you say."


    As for this kind of thing, I always advocate striking while the iron is hot. Seeing that livinov has agreed, I politely urged him: "in this case, comrade ambassador, let''s go to see the comrades of the people''s Committee immediately. I believe he is still talking with Minister khrushov at this time and will not rest for the time being."


    Livinov could not refute my proposal, so he had to follow me to Molotov''s room.


    When I came to the door, two security personnel with surprised eyes staring at me, seems to be strange about my return. I didn''t have time to guess what they were thinking, so I said to the man who had just opened the door for me, "I have something urgent to see the people''s commissar immediately. Please inform me."


    The man took a look at me and levinov, turned around and tapped twice at the door as he had just done, then pushed the door open a crack and put his head in. Almost at the same time, I heard Molotov''s stern voice: "what''s the matter?"


    "It''s general oshanina," the security officer replied. "She said there was something important to report to you immediately."


    After listening to the security report, Molotov was silent for a moment, and then said, "please let her in."


    The security personnel drew back their heads, pushed open the door and politely said to us, "please come in!"


    Molotov was the only one left in the room. He didn''t see khrushiev. Maybe he went back to his room. When Molotov saw the livinov beside me, he couldn''t help looking surprised. He stood up from the sofa and asked sternly, "o''shanina, what''s important for you to come here at this time?"


    "Comrade foreign people''s commissar," I called him politely first, then turned to look at livinov and said, "Comrade Ambassador just told me that Mrs. Roosevelt wanted to meet me in private. As this matter is of the greatest concern, I think it is necessary to report it to you and decide whether to meet the president''s wife or not with your permission. "


    "Is that so? Comrade livinov. " After listening to me, Molotov turned to levinov.


    "Yes, comrade member of the people''s Foreign Affairs Committee." "Today, I got a call from the White House Office saying that the president''s wife would like to meet with general oshanina in private," levinov replied


    After being confirmed by livinov, Molotov looked at me again and asked noncommittally, "Comrade oshanina, how do you think about this matter?"


    "Comrade member of the people''s Committee of foreign affairs, I''m completely waiting for your instructions!" I said respectfully to Molotov, "if you think I should meet, meet; If I don''t have to, I''ll be gone. "


    My respectful attitude softened the expression on Molotov''s face. He took off his glasses, took a breath on the lenses, took out a white handkerchief from his pocket, and slowly wiped the lenses. From his reaction, I can judge that he is very satisfied with my attitude. If there is no accident, he will certainly agree that I will meet Mrs. Roosevelt. After all, it is also a way to enhance the friendship between the two countries.


    When Molotov put on his glasses again, the expression of his previous lack of beating was gone, and a rare smile appeared on his face. He said to me with a smile, "o''shanina, since it''s the first lady of the United States who has asked you to meet, it''s very kind of you to meet her as soon as possible."


    When I heard that from Molotov, I couldn''t help thinking that I should wait for the first lady to arrange a meeting. But on the surface, he had to pretend to be happy and promised, "yes, comrade members of the people''s Committee."


    Molotov coughed, cleared his throat, and then said to livinov, "Comrade livinov, I will give you full responsibility for this matter. When you reply to Mrs. Roosevelt, you should fix the meeting time as soon as possible. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrades of the people''s Committee." Levinov reluctantly agreed, then threw me a reproachful glance.


    I know that it''s really inappropriate for me to force livinov to come to Molotov, but it can''t be stopped on paper. If this matter is not reported to Molotov in time, even if it is delayed until the next day, as long as the intelligence personnel in the embassy report to him in private, livinov and I will be in trouble.


    After we left Molotov''s room and walked along the corridor for a while, I saw that it was far away from the security personnel at the door. When they couldn''t hear what we said, they whispered to livinov, "Comrade ambassador, come to me?" Although levinov has been marginalized, his status is still far higher than mine. I don''t want to set up such an enemy. Therefore, I need to make things clear to him before inviting him to my room.


    For my invitation, livinov hesitated for a long time, then nodded slowly, put on a look as if nothing had happened and said: "OK, then go and sit down. It happens that I have some diplomatic etiquette matters that I need to explain to you. "


    After entering the room, I asked him to sit down, poured him a cup of hot tea from the teapot, put it in front of him with both hands, and asked with a smile, "Comrade ambassador, do you still blame me in your heart, and think you should not report the matter to Comrade Molotov so soon?"


    "Hum!" After a heavy snort from his nose, livinov said angrily, "I didn''t expect that you are now groveling in front of Molotov. I really misunderstood you."


    Because of his loud voice, I was startled. I was afraid that someone would hear me outside. I quickly went to the door, quietly opened the door and looked out. When I saw that there was no one in the corridor, I was relieved. When I closed the door and walked back to levinov, I kindly reminded him, "Comrade ambassador, don''t be too loud, or you will be heard."


    "Tell me, why are you in such a hurry to report this to Molotov?" Livinov took a sip of tea and said with great dissatisfaction, "can''t you make a meeting with Mrs. Roosevelt and report back? It''s just one day earlier and one day later. "


    When I heard levinov''s words, I couldn''t help sighing. No wonder he would be pushed down from the position of the people''s Foreign Affairs Committee and demoted as ambassador to the United States. He really lacked political wisdom. No wonder he couldn''t play Molotov. If he hadn''t made use of Stalin, he would have been lying in the cold soil.


    "Ambassador livinov," I said after he finished, I did not answer his question directly, but turned off the topic and asked leisurely, "do you think there are spies from the Ministry of interior or the staff of Cheka in this Embassy?"


    "Cheka!" Livinov was so frightened by the word I said that he hesitated for a long time and said: "theoretically speaking, it must be indispensable in these overseas agencies. Because they are responsible for collecting intelligence and monitoring the words, deeds and actions of personnel stationed abroad. "


    "It seems that you are well aware that there are such frightening figures in the embassy." Seeing that he now seemed to understand something, I went on to say, "perhaps these staff members have already learned from their channels about Mrs. Roosevelt''s plans to meet me in private. If we don''t report the matter to Molotov in advance, but wait for these people to report after they finish their little report, then the nature of the whole matter will be completely changed. At that time, you and I will be in big trouble. "


    After listening to me, livinov raised his hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead. Then he stood up, leaned forward slightly and stretched out his hands to me. When we held each other''s hands tightly, he said gratefully, "Comrade oshanina, I have wronged you. Or you are considerate. If we don''t report the matter to Molotov in time, we may have a big problem. I may be transferred back to China immediately and left idle; And your career will stop. "


    Seeing that livinov understood my difficulties, I released his hand and said casually, "well, comrade ambassador, next you should explain to me the necessary diplomatic etiquette, so as not to make a fool of me when I see Mrs. Roosevelt." After listening to me, livinov raised his hand, patted his forehead heavily, and said repeatedly, "yes, next, I should explain to you some precautions when I see Mrs. Roosevelt." Seeing livinov standing in the same place, I planned to tell me about diplomatic etiquette. I quickly pointed to the chair next to him and politely said to him, "I guess you can''t finish what you want to talk about for a while. It''s better to sit down." After he took a sip of tea from the table, the first thing he told me was not about the necessary precautions, but about the sniper Lyudmila and Mrs. Roosevelt¡° Comrade o''shanina, you may know that last year, a great female sniper, Ludmila, accompanied our youth friendship delegation to visit the United States. She became the first Soviet citizen to be interviewed by President Roosevelt and met Mrs. Roosevelt. Because the first lady liked the young soldier very much, she took care of her as her own daughter. For Lyudmila to win the friendship of the first lady, this is what we would like to see. But unfortunately, her rank is too low. Apart from being treated differently by Mrs. Roosevelt, she is not helpful in calling on the allies to open up a second battlefield. "¡° Comrade ambassador, "when I heard this, I couldn''t help interrupting and asking," can I make up for Comrade Lyudmila''s deficiency by meeting with Mrs. Roosevelt, and successfully urge the allies to quickly open up a second battlefield? "¡° Yes, you can do that. " Livinov said with a smile: "because you came to the United States as the representative of the base camp, following the people''s Foreign Affairs Committee. You are far more important than Lyudmila. As long as you can get Mrs. Roosevelt''s friendship, it will be of great help to the diplomatic relations between the two countries. "

 Chapter 1041

    Under the arrangement of livinov, Eleanor, Roosevelt''s wife, set the meeting time for the next afternoon.


    I came to the white house again, accompanied by levinov. As soon as I got out of the car, a middle-aged man in a suit stood by the door. After greeting livinov, he said to me in Russian with a smile, "Hello, general oshanina. I''m Harold, Secretary of state. I''m here to meet you for my wife."


    I took Harold''s hand and said, "thank you, Mr. Harold. Please take me to see my wife."


    Levinov and I walked behind Harold into the building and along a paved corridor. But when Harold stopped at a door and raised his hand to knock on it, livinov suddenly whispered to me, "o''shanina, you''ll see Mrs. Roosevelt alone later. I''ll wait for you outside."


    When I heard that levinov was going to leave, I got flustered. I grabbed his sleeve and said to him almost in a pleading tone: "ambassador levinov, please don''t leave. I will be nervous when I see Mrs. Roosevelt alone."


    "Why are you nervous?" "It is said that every time you meet Comrade Stalin, you can keep calm. This time you only meet the first lady of the United States. I think you can also behave normally," he muttered


    Before I could respond, the door of the closed room had been opened, and a bald old man in a beige windbreaker appeared at the door. He glanced at Harold standing outside the door, then turned his eyes to us, with a friendly smile on his face. He reached out his hands and walked over to levinov. When he shook hands with him, he said, "Hello, Ambassador levinov."


    After shaking hands with livinov, he turned to look at me again and said with a smile, "Hello, girl oshanina. I''m Mrs. Roosevelt''s friend James, and she asked me to come out to meet you on her behalf. Come on in, madam. I''ve been waiting for you for a long time


    "Mr. James, if I have other business, I won''t be with you." After politely speaking to James, livinov whispered to me, "o''shanina, I''ll pick you up in two hours."


    When I was alone, I said to myself in my heart, "it''s nothing. It''s just meeting Mrs. Roosevelt. What''s the point of being nervous. Since I didn''t feel nervous when I met Stalin or Roosevelt, I certainly didn''t feel nervous when I met Eleanor. "


    But when I followed James into the room, Harold gently closed the door behind me. At the moment, I also saw the situation in the room. It was a very ordinary room, with windows on both sides and a closed door on the other wall. A rectangular table covered with white cloth, neatly placed around more than a dozen back chairs, on the table are two crystal fruit plates filled with fruit.


    A well-dressed old lady with short curly blonde hair was standing at the table. When she saw us coming in, she immediately welcomed us. At the same time, she asked with a smile, "is that o''shanina?"


    Although she is in English, but I understand, at the same time behind the old gentleman James also translated this sentence for me in time. In every way, Eleanor is in a good mood. So I rushed to meet her, and at the same time, I stretched out my hands to just hold her, and said respectfully, "Hello, dear first lady, it''s my pleasure to meet you."


    "Come on, come here, boy." After shaking hands with me, Mrs. Roosevelt still grasped my hand, put my hand in her hand and led me to the table.


    My body was stiff, and it took me a moment to get back to normal, but I still felt a little overwhelmed and mechanically followed Eleanor to the table.


    Then she let go of my hand and said softly, "please sit down, Rita." When she called me Rita in a very casual tone, she explained to me, "as far as I know, in the Soviet Union, only close people call each other''s nicknames. I don''t mind if I call you that."


    When I heard her say that, I immediately put my head on a rattle and said, "no, no, I don''t mind, Madam President. It''s very kind of you to call me that. "


    "In that case, don''t call me the president''s wife, just call me Eleanor." Eleanor said to me with a smile, "and don''t use" you "when addressing me. It''s very alienated. Do you understand?"


    "I see, Madam President." As soon as I finished this sentence, I realized that I was wrong and promptly corrected it before James translated it. "I see, Eleanor."


    My brain was racing, thinking about how to carry on the topic, when Eleanor said, "you know what, Rita? Because I don''t want to go anywhere, I always take my own private guard, so the security department once suggested that I should at least carry a weapon to defend myself. "


    In my known history, Mrs. Roosevelt has never met any assassins, so I was not worried about her going out to visit hospitals, schools and factories without personal guards. Instead, I asked with a smile, "Dear Eleanor, do you have weapons on you?"


    "At the beginning, I did not hesitate to refuse the kindness of the relevant departments." Eleanor said to me with a smile, "but the people in the security department didn''t feel at ease. After consulting my husband, President Roosevelt, they took me to the driving range of the FBI to learn how to shoot. Guess what, my shooting performance? "


    From Eleanor''s smiling face, I can''t find the answer. I can only rely on my own imagination to think that she may have shooting talent. Maybe she will calm everyone when she enters the shooting range for the first time. Therefore, I did not hesitate to say my guess: "I think that the first time you entered the shooting range, you may have stunned all the people present."


    "That''s right, Rita. You''re right." Eleanor''s face smile more Sheng, "I played a total of 10 shots, the result of the shot out of the bullet did not know where to fly, a bullet did not hit the target, so that all the people present were shocked." At this point, she couldn''t help laughing.


    I laughed with embarrassment, but fortunately Eleanor misunderstood me and thought that I had guessed the fact that all her bullets missed the target, so I didn''t notice my abnormality.


    After laughing for a while, James, who has been acting as an interpreter for us, interjected: "after madam has been to the shooting range several times, the director of the Federal Bureau of investigation, Edgar Hoover, complained to President Roosevelt:" Mr President, if anyone in the United States has to be prohibited from carrying weapons, that person is your wife. She fired hundreds of bullets on the range of the FBI, but she never hit the target once. "


    Because James said this in Russian, before he translated it to Eleanor, I asked, "Eleanor, do you have a weapon with you now?"


    "Of course, in order to make you feel at ease, I now carry weapons with me whenever I go out." Eleanor continued to say to me, "I learned how to deal with weapons with Miller, a guard of my husband''s, so from now on, as long as I go out, I will carry a pistol with me. Although it''s an unloaded pistol, it can make people feel more at ease."


    Mrs. Roosevelt is a talkative person. As long as I don''t interrupt her, she can go on and on. When I notice a little sign that I want to speak, she will take the initiative to stop and ask if I have anything to say.


    After we chatted for a while, she picked up a box of camel cigarettes on the table, handed them to me, and politely asked, "Rita, do you smoke?"


    I quickly waved her hand, refused her kindness, and said apologetically, "I''m sorry, Eleanor. I never smoke."


    I thought Eleanor would take a cigarette out of the box, but she left it on the table. At this time, I heard James murmur against Eleanor: "madam, don''t you hate the smell of smoke most? Because of this, Mr. President, when he is in front of you, he also tries to restrain himself from smoking. "


    After listening to James'' complaint with care, Eleanor said to him with a smile: "Dear Mr. James, although I don''t smoke at all and have a special aversion to women who smoke, I later found that it was wrong for me to do so. I can''t impose my likes and dislikes on others. So I tried to overcome my aversion and strongly advocated the habit of handing cigarettes to my wives after dinner at the presidential palace. "


    Although I could understand most of their conversation, I still pretended to understand nothing and looked at them with a smile on my face. At the same time, I felt a little more good for Eleanor.


    When the conversation ended, I said with a smile, "Eleanor, I heard you have a good relationship with our female sniper Ludmila."


    "Yes, Rita, you are quite right." Elinor readily admitted the friendship between her and Lyudmila, especially explaining to me: "when I first met Lyudmila, I asked her," how many enemies have you killed? " But she said to me, "I don''t kill people. I kill people."


    I was stunned for a moment and then asked, "how many people have you destroyed?"


    When she told me without expression that she had killed 309 people, the whole audience was shocked.


    At that time, I thought I heard it wrong, and I confirmed it again. Yes, 309 people. "


    "By the way, o''shanina, I suddenly remembered something." After translating Eleanor''s words, James suddenly asked, "I remember a year or two ago, you were called" butcher woman "in the newspaper. I can''t remember the details, but it seems that you killed dozens of German soldiers who laid down their arms and surrendered at one time. Can you tell us something about it? "


    "Mr. James, you have a good memory. After the start of the great counter offensive under Moscow, I did command my men to shoot down a group of German prisoners who had laid down their arms and surrendered. This incident has been widely publicized in Western newspapers. " Now that James asked me about the killing of German prisoners, I readily told him how I found zhuola''s damaged body in the village. I was filled with righteous indignation for a moment, so I did not hesitate to give the order to shoot. I told the whole process of the shooting.


    When I say a word, James translates it. Eleanor did not speak, but listened silently to the whole story. Although she did not speak, I found that after listening for a while, her face became serious, and her hands on the table were shaking slightly.


    When I finally told the whole story, James said solemnly, "well, if I existed in your position at that time, o''shanina, I think I could not help giving the same order." But Eleanor was silent for a long time. At last, she said slowly, "Rita, you are right. Even if God sees these heinous crimes committed by German Communists, he will not forgive them." After listening to her words, I said casually, "it''s God''s business to forgive these executioners or not; And all we can do is send them to God! " My voice just fell, suddenly next to a few clear and audible applause. I followed the voice and saw the closed door I just saw. I don''t know when it was opened silently. A tall, young and handsome bodyguard, pushing a wheelchair, slowly walked into the room. On the wheelchair was president rosford, whom I once met. With a "ah" sound, Eleanor went over and took over the job of pushing the wheelchair from the bodyguard''s hand. But I couldn''t hold the earth to sit still in my seat. I quickly stood up, bowed slightly to Roosevelt not far away, and politely said, "Hello, Mr. President."¡° Good, good. O''shanina, what you just said is wonderful. " Roosevelt nodded to me with a smile. After praising me, he repeated what I had just said: "it''s God''s business to forgive these executioners or not; And all we can do is send them to God! " After saying these words to me, he turned to his wife, who was pushing his wheelchair, and said, "honey, next time you make a speech, you can add these words from general o''shanina, so that our people can understand that whether it''s the German, the Italian or the Japanese, we have a life and death enemy relationship with them, There is no mercy for these executioners who destroy the peace of mankind. " When Eleanor heard Roosevelt say this, she did not speak, but nodded her head with a smile and agreed¡° Please have a seat, general oshanina Seeing that I was still standing in a daze, Roosevelt immediately called me and said, "how can we let the guests stand in front of us and talk. Sit down, please

 Chapter 1042

    Although I understood Roosevelt''s words, I stood still because of nervousness. I didn''t get back to my seat until Eleanor fixed the wheelchair across from me, pulled my sleeve and motioned me to sit down.


    After James and I sat down, Eleanor moved a chair and sat down in Roosevelt''s wheelchair. Seeing that all the people were seated, rosford looked at me with a smile and said slowly, "o''shanina, from what you have said, I think that although you have done something drastic in this matter, it is understandable."


    When I heard Roosevelt''s comment on me, I just had a smile on my face. Before I could speak, I heard him continue to say: "however, according to the information I received, I learned that your men slaughtered all the guards in the nearby hilez concentration camp after recovering Kiev. There is no living person, no matter an officer or an ordinary soldier. " When he said this, he restrained his smile and became serious. "I think that even if these German guards abused prisoners, they were ordered to act. After all, the Germans were the conquerors of the land and could decide the fate of the land."


    As soon as Roosevelt''s words were finished, I suddenly stood up from my seat and said to the respectable president of the United States, "Mr. President, do you know what these bandits have done? The hilez concentration camp was built in June 1942. In less than a year, more than 20000 prisoners and Jews died in the camp. As early as the German army occupied Kiev, they drove tens of thousands of Jews from the city to the nearby babiya Valley and carried out an organized and premeditated massacre. "


    My words made Roosevelt''s face twitch. For a long time, he asked suspiciously, "our intelligence personnel have also collected similar information. However, no matter how cruel the Germans are, they will not do such a cruel and inhuman thing in the face of tens of thousands of unarmed civilians, will they?"


    "Mr. President," I was filled with strong dissatisfaction with Roosevelt''s skepticism. So I said impolitely, "it''s not something we made up. It''s something my men learned from the captured German documents. After the massacre in babiya Valley, it is said that a transferred photographer from the German defense forces went to babiya Valley and took a lot of photos. If we have the chance to seize these photos, we can make the German atrocities known to the world. "


    After listening to James'' translation, Eleanor trembled with anger. She asked Roosevelt excitedly, "although I haven''t known o''shanina for a long time, I believe what she said is true. Can you send someone to thoroughly investigate the truth about this matter? "


    After listening to his wife''s words, Roosevelt did not speak, but turned to the bodyguard standing behind him. The bodyguard nodded, turned and walked to the door where he had just entered. He opened the door, looked out and whispered a few words. But when he pulled his head back and opened the door, I saw Harold, the Secretary of state who had guided me.


    Seeing this man''s appearance, Roosevelt first raised his hand to me, pressed it down, motioned me to sit down, then called Harold to himself, simply said what he had just done, and then told him, "Harold, can you send someone to investigate the truth as soon as possible?"


    I thought Harold would not hesitate to comply with Roosevelt''s instructions. However, he did not move in the same place, and his face was embarrassed. Seeing him like this, Roosevelt could not help but wonder, "Mr. Harold, why don''t you carry out my orders?"


    "Mr. President, please forgive me." Harold said with a flustered look, "I think it may be difficult for us to fulfill the mission you have given us."


    "Why?" Asked Roosevelt discontentedly.


    "According to the information just received, a German army has successfully broken into Kiev after fierce fighting." Harold took a look at me and carefully reported to Roosevelt: "because the Soviet army in Kiev had been surrounded by the German army for a long time, they were seriously short of ammunition and various materials. Although they fought tenaciously in the face of the fierce attack of the enemy, they had to give up most of their defensive positions because of poor ammunition."


    "What, the German troops have entered Kiev?" When I heard Harold say this, I got up from my seat and asked nervously, "Mr. Harold, are you telling me the truth?"


    Although I behaved a little impolite, but fortunately when I asked Harold, I still used Russian, so that when he heard what I said, he was still at a loss and waited for James to translate it before he understood what was going on.


    He nodded and said with certainty, "yes, general oshanina, according to the latest news I have received, Kiev has indeed been conquered by the German army, but the Soviet army in the city is still resisting tenaciously."


    As soon as he finished, I asked, "what do you know about general rebalko and general Romanov?"


    This time, he shook his head and replied, "I''m sorry, general oshanina. My information is not as detailed as you think, so we don''t know what the two generals you care about are."


    Seeing my flustered face, Eleanor got up from her seat, came up to me, grabbed my hand, comforted me and said, "Rita, don''t worry. Haven''t you heard Harold say that the city''s defenders are still fighting? If the resistance continues, it means that the Soviet command system has not been completely involved in the wedding, which means that they are still very safe at present. "


    Eleanor''s words, let me feel at ease a lot. In real history, Romanov died in 1943, while rebalko lived safely decades later. Now that I''ve brought these two men together, maybe their fate will be changed and they can successfully escape from the encirclement of the German army.


    Maybe Eleanor wanted to relieve my nervousness and said to me, "Rita, I don''t know how much you know about the inhuman crimes committed by the German Communist Party. While the president is here today, let''s talk about them together."


    Eleanor''s words brought me back to reality from my meditation. I thought to myself, now that I have talked with Roosevelt about the Jews, I might as well talk with him about the concentration camp. Thinking of this, I introduced him to the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp: "Mr. President, do you know Auschwitz concentration camp?"


    "Auschwitz concentration camp?" When Roosevelt heard the word, he turned to look at Harold behind him, and then at James beside me. As if he was serious, he wanted to ask casually, "have you ever heard of this place?"


    When Harold heard Roosevelt''s words, he shook his head, saying he had never heard of them. James frowned and thought about it, then asked me thoughtfully, "o''shanina, is this Auschwitz concentration camp that you are talking about the place where the German army holds Soviet prisoners of war?" In order to let you know more about it, he will translate what he said to me to several other people.


    After James finished his translation, I solemnly said, "Mr. James, you are right and wrong." Seeing his puzzled face, I went on to explain, "I say you''re right because there are a lot of Soviet prisoners of war here; You are not right. There are tens of thousands of Jews in this concentration camp besides Soviet prisoners of war. "


    After listening to James'' translation, Roosevelt said solemnly, "general o''shanina, listen to your tone, there must be many unknown secrets here. Can you tell us in detail?"


    "Yes, Mr. President." After I politely agreed, I began to formally tell the basic information of Auschwitz concentration camp: "Auschwitz concentration camp is more than 300 kilometers away from Warsaw, the capital of Poland. It is the general name of more than 40 concentration camps near Auschwitz city in southern Poland.   The camp, ordered by Himmler, the national leader of the German SS, was built in April 1940. It consists of three main parts: the No.1 camp, which received the first batch of polish and German political prisoners in June 1940. It usually holds 13000 to 16000 people, up to 20000, including political prisoners, prisoners of war and Jewish and Gypsy civilians. After the outbreak of the Soviet German war in June, 41, a large number of Soviet prisoners of war were sent there in succession.


    Camp 2, built in October 1941, is officially known as bichnau. Bickenau is a place where the German Communist Party used the gas chamber to massacre prisoners on a large scale.


    Camp 3, also known as Buner, is a large German enterprise responsible for the construction and production of synthetic rubber and gasoline, as well as coal mining and cement production in several smaller concentration camps.


    The German Communist Party has set up a special ward and laboratory for "medical experiments" with living people in the concentration camp, as well as four gas bathrooms for mass murder, a corpse storage cellar and a corpse incinerator. Thousands of bodies are burned here every day. The victims were mainly Jews, tzgangs, poles and Soviet captives from Poland and other European countries. The brutal elements even knocked off the gold teeth of the victims before burning the corpses, peeled off the skin of the tattooed people to make lampshades, and cut off women''s long hair to weave carpets.  ¡±¡° Just a moment, general o''shanina When Roosevelt heard this, he interrupted me with a frown and asked again in a suspicious tone, "I want to ask, where do you know this information?"


    "Yes, Mr. President." I will not tell Roosevelt that I have read these well-known materials from the history books of later generations. Instead, I told a "white" lie that people have to believe: "during the war of Stalingrad''s defense, I once had a group of officers and soldiers from the eastern camp who had defected. Many of them had been in this concentration camp, Some of them even took on the job of transporting, burying and burning corpses. In addition, I also captured some German officers and soldiers who had been guards in the concentration camp and learned more detailed information from them. "


    "And where are all these people?" Roosevelt asked curiously, "if we send the staff of the International Red Cross to them, can they say the same thing again?"


    "I''m sorry, Mr. President." I politely declined Roosevelt''s request and said, "I don''t think I can do it."


    "Why?" My answer aroused Roosevelt''s curiosity.


    "You may have heard of the cruelty of the battle of Stalingrad. In that city, the life span of ordinary soldiers was only 24 hours, and that of officers was only 72 hours. These defected officers and men were all martyred in the subsequent battles. " After I finished making up the fate of the defecting officers and soldiers, I went on to make up the fate of the unrealistic Auschwitz concentration camp captured and guarded: "as for the executioners, they were all shot after they were captured by us."¡° I don''t have any more cards? " As soon as James finished his translation, Harold, standing behind Roosevelt, could not wait to ask, "is it all dead?"¡° Yes, Mr. Secretary of state. " I tried to put on a dignified expression to reply Harold: "in such a cruel battlefield, not to mention ordinary officers and soldiers, even senior generals may have the possibility of sacrifice. In this battle, many of our commanders above division level died on the battlefield. " When Roosevelt and some of them felt sorry, Eleanor couldn''t help asking me curiously, "Rita, I just heard you say something about" gas bath ". I don''t know what it means? Can you tell us more about it? "¡° Yes, ma''am I politely said to Eleanor: "because when Himmler visited a special operation team to execute a large number of Jews, he saw that his subordinates asked the Jews to dig a mass grave for themselves, and then killed them all with machine guns. As a few drops of the dead''s blood splashed on his body, he was very annoyed that these men''s means of solving the Jews were too crude. In order to please him, after a lot of research, they successfully launched this kind of "poison gas bathroom."¡° Gas bathrooms? " James, after translating this passage for me, broke in and said, "oshanina, I really can''t think of how many Jews or Soviet prisoners of War I can kill with just a few bathrooms? Is it a bit alarmist to say that the incinerator burns thousands of corpses every day In the face of James'' doubt, I didn''t get angry. After all, what I said was too bizarre. So I politely said to him, "Mr. James, please listen to what I said and then judge whether what I said is true or false, OK?"

 Chapter 1043

    I''m afraid Roosevelt and them will have the same suspicion as James, because before telling the story, he specially emphasized: "Mr. President, what I mean by the" gas bath "is not the kind of bathroom in a family, but similar to the public bathroom, which can accommodate hundreds of people at a time. If there is anything you don''t understand in my next talk, you can ask questions at any time, and I will give you a detailed answer. "


    After hearing my explanation, James had a sudden look on his face, and then he translated what I just said to Roosevelt and some of them.


    I met several people who were ready to listen, and recalled in my mind what they had seen about Auschwitz concentration camp in their film and television works or literature. Then I began to tell them all I knew like a story: "after the" death train "transporting Jews arrived at Auschwitz station, The people on the train will be driven out of the carriage by the party guards, who are not allowed to carry any property. They will be forced to line up in two lines on the platform, with the party guards carrying live ammunition and wolf dogs.


    Waiting on the platform, there are also many military doctors in the concentration camp. Their responsibility is to carry out simple screening and make decisions to send these people directly to the gas room to be killed, or to become short-term forced labor.


    Those who are ruled unable to work will be sent directly to Birkenau. Of course, these executioners will not let the victims know the truth before killing them. They will tell these people who will be sent to the gas room on the radio that they should take a bath in the bathroom prepared for them under the guidance of the guard of the concentration camp, so as to get rid of the lice and recover the fatigue of the journey at the same time. "


    "Just a moment, Rita, please." When Eleanor heard this, she couldn''t help interrupting me. Ignoring Roosevelt''s surprised eyes, she asked directly, "what I want to make clear now is: don''t any Jews have doubts about all this, for example, don''t they care about their luggage left on the train?"


    I was stunned by Eleanor''s words. It seems that I haven''t seen such a plot in the movie, but in order to make me believe that what I said is true, I can only explain it to her according to my own imagination: "some Jews are still worried about the mountain of luggage piled up on the platform, and they will think about the Ss who looks like an officer next to them. But the Ss will tell them that the luggage will be sorted out by a cleaning team later and sent to their new residence. Hearing this reply, the Jews gave up their worries and followed the guards to the last "gas bath."


    When I said this, I stopped to see if they had any other questions. Seeing that all the people were listening attentively to my story, I went on to say, "people follow the guards to the gas chamber. On the way, they can still see a road sign with the words" disinfection and sterilization "written on it, and the appearance of the gas chamber looks like, It''s like a thatched cottage where farmers live, in an apple orchard. There are thousands of houses like this in rural Poland, so their vigilance has been lowered again.


    There is a neat arrow shaped wooden sign on the door of the wooden house, which says "disinfection and sterilization enter from here.". Not far away are some small wooden houses for taking off clothes. On the walls are marked with a number of Tesco, and below are benches arranged along the wall, which are used for hanging and folding clothes for Jews. Guards also pretend to be friendly to remind people to remember the number of their clothes hook, so as not to find their own things when they come out.


    In order to prevent the victims from suspecting, slogans were written on the walls in various languages, such as welcome to work in Auschwitz concentration camp, and even the bath time and precautions. In this case, no one will think that they are dying, and they even fantasize about how to live better in the new environment.


    But when all the people enter the bathroom, the heavy iron door will be closed by guards, and locked and sealed outside. After all the lights in the bathroom went out, rows of sprinklers on the roof began to spray poison gas. When the Jews in the bathroom realized that bad luck was coming, it was too late. In this way, one by one, they died helplessly and tragically... "


    Although I''m just talking about events in history, I can''t help but raise my voice because of my emotion.


    "O''shanina, please control your mood." James reminded me in a low voice after he translated my words to them¡° Otherwise, I''m afraid you won''t be able to tell the president the whole story. "


    Perhaps I understood that James was communicating with me. Harold, who didn''t speak much, asked, "general oshanina, please allow me to ask you a question: who will clean up these bodies in the gas chamber? From my understanding of the Germans, they don''t care to do such a thing; If they are prisoners in the concentration camp, don''t they worry about information leakage and causing riots in the camp? "


    "You are right, Mr. Harold. The Germans don''t care for such dirty work." I tried to smile at the Secretary of state and said, "they use a special team of strong laborers selected from the concentration camp who wait for the door of the gas room to open again and then push carts into the room. First use the tap to flush the blood and feces on the floor, then carry the messy corpses to the trolley, and then transport them to the incinerator. Of course, before that, they dug a big pit nearby and threw all the bodies into it for burial. Later, because the whole groundwater in the area was polluted, they changed to burning. The bones that were not burned after cremation were finely ground by a grinder and then transported by truck to the river for throwing.


    Only the leakage you are worried about, Mr. Harold, does not exist at all. Because every once in a while, the workers of these special units will be sent to the gas room by the Germans and replaced by a group of new people. From the concentration camp, the Germans looked for the weak people, the people who were easy to panic and the people who were easy to be scared by the cruel environment of Auschwitz. They gathered them together and told them what they would do in the future in straightforward terms. If you are willing to cooperate, you will live; Otherwise, they will be shot on the spot. Although many people were shot because they refused to agree to the arrangement of the German people, there are still many such people needed by the German people. "


    "General oshanina, I want to ask another question." After James translated my words, Roosevelt asked slowly, "is all this true?"


    "Yes, Mr. President." After I finished this sentence, in order to prevent him from questioning the source of my information, I threw out my prepared reason: "part of the information came from the captured concentration camp guards, and part came from the defected officers and soldiers. I gathered all the information and added my own analysis to get the truth of the whole incident. Please believe that everything I said is real. "


    After listening to what I said, Roosevelt asked noncommittally, "general oshanina, how many prisoners of war and civilians do you think were brutally killed by the German army in the concentration camp? 100000, 200000 or 500000, 600000? "


    Eleanor listened to Roosevelt''s question and said, "my God!"


    I shook my head, bit my back teeth and said, "Mr. President, this is Hitler''s organized and premeditated genocide. He wants to wipe all the Jews off the earth, so the massacres will never be just a few hundred thousand." When I saw the incredible shock on Eleanor''s face, I took a deep breath and decisively said more shocking data. "I conservatively estimated that the death toll of the German massacre in the concentration camp was at least 3 million."


    "Three million?" My words, all the people in the room are Zhenzhu. After a while, Harold was surprised and asked, "general oshanina, are you sure you didn''t say the wrong number?"


    "Yes, Mr. Secretary of state." I answered Harold in a positive tone: "I said that my data is only a conservative estimate. Maybe more people will die in the concentration camp."


    "No, it''s not possible at all." Hearing my answer, Harold put his head on a rattle and said, "general o''shanina, you must have made a mistake. No matter how cruel the Germans are, they will never be able to do such inhuman things. You know, three million people, what a terrible existence it is. "


    While I was thinking about how to dispel Harold''s suspicions, Roosevelt in his wheelchair said again, "Dear Harold, I think what general o''shanina said is true."


    Harold did not expect that Roosevelt would suddenly be so surprised: "Mr. President, you..."


    Before he finished, Roosevelt raised his hand to interrupt him and said to himself, "I received a secret letter from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill last week, which specifically mentioned that in February this year, the British intelligence service received a telegram from Dutch intelligence officers, which reported in detail the intelligence of the collective massacre of Jews. In this regard, Churchill was shocked by this terrible massacre, but at the same time, he felt incredible


    "Dear Franklin," Eleanor said softly to Roosevelt after he had said this, "we have heard all kinds of rumors about the massacre of Jews, but because there is no evidence, we can''t publicly expose the evil of the massacre. I would like to propose that oshanina go to Congress and repeat what she just said to all members of Parliament, so that they can understand that crimes that bring shame to mankind have taken place in the land ruled by the Communist Party. "


    When I heard Eleanor''s proposal to Roosevelt, I couldn''t help but see that this is a golden opportunity. As long as I go, I will soon become famous in the United States.


    Just when I decided that I would agree to Roosevelt''s question of whether I would like to speak in Congress, I saw Roosevelt shaking his head and whispering to Eleanor, "no, this is not."


    "Why?" Roosevelt''s reaction not only surprised me, but even surprised Eleanor. She asked curiously, "Franklin, why is that?"


    "Although we are now allies with the Soviet Union, there are still many forces hostile to the Soviet Union in the parliament." Roosevelt patiently explained to Eleanor: "if we rashly let o''shanina go to Congress, even if we all know that what she said is true, those forces will still think that the fact that o''shanina said is a malicious frame up against Germany. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, I still don''t suggest that oshanina go to Congress to give a speech. "


    When I heard Roosevelt say this, I could not help feeling a little disappointed, though I understood his inner troubles. In order to prevent being found out that I understood their conversation, I had to try to act as if nothing had happened. I turned to James and asked him, "Mr. James, does Prime Minister Churchill always use letters when he contacts the president?"


    "Not necessarily." James could not help laughing when he heard my naive question, and then said, "it depends on the specific situation. Some things can be said on the special line, and some can be sent by telegram. Only those things that are particularly important and cannot be explained clearly by telephone or telegram will be sent by special personnel. " After a brief conversation with Roosevelt, Eleanor looked at me again and said with some apology, "I''m sorry, Rita. I have a few words to say with the president. I''m ignoring you. I hope you don''t mind." As Roosevelt and I are not far away, Eleanor must know that she has just had a conversation with Roosevelt. I should have heard a lot. Even if I can''t understand English, my name once appeared in their conversation. In order to avoid any bad ideas, she specially found a reason to explain to me: "I just discussed with the president, Would you like to visit some hospitals in Washington tomorrow? " Hearing what Eleanor said, I quickly got up from my seat, bowed slightly to her, and said gratefully, "madam, thank you for your trust in me. It''s my honor to accompany me to the inspection. I''m very happy to listen to your arrangement."¡° Rita, I''m so glad you promised to go out with this old lady of mine. " "Said Eleanor, rising to my side and embracing me with open arms. When she let me go, she said with a smile, "it''s getting late. I''ll let Mr. Harold take you back to the embassy."

 Chapter 1044

    When I returned to the embassy, I reported to Molotov, as usual, the meeting with Mrs. Roosevelt today, and even the situation before and after Roosevelt''s appearance.


    After listening to my narration, Molotov asked solemnly, "Comrade oshanina, is everything you said to President Roosevelt true?"


    "Yes, comrade member of the people''s Foreign Affairs Committee." To his question, I answered truthfully, "everything I said is true." In order to make him completely believe that what I said was true, I specially stressed that "during the war of Stalingrad''s defense, two eastern battalions once surrendered to us, and many officers and soldiers once served as guards or special units in concentration camps. In addition, after our department captured the division commander of the skeleton division, we learned something about the inside of the concentration camp from him. It''s the combination of these two aspects of intelligence and some personal analysis that enables me to tell President Roosevelt things like that as if I had witnessed the whole process with my own eyes. "


    "Let me ask you, how can you be sure that President Roosevelt will agree with what you said?" Molotov asked in a skeptical tone: "if you know what you said, even I find it incredible, how can you let the president of a country listen to your one-sided words?"


    "Please rest assured, comrade member of the people''s Foreign Affairs Committee." As for his distrust, I said with confidence: "in fact, President Roosevelt received a secret letter from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill not long ago, in which he heard something similar. The British intelligence was obtained from an intelligence agent in the Netherlands, whose original source was a SS officer in a concentration camp. "


    "SS officer?" Molotov listened to me with a look of surprise on his face. Then he put on a face again and said in a disdainful tone, "is it possible that these inhuman guys can still provide intelligence to the allied intelligence officers?"


    "I heard President Roosevelt mention it implicitly." I knew that Molotov could not go to Roosevelt to verify some things, so he boldly went on to make it up: "the * * officers who provided information were responsible for providing hydrocyanic acid to the concentration camps, which was used as a poison for killing Jews. Wrapped in the ugly uniform of the SS, a noble soul was deeply ashamed of being involved in this evil plan, so he risked his life to expose the atrocities of the government. He also said: "I can''t turn a blind eye to what''s happening in front of me."


    "So President Roosevelt believed what you said." Molotov curiously asked: "do you think the United States will make a statement publicly attacking the ugly acts of genocide committed by the * *


    As for Molotov''s question, I can only shake my head again and say with great regret: "sorry, comrade Foreign Affairs People''s commissar, I really don''t know what kind of decision President Roosevelt will make. After all, his rights are restricted by Congress and the house of Representatives."


    "Well, I''ll report this to Comrade Stalin by telegram later." As soon as I had finished, he gave me an order to leave: "you go back to rest first, and tomorrow you will accompany Mrs. Roosevelt to the hospital for inspection."


    At nine o''clock the next morning, the car Mrs. Roosevelt sent to pick me up arrived.


    I got a phone call from the staff and rushed out of my room. I found that I knew two people sitting in the car. One was Mr. James, and the other was Colonel Henry. He actually sat in the driver''s seat.


    See my appearance, two people smile to say hello to me. James also urged me: "general o''shanina, get in the car quickly. Mrs. Eleanor is waiting for you."


    I nodded, stooped into the back of the car, sat side by side with James, and closed the door. I looked at Henry, who was ready to drive, and asked with a smile, "Mr. Colonel, how can you drive today? I''m so flattered that you are such an excellent naval officer to be my driver?"


    "That''s what Madame means." James preempted Henry''s reply, and then he patted Henry gently on the shoulder: "the colonel can drive."


    The car we were in had just driven out. Before the speed was raised, Henry slammed on the brakes and stopped the car.


    "What''s the matter, captain? Why did you stop?" As soon as the car stopped, James, who was sitting next to me, immediately asked.


    Henry turned to his side and said innocently, "there are embassy staff in front of us holding our way. It seems that he has something urgent."


    Listening to Henry''s words, I bent slightly and looked out of the front window to see a staff member running towards our car. The staff came to my side and knocked on the window, as if they had something to say to me. I quickly rolled down the window, leaned out half of the body and asked, "what''s the matter?"


    The staff member bent down and said to me respectfully, "general oshanina, comrade member of the people''s Foreign Affairs Committee has something urgent for you. Please go to his room immediately."


    When I heard the staff say this, I turned around and looked at James and Henry in the car. Then I turned around and said to the staff in a dilemma, "but you see, I''m going out with my friends in the United States now. It''s also very important for me."


    I thought that when I said this, the staff would retreat. Unexpectedly, he said solemnly: "general oshanina, I have been ordered to inform you that today''s foreign affairs activities are cancelled. Please get out of the car and report to the people''s Foreign Affairs Committee immediately." With that, he stretched out his hand to open the door and stood upright beside the door, waiting for me to get off.


    I don''t know what happened. Even an ordinary staff member dares to be so bossy to me. I wanted to attack him, but I saw two people coming out from the door of the hall. They looked around and ran towards me. I recognized that one of them often appeared around Molotov, and I knew that I might not be able to leave the embassy with James today. I had to turn around and smile at him, and said apologetically, "Mr. James, it seems that something really big is going to happen, so I may not be able to go with you today. Please say sorry for me when you see my wife. Good luck Then I reached out and shook him.


    When I reached out to Colonel Henry, he looked a little embarrassed. Seeing that my hand reached in front of him, I held it in a hurry and asked vaguely, "general, is everything you said in front of the president yesterday true?"


    "What''s that?" Henry''s mindless question confused me.


    "It''s the organized and premeditated massacre of Jews." Henry took a look at the staff standing outside the door and asked me in a low voice, "is all that true?"


    "Yes, Colonel Henry." Although I don''t know why he suddenly asked about it, I told him truthfully: "although I didn''t see these things with my own eyes, I can take my honor to assure you that they are absolutely true?"


    Henry let go of my head, grabbed his head and whispered in agony, "my God, my God, what should I do?"


    "What''s the matter, Colonel?" Henry''s reaction made me confused. I glanced at the two people who were going to walk to the car and asked quickly, "did I say something wrong?"


    "You said nothing wrong, general oshanina." James interjected: "the reason why Colonel Henry is like this is that he has relatives who fall into the hands of the Italian government."


    "Mr. James, what the hell is going on? I''m confused. Can you explain it to me? " Seeing that Molotov''s entourage had arrived at the side of the car, I was deeply afraid that he would urge me and cause me to be confused about the whole situation, so I yelled at him, "wait a minute, I''ll get off after a few words with my American friends."


    James took a look at the distressed Captain Henry, and then leisurely said, "we just got the news that the captain''s eldest daughter-in-law, Natalie, and her two grandchildren, as well as Natalie''s uncle, were all caught by the Italians and put in a concentration camp when they were crossing the border."


    "Are they Jews?" Although I heard that I was just put in an Italian concentration camp, I still feel insecure. It seems that many Jews were killed by Italians. If Henry''s relatives were Jewish, it would be more or less dangerous.


    "Yes," James replied positively, "Natalie and her uncle are Jewish. But the old man is a famous Jewish writer. Maybe the Italians will give him the treatment he deserves when they know his identity. "


    I feel speechless about James'' fantasy. As long as the Jews enter the concentration camp, no matter how high your previous status is, they will be just like ordinary prisoners. There is no hope that they will survive.


    I wanted to tell the truth directly, but I couldn''t bear to see that Captain Henry was suffering. So I had to find some good words to persuade him: "Captain, I think Mr. James is right. Before the Italians see that Natalie''s uncle is a famous writer, they will not only give him the preferential treatment he deserves, but also give him some good advice in the near future, We can get him out of the camp. Don''t worry too much. Pay more attention to your body. "


    Hearing my advice, Henry put down his hands, looked up, and asked me excitedly, "general, will this happen?"


    I know that if I want to come out again after entering the concentration camp, no Jew of any status can come out of the concentration camp alive unless I get the help of a good man like Schindler. But to comfort Colonel Henry, I lied against my will: "don''t worry, Colonel. There is a famous saying in the East that a good man has his own appearance. I''m sure Natalie and her uncle, and your two grandchildren, will soon leave the camp and come to the United States to join you. "


    After releasing Henry, I reached out to shake his hand again and said sincerely, "Captain, thank you for accompanying me to the Norfolk Naval base two days ago, and for taking the trouble to get me on the newly launched destroyer. I am very grateful to you. Goodbye. I hope we can see each other again soon. Then Natalie and your two grandchildren will come to America to join you With that, I let go of his hand, nodded to James, and went straight out of the open door.


    I followed my entourage to Molotov''s room and unexpectedly found khrushiev in it. When he saw me coming, Molotov didn''t beat around the Bush and said to me frankly, "o''shanina, I know you are very surprised why I asked you to cancel today''s foreign affairs and call you to my room."


    I didn''t speak, just nodded to show that I did have such questions¡° Comrade oshanina, "said khrusholev, sitting on the sofa," something happened in China. In the telegram just received from China, we ordered that, except Comrade Molotov to stay and continue negotiations with the US side, you and I should rush back to Moscow immediately and report to the supreme command. "¡° I don''t know what happened in China? " When I heard khrushiev say this, I could not help but clap. At the same time, I began to speculate about what would be the major event, which would make us rush back immediately. Because I was worried, I could not help asking what I thought. Hearing my question, khrushiev stood up, walked up to me and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, I planned to tell you about this in a few days. But because it has a lot to do with you, I''d better tell you. The German army has already invaded Kiev. After two days of fierce fighting, almost half of the cities have fallen back into the hands of the German aggressors, and our troops are still fighting in the remaining areas. " From khrushiev''s story, I quickly understand that Stalin''s urgent call for us to go back must have something to do with Kiev''s imminent collapse. Turning to look behind me, I found that all the staff who accompanied me had left. There were only three of us left in the room. So I boldly asked the question in my heart: "Comrade minister, I want to ask if the Supreme Command recalled us to Moscow to discuss how to hold Kiev." When khrushiev listened to me, he turned his head and looked at Molotov, and a smile appeared on his face. He nodded and said: "yes, comrade oshanina, as you imagine, the headquarters called us back to make sure that the defenders who were holding fast to Kiev would not be encircled or captured by the German army like the year before last. Just now, comrade Molotov said, "you can definitely guess the reason why our superior sent us back to China. At that time, I didn''t believe it. I didn''t expect that Comrade CPPCC was really right."¡° Comrade minister, I don''t know when we will start? " I heard that the situation in Kiev was critical. I didn''t want to stay any longer for a minute, so I immediately asked, "what I''m worried about now is whether the defenders in the city can persist until we rush back home." Khrushiev raised his hand, looked at his watch, and then replied, "we''ll get to the airport in half an hour and fly back the same way. As for when Kiev''s defenders can hold out, it''s up to fate. "

 Chapter 1045

    When I was sitting on the special plane to Seattle provided by the US side, I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes, thinking about the reason why Stalin urged us to return home.


    At present, the rebarko department in Kiev is in a precarious situation. If the Supreme Command wants to rescue the garrison from danger, it must provide them with air cover, necessary combat materials and a large number of reinforcements.


    It''s Fair for Stalin to ask khrushiev to go back. After all, he is the Minister of the logistics department. It''s impossible to leave him for the supplies to Kiev. And why do you ask me to come back with you, which makes me puzzled. To provide the garrison with air support and supplies, you can go to commander Novikov, deputy national defense people''s commissar and commander in chief of the air force; And the reinforcements on the ground, rokosovsky''s central front army, are enough.


    I was worried, which was noticed by khrushiev. But when I was on the plane, I was afraid that there were too many people on the left and right. He didn''t say anything, just like me. He leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes.


    Five or six hours after the flight, the plane landed at a military airport in Seattle. When the plane was refuelling, khrushiev and I did not stay in the cabin, but got off the plane to move our hands and feet. Seeing that the accompanying staff were far away from us and could not hear our conversation clearly, khrushiev suddenly asked, "o''shanina, I think you are worried all the way. Are you still worried about being called back to China?"


    When I heard khrushiev''s question, I nodded and told khrushiev what I had been thinking about on the way without concealing anything. At last, I asked him in bewilderment: "Comrade minister, I really can''t think of any reason for me to go back. Can you analyze it for me? "


    As for the question I was worried about, khrushiev seemed to have considered it carefully for a long time. Hearing my question, he said slowly, "o''shanina, to tell you the truth, when I saw the telegram at first, I was quite puzzled. As you have just analyzed, I am responsible for providing logistics for the garrison; With air support and transportation, there is commander in chief of the air force, commander Novikov; It is necessary to send troops from the ground for reinforcement, and the central front army assembled in Kursk can accomplish such a mission.


    However, from my understanding of the Supreme Commander himself, he will never give a meaningless order. He must have some deeper consideration. After much deliberation, I finally figured out the reason why the Supreme Command gave this order. "


    When I heard khrushiev say that he knew why Stalin wanted to invite me back to China, he immediately couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade minister, since you know the reason, please tell us. You don''t want me to be depressed because of this problem in the next few days? "


    He pointed at me with his hand and said with a smile, "o''shanina, you are also a general. How can you act like a little girl?"


    "Coquettish?" When I heard that he used this word to evaluate me, I was stunned and said that even if I just spoke in a slightly soft tone, it was quite different from being coquettish. When he was about to speak for himself, he said solemnly, "o''shanina, I can tell you responsibly that this time I invite you back, it may have something to do with the imminent fall of Kiev."


    "Even if I go back, can it be of any use?" I asked, puzzled.


    My reply made khrushiev a little embarrassed. He shook his head with a wry smile and said, "oshanina, maybe the superior thinks that the current unfavorable situation is due to the improper tactics used by general rebalko. If you are sent, maybe it will be another scene."


    When khrushiev talked about tactics, many scenes appeared in my mind like a movie: hundreds of our army commanders and fighters, in dense formation, rushed to the enemy''s position along the narrow street. At the other end of the street, the German soldiers hiding in the fortifications fired at the crowd with machine guns, submachine guns, rifles and even handguns.


    The vast majority of the officers and men were shot and fell even at the chance of firing a single shot, but before they got the order to stop the attack, the people behind them still rushed forward one after another and continued to fall under the dense fire of the enemy. When everything was calm again, the bodies of our army officers and soldiers were all over the street, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood and smoke.


    "What are you thinking, o''shanina?" Khrushiev''s voice interrupted my meditation. Maybe he saw that my face was not very good, and asked with concern: "your face is very ugly, isn''t it uncomfortable, or you''d better go back to the cabin and have a rest?"


    "No, no," I said, shaking my hands in a hurry, "Comrade minister, I''m ok. I just thought of the scene of fierce fighting in Kiev. I''m a little distracted." At this point, I turned my head and looked around. Seeing that the entourage were all seven or eight meters away, I could not hear our conversation. So I lowered my voice and continued to ask khrushiev, "do you know the specific situation in Kiev?"


    I thought khrushiev would tell me some inside information. However, he shook his head and said decisively, "I''m sorry, oshanina, although I also want to provide you with some useful information so that you can analyze it. But it''s a pity that I know as much as you. I know that the German army has entered Kiev, and our troops are still fighting tenaciously with the enemy in the city. And the supreme command is studying what measures should be taken to help the troops besieged in the city, so as to prevent the fall of Kiev again. "


    Just then, a pilot in the distance was shouting: "comrades, the plane has been refueled and can take off at any time." He turned to look at the pilot in the distance, then turned to me and said, "OK, o''shanina, let''s go back to the cabin first. If there''s anything, we''ll wait until we get to Alaska. "¡° All right I made a brief promise and followed him to the plane. Because we were in a hurry, after landing at the military airport in Alaska, our plane just added fuel and took off again. Not long after flying out, I suddenly found that there were two fighters outside our plane, which made me sweat. After I saw the U.S. Air Force mark on the plane, I was relieved. I pointed to the friendly fighters outside and said to khrushiev, "Comrade minister, look outside, the US allies have sent us two fighters to escort us." After looking out, khrushiev said casually, "they are worried that there will be Japanese fighters on this route, so they will send them to escort. But I think the Americans are making a fuss. Japan is far away from this route. Their wooden planes can''t fly here. " I looked outside and found that khrushiev made a lot of sense. When we came here, we took this route. There was no fighter escort, and there was nothing wrong. How could we be so unlucky that we met Japanese planes when we went back? However, since the US Air Force has sent escort fighters, it''s not good for us to brush other people''s good intentions. Let them go. Thinking of this, I began to close my eyes after leaning back like khrushiev. After sleeping for a while, I suddenly felt the plane bumping violently. I suddenly opened my eyes and found that khrushiev, who was next to me, had come to his senses. He was asking an attendant to go to the cockpit and ask the pilot what happened. The attendant just walked a few steps, and a pilot rushed over from the cockpit. When he came to khrushiev, he said nervously: "Comrade minister, our plane was intercepted by Japanese planes." When I heard the pilot say that our plane was intercepted by Japanese planes, my brain exploded and my heart said, "what''s the matter? How do Japanese pirates know the time our plane will pass and send fighters to intercept us?" Khrushiev was obviously much calmer than me. He only looked out of the window, and then told the pilot, "contact us warplanes immediately, and let them intercept Japanese warplanes." The pilot didn''t wait for him to finish, then he broke in and said, "Comrade minister, the US aircraft are fighting with Japanese aircraft. We plan to lower our altitude, quickly leave this airspace and approach our military base in the Far East."¡° Comrade pilot, go back to the cockpit and get in touch with the Pacific Fleet. " Khrushiev continued to command the pilot with an air of dignity: "let the Navy send out fighters to reinforce immediately."¡° Yes, comrade minister, I''ll get in touch with the fleet immediately. " With a loud promise, the pilot turned and headed for the cockpit. When the pilot left, I found that khrushiev''s hand on the armrest of the seat was shaking slightly, and immediately realized that his calm was just trying to pretend. However, it is understandable that as the highest level commander of the whole aircraft, if he also panics, it is bound to make everyone panic. I looked out of the window and saw two escorted fighters fighting in the air with four or five enemy planes. The bullets and shells fired by the plane are shining out of the window. Seeing this, I can''t help feeling very upset. If we are attacked by the enemy on land, we still have room to fight back. But now, in the sealed cabin, we have to leave our fate to God to decide. The pilot ran out of the cockpit again, stumbled to khrushiev, and reported to him in a loud voice: "Comrade minister, I have contacted the Fleet Command, and they will immediately send fighters to support."¡° How long will it take? " Asked khrushiev, without expression¡° Ten minutes, comrade minister. " "It will take at least ten minutes for the Navy plane to get to our area from take-off," the pilot yelled Ten minutes later, when I heard the pilot say that, I felt a shiver in my heart. An air battle usually ends in a few minutes. Maybe our navy plane has arrived, and our unarmed airliner has been shot down by Japanese planes.

 Chapter 1046

    I suddenly remembered something. I sat up straight and asked the pilot in a loud voice, "pilot, don''t we have a treaty of friendship with Japan? Why do they risk the world''s great injustice to attack our aircraft? Have you ever signaled Japanese fighters or cut into their communication channels to tell them that we are the Soviet delegation? "


    After hearing my question, the pilot showed an embarrassed expression on his face. After a long time, he said helplessly: "Comrade General, it''s useless. You know, we are flying on an American plane. The pilot and the pilot are all Americans. There are even two US warplanes escorting us. Even if we cut into the Japanese communication channel and show our identity, they will think that we are deceiving them. "


    Hearing this, he sighed and asked the pilot in a low voice, "do you know how many Japanese planes there are?"


    The pilot replied, "I see five of them, but it''s not clear whether the Japanese planes are still in ambush elsewhere. Us fighter pilots have signaled us that they will tow Japanese aircraft and let us break through quickly. "


    He looked out of the window and asked the pilot, "how long is it going to be before Vladivostok?"


    The pilot raised his hand, looked at his watch, and solemnly replied, "according to the flight plan, we will land in Vladivostok in 15 minutes."


    After listening to the pilot''s reply, khrushiev no longer hesitated and decisively ordered: "lower the altitude, let the aircraft fly close to the sea, and try to get rid of the Japanese aircraft. At the same time, everyone should be ready to make a forced landing. "


    When the pilot went back to the cockpit, I was surprised to find that although khrushiev had made preparations for the forced landing, all the people, including khrushiev, still sat in their own positions and did not make any preparations for the forced landing like later generations.


    Khrushiev didn''t know the reason why I looked around and was restless. He felt a little at a loss when he saw that all the people were not prepared for the forced landing. He thought I was too nervous and quickly comforted me and said, "o''shanina, don''t be nervous. Our navy plane will soon be able to come to reinforce us."


    Although the situation is very bad for us, khrushiev, who has experienced many battles, has taken the lead in restoring calm. Seeing his stable appearance, my heart is no longer as flustered as just now. I coughed softly and then asked, "Comrade minister, do you know the commander of the Pacific Fleet? Can he send a plane to support us in time? "


    "Of course." Hearing my question, he looked sideways at me and said, "the commander of the Pacific fleet is lieutenant general Ivan stepanovic yumashev, the son of a railroad worker. He was enlisted in the Russian navy in 1912 and served as a sailor, mechanic and sergeant in the Baltic Fleet. After the October Revolution, he served in the Volga river fleet and the Caspian fleet, and later transferred to the Baltic Fleet as the artillery squadron leader of the battleship. In 1926, he was transferred to the Black Sea army and successively served as the first commander of the cruiser, destroyer, cruiser, fleet chief of staff and fleet commander. In 1939, Kuznetsov took over as commander of the Pacific Fleet. "


    My nervousness disappeared after khrushev had finished telling the story of yumashev. I was even interested in looking out of the window to see the light of the occasional bullets and shells. A Japanese plane with black smoke swept past the wing of our airliner and plunged into the sea, causing huge waves. When the waves dispersed, I vaguely saw the fragmented fuselage floating on the sea and continuing to burn.


    "Killed one!" I turned my head and excitedly said to khrushiev, "the American pilot is really wonderful!"


    Khrushiev also looked out of the window. After seeing the bits and pieces of fighters on the sea, he didn''t have a happy expression on his face. On the contrary, he said anxiously: "if our plane is shot down, it will come to the same end. At that time, the people on the plane don''t know how many people will survive?


    Looking out of the side window, several US and Japanese aircraft are still fighting fiercely. Although Japanese aircraft occupy a small number of advantages, they can''t afford to deal with the airliner under the pursuit of brave American pilots. Although we are still in a relatively safe state for the time being, no one knows how long this situation can last. I can only pray in my heart that the fighters sent by the Pacific fleet will arrive in time.


    Although our plane is constantly reducing its flight altitude, it still can''t get out of the air combat area. From time to time, Japanese planes dive down towards us, ready to approach, and organic guns or machine guns will destroy our planes. But before they got into the best firing range, they were chased away by the following us planes.


    And every time a Japanese or US plane passes by our plane, the strong air will make the fuselage bump violently. With more and more enemy planes flying over the airliner, I can''t help but get nervous again. I think that if we go on like this, we will not escape the fate of plane crash and death sooner or later.


    With the progress of the air battle, another Japanese plane with black smoke fell into the cold sea. However, the US military also had a fighter plane that was shot and then fell into the sea and exploded. Fortunately, the pilot jumped out of the cockpit in time, and I saw a small shadow open the parachute and slowly descend.


    Next on the battlefield, a US military plane confronted three Japanese planes. Although he was very brave, he was unable to prevent Japanese planes from approaching our plane as he did just now because of the number gap. My heart almost stopped when I saw a Japanese plane diving out of the regiment, and the dazzling light from the bullets from the machine gun on board flew towards our plane. There was a big shock in the fuselage, and then I heard someone in the cabin shouting, "we''ve been shot." With the shouts, the plane rocked violently from side to side, making people feel as if they were going to crash right away. I looked hopelessly at the approaching Japanese aircraft and felt that it was about to collide with us. At this time, the fuselage of the Japanese aircraft suddenly burst out a group of fire, a group of black smoke immediately wrapped up the enemy aircraft which brought us death. When the burning enemy plane dragged thick black smoke into the sea, a burst of cheers broke out in the cabin: "Wula! Wura! Plane, look at the plane, it''s our fighter Hearing the shouts of the attendants, I quickly looked out again. In the distance, a few silver fighters came out of the sky. In a two plane formation, they flew over our plane in turn to reinforce the US fighters who were still fighting with Japanese planes. With the arrival of our fighters, the situation on the battlefield reversed, and Japanese aircraft immediately turned around and fled to the south. In addition to the U.S. warplanes and two of our warplanes staying on both sides of our plane to escort, the rest of the warplanes are chasing south.

 Chapter 1047

    Just as everyone in the cockpit was relieved, the pilot ran out of the cockpit again and ran to us stumbling. He reported to khrushiev, "Comrade minister, the rudder of the plane has been damaged and the fuel tank has been perforated. At present, we have very little fuel left. It is impossible for us to land in Vladivostok according to the original plan. The pilot said, "we must land as soon as possible, or there will be a crash."


    "Let the driver find the right place to make a forced landing." Khrushiev remained calm in front of the panicked pilot and tried to act as if nothing had happened to him.


    After the pilot''s back disappeared at the door of the cockpit, khrushiev''s voice sounded again in the cabin. Because the situation was dangerous, his voice was also a little hasty: "everyone fasten their seat belts immediately, keep the forced landing position and prepare to land!"


    I listened to khrushiev''s warning in my ears. At the same time, I looked out through the porthole and saw the shadow of land at the end of the coastline ahead. The plane was constantly lowering its altitude. It seemed that the US pilot was preparing to make a forced landing there.


    As the sea was getting nearer and nearer, I grabbed the back of the seat in front of me. Although I have never had the experience of forced landing, I know very well how dangerous it is for this plane to land with injuries. Even if the U.S. pilots make no mistakes, it is unlikely that everyone on the plane will be safe after the final landing.


    During the last flight, I obviously felt the swing of the plane, which was far more than any time period just now. However, most of the attendants were not soldiers, but at this time, they were still trying to keep calm. There was no other sound in the cabin except the roar of the aircraft engine.


    Just as I was secretly praying that the American pilot could find a piece of sand to make a safe landing, the plane plummeted down. Then the fuselage suddenly for a while, as if it was touching the ground. All the people in the cabin were knocked upside down by the huge impact.


    If I didn''t firmly grasp the back of the chair in front of me, I would have been bounced out of my seat. After the plane hit the ground, the vibration not only did not weaken, but became more and more serious, just like the car galloping on the rough road.


    Looking at the sand blocking my sight outside the side window, I feel a little relieved. After all, we make a forced landing on the beach, which is much more likely to survive than the forced landing on some cliff or the beach full of rocks.


    The plane didn''t know how long it had taxied and finally stopped. Fortunately, the fuselage has always remained stable, and there was no rollover. In this way, the probability of casualties of passengers in the cabin is greatly reduced. In addition, the fuel tank of the aircraft was leaked, so most of the fuel was leaked during the flight, and the possibility of explosion during landing was avoided.


    When khrushiev and I arrived outside the cabin with the help of the entourage, I found that the plane was parked 200 meters away from the beach. After being ploughed over by the heavy and huge fuselage of the airliner, several deep marks were left on the beach. At the moment, the front half of the plane''s fuselage has been completely covered by sand, leaving the rear half still exposed.


    I saw a red mark on khrushiev''s forehead. Maybe he just landed and hit the desk and chair in front of him. I quickly closed my right eye and only looked around with my left eye. I found that in addition to slight swelling, I could see clearly. I believe that during the crash landing, the violent shock did not cause my retina to fall off again.


    "Is anyone hurt?" He asked aloud to the attendants who were climbing out of the cabin.


    An attendant came up to khrushiev and reported to him, "Comrade minister, only two comrades in the cabin were slightly injured when they landed. The accompanying doctors are dressing them up."


    I listened to the attendant only report the situation in the cabin, but he didn''t mention the situation in the cockpit which was completely covered by sand and soil. So I grabbed his arm and asked nervously, "where are the three pilots in the cockpit?"


    The attendant took a look, opened his mouth, but made no sound. When khrushiev saw his reaction, his face suddenly showed an unhappy expression and urged: "tell me, how are the three pilots in the cab?"


    Seeing that khrushiev showed signs of anger, the attendant hesitated and said, "the American pilot and pilot are dead, and our pilot is also seriously injured. It seems that he has broken several ribs. He can''t stand the pain when he moves a little."


    Hearing that the pilot was seriously injured, I stood up straight and looked around. But I can''t see any people except the sea and the yellow sand. Seeing this situation, my heart is very heavy. I think that if the pilot is not treated in time, he will be more or less in danger.


    "Is the station still in touch?" I was worried when I heard khrushiev''s voice again.


    His words raised hope in my heart. As long as there is a radio station, we can tell Vladivostok where he is and ask them to send someone to rescue him.


    "Although the radio can still be used, the signal is not good, and the base has never been contacted." "And even if we get in touch with the base, we can''t report our exact location," the attendant said with a embarrassed face. If they want to find us, they have to send a lot of troops to search


    Originally, when I heard that the radio station could still be used, I felt a twinge of joy. After listening to what he said, my heart suddenly cooled. Our plane was forced to land on the beach of qianbuba village and hoububa shop. Even if the commander of the base sent a large number of people to search, it would not be able to find us for a while. By the time they arrived, it was estimated that the seriously injured pilot would have died¡° Comrade minister, in fact, things are not as desperate as we think. " Sitting not far away, an attendant whose leg was injured suddenly said loudly, "even if we don''t use the radio to ask for help from the base, our troops will come soon." When he said this, khrushiev and I couldn''t help but ask in one voice, "why?" The attendant pointed into the air and said, "have you forgotten the fighter that just escorted us? They will report our location to the base, and I believe the rescue troops will arrive soon. " I looked up into the air and saw the U.S. warplanes and another Chinese warplane hovering. Seeing this situation, I couldn''t help laughing. I said that I was in a panic for a moment, and I even forgot the fighter that escorted us. I believe the fighter pilots will soon be able to report our position to the base through the airborne radio. Now that we know the base, we can find the location of our forced landing, and it is possible to send troops to rescue in time. Everyone was relieved and took a seat around the plane. Khrushiev was not idle either. He bent down to get into the cabin and went down to the headquarters to lift the injured pilot. After a few minutes, not only the injured pilot was carried out, but also the two American pilots who died. Seeing that two bodies were placed in the open space beside the plane, everyone, including me, stood up from where they were made and surrounded them. People wearing hats took off their hats one after another, and bowed their heads to mourn for the two brave pilots. If it was not for their calm courage and superb driving skills, the aircraft could maintain the stability of the fuselage after the forced landing, and there was no rollover or overturning phenomenon, so as to ensure that most of us could survive intact. When the silence was over, khrushiev told one of his attendants, "go find something and cover the remains of the two American pilots first. When the rescue troops arrive, we will transport the two bodies back to the base and return them to their relatives at the right time. "¡° Comrade report minister, "one of the attendants ran to khrushiev and reported to him," there is dust rising in the distance. It seems that the troops searching for us are coming. "¡° Let''s go and have a look. " When khrushiev heard the report from his entourage, he was immediately overjoyed and said to me, "o''shanina, come and have a look with me." A few of us bypassed the sand pile that buried half of the fuselage and came to a place with a wide view. We saw the sand rising in the distance. From the height of sand to analyze, to a relatively large team. After a few minutes, more than 20 trucks with awnings and jeeps with flying dust rushed to the place tens of meters away from us and stopped. As soon as the car stopped, countless soldiers in black Navy uniforms jumped out of the car one after another and rushed towards us with weapons. Behind them, several commanders in cornice hats were shouting something. I inadvertently looked back, and even found that in the distance of the sea, there were several small speedboats, which were flying the flag of the Soviet Navy. The group of sailors stopped just a few meters away from us, keeping alert. A naval officer with the rank of captain came out of the team, came to khrushiev and I, raised his hand and said in a loud voice, "Comrade General, we are the 355th battalion of the Marine Corps of the Pacific Fleet. We are ordered to rescue you. I''m captain smoley, battalion commander. I''m at your command. Please give me directions When khrushiev saw the Black Sea in front of him, he had a happy smile on his face. He took captain smoley''s hand and said with a smile, "Captain, I''m looking forward to you at last. We have wounded and dead pilots here. Please send some people to carry them to the truck

 Chapter 1048

    I watched the sailors carry the bodies of the two dead pilots and the injured pilots onto the truck. Then I suddenly thought of another thing and called to smore, who was not far away: "Comrade captain!"


    Hearing my cry, smoley turned around, walked quickly to me and politely asked, "Comrade General, do you have any instructions?"


    I looked at the boat that was parked on the shore in the distance and asked, "Comrade captain, are those boats under your command?"


    Smore looked around, nodded and said in surprise, "Comrade General, we have a truck to take you to the base instead of a speedboat. The reason why the speedboats were sent out was that the higher authorities were worried that your plane would crash into the sea and specially prepared for the convenience of search and rescue. "


    At this time, khrushiev also came and asked curiously, "o''shanina, you don''t want to go to the base by speedboat, do you?"


    I shook my head and replied solemnly, "no, comrade minister, I have no intention of starting the base in a motorboat. The reason why I ask is that in the air battle just now, the pilot of the US fighter plane shot down jumped out of the umbrella and believed that he was soaking in the cold water. Time has passed for so long. If we don''t send people to rescue in time, he will be very lucky. "


    When he heard what I said, he nodded in agreement. "You''re right. He just saved all our lives. You can''t watch him die in the cold sea." At this point, he immediately ordered smore to say: "Captain, let those speedboats go to the sea immediately to search for an American pilot who parachuted. Even if he died, you should bring their bodies back. Do you understand? "


    "I see, Comrade General." "I''m going to arrange it right away," smore replied loudly After that, he raised his hand and saluted, and then ran to the speedboat by the sea.


    Looking at the speedboat stopping at the seaside heading for the sea, I asked khrushiev anxiously, "Comrade minister, do you think you can save the pilot who parachuted?"


    After a moment''s hesitation, khrushiev slowly shook his head and said, "I think the hope is very slim. After all, he has been parachuting for quite a long time. In such a cold season, running in the freezing sea water, at most half an hour, people can not support. It''s good that the sailors can get his body back, so we can have an account for his family. "


    Smore ran back to us, first reported that the search boat had started, then respectfully asked us to get on the jeep, and he would personally lead the troops to escort us back to the base.


    After driving for more than 20 minutes, we finally arrived at Vladivostok, where the Pacific fleet is located, which I used to call Vladivostok.


    The officer on duty at the gate of the base, after checking captain smoley''s papers, just glanced at us casually, raised his hand, saluted and waved to let us go.


    Captain smoley took me outside a gray three story building, parked my car not far from the sentry, then turned to us and said, "here we are, Comrade General. The commander of the Pacific fleet is on the second floor. My level can''t enter here. You''d better go in yourself, and I won''t accompany you. "


    "I see." Khrushiev nodded, then reached out to captain smore and said friendly, "thank you, comrade captain. I wish you good health


    When khrushiev and I got out of the jeep, a major immediately appeared at the door of the building. He ran down the steps, stopped in front of us, raised his hand and politely asked khrushiev, "are you general khrushiev, please?"


    "Yes, major." He nodded, admitted his identity, and then asked, "do you know me?"


    When the major heard khrushiev''s question, he could not help answering nervously: "Comrade report minister, I have seen your portrait before, so I recognized you as soon as I met you."


    "Do you know where the commander of the fleet, general youmashev, is?" he asked kindly, smiling at the major


    "Of course, comrade minister." On hearing khrushiev''s question, the major immediately returned to normal. He took one side of his body and made a gesture to the direction of the building. Then he said, "please let me show you the way."


    "What are you still doing here?" With a smile, khrushiev patted the major on the back and ordered him to "lead us ahead."


    As we walked into the building, across the hall, up the broad and luxurious stairs, we met some soldiers from time to time. When they saw us, they immediately raised their hands to salute us and put their bodies against the walls or stairs to make way for us.


    When we arrived at the fleet commander''s office, a big, middle-aged, Round faced general came over and hugged kheliev with a bear. He said, "Hello, dear Andre vasilijevich, welcome to my headquarters."


    "Dear Ivan stepanovich, can you understand that in the near future, you are going to ask me for a batch of supplies to the Pacific Fleet


    They talked and laughed for a while before they separated. Khrushev pointed to me and said to yumashev, "let me introduce you. This is general oshanina. She came back from America with me." Then he pointed to yumashev and said to me, "this is lieutenant general yumashev, commander of the Pacific Fleet." Although the other party''s rank is the same as mine, his qualification is much older than mine. Besides, he once served in all the Red Navy fleets in turn, which is more worthy of my admiration. So as soon as khrushiev finished his introduction, I raised my hand to salute him and politely said, "Hello, comrade commander!"¡° Hello, general oshanina After returning a gift to me, he reached out to me to shake hands with me. After we finished shaking hands, khrushev said to yumashev, "general yumashev, I hope you can send a telegram to the supreme command as soon as possible to report to Comrade Stalin that we were ambushed by Japanese planes on our way back."¡° No problem. I''ll do it right away. " He went to the table and rang a bell. Soon the door was opened and an officer stood upright at the door. After nodding at khrushev, yumashev quickly walked up to the officer and whispered to him.

 Chapter 1049

    Khrushev and I had a big dinner in yumashev''s office, and then a temporary military meeting was held. In addition to the three of us, the commander of the base, the two deputy commanders of the Pacific Fleet, the military commissar, the chief of staff, the Minister of logistics, and the commander and political commissar of the Fifth Fleet attended the meeting.


    Everyone who came to the military conference obviously knew khrushev. They walked into the door, first glanced at yumashev, then walked up to khrushev, gave him a friendly greeting, and briefly talked about the past. Although everyone saw me standing next to khrushiev, my face showed a surprised expression, but no one took the initiative to say hello to me.


    Seeing this, khrushiev quickly called them: "I''ll show you, general oshanina, who just came back from the United States with me."


    The commanders who came to the meeting were all major generals except the commander of the base and a deputy commander of the fleet. After listening to khrushiev''s introduction, they raised their hands to salute me and politely said, "Hello, Comrade General."


    When yumashev saw that people were almost here, he said to everyone, "please sit in your own place."


    As khrushev had the highest rank here, he was placed in the middle of the table. Yumashev, the commander of the fleet, was on his left side, while I was on his right.


    After everyone sat down, the meeting didn''t start immediately. Instead, it was waiting for the beautiful female Marines. In front of everyone, there were tea cups with silver cup holders and a plate of sugar.


    As soon as she left, yumashev, who was sitting opposite me, sat up straight and said to his colleagues and subordinates, "comrades, I''m calling you here today to welcome general khrushev, who has returned from the United States, and to talk with him about providing us with enough supplies."


    As early as before the meeting, khrushev and yumashev communicated about the replenishment of the Pacific Fleet. Because they were very different in the amount of replenishment, although they sat very close, they were still trying to avoid eye contact.


    At the end of yumashev''s opening remarks, khrushev reluctantly said, "comrades, commander yumashev and I discussed the issue of supply to the Pacific fleet before the meeting. I just want to ask you, how many materials do you want to satisfy you? " At the end, he unconsciously raised his voice to express his dissatisfaction.


    A silence followed.


    I turned my eyes to yumashev, who was lowering his head and stirring the cup of tea in front of him, jingling the long spoon against the glass.


    When he saw that all the people in the room kept their heads down and did not speak, khrushev gave yumashev a stern look, and then said in a calm tone, "comrades of the Navy, you can tell me what you think. If you don''t tell me, how can I know what''s going on? "


    With his encouragement, the lieutenant general sitting on yumashev''s right side stood up. I looked up at him and remembered that the tall, dark faced general was the deputy commander of the fleet, named flov.


    After he stood up, he said to khrushiev sincerely, "Comrade Minister of logistics, I think the quantity of supplies we put forward to the higher authorities is accurate, and there is no situation that exceeds the standard."


    After hearing this, khrushiev sneered twice, tapped his fingers on the table and said, "Comrade deputy commander, I want to ask you whether you are the Navy or the army. In the list of materials reported this time, there are 100000 moshinagan rifles, 30000 Posha submachine guns, 10000 light and heavy machine guns, 2000 anti tank guns and millions of hand grenades."


    At this point, he took a sip from his tea cup, and then said, "there are about 2000 light infantry mortars, from 37mm to 82mm. At the same time, at least 100 T-34 tanks are required. When I first saw this list, I was surprised. I thought it was to prepare to arm an army group army, but it was the supply equipment your Pacific Fleet applied for from me. Tell me, general frollov, what the hell is going on? "


    "Comrade minister, please allow me to say a few words." The military commissar of the Pacific Fleet stood up from his seat, supported the round eyes on the bridge of his nose, and said with a kind attitude: "since the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, our Pacific Fleet has deployed 140000 officers and men into various naval infantry brigades to participate in the defense of Moscow, the battle of Stalingrad, the battle of Caucasus, and the defense of Sevastopol, Leningrad and the defense of the Arctic. "


    When he heard the brilliant deeds of the Pacific Fleet, khrushiev''s face was smiling. He nodded to the other side and said softly, "go on."


    After obtaining khrushiev''s permission, the military commissar went on to say, "after so many troops have been transferred, we have carried out local recruitment and training, let the newly formed troops use the numbers of the troops transferred to the west line, and garrison the defense areas of the original troops. However, as these troops have long been removed from our organizational system, they can not get any logistical supplies, not only weapons and ammunition, but also food and military uniforms. However, we are still actively preparing for the war with full enthusiasm to prevent the Japanese from launching a sudden attack on us. "


    The military commissar''s statement reminds me of the 355th battalion who rescued us. Although the soldiers were in neat Navy uniforms, their weapons were very old-fashioned. They were almost all rifles equipped by the Russian army during the first World War. When I think about it this way, I don''t think the demands put forward by yumashev are too much.


    I turned and looked at khrushiev to see how he would react. But he frowned and stared at the cup in front of him, tapping his fingers on the table.


    Khrushiev did not speak, and no one dared to speak. Even the deputy commander and the military commissar who had finished speaking sat back in their positions and looked nervously at khrushiev, waiting to see what he had to say.


    Seeing that the room was silent again, I coughed softly, and then said to khrushev in a whisper: "Comrade minister, I think you can ask commander yumashev to introduce us to the fleet before discussing whether the materials required by the Pacific fleet are reasonable."


    My words brightened khrushev''s eyes. He turned to yumashev and said politely, "general yumashev, please tell us about the current situation of the Pacific Fleet."


    After hearing what khrushev said, yumashev immediately raised his head and gave me a thank-you glance. Then he stood up and introduced the situation of the fleet to khrushev: "the Pacific Fleet consists of two surface warship detachments, four submarine detachments, one torpedo boat detachments, several independent warship detachments, some aviation forces and regiments, coastal defense forces and weapons, Communication service department, rear service department, etc. After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the fleet has always been on the alert. In order to deal with the possible invasion of Japanese imperialists, the fleet coordinated with the army forces to strengthen the coastal anti landing defense. "


    "I know all that." After he finished, khrushiev said slowly, "but what does all this have to do with the amount of supplies you need? By the way, what your military commissar just said is very important. When I go back to study with comrades from relevant departments, I will supplement your new troops with necessary weapons and equipment as appropriate. "


    "Great, that''s great. Thank you, thank you, comrade minister! " Yumashev rubbed his hands with excitement when khrushev agreed to his request. After a while, he asked tentatively, "in addition to the supplies provided by the Marine Corps, when will the ships assisted by the US allies be supplied to our fleet?"


    "What, do you want any more American ships?" Khluliov''s smiling face immediately became serious again. He said in a bad voice: "you don''t know that our shipbuilding bases are almost all in Ukraine, and now they are occupied by the Germans, so our ships can only be repaired. Priority should be given to the Baltic Fleet, which has suffered the most losses, for the ships assisted by the United States. And you''ll have to wait until next year to get some minesweepers or landing craft. "


    "Minesweepers and landing craft?" After listening to khrushev''s words, yumashev could not help feeling a little anxious. He said excitedly, "what do we want these ships to do? You know, the Germans are far away from us. We can''t go around the Arctic Ocean and land in Germany, can we? "


    "Comrade commander, please don''t get excited." I saw that khrushev was so excited that he got angry. He rushed in front of him and said to yumashev, "don''t underestimate the minesweepers and landing ships. They are all new American ships. The reason why we have to equip you with the Pacific fleet is not for you to land in Germany, but for landing on some islands of imperialist Japan one day in the future. "


    Although he was surprised to hear me say this, he did not speak, but looked at me quietly. Although yumashev also wanted to know the specific situation, he might feel that he could not ask, so he winked at florov, the deputy commander of the fleet nearby.


    "General oshanina, I want to ask you where you heard about the military action of landing on Japan in the future. Is the source of the information reliable? "


    "Sure, general frollov." To his query, I politely replied: "Japan, Germany and Italy belong to the evil Axis powers. After we defeat Germany and Italy, the next thing we have to deal with is Japan. The task of your Pacific fleet is not only to destroy the enemy''s sea transportation, but also to assist our army to land on Japanese territory. "


    Although my words were short and not detailed enough, these naval commanders could understand everything I said, and everyone''s faces were full of joy.


    The indoor atmosphere became more relaxed with my speech. Khrushev turned and asked yumashev, "do you have any difficulty?"


    "Yes, comrade minister." Although yumashev and khluliov are old friends, they did not call each other''s real name or father''s name in their conversation at the moment. "The vast majority of our fleet''s ships only store enough fuel for half a month, and the base number of shells is only one third of that stipulated in the regulations. Once Japan launches a surprise attack on us, our existing strategic reserves will not last for a few days. "


    After listening to yumashev''s words, I couldn''t help being scared out in a cold sweat. Just seeing the numerous warships in the harbor, I was still thinking that if the Japanese fleet invaded northward, it would be beaten by yumashev. But at the moment, I know I take it for granted that the Soviet Pacific fleet is just a giant that looks strong, but it is actually very weak. As long as the dwarf of Japan gently pokes it, it will fall down. The whole fighting process is expected to be easier than Japan''s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in the United States.


    "Haven''t you received any supplies from the armory in the Far East for such a long time?" He was also frightened by the current situation of the Pacific Fleet. He asked in a puzzled way, "you know, 200 kilometers to the west of you, there are many factories producing naval gun ammunition?"¡° You are right, comrade minister. " Yumashev said with a sad face: "although the Arsenal keeps producing guns, artillery, mortars, mines, shells, bullets and so on, the whole western line is constantly consumed, and the produced weapons must be given priority to supply to them. Our Pacific Fleet, like the Far East Front Army, belongs to the strategic reserve. As long as the war between us and Japan does not break out, the supply to us will always be very limited. "¡° I see, general yumashev. " After listening to yumashev, khrushev did not raise his voice and said, "I really don''t understand your reaction. After all, our attention is now focused on the western front, and Hitler''s lunatic is the first target we have to deal with, so our attention to the Far East is not so high. In this regard, I apologize to you and the comrades of the Pacific Fleet for my mistakes in my work. " Then he stood up and bowed deeply to the commanders present. The commanders in this room did not dare to sit in their seats any more. They stood up one after another, straightened up and saluted khrushiev. After bowing, he held his hand to the edge of the table and said solemnly, "comrades, commander of the Pacific Fleet, please forgive me for my negligence in my previous work. After going back this time, I will definitely explain this situation to the Supreme Command and ask them to adjust the distribution plan of us aid materials, so as to give priority to meeting the needs of the front line and at the same time increase enough military supplies for you. "

 Chapter 1050

    After the meeting, several commanders left the office one after another. When general frolov wanted to leave like others, he was stopped by yumashev: "Comrade deputy commander, don''t worry about me. I have something else to ask you."


    Florov, who had already reached the door, immediately stopped, turned and walked back to us. Standing straight in front of yumashev, he asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"


    Yumashev glanced at khrushev, then asked frolov with a serious expression, "have you informed the army of the bad incident that happened today?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." "I have informed the army forces of my friends and neighbors to make them ready for all battles and prevent any provocative acts that may be suddenly launched by the Japanese nation," frolov replied immediately and simply. At present, in addition to the preparation for defending the landing of enemy troops on the coastline, the garrison troops have entered the defensive positions near the Japanese army''s defense area and made all preparations for combat. As long as they dare to act rashly, hundreds of artillery deployed in the defense depth of our army will blast their positions into a sea of fire, and then the huge armored forces will launch a comprehensive counterattack against them. "


    "Where are our Navy planes?" Perhaps it was the lesson of Germany''s undeclared war against the Soviet Union that left a deep imprint on the hearts of these commanders. After listening to frollov''s reply, yumashev continued to ask, "have you evacuated and hidden?"


    "Don''t worry, commander." "The tragedy of the plane being blown up by the enemy before taking off will not be repeated," said frolov confidently. All the planes were concentrated in military airfields and carefully camouflaged. In order to prevent enemy planes from sneaking attack, the air force will send a two plane formation to conduct 24-hour uninterrupted patrol over the airport. "


    "What''s this, going to war?" Standing beside me for a long time, khrushiev suddenly interrupted their conversation and asked impolitely.


    "I don''t know," yumashev replied hastily, "but I think we should make the necessary preparations, because from today''s Japanese warplanes intercepting your plane, we can see that they have the intention to provoke us."


    "Before receiving the latest order from the supreme command, the Far East region must maintain its original state of preparation for war, and it is not allowed to raise its level of readiness at will." I heard that yumashev''s arrangement was more or less flattering to khrushev. Unfortunately, khrushev didn''t appreciate it at all. He asked with a strong attitude: "do you understand?"


    When khrushiev finished, there was silence in the room.


    But after a short silence, khrushiev turned to look at me and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, do you know why I don''t allow them to raise their combat readiness level at will?"


    I shook my head and answered honestly, "sorry, comrade minister, I don''t know. But I know that if I were in the position of commander yumashev, I would not hesitate to give the relevant preparation orders to the troops. " I don''t mean to say this casually, but I really don''t understand why khrushev did so. You know, Japanese warplanes attacking our special planes without authorization are tantamount to declaring war. There is nothing wrong with the response measures yumashev informed the army.


    Khrushiev didn''t expect me to answer like this. He raised his eyebrows, looked at me with a strange and discontented look on his face, and said impolitely, "we still have a friendly treaty with Japan. If we arbitrarily raise the level of combat readiness on the border, it will be regarded as a provocative act by the other side, so there is a risk of war. As you know, although we just won the battle of Stalingrad not long ago, we suffered a great loss from the Germans in Kharkov. That is to say, for quite a long time, our defense focus will be on the west, not the Far East. We do not have the strength to fight on two lines. "


    After listening to what he said, I retorted angrily: "Comrade minister, after experiencing today''s danger, do you think that our tolerance to the Japanese provocation will not encourage their arrogance?"


    After my words, the room was quiet again for a moment, and all eyes were fixed on me. Khrushiev, who was close at hand, was staring at me as if thinking about the words I had just said.


    After a while, khrushiev sighed and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, I understand what you''re feeling at the moment. I was on the plane today, and I was almost knocked down by the Japanese plane? However, we can''t use our emotions. I have reported this matter to Comrade Stalin. If we can solve it by diplomatic means, we should try not to use force. "


    Perhaps to distract us all, he suddenly asked yumashev, "where''s the American pilot?"


    Although his question was a bit abrupt, it was clear to all that he asked about the American pilot who landed on the naval base airport. Yumashev turned his eyes to frolov and motioned him to answer khrushev''s question. The understanding frollov quickly stepped forward, straightened his back and said to khrushiev: "report to the Secretary, the American pilot is resting in the base of the naval aviation force. Do you need to see him? "


    Hearing his question, khrushiev nodded and said definitely, "OK, general frollov, please send the American pilot here as soon as possible. For his bravery, I will personally award him a medal and personally express my gratitude to him. "


    "Yes, I''ll arrange it right away." Frollov agreed and went out the door.


    As soon as frorov left, khrushev asked yumashev, "did you find the pilot who jumped?"


    Yumashev shook his head and replied with a bitter smile: "in such cold weather, if the pilot falls into the sea, he will freeze to death even if he doesn''t drown."


    "Is the search boat back?" I asked anxiously, glancing at the completely dark sky outside.


    "I haven''t got the latest report, general oshanina." "Yumashev replied politely," but I''ve informed the coast guard that if there''s any news of the search for the speedboat, you''ll report it to me immediately. "


    "Haven''t you called yet?" Asked khrushiev, somewhat dispassionately.


    "Didn''t call me, Andre vasilievitch." Yumashev replied, "it''s been a long time since you came to my office. If there''s a phone call, you should know it."


    Khrushiev looked at his watch, then looked at me again and said with emotion, "Comrade oshanina, it''s been such a long time. If there is no more whereabouts, it''s estimated that the pilot will be very dangerous." Then he pointed to the seat next to him and made a gesture to please sit down¡° You all sit down. We need to save our energy and wait for the American pilot who saved our lives. "


    When the three of us were seated again, khrushev suddenly said to yumashev with a smile, "Dear Ivan stepanovic, I think I would like to congratulate you in advance."


    Hearing what khrushev said, yumashev raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise, "are all the rumors from the far east front army headquarters true?"


    "Yes," he said. Even though they didn''t deal with each other just now, they became good friends again. It seemed that nothing unpleasant had happened¡° If nothing unexpected happens, you will be ordered in early May. "


    "Comrades of minister and commander," I saw that they talked happily, as if they had forgotten me. I couldn''t help asking, "what are you talking about? Why can''t I understand you at all?"


    After hearing my complaint, they looked at each other. Khrushev made a gesture of invitation to yumashev, and said, "you''d better tell oshanina about this."


    Yumashev did not refuse, but said to me with a smile, "general oshanina, it''s like this. According to the news from the Far East Front Army, I will be promoted to the rank of general in the near future. "


    I heard that yumashev was about to be promoted, so I quickly stood up from my seat, took the initiative to reach out to him, and said in a friendly way: "Comrade commander, please accept my congratulations on your getting a higher rank."


    After shaking hands with yumashev, khrushev said, "Comrade yumashev, I want to go back to Moscow with oshanina as soon as possible. Can you arrange a plane for me tomorrow?"


    "No problem, Andre vasilievitch." "In addition, I will arrange four fighter planes to escort you to avoid another attack by the Japanese air force," yumashev promised


    Although khrushev didn''t refuse yumashev''s offer, he said casually: "Ivan stepanovic, don''t be too nervous. According to my estimation, most of the main forces of Japan have gone south to compete with Britain and the United States for oil and rubber. They don''t have the strength to challenge us at the moment."


    When I heard khrushiev say this, I couldn''t help but admire him. I didn''t expect that he had such a thorough view of the situation that he could know that Japan had no strength to go north.


    "But what is the explanation for what happened today?" Yumashev was still obsessed with the incident of the attack on the special plane. As soon as khrushev finished talking about it, he immediately raised the issue again.


    "It should be just a misunderstanding." He frowned and said in an uncertain tone: "you know, the United States and Japan are at war now. It''s reasonable for the Japanese to send planes to block the air routes of the United States and attack the American planes we saw. What''s more, what we took at that time was indeed an American airliner."


    From khrushiev''s tone, I recognized a hint of calming down. Just as I wanted to speak, the telephone on my desk rang. Yumashev stood up, went to the table, picked up the phone and said, "I''m yumashev. What can I do for you?"


    "... hey, what are you talking about? Go on, go on!... " When yumashev stopped for a moment, he suddenly exclaimed excitedly.


    His abnormal behavior immediately attracted the attention of khrushiev and me. When we turned to look at him, we heard him saying again and again: "great, that''s great. Captain smoley, please express my gratitude to your soldiers. They are all good. Send someone to send him here immediately... "


    When I heard yumashev say that, my first thought was that the American pilot who parachuted found him. When the smiling yumashev put down the phone and came to us, he asked, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? Did you find the American pilot who parachuted?"¡° Yes, yes, general oshanina. " Yumashev excitedly said to me: "just now captain smore called and said that his speedboat had found the American pilot who parachuted at sea." After getting his confirmation, I felt a sigh of relief. At the same time, I also felt that this American pilot''s life was so big that he could survive after soaking in the cold sea for several hours. This is a miracle. When I was about to ask for the details, khrushiev was ahead of me and said, "yumashev, where did the pilot find him? It''s a miracle that he can survive in such cold weather by soaking in the cold water for several hours. " Yumashev waved his hand and explained, "Comrade minister, you guessed wrong. When you found him, he didn''t run in the sea. You know, in such a cold day, even if the gods came down to earth, they would have been frozen. When our soldiers found him, he was on a rock that came out of the water. Although he was covered with a parachute, he was almost frozen when he was rescued from the ship. If it''s a few minutes late, it''s going to freeze to death. " Hearing that the situation of the American pilots was very bad, khrushiev asked anxiously, "have our sailors taken any emergency measures?"¡° Don''t worry about that, "yumashev said carelessly." our sailors are very experienced in all this. They stripped the pilot naked and wiped him with vodka until he was warm before they dressed him again. I''ve ordered captain smore to send the American pilot to my headquarters in person immediately. " Just then the door, which had been closed by general frollov when he left, was quietly pushed open. When yumashev saw the officer on duty at the door, he immediately raised his voice and asked, "what''s the matter?"¡° Comrade commander, "the officer respectfully reported," the American pilot has arrived. Do you need to let him in immediately? "

 Chapter 1051

    Yumashev did not immediately agree. Instead, he looked down at khrushev. Seeing that he nodded slightly, he immediately and loudly said to the officer, "that''s no use saying. Please bring in the American pilot immediately." As the officer turned to leave, he yelled at the back, "by the way, has the interpreter come?"


    The officer stopped and replied with a smile, "of course, the interpreter and the American pilot are waiting outside the door."


    "Then what are you doing standing here?" Yumashev waved to the officer with a smile and urged, "hurry up and invite our American guests in."


    "Yes The officer agreed with a smile, turned and walked out of the room.


    When the U.S. pilot in a brown shaggy jacket and a boat hat appeared at the door, khluliev immediately stood up and headed for the pilot. When I got up, I took a look at the teacup in front of me and took a big drink. I didn''t expect the entrance. Yumashev walked around the two men, went to the door and whispered a few words to someone outside. Then I came back and stood beside khrushiev, smiling at his warm embrace with the American pilot.


    After the pilot and khrushev separated, the translator introduced the identity of yumashev to him. So he also saluted yumashev and hugged him, which made him very intimate. "My friend, in recognition of your bravery and tenacity in today''s air combat, we have decided to award you a medal for bravery," he said triumphantly


    After hearing this, the pilot nodded to him with a smile and said politely, "thank you, thank you, sir!"


    When he came to me, the translator just wanted to introduce me to him, but he raised his hand to interrupt the translator''s words. After a salute, he said in stiff Russian: "Hello, general oshanina, I''m glad to meet you here!"


    Although the pilot''s Russian sounds awkward, I didn''t pay attention to these details. I wonder why he can name me and my rank. When I was at the Alaska airport, I didn''t meet him.


    When I was puzzled, the American pilot said again: "Sir, you may be very strange, why we have never met before, but as soon as I see you, can I accurately call your name and rank?"


    After listening, I nodded and looked at the tall and handsome American man in front of me, hoping to hear his reply.


    There was a smile on the pilot''s face. Instead of passing the interpreter, he said to me directly in broken Russian, "Sir, my name is Warren. Warren Henry!"


    When I heard the name Henry, a familiar name popped into my mind: Victor Henry. Thinking of this, I asked tentatively, "Warren, what''s your relationship with colonel Victor Henry?"


    "Father," Warren replied faintly¡° My father


    "So it is!" I was overjoyed to hear that the American pilot who saved his life in front of me was actually the son of Captain Henry, a U.S. naval officer. I quickly took his hand and asked with concern, "have you and Captain Henry not seen each other for a long time?"


    "Yes, sir, we haven''t seen each other for nearly half a year."


    "Thank you for saving us today, lieutenant." When khrushiev heard that the pilot was the son of Colonel Henry, he hurried to our side and said to Warren, "maybe I can ask the comrades who are still in Washington to find a way to give you the holiday of visiting relatives and go home to see your father."


    Warren didn''t look happy after listening, but said in a smooth voice: "thank you, sir! No, no trouble at all. When thousands of officers and soldiers don''t have such a chance, I don''t think I can accept such a holiday. Maybe my father will not be happy when he sees me. On the contrary, he will be disappointed because of my selfish attitude. "


    "Your father is good. He has a good education for you." Khrushiev came to this conclusion with a smile.


    I remember that Henry once said that his two sons, one of whom was a submarine pilot and the other was a carrier based pilot on the Bumblebee, could not help but ask curiously, "Lieutenant Warren, I heard your father say that you were a carrier based pilot on the bumblebee. How did you go to the air force base in Alaska again?"


    "Comrade oshanina, I think I can explain this to you." Without waiting for Warren to answer, yumashev interjected: "the Bumblebee was torpedoed by the Japanese in the Santa Cruz naval battle last October, and it has sunk to the bottom of the sea."


    "Yes, sir." "During the naval battle, the Bumblebee was struck by three bombs and two torpedoes, while two Japanese planes crashed into the deck," Warren added. As the ship''s aviation gasoline depot was ignited, causing a fire, and the bridge and deck were seriously damaged, the engine could not run.


    The fleet commander ordered Northampton to take the hornet off the battlefield, but due to technical problems such as broken cables, the towing did not begin until a few hours later. On the way back, the maintenance personnel successfully repaired the engine, but they were also found by the Japanese fleet. The Northampton immediately cut off the cable to avoid the attack of the enemy aircraft. In the following attack, the hornet was hit by another torpedo and two bombs. Although it was unable to move forward due to engine damage again, it never sank.


    In order to prevent the hornet from being captured by the Japanese, after the captain gave the order to abandon the ship, the two destroyers received the order to sink the hornet. However, the ship was hit by nine torpedoes and more than 400 five inch shells and still failed to accelerate its sinking.


    When our army left the battlefield, the following Japanese fleet sent two destroyers to try to drag the hornet away. But because of the wasp''s large displacement, the two Japanese destroyers couldn''t move at all, so they sent four torpedoes to the wasp again, making the wasp sink to the bottom of the sea.


    Some of us, the Bumblebee pilots, were assigned to other carriers, others to the naval air force, and I was assigned to the Alaskan air force base


    Warren had just finished talking about the fate of the Bumblebee when I saw deputy commander frollov at the door with two delicate boxes in his hand. From the appearance, I recognized the box that was specially used to hold medals.


    Khrushiev took a box from frollov''s hand, opened it, took out a shining medal for bravery from it, and hung it on Warren''s uniform. Then he reached out to Warren and congratulated him on his Soviet medal.


    Warren and khrushiev shook hands and immediately let go. Then he said in a low voice: "Sir, my companion has a share in this medal. Unfortunately, his whereabouts are unknown now. It seems that he is more or less in danger. Otherwise, he can enjoy the same honor. "


    "Don''t worry, lieutenant." Looking at the American pilot in front of him, khrushiev said affably, "in addition to this medal, your partner also has a share. By the way, I wanted to tell you something later, but now it''s OK. Your companion is not dead. Our sailors have found him at sea and will soon send him here to meet you. "


    "What, sir, what did you say?" On hearing the good news, Warren seized khrushiev''s arm excitedly, shook it vigorously and asked, "do you think Lieutenant guy is still alive, not dead?"


    "Yes, Captain Warren." He said to him with a smile: "our sailors found him on a reef in the sea, but they didn''t get hurt. They were freezing. After our sailors carried him to the speedboat, they wiped him with vodka for at least half an hour before he recovered. Don''t worry. He''ll be here in a little while


    Warren nodded, leaned to me and said, "Sir, maybe you don''t know. Lt. guy is lucky. As early as in the battle of Midway Island, the hornet took off 15 Avenger torpedo bombers to form a formation to attack the Japanese fleet. Because there were no fighters to escort them, and their fuel was about to run out, they were shot down by Zero Fighters and anti-aircraft fire during the attack, and all the 30 pilots except Lieutenant guy were killed. "


    After listening to Warren''s words, khrushev and yumashev could not help but feel deeply. They said that the second lieutenant guy was really lucky. He survived the last time he escaped from Midway Island and was shot down by a Japanese plane. I really don''t know whether he was lucky or not.


    After khrushev and yumashev did not speak, frolov went to ask for instructions: "minister, commander, the remains of two American pilots and the rescued pilot, we plan to transport them back to Alaska tomorrow by transport plane, OK?"


    "No problem, general frollov." In front of yumashev, khrushev replied, "find two good coffins, settle the remains of the American pilot, and send the rescued pilot back to Alaska." At this point, he turned to Warren and said, "Lieutenant Warren, I''ll have to trouble you to fly back together."


    "I don''t have any ammunition or fuel on my plane. Can you give me some more?" Warren waited for khrushiev to finish and asked cautiously, "otherwise, I won''t be able to come back to the base in Alaska."


    "Aviation Ammunition may not be matched, there is no way to supplement it." He was answered by deputy commander florov: "but there''s no problem with the fuel. I''ll have your plane refueled after maintenance."


    "Thank you, thank you, sir." Warren politely thanks frollov.


    While everyone was waiting for the chance of lieutenant guy''s arrival, I said hello to khrushiev and called Warren aside to talk with him about his family. I asked tentatively, "Warren, is your brother''s wife Natalie?"


    "Yes, sir." Warren replied positively, and then he told me what he had learned: "Natalie, with her two children and her uncle, wanted to return to the United States via Palestine, but she was detained when she left Italy. Their whereabouts are unknown. According to people familiar with the matter, they may have been sent to the concentration camp. "


    "Have you ever heard of the concentration camp of * *" I don''t know how much he knows about the death camp, so he asked very politely, "do you know that their safety in the camp can be guaranteed?"


    Warren was puzzled by my question. He looked at me blankly and said, "Natalie, they are not prisoners of war, they are just civilians. If there is any crime, it can''t be because they are Jews. And her uncle is a famous Jewish writer. I believe that even if he is put in a concentration camp, he will not be embarrassed. "


    Seeing that he knew nothing about the concentration camp, I didn''t want to add obstacles to him. I could only vaguely say, "if that''s the case, it would be better."¡° Report There was a familiar voice at the door. I quickly turned to look in the direction of the voice. I saw captain smore, who had sent khrushiev and me to the headquarters, standing at the door. I could see some people standing behind him¡° Come in, comrade captain "We''ve been waiting for you for a long time. Bring our American friends in quickly," frolov said Captain smoley agreed, and with his back against the open door, he waved his head out. Then, I saw two sailors in brimless streamer hats, supporting a man in a Soviet coat¡° Dear Lieutenant guy, is that you? " When Warren saw this man, he screamed and quickly stepped forward. At the same time, he said, "do I see you or your ghost?" Lieutenant guy, who was supported by the sailors, said with a bitter smile, "of course it''s me. Don''t forget, my life is great. Even if you die, God won''t accept me." After the embrace of the two comrades who had gone through life and death, khrushiev said to lieutenant guy with a smile, "Mr. lieutenant, in order to thank you for your bravery and tenacity in today''s air battle, I have decided to award you and lieutenant Warren a medal for bravery, not only to show your achievements, but also to thank you for saving our lives."

 Chapter 1052

    Early the next morning, yumashev organized a military band and held a small ceremony at the airport. He arranged for people to solemnly carry the coffin containing the remains of the US pilot and board a transport plane parked on the runway.


    After the transport planes, Warren''s fighters and two escort naval fighters took off, yumashev accompanied us to another transport plane parked nearby. He apologetically said to khrushiev, "Comrade minister, I''m sorry. Although I also want to prepare a better plane for you, our conditions are limited. This is the best plane I can provide for you."


    He waved to his old friend and said, "Dear Ivan stepanovic, we are all old friends. Needless to say, it''s good to have such a plane. Don''t worry. I''ll report to the supreme command when I get back and give you enough supplements. "


    When the cabin door was closed, I asked khrushiev, who was sitting opposite me, in a loud voice amid the roar of the aircraft engine: "Comrade minister, can we go back to Moscow today?"


    When khrushiev heard my question, he was a little surprised and said, "how can this be possible? Vladivostok is more than 9000 kilometers away from Moscow. Even the fastest plane can''t fly in a day. In addition, although the c-46 transport plane we took was converted from the design of a commercial airliner, its speed is no more than 300 km / h, and every 2000 km or so, we need to land at least four times just because we need to replenish fuel before we arrive in Moscow. We can get to Yekaterinburg in the middle of the night, have a rest there, and then go to Moscow in the morning, and we can get to our destination in the afternoon


    It''s said that I have to fly for nearly 30 hours. My head is big. But there was no way. Our superiors asked us to return to Moscow in the shortest time, and we had to go back all the time. It would have been impossible to stay in Vladivostok for a night if the plane had not been attacked yesterday.


    Our plane took off from Vladivostok and headed west. There were two landings along the way, both to refuel at military airports. Except with khrushiev''s consent, people can get off the plane and move their muscles and bones. It is forbidden to act casually.


    On the third landing, we finally arrived at Yekaterinburg, which lies on the Eurasian border. It was 2 a.m. After greeting the person in charge of the airport and asking them to check the plane and refuel, khrushiev turned to us and said, "I think everyone is tired after flying for such a long time. You can sleep for another four hours, and the plane will take off again at six in the morning. "


    As soon as his words were finished, the airport staff came up and took our entourage to the nearby buildings to have a rest. While I was hesitating whether I would follow the staff, khrushiev stopped me: "Comrade oshanina, you don''t have to go and squeeze with them. The person in charge of the airport has left us two rooms."


    Then he called to a ground crew standing beside him, "Hello, comrade corporal, please come here."


    With his shouts, the ground crew who was not far away came running over and stood in front of us. Khrushiev pointed to me and said to him, "corporal, please take the general to the room the commander has arranged for us."


    The corporal turned to look at me, nodded, and then made a gesture of invitation to me. At the same time, he said, "please, comrade general, please follow me. I''ll take you to where you live."


    I live in a row of wooden houses far away from the runway. Before walking towards the row of houses, I looked at the wooden house near the runway and asked him curiously, "Comrade corporal, our comrades are all arranged in the houses near the runway. Why do I live in other places?"


    "Well, Comrade General." The corporal replied respectfully, "the pilots and mechanics live near the runway. The place you are going to is where the commanders live. The environment is much better. Although there is no heating, there is a fireplace in the room. It won''t be too cold to sleep at night."


    After listening to the corporal''s remarks, I am very satisfied with the arrangements made by the person in charge of the airport. Although we didn''t stay long, only a few hours, he was very considerate, which made me feel a little better for the commander who just didn''t see clearly beside the plane.


    The next morning, khrushiev, who was sleeping in the room next to me, knocked on the door and urged me to get up and take the plane. After washing and walking with khrushiev towards the plane parked on the runway, I couldn''t help mentioning the person in charge of the airport. Khrushiev also agreed: "you''re right. The commander has a comprehensive consideration. When he has a chance, he can be responsible for more important aspects."


    After flying in the air for more than seven hours, our plane finally landed at a military airport in Moscow. As soon as khrushiev and I stepped down the gangway, an officer in the uniform of a lieutenant colonel came up to khrushiev, raised his hand to salute him, and said in a low voice, "Comrade logistics minister, Stalin is waiting for you. Please follow me."


    With that, he waved to the distance, and a black car came to us and stopped slowly. He opened the door and asked khrushiev to get on the bus. As soon as he turned around and saw that I was still standing in the same place, he quickly called me: "general oshanina, why don''t you get on the bus?"


    "However, comrade logistics minister is going to see Comrade Stalin. Isn''t it appropriate for me to go with him?" Hearing the commander''s question, I answered in a flurry: "I''d better find another car to go back."


    "Comrade Stalin hopes to see you when he meets the minister!" "Please get on the bus, we have to go back to the Kremlin as soon as possible," the commander said stiffly


    When we arrived at the Kremlin by car, we came to Stalin''s office with the commander. The lieutenant commander handed us over to his chief of staff, poskleberseff, and turned to leave. Bosklebshev stood up from his desk, came to shake hands with us one by one, let our general coat off and hang on the coat rack, then he turned and walked to the door leading to the inner room, pushed the door open and went in, and closed the door behind him.


    After a while, the door was opened again. Bosklebshev came out of the room and said to us with a smile, "Comrade minister, comrade oshanina and Comrade Stalin, please go in."


    When I followed khrushiev into the room, I was startled by the situation inside. The conference table next to the right wall was full of people. It seemed that some important meeting was being held.


    Compared with my confusion, khrushiev had obviously seen such scenes many times. He raised his hand and saluted Stalin, then reached for Stalin''s extended hand and said calmly, "Hello, comrade Stalin!"


    Stalin shook hands with him and said, "Hello, comrade khrushiev, welcome back."


    When Stalin and khrushiev shook hands and came to me, I quickly raised my hand to salute, and nervously said, "Hello, comrade Stalin, nice to meet you!"


    Stalin''s big warm and powerful hand held mine, shook it hard and said, "Hello, Rita. I heard Comrade Molotov say that your performance in the United States this time is very good. After the meeting, stay and talk to me about what happened to you in America. "


    After he let go of his hand, he pointed to one of the directions of the meeting and said to khrushiev and me, "we are in a meeting. Please sit down and listen."


    After I found a corner to sit down, I carefully looked at the people sitting around the conference table and found that they all knew Zhukov, Voroshilov, timoshingo, Ustinov, rokosovsky, vatukin and others.


    When Stalin announced the continuation of the meeting, Zhukov stood up from his position and said, "Comrade Stalin, our troops have been exhausted after a long battle on the right bank of Ukraine. At present, we need to replenish weapons, ammunition and soldiers urgently, and we can''t launch a new attack in a short time. So I suggest that the troops should continue to build fortifications..."


    "Comrade Zhukov." Before Zhukov finished, Stalin interrupted him and said impolitely, "we are now discussing how to attack the enemy''s defensive positions and rescue the precarious Kiev garrison, not defense."


    "The defense I''m talking about is a measure of last resort, comrade Stalin." As for Stalin''s duty, Zhukov replied humbly: "the troops can be fully prepared for the attack after finishing the rectification."


    "I know that, comrade Zhukov." Stalin said impatiently: "but we are watching the Kiev garrison fighting alone. If we don''t take any measures, they will be annihilated by the German army." At this point, he turned to the commanders sitting around the conference table and said slowly, "let''s listen to the opinions of the commanders of the front army."


    With that, he slowly went back to his seat and sat down, saying, "start with general rokosovsky''s central front army. Comrade rokosovsky, do you think Zhukov''s view is correct? "


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." Rokosovsky stood up from his seat and resolutely expressed his support for Zhukov: "I think Marshal Zhukov''s opinion is like this. After my troops suffered huge losses some time ago, the replenishment of soldiers, weapons and ammunition has not been fully completed. It is unwise for me to launch an offensive rashly."


    Stalin listened to his words, turned his head to one side, looked at vatukin, who was sitting in danger, and asked noncommittally, "Comrade vatukin, what''s your opinion?"


    Vatukin also quickly stood up and respectfully replied: "Comrade Stalin, our current forces are to be used for defense against the German attack that may come from Kharkov, so we can''t mobilize our forces to participate in the attack against the German central group."


    Stalin''s face didn''t change after listening, but he continued to sweep the commanders one by one. I was thinking about who he would ask next when I heard him calling for my order.


    "Rita, you took Kiev under your command." As Stalin filled his pipe with tobacco, he asked me, "at present, neither the central front army nor the Voronezh front army can help them. You can tell me how Kiev''s defenders should get out of the present predicament. "


    I stood up from my position and tried to ignore the gaze of the senior generals. I looked directly at Stalin and replied, "Comrade Stalin, if the Kiev garrison can''t get reinforcements and necessary supplements, I don''t think they can support it for long. Instead of letting them be eliminated in the end, general rebalko should not give up Kiev... "


    "What, give up Kiev." Stalin sprang up from his seat, pointed to me with his right hand clutching his pipe, then pointed to the door I had just entered, and said without expression, "you go out first." Although I don''t know why Stalin let me out, I honestly left my position, opened the door and went out. As soon as I came to the outside room, bosklebshev, who was sitting at the table, stood up, looked over my shoulder and asked in some surprise, "Comrade oshanina, is the meeting over?" I shook my head and replied, "no, the meeting is still going on."¡° But why did you come out of it? " Boskhlebeshev was particularly surprised that I suddenly came out of the conference room, so he asked after all, "what''s going on?" After I simply told bosklebshev what I had just done, his face showed the same expression, and then he said to me, "I see, comrade oshanina. Just stand in this room for a while. Comrade Stalin will call you in again soon. " Seeing boskelebeshev sit down with a smile and continue to bow his head to do his own work, it dawned on me that what I said just now angered Stalin. He asked me to stand in the room outside. If so, he will let me in soon. After a while, the call bell on the desk rang, and bosklebshev looked up and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, you may go in." After nodding my thanks to bosklebshev, I turned to the door, pushed open the door and went in. Seeing me back in the office, Stalin approached me and asked gently, "Rita, do you have a clear idea? How can we get Kiev''s defenders out of the immediate predicament? "¡° Comrade Stalin, "I still said stubbornly," I think the only way for Kiev''s garrison not to be annihilated by the German forces is to give up Kiev and jump out of the German encirclement decisively under the circumstances of insufficient equipment, limited troops and no foreign reinforcements. "

 Chapter 1053

    Stalin did not say anything after listening, but pointed to the door behind me with his fist holding his pipe. Having the experience just now, I know that he asked me to go out again, turned back quickly, opened the door and went out.


    As I walked out of the office, bosklebshev couldn''t help laughing. He pointed to where I had just stood and went back to his work.


    I was standing at attention, motionless, in the office of boskhlebeshev, thinking quickly about why Stalin asked me to come out. When he thought about it, he really came up with the crux of the problem. I remember that Zhukov proposed to give up Kiev and withdraw his troops to the East Bank of the Dnieper River to build a new defense line when he was still defending Moscow. It was because of this that Stalin was infuriated. As a result, he was dismissed as chief of the general staff of the Red Army and demoted to commander of the reserve army. Although the rank has not been lowered, the real power has been greatly weakened.


    As a general highly valued by Stalin, Zhukov proposed to abandon Kiev only according to the situation at that time, and then he was demoted. Today, I have angered Stalin on the same issue. I don''t know what kind of way he will take to deal with me. It may be light to dismiss me. If not, he will directly put me in the prison of the Ministry of interior. Thinking of this, my hair was numb, and a chill came from my back. The chill quickly spread around, and immediately surrounded my whole body.


    Just as I was imagining myself and frightening myself, the call bell on the desk of perclebeshev rang again. He looked up at me nervously, pointed to the closed door and said in a low voice, "Comrade o''shanina, you can go in."


    When I gingerly opened the door, I found Stalin sitting at the conference table. Seeing me re-enter the door, he looked up at me and asked, "Rita, I don''t know what kind of result you''ve got after thinking about it for such a long time outside?"


    After I took a deep breath and calmed down a little, I plucked up my courage and said, "yes, comrade Stalin, after much consideration, I think the only way to save the Kiev garrison is to let them give up the city and break through to other weak German forces."


    After that, I stared at Stalin nervously, fearing that he would be furious immediately. Unexpectedly, he turned his head slowly and said to a general sitting next to Zhukov, "Comrade vasilevsky, what is the conclusion of your general staff? Is it necessary for us to hand over the city that we managed to take back to the German again? "


    General vasilevsky, the chief of the general staff I am not familiar with, stood up from his position and said carefully: "Comrade Stalin, we once organized ground forces to attack Kiev, but it is a pity that our attempt was defeated by the tenacious German defense. In addition, the transport aircraft formations that air dropped materials to Kiev were often intercepted by German fighters, so they could not provide them with enough materials at all. Therefore, we believe that under the current circumstances, if general rebalko''s troops are allowed to continue to hold fast, there will be a risk of total annihilation. " After that, he stood still, looking nervously at Stalin.


    Stalin got up from his seat and walked back and forth in the open space with his pipe in his mouth, as if thinking about what vasilevsky had just said. The people sitting around the table did not speak, but their eyes moved with Stalin.


    I don''t know how long later, Stalin stopped, turned and asked Zhukov, who was sitting in his seat, "Comrade Zhukov, what do you think?"


    Zhukov turned around, put one arm on the back of his chair, looked up at Stalin and said: "although general vasilevsky did not say whether he should give up Kiev or not, it is meaningless to stick to Kiev from the analysis of various situations we have. If we continue to fight like this, the elite army under general rebalko will be in danger of being annihilated. So, comrade Stalin, it''s time for us to make up our minds. "


    When Stalin fell silent again, I became a little impatient. I thought that rebalko''s troops had been fighting with the German army in the city for several days. I believe that their strength will soon be exhausted. If we don''t give them a breakthrough order as soon as possible, when they run out of ammunition and food, the whole army will be destroyed.


    Although I was clearly aware of the crisis in rebarko, at this moment, before Stalin expressed his opinion, I could not say anything. I could only follow the Supreme Commander himself walking around the room with anxious eyes.


    Stalin finally came up to me, looked at me, then turned to the generals sitting around the conference table and asked, "comrades general, tell me, if we let the Kiev garrison break through, where should we let them withdraw? You should know that the hundreds of kilometers from Kiev to korsk are the defensive zones of the German central army group and the Manstein department. It is an impossible task for rebalko and his subordinates to return to Moscow safely. "


    "We can send a plane to pick up rebarko and Romanov," vasilevsky said after listening to Stalin''s question: "let their Deputy take over the post and lead the remaining troops in the city to break through to the East. Even if the troops are scattered in the process of moving, as long as the senior commander is still there, then we can rebuild the troops in the shortest time. "


    "What''s your opinion?" Stalin could not immediately express his views after listening to vassilevsky''s proposal. Instead, he asked Zhukov, "Comrade Zhukov, how do you think about it?"


    Zhukov did not sit in his seat to answer Stalin''s question this time. He stood up and said slowly, "if you want to send a plane to Kiev, I suggest that you take out the commanders of several divisions. They are all commanders with rich combat experience. If there is anything good or bad, it will be a huge loss for us."


    "In principle, I agree with Comrade Zhukov and send a plane to pick up rebarko, Romanov and several division commanders. Comrade Novikov, "Stalin said, turning his head at a very small angle, looking at a commander dressed as an air force commander sitting on the conference table, he said," you want to send more fighters, but escort them to the transport planes that pick up rebarko. Make sure they are safe on the road. "


    "Yes, comrade Stalin!" Novikov, the commander-in-chief of the air force named by him, quickly stood up from his seat and assured him, "I will send six fighters to escort the transport aircraft to ensure their safety."


    When I heard that they decided the fate of the Kiev garrison lightly, I couldn''t help but feel anxious. No matter how much the army lost, there were at least tens of thousands of people. If the command is lost, the troops will fall into chaos. Under the strong German offensive, they will soon be defeated. I have a few words to say for Kiev''s defenders, but under the present circumstances, I have no right to speak without Stalin''s permission.


    Just as I was worried, Stalin turned around. When he saw the anxious expression on my face, he asked calmly, "Rita, since Kiev was captured by your troops, would you like to talk about our arrangement?"


    When I heard Stalin''s question, my brain turned rapidly, trying to think about how to answer his question. This is the most important thing. If the answer is wrong, it will offend many people at the same time, so I must answer it carefully. After a brief thought, I replied, "Comrade Stalin, I think the whole plan can be adjusted a little bit."


    "Adjust?" Stalin raised his eyebrows and asked, "how can I adjust it?"


    "If all the commanders are removed, the forces in the city will lose unified command and fall into chaos." I deliberately slowed down and tried to make my proposal more convincing: "in order to avoid this situation, we must leave a senior commander to command and lead the troops to break through."


    "Who do you think is more appropriate to keep?" Vasilevsky asked curiously, "you know, the troops in the city are not subordinate to each other. If only one division commander is left behind, it will not be able to undertake such a heavy task."


    Vasilevsky''s words, let all people focus on me, waiting for me to make a convincing answer.


    As for the remaining candidates, I had already considered them when I was standing in the room outside. Since everyone was waiting for my answer, I said in a big way: "general Romanov, the commander of the 79th infantry army, can be allowed to stay as the commanding force. After the defenders jump out of the enemy''s encirclement, they don''t have to move towards Moscow immediately, They can stay near Kiev and fight guerrillas, so that the Germans can not be confident and dare to gather their forces in the direction of Kursk. "


    "Guerrillas?" Stalin uttered the word, frowned, shook his head, and began to circle the room with his pipe in his mouth.


    Vasilevsky, who knew Stalin''s character, quickly said to me: "Comrade oshanina, we have a lot of guerrillas behind the enemy. According to incomplete statistics, there are at least 100000 or 200000 people. However, apart from attacking German supply lines and villages with few troops, which caused some trouble to the enemy, they did not play a very important role. Instead of letting more than 10000 people do nothing behind the enemy lines, we should take the risk of letting them break through to the East and join our main forces in the Kursk region, so as to further consolidate the existing defensive zone. "


    "Comrade chief of the general staff," I quickly glanced at Stalin, who was still pacing, and carefully replied to vassilevsky, "you have a point. Although we have more than 100000 guerrillas behind the enemy, and many of them are small units that were scattered in the early stage of the war, their combat effectiveness is not weak. However, due to their scattered forces and lack of unified command, their role in the enemy''s rear is limited. "


    "Rita, please wait a moment." When I said this, Zhukov suddenly interrupted me. He asked with a surprised expression: "if I guess correctly, are you going to let Comrade Romanov organize these scattered guerrillas, establish a unified command, and turn the enemy''s rear area upside down?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." I didn''t expect that Zhukov had guessed his intention before he finished his words. No wonder he would be called "invincible handsome talent" by later generations. It seems that there is a certain truth. I added on what he said: "according to my understanding, there are hundreds of guerrillas in Ukraine. But a large part of them are pro German. In addition to working with the Germans to harm our common people, they often attack our army''s transportation lines. In the other part, no one will join us. We have to fight both the Germans and our army. "


    When Stalin heard the conversation between Zhukov and me, he stopped and stood in the same place. He asked with great interest, "Rita, let me ask you, what do you want Comrade Romanov to do with these mixed up guerrillas in Ukraine?"¡° Comrade Stalin, there are three ways. " When I said this, I stopped for a moment, saw Stalin make a gesture to let me continue, and then said: "first, for the guerrillas who are on the same front with our army, we should strive to merge them into our team. The second is to divide and draw in guerrillas who neither join the Germans nor join us. Even if they can not join us completely, they should also ensure that they remain neutral in the event of a battle. The last is to wipe out the scum of the guerrillas who have completely fallen to the Germans. " When I finished, Stalin''s face was smiling. He raised his hand and pointed in the direction I had just sat down. He said kindly, "Rita, go back to your seat first." After that, he walked past me, returned to his position, sat down, and said to the senior commanders with a smile, "do you hear what Rita just said about the way to deal with the guerrillas in Ukraine?" All the people replied with one voice, "I hear you!"¡° Do you have any different opinions? " Stalin asked again¡° No! " They all replied in a neat way again¡° Comrade vasilevsky, "seeing that everyone''s opinions were unified, Stalin said to the chief of general staff," when you go back, draw up an order immediately. We will form a guerrilla group army. All the guerrillas and resistance organizations behind the enemy will be under the command of the group army. General Romanov will be the commander, and he will be the commander of the army. "

 Chapter 1054

    After Stalin finished speaking, Zhukov stood up and asked, "Comrade Stalin, our guerrillas and resistance organizations in the enemy''s rear are distributed in Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvian, Estonian and the vast territory of Russia. If the rank of commander is too low, we should command such a large guerrilla force, Maybe a lot of people down there are still in command. "


    Stalin took his pipe from his mouth, held it in his hand, nodded at Zhukov twice, and asked, "what''s the rank of general Romanov?"


    "Major general, comrade Romanov is a major general." In order to give Stalin a deeper impression, Zhukov specially stressed: "he was a general before the war broke out."


    After listening to this, Stalin thought for a moment, and then said decisively, "Comrade Zhukov, what you have said is very reasonable. As far as I know, many commanders of the guerrillas behind the enemy have served as military commanders in the regular forces. If Romanov''s rank is too low, it is really possible that his command will be ineffective. Well, comrade vasilevsky, "seeing that vasilevsky got up from his seat, Stalin told him," when drafting the order later, we will add in the order for the promotion of Romanov''s rank, and we will temporarily appoint him to the rank of lieutenant general. "


    Although Romanov''s rank was only promoted by one level, when I heard Stalin''s command personally, I was relieved. I said that since Stalin can promote Romanov''s rank, it means that he will let bygones be bygones and bygones be bygones. Even if my capture is revealed later, the probability of success will be greatly improved.


    Stalin stood up and said in a heavy voice: "comrades, in view of the current bad situation in Kiev, this proud city with numerous legends, we have to give up again." With these words, he seems to be several years old. After sitting back, he stares at the table in front of him and does not speak.


    When I saw Stalin''s gaffe, I immediately understood why he was so angry when I just proposed to abandon Kiev, because this city is so important to him that last time, in order to decide whether to abandon Kiev or not, he even removed Zhukov as chief of general staff, just let me go out and punish him twice, It''s very kind.


    Although Stalin did not speak, no one dared to interrupt his thoughts. After a while, he woke up from his meditation, swept the people around the meeting table, raised his hand and announced, "OK, that''s all for today''s meeting. Let''s go back to work." Seeing that everyone stood up from their seats, he added, "Zhukov and Ustinov stay, and khrushiev and Rita also stay."


    I see that Stalin left us alone after he announced the end of the meeting, and I can see that he wanted to know the harvest of our visit to the United States as soon as possible. Although Molotov reported to him by telegram every day, there was no detailed report in person after all.


    As there were only five of us left in the room, Stalin asked us to sit near him so that we could listen to the report better. First of all, he said to khrushiev with a smile, "Dear Andre vasilijevich, tell Comrade Zhukov and Ustinov what you have gained from your trip to the United States."


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." He agreed, got up from his seat, took out a stack of documents from his briefcase and handed them to Stalin respectfully. At the same time, he said with a smile: "maybe it was the Red Army that annihilated the German army in Stalingrad and greatly inspired the confidence of Britain and the United States in the final victory, Therefore, in the negotiation of the lease act, the US side showed great cooperation. In addition to meeting our normal needs, it also gave us a lot of extra materials. "


    Stalin held his pipe in his mouth and took the stack of documents from khrushiev''s hand. He looked at it quickly, and suddenly the movement of his hand stopped. Just as everyone was staring at him, trying to hear what he would say, there was a smile on his face. He took out one of them and said with great interest: "President Roosevelt is very generous this time. Originally, they only provided us with 1000 tons of special armor plates per month. Now it has increased to 3000 tons, which is a double of the total."


    "Can you show me, comrade Stalin?" Hearing Stalin say so, Ustinov quickly stood up from his seat and asked Stalin respectfully.


    After Stalin handed Ustinov his list, he walked back and forth with his pipe in his mouth, but this time his mood was much better. After two laps, it was estimated that Ustinov had finished reading the above contents. Then he stopped and asked with a smile, "Comrade Ustinov, do you have any ideas after reading this list?"


    Shaking the list in his hand, Ustinov said excitedly: "if the US side can really provide so many armor plates, then the output of our new tanks will be multiplied."


    Stalin nodded and asked Zhukov, "Comrade Zhukov, if the output of our new tanks can be greatly increased, can we gain an advantage over the German army in armored forces?"


    "Comrade Stalin, there is no doubt about that." Zhukov stood up and said slowly and firmly: "according to our recent tests on the battlefield, a small team composed of six new t-5455 tanks can easily defeat a German tank battalion, but only one of our tanks was broken. After rush repair, we finally drove back to our defense zone." At this point, his face could not help but smile, "0:28 record, comrade Stalin, this can be said to be a miracle."


    When I heard this, I was surprised. I didn''t expect that Ustinov had put the t-5455 tank into actual combat after I had only been away for half a month, and he had achieved such amazing results. T-5455 can achieve such good results. If T-72 can overcome the technical difficulties and put it into the battlefield in large quantities, then in the future, the battlefield in the Soviet Union and Germany will be full of Soviet armor.


    At this time, I heard Stalin ask: "what are the weaknesses of this new type of tank?"


    Zhukov and Ustinov looked at each other and the latter reported: "Comrade Stalin, please allow me to report to you. Because our current technology can''t be compared with that of several years later, the new tank is only a simplified version. Compared with later tanks, its air defense capability is very weak. Last night, the area where the new tanks were parked was attacked by the German army. Two of them were blown apart by bombs dropped by the German army, and another one was broken by the explosion. The body of the car was also seriously damaged, and it is being repaired nervously. "


    "Comrade Stalin," Zhukov and other Ustinov said as soon as they finished, they went on to say, "if we can''t control the air in the Kursk region in our hands, then no matter how many new tanks we put in, we will be completely lost under the enemy''s bombs."


    "Comrade Zhukov, you are quite right." Perhaps Stalin was in a good mood when he just saw that the amount on the US aid list exceeded his imagination. At the moment, he still kept a smile on his face and said, "judging from what we know, after the German army has captured Kiev, it will concentrate its main forces in Kharkov and near Kursk. We have reason to believe that the Germans intend to fight with us on a large scale in the region. As for the issue of air supremacy, comrade Zhukov will consult with air force commander Novikov later. "


    "General khrushiev," Ustinov looked at khrushiev and asked politely, "I don''t know when these armor plates will arrive at home?"


    "In a month at the most." "After all, we are too far away from the United States. It may not take too long for a huge transport fleet to cross the long Arctic ocean route," he said helplessly


    "Comrade Stalin, I have a suggestion." After listening to khrushiev, Ustinov turned to Stalin and said, "I suggest that the production of the T-34 tank be temporarily stopped and the new type of t-5455 tank be produced. In this way, we can provide no less than 300 new tanks to the troops in the Kursk region by the end of June. "


    I think Ustinov is very reasonable. As long as all the tank factories are converted to new tanks, then when the battle of Kursk breaks out in July, the central front army and Voronezh front army equipped with hundreds of new tanks will be able to take the initiative in the whole battlefield.


    Did not expect that Stalin after listening, but waved his hands and repeatedly said: "no, resolutely not." Seeing the puzzled expression on our faces, he specially explained: "although the new tanks are much more powerful than the main battle tanks in the army, after all, the test time is still very short. If we equip the army on a large scale, what should we do in case of failure on the battlefield? Therefore, in order to be on the safe side, the production speed of the new tank should be kept at the current level. By the end of the year, when all aspects of technology are more mature, the production of the new tank should be increased. "


    "I see, comrade Stalin." After listening to Stalin''s words, Ustinov reluctantly agreed and sat down again.


    Stalin turned his attention to me again, and asked curiously, "Rita, when President Roosevelt called me two days ago, he mentioned to me that you helped the US military formulate a plan to open up a second battlefield."


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." When I heard Stalin asking me, I quickly stood up and replied respectfully, "I just put forward my own views on the plans they made."


    "It''s not easy for you to come up with ideas that are convincing to all Americans." Stalin came up to me and patted me gently on my right shoulder to show his appreciation¡° Even if the American''s final battle plan is different from what you suggested, can you tell us what this plan is about? "


    "Yes, comrade Stalin. Britain and the United States plan to land on the coast of France and open up a second battlefield... "I talked about the" overlord plan "that I knew, and at the end, I specially emphasized:" in fact, the original battle plan was put forward by British General Sir Morgan, and I only made appropriate modifications. "


    When I finished, Zhukov asked, "did President Roosevelt or General Marshall mention to you when the allies will implement this landing plan?"


    As early as on the return flight, I thought about how to answer Stalin''s question. Although Zhukov was asking at the moment, I answered truthfully: "according to my analysis, the implementation of the Allied landing plan will not be earlier than next May."


    "Next May?" Stalin could not help frowning when he heard this time. He dozed his pipe heavily on an ashtray. After pouring out the ash, he began to fill the pipe again. At the same time, he was puzzled and asked, "Why are they going to delay for a year?"


    "Comrade Stalin, please listen to me." I saw Stalin''s dissatisfaction on his face, and I was afraid that he would drive me out of the penalty station again. I hastened to explain in detail: "because Britain and the United States need to gather a large number of troops and accumulate a large amount of strategic materials, in this way, the time may not be too short."¡° How many troops do you think Britain and the United States will put in? " The person who asked the question this time was Zhukov. I organized the information in my head and estimated that I would say what I knew in an ambiguous tone: "according to their operational plan, Britain and the United States will invest 1.8 to 2.2 million combat troops, plus logistics personnel, and the total force may be close to 3 million."¡° Three million? " When he heard the number I said, ustinofton''s eyes brightened. He excitedly said to Stalin, "Comrade Stalin, since the Allied forces have really put so many troops into the European battlefield, the pressure on us in the Soviet German battlefield will be greatly reduced. Maybe it will only take us a year to recover all our territory. " Stalin, who packed the tobacco and put his pipe back in his mouth, just laughed, struck a match, lit the tobacco and said slowly, "if the allies can really put in so many troops, it will be worth fighting alone for another year. Comrade Zhukov Zhukov immediately turned to Stalin and waited for him to go on. Stalin took a puff of his cigarette, took his pipe away from his mouth, and said to Zhukov, "since Rita is still recovering from illness, she can''t go back to the front line to command the troops in a short time. I''ll consider letting her work for you for a while to supervise the construction of the fortifications of the central front army and the Voronezh front army. What''s your opinion?" Zhukov looked back at me and said to Stalin, "I have no opinion, comrade Stalin." After a short pause, he continued, "but what position should I assign he

 Chapter 1055

    Stalin did not answer immediately, but took a sip of his pipe in his mouth, and then slowly said, "since Rita is only working for you temporarily, there is no need to arrange any specific duties. Let her go to the defense areas of rokosovsky and vatujing as a special commissioner to supervise and inspect the construction of fortifications. We don''t know when the Germans will launch a sudden attack on us, so the construction of fortifications is the primary task at present. "


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." Zhukov replied quickly¡° I''ll officially announce it to rokosovsky later. "


    Stalin nodded slowly, looked at me and asked, "Rita, do you have any objection to this arrangement?"


    objection?! I dare to disagree with his arrangement. I quickly pretended to be overjoyed and replied, "no objection, comrade Stalin, I will resolutely obey your arrangement!"


    Stalin was very satisfied with my respectful attitude. He turned to khrushiev and said to him, "Comrade logistics minister, you should make a plan for the distribution of us aid as soon as possible."


    On hearing this, khrushiev nodded and agreed. Suddenly he remembered something. He quickly stood up and said, "Comrade Stalin, there is another important thing I want to reflect to you."


    "What''s the important thing?" "Didn''t you inform me in the telegram in advance?" Stalin asked


    "No, comrade Stalin." "What I''m talking about has something to do with the Pacific Fleet," he replied truthfully


    "Pacific Fleet?" Zhukov frowned when he heard what khrushev said, and asked discontentedly, "Comrade logistics minister, I don''t know what complaint the fleet commander General youmashev has made to you?"


    "Comrade Zhukov," khrushev heard Zhukov speak, quickly moved his eyes from Stalin, looked at each other and said, "general yumashev did not complain to me, but mentioned some difficulties faced by the Pacific Fleet." Then he gave Stalin and Zhukov a detailed account of what we had learned when we were in Vladivostok.


    As an onlooker, Ustinov said in surprise, "general khrushiev, is what you said true? How could the Pacific Fleet lose most of its combat power because of the lack of supplies? "


    "Yes, comrades of the people''s Committee, what I said is true." Khluliov replied positively to Ustinov''s question: "when our plane was shot down by Japanese fighters, it was one of the elite of the Pacific Fleet to rescue our Marine Corps, but the old weapons used in the first World War were still in the hands of the commanders and fighters. It''s OK to use it as a deterrent to the Far East. Once we go to war with Japan, our poorly equipped troops will not be able to stop the enemy''s fierce attack. "


    When he heard that the matter was so serious, Ustinov''s face became particularly ugly. He turned to Stalin and said, "Comrade Stalin, if this is really the case, we will make corresponding adjustments to the distribution plan of weapons and ammunition. Just because the troops in the Far East are strategic reserves, we should not reduce their supplies. "


    "Comrade Ustinov, what you have said is quite reasonable. We have entered a crucial moment in our war with the Germans. There must be no problems in the Far East. By the way, the Japanese ambassador called on me last night and expressed his formal apology to us for the incident that they mistakenly hit your plane. "


    "What, our plane was finally shot down by Japanese warplanes, and they wanted to put it off with a simple apology." If Stalin didn''t say the above words, khrushiev might be furious, but even so, his tone was full of gunpowder¡° Does that mean that after our bombers went to bomb the Japanese mainland, they apologized to them and said that if the pilot was drunk and dropped the bomb in the wrong place, it would be over? "


    "Comrade khrushiev, don''t be so angry. At present, we still have a treaty of friendship with Japan. We can''t easily tear our faces apart, so as not to fall into the danger of fighting on two fronts. But don''t worry. I''ve got it in my mind. We''ll settle it with them sooner or later. " After comforting khrusholev, Stalin turned to Zhukov and said, "Comrade Zhukov, there''s nothing wrong here. Take Rita back to your headquarters first. If I''m not wrong, rokosovsky and vatukin should still be waiting for you there."


    Zhukov took me out of the Kremlin to his headquarters. Indeed, as Stalin had guessed, the two commanders of the front army, rokosovsky and vatukin, were sitting in their offices, drinking tea with the two generals. Seeing Zhukov enter the door, they quickly stood up, straightened up and said hello to Zhukov: "marshal, you are back."


    "Are you still there?" Zhukov took off his military coat and said to them, "I have something to do with you. Since you are all here, I don''t need to call you any more."


    When I took off Zhukov''s coat and hung it on the hat rack, I heard rokosovsky asking Zhukov, "don''t you know what important instructions are there, marshal?"


    "No," Zhukov said to me, who had just hung up his clothes, "Comrade Stalin appointed Rita as the special commissioner of the base camp to go to the defense zone of your two front armies to supervise and inspect the construction of your fortifications."¡° Welcome, how welcome After listening to Zhukov''s words, rokosovsky immediately said with a happy face: "Lida and many commanders of our central front army know each other, and I believe that she will not encounter any obstacles when carrying out her work."¡° Comrade marshal, the same is true of our Voronezh front army. " "You know general o''shanina''s original" yes, comrade marshal. " Seeing that Zhukov had guessed my intention, I also said with a smile, "instead of worrying about the piling up of these cinders, it''s better to use these cinders to pave the road. In my estimation, fewer people will be needed to cut down trees, and cinder road is definitely more suitable for tanks and trucks than timber road. "¡° Genius, genius After listening to this, watujing patted his thigh, gave me a thumbs up, and repeatedly praised and said, "Comrade oshanina, you are a genius. In this way, not only the problems of the municipal departments have been solved, but also the road conditions in our defense areas have been greatly improved. " At this point, he turned to Zhukov and said, "marshal, I plan to take general oshanina back to the headquarters of the front army overnight, so as to complete the survey of prohorovka area as soon as possible. Is that ok?"¡° I agree with you With a big wave of his hand, Zhukov agreed to vatukin''s proposal, and then announced to me, "Rita, you''re going to take office now. You''ve just arrived at Voronezh''s front army with general vatukin overnight."¡° Yes, comrade marshal. " I made a loud promise.

 Chapter 1056

    For the sake of my safety, Zhukov added several soldiers to Yushchenko and formed an elite guard team. Yushchenko, the former commander of the guard battalion, can only follow me and wrongly become a guard monitor who can only command more than a dozen soldiers.


    Although there were only a dozen people in my guard class, we were still crowded with a covered truck when we left Zhukov headquarters. Seeing this, watujing couldn''t help laughing at me and said, "general oshanina, it seems that you''ve made a lot of noise when you go out. Apanashchenko and I will take four or five guards when we go to inspect, and you have more guards than the two of us put together. "


    For watujing''s ridicule, I can''t be angry, I can only accompany with a smile and say: "senior general, because I have been in danger too many times on my way, Marshal Zhukov specially assigned me this guard class for the sake of protecting my safety."


    "Don''t worry, comrade oshanina. I''m just kidding you." Watujing saw that I was a little nervous and at a loss, so he explained to me. After that, he opened the back door, made a gesture to me, and said: "get on the bus, we have to catch several hundred kilometers. However, you can rest assured that the situation and route are all within our defense area, and there will be no danger. "


    After a rough night on the road, we finally arrived at the headquarters of Voronezh''s front army in oboyan at dawn.


    Our car stopped outside the building where the headquarters is located. As soon as I got off, I saw two familiar figures from the crowd standing at the door ready to meet us. One of them was apanashchenko, and the other was Khrushchev, who once served as a military commissar of Stalingrad''s front army. But now he is no longer a mere political worker, but recently he was awarded the rank of lieutenant general.


    I followed watujing and shook hands with the commanders who came to greet me. When I shook hands with Khrushchev, I showed relative respect to the future leader. I bent slightly, stretched out my hands and said politely, "Hello, comrade military commissar, nice to meet you here!"


    "Hello, Rita!" When Khrushchev saw me, a former comrade in arms of Stalingrad''s front army, he was very friendly. He shook my hands and said warmly, "welcome to our Voronezh front army to supervise and guide our work."


    In front of this future boss, I showed my due humility. I accompanied him with a smile and said, "Comrade military commissar, you are joking. Where can I direct any work in front of you leaders? I came to Voronezh''s front army to assist commander vatukin in his work. In addition, I am young and have little experience. If there is anything wrong, please point it out to me. "


    "Well, comrade military Commissar." "We''d better go to the headquarters and convey the superior''s intention to the commanders at all levels as soon as possible," said watujing, interrupting our reminiscence


    When I entered the conference room, I took my seats. Vatukin was sitting opposite me. He had deputy commander apanashchenko in his left hand and Khrushchev in his right hand. Major general korgenevich, chief of staff, was sitting on my left hand. In his right hand was major general kazakov, commander of the 69th group army.


    At the beginning of the meeting, vatukin scanned the whole room and said slowly, "comrades commander, I have brought the latest orders from Moscow. The task of our Voronezh front army is no longer simply to guard against the German forces in Belgorod and encircle the flanks of the central front army, but to strengthen the construction of fortifications in the defense area so as to prevent the German forces from launching a violent attack. This general oshanina, the special commissioner sent from the base camp, is responsible for supervising the construction of various fortifications in our defense area. "


    Hearing that watujing introduced me to you, I quickly got up from my seat, raised my hand and saluted all the people present before I sat down again.


    "General oshanina has a special mission, so no matter which group army she enters, you should give her active cooperation. Do you understand?" said vatujing


    "I see." Several group commanders sitting at the table answered neatly.


    After the house was quiet again, apanashchenko said his question in public: "Comrade commander, I don''t understand why the base camp has adjusted our place as the main defense direction. As we all know, there is an elite German central army group in the Oreal region. They may attack general rokosovsky''s central front army at any time. In front of us, Belgorod is the weakened disabled general under the command of Manstein. "


    After listening to this question, vatukin did not immediately answer it. Instead, he looked at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, I think it is more appropriate for you to answer the question of Comrade deputy commander."


    Seeing that vatukin had pushed this problem to me, I could not refuse. I had to stand up and say to apanashchenko: "Comrade deputy commander, you are right about one thing. The troops of Manstein were weakened in the battle. But have you ever thought about what kind of strength they were before they were weakened and what kind of strength they will be after they were weakened? "


    "This, this..." in the face of my question, apanashchenko seemed a little flustered, and got stuck in the middle of his words. But after all, he was not a simple man. A moment later, he came back to himself and asked, "I really don''t know the specific strength of the Manstein troops. However, a unit that has been attacked jointly by our southwest front army and Voronezh front army, even if its combat effectiveness is stronger in the past, its current strength will be greatly reduced. "


    Although apanashchenko''s seniority is old, even as commander vatukin is not as good as him, I don''t have the slightest awe for him, so I don''t speak in circles, and say directly: "Comrade deputy commander, I have witnessed a German division, in a few hours, severely damaged one of our guards, And easily broke through their solid defense. At that time, the tank brigade that I sent reinforcements to attack from their flanks was destroyed after a fierce battle. We need to know that these troops annihilated by the German army are all elite troops who have just gone through the battle of Stalingrad, but they still have no fighting power in front of the inferior German army. We can see how strong their fighting power is. "


    After listening to my words, apanashchenko said unconvinced: "even if there is such a German division, does he dare to risk being encircled and go into the defense area of our front army alone?"


    "Comrade deputy commander," I thought that he would die in a few months, and there was no possibility of becoming my immediate superior, so I was not afraid of offending him. I said realistically, "there are three German divisions under the command of Manstein, and we can''t cope with one of them. If we meet three at the same time, our troops will be dominant, There will still be a fierce battle. Moreover, after the loss of such elite troops, the German aggressors will certainly give priority to replenishing them, so that they can recover their original combat effectiveness as soon as possible and pose a greater threat to our army. "


    "Rita," Khrushchev asked slowly after my impassioned speech, "are you sure that the German Central Army Group will not attack the defensive zone of the central front army first?"


    "No, comrade military Commissar." In response to Khrushchev''s question, I respectfully replied: "the German army assembled the central army group in the Orel area in order to attract our 70 infantry divisions deployed near Moscow, as well as rokosovsky''s central front army, so that we could concentrate all our attention on the West, They can secretly deploy troops to strengthen the army of Manstein in the future. "


    "Where do you think the main direction of German attack will be?" Khrushchev then asked.


    "Prohorovka!" Since I have mentioned this place in Zhukov''s headquarters for a long time, there is no need to hide it here, so I simply said: "commander vatujing once explained that because prokholovka''s terrain is an open hilly area, which is divided into two parts by an important railway, it is not conducive for us to build a complete defense system, Once the German army chooses this place as a breakthrough point, it will be very difficult for us to block the German attack with our current fighting capacity. So we need to survey the area as soon as possible and build fortifications in suitable places. "


    "Yes, general oshanina is quite right. The next main task of our front army is to select the right location in Prokhorovka area and build a perfect defense system." After these words, watujing looked at major general kazakov sitting on my right hand and said, "general kazakov!"


    Hearing watujing call his name, major general kazakov quickly stood up from his seat, straightened his waist and waited for watujing''s next order.


    "Prokhorovka is the defense area of your 69th army," watujing looked at him and began to explain the task to him. "You are going to accompany general oshanina personally to complete the topographic survey, understand?"


    "I understand." Karzakov replied loudly, then sat down.


    "Next, we..." as soon as he was halfway through, he was interrupted by a staff officer who rushed in. I saw the staff officer close to watujing and whisper a few words in his ear. Watujing''s face suddenly changed. I waited for the staff officer to stand up straight again and asked watujing nervously, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter?"


    "Well, comrade oshanina." Vatukin got up from his seat and said to me solemnly, "the troops stationed in prohorovka have called and reported that traces of German have been found near the area."


    Before I could speak, apanashchenko got up from his seat and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, since the enemy has been found in prohorovka, what are we doing here?" After that, he stopped for a moment. Seeing that vatukin didn''t mean to stop him, he continued, "I suggest that the meeting should be stopped immediately. The commanders of the headquarters should go to prohorovka to see what happened."


    Apanashchenko''s words made me frown, because I thought of Zhukov in my heart, considering what action Zhukov would take if he heard the news. Based on what I know about him, he will definitely order the person who reports his intelligence to find out where the enemy is and what kind of forces and equipment they have, instead of rushing to end an important military meeting and leading a large group of commanders to the place where the German army appears. If the enemy ambush on the road, so many senior commanders out of any accident, the army will fall into a leaderless situation.


    Thinking of this, I stared nervously at watujing to see what kind of decision he would make. Besides me, Khrushchev, who was sitting next to him, and a group of commanders of various army groups were staring at him, waiting for him to make a final decision. Vatukin was silent for a long time. He looked down at Khrushchev and asked, "Comrade military commissar, what do you think?" Khrushchev didn''t expect that vatukin would blame him for this problem. He raised his hand, scratched the back of his head, and finally said: "Comrade commander, we hastily end the military meeting and then rush to Prokhorovka. I think it''s a bit hasty. Why don''t you do that? Since Rita is going to prohorovka to survey the terrain, she should simply ask the deputy commander and general kazakov to accompany her. We can not only understand the situation of the German army in prohorovka area, but also survey the local area by the way, killing two birds with one stone. What do you think? " After listening to Khrushchev''s opinions, vatukin nodded and said with approval: "Comrade military commissar has a point. We are holding an important military meeting. We can''t interrupt the meeting just for this matter. Comrade deputy commander, will you go to prohorovka with general oshanina and general kazakov to see what happened¡° OK, I''ll go now. " Apanashchenko said this and called me and kazakov: "come on, let''s go to prohorovka immediately and find out what the Germans really want to do." As for apanashchenko''s reckless behavior, I sighed in my heart, but I couldn''t oppose it. I had to say goodbye to vatukin and Khrushchev and follow him and karzakov to Prokhorovka. On the bus to prohorovka, I really admire Stalin''s arrangement with apanashchenko. If we raise him from the position of commander of the Far East Front Army and directly let him take charge of an important direction, the Soviet army will suffer unnecessary heavy losses because of his old command ideas.

 Chapter 1057

    Originally, I thought that a commander like apanashchenko should take at least one platoon of security soldiers, divided into trucks and jeeps, to protect his safety. Who knows, after I got on the bus, I found that there was only one jeep, with the driver and kazakov sitting in the front and me and him sitting in the back, not even a guard.


    After driving for a certain distance, apanashchenko suddenly leaned forward, patted the driver on the shoulder and ordered, "stop!"


    As he suddenly gave the order without warning, the driver immediately braked when he was nervous. I was caught off guard and bumped into the front. If I didn''t hold the back of the chair in time, I would be bruised and bruised. After the adventure, I nervously asked apanashchenko, "Comrade deputy commander, what''s the matter?"


    "What''s the matter with that truck in the back?" Apanashchenko asked, looking at karzakov in the front row.


    Kazakov looked back, then shook his head and said, "Comrade General, I don''t know. It may be the guard sent to you by the commander. "


    "Nonsense, it''s nonsense." Hearing what kazakov said, apanashchenko said angrily: "we are not behind the enemy now. Where do we need someone to protect us?" After complaining, he told khazakov, "general khazakov, you go to inform the commander in the car behind, let them go back, and say that we can protect ourselves."


    When I heard what apanashchenko said, I couldn''t help looking back curiously. I just saw a commander coming down from the truck cab not far behind. I fixed my eyes on it. It turned out that it was my "guard monitor" Captain Yushchenko, so I quickly stopped karzakov who was pushing the door to get off the bus: "general karzakov, please wait a moment."


    "Comrade oshanina, what can I do for you?" After hearing what I said, he was still sitting in his seat. Apanashchenko asked curiously, "why don''t you let general khazakov out of the car?"


    I pointed to the truck behind me, and Yushchenko, who was coming towards us, and explained to apanashchenko, "Comrade deputy commander, that truck is my guard." Seeing his displeasure on his face, he quickly added, "Marshal Zhukov sent me to protect my safety."


    Apanashchenko heard me say that, but he couldn''t get angry any more. He had to wave his hand and said helplessly, "since it''s the guard team that Marshal Zhukov sent to you, let them follow."


    I nodded, turned, pushed the door open, leaned out half of my body, rushed to Yushchenko, who had just come to the car, and said, "Captain, you and your people are following us to protect our safety. Do you understand?"


    "I see." Yushchenko was going to ask me why I stopped. After listening to my mindless words, he looked into the car with a puzzled look on his face. After a loud promise, he turned and walked towards the truck behind him.


    As the car continued to drive forward, I felt very sorry for apanashchenko''s careless character. Although the area we drove belonged to our army''s defense area, we didn''t bring any guards, which was a bit too big. Not to mention the last attack, even if there were three or five stragglers who threw a grenade at us, we could all be reimbursed.


    Thinking of this, I tentatively asked apanashchenko: "Comrade deputy commander, do you go out without a guard every time?"


    "Guard? Why the guards? " When apanashchenko heard my question, he raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise, "Comrade oshanina, why do you suddenly ask this question?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, this is the front line after all." I didn''t expect that he would ask such a question. I couldn''t help laughing bitterly, shrugging my shoulders and answering helplessly: "because we don''t know whether we will encounter German attack on our way out, we should take some guards."


    "Comrade oshanina, you are wrong." As soon as I finished, apanashchenko flatly refuted me and said, "even if it''s dangerous, when we go out for inspection, we shouldn''t go out with a group of soldiers. In this way, if you are seen by the commanders below, they will think that you are timid and afraid of death, and will not really respect you... "


    Listening to apanashchenko''s long speech, although I always kept a smile on my face and pretended to listen to the instruction, I was laughing bitterly in my heart. It turned out that every time he went out without a guard, he didn''t want the commanders and fighters below to think that he was a man who was greedy for life and afraid of death. It''s estimated that watujing had the same character. No wonder they both died young.


    Today, I don''t think it''s proper for vatukin, Khrushchev or apanashchenko to discover the German army in the 69th army. As the main commander of the front army, you should at least wait for the people below to figure out the situation before deciding what to do. How can you rush to prohorovka like apanashchenko without a guard.


    Apart from apanashchenko, I am also dissatisfied with kazakov sitting in the front. As commander of the 69th group army, when you hear that the traces of the German army have been found in your own jurisdiction, the first thing you need to do is to call your deputy or chief of staff to get the general situation. Instead of asking nothing, following apanashchenko like a valet and rushing back. He may forget that he is the commander of the group army. Instead, he takes himself as an ordinary infantry squad leader and wants to see where the enemy is.


    Although apanashchenko is known as the "czar of the Far East" and one of the five generals who won the rank of general before the war, his operational thinking is still the same as that of the civil war decades ago. He always thinks that he should take the lead and stay in the most dangerous place like ordinary soldiers. In particular, he had never dealt with the Germans. If he copied the way he dealt with the Japanese, he would definitely suffer a great loss.


    As I thought about my mind, I looked out the window. After entering prohorovka''s area, I found that there were many hills on both sides of the road. The bushes on the hills were the best location for our army to hide anti tank guns. From these places, we could hit the flanks of the enemy''s armored forces hard. But because the terrain here is very open, the anti tank gun hidden in the Bush will be attacked by the enemy after firing. If possible, the self-propelled anti tank gun currently equipped in the army should be used as far as possible.


    Seeing this, I took a picture of karzakov sitting in front of him. As soon as he looked back, I pointed to the bushes on the hills outside and told him what I had just thought. After hearing this, he nodded in agreement and promised me that he would deploy self-propelled anti tank guns where fighting might break out.


    When I finished, I turned my head to apanashchenko, who was staring at me and listening to my advice to karzakov. Seeing that I turned my head to look at him, he said to me with a friendly smile, "Comrade oshanina, what a wonderful speech you have made! If we really deploy our forces in this way, the pressure of our frontal defense will be greatly reduced. "


    For his praise, I didn''t say anything, just a polite smile. Who knows that my reaction made him misunderstand. He quickly explained to me, "don''t worry, comrade oshanina. I''m talking from my heart. Although I''m older than Marshal Zhukov, I don''t know anything about modern war in the real sense. For so many years in the Far East, although some people call me "the czar of the Far East" and say how well I have managed the Far East, I am almost a perfect man. To tell you the truth, after listening to such words, even I felt a little elated. I felt that if I came to the western front, I could easily defeat the Germans, so I asked Comrade Stalin for a transfer. "


    Seeing that apanashchenko opened his heart to me and talked about his own affairs, I straightened up, looked at the Veteran General in front of me and listened patiently to what he said next: "after I got here, I found that everything was far from what I imagined. I don''t know how to assign tasks to my subordinates and give them operational instructions, even if I give a tank group army to my command. If I want to adapt to all this as soon as possible, I have to learn from the beginning. So even if my superior appointed me to be the deputy of watujing, who is much less qualified than me, I don''t have the slightest complaint... "


    Finally, he asked me, "Comrade o''xanina, please tell me as a friend, have I done anything wrong in the way I handled this matter today?"


    After listening to this, I thought quickly whether I should tell apanashchenko the truth. After thinking about it for a long time, I finally summoned up the courage to say, "senior general, I think your practice today is too reckless?"


    "Ah?! Comrade o''shanina, why do you say that? " Apanashchenko asked in a puzzled way: "when we learn that there is an enemy situation in our jurisdiction, shouldn''t we deal with it immediately?"


    "Comrade General, to tell you the truth, when there is an enemy situation, we must not ignore it." I know that my words may offend him, but thinking that he will die soon, even if I offend him, it will have no effect on me in the future. If we can make him change and make him escape, maybe it will be my resistance in the future, because I will just say, "but you are the deputy commander of the front army. You have more important work than dealing with the enemy''s situation. So the first thing you need to do after this situation is not to stop the important military meeting and take ordinary people to the place where the enemy appears to check the situation. Instead, he ordered the person who reported the intelligence to find out the enemy''s strength and equipment, report it to you, and then make the corresponding deployment according to the situation. "


    As soon as I finished, I saw apanashchenko raise his hand and slap his forehead. Then he said with exaggerated expression: "my God, comrade oshanina, you are so right. Why didn''t I expect that. Yes, if you just make a phone call, you may be able to find out something within ten minutes. If you run rashly like me, you may not only fail to solve the problem, but also make it worse. " Then he stretched out his hands to me and said gratefully, "thank you, comrade oshanina. Thank you for your guidance. I''ll know how to deal with this situation in the future. "


    When I shook hands with him, I quickly glanced at karzakov in the front row and saw that he was looking out of the window. My heart said that I didn''t know if he could get some inspiration after listening to what I just said.


    Just then, kazakov suddenly called out: "Comrade driver, turn right at the fork in front of you later."


    "Yes, Comrade General." The driver of the car promised.


    Kazakov turned around and said respectfully to apanashchenko, "Comrade deputy commander, there is a regiment headquarters of our group army in front of us. Later, we can call the group army headquarters and ask the chief of staff about the situation of finding the enemy''s trace."


    "Very well, comrade kazakov, you have done a good job." As for kazakov''s flexible learning, apanashchenko said with satisfaction: "we first go to the regiment headquarters to learn about the enemy''s situation, and then decide what to do next." Our jeep drove on the rough dirt road, passed through groups of commanders and fighters, and finally stopped in front of a simple wooden house. Kazakov turned and said, "here we are." He pushed the door open and got out of the car first, then went around to the other side from the back of the car, respectfully asked apanashchenko to open the door and ask him to get out of the car. When the three of us walked into the regiment headquarters, the commander inside was startled. When we came in, a lieutenant commander who was sitting on the bed beside the wall drinking tea jumped up and tied the belt to his waist. At the same time, he reported his rank and position to us. Khazakov did not say any nonsense, but asked frankly, "Comrade commander, can you contact the group army headquarters here?"¡° Yes, Comrade General. " "We have a walkie talkie here to talk to the headquarters of the group army," the commander replied At this time, another major with neat appearance came up to us. Through the report, I knew that he was the chief of staff of the regiment. When we heard that we were going to contact the headquarters of the group army, we immediately took kazakov to a telephone beside the wall and talked to each other through the telephone microphone. After speaking, khazakov came back to us and reported to apanashchenko, "Comrade deputy commander, I have made it clear. It turned out that several German motorcycles, probably scouts, appeared in the front of our army. After being found by our officers and men, they fired a few shots and fled back to their defense area. Everything should be back to normal now. " After listening to kazakov''s report, apanashchenko turned to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, you''re still right. If we don''t make this call, maybe we''ll go for nothing." Then he said to kazakov, "Comrade General, let''s have a rest here and go to survey the terrain later."

 Chapter 1058

    It was said that we were going to stay here for a rest. The chief of staff of the regiment immediately asked people to bring us steaming black tea and some simple food. When the soldiers put things neatly on the table in front of us, the commander waved them out.


    I picked up my tea cup, smelled the sweet smell of tea, took a sip gently, and then asked the group leader standing at the table: "Comrade commander, did your regiment build fortifications nearby?"


    Hearing what I said, the team leader did not answer immediately. Instead, he turned his eyes to kazakov. After all, neither apanashchenko nor khazakov introduced me to him just now. He didn''t know my identity, so he didn''t dare to answer such a matter involving military secrets.


    Kazakov laughed at him and said with understanding, "this is general oshanina, the special commissioner from the base camp, who is responsible for supervising and inspecting the construction of fortifications in our defense area. You can report to her."


    After getting the permission of Mr. kazakov, the commander gave me a dry smile and then said politely, "Comrade General, I''d better let my chief of staff report to you. He has always been responsible for this work."


    "Yes!" I nodded with a smile, turned my head and looked at the major standing next to me. I politely asked, "Comrade chief of staff, can you tell me something about the construction of your fortifications?"


    After hearing my question, the chief of staff of the tall regiment, who was in sharp contrast with the short and fat Lieutenant Colonel nearby, straightened his back and said clearly: "report to general, battalion 1 and battalion 2 are building Fortifications on the south side of our regiment''s defense area Relying on the terrain, we dug a few semicircular trenches on the hills, and built a number of firepower points with covers in the trenches... "


    After the chief of staff introduced the situation, apanashchenko said thoughtfully: "maybe in the near future, we will fight a defensive war with the German army here. The firmness of the fortifications determines the time we can persist here."


    "Comrade deputy commander," kazakov said with a smile, "do we need to go to the field to have a look?"


    Without waiting for apanashchenko to answer, the commander waved his hand and said, "no, no, comrade general, the situation there is very dangerous. The enemy artillery will fire cold artillery there in a while."


    "Comrade commander," apanashchenko sneered at the chief who dissuaded us, and said in a sarcastic tone, "why, are you frightened by the enemy''s cold guns?"


    Kazakov saw that apanashchenko had signs of anger, so he quickly came out to make ends meet: "Comrade deputy commander, you misunderstood the meaning of the commander. He was worried that we would encounter danger when we went there."


    "Yes, comrade general, that''s what I want to say." Seeing that the group army commanders all spoke for themselves, the red faced lieutenant commander quickly said, "if you want to know the situation of the frontier, you don''t have to go in person. I''ll call the two battalion commanders and report them to you in detail. The effect is the same."


    "No, I can''t." When I was about to say a few words, apanashchenko had already taken the lead in saying what I wanted to say: "I''m going to go to the front to see the fortifications built by the soldiers myself."


    Seeing that apanashchenko was so stubborn, kazakov had no choice but to say, "since that''s the case, comrade deputy commander of the front army, I''ll accompany you after eating."


    But after hearing this, apanashchenko waved his hand to him and said, "no, general kazakov, let the chief of staff of the regiment lead me and general oshanina later. You''d better go back to the headquarters of the group army. There must be a lot of things waiting for you to deal with there."


    "Well, in that case, I will obey your orders." Khazakov may really have something to do with the headquarters of the group army. After hearing what apanashchenko said, he did not shirk and readily agreed.


    After eating, apanashchenko took his last sip of tea, put the cup aside and looked up at the major standing straight at the table: "chief of staff, let''s go and see what you''ve built here," he said, turning his head to kazakov and adding, "I hope the fortifications you''ve built, Your comrades and commanders of the group army will not be disgraced. "


    When the three of us came out of the regiment headquarters, apanashchenko saw Yushchenko surrounded by the soldiers of the guard class and asked for my advice: "Comrade oshanina, let''s walk to the frontier fortification to have a look, OK?"


    Just as I was about to answer, the chief of staff of the regiment suddenly broke in and said, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, I''m afraid we can''t walk here. We have to take a bus. It''s seven or eight kilometers from here to the base of the first and second battalions. "


    "All right, then get in the car!" Almost at the same time that apanashchenko issued the order, Yushchenko also heard this sentence. He immediately stopped and ordered the guards around him to get on the bus.


    The chief of staff of the regiment was sitting in the sidecar of a motorcycle, driving ahead. The jeep that apanashchenko and I were in followed by the truck that Yushchenko and the guards were in.


    On the way, seeing that there was no outsider in the car, I asked apanashchenko curiously, "Comrade deputy commander, do you get along well with the commander of the front army command?"


    Although apanashchenko was very strange that I would ask such a question, he replied truthfully: "it''s OK. Commander watujing is very kind to people. When he talks to anyone, he always has a smile on his face. As for Comrade Khrushchev, "when he said this, he stopped and made me nervously prick my ears, eager to learn more useful information from him.


    After looking out of the window, he continued: "although Khrushchev is a member of the military committee of the front army and has the rank of general, he mainly maintains the demeanor of a party worker when he contacts others. He never uses the term" military rank "or" please report ". How to say, he is also a better colleague to get along with. "


    After listening to apanashchenko''s comments on Khrushchev, I was secretly relieved. It seems that if I have the opportunity, I still need to deal with the future leader more to leave a good impression on him. When he comes to the world, my life will be better.


    Our car stopped a long way from the fortification. I looked out of the window and saw two captains standing by the side of the road talking to the chief of staff who had just got out of the sidecar.


    Through the introduction of the chief of staff of the regiment, I learned that the two captains were the commanders of the first battalion and the second battalion. They had received a call from the head of the regiment and knew that we were coming to inspect, so they came to the roadside specially to wait for us.


    After shaking hands with the two captains, apanashchenko said without expression, "take us to see what you''ve built to see if it''s satisfactory."


    We first inspected the fortifications of the second battalion. The commander of the second battalion led the way ahead. Apanashchenko and I followed him. The chief of staff of the regiment and the commander of the first battalion were five or six steps behind us. Further away, Yushchenko and the soldiers of the guard class.


    After the second battalion commander showed us around the fortifications built by the second battalion, we came to the defensive zone of the first battalion. To tell you the truth, although I have been ordered to inspect the construction of the fortifications, I am a layman. It''s OK to see the bustle. I can''t tell if I want to point out the problems in the construction of the fortifications.


    But thanks to apanashchenko''s help, I''m much less worried. He not only stood on the ground to observe the various fire points, but also went into the trench to measure the height and width of the trench with his own figure. From time to time, he used his fist to knock on the wood of the fortification to see if it was firmly fixed.


    When the inspection was almost finished, apanashchenko stopped and said to the first battalion commander who was a guide, "Comrade captain, your battalion and the second battalion are well built. It''s good, it''s very good."


    I stood on the south side of the trench and looked into the distance, trying to see if I could see the German positions in the distance. As a result, I could not see any German fortifications except the wide plain. I waved to the chief of staff. When he stood beside me, I pointed to the distance and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, how far is it from the German defense line?"


    "At least five kilometers apart, Comrade General." The chief of staff gave a very sharp answer.


    I looked around. A hundred meters away from the front left, there was a small earth slope. It was only twenty or thirty meters high. The width of the front was only about one hundred meters, and the depth was only seventy or eighty meters. At the moment, many people were building fortifications nervously.


    Apanashchenko came up to me and asked curiously, "Comrade oshanina, what are you looking at?"


    I pointed to the slope I was looking at and said to apanashchenko, "no, comrade deputy commander, there is a small slope. It seems that the comrades of the first battalion are going to transform it into a firepower support point."


    Apanashchenko took a look over there, and then said, "yes, I can see it too. It can be a firepower support point. When the enemy attacks the main position of a battalion, it will kill the enemy from the side."


    After listening to apanashchenko''s words, I slowly shook my head and said, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t think it''s wise to take this place as a fire support point."


    "Why?" When I said that, apanashchenko frowned and asked, "Comrade oshanina, can you give me your reasons?"


    I pointed to the slope in the distance and said to apanashchenko, "Comrade deputy commander, look, the slope is gentle and narrow. There were too few troops on it to attack the German flanks; Too many troops will cause heavy casualties in the enemy''s artillery or bombing. Since it is such a terrain that is easy to attack but difficult to defend, there is no need to build defensive positions on it. "


    "But Comrade o''shanina." Apanashchenko retorted to me discontentedly, saying: "can we just watch the Germans occupy there and turn it into the starting point of attack and do nothing?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, please listen to my explanation." Not only did apanashchenko''s face show dissatisfaction, but several other commanders joined in and whispered. I coughed and said to them in a loud voice: "although there is no need to build any fortifications for this small highland which is not easy to defend at the front, we can send small troops to carry submachine guns, machine guns and other automatic firearms for defense. When the enemy attacks us, first use firepower to kill the enemy as much as possible, and then retreat to the main position in a decentralized and covert way. "


    When I said this, I found that apanashchenko''s tight brows were stretched out, and his face also showed a smile, so I struck while the iron was hot and said, "when the enemy''s position is not stable, he will cover the high ground with heavy artillery fire, and then take back the high ground with counter attack. In this repeated tug of war, a lot of the enemy''s living strength is consumed. "¡° I get it. I get it. " After listening to my words, a battalion commander nearby couldn''t help crying excitedly. The chief of staff of the regiment came up to him and slapped him on the back. At the same time, he scolded him and said, "what are you calling for?" Apanashchenko, however, waved his hand to the chief of staff of the regiment and asked the first battalion commander with a smile: "Comrade captain, what do you understand? Let''s listen to it. " A battalion commander looked at us and said with some embarrassment, "Comrade General, the reason why he just didn''t suggest that we build fortifications on the small highlands was that he was afraid that the German army would use these fortifications to resist tenaciously after occupying the Highlands, so as to increase the casualties of our counterattack troops."¡° Yes, comrade captain I waited for a battalion commander to finish, immediately gave him a thumbs up, and added: "although the enemy attack, we can only defend. However, we should not only defend for the sake of defense, but also take advantage of all kinds of favorable opportunities to counterattack the enemy. Do you understand? "¡° I see! " The chief of staff and the two battalion commanders replied neatly¡° Now that I understand, what are you doing here? " Apanashchenko obviously accepted my proposal and immediately ordered the first battalion commander: "Comrade captain, if you don''t send someone to take back the soldiers who repaired the fortifications, I believe they are tired after so long work, let them have a rest first. As for the slope, you can leave a squad as a guard¡° Yes, I''ll give the order right away After a loud promise, the battalion commander turned and left. Apanashchenko went up to the chief of staff and said to him, "Comrade chief of staff, you have heard what general oshanina said." Seeing that the other side nodded his approval, he then said, "now that I have heard this, I will immediately promote this new type of defense deployment to the battalions, and give up the fortification of those small highlands that are not easy to defend in the front." After apanashchenko finished, the chief of staff of the regiment first nodded his head to show obedience to the order, and then complained to him: "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, since our army is newly established, our equipment is very poor. Although every soldier has weapons in his hand, there are few automatic weapons such as submachine guns and machine guns. I don''t know when the superior can change our equipment for us?"

 Chapter 1059

    Apanashchenko was silent for a moment, and then said to the chief of staff of the regiment, "Comrade chief of staff, the change of equipment is planned by the headquarters and the Department of weapons and equipment. When it''s time to change your clothes, I''ll change them myself. " With these words, he turned the topic and asked, "I have to go to other troops. Do you know the way?"


    The chief of staff of the regiment quickly went to apanashchenko''s side, pointed to the East, and said, "Comrade General, if you walk about two kilometers eastward along this road, you can reach the base of another infantry division." After pointing the way, he respectfully asked akhromeyev, "do you want me to send someone to escort you?"


    Apanashchenko looked back at Yushchenko, who was standing near us. He waved his head and replied, "we have a guard team with us. You just need to call the division headquarters of your neighbor and inform them of our upcoming arrival in advance."


    Unexpectedly, after listening to him, the chief of staff of the regiment showed a embarrassed expression. Seeing his reaction, I asked with some dissatisfaction, "why, comrade major, don''t you want to help us?"


    The chief of staff of the regiment replied with a sad face: "Comrade commander, it''s not that I refuse to help, but that I really can''t help you."


    "Why?" Apanashchenko was intrigued by the chief of staff''s reply. He couldn''t help asking, "Comrade major, why can''t you help us?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." The chief of staff of the regiment was deeply afraid that apanashchenko would be angry, so he quickly explained: "our regiment''s communication equipment can only be used with the superior and the internal of the regiment, and we can''t contact the friendly and neighboring forces."


    After hearing what the chief of staff said, apanashchenko turned pale. He said nothing but turned to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, let''s go."


    Back to the parking place, I saw Yushchenko, who was directing the soldiers to get on the bus. I immediately yelled to him, "Captain Yushchenko, come to me."


    Before and after Yushchenko came to me, I didn''t wait for him to speak, so I told him directly, "Captain, get in the car. You take the co pilot''s seat and come with us." The reason why I arranged for him to get on the bus is to increase the insurance factor. When there is any danger, the security personnel like him can at least buy us some valuable time.


    Yushchenko said nothing, opened the front door and got on the car. But apanashchenko asked me curiously in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, how can your subordinates ride in the same car with us?"


    "Comrade deputy commander," I was deeply afraid that he would object, so I explained to him, "this is close to the German defense area. For the sake of safety, there must be at least one guard on the car. This safety factor can be greatly improved." Apanashchenko just nodded after listening, then opened the door and sat in.


    On the way to the friendly troops, Yushchenko, sitting in the front row, seized the assault rifle and scanned the window with alert eyes. Apanashchenko and I can talk about something else in the back. He said to me anxiously, "Comrade oshanina, I really didn''t expect that there was no direct contact between the divisions. Once the battle with the German Army started, the cooperation between the troops would be affected by the communication."


    "Comrade deputy commander," I heard that he had found a problem in the army, and I pushed the boat forward with the current to propose a solution to it: "it seems that in the next war preparation, direct communication between divisions should become a big problem that must be solved. Otherwise, our army will be in danger of being defeated by the German army."


    "You''re right." Apanashchenko said with deep feeling: "if I didn''t accompany you down for such a trip today, I don''t think I would have found this big problem. When I get back, I''ll report it to commander watujing. "


    While we were talking, the jeep slowed down. Apanashchenko asked the driver loudly, "Comrade driver, what''s the matter? Why do you slow down?"


    The driver turned to look at us, then quickly turned his head back. The report said, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, I see our commanders and fighters on the side of the road ahead. I plan to stop and ask the way."


    It was said that this was the case. Apanashchenko nodded and said, "OK, ask the soldiers in front, do you know how to get to their division?"


    I looked out of the window and saw more than a dozen soldiers digging fortifications by the side of the road. When the car stopped, Yushchenko went out and asked in a loud voice, "Hey, comrade soldier, do you know how to get to your division?"


    A middle-aged man in a white uniform, climbing out of the semi formed trench with a shovel, and approaching the jeep, asked Yushchenko warily: "commander, what part of you are you looking for?"


    "We are from the headquarters of the front army," Yushchenko said to the soldier in an official voice, because he was very experienced in dealing with these investigations. "There is something important to ask your division commander. Do you know where he is?"


    On hearing this, the soldier quickly came to attention, then respectfully pointed to a direction ahead and said, "Comrade commander, your car will look forward along this road, turn left at the fork in front of the hill, and drive straight ahead for four or five kilometers to reach the division headquarters."


    After Yushchenko said thanks to the soldiers, our car went on.


    Looking at the officers and men digging trenches on the hills on both sides of the road, I couldn''t help frowning. After apanashchenko found my abnormality, he couldn''t help wondering, "o''shanina, why are you so worried?"


    I pointed to the busy commanders and fighters and said to apanashchenko, "Comrade deputy commander, you see, although the commanders and fighters on the hills have dug a lot of trenches, it is difficult to stop the enemy''s attack."


    "Do you have any good ideas?" Apanashchenko asked modestly.


    "I can''t explain this for a while. When I get to the place, I''ll draw a picture to explain it to you in detail."


    When we arrived at the division headquarters of the infantry division, apanashchenko, after greeting the division commander, political commissar and chief of staff, called them to the table to study the construction of fortifications.


    Apanashchenko first asked the fat colonel and division commander, "Comrade division commander, on our way here, we saw your officers and men digging trenches everywhere. Well, if the German army attacks us, can your division''s existing line of defense block the enemy''s attack? "


    "Comrade deputy commander, can you tell the truth?" The division commander did not speak, but the chief of staff of the next Lieutenant Colonel spoke.


    Apanashchenko listened to his words, face a board, discontented to say: "when did I let you tell lies."


    Hearing apanashchenko criticizing his chief of staff, the fat division chief opened his mouth. He just wanted to explain a few words, but apanashchenko stopped him with his eyes.


    The chief of staff of the division immediately straightened up and reported: "Comrade deputy commander, although we have built a lot of fortifications, it is difficult for us to build a perfect defense system because there are too many hills in the defense area and most of them are incoherent. If we are attacked by the German army, our existing defensive positions can support for a day or two at most and will be broken through. "


    "Do you have any good solutions?" Apanashchenko asked without expression.


    Hearing about apanashchenko''s problem, the leaders of the three divisions were silent and bowed their heads one after another, saying that they had nothing to do with the current situation.


    Apanashchenko waited for a while. Seeing that the three did not speak, he sighed in disappointment. He turned to me and said, "o''shanina, do you have any good idea?" Then he turned his head and explained to the three men, "this general o''shanina was sent by the base camp to our front army defense area to inspect the construction of fortifications."


    When they knew my identity, they all showed panic on their faces, because the chief of staff''s report just now can be put on the platform and become a sign of the commander''s incompetence. In order to make them feel at ease, before explaining to them the idea of their own fortifications, I said to the chief of staff of the division with a smile, "chief of staff, can you find me a pen and paper? I''m useful. "


    "Pen and paper?" After listening to my words, the chief of staff of the division hesitated for several seconds, quickly rushed to the wall, picked up a pen and paper from a table there, quickly went back to the table and respectfully placed it in front of me.


    I coughed and saw that everyone''s attention was focused on me. I drew a few strokes on the paper with a pen, and then began my own explanation: "comrades, to defend against the enemy armed to the teeth like the German army, the first thing to do is to enhance the firmness of the position, to defend against the enemy''s artillery and bombing, and to maintain the effective strength of our army. Secondly, we should make the position a complete defense system, so as to block the attack of German tanks and infantry.


    According to the terrain of your division''s defense area, I think the defensive position should establish support points, construct Zhan hang, implement circular defense, control each other, and form a defense system based on support points, so as to achieve the purpose of dividing the German battle formation.


    There are many ways to build support points. First, two tunnels run through the front and back of the hill. In the middle of the two tunnels, a transverse tunnel is connected to form an "H" line. The outer surface is connected by a trench. The fortifications are set at the four exits of the tunnel.


    In the second way, two tunnels are crossed left and right to form an "X" shape. Outside, they are linked by trenches. Various launching positions are placed on both sides of the mound, so that they can carry forward their firepower to the surrounding 300 meters. This kind of support point can be used as the backbone defense point of the basic position.... "


    At the beginning of my speech, the faces of the three division commanders showed disapproval. But as I went deeper and deeper, their faces became dignified. The chief of staff even took out his notebook and began to record them quickly.


    After I finished talking about the shapes of several fortifications, I pushed the finished sketch to the chief of staff of the division and finally said, "remember, no matter what type of fortification, solid garrison tunnels must be set up on its reverse slope, and anti impact trenches or traffic trenches or even tunnels should be built on both sides of the mound."


    After I finished, the chief of staff of the division asked carefully, "how should we deploy the forces at these support points?"


    "The number of troops hoarded at the support points should at least be more than twice that of the original defensive forces." When I said this, I saw the puzzled expression on all the faces, and then further explained: "for example, if there is a company''s support point, at least two companies'' forces should be kept as the starting positions for counterattack against the German army."


    When I finished, apanashchenko said to his men with a smile, "comrades, you have heard what general oshanina said. Any other questions now? If you have one, just bring it all up at once and let her give you a detailed answer. "¡° Comrade general, "this time, it was the political commissar of the division who kept silent. He politely asked," what are the basic requirements for the construction of fortifications? " Looking at the commissar in front of me with a pair of round glasses, I instinctively looked at apanashchenko. At this moment, the voice of the division commander rang out: "Comrade General, please don''t get me wrong. My political commissar graduated from Leningrad University of architecture. When he heard about these architectural matters, he was particularly interested. If you have no objection, we''d like to hear about it. "¡° Yes, Comrade General. " The chief of staff of the Division also said: "we also want to learn more useful information from you, which is very helpful for us to build fortifications."¡° General oshanina. " The division political commissar and other division commanders and chief of staff said to me with a smile: "I have seen the construction drawings of the" oshanina trench "sent to us by the superior. To tell you the truth, after I saw it, I admire you very much, because such an anti tank trench can only be designed by heaven, so I... "The flattery of the political commissar of the division made me very useful. Although the anti tank trench was my copy of the Golan trench, I still accepted his compliment without blushing, He also politely said to him, "since it''s the political commissar who wants to understand the basic requirements of fortification construction, I''ll say a few more words." After a pause and a drink of water, I went on to say, "in fact, the basic requirements for building fortifications are very simple. First, the location of fortifications should be selected according to the tactical value of the terrain and the role of various fortifications in combat. The second is the requirement for the consolidation degree of the fortification. Generally speaking, the thickness of the tunnel fortification should be about 20 meters, and the thickness of the tunnel entrance and exit should be at least 5 meters, and open into a flat opening, so as to make it suitable for camouflage. Third, the operational equipment inside the tunnel works. Shooting fortifications shall be built at the turning point, and special facilities for storing grain, drinking water and ammunition shall be built inside the tunnel. " After hearing what I said, the political commissar became more and more excited. He repeatedly asked, "is that all? Any more? " Seeing that I stopped talking, I even begged me to say, "Comrade General, could you tell me more in detail? It''s wonderful to know what you said. If it can be promoted in the whole division, our chances of winning defense will be greatly improved. "

 Chapter 1060

    In the next few days, accompanied by apanashchenko, I successively inspected the defense areas of the 6th, 7th and 40th group army of the guards, inspected all kinds of fortifications they built, and put forward some suggestions for rectification.


    Apanashchenko showed great cooperation in the whole process of accompanying him. As long as you see that the commanders of the group army, as well as their subordinate division commanders, brigades and commanders, show their resistance to my rectification suggestions, you will not hesitate to stand on my side and teach those subordinates a lesson: "general oshanina says you can do what you say. Don''t think that she is deliberately making trouble for you, she is helping you. As long as the fortifications are improved according to her suggestions, in the following defensive operations, not only the casualties of your troops can be greatly reduced, but also the probability of winning the defensive battle can be greatly increased. "


    Seeing that apanashchenko helped me so much, the commanders did not dare to complain, so they had to follow my orders honestly and command their subordinates to complete the reconstruction of the fortifications.


    It was the evening of April 29 when I finished the inspection of Voronezh''s front army defense area and returned to Kursk. When I arrived at the headquarters of the front army, I found that rokosovsky and military commissar jerekin were not in the headquarters. Only the chief of staff, lieutenant general malining, was in charge of the daily work.


    Seeing me appear, marinin immediately stood up from his seat, shook hands with me and said apologetically, "Rita, I''m so sorry. The commander and the military commissar received an urgent call from Marshal Zhukov a few hours ago and have rushed back to Moscow. As for the inspection of fortifications, I can''t go with you any more. I''ll arrange for you to have a night''s rest in the guest house, and I''ll arrange for someone to accompany you to the inspection tomorrow. "


    After running around prohorovka for several days, I was really tired. Hearing what malining said, I nodded and said with approval, "well, chief of staff, please arrange a residence for me and my subordinates. I''ve been out for such a long time, and my men are exhausted. "


    When I finished, malining picked up the phone on the desk and asked his men to arrange accommodation for us in the guest house. After he put down the phone, he said to me with a smile, "Rita, your place has been arranged. It''s only 200 meters away from the headquarters. I''ll send someone to look for you if there''s anything."


    After hearing this, I held out my hands to him with a smile and said gratefully, "thank you, thank you, chief of staff."


    After he let go of my hand, he yelled to the outside, "somebody, please." With his shouts, a lieutenant trotted in and stood upright in front of us, waiting for malining''s orders. Malining pointed to me and said, "Lieutenant, send general o''shanina to the guest house immediately."


    The lieutenant agreed, then made a gesture to me and said politely, "Comrade General, please!"


    Yushchenko''s room and the guard''s room are on the first floor. There are four people in one room, and the four rooms are just full. My room, on the second floor, is a single room with a bathroom.


    After eating the dinner brought by the staff of the guest house, I simply washed, and then I lay on the bed. During this period of inspection in Voronezh''s front army defense area, I was exhausted. I couldn''t eat well and sleep well every day. I finally came back to Kursk. I had to make up for my sleepiness.


    As a result, I didn''t sleep long before I was awakened by a sudden knock on the door. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. At one o''clock in the morning, I was about to get angry at the knock, but I heard Yushchenko''s anxious voice: "Comrade General, comrade general, please open the door. There''s something important."


    I turned over and got out of bed, went to the door, took off the military coat hanging on the coat rack, buttoned it, opened the door and rushed to Yushchenko, who was standing outside. He asked angrily, "what''s the matter, comrade captain?"


    "Report to general, there''s an emergency call from Moscow. I want you to answer it immediately." Before Yushchenko spoke, the lieutenant who had just guided us emerged from behind him.


    "Do you know anything?" Although I knew that there was nothing valuable to be asked from the lieutenant, I asked casually.


    What happened next, as I expected, the lieutenant shook his head and replied, "sorry, comrade general, I don''t know. I just came to inform you to answer the phone at the order of the chief of staff of the front army. "


    I turned to take off my cap from the coat rack and put it on my head. Then I waved my head to the lieutenant and said, "come on, comrade lieutenant."


    "Comrade General," I was just about to leave, and Yushchenko asked, "do you need to call up all the soldiers in the guard class?"


    "No," I thought. I just went to answer a phone call. I didn''t need to stir up the crowd, so I waved back Yushchenko''s kindness. "I''ll be back soon. You and the other soldiers should sleep first. Don''t wait for me."


    In order to be in a hurry, the lieutenant stopped a tricycle at the gate of the guest house. As soon as I got into the sidecar, he hit the accelerator and rushed down the wide street towards the headquarters.


    A few minutes later, I came to malinin''s headquarters again. He pointed to a microphone on the table and said, "come on, it''s an emergency call from Moscow. I want you to answer it as soon as possible."


    I picked up the receiver, put it in my ear and said in a loud voice, "Hello, I''m lieutenant general o''shanina."


    Before I asked who was calling, a strange voice came from the receiver: "general oshanina, I''m sokolovsky. Come back to Moscow immediately. Move fast!" Then he cut off the phone.


    Holding the silent microphone in a daze, I thought to myself, who is general sokolovsky? I don''t seem familiar with him. Seeing that I was absent-minded, marinin couldn''t help asking, "Rita, who''s calling just now?"


    "It''s a general called sokolovsky," I said to malining as I tried to recall in my mind who the commander by that name was. "He told me to go back to Moscow immediately."


    "It turned out to be general sokolovsky. He used to be the chief of staff of Marshal Zhukov." Malining obviously knew the leader who called me. After he gave me a brief introduction, he said to himself, "isn''t he transferred to the Western army as commander? Why is it in Moscow at this time? "


    I heard that sokolovsky used to be Zhukov''s chief of staff, and I knew that Zhukov must have asked me to call him back to Moscow. It seems that something big is going to happen in Moscow. I have to go back overnight, or I will miss it.


    Thinking of this, I made a request to malining: "Comrade chief of staff, the superior ordered me to go back to Moscow as soon as possible. I think there must be something important. There is something wrong with the truck of my guard team. It always breaks down on the road. Can you change a new car for us? "


    "No problem." Malining readily agreed to this matter, and then told the lieutenant who had just accompanied me, "Lieutenant, please go again and call up general o''shanina''s men, so that they are ready to start."


    After the lieutenant left, malining said to me thoughtfully, "Rita, I think something important is going to happen. Otherwise, the commander and the military commissar will not be called back to Moscow today, and now you are urgently called back. This must be something important."


    I quite agree with malining''s analysis. I nodded and added: "it was sokolovsky who called me just now. As you said, he is now the commander of the Western army. There is nothing important. He will never leave the army and go back to Moscow." After saying this, I thought that malining was higher than me and asked tentatively, "Comrade chief of staff, don''t you even know what it is?"


    Malining shook his head and said with a bitter smile, "Rita, you are a senior commander. You should know the secrecy discipline in the army. We shouldn''t ask. We can''t ask. Besides, it''s something that can let me know. The commander must have told me a long time ago. But when he and the military commissar left, they only said that they had something urgent to go to Moscow and asked me to take charge of the daily affairs management of the front army. They didn''t say anything else. "


    We chatted for a while, and the lieutenant came in armed with Yushchenko. Seeing Yushchenko here, I knew that the outside was ready, so I stood up and shook hands with marinin.


    As there was only one truck, Yushchenko and I got into the cab, and I sat between them. When the car started, I specially told Yushchenko: "Captain, wake me up when you get to Moscow." With that, he closed his eyes and began to close his eyes.


    I don''t know how long I slept. I was shaken up by Yushchenko beside me. I could still hear his voice before my eyes: "general, general, we are in Moscow. Where should we go next? "


    "Where else?" I thought that I could not enter the Kremlin in my present status. The only place I could go was Zhukov''s headquarters, so I told the driver, "go to Marshal Zhukov''s headquarters."


    The driver was originally drawn from Zhukov headquarters. He naturally knew how to take the route. After listening to my instructions, he promised to continue driving.


    While driving, I suddenly heard Yushchenko exclaim in surprise: "general, look, there are many tanks on the side of the road." "It''s really strange that these tanks and the tanks we usually see are not necessary," he said


    Listening to what he said, I also looked out of the window curiously. There was a tank column that could not see the end at a glance. Although each tank was covered with camouflage net, I recognized that it was not a common T-34 tank, but a new t-5455 tank that transcended the time and space.


    Seeing that there were armed infantry guarding each tank, I couldn''t help but arouse my curiosity and ordered the driver: "driver, pull over, I want to see these tanks."


    As soon as our car stopped, before Yushchenko opened the door, we left immediately. Two soldiers with submachine guns came to stop Yushchenko who wanted to get off. At the same time, we politely said, "Comrade commander, no parking is allowed here. Please leave immediately."


    Yushchenko saw that only two ordinary soldiers stopped him from getting off the bus. He didn''t pay attention to their words. He pushed the door open and jumped down. As soon as he stood upright, the muzzles of the two submachine guns were aimed at his head. At the same time, the two soldiers said loudly, "go back to the car immediately, or we will shoot!"


    Seeing this situation, I quickly pulled out the pistol. At the same time, the soldiers in the carriage also saw this situation. They also lifted the tarpaulin, raised their guns one after another, and took aim at the two brave soldiers condescensively. The soldiers on duty nearby found the abnormality here and rushed over one after another. Dozens of hundreds of people surrounded our trucks and pointed their weapons at us. It''s not good to see that there are still commanders and fighters coming from afar. We are surrounded by several times of people now. If any commander or fighter''s gun goes off because of nervousness, it will lead to a fight. In order to calm down the situation as soon as possible, I stood on the pedal outside the car door and yelled at all the people, "I''m lieutenant general oshanina. I order you to put down your weapons." After shouting again, I saw that no one obeyed my orders, and the weapon in his hand still pointed to the other side. I turned to the soldiers of the guard class in the car and yelled, "guard class, all of you. Follow my orders and put down your guns." Although the soldiers in the carriage were dissatisfied, they lowered their guns honestly at my command. I turned to the officers and men who surrounded the truck and cried out, "comrades, our weapons are used to fight the enemy, not to target our own people. Now I order you to put down your weapons At my command, the soldiers who aimed their weapons at us looked at each other, but no one gave up their guns. Seeing this situation, my heart became more and more anxious. Just when I wanted to give orders to these commanders and fighters again, I heard a loud voice: "everyone, listen to my command, put down the gun!" With this command, the muzzle in the hands of all the soldiers turned to the ground. Then several people squeezed out from among the commanders and fighters and came to me. The major who took the lead raised his hand to salute me and said politely, "Hello, general oshanina. I''m sorry that my subordinates have disturbed you. On behalf of them, I apologize to you." I looked down at the major in front of me. I felt familiar, but I couldn''t remember where I met him. So I tentatively asked, "major, I think you look familiar. Have we met before?"

 Chapter 1061

    The major stepped back, took off his cap, opened his hands, and said helplessly, "Comrade General, please take a closer look. Can you recognize who I am?"


    I stepped down the pedal and stood opposite him. I looked at the middle-aged officer carefully. The more I looked, the more familiar I was. But I couldn''t remember where I had seen him.


    Seeing that I didn''t recognize myself, the major sighed, put the general''s cap on his head again, and said leisurely, "Comrade General, have you forgotten the red brysno subway station, that strange subway train, and the guard" Comrade division. "Major bukov, who shook hands with me, still addressed me with his old position, and said with a broad sense:" although I haven''t seen you for more than a year, But I often hear all kinds of rumors about you. Look, you are a lieutenant general now. Maybe in a few years, you will be a marshal


    "It''s you, major bukov." Standing next to us, Yushchenko recognized his old superior and gave him a bear hug. At the same time, he jokingly said, "Comrade battalion commander, if you don''t show up in time, maybe I will be beaten into a sieve by your subordinates."


    "How is that possible?" When bukov said this, he deliberately turned his eyes on me and said respectfully, "after all, my teachers and comrades are here, and my subordinates dare not act rashly."


    Seeing the two of us talking and laughing with bukov, the officers and men surrounding the truck scattered in all directions and returned to their respective guard positions, so as not to hinder our chat. Because they can see that we and their commanders are old acquaintances. Seeing that the soldiers around left, Yushchenko, in order not to disturb our reminiscence, also found a reason and went to the side.


    When all the officers and men around us were almost gone, only US and major Yushchenko were left, I asked bukov curiously, "major, when did you leave the eighth division of the guards, and why did you still have the rank of major so far?"


    "Comrade division commander, shortly after you left the guard division, I was seriously injured in a battle." Bukov truthfully reported to me: "in February 1942, our guard division was defeated by the German army. When I was covering the retreat of the division headquarters, I got some shrapnel in my chest. Fortunately, the soldiers of the guard camp carried me back to Moscow. Because of the serious injury, I lay in the hospital for almost a year. After I recovered from the injury and was discharged, I was transferred to the Moscow garrison headquarters. Due to the lack of qualifications and military achievements, I still have the original rank of major so far. "


    I looked around and then asked in a low voice, "why do you have so many people on duty here, and what''s the matter with these tanks?"


    When bukov heard my question, he said excitedly: "general oshanina, don''t you know that we are going to have the" May Day Parade "tomorrow? These new tanks are all technical equipment for reference."


    parade?! Bukov''s words made me confused. As far as I know, during the whole Patriotic War, it seems that the Soviet Union held a military parade only when the German army was near the city, and then held another military parade after the surrender of Germany in 1945. Now I am confused about the "May Day military parade",


    However, I didn''t ask bukov why the parade was held, because at his level, he certainly didn''t know the inside story. But in this way, I vaguely guessed that the reason why Zhukov called me back to Moscow was probably related to the parade.


    Looking at the officers and men on duty around the tank, I asked bukov curiously, "Comrade major, what happened just now? If you show up a little later, maybe we will fight together."


    When I said this, bukov laughed with embarrassment and explained to me a little awkwardly, "general oshanina, you don''t know. Our order is to keep a close watch on this batch of technical equipment. No one is allowed to approach without permission from the superior. Once a person is found trying to get close to new equipment, regardless of his rank, he can be killed directly. "


    Bukov''s words scared me into a cold sweat. It turned out that the soldiers pointed their guns at us just now, not bluffing, but it was possible to pull the trigger and fire at us. If we really fight together, under the siege of so many people, the regiment may be destroyed too much. Even if a person in charge like bukov is severely punished afterwards, it is meaningless for the four of us.


    "Comrade major," the next captain Yushchenko pointed to the pedestrians on both sides of the street and asked reluctantly, "since you have not imposed martial law on this street, what will you do with the ordinary citizens passing by these technical equipment?"


    Regarding Yushchenko''s question, bukov said solemnly: "Captain, don''t you see that every tank is guarded by two soldiers? One was in charge of guarding the center of the street to stop vehicles trying to stop next to the tank line; Another soldier is on the edge of the street, urging those passing citizens to speed up their pace and get out of here as soon as possible. " At this point, he turned to look at Yushchenko, who was standing not far away, smoking with his back against the carriage, and said in a low voice, "Comrade division, you may not know how risky captain Yushchenko''s behavior is. If any commander or fighter is nervous and his weapon goes off, something big will happen."


    I still have some responsibility for what happened just now. If I hadn''t been on a whim and wanted to see the new tanks parked on the roadside, Yushchenko would not have had conflicts with the commanders and fighters on guard. At the moment, hearing what bukov said, I immediately apologized to bukov on behalf of Yushchenko: "major, it''s all my responsibility. If I hadn''t ordered to stop and look at the new tanks on the side of the road, my battalion commander would not have clashed with your men. "


    "Comrade General, it''s not like that." Listen to me, bukov quickly waved his hands: "this matter is not your fault, it''s all my subordinates, too reckless." After that, he turned to the two soldiers on duty nearby and said, "come here, you two, and apologize to general oshanina and her guard battalion commander."


    With bukov''s order, the two soldiers who first pointed a gun at Yushchenko came to us dejectedly. When Yushchenko also came back to us, some reluctantly apologized to Yushchenko in a low voice: "sorry, comrade commander, we are wrong. Please forgive us."


    Yushchenko originally looked at the two people coming, his face was still a look of anger. When they apologized to him, he was a little embarrassed. He scratched the back of his head and said with a smile: "it''s me who should say I''m sorry, comrades soldiers, you did right." After that, he went over and raised his hand to pat them on the shoulders, so as to resolve the conflict between the two sides.


    In order to find out why Zhukov wanted me to go back to Moscow, I didn''t dare to stay here for a long time. After a brief chat with Buko, I got back on the bus and rushed to Zhukov''s headquarters.


    When our truck arrived at the door, it was stopped by the sentry standing at the door. Yushchenko poked his head out of the car window and said to an officer who came by: "general oshanina is on the bus. She has something urgent to see Marshal immediately."


    After hearing what he said, the officer looked into the car, raised his hand and saluted me. Then he turned to the guard standing at the door and called out, "let''s go!" With his orders, the railings that used to cross the gate were raised high by the sentry, giving way to the entrance.


    When the truck stopped in the parking lot, I found that there were a lot of cars parked outside. In addition to seven or eight black cars, there were more than a dozen three wheeled motorcycles. Many of them were obviously security guards. They were chatting in a circle. Seeing our car stop, they all cast curious eyes at us one after another.


    After I got out of the car, the commanders and fighters who had been sitting or relying on motorcycles all straightened up and raised their hands to salute me. I also a gift, quickly through them, into the headquarters building.


    When I entered the conference room where Zhukov held the meeting, I was immediately frightened by the many senior commanders sitting around the conference table. In the crowd, I saw vasilevsky, rokosovsky, jerekin, vatukin, Khrushchev, konev, and sokosovsky who called me.


    Seeing me enter the door, Zhukov, who was talking, stopped. He reached out and pointed to the position opposite him and said to me, "Rita, you''re back. Sit down first


    As soon as I was seated, Zhukov continued, "you all remember the parade on November 7, 1941. At that time, in order to ensure the parade, we carried out a large-scale counterattack against the territory occupied by the German army in early November, stabilizing the front in a place far away from the city. At the same time, a large number of anti-aircraft guns and aircraft have been mobilized from all over the country to ensure the safety of Moscow. "


    Almost all of the commanders here witnessed the parade. When Zhukov mentioned the parade, their faces were full of joy. We should know that at that time, the troops participating in the review included those temporarily transferred from the front line, the most powerful division of the Ministry of interior, and the Far East military region just transferred from Siberia.


    "... in addition to our regular army, there is a special army." Zhukov gushed: "they don''t even have uniform, they are of different ages, and even their weapons are old antiques. They are the militia in Moscow. Although they are backward in equipment and have not undergone strict military training, their performance on the battlefield is good, not inferior to that of our regular army at all.


    The heavy equipment we refer to includes not only the new tanks just coming off the production line from the arsenal, but also the antique cannons used during the Crimean War in Mara


    Although many of the officers and men who participated in the parade were dusty and sloppy, the scene of the parade was chaotic, and the line of the square array on foot was not neat. " As a participant in the parade, I felt the same about what Zhukov said, so when he said this, I nodded in agreement instinctively¡° It is this parade, which some people with ulterior motives call "ugly", but it is undoubtedly a model of bravery and five figures. Its inspiring effect on the army and the people of the whole country can not be underestimated. This parade will play the role of boosting morale to the extreme, so our high morale officers and men can finally repel the German attack and drive them far away from Moscow. "


    As soon as Zhukov''s words were finished, vasilevsky, who was sitting on his right hand, continued to speak and said, "comrades, this parade was proposed by Comrade Stalin. He did it to celebrate our great victory in Stalingrad and to help the army and people of the whole country build up their confidence in defeating the Communist aggressors."


    At this point, vasilevsky''s face showed a proud expression: "the troops participating in the parade are a mixed regiment sent by various front forces, military academies, National Defense Commission, Navy, air force and Moscow garrison. Each mixed regiment is composed of 1000 soldiers, and there are also 20 commanders of the mixed regiment, including the head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy head, deputy Chief of staff, battalion commander, company commander and so on.


    As for the heavy weaponry, I think you must have seen the long line of tanks with camouflage nets on Gorky Street on your way here? " Hearing his question, almost all the commanders answered with one voice, "yes, we see it."¡° As the representative of the base camp, "vasilevsky said with a smile," I have the honor to announce to you that you will see a new type of tank at tomorrow''s military parade. This kind of tank is the enemy of all German tanks. As long as we master the air supremacy of the battlefield, our armored forces will crush all German resistance on the ground and drive them out of our territory. " After vasilevsky''s words, the commanders whispered one after another. Although I couldn''t hear what they were saying, I knew from the joy on their faces that it must be some exciting news. Zhukov, who was sitting opposite to me, did not stop everyone, but looked at the scene with a smile. After a while, seeing that everyone was talking, Zhukov knocked on the table. When everyone was quiet, Zhukov said, "because the preparation time for the parade is very short, it must be too late to temporarily transfer troops from the central front army and Voronezh front army. Therefore, the base camp decided temporarily to let the reserve troops to be added to the two front forces participate in the review on their behalf. Comrade rokosovsky and Comrade vatukin! " When Zhukov talked about the back, he suddenly named two commanders of the front army. Rokosovsky and vatujing are veteran soldiers with more than 20 years of military service. When they heard Zhukov calling them, they immediately jumped up from their seats and stood upright in the distance, waiting for Zhukov to say something later. Seeing their standard military posture, Zhukov nodded with a smile, and then asked, "do you have any opinions on the arrangement of the base camp?"¡° No! " They agreed and sat down again. When I heard Zhukov''s arrangement, I finally understood why malining, the chief of staff of the central front army, did not know about such a large-scale military parade. It turned out that the troops of the central front army and Voronezh front army were not drawn from the front line at all. Instead, they were sent to take part in tomorrow''s military parade in their place. Seeing that they had no problem, Zhukov and vasilevsky whispered a few words, then turned around and said to everyone, "it''s less than 20 hours before tomorrow''s preparation ceremony. Everyone immediately went to their troops to see if there are any problems that need to be solved, so as to avoid mistakes in tomorrow''s review. Do you understand? " All the commanders, except Zhukov and vasilevsky, stood up in unison and cried out, "I see!"

 Chapter 1062

    At the end of the meeting, the commanders of all the front forces got up and went out.


    When rokosovsky came up to me, he stopped to greet me and said, "Rita, I''m sorry. I should have stayed in the headquarters waiting for you. But, "he said with a shrug of his shoulders and an apologetic look on his face," there is an order for me and the military commissar to rush to Moscow immediately to attend an important military meeting, so I can only let chief of staff malining receive you instead of us. "


    "Comrade commander, don''t be embarrassed." I said politely to rokosovsky, "when I heard chief marinin mention this, I guessed that you had something more important."


    We just said a few words, and vatukin and Khrushchev also came to say hello to me. While shaking hands with me, Khrushchev said with a smile, "Rita, when you visit our defense area this time, except for meeting us on the first day, you spend the rest of your time on the front line. When you have a chance in the future, the commander and I will treat you well."


    After Khrushchev finished, vatukin echoed: "yes, comrade oshanina, next time you come to our defense area, we will treat you to authentic Russian food."


    Rokosovsky stood beside him with a smile. After watujing finished, he asked me with a smile, "Rita, will you come with me to the reading unit of the central front army?"


    For rokosovsky''s invitation, I smile and shake my head, politely refused to say: "sorry, comrade commander. Although I also want to go with you to see the troops under review, it''s a pity that I have something important to report to the marshal. I may not be able to go with you. "


    Listen to me, rokosovsky looked at Zhukov''s position, turned his head and said with regret, "since that''s the case, I''ll go first. I''ll see you at the Red Square parade tomorrow. " With that, he reached out and shook me, then turned and left.


    When vatukin and Khrushchev left, I saw Zhukov sitting opposite, talking in a low voice with vasilevsky and sokolovsky. I walked slowly, and they stopped two or three steps away, straightened up, put their hands close to their trousers, and looked at Zhukov, waiting for his next order.


    "General oshanina, why didn''t you leave?" Sokolovsky, who was sitting in Zhukov''s left hand, saw me and asked curiously, "is there anything I need to report to the marshal?"


    Sokolovsky''s words, let me for a moment, let me do not know how to answer. Although he called me on Zhukov''s order and urged me to go back to Moscow, he did not say that Zhukov would meet me alone. I stayed here without receiving their new order, which was a bit out of order.


    When I was in a dilemma, Zhukov looked up at me, pointed to the chair beside vasilevsky, and said, "Rita, don''t be embarrassed, sit down!"


    After I sat down, Zhukov said, "Rita, you''re late. Maybe you didn''t hear me in the first half of the meeting. The purpose of the parade is to boost morale and strengthen the belief that the army and the people of the whole country will win over the Communist aggressors. What we are discussing now is who is the most suitable commander in chief of the parade? "


    "Isn''t there a suitable person yet?" Zhukov''s words surprised me. You know, from the tank column on Gorky street, you can judge the scale of the parade. It''s less than 20 hours since the beginning of the parade, but they haven''t even determined the commander-in-chief of the parade. It''s incredible.


    "There are several candidates, but they haven''t been decided in the end." When Zhukov finished slowly, he asked, "Rita, do you have a suitable person?"


    As soon as Zhukov''s voice fell, I instinctively replied, "I don''t think I can find anyone more suitable to be the commander-in-chief of the parade than Comrade Stalin."


    As soon as I spoke, I realized that I was wrong. According to the past practice, Stalin always stood on the rostrum of Lenin''s tomb to make an important speech during the Red Square parade, and then stood on the rostrum to inspect the troops that had passed through Lenin''s tomb. The proposal that Stalin should be the commander-in-chief of the parade is just a whim.


    After a moment of silence, vassilevsky, who was sitting next to me, opened his mouth. Like an old friend, he asked me, "Comrade oshanina, do you know the important parade on November 7, 1941?"


    As a participant in the Red Square parade on the October Revolution Day in 1941, I have a deep memory of that significant parade. When I heard vassilevsky''s question, I quickly nodded my head to show that I remember it. At the same time, I added: "Comrade chief of general staff, I will take a mixed battalion with me to participate in the parade."


    "Yes, since you are the witness of the parade, some things are easy to make clear." Vasilevsky looked at me with approval and said with a smile, "do you remember who was the commander in chief of the parade at that time?"


    "Who else?" As soon as I heard vassilevsky''s question, I could see in my mind the scene of Marshal bujoni with two big beards riding a horse to review the troops in red square. So I said casually: "of course, marshal bujoni, he is also riding a tall horse."


    "Yes, he did ride a big horse when he reviewed the troops." Vasilevsky agreed with me. He went on to say: "at first, comrade Stalin also wanted to be the commander in chief of the parade himself, so he took time to learn how to ride a horse and planned to ride a horse to inspect the troops."


    When I heard this, I suddenly had an unknown idea in my heart. My heart said, was there any accident when Stalin was riding a horse? Just about to ask, vasilevsky has said the answer to the question in my mind: "unfortunately, in the process of practicing horse riding, comrade Stalin''s steed was frightened and bumped him off his back."


    "Ah, comrade Stalin is injured?" This news really scared me, I exclaimed, involuntarily asked what I thought in my heart: "is the injury serious?"


    "Not too serious." Vasilevsky hesitated to reply: "he just suffered a slight injury to his left hand. After the doctor''s treatment, it''s no big problem."


    Although vasilevsky said so, I don''t think Stalin''s situation will be too optimistic, otherwise he won''t let Zhukov and others discuss who will be the commander-in-chief of the parade.


    Looking at the three people sitting in front of me, my brain was spinning rapidly, trying to figure out who would be the most suitable commander in chief of the parade. Molotov, not to mention now in the United States, even at home, it is estimated that this is obviously a military job, and it will not fall on him. Belia, on the other hand, belongs to the Ministry of interior, and his rank is not competent for the post of commander-in-chief of the parade. The most likely candidate is Zhukov, vasilevsky and sokolovsky.


    When vasilevsky asked me again, "general oshanina, who do you think is suitable for this position?"


    Before answering the question, I looked at the three people in turn, considering the right person. Sokolovsky is undoubtedly the lowest of the three in terms of rank and qualification. It is estimated that the other two will not agree to let him take the post. Among the remaining Zhukov and vasilevsky, Sui said that Zhukov was superior to vasilevsky in all aspects. However, judging from Stalin''s failure to specify a replacement, he probably did not want Zhukov to be the commander-in-chief of the parade. After much deliberation, I think that vasilevsky is the most suitable person for this position.


    "What are you thinking about, Rita, for so long?" I heard Zhukov''s slightly dissatisfied voice: "do you have the right person?"


    I quickly got up from my seat, with a little humility, and carefully said: "marshal, I still think it is most appropriate for you to be the commander in chief of the parade." the reason why I did not directly mention tivasilevsky, but tizhukov was because I knew his character very well. If I direct to tivasilevsky, I think he will strongly oppose it; When I took him as the best candidate, he would probably decline because of his face, and proposed that vasilevsky take up the post.


    The development of the incident was as I expected. Although Zhukov looked happy after hearing what I said, he still said in an official voice: "I will accompany Stalin to inspect the troops at the viewing platform on Lenin''s tomb tomorrow. I think Comrade vasilevsky will be the commander-in-chief of the parade, After all, he is our chief of general staff of the Red Army. No one will object to his coming to inspect the troops. "


    After hearing this, vasilevsky said humbly, "Comrade Zhukov, it''s not good. You know, I''m not as good as you in terms of post qualification and age. I think you''d better be the commander-in-chief of the parade."


    "Yes, comrade marshal." Sokolovsky, who was opposite me, also said, "I don''t think anyone is more suitable for this position except you. What''s more, you used to be a cavalry. It''s very convenient for you to review the troops on your horse. You might as well consider Comrade vasilevsky''s suggestion. "


    Although I, vasilevsky and sokolovsky all asked Zhukov to be the commander-in-chief of the parade, he waved his hand and resolutely refused: "no, No. I can''t be the commander-in-chief of the parade. I think Comrade vasilevsky should take the post. Do you have any objection? "


    "No objection." After hearing Zhukov''s very frank suggestion that vasilevsky should be the commander-in-chief of the parade, my heart fell to the ground and I immediately went on to say, "marshal, I think we should report general vasilevsky to the headquarters, and Comrade Stalin will decide who will be the commander-in-chief of the parade."


    "That''s right," said vasilevsky, not interested in the official hat that fell on his head for some reason, and still trying to refuse.


    "I think the proposal that vasilevsky should be the commander-in-chief of the parade is very appropriate." Zhukov didn''t pay any attention to vasilevsky''s integrity, but said directly: "I will report the resolution that vasilevsky is the commander-in-chief of the parade to Comrade Stalin later."


    "But marshal," said vasilevsky, who finally fell to his head when he saw the post of commander in chief of the parade. "I can''t compare with you in terms of length of service, seniority or outstanding military achievements. As far as I know, the commanders and fighters are privately discussing that wherever Zhukov appears, it means that a counter offensive is about to be launched. For the vast number of commanders and fighters, you are their guiding light. They hope to win one great victory after another under your command... "


    I never thought that such a high-ranking person as vasilevsky would be so flattering. I couldn''t help but be stunned. Long after he said that, I didn''t wake up from the shock. Seeing that there was no consensus, Zhukov leaned back and looked at them with his chair back. In a firm tone, he said firmly, "Comrade vasilevsky, since I am your superior, I have appointed the commander in chief. Well, whether you are willing or not, Hess must be the commander-in-chief of the parade for me tomorrow. " He was deeply afraid that vasilevsky would go back on his words, and specifically stressed, "you have been in the army for more than ten or twenty years. At the same time, as a senior general, you should know that you must unconditionally carry out the orders of your superiors, whether you agree with them or not. Do you understand? "¡° I see I can see that vasilevsky doesn''t want to take the post of commander at all, so as long as there is a glimmer of hope, he is trying to shirk it: "marshal, the troops I want to participate in the inspection are more like Zhukov than I am vasilevsky."¡° During the military parade, I stood on the viewing platform on Lenin''s tomb, and the officers and soldiers who read about it could also see me. " Zhukov saw warcilevsky''s little trick at a glance, and did not hesitate to expose him: "so you can''t use these reasons to make me change my mind." Zhukov''s obstinacy and persistence made vasilevsky hesitate. From the painful expression on his face, I know that he is not hypocritical, but really does not want to be the commander in chief of the parade. I said in my heart that he was in bliss and didn''t know his fortune. If it wasn''t for my shallow qualifications, even I would like to apply to be the commander in chief of the parade. Seeing that vasilevsky didn''t make a statement, Zhukov stood up and walked up to him, patted him on the shoulder, comforted him and said, "Comrade vasilevsky, don''t forget that you are the chief of the general staff of the Red Army. Seeing that you are the commander-in-chief of the parade, you can also play a role in boosting morale. Come on, let''s not get entangled in this issue any more. That''s the decision. "

 Chapter 1063

    May day is not only a labor Festival, but also the beginning of spring for future generations of Muscovites. On such days, they usually drive their cars in groups and go to the villas in the suburbs to plant the land. After sowing the seeds of potatoes, onions, cabbages, carrots and corn in the fertile land, they just wait for the harvest in autumn.


    May 1, 1941, however, is destined to go down in history. Because it was a temporary parade for the Soviet Union to boost the morale of the army and the people of the whole country after it won the great victory of the battle of Stalingrad.


    Although the parade didn''t start until ten o''clock, before seven o''clock Yushchenko knocked on my door and told me that Colonel bezikov was waiting for me downstairs.


    When I got downstairs in a hurry, bzikov was already impatient. When he saw my face, he complained, "Rita, why did you come down so late?"


    "Colonel bezikov, doesn''t the parade begin at ten?" Seeing his unhappy face, I raised my hand to look at my watch and asked, "but it''s not seven o''clock yet. Do we need to go so early?"


    Listen to me, bzikov rolled his eyes at me and said, "you think you are Comrade Stalin. You can enter the viewing platform a few minutes before the ceremony." Then he turned to pull the door open, beckoned me to sit in, and urged, "hurry up. A little later, Gorky Street will be closed."


    I sat in the co pilot''s seat and watched bzikov start the car. I asked curiously, "don''t you have a special pass, Colonel? Will those martial commanders stop your car?"


    "After eight o''clock, the troops participating in the inspection will enter Gorky street one after another. Even if there is no martial law, our cars will not be able to drive by." With that, as soon as he stepped on the gas, our car drove forward.


    When the car drove into Golgi street, I saw that the tanks parked on the side of the road had uncovered the camouflage net above. The tank soldiers were busy nervously, making the final preparations before starting. And in the middle of the street, one by one, the squads are marching in the direction of Red Square. At the moment, I understand that bezikov''s worry is not redundant. When more troops or technical equipment are placed on this street later, our cars will not be able to drive through at all. If we want to reach Red Square, we have to go around a big circle.


    As he approached the red three story History Museum, bezikov turned right to Alexandria garden and parked in a temporary parking lot.


    Looking at the cars in the parking lot, I can imagine how many important people participated in the parade. After bizikov parked, we went to the south slope of Red Square. There is a cordon at the bottom of the slope. There are more than a dozen policemen in gray cotton uniforms, cooperating with the soldiers of the central guard regiment, checking the documents of the people entering the Red Square.


    A young policeman came up to me, raised his hand and saluted me. He said without expression and politeness, "Comrade commander, please show me your identification!"


    Seeing the policeman in front of me, I shivered and instinctively reached for my ID. Before I put my hand into my pocket, I heard the cold voice of bzikov: "Comrade police, which bureau are you from? Don''t you know me?"


    The policeman took a look at biezikov, shook his head, and said, "sorry, comrade Colonel, I have received an order to check the certificates of every person who enters the Red Square."


    "What did you say, comrade policeman?" When bizikov heard what the policeman said, he could not help but sneer. Then he asked in a sarcastic tone, "if a marshal comes, will you check his ID?"


    The police obviously recognized the sarcasm in bzikov''s tone and became a little flustered. Just when they didn''t know how to deal with it, an officer of the guard regiment came by. Seeing that bzikov was stopped by the police, he trotted over and glared at the police. After that, he raised his hand to salute bzikov and apologized to him on behalf of the police: "sorry, comrade colonel, This policeman is here to help temporarily. I don''t know you. Please forgive me! "


    Bezikov snorted at the policeman and asked coldly, "Comrade policeman, can we go in?"


    Seeing that the officers in charge of their own affairs had to salute each other, the little policeman knew that he had offended the wrong person, and immediately blushed with shame, and said in a bit of confusion, "yes, of course, comrade Colonel, please!"


    When we crossed the cordon and went on, bzikov apologized to me in a low voice: "I''m sorry, Rita. I''m not strict with my subordinates and offended you. Aren''t you angry?"


    I heard that from bezikov. I guess he might have seen me shivering before I took out my ID. he didn''t know that I had "police phobia". He thought that I was checking my ID for the police and he was so angry. I quickly waved my hand and replied, "Colonel, you are worried too much. The little policeman has not done anything wrong. He is also performing his duties." In order not to get entangled in this boring issue, I deliberately digress from the topic and ask, "by the way, where shall we sit later?"


    Bezikov pointed to the low viewing platform on the south side of Lenin''s tomb and said, "no, that''s right. Let''s sit on the viewing platform on the left, so that we can see the whole process of the troops and technical equipment entering." With these words, we have come to the viewing platform. All around the auditorium were soldiers of the guard regiment standing guard. They surrounded the auditorium with three steps and five sentries. After nodding to a second lieutenant on duty, bezikov led me through the two soldiers on guard. After a few steps along the passage of the sentry, bezikov went up the steps to the viewing platform. There are seven rows of the viewing platform. Apart from one passage on the left and one on the right, there is another passage in the middle, which evenly divides the whole viewing platform into two parts. This time may be because of the early time, there are only a few people on the stage. Bezikov took me to korpakchi to listen to me. He immediately took the middle-aged man''s right shoulder and drew him closer to me. Then he introduced me with a smile and said, "Comrade oshanina, let me introduce you. This is Comrade Brezhnev, the military commissar of our 18th army. " After listening to kolpakchi''s introduction, I immediately extended my hand to his military commissar and said in a friendly way: "Hello, Brezhnev..." before I finished speaking, I was shocked, stopped my hand in mid air, and asked in surprise: "general kolpakchi, what''s your name of your military commissar?"¡° Brezhnev, "although korpakchi did not know why I asked, he repeated Brezhnev''s name truthfully, and added the other''s full name:" his full name is Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev. " After being confirmed by kolpakchi, I felt that my legs were a little weak. Unexpectedly, another great historical man appeared in front of me. Seeing the outstretched hand of the other party, I quickly grasped it and nervously said, "Hello, comrade Brezhnev, nice to meet you!" Brezhnev shook hands with me and asked curiously, "general oshanina, you seem very surprised to see me. Have you ever heard of me before?"¡° No, No Hearing Brezhnev''s question, I immediately shook my head like a rattle to deny: "I have never heard of your name, but when general kolpakchi introduced you, I didn''t hear your name clearly, so confirm it again."

 Chapter 1064

    I exchanged a few words with Brezhnev. Before I could say more, his acquaintances called him over. Looking at the back of him and kolpakchi, I feel deeply sorry that I didn''t leave a deep impression on the future boss.


    In my heart melancholy, next to suddenly heard someone calling me: "my God, this is not oshanina?"? Thank goodness, it''s great to see you alive! "


    Listening to what the other side said, I guess it must be one of the generals I know. Turning around, katukov''s tall body stood in front of me. I quickly reached out to him and said excitedly, "Hello, general katukov. Nice to see you again. I haven''t seen you for more than a year. Now you are all generals. It''s estimated that you will be marshal in two years. "


    Katukov looked at my epaulets, shook hands with me, and said with emotion: "oshanina, you are not simple. I remember when I knew you, you were a lieutenant commander, and now you are a general. If there is no accident, you may be promoted to marshal in five years


    If I heard Zhukov say that I had a chance to become a marshal, I could laugh at it as a joke. Now when I hear katukov say that again, I can''t help but feel excited. After all, I am a lieutenant general. Now I am far closer to the rank of Marshal than I was when I was a lieutenant.


    However, this idea just flashed by. I restrained my thoughts and asked katukov with a smile, "Comrade General, I don''t know where you are commanding the troops now?"


    Katukov was stunned by my question, and then he said in dismay: "o''shanina, don''t you know that my first group army of tanks is currently in the battle sequence of Voronezh''s front army? Two days ago, my subordinates also reported to me that you went to inspect the defense areas of our group army and personally instructed those engineers how to build fortifications. "


    When he said that, I felt a little embarrassed. Although I went to a lot of places in the early stage, I mostly dealt with the commanders of some troops, and the commanders of the group army had almost no contact with them, so I lost touch with old acquaintances like katukov.


    Katukov came to the parade by himself. Since he met my acquaintance, he would not go to other places. Instead, he just sat beside me. After sitting down, he asked with concern, "by the way, I heard that you and your husband met again outside Moscow. How is he now, in which army? "


    To tell you the truth, what I am most afraid of now is who will ask me about oshanin and the children, but this is a more and more unavoidable problem. Now that katukov asked, I could only reply vaguely, "not long after we last met, he led his troops to fight. In the battle, his troops were completely destroyed, he was seriously injured and was sent to the hospital in the rear. From then on, we lost contact. "


    "More than a year has passed. Even if your husband is seriously injured, he should be cured." Like an elder, katukov asked with concern: "I know that in more than a year, you first went to Leningrad, then to the front army of volhoff, the front army of Stalingrad, and the southwest army. Didn''t he come to you? You know, you''re famous now. "


    I shook my head again and said with a bitter smile, "no, I don''t know why he didn''t come to me, but I still can''t find out his whereabouts. Last time I asked Marshal Zhukov to inquire for me, I haven''t got any news


    After hearing this, katukov sighed, patted me on the shoulder and comforted me, saying, "oshanina, this is war. Don''t worry. As long as he''s alive, he''ll find it sooner or later. "


    Although I felt relieved, I had to pretend to be sad and say, "yes, general katukov, I hope it''s like what you said." In order not to let him always entangle in this matter, I quickly cut off the topic, "by the way, at today''s military parade, there will be a lot of new tanks on the stage, which will definitely open your eyes."


    "What, new tanks?" Katukov''s attention was really distracted by me. He asked in surprise, "have you seen oshanina? What kind of new tank is it? Compared with the T-34 equipped by our army today, what is the improvement in performance? "


    As for his series of questions, I pretended to be mysterious and said: "general katukov, as you know, I am a layman in tank knowledge, and it may be difficult for me to give you an accurate answer. But you don''t have to worry. Anyway, the parade will start soon, and then you can see it with your own eyes. "


    Seeing that he couldn''t get the answer he wanted from me, katukov''s face was disappointed. Seeing his dejected look, I quickly added: "Comrade General, I can tell you that a new tank company can easily kill a T-34 tank battalion."


    "What?" Katukov almost jumped out of his seat when I said that, but fortunately, he stabilized himself in time, grabbed my arm and asked, "one company against one battalion, and can you win easily? Comrade o''shanina, you are not trying to make me happy, are you


    I comforted him and said, "Comrade General, when you see the new tank, you will understand whether what I said is true or false."


    Katukov raised his hand and looked at his watch. He said discontentedly, "it''s less than half a point now. That is to say, I have to wait at least two hours before I can see the new tanks you just mentioned."


    This is the review of the infantry square began to enter the large-scale, immediately attracted everyone''s attention in the past. While everyone was looking at the officers and soldiers entering the arena, I looked around the platform. I was surprised by this. The platform was full of people at any time, including soldiers in uniform and officials at all levels in civilian clothes. I thought the viewing platform on the south side could only seat one or two hundred people, but at this time, there were at least more than 500 people.


    An hour later, twenty infantry squadrons formed two neat lines outside the Gumm mall on the east side of Red Square. The guard of honor of the three armed forces of the sea, the land and the air stood with their backs against the historical museum. In front of the bronze statue outside the Church of Saint Vassily, there were still several guard of honor standing there.


    At 9:30, a military band of several hundred people was in the forefront of the square array facing Lenin''s tomb. At this time, I heard someone whispering: "the military band is in place. It will be a long time before Comrade Stalin and the people in the Supreme Command come out."


    Five minutes to ten, suddenly all the people around me stood up. Although I don''t understand why everyone suddenly stood up, I still stood up. Almost at the same time, thunderous applause broke out on the viewing platforms on both sides of Lenin''s tomb. At such a time, if I still don''t understand what it is, I might as well go straight to the Gulag concentration camp to report


    In our warm applause, Stalin and marshal timusinko of the supreme command, Zhukov, Stalin, Molotov, bujonny, voroshlov and Kuznetsov came out on the viewing platform at the top of Lenin''s tomb. There were also several people in civilian clothes. I didn''t know the rest except Ustinov.


    Stalin went to the microphone, raised his hand and pressed it down. Instead of stopping, the applause became more intense. Originally, I wanted to stop clapping. Seeing that people around me were still clapping desperately, I had to keep on clapping. Because I suddenly thought of a paragraph, saying that when Stalin appeared, if anyone stopped clapping first, then his next fate would be very tragic. Although I don''t know whether it''s true or a joke, I dare not stop clapping when I see others.


    Stalin raised his hand and pressed it down a few more times, and the applause finally stopped.


    With the simultaneous ringing of the spasco bell tower and Nikolay bell tower on both sides of Lenin''s tomb, the parade officially began. Suddenly, a sound came from the loudspeaker: "citizens, please pay attention, please pay attention, radio Moscow is broadcasting! Please listen and pay attention to the military parade held in red square to celebrate the Great May Day


    When I heard the sound, I immediately looked at the platform and saw that Stalin, Zhukov and bujoni were the only people standing in front of the microphone. Obviously, this sound was not made by any of them. The speaker should be the announcer of Moscow Radio Station. He is staying in a position I can''t see at the moment. He is broadcasting the Red Square parade to all the Soviet soldiers and civilians.


    At this time, Zhukov went to the microphone and said in a loud voice: "the flag bearers of the Soviet Union and Lenin flags, stand at attention! All of you. At my command. Attention! Look to the left, welcome our glorious flag, salute


    With his order, the soldiers on both sides of the platform raised their hands to salute, and the commander of the reading army also raised his right hand to his forehead.


    With the music of "holy war" in the audience, two groups of flag bearers appeared in our field of vision. There are four flagmen in the team. One officer is in front of the team. Among the three people who are close behind, the flagman is in the middle and the flagman is on both sides. The front is a bright red Soviet flag, and the back is a flag with Lenin''s head.


    As the flag bearers walked towards the history museum in the sound of exciting music, the radio began to explain: "the members of the flag bearers are from the honor guard of the Central Police Corps, which is under the command of the lieutenant colonel and is mainly responsible for the implementation of ceremonial activities with the participation of national leaders. Since its establishment, the officers and soldiers of the honor guard have performed their duties, Become an irreplaceable participant in the Red Square parade. It was these soldiers of the Central Police Corps who were honored to open the Red Square parade.


    The flag bearer team of the Soviet Union national flag consists of the leader of the flag bearer team, the flag bearer and the flag protector. Since its establishment, the guard of honor has participated in many celebrations. They have shown their outstanding style in major cities in China and even abroad. "


    When the flagmen arrived at the history museum, the music of "holy war" stopped suddenly, Zhukov''s voice sounded again: "at ease!"


    When vasilevsky and another officer, riding on a white horse, rushed out of the small door under the clock tower of spasko and broke into red square, Zhukov called out again: "all stand at attention! To the left for the review, ready! " As soon as his voice fell, the military band played a majestic March.


    At the same time, the commander of Moscow garrison, who was riding a black horse, and his deputy rode two black horses to meet him.


    When the four met in front of Lenin''s tomb, the commander of the garrison raised his hand to salute vasilevsky and reported, "chief of the general staff, please review the formation of the troops."


    After the garrison commander''s report, vasilevsky and his deputy rode back and forth in the direction of the history museum, while the garrison commander and his deputy also turned the wharf to follow, and the four horses kept moving at a constant speed. Vasilevsky, who had made a circle in front of the flag bearers, came to the front of the audience and yelled at the commanders and fighters, "Hello, comrades!" The officers and men in the square immediately replied, "Hello! Comrade chief of the general staff Vasilevsky said: "I wish you a happy Labor Day At this time, the commanders and fighters in the square array yelled: "Wula! Wura! Wula Vasilevsky continued to ride the front line, stopped in front of another one, and continued to repeat what he had just done. After the inspection of the phalanx, the garrison commander and his deputy stayed in front of the history museum, while vasilevsky and his deputy rode to the center of the viewing platform on Lenin''s tomb to report to Stalin. When his horse stopped in front of Lenin''s tomb, two officers immediately ran over and reached for the reins. When vasilevsky left, they led the horse and ran quickly to one side. Vasilevsky, holding his hand to his forehead, walked up the steps to the viewing platform on Lenin''s tomb. When he came to Stalin, his voice rang out through the microphone: "Comrade supreme commander of the Soviet armed forces, the formation of the troops is over! Vasilevsky, chief of the general staff of the Red Army. " Stalin, as soon as he finished, immediately came forward to shake hands with him. At the same time, there was a low voice again: "at ease!" With this command, all of us put down our right hands, which had been raised on our forehead. Then Stalin delivered an inspiring speech to the people of the whole country through radio. While Stalin was speaking, I touched bzikov next to him with my hand and asked him softly, "Colonel, who is the old man with a goatee next to Stalin and Marshal Zhukov?" Bezikov took a look and answered me in a low voice: "his name is kosikin: he used to be the textile people''s Committee, but now he is the vice chairman of the people''s Committee. He is in charge of the production of consumer goods. Since this year, he has also served as the chairman of the Russian Soviet Union forces Council." At this point, he asked me in surprise, "don''t you know him?"¡° I''ve seen him several times, but I never know his name. " In order to cover up my ignorance, I also want to argue: "at the beginning, I was not familiar with it, and it was not easy to ask for other people''s names; After a long time, I''m sorry to ask again. " Stalin''s speech was very brief. Almost during my chat with bezikov, his speech was over. Then it''s time for the parade.

 Chapter 1065

    The solemn parade was led by the commander of the Moscow garrison. According to tradition, the parade was kicked off by the Drummers of the Moscow military music school. 96 young soldiers in black military dress and big eaves hat, 12 in a row, in nine rows, beat the small drum hanging in front of their chest with drumsticks, beat the pace of the parade, and walked with neat steps behind the tall horse of the garrison commander.


    Then there was the flag bearer team composed of the national flag of the Soviet Union, the Lenin flag and the military flag of the Soviet armed forces, and three flag bearer teams advancing in parallel. In the middle is the Soviet flag; On the left is the Lenin flag and on the right is the military flag.


    Accompanied by the flagman''s march is the honor guard of the three armed forces of the Soviet Union. The sea, land and air honor guards were dressed in three different colors. Except for the flag bearers and the officers with the command knives, the rest of the soldiers were carrying bayonets and rifles with red flags, swinging hands and marching forward.


    The cavalry honor guard of the central guard of the Kremlin guard appeared next. The Knights wore sky blue classical uniforms, and the horses on their crotch were excellent breeds from Kalinin and Belarus. The knights, controlling the speed of the horses, rode in four rows through Lenin''s tomb and along the road drawn on the square to the slope of Vasili.


    After passing through Lenin''s tomb, the drummer team turned left in unison and joined the mixed military band standing in the middle of the Red Square, playing music with them for the reading troops passing through the square.


    Next came the infantry phalanx of loyal soldiers from the Soviet republics.


    One by one, infantry square array passed by my eyes. The uniform footstep sound was like dozens of drums beating the drum. The consistent rhythm made people''s heart beating with the drum.


    I carefully observed the weapons in the hands of the soldiers. Although most of them were mosinlagan rifles and bobosha submachine guns, some of the soldiers in the square array were armed with assault rifles that I was familiar with. Judging from their clothes, they were either guards or members of the Marine Corps from various naval departments. It seems that in Ustinov''s new weapons loading plan, it is these troops who have made outstanding achievements that give priority to the equipment of assault rifles.


    After the infantry square passed through the Red Square, the mixed military band composed of thousands of military musicians turned back in the sound of drums and marched towards the Gumm mall. It seemed that they wanted to make room for the mechanized square to pass. As the military band was far away from me, I heard the sound of the trumpet again. Only the male announcer said in a thick voice: "the conductor of the band is major general Alexandrov, chief conductor of the military band and the people''s artist of the Soviet Union. In addition to directing the military band today, he played different military songs for each team. He also led the famous red flag song and dance troupe to perform for our brave troops on the front line for thousands of times, which greatly inspired the morale of our front-line commanders and soldiers. "


    With the powerful engine roar, the mechanical team drove into the Red Square. The first to appear is the armored vehicle team, with three vehicles in a row, driving forward along the drawn line. The announcer''s voice came out from the broadcast: "the first one that appeared in front of us was the armored vehicle squadron. They were mainly equipped in the reconnaissance troops. They were widely used and could be put into use in complex terrain. The commander of the squadron was the battalion commander... Captain."


    After the armored vehicle battalion, the armored transport vehicle which is slightly different from the armored vehicle appears in our field of vision. The announcer went on to explain: "now on the Red Square is the armored vehicle battalion, an independent brigade from the Marine Corps of the Black Sea fleet. The crew are Crimeans and Sevastopol. The flag of the Republic of Crimea and the Black Sea fleet is flying on the transport vehicle."


    At this time, katukov, who had been silent, touched my arm and asked in a low voice, "Hey, comrade oshanina, where are the new tanks you mentioned? These armored vehicles and armored transport vehicles are not produced by our country, but by US allies. "


    Seeing that katukov was so worried, I said to him with a smile: "Comrade General, don''t be so worried. Good things must come out last. We have just passed two mechanized squads, and there are still many more. Please wait patiently. "


    After listening, katukov said nothing but shrugged his shoulders and continued to watch the armored vehicles passing in front of us. Maybe he didn''t see the technical equipment he wanted to see. In the next period of time, katukov''s performance was gloomy. No matter the truck towed cannons, howitzers, or the powerful Katyusha rockets, he didn''t arouse much interest.


    But when a zsu-57-2 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun array appeared in our field of vision, katukov''s interest was immediately raised. He pointed to the vehicle composed of armored chassis, rotating turret and dual artillery, and curiously asked me: "oshanina, do you know what kind of equipment it is? It looks like it is for air defense?"


    Naturally, I am very familiar with this kind of equipment, which was shaped in 55 years and equipped with Soviet army in 57 years. But I can''t show off everything I know here, so I have to simply explain to katukov: "Comrade General, this is a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun that our army has just developed, which can provide necessary air defense support for the attacking armored forces."


    The reason why I know this kind of self-propelled anti-aircraft gun is that I come from later generations. If the Soviet Army really withdraws from something beyond my time, I certainly can''t see its good or bad. After only a few eyes, katukov could not help patting me on the shoulder and said excitedly, "with this new weapon, even if our air force can''t control the air in the battlefield, the air defense capability of ground forces can be greatly improved." At this point, he took his hand away from my shoulder, clenched his hands, waved his fist, and said excitedly, "I believe the new tanks coming out later will bring us more surprises."


    After the self-propelled anti-aircraft gun battalion passed, the SU-100 tank destroyer battalion entered Red Square, which was also a kind of vehicle that came out ahead of time because of the butterfly of Florin. This time, not only was katukov excited, but people around me, whether soldiers or ordinary leaders, were talking about this new type of vehicle. I heard someone behind me asking: "Hey, I said, the turret of this tank looks so strange, and the barrel is thicker than ordinary tank guns."


    "What tank?" as soon as his voice dropped, someone immediately corrected him. "You didn''t listen to the announcer just now. It''s not a tank. It''s an anti tank fighter. It''s specially used to fight German tanks."


    The first speaker said thoughtfully, "yes, this kind of fighter has good mobility. It''s very suitable for dealing with German tanks. I don''t know if the superior will hand over the production task of this kind of equipment to our factory. "


    "Why should your factory complete this task?" Another man said unconvinced: "the production task of T-34 tank was given to your factory by the superior last time, but it''s our factory''s turn this time."


    When the two factory directors behind me were still arguing, the tank array drove into Red Square in the eyes of thousands of people. Naturally, the leading tank could not be the most advanced t-5455 tank, but the T-34 tank of the Soviet army. Rao is so, or let the people on the platform excited.


    When the first new-style t-5455 tank appeared in our field of vision, the original noisy viewing platform suddenly fell silent, because it was a new type of tank that no one had ever seen. After a while, I heard the two factory directors behind me start talking again.


    Factory director a said: "you are right just now. Since the task of producing tanks was handed over to our factory some time ago, the task of producing anti tank fighters should still be handed over to your factory. Don''t worry. Next time I come to the Bureau for a meeting, I will discuss with the director and ask him to hand over the task of producing fighter cars to your factory. "


    "No, absolutely not." A few minutes ago, factory director B, who wanted to compete for the production task of tank destroyer, changed his mind. He said discontentedly: "our factory is fully capable of producing this new type of tank. I think the superior should give the task of producing tank destroyer to your factory, and let us produce this new type of tank."


    Katukov looked at the new tanks passing by on the field, nodded with satisfaction and said to me, "yes, it''s really good. If my troops could be equipped with such tanks, it would be nothing against the German armored forces. "


    I nodded and then introduced the characteristics of this tank to katukov: "Comrade General, this new type of tank has good weapons and armor. It is easy to use and maintain, easy to install diving equipment and has strong night fighting ability. But the main disadvantages are that the angle of the gun is small, the moving system is too simple, the range of the gun is limited, and the external fuel tank is easy to catch fire after being hit. "


    "As long as the battlefield survivability is strong, these shortcomings are nothing." After hearing this, katukov said with disapproval: "as long as it is easy to use and maintain, even if it is damaged by the enemy''s artillery, it can be repaired as soon as possible to restore its combat effectiveness."


    From the conversation I just heard between the two factory directors, I know that the production of new tanks should not be a big problem. The key is the people who drive the tanks. Thinking of this, I can''t help asking katukov: "Comrade General, even if the superior equips you with a large number of new tanks, do you have so many tankers under your command?"


    After listening to me, katukov couldn''t help laughing, and then explained to me, "o''shanina, don''t you know that the crawler tractors we use are operated by handles, just like tanks? A tractor driver can become a qualified tank driver after a short training


    "Why are the German tanks so slow to replenish after their losses?" Although I heard katukov say so easily, I still retorted: "you know, the Germans have such a huge armored force, even if they lose the tankers, they can completely replace them with armored car drivers!"


    Katukov couldn''t help laughing at my words. He stopped laughing when he saw the reproachful eyes of the people nearby. He explained to me, "o''shanina, you''ve been on the battlefield for such a long time. I think you must find that there are a lot of semi tracked armored vehicles in the German armored vehicles." See me nod to show approval, immediately threw a question to me, "do you know why this is?"


    I really didn''t know the answer to katukov''s question, so I could only shake my head and honestly reply, "sorry, comrade general, I don''t know."


    "Because the driving device in this armored vehicle is not operated by handle, but by steering wheel." Katukov confidently said to me: "that is to say, once their tankers are lost, it will take much longer than us to train new drivers. In this way, by the time their drivers learn to drive tanks, our converted soldiers will have already become excellent drivers. "


    Just when I thought that the climax of the whole parade had passed, the announcer''s voice on the radio suddenly became loud: "citizens, what is driving on the red square now is the latest tank of the Great Red Army. This type of tank is equipped with advanced armed system, which can attack the ground and air. It is the nemesis of all the active tanks of the Communist aggressors."


    I quickly turned around and saw that I had seen T-72 appear in my field of vision. Six tanks divided into two rows, majestically along the road paved with small stones, passed in front of us. At this time, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my arm and turned to see that katukov had seized my arm. I saw him staring at the passing T-72. Because of excitement, the hand he grasped my arm was still shaking. When the tank passed Lenin''s tomb, he turned to look at me and asked, "o''shanina, why didn''t you just tell me that this is our army''s secret weapon?" To be honest, to my layman, both t-5455 and T-72 tanks are similar in appearance. Only katukov, an expert, can see at a glance what makes this new type of tank special. Therefore, in the face of katukov''s questioning, I can only say vaguely: "Comrade General, these tanks are still top secret before today, so even if I know something, I have no right to tell you. Moreover, although the six tanks coming out behind are the most advanced at present, due to some immature technologies, they may not be equipped with troops in the near future. What your troops can get is the tank in the mechanized Square ahead. " We were talking when there was a cry of surprise. Berzikov said to me with a panic expression: "look, Rita, that tank broke down on the slope of Vasili, and there is smoke from the engine. Is it on fire?"

 Chapter 1066

    I leaned over to the wassili slope and saw a T-72 parked there, with thick smoke coming from the rear. It seemed that the engine had broken down. The hand of the tank opened the top hatch, jumped onto the car body, took the fire extinguisher from the soldiers who came from nearby, and nervously put out the fire.


    "What the hell is going on?" When katukov saw this scene, his brow suddenly locked. He turned to look at me and asked, "is this the fault caused by the immature technology you mentioned?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." I looked up at a viewing platform on Lenin''s tomb, and saw Stalin and Zhukov pointing to the other side. Knowing that they also found this situation, I went back to katukov and explained, "although this kind of tank is very advanced and is the vanguard of all German tanks, it is not perfect for various technical reasons, There are still many design defects, so we can''t put them into practice for the time being. "


    With these words, I looked at the platform again and found that Ustinov had disappeared. Maybe I went to deal with the tank fault myself. However, the tank on fire was far away from the parade area, so it did not cause much panic, and the rhythm of the military band was not affected at all.


    After the parade, without waiting for me to leave the viewing platform, an officer of the guard regiment pushed against the crowd to our side, approached bezikov and whispered to him. Bezikov nodded, then turned to me and said in a low voice, "Rita, I have an order for you to meet Comrade Stalin in the Kremlin later."


    Katukov walked a few steps and found that I didn''t follow him. He guessed that there must be something wrong with me. He didn''t want to. He reached out to me and said with a smile, "Rita, it seems that you should stay. I''ll go first. We''ll see you later."


    As I shook hands with him, I politely said, "Comrade General, we''ll see you later."


    Twenty minutes later, I showed up in Stalin''s office. Stalin was sitting behind his desk, smoking his cigarette. In addition to me, there were Zhukov, vasilevsky, Ustinov, kosikin, and a strange general in a military uniform full of medals and a pair of round glasses.


    Seeing me coming, Stalin showed a smile on his face. He raised his hand to the general and said to me, "Rita, this is belia, vice chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union, member of the National Defense Commission and Minister of the interior. You should not have seen him before." Then he turned to belia and said, "this is oshanina. I believe you must be familiar with him."


    In Stalin''s long list of titles, the most frightening one for me is the last one: Minister of the interior! Especially after listening to each other''s name is belia, my legs can not help but slightly soften.


    Although I was scared to death, since Stalin introduced us, I couldn''t say hello to each other. I had to lean forward slightly, stretch out my hands to belia, and politely said, "Hello, comrade minister."


    Belia took my hand, turned to Stalin and said, "Comrade Stalin, you are right. I am really familiar with general oshanina." After that, he turned to me and said, "Hello, comrade o''shanina. Although I have seen your information for a long time, I have the chance to see you for the first time today."


    Stalin was surprised by belia''s performance. He asked curiously, "Comrade belia, what kind of information do you have about Rita in your Ministry of interior?"


    Hearing Stalin''s question, belia released my hand, went to Stalin''s desk and reported to him, "Comrade Stalin, it''s like this. When we cleaned up the" Vlasov elements "last year, because of the close contact between Comrade oshanina and Vlasov, she was arrested as an important member."


    "Nonsense, it''s nonsense." Stalin took off his pipe in his mouth, knocked on the crystal ashtray on the table, and said discontentedly, "how can Rita be a ''vlasovian''? You know, although she and Vlasov had a lot in common before, they were all superior and subordinate. And at the critical moment of Vlasov''s defection, she escaped from the enemy''s encirclement by herself at risk. That''s why she can''t go along with Vlasov. "


    When belia heard Stalin plead for my innocence in public, he quickly burst out a smile and said to Stalin, "Comrade Stalin, you are quite right. Oshanina is really not a" vlasovian. ". Originally, we planned to release her immediately after we found out this, but our grass-roots staff made mistakes in their work and still locked Comrade oshanina and those stubborn "Vlasov elements" together and were put on the execution ground. "


    Stalin, who was filling his pipe with tobacco, stopped his hand movement when he heard that. He looked up at belia and asked in surprise, "Why have you never reported this to me? Huh? "


    Seeing that Stalin showed signs of anger, belia quickly explained: "fortunately, with the blessing of the gods, the pistol that shot her got stuck, and general fejiuningsky, who was ordered by Marshal Zhukov to rescue her, arrived just in time, so she was able to escape from death."


    Stalin threw his pipe on the table, stood up and said angrily, "can you execute an excellent commander with rich combat experience without going through the necessary trial?"


    Belia saw that Stalin was going to come out from behind his desk and quickly came forward to help him. From Stalin''s limping walking posture, I can imagine how seriously he was injured in the process of riding two days ago.


    Belia helped Stalin to sit down at the conference table, and then explained to him, "Comrade Stalin, there must be trials, but due to the negligence of the investigators, the mistake of sending Comrade oshanina to the execution ground occurred."


    Stalin put the cigarette end in his mouth, struck a match, lit it and said to belia, "tell me something about the interrogation."


    I can tell from Stalin''s tone that I was arrested as a "vlasovian" or even taken to the execution ground and nearly shot. It seems that Stalin didn''t know anything about it.


    Belia took a look at me and began to tell Stalin and others about my trial. When the interrogators heard that Stalin was one of the people who called me by my nickname, they all burst into laughter. Even Stalin could not help laughing. After taking a puff of his cigarette, he said to me, "Rita, if you are interrogated next time, you should still say so. When you confess to the list of people who have called you by your nickname, don''t forget to mention my name."


    "Comrade Stalin," Zhukov interjected, "I think my friendship with Rita should also be included in the list of secret service staff."


    Stalin laughed at what Zhukov said but said nothing. Several people around him were smart people, and they also expressed their opinions one after another, asking me to include them in my intimate list when I was tried in the future. Seeing that everyone''s opinions were surprisingly unified, belia also accompanied me with a smile and said, "Rita, if you are asked by the staff of the interior department who you are closely related to, please add my name."


    "Now that it''s over and Rita''s all right, we''ll turn to this page. It''s time to talk about something important." Stalin turned to Ustinov and asked with a little dissatisfaction: "young comrades of the people''s Committee, I want to hear your explanation, why our most advanced tanks break down when they go downhill, or even spontaneous combustion?"


    In fact, I am very clear about this answer. Engineer Florin came from 1975. Although the T-72 tank was developed in 1967, equipped with the army in 1971 and formally finalized in 1973, considering that he retired, the technology he mastered for the T-72 tank is not complete. In addition, the existing production technology is quite different from that of later generations, As a result, if the tank produced fails, it can''t be more normal.


    When Ustinov was reporting to Stalin, I looked at Zhukov not far away to find out the real purpose of calling myself to the Kremlin. But we were separated by Stalin and Ustinov. In this case, I didn''t have the courage to go directly to Zhukov and ask him the truth. I had to wait anxiously for the answer.


    I don''t know how long later, Ustinov stopped talking. Stalin nodded and said to him, "Comrade Ustinov, after you go back, you should organize experts from the base to work out solutions as soon as possible, and strive to equip the army with this new type of tank before the end of the year."


    "I see, comrade Stalin." "I don''t know if another type of new tank and self-propelled anti-aircraft gun can be put into mass production, so as to equip our troops as soon as possible," Ustinov said respectfully


    "Yes." After that, Stalin nodded at him with a cigarette end in his hand, adding: "while producing new tanks and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, don''t forget the production of supporting ammunition."


    "We have decided on a factory for the production of supporting ammunition. We will start production as soon as the production of tanks and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns begins." When Ustinov said this, his voice went down again. I only vaguely heard words like armored steel plate and tractor factory. It is estimated that he was reporting to Stalin where the above equipment was produced.


    After Ustinov finished his report, it was vasilevsky''s turn. According to his usual practice, he reported to Stalin on the holding of the parade. While praising the troops, he also put forward his own views on some existing problems.


    Listening to vasilevsky''s eloquent report, I was so anxious that Stalin called me in in a hurry and introduced me to belia. Then there was no following. He didn''t want to transfer me to the interior department, did he? In my character, I''m expected to stay in the interior department for a short time, and I''ll clean up belia.


    It was not easy to wait until vasilevsky finished his report. I was relieved that I had finally come to an end. When Stalin finished explaining what he was going to tell me, I would be able to leave. However, I was just proud for a few seconds when I heard Zhukov''s voice: "Comrade Stalin, please allow me to report to you the Kiev situation I just received."


    When I heard the name of Kiev, my nerves became nervous. I listened attentively to Zhukov''s report to Stalin and wanted to know what was going on with kirilov, Romanov and rebarko, whom I knew so well. Zhukov said slowly: "at present, general rebalko is staying in the reserve army for the time being. I plan to wait for him to rest for a while, and then assign him a new post." Stalin nodded at Zhukov''s arrangement and then asked, "what about Lieutenant General Romanov, commander of our guerrilla army?" Zhukov went to the map next to the conference table, pointed the map with a stick and introduced it to Stalin, saying: "general Romanov led about 4000 troops out of the encirclement and was retreating toward Chernobyl in the north of Ukraine. According to his report, he planned to establish a new guerrilla base in the region and integrate the guerrillas in Ukraine and Belarus, In order to form a strong combat effectiveness. "¡° Our Dnieper cluster had more than 30000 troops when it was at its peak. " After Zhukov finished, Stalin put forward his own question: "while there were only 4000 troops who broke through with Romanov, where did the remaining 20000 go?" Zhukov put down his explanation stick, straightened up and reported: "Comrade Stalin, our troops have suffered constant losses in the fierce battle, and the casualties are very large. According to the latest intelligence, there are only more than 4000 people in the formed and outstanding encirclement units. As for the remaining 20000 people, they either died or were scattered by... " When talking about the latter possibility, Zhukov hesitated for a moment, and finally used the word "break up" instead of "captured". When I heard the conversation between Zhukov and Stalin, another thought came into my mind: "is Stalin going to send me to Chernobyl to help Romanov command the army?" At the thought of this possibility, my heart beat faster. My heart said that it was an enemy occupied area. Let''s carry out guerrilla warfare in a place where we are not familiar with the land and we can''t get any supplies. Isn''t that the same as asking me to die? Even if I have the aura of the protagonist, I can''t die, but in the next two years of war, it''s very difficult for me to achieve any remarkable achievements. How can I realize my dream of Marshal? Just as I was thinking about it, Stalin and Zhukov''s words were finally over. Stalin waved to me and said kindly, "Rita, come to me. I have something important to tell you."

 Chapter 1067

    When I heard Stalin say that, I knew immediately that the purpose of his interview with me was about to be revealed. Facing the unknown fate, my heart beat faster. I took two steps forward and stood just one step away from Stalin, waiting for him to announce my destiny.


    Stalin took another puff, took his pipe away from his mouth, looked at me and said slowly, "Rita, I heard Zhukov say some time ago that you, your husband and your children were separated in the war, right?"


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." I don''t know why Stalin suddenly asked about it, but he told him truthfully: "my husband, Captain oshanin, was seriously injured during the Moscow defense war, was sent to the rear, and then never contacted. And my son alik, after liuban broke through, I asked an injured nurse to take him to the rear, and now there is no news


    "After you asked Zhukov about your husband and children, he once searched through the relevant departments. But it''s a pity that although it took a lot of trouble, I didn''t hear anything in the end. " Stalin said that he was about to get up from his seat. I quickly stepped forward to hold his arm and helped him get up from his chair.


    He limped to belia''s side, put his hand on the latter''s shoulder, turned to me and said: "fortunately, comrade belia knew about this matter and promptly used his subordinates to assist in the investigation..."


    Although Stalin has not finished, I have guessed what he will say later. Belia must know the exact whereabouts of oshanin. Although Zhukov is a good hand at directing wars, if he is asked to help find people, it really feels a bit of trust. But if you let belia come out to find someone, even if the person is hiding under the ground, he can dig it out.


    I didn''t speak. I just looked at Stalin in silence, waiting for him to say the following words. Stalin was silent for a while, and indeed said what I had guessed: "after Comrade belia''s efforts, I finally found out the whereabouts of your husband and children."


    At such a time, I can''t say nothing, so when Stalin finished speaking, I had to harden my head and ask, "Comrade Stalin, I don''t know where they are? Are you still alive? "


    "Don''t worry, comrade oshanina." Bellia helped Stalin back to his desk and sat down. Then she stood up and said to me, "they''re all alive. They''re all in gubishev now. Your husband, Captain oshanin, is in the garrison headquarters in cezland, and your son is in the children''s home in the city of tauriati. "


    Stalin, after waiting for Beria to finish, added: "Rita, you''ve been on the battlefield for more than a year, and it''s time to take a break. Well, I''ll give you half a month''s holiday. You can go to gubishev to see your husband and children. "


    "Comrade Stalin," to tell you the truth, I don''t want to see oshanin at all, so I can only politely refuse Stalin''s kindness: "at present, after all, it is during the war, when thousands of soldiers have no chance to reunite with their families, I don''t think I have the right to accept holidays. Maybe when I see o''shanin, he will not be happy, but will be disappointed because of my dishonorable act of using my power. "


    Originally, I thought that Stalin would not insist that I go to gubishev if he said so. After all, I still have the task he has not completed. I didn''t expect Stalin''s response this time was unexpected. He said stubbornly, "no, Rita, you have to go to gubishev. Don''t forget, besides being a soldier, you are also a wife and a mother. We have no right to separate the child from his mother for a long time. "


    Stalin''s words were stern and unquestionable. I didn''t want to offend Stalin because of such a thing, so I just nodded and said, "well, comrade Stalin, I will obey your order."


    "Because you don''t have a specific position in the army now, you will have some inconvenience when you go to a local place." Stalin saw that I agreed to go to gubishev, and then said: "although belia has prepared a special pass and a travel permit for you, I''m still not at ease, so he asked him to send a few more staff members of the interior department to go with me, so that even if you encounter any trouble, you can solve it in time."


    Belia waited for Stalin to finish, walked up to me, took out a pair of folded envelopes from his pocket, handed them to me, and said: "this is a special pass and a travel permit. If you encounter an interrogation on the road, you can show them. I believe no one will make trouble for you. As for the staff of the interior department, they are all under your command. If you want them to do anything, just tell them. "


    My heart is still full of wariness about belia, but I am very grateful for what he has done for me. After I took the envelope, I took the initiative to reach out to him, and politely said: "thank you, thank you, comrade interior minister!"


    I stood up to Stalin and asked, "Comrade Stalin, may I go?"


    "Wait a minute, Rita." Stalin seemed to think of something, thoughtfully said: "when you deal with local comrades, if you encounter something that can not be solved, you can turn to the local security department." At this point, Stalin turned to belia and said in a deliberative tone, "belia, do you think we can prepare a power of attorney for Lida so that she can mobilize the army of the Ministry of interior when necessary?"


    When belia heard Stalin''s order, she had a look of embarrassment on her face. The observant Stalin immediately found the abnormality on his face and immediately raised his voice and said, "why, do you still doubt that Rita will do whatever she likes and do anything against us when she has the right to mobilize her troops?"


    "No, no, comrade Stalin." Belia was startled by Stalin''s sudden change of color, and quickly explained: "I''m thinking about whether I should go back to the office and write this power of attorney for her."


    "Back to what office? Write it here. " Stalin said sternly to him, "do your subordinates dare not obey orders when they see your signature?"


    Bellia reluctantly took the pen and paper Stalin had handed him and bent down to write the letter of authorization that allowed me to mobilize the troops. After writing, he first handed it to Stalin. After the other party nodded his head, he tore off the page from the book and handed it to me with an unhappy face. At the same time, he said, "Comrade oshanina, this is a letter of authorization that allows you to mobilize the troops of the Ministry of interior. I hope you will not betray Comrade Stalin''s trust in you."


    I don''t know why Stalin suddenly asked belia to prepare such a laborious document for me, but since belia has handed me the power of attorney, I can''t accept it. I quickly took belia''s power of attorney with both hands, first expressed my gratitude to Stalin, and then to belia.


    After returning to my residence, I searched on the map, and finally found gubishev, the later state of Samara, which was more than 1000 kilometers away from Moscow. Fortunately, I didn''t have to ride the jeep on the muddy road on the train to get there.


    The next morning, someone from the Ministry of interior came to report to me. There were four of them, a captain and three soldiers. When they saw me appear, the four of them raised their hands to salute me. The captain also reported to me in a loud voice: "Comrade General, Captain dornikov of the Ministry of internal affairs reports to you. We are responsible for acting as a guide and protecting your safety. We are waiting for your orders. Please give us instructions! "


    When I looked at the young captain in front of me, I couldn''t help complaining that this captain was another person I knew. When he was at the red brysno subway station, he ordered to kill a lot of passers-by. He was a second lieutenant then, but now he is a captain.


    Thinking of the captain''s ruthlessness, I would not be very enthusiastic about him. I asked coldly, "Comrade captain, do you know me?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." I didn''t expect him to reply, "I met you at the red brysno subway station when you were still a lieutenant colonel."


    "Good memory." When I finished, I asked, "where shall we go next?"


    "The railway station, of course, Comrade General." Dornikov did not care about my cold attitude, but respectfully said: "the distance between Moscow and gubishev is more than 1000 kilometers. It takes at least three days to get there by car, while the train takes only one and a half days."


    Dornikov arranged a separate sleeping car for me, and he and Yushchenko, with three soldiers each, lived in the car next to me, so that any news could appear in front of me in time. The rest of the soldiers stayed in the ordinary cars.


    I lay on the sleeper of the train and closed my eyes, thinking about what I would say if I saw o''shanin. Although I have inherited a lot of Rita''s memory, I don''t know much about some details. Maybe I''ll show some flaws when I get along with oshanin for a day or two.


    But after thinking about it for a long time, I didn''t come up with a good way. Finally, I fell asleep unconsciously.


    When I was sleeping soundly, the sudden brake of the train woke me up from my sleep. I sat up and looked out of the car window. There were soldiers with guns all around the track. They pointed their guns at our train.


    What the hell is going on? When I saw that the muzzle of the soldier''s gun was aimed at the train, I didn''t dare to probe out. In case any soldier''s hand trembled and accidentally pulled the trigger, he would send me directly to see Marx. I was thinking about how to understand what was going on outside when there was a sudden knock on the door, accompanied by Yushchenko''s anxious voice: "general, general, open the door quickly."


    I walked quickly to the door and opened it. Seeing Yushchenko, dornikov and several soldiers standing at the door, he asked them, "what''s the matter outside? Why did it stop suddenly? What''s the reason that so many officers and soldiers surrounded our train?"


    Before they could answer, I heard a shout coming from outside the car. After listening attentively for a moment, he heard the cry: "all people get off immediately, all people get off immediately..." there was more than one person shouting, so that he could hear such a cry one after another.


    "What shall we do?" Yushchenko listened to the shouts outside, and asked me solemnly, "get out of the car or stay in the car?"


    Instead of answering immediately, I turned to dornikov and asked, "Comrade captain, can you tell me what happened?"


    Dornikov turned to look out of the car window, then hesitated and said, "Comrade General, I can''t confirm. But judging from the news, it may be tracking down German spies or deserting soldiers? Do you want me to get to know the commander outside? "¡° No, captain I waved to him and said, "let''s get out of the car and have a look, and we''ll figure it out."¡° Comrade general, in your capacity, there is no need to get off the bus at all. " Seeing that I was going to get out of the car, dornikov quickly dissuaded me and said, "I''ll call the commander over."¡° Get out of the car I didn''t talk to him much, just a simple word, then walked along the corridor towards the door. I got off the train and looked around for a moment. I found many people gathered outside the train, most of them soldiers. The common people are huddled together, but the soldiers consciously form one neat square after another. I walked over to a soldier who was on guard. At the same time, I asked, "Comrade soldier, what''s the matter?" When the soldier saw me coming towards him, he pointed at me with his bayonet rifle and gave me a command: "stop, don''t move! If I go any further, I''m not welcome. " I stopped and looked at the dedicated soldier with a smile, thinking about how to ask him. But Yushchenko and dornicke, who are next to them, are in trouble. They yell at the soldiers at the same time: "Comrade soldier, who do you want to be rude to? Tell us clearly." The soldier was just an ordinary soldier. When he saw two Lieutenant officers angry at him, he was a little flustered and said incoherently, "there''s an order. Let''s act as police here and guard. If anyone tries to escape or cross our guard line, we''ll shoot and shoot."¡° Comrade soldier, "I see that soldier was scared to death, but several soldiers around him, though with guns in their hands, looked dazed. In order to make him less nervous, I asked friendly," which army are you from, who are the commanders, and where is he now? " At the moment, the soldier may have seen the rank on my shoulder, quickly put his gun to attention, saluted me with a gun, and respectfully reported: "report to general, I can''t tell you the number of the army for the time being. As for the commander of the army, please wait a moment. He may be here soon

 Chapter 1068

    It may be that they saw their companions lay down their weapons and soldiers holding rifles around them. Although they were still standing in the same place, they all obediently put down their guns.


    At this moment, a series of shouts came from the rear of the train: "all the people are ready to have their certificates ready for our inspection."


    I turned my head and looked in the direction of the sound. An elderly captain came with a dozen soldiers on his back. At each place where the crowd gathered under the car, one or two soldiers would be left to check the passengers with certificates in cooperation with those on guard nearby. The captain may have participated in some battle, and the two medals on his chest are particularly conspicuous.


    I didn''t say anything. I just stood in the direction of his coming. I planned to wait for him to come and ask what happened, so that I would stop our train.


    At the beginning, the captain didn''t notice us. He walked and stopped all the way, and stopped from time to time to see how his subordinates checked their certificates. When he was only seven or eight meters away from us, he inadvertently saw me, as if he had been stabbed by something. Then he fastened the fengjikou of his military uniform and pulled the hem of his military uniform. Then he trotted to me, raised his hand and said, "Comrade General, Captain oSIP reports to you that our company is carrying out the task."


    I raised my hand for a change and asked coldly, "Captain, are you in charge here?"


    The captain looked left and right, nodded, and answered positively, "yes, we are leading the troops to carry out the task here."


    I nodded slightly, then asked, "Captain oSIP, can you tell me what kind of mission you are on?"


    After hearing this question, oSIP did not immediately answer it. Instead, he looked at me with vigilance and said, "I''m sorry, Comrade General. I have no right to disclose our mission to you until I know your identity."


    Dornikov, standing next to him, stepped forward and said impatiently, "Captain, are you blind?"?! Don''t you see the rank on Comrade General''s shoulder? "


    In response to dornikov''s rebuke, oSIP replied humbly, "I''m sorry, comrade captain. My task is to stop the train and check the documents of everyone on board. I can''t give you more details until I know who you are. "


    Seeing captain oSIP''s so rigid attitude, I haven''t made any response. Yushchenko, standing on the other side of me, can''t help it. He came up to me and politely said to me, "Comrade General, please lend me your special pass first, OK?"


    I guess Yushchenko probably wanted to give each other a bad impression, so he cooperatively took out the special pass prepared by belia for me from his pocket, and asked for dornikov''s certificate and gave it to Yushchenko.


    Yushchenko put his documents together and slapped them in the palm of the other party''s hand. He didn''t say anything, but snorted coldly.


    As soon as oSIP took the certificate and looked at it, his mouth became O-shaped. He didn''t close his mouth for a long time. He probably didn''t expect that my two accompanying officers were all members of the Ministry of interior, not to mention my passport personally issued by the Minister of interior, belia. After he closed the certificate, he raised his hand and saluted me again. He held the certificate in both hands and handed it to me. He stammered: "sorry, general... And Comrade... I don''t know your identity. Please forgive general..."


    I took back oSIP''s papers, changed dornikov''s and Yushchenko''s military cards to them, and put my special pass in my pocket. Then I asked oSIP gently, "Comrade captain, now that you know our identity, can you tell me what kind of mission you are carrying out?"


    "Well, general... No, comrade Soviet hero." Half way through his words, he caught a glimpse of the Red Star Medal hanging on my chest, and immediately changed his name to me, becoming more respectful: "this morning, a staff officer of our army group was attacked on the way to deliver the message on a three wheeled motorcycle, and all the staff officers and two soldiers of our company died. When they were found, their uniforms, weapons and documents were all gone, and the documents they carried were also lost. The motorcycle they were riding was parked 60 kilometers east of here. The superior was worried that the enemy would get on the train in our army''s uniform and sneak into our rear area to do damage, so he ordered us to stop the train on this line, strictly check the passengers, take back the documents and eliminate these bold Germans. "


    It''s said that some German may have sneaked into our rear, intercepted and killed our staff and robbed important documents. Dornikov and Yushchenko, who are close to me, are also anxious. They look at me together and ask seriously, "Comrade General, what should we do?"


    I thought about it, and then told Yushchenko: "Captain Yushchenko, you go and gather our people together, and cooperate with captain oSIP''s people to check all passengers'' documents." After the order, I asked oSIP, "Captain, do you have anything else to add?"


    "Comrade captain," oSIP said quickly as he walked up to Yushchenko, "when you ask your men to check your ID, they should not only check whether the photo matches you, but also pay attention to the staples on the ID. The materials we use are different from those in Germany. They all use stainless steel, but we use ordinary materials, so after a long time, there will be some rust. "


    "I see. I''ll go now." Yushchenko is also an acute person. After listening to oSIP''s introduction, he has to leave with his legs raised.


    At this moment, I suddenly remembered a detail he told me when I was reunited with oshanin in Moscow. He stopped Yushchenko and told him, "Comrade captain, for those who are suspicious, we must check the bottom of their boots. The spikes on the bottom of our military boots are generally round, while the German boots have the same appearance, but the soles use square spikes. Do you remember? "


    "Remember, Comrade General." Yushchenko agreed, and with a few soldiers around him, he ran to the place not far away where there were many passengers.


    Seeing Yushchenko leave, dornikov, who was not assigned a task, was a little worried. He couldn''t wait to ask me, "Comrade General, what''s the task for me and my subordinates?"


    I turned to look at him and said with a smile, "Captain, you and your people will stay here first. I''m sure we can use your place later."


    Although dornikov knew that I was a bit perfunctory in what I said, he could not refute it. He could only honestly promise, "yes."


    As I had been standing in the same place, oSIP did not dare to leave, so he had to stay with me. As for the inspection, he left it to his department. The seven or eight soldiers who used to guard our area were also sent away by him.


    After a while, there was a loud noise in front of us. Then I saw Yushchenko and some of them coming towards us. Seeing this, I couldn''t help nodding, satisfied with Yushchenko''s efficient work.


    Yushchenko came up to me and excitedly reported, "Comrade General, we have caught four people without identification."


    "Four?" Thinking of captain oSIP''s saying that only three officers and men of our army were killed, how could four Germans come out? I carefully looked at the four "Prisoners" who were cut back by the soldiers, and I always felt something was wrong. I closed my eyes and thought for a moment. Then I opened my eyes and asked, "Comrade captain, have you checked the soles of their four shoes?"


    "Sole?" When Yushchenko heard me say this word, he was stunned. Then he shook his head and said, "sorry, comrade general, I haven''t taken care of it yet. I just want to bring them here early and let you have a look. "


    "Come on, comrade captain, let the soldiers check the studs on their soles." As for Yushchenko''s recklessness, I said a little dissatisfied: "I think you must be mistaken. You don''t see that they are all Asian faces. How can they be German?"


    In the face of my criticism, Yushchenko did not dare to explain. He quickly ordered the soldiers to lift up the soles of the four people''s shoes one by one, and found that the spikes on their boots were really round, not square like the German. After the inspection, Yushchenko may also realize his mistake and wave to the soldiers to let go of the four men.


    After the four were released, oSIP stepped forward and asked, "I have a question. Why don''t you four have documents? Don''t you know that when you go out, you should take your good identification with you? "


    After listening to oSIP''s words, all four of them bowed their heads. After thinking about it for a moment, I immediately thought of a possibility and asked them, "answer me, are you all sitting in aisle seats?"


    As soon as my voice fell, a small black and thin man raised his head and asked me in surprise, "Comrade General, how do you know we are sitting near the aisle?"


    To his question, I smile but don''t answer, just look at the other three people, want to hear what they say. Then the second man raised his head and said in a positive tone, "yes, comrade general, yes. I''m really sitting near the aisle. Have we all been stolen? "


    After hearing what he said, dornikov stepped forward, grabbed each other''s collar and asked excitedly, "did you find anything unusual in the car?"


    Dornikov''s words made the man frown and think hard. In order to ease the other party''s nervousness, I especially comforted him: "Comrade soldier, don''t worry. Take your time to think about whether someone has collided with you when you are in the car."


    My words immediately reminded the other party, his face immediately showed a clear expression, and then said to me: "Comrade General, I remember that although there are many people in the car, it is not too crowded. A second lieutenant in a black leather jacket accidentally hit me when he passed me because the train was shaking. I guess he may have stolen my identification. "


    "Do you remember what he looked like?" Dornikov interrogates each other like a prisoner.


    The man first shook his head, then nodded and said, "I only remember that he was medium-sized, with a round face and a scar on his left cheek."


    After listening to the soldier''s statement, dornikov lost his breath. He glanced at Yushchenko with disdainful eyes, and then asked me, "Comrade General, let me take someone with me this time. I promise you that I can find out these German spies in disguise."


    In the face of dornikov''s request, I refused without thinking about it, and then told oSIP: "Comrade captain, let your people stay at the door of the carriage, let the soldiers under the carriage get on the train in batches with their units, and bring those who are left alone here."¡° What about ordinary citizens? " After accepting my order, oSIP didn''t immediately carry it out. Instead, he stayed in the same place and asked me, "there are many of them. How can we distinguish them?"¡° Let them each find a familiar person to testify for themselves. As for the single passengers who have no one to testify, bring them here. " Seeing that oSIP wanted to leave after receiving the order, I added: "as for female passengers, they can get on the bus directly. I don''t think the German will send women to carry out such a dangerous task." As the screening method was complicated, it took about half an hour for oSIP to return to my position with a group of people. There are more than 30 soldiers and ordinary citizens surrounded by soldiers. After taking a look, I ordered Yushchenko: "Comrade captain, take someone to check the soles of his shoes." Yushchenko, who had been holding a stomach of evil fire for a long time, heard my order, immediately called his more than a dozen soldiers, rushed into the crowd, and involuntarily raised someone''s foot to check whether the nails on the soles were square or round. With little effort, four people were pulled out of the crowd. You Xian, holding the military ID card found from them, excitedly said to me, "Comrade General, if you find it, it''s them. Not only are the spikes square, but also their certificates are the soldiers beside them. " I took the four military ID cards that Yushchenko had handed me, turned them over and gave them back to the four soldiers who had been wrongly arrested just now. I also kindly reminded them: "when you go out in the future, you should be alert. You are lucky this time. I can help you. Next time you encounter such a thing, you may be directly arrested as German spies. Do you understand? "¡° I see, Comrade General. " Four soldiers took the military card, gave me a lot of thanks, and got on the train one after another. I looked at the four German spies, and found that one of them, a German in a second lieutenant''s uniform, had a round face and a long scar on his left cheek. I turned to dornikov, who was standing beside me, and said, "Comrade captain, you are the most experienced in dealing with such German spies. The next thing is up to you."

 Chapter 1069

    When dornikov and my guard were going to take some prisoners to a relatively hidden place for interrogation, I almost stopped him and ordered him to check whether these German spies had potassium cyanide in their mouths or not. But when I opened my mouth, I still didn''t shout out. It''s impossible for the German to equip every spy who goes to the rear of our army to carry out a task with high-grade poison like potassium cyanide. I''m too worried.


    Seeing that the prisoner was taken aside for interrogation by my subordinates, Captain oSIP was a little worried. He came up to me and asked nervously, "where are they going to take the prisoner, comrade heroes of the Soviet Union?"


    Seeing oSIP''s worried face, I comforted him and said, "don''t worry, comrade captain. Captain dornikov took them to the side for questioning to find out why they were here. When the trial is over, these prisoners will be handed over to you, and you won''t be left behind. "


    Although oSIP had something else to say, when I had said it, I had to shut up. But during the waiting time, he looked anxiously in the direction of interrogating the prisoners from time to time.


    It has to be said that in interrogating prisoners, people from the Ministry of interior are at a higher level than those from the combat forces. In less than ten minutes, dornikov came back with the prisoner under escort. From the elated expression on his face, I knew that he had got the answer he wanted.


    However, the images of the prisoners were very embarrassed. Not only were their uniforms torn, but they were all black and blue. It seems that dornikov lynched them just now during the trial.


    I took the interrogation record handed to me by dornikov, and simply turned it over. Then I handed it to oSIP and said to him, "Comrade captain, this is the interrogation record of the prisoner. You can take people back."


    OSIP didn''t expect that I would give him the record of the trial so easily. He was overjoyed and repeatedly thanked me. He folded the record carefully, put it in his coat pocket, and asked his men to tie up several prisoners.


    Seeing that the interrogation record I got was so easily given to captain oSIP, dornikov was a little worried. He rushed to the soldiers who bound the prisoners, raised his hand to try to stop them, but he felt that it was wrong. After putting down his hands, he rushed to me and said angrily, "comrade general, this is our prisoner. How can we give it to others?"


    As for his attitude, I said coldly, "Comrade captain, we have other things to do. It will be very inconvenient to take some German prisoners on our way. If you want to follow up, I can let you stay and escort the prisoners to the local garrison camp with captain oSIP. "


    When I said this, dornikov seemed to think that his task was to stay with me and ensure my safety, not to be an interrogator, so he immediately shut up.


    I looked around and saw that all the passengers except me and my men had got on the bus. Then I asked oSIP with a smile: "Comrade captain, we have wasted enough time to catch these German spies. Can the train leave now? "


    After listening to my question, oSIP quickly agreed: "Comrade hero of the Soviet Union, you can leave any time you want. Now, please get on the bus. I''ll send a signal to the car immediately and let them drive. "


    Soon after I got back to my box, I heard a long whistle coming from the front of the car, and then the train started banging forward.


    When the car started, I looked up at Yushchenko and dornikov standing in front of me, raised my hands, pressed them down, and said, "don''t stand, sit down." At my command, they sat down in the bottom berth opposite.


    I asked dornikov, "Comrade captain, I haven''t had time to read the record of the trial. Tell me the result of the trial while you have time


    "Yes Dornikov agreed to stand up, but hit his head on the upper berth. I saw him covering his head like a mess, quickly said to him with a smile: "don''t stand up, just sit and say."


    After dornikov sat down again, he reported to me about the interrogation: "Comrade General, after our interrogation, these German spies intend to sneak into gubishev to collect our army''s intelligence and carry out the task of assassination and sabotage. After flying over Moscow, their plane mistakenly dropped them at a place hundreds of kilometers away from gubishev because it was dark and they chose the wrong landing place. "


    "How many of them parachuted?" I then asked, "are there only four people?"


    Dornikov shook his head and replied, "there are seven people in all. Two of them fell to death when they landed, while the other one didn''t know where he was floating and lost contact with them completely."


    When Yushchenko heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting and said: "hell, there is another German who has missed the net. This news should be reported to the higher authorities immediately."


    When I heard him say that, I waved my hand and said, "Captain, you worry too much. It is not easy for a single German to get out alive if he is trapped in the forest. Besides, I have given captain oSIP the interrogation record. I believe his superior will send troops to search after reading it. "


    I looked out of the window at the forest, which was rapidly moving back, and asked, "where are we now?"


    "Kovrov, just over an hour after Vladimir." Dornikov was obviously familiar with the routes around Moscow, so he said without hesitation: "in two hours, we''ll be in Nizhny Novgorod." After introducing the situation, he asked carefully, "Comrade General, we have been here too long. When we get to Novgorod, it''s evening. Do we need to stay here for one night? Anyway, we have the privilege to take any train


    Although I don''t like dornikov very much, he is the only one who knows the route, so I can only ask him, "if we don''t get off, when can we get to our destination?"


    Dornikov thought for a moment and replied, "if there is no accident on the way, we will arrive at Kazan around 2 a.m. At this time, the train will turn south and arrive at Ulyanovsk before 8 a.m., the last big city before reaching gubishev. At about two o''clock in the afternoon, we could get there. After another seventeen or eighteen hours, we finally arrived at the first stop of our trip, zezland.


    When we got off the train and walked out of the station, we immediately attracted the attention of the nearby patrol. Immediately a second lieutenant with a patrol of about 20 people met us, stopped us and politely asked, "Comrade General, please show me your identification."


    Seeing that the second lieutenant wanted to check my ID card, dornikov, who was next to me, was the first to lose his breath and burst out at the other side: "second lieutenant, what part of you are? Who gave you the right to check your ID? Call your superior immediately and ask him to come here at once. I want to ask him how to discipline his subordinates. "


    Facing the storm of dornikov, the second lieutenant was still unmoved. He coldly replied, "Comrade captain, I''m the patrol captain. My duty is to check the documents of suspicious people. There are so many of you, and all of you are fully armed, let alone me. Even if any patrol team sees you, they will come to check your documents. "


    I raised my hand to stop dornikov, who still wanted to attack, and said to him solemnly, "Comrade captain, stop talking. This second lieutenant is right. He is loyal to his duty. If he sees such a large group of people as us turning a blind eye, I will worry that the city will be easily infiltrated by the enemy. " With that, I took out my military uniform and special pass and handed them to each other. The reason why the documents of Yushchenko and dornikov are not added this time is that these commanders and fighters may be colleagues with oshanin. If they are too strong, they will have a bad impact on oshanin.


    The second lieutenant took my certificate and looked at it carefully. Then he handed it back to me. At the same time, he saluted me and said, "Hello, general oshanina. I''m Lieutenant Mironov of the garrison headquarters. What can I do for you?"


    As I put my identification in my pocket, I asked with a smile, "Lieutenant Mironov, I want to ask you, do you know a commander named oshanin?"


    "Oshanin?" Lieutenant Mironov frowned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "sorry, comrade general, I''ve never heard of such a name."


    The second lieutenant''s reply made me feel lost, but at the same time, I felt a little lucky. I thought to myself: maybe belia''s people are wrong. O''shanin is not in this city at all. So I made up my mind that as long as I went to the garrison headquarters later and asked if there was no o''shanin, I could go to the next destination and see Rita''s son alik.


    "Comrade lieutenant," seeing that lieutenant Mironov made a military salute, he planned to leave. Yushchenko stopped him again, "how can I get to your garrison headquarters?"


    Hearing Yushchenko ask himself, the second lieutenant quickly smiles on his face and tells him how to go to the garrison headquarters. After that, he asked: "Comrade commander, do you need me to send a soldier to show you the way?"


    "That''s great." I was worried that the second lieutenant''s route was too complicated just now. When we were easily lost, we were overjoyed to hear the second lieutenant''s words and quickly agreed, "Comrade second lieutenant, please send us a guide."


    The second lieutenant called an old soldier out of the group and said, "Anton, you won''t have to patrol for the time being. Now I order you to take the general to the garrison headquarters."


    After hearing the old soldier''s consent, the second lieutenant led him to me and said, "Comrade General, this is soldier Anton. He is a local and very familiar with the terrain. It''s very suitable for him to be your guide."


    After hearing my thanks to him, the second lieutenant saluted and turned away with the patrol.


    On the way to the garrison headquarters, Anton, who was walking in front of me, turned around and asked me, "Comrade General, where are you from?"


    "Moscow." Yushchenko answered in my place.


    After hearing where we came from, Anton nodded and continued thoughtfully: "Lieutenant Mironov has just been transferred. He is not familiar with the personnel in the garrison headquarters. He does not know many commanders. Maybe the person you are looking for happens to be someone he does not know."

 Chapter 1070

    On the way to the garrison headquarters, I carefully looked at the city at the strategic rear. Although there are tripods for anti tank use on the street, and there are barricades and soldiers on guard at the crossroads, the atmosphere of war is not strong. Pedestrians can be seen from time to time on the sidewalk, and their faces are very relaxed.


    On the way, we also met several waves of patrols and barricade checkpoints, but as soon as they saw Anton walking at the head of the team, they nodded to us friendly and let us go easily.


    After I realized this, I asked with great interest, "Comrade soldier, why does the patrol team not check us when they see you in the team?"


    Anton put his body slightly to one side, pointed his right hand to a red armband on his left arm, and said, "Comrade General, please see, all members of the patrol team wear such a special armband. When other people see it, they will know it''s their own."


    I looked back at my subordinates. Except for dornikov and his three companions, all the others were wearing breastplates. If they appeared in this special shape, they would be interrogated by many patrols. Fortunately, we have Anton as our guide, which saves us a lot of trouble.


    Anton looked back at the officers and men behind him as he walked, and said with admiration, "Comrade General, your men are well equipped. I''ve never seen such a special gun." Then he raised his hand and patted the rifle on his shoulder, and said with self mockery, "the troops left behind, like us, can only use this old-fashioned moxinlagan rifle."


    "Comrade soldier, it''s normal that you haven''t seen this kind of gun." As individual units of the central front army have begun to install this kind of assault rifle, there is no need to keep it secret any more, so I told Anton in a big way: "this is a Kalashnikov rifle newly developed by our military industry department, which is now being installed in the army. I believe that you will be equipped with this kind of equipment in a short time."


    After hearing this, Anton asked casually, "what''s the performance of this gun?"


    "Simple and durable." Before I could speak, Yushchenko said, "I''ve never seen a gun comparable to it."


    I didn''t want Yushchenko to reveal too much information to this ordinary soldier, so as soon as Yushchenko finished, I interjected and asked, "Comrade soldier, we have been walking for almost 20 minutes. How much time do we have to get to the garrison headquarters?"


    Anton obviously didn''t have a watch. He was stunned when he heard my question, but he soon returned to normal. He leaned over to answer me and said, "Comrade General, we have walked almost three-quarters of the way, and we can reach our destination by walking two blocks."


    A few minutes later, we came to the outside of a building with a large courtyard. On both sides of the iron gate of the entrance, we could see soldiers standing guard. At this time, Anton stopped and said to me respectfully, "Comrade General, this is the garrison headquarters. Please. I''ll go back to patrol, so I won''t go in with you. "


    "Thank you, comrade soldier." I shook hands with him and said gratefully, "I hope we''ll see you later!"


    "Good bye, Comrade General." After Anton released my hand, he stood at attention, saluted me, turned and walked away quickly.


    When we were about to enter the gate, we were unexpectedly stopped by a group of soldiers. A second lieutenant in a big cornice hat raised his hand to stop us and said coldly, "sorry, comrade commander, you can''t go in."


    Usually, there are only two sentries standing guard at the gate of the garrison headquarters, but there are as many as ten people here, which makes me frown. Xin said that the garrison commander''s shelf is really big. There are so many people at the gate alone. I don''t know how many hurdles it will take to see him later. Seeing that our way was stopped, I asked coldly, "why?"


    "The Ministry of the interior is in charge." Although the second lieutenant who blocked the way saw my rank clearly, he still said defiantly, "no one is allowed to enter."


    Seeing that the second lieutenant of the Ministry of internal affairs was so arrogant, dornikov was the first one to speak this time. He asked aloud, "what''s the mission?"


    The second lieutenant glanced at him askance and said with disdain, "it''s not your turn to take care of what tasks the interior department performs."


    "What, I''m not in charge?" The second lieutenant''s words angered dornikov. He took out his ID, slapped it on the second lieutenant''s chest, raised his voice and said, "you show me clearly, I''m not qualified to take care of this."


    The second lieutenant pursed his lips and took the document from dornikov''s hand. He opened it and looked at it carelessly. The sight immediately startled him. He immediately stood at attention and saluted. Then he leaned forward slightly, holding the certificate in both hands, and handed it to dornikov. He said respectfully, "Hello, comrade captain, I didn''t know your identity just now. I have offended you so much. Please forgive me!"


    While dornikov was putting his papers in his pocket, I asked the second lieutenant who was standing in front of me, "Lieutenant, what''s going on inside?"


    When the second lieutenant saw that dornikov had collected his papers, he stepped back behind me obediently. He understood that my identity was not what he could offend. He replied in a hurry, "Comrade General, we are here to arrest a traitor."


    "Traitor?" I didn''t hear this word for a long time. I was stunned for a long time before I understood the meaning of this word. Then I asked curiously, "what''s the traitor? What''s his name?"


    The second lieutenant shook his head and replied, "my task is to guard the door and forbid anyone to enter or leave. I don''t know the rest."


    "Captain Yushchenko and captain dornikov," when I heard that they were arresting traitors, I guessed in my heart that it must be a case of injustice and falsehood. Without looking back, I called the names of the two subordinates and gave them an order cleanly: "leave four soldiers to watch the door, and you can show me what happened."


    "Yes After they agreed, they appointed four soldiers to stay on duty at the gate. They pushed away the officers and soldiers of the Ministry of interior who were standing in front of us and asked me to enter the compound of the garrison headquarters.


    After entering the gate, we quickly walked through the open space to the front of the building. At the entrance, there were five people who looked like officers and soldiers of the Ministry of internal affairs. Maybe they saw the fate of their companions at the door. They did not dare to block our way, but respectfully invited us in. But for the sake of safety, I left two soldiers in charge of monitoring and guarding them.


    The broad corridor on the second floor was covered with people. Most of them were not wearing military caps. It seemed that they were officers working in the building, not officers and soldiers of the Ministry of interior. Seeing our arrival, the officers who had been talking about it all shut their mouths, flashed to both sides and leaned against the wall, making way for us. When I passed by them, no one saluted me, but followed me with vigilant eyes.


    I saw two locked doors, two soldiers with live ammunition. Having just gained experience, I knew that these two men must be the Ministry of internal affairs, so I raised my hand to point at them and told Yushchenko and dornikov in the back: "send someone to watch them, let''s go in and see what happened."


    When we walked towards the door, the two soldiers tried to come up to stop them, but the guard behind me could not help but put the gun on their heads, and they were honest immediately. When I went to the door, I raised my hand to push the door, but at this time I heard a roar from inside: "what right does your interior department have to arrest an excellent commander who has made outstanding military achievements at will..."


    Hearing this, I immediately pushed the door open and went in without hesitation.


    In the office, a middle-aged colonel was on fire at a captain standing in front of him. From the blue hat on the captain''s head, I immediately guessed that he was an officer of the interior department, and he should also be the highest commander in command of today''s operation.


    Our gang poured into the office and immediately attracted the attention of the colonel and the captain. The Colonel stopped his anger, looked at me and asked, "who are you and why did you break into my office?"


    Instead of answering his question, I asked frankly, "who can tell me what''s going on here and why there are people from the interior department everywhere?"


    "Who are you, Comrade General?" The captain of the interior looked at me and asked coldly.


    When I heard his question, I only looked at dornikov, hoping that he would take the initiative to introduce me to his colleagues. Dornikov was a wise man. When I looked at him, he led the meeting. He stepped forward to the captain, pointed to me and said, "Comrade captain, let me introduce you. This is general o''shanina. He''s visiting relatives in cezland. I''m protecting him on Comrade Beria''s orders. "


    After listening to dornikov''s introduction, different expressions appeared on the faces of the colonel and the captain. The colonel was surprised, while the captain was shocked.


    They came up to me and raised their hands. The Colonel first reported to me, "Hello, comrade general, I''m Colonel Fairfield, commander of the seizland garrison."


    Then the captain also reported, "report to the general, I''m captain chergo of the interior department."


    After nodding to him with a smile, I turned to chelgao and asked him, "Comrade captain, can you tell me why you are here today?"


    It has to be said that belia''s name, for everyone, is a name that can not be underestimated, especially his subordinates, more and more deterrent. When Captain chelgao heard my question, he immediately replied honestly, "we are here to catch a traitor."


    "Traitor?" I heard this word for the second time today. I frowned and asked, "what traitor?"


    "An officer who had been captured by the German army." Fearing that I didn''t understand, chelgao added: "the supreme commander said," we have no prisoners of war, only traitors to our motherland. ". Since we found such traitors in the garrison headquarters, we must not let them go. So today I will bring people to arrest them. Who knows that after coming here, not only did Colonel felcher refuse to hand over the traitor voluntarily, but he tried every means to defend... "


    "Captain oshanin is not a traitor!" Without waiting for chergo to finish, Colonel felcht called out at the top of his voice, "he is a hero of his motherland. He was sent to cezland because he was seriously injured in the battle to defend Moscow."


    When I heard that the person to be arrested by the Ministry of internal affairs today was oshanin, and he was wearing a "traitor" hat, I couldn''t help being anonymous. I wanted to beat the captain in front of me. However, considering my own identity, I tried to restrain myself and asked in a smooth tone, "Captain chelgao, can you tell me how did your interior department know that captain oshanin had been captured?" Although I tried to be impartial and neutral, chelgao noticed that I was obviously partial to the garrison commander and replied nervously, "yes, Comrade General. Some time ago, we received orders from our superiors to find a soldier named oshanin and a child named alik. When we found out that captain o''shanin was working in the garrison headquarters, we immediately reported to the higher authorities. But unexpectedly, yesterday we learned by chance that captain oshanin had been captured by the German army in the first two days of the war. We suspected... "" you suspected! " Before he had finished, dornikov impolitely interrupted him. Although his rank is the same as that of cheeler, he is virtually higher than cheeler because he is from Moscow. Moreover, he has heard the name of oshanin. If I still don''t know my relationship with oshanin, I won''t have to stay in the Ministry of interior any more. Now that there is an opportunity to ease the relationship with me, he will certainly not give up easily. He will naturally stand in my position and speak for me: "Captain oshanin was captured when he was wounded, not when he took the initiative to lay down his arms. Comrade Beria is not only aware of this matter, but also the Supreme Commander himself. Since they haven''t said that o''chanin is a traitor, how can you, a little captain, call him a traitor? "¡° Well, Captain dornikov, needless to say. " Seeing chelgao blushed at being scolded by dornikov, I even stepped forward to make it over. After all, it was unwise for oshanin to stay in cezlan in the future and offend the people in the interior department rashly. Therefore, I made it big and small: "I think this may be a misunderstanding." When I said this, I looked at chergo deliberately. "I''m not wrong, comrade captain." Seeing that I had put the steps in front of him, chergo quickly gave me a grateful smile and said, "Comrade General, you are absolutely right. I think there must be some misunderstanding. Maybe our comrades in charge of affairs have been instigated and hoodwinked by the spies. That''s why such misunderstanding happened. "¡° Since it''s a misunderstanding, it''s OK. " I waved to chergo calmly: "Captain, if there''s nothing wrong, you can take your men back." When she heard me say this, she was pardoned, readily agreed, stood at attention, saluted me, and quickly walked out of the garrison commander''s office.

 Chapter 1071

    Seeing her walking out of the office, Yushchenko approached me and asked, "Comrade General, did you let him go like this?"


    I looked back at Yushchenko with a bitter smile and said, "if we don''t let him go, do we still have the right to detain him?" After that, I told dornikov, "Captain, please go outside and call all our people back. I''m afraid they won''t let captain chergo and his men leave without my order."


    To dornikov''s surprise, he asked carefully, "do you want to go now?"


    "Now, of course," I don''t want to talk to the garrison commander when someone I can''t trust stands next to me and gets in the way, so I find a reason to pay him. "If it''s a little later, maybe the two sides will fight."


    Dornikov wanted to stay in the office, but when I heard that, he had no choice but to go out and carry out my orders.


    When I, the garrison commander and Yushchenko were the only three people left in the office, I took two steps forward, reached out to Colonel felcht, took his hand, and said in a friendly way, "Comrade Colonel, I would like to express my sincere thanks to you for protecting your subordinates and saying good words for captain oshanin at the critical moment."


    He held my hand, looked at me with a blank face, and asked, "Comrade General, it''s my duty to protect my subordinates, but you have confused me. Why do you want to thank me for this?"


    I didn''t expect that, at this time, Fairfield was still confused. He didn''t know the superficial identity of o''chanin and me at all. I forced myself to smile, released his hand, turned to Yushchenko standing beside me and said, "Comrade captain, please explain the reason to the commander of the garrison."


    "Well, comrade colonel." Yushchenko, with a smile on his face, kindly reminded the garrison commander and said, "don''t you notice the names of the general and the captain? Is there any connection?"


    After listening to Yushchenko''s words, felshite frowned and thought hard. He still said something: "oshanin, oshanina, these two names sound like husband and wife." At this point, he suddenly stopped and asked me in surprise, "Comrade General, are you captain oshanin''s wife?"


    But without waiting for my answer, he immediately shook his head and denied it, and said to himself, "it''s impossible. Oshanin is just a captain, but you are a general. There is a big gap between you. How can it be?"


    "Nothing is impossible, comrade colonel." I can guess the doubts in felcht''s mind. If I were him, I would have the same doubts. Although women are particularly respected in the Soviet society, it is illogical that the wife''s position is so much higher than her husband''s, because I can only make it clear to him, so as to dispel his doubts: "I follow my husband''s surname, You will know that captain o''shanin and I are husband and wife. As for the difference in our level, it is due to special reasons. I can''t tell you for a moment. "


    After listening to me, he nodded at first, then shook his head abruptly, and said in a positive tone, "Comrade General, I just heard you say that you are here to visit your relatives, no doubt to see your husband oshanin?" Seeing that I nodded to confirm, I continued, "if you are really husband and wife, why have I never heard captain o''shanin mention you?"


    It took a long time for me to recover. I asked in an unbelievable voice, "no, comrade Colonel, I think you may be mistaken. How can he never mention me and the children?"


    After hearing what I said, felschmidt nodded solemnly and said, "yes, comrade general, Captain o''shanin is my most trusted subordinate, so we have a deep friendship and are frequent guests of my family. If he had a wife, he would not have said it. " At this point, he stopped for a moment, seemed to weigh the pros and cons, and then said, "he is now dating my niece, and intends to get married in a few months."


    "Comrade General," Yushchenko said to me in a low voice after listening to the words of felchester, "are we mistaken, Captain oshanin of the garrison headquarters may not be your husband at all, but a man of the same name?"


    I think Yushchenko''s statement is very reasonable. He may be a person with the same name. I''d like to ask Fairfield, but I don''t know what oshanin''s full name is. If I want to ask, I can''t, so I have to ask vaguely, "Comrade Colonel, can you tell me where Captain oshanin is now?"


    When he heard my question, he didn''t speak immediately. Instead, he took a wary look at Yushchenko beside me. Knowing his scruples, I quickly said, "Comrade Colonel, just say it. Captain Yushchenko is the person I trust most. You can say whatever you want in front of him."


    When I said this, I immediately got rid of the misgivings of Fairfield, and he said to me, "Comrade General, I was reminded last night that someone from the interior department would come to arrest captain o''shanin. What I can do is to arrange him to hide outside quietly, and then come back when things calm down. "


    "Captain, can you contact captain oshanin now?" In order to find out whether we are looking for the wrong person, I urged felshite to recruit oshanin back. In order to make him feel at ease, I specially stressed: "don''t worry, whether this captain oshanin is my husband or not, he will not be harassed by the staff of the interior department after he returns here. This is my guarantee to you."


    Although I said it with all my heart, Fairfield hesitated for a long time before he reluctantly agreed: "well, comrade general, since you say so, I will inform him to come back immediately. Just a moment, please


    Then he went to his desk, picked up the phone, dialed a number, and said to the phone, "Hello, is that barracks vallamovo? I''m the garrison commander of cezland. Please tell my deputy that the matter is over. Let him and captain oshanin rush back to the headquarters as soon as possible. Well, that''s it. I''ll hang up. "


    After he hung up, he came back to me and reported to me, "Comrade General, I have informed my deputy to return with captain o''shanin. You can see him in two hours at most." With these words, he found that Yushchenko and I were still standing in the room. He quickly asked us to sit down on the sofa, poured two cups of hot tea and put them on the small tea table in front of us.


    I looked down at the steaming teacup and couldn''t help asking another question: "by the way, comrade Colonel, when I came in, I saw many commanders standing in the corridor at the door. What are they doing here?"


    "What else can I do? Of course, I came to report my work. Unfortunately, once I was disturbed by the people in the interior department, it was a mess." When he said that, he quickly walked to the door, opened the door, and said to the outside in a loud voice, "OK, you all go back. You don''t work today. We''ll talk about anything tomorrow."


    When felschmidt came back, I asked again, "Comrade Colonel, may I ask you where you sent captain oshanin?"


    "There is a infantry regiment stationed in vallamovo in the north of the city. The head of the regiment is an old friend of mine." When he said this, he stopped for a moment to observe my reaction. Seeing that I looked as usual, he continued: "I asked my deputy to take o''shanin to the barracks to protect him, and agreed that only after receiving my phone call can they return to the city."


    At this time, there was a gentle knock at the door, then the door was pushed open, and dornikov, who had just been opened by me, reappeared at the door. After he closed the door, he quickly came to me, stopped in front of me, and reported, "Comrade General, all the soldiers at the door have withdrawn. In order not to affect the normal working order of the garrison headquarters, I found a place for them to stay in. When we leave, I will call them again."


    "Captain dornikov, you are right." Although I had a deep prejudice against the captain in front of me, I saw that he spoke for me today and arranged the accompanying soldiers after completing the task I assigned. I changed my attitude towards him. I pointed to the vacant seat beside Yushchenko and politely said, "you must be very tired after walking so far. Sit down and have a rest first."


    After dornikov sat down, he took advantage of the opportunity of felshite to help him pour tea and asked Yushchenko in a quiet voice: "what''s the matter, comrade captain?"


    "What''s the matter?" Yushchenko was stunned by his mindless question.


    Dornikov did not speak, just glanced at me. Yushchenko immediately understood, then shook his head, regretfully said: "Captain, from the current situation, we may recognize the wrong person, maybe just a person with the same name."


    "Ah, wrong?" Dornikov was shocked by the news. He asked suspiciously, "what''s the matter, can you tell me?"


    "It''s very simple, comrade captain." Before and after putting a cup of tea in dornikov''s face, felcht told me that he was guilty. He went back to his desk and began to read the papers. Since I can''t disturb him at the moment, I have the leisure to tell dornikov what''s going on: "listen to the colonel, this captain oshanin has never raised his marriage status to anyone. I think we may have mistaken the person. But it doesn''t matter for the time being. I can''t confirm whether I''m wrong until oshanin comes back. "


    Although he was reviewing the documents, he would not ignore the three of us. He also made a special phone call and asked people to send us a big dinner so that those of us who were tired of the food on the train could enjoy it.


    After we finished our dinner, some soldiers took away the tableware, and Fairfield finished his paperwork and came over to sit down and chat with me. At this moment, there was a gentle knock at the door. Then the door was pushed open from the outside and two dusty officers came in.


    As soon as he saw them, he was surprised. He stood up and welcomed them. At the same time, he said, "old man, you''re back at last. I''ve been waiting for you for a long time."


    The two men who came in were an elderly lieutenant colonel and a handsome young captain. I guessed that he might be oshanin, so I kept my eyes on him. Although a little kind-hearted, oshanin and I got together in a hurry at the headquarters on the outskirts of Moscow. We didn''t remember his appearance very well. What''s more, we haven''t seen him for such a long time. For a moment, I couldn''t confirm whether he was oshanin, Lida''s husband.


    Seeing a few words of exchange between the two of them, he came towards me, and I quickly got up from my seat. When the three men came up to me, felschmidt pointed to the commander and introduced them to me with a smile. "Comrade General, I''ll make an introduction for you. This is my political commissar, commander liutuote." Then he turned to liutuote and said, "this is general oshanina from Moscow. She''s here to visit her relatives."¡° Hello, Comrade General As soon as the words were finished, the expressionless liutuote raised his hand and saluted me. After I returned the salute, I turned my eyes to oshanin, who was standing beside me. As I was thinking about how to speak, oshanin stood at attention and saluted me. At the same time, he said, "Hello, general oshanina, nice to meet you." I didn''t say anything. I just looked carefully at the young captain in front of me. At the same time, I tried to extract Lida''s original memory to confirm whether he was the real oshanin¡° Comrade captain, do you know her? " Next to have been observing the words and colors of the fairest, see me so expression, lost no time to ask o''shanin. After hearing this, oshanin looked me up and down, shook his head, and then turned his head to reply to felcht, "Comrade commander, no, I have never seen general oshanina." Oshanin''s answer is like a thunderbolt beside me, because at this moment, I have confirmed through Lida''s original memory that the one standing in front of me is Lida''s husband, oshanin. But he actually said that he had never seen me before. What''s the matter? I took a deep breath, and when my mood was a little more stable, I tried to ask in a calm tone: "Captain o''chanin, please have a closer look. Have you never seen me?" Oshanin looked at me again for a long time, and finally shook his head and repeated the answer: "sorry, general oshanina, although your last name is exactly the same as mine, I really don''t know you."¡° Comrade general, is he the oshanin you are looking for On one side, Yushchenko saw that oshanin repeatedly denied knowing me. He couldn''t help interrupting and asked, "do we really recognize the wrong person?" My eyes fixed on o''shanin, with no emotional tone said: "Captain comrade, please confirm again, you really don''t know me?"¡° I''m sorry, Comrade General Oshanin replied with regret: "although I would like to know a general with such status as you, I''m really sorry. I haven''t seen you before."

 Chapter 1072

    Oshanin''s words made me feel embarrassed and crazy. I scolded wildly in my heart. Hell, I finally summoned up the courage to come to see o''shanning instead of the real Rita, but he didn''t know her. Didn''t he say that he loved Rita most? How could he stand in front of him, but he didn''t want to know each other? Is there any secret?


    Just as I was daydreaming, o''shanin, who was standing opposite me, took off his big cornice hat. I was shocked to see him take off his hat. There was a big bald patch in the middle of his thick hair, and there was a long scar on his scalp.


    After I saw it clearly, o''shanin put on his cap again and said to me with apology, "Comrade General, you can see that my head was badly damaged in the battle. When I woke up in the rear hospital, I found that my memory was blank. Except for a few memories of the war, I didn''t remember anything else."


    It turned out to be amnesia. While I was shocked, I also felt a little lucky. Since oshanin didn''t remember Rita, I didn''t have to worry about the possibility of wearing a band. Stay in cezland for one night, and tomorrow you can visit alik in the children''s home in the city of tauriati.


    Seeing that I didn''t speak, the room fell into silence. Finally, dornikov took the lead in breaking the silence: "Captain oshanin, please allow me to introduce to you that this general oshanina is your wife. You two have a son named alik, who is five years old this year."


    "My son alik?" When hearing what dornikov said, oshanin raised his eyebrows and said, "since I have a wife and a son, why can''t I remember at all?"


    Seeing the blank look on oshanin''s face, I quickly explained to him, "because your head has been injured and you have amnesia, so it''s normal that you can''t remember the past."


    "Amnesia..." o''xia Ning slightly frowned and rubbed the temple with his fingers: "because of this reason, I can''t remember what happened before."


    "I think so." Dornikov nodded and said softly, "otherwise you would not even remember who Comrade General is."


    Oshanin was dubious of dornikov''s statement. He gave a wry smile, and his young and handsome face was filled with helplessness: "Comrade captain, are all the words you just said true?"


    "Is there a fake here?" For oshanin''s suspicion, dornikov''s face became very ugly. If it wasn''t for me, he might have attacked oshanin: "there was nothing wrong with the information investigated by our Ministry of internal affairs."


    Hearing that the captain in front of him was actually from the Ministry of internal affairs, o''shanin''s face was a little flustered, but he soon calmed down and asked carefully, "Comrade captain, I want to know when the Ministry of internal affairs began to investigate me?"


    When dornikov heard this question, he turned to look at me and saw that my face was expressionless. Then he said, "about ten days later, the local staff of the interior department began to look for the relatives of general oshanina after receiving the order from the superior. As a result, only two days later, they successfully found you and your son alik."


    When they were talking, I didn''t know what to say to oshanin. Since he lost his memory, I didn''t need to paste it automatically, so I turned and walked back to the sofa. After sitting down again, I said to all the people in the room, "well, don''t stand up and talk. Let''s all sit down."


    After he sat down on the empty sofa next to me, he also called to his men: "liutuote, oshanin, don''t stand, both of you, sit down."


    As oshanin sat down, Forsk patted him gently on the shoulder and comforted him. "Captain oshanin, don''t worry. We''ll figure it out."


    After everyone was seated, I was the first to stand up and say, "let me explain this. Some time ago, I returned to Moscow from Kiev. When I met Marshal Zhukov, he took the initiative to talk about oshanin and the children, so I asked him to inquire for me.


    As I have lost contact with oshanin for more than a year, I didn''t hold any hope for such inquiry. Who knows, two days ago, I unexpectedly heard from Comrade belia about o''shanin and the child. At first, I still had some scruples. It seemed a little inappropriate for me to go to gubishev state to visit my relatives when thousands of Red Army officers and men did not have the right to visit their relatives during the war. But Comrade Stalin gave me half a month''s holiday to visit my relatives here. For my safety, he even sent captain dornikov to accompany me to protect my safety. "


    When I spoke, I paid special attention to the three of them, I found that when they heard Beria''s name, their faces became very ugly. But when I heard that the visit was approved by the Supreme Commander himself, I was surprised.


    As soon as I finished, dornikov stood up to prove it to me: "yes, what general oshanina said is true. Comrade belia sent me to protect her safety and solve all the problems she might encounter in the process of visiting her relatives. "


    "All the trouble?" This sentence immediately aroused the interest of felcht. When dornikov finished, he could not help but ask in surprise: "Captain, I see that you have a lot of entourage this time, and they are all well-equipped. Even if you are attacked by a small group of enemies on the road, you are more than enough to deal with it."


    When I heard this, I understood that he had misunderstood belia''s words and quickly explained to him, "Comrade Colonel, I think you may have misunderstood me. The trouble captain dornikov is going to solve for me is not to point out the enemy that may appear on the way, but to cope with the situation that happened a few hours ago. "


    "So it is. I see." When I said this, felcht understood. He nodded in agreement and said, "in the situation just now, the role played by Captain dornikov is really hard to be replaced by others." With these words, he turned to oshanin and asked, "Captain oshanin, I want to hear what your plans are?"


    Oshanin didn''t expect that felshite would suddenly ask him such a question, and suddenly he looked a little flustered. It took me a long time to say, "Comrade commander, I will obey your orders."


    "Comrade General, I have a suggestion. I don''t know whether to say it or not?" "Said firester, looking at me carefully.


    I saw his caution from his look, so I answered very readily, "Comrade commander, if you have anything, just say it. I''m all ears."


    "Captain oshanin has lost his memory of the past. If you want to remind him of the past, you may need to talk to him alone. But some words are inconvenient to say in such an environment. I''m going to ask you to arrange a quiet environment to talk about the past slowly. " "Do you think this is appropriate?" he asked tentatively after expressing his ideas


    I thought it was a very good proposal, so I nodded and agreed, "Comrade commander, you have considered it very carefully, so please arrange a place like this for us."


    Seeing that I agreed with him, the expression on his face became relaxed. He turned around and said to oshanin: "Captain, you go to our guest house to have a rest. By the way, remember the past."


    "But..." o''shanin''s face was embarrassed by the order of felshite.


    "Nothing but, comrade captain." "I''ll call the director of the guest house and ask him to arrange the room," he said bluntly. You''re going to take the general to the guest house right now. It''s my order


    Seeing that felshite''s attitude was so tough, oshanin could only obey orders honestly even if he was unwilling to do everything. He came up to me and said with a smile on his face, "Comrade General, please follow me. I''ll take you and your department to the guest house."


    I shook hands with Fairfield and liutuote and walked out of the office behind oshanin.


    On the way to the guest house, I asked oshanin with a smile, "oshanin, where is the guest house? Is it far from here?"


    Oshanin shook his head and replied, "not far, Comrade General. It''s just behind the garrison headquarters building, only one or two hundred meters apart. It only takes a few minutes to walk there. "


    When I heard that his address to me was still so official, I quickly said to him, "o''shanin, I have something to remind you."


    Perhaps my tone of voice was too severe, which frightened o''shanin. He asked nervously, "Comrade General, I don''t know what it is?"


    "Please don''t call me Comrade General any more, will you?"


    "No problem, Comrade General." Hearing this, he nodded his head desperately, and then asked me, "what should I call you later?"


    "Just as before, call me Rita." In order to let him not be nervous, I specially stressed: "also, don''t use ''you'' but ''you'', understand?"


    "I see, general..." halfway through, he immediately realized his mistake and quickly corrected it: "I see, Rita."


    For his response, I smile with satisfaction, and continue to walk with him to the three-story guest house not far away.


    When we got to the gate of the guest house, we saw several people waiting there, led by a lieutenant. Seeing our appearance, the men immediately came over. The lieutenant came up to me, leaned forward slightly, stretched out his hands to me, and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade general, I''m the director of the guest house. I''ve just received a call from the commander, so I''m here with my staff to wait for you. "


    "Director Comrade," o''hsianing obviously knew the director. After he nodded to the other party, he asked frankly, "is the room that the commander asked you to prepare ready?"


    "Certainly, Captain oshanin." After answering o''shanin''s question, the director gave me a passage and said, "Comrade General, I have arranged the rooms for you and captain o''shanin on the third floor, while the rooms for your subordinates, ordinary soldiers and commanders are on the first floor and the second floor."


    After walking into the guest house, the director of the hotel introduced me to him and said, "Comrade General, our canteen is at the end of the first floor. Breakfast is served from 6:30 to 7:30, lunch from 11:30 to 12:30 and dinner from 6:00 to 7:00. If you need anything, you can call the duty room at any time, and our staff will arrange it for you. " After the director took us to the room on the third floor, he kept on talking, which made me upset. He raised his hand to interrupt his later words and politely said, "OK, comrade director, if there''s anything, I''ll call you." But the director didn''t leave immediately. He stopped in the room as a light bulb and continued to ingratiate himself by asking, "do you want me to prepare dinner for you? It''s long past dinner time, but I can arrange for someone to redo it for you. "¡° No, comrade director. I had dinner with the garrison commander. " With these words, I wanted to coax the director out, but suddenly I thought that oshanin was in a hurry to come back from other places. Maybe he hadn''t eaten yet, so I changed my mind and turned to ask oshanin, "have you had dinner?"¡° Yes, "oshanin gave me a positive answer." I simply ate it on my way back to town. " It''s said that o''shanin has had dinner, so the talkative director doesn''t need to stay in the room any more, so I waved to him and gave the last order: "OK, comrade director, we''ve all had dinner. You''d better go back to work first. Captain o''shanin and I have something important to talk about."¡° Yes, yes The director stepped back out of the room and closed the door for me. Before closing the door, he also said a meaningful: "have a good time!" When I heard the director''s words, if it wasn''t for the sake of keeping a brilliant image in front of oshanin, maybe I would grab something and smash it at him. He is really a talkative man. When there were only me and oshanin left in the room, I asked him to sit down at the table. Then I sat opposite him and said with a smile, "dear oshanin, now there are only two of us left. It seems necessary for us to have a good talk and recall the good times we used to have together to see if it can help you recover your memory. "

 Chapter 1073

    Seeing that there were only two of us left in the room, oshanin seemed to be restrained, especially when his eyes swept the row of medals in front of my chest. He suddenly stood up in embarrassment and confusion. Seeing that he was at a loss, I became more and more steadfast. I knew that tonight''s solitude, apart from heart to heart, would not happen any more stories.


    In order to relieve oshanin''s nervousness, I raised my hand and pressed it down. I said to him with a smile, "don''t stand. Sit down. We are husband and wife. You don''t have to be so formal. If you don''t want to talk, please be an audience and listen to me tell you the story between us. I hope that my story can help you recover your lost memory. "


    After sitting down, o''shanin didn''t speak to my proposal, but nodded silently to show his approval.


    When I was about to tell o''shanin the story of him and Li Da, I suddenly found that there was too much to tell. I couldn''t tell you in a few words. I can''t help muttering to myself: "how to say, I can almost write a book about your experience. Where should I start?"


    "Rita," o''shanin suddenly said in a tone changing voice, "please start from the time we met. Maybe this kind of coherent narration can make me think about the starting point."


    "Well, I''ll start with how we met." In order to recall the love story between Rita and oshanin, I said it very slowly: "it was a party organized by the school before the war between our ninth graders and the border guards. My classmates and I sat in the audience watching the frontier soldiers perform how to train military dogs. I saw a military dog jump up at your command and come over. The nearest to you and afraid of dogs, I screamed out. When you hear my cry, you immediately stop the dog and look at me in the audience with an apologetic smile.


    That night, we had a party with the frontier soldiers in the club. The light in the club is brilliant, and people dance with the light waltz. I can''t dance, so I sit alone on the bench and watch everyone dance. Inadvertently looking back, I saw that you were also sitting on the bench, and it seemed that you couldn''t dance either. Blushing again and again, I declined the girl who invited you to dance. And the loyal army dog has been following you, honestly lying at your feet.


    You also saw that I was peeping at you, and then you laughed at me. At that time, I blushed with shame and quickly sat upright, staring at my hands. At this time, another girl came to invite you to dance with her. When you refused to the girls, the military dog stood up from the ground and quietly came to me... "


    I have just said this when a knock at the door interrupts my story. I stood up, went to the door, opened the door, did not wait to see the people outside, dissatisfied to say: "what''s the matter?"


    "Comrade General," a woman''s voice sounded outside, "I''ve been ordered by my director to bring you tea."


    When I heard that it was tea for us, I was embarrassed to get angry with others, so I had to put my body aside, put my hand inside and said, "please come in."


    With my permission, the waitress standing outside came in with a big plate. This is a middle-aged woman with short hair. She went to the table and put cups, teapots, plates with sugar, plates with white bread, sliced sausages and canned stewed pork on the table in front of o''shanin.


    I looked at these things on the table, especially the can written in English, which made me very curious. I asked the waitress, "Comrade waiter, I want to ask, where does this can of pork come from?"


    "Where else can I come from, Comrade General?" The waitress replied with a smile, "of course, it''s American allies who help us. Although we''ve got a lot of tins in the hostel, the director of the hostel only serves important guests." Speaking of this, she was silent for a moment, and then asked cautiously, "Comrade General, you are not a communist, are you?"


    "No, I''m not." I knew the reason why she asked, so I immediately denied it. Then I tactfully gave her the order of visiting: "well, comrade waiter, there''s nothing more for you. You can go now."


    The waitress must have been instructed by the director. Listen to me, I don''t talk nonsense, so I just walk out with the big plate. Before going out, she turned to point to a telephone beside the bed and said to me, "Comrade General, if you have any orders, you can call the person on duty. The number is three zeros."


    "I see, waiter. Thank you for bringing us tea." With that, I closed the door.


    I went back to the table and said to o''shanin who was sitting there, "honey, I think you should be hungry after such a long dinner. Have something to eat. We eat and talk... "


    In order not to make oshanin feel constrained, after I said this, I picked up the teapot and poured tea into the cup in front of oshanin.


    When the tea was full, oshanin took a sip from his cup, then looked at me and said, "Rita, please go on. I''d like to try the next story to wake up my memory."


    I nodded and sat down. When I wanted to continue talking, I forgot where I had talked, so I asked oshanin, "honey, what did I just say?"


    "When I turned down the invitation of her classmate on the misunderstanding, the military dog sneaked up to you." Seeing that I couldn''t remember where the story just happened, oshanin immediately gave me a hint.


    "Well, I remember. That''s it." His reminder made me immediately connect the plot in my mind, so I went on to say: "I was afraid of dogs since I was a child. When I saw military dogs coming to me, I tried my best to shrink back. Although I was scared, I didn''t want to scream because it was too humiliating. The army dog kept wagging its tail and head to show me friendship, which made me even more afraid. Fortunately, you found the dog''s behavior in time, you whistled, the general called back to his side.


    Then you got up and came over and said to me apologetically, "I''m sorry. I think my army dog scared you. I''m sorry." After that, you are about to leave. But just after a step, you stop and say to me, "it''s called Sasha. It looks like it likes you very much. If you like, you can try to touch its head."


    In your encouraging eyes, I tried to stretch out my hand. Before I touched Sasha''s head, I was scared back. However, with your repeated encouragement, I finally touched Sasha''s hairy head. He gently put his head on my palm, and his round eyes showed pure joy.


    After introducing ourselves, we went to the dance floor to dance. When you clumsily holding my waist and standing on the dance floor, you find that neither of us can dance. We walk around like other people, but we don''t know how to keep our feet in line. We clumsily around the dance floor, attracted people''s laughing eyes


    When I said this, I could not help but smile on my face. And o''shanin didn''t know why I was laughing, so he laughed a few times.


    Then I talked about the detailed process of Rita''s association with oshanin, which made me thirsty. I looked at the empty teacup in front of me and just wanted to pour myself a cup of tea from the teapot. I didn''t expect that oshaning had stood up, picked up the teapot on the table and poured tea into my cup.


    After thanking me habitually, I took a cup of tea and took a few sips. When I didn''t feel uncomfortable, I continued to tell the story of Rita and oshanin''s marriage: "after we got off the tram that day, we went directly to the marriage registry. Although we are the first pair to register, the staff who can handle the formalities have not relaxed the requirements for audit. He looked both of us up and down with cautious eyes.


    Then he asked me, "girl, how old are you?"


    "18 years old." As I have not yet reached the age of marriage, I am a little nervous in answering this question.


    My abnormality was immediately detected by the staff. He said without moving his face, "I don''t think so."


    "I''m really 18 years old." I''ll stick to my head and continue to quibble.


    Who knows that the staff coldly said: "if I say it''s not like, it''s not like."


    When you see that the situation is not right, you immediately say, "can you register for us first, and then we will send you the documents proving your age?"


    "It does not meet the legal marriage age and cannot be registered." The official staff said that and then they lost our certificates.


    "Let''s go." You see, I can''t get a marriage certificate here, so I packed up the documents on the desk and ran out of the marriage registry with my hand. After going out, you comforted me and said, "if we don''t register here, we''ll go to the next marriage registration office. Someone will do it for us."


    When I said this, oshanin couldn''t help interrupting and asked, "have we successfully registered our marriage at the second marriage registry?"


    "Honey, don''t worry. Listen to me slowly." Although oshanin was anxious to know the final result, I continued at my own pace: "your performance in the marriage registration office showed me your obstinacy. You hold my hand tightly and rush to another marriage registry. Walking in the street, we bump into pedestrians from time to time, causing each other''s eyes. Although you keep saying sorry to pedestrians, you never let go of my hand.


    When we arrived at another registration office, we just met a couple of new people who had just registered at the door. They came out of the door surrounded by relatives and friends. The festive atmosphere infected you, and you immediately took it as a good omen. You let go of my hand, carefully arranged your uniform, and then happily said to me, "here''s the chance."


    We walked quietly and solemnly into the registration office. As soon as you see the staff sitting behind the desk, you can say to them, "Hello, comrade staff. We want to register for marriage. "


    "Have you registered in advance?" The staff looked up at us, then asked without expression.


    You shake your head and say, "No."


    When you said that there was no appointment, the staff said coldly, "I''m sorry, we''re off work." With that, he stood up and went out with his little book


    "Ah, we got to the second marriage registry, and we still didn''t register?" Normally speaking, the most wonderful experience of Rita and oshanin should resonate with oshanin, but he still has no response at the moment, just regretting the failure in the second marriage registration office.


    "Yes, not only did the second one fail, but the third marriage registry still failed." I said with a smile: "looking at the time getting later and later, I feel that the probability of successful registration is getting smaller and smaller. When I plan to give up, I find a new marriage registry again. This time you changed your strategy and let me stay outside. You go first and talk to the staff. I waited outside for about ten minutes before you came out again and told me that it was basically a success. After I went in, I found out that you had been chatting with the staff about your military dog Sasha, which aroused his great interest and generated a good impression on you. It is because of this that you come out and call me in when you think things are in order. Although the staff refused our request again because I was not old enough. But he still kindly advised us to go to the city defense commander, saying that as long as he came forward to speak, he could get us a marriage certificate. We listened to the staff''s advice and went to the city defense headquarters to find the commander. Unexpectedly, without saying a word, the commander immediately called the marriage registration office and asked the other party to handle the marriage certificate for us. In the evening, he held a grand wedding for us in the headquarters. " Speaking of this, I suddenly thought of the staff member who helped us to go through the registration procedures. Later, he became my subordinate. So I said to oshanin, "by the way, I met that staff member again later. He stayed in the independent division under my command and took part in the defense of Stalingrad." Before I had finished, the bedside phone suddenly rang. Listening to the sudden ringing of the bell, I can not help but frown, heart said that the director of the guest house is really troublesome, said that he did not disturb me, but did not listen. If you don''t want to answer the phone, it just keeps ringing over and over again. In addition, o''charnin keeps looking back at the phone, then looks back at me and asks me if I answer the phone with inquiring eyes. In this case, I can''t ignore this harassment call, so I went to pick up the phone, put it in my ear and asked, "Hello, I''m o''shanina. Where are you?" The director''s flattering voice came from the microphone: "Comrade General, it''s me."¡° I heard it. "I heard the call from the director. I asked angrily," what''s the matter? "¡° Well, Comrade General. " Although the director recognized the unhappiness in my tone, he continued: "I''m sorry to disturb you and the captain''s reminiscence, but now I''ve made a long distance call from Moscow to find you. Do you want me to connect you?" When I heard that it was a long-distance trip from Moscow, I knew there must be something important. I immediately said, "thank you, comrade director. Please put the phone in."¡° OK, comrade general, please wait a moment A moment later, Zhukov''s familiar voice came from the receiver: "Hello, Rita, this is Zhukov."¡° Hello, comrade marshal. " Although Zhukov was thousands of miles away, I habitually straightened up and politely asked, "do you have any instructions when you call so late?"

 Chapter 1074

    Zhukov said with a smile: "Rita, I just called the commander of the garrison in cezland, and he told me that you and your husband oshanin are currently together. Well, I''m not disturbing you, am I His last sentence was obviously ironic.


    I gave a wry smile and answered, "Comrade marshal, how can that happen. We''re just reminiscing about some of our previous experiences. "


    "What? Are you alone just to remember the past? " Zhukov asked, puzzled, as I said.


    "Well, comrade marshal." I didn''t want to entangle in this matter, so I directly explained the actual situation to Zhukov: "o''shanin had amnesia because of his previous head injury, and he can''t remember me at all. I''m just trying to get him to remember


    "What, amnesia?" Zhukov didn''t expect that the reunion of o''shanin and I was like this. He was surprised and asked, "what are you going to do? Do you need me to arrange for him to come back to Moscow for treatment?"


    "Thank you for your kindness, comrade marshal. Not for the time being." After I politely rejected Zhukov''s kindness, I thought that he could not call me in the middle of the night to chat with me. There must be something important. So I asked him directly, "do you have any instructions?"


    Listening to my question, Zhukov immediately laughed: "Rita, you are really not simple. Before I speak here, you can guess that I have something to look for you."


    From my conversation, o''shanin knew who the caller was. He quickly stood up from the table, pointed out the door with his finger, and opened his mouth to say a few words in silence. I guess from his lip punishment that he asked me if I need to go out and report, because he was not qualified to listen to my dialogue with the Soviet marshal. I waved to him, indicating that he didn''t have to go out and just stay here.


    "When can you go back to Moscow?" Zhukov suddenly asked.


    "What, back to Moscow?" I didn''t react for a moment, and said in a dazed way: "Comrade Stalin gave me half a month''s holiday. How can I stay in gubishev for ten days?"


    Zhukov''s voice came from the earphone: "we rebuilt the Sixth Army, and originally appointed lieutenant general chisjakov as commander. However, he had a traffic accident this afternoon, and the situation is still very serious. It is estimated that he will not be able to perform his duty as commander of the group army for a long time. "


    When I heard this, I was shocked and my heart beat faster. My heart said, did Zhukov call me in the middle of the night to let me be the commander of the Sixth Army? In that way, I will have the opportunity to take part in the Kursk battle which started in early July and build a greater merit.


    Soon I heard what I wanted to hear from my earphone: "after discussion with vasilevsky, I decided to change you to commander of the sixth group army, which is subordinate to the Voronezh front army of general vatukin. Do you have any questions? "


    "No, no problem, comrade marshal." As soon as Zhukov''s words were asked, I immediately couldn''t wait to reply, "I''m determined to obey your arrangement." After that, I stopped for a moment, and then asked, "I don''t know what troops are in the newly formed Sixth Army?"


    Zhukov answered my question very readily: "Rita, I knew you would ask this question, so I prepared in advance. Listen, the sixth group army was reorganized from the 21st group army, including the 51st, 52nd, 67th and 71st divisions of the guard infantry, and the 325th and 375 divisions of the infantry. There are also two tank brigades, three artillery regiments, and one of the most powerful close guard rocket battalion. Well, are you satisfied with your troops? "


    Before Zhukov''s voice fell, I was busy answering, "satisfied, satisfied, just too satisfied." I calculated to myself that although there were only six infantry divisions, two tank brigades, three artillery regiments and one rocket battalion, the total number was at least 60000 or 70000, which was quite a lot. What''s more, I always say to those who have never commanded so many troops, what''s more, what''s not enough?


    Zhukov told me briefly, "since you have no opinion, come back as soon as possible."


    Although Zhukov said it lightly, I dare not take it lightly. If I return to Moscow as soon as possible, I will end my holiday on my own initiative, and I don''t know that it will cause much trouble. So I asked cautiously, "but, marshal, comrade Stalin gave me half a month''s holiday at the beginning. As a result, I only stayed outside for a few days and I had to go back to cancel my holiday. Won''t it make the Supreme Commander angry?"


    "No, Rita." Zhukov confidently said to me: "I have reported this matter to Comrade Stalin. Even if you come back immediately to cancel your leave, there will be no problem."


    "Well, I''ll be back as soon as possible." When I said this, I was still thinking that I would take the evening train to Moscow after meeting Alek in the city of tauriati tomorrow.


    Who knows when I was thinking like this, Zhukov added: "May 5 is Marx''s birthday. In the afternoon of that day, we will hold a small memorial ceremony in Marx square. I hope you can appear on time."


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was the early morning of May 4th. That is to say, I had to take the early bus to catch up with the celebration ceremony in Moscow. However, since Zhukov''s words have been exported, it is unrealistic for him to take them back, so I can only eliminate the idea of tauriati.


    I put down the phone and thought about it. Then I picked up the phone again and dialed the phone on duty. After two rings, someone on the opposite side picked up the phone immediately, and then a lazy voice came from the earphone: "Hello, where are you?"


    I recognized the voice of the director of the guest house and said, "Comrade director, I''m o''shanina."


    Hearing my report, the other party''s voice suddenly became energetic: "it''s Comrade General. You haven''t had a rest so late. Do you have any instructions?"


    "Comrade director, I''ll get rid of you two things." Now that time is pressing, I will not beat around the bush with each other, but directly say: "first, I want to get back to Moscow as soon as possible, so please help me book the earliest train back to Moscow; 2¡¢ You call two of my men and ask them to come to my room immediately to report. "


    "Comrade General, you''ve just come here. Why are you so anxious to leave?" Director is a wordy person, he did not simply accept my orders as ordinary soldiers, but talked about it. After a few words, he may have heard my silence and realized his gaffe. He quickly changed his tone and said, "Comrade General, please don''t worry. I will carry out your order right away."


    Putting down the phone again, I went back to the table and said apologetically to oshanin, "I''m sorry, honey, it seems that our reminiscence is going to be rescheduled. I''ve just received an order from my superiors that I should go back to Moscow as soon as possible to accept a new task. "


    O''xianing nodded and said repeatedly, "I know, I know. I almost heard the conversation between you and marshal just now." Then he stood up and reached out to me with a sincere smile on his face and said, "Rita, congratulations on your more important appointment."


    My God took his hand and gave him a little shake. Then he took it back and said, "by the way, my dear, our child is now in the children''s home in the city of tauriati. Please take time to see him." Seeing o''shanin nodding his approval, I suddenly remembered that he had lost his memory. I couldn''t even remember who he was, let alone the child I hadn''t met for such a long time. I hastened to add, "the child''s name is Alek. Don''t forget it."


    "Don''t worry, I''ve kept it in mind. I won''t forget it..." before he finished his words, there was a quick knock on the door. At the same time, Yushchenko''s anxious voice came from the outside: "general, please open the door, please open the door."


    I walked to the door and opened the door. As soon as the door opened, with the help of the light from the door, I saw that besides Yushchenko, dornikov also stood outside. He quickly put his body to one side, waved his hand to the inside and said, "you two are coming very quickly. Don''t stand outside, come in."


    After they came in, they stood in front of me and straightened up. Yushchenko asked, "Comrade General, I don''t know what''s important for you to come to us so late?"


    Before I could speak, oshanin came over and said politely, "Rita, you have something important to do. It''s not suitable for me to stay here, so I''ll go back first."


    "Well, well, you go back first." I listened to his words, did not care, just casually said: "it''s late, you remember to rest early."


    After seeing o''shanin''s figure disappear from the door, Yushchenko asked me strangely, "Comrade General, why did you let your husband leave?"


    Yushchenko''s words made me realize that there was really no need for oshanin to leave. When I talked with Zhukov just now, I didn''t ask him to avoid him. Now that he has left, I can''t chase him back. I can only make a mistake.


    Instead of answering Yushchenko''s words, I announced to them directly: "I just got a call from Marshal Zhukov, who ordered me to go back to Moscow as soon as possible. So our plan to go to the city of tauriati in the daytime was cancelled. You go back immediately and call up all the soldiers. We''ll get to the railway station as soon as possible and take the earliest train back to Moscow. "


    "Comrade General," said dornikov, who had not spoken since he entered the door. "I don''t know what''s urgent. You can''t wait to return to Moscow even if you don''t have time to visit your son. Can you tell me why?"


    If dornikov was my old subordinate, I would certainly face a blank face and say in an official voice, "don''t you know that the orders of the higher authorities are not allowed to discuss and can only be carried out?" However, he was only the person arranged by the superior to protect my safety, so I could only patiently explain to him: "Comrade Marshal said on the phone that I had been appointed commander of the reconstructed sixth group army, and I must go back to Moscow immediately to take office. And more importantly, on the afternoon of the 5th, there was an important celebration in Marx square, which I had to attend. "


    As soon as I finished, dornikov realized the seriousness of the matter. He volunteered and said, "I''ll go and call the soldiers up first and let them be ready to start."


    I know that the 20 or so of us are not going to be able to leave, but we must make some preparations. So when he said that, he nodded and said with a smile, "go, comrade captain, call everyone up and let them get ready to start. After the director of the hostel has bought us a ticket for our return, we''ll set out immediately. " Not long after dornikov left in a hurry, the telephone rang in the room. I picked it up and found that it was the director. When he heard my voice, he immediately reported to me, "Comrade General, there is a train for Moscow at 3:30 in the morning. I have bought the ticket. I''ll send it to you now. Do you think it''s all right? "¡° No, comrade director. " I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was almost two o''clock. With the wordy character of the director, I didn''t know how much time it would take to get to my room, so I ordered him: "you just wait for us in the hall, and I''ll pick up the ticket when I get down later." Five minutes later, all of us gathered in the hall. Although there were about 20 people, no one spoke. The hall was still very quiet and did not disturb other guests. The director came up to me, held up a ticket in his hand, and said in a flattering way, "Comrade General, the tickets are here. Please keep them." I took the ticket, handed it to Yushchenko, and asked the director with a smile: "director Comrade, how much is the total number of tickets, so I can give it to you." As soon as I spoke, not only the director was stunned, but also dornikov around me gave a strange "eh". Seeing their reaction, I was a little confused. Yushchenko reminded me in a low voice: "Comrade General, it''s during the war. We don''t need money to buy tickets." Hearing what Yushchenko said, the director of the Institute echoed: "yes, soldiers don''t need money to buy tickets. They just need to provide the number of their troops and their name, rank and position when buying tickets." When I left the guest house and headed for the station, I considered that the night was a time of martial law, and we didn''t have a pass. If we let the patrol continue to investigate, we might miss the train. So I called dornikov in front of me and said, "Captain, take your men and go ahead. As soon as we meet the patrols, we will send them away in the name of your Ministry of internal affairs, so as not to delay our time. Do you understand? " Dornikov, who has been on a business trip with me, has been unable to act in his capacity as the Ministry of internal affairs. I think he is very frustrated. At this moment, hearing my order, he immediately agreed excitedly, and took his three subordinates to the front of the whole team. Yushchenko, who was walking beside me, looked at the four swaggering people in front of me and whispered to me a little unhappily, "Comrade General, how can you let them go so freely? You know, people in the interior department have to find fault with others even if they don''t care. Now that you have given them the right, it''s strange that they won''t make trouble. " I understood Yushchenko''s psychology very well, so I explained to him in a low voice: "Captain Yushchenko, our time is limited. If we allow the patrol on the street to check again and again, we will miss the car. In extraordinary times, we need to use some extraordinary means. " What happened next proved that my arrangement was very suitable. At least five patrols, who had just come to stop us for interrogation, were sent away by dornikov using the identity of the Ministry of internal affairs. What''s even more unexpected is that after entering the railway station, dornikov found the station''s military representative and forced him to pack a sleeper car, so that all of us could stay together, instead of being scattered in different cars with the soldiers of the guard class. When the train started, Yushchenko, who was sitting in my box, said excitedly, "Comrade General, in about 30 hours, we will arrive in Moscow. Then you will be the official commander of the group army. In that case, I can call you as commander again."

 Chapter 1075

    Dornikov, who was sitting on one side, said faintly, "Comrade General, I congratulate you on your promotion. Please accept my respect." Then he got up from his seat, leaned forward slightly and stretched out his hands to me.


    I reached out to shake him and asked him to sit down.


    In the next 30 plus hours, our activity space is in this small train box. If we sit around all the time, we will be bored to the extreme. So after a moment of silence, I took the initiative to start a conversation and chatted with them.


    I said thoughtfully: "although the higher authorities appointed me commander of the sixth group army, because the troops were newly reorganized, I estimated that the remaining infantry divisions, except the guard division, were empty numbers with few soldiers."


    After what I said, Yushchenko and dornikov could not help looking surprised. After they looked at each other, dornikov said, "Comrade General, don''t you know that our army has a backup plan to reorganize the annihilated troops in a very short time?"


    "What, do we have a backup plan for quickly forming troops?" Dornikov''s statement surprised me. I turned my eyes to Yushchenko next to me. Seeing that he also nodded to confirm, I suddenly remembered that both of them were from the Ministry of internal affairs and must know many secrets I didn''t know. In order to find out what happened, I asked curiously, "I don''t know what kind of plan it is, Captain dornikov. Can you give me a detailed introduction?"


    My seemingly simple request made dornikov feel embarrassed. He turned to look at Yushchenko next to him and seemed to want to ask if he could tell me the backup plan. Yushchenko was also a smart man. Seeing dornikov turning his eyes, he knew what he meant. He nodded his head and said, "Captain, comrade commander may not really know this plan. Please give her a good introduction." He was deeply afraid that dornikov would not say anything. He added, "even if you don''t, Marshal Zhukov or Comrade belia will explain her after she returns to Moscow."


    Yushchenko''s words relieved dornikov''s worries. Regarding this mysterious "backup plan", he told me: "Comrade General, you also know that in wartime, the formation of troops mainly depends on personnel and equipment, among which the formation of command organization is the most important. With the power of an ordinary infantry division, there are two deputy division commanders in the division. One is responsible for assisting the division commander in carrying out his daily work, while the other has a secret duty, reserve division commander, in addition to participating in normal training and combat readiness; There are also two deputy chief of staff of the division, one of whom is the Reserve chief of staff of the division; By analogy, this is true of regiments, battalions, companies and even platoons. In other words, each division has a complete set of command as a backup.


    Once the war broke out and the infantry division was ordered to go to the front line, it would bring a deputy division commander, that is, the deputy division commander who assisted the division commander in carrying out his daily work, while another reserve division commander remained at the station. In the same way, the backup command organizations of the whole division from regiment to class are also left behind. In the shortest time, the additional soldiers will be formed into a new infantry division. "


    It''s the first time I''ve heard about this backup plan of the Soviet army, but it gives me a good impression that a new army can be set up in the shortest time with only one set of command organization. However, what kind of combat effectiveness such a newly formed army has is still open to question, so I can''t help but interrupt and ask: "Comrade captain, although we have a perfect command system, the military quality of recruits is generally not high. Can such a newly formed army have combat effectiveness?"


    "Comrade General, you are right." Dornikov politely replied, "this new infantry division is certainly not as effective as the division that just left for the front line, but it is a division after all. The new division commander is a well-trained and experienced commander who has been serving in the army for many years and is competent for the important task of the division commander. The commanders under him who served as commanders, battalion commanders and face commanders are also active commanders. They usually deal with our commanders and fighters and weapons and equipment of various divisions, have participated in strict military training and exercises, have excellent personal military skills, and have rich management experience. In addition, the new division, from the division commander to the next platoon leader, has worked together for many years and is very familiar with each other, which ensures the efficient operation of the new command organization. "


    When dornikov finished, I asked curiously, "Captain, although the troops have been set up, where do their weapons and ammunition come from? It''s not the same as the command system. Even weapons and ammunition are backed up, right


    "Comrade commander, I''ll explain this to you." Yushchenko took over the topic with a smile and said to me, "the new troops are all old-fashioned weapons. For example, when the original troops are reloaded, the obsolete weapons and equipment will not be melted away as scrap metal, but will be temporarily sealed up for the use of the newly formed reserve forces in the future. Because they are all old-fashioned equipment, the maintenance expenses are limited. But at the critical moment, these troops with old weapons can reinforce the well-equipped troops. It is precisely because of such a backup scheme that our army can always maintain a continuous supply of troops to supplement the front-line forces in the war. "


    The story of dornikov and Yushchenko suddenly made me realize. No wonder at the beginning of the patriotic war, the Soviet army suffered so serious losses. When millions of officers and soldiers were captured, it still maintained its abundant strength. Originally, it all benefited from this perfect backup plan. At the beginning, during the battle of Stalingrad, when I looked at the supplementary troops from the other side every day, I wondered why the Soviet army could organize so many troops in such a short period of time. Now I finally understand what happened.


    After a day on the train, we arrived at lower lovegorod. Seeing the train stop on the platform and start replenishing coal and water, dornikov stood up from his seat. Without waiting for me to ask, he took the initiative to report to me: "Comrade General, I plan to go to the military representative room at the station."


    "To the military representative office?" I don''t know why he said that, so I asked in surprise, "Comrade captain, what are you doing in the military representative office?"


    "Well, Comrade General." Dornikov truthfully reported to me: "because we left in a hurry and didn''t have time to report to Moscow, even when we arrived, it was a trouble for so many of us to go back to our respective places. So I''m going to make a phone call and report back to them about our return to Moscow. "


    Hearing this, I hastened to urge dornikov: "in this case, comrade captain, please contact your superiors as soon as possible, and ask them to prepare their vehicles and wait for us on the platform. I''m going to Marx square in the afternoon for a celebration. If I don''t have a car, I''m afraid I''ll be late. "


    "Don''t worry, Comrade General." Dornikov patted his chest and assured me, "I''ll do it right. When you get off the train, you''ll see the car that will pick you up."


    When dornikov left, Yushchenko said to me with a smile, "Comrade commander, I find that your attitude towards captain dornikov is becoming more and more friendly."


    As for Yushchenko''s statement, I didn''t refute it. Instead, I followed his meaning and said: "yes, Captain Yushchenko, although I had some misunderstandings with captain dornikov before, after this period of time, I also found that he was a very good young man, and his attitude towards him naturally changed."


    After about half an hour, dornikov returned to the car again. As soon as he got into the carriage, he reported to me, "Comrade General, I''ve made sure that our train will arrive in Moscow on time at 11:30 a.m., while Colonel bezikov and his men will wait for you at the station."


    When I heard dornikov say "arrive on time", I can''t help thinking of a paragraph, that is to say, no matter how late the Russian plane is, it can arrive on time. Thinking of this, I can''t help smiling. Dornikov didn''t expect that I just laughed at the thought of a paragraph. He thought I was satisfied with his report, and his face also showed a proud expression. After sitting in his seat, he chatted with Yushchenko.


    But after the train entered the Moscow railway station, the conductor, who had never been seen, appeared at the door of my box and said to me respectfully, "Comrade General, Moscow station is here. I''ll arrange for you and your men to get off first. "


    For the good intentions of the conductor, I naturally will not object, I nodded and said to him with a smile: "thank you, thank you, comrade conductor."


    Thanks to the care of the conductor, we got off the train first. As soon as I got to the platform, I saw Colonel bzikov, who had been waiting here for a long time. After he stood at attention and saluted, he said to me with a smile, "Rita, it''s hard work." Then he reached out to me.


    I took the Colonel''s hand and said gratefully, "Hello, Colonel bzikov. Thank you for coming to meet me in person. I hope my return has not brought you any inconvenience. "


    Bezikov said with a smile, "Rita, we''re all so familiar. Don''t talk to me like an adjutant. Get on the bus. The celebration should start in half an hour. If you don''t leave, we''ll be late. "


    I got into the car driven by bezikov himself, while Yushchenko, dornikov and the rest of the soldiers sat in the truck behind.


    After the car started, I turned to the driver and asked him, "Colonel, what''s the news in Moscow recently?"


    "There can be any news." Holding the steering wheel and concentrating on driving, bzikov said without looking back: "the biggest news is that you, the female general, are the commander of the 6th army."


    When I heard that I became a commander, it has become the headlines in Moscow recently. I can''t help but ask curiously, "what do you think of this?"


    Bzikov frowned and thought for a moment, then replied, "there are both supporters and opponents. The people who support you, needless to say, you should have guessed, are Marshal Zhukov, chief of general staff vasilevsky, commander of the central front army rokosovsky, young people''s commissar Comrade Ustinov and so on; Those who oppose you are mainly local cadres. Their reasons for opposition are very simple. They think that as a woman, it may be more suitable for you to work in the local area than in the army. "


    I really don''t care what other people think. I only care how the person who can decide everyone''s fate thinks about it. So I went on to ask, "what did Comrade Stalin say?" Don''t zikov said with a bitter smile: "Rita, you may not think that the person who first proposed to let you take up the post is the Supreme Commander himself, and those cadres who opposed you to take up the post of group army commander would try their best to oppose you to take up the post of group army commander only after pondering Comrade Stalin''s idea."¡° Since there is a lot of opposition, how was my appointment approved later? " I can''t help but feel very strange to hear that from bzikov. Under such circumstances, my appointment is usually put on hold, but it is passed. It''s really hard to understand¡° It''s very simple. " Holding the steering wheel in both hands, bzikov turned his head and looked at me quickly. Then he continued to look ahead and said, "after discussing with vasilevsky, Marshal Zhukov called on Ustinov, khrusholev, rokosovsky and others to find Comrade Stalin. After repeated statements, Comrade Stalin finally agreed not to think about letting you work in the local area, and appointed you commander of the Sixth Army. " I really didn''t expect that there were so many twists and turns in my appointment. It seems that it''s not a bad thing to have a good relationship with the big men in the army. At least at the critical moment, they can help me. When our car passed through Golgi street, I saw that the street where the tank columns were originally parked had become empty again. When the residents of the city could walk freely on this street again, it seemed like a dream to see those tank columns that could not be seen at a glance last time. I coughed and asked, "Colonel, have the tanks of the parade started to line up?"¡° The tank for the parade Bezikov was stunned at first, and then he understood what I was saying. He quickly waved his head and said, "if we want to install the troops first, we may wait until June at the earliest. At present, production has not officially started." When I heard him say this, I thought to myself that the battle of Kursk will begin in July, and the troops will be deployed in June. There will be more than a month to prepare. By that time, the commanders and fighters should have fully mastered the use of new equipment.

 Chapter 1076

    As soon as our car arrived near the National Grand Theater, it was stopped by the soldiers and traffic police under martial law. After bezikov stopped the car, a traffic policeman in a gray uniform and a cotton police cap went to the window on his side, raised his hand to salute, and politely said, "sorry, comrade commander, there is a celebration in front of you. Your car can''t go any further."


    "I know." After a simple reply, bzikov turned to me and said, "Rita, let''s get off here. Anyway, it''s not far away."


    I have been to this place many times. Naturally, I know that Marx square and the National Grand Theater are about 200 meters apart. It takes only a few minutes to walk, so I nodded and agreed, "OK, Colonel, let''s get off here."


    Bzikov turned around and drove into a parking space pointed out by the traffic police. When we got out of the car, Yushchenko and dornikov''s truck stopped next to us. Seeing the soldiers of the guard class jumping out of the car like dumplings, I called Yushchenko to him and told him, "Captain Yushchenko, you and the soldiers will stay here. I can go in alone with colonel bezikov."


    As we passed through the wide and empty streets, I couldn''t help asking bzikov, "Colonel, what are your plans for the future? Do you plan to stay in Moscow all the time?"


    After listening, bzikov sighed and said to me helplessly, "Rita, do you think I don''t want to go to the front line? The promotion of the front line is easier than that of the rear. You see, when I knew you, you were still a lieutenant, but now you are all lieutenant general. What about me? It''s still the colonel


    Hearing that bezikov wanted to go to the front line, I couldn''t help but feel excited. I thought that if he could go to my group army as chief of staff, or to the next division, it would be better. So I began to beat around the Bush to persuade him: "in this case, you can apply to your superiors. Now there is a shortage of commanders with rich combat experience everywhere, I think your request will be approved. "


    "It''s no use, Rita." Bezikov waved his hand and said with regret: "I have repeatedly proposed to Marshal Zhukov to go to the front line. Even general rokosovsky has said good things for me, hoping that I can go to his hands and become a brigade commander or deputy division commander, but Marshal comrades firmly do not agree."


    From his words, I heard his real idea, that is to say, as long as Zhukov allowed, he would still like to be a commander in the army below. So I had an urgent idea in my heart. I planned to talk to Zhukov later and try to let bzikov follow me to the 6th army. It''s always good to have someone who I know and trust around me.


    We unknowingly came to Marx square. It was said to be a square. In fact, it was only a small open space of two or three hundred square meters, with a three meter high marble statue standing in the middle. At the moment, there are more than one hundred officers and soldiers of the honor guard standing upright like pine trees in a neat square array beside the statue. On the front of Marx''s head, there are only a dozen people standing, of whom Stalin stands in the front. He is reading aloud a manuscript in his hand, and behind him are members of the supreme command or the Central Committee. But I and bezikov''s level is low, can''t stand side by side with the leader standing in front, can only quietly stand at the back of the whole team.


    The ceremony lasted for a short time. After reading the manuscript, Stalin turned around and said a few words to the leaders attending the ceremony, and then announced the end of today''s ceremony. With that, he took the lead to leave, accompanied by boskhlebeshev.


    With Stalin''s departure, the guards of honor, under the command of the officers, turned their direction and walked towards the red square with neat steps. After all the guards of honor were gone, the leaders who took part in the celebration scattered and went back to their work places.


    Zhukov turned to see me and waved to me to come to him.


    I quickly walked up to Zhukov. After standing at attention, I raised my hand to salute him and vasilevsky. At the same time, I politely said, "Hello, marshal and chief of general staff


    "Hello, Rita!" Vasilevsky asked amiably, "you just got off the train, right? Are you tired? Do you need to go back and have a rest first? What can I do for you tomorrow? "


    "No, not at all, comrade chief of the general staff." Although I am extremely tired at the moment, I still said with a swollen face: "I don''t know what instructions you have. I''m at your command."


    Zhukov said: "follow me!" With that, he turned and left. After two steps, he stopped, turned around, pointed to bezikov and said, "Colonel, come with me, too."


    Although I don''t understand the specific reason why Zhukov called bezikov, I vaguely realized that he might have something to do with me.


    When he got to Zhukov''s office, Zhukov asked me and bezikov to sit down, and then said to me, "Rita, I think Colonel bezikov has told you everything on your way here. Is that right? "


    "Yes, comrade marshal." Hearing Zhukov''s question, I quickly stood up and replied respectfully.


    "Sit down and say Zhukov raised his hand, pressed it down, motioned me to sit down, and then said, "according to Comrade Stalin''s idea, he is going to let you leave the army and go to work in the local area. Specific positions can start from the municipal Soviet leaders. According to your future performance, you may be promoted to a higher position. "


    "But Marshal Zhukov and I thought," interjected vassilevsky, who came to the office with us, "that you are still fit to serve in the army." When he said this, he looked at Zhukov, "we have contacted thousands of middle and senior commanders, but the capable commanders like you are very limited. If you are transferred to work in the local area, it will be a huge loss to our army. Based on this consideration, Marshal Zhukov and I went to the Supreme Commander several times to persuade him repeatedly, hoping that he would let you stay in the army for development. "


    Although I knew that my appointment as commander of the sixth group army had finally come without danger, when I heard that vasilevsky was talking about the process, my heart was still beating wildly.


    Finally, when vasilevsky finished speaking, Zhukov went on to say, "this time when you go to the sixth group army, I plan to send you some more deputies to help you, so that you will not be harmful to the work after you go as a bare commander." After a pause, he called out to bzikov, "Colonel bzikov."


    When Zhukov called his name, bzikov got up from his seat and stood straight like a flagpole, waiting for Zhukov to give orders. Zhukov said, "Colonel, after my study with Comrade vasilevsky, I have decided to send you to the sixth group army to take the post of deputy chief of staff. Do you have any opinions?"


    When bizikov heard Zhukov say this, he was stunned at first, and then his face showed a happy expression. He quickly shook his head desperately and said, "no, no opinions, comrade marshal. I am entirely at your command. "


    Zhukov took a look at him, and then said slowly, "since you don''t have any opinions, take the time to hand over your work and prepare to follow Rita to the 6th army."


    "Yes, comrade marshal." "When I get back, I''ll carry out the handover immediately," bzikov replied loudly


    I heard that Zhukov had arranged for bezikov to take the post of deputy chief of staff in my army. Although it was a bit unexpected, I was more happy. Who is the leader? He doesn''t want to be surrounded by a few people he can trust. Bizikov happens to be such a person.


    Before I could speak, Zhukov asked me, "Rita, I''m going to transfer an army to form a new guard regiment for you. Do you have any suggestions?"


    "No problem, comrade marshal." I had planned to let Yushchenko take charge of the formation of the guard regiment after I arrived at the 6th army. But Zhukov had thought about it in advance and made arrangements for me. To his this kind of arrangement, I gratefully say: "thank you, thank you!"


    "There are 1200 people in the guard regiment, all of whom are commanders and fighters from the Moscow garrison headquarters and the militia in the city." Seeing that I didn''t object to his arrangement, Zhukov then introduced to me the situation of the new guard Regiment: "the head of the new guard regiment is your old subordinate Yushchenko. His current rank is too low. Let''s promote him to major. The deputy commander is also your acquaintance


    When I heard Zhukov say that the deputy head of the guard regiment was also an acquaintance of mine, I couldn''t help staring at him. My heart said that I didn''t know many people in Moscow, and there was no acquaintance.


    Zhukov couldn''t help laughing when he saw my exaggerated expression. He didn''t want to play a riddle with me and said directly, "the deputy commander is major bukov of the garrison command. If I remember correctly, he was your guard battalion commander when you were in the eighth division of guards. In addition, the selection of the battalion commander and company commander below is up to you. "


    I didn''t expect that Zhukov even arranged my former subordinates to come in when he set up the guard group. From this we can see his care and love for me. For his kindness, I said excitedly, "thank you, marshal. Thank you for all you have done for me."


    Before I had finished, he raised his hand and interrupted me, saying, "Rita, thank you. Your 6th army will be deployed in Prokhorovka. According to your previous analysis, once the German army attacks us, it will be attacked first. It''s up to you whether you can stop the German attack. If your troops are on the verge of collapse, even if I have a good relationship with you, I will not show mercy. "


    When I heard the name prohorovka from Zhukov''s mouth, I was a little flustered. You know, it was the main battlefield of Kursk battle. I really didn''t know whether the fighting capacity of the sixth group army could resist the fierce attack of the German army. However, when I heard Zhukov''s last few words, my blood rushed to my head and said to Zhukov recklessly: "marshal, please rest assured that if my troops can''t defend Prokhorovka area, I won''t need you to send me to the military court. I will take my pistol and shoot my own temple."


    "Rita, your joke is not funny at all." Maybe what I said was too serious, and the office suddenly fell into silence. A moment later, it was vasilevsky who broke the awkward atmosphere with a smile and said jokingly, "you were in charge of the mamayev post with one division. Under the repeated attacks of several German divisions, you didn''t lose an inch of land. Now your strength is several times higher than that at that time, and with the assistance of the air force, artillery and tank group army, don''t you have the confidence to hold prokholovka? "


    "What, is there a tank group army near our defense area?" When I heard that there were tanks in the neighboring troops, I immediately felt that I saw a glimmer of victory. Seeing that vasilevsky nodded his approval, he immediately asked, "I don''t know who is the commander of the tank group army? Is that general rebalko? " I ask this question because I remember that during the Kursk war, general rebalko and his troops also made great contributions. I didn''t expect that after I asked, vasilevsky shook his head and said, "no, it''s not general rebalko. His tank army will be deployed in other areas It is said that the commander of the tank group army is not rebalko. I feel a little disappointed. I secretly say that if I were an unknown tank commander, I would not know whether I could deal with him. When I was suffering from loss, I heard Zhukov say: "Rita, I think you seem to be very disappointed. Have you ever been a partner with rebalko before, and think that no one else can do it except him?" Zhukov''s words were a little heavy. I quickly shook my head to deny them: "no, marshal, you misunderstood me. I''m not..." "although I''m not rebalko, the commander of the tank group army is also your acquaintance." Zhukov did not wait for me to finish, he impolitely interrupted me and said to himself, "general katukov is also a good tank commander. With him in your defense area, are you still worried about the tanks that can''t stop the German attack?" Originally, when Zhukov told me that the commander of the tank group army was my acquaintance again, I couldn''t help complaining to myself: how many acquaintances can I have when I run around in various battlefields all the year round. Who knows, when I heard katukov''s name, I was overjoyed. Compared with rebalko, he would be better. With his tank group army beside him, I can basically rest easy. Even if I want to lose the battle at that time, it is not easy. Maybe I was too happy when I heard that katukov was the friendly commander I would cooperate with in the future, and was ridiculed by vassilevsky: "Rita, just when you heard that the commander of the tank group army was not rebarko, it was like a frosted eggplant; Now when I hear katukov''s name, I feel as if I have picked up my wallet. " Zhukov looked at me, shook his head with a smile, and said to silevsky, "Comrade General Staff Chief, you may not know that Lida had fought side by side with katukov when she was the commander of the eighth division of the guards, and had achieved a series of brilliant results. Now she''s not happy to hear that she can work with katukov again. "

 Chapter 1077

    When Zhukov finished, he beckoned me to his desk.


    Seeing that I went to my desk, he took out a notebook, opened it, spread it on the desk, looked up and said to me, "Rita, now I''d like to introduce you to the basic situation of the 6th army."


    When I heard that Zhukov was going to introduce the situation of the army to me, I immediately took out a pen and paper from my briefcase and prepared for the record.


    "The sixth group army of the guards..." as soon as Zhukov opened his mouth, I was surprised. Isn''t it the sixth group army of haridonov that turned into the sixth group army of the guards? Although both of them are army groups, there are huge differences in treatment.


    I raised my hand to interrupt Zhukov''s words behind. In his dissatisfied eyes, I asked cautiously, "marshal, please allow me to ask, don''t you mean to let me go to the sixth group army where general haridonov once served as commander, how did I become the sixth group army of guards again?"


    When Zhukov heard this, he turned his head and asked vasilevsky in amazement: "Comrade chief of general staff, didn''t you tell Rita which group army she was going to serve as commander?"


    Vasilevsky was surprised and said: "marshal, it''s you who called Rita in person and asked her to come back to Moscow immediately. I thought you told her everything on the phone


    Zhukov didn''t speak. He turned his eyes to bzikov, who was going to meet me at the railway station. Bzikov jumped up from his seat, stood upright in front of Zhukov, and replied with no squint: "report to marshal, I thought Lida had learned from you about the army she was going to take office, so when I chatted with her on the road, I used the name of the 6th group army instead of emphasizing to her that it was the guards group army."


    In the face of his own Wulong, Zhukov gave me a wry smile and said to me with some embarrassment, "I''m sorry, Rita. It''s my fault that I didn''t make it clear to you in time. Please forgive me!"


    How can I afford to apologize to Zhukov in public? I waved my hand desperately and said, "marshal, it''s not your fault. It''s all my fault. When I was on the road, I didn''t expect to check with colonel bezikov. Otherwise, there would be no such Oolong incident." When I said this, I couldn''t help but secretly congratulated myself. Fortunately, I made it clear before I set out. Otherwise, I would be disgraced if I really went to the sixth group army to take office.


    Zhukov then explained to me, "the sixth group army of the guards was reorganized and formed by the 21st group army. Soon after the outbreak of the war, the group army was established on the basis of the military region along the Volga River. It has jurisdiction over two infantry armies and a mechanized army, and has been successively incorporated into the Western Front Army, the central front army, the Bryansk front army, the southwest front army, the central front army, the central front army, the central front army, the central front army, the central front army, the southwest front army, the central front army, the central front army, the central front army Stalingrad front army and don front army. He has successively participated in the Smolensk war, Kiev defense campaign, North donetz River defense war, Kharkov battle and Stalingrad defense war, and is a heroic team that has made great achievements.


    In April this year, the group army was reorganized into the sixth group army of the guards. Major general Danilov, the former commander of the group army, is now the deputy commander of the group army. He is an old commander with rich combat experience. I hope you can get along well with him after you go. If you have any questions, you can ask him. He will help you with all his strength. "


    For Zhukov''s advice, I naturally agreed: "don''t worry, marshal. Although general Danilov is my deputy, I will respect his opinions in my daily work and will not be arbitrary."


    Zhukov was very satisfied with what I said. He nodded and went on to say: "at present, within the establishment of the group army, there are 51st, 52nd, 67th and 71st divisions of the guard infantry, 326th and 375 divisions of the infantry, as well as two tank brigades, five artillery regiments, two heavy mortar artillery regiments and three guard rocket battalions."


    When I heard that the number of artillery had increased again, I couldn''t help but feel ecstatic, because as a result, the firepower output of the group army had been greatly enhanced, which was enough for the Germans to drink, whether it was defense or attack. When I finished recording what Zhukov said, I took advantage of his pause and asked, "marshal, I don''t know how the weaponry of my army is?" I asked this because I was commanding the guards, and the equipment of the troops must be much better than that of other troops.


    After hearing this, Zhukov and vasilevsky looked at each other, pointed at me with his hand and said with a smile, "we guessed that you would ask this question. Now that you have asked about it, if I don''t tell you, I guess you can''t even sleep well tonight. " After turning the notebook on his desk for a few pages, he continued, "the Kalashnikov rifles you know can''t meet the needs of all the troops, so your army is only equipped with three guard divisions. Ordinary infantry divisions, however, still use mosinlagan rifles and bobosha submachine guns, but they will also be gradually reloaded after August. "


    "What about tanks?" As soon as Zhukov finished talking about the equipment of the infantry, I couldn''t wait to ask.


    "As for tanks, because there are still many technical problems to be solved, the latest tanks will not be able to be installed in the army in two years." After Zhukov said this, he added: "of course, the tank brigade has been refitted and equipped with another new type of tank, which can also form an overwhelming advantage over German tanks on the battlefield."


    When I heard that the two tank brigades could be equipped with new tanks such as the t-5455, I felt a lot more confident. But then I thought that in the battle of Kursk, the largest tank decisive battle in the history of war broke out. If the tank brigade did not have a unified command, it might be defeated by the German army in the battle. Thinking of this, I suggested to Zhukov, "marshal, I have an idea. In order to facilitate the command, can these two tank brigades be combined into one tank army and appoint a commander with combat experience to take charge of the command?"


    After hearing my suggestion, Zhukov turned to look at vasilevsky next to him again. After a while of eye contact, Zhukov looked back at me and said, "we can merge two tank brigades into one tank army, but do you have a choice for a commander?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." I immediately gave Zhukov a positive answer.


    "Who is it?" Asked Zhukov and vasilevsky in unison.


    "Don''t worry, Colonel." As soon as the two men''s words came to an end, I said the candidate I had long considered in my heart: "before, he was the commander of the 84th tank brigade. He had participated in many battles and had rich combat experience. Later, in the battle outside zaborosh, he withdrew from the battle because of his injury. I think he is now discharged from the hospital and fully qualified for the post of commander. "


    "You don''t mind, comrade vasilevsky." After listening to my opinions, Zhukov did not state his position, but turned to ask vasilevsky. Seeing that the other party shook his head and expressed no objection, he said to me calmly, "well, since you recommend Colonel berey, then he will be the commander of the tank army." Seeing my happy face, he quickly added: "but I can''t promote his rank until he achieves great success, that is to say, he can only be the commander with the rank of colonel."


    "No problem, comrade marshal." When I think of the situation when the army was full of major, division, and captain commanders after the end of the purge, I feel that it is nothing to make Colonel berey a commander¡° I don''t believe that with colonel eberley''s awareness, he will care about his rank. "


    "Just don''t care." Zhukov mumbled and said, "next, I''ll give you a brief introduction to the leaders of each division, so that you can have a preliminary understanding of your subordinates."


    "Major general tavartkilaze, the commander of the 51st division of the guard infantry, is an excellent commander with courage and fearless spirit. The troops he commands have made outstanding achievements in many local battles


    The 52nd division of guards infantry was established in Voronezh in December 1941. Its original name was the motorized division of guards of the interior people''s Committee. It consists of the 6th, 16th and 28th regiments of motorized infantry, the 10th regiment of grenade artillery and other auxiliary forces. The division commander is Col. Nekrasov


    The 71st division of the guard infantry is a team with a glorious tradition. Its predecessor was the 1st Infantry Division of ustimedveditskaya, which was established in October 1918. The first and second regiments of medveditskaya revolutionary infantry and the third regiment of Bravin cavalry were originally organized. In the spring of 1918, these regiments fought against the Cossack white guards in Don river state. In the Great Patriotic War, the division excellently completed various combat tasks assigned by its superior. It showed bravery, tenacity and high degree of organization and discipline in the battle. In March this year, it was renamed the 71st division of close guard infantry. At present, there are 89th, 117th and 225th infantry regiments, 211 light artillery regiments, 226th grenade artillery regiments and other units under the command of Colonel sivakov


    It took Zhukov ten minutes to tell me about the three guards and two infantry divisions. Just when I thought he had finished the introduction, vasilevsky, who was next to him, suddenly cut in and said, "Rita, I have another good news for you."


    hot wire?! When I heard what vasilevsky said, I couldn''t help looking at him and wondering, what news is more important than my becoming the commander of the sixth group army?


    "In order to strengthen the strength of your group army, after discussing with Comrade Stalin this morning, we decided to give you another infantry division." Seeing that I was stunned, vasilevsky couldn''t help smiling. He specially emphasized: "it''s not an ordinary infantry division, it''s a close guard division."


    "I don''t know which guard division it is?" When I heard that I would be given another guard division, I almost cried "Wula!" excitedly However, I still tried to stabilize my mood and asked vasilevsky with a smile: "Comrade chief of general staff, I don''t know which close guard division you intend to assign to my group army?"


    "The 77th division of Jinwei." Vasilevsky casually said the number of the army.


    After I read the number of the division again, I felt that I had no impression at all, so I shook my head and said, "I''m sorry, chief of staff. I don''t know about this division. Could you tell me something about it?"


    Seeing that I really didn''t know anything about this unit, vasilevsky patiently explained to me: "the 77th division of the guards was established in Moscow in July 1041. Its original name was the 21st division of the Moscow militia infantry. In September, it was renamed the 173rd division of the infantry. It consists of the 1311st, 1313rd and 1315th infantry regiments, the 979th artillery regiment and other units.


    During the Moscow battle, they fought in the 33rd army formation of the reserve front army and for the first time fought against the German army southwest of Kirov, Kaluga. From the end of October to the beginning of December, within the formation of the 50th group army of the Western Front Army, they carried out arduous defensive battles in the regions of bereyov, veniov and Kashira. From 1941 to 1942, during the early stage of the counter offensive and the general offensive to the west, our army fought in the 49th and 50th group armies of the West. On December 9, 1941, together with the 322nd infantry division of the 10th group army, veniov was recovered. From the second half of April 1942, he held the occupied position. In August 1942, he changed his deployment to the southwest and successively took part in the glorious Stalingrad defense war in many groups of the Stalingrad front army. Because the officers and men of the whole division showed bravery, tenacity, determination and high degree of organization and discipline in the fight against the German army. Now, the names of the regiments have been adjusted. The division consists of the 215th, 217th and 219th regiments of the guard infantry, two artillery regiments and other units. The division commander is colonel askarepov. "¡° Chief of the general staff, "as soon as vasilevsky finished, Zhukov reminded him," the division commander is not the colonel, but the major general. He was promoted in March. " After correcting wanvasilevsky''s mistake, Zhukov said to me: "according to the original plan, the division should be incorporated into the 61st group army of the Bryansk front army. However, after repeated study by my colleagues in the headquarters and I, we found that the most likely area for the enemy to launch an attack is the Prokhorovka area within the jurisdiction of the Voronezh front army. Therefore, I temporarily decided to put the division under your command. " When Zhukov finished, he asked me without expression, "Rita, do you have any questions?" I quickly closed the notebook in my hand, my hands naturally drooped, straightened up, and answered loudly, "report to marshal, there is no problem."¡° Since there is no problem, go back first. " Zhukov impolitely gave me an order of expulsion: "let Colonel bezikov cooperate with you, set up the guard regiment overnight, and rush to your headquarters early tomorrow morning."¡° Yes I and bezikov answered in a loud, neat voice.

 Chapter 1078

    At noon the next day, accompanied by bezikov and Yushchenko, I arrived at the group army headquarters in kilovsky. Major general Danilov, the deputy commander who received the notice, was waiting for me at the door with several commanders.


    As I was sitting in the car, I saw the group of commanders standing at the door of the building. Then I turned around and asked bzikov, who was sitting next to me: "Colonel, I don''t know which one is general Danilov?"


    Bezikov glanced out of the car window, then pointed to a small middle-aged man with the rank of lieutenant general on his shoulder and said to me decisively, "look, Rita, among the people who are welcoming you, he has the highest rank. He should be deputy commander Danilov."


    The car we took stopped seven or eight steps away from the crowd. As soon as the car stopped, bzikov opened the door, jumped out of the car, went around the back of the car to my door, and opened the door for me.


    When I got out of the car, a group of people standing at the door welcomed me. It was the small general who took the lead. He held out his hand to me with a smile and said in a friendly way, "Hello, comrade commander! I''m deputy commander Danilov. Welcome to the sixth group army of the guards. "


    "Hello, general Danilov!" I held his hand tightly and said flatteringly, "I am really happy to hear that you, an excellent commander with rich combat experience, will assist me in my work in the future. In the future, if I don''t know anything about my work, I will consult you a lot. "


    Although the Russians didn''t say anything modest, my compliments still made Danilov happy and said repeatedly, "Comrade commander, you are very kind. I''m your subordinate. If you have any questions, just give me orders. I''ll try my best to do it for you. "


    I kept holding his hand and continued to say with a smile, "Comrade General, we are partners from now on. You always call me commander, it seems a little too unripe, otherwise, you''d better call me by my nickname - Rita


    "Since you say so, I''ll call you Rita." Danilov was obviously an easygoing man, and when I said that, I immediately changed my name. Then he turned to one side and said to me, "Rita, let me introduce them to you. They are all teachers of different divisions. I''d like to take advantage of the opportunity to welcome you to take office today. I''d like to call them all to get to know you, which is also conducive to the future work. "


    The first is a tall, thin looking major general, Danilov said: "Rita, this is general Nicholas talielovic tavartkilaze, division commander of the 51st division of the guards."


    "Hello, general tavartkiraze." I smile and reach out and shake each other.


    The second was a medium-sized Colonel, Danilov said: "this is the commander of the 52nd division of the close guard infantry, Colonel Ivan mihayravic Nekrasov."


    "Hello, comrade commander, I''m glad to accept your command." Without waiting for me to speak, Colonel Nekrasov had reached out his hands first, and said in a friendly way: "my subordinates and I hope that under your leadership, we will make immortal contributions in the future."


    After listening to what niekrasov said, I felt very happy. I secretly said that this teacher is good, he is very good at speaking, and I can deal with him more in the future.


    When I saw that the third one was an elderly Colonel, I thought to myself that this might be the commander of the 67th or 71st division of the guards. Just thinking about this, Danilov said, "Rita, this is the commander of the 375TH infantry division, Colonel Peter dmitrijevich govorunanko."


    The remaining two colonels, Danilov, introduced me in turn: "they are the commander of the 67th division of the guards, Colonel baksov, and the commander of the 71st division of the guards, Colonel Ivan prokofievich sivakov."


    After Danilov introduced all the commanders who came out with him, I could not help frowning, because I had not seen the military commissar and chief of staff except a few division commanders.


    Seeing his displeasure, Danilov asked me in a flurry and low voice, "Rita, I think you look very unhappy. What''s the matter?"


    "Why don''t you see the military commissar and chief of staff?" Since Danilov took the initiative to ask, I would not hide my dissatisfaction. On the first day when my commander took office, the two military commanders of the group army did not show up. Did they have a grudge against me?


    "Oh, so it is." When Danilov found out what was going on, he quickly explained to me, "Rita, the military commissar and chief of staff, had a car accident when they went out with commander chisgakov some time ago. They are still lying in the hospital now."


    After figuring out what was going on, my dissatisfaction suddenly disappeared. Instead, I comforted Danilov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, don''t worry too much. Although there is no military commissar or chief of staff in the group army, you are familiar with the situation of the army and can concurrently serve as a military commissar for the time being; As for the post of chief of staff, for the time being, our deputy chief of staff, Colonel bezikov, will assume it. "


    "Is that all right?" Danilov seemed hesitant about my arrangement.


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander." In order to get rid of his scruples, I said carelessly, "you are only acting for the time being. When the superior sends a new military commissar and chief of staff, you can hand over the work. "Bezikov," I said, turning to bezikov behind me. When he stood in front of me, I turned to Danilov and said, "deputy commander, I''d like to introduce you. This is colonel bezikov. He''s from the central guard of the Kremlin."


    When they heard the words "Kremlin" and "Central Guard Corps", the commanders around them took in air-conditioning, but at the same time, they also showed respect for bezikov. Danilov took bzikov''s hand and said with a smile, "Hello, Colonel bzikov. Welcome to be one of us."


    After the meeting, Danilov guided me to a spacious office. He asked everyone to sit around the delicate long wooden table in the room, looked at me and asked, "Rita, do you have anything to say to the commanders here on your first day in office today?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander, I do have a lot to say to the commanders here." With that, I stood up, supported the edge of the table with both hands, leaned forward slightly, and said to you, "comrades, although it is the first time that I have met all of you here today, I think you all know that I have been active in prohorovka some time ago to check the construction of the defense works in this area."


    "Yes, comrade commander." The first speaker was Mr. sivakov of the 71st division of the guards. He said respectfully, "my subordinates have reported this to me in detail, so I know something about you. May I ask you another question? "


    "Go ahead, comrade colonel." Although I don''t know what questions he will ask, I still smile and say to him in a friendly way: "if you have any questions, just ask them. I will try my best to give you a satisfactory answer."


    "I''ve heard it revealed vaguely," sivakov said after a moment''s silence, seeing that he didn''t object to his question. "Did general vatukin, commander of the front army, and Comrade Khrushchev, military commissar, suggest to the Supreme Commander himself that a preemptive assault should be carried out on the German troops deployed in the area of Belgorod + Kharkov? But now it''s been more than a month, and there''s still no movement. Has this surprise operation been cancelled? "


    As for his question, I thought about it for a while and answered, "Comrade Colonel, as far as I know, the higher authorities did have such consideration, but after repeated weighing, the plan was cancelled. What we need to do next is to establish a solid and perfect defense system and organize strong defense to deal with the enemy''s attack. Let the Germans consume their troops in our army''s defense in depth and make them exhausted, and then strike the enemy with a strong counterattack in the direction of Belgorod Kharkov. "


    "What should we do?" This time, the question was raised by the commander of the 378th infantry division, Colonel govorunanko.


    "In addition to consolidating the existing defensive positions," I took this opportunity to present to the commanders the plan I had considered on the train back to Moscow: "the German assault was led by tanks, followed by infantry. Therefore, we should deploy enough artillery and anti tank guns along the more important direction, lay mines and explosives, so that the enemy can not easily rush in front of us. "


    After talking about my defense plan, I began to instill in the commanders here the benefits of building tunnels and fortifications, and ordered the division commanders to build more fortifications and hiding caves according to their own conditions, so as to prepare for long-term combat.


    When I finished, I took the tea cup in front of me and prepared to drink water. Division commander baksov of the 67th division stood up and asked, "Comrade commander, I want to ask, is there a time limit to complete such a large amount of work?"


    "There must be restrictions, comrade colonel. Is that enough to say?" I understand the character of Russian people. They are very serious, but they are just too tardy. If we don''t set a deadline for them, it is estimated that these projects will not be completed by the end of the year. With only two months to go before the outbreak of the Kursk war, I could not help saying anxiously: "in any case, this project must be completed within 40 days."


    "Ah, forty days." My words not only surprised barksov, but also Danilov, who was sitting next to me. He asked in a low voice, "Rita, is this deadline too short?"


    "It''s not short at all." I looked down at Danilov and said that if you knew the specific time of the outbreak of the Kursk war, you would like to finish all the civil works tomorrow¡° According to my estimation, the German army will not always stay at our opposite side and will attack us sooner or later. Therefore, we should make all combat preparations in advance to fight against the attack that the German army may launch at any time. "


    After listening to me, Danilov was silent for a long time. Then he asked me cautiously, "Comrade commander, when do you think the German army will attack us?"


    "It was on June 22, 1941 that the German army crossed the border and launched a bold attack on us." I did not immediately answer his specific time, but vaguely said: "moreover, the German army launched the battle of Stalingrad around June. This shows that the German army is used to attacking us when summer comes. "


    "Will the German army launch a new attack on us in the middle and late June?" As soon as I finished, Danilov said casually, "in that case, we really don''t have much time left."


    "But will the German army really attack us in the middle and late June?" After listening to the dialogue between Danilov and me, the commanders in this room still couldn''t help saying doubtfully: "if the commanders and fighters are exhausted because of the construction of fortifications, once the battle breaks out, I don''t know if they have enough physical strength to take part in the battle."


    "Comrades commanders," a loud voice suddenly came from the door, "if I were you, I would believe everything your commander said. You know, as early as a few months before the outbreak of the battle of Stalingrad, she had warned the Supreme Commander himself, so she was criticized. " I saw clearly that it was lieutenant general katukov who was standing at the door talking, followed by two other generals. I quickly walked around the table and joined Danilov. Shaking hands with him, he said unexpectedly, "general katukov, how can you come to my headquarters today?"¡° Rita, I''ve heard that you''re here today to congratulate you. " At this point, he turned to look at the two generals behind him, and added: "I also brought my two capable men to introduce you." After that, he leaned over and let the two generals out. He introduced them to me and said, "this is major general Guttman, commander of the 6th tank army. Next to him is major general krivoschein, commander of the 3rd Mechanized army. Both of them are my capable generals." Then he said to the two generals, "this is the general oshanina I often mention to you. Although she is a woman, ordinary men can''t compare with her at all."¡° Hello, general oshanina When katukov finished speaking, the two generals raised their hands in order to salute me and greet me politely. After giving katukov to his seat, I asked with concern, "Comrade General, I want to ask you, when will your tank group army be able to supply new tanks?" Without thinking, katukov replied, "I''m here to tell you this. I have just been informed that the first batch of tanks will be equipped with troops probably in May and next month. "

 Chapter 1079

    "The army can only be equipped in late May?" When I heard this time, I could not help frowning slightly, wondering whether katukov''s men could skillfully use the new tanks in a month''s time?


    Katukov noticed my slight frown, leaned over to get closer to me, and asked in a low voice, "Rita, I see you frowning. Are you worried about something?"


    I first glanced at the two tank major generals sitting next to katukov and said in a low voice, "Comrade General, please tell me truthfully, if you are equipped with the new tanks displayed at the parade ceremony, how long will your subordinates be familiar with and skilled in operating these technical equipment?"


    My words made katukov silent. I watched him meditate. Instead of disturbing him, I waited patiently for him to give me a satisfactory reply.


    Just then, a middle-aged Major rushed in from the outside. After entering the door, he looked left and right, then walked quickly to Danilov''s side, leaned down to his ear and whispered something.


    I saw the major standing next to Danilov whispering and asked dissatisfied, "Comrade deputy commander, who is he?"


    The major who was talking was startled by me. He stood up straight and stood beside us at a loss.


    Before I could wait for Danilov to speak, I asked again, "major, who are you? Don''t you see that we are in a meeting? Why didn''t you report it and break in without permission? " Since I took office on my first day, I couldn''t give my subordinates the impression that I was weak and easy to bully, so I spoke in a very strict tone.


    The major straightened up, put his hands on the seams of his trousers, and answered in a loud voice, "Comrade report commander, I''m major lophoff from the Communications Department of the headquarters." Then he took a step forward and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, I have just received an important telegram from my superior. I think it is necessary to report it immediately."


    After listening to him finish, I still kept the original posture, looking at him, discontentedly asked: "major, do not know what is the important telegram?"


    "Report to commander," major lophov replied somewhat flustered, "it''s a transfer order just given by the superior, ready to transfer the 326th infantry division. That is to say, from now on, this division will no longer belong to the combat sequence of the 6th group army of the guards..."


    His words surprised all the people in the room. Even katukov, who was frowning and thinking, opened his mouth wide in surprise. I was surprised that the order came so suddenly, but I tried to keep calm so as not to cause panic.


    I put a smile on my face and said to my subordinates who are staying in the room: "comrades, there is nothing to worry about. You know, this is just a normal transfer..."


    "I''m sorry, comrade commander." Major lophoff, who had returned to normal, broke in suddenly and said, "I haven''t finished relaying all the contents of the telegram."


    When I heard the major say that the contents of the telegram had not been finished, I could not help but thump in my heart. I said in secret that besides the 326th infantry division, the superior was going to transfer other troops to leave. Zhukov, isn''t this my platform? In order to find out what was going on, I interrupted lophoff and said, "then, in front of everyone, tell me the content of this order."


    "Comrade commander," the calm lophov replied clearly, "the order says that due to the needs of the war situation, the 326th Infantry Division will be transferred from the 6th group army of the guards and put under the command of the central front army from now on. At the same time, in order to strengthen the defensive forces in prohorovka area, it is decided to put the 89th and 90th divisions of the close guard infantry under your command. "


    "That''s great. That''s great!" As soon as lophov''s words were finished, Danilov exclaimed excitedly, "two more close guard divisions have been added at once. In this way, the defense strength of our group army has been greatly strengthened."


    After listening to lophov''s words, I was also secretly relieved. I thought that Zhukov could not give me a cut from the bottom. In that case, would he like us to keep Prokhorovka. I looked at lophoff, who had just been wronged by me, and said to him with a smile, "OK, comrade major, thank you for the good news. There''s nothing more to do here. Go back to your job. "


    "Yes With a promise, lophove turned and walked out of the room.


    Looking at lophov''s back disappearing from the door, katukov said thoughtfully: "Rita, it seems that Marshal Zhukov thinks highly of you. In addition to adding the 77th guard division to you, he added two more powerful guard divisions to you today. In this way, the strength of your army will go up to a higher level."


    With these words, he seemed to think of the question I just asked him, then he turned the topic and said: "by the way, my tank soldiers can fully master the operation of new weapons in two weeks if they hurry up after receiving new equipment. To ensure combat effectiveness, it will take at least one and a half months or more. "


    As I spoke to katukov, the corner of my eye caught a glimpse of Danilov standing up, going to the door and waving to the outside. An officer quickly came up to him and listened to his orders.


    Without waiting for me to see what happened, major general Guttman, commander of the 6th tank army of our command, came with katukov and suddenly asked, "general oshanina, please allow me to ask a question."


    "Go ahead, Comrade General." I didn''t know what he would ask, but I said politely.


    "When do you think the German army will attack us?" Gertman asked cautiously: "or, I should ask another way, when should our troops be ready for war after they are equipped with new weapons?"


    "General Guttman," I replied politely to his question, "I don''t know when the German army will attack our defense area, but I don''t believe they will leave us too long to prepare for the war. I think the troops equipped with new equipment should have a strong fighting capacity before the end of June. "


    "But, comrade general," asked general Guttmann, "from all the signs we have, the most likely area for German attack is the area under the jurisdiction of the central front army. I think the base camp deployed US in the oboyan area to serve as a strategic reserve for general rokosovsky''s forces. "


    "General Gutman, you may have dealt with the Germans more than once or twice?" After that, I stopped for a moment. When I saw him nodding, I continued to say, "we and hundreds of thousands of German troops are gathering in Kursk. If the German army wants to defeat us, do you think he will attack from only one direction?"


    "Rita, what direction do you think the German army will attack from?" Katukov was very interested in what I said. As soon as I finished, he couldn''t wait to ask, "or do the German forces attack our defenders from two directions at the same time?"


    "Yes, general katukov." As soon as katukov finished, I immediately agreed with him and added: "if the German central army group is attacking general rokosovsky and the other directions are not moving, our army may continue to replenish the forces of Voronezh''s front army to the central army. According to my estimation, in order to ensure the success, the German army will certainly launch attacks from two directions at the same time, so as to make our army unable to support each other, so as to defeat our troops individually. "


    "Your analysis is very reasonable." Katukov also nodded his head and said: "if Manstein''s troops really attack our defensive zone from the front line of Belgorod Kharkov, then the first group army of our close guard tanks will become the main force to fight against the German attack."


    "General katukov," I said politely to him, "so I can''t command your troops, but I strongly suggest that once the troops are equipped with new tanks, they must master the use of new technology and equipment in the shortest time, and form combat effectiveness in the shortest time."


    After chatting with katukov, I got up again and deployed the task of speeding up the construction of fortifications and improving the defense system to the division commanders attending the meeting. When I feel that everything has been explained, I will announce the end of the meeting and let everyone go back to their respective teams.


    When there were only me, Danilov and katukov left in the room. I asked Danilov curiously, "Comrade deputy commander, I just saw you come to the door and call an officer in front of you. It seems that you are commanding something?"


    "It''s like this, Rita." Danilov replied politely: "the officer you see is lieutenant colonel rasmishin, the intelligence director of the group army. I told him to look up the 89th and 90th divisions of the guards


    "Well done, comrade deputy commander." Seeing that Danilov had considered things so carefully, I couldn''t help feeling grateful to him: "since these two troops were sent to us personally by Marshal Zhukov, then I believe their combat effectiveness must not be weak. Let''s put it this way. These two divisions will be deployed near the headquarters of the group army as the reserve forces of the group army, which is very convenient for us to command. "


    "Well, your proposal is very good." Danilov really cooperated with me. As soon as my voice fell, he immediately said, "I don''t have any opinions. Just follow what you said."


    After Danilov finished speaking, katukov took out a folded map from his briefcase, opened it and spread it out in front of us. Then he looked up and said to me, "Rita, general Danilov, it''s time for us to study how to cooperate."


    Seeing that both of us nodded in recognition, he pointed to the map and said to me, "Rita, you see, from kilovsky in the north to Yakovlev in the south, which is only ten kilometers away from Belgorod, they are the defense areas of the sixth group army of the guards. I think you need at least three lines of defense to block the German attack


    The first line is Yakovlev - the North donetz river. On this line of defense, you need at least two divisions


    The second is Kostroma Prokhorovka, where the terrain is open and there are few hills, which is very conducive to the deployment of German armored forces. If you want to keep this place, besides deploying two or three infantry divisions, you need at least one tank brigade and two or three artillery regiments


    The third line of defense is priskin kirovsky, which will be the last line of defense of your group army. Once it is broken through by the German army, then the German army can rush directly to the city of Kursk... "When katukov introduced the situation, I kept silent, just listening quietly, while thinking about how to arrange the defense of each division. Only Danilov broke in from time to time to share his feelings with katukov. After introducing our defense situation, katukov talked about the deployment of the first group army of close guard tanks: "my headquarters is located in oboyan, and the troops are mainly distributed in ifnia, pene, bogatoye and other areas in the south. Once the German troops rush into this area, we will launch a large-scale tank decisive battle with them." Before katukov finished, another officer came in. He came to us, raised his hand, and stood still. I looked at him carefully, recognized that it was commander rasmishin, the director of intelligence, and asked him with a smile, "Comrade commander, what can I do for you?"¡° Report to commander, "Lieutenant Commander rasmish replied respectfully," the deputy commander has just ordered me to look up the information of the 89th and 90th divisions of the guard infantry. After inquiry, we have basically made clear the situation of the 89th division of the guard... "" general katukov, please wait a moment, ¡±I said to katukov apologetically, "we''ll wait for you to talk about the current situation of the enemy and ourselves in a moment. Now let''s listen to Comrade Lieutenant Colonel''s introduction about the situation of the 89th Jinwei division." After that, without waiting for katukov to say anything, I told rasmishin, "commander, you can start reporting." Rasmishin agreed, and then began to report "... The 89th division of the guard infantry was established in July 1940 in Gorky state, under the name of 160th infantry division. There are 443rd, 537th and 636th infantry regiments and 566th artillery regiments. During the war, the division took part in the war for the first time in kerichev and joser regions on July 13, 1941, within the formation of the 13th group army of the Western army. After fierce fighting, the advance of the German army was temporarily stopped. However, the German army made a fierce attack with superior forces, and the division fought and retreated, and was forced to withdraw to Gomery. From September 1941 to July 1942, the division fought tenaciously against the German army in the direction of xinjibukov, Kursk, Voronezh and waluyiki rososh within the formation of the Bryansk front army and the southwest front army. In August 1942, he fought with other regiments of the sixth group army of Voronezh''s front army and successively took part in the battle of seizing the landing site on the West Bank of the Don River in korotoyak area, recovering Voronezh and clearing the German landing site on the West Bank of the Don river. In August 1942, he fought to the death with the German army on both sides of the Don river. From January to March 1943, he fought successively in the direction of ostrogozhsk rososh and Kharkov in the formation of the 6th group army of the southwest front army, the 3rd group army of Voronezh front army and the 69th group army of tanks. " After listening to rasmishin, I immediately praised him: "yes, comrade commander, your information is very comprehensive, thank you!"

 Chapter 1080

    My group army is adjacent to the first group army of katukov''s close guard tanks, defending the south of Kursk. In order to make the defense line formed by our two army groups a real barrier for Kursk, I dare not slack off. In order to obtain the detailed information in the defense area, in addition to keeping telephone contact with katukov every day, I often go to the defense line for inspection. The focus of the inspection, of course, is on those areas that will be attacked by the German army first. Every time I was accompanied by the acting chief of staff and the director of intelligence, lasmishin.


    On this day, we are going to the defense area of the 51st division of the guards.


    Because I find that every time I go out for inspection, the motorcade composed of a jeep and two trucks full of soldiers is too eye-catching when they appear in the front, which will not only leave a bad impression on the commanders and fighters, but also be easily found by the German scouts, and even become the target of their attack one day in the future. So when I go out now, I''ll take three jeeps with me. The guard soldiers are sitting in the front and back cars, while bezikov and rasmish and I are sitting in the middle jeep.


    On the way, rasmishin, who was sitting in front of him, turned his head and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, with all due respect, do you really think that our defensive zone will be attacked by the German army?"


    "That''s for sure, comrade commander." As for rasmishin''s question, I immediately gave him a positive answer: "if Manstein wants to cooperate with their central army group and launch an attack from the south, our defense area will bear the brunt, so it is absolutely necessary to prepare for the war."


    "But, comrade commander." After getting along with me during this period, rasmishin didn''t speak as rigidly as he used to, so when he listened to me, he said somewhat unconvinced: "the 7th group army of the guards under the command of general sumilov in the east of our army is closer to Belgorod than we are. If the enemy wants to attack, I think the first place to bear the enemy''s attack should be korocha, Although it''s only a small city, the headquarters of the seventh group army is located there. Once the German army captured this small town only 50 kilometers away from Belgorod, it would be an ideal starting point for the attack. "


    "Comrade commander," said bezikov, who was sitting beside me before I made a statement, "don''t forget that our defense area is only ten kilometers away from the German army. Once the war starts, the German tanks can rush in front of our position in half an hour at most. "


    When I saw that rasmishin wanted to retort, I quickly raised his hand to stop him and said to myself, "commander, you have a point. After we have inspected the defensive positions of the 51st division of the guards, we will go to korocha to see general shumilov and discuss with him about the coordination of defense."


    "One more thing, comrade commander." Rasmishin then asked, "do you really need to deploy a tank brigade and two artillery regiments in the first and second lines of defense? Moreover, once we are attacked by the German air force, our precious armored forces and artillery will suffer heavy losses. "


    After rasmishin''s question, bezikov unexpectedly did not refute him, but turned his eyes to me. It seems that he has the same question. In view of this situation, I have to explain to them: "the territory near Kursk is vast, and the strength of both sides is equal, so neither side can fully control the air, so a large part of the victory or defeat of ground operations is decided by tank warfare. In the past, our defense operations failed because the defenders were defeated by German tanks and then surrounded and annihilated by a large number of German infantry. Therefore, the success or failure of the anti tank operation became the key to the German attack, which was why I had to arrange a tank brigade and two artillery regiments on each line of defense. Do you understand? "


    When I explained this, they suddenly realized, and then answered neatly, "I see."


    Our car stopped in the 51st division of Jinwei. Immediately, a lieutenant commander came to me and opened the door for me. At the same time, he loudly reported: "Comrade commander, it''s the chief of staff of the division. Comrade commander is in the tent over there, talking to the front troops on the phone. I can''t meet you in person. Please forgive me!"


    After I got out of the car, I closed the door behind me. Then I told the chief of staff of the division in front of me, "Comrade chief of staff, take me to see your division commander, general tavartkilaze."


    The chief of staff, who was leading the way in front of me, took the initiative to lift the curtain for me when he arrived outside the tent and invited me in. I nodded at him and went in with bezikov and rasmishin.


    As soon as I entered the tent, I saw general tavartkilaze standing in the middle of the tent. He was furious at the microphone: "no, absolutely not. The defensive position of your regiment must be completed in two days... What? It needs to be supplemented. No, I don''t have any extra people in my hand... If you allow me, I''ll dig the trench for you..."


    He hung up angrily and turned to salute me. I asked with a smile, "Comrade General, I don''t know who you are angry with?"


    "Who else, of course, is one of my commanders." Tavartkilaze said helplessly: "according to the plan, they should have finished the defense work yesterday, but today, almost one third of the work has not been completed. Just now, just for this matter, I urged him to speed up the progress, which must be completed in two days. "


    "General tavartkiraze, you are right." As I know the specific time of the outbreak of the Kursk battle, my worry will increase by one point every day, so I will urge my subordinates to speed up the construction of fortifications every day and inspect the positions from time to time. It was under my supervision that the division leaders were particularly attentive to the construction of fortifications.


    After I sat down on the bench beside the wooden table, I looked up at tawalter killazer standing in front of me and asked, "Comrade General, I don''t know which regiment of your division has done better in building fortifications?"


    "Colonel Lukin''s 309 regiment." When he heard my question, tavartkilaze opened his mouth and said a number. Without waiting for me to speak, he suddenly added: "Comrade commander, this commander is your old subordinate."


    Old man, I heard tavart killazer say so, and quickly thought about the name of the person. A moment later, I still had an image of a person in my mind - Lu Jin, an excellent commander who once served as company commander, battalion commander and even acting commander under my command. Is it really him? I can''t wait to ask tavartkiraze, "Comrade General, where is he?"


    "Where else?" Tavartkiraze shrugged his shoulders and said, "of course, on the defensive front."


    "Can you take me to see him?" To make sure that he said that Lukin was the same person as the one I knew, I got up from my seat and made my own request to him.


    "Comrade commander." Hearing what I said, tavartkilaze''s face showed an expression of embarrassment: "the defense position of the 309th regiment is too close to the German defense line. I''m afraid that when you go by, you may be found by the enemy''s scouts, which will attract long-range artillery bombardment."


    "General tavartkiraze, you don''t have to worry about that." I said lightly, "I''m not a rookie on the front line for the first time. I know how to avoid risks. Besides, we are in our own defense zone, and even if we are shelled by the enemy, we can still hide ourselves. " At this point, I raised my hand, looked at my watch and urged the other party to say, "it''s getting late. After I have inspected the positions of the 309th regiment, I have to go to the headquarters of the 7th group army. Comrade general, please show me the way. "


    At my request, tavartkilaze, though still with a embarrassed expression on his face, finally agreed to my request with difficulty: "well, comrade commander, in this case, I will accompany you to the front line."


    In order to prevent the target from being exposed, our jeep stopped a long way from the command post of the 309th regiment. Tavartkiraze told the driver to hide the car in a cave by the side of the road, and then take us along the easy road.


    Looking at the hills on both sides, I said to tavartkilaze, "Comrade General, you should remember to deploy tanks on the high ground, so that when the enemy''s armored forces attack you, our tanks can launch high and low assault from the high ground and defeat the enemy''s attack at one stroke. There are also artillery positions, which should be deployed on the reverse slope of the high ground. In this way, they can avoid unnecessary losses in the artillery preparation before the German attack... "


    Tavartkilaze listened to my arrangement carefully. When I finished, he nodded his head and assured me, "Comrade commander, please rest assured that I will deploy according to your arrangement."


    The closer I was to Lukin''s command post, the more my heart beat. My mind kept thinking: Although tawalter killazer also said that Lukin was my subordinate, what should I do if I made a mistake? What''s more, Lu Jin''s whereabouts have been unknown since he separated from me by the river. How can he suddenly become the commander of the 51st division of the guards?


    The command post of the 309th regiment is located in a wooden shelter half buried in the ground behind the hillside. When I see the sentries outside the house, I know where we are.


    Tavartkilaze and I walked side by side through the saluting sentinels, into the regiment headquarters, and down the earthen steps.


    Looking at the command post of the regiment outside, I found that the space was not small after I went in. Outside a wooden door at the bottom of the steps stood a second lieutenant. Seeing us coming down the steps, he quickly raised his hand to salute us.


    Tavartkilaze raised his hand to return the salute and asked, "is your commander in?"


    "Yes, sir." When the second lieutenant answered, he glanced at me and added, "the commander is calling a meeting of the battalion commanders."


    "Come on, comrade commander. Let''s go in. " Tavartkiraze said to me, then he pushed the door and went in.


    In this stuffy command room, I saw a commander with his back to me and several other commanders around a wooden table. They all looked down at the map on the table and talked in a low voice. They didn''t find me and tawalter killazer who had just entered the door.


    Tavartkiraze wanted to greet them, but I shook my head and stopped him. I stood silently at the door, looking around this not too big room. Under the two bright lanterns, I could see the furnishings clearly. After listening for a while, I found that what they were discussing was all about building fortifications, so I couldn''t help asking, "comrades commander, what are you discussing?"


    When several commanders heard my voice, they all looked at me. As soon as we could see clearly, tawalter killazer and I were standing at the door. Several people immediately stood upright and raised their hands to salute us.


    When the lieutenant commander turned around, I had seen the commander clearly, and it was indeed my old acquaintance Lu Jin. After raising his hand to return the salute, he rushed to him with a lunge, grabbed his hand, shook it vigorously, and said excitedly, "Lu Jin, my good brother, I didn''t expect to see you here."


    "Hello, comrade commander." Lu Jin held my hand tightly in both hands and said with the same emotion: "I''m very happy to see you here, too."


    I raised my empty left hand, clenched my fist, punched his arm lightly, and asked with a smile, "Lieutenant Colonel Lukin, I haven''t seen you since I separated by the river dun. I thought you were dead."


    Lu Jin gave a simple and honest smile and replied: "Comrade commander, not long after we separated in the Don river, I quit the fight because of my injuries, and then I was injured in gubishev for four months. In the hospital, I often hear from the mouth of the wounded and the radio that you are commanding the troops to beat the German army. It''s a pity that my injury can''t get better, otherwise I will go to mamayev post and teach the German a lesson with you. After I was discharged from the hospital, I came to the reserve army in Moscow. During the reorganization two months ago, I was transferred to the 51st division of the guards and was appointed head of the 309th regiment


    Tavartkilaze also came to him and said, "Comrade commander, at that time, my division had just completed the rectification, and there was a shortage of commanders at all levels. It happened that I heard that lieutenant colonel Lukin was once your subordinate, and he was an excellent commander with rich combat experience, so I proposed to the higher level that he should be the head of the 309th regiment."


    "Comrade General," I said gratefully to the bole who promoted and reused Lukin, "I believe that in the next battle, you will be proud of the right decision you have made."


    "Comrades commander," the dialogue between the three of us had just come to an end when a major next to us suddenly asked, "can we leave?"


    "Leave, why do you leave?" Lukin was puzzled by his men''s request.


    The major laughed sheepishly and replied, "Comrade commander, we are afraid to disturb your reminiscence with the commander, so we intend to avoid it."


    "Comrade major, there is no need to evade." I restrained the smile on my face and said to the major steadily, "I''m here to learn about the construction of your regiment''s fortifications. It happens that everyone is here. Let''s start reporting." At this point, I looked around and asked, "who will come first?"


    "Comrade commander, let me report to you." Lu Jin finished this sentence, then said to me: "before reporting, please allow me to introduce my subordinates to you." Then he pointed to the major who had just spoken, "this is major Nicola, chief of staff."


    "Major chuckleko, first battalion commander, major selibitzer, second battalion commander, major gilgin, third battalion commander." Every time Lu Jin introduced someone, the other side stepped forward and raised his hand to salute me. After the ceremony, they returned to their respective positions.


    After Lu Jin introduced his subordinates to me, he began to report on the construction of fortifications and the deployment of troops. He pointed to the place on the table and said to me, "Comrade commander, please see, there are three relatively large Highlands in our regiment''s defense area. In addition to the necessary surface works, according to your deployment and the characteristics of the Highlands, two kinds of tunnels of "H" and "X" specifications have been excavated respectively on these highlands... "


    When listening to Lu Jin''s endless introduction, I kept smiling and nodding my head, and said in my heart: my old subordinates are reliable. If you want them to do something, you don''t have to ask them to do it again and again. You just need to explain a few words, they will be able to successfully complete the task I delivered.


    After Lu Jin finished, I asked, "Comrade commander, how is your regiment equipped?" I ask this question because during my recent inspection, I found that there are not many troops equipped with Kalashnikov rifles, and most of the commanders and fighters are still armed with bobosha submachine guns or mosinlagan rifles.


    When Lu Jin heard my question, he did not answer it immediately. Instead, he turned his eyes to his teacher. Tavartkilaze saw that Lukin and the other commanders'' eyes fell on him. He waved his hand and said impatiently, "what do you see me do? Comrade commander, just say what you have. I''m sure the commander won''t be surprised. "


    With the permission of tavartkilaze, Lukin had no scruples, so he reported to me: "Comrade commander, we have long said that we would be equipped with a new type of infantry weapon. Who knows, up to now, we haven''t even seen any new weapons. At present, the troops are still equipped with mosinragan rifles, bobosha submachine guns and jaggyaliov light machine guns, And a small amount of heavy machine guns. " At this point, he seemed to think of something and added, "by the way, we still have a few Czech light machine guns seized."


    "Czech light machine gun?" Lukin mentioned this kind of weapon, I was very surprised, I turned to look at tavartkilaze, surprised and asked: "Comrade General, if I remember correctly, the German machine gun, is not MG34, is mg42, where is the Czech light machine gun?"


    "Come on Lu Jin suddenly yelled at the door. With his shouts, the second lieutenant we just met at the door came in. He stood straight at the door, waiting for Lukin to give him an order. Lukin pointed at him with his hand and said, "second lieutenant, go and hold out the German machine gun we have captured. Let the commander and the division commander see what it looks like."¡° Yes The second lieutenant agreed, turned and went out. In less than a minute, the second lieutenant reappeared at the door with a light machine gun in his hand. My sharp eyes recognized that this was the Czech light machine gun I used to use in movies and TV plays. After Lu Jin sent the second lieutenant to leave, he explained to me with a smile: "Comrade commander, you think, the whole Czech Army has surrendered to the German army, and all the domestic arms factories have been taken over by the German army. They can produce as many Czech light machine guns as they want." After listening to Lukin''s analysis, I nodded and said, "well, it''s possible. During the war of Stalingrad''s defense, the independent division under my command once seized the standard equipment of the Italian and Hungarian forces. " I took the light machine gun, looked at it, and asked, "is there enough bullets?" Lu Jin shook his head and said with some regret, "we didn''t capture many bullets, probably only three clips per gun." As soon as I heard this, I was greatly disappointed. The 20 round straight magazine and three magazines used in this kind of machine gun are only 60 rounds. It''s estimated that they can''t even fight back a wave of enemy''s attack, and they are even inferior to firesticks. I gave the machine gun back to Lu Jin with indifference and said, "Comrade commander, you can only make do with this kind of light machine gun for a period of time before the new weapon is officially equipped in the army." I raised my hand, looked at my watch and said to Lukin, "Comrade commander, general tavartkilaze and I are here to inspect your fortifications. Come to us and have a look." When I said this, I thought that Lu Jin would shirk on the ground of worrying about my safety. Unexpectedly, he just pondered for a moment and readily agreed: "OK, comrade commander. I''ll take you to inspect our defensive positions. " After that, he turned to the third battalion commander and said, "third battalion commander, the regiment is the closest to your camp. We''ll ask the commander to visit the fortifications of your camp later. Is there any problem?"¡° Comrade commander of the report, "major gilkin, the commander of the Third Battalion, who was named by him, immediately replied loudly," no, no questions. " With these words, his eyes turned to me again and said, "Comrade commander, welcome to the defense area of our third battalion for inspection."¡° Come on, stop talking nonsense. " Tavartkilaze was deeply afraid that his subordinates would not finish talking about it. He quickly cut in and said, "Comrade commander, there are other things. After checking, we will leave. Let''s start at once."¡° Yes, sir Major gilgin agreed, walked quickly to the door, made a gesture of invitation to the outside, and politely said, "please, commander, sir, I''ll show you the position of our camp."

 Chapter 1081

    The position of the third battalion is about 300 meters away from the headquarters of the 309 regiment. It is a hillside more than 100 meters high. After entering the position, I immediately found that some fake fortifications were built symbolically on the top of the hillside, and the real fortifications were all built in the middle of the mountain. According to the hillside terrain, they dug a semicircular trench at the exit of the two tunnels. In the trench, there were several covered fire points, in which Maxim heavy machine guns were mounted.


    The officers and men were digging and reinforcing the fortifications, and the sound of shovels and hammers beating on the wooden piles came from the trenches. I don''t know who saw us go into the trench and immediately cried out, "attention!"


    With this command, all the people stopped their work one after another, straightened up and stood there with their backs against the trench, silent and paying attention to us.


    Gilgin quickly stepped forward and said to the commanders and men standing in the trench, "comrades, general oshanina, commander of the group army, and general tawalter killazer, division commander, have come to see you."


    As soon as his voice fell, the commanders and fighters around him began to talk about it. I also took a step forward, stood beside gilgin, waved to the officers and men in the trench, and said in a loud voice, "Hello, comrades!"


    The trench suddenly rang out the voice of uneven: "commander comrades good!"¡° Hello, Comrade General


    After all the voices calmed down, I waved to you and continued, "comrades, your division commander and I have come to visit your defensive positions. Go on with your work!"


    With my orders, we started to work again. Perhaps the officers and soldiers were very excited when they saw the superior leaders checking their work. I could hear that the sound of the shovel and sledgehammer was much faster than just now.


    After I arrived at the tunnel under the leadership of gilgin, I looked up at the soil layer above and asked casually, "Comrade major, can your tunnel hold the enemy''s shells?"


    "No problem, comrade commander." Gilgin replied with a smile: "the soil on it is so thick that the tunnel will not collapse unless the German army throws a bomb that can drill into the ground from its mouth."


    I looked at the well concealed tunnel entrance and asked thoughtfully, "if this exit is blown down, what should you do?"


    "Report to commander, there''s an exit on the other side of the trench." Gilgin answered me clearly and said, "according to your order, the tunnel on the high ground is" H "shaped, which is very convenient to mobilize troops."


    As for his reply, I nodded with satisfaction and asked, "is there any other work besides this tunnel work?"


    Gilgin pointed to the hillside and said, "we have dug a few garrison holes behind the hillside. Would you like to go and have a look?"


    Instead of answering him immediately, I turned to tawalter killazer next to him and said, "Comrade General, what do you mean?"


    "Comrade commander, it''s not necessary to say that. Of course it depends." Tavartkiraze said with a smile, "I have heard that the fortifications you directed are very special."


    With that, we followed gilgin, entered the tunnel, and walked along the narrow corridor to the front. Because in the tunnel, every 20 meters, there is a steam lamp, so the light inside is not too dark.


    Gilgin, who was leading the way ahead, turned around and said to us, "Comrade commander, we only have one company in the tunnel, and the rest of our troops are staying in the cave. Once the forward position is tight, they will go through the passage into the trench to reinforce


    We got out of the tunnel, walked along the traffic ditch for more than 20 meters, and came to a Tibetan soldier cave. Before entering the cave, gilgin pointed to another paragraph and said, "near another exit, we have a Tibetan soldier cave. In addition to the strength of a company, a large amount of ammunition and materials are stored in each hole for use in long-term operations. "


    Gilgin''s words reminded me that I quickly turned to tawalter killazer and said, "Comrade General, the major has a point. Your division should seize the time to hoard ammunition and materials and be ready for a long-term battle with the German army. "


    After hearing this, tavartkilaze immediately nodded and replied, "don''t worry, comrade commander, I will arrange it."


    Walking into the cave, I saw that on the firewood on the ground, there were the commanders'' backpacks, and even a small wooden table, which should be the office of the company commander. In the corner beside the wooden table, there are countless wooden boxes stacked neatly.


    As the commanders and fighters are basically busy building fortifications outside, there are not many people left in the cave. Except for the company commander and the director, there are only a few sick soldiers. After a brief chat with them, I left the cave.


    When we returned to the parking place, tavartkilaze raised his hand, looked at his watch and asked carefully, "Comrade commander, it''s almost five o''clock. Why don''t you go back to the division headquarters with me first, and then go to korocha tomorrow. How are you


    For his kindness, I waved my hand and said mildly, "general, thank you for your kindness. But it''s going to be dark at about 11 o''clock in this season. It''s just right for us to go to colocha


    Seeing that I was determined to go my own way, tavartkilaze had no choice but to say, "since that''s the case, I won''t leave you. You should be more careful all the way."


    Our jeep was stopped by a checkpoint on the road a few kilometers away from the city of colocha. A staff sergeant went to the car, bent down and looked at us, politely said: "Comrade commander, what part of you are?"


    "Chief." After taking a look at the rank of the other side, lieutenant general rasmishin replied, "we are the guard lieutenant. Come to me, stand at attention, salute and report to me," general oshanina, the commander of the 44th regiment of the 15th division of the guard infantry, Lieutenant livovitch, report to you. I''m waiting for your order. Please give me your instructions. "


    When I heard the lieutenant call out my name, I asked curiously, "Lieutenant livovitch, do you know me?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." Livovitch immediately gave me a positive answer: "I have seen you several times before when you worked in the 64th army. And there are many officers and men in our division who have fought with you. "


    Although I don''t have any impression of the lieutenant, I still have an inexplicable cordiality to meet someone who knows me here. I said with a smile, "Comrade lieutenant, I''m going to see your commander. I wonder if you can arrange a soldier to be my guide?"


    For my request, livovitch''s face showed a embarrassed expression: "sorry, comrade general, our defense area is outside the city of korocha. We can''t enter the city without orders."


    "What should we do then?" Asked bzikov, somewhat dispassionately, when he heard the lieutenant say so.


    Deeply afraid that bzikov would frighten the lieutenant, I quickly raised my hand to stop him, and then asked livovitch in a friendly tone, "Comrade lieutenant, can you tell me how we can get into korocha?"


    The lieutenant pointed to the wooden house beside him and said politely, "Comrade General, please come to the house first. I believe there will be a solution soon."


    "Where is this, where do you live?" Asked bezikov cautiously.


    "This is the command post of our company, comrade colonel." After livovitch said this, he made a gesture of invitation to me and said politely, "please go in, Comrade General."


    When we entered the cabin, we saw a famous officer writing something at his desk. Seeing us coming in, he immediately stood up and raised his hand to salute me.


    "This is my instructor, Lieutenant Serdyukov." Livovitch saw me looking at the commander strangely and explained to me: "he is writing a report to the superior about the progress of our company''s fortifications."


    Hearing him talking about the fortifications, I couldn''t help asking, "how are your company''s fortifications?"


    After hearing this, livovitch gave a wry smile, shook his head and said, "Comrade General, due to the large amount of work and the fatigue of the commanders and fighters, we have only completed about one third of the whole project so far. In fact, not only our division, but almost all the troops are in the same situation. "


    His words made me frown, thinking that general shumilov set his headquarters in korocha, which is only tens of kilometers away from the German army, and even the perfect defense system has not been built. Once the German army launched an attack on them, could they block the fierce attack of the enemy?


    I was just thinking about it when I heard livovitch say: "Comrade General, I just called my division commander. He said that he would come right away. I believe that if he leads the way, there will be no problem for you to enter corocha. "


    After listening to livovitch''s arrangement, I couldn''t help but feel a little better about him. I said to him with a smile, "thank you, comrade lieutenant. If it wasn''t for your help, we wouldn''t be able to enter korocha today. "


    Just then, the sound of car brake came from the door. When livovitch heard this voice, he immediately said in surprise: "it seems that the division commander is coming. Comrade General, please wait a moment. I''ll be back in a minute." Then he ran out.


    After a minute or two, Lieutenant livovitch walked into the room side by side with a colonel. He pointed to the Colonel beside him and introduced to me, "Comrade General, this is the chief of staff of our division."


    "Hello, Comrade General!" The chief of staff of the division came over to salute me and said politely, "Comrade General, I''m sorry, because the division commander can''t come, so I''ll be responsible for escorting you into the city. Please


    Before I left the room, I reached out and shook livovitch. I expressed my gratitude to him. Then I followed the division chief of staff out.


    As soon as I got out, the chief of staff of the Division said to me, "Comrade General, my car is going ahead. You and your men will follow me. Don''t worry. All the checkpoints along the way know my car. We can enter the city smoothly. " With that, he turned and walked onto a jeep parked on the side of the road.


    Our motorcade followed the captain''s jeep and drove down the dirt road towards korocha. With the division chief of staff of the 15th Jinwei division, we really went smoothly. Almost all the checkpoints saw our motorcade passing by, so they removed the roadblocks or raised the railings and respectfully let us through the checkpoints.


    My eyes looked to both sides of the road, and I saw that on the plains or highlands on both sides of the road, there were officers and men who were nervously building fortifications. Although the scene is full of enthusiasm, I am worried about their pointless construction method. It seems that general shumilov has not yet learned the lessons of Stalingrad campaign, and still follows the original wrong defense thought. There are only a few Fortifications on the high ground, most of which are built on the plain. If the German armored forces carried out a surprise attack, they would soon be able to crush these fortifications. If they want to block the enemy''s crazy attack, they are bound to pay a huge sacrifice. After the motorcade entered the city, I carefully looked at the buildings on both sides of the street, and found that only a few buildings had firepower points, and most of the fortifications were barricades at the intersection. I was worried about the fate of the seventh group army of shumilov''s guards when the car suddenly stopped. Then I heard bezikov''s voice: "Rita, we''re here." I looked out of the window and saw that there were many kinds of vehicles in front of a building here. Besides sentinels, I could see patrols passing by from time to time at the gate. It seemed that this was general shumilov''s headquarters. I pushed the door open and said to myself, "get out of the car." Then he jumped out of the car first.

 Chapter 1082

    On both sides of the entrance of the three story building, there are sandbags. There are more than a dozen soldiers standing inside. A captain is in charge of commanding them. Seeing me passing by with bezikov and rasmishin, the captain quickly came out of the fortification, raised his hand to salute me, and said respectfully, "Hello, general oshanina."


    I carefully looked at the captain in front of me. He looked a little kind. I should have met him before, but his name had been forgotten for a long time. I said to him with a smile, "Comrade captain, I have something to see general sumilov. Don''t you know he''s here?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." The captain replied politely, "Comrade commander is in his office. May I show you the way?"


    I was worried that after entering the building, I couldn''t find shumilov''s office. Since the captain was so eager to guide me, I would push the boat along the river and say, "if so, please, comrade captain."


    The captain led us to a large office on the second floor. Outside the closed wooden door, there was a desk. A young blonde lieutenant was chatting with a soldier in black uniform. Seeing some of us walking past, the female soldier immediately stopped talking, stood up, called the captain''s name and asked, "do you have anything to do with the commander?"


    The captain waved his head to my position and replied, "Lieutenant, this is general o''shanina, an old acquaintance of the commander. She has something urgent to see the commander. Please go in and let me know."


    The female Lieutenant looked at me and said, "please wait a moment!" Then he went to the door, pushed open one of the doors, went in, and closed the door behind him.


    While we were waiting, the soldier who had just chatted with the female Lieutenant turned and looked at me curiously. Then he asked me in broken Russian, "Hello, dear girl, I don''t know what to call you?"


    The male soldier''s frivolous tone made me very uncomfortable. I looked at him and found the pilot logo on his chest. I couldn''t help wondering: where did this strange guy come from? Not only did he speak Russian badly, but also he looked different from the common Soviet Union people?


    Before I could think of it, the captain stepped forward, put his hands on each other''s shoulders and forced him to pull over. At the same time, he said, "OK, OK, stop dawdling here and go back to your room."


    After the captain bombed away the pilot, bzikov asked the other side curiously, "Comrade captain, where did this guy come from, and what kind of accent he said? Why do I listen so awkward?"


    "What? What are you asking, comrade Colonel? " The captain didn''t hear bzikov''s question. He asked in surprise, "whose accent sounds awkward?"


    "Who else could it be, the pilot you just kicked out." "Is he not Russian?" bezikov asked thoughtfully


    "He''s polish, Comrade General." The captain, facing me, replied unexpectedly.


    "Poles?" When I heard the captain''s words, I was stunned at first, and then asked unexpectedly, "Comrade captain, how can there be poles in your defense area?"


    "Well, Comrade General." The captain patiently explained to me, "although he is polish, he is our man. It''s said that after the outbreak of the patriotic war, some former Polish pilots fortunately escaped from the German prisoner''s camp, quietly crossed the German line of defense, came to our side, joined our army, and stayed in the army. There are about thirty of them... "


    Before the captain finished speaking, the two closed doors opened. General shumilov, who I knew well, came out of the room together with the female lieutenant who went to report, and interrupted the captain.


    Admiral shumilov, seeing me standing outside the door, immediately welcomed me with open arms. At the same time, he said in a loud voice, "Dear Rita mushdakova, it''s amazing to see you here." Then he gave me a big hug.


    I hugged him politely and said, "Hello, general shumilov. Nice to see you again."


    When shumilov let go of me, he grabbed my arm, took me and walked into the room. He said excitedly, "well, comrade o''shanina, come to my office. Since you got to the 62nd army, you are like a broken kite. You have never contacted me again. I often ask others about you. "


    He led me to my desk and asked me to sit in a chair. He sat down in the opposite chair. After looking at me from head to foot, he said, "you are really amazing. In such a difficult environment of Stalingrad''s defense war, you can beat the Germans with a newly formed army. After the battle, according to the confessions of some German officers and men who were captured by us, the mamayev post your troops were holding had become the narrowest and most difficult area for them to pass. Because the German army tried to cut off our contact with the other side of the Volga River by seizing the highlands. But their plan was completely destroyed because of the tenacious defense you organized. "


    I never thought that shumilov was such a talkative person. In the past, when he gave orders, he always finished with a few simple words, but now he talks on and on, which makes me have no chance to interrupt. I looked at him with a smile, trying to be a qualified audience.


    Shumilov said for a long time. Seeing that I had not finished, he just looked at him with a smile and immediately realized that he could not continue to sing monologue. He quickly changed the topic: "by the way, Rita, I heard that you have been appointed commander of the sixth group army of the guards. How can you come to me today?"


    "Comrade commander," as I used to call him, "we are now friendly and neighboring forces. In order to strengthen mutual cooperation, I think it is necessary to come to you to have a look."


    "Look, what''s good to see?" "Don''t you know that the task of our Voronezh front army is to contain the troops of Manstein, so that he can''t easily transfer troops to reinforce their central army group, so as to reduce the pressure on general rokosovsky?" sumilov asked


    After organizing some words in my mind, I tentatively asked: "Comrade commander, according to your analysis, the main attack direction of the German army is in general rokosovsky''s place, not our side?"


    "That''s nature." Shumilov replied without hesitation: "according to the intelligence analysis we have at present, the enemy will send out from the Orel region to attack Kursk. But here we are, at most, Manstein can only launch a round of feint to contain our forces. "


    After listening to shumilov''s analysis, I couldn''t help but laugh. From my heart, if I didn''t come from the future, I might have the same idea as him that the main attack direction of the German army was in the west of Kursk. Besides, I don''t have enough intelligence to prove that the German army will launch an attack from the south of Kursk. I can''t tell him that according to the historical records, the German army will launch an attack from two directions at the same time, so he must treat me as a madman.


    After thinking for a moment, I asked, "Comrade commander, how is the completion of the fortifications of your group army?"


    When I asked him this question, he immediately gave a long sigh and said in a helpless tone: "Rita, almost all the fortifications we built before may have been abandoned because of the water soaked in the melted snow. Now it''s starting from scratch. In such a short period of time, without enough construction machinery, the progress of the project can''t be guaranteed at all. "


    After listening to his reply, I couldn''t help worrying about his fate. With a straight face, I tapped my fingers on the armrest of the chair and said earnestly, "Comrade commander, have you ever thought that you are only tens of kilometers away from gorod here, and it only takes an hour for German tanks to rush out of korocha, if there is no perfect defense system, Then you will be surrounded. " When I said that, I stopped to think for a moment, and suggested to him, "why don''t you move the headquarters to another place first, and then move the headquarters back after the defense system of korocha is improved?"


    "No, absolutely not!" As soon as I finished, shumilov flatly replied, "even if the Germans rush to the gate of my headquarters, I will command the soldiers to fight bravely and never step back."


    "Since you don''t intend to transfer the headquarters," I heard him firmly saying that he would never step back, so I had to persuade him in another way: "then what you have to do now is to urge the troops to speed up the construction of fortifications. As long as there is a perfect defense system, the German army will not rush to your headquarters, even if they want to get close to the city of korocca, It''s also impossible. "


    "Rita, how are the fortifications in your defense area?" When I finished speaking, shumilov could not help asking curiously: "I heard my subordinates say a few days ago that you are building a lot of buildings there. It seems that many of them can improve the existing defense system. But there''s one thing that makes me feel strange. "


    "Comrade commander, I don''t know what surprised you?" I asked casually.


    "In your defense area, there are plains and highlands. But what makes me wonder is that almost all of your fortifications are built on the high ground, but there are very few on the plain. Why on earth


    "Comrade commander, the reason why we chose to build defensive positions on the high ground," I would like to talk with him about where to build fortifications. Now that he has taken the initiative, I will take the opportunity to instill my tunnel defense theory into him: "it is because one can avoid the fate of fortifications being submerged by water, Second, we can build a large number of tunnels and Fortifications on the high ground to hide our troops and reduce the casualties in the enemy''s shelling or air raid. "


    After hearing what I said, shumilov was silent for a while, and then said, "after the battle of Stalingrad, I once visited the fortification you built on the mamayev post. After seeing it, I have to say that it was a great creation. Even if the German army occupied the surface position of mamayev post, our troops could still stay in the tunnel to contain the enemy, because they could not move forward. I think that''s why you want to build fortifications on the high ground? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Seeing that shumilov finally understood what I wanted to say, I became happy. I said to him with a smile, "with a perfect defense system and solid fortifications, we can make the defense war relatively easy and greatly reduce the casualties of the troops." At this point, I can''t help but think of the 107.5 highland, which is like the "mill of flesh and blood", so I added bitterly, "next to the mamayev post, there is a 107.5 highland. Because the original garrison didn''t build a tunnel on it, the troops who stuck to the highland suffered heavy casualties in the German artillery fire and air raid. It usually takes less than two days for a regiment or brigade to be disabled and have to be evacuated to the other side of the Volga River for repair. " Shumilov sprang up from his chair and walked back and forth in the room. At this time, I looked around and found that they didn''t come in. When I was thinking about whether I should go out and call them in, the door of the room was suddenly pushed open from the outside, and a burly commander rushed in from the outside. When I saw someone coming, I jumped up from my seat and straightened up in the same place. My left hand naturally drooped close to the seam of my trousers, and my right hand raised to my forehead and said aloud, "Hello, comrade marshal of the Soviet Union!" Hearing my voice, shumilov, who was pacing, also stopped. He came up to me, raised his hand to salute people, and said, "Hello, comrade deputy national defense people''s commissar of the Soviet Union." After listening to us calling ourselves by different names, vassilevsky nodded to us, quickly walked around to the back of the desk and sat down, and raised his hand to ask us to sit down. When we both sat down, he looked back at me and asked, "Rita, how did you get to general sumilov''s defense?" When I heard vasilevsky''s question, I immediately stood up and replied respectfully, "Comrade marshal of the Soviet Union, I came to general shumilov to establish contact after checking the defense situation of the 51st division of the guards, so that I can better cooperate in the next battle."¡° So, "said vasilevsky, with his eyebrows raised, somewhat surprised," do you think Manstein, with his strength, would dare to attack our strengthened Voronezh front army? "¡° Marshal comrade, "when I saw Marshal Venus on vasilevsky''s shoulder, I couldn''t help muttering. I remember when I left Moscow, he was still a senior general, so how did he become a marshal. Although he was thinking wildly in his heart, he still answered his question: "the combat effectiveness of Manstein''s troops is not weak. His" Hitler division "," imperial division "and" skull division "are all elite SS troops, let alone one-on-one. Even if we are three to one, we can not defeat them."¡° Is it that serious? " Asked vasilevsky in a suspicious tone¡° Yes, comrade marshal. " I immediately replied positively, "I''ve dealt with two of them and I know their strength very well. Even if they were weakened in the early fighting, the replenishment speed of such elite troops is usually very fast. I believe their combat effectiveness has been basically restored. "¡° Rita, I know you have a lot of original ideas, which even Comrade Zhukov admired very much. " Vasilevsky said slowly, "can you tell us about your consideration?"¡° What we can do now is to rush to repair the fortifications and improve the existing defense system. " I said carefully: "when the defense system is formed, we can use defensive warfare to bring down the enemy, then turn to counter attack and annihilate the enemy. If conditions permit, our army can also launch a comprehensive general attack in the direction of Kharkov, Poltava and Kiev to drive the German army completely away from Moscow, so as to ensure the security of Moscow. "

 Chapter 1083

    As for the alarm I sounded, vasilevsky thought it very well. He nodded, and then began to record it with pen and paper. At the same time, he said to himself: "first defense, then counterattack. This idea is good. It coincides with the idea of Marshal Zhukov and me."


    After he finished writing, he put his pen on the table, raised his head and asked me, "Rita, what do you think will be the final result if our army breaks out a fierce battle with the German army in the Kursk bulge?"


    Naturally, I know the meaning of the battle of Kursk better than anyone else. However, when I heard vasilevsky''s question, I didn''t answer immediately, but pretended to be meditating. After a while, I replied, "Comrade marshal, the end of the campaign is undoubtedly the final victory of our army. After the loss of a large number of soldiers and weapons, the German army''s plan to regain the strategic initiative and attack Moscow again will be completely smashed. I estimate that the German army will not be able to launch a strategic attack, but will have to adopt a passive defensive strategy until they are completely defeated. And because of this victory, the morale of all our officers and men will be high, and they will officially begin a large-scale and comprehensive attack to recover their territory. "


    After my words, vasilevsky and shumilov looked at each other and said to me with a smile, "Rita, I didn''t expect you to be so optimistic about the future of this campaign."


    When vasilevsky said this, I laughed without saying anything, but I said in my heart: the Soviet army won the final victory after only 50 days of the Kursk battle in history. Now the Soviet troops are equipped with tanks that surpass this era. If they can''t defeat the German troops and shorten the battle process, it''s really incredible.


    Vasilevsky stopped for a while and asked shumilov and me, "I said, two comrades of the group army commanders, have you found anything unusual recently?"


    Abnormal situation? Vasilevsky''s words made me deep in thought. I tried to think about whether anything special had happened recently, otherwise vasilevsky would not suddenly ask. Unfortunately, after thinking about it for a long time, I didn''t come up with a reason. Finally, I could only honestly shake my head and reply, "sorry, comrade marshal of the Soviet Union, I really didn''t notice anything special happening recently."


    Seeing that he could not get the answer from us, vasilevsky turned his eyes to shumilov and waited for his answer. I saw that shumilov, who had been thinking hard just now, suddenly stretched out his tight brow and put a smile on his face. He carefully said: "Comrade vasilevsky, if I am not mistaken, the number of German Air Force movements has decreased significantly recently. In the past, their planes often bombed the defensive positions we were building, or used machine guns to strafe transport convoys, causing dozens or even hundreds of casualties to us every time, but when our planes arrived, they had already run away. As soon as our plane left, they came out again. I don''t know what''s going on these days. It''s hard to see enemy planes all day. "


    When shumilov said that, I think it''s true. In the past, when I went to inspect the defensive positions, I encountered enemy air strikes many times. On one occasion, the roof of my car even suffered a row of holes from the enemy planes. If we had not happened to hide in the nearby air raid shelter, I would have been dead.


    I was thinking about it when I heard vassilevsky ask me, "Rita, what''s the situation there? Have you been attacked by enemy planes recently?"


    "No, comrade marshal of the Soviet Union, I seldom see enemy planes in my defense area recently." After I answered vassilevsky''s question, I couldn''t help asking the question in my heart: "what''s the matter?"


    "What else is going on, of course, is the result of our air force''s initiative." Vasilevsky said with a smile: "it is precisely because our air force has achieved brilliant results and eliminated a large number of German fighters that the number of enemy planes entering the Kursk region has been greatly reduced."


    "Dear Alexander mikhailavic, tell us what''s going on." Vasilevsky''s words not only aroused my great interest, but also excited shumilov. He couldn''t wait to ask, "how many German planes have our air force wiped out?"


    Before vasilevsky opened his mouth, there was a soft knock on the door. Then the door was pushed open from the outside. The female Lieutenant''s figure swayed at the door and disappeared. I was asking what happened to shumilov when I saw the female Lieutenant come in with a tray and a smile.


    She came to the table, put a cup of tea in front of vasilevsky, put a cup of tea at the table close to me and shumilov, and then began to put well prepared refreshments. After she finished all this, shumilov waved to her and said, "Comrade lieutenant, you go out first. No one is allowed to come in without my command."


    The second lieutenant agreed and left shumilov''s office with a tray. Looking at his subordinates closing the door, shumilov urged vasilevsky: "OK, comrade vasilevsky, there are only three of us left. You can safely say that."


    "As you all know, in the battle of Kharkov two months ago, Manstein was able to turn defeat into victory when his troops were at a disadvantage because our army''s newly recovered battlefield airport could not be put into use, and the planes supporting the ground forces had to take off from far away, so the German Army took the initiative in the battlefield, We lost the victory that we could have won Before narrating the brilliant achievements of the air force, vasilevsky first briefly reviewed the reasons why our army could not get air support in the early Kharkov campaign. Then he went back to the point and began to introduce the achievements of the air force to us.


    "After the May Day parade, a fierce air battle broke out between our air force and the German air force. While the enemy planes bombed and blocked our defense areas and transportation lines, our air force was not idle. They launched large-scale air strikes on the German army''s headquarters, communication hubs and warehouses, and mainly destroyed the German army''s main railway lines and public routes, causing problems in their logistics supplies.


    Comrade Novikov, commander of the air force, worked out the air attack plan with his subordinates according to the order of the headquarters. The purpose of the campaign is to make a surprise attack on the German airfields and annihilate the main German air forces deployed in the regions of Bryansk, Orel and Kharkov, so that our army can firmly grasp the air supremacy of the battlefield. According to the plan, our army will gather the first, second, third, 15th, 16th and 17th air force groups to carry out raids on 26 German airports on the front line. "


    The battle of Kursk in my memory is basically a tank battle between the Soviet Union and Germany. No one has ever mentioned the performance of the air forces of the two sides in this battle. What vasilevsky said today immediately aroused my interest. Holding a teacup, I kept my eyes on vasilevsky and listened to him quietly.


    "... our air strikes were carried out from May 6 to 8. At 5:30 a.m. on the 6th, our army dispatched 112 bombers, 156 fighters and 166 fighters to make a surprise attack on 17 German airports on the 1200 km long front.


    As the target of our first round attack was the German Field Airport, there was no underground oil depot, ammunition depot facilities, and there was no aircraft hangar. The mountain of ammunition and fuel are separately placed near the runway and apron of the airport to facilitate the refueling of aircraft.


    Our pilots found that the airport was full of airplanes, and there were mountains of ammunition and gasoline barrels nearby, so they dived from high altitude and dropped the bombs they carried. As the bombs fell one after another between the ammunition and gasoline barrels and exploded, the whole airport became a sea of fire. The burning gasoline barrel turned into a burning bomb, which was blown around by the explosion and smashed the plane on the airport. In the end, all the planes were wrecked, the ancillary buildings of the airport were razed in the fire and explosion, and the airport was full of charred German bodies.


    Some airports that were not hit by air strikes were alerted and fighter planes were sent to intercept our fleet. The enemy and us were equally matched. In the following fierce air battle, 21 aircraft were lost respectively, while 194 aircraft were destroyed on the ground.


    At 15:00 p.m. that day, our army made persistent efforts and launched a second air raid, sending 372 planes to air raid 20 German airports. This time, the German army, which suffered losses, was ready for defense. In addition to the antiaircraft guns and machine guns in the airport, there were many fighters patrolling in the air.


    My brave pilot bravely broke through the defense network composed of German fighters and ground air defense firepower, made a surprise attack on the designated target, and destroyed 134 enemy planes parked at the airport. In the air battle, our army shot down 24 German fighters and lost 46 of them.


    In the early morning of the 7th, our army launched its third air raid, with 405 planes dispatched and raided 22 German airports which are still in use. After a fierce air battle, 29 enemy planes were shot down, 48 of them lost, and 93 of them were destroyed at the airport.


    Facing the intensive raiding tactics of our army, the German army was forced to transfer a large number of planes to the rear. The bombers left near the front line also carried out emergency evacuation and camouflage, and transferred more fighters to deal with our bombers.


    On the 8th, 181 planes were dispatched in our fourth air raid. Due to the full preparation of the German army, the bombing of the airport did not achieve any results. In the air battle, our army shot down six German fighters while losing eight.


    Seeing that the raid tactics continue, they will not achieve much success. After receiving the report from general Novikov, Marshal Zhukov and I decisively ordered to temporarily stop the air raid on the German airfield.


    In this campaign launched by the air force, our army dispatched 1392 aircraft, destroyed 372 aircraft on the German airfield and injured 51. In the air battle, our army shot down 67 German planes and injured 10. The German army lost 501 aircraft in total, while our army lost 122 aircraft successively. "


    After waiting for vasilevsky to finish, shumilov took up his glass and began to drink water: "Comrade General Staff, I knew General Novikov during the battle of Stalingrad. After Paulus''s troops were encircled by our army, as long as the weather improved, he sent out aviation troops to cover the fast Corps attacking on the ground, eliminate the German ground troops and technical equipment, carry out air reconnaissance, assault the enemy airport, and transport materials for the troops of the 62nd regiment of trakov. It can be said that it is precisely because of their heroic performance that we can achieve the final victory of encircling and annihilating Paulus. "


    The heroic performance of the air force commanders and fighters made me feel bright in front of my eyes. However, what I am concerned about at present is not the air supremacy on the battlefield, but the equipment of the troops. With the existing equipment, it is very difficult to block the German attack. So when both of them finished, I tentatively asked vasilevsky, "Comrade marshal of the Soviet Union, I want to ask you something. I don''t know whether to ask or not?"


    Vasilevsky waved his hand with a smile and said amiably, "Rita, please let me know if you have anything. You and I are so familiar. Do you still use such politeness in speaking? " I put the teacup on the table, stood up, straightened up, put my fingers close to the seams of my trousers, and said solemnly, "Comrade chief of general staff, I want to ask when the superior can change the clothes for our group army?" After that, I saw vasilevsky raise his clear eyebrows slightly, look at me puzzledly, and then turn his eyes to shumilov¡° Chief of the general staff, "shumilov saw vasilevsky looking at himself, and quickly stood up from his chair. Like me, he addressed each other with his position:" I think it may not be only Rita''s group army, but also Voronezh''s front army. All the troops have not been changed. For example, my group army was supposed to complete the change of all the guard divisions on May 10, but today it is on the 20th, and there is no sign of new equipment. " Vasilevsky shrunk his smile, got up from his seat and walked back and forth in the office. After a while, he stopped, looked at us and asked sternly, "do you know the monthly output of the new rifles and tanks that will be replaced for the army?" When we heard the question of vasilevsky, shumilov and I looked at each other, and we both saw the loss and confusion in each other''s eyes. After we shook our heads and said we didn''t know, shumilov murmured, "Comrade chief of the general staff, these production data are absolutely confidential, and we can''t understand them at our level." Vasilevsky gave a wry smile and then said, "well, two comrades of group army commanders, I will not keep this secret from you. In the first 20 days of May, the production of Kalashnikov rifles was 70000; The output of the new tanks is 170. " At this point, he could not help shaking his head and said to himself, "although the number of Kalashnikov rifles produced seems to be quite large, according to the judgment of the supreme command, Kursk will be attacked by the German army from the state of Orel, so the new equipment produced should be given priority to the troops of rokosovsky. Do you know the strength of the central front army? "¡° How much? " Shumilov asked casually¡° "700000," said vasilevsky, opening the palm of his left hand and holding out two fingers of his right hand, with an exaggerated expression: "there are 700000 people. According to the plan of the general headquarters, only after the new equipment has been equipped can it be turned to the troops in other secondary areas. At the current rate, you will not be able to start the formal change until November at the earliest. " Vasilevsky''s words made me speechless. "November, November," my temple suddenly jumped and thought, "if I really want to wait until that time to change clothes, it''s meaningless. You know, my defense area will be attacked by the German army in early July. Can''t I change the established history, In order to block the German attack, can only use countless lives to fill it

 Chapter 1084

    Vasilevsky noticed my abnormality and said to me apologetically, "I''m sorry, Rita. You should understand that it has nothing to do with me, so you don''t have to complain about me Then he came up and patted me on the shoulder, comforting me. "Don''t worry. According to all the signs, the German attack from the South will not be earlier than September. The Supreme Command believes that Manstein will certainly wait for the central army group to occupy Kursk before launching an attack, and will attempt to meet with friendly forces in the east of korsk to form a situation of encircling Moscow. "


    I couldn''t laugh or cry when I heard what vasilevsky said. What I just said was in vain. He still insists that the German army will only attack Kursk from the northwest. He really thinks that Manstein and his three most elite SS divisions are vegetarian.


    Perhaps to reassure me, vasilevsky told us more secrets: "at the beginning, Marshal Zhukov deployed you to the south of Kursk in order to block the southern army group of Manstein. If you think about it, the Voronezh front army has over 600000 troops, including the 6th and 7th guard group army, the 38th, 40th and 60th group army, general katukov''s 1st guard tank group army and the 35th infantry army. It is also equipped with 8000 artillery and heavy artillery, as well as more than 1700 tanks and self-propelled artillery. "


    "Yes, Rita." Shumilov also helped vasilevsky enlighten me: "don''t worry too much. We have so many troops and technical equipment. If Manstein doesn''t launch an attack, we will surely give them a lesson that will never be forgotten."


    "In addition to what I have just said, the supreme command has deployed general konev''s Grassland army behind the two front armies of rokosovsky and vatujing, who are responsible for providing reinforcements for you. Even in the worst case, if the Kursk defense line collapses, the grassland front army will become the last defense line to defend Moscow; Once our army turns to the counter offensive, the grassland front army will become our new force.


    The supreme command used three front armies to deal with the 9th and 2nd army of the German central group army group, the 4th Army of the tank group army group of the southern group army group of Manstein, and the Kempf group. Our three front armies have absolute superiority in both strength and equipment. In addition, sokolovsky''s Western Front Army, Popov''s Bryansk front army, the 57th group army and the 2nd tank army of the southwest front army are deployed in Kursk state as battle reserves. "


    Then he grabbed my arm and came to the battle map hanging on the wall. After pulling the curtain, he picked up the explanation stick and pointed to it and said to me and shumilov, "you see, in the forward position of Kursk protrusion, we have established multiple lines of defense, with a defense depth of more than 160 kilometers. The whole defense system is densely covered with trenches, barbed wire, anti tank support points, anti tank trenches and minefields. We also deployed heavy troops in the most likely direction of German attack. "


    When vasilevsky explained the map to us, I could not help nodding my head, saying that I understood this period of history and knew what was the key point of defense, so I could naturally establish a defense system in a targeted way. And Zhukov, they just based on the situation analysis, the layout of the defense system, actually deployed in good order.


    Shumilov is worthy of being an experienced commander. After vasilevsky''s introduction, he added: "Comrade General Staff, judging from the current strategic situation, the Kursk bulge is defended by rokosovsky''s central front army in the north and general watujing''s Voronezh''s front army in the south. To the north of the central front army are the Bryansk front army of Popov and the Western Front Army under the command of sokolovsky. In the south of our Voronezh front army, there is a Southwest front army, and the grassland front army in our rear is just in the rear center of the protrusion. In this way, they can attack the 9th group army of German modle to the north and the southern group army of Mannstein to the south, and at the same time, they can make the German army unable to encircle the central front army and our Voronezh front army. This kind of deployment of the supreme command is really wonderful. It''s just fantastic. "


    Although I heard what they said in detail and reasonable, my mood didn''t get better. I still have in my mind when I can install the new equipment of the army. So much so that I heard vassilevsky ask me, "Rita, after all we''ve said, is there anything else you should worry about?"


    "Of course." Without thinking, I said what I thought in my heart: "I''m thinking about whether my troops can complete the reloading before the outbreak of the war."


    "New equipment! New equipment! Will the battle not be fought unless your group army is equipped with new equipment? " Vasilevsky showed strong dissatisfaction with my stubbornness, he said with a wave of anger: "even if we are backward in equipment, facing the enemy, we should fight bravely. When the bullets run out, they hit the sticks with stones; When all the stones are smashed and the sticks are discounted, they are beaten with fists; If you hurt your fist, bite it with your teeth. In a word, as long as we have one breath left, we will continue to fight with the enemy. "


    As for vasilevsky''s criticism, I said wrongly: "Comrade chief of general staff, even if we don''t change the clothes of our commanders and fighters, we will be nailed to the position like nails in the face of the advancing enemy, and we will never step back. The reason why I strongly ask the superior to change our clothes as soon as possible is to reduce the casualties of the troops and let more young people live to see the day when we win the final victory. "


    Originally angry vasilevsky, but because of my last words, and softened down. He sighed and said to me, "Rita, I know what you''re feeling. I don''t think so. I hope more commanders and fighters can live to win. But we can''t. The production speed of the ordnance factory has almost reached the limit. If we want to increase the output, we can''t do it. "


    "Is there really no way?" Although vasilevsky was sure, I asked with a fluke¡° Perhaps the supreme command will be able to move the position of our group army to the front when arranging the changing order. "


    "How can this be possible? The decision made by the supreme command is not allowed to be changed. This is the case with the operational plan, and so is the case with the reloading plan. " When he said this, he suddenly stopped and hesitated for a long time to spit out a word: "unless..."


    As soon as I heard the play, I immediately asked, "Comrade chief of general staff, unless what?"


    As if he didn''t hear me, vasilevsky said to himself, "as far as I know, the Armament Department has special authority to directly load a small amount of equipment into designated units without passing through the supreme command." At this point, his face suddenly showed a surprise expression, turned to me and said, "Rita, don''t you know Comrade Ustinov? You can call him to try, maybe there will be unexpected results


    "Really?" When I heard him say this, I was overjoyed. Based on my friendship with Ustinov, even if the commanders and fighters of the whole group army could not be changed, the equipment of one or two close guard divisions should be guaranteed. I turned to look at shumilov beside me and asked excitedly, "Comrade commander, can you contact Moscow with your high frequency telephone?"


    Shumilov looked at vasilevsky and saw that the other side nodded in agreement. Then he said to me with certainty: "you can talk to Moscow. However, Rita, I have to make it clear that you can only negotiate with Comrade Ustinov, and neither I nor the chief of general staff can participate in it. Do you see what I mean? "


    "I understand. I fully understand, comrade commander." In order to confirm whether my guess is accurate, I specially added: "if you or the chief of general staff come forward in this matter, once you convince member Ustinov and get the equipment we want. Then the commanders of other troops will ask the chief of general staff to go out to solve the equipment for their own troops after they get the news. If this goes on, things may get out of control. "


    "You''re absolutely right, Rita." Vasilevsky praised me with a smile, and then said: "with your friendship with Comrade Ustinov, even if we can''t completely change the equipment of the troops, the equipment of one or two close guard divisions is still OK."


    Deeply afraid that I couldn''t use the high frequency telephone, shumilov helped me dial Moscow. When he heard a voice coming from the microphone, he said in a serious tone: "Hello, comrade on duty, please find Comrade Ustinov for me. Who am I? Sorry, you don''t have the right to know for the time being. Please inform the people''s committee members immediately. If you miss something, you can''t take the responsibility. "


    Maybe the tone of shumilov''s speech frightened the other party, so he would go to visit Ustinov immediately. After a moment, shumilov put his hand over the microphone and handed it to me. He said in a low voice, "it''s comrade Ustinov."


    After I nodded to him with a smile, I took the microphone and stuck it to my ear and said, "Hello!"


    In the receiver immediately came Ustinov''s familiar voice with magnetism: "Hello! This is Ustinov. Who is calling for me


    "Hello, comrade member of the people''s Committee." I replied politely, "I''m o''shanina."


    "It''s Rita." Ustinov''s serious voice softened and even joked: "I heard that our heroine has gone to the front line to be commander of the group army. I haven''t had time to congratulate you. How about being a commander? "


    "Not so much. There''s a lot of things to worry about every day." I also said in a joking tone: "if I had known that, I might as well stay with you and be the person in charge of the base."


    "It''s not too late now. I''ve always kept that position for you." After finishing this sentence, Ustinov returned to his normal tone and asked, "Rita, do you have anything important to call me today?"


    "That''s right, comrades of the people''s Committee." When I heard Ustinov ask, I told him the situation of my group army. At last, I added, "do you think we can get a batch of new equipment in the near future?"


    As for my request, Ustinov was silent for a long time before he said slowly, "Rita, it''s not easy. At present, the production of the ordnance factory has reached its limit, so it is very difficult to increase the output. " When he said this, I heard the voice of turning the pages of the book. It seemed that he was looking through the change list provided by the base camp. Then, he said with embarrassment: "Rita, it''s not easy to handle. According to the list of changing clothes, the time of changing clothes for your sixth guard group army is in the middle of October, that is to say, you need to wait five months before you can change clothes for the army."


    Hearing what Ustinov said, I immediately said to him with a smiley face: "Comrade people''s commissar, I seem to have heard that you still have mobile quota allocated by weapons. I wonder if you can give this quota to our group army in the face of your old friends?"

 Chapter 1085

    Ustinov asked puzzledly, "Rita, there are not many people who know about this. Who do you listen to? Is it Marshal Zhukov


    "No, comrades of the people''s Committee. I didn''t listen to Marshal Zhukov about this. " I took a look at vasilevsky, who was sitting at the back of his desk. He said to me that the person who provided me with information must not sell it. He said with a smile to the microphone, "anyway, I have my way to understand this. I wonder if you can take care of the sixth group army and give us priority to this batch of new equipment, You can''t let the soldiers of the guards hold equipment inferior to that of the ordinary troops, can you? In that case, no matter how brave they are, they will make a great sacrifice in the face of the armed invaders. "


    That is to say, I have a friendly relationship with Ustinov. I can say some words without restraint. If someone else had changed, maybe I would have gone to the top of the line because I said that the guards were not equipped well and might have made great sacrifices.


    After listening to what I said, Ustinov was silent for a while, and then said solemnly, "Rita, you and I have a good friendship. I''ll tell you something. The infantry light weapons I can control are 30000 Kalashnikov rifles. But I can''t give it all to you. There is an old friend of mine who is now the deputy commander of the front army of Bryansk. Now he is waiting in the reception hall outside, also for this batch of weapons and equipment. "


    After listening to these words, I couldn''t help but clap and scream that it''s not good. The other side is not only the deputy commander of the Bryansk front army, but also an old friend of Ustinov. It seems that these weapons are going to fail. Thinking of this, I immediately begged Ustinov to say, "Comrade people''s commissar, can I have a talk with this deputy commander? Even if we can''t give all these weapons to us, it''s OK to give us half or one third of them? "


    "Rita, just a moment. Don''t hang up." When Ustinov finished speaking, I heard him seem to pick up another phone next to him and say to the phone, "Hello, please come in, comrade deputy commander of the Bryansk front army."


    A moment later, I heard the door first, then the chair, as if Ustinov had stood up. He soon heard Ustinov''s hearty laughter: "Dear Ivan Ivanovic, Hello, I''m glad to see you alive."


    "Comrades of the people''s Committee," followed by a familiar voice: "to borrow one of my friends once said:" the bullet that can kill me has not been made yet. "


    When I heard this sentence, I couldn''t help but move. It seemed that I had said it. I also heard the voice of the person who said it. Is it the general I know?


    As I was thinking about this, I suddenly heard my name: "my general Comrade, if I guess correctly, the sentence you quoted should be said by the only female general of our army, comrade o''shanina?"


    Ustinov''s words surprised the other party. He hesitated for a moment before answering, "yes, dear Dmitry Fedorovich, this is what oshanina once said. She is my good friend."


    The words of this unknown general surprised me. His tone seemed familiar to me, but I couldn''t think of a familiar general who would be the deputy commander of the Bryansk front army.


    Before I could come up with an answer, I heard Ustinov say, "when you were just outside, I was talking to oshanina on the phone. She also wanted the weapons that your front army wanted. Old man, why don''t you talk to her and discuss in private how to distribute these new assault rifles? "


    The general was silent for a moment, and finally agreed very simply: "OK, let me talk to Rita."


    "Hello, Rita, are you still there?" Ustinov''s voice from the receiver was clearer, and it was obvious that he picked up the receiver again.


    "Yes, comrades of the people''s Committee, I am!" Hearing Ustinov''s voice, I replied in a hurry.


    "Well, comrade deputy commander of the Bryansk front army wants to talk to you," Ustinov said after hearing my reply. "He said he was your good friend. I believe you can reach an agreement satisfactory to both sides." Then Ustinov''s voice became a little distant, apparently handing the receiver to the general, because I heard him say, "please, comrade general, Rita is waiting for you on the line."


    The general took the microphone and gave a hello.


    Listening to this familiar voice, I could not remember who the other party was, so I had to say vaguely: "Hello! Comrade deputy commander of the front army. "


    When the other party heard my voice, he said with a smile, "what''s the matter, Rita? After arriving at the general, can''t you even hear my voice?"


    I tried my best to recall this familiar voice and think about all the generals I knew in the battle of Stalingrad. However, no matter trekov, rodemtsev or lyudnikov, they were unable to speak to this general. Moreover, at their level, they did not have their own deputy commander of the front army. At the moment, I really hate Russian names. They are all made up of their own names, father''s names and surnames. Usually, people use surnames to address each other, but they use their own names and father''s names to address friends who have a good relationship with each other. When Ustinov called him just now, he was so kind that I didn''t know who he was. Because I couldn''t remember it, I had to reply with a bitter smile: "sorry, comrade general, I can''t hear your voice. May I have your name, please


    "What''s the matter with you, Rita? Did you forget me when you left Leningrad?" The other side raised his voice and said in a slightly discontented tone, "after becoming the commander of the group army, I don''t need feijiuningsky anymore?"


    "General fejiuningsky?" What the other side said surprised me. I never dreamed that the deputy commander of the Bryansk front army was my life-saving benefactor, general fejiuningsky. I couldn''t help shouting: "my God, comrade general, I didn''t expect that the deputy commander of the Bryansk front army was you! Excuse me... "


    "Come on, Rita, don''t say any more." Before I finished, fejiuningsky interrupted me and continued: "let''s talk about the past later. Now let''s talk about this batch of weapons and equipment."


    Originally, I wanted to talk to him about the past and play emotional cards. When I heard what he said, I felt an unknown premonition in my heart. It seems that fejiuningsky is also a person with a clear distinction between public and private. Friends are friends and work is work. No matter how good the relationship between him and me is, when it comes to the interests of their respective troops, he deliberately plays an official role.


    "General fejiuningsky," I said politely but firmly, "please come up with a plan on how to distribute the assault rifles of this group of infantry, and then we will discuss it."


    "All right, all right, Rita, since you asked me to come up with a plan, I''ll tell you what I think," said fejiuningsky with a smile. "There are 30000 rifles in that batch. As far as we are friends, I''ll give you 5000 rifles."


    "What, five thousand?" Hearing the figure given by fejiuningsky, I choked and said: "Comrade General, is it too little?"


    "Quite a lot," said fejiuningsky with a smile. "Although we have got 25000 rifles, we can only arm three or four divisions at most when we take back such a few rifles. The rest of the troops have to change their clothes, at least after October."


    "Comrade General, my troops are deployed opposite to the Germans. We may fight them at any time. If we don''t have excellent weapons, we will pay heavy casualties in the battle." In front of this old superior, who is both a friend and an elder brother, I said with a thick face, "if not, we''ll still have one and half of these weapons. Do you think that''s ok?"


    "No, absolutely not." As soon as I said that, it attracted the firm opposition of fejiuningsky: "to give you 5000 rifles, it''s all based on our old friendship, otherwise I won''t give you a gun."


    "Comrade General," I continued, "since you are my old superior and friend, you should take care of me. You can''t watch my troops die and die because of poor equipment. Let me be a bare commander?"


    Vasilevsky, who was sitting opposite me, couldn''t help laughing when he looked at me complaining. At the other end of the phone, feijiuningsky was obviously in a dilemma. After a long time, he said, "well, Rita, since you say so, I''ll give you another 7000. That''s the last number. Don''t bargain with me any more?"


    "Please, please, comrade general, can you give me more?" I can''t help but think of the situation of young girls bargaining with the boss in the store. I can''t help but use it in the negotiation with fijiuningsky. However, after this sweet voice came out, I felt goose bumps all over my body: "add a little more, I don''t want too much, just give me ten thousand sticks. How about that? "


    When I said this, I caught a glimpse of vasilevsky and shumilov covering their mouths and smiling back and forth. I couldn''t help but smile awkwardly at them. It''s estimated that feijiuningsky on the opposite side was also tortured by my voice, so he gritted his teeth and simply said, "OK, 9000 or more. If you don''t think it''s enough, I won''t give you one. "


    When I heard what fejiuningsky said, I felt that my goal had been basically achieved, so I said, "well, comrade general, since that''s the case, nine thousand is nine thousand. Thank you, thank you for your generosity


    "All right, Rita." There was Ustinov''s voice in the receiver. "General fejiuningsky has been pissed off by you. Do you have anything else to say to me? If not, I''ll hang up. "


    "Please wait a moment, comrade member of the people''s Committee. I have something else to tell you. " Although part of the infantry equipment has been solved, the tank equipment is not available yet. The German Tiger tanks, even the best T-34 of the Soviet army at present, are helpless, not to mention the early T-26 and so on. Putting such tanks into the battlefield can not be of much use except for the German tank soldiers as targets. Therefore, I intend to ask for more new t-5455 tanks from Ustinov, To equip Colonel berey''s newly formed 33rd tank army.


    "Let''s talk about something. I still have a lot of work to do." Hastened Ustinov.


    "Comrades of the people''s Committee," I said in a pleading tone, "the 33rd tank army is equipped with old tanks, but it''s not the opponent of the German tanks. I wonder if you can give us some new tanks?"


    Ustinov was silent for a moment, and then asked in a voice, "how much do you want?"


    I think that vasilevsky has just said that at present, the output of the Arsenal can only reach the level of 70000 rifles and 170 tanks per month. If you want too much, Ustinov will not agree, so I pondered for a long time, and finally tentatively asked: "comrades of the people''s Committee, can you give me 300 tanks? It''s a new type of tank with relatively large output. " Originally, I wanted to talk about the type of tank directly, but I saw that there were commanders in the room who were not classified enough, so I could only vaguely replace them with new tanks¡° What? " Ustinov was shocked by the amount I said: "Hello, I said Rita, do you know the monthly output of our arsenal at present?" Before I could answer, he said to himself, "100000 rifles and 220 tanks. But as soon as you open your mouth, you need 300. You know that''s more than a month''s output. If you give them to your group army, what should those tank group army do? " When I heard that the equipment output he said was different from that of vasilevsky, I was stunned. But I soon remembered that I had made a mistake. Vasilevsky said the output of the first 20 days, not that of the whole month. Ustinov said: "with the current manufacturing technology and scale of our arsenal, the manufacturing time of a new tank is 7000, which is only a little lower than the 8000 man hours when the T-34 was put into production in 1940. If you want to shorten the manufacturing time, it will be at least until May 1944, when it may be reduced to about 4000 working hours... "After finishing a series of data in a hurry, Ustinov flatly rejected me and said," Rita, don''t say it''s you, even Zhukov or the Supreme Commander himself, I can''t give you so many tanks. "

 Chapter 1086

    Although Ustinov''s tone was severe, I still heard something from it. It''s not that he refused to equip our department with new tanks, but the number of tanks he can equip is limited.


    While I was thinking about what to say, another distant voice came from the receiver: "sorry, comrade member of the people''s Committee, although your secretary said you were on the phone, I had something important to ask for you, so I broke in. I hope I didn''t disturb you..."


    "Don''t disturb me. I''m talking to general oshanina at the front line. Please wait a moment." Although Ustinov said that the other party did not disturb himself, his tone was full of helplessness. When I heard that someone was looking for him to report his work, I couldn''t help feeling a bit disappointed. My heart said that it seemed that he would hang up soon and let me ask him for a new type of tank.


    Just as I was on the verge of despair, I suddenly heard the voice just now saying in surprise: "Comrade member of the people''s Committee, are you talking to Rita?"


    "Yes, comrade engineer." Ustinov replied positively.


    When I heard Ustinov call each other''s engineers and call each other by my nickname, I immediately guessed the identity of the person who came. It was the engineer from the future, Florent. If I can get his help, I believe Ustinov will provide us with enough new weapons. You know, his understanding of the battle of Kursk is far more than me. If he can help me to say a few good words, it''s better than my dry mouth.


    "Can I have a word with her?" Asked Florin.


    "No problem, comrade engineer." Although I can''t see Ustinov''s expression, I can imagine that he must have a bitter face at the moment, because before he handed the microphone to florin, he said, "Rita is looking for me to get a batch of new tanks to equip her temporary 33rd tank army."


    "Hello, is that Rita?" A moment later, Florin''s familiar voice came from the receiver, and his voice trembled slightly, perhaps because of excitement.


    "Yes, comrade engineer, it''s me." I was especially excited to think that he could help me with a few words in front of Ustinov.


    "I just heard Comrade Ustinov say that you want a batch of new tanks from him, right?" Florin asked very carefully.


    "Yes, comrade engineer, before you came in, I was asking Comrade Ustinov to provide us with some new tanks to arm the newly built 33rd tank army." in order to make Florin aware of the seriousness of the situation, I specially emphasized: "at present, they are equipped with old-fashioned T-26 tanks. If they want to deal with the German Tiger tanks that T-34 can''t beat, they are equipped with old-fashioned T-26 tanks, It''s an impossible task. "


    "I want to hear the truth from you, Rita." After a moment''s silence, Florin asked tentatively, "are you sure that your defense area will bear the brunt of the German attack once it is launched?"


    I can''t help but be stunned by fronin''s words. I think you, a man from the future, don''t understand the German attack route in the battle of Kursk? Although he did not know the purpose of his question, he answered truthfully: "yes, comrade engineer, I think my defense area will be attacked by the German army in the early stage of the campaign, because it is necessary to strengthen the tank army in order to strengthen our defense force."


    "I see." After listening, Florin said slowly, "please don''t hang up. I''ll talk about it with Comrade Ustinov."


    After putting the microphone on the table, Florin began to discuss with Ustinov: "comrades of the people''s Committee, although I have lost most of my memory, I vaguely remember that in two or three months, or even shorter time, we and the German army will break out a big battle in the Kursk region. Lida''s defense area should be one of the important battlefields."


    What Florin said startled Ustinov. He asked in a flustered way, "Comrade engineer, do you remember correctly? We should know that according to the judgment of the supreme command, it is impossible for the German army to launch an attack from the south of Kursk. Therefore, this change of equipment is a priority to supplement general rokosovsky''s troops. "


    "Trust me, comrades of the people''s Committee." Florin said in a helpless voice: "although there are only some fragmentary memory fragments in my mind about the battle of Kursk, the fierce battle in Lida''s defense area has left a deep impression on me."


    "However, I can''t make a decision on the basis of some uncertain fragments of your memory." Florin''s words obviously could not change Ustinov''s decision. He stubbornly said: "unless you have definite evidence that the German army will attack Kursk from the south, I will never agree to equip the 33rd tank army with new tanks."


    "Comrades of the people''s Committee," Florin''s voice suddenly became loud: "if you don''t equip Rita''s 33rd tank army with new tanks, it will be inevitable that their defense line will be broken by the German army. You can''t just watch the German tanks break through all our defenses and rush directly under Kursk, can you


    "But if we give the new tank to Rita and general katukov comes to ask for it, shall we give it?" "If we give it to them, then with our current tank production, we can''t meet the needs of the Bryansk front army and the grassland front army at all," Ustinov said


    "Comrades of the people''s Committee, priority should be given to the troops of the central front army and Voronezh front army, because they are the main fighting direction in the future." At this point, Florin slowed down and said, "as for the production of tanks, I''m here to talk about it."


    At this moment, vasilevsky, who was sitting opposite me, saw that I didn''t speak for a long time. He couldn''t help asking curiously, "Rita, what''s the matter? Did Comrade Ustinov promise you a new tank?"


    I was deeply afraid that Ustinov across the street heard vasilevsky''s voice. He quickly covered the microphone and said to him in a low voice, "Comrade chief of general staff, engineers and people''s committee members are negotiating whether to provide new tanks to our group army. Please wait a little longer."


    "Engineer, what engineer?" I know that vasilevsky knows Florin. As long as he talks about engineers, he knows who I''m talking about, but shumilov next to him doesn''t know. He asked in a puzzled way, "who can tell me who this engineer is?"


    When I hesitated about how to answer him, vasilevsky had already taken over and said, "general shumilov, the engineer we are talking about, is a very important person who belongs to Ustinov''s weaponry department. As your confidentiality level is not enough, I can''t tell you the real identity of this engineer for the time being. "


    Hearing that, shumilov closed his mouth and kept silent.


    On the other end of the line, Ustinov, after hearing what Florin said, asked nervously, "Comrade engineer, what''s the matter? Is there something wrong with the production of T-72? "


    "Alas, the T-72 is a tank that has been leading this era for decades. Due to the limitation of production technology, not to mention mass production, even the six tanks that were hard to be produced are only appearance goods, which can''t be put into actual combat. Moreover, in normal tests, faults frequently occur." When it comes to T-72, Florin seems to have a bellyful of bitterness. After a few complaints, he changed the subject and said, "but today I''m here for t-5455 tank."


    "What''s wrong with this tank?" I could hear that Ustinov was a little nervous when he said this: "we stopped all the T-34 production lines and tried our best to produce this kind of tank equipment unit. If anything goes wrong, we will be in trouble. Not only can I not protect you, but even I will be in trouble. "


    "Look at your fright, comrades of the people''s Committee." "I''m here today to give you some good news," said Florin with a chuckle


    It was a good news to hear from fronin. Not only Ustinov was relieved, but also I put down the stone hanging in my heart. "After a long time of tackling key problems with my colleagues in the secret base, we have successfully simplified the technology of the t-5455 tank. As a result, the manufacturing time of the new tank has been reduced from 7000 to less than 4000; The cost of a single tank has been reduced from 270000 rubles to 135000 rubles. In a word, we can now produce two tanks with the time and money we used to produce one. Do you understand? "


    There was a silence at the other end of the phone. Because I couldn''t hear anything from the other side, I even thought the phone was hung up by Ustinov or Florin. But fortunately, this silence did not last long, I heard Ustinov''s voice with trembling voice because of excitement in the receiver: "Comrade engineer, what you... What you said is true... Is it true?"


    "There''s still something false here, comrades of the people''s Committee." "When did I lie to you?" said florin, dissatisfied with Ustinov''s suspicious tone


    "Great, that''s great." After being confirmed by florin, Ustinov cheered excitedly: "in this way, we can double the production of tanks and equip more troops in the shortest time."


    "Narida''s tank Army..." Florin and other Ustinov''s mood recovered a little, and then tentatively asked: "is it possible to equip them with new tanks?"


    "Yes, you''re right. I''ll call Rita and tell her the good news." Then I heard Ustinov''s voice become loud: "Hello, Rita, are you still there?"


    "Yes, comrades of the people''s Committee, I am still here." Although I heard all the conversations they had just had, I still asked in a flat tone, "can you provide new tanks for my tank army?"


    "Don''t worry, Rita. Since I''m calling you, I''m going to supply some new tanks to your army." Ustinov resumed his usual voice: "three hundred, you can''t count on it. Only katukov''s tank army can hope to get such a number. And you, I can only provide you with 80 cars at most, OK? "


    I recognized that Ustinov was asking me in the tone of consultation, so I tentatively said: "Comrade people''s commissar, 80 vehicles are too few. At most, they are equipped with one tank brigade. The remaining brigade still uses the most old-fashioned tanks."


    "You can divide these new tanks equally between two brigades, so that the tanks can match the old with the new." Ustinov was aware of my attempt, and even took the initiative to talk to me about how to allocate tanks: "old tanks can''t deal with Fu''s Tiger tanks, doesn''t it mean they can''t deal with enemy infantry or fire points? Your brain is good. After the tanks are distributed to the 33rd tank army, you can study with colonel berey how to use these tanks! "¡° Can''t we really give more Although Ustinov said so clearly, I still took a chance and asked, "even if you give me 20 more, let me make up for 100?" Ustinov was silent for a moment, and then replied, "well, in your friendship with me, I''ll give you another 20 tanks." As soon as I grinned, I heard him say, "new tanks are definitely not good. I''ll give you another 20 t-34s. There are still some stocks in the military warehouse, which can be delivered to your troops in two or three days at most." Hearing this, I finally felt relaxed, but I was always a very cautious person, and asked: "can the new tanks equipped for us also arrive together?"¡° Yes, yes, definitely After giving me a positive reply, Ustinov said, "well, I have other things to do. Let''s call it a day. Good luck! Goodbye As soon as I said goodbye, Ustinov hung up. When I put down the phone, shumilov looked at me and said in an envious tone, "it''s easy to be familiar with people. Rita, after you make a phone call, you''ve solved the weaponry of the army. If you want to change me, you''ll have to wait patiently for a few months." I gave shumilov a smile and said nothing. However, my mind frowned when I thought of the Kursk battle which was about to break out in more than a month. Especially when I thought of the Soviet army who had won the final victory but suffered heavy casualties in the cruel battle, I suddenly felt blood surging up and had an invisible heavy responsibility on my shoulders. I will make good use of the advanced weapons provided by Ustinov and Florin to rewrite the local fighting history.

 Chapter 1087

    Although a number of the latest tanks have been acquired through Ustinov, there is still a more important thing to do before these tanks are officially equipped with troops.


    On the way back to the headquarters of the group army, I said to bezikov, "chief of staff, I have something to hand over to you, which will start tomorrow at first."


    Although bezikov didn''t know what important task I would give him, he still respectfully asked, "Rita, please tell me, I will complete your task successfully."


    "Well, the superior will allocate a batch of new tanks to us in the near future." Although I mentioned the new weapons to him and rasmihin when I just got on the bus, I mentioned the new tanks again when I was assigning tasks¡° Now the roads to the south of Kursk are all dirt roads. When it rains, they are muddy and it becomes difficult for vehicles to pass. So I order you to immediately deploy manpower to repair all roads in the defense area. "


    Bezikov was silent after listening, and seemed to be thinking about how to complete the task I gave him. In order not to interrupt his thought, I just looked at him without saying a word, and wanted to hear what he thought of completing the task.


    Before he could speak, rasmishin, who was sitting in the front row, turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, I don''t think it''s easy to finish this task."


    "Comrade commander, why?" I don''t know why rasmishin said it, so I asked in a strange way.


    "The amount of road construction is too large," rasmishin said hesitantly when he heard my question: "not only do we need more manpower, but also the construction period is long. It will take at least half a year to complete the construction of all roads from Kursk to the frontier, but can the Germans give us so much time?"


    Hearing what rasmishin said, I suddenly thought of the use of cinder to pave the road. Only me and bezikov knew about the whole army. No wonder rasmishin was so worried. When he finished, I said with a smile: "Comrade commander, you may not know that before I came to the 6th group army of the Jinwei, I proposed to Marshal Zhukov to use cinders to pave the road. In a short period of half a year and half a time, the repair work of the section of hundreds of kilometers from Moscow to Kursk was completed. If we open up roads in our defense area, it will be finished in about 20 days. "


    "Comrade commander, I don''t understand." Rasmishin asked blankly, "why do we repair the road?"


    The Soviet army has not paid attention to the construction of road traffic network, so it is inevitable that the task I assigned to make intermediate commanders like rasmishin feel confused. In order to effectively carry out the tasks I assigned, I need to give him a detailed explanation: "Comrade commander, if we have a perfect traffic network, we can quickly transfer the reinforcements to important areas. If we don''t repair the roads, once the front line is tight and our roads are too muddy for vehicles, not only tanks and artillery can''t get through, but also vehicles transporting infantry can''t get through. Simply relying on the two legs of the commanders and fighters, when they arrive at the battlefield, they will lose their combat effectiveness in a short time because of fatigue. "


    "Is cinder good for paving?" Rasmishin seemed to accept my statement, and then asked his own question: "can you pass tanks, artillery and all kinds of vehicles?"


    "Absolutely, comrade commander." Bezikov, who had been silent for a long time, said: "first, dump the cinder on the muddy road with a truck, and then roll it repeatedly with a road roller, and the road will be basically formed. Compared with roads paved with bunches of firewood or timber, they are not only faster but also more robust. "


    When he heard what bzikov said, rasmishin asked with some doubts: "Comrade chief of staff, since you know it''s so convenient to use cinder to pave the road, why have you been so worried just now?"


    Bezikov gave a wry smile and said, "what worries me is where to look for cinders. Although there are too many cinders in Moscow to use up, it''s more than 600 kilometers away from here. It''s a long time on the road. "


    I could not help laughing when I heard clearly that what bezikov was worried about was only building materials. Then I gave him some advice and said, "Comrade chief of staff, don''t always look at Moscow. Don''t forget, I''m asking you to repair the road from Kursk to the frontier. You can get all the cinders you need from Kursk, even in a small city like prohorovka in our defense area. If the materials are not enough, let the commanders and fighters cut down some trees. "


    "I see." After bezikov agreed, he asked, "I don''t know which army I should transfer to complete the task of repairing the road?"


    After thinking for a moment, I replied, "the 89th and 90th divisions of Jinwei arrived one after another yesterday. Let''s transfer one regiment from each of these two divisions to complete the road construction task."


    "Yes, I see." Bzikov readily agreed.


    We returned to the headquarters. As soon as we entered the room, a commander sitting next to Danilov stood up and raised his hand to salute me. When I looked closely, it turned out that it was Colonel berey, commander of the 33rd tank army. It made me very excited to see my comrades who had fought side by side in Stalingrad. I stepped forward, took his hand and asked with concern, "Hello, comrade Colonel! How are you? Are you all right? "


    "Thank you for your concern. It''s almost over." "Bielei replied with a smile:" I was still recovering in the hospital, but I heard that you nominated me to be the commander of the newly formed 33rd tank army, so I couldn''t sit any longer. So I went to the president of the hospital and asked him to give me a discharge certificate, so I answered in advance


    Colonel berey''s reply made me feel uneasy: "is it appropriate for you to come back to the front line before your injuries are healed?"


    "There''s nothing wrong, comrade commander." "In a month or two, I don''t have to drive the tank myself," he said. Is it better for me to stay in the headquarters every day than to do recovery treatment in the hospital? "


    Although berey didn''t care a bit about what he said, I didn''t dare to take it lightly, because in the next battle, the tank troops of our army were the key to the victory of the battle, because I turned around and told the nearby bezikov: "chief of staff, send a military doctor and a health officer to take care of Colonel berey to ensure that his injury can recover as soon as possible. If his injury festers and worsens, I can ask you. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Bezikov called me my rank directly in public. He assured me, "I will send the best military doctors and health workers to take care of Colonel Berek."


    When I said that, I asked everyone to sit down, looked at berey and asked, "Comrade Colonel, if you have any difficulties, please let me know. If I can solve it, I will help you solve it as soon as possible; If I can''t solve it, I will report it to the higher authorities and solve the problem for you as soon as possible. "


    After hearing what I said, bielei nodded and then said, "Comrade commander, today I went to the two tank brigades below. Except for a small number of T-34, the rest of the troops are T-26 tanks. You know, these old tanks can''t even beat the German No. 4 tank, let alone the leopard and Tiger tanks. If we don''t change the equipment of our troops and rush into the battle, we will let our tank soldiers be the targets of the enemy. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Danilov said: "before you come back, Colonel berey is talking to me about this. He hopes we can find a way to replace the tank army with a new batch of tanks. Look at this... "


    Danilov didn''t finish what he said, but I understood what he meant. I quickly raised my hand and interrupted what he said behind him. With a smile, I said to berey, "don''t worry, comrade colonel. I just applied to the Armament Department for a batch of new tanks today. I can equip the troops in a day or two at most."


    When berey heard me say this, he didn''t show a happy expression on his face. Instead, he asked cautiously, "I don''t know how high the winning rate of the new tank against the leopard or Tiger tanks of the German army is?"


    I organized some words in my mind, and then explained to berey, "Comrade Colonel, at present, our army''s T-34 tanks, which are heavily equipped, can only penetrate the side armor of Tiger tanks at a distance of 400 meters. If they are hit by Tiger tanks, our tanks will be destroyed. But the new tank can penetrate the front armor of the Tiger tank at a distance of 1000 meters, and even if it is hit by the enemy at the same distance, the tank will not lose its combat effectiveness. "


    Hearing such parameters, don''t Lei not only didn''t feel happy, but frowned even more: "Comrade commander, is our new tank really so powerful?"


    "That''s right." I said with certainty: "I have witnessed the power of the new type of tank in the test field. When the Tiger Tank hits our tank from a kilometer away, it can only make a white mark on the armor plate, and it can''t break through effectively. And our tanks can not only destroy each other with one shot, but also have the ability to shoot high hits on the move. " Originally, I wanted to report a long list of data, but I couldn''t remember it in a hurry, so I had to give up. Anyway, what I said was enough for him to digest for a while.


    Colonel berey looked at me with a look of doubt and said, "Comrade commander, how can I listen to what you have said and seem so untrustworthy?" He had witnessed with his own eyes how the German Tiger tanks annihilated our tank troops like shooting targets. Now I suddenly told him that there was a kind of tank whose combat effectiveness and production capacity far exceeded the German Tiger tanks. Naturally, he could not accept it. If I haven''t worked with him, even if I''m the commander of the group army, he will be angry with me and say that I''m talking nonsense.


    As for berey''s query, I kept silent and began to recall the various parameters of the t-5455 tank. After thinking about it, I said to him, "Comrade Colonel, if you didn''t take part in the May Day parade in red square, you certainly didn''t have a chance to see such excellent tanks that transcend the times. Let''s just say that general katukov was beside me during the parade. When he saw the appearance of new tanks, he was stunned. He wanted to let the Armament Department equip them with these tanks immediately. "


    "Really?" When berey heard this, he raised his eyebrows. It seems that I am right to mention katukov. At least he has unconsciously believed my words.


    Seeing his suspicions weakened, I took the opportunity to introduce the parameters of the new tank: "the main weapon of the new tank is a 100 mm linear tank gun, and a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun is installed on individual tanks, which can not only strafe enemy infantry, but also be used for air defense.


    ... the new type of tank has simple and reliable machinery, and has low requirements for the operation level of the crew; The tank volume is relatively small, which means that the target provided to the enemy on the battlefield is also smaller; The tank is light in weight, wide in track and good in starting performance at low temperature. Compared with the tanks in active service of our army, its combat effectiveness and production capacity have been significantly improved. " After hearing me finish a series of parameters, bielei couldn''t help getting excited and asked repeatedly, "Comrade commander, I don''t know how many new tanks our superior can give us?" I sighed and said, "originally I wanted 300 cars, but after a long time, the superior only promised us 80. At my repeated request, I approved another 20 T-34 tanks for us. "¡° That''s enough, comrade commander. " Colonel berey said excitedly: "if the new tanks really have the performance you said, let alone 80, even if only 18, I can lead the troops, and the enemy''s armored forces will be defeated in the future." When I heard that he used the word "lead" instead of "command", I couldn''t help but put a face on him and said to him seriously, "Comrade Colonel, I''m here to remind you that you are not allowed to drive tanks to fight until your injury is healed. This is my order. Do you understand me? "¡° I see, comrade commander. " Although Colonel berey was criticized by me, he still had a smile on his face, because he understood that I gave such an order for his consideration, so he agreed very readily¡° After the new tanks arrive in the army, you must make the tank soldiers familiar with these equipment as soon as possible. " When I thought of the imminent battle of Kursk, I was upset. "Otherwise, even if you drive new tanks to the battlefield, you can''t beat those experienced Germans."¡° Comrade commander, please rest assured. " Colonel berey stood up and assured me, "as long as the new tanks arrive in the army, for a week at most, I will familiarize all the tank soldiers with their new partners. When we are on the battlefield, we will use these new tanks to teach the Germans a lesson, a shame on zaborosh

 Chapter 1088

    With the approaching of the battle in Kursk, I was under increasing psychological pressure. In addition to inspecting the front line, I also called every division commander every day to check their preparations. Although I was careful and careful and told the commanders at all levels below, I still couldn''t avoid the accident.


    Early in the morning of June 21, we received a telegram from vatukin, ordering us to prepare for all battles and prevent possible German attacks.


    Danilov, holding vatukin''s telegram, said suspiciously, "Comrade commander, do you think the German army will attack our defense area?"


    Before I said anything, the deputy chief of staff next to him, Mr. bezikov, gave a preemptive reply and said, "Comrade deputy commander, I think it is absolutely possible. You know, it was on the morning of June 22nd two years ago that the bandits crossed the border and fought against us without a declaration. I think they will definitely make a big move in the near future. "


    After listening, Danilov turned his eyes to me and asked with a smile, "Comrade commander, what do you think?"


    When I heard his question, I laughed bitterly and said that the German attack was in early July, not now. Your judgment is basically accurate. Just as I was thinking about how to answer him, a man rushed in from the outside. When I looked up, it turned out that it was lieutenant colonel rasmishin, the director of intelligence. Seeing that he looked flustered, I guessed that something might have happened. I quickly asked him, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter?"


    "Report to commander, we have just intercepted a piece of information. It says that they successfully captured position 4 on our first line of defense at 3 a.m. today. " Rasmishin said, and handed the telegram in his hand.


    I glanced at the contents, which were not different from what rasmihin said, and quickly told bezikov: "chief of staff, map."


    After bezikov spread out the map on the table in front of us, Danilov looked at it, then pointed to one of the positions, and said in a positive tone: "Comrade commander, position 4 is here, at the junction of the 51st and 52nd divisions of the guards, under the jurisdiction of the 52nd division. Once the German army had established itself, they could use it as a starting point for their attack. In this way, our first line of defense will be separated, forming a situation of fighting on its own, and finally broken by the dominant German forces. "


    While Danilov and I were studying the map, bzikov went to the side, picked up the phone on the desk and got through to the division headquarters of the 52nd division through the operator. As soon as the phone rang, bzikov angrily scolded at the receiver: "is that Colonel nikolasov? I''m bezikov. I ask you, is your position 4 lost? "


    When we heard that bezikov was asking questions about Nekrasov, Danilov and I also stopped discussing. We listened to bezikov''s phone call quietly. We saw bezikov slapping the table and swearing, "I ask you, since the position is lost, why don''t we report it? Don''t you know the seriousness of the matter and you''re not afraid to be taken to court martial? "


    When bezikov returned to the table in a rage, I looked up and asked, "chief of staff, what''s the matter?"


    Bezikov sat down on the bench next to me, and then said angrily, "according to the report of Nekrasov, the German army quietly touched the position around 3 a.m. this morning. Because people in that period were the most tired, no one found the sentry after being solved by the enemy''s top soldiers. However, the German army''s luck was not good. When their successor troops passed through the minefield, a soldier accidentally touched the mine, exposing the target and waking up the officers and men in the shelter.


    Because some of them have gone into the trenches again, it is difficult for our commanders and fighters to form organized resistance. After a lot of fierce fighting, except for a small part of them quitting the battle, the rest of them died with honor. "


    "How many men are there in our position?" I asked as soon as bezikov had finished.


    "The Garrison has a company, and the company commander is a commander with rich combat experience." Bezikov replied truthfully, "when he saw the strength of the enemy, he commanded the officers and men to fight and retreat and withdraw from position 4."


    "When he found that the enemy touched the position and started fighting with the garrison, did he immediately report the situation to his superiors?" I''ve been to position 4 before, and I know a lot about the fortifications there. Even if the German army rushes into the trench, our garrison can still use several ready-made firepower points to defend and wait for help. How can it be so easy to withdraw from the position? Thinking of this, I asked again, just to find out what kind of countermeasures the garrison company commander took at that time.


    Bzikov thought for a moment and replied, "the company commander said that the incident happened suddenly and there was no time to warn. He only reported the situation to the regiment headquarters by phone after knowing that they had retreated to the friendly position."


    "Nonsense, it''s nonsense." Danilov, after listening to bezikov''s story, clapped his case and said, "fortunately, the German army is a small unit of sneak attack. If it comes to a large unit, then our first line of defense may be completely broken through by the enemy."


    I waited for Danilov to finish, and quietly told bzikov: "chief of staff, call Col. Nekrasov and shoot the company commander who lost the position on the spot. At the same time, I ordered him to organize forces immediately and take back position 4 to me."


    After my words, bzikov hesitated and said, "Comrade commander, is it too much to shoot the company commander? After all, he led the army to resist for a long time before withdrawing from the position. "


    Looking at bezikov, I said solemnly, "chief of staff, you must remember that when a large regiment is fighting, military discipline must be strict. If Colonel Nekrasov can''t organize the troops to take back the lost positions, I will remove him from his post as well. "


    "Yes, comrade commander said it well." Danilov immediately agreed with my treatment, "as a teacher, niekrasov has an unshirkable responsibility. If he can''t take back his lost position within the prescribed time, I suggest that he be removed immediately. "


    "Comrade commander, since we can intercept this intelligence, the Intelligence Department of the headquarters of the front army must be able to do the same." "Do we need to report this to our superiors?" Colonel rasmishin asked cautiously


    "You are right, comrade commander." Rasmishin''s words reminded me that although I lost my position and would be scolded by my superiors, if I concealed it from my superiors, the consequences would be very serious. I pushed the boat forward and said, "go and send a telegram to the headquarters of the front army to report the loss of position 4 to the higher authorities. When we break out of the encirclement, we should make it clear that when we learn of the loss of the position, we will immediately organize our forces to fight back, and we will certainly be able to restore the position occupied by the German army in the shortest time. "


    Rasmishin went out to send a telegram, while bezikov was still standing where he was. I took a look at him and said, "Colonel, what are you still doing here? Why don''t you call Nekrasov and let him know my decision?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, I''ll do it now." With a flustered promise, bzikov turned to the phone, picked up the receiver and began to dial.


    When he got through, bzikov said aloud to the microphone, "Colonel Nekrasov? This is bezikov. The commander ordered that the company commander who lost his position be shot on the spot. And you, immediately organize troops to take back the lost positions, otherwise you will be sent to the military court... "


    Before bzikov had finished speaking, I went to him, grabbed his hand and took the microphone out of his hand. Listening to the slightly flustered voice of Col. Nekrasov coming from the earphone, I deliberately slowed down and said, "Col. Nekrasov, I''m oshanina. I order you to organize the troops immediately and launch a counter attack on position 4 as soon as I arrive."


    When I put down the phone, bzikov whispered nervously, "Rita, are you really going to the front?"


    I was deeply afraid that bzikov and Danilov would stop me, so I made it clear to them the reason for going: "deputy commander, chief of staff, if we simply give an order to Colonel nikolasov to take back the position, he may make a wrong decision because he is too nervous, resulting in heavy casualties and unable to take back the position."


    After I explained, I asked the artillery commander of the group army povsky, who was sitting beside me, "Colonel povsky, how many artillery can we use near the first line of defense?"


    The newly appointed artillery commander quickly stood up from his seat, straightened up and reported to me, "Comrade commander, we have deployed a cannon regiment, a mortar regiment and a close guard rocket battalion in the first line of defense, which can provide sufficient artillery support for the troops attacking position 4."


    "Very well, comrade colonel." I am very satisfied with what povsky said. As long as we have enough artillery support, it will be very easy to eliminate the enemy in position 4. So, I said, "you will go with me to the 52nd division headquarters of the guards, where you will command the artillery to cover the German troops."


    With a smile on his face, povsky replied, "I see. Comrade commander, I''d like to go to the front with you."


    Just as we were ready to leave, lieutenant commander rasmishin hurried into the headquarters again, solemnly handed me a telegram, and said, "Comrade commander, call back from the headquarters of the front army."


    The message was very short, with one sentence: "take back, take back the lost position for me." The signature is the name of watujing.


    I can''t help but feel funny when I look at this telegram. It seems that watujing is also a very cultured person. How can he give such vulgar orders? But I didn''t care about his tone. Instead, I raised the telegram in my hand to Danilov and bzikov and said, "see, commander vatujing sent a telegram himself. Let''s take the position back immediately. So I''m going to rush to the front line immediately. As for here, I''ll leave it to you. "


    On the way to the 52nd division headquarters of Jinwei, Colonel povsky, who was sitting next to me, suddenly said, "Comrade commander, you have done the right thing!"


    On hearing these words, I could not help but ask in a misty way, "Comrade Colonel, I don''t understand what you mean."


    "Well, comrade commander." The middle-aged artillery commander explained to me: "as far as I know, the Supreme Commander himself will never condone any attempt to hide any adverse news, even if it is not decisive, from his superiors. He will punish those who hope to succeed next time without reporting the current defeat to his commanders. That''s why I think it''s completely correct for you to report to your superiors in time. "


    Povsky''s words surprised me in a cold sweat. If rasmishin didn''t tell me that the Intelligence Department of the headquarters of the front army might also intercept the German telegram, maybe I will report this matter to vatukin after the recovery of position 4. I didn''t expect that I was so lucky that I could avoid a disaster. As we get closer to the first line of defense, our team of four jeeps will be stopped more and more times. On the road paved with cinders, we can see the checkpoints set up by our army commanders and fighters from time to time, and I have to show my certificates again and again to let the commanders and fighters in the checkpoint check. Not far from the division headquarters, we were stopped by another checkpoint. Judging from the scale of sandbags on both sides of the checkpoint, there is at least one platoon stationed here. A second lieutenant reached out and stopped our car. When it stopped, he and two soldiers came to my car. After checking the certificate, he raised his hand to salute, returned the certificate to me, and then said: "Hello, comrade commander, please forgive me for not recognizing you just now."¡° Have you seen me before? " I asked politely as I put the document back in my pocket¡° Yes, comrade commander. " The second lieutenant replied respectfully, "I have seen you several times before when you visited our division''s defense area." With that, he turned and waved to the checkpoint behind him, indicating that the soldiers there would remove the barrier in the middle of the road. Before our car started, the second lieutenant also kindly reminded me: "Comrade commander, the front is the front. We don''t know whether there are small groups of German troops lurking nearby, so you must pay attention to safety."¡° Thank you, comrade lieutenant For the second lieutenant''s concern, I nodded gratefully: "I''ll pay attention." When we came to the division headquarters, it was the chief of staff of the division who came out to receive us. He told me that the division chief had gone to the regimental headquarters of 223 regiment, where he would command the troops to launch a counterattack against position 4.

 Chapter 1089

    Povsky and I, as well as several security guards, led by a division adviser who was a guide, walked along the trench towards the headquarters of 223 regiment. Although the trench here is very deep, and the commanders and fighters need to stand on special steps to shoot out, I still bend slightly when I walk to avoid becoming the target of German snipers.


    We followed behind the Division staff, through the trenches full of commanders and fighters, bypassing the machine gun fire points and the well prepared mortar positions. I only think about one thing in my heart: can the organized counter attack forces successfully recover the occupied position 4?


    Just as he was walking, the Division staff officer in front of him suddenly stopped and said to me, "Comrade commander, the command post of 223 regiment is here."


    Then he went down the wooden steps to the entrance of the underground command post. He opened the curtain at the door and said politely, "please, comrade commander, please go in! The teacher is in there. "


    In addition to nikolasov, there are 223 regiment leaders, political commissars, deputy regiment leaders, chief of staff and some people I don''t know. With so many people crowded here, the spacious command post has become crowded.


    Seeing me coming, all the people got up from their seats and stood upright. Niekrasov took a step forward and reported to me in accordance with the regulations: "Comrade commander, the 52nd division of the close guard infantry is studying the operational plan. Sir, Colonel Nekrasov


    I nodded, went to the crude wooden table, looked down at the military map lying on the table, and asked casually, "how is the study of the plan? Can we recover the lost position 4 in the shortest time?"


    The commander of 223 regiment, a black, thin and medium-sized lieutenant commander, boldly took a step towards me and said in a hoarse voice, "Comrade commander, our counterattack troops have been assembled. We can fight back with your order."


    I looked up at him, put my hands on the belt around my waist, and asked kindly, "Comrade commander, how do you plan to command the troops to take back the position?"


    "First cover position 4 with artillery fire, then charge with infantry." The head of the regiment replied in a proper way.


    "Comrade commander," said nikolasov in a low voice, looking at the artillery commander standing behind me, "if the task of artillery suppression can be accomplished by the close guard rocket battalion, it would be better. But I don''t have the authority to command this unit. I wonder if you can order the rocket battalion to cooperate with our counterattack? "


    "Comrade division," said povsky behind me in a dignified voice, "our close guard rocket battalion is deployed in the front line position to cooperate with the garrison to eliminate the armored forces attacked by the German army. Moreover, the number of rockets stored is limited, so it is totally unnecessary to invest in such a small-scale attack."


    I waved to povsky to stop talking. He turned to look at nikolasov and asked, "Comrade Colonel, where is your regiment? Take me to position four. "


    Niekrasov did not dare to neglect, and immediately led me and povsky to the nearby regiment observation post. I stood in front of the lookout, holding a telescope, looking at position 4 in the distance. On the south slope of the position, some German soldiers in helmets were digging trenches. Because of the hot weather, many soldiers were working barehanded. In front of the trench, which had not yet been connected, were scattered bunkers with machine guns or mortars.


    I put down my telescope, turned around and asked nikolasov, "Comrade Colonel, I don''t know where the commander of the counterattack force is?"


    Hearing my question, nikolasov rushed out and yelled, "Captain, come in!"


    At his command, a young captain came in from the door and stood upright in front of us. Niekrasov pointed to him and introduced to me, "Comrade commander, this is the commander of the Third Battalion. Highland 4 is his defense area."


    With a smile, I handed the telescope to povsky, and asked the captain with a smile, "Comrade captain, I didn''t expect that the company holding the No. 4 highland was under your command."


    When the captain heard what I said, his face turned red with shame. After a timid look at me, he quickly lowered his head and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, since position 4 was lost by our battalion, even if the whole battalion was sacrificed, we should take it back from the enemy."


    "Comrade captain, I don''t want you to sacrifice. I only want position four." I went over, put my hands on the captain''s shoulder, raised my voice and said, "remember, it''s the Germans, not you."


    With these words, I turned to povsky and said, "Comrade artillery commander, while the enemy''s fortifications have not been repaired, immediately order the close guard rocket battalion to cover position 4 with fire, and send these Germans to God."


    "But, comrade commander." "Our rocket reserves are limited, and it will take at least a week for us to get supplies," povsky said hesitantly. If it''s all used up, if the German army launches a general attack tomorrow, the rocket battalion will have no ammunition


    "Don''t worry, Colonel povsky." Knowing that the artillery commander was worried that in order to cover the attack of infantry, the excessive use of rockets would lead to the depletion of ammunition in the rocket camp, he comforted him and said, "look, the south slope of position 4 is such a large area, and only two volleys are enough. Don''t worry, the German army won''t attack on a large scale until the rocket battalion is supplied with ammunition. "


    "Well, comrade commander." "I''m going to get the artillery ready," povsky said helplessly Then he would take the phone in the middle of the observation center¡° Wait a minute. Please wait a minute, Colonel povsky When his hand touched the phone, I stopped him in time. Then, regardless of his surprised eyes, he turned around and told the commander of 223 regiment and the commander of the Third Battalion: "Lieutenant Colonel, Captain, you see, the starting point of the counterattack force is about two kilometers away from position 4. If we wait until the artillery is ready, then when they pass through this long open area, the German troops who have been devastated by the artillery have regrouped. In this way, our infantry will suffer heavy casualties under the enemy''s fire when they charge towards the high ground. "¡° Comrade commander, how can we fight? " As soon as I finished speaking, the black and thin commander immediately asked. I pointed to position 4 in the distance and said to the third battalion commander, "Comrade captain, you will lead your men to attack position 4 immediately." When he heard what I said, his mouth opened. When he seemed to want to say something, he was stopped by me. I went on: "when you reach half the distance, the rocket battalion will launch the first salvo. Don''t stop, just keep on going, because our artillery is very accurate and won''t hurt our own people. When the second volley is over, you are only a few hundred meters away from position 4. At this time, with only one charge, you can rush to the position and destroy the German soldiers who were dazed by the explosion. Do you understand? "¡° I see! " The commander and the battalion commander answered in unison¡° Comrade commander, "said Nekrasov pleasantly after I finished," according to your fighting method, our army will greatly reduce casualties. I believe that it will not be long before the Third Battalion can resume their lost positions. " Povsky also understood the reason why I had just stopped him and said to me on his own initiative: "Comrade commander, it will take about 20 minutes for the infantry to get to position 4 from here. Then I will order the artillery to fire ten minutes after the infantry starts, OK?" Seeing that I nodded and agreed, I immediately picked up the phone and called the guards rocket battalion to assign them the shelling task. Soon after the commander and the third battalion commander left, I saw troops gathering at the foot of the hillside. Hundreds of helmeted commanders and fighters, as soon as they enter the designated position, form a dense line of scattered soldiers in a standard squatting and kneeling posture, and watch the low hill that is about to attack in front of them. Niekrasov also introduced to me: "Comrade commander, the troops involved in the attack are the seven companies, eight companies and nine companies of the three battalions, with a total of 375 people." After listening, I nodded and didn''t say anything. According to my observation, the German army was less than 200 in position 4. We attacked with twice as many troops, and we still had a good chance of winning. I turned my telescope and looked at the team at the foot of the mountain. I saw the third battalion commander squatting in the front of the whole attack team. When all the troops had assembled, he stood up, looked around at our position, straightened his uniform, raised his pistol, moved backward, and then walked forward. The company commander and platoon commander behind also stood up one after another, raised their pistols or assault rifles, and did the same thing as him. The dense line of scattered soldiers suddenly stood up, and then came the familiar cry "Wula! Wula Then the whole offensive troops followed the captain and marched towards position 4. Looking at the sparsely scattered formation which was constantly spread to both sides during the March, I was secretly relieved. It seems that the soldiers of the guards have rich combat experience, and they will no longer be foolishly crowded together to let the Germans hit themselves as targets. I put down my telescope, turned around and asked Nekrasov, "Captain, is there a tunnel for us on Highland four?"¡° No, "he answered immediately, shaking his head." we have Fortifications on the mountainside and on the top of the mountain, but no tunnels have been built. Otherwise, this position would not be lost so easily. " What niekrasov said gave me a sigh of relief. It would be better if there were no tunnels, so that our counterattack troops could easily annihilate the German troops in the position, instead of fighting them like field rats.

 Chapter 1090

    As early as our army was still gathering at the foot of the mountain, the German army stopped the construction of fortifications, hid in the trench which was only half dug, and put all kinds of weapons on the edge of the trench. The machine gun or mortar positions in the outer scattered bunkers were also well prepared for combat. As soon as our troops entered the range, they opened fire immediately.


    I can''t help but worry when I see the German troops waiting for them through the telescope. I am deeply afraid that the counterattack troops are moving too fast. They will enter the range of the German machine guns before the Rockets fire. In that case, they will suffer great sacrifice. Therefore, as I watched the formation move forward, I raised my hand and looked at my watch from time to time, silently calculating where the artillery might go when they fired.


    Before our artillery opened fire, the German mortars fired first. Several mortar shells roared down on the open ground and exploded, one of which landed in the first row. The blast wave overturned several commanders and fighters and blasted a gap in the neat line. The commanders and fighters in the back row speeded up and filled the gap in front.


    Seeing that our commanders and fighters were bombarded by the enemy, I was about to turn around and ask bofsky to inform the Rockets to fire ahead of time. Then I heard a strange sound in the air. Then the arrow like fire cut through the sky. After drawing arcs in the air, the Rockets with long tails accurately landed on the south slope of position 4. The position was immediately enveloped by a sea of fire, and then came a terrible roar.


    Half of the counterattack troops marching on the open ground saw that the position was covered by a sea of fire. Instead of slowing down, they changed from walking to trotting. Seeing this, I couldn''t help exclaiming in surprise, because according to their way of running, they may rush into the fire coverage area before the second round of rocket salvo starts, and it will be a burning end


    When our soldiers rushed into the range of 400 meters, mortars and machine guns that were not destroyed by artillery fire on the hillside opened fire. Sporadic explosive shells, and machine gun shot out of the rain of bullets, from time to time our army officers and men down.


    At this time, the sound of rocket flying was heard again in the air. A moment later, the south slope of position 4 turned into a sea of fire again. Mortars and machine guns, which were still making death a moment ago, were silent in the sea of fire. Seeing that the enemy''s resistance stopped, our officers and men speeded up their charge and rushed south.


    Seeing this, nikolasov exclaimed excitedly: "it''s wonderful, it''s wonderful. Comrade commander, as you can see, our soldiers have rushed up, rushed up, and will soon be able to take back the position. "


    But I am not so optimistic as nikolasov. I look through the telescope at the hillside full of smoke and craters, and try my best to search for the possible survivors.


    When the commanders and fighters approached the position halfway up the mountain, many grenades suddenly flew out of the broken trench which had been blasted into virtual soil and fell in the queue to explode. After rising the fire and smoke, the officers and men who were shrouded in it fell one after another. Those who were lucky not to be bombed at the back hid in the crater beside them, shooting in the direction of the grenade, or throwing the grenade they carried with them.


    Seeing that the soldiers were shooting at the trench where they could not see clearly where the enemy was, I suddenly thought of another thing. I put down my telescope and asked Nekrasov, "Comrade Colonel, last time your division got 1000 Kalashnikov rifles, how did you distribute them?"


    "Each regiment has 300 branches, and the remaining 100 are under the unified management of the division." "I asked the commander of 223 regiment today, and he said that in order to ensure the victory of the counterattack, half of the commanders and fighters of the Third Battalion were equipped with Kalashnikov rifles, and the rest were bobosha submachine guns or mosinlagan rifles," he replied


    As soon as I heard it, I thought it was not good. Although the Kalashnikov rifle is easy to use, it still has a familiar process. If half of the shock troops are equipped with new weapons, not only will it not enhance their combat effectiveness, but it will greatly reduce their combat effectiveness because the soldiers are not familiar with this kind of weapon. But now that the troops have rushed up and engaged in close combat with the remaining German troops, there is no way to adjust them.


    Povsky curiously asked nikolasov: "Sir, you see the trenches on the hillside have almost been destroyed by our rockets, but where are the enemies who are still fighting coming from?" I recognized the implication of his words, which was to question nikolasov: didn''t you just say that there were no tunnels in position 4? So how did so many enemies survive under our powerful firepower?


    In fact, I also found out the question that povsky asked, but I haven''t had time to ask. Since he asked, I kept silent and wanted to hear what Nekrasov said.


    After a moment''s silence, Nekrasov pointed to the position in the distance and said, "commander, Colonel, you see, on both sides of the south slope, there are traffic trenches connecting with the north. I estimate that most of the enemy''s troops were hiding on the north slope when they were under fire. When our commanders and fighters rush up the hillside and can no longer get artillery support, they rush out from the side and block our charging road with firepower. "


    Although the officers and men on the hillside had no artillery support, they used the crater as a cover to evade the enemy, formed a fire blockade network with grenades and machine guns, and continued to charge upward. As soon as some soldiers emerge from the crater, they are hit by enemy bullets or knocked down by flying shrapnel.


    The officers and men hiding in the crater did not rush up blindly when they saw that their comrades in arms were knocked down one after another. It''s about standing up, shooting out and squatting, or rolling from one crater to another. The German soldiers hid in the trenches. Although the defeated soldiers were still shooting or throwing grenades, they still could not stop our soldiers from approaching the fortifications. The soldiers hiding in the crater threw a series of hand grenades. When the smoke in the trench was so heavy that the German army''s vision was affected, they jumped out of the crater and rushed into the trench decisively, launching a close combat with the German army inside. A little breakthrough, the German army was in a mess. More and more officers and men jumped out of the crater, rushed into the trench, mixed with the remaining German officers and men, and launched a close fight. Although my observation post is two kilometers away from the fighting place, I always seem to hear the cry of killing in my ears. As I watched, the German resistance finally stopped, and the commanders and soldiers in the trenches rushed from the East and west to the north along the traffic trench. When I saw the red flag flying over position 4 again, I breathed a long breath and said that I would finally take back the damned position. With this lesson, the front departments will certainly step up their vigilance. It is impossible for the German army to win our position so easily. Half an hour later, the commander of the Third Battalion hurried back to the observation post and personally reported to me the good news of the recovery. I carefully looked at the young captain standing in front of me, and saw that his collar was open, and his narrow face covered with smoke and dirt was full of joy. "Comrade commander, we have successfully recovered position No. 4," he told me cheerfully¡° Good job, comrade captain I raised my hands and slapped him heavily on the shoulder. After praising him, I told them, "since the position has been taken back, we should hold it well and never let the Germans take it again. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander. " The captain replied loudly. I nodded with satisfaction to the captain''s reply. Then he turned around and said to povsky standing beside him, "Comrade Colonel, you call the deputy commander and say that position 4 has been taken back. Ask him to report the good news to the headquarters of the front army immediately."¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Povsky, who witnessed the whole process of recovering the No. 4 position, gave a loud promise.

 Chapter 1091

    Although position 4 was successfully recovered, I didn''t go back to the headquarters of the group army immediately. Instead, I followed Nekrasov to the headquarters of the 52nd division. At the same time, I asked him to call all the three commanders of the division to the headquarters of the division to discuss the gains and losses of this battle.


    When all the people came to the meeting, I made a sign to Nekrasov and said, "Comrade Colonel, since all the commanders are here, let''s have a meeting."


    Nikolasov nodded, stood up, put his hands on the edge of the table, and began to tell the commanders about the recovery of position 4 today. After briefly describing the process of recovering the position, he looked around and said to his subordinates, "you can tell us what you think of this battle."


    After that, he waited for a while. Seeing that there was no one to answer, he looked at the head of 223 regiment and said, "Comrade commander, this battle took place in your regiment''s defense area. Let''s talk about it first."


    The head of the regiment who was named stood up and looked at me with some formality. When I saw that I was looking at him quietly, I became more and more flustered, so that I could only say two words over and over again: "the commanders and fighters of our regiment are very brave today. In the face of the fierce enemy, no one has retreated..."


    When he spoke for the fifth time, nikolasov couldn''t listen to him any more. He raised his hand to stop him, pointed to another commander and said, "you can tell me your opinion."


    After standing up, the commander gave me the same nervous look, then calmed down and said, "Comrade commander, I think the commanders and fighters of 223 regiment who participated in the counterattack have been very brave in today''s battle. All the officers and men of our 225th regiment must learn from them.... "


    When I heard these empty contents, I quickly raised my hand to stop him and said impatiently, "OK, comrade commander, you don''t have to say any more. I know what you have to say." With that, I turned my attention to the other remaining regiment leader. At the same time, I asked curiously, "Comrade regiment leader, are you the regiment leader of 221 regiment or 227 regiment?"


    Hearing my question, the tall and thin regiment leader stood up straight and said in a loud voice, "Comrade report commander, I''m lieutenant commander yershov, the 221st regiment leader." Without waiting for me to speak, he went on to say, "I think what we are going to discuss at this meeting today is not only how our army recovered position 4, but also why the position was lost, so as to avoid similar things happening in other areas."


    Yershov''s words made me feel fresh and fresh. I looked at him in surprise and urged, "Comrade commander, tell me what you think."


    "Yes, comrade commander." Yeershoff agreed, and then began to analyze the reasons for the loss of position 4: "although the 223rd regiment stationed a company on position 4 to defend, the fortifications were not built according to the unified deployment of the group army headquarters. For example, if there are no tunnels in the positions, once they are bombarded or bombed intensively by the enemy, the troops hidden in the trenches will suffer many unnecessary casualties. Secondly, in front of the position, there was no barbed wire and no minefield, so that the Germans could walk like a walk to the bottom of the position. Last but not least, when we are on duty at night, we usually send sentries based on shifts. At the same time, there are at least two machine gun fire points in the trench. Some people are on duty 24 hours a day, but what about 223 regiment? Not only are machine gun fire sites unattended, but there are only two sentinels on guard. Once the sentry is killed by the enemy, then the enemy''s sneak attack will succeed. "


    After listening to yershov''s words, I turned to the head of 223 regiment and asked, "Comrade commander, is what yershov said true?"


    "Comrade commander," the head of the regiment quickly stood up from his seat and, like a pupil who had done something wrong, bowed his head to admit his mistake: "since we consider that the soldiers are very tired in the process of building fortifications during the day, in order to let them have a better rest, our regiment arranges very few Russian sentries at night."


    "Comrade commander," after listening to the group leader''s self justification, my mood became irritable. I patted the table hard, pointed to his nose and said in a loud voice, "have you ever thought that if the troops below didn''t carry out your wrong orders, this No. 4 position would not be lost at all, and we would not sacrifice more than 100 experienced commanders and fighters for recovering the lost position?"


    "I''m wrong, comrade commander." The commander of 223 regiment was red in the face when I scolded him. After he gave me a sneak glance, he immediately assured me: "when I go back, I can order the third battalion to build a perfect defense system on the position."


    When I criticized the regiment leader, nikolasov immediately pleaded for his subordinates. He said in a flattering tone: "Comrade commander, please calm down. Since we all know how the 223 regiment''s positions were lost, we will certainly learn from the bitter experience and improve the existing defense system to avoid similar incidents. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Seeing that his immediate superior was speaking for him, the head of the regiment summoned up courage and said to me, "we will learn from this serious lesson and improve our defense system. Don''t worry. As soon as I go back, I''ll order the third battalion to dig the tunnel overnight and try to finish it in a week. "


    "And the minefield in front of the position." I waited for him to finish his statement, then added coldly.


    "Yes, yes The commander replied in a panic: "the minefield will also be laid in the near future. We will never let the Germans touch our position quietly again."


    After everyone was seated, I looked around for a while, and then asked, "today''s battle must have been well known, even if you haven''t witnessed it with your own eyes, after listening to the introduction of Mr. Nekrasov. I now ask you, what do you think of today''s battle? "


    The commanders of nikolasov''s forces looked at the chief of staff of the division. Seeing that the other side ignored him, they turned their eyes to nikolasov for help. Seeing the embarrassment of his troops, nikolasov had to stand up again and plead with me, saying, "Comrade commander, since we all don''t speak, I guess we think today''s attack will be a successful one. It''s impossible to beat off the Germans on the hillside."


    After niekrasov finished, povsky, who had been silent, said, "Comrade niekrasov, can I say a few words?" Seeing that the other side nodded blankly, he stood up and said, "today''s battle, comrade commander and I saw the whole process together in the regiment observation station. First of all, I would like to say that the officers and men of the 223rd regiment are all good. In the face of the enemy''s barrage of bullets, no one shrinks, but bravely advances. "


    Povsky''s words surprised me. How did he become a lobbyist for nikolasov? However, I soon found that my judgment was wrong. I just heard povsky continue to say: "in fact, after the position was covered by our rockets, the German garrison on the position was very limited. But with just a little remnant of German forces, our brave guards still suffered heavy casualties. "


    "Comrade artillery commander," I don''t know why povsky suddenly made such a long speech and stopped him immediately, saying, "what are you trying to explain?"


    "Step gun cooperation!" Then he continued: "when our counterattack troops reached the middle of the open field, the rocket barracks launched two volleys, causing heavy damage to the German troops in the position. Originally, according to the plan made before the battle, when the troops arrived at the foot of the mountain, the Rockets would not be designed for fear of injuring their own people. At this time, only mortars can be used. "


    At this point, he sighed deeply, and then said, "but what I see is that brave soldiers bravely rush up the hillside with bullets from the enemy and flying grenade fragments. Many of the officers and men fell into a pool of blood, and with their blood and even their lives, they wrote about their boundless loyalty to the motherland and their incomparable hatred of the Communist aggressors. "


    When povsky said these words, I was very surprised. I didn''t expect that the artillery commander sent to me by the superior was so eloquent. If he was allowed to serve as political commissar in any division, he would have a better development.


    Instead of interrupting him, I listened patiently to his point of view. All the commanders, including nikolasov, did not stop nodding when they heard his high opinion.


    When povsky and I left the 52nd division headquarters of Jinwei and returned to the group army headquarters, I couldn''t help asking povsky, "Comrade artillery commander, what did you do before the war broke out?"


    After listening to what I said, povsky shrugged and replied with a smile, "Comrade commander, what else can I do? Of course, I''m a teacher."


    "I don''t know what major I teach?" I heard that he used to be a teacher. I can''t help feeling a lot. I didn''t expect that an ordinary teacher would be easily competent for the position of artillery commander. I even wonder if he used to be a teacher in Moscow or Leningrad? Because I was thinking about it, I couldn''t help asking, "which school did you teach in?"


    "Not the kind of university you think." Povsky may have guessed my mind and specially explained to me, "I used to be a lecturer at Tula Artillery Academy. After the outbreak of the war, due to the lack of sufficient artillery commanders in the army, I was transferred from school to an artillery regiment as a deputy, and with which regiment, I fought with the Germans in many places. Not long ago, I was officially appointed as the artillery commander of the 6th group army


    After listening to his account, I nodded and said, "yes, Colonel povsky, I think you are fully qualified for the position of artillery commander." After that, I thought about it and asked him, "if the German army launches a blitz against our defense area, how do you plan to use the artillery within the scope of the group army?"


    Without thinking, povsky replied, "I plan to send someone to survey the terrain and mark each section of the defense area one by one. Once the enemy rushes into our defense area, it only needs to fire at the designated area, and then it can give them heavy damage. "


    As for povsky''s statement, I said noncommittally: "Comrade Colonel, since you have given thorough consideration, I will give you full responsibility for the artillery work. Is that all right? "


    "No problem." Povsky agreed very simply. Then he reached out to me and said gratefully, "Comrade commander, thank you for your trust in me. I will live up to your expectations." As soon as he entered the headquarters, Danilov met him and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the situation in position 4?" Danilov''s words confused me. My heart said, didn''t povsky just forget to call him and turn to the matter that I asked him to send a telegram? But on second thought, it''s impossible, because I was always there when povsky called. Bzikov noticed my abnormality and explained to me immediately, "Comrade commander, after receiving the call from Colonel povsky, we immediately sent a message to the headquarters of the front army as soon as possible, informing them of the recovery of position 4." He took a look at Danilov, who was a little worried, and explained to me with a smile, "Comrade deputy commander, I''m afraid that you are afraid that the superior will blame you, so before we recover the position, let''s send this telegram of victory." Bzikov''s explanation made me understand why Danilov was so abnormal. So I said to Danilov with a smile, "Comrade deputy commander, what are you worried about? Are you worried that I will lie about the results of the war and deceive my superiors? " Although I said this in a joking tone, Danilov waved his hand in a panic and said to himself, "in the past, it took four or five hours, two or three days, or even longer to recover lost territory like this. And it took you just over an hour to recover your position. It''s a bit incredible. " I laughed at Danilov''s query, and then said to him solemnly, "Comrade deputy commander, if you partner with me for a long time, you will find that there will be some differences between the troops I command and other troops. You need to adapt slowly, but you can''t make such a fuss as now." Danilov may not have understood me at all, but he nodded and said, "I see, comrade commander, I will try my best to cooperate with you in all the work of the group army."

 Chapter 1092

    Bezikov knew that povsky and I had been busy all morning, but we still had no water and rice. He immediately ordered the orderly to bring us hot tea and some snacks.


    Just after a little while, the telephone on the table rang. I quickly put down my bread and got ready to pick up the phone, but Danilov across the table picked up the phone first. I''m worried that vatukin is calling to learn about the recovery of position 4. I can''t help staring nervously at Danilov and listening to his conversation with the other party.


    Danilov put the earphone to his ear and said in a loud voice, "I''m Danilov, deputy commander of the group army. Where are you? Oh, it''s general tawalter killazer. What can I do for you? "


    Seeing the smile on Danilov''s face, I felt relieved. It seems that the 51st division commander of Jinwei called just to report some work. I was a little too nervous. Think of here, I picked up the tea cup on the table, ready to drink tea.


    At this moment, Danilov suddenly gave an unexpected cry, and then asked seriously, "what, comrade general, what did you say, please say?"


    When I saw Danilov''s startled reaction, my hand with the teacup stopped in mid air, staring nervously at Danilov, trying to figure out what was going on.


    Danilov, after a while, put his hand over the microphone and said to me solemnly, "Comrade commander, Mr. tavartkiraze reported that an armored division had entered tomarovka an hour ago."


    "What, an armored division went into tomarovka?" Hearing the news, my hand could not help shivering and almost spilled the tea. I quickly put down my glass, stood up, took the earphone from Danilov''s hand, put it close to my ear, and asked, "Hello, is that Mr. tavartkiraze? I''m oshanina, the number of the German armored division that drove into tomarovka. Do you have a clear idea? "


    "Make it clear, comrade commander." Tavartkilaze replied clearly: "according to the report of the scout, it is the" great German "armored division of the German defense force."


    Great German armored division?! If tavartkilaze did not add the word "national defense force" in front of the unit number when reporting, I would surely think that this division, like the "imperial division", "Hitler division" and "skull division", belongs to the SS operational sequence.


    I looked at the map. Tomarovka is located in the southwest of Yakovlev, no more than ten kilometers away. The appearance of this armored division made the defensive situation of the 51st division of the close guard more severe. If we want to adjust our defense forces in a targeted way, we must first find out the enemy''s strength. So I asked, "general tavartkilaze, have you found out the enemy''s strength and equipment?"


    "Sorry, not yet." Tavartkilaze replied briefly: "as the enemy has just arrived in tomarovka and is building fortifications nervously, our scouts have not been able to approach for the time being. To get more specific information, it may have to wait until evening. "


    "In that case, Comrade General." After listening to his report, I politely said to tavartkilaze, "as soon as you have the latest reconnaissance results, report to me immediately."


    Putting down the phone, I turned and asked bzikov, "chief of staff, do you know about the greater German armored division?"


    As for my question, bzikov had a tongue tied expression. After a while, he murmured, "I''m sorry, comrade commander, I''m not sure."


    Although bezikov was an acquaintance and had a good relationship with me, I found that he was not a qualified chief of staff at all and did not understand anything about the army. If it had not been for the delay of my superior in sending me a new chief of staff, I would have dismissed him as acting chief of staff. Seeing that he was standing still, I sighed and said to him in a slow tone: "Comrade chief of staff, since you don''t know about the great German armored division, go and ask lieutenant colonel rasmishin. He is the director of intelligence and should have information about this armored division."


    "Then I''ll go and ask." With these words, bezikov turned and walked out of the room.


    Danilov could not help sighing as he looked at bezikov''s leaving figure. Then he looked at me with meaningful eyes, looked down at the map in front of him and said, "Comrade commander, maybe we should ask the headquarters of the front army when they can send us a new chief of staff. If someone can point out Colonel bzikov, I believe he will become an excellent staff officer in a short time. "


    I know that Danilov was afraid to save my face. Although he buried his head and couldn''t see my expression, I still gave him a grateful smile. Just about to say a few words of gratitude, Danilov said, "I know something about the" great German "armored division."


    "Oh, comrade deputy commander, do you know?" When I heard Danilov say that, I asked back with some suspicion.


    "Yes," Danilov affirmed, "I have been to Berlin twice before as a member of a friendly delegation to Germany, and I happen to know something about this" great German "armored division."


    "Really?" I didn''t expect that my deputy Danilov had ever visited Germany. It seems that he said that he knew something about the "great German" armored division, and his credibility should still be very high. He hastened him to say, "Comrade deputy commander, in order to deal with this German unit more effectively, would you please tell me what you know?"


    "Well, comrade commander, since you want to know so much about our opponents, I will tell you what I know." After these words, he began to introduce the "great German" armored division: "the predecessor of this unit was the" Berlin garrison regiment "established in 1921. In addition to suppressing domestic riots, it also undertook the work of inspection and security. But I don''t know why, the regiment was dissolved in June of the same year.


    Soon after, on the basis of the newly disbanded garrison, a "headquarters garrison" was set up, which was stationed in Berlin until 1934. The officers and men of the army came from seven divisions in Germany, and each division took out a company to form the garrison. The officers and soldiers of the Berlin garrison regiment spend almost every day on the training ground. On Sunday, all the officers and soldiers of the company go to public places to hold a military parade accompanied by the regiment band.


    On April 12, 1939, Hitler himself ordered the Berlin garrison to be renamed the "great German" infantry. The new members came from the surplus personnel and volunteers of other divisions. The requirements for joining the force are height over 1.75 meters, no criminal record and good education level. The first commander, von stockhouse


    After listening to Danilov''s introduction, I couldn''t help interrupting him and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, the greater German armored division is just a garrison force. Its combat effectiveness should not be as high as that. If you look at Yushchenko''s well-equipped guard regiment, its combat effectiveness is a little stronger than that of ordinary troops. "


    As soon as I finished my analysis, Danilov waved his hand and said, "Comrade commander, you are not right. Our guard regiment is not at the same level as the big German armored division. If it''s a one-on-one situation, they can have a complete win


    "Oh, really?" Danilov''s admiration for the "great German" armored division surprised me.


    "Yes, comrade commander." When Danilov saw that I didn''t believe it, he specially emphasized to me: "if the ''Hitler division'', ''Imperial division'' and ''skeleton division'' are the best in the SS, then the ''big German'' armored division is the most elite in the whole defense force system."


    After listening to Danilov''s solemn remarks, I did not refute, but listened quietly to him continue to say: "the great German regiment, which participated in the first battle, belonged to the 19th armored army of goodrian, and with the support of artillery and engineers of the 10th armored division, crossed Luxembourg and advanced to the fortress of Belgium After occupying the Maas river across setang, he was put under the command of the first armored division. After breaking through the Maginot line, he fought in France for two months and achieved a series of amazing results.


    In April 1941, the "great German" regiment, which had been reorganized and expanded, was transported by train to Vienna, then arrived in Romania through Bauer, Budapest and segding, where it was incorporated into the 41st mechanized army. He took part in the battle against Yugoslavia and stationed as an occupying force in Banat, east of the Danube River


    Before Danilov introduced me, I saw bzikov coming in in a hurry with intelligence chief rasmishin. As soon as berzikov entered the door, he said to me excitedly, "Comrade commander, the situation of the greater German armored division has been clarified." After that, he gently pushed rasmishin in front of me, and said, "it''s better for Comrade commander to report to you. He collected all the information, and he spoke more clearly than I do."


    With our permission, rasmishin introduced us to the "great German" armored division. In the first half, what he said was similar to what Danilov said, so I was a little absent-minded. It was only when he talked about the babarosa project that I regained my interest.


    Rasmishin didn''t notice my change. He stood in front of us and said to himself: "after the outbreak of the patriotic war, the" great German "infantry regiment was assigned to the central group army group and belonged to the second armored group of goodrian. On June 27, the grand German infantry regiment crossed the Bouguer River and officially set foot on Soviet territory. At this time, the second armored group joined Hote''s third armored group and completed the encirclement of our Western army. The "great German" infantry group just caught up with the battle of Minsk and achieved great results.


    After the battle of Minsk, the great German infantry was assigned to the 10th armored division. Later, the army fought successively in yelinia, Kiev and Moscow. It was not until our army started the great counter offensive under the city of Moscow that the regiment and its troops were driven away from outside the city of Moscow by our counter offensive.


    In March 1942, the "great German" infantry received the order of expansion, and then it was withdrawn to the Orel area to recuperate, and became the first infantry of the division. After the formation of the second infantry regiment in Berlin, they arrived at Oriole and joined the enlarged division. In addition, the Division also received an armored battalion equipped with No. 3 and No. 4 tanks, a shock artillery battalion, a reconnaissance battalion, an anti tank battalion, a communications battalion and an air defense battalion. The enlarged "grand German" division received unprecedented preferential treatment in terms of weapons. After the completion of the expansion, the division joined the 48th armored force under the command of general Kempf and took part in operation "blue". Its goal was to capture Stalingrad and then March to the Caucasus.


    On June 28, as a pioneer, the division broke through the defense line of the 40th Soviet group army. On July 4, the grand German division successfully crossed the upper reaches of the Don River and entered Voronezh after breaking through the defensive zone of our army. Fortunately, for some unexpected reasons, the division was not sent to Stalingrad. In August, the division retreated to the North Bank of the donetz river for defense and used as a group army reserve. After that, the division took part in the battle of ergev and, together with the 9th group army, stuck to the bulge of ergev and blocked the attack of our army. In October 1942, the first step regiment of the grand German division was named the grand German Grenadier regiment, and the second step regiment was named the grand German flint pistol regiment. On January 13, 1943, the 13th largest German heavy armour company was incorporated into the "great German" division, taking over nine tigers and ten No. 3 tanks at the same time. In February 1943, the 18th armored force of the "great German" division received an order, together with the 2nd Armored Force of the Waffen SS in Ukraine, to resist our attack on Kharkov. On February 14, the main force of our southwest front army attacked Kharkov. After a fierce battle, the division and the 2nd Armored Force of the Waffen SS successfully withdrew from the city and went to the Poltava area to recuperate. A week later, under the command of Manstein, the Division launched a counterattack against our southwest front army. On March 5, Kharkov was recaptured by the German division of "greater Germany". On 22 March, the division came to Poltava again to rest. Here, the 1st Battalion of the "great German" Grenadier regiment received 83 semi tracked armored vehicles, completely transformed from mobu battalion into armored Grenadier barracks, and the division''s air defense battalion received 12 88mm anti-aircraft guns. On June 15, the division officially changed its name to "greater Germany" Panzer Grenadier division. At present, the division''s division commander is Major General Walter holren, the chief of staff is major general von Huber, the head of the first regiment, Col. Kohler, and the head of the second regiment, Col. gasky. " Although the content about the "great German" armored division is very long, rasmishin did not read any documents, but with his amazing memory, he introduced it to us all at once. After listening to this, I nodded to him with a smile and praised him: "Comrade commander, you and your intelligence department have done a good job. Even the situation of the" great German "armored division a few days ago has been found out." When rasmishin heard my praise, he gave two simple and honest smiles, straightened up and asked seriously, "Comrade commander, if there is nothing wrong, can I leave?"¡° Go ahead, comrade commander After I agreed to rasmishin''s request, I gratefully said to him, "thank you for the information you provided us."¡° It''s my job. " After that, rasmishin raised his hand to salute us, turned and walked out of the room.

 Chapter 1093

    In the middle of the night, tawalter killaze, commander of the 51st division of the guards, called to report to us the intelligence the scouts had received: "Comrade commander, I have made it clear. The troops stationed in tomarovka are the second regiment of the greater German armored division, which has three motorized infantry battalions with a total strength of 600 to 700. The regiment is headed by Colonel gasky. "


    When tavartkilaze finished, I asked casually, "have you got a clear picture of the forces and weapons?"


    "Our scout captured a staff officer of mobuyi battalion of the regiment, and all the information was obtained through interrogation." Although I didn''t ask how the information was obtained, tavartkilaze took the initiative to explain the source of the information to me¡° The battalion''s commander was major glauther, and its adjutant was lieutenant Webb. It has four motorized infantry companies and a heavy machine gun company. As for the specific equipment, the prisoners won''t admit it, so I can''t provide it to you for the time being. "


    I can''t help feeling a little disappointed when I heard that I didn''t get the German equipment. Just as I wanted to make a perfunctory remark and hung up the phone, I heard tawalter killazer say, "Comrade commander, there is another important piece of information. Although we can''t prove its authenticity for the time being, I still think we should report it to you."


    Tavartkilaze''s words aroused my interest, and I quickly asked, "Comrade General, what is the important information? Please tell me first. As for whether it''s true or not, I''ll send someone to find out. "


    After hearing my statement, tavartkilaze said carefully: "according to the information captured from the captured German staff, the German troops will go around our division''s defense area from the west side of Yakovlev to the rear of our army in three days, that is, June 24."


    "What, general tavartkiraze?" His words startled me in a cold sweat. I asked cautiously, "is what you said true?"


    Tavartkiraze hesitated for a moment, then replied, "yes, comrade commander. That''s what we said in the information we seized, but the German translators in the division are not professionals, and there may be some deviations in the content of the translation. "


    In order to find out what happened, as soon as tavartkilaze finished speaking, I immediately said in an indisputable tone: "Comrade General, please send someone to send the captured documents to the headquarters of the group army immediately. We should find out what happened as soon as possible."


    "Yes." "I''ll send someone to deliver it right away," tavartkiraze replied


    While waiting for the papers from tavartkilaze''s subordinates, I told them what I had just heard. After listening to me, Danilov leaned down to look at the map on the table, but bzikov said in a suspicious tone: "Comrade commander, the intelligence captured by general tavartkilaze''s Scouts is not deliberately forged by the German army to deceive us, is it?"


    As for this view of bezikov, I frowned and thought about it. Then I bit my head and said, "Comrade chief of staff, I don''t think so. It''s not that the Germans launched a comprehensive attack on our defense area. It''s meaningless for them to forge such documents. "


    "Comrade commander," Danilov, who had been looking at the map, looked up at me and asked, "if the information is true, what are your plans?"


    I snorted and said with a sneer, "since the Germans want to send them to the door by themselves, we are not polite. We must eliminate this small army."


    "Comrade commander, what are you going to do?" Danilov continued.


    "Although the German troops are small units, I think there will be tanks and armored vehicles, so we need to find a way to ambush them." As I said this, I looked down at the map in front of me and tried to find a suitable location for ambush. As I have been wandering around the front line almost every day for the past two months, I am quite familiar with the terrain here, so it''s easy to find a suitable location for ambush.


    I pointed to the location on the map and excitedly said, "right here, it''s an ideal place to set up an ambush."


    "Shell Waka," Danilov read out the place name quickly, looking at the position of my finger. Then he frowned and asked every day, "Comrade commander, how do you know this is a very suitable place for ambush?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, please have a look." As for Danilov''s question, I pointed to the map and patiently explained to him: "northeast of bekawaka is the No. 1 position of the 51st guard division, which is three to five kilometers apart. Shell Waka here is an open area, the north is the armored forces can not cross the lake, and the south is a huge hillside. Our troops could hide on the hillside. After the enemy entered the ambush circle, the artillery of position 1 launched a round of artillery fire on the German marching line. The German troops marching in the open field are bound to suffer heavy casualties after being hit by our artillery. At this time, if our troops ambush on the hillside attack them again, they will not be able to annihilate them completely, but will also be able to inflict heavy losses. "


    After listening to my plan, Danilov stared at the map for a long time and then asked his own question: "Comrade commander, what should we do if the German troops rush forward or turn around when they are attacked by our artillery?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, if the enemy has two situations as you said," I explained to Danilov in response to his two concerns, "if the enemy continues to march forward, it will rush into the defensive area of the 51st division of the guards, and the commanders and fighters who are well prepared in the position will block the German advance with intensive fire, As soon as the troops ambushed on the hillside rush in, they can form a situation of attacking back and forth and inflict heavy damage on the enemy. As for their turning around and running away, it''s more appropriate. Our troops don''t need to attack at all. They just need to use artillery fire for extended firing. We agree that they will suffer heavy casualties. "


    After I finished speaking, Danilov did not immediately express his views, but proposed to me: "Comrade commander, if we really want to completely annihilate or severely damage this small unit that goes deep into our defense, we must use artillery and tanks. Therefore, I suggest that general tavartkilaze of the 51st division of the guards and Colonel bere, commander of the 33rd tank army, be invited to study the cooperation of the troops with them immediately. "


    I deeply agree with Danilov''s proposal. When I turned around to tell bezikov to call general tavartkilaze and Colonel bere, I found that he had already gone to the phone, picked up the headset and was dialing. Seeing that he has been so active this time, my dissatisfaction with him has weakened a lot. As long as he is willing to learn how to be a staff officer, then I am willing to use an acquaintance like him to be my chief of staff.


    As Colonel berey''s tank command was not far from us, he appeared in the room after more than ten minutes. After he sat down, I asked frankly, "Comrade Colonel, you have been taking over new tanks for some time. How are you doing? Have the tank soldiers adapted to the new tanks?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Berey stood up and answered me with a smile: "at present, the two battalions of the 82nd tank brigade equipped with new tanks have formed combat effectiveness and are ready to fight at any time."


    Berey''s words made me feel more secure. Now that the troops equipped with new tanks have formed combat effectiveness, I can use them boldly in the battle in a few days. I said to berey, "Colonel, there may be a small battle in two days. I wonder if you can send troops to fight?"


    "Of course, it''s no problem," said Colonel berey very readily. "You are the commander, and our 33rd tank army is at your disposal at any time as long as you give the order. Where you point, my tank soldiers and I will rush there and beat the Germans to flee. We will never live up to your high expectations. "


    When I heard Colonel berey''s words of determination, I waved my hand and said with a smile, "well, comrade Colonel, you and I are old acquaintances, so we don''t have to talk about these scenes. At that time, you only need to draw out two tank companies equipped with new tanks to fight


    When bielei heard that there was a combat mission, he couldn''t help itching. He asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t know where the battle will take place. What is the mission of our tank army?"


    "Don''t worry, Colonel ray." Danilov answered and said to berey with a smile, "we''ll have a meeting as soon as the commander of the 51st division, general tavartkiraze, arrives. As for the tasks, we will give you two a detailed account in the meeting. "


    Although the defense area of the 51st division of the guards was a little far away from us, tavartkilaze came in a hurry as soon as he received a call from bezikov. When he arrived, the information he sent was translated into Russian by the translators of the information department.


    Just because this document arrived in front of us at the same time as general tavartkilaze, the first thing I did at the meeting was to read the contents of the document to the commanders present. After reading, I put down the document and asked tavartkilaze, "Comrade General, if this document is true, what do you think?"


    "Hold your ground and never step back." Tavartkiraze replied.


    Danilov and I looked at each other''s face and saw a smile on each other''s face. So I said to tavartkiraze, "Comrade General, defense alone is not enough. You know, even if the enemy is equipped with tanks, artillery and armored vehicles, they are just a small force, and we are fully capable of eating them. "


    "Eat them?" Tavartkilaze looked at me with mist and water, and asked in surprise, "Comrade commander, I don''t know how we should eat them?"


    I stood up, pointed to the shell Waka on the map and said to him, "Comrade General, this place is not far from your defense area, is it?"


    Tavartkilaze just looked at it and nodded, affirming, "yes, comrade commander, it''s only a little more than four kilometers away from my defense area. Standing in the observation station on the hillside, you can see clearly the terrain for more than ten kilometers ahead. "


    "What''s the terrain like here?" I didn''t say my plan directly, but asked the other side to see if he was an excellent commander.


    Tavartkilaze looked down at the map for a while, then raised his head and said, "Comrade commander, to the south of this open field is a large hillside. We can ambush a troop here. After the German army passes, it suddenly rushes out from their rear and takes them by surprise."


    "Comrade teacher." Danilov asked deliberately: "your defense area is to the East. The enemy who is attacked will not run there because it is a trap. It''s even more impossible to go west, because you''re in that direction. What would you do if they retreated to the north? "¡° Comrade deputy commander, it is impossible for the German army to retreat to the north. " Tavartkilaze thought that Danilov did not know the terrain there, and specially explained: "there is a wide area of Lake in the north, and the Germans have no way back to the north." After listening to the words of tavartkilaze, Danilov turned to smile at me, and then said, "Comrade commander, I see that Mr. tavartkilaze is very familiar with the terrain here. Next, I''d like you to introduce the task to him."¡° Comrade General. " With a smile, I nodded to tawalter killazer, who looked surprised. Then I told him what I had just planned. After that, I asked, "what do you think of the plan?" Tavartkilaze pondered for a moment, then nodded and said with certainty, "Comrade commander, your plan is quite good. If the Germans don''t come, they will. Once they do, they will not be able to fly. But I have another question. I don''t know whether to say it or not. "¡° Go ahead, Comrade General. " I encouraged him to say, "say what you think and don''t have any scruples."¡° Well, comrade commander. " Tavartkilaze hesitated and said: "if there are tanks and armored vehicles in the German army, and only my infantry ambush there, it is estimated that it will be difficult to retain this enemy..." "OK, general tavartkilaze." Before he finished speaking, I understood what he meant. I quickly raised my hand to stop him from going on. Instead, I directly stated my own arrangement: "I plan to ask Colonel berey to transfer two companies'' tank troops to ambush on the hillside with your troops. When the enemy is hit by our army''s artillery and gets into chaos, your joint forces will launch a surprise attack, Teach these Communist aggressors a lesson. "

 Chapter 1094

    After making the plan for the ambush, I made a personal phone call to report to watujing.


    After hearing my voice, vatujing first asked, "Comrade oshanina, it''s the early morning of June 22. Are your troops ready for battle?"


    Although I knew that the German army would not launch a battle in Kursk on this day, I still ordered the troops in the front to enter a state of combat readiness. Therefore, when I heard watujing''s question at this moment, I immediately replied unequivocally, "report to Comrade commander of the front army that all units of the sixth group army of the guards have started the combat readiness duty procedure."


    I didn''t expect that after hearing this, watujing asked in a puzzled way, "o''shanina, what is the combat readiness duty procedure? It''s the first time I''ve heard this term


    Watujing''s words stunned me. My heart said, is there no combat readiness duty system at this time? However, since my immediate superior asked about this, I could only reply with a stiff head: "comrades, the so-called combat readiness duty is a system of commanders, command organs and troops on duty established to prevent the enemy from suddenly attacking and deal with other emergencies.


    The commander on duty shall be in the charge of the division commander, deputy division commander, chief of staff and other commanders at the frontier in turn.


    The officers of the command organs at all levels shall take turns to be responsible for the duty of the command organs and be responsible for the daily combat readiness and other work. For the affairs that cannot be handled, immediately report to the higher authorities.... "


    "Come on, comrade oshanina, needless to say." Without waiting for me to finish, watujing interrupted me and praised: "your method is good. You can consider promoting it in the whole front army. In this way, the commanders and fighters can get enough rest to avoid being exhausted due to the long preparation time. "


    I waited for him for fear that he would not finish talking, because as soon as he stopped talking, I immediately said, "senior general, I have an important piece of information that I want to report to you immediately."


    After hearing this, watujing asked in a puzzled way, "why, comrade oshanina, didn''t you call at this time to report on the preparations of your army?"


    I can''t laugh or cry at this conjecture of vatukin. My heart says that if I want to prepare for war, can I call you in the early morning? If there is anything, it will be reported directly during the day. I coughed gently, cleared my throat, and then reported to him, "Comrade General, the inspector of the 51st division of the guards, captured a German staff officer near tomarovka and seized a document from him."


    "What document?" What I said immediately aroused watujing''s curiosity. He asked, "does it mention when the enemy will attack our defense area?"


    "Well, that''s not true." Vatukin''s thinking is really leaping. I just mentioned that he had seized a document, and he immediately contacted that the information would be related to the German army''s attack on Kursk. I quickly explained: "this document belongs to a regiment level unit of the German army, and only about the transfer order of the subordinate units of the regiment."


    "So that''s it." Listen to me, the documents have nothing to do with the German attack on Kursk. When vatukington lost interest, he asked lazily, "Comrade oshanina, are you calling me so late for this trivial document?"


    From his tone, I recognized impatience and even a little dissatisfaction. I quickly explained, "senior general, please listen to me. The German army will start from tomarovka in the morning of the 24th, bypass Yakovlev and go deep into the rear of our army. "


    "What, what do you mean, the Germans are trying to send troops into the rear of our army?" My words scared watujing. His lazy voice immediately became nervous: "what''s the matter, let''s hear it!"


    Seeing that my words successfully attracted the attention of watujing, I quickly reported to him the ambush plan we had prepared in detail. After the report, I held the microphone and stood there quietly, waiting for his statement.


    After a long silence, vatukin began to say, "Comrade oshanina, do you think this is OK. According to the analysis of the supreme command, it is possible for the German army to launch a surprise attack on our defensive positions in the early morning of June 22, 1943. At present, our main energy should be on how to defend against the German attack. "


    These words of vatukin are tantamount to indirectly negating our plan. Under such circumstances, I was a little worried, so I said to him in a hurry: "senior general, according to our current reconnaissance situation, the German army has not shown any sign of large-scale assembly in front of our army, so I think it is totally impossible for them to launch an attack today."


    When I said this, vatukin sneered twice and asked in a sarcastic tone, "Comrade oshanina, are you Marshal von Kruger or marshal Manstein, saying that if we don''t attack today, the German army won''t attack?"


    When I heard vatukin''s query, my mouth twitched violently. For a moment, I really wanted to tell him that the date of the German attack on Kursk was not June 22, but July 5. Our first-class combat readiness in the whole defensive zone is meaningless.


    But I finally controlled my mood. When I spoke to vatukin, I tried to make my tone more stable: "senior general, I can''t provide you with evidence that the German army will not attack for the time being. But I know that if we don''t take the initiative to deal with this German army, they will sneak into our rear and pose a threat to our whole defense line. "


    "No, comrade o''shanina, it''s absolutely impossible." In response to my request, watujing stubbornly said: "according to the plan you just reported, you need to use at least one artillery regiment, two tank companies and two battalions of infantry to destroy this enemy. Have you ever thought that so many troops left their original defensive zone to ambush the German detachment that we don''t know whether it will appear. Once the German army really launches an attack on the defense area of your group army, the strength of individual positions will be weak. I can hardly imagine how they can resist the fierce attack of the German army when their strength and weapons are not dominant. "


    "General, please listen to me..."


    "Don''t say anything, I don''t want to hear it," he said angrily, tired of my constant entanglement. "No one in the position is allowed to move without my permission. Do you understand? "


    Vatujing is angry. I''m also angry. It''s hard to find a fighter plane. I didn''t expect that he would not allow us to fight. I won''t watch the enemy go around our position without taking any measures. When I heard the last sentence of watujing, I felt hopeless. While I was thinking about whether I should agree to him, I heard a familiar voice in the receiver: "Comrade commander, who are you angry with?"


    "Oh, it''s comrade Khrushchev. Are you and Comrade deputy commander back from Moscow?" Vatukin didn''t hang up or cover the phone, so I could hear him clearly.


    Khrushchev''s distinctive laughter came from the receiver: "Comrade vatukin, who are you angry with?"


    "Who else?" Watujing replied, "oshanina, commander of the sixth group army of the guards. She clearly knew that I had ordered all the troops of the front army to prepare for the possible attack of the German army, but she did not hold her position well, but she had to send troops to ambush a small German army that was trying to bypass Yakovlev.... "


    "Comrade commander, you can''t say that." When Khrushchev heard what vatukin said, he unexpectedly said something nice for me: "Comrade oshanina and I met in the war of Stalingrad. Although we didn''t have much time to contact with her, I know that she is an excellent commander with strategic vision. Maybe it is because of this that the superior appointed her as the commander of the group army


    Vatukin hesitated when he heard Khrushchev saying good things for me. He tentatively asked, "Comrade military commissar, what do you mean?"


    "Let me ask her." After I heard a rush of footsteps, Khrushchev''s voice became loud: "Hello, is that Rita?"


    Because he just said a good word for me in front of watujing, my favor for him soared by 200 percent, because when I answered him, I was respectful: "Hello, comrade military Commissar."


    "I''ve heard everything from the commander," Khrushchev asked frankly instead of going around the circle. "I want to hear what you can do to get the best of both worlds, so that you can hold your position and send troops to ambush this small German army?"


    After listening to Khrushchev''s question, I pondered for a moment, and then replied, "Comrade military commissar, commander vatukin does not agree with my ambush plan because he is worried that individual defensive areas of our group army will become weak because of the deployment of troops."


    "Yes, that''s why." Khrushchev asked steadily, "do you have any good solutions?"


    "Comrade military commissar, I think so." In order to achieve the purpose of persuading vatukin, I truthfully explained my consideration to Khrushchev, who was fond of me: "according to the analysis of the supreme command, it is possible for the German army to launch an attack on our defensive zone today. Based on the analysis of the latest reconnaissance, I think that it is impossible for the German army to launch an attack today, because there is no sign of German troops moving in our broad front. Therefore, I consider that the troops involved in the ambush will not move for the time being. This afternoon, if there is no movement from the German army, I will arrange the relevant troops to prepare for the ambush. "


    After listening to my plan, Khrushchev said with a smile: "Comrade oshanina, I know you have many ghost ideas. I''m sure you can come up with a good way to get the best of both worlds. Just a moment. I''ll talk to the commander to see if he agrees with your plan. Comrade vatukin. " His last words were to watujing, who was standing beside him.


    "Well, comrade military Commissar." Vatukin may have heard the dialogue between Khrushchev and me, and said with tolerance, "since general oshanina has a comprehensive solution, do as she says. If the German army did not attack, her troops could enter the ambush and dig the fortifications after 3 p.m. But, "he suddenly accentuated," if the German attack, she must hold the position firmly for me, not a step back. "


    After vatukin''s words, Khrushchev picked up the receiver and said to me with a smile, "oshanina, I think you may have heard what the commander said. Just follow what he said." I put down the phone and found that several commanders sitting at the table, whether Danilov or bezikov, or povsky and tavartkirazer, were looking at me nervously, as if they were still worried about me. I laughed at them and explained to them, "at the beginning, comrade commander was worried that the deployment of too many troops to the nearby areas would weaken the defensive forces of individual areas, so he did not hesitate to deny our request." Seeing the disappointment on the faces of all the people, I went on to say: "fortunately, comrade Khrushchev, the military commissar, said a few good words for me, and commander watujing agreed to our fortification plan. However, his only condition is that only when the German army does not attack us before three o''clock today can they send troops into the ambush area to build fortifications. " When you heard what I said, your face became relaxed. I immediately gave an order while the iron was hot: "after three o''clock tomorrow, general tavartkilaze will send a battalion to build necessary Fortifications on the hillside. Remember to fake it and go there. Don''t be found by the enemy''s reconnaissance plane."¡° Don''t worry, comrade commander. " Tavartkilaze assured me: "the air defense alarm mode adopted by our division today is still your original creation. I will send out the guard in the direction of enemy aircraft. Once the enemy plane is found, it will fire a warning gun, so that the officers and men who are building fortifications can hide. " I can only smile bitterly at tavartkilaze''s statement. If the German reconnaissance plane really flies over, even if all the soldiers are allowed to hide, the trenches they dig will still be discovered by the enemy. In this way, our ambush plan will face the possibility of destruction. However, if we can succeed or not, we can only let fate decide. Then I exchanged views with bofsky and bere on the heavy artillery and tank forces. After reaching a consensus, I waved the meeting over and asked them to return to their respective units.

 Chapter 1095

    Although I assured vatukin and Khrushchev that the German army would not attack today. However, I was worried because I didn''t know whether the battle of Kursk would break out earlier than today because of my arrival and the deviation from the real history.


    Because of this worry, when tavartkilaze and bere left one after another, I began to get restless. Although the eyes have been staring at the map on the table, but did not see anything.


    Danilov saw me in the eye with this look of losing my soul. He raised his hand, gently pushed my shoulder and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with you? Is there something wrong? May I call a military doctor to help you


    "It''s OK. I''m ok." After listening to Danilov''s question, I quickly put my hand to him and said, "I''m just thinking about how to fight this battle well. I don''t need to call a military doctor."


    "Comrade commander, do you think the German army will not attack us today?" The artillery commander povsky, who asked this question, saw that my eyes turned to him and quickly added: "I am worried that if the German army launches an attack, the close guard rocket battalion deployed behind the 52nd division of the close guard infantry is short of ammunition because it took part in the battle to recover position 4 yesterday. For the sake of safety, shall we withdraw them to the second line of defense first? "


    I glared at povsky and said a little viciously: "Comrade Colonel, since I said that the German army will not attack our defense area today, it will certainly not attack. No one is allowed to move to other areas without my order. "


    "I see, comrade commander." Seeing that I had signs of anger, povsky had no choice but to say yes. Then he got up and called the artillery regiment in the tavartkilaze division''s defense area, ordering them to survey the terrain in the nearby area as soon as possible and mark the firing data, so that the artillery could achieve accurate strike in the battle two days later.


    Time goes by without delay. If more than ten years later, the clock on the watch finally points to the third position. After a long breath, I got up from my seat and told bzikov, "Comrade chief of staff, call general tavartkiraze immediately and ask him to send troops to dig Fortifications on the hillside."


    With my order, the originally oppressive atmosphere in the room relaxed. With a happy promise, bzikov ran to the next phone and called general tavartkilaze.


    As soon as I got through, I heard bzikov say excitedly, "Hello, is that general tavartkiraze? I''m deputy chief of staff bezikov. The commander orders you to send troops immediately to dig Fortifications on the hillside. Yes, send troops immediately and start construction as soon as possible... "


    I was listening to bzikov on the phone when the phone rang in front of me, which made me jump. I guessed it might be from the headquarters of the front army, so I grabbed the earphone and stuck it to my ear. At the same time, I said aloud, "Hello, I''m oshanina. Where are you?"


    When the other party heard my voice, he was stunned at first, and then he heard vatukin''s hearty laughter: "Comrade oshanina, it seems that your judgment is accurate. I just called general rokosovsky and asked him that he was calm there, and I didn''t find anything different from the Germans."


    When vatukin said this, the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. I waited for him to fall behind for a while and asked carefully, "Comrade General, can my ambush plan be implemented?"


    "Go on, go on, get people ready." Vatukin may be very happy because our defense line was not attacked by the German army. He even urged me to say: "finally, we will repair all the fortifications and send troops in tonight. In this way, even if the German army moves ahead of time, we can still win


    "I understand, Comrade General." I also struck while the iron was hot and said, "in order to ensure that the fortification can be completed before dark, I ask you to allow me to supervise the work in the defense area of the 51st division of Jinwei."


    "Agreed." Vatukin agreed very readily, but at the same time he added: "take more people and pay attention to safety."


    After I put down the phone, I looked around the room to see who would accompany me to the 51st division. After a tour, I found it inappropriate. Danilov and bezikov, one is the deputy commander and the other is the chief of staff, have a lot to deal with, so they can''t accompany me; As an artillery commander, povsky had to coordinate the cooperation among the artillery units distributed in the three lines of defense. Besides, I just went to urge the 51st division of the guards to repair fortifications, and there was no need to use artillery for the time being. It was useless for him to go. Finally, I decided to go alone. Before I left, I sent for major bukov, the deputy head of the guard regiment, to accompany me to the front.


    As soon as the car started, bukov, sitting in the front row, turned and politely asked me, "Comrade commander, where are we going?"


    "Go to the defense area of the 51st division." I replied briefly.


    "To general tavartkiraze''s division?" When bukov said this, he looked out of the window, looked at the two cars in front and behind, and said with some worry, "Comrade commander, it can be the most advanced place of our group army. Is it suitable to take this kind of people?"


    I know that he is worried about my safety and deeply afraid of bringing such a few people. If we meet a small group of German troops on the road, we can''t fight at all. In order to reassure him, I pretended to be relaxed and said: "Comrade major, there are too many people and the target is too big. On the contrary, they will become the targets of small German units. We only have three cars. No matter where we go, it''s convenient. Even if we are attacked, we can get out of danger quickly. "


    When bukov heard me say this, he didn''t speak any more. Instead, he turned to look out of the car window and held the Kalashnikov rifle in his arms.


    But everything went well. I came to the defense area of the 51st division of Jinwei safely. I was told by our officers that the division commander, general tavartkiraze, had personally taken people to the hillside where they were stationed to repair the fortifications.


    Since general tavartkilaze was not here, and I didn''t want to stay in the division headquarters until he came back, I ordered the driver to turn around and drive towards the fortification area.


    Under the guidance of the soldiers of the guard division, we came to the hillside where we were ready to ambush. At the moment, general tavartkiraze was standing by the hood of a jeep, pointing to the map spread out in front of him and explaining something to his officers. Seeing my coming, his face showed a surprised expression, and he immediately came up with several subordinates.


    He came up to me, raised his hand to salute, and asked in surprise, "Comrade commander, how did you come to me?"


    "I''m not at ease, so come and have a look." After I said this, I found that one of the officers standing next to tavartkilaze was major gilgin, the battalion commander under Lukin. I took the initiative to reach out to the major and asked with a smile, "it''s major gilgin. I didn''t expect that your teachers sent you to repair the fortifications."


    Before shaking hands with me, gilgin first raised his hand and saluted me. Then he took my hand with both hands and replied respectfully, "yes, comrade commander, since our regiment''s defense area is closest to here, the division commander, after consulting with the commander, transferred our three battalions to be responsible for building fortifications."


    Gathering in crowds and groups of shovel and helmet, I saw the group of officers and soldiers on the hillside busy, and countless spades continuously excavated the earth to the sides of the trench.


    After squinting for a while, I turned to tavartkilaze and asked, "Comrade General, when will you be able to finish the construction of the fortification?"


    Tavartkilaze estimated that he had considered the question I asked for a long time, and immediately replied without hesitation: "at present, the third battalion has completed the excavation of more than 100 meters of trenches. If there is no accident, we should be able to complete all the work before dark."


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was only after four o''clock. In this season, it will be at least after ten o''clock before it gets dark. They have enough time to finish their work. After nodding, I said to tavartkilaze, "Comrade General, since we are using this hillside to ambush the German army, you must do a good job of camouflage after the completion of the fortification. It is necessary to make sure that even if the enemy''s reconnaissance plane flies over your head, you will not be found


    Tawalter killazer listened to me and turned his eyes to gilgin. The latter immediately understood, he snapped to attention, assured me: "please rest assured, comrade commander, after the completion of the fortification, our camp will do a good job in camouflage of the fortification, and never let the enemy find our Fortifications on this hillside."


    I nodded with satisfaction at gilkin''s reply, then shook my head at tavartkiraze and said, "come on, let''s go up there and have a look." After that, without waiting for tawalter killazer, they took the lead and walked up the hillside.


    When we came to the hillside, the officers and men who were building the fortifications saw us and straightened up to salute us. I nodded and smiled at them as I continued to walk forward.


    Walking, I saw some young soldiers sitting by the mound resting. As we walked towards them, they quickly stood up. I thought that on the way here, all the other officers and men were doing a lot of work, but these soldiers were sitting here to have a rest. I couldn''t help feeling dissatisfied. So I asked angrily, "comrades of soldiers, I don''t know which of you can tell me what you are doing when your comrades are busy digging around?"


    Hearing my question, several soldiers looked at each other, and no one spoke. Fearing that I would lose my temper, gilgin stepped forward to me, pointed to one of the little soldiers and said in a loud voice, "Vasiliev, what''s the matter?"


    When the soldier named Vasiliev heard his battalion commander call his name, he stepped forward and replied with a red face: "report to the battalion commander, we are tired of work and have just sat down to have a rest. My comrades in arms asked me to tell them stories. I didn''t see you here because I was too involved in them. Please forgive me! "


    "Tell a story, tell what story?" After gilgin glanced at me, he began to teach each other: "remember, you are a soldier, not a writer, not a poet. Even if you want to be a writer and poet, you have to wait until the war is won. Do you understand, Vasiliev? "


    "I see, comrade major." When Vasiliev answered, he buried his head in shame. Vasiliev, this name, when I first heard it, I felt very familiar. Later, I thought that there were many people calling this name in Russia, so I didn''t care. At this moment, when I heard gilgin call his name again, I couldn''t help thinking about a famous man who also served in the Soviet army at this time. So I went up to Vasiliev, put a hand on his shoulder and asked in a friendly way, "Comrade Vasiliev, can you tell me your name?"¡° Comrade report commander, "Vasiliev looked up at me and answered with a red face," my full name is Boris livovitch Vasiliev. " When I heard the full name, I almost sat on the ground. Oh, my God, it''s incredible. I didn''t expect to meet Vasiliev, the author of "Li Ming is quiet here".

 Chapter 1096

    My body shook for a while. If bukov hadn''t helped me from behind in time, I would have fallen into the pile of soil just dug up next to me. After bukov held me, he asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with you?"


    I stood firm, waved to him with a smile, and said in disguise, "Comrade major, maybe I just climbed the slope too fast, and the sun is too hot in the sky, so I think I have a slight heatstroke."


    As soon as I finished, I handed a kettle to him. I turned my head and saw that general tavartkilaze, seeing that I noticed him, handed the kettle to me, and said with concern, "Comrade commander, first drink some water, and then we''ll find a place to rest."


    I looked at him gratefully, took the kettle, unscrewed the lid and took two drinks. When I handed the kettle back to tavartkilaze, I asked, "is there any place nearby where I can rest?"


    Tawalter killazer took the kettle and handed it to an officer nearby. Then he turned his head and asked gilgin, "Comrade major, where is your temporary commander?"


    Gilgin pointed to a simple wooden shed dozens of meters away and said to tavartkilaze, "Sir, my command post is there. You and the commander can have a rest there."


    Instead of being good at asserting, tavartkiraze asked me, "Comrade commander, if you don''t mind, we can go there first and have a rest until you recover, and then continue to inspect."


    I took a quick glance at the young Vasiliev. He looked down at his feet again. He seemed more nervous than me. With a sigh of relief, I nodded to tawalter killazer and said with approval, "well, comrade general, let''s go there first."


    At this time, I heard gilgin next to me say to the soldiers in a loud voice, "well, comrades, you have almost had a rest. Go back to work."


    At his command, several soldiers picked up their tools, turned and walked toward the trench. When I saw Vasiliev turning to leave, I suddenly felt the idea of talking to him. After all, Rita is also a character created by him. Perhaps it was out of this consideration that I quickly stopped him: "Comrade Vasiliev, please wait a moment."


    When the young Red Army soldier heard me call him, he quickly turned back and stood upright facing me. His eyes showed confusion. He thought that he was wondering why the group commander asked him to stay.


    First, I turned to gilgin and said, "Comrade major, please show me and general tavartkiraze the way." Seeing that he nodded his approval, I pointed to Vasiliev with my hand again and said in an imperative tone, "follow me."


    Although gilgin, like Vasiliev, did not understand why I asked Vasiliev to go to the command post, he wisely did not ask more questions, but consciously acted as a guide in front of us.


    The wooden shed, which served as the battalion headquarters, was very simple because it had not yet been built. Except for a few wooden supports with thick bowl mouth and the boards on the ceiling, they were bare on all sides.


    After several of us sat down on the bench, I turned to Vasiliev who was sitting next to me and asked, "Comrade soldier, what story were you telling those soldiers just now?"


    Hearing my question, Vasiliev quickly stood up and answered, "Comrade report commander,..."


    Before he finished, I raised my right hand and pressed it down. At the same time, I said, "OK, comrade soldier, don''t be so polite. If you have anything to say, just sit down and say it."


    "Yes Vasiliev agreed, sat down again with a red face, and then went on: "in the interval of fighting, I try to write novels. When my comrades in arms saw it, they pestered me to tell them the unfinished novels... "


    While Vasiliev was telling the story, I heard gilgin next to him introduce to tavartkilaze in a low voice: "Sir, this Vasiliev is a clergyman in the camp. He likes to write and write at ordinary times..."


    After Vasiliev finished, I asked curiously, "can you tell me the name of your novel?"


    "It''s called" they may go reconnaissance with me ", Vasiliev continued after introducing the title of the book:" it tells the story of several scouts who went deep into the enemy''s rear to carry out reconnaissance missions. In the completion of the reconnaissance mission, ready to return, but was found by the German army, and surrounded. While fighting bravely with the enemy, the scouts sent the information they had detected back to the headquarters by using the radio in their hands. In the end, after a fierce battle, all the scouts died


    I have never heard of the title of the book mentioned by Vasiliev. When you think about it, apart from Li Ming is quiet here, the rest of his works are not famous at all. It''s not surprising that I don''t know. When he finished, I asked curiously, "besides this book, have you written any other books?"


    "No, comrade commander." Vasiliev, whose face was red, shook his head like a rattle. After a long time, he said sheepishly, "I just started to learn to write novels. So far, I haven''t finished any of them. But all my novels are based on real things. "


    "Comrade soldier, since your novel is based on real things," I said hesitantly, "then I will provide you with some material. I wonder if you can write a book?"


    When Vasiliev heard what I said, he immediately took out a small book and an inch long pencil from his coat pocket. After getting ready, he said respectfully, "Comrade commander, I''m ready. You can tell a story."


    I turned to look at tavartkilaze and gilgin, and saw that they also put on the expression of listening to my story. Then I laughed and introduced the so-called "material" to Vasiliev: "there was a real incident last year, and one of our sergeants led five soldiers to fight against a German paratrooper detachment trying to enter the lake Wobi, After a tough fight, all of them died bravely and gave their young lives. Can you turn their heroic deeds into a novel? "


    After listening to me, Vasiliev, with a pen and paper in his hand, fell into meditation. I was afraid to interrupt his thought, so I didn''t speak, just watched him silently.


    After not knowing how long, he woke up from his meditation, looked at me and said, "Comrade commander, I have an idea. I don''t know whether to say it or not."


    "Go ahead." Eager to know what he really thought, I urged him to say, "whatever you think, just say it, even if it''s wrong. Neither I nor your division or battalion commander will blame you. You say, "is that so?" Later, I asked tawalter killazer and gilgin.


    "That''s right!" The two replied in unison.


    Vasiliev seemed to have a lot of courage. He summoned up his courage and said, "Comrade commander, I was thinking that the sergeant was leading not male soldiers, but several female soldiers. He fought with these paratroopers in the forest to the death, and finally all of them died bravely. I don''t know what such an idea is like?"


    "Yes, comrade Vasiliev, your idea is very good." My voice became a little hoarse because of excitement: "changing male soldiers into female soldiers can enhance the tragedy and appeal of the novel. Because women''s mission is to give birth and extend life, not war, not death.


    You should remember that in the novel, you should make the hero civilian, because what you want to express is the war life of ordinary soldiers, and what you want to create is the civilian hero image. The ruthlessness and cruelty of the war can be set off by the experience of several beautiful and kind-hearted young women soldiers. From a new perspective, we can deduce that this war is just for us and evil for the bandits.


    In a word, I hope you can show us the devastation of war on people, especially women, and the disaster caused by war on a better life and human civilization through a sad and beautiful story, and express your strong theme of anti communism and anti aggression and deep concern for human nature. "


    Because Vasiliev, a great writer, was in front of me, I couldn''t help feeling a little out of control, so that I said what I should say and what I shouldn''t say. Vasiliev buries his head and records it in the notebook, while tavartkilaze and gilgin beside him also nod their heads.


    When it came to an end, tavartkiraze next to me gave me a thumbs up and said with emotion: "Comrade commander, I think you have the talent to be a writer. Even if you can''t reach the level of Tolstoy, Turgenev, Chernychevsky, Gorky, these great Russian writers, you can still write a good work that will last forever."


    As for tavartkilaze''s praise, I waved my hand with a smile and said to Vasiliev, who had just finished the record and was sitting upright again: "Comrade soldier, there is nothing important now anyway. I will tell you about the troops I stayed in at that time, hoping to help you finish this new novel."


    Listen to me, Vasiliev''s face showed a surprise expression, he said excitedly: "Comrade commander, this is really great, I think I can write an excellent novel after listening to your story."


    When I slowly cut down the story in the original book, I told it to Vasiliev. Finally, I stood up and said to Vasiliev, "Comrade soldier, I have finished what I can tell you. I hope you can write an extraordinary work based on the materials I have provided." Then he reached out to him, "that''s all for today. We''ll see you later."


    Vasiliev put down his pen and paper, took my hand in both hands, and said gratefully, "Comrade commander, don''t worry, I will live up to your expectations."


    When tavartkilaze and I left the command post and walked out, my mind was thinking about how to arrange Vasiliev, although I knew that he survived the patriotic war, and even in 2010 before I crossed, he was still healthy. But when I think of the upcoming battle in Kursk, I am not sure. I am deeply afraid that he will be killed by a stray bullet, and then there will be a famous work that accompanies generations of people growing up in the world. For the sake of his safety, I must rearrange a relatively safe position for him.


    Thinking of this, I stopped and looked back. I saw that it was far away from the wooden shed. Vasiliev couldn''t hear what he said. So I said to tavartkilaze tactfully, "Comrade General, after the conversation just now, you should know that this soldier Vasiliev is a young man with a bright future, right?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Tavartkilaze was also a smart man. After listening to me, he immediately understood what I meant. He asked me in a consultative tone: "I intend to transfer him to the division guard camp and become a member of the guard platoon specially responsible for the security of the division headquarters. What do you think? " Naturally, I am very satisfied with the arrangement of tavartkilaze, but I can''t say whether I am satisfied or not. I have to say vaguely, "Comrade General, this is the internal affairs of your division. You can arrange it. You don''t need to ask me for instructions."

 Chapter 1097

    According to the information captured, the German army will leave the station of tomarovka at 5 a.m. on June 24. According to the speed of the German March, they should arrive at our besieged area between 7:30 and 8:00.


    In the early morning of this day, I took povsky to the defense area of the 51st division of the guards to see for myself the results of the ambush. Out of concern for my safety, Yushchenko specially asked the accompanying bukovdo to take ten soldiers and take two jeeps to follow us.


    I didn''t expect that our team of five jeeps, not far from the headquarters, was stopped by an oncoming jeep. Bukov, who was sitting in the co driver''s seat, saw this situation, turned back and said hello to me, then pushed the door open and got off the car, and went to the other side to talk.


    Looking at the back of bukov''s departure, povsky said with a discontented face: "hell, who is so bold to catch up with the commander of the group army in the defense area of the sixth group army of the guards?"


    I used to be very angry when the team was blocked by the car that suddenly appeared, but now I heard povsky say that, and my thoughts changed again. What he said is right. Now we are on our own territory. I am the highest military commander. If the other party is not an important person, they will not dare to stop my car. Thinking of this, I just said, "don''t worry, comrade colonel. When major bukov comes back, we will know who is sitting in the car in front of us."


    As soon as I had finished, I saw bukov coming in a hurry. He opened the door, leaned in half of his body and said to me nervously, "report to commander comrade, on the car in front is general apanashchenko, deputy commander of the front army. He asked you to come over."


    I was startled when I heard that general Apana was sitting in the car that stopped us. I quickly pushed open the next door and ran towards the car.


    When I passed the first car of the team, I came to apanashchenko''s car. As he was about to raise his hand to salute, he saw the door behind him being pushed open. Apanashchenko poked his head out of the car, looked at me and said, "get in the car, comrade oshanina."


    "Yes I promised, then quickly walked past, bent down into the car, and closed the door.


    When apanashchenko saw me sitting down, he leaned forward slightly, raised his hand and patted the driver on the shoulder, and told the other party, "Comrade driver, turn around and go to the original destination." The driver nodded, started the car, lost his head in the same place, and then drove forward along the dirt road.


    I didn''t know where apanashchenko was going to take me, so I asked curiously, "senior general, how can you come to me today?"


    Apanashchenko laughed and replied, "I heard that there will be a wonderful battle in the defense area of the 51st division of the guards today. I came here to have a look. When I passed here, I saw a small motorcade driving out from the direction of the headquarters of the group army. I guessed that you might be in the car, so I came to take a chance. I didn''t expect that you were really in the car. "


    After I got on the bus, I found that in addition to apanashchenko and the driver, there was a soldier with a submachine gun in the co driver''s seat. I could not help but ask anxiously, "senior general, why did you take only one guard to go out? If you meet a German on the road, it would be dangerous."


    But after hearing this, apanashchenko waved his hand with a smile and said, "don''t worry, comrade oshanina. Even if you meet a German, you can get out of danger easily with the driving skills of the driver."


    "Yes, Comrade General." The driver in the front row looked back at me, then quickly turned back and said, "I''ve been driving for more than 20 years, and my driving skills have always been good. Even if I encounter any danger, I can easily escape from the enemy''s encirclement with my deputy commander."


    For apanashchenko and the driver''s blind self-confidence, I just smile bitterly and say that no matter how good your skills are, can you run faster than the German soldiers? During the battle of Stalingrad, the commander of the 192nd infantry division, Col. zaharchenko, was too confident to organize a breakthrough in time when the division was surrounded by the German army. As a result, he was killed by the German artillery in the final retreat. If apanashchenko still does not pay attention to his safety, he will have an accident sooner or later.


    Our motorcade came directly to the No.1 position in the area adjacent to the shell Waka, and received us by the 309 regiment leader, Lieutenant Colonel Lu Jin. He led us to an observation post on the position, and introduced us: "two general comrades, I think you may come to the position to watch the war, so this spacious observation post was specially built. Even if the teacher told me to come later, I would not feel crowded. "


    After listening to Lu Jin''s introduction, I carefully looked at the observation post built in the trench. The roof is a thick log next to each other, and the logs are fixed with big grill nails. At present, although there are me, apanashchenko, povsky, Lukin and several staff officers in the observation center, it still seems empty.


    Some staff officers stand at the lookout hole and observe the situation outside with binoculars or gun mirrors, while others mark the situation of the enemy and ourselves on the open battle map.


    Apanashchenko went to an empty observation hole, raised his telescope and looked out for a while. Then he turned back and asked me, "Comrade oshanina, I don''t know where your troops are lying in ambush?"


    I quickly walked up to him, looked out, then pointed to the visible hillside in the distance and said to apanashchenko, "Comrade General, our troops are lying in ambush on that hillside."


    Apanashchenko listened to me and raised his telescope to look over there. A moment later, I heard him say, "but I can''t see anything on the hillside except the low bushes."


    "No way!" After listening to apanashchenko''s words, I quickly raised my telescope and looked up the hill. It really surprised me to see that there was no sign of fortification on the lush hillside. If I had not gone there two days ago to see the officers and men building the fortifications, I would have thought that tavartkilaze and Lukin were perfunctory to me.


    I put down my telescope, turned to Lu Jin, who was standing beside me, and said, "Comrade commander, deputy commander of the front army, I can''t find where your defensive position is. Please explain the reason to him."


    After hearing my instructions, Lu Jin quickly stepped forward, stood behind apanashchenko, and respectfully reported to him, "report to the general, the commander came to inspect us when we were building the fortifications. At that time, she told us to do a good job in camouflage to avoid being found by the enemy. " At this point, his face could not help showing a proud expression, "after the completion of our fortification, after repeated attempts, we finally found an ideal camouflage way. Even if the Germans go down the hillside and don''t look carefully, they won''t find our fortifications. "


    When Lukin was reporting to us, there was a rush of footsteps at the door, and then tavartkiraze appeared at the door. When he saw apanashchenko standing in the observation center, he was stunned and then asked in surprise, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, how did you come here?"


    Apanashchenko seems to have known tavartkilaze for a long time. Hearing his voice, he quickly put down his telescope, came to shake hands with him and said, "I heard that you have an ambush to fight today, so I came here to have a look."


    When tavartkiraze heard him say this, he looked at me and then at apanashchenko, who was shaking hands with him, with an expression of embarrassment on his face.


    I noticed the change of his look and understood what he was worried about. I immediately laughed at him and said, "don''t worry, general tavartkilaze. My senior general and I just came to have a look. Today''s battle is still under your command. "


    "Yes, comrade oshanina is right." As soon as I finished, apanashchenko echoed, "don''t worry. We''re just here to see. We won''t interfere in your command."


    After getting the assurance from me and apanashchenko, the smile reappeared on tavartkilaze''s face. He turned to look at Lukin and asked, "Comrade commander, why don''t you have a cup of tea when the two commanders come to you? They went out early, and they must have not had breakfast yet. Please send someone to eat here immediately. "


    After receiving the order, Lu Jin soon arranged for someone to bring us breakfast and hot black tea. When I, apanashchenko, tavartkilaze and povsky were eating around the table, Lukin was standing next to us.


    While eating, apanashchenko asked tavartkilaze, "Comrade General, your fortifications are well disguised. I just looked through the telescope for a long time, but I didn''t see any sign of fortification on the hillside. If the Germans don''t come, they will be defeated by you as long as they come. "


    Just at this time, someone in the room suddenly said out loud: "everyone be quiet, it seems that the Germans are coming?"


    The room suddenly became silent. Everyone stopped everything in their hands and listened to the outside. I listened carefully for a long time, but I couldn''t hear any sound outside except the footsteps of the commanders and soldiers walking in the trenches and the voice of their voices.


    "Why can''t I hear anything?" Povsky first opened his mouth. He looked at the staff officer and said with some dissatisfaction, "Comrade lieutenant, did you hear me wrong?"


    The staff officer was so nervous that he couldn''t speak. Fortunately, Lukin came out in time to help him out: "comrades commander, please listen to me. I believe he didn''t hear me wrong. His ears are the most intelligent in our regiment. He can hear the slightest voice."


    After listening, apanashchenko didn''t say anything. He stood up, went to the observation hole, raised his telescope and looked out. After watching for a long time, I heard him saying to himself, "it''s very quiet outside. I didn''t see any German or hear any strange voice."


    Apanashchenko''s words made me feel very embarrassed. I looked at the staff officer angrily, wondering if I should give him a hard lecture. At this moment, apanashchenko suddenly exclaimed, when all of us were attracted by him, we heard him say loudly: "tank, German tank!"


    When he said that, I, tavartkilaze, povsky and Lukin all rushed to the lookout hole to observe the situation outside with telescopes or gun mirrors.


    I raised my telescope and looked into the distance. I saw German tanks appeared on the far plain. At first, they were just a few black dots. But as time went on, these dots became bigger and bigger. I could see the German tank models clearly through the telescope soon. I counted out twelve tanks, one of which was the latest Tiger tank, and the rest were either No. 3 or No. 4. Behind these tanks were nearly twenty semi tracked armored vehicles, which were full of soldiers.


    Seeing this situation, I felt a lot more confident and knew that the information we had seized was authentic. As for the Germans, I don''t know if they found any staff members missing and important documents missing, but they still tried to bypass Yakovlev and go deep into the rear of our army as planned.


    Lukin left the lookout hole, went to the table, grabbed the phone, and said in a loud voice, "Hello, major gilgin? The German armored forces have appeared to prepare your soldiers for battle. Remember, be careful not to let the Germans find you. When the shelling is over and the tank company charges, you will take the troops to rush up immediately. Do you understand? "


    Lukin''s words aroused my curiosity. If he didn''t mention the tank company, I almost forgot that I asked Colonel berey to draw two companies to cooperate with the infantry. When Lukin let go, I called him to me and asked, "commander, where is the tank company hiding?"


    "Report to commander," Lu Jin replied with a smile, "we dug several underground bunkers in the front of the hillside, where our tanks were hidden. Once the shelling is over, they can break through the ground and attack the German army in chaos. "


    Hiding tanks in the ground and waiting for them to break through the ground during the assault can really play a surprise role. After nodding to Lukin with satisfaction, I turned to povsky standing beside me and said, "Comrade artillery commander, our artillery can fire."


    Povsky nodded, turned to a nearby officer and said, "call your commander and order the artillery to open fire to cover the German armored troops on the move."


    When the officer turned to the walkie talkie and relayed the order, povsky explained to me, "Comrade commander, he is the observer of the artillery regiment here, responsible for providing firing parameters for our artillery."


    After a short time, a shell landed directly in the marching line of the German armored forces, landed on the side of an armored car full of soldiers, exploded, and the armored car with fire and smoke rolled for several turns and collapsed there. Some of the soldiers who fell from the car died on the spot and lay upright on the ground. Fortunately, the soldiers who survived were on fire and ran around. They suddenly fell down and stood up, climbing and jumping, trying to extinguish the burning flame.


    After the artillery test firing, I saw the artillery observer report a series of parameters loudly to the transmitter of the telephone. A moment later, there was a sharp whistling of cannonballs in the air, and pieces of cannonballs fell on the German marching line and exploded. Innumerable explosion points burst up suddenly. The shrapnel splashed by the violent explosion and the broken stone intertwined with each other, just like a storm, throwing the German tanks and armored vehicles into the air like toys and falling heavily on the ground.


    Although the artillery density of our army was relatively high, the German marching line was too long to cover them all. Through the black smoke blocking the sky, I saw that the tanks and armored vehicles in the middle of the queue had become burning debris. The soldiers originally carried on the armored vehicle had been torn to pieces by the flying shrapnel. Under the action of the blast, all kinds of residual limbs and weapon parts were repeatedly thrown away and heavily dropped to the ground.


    I think the artillery attack is almost the same. I turned to povsky and Lukin and said, "Comrade artillery commander, I think it''s almost the same. We can stop the artillery attack. Commander Lu Jin, order the troops to attack, and try to wipe out the enemy completely. "


    They agreed neatly, and then povsky went to the artillery observer and asked him to inform the artillery regiment to stop shelling. Lu Jin picked up the phone on the table and gave the order to major gilgin, who was hiding on the hillside.


    As the shelling stopped, more than a dozen new-style t-5455 tanks arched out of the grass on the front of the hillside. Covered with dust and turf, they fired at the German tanks and armored vehicles trapped in chaos on the dirt road. And the infantry hiding on the hillside, looking at their tanks have attacked, also jumped out of the hidden fortifications one after another, shouting and rushing down the mountain.


    The sudden appearance of our tanks made the German armored forces, which had not yet recovered from the shelling, fall into greater chaos. Armored vehicles began to reverse desperately, trying to get out of this dangerous area quickly, but our tank soldiers certainly would not let them do what they wanted. The shells fired by 100 mm tank guns immediately tore the weak armor of German armored vehicles to pieces, and the soldiers on the vehicles were either dead or wounded.


    After killing the armored vehicles, all the tanks turned their guns to deal with the remaining German tanks. Because the tanks on both sides are only 200 meters apart, so as long as the German tanks are hit, they can not escape the fate of being destroyed. The new Tiger tank, after dodging the shells fired by our tanks, finally found a chance to retaliate. In the panic, it fired a shot at our tanks, and the shells were ready to hit the nearest tank.


    When I saw the fire and smoke rising from the tank body, my heart felt as if someone had pulled me hard. My heart said that at such a short distance, our army''s tanks must have been destroyed. But when the smoke dispersed, I found that except for a black dent on the turret, the whole was still intact. Even the turret was still rotating normally, and the muzzle always pointed to the surviving Tiger tank.


    After a single shot, the German Tiger tanks increased their horsepower in an attempt to escape the battlefield quickly. Can run far, in its left side rushed up a stream of soil, our army tank shot shells almost hit it. But its good luck didn''t last long, and soon it was hit again, with thick smoke coming out of the observation hole in front of it. The car body shook suddenly and stopped in the same place. At this time of the battle, only a dozen minutes have passed. But this small German unit was destroyed by the combined attack of our artillery and tanks. The infantry who arrived immediately did not even have the chance to fire a single shot, and the battle ended in a hurry. What they could do was to check whether the German officers and soldiers who fell from the armored vehicles could still find a living. Seeing that the ambush ended so cleanly, apanashchenko said in surprise: "Comrade oshanina, I didn''t expect that the battle could still be fought like this. You know, in this battle, our army had no casualties at all, and it was easy to completely annihilate a small armored unit of the German army. " As for apanashchenko''s feeling, I politely smile and say that the t-5455 tank brought by Florin is really extraordinary. It was hit by the German Tiger tank at such a short distance, but it was not destroyed. It can be seen that if katukov''s first group army of close guard tanks can be equipped with a large number of such tanks, it can easily defeat the German proud armored forces in the next battle of Kursk.

 Chapter 1098

    Although the results of this battle can be reported to watugin by telegraph. However, I feel that some things should be explained more clearly on the phone, so I called tavartkilaze and asked him to accompany me back to the division headquarters of the 51st division of the guards. I wanted to report the fighting situation to watujing personally through the division''s dedicated telephone line.


    After the phone was connected, when I heard watujing''s voice coming from the receiver, I immediately said politely, "Hello, senior general! I''m o''shanina. I have something to report to you immediately. "


    "It''s comrade o''shanina." Vatukin''s voice sounded very happy: "I think you call me at this time, there must be good news to tell me!"


    "Yes, Comrade General." I thought he would talk to me in a very serious tone when he heard my voice, but his tone was unprecedented friendly. I guess he guessed that I called him to report good news. After taking a deep breath, I said, "our ambush has come to a successful end. We have completely annihilated a German armored detachment and destroyed 12 tanks and 20 armored vehicles, one of which is the latest German Tiger tank."


    "How are our casualties?" Watujing asked cautiously when I finished.


    "Comrade General, since the results of the war have not been counted, I can not tell you the accurate data for the time being." Although I also wanted to tell watujing that our army had no casualties in this ambush, I was worried that some infantry soldiers might accidentally fall or sprain their feet when they rushed down the hillside, so I cautiously said, "but I can tell you for sure that none of them died."


    "What, no sacrifice?" Vatukin''s voice sounded a little excited.


    "Yes," I said after telling the whole battle all over again, and specially emphasized: "because the German army was attacked by our long-range artillery during the March. As soon as the shelling was over, the new tanks hidden on the hillside launched a surprise attack from their flanks. It can be said that they had no strength to fight back, so they were completely annihilated by us. "


    When I mentioned the new tanks, vatujing''s voice became serious again. He solemnly asked, "how did our new tanks perform in battle?"


    "Excellent performance, Comrade General!" We should know that the t-5455 tank from later generations far exceeds all the tanks in this period in terms of armor, firepower and mobility. The Tiger tank had an absolute advantage over the Soviet T-34, but against this new type of tank, it was just like a short man who challenged the giant. They were not at the same level at all¡° Only the Tiger Tank fired a shot and narrowly hit one of our tanks. But there was nothing wrong with the hit tank. Instead, the German Tiger tank was killed with one shot. "


    After listening to what I said, vatujing said anxiously: "Comrade oshanina, I think you should go to the battlefield in person to see the damage of this tank and whether there are crew members, and then report to me. Do you understand? "


    "I see, Comrade General." When I finished, I politely asked, "can I go now?"


    "Go ahead, go ahead." Vatukin agreed very readily, and specially told him: "after you check the damage of the new tank, report to me immediately. Remember, don''t telegraph, just contact me directly by telephone. "


    I put down the phone, turned to look at tavartkilaze and povsky standing behind me, then said to them with a smile: "two, the commander of the front army ordered me to go to the battlefield and check the damage of the tank just hit by the German army. Would you like to accompany me?"


    "It''s no use saying that, comrade commander." Hearing my question, they immediately showed a sunny smile and answered in unison, "of course, I''d like to."


    When we drove to the battlefield, povsky, who was sitting in the co driver''s seat, turned to me with regret and said, "Comrade commander, although our artillery firepower, under the guidance of artillery observers, covered the enemy''s armored forces, because their march line was too long, there were still one third of tanks and armored vehicles, Survived such a heavy shelling. "


    General tavartkilaze, who was sitting next to me, said with a smile after listening to povsky''s words: "Comrade Colonel, you are too picky about our artillery. You should know that although one third of the German tanks and armored vehicles survived the gunfire, they have almost lost their fighting capacity. You don''t see that when our tanks attack, except for the Tiger tank, the remaining tanks and armored vehicles don''t even have the chance to fire. They are all destroyed by our tanks. "


    "Comrade General, I don''t agree with you." Although tavartkilaze was telling the truth, povsky was still unconvinced and said: "today, the German army was attacked by our sudden artillery fire in the process of marching. It''s completely understandable that they didn''t have the strength to fight back. If one day they will send out hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles to launch battle formations on the broad plain of our front defense and attack our defensive positions. Do you think we can block their attack? "


    I didn''t stop the argument between povsky, the artillery commander, and general tavartkilaze, because they just had different views on some tactical issues and expressed their own opinions. They didn''t speak ill of each other because of their personal preferences. In this case, I would sit quietly and listen to the quarrel between them with a smile on my face.


    After a while, our car suddenly stopped. I looked out of the window and saw that I had already arrived at the battlefield, so I said with a smile to the two people who were still arguing: "OK, don''t argue any more. The battlefield is here. Let''s go and have a look first. " With that, he took the lead in pushing the door open and walking down.


    Looking around, there are big craters more than one person deep, and there are still plumes of smoke. The wreckage of the tank or armored vehicle overturned next to the crater was still burning, and there was a choking smell.


    Major gilgin, the third battalion commander, noticed our arrival and ran over from a distance. After waiting for him to salute, I asked, "major, are there any casualties in your battalion?"


    "No, none of them." After answering my question, gilkin went on to report that "our battalion is cleaning the battlefield and has captured about 30 prisoners, most of whom are seriously injured. What should we do?"


    When I heard gilgin''s request for instructions, and before I could figure out how to reply, tawalter killazer, who was next to me, began to give orders to his subordinates: "major, do you still need to ask for instructions on such matters? Except for those who were not injured or slightly injured, the rest of the seriously injured were shot one by one and buried with other bodies on the spot. "


    "Yes Although gilgin agreed very readily, he didn''t move his foot, and he turned his eyes on me, as if waiting for my further orders.


    I am not comfortable with tawalter killazer''s command, which sounds a little inhuman. However, on second thought, I felt that tavartkilaze''s order was quite correct in this case. After all, most of the wounded German soldiers were burned. Even if they were brought back to the capture camp, they would not survive in the end. Instead of letting them waste our army''s precious medicine, it''s better to give them one shot at a time to free them from their pain. Thinking of this, I said to gilgin, who was still standing in front of us, "major, what are you doing here? Don''t you go to carry out the orders of your teachers?"


    With my permission, gilkin promised to turn around and leave. I suddenly thought of something, and quickly stopped him: "major, do you know where the tank that was just shelled by German tanks is?"


    At the foot of the hillside a hundred meters away, gilgin pointed to a well parked line of tanks and said, "Comrade commander, count from this side. The second one is." At this point, he couldn''t help saying with emotion, "he was hit by a German tank at such a close position and was destroyed by another tank. I didn''t expect that this new type of tank had nothing to do with it."


    When several of us came to the tank column, the tank soldiers were clearing the turf and soil on the tank body. Two tank captains came up to us, raised their hands and said, "Comrade commander, Captain basduhof (lukbas), commander of the 82nd (101st) tank brigade, has reported to you that the tank company has completed its combat mission and is in the process of recuperation. Please give instructions!"


    When I heard the names of the tank brigades 82 and 101, I couldn''t help laughing. It was a coincidence that they had the same name as the two most famous airborne divisions of the US Army. I just didn''t know if they could make great achievements in the battle of Kursk. I nodded to them with a smile and asked, "where is the tank that was just hit by the German army?"


    The broad shouldered, chubby captain on the left immediately replied, "report commander, the tank hit is our company''s tank. Although at close range by German tanks hit the turret, but nothing


    I knew that the tank was OK for a long time, but I was worried that some crew members would be injured by the huge impact of the shell. So as soon as I heard that the tank belonged to the 101 tank brigade, I quickly asked lukbas, "Comrade captain, when the tank was shot, did the crew members suffer any casualties?"


    "When the tank was shot, chief sergeant roschugin accidentally hit it on the head." "However, the injury is not serious and has been wrapped up," lukbas said in his report


    After listening to lukbas''s report, out of concern for his subordinates, I specially ordered him to say, "call him over. I''ll see how his injury is."


    When lukbas heard me say this, he immediately turned to the busy tank soldiers not far away and yelled, "Hello, Sergeant roschugin, come to me."


    With his cry, a short tank soldier who was cleaning up the soil jumped from the tank body and trotted to me. He raised his hand and saluted me. He reported to me in a shrill voice, "Hello, commander comrade, tank Sergeant Ross Chujin, please give me instructions."


    Looking at the thin and handsome tank sergeant in front of me, I suddenly felt a strange feeling. I glanced at his gauze wrapped forehead and asked with concern, "Comrade sergeant, are you seriously injured?"


    Ruschujin replied with a smile, "I''ve scratched a little skin. The injury is not serious. The health worker has bandaged it up for me. It won''t take me a few days to recover."


    From his smile, I noticed a trace of charm, the strange feeling in my heart became more intense. After I looked him up and down, I stopped my eyes at his neck and unexpectedly found that there was no Adam''s apple. Seeing this, a strange idea suddenly appeared in my mind, so I said, "sergeant, I have something to tell you. Come with me."


    When I finished speaking, I walked towards the jeep. Seeing tavartkilaze and povsky trying to catch up, I quickly raised my hand to stop them and politely said, "you stay here first. I have something to talk to the chief in private." Even though tavartkiraze didn''t know why I did it, they still nodded and stood in the same place without moving their feet. I took roschukin to the jeep. The driver in the jeep thought I had something to tell him. He got out of the jeep and stood straight by the jeep. I took a look at him and said, "Comrade driver, I have something to say with the sergeant in private. You should avoid it first." The driver raised his hand and ran away. When roschugin and I were left by the jeep, I looked at him and asked, "sergeant, tell me, what''s your name?" Roschugin didn''t know why I asked. He replied with a blank face: "Comrade report commander, my name is Alexander roschugin, a tank commander of the 101 tank brigade." I heard his answer, snorted, and then said, "chief, what I asked is your real name." After hearing my question, roschukin''s face immediately showed a flustered expression, but he still said to me, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what you are talking about. My name is Alexander roschukin." I looked around and saw that there was no one nearby, so I said to him with a straight face, "come on, chief, don''t keep hiding any more. I can see it all. To tell you the truth, is your name roschugina or something else? " Ruschujin was stunned by what I said. After a while, she said, "Comrade commander, how do you see that?" Seeing that she admitted the fact that she was a woman, I said with a smile: "although you cover it up very well, from the smile you just had, I noticed that you are different. Although it''s hard to find out that you are a woman from your figure, I can easily identify you by your words and actions. " At this point, I couldn''t help saying with emotion, "are the soldiers in your tank blind? I''ve been with you for so long, but I haven''t found out you''re a woman? "

 Chapter 1099

    I remember when I learned Mulan CI many years ago, I was very curious. Hua Mulan disguised herself as a man and lived with her comrades in arms for ten years, but no one ever saw through her identity. Now I see this young woman tank hand in front of me, I seem to understand something. The reason why they have not been seen through may be because they belong to the fighting ethnic groups. They are not inferior to their fellow men in physical strength and physique. Therefore, they are not as easily seen through as those weak women. In addition, their female characteristics are not obvious, so people who usually contact them will not think that she will be a woman.


    Roschukin was still silent after hearing my question. Knowing that she must have misgivings, I asked again in an amiable tone, "Comrade staff sergeant, can you tell me your real name?"


    "Comrade commander, my real name is Alexandra mitrovanovna rosschugina," he replied shyly, his face flushed and his head bowed


    In order to show closeness, I changed the polite and distant "you" into "you" when I went on asking: "can you tell me why you want to dress as a man?"


    Roschugina looked up at me and said, "Comrade commander, do you think I want to dress as a man? After the outbreak of the war, I went to the recruitment point to sign up. As a result, the staff in charge of the recruitment said that there was no need for female soldiers, so they refused my application. I didn''t give up. I changed to another recruiting point, but I was rejected.


    In this way, in a year''s time, I went to nearly 100 recruitment sites to apply for enlistment, but all of them were rejected by the staff in charge of recruitment without exception.


    It''s especially hard to watch my peers join the army or join the militia while I''m still at home doing nothing. Later, I simply cut my hair short, disguised myself as a man, and changed my name to Alexander roschugin. This time, I was finally accepted into the army.


    After I joined the army, I was assigned to a transport group, and I began to learn how to drive vehicles in Moscow. Before long, the regiment issued an order, saying that there is an urgent shortage of tankers in the army. I hope you can sign up to learn how to drive tanks. Driven by curiosity, I took the initiative to sign up for the league. In this way, I came to Stalingrad and was assigned to a tank unit to learn the driving skills of tanks. Less than two months later, the battle of Stalingrad broke out, and my unit was assigned to general trakov''s 62nd army. "


    It''s said that she used to work under trekov''s hands, and I can''t help but feel a little better about her. So the tone of speaking is no longer the conversation between the superior and the subordinate just now, but the tone of two friends chatting¡° Ross trugina, you know what? I used to be a member of general trakov''s army and participated in the defense of Stalingrad. "


    "I know you, comrade commander." Rosschugina nodded her head hard and said with certainty, "I''ve heard about you in the army. Almost every day I can hear from others the good news that you have defeated the German attack. It''s your performance that makes me understand that even a woman can make achievements like a man. " At this point, her eyes became hot, "therefore, you have always been my role model!"


    I was a little embarrassed by roschujinna''s praise. I waved my hand and said with a smile, "chief, you are so flattering. In fact, I''m just lucky. If I were someone else, I could achieve the same result. " I don''t want to keep pestering about my own affairs, so I digged off the topic in time. "Rosetrugina, you''re not easy either. You''ve only been in the army for one year, and you''ve become a car commander, and you''ve been awarded the rank of sergeant."


    "During the war of defense in Stalingrad, the tank I drove destroyed three combat targets, including a tank, a truck and a fire point, and killed more than 30 German officers and soldiers with vehicle mounted machine guns." Roschujinna told me about her achievements. "After the battle, I was promoted to sergeant because of my achievements, and I was appointed commander."


    "What are your plans?" After listening to her achievements, I asked with concern, "rosetrugina, what are your plans in the future? Do you want to continue to dress as a man or show your true identity to the higher authorities? If you want to reply to your daughter, I''ll take care of it. I don''t think it will bring you any trouble. "


    I didn''t expect that as soon as my suggestion was put out, roschujinna put her hands desperately and said, "no, no, comrade commander. If I reveal my true identity now, my superior will definitely transfer me out of the tank brigade. Maybe I will be transferred to the health team as a health worker, or the communication link to the telegraph operator. "


    "These arms are good," to tell you the truth, I want her to restore her original identity. I want to transfer her to the rear as a health officer or a telegraph operator. Although there are certain dangers in those posts, it is safer than being a tank hand at least. Since she said it first, I would push the boat forward and say, "in these posts, at least it''s safer than you to be a tank soldier."


    But roschujinna asked: "Comrade commander, my comrades in arms are going to fight with the Germans, but do you want me to go back to the safe rear? Is this a deserter? " There was an obvious anger in her voice.


    My proposal to let her restore her true identity is also entirely for her sake. However, from the current situation, I seem to take it for granted that she does not want to restore her identity at this time. But her last words shook my determination.


    Since she doesn''t want to restore her original identity, I can''t force her any more. After thinking about it, I said, "dear roschugina, if you change your mind one day, you can call me and I will help you arrange everything."¡° Thank you, comrade commander "If one day I want to recover my daughter, I will call you and ask for your help," rosschujina said gratefully Although I have said that, I still feel uneasy. It suddenly occurred to me that I had seen a movie before in which a woman dressed as a man joined the regular army. Later, when she was wounded in a battle, the military doctor took off her pants to change her dressing and found out her identity. As a tank hand, roschujina has more chances of being injured in the cruel battle of Kursk, and it will be sooner or later that her true identity will be revealed. Thinking of this, I said anxiously, "by the way, roschugina, I have a question. If you are wounded in the battle, your identity will be exposed when you are bandaged by a health worker or a military doctor? What would you do if that happened? " My question left roschugina speechless and standing where she was. Seeing her helpless face, I couldn''t bear it, so I said my plan: "as long as the tank you command destroys more than ten enemy tanks in the next battle, I will help you recover your true identity and keep you in the tank brigade. Anyway, there are no female tankers in the tank troops. What do you think of my arrangement? " After listening to my suggestion, roschugina nodded, then shook her head and said hesitantly, "Comrade commander, do you think my tank can destroy more than ten tanks in battle?" Instead of answering her question, I asked, "which tank do you think is better than those you used to drive?"¡° Needless to say, this one, of course. Don''t you see that the German tanks can''t penetrate our armor at such a short distance? And we fired a shot and killed the Tiger tank that the German claimed could not be penetrated. " Speaking of the process of killing the German tanks, rosschujina was particularly excited: "the new tank can also shoot on the move, with a hit rate of more than 40%. Compared with the old tank''s zero hit, it''s a big difference." Seeing that she knew the performance of the new tank very well, I nodded with satisfaction, "since you know the performance of the new tank, do you still have any difficulty in destroying more than ten German tanks?" Rosschujinna''s face showed a surprise expression. After shaking her head, she replied in a loud voice: "please rest assured, commander, I will lead the crew to destroy more than ten German tanks in the next battle."¡° By the way, there''s one more thing you haven''t answered me yet. " After seeing her happy again, I asked another question I was interested in: "have you been in the army for such a long time, has no one ever found out that you are a woman?"¡° Please rest assured that my identity has not been found. " Roschugina reported to me with some pride: "our tankers and infantry are not the same. We don''t live together in a class or even a platoon, but are stationed separately with our own tank groups. I let the rest of the crew sleep in a makeshift tent, and I sleep alone in the tank for the reason of guarding the tank. As for bathing, I do it in the pond or river near the army station. Every time I''m very careful, no one will see it. "¡° So it is. No wonder after more than a year, no one has found out that you are a woman. " After figuring out why she didn''t let others find out her true identity, I waved to her with a smile and said, "well, dear roschugina, it''s ok now. You go back to work first."¡° Yes Roschugina gave a loud promise, raised her hand to salute, turned and ran to her tank.

 Chapter 1100

    When tavartkilaze and povsky returned to the jeep, they told me a piece of news: General apanashchenko, deputy commander of the front army, had left the regimental headquarters of the 309 regiment and taken his limited subordinates to inspect other defensive areas.


    Although I think of apanashchenko''s side, there is only one driver and one guard, I am very worried about his safety. But on second thought, since he left without saying goodbye and obviously didn''t want more people to go with him, I didn''t want to make fun of myself. I decided to go back to my headquarters as soon as possible. There might be a lot of work waiting for me to deal with.


    When the three of us drove back to the division headquarters of the 51st division of the guards, I said to tavartkilaze, who was sitting beside us: "Comrade General, although our defense front is too wide, it is impossible to put enough troops in all places. However, in areas where we focus on defense, especially in front of several large positions, we must lay minefields and draw barbed wire. Even if such facilities will be lost after the enemy''s shelling and bombing, they can also prevent the German infantry from approaching our positions as recklessly as before. Do you understand? "


    "I see," general tavartkilaze continued in embarrassment, "Comrade commander, but we are in urgent need of a large number of mines and barbed wire." As he said this, he glanced at povsky in the front row. "As far as I know, the transport group''s cars are busy transporting shells all this time."


    Povsky, who had been sitting in the front row, still looked out of the window. Hearing what tavartkilaze said, he immediately turned around and said with great dissatisfaction: "Comrade division, I think it is necessary for me to remind you that once the German army attacks us, the artillery deployed in your rear can provide you with enough artillery support. If there were no shells, the artillery in the artillery''s hand would be a pile of scrap iron. "


    "But if there is no minefield and barbed wire in front of the position, the German infantry can easily rush to our position." Tavartkilaze retorted unconvinced: "if the Germans rush into the trench and fight with our commanders and fighters, then the artillery fire will lose its use."


    I don''t know if there was any deep hatred between them in their previous lives. Anyway, they pinched each other as soon as they met, which made me upset. In order not to let them quarrel any more, I said aloud, "OK, be quiet. Don''t quarrel any more."


    After they were quiet, I first asked povsky, who was sitting in the front row. After all, his position was relatively high: "Comrade Colonel, if he was deployed as another commander, he would certainly not listen to any explanation from the other side. Instead, he would scold the other side and threaten to take him to the military court for dereliction of duty. But in order to find out what happened, I said patiently, "yes, comrade lieutenant. But I want to hear the real answer, not the lie you made up to cover up your mistakes. "


    "Comrade General, I will tell you the real reason." Molochov''s expression became more serious. "We have been shipping military supplies for 15 consecutive days and nights. For 15 consecutive days and nights, I didn''t stop for maintenance or sleep. As soon as the car is full, we will pull the military supplies out of the Quartermaster station in Kursk and send them to the front line where they are needed... "


    "Well, needless to say, comrade lieutenant." I didn''t wait for him to finish, then I raised my hand to stop him, because needless to say what he said later, I knew I had wronged them. People are not machines. After 15 days of continuous rotation, it is estimated that even trucks carrying goods and materials can''t stand it, let alone these living people¡° I get it. I''m very sorry for my misunderstanding of you just now. " With that, I stepped back, raised my hand and saluted him solemnly. At the same time, I said aloud, "comrades of the transport team, you have worked hard!"


    "Comrade General," said morochov, a little hoarse with excitement, "these are the things we should do. However, comrade general, I beg you, can my soldiers sleep a little longer? Even ten minutes is fine. After all, they haven''t had a rest for 15 days. "


    I looked up at my watch and announced to him, "Comrade lieutenant, I can give you an hour. After all, it''s hard for you to recover if you don''t rest for a while. " Then I turned to tavartkilaze and said, "Comrade General, I think they may drink cold water and chew dry bread on their way all this time, so you should go back to the division headquarters as soon as possible and arrange for someone to bring them some hot tea."


    "All right, comrade commander." Tavartkilaze took a look at the tired morochov standing in front of us, nodded, turned and walked towards the nearest jeep, ready to drive back to the division headquarters as soon as possible.


    When bukov learned that the Autobots were sleeping by the side of the road, not because they were lazy, but because they were too tired, he arranged for people to stand guard around the motorcade, so that no one would disturb them.


    And I stayed where I was talking with lieutenant morochov. I looked at the young lieutenant in front of me and asked with a smile, "Comrade lieutenant, when did you join the army?"


    Molochov replied, "report general, I joined the army in September 1941."


    I took a look at the rank of lieutenant on his shoulder badge and the medal on his chest. However, he accidentally found that the medal on his chest was actually a medal for "defending Stalingrad". He was surprised and asked, "how come, comrade lieutenant, have you ever participated in the battle of defending Stalingrad?" He nodded with a smile, and then said: "yes, during the battle of Stalingrad, when we were ordered to send shells to the anti tank artillery hiding in the depression to block the German tank attack, the truck of the transport team leader was hit by the German artillery fire and died on the spot. And I took over his post, leading the transport team to braved the enemy''s artillery fire, along the gorge, smoothly sent the shells to the anti tank artillery positions. By this time, the artillery shells were almost all gone. Because of this transportation mission, I was appointed as the official captain of the transportation team as soon as I got back to the brigade, and I got the rank of lieutenant. Since all the brothers in the motorcade had lived and died together, they all listened to my command. Before long, our transport team became the best transport team in the whole brigade. Even often praised by the superior leaders... "Like telling other people''s stories, molochov told me his fighting experience in a flat tone, which made me look at him with new eyes. I even had a bold idea of going to the logistics department to dig a corner and get this lieutenant to my close guard 6th group army to be a company commander or battalion commander. The troops under his command will surely win many victories. Time passed unconsciously in our chatting. An hour had passed when general tavartkiraze sent for tea and red vegetable soup. Molochov stood next to the motorcade and yelled at the front and back of the motorcade, "all listen to my command, get out of the car!" The first time, the team didn''t respond. When he called for the second time, most of the doors were opened, and the drivers who were sleeping inside jumped out of the car. As for the drivers who were still sleeping, they were also woken up by the drivers of the front and rear cars. They all came under the car and waited for the order from molochov. Seeing that all the people were in place, morochov yelled: "hurry up, everyone. After drinking the hot tea and red vegetable soup sent by the infantry brothers, we will drive away immediately."¡° Yes Dozens of drivers standing neatly outside their driver''s cab agreed.

 Chapter 1101

    When we started again, bukov sat in the co pilot''s seat again, while pofsky moved from the front row to the back row, so as to facilitate our conversation.


    Povsky said with emotion: "Comrade commander, I used to complain that the transport team was too slow to transport ammunition to the artillery, but today, after contacting these Autobots, I realized that I was wrong about them. It''s not that they don''t try their best, but because they are limited by various objective conditions, the speed of transporting materials by the transport team can''t be improved all the time. "


    Povsky''s words remind me of the traffic line that was strangled by us warplanes on the Korean battlefield in later generations. It''s lucky that one of the ten vehicles could be sent to the front line. Now the German army has not launched an attack on us. The transportation of materials is only limited by the road conditions and the number of vehicles. Once the battle broke out, our transportation lines would certainly become the focus of the German attack. At that time, whether the materials from the rear Quartermaster station could be smoothly transported to the front positions is a big problem.


    Although I thought of many ways, I was soon overthrown one by one. So far, I have returned to the headquarters of the group army. I haven''t come up with a reason. At this moment, bukov, who was sitting in the co pilot''s seat, suddenly said in surprise: "why, major Yushchenko is standing outside the headquarters with an anxious look on his face. Is something wrong?"


    Hearing what bukov said, I quickly looked out of the window. At the entrance of the building where the headquarters was located, major Yushchenko, the head of the guard, was walking back and forth, with an expression of uneasiness. It seemed that something might have happened.


    And at this time, he also found our team. He stopped, stood in the same place, looked at it, and ran towards the car where I was. Seeing his reaction, I knew in my heart that something must have happened, otherwise my heart would not behave so impolitely.


    Before the car stopped, Yushchenko jumped in front of the car and opened the door beside me. I could not blame him for his recklessness, but anxiously asked, "what''s the matter, major Yushchenko? What''s the matter?"


    "Commander, comrade commander." Maybe when he just ran over, he was in a bit of a hurry, so when Yushchenko spoke, he kept panting: "good news, good news, great news."


    "Good news?" When I saw that it was not an accident or something, the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground and asked, "Comrade major, I don''t know what the good news is?"


    "The military commissar and the chief of staff are back." Yushchenko''s voice suddenly became shrill because of excitement. "In addition to them, there are many commanders and fighters coming back."


    "Are the military commissars and chief of staff discharged from the hospital after their injuries?" I thought Yushchenko was talking about the two injured with chisgakov, so I got out of the car and asked without expression, "when did they come back?"


    As soon as I landed on one foot, I realized it was wrong. Yushchenko and I, the military commissar and chief of staff of the group army, have never met. He would not be so excited by two strangers. Then the person who can be called by him is ready to come out. Thinking of this, I could not help feeling excited. I asked tentatively, "major, are you talking about major kirilov and major akhromeyev?"


    Yushchenko might have guessed the answer at the sight of me. He nodded his head excitedly and said for a long time: "yes, yes, comrades commander, that''s them. They all came back from Kiev alive."


    I couldn''t help cheering and was about to rush into the building. Who knows that I forget that I only have one foot on the ground. As soon as I run forward, I suddenly lose my center of gravity and fall heavily on the ground.


    Next to Yushchenko and several soldiers immediately helped me up, locked up and asked: "Comrade commander, are you ok?"


    I stood up with their help, heard his question, waved my hand, and ran all the way into the building regardless of the pain. Because I ran too fast, even the guard at the door saluted me, but I didn''t care to return the salute.


    Although I am now the commander of the group army, I don''t feel like I used to be at arm''s length in commanding the army because I don''t have my own effective subordinates. Although Yushchenko and bukov are also my old subordinates, they can only be responsible for security work with their ability, and they can''t help me in military command at all. Now kirilov and akhromeyev are back, which means I have a right arm again. As long as they are placed in the right position, the command system of this army can operate more efficiently.


    When I rushed into the headquarters, I saw that it was kirilov, who had been my partner for six months, who was sitting at the table with his back to the door and chatting with Danilov. After taking a deep breath, I opened my mouth and cried, "Comrade military commissar!"


    As I yelled, kirilov turned his head. After seeing that it was me, he immediately jumped out of his seat, walked quickly towards me, opened his arms, and said excitedly, "Hello, Rita, nice to see you again!"


    When we hugged each other, I couldn''t help but feel my nose hurt and my eyes began to wet when I thought of this unknown old partner who could still appear in front of me alive. Tears turned and turned in my eyes, like broken beads.


    After the separation, kirilov saw that I was in tears. Although he was red eyed, he comforted me and said, "Rita, don''t be sad. Although many of our comrades died, didn''t akhromeyev and I come back alive?"


    "Ahlomeyev, where is he?" As soon as I heard kirilov mention my former chief of staff of the division, my eyes began to search around the room. I just paid attention to kirilov, but ignored his existence.


    "Here I am, comrade commander." Behind me came the familiar voice of akhromeyev¡° I''m fine. I''m still alive. "


    Ignoring the tears on my face, I turned around, grabbed ahlomeyev''s arm, shook it vigorously, and said excitedly, "just come back, just come back, so that we can fight side by side and avenge those comrades who died."


    Danilov, who had been standing by, sighed when he saw the reunion of our old comrades in arms, turned around, took out a handkerchief from his trouser pocket and covered his face tightly. After a while, I heard him sniff, put a handkerchief on his face and quickly put it into his pocket.


    I took kirilov''s hand to the table, pressed him on his seat, and then asked, "Comrade military commissar, tell me, how did you come out of Kiev and how many people did you bring?"


    "Comrade commander," akhromeyev came to me and said respectfully, "please allow me to give you a detailed account."


    Looking at the ragged akhromeyev in front of me, I guessed that their way to break through must be very difficult, so I nodded, pointed to the empty position beside me and said, "major, you''d better sit down and talk." With that, I just sat down beside kirilov.


    Akhromeyev sat opposite me and told me clearly how they had broken through the encirclement: "after Kiev fell, general Romanov led the main force to break through the encirclement to the northwest. However, another part of the troops under the command of comrades of the military commissar and I were cut off on the East Bank of the Dnieper River, unable to cross the river and join the main forces. Therefore, we had to continue to choose the direction to break through and break through to the weak defensive areas of the German army in the East.


    When we broke through the encirclement, we had more than 700 troops, well-equipped and sufficient ammunition. We are divided into two parts. Major general wachuk leads his remaining troops to open the way in front of us; The military commissar and I were in the back, taking in the rout and wounded, following general wachuk and turning east, ready to cross the enemy''s blockade and join our main forces.


    It was smooth at first, but when the troops arrived at ligov, the forward and the German armored forces met. After more than two hours of fighting, in addition to more than a dozen wounded soldiers out of danger, general wachuk and his other officers and men all died.


    In order to avoid a hard struggle with the German army, which is superior in strength and equipment, after discussion with the military commissar, I decided to turn south, bypass the German area with tight defense, detour to the Kursk area, and join the main forces of our army.


    However, our whereabouts were soon detected by the German army. In addition to sending ground forces to search for our whereabouts, they also sent planes for reconnaissance. Fortunately, the forest coverage area of our activity area is still very large, which virtually provides us with a favorable hiding place.


    ... hunger and sickness, let our troops continue to downsize. When we arrived in Suja, there were only more than 100 people left in the whole army. The rest either died or left the army. At that time, it was suggested that if we could not reach our defense area within a few days, the rest of us would be lost.


    Just then the defecting captain Grimes made a suggestion to us. He said, "since we don''t have many people now, why don''t we disguise ourselves as German troops and go through the enemy''s defensive zone in a swaggering manner to join our main forces."


    When I heard the name of gramus, I was a little surprised. I didn''t expect that our army was in such a dangerous situation, and gramus, a group of defecting officers and soldiers, would continue to follow our army. It''s really beyond my expectation. So I interrupted akhromeyev and asked anxiously, "besides gramus, who are the defectors?"


    Akhromeyev thought about it, and then he counted the number with his fingers. "There''s captain gramus, his adjutant lieutenant gretka, Captain Beckman, his adjutant Lieutenant Braun, Captain Peller, Captain Danglars, corporal Wingle and so on."


    I can''t help but be overjoyed to hear a series of names read out by akhromeyev. You know, these are German officers and men who voluntarily surrendered to our army during the battle of Stalingrad. Unexpectedly, they didn''t waver when our army was in the most difficult time. Instead, they continued to follow kirilov and akhromeyev. After a long journey, they came to our defense area.


    Only akhromeyev said, "Comrade commander, as you know, they were originally German soldiers. Once they put on military uniforms, they are no different from real German soldiers. It is because of their help that we can successfully pass through one defense line after another of the German army and successfully return to the defense area of the army.


    We were lucky. After finishing the task of crossing the line of fire, we met a reconnaissance team. After secretly observing us for a long time, they felt that we were our own people, so they came to contact us and led us here.


    Comrade commander, do you know? When I and my comrades in the military commissar heard that you were the commander of this group army, how happy were you? " In the face of me smiling at him, he continued: "I believe that as long as you are in command of this force, we will be able to achieve the final victory." As for akhromeyev''s praise, I didn''t get carried away. I just gave a polite smile. At the same time, I was wondering whether I should report their arrival to vatukin to see what kind of decision he would make. While I was still thinking about it, Danilov next to me suddenly said, "Comrade commander, there is something I haven''t had time to tell you." I didn''t know what Danilov was going to say, so I turned to him and said politely, "Comrade deputy commander, if you have anything to do, please speak up."¡° Well, comrade commander. " Although Danilov''s seniority is deeper than mine, he still spoke to me politely: "before you come back, I have already called to report the news of kirilov''s return to Comrade watujing."¡° What did the comrade commander of the front army say when he knew about it? " I heard Danilov say this and asked nervously, "did he say how to arrange kirilov for them?" Danilov may have guessed that I would have this question for a long time. After nodding his head in affirmation, he said the answer directly: "after receiving my phone call, commander vatujing reported this matter to Marshal Zhukov and Comrade vasilevsky respectively. After obtaining their permission, he officially announced that Comrade kirilov was temporarily acting as a member of the Military Commission of the group army, The rank remained unchanged. As for the appointment of other returned personnel, you are in full charge. "¡° That''s great. That''s great. " When I heard the good news, I took Danilov''s hand excitedly, shook it vigorously, and said gratefully, "thank you, thank you, comrade deputy commander. In this way, I can partner with my old comrades in arms again. "

 Chapter 1102

    When I heard that I could arrange suitable posts for the commanders and fighters who broke out according to my wish, I couldn''t help but feel ecstatic. I clearly know that those who can escape from the enemy''s heavy encirclement have no problem in loyalty, and they have accumulated rich combat experience through cruel fighting. No matter they are commanders or ordinary soldiers in the future, they can become the backbone of the army.


    Thinking of this, I turned to kirilov and asked, "Comrade military commissar, do you know where the other comrades are?"


    "In a military camp nearby." When kirilov answered me, he took a special look at bzikov, who had never said a word since I came in, and said gratefully, "it was the chief of staff who personally arranged for us."


    I took a look at bzikov by accident and said that he was very reliable in his work. Before I gave orders, he thought of going ahead of me. So I said to him with a smile, "chief of staff, you have done a good job. Thank you."


    Bizikov laughed and said, "Comrade commander, this is what I should do. Besides, kirilov had said hello to me many times before when he was on the Central Committee. He is also an old friend of mine. "


    Although Danilov recognized the meaning of my refusal, he was not easy to retort when he heard what I said so grandiose. He could only brazenly promise: "well, since that''s the case, I''ll stay in the headquarters."


    It''s only ten minutes from the position of the headquarters to the barracks, so I didn''t take a bus, but walked there. On the way, I asked akhromeyev who was walking beside me: "major, the commander who broke out with you, and who else, when they were in four neat rows, the duty officer turned and ran back. After standing at attention and saluting in front of me, he loudly reported: "Comrade commander, the troops have assembled. Please give us your instructions!"


    I nodded and laughed at the officer on duty, then raised my legs and walked towards the officers and men who had finished the formation. I came to this group and spent more than a month in the enemy''s rear. I finally came back to our defense area. After stopping, I raised my hand to salute them. At the same time, I sincerely said: "Hello, comrades!"


    "Hello, comrade commander!" Since I was the commander of the Dnieper campaign cluster when I left Kiev, these commanders used to call me commander.


    "Comrades, on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the 6th group army, welcome back." With these words, I stepped forward and shook hands with the commanders and fighters in the queue.


    After a long journey, the commanders and fighters were exhausted, but they still tried to stand upright in the queue. When I shook hands with them, although most of the faces I saw were strange, I saw many people I knew: Lieutenant travkin, deputy battalion commander of reconnaissance battalion; The members of the guerrillas are the survivors of the 22nd tank brigade of the former Russian special military region, Capt. shamrih, political instructor saberwalenko, and lieutenant yakuda, deputy commander of the tank company.


    When I shook hands with all the people one by one and returned to the queue, I asked akhromeyev, "Comrade major, are all the people here?"


    Akhromeyev looked into the queue, then turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, 139 of us have successfully broken through the encirclement. There are only 125 here, including me and the military Commissar. As for the remaining 14 people, they were arranged by Colonel bezikov to stay in other places, together with a commander, Lieutenant Colonel shejerikov, and the commander of the guard battalion, major basmanov. "


    I''m even more overjoyed to hear that xiejerikov has also successfully broken through the encirclement. You know, among the heads of the independent division, he is my favorite. Anyway, all divisions in the group army are short of commanders now. I can arrange for him to take the post of commander in one of the units.


    After calling the four men from the line, I ordered the rest of the officers and men to go back to their dormitories and have a rest.


    As soon as I got back to the headquarters, I asked bzikov to call berey and ask him to come immediately, saying that I would arrange some assistants for him. On the way back, bezikov had heard of the origin of several people in shamrih, so when he heard my order, he immediately made an unambiguous phone call.


    While bizikov was on the phone, I announced to you in front of Danilov: "comrades, I have known you for quite a long time, and I know more or less about you, so I intend to assign work to you according to your abilities. Do you have any objection? "


    I know that my last sentence is a bit superfluous. In such a high-level Soviet army, if the superior said something, the subordinate only obeyed it. How could they bargain. The reason why I say this is to attract their attention.


    "No Several people standing in front of us answered in unison.


    "Well, since there is no objection, I will start to distribute the work." After that, I began to call the roll: "major akhromeyev."


    "Here it is Akhromeyev agreed loudly and took a step forward.


    "At present, there is a great lack of commanders at all levels in the group army. In order to command the operations, I appoint you as the chief of operations of the group army to assist the chief of staff, Colonel bezikov." The appointment of akhromeyev as the chief of operations will be very helpful for me to command our troops in the future. Then, Captain travkin was appointed by me as the commander of the reconnaissance battalion of the group army. The order I gave him was very simple, that is, to carry out reconnaissance activities against the German army as soon as I got familiar with the troops. After I gave the appointment of akhromeyev and travkin, I stopped and did not continue to arrange the posts of shamrih and others. After they looked at each other strangely, they all turned their eyes on me. As I planned to send the three men to the 33rd tank army, I did not announce their appointment to them until the arrival of Colonel berey. Pretending not to see the three men''s eyes, I turned to kirilov and asked, "Comrade military commissar, I don''t know who other leaders of the independent division, apart from xiejerikov, are standing out with you?" Kirilov thought for a moment, raised his head and asked akhromeyev, who was standing beside him, "major, in addition to middle school xiejerikov, do you see other commanders break through?" Akhromeyev shook his head and replied, "Comrade military commissar, have you forgotten. At that time, we, together with the 1st regiment, 4th regiment and one of general wachuk''s troops, held fast to the east of Kiev. When the German army occupied the bridge over the Dnieper, we were cut off from the main force. When breaking through the encirclement, lieutenant commander Gaidar took the initiative to lead his four regiments to stay behind and block the pursuit of the back door for us. "¡° What about the second and third regiments? " As soon as akhromeyev finished speaking, I could not wait to ask, "there are at least five or six thousand of them in the two regiments. They will not be destroyed so easily by the German army. How many of them will rush out?" When I asked this, I felt a little lucky. But akhromeyev''s reply disillusioned me: "Comrade commander, I understand what you mean. Although there are many troops in the second and third regiments, it''s a pity that most of their officers and men are replenished by our army when they are wandering behind the enemy''s lines, and their combat effectiveness is limited. In the face of the fierce German attack, their defense area was first occupied by the German army. " Although akhromeyev''s words are not pleasant to hear, I know what he said is true. At that time, I led the 79th infantry army around behind the enemy. In order to make up for the war losses, I added a large number of soldiers in several large cities. These cities fell down one after another soon after the war, so the rest of the new recruits, except for a few who had experience as militia, had no military attempts. It was OK to fight with the wind. If they wanted to fight brutal positional warfare, they would be a little weak. With a sigh of regret, I turned my eyes again to the neglected shamrih and others. I looked at them and said, "you used to be tank soldiers. Although you have been guerrillas for several years, I think if you have the chance, you may still want to go back to your old business and continue to be tank soldiers." After hearing what I said, shamrih and others looked at each other for a few minutes, and their faces were full of joy. Shamrih stepped forward and said to me in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, you are absolutely right. We all dream of going back to the tank troops. As long as you can let us be tank soldiers again, even as ordinary soldiers, we are willing to¡° Yes, comrade commander. " After hearing shamrih''s statement, sabervalenko and yakuda echoed: "we are willing to start with soldiers." I was very satisfied with the attitude of the three of them. I replied with a smile, "three commanders, if you just want to be soldiers in the tank army, I won''t agree." At this point, I deliberately stopped until I saw that the expression on the three faces was dim. Then I said, "with your ability and rich combat experience, even if you want to be a tank battalion commander, it''s not a problem. Why do you have to start from a soldier?" They all laughed in shame when I said that. After laughing, shamrih scratched the back of his head and said to me, "Comrade commander, you may not know our feelings for the tank troops. Although we have been working as guerrillas for one or two years, there is not a day when we do not want to go back to the tank troops. You say, "is that so?" His last words were aimed at them¡° Yes, the company commander is right When they heard this question, they immediately called it out without hesitation¡° Since all three of you are willing to go back to the tanks. " As I said this, I stood up and announced to them, "it''s just that Colonel berey''s newly formed 33rd tank army is short of commanders. You can go to his army."¡° "Captain berey?" When he heard me say the name, shamrih frowned and thought for a moment, then exclaimed with a sudden surprise: "I didn''t expect that we could be his subordinates again. That''s great. "

 Chapter 1103

    Before Colonel berey arrived, Xie jerikov and others who learned that I had returned to the headquarters had rushed over.


    Shejerikov didn''t come alone. He was followed by two commanders. My eyes were sharp. As soon as the three entered the door, I recognized the major on his right hand. It was major basmanov, my former deputy battalion commander of the guard camp; And the man on the left, who looked very nice, I thought a little, and then remembered that this was captain Rosenberg.


    The three men came up to me, stopped, raised their hands and saluted. First of all, Sergeant shijerikov reported to me: "Comrade commander, Sergeant shijerikov, the former commander of the 22nd division of the guards, reported to you that we have successfully highlighted the encirclement of the German army. We have come to report to you and are waiting for your orders. Please give us instructions!"


    When I saw the old subordinate appear in front of me again, I couldn''t control my emotions. I stepped forward, grabbed his arms, shook them hard, and choked back the tears that were about to burst out of my eyes. I said: "Lieutenant Colonel xiejerikov, on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the sixth regiment of the guards, welcome to you." After that, I blinked a few times, and then said, "it doesn''t matter if the troops are finished. As long as you are still the commander, then we can rebuild the 22nd division of the guards and let you be the commander again."


    Originally thought that he would be blamed, after listening to my words, the guilty expression on his face disappeared. Instead, he was surprised and asked, "Comrade commander, can I really rebuild my regiment?"


    "Yes, yes, comrade commander." The independent division is my old army. How can I watch it disappear? As long as it is possible, I will rebuild it as soon as possible. Therefore, I made a special wish to shejerikov: "put it down. It will only take a week at most, and your regiment will be rebuilt again."


    After I finished, Xie jielikov asked cautiously: "Comrade commander, if we want to rebuild a regiment, don''t we know there are enough commanders and soldiers now?"


    Although it was my temporary intention to rebuild a regiment, there was no problem with the soldiers. Just reorganize the nearby militia into a regular army. Anyway, more than 100 people who broke through the encirclement this time can be used as the backbone of the fighting to enrich the army. I believe that this rebuilt army will soon become effective.


    After careful consideration, I said to shijerikov, "Comrade commander, I can incorporate the militia of the nearby towns into your new army. And the more than 100 people who broke through the encirclement together with you have been recruited into the army as the backbone of the fighting, so that they can serve as grassroots commanders. In this way, the army can form combat effectiveness in a very short period of time. "


    When I said that, I took a look at major basmanov next to him and said apologetically, "Comrade major, originally I wanted you to go to the military and police regiment of the group, but now the new regiment of commander xiejerikov needs you more. You should go to his regiment first to be the chief of staff of the regiment. You don''t have a problem, do you? "


    When busmanov heard me call his name, he quickly stepped forward two steps and stood side by side with shejerikov. After looking at each other, he turned to look at me and replied, "Comrade commander, I will obey your orders."


    Seeing that neither sjerykov nor basmanov had any objection, I turned my eyes to captain Rosenberg again. I only took one look, then I turned my eyes to sjerykov and said to him, "Comrade commander, you must have known captain Rosenberg behind you, don''t you?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." When shejerikov heard my question, he immediately replied positively, "in the battle of seizing the bridge over the Dnieper River, comrade captain made great achievements. If it wasn''t for him to take advantage of the night and risk to cross the river, we would have a front and back attack. Perhaps our army will make greater sacrifice in the battle of seizing the bridge. "


    "Comrade commander, since you know captain Rosenberg, it''s easy to do." When I saw that xiejerikov knew the details of Rosenberg, I was relieved, so that I could arrange his post: "let him be a battalion commander in your regiment. I don''t know what you think?"


    Xiejerikov listened to my question, looked back at Rosenberg behind him, nodded his head and agreed: "Comrade commander, I also think that with the ability of Captain Rosenberg, we can hold a higher position."


    "Since you don''t have any opinions, let''s make a decision." After I finished this sentence, I suddenly remembered that I had never seen gramus before, so I couldn''t help asking, "by the way, when I just went to the barracks, I heard that you and gramus, the defecting German soldiers, had gone to other places."


    "Yes," shejerikov did not deny my question and explained to me, "after the military commissar and chief of staff came to you, a group of officers and men from the Ministry of interior said they would examine captain gramus and his defectors. I was afraid that something might happen to them, so I went with busmanov and Rosenberg. Before leaving, I sent someone to inform the military commissar, but in order to prevent him from worrying, I didn''t ask anyone to explain where we went. "


    On hearing that, I immediately criticized him: "Comrade commander, do you know? It''s totally wrong of you to do so. Why don''t you talk to the military commissar about such a big thing. If anything happens to you, we just can''t help you. " Although there is a large number of interior troops stationed in the military area, I am not afraid of them at the moment, because I still have the warrant given to me by belia, and I can mobilize the local interior troops at any time as needed.


    Xiejerikov immediately blushed, bowed his head and apologized to me in a low voice: "sorry, comrade commander, I was wrong. The reason why I don''t explain to the military commissar where we have gone is because I''m afraid that he will be worried and that if anything happens, it will affect you. "¡° Come on, stop it. " I impatiently interrupted his explanation, then said to him with a straight face: "Comrade commander, please remember that I am now the commander of the group army, and I have more power than when I was a division commander or a military commander before. No matter what happens to my men, as long as they don''t mutiny and flee, I can save you from the house forces. Do you see what I mean? "¡° I see He replied with some embarrassment¡° "Colonel bezikov," I saw that shejerikov took the initiative to admit his mistake to me, and did not continue to blame him. Instead, I turned around and called bezikov over, and told him, "the reconstruction of the regiment is up to you and lieutenant colonel shejerikov. Remember, troops must be rebuilt in a week and put into training immediately. Do you understand? "¡° I see Bezikov readily agreed, and then asked, "what about the weaponry?" Since the equipment of the two divisions of the first line of defense was changed some time ago, there is no shortage of equipment in the reconstruction regiment. I said to bzikov succinctly, "the 51st and 52nd divisions of the guards have just replaced a batch of equipment, so they gave it to Lt. Col. xijerikov."¡° OK, I''ll arrange it now. " With that, he left the headquarters with the three of them. Not long after they had left, Colonel berey came to the headquarters in a hurry. As soon as he entered the door, he saw captain shamrih standing beside them. They immediately met each other in surprise and took the initiative to greet each other, saying, "my God, I didn''t expect you to break out of Kiev."¡° Comrade brigade commander, I didn''t expect to see you here. " When they saw the deputy commander of the 22nd brigade of their former tank brigade, they were very excited. They crowded to the side of Colonel bere and began to talk with him. After they had exchanged greetings, I called berey in front of me and discussed with him, "Comrade Colonel, do you think we should set up another tank brigade or allocate them directly to the two existing tank brigades?"¡° Comrade commander, "after listening to what I said, don''t think about it for a moment. Then he replied," at present, our tank army has limited tanks and soldiers. If we want to build another brigade, I don''t think it''s realistic. " At this point, he saw my face showing an expression of displeasure, and quickly added: "of course, Captain shamrih, I know the abilities of several of them. They are all qualified tank commanders. If they are allowed to serve as infantry again, they will be a bit inferior. How about this? I''ll put them in my army headquarters first to adapt. If there are suitable posts, I''ll send them to the army immediately. Comrade commander, do you think so? " Since Colonel bierre has said this, I can''t refute it any more. I have to follow his meaning and say, "Comrade Colonel, you have considered it very carefully. Let them work in your military headquarters for a period of time, and then send them to the grass-roots units after they have adapted to the environment." Because I know the cruelty of the battle in Kursk, I don''t worry that Brey will break his promise at all. When the commanders at all levels of the tank army suffer heavy casualties, excellent tank commanders like Sharm RIH will become hot spots. Seeing that the work of shamrih and others had been arranged, I waved to bierre and said, "well, comrade Colonel, you can leave. We should pay close attention to the training of tank troops. The Germans may attack us in the near future. If our tank forces are too weak, they will not be able to resist the attack of German armored forces. Do you understand? "¡° I understand After answering, berey saluted me and left the headquarters with three new subordinates.

 Chapter 1104

    It took him less than a day to become familiar with the reconnaissance battalion he commanded. At noon the next day, I came to my headquarters and asked for a mission. Maybe he was afraid that I would not agree with him, so he specially stressed: "Comrade commander, I have talked with all the platoon leaders in the reconnaissance battalion. Everyone thinks that under the current situation of our battalion, we can immediately carry out the reconnaissance work against the frontal German army. Please approve! "


    My heart has been quietly calculating the time of the outbreak of the Kursk battle. Seeing the start date of the departure battle, there are only ten days left. If we don''t send people to carry out reconnaissance and get to know the dynamics of the German army in time, we may suffer a big loss at the beginning of the battle.


    However, instead of making my own decision, I asked Danilov, "Comrade deputy commander, what''s your opinion? Do you agree with the captain that they go out for reconnaissance?"


    "I don''t mind," Danilov replied very simply. "We should have sent someone to the German Garrison for reconnaissance. It''s very difficult to understand the real deployment of the German army simply by relying on the intelligence reported by the troops below. Therefore, I think we should send the reconnaissance battalion of the group army to conduct a detailed reconnaissance of the defense depth of the German army. "


    Seeing that Danilov thought the same as I did, I did not hesitate any more. After I asked trafkin that he wanted to lead a team of scouts himself this time, I picked up the pencil on my desk and wrote in my notebook:


    "Hereby order:


    Captain travkin of the reconnaissance battalion of the group army immediately dispatched capable personnel to form a reconnaissance team and went deep into the German controlled bergorod Kharkov to investigate the German deployment and activity rules. The time limit is eight days without delay.


    Group Commander: o''shanina


    Military commissar and political commissar:


    Deputy Commander:


    Chief of staff:


    Date of issue: 25 June 1943. "


    After writing and signing, I pushed the order to several of them, Danilov. After reading the order in turn, the three signed their names one after another.


    After they had signed, I took up the order and handed it to travkin, who had been waiting nearby. I told him, "Captain, it''s very important to go to the enemy''s rear for reconnaissance this time. You must feed back the information in time, so that the head of the group army can adjust the deployment of troops according to the changes of the enemy''s situation."


    "Yes "Please rest assured, comrade commander, that we will complete the task," he replied loudly


    Seeing that he turned to leave, I stopped him at the back and told him, "you will be in great danger if you go deep behind enemy lines. You must remember to minimize the loss of small teams. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander."


    Looking at the figure of travkin leaving, kirilov, who knew him well, suddenly asked, "Rita, why should captain travkin go in person for this reconnaissance? You know, he is now the commander of the reconnaissance battalion. He has so many company commanders and platoons under his command. Whoever he sends will be able to successfully complete this task. "


    "Comrades of the military commissar," I explained to kirilov about his doubts, "the reason why I let travkin go out in person is that this reconnaissance mission is so important. Although there are a lot of company commanders and platoons in the reconnaissance battalion, it''s a pity that I didn''t know enough about them and sent them out rashly because I came to the group army too soon. "


    My words aroused Danilov''s vigilance. He asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, a few days ago, the headquarters of the front army issued an order to strengthen our combat readiness and prevent possible German attacks. As a result, the days predicted by the superior have passed for several days. Do you think the German army will still launch an attack? "


    "Yes, certainly." It''s only a few days since the outbreak of the Kursk battle. I don''t want my deputy to take the war preparations lightly, so he said solemnly: "judging from the current signs, the German army may launch an attack on our defense area in early July."


    "Early July?" After listening to my analysis, Danilov had an incredulous expression on his face: "it''s the end of June now, but in the front of our defense, there is no sign of large-scale German mobilization. We should know that if we want to launch an attack on our group army''s defense area, the German army must prepare at least 300000 people. It is impossible to complete the mobilization of so many soldiers and weapons and equipment without more than a month''s time. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, never underestimate the enemy." Kirilov interjected: "you know, on the eve of the outbreak of the patriotic war, we didn''t notice that the German army entered the attack position, and even some early warning information was ignored by us. As a result, we were caught off guard when the war broke out. The more quiet the enemy in front of us is, the less we can take it lightly. Otherwise, once they attack, we will suffer greatly. "


    "Comrade military commissar is right." As soon as kirilov finished speaking, I immediately expressed support for him and explained to Danilov: "Manstein is not a simple figure. A few months ago, he once defeated two front armies several times more than him. Now his troops are deployed in the front of our defense. We can''t be vigilant."


    "But how can you be sure that the German army will attack in the first ten days of July?" Although kirilov and I have said a lot, Danilov still looks incredulous. "There is no intelligence to support this statement at present." Seeing that he was so stubborn, I said with a bitter smile: "Comrade deputy commander, if I said it was just my intuition that the German army would launch an attack on our defense area in early July, would you believe it?" Almost as Danilov shook his head, kirilov nodded hard and said aloud, "I believe in the judgment of Comrade commander. Based on my previous experience as a partner with her, I believe her prediction will soon come true. " Before we could completely convince Danilov, the new commander, shijerikov, walked into the headquarters. As soon as he saw his face, kirilov asked him with a smile, "how are you, comrade commander? Has your army been formed?" Xiejerikov waved his hand and said with a bitter smile, "Comrade military commissar, how can it be so fast. Now we have just put together the framework of the battalions and appointed some commanders. As for the soldiers, it may be two days before they are in place one after another. " When I heard that, I first thought that he would come to me at this time. I don''t want any commander to enrich his troops, do I? So when he finished, I frowned and asked, "Lieutenant sergeant shijerikov, what''s the matter with you coming to the headquarters today?"¡° Well, comrade commander. " Shejerikov didn''t notice my dissatisfaction, but said truthfully, "I want to ask a regiment what is the first task to perform after the reconstruction?" I didn''t expect that he didn''t come to me to ask for a commander, but to ask for a task, which made my dissatisfaction with him disappear. I asked with a smile, "do you have any good ideas?" Shejerikov went to the table, pointed to the map on the table and asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, will you allow me to explain it to you on the map?" With my permission, he drew a straight line from Kursk to Yakovlev by hand, and then said, "Comrade commander, please see, the total length of the traffic line from Kursk to Yakovlev, where our first line of defense is, is 120 km or a little longer. The supply of the whole group army depends on this traffic line. Am I right? "¡° Yes, this road is our only transportation line. " Sergeant, can you tell me what your plans are¡° We should strengthen the security of this road. " When shejerikov said this, he pointed to one of the points and said: "at that time, we entered from here. Our troops walked on the road for nearly an hour, and they didn''t see any checkpoints or fortifications. If it''s not us who enter this area, but the Germans, what kind of consequences will it bring? I won''t say, you can imagine The words of Xie jerikov surprised me in a cold sweat. I always thought that this road had special army defense, but it just became a place that we ignored. If it was not for the warning of shijerikov, once the battle of Kursk broke out, as long as the German army sent out an armored force to cut off our transport line, the first and second lines of defense would be in danger because of the shortage of ammunition and supplies. However, since shejerikov found this defensive loophole in our army, he must have a good countermeasure, so I secretly wiped a cold sweat on my forehead and asked, "commander shejerikov, what''s your plan?"¡° I think so, comrade commander. " Shejerikov had obviously done his homework before he came here, so he answered my question without hesitation: "I intend to deploy two battalions between the first and second lines of defense, because once the battle breaks out, it will become the focus of the German attack. The remaining battalion and regiment units were placed behind the second line of defense and used as reserves. Once the German forces break through our first line of defense, the two battalions in front will withdraw to the back of the second line of defense, join the regiment and continue to protect the traffic line between Kursk and the second line of defense. " I was very satisfied with this arrangement. After nodding in agreement, I took the initiative to say to him, "in order to enhance the combat effectiveness of your regiment, I will ask the chief of staff to provide you with 20 mortars and five armored vehicles. In a word, even at the expense of one''s own life, the safety of the group''s military transportation lines must be guaranteed. Do you understand? "¡° I see, "he replied loudly, repeating what I just said:" even at the cost of his own life, we must resolutely ensure the safety of the group''s military transportation lines. "

 Chapter 1105

    The reconnaissance team led by travkin gets information back every day. According to their information, the German army is assembling a large number of troops in the area of Belgorod Kharkov, among which the 19th tank division and the 332nd infantry division, which have just been stationed in Belgorod, are conducting battle mobilization.


    The information that the German troops were engaged in combat mobilization was received around 10 pm on June 30. After reading the information, I ordered rasmishin, director of intelligence, to report the information to the headquarters of the front army by telegram.


    I don''t know why. After the intelligence was reported to the headquarters of the front army, it was like a bullock entering the sea, and there was no more movement. When I saw Danilov and kirilov yawning in the middle of the night, I took the initiative to say, "deputy commander, military commissar and artillery commander, you are all tired. Go and have a rest first."


    When the sleepy Danilov heard me say this, he quickly waved his hand: "Comrade commander, let''s have a rest after the reply from the headquarters of the front army comes back."


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I saw that it was one o''clock in the morning on July 1. Since I didn''t receive a reply from my superior at this time, there would be no reply to us before dawn. So I solemnly said to them again: "deputy commander, military commissar, you two go to have a rest first. I''ll stay on duty here. As soon as the superior''s reply comes, I''ll send someone to inform you immediately. "


    Kirilov and Danilov, who understood my character and didn''t insist on what I said, stood up and nodded. They pulled Danilov, who wanted to say something more, and left the headquarters. Bowski saluted me and walked out after them.


    Bizikov watched kirilov and Danilov leave, and said to me with concern: "Rita, I don''t think the superior will give us any reply before dawn. You''d better take a rest and I''ll stay."


    "No, no," I waved my hand and refused his kindness. Ever since I received the intelligence from travkin, I was not at ease, because it was less than 100 hours before the outbreak of the Kursk battle. In order not to be caught off guard by the German army, I immediately reported it to the headquarters of the front army, I just hope that they can work out contingency measures according to the intelligence of the German army. Unexpectedly, a few hours later, vatukin didn''t give me a reply. Even if I was asked to go to sleep, I couldn''t sleep at all¡° I''ll stay here and wait for the news. If I''m tired, I''ll sleep on the table for a while. "


    I sat at my desk, looking at the map spread out in front of me, and carefully considered the possible defense loopholes in my defense area. After watching for a long time, we found that the place where the mine should be buried was mined; The key defense areas rely on the hillside to build a perfect defense system, including tunnels; In the plain between the first and second lines of defense, which is convenient for German tank troops to attack, in addition to minefields and anti tank fire points, a large number of "oshanina trenches" named after me have been excavated.


    Although there are many fortifications in the defense area, and important defense areas are heavily guarded, I still have no confidence in the face of the German thunderbolt. For a moment, I was even thinking about how to concentrate all my forces and stay in the third line of defense when the first and second lines of defense were lost.


    I stare at the map until six o''clock in the morning, sleepy also unconsciously up, is lying on the table ready to sleep for a while. At this moment, the telephone on the desk rang suddenly. In my heart, I was excited: "is it watujing who called?"


    As soon as I raised my head, bzikov rushed to the table and grabbed the phone. After listening for a while, he put down the phone and reported to me, "Rita, the commander of the 89th division of Jinwei reported that Marshal Zhukov''s motorcade is coming towards our headquarters. It will be here in about ten minutes."


    I nodded, turned around and said to akhromeyev in the room, "major, immediately inform the deputy commander, the military commissar and the artillery commander to meet the marshal with me. In addition, call each division commander again, and order them to rush to the headquarters immediately, waiting for Marshal Zhukov''s interview. "


    While akhromeyev was on the phone, I simply cleaned up the table, put all kinds of information on the table aside, straightened my military cap, then waved my head at bezikov and said, "come on, chief of staff, come with me to meet marshal."


    Walking out of the building where the headquarters is located, the head of security Yushchenko and the deputy head of security bukov have been waiting there for a long time. Seeing me and bezikov coming out, Yushchenko ran up to me and asked me whether to pick them up by car or on foot.


    I waved my hand and said, "the streets in the city are narrow. It''s not easy for cars to turn. You''d better walk. But since you are in the city, you don''t need to go to so many people. You two take a class with me


    Danilov, kirilov, and povsky had rushed out of the building before the guard''s line-up was over. Danilov came to my side, wearing a belt around his waist, and said nervously: "how come Marshal Zhukov came here just as he said, and didn''t say hello to us in advance, so that we didn''t prepare at all."


    Seeing that all the people who should have come have come, I don''t talk nonsense. I left the headquarters with you and walked out of the city with neat steps along the street. Several patrols along the way saw us coming and let us to the side of the road one after another, and raised their hands to salute us.


    We came to the entrance to the north of the city. After a while, we saw a convoy of two jeeps and three armored vehicles coming towards us. I rushed to the commanders and fighters behind me and said in a loud voice: "attention, Marshal''s motorcade is coming. Line up immediately."


    After that, I stood on the side of the road. Then Danilov, kirilov, povsky, bezikov and others stood on my left side. Yushchenko, bukov and the soldiers of the guard class stood behind us.


    When the first Jeep passed us, it just slowed down but didn''t stop. Just as I was guessing if Zhukov was on the armored car in the back, the second Jeep stopped in front of me. A lieutenant commander in the co driver''s seat circled from the front of the car to the rear door on the left side, opened the door and stood upright.


    Seeing Zhukov getting out of the car, I immediately met him, raised my hand and said politely, "Hello, marshal, welcome to the sixth group army of Jinwei to inspect the work. Commander o''shanina is at your command, please give me directions


    There was a smile on Zhukov''s face. He took my hand and said with a smile, "Rita, we meet again!" Then he shook hands with Danilov, kirilov, povsky and bezikov. Finally, he waved his big hand and said, "OK, let''s go to your headquarters."


    We walked back to the headquarters and came to my headquarters. Zhukov looked around after entering the door. The commander who followed him in immediately nodded and said something in bzikov''s ear.


    After listening, bzikov immediately waved to akhromeyev, rasmishin and others who were still in the room and left the room with them. When Zhukov saw that there were only me, Danilov, kirilov and povsky left in the room, he spoke slowly and said, "Rita, last night I received a call from general vatukin saying that your scouts found that the German army was gathering in Belgorod and there were signs of attacking our army. When I got the news, I came all night to find out what was going on


    When Zhukov said this, I understood why he appeared in my defense area early in the morning. It turned out that after getting the information I reported, he was not sure. Instead, he specifically came to verify the situation. I hastened to reply, "marshal, judging from the situation we have at present, it is possible that the German army has assembled a large number of troops and is ready to launch an attack on the defense area of our group army." With that, I stepped forward two steps, picked up the stack of information on the table, took out a few pieces that I thought were important, and handed them to him.


    Zhukov took the information I handed him and looked down carefully. After a while, he looked up and asked me, "Rita, in your judgment, when and in what direction will the German army attack us?"


    Although I have a better understanding of this period of history, I can''t give the answer directly. I can only put forward a tone of analysis based on intelligence and say: "marshal, I think the German army will adopt a north-south pincer attack to attack us in order to encircle and annihilate our troops in the Kursk salient. As for the attack time, I think it may be between July 2 and 8. "


    After listening to my analysis, Zhukov put the information in his hand on the table, stood up and walked back and forth in the room. I stood in the same place and didn''t move, but my eyes moved with his movement. I knew that he was thinking about everything I said, so I closed my mouth wisely, so as not to affect his thinking.


    After walking around the house for more than ten times, he suddenly stopped, turned around and quickly came to me. Looking at me, he asked in a puzzled way, "Rita, according to the information we collected recently, the German attack on Kursk may indeed have started from July 2 to 8. But how do you know the date of the German attack


    "Comrade marshal, please allow me to answer this question to you." Danilov, who was standing nearby, also stepped forward two steps, came to my side and stood side by side with me, and said respectfully to Zhukov. Seeing that the other side nodded his permission, he continued, "after receiving information from the reconnaissance unit every day, comrade commander will make repeated deduction on the map to speculate on the possible attack route and the force used by the German army, etc. Therefore, I think it is entirely possible for her to analyze the approximate date of the German attack. "


    When Zhukov heard Danilov say this, he turned around with a frown, clenched one hand into a fist, pounded the palm of the other hand repeatedly, and seemed to be thinking again.


    After a while, Zhukov stopped his action and walked quickly to the table. He looked down at the map on it. After a while, he waved to us and said, "come here, all of you."


    When he saw that we were all around the table, he pointed to the map and said to us, "you know, our troops have not recovered from the defeat in the battle of Kharkov. If the German army really takes the initiative to attack us, it is exactly what we want. You see, after our efforts in recent months, the number of artillery regiments exceeded that of infantry for the first time, and the number of artillery regiments exceeded that of infantry by as much as one and a half times. The places where the most heavy artillery was deployed were the directions in which the German army was most likely to attack.


    Take the 13th group army of rokosovsky as an example. They are responsible for covering the most threatened section of the oreol Kursk railway line. There are about 140 artillery and mortars on each kilometer of the front, which is much more than the German artillery that can be concentrated for attack. At the same time, the central front army and Voronezh front army supplied more than 9000 guns and mortars, and a total of 92 artillery regiments were reinforced from the reserve forces of the supreme command. More than 6000 anti tank guns were deployed along more important directions, and nearly 400000 mines and explosive charges were laid. In order to strengthen the front-line leadership, the Supreme Commander himself issued an order yesterday that my headquarters be stationed in Kursk to coordinate the coordinated operations of the central front army, the Bryansk front army and the Western Front Army, while vasilevsky is responsible for guiding the Voronezh front army... "To me, many of what Zhukov said are top secret. I immediately understood why he had just asked his subordinates to drive out all the commanders who were not of enough rank from this room in order to prevent the possibility of leakage. When Zhukov finished all this, he raised his head and asked me, "Rita, now our army is ready for all the fighting. Only when the German army launches an attack, we can hit them head-on. Do you understand what I said? " Although I don''t know why Zhukov asked this question, I honestly replied, "I understand, comrade marshal."¡° The sixth group army of your close guard is the closest to the German line of defense in Voronezh''s army. Once it is attacked by the German army, "he said When Zhukov asked here, he stopped for a moment, then tentatively asked, "can your troops stop them?" Zhukov''s words reminded me of the deduction on the map a few hours ago. He shook his head and answered truthfully, "Comrade marshal, although I want to answer you firmly that we can block the German attack. However, according to the current situation of the enemy and ourselves, I can only answer you with regret: sorry, I can''t stop it. At least before our counter offensive begins, the first and second lines of defense may be broken through. "

 Chapter 1106

    When Zhukov heard my reply, his face showed an angry expression, and his eyes looked at me as if they were about to burst out. Just when I was frightened, he made an unexpected move. He grabbed the cup on the table and fell to the ground.


    The glass in the silver cup holder was smashed on the hard ground. While the trouser legs were soaked by tea, a few drops of tea with residual temperature splashed on my face, which made me instinctively step back.


    Zhukov angrily pointed to my nose and scolded, "o''shanina, I really misunderstood you. I give you the sixth group army of close guard with a total strength of nearly 80000 people, in the hope that you can turn your defensive zone into a gate that the German army can not cross, just like in Stalingrad. I didn''t expect you to tell me that you couldn''t hold the line. The battle has not started yet. You have even considered giving up the first and second lines of defense. In this case, how can we fight this battle? " He may be so angry that his address to me has changed from his usual "Rita" to a slightly unfamiliar "oshanina".


    At the moment, Zhukov, who is furious, is quite different from the calm and self-confident one in peacetime. Because I was so close, my eardrum was almost broken by his loud voice. Although he said a lot of ugly words, but out of respect for him, I did not care about what he said, just silently endure his thunder.


    After he lost his temper and calmed down again, I said to him calmly: "Comrade marshal, can you listen to my explanation?"


    He glared at me and said angrily, "just say what you have to say." Then he sat down at the table.


    Instead of explaining to him immediately, I went to the place where the teapot was placed by the wall, poured a new cup of tea and put it down in front of him. Povsky, who had been scared into silence, saw that the atmosphere in the room had eased, so he squatted down and began to clean up the mess underground.


    After taking a sip of the tea, Zhukov put the cup on the table and asked in a more relaxed tone, "tell me, what do you think?"


    "Comrade marshal," I said, staring at Zhukov, "although the strength of the sixth group army of the close guard sounds a lot, it seems to be a little weak because the front of the defense is too large and it is evenly distributed among the three lines of defense. Therefore, under such circumstances, we can only weaken certain sections and focus on defense. "


    "That''s right. In our defensive war, we often weaken one direction and strengthen the other." Zhukov agreed with me because he had done the same thing when he was commander of Leningrad''s front army. He then asked, "but what does it have to do with your intention to give up the first and second lines of defense?"


    "As I have strengthened my main forces to important areas, the defence in individual areas will be weak. In this way, once the German army launches an attack, there will be the possibility that our defense line will be broken through at many points. " I knew that if I didn''t tell Zhukov what I really thought, he would probably have done "killing my family with great righteousness" and sent me to the military court. Therefore, I said, "our goal is to consume the effective strength of the German army, so we don''t have to care about the gain and loss of one city and one place. So even if the German army broke through our first and second lines of defense, there was nothing to worry about. We can not only block them in front of the third line of defense, but also keep the key points of the first two lines of defense in our hands, so that the German army does not dare to use all its strength to attack Kursk. As long as their strength is almost consumed, we can launch a comprehensive counterattack. "


    "Don''t care about the gains and losses of one city and one place?" Zhukov repeated this sentence for several times, and finally asked, "this statement is incompatible with our army''s guiding ideology. I really don''t know how you came up with it. You know, we have always taught our commanders and fighters that even if their bones are exposed in the wilderness, they must be nailed to the position like nails, and they can''t step back. Now we should publicize to them that we should not care about the gains and losses of one city and one place. Will this cause confusion in the minds of the commanders and fighters? "


    "Marshal," I solemnly explained to him about this doubt, "for what you are worried about, I think we just need to send political workers to the army to do a good job in political propaganda."


    After hearing this, Zhukov did not answer me. Instead, he turned away from the topic and asked, "Why are you so optimistic about this tactic? Let''s hear your reasons."


    Seeing that Zhukov wanted to get to the bottom of the matter, I had to move out the famous viewpoint: "save people and lose land, and save people and land; Save the land and lose the people. Although from a tactical point of view, we will lose some positions, but we have preserved our living strength. Sooner or later, we will be able to take back the lost positions. "


    I can''t remember whether I had said the same thing to Zhukov or other people before, but when I said that, kirilov said, "yes, marshal, I think Rita is right. After the German army occupied our position, they would have to divide their troops to guard it. In this way, their strength for frontal attack will be weakened invisibly. "


    What kirilov and I said made Zhukov think deeply. After a long time, he asked slowly, "Rita, if you were the commander of Voronezh''s front army, what would you do under the present circumstances?"


    On hearing Zhukov''s question, I immediately understood that he wanted to investigate my ability to cope with emergencies, and quickly threw out his own well thought out answer: "marshal, since we know that the German army is ready to launch a strong offensive against our defense area, then all the troops of the front army should be ready to fight, except the artillery, The air force group army should also be ready to take off at any time.


    In order to command the battle better, commanders of all army groups, infantry units and divisions should be stationed at the front command post. At the same time, from now on, political workers from the political departments and political offices of the group armies, armies and divisions will immediately go to the grass-roots units to help commanders and party and League cadres at all levels carry out ideological and political work at the front line, and find each commander and fighter for pre war mobilization. In order to enhance the vigilance of the troops and encourage the commanders and fighters to fight for victory and pledge to fight with the enemy to the end, the commanders and political workers need to make inspiring mobilization speeches before the battle. "


    Zhukov listened to me as like as two peas, nodding his head in satisfaction, and said, "I can''t imagine your train of thought is exactly the same as wattojing. By the way, do you still insist on listening to the idea of Ren''s German army breaking through our defense line? "


    "Yes, comrade marshal." While answering his question, I emphasized my own defense ideas again, so as not to leave a thorn in his heart: "I just said that our first and second defense lines will be broken by the German army, which does not mean that we will not defend with all our strength. It means that we will not put in too many troops to defend in some irrelevant areas. Even if the position is lost, we will not organize our troops to carry out a counterattack with huge casualties. And those main defensive positions are our top priority. In addition to sending heavy troops to guard, we should also strengthen the firepower of the garrison. Even if the German troops break through our defense lines, they can also play a role in restraining the enemy''s rear. "


    Zhukov listened patiently to me expound his point of view, unexpectedly did not interrupt me, until I finally said: "my words are over." He said without hesitation: "since you have a thorough consideration, then I believe that in the next battle, your close guard Sixth Army will have a good performance."


    When kirilov saw that Zhukov''s attitude had become calm again, he lost no time to ask, "Comrade marshal, the teachers of our divisions are here. We are waiting outside now. Can you meet them?"


    When Zhukov heard kirilov''s suggestion, he could not help frowning. After thinking for a while, he nodded and said, "well, since Comrade kirilov has put forward this matter in person, I''ll see you. Anyway, many people are old comrades in arms. We can take this opportunity to talk about the past."


    Seeing that Zhukov agreed to his proposal, kirilov winked at povsky, who was standing beside him. The latter understood, walked quickly to the door and said to the outside, "come in, comrades, come in. Comrade marshal of the Soviet Union wants to meet you. "


    Hula came in more than a dozen people, making the room suddenly crowded. Several older teachers were obviously familiar with Zhukov. They called Zhukov''s real name and father''s name affectionately, saluted and shook hands, and asked each other about their recent situation. They seemed very close. I just heard Zhukov say that many of them were his old comrades in arms. I thought he was just talking casually. Seeing this, I realized that what he said was true.


    Because of the limited space in the room, the chief of staff, bezikov, arranged for people to move in several benches so that all division leaders could sit down and listen to Zhukov.


    After everyone was seated, Zhukov, who was sitting at the table, said with a smile, "Hello, commanders. Today, I''m here to check the army''s preparations for war and to see you by the way. " At this point, he suddenly increased his voice and asked, "are you all ready to fight?"


    After a moment''s pause, the teachers present answered in unison, "ready."


    Zhukov didn''t look happy when he heard everyone''s reply, but said with a straight face: "comrades commander, we may have a big battle soon, so you should go deep into the grass-roots company at ordinary times, understand the real situation of war preparation, see what problems still exist, and solve them immediately. Otherwise, it will be too late if we encounter a big battle or a vicious battle and our shortcomings are exposed again. "


    Danilov and Zhukov also added: "comrades, although most divisions of our group army are close guard divisions, their combat effectiveness is better than that of ordinary troops. But we should understand in our hearts that the reason why we are better than others is that there are a high proportion of veterans, a large number of combat backbones, good weapons and equipment, and rich combat experience in the Jinwei division. However, in order to make up for the war damage of the guard division in the early stage, we have also added a lot of new soldiers to you. For these new soldiers who have no experience, you should seize the time to train and improve their combat effectiveness as soon as possible. Don''t let them pee their pants when they hear the gunshot. Such a force is unreliable. "


    After Danilov''s words, there was a lot of laughter from the commanders on the scene. After laughter, the commander of the 52nd division of the guards, Col. nikolasov, stood up and said: "Comrade deputy commander, you are right. The position we lost some time ago was because there were too many new soldiers in the garrison. Hearing the gunshot, many people panic. They don''t know how to take advantage of the favorable terrain to resist. They either run around in the position or follow the frightened cowards to run back. "


    "Colonel Nekrasov," I said, interrupting him with a raised hand. "Have the recruits of your division gone through live fire?" Nikolasov didn''t know why I asked, but he replied honestly: "report to commander, most of the recruits of our division have never fired live ammunition. But I believe that they are in combat... "Can you expect the recruits who have not even experienced live firing to play an extraordinary combat effectiveness in combat?" When I saw that Nekrasov didn''t think much of it, I pointed out to him without hesitation: "what''s more, your division and the 51st guard division are holding fast to the first line of defense of our group army. If the fighting quality of the troops is not good enough, how long can you hold on when you are deep behind the enemy?" The reproached nikolasov blushed, and some unconvinced, explained: "even if the recruits are allowed to shoot live ammunition, they still can''t reach the standard of the old guards."¡° It doesn''t matter if we can''t reach the level of veteran soldiers for the time being, but the training of live firing must be carried out immediately. " "I''ll give you two days to make sure that every recruit has to carry out at least one round of live fire, so that they don''t panic when they hear the enemy''s guns," I said in an imperative tone¡° Two days is too short, isn''t it "I don''t think this kind of training can achieve the effect you want," said Col. Nekrasov At this time, I suddenly thought of the ghost instructor of Japan who helped me train new soldiers in liuban area, so I said with a straight face and solemnity: "extraordinary things, we have to adopt extraordinary training methods. Let your recruits squat in the trench, and then let people shoot into the trench, so that they can truly experience the feeling of bullets whizzing over their heads. In addition, let every recruit throw at least five grenades, so that they will not be afraid to hear the explosion After a long time, he murmured, "Comrade commander, is this suitable?"¡° Appropriate. In the current situation, it is absolutely appropriate. " After I said these words to nikolasov, I said to all the division commanders, "this training method should be popularized in the whole regiment immediately. However, you must remember to ensure safety, because the lives of every soldier are precious. The purpose of our training is to reduce the unnecessary casualties caused by their panic in battle. Do you understand? "¡° I see! " All the teachers roared in unison.

 Chapter 1107

    After everyone was quiet, Zhukov stood up and said to them, "comrades commander, I think this special training method of commander oshanina is very suitable under the current situation. Improving the combat effectiveness of all troops is the primary task at present. Otherwise, once we fight with the German army, we will suffer losses. You can''t take it lightly. "


    Hearing Zhukov''s words, all the teachers stood up in unison and answered, "yes!" If they were a little perfunctory when they answered me just now, their answers to the highly respected deputy commander and Soviet Marshal are from the bottom of their hearts.


    After the meeting, Zhukov ordered the division commanders to return to their troops for pre war preparation. He continued to stay in the headquarters to discuss some specific issues with me, Danilov, kirilov and povsky.


    The specific issues that Zhukov wants to discuss with us are actually the ones I just mentioned. When the German army launches a fierce attack on our defense zone, in order to reduce unnecessary sacrifice, it can give up some plans for unnecessary areas when necessary.


    Zhukov was quick to talk, and he didn''t beat around the bush with me. He said directly, "Rita, now the war is coming. I think your tactics of" regardless of the gains and losses of one city and one place "should only be tried out in your No.6 group army, and other groups should not be considered for the time being, so as not to cause confusion." After that, he suddenly changed the topic and asked uneasily, "how are you preparing for the war?"


    After thinking for a moment, I solemnly replied, "Comrade marshal, all divisions of our group army are in a state of combat readiness and can cope with the German attack at any time."


    Hearing me speak so confidently, Zhukov''s face showed distrust, he snorted, and then asked: "last time the loss of position 4, it really won''t happen again?"


    "Marshal, please rest assured that the last incident will never happen again." When Zhukov mentioned the incident that brought shame to the whole army, Danilov blushed. He stood up from his seat and explained to Zhukov in a loud voice: "since the recovery of position 4, comrade commander and I have visited the area many times and urged the commander to lay minefields in front of the position and draw barbed wire. In this way, it is impossible for the Germans to secretly touch our positions as they did last time. "


    After listening to Danilov''s words, Zhukov stared at him for a long time and then looked at me. Then he said without hesitation: "since you are so confident, I will trust you for the time being. I hope that when you really fight, this No. 4 position will not become the first position lost in your first line of defense."


    In order to reassure Zhukov, I quickly got up from my seat and assured him, "marshal, please rest assured that we will firmly hold position 4 at all costs. Even if only one soldier is still alive, he will never give up his position. "


    After hearing this, Zhukov snorted, and then said, "don''t you say you don''t care about the gains and losses of a city and a place? Now, how can it become to defend position 4 at all costs, which is in contradiction with what you just said? "


    When I heard Zhukov''s rebuke, I didn''t immediately defend myself. Instead, I pushed the map in front of him, pointed to the defensive position of our army and said to him, "Comrade marshal, we have six main defensive positions in the first line of defense, and position 4 is one of them. In front of these positions, we laid minefields and drew barbed wire; There is a perfect defense system based on the construction of tunnels in the position, and there are heavy troops for defense. Even if the first line of defense is broken through by the German army, as long as we stick to these six firepower support points, then when our army carries out counterattack, we can cut off the retreat of the German army. "


    After staring at the map for half a day, Zhukov stood up and said to us, "well, since you have a detailed plan, I won''t say more. I just hope that after the fight, your performance will not disappoint me


    "Please rest assured, marshal," I quickly assured Zhukov, "we will not let you down."


    As soon as Zhukov left, I immediately called nikolasov, who had just returned to the army. After all, it was because the 52nd division of the guards was not well defended that the German took advantage of the loophole. Now that the war is coming, we can''t repeat the same mistake.


    As soon as I got on the phone, I said in a hurry, "Hello, is that Colonel Nekrasov? I''m commander oshanina


    "Hello, comrade commander!" "I''ve just come back to the army. I don''t know if you have any instructions," said nikolasov in a distant voice


    "Comrade Colonel, I want to remind you." I know that as the commander of the group army, if you want to establish your own prestige, you need to be strong sometimes before you are under your own department, otherwise these old soldiers will not buy me, "position 4 in your division''s defense area may become the focus of German attack again, so you must strengthen your guard, understand?"


    "Comrades commander," said nikolasov, a little surly, "as you ordered, we laid mines in the south of position 4 and put up barbed wire. It is impossible for the German army to secretly touch our position again."


    I didn''t care about his attitude, but asked straightforwardly, "how many defenders are there in the position?"


    "A strengthening company, 185 people." Nikolasov reported to me that "most of the troops in peacetime are hidden in tunnels, and only two reinforced platoons are placed in the trenches outside."


    Thinking that the German army could not make a sneak attack and that it was possible to send out tanks to cover the infantry charge, I quickly asked, "are you equipped with heavy weapons?"


    "There are five mortars and three new anti tank rocket launchers."


    I heard that position 4 was equipped with a new type of 40 rocket launcher. With this, even if the German troops sent out the latest tiger or leopard tanks, they would still be beaten into a pile of scrap iron by such rocket launchers. Although the strength and defense deployment of position 4 sound impeccable, I still asked: "do you have any difficulties?"


    "Difficult?" Nekrasov thought for a moment and replied, "Comrade commander, at present, there are weeds and shrubs half a meter high on the south slope, which seriously block our vision. Last time, the German army quietly touched our position under the cover of vegetation. Because I ask you, do you want to remove the vegetation on the south slope immediately? "


    "No, comrade Colonel, no vegetation clearing." I thought that if the south slope of position 4 was really bare, our army''s vision would be widened, but it was not conducive to the concealment of the attack team, so I resolutely rejected his proposal and told him, "you should immediately send people to bury mines in some dead shooting corners to prevent the German Army from sneaking attack at night."


    "Yes," niekrasov said helplessly when he heard my order, "I''ll arrange engineers to mine immediately."


    Before hanging up the phone, I specially told him to say, "don''t forget the training method I said at the meeting today. You should seize the time to train new soldiers. The enemy doesn''t have much time left for us to prepare for the war."


    In the next few days, the German side was calm and quiet. After returning from behind the enemy lines, the reconnaissance unit of trafkin brought back to me a piece of information about the German assembly site. After I read the information simply, I immediately sent rasmishin to the headquarters of the front army, hoping to attract the attention of watujing.


    As for the reconnaissance team of travkin, the order I gave them was to rest in place and send them out for reconnaissance at the right time.


    At 3:30 a.m. on July 4, when I was sleeping on my desk, I was awakened by the sudden ringing of the telephone. I grabbed the phone and said in a loud voice, "Hello, I''m o''shanina. Where are you?"


    There was a flustered voice from the receiver: "Comrade commander, the German army has launched a large-scale attack on Highland 4!"


    "What, the German attack?" When I heard the news, I couldn''t help clapping in my heart, saying that the Kursk battle didn''t break out in the early morning of the 5th. How could it be one day earlier? Is it because of my appearance that the known history deviates again? Because of my loud voice, I woke up other people in the headquarters, Danilov, kirilov and bezikov, who were all looking at me nervously to find out what had happened. However, under such circumstances, as the top commander of the group army, I must keep calm so as not to cause panic. Therefore, after a short period of consternation, I asked in a smooth tone as much as possible: "Comrade Colonel, report the situation. What kind of forces are the German forces attacking position 4?"


    Perhaps he didn''t expect me to ask this question. After a moment of silence, he replied, "Comrade commander, according to the telephone report of the company commander holding the position, the German army has sent at least ten tanks and 200 soldiers to attack position 4."


    When I heard that there were only a few hundred enemies, I couldn''t help but be stunned. It''s a bit too much for me to easily seize our positions with such a small number of troops. I was afraid of my mistake, so I asked again, "Comrade Colonel, what did you just say? I didn''t hear you clearly. Please say it again


    "A company of German infantry, under the cover of ten tanks, is attacking position 4." Nikolasov is no longer so flustered at the moment, he reported clearly.


    "In addition to the forces you mentioned, do the enemy have any forces deployed in other directions?" When I finished this sentence, I found that I was not accurate enough, and then added, "I mean, did the German army attack your other positions?"


    "No, comrade commander." Niekrasov replied respectfully: "the enemy originally wanted to sneak attack on position 4. As a result, they stepped on the mine we buried on the hillside. The explosion attracted the attention of our commanders and fighters. As a result, they had to turn the sneak attack into a strong attack."


    "I see, comrade colonel. Report to me whenever you have any information." With that, I cut off the call with him and dialed the 51st division of Jinwei.


    When I heard tavartkilaze''s voice coming out of the receiver, I immediately asked, "Comrade General, the German army is attacking the junction between you and the 52nd division. How are your three positions?"


    "Report to Comrade commander." When tavartkilaze heard my question, he immediately replied, "I just called three positions a minute ago. They were all calm and there was no sign of any enemy."


    His reply surprised me. So far, the German army has only attacked position 4 in the first line of defense. The rest of the positions are safe and sound. I really don''t know what the Germans are up to. I said to tavartkilaze, "Comrade General, I understand. Continue to observe. If you have any information, please report it to me in time." When I put down the phone, I told Danilov and kirilov my doubts. Kirilov is a political cadre. He has no good opinions on military affairs. On the contrary, after listening to what I said, Danilov frowned and thought for a while, and then said cautiously: "Comrade commander, I think the battle in position 4 is not a large-scale German attack, but a prewar reconnaissance." Danilov''s words made me even more confused. In order to find out what was going on, I humbly asked him, "prewar reconnaissance? I don''t quite understand what this means. Comrade deputy commander, can you explain it to me? "¡° Comrade commander, according to our judgment, the German army should launch large-scale offensive operations against our defense area in the next few days. " Instead of answering my question immediately, Danilov asked, "do you agree with me?" I nodded my head and replied, "yes, according to all the signs, a large-scale German attack on us is imminent. But what about this prewar reconnaissance? "¡° Well, comrade commander. " Danilov patiently explained to me: "the German army chose a point of our defense line and made a tentative attack to test our reaction. If the attack fails, they withdraw; Once we get away with one of our positions, it will become their starting point for attack. Don''t forget, position 4 is just at the junction of the 51st and 52nd divisions. If we succeed in occupying this position, we will be able to cut our first line of defense into two unconnected sections, so that their offensive forces can break through each other. "¡° I see, comrade deputy commander. " Danilov said that. If I don''t understand, I''m not qualified to be commander of the group army. I turned my head and told bzikov standing beside me: "Comrade chief of staff, immediately send a telegram to the headquarters of the front army, saying that the first line of defense of our army was attacked by a small group of German troops. After analysis, it may be that the German army is carrying out pre war reconnaissance and asking them to direct the next action."

 Chapter 1108

    I picked up the phone again and dialed my neighbor''s katukov headquarters while bzikov went to give a speech to the headquarters of the front army. Hearing my voice, katukov immediately asked, "Rita, according to my scout report, the German army is attacking your first line of defense. Do you need my support? If you need to, just speak up, and I will immediately order major general krivoschein to support his mechanized Third Army. "


    "Thank you, Comrade General." Katukov''s words touched me very much, but I politely refused his good intentions: "the German army just put in a small force and launched a tentative attack on our front line positions. Even if there is no support, our commanders and fighters can beat back their attack quickly. "


    "In that case, I will not send reinforcements for the time being." Katukov, who was rejected by me, said carefully: "if you need artillery support, just open your mouth. Several artillery regiments of krivoschein can always be in a state of preparation and can cover the German troops attacking your positions at any time."


    "I see, Comrade General." I laughed and said to katukov, "I''ll call you if I need to."


    As soon as I put down the phone, povsky, who was standing next to me, immediately took over the topic and asked me, "Comrade commander, we have a cannon regiment and a close guard rocket battalion behind the first line of defense. At this time, we can provide artillery support for our infantry comrades. Do you need to order them to fire?"


    "No, comrade colonel." With a smile, I said to povsky, who was eager to fight: "since we have made clear the intention of the German attack, it is for pre war reconnaissance. If we order the artillery to open fire, their position will be exposed. If we bring in German artillery or aircraft, we will suffer unnecessary losses. "


    Seeing povsky''s silent expression after listening to me, he immediately comforted him and said, "Comrade Colonel, the infantry can cope with those enemies who are attacking position 4 now, and they can''t use you for the time being. Remember, good steel needs to be used on the blade. In the next war, it''s time for your artillery to show their skills. "


    When I said that, povsky''s face suddenly showed a smile again. He said with understanding, "I understand, comrade commander, our artillery will be the audience for the time being in today''s battle. When the German army attacks on a large scale, we will teach him a good lesson with artillery fire."


    While we were talking, the telephone on the desk rang again. Without waiting for me to pick it up, Danilov grabbed the microphone, put it in his ear and said in a loud voice, "this is the headquarters of the group army. I''m Danilov. Where are you?" After listening for a while, he continued: "Comrade commander has just said that our infantry will be able to deal with the enemy attacking position 4, and we can''t use you for the time being. All right, that''s it. Wait for the order. " Then he hung up.


    From what Danilov said, I knew which army might want to fight again, so I asked curiously, "Comrade deputy commander, who is calling?"


    "Who else can it be, don''t be colonel ray." Danilov shrugged his shoulders habitually as he spoke. "He said that behind the first line of defense, he deployed two tank battalions and asked me if I would let our tanks attack and teach the Germans a lesson. I have declined his request. "


    As for Danilov''s practice, I nodded and approved, but at the same time, I also said: "Comrade deputy commander, although we can''t use artillery and tanks for the time being in today''s battle, there are some things that I think we need to make clear to Colonel berey, so as not to produce bad ideas."


    "Bad ideas, what bad ideas?" Danilov didn''t expect that I would suddenly say this. He said a little confused: "according to the regulations, the orders of the superior can only be executed unconditionally, and no discussion or disobedience is allowed. Even if I don''t give him an explanation, I think Colonel berey can understand it


    "You can''t say that, comrade deputy commander." As for Danilov''s attitude of disapproval, I could only explain to him: "the troops below were eager to fight and took the initiative to ask for a fight with the headquarters, but we refused each other without any reason. In this way, even if the commanders below don''t say it, they will still have a knot in their heart. "


    Fearing that my words would hurt Danilov''s self-esteem, I stared nervously at him and observed the change of expression on his face. Fortunately, there was no change in his face. He just frowned and thought for a moment, and then he took the initiative to say, "I see, comrade commander. I''ll call Colonel berey right now and make it clear to him." Then he reached for the phone on the desk.


    Before I got through, it suddenly occurred to me that it was not enough to explain to berey why he didn''t use them. I still need to discuss with him how to use the tank army in the next battle. He said to Danilov, "Comrade deputy commander, I''d better ask Colonel berey to come here. I have something to tell him face to face."


    At this time, the phone was connected, and Danilov, who wanted to explain to berey, took the opportunity to say, "Comrade Colonel? I''m Danilov. Comrade commander has ordered you to come to the headquarters. "


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Half an hour had passed since Nekrasov called me. As soon as Danilov put down the phone, I immediately picked it up and connected the 52nd division headquarters of the guards through the messenger. When I heard the voice of nikolasov, I asked frankly, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the situation of position 4?"


    "Report, comrade commander," nikolasov reported excitedly, "that the enemy''s first attack has been repulsed by the garrison on Highland 4. The enemy lost two tanks and killed 78 or 80 people. The rest have been withdrawn from their offensive positions. "


    "Good fight, comrade colonel." When I heard about the achievements reported by nikolasov, I praised them. Thinking of the number of new recruits on the Highlands, I asked, "how are the casualties of our army?"


    "We didn''t have many casualties. We sacrificed seven and injured more than a dozen." When niekrasov said this, he suddenly felt a little guilty and said, "Comrade commander, I''m sorry. Please accept my apology."


    I don''t know why niekrasov said this suddenly and asked in a confused way, "Comrade Colonel, what''s wrong with you?"


    "Well," said nikolasov, a little embarrassed when he heard my rhetorical question, "didn''t you come up with a special training method a few days ago? At that time, although I agreed verbally, I didn''t think so in my heart. I thought that you were making a fool of yourself. If you hadn''t emphasized position 4 again and again, I would not have allowed them to carry out this kind of special training. I didn''t expect that in today''s battle, the effect of this kind of special training will be shown. In the face of the enemy''s fierce attack, the recruits can also take advantage of it like the veterans, and have achieved great results. "


    From what niekrasov said, I recognized that he had only carried out the special training I proposed among the recruits of position 4, so I tentatively asked, "Comrade Colonel, if I am not wrong, you have only carried out this training method in position 4, and it has not been promoted in the whole division, right?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, you are right." Nikolasov admitted without taboo, and then he said to me, "but after today''s battle, I have found the advantages of your training method. As soon as the battle is over, I will promote it in the whole division. "


    "Then hold on, comrade colonel." I said angrily, "the enemy doesn''t have much time left for you. Before dark today, all the troops of your division must undergo a similar training. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Replied Nekrasov loud.


    "Keep an eye on the enemy and report to me as soon as they have any trouble." With that, I hung up without waiting for him to speak.


    After I put down the phone, kirilov asked with some surprise, "Rita, is the enemy in front of position 4 repulsed by our troops?"


    I nodded and replied, "yes, comrade military Commissar. The enemy who attacked position 4, under the tenacious resistance of our commanders and fighters, left 70 or 80 dead bodies and two destroyed tanks and retreated to their starting position in ashes. "


    Kirilov, when I finished, couldn''t help but look at his watch. Then he said with emotion, "the commanders and fighters of the 52nd division of the guards are really good. It took only half an hour to repel the German attack."


    "Comrade military commissar," seeing kirilov''s confidence and optimism, I reminded him, "only the first wave of German attack was repulsed by us. If they retreat and reorganize their troops, they may soon launch a new attack on us. It depends on how the commanders and fighters who stick to highland 4 perform in the next battle. "


    After hearing this, kirilov frowned and said anxiously, "Rita, position 4 will not be the same as the 197.5 highland north of Stalingrad. Will it become the battlefield repeatedly watched by our army and the German army?"


    "It''s possible." I thought about it before kirilov said that. However, after the loss of position 4, Fortifications on the hillside were strengthened, and tunnels were built to garrison troops and store combat materials. In this way, even if this position becomes the focus of contention between the enemy and us, the casualties of our troops will be greatly reduced¡° However, position 4 has built a relatively perfect fortification relying on the tunnel, and the troops we stick to above will never have the situation that the 107.5 highland will be completely destroyed in one day. "


    As soon as I finished, bzikov came in with an electronic newspaper. I guessed that what he was holding might be a reply from watujing, so he took the initiative to ask, "chief of staff, how did the commander of the front army reply to us?"


    "General vatukin ordered us to hold position 4 at all costs and never let it become the starting point of German attack." With that, bezikov handed me the telegram in his hand.


    I took it over and looked at it. Seeing that the above content was the same as what bezikov said, I handed it to Danilov at any time. At the same time, I also said to him, "Comrade deputy commander, it seems that the higher authorities have seen clearly the German army''s intention to seize the Highlands, so they will give us the order to stick to it at all costs."


    After reading the telegram, Danilov put the telegram on the desk, looked up at me and said, "the superior''s view coincides with ours. No matter what, position 4 must be firmly held. Comrade commander, I think we should make the artillery and tank troops ready for battle. Once the enemy occupies position 4, we can counterattack in time. "


    I laughed at Danilov''s worry and said easily, "don''t worry, comrade deputy commander. The German forces are limited in attacking highland 4. Even if they are allowed to fight for a day, they can''t fight down. On the contrary, there is an important thing that must be implemented immediately. " At this point, I turned to bzikov, who was standing beside me, and said, "Comrade chief of staff, please call the division heads immediately to ask if they have promoted the training method I proposed in the army. All units that have not conducted live ammunition training must complete the training work before dark today. " Danilov listened to my order to bzikov and said, "Comrade commander, why do you want to promote this training method at this time? We should know that before we have time to test the applicability of this model, we should rashly promote it in all troops. In case of unnecessary casualties in training, what can we do? "¡° Comrade deputy commander, you may not know that the recruits of position 4 had special training in these two days. " In order to persuade Danilov, I repeated what niekrasov had just said to him, and finally concluded: "it is precisely because of this special training among the commanders and fighters that the defenders in this position, whether veterans or new soldiers, show bravery and tenacity in today''s battle, otherwise they would not have easily defeated the enemy''s attack." I was talking to Danilov when the phone call from nikolasov came back. "Comrade commander, after a short rest, the German army launched another attack on position 4," he said hastily by telephone¡° Can you block it? " I asked briefly¡° No problem. I''m sure I can block it. " He replied confidently¡° Can you handle the enemy''s tanks? " Danilov asked in a loud voice at the receiver¡° Please rest assured, commander and deputy commander. " Niekrasov replied clearly: "the 40 rockets distributed to us by the superior are very good. With a distance of two or three hundred meters, we can easily break through the front armor of German tanks, which is much stronger than the previous anti tank guns and anti tank guns." When I heard the answer from nikolasov, my heart suddenly relaxed. I said that the 40 rocket launcher, a weapon from the future, could easily break through the front armor of the tiger or leopard tanks within the effective range, not to mention the German No. 3 and No. 4 tankers.

 Chapter 1109

    Near noon, Nekrasov called again. He excitedly reported to me on the phone: "Comrade commander, attack the German army in position 4. When they heard Danilov''s question, I noticed that there was an iron cross hanging on the broken and dirty uniform of the German lieutenant. He listened intently to find out how he got the medal.


    "In Stalingrad." "I led my platoon at the central railway station to repel several of your counterattacks," said lieutenant Genzel


    "Stalingrad?" After repeating the name of the place, Danilov sneered and said, "you are so lucky, lieutenant. For you, the war is over."


    After listening to Danilov''s words, Genzel said a lot with a sneer. When gretka translated it, I knew what he said was: "although I became your prisoner, your destiny is not much better. Because tomorrow you will be beaten up like Stalingrad. It won''t be long before we get to Moscow again. We have received orders from the head of state. "


    "What order?" After listening to gretka''s translation, Danilov and I asked in unison.


    Danilov asked this question because he was curious to find out what the German army was going to do next. But my heart is a thump, heart said, really like in history, the German army will launch the Kursk battle tomorrow morning?


    Genzel snorted coldly and said with disapproval, "according to the order, we will launch a powerful attack in the early morning of tomorrow, which is also the final decisive attack."


    "When does it start?" On hearing the news, although Danilov tried to keep calm, there was inevitably a tremor in his voice.


    "Three o''clock in the morning on July 5th." Genzel gave the final answer lightly.


    My reaction to this information was in sharp contrast to the shock of Danilov and kirilov. I waved and ordered the soldiers standing behind the prisoners to take them away from the headquarters. Then he told bzikov: "Comrade chief of staff, get me through to the headquarters of the front army immediately, and I will report this important information to commander watujing."


    "Ah, report immediately?" When bizikov heard my order, he didn''t immediately carry it out. Instead, he stood still. At the same time, he kindly reminded me, "Rita, do you want to check the truth of the news again. If we report this unconfirmed intelligence and find that it is just a trap of the German army, it will be troublesome. "


    "Comrade chief of staff, don''t look forward and backward any more." I said to bzikov sternly, "get through to the headquarters of the front army immediately, and I will report to commander vatukin personally. I''ll take all the responsibility for any accident. If we don''t report it in time, it will delay our fighters and cause our defense line to be broken by the German army, then we will all be sent to the military court. "


    It was probably the first time that bzikov had seen me speak to him in such a stern tone since he knew me. He had no choice but to promise. He picked up the phone and asked the operator to get through to the headquarters of the front army.


    After the phone was connected, it was not watujing who answered the phone, but Khrushchev, a military commissioner. Hearing my voice, the other party laughed and asked in an amiable voice, "Rita, what can I do for you


    "Yes, comrade military Commissar." As Khrushchev is the No. 1 chief in the future, I always maintain enough respect when dealing with him, so that even if I can not get his reuse in the future, I will not be deliberately suppressed. At this moment, hearing his question, I quickly and truthfully reported: "we have just interrogated a captured German officer. According to his confession, the German army will launch a full-scale attack on us."


    "A full-scale attack." After repeating my words, Khrushchev asked solemnly, "when and where?"


    "Three o''clock in the morning on July 5th." After reporting the exact time, I added with my own historical knowledge that "the enemy will take a pincer attack from the north to the south, and at the same time launch an attack from both the north and the South on the defensive areas of our central front army and Voronezh front army."


    "Rita, is all the information you''re talking about true?" After listening to my report, Khrushchev''s voice became tense. He asked seriously, "can you guarantee that what you said is true?"


    "Yes, comrade military Commissar." I answered with a firm voice, "the information I reported to you is absolutely true. Please believe me."


    "Rita, just a moment, please." After Khrushchev finished this sentence, I vaguely heard his voice calling from the earphone: "you go to invite the commander to come here immediately, and say that there are 100000 urgent military information waiting for him to deal with, go quickly..."


    Then Khrushchev''s voice became clear: "Rita, I''ve sent for commander vatukin. He''ll be here soon. When he comes, you will report the information to him again, and I believe he will make corresponding deployment. "


    It wasn''t long before vatukin came. He might have come from somewhere nearby. He was still slightly panting. He asked nervously, "o''shanina, I heard from the military commissar that you have 100000 urgent information. What''s the matter?"


    "Well, comrade commander." In order to attract the attention of watujing, I repeated what I just said, and finally added: "since we know that the enemy is gathering, should we do something to delay the enemy''s attack?"


    I thought that when I said this, vatukin would say something like "let me strengthen my guard and prevent German attack". Unexpectedly, after a moment of silence, he said slowly: "Comrade oshanina, this matter is very important. I can''t make any decision. I must report it immediately."


    "Comrade commander," seeing that he is still hesitating, I can''t help but feel a little anxious. Regardless of the differences between the upper and lower ranks, I directly urged him: "now there are only about ten hours left before the German attack. You can make a decision early."


    "You don''t have to worry about this." Maybe my words are a little too much, watujing said impatiently: "you have to find out whether you are the commander of the front army or I am the commander of the front army. It''s not up to you to tell. What''s more, although the information you reported is important, you can''t believe it without final verification. Perhaps the German prisoners you interrogated believed that you and your men had lied. "


    In the face of vatukin''s responsibility, I had to laugh and cry, saying that I was still too naive to think that when such important information was reported to the front, the superior would immediately make targeted response measures. I didn''t expect that other people didn''t believe my information at all.


    "Whose phone is it? Comrade vatukin. " When I was in despair, I suddenly heard another familiar voice in the microphone. Hearing this voice, I couldn''t help but feel happy and said that things might turn for the better.


    "It''s lieutenant general oshanina, commander of the sixth group army of the guards." "She told me that she had learned from the German prisoners that the enemy would attack our central front army and Voronezh front army at three o''clock in the morning on July 5, that is, tomorrow morning from both north and south directions at the same time," she told the other party


    After listening to the report, the other party did not express any opinions, but said to watujing, "Comrade watujing, give me the phone. I''ll talk to Lida in person."


    Soon, my familiar voice came from the microphone: "Hello, Rita, I''m vassilevsky!"


    "Hello, chief of the general staff." When I heard vasilevsky speak to me in person, my heart fell to the ground,


    Vasilevsky asked in a friendly tone, "I heard Comrade watukin say that you learned the date of the German attack from the prisoners. Is that so?"


    "Yes, comrade chief of the general staff. According to the German prisoners, they will launch an all-round attack on our defense line at three o''clock tomorrow morning from both the north and the south. "


    After listening to my statement, vasilevsky asked carefully, "Rita, is your information true or false? Is the German prisoner lying?"


    "Comrade chief of the general staff," in order to make him believe what I said, I had to analyze it with him, "I think this information is true. First of all, I talked with Marshal Zhukov two days ago. According to various intelligence analysis we have, the German attack should be between the 2nd and 8th of this month; Secondly, today, Manstein''s troops carried out pre war fire reconnaissance on position 4 on the first line of defense of our group army; Also, according to the report of our scouts, some of the enemy''s divisional or military headquarters are moving to the front. All this shows that they are ready to attack


    "At three o''clock in the morning, if the prisoner is reliable," vasilevsky said slowly after listening to my analysis, "then in another thirteen hours, the enemy''s attack will begin."


    "Yes, comrade chief of the general staff," I believe after listening to my brief analysis, he already believed that the enemy would launch an attack tomorrow, so he said while the iron was hot: "if the German army really will launch an attack at three o''clock tomorrow morning, what measures should we take?"


    After a period of silence, vasilevsky said decisively: "of course, all the artillery fire of the front army was concentrated to bombard the German assembly site. If I remember correctly, the Artillery Force of your group army is also very powerful. You can give it to your artillery commander. "


    "I see, comrade chief of the general staff." Listening to what he said, my mood became more and more happy. I replied very readily, "I''m going to order the artillery to enter the firing position and be ready to fire at any time."


    As I put down the phone, I looked up at the ceiling and said that what happened now seemed different from what happened in history. In the movie, rokosovsky learned the time of the German attack from the prisoner''s mouth and reported Zhukov. Now this time, I got the information of their attack from the prisoners, and reported it to vasilevsky. I believe he will report this to Zhukov soon. In the movie, when Zhukov got the exact news, there were only two hours left before the war broke out, but now he had 13 hours to prepare.


    Looking at me staring at the ceiling in a daze, povsky quickly called me: "Comrade commander, do not know what our artillery task is?"


    Povsky''s voice woke me up from my meditation. I quickly called him to my face, pointed to the two places of tomarovka and borisovka on the map, and said to povsky, "Comrade Colonel, order all our artillery to aim at these two places and be ready to fire." At the command I gave, povsky''s face showed a surprise expression: "so, comrade commander, our attack is about to begin?"¡° It''s not our attack, comrade colonel. " Seeing that povsky was too excited, I quickly poured cold water on him. "At present, we have no ability to attack the German army. Firing at the place where they assembled could only delay their attack. You know, once the war machine starts, no one can stop it. " Povsky listened to me, nodded his head several times, and then said with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, because our artillery is too scattered, the number of artillery that can participate in the shelling may be limited."¡° Why? " Povsky''s words made me feel very strange. I said in my heart that it''s not a bad thing for artillery to be too scattered. At least it won''t be destroyed by the German air force or artillery. What''s more, as long as you provide a parameter to each artillery regiment to fire in one direction, you can also ensure the dense coverage of artillery¡° Well, comrade commander. " Povsky saw me frown, hastily explained to me: "our artillery regiment and rocket battalion, respectively, in three lines of defense. The artillery regiment of the third line of defense is unable to participate in the shelling because it is too far away from the shelling target you provided and its range is not enough. " Hearing the original reason, I relaxed again and said to him with a smile, "since that''s the case, comrade Colonel, you should arrange the artillery deployed in the third line of defense to move forward as soon as possible and set up an artillery position at a suitable place. As soon as the time comes, all the artillery fire will be concentrated and the German assembly sites will be shelled. "

 Chapter 1110

    When povsky called the artillery deployed in the third direction, Colonel bere, who had already received the order, finally arrived at the headquarters. Looking at belay, kirilov scolded him with the tone of an old friend and said, "Comrade Colonel, comrade deputy commander, it''s been several hours since he called you. Why are you here now? "


    Colonel gray, who was a feel shy, replied with a little embarrassment: "I just left the command post and met my 101st tank brigade brigadier, saying that they had arrived at ten new tanks, and let me have a look. As a result, it was delayed. " After explaining the reason, he looked at me pitifully, waiting for me to make a statement.


    According to my original intention, I wanted to blame him. However, seeing his pitiful appearance, I waved my hand and said generously, "forget it, comrade colonel. I hope you don''t wait so long to come after receiving the call from the headquarters next time, do you understand?"


    "I see, comrade commander." Don''t thunder see I don''t blame him, face immediately showed happy expression. A moment later, he asked, "I don''t know if you have any important instructions for me to send my headquarters here?"


    "Comrade Colonel," I raised my hand to the vacant seat at the table, motioned him to sit down, and then said to him solemnly, "our war with the German army may be about to begin."


    "Going to war with the Germans?" When bielei, who had just sat down, heard my words, he immediately jumped up from the table and asked, "when and where?"


    "According to the latest information we have, at three o''clock in the morning tomorrow, Manstein''s troops will launch a fierce attack from the South on the defensive zone of our group army." Considering that his tank army would display its power in the battle, I then asked, "has the tank army been refitted at present?"


    "Report to Comrade commander." "At present, there are 120 new tanks and 60 T-34 tanks in the tank army, and some old tanks that have been eliminated and have not yet been transported away will be handed over to the tank soldiers as target vehicles," he said solemnly


    "Have all the troops become effective?" I continued.


    "Comrade commander, please rest assured that our tank soldiers have rich experience in driving and fighting. It is very fast to master the speed of this new type of tank." "Last time, two tank companies easily annihilated all the German armored units, including the Tiger tanks," said berey. If the war really breaks out, my tank army can easily annihilate the same number of tanks as ours on the plain. "


    "Comrade Colonel, there is an old Chinese saying that" arrogance leads to defeat. " Seeing that Colonel berey was a little overjoyed, I reminded him: "although we have won a battle, it does not mean that our strength is far beyond that of the German army. In the next battle, there will be more brutal battles between us and the German army. "


    "Comrade commander, I have an idea." "In order to prevent our defense line from being broken through by the German army, I suggest that all the tanks deployed in the second and third lines of defense be transferred to the rear of the first line of defense," said Colonel berey with a serious expression


    "What is your reason for doing so, Colonel?" Danilov couldn''t help interrupting when he heard this.


    "Comrade deputy commander, it is like this." For Danilov''s question, berey cautiously replied: "I also want to be just in case. If the German army breaks through our first line of defense, then the tank troops deployed behind the line of defense can counterattack the German army and drive the enemy back."


    I understand why bierre is so cautious. To say that our defense line is likely to be broken by the German forces means that the defense line that we have spent so much time and energy can not stop the enemy at all. Well, to put it better, this is a ridiculous idea; To put it bluntly, it is a manifestation of defeatism.


    In order to avoid being too cautious and affecting his command ability, I comforted him with a smile and said, "you have a good idea. No, all the tanks of the tank army are deployed behind the first line of defense, which can indeed block the enemy''s assault and make it difficult for them to move forward. But in this way, we will pay huge casualties. "


    After listening to what I said, Colonel berey said solemnly: "as long as we can hold the position firmly and do not let the Germans go forward, it is worth the sacrifice."


    "It''s an honor to die for the motherland. And we can''t let our commanders and fighters make unnecessary sacrifices for the sake of this so-called honor. " After I finished this sentence, I glanced at Danilov intentionally, fearing that he would refute my point of view. Seeing that he was just sitting on the table without saying a word, I went on to say, "in the first line of defense, we only need to hold those key positions. As for the rest of the areas, if the German want to break through, let them break through without any counterattack, I''m going to have a tough fight with them. "


    "Comrade commander, may I ask why?" After listening to what I said, Danilov didn''t speak, kirilov didn''t speak, and even bierre didn''t speak, but nikolasov, standing beside him, asked strangely, "can we just watch the enemy break through our defense line and do nothing?"


    Just as I wanted to answer the question of nikolasov, I saw that the teachers of various divisions were coming into the room one after another. I waved my hand to him and said, "Colonel nikolasov, I will explain this in public when we get together."


    A few minutes later, all the teachers who received the notice arrived, so the meeting originally held at 10 p.m. was advanced. I stood at the table, looking at the rows of commanders sitting in front of me, and said calmly, "comrades, the reason why we are all called here today is that we have an important thing to announce to you: in another 12 hours, the German army will launch a comprehensive attack on our defensive zone!"


    When I finished this sentence, I stopped and my eyes swept around the room to observe everyone''s reaction. I saw the teachers sitting below looking at each other, eyes full of questions, but no one spoke. Soon, everyone''s attention returned to me, waiting for me to give them new orders.


    I coughed habitually, cleared my throat and said, "this information was obtained from the interrogation of the prisoners personally sent by Colonel nikolasov. I have reported it to the headquarters of the front army. The commander ordered that our artillery should be ready for battle, and before the German army opened fire, we should first carry out heavy shelling on their assembly area, and try to delay their attack time as much as possible. "


    "Comrade commander," as soon as I finished, general tavartkiraze stood up first. He asked with concern, "what is the task of our 51st guard division?"


    "Comrade General, once the war breaks out, the first line of defense that you and Colonel nikolasov hold fast to will become the primary target of the German army." In order to let everyone understand my intention of fighting, I intend to pave the way: "in this case, it is obviously unwise to fight with the German army. So I order you and Col. nikolasov to concentrate their forces and hold those important positions. As for other areas, if the Germans are willing to break through, let them break through. They are in front of them, and our second and third positions are waiting for him. "


    "But, comrade commander, is that appropriate?" Kobita Walter Ki Laz''s reaction was as like as two peas Nekrasov''s reaction. He asked carefully: "if the enemy broke through the line, then our two divisions would be surrounded by the enemy."


    "You are right, Comrade General." I agree with tavartkilaze''s analysis, but at the same time, I continue to say: "when you go back, you must do a good job in reducing the school size of the commanders and fighters, and tell them that being surrounded by the enemy is only temporary, and our main force will soon launch a counter offensive." At this point, I thought of the questions that nikolasov had asked me, and said: "as long as you firmly hold several key positions, you can lure the enemy into depth. When the great counter offensive of our army begins, you should take active action to quickly eliminate the German troops on the line of defense and form a situation of closing the door and beating the dogs, so that none of them can escape. "


    As soon as my words came out, tavartkilaze and nikolasov both showed the expression of sudden realization, and the expression on their faces also became rich.


    My inspiration for this kind of play comes from a combat game played n years ago. In that game, if you are on the way of the computer, the enemy, and you build all the fortifications, then the computer will destroy all the fortifications one by one, and then move forward. But if you just build all kinds of fortifications on both sides of the road, then the computer will foolishly pass between the two fortifications, regardless of the possible casualties. I used to play computer games, but now I copy this tactic. I don''t know if I can achieve the effect I want when I really fight.


    Although I have no idea about this kind of arrangement, my calm and self effacing look is deceptive. After the teachers sitting below talked in a low voice for a while, they seemed to have no objection to my deployment.


    After the assignment of infantry, I named Colonel berey and told him: "Comrade Colonel, once the German troops break through our first line of defense and rush to the second line of defense, you will transfer all the tank troops deployed in the latter two lines to the second line of defense. With the ability of the German army, their tanks could not cross the "oshanina trench" built in front of the second line of defense. When their armored forces are in chaos, you can lead the troops to attack. "


    Bofsky, who was sitting next to me, said in a low voice after I finished saying, "Comrade commander, the artillery regiment originally deployed in the third line of defense can all enter the designated shooting positions around 8 pm."


    "Comrade povsky, you have done a good job." As for the arrangement of the artillery commander, I nodded with satisfaction, and then said: "Comrade Stalin once said: artillery is the God of war. When it''s early in the morning, your cannons will be able to show their power and teach the Germans a lesson. "


    "Don''t know when to start shelling?" Then povsky asked.


    I shook my head and replied, "I don''t know for the moment. I believe that the headquarters of the front army will give us a definite time to start the shelling soon."


    Seeing that I was about to say it, Danilov stood up and asked many teachers, "dear teachers and comrades, do you have any questions about keeping your position?"


    As soon as his words were over, the commander of the 375TH division, Colonel govorunanko, stood up and asked with a straight face, "Comrade deputy commander, I want to ask you a question. Our division has neither anti tank guns nor anti tank rifles, only 40 rocket launchers issued to us by our superiors some time ago. Can this so-called new weapon be used against Fu''s tanks? " When he heard this question, Danilov looked back at me with a smile on his face, indicating that I would answer the question to Col. govoronenko. I nodded with understanding. Then I stood up and said to govorunanko, "Comrade Colonel, you may have been exposed to this new anti tank weapon for the first time, so you have no idea. As for whether this kind of weapon is useful to the enemy''s tanks, I think it''s up to Colonel Nekrasov to introduce it to you. As far as I know, in today''s battle, his men destroyed at least eight German tanks with this kind of rocket launcher. "¡° Destroyed eight German tanks? " Col. govoruninenko was stunned by such achievements. He turned his head and looked at nikolasov sitting next to him. He asked with some gaffe, "is it true, Mr. nikolasov¡° Quite right, Colonel govoronenko. " Nikolasov stood up with a smile, as if to him and to all the commanders, and said: "to tell you the truth, when I first saw this kind of rocket launcher, I had doubts about whether I could destroy the German tanks, but in today''s battle, it gave me a lot of insight. The rocket could easily tear apart the armor of the German tank and blow up the huge thing into a mass of debris Niekrasov''s words immediately caused a commotion among the teachers, and everyone began to talk involuntarily. Instead of stopping, I listened to their discussion with a smile on my face. Facts speak louder than words. No matter how much I say here, I can''t compare with the words of people who have experienced actual combat, such as nikolasov. When we all understand the power of this new type of anti tank weapon, we will be more confident when we start a defensive war. Just as the discussion was in full swing, the telephone on the desk rang. Bezikov got up and picked up the phone. After listening for a while, he covered the phone and said to me, "report to commander comrade, the superior ordered us to bombard the possible German assembly site at 2:20 a.m. tomorrow!"

 Chapter 1111

    "Comrades in command, I think we have all heard what the chief of staff has just said. The commander of the front army has given orders to bombard the German army." I try to make my voice the same as usual, and try to make the teachers feel that I am just arranging routine tasks¡° However, we should not expect too much from this shelling, because we are unable to grasp the specific area where the German troops gather for the time being. It is unrealistic to completely destroy the enemy through shelling. The purpose of shelling is to disrupt the enemy''s attack plan, so that we can have more time to prepare for war. "


    "I''ll say a few words." After I finished, Danilov took over the topic and said, "although we have gained three months of deployment time in the Kursk region, we have built a large number of fortifications in the defense area, supplemented soldiers and new weapons and equipment. However, compared with the enemy with excellent equipment and rich combat experience, our army is still at a disadvantage. The shelling in the early morning of tomorrow can only delay their attack time, but cannot stop their crazy attack. Therefore, after returning to their respective units, the division commanders should immediately issue battle warnings and make all preparations for fighting, and be ready to meet the crazy attack of the German army. "


    At this point, he stopped for a moment, looked at tavartkilaze and Nekrasov, and then asked, "comrades of division commander, you two divisions are deployed at the forefront of the whole group army. Once the war starts, you will be the first to bear the German attack. Are you ready


    The two division commanders, who were named, looked at each other and answered firmly: "please rest assured, deputy commander. We are all ready to fight together and ready to attack the German army at any time."


    "The scale of this battle may be beyond our imagination." When I heard the two division commanders'' statements, I felt it necessary to say a few words, so I went on to say, "therefore, the operational policy I have given you is to fight for a long time, to defend actively, and to exchange greater victory with the least cost. In defensive operations, don''t worry about the gains and losses for a while. It doesn''t matter even if the German forces break through your defense lines. Just give me those defensive positions to hold them firmly. This is absolutely not allowed to be lost, because in the future counter offensive, we will rely on these defensive support points to achieve the goal of closing doors and beating dogs. "


    "Two teachers and comrades." As soon as I finished, kirilov also stood up and asked with a smile, "the commander means that we must solve some problems in tactics seriously. In other words, we must find some defensible methods so that we can win more at a small price."


    "In order to defend effectively, we have worked out some measures." Tavartkilaze, who has a calm character, said: "for example, in the deployment of troops, the former is light and the latter is heavy, and in weapons and equipment, the former is heavy and the latter is light; There is also the organization of appropriate troop withdrawal and counterattack to recapture the lost positions and so on. "


    "General tavartkiraze, you are quite right. These measures sound very good." Kirilov took over and said, "to fight a defensive war, you can''t just stick to it. We can''t defend because of defense. We should take active defensive thinking, give full play to our subjective initiative, and come up with practical and effective methods to offset the German army''s strength and firepower advantage. "


    Kirilov is worthy of being a cadre of political work. He talks in a series of ways. The commanders here nodded their heads. Danilov whispered to me: "Comrade commander, your old partner has done a good job in his own field and his military level is not low."


    Hearing Danilov''s praise to kirilov, I didn''t speak, just nodded with a smile. Looking at kirilov, who is still talking incessantly, I am really secretly glad that I can have such a tacit deputy, so that when commanding the battle, I will not be hindered by disagreement.


    After kirilov finished speaking, I raised my hand and asked tavartkilaze to sit down. After scanning the whole room, I said, "when the division commanders go back, they should seize the time to check their own fortifications. Those substandard fortifications should be reinforced as soon as possible, otherwise they will collapse as soon as the German guns and planes blow up. How can we fight the next war? "


    Considering the key point of Prokhorovka''s campaign, I asked the infantry stationed there. I didn''t think so at first, but later I heard that the division had won the order of Lenin, so I felt more confident. It is believed that the combat effectiveness of the troops who can get medals will not be worse. It will be sooner or later that they will be reorganized into a close guard division.


    The meeting lasted for more than half an hour. I saw that I had said almost all the things that should be explained and told. It was meaningless to go on. So I announced the end of the meeting and asked the division commanders to rush back to their troops immediately and prepare for the necessary fighting and the fierce attack of the German army.


    While waiting for the shelling to begin, I walked anxiously around the headquarters. Although I know the specific attack time of the German army, and I know that the German army finally became a big loser in the battle of Kursk, I was not sure before the battle really started.


    It was not until one o''clock in the morning that pofsky reported to me that all the artillery had entered the designated position and were ready to fire. Although the time when the artillery was in place was several hours later than the time I set, I didn''t blame povsky for this, because I knew in my heart that it was not easy for a large regiment to fight and the troops to be transferred.


    I thought about it and said to povsky, "Comrade artillery commander, according to the order, we are going to bombard the enemy''s area for 40 minutes. When the shelling is over, you should order the artillery regiments to quickly retreat to their original positions. While ensuring speed, there should be no chaos in the troops. Can it be done? "


    Povsky''s face was embarrassed by my request. Seeing his reaction, I said with some dissatisfaction: "Comrade Colonel, after our shelling, the German army will certainly launch an attack. If we put the artillery in the present position, then as long as the German armored forces come to the last assault, there will be a risk of total annihilation. The scale of this battle will be very large. Without artillery, we will suffer greatly. "


    Bowski''s brows wrinkled when I told him so much. After a while, he tentatively asked, "Comrade commander, it will take at least two hours to withdraw the artillery from the existing position. I just don''t know if the Germans will give us such a long time. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade colonel." I clearly remember that the German attack on the south line was launched at 6 a.m., and it took them time to break through our first line of defense. Therefore, within five or six hours, as long as the German air force did not bomb, the artillery array deployed in front of the second line of defense would be relatively safe. Although I can''t tell the truth, I still want to say a few words: "I think we can get at least three hours of transfer time after our shelling. In such a long time, is it OK to move the artillery regiment back to its original position? "


    When povsky heard me say this, he immediately smile on his face, and then confidently said: "Comrade commander, since we can have such a long time, there is no problem in the safe transfer of artillery." In order to enhance the persuasion, he specially stressed that "the reason why the artillery regiment spent so much time entering the position was that they had to build bunkers, so they wasted a lot of time."


    "I see, comrade colonel." I was deeply afraid that he would not finish what he said, so I hastened him: "call the artillery regiment quickly, let them have a psychological preparation first, so as not to announce the withdrawal as soon as the shelling is over, which will cause unnecessary confusion."


    At two o''clock sharp, vatukin called me in person. "Comrade oshanina, how are you doing there?" he asked in a smooth tone


    "Comrade report commander," I answered with confidence immediately after hearing his question, "we are ready for all battles, and we will be able to give you your orders."


    "Good. You did a good job." After praising me, vatukin said, "let''s check our watch. It''s 2:01 a.m. on July 5. Remember, at 2:20, fire on the possible German assembly area. "


    "I see, comrade commander."


    Put down the phone. I''ll call povsky and have him check my watch. No, I don''t know. A pair of them were surprised. His watch was five minutes slower than mine. After adjusting the time, he said happily, "Comrade commander, it''s lucky that the time is right, otherwise we will fire five minutes later than other artillery units."


    Seeing that the time of povsky''s watch was not accurate, I was even more worried about the artillery regiment leaders below. I quickly told him: "Comrade Colonel, call each artillery regiment leader immediately and check the time with them. Don''t delay the fight because the watch is not accurate." Povsky knew the seriousness of the matter and immediately agreed to call his subordinates.


    With the last five minutes to go before the shelling began, major lophov, the chief of communications, brought in a telephone and called all the commanders of the artillery regiment and the rocket battalion in turn. When all the calls were completed, major lophov straightened up and reported to me, "Comrade commander, all the artillery commanders are in contact."


    I nodded, raised my hand and looked at the time. Seeing that there were only the last two minutes left, I asked povsky, "Comrade Colonel, time is coming. Get ready."


    At my command, povsky took the microphone in lophoff''s hand, stuck it to his ear, and stared at me, waiting for my order to fire.


    My eyes were staring at the second hand on my watch, and I could not help holding my breath because I was nervous when I saw a little bit of it walking towards 12. Almost when the second hand and minute hand pointed to 12 at the same time, I gave the order decisively: "fire!"


    At the same time, povsky, who received my order, said loudly to the microphone, "command, all artillery, fire!"


    A moment later, the whole defense zone of Voronezh''s front army was ablaze with thousands of guns. Besides the artillery of our group army, the artillery directly under the front army also opened fire at the same time. The sound of heavy artillery bombardment and the explosion of "Katyusha" mingled together, earth shaking and soul stirring.


    The famous Kursk battle broke out!


    Listening to the faint explosion outside, Danilov seemed a little absent-minded. After walking back and forth in the room, he stopped in front of me and asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, can our shelling really work?"


    At this time, I was sitting in my group army headquarters, but my mood was calmer than before. Seeing that Danilov was so uneasy, I laughed and comforted him: "don''t worry, comrade deputy commander, the German army never thought that we would take the initiative to fire on them, and we would be beaten to ashes. Don''t worry about it. "

 Chapter 1112

    Although no artillery effect was observed, it did not affect me to immerse myself in my imagination. I sat at the table with my eyes closed, as if I were playing a movie in my mind, showing the scenes of German artillery bombardment scene by scene: a film of shells across the sky, accurately hit the just assembled German troops. In the smoke and dust caused by the dense shells, thousands of shrapnel from countless explosion points interweave into a layer of death net. The cut limbs, the cut flesh and blood mixed with the burst blood splashed everywhere, crowding the assembly ground of countless officers and soldiers, and were instantly cleared out of a piece of open space. Even the mighty Tiger tank was overturned or disintegrated and burned like a toy in the earth shaking explosion.


    Maybe my expression was too relaxed, even kirilov asked a little uneasily: "Rita, do you really think our artillery can cause great damage to the German army?"


    "Yes, my military commissar comrade." I opened my eyes and said with a smile to kirilov, who was worried: "the German army in the process of assembly will surely suffer a lot when it is bombarded by our artillery. If they want to regroup and attack us, they will be at least a few hours behind the original time. In a word, our shelling has completely disrupted the German offensive plan. " The reason why I''m so sure is that I came from the film about the battle of Kursk that I saw later.


    After hearing this, kirilov sighed and said, "it''s a pity that we just delayed the German attack. If only our shelling could cancel the enemy''s attack from their operational plan."


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Seeing that the shelling had been going on for 30 minutes, I stood up, picked up the phone on the desk, and asked the signalman to connect me with the division headquarters of the 51st division of Jinwei.


    When I heard tawalter killazer''s voice coming out of the receiver, I asked him with a smile, "Comrade General, how are you? Can you see the German opposite you?"


    Unexpectedly, tavartkilaze said cautiously after a period of silence: "Comrade commander, I only saw smoke billowing in the direction of Prokhorovka in the observation post. We can''t know what kind of casualties he caused to the enemy for the time being."


    I know what he said is the truth. Since the reconnaissance unit of travkin withdrew a few days ago, it has never sent any reconnaissance troops to the enemy''s occupied area, so I had to say: "continue to observe and report to me in time."


    Then I dialed the headquarters of the 52nd division of the guards and asked the man who answered the phone, "Captain, what''s the situation there? Can you see the area where the shelling happened?"


    "I can''t see the specific situation clearly, I can only see the smoke rolling. I think the German casualties must be not small." After answering my question, niekrasov tentatively asked, "Comrade commander, do you want me to send someone to scout?"


    I think it''s almost three o''clock, and it''s beginning to light up gradually. At this time, it''s not conducive to concealment to send someone to scout. It''s equivalent to letting the Scout die in vain. So without thinking, I rejected his proposal: "no, comrade colonel. After this bombardment, it will take the German army at least a few hours to organize a new attack. You should use this time to prepare for the war. "


    After calling the two division commanders, I looked at Danilov and kirilov with worried faces and comforted them with a smile, saying: "deputy commander, military commissar, how are you worried? Don''t you know how many artillery we have? You know, if so many guns fire at the same time, the main force of the German army will be crippled. Even if they can reorganize the attack, the strength of the attack will be much lower than we expected. "


    After the end of the Kursk battle, I learned from Zhukov that our artillery firepower preparation started too early this time. At that time, most of the German officers and soldiers were still lying in the shelter, deep ditch or shelter, and the armored forces were still hidden in the standby area. If our shelling is delayed for another 20 minutes or half an hour, the effect will be better. In addition, before the shelling, we did not accurately identify the German concentration sites before the attack, so most of the shelling was area coverage, rather than the specific target of the position, which virtually prevented the German from more casualties.


    After understanding this situation, I could not help feeling that the plot in the film was really unreliable. The results of this pre emptive bombardment must have been exaggerated by the Soviet Union as the shooting party. If the German army really suffered such serious losses before the attack, it would be absolutely impossible to launch a comprehensive attack on the central front army and Voronezh front army in just two or three hours, and break through multiple defensive zones of the two front armies in the shortest time.


    At three o''clock sharp, the shelling of the German army stopped, and the outside world became quiet.


    Bezikov listened to the movement outside for a moment, then tentatively said: "the shelling seems to have stopped?"


    "Yes, it''s stopped." Danilov continued.


    Listening to them, I also concentrated on listening to the movement outside. Except for the sound of the staff of the headquarters walking around outside and the sound of telegrams in the next telecommunication room, the deep explosion was not heard. Listening to the movement outside, I sat up straight and said to some of you, "yes, our shelling of the German army is over. Now I can''t hear any movement outside, and I don''t know the effect."


    With these words, before they could make a statement, I said to povsky, "Comrade Colonel, give orders to your artillery soldiers immediately, and let them seize these precious hours and retreat to their original defensive zone immediately. Remember, after returning to defense, we should be ready to fight as soon as possible, and be ready to meet the German armored forces that have broken through our defense line. "


    What I said stunned bofsky for a moment, but he didn''t ask much. He nodded and went to the telephone to give orders to his subordinates.


    After another ten minutes or so, vatukin called my headquarters. As soon as he opened his mouth, he directly asked, "Hello, comrade oshanina, can you see anything from the German army?"


    I hastily replied, "there is no news, comrade commander. The whole front is as silent as death. I think the German army is adjusting its deployment after our shelling. It may take a few hours to launch an attack. "


    "How do you know how many hours it will take for the German army to launch a new attack?" he asked


    "Comrade commander," although I know the exact time of the German attack on the central front army and Voronezh front army in my heart, I will not directly tell him so that he will not doubt it. Instead, I say in an analytical tone: "the number of German troops preparing to attack us must be very large. In the shelling just ended, their organizational system was disrupted by us, If we want to reorganize a new round of attack, we must first gather up the troops. Because of this, I concluded that the German attack should be in a few hours


    After listening to my explanation, vatukin was silent for a long time, and then hesitated to say, "oshanina, I want to hear a word of truth from you. Do you think our shelling really caused casualties to the Germans?"


    "Sorry, comrade commander, I don''t think I understand you." I was confused by vatukin''s thoughtless words, so I asked in a puzzled way: "can''t we fire thousands of guns at the same time, and still not inflict heavy damage on the German troops being assembled?"


    "Not that, not that." Hearing my question, watujing quickly explained: "although shelling is necessary, what I am worried about is that our artillery did not hit any effective target at all. Maybe most of the shells fell in the open space." As soon as he said that, he probably realized that he had said something he shouldn''t have said, so he immediately stopped and then told me, "Comrade o''shanina, pay attention to observation, and report to me in time if you have any information."


    At the end of the call with watujing, I didn''t care to talk to Danilov and them, so I dialed tawalter killazer and asked anxiously, "Comrade General, the shelling has been over for such a long time. Do you have any news there?"


    "Report to Comrade commander." Tavartkiraze politely replied, "there is nothing moving in the front except the smoke in the distance. I even suspect that the German troops preparing to attack have been completely destroyed by our artillery fire. "


    "Comrade General, don''t be too optimistic." From his voice, I recognized that he underestimated the enemy too much, and quickly reminded him: "if the German army were really so easy to be destroyed by us, they would have been driven out of the border by us. Continue to be vigilant and report to me as soon as possible. "


    There is no movement here in tavartkiraze, and there is still no movement on the side of Nekrasov. It seems that the German army is gathering. We can even use these few hours to further strengthen the existing fortifications.


    I put down the phone and stood at the table, thinking with my eyes closed, to see if there was anything missing, so as to make up for it. After thinking about it for a long time, I felt that in order to deal with the swarming German armored forces, besides the anti tank weapons of infantry, it also needed the cooperation of tank forces. Thinking of this, I called Colonel berey again.


    I heard his voice coming out of the headphones and said politely, "Hello, don''t worry, Colonel ray."


    "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?" After finishing the official sentence, berey suddenly changed the topic and asked, "if the German army attacks, where should our tank army be?"


    "How many troops have you deployed behind the first line of defense?" I asked carefully.


    "Comrade commander," said berey, "according to your order, our tanks are all concentrated in the prohorovka area, and there are only two tank battalions behind the first line of defense."


    I was overjoyed to hear that there were two tank battalions behind the first line of defense. Although they only have about 50 tanks, if they are equipped with the new type of t-5455 tanks, then even if they annihilate an Armored Regiment of the German army, there is no problem at all. So I immediately ordered bielei: "Comrade Colonel, according to the trend analysis of the German army during this period, position 4 will become their main attack direction. I order you to immediately transfer a tank battalion to the rear of position 4. If you are attacked by the German armored forces, don''t hit hard, just sneak attack from the side


    "I see." In response to this command, Colonel berey, who was familiar with me, replied without hesitation: "I will send the battalion of the 82nd tank brigade immediately. I believe their performance in the battle will not disappoint you."


    When he put down the phone again this time, Danilov finally found a chance to interrupt. He said to me quickly, "Comrade commander, I have a proposal."¡° Go ahead, comrade deputy commander. " I said politely¡° I suggest that the engineering units of the group army should be sent to the front immediately. " Danilov did not wait for me to ask why, but directly said the answer: "in order to slow down the German assault speed, engineers should lay mines where the German might pass." After listening to Danilov''s proposal, I couldn''t help nodding. It occurred to me that today''s troops are equipped with new tanks, 40 rocket launchers, Kalashnikov rifles and other new weapons, and they actually ignore the role of mines in combat. Aware of this oversight, I immediately told bzikov: "chief of staff, have you heard what the deputy commander said? Immediately give an order to the engineering units of the group army, and let them rush to the defense areas of the 51st and 52nd divisions of the guards to carry out the special task of emergency mine laying. " The order was issued soon, and the engineering troops were assembled within an hour, and they rode 30 trucks to the first line of defense. Almost when the engineer commander called back to report to us that he had successfully arrived at the first line of defense and was laying mines behind the line of defense, tavartkilaze also called. When I took the phone from bzikov''s hand, I heard tavartkilaze''s confused voice: "no, comrade commander, the German army is attacking!" I raised my hand and looked at my watch. The clock had already pointed to the position of six. It seems that the German army launched the attack on Kursk from the South on time, just like in history. I spread out my notebook on my desk, picked up my pencil, and prepared for the record. Then I asked, "tell me, comrade general, what''s the scale of the German offensive?"¡° According to the report of position one, the German army sent out hundreds of tanks to cover the infantry and launched an attack on our position. " Tavartkilaze was probably worried and spoke very fast: "at the front of the attack line were German Tiger tanks. They were in a group of ten to fifteen. They opened the way in front of us and bombarded our defensive positions with tank guns. Then there appeared German tanks No. 3 and No. 4, which also rushed to our position quickly. Behind them were armored vehicles full of German soldiers. "

 Chapter 1113

    The explosion from the receiver made me realize that maybe the situation in the front line is much more serious than I thought, so I nervously asked tavartkilaze, "Comrade General, can you hold the position?"


    My words made tavartkilaze silent for a long time, and then said one word at a time: "Comrade commander, I can only tell you that my subordinates and I will defend three important positions to the death, while in other areas, we have to bear the pain and give up."


    "Even if you want to give up those unimportant areas, it''s after the battle." I was deeply afraid that tavartkilaze would give orders to withdraw casually, so I stressed: "let the commanders and fighters give up their positions in the open field after consuming the enemy''s living strength, quickly withdraw to the highlands on both sides, and strengthen the defensive strength of the main defensive positions."


    As soon as I finished, I heard another violent explosion, and then the deafening sound became so loud that I couldn''t hear what tavartkilaze was saying. A moment later, the voice in the microphone suddenly disappeared.


    "Why is the microphone suddenly silent?" Holding up the microphone, I asked major lophov, the director of communications standing not far away, "major, what''s going on?"


    Lophov quickly came over, took the phone from my hand, listened to it for a while, and then reported to me, "Comrade commander, the line must have been blown up."


    "Can it be fixed?" Kirilov asked with concern: "if we can''t recover quickly, we won''t be able to keep abreast of the situation in time."


    When lophov heard kirilov''s words, he showed a embarrassed expression on his face. He murmured: "Comrade military commissar, it''s tens of kilometers away from the front line. We can''t be sure which section of the telephone line was broken and who should be responsible for the repair. Therefore, it''s unrealistic to restore the telephone communication in a short time." At this point, seeing that our faces were not good-looking, he felt that he continued to say, "of course, if you want to know the situation of the frontier in time, you can also send a telegram. As long as the radio stations of the divisions are not destroyed, the communication will not be interrupted. "


    I saw major lophoff standing in the same place talking to kirilov all the time. He put the receiver on the stand and said impatiently, "major lophoff, what are you doing here? If I didn''t call the guards quickly, I called the headquarters of the tank group army, but katukov was not in the headquarters. I asked the chief of staff who answered the phone anxiously, "do you know where the commander has gone?"


    After a moment''s silence, the other side faltered and said, "general oshanina, because there is no war in the defense area, the commander has gone on holiday these two days."


    "What, on vacation?" When I heard the words of the chief of staff of the group army, I could not help but be surprised. If katukov could not return to his headquarters quickly, the mechanized third army would not be able to provide us with the necessary help while our headquarters was under fierce attack from the German army. So when I heard that katukov was going on holiday, I got a little confused and asked, "do you know when he will be able to return to the headquarters?"


    "Comrade General, please don''t worry. We have issued a battle alarm within the scope of the tank group army and sent someone to inform the commander. I believe that before long, he will be able to... "His words came to a sudden stop, and then I heard his surprised voice in the earphone:" Comrade commander, you are back! "


    "Back," I heard katukov say with great dignity, "I came back as soon as I heard your battle alarm. By the way, chief of staff, who are you talking to? "


    "It''s general o''shanina of the friendly army. She seems to have something important to tell you." The chief of staff quickly replied, "she''s still waiting for you on the line."


    When katukov''s voice came out clearly from the earphone, I couldn''t help cheering up and said excitedly, "Hello, general katukov, I''m looking forward to your return."


    Katukov was also a smart man. Knowing that I was calling him at this time, I was not talking about the past, but for more important things. I didn''t beat around the bush with me. Instead, I said frankly, "Rita, we won''t talk about polite words. Does your army need our support?"


    "Yes, general katukov, the commander of the 51st division of the guards, tavartkiraze, reported to me that the German army was charging towards his position." Because I need katukov''s support, I didn''t hide from him what happened on the battlefield: "I was talking to him when the phone suddenly stopped, so we can''t find out the current situation on the battlefield for the time being."


    "Wait a minute, Rita. I''ll ask the chief of staff what kind of situation we have here." Then, without waiting for my reply, he murmured to the chief of staff next to him in a low voice. Although I tried to listen to what they were talking about, I didn''t know a word.


    After a while, katukov''s voice became clear again: "Rita, I just asked the chief of staff. The situation of the mechanized third army is not optimistic. Some defensive areas are being attacked by the German army. Therefore, I can only draw out 20 tanks and a battalion of infantry to support your 51st guard division and jointly defend the road between Belgorod and Kursk to prevent the German army from passing here. "


    I heard that the reinforcements were equipped with 20 tanks, but my face did not show joy. Instead, I asked cautiously, "general katukov, I don''t know what types of these 20 tanks are?"


    "There are 15 t-34s and five kv-1s, and the drivers are excellent tank soldiers."


    "Why are there no new tanks?" I can''t help but be secretly disappointed to hear the tank models reported by katukov. The two tanks mentioned by him can be destroyed at a distance of 1000 meters or more by Tiger tanks, Panther tanks or the latest No. 4 tanks equipped with 88mm tank guns and 75mm long barrel guns. Our tanks, even if they enter a distance of 500 meters, are equipped with 76mm tank guns, which are difficult to pose a threat to tiger and Panther tanks. I asked in a complaining tone, "Comrade General, as far as I know, your group army is equipped with nearly 500 new tanks. Why not use them today?"


    I thought that katukov would say that we should maintain our strength and wait until the counterattack, and then put the main forces equipped with new tanks into combat. Unexpectedly, he said: "Rita, you don''t know that most of our tank soldiers are lack of training because of the great loss of early personnel and the constant consumption in the war. Moreover, the new type of tank troops have been equipped for some time, but there are not many tank troops who may be proficient in it. If, in this case, the tankers are allowed to drive tanks that are not yet fully familiar with the performance and engage in a battle with the German armored forces under the condition of lack of terrain cover, they may be slaughtered on one side. "


    At this time, a communication staff officer appeared at the door. He quickly walked up to me, raised his hand and handed me a newspaper from a folder under his arm. When I took it over, it turned out that it was a telegram from general tavartkilaze, which read: "the German army has sent out air force to support the attack of ground forces. They are bombing our army in a formation of 20 to 50 planes At present, in our division''s position, the commanders and fighters have launched a fierce and tenacious battle with the enemy. They use 40 rocket launchers and anti tank grenades to deal with the enemy''s tanks, and use machine gun fire and mortars to fire at the attacking enemy.... "


    Danilov stood beside me, tilted his head, read the telegram, and said to himself, "our commanders and fighters have played well, they have been very tenacious."


    Maybe I was patronizing telegrams and ignoring katukov, so that he asked anxiously at the other end of the line, "Hello, Rita, Rita, are you still there? Why don''t you talk? "


    "I''m here, general katukov." After I answered in a hurry, I explained the reason to him and said, "I''m reading the telegram from the front line. At present, in addition to sending out a large number of tanks to cover their infantry to attack our positions, the German army also sent out a large number of bombers to bombard our positions indiscriminately. Our officers and men are still holding fast to their positions and have launched a fierce battle with the invading enemy. "


    "What, the German air force?" Hearing this unexpected news, katukov could not help worrying, "if I don''t control the air, no matter how many tanks I send, I will be the target of German aircraft.". No, I''m going to call commander vatukin and ask him to let the Fifth Army of the air force attack and drive the German planes out of the airspace of our defensive zone. "


    I thought katukov''s proposal was good, and quickly agreed: "general katukov, please negotiate with commander vatukin about asking the air force to dispatch."


    After less than ten minutes, bezikov, who went outside to observe the situation, returned to the house and reported to us: "our air force has been dispatched. According to my observation, the first flight formation is composed of six to eight fighters and bombers. It seems that they are not only preparing to drive German aircraft out of the battlefield, but also planning to attack German tanks, artillery and infantry. "


    After listening, kirilov said in a suspicious tone: "we have a limited number of planes. Even if we target German tanks, how many can we destroy?"


    "Comrade military commissar, you are ignorant." Danilov''s face was always smiling when he heard our air force move out. At the moment, he heard kirilov say this and interrupted: "as far as I know, our air force has just been equipped with a new type of anti tank bomb. Although the weight is only 1.5-2.5 kg, it will not bounce away when it is thrown on the German tank, it will stick to the tank body and explode, making the enemy''s tank burn instantly. "


    My heart was still wondering whether this antitank bomb was another masterpiece of engineer florin, when another communications officer came quickly and handed a new telegram to bzikov, who was nearest to the door.


    After taking a look at it, bzikov went back to the table and read the telegram aloud to us: "our soldiers have the will of iron and steel to defend their positions. In the battle to defend position 4, the fortified company on the high ground launched a fierce battle with the German infantry covered by 28 tanks Although there were only 17 people left on the highland after the battle, they stubbornly blocked the German attack and destroyed 18 German tanks and more than 300 soldiers. "


    Every word in the telegram represents a bloody battle, and every word means the death of hundreds of people. When bezikov handed me the telegram, he said in a low voice: "Rita, your speech at the pre war meeting is like an exercise. It seems that you have estimated everything..." before bezikov finished his words, Kirilov broke in and said, "Rita, it seems that your judgment is completely correct. Position 4 is the key point of German attack. You should immediately order Colonel nikolasov to send reinforcements to position 4." The report of nikolasov made my heart ache as if I had been seized by something. I thought that there was a perfect defense system in position 4. It was more than enough to strengthen the company for ten days and a half months. In less than an hour, only one tenth of the company was left. If we continue to fight like this, it will become a "flesh and blood mill" sooner or later. Danilov looked at me and asked, "it seems that we can''t just use infantry to defend our positions. There are too many casualties. Comrade commander, do you think we can use artillery to intercept the enemy in the next German attack, and send tank battalions to attack from the flank of the German army to destroy their tanks After thinking about Danilov''s proposal, I still shook my head and refused. At the same time, I explained my reasons to him: "Comrade deputy commander, wait a moment and see how our air force performs. If there is no air supremacy, even if our new tanks are heavily armored and bombarded by the enemy''s air force, it is not easy to survive. "¡° However, comrade commander, if we only rely on infantry to hold our position, we will pay huge casualties. " Although his proposal was rejected by me, Danilov was still unwilling to say: "do we just watch our commanders and fighters, use our flesh and blood to resist the enemy''s attack?" Before I could speak, bzikov took a telegram from the communication staff who came in and quickly came to me. At the same time, he still said, "Comrade commander, at last, we have some good news."

 Chapter 1114

    "Good news, what good news?" When I heard bzikov''s words, I raised my eyebrows and asked unexpectedly, "Comrade chief of staff, I don''t know what kind of good news?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Bezikov handed me the telegram, while honoring my rank, and reported: "there are two things in the telegram: first, the higher authorities put the 96th tank brigade under the command of our group army; Second, it was sent by the engineering unit we just sent. The commander reported in the telegram that they were laying mines in front of position 4 in the interval of fighting. There are a large number of anti tank mines among them, which are believed to delay the advance speed of German armored forces. "


    I glanced at the telegram, handed it to Danilov, and then said to bezikov, "chief of staff, call them back. If the minefield can really block the German tanks, I will honor them when they come back." When I finished, I immediately stared nervously at Danilov and kirilov, fearing that they would raise objections.


    I didn''t expect Danilov to say reasonably, "I agree with the commander. Engineers and soldiers are laying mines under the enemy''s eyes and under the enemy''s fire. This task is very difficult and arduous. In any case, they will pay huge casualties. I think it is absolutely necessary to give them awards and awards. "


    When he heard Danilov say so, kirilov echoed: "chief of staff, you must make it clear to them when you call back. As long as they can complete the task, the commanders and fighters, whether alive or dead, will receive their due honor. "


    "Yes, I''ll do it right away." Bezikov agreed, turned and trotted out of the room.


    When Danilov saw that there were only a few of us left in the room, he mentioned the old story again: "Comrade commander, since our commanders and fighters can beat back the first German attack, I believe they can beat back the second, third and even more attacks. In that case, why not transfer our reserve team to reinforce? You know, we have at least three divisions in our hands to use. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, please listen to my explanation." Danilov''s performance made me feel a headache, but I had to be patient to explain to him: "although our shelling disrupted the German offensive steps, we have to say that their strength is still very strong. Their attacks, like a tsunami, spread all over the world. No matter how strong a dam we build, we will be smashed in the stormy waves. Only when they break through our first line of defense, the strength will be weakened. At this time, our second line of defense can give full play to the gate and block their attack. "


    "The first line of defense has been broken, are you so sure to hold the second line of defense?" Danilov continued, uneasily.


    "It should be able to hold, and it must be." In order to stop Danilov''s wishful thinking, it is necessary for me to express my heart to him: "in terms of defense in depth, I think about the anti tank defense capability of the army, so as to resist the attack of the enemy''s large-scale armored forces. Build all kinds of anti tank obstacles. All kinds of anti tank obstacles are built in front of the positions which are most threatened by tanks and in the defense depth. At the same time, in order to deal with the enemy, Tiger tanks and peidinan self-propelled guns were widely used. We built a strong anti tank area with strong support points in the most dangerous direction, and made the artillery reach the maximum density. This can be explained to you by the artillery commander of the group army, Colonel povsky


    At my command, povsky stood up and said respectfully to Danilov, "thanks to the systematic training, our artillery skills have improved significantly. Now, after the enemy appears in a certain area, as long as the artillery observers can point out the coordinates of Hitler''s bandits in time, our artillery can fire accurately in less than a minute. "


    My words with povsky finally reassured Danilov. Looking at Danilov sitting at the table, staring at the map and thinking about things, I can''t help sighing. My heart says that he doesn''t know every step of my plan, but at the critical moment, he can''t hold his breath. He worries about this or that. In order to make him feel at ease, I have to spend time explaining to him. At the same time, I am also glad that he is not the commander, otherwise with his constantly changing character, this battle will not be able to be fought.


    He walked in from the outside, followed by lieutenant gretka. I looked at them blankly as they came to the wall and turned on the radio in the corner. After a sharp electric current, a hysterical voice came out of the radio, and gretka stood aside to interpret for us: "our slogan is: victory or death. The head of state said that I started from the beginning. His words are being further confirmed. The great Germanic army has started an unprecedented attack on Kursk. As long as there is another decisive blow, the Bolshevik front will collapse God, may you protect our military power... "


    Hearing this, kirilov suddenly said, "OK, close it. Goebbels will only use his own boast to cover up the truth of German defeat." Then he waved at gretka, signaling him to go out first.


    After gretka left, Danilov said thoughtfully: "although Goebbels said big words, I think the intention of the German army is very obvious, that is, to wipe out all our troops deployed in the Kursk protrusion through the North-South pincer attack." At this point, he sneered, "their appetite is not small. It depends on whether they have good teeth. Maybe by the end of the day, we can have all their teeth broken


    Bezikov, who turned off the radio, stood at the table and looked at the map for a while. Then he looked up at me and said with a worried face, "Comrade commander, from the current situation, it''s only a matter of time before our first line of defense is broken." At this point, he deliberately stopped for a moment. Seeing that I nodded my approval, he continued, "but what I am most worried about is not the first line of defense, but the 67th division of guards deployed in butovo. Their task is to monitor the German Grand German division and to cover the right wing of the mechanized Third Army. "


    After listening to bezikov''s worries, I stared at the map for a while and then replied, "between tomarovka and butovo, there are rivers and swamps everywhere, and mines everywhere. If the German army chooses here as the direction of attack, it is bound to pay heavy casualties. Moreover, the commander of the 67th division of the guards, Colonel baksov, is also a commander with rich combat experience. He must have taken adequate defensive measures. " At this point, I digress from the topic, "the problem we are facing now is how to make the German army no longer attack the main positions in the front line, but rush to the areas we deliberately give up."


    After my words came out, no one in the room answered. I waited for a while, but when I saw that they still kept silent, I had to say to myself, "since the Germans don''t know how to praise us, it''s not a bad thing to let them run into more walls in front of our positions. At least they can consume more of their living strength."


    As soon as I spoke, I heard a rush of footsteps, and then communications director ROP Hoff rushed into the room. Seeing his unexpected appearance, I could not help but feel a thump in my heart, saying that the defense areas of the 51st and 52nd divisions of the guards were attacked by the German army again? So without waiting for him to speak, I asked, "major, is it the news from the 51st and 52nd divisions of the guards?"


    Lophov was stunned, then shook his head and said, "no, comrade commander." As soon as I breathed a sigh of relief, I heard him say, "it''s an urgent telegram from the 67th division of Jinwei."


    When I heard about the telegram from the 67th division of the guards, I felt a sense of uncertainty again. I snatched the telegram from his hand and took it to my eyes to check it carefully. It read: "the German army is sending out a regiment of infantry and 70 tanks, with the support of 60 or 70 fighters, to launch a fierce attack on butovo."


    "Comrade commander, what''s the matter?" "I see your face has changed," Danilov asked curiously


    I thrust the telegram into Danilov''s hand and said solemnly, "the German Grand German division has begun to attack bhuttovo." Then I went to the table and picked up the phone on the table.


    Kirilov asked me curiously, "Rita, who are you calling?"


    "I called commander vatukin and asked him to send air force units to support butovo." I first told the signalman to get through to the front command. While waiting for the other party''s response, I said to kirilov, "there is no air defense force in the 67th division. Under the German bombing, there will be heavy casualties."


    As soon as I got through the phone, I was able to answer the phone directly and said, "Comrade commander, the great German division has sent out a infantry regiment and 70 tanks to attack bhuttovo. At the same time, there are 60 or 70 enemy planes bombing our positions. I ask you to send the air force to support bhuttovo''s defenders, otherwise they will be hard to hold their positions under the three-dimensional offensive of the German army. "


    "Comrade oshanina," vatujing explained helplessly when he heard my request, "in order to fight for the air supremacy of the battlefield, all our planes have been sent out. Even if we need air support for bhuttovo, it will take at least an hour. "


    An hour later, when I heard what watujing said, I really wanted to cry. I had to wait for such a long time, and the cauliflower was cold. It seems that it''s better to ask others than myself. After I put down the phone, I sighed and said to several colleagues around me, "commander vatukin said that our fighters have all taken off to fight with the German air force for air supremacy in the battlefield, so even if we have to support bhuttovo, it will be at least an hour later."


    "It''s too long to wait for an hour, isn''t it?" Danilov said with some despair: "the 67th division of the close guard, which has no air defense weapons, must have suffered a lot of casualties after being so intensively bombed."


    I closed my eyes and thought for a moment, then turned to ask bzikov, "Comrade chief of staff, which is the nearest army to butovo?" In my mind, bhuttovo must not be lost, so we should consider sending troops to reinforce him¡° By the way, didn''t you just say that the superior put the 96th tank brigade under our command? I don''t know if they are far away from butovo. If they can''t, they will go to reinforce the 67th division first


    After hearing this, bzikov shook his head and said with a bitter face, "Comrade commander, the 96th tank brigade has not arrived at oboyan yet. They can''t get to butovo without four or five hours." At this point, I frowned and quickly said, "but lieutenant colonel chejerikov''s infantry regiment is very close to butovo, and there is also a tank company in his regiment. All eight tanks are new tanks of the newly installed troops. You can send him to support."


    "No hurry, just wait." If the 96th tank brigade is there, I will send them there without hesitation. Who knows that only one tank company in the shejerikov regiment can be used now. It''s just a drop in the bucket for bhuttovo''s defense, so I said vaguely, "wait until bhuttovo is lost." As soon as I finished, another communications officer came in and gave me a telegram. After reading the telegram, I really wanted to slap myself in the face and scold myself as a crow. He said butovo was going to fall, but he didn''t expect to fall. "Bhuttovo has been lost. Our division is retreating to the cherkaskoye area under the pressure of the German army. Please direct the group army to move in the next step," Colonel baksov wrote in his telegram I slapped the telegram heavily on the table and told bzikov angrily, "chief of staff, you sent a telegram back to Colonel barksov, telling him that my order is to take back butovo for me at all costs before dark."¡° Do you need to send reinforcements from somewhere? " Before leaving, bezikov specially consulted me. In this case, even if I can''t see the new regiment of shejerikov clearly, in order to ensure the right wing of our group army, I still decisively ordered and said, "by the way, you can send a telegram to lieutenant colonel shejerikov, and ask him to leave a battalion to continue to be responsible for the security of the traffic line. The remaining two infantry battalions and a tank company will immediately move to butovo. Let him actively cooperate with the barksov division''s counterattack against bhuttovo. Do you understand? " Not long after bezikov had left, the telephone on the desk suddenly rang. Danilov picked up the phone and listened for a while. Then he said to me solemnly, "Comrade commander, general tavartkilaze, reports that the German army, under the cover of the plane, dispatched about 200 tanks to the position of the 51st division of the guards in an attempt to break through our position."

 Chapter 1115

    When bhuttovo was lost, Yakovlev was attacked by the German army, which made me headache. At this time, Danilov mentioned the old story again: "Comrade commander, it seems that the situation of the 51st division of the guards is very dangerous. Maybe they can''t hold the position under the attack of the enemy. Therefore, I suggest that the 89th and 92nd divisions of the guards directly under the group army be put into combat immediately. "


    "I don''t agree, comrade deputy commander." After listening to his words, I was not famous immediately. However, in order to worry about my image, I didn''t fly into a rage. I just said sternly: "the two divisions you just mentioned are our general reserves. They can''t be used easily until the last moment. Moreover, it''s about 50 kilometers from their station to Yakovlev. Even if they take a bus, it will take two hours at the fastest. Now the enemy planes are flying over us. If there is a convoy of more than 200 trucks on the road, it will be the target of the enemy planes. It is estimated that before they arrive at Yakovlev, they will be defeated by the heavy bombardment of enemy planes. "


    Who knows Danilov said with disapproval: "Comrade commander, if we do not reinforce the 51st division of the guards in time, I am afraid they will not be able to withstand the German attack. Moreover, in order to ensure that the defense line is not broken by the German army, I think it is worth the sacrifice. "


    After listening to what he said, I shrunk my mouth and laughed bitterly in my heart: "this is the fixed thinking of the older generation of soldiers. In order to win, they only rely on their personal courage and enthusiasm. For them, as long as they can get the final victory, even if they pay a big sacrifice. And what I have to do is to win the most at the least cost. "


    While I was still thinking about how to reply, povsky, who received a phone call next to me, suddenly reported to me: "Comrade commander, according to the artillery observer, the positions of the group artillery during the early morning shelling were heavily bombed by the German air force a few minutes ago. Several heavy guns that had not yet been transferred were all destroyed in the bombing, with nearly 100 artillery casualties. "


    When I heard the bad news, I slapped the table on the table and started to attack povsky: "Comrade Colonel, didn''t I ask you to order the artillery to withdraw to the original defense area immediately after finishing the shelling? Why are the artillery and artillery still in their original positions? Didn''t you expect that the enemy would retaliate by shelling or bombing the area? "


    Bowski, who was criticized by me, bowed his head and replied in shame: "Comrade commander, this is the situation. After the early morning shelling, the heavy artillery battalion was ordered to move. As a result of the transfer process, a truck towing artillery had a problem and dropped anchor in the middle. In order to wait for the car, the battalion commander ordered the whole battalion to stop. Who knows, the car was not repaired, but the German plane came first. "


    "Captain, remove the battalion commander immediately and take him to military court." I heard that it was a wrong order from an artillery battalion commander, which directly led to the destruction of several heavy guns of our army and the tragedy of hundreds of casualties. I couldn''t help but get angry. I pointed to povsky and said to him, "go and give this order at once."


    When povsky heard my order, he said with a bitter face, "Comrade commander, please forgive me. I don''t think it''s possible to send this artillery battalion commander to the military court?"


    "Why?" I asked angrily. At the same time, I thought that even if the artillery battalion commander had something to do with it, I would never forgive him.


    "Because, because..." after two consecutive reasons, povsky suddenly summoned up courage and then said: "in the bombing of the enemy plane, the truck of the artillery battalion commander was directly hit by the bomb, which led to the death of the shells in the carriage. He was blown to the bone."


    Since the battalion commander who gave the wrong order had died, I would not worry about it any more. Instead, I told him, "Comrade Colonel, at present our air force has not been able to control the air in the battlefield, so our artillery should pay attention to concealment and not become the target of enemy planes. If the artillery is completely destroyed, we will not be able to fight the next battle. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Povsky assured me solemnly, "I''ll say hello to the heads of the regiments again to avoid similar things happening again."


    I turned to Yakovlev again. "Colonel, the German army is now rushing to the position of the tavartkilaze division. Can our artillery help them?"


    "No problem." Povsky agreed very readily, "in the rear of the first line of defense, we have deployed a cannon regiment and a close guard rocket battalion. Except for the shelling in the early morning, they have been on standby. I can order them to intercept the German army line attacking Yakovlev."


    "Captain, in that case, what are you doing here?" When I heard bofsky''s proposal, I urged him: "give the artillery a firing order quickly, and try to destroy more German tanks in the open field."


    The phone on the desk in front of me rang again when povsky assigned his men a task. Danilov picked it up and listened for a moment. Then he put his hand over the phone and handed it to me. At the same time, he kindly reminded me, "it''s commander watujing. His attitude is not friendly."


    I am very clear that vatukin''s call at this time is probably for the sake of bhuttovo''s fall. So I silently took the call from Danilov, put it in my ear, and respectfully said, "Hello, comrade commander of the front army, I''m oshanina. Do you have any instructions?" A moment later, vatukin''s roaring voice almost broke my eardrum, so that I had to move the receiver away from my ear, only to hear him say angrily: "Comrade oshanina, please explain to me why you lost bhuttovo, why don''t you report it to me in time? If I had not seen the news of the German occupation of butovo from the intelligence intercepted by the intelligence department, I would not have known that our front line had been broken through by the German forces. " I can''t laugh or cry about vatukin''s responsibilities. I reported to him when bhuttovo was bombed by German troops and attacked by ground armored forces, and asked him to send air force support. I didn''t expect that at the moment, he would blame me for butovo''s failure. However, when he finished speaking, I had to be careful and say: "Comrade commander, I have ordered the commander of the 67th division of the guards, Colonel baksov, to organize the troops to fight back and ask him to take back butovo before dark." After listening to my reply, vatukin snorted coldly and said impolitely, "Comrade oshanina, remember that although the German offensive is fierce, you must keep butovo anyway. Even if we can''t hold on, we have to drag the enemy there for at least three days. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander. " I raised my hand to look at my watch and explained to him, "I''ve sent a new regiment of lieutenant colonel chejerikov to help the barksov division fight back against bhuttovo. I''m sure I can get the city back."¡° Is this leader reliable? " After listening to what I said, vatukin hesitated and asked, "what do I mean? Is Lt. Col. chejerikov reliable? Does he have relevant combat experience?"¡° Don''t worry, comrade commander. " Shejerikov has always been one of my highly valued subordinates. No matter in defensive or offensive warfare, he has a good set of skills. At this moment, when I hear watujing''s question, I naturally want to say a few good words for him: "Lieutenant Colonel shejerikov has been my subordinate since the establishment of the independent division in Stalingrad. He is an excellent commander with rich combat experience." After I introduced shijerikov, I heard that vatukin was obviously relieved, and then he said, "in that case, in three hours, that is, at two o''clock in the afternoon, you can report to me the information about the attack on butovo." Danilov saw me put down the phone, hesitated for a moment, then said to me: "Comrade commander, the current situation is not optimistic, our first line of defense is in danger, we must provide some help to our commanders and fighters. Why don''t you transfer Colonel cheroff''s 90th division to strengthen the 67th division? " I stare at Danilov and don''t speak. I feel extremely ambivalent at the moment. It''s just like a shareholder who has just bought a ticket and immediately encounters the drop limit. Is it a brave man who will be resolute? Or wait patiently until break even? However, before making this decision, I must first make it clear whether this slump is a general trend or a technical adjustment. After walking back and forth in the room, my thinking gradually became clear: the battle of Kursk ended with the victory of the Soviet army and the defeat of the German army, so the current difficulties are temporary. With the strength of my own, I should be able to block the German army''s attack or counterattack bhuttovo. Thinking of this, I stopped, turned around, walked quickly to the table, and said to Danilov, "Comrade deputy commander, I have made up my mind. The reserves will not move." Seeing what he wanted to say, I quickly raised my hand to stop him and said to myself, "I believe that either general tavartkilaze or Colonel baksov can defend Yakovlev or recover butovo with their strength." Seeing that I was so stubborn, Danilov had no choice but to hold his nose and promise, "well, comrade commander, since you say so, I respect your decision." Towards twelve o''clock, the director of communications, lophov, sent two telegrams: one from major general tavartkiraze and the other from Colonel baksov. "The German attack has been shattered by our brave guards," tavartkiraze wrote in his telegram. They left nearly 40 burning tanks and more than 500 corpses in front of our position, and then they went back to their starting position Baksov''s telegram was simpler: "bhuttovo has recovered!"

 Chapter 1116

    After everyone read the telegram, the atmosphere in the headquarters became relaxed. Everyone was very happy and relieved. Bhuttovo is in the southwest of oboyan. Once the German army has a firm foothold there, it will become an excellent starting point for them to prepare for the attack on oboyan.


    Although vatukin ordered me to report to him at 2 p.m. the situation of the counter attack on butovo, since the lost city has been recovered, there is no need to wait so long. I want to tell him the good news as soon as possible.


    When vatukin heard my voice, he asked lazily, "Comrade oshanina, you are calling at this time. What can I do for you? Is it necessary for me to send air force to cover your attack on bhuttovo? "


    I didn''t care about vatukin''s attitude. Instead, I reported to him with a smile: "Comrade commander, not long ago, our 67th division of guards had expelled the German army from butovo and successfully recovered the city."


    "What, butovo has recovered?" "Less than an hour after the end of the last call, did you succeed in recovering bhuttovo?" vatukin asked in surprise


    "Yes, comrade commander." I really feel speechless about his skeptical attitude. However, I answered truthfully: "although I have not received detailed information about the war, Colonel baksov''s command of his troops has successfully recovered butovo and driven or destroyed the German army in the city."


    "Now that you''ve taken the city back, you should firmly hold on to it." "If the German Grand German division wants to rush to oboyan, it must first seize butovo. The rest of the area is either a river or a swamp, and it is also full of mines, which is not conducive to the development of their mechanized forces," said watujing calmly


    Vatukin''s words made me understand why he would be angry at me when he heard that bhuttovo was lost, because bhuttovo was like a gate, firmly blocking the German road to oboyan. Once the German army occupied the area, their large forces would flood oboyan like a tide and open the road to Kursk.


    After the call with watujing, I suddenly remembered something and immediately asked bzikov, "chief of staff, does the 52nd division of Jinwei have the latest war report?"


    Bzikov shook his head and replied, "after the first attack of the German army was defeated, there was no new attack against the 52nd division of the guards. Instead, the main force was turned to the direction of the 51st division of the guards. It seems that they want to concentrate their forces to make a breakthrough first, and then form a encirclement of the 51st and 52nd divisions of the guards. "


    "It doesn''t matter. The two guard divisions have a lot of weapons, ammunition and materials in their key defensive positions, which are enough to support a week or two of high-intensity fighting." As for bezikov''s worry, I said with disapproval: "even if the German army encircles them, it''s nothing serious. In a week at most, we''ll be able to get them to run away in a mess. "


    Speaking of this, I suddenly found that all the people were looking at me with strange eyes, and immediately realized that they were quick to say what they shouldn''t say. They quickly closed their mouths, pretended to be nothing, and looked down at the map spread out in front of them.


    But my words attracted kirilov''s attention. He and I have been working together for quite a long time. Knowing that I would never speak aimlessly, he asked with concern, "Rita, if I hear you right, do you think we can repel the German attack in a week at most?"


    All the people focused on me because of kirilov''s words. Seeing that this question could not be avoided, I thought about it for a moment, and then figured out the countermeasures. Then I replied with a laugh: "comrades commander, don''t look at the German army''s fierce attack this time. They are not willing to take Kursk. But they forget that we have not only got three months'' rest time here, but also built a perfect defense system. The fierce attack of the German army will be weakened little by little in front of our solid defense system, and their living strength will be consumed a lot. It is on this basis that I judge that the German offensive will last about a week at most, and will be defeated by us because of the exhaustion of strength. "


    When I had finished, Danilov unexpectedly agreed. He nodded his head and said, "yes, I think Comrade commander''s words are very reasonable. Over the past three months, we have built a total length of 400 kilometers of trenches and traffic trenches, laid 80000 mines and blasting mines, and erected 60 kilometers of barbed wire. "


    Although Danilov is not suitable to be an independent commander, as a deputy commander, he is undoubtedly very qualified. He doesn''t need to look at the records in his notebook at all for all kinds of data in the defense area. He can tell the story of Zi Chou Yin Mao by opening his mouth.


    After waiting for Danilov to express his views, bezikov looked at me and asked, "Comrade commander, I have a proposal. Should Colonel berey be allowed to move his headquarters to us?"


    After listening to bzikov''s proposal, I couldn''t help wondering, "chief of staff, why did Colonel berey move his headquarters here?"


    "Comrade commander," bzikov replied solemnly, "at present, there are three tank brigades in our defense area. Nowadays, every time a tank unit is mobilized, it is necessary to give an order to Colonel bere first, and then he will convey it to the tank brigades. The situation of the enemy on the battlefield is changing rapidly, and every minute is precious. Let Colonel berey come here, and every command you give can be directly transmitted to the tank brigade, instead of wasting time to turn once. "


    I carefully thought over what bezikov said, and felt that he was very reasonable. I raised my finger to him and said, "chief of staff, your proposal is good. Then call Colonel berey immediately and ask him to move the headquarters of the tank army here Bezikov was on the phone, and lophov came in again from the outside. Looking at the telegraph in his hand, I felt particularly uncomfortable, because it meant that a certain area was attacked by the German army again. When he came up to me, I frowned and asked, "major, what''s the bad news this time?" As he handed me the telegram, lophov replied, "report commander, the German army has launched another attack on Yakovlev. At present, a large number of enemies have been found in front of No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 of the 51st division. " I took the telegram and glanced at it casually. Seeing that it was similar to what lophov said, I handed it to Danilov behind me and asked casually, "major, have the telephone lines of the 51st and 52nd divisions of the guards been repaired?" Lophoff shook his head and said: "from the current situation, the telephone lines of the forward forces and the headquarters have not been completely repaired, so our communication can only be completed by telegram for the time being." But as soon as he saw me frowning, he quickly said, "but please rest assured that our communication forces here and in the forefront have sent our communication soldiers to check the line. Maybe in half an hour or even less, we can resume telephone contact with the front line." After I sent lophov away, I called Danilov and kirilov. They gathered around the map in front of the table to study what measures general tavartkilaze would take to stop the German attack on Yakovlev. After repeated deduction by several of us, we felt that the 51st division of tavartkilaze''s close guard was fully capable of blocking the German attack, so we were all relieved. Just then, the telephone on the desk rang. I grabbed the microphone at any time, stuck it to my ear and said aloud, "Hello, I''m o''shanina. Where are you?" A moment later, I heard the voice of the 51st division commander of Jinwei come out from the receiver. He said excitedly: "Hello, comrade commander, I''m tavartkilaze."¡° Hello, Comrade General From his business, I could not suppress the joy, so I also asked in a good mood: "did your troops beat back the German attack?"¡° Yes, comrade commander, your guess is too correct. One of the enemy''s attacks was repulsed by us. " Tavartkilaze excitedly told me about their fighting process: "when the enemy comes, our artillery, mortars, Katyusha rockets and machine guns give the enemy a head-on attack with fierce fire. At this time, our air force also appeared over the battlefield. The bombers drove the enemy''s bombers away from our sky, while the bombers dived to bomb the German armor and troops. In the battle, both sides fought very hard and tenacious. After the enemy tanks entered our minefield, one by one they were destroyed, but the tanks behind them continued to rush forward in an attempt to open up a way for the succeeding troops in the minefield. Their Tiger tanks and peidinan self-propelled guns used artillery fire to cover the impact of medium tanks and infantry. In the face of this iron and steel storm, our troops fought bravely. They used all their weapons to fight against the enemy. The soldiers used 40 rocket launchers to fire guns from close range at the track. Some brave soldiers risked their lives to rush to the enemy''s tanks and plug mines, grenades and flasks under the track. Our commanders and fighters took advantage of the opportunity that the enemy''s tanks were in chaos and could not take care of the infantry. They rushed out with new assault rifles and wiped out all the infantry who had lost the cover of tanks. " Just as I heard this, I was elated when I saw the director of intelligence, rasmishin, running in, holding a telegram in his hand. The newspaper didn''t say anything, and his face was particularly ugly. Seeing this, I quickly covered the microphone and nervously asked him, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter?" Before rasmishin came to me, he raised his hand and handed me the telegram. At the same time, he said with a straight face: "Comrade commander, with the latest information just received, the German army rushed into butovo again." As soon as rasmishin''s words came out, the air in the headquarters suddenly solidified.

 Chapter 1117

    It is conceivable that the news shocked everyone, including me. After the silence lasted for quite a long time, Danilov stammered: "Comrade commander, how... How can this happen? Haven''t we just recovered butovo?"


    My eyes swept around the crowd, and finally fell on Danilov. In just a few seconds, I had made my own decision. I said to Danilov, "Comrade deputy commander, I plan to go to the guards in person." where can I find your division commander, Colonel baksov? " I asked.


    Without hesitation, the second lieutenant pointed to the southwest and said decisively, "the division headquarters is located in a small wooden house in the south of the village. The division commander should be discussing the operational deployment with several commanders at the moment."


    "I see. Thank you, comrade lieutenant." After thanking the lieutenant, I closed the door and told the driver, "go to the division headquarters in the south of the village."


    The jeep drove several hundred meters along the dirt road. I saw many sentries standing guard outside a big wooden house on the left side of the road. I pointed to the driver and said, "the division headquarters is there. Let''s drive."


    When the car stopped at the gate of the headquarters, an officer on duty immediately came over and saw that I was the one who came down from the car. He quickly raised his hand to salute me and reported: "Hello, comrade commander, comrade division commander is holding a combat meeting inside."


    "You wait here," I said to bukov, who had just got out of the car, and his two subordinates. "There should be no danger here. I can do it alone."


    Under the guidance of the officer on duty, I went into baksov''s headquarters. As soon as I entered the door, I saw a group of helmeted commanders around the simple wooden table in the middle of the room, staring at the map spread on it and studying.


    I stopped only two steps away from them and asked them in a loud voice, "comrades commander, what are you doing?"


    The people who were discussing listened and saw clearly that I was the one who came in. Everyone straightened up and stood at attention. Colonel baksov saluted me and reported, "Comrade commander, the 67th division of the guards is studying how to recover butovo. Sir, Colonel baksov


    I stepped forward two steps, came to the table and sat down. Then I looked at the dirty and broken map on the table and asked, "how are you doing?"


    Barksov, who stood straight in front of me, reported: "according to the current situation, our officers and men are fighting bravely to defend butovo..."


    "Wait a minute, comrade colonel." When I heard this, I interrupted him impatiently: "the headquarters of the group army has already known that bhuttovo has been occupied by the Germans. What do you mean by" heroic fighting "


    "Well, comrade commander." "Although the German army occupied most of butovo, we still have a few small troops in the city. I believe they will break through soon," barksov said


    "Break through, where to break through?" Hearing what baksov said, I couldn''t help being anonymous, and I didn''t remember to save face for him. In front of his subordinates, I began to criticize him: "let them all escape to this village and give the city to the Germans completely?"


    Barksov, who was criticized by me, didn''t say anything. He just took off his helmet and wiped his forehead with his sleeve.


    Seeing his rather embarrassed appearance, I could not bear it, so I slowed down and asked, "what troops are left in the city, and how many troops are there?"


    "Comrade commander, please allow me to report to you." Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out in the room. I looked up in the direction of the voice and saw that the person standing across the table was actually lieutenant colonel shijerikov.


    Seeing my old subordinate, I couldn''t help smiling. I raised my chin to him and said in a friendly way, "Comrade commander, it''s up to you to report."


    "A few hours ago, we succeeded in driving the Germans out of butovo, and reinforced the fortifications just south of the city to cope with the enemy''s attack again." "I didn''t expect that the German army launched another attack when we were not stable," he said in a calm tone. Because our fortifications were destroyed by gunfire or bombing in the early fighting, we resisted tenaciously in the face of infantry covered by tanks, but we were rushed into butovo again by the Germans. However, two companies of our regiment are still in the city. Relying on the street fortifications, they are engaged in street fighting with the enemy. "


    If baksov said that the troops were fighting in the streets, I would be worried, because they would only use the sea of people tactics to fight against the Germans, no matter they were attacking or defending. That would not only increase the casualties of the troops, but also help to defend butovo. When I heard that Xie jerikov''s subordinates were engaged in street fighting in the city, I felt a lot more secure. Although Xie jerikov''s regiment is a new regiment, its commanders and battle backbones all went through Stalingrad''s defensive battle. Street fighting is a familiar way. No matter how small the number is, we should be able to persist until our troops rush into the city again.


    I raised my hand, looked up and asked baksov, "Comrade Colonel, it''s three o''clock in the afternoon. Can your troops recapture butovo before four o''clock?"


    After listening to me, barksov was silent. From his frown, I guessed that he was thinking about whether he could finish the order I gave him within the time limit. After much deliberation, he shook his head and replied, "sorry, comrade commander, I don''t think I can do it."¡° Give me a reason, comrade colonel. " Although I tried my best to control my emotions, my tone of voice was still aggressive¡° Comrade commander, "baksov said," my soldiers have been in a state of intense fighting since early in the morning. They are very tired and need to rest. As your subordinate, I don''t want to lie to you. We will try our best to do what we can do. If we can get artillery and air support, we can get rid of the Germans around ten o''clock tonight. But I''m not sure I''ll get rid of the Germans before four o''clock. "

 Chapter 1118

    Barksov''s statement made me feel a strong panic. As the head of a division, he did not regain the confidence of the city. Would his commanders have the same mentality as him? No, this bhuttovo must be taken back from the German hands, and stick to the order of vatukin for more than three days.


    Thinking of this, I looked at baksov and said, "Comrade Colonel, you should know the importance of bhuttovo. Once the German forces have established themselves, they will take this place as the starting point for their attack on oboyan. As long as oboyan fails, the road to Kursk will be opened. Comrade baksov, the situation is very critical. With the assault capability of the German armored forces, they will rush to oboyan in one or two hours. "


    "It seems that we must expel the German army from the city as soon as possible and keep bhuttovo firmly so that they can''t move forward." Barksov asked helplessly, "will you allow me to go to the front to direct the attack, comrade commander?"


    Although barksov has been my subordinate for a long time, I have never seen him command the war and I don''t know what his ability is. At this moment, he said that he would go to the front to command the battle, and I quickly said, "yes, comrade Colonel, I will go to the front with you."


    Barksov frowned and said, "Comrade commander, if I were you, I would give up this ridiculous idea. As a group commander, you don''t have to go to the front to risk your life. You should know that there is no place where bullets can''t hit, or even be bombarded by the enemy. "


    "Don''t frighten me, comrade Colonel," I said with a disapproving smile at baksov''s worries. You know, I''ve been at the front line almost all the time since I joined the army, and I''ve probably fought more than you can imagine. " At this point, I stopped for a moment, because I saw baksov''s blush, and quickly slowed down and said, "I''m going to meet your men, see those who are going to recover butovo, and cheer them up as commander of the group army."


    Barksov hesitated for a moment, then turned around and gave orders to the commanders standing at the table: "all the commanders, follow me. Let''s go to the front line."


    On the way to the front command post along the traffic moat, I asked baksov in a low voice, "Comrade Colonel, have the residents of butovo been evacuated?"


    When baksov heard my question, he slowed down his pace, turned around and said, "Comrade report commander, after yesterday''s meeting, I went back to the city and organized people all night to evacuate the residents." Because I didn''t make a statement immediately after listening to it, baksov was a little nervous and took the initiative to admit his mistake to me: "Comrade commander, I''m wrong. I dare not evacuate the residents of the city without asking for your instructions."


    I was stunned by baksov''s words. Originally, I was thinking that if they didn''t evacuate the residents in the city in time, the proportion of civilian casualties in today''s offensive and defensive war would be amazing. Unexpectedly, baksov misunderstood me. He thought that I didn''t speak, and he was blaming him in his heart. I said to him with a quick smile, "Comrade Colonel, look where you want to go. You have not only evacuated the residents overnight, but also contributed to it. "


    My words did not reassure baktsov. He still asked uneasily, "didn''t the superior say that evacuating the residents would have a bad impact on the morale of the troops?"


    I waved my hand and said with disapproval: "the reason why the superior is unwilling to evacuate the residents is that our commanders and fighters have built fortifications and are ready to defend our defensive zone at all costs. All they do is for anyone to be evacuated to other places without leaving home. But look at today''s situation. If the residents were not transferred overnight, how many innocent civilians would have lost their lives in the German shelling and bombing? It is because of this that I say that you have made the right decision. "


    When I said that, I managed to stabilize baksov''s mood a little bit. I then asked, "Captain, which unit are you going to send to attack butovo later?"


    Barksov thought about it and replied, "I''m going to send 201 regiment to attack. They have been staying in the rear as reserves today and haven''t participated in the battle yet."


    Before we came to the front command post, we felt the atmosphere of the battlefield. It was not that sporadic shells fell on the front and back of the trench, exploded, and hot soil fell into the trench from the air, scattering all over us.


    Baksov took us to the command post of a battalion, which was only 500 meters away from butovo. Watching a group of us walk into the shelter, the two commanders sitting inside quickly stand up and salute us.


    The chubby lieutenant commander standing next to barksov was a close guard, and I said to barksov as I looked at him: "Comrade Colonel, your troops are doing well. Although they are suppressed by the German fire, they are very tenacious. I believe that as long as the artillery comes, these German firepower points can be destroyed one by one. "


    Just as he said that, he went back into the observation post. Seeing his appearance, I asked curiously, "commander, shouldn''t you transfer the tank company? Why are you still here?"


    Shijerikov replied with a smile: "Comrade commander, today''s tanks are equipped with car phones. I just need to go to the communication room next door and give them an order with a telephone. I don''t have to go there myself. You see, in a few minutes, as soon as our tanks appear, it''s our turn to beat the Krauts all over the place. " A few minutes later, six of our army''s new tanks formed a neat line in the front of the trench. With the command issued, six tank guns fine-tuning angle, and then after a continuous dull sound, several tank shells across the sky, flying towards the German firepower intensive machine gun fire point. The shell accurately landed in the building and exploded. The air wave of the explosion lifted the human limbs and the parts of the weapon so high that the originally dense firepower on the German position became sparse. The tank company, which had achieved success in the first round, fired again. This time, the target was the German mortar fire points. Maybe it was the mortars that were hit, and after the earth shaking explosion, half of the buildings that stood on both sides of the street collapsed. In the flying smoke and dust, our soldiers, who had been hiding behind craters or big trees, appeared one after another and rushed to the city with weapons without saying a word. Seeing that groups of soldiers rushed into the flying smoke, while our tanks were still in place, I raised my leg and kicked Xie jerikov, and said with a smile: "commander, don''t you see that all our soldiers rushed into the city? Don''t let the tank company rush up, or we will be driven out when we meet the enemy''s tanks. " I don''t mean to be alarmist. As early as during the Moscow defense war, something like this happened. Our counterattack troops rushed into the city and met several German tanks head-on. Because there were no anti tank weapons, they had to withdraw from the city with heavy casualties. I don''t want my troops to make the same mistake.

 Chapter 1119

    Seeing that he was turning to leave, I quickly stopped him again and asked, "Lieutenant Commander shejerikov, how many troops do you have in your hand that can be used?" Xiejerikov stopped and answered truthfully: "report to commander, I brought two battalions to cooperate with the guard barksov. After I finished speaking, I introduced the situation of the city to me again:" commander, this butovo is a small city. There are few stone buildings in the city. It is very difficult for the Germans to build strong fortifications, Therefore, it is very unlikely that there will be such a hard offensive and defensive war as Stalingrad. " After listening to him, I became depressed. I said slowly, "Comrade Colonel, don''t forget that many things are relative. Since the Germans can''t build strong fortifications in the city, we can''t build strong fortifications either. Once they attack again, the city is likely to be seized by them again. " Barksov, who was still a little excited, suddenly froze with a smile. After a while, he asked carefully, "Comrade commander, what should we do then?"¡° Take the time to build more fortifications outside the city. "To tell you the truth, I can''t think of a better way to stick to such a small city. I can only say vaguely," anyway, the order given by our superior is to stick here for at least three days. That is to say, in these three days, even if you have exhausted the 67th division of Jinwei, you must ensure that the city will not be seized by the German army. Do you understand? "¡° I see! " Barksov replied with a dignified face: "please rest assured, comrade commander. As long as there is one commander of the 67th division of the guards alive, we will never give up this city."

 Chapter 1120

    Because the next battle was in the city. In the observation center, we can only see the smoke rising from the city and the sound of dense guns. We can''t see the situation of street fighting at all. So we can only get in touch with the chief of staff of 201 regiment, who is commanding the battle in the city, through the radio, and understand the fighting situation in the city through him.


    When Colonel fat talked to his chief of staff, baksov and I were standing next to him, and we could hear the conversation clearly. The commander asked, "Comrade chief of staff, what''s the situation?"


    From the receiver came the excited and flustered voice of the chief of staff: "Comrade commander, the situation is very bad. Our regiment mainly fought in the east of the city and captured the first few streets smoothly. But when they attacked the stadium, they met with tenacious resistance from the German army. The first battalion organized several charges, which were all repulsed, causing heavy casualties


    When he heard that his troops had suffered heavy casualties, commander Pang was a little worried. He asked anxiously, "what about the second and third battalions?"


    "Two battalions and three battalions entered the city in two ways just after repelling the German troops." The chief of staff of the regiment reported: "the second battalion cooperates with the first battalion to attack the enemy in the east of the city. The three battalions attacked from east to west, cooperating with the friendly forces to attack the German forces in the west of the city. "


    I was annoyed to hear that the fighting in the city was not going well. When commander Pang finished his call with the chief of staff of the regiment, I immediately ordered him: "Comrade commander, contact the new regiment in the west of the city. I want to know about their situation there."


    Colonel fat handed over the earphones and the transmitter to the signalman, who was in charge of contacting the new regiment of shejerikov. When the signalman yelled at the transmitter, baksov said to me in a dignified tone: "Comrade commander, this" great German "division is not simple. Their resistance in the city is very strong. In order to solve the battle as soon as possible, I suggest that another regiment be sent into the city to strengthen the offensive force of the troops and control the whole city in our hands before the enemy reinforcements arrive. "


    Barksov''s proposal sounded so reasonable that I almost agreed to his request on impulse. Just as I was about to speak, it occurred to me that we had not yet understood the progress of the fighting in shejerikov''s place, so we made a rash decision to increase the number of troops. It seemed a little too hasty, so I shook my head and said, "Comrade Colonel, please wait a moment. Let''s first ask about the situation of the new regiment of shejerikov. If their progress is not smooth, it will not be too late for us to send troops again. "


    After listening to me, baksov was silent for a moment, then nodded his head and agreed: "well, comrade commander, since you say so, we''ll wait a little longer. But first, I''ll call the head of 202 regiment and ask him to gather his troops and prepare for the attack. "


    The command post we stayed in was originally a battalion level command post. However, in order to command the troops, baksov ordered to move in two telephones. One of them was desperately calling for chejerikov, so he went to the other and ordered the signalman: "signalman, get me the 202 regiment."


    At this time, the signalman raised his head, handed me the earphone and the transmitter, and said respectfully, "Comrade commander, I have contacted lieutenant colonel xiejerikov of the new regiment."


    Thinking that the 201 regiment is not going well in the city, and that there is only one battalion under chejerikov, even if it joins with the remnant in the city, there are only a few hundred people, so I can''t wait to ask, "Hello, comrade commander, what''s the situation there? Is the German resistance tenacious?"


    "Report to the commander that we met the German army''s tenacious resistance during the attack." My heart sank when I heard what he said. Just as I wanted to ask further questions, I heard him say excitedly: "when our troops advanced to the workers'' Cultural Palace, they met the German firepower interception. This is a small force that is in a hurry to fight. They hide behind the sandbag fortifications that have been blown up, and use machine guns to strafe at our stormtroopers in an attempt to block our attack.


    But the new tanks that covered our attack simply ignored the firing of German machine guns and other light weapons. They neither fired nor fired. They just increased their horsepower and rushed up to crush the barricades and the German soldiers hiding behind them. "


    "Be careful of German anti tank men." although I know that the existing equipment of the German army is not a big threat to our tanks, I still don''t trust to tell xiejerikov: "pay attention to the cooperation between infantry and tank, let the infantry clear those anti tank men and protect the safety of tanks."


    "Comrade commander, please rest assured." Shejerikov said confidently: "although the Germans saw our tanks rushing, they threw grenades at our tanks one after another from the buildings on both sides of the street, trying to destroy our tanks with explosive bags under the cover of the smoke generated by the explosion. But how can the infantry that we are following make them do what they want. They used the assault rifles in their hands to shoot continuously to eliminate the enemies who rushed out of the building and tried to blow up the tanks.


    But the fighting capacity of the Germans is really strong. Compared with our commanders and fighters, they are more well-trained. Although the firepower was incomparable with ours, they still resisted tenaciously, risked being bombarded by tank guns, and fired madly at us from a commanding position, resulting in the sacrifice of many combat teams. "


    After listening to the mention of the combat team by Xie jerikov, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade Xie jerikov, what combat team are you talking about?"


    My question confused shijerikov, and he said in surprise, "what other combat group can there be, that is, a group of three people, with the platoon as the unit, close to the buildings on both sides of the street, alternate cover, and move forward quickly. Comrade commander, you should know that you first promoted this tactic in the independent division. "


    I''m very glad to hear from Xie jerikov. The commanders trained in Stalingrad have rich experience in street fighting. It seems that it is only a matter of time before they wipe out the German army in the west of the city.


    After the call with shijerikov, baksov came back and reported to me: "Comrade commander, I have given the combat order to the 202 regiment. Now the troops are beginning to gather and can fight in about half an hour."


    I didn''t express any opinion on baksov''s arrangement. I just nodded. Then I said to the fat Lieutenant Colonel standing next to him, "Comrade lieutenant colonel, if I''m not mistaken, your troops must have adopted a dense battle formation when they attacked the German fortifications, and rushed forward in groups?"


    The fat lieutenant commander heard my question, his face showed a blank expression, and then asked: "yes, comrade commander, when we attack, we all take a dense formation, which can form a local firepower advantage."


    As soon as I heard what fat lieutenant colonel said, I didn''t understand why they failed in the attack. Therefore, when I spoke, my voice was filled with serious dissatisfaction: "Comrade lieutenant colonel, in the lane war, this way of charging is totally wrong. Only the soldiers in the front two or three rows can really shoot on the road, and the soldiers behind can''t shoot at all because they are blocked by their comrades in arms. In this way, there will be a situation, when the enemy''s firepower is fierce, most of our soldiers do not even have the chance to shoot, just fall under the enemy''s muzzle. "


    When I finished, baksov interrupted and asked, "Comrade commander, how is the new regiment doing in the city?"


    "They played very well, comrade colonel." I took this opportunity to introduce the experience of street fighting to them: "when they attacked the enemy''s positions, they did not rush forward in groups along the main road and braved the enemy''s firepower like other troops. Instead, they took the platoon as a unit, three people as a group, and covered the buildings on both sides of the street alternately."


    "Comrade commander, do you think they can drive the Germans out of the city?" Barksov asked cautiously.


    "No problem," I said to baksov. "There are six new tanks in the new regiment to cooperate with the operation. There is not even an anti tank trench in the city. The distance between the buildings is very long. It is very suitable for tank mobile operation. Therefore, it is only a matter of time before the new regiment eliminates the German army in the west of the city. When they get to the south of the city, they can completely cut off the back of the German army and wipe them out in the city. "


    After I said these words, I looked at the fat lieutenant commander and said to him, "Comrade lieutenant commander, call your chief of staff and ask him to adjust his tactics, reorganize his attack and try to win the most at the least cost."


    "Yes." After a loud reply, the fat lieutenant commander bent down and whispered a few words to the operator. Then he put on his earphone and gave orders to the chief of staff with his transmitter.


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. The time had already pointed to four o''clock, and the sound of gunfire from outside did not abate. On the contrary, there was a sign that it was getting worse. I gave a wry smile and said that Colonel barksov was very self-conscious. He knew that with the strength of his troops, he could not capture the city in an hour, so he put forward his views to me decisively. I took it for granted. After all, what I was facing was not the ordinary German troops, but the "great German" division with the best combat effectiveness in the German sequence. It was a good record to draw with them one-on-one.


    After a pause, I asked baksov, "Comrade Colonel, how are the casualties in your division?"


    Barksov said bitterly: "Comrade commander, our division paid a great price under the three-dimensional attack of the German army. So far, one third of the 201 and 202 regiments have suffered casualties, and one fourth of the 203, 204 and artillery regiments have suffered casualties. Among them, the proportion of casualties among commanders is more than half, which may have something to do with their charging ahead every time. "


    Hearing what he said, I couldn''t help but want to transfer one of the two divisions of the group army to reinforce them. But on second thought, good steel should be used on the blade, and the reserves should be reserved for the counterattack. We can''t use the reserves at will, but we can''t say without giving him any troops. After much deliberation, I said to baksov, "Comrade Colonel, since the casualties of your division are so serious, I will temporarily put the new regiment of lieutenant colonel shejerikov under your command. Do you think so? "


    "Really, comrade commander. Are you really going to put the new regiment under our division Barksov could not believe it was true when he heard what I said. He asked again and again, "did I hear you right? Did you really assign the new regiment to me?"


    "Yes, yes, comrade commander." I said to him with a smile, "I will put the new regiment under your command until the end of the campaign. But you should remember that they are only a new regiment after all. Most of the soldiers are from the militia. The overall combat effectiveness of the regiment is a little weak. I hope you don''t mind. "¡° I don''t mind. I don''t mind. " When barksov realized that what I said was true, he was too excited to close his mouth. He grinned and said, "I believe you can see the combat effectiveness of the new regiment. Although most of the soldiers in the regiment are original militia, the existence of a large number of combat backbones keeps the whole regiment at a very high level. There are four infantry regiments in our division. Any one of them is not their opponent. " Just then, the messenger took off his earphone, stood up and reported to me, "Comrade commander, lieutenant commander xiejerikov wants to speak to you." I took the earphone and transmitter he handed me and asked aloud, "Hello, comrade commander, do you have any good news to tell me?"¡° Yes, comrade commander, I have the honor to report to you that my troops have successfully rushed to the south of the city and fought against the German troops who are still there. After a fierce battle, more than 70 soldiers were killed, and the rest fled from the city to the south. " Shejerikov reported to me in a proud tone: "I left a company of troops to stay in the relatively complete fortifications in the south of the city and watch the German things. Then I led the rest of the troops to attack from the south to the west to destroy the enemy who was standing in the way of the 201 regiment. "¡° Very good, comrade commander. You did a good job After two compliments, I officially announced to him: "in addition, I have one more thing to inform you. From now on, your regiment will be temporarily assigned to captain baksov''s 67th guard division." After a moment''s silence, he asked calmly, "Comrade commander, I''d like to ask, when does this deadline end?" I knew he would ask this question for a long time, so I immediately said without hesitation, "when the right time comes, I will personally give you the transfer order. By the way, your task now is to gather forces and cooperate with the 201 regiment to eliminate the enemy in the east of the city. "

 Chapter 1121

    After returning the earphone and the transmitter to the signalman, I said to the fat lieutenant commander standing next to me, "Comrade lieutenant commander, the new regiment has eliminated the enemies in the West and south of the city. In addition to leaving a company outside the city to monitor the movement of the German army, the rest of the troops have turned to the east to attack the German army blocking the way of 201 regiment."


    As soon as I finished speaking, the stern faced baksov immediately ordered the fat Lieutenant Commander: "Comrade lieutenant commander, once our troops recover butovo, you will set up the headquarters in the city. Remember, we must seize the time to build more fortifications. This time bhuttovo was lost because we lacked solid fortifications. As a result, we were bombed by German planes and bombarded by artillery, and our troops on the position were dazed. "


    The fat lieutenant commander quickly straightened up and assured baksov and me, "commander, please rest assured that our 201 regiment will be able to keep the German out of the city within the specified time."


    Seeing the serious look on his face, I couldn''t help laughing. Then I comforted him and said, "Comrade commander, don''t be nervous. I will leave the new regiment in the city to cooperate with your troops. Although the regiment has just been established, its head, Lieutenant Colonel xiejerikov, has participated in the defense of Stalingrad and Kiev and has rich experience in street fighting. With his help, your chances of holding the city will be greatly improved. "


    When listening to me, the fat lieutenant commander nodded his head and agreed with me. Just then, a telephone set on the wooden table rang. Barksov grabbed the microphone and put it to his ear. He said in a loud voice, "Hello, this is barksov. Where are you?"


    After listening for a moment, he handed me the receiver and said, "Comrade commander, it''s for you."


    "My phone?" When I took the phone from him, I asked casually, "who''s looking for me?"


    Barksov said in a low voice: "the call is from Comrade deputy commander. It seems that he is very worried. It seems that he has something important to ask you."


    I guess Danilov was in such a hurry to find me that vatukin must have called the group army headquarters to ask if he had recovered butovo. So without waiting for the other side to speak, I said, "Hey, comrade deputy commander, the 67th division of the guards and the new regiment are fighting. It is estimated that it will not be long before bhuttovo will be recovered."


    Danilov heard my voice and was silent for a long time before he replied, "Comrade commander, I''m not looking for you about butovo. I have something else important to look for you."


    I can''t help getting nervous when I hear about something important. If even Danilov couldn''t deal with it, it must be a very serious matter, so I asked cautiously, "what''s the matter?"


    "Comrade commander, the current situation is very bad. Our first line of defense is in danger." Danilov said in a serious tone: "although the 51st division of the guards stubbornly blocked the German attack, the 2nd and 3rd positions in the division''s defense area were all lost, and the main force of the division contracted to the 1st position, ready to continue to fight with the German forces there."


    Danilov''s words surprised me. I thought that if we gave up a few unimportant defensive positions, the German army would drive straight through these gaps and have no time to take care of several important defensive support points. But I didn''t expect that they did not act according to my idea and actually captured two important defensive positions in the defense area of the 51st division of Jinwei. Thinking of this, I asked nervously, "are the tunnels on heights 2 and 3 occupied by the German army?" I''m afraid that the German army will work out a way to deal with the tunnels at the latest after they find them. In this way, the role of the tunnels we built on the Highlands will be greatly reduced.


    "As far as I know." Danilov hesitated a little and said: "in the two lost Highlands, our soldiers are still holding the tunnel. What the German army occupied is only the surface position."


    After listening to Danilov''s words, I gasped for a long time and then said with ease, "it turns out that the tunnel is still in our army''s hands, so I''m relieved. Comrade deputy commander, I believe that the commanders and fighters who stick to the tunnel will be able to support the moment when our army counterattacks. "


    "However, the German army has occupied the surface position. As long as we seal a few tunnels, our commanders and fighters inside will be in danger." Although Danilov heard what I said, he was still worried and said, "why don''t I ask general tavartkiraze to call and ask him to order the troops in the tunnel to break through overnight?"


    "No, no breakout, my deputy commander." I was deeply afraid that on impulse, he really gave such an order to the 51st division of Jinwei, and quickly stopped him, saying: "as long as our soldiers still stick to the tunnel, the German army is carrying a big burden of defense. In order to prevent us from taking their back road, they must leave enough troops on the high ground to guard. In this way, the number of troops they can use to attack the second line of defense will be greatly reduced. "


    Danilov heard what I said, and he didn''t refute it. He went on to say, "in addition, the defensive area of the 52nd division of the guards was also heavily attacked by the German army. In order to strengthen their defense, I have sent the new 96th tank brigade to them. "


    "96th tank brigade?" I didn''t blame Danilov for mobilizing his troops without asking for instructions. I just asked him faintly, "didn''t they be attacked by the German army in the process of marching?"


    "There was no air attack, but as soon as they entered the defensive area of the 52nd division of the guards, they encountered a small German armored unit. After some fighting, we destroyed eleven German tanks, but we had no other losses except one tank whose track was broken. " Speaking of this, he suddenly said mysteriously, "Comrade commander, guess which unit of the German army attacked the 52nd division of the guards?"


    "Skeleton master?" Without thinking, I said the name of the German army, but I was also surprised. I didn''t expect that there would be such an ace team as the skull division in the troops attacking the defense line of our group army. The next battle would be more cruel than I thought.


    "Yes, it''s the skeleton master." After Danilov confirmed my guess, he said solemnly: "Comrade commander, the combat effectiveness of the skeleton division is far more than us. I have no confidence in the 52nd division of the close guard to hold the position. Do you think we should draw a division from our reserve team to support the 52nd division of the close guard?"


    "No, absolutely not, comrade deputy commander." As for Danilov''s proposal, I refused without thinking, and explained to him, "you know, our defense front is too wide, and no one can predict which area the German army will break through. If we divide the limited forces evenly behind the long line of defense, then the overall defense force will be weak. Once we fight, the German army will be able to break through, There is a danger of being broken by the German forces. At present, although the German forces occupy two of our positions, they are bound to guard them separately for the safety of the rear. In the face of the weakened German, I believe that the solidity of the second line of defense is enough to crush all their offensive attempts. "


    "But in the 52nd division of the guards, I think it''s better for a group commander to be in charge, so as to strengthen the confidence of the guards in fighting against the German attack." After Danilov finished his thoughts, he volunteered to me: "Comrade commander, if you don''t like this, you can go back to the headquarters of the group army to take charge of the overall situation, and I will go to the 52nd division of the guards and command the troops with colonel nikolasov."


    For Danilov''s proposal, after a little thought, I resolutely refused. I said in a clear manner: "according to your proposal, both of us should go through the area where the German troops are going in and out. It''s too dangerous for you and me. If there''s any accident, the army will be in chaos. "


    After listening to this, Danilov said with a bitter smile, "Comrade commander, since you see things so thoroughly, I''d better stay in the headquarters and handle the internal affairs of the group army on your behalf."


    Put down the phone, I said goodbye to baksov: "Comrade Colonel, I''m going to other defense areas soon. If you have any difficulties, you may as well put forward them while I''m here."


    Barksov thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Comrade report commander, although we are facing many problems now, please rest assured that we will firmly hold butovo within the prescribed time limit."


    Our jeep left the defensive area of the 67th division and headed for the 52nd division. On the way, bukov asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, are we not going back to the headquarters?"


    Shaking my head, I replied, "it''s reasonable that when things are over here, we should go straight back to the headquarters of the group army. However, the defense area of the 51st guard Division has been occupied by the German army in several places, and the situation of the 52nd guard division is also very bad. We''ll go there now, so that the commanders and fighters there can have the confidence to continue to fight. "


    When I said that, there was a sharp whistling in the air. Almost at the same time, the jeep suddenly made a sharp left turn. If I hadn''t grasped the handle in time, I would have been thrown out of the car by the huge inertia. Then I heard an earth shaking explosion not far from me, and the shed was thumping with the earth falling from the air.


    "Enemy attack! It''s the enemy attack! " In response, bukov screamed, "drive away quickly, don''t stay here, otherwise, we will be blown up by the shells."


    As soon as the driver stepped on the gas pedal, the jeep we were riding in quickly rushed forward. With superb technology, he skillfully avoided the German artillery attack again and again, and came to the defensive area of the 52nd division of the guards without danger.


    As soon as I entered the headquarters of the 52nd division of the guards and listened to the gunfire coming from outside, I asked nikolasov frankly, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the situation outside? Is the German attack still continuing?"


    Nikolasov shook his head and said slowly, "the German attack has been repulsed by us, but our casualties are also very serious. If our engineers had not ventured to lay mines in front of position 4, it is estimated that position 4 would have fallen back into the hands of the Germans. "


    "Where is the commander of the 96th tank brigade?" I asked.


    "The tank brigade made a decisive attack. After destroying several German targets, it returned to the fortifications at the back of our defense area to rest, so that when something happened, they could attack quickly." After reporting the situation of the tank brigade to me, niekrasov also asked me, "Comrade commander, can you give me some more troops? You know, after a day of fighting with the Germans, my troops suffered heavy casualties... "


    Before he finished speaking, I raised my hand to interrupt him and said impolitely, "replenish your troops. In a week, you don''t even think about it. We will use these troops in more important defensive areas." With a sullen face, nikolasov asked, "Comrade commander, is the war here not fierce enough?"¡° Comrade Colonel, "seeing that he was a little stubborn, I said discontentedly," now that the campaign has just begun, there will be many big and vicious battles to be fought. If we put the reserves into battle too early, then when we really need people, there will be no troops available. " Instead of pestering with him on this issue, I turned the subject around and asked, "Comrade Colonel, have you got all the numbers of the enemy troops in front of you? Are you sure it''s skeletons? "¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Hearing my question, nikolasov replied positively: "we not only interrogated the captured German officers and soldiers, but also examined the bodies left by the German troops on the battlefield. It soon became clear that the German army attacking us was the skeleton division, one of the three main forces of the SS. "¡° What are the conditions of positions 5 and 6? " I asked: "with their strength, can they hold these highlands?"¡° Comrade commander, I assure you that we will firmly hold our positions and never let them fall into the hands of the German army. " "And I heard that the last division commander of the skull division died in the hands of the troops under your command. I hope I have the honor of killing the second division commander of the skull division." From what he said, I recognized his self-confidence, so I said to him happily: "Comrade Colonel, since we can kill the first division commander of the skull division, we also have the strength to kill the second division commander. You can tell this to every commander and fighter through political workers at all levels, so as to enhance their confidence in winning. " When I say that, it makes Nekrasov a little uneasy. He looked around and saw that his other subordinates were far away from us, and they were busy with their own work. When they would not notice us, he asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, do you really think we can defeat the German skeleton division?"

 Chapter 1122

    When I heard that nikolasov was so insecure, I looked him in the eye and said firmly, "Comrade Colonel, is that true? We are sure to defeat the skull division. In addition to the skull division, the Hitler division and the imperial division, which are equally famous with the skull division, will all become our defeated generals without exception. "


    After that, I waved to him and told him impatiently, "Comrade Colonel, please call the headquarters of the group army and say that I have successfully arrived at your division headquarters. If you have anything to contact me, please call you here."


    After hearing my order, nikolasov immediately ordered the chief of staff of the division to call the headquarters and report my whereabouts. As soon as the chief of staff walked away, I asked nikolasov, "Comrade Colonel, in the next battle, what we will face will be the tanks with the German army taking the lead. If anti tank operations are not favorable, our defense line may collapse under the fierce attack of the enemy. Tell me, do you have any good ways to deal with tanks? "


    Niekrasov went to the wall, poured me a cup of tea, put it in front of me, and then said with a smile, "Comrade commander, you also know that we just exchanged fire with the German army today. We are only busy dealing with the German army''s attack, and we haven''t had time to sum up our experience in this respect."


    I picked up my tea cup, sipped it gently, and then asked, "in today''s battle, your position has been impacted by German tanks. Is there any regiment that has played better, destroyed the most tanks and suffered less casualties?"


    "Comrade commander, it''s not necessary to say that. There must be some." Nikolasov said with a smile: "yershof''s 225 regiment played well. In today''s battle, they destroyed more than 30 tanks, and the casualties of the troops were the least among the three regiments. "


    "Why, they destroyed more than 30 tanks?" I know that the No. 4 position of the 225 regiment, which is responsible for defense, is the focus of the German attack. The former fortified company, which held fast to the high ground, has already been completely destroyed. I didn''t expect that the newly replaced troops could still achieve such results. This is beyond my expectation.


    "If I remember correctly, it should have been 37." It happened that the chief of staff of the division passed by after calling, and Nekrasov specially checked with him: "chief of staff, am I right?"


    "Yes, sir, it''s thirty-seven." The chief of staff of the Division said positively.


    What they said aroused my great interest. I asked with a smile, "I don''t know what method Colonel yershov used to achieve such a great success?"


    "It''s said that his tactics are very special." Replied Nekrasov.


    "What tactics, comrade Colonel?" I asked curiously.


    For a moment, he could not answer my question. He blushed and said, "I haven''t had time to ask in detail. It is said that Comrade yershov used his artillery company with 40 rocket launchers to deal with German tanks. The effect is quite good. "


    "Today, the troops of the first line of defense are fighting against the German army in this way." I am particularly dissatisfied with his vague answer, "what I care about is how he can destroy so many tanks more than the friendly forces?"


    Nikolasov was still silent. My dissatisfaction with him became more and more intense. When I was about to break out, the chief of staff of the division came out and made a comeback: "Comrade commander, now that the German attack has stopped, why don''t you let yershov come to the headquarters of the division and let him report to you in person?"


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was less than seven o''clock and it was still hours before dark. Who knows if the German army would use this time to launch another attack. Originally, I wanted to reject the proposal made by the chief of staff of the division. However, I was so curious that I changed my mind: "well, comrade chief of staff, please call lieutenant commander yershov now and ask him to come to the headquarters immediately. I will ask him what new tactics he is using."


    Yershov''s regiment headquarters is not far from here, and only a few minutes later, he appeared in the division headquarters. After shaking hands with him, I asked him to sit down and then asked, "Comrade commander, I heard your division commander say that you have adopted a new tactic in today''s battle. I don''t know. Can you introduce it to me? "


    Hearing what I said, a little embarrassed yershov took off his cap, scratched the back of his head and said, "Comrade commander, it''s very simple. We set up some artillery groups with about ten anti tank guns or 40 rocket launchers in each group to concentrate fire on one tank. A number of anti tank artillery groups form a artillery group, and the artillery groups are distributed in the whole position, forming a deep configuration. "


    "In addition to using this anti tank tactic, we also used minefields and anti tank trenches to deal with German tanks. The engineers sent by the group army laid mines very fast, laying thousands of mines in front of our positions in an hour.


    In order to prevent being found by the German army, we also camouflaged. If the German tanks were not destroyed by mines or by our anti tank artillery, it would be very difficult for them to find our mine field and anti tank artillery group. "


    "It''s a good tactic." After listening to yershov''s introduction, I immediately nodded my head and said, "when we resist the German attack, we can''t just defend for the sake of defense. Mechanical passive defense is not desirable; We should learn to be active in defense and make use of our own advantages to consume a lot of German forces. "


    In the middle of what I said, the telephone on the desk rang. I broke off the conversation with yershov, and stared at nikolasov who was answering the phone with dissatisfied eyes. In my heart, I scolded which guy with no eyes actually called at this time.


    While I was thinking wildly, nikolasov suddenly covered the microphone with his hand and handed it to me. At the same time, he said, "Comrade commander, I''m looking for you."


    I thought the phone was brought by the 51st or 67th division of the guards, so I put the microphone to my ear and asked, "Hello, I''m o''shanina. Where are you?"


    There was a big business in the microphone: "Hello, Rita! Thank goodness I found you. You''ve been running around today, and I''ve made at least a dozen phone calls to find you. "


    "Katukov, general katukov?" Although I immediately recognized that katukov was calling, I still need to confirm it to avoid misunderstanding¡° What can I do for you? "


    "What else can I do? Of course, I want to study with you how to deal with German tanks." Katukov said very quickly: "I tell you a bad news, the defensive position in the northwest defense line of Yakovlev has been broken through, and the German army is carrying out a forward assault along the bergorod Kharkov highway."


    "Comrade General, what''s going on? I''m confused by what you said. " I was puzzled and asked: "in principle, your troops deployed in this area are equipped with new tanks. How can they easily lose their positions?"


    "The German army adopted a new type of assault formation, which I call the" bell "formation. The bell shaped Tiger tanks are in the center, the medium tanks are on both sides, and the light tanks follow the Tiger tanks. According to the following report, this formation can suppress the anti tank fire on the defensive position. Moreover, the engineers in the armored personnel carriers follow up in the middle of the "bell" formation, ready to clear the minefields they find. The close cooperation between their various arms makes it easy to succeed in the attack of the bell formation. "


    I know that katukov''s words are not aimless. He must have some ideas. So I asked frankly, "Comrade General, tell me your plan. If I can cooperate with you, I will cooperate with you well."


    As soon as I finished my words, katukov announced, "Rita, I''m going to attack at night after dark."


    "Attack the enemy tonight?" When I heard katukov''s words, I couldn''t laugh or cry. I had to kindly remind him: "Comrade General, don''t forget that it''s very difficult to attack at night, because we must choose the terrain that is convenient for tank situation, and it''s better to be on the moon night, so that the troops can move on the road or dirt road that is easy to distinguish."


    "Rita, I want to fight back in the daytime, but I can''t." "The bell formation of the German army is very suitable for attacking at night. Because the night will have a greater impact on our artillery firing, they will attack first and generally will not suffer a greater loss," katukov said


    "Comrade General, what can I do for you?" Seeing that katukov had decided to take the initiative, I stopped persuading him and asked for help.


    "It''s very simple. I hope you can get back to the headquarters of the group army as soon as possible." Speaking of this, katukov suddenly lowered his voice and said, "as far as I know, general vatukin intends to deploy several tank brigades and anti tank artillery regiments to Yakovlev area. Without a unified command, so many troops will easily fall into chaos. "


    Katukov''s words surprised me. I never thought that vatukin would suddenly deploy so many troops to strengthen the defense of Yakovlev. In this way, my plan of luring the enemy into depth may fail. So as soon as he finished, I immediately said, "Comrade General, please rest assured that if the headquarters of the front army really sent us so many tank brigades and anti tank artillery regiments, I will send troops to help you recover your lost positions."


    After I finished the call with katukov, I dialed the group army command. When I heard Danilov''s voice, I couldn''t get angry. I said to myself that you didn''t timely report such a big event as the increase of tank brigade and artillery regiment sent to us by the front army command. It''s just too shameful. Just because of this, I spoke with a trace of anger: "Comrade deputy commander? I''m o''shanina. I want to ask if the headquarters of the front army has transferred a new tank brigade and artillery regiment to us? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Although Danilov recognized the anger in my voice, he wisely chose to ignore it. Instead, he respectfully said, "in order to repel the German offensive, the 10th tank army and the 5th tank army of the guards have been ordered to reinforce us. They will be stationed in Yakovlev and melovoy areas today and tomorrow, and a division of the 35th infantry army of the guards will be stationed in prohorovka area in the northeast."


    It is said that the reinforcements to our group army are actually two tank troops. I can''t help but say with emotion: "commander watujing is so generous. He actually reinforcements so many tank troops at once. I think he wants us to stick to Yakovlev."¡° I think so too, comrade commander. " Danilov echoed. When I heard Danilov say that, I gave a wry smile. The fighting capacity of the Soviet army is far less than that of the German army. If we want to fight hard, we will certainly suffer a great loss. Even if we win in the end, it will be a tragic victory. This way of playing, for me, is not worth the loss, if I have to choose, I will never do so. After a short pause, I asked tentatively, "Comrade deputy commander, do you have any special explanation from commander watujing?"¡° No, he didn''t say anything Danilov also said blankly: "he just called and said that he sent us two tank troops to help us consolidate Yakovlev''s defense."¡° I see, comrade deputy commander. " I know that if I ask further, there will be no result, because according to my estimation, maybe watujing didn''t figure out what to do, so I hung up directly. Standing next to him, nikolasov vaguely heard my conversation with Danilov and asked excitedly, "Comrade commander, is this all true?" His direct and special question stunned me for a moment before I understood what he was asking. He quickly nodded his head and said, "Comrade Colonel, you have heard me right. The superior has sent us two tank troops and a large number of artillery troops, hoping that we can contain the German attack in Yakovlev." It may be that the performance of the tank company equipped with new tanks in the battle in the past two days left a deep impression on nikolasov. He said excitedly: "with just a dozen new tanks, we can easily defeat the same number of German tanks. If hundreds of such new tanks can be produced at one time, it is not impossible to directly attack the headquarters of Manstein. " I am not so optimistic as nikolasov, though I know clearly in my heart that with my appearance, history has once again deviated here. The defense area of the sixth group army of the close guard moved eastward a lot compared with that in history, and some troops that should not have appeared on the battlefield at this time also appeared ahead of time, and even hundreds of new tanks beyond this era. But how much did the Soviet army have to pay in order to win the final victory in the battle of Kursk? There is nothing in my heart about this.

 Chapter 1123

    Thinking about the tank army, I had a flash in my head and asked Nekrasov in a hurry: "by the way, comrade Colonel, I forgot to ask you something. Is the 96th brigade of tanks deployed in the rear of your division formerly subordinate to the 15th army of tanks? "


    Instead of answering my question, he turned to his chief of staff. The chief of staff of the division immediately understood and went forward to reply, "Comrade report commander, I asked the commander of the tank brigade. He said that their brigade was newly established in Kursk last month."


    After listening to the chief of staff of the division, I knew in my heart that the tank brigade that originally belonged to rebarko would be completely destroyed in the Kiev defense war. However, their flag should be brought out by rebalko, so it can be reorganized.


    Just when I was feeling the cruelty of the war in my heart, a tank brigade with outstanding achievements said no, there was a lot of gunfire outside.


    "Except for what?" Without waiting for me to make any response, niekrasov asked the chief of staff of the division, "Why are there guns outside?"


    After looking at each other, the chief of staff of the division shook his head and said, "I''m sorry, sir. I''m not sure. But listen to the gunfire, it should not be far from us. I''ll call right away to ask what happened He picked up the phone on the desk.


    "Comrade teachers, comrade teachers." Before the chief of staff of the division could get through the phone, a soldier with a helmet and a rifle broke in. As soon as he entered the door, he called out in a hurry: "there are Germans nearby. When they came to us, they were found by our sentry on duty, and there was a fierce exchange of fire."


    "What kind of forces is the enemy?" I participated in the battle of Stalingrad, and naturally knew that it was a trivial matter for a small German unit to touch our headquarters at all levels and have an exchange of fire, so I asked with disapproval.


    "There is probably a platoon of soldiers who are fighting with our soldiers outside, and their motorcycles are hidden under the hillside." "In addition to the infantry, a German tank was also found in the distance," the man said quickly


    Nikolasov looked at the man in doubt and asked in a skeptical tone, "are you wrong, regarding our own tanks as German tanks?"


    "Yes, sir." Seeing that nikolasov didn''t believe what he said, he was so anxious that he almost cried out. He said with a cry: "I can see it very carefully. It''s definitely German tanks, especially the white cross on the turret. I can see it clearly through the telescope."


    When I saw Nekrasov staring at his eyes, he was about to get angry immediately. I stopped him immediately and reminded him cautiously: "Comrade Colonel, what the soldier said is true or false. We''ll see with our own eyes."


    As soon as my words came out, nikolasov, the chief of staff of the division and yershov were in my way. He also said nervously, "no, comrade commander, it''s too dangerous outside. You have no right to take risks."


    "Yes, comrade commander, the teacher is right." The chief of staff of the division immediately echoed: "you can stabilize the morale of the army and boost morale here. If anything happens, it will have a negative effect."


    Although I think they are all kind-hearted tomorrow, I can''t be at ease if I don''t see the situation outside with my own eyes. So I waved to them and said firmly, "don''t worry, comrade colonel. It''s not the first time I''ve been on the battlefield. I''ll pay attention to my safety. Besides, the Germans have only one platoon. With the security forces of your division headquarters, it should be no problem to wipe them out completely, right


    "Comrade commander, due to the need for troops at the front, the security camp of the division headquarters has transferred a lot of manpower to the grass-roots units." The chief of staff of the division explained to me, "at present, there is only one company in charge of the security of the division. If the German army is only infantry, there will be no problem, but the German army still has a tank, which will be a little troublesome. "


    "It''s just a German tank. There''s nothing to worry about." In order not to make them feel nervous, I deliberately put on a relaxed expression and said to them, "find two soldiers to carry a rocket launcher. The tank will ambush where it is going to pass, and it can be easily killed."


    My words made the chief of staff of the division show an embarrassed expression on his face. He said to me with tears and laughter: "Comrade commander, you don''t know. In order to strengthen the anti tank ability of the front line, we have equipped all the rocket launchers with the front line forces. There are no anti tank weapons in the guard company except a few anti tank grenades. "


    As soon as yershov and the chief of staff of the division finished speaking, they immediately declared their position and said, "Comrade division commander, the situation is dangerous. I suggest that the commander be transferred to our regiment''s headquarters immediately. It''s safer there than here."


    "Yes, that''s a good idea." Upon hearing what his subordinates said, Nekrasov immediately agreed. He advised me: "the division''s defense force is too weak. For the sake of safety, you''d better move to the yershov regiment first."


    "Comrade Colonel, I won''t go anywhere until I see the German troops attacking the headquarters destroyed." I was in a bad mood when I thought that the German troops who attacked here were probably members of the skull division, so I stubbornly said to Nekrasov, "Comrade Colonel, take me to have a look."


    Seeing that I was stubborn, Nekrasov could not say anything more. He had to order yershov to go back to his regiment headquarters and make all preparations for the German attack. Finally, he said to me helplessly, "Comrade commander, since you want to see how we deal with the Germans, please come with me."


    As I left the headquarters behind nikolasov, bukov, who was standing outside the door, immediately met me and asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, it seems that the situation is very bad. The small German troops are exchanging fire with the security forces not far away."


    "The infantry will be out of the question for the time being. The guard company of Colonel nikolasov will wipe them out." After I said these two words to bukov, it suddenly occurred to me that I could inform the 96th brigade of tanks to send out tanks to help us out. As long as they send out two new tanks, no matter how strong the German tank is, it is just a moving target. Thinking of this, I stopped and put half of my body back in the room. I rushed to the chief of staff of the division standing inside and said, "Comrade chief of staff, please call the commander of the tank brigade and ask them to send tanks to support us immediately."


    Nekrasov took me to an observation post not far away. The soldier who came to report stood in front of the lookout, pointed to the outside and said, "commander, comrade division commander, please have a look. Here you can see the German tanks, which are about 500 meters away from us at the moment. "


    I picked up my telescope and first looked at the battle going on on the hillside not far away. Seeing that the small German troops were suppressed by the firepower of the guard company on the hillside and difficult to reach the sky, I turned my attention to the tanks in the distance.


    I saw a Tiger tank with square head and square brain driving slowly on the earth slope hundreds of meters away. From time to time, he stopped to bombard nearby suspicious targets or shoot them with machine guns. A lonely hut on the hillside became its target. I saw it stop, slowly rotating the turret, and then the body of a sudden shock, a shell will come out of the chamber. In an instant, the hit cabin was torn apart in the fire and smoke, and the broken boards flew everywhere. After destroying the hut, the Tiger Tank spewed a stream of black smoke from its tail, and then sped towards the position where the fighting was most intense.


    When the tank was less than 200 meters away from us, there was a sudden conflict of mud on the right side of the tank. Seeing this scene, I knew that it was our artillery that was firing. I quickly turned around and looked for the artillery that started firing. After searching for a while, I found an anti tank gun position on the hillside in front of the left side of the observation post. Four or five artillery soldiers squatted beside the guns and were nervously preparing for firing.


    "Comrade Colonel, look I pointed to the anti tank gun on the distant gun position and excitedly said to nikolasov, "there is an anti tank gun. With it, we can certainly kill the enemy''s tanks." As soon as I spoke, I realized that something was wrong. The German Tiger tank is coming towards us. In the gun position on the hillside, there is only a very common 45mm anti tank gun. Can they fight against the German Tiger tank?


    The answer soon came out. The anti tank gun soon fired for the second time. Fortunately, the shell hit the body of the Tiger tank. But when the smoke dispersed, I found that the German tanks were not affected at all, and they were still driving towards us quickly.


    Seeing this situation, nikolasov could not help but scold: "hell, this German tank is too strong. It''s so close to shooting that it hasn''t been killed yet."


    The hit German tank apparently found the gun position on the hillside. It stopped, turned its muzzle to the position of the anti tank gun, and fired directly. The tank shell hit the anti tank gun which fired twice in a row. After the earth shaking explosion, I saw a big crater there. Several artillery soldiers were lying on all sides of the pit, while the anti tank gun was overturned and the barrel was bent at a strange angle.


    "We... Our anti tank guns, that''s the end of it?" Although like me, niekrasov witnessed the destruction of anti tank gun positions by German tanks, he still said in an unbelievable tone: "we hit the enemy''s tanks, the tanks are OK; And their tanks hit our guns, but their positions were destroyed? "


    Looking at the approaching German tank, my heart went up to my throat. My heart said that if it rushed forward, I would have to turn around and run away. The human flesh and blood could not stop the German steel monster.


    150 meters, 100 meters, 80 meters. My heart has been quietly calculating the fierce tank, how far away from me. I have even made a plan. As long as the tank is within 50 meters, I will turn around and run regardless of the situation. On the battlefield, courage is necessary. But in the face of the German tanks coming up, still standing there, it is not brave but stupid.


    Just as I started the countdown, the Tiger Tank left and right again lifted up two waves of earth. Seeing this, I was very surprised. My heart said what''s going on. Is there any anti tank gun position hidden in other places? But when I turned to look at him, I was surprised to find that his face was also blank.


    Before I knew what was going on, a bright fire suddenly rose on the body of the invincible Tiger tank, and then the whole sound of the car would be covered with black smoke. A moment later, I heard the roar of the tank motor. Looking in the direction of the sound, I saw four or five new tanks of our army, lining up, coming rapidly from the right side of the highland. While they were on the March, they kept firing at the German infantry hidden on the hillside. The German officers and men who were in a stalemate with our army immediately became confused. Seeing the appearance of these tanks, Nekrasov breathed a long breath, then put down his telescope and said to me with relief, "Comrade commander, thank goodness, it''s the tank of the 96th brigade." The timely appearance of our tanks declared the complete end of the German sneak attack plan. When the German infantry found that their tanks had been destroyed, they laid down their weapons and raised their hands to surrender. Seeing that the German prisoners holding their hands high were escorted into the trench by our commanders and fighters, nikolasov could not help but Snort and said in a disdainful tone: "I thought the German officers and soldiers of the skull division were so tenacious. I didn''t expect that they were still a pussy. When they couldn''t beat us, they immediately raised their hands and surrendered."¡° Comrade colonel When I heard him say this, I was a little sad and said, "if the commanders and fighters of the tank brigade didn''t come here in time, the destroyed Tiger tank would be enough to raze your division headquarters to the ground." I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Seeing that the time had already pointed to nine o''clock, I said to Nekrasov, "well, comrade Colonel, it''s getting late. While it''s still not dark, I''ll go back to the headquarters of the group army immediately."¡° Shall I send an escort, comrade commander? " When I heard that I was going back to the headquarters of the group army, nikolasov''s face showed a relieved expression. He asked me in a flattering way: "you know, it''s dozens of kilometers away from the headquarters. It''s very unsafe to meet a small German army on the road."¡° No, comrade colonel Considering that if we are not lucky enough to encounter the enemy on the road, the people sent by Nekrasov will not help but may expose the target, so I directly rejected his good intentions: "we only have one car, and the target is not big. Even if the enemy finds us, we can get away quickly."

 Chapter 1124

    Bukov''s face became very ugly when I said that he would rush back to the headquarters of the group army overnight. We came to the jeep parking place. Just as I opened the door and was ready to sit in the co driver''s seat as I had come here, bukov seemed to have made up his mind. He rushed over and grabbed the door, and said to me solemnly: "Comrade commander, for your safety, I''d like to sit in the co driver''s seat. You and the guards are in the back row. "


    I shook my head with a smile and reached for the door again. I didn''t expect bukov to hold on to the door. Seeing that I couldn''t get on the bus, I restrained my smile and said to him seriously, "Comrade major, what position do I want to take? Do I still need to ask you for instructions?"


    Bukov''s face was bitter, and his words were imploring: "Comrade commander, on our way back, we may encounter the German who broke through our defense line. I sit in the front row and can find the enemy in time and take measures. You still sit in the back row with the soldiers of the guard regiment. Even if there is any danger, we will protect you to return to the headquarters safely. "


    I can''t bear to refuse bukov''s kindness on the spot. After all, he is also thinking about my safety. After thinking about it for a long time, I looked up at him and said, "well, comrade major, since you say so, I won''t embarrass you any more. I''ll take the back seat." With that, I turned to the back door, raised my hand to open the door, and stooped into the car.


    Bukov saw that I was not stubborn, but took the initiative to sit in the back row. With a sigh of relief, he immediately told the two guards, "get on the bus, too. Remember to pay attention to the movement outside the car at any time, and report to me in time if there is any trouble." Two soldiers agreed, respectively, from both sides of the car on the car, sitting on my left and right, will I clip in the middle.


    Not long after our car got close to the second line of defense, we suddenly saw a large group of people coming in front of us. My hand instinctively felt for the holster at my waist, ready to pull the pistol out. Bukov, who was in the co pilot''s seat, turned his head and looked at me and said, "Comrade commander, it''s our army."


    It was said that it was our own army. I took back the hand I had just put on the holster and asked casually, "major, do you know which part of the army is coming from ahead?"


    After shaking his head, bukov replied, "Comrade commander, everything will be clear." After that, he raised his hand and patted the driver on the shoulder, and said, "Comrade driver, drive to the marching line. I''ll ask what part they belong to."


    The jeep drove forward several tens of meters and stopped in an open place. When I looked out of the window, I saw that the road and roadside were lined up with commanders and fighters, and behind them, there were tanks, trucks full of commanders and fighters, and artillery trucks towing artillery. Although I don''t know the number of this unit, I gradually feel happy when I see the endless marching line, the huge number of infantry, tanks and artillery.


    Bukov jumped out of the car, stopped a commander and asked him about the troops. After a while, he ran back to the car and reported to me, "Comrade commander, I have asked. They belong to the 10th tank army and are now preparing to go to our second line of defense."


    I opened my eyes and looked out at the passing troops. I thought that since the 10th tank army and the 5th tank army are arriving, what I can do is to hurry up to the headquarters as soon as possible and discuss defense issues with the two tank army commanders. Thinking of this, I told bukov decisively: "major, get in the car, we need to go back to the headquarters immediately."


    We finally got back to the headquarters before dark. As soon as I entered the headquarters, I saw several people sitting around the table in the middle of the room. When I heard the movement of entering the door, they all turned around. It was me who saw me and I got up from my seat immediately. Danilov walked up to me quickly, reached for my hand and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, I''m looking forward to your return at last. Come on, I''ll introduce you to some friendly commanders. "


    After that, he took me to the table, pointed to a burly general and introduced me to him, "Comrade commander, this is lieutenant general Kravchenko, commander of the 5th army of guard tank."


    Seeing that the other side''s rank was the same as mine, I quickly raised my hand to salute him. Then I reached out and shook hands with him. At the same time, I said with a smile, "welcome, general Kravchenko. After you and your troops come, we are more confident of defeating the German invasion."


    "Hello, general oshanina." Kravchenko also replied with a smile: "it''s not only my honor that I can fight side by side with a general like you, but also the honor of the 5th army of our whole close guard tank."


    After listening to Kravchenko''s flattering words, I felt very happy. Xin said that the general is good at speaking. It seems that it will be a very relaxed and happy thing to cooperate with him in the future. Then he pointed to some of the colonels around him and said to me, "Comrade commander, please allow me to introduce my men to you. This is the commander of the 20th brigade of the close guard tank; Commander of the 21st tank brigade... Colonel, commander of the 22nd tank brigade... Colonel, commander of the 6th guard motorized infantry regiment... Lieutenant colonel. "


    Every time Kravchenko introduced anyone, I would smile, extend my hand, shake hands politely, and say a few polite words. Judging from the appearance of these commanders, they should be veteran soldiers who have experienced many battles. I believe their personal ability is quite strong if they can get to the present position.


    After Kravchenko introduced everyone to me, I raised my hand and asked everyone to sit down. After all the people were seated, I looked at Kravchenko and asked, "Comrade General, may I ask, what is the task assigned to you by the superior?"


    Perhaps Kravchenko didn''t expect me to ask this question suddenly. He hesitated for a moment and then replied, "report commander, our tank army is ordered to deploy behind your second line of defense and be ready to deal with the fierce attack that may be launched by the German army."


    Although I don''t know many people about the battle plan I made, I didn''t hide it from this tank General of my own rank. Instead, I told him about my plan truthfully. When I saw him nodding, I knew that he understood what I said. I went on to say, "Comrade General, I think that with the present attack speed of the German army, they will advance to prohorovka in two or three days. Therefore, I suggest that you put the most elite tank brigade not here. If the German army wants to attack us, we can teach them a lesson here. "


    After listening to me, Kravchenko immediately stood up from his seat, straightened up and said, "please rest assured, commander. I will deploy the most elite tank troops there. If the Germans don''t come, they will. As long as they come, I will teach them a lesson that will never be forgotten. "


    When Danilov heard my conversation with Kravchenko, he broke in with some worry and asked, "Comrade commander, as far as I know, the T-34, which is the most equipped in our army at present, can''t cope with the German Tiger tank. If we start a tank battle with the German army in prohorovka, will we suffer a great loss? "


    "Comrade deputy commander, you are too worried." As for Danilov''s pessimism, Kravchenko said with a smile: "the German Tiger Tank weighs 56 tons and the front armor plate is 100 mm. Our army''s T-34 and KV-1 tank guns have been unable to penetrate from the front. Now the German Tiger tanks can destroy all our tanks at a distance of 1000 to 2000 meters with their 88mm tank guns. "


    "It''s arrogant. It''s arrogant." Danilov asked indignantly, "don''t we have any tanks that can restrain the German army?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, who said there was no such technology?" I was deeply afraid of Danilov''s fear of the enemy. I immediately comforted him and said, "our new tank is the enemy of German Tiger tanks."


    "Yes, comrade commander is right." Kravchenko echoed me in time, saying: "before the new tanks were equipped with troops, we had little confidence in defeating the German army. But as soon as the new tank entered the barracks, it changed everyone''s view of it. With these new tanks, I believe our army will have a better chance of winning in the war with the German army


    "General Kravchenko is right." After he finished, I immediately added: "the appearance of Tiger tanks has ended the superiority of Tank Firepower and defense capability that our army has always maintained so far. Fortunately, the superior provided us with new tanks, otherwise we would be at a loss when facing the German tanks. "


    After listening for a long time, kirilov suddenly interrupted and asked, "general Kravchenko, do you think our tanks can defeat German tanks?"


    "There is no doubt about that, comrade military Commissar." Kravchenko replied respectfully: "compared with our new tanks, German Tiger tanks are just like children''s toys. It''s just that the German army doesn''t take the initiative to attack. As long as they dare to act rashly, we will wipe them out completely. "


    "Comrade General, although all the technical indexes of our new tanks are better than those of German Tiger tanks, we should not take them lightly." I was deeply afraid that Kravchenko would take it lightly because of his pride, so I specially reminded him: "although the German tanks are not the opponents of our new tanks, don''t forget that the German heavy artillery and aircraft can make our tanks become burning debris."


    Listening to the German heavy artillery and air force, Kravchenko''s original expression of vitality disappeared and replaced by a dignified expression. He frowned and thought for a while, then said anxiously, "Comrade commander, what you said is really a problem. If we don''t get rid of the enemy''s air force, I''m afraid our tank troops will be killed and killed in the enemy''s bombing." At this point, he looked at me pitifully and said, "can you ask your superiors to provide us with air force support?"


    After thinking about it, I think it''s really difficult to do. The commander of the air force group army and I are at the same level, so we can''t command each other at all. Therefore, I can only vaguely say to Kravchenko: "Comrade General, I can only do my best in this matter. Anyway, I promise you that your troops can get strong cooperation from our air force in the process of attack or defense in two days at most."


    "Great, this is really great," Kravchenko was overjoyed when he heard my promise. He said excitedly: "Comrade commander, as long as we can get the cooperation of the air force, no matter how many armored troops the Germans come, we can defeat them."


    Although I know how many new tanks are equipped in each tank unit, I don''t know how many. So I asked curiously, "Comrade General, how many tanks do you have?"¡° Three tank brigades, each with 30. In addition to the ten tanks in the army''s command, there are a total of 100. " Kravchenko said this with a wry smile on his face. "Comrade commander, you don''t know that in order to get these 100 tanks, I have run at least 20 times in the Armament Department. Because there are so many people who want these new tanks, I thought we were out of business. Who knows that Comrade Stalin personally asked about this matter and said that we should try our best to meet the needs of the front-line forces. In this way, the weapons and equipment department has opened up a net and provided us with 100 new tanks and supporting ammunition. "¡° What is the combat effectiveness? " This is my second concern. To my question, Kravchenko cautiously replied: "after receiving these new tanks, we immediately organized the battle backbone to familiarize with the new tanks. After more than half a month''s training, our tank soldiers have mastered the operation of tanks skillfully. "¡° Do your tank soldiers have enough fighting experience? " Before I had time to ask this time, Danilov had asked first: "when they see groups of enemy tanks in front of them, won''t they retreat because of panic?"¡° No, comrade deputy commander. " For Danilov''s query, Kravchenko blushed, and involuntarily raised his voice: "our tank soldiers have been through many battles, all of them are good. There will never be people who panic at the sight of the enemy. "¡° All right, comrade deputy commander. " When I saw the two go on, I didn''t expect that they would fight because of a disagreement, so I quickly stood up and said, "don''t forget, general Kravchenko''s tank army is a close guard tank army. I think his tank soldiers are very brave, and there will be no cowards."

 Chapter 1125

    After I finished speaking, bezikov politely asked Kravchenko, "Comrade General, I don''t know if your troops can be deployed in Prokhorov area before dawn tomorrow?"


    I thought Kravchenko would answer that he could, and then explain to bezikov the position of each tank brigade. Unexpectedly, he hesitated and said: "Comrade chief of staff, although I really want to let the troops enter the designated combat position immediately and make all preparations for combat. However, judging from the current situation, it is impossible for the troops to be deployed before dawn tomorrow. "


    "Why?" I, Danilov and bezikov all asked in unison, because Kravchenko''s answer was far beyond our expectation.


    "There is no railway connection from our base to here." Kravchenko saw that several of us asked this question and quickly explained: "after receiving the order to drive to prohorovka, all the tanks were driven by tank soldiers. After a continuous March of more than 200 kilometers, our maintenance team needs to maintain the tanks, which takes a certain amount of time. I estimate that it will be as soon as tomorrow night for several tank brigades to enter the combat position one after another. "


    Kravchenko''s words made me think of the 10th army of tanks I saw on the way back to the headquarters. I believe their situation is the same. They must maintain the tanks before they can fight. In this way, any attempt to block the German breakthrough is unrealistic. They can only delay the German army''s advance to Kursk.


    I was thinking about the 10th army of tanks when a telephone beside the wall rang. Akhromeyev, the director of operations, got up and went to the telephone. He raised the phone and listened to it. Then he turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, it''s the call from the headquarters of the front army. Comrade General wants to speak to you."


    I went to pick up the microphone. After hearing the voice of watujing coming from it, I said politely, "Hello, comrade commander of the front army."


    "O''shanina, I''ll send you two tank troops. Have they reached the designated position?" Vatukin did not beat around the Bush, but asked bluntly, "with their support, can you eliminate or drive out the German troops who rush into the breach?"


    After thinking for a moment, I replied, "sorry, comrade general, I can''t do it."


    On hearing my reply, watujing unexpectedly did not get angry, but asked in a smooth tone: "Comrade oshanina, can you tell me your reason?"


    After repeating what Kravchenko had just said, I added: "Comrade commander, even if the tanks do not need maintenance, it is very unwise for two tank troops who have just arrived at the battlefield to fight with the German troops who are familiar with the terrain in a strange area. I think we should adopt the original operational plan, deliberately open up a few areas, let the German army enter our first line of defense, use the existing defense depth, carry out continuous fighting, consume a lot of the enemy''s living strength, and then organize forces to give them a thunderbolt when they are exhausted. "


    After I finished speaking, vatukin sighed and said, "Comrade oshanina, I originally wanted to use these two tank troops and several other infantry divisions to form a shock group to attack the German army head-on and prevent them from advancing towards Kursk. But you have a point. I''ll think about it again


    As soon as I put down the phone, Danilov quickly walked up to me and asked in a low voice, "what did the senior general say on the phone? Did he order us to fight back?"


    I looked at Danilov, nodded and said: "yes, the general intends to use the two newly transferred tank troops, plus several infantry divisions, to form a powerful assault group to meet the German troops breaking through our direction and stop them from advancing towards Kursk."


    Danilov looked at Kravchenko sitting at the table and said to me in a low voice with a wry smile, "Comrade commander, we can''t count on tanks at all now. How can we fight against the German steel torrent?"


    "That''s right," I replied in a low voice. "Today, when I was in the 52nd division of the guards, I met the troops attacked by the skull division. Although the German army had only one tank, they were in a mess. If the tanks of the 96th brigade had not arrived in time, it is estimated that the division headquarters of the division would have been taken away by such a small German force. "


    When I got back to the table, Kravchenko had obviously guessed something. He stood up and asked awkwardly, "general oshanina, I don''t know what the commander of the front army said on the phone?"


    I raised my hand and pressed down, motioned him to sit down first, and then said, "Comrade General, the headquarters of the front army originally intended to let your army and the 10th tank army, together with a number of infantry divisions, form a powerful assault group to meet the German troops breaking through our defense line and stop them from advancing towards Kursk."


    Kravchenko, who had just sat down, immediately got up from his seat and said to me respectfully, "general oshanina, I have just reported to you the difficulties our army is facing. I hope you can report this matter to your superiors truthfully."


    "Don''t worry, Comrade General." Seeing his appearance of panic, I quickly comforted him and said, "I have reported the current situation to the commander of the front army in detail on the phone. He will not blame you. But according to my estimation, the original plan may change. "


    "Comrade commander," Danilov interjected, "for nearly a day, neither of the two tanks will be able to fight. Maybe our situation will be very bad."


    I also thought about Danilov''s worries. After a brief thought, I said to Kravchenko, "Comrade General, I have an idea. Do you think it''s ok?"


    Kravchenko was flushed by Danilov''s words. Now when he heard what I said, he hastened to say: "general oshanina, I don''t know what you have in mind. Please tell me quickly."


    "Comrade General, can the maintenance of tanks be carried out independently by the maintenance team, brigade by brigade?" Although vatukin said on the phone that he had sent two tank troops, he didn''t make it clear whether it was under my command or to cooperate in the battle. So when I spoke to Kravchenko, I didn''t use the tone of superiors and subordinates, but the negotiating tone among my colleagues: "after the maintenance of a tank brigade is completed, they can be sent to the designated defensive position immediately. How about this? "


    Kravchenko listened to me, frowned and thought for a moment, then brightened his eyes and said excitedly, "great, general oshanina, your proposal is really great. By doing so, we can ensure the normal maintenance of the tanks and will not delay our time to enter the position. That''s it. I''ll arrange for it immediately. "


    Said, he bowed his head to the side of a tank brigade commander whispered a few words. After listening to him, the other party got up and saluted us, then turned around and walked out of the headquarters. It should be about the arrangement of tank maintenance.


    After the tank brigade commander left, Kravchenko asked carefully: "general oshanina, the superior ordered our army to enter prohorovka. Do you think the German army will attack there? You know, it''s the defense depth of our Voronezh front army. "


    "Comrades general, according to my analysis, although prohorovka is our defense depth, with the assault ability of the German armored forces, it is entirely possible for them to break into there." Although I know in my heart that the largest tank decisive battle in the Kursk battle will break out in Prokhorovka, I can only say in an analytical tone: "because of this, when the German armored forces rush there, the tank troops we have been waiting for can attack them decisively and give them a hard blow, Heavily damaged or even completely annihilated their armored forces. As long as the German armored forces are killed, the attack launched by Manstein from the south side of Kursk will be a complete failure. "


    My analysis, so that the presence of all the faces are showing a relaxed expression. Bezikov even said: "our tank army is equipped with a large number of new tanks. Compared with the German armored forces, we not only have an advantage in quantity, but also far superior to the German in quality. I believe that if the German army doesn''t get to Prokhorovka, it will come to an end


    After bidzikov finished, I told him: "Comrade chief of staff, please call or send a telegram to the commander of the 10th tank army, so that he can complete the tank maintenance work of one or two tank brigades in the shortest time, and let the troops quickly enter the designated position and get ready for battle."


    "I see. I''m going to the telegraph room to send a telegram." Bezikov readily agreed, got up and went out to the telegraph room next door.


    After glancing around the commander in the room, I stopped at rasmishin, the director of intelligence. I looked at him and asked, "Comrade commander, have we got a clear picture of the German army?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, it''s all clear." Rasmishin stood up and replied.


    Listening to what he said, in order to understand the real situation of the German army, I said, "now that we have made it clear, let''s talk about it so that we can have a clear idea."


    Rasmishin opened the folder on his desk, took out a document from it and read it aloud: "our enemy in front of us is Adolf Hitler division of Germany. The division commander is Theodore weisch, the leader of the SS brigade; The commander of the imperial Panzer Grenadier division of the Waffen SS is the regional commander of the Waffen SS; The SS skeleton Panzer Grenadier division is headed by SS brigade leader Max Simon... "


    My heart became heavy when I heard the serial numbers read out by rasmishin. I didn''t expect that we were facing the elite SS troops. The next battle was not easy to fight. Even if we have perfect fortifications and brave and fearless commanders and fighters, the German army is not a vegetarian. To defeat them, it is bound to pay a heavy price.


    While I was thinking about it, I suddenly heard Kravchenko say to me: "general oshanina, as far as I know, in prokholovka, except for a few hilly areas, the rest of the areas are plains, which is very conducive to the deployment of tank troops. Please rest assured that the 5th tank army of our guards will be able to defeat the enemy here. "


    I know what he said is true. Since they can defeat German Tiger tanks with T-34 in real history, it should be much easier to win with the latest t-5455 tanks.


    I recalled the battle of Kursk in history, and then said to Kravchenko: "Comrade General, although your tanks are more advanced than the German tanks, after the battle begins, your tanks should not appear..." I was interrupted by Kravchenko in the middle of my speech: "general oshanina, why?"¡° Let the Germans attack our defensive positions first, and our infantry, with their solid fortifications, will stop their attacks and consume their living strength. " I lost no time to instill my own fighting ideas into Kravchenko: "and you and your troops are hidden on the flank of the German army. When their offensive strength weakened, you suddenly rushed out from the side and hit their flanks hard. "Kravchenko immediately showed a happy expression on his face after listening to me. He said excitedly:" general oshanina, this is really great. The Germans never dreamed that we would rush out from their flanks and we would be caught off guard. " As soon as Kravchenko''s words were finished, bzikov came in from the outside. He reported to me, "Comrade commander, the telegram to the 10th tank army has been sent out. The commander of the army called back and said that he would follow your orders, let some tank troops start on the designated positions as soon as possible, and make all preparations for combat. " I nodded, then leaned over to Danilov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, next we''re going to talk about how infantry should defend tanks." Danilov was stunned by my words. He asked in a puzzled way: "didn''t our troops distribute a large number of 40 rocket launchers? It''s a perfect weapon for German tanks. "¡° Comrade deputy commander, it is not enough to rely on 40 rocket launchers. " After Danilov finished, I waved my hand and said, "the range of the rocket launcher is too close. Our commanders and fighters must be close to two or three hundred meters to open fire. In this way, they can easily be targeted by the machine guns of the armored vehicles following the tanks." My words made Danilov''s face serious. He frowned and thought for a moment, then asked me, "Comrade commander, what shall we do?"

 Chapter 1126

    When I heard Danilov ask this question, I can''t help regretting that when I was the commander of the sixth group army of the guards, vatukin was ready to arrange several anti tank artillery regiments for me, but I took it for granted that as long as the army was equipped with anti tank weapons such as rocket launchers, it would be enough to cope with the German tank group, and what anti tank guns would it need, It''s a bit of a gild. So he politely refused his kindness. After today''s battle, let me understand that the rocket launcher is better, but the range is always limited. If the German tanks stop outside the range, our anti tank hands can only stare.


    I thought about it for a while, and was thinking about discussing with Danilov whether I would have the cheek to ask watujing for one or two anti tank artillery regiments. Unexpectedly, he said, "by the way, according to the report provided by the superior, the German army is attacking the defense area of our group army, and at the same time, it is also attacking the defense area of the seventh group army. At present, the battle is going on near korocha. In order to stabilize the front, the headquarters of the front army sent several artillery regiments to the area, including two anti tank artillery regiments. "


    I just came up with the idea, it was Danilov so simple a few words dismissed. The situation in our defense area is not good, and the fighting in the friendly defense area is also fierce. Although vatujing is the commander of the front army, he will not become a soldier by sowing beans. The two additional tank troops should be the limit of this stage.


    If I don''t get the anti tank artillery regiment, what equipment should I use to carry out long-range attack on German tanks? Even if I have the cheek to go to usjinov for equipment, it''s far from enough. When I was at a loss, Kravchenko suddenly said to me, "general oshanina, although you don''t have anti tank guns, you can replace them with tanks?"


    "Tank?" I didn''t understand Kravchenko, so I looked at him blankly and asked, "Comrade General, what kind of tank are you talking about?"


    "Our army still has some T-34, which can be used by you as fixed fort." Kravchenko said with a clear mind: "although these tanks are on the plain, they are not the opponents of Tiger tanks, but if they are deployed in the position, they can still cause some trouble to the German armored forces and let them worry about themselves. At this time, you can send anti tank men to quietly approach the enemy''s tanks and destroy them with bazookas."


    Although I also agree with the use of tanks as fixed fort in defensive operations, I am worried that this will affect the strength of the tank army, so I asked Kravchenko anxiously, "Comrade General, the transfer of T-34 as fixed fort will not affect your combat effectiveness, will it?"


    "It doesn''t matter," Kravchenko replied carelessly, "because we are equipped with a large number of new tanks, the replaced T-34 can be used as a fort for you."


    "Comrade General, thank you so much." Danilov was overjoyed to hear Kravchenko say so, and he quickly stood up and shook the latter''s hand.


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Seeing that it was almost eleven o''clock, I politely said to Kravchenko, "Comrade General, it''s getting late. I think you and your subordinates must be very tired. I''d better go back and have a rest early."


    "Comrades commander," as soon as I finished, I heard the voice of the chief of communications, lophov, in the room. "I just received an urgent telegram from the commander of the 375TH infantry division, Colonel govorunanko."


    As soon as I heard the emergency telegram, my heart thumped and said that there would be no accident in the 375TH division, right? If so, the situation will be very dangerous. Maybe the tank showdown in prohorovka will break out ahead of time. I snatched the telegram from lophoff''s hand and scanned it quickly with my head down.


    The telegram from Col. govoronenko said that half an hour ago, the German army suddenly launched a fierce attack on his Garrison. The first and second battalions of the 1243rd infantry regiment, located in the protrusion of prohorovka, were surrounded by the German army.


    After I handed the telegram to Danilov, I scanned the commander in the room and found Colonel berey sitting in the corner. Since he has been silent since I returned to the headquarters, I have ignored him. Now, just when he was needed, I pointed at him with my hand and asked aloud, "Colonel bere, how many tanks do you have in Prokhorovka?"


    Bielei stood up, stood up to attention and said, "report to the commander, there are two tank battalions in the 101st tank brigade, which can be used to help the friendly forces to break out."


    "Comrade Colonel, this is very good." When I heard that there were two tank battalions that could be used, I felt a lot more at ease. I picked up the phone from my desk and dialed the 375TH division. As soon as I heard govorunanko''s voice, I said to him in a loud voice, "Hello, comrade Colonel, this is oshanina. I order you to send troops immediately to rescue the besieged troops. Colonel berey will send two tank battalions to assist you


    Listen to me, govorunanko''s voice lightened. He said excitedly: "Comrade commander, as soon as our tank troops arrive, I will immediately organize the troops to carry out anti assault and rescue the encircled troops."


    I was worried that after he rescued the encircled troops, he would withdraw to the main position as a whole, so I told him, "after the siege is over, you should give additional troops to the 1st battalion and 2nd Battalion, so that they can continue to hold on."


    "But, comrade commander." After hearing my order, govorunanko said with some embarrassment, "the position of the 1242nd regiment is far away from the main force of the division. If we do not shrink our forces, it is easy to be surrounded again."


    "Comrade Colonel," I said impolitely to the microphone when I heard govoronenko''s repeated emphasis on difficulties. "Please remember that if we give up our position there, the German army will gain a foothold in prohorovka. After they have a firm foothold, they can take it as the starting point of attack, and then you will bear more defensive pressure


    "I see, comrade commander." As for my hardline attitude, govorunanko had no choice but to say obediently: "after the enemy who besieged the 1st and 2nd battalions is repulsed, I will strengthen the defensive strength of the position so that it can be firmly controlled in our hands."


    "That''s right, comrade colonel." Whether he is willing or forced to agree to increase the defensive strength of the position, at least he does not dare to order the troops to withdraw without my permission¡° I''ll be waiting for your good news. "


    After I put down the phone, I said to Danilov, "Comrade deputy commander, it''s not so good. The enemy attacking Prokhorovka should have come through the gap in the defensive line of the 51st division. They are really brave enough to attack our positions easily when they go deep into our defense. "


    Danilov looked at Kravchenko and asked tentatively, "Comrade General, can your tank army send even one battalion to support us?"


    Kravchenko''s face showed an expression of embarrassment. He scratched the back of his head and said in an uncertain tone: "Comrade deputy commander, as you know, I have just sent someone back to arrange the maintenance of tanks. At least in four or five hours, my tank army will not be able to fight."


    "Comrade General, it should be possible." After accepting my order, Colonel berey, who had not yet had time to leave, suddenly said, "according to my experience, those new tanks can still keep in good condition even after 200 kilometers in a row. So even if you don''t do maintenance, you can fight immediately. "


    After Colonel berey''s words, the whole room fell into silence. After a while, Kravchenko hesitated and asked, "are you telling the truth, Colonel?"


    Bielei nodded his head hard and said definitely, "yes, Comrade General. My troops are also equipped with a lot of new tanks, and I know their performance very well. "


    "In that case," Kravchenko said, looking at me, and then determined to say, "I''ll go back and arrange for the tank battalion to repel the enemy who besieged our troops."


    Colonel bere left the headquarters with them. He went to the telecommunication room next door to send a telegram to the subordinate troops to convey the decision we just made to them.


    When bzikov saw that there were only a few of his own people left in the room, he couldn''t help but said angrily, "what the hell does this German guy want to do? He''s still running around in the middle of the night. Is he trying to make trouble for us?"


    When his complaint was over, kirilov suddenly and slowly said, "Rita, I think we should give battle warnings to the troops at the front, so that they can watch out for the German attack at night."


    When I heard this word, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. I used to send troops to attack the German army at night in the war of Stalingrad, which made the enemy miserable. Who knows, after arriving in the Kursk region, the German army also learned this trick and used it against us.


    I nodded and said to bzikov, "Comrade chief of staff, have you heard what the military commissar said? Immediately alert all the troops in the first and second lines of defense to raise their vigilance and prevent the German attack at night. "


    When Danilov saw bezikov calling, he said in a suspicious tone: "Comrade commander, are you a little fussy? You know, if only a German army attacked Prokhorov, it would put all our troops in the first and second lines of defense on alert. Is it necessary? "


    "Very necessary, comrade deputy commander." Seeing Danilov''s disapproval, I quickly reminded him, "Manstein is very cunning. Since his troops don''t get any advantage in the daytime, he may have to make some noise in the evening."


    After listening to my analysis, kirilov and akhromeyev, who are familiar with me, nodded repeatedly, but Danilov shrunk his mouth in disapproval. It seems that he didn''t take my words seriously.


    At this moment, bzikov, who was on the phone nearby, suddenly yelled out a loud voice. After all our attention was attracted, he said in a hurry: "Comrade commander, commander of the 67th division of the guards, Colonel baksov, reported that half an hour ago, the German army once again rushed into butovo. Our troops had to withdraw from the city again after a tough fight. "


    The unexpected bad news shocked everyone present. What surprised me most was me. In order to strengthen bhuttovo''s defense, I even put the man who is good at street fighting, shijerikov, in the city. Unexpectedly, the German occupied the city again.


    I pointed to bezikov and said angrily, "chief of staff, ask Colonel baksov what happened to him and why he left the city to the Germans again?" When I finished, bzikov said with a wry smile, "Comrade commander, Colonel baksov withdrew from the battle because he was wounded. Lt. Col. chejerikov took over his command." When I heard that baktsov had been injured, I was stunned. Then I walked back and forth in the room two times and said decisively to bzikov, "chief of staff, please tell lieutenant colonel xijerikov that he will organize a counterattack all night and take bhuttovo back from the German hands at all costs." Even though I never wanted to fight this kind of seesaw war with huge casualties, in order not to let the German army get the starting point of attacking oboyan, I had to give this cruel order in an unusual way. Before bzikov''s call was over, the phone in front of us rang again. I grabbed the microphone and asked angrily, "Hello, this is the headquarters of the group army. Where are you?" Tavart killazer''s voice came from the receiver: "Comrade commander, it''s bad. Something''s wrong!" "What''s going on? What''s going on?" I asked nervously? Is your position one occupied by the German forces Although I used a hypothetical tone, if the German army really occupied all the positions of the 51st division of the guards, even if the 52nd division of the guards continued to hold their positions, then the first line of defense would exist in name only, and my earlier plan of "closing the door and beating the dog" would end in failure. After a moment''s silence, he said something reassuring to me: "don''t worry, comrade commander, position 1 is still firmly in our hands. There is nothing in front of the position except the German corpse and the burned black wreckage of the tank." Just as I breathed a sigh of relief, he went on to say something that frightened me: "after the German army failed to attack our position, it bypassed our position. It happened to encounter the 100th tank brigade of our 10th tank army. Because our tank soldiers were not familiar with the terrain, they were soon surrounded by the enemy''s armored forces. All the tanks were destroyed except one company

 Chapter 1127

    "The 100th tank brigade was almost annihilated by the German army?" Tavartkilaze''s words scared me out of my wits. You know, we are now deployed in the tank brigade that we owe, and the new type of tanks account for a large proportion. Unexpectedly, they were easily eliminated by the German army. In this way, the German armored forces are too strong.


    "Yes, comrade commander." Tawalter killazer gave me a positive answer.


    I wanted to find out who killed one of our tank brigades, so I asked tawalter killazer, "Comrade General, do you know the serial number of this German army?"


    "Of course, we know that the German forces that attacked our division were Hitler and the imperial division." "After they failed to attack our position, they met the rear of our division''s defensive area and attacked the 100th tank brigade," tavartkilaze told me


    "What, comrade general, what did you just say?" Originally, I was still thinking about what kind of weapon the German army used to kill our tank brigade easily. Now I heard tavartkilaze say that the tank brigade was destroyed because of the German army''s sneak attack¡° You said that the collapse of the tank brigade was due to a sneak attack, not a face-to-face battle with the German army? "


    "Yes." Tavartkilaze said with a trace of surprise: "I don''t have it. Our tank brigade was hit hard in the face-to-face battle with the German army?"


    At this moment, I was anxious to understand the details of the German defeat of the 100th tank brigade. Instead of tangled with him in the content of his statement, I said directly, "tell me, comrade general, what''s the matter? Better give me some details. "


    "Well, comrade commander." Tavartkilaze reported to me: "after the German army failed to attack our division''s position, they bypassed the Highlands in two ways and made a deep detour towards us. I don''t know what happened, but they got to the camp of the 100th tank brigade by mistake. As you know, when a tank brigade is camping, it usually separates people from vehicles, so it is caught off guard. Finally, some quick reaction tank soldiers, driving their own tanks, rushed out of the enemy''s encirclement and retreated into our division''s defense zone. "


    "All right, Comrade General." Knowing the reasons for the annihilation of the 100th brigade, I was also more confident. At least it proved that the German tanks could not compete with our army in face-to-face combat. Before I put down the phone, I told tawalter killazer: "remember, although it''s dark, the German attack has not stopped, but has become more rampant. You should tell your subordinates that you should never think that you will lose a lot if you take it lightly after repelling several German attacks. "


    As soon as I put down the phone, Danilov and his family gathered around and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with the 100th tank brigade? Why was it so easily annihilated by the German army?"


    After organizing some words in my mind, I said to the people present: "comrades, the 100th tank brigade was annihilated by the German army because they were too careless when they were camping. They still separated people from vehicles, regardless of the actual situation of the battlefield. As a result, when the German tank troops rushed in, they were caught off guard. "


    After I finished, berey first said, "Comrade commander, according to my understanding, if the German 100th tank brigade did not separate people from vehicles when they attacked the camp, they would have the strength to successfully leave the battlefield under the attack of the enemy. I didn''t get it wrong, did I? "


    After listening to berey''s words, I nodded and said, "yes, that''s what happened. If we fight head-on, the tiger and leopard tanks that the German army is proud of are not our opponents at all. Therefore, in order to prevent similar tragedies from happening again, I order that all tank brigades shall not be separated from each other when they are camping, and must remain ready to fight at any time. "


    "Comrade commander, I will report this matter to all the tank brigades at once, so that they can be more vigilant." As soon as I finished, bzikov took the initiative to say, "we need to let the Germans know that they can''t beat us in the daytime, and they are not our opponents in the evening."


    When belay waited for bzikov to make a phone call, he approached me and asked in a low voice: "Comrade commander, our new tanks are not easy to be completely destroyed by German tanks even at close range. Do you think some tanks will be captured by the German army


    In fact, I have considered the question asked by bielei for a long time, but I''m afraid it will affect the morale of the army, so I didn''t say it on purpose. At this moment, when I heard berey mention it in private, I said to him with a wry smile, "this possibility exists completely. But don''t worry. Even if the German army seizes our new tanks, it will take some time for them to get familiar with the performance of the vehicles. In addition, the carrying capacity of the new tank is limited, and it will soon be exhausted in the battle. "


    "That''s good, that''s good." Don''t listen to me. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead and said happily, "if this is true, even if the German army seizes a few of our tanks, it will not have much impact on the whole war."


    In the following time, several telephones in the headquarters kept ringing one after another. Because not only the first line of defense was attacked by the German army, but also some sections of the second line of defense were disturbed by the German army, because we had to issue a series of orders to solve the problems. At the busiest time, each of us held a telephone and gave orders to the troops below.


    It''s not easy to come to an end. I''m exhausted. Sitting at the table, I asked bzikov, who had just received a phone call, "chief of staff, do you have a report from Colonel govorunanko of the 375 division?"


    Bezikov shook his head and replied, "no, comrade commander. So far, I have not received any information from Colonel govorunanko. "


    "Chief of staff, would you like to call Colonel govoronenko and ask him what''s going on there?" After giving orders to bezikov, I murmured in a low voice, "whether or not the Germans who are going to besiege our troops are defeated, you have to give me an explanation."


    Danilov sat down next to me while bzikov was on the phone and said to me with a serious face, "Comrade commander, it looks terrible tonight. There are Germans attacking everywhere, and our troops deployed in the first line of defense are a little weak. Do you think the reserve of the group army will be put into action immediately


    If Danilov had asked me a few hours ago to use the reserves, I would have rejected him without hesitation. But at the moment, I hesitated. After repeated deliberation, I said to Danilov, "Comrade deputy commander, tell me what you think."


    Danilov stood up, pointed to the map on the table, and said to me, "I should transfer the 89th division of the guards to butovo, and assist the 67th division of the guards to capture butovo, so that the enemy can''t use it as the starting point for their attack on oboyan. As for the 90th guard division, it should be transferred to Yakovlev to cooperate with the 10th tank army, which arrived there earlier, to repel the attacks of the ''Hitler division'' and the ''Imperial division'' and restore the positions occupied by the German army. "


    I looked down at the map in front of me, and my mind was repeating the credibility of Danilov''s proposal. After half a day''s research, I found that it was not advisable to send the reserves to butovo or Yakovlev. Because in the process of advancing, the troops would inevitably come into contact with the German troops. The German troops are armored divisions, while we are infantry divisions. In case of encounter between the two, our reinforcements will be repulsed.


    Having made up my mind, I raised my head to Danilov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, under the present circumstances, our reserve team is not available for the time being."


    "What, the reserves can''t be used?" When Danilov heard what I said, he was so anxious that he said, "Comrade commander, don''t you see how dangerous the situation is now? The 51st, 52nd and 67th divisions of our guards lost a lot of soldiers in the daytime fighting. If we don''t reinforce them, I think it''s hard for them to stick to it. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, don''t worry." As soon as Danilov finished, I immediately expressed my opinion: "at present, the situation in the first line of defense is the worst, only the close guard 67th division, because they have no solid fortifications, and they are absolutely unstoppable in the face of the fierce German attack. But fortunately, behind them is major general krivoschein''s mechanized Third Army. Our battle in the daytime has won them enough time to prepare. It''s time for them to have a good fight with the German army.


    As for the 51st and 52nd divisions of Jinwei, although the German army attacked their defensive areas very fiercely, because the defensive areas of the two divisions had solid and perfect defense systems, they could rely on tunnels for long-term defense. Although the German army occupied two important positions in the defense area of the 51st division, it was not an easy task to wipe out the division completely. "


    "But, comrade commander..." Danilov was a little anxious to see that I denied his proposal again. Before he finished, I interrupted him directly and said slowly, "Comrade deputy commander, please don''t forget that the battle has only been going on for one day. If we rush to put our reserves into the battle at this time, where can I deploy enough troops to break the deadlock once the battle is stuck?"


    When I finished, I kept my eyes on Danilov to see how he would react. Danilov snorted angrily and said, "Comrade commander, although you have a good point, I reserve my opinion."


    Kirilov, who was sitting opposite me, saw the whole process of our dispute, but he didn''t speak. He just gave a faint smile and continued to look down at his war report.


    After the call, bezikov hurried back to the table and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, I have just spoken with Col. govoruninenko. In the just concluded battle, we have successfully broken the German siege and rescued our besieged troops. At the same time, it also destroyed 29 German tanks, 3 self-propelled guns and 22 trucks, and killed and injured more than 500 German officers and soldiers. "


    "Great, that''s great." Danilov, who was still angry with me, became excited after hearing the news. He said happily, "this victory is really good news. I suggest that we report it to the whole army immediately, so as to boost the morale of our commanders and fighters."


    "I agree!" As soon as Danilov''s proposal came out, I was the first to agree. After all, there was too much bad news tonight, which had a certain impact on our morale and morale. We should make use of this news to stabilize the morale of the army.


    "I agree!"¡° I agree, too! " Kirilov and bezikov also expressed their opinions one after another after I finished, expressing their support for Danilov''s proposal. Seeing that the opinions of the main leaders of the group army were unified, I called lophoff, the director of communications standing nearby, and said to him, "major, please send a telegram to all divisions to report to them the information that the 375TH Division has defeated the German army and achieved great results." At this time, akhromeyev also came. Standing at the table, he reported with a red face: "we have just received a telegram from the headquarters of the front army. In order to strengthen the anti tank forces in Yakovlev area, we have decided to put the 28th anti tank fighter brigade and the 538th and 1008th anti tank fighter artillery regiments under our command. At this moment, the troops are ready to set out, and they will be able to reach Yakovlev area about before dawn. " It is said that a new reserve team has arrived, and everyone''s faces are full of joy. Kirilov even said, "that''s great, Rita. You were just a few hours ago, struggling with the lack of long-range anti tank weapons. Now, without waiting for you to speak, the superior sent us so many anti tank artillery regiments. I believe that with their help, we are more confident of winning I rushed to sit in the corner, almost ignored by all of us, artillery commander povsky waved, let him come to his face, and said to him in the tone of discussion: "Comrade Colonel, now we have added so many artillery units, without a unified command, we can''t do it. I''d like to send you to Yakovlev to command these artillery regiments with numerous numbers. Are you sure you can do it well? "¡° No problem, comrade commander. " Povsky firmly replied, "I will go to Yakovlev immediately, organize all the artillery, and let the Germans taste the strength of our artillery."

 Chapter 1128

    At about 8 a.m. the next day, akhromeyev came into the headquarters from the outside with a battle report he had just received. He came to the table, pointed to the map spread out on the table and said, "Comrade commander, intelligence shows that the German army is gathering near Yakovlev. There are about seven divisions with a total force of about 100000 people, including the Hitler division and the imperial division. Although the enemy''s offensive forces have not yet been fully launched, according to the situation on the battlefield, they intend to launch a large-scale offensive against Prokhorovka after the 51st division of the guards has been eliminated. "


    After staring at the map for a while, I nodded and said, "major, I agree with you. The Germans were more cunning than we thought. After occupying several defensive areas we gave up, they also concentrated their forces to attack positions 2 and 3 of the 51st division. In this case, they could have driven straight in, directly along the bergorod Kursk highway, heading north to oboyan; Or gather some strength to attack prohorovka. But instead of rushing forward, they are gathering near Yakovlev, ready to wipe out the 51st guard division. "


    After reading the war report and looking down at the map for a while, Danilov solemnly expressed his opinion: "it seems that the Germans want to establish a solid starting point for attack in Yakovlev, so the 51st division of the guards originally stationed here has become the object they must destroy."


    I looked around and saw that bzikov was standing next to a telephone. He was talking to someone loudly. He thought he would not come back to me for a while. So I asked kirilov sitting at the table, "Comrade military commissar, what''s your opinion?"


    "We can''t let the Germans wipe out our 51st guard division." When kirilov heard my question, he immediately and unambiguously replied, "if the enemy eats them and consolidates their position, then they may draw up some troops to reinforce the" skeleton division "and launch a larger attack on the 52nd division of the guards. Therefore, we must take action to smash the German plot. "


    "Comrade commander, do you want me to move the tank army forward?" "Now we can hand over our defense to the 5th army of the melee tanks, and then transfer the 82nd and 101st brigades to Yakovlev," Colonel berey interjected. With our present strength, as long as the German army does not send its air force, their tanks will only be in a passive situation when they meet us. "


    I didn''t reply to the volunteer Colonel berey immediately. Instead, I kept staring at the map and thinking. Judging from our heart, we have assembled a lot of tank brigades and artillery regiments in Yakovlev. If we want to block the impact of the German army, we can only do it by force. If we can''t, we have to pay a higher price. If the 33rd army of Colonel berey''s tanks is transferred at such a time, it may be able to form a certain local advantage.


    While I was weighing my interests, the telephone on the table suddenly rang. I picked up the receiver and stuck it to my ear. Then I heard the voice of vatukin: "Hello, comrade oshanina? I''m watukin. What''s the situation with you? "


    "Comrade General," I said thoughtfully, staring at the map, "at present, there are seven German divisions gathering near Yakovlev. It seems that they are trying to eliminate our forces in the area, and then launch a large-scale offensive against oboyan in the north or Prokhorovka in the northeast."


    "What measures are you going to take to counteract this attempt of the German army?" "I have sent you two tank troops and several artillery regiments. I believe it is enough to deal with the German armored forces with such strength," vatukin asked slowly


    It sounds like a lot of troops that vatukin sent to me, but it seems a little less to deal with the German Manstein group. But I also understand that under the current situation, these are almost the greatest help he can offer me. I think about it. Although we can''t ask him for troops, we can let the air force provide us with necessary support through him. As long as the air supremacy is in our hands, our tank troops will be able to teach the Germans a lesson with advanced new tanks.


    Thinking of this, I solemnly said to vatujing: "Comrade commander, I intend to transfer the 33rd tank army originally deployed in Prokhorovka area to Yakovlev area to further strengthen the anti tank forces there. But there''s one thing I need you to do right now. "


    "What''s the matter? Just say it. " After hearing my arrangement, watujing readily agreed, "as long as I can do it, I will meet your requirements."


    "Comrade General, in yesterday''s battle, the German army bombed many of our defensive areas, causing many casualties to our defenders. The fall of bhuttovo has something to do with the German bombing. " I first mentioned the harm of the German air force, and then said, "it''s more than 40 kilometers from prokholovka to Yakovlev. In such a long march, our tanks would easily become the targets of German aircraft if they were not covered by the air force. You see, can you ask the 2nd group army of the close air force to send out fighters to cover the turning of our tank troops? "


    To my request, vatukin was silent for a moment, and then said decisively: "well, comrade oshanina, I''ll call lieutenant general krasovsky of the air force, and ask him to send the 205th fighter Aviation Division and the 223rd short range bombing Aviation Division to help you launch a counterattack against the German army in Yakovlev area. Well, that''s it. Good luck After he finished, he hung up without waiting for me to speak.


    Watujing had hung up for a long time, but I was still in a daze with a microphone with bursts of busy sounds in my hand. I just wanted the air force to go out and cover the 33rd army of Colonel berey''s tanks to go to Yakovlev. I didn''t expect that vatukin ordered me to launch a counterattack.


    Although this wrong order of vatukin put me in a dilemma. At such a time, I can''t call vatukin again and tell him that we have no intention of counterattack against the German army, let alone that the number of German troops is larger than ours. Even if the troops and weapons are equal, we are not the opponent of others.


    The orders of the superior can''t be changed. At such a time, I can only make mistakes right. I put down the phone and first said to Colonel bere, "Comrade Colonel, gather your troops immediately and try to rush to Yakovlev area as soon as possible." Seeing that he opened his mouth and seemed to want to say something, I quickly added, "senior general has promised to let the air force send two divisions to cover your army''s departure towards Yakovlev."


    When I heard that there was a cover from the air force, there was a smile on Colonel berey''s face. When he answered me, his voice was especially loud.


    I watched as soon as I put down the phone and came to us, bzikov said, "Comrade chief of staff, call Colonel Chernoff, commander of the 90th division of the close guard immediately, and ask them to leave with the tank army and quickly rush to Yakovlev area."


    Before bzikov left, Danilov, who heard the news, exclaimed excitedly, "great, this is great! Comrade commander, as long as the 90th division of the guards is dispatched, the gap between our forces in Yakovlev and the German forces will be greatly narrowed. You can rest assured that as long as the air supremacy of the battlefield is in our hands, we will be able to repel the enemy. "


    I tried to squeeze a smile on my face and said to him with a smile: "although the German army made some progress yesterday, they also paid a huge price. I believe these achievements have greatly inspired the morale of our army''s commanders and fighters. Seeing so many reinforcements again today, they will certainly have a better performance. "


    Originally, I said something perfunctorily, but Danilov took it seriously. He nodded his head and volunteered to me: "Comrade commander, there are too many numbers of troops near Yakovlev, and there is no unified command. So I want to ask you to allow me to go there to command the troops. "


    Danilov is telling the truth. In addition to the original units of our group army, there are more than a dozen tank troops and artillery regiments newly transferred by vatukin. If there was no unified command, so many troops would fall into the situation of fighting separately and eventually be defeated by the German forces.


    Just as I wanted to answer Danilov''s request, I saw rasmishin rushing in. Seeing the flustered look on his face, I can''t help but secretly complain that something has gone wrong again, otherwise he would not behave so impolitely. Before he came to me, I asked in a loud voice, "Hello, comrade commander, what''s the matter with you in such a hurry?"


    "Comrade commander," rasmish came up to me, frowned and handed me a telegram. He said solemnly, "the telegram from the front, general apanashenko, deputy commander of the front army, appeared near Yakovlev."


    "What?" At rasmish''s words, I snatched the telegram in his hand and looked down. The telegram was sent by basmanov, chief of staff of the new regiment. He wrote in the telegram: General apanashchenko, deputy commander of the front army, and a driver and two security guards had just passed their defensive area five minutes ago and went to Yakovlev.


    Hell, hell. I couldn''t help cursing in my heart. Apanashchenko was not staying in the headquarters of the front army, but he ran to Yakovlev at this time, didn''t he make trouble for me? Thinking of this, I slapped the telegram heavily on the table, then grabbed the phone and called vatukin.


    As soon as I got through the phone, I didn''t care about any etiquette, so I said in a hurry, "senior general, I want to ask how the deputy commander of the front army went to Yakovlev?"


    Vatukin obviously didn''t expect me to call him about this. He was surprised. Then he asked cautiously, "Comrade oshanina, are you right? How could commander apanashchenko go to the front at such a time? "


    "Yes, Comrade General." When I heard that vatukin knew nothing about this matter, I couldn''t help being at a loss. However, as for his suspicion, I replied positively, "I only knew that the deputy commander had passed his defense area and went to Yakovlev after receiving a telegram from a ministry." In order to increase the authenticity of what I said, I specially stressed that "the person who sent me the telegram, who used to be my guard battalion commander, is a very reliable commander. I believe he can''t lie about this."


    After hearing this, watujing did not speak to me, but lowered his voice and said to the people beside him, "you call commander apanashchenko''s headquarters and ask if he is in?"


    "Yes The man who heard his command gave a loud promise.


    Soon I heard watujing say to me, "Comrade oshanina, thank you for providing me with such important information. I have sent someone to contact the headquarters of Comrade deputy commander to see if he is still there. "


    "What, comrade general, it turns out that you and Comrade deputy commander are not in the same headquarters?" This unexpected situation really surprised me. I muttered in a low voice, "if you give two contradictory orders at the same time, who should I listen to?" Watujing didn''t know if he heard my complaint, but after coughing, he was a little embarrassed and helpless and said, "Comrade oshanina, you don''t know something. The headquarters of general Apana and I are separate. After all, his seniority is older than me, and he has been promoted to senior general for a longer time than me. It would be very embarrassing when we met to let him live under me as my deputy. So as early as half a month ago, our headquarters was divided into two places. " After listening to watujing''s explanation, I couldn''t laugh or cry. I didn''t expect that apanashchenko was still an old soldier. As a deputy commander, he didn''t stay in the headquarters to command the battle, but ran along the most dangerous place. It seems that only by doing so can he show his fearless spirit of not afraid of death. But he didn''t think about it. He is now the deputy commander of the front army with hundreds of thousands of people under one person. In case of any accident, it will be a blow to the morale of the army. At the end of the call with watujing, I raised my head and asked rasmishin, "Comrade commander, do you know where deputy commander apanashchenko is now?" After hearing what I said, rasmishin shook his head and said with a bitter face, "sorry, comrade commander, I haven''t got any further information about general apanashenko. I only know that he is on his way to Yakovlev." Apanashchenko''s capricious act obviously disrupted my arrangement. The Deputy commanders of the front army have gone to our first line of defense. I''m sure I can''t stay in the headquarters any longer. So I had no choice but to say to Danilov, "Comrade deputy commander, I''ve decided that you should stay at the headquarters and command the forward forces. I''ll take charge of it myself."

 Chapter 1129

    This time I went to Yakovlev with three guards besides the driver. They were all in the back row, and I was in the co pilot''s seat. Sitting in a bumpy car, I was in a particularly bad mood. I could not help cursing apanashchenko countless times. If it was not for his arrogance, I would not have risked my life to go to the most dangerous area.


    On the way to the jeep, the driver turned to look at me several times. As soon as my heart tightened, I knew that there must be something wrong. The driver was very cautious. Did he find something wrong with his reaction?


    He looked at me again, as if trying to convey something to me that was not easy to say. I first looked around the window with vigilance. I didn''t find anything unusual. Then I asked him, "Comrade driver, what do you want to say?"


    When the driver saw me asking, he coughed and said to me, "Comrade commander, don''t you find anything wrong?"


    "What''s wrong?" When I asked this, I couldn''t help looking out of the window again. The two sides of the muddy road were empty, and even no one could be seen. Further away, the forest is quiet.


    "Listen to the guns outside." The driver saw that I looked out for a long time, but he didn''t see why, so he reminded me.


    Listening to what the driver said, I immediately found the difference from the past. Apart from the rumbling gunfire coming from the front, gunfire came from the left and right sides of the road, and even from the back. Let me feel in the whole defense area, as if all places are engaged in fierce fighting.


    As the jeep drove a little further, I saw a few officers and men of our army in front of me. Judging from their walking posture, they should be all wounded. Some of them were alone, some were in groups of seven or eight, and some even came to us with stretchers on the side of the road.


    When we got close to them, I asked the driver to stop by the side of the road and asked the wounded passing by: "Hello, comrade soldier, what''s the situation ahead?"


    A staff sergeant with his left arm on his chest saw me, quickly walked a few steps, came to me, raised his hand to salute and replied, "report to commander, we are fighting ahead."


    "Where to fight?" I asked aloud.


    The sergeant shrugged his shoulders and replied, "the whole Yakovlev area is fighting. There are gunshots and explosions everywhere. Our people are bleeding, but a lot of enemies have died. Our people are very tenacious, in many places did not let the enemy forward After he finished the report in disorder, he raised his hand to salute me, turned and walked into the wounded line, and continued to walk towards the rear.


    The chief''s answer was very general. I didn''t get any useful information except that I knew there was a battle ahead. The driver also heard the sergeant''s words clearly and asked hesitantly, "Comrade commander, do we still drive forward?"


    Although my heart has been in retreat, but now in front of their own, but not timid, I glared at him, said: "nonsense, continue to move forward!"


    The driver listened to me and did not raise any objection. He just nodded and stepped on the gas. The jeep drove on again.


    At this time, sitting in the back of a guard suddenly whispered: "no, there are enemy planes!"


    "Enemy plane?" Hearing what the guard said, I immediately looked up into the air, but I didn''t see anything except the gray sky and cumulus clouds. I turned my head and asked the guard in the back, "where is the enemy plane you said?"


    The guard on the right side of the back seat and the guard in the middle looked at the soldier on the left. The soldier was a little embarrassed when he saw that we were all focused on him. He murmured, "Comrade commander, I vaguely heard the roar of the enemy''s motor in the air."


    I knew that some people''s hearing was extraordinary, so I turned around and looked into the air again, but still there was no sign of the enemy plane. I also listened attentively, except for the rumble of the guns and the roar of our jeep motor, I didn''t hear what the soldiers said about the motor of the plane.


    As I turned around to ask the soldier if he had heard me wrong, the driver yelled, "enemy plane, damn it, it''s German plane!"


    I turned to look out of the front window and saw an enemy plane swooping down from the clouds. At the same time, the airborne machine guns were making a mountain noise. The mud aroused by the bullets was like two fierce snakes rushing towards our jeep. Without waiting for me to shout out, the driver turned the steering wheel and made a sharp turn on the spot to avoid the enemy''s first round of strafing.


    "Go to the forest!" I gave the same order to the driver when I saw the wounded lying down on the spot or turning around and running towards the forest in the distance.


    The driver looked out of the window and found that the road leading to the forest on the right side was blocked by the wounded, so he resolutely turned around and rushed to the forest on the left side.


    The first attack of the enemy plane failed to work, and after pulling up, it dived again. Our jeep became the target of its attack. The driver drove the vehicle to avoid the bomb dropped by the enemy plane. In the fountains of soil columns raised by the left or right explosion, he drove the vehicle into the forest in a very dangerous way.


    After losing our target, the enemy plane circled a few times in the sky, then turned around and flew over the road where the wounded were hidden, strafed and bombed. It was not until the airborne ammunition was exhausted that it staggered away.


    After the enemy plane flew away, our jeep drove out of the forest again. The wounded on the side of the road, seeing the enemy plane flying away, also got up from the ground one after another, helped each other and continued to walk towards the rear. Of course, many of the wounded are still lying on the ground motionless, they have just become the victims of the air raid.


    I looked at the wounded not far away and sighed. Then I ordered the driver, "come on, comrade driver, let''s go to Yakovlev."


    The more the car goes forward, the more obvious the traces of war are. There are craters everywhere on the road. The wreckage of the destroyed and burned vehicles can be seen from time to time on the roadside or even in the middle of the road, and the bodies of our army officers and soldiers lying around are too late to collect. Maybe I''m used to life and death. For all this, I became indifferent and just told the driver to speed up without expression.


    We drove forward for another ten minutes, and the wounded team that we could see suddenly disappeared. Seeing this, I couldn''t help but heighten my vigilance. I said that it was time to get close to the battlefield. At the same time, I unconsciously put my hand on the holster, so that once I met the German army, I could draw a gun to fight.


    At this time, suddenly a soldier jumped out of a crater on the side of the road. He rushed to the middle of the road, waving his hands desperately and yelling at the same time. The driver quickly stepped on the brake and stopped just two or three meters away from the soldier. As soon as I poked my head out and asked what happened, the soldier rushed to my car door and yelled at me, "general, help, help. We have important military tasks."


    The soldier''s words confused me. I pushed the door open and got out of the car. After looking at him carefully, I asked in surprise, "Comrade soldier, what can I do for you?"


    "Well, Comrade General." The soldier spoke very quickly and said, "we are from the 39th transport team. We are delivering ammunition to the front. As a result, we just met the enemy''s air raid on the road, and our motorcade hid in the forest... "


    "Wait, comrade soldier." Although the soldier''s name sounded familiar to me, I interrupted him and asked, "is your captain lieutenant morochov?"


    "Yes, Comrade General. You are right The soldier nodded hard and said with certainty, "our captain is lieutenant morochov."


    "Go on!" I found out that the other party was an army I knew. In order to find out what happened, I told him to continue.


    "... the soil in the forest is so soft that the truck that finally rushed in got into a pit and blocked the way for other vehicles to come out." Seeing that I seemed to know their captain, the soldier became more stable. He clearly reported: "we have tried many ways, but we can''t move the car in the way, so the lieutenant ordered me to stop the car on the road, hoping to find a car to pull the truck out of the mud pit."


    "Show me." Then I got back into the car, closed the door, and told the soldier, "come up, too." The soldier agreed and stood next to me with the door hanging.


    We came to the place where the truck got stuck in the mud and saw a group of officers and men trying hard to get the car out of the pit. They carry it on their shoulders and push it with their hands, but the wheels are still idling and there is still no possibility of driving out.


    Lieutenant molochov, who was carrying the car under the command headquarters, saw me coming, ran out of the crowd, stood in front of me in mud, raised his hand and said, "Hello, comrade commander, the 39th transport team is carrying out the task, please give instructions!"


    I pointed to the truck in the pit not far away and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, what can I do for you?"


    Lieutenant morodrov looked behind me and said carefully, "Comrade commander, I don''t know if you can use your car to tow us for a while?"


    "No problem." For the request of the lieutenant, I readily agreed, and turned around and told the driver: "Comrade driver, drive over and help the lieutenant."


    Seeing a jeep coming to help, the commanders and fighters immediately cheered. They tied the two vehicles together with chains. When I saw that it was ready, Lieutenant morochov waved, and my driver started the jeep, trying to pull the truck out of the pit.


    The motor of the jeep was turning and roaring, the chains were jingling, and the thick mud was rumbling. But the truck only moved forward and sank deeper into the mud.


    Seeing this, the driver leaned out and said to me with a sad face: "Comrade commander, our car has too little horsepower to pull out such a heavy car."


    Listening to the driver say so, I have no choice but to ask molochov: "Comrade lieutenant, what else can I do?"


    Lieutenant molochov thought about it. At last, he bit his back teeth and said, "Comrade commander, if there is really no other way to think about it, we will have to unload the truck."


    "What, unload all the ammunition from the car?" I looked at the mountain of ammunition piled up on the truck and said anxiously, "if so much ammunition is unloaded, it won''t be finished in an hour or two. At present, there is a fierce battle in the front line, and the ammunition consumption is very serious, so it is urgent to get your supplement... "When I said that, it stopped abruptly, because I saw the exhausted and desperate commanders and fighters standing around the truck, they were covered with mud from head to foot, and they could not help but drop their hands. They all focused on me, as if hoping that my commander could come up with some good ideas for them. When we were at a loss, the guard who found the plane in advance suddenly cried out: "tank, our tank is coming!" Hearing the shouts of the guards, everyone''s heart was rekindled with hope. Everyone looked around and listened to the movement around. Soon a soldier with sharp eyes called out: "look, tank! Our tank, there comes our tank! " I looked in the direction of the roar of the tank motor and saw a t-5455 tank coming slowly from the direction we just came. The top cover of the tank turret was open, and a soldier in a tank uniform showed half of his body. Without waiting for my command, Lieutenant morodrov ran in the direction of the tank. The officers and men who had been around the truck also rushed to the tank with cheers. I turned to the three guards standing behind me and waved my head and said, "come on, let''s go and have a look."¡° Comrade commander, what should I do? " When the driver saw that we were all going, he leaned out and looked at the back and asked anxiously, "my car is still tied to the truck in the back." I said to the impatient driver with a smile, "Comrade driver, just wait here for a while. We will be back soon. Now that we have a tank, I believe it''s OK to pull this truck out of the mud pit. " When I went to the tank, I heard lieutenant morodrov and his men making a request to the tankers: "friend, help, we have a truck stuck in the mud... Help, we have important military tasks,... Help, help us pull the car out!" However, the tank soldier who showed half his body, after listening attentively to the request of the transporters, waved impatiently and said, "no, no, we also have important tasks to carry out. How can we help you tow?"

 Chapter 1130

    With these two words, he waved to the transporters around him to give way. Then he bent down and yelled, "get ready to drive."


    Seeing that the tank soldiers refused to help but wanted to drive the tank away, Lieutenant morochov and his men gave up. They stood in a row hand in hand and blocked the way of the tank.


    "What do you want to do?" The tank soldiers angrily scolded: "if you delay our mission, can you bear the responsibility?"


    At this moment, I saw the rank of second lieutenant on the shoulder badge of the tank soldier, and I was trying to help lieutenant morodrov. They said a few words, but I heard lieutenant morodrov reply loudly: "we can bear this responsibility!" Then he pointed to the forest where he was parking and raised his voice. "Comrade tank soldier, we are transporting shells to the front line. A truck got stuck in a mud pit and blocked the road for other vehicles. Now the forward artillery are bombarding the enemy, and their shells are consumed all the time. If we can''t send the shells to the front in time, as soon as the shells are finished, those cannons will become a pile of useless scrap iron. "


    As soon as Lieutenant morodrov''s words were finished, his subordinates added: "yes, comrade tank soldier, you can help us. As long as you pull out the truck trapped in the mud, it won''t take you much time."


    In order to make the tank Lieutenant change his mind, some people even began to lure him: "my friend, help me. We have several bottles of vodka distributed by our superiors. I can give them to you. Just ask you to help us pull the truck out


    The second lieutenant of the tank soldier was obviously not moved by such inducement. He continued to listen attentively to the request of the transporters, and looked around impatiently, as if to observe how to get rid of these pestering transporters.


    When lieutenant molochov saw that the tank lieutenant was not moved, he jumped on the tank, stood beside him, patted him on the shoulder and said in a friendly way, "Comrade tank soldier, please help us! As you know, we transport shells to the front line. If we can''t transport them in time, our cannons won''t be able to suppress the enemy with artillery fire! "


    "I''m sorry, comrade lieutenant." After listening to him, the tank Lieutenant said coldly, "I don''t have time. We have combat tasks and need to rush to the front line immediately." With that, he leaned down and once again called to the tank in a commanding voice


    Seeing that his hope failed, Lieutenant morodrov suddenly made a surprising move. He jumped out of the tank, glared at the tank soldiers standing in the turret, and yelled: "I will never let you go before you pull our truck out. Do you understand? " With that, he sat down on the muddy and uneven road, lying on his back in front of the tank track.


    As if all the commanders and fighters of the transport team had received a unified order, they all lay in front of the tank with the lieutenant. The transporters lying on the ground told the tank soldiers with their own actions that if they didn''t help them pull out the truck, they would have to run over them if they wanted to drive by.


    At this point, the tank lieutenant was helpless except to stand in a daze in the turret. At this time, I stepped forward two steps, went to the track of the tank, looked up at the tank soldiers, raised my voice and said, "Comrade lieutenant, please come down!"


    The tank Lieutenant looked back at me with a frown, and his face immediately showed a confused expression. He quickly got out of the turret, jumped out of the tank, straightened his back in front of me, raised his hand to his forehead, and said in fear, "sorry, comrade commander, I didn''t know you were here."


    "What part are you, Lieutenant?" I was standing on the side of the tank just now, but the second lieutenant was always staring at the front. It was normal not to notice me, so I didn''t blame him at all. I looked at him and asked softly.


    "I''m lieutenant atakuz, the platoon leader of the 101st brigade of the 33rd army of tanks," the lieutenant said clearly in a loud voice, and explained to me: "my tank was damaged in yesterday''s battle, and our maintenance vehicle towed the tank to the maintenance station overnight. No, just after it was repaired, I rushed back to the front line. "


    I was very curious about how the new tank was damaged, so I couldn''t help asking curiously, "how was it damaged? Were they damaged in a face-to-face battle with German tanks? "


    "No, it wasn''t damaged when they were fighting German tanks." Atakuz shook his head and said, "at that time, we had just repulsed a German attack. When we followed, we were bombarded by heavy German artillery. The track of my tank was broken, and the body of my tank was shot in two places. Another tank man died... "


    After atakuz finished introducing the situation, I glanced at the transporters still lying on the ground, and then said to him, "Comrade lieutenant, do you see those transporters? Would you rather watch them lying in the mud than help them? "


    Atakuz blushed and said to me sincerely, "Comrade commander, I''m wrong. I''m going to help them pull the truck out of the mud pit." With that, he raised his hand to salute me again, turned and climbed up the tank.


    Watching the second lieutenant of the tank soldiers climb up the tank, I quickly came to the side of lieutenant morochov, squatted down and said to him, "Comrade lieutenant, the tank soldiers have promised to help you pull the truck out. If you don''t get out of the way, the tanks can''t get through


    After listening to me, Lieutenant morodrov immediately got up from the ground, turned to his men and cried, "all right, comrades, stand up. The commander said that the tank soldiers are willing to help us pull the tanks out of the mud pit. " At his command, the transporters got up one after another, shaking away the dirt and making way for the tank.


    The transporters attached the chain to the hook of the tank, and atakuz directed the tank to start towing the truck that was trapped in the mud. The horsepower of the tank engine is better than that of the jeep I was in. It pulled the truck out easily. But that''s not the end, because lieutenant morochov found that other vehicles were also in danger of getting bogged down when they left the forest, so they attached the chain of the second truck to the hook of the tank.


    I stood by and watched with interest as atakuz''s tanks pulled trucks out of the forest one by one. When the last two trucks were left, I turned around and asked molochov standing beside me, "Comrade lieutenant, have you ever thought about being an infantry?"


    Lieutenant morodrov looked at me, nodded his head and said, "Comrade commander, I''d like to be an infantry soldier very much. Unfortunately, the higher authorities said that the transport team lacks experienced commanders and would not let me go to the infantry."


    Through these two contacts, Lieutenant morodrov left a very good impression on me. Hearing that he also wanted to be an infantry man, my mind became more flexible. I coughed and asked tentatively, "Comrade lieutenant, if I can make your superior change his mind, will you come to my army?"


    "Comrade commander, are you telling the truth?" When he heard this, he was stunned for a moment. Then he was surprised and asked, "do you really want me to come to your army?"


    "Yes, comrade lieutenant." Molochov''s reaction was a bit beyond my imagination. I just asked tentatively, but I didn''t expect that he was so excited. So I asked in a puzzled way: "how could you be so excited when you heard that you could come to my army?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Lieutenant morodrov explained with some embarrassment, "I''ve heard you mentioned more than once, and your outstanding achievements. If I want to go to the infantry unit, I''m sure I''d like to go to the unit where the commander has the ability. "


    When I heard the flattery of lieutenant morodrov, my vanity got a little satisfaction, and I made a wish to him, saying, "Lieutenant, as long as you want to come, I can give you the position of battalion commander. Military rank, you can also be promoted to captain


    After listening to me, the corners of his mouth twitched violently. Then he said in a decisive tone, "Comrade commander, as long as you can convince my superiors, I will report to your troops immediately."


    After all the trucks were pulled out of the forest, Lieutenant molochov called on the transporters to get on the bus and drive the vehicles towards the most fierce fighting area. I asked the driver to speed up and go to Yakovlev as soon as possible, hoping to meet apanashchenko, who was wandering in the front, and send him back to the rear.


    Our car drove forward for another ten minutes or so, and a highland appeared on the right side of the road. I remember that this is the headquarters of the new regiment. Although shijerikov is not here, his chief of staff, basmanov, should still be there. If apanashchenko really went to Yakovlev, he would definitely pass by, so it was necessary to ask basmanov about the situation, so I told the driver, "drive to the high ground."


    As soon as we got close to the highland, seven or eight soldiers emerged from the hidden trench on the side of the road. After they pointed their weapons at us, a corporal walked out of the crowd and asked aloud, "Hey, what part are you from?"


    I couldn''t help laughing when I heard him ask. I asked tank soldiers the same question just now. I didn''t expect that someone would ask me the same question so soon. I asked the driver to stop the car, pushed the door open and got out of the car. I told them, "I''m o''shanina, commander of the group army. Are your chief of staff and battalion in?"


    The corporal who asked obviously knew me. He turned to signal the soldiers to lower their guns, trotted to me and reported to me, "comrades commander, chief of staff and battalion commander are in the command post north of the highland. I''ll take you up."


    I nodded and was about to speak when suddenly a soldier rushed out of the crowd and came straight at me. I was so frightened by his recklessness that I put my hand on the holster. Fortunately, he asked in time: "Comrade commander, did you see the convoy carrying shells on your way here?"


    I saw my hand move away from the holster, and with a sigh of relief, I asked the soldier standing in front of me: "Comrade soldier, what part of you are?"


    The soldier immediately stood up and saluted, and respectfully reported: "Comrade commander, I am a soldier of the fifth company of the 1008th anti tank annihilating artillery regiment."


    "Soldiers of the artillery company?" After hearing his name, I looked him up and down and asked curiously, "can you tell me why you are here?"¡° Comrade commander, please listen to me The soldier pointed to a highland hundreds of meters away from the front, where the smoke was billowing, and said, "our company is stationed on the highland in front, because there are not many shells. Captain gagkaev, the company commander, asked me to come here to have a look. If the transport team doesn''t come again, we won''t have any shells to fight. "¡° Don''t worry, comrade soldier. " Seeing the little soldier''s anxious face, I patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, saying, "we met a convoy carrying shells on the road, but our speed was fast, so we got here before them. You can wait. They''ll be here in a minute After that, I waved my head at the corporal and said, "come on, comrade corporal, take me to your regiment headquarters." At the regiment headquarters, I met major busmanov and captain Rosenberg who were staying here. I didn''t care to talk to them, so I asked, "what''s the situation here?"¡° Comrade commander, "the one who answered my question was captain Rosenberg, the third battalion commander. He pointed to the map and introduced to me," the German army is attacking the highland in front of us. Once they are allowed to occupy it, they can concentrate their forces and launch a final attack on us. " I stared at the position of his finger and asked faintly, "what kind of troops are used to defend the highland in front of me?" I want to know how many troops there are to judge how long the troops can hold on. Rosenberg and basmanov looked at each other and said to me, "there is a company of infantry on the high ground, plus the 5th company of the 1008th anti tank annihilation artillery regiment. Today, they have repelled three successive German attacks, destroyed at least ten tanks and eliminated two platoons of infantry Although the achievements of the new regiment were very common, it was not easy for the new regiment to repel three successive German attacks. So I said with approval, "it''s a good game, but you can''t be proud. You should seize the time to repair the fortifications and do a good job in reconnaissance, so that you can block the advance of the German army for a long time. "¡° Comrade commander, "basmanov asked respectfully after I finished speaking," in our observation post, we can see the situation on the opposite high ground. Do you want to see it? "¡° Well, comrade major, since you are here, you must go and have a look. " Originally, I was just about to ask where the observation was, but basmanov mentioned it first. At this time, I said, "please show me the way."

 Chapter 1131

    Standing in the observation station, I raised my telescope and looked into the distance. The highland in front of me is nearly one-third lower than my highland, so that you can clearly see the artillery position on the top of the mountain and the open area in front of the highland. At the moment, there are several burning fires in the open field, which can be seen as tanks or armored vehicles destroyed by our army.


    A truck full of ammunition pulled up to the foot of the hill. As soon as the car stopped, the driver''s door opened, and a person came down from the left and right, quickly walked to the side of the car and moved the ammunition box down. I looked through a telescope at the two men, and I saw that one of them was lieutenant morochov, the leader of the transport team.


    When I saw molochov carrying the ammunition myself, I nodded with a smile and moved the telescope to the artillery position on the top of the mountain. Judging from the location of the gun positions, the company should have had nine guns, but now there are only five anti tank guns that are still intact.


    At the foot of the mountain, the people in the artillery position obviously saw the ammunition truck. One of the officers waved his hand, so more than a dozen people ran down the mountain quickly, lifted the ammunition boxes they had placed on the ground, trotted back to the mountain, and distributed boxes of shells to each artillery position.


    At this time, the telephone rang in the observation center. Basmanov picked up the phone, listened to it for a while, and said, "I see." Then he put down the phone.


    I continued to observe the artillery position on the opposite hillside with my telescope, and without looking back, I asked, "major, what''s the matter?"


    Busmanov quickly came to me and reported to me, "Comrade commander, the observation post on the top of the mountain reports that the enemy''s attack has begun again."


    I heard him say so, quickly adjusted the angle of the telescope and looked further away. In the open plains, German tanks appeared one by one like little beetles. Behind the tank, you can see the infantry in a line of scattered soldiers, walking slowly with weapons.


    I looked for a while, put down my telescope and said to busmanov, "no more than one battalion at most. Can you block it?" Although I asked in an understatement, I still had no idea whether they could block the German attack.


    On hearing my question, busmanov replied in a positive tone, "don''t worry, comrade commander. Although there are few people on the high ground ahead, but they have perfect fortifications, I believe they will be able to withstand the enemy''s attack. " At this point, he lowered his voice, like saying to me, more like saying to himself, "even if they can''t stop us, aren''t we? Even if we only have one person left, we will never let the enemy pass through our position. "


    The German tanks were still far away, and the artillery company on the high ground fired. With the white smoke rising from the gun position, the shells roared out of the chamber and flew to the tank in the distance. Because the distance was too far, the first batch of shells were all in the open space. Except one shot exploded next to the tank, the rest of them were far away from the target.


    Seeing the artillery firing on the high ground, the moving tank stopped for a short time and fired back. A moment later, more than a dozen black plumes rose from the Highlands, and even a few shells crossed the top of the hillside and landed between the two Highlands, exploding.


    Before the smoke cleared, the gun position on the top of the mountain opened fire again. Although it still did not hit any German tanks this time, its landing point was much more accurate than that of the first round. Almost all of them fell ten meters away from the tanks and exploded.


    As soon as our shelling stopped, the German tanks stopped to fight back, and the Highlands in front of us were covered with smoke. When the smoke cleared, I saw that a cannon had been overturned by the fire, and several wounded people were struggling beside the overturned cannon. The artillery commander, in addition to sending a health officer to treat the wounded, continued to direct the remaining artillery to fire at the German tanks.


    When I saw this, I quickly called busmanov over and asked anxiously, "major, do you have any health workers in the infantry company you are stationed in the front highland?"


    "Yes Basmanov did not understand the purpose of my question at first. After looking forward, he immediately said, "Comrade commander, I understand everything. I''m going to call the company commander at the front and ask him to send a health officer to help the wounded artillery brother


    Not long after basmanov''s call, I saw a health worker with a medicine box on his back running to the destroyed gun position to rescue the wounded under the enemy''s fire.


    The artillery position on the top of the mountain was shrouded in smoke, but our artillery brothers were still fighting tenaciously, and soon some unlucky tanks were hit by our artillery fire and stopped burning in the same place.


    Although our artillery kept firing, because of the large number of German tanks, they still rushed to the foot of the hillside, and the infantry who had been following also launched an attack on our army under the cover of tanks. In an instant, the hillside was full of German soldiers in helmets, crawling towards the position surrounded by fireworks.


    Seeing this, basmanov frowned and said to me, "Comrade commander, the enemy''s forces in this charge are at least twice as much as those in the last. It is a pity that there are no heavy weapons in the position except a few light machine guns. Otherwise, the dense formation of the German army, as long as the mortar is fired and the heavy machine gun is swept, they will suffer heavy casualties. "


    I can only smile bitterly at basmanov''s regret. If it wasn''t for the limited weapons, I would like to equip the new regiment with enough mortars, heavy machine guns and an assault rifle. However, in order to support the counterattack of the 67th division of the guards, the regiment only had a few new tanks, which I also let sjerykov take away. At the moment, facing the fierce attack of the German army, we can only rely on the tenacious fighting will of the commanders and fighters of the Third Battalion. As soon as the German infantry approached the hillside, they flew out of the position and exploded in a dense line of grenades. Just when they were dazed by the bombing, the troops in the position resolutely launched a counter charge, and the enemy rolled back. If our army had not been intercepted by German tank fire in the process of charging, it would have achieved much greater results. However, the company commander in the front line was also clever. As soon as he saw that the troops were shelled by the enemy, he immediately ordered all the people to withdraw to hide and avoid more unnecessary casualties. Seeing that another German infantry charge was beaten back, I was just relieved when I heard basmanov yell, "no Before I could figure out what was going on, I saw him rush to the gate of the observation post and yell at a soldier outside: "hurry up, send out the air raid alarm. The enemy''s bombers are out." Hearing the air raid alarm, my heart could not help shivering, and I looked into the air. There was a German flying formation in the distance. Four planes, at least seven or eight groups, were flying towards us. Soon, the enemy plane flew close and began to dive one by one to the high ground in front, dropping the bombs one by one. Every time a bomb was dropped, a big fire and smoke rose from the high ground. Kung Fu is not big, the whole highland is immersed in fire and smoke, just like an erupting volcano. At this time, the enemy, who had been knocked down from the high ground, took advantage of the situation and rushed to the hillside. Seeing this, my heart sank suddenly. Although I didn''t say anything, I realized in my heart that the highland might be lost. At present, although there are two companies in my position, I can''t send them to reinforce them, because the hundreds of meters from here to the opposite highland are all open fields without shelter. Before they run, they are either destroyed by German tank fire or blown up by German planes¡° Comrade commander, "I heard basmanov gritting his teeth next to me," the enemy has increased its forces. You see, there are at least fifty or sixty more tanks and more than one regiment of infantry in the distance. " From the crack of the smoke, I could see clearly through the telescope the German tank troops rumbling in the distance, and the dense infantry formation behind them. My heart became more and more heavy. I knew in my heart that with the arrival of the German reinforcements, the fall of the Highlands ahead was only a matter of time. Thinking of this, I put down my telescope, turned to basmanov, who was standing beside me, and said, "Comrade major, let the commanders and fighters in the position prepare for battle. When all the soldiers in the Highlands ahead are finished, we''ll be next. " As soon as I finished speaking, basmanov immediately grabbed my hand and dragged it towards the outside of the observation post. At the same time, he said, "Comrade commander, before the enemy attacks, you go first!" I broke away from his hand and said to him angrily, "Comrade major, as your commander, under such a critical situation, can I leave first? Isn''t that a run away? "¡° Comrade commander, "basmanov, the former commander of the guard battalion, said to me with a straight face:" you are the commander of the group army. Your responsibility is to command the troops to attack the Germans, not to give up your life here in vain. " At this point, he turned his head and yelled at the three guards who were standing at the door with me, "what are you still doing there? Why don''t you take the commander away?" Some of the guards who came with me actually listened to basmanov''s words. They came up and grabbed my arm and dragged me out. At the same time, they advised me: "Comrade commander, the major is right. You have no right to take risks here. You''d better leave here with us." They wanted to pull me away, but I wouldn''t. In the middle of the argument, the telephone rang suddenly. Basmanov picked up the phone and listened to it for a moment. Then he turned to me and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, the commander of the 33rd tank army, Colonel berey, has arrived. He is waiting for you in the command post."

 Chapter 1132

    I was greatly relieved to hear that captain berey''s 33rd tank army had arrived. It seems that at least I don''t have to leave the highlands and hide in a safe place. The next thing to do is how to use the forces of the tank army to repel the German troops who stormed the Highlands ahead.


    I took busmanov back to the command post and met bere who was here. As soon as the other party saw my appearance, they immediately welcomed me. When they shook hands with me, they asked with concern, "Comrade commander, why are you here?"


    "I wanted to go to Yakovlev, but I didn''t expect to be trapped here just in time for the German army to attack the new regiment''s defense area." After answering bierre''s question, I asked, "Colonel, how did your troops arrive at this time?"


    "Comrade commander," explained Colonel berey to my question, "it took a lot of time to gather up the troops, and there were still many tanks to replenish fuel and ammunition, so it was delayed."


    "Comrade Colonel, I think you have seen the situation in the Highlands ahead." I didn''t care about the reason why belay''s tank troops were late. Instead, I asked bluntly, "if I order your troops to attack, are you sure you can repel the enemy?"


    Don''t listen to my words, don''t answer immediately, but frown and think. Seeing his delay in answering, I couldn''t help raising my voice and asked, "what''s the matter, comrade Colonel, why didn''t you answer me? Didn''t you hear my question?"


    Brey shook his head and said: "Comrade commander, if only the German armored forces and infantry, with the strength of our tank army, we can easily defeat them. But, "he said, raising his hand and pointing up to the sky, he said helplessly," the key is the enemy planes in the sky. As long as they drop bombs, more than half of our tanks will have to be reimbursed. "


    "Comrade Colonel, what shall we do?" Basmanov and berey are very familiar, so they don''t have any scruples in their words: "are you going to watch the German army clean up our troops and then attack here without fear?"


    For basmanov''s accusation, don''t ray said with a wry smile: "major, if my tank troops set out in battle formation and didn''t wait to launch an attack, they would be found by German bombers and cause indiscriminate bombing. When the bombing is over, my tank troops will almost be reimbursed. "


    "Then you won''t be discovered by the German army now?" Basmanov retorted unconvinced.


    "Our tank troops are still on the March, about two or three kilometers from here." "The German bombers are bombing the Highlands in front of us. We don''t think they have found our troops yet," he said slowly


    When they were bickering, my mind kept thinking. If we don''t send tank troops to attack, the highland in front of us will surely be lost, and then the German army will take advantage of the situation to attack my highland; Send tank troops to attack. I am heartbroken to think that they may have suffered heavy casualties in the German bombing.


    When he was in a dilemma, suddenly there was a voice outside the door calling for a report. Rosenberg, standing by the door, rushed out and said, "come in!"


    One of my guards walked quickly into the command post. Without even a salute, he said excitedly: "report commander, there''s a friendly commander outside."


    "The commander of the friendly forces?" I looked blankly at the guard who came in and asked, "where is he from?"


    The guard didn''t answer me immediately. Instead, he put his body aside and said with a smile, "please come in, comrade colonel. Comrade commander is waiting for you."


    As soon as his words were over, a middle-aged Colonel walked quickly into the command post and came to me. After standing at attention and saluting, he reported: "Comrade commander, Colonel Chernoff, commander of the 90th division of the guards, reports to you that our division is on its way to Yakovlev. Now there is a fierce battle ahead. Our division is unable to move forward for the time being. Please direct the next step. I''m at your command. "


    When we see an infantry division appear, we are in an advantage in the comparison of forces. But I was happy for a short time, and my heart sank again, because the infantry would pay more casualties if they wanted to launch a counterattack under the German bombing. Therefore, I only asked faintly, "Comrade Colonel, where is your army?"


    "Stay two or three kilometers from here at the moment, with colonel berey''s tank troops." Chernoff took a look at bierre next to him, and then said, "I came here by car after listening to the comrades of the tank army saying that the colonel was here. I want to discuss with him about the coordination of combat."


    With a bitter smile, I raised my head and asked Chernoff, "Comrade Colonel, don''t you see German planes all over the sky? If we launch an attack, what kind of casualties will we pay? Even if I don''t say it, you should be able to think about it? "


    "I''ve taken it all into consideration, comrade commander." Chernoff nodded his head and said, "as long as we can drive the Germans out of this area, I think the necessary sacrifice is completely worth it."


    I shook my head and said, "no, if we attack now, I can''t accept the casualties paid by the troops. What''s more, your division''s task is to strengthen the defense in Yakovlev. If all the troops are destroyed, how can you consolidate the front line? "


    "Comrade commander," Chernoff said, taking a step forward and speaking firmly, "even if we don''t take the initiative to attack the German army, once they capture the highland in front of us and attack here again, we will find the tanks and guards stationed nearby, and we will also suffer heavy casualties under their bombing." After listening to Chernoff''s words, berey hesitated for a moment, and then came forward to persuade me: "Comrade commander, I think captain Chernoff is right. Instead of waiting to die, I''d better give it a go. Even if we pay huge casualties, as long as we repel the German army, it will be a big victory for us. " Seeing that everyone''s eyes were focused on me, I knew in my heart that they all wanted to take the risk. Originally, they wanted to be ruthless and push the boat with the current to issue the order of attack. But at the thought of the rampant German planes in the sky, they could not help but retreat. Just as I hesitated, the telephone on my desk rang. My attention was immediately attracted by the bell, because according to my experience, the bell that rings at unexpected time may bring us good news. Rosenberg picked up the phone, listened to it for a few words, then covered the phone and said excitedly to me, "Comrade commander, the observation post on the top of the mountain reports that a large number of our fighters have been found in the air."¡° What, our fighters? " When I heard this news, I was overjoyed. I grabbed Rosenberg''s phone and asked in a loud voice, "Hello, comrade soldier, I''m o''shanina. Please repeat the information you just reported." Obviously, the other party didn''t expect that the person who talked with him would suddenly turn into me. After a moment of confusion, he stammered and said, "the report commander and Comrade... Found a large number of airplanes in the north. They are... Our own airplanes." Without waiting for him to finish, I threw the microphone on the table and said aloud, "Colonel berey, Chernoff, busmanov, come with me to the observation post and see what''s going on?" With that, I took the lead and went out. But when I entered the observation post again, it was clear that our air force had arrived at the battlefield. At the moment, fighters are chasing German bombers everywhere, while our bombers are diving towards the German line, chasing enemy tanks with bombs and harvesting German infantry with airborne machine guns. The German army, which had just taken the initiative in the battlefield, became a lamb to be slaughtered. This huge contrast is hard for all people to accept for a while. "My God, it''s the first time that I''ve seen so many fighters of our army in the battle," he murmured At this moment, I finally remember that vatukin had promised to send me air force support. Although they were late, they were not OK. Seeing the exciting fighting scene outside, I said aloud to several commanders in the observation station: "this is the air force sent by the headquarters of the front army. If I remember correctly, it should be the 205th fighter Aviation Division and the 223rd short-range bombing Aviation Division of the air force group army." After introducing the number of the air force, I said to berey and Chernoff with a smile, "comrades, since our air forces are all on the stage, can''t you still stand here to watch the play? Why don''t you go back to your troops and direct the attack? "¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Berey and Chernoff, both beaming with joy, gave a loud reply, then turned away from the observation post and went back to their respective troops. In less than five minutes, the roar of tanks and the cry of infantry overshadowed the roar of airplanes and the explosion of bombs on the ground. Then I saw tanks full of infantry charging towards the enemy in the distance with full horsepower, and behind them were infantry charging like a tide. As the ground counterattack began, the air force in the sky also found a way. Although they could not get in touch with me directly, they began to actively cooperate with the infantry. Bombers are specialized in bombing German tanks, while fighters that have driven away enemy bombers are not idle. They use airborne machine guns to shoot frantically fleeing German infantry, so that our ground forces can fight back more smoothly and faster. In the face of the bombing by our planes and the assault by tank troops, the German troops made a little resistance and then turned around to withdraw to the south. However, how can our air force make them escape from the battlefield easily? Bombers specially bomb the tanks running in the front and destroy them. Even if they don''t block the retreat of the tanks behind, they will also slow down the retreat of the tanks due to detour. At this time, our tanks rushed up and got close to the shelling, and the tanks that fell behind were beaten to pieces. This unexpected air ground cooperative operation completely smashed the last German resistance in just ten minutes. Except for a few who escaped, the rest of the enemy troops were either killed or captured by our army. However, the 90th division and tank army of the guards took advantage of the situation to advance to Yakovlev area and successfully joined forces with the 51st division of the guards.

 Chapter 1133

    When the battle came to an end, busmanov and I, with the guards, set foot on the highland after the fierce battle.


    There are only a few craters on this side of the north slope because there are few shells dropped. When I got to the top of the hillside, I found that it was completely empty soil ploughed several times by gunfire. The gun position on the mountain has disappeared. In the smoky soil, the broken parts of the gun can be seen from time to time.


    I look around, but I don''t see anyone. Thinking that the artillery company might be completely destroyed, my heart could not help flustered, so I asked aloud, "where are the commanders and fighters of the artillery company?"


    But there was no response.


    Busmanov stepped forward, stood beside me and yelled around, "is anyone there? Is there anyone else? "


    After his cry, the position was still silent.


    The guard behind me saw this situation, immediately grabbed in front of us and began to look down in the virtual earth. Soon they dug out a commander and fighter from the soil, but after checking the results, it was a pity to find that the other side had already died.


    I quickly told the guard: "continue to look, see if there are any living artillery brothers."


    The guards agreed, bending over to search the earth for survivors. Soon two more soldiers were dug out of the soil, but none of them was alive.


    Seeing this, basmanov said to me with a little worry: "Comrade commander, you see the artillery positions on the top of the mountain have been razed to the ground. There may be no survivors at all."


    Although I agree with his statement, I am not reconciled to it. I just stare at the guards searching in front of me without saying a word, hoping for a miracle.


    Ten minutes later, the guards put the bodies of more than 20 martyrs in front of us. I took off my helmet and made a deep bow to the body of the martyr. When I put on my helmet and was about to ask basmanov to go to the tunnel of the infantry company to have a look, I suddenly heard a guard exclaim in surprise: "look, the soil over there is moving. The people buried below must still be alive."


    "Come on, come on, come on, dig him out!" Hearing what the guards said, I couldn''t wait to give orders to everyone before I could see where it was.


    Several guards rushed to a small mound not far from my left front and planed out the people buried below with all hands and feet. Because the rescued man was covered with soil and his clothes were ragged, I couldn''t see whether he was a soldier or a commander at all. He quickly walked over and held his dusty hand tightly with both hands. He said excitedly, "Comrade artillery, you have worked hard!"


    The man who was supported by two guards looked at me and said in a weak voice, "Hello, comrade commander!"


    "Who are you?" Basmanov asked aloud.


    "Gagkayev," the other party replied weakly, "Captain gagkayev, the fifth company commander of the 1008th anti tank annihilating artillery regiment."


    "Comrade captain," busmanov went up to the captain, took his other hand, shook it hard, and said in a loud voice, "you and your men are good. As a result of your bravery and tenacity, our infantry were able to repel several German attacks in a row


    "Comrade major," I said after basmanov finished, "write down the captain''s name and report it to the group headquarters in the evening. It is said in the report that because he is brave and tenacious in fighting, he was awarded due honor in recognition of his brave fighting spirit. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Basmanov agreed, took out a pen and paper from his briefcase and wrote down the name of captain gagkaev.


    As we have to inspect the tunnel works next, I asked the guards to take gagkaev with me, and I was going to ask the health guards of the infantry company to check him first to see if he was injured.


    The position of the infantry company, though under the enemy''s fire, was ploughed into a piece of empty land. More than a dozen soldiers are working in the hollowed out trenches.


    As soon as we arrived, a lieutenant ran over and saluted me and busmanov. Basmanov said to me with a smile, "Comrade commander, this is the commander of the seventh company."


    While shaking hands with the seventh company commander, I asked with concern: "comrade company commander, how are the casualties of your company in the battle?"


    "There are 21 soldiers left in the company," the seventh company commander replied with a bitter smile, licking his dry lips. "But we still have a heavy machine gun and seven assault rifles. We can continue to fight."


    I know that with the character of chejerikov, each company of the new regiment can not have only 100 people, so I asked the commander of the seventh company curiously, "how many people are there in your company?"


    "197, comrade commander." The seven company commander replied in a loud voice.


    After hearing this, I immediately turned to look at basmanov and ordered in an unquestionable tone: "Comrade major, the casualties of the seventh company have almost reached 90%. Immediately, a company was raised from the high ground behind to take over the defense, so that the commanders and fighters of the seventh company can go to the back for rest."


    Hearing that they were to be transferred to the rear for rest, the seventh company commander was in a bit of a hurry and said in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, we don''t need to rest. Really, we don''t need to rest. We can go on fighting... "


    Before he finished speaking, I interrupted him and said to him earnestly, "Comrade lieutenant, your task has been completed. What we need to do now is to take a rest in the back and replenish the troops as soon as possible. As long as combat effectiveness is formed, are you worried that there will be no war to fight? "


    When the seventh company commander heard me say this, his face became happy again.


    At this time, busmanov said to him, "commander of the seventh company, the commander wants to see your tunnel works. Please take her to visit. By the way, I''ll also use your company''s phone to contact captain Rosenberg. "


    The seventh company commander took us and others along the half buried trench, and we came to the tunnel mouth with little effort. The exit of the tunnel may have collapsed in the German artillery bombardment. At the moment, seven or eight soldiers are cleaning up the accumulated soil at the entrance. I don''t know who called out "the commander is coming!" Everyone stopped their work and gathered around.


    I saw that each of them had ragged uniforms and their faces were black with smoke. Several soldiers wore bandages on their heads, shoulders, arms and even legs. With a smile on my face, I shook hands with the soldiers who had just fought with the German Army armed to the teeth, and had a simple chat with everyone.


    I looked up the south slope and saw that from the hillside to the foot of the mountain, there were abandoned German bodies everywhere. They were lying on the hillside in all kinds of postures, laying most of the hillside in disorder. I pointed to the bottom and frowned at basmanov and said, "major, when the incoming troops arrive, let them clean up the German corpses below, so as not to cause epidemic disease after the corpses decay."


    "I see." For my order, basmanov immediately drew inferences from one instance, "I asked the troops to dig a few big pits below and throw the German bodies in and bury them."


    "That will do." Knowing that it was the most convenient way to do so when there were not enough people, I agreed and added, "don''t forget to leave all the weapons that the Germans can use."


    After leaving the highland, I drove along the road to the division headquarters of the 51st division of Jinwei. As our army has just inflicted heavy damage on the German troops in this area, on the road, I saw not only the bombed tanks and the killed soldiers, but also a captive team composed of nearly 100 German officers and soldiers walking towards the rear under the escort of our commanders and fighters. For them, the ongoing war has come to an early end.


    In the division headquarters of the 51st division, I saw not only major general tavartkilaze, commander of the tank army, Colonel bere, commander of the 90th division, Chernoff, but also apanashchenko, deputy commander of the front army. When he saw me coming, he nodded with a smile and said, "Comrade o''shanina, you are here."


    "Senior general," although his rank is higher than mine, I spoke sternly to him in this situation: "how can you run to the front? Don''t you know how dangerous it is here?"


    Apanashchenko didn''t care about my attitude. He turned his head and looked at them. He turned his head, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Comrade oshanina, although the front line is very dangerous, as long as the senior commanders and soldiers stay together, it can boost the morale and stabilize the morale of the army."


    I can''t laugh or cry about apanashchenko''s theory. If you are killed by the German army in the front, it will definitely boost the morale of the German army, and our side will be in a panic. I took a deep breath, tried to restrain my impulse, and tried to say to him in a smooth tone: "Comrade General, you didn''t inform commander watujing in advance when you came out this time, so that he couldn''t find anyone to discuss the battle plan with you. That''s why I''m ordered to come to the front to find you


    Apanashchenko was a little embarrassed by my half true and half false words. In order to get rid of the embarrassment, he turned the topic to the cooperative air ground combat that just ended not long ago: "Comrade oshanina, you just played very well. The cooperation between the air force and the army is perfect. As soon as the German tanks were concentrated, our bombers flew over and dropped bombs to blow them up. Before the smoke of the bombing dispersed, our tanks rushed up again and easily beat the rest of the tanks to pieces.... "


    Although I saw this sudden air ground cooperative operation in the telescope, I was very interested to hear apanashchenko talking about it at the moment. As soon as he finished, I turned to bere and Chernoff, who were standing beside me: "comrades of the two colonels, I want to ask, which German army has just been repulsed by you?"


    My words surprised several people present. After a while, Colonel berey timidly asked me, "Comrade commander, don''t you really know which army we defeated?"


    I shook my head and said with some embarrassment, "after I left the highland, I came here directly. I really didn''t have time to ask which army was the captured prisoner."


    Tavartkiraze stepped forward and said to me respectfully, "Comrade commander, please allow me to report to you." Seeing that I nodded my approval, he said with a certain degree of pride on his face, "the army that was defeated by the 90th tank army and the guards division is the German imperial division.". When they were defeated and retreated to our division''s defensive area, they disrupted the line of the "Hitler division" which was attacking our division''s position. Now the two German SS divisions, under our joint attack, have retreated to the west of Yakovlev. At present, we have gradually restored the lost positions No. 2 and No. 3. "¡° Comrades in the air force have made great achievements in this battle. " Apanashchenko added with emotion: "due to their heroic performance, the German army was defeated and could not stop the effective resistance." At this point, he stopped for a moment, then said with a trace of regret, "it''s a pity that we could use too few troops at that time, otherwise we might be able to drive all the enemies back to Belgorod." I didn''t express any opinions on apanashchenko''s optimistic speculation, but just gave a faint smile. I knew in my heart that the reason why the German army was so embarrassed by us was not that our strength was far beyond that of the other side, but that the sudden appearance of the air force caught the German army by surprise. When they come back and take the necessary measures, we can achieve very little. In order to let apanashchenko return to the headquarters of the front army obediently, I turned my eyes and came up with a good idea. Then I said to him with a smile, "Comrade General, in order to let commander watujing understand the detailed process of our defeat of the Hitler division and the imperial division as soon as possible, I think it is necessary for you to return to the headquarters of the front army immediately, Report to him personally the details of the whole battle. " In order to increase the persuasion, I deliberately made a regretful expression, "if I didn''t want to stay and command the troops, I would like to report the great victory to commander watujing personally. After all, the report in the telegram is too dry." After hearing what I said, apanashchenko was cheated by my little trick. He stood up and said, "Comrade oshanina, you are right. You still have more important things to do when you stay in the front line. I will report to general watujing about the fighting. But you must remember to send a telegram to the commander first, so that he can have a clear idea¡° No problem, senior general. I''ll arrange the telegram right away. " "Do you want me to send someone to escort you back?" I asked in a flattering tone¡° No need, "apanashchenko said with a wave of his hand." the road I''m going to take is under the control of our army. There should be no danger. The front line needs manpower. You''d better use the soldiers you want to arrange in more important places. " Watching apanashchenko leave, I finally put down the stone in my heart. Then he called them all to the table, pointed to the map on it and gave them a new defense zone.

 Chapter 1134

    Although I have just won a big victory, I know that this victory is composed of many accidental factors. Even if I want to copy it, it is almost impossible. If we are complacent and take it lightly, it is still unknown whether we can hold the position or not when the Germans slow down and make the last strong attack again.


    As the 51st division of the guards suffered a great loss in yesterday''s and today''s battles, if they were allowed to continue to divide their forces to guard the recovered positions 2 and 3, the overall defense force would be weak. Therefore, I let the 90th division of the guards of Colonel Chernoff take over the defense of the area. At the same time, berey''s tank troops were also deployed in the rear of the two guard divisions to provide cover and support for the infantry.


    After my deployment was completed, tavartkilaze finally couldn''t help asking his own question: "Comrade commander, according to our initial assumption, after making way for the attacking German army, they should attack our second line of defense with all their strength. But now the situation is that some of their troops have rushed to our second line of defense, while more troops are constantly attacking the defensive areas of our division and the 52nd close guard division. It seems that they will not be reconciled if they do not completely eliminate us. What is the reason for this? "


    As for tavartkilaze''s question, I pointed to the map with a wry smile and said to him, "Comrade General, I''m to blame for this. It''s my misjudgment. I always thought that when the German opened a gap in our defense, they would rush forward regardless. However, we have overlooked one point. Even if we have made way for the German army, all the commanding heights in this area are still in our hands, so that we can be condescending and do great damage to the German army. Under such circumstances, if the German army does not eliminate these unsafe factors, how can they boldly push forward with confidence? "


    When I said this, tawalter killazerton suddenly realized: "it''s so. No wonder the German army launched a crazy attack on us. Even after positions 2 and 3 were lost one after another, the German army''s attack did not weaken. It turned out that they wanted to destroy us completely before they dared to continue to push forward to the second line of defense."


    After tavartkilaze finished, I nodded and said, "although the German army suffered a big defeat today, they will never give up. The enemy''s strength is several times that of ours, and there are many more tanks and artillery than ours. In the next defensive battle, you will have to bear a lot of pressure. "


    "Comrade commander is right." As soon as I finished, Chernoff immediately took over and said, "I expect the German army will launch a crazy attack on us tomorrow morning at the latest."


    I looked at this strange guard division commander and asked cautiously, "Comrade Colonel, in the face of the German crazy attack, can you stop them?"


    "No problem, comrade commander." Chernoff swore to me: "although our division had some casualties in the battle just ended, the main force of the Division has been completely preserved. I don''t think there is any problem in blocking the German attack."


    After hearing this, I turned to tawalter killazer and asked, "Comrade General, what do you say?"


    When tavartkiraze heard my question, he said solemnly, "Comrade commander, although I also want to tell you that there is no problem in holding the position. But in the past two days of fighting, more than half of our troops were killed and wounded. If the German forces make a few more high-intensity attacks, our division will almost be able to cancel its organizational structure. "


    When I heard that tavartkilaze said that more than half of the troops were killed or injured, I also had a headache. At present, I only have the 89th division of the close guard in my hand, which I am prepared to reserve for the grand counterattack. I can never give it to any troops at this time. Therefore, I hesitated for a long time before I tentatively asked, "Comrade General, how do you think about it?"


    "Can you send me a reserve team?" Tavartkilaze asked me for troops. "If we don''t get support, I think it''s very difficult to hold the position. At that time, positions No. 2 and No. 3 were lost because the enemy was able to occupy the high ground only after all the defenders on the positions were killed


    "Why are there so many casualties in the army?" Hearing what tavartkilaze said, I was puzzled and asked, "there are relatively perfect tunnels and fortifications in positions 2 and 3. How could the troops be killed and killed in such a short time?"


    Tavartkilaze thought for a while and replied, "I guess it''s because the commanders and fighters are not familiar with the tunnels, so they are unwilling to use the tunnels to hide when they are bombarded or bombed, resulting in a large number of unnecessary casualties."


    Tavartkilaze''s words sounded an alarm for me. I thought that with the tunnel works, the casualties of the garrison would be greatly reduced when they were defending. I didn''t expect that there would be people who didn''t know how to use the tunnel for defense and paid the price they shouldn''t have paid. Thinking of this, I asked anxiously, "Comrade General, the commanders and fighters in position one will not make similar mistakes again, will they?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander! There is no problem with position 1. They just know that only by relying on tunnels and surface positions can they firmly hold their positions under the crazy attack of the German army. " When I mentioned the No. 1 position, tavartkilaze immediately became full of confidence. Seeing that I looked at him in surprise, he quickly explained, "don''t forget, Lieutenant Colonel Lu Jin, the head of the 309th regiment, but your old subordinates are very familiar with your tactics."


    After listening to tavartkilaze talking about Lukin, I immediately realized that Lukin might have something to do with the reason why the 51st division of the guards could hold the No. 1 position. I could not help but feel relieved.


    Before I could speak, the telephone on the desk rang. Tavartkilaze picked up the phone and listened to it for a moment. He immediately handed it to me. At the same time, he whispered, "Comrade commander, it''s general watujing."


    It''s said that it''s watujing. I can''t help raising my eyebrows. My heart says that what does he call me for at this time? I put the microphone to my ear and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade commander of the front army."


    "Hello, comrade o''shanina. I have just read a telegram saying that you have won a great battle. With the support of the air force, you have successfully defeated the German "Hitler division" and "imperial division". This is a great victory. It happened that marshal vasilevsky, the chief of the general staff, was here. He was also very pleased to see the telegram and quickly informed Marshal Zhukov and the supreme command of the news. "


    "Comrade commander of the front army, the comrades of the air force also contributed a lot to this victory." I know that our achievements are clearly written in the telegram that tavartkilaze sent to the headquarters of the front army, but I don''t mention much about the contribution of the air force. I just take this opportunity to mention the matter of the air force to vatukin: "our pilots have done a great job. They not only drive out the German air robbers, but also guide the air force Cover tank and infantry attacks. It is because of their full cooperation that we can achieve such a victory


    "You did a good job, too." "I heard from the air force comrades that your commanders cooperated with them very well. As soon as they bombed, your tanks and infantry would rush up and beat the German troops who were dazed by the bombing to pieces," vatukin said with a smile on the phone


    When talking with watujing, I suddenly thought of apanashchenko. When watujing finished speaking, I immediately said to him, "Comrade commander of the front army, I have an important thing to report to you."


    Vatukin was obviously in a good mood. He said with a smile, "if you have anything, just say it."


    "Well, comrade commander." I organized some words in my mind, and then reported to him, "as you know, general apanashchenko, deputy commander of the front army, has come to our front position. In order to ensure his safety, when I tried to persuade him to go back, I lied to him that the war report in the telegram was not detailed. I asked him to report to you the details of our victory after he went back. "


    "Is he back?" Asked vatukin nervously.


    "Back, comrade commander. As soon as he heard that he was going back to report the details of the battle to you, he left without hesitation. " After that, I asked tentatively, "is it appropriate for me to cheat him like this?"


    "There''s nothing wrong with it, comrade oshanina. You think too much." For my cautious attitude, watujing said: "even if Comrade apanashchenko knows the truth, he will not blame you. After all, you are also for his safety."


    "That''s good.", After I felt at ease, I put forward my own request to vatujing: "Comrade commander, if possible, please stop Comrade deputy commander from coming to the front again. It''s too dangerous here. I''m really worried about his accident."


    "I see what you mean, comrade oshanina." Listen to me here, vatukin''s tone has become more serious, he solemnly said: "I will try to prevent him from going to the front again."


    After the call with watujing, I did not leave immediately. Instead, I continued to stay in the division headquarters of the 51st division of Jinwei to supervise them to complete the repair works and improve their defense.


    Seeing that I had been staying in his division headquarters, tavartkiraze couldn''t help looking a little restless. He finally seized an opportunity and gently put forward to me: "Comrade commander, judging from the current situation, the German army will definitely not attack again today. You''d better go back to the group headquarters first."


    To tell you the truth, I really want to pat my ass now, so I go directly back to the headquarters of the group army, and stay in the safe headquarters to give orders. Isn''t it better than being scared here? But I can''t go anywhere until I''m sure that the 90th division of the guards can hold their defense area. If I don''t get it, I''ll have to take a risk.


    In order not to worry tavartkilaze, I explained to him, "Comrade General, I know you advised me to go back to the headquarters for the sake of my safety. But I don''t want to go anywhere without seeing Colonel Chernoff''s troops block the German attack. "


    "But, comrade commander." Tarvaltkiraze said reluctantly, "with all due respect, your role here is not great. On the contrary, it will make Colonel Chernoff feel constrained and become cautious in directing the battle."


    Tavartkilaze''s words made me hesitant. I put myself in Chernoff''s shoes and found that it was true. If I had been in my division headquarters when I was at mamayev post, I would have been too restrained to give full play to my ability when I was commanding the troops.


    Thinking about this, I changed my mind. So I stood up and said to taraze, "Comrade General, what you said is very reasonable. In this case, I will not stay here to increase your psychological burden." As soon as I heard it, I noticed that tavartkiraze was relieved. But I didn''t expose him on the spot. Instead, I explained a few words to him and prepared to leave. As soon as I got to the door, I heard the telephone on my desk ring again. I was afraid that someone was calling me, so I stopped at the door, winked at Ta kiraze and motioned him to answer the phone. Tawalter killazer ran to pick up the phone and listened for a while. Suddenly, he was furious. He patted the table and said in a loud voice, "animals, they are a bunch of animals. Lieutenant, send someone to bring the old lady to me immediately I don''t understand why tawalter killazer suddenly got so angry. He hurried back into the room and asked him curiously, "Comrade General, apart from what, why did he get so angry?" Tavartkilaze was still angry. He said to me angrily, "Comrade commander, it''s like this. My subordinates called to say that they had saved an old lady who had escaped from a village more than ten miles away. The old lady cried to our soldiers, saying that after the Germans came back to the village in the afternoon, they rushed all the people in the village to the sun drying field, and could not help but shoot them with machine guns. The old lady was hiding in a nearby haystack and saw with her own eyes that the whole village was killed by the Germans. " Although tavartkilaze''s words were brief, I also rushed to the top of my head to pour blood. I scolded that these damned SS had been defeated by our army and had no ability to come to us to settle the accounts, but I went to slaughter those unarmed villagers. As long as I know which German army did this, I will not spare them lightly. As long as I catch them, I will shoot them on the spot, and I will never accept their surrender.

 Chapter 1135

    My plan to return to the headquarters had to be postponed because of this emergency.


    While waiting for the soldiers to deliver the survivors, I had a discussion with tavartkiraze about the defense of position 1.


    Position 1 is composed of seven highlands not far apart. As the distance between the Highlands is less than one or two kilometers, they can provide mortar fire support to each other when they are attacked by the German army in any direction. This is why position 2 and position 3 are lost, but position 1 is still standing.


    The whole front of the defense was defended by Lukin''s 309 regiment, equipped with a company of the 101st tank brigade and a cannon battalion. Because of the existence of artillery battalions and tank companies, the German offensive troops suffered a lot, losing at least 30 tanks and about a battalion of infantry in front of their positions.


    The division headquarters of tavartkilaze is located behind the Lukin regiment, and the troops directly under the division are responsible for the defense. The highlands on the left and right sides are guarded by 308 regiments and 310 regiments respectively. At the same time, they are also equipped with artillery regiments. As long as their positions are not lost, the division headquarters will be as stable as Mount Tai.


    After discussion, I decided to ask Col. berey to deploy another tank battalion in position 1, so that the division''s defense force could be strengthened, and even in the event of German armored assault, the new tanks of the tank battalion could destroy them.


    As we were talking, there was a sound of footwork at the door. Then a little, hunched old lady, with the help of a soldier, entered the house. She stood at the door and stopped for a moment. After looking at all the people in the room, she broke away from the soldiers who helped her and quickly came to me. She grabbed my hand and said in a tearful voice, "general, people in our village have died miserably. You must keep it for them." Then he held my arm and began to cry.


    I looked at the poor old man in front of me, patted her on the back, comforted her and said, "old man, don''t worry, we will ask the German to pay back this blood debt." Then I helped her to sit down and told the soldiers who sent her to pour tea.


    After the old lady had a sip of hot tea, she became more stable. Before we asked her, she said, "I''m a villager in torodov village. I have three sons and one daughter. Now I''m in the Red Army and fighting with the Germans. Last week, I received a death notice saying that my eldest son died in the fight to defend his motherland. "


    Hearing the old lady say that she sent all the children to the army, we can''t help but respect her. Tavartkilaze asked with concern, "old man, why didn''t you move to the city before the Germans called? I think you can get preferential treatment in your military status. "


    The old lady waved her hand and said, "I''m old and I don''t want to mess about any more. I believe you will soon be able to defeat the German devils, so you stay in the village. "


    "What about the German slaughtering the village?" Tavartkiraze asked curiously.


    "That''s a long story." The old lady took another drink of water with her teacup and said slowly, "two days ago, a group of Germans rushed into the village and searched door to door to see if there were guerrillas hiding in the village. After searching for a long time, they did not find their so-called guerrillas, so they robbed everyone of their food and poultry. At first, everyone thought that the Germans would be ok if they left after robbing. Who knows they stormed into the village at noon today and drove all the people to the sun field. Without saying a word, he fired machine guns and killed all the people. " At this point, the old lady could not help but feel dejected.


    "How did you escape?" tavartkiraze asked casually


    "I was growing cabbage in the forest when the Germans rushed into the village."; The old lady lifted the Cape of her shawl, wiped her tears and said, "when I heard the gunfire in the village, I rushed back to the village in a hurry. Seeing that all the people in the village had been turned out to the sun by the Germans, I hid behind the woodpile at the edge of the village to see what was going on. Who knows, before long, the Germans used machine guns to shoot unarmed villagers. After a while, more than 100 people in our village fell into a pool of blood. "


    When I heard this, I stood up, put my hands on the old lady''s shoulders and comforted her again, saying, "old man, don''t be sad. We will pay back this blood debt to the German sooner or later."


    Hearing my statement, the old lady wiped away the tears from her wrinkled face with the Cape of her shawl. She raised her head and asked me, "Comrade commander, how long will I have to wait to see the moment when these German robbers are punished?"


    "Fast, fast." Although I knew in my heart that as long as I survived the first week, the German army would turn offensive to defensive, I could not tell anyone about it at the moment. I could only reply vaguely, "before the end of this month, I believe we can drive the Germans away from here."


    "Old man," she said with a smile as she looked at me suspiciously, "she is our commander. You can believe what she said."


    I heard that I was a general. The old lady suddenly made an amazing move. She hugged my waist, knelt down on her knees and said in tears, "general, on behalf of the dead villagers in our village, thank you!"


    I was startled by the old lady''s behavior. As I helped her up, I said, "old man, you can rest assured that I will keep my word." Then he called the soldiers who escorted her here, "take the old man down to rest."


    After the old lady left, tawalter killazer said in a suspicious tone: "Comrade commander, do you decide that what the old lady said is true? You know, although the Germans and we are fighting very hard, I seldom hear about the massacre of civilians. "


    "Comrade General, you are too ignorant." As for tavartkilaze''s query, I said without hesitation: "I have seen civilians slaughtered by the Germans more than once, especially the Germans defeated by us today. They are not ordinary Germans. They are the notorious SS and have no humanity."


    When I said this, I suddenly remembered an important thing and quickly changed the topic: "by the way, comrade general, there is something I almost forgot to ask you. Last night, the 100 tank brigade of the 10th tank army suffered heavy casualties because of the German sneak attack? "


    "Yes, it is." Tavartkilaze continued: "at present, the remaining tanks of the tank brigade have joined their main forces. Due to poor fighting, the 10th tank army has now moved to the west side of the bergorod Kursk road."


    When I heard that the 10th tank army had moved to the west side of the road, I knew that I could hardly count on them before the great counterattack began. Thinking of the impending tank war in Prokhorovka, I can''t wait to rush back to the headquarters and make corresponding deployment.


    When tavartkilaze escorted me to the door, he enthusiastically said, "Comrade commander, it''s a little too dangerous for you to go back like this, or I''ll send a tank to escort you?"


    When I heard him say that, my eyebrows could not help raising, and my mind immediately came up with the shape of squatting on the tank. It didn''t matter when the rank was low. Now it''s easy to be the target of German snipers in this uniform. I don''t want to die in the dark. Thinking of this, I repeatedly waved my hand and refused to say: "no, comrade general, sitting on the tank car, the target is too big, it is easy to become the target of snipers, or it is safe to sit in a jeep."


    I didn''t expect that after hearing this, tawalter killazer laughed. He patiently explained to me, "Comrade commander, since the tank escorts you back, how can you sit on the body of the tank. If you want to sit in a tank, not to mention the German snipers, even if you meet the enemy''s small troops, our tanks can easily cope with it. "


    Although I pretended that I didn''t care at all, I was afraid of death. If I met a small German army on my way back, I would really die young. Therefore, with a little thought, I readily agreed to tavartkilaze''s proposal.


    We went to the foot of the mountain and saw my jeep parked next to a new tank. Seeing our arrival, a short tank soldier immediately ran up to him and reported to him in a loud voice: "Comrade General, tank sergeant roschukin reports to you. I have been ordered to accept the task. Please give instructions!"


    When I saw the man, I couldn''t help laughing. It turned out that the tank driver was no one else. It was the Russian version of Hua Mulan that I saw some time ago. If she escorted me, I would be more confident.


    Tavartkilaze raised his hand and returned a salute. He said to him with a smile, "Comrade staff sergeant, I have given you an arduous task." Then he pointed to me, "you escort the commander back to the headquarters. I ask you to ensure her life safety. Is there a problem? "


    Roschugin looked at me and replied loudly, "no problem. Please rest assured that I will send the commander back to the headquarters of the group army safely. "


    I can see from the dialogue between them that tavartkilaze said that he wanted to send tanks to escort me, which was not a temporary intention, but an early arrangement. I nodded to him with a smile to thank him for his arrangement. Then he said to ruschujin, "chief, let''s go."


    I climbed up the tank and slid through the open roof into the tank. As soon as I got in, the sour smell in the car almost suffocated me. But since I came in, I couldn''t afford to climb out again, so I had to bear the stench in the car and sat in the corner.


    Roschugin got into the tank and sat in the driver''s seat next to me. Before she started the tank, I asked her, "I''m sitting in the tank. Isn''t one of the tankers out of position?"


    "Comrade commander, don''t worry." "My lookout was injured in today''s battle, so I just got a seat out," ruschukin replied


    After the tank started, I was in the deafening noise. I asked her in a loud voice, "chief, what''s the result of this period? How many German tanks have been destroyed?"


    "One tank and two armored vehicles were destroyed yesterday." Roschukin also replied loudly: "in today''s battle, although it hit a German Tiger tank, it was a pity that it failed to penetrate its front armor, and finally let it escape."


    Although roschukin''s record is not brilliant, I think it is very good. You know, in the real history, in the battle of Kursk, the tank battle loss ratio of the Soviet army and the German army is generally three to one, or even four to one. Nowadays, due to the emergence of new tanks, the Soviet army has a great advantage in the tank duel.


    As it was not dark, I could see the situation outside from the lookout hole. There are bare hillsides hit by gunfire everywhere. The roads are full of craters large and small. The wreckage of tanks burned black can be seen everywhere on the roadside. This shows how fierce the fighting is today. Roschukin, who was driving the tank, suddenly turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, it''s too dangerous for you to be a jeep every time you come out. What should I do if I encounter a German on the road? " As for her worries, I replied with a smile, "I''m all working in my own defense zone. How could I happen to meet a German?" As soon as the words were heard, someone in front of him suddenly cried out: "there are German armored vehicles at three o''clock!" I looked at the man''s position and saw a German armored car parked by the side of the road with many soldiers on it. Seeing the appearance of the German army, I instinctively put my hand on my waist, ready to pull out my pistol at any time to shoot. Just then, roschugin began to give orders to her subordinates: "load the shells, aim at the car body and fight!" The loader loaded the gun with a shell in his arms, and then called out, "it''s finished!" Roschugin yelled, "shoot!" At her command, the car exploded like a huge firecracker, which made my ears buzzing. Then I heard roschukin cheering, "great, hit the target!" I saw the smoke and fire from the armored car, and the officers and soldiers on the car jumped down and ran for their lives. At this moment, he heard roschukin''s order loudly: "use submachine gun to kill all the German infantry!" Without saying a word, her subordinates put their assault rifles on the shooting holes and started shooting at the running German troops outside. Two unlucky soldiers were hit by bullets after running a short distance. After turning around a few times, they fell to the ground askew. The other clever soldiers escaped by chance by hiding in the nearby crater. After the battle ended without danger, the tank went on. I don''t know how long after that, just when I was about to lose patience, roschukin finally turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, here we are!"

 Chapter 1136

    When I got out of the narrow tank body and took a fresh breath again, I turned to roschugin, who was leaning out of the turret, nodded with a smile and said, "thank you, sergeant."


    I didn''t expect that after listening to my words, roschukin even straightened his waist and answered loudly in accordance with the regulations: "serve the motherland of the Soviet Union!"


    I haven''t heard such an answer for a long time, so I was stunned for a moment. I raised my hand and patted her on the shoulder and said in a low voice, "dear roschugina, the next battle will be very cruel. You must pay more attention to safety in the battle, understand?"


    "I see." Roschukin nodded with a smile, then asked me seriously, "Comrade commander, will you allow me to return to the front line?" He said this in a loud voice. I think he meant to say it to his comrades in the tank.


    "Good luck!" With that, I jumped out of the tank, waved to her, and strode to headquarters.


    The guards behind quickly followed up, and one of them said happily: "Comrade commander, today is really dangerous. If there were no tank escort, maybe that armored car would kill us all."


    "What armored car?" When I turned my head to make a joke with the soldier, I heard a loud voice in front of me. Then my arm was tightly grasped by the other side. Then I heard him ask nervously: "Comrade commander, are you encountering the German on your way back?"


    When I looked back, I saw Yushchenko''s nervous expression and said with a smile, "yes, comrade major, we met the Germans on our way back, but I was sitting in the tank and saw with my own eyes that the tankers killed the enemy''s armored vehicles with one shot and killed several enemies with submachine guns."


    As soon as I finished, I saw kirilov standing at the gate of the headquarters with a black face. What did he say? Who made him angry? Thinking of this, I quickly broke away from Yushchenko''s arm, went to the door and asked with concern, "Comrade military commissar, why do you look so ugly? Are you uncomfortable?"


    Kirilov snorted and then said to me, "come in with me!"


    As soon as I entered the door, bzikov, who was on the phone not far from the door, saw me. He covered the phone and whispered to me, "Comrade commander, you are back."


    "Back, back." As I answered, I went to the table and said hello to Danilov, who was looking at the map¡° Hello, comrade deputy commander, I''m back. "


    Danilov looked up and saw that it was me. He was surprised and asked, "Comrade commander, when did you come back? Why didn''t you call in advance? I''ll send troops to pick you up?" Seeing my blank face, I quickly explained, "a small group of German troops have appeared nearby. Our Patrol has been attacked and more than 20 officers and soldiers have been injured or killed."


    "What, there are small enemy troops nearby?" As soon as Danilov finished, I couldn''t wait to ask, "have you done anything?"


    Danilov replied, "we''ve asked Colonel sherekin''s 89th division of guards to send a battalion to strengthen the security in the vicinity. At the same time, the number of each patrol team has increased from the original 10 to 20. Even if they encounter with small German units, they can try their best to hold down the enemy and wait for reinforcements. "


    I heard that there was a small group of German troops near the headquarters. My first reaction was that they either came for reconnaissance or prepared to attack the headquarters. So I said cautiously, "Comrade deputy commander, we can''t just defend passively. We must find a way to get rid of this enemy."


    "But, comrade commander." Danilov''s face showed an expression of embarrassment: "we don''t know where the enemy is at all. How can we eliminate them?"


    After thinking about it, I felt that Danilov''s words were quite reasonable, and said to him, "Comrade deputy commander, if we want to deal with the small German troops that threaten us, we will not do it unless we send out the reconnaissance battalion of the group army."


    "Yes, comrade commander is right." Bezikov, who had just finished the phone call, came over and said, "Captain travkin''s ability is obvious to all. It''s very appropriate to give him the task of eliminating the small German troops."


    "In that case, comrade Colonel, you can call captain travkin and ask him to come here, so that the commander can assign the task to him himself." Danilov unconsciously raised his hand and looked at his watch when he gave the order to bezikov. "It''s eleven o''clock in the evening. Let them try to clear the enemy before eight o''clock tomorrow morning."


    As we spoke, kirilov sat at the table with a straight face and without a word. Seeing that bzikov came back from the phone call, he finally spoke: "comrades, I think we should sit down and have a good meeting to discuss some problems that need to be corrected at present."


    Kirilov''s words confused all three of us. I don''t know why he suddenly said that. After everyone sat down around the table, bzikov first asked, "Comrade military commissar, I don''t know what''s wrong at present. We must correct it as soon as possible."


    Kirilov pointed his hand at me and said angrily, "I propose that we should make a rule that Comrade oshanina, as the commander of the group army, is not allowed to go to the front alone at any time."


    After listening to this, Danilov asked in a puzzled way, "Comrade military commissar, I don''t know why such a regulation is made? It''s very helpful for our morale and morale to see the commander appear in front of them. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, don''t you know how grim the current situation is?" Kirilov said with an unnatural face: "although oshanina is the commander of the group army, don''t forget that she is also a woman. Seeing a woman running forward at the risk of her life every day, can you still sit in this headquarters? "


    Kirilov''s words made Danilov speechless. Then he struck while the iron was hot and said, "don''t you know? On her way back tonight, she had another encounter with the German armored vehicle. If it wasn''t for the tank escort sent by general tawalter killazer, she would be more or less dangerous. "


    After kirilov finished, Danilov and bezikov asked in one voice: "Comrade commander, is what the military commissar said true?"


    When I found that all the people had focused on me, I could only nod and answer truthfully, "yes, I met a German armored car when I returned from the 51st division of the guards tonight, but fortunately, the tankers were very sensitive and destroyed the enemy''s armored car in the shortest time."


    Although I said it lightly, the expressions of Danilov and bezikov became more serious. They actually changed their positions, unconditionally supported kirilov''s proposal, and decided not to allow me to visit the front line alone before the end of the campaign.


    When travkin came to the headquarters, I had succumbed to the "unequal" treaty made by kirilov. Seeing the arrival of travkin, I quickly called him over as if I had seen a savior, and said in a loud voice, "Captain, you are just in time. We have an important task to give you."


    Travkin stood at the table, looking straight at me and saying, "Comrade commander, I''m at your command!"


    I haven''t been back to the headquarters for a long time, and I have been accepting kirilov''s criticism. I know nothing about the German small forces except that they have attacked our patrol and caused us a lot of losses. So I could only look at Danilov and say to him helplessly, "Comrade deputy commander, it''s up to you to assign the task to the captain."


    "Comrade captain, come and see." Danilov pushed the map on his desk in the direction of travkin, and then said, "the enemy attacked our two patrols in the east of the city, resulting in the casualties of more than 20 officers and men. Your task is to search the enemy out of their hiding place overnight and kill them all by 8 a.m. tomorrow. Is there a problem? "


    Instead of answering immediately, travkin looked at the map in a daze. Danilov looked at him discontentedly. It seemed that he was about to attack. I quickly made a sign to him that he would not speak for the time being, so as not to interrupt travkin''s train of thought.


    After a while, travkin finally said, "Comrade deputy commander, although the enemy attacked our patrol in the east of the city, they will not stay in the east of the city, waiting for us to destroy them."


    "Comrade captain," bzikov asked politely, "where do you think the enemy will be?"


    "I think there are two possibilities. One is to hide in the forest, which is not easy to be found," said travkin; The second is to find villages to hide, which is not easy for us to detect. "


    After Tel avin finished speaking, bzikov asked with great interest, "Comrade captain, in your judgment, where will the enemy hide?"


    "If I were in charge of this small unit, I would definitely choose to live in the village," he replied without thinking


    "Don''t you worry about being discovered by the villagers and reporting to the superior?" When Danilov heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting.


    Travkin shook his head and said, "Comrade deputy commander, the Germans are not so stupid. They may change into our army''s uniform, so that staying in the village will not arouse the suspicion of the villagers. On the contrary, they can also use their false identity to collect a lot of useful information from the villagers. "


    I heard that travkin''s analysis was very reasonable. I believed that he had some confidence in finding out where the German army was hiding. I took the opportunity to ask, "Captain travkin, do you have a clue?"


    Hearing my question, trafkin nodded, pointed to a small village northwest of the city, and said, "according to my judgment, the possibility of German hiding here is very high."


    "Why?" I''m not the only one curious about his judgment, even kirilov, who doesn''t like to talk. He asked in a suspicious tone: "Captain travkin, why do you think the German army will hide here?"


    "Very simple, comrade military Commissar." Travkin took a look at kirilov, pointed to the map and analyzed to us: "the purpose of small German troops sneaking into us is to spy intelligence, sneak attack the headquarters or destroy the traffic line. You see, this village is only about three kilometers away from the location of our headquarters, and it is close to the bergorod Kursk highway. The terrain is very favorable. " Some things seem very mysterious, but once explained, it seems very simple. After listening to travkin''s analysis, we basically believe that the German army''s hiding place is in the village that travkin refers to. When he finished, I asked, "Comrade captain, how many people are you going to take to carry out this mission?" My words made travkin think. He said to himself, "if you don''t have enough people, you may not be able to solve this enemy."; There are too many people. I''m afraid to expose the target. "¡° Comrade Colonel, I have an idea for you. " When bezikov saw that travkin had been thinking hard, he took the initiative to put forward a suggestion to him: "since you have locked your target in this direction, just gather all your forces to encircle and suppress here. In order to prevent being detected by the enemy, the reconnaissance battalion can be divided into several parts, approaching the village from several directions at the same time, so that the Germans can not be prevented. " Kirilov''s point of view is different from ours when it comes to sneak attacks on villages with German troops. We are thinking about how to wipe out the German army completely, and he is thinking about the safety of the villagers in the village. To this end, he specially told travkin: "Comrade captain, when carrying out the mission, you should tell all the officers and men who take part in the operation not to hurt our own people by mistake. Do you understand? " After hearing kirilov''s instructions, travkin hesitated again and again, and then replied, "I see, comrade military Commissar." When I heard what he said, I knew in my heart what a fierce ideological struggle he was going to have. If he wanted to destroy the German detachment without harming the villagers by mistake, the officers and soldiers of the reconnaissance battalion would have to pay more sacrifice. I waved to him and said, "Comrade captain, since the order has been made clear, go ahead and carry it out. Remember to bring more walkie talkies to facilitate communication between troops. If you have any latest information, please report it to me in time. Go ahead and wish you and your soldiers good luck

 Chapter 1137

    Watching travkin''s back disappear from the door, Danilov asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, do you think the captain and they can complete the task successfully?"


    I glanced at him and said in an impatient tone, "Comrade deputy commander, we commanders should believe in the ability of our subordinates. Now that the task has been assigned, we just need to wait for the final result. We don''t need to interfere too much in their actions, otherwise their performance will be affected. "


    Danilov listened to me, gave a wry smile, and then said helplessly, "since you have said that, let''s wait for the good news from captain travkin."


    "Comrade deputy commander, that''s right." After Danilov finished, kirilov added with a smile: "I remember Lida once said an oriental saying before: no doubt about people, no doubt about people. Besides, we have been dealing with captain travkin for quite a long time. His ability is obvious to all. I believe he will be able to complete the task successfully. "


    I patted the map in front of me twice and said to them, "OK, this is the end of trafkin. Let''s study how to deal with the possible large-scale German attack tomorrow."


    When Danilov and the three of them gathered around the table, akhromeyev just came in with a telegram. I waved to him and said, "major, come here. Which unit is the telegram in your hand?"


    "Comrades commander," although akhromeyev was my old subordinate, he always spoke respectfully to me: "it was a telegram from the 52nd division of the guards. Colonel Nekrasov reported that the German forces in front of their positions seemed to be gathering, probably preparing for tomorrow''s attack."


    "Comrade major, do you know where the artillery commander of the group army, Colonel povsky, is?" As soon as akhromeyev finished, Danilov asked.


    Akhromeyev nodded and replied, "I sent a telegram to the Colonel two hours ago. He should be on his way back to the headquarters now."


    Although I sent him to the first line of defense to command the Artillery Force, I didn''t see any of his people when I went to the front because of the wide area. Originally, I thought that there would be many places where artillery would be used in the next battle, and I was planning to recall him to the headquarters. Unexpectedly, Danilov had arranged this matter in advance.


    When Danilov saw me staring at him, he thought that I would blame him for his good ideas. He quickly explained to me, "Comrade commander, I think that to let Colonel povsky stay in the headquarters can give full play to his role. In addition, I couldn''t get in touch with you at that time, so I decided to let the Colonel come back from the front


    When I saw Danilov''s nervous face, I couldn''t help laughing and comforted him and said, "Comrade deputy commander, don''t be nervous. I don''t mean to blame you at all. You have done a good job in this matter. Even if you don''t call Colonel povsky back, I will order him to be recalled. Today, in the defensive zone of the group army, in addition to the artillery of our group army, there are also artillery troops continuously sent by the headquarters of the front army. Without unified command, these artillery troops fighting in their own ways can not only play their due role, but can easily be eliminated by the enemy. "


    After hearing this, Captain Danilov breathed a sigh of relief, and then said to me with great relief, "Comrade commander, it''s also for this reason that I summoned Colonel povsky back without your consent."


    After listening to my conversation with Danilov, bzikov asked curiously, "comrades, are you going to use artillery to teach the Germans a lesson?"


    "Yes, chief of staff." To bezikov''s conjecture, I gave a positive answer: "just now, Colonel nikolasov did not report that there was movement in front of their positions by the German forces. He suspected that they were assembling to prepare for tomorrow''s attack. Then we will bombard them before they attack. Even if we can''t completely annihilate them, we can disrupt their attack arrangement and reduce the pressure of our defense forces. "


    With a rush of footsteps, we are talking about povsky appeared at the door of the headquarters. He quickly walked up to us, raised his hand, saluted and reported: "group artillery commander Colonel povsky has been ordered to come back and wait for the orders of the two commanders, please give instructions!"


    I held the hands of povsky tightly and asked with concern, "Comrade Colonel, how was your journey back?"


    Povsky shook his head and said solemnly: "not far away from here, the jeep in front of the road was crushed by a mine, and all the guards and soldiers on the jeep were killed. Fortunately, I was in the second car and got away with it. "


    Kirilov could not help mentioning the old story after listening to povsky''s story: "listen, not only Rita met the enemy on the way back, but also Colonel povsky met the mine on the way back. Therefore, I would like to reiterate that no member of the headquarters can run to the front without necessity. Otherwise, if anything happens to you, the command system of the whole group army will be in chaos. If you lose the battle, who can bear the responsibility? "


    As for kirilov''s remarks, I immediately stood up for the first time and agreed: "comrades of the military commissar are right. Anyone who wants to go to the front line in the future must be unanimously agreed by the five of us present. Do you have any comments on my statement? "


    "No The other four replied in unison.


    "Well, let''s talk about how to bombard the area where the German troops are assembled." After I said this, I looked at povsky and said, "Colonel, we intend to concentrate part of the artillery fire on the area in front of the 52nd division of the guards to inflict as much damage as possible on the enemy."


    Looking at the map in front of him, povsky said thoughtfully, "Comrade commander, please forgive me for saying that such shelling has no effect." He raised his head, looked at us all in a daze, and continued: "before the German attack yesterday, not only our front army, but also general rokosovsky''s central front army, carried out high-density saturation shelling on the possible German assembly sites at the same time. However, the actual effect achieved was negligible. At best, it was only to disrupt the enemy''s offensive deployment. Judging from the ferocity of the enemy''s attack on our defense line, the losses they suffered were not as great as we estimated. "


    Povsky''s words made everyone present fall into meditation. After thinking about it for a while, I said, "Comrade Colonel, I think there are many reasons why the shelling in the early morning yesterday did not achieve the desired results."


    What I said aroused bofsky''s curiosity. He looked at me and asked, "Comrade commander, can you be more specific?"


    I saw that not only pofsky wanted to know the answer, but also Danilov showed a curious expression, so they gave up their own judgment: "I think there are two reasons: first, we don''t know the specific location of the German army, so we can only shoot at the area where the German army may gather, which may waste a lot of shells; Second, I think the shelling may have started a little earlier. You think, the German army is very rigid. They will not gather at the attack starting point until the time is up. As a result, we shelled prematurely, so that the German officers and soldiers who were still in the shelter or the trench escaped. As long as these two problems are solved, I think our shelling can still cause a lot of losses to the enemy. "


    After staring at me for a while, povsky finally made up his mind and said, "Comrade commander, so it''s necessary to bombard?"


    "Yes, comrade colonel." I said in a positive tone: "in order to reduce the defensive pressure on the front, it is imperative to bombard the enemy."


    Povsky nodded and said, "well, comrade commander, I''m going to call the artillery at the front and ask them to send artillery observers to scout the enemy''s assembly areas and indicate the shooting direction for our artillery."


    "It''s not enough to do this alone, comrade colonel. We have to do double insurance." After I said this to povsky, I told bzikov: "chief of staff, call Col. Nekrasov and ask him to send scouts immediately to reconnoiter the German assembly site. If possible, it''s better to grasp a "tongue" and find out the time of the German attack. "


    "Yes, I''ll do it right away." Bezikov agreed, turned and walked to the phone beside the wall, picked up the phone and called the 52nd division.


    Povsky said with emotion: "if only captain travkin''s reconnaissance battalion could be sent out. With their ability, it''s not a piece of cake to catch a few prisoners and find out the gathering place of the German army and the launching time of the attack."


    When povsky finished, I waved to him: "Colonel, you can''t expect to go to captain travkin''s reconnaissance camp until the shelling starts tomorrow."


    "Ah! Why? " Asked povsky in surprise.


    "Because they are carrying out an important task now." Kirilov took over the topic and said: "today, a small group of German troops appeared near the headquarters. They attacked our patrol, killed and wounded many of our soldiers. In order to get rid of the tumor, the two commanders sent the captain to take the reconnaissance camp to eliminate the enemy. "


    "Where the hell did the enemy come from?" "What do they want to do here?" povsky asked aloud? Are you planning to attack the headquarters or destroy our traffic lines? "


    "Don''t worry, comrade colonel. We won''t give them any chance." I said confidently, "after tonight, these Germans will disappear from the world."


    "If that''s the case, I''m relieved." Povsky then stood up, picked up the phone on the table, called the forward artillery, and assigned them artillery tasks.


    At two o''clock in the morning, akhromeyev came to the headquarters again with two telegrams and reported to us: "Comrade commander, the reconnaissance report from the 52nd division of the guards. According to intelligence, the German army assembled two tank battalions and one infantry battalion in front of position 5, ready to attack position 5 at 4 a.m. This is the German coordinates provided by the scouts. " Then he handed me one of the telegrams.


    I took it over and looked at it. I handed it to povsky and told him, "Comrade Colonel, give your artillery the coordinates and let them aim at the assembly site half an hour before the German attack and fight hard!"¡° OK, I''m going to give an order now Povsky took the telegram and walked quickly to the wall to make a phone call. Ahlomeyev handed me the second telegram and said solemnly, "Comrade commander, this is from captain travkin. They found traces of the Germans in the village. There are about 50 people. They live in groups of five scattered in the residents'' homes."¡° It''s terrible, Rita Kirilov sighed when he heard what akhromeyev said and said with a little worry: "it is very difficult to eliminate this enemy without hurting ourselves by mistake."¡° Comrade military commissar, the situation is worse than you think. " Akhromeyev frowned and said to kirilov, "because these Germans are in our army uniforms and speak fluent Russian, our villagers regard them as their own people. If the reconnaissance battalion launches an offensive rashly, maybe the enemy will incite the villagers who are confused by them to have a conflict with our army, and then there will be trouble. " Originally, we thought that if we found the enemy, even if they were scattered in the villagers'' homes, our reconnaissance battalion would be able to clean them up. I didn''t expect that they disguised as our army and swaggered to live in the villagers'' homes. If our army launched an attack, the frightened villagers would really be bewitched by them and fight with our reconnaissance battalion. This unexpected change gives me a headache. I kept walking back and forth in the room with my hands behind my back. My mind kept thinking: what should I do? What should I do? What can we do to eliminate the enemy and minimize our losses? Just as I was going round and round in the room, the director of communications, ROP Hoff, ran in, handed a telegram to bzikov, and then turned and left. After reading the telegram, bezikov gave a yelp, and then read it carefully. After reading this time, he called up the newspaper and said to me excitedly, "Comrade commander, Captain travkin has called to say that he has a way to solve the current difficulties."¡° Chief of staff, come on, give me the telegram. " I was overjoyed to hear that travkin had come up with a solution. I immediately told bzikov, "I want to see what the captain said in the telegram."

 Chapter 1138

    When I saw travkin''s plan, I couldn''t help clapping my hands. After reading it, he handed it to Danilov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, look at captain travkin''s plan. It''s wonderful! If we deal with the German army in this way, we may be able to get rid of this enemy without hurting a single soldier. "


    Danilov listened to me with a look of surprise on his face. But when he finished watching it, his brow began to wrinkle. He said in a suspicious tone: "Comrade commander, Captain travkin wants our men to impersonate the German army, and rush into the village at dawn to catch those German soldiers disguised as our army. Do you think this plan is really feasible?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander, I think this method is very effective." I was deeply afraid that Danilov did not understand travkin''s telegram. I specially explained to him, "since the Germans can disguise as our army and hide in the villagers'' homes, our people can also disguise as German army and go to catch them from the village."


    "But have you ever thought," Danilov said reluctantly, "if the German army sees through our disguise, then they can take the villagers as a shield and let our people have some scruples in their actions."


    Kirilov took the telegram from Danilov''s hand, looked at it carefully, and said slowly, "let me tell you something. The reason why captain travkin chose the operation time after dawn is to let the German troops in the village see their dress clearly, so that the enemy can''t find out our details, so that we can do it boldly."


    I added: "in order to make the enemy think that the troops who rush into the village are their own people, besides wearing German uniforms, I think we should also send Grimes and gretka to help trafkin. They are defecting German officers and men. If they are involved in this operation, I believe the Germans in the village will not see any flaw. " At this point, I wanted to use the idiom "return the other with the other way" to explain the meaning of this action, but I found that the Russian vocabulary was too poor, so I had to say awkwardly, "we will deal with them in their way."


    Kirilov, when I finished speaking, turned his eyes to akhromeyev, who was standing aside and didn''t speak: "I suggest that major akhromeyev be allowed to assist captain travkin in this task."


    "Agreed!" As soon as his words were heard, I immediately agreed and added: "the major and gramus are very familiar. With him, I believe these defecting German officers and men will fully cooperate."


    After akhromeyev left, I asked bzikov: "chief of staff, in addition to the fact that the close guard saw that Danilov and kirilov had both proposed to confer awards, I readily agreed:" since you both think that we should confer awards on the commanders and fighters of the reconnaissance battalion, then do as you say. Comrade military commissar, I will give you full responsibility for this matter. "


    Kirilov nodded with a smile and said, "no problem. It''s my job."


    My eyes turned to povsky, who was silent beside me. "Comrade artillery commander, the forward artillery''s shelling should be over. Would you call them and ask them what they have achieved? If the result is huge, they can also get medals. "


    If it''s in the early days of the battlefield, it''s not easy to get a medal. But with the progress of the war, all kinds of medals and medals have sprung up. Not to mention commanders at all levels, even ordinary soldiers can usually hang several medals or medals on their chest. Therefore, when discussing how to commend those officers and soldiers who have performed bravery and made contributions to the war, they are directly awarded medals or medals.


    Bofsky heard that he could also honor the artillery. He immediately smiles, and then picks up the phone to call the front line. Since he got on the phone, the smile on his face has never been broken, let us stand next to the people guess that the results of this battle must be good.


    As soon as he put down the phone, he excitedly said to us, "because we have done a good job of reconnaissance in advance, the artillery attack of this car has achieved good results. According to artillery observers, at least 40 tanks and more than 500 infantry were destroyed


    After listening to him, kirilov was so happy that he said to me for a long time, "Rita, it seems that you can add all the names of these artillery commanders and fighters to the list of honours. I don''t know what you mean? "


    "What do you think of the military medal?" "I am a member of the military committee," I repeated with laughter. "I will give you the full responsibility for this matter, and has the final say on who to confer honor and award them any medal or medal."


    At about five o''clock in the morning, trafkin personally escorted two officers in our uniform, whose epaulets were torn off, to the headquarters. With them came Grimes and gretka, who were in charge of translation.


    Danilov walked up to the two captured German officers and asked sternly, "what are your names, ranks and positions, and where are you going to sneak into our rear?"


    As soon as Danilov finished speaking, gretka immediately translated his words to the two officers. Unexpectedly, after listening, the two officers snorted heavily, raised their heads, looked at the ceiling and ignored him.


    Danilov''s face turned red when he saw that both prisoners dared to despise themselves so much. I saw signs of his attack and quickly stopped him. Then I went to the two officers and repeated Danilov''s question with a straight face: "two officers, tell me your name, rank and position, and the purpose of sneaking into the rear of our army as our army?" Two officers lowered their heads and looked me up and down. Then they looked at each other as if they wanted to prove something. When gretka finished translating my words for them, one of the older officers asked him in a low voice. After receiving gretka''s reply, his face could not help showing a look of panic.

 Chapter 1139

    I saw two officers just staring at me in a daze, but did not speak. Just as he was about to let travkin take them down and lock them up, the old officer suddenly stood at attention and saluted me. At the same time, he said something loudly in German. I understood nothing except his own name in his words.


    Fortunately, gretka did the translation for me in time: "Hello, general oshanina, I''m the reconnaissance battalion of the great German division." When I heard the word, I asked, "what does it mean?"


    "Yes, sir." Gorus coughed, a little embarrassed to explain: "for example, I''m a lieutenant with one bar and two stars now. If I catch you alive, my superior will add a bar to my epaulet, so I''m a lieutenant commander."


    With a chill in my heart, the image of Manstein''s old shame and anger immediately appeared in my mind. In his mind, I am a thorn in the flesh, which must be removed quickly. Thinking of this, I tentatively asked gorus, "Mr. lieutenant, can you tell me now what your mission is?"


    Gorus hesitated for a moment, and finally gathered up his courage and said: "Sir, according to our Air Force reconnaissance report, there should be a military command near this area, so we are ordered to destroy the command here. If possible, we will take one or two senior Russian officers back alive, so that we can grasp the distribution of Russian forces in southern Kursk. "


    Gorus''s words made us take a breath. We thought that the German army was here by mistake. Unexpectedly, they were ordered to attack our headquarters. Fortunately, I made a quick decision and sent the reconnaissance battalion to kill them. Otherwise, they might sneak in one day and we would be the captives.


    Although the hero of this operation, travkin, was standing behind them, I still looked at gorus and asked, "Mr. lieutenant, tell me about your capture experience?"


    Gorus'' face turned red when I asked. I thought he would be furious and refuse to answer my question, but he hesitated for a moment and said, "Sir, I have to say that your operation is very successful and can be written into the combat textbook. I never dreamed that in your own defense area, in order to deal with us, your army would put on German uniforms and let a group of our traitors act as accomplices. So that when they rushed in front of us, I thought it was our troops who came here. " As he said this, he glared at Grimes and gretka. Although gretka was called a traitor by him, he was very calm and translated the original words of gorus to us without expression.


    I saw the muscles on gramus''s face twitching violently, obviously stimulated. I was afraid that he would do something too much on impulse, so I hastened to say, "Mr. lieutenant, you are wrong. They are not traitors of Germany. On the contrary, they are still heroes in the anti Communist camp. In the future, when you rebuild your motherland, they will become the mainstay of the whole country. " My words calmed the expression on gramus'' face, while gretka straightened his waist.


    Then he turned to me and said, "Sir, I don''t understand what you mean by rebuilding our country. Do you think your army can defeat the army under Marshal Manstein? You should know that in addition to our "grand German division", there are also SS "Hitler division", "imperial division" and "skeleton division", which you cannot defeat. "


    After listening to the translation, Danilov couldn''t help laughing. When he saw that there was confusion on their faces, he stopped laughing and said to them with disdain: "two officers, I won''t tell you about the result of our army''s repulsion of your" great German division "in butovo. What I want to tell you is that in the partial counterattack we launched yesterday, the "Hitler division" and the "imperial division", which you think are invincible, were defeated by us. Just a few hours ago, the skull division, which had gathered at the front of our army and tried to launch an attack, suffered heavy casualties under the heavy artillery fire of our army. Is this what you call the invincible army of your German Empire, Lieutenant


    After hearing this, gorus showed an unbelievable expression on his face and repeatedly said: "this, this is impossible. The three main divisions of the Ss are invincible in the world. All the troops who fight with them are either annihilated or captured. No one has ever defeated them."


    I saw goru''s hysterical expression. I waved to travkin and ordered him, "Captain, let someone come in and take them away. Lock them up and deal with them when we''re free."


    Travkin turned to the door and made a sign. Immediately, four soldiers with assault rifles came in, pulled gorus and the two of them out of their seats and escorted them out.


    After the prisoner was taken out, I beckoned to travkin, who was standing by the door, to stand in front of us. After he came, I said in a gentle tone, "Comrade captain, we have just heard the German prisoners talk about your experience, but it is not detailed. Can you tell us something about it?"


    Travkin was a little embarrassed when I said this: "Comrade commander, the fighting process is very simple, there is nothing to say."¡° Comrade captain, you can''t say that. " "According to our original plan, whether it''s a sneak attack or a strong attack, there will be a lot of casualties in our reconnaissance battalion and villagers," bezikov added. As a result, under your command, not only all the German soldiers were captured easily, but also none of us died. Such an example can be called a classic. You must give us a good account of it. When I write the summary of the battle, I will add this paragraph to it. "¡° Captain travkin, the chief of staff has a point. Your fighting experience is very useful to us. " Kirilov said to travkin with a smile: "if you spread your experience in the army, we can greatly reduce the casualties of the army in the same operation in the future." When kirilov finished speaking, I said while the iron was hot: "well, comrade captain, don''t dawdle. What''s the matter? You can tell me quickly. We have a lot of work to do. " At my urging, travkin no longer refused, but told us today''s action: "after dawn, we touched the German sentry and quietly entered the village. As soon as they entered the village, they were found by the early rising German officers and men. These former German officers and men of gramus immediately yelled and tried to let the other party hear their authentic German. After hearing their shouts, several German officers and soldiers who had pointed their guns at us thought that they were their own people, so they put down their guns one after another and willingly became our prisoners. In order to prevent the German army from leaking the net, before the operation, I told several company commanders to take all the people who were caught in the village, whether they were German or our villagers, to the sun farm, and then screen them. " Akhromeyev, who was taking a record, suddenly asked, "how did you get detected by the German army and have a short exchange of fire, while at the same time causing injuries to several soldiers and villagers?"¡° Well, comrade major. " After taking a look at ahlomeyev, travkin truthfully replied, "because of the smooth operation in front of us, some of our commanders and fighters are slack. One of them, on the way to escort the German prisoners to the suntan, said a few words of Russian carelessly, but it was found out by the enemy. The captives came, grabbed an assault rifle and fired at our commanders and soldiers and the surrounding villagers. Fortunately, he is not familiar with our guns, so he did not cause too many casualties. "¡° Comrade akhromeyev, please write this down. "I am deeply afraid that akhromeyev, for the sake of the glorious image of our army, will not put this small mistake on record. I hastened to remind him:" let our commanders and fighters take warning and avoid making similar mistakes again. "¡° Yes, comrade commander. " If I didn''t say that, akhromeyev might have omitted this paragraph directly. After hearing my reminder, he took up his pen again and added this paragraph. After reporting the whole battle, travkin respectfully asked, "Comrade commander, may I go back to the camp?"¡° Wait a minute, comrade captain. " Seeing that travkin wanted to leave, kirilov quickly stood up and stopped him. Then he said with a smile, "because of the brave and indomitable fighting spirit you and your subordinates showed in the battle of destroying the German small forces, and the great achievements they have achieved, the group army command has decided to award you and your subordinates medals and medals." This operation of travkin not only eliminated the German troops who attempted to attack our headquarters, but also successfully rescued the villagers who were used by the German troops. I think it''s not enough to give him a medal for his credit. So as soon as kirilov finished, I added, "and Comrade travkin, from today on, you are no longer a captain." At this point, I deliberately pause for a moment to see his reaction. There were two sharp twitches in the corners of his mouth, but he was still standing upright, as if the person I was talking about was not him. In response, I nodded with satisfaction and went on, "I''ve decided to give you the rank of captain. When you get back later, add a star to the epaulet¡° Serve the motherland of the Soviet Union The new travkin straightened up and said aloud¡° Comrade captain, your service is very good. " Danilov also laughed and said with satisfaction: "well, you were very tired after lurking outside all night last night. Go back to rest first. As for the award, we will wait until you and your subordinates wake up. Go on, go back and rest. " After travkin left, Danilov went up to ahlomeyev again, bowed his head and asked him, "Comrade major, have you finished writing?" Seeing that akhromeyev nodded, he went on to say, "we should immediately report this special summary of the battle to the headquarters of the front army, so as to make general watujing happy."

 Chapter 1140

    After the summary of the battle was reported to the headquarters of the front army, vatujing actually called in person. He asked curiously, "Comrade oshanina, from your report, I see a very strange thing. I want to ask you."


    "General, if you have any questions, just ask." Although I don''t know what watujing would ask me, I respectfully said, "as long as I know, I will give you a satisfactory answer."


    From the receiver came the sound of turning the paper, and then I heard vatugin say: "Comrade oshanina, the original words are like this: when the soldiers rush into the village, they deliberately let the defecting German soldiers shout, so that the German soldiers disguised as our army can hear their authentic German. Many of the German soldiers who had aimed their guns at our army laid down their weapons one after another and willingly became our prisoners. That''s what I want to ask. Why are the German soldiers willing to be captives


    I can''t laugh or cry about vatukin''s problem. I thought he called in person and there must be some important task to assign to me. I didn''t expect that it was such a boring problem. However, since he asked, I could only say truthfully: "Comrade General, the reason why the German army would voluntarily lay down their arms and become prisoners after hearing the authentic German is that they regarded our commanders and fighters as their own people, and were afraid that their excessive reaction would cause unnecessary misunderstanding."


    "So it is." Watujing said thoughtfully, "then I''ll ask you again, when formulating this task, have you considered that this operation will fail?"


    "Thought about it." I didn''t want to hide anything from watujing, so I answered honestly, "but I can''t stop doing it because I''m afraid of failure. Besides, the reason why I want to send these defecting officers and men is that they are originally German troops. It is not easy for the enemy to find flaws when they take part in the operation. The formation of the German army is different from ours. No matter how well our commanders and fighters camouflage, they are easy to be seen through in front of the highly vigilant enemy. "


    "Although you succeeded in this operation, you still took some risks." "I know a group of German officers and men who have defected to me, but I can''t trust them too much. Maybe one day, when they see that our army is at a disadvantage, they will turn around and hit us. "


    "No, Comrade General." When I heard that vatukin doubted the loyalty of gramus, I quickly explained: "they have been under my command since they defected. They have participated in the battle of mamayev post and the battle of seizing Kiev. After the fall of Kiev, they followed Comrade kirilov to fight for thousands of kilometers and went through all kinds of hardships to come back to us. They didn''t betray us under such bad conditions. Will they run back to the Germans when the war is more and more favorable to us? "


    "Comrade oshanina, you are a little too optimistic." When vatukin heard that I actually defended the defected German officers and soldiers, he said with some displeasure: "according to the information we have, Manstein will launch a more violent attack on the defense areas of your group army, the seventh group army and the 40th group army today. What you have to think about now is how to repel the German attack, rather than defending a few unreliable subordinates. You can do it yourself. " With that, he hung up abruptly.


    Although watujing was angry with me, I didn''t care at all, because under the current situation, even if he was no longer satisfied with me, he would not be able to remove my post and change my general. In that case, the defense line to the south of Kursk may be completely penetrated by the German army.


    After I put down the phone, kirilov looked at me with a worried face and said, "Rita, how can you have an argument with the general? We need to know that there are a lot of demands for him at present. If he withdraws your post or does not send us a reserve team because he is angry, what can he do? "


    As for kirilov''s concern and worry, I said with a smile: "Comrade military commissar, don''t worry. Under the current circumstances, commander watujing will not take any substantive action except to make a few angry remarks at me. That is to say, it is impossible for him to withdraw from my post or stop sending reinforcements to our group army defense area. "


    "If that''s true, that''s good." Kirilov sighed and said, "this is the critical moment of fighting with the German army. Our command system can''t go wrong at all."


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I asked bzikov, "chief of staff, is there any new report on the frontier?"


    Bezikov said with a sad face: "just received a telegram from the 67th division of the guards, the German army launched an attack on them. Commander shejerikov is directing the troops to retreat to the forest area in turn


    "Is there any news from the mechanized third army?" Although the 67th division of the guards did not stay in butovo for three days, it still gained valuable preparation time for the mechanized third army behind them, because I first thought about this unit that has not yet been put into combat since I heard that the army under the command of shijerikov was retreating.


    "Major general krivoschein called and said that a German tank unit was rushing along the road to their defense area." After taking a look at the telegram in his hand, bezikov replied, "they planted a large number of anti tank mines on the German road and arranged special anti tank men. They believe that they can block the enemy who rushed to oboyan."


    After listening to his reply, I turned my eyes to akhromeyev, who was standing by the wall and had just made a phone call: "Comrade major, what''s the situation over there?"


    "Report to the commander." Akhromeyev put the microphone on the telephone, straightened his body and reported to me: "the 375TH division commander govorunanko reported that about one German regiment was assembled in front of the 1243 regiment position in Prokhorovka area. They have just launched an attack on our position under the cover of tanks. "


    "Comrade major, what measures did Comrade govoruninenko take to deal with the German attack?" Next to Danilov suddenly asked: "can our troops hold the position?"


    Akhromeyev quickly turned his body to Danilov and said, "deputy commander, I think the 1243 regiment should be able to hold the position, because the Fifth Army of the close guard tank sent the sixth motorized infantry regiment to reinforce. If they strike hard from the flank of the German army, the enemy''s attack will collapse. "


    When I heard this, I was about to speak when the telephone on my desk rang. I raised my hand, picked up the receiver, put it to my ear and asked, "Hello, where are you?"


    "Report to Comrade commander." From the receiver came Nekrasov''s voice: "our defense area has been attacked by the German army. At present, the three main positions are engaged in fierce fighting."


    "Didn''t the early morning shelling inflict heavy damage on the German troops being assembled?" I feel very strange about the report of nikolasov, because according to the artillery report, the early morning shelling has achieved great results. As I said this, I couldn''t help glancing at povsky standing beside me.


    Povsky noticed my eyes. He frowned and walked quickly to the phone beside the wall. He thought he wanted to call the forward artillery to verify the results they reported after the early morning shelling.


    "Comrade commander, there are too many Germans." "Every main position has been attacked by at least one German division in turn. Although the enemy''s attack has been repulsed, we have also paid huge casualties," he said


    "Relying on the tunnels and fortifications to carry out tenacious defense." At this time, I can only say something to cheer him up, "let the 96th brigade assault and use their advanced tanks to defeat the German tank troops. As long as the German army loses the support of artillery and tanks, their attack will collapse. "


    "The 96th brigade has entered the battle," said Nekrasov in a hurry. "The German army not only bombarded the assembly area of the tank brigade with artillery, but also took advantage of the opportunity of air supremacy to dive and drop bombs on our tanks. A lot of tanks were blown up before they got into the attack position. "


    When I heard that our new tanks were constantly losing money in the German bombardment and bombing, I couldn''t help but look at them anxiously and yelled at the microphone: "Colonel, you should contact the commander of the 96th brigade immediately and ask him to lead the remaining tanks towards the enemy. Only if you entangle with the enemy, their aircraft and artillery will lose their function, Then we will have a chance to turn the situation around. "


    At the end of my conversation with nikolasov, I went on to call Colonel berey. As soon as I heard his voice, I asked directly, "Comrade Colonel, how many more tanks can your tank army use?"


    "Comrade commander, although there are two tank brigades in my tank army, there are no more than 100 tanks that can be used at present." Colonel berey has not been dealing with me for a day or two. Knowing that I asked this question, there must be a reason. He immediately asked nervously, "which direction are you going to throw the tank?"


    "This is the case, comrade colonel. The defense area of the 52nd division of the guards was suddenly attacked by three German divisions equipped with a large number of tanks. The current situation is very bad. Can you send tank troops to support them? " After I said this, I secretly regretted it, because the current position of the tank troops is not close to the area where they are fighting. If they are attacked by the German air force in the process of long-distance attack, they will not only fail to play the role of support, but also suffer unnecessary losses. Thinking of this, I hesitated and said, "is there any difficulty?"


    After hesitating for a long time, Colonel berey finally replied with difficulty, "there is no difficulty. I will send the 82nd brigade of tanks to support immediately. After repelling the German attack, I will let the troops stay there."


    Seeing that bere promised to send tank troops to reinforce the defense area of the 52nd division of the guards, I was deeply relieved. He put down the phone and asked povsky, "Captain, what''s the situation there? Have you made it clear?"


    Povsky straightened up and reported to me, "Comrade commander, I just called the artillery at the front. They assured me that the results reported to us were completely accurate."


    "Comrade Colonel, if the information reported by the artillery is accurate, where do so many enemies come from?" Danilov listened to the report of povsky, still with a suspicious tone asked: "our artillery won''t kill all the fake targets arranged by the German army?"


    As soon as Danilov''s words came out, the headquarters immediately became quiet. It had to be said that there was a certain truth in his words. This possibility existed completely. I saw povsky blush with shame, turned around and wanted to call the wall again. I quickly stopped him: "don''t call again, Colonel. Even if you fight again, it is estimated that the artillery will still tell you that their reported results are accurate. "


    "But, comrade commander." Danilov asked with an unhappy face: "can you explain where so many German troops came from?"¡° It''s very simple, comrade deputy commander. " I said lightly: "although the troops assembled in front of the 52nd division of the guards were defeated by us, the German army must have deployed a large number of troops on the second line. Seeing the loss of the troops in front of us, Manstein immediately transferred the troops on the second line and launched a new offensive against our position. " Kirilov looked at the map and said to himself, "the 51st and 67th divisions of the guards, and the 375TH division of the infantry, are fighting. But why didn''t the 51st division of the guards get any information? What do the Germans want to do Kirilov''s words reminded me. I immediately asked rasmishin, the director of intelligence who had just come in: "Comrade commander, do you have the latest intelligence of Yakovlev?"¡° No, comrade commander. " Rasmishin replied hastily, "I have ordered the telegraph operator to report to me as soon as there is a telegram from the 51st division of the guards." Just after a few words, the director of communications, lophov, came in in a hurry, quickly came to me, handed me a telegram, and said, "Comrade commander, the telegram we just received says that a large number of German troops are moving towards Prokhorovka."¡° What kind of troops are there, and how many troops are there? " I answered the phone, did not care to see, he asked in a hurry. Lophoff shook his head and replied, "comrades commander, the information was sent back by a reconnaissance team, and their telegrams were terminated half way through. I think they were discovered by the German army and all died. So we can''t tell from their incomplete telegrams the size of the German army that rushed to Prokhorovka. "¡° Comrade commander, what should we do? " Danilov asked anxiously when he heard this. After thinking for a moment, I said decisively, "call commander vatukin and ask him to send a reconnaissance plane from the air force to carry out reconnaissance and find out the size of this German army rushing to prohorovka."

 Chapter 1141

    When receiving my call, vatujing asked unexpectedly, "Comrade oshanina, you are calling at this time. What can I do for you?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." Business matters. I didn''t care that I was angry with him not long ago. I said frankly, "our scouts found that the German armored forces are driving towards Prokhorovka."


    "What, the German Panzer?" After listening to my report, vatukin immediately asked nervously, "have you found out what kind of army it is?"


    "I''m sorry, Comrade General." I said with regret: "the intelligence sent back by our reconnaissance team is not complete, and it has lost contact with us. It may be that there was an exchange of fire with the German army in the process of sending the news, which led to the sacrifice of all."


    "What are you still doing? Send someone to find out the situation." "Only when you have a clear idea of the strength of the German army, can you deploy your defense in a targeted way," he urged


    I can''t laugh or cry when I hear him say that. If the scouts I sent at this time can be in time, can I still call you? Seeing that he never thought about sending planes to scout, I had to remind him: "Comrade commander, I would like to ask you to send the air force out to scout the marching route of the German armored forces and figure out their general strength, so that we can make corresponding deployment."


    Vatukin didn''t make things difficult for me as I thought. He just sighed and said, "well, in the current situation, we can only turn to the reconnaissance of the air force. I''m going to call the air force and ask them to send reconnaissance planes to conduct reconnaissance on the German troops moving into Prokhorovka. "


    When I put down the phone, Danilov immediately asked nervously, "Comrade commander, what should we do during this time?"


    I took a look at him, and then said, "Comrade deputy commander, immediately send out a battle alarm to the fifth tank army of the guards, saying that a large number of German armored forces are rushing at them, so that they can get ready for all combat immediately."


    As for my order, Danilov hesitated and asked, "but before we know the actual strength of the German army, is it appropriate for us to rashly order the close guard tank army to prepare for battle? If the German army didn''t rush to our defense area, but wanted to turn to oboyan halfway, wouldn''t it confuse our deployment? "


    When I saw such a time, Danilov was still indecisive, so he said impolitely: "Comrade deputy commander, no matter where the ultimate goal of the German army is, it is absolutely right to let lieutenant general Kravchenko''s troops prepare for war. Even if the German army doesn''t attack today, it doesn''t mean that they won''t attack tomorrow. Only when they are prepared can they be safe. Do you understand? "


    Danilov saw that I had signs of anger, so he had no choice but to say, "well, comrade commander, since this is the case, then I will immediately send out a battle alarm to the tank army to make them ready for battle." Then he picked up the receiver from the phone, put it to his ear, and said to the operator, "get close to the fifth tank army and find general Kravchenko."


    While Danilov was on the phone, bzikov asked me quietly, "Comrade commander, do you need to transfer our reserve team?"


    I shook my head and denied his proposal: "no, the reserves are infantry divisions. It''s almost like death to let them deal with German tanks." I turned to look at povsky and said to him, "Comrade artillery commander, how many artillery regiments can be mobilized in our second line of defense?"


    Povsky immediately stood up from his seat and reported to me: "at present, there are two artillery regiments, one howitzer, one anti tank artillery regiment and two rocket artillery battalions that can be used in the second line of defense."


    "Although the troops are a little less, they are barely enough to deal with the German armored forces." Povsky reported more data than I had. Maybe when I was on the front line, my superior sent us new artillery troops. However, at such a time, even if only one more artillery can increase the chance of winning. Therefore, I said to povsky, "prepare the artillery for battle, and let each artillery regiment send artillery observers to indicate the direction of artillery attack."


    After the battle alarm was issued to the fifth tank army and Artillery Force of the guards, I was still not at ease, so I dialed katukov. When I heard his voice, I asked directly, "Comrade General, what''s the situation there?"


    "General klivoschein''s mechanized Third Army has been at war with the German vanguard." Katukov''s voice sounded a little hoarse. "At present, the German army is rushing forward regardless of everything. It seems that they want to break through our direction and rush to oboyan. "


    "Comrade General, I soon learned from our reconnaissance team that there is a large number of German armored forces rushing to prohorovka." When I mentioned this to him, I specially emphasized: "because our scouts broke off contact before they could give full information back, we have no idea what scale the German armored forces are and where the final assault direction is."


    "I see, Rita." As soon as my voice fell, katukov guessed what I wanted to say. "You are worried that the German armored forces will suddenly turn to the West and attack the flanks of the mechanized Third Army, so as to capture oboyan."


    "Yes, comrade general, that''s what I think." For katukov to be able to pay attention to my intention so quickly and let the stone hanging in my heart fall to the ground, the next words are good: "in order to eliminate the German armored forces, I think so. If they continue to pounce on Prokhorovka, I would like to ask you to send the Sixth Army of tanks to strike their flanks hard; If they suddenly turn west and pounce on oboyan before they reach prohorovka, I will also send tanks to attack from the rear of the German armored forces. What do you think of my proposal? "


    Katukov thought a little, then readily agreed: "well, Rita, do as you say. We are friendly forces. We can''t fight separately. Only by working together can we defeat the enemy who rushes into our defensive zone. "


    While waiting for the reply from watujing, I kept thinking about whether there was anything missing in my mind. The war reports from all over the world came in like flowing water. When bzikov took over the war reports, he was smiling and frowning. From his expression, I knew that the situation on the front line was mixed.


    Thinking of the worst situation in the 52nd division of the guards, I asked bzikov, "chief of staff, what''s the situation there, Colonel Nekrasov?"


    Bezikov handed me a stack of war reports, and said: "the 52nd division of the guards beat back two German attacks, but the casualties of the troops were not small, and each regiment lost more than one third of its personnel. If we don''t send them more reserves, we may stick to it for two days at most, and the whole guards Division will be finished


    I looked at the war report casually, then divided it into two stacks and handed them to kirilov and Danilov respectively. Then I said to bezikov, "chief of staff, I also know that the front line is hard to fight, but we don''t know how long this battle will last. If the reserve team is put into the battle too early, then we will be in the next battle, The pressure is even greater. "


    Bezikov said reluctantly, "even if you only send them an infantry regiment with strengthened artillery."


    "No, comrade chief of staff." On the issue of the use of the reserve forces of the group army, I firmly said, "not a regiment, not even a battalion. Good steel needs to be used on the blade, and the reserves need to use more important areas in the future. They should not be consumed prematurely. "


    Seeing that my attitude was so stubborn, Danilov shook his head slightly, then looked down at the report of the war in his hand, while bezikov stood beside him with a look of depression. In order to divert his attention, I asked, "chief of staff, do you have any news from the 67th division of the guards?"


    "Yes," said bezikov, drawing two of the telegrams from the stack on the table and handing them to me. "Lt. Col. chejerikov called to inform me that the division had successfully withdrawn into the forest. He asked whether the troops could be allowed to hide temporarily during the day, and then fight back to the German occupied area after dark. "


    "No, absolutely not." Before I could speak, Danilov put down his war report and said solemnly, "we should immediately order the troops to fight back and let them drive the enemy away from the occupied positions."


    "Comrade deputy commander," I said without waiting for Danilov to finish his speech. I said to myself, "now the heavy weapons of the 67th division of the guards are almost exhausted. If we order them to attack the German army at this time, it''s almost like asking them to die."


    "But Comrade commander, in order to defend the motherland, no matter how much you pay, it''s worth it." Danilov retorted unconvinced: "I think even though the 67th division of the guards has no heavy weapons, it can still defeat the German army with the bravery and tenacity of its commanders and fighters."


    "Our commanders and fighters are very brave and tenacious, but we can''t let them sacrifice their lives in vain in such a hopeless counterattack." When I said this, I waved at bezikov and ordered decisively, "chief of staff, send a telegram to lieutenant commander sergeant xijerikov and agree to his request. Tomorrow, after dark, he will immediately gather his troops to launch a counterattack against the enemy occupying our army''s positions, and make sure to recover the positions lost during the day. "


    After recording my order, bzikov agreed and gave the note full of words to the next director of communications, lophov, to send a message to the 67th division.


    Danilov saw that I didn''t take his advice, and he issued an order on his own. He suddenly blushed with anger, his neck was thick, and his breathing became short. He felt that as long as he spoke again, he would have a big fight with me. At this time, kirilov came out to be the peacemaker and advised him: "Comrade deputy commander, don''t worry. Listen to me, chejerikov is one of the most effective commanders under Rita. He has rich combat experience. I believe his decision to send such a telegram is also based on the actual situation of the battlefield. Believe him, in tonight''s counterattack, we will not be disappointed


    After kirilov''s persuasion for a long time, Danilov sat down in his seat angrily, staring at the map in front of him and began to be in a daze.


    After a long wait, watujing finally called. On the phone, he said anxiously: "Comrade oshanina, according to the reconnaissance of the air force, the German armored forces are composed of at least 200 tanks. At present, they have turned to the northwest and directly attacked oboyan in an attempt to help their troops break through the defense line of the third mechanized army."


    When I heard that there were more than 200 tanks, I was also nervous. I said that it was very difficult to beat back the German army with the existing forces, so I had to brazenly ask, "Comrade General, since there are many German tanks, I don''t know what kind of help the front army headquarters can provide us?"¡° There are two things you need to do now, "said vatukin after a moment of silence." one is to contact katukov immediately and let their tank troops attack to block the advance of German armored forces. 2¡¢ Gather the artillery of your group army and bombard the moving tank troops to consume as many enemy tanks as possible. "¡° General, I have a request. " I thought of the unexpected air ground cooperative operation yesterday, and I couldn''t help saying to watujing, "I don''t know whether to say it or not."¡° At this time, there is nothing to say. " When vatukin heard me say this, he was a little impatient: "whatever you want to say, just say it. As long as I can do it, I will help you. "¡° Can I ask for air force support? " I said cautiously, "you know, our air force made a great contribution in yesterday''s battle. Without their support, we could not have defeated the German "Hitler division" and "imperial division" and achieved such great results. "¡° Well, "said watujin hesitantly to my request," I can''t agree to you for the time being. Because it''s not just your army that is under attack at the moment. The 40th group army and the 7th group army are also being attacked by the German army. The limited air force still needs to reinforce them. " After listening to watugen''s saying that I can''t send air force to me, I want to use the air ground cooperative combat method to deal with the German army again. My plan failed, which made me feel lost. After sighing in my heart, I said helplessly, "senior general, since you can''t send air force to support us, can you provide us with other support?" I thought he would find another reason to shirk, but he said frankly: "I have just discussed with Comrade vasilevsky and decided to send three artillery regiments and an automatic air defense regiment to strengthen you. I believe that with their reinforcement, your defense pressure will be greatly reduced."

 Chapter 1142

    Although we can''t get the support of the air force, we have several more artillery regiments out of thin air, and our heavy firepower can be greatly enhanced. Besides, there is an automatic air defense regiment, which is equipped with self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to deal with the slow flying bombers of the German army.


    "I don''t know when the artillery will arrive?" As soon as I thought that the German armored forces were advancing wantonly in the defense area of the group army, I couldn''t wait to ask, "is it still under our command?"


    "Of course, since the troops sent to you must be under your command, otherwise how can we form a unified combat effectiveness?" "They should be able to arrive in Prokhorovka this afternoon. You should let your artillery commander take over the troops," said vatukin, angry and funny


    After I put down the phone, I said to several leaders of the group army around me, "the reconnaissance intelligence of the air force has come out. The German army has sent more than 200 tanks to the joint of us and the first group army of the close guard tank, in an attempt to seize oboyan and turn the city into their starting point for attacking Kursk."


    Although Danilov and I were ready, they were surprised by the data I gave them. As soon as I finished, Danilov immediately asked, "Comrade commander, what should we do? The German army concentrated so many tanks at a time that neither we nor katukov''s army could stop their attack. "


    "If you can''t stop it, you have to stop it!" "Once the Germans have occupied oboyan, we will not be able to stop them from rushing to Kursk," I said, biting my back teeth The reason why I say this is because I know that there is no decent defense depth in the distance between oboyan and Kursk. If the German tanks advance northward along the road, they can enter Kursk in three hours at most.


    "If there is air force support, I believe we still have the possibility to repel the German armored forces." Maybe yesterday''s air ground cooperative operation left a deep impression on everyone, so at this time, like me, the first thought of bezikov was to send the air force to bomb the German armored forces: "as long as our air force rushes up to bomb the German armored forces, and then our armored forces follow, even if there are more German troops, It''s going to be broken by us, too. "


    "Yes, as soon as our air force is deployed, the German armored forces will not be a problem." Danilov was worried when he heard what bezikov said. He also said excitedly: "since yesterday our air force could help our ground forces defeat the Hitler division and the imperial division, today they will certainly do better than yesterday."., As long as this armored force is eliminated, the strength of the German army in southern Kursk will be greatly weakened. "


    When Danilov finished, I said with a wry smile, "there is no air force. Because the defense areas of the seventh group army and the 40th group army were also attacked by the German superior forces. In this case, our air force was transferred to the area where the German might break through to support the friendly forces


    As soon as I finished, the room fell into silence. Only the footsteps of the commanders and soldiers in the corridor could be heard. Seeing everyone''s dejected, I comforted them and said, "although there is no air force, commander watujing has sent us three artillery regiments and an automatic anti-aircraft artillery regiment." At this point, I turned to look at povsky and said to him with a smile, "Comrade Colonel, all the new artillery regiments are under your command. You can go to Prokhorovka to take over these troops later."


    "All right, comrade commander." Povsky nodded and then asked without expression, "where should I put the troops after I accept them?"


    I looked at the map, then pointed to the location of the fifth tank army of the guards and said, "Comrade Colonel, after you take over the troops, take them here and find a suitable area to build an artillery position."


    After povsky left, Danilov looked at the map in front of him and said with emotion, "Comrade commander, look at the situation between the enemy and ourselves. It''s really chaotic. We had four infantry divisions and a tank army deployed in the first line of defense, which were divided into three separate parts by the German army. It doesn''t matter in a short time. As time goes on, I''m afraid they will be eaten one by one by the German army because of insufficient supplies. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander. This battle won''t last for a few days." As for his worry, I said with disapproval: "although our troops deployed in the first line of defense are separated by the superior forces of the German army, it is not easy to eat them. In this way, a large number of German forces are contained here. No matter they attack oboyan or Prokhorovka, the number of active forces will be greatly reduced, which indirectly reduces the defensive pressure on our troops deployed in these areas. "


    Bezikov looked at the map for a long time, then nodded and agreed: "yes, it''s not easy for the Germans to want to eat our cut-off troops. They are just a sharp knife inserted into the enemy''s heart. Let Manstein have a headache."


    Kirilov, who had always been steady, was not so optimistic as biezikov. After staring at the map for half a day, he said cautiously: "Rita, although before the German attack, we kept transporting all kinds of materials to the front line. However, due to the limitation of road conditions and transportation capacity, we had only finished the work of hoarding two thirds of the materials before the fighting started. That is to say, the ammunition and materials accumulated at the frontier can not support long-term operations. "


    Before he finished, I took over and said, "Comrade military commissar, I know what you mean. If we can''t resume normal supply, their ammunition and supplies will soon be exhausted, right?"


    Kirilov nodded in recognition of my question. I turned and asked bzikov, "chief of staff, how many days can the ammunition supplies of the 51st, 52nd and 90th divisions of the guards last?"


    Berzikov frowned and thought about it, then replied, "the supplies of the 52nd division of the guards can last about 15 days; The 51st division of Jinwei, because their positions 2 and 3 were once occupied by the German army, although they have recovered their positions now, most of the materials they hoarded have been seized by the German army. In addition, it is the 90th division of the close guard, which has a relatively strong force, to receive and defend these two positions, because the material gap is even greater... "


    After hearing what bzikov said for a long time, I interrupted him without saying what I wanted to hear. I asked directly, "how long can the existing ammunition and materials of the 51st and 90th divisions of the guards last?"


    "Three days at most." After a few violent twitches in the corners of his mouth, bezikov added: "at present, the traffic between the first and second directions has been cut off by the German army. It is impossible to transport materials to them on a large scale. If we don''t think of a way, they may be wiped out by the German army because they run out of ammunition and food. "


    Byzikov''s words made me realize the seriousness of the problem. When I stood by mamayev post last year, I never worried about the ammunition and materials, because the fourth regiment stationed near the wharf often did some overkill work, secretly withheld part of the ammunition and materials passing through our defense area, and then asked the logistics personnel to report the loss on the way. It is because of these small moves that the independent division always has sufficient ammunition and materials to sustain long-term fighting. Now, tavartkilaze, even if he wants to draw gourds according to the example, has no choice but to rely on the existing materials and seizures to support us behind the enemy lines until our counter offensive begins.


    I thought about it for a long time, but I didn''t come up with any good idea, so I just didn''t think about it. Pick up the phone and call tawalter killazer. I don''t talk nonsense with him. I asked him frankly, "Comrade General, how long can the ammunition and materials on your position last?"


    Tavartkiraze probably didn''t expect that I would suddenly ask him this question, and immediately called for his chief of staff. Then I heard them murmur for half a day before tavartkiraze reported to me: "Comrade commander, according to statistics, we still have five days of food and the infantry ammunition can sustain three to four fierce battles. As for shells and the like, there are only two bases left. " Finally, he asked, "I don''t know when you can send a transport team to supply us?"


    "Comrade General, the current situation is very serious." I didn''t want to hide from tavartkilaze the difficulties they were facing, so I told them the truth: "the transport line to you has been cut off by the German army. In a short period of time, our transportation team can''t deliver goods to you at all. So in this case, you have to find your own way to solve the problem of ammunition and materials for the troops. "


    "But, comrade commander." Tavartkilaze was a little worried when I said that, "the nearby villages have long been raided by the German army. Even if we go to raise food, it''s not enough for thousands of our officers and men."


    Kirilov apparently heard the words behind tavart killazer and made a sign to me to give him the microphone. After he took the microphone, he said rudely to tavartkiraze, "Comrade General, since you know that the Germans have ransacked our village, how can you think of going to the village to raise food?"


    When tavartkilaze heard kirilov speak to himself in such a stern tone, he quickly explained, "Comrade military commissar, you misunderstood me. I''m just using an analogy."


    "Not even metaphors." Kirilov, who has always been kind and amiable, now becomes extremely stubborn: "I remind you that the reason why we are fighting with the Germans here is to protect our motherland and people. How can we add trouble to our people? Anyway, not only can you not go to the village to raise food, on the contrary, you should also provide necessary help for those villagers who have nothing. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade military Commissar." Although tavartkilaze was unwilling, he showed obedience in front of kirilov. But in the end, he said politely, "our supplies are not enough. If we give them to the villagers, what should we do? We can''t make the commanders hungry, can we?"


    Tavartkilaze''s words made kirilov slap the table. He said: "Comrade General, why are you so stupid. You don''t have enough ammunition and supplies. Can''t you capture them from the German army? If the German army wants to keep fighting, there must be military material warehouses near the battlefield. Instead of complaining to me here, you''d better think about how to send troops to grab these materials. "


    Kirilov''s words were like a rush to the top of his mind. He said excitedly: "I understand, I understand, comrade military Commissar. I''ll arrange a reconnaissance team to go to reconnoiter where the German military warehouse is as soon as it gets dark, and use their materials to solve our urgent need."


    After kirilov put down the phone, he looked up and asked me, "Rita, do you need to contact Colonel nikolasov of the 52nd division of the guards to find out about their inventory?" Whether there are enough ammunition and materials is the key to whether the troops can survive in the enemy''s encirclement. Therefore, after hearing kirilov''s question, I immediately nodded and said, "yes, comrades of the military Commissar. It is very helpful for us to understand their inventory for our next military deployment." After I finished, Danilov asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, what should we do if our troops run out of ammunition and supplies before the end of the battle?" Although I don''t want to think about such a bad possibility, judging from the current situation, the ammunition and materials stored by the troops may not be enough to support the counter offensive stage of the Kursk battle. Therefore, after sighing, I said leisurely, "Comrade deputy commander, if the situation you mentioned really happens, what the front forces can do is to break through the second line of defense and avoid being completely annihilated by the German army." Kirilov at the end of the call with the 52nd division of the guards, his face finally showed a smile. He said to me happily, "Rita, according to the report of Colonel Nekrasov, their original ammunition and supplies could only last for half a month. But through the capture in the battle, ammunition can last for 20 days, while food and medicine can support for about a month. "¡° That''s great. That''s great. " When I heard kirilov''s news, I was relieved. Even if I held fast to Yakovlev''s 51st and 90th guard divisions, because of the shortage of ammunition and materials, I had to give up my position. After breaking through to the north, the 52nd guard division could still contain a large number of German troops in place, so that they did not dare to attack our second line of defense. Not only me, kirilov and Danilov, they also saw the problem, so their faces showed a relaxed expression. After looking down at the map, Danilov suddenly asked me, "Comrade commander, where do you think the main attack direction of the German army will be next?" I picked up the red and blue pencils on the table, drew a circle in prohorovka''s position, and said confidently: "according to my estimation, before long, the enemy and us will start large-scale fighting in this area. This will determine the final fate of Kursk! "

 Chapter 1143

    Danilov listened to what I said solemnly, but shrunk his mouth in disapproval. Maybe he thought I was too alarmist. Perhaps in his mind, he thought that Manstein''s attack from the South was just a feint attack by the German army, whose purpose was to cover the German central army group and attack Kursk from the north.


    My guess was soon confirmed. After staring at the map for a while, Danilov suddenly said, "Comrade commander, I think the attack organized by Manstein, though powerful, has not made much progress. You see, up to now, they have not occupied any positions in Prokhorovka area, and even the divisions that we fell into their encirclement are not able to eat. It can be judged from this that the attack of the German southern army group was only to contain the troops of Voronezh''s front army, so that we could not send out troops to reinforce the central front army, which was fighting a bloody battle. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, what do you think?" As for Danilov''s view, kirilov asked with great interest, "what do you think is their ultimate target?"


    Danilov took a look at kirilov, then looked at the map and said, "where else, comrade military commissar. If you look at the troops of the German central army group, they have broken through the junction of the 70th and 13th army groups of our central front army and are rushing to Kursk. However, due to the tenacious resistance of general rokosovsky''s troops, the German army''s advance speed was very slow. If we don''t send out troops to contain us, as long as we transfer two group armies to fill the breach, we can turn the hard won achievements of the German army into nothing. "


    I didn''t say anything, just listened quietly to Danilov''s analysis. After he finished, I found that what he said was reasonable. If I didn''t know the history and the final outcome, I would not hesitate to agree with him.


    After listening to him, bzikov asked in a puzzled way: "Comrade deputy commander, if it is true that, as you said, why does Manstein not dispatch troops to directly reinforce the central group army group, but have to go far and risk failure to attack our defensive array?"


    Who knows, don''t ask zikov like that, he really asked Danilov. After thinking for a long time, he reluctantly said a possibility, but in the middle of it, he overturned his own guess.


    Before Danilov could give bzikov a reasonable explanation, the telephone on the desk rang. When I saw that bezikov and Danilov were still studying the German army, they reached out and picked up the phone and asked, "I''m the headquarters of the group army. Where are you?"


    In the microphone came the voice of tavart killazer. Hearing his tone with a trace of confusion, my heart immediately surged with an unknown premonition, and quickly asked: "Comrade General, what''s the matter?" Maybe my voice was so loud that I attracted the attention of several people around me.


    "Report to the commander that the highland of the 308th regiment has been lost." Tavartkiraze reported with trepidation.


    "What, the 308th regiment lost its position?" Hearing this news, I immediately jumped up from my seat, frowned and asked in a loud voice, "Comrade General, can''t you support each other with artillery fire in your highlands? How can we let the enemy seize the position? What''s the matter? "


    Tavartkilaze reported to me, "Comrade commander, this is the situation. As the highland guarded by the 308th regiment had not been attacked by the German army on a large scale, the south side of the highland was covered with weeds more than half a person''s height, which seriously affected the vision of our commanders and fighters.


    The camouflage clothes they came to attack the German troops were very rare. They used weeds as cover and quietly touched the place only 150 meters away from our position. At this time, their artillery suddenly opened fire to suppress our garrison. When the artillery extended to fire, the German army, regardless of the possibility of being injured by their own artillery, launched a charge from a hidden place to our army. They used grenades to clear the obstacles of Caiyu in front of the position, and used flame throwers to pull out the exposed civil fire points of our army. But when the resistance on the ground gradually weakened, the German officers and men with submachine guns jumped into the trench and started a close fight with our defenders. "


    When I listened to tavartkilaze''s report, I suddenly had a sense of deja vu. The more I listened, the more I felt like my usual tactics. I didn''t expect that now I was learned by the German army, and I would turn around to deal with us. As soon as he finished, I immediately asked, "Comrade General, do you know the name of this German army?"


    "According to the documents seized from the corpses of the German army, they belong to the Viking." After tavartkilaze finished his reply, he specially stressed: "the combat effectiveness of this unit is very strong, which is no worse than the ''Hitler division'' or ''Imperial division'' that fought with us two days ago."


    I heard that it was the "Viking" who captured our position. I couldn''t help feeling dark and shaking. If I didn''t hold the edge of the table, I would have fallen to the ground. I didn''t expect that Manstein thought highly of me and sent another strong SS division. He would not be reconciled if he didn''t defeat us. I took a deep breath, calmed my mood a little, and then ordered tavartkilaze: "Comrade General, there is nothing to say, immediately organize the troops to fight back, and we must take back the high ground as soon as possible, otherwise the flanks of the 309th regiment and your division headquarters will all be exposed to the enemy."


    "Yes, I immediately organized the troops to fight back." Tavartkilaze answered that he was about to hang up, but I stopped him. Then he asked, "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"¡° I know something about the terrain of the highland defended by the 308th regiment. " I remember that before the outbreak of the campaign, I had visited the front positions many times, so after arranging the counterattack mission to tavartkilaze, I specially told him: "the north slope of the highland is flat, easy to attack and difficult to defend. You can send tanks to support the infantry attack." After I put down the phone, I looked at Danilov and said solemnly, "Comrade deputy commander, the defense area of the 51st division of the guards has just been attacked by the Viking. Now the position has been lost, and the flanks of the division headquarters and the 309th regiment have been completely exposed to the enemy. If general tavartkiraze fails to organize his troops in time to restore the lost positions, Yakovlev will be in danger of collapse. " Although I didn''t directly criticize Danilov''s wrong judgment of the current situation, he also heard the smell of blame from my words. However, he was also a man who knew his mistakes and could correct them. After a moment''s hesitation, he immediately admitted his mistakes to me: "Comrade commander, I''m sorry. It seems that my judgment is totally wrong. The German army''s action in the south of Kursk is not a feint, but a real attempt to rush into Kursk from the south. At present, what we can do is to rely on the existing defensive operations, consume a large number of German forces in the process of resistance, and wait for the arrival of the great counterattack. " I could not help but ask curiously, "Comrade chief of staff, what are you thinking?" Berzikov said with a sad face: "Comrade commander, it''s not easy to deal with the" Wei Jing Shi ". At the beginning of the war, when our 38th army launched an attack on kamenkov, it was this army that held fast to the city. At that time, the artillery that provided artillery support came from a nearby artillery school. They knew the coordinates of all parts of the area very well, so they could bombard German positions with extraordinary accuracy in battle. At the same time, the eight infantry divisions of the 38th army also launched regimental scale charges against the city from time to time. But even in this case, the "Viking division" still blocked our attack. They remained calm in the dilapidated positions and carefully arranged their firepower network to inflict heavy casualties on our army. Three days after the fierce battle, our army lost its offensive ability because of the heavy losses and had to withdraw from its position. " After bzikov finished, Danilov added: "in the battle of Kharkov at the beginning of the year, we had the chance to win. Who knows that Popov''s armored assault group was almost completely destroyed after being hit by the" Viking "one after another, which led to the failure of the whole battle." The reason why I know about the existence of the "Viking" trump card force is that it is a very famous one in the German SS force, and that most of its soldiers are not German, they are all volunteers from Western Europe and Northern Europe. As for what achievements it has made on the battlefield, it is not clear. At the moment, after listening to the introduction of bezikov and Danilov, my mood became more and more nervous. If the counterattack organized by general tavartkilaze can not recover the position quickly, then with the strong fighting capacity of the "Viking division", as long as they have a firm foothold, they will soon be able to seize the high ground guarded by the 51st division of the guards one after another¡° Comrade commander, what should we do? " Bezikov might have seen me as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, so he couldn''t help asking, "is it necessary to prepare the 51st division of the guards to retreat?" I sit in my seat, holding my head in both hands, and I have a fierce ideological struggle in my mind. Is it to withdraw or to defend? This is really a headache.

 Chapter 1144

    After thinking for a long time, I didn''t come up with a clue. Finally, I heard Danilov whispering: "Comrade commander, let''s wait until the result of general tavartkilaze''s counterattack comes out, and then decide whether to withdraw or defend." As soon as I heard what he said was very reasonable, I quickly nodded and said, "yes, comrade deputy commander, you are right. No matter what kind of decisions we make before the result of the counterattack comes out, we are all rash and irresponsible." I suddenly thought of another thing and asked bzikov: "Comrade chief of staff, I have something I don''t quite understand. I want to ask you for advice." When bzikov heard me say this, he was dazed and instinctively said, "Comrade commander, if you have anything, just ask."¡° Chief of staff, you should know that our tank brigade is equipped with the most advanced tanks, but why hasn''t it achieved more brilliant achievements so far? " I''ve been struggling with this for two or three days. If I don''t ask for a clear answer, I''m not sure¡° Comrade commander, "bezikov frowned and said carefully," I think it may be for two reasons: while bezikov was going to write his report, I asked akhromeyev to call the 51st division and ask how the counterattack was going. After contacting general tavartkiraze, akhromeyev followed my orders and asked him about the attack on the "Viking". Only he asked, "Comrade General, the commander asked me to ask you, have you recovered your lost position?" After that, he didn''t speak any more, just listening to the other party''s constant report. As he put down the phone, he shook his head first, then said with some disappointment, "Comrade commander, general tavartkiraze reported that the first attack on the Highlands was a failure."¡° What, failed? " I clearly know that the north slope of that highland is flat, which should be very conducive to the attack. How could it fail. So I asked, "what did Mr. tavartkiraze say?"¡° Comrade General said that he used three tanks to guide the infantry to attack the highlands. " Akhromeyev truthfully quoted tavartkilaze''s original words: "at the beginning of the attack, it was relatively smooth, but when approaching the mountainside, suddenly several German soldiers came out from the grass, put anti tank grenades into the tracks of the tanks, and broke all the tracks of the three tanks. At the same time, the German machine guns hidden in the foxholes in the grass fired and knocked down a lot of infantry following the tanks. In this way, their first attack failed. But the general is organizing his troops and preparing to launch a second charge. "

 Chapter 1145

    And "sergeant roschugin was seriously injured in the leg and was sent to the division health camp with another wounded tank man." Akhromeyev reported to kirilov that "the remaining members and the new members are repairing the tracks together, preparing to put the tanks back into the new battle as soon as possible." When akhromeyev spoke to kirilov, I kept nodding at the beginning, but when I heard that roschukin was sent to the health camp because of his leg injury, I could not help but have a cold war, and then I was scared out in a cold sweat. I was afraid that I had heard it wrong, so I asked: "major, what did you just say? Where is the conductor, roschugin, now? " Akhromeyev turned to me and said, "sergeant roschukin has been sent to the division health camp due to serious leg injury. It is estimated that the military doctors are treating him at this time." After the news was confirmed, my cold sweat came down. Don''t look at Rose chujinna from the appearance, because she can''t see that she is a woman, but if she has a leg injury, she must take off her pants for treatment. As long as her trousers are removed, the secret of her disguise as a man will be completely exposed. Thinking of this, I immediately told akhromeyev: "major, go to call general tavartkilaze and ask him to pay attention to the treatment of sergeant roschukin in person. If there is any situation, call me in person immediately." Akhromeyev was surprised by my order, and he kindly reminded me: "Comrade commander, although staff sergeant roschukin''s leg is injured, it will not endanger his life. Don''t let tavartkilaze come out in person?"¡° Major, "I couldn''t help getting upset when I heard him say that. I yelled at him," don''t you know that the orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed? Do it now. " Akhromeyev didn''t expect that I would get angry suddenly. After a moment of stupefaction, he gave a loud promise, turned and went out to the communication room next door to send a telegram. Ten minutes later, akhromeyev came back to me with a pale face. He didn''t say anything but handed me a new telegram. I took it and read it briefly: "when the military doctor was treating staff sergeant roschukin''s injury, he unexpectedly found that she was a girl. Mr. tavartkiraze. "

 Chapter 1146

    Although not long ago, I was still worried that rosschujina''s identity would be exposed. But at the moment, after reading the telegram whose identity had been identified, her mood became relaxed. So I handed the telegram to kirilov and asked for his advice: "Comrade military commissar, you and the deputy commander have a look at this telegram and then talk about your views."


    Kirilov, who was drinking water, received the telegram with his empty hand with a puzzled look on his face. I just wanted to remind him that it''s better to put down the tea cup before reading the telegram. Unexpectedly, he had finished reading the contents of the telegram quickly and sprayed all the water in his mouth on the table. He put the teacup on the table, even the water in front of him could not wipe it. Holding the telegram in both hands, he quickly scanned it again, and then murmured, "what''s the matter? It''s ridiculous!"


    "What''s the matter, comrade military Commissar." Asked Danilov curiously, taking the telegram from kirilov''s hand. After only one look, his mouth became O-shaped, and he didn''t close it for a long time. After a long time, he stammered and asked: "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with... In the end? Why does a male tank hand become a girl


    "What''s so strange." While I asked akhromeyev to clean the water stains on the table, I said to Danilov: "I think this girl wants to join our team, but the person in charge of the recruitment site does not agree, so she has to do this, disguised as a man and became a tank driver."


    "Cheating, it''s cheating." Feeling cheated, Danilov said with some old shame: "this is a crime. It''s unforgivable. We should punish such people severely."


    "Severe punishment?! Comrade deputy commander, how can we punish him severely? " I didn''t expect Danilov to react so strongly in the case of roschugina. As soon as he finished, I immediately rebutted him impolitely and said, "will we send our heroine to the military court for trial?"


    Danilov was stunned by what I said. After a moment, he sighed and said, "Comrade commander, you are right. Although sergeant roschukin is a woman disguised as a man, she has made great achievements in the battle not long ago. If it wasn''t for her and her tank men''s tenacious fighting, maybe the 51st division of the close guard has not recovered its lost position up to now. "


    "Comrade military commissar, how do you think about this matter?" In my opinion, kirilov was silent all the time. It seemed that he was thinking about how to deal with this difficult matter, so he took the initiative to ask him, "if you have any ideas, please let us have a discussion."


    Kirilov looked up at me, then at some of Danilov beside him. Then he said slowly, "it''s true that sergeant roschugin disguised herself as a man. But according to my understanding, she made a lot of contributions after joining the army. Especially in the battle of attacking and cooperating with the 51st guard division to recover the position, if it wasn''t for her witty and tenacious use of tank guns and machine guns to bombard and strafe the enemy and make them fall into chaos, it is estimated that at the moment we are still having a headache about whether the 51st guard division should defend or withdraw. "


    "Comrade military commissar, what''s your opinion?" Danilov asked as soon as he finished.


    "What''s your opinion on this, Rita?" Kirilov didn''t answer his question, but put the contradiction on me¡° You are the commander. No matter what our opinions are, you are still the one who made the final decision


    Originally, I asked kirilov to talk about his own views in the hope that with his calm character, he could come up with a compromise that everyone could accept. I didn''t expect that he would put the problem on me now. Seeing that everyone''s eyes are focused on me, I know that I can''t avoid it, so I can only say: "since everyone has expressed their views, let me say something. Rose trugina... "


    As soon as I said this, akhromeyev reminded me in a low voice: "Comrade commander, it''s roschujin, not roschujinna."


    I turned to smile at ahlomeyev and said, "major, you should know that roschukin is a man''s name. A girl''s real name is not a man''s name, right? So I think it might be more accurate to call her rosschujina. " After that, I went on to talk about my own consideration: "at present, in our defense area, the troops are fighting tenaciously with the Communist aggressors. In order to boost their morale and strengthen their confidence in winning, I think we should immediately report the deeds of roschujinna to the whole group army. "


    After listening to my proposal, kirilov frowned and thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement and said, "I also agree to report the story of roschujinna within the scope of the group army, and call on all the officers and men to learn from her and fight with the Communists tenaciously."


    When Danilov saw that kirilov and I agreed, he looked at bezikov and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, what''s your opinion?"


    Bezikov looked at me, and then replied very simply: "I have exactly the same opinion as the commander and the military Commissar. We should promote the deeds of roschujinna in the whole regiment, so as to boost the morale of our army."


    Seeing that our opinions were unified, Danilov had no choice but to nod his head and say helplessly: "since everyone agrees not to punish roschugina and to promote her deeds in the whole regiment, then I have no different opinions." At this point, he turned to akhromeyev, pointed to him and said, "Comrade major, please call general tavartkiraze and let him know our decision."


    After Danilov finished, bezikov also urged akhromeyev: "major, hurry up and make a phone call. I think general tavartkiraze is anxiously waiting by the phone at the moment to know what we are doing with it. Otherwise, he will not have a phone call, but he will send a telegram. Maybe he is afraid of being scolded. If you call him earlier, he will feel at ease. "


    On hearing what bezikov said, akhromeyev replied with a smile, "I understand. Comrade chief of staff, I''ll call general tavartkiraze right now to let him know what to do with this matter."


    After dealing with rosschujina, we shifted our energy to the current war. After reading the war report in his hand, bzikov said to me solemnly: "Comrade commander, judging from the current situation, our second line of defense will soon be attacked by the enemy. Do you want to send our reserve team up?"


    After staring at the map for a long time, I felt that what bezikov said was very reasonable. It seemed that the reserve team in my hand could not be retained. So I had to sigh in secret and command bezikov: "chief of staff, call Colonel Xie Liujin, the commander of the 89th division, and ask him to come to me."


    While waiting for the arrival of Colonel seleucin, kirilov suddenly said to me, "Rita, should I report to the higher authorities about roschugina?" He was deeply afraid that I didn''t pay attention to this matter, and specially explained, "if we don''t report to our superiors, once the investigation is carried out, not only rose chujina will be punished, but also the personnel who recruited her at the beginning will be involved."


    Although kirilov''s words were euphemistic, I understood them. What he meant was that the way we dealt with roschugina was a risky behavior. If we don''t report to our superiors, and if the superiors blame us for the trouble in the future, not only roschugina and the people who recruited her will be punished, but also several of us. Thinking of this, I nodded to him and replied, "comrades of the military commissar, since this is the case, then you are solely responsible for reporting to the higher authorities."


    Tall and thin, Xie Liujin walked into the headquarters and came to us. He raised his hand and saluted us. He reported: "Captain Xie Liujin, commander of the 89th division of Jinwei, has been ordered to come here. I''m waiting for your orders. Please give me instructions!"


    "Comrade Colonel," Danilov asked with a smile, "I want to ask, how is your division equipped?"


    Facing Danilov, Xie Liujin said, "report to deputy commander, half of our division''s officers and men are equipped with bobosha submachine guns, as well as a large number of heavy and light machine guns and mortars. Their firepower output is much stronger than that of ordinary troops."


    "Comrade Colonel, we have an important task for you." I called him to the table, pointed to the map and said to him, "originally, I wanted to treat your division as a reserve team and wait until the counterattack time to fight. But now it seems that my plan will fail. You see, about five kilometers behind the second line of defense, there is a forest and hills. The task of your division is to enter this area overnight and prepare for all battles. "


    For my arrangement, Xie Liujin''s face showed a puzzled expression. After I finished, he immediately asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what''s the use of putting our division here?"


    "Well, once our second line of defense is broken through, it''s your division''s task," I clapped two times on the map with my palm and said firmly, "that is to rush up immediately and close the gap."


    After hearing this, Xie Liujin frowned and thought about it, and asked, "Comrade commander, the anti tank force of our division is very weak. If the enemy who breaks through the defense line is armored forces, then we may pay a heavy price to rush forward. "


    Danilov was not happy to hear scheliujin emphasize the objective reason. After coughing, he said to scheliujin discontentedly: "please remember, Colonel, orders from the superior can only be executed, and bargaining is not allowed."


    Kirilov saw Xie Liujin''s expression of embarrassment and quickly came out to make a round: "OK, comrade deputy commander, I believe Xie Liujin will successfully complete the task we gave him. Don''t worry, Colonel scheliujin. Although your anti tank forces are still very weak, we will have a steady stream of artillery and armored troops in the near future. Can''t your troops block the gap opened by the enemy in this situation? "


    After listening to kirilov''s words, Xie Liujin straightened up and assured him: "please rest assured, comrades of the military Commissar. Even if there is only one person left in the 89th division of our guards, we will never let the enemy pass in front of us."


    Before sherekin left, akhromeyev came in with a telegram. I saw his sad face and thought it was still rosschujina''s business, so I said angrily, "major, if there is nothing important, don''t disturb us for the moment."


    "Comrades commander," akhromeyev came to me, handed me the telegram in his hand, and said, "from the war report we just received, we know that the German army originally rushed to the tank troops of Prokhorovka and suddenly turned around to the oboyan area. After defeating the Third Battalion of our new regiment, we went deep into the defense area of the mechanized Third Army. " Akhromeyev''s news startled me in a cold sweat again, and I asked in a hurry, "are there any troops in front of the enemy?" I would like to say that since the German armored forces can easily defeat the new regiment, how long can the friendly forces last before the unstoppable German armored forces¡° The mechanized Third Army and the tank tenth army are fighting tenaciously with the German armored forces in this area. " After pointing out the battle area on the map, akhromeyev raised his head and said to me, "I think general katukov should have obtained relevant information. Maybe his reinforcements are on the way."¡° Where is the 67th division of Jinwei? " I saw that the position of akhromeyev''s finger should not be far away from the army of shejerikov, so I quickly asked, "if they are allowed to attack from the flank, can they disrupt the German offensive deployment?"¡° It''s very difficult, comrade commander. " Akhromeyev said with a sad face: "although from the map, the 67th division of the close guard is less than five kilometers away from the fighting area, it''s hard to say what kind of fighting capacity they can have left when they have to walk such a long distance in the forest."¡° Commander, what shall we do? " It was said that the 67th division of the close guard could not provide help for the friendly forces. The chief of staff, bezikov, was in a hurry. "We don''t have any troops that can be mobilized nearby. Can we just watch the German armored forces break through the defense depth of the friendly forces?"¡° Chief of staff, you are too pessimistic. " After bzikov finished, Danilov said slowly, "we can ask the headquarters of the front army for help and ask them to send out air force to bomb the attacking German armored forces. In this way, the defense pressure of the friendly forces will be greatly reduced."

 Chapter 1147

    When I called vatukin, he poured a basin of cold water on me. He said angrily on the phone, "Comrade oshanina, do you know that our air force uses field airports, which are all dirt runways. Recently, with frequent take-off and landing, almost all runways have problems. Every time our pilots take off, they risk their lives. How can we go out at such a time? If something goes wrong, who can shoulder the responsibility? "


    Although I heard what he said, I was still unwilling to ask, "but the enemy''s armored forces are rushing towards oboyan. With the strength of the mechanized Third Army and the tenth tank army, it is very difficult to completely block these enemies."


    "Comrade oshanina," watujing suddenly raised his voice and said, "if I remember correctly, you are only the commander of the sixth group army of the guards, the mechanized third army is the first tank group army of the guards under katukov, and the tenth tank army is only going to reinforce you, not to be assigned to your command. Instead of worrying about other people''s defense, it''s better to think about how to make your defense more stable, so that the Germans can''t move forward. "


    Vatukin''s criticism made me blush. When I think about it, what he said is also reasonable. Although katukov and I are good friends, our behavior is a little over authority.


    After this scolding, I didn''t intend to ask about the first tank group army of the guards. Unexpectedly, katukov called. He said hastily on the phone, "Rita, I''m in a terrible situation here. Can you help me a little bit?"


    "I''m sorry, Comrade General." I almost agreed to katukov''s request on impulse. But on second thought, apart from sending out the air force to bomb the German armored forces, what I can do for him is really very little, so I can only say with regret, "I''m surprised at the situation here, and I can''t help you for the time being."


    "My tank troops are in the rest of the area, and they are entangled by German troops. They can''t get to oboyan in a short time." Katukov ignored me and said to himself, "several positions of the mechanized Third Army have been broken through one after another by the German army. If they continue to develop in this way, they will be able to rush to the city of oboyan before dark."


    "But, comrade general, I''m really..." I can''t think of a direction from which I can draw a strong enough force to support katukov in the direction of oboyan. I can only say with a cruel heart, "I really can''t take the strength that can compete with the German armored forces to support you."


    "Yes, Rita. You have the power. " Katukov was deeply afraid that I would interrupt the communication with him. He said in a hurry: "you can transfer general Kravchenko''s tank troops. Even if only one tank brigade is deployed, the new tanks they are equipped with will be enough to cope with the assault of German armored forces. Rita, I beg you to send troops to support us. As long as I can support it until noon tomorrow, my tank army can get rid of the German entanglement and rush to the oboyan area to drive away the German armored forces. "


    Katukov''s request softened my heart again. I thought for a moment, then said decisively, "well, general katukov, I''ll call general Kravchenko and ask him to send a tank brigade to oboyan to reinforce you."


    "Great, that''s great." On hearing that I had agreed to his request, katukov happily repeated his thanks to me over the phone: "thank you, thank you, dear Rita."


    "Comrade General, where are you now?" In my impression, I only know that katukov has been commanding his troops during the war in Kursk, but I never know where his headquarters is. Now I just take this opportunity to ask, "is the place safe?"


    "I''m in a church in the south of oboyan," katukov said calmly. "From here, we can see the defensive positions of the mechanized Third Army outside the city."


    "Well, I see." I put down the phone before he finished. Then he said to several group commanders around the table, "comrades, the situation in the oboyan area is very difficult now. The German armored forces have rushed forward regardless of everything. They have broken through several lines of defense of friendly forces and are approaching oboyan."


    After listening to me, the faces of several people present became serious. After a while, bzikov asked, "Comrade commander, what can we do for them now? You know, unless the front army sends out air force to assist in the battle, it is very difficult to repel the assault of German armored forces. "


    "I have promised general katukov to send a tank brigade to support them." For example, the mobilization of troops is within the scope of bezikov''s authority, so I ordered him: "Comrade chief of staff, you will call general Kravchenko later and ask him to send the tank brigade nearest to oboyan to reinforce the friendly forces and strike hard at the German flanks."


    After arranging everything, I announced to several people again: "comrades commander, I am not at ease with the current war situation, so I plan to go to oboyan to have a look in person. During my absence, the deputy commander will command the troops instead of me. "


    "What, are you going to the front again?" Kirilov heard me say this, slapped the table and said in a loud voice, "no, absolutely not. We just passed a plan not long ago. No commander of the group army present is allowed to go to the front to avoid accidents. So on behalf of you, I declare that we do not agree with you to go to oboyan. "


    As soon as kirilov''s words were finished, Danilov, bezikov and even akhromeyev echoed: "yes, comrade commander, it''s too dangerous outside. You''d better stay in the headquarters to command the troops."


    "No matter what you say, I have to go to oboyan myself." In order to block everyone''s lips, I also played the commanding officer''s special prestige: "you should not forget that I am the commander of the group army. All the affairs in the group army has the final say of me, and no one has the right to oppose it."


    As soon as I said this, all the people closed their mouths. Seeing everyone''s reaction, I felt a little guilty again. I slowed down and said, "don''t worry. I''m going to oboyan because I''m afraid general Kravchenko won''t easily transfer to his tank brigade to reinforce oboyan. I think he will not hesitate to carry out the reinforcement order given by the chief of staff when he hears that I went to oboyan myself. "


    When I saw kirilov open his mouth and seemed to have something else to say, I nodded to him and comforted him with a smile: "Comrade military commissar, I know you are thinking about my safety. But please rest assured that the place I went to is still under the control of our army. I believe that with the strength of the mechanized Third Army, we can still keep the German far away from oboyan. "


    Seeing what I said, kirilov had no choice but to insist. But when I left the headquarters, he still seized my hand and repeatedly told me: "remember, Rita, you are the commander of the group army. Your safety is not only your own business, but also the fate of our whole group army. If there is any danger, I ask you to try to avoid it. We all hope you will come back safely. "


    When I came to oboyan, under the guidance of the soldiers, I came to the church where katukov headquarters is located. A commander who knew me ran to me immediately after he saw me get out of the car and said, "Hello, general oshanina, welcome to our mechanized Third Army. May I help you


    Because of the lack of time, I didn''t beat around the bush with him and asked, "where''s your commander?"


    The commander turned and pointed to the church behind him and said, "Comrade General, the commander is in the bell tower above."


    I entered the church, followed the narrow revolving stairs to the bell tower, and saw katukov, who was watching the enemy here. Beside him, there were several staff officers.


    But when they heard that someone had gone up to the clock tower, they all turned their heads. But when they found out it was me, they raised their hands to salute me. And katukov rushed over, grabbed my arm and said nervously, "hell, it''s Rita. Don''t you know that it''s dangerous here, but you have to come here at this time. If something happens, how can I explain to your colleagues? "


    "All right, Comrade General." I waved to him and said, "it''s not the first time I''ve been on the battlefield. This danger is nothing to me. Besides, aren''t you here? "


    "Is that comparable?" Katukov said with a straight face: "this is my defense area. It''s normal for me to be a commander here. And you are the commander of the sixth group army. Your position is not here, but in your headquarters. " With that, he turned to a nearby staff officer and said, "Lieutenant, I''ll give you a task to escort general o''shanina back to her headquarters immediately."


    After a loud promise, the staff officer took a step forward, made a gesture and politely said to me, "Comrade General, please, I will escort you back to your headquarters safely."


    "No," I waved to the second lieutenant and said firmly, "I''ll stay here with your commander and see how our troops beat the German armored forces."


    I saw that katukov still wanted to persuade me. He rushed in front of him and said, "I have given general Kravchenko an order to send a tank brigade to support you. If I''m not here, I''m afraid he''ll be perfunctory when he carries out his orders. "


    After hearing what I said, katukov knew that I would definitely not leave, so he waved to the staff officer who came out, sighed and said to me, "in that case, you can stay. But, Rita, I have to go ahead. Please obey my orders and don''t run around. Otherwise, I will send someone to force you back to your headquarters. "


    Seeing katukov nagging like an old lady, I waved my hand and said impatiently, "well, well, comrade general, I know all about it. From now on, no matter where you go, I will follow you. I will never leave your ten steps. Is that right? "


    For my helpless attitude, katukov could not laugh or cry. Finally, he nodded in silence.


    Katukov and I stood side by side on the clock tower, looking at the distant position with a telescope. I saw that the highland there was being shelled by the German army. Even the tanks, which were the size of beetles in the distance and were moving forward, stopped for a short time from time to time and fired two guns at our position, giving people the illusion that the whole position was not shelled.


    When katukov saw this, he put down his telescope, grabbed the phone beside him, and said in a loud voice, "get me general krivoschein. This is katukov." After a while, the voice of mechanized army commander krivoschein came from the microphone¡° I''m katukov, "katukov repeated." I see that our position is being shelled by the enemy. I want to know if your artillery has the strength to suppress the gunfire of the bandits? " I leaned my ear curiously to hear general klivaschein''s report: "Comrade commander, although we are a mechanized army, we can use very few guns. It is very difficult to suppress the enemy''s artillery and intercept tanks at the same time. "¡° What''s the matter, Comrade General. Do you think you can destroy German artillery and tanks at the same time with your guns Katukov sternly ordered: "you gather the artillery fire and bombard the German artillery positions. As long as we get rid of their heavy artillery, we can get rid of these tanks without artillery and infantry cover With that, he put down the phone. I thought silently in my heart that as long as the German artillery is destroyed by us, not only the troops suppressed by the artillery on the position can come out of the hidden tunnels and attack the German army with all kinds of anti tank weapons in the trenches. At the same time, our artillery can also turn the muzzle to block the German tanks. When the reinforced tank brigade arrives, our troops will be able to turn from the present defense to the attack¡° What are you thinking, Rita? " While I was thinking, I heard katukov''s voice and turned to look at him. He added: "because of the lack of air force support, we can only use limited artillery to deal with the German artillery tank cooperative operation mode."¡° Comrade general, the Supreme Commander himself once said: "artillery is the God of war.". I believe that your existing artillery forces will be able to smash the German plot to seize oboyan. "

 Chapter 1148

    With the transfer of mechanized artillery targets, the German long-range artillery has gradually weakened. But without waiting for us to be happy for a while, the density of landing on the position increased again.


    Seeing this scene, katukov angrily scolded: "what the hell is going on? Why can''t klivacher even suppress the German artillery fire?" Then he grabbed the phone and ordered the signalman in a loud voice, "this is katukov. Get me krivoschein."


    Soon after klivaschein got through, he heard katukov''s reproach, and the other side replied in a weeping voice: "Comrade commander, the strength of our artillery is too different from that of the German artillery. Although our shelling destroyed a lot of their artillery, our artillery position was also exposed. It was soon completely destroyed by the enemy''s artillery fire and the bombing of aircraft. "


    Katukov put down the phone with a pale face and said to me, "according to the current strength, firepower and attack speed of the German army, the front position can only hold for one or two hours at most. Rita, it''s too dangerous here. You''d better leave first. " Then he turned around and told his subordinates: "send commander o''shanina away from here."


    The staff officer I rushed over waved his hand and refused his kindness. Then he said to katukov, "Comrade General, you are too pessimistic. Based on my understanding of your training level, equipment level and combat effectiveness, it should not be a big problem for your troops to stick to the existing defense line for a week


    Katukov sighed and said helplessly: "Rita, although our new tanks have absolute advantages over the German tanks in service, they are vulnerable to German artillery and bombing. After two losses, the German armored forces learned to be smart. Now every time they carry out tank assault, they have artillery or air force to cooperate. Once our tanks are found, they will concentrate their firepower on shelling and bombing. "


    Katukov sighed and continued: "in front of our Highlands, there is the" o''chanina trench "named after you. This is our last hope. If we can''t stop the German tank attack, then oboyan may fall into the hands of the German army today. "


    "Comrade General, it is totally wrong to place all hope of holding on to oboyan on an anti tank trench." When I said this, I turned my head and looked at the staff officers standing nearby. "Do you have artillery observers?"


    Katukov didn''t know why I asked, but he pointed to one of the young lieutenants and said to me, "Rita, he''s an artillery observer. What can I do for you?"


    "Although your artillery has been lost, the artillery firepower of our group army should still be able to cover here." I know the truth better than anyone. I will never see katukov''s troops destroyed or oboyan lost. So I decided to take a chance. I said to katukov, "Comrade General, please connect me with my headquarters. I''ll ask my artillery commander to provide you with the necessary artillery support."


    After I got through to the headquarters, I heard the voice of bzikov coming from inside. I said to him, "chief of staff, please let Colonel povsky answer the phone."


    When bzikov heard my voice, he asked excitedly, "Comrade commander, are you ok?"


    "I''m fine, chief of staff." As this is not the time for reminiscence, I said coldly, "if you don''t let Colonel povsky answer the phone immediately, I will soon get worse."


    Bezikov was startled by my words and quickly handed the phone to povsky. As soon as I heard povsky''s voice, I asked in a hurry, "Comrade Colonel, can you concentrate your artillery now and bombard the area south of oboyan?"


    Povsky was silent for a moment, and then replied, "Comrade commander, artillery can be carried out, but someone needs to improve the coordinate parameters of the target for our artillery."


    "No problem, I happen to have an artillery observer by my side. Let him provide you with firing parameters." After that, I waved to the lieutenant and handed him the phone. At the same time, I said, "Comrade lieutenant, please provide my artillery commander with the necessary coordinates."


    When the artillery Lieutenant heard me say this, his face was surprised. He took the phone from me and said respectfully to the microphone, "Hello, comrade Colonel, I''m an artillery observer of the mechanized Third Army. The target coordinates of your shelling are..."


    Seeing that the artillery problem had been solved, katukov could not help sighing a sigh of relief. He gratefully said to me, "thank you, Rita. Without your help, as long as the German armored forces break through the Highlands ahead, they will soon rush down the road to the city of oboyan. You see, "he pointed to the city and said to me," there are very few stone buildings in the city. There is no solid defense at all. There are street battles with the German army. That is to say, as soon as the German troops rush into the city, we have to give up the city and retreat to the rear. "


    I laughed and said faintly, "Comrade General, you are very kind. Your troops are on our right wing. Once your position is broken through, the flank of our defense line will be exposed to the enemy. So to help you is to help ourselves. " At this point, I looked up at the sky and said with regret, "it''s a pity that the headquarters of the front army can''t send air force to support us. Otherwise, as long as they bombard the German tanks on the move, your defense line will not be so precarious as it is now."


    Although I can see through the telescope that the German tanks are getting closer and closer to our Highlands, I''m not too worried. Without the cooperation of infantry, even if the German tanks open the gap, they will be quickly filled by our commanders and fighters. Moreover, the anti tank force in the position is not weak. As long as the German long-range artillery stops, our commanders and fighters can use the anti tank weapons in their hands to kill the German tanks one by one like shooting at a target.


    However, before the German tanks reached the high ground, they were blocked by a wide anti tank trench. Looking at the more and more tanks parked opposite the anti tank trench, I couldn''t help smiling. I said that the denser the German tank line, the better. In this way, our artillery can achieve greater results.


    In the first line of defense, I also deployed such anti tank trenches, but due to the lack of length, German tanks could go around from other areas, and as a result, they were not used at all. However, the anti tank trench here was in the way of the German army. They could not get around it at all. The only thing they could do was to find a way to cross the trench.


    This trench, which had been tested in actual combat in later generations, stopped the German tanks who wanted to attack forward. As the soil excavated from the ditch was piled on our side, the German army could not find any soil to fill the pit. However, the German army did not wait foolishly. Several Tiger tanks pushed the wreckage into the pit, trying to fill a passage. Unfortunately, the tanks in the trench were only two meters high, but the trench was nine meters deep. After half a day, the German army still made no progress.


    Seeing this, katukov couldn''t help laughing. When he smiles like this, I immediately think of his tactics of "burying the car as a bridge" used in the drill many years ago, and I also laugh. I also jokingly said to him: "Comrade General, these Germans will not have your students?"


    "Student, what student?" Katukov was confused by my words. He asked in a misty way: "I didn''t deal with the Germans before the war. Where did I get any students?"


    I pointed to the Tiger tanks that were still pushing the remains of tanks one by one to the top of the trench in the distance, and said with a smile, "in order to rush through the trench dug by the blue army, you filled one tank into the trench and served as a bridge for other tanks to move forward. You see, aren''t the Germans repeating what you did? "


    After a while, with the appearance of an armored vehicle, katukov''s face became ugly again. I asked strangely, "Comrade General, what''s the matter with you? You look so ugly?"


    "Look, Rita." Pointing to the erecting car that was putting a rail on the trench, katukov said angrily, "the German army is trying to build a bridge. If they finish the bridge, they will all rush over."


    I looked at the busy German army in the distance, snorted scornfully, and then said with disdain, "don''t worry, Comrade General. You see, all the soil dug out of the ditch is piled up on our side. Even if the German put up the bridge, it is high at one end and low at the other. Moreover, if one end of the bridge is built on the soft embankment, it is not reliable at all. If the tank doesn''t cross the bridge, it will turn into the ditch


    Katukov listened to me and observed it carefully for a while. He found that it was true, and his face was relaxed again. He even went on to say, "Rita, I see. Even if the German tanks passed the trench, it would not be good, because when they crossed the embankment, the bottom of the tank armor was exposed; When it comes down over the embankment, its fragile top is exposed. That is to say, as long as we ambush anti tank men behind the embankment, we can get two excellent opportunities to aim and shoot, and kill all these tanks as targets. "


    After these words, he immediately picked up the phone without hesitation and said in a loud voice, "I''m katukov. Get me general krivoschein immediately." As soon as the call came, he immediately gave the order, "Hello, klivaschein? German tanks are crossing the anti tank trench in front of your position. I order you to send anti tank men immediately to hide behind the earth dike and kill all German tanks crossing the trench. Do you understand? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Instead of asking why katukov gave the order, krivosche simply replied, "I''ll send anti tank men immediately behind the embankment."


    But before our anti tank men appeared behind the embankment, I saw a shell roaring down 200 meters behind the German tank assembly site and exploding. Then I heard the artillery observer yell at the top of his voice: "target minus five, one more shot."


    Although I didn''t understand what he was shouting, I also knew that he was providing firing parameters for artillery. After getting the correction parameters, the second test fire was much closer to the target, and it landed near a tank which was parked alone in the open field. When it exploded, the soil from the sky fell, and it all crackled on the tank body.


    "That''s great. That''s great." Although the shell still missed the target, the artillery Lieutenant exclaimed excitedly, "one volley, one volley!"


    This time, the roaring is no longer ordinary shells, but Katyusha''s rockets. Rockets are powerful. After a round of salvo fire, the tanks near the impact point were not overturned, but were blown up into a fireball. Looking at the area full of smoke and fire, everyone knows that the German tanks in this range have been destroyed.


    Seeing that they were attacked by our army''s long-range artillery fire, the tanks that had been crowded by the trench began to turn around or reverse in an attempt to quickly escape from the hit area. However, since our army opened fire, how could they escape so easily. Under the guidance of the artillery lieutenant, our artillery adjusted the firing parameters regardless, shelling the fleeing German tanks. When the victory was in sight, there was a huge roar of tanks outside. At that time, my heart raised to my throat. My heart said what was the matter and where the tanks came from. Did the German tanks come from other directions? Just when I was in shock, katukov, who leaned out and looked down, backed in, turned to me and said excitedly, "Rita, the tank brigade, it''s your tank brigade." When I heard that it was our own tank brigade, my mood suddenly calmed down a lot. I pretended to lift my hair, quietly wiped the sweat from my forehead, and then calmly said to katukov, "Comrade General, since our tanks have arrived, let them attack and chase the back of the German tanks. We can eliminate as much as we can, and try our best to consume the effective strength of the German army."¡° But what about the anti tank trench? " He asked, pointing to the antitank trench that had just blocked the German armored forces. Although katukov was an outstanding general in the Soviet army, his adaptability was a little poor in many things. After I silently made such an evaluation for him in my heart, I then said in a smooth tone: "Comrade General, all the soil excavated from the trench is piled on the side close to our army. You just need to order the bulldozer to push the soil back into the trench, and then you can fill out a passage." Katukov, listening to me, raised his hand and patted his forehead. He said with chagrin, "yes, we just need to use a bulldozer to push the soil into the trench to open up a passage for the tanks. How can I be so stupid? I can''t even think of such a simple way. " After that, he picked up the phone, called one of his subordinates and said, "Comrade commander, you should contact the tank brigade of the friendly army and let them pursue the fleeing German army. You need to consume as much of the German army''s living strength as possible. Do you understand?"

 Chapter 1149

    It seems that the German army''s attack on oboyan was repulsed by katukov''s troops, and the big stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. At this time, even if katukov doesn''t turn me out, I will take the initiative to leave. After all, there are many things waiting for me to deal with in the group army headquarters.


    I reached out to katukov and said in a friendly way, "Comrade General, it seems that you are safe here for the time being, so I should go back to my headquarters."


    When he shook hands with me to say goodbye, katukov specially asked, "do you want me to send troops to escort you back?"


    "No, Comrade General." According to my experience in these trips, the more vehicles there are, the easier it is to become the target of German aircraft or sporadic troops. I politely refused his kindness: "my guards can protect my safety."


    An hour later, when I reappeared in my group headquarters, the first thing I saw was kirilov walking back and forth like an ant on a hot pot. Seeing me back safely, he was relieved, and then asked, "Rita, what''s going on with general katukov?"


    "The German attack was repulsed." After I gave a brief answer, I turned around and asked bzikov, who was standing beside me, "chief of staff, what''s the situation in our defense area?"


    Bezikov nodded and replied, "in the jurisdiction of several divisions, the German attacks were repulsed by our troops. According to the reconnaissance, they have all returned to their original starting point of attack and are reorganizing their troops. It seems that they want to launch a new attack. "


    "It''s no big deal," I said confidently after listening to bzikov''s report. "Since we can beat back their first attack, we can also beat back their second and third attacks." I don''t say that with blind confidence, but because I know that the allies will launch the Sicilian landing on the night of July 9. The forces in Manstein''s hands were the German strategic reserves. When there was a shortage there, Hitler would certainly draw forces from here to prevent the Allied forces from expanding their achievements. If Manstein is not strong enough, he will still be beaten to the ground by us.


    Although I say that, I am still not sure about the divisions on the front line. I am deeply afraid that the proportion of casualties in their troops in the recent battle is too large. In that case, it will be more difficult to fight in the next battle.


    After calling the 51st, 52nd, 67th and 90th divisions of the guards in turn, I knew that the proportion of casualties among the commanders and fighters of each unit was still within an acceptable range in the recent battle, and I felt a lot more at ease.


    While I was complacent, akhromeyev, who was on the phone by the wall, suddenly covered the phone and called me. Seeing my eyes looking at him, he nervously reported to me, "Comrade commander, your phone number."


    As I walked towards him, I asked casually, "who''s calling?"


    "The call was from the Deputy commander-in-chief." Akhromeyev was deeply afraid that I didn''t understand him. He specially emphasized: "it''s Marshal Zhukov!"


    Marshal Zhukov?! When I heard the name, I couldn''t help but be stunned. My heart said, does he have anything important to ask me? Otherwise, how can he go over watujing and call me directly?


    I took the phone, took a deep breath, and said to the microphone with a little guilty: "Hello, marshal!"


    "Rita, are you back from katukov?" Zhukov asked directly.


    Zhukov is far away in Kursk. How can he know that I went to oboyan? Is it someone in the headquarters who informed me. When I searched the room with suspicious eyes, the people who were swept shook their heads, shrugged their shoulders, spread their hands, and looked innocent.


    I looked at all the people, but I didn''t see who was like the "informant". I had to put the matter aside and respectfully asked Zhukov, "marshal, do you have anything important to call me?"


    "Are you familiar with Romanov?" Zhukov asked coldly.


    Romanov, when I heard this familiar name, my first reaction was that he had died. Otherwise, how could Zhukov suddenly ask him. Thinking that the comrade who once fought side by side with me might have died, my heart suddenly became heavy. I asked tentatively, "Comrade marshal, why did you suddenly ask him. Did he have an accident when he was commanding the guerrillas? "


    "Who said he had an accident? He''s still alive. " Zhukov didn''t beat me around the Bush either. Instead, he directly pointed out: "do you think he will lead a mutiny?"


    "Leading a mutiny?" When I heard Zhukov say that, I almost hit my chin on the ground. I asked in surprise, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know this speculation. Where did you hear it?"


    "You don''t care where I heard it from," Zhukov said to me in a rare stern tone. "You just need to tell me if he has the possibility of defecting and delivering it?"


    "Comrade marshal, this is absolutely impossible!" As for Romanov, an excellent commander who died in the war and was posthumously named "Soviet hero" by the Soviet Union''s ZF, I would never allow anyone to tarnish his reputation, so I couldn''t help raising my voice and saying to Zhukov, "I guarantee with my own life that general Romanov will not mutiny to the enemy under any circumstances."


    Maybe my voice was so loud that it startled all the people in the room. Kirilov and Romanov have a good personal relationship. Hearing me saying Romanov''s name in a loud voice, kirilov came to me and asked in a low voice, "Rita, what''s the matter?"


    I quickly covered the microphone, turned to kirilov and said, "Marshal Zhukov is asking me: is general Romanov likely to mutiny and join the enemy?"


    "Nonsense, it''s nonsense." Kirilov was furious when he heard me say that. He said angrily, "I don''t know who made the rumor, but he slandered our excellent commander like this." Then he looked at me and said to me in a pleading voice, "Rita, people don''t know Romanov, don''t you? Please ask the marshal what''s wrong. "


    I nodded, released my hand covering the microphone, and asked carefully: "marshal, I don''t know where you heard such a ridiculous lie, but I can tell you responsibly that general Romanov will never surrender to the invaders even if he sacrificed his own life."


    "It seems that you still trust him." When Zhukov saw that I was firmly defending Romanov, he said in a sarcastic tone, "but I just got the news from the Ministry of the interior that at the end of May, he ordered people to give all the 800 kilograms of gold they took from Kiev to the Italians."


    When I heard this, I was shocked. After a moment of astonishment, I said to the microphone, "marshal, although I know nothing about it, I think there must be something inside. Just a moment, please. I''ll ask the other commanders who hold Kiev to the end with general Romanov. "


    "All right." Although Zhukov agreed to my request, he urged me: "I can only give you five minutes. If you still can''t give a reasonable explanation, I will agree with Comrade Beria''s decision to send someone to arrest Romanov."


    "Comrade marshal, please wait a moment." After I said this, I quickly covered the microphone again, called kirilov and akhromeyev who had been in Kiev to the front, quickly repeated what Zhukov said on the phone to them, and then I asked, "what do you think about this?"


    Kirilov frowned and thought about it, then said thoughtfully, "I''m still impressed by what you said, Rita. At that time, before breaking through the siege, Romanov sent people to load all the gold in the bank vault and transfer it to the northwest. I think what Marshal said is this gold. "


    "It seems that all this gold has now fallen into the hands of the Italians." Akhromeyev continued: "if Romanov is going to rebel, even if I am shot, I will not believe it. What we need to find out now is why general Romanov gave the gold to the Italians? "


    "Yes, the major is right." Danilov didn''t know when he came to me. After hearing akhromeyev''s words, he began to analyze for us: "if general Romanov wants to rebel, he can only surrender to the Germans. How can he bow to the stupid Italians?"


    Danilov had said it casually. The speaker didn''t mean to hear it, and the listener meant it. These words are really enlightening to me. I suddenly thought of a possibility, so I tentatively asked the commanders around me, "if you were general Romanov and had this batch of gold in your hands, how would you control it?"


    "Now it''s war. With so much gold, it will affect the speed of the troops." From his own point of view, bezikov explained his disposal of gold: "if it was me, I would certainly find a hidden place in the forest to bury this batch of gold and dig it out after the war."


    "Yes, if it were me, I would do the same." Both kirilov and Danilov share the same view as bezikov.


    But when I turned my eyes to akhromeyev, I found that he was still frowning and pondering, so I asked him with a smile: "Comrade major, we have all talked about our own disposal methods. How do you think about it?"


    Akhromeyev was awakened from his meditation by my words. He said to me carefully: "Comrade commander, I think that with the character of general Romanov, since he did not find a place to hide the gold, he would not give it away for nothing. I''m sure he''ll do something with this gold. "


    I couldn''t help smiling when I heard what akhromeyev said, because I also thought about it. I didn''t expect that among so many people, only akhromeyev''s view was close to mine.


    Kirilov looked at me strangely and asked, "Rita, do you agree with major ahlomeyev?"


    "Yes, comrade military Commissar." I nodded my head and said with certainty, "I think the truth of the matter may be true, as major akhromeyev has guessed, that he gave the gold to the Italians in exchange for something."


    "What kind of benefits can we get from the Italians?" Danilov disdained to say: "if you encounter the Italian defensive area, with the combat effectiveness of our troops, as long as a few charges can kill a bloody road. Unless it''s spending money to buy their weapons from the Italians... "


    Danilov''s words came to an abrupt stop before he finished, for he found that his conjecture was a little too bizarre. When he opened his mouth and looked around, biezikov raised his hand and patted his forehead. He said with chagrin, "hell, why didn''t I think of this possibility?" Then he said to me, "Comrade commander, please wait a moment. I''ll call my colleague in Moscow and ask him something."¡° Come on, chief of staff. " After he left, I immediately put the receiver close to my ear again and said to the microphone, "are you still there, marshal?" After hearing Zhukov snort heavily, he asked, "what''s the matter? Have you got any results?"¡° Yes, comrade marshal. " Although bezikov is still calling his colleagues in Moscow, I think the possibility just deduced exists in my heart, so I definitely replied: "according to our analysis, the reason why general Romanov gave the gold in his hand to the Italians is not for surrender, but for other purposes."¡° Other purposes? " Zhukov puzzled to ask: "don''t play the key, quickly say to listen to."¡° Comrade marshal, this is the situation. " In order to buy more time for bezikov to call, I repeated what I had just said and added: "if Romanov wants to sneak attack, he must choose the German. How can he choose the weak Italian? So he gave the gold to the Italians to get what he needed. "¡° Rita, you''ve been talking for a long time, and I don''t understand what evidence you have to prove that Romanov won''t rebel. " Zhukov''s tone became more and more severe. He almost growled: "the time I''ve given you is up. Now I''ll call belia and ask him to sign the order to arrest Romanov himself." I was about to say a few more words of apology when I saw that bezikov came to me in a hurry and handed me a note. But I saw the above content clearly and was overjoyed. I rushed to the microphone and said, "marshal, I''ve got it all figured out. The reason why general Romanov gave the gold to the Italians was to buy the weapons and equipment needed by the guerrilla army from them. "¡° What? " Zhukov was stunned by what I said. After a long time, he asked suspiciously, "is there any evidence for what you said?"¡° Comrade marshal, my chief of staff, Colonel bezikov, has just called his comrades in arms in Moscow. " In order to convince Zhukov, I quickly told him the whole story: "after verification, in addition to abandoning a large number of weapons that could not be carried, the Italian army also sold some weapons to the guerrillas along the way. I absolutely believe that Romanov''s gold may be used to buy weapons and equipment in the hands of Italians. " After listening to my explanation, Zhukov was relieved and said to me, "in this case, I''ll call belia and ask him to send someone to verify it. I hope we won''t be wronged."

 Chapter 1150

    The night of July 7 is not a peaceful one.


    I had just helped Romanov to prove his innocence when I heard the rumble of explosion and the sound of anti-aircraft guns covered by it.


    My eyes turned to the door. I just wanted to send someone out to see what happened outside. Yushchenko had rushed in panic and yelled at me: "Comrade commander, air raid warning, we are being attacked by the German air."


    "Let''s go!" Almost at the end of Yushchenko''s voice, bzikov and akhromeyev rushed up and grabbed one of my arms. Before I recovered, they forced me out. I heard kirilov still behind me saying loudly, "you take Rita to safety quickly."


    The whole city was shrouded in smoke and fire. In the earth shaking explosion, the tiles of the building opposite the headquarters fell on the sidewalk and knocked down several passing commanders and fighters. Before I gave an order, bzikov and I rushed to a temporary air raid shelter nearby.


    When we were five or six meters away from the air raid shelter, a bomb landed not far behind us. The three of us fell to the ground in the blast, which made me feel as if my internal organs had moved. I felt lazy when I was lying on the ground. I didn''t want to move at all. I even didn''t want to do the simple action of climbing up.


    Bzikov got up first. He asked me in a nervous voice: "Comrade commander, are you ok?"


    As soon as I opened my mouth, the pain in my heart made me even speak in a different tone: "I''m ok!"


    "And you, major akhromeyev." Bezikov grabbed my arm and tried to lift me up, but he didn''t lift me up. He had to ask akhromeyev again, "isn''t it hurt?"


    "I''m fine, chief of staff." When I saw akhromeyev get up from the ground, he raised his hand to wipe the blood from his nose, but he still grasped my other arm cooperatively and helped bezikov lift me up from the ground.


    They dragged me into the dark shelter, put me in a relatively safe place, then sat down and began to gasp. Bezikov asked akhromeyev with concern: "major, are you ok? I just saw your nose bleed."


    Akhromeyev shook his head and said calmly, "it''s OK, comrade chief of staff. I didn''t get hurt. I just fell down and knocked my nose on the ground


    After resting with my back against the wall for a while, I felt better. Then I asked, "chief of staff, what''s going on? Where did the German plane come from? " I asked this with a sense of anger, because in the south of the city, we have a self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery regiment. Even if we get on 20 or 30 planes, they can deal with it easily.


    Bezikov shook his head and said in embarrassment, "sorry, comrade commander, I don''t know."


    I looked out from the mouth of the cave and saw that in the dark street, exploding pillars of fire soared into the air. The raging fire made the air hot. The spicy and choking smoke was blown along the street and poured into the cave. We could not open our eyes, but also coughed violently.


    Kirilov and Danilov, who are still in the headquarters, quickly raised their hands, patted akhromeyev on the shoulder and said to me in a loud voice, "major, the deputy commander and the military commissar are still in the headquarters. Go and see if they come out?"


    Akhromeyev promised to rush out, but was stopped by bezikov. He looked at me with tearful eyes. After a severe cough, he said to me in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, it''s too dangerous outside now. It''s dangerous for the major to go out."


    "But I don''t trust their safety, deputy commander." I said aloud.


    Bezikov moved his body towards me a little, put it in my ear and said in a loud voice, "don''t worry, major Yushchenko will save them. In the opposite direction to us, there are still several air raid shelters. "


    "Hell, when were these air raid shelters dug? Why don''t I know?" If it had not been for the sudden bombing, I would not have found so many air raid shelters in the city.


    "Comrade commander, this air raid shelter has been excavated by the military commissar since the appearance of the small German troops. But you were rarely in the headquarters at that time, so you didn''t know about it. " Bezikov said with emotion: "fortunately we dug air raid shelter, otherwise we don''t know how many people will be sacrificed in vain."


    "What about our antiaircraft artillery regiment?" I can''t help but think of the antiaircraft artillery regiment equipped with a large number of self-propelled antiaircraft guns. I can''t help asking, "where are they?"


    Just as I was talking, the enemy planes in the sky dived one by one and dropped their bombs into the city. Many buildings collapsed in the explosion, and the smoke and dust rose all over the sky, blocking our vision. I vaguely saw that the building where I was was was hit by the bomb, and my heart suddenly sank like a sinkhole. Although I didn''t say anything in my mouth, I knew in my heart that if there were still people in the building who didn''t run out, I was afraid that they would lose their lives.


    At this time, the outside suddenly rang out the sound of dense anti-aircraft gun fire, those who are diving around the plane, not burst out one after another black clouds. An unlucky plane was hit by debris, one side of the wing was blown to pieces, overturned in the air and fell down, a head on the ground explosion, suddenly turned into a group of flames. The rest of the planes were frightened and quickly changed from diving to pulling, trying to escape from this dangerous area as soon as possible.


    When akhromeyev saw this scene, he awoke and exclaimed, "it''s our self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery regiment. As long as there are them, few enemy planes that come to carry out the bombing mission can fly back."


    The development of the next thing is really like what akhromeyev said. The German Air Force seemed to be particularly afraid of the antiaircraft artillery regiment. After they raised their altitude, they threw down their bombs and headed south. But now that they are here, our antiaircraft artillery regiment will definitely not let them escape easily, so they will catch up and continue to beat them with intensive firepower. I saw with my own eyes that at least five enemy planes were hit. They either exploded in the air or fell from the air with long smoke tails.


    When the bombing ended, the whole city became a sea of fire. Obviously, I couldn''t stay here any longer, so I had to move out of the city with the bzikov tanks.


    In a tent in the forest, I saw kirilov and Danilov whose faces were blackened by smoke. Seeing that both of them survived, I couldn''t help coming forward and giving them a hug. Then I asked kirilov curiously, "Comrade military commissar, how did you escape?"


    Kirilov said with a bitter smile: "after they left with you, Yushchenko and a group of soldiers dragged me and the deputy commander to the air raid shelter outside. No, as soon as the bombing was over, he saw that the city was full of fire and no one could stay, so he took us to the forest outside the city. "


    I saw Yushchenko standing next to him, went over, put his hands on his shoulders, patted him gently, and said in a friendly way, "Comrade major, you''re good. You''ve done a good job!"


    Yushchenko stood up to attention and said in a loud voice, "serve the motherland of the Soviet Union!"


    "Are there any casualties?" When I think of the bombing scene I just saw in the air raid shelter, my heart is palpitating. Now I see people I know standing in tents, and I am in the mood to ask about the casualties in the city.


    Yushchenko''s face darkened and he murmured, "the guard camp has killed 75 people and injured 27. The building where the headquarters is located was directly hit by German bombs. The signalmen who did not have time to withdraw sacrificed about 30 people. Major bukov is commanding the personnel to search and rescue the survivors in the ruins. "


    When I heard that hundreds of people were killed in the guard camp, my heart felt like someone had pulled me hard. I asked Danilov, "Comrade deputy commander, do you know where the enemy plane came from?"


    Danilov shook his head and said blankly, "the enemy plane appeared so suddenly that our air defense sentry had no time to give an alarm, and the enemy plane began to bomb the city."


    Just then, outside the tent came the voice of travkin calling for a report. I promised casually, "come in, Captain travkin!"


    As soon as the curtain was lifted, four people came in from the outside, making the narrow tent more crowded. Naturally, the leader was the reconnaissance battalion commander, Captain travkin. Behind him was a soldier in a pilot''s uniform, and behind him were two soldiers with submachine guns.


    I looked at travkin and the three men behind him and asked curiously, "Captain, can you explain to me what''s going on?" Then I pointed to the man in the pilot''s uniform and asked, "who is he?"


    "Report to commander, this is the German pilot we captured." "After I saw his plane shot down, a pilot jumped out of the parachute and rushed over with the soldiers," travkin reported to me. This guy is quite stubborn. He hid behind the wreckage of the plane and shot at us. We didn''t capture him until he ran out of bullets. "


    "Comrade captain, when you caught the pilot," I gave the German pilot a fierce look, and then asked travkin, "are there any casualties in the commanders and fighters?"


    Travkin nodded and replied, "yes, comrade commander. One was sacrificed and two were injured. "


    "Ask him," I said in disgust, looking at the proud German pilot who was still holding his head up after he was captured, "how did they get around our air defense posts and into the sky of the city?"


    With a promise, travkin turned and began to murmur at the German pilot. The German pilot snorted and answered with impatience.


    "He said that they knew that our self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery regiment was deployed in the south of the city, so they came to bomb this time. The order they received was to fly to the northwest first, and then turn around and bomb our city to the South after flying over our city," he said


    "The Germans are very cunning." After listening to travkin''s translation, Danilov waved his hand and asked them to take the prisoners away. Then he said with emotion, "our observation posts are generally set in the south, so even if we find the enemy aircraft, we will not be alert enough if we see that their flight direction is not ours."


    "We need to learn this lesson," kirilov continued. "In the future, when air defense sentries are deployed, they should not be deployed only on the side facing the enemy, but in all directions. In this way, no matter which direction the enemy comes from, our air defense sentries can give timely warning and let us make necessary preparations in advance. " When they were talking about it, I suddenly remembered a period of history. It was at the end of the Kursk war that the deputy commander of the front army, general apanashchenko, suffered the German air attack in his headquarters and died heroically. I didn''t expect that I almost made the same mistake today. Now, apanashchenko is still living well. If watujing is allowed to restrict his action and prevent him from coming to the front, it is estimated that the tragedy will not happen again. When I was thinking wildly, bzikov interrupted my meditation. He said with a sad face: "Comrade commander, almost all our communication equipment was destroyed in the bombing just now. That is to say, we can''t get in touch with the headquarters of the front army or the troops below now." Bezikov''s words surprised me in a cold sweat. I didn''t expect that this sudden German bombing not only destroyed our city, but also made us lose contact with the outside world. I knew in my heart that if we could not resume contact with the outside world as soon as possible, the forces of the sixth group army would lose their unified command and fall into a chaotic situation of fighting on their own. At that time, they might be defeated by the German forces. Thinking of this, I asked Yushchenko in a loud voice: "major, when you were saving people from the ruins of the headquarters, did you have the director of communications lophov and the director of intelligence lasmishin?"¡° No, comrade commander. " Yushchenko was deeply afraid that I could not understand what he said, and specially stressed: "at least in the body we found, there were no two of them. I think maybe they all managed to move when the explosion happened. " When I heard that they had not been found, I felt a little more secure. Then I told Yushchenko, "major, you should immediately arrange people to look around the city to see if you can find their whereabouts." With that, I gave him a gentle push, "go!" After Yushchenko left, I told akhromeyev, "major, I''ll give you a task now. I''ll take people to the nearby troops immediately and get some communication equipment from them first, so that we can resume our communication with the outside world as soon as possible."

 Chapter 1151

    It took akhromeyev three hours to return to the tent. After saluting me with a tired face, he reported: "Comrade commander, I have been ordered to collect a batch of communication equipment from the 71st and 77th divisions of Jinwei. As the headquarters'' signalmen were either dead or wounded in the bombing just now, I also borrowed a communication platoon from Colonel sivakov of the 71st division of the guards. "


    "Well done, comrade major." When he said this, lophov, the communications director, who had just found here a few minutes ago and whose head and hands were covered with bandages, said excitedly, "in this way, we can get back in touch with the headquarters of the front army and the front forces."


    "We''ve been out of touch with the outside world for several hours. We don''t know what''s going on outside." Danilov couldn''t wait to say, "Comrade major, it''s not too late to tell the messenger to set up the radio station. We need to get in touch with the outside world as soon as possible."


    Akhromeyev and lophov promised to go out of the tent. But I stopped, I told them: "first of all, you should restore the telephone line to the headquarters of the front army, so that you can get in touch with the superior as soon as possible."


    On hearing my order, lophoff grinned and said, "don''t worry, comrade commander. Although the communication room was destroyed, before I came here, I had arranged for people to check several main communication lines, so that normal communication can be restored at any time."


    I heard lophoff say that, with a smile on my face, and went up to give him a kick. Seeing his blank expression on his face, I scolded angrily: "since we have checked the communication line, why don''t we recover immediately, causing us to wait here for three hours?"


    Lophov, who got my foot, said wrongly: "Comrade commander, I only arrived a few minutes earlier than major ahlomeyev. Before that, I had no idea where the headquarters was. Even if I wanted to set up a new telephone line, I didn''t know where to go."


    Although I know I have wronged lophov, this is not the time to apologize. It''s the key to restore the contact with the outside world as soon as possible, so I urged him: "OK, major, don''t bother, go and set up the telephone line for me."


    In my roar, akhromeyev and the two of them left the tent in a panic. Less than five minutes later, a young and well-dressed Lieutenant walked into the tent with a telephone in his left hand and a bundle of telephone wires in his right.


    "Comrade lieutenant," I said, pointing to the table in the middle of the tent, "put the phone here."


    "Yes, comrade commander!" The lieutenant agreed to put the phone on the wooden table, and then began to debug it. When he finished the test, he straightened up and told me, "it''s ready to use."


    Perhaps to prove that his words were correct, the newly installed telephone rang. The lieutenant immediately grabbed the microphone. After listening for a moment, he handed it to me and said respectfully, "Comrade commander, it''s from the headquarters of the front army."


    "Hello, I''m o''shanina. Who are you, please?" I put the microphone to my ear and asked aloud.


    "I''m vatukin." There was a stern voice from the receiver: "I ask you, why can''t you get through? Well, what''s going on? "


    "Yes, Comrade General." I knew for a long time in my heart that if we didn''t contact our superiors for several hours like this, we would certainly make vatukin angry. But there was no way. Who told us that our communication system was destroyed in the German bombing. At the moment, we can only report what happened to him truthfully. "A few hours ago, the city where the group army headquarters is located was heavily bombed by the German army, and our communication room was lost in the bombing, so the contact with the outside world was completely interrupted. Now we have got a batch of communication equipment from the 71st and 77th divisions of the guards, and we have barely recovered our contact with the outside world. "


    After listening to my explanation, vatujing''s anger subsided, and he asked with concern, "are the casualties of the troops large?"


    "The casualties are not small." At the thought of the statistical results of casualties, my heart was bleeding: "the guard regiment lost one company, the communication company lost most of its lives, and the group army directly under the unit also lost more than 300 people."


    "Comrade oshanina, I am deeply saddened by your casualties in the bombing." "But this is not the time to be sad. If you want to ensure that there is no chaos in the army''s command system, you must improve the responsibilities of all departments in the headquarters..." said watujing solemnly


    "Comrade commander, I understand." Before he finished, I said.


    "You don''t understand." Unexpectedly, watujing suddenly raised his voice and said, "I''ve been to your group army. Many departments have only one empty shelf. Except for the department leaders, there are no staff below. How can such a department play its due role in your command of the battle? "


    "Comrade commander, I don''t understand what you mean." I was confused by watujing''s words. Although I knew that if I asked him, I might be scolded, but I still insisted: "I don''t know how to improve the subordinate organizations?"


    "Operation Department, the first thing you need to improve is operation Department." To my layman, watujing explained patiently: "all senior commanders know that the combat department is the Department that concentrates and studies information about our army''s situation, enemy''s situation and the whole combat situation. Its function is to prepare the information the commander needs to make plans based on the information. After the commander has worked out the plan, it is necessary for the combat department to convey it to all units in the form of combat orders, and supervise their execution of orders. As the role of the operations division is particularly important, I suggest that you, your chief of operations, should also serve as the deputy chief of staff of the group army. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." After his popularization of science, I felt that the power I gave akhromeyev was too small, so that he became a handyman in the headquarters, making him unable to give full play to his talents¡° Major akhromeyev, the chief of operations, used to be the chief of staff of the division. He is a commander with rich staff experience. I think he is fully qualified for the post after the reorganization. "


    "Very good. I hope you can have a better performance on the battlefield with this fully functional combat office." With a smile, he hung up.


    "What did the general say on the phone, Rita?" As soon as I put down the phone, kirilov asked curiously.


    "The senior general said that our combat department should be further improved so as to provide us with more favorable help in commanding our operations in the future." With these words, I glanced at all the people in the tent, then looked at Danilov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, among the commanders present, you are the only one who has been a senior commander for a long time and knows all kinds of army functions in the headquarters very well. Now I''ll give you full responsibility for strengthening the operations division. Are you ok? "


    Danilov shook his head and replied, "don''t worry, comrade commander. I''ll rearrange the staff to strengthen the combat Department later. At present, there is only major akhromeyev in the whole combat department. I plan to accompany him with 12 staff officers, including the assistant of the director and the main assistant. This can effectively improve work efficiency. "


    When I heard Danilov say that, although I had a smile on my face, my heart was itching with hatred. Danilov, the deputy commander, is not authentic. In the whole headquarters of the group army, you are the oldest and know the situation of all departments best. However, after I took over the post of commander, I never reminded me that I should improve the intelligence of all departments in the headquarters. As a result, like a division commander, I only gave orders to the following directors. I didn''t even consider that they were almost naked commanders. As a result, they were exhausted.


    When akhromeyev came into the tent with a stack of telegrams, I immediately announced to him the appointment of deputy chief of staff of the group army and the decision to transfer staff to strengthen the combat department. However, he was very calm. After handing me the telegram, he said solemnly, "Comrade commander, I have just received telegrams from the 51st, 52nd and 67th divisions of the guards."


    "How''s it going?" I received the telegram, but I didn''t read it immediately. Instead, I asked akhromeyev habitually, because he would usually summarize the contents and report to me, "did the defenders of the divisions fight with each other during this period?"


    "After dark, the 51st division sent a battalion of the 309th regiment to attack a German logistics camp and successfully seized a batch of materials All the materials that cannot be transported back have been burnt down. " Although akhromeyev had given me all the telegrams, he still explained the situation of the divisions to me in great detail. "The defenders of the 5th position of the 52nd division of the guards, when the German army was defeated in the attack and retreated, resolutely launched a counterattack. Under the cover of tanks, they rushed to the attack assembly site of the German army and destroyed one of their camps. At present, the troops that have achieved success have returned to their positions. "


    "Where''s Colonel chejerikov?" Because I had ordered shejerikov to lead the 67th division of the guards after dark to counterattack the German troops who had lost the cover of planes, tanks and artillery. I wanted to hear if they had any effect in that direction¡° Has their counterattack begun? "


    "Two telegrams from lieutenant colonel chejerikov." When akhromeyev heard my question, he immediately replied: "in the first telegram, he said that he used one regiment to launch a sneak attack on the German occupied area, and sent another regiment to detour from the right wing of the German army."


    "And the second telegram?" Berzikov asked eagerly, apparently wanting to test as soon as possible whether akhromeyev was suitable for his position as deputy¡° What did Lt. Col. chejerikov say? "


    "When the offensive troops approached the German forward position, some officers and men accidentally stepped on the mines laid by the enemy and exposed the target, so the sneak attack turned into a strong attack." Akhromeyev said without expression: "because there is no artillery support, the battle from the beginning into a stalemate."


    "What about the regiment that detours from the right wing?" When I heard that the troops engaged in the frontal attack were in a bitter battle, I couldn''t help asking another regiment sent by chejerikov, "did they attack from the flank of the German army in time?"


    Akhromeyev shook his head and said, "it may be too dark. The regiment marching in the forest lost its way. Up to now, lieutenant commander xijerikov has not contacted them."¡° Well, I see. " With a long sigh, I waved my hand to akhromeyev and said, "major, go down first, and report back to me when the latest battle report comes." Akhromeyev promised to go out. But he was stopped by Danilov: "major, please wait a moment. I''ll go with you and provide you with the necessary manpower for the combat office." With that, he went over, put his hand on akhromeyev''s shoulder, took him and went out. Because the map we used had been burned down in the bombing, what we had on the table at the moment was only a small marching map. The situation of the enemy and ourselves was not as clear as a big map. However, bezikov quickly found the seat of the 67th division of the guards. He nodded with his hand and said, "Comrade commander, you see, this is a vast primeval forest. The troops marching in it may have no reference, so they get lost in the forest. If they continue to force the army, they may be further and further away from the right target. Should we send a telegram to shijerikov and ask him to find a way to contact the troops in the forest, so that they can stop for a while and move on after daybreak? " Kirilov and I put our heads together in front of the map for a long time, then expressed our opinions and said, "Comrade chief of staff, I think maybe it''s not a bad thing to let the troops continue to March. We need to know where they are going. There is a fierce battle going on. As long as we move towards the place where the gunfire is most intense, we can definitely get out of the forest. " After listening to kirilov''s proposal, bzikov immediately asked for my opinion: "Comrade commander, I want to know what your opinion is. Let the troops stand by; Or, as the military commissar said, let them move on? "¡° Move on Without thinking, I said, "Lt. Col. chejerikov is also an experienced commander. I believe he knows what to do even if we don''t give any orders. Well, let''s put the matter of the 67th division aside for the time being. Let''s study other defense directions. "

 Chapter 1152

    Since akhromeyev was appointed Deputy Chief of staff of the group army, it seems that the work efficiency has been improved. Before long, a map marked with the latest situation of the enemy and ourselves was hung in the tent, giving us a perceptual understanding of the current overall situation.


    I looked at the map, nodded with satisfaction, and then said to akhromeyev, "Comrade deputy chief of staff, give us a brief report on the current situation of the enemy."


    Ahlomeyev walked to the map in no hurry, took a branch he had just picked up from outside the tent, turned to the leaders of our group army, and began to briefly introduce our army''s current defense deployment, weapons and equipment, as well as the reserves deployed in the areas that might be broken by the German Army.


    He also specially stressed that our troops have established a perfect defense system relying on various fortifications built in the early stage, and it is not easy for the German army to break through this defense first. Moreover, in front of our defensive positions, there are so many new anti tank trenches, which greatly limits the attack range of German armored forces.


    For akhromeyev''s explanation, Danilov''s face showed dissatisfaction. "We know everything you said, comrade deputy chief of staff," he muttered. What I want to know is how to consolidate the existing defense so that the German army can no longer move forward. "


    I saw that akhromeyev was a little embarrassed because of Danilov''s words, so he quickly rescued him and said, "don''t worry, deputy commander. I see that major akhromeyev seems to have a lot to say. Listen to him." Then I winked at ahlomeyev and motioned him to continue.


    Akhromeyev gave me a grateful smile, and then pointed out the casualties that the German might pay when they break through our defensive positions. According to the war report, the two sides'' forces were compared. From his narration, we clearly know that although the total strength of the German army is quite large, due to the consumption of a large number of living forces in the battle, and the existence of the 51st, 52nd, 67th and 90th divisions of the guards, a considerable number of their forces are restrained, so that the number of their forces in the main assault direction seems to be a little thin. In this way, we are in the second, second and third divisions The pressure on the troops of the third line of defense has been greatly reduced.


    Danilov asked reluctantly, "Comrade deputy chief of staff, if we are going to fight back against the German army, which location do you think is more suitable?"


    Akhromeyev held the branch in both hands, shook his head and replied, "I''m sorry, comrade deputy commander. Judging from the war reports collected from various aspects, we can''t launch an attack yet. Because our forces are not strong enough, there are not enough tanks and artillery, and we have no air supremacy. If we launch a rash counterattack, our elite troops will be lost in vain, and then the German army will be able to easily seize our weak defensive positions. "


    I didn''t comment on what akhromeyev said. I just looked at him and Danilov with a smile to see what they would say next.


    "When do you think our counterattack is most appropriate?" Danilov shrugged his shoulders and said with some dissatisfaction, "we can''t always let our commanders and fighters stay in the fortifications and carry out passive defense."


    "Comrade deputy commander, our commanders and fighters are not engaged in passive defense." When he heard what Danilov said, kirilov was not happy. He retorted: "although they stayed in the trenches during the day for tenacious defense, it was because the German army had an advantage in weapons and equipment. If they left the position rashly, they would be killed in vain. At night, they would leave their positions and sneak into the enemy''s rear to harass them, leaving the enemy unclean and successfully disrupting their offensive deployment. "


    "But the effect of such an attack is very limited." Danilov also retorted unconvinced: "should the German army attack or attack during the day, and after suffering losses the night before, they will intensify their attack the next day to retaliate for our sneak attack on them."


    I saw that if they continued to talk like this, there was bound to be a quarrel, so I stood up again to settle the dispute. I said to Danilov, "Comrade deputy commander, if you were asked to organize your troops to fight back against the German army, where would you choose to attack and what kind of forces would you put in?"


    Danilov thought about it and said decisively, "that''s not necessary. Comrade commander. I will definitely choose Yakovlev as the direction of counterattack. There are the ready-made 51st, 67th and 90th divisions of the close guard, plus the 71st and 77th divisions of the close guard and the Sixth Army of the close guard tank. I think it''s a great chance to succeed in attacking the enemy with such strength. "


    As for Danilov''s counterattack with a certain gambling nature, I immediately vetoed it: "deputy commander, you have considered the problem too simply. At present, the most elite German divisions, such as the Hitler division, the imperial division, the skull division, the Viking division and the great German division, are concentrated in Yakovlev. The tanks of their divisions add up to more than those of our two tank armies. "


    Seeing that Danilov''s face turned ugly, I added: "under the present circumstances, our troops can only rely on solid and perfect defensive positions to consume the living strength of the German army. Only when their soldiers and weapons are seriously depleted can we have enough strength to fight back against them. "


    After I finished speaking, bezikov sighed and said with regret, "Comrade commander, the main reason is that our defense zone is too wide, otherwise we would have been able to launch a counterattack against the German army in some areas."


    "That''s right," Danilov unexpectedly supported what bezikov said: "although our group army has so many close guard divisions, which can be evenly distributed to three lines of defense, the number of troops that can be used in each line of defense is very limited."


    "If our superiors can send us more troops, or compress our existing defense lines, then our troops will be much richer." After bezikov expressed some emotion, he said with regret: "it''s a pity that the forces of the headquarters of the front army have been allocated all the time. Even if they want to reinforce us, they can''t do it."


    Seeing bezikov''s dejected face, I laughed but did not speak, because I vaguely remember that it was just these two days that vatukin made a request to vasilevsky to transfer konev''s close guard fifth tank group army to Prokhorovka. As soon as the new troops arrive, our days will be much better.


    As soon as I thought about it, the phone on my desk rang. I picked it up and a voice came out of the receiver: "Hello, is that oshanina?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, it''s me." Although I don''t know what happened when he called, I politely asked, "do you have any instructions?"


    "Well, comrade oshanina." "According to the information we have detected, the German army may gather superior forces in the near future and launch a strong offensive against Prokhorovka," said vatukin, speaking very quickly. With the strength of your army, it is difficult to keep Prokhorovka. After the study of the headquarters of the front army and the approval of the chief of the general staff, marshal vasilevsky, it is decided that you will hand over the defense of the area to the fifth group army of the close guard tanks, which belongs to the grassland front army. "


    "The fifth group army of close guard tanks?" When I heard the name of this unit, I couldn''t help but feel ecstatic. However, for the sake of safety, I tentatively asked, "is it the unit of lieutenant general rotmistrov?"


    "Yes, it''s his army," said watujing, surprised that I could name the commander of the army. He asked curiously, "have you seen him before?"


    "No, senior general. I''ve never seen him before." Although the image of rotmistrov with eyes and a moustache appeared in my mind, I firmly denied: "I have only heard his name, but I have never seen him in person."


    After listening to my explanation, vatujing did not continue to study deeply, but said to me: "the fifth group army of the close guard tanks governs the third army of the close guard tanks, the 29th army of the tanks, the 5th mechanized army of the close guard, the 994th regiment of the light bombing air force, as well as the Ruo * * army and other regiments and units. Their actual strength is much stronger than that of your current prohorovka troops, So after you hand over the defense, there will be nothing for you here. You can use the extra troops in areas where you need them badly. "


    I was overjoyed to hear that. Just now, I was still worried about the limited number of troops in my hand. I immediately called and asked me to hand over the heavily guarded area to the friendly forces. In this way, I had two more divisions in my hand, and I had enough confidence.


    When I put down the phone, I immediately announced the good news to everyone. After listening, everyone was stunned and cheered. Bizikov said excitedly, "Comrade commander, this is really wonderful. Originally, I thought that we had to invest at least one or two divisions in Prokhorovka area to stop the large-scale German attack. I was worried about this. Now that we have strong friendly forces to take over, we can draw out our forces here and use them in other more important areas. "


    "Yes, chief of staff." I agree with this statement of bezikov: "after handing over the defense area to the friendly forces, we can have at least two more infantry divisions and one more tank division, which can be the key force to turn the situation around no matter where they are used."


    Bezikov turned to ahlomeyev and then looked at me and asked, "Comrade commander, who are you going to put in charge of the transfer of defense?"


    I saw this little action of bezikov. I also understood the implication of his question. I wanted to know whether he was responsible for the transfer or akhromeyev. After thinking about it in my heart, I felt that bezikov was the chief of staff after all, and he played a greater role in the headquarters. So I called ahlomeyev over and told him, "Comrade major, I will give you full responsibility for the transfer of defense to the friendly forces tomorrow. Are you ok?"


    "No problem, comrade commander." Akhromeyev readily promised: "I ask you to rest assured that I will successfully complete the task you have given me."


    Danilov came up to me and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, since we have two more infantry divisions and one more tank division, can we study how to counterattack the German army?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, you are too anxious." Facing the deputy commander who wanted to fight back against the German army at any time, I couldn''t help but say: "at present, the strength of the German army is still stronger than ours. It''s not the time to fight back. We need to continue to wait."


    "Comrade commander, when do you think is the right time?" Danilov asked reluctantly¡° Wait a little longer, comrade deputy commander. " His incessant behavior almost drives me crazy, but I still try to control my emotions: "at present, the first thing we need to do is to move these two infantry divisions and one tank division to other areas and start fighting formation. As for when it''s time to fight back, I think we''ll have to wait for a contest between the fifth group army of close guard tanks and the German armored forces. " When Danilov heard what I said, he asked: "Comrade commander, when do you think the friendly forces can start a large-scale battle with the German forces?"¡° It won''t be long, comrade deputy commander. " At this time kirilov came out to rescue me and said, "according to my observation, we only need to wait three to five days, and the friendly forces and the main German forces will start a large-scale battle in prokholovka area. As Lida said some time ago, here will be the key to the whole Kursk battle. " Kirilov''s words finally made Danilov calm down. When he ran to the map to check the situation of the enemy and ourselves, kirilov shrugged his shoulders and cast a helpless look at me. It seemed that he was also helpless about Danilov''s performance. Akhromeyev came up to me, stood straight and asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t know when I can go to Prokhorovka?" I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I said to him, "major, let''s go now. When you get to the place, first call up the local garrison division commander to hold a meeting, and let them know about this, so that they can be ready to move. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander. " Akhromeyev agreed, raised his hand to salute me, turned and walked out of the tent.

 Chapter 1153

    At about 10 a.m., a telegram was received from akhromeyev, saying that the troops of the fifth group army of close guard tanks were moving towards Prokhorovka one after another. Among them, the army headquarters of the mechanized 5th army and an infantry division have entered the city of Prokhorov, and are transferring with the 375TH infantry division in the city.


    Seeing such a telegram, the pressure in my heart eased a lot. In the past, I always thought about the tank decisive battle to be launched in Prokhorovka area, so that in the early deployment, I was somewhat constrained. Now that I have more powerful forces to take charge of the defense in this area, I can confidently and boldly use the surplus forces to more critical areas.


    In the early hours of the morning, the 67th Division also sent me a telegram, saying that it had now resumed contact with the regiment that had strayed back to the flank of the German army. They were now interposed near butovo and could launch an attack at any time.


    When Danilov saw the telegram, he suggested to me, "Comrade commander, you see the remnants of the 10th tank army are not far from the 67th division of the guards. It''s better for them to fight back against butovo and try to get the city back from the German."


    I looked at the map and thought about it. Finally, I refused Danilov''s proposal and explained to him, "Comrade deputy commander, I went to butovo to see that the whole city had almost become a ruin in the early fighting. Even if our troops recover the city, it is difficult to build a solid defense. If the 67th division of the guards is allowed to linger in the present area, it can contain more German forces. "


    Bezikov came in with a stack of telegrams from outside the tent and said to me, "Comrade commander, according to the reports of the 51st, 52nd and 90th divisions of the guards, the SS divisions that were in front of their positions have disappeared, and they have been replaced by ordinary national defense forces divisions."


    Danilov snatched the telegram from his hand and asked nervously, "Comrade chief of staff, do you know where the enemy is?"


    "According to the Scout''s report, signs of these divisions were found in the direction of prohorovka." After finishing his words, bezikov immediately added: "but this news has not been finally confirmed."


    "No need to prove it, chief of staff." I waved to bzikov and said, "according to my estimation, Prokhorovka will be the focus of the German army''s next attack, and Manstein will certainly put the best troops into this area."


    "Ah?" My words startled bzikov. He was surprised and said, "in the Prokhorovka area, won''t there be a vicious war?"


    "Don''t worry too much, chief of staff." I saw his face panicked and comforted him: "since this area has been handed over to the friendly forces, we can not worry about it for the time being. At present, our primary task is to find ways to launch small-scale counterattack in places where there are no elite German forces, try our best to consume the effective strength of the German forces and harass their traffic lines, so that the German forces attacking Prokhorovka are in trouble. "


    "Comrade commander, how do you think about it?" When I heard that I wanted to launch a counterattack in some areas, Danilov was immediately in front of me, and then couldn''t wait to ask.


    "Comrade deputy commander, come and see." I called Danilov to the map on the wall, pointed to the oboyan section of the bergorod Kursk highway and said, "the German armored forces are constantly attacking the oboyan area. Although yesterday, with the support of our artillery and tank brigade, the German attack was repulsed. But the German army did not hurt its vitality. After retreating for seven or eight kilometers, they took a rest at the temporary starting point of the attack. This morning, he launched three attacks against oboyan


    When I spoke to katukov in the morning and heard him say that the German attacks were more and more fierce, I started the idea of sending troops from the German side to teach the enemy a lesson. I''m taking this opportunity to say what I think: "I''m going to deploy a close guard division from Yakovlev area to launch an attack from the back of the German forces attacking oboyan with the cooperation of the tank brigade, and attack general katukov back and forth. Even if we can''t completely annihilate this enemy, we can also severely damage it, so that they have no strength to launch another attack on oboyan in a short time. "


    "Which division are you going to transfer?" Asked bezikov modestly.


    "The 90th division of Colonel Chernoff''s guards." I said lightly: "so far, among the four close guard divisions in the first line of defense, the Chernoff division is the most complete. As long as the tank brigade, let Colonel berey send out the 101st tank brigade. "


    "OK, I''ll give the order now." Bzikov finished recording my orders, turned around and tried to get out of the tent.


    "Wait a minute, chief of staff." I stopped bzikov, who was about to leave, and added: "anyway, now that Colonel bere''s tank brigade has been sent out, he is now a bare commander. Let him go back to the headquarters of the group army at the right time."


    "I understand." With a brief promise, bzikov lifted the curtain and went out.


    Standing in front of the map and observing for a long time, Danilov suddenly asked: "Comrade commander, if the 90th division of the guards is transferred away, then our army''s strength in Yakovlev area will not become thin? Do you think it''s necessary for the 51st division of Jinwei to withdraw? "


    "No, no," I said dismissively about Danilov''s proposal, "as long as there is still one position in our first line of defense, it is a threat to the Germans, because they rush to our troops in depth and are in danger of being cut off at any time."


    Listen to me, Danilov''s face a little better, he nodded and said: "well, since you say so, let the 51st division of the guards stay here and fight. I hope they can hold back the German troops near Yakovlev for a longer time. "


    As I intend to send troops to support oboyan, it is necessary to talk with katukov and let him have a clear idea first. When I got through, I asked, "Comrade General, what''s the situation there?"


    "It''s terrible, Rita." Katukov said to me with great worry: "although the German army''s attacks were beaten back several times by us, the Germans did not give up and still tried to take oboyan from our hands as the starting point of their attack on Kursk. At present, the city has not only been bombarded by German artillery from a distance, but also by enemy planes. My temporary headquarters has been transferred from the city and set up on a high ground outside the city. "


    "Comrade General, I know the situation there is very bad, so I am ready to send troops to support you." I organized the words in my head and said, "I intend to send an infantry division and a tank brigade along the road to attack the rear of the German troops attacking oboyan."


    When katukov heard me say this, he asked in surprise, "Rita, I know that your troops are not rich. Where did you send them?"


    "According to the reconnaissance, Manstein has transferred the SS troops near Yakovlev to the prokholovka area and replaced them with the ordinary national defense forces." In order to make him feel at ease, I explained the actual situation to him: "to contain these ordinary national defense divisions, I only need one division, and I can transfer the remaining troops to other more important directions."


    "Rita, you''re taking a risk." After listening to what I said, katukov said sternly, "have you ever thought about what to do if your remaining division can''t stop the German attack? Once the German army has captured the position, it is bound to send troops to reinforce the troops attacking oboyan. At that time, your infantry division and tank brigade will fall into a dangerous situation


    When I heard that katukov was worried about this, I immediately comforted him and said, "don''t worry, Comrade General. Since the headquarters of the front army has sent new troops to take over several defense areas of our department, I have a lot of troops that I can use. Even if the troops in the front are in trouble, I can also send enough troops to reinforce them. "


    When I explain this, katukov will say something more. He changed the topic in time and reminded me, "Rita, the German air force still dominates most of the battlefield, so if your troops want to move in, they can only do it at night, so as not to be found by the enemy''s planes and suffer unnecessary losses."


    "I know, Comrade General." I followed katukov''s words and said, "I will order the troops to set out after dark, turn quietly into the enemy''s rear, and then take them by surprise."


    At the end of the call with katukov, I asked lophov to send a telegram to akhromeyev, asking him to report to me the advance of the fifth group army of close guard tanks by telephone.


    After about ten minutes, akhromeyev called me. He asked me respectfully on the phone, "Comrade commander, what instructions do you have?"


    "Comrade major," because of the urgency of time, I did not beat around the bush with him. Instead, I asked directly, "are the forces of lieutenant general rotmistrov''s tank troops now moving towards Prokhorovka?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Akhromeyev replied positively: "their main forces are marching into Prokhorovka."


    I was afraid that I had heard it wrong, so I repeated my question: "are you sure they are making a big push into Prokhorovka?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Although akhromeyev didn''t understand why I asked, he patiently replied, "the troops are moving towards Prokhorovka, and the marching line I saw is at least 10 kilometers away."


    "The troops march in broad daylight?" I don''t understand why rotmistrov''s troops march in the daytime. According to the wartime regulations, should not all major troop movements be carried out at night¡° Don''t they worry about air strikes? "


    "No, comrade commander." When akhromeyev heard my question, he immediately understood the reason why I asked, and quickly explained: "over the marching line, there is an air force flying formation to provide cover. On the ground, there is an anti-aircraft artillery battalion every kilometer. Under such strict prevention and control measures, even if the German aircraft flew over, it was estimated that it would not be good. "


    Akhromeyev''s words give me a wake-up call. Yes, since the fifth group army of the close guard tanks can get the cover of the air force in the process of advancing, there is no reason why our troops defending oboyan can''t get the support from the air force. So I said to the microphone, "OK, comrade major, I know all about it. Let me know if you have any information I dialed the headquarters of the front army again. I wanted to find watujing and ask him to send air force support. When vatukin heard my voice, he asked with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, have the troops of rotmistrov arrived at prohorovka?"¡° Comrade commander, according to the report of my chief of operations, the headquarters and an infantry division of the 5th mechanized army of the close guard have entered the city of prohorovka and taken over the city''s defense from the 375TH infantry division of our group army. "¡° It seems that the operation speed of lieutenant general rotmistrov''s tank troops is quite fast. " After listening to my report, vatukin said with satisfaction: "as long as they can all arrive in prohorovka by noon tomorrow, then our strength in this area can far surpass that of the Germans." With these words, he suddenly remembered that I had taken the initiative to call him. There must be something for him, so he continued to ask, "do you want to call me? What''s the matter?"¡° Comrade General. " I respectfully said to him: "at present, the German army has concentrated its superior armored forces and is attacking oboyan. However, general katukov''s tank troops are entangled by the German forces in other places and can''t escape at all."¡° Yes, I know that, "said watujing faintly." what are you trying to say? "¡° Chief general, I intend to send troops to support general katukov and use an infantry division and a tank brigade to launch a sudden attack from the enemy''s rear and give them a good beating. " I made my plan clear to vatukin, "and then katukov commanded the troops to rush down the road from oboyan. Under our double attack, this German army will suffer heavy losses even if it is not completely annihilated. In this way, in the area south of oboyan, the strength of German armored forces will be seriously weakened. "¡° That''s good. That''s a good plan. " After listening to this, vatukin repeatedly said good things to my plan and urged me to say, "then go and implement this plan quickly."

 Chapter 1154

    "No, comrade commander." I said in embarrassment: "at present, my troops have no air supremacy. As soon as they are dispatched, they may be bombarded by German bombers. In this way, before our troops reach the starting point of attack, they will suffer heavy losses in the enemy''s bombing. "


    "Do you want me to provide air support to your troops?" Watujing guessed what was on my mind, and then asked with a smile, "how many planes do you want to support you?"


    "Two hundred!" Since vatukin asked me how many planes I wanted, I went straight to the big one. In the counterattack stage of the Moscow defense war, I still remember the visual impact of the overwhelming number of our military aircraft flying overhead. If watugen could get the air force to send out 200 planes, it would be enough to blow up the German armored forces attacking oboyan.


    "Nonsense, it''s nonsense!" I used to be a joke, but I didn''t expect to make watujing angry. He said angrily, "do you think our air force, like infantry, can blow a whistle and come hundreds of times?"


    I knew in my heart that without aircraft support, we would not be able to attack the German armored forces in the daytime, so I asked with a shy face, "Comrade commander, how many planes can you send me?"


    "20, no more." Watujing finished, and without waiting for me to speak, he went on to say, "there are 12 assault planes and 8 bombers."


    "Well, comrade commander." I know that since watujing has already said this amount, no matter how much I ask him, he will not increase it for me any more. He can only accept it reluctantly. But in order to make our aircraft play the greatest role in the battlefield, I specially asked: "do not know how I contact the air force commander?"


    "An army commander also wants to command the air force. No way." As soon as my proposal was exported, it was immediately vetoed by watujing. He also said with a strong voice, "if you are a layman, the air force commander will not settle with me!"?! Come on, if you need air force support, just call me and I''ll send the air force out. "


    Hearing that, I had no choice but to say, "well, comrade commander. In this case, please order the air force''s assault planes to fly to Yakovlev area immediately to cover our tank brigade; The bombers, on the other hand, set out to bomb the German armored forces in the area along the road from Belgorod to Kursk around 1:00 noon. Remember, we must remind them to pay attention to identification and never blow up our tank brigade. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade oshanina." In response to my concern, watujing said lightly, "our air force has sent out thousands of sorties these days. Can''t we do anything as simple as identifying the enemy and ourselves? You can rest assured. "


    Putting down the phone, I said to bezikov, "Comrade chief of staff, you can send a message to the 90th division of the close guard and the 101st brigade of the tank, so that they can move in the direction of oboyan immediately."


    After listening to me, bzikov said with some worry: "Comrade commander, although the 90th division of the guards is facing ordinary German troops, what should the German army do if it withdraws from its position at this time and takes the opportunity to launch an attack?"


    As for bezikov''s worry, I thought about it for a moment and replied, "in that case, let Colonel Chernoff leave a battalion of troops on positions 2 and 3 to monitor the enemy in the front. Once the enemy launches an attack on our position, they can withdraw to position 1 of the 51st division of the guards after making the necessary resistance. "


    "OK, I''m going to telegraph." Bezikov agreed to walk out of the tent.


    Looking at kirilov, I asked with a smile, "Comrade military commissar, do you want to go with me to see how our tank troops compete with the German armored forces?"


    When kirilov heard me say this, he first nodded, then shook his head and said, "Rita, I know that our army is equipped with many new tanks, and I would like to see our tanks beat the enemy''s armored forces to the ground. But we had a rule in advance that the main leaders of the group army should not leave the headquarters to go to the most dangerous places."


    "Let''s go, comrade military Commissar." I really want to see with my own eyes how the tank brigade equipped with the new type of tanks made the German proud armored troops run away in confusion, so I repeatedly persuaded kirilov to go with me¡° Let''s find a place with a wide view, where not only personal safety can be guaranteed, but also we can see for ourselves how our troops defeat the enemy. "


    Kirilov was a little excited by my words. You know, when he was in Stalingrad, he often followed me everywhere. Now, with more and more officials, he has fewer and fewer opportunities to go to the forefront. Seeing that he was hesitating, I went to him, grabbed his hand and pulled him out. At the same time, I said, "the deputy commander and the chief of staff are responsible for the affairs in the headquarters. We don''t have to worry about them."


    When Danilov saw that we both wanted to leave, he quickly reached out to stop me and said, "Comrade commander, your post is here instead of the front line. Would you please stop running around?" At this point, he quickly glanced at kirilov, "and even if you don''t think about your safety, you should also think about the safety of comrades of the military Commissar. If either of you has a difference, no matter how much we win, it doesn''t make any sense


    Under Danilov''s persuasion, kirilov''s confidence first wavered. He sat back in his seat and said, "come on, Rita, I think we''d better stay here and take control."


    I''m a bit reluctant to stay in the headquarters, but if I want to leave now, I have to persuade kirilov and Danilov first, or I can''t even get out of the tent. I thought about it and said to them, "well, comrade deputy commander and military commissar, if I don''t go to the most dangerous place, I will go to oboyan. Anyway, it''s not far from us. It''s only half an hour''s drive. When I got there, I stayed with general katukov and would never run around. So you should be relieved? "


    I saw povsky sitting next to him without saying a word. I asked him, "Comrade Colonel, how many rocket barracks can we use now?"


    Povsky stood up and said, "there are still three rocket barracks. Last night, the transport team just sent new rockets. At present, each rocket has four base ammunition."


    As soon as I heard him say that, my face immediately showed a satisfied smile. I nodded and said with a smile, "well done, comrade colonel. After we go to oboyan later, you will command your artillery there to cover the German armored forces attacking the city. "


    When I was about to leave the tent with povsky, bzikov came back from the outside. When he saw that I was going out, he couldn''t help but ask, "Comrade commander, where are you going?"


    "I''m going to oboyan." After explaining to him where I was going, I added, "but I''m not going alone, and the artillery commander of the group army, Colonel povsky, is going with me."


    After bzikov had some obstacles, but some did not dare, so he had to turn to Danilov and kirilov for help. Kirilov came over, patted bzikov on the shoulder and said to him, "chief of staff, it''s useless. It''s not the first day you met Rita. She has decided that no one can change it." Then he said to me, "Rita, I won''t say anything else. You should pay more attention to your safety."


    "Don''t worry, comrade military Commissar." I said to kirilov carelessly, "I will pay attention to my safety."


    Just as I lifted the curtain and prepared to go out, bzikov said in the back: "Comrade commander, the Sixth Army of the close guard tank has left Prokhorovka, and the 21st and 22nd tank brigades of the close guard are moving towards us. What are you going to do with this unit? "


    After thinking about it, I turned to him and said, "chief of staff, let these two tank brigades immediately turn around and turn to the oboyan area. Although one tank brigade is enough to clean up the German armored forces, if two more tank brigades can join the battle, the result will be greater. "


    On the way to oboyan, the jeep that bofsky and I were in ran into.


    Povsky looked out of the window and saw the tanks rumbling around us. He was so excited that his face turned red. He said to me excitedly, "Comrade commander, is this our new tank? My God, it''s so big. It looks much stronger than our original T-34. "


    When I heard him say this, I knew that he had never seen our new tank before, so I explained to him in a loud voice, "yes, comrade Colonel, this is our latest tank, not to mention the T-34. Even if it is the most advanced Tiger tank of the German army, you can''t get any advantage from it."


    "Really?" After listening to my explanation, povsky asked incredulously, "can these tanks really defeat the German Tiger tanks? If our T-34 against the Tiger tank, we can only be passive


    "Don''t worry, Colonel." I had seen the new tank destroy the German Tiger tank, so I confidently said to him: "I saw the battle between the new tank and the Tiger tank. At that time, the distance between the two tanks was less than 200 meters. The Tiger Tank fired first and hit our army''s tanks. But there was nothing wrong with our tanks except that the steel plate at the place where they were shot was concave. Then the gun was turned to the gun and the turret of the Tiger tank was overturned.


    After listening to my slightly exaggerated description, povsky''s eyes were round, and his mouth became an O-shape, which could not be closed. When I saw his reaction, I couldn''t help laughing, and then said to him, "Comrade Colonel, I know it''s hard for you to accept what I said, but it''s true or false. When you get to the battlefield later, you can see it with your own eyes."


    Our car drove a little further and was stopped by a checkpoint of the mechanized guards. After checking our documents, the sergeant in charge of the checkpoint called his superior and respectfully asked us to stay here for a moment, saying that commander katukov would send someone to pick us up.


    Ten minutes later, a jeep came along the road. More than ten meters away from us, the jeep came to a sudden brake and stopped steadily on the side of the road. Jumping out of the car, a major quickly ran to my car, raised his hand and reported to me that he had taken me to the headquarters on the order of commander katukov.


    I nodded and said to the major, "Comrade major, please lead the way. My driver will follow you." After the major turned and left, I told the driver, "follow the car ahead." When we got to the temporary headquarters in dakatukov, the German army was launching a new wave of attacks. Katukov, who was observing the enemy''s situation, heard my voice, put down his telescope, turned to walk in front of me, and said with an unhappy face: "Hello, I said Rita, don''t you know that the situation here is very dangerous? Why did you come back soon after you left? "¡° Comrade General. " I said to him with a smile: "I just saw that the situation here is critical, so I came here with reinforcements. I also want to stay in your headquarters and see how my troops are doing? "¡° Reinforcements? " When katukov heard me say this, his face immediately showed a look of ecstasy. He asked excitedly, "Rita, I don''t know how many reinforcements you''ve brought?" I held out one finger and said, "a guard infantry division," then I put up two fingers and joked, "there are three tank brigades. How about such strength, Comrade General? Can I help you fight back the German attack¡° That''s great. That''s great. " When he heard that I had sent him three tank brigades and an infantry division, katukovton was overjoyed. He hugged me with open arms, then sent his hand away and said, "don''t mention three tank brigades, even one tank brigade can defeat the German armored forces." With that, he suddenly saw povsky standing next to him and didn''t speak. He pointed to him and asked, "Rita, who is this Colonel?" Although katukov had met povsky, he certainly had no impression, and it was not surprising that he could not recognize him at this time. I pointed to povsky and introduced him, "Comrade General, this is the artillery commander of our group army. The reason why I called him here is that he can be used when artillery support is needed. "¡° Hello, Colonel povsky Katukov heard that standing in front of him was the artillery commander who could help him a lot. He quickly took each other''s hand and said warmly, "welcome to oboyan."

 Chapter 1155

    Povsky shook katukov''s hand and released it. He asked uneasily, "Comrade General, what''s the situation outside at present?"


    Katukov turned aside, gave way to the lookout hole, shrugged his shoulders and said solemnly, "not very well, comrade colonel. The German army bombarded our defensive positions continuously with long-range artillery fire. Now it is not only the tank troops that attack, but also a large number of infantry. If we attack like this two or three more times, I don''t think we can hold our position outside the city. "


    Povsky walked quickly to the observation hole, leaned down close to the trench and looked out with a periscope. After a while, he said to the door, "operator, come here!"


    With his shouts, the operator who came with us from the group army headquarters walked into the observation post with a telephone on his back. Povsky told him: "contact the rocket battalion immediately." The operator agreed, sat down in a corner, took the transmitter and opened it.


    While povsky was talking to the commander of the rocket battalion below, I also came to the lookout hole, and then the periscope looked out. Our position was shrouded in smoke, and in the open field in the distance, the German tanks were in a neat attack formation, charging forward with swagger, and the infantry like ants were closely following the tanks.


    I turned the camera back to see what happened to the anti tank trench named after me in front of the position. As a result, after seeing clearly, I could not help but take a breath. Maybe it was covered by artillery fire more than once, and the anti tank trench had almost been filled with floating soil. It''s impossible to block the German tanks like before.


    Seeing this, I straightened up and turned to ask povsky, who was shouting, "Comrade Colonel, have you got in touch with the rocket battalion?"


    "Got in touch, comrade commander." Povsky straightened up and reported.


    "Order the artillery to fire immediately!" I said it briefly.


    "Yes, order the artillery to fire immediately!" After repeating what I said, povsky yelled at the transmitter, "commander orders, rocket Battalion Fire!"


    As the firing order was issued, the rocket shells roared down on the charging German tanks and infantry. The falling shells blasted the open plain like a violent volcano, and the infantry, who were swept into the explosion area, immediately turned into a group of shapeless meat. The German tanks, which were once invincible steel giants, were torn apart like toys in the explosion. The collapsed steel plates mixed with fragments of human body and parts of weapons swept out like bullets, knocking down more soldiers in the distance mercilessly.


    Seeing the tragic situation of the German offensive troops, katukov couldn''t help cheering. I patted him on the shoulder and asked in a loud voice, "Hey, comrade general, where''s the 20th brigade of my close guard tank?"


    Katukov waved his head and said in a loud voice, "no, Rita, no more." In order to let me know what happened, he explained to me in a loud voice, "today, after the first German attack was repulsed, the tank brigade launched a counterattack, and the tanks following the German army chased down. Unexpectedly, it was a trap. When they left our position for about two kilometers, they were bombarded by German long-range heavy artillery. Before they had time to retreat, the enemy''s bombers came out again and bombed our tanks indiscriminately. Even the tanks that were fleeing also rushed back. In this way, after half an hour of fighting, only five of the 80 tanks in the tank brigade were pulled down by luck, but each one was injured. "


    After listening to katukov''s story, I was so angry that I said: "I remember the hatred of the tank brigade. Today, I must teach the Germans a lesson they will never forget, and make them regret not coming to our country. "


    Before the shelling stopped, katukov''s operator suddenly reported to him, "Comrade commander, I have received a strange call. It seems that I am looking for general oshanina."


    "For me?" I was surprised to hear the operator say that. My heart said who would come to me at this time. I quickly took the earphone from the operator. After putting it on, I asked aloud to the transmitter, "I''m o''shanina. Where are you?"


    "Comrade commander, it''s me. I''m Colonel berey There''s beeray in the headphones.


    "Comrade Colonel, where are you?" I thought that I ordered berei to send the 101st tank brigade to cover the 90th guard division and attack the enemy along the road, while he went directly back to the headquarters of the group army to report¡° Is it on the way back to the headquarters of the group army? "


    "No, comrade commander, I didn''t go back to the headquarters of the group army." "My 101st brigade and I are going down the road to oboyan," Colonel berey replied quickly


    "Where is the 90th division of Jinwei?" When I heard that the tank brigade was moving towards oboyan, I immediately asked about the infantry, "where is colonel Chernoff?"


    "Comrade commander, this is Chernoff." A slightly strange voice came from the earphone immediately, "my troops are taking a truck, under the cover of the tank brigade, advancing towards oboyan. In an hour at most, our troops will arrive at oboyan. "


    "How was the road?" Hearing that they were marching by car, I couldn''t help thinking of the German air force and asked in a hurry, "don''t you find any enemy planes in the sky?"


    "No, no, please rest assured." Chernoff said with a smile: "now we have our fighters on patrol above our heads. Although there are only two of them, they can drive away the German bombers."


    "That''s good, that''s good." When I heard him say that, I felt a little more secure. But to be on the safe side, I specially told him: "Colonel, remember to send reconnaissance troops, because you may soon enter the starting point of the German armored forces. If you are unprepared, you will lose a lot."


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Chernoff confidently said to me, "Colonel berey and I have sent scouts on motorcycles. If anything happens, they will report it to us in time."


    I had just returned the earphone and the transmitter to katukov''s operator. Suddenly, a soldier came in. After saluting katukov, he reported, "Comrade commander, there''s a general coming out. He wants to see you immediately."


    "A general?" Katukov was stunned for a moment by the soldier''s words, then asked: "what kind of general?"


    "A general in a tank uniform," the soldier continued, shrugging his shoulders. "To be exact, a tank general. He said he wanted to see the top commander here, so I came to report."


    "What are you still doing?" Katukov saw the soldier after the report, still standing in place, hastened him to say: "do not go to the general to come here."


    After a while, the soldier led a general into the observation post. I fixed my eyes on it. It turned out that it was lieutenant general Kravchenko, commander of the Fifth Army of the close guard tank. I said to him: "Hello, comrade general, I didn''t expect to see you here."


    Kravchenko just raised his hand and saluted katukov. When he heard my voice, he turned and looked this way. When he saw that it was me who was greeting him, he could not help smiling. He turned his head again and reported to katukov, "Comrade General, lieutenant general Kravchenko, commander of the Fifth Army of the close guard tank, reports to you that we have been ordered to reinforce you. I''m at your command, please give me directions


    Katukov came forward, took his hand, shook hands with him, looked at me and said, "I know that you must have come to support us on the order of oshanina? That''s great. We have enough tanks. The German armored forces that attack us will be beaten to pieces by us. "


    The three of us stood in front of the simple wooden table, staring at the big map on the table. Katukov pointed to a position south of oboyan and said to both of us, "according to our reconnaissance, the German artillery position and the starting point of attack are here. If our artillery had not lost all of them yesterday, we could have used cannons to suppress them, and then used tank troops to launch a comprehensive counterattack. "


    Kravchenko looked at the position, nodded and said with approval: "yes, if we don''t kill the artillery positions here, our army will pay heavy casualties even if it is equipped with the latest tanks to completely annihilate the German armored forces."


    After Kravchenko finished, katukov looked at me and asked me with a smile, "Rita, do you have any good way to deal with the German artillery?" With that, he nuzui toward the position where povsky stood and said, "it''s a pity that your artillery position is too far away from here and the range is not enough. Otherwise, with the artillery power of your group army, the enemy''s artillery position can be completely destroyed."


    "Although our artillery can''t kill the enemy''s artillery positions, it doesn''t mean there is no other way." As for katukov''s scruples, I said with ease: "commander vatukin promised to send 20 planes to support our operation, eight of which are bombers. I think it''s no problem to use them to kill the enemy''s artillery positions."


    "What, the front command also provided us with air force support?" Hearing this unexpected news, katukov''s mouth almost grinned to his ears. "No matter how powerful the enemy''s artillery is, can we still shoot our plane down from the sky? I don''t know when they can go out? As long as we kill the enemy''s artillery, our tank forces can launch a comprehensive counterattack. "


    I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and replied, "according to the agreement with general vatukin in advance, the air force bombers will arrive in an hour and bomb the German troops assembled along the road." I turned to Kravchenko and asked, "Comrade Kravchenko, how many tanks do you have in your tank army?"


    "The two remaining tank brigades add up to 90 more tanks." Kravchenko replied: "there are 70 of the latest tanks, and the rest are T-34. Compared with the enemy''s tanks, our tanks are more powerful."


    "General oshanina." Just as I was about to say a few more words, katukov''s operator called to me: "the commander just now has something urgent to ask for you."


    I dashed over, took the transmitter and asked aloud, "Hello, comrade Colonel, what''s the matter?"


    "Report to Comrade commander." "According to the Scout''s report, about five kilometers in front of us, we found a German artillery position with about a regiment, almost all heavy artillery. Let me ask you, what shall we do, go around or kill it? " I really want to doze off. Someone will give me a pillow right away. We are discussing how to take out the German artillery position, and the Scout of Colonel berey found out where the artillery position was. I immediately said without hesitation, "is that true, Colonel? Gather your tank troops immediately and continue to assault the enemy''s artillery positions. There seems to be no infantry in this artillery position, so you can crush all their guns even if you drive them with tank tracks, understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander. " "I immediately organized the tank troops to carry out the assault and strive to eliminate the German artillery positions in the shortest time," Colonel berey replied loudly When I returned to the table, I excitedly said to katukov: "two general comrades, the troops transferred from Yakovlev, found the German artillery position on the road. I have ordered them to launch an attack and try to destroy the enemy''s artillery position in the shortest time."¡° Comrade commander, this is very good. " Kravchenko said with a smile: "as long as the enemy artillery is killed, then the battlefield is the world of our tanks. You just wait to see how our tanks, like shooting targets, kill the enemy''s tanks one by one. "¡° Go and gather the troops, "I said to Kravchenko with a smile." I''m waiting to see your tank army''s performance. Maybe your battle today will go down in history. " Ten minutes later, there was a deafening roar of tank motors outside the observation post. I knew it was the beginning of the advance of the guard tank army. The German artillery fire on the distant highlands also stopped suddenly. It seems that their artillery position was killed by Colonel berey. After regrouping, the German armored forces, which had lost the cover of artillery fire, rushed to our position again. When they saw that the smoke of gunpowder had dispersed from the position, and countless new tanks of our army were speeding towards them, it was too late to turn around and run away. The tank battle under Kravchenko''s personal command ended in less than half an hour. In front of the position were all kinds of tanks destroyed by the German army, while only a dozen of our tanks were slightly injured, which did not affect the next battle.

 Chapter 1156

    No matter I or katukov, I am not surprised by the result. Because we both know that this new type of tank is almost invincible on the battlefield as long as it is not bombarded by German long-range heavy artillery or aircraft. It is like playing against German tanks.


    Just now, when the tanks of the tank army formed a battle formation and charged forward, the whole battle was simply useless. Only a few of the shells fired by German tanks when they retreated hit our tanks, but they were not ejected. That is, our tanks, undamaged, continue to roar forward. As long as the German tanks are hit, if the situation is good, they can continue to drive for a long distance with fireworks, and then the tankers inside can abandon their cars and run for their lives; Bad luck, the turret was directly overturned, the crew inside the instant ashes.


    I was looking at the smoke filled battlefield with periscope when katukov suddenly called me: "Hello, Rita, come here quickly. The general wants to talk to you."


    I stood up straight, went to katukov and took the phone from him. Hearing my voice, watujing asked, "how''s it going? Is there no German tank in front of oboyan? "


    I don''t know why vatukin asked, so I quickly turned to katukov. He opened his mouth and said in a low voice, "before I can report the war situation to the general, he will come to you."


    After figuring out what was going on, I quickly replied, "report to senior general, there are only some destroyed tanks in my sight."


    "Well done, comrade oshanina!" It was probably from the headquarters of the group army that vatukin learned that I had sent tank troops to support him, so he said to me with appreciation, "your soldiers are also good. Please convey my thanks to them. If you have nothing to do, don''t stay with katukov. Come to me at once. "


    I put down the phone and asked povsky to stay and wait for them. I asked them to follow katukov''s arrangement and deploy new defensive positions around oboyan. Then he got on the jeep and rushed to the headquarters of the front army.


    When I walked into the headquarters of the front army, I saw watujing calling at the door near the inner room. He yelled at the microphone: "what? Did you repel the enemy''s attack? That''s great. That''s great, comrade shumilov. If you continue to repel the German attack tomorrow as you do today, the Germans will soon have no strength to attack korocca. "


    He put down the phone, saw me standing in front of him, and immediately said happily, "Comrade o''shanina, you are here! Don''t stand here. Come inside quickly. " Then he put a hand on my shoulder and took me to the house.


    Entering the room inside, I saw a burly commander sitting at the table. I habitually glanced at his epaulets, and I was startled to find that he was a marshal. After I saw vasilevsky''s face clearly, I broke away from vatujing''s hand in a hurry and stood up to salute: "Hello, marshal, oshanina is under orders..." speaking of this, I couldn''t help getting stuck. I don''t know whether to say "come" or "report"? However, neither of these two statements seems to be in line with the current situation. After all, it was watujing, not him, who called me to the headquarters of the front army.


    "Don''t be embarrassed, comrade oshanina!" Vasilevsky said politely, "your troops have been playing well these days. Although the German troops have occupied many areas on the surface, their living strength has been greatly weakened."


    As for huasilevsky''s praise, I said humbly: "marshal, because of the great disparity between the enemy and ourselves, although we have consumed a lot of their strength, it may still be difficult to drive them out of our defense area."


    "I know, I know, comrade oshanina, I know all that you said." "Marshal Zhukov is now commanding the forces of the central front army in the north and waging a fierce battle with the German army from the north," said vasilevsky. Although the German army broke through the junction of the 13th and 70th army, their offensive was soon restrained. As the living strength of the German army is consumed little by little, our counterattack has entered the countdown


    I counted the time silently, remembering that Hitler would not transfer Manstein''s troops to resist the Allies until the ninth Allied landing attack in Sicily. Before that, the German army was always actively launching attacks. If the Soviet Army wanted to carry out counterattack under the fierce German offensive, it would not play any role except to increase the casualties of the troops. However, I think about it in my heart. I dare not say it.


    "Comrade oshanina, what do you think?" I was just thinking about it, when I suddenly heard that watujing asked me such a question.


    "Comrade commander," in order to avoid answering the wrong questions, I had to ask in a bold way, "senior general, I didn''t hear what you just asked. Can you say it again?" In order to cover up his just distracted, I also specially pointed to his ear and said, "after listening to the sound of guns for a day, my ears are a little hard to use."


    Vatukin and vasilevsky looked at each other, then laughed helplessly, and repeated the question again: "Marshal told you that our southern army will launch a comprehensive counterattack against the German army tomorrow. I want to ask your opinion."


    Vatujing''s words startled me. My heart said that even before Prokhorovka''s tank war, you want to launch a counterattack. Isn''t this a suicide? After he finished, I said carefully: "Comrade General, please forgive me for saying that it''s not the right time to launch a counterattack against the German army. Because their effective strength has not been really weakened, when we launch a counterattack at this time, we will not only cause a lot of casualties, but also fail to achieve the desired effect. "


    After hearing this, vatukin did not make a statement. Instead, he turned to vasilevsky and asked, "marshal, comrade oshanina has already said her opinion. What do you mean?"


    I stare nervously at vasilevsky, like a student waiting for the teacher to announce his exam results. Although my opinion is very appropriate under the current circumstances, it would be more abominable if I openly disagree with a senior commander.


    Vasilevsky bowed his head and thought about it, then said slowly: "judging from the current situation, although the German forces have been weakened, their overall strength is still very strong, which can be seen from today''s fighting situation. So I agree with Rita that this is not a good time to fight back against the German army. "


    I was relieved to hear that vasilevsky used my nickname when addressing me. Especially when he said that he agreed with me, he completely put down the big stone in his heart.


    Watujing took a look at me, then turned his attention to vasilevsky and asked carefully: "marshal, when do you think I can launch a counterattack is the most appropriate time?"


    Vasilevsky didn''t answer his question, but looked at me and said, "Rita, if I''m not wrong, you should have a more complete idea in your heart, right?"


    His words also attracted watujing''s attention. The latter looked at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, tell me what you think, so as to give me a reference."


    "Comrade marshal, Comrade General." Since both of them wanted me to talk about their views, it would be impossible for them not to express any opinions, so I politely said, "if we want to launch a comprehensive counterattack, the first thing to solve is the German armored forces."


    "German armored forces?" Vatukin may have been reminded of the sad past by me. A few months ago, the southwest front army under his command was defeated by the German SS equipment troops. It is estimated that he would have wanted to avenge this for a long time. Otherwise, he would not have gnashed his teeth like now¡° We have many excellent commanders who died bravely when fighting against them. We will get revenge sooner or later. "


    "Tell me, Rita, how we''re going to wipe out the SS Panzer." Vasilevsky looked at me and continued.


    I saw a big map spread out on the table. When I came in, vasilevsky was looking at it. After staring at the map for a moment, I found the place I wanted to find, pointed to it, and said, "marshal, please see, Prokhorovka, the guard tank of the grassland front army and the defense of the fifth group army, will be the focus of the German army''s next attack. According to our reconnaissance, the main forces of the German "Hitler division", "imperial division" and "skull division" are gathering in this direction. It seems that they want to fight with our main forces here and repeat the scene of the battle of Kharkov. "


    "These damned bandits, I will never let them succeed in their treachery." In an unusual way, watujing bit his back teeth and cursed: "last time we suffered a great loss from them, this time I will teach them a lesson."


    "What kind of situation do you think this battle will take?" After looking at the map for a while, vasilevsky looked up at me and asked, "what''s the final result?"


    "Marshal," I know they are more familiar with the terrain of this area than I am, so I didn''t waste my breath to introduce them, but said directly, "south of Prokhorovka, there are open plains, which are suitable for mechanized troops. Therefore, I think that in the next battle, both sides will definitely compete with a large number of tanks. "


    After hearing this, vasilevsky thought about it, and then asked thoughtfully, "Rita, do you think our tanks can have an advantage over German tanks?"


    "Marshal," as I said this, I glanced at vatukin in the corner of my eye. I don''t know if he has the authority to know the origin of these tanks, so I can only say vaguely, "if our new tanks face-to-face with German tanks, we will surely win.". In today''s battle, the tanks of the close guard tank army have destroyed dozens of German tanks, but only a dozen of them have suffered minor injuries. After simple repair, they can immediately return to battle. "


    Listen to me, whether it''s vasilevsky or watu Kyoto nodded, with a satisfied smile on his face. Vasilevsky continued: "if we put hundreds of such tanks into battle at the same time, against the same number of German tanks, is the final winner reliable for us?"


    I wanted to go on with what vasilevsky said and flatter him by the way, but as soon as I said it, it turned into something else: "sorry, marshal, I don''t think so. I think if we want to defeat the German armored forces, especially the most elite SS armored forces, it depends on the number of our tank maintenance stations and the luck to see if God is on our side. "


    Both of them were stunned by my strange statement. After a while, vatukin asked, "if you say our tanks are better than German tanks, why do you still have no confidence?"¡° Comrade General. " I patiently explained to vatukin: "although our new tank is very advanced, not only in armor but also in firepower, which is superior to the German Tiger tank, because the time of equipping troops is not long, the tank soldiers are still unable to master this new weapon skillfully. If the German army has planes and cannons to assist in the battle, our tanks can easily become the targets of the enemy''s attack in the distance from several thousand meters to several hundred meters. In yesterday''s and today''s battles, the tanks of the mechanized third army were completely destroyed because they were attacked by German heavy artillery and aircraft. " After my words, the expressions on the two faces became dignified. After a long time, vasilevsky then asked: "you just said that the number of tank maintenance stations is also the key to success. What do you mean?"¡° Marshal, if there are enough tank maintenance stations, we can repair our destroyed tanks in time. The German army was far away from the rear, and one tank was destroyed, one less. Our tank maintenance station is close to the battlefield, and can repair the destroyed tanks at any time. In this situation, the strength of both sides will be reversed, and the time will come for us to counterattack. " After what I said, vassilevsky immediately told vatukin, "Comrade vatukin, it''s better to finish the work of tank maintenance station today, so that the fifth group army of close guard tanks can open up its hands and compare with the armored forces of the German SS."¡° Don''t worry, comrade marshal. " "I''m going to arrange for the establishment of enough tank maintenance stations in Prokhorovka area by noon tomorrow," watujing said with a smile

 Chapter 1157

    When I left the headquarters of the front army and went back to my headquarters, I found that the tent had been transformed into a wooden house at some time. The space inside is very spacious. On the left side of the door is a long walkie talkie, and in the middle is a large simple wooden table. At the moment, Danilov, kirilov and bezikov are discussing something around the table.


    When I entered the room, the staff who were preparing to go out stopped one after another, let them to one side and raised their hands to salute me. When bzikov, who was sitting in front of the door, saw me, he quickly stood up and said with a smile, "Comrade commander, are you back?"


    "I''m back." As I said this, I quickly came to the table, looked down at the place on it, and asked, "what''s the situation in the defense area?"


    Danilov stood up and said, "Comrade commander, during the period when you left, only the battle in the direction of oboyan was the most intense, and the rest of the fighting was on a small scale. From all kinds of signs, the German power is almost exhausted. Can we consider organizing troops to take back those lost positions? "


    I looked up at Danilov and asked in surprise, "Comrade deputy commander, if I hear you right, do you suggest to me to fight back against the Germans?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, that''s exactly what it is." Danilov replied positively.


    "Counterattack, what strength do we use to counterattack?" I said to the optimistic deputy commander, "how many poorly organized tank brigades and infantry divisions do we have to fight back against the German troops who occupied our positions?" Seeing Danilov nodding his head in affirmation, I gave a sneer and dropped a sentence, "I asked povsky and Colonel berey to come back and tell you about the battle in the oboyan region and how we won."


    I went to lophov, who was standing behind a telegraph operator, and told him, "Comrade major, inform Col. bofsky, Col. bere, as well as the commander of the 90th division and the Fifth Army of the tank of the guards, to come back to the headquarters of the group army immediately."


    "Yes With a promise, lophov bent down and began to convey my message to the telegraph operator, asking him to send a message to the commanders who were staying in the oboyan area, so that they could return to the headquarters of the group army immediately.


    I had nothing to do. Looking up at the roof, I saw a lot of thick logs one by one on the top. The logs were fixed with huge nails. I called bezikov over and asked with great interest, "chief of staff, you are quite fast. Within a few hours of my leaving the headquarters, you turned the tent into a solid wooden house. "


    Bzikov grinned and said, "Comrade commander, there are many soldiers in our army who have worked as loggers and construction workers. With their help, it''s just a matter of hours to build such a house." At this point, he looked around at Danilov, who was sulking. He asked in a low voice, "why did you ignore the deputy commander? Look, he seems to be angry."


    I snorted softly, approached bzikov''s ear and said, "Comrade deputy commander always thinks about counterattack and counterattack, regardless of the difference between our strength and that of the German army. I''m the commander of the group army. I can''t watch my soldiers die. "


    "Comrade commander, judging from the intensity of fighting in various defense areas in recent days, the strength of the German army has indeed been greatly weakened." Bezikov hesitated and said: "I also think that with our current strength, we can consider counterattack against the German army."


    "No, absolutely not." When I heard that from bezikov, I immediately lowered my face and said to him in a serious tone: "Comrade chief of staff, we are facing the German southern army group of Manstein. Don''t forget how he defeated our army in the battle of Kharkov. Although the German offensive has weakened in the past two days, they are accumulating strength and planning to give our troops a thunderbolt in a new area. If we blindly belittle the enemy, we will suffer a great loss. "


    After talking with bezikov for a while, I saw kirilov sitting at his desk, thinking that he had not had time to say hello to him when he came back, and then walked towards him. He asked with a smile, "Comrade military commissar, what are you writing about?"


    Kirilov stopped writing, looked up at me and replied with a smile, "what else can I write? Of course, it''s a meritorious service application form for soldiers. Recently, there are a lot of meritorious officers and soldiers, so my work seems a little busy. "


    Seeing kirilov with a tired face, I said with concern, "Comrade military commissar, don''t work too hard. There are some things you''d better leave to the political workers below. Anyway, they are all familiar with these jobs. "


    I didn''t expect kirilov to wave his hand and say, "no, I can''t rest assured. Even if they do it well, I still need to take time to check it one by one when it comes to me." At this point, he suddenly changed the subject and asked, "Rita, I heard that after the battle in oboyan, commander vatujing called you to his headquarters. Is there anything important?"


    I turned to Danilov next to him and saw that he was still looking down at the map, so I raised my voice and said, "the chief General called me to study how to launch a counterattack against the German army." After that, I glanced at Danilov from the corner of my eye.


    When he heard about the counterattack, Danilov had the spirit immediately, but he didn''t care to be angry with me. He immediately asked, "Comrade commander, what does commander watujing say? When will our army launch the counterattack against the German army?"


    I looked at the impatient Danilov and said with a smile, "Comrade deputy commander, general vatukin is in the same mood as you. I hope to launch a comprehensive counterattack against the German army tomorrow. But no way. Although the enemy has been weakened by our army, their strength still has a great advantage over ours. "


    When Danilov heard me say this, he suddenly fell down again and muttered, "when will we be able to launch a counterattack against the German army?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander." I comforted him and said, "wait a week at most, I think we can launch a counterattack against the German army. But before that, we have to find a way to continue to consume the living strength of the German army. "


    "What''s the consumption method?" Danilov asked curiously.


    "In today''s battle, whether it''s bofsky''s artillery, or Colonel bere, general Kravchenko''s tank troops, or Colonel Chernoff''s close guard division, they are doing very well." I went on, "I have ordered major lophov to inform them to come back and let them sum up today''s fighting experience, so that we can popularize their good experience in the whole regiment."


    "When will they be back?" Danilov asked as soon as I finished.


    Without waiting for me to speak, bizikov next to him began to laugh: "Comrade deputy commander, you are too impatient. It wasn''t long before the telegram was sent out. How could they come back so soon. It will be at least an hour before they return to the headquarters. "


    I waited for bzikov to finish, waved to him and said, "OK, chief of staff, we''ll talk about this later. Now let''s study where to set up a tank maintenance station, so as to repair our army''s tanks destroyed in battle in time. "


    "Comrade commander," listen to me, bzikov asked solemnly, "I don''t know how many tank maintenance stations our superior plans to build in our defense area?"


    "According to the general, he intends to build 30 tank maintenance stations, mainly in Prokhorovka." I pointed to our line of defense and continued, "eight of them will be built in the defense area of our group army."


    "Why did commander watujing suddenly want to build so many repair stations?" Danilov asked


    "Comrade deputy commander, don''t you understand?" Bezikov opened his hand, patted Prokhorovka''s position and said: "from the current situation, we will soon start a fierce battle with the German armored forces in this area. If there are enough tank maintenance stations, then our workers can repair the damaged tanks in time and send them back to the battlefield. "


    Kirilov, who was originally writing the report, looked up again and said, "that''s right. Let alone say that the quality of our tanks is better than that of the German tanks, even if it is worse than them. As long as our maintenance workers can quickly repair the damaged tanks and send them back to the battlefield continuously, the German armored forces, no matter how strong they are, will be gradually consumed by us. "


    After listening to kirilov''s explanation, Danilov could not help nodding and smiling. But I stood beside speechless, laughing and crying. The Soviet Army''s favorite set of infantry tactics in wartime was the sea of people tactics. I didn''t expect that now it''s a tank decisive battle, and it''s still tank naval warfare. However, even if the Germans have the ability to play regardless of the loss, they can''t afford it.


    Povsky and his party returned to the headquarters an hour later. After a simple greeting, I looked at Colonel berey and said, "Comrade Colonel, the final victory in the battle of oboyan is mainly due to your successful killing of the German artillery, so that our tank troops can make the most of their advantages in the battlefield. Tell me how you destroyed the German artillery position. "


    Colonel berey''s face lit up with laughter at my praise. He said excitedly: "Comrade commander, I think if we fight with the German armored forces in the future, we should first kill their artillery, so that they can only fight with us with tanks. As you know, even the most advanced Tiger tank of German army is not the opponent of our new tank. It can be said that as long as we kill the German artillery, the battlefield will turn into a one-sided massacre, and our tankers can kill the German tanks one by one like shooting a target. "


    I was afraid that he would take the subject far away, so I interrupted him immediately: "well, comrade Colonel, let''s talk about how you killed the German artillery position first."


    Berey nodded, then began to talk about their fighting experience: "the German artillery may feel that their position is too far away from our position, so there is no infantry in charge of covering on the position. But when I found the enemy''s artillery position, I ordered all the tanks to form a battle formation and rush directly towards the enemy. In order to prevent the possible emergence of anti tank hand, each tank, are sitting on a few infantry.


    Only when we were more than 300 meters away from the artillery position did the enemy find us. It was too late for them to turn the cannons around. Our tanks fired as they drove, and the enemy''s artillery was scattered. Occasionally, a few cannons who are not afraid of death rush over with cluster grenades in an attempt to blow up our tanks, but they are all riddled with rifles. After rushing into the artillery position, we didn''t fire any more, instead, we used crawlers to crush the guns one by one. " When I heard what Colonel berey said, I could not help holding his hands on his forehead. I secretly scolded him as a black sheep. There were so many heavy guns in the enemy''s artillery position that we could equip our own troops if we captured them. But you''ve turned these cannons into scrap iron. It''s outrageous. My action was seen by bezikov. He asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with you? Have you had a headache?" When he heard me explain the whole story, he stamped his feet in anger. And the originator, Colonel bere, blushed with shame and was embarrassed to go on. Seeing this, I can''t blame him any more. I can only say politely, "forget it, comrade Colonel, don''t feel guilty. We still have a lot of time to fight with the German army. We can''t capture their cannons this time. We will capture them next time. " After I finished this sentence, I turned to look at Kravchenko, commander of the Fifth Army of the close guard tank, and said with a smile, "Comrade General, in the next battle, your army''s combat tasks will be very heavy."¡° General oshanina, "Kravchenko said to me with a smile," our army has been cooperating with you in the battle. My tank army and I are under your command. As long as it is needed on the battlefield, we will fight wherever you point. " I reached for his hand, shook it hard, and then said, "that''s great, Comrade General. Now I have a new battle plan, which can deal heavy damage to the German armored forces. But at present, the tank troops of our group army have suffered serious losses. If we want to fight alone, our strength is too poor, so we need your full cooperation. "

 Chapter 1158

    Kravchenko, listening to me, immediately stood up to attention and said solemnly, "general oshanina, I''m under your command. Please give me an order."


    Instead of directly explaining to him what tasks to carry out, I turned away from the topic and asked, "Comrade General, how many tanks, ammunition and fuel do you have left?"


    "After repair, the number of tanks that our army can use now is 136, of which only 21 are T-34, and the rest are new tanks." Kravchenko was very familiar with the situation of his troops. Listening to my question, he immediately said the data I wanted to know without hesitation: "there is still fuel. As for ammunition, as you know, the new tank uses a 100 mm smooth bore gun, which does not match the ammunition in the previous inventory. It must be replenished from the rear. "


    When I heard Kravchenko say that there were more than 100 tanks left, I was still ecstatic. When I heard that, my heart suddenly cooled. How can a new type of tank fight without supporting ammunition? Can''t our tank soldiers drive the tank to hit the German Tiger tank?


    I originally thought that if the German armored forces were going to advance to prohorovka, they would definitely find a place to camp in the middle of the night. Then I could gather the tanks of the 10th army of Colonel berey''s tanks and the 5th army of Kravchenko''s close guard tanks and launch a night attack on the German troops in the camp. In this way, even if we can''t annihilate the enemy completely, we can kill many of their tanks. But now my plan, because Kravchenko''s troops lack ammunition, has become a failure.


    I turned my head and asked berey, who was standing beside me, "Comrade Colonel, how many tanks do you have?"


    "After the battle, there are 28 tanks in the 101st brigade." "There are eight T-34 tanks, and the rest are new tanks," said Colonel berey. At present, the fuel of tanks is sufficient, but the number of shells is limited. All armour piercing bombs have been used up. At present, there are only three high explosive bombs per vehicle. "


    Hearing this, I turned around and asked bzikov, "chief of staff, are there any vehicles transporting materials recently?"


    "No With a bitter look on his face, bezikov replied: "perhaps the logistics department at a higher level thinks that only infantry and artillery are at war with the enemy recently, so the ammunition delivered to the front line is either shells or bullets for various kinds of guns. As for the tank shells, "he said with a shrug," there was not one. "


    "Call the logistics forces in Kursk immediately and tell them that we are in urgent need of a large number of supporting ammunition for new tanks. Let them organize a convoy to send it to me overnight." After I finished, I gave bzikov a gentle push on the shoulder: "hurry up and make a phone call, chief of staff. This can''t be delayed."


    "General oshanina," Kravchenko asked curiously, "may I ask what our army''s mission is?"


    "Comrade General, please come here." I took Kravchenko to the table, pointed to the map above, and said to him: "from the current situation, the next step of the German army is sure to focus on the dominant armored forces to rush to Prokhorovka. Although the troops currently stationed there are those of Lt. Gen. rotmistrov''s tank troops, the combat effectiveness of the tank group army is second to none in the grassland front army. If they stick to Prokhorovka, the Germans can not take advantage of it.


    My original plan was to gather all the tanks of your tank army and the 101st brigade of Colonel berey''s tanks to attack the German camp at night. Try to consume their strength in the field as much as possible. "


    Kravchenko looked at the map for a moment, nodded and said, "general oshanina, your plan is good. The German army will be exhausted after fighting in the daytime, and their resistance will be negligible in the face of our attack at night. But I don''t understand. Why did you give up this plan? "


    "No way, Comrade General." I looked at him and said with a bitter smile, "there are few tanks and artillery shells left in your army. If you want to deal with the enemy''s troops, you can roll them forward with full horsepower. But when you meet German tanks, not to mention Tiger tanks, even No. 3 and No. 4 tanks, you can''t deal with them. You can''t let your tankers drive their tanks against the enemy, can you? "


    While I was sighing, I suddenly heard Kravchenko say: "general oshanina, it''s impossible for hundreds of tanks to attack at the same time in a short time, because we don''t have so much ammunition. But if we only attack with small units, we can still guarantee enough ammunition. "


    Kravchenko''s words stunned me for a moment, and my heart said, is there an omnipotent treasure chest in his hand that can change anything we want? Thinking of this, I couldn''t help asking curiously: "Comrade General, I don''t know where you can find the necessary ammunition for the army?"


    The smiling Kravchenko listened to me, and his smile suddenly froze on his face. After a while, he said in a tearful voice: "general oshanina, although the shells of the new type of tank are limited, if we put all the shells together and give them to the tanks going out to carry out the mission, it will be more than enough."


    After listening to his explanation, I raised my hand and patted my forehead heavily, and I began to laugh sheepishly. Yes, put all the shells together and give them to some of the tanks to use, so as to ensure that every tank participating in the battle has enough shells to use. How can I not think of such a simple question.


    It''s amazing that Kravchenko''s tank army can solve the problem of ammunition by itself. What about Colonel berey''s tank army? Thinking of this, I specially asked berey: "Comrade Colonel, if you concentrate all the shells of the new tanks, how many tanks can you meet?"


    "One." Colonel berey put up a finger and gave me a chilling answer.


    I was deeply afraid that the shells of Kravchenko''s army were only enough for a few tanks, so I hesitated and asked, "Comrade General, how many tanks can your tank Army meet the needs of?"


    Kravchenko pointed his fingers for a while, then answered me: "report to general, our existing shells can meet the use standard of 19 tanks."


    Due to the shortage of ammunition, the total number of tanks that the two tank units can put into combat is only a handful of 20. I began to figure out in my heart what kind of threat these tanks could pose to the enemy in the night attack.


    Seeing me staring at the map in a daze, Danilov touched me with his elbow and asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, what are you thinking about?"


    "I''m thinking about how to use these tanks properly and disrupt the enemy''s attack line." I said casually: "only 20 tanks, the number is a little less, if they really encounter with the main German armored forces, they almost have no chance of successful escape."


    "Comrade commander, in fact, in addition to the new tanks, we have a lot of T-34 tanks." Colonel berey said to me with a smile: "the ammunition of these tanks can''t be used up even if they aim at the German camp all night."


    The speaker didn''t mean it, and the listener meant it. Bielei may have said it casually, but it''s a different thing in my ear. Yes, how can I just think about using new tanks and forget the T-34, who has made great achievements in the patriotic war. In real history, the Soviet army defeated the German army with the T-34. Although their casualty ratio is higher, they are the final winners.


    Thinking of this, I gave an order to berey: "Comrade Colonel, I decided to form a special armored unit with 21 t-34s and 19 new tanks from the Fifth Army of the close guard tank, 8 t-34s and one new tank from the 101st brigade of the tank. You will be the commander of this unit. Your task is to use the cover of night to attack the German camp. Try to kill as many German tanks as possible and weaken the enemy''s advantage in technology and equipment. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Colonel berey and I have been together for a long time, and they are very familiar with the tactics I like to use, so he continued: "if I don''t understand correctly, are you going to let my tank unit, like the guerrillas, attack the transportation line of ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^, So that weapons, ammunition, food and medicine can not be transported, and the wounded who are in urgent need of treatment can not be transported down. Comrade commander, is that right? "


    "Yes, that''s what it means." I raised my hand, patted Colonel berey on the shoulder and said happily, "as long as we harass the German army continuously, they will not be able to gather enough forces to attack Prokhorovka. In this way, you should know the final result of the battle, even if I don''t say it. "


    "I understand." Colonel berey replied, and then he asked me, "will all the tanks deployed in the oboyan area be brought back immediately?"


    At that time, I placed the tank troops of bere and Kravchenko and the close guard division in oboyan because the tank troops of katukov were entangled by the German troops, and only a few units of the mechanized Third Army could not hold oboyan. A few hours ago, I heard from vatukin that I was going to send a tank army to oboyan overnight. In this way, my troops would not have to stay there any more, so it would be sooner or later to transfer them back.


    After thinking about it, I said to berey, "Comrade Colonel, since oboyan is general katukov''s defense area, our tank troops and guard divisions stationed there will be transferred back sooner or later. You go and order the 101st brigade to withdraw first. As for general Kravchenko''s tank army and Colonel Chernoff''s close guard division, we will retreat when the reinforcements arrive at oboyan. "


    Danilov picked up the map on the table and asked me curiously, "Comrade commander, there are plains everywhere. Where do you think the German army will camp?"


    I''ve been running around a lot in recent months, and I know the terrain of the defense area like the back of my hand. I pointed to several possible camps and said, "I think the German camp should be at these points. Colonel berey can send scouts to conduct reconnaissance first, and once he knows the exact location of the German camp, he can launch a surprise attack. "


    "In the silent night, the roar of tank motors can be heard from afar." Danilov continued to worry: "if our tanks are found by the enemy in the process of attacking and receiving the enemy, and are intercepted by artillery fire, how should we deal with it?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, don''t worry about that." Colonel berey comforted Danilov and said: "although the roar of the tank''s motor is far away in the night than in the day, as long as it is more than two kilometers away, the other side can''t hear it. For the tanks, it took only a few minutes to reach a distance of two kilometers. In such a short period of time, before the German army had time to put their guns in place, our tanks would rush in front of them. "


    When Danilov heard the explanation from the professional, he nodded with relief and said, "if so, that would be great."¡° Well, comrade Colonel, you should first discuss with Kravchenko how to take over his tanks. " After waiting for berey and Kravchenko to discuss with each other, I asked bezikov, who had just finished the call: "chief of staff, what does the Logistics Department say? When can we get the shells we need?" Bezikov shook his head and said: "the logistics department said that the recent fighting was fierce, and the shells of the new tanks were consumed quickly. At present, the order they have received is to give priority to the supply of rokosovsky''s central front army, and we will not have new factory shells delivered here until at least the 10th. " When I heard that from bezikov, my teeth itched with anger, but there was nothing I could do. This logistics department is really aware that our tank troops here are equipped with so many new tanks, but they have to temporarily interrupt the supply of supporting ammunition. Isn''t this tantamount to making our tank troops lose combat effectiveness in disguise? But this matter, not to mention that vatukin can''t manage it. It''s estimated that even if Zhukov doesn''t speak, it must be said by the person in charge in Moscow. I sighed and said to bzikov helplessly, "forget it, chief of staff. Since the logistics department should give priority to supplying ammunition to the central front army, let them go. During this period of time, we can only temporarily reduce the use of tanks, or continue to rely on the existing perfect defense system, and use artillery and infantry to consume a lot of German forces. "¡° I see, comrade commander. " Bezikov sighed and said helplessly: "it seems that this is the only way. I hope the logistics department can restore the supply of ammunition to us as soon as possible, otherwise, our new tanks will become a pile of scrap iron. "

 Chapter 1159

    As the reinforcements mentioned by vatujing did not arrive at oboyan on time, the tank troops of Kravchenko and the guard division of Chernoff had to stay for another day before they withdrew to the headquarters of the group army. The original plan of the night attack had to be postponed.


    When Danilov heard that the tank unit under the command of Colonel berey couldn''t attack on time, he kept talking about it, as if the German army would have a big advantage in the battlefield if they attack one day later.


    Maybe he talked about it for too long, and everyone was a little numb. Kirilov was still absorbed in writing his application for award, while pofsky was studying how to adjust the position of artillery on the map. Bezikov took me aside and talked to me about the tank unit.


    He looked around and then casually asked, "Rita, I want to know how you plan to use Colonel berey''s tank unit?"


    Confused by his mindless question, I asked, "what do you want to say, Colonel, I don''t understand?"


    "I mean to ask you, are you going to let tank units only attack German camps at night?" "Don''t forget, it''s summer, and it''s only four or five hours of darkness every day," bzikov said thoughtfully


    "Tell me what you think." I know that he must have some ideas, otherwise he would not talk to me in private, and he also used the former kind of relatively intimate address to me, instead of calling me commander for business.


    "I think even in the daytime, our tank units can attack." Bezikov looked at me and said, "although the number of tanks is small, using them in any direction will disrupt the German deployment."


    "But Comrade Colonel, have you ever thought about it. If they are sent out in the daytime, how can air defense be guaranteed? " The reason why I didn''t let berey''s tank unit attack in the daytime was that the German aircraft had been over the battlefield for a long time than our aircraft¡° Although our tanks can defeat Tiger tanks, they can only be passively attacked in front of the German air force. "


    "Don''t you forget that we have a lot of self-propelled anti-aircraft guns." Bezikov reminded me with a smile: "don''t forget that this new type of dual barrel antiaircraft gun has a high percentage of hits against German planes."


    "I see, I see." When bezikov said that, I immediately understood his feelings. He wanted me to incorporate the self-propelled anti-aircraft guns into Colonel berey''s tank unit. Tank units with air defense capability can turn the battle into a one-sided massacre as long as they are not bombarded by German artillery.


    I called Colonel berey to the headquarters and told him about bezikov''s proposal. After hearing this, he patted his thigh and said yes, adding excitedly: "if we meet German infantry, we don''t need to fire at all. Let the tanks form a dense formation and crush the German troops directly, while the self-propelled anti-aircraft guns follow them and use the artillery fire to destroy the escaped German soldiers. "


    Colonel berey said this in a joking tone, but he didn''t expect that bzikov took it seriously. He even exaggerated his fantasy scene: "imagine the German convoy that was attacked, the truck full of soldiers was overturned, and the soldiers inside were thrown out. Our tanks swept the convoy like waves, knocked over trucks, rolled over trailers and carriages, crushed matchboxes, and crushed enemy soldiers and horses into mud. What an exciting scene it looks like. "


    After waiting for bzikov YY to finish, I said to Colonel berey with a smile, "Colonel, don''t listen to the chief of staff. He takes it for granted that there will be such exaggeration in war. However, he reminds me that your tank units, in addition to attacking German camps and harassing their transport lines, can focus on attacking the enemy''s car teams or trains to transport soldiers, which will consume a lot of their living strength and relieve the pressure on the front-line forces. "


    When bielei heard this, he raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he stood up from his seat and asked for my opinion: "Comrade commander, it''s ten o''clock in the morning. Can I start with the tank unit immediately?"


    "Where are you going?" I asked briefly.


    "I''m going to head for Yakovlev." When belay saw that I heard Yakovlev, he could not help frowning and quickly explained: "although the German army has heavy troops in that direction, our army has been scattered in that area. In the past, we could gather them and reorganize them into new forces."


    When Colonel berey said this, I immediately thought of major basmanov, the deputy head of the new regiment, and captain Rosenberg, the commander of the Third Battalion. After their defensive positions were broken through by the German army, their life and death remained unknown. The tank unit drove by, just in time to see if they were with the remnants of the army, and they were there to deal with the German army.


    It was out of this consideration that I readily agreed to Colonel berey''s request and told him: "chief of staff, you go to the Air Defense Corps and transfer six self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to Colonel berey''s command."


    Bezikov agreed. As he was about to leave, Danilov suddenly said, "Comrade commander, if self-propelled anti-aircraft guns are transferred from the air defense regiment, the air defense force of the group army headquarters will be weakened. Is that all right? "


    Regarding Danilov''s concerns, I said with a smile: "Comrade deputy commander, our headquarters had been bombed by the Germans and moved from the city to the forest. In such a large forest, it''s very difficult for German planes to find our specific location, so it''s a waste to leave the whole air defense regiment here. It''s better for them to dispatch some troops and follow Colonel berey to strike hard at the German people, isn''t it? "


    Danilov frowned and thought for a long time. Finally, he nodded reluctantly and said, "well, since the commander says so, let the air defense regiment transfer some forces to assist Colonel berey''s tank unit."


    It took the tank troops two hours to complete the assembly. After replenishing the fuel and ammunition, they drove along the simple road to Yakovlev to find the bad luck of the Germans.


    Listening to the roar of the tank motor, Danilov asked me thoughtfully, "Comrade commander, do you think that Colonel berey''s tank unit will achieve the results we expected?"


    Before I finished, bzikov said to Danilov with a smile, "what''s the matter with you, comrade deputy commander? Although the troops under the command of Colonel bere are only a tank unit in fate, they have 49 tanks and 6 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns. In fact, their combat effectiveness is even better than that of a tank army we are not satisfied with. As long as it''s not a direct confrontation with the German army, I can''t think of anyone who can block such a powerful armored force. "


    "Well, the tank unit will know when they report the results." I was deeply afraid that they would quarrel for a long time over this trivial matter, so I interrupted them and said to myself, "let''s study how to adjust the troop deployment of the group army to prepare for the counter offensive in the near future."


    Danilov wanted to talk to bzikov again, but when he heard me talking about the counterattack, his attention was immediately attracted. He asked repeatedly, "Comrade commander, have you got the counterattack order from the superior? Where will our troops fight back? "


    Looking at his anxious reaction, I couldn''t help laughing and explaining to him, "Comrade deputy commander, our counter offensive is still in preparation. As for when it will be officially launched, I don''t know, not even commander watujing. So you have to be patient and wait slowly. I don''t think you can wait long. "


    Colonel berey''s first report came back around two o''clock in the afternoon. He reported that they had successfully reached the highland where the Third Battalion of the former new regiment was stationed and defeated a company of German troops. When he sent people to the highland to search, he found that there were survivors in the tunnel of the collapsed entrance.


    When kirilov and I saw this information, our first reaction was that they were still alive. Kirilov called lophov over, and solemnly told him, "major, you should immediately send a telegram to Colonel berey, and ask him to immediately organize people to dig out the entrance of the tunnel and rescue the people inside."


    Soon after the telegram was sent, another telegram from Colonel berey arrived. He said in the telegram that according to the Scout''s report, a convoy of 20 trucks was heading north along the road, perhaps to replenish supplies for the front-line German troops. Apart from leaving some of his hands to continue digging the pit, the rest of the troops were led by him to attack the German convoy southward.


    When he heard that bere had led his troops to meet the enemy, kirilov stamped his feet in a hurry and said repeatedly, "if the entrance of the tunnel is blown down, there will be no oxygen in it. If the entrance can not be opened as soon as possible, the survivors inside will be suffocated because of the lack of oxygen. So is this Colonel berey. He doesn''t rescue our people first, but he runs to deal with a fleet that doesn''t matter


    When Danilov heard about this, he had a completely opposite reaction. He said strangely, "Comrade military commissar, I think Colonel berey has done nothing wrong. Our first task is to destroy the enemy. There are no undead people in war. You can''t miss the opportunity to destroy the enemy just to save a few commanders and fighters who don''t know if they can be saved. "


    After listening to kirilov''s and Danilov''s two completely different views, I found it very difficult to deal with them, because both of them have some truth. You can''t have both fish and bear''s paw. If we try our best to save people, we will miss the opportunity to destroy the enemy; It seems that it''s not quite right to devote major energy to destroying the enemy and put saving people behind.


    After thinking about it for a long time, I didn''t come up with a solution for both. I had to say vaguely, "OK, military commissar and deputy commander, don''t argue. Colonel berey is a commander in the front line. He is an excellent commander with more than ten or twenty years of military service. He knows how to make the right decisions according to the changes in the battlefield situation. "


    Another hour later, we waited for a third telegram from Colonel berey. He said the tank unit encountered a German supply convoy and there was no suspense about the battle. Seeing dozens of tanks coming fiercely, if they could turn around, the driver would turn around and run away. If they couldn''t turn around, they would obediently get out of the car and stand beside the car with their hands raised high, waiting to be captured.


    Kirilov obviously didn''t have the patience to listen to the results of the bere tank unit. Before lophov finished reading it, he couldn''t wait to ask, "are those officers and men trapped in the tunnel rescued?"


    When I heard kirilov''s question, I also stared nervously at lophov, for fear that he would say what everyone was worried about. He coughed, cleared his throat and went on to read: "twenty five officers and men were found in the tunnel, including major basmanov, chief of staff of the new regiment, and captain Rosenberg, commander of the Third Battalion. Although the entrance of the tunnel was blown down, fortunately, there were ventilation holes to provide oxygen for those trapped in the tunnel, otherwise they would have been suffocated. At present, the rescued officers and men have been sent to drive the captured trucks and escort the captured German officers and men to the headquarters. " When lophoff finished reading it, almost all of us took a long breath and congratulated our 25 commanders and fighters for their survival. Danilov immediately told bzikov: "Comrade chief of staff, please send troops to meet them immediately. We can''t let these comrades who have just escaped from the hand of death encounter any more accidents. " For Danilov''s proposal, bezikov immediately agreed. He immediately called the head of the guard, Yushchenko, and ordered him to send a company to meet basmanov''s motorcade. Basmanov''s safe escape made the stone hanging in our hearts fall to the ground completely. For the rest of the time, everyone was waiting impatiently for the new report from Colonel berey, while I was waiting for the latest news of the Allied landing in Sicily. In the evening another telegram came from Colonel berey. In the telegram, he said they had encountered a tank battalion of the 19th German tank division. After a fierce battle, all 28 tanks in the German tank battalion were destroyed without any prisoners. Five of our army''s T-34 tanks were destroyed, and another self-propelled anti-aircraft gun was seriously damaged, killing 9 people and injuring 11 people. Everyone is satisfied with the war loss ratio. Danilov also said: "Comrade commander, I didn''t expect that our tank unit could achieve such great results with such small casualties. I think we can organize more tank units to attack the German troops in various areas when the supplementary shells from the rear arrive, so that we can achieve greater results. "

 Chapter 1160

    "Comrade deputy commander, you are so optimistic." "Don''t you see the weakness of the belay tank unit?" said bzikov


    "Weakness, what weakness?" Danilov said blankly, "I think it''s a good fight like them. The German troops attacked by them can''t stop their assault without the cover of planes and artillery."


    Bezikov grabbed the map on the table, took it in his hand, went up to Danilov, pointed at it and said to him, "Comrade deputy commander, you see, Colonel bere''s troops can only operate in the defensive area of the group army. If they cross Yakovlev to the south, they will be unable to replenish fuel and ammunition, And was killed by German aircraft and artillery like a target. "


    Danilov took the map from bezikov''s hand, looked at it several times, shrunk his mouth, and said: "I thought that as long as we organize more such tank units, we can greatly weaken the strength of the German army. I didn''t expect that we would still be restricted by logistics. It''s a great joy."


    "Comrade deputy commander, you can''t say that." Seeing Danilov''s dejected face, I quickly picked up a telegram that I had just received and put it into his hand. At the same time, I comforted him and said, "from the situation of daytime reconnaissance, the German army originally planned to transfer the 19th armored division and another infantry division to prokholovka, but after being attacked by Colonel berey, the German army stopped moving, It''s still in place. "


    Danilov, listening to me, picked up the telegram, scanned the contents carefully and quickly twice, then breathed a sigh of relief and said, "in any case, Colonel berey, their action was very successful. At least some of the German forces were restrained, so that they could not concentrate their superior forces to attack a certain point in our defensive zone. "


    "At present, the German army has not gained any advantage in our defense area and has paid a great price." I said bitterly: "but they have succeeded in breaking up our defense line, putting the three guards in the first line of defense into a situation of fighting on their own, disrupting our original plan. At present, these three divisions can only reluctantly protect themselves, but can not launch an effective attack on the German army. "


    "What shall we do?" "If we don''t change the status quo as soon as possible, even if we start a major counterattack, it is estimated that the three close guard divisions in front of us, like the 62nd group army in Stalingrad''s wartime defense, will only be able to stick to the existing positions and rely on tenacious defense to consume the enemy''s effective strength," bezikov asked briefly


    "Comrade deputy commander," after hearing bzikov''s question, I turned to Danilov and asked him modestly, "do you have any good idea?"


    Danilov put the map in his hand on the table, shook his head and said in an affected deep voice, "it''s very difficult to put all our strength together. Unless... "


    "Except for what?" When Danilov wanted to show off, don''t zikov yelled, "Comrade deputy commander, you can say whatever you think. Don''t make us feel like this, OK?"


    "Come and see," Danilov called us to the table, pointed to the map and said to us, "Why are our three most advanced close guard divisions now in the situation of fighting on their own? It is because the troops are too weak that they are separated by the superior German forces."


    "Comrade deputy commander," kirilov, who was writing the report, put down his pen, looked into his head and asked tentatively, "if I am not mistaken, what you mean is that we should send living forces to strengthen these forces, strengthen their existing strength and restore all the positions lost in the first line of defense. Right? "


    After listening to kirilov''s analysis, I immediately turned to Danilov to see his reaction. Unexpectedly, he nodded his head and said, "yes, comrade military commissar, you are right. That''s what I mean." He turned to look at me and said, "Comrade commander, I still don''t understand that you have a complete guard division in your hand, but why don''t you put them into the battlefield?"


    "Now it''s just the primary stage of the campaign. We''ll put all our forces in. When we get to the later stage, we still have mobile forces that can be used?" What I didn''t tell them is that in a few days, the Soviet army will launch a comprehensive counter offensive. I don''t want to put the main force of the counterattack on the position to fight a war of attrition with the German army. Sometimes I know something that others don''t know, but I can''t say it. It''s very uncomfortable.


    After I finished, Danilov gave a scornful smile, and then asked in a sarcastic tone, "Comrade commander, may I ask you when we can use the mobile forces you said?"


    I thought about it, then I pointed out a finger to Danilov and said, "a week, a week later, no matter what the situation is on the battlefield, I will put all the guards who have not been used into the battle."


    "Well, since you say so, I believe you." Danilov said reluctantly: "during this period of time, I will fully cooperate with you to prevent the German army from further deepening our defense."


    We were talking when lophoff, who was standing by a telephone, called me: "Comrade commander, you have a call."


    I stopped talking to Danilov, went over to take the call from the major, and casually asked, "do you know who''s calling?"


    Lophov nodded and said with certainty: "it''s the phone call from tank lieutenant general rotmistrov, commander of the fifth group army of the close guard tank. He said that he has something important to discuss with you."


    When I heard the name of rotmistrov, I guessed that it would have something to do with the decisive battle of the tank. I quickly put the earphone to my ear and politely said, "Hello, general rotmistrov. I''m oshanina. Do you have any instructions?"


    "Comrade oshanina, how dare I give you any instructions? You know, we all have the same rank. I''m calling you today to ask for your help. "


    "If you have anything, please tell me, Comrade General."


    "Well, according to our reconnaissance, the German forces of the Hitler division, the imperial division and the skull division are gathering in the Prokhorovka area, and seem to be preparing for a large-scale tank battle with us." "Although we have more tanks than them, it doesn''t matter if we have a large-scale tank war with the German army because the tankers are not proficient in the control of the new tanks," he said


    "Comrade General, you can say whatever you want." When I heard that he had been circling around for a long time without talking about business, I interrupted him and said to him directly, "as long as I can help you, I will not refuse."


    "Really? That''s great. " Rotmistrov didn''t expect that I offered to help him when I didn''t know what he was going to say. He became excited immediately: "Comrade oshanina, my request is very simple. When our army and the German army launch a large-scale tank war, you can send a team to attack and harass the German camp where fuel and ammunition are stored. As long as the German logistics is cut off, no matter how many tanks they have, we will destroy them all in the end. "


    "Do you know the exact location of the German stockpile of fuel and ammunition?" I can''t wait to ask, because once we know the location of the German warehouse, our air force can make them suffer a lot even if the tanks can''t kill them. But first of all, we have to find out where the German warehouse is before we can take the next step.


    "I''m sorry, comrade oshanina." Rotmistrov said apologetically: "although we have sent people to carry out reconnaissance, we have never been able to find the enemy''s warehouse. So I can only ask you to provide us with the necessary help to harass the enemy''s rear so that they can not concentrate all their forces to launch a comprehensive attack on the prokholovka area. "


    After listening to him, I said solemnly, "well, comrade general, since you have made such a request, as your friend, I will certainly help you as much as I can."


    After putting down the phone, I pointed to Danilov and bezikov and said, "lieutenant general rotmistrov said on the phone that they may launch a large-scale tank battle with the German army in the near future and need our assistance."


    "But, comrade commander." Before I finished, Danilov interrupted me and said to himself, "the number of tanks we have is limited. It''s almost impossible to support general rotmistrov on the battlefield."


    "Comrade deputy commander, how can you say that?" As soon as his words were finished, bzikov glared back at him and said, "since general rotmistrov is our friend, how can we stand by while they are fighting with the German army? Even if the number of tanks is limited, we have to find a way to put together a tank force to reinforce them. "


    "Deputy commander, chief of staff, stop arguing." I saw that the two men had signs of quarreling, and quickly stopped them, saying: "general rotmistrov did not ask us to send tanks to fight with him, but hoped that when the tank war between them and the German army began, we would send troops to harass the oil depot and ammunition depot in the rear of the German army, so that there was no fuel in the tank and no shells in the bore of the German army''s tanks, Then they can easily take out all the German armored forces. "


    "So what should we do?" Danilov and bezikov asked in unison.


    Seeing the rare tacit understanding between the two men, I couldn''t help laughing and then said: "for the German warehouse for storing fuel and ammunition, whether we send tank troops to attack, or plane bombing and artillery bombardment in the future, the primary task at present is to find the specific location of the enemy warehouse. Otherwise, where can we find such a wide area? "


    "Yes, comrade commander, you are right." He grabbed the phone on the desk, turned to me before dialing and said, "I''m going to call captain travkin over and ask him to take people to carry out this task himself."


    Among many of my subordinates, Captain travkin is a person I value very much. I like to entrust him with many important reconnaissance tasks because I believe he has the ability to complete them. However, his performance was outstanding. He never failed to live up to my trust and successfully completed the task I assigned him every time.


    When he stood upright in front of me, I repeated general rotmistrov''s request, and then asked him, "Comrade captain, I''ll give you the task of looking for the enemy''s warehouse. But time is very tight. I can only give you two days. That is to say, you must finish the task before 0:00 on July 11. Can you do it? " After listening to my command, travkin frowned. After thinking for a long time, he nodded his head and replied firmly: "Comrade commander, please rest assured that I will complete the task you gave me within the specified time." Travkin''s answer made me feel at ease. Since he said that he could do it, I believe that he would certainly accomplish the task. I said to him with a smile, "since there is no problem, comrade captain, you should go back and make preparations. Bring two more radio stations to get in touch with the headquarters at any time. Remember, it''s very important for us to get information back even one minute earlier. Do you understand? "¡° Understand After a loud promise, travkin saluted me and turned out of the headquarters. After travkin left, Danilov asked curiously, "Comrade commander, how can we destroy the enemy''s warehouse after we find it?"¡° Comrade deputy commander, it''s very simple. There are two ways. " I held out two fingers to him and said, "first, let Colonel berey''s tank unit sneak into the enemy''s warehouse at night and destroy it with tank fire. The second way is to let bofsky''s artillery cover with rockets according to the coordinates provided by Captain travkin. I don''t believe that the German warehouse can survive under such artillery attack. "¡° It''s good, it''s good in both ways. " After hearing this, Danilov nodded in excitement and said, "if the German warehouse is not guarded by heavy troops, we will send tank units to sneak attack; If the defense is tight, use rockets for long-range attack. I don''t believe that even if the enemy''s heavy troops can block our ground attack, can they still block the rocket shells falling from the sky? "

 Chapter 1161

    I was always thinking about the Allied landing in Sicily and the attack on the German material warehouse. I stayed up all night. As soon as it was dawn, I got out of bed, simply washed and walked out of the headquarters alone.


    Bukov, who was on duty outside, met me as soon as he saw me coming out of the cabin and politely asked, "Comrade commander, where are you going?"


    I pointed forward casually and said, "I can''t sleep. Go ahead."


    Bukov was a little nervous when he heard that I was going to the forest. He quickly asked me, "do you want me to take some more guards with you?"


    "No, no," I waved to his kindness and said, "there are all our people around here. The Germans can''t get here. Don''t send guards with me." After that, I decided to move on, but seeing his worried face, I quickly added, "if you don''t feel at ease, you can walk with me."


    Seeing that I agreed to let him follow, his face immediately showed a smile. Before he left, he specially told a soldier standing guard at the door: "I''ll accompany the commander around. If someone asks about the whereabouts of the commander, you can report it truthfully."


    The soldier standing guard stood up and answered loudly, "yes!"


    Almost all the forests in Russia are primeval forests. It''s quiet from the outside, but it''s gloomy if you go not far inside. Fortunately, bukov came with me, otherwise I would have turned around and ran back to the headquarters. In order to divert my attention from fear, I deliberately asked bukov, "Comrade major, what are you going to do after the war?"


    When bukov heard my question, he just gave a faint smile and said, "Comrade commander, if I can live to the day of victory, then I plan to go back to the factory and continue to be my worker."


    Hearing his answer, I laughed and said, "don''t you plan to stay in the army?"


    He thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "after the war, maybe the army will be cut down, so that the veterans can go back to factories and collective farms to build and grow food, so that our country can quickly recover from the trauma of the war."


    I wanted to chat with him casually, but he talked with me in an official way after I had a chat, which made me lose interest in going on. So I stopped and turned back.


    Bukov came up again and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, are you going back now?"


    I nodded my approval and said casually, "Comrade major, I want to ask you a question."


    "Go ahead, comrade commander." He didn''t know why I said that, he said nervously¡° As long as I know, I will answer you truthfully. "


    "Major, if you were the commander of the German armored forces, where would you store all the fuel and ammunition the tanks need?" I was deeply afraid that he would promise me that he would store it in the camp, and specially stressed: "remember, these ammunition and fuel are not only for one armored division, but for three, four or even more armored divisions."


    As for my question, bukov only thought for a moment and then answered decisively, "Comrade commander, if I were a German commander, I would certainly set up a warehouse for storing fuel and ammunition in the forest near the camp."


    "Why?" Listening to his simple answer, my eyebrows went up, and I couldn''t wait to ask, "tell me your reason, why do you want to put the warehouse in the forest?"


    "The reason is simple." Bukov pointed to the forest behind him and said: "in the vast plain, building a warehouse for storing materials is not only a huge amount of work, but also easy to become the target of air force attack. Hiding in the dense forest can not only reduce the investment of human and material resources, but also have a good concealment effect. On the other hand, the area of the forest is large. If you are not familiar with the road, it is easy to get lost if you rush into it rashly. "


    "Reasonable, reasonable," I listened to bukov''s analysis. I could not help nodding. I had been worried that the German army would detect the reconnaissance troops searching the German warehouse on the open plain. I didn''t expect that, but unconsciously, I went into a misunderstanding, and even mistook the location of the enemy''s warehouse. I looked up at bukov with a smile and said gratefully, "thank you, comrade major. Your analysis is very reasonable."


    Walking into the headquarters, I saw Danilov, kirilov, and even akhromeyev, who just came back last night. Several people are around the table to discuss what, see me in the door will stop, collective eyes to me. Kirilov also asked with concern, "where have you been, Rita? We didn''t see you just now. We are going to send someone to look for you. "


    "I''ll just walk outside." I went to the table and asked them curiously, "what were you discussing when I came in?"


    Bezikov shrugged his shoulders and replied, "what else can we discuss, of course, is to study where the Germans will put their warehouses."


    "Have you found anything?" I asked with interest.


    Bezikov shook his head and said regretfully, "we have studied all the places where the German army may set up warehouses. However, according to the information we obtained from the headquarters of the front army, the air force has carried out reconnaissance on those areas, but we have not found any sign of German establishing warehouses."


    "Have you heard from captain travkin?" I am deeply afraid that during the period when I leave the headquarters, the reconnaissance team will have the latest information coming back, so I will ask before I give my inference.


    "No, there''s no intelligence from the reconnaissance unit." Akhromeyev interface said, "we have been in contact with captain travkin, but never contact."


    After listening to akhromeyev''s words, my heart tightened and I asked in a hurry: they won''t have any accidents, will they?


    "There should be no accident." Akhromeyev then said: "may have been in the March, the radio did not turn on, so temporarily unable to contact."


    After hearing from akhromeyev that nothing will happen to the reconnaissance team, I feel at ease. I waved my hand and said, "since the reconnaissance unit has no intelligence feedback, let''s analyze the possible location of the enemy''s warehouse first."


    As soon as my words came out, akhromeyev brightened his eyes and asked excitedly, "Comrade commander, do you know where the enemy''s warehouse is?"


    "I''m not sure," I said, pointing to prohorovka''s position. "This is the great plain, with only a few hills. It takes a lot of manpower and material resources for the German to build such a large warehouse here. But judging from the current situation, they simply can''t spare so many people to build such a warehouse. In addition to the large area of the warehouse that can supply several armored divisions with fuel and ammunition at the same time, air defense is also very important, because it is impossible for the Germans to set up anti-aircraft gun positions around the warehouse to prevent attacks by our air force. "


    "Don''t beat around the Bush, comrade commander. Tell us where the enemy''s warehouse may be." Don''t be impatient, zikov interrupted me impatiently before I finished, and urged: "let''s start the deployment as soon as possible."


    I looked at the map carefully for a while, and found that there was a large forest on the west side of prohorovka. So I pointed at this position twice with my finger, and said with a smile, "please see, this is a primeval forest. Do you think the Germans will set their warehouses in this forest?"


    After staring at the map for a long time, Danilov slapped the table and exclaimed excitedly, "Gee, why didn''t I expect to be here?" Then he pointed to the map and said, "as we all know, the forest in summer is cold and humid, which is the most suitable for storing fuel and so on. There is no need to worry about fire, but it can also play a very good role in concealment."


    Akhromeyev then said: "although the enemy''s warehouse may be very large in the forest, how can we find a specific location in such a large forest?"


    "Major akhromeyev," I said, looking at my chief of operations, "when we get in touch with captain travkin, let him know what we think, and let them focus on finding the enemy''s warehouse near the forest. No matter how camouflaged the enemy may be, it is necessary to build roads for vehicles to transport fuel and ammunition from the rear to the warehouses and then to distribute them to the troops. "


    At the end of my speech, kirilov suddenly broke in and said, "Rita, should we consider the possibility that the Germans don''t want to build warehouses in prohorovka at all, but transport fuel and ammunition directly from the rear to the various units?"


    Kirilov''s words sound very reasonable, but I thought for a moment, and immediately retorted: "Comrade military commissar, although the German air force often appears in the sky over Kursk, they can not guarantee the smooth transportation line, because apart from our air force, there are also three close guard divisions that are still in the first line of defense. Although they have no ability to drive the enemy away from the area they now occupy, it is not very difficult for them to harass and cut off the enemy''s transportation line for a short time. I think Manstein will certainly consider this issue. In order to prevent their troops from being cut off in the front, he must try to build a warehouse large enough in the prokholovka area. "


    "Yes, I think Comrade commander is quite right." Akhromeyev added: "the reason why we lost to Manstein in the battle of Kharkov a few months ago, when the troops were dominant, was because our troops were too far away from the logistics supply area to replenish the weapons and ammunition consumed in the battle in time." At this point, he gritted his teeth and said, "now it''s finally our turn to deal with them in the same way."


    "After the location of the enemy''s warehouse is determined, how can we eliminate them?" Danilov asked cautiously.


    "As long as you know the exact location of the enemy''s warehouse, there are many ways to eliminate it." In my mind, there are innumerable ways to deal with the enemy''s warehouse, so I took this opportunity to say: "we can send air force to bomb, we can send bielei''s tank unit to long-range raid, and we can also use our rockets to cover there."


    "Yes, there are many ways to destroy enemy warehouses." Bezikov also echoed: "but our first task now is to determine where the enemy''s warehouse is."


    "Where is colonel berey''s tank unit now?" Although I said that air force and artillery could be used to attack the enemy''s warehouse, I could not grasp the accurate results in time. Therefore, I still prefer to send tank units to complete this task.


    "Colonel berey''s tank unit is here," bezikov said, pointing to a small town southeast of oboyan. "Their fuel consumption is almost the same. There happens to be one of our oil bases here, so they drove through the night. They should be refuelling at the moment."¡° What about the ammunition? " The problem of fuel is not big. As long as we are in our defense area, we can still find supply points. However, the supporting shells of new tanks can not be replenished in a short time, which makes me headache. Akhromeyev shook his head and replied, "our superiors still haven''t sent us any new shells. At present, there are only five shells per new tank in Colonel berey''s tank team. However, the ammunition of T-34 is still quite sufficient... "Although akhromeyev didn''t finish his words, I heard the implication of his words. He meant that if the shells of the new tank can''t arrive in time, we might as well use the existing T-34 tank to continue the enemy''s attack mission. I waved my hand and said with regret, "Comrade major, don''t you know that German Tiger tanks can easily kill our T-34? Let T-34 tanks form a unit to harass the enemy. Once they are entangled by Tiger tanks, the whole army will be destroyed. In the present situation, we must not take such a risk. "¡° Comrade commander, what shall we do? " Akhromeyev said with a worried face: "you know, in Colonel bere''s tank unit, the proportion of new tanks is relatively high. If the shells are finished, we can''t let these tanks run into German tanks at full power, can we Just when akhromeyev''s words put me in a dilemma, Danilov stood up and helped me out: "well, comrade commander, I''ll personally call commander vatujing, tell him our situation here, and ask him to find a way to ask the logistics forces to send us a batch of new tank shells. Do you think so? " I didn''t expect that Danilov, who always disagreed with me, would stand up and support me at such a time. I went up and took his hands, shook them hard and said gratefully, "thank you, comrade deputy commander. If we can succeed in destroying the German warehouse, you will have a lot of credit

 Chapter 1162

    When Danilov was on the phone in the corner, I vaguely heard him saying such words as "I beg you... Please...", but I didn''t listen carefully. After all, he and vatujing were old friends for many years, and what he said was better than what I said.


    Sure enough, when he put down the phone, his face showed a proud expression. He came to me excitedly and said, "Comrade commander, I have made an agreement with general watujing that he will let the transport team transport us a batch of new tank shells overnight."


    "Where do you send them?" Asked bzikov curiously.


    "Colonel berey, of course, where they are stationed." Danilov picked up the red and blue pencils on the table, nodded next to o''boyan, and said strangely, "how long will it take for the transport team to transport the shells here and then to the town? Send the shells to the tank units in berey one minute earlier, and they will be able to resume harassment of the German rear and transport lines one minute earlier. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, did the senior general say when the shells will arrive?" I was particularly worried at the thought that berey''s tank unit had to stop harassing the German army because there were no shells.


    Danilov replied casually, "the shells can''t be delivered until after seven at the earliest."


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I found that it was still early, so I turned the topic back to the topic under discussion: "let''s discuss how to use the guards in my hand, so that they can play a role in the next battle of prohorovka."


    Because Danilov had just called, he didn''t hear what we discussed earlier, so when he heard what I said, he immediately couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade commander, are you going to transfer our reserve team to reinforce the fifth group of close guard tanks?"


    "It''s support, not reinforcement!" Bezikov corrected the other side verbally: "Comrade commander''s meaning is to let these two guard divisions send small teams to carry out uninterrupted attacks on the enemy approaching Prokhorovka."


    "I don''t understand," Danilov said with a blank face. "In the open plains, our small units, once discovered by the German army, can be killed like hunting if they send a few armored vehicles."


    After listening to this, bizikov showed a smile on his face. He turned to look at me and said, "Comrade commander, I''d like to help you with your plan. Let''s talk about it well."


    I nodded and said what I thought: "I plan to send a few small teams from the 71st and 77th divisions of the guards to harass the German camp by motorcycles, mortars, explosive packs and mines."


    "Can you be more specific?" Danilov then said, "you know, I haven''t been with you for a long time, and I''m not familiar with your new playing methods."


    "It''s very simple to plant explosives and mines on the main roads near the German camp and block their traffic lines." I was deeply afraid that Danilov could not understand, so I gave him a detailed explanation: "when the German army was eating or sleeping, our team used mortars to attack, which made the German people unable to eat well and sleep soundly. Every day, they were in fear. I think as long as it lasts for three to five days, the German army will have little energy to launch a large-scale attack


    As for what I said, Danilov thought about it, then nodded with a smile and said, "Comrade commander, don''t mention it. Your methods are good. Explosive packs and mines make the enemy''s lines of communication unsafe; The mortars left the German soldiers in a state of physical and mental exhaustion. In addition, small teams are all riding motorcycles. Even if they are found by the enemy, as long as they run with full power, they can still escape from the enemy''s clutches. "


    Seeing that everyone agreed with my proposal, I ordered akhromeyev to draw up an order and send it to the 71st and 77th divisions of the guards, so that they could immediately form a small team and begin to harass the German army, so that they could not stop, so that they could not concentrate all their forces to launch the attack on Prokhorovka.


    Then I asked bzikov, "chief of staff, the 51st, 52nd and 67th divisions of the guards, do you have the latest war reports?"


    "Major, do you have any new telegrams?" Bezikov immediately turned to communications director lophov: "it''s better to have information from the three divisions of the first line of defense."


    "Yes, chief of staff." Lophov came over, handed a telegram to bezikov, and said, "this is the telegram just sent by the 51st division of the guards. In the early hours of the morning, they made a sneak attack on a German camp, destroyed two tanks and five armored vehicles, killed and injured more than 60 German soldiers, and seized a number of guns and ammunition. "


    After the telegram passed through several of us, Danilov said with some surprise: "I thought general tavartkiraze would not be able to hold out when they were surrounded by the German army. I didn''t expect that they would take advantage of the night to launch an attack on the enemy. It''s really surprising. "


    "Comrade deputy commander," kirilov said to him with a smile, "it''s all due to Rita. In the past, when our troops held their positions, they had only one purpose. Even if there was only one person left, they would never step back. When the enemy attacks, we fight them bravely; When the enemy doesn''t come, we feel lucky, because we can get precious rest time. But after Rita took the post of commander, the tactics changed imperceptibly.


    When the enemy attacks, our commanders and fighters will no longer be purely defensive. They will even carry out partial counterattack under favorable conditions. And when the enemy does not attack, we will not hide in the trenches to be lazy. Instead, we will take the initiative to look for fighters and attack the weak areas of the German army. "


    Regarding kirilov''s remarks, Danilov nodded in agreement and said in agreement: "yes, comrade military commissar, since I became deputy of Comrade oshanina, I have found that the army has changed a lot. At least in the face of the fierce German attack, our defense seems to be more effective. At first, I thought that the combat effectiveness of the German army was weakened and that of our army became stronger, but now it seems that the change in tactical thinking may have brought about this gratifying change. " Speaking of this, he turned to look at me, "I believe the small team''s attack, can also achieve quite brilliant results."


    Perhaps the German army, in order to concentrate its forces to capture prohorovka, correspondingly weakened its offensive in our defense area. Except for the telegrams sent by the 52nd and 67th divisions of the guards, which said that there had been a company level exchange of fire with the German army, the rest of the area was calm.


    When I saw that there was nothing wrong in the headquarters, I said hello to Danilov and kirilov, and took basmanov, the newly appointed commander of the security battalion, to the town where the tank unit of Colonel berey was located.


    After our jeep entered the town, the car was almost driven to the center of the town. There was no one. It was as quiet as a dead town. The only sound we could hear was the roar of the motor.


    Basmanov, who was sitting in the front row, turned around in his seat and said warily, "Comrade commander, why is there no one in the town? Are they all transferred, Colonel berey


    I shook my head and told the driver to drive on, trying to find someone to inquire about the town. But we were disappointed soon, because the car was about to leave the town, and we still didn''t see a person.


    Just when we were disappointed, suddenly two people in tank uniform jumped out of the window of the building on the side of the road, waving their hands at us and beckoning us to stop. Seeing the sudden appearance of tank soldiers, basmanov instinctively aimed his assault rifle at them.


    "Wait a minute, comrade major." I saw that the tank soldiers outside were wearing our army''s uniform. I was afraid that basmanov would shoot off on impulse and quickly stopped him: "it''s like our own people. Go and ask what part they belong to."


    Basmanov nodded, pushed the door open and walked over with his rifle. When I saw him talking to each other for a few words, I suddenly turned around and ran back. I put half of his body into the car and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, they are the subordinates of Colonel berey."


    "Major, did you ask them why there is no one in town?" I''ve always been obsessed with the fact that there''s no one in town, so I''m trying to figure it out.


    Basmanov nodded and replied, "I asked. They said the road in the town is too narrow. Don''t worry about the tanks stopping here. If they are found by German bombers, they will be blown up. So now they are all moved to the forest outside the town."


    When I heard basmanov say that, I quickly pushed the door to get out of the car and asked the tank soldiers who were not far away: "Hello, comrade tank soldiers, how far is it from where you park your tanks?"


    After they saw the rank on my shoulder, they said in unison, "Comrade commander, walk westward from here. It''s five minutes at most."


    I looked at the submachine guns on their shoulders and asked curiously, "what are you two doing here?"


    "Well, comrade commander." A soldier immediately reported to me: "as our tanks are hidden outside the town, the colonel is worried that the convoy carrying ammunition will not find our position when it comes. So we were ordered to stay in town and be responsible for guiding the transportation team


    The driver drove along the road indicated by the tank soldiers for less than two minutes, and then came to the position where the tank was parked. When I saw the tanks neatly arranged and covered with camouflage nets by the edge of the forest, I nodded with satisfaction, and said to berey, "Comrade Colonel, you are very considerate. The tanks here, not only convenient for you to attack, but also can play a very good role in concealment


    After he raised his hand to salute me, berey asked me in the first sentence: "Comrade commander, how did you come here? Don''t you know it''s still dangerous here? "


    I replied with a smile, "Colonel, since you are not afraid of danger, I as a commander can not be afraid of danger any more."


    After listening to me, Colonel berey shook his head with a wry smile, and then asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t know when the transport team will be able to deliver the shells to us?"


    I was a little puzzled and asked, "didn''t the telegram you received indicate the arrival time of the transport team?" Seeing him shake his head blankly on his face, I will not go into this problem any more.


    I silently counted the tanks, and found that there were only less than 20, and all of them were new-type tanks. I couldn''t help asking strangely, "Comrade Colonel, can you tell me where the rest of the tanks have gone?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Seeing that my face was very serious, Colonel berey quickly explained, "although our new tank has almost run out of shells, the T-34 tank has enough ammunition. After discussing with several deputies, I felt that we could not stay here foolishly and wait for the transport team to send us ammunition, so all the T-34 tanks formed a new unit to attack the German transport line. "


    When I heard that the tanks that were not there were fighting, not being destroyed, my heart immediately became more secure. I asked casually, "do you have any feedback?"¡° Yes, "Colonel berey replied with a smile," they found a German troop convoy about 20 kilometers away from here. Because the enemy didn''t have any heavy weapons, they couldn''t fight back at all under our attack. After a short battle, more than 20 trucks were destroyed, and about 200 German soldiers were killed and wounded. "¡° Yes, that''s a good result, comrade colonel I happily said to Colonel berey, "if you continue to destroy their convoys of transportation materials and soldiers in this way, the enemy in the depth of our army will be consumed by our army because of lack of supplies." After these words, it suddenly occurred to me that during the Moscow defense war, bezikov and I were attacked by German tanks on our way back to Moscow to escort Stalin''s double. It was because there were no anti tank weapons. As a result, except for the two of us who got out of danger, all the other officers and men who served as escorts died. Even Stalin''s substitute died because of his serious injuries, which nearly killed me and bezikov. Thinking of this old thing, I solemnly told bielei: "Comrade Colonel, you have a large number of tanks. If you only operate in one area, you can be in a stable position for the time being, but your achievements are still limited. I suggest that you divide the tank unit into two parts after completing the ammunition supply, and at the same time, attack the enemy''s transportation line continuously from different areas. In this way, the German lifeline will be completely cut off by us. Do you understand? "

 Chapter 1163

    After I had said this, I suddenly found that I was sending travkin to search for the German warehouse, which seemed a bit superfluous. Whether they can find it or not, even if they do, whether it''s tank troops or long-range artillery bombardment, it will lead to serious forest fires. In fact, as Danilov said, if we can send more such tanks to attack the German logistics supply lines from multiple locations, their front-line troops will soon be in an embarrassing situation because of the depletion of ammunition and supplies.


    Why Zhao Kuo lost to Bai Qi was not because he thought that the grain route was cut off by the Qin army; The reason why Yuan Shao was defeated in Guandu meeting was that Cao Cao burned the grain and grass he had accumulated in WuChao; The fact that Hong Chengchou''s 130000 troops were annihilated in Songshan had something to do with their food supply being cut off. The ancient and modern war cases made me understand that as long as the German logistics was completely cut off by me, they would not be far away from the day of defeat.


    While I was thinking wildly, I heard bielei ask: "Comrade commander, we have individual tanks that have started to break down frequently. In order to avoid lying down in battle, it is necessary to carry out maintenance. I want to ask, when will the tank repair station you mentioned be established? "


    "Don''t worry, comrade colonel." I remember that vatujing said last time that in order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the fifth group army of close guard tanks, we plan to open a number of tank maintenance stations in Prokhorovka, and we will also set up several in our defense area. But in the past two days, there was no following. I don''t know if it was watujing who forgot us, or when he applied to his superior, he was rejected by his superior? But don''t ask about it now. I can only give him a hard assurance: "in two days at most, we can set up several tank maintenance stations in our defense area."


    Captain berey gave a hum and turned his attention to basmanov next to me. He said curiously, "Comrade major, after you were rescued that day, I haven''t had time to ask you, how did you survive in the tunnel with the entrance collapsed by the explosion?"


    If ray didn''t ask me that, I would have forgotten it. At this moment, listening to his old story again aroused my interest. I hastened to urge busmanov: "tell me, comrade major, what''s the matter?"


    "Well, after the tunnel on the position was repaired, I found that only the position close to the tunnel mouth could breathe normally; And the more you go to the middle, the more you feel that you can''t breathe. In order to avoid suffocation caused by too many people in the tunnel, I asked the soldiers to dig a few hidden vents in other places. " Basmanov said without hesitation: "when our tunnel collapsed, it was this vent that prevented us from suffocating due to lack of oxygen."


    Although busmanov was telling his own story, I felt a sense of uncertainty in my heart. In the first line of defense, there are tunnels and Fortifications on several highlands we lost, but why can''t we keep them? Is it because of the lack of oxygen in the middle of the tunnel, so the commanders and fighters squatted at the entrance of the tunnel to fight, but did not really give full play to the advantages of the tunnel? No, I''ll call all the teachers and ask about the specific situation when I get back later.


    At this moment, I suddenly heard basmanov shouting excitedly: "Comrade commander, look at the motorcade, there is a motorcade coming towards us!" I looked in the direction of his fingers and saw a convoy of five or six trucks coming unsteadily along the rough dirt road outside the town. Seeing the two tankers leading the way ahead, I knew it was Colonel berey. They were looking forward to the stars and the moon. The tank shells that had been waiting for several days had arrived.


    The truck stopped more than ten meters away from us. After the door was opened, I saw the driver jumping out of the bridge, and my face suddenly showed a smile. I walked quickly towards him, and at the same time, I reached out my hand and said in a friendly way, "Hello, Lieutenant morochov. Nice to meet you here."


    Lieutenant morodrov first raised his hand to salute me, and then shook my hand. I looked at the few trucks scattered behind him and asked with a smile, "Comrade lieutenant, how come there are only a few trucks to transport materials today? What about other vehicles?"


    It turned out that morochov, who was still smiling, suddenly froze on his face when he heard my words. After a while, he looked back at the truck behind him and said in a low voice, "Comrade General, now there are only a few trucks left in my team. The rest are lost in the process of transportation."


    Before, I never thought about how my weapons, ammunition and various materials were transported to the front line. Since I got to know this lieutenant morochov, I finally got to know something about it. Without the selfless dedication of these transporters, it is estimated that the front-line commanders and fighters will have to fight bayonets with the Germans on an empty stomach.


    I saw that the tank soldiers under berey surrounded and helped the transporters behind with all their hands to move the boxes of tank shells from the carriage. He quickly pulled morodrov aside and said to him in a low voice, "Comrade lieutenant, if you want to change places, just tell me, and I''ll get you from the logistics department."


    "Thank you, Comrade General. Although I wanted to leave the transport team and go to the field army to work with the Germans, after such a long time, I found that I like this profession very much, so I still intend to stay as a transport soldier. "


    After hearing what he said, I understood that it was very difficult to persuade him under the current situation, so I nodded and said, "Comrade lieutenant, since you have decided to stay in the transport team, I respect your choice. If one day you change your mind, you can still come to me at any time and keep a suitable position for you in my army. "


    "Thank you, thank you, Comrade General." Molochov took my hand and said gratefully, "I will remember your kindness."


    Looking at the tank soldiers and their subordinates who were busy carrying ammunition, molochov suddenly said, "Comrade General, I almost forgot to tell you something."


    "What''s the matter?" I guess what he''s going to say must be very important, so I can''t wait to ask.


    "According to the plan, we should have transported a batch of equipment from the tank maintenance station to the nearby area today. But when loading, I suddenly received an order from the superior, saying that you are in urgent need of a batch of tank shells here. Let''s give priority to transportation. " Seeing that my attention was attracted by his words, he added, "if you are in urgent need of this batch of equipment, as soon as the shells are unloaded, I will take people back to load them, and they will be delivered tomorrow morning."


    "Comrade Colonel, please come here." As soon as I finished listening to the words of morochov, I called Brey, repeated what morochov said to him, and then told him: "let your men speed up the unloading speed, so that the lieutenant can go back to the repair station earlier to transfer the equipment."


    "All right." Bielei agreed, then turned and walked back to the truck, and said to the tank soldiers in a loud voice: "comrades, don''t rush to move the shells to your own tank, first unload the shell boxes on the car and pile them beside, so that our brothers in the transport team can go back early."


    At the command of their commander, the tankers put the ammunition boxes on the ground, which they were carrying on their shoulders and were about to move back to the tank. Then they turned and ran back to the truck to help the transporters in the carriage unload the ammunition. As a result, the overall unloading speed is much faster.


    I didn''t take the bus back to the headquarters of the group army until they finished unloading the goods and headed for Kursk. The first thing I did when I came back to the headquarters was to order akhromeyev to call the commanders of each division to learn about the actual situation of the tunnel, so as to make corresponding countermeasures.


    After an hour, the information collected by akhromeyev was placed in front of me. After reading it, I was very depressed. I didn''t expect that most of the tunnels in the position really existed the situation that basmanov said. No wonder the German army didn''t make much effort to capture such a position.


    Akhromeyev also explained to me: "Comrade commander, because of the poor ventilation in these areas, there is a lack of oxygen in the middle section. Therefore, our commanders and fighters stay close to the entrance of the cave in order to save trouble. This is contrary to the original purpose of tunnel works. I think it is time for the divisions to rectify the tunnels, add air vents and improve the defensive effect of the tunnels. "


    "Comrade major." Kirilov, who was sitting next to him, continued: "it''s better to look in the army to see if there are soldiers who have been miners. When it comes to designing tunnels and improving defense measures, it''s still up to these experienced soldiers."


    Akhromeyev wrote down kirilov''s words one by one in his notebook, then looked at me and asked, "do you need to convey this order immediately?"


    "Yes, comrade major." I said decisively, "immediately send the order to each division, and order them to improve the tunnel works overnight. If two days later, there are still the same security risks, I will be severely punished. Go and send the news


    After the task of improving the tunnel was arranged, bizikov came over and reported to me with a smile: "Comrade commander, I have good news for you. The superior has decided to set up five tank maintenance stations in our defense area first, and the remaining maintenance stations will be set up one after another."


    Hearing that bezikov was about to set up a tank maintenance station, I grabbed his arm and asked excitedly, "Comrade chief of staff, where are the maintenance stations in the first row?"


    Bezikov gently broke away from me, pulled the map on the desk a little closer to me, drew five triangles with the red end of a red blue pencil at different positions on it, then threw the pen aside, looked at me and said, "in these places, one of the maintenance stations is only a few hundred meters away from our headquarters. Do you think it''s necessary for them to adjust their positions to other places? "


    "No, no," I said with a wave of hands, "since it''s the location selected by the superior, let them set up here, so as not to embarrass the comrades in the maintenance station."


    "Well," bezikov said happily after hearing that I agreed to set up the tank maintenance station, "in this way, we can go to see how the workers repair tanks when we have time."


    The next morning, I was awakened by the roar of tanks outside. Angrily, I got up from the bed, lifted the curtain from the window and looked out.


    I saw an armored tractor towing a damaged T-34 tank towards the maintenance station in the distance. The more I look at the tractor, the more familiar I feel. When I think about it carefully, I suddenly think that it was the base of the German Tiger tank. I don''t know who converted it into an armored tractor.


    I dressed, washed and walked out of the room. Call on two guards and walk towards the maintenance station. When I entered the maintenance station, I saw several workers and technicians working around the damaged tank. As soon as I passed by, a man in blue cloth overalls came up and said hello to me: "Hello, comrade general, I''m the station master Koski here. What can I do for you?" I pointed to the German Tiger Tank tractor behind him and asked, "what''s the matter with this tractor? You know, we have lost a lot of technology and equipment, but instead of repairing damaged tanks to equip our troops, you have changed them into armored tractors to pull those damaged tanks on the battlefield As for my query, Kosky said quickly: "Comrade General, the comrade driving this tractor is not here now. If you are interested, you can wait for a moment and let him explain to you why he wants to transform the damaged German tanks into armored tractors. " In fact, I didn''t come here for the purpose of asking a guilty teacher. I just felt curious. Anyway, it''s ok now. Just wait here for the driver and find out what''s going on. After a while, a lame young man came to us. Seeing several of us standing by the tractor, he couldn''t help shouting: "Hello, comrade stationmaster, what are you doing standing by my tractor?"¡° Hello, Yoda. Where have you been? " The stationmaster said in a reproachful tone, "this general has something to look for you. Who knows you''ve been wandering for so long before you come back." The young man came up to me, raised his hand to salute me, and politely asked, "Comrade General, do you have any instructions?"¡° Have you ever been a soldier Although he was wearing work clothes, I saw that his salute was very standard, so I asked curiously¡° Yes, comrade general, "yorda replied briefly," I used to be a tank soldier. "

 Chapter 1164

    When I heard that the other side had been a tank soldier, I casually asked, "which army were you in before?"


    "I''m a subordinate of general rebalko," said yorda, who was a little lame, but did not affect his good posture. "My tank was hit by German artillery when attacking Kharkov. It was my conductor who risked his life to rescue me from the car and helped me escape to a safe place. But my leg was so badly injured that I was disabled, so I was demobilized. "


    "Comrade youerda, you are good." After I praised him in an official voice, I asked curiously, "I want to ask you why this destroyed German tank was not repaired, but transformed into an armored tractor?"


    Youerda didn''t answer my question immediately. Instead, he took out a small book from his pocket and handed it to me. He said without expression, "Comrade General, please have a look."


    I opened the small book he handed me. It was like a running account, recording what type of tank was towed back at a certain place in a certain month and a certain year. I didn''t read it carefully. I just looked through it and found that it was full of similar contents. I closed the book and handed it back to him. At the same time, I couldn''t help but ask more curiously, "Comrade youerda, do you want to show me this book?"


    "Comrade General, don''t you understand?" "It records the number of damaged tanks I pulled back on the battlefield," he said


    I vaguely guessed what he wanted to say, and deliberately teased him, saying: "I see clearly, the number of tanks you pulled back from the battlefield is really quite a lot, almost forming a tank brigade. But what does this have to do with your transformation of German tanks into armored tractors? "


    "General, don''t you know that if we don''t pull our tank back in time after it is damaged, and let it stay on the battlefield to be attacked by the enemy''s shells, it will cause us great losses, because it will be difficult to repair it later, or it will take a long time to repair it."


    The tank maintenance workers didn''t know when they gathered around us. After hearing yorda''s explanation, they couldn''t help laughing. After listening to your laughter, I looked at youerda and said with a smile, "Comrade youerda, can you explain it more comprehensively? If I think you have a point, then I will allow you to leave this tractor, otherwise, it will have to be repaired and used to equip our tank forces. "


    Youerda continued to stand upright in front of me. After I finished, he calculated a sum of money to me to prove how many more tanks can be added to our army to fight again, although one tank has been repaired less. He also explained to me with detailed data the flexibility and cross-country ability of the base of the tank used as a tractor. He even gave an example to illustrate that other maintenance teams suffered a lot of casualties because they used tractor tractors to tow tanks on the battlefield. Many excellent repairmen were sacrificed in vain, but he was not damaged in this armored tractor.


    After he said that, seeing that I didn''t express any opinions, he specially stressed: "Comrade General, it''s by this heavy armored and powerful tractor that I successfully sent 21 heavy tanks and 39 medium tanks to the repair site after they lost their combat effectiveness, and enabled them to return to the battlefield in the shortest time."


    I waited for him to finish, glanced at the two medals hanging on his left chest, and asked, "Comrade youerda, have you been rewarded?"


    "Yes." When he spoke, he pointed to the medal on his chest and said to me, "these two medals are the encouragement of my superiors for my achievements."


    I nodded and said to him, "Comrade youerda, there will be a big battle soon. If you can bring more tanks back from the battlefield in battle, I will give you another medal. "


    I thought youerda would be at a loss when he heard this. Who knows, he said with a light expression: "Comrade General, I don''t need any medals."


    "Why?" His answer, let my chin almost hit the ground. In the Soviet Union, a country proud of being honored, some people would take the initiative to refuse such honor, so I was surprised and asked, "Comrade youerda, can you give me your reasons?"


    Youerda looked at the modified armored tractor beside him and said firmly, "Comrade General, I don''t need any medals. I just hope you can agree to let me keep this tractor."


    I laughed at his request and said, "well, comrade youerda, since you insist, I will agree to your request. If anyone else asks about it in the future, you can say that this armored tractor was approved by general oshanina to stay. "


    This matter may be of great significance to youerda, but it is of no importance to me. As soon as I got back to the headquarters, bzikov met me and asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, where have you been? We are looking for you everywhere."


    When I heard bzikov''s voice, I guessed that something must have happened, and asked with concern, "chief of staff, what''s the matter?"


    Bezikov handed me a piece of paper in his hand and said, "look at it for yourself. A small German army occupied a small village a few kilometers away from us. "


    After reading the contents of the piece of paper he handed me, I found that there was no more detailed information except to report that the German army had occupied the village. Then I asked, "how many troops do the enemy have and what kind of equipment do they have?"


    Bezikov shook his head and replied, "the village is not big, so we only have about one squad to guard. When the enemy attacked, contact was interrupted before the soldiers who called to report to us spoke. "


    I scanned the headquarters with my eyes and found that I didn''t see anyone except the operator on duty and bezikov. I asked, "where are the deputy commander and the military commissar?"


    "They''re still resting in their rooms." Bezikov explained to me, "I think we should report to you first. After all, you are the commander of the group army."


    "Let them be called." Although I had a good personal relationship with bezikov goose, in this case, I still told him to do business and say, "besides, you should send someone to scout immediately to find out the number of German troops and their weapons and equipment in the village. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Bizikov listened to me in a very strict tone, and immediately and decisively agreed, then turned and walked out of the headquarters.


    A few minutes later, kirilov and Danilov walked into the headquarters in a panic. As soon as he entered the door, kirilov asked me in a hurry, "Rita, I heard from bezikov that a small group of enemies had occupied a village near the headquarters. What''s the matter?"


    I handed him the information on the table and said, "the chief of staff said that there was only one squad of our army stationed in the village. When we found that the enemy was attacking them, the phone was only interrupted in the middle of the conversation, so we don''t know the specific situation in the village now."


    "What''s the matter with our troops?" Danilov with a strong gas to get up, said: "even a few minutes did not hold on, was the German pot."


    "Comrade deputy commander." I said to him with some helplessness: "our soldiers have no time to report. There are many reasons. You know, when the Germans launched the sneak attack, they may still be sleeping. It will be a little late when they find out that the enemy has rushed into the village and then make any response. "


    After I finished, kirilov continued, "yes, we can''t blame our soldiers for this. Maybe the German first touched our sentries, and then sneaked into the soldiers'' places in groups to kill them in their sleep. It''s not easy for the soldiers to give us an alarm. " At this point, he looked up at me. "In the past, Lida used to use this sneak attack tactics to deal with the enemy, which made the enemy miserable. I didn''t expect that the enemy had learned this tactic now."


    "By the way, bzikov has just sent for us. Where is he now?" Danilov asked.


    "I asked the chief of staff to make sure of the German situation in the village." I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I found that bezikov had been away for more than ten minutes. "He should be in the reconnaissance camp now, right?"


    "Comrade commander, I think we should leave to fight back and drive the enemy away from our village." Danilov said in a fierce voice: "we should immediately give orders to the reconnaissance battalion to make them ready for all battles."


    After listening to Danilov''s plan to use the reconnaissance battalion as an ordinary force, I quickly waved my hand and said, "no, comrade deputy commander, every commander and soldier in the reconnaissance battalion plays a better role than a class in the ordinary force. So we must not use them as ordinary troops. It''s a waste. "


    As he was talking, bzikov came in from the outside in a hurry. Seeing that we were all there, he said frankly, "when I just went to the reconnaissance battalion, major akhromeyev was also there, so I explained the reconnaissance task to him and asked him to arrange competent personnel to carry out the reconnaissance task."


    In order to prevent the reconnaissance battalion from charging like an ordinary army, I turned to ask bzikov, "chief of staff, which army is near us?"


    Bzikov thought about it and replied, "a battalion of the 71st division of the guards is about two kilometers to the east of the village. If you want to destroy the enemy in the village, you can order this unit to attack. "


    "Call Colonel sivakov and let him know about it and get his troops ready to fight." After I finished these words, it suddenly occurred to me that if we could have several tanks to support us, we could reduce the casualties of our army in the battle. I added, "where can I find tanks?"


    When bizikov heard this, he looked at me with strange eyes and said in surprise, "Comrade commander, have you forgotten that the 22nd brigade of general Kravchenko''s close guard tank is stationed near us, and you can call them to fight at any time?"


    "That''s very good," I said. When I heard that there were tank brigades stationed nearby, my mood suddenly relaxed. Then I said, "chief of staff, let them send two tank companies to assist the attack of the 71st division of the guards."


    When we are deploying troops in full swing, the intelligence of akhromeyev, who went to carry out the reconnaissance mission, is also coming back one after another. According to intelligence, the German army occupied the village with about two companies, equipped with tanks, armored vehicles and mortars. The German army also set up a large number of mg42 general-purpose machine guns in the newly built fortifications outside the village. After seeing the information I received, I asked some of you, "comrades, what do you think of this matter?" Kirilov took the information and looked at it for a while. Then he said, "judging from the enemy''s equipment, it should be an elite force. It''s a pity that our scouts can''t get close to the village, so they can''t figure out their specific numbers. "¡° Are there any of us in the village? " Danilov asked bezikov anxiously. I''m worried about Danilov. If there are our villagers in the village, then when we attack, we will appear to be constrained, and the combat effectiveness of the commanders and fighters will play up to half of the usual. So our attention is focused on bezikov to see what he will say. When he saw bezikov shaking his head, all the people present were relieved. In order to reassure everyone, bezikov added: "there used to be dozens of families in this village, but during the battle of Kharkov, they saw our army winning day by day and were afraid that the Germans would fight, so they all evacuated to other places." Thinking of not having to worry about the mousetrap, I had a lot of confidence in my heart. After bezikov finished, I said calmly, "since we have surrounded them, then we should eliminate them all. Don''t let any of them run away!" As soon as I finished, bzikov went on to say, "Comrade commander, if you want to annihilate them all, it may not be enough to rely on this battalion of the 71st division of the guards alone. You need the cooperation of other troops." I heard something from him. It seemed that more troops could be mobilized nearby, so I asked strangely, "chief of staff, do we have any other troops nearby?"¡° Of course, of course. " Bezikov said with some pride: "since the fifth group army of close guard tanks took over our defense in Prokhorov two days ago, the 375TH infantry division, which was originally stationed there, has moved to our vicinity." Then he pointed on the map with his hand, "right here, not far from the village."¡° Well, since there are still our troops nearby, I''ll call Colonel govorunanko again and ask them to send troops here. " Since there are troops nearby, I must try my best to bring in as many as possible and concentrate the superior forces to fight a large-scale annihilation. This is one of the keys to victory on the battlefield.

 Chapter 1165

    Two hours later, our troops surrounded the village occupied by the German army, and the German army in the village obviously found out our move, so they began to fight back crazily. Their mortar shells, like they didn''t want money, smashed into the area where our army was assembled.


    While akhromeyev and I stayed in a temporary shed in the forest without walls on all sides. Akhromeyev squatted on the ground, pointed to the map spread on a section of logs, and explained the task to several commanders around him: "the East and west sides of the village are forests, and vehicles are not allowed to pass; The north and south sides of the road are connected with the outside world. From the traces of tank tracks on the ground, we speculate that the enemy should have touched it from the south. In the next battle, if the enemy can''t resist and tries to escape, he will definitely choose the two roads of North and south, so we need to strengthen our defense forces in these two directions. "


    "But, comrade deputy chief of staff." A commander carrying the rank of major asked, "are we deploying too few troops in the forests on both sides of the East and the west? I''m afraid that if the German forces abandon their vehicles and break through the forest, our commanders and fighters will not be able to stop them. "


    Ahlomeyev looked up at each other and said, "major, what you said is quite possible. But the Germans are not stupid. They should know that the village is surrounded by a vast forest. If there is no guide, they will be trapped in the forest. "


    As for akhromeyev''s statement, I nodded silently sitting on the stump beside me. People who have not seen the Russian forest can not experience that kind of fear. It''s quiet to look at the forest outside. When you go in, you will find that it''s gloomy and terrifying. As early as in the Moscow defense war, there have been many German units trapped in the forest and frozen to death. There was a story on the Internet, which said that the German detachment saw the warning sign of no tree cutting in the forest, so they would rather freeze to death than cut down the trees in the forest to get warm. As a result, they were frozen to death. In fact, all this is nonsense. The trunk of the birch tree is too hard. It needs an axe and a carpenter''s saw to cut it down. The German army trapped in the forest probably has a few bayonets, so it''s normal that they can''t cut down the tree.


    After akhromeyev finished his assignment, he asked the major, "your battalion will attack the village under the cover of artillery fire. Is there anything else you want to say?"


    The major stood up in a hurry, straightened up and replied, "report, comrade deputy chief of staff, no more. Our battalion promised to take the village in front in half an hour. "


    Seeing his blind and confident expression, I sneered, stood up from the stump and said to him across the crowd, "major, don''t underestimate the enemy. Listen to the dense sound of mortar explosion from outside. If you don''t suppress the enemy''s fire first, you will suffer heavy casualties under the enemy''s fire when you attack. "


    Hearing what I said, the major bowed his head and thought about it, then replied, "Comrade commander, before the attack, we will carry out ten minutes of artillery preparation. After the enemy''s firepower is suppressed, we are launching the attack."


    Just after I came here, I went to this battalion to inspect it. I saw that there was a cannon company in the battalion, equipped with six 76.2mm cannon. Although it was not easy to solve the enemy''s tanks, it was not a big problem to suppress the enemy''s artillery. After nodding, I said with approval, "well, order the artillery to hit the right point, try to destroy all the enemy''s firepower points, and reduce the casualties of the troops." With that, I turned to ask akhromeyev, "when will the tank arrive?"


    Akhromeyev stood up, raised his hand, looked at his watch, and replied, "we should arrive before our artillery is ready. However, as the new tanks have no shells, the tank brigade only sent a few t-34s. "


    "T-34 is OK. Anyway, the German army doesn''t have many tanks. With our advantage in quantity, even if we collide, we can smash all their tanks to pieces. " I then said to the commanders who had just stood up, "now that the task is clear, everyone should go back to their respective units and make preparations for all battles as soon as possible."


    The commanders agreed neatly, raised their hands to salute me, and then scattered.


    As the commanders left, I waved my head to akhromeyev and said, "come on, let''s go to the observation post and see how our commanders and fighters recaptured the village from the enemy."


    In the village occupied by the German army, the buildings inside were all wooden houses. The shells of our army smashed in, which not only made the German mortar dumb, but also made the scattered houses collapse one after another, and then burst into flames. Seeing such a scene, ahlomeyev turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, such shelling should be able to completely destroy the enemy''s resistance?"


    Holding up my telescope, I said without looking back: "Comrade major, don''t be too optimistic. We must not be careless until we have completely eliminated the enemy. Before the end of the battle, any accident can happen. "


    The tank company sent by the tank brigade arrived just when the artillery stopped and the artillery were ready to charge, so they made a way ahead to cover the infantry and attack the village covered with smoke.


    At the beginning, everything seemed to be going well. When the tank arrived two or three hundred meters away from the village, there was still no movement in it. It seemed that the enemy had been completely destroyed by the artillery fire just now. Seeing that there was no movement in the village, the infantry following the tank quickened their pace and prepared to enter the village to search for the enemy.


    At this time, suddenly several mortar shells whistling out of the village, landed in the slightly crowded infantry line, and immediately bombed many of the commanders and fighters. Then the machine gun fire that was originally thought to be destroyed also opened fire, knocking down a large area of the commanders and fighters in the shooting area.


    Seeing the enemy firing, our tanks stopped one after another, turned the muzzle and opened fire on the exposed machine gun fire point. One of the tanks had just destroyed one of the German machine gun fire points, and the body of the tank was covered with smoke. In a flash, I was stunned by this scene. I watched several tank soldiers all over fire come out of the burning tank, sometimes fall down, sometimes stand up, and stumble towards us.


    Our tanks continued to fire at the village, covering the infantry for battle formation. Although two more firepower points were destroyed one after another, we had two more tanks, which were hit by armor piercing projectiles fired by tanks hidden in the village.


    Seeing this, akhromeyev could not help gritting his teeth and said: "this damned German tank has been using the smoke from the burning houses in the village as a cover, constantly changing its position, so that our tanks can not find its trace." Before he finished his words, another tank of our army was shot, which soon caused the explosion of ammunition in the car. The flying shrapnel swept down our soldiers who were hiding nearby and shooting.


    Seeing that our army''s tanks were shot and set on fire one after another, and the fire points outside the village were resurrected one after another, our commanders and fighters seemed to be in a panic. Soon everyone gave a shout, and then fell back. The tank soldiers watched as the infantry around them retreated, and retreated as they fired.


    The retreat of our army boosted the morale of the German army, and their artillery and machine gun fire became fierce again. Many of our officers and men were either knocked down by flying shrapnel or hit by machine gun bullets when they retreated, and fell down a lot immediately.


    When a retreating tank was only 200 meters away from our observation post, the body of the tank suddenly shook and stopped in the same place. After a while, I saw three tank soldiers coming out of the smoking tank. Not long after they ran towards us, two of them were hit by German machine gun bullets and fell into a pool of blood. The only survivor, however, was not much better. His leg seemed to be injured, but he still limped and tried to run towards us.


    When several soldiers rushed out at risk and carried him to the trench where the observation post was located, I heard a cry. I couldn''t help putting down my telescope and walked out of the observation post. The fleeing tank man, with his face covered with blood, was leaning against the wall of the trench. He pointed to the smoking tank not far away and cried out: "please, comrades! Please, comrades, help me. My pilot is still trapped in the tank. If we don''t save him, he will die soon. Please... "


    Although the soldiers around heard the heartbreaking cry of the tankers, no one paid any attention to him. Instead, they scattered one after another, as if they didn''t hear his cry at all. I held up a soldier who passed by me and asked him loudly, "Hey, why don''t you help an injured comrade in arms?"


    After seeing my rank clearly, the soldier was startled and quickly straightened up and replied, "Comrade General, that tank is in the range of German artillery and machine gun fire. If we want to save people, we have to enter the tank, but if we want to rush through the enemy''s bullets, we have to sacrifice several people. Maybe in the end, the tank driver didn''t get out, but took in more people''s lives. "


    After listening to the soldier, I felt that what he said was very reasonable. Sending someone to rescue at this time is tantamount to letting the rescuers die. So I released my hand and let the soldier go.


    I sighed, took a final look at the wailing tank man, and walked back to the observation post. Akhromeyev saw me enter the door and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, what is the soldier crying outside? The guns were too loud to hear what he was shouting, but it seemed very sad


    After I simply told akhromeyev about the incident, I finally said with emotion: "Alas, if we don''t save it, we can only watch the tank man die in the tank; But if we have to go to the rescue, the rescuers will suffer heavy casualties in the hail of bullets. It''s really a dilemma. "


    After hearing this, akhromeyev said carelessly, "if you want to rescue the injured tankers, you have to drag the tanks to a safe place. Unfortunately, if the tractor used in the maintenance station wants to return the heavy T-34, it won''t be able to do so in a short time. Maybe the driver of the tractor will sacrifice himself... "He didn''t say anything. Suddenly, he let out a cry, and then he raised his telescope and looked out.


    "What''s the matter?" I mumbled and walked up to him, raised my telescope and looked out. I was stunned by what I saw. My simple armored tractor a few hours ago was driving towards the smoking T-34 under the enemy''s fire and machine gun fire


    The armored tractor drove into the blind corner formed by the tank. As soon as the car stopped, I saw Yoda jump out of the car, and the cat dragged a cable to the tank. After hanging up the cable, he tried to make it firm before running back to the tractor. There was a puff of black smoke from the back of the tractor, and then it roared towards our army. As the cable between the two cars was stretched, the smoking tank moved slowly.


    Seeing the tractor pulling the injured tank back, the crying outside suddenly stopped, and the enemy guns were still ringing. Watching the body of the armored tractor burst out a string of sparks from time to time, I knew that it was hit by the German machine gun bullets, but such damage to the base of the Tiger tank can be completely ignored, so the tractor still pulled the tank slowly towards our army. When we saw that the tank was dragged into our army''s position by the tractor, the cheers burst out in the trench. Then several soldiers left the trench, bravely climbed up the tank, lifted the top cover of the turret, and went in to rescue the tank driver who was stuck in the tank. I walked out of the trench again to see the rescue process up close. But I was surprised to see that the major just jumped out of the trench, stood on a high mound, raised his open right hand high, sideways, and yelled at the commanders and fighters in the trench: "brothers, are you not as brave as a common man driving a tractor? Come with me, get rid of all the Germans, move on After calling out the last word, he waved his hand forward, and then headed for the front. Looking at his battalion commander taking the lead in the charge, the officers and men in the trench all yelled "Wula" and climbed out of the trench one after another. Although a few soldiers just climbed out of the trench, they were hit by bullets and fell down, but the people behind still rushed forward without hesitation. Youerda''s brave performance has deeply stimulated these officers and men. Their bravery is beyond everyone''s imagination. They showed extraordinary performance, even in the running, but also shot. Although the charging team was hit by the German heavy rain of bullets and continuous shells, it was filled by the rear team, and countless figures fell in a few hundred meters. In the slogans, wave after wave swept past, the front fell, the back made up, endless, shaking figures everywhere, made the German officers and soldiers who hid in the simple fortifications look numb. With our tanks fighting again, the victory of the sky began to tilt to our army. As more and more soldiers swarmed into the village, the enemy''s resistance became sparse. Even the tanks that just hid in the village and fired their guns were silent. I don''t know whether there were no shells or whether they were destroyed at close range by our anti tank fighters. With a long sigh of relief, I said to akhromeyev, "well, comrade major, the victory is decided! I''m going back to the headquarters of the group army. I''ll leave the rest of the work to you. "¡° What should we do with the German prisoners? " Because every time I deal with German prisoners, it depends on my mood, so akhromeyev will ask this question. Without thinking, I said, "major, it''s better to leave the matter of prisoners to the commanders and fighters who have just taken part in the battle. I believe they will handle it very well." I walked out of the observation post towards the smoking tank. The tank driver stuck in the tank has been rescued and is lying on a stretcher, while his captain has squatted beside him, holding his hand and whispering something. Youerda and several soldiers gathered around them and watched the touching scene. I came to yorda, reached for his hand, and said with a smile, "well done, comrade yorda, you have just been very brave. If it wasn''t for you, this tank driver would have been very dangerous. You should be rewarded for your bravery and contribution. I think when you get back to the maintenance station, you will get your honor and a new medal. "

 Chapter 1166

    When I went back to the headquarters of the group army in high spirits and was telling you about the battle to recover the village, vatujing called and said in a hurry, "Comrade oshanina, do you have any mobile troops in your hands now?"


    I don''t know where watujing asked this question, so I didn''t immediately answer whether he had it or not. Instead, I asked, "Comrade General, do you have any instructions?"


    "According to the information we intercepted, the 332nd infantry division of the German army will go north this evening to strengthen the German army in prohorovka." Watujing said anxiously: "from their march route, they will pass through your defense area. If you still have active troops on hand, put them into battle immediately. "


    "Comrade General, please report the march route of the German troops so that I can deploy the defensive positions." Although there are still a few days to go before the counterattack, if I still hold my ground and listen to the arrival of the 332nd German division in prohorovka, it will increase the pressure on rotmistrov''s troops, so I have to use my reserve team in advance to fight a defensive war of attrition that I do not want to fight.


    After marking the route that vatukin said on the map, I put down my red and blue pencils and assured vatukin, "Comrade General, please rest assured that our troops will never let a soldier of the German 332nd division pass through our defense area before general rotmistrov repels the German attack."


    "Very well, comrade oshanina." Vatukin''s voice seemed a little excited: "then I will give you the responsibility for the flank of general rotmistrov. Good luck


    After I put down the phone, Danilov immediately asked, "Comrade commander, which army do you plan to use to take on the blocking task?"


    "Transfer the 89th division as a reserve." In order to quickly unify the opinions of all, I specially added: "since the outbreak of the battle on the fifth, this division has never participated in any battle, but as a reserve of the group army, it is on guard behind the second line of defense."


    "But after they are transferred, which army will take over their defense?" Asked bzikov anxiously.


    I looked at him strangely, pointed the map with my pencil and said, "Comrade chief of staff, please pay attention to the fact that the enemy forces are now blocked by us in front of the second line of defense. The right wing is general katukov''s mechanized Third Army, and the right wing is rotmistrov''s close guard tank fifth group army. As long as we can hold the position, there is no need for reserve forces behind us. " With these words, I told him, "call Colonel Xie Liujin, commander of the 89th division of Jinwei, and ask him to come to the headquarters immediately. I will personally assign tasks to him."


    Half an hour later, sherekin appeared in the headquarters. Bzikov immediately called him, "Colonel, come here." When the latter arrived at the front and back of the table with the map spread out, bezikov began to introduce the task to him: "Colonel, your division has a new task now. It''s necessary to drive 20 kilometers to this position immediately, and use the local terrain to build fortifications to block the advance of the German army to the northeast."


    "I don''t know how many cars can be provided for us. It will take at least four hours to know such a long distance on foot. At that time, the enemy will rush in before we have time to build a defensive position. "


    "Comrade Colonel, in the war, every minute is precious." I waited for Xie Liujin to finish, and then said, "I''ll give you enough trucks to transport the troops. Now, let''s study how to build fortifications. "


    Xie Liujin pointed to the map and said to me, "Comrade commander, there are many hills here. I plan to send a regiment to occupy these places and seize the time to build fortifications. And I led the other two regiments, which were set up two kilometers behind, so that they could reinforce at any time when the front was tight. "


    "Comrade Colonel, we must remember to lay mines in front of the positions." Bezikov specially reminded him: "if you don''t set up minefields, the Germans only need to launch a charge and they can rush in front of you. At that time, you will play very hard."


    "Yes, comrade chief of staff." Xie Liujin nodded his head and said, "I will set up a minefield in front of the position."


    After seryokin left, Danilov asked curiously, "I have a question. Why did the German army send more troops to prohorovka at this time?"


    "I don''t understand, comrade deputy commander." Kirilov said with a smile: "the German army must want to launch an attack on the fifth group army of close guard tanks. Maybe they feel that their strength is not enough, so they can only send troops for reinforcement."


    In the evening, Xie Liujin, who was carrying out the blocking position, called me to report the progress of the blocking. "Comrade commander, after half an hour''s gunfire preparation, the German army launched a fierce attack on our defensive position," he cried through the microphone


    "Did you lay out minefields before the enemy attacked?" Listening to the faint explosion in the receiver, I can''t help but ask: "have those mines caused damage to the enemy?"


    After a moment''s silence, Xie Liujin replied, "Comrade commander, the enemy prepared for the attack. At the end of the bombardment, there were few mines in the minefield that did not explode. So after the enemy''s infantry launched the attack, they soon rushed in front of our position, but our commanders and fighters fought back bravely. "


    "Comrade Colonel," I said in a raised voice, "no matter how many times the enemy attacks, you must beat them back. If the first line of defense runs out, move your reserves up. It''s not only how many troops you have lost, but I''ll add them to you when the battle is over. Convey my request to all the officers and men in the division - never let the enemy pass. The fate of the whole campaign may be in your hands. The whole campaign! Do you understand? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Xie Liaojin said excitedly: "we would rather let the white bone be exposed in the wilderness than take a step back."


    His words immediately made me contact with him. When I was the commander of the antiaircraft artillery platoon in Leningrad, the superior commander often said this sentence, but soon after that, he died. Thinking of this, I said to Xie Liujin unhappily, "Comrade Colonel, I remind you to remember that the bones exposed in the wilderness can only be German, not ours. Do you understand?"


    "I see!" This time his voice was even louder.


    I put down the phone and thought about it. I think I should go and have a look. After all, as I just said on the phone, the blocking battle is related to the success or failure of this battle. So I said to Danilov, "comrades, I''m a little worried. I should go to the front line. Only when I saw with my own eyes that our soldiers had blocked the enemy''s crazy attack, can I feel at ease. "


    Danilov listened to me, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Comrade commander, although I want to persuade you not to go. But from what I know about you recently, as long as you decide something, no one can influence you unless you change your mind. "


    Kirilov said with understanding, "Rita, I agree with the deputy commander. If you don''t see our troops blocking the enemy''s attack with your own eyes, you won''t be at ease. Go ahead and be safe. We''ll wait for you to come back. "


    Bezikov called busmanov and asked him to take a guard company and follow me to the defensive position of the 89th division. I knew that if I didn''t take this unit with me, they would not be at ease, so I didn''t refuse their kindness and left with the guard company.


    When I reached the division headquarters of the 89th division of the guards, I was just in time for the new German attack. I didn''t say much, so I asked Xie Liujin to take me to his observation post to observe the battle on the highland in front of me.


    I looked through the telescope at the smoky Highlands in front of me. I saw the German soldiers charging towards the hillside. Regardless of being killed and injured, paoze rolled down the hillside from his side, and still bravely charged up.


    When they were suppressed by the fire of the guards, they threw out pieces of hand grenades and rushed forward with the help of the smoke from the explosion. They showed extraordinary performance, even in the running, but also shot. The bullets fired from close range were quite accurate. When they hit the position, they either got into the soil in front of the commanders or wiped over their heads, causing a large number of casualties among our commanders and fighters.


    The soldiers of the guards were also excited by too much blood, and they were desperately pulling the trigger at the enemy. Rifles no longer have the initial volley, they shoot at their fastest speed. The heavy machine gun swings left and right with white smoke, bullet belts are eaten in, and half a foot long tongue of fire is ejected, and the firewhip formed by bullets sweeps across. The light machine gun has not been fired for a long time. As soon as the trigger is pulled to the end, it does not take a few quick shots. Dozens of bullets are shot out in a flash, and the round clips that are frequently replaced are even out of supply. Too late to replace the barrel has some dark red, red eyed soldiers yelled wildly, picked up the machine gun, stood up and shot down, regardless of the burned palm. Often without firing a few shots, they were sieved by the bullets in front of them. Before their bodies fell, someone had robbed the machine gun and continued to sweep towards the enemy.


    The mortar on the top of the hillside has been adjusted to the maximum elevation angle. There is no need to calculate the distance of any ruler. It only needs to hit out as fast as possible. The enemies coming up are too dense, and several can be overturned by one more shell. Under the rapid firing, the sharp whistling sound of the trajectory across the sky becomes one piece, exploding everything that can be exploded, and the whistling shrapnel flies across all the protruding things. But there were so many enemies that they couldn''t finish the bombing. They came out of the thick smoke wall formed by the explosion and continued to rush.


    There are too many enemies. They rush up and there are bullets flying everywhere. There are people falling down in the trenches, but they will be filled immediately. The German tanks at the foot of the mountain were afraid of being hurt by mistake and did not dare to fire on the hillside, so the enemy could only throw the grenades in pieces, smashing them on the edge of the trench. The mud mixed with the explosion sliced off the heads and limbs of the guards, and splashing their brains on the faces of the people nearby. Those who fall into the trench are picked up and thrown out by the soldiers. What''s more, they are directly blasted in their hands. When they are blasted, they are rolled in together with several comrades in arms around them. The soldiers'' flesh and blood are mixed with the soil in the trench. The soil in the trench is also soaked and softened, and then trampled or re blasted everywhere.


    Seeing this, my heart hung up. I quickly put down my telescope and yelled to seleucin: "Comrade Colonel, the German attack is too fierce. Get the reserves ready immediately and be ready for reinforcement at any time."


    "Yes With a promise, Xie Liujin called one of his commanders over and ordered him to gather troops immediately to reinforce the first line of defense¡° Tank! Our tank Suddenly someone in the observation center shrieked, attracting all our eyes. Xie Liujin rushed to the lookout, raised his telescope and looked into the distance. At the same time, he said to himself, "where is our tank? Why didn''t I see it?"

 Chapter 1167

    "There, sir." The commander, who had just made a exclamation, pointed to one direction and said aloud, "I can see clearly. Although there are not many, they are all new tanks of our army."


    I looked in the direction of the commander''s finger. Through the telescope, I could see that the dust was rolled up behind the German attack troops. Dozens of tanks were divided into five columns, forming a battle formation, and were thrust straight into the enemy''s rear. When I saw several self-propelled anti-aircraft guns behind the armored line, I knew that it was Colonel berey''s tank unit.


    Almost as soon as we found the tank unit, the German army also found it. At the foot of the mountain, the tanks turned around and prepared to attack our tank units.


    Looking at the fact that the number of German tanks is more than that of Colonel berey''s tank units, a commander who understands the situation in the observation station said anxiously, "it''s over. The enemy''s tanks are almost twice as many as ours. Our tank units are in danger."


    I saw clearly that there were no leopard or Tiger tanks among the German tanks that rushed to the tank unit. They were all very common No. 3 and No. 4 tanks. I felt a lot more at ease. The two tanks are not in the same era. The one with advanced science and technology is undoubtedly the winner.


    When I put down my telescope, my expression became relaxed. "Comrade commander, it seems that our tanks haven''t been fighting with the German army recently," he asked carefully


    "Yes, comrade colonel. You are quite right. Recently, the tank troops have not had much time to fight with the enemy. " In order to reassure him, I specially explained: "that''s because the supporting ammunition of the new tank has been used up, and it can''t be replenished for a while, so our tank troops haven''t participated in any combat for the time being."


    "What about the tanks of our army that are rushing towards the German armored forces?" "Do they have enough ammunition now?" he asked anxiously


    "No problem, they just replenished a batch of ammunition yesterday," I said with a relaxed expression, looking at the two armored forces approaching quickly. "It should be more than enough to deal with these Germans."


    Maybe the German army knew the gap between their tanks and our new tanks, so they stopped and opened fire on the tank units in bere from a long distance. Seven or eight tank shells roared down in the middle of the tank unit and exploded. Unfortunately, a tank was shot. But the tank''s body just shook a little, then continued to rush forward quickly, and retaliated at the same time.


    The German tanks in the first row, after firing, continued to charge forward. The artillery shell fired by our army hit one of them impartially. The tank first emitted a stream of smoke, and then from the open hatch of the turret, a flame more than ten meters high erupted like a volcano. Then it stopped in place and began to burn violently.


    Seeing this scene, the commanders in the observation center began to talk: "strange, I clearly saw that the shells hit our army''s tanks, but it seemed that there was nothing wrong. They fired guns to turn the enemy''s tanks into burning torches."


    "I haven''t seen this kind of tank before. Is it a newly equipped unit?" Another commander was also surprised to say: "if the enemy''s tanks have no way to take our tanks, even if the number is less than them, we will win in the end!"


    Just as everyone was talking about the advantages and disadvantages of the new type of tanks, the tank units under the command of Colonel berey opened fire frequently, causing one German tank after another to burst into flames.


    When Xie Liujin saw this, he put down the big stone in his heart. He said to me with a smile: "Comrade commander, if our tanks can completely annihilate or severely damage the German armored forces, I can organize the troops to carry out counterattack and drive the enemy infantry away from here."


    "Comrade Colonel, I think it''s time for you to prepare for the counterattack." When I said this, my eyes swept around the room, then I stayed on one of the commanders, pointed at him with my hand and said, "Comrade commander, didn''t your division commander just order you to assemble your troops? Why are you still here? "


    The commander, who was named by me, was a little at a loss and said, "Comrade commander, I saw the danger in the front at that time, so I was asked to gather my troops for reinforcement, but now..."


    "But now the enemy''s attack is weak and may even stop, right?" After listening to what I said, the commander nodded his head and agreed with me. Then I said, "I just sent you to lead the troops to reinforce the friendly forces; Now I ask you to gather your troops to catch up with us, in order to cooperate with the heavy casualties of the friendly forces to attack and severely damage the German troops who continue to attack. Do you understand? "


    After listening to my words, the commander did not answer immediately, but turned his eyes to Xie Liujin. Seeing that Xie Liujin nodded with a smile, he replied loudly: "yes, comrade commander, I''ll go to assemble the troops immediately!"


    When the commander went out to gather his troops, the commanders who gathered around the lookout to watch the battle of tanks began to talk again: "look, the tank in front is so powerful. The shells fired directly lifted the turrets of the German tanks. Plus this one, he killed at least four German tanks. "


    "Yes, I didn''t expect that our tanks were so powerful that they were not afraid of the enemy''s shells." The commander suddenly exclaimed in surprise: "look, that tank knocked over the German tank. It''s amazing."


    Just when I wanted to go to see the excitement, I suddenly heard a voice saying: "don''t look at the enemy''s tanks, we can''t help our tanks, but as long as they send out planes to bomb, no matter how good the tanks are, they are vulnerable..." before he finished his words, two German planes appeared in the sky. Immediately someone slapped him on the back of the head and said, "you crow mouth, look, just talking about German planes, enemy planes appeared in the sky. It''s a bomber. Just drop two bombs and our tank will be finished. " The beaten commander said wrongly: "I''ll just talk about it casually. Who knows that the German plane really appeared." I pulled aside the two commanders in front of me, stood at the lookout, raised my telescope and looked into the sky. From the plane''s appearance, I immediately recognized that these were two bombers. As long as they made a dive and dropped bombs, then Colonel berey''s tank unit would be destroyed. Because the tanks of both sides are entangled at the moment, the German planes may not dare to dive and drop bombs for fear of injuring themselves by mistake, but circle in the air. At this time, the black smoke burst out around the plane. It turned out that several self-propelled anti-aircraft guns on the ground opened fire. Suddenly attacked, the German bombers wanted to immediately climb out of the dangerous area. If they are ordinary anti-aircraft guns, maybe these two bombers will escape from the sky, but what they encounter is advanced weapons from the future, and also advanced weapons specially developed for them. It is strange that they can escape. Soon one of them was blown up in the air, while the other, with long black smoke, fell into the distance of the plain. After a loud bang, it turned into a huge fire. After the explosion, the wreckage of the plane burned more violently. Because the German troops who attacked our army''s positions could not conquer our army''s positions for a long time, they might have been ready to retreat. At the moment, seeing that his plane was shot down, and the proud armored forces were on the verge of total annihilation, he immediately made a shout and retreated from the hillside in a panic. When the reinforcements, who had just started from our position, saw the enemy retreating like a tide on the hillside, they changed from a fast walk to a trot to catch up with the fleeing enemy. Seeing that there was no movement in the troops holding the high ground, Xie Liujin was a little worried. He went to pick up the phone, dialed the high ground and said angrily, "Comrade commander, don''t you see that the German in front of you has started to run away?" What, see?! Now that you have seen it, why do you still hold still No, even if you transfer a company, you have to rush down for me. The German army is scared to death now. As long as you charge, they will all collapse. Come on, comrade commander, I''ll wait for your good news After calling, Xie Liujin came up to me and said with embarrassment, "the highland in front of me suffered heavy casualties in the battle, so the commander saw the enemy retreat, and he could not send troops to fight back." After destroying all the German tanks, berey''s tank unit quickly adjusted its formation and formed a dense line. Instead of firing, it directly rolled over the fleeing German troops, followed by several self-propelled anti-aircraft guns. The German officers and men fleeing to the south, seeing that the man in the front was crushed into meat mud by the roaring tank, immediately scattered and fled in different directions. Running eastward, he happened to run into the reserve team who had just arrived breathlessly, and was knocked down in pieces in front of the dense fire net composed of our army''s machine guns, submachine guns and rifles. To the west of the forest direction of escape, was the top of the mortar bombardment, from time to time there are officers and soldiers fell in the fire. The most fortunate thing is that the officers and men running towards the position saw our officers and men rushing down like tigers. They immediately threw their weapons, raised their hands high and took the initiative to be prisoners. After the battle outside, I sent busmanov to invite Col. berey to praise him for his initiative, because even sherekin said that if the tank unit didn''t arrive in time, it was estimated that at least half of the officers and fighters of the 89th division would be killed in the battle.

 Chapter 1168

    When Xie Liujin and I were waiting for bielei to arrive in the division headquarters, he poured me a cup of tea and then called out to me: "Comrade commander, although our division has not been established for a long time, you can''t favor one over the other in terms of equipment."


    I took the hot tea and was about to drink it. Hearing what he said, I quickly put down the cup and asked curiously, "Comrade Colonel, what equipment do you say favors one over the other? I didn''t understand?"


    "Comrade commander," he said, sitting opposite me, deliberately prolonging the tone and looking aggrieved, "I will not talk about the fact that other divisions are equipped with a large number of assault rifles. I heard that they are also equipped with a new type of anti tank weapon, which is better than the anti tank rifles we use now. It is said that they can easily kill the enemy''s tanks within 200 meters. "


    I did not deny his statement, but nodded and said with certainty: "yes, the 51st, 52nd and 67th divisions of the guards deployed in the first line of defense are equipped with a large number of assault rifles and anti tank rocket launchers. The reason why these new weapons are assigned to them is that they... "


    Before I finished speaking, Xie Liujin interrupted me and said with understanding, "Comrade commander, you don''t have to say it. I understand everything. They are in the first line against the main German force, while we are in the reserves. If it were me, I would equip all these limited new weapons to the front-line forces. "


    Xie Liujin''s high attitude relieved me, so I took a sip of tea and said slowly, "don''t worry, comrade colonel. There will be anti tank rocket launchers, assault rifles and new weapons equipped by other units in your division. "


    "Great, that''s great." Xie Liujin stood up from his seat, straightened his waist, and assured me, "Comrade commander, as long as our division is equipped with new weapons, its combat effectiveness will be improved in a straight line, and then you can use our division as the main force."


    "Comrade Colonel, isn''t your division the main force now?" When I said this, I couldn''t help thinking of the cruel and bloody battle I saw, and my heart became heavy: "today I saw the German army attacking your position so fiercely. I was really worried that your position would be broken through, but fortunately you finally held it."


    "Comrade commander, yes, we did not let the enemy break through our position." Xie Liujin analyzed today''s battle to me. "First, we made preparations for defense in time, built fortifications and laid out minefields; Second, the commanders and fighters showed great composure. Although there were many new recruits, none of them wavered or stepped back; Third, our tank units appeared in a very timely manner. They destroyed the German armored forces and made the infantry in the offensive positions no longer have the courage to fight... "


    Before Xie Liujin finished, several people came into the door. I recognized bzikov and basmanov who followed him, but I didn''t know the chubby lieutenant commander with a smile standing beside them.


    Bielei stepped forward, straightened up and reported to me, "Comrade commander, Captain bielei, commander of tank unit, report to you. My tank unit and I are waiting for your orders. Please give us instructions!"


    I met him, took his hand excitedly, and said excitedly, "Hello, comrade Colonel! Your tank unit is so timely. If it''s a little later, maybe the enemy will break through the position. "


    Bielei grinned and replied, "Comrade commander, this is what I should do."


    "Tell me, comrade Colonel," I asked curiously, "did you come to support after you got the information in advance that the enemy would attack the position of the 89th division?" When I said this, I turned my eyes to the next Xie Liujin, trying to find out if he had informed Colonel berey in advance.


    Unexpectedly, Xie Liujin shook his head and replied, "no, comrade commander, I have no idea that the colonel is working in this area. How can I contact him. Maybe he got the information from other sources? "


    Seeing that I turned my inquiring eyes on myself, bielei quickly explained, "Comrade commander, no one informed me, and I didn''t get any information in advance. When we went out to search for the German transport convoy, we suddenly found that there was smoke and fierce gunfire. I guessed that there must have been a fierce exchange of fire between our army and the enemy, so I led the troops to come and have a look. " At this point, he shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands on both sides. "I didn''t expect that under the wrong circumstances, he helped the comrades of the 89th division of Jinwei out of the encirclement."


    "Don''t stand, Colonel. Please sit down." After sitting down, Xie Liujin pointed to the commander who was still standing beside him and said to me, "Comrade commander, I''d like to introduce you. This is lieutenant commander yeermohin, the political commissar of the division. He just returned to the teacher two days ago. You should not have seen him


    After listening to Xie Liujin''s introduction, I quickly stood up from my seat and shook hands with the political commissar. After everyone sat down again, I said with a smile: "since the change of military rank, it is impossible to tell who is a military cadre and who is a political cadre from the uniform."


    "Comrade commander, isn''t that good?" Yeermoxin said to me with a smile: "you know, our political workers are not only able to play tricks and do some political agitation work to the soldiers. When necessary, we should also take up arms and fight like ordinary soldiers." Although I have always had no good feelings for political work cadres, these words of yeermohin made me list them as worthy of communication.


    After yelmohin finished, Xie Liujin looked at me and asked, "Comrade commander, what is the next task of our division?"¡° Of course, it is here to reinforce the position and prepare for continued defense. " I was deeply afraid that sherekin didn''t pay attention to this matter, and specially stressed: "the order I received was to establish a solid defense here and resolutely block the northward way of the 32nd German infantry division. Although we have wiped out many enemies today, there is only one regiment at best, and their main force is still behind us. So the next battle, for you, may be more cruel. "¡° Don''t worry, comrade commander. " Xie Liujin stood up and vowed: "as long as we have one more person, we will firmly hold the position." After that, he asked with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, I want to ask, when can our troops turn to the counter offensive?" As soon as his words came out, everyone''s eyes in the room focused on me. I waved and said, "don''t worry. When it''s time to counterattack, it''s time to counterattack. The task of your division now is to resolutely block the 332nd division which is going north. When the fifth group army of close guard tanks stationed in prohorovka has defeated the German armored forces, our counter offensive will begin. " Xie Liujin turned around and said to yermoxin with a gentle smile, "Comrade political commissar, I will give you full responsibility for the political propaganda of the commanders and fighters. Let every soldier understand the significance of our persistence here. Even if we make all sacrifices, we can never let one enemy pass, because the fate of the whole campaign may be in our hands. Do you understand the whole campaign, my political commissar? "¡° Yes, sir Yeermohin replied excitedly: "I will let every commander know." I waited for the two men to finish, and then said: "Col. sherekin, in order to strengthen your defense, I decided to assign Col. berey''s tank unit to you." At this point, I turned to berey and said to him with a smile, "Comrade Colonel, from today on, the task of harassing the German traffic line will be suspended. The task of the tank unit is to stay here, cooperate with the 89th guard to consolidate the defense, and resolutely cut off the road of the German army to the north. " Berey got up from his seat and replied loudly: "please rest assured, commander. I will fully cooperate with Col. Xie Liujin''s defense and never let an enemy pass through here!"

 Chapter 1169

    I went back to the headquarters. Before I had time to drink water, the telephone on the desk rang. Bizikov was the closest to the phone, so he grabbed it. After listening for a moment, he got up from his seat and said respectfully with a smile: "Hello, Hello! Do you have any instructions Yes, yes, I understand... OK, I''ll convey your order to the commander. "


    As soon as he put down the phone, he reported to me, "Comrade commander, I have just received a call from the headquarters of the front army, ordering you, the military commissar and the deputy commander to rush to the temporary headquarters of the front army immediately."


    After listening, Danilov looked at me blankly and asked, "it seems that the headquarters of the front army has never summoned the three of us at the same time. Is there something serious?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander, something must have happened." Kirilov said with a smile, "if it''s not a big deal, how can we call all three of us?"


    "What''s the big deal?" Danilov frowned and thought hard. A moment later, he suddenly opened his eyes wide and said in surprise: "is it that vatukin thinks that we are not doing well in the recent battle and that if we want to call the three of us to get rid of the bad smell, we may be demoted? Comrade military commissar, have you heard anything? "


    "Come on, comrades of the military commissar, don''t tease comrades of the deputy commander any more." I think Danilov began to think wildly, quickly stopped kirilov''s joking behavior, and took the initiative to explain to the other party: "I think commander watujing''s call for the three of us to go to the headquarters must be a military meeting. As for the content, there is no need to guess. It must have something to do with the counter offensive. "


    "The great counterattack?" Danilov''s eyes lit up when I said that. After getting my confirmation, he immediately stood up, put the notebook and pencil in his briefcase, and began to urge us: "commander, military commissar, if there is nothing wrong, let''s go."


    The three of us crowded into the same jeep, escorted by two other jeeps, and headed for the headquarters of the front army. Kirilov and Danilov, who haven''t been outside for a long time, can''t help pointing out the window and talking as they look at the vehicles, commanders and fighters, and various Fortifications on the road.


    Sitting in the co pilot''s seat, I heard Danilov saying: "Comrade military commissar, look at the position on the hillside. The terrain is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the front view has been cleared. Even if the German army pays a heavy price, it will not be able to seize it."


    Kirilov said modestly, "Comrade deputy commander, I am a layman in the military. However, as early as in the war of Stalingrad''s defense, Rita commanded a division to stick to the mamayev post. For several months, the German army was unable to move forward. "


    When I heard kirilov''s praise, I couldn''t help blushing. I quickly turned to him and said, "Comrade military commissar, don''t praise me. It''s not my credit at all. If the soldiers had not fought bravely and tenaciously, we would not have been able to hold on for several months, let alone block the enemy like a gate, so that they could not move forward. "


    Kirilov turned to Danilov and said with a smile, "Comrade deputy commander, you see, Rita is just too modest. At that time, not far from mamayev post, there was a high ground, which was also the focus of contention between the enemy and us. Almost every day, a company, a battalion or even a regiment will be wiped out, and they will change hands several times. But after the end of the campaign, the highland will still be in our hands. "


    "Yes, comrades of the military commissar," Danilov echoed kirilov: "I always thought war was a man''s business, and women could not participate in it at all. To tell you the truth, I have some opinions in my mind when Comrade o''xianingna came to take the post of commander of the group army. But as an old Bolshevik, although I have a lot of dissatisfaction in my heart, I still resolutely obey the orders of my superiors. After the outbreak of this campaign, I was not satisfied with the commander''s many arrangements before the war. I felt that according to her deployment, the enemy''s attack could not be stopped at all. " At this point, he was a little embarrassed to smile, "but after the battle started, I saw that the enemy was tied up in front of these defensive deployment, and the progress was slow, which reversed my view of her."


    I feel a little embarrassed by their praise, so I have to turn my eyes out of the window to get rid of my embarrassing situation. At this time, I suddenly heard Danilov say: "I don''t know if I can see general apanashenko in today''s meeting?"


    I quickly turned around and asked Danilov, "what happened to the deputy commander of the front army?"


    Danilov''s eyes widened when I asked, and he said in surprise, "why, don''t you know?"


    "What should I know?" I asked


    "I''ve heard commander watujing say that he''s been running around the defense areas of various army groups recently. The commander was worried about his safety and made a special call to let me pay attention. If you meet him, don''t let him go to dangerous places. " At this point, he looked at kirilov and said in surprise, "didn''t you tell oshanina about the last time the general went to the headquarters of the group army?"


    "No," kirilov said, shaking his head, "I thought commander vatukin would tell her about it, so I didn''t tell her about it."


    "Comrade deputy commander, do you know where the senior general is recently?" I know that in the real history, apanashchenko was killed by the German air raid these days, so he paid special attention to his safety, so he couldn''t wait to ask Danilov, "how many guards do he have now?"


    "How many?" Danilov shrugged and said, "I have a driver and a guard with me. Just the three of them, even if they meet a small group of German troops, they will be in danger. "


    Although I don''t know where apanashchenko is, I still told Danilov: "Comrade deputy commander, when you arrive at the headquarters of the front army, if you don''t see Comrade General, you will call biezikov and ask him to inform the division commanders to find out the whereabouts of general Tongzhi and ensure his safety. If an accident happens to a senior general in a division''s defense area, the division commander will be removed from his post. "


    When we arrived at the headquarters of the front army, a special duty officer led the three of us to the reception room. At the moment, the room was full. There were at least twenty or thirty people. Some of them were standing, others were sitting on benches against the wall chatting. As soon as I entered the room, I heard someone saying hello to me. Looking at it, it turned out that it was general shumilov, commander of the seventh group army of the guards.


    I quickly raised my hand to salute him and said in a friendly way: "Hello, comrade commander, nice to meet you here!"


    Shumilov raised his hand and, as he reached for my hand, whispered, "Rita, you''re playing very well. The eleven most elite German divisions were held back so that they could not transfer their troops to other directions. Otherwise, colocha might have been lost long ago. "


    "Comrade commander," I replied with a smile, "you flatter me! The seventh group army of the guards under your command also contained a large number of German divisions. If you had not covered our left wing, we would have been surrounded by the German army. "


    At this time, the door next to the reception room opened. A lieutenant commander stood at the door and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, please come in. Comrade commander is waiting for you inside."


    Hearing his words, all the people stopped talking and rushed to the door.


    Before I went into the conference room, I thought that I would see vatukin, Khrushchev, chief of staff lieutenant general Ivanov, and even the representative of the headquarters, vasilevsky. I didn''t expect that when I went in, the first person I saw was actually general konev, commander of the grassland front army, and his chief of staff, lieutenant general zaharov. Although I didn''t know the lieutenant general next to them, I guessed that it might be his military commissar, lieutenant general susekov.


    Vasilevsky sat in the middle of the table facing the door, vatukin on his left and konev on his right.


    After seeing that all the people were seated, vasilevsky stood up with a smile on his face and said in a loud voice, "Hello, commanders!"


    I saw that the first person who stood up to speak was vasilevsky. I guess what he would announce next must be the news about the counterattack in the south of Kursk. His heart beat faster.


    "Comrades commander, you may wonder why general konev is here since it is the meeting of Voronezh''s front army." Before we had time to respond, he continued: "as you all know, general konev is the commander of the grassland front army. They are the base camp reserve of the supreme command. The reason why he is here today is that we have received orders from the supreme command to turn to a full-scale attack on the enemy in the south of Kursk in the near future and drive Manstein and his running dogs away from here. "


    Vasilevsky was suddenly silent and began to glance slowly at everyone present. I think he must have thought about the defeat in the battle of Kharkov a few months ago, so he disrupted his prepared speech.


    After a while, he finally spoke again: "comrades commander, almost all of you here have dealt with Manstein''s troops, so it should be clearly remembered that we fought with them in Kharkov a few months ago. Although our two front armies at that time had an advantage in military strength, it was a pity that we finally failed in front of the cunning old fox, Mannstein. "


    When he said that, a sigh came to mind in the room. It was obviously from the defeated generals under Manstein. Vasilevsky''s words resonated with everyone.


    "Well, let''s let commander watujing give us the task." With these words, vasilevsky returned to his position.


    I searched the room quickly with my eyes, and found no trace of apanashchenko. I quickly approached Danilov and whispered to him, "deputy commander, I don''t see general apanashchenko. I think he is still in the front line. After the meeting, you can call bezikov and convey my meaning to him."


    Danilov nodded and whispered, "Comrade commander, I see. I''ll call as soon as the meeting is over. " At this time, vatujing began to explain the mission to you. He pointed to the map on the wall with his stick and said to all of us, "comrades, according to the order of the supreme command, we Voronezh front army and grassland front army will turn to the counter offensive in the near future, and completely repel the forces of the southern group army group that attacked Kursk from the South and Manstein." Then he explained in detail the areas responsible for each group army and the route of the counter offensive. When Danilov was listening to vatukin''s explanation, he came close to my ear and asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, what about Prokhorovka? You know, it was also within the defense scope of our group army at the beginning? " I replied in a low voice, "Comrade deputy commander, don''t you see general konev sitting on it? This means that the defense and counterattack in Prokhorovka are all in the charge of the fifth group army of close guard tanks under his command, which has nothing to do with us. " When Danilov heard me say this, he gave a gentle hum, sat down again, and continued to listen to watugen''s explanation. From watujing''s explanation, I can see that the counterattack routes of the sixth group army of the guards are almost all along the Belgorod Kursk highway. As I listened, I was planning how to adjust the current deployment of troops so as to better launch a comprehensive counterattack against the German army. When watujing finished speaking, he put down his explanation stick and asked, "comrades, you can put forward any opinions you have."¡° Comrade commander, "shumilov immediately raised his hand to speak. He stood up and asked," I want to ask, judging from the degree of German attack in the past two days, their strength has not been completely weakened. Is it too early to launch a counter offensive at such a time? "¡° No, comrade shumilov. " Watujing said to everyone with a smile: "maybe you are very surprised, why do we launch such a comprehensive counterattack at the most violent time of the German attack? Isn''t this a war of attrition against the enemy? " Seeing everyone nodding, he continued, "I have another piece of good news for you. The Allied forces landed in Sicily, and the German forces had to send troops back from Kursk. In this way, our opportunity will come. "

 Chapter 1170

    "Comrade General," as soon as his words were finished, shumilov, sitting below, asked doubtfully, "is this not false news? Since 1941, the allies have been talking about opening up a second battlefield, but it has been almost two years now, and they have not seen the shadow of the second battlefield. So that our soldiers call the canned beef they aid "the second battlefield."


    His words burst into laughter. Vatukin also laughed a few times, and then said, "don''t worry, comrades, this time the president of the United States called the Supreme Commander himself. That is to say, the information is absolutely accurate. "


    We heard that the intelligence came from the supreme command. Instead of being entangled in this matter, we changed the topic and began to ask other questions to watujing. Although I feel that when vatujing just explained his mission, he estimated everything and arranged all tasks properly. Even the situation and distribution of the enemy and the direction of our army''s attack have been indicated on the map. But they still asked him about this and that, for example, how many guns are going to be arranged for the necessary fire preparation before the attack? Where and how many tank repair stations will be set up


    For these questions, watu Kyoto handed over to general zaharov, chief of staff, to answer. When the general finished answering everyone''s questions, the room became quiet.


    Vasilevsky looked around the room and asked, "who else has a question?"


    There was silence and no one spoke.


    Then he asked again, but no one asked. He turned to murmur to watujing and konev, who were sitting on the left and right. Then he stood up and announced: "since everyone has no problem, then..."


    "Marshal," seeing that he was about to announce the end of the meeting, but before he talked about the task of recovering bergerold and Kharkov, he stood up decisively and asked aloud, "allow me to ask questions?"


    Just now, when everyone was eager to ask questions, I kept silent. Now all the questions have been asked, but I jumped out to ask questions. All the people are focusing on me, maybe some people secretly despise me and think that I''m flattering others.


    After looking at each other, vasilevsky and vatukin turned to look at me and said helplessly, "Comrade oshanina, if you have any questions, just ask them."


    After getting permission from vasilevsky, I asked aloud, "Comrade marshal, please allow me to ask which army will liberate Belgorod and Kharkov after completing the counter offensive against the enemy in the south of Kursk?"


    What I said was like pouring a ladle of cold water into a hot oil pan and frying the pan. It''s OK for other commanders to talk about it one after another. The key point is that I thought about it temporarily. I didn''t have time to discuss with kirilov and Danilov. So they stared at me with wide eyes and wide mouth just like other commanders.


    It took quite a while for vatukin to wake up from his shock. He said sternly to me, "Comrade oshanina, what we are discussing now is how to counter attack the enemy in southern Kursk. Even if the enemy is repulsed by us in the area invaded by us now, if we want to attack bergorod and Kharkov, we have to go through repeated discussion and study by the supreme command before we can work out the relevant operational plan.... "


    "Comrade General, you can''t scare her!" Konev, who had never spoken, suddenly said something nice for me: "Marshal Zhukov once said that she had many ghost ideas and would use her brains in war. Otherwise, she would not be famous among the enemies because she stuck to mamayev post. I think that her proposal to liberate Belgorod and Kharkov at such a time must be reasonable. We might as well listen to what she said? "


    For konev''s proposal, vasilevsky bowed his head to think about it, and then said with certainty: "well, comrade oshanina, I''ll tell you what you think, so that you can have a clear idea."


    Warsilevsky asked me to speak. I''m sure I won''t be silly to tell you that in real history, after the German troops attacking Kursk were repulsed, they were forced to turn to defense, and Belgorod and Kharkov will soon be back in our hands. I quickly organized the words in my mind, and then said, "Comrade marshal, two comrades of the commander of the front army. I asked this question because I was inspired by commander watujing. " Seeing the blank expression on vatukin''s face, I explained immediately, "he said that the Allied forces landed in Sicily, and the German forces must send troops to reinforce them. In this way, the pressure on us will be greatly reduced, and the time for the counterattack will be ripe."


    "Yes, comrade oshanina." When watujing heard this, he nodded and affirmed, "that''s what I said."


    I went on to say, "if the Germans want to stop the Allied forces from penetrating into the Italian territory, they must deploy enough troops to intercept. At such a time, where should they deploy their troops? As far as I know, the army under the command of Manstein is also the only strategic reserve that the German army can mobilize. "


    "Even so, what conclusion have you reached?" Vasilevsky asked with a flat expression.


    "Marshal, according to my judgment, with the departure of the main forces of Manstein, the German forces in southern Kursk will become weak." Looking at vasilevsky, I said confidently: "after being strengthened by the grassland front army, our troops of Voronezh are in an advantageous position compared with the German army in terms of strength and equipment. So I venture to conclude that the time is ripe for us to recover Belgorod and Kharkov. "


    When I finished, vasilevsky was silent and seemed to be lost in thought. After a moment''s hesitation, vatukin asked, "Comrade oshanina, what facts can you use to prove to us that your inference is correct?"


    Vatukin asked me this question, which really stopped me. I can''t tell him that''s what the history book says, so we can recover a big city like Kharkov soon after the German attack. Just when he was in a dilemma, Khrushchev, who was sitting behind vatukin, suddenly and leisurely said, "senior general, don''t forget that Comrade oshanina visited the United States with Comrade Molotov a few months ago, and had in-depth exchanges with the US military. She must know something we don''t have the authority to know, so I think her judgment is completely correct. "


    Khrushchev indirectly supported me in public, and also mentioned my trip to the United States. His words worked. I saw curiosity and approval in the face of the commander who watched me on Friday. Even vassilevsky kept nodding his head.


    "After such a long meeting, we must be tired." Vasilevsky waved his hand and announced in public, "take a ten minute break before continuing the meeting. Comrade vatukin, come with me. " With that, he stood up and walked out. Vatukin also quickly stood up and walked out.


    After seeing the chief of general staff and the commander of the front army leave, the commanders in the room begin to talk to each other. Without waiting for kirilov to ask me anything, I quickly got up and went to Khrushchev. After thanking him, I asked in a low voice, "Comrade military commissar, why didn''t I see the deputy commander General apanashchenko today? Where has he gone?"


    When he heard my question, Khrushchev shook his head like a rattle and said, "I don''t know. His headquarters is not with us, and as soon as the deputy commander is free, he likes to go to the troops in the front line. It is estimated that now he has gone to another division or even regiment to inspect it. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, it''s too dangerous to do so!" As I said this, I turned and beckoned to Danilov in the distance to come to me.


    Danilov had not come yet, but konev came first. He asked curiously, "Comrade oshanina, did you get any inside information, so that you asked such a question?"


    "Comrade commander of the front army, please wait a moment." I saw that Danilov had come to me, so I had to apologize to konev first, and then told Danilov: "Comrade deputy commander, according to our original agreement, you should call Colonel bezikov and ask him to inform divisions to pay attention to the whereabouts of general apanashinko and ensure his personal safety."


    After Danilov left, Khrushchev nodded with a smile and said with approval, "Comrade oshanina, you are very considerate. It''s a very effective way to let the troops below protect general apanashchenko. "


    After Khrushchev finished speaking, I had time to explain to konev: "Comrade commander of the front army, please forgive me for not explaining too much to you, because it involves a lot of secrets that you can''t know. However, I assure you that as long as the forces of the fifth group of close guard tanks defeat the main German forces in prohorovka, the enemy will no longer be able to organize any effective resistance. At that time, not to mention the liberation of bergorod and Kharkov, even if it was to recover Kiev again, it was not a big deal! "


    When I mentioned the place, Khrushchev and konev''s faces were red with excitement. Because this city is where Khrushchev once presided over his work; But konev thought that the liberation of Kiev''s record, can let his future a bright.


    "Recover Kiev?" Khrushchev asked tentatively in a low voice, "is our army really powerful enough to liberate Kiev from the enemy?"


    "Yes, comrades of the Military Commission." I respectfully said to him: "since a few months ago, I was able to liberate Kiev from the hands of the German army with a poorly formed infantry army. Now we have millions of troops. If we rush to Kiev together, do you think the German army can block our attack? "


    "Can''t stop, absolutely can''t stop." Konev took over the topic and said: "you know, after many of our troops are equipped with new weapons, the overall combat effectiveness has been greatly improved. Although our strength is still relatively weak compared with the German army''s strong fighting force, we can''t beat them one-on-one, so we can compete with them in the ratio of two to one, three to one, or even four to one. I don''t believe we can defeat the Germans. "


    The three of us were talking in a low voice when vasilevsky and vatukin came in from the outside with a serious face. I quickly went back to my seat and saw that the two leaders who had just returned had something important to announce.


    After seeing all the commanders sitting down one after another, vasilevsky stood at the table, holding the table in both hands, leaning forward slightly, and said in a loud voice, "comrades commander, just now I and the Supreme Commander reported to him the questions raised by Comrade o''shanina through the phone."


    At this point, he stopped deliberately and gave me a meaningful look. Then he said without hesitation: "after listening to this, comrade Stalin highly praised the brave and fearless fighting spirit of general oshanina, so he decided to hand over the honor of liberating the two cities of Belgorod and Kharkov to the glorious guards of the sixth group army." Then he took the lead in clapping.


    I stood up in thunderous applause and raised my hand to salute vasilevsky. But I didn''t put down my hand immediately. Instead, I saluted the whole audience. After the applause stopped completely, I put down my hand raised to my forehead and assured vasilevsky in a loud voice: "please rest assured, marshal. All the officers and men of the sixth group army of the guards will surely put our glorious flag on the highest point of Belgorod and Kharkov." After I finished speaking, watujing also stood up and encouraged me a few words, and then announced the end of the meeting. As kirilov and I walked out of the crowd, he came close to my ear and said in a low voice, "Rita, you are crazy. Manstein''s troops are constantly attacking in the south of Kursk. Whether the counterattack can be successful or not is a question. How dare you come forward with the request to recover Belgorod and Kharkov. If you can''t finish this task, your future will be over. "¡° Don''t worry, my military Commissar I raised my hand and gently patted him on the shoulder, comforted him and said, "you have known me for a long time. Don''t you know what kind of person I am? When did I say that I didn''t cash it? You can rest assured that if you can recover the two cities in the south, you will certainly recover them. " At this point, I looked around and saw that no one noticed us, so I said in a low voice, "this is a rare opportunity to make contributions. If I miss it, I will regret it in the future." When kirilov saw that I was so stubborn, he had no choice but to sigh and say, "forget it, as for whether Kharkov can be recovered or not, it will be a matter of the future. Now we have to consider how to launch a counter offensive against the German army. "

 Chapter 1171

    We went back to the headquarters of the group army, and Danilov immediately ordered ahlomeyev to inform the commanders of all the close guard divisions, tank brigades and artillery regiments of the group army to come to the headquarters to attend the emergency military meeting.


    I thought that the three commanders of the 51st, 52nd and 67th divisions of the guards would not be able to attend the meeting because they were deeply behind enemy lines. I didn''t expect that after receiving the telegram sent by lophoff, they immediately called back to say that they would arrive at the headquarters of the group army overnight after handing over the command to the deputy.


    After reading several people''s telegrams, kirilov flicked the telegram newspaper with his finger and said with a smile, "Rita, you see, these three teachers are more cunning than rabbits. I guess we have to call all the senior commanders for a meeting at this time. There must be something important to announce, so they have to come back even at the risk of their lives."


    At one o''clock in the morning, I saw that all the commanders who had been informed had arrived. Bzikov said aloud, "comrades of commanders at all levels, you are called here today to convey to you the latest orders of the headquarters of the front army. Now, let''s invite general Danilov, deputy commander of the group army, to speak! "


    "Comrades in command!" Danilov stood up and said to the commanders at the meeting, "the decisive moment has come. It''s time to pay for the blood of our commanders who died in the battle of Kharkov! Comrades, the head of the front army told us that all preparations for a counter offensive have been made. A week ago, there was only one Voronezh front army in the south of Kursk, but now there is another grassland front army of general konev. With the powerful strength of our two front armies, we can certainly defeat the invincible man Stein. Of course, the enemy''s strength is not weak. We can''t take it lightly. However, it''s reassuring that they have no troops to reinforce them, because the successful landing of the allies in Sicily will contain a large number of German troops. That is to say, comrades in command, we will win an absolute victory in this counterattack. "


    "Comrade deputy commander," as for the news of the Allied landing, most of the people who attended the meeting were as skeptical as those senior commanders just now. After a brief conversation, the commander of the 52nd division of the guards, nikolasov, asked on behalf of everyone, "is the news of the Allied landing reliable? Can their landing really stop the Germans from adding more troops to our defensive zone? "


    Danilov looked at him for a moment, then put his hands on the edge of the table, leaned forward slightly, and said, "the news of the Allied landing came from the supreme command, so you don''t have to doubt that. As for the fact that the German army can''t increase its troops, it is because the troops under the command of Manstein are all the strategic reserves of the German army. In order to block the attack of the Allied forces, they can''t get replenishment. On the contrary, they will also transfer a considerable number of troops from here to leave... "


    Danilov''s words immediately aroused a lot of discussion. I looked at the dozens of commanders in front of me. Except for a few generals, the rest were either the colonel or the lieutenant colonel. But everyone was as excited as a child. They were all too happy to close their mouths. In order to prevent the situation of underestimating the enemy, I stood up from my seat.


    There was a sudden silence in the headquarters. All the people focused on me. The whole room could only hear everyone''s breathing.


    After scanning the whole room with my eyes, I said in a loud voice: "comrades commander, although from the current intelligence analysis, many German troops will be transferred in the near future, we can''t take it lightly. You know, Manstein is a cunning old fox. He will launch a final attack on us before the troops are transferred, Therefore, we should provide vigilance and be ready to fight back at any time. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" All the commanders got up from their seats and agreed in a loud voice.


    "Comrades in command! There is another important thing I want to tell you. " After all the people sat down again, I went on to say, "after we have defeated Manstein''s troops, the next task is to continue to attack south. With the cooperation of friendly forces, we will liberate Belgorod and Kharkov! "


    As soon as my words came out, the whole room fell into silence again. After a long time, Kravchenko, commander of the Fifth Army of the close guard tank, stood up and asked, "general oshanina, I think this is an unfinished task."


    "Why, general Kravchenko?" I didn''t have the first person to come forward and question me. It was him, so I asked curiously.


    "General oshanina," maybe I don''t want to lose face in public. Kravchenko said euphemistically, "the enemy''s tanks are several times as many as ours. If we want to liberate these two cities, we must solve the problem of German tanks which occupy the dominant number, otherwise our infantry will easily defeat them when they attack the cities."


    To understand the reason why he questioned me, it turned out that it was this matter, so I said to him with a smile: "general Kravchenko, you may not know yet. Maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, the main force of the fifth group of close guard tanks will fight a decisive battle with the German armored forces in prohorovka area. After this battle, I believe that there are not many German tanks left, so that when we attack cities, the German forces will not be so strong. "


    "In that case, I can rest assured." After listening to my explanation, Kravchenko nodded with satisfaction and sat back in his seat.


    Danilov then introduced to you the whole counter offensive plan, describing in detail our counter offensive route and the forces that we can put in. After explaining the task, we entered the question session.


    Colonel berey began to fight and asked: "Comrade deputy commander, although I only have the 101st brigade of tanks with incomplete organizational structure in my hands, I can still take up important tasks in the counter offensive. I want to ask, "what are the tasks that you assigned to the 33rd tank army in this counter offensive?"


    After listening to berey''s words, Danilov turned to look at me and said with a smile, "Comrade commander, I think it''s more appropriate for you to answer this question."


    In the coming counter offensive, I really want to put Colonel berey where he can make contributions. As long as he has made contributions, he will have a chance to join the ranks of generals as soon as the campaign is over. So when I saw Danilov pushing the conflict in front of me, I was not angry at all. Instead, I said to berey with a smile, "Comrade Colonel, the task is very simple, just like you did a few days ago, attacking the German traffic line. If necessary, you will also take on the task of blocking the defeated German armored forces. "


    "I see, comrade commander." When bielei heard that I had given him such an important task, he couldn''t help looking happy. He might have guessed that I arranged it for him to pave the way in the future, so he gave a very loud answer. But before he sat down, he hesitated for a moment, and then said to me, "I have another request. The shells of the new tank are almost consumed. Can you give us more?"


    "No problem." I saw with my own eyes the performance of the new tanks in dealing with the German tanks, so I agreed very readily, "I''ll apply to commander vatukin later, and ask him to supply us with a batch of new tank shells as soon as possible." At this point, I turned my eyes to the anxious Kravchenko, comforted him and said, "don''t worry, comrade general, your troops will be supplemented accordingly."


    After Danilov and I had finished the task and answered the questions one by one, kirilov stood up. He picked up a piece of paper placed in front of him, looked at the commanders present, and then said, "comrades, I''m going to read out the Military Commission''s report to all the commanders and fighters of the sixth group army that I have just drafted."


    I don''t know what kind of medicine kirilov sold in his gourd. How could I draw up a letter to all the commanders and soldiers without even calling me in advance? However, I saw that everyone''s eyes were focused on him, his mouth was open, but he didn''t speak at last. I want to hear what he said in his senior commander''s book.


    Just listen to kirilov read: "at the same time that the sixth group army of the close guard has turned in and decided to attack, the military committee of the group army believes that each unit of the group army will be able to perform its duty to the motherland with honor... Fight bravely, comrade! Glory belongs to the brave soldiers in Zhanzhong! Fight, fight to the death with the enemy, our brave soldiers! "


    When kirilov finished reading the letter and put it on the table, the whole room suddenly rang out a tsunami like cry: "Wula! Wula!! Wula At first, I just listened, but I couldn''t help shouting with everyone because I was excited.


    I don''t know how long later, when peace returned to the room, kirilov continued: "Comrade commander, this letter to the commanders and fighters will be read out to all units of the sixth group army of the guards today. Political commissars and directors of political departments at all levels who have come to the meeting, you should conscientiously perform your duties and let every soldier know this letter of high command. Do you understand? "


    With his words, more than 20 commanders sitting in front of me stood up hullably, and they answered in unison: "we promise to complete the task!"


    Kirilov nodded his head with satisfaction to their reply, then turned to me and said, "Rita, if there is nothing else, I will announce the end of the meeting. Let''s go back to our respective troops as soon as possible and convey the spirit of our meeting."


    I nodded in agreement, then stood up and announced to those present: "comrades, today''s meeting is over. You can go back to your respective troops."


    As the commanders who came to the meeting left one after another, I stopped berey and Kravchenko because I had more important tasks to give them.


    When there were only two of them and the main leaders of the group army left in the room, I asked them to sit down, and then said, "I left you two with more important tasks to give you."


    "General o''shanina, if you have any mission, please speak." Kravchenko did not wait for me to finish, he said impatiently: "our close guard fifth tank army guarantees that it will successfully complete any orders you assign."


    "Well, Comrade General." Since Kravchenko showed such cooperation, I would not beat him around the Bush, but directly said: "I intend to deploy your tank headquarters in the southwest of Prokhorovka, where I will build the necessary defensive positions to deal with the German tank troops who have been defeated from Prokhorovka."


    "General oshanina, I don''t understand." For my command, Kravchenko''s face showed a confused expression: "if we want to build a defensive position, it may be more appropriate to use infantry. My tanks are good for attack, but they are good for defense... "Although he didn''t finish his words, I heard his voice over and quickly said:" Comrade General, you should know that there are plains in the southwest of Prokhorovka, where infantry build defensive positions to block the German armored forces. Although they can also block them, the price is expensive. But your tank troops are not the same. No matter in defense or attack, the enemy''s tanks will not be your opponent. At that time, the sky will be on our side. " After explaining the task to Kravchenko, I looked at berey and said, "Comrade Colonel, you and your tank troops don''t need to build any defensive positions. Instead, they take the defensive area of general Kravchenko''s tank troops as the center, harassing the German lines of communication and attacking small units of zero star."¡° But, general o''shanina, when can our superior supply us with ammunition? " Kravchenko said to me in some embarrassment after I explained the task to Colonel berey: "you know, most of our tanks are new type tanks. If there is no matching ammunition, they will not play their due role in the battlefield."¡° Don''t worry, Comrade General. " I raised my hand, patted him on the shoulder, comforted him and said, "I''ll call commander watujing overnight and try to get him to arrange a transport team to transport the shells we need during the day."¡° Comrade commander, there is one more thing I need to remind you. " Colonel berey said politely: "although our tanks are superior to German tanks in performance, they are not invulnerable. They will be damaged in battle. Therefore, it is necessary to build a tank maintenance station in our garrison area, so as to repair damaged or faulty tanks in time. What do you think? "¡° No problem, comrade colonel If I don''t mention it, I almost forgot the speed of repairing damaged tanks in the tank maintenance station, which also determined the success or failure of the tank battle, so I quickly agreed: "there is a tank maintenance station near the headquarters. I''ll discuss with the station master Koski later and ask him to move the maintenance station to your defense zone."

 Chapter 1172

    The new day''s sun rose slowly, and the warm sunshine spread all over the earth. General Kravchenko''s Fifth Army of close guard tanks is building a new defensive position to the southwest of Prokhorovka.


    Kravchenko chose a good terrain. He arranged the defensive position of the sixth brigade of the close guard motorized on the hill covered with bushes. The dense bush can provide the best cover for the anti tank artillery position, so that the German tanks passing in front of the hill can not detect our ambush in advance. The main force of his tank army was hidden in the open land behind the hills and was cleverly disguised.


    Kravchenko and I were standing on the high ground, looking in the direction of Prokhorovka, where the smoke of gunfire and the faint sound of explosion came from, where the tanks of the Soviet and German sides were fighting fiercely. But unfortunately, after watching it for a long time, I couldn''t see anything clearly except smoke.


    Kravchenko asked me anxiously: "general oshanina, do you think general rotmistrov''s tank group army can defeat the German 2nd SS armored army?"


    Instead of answering his question, I thought about the ongoing tank war in Prokhorovka. For a long time, it has been famous for the largest tank battle in the history of human war. It is said that 1500 tanks from both sides fought fiercely here on July 12, 43.


    No matter what the scale of this tank decisive battle is in real history, at this moment, I clearly know that the number of tanks involved in the battle by both sides is absolutely not up to that number. After all, in the recent battle, the strength of the German 2nd SS Panzer Army was greatly weakened by us. In my defense area alone, they lost more than 200 tanks. Before they were supplemented with new tanks, their strength was much weaker than in history.


    Kravchenko thought I didn''t hear him, so he repeated the question again: "general oshanina, do you think we can defeat the second SS armored army of the German army with our strength?"


    I turned my head to Kravchenko and said in a positive tone, "Comrade General, I think general rotmistrov''s tank army can defeat the enemy. According to my information, there are close guard tanks in Prokhorovka. The 18th and 29th armies of the fifth group army have more than 400 tanks. Compared with the German army, they have a certain advantage in number; In addition, they are also equipped with a lot of new tanks. To deal with the German Tiger tanks, No. 4 tanks, No. 3 assault guns and weasel destroyers, the problem is not too big. "


    "I hope so." Perhaps Kravchenko didn''t want to pour cold water on me. After listening to what I said, he sighed softly, then reluctantly agreed: "as long as general rotmisterov doesn''t make any mistakes in his command, we still have a lot to grasp in our final victory."


    I recognized that he had something to say, and I was not optimistic about the prospect of the decisive battle of tanks in Prokhorovka. I could not help but ask curiously, "Comrade General, I hear you speak as if I have no confidence in general rotmistrov?"


    "Comrade oshanina, you may not know that the fifth group army, as a reserve force, is not equipped with any new tanks at all." When he saw the surprised expression on my face, he continued word by word: "the two tank armies you just mentioned are also equipped with a considerable number of obsolete light tanks. T-34, which can really pose a threat to German tanks, only accounts for half of this army."


    Kravchenko''s words startled me. Originally, I was full of confidence in the victory of the tank battle against rotmistrov''s troops, but now when I know the equipment of the fifth group army of the close guard tanks, my heart suddenly sank like a sinkhole. Although I was shocked in my heart, I still had to say, "general rotmistrov can completely use those light tanks as battery. When the German forces attack them, they can attack them with artillery fire."


    As soon as I finished, I found that Kravchenko''s face had completely changed. He said bitterly: "general oshanina, just before you came to me, my scouts reported to me that the German army had occupied the attack starting position of rotmisterov. In other words, if we want to have a decisive battle with tanks, our tanks must first attack the enemy''s positions. " At this point, he took out a map, pointed to a position on it and said to me, "general rotmistrov''s troops have to go through an open area to attack the German army, which just enables the German army to exert the long-range lethality of the 88mm guns of its Tiger tank and the 75mm guns of its No. 4 tank, No. 3 assault gun and weasel destroyer. At the same distance, the 76mm guns on our T-34 tanks can''t do much damage to German tanks. "


    "Then what should we do? Should we watch our friendly forces be annihilated by the enemy?" Although I know the result of Prokhorov''s decisive battle with tanks, I can''t help but panic when I hear Kravchenko say this: "can you send a tank brigade to reinforce them?"


    Kravchenko shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly, "I''m sorry, general oshanina. Please forgive me for not being able to complete this task."


    "Why?" His answer surprised me, so I asked, "are you really going to watch the friendly troops frustrated and not reach out to them?"


    "You are mistaken, general oshanina." In response to my accusation, Kravchenko calmly explained: "in the meeting a few hours ago, I told you that the supporting shells of my new tank had already been exhausted. If we don''t supplement as soon as possible, we can''t take part in the battle at all. You can''t let our tankers drive the tanks to hit the enemy''s tanks, can you


    After listening to Kravchenko''s explanation, I couldn''t help but look up and sigh. I didn''t expect that a tank battle, which seemed to be a sure victory, had unexpected variables. But Kravchenko can''t help. It''s understandable. Who makes the output of supporting shells of new tanks too low to meet the needs of the army. The shortage of ammunition directly leads to the fact that many troops equipped with new tanks are unable to carry out normal combat tasks, or can only use the previous T-34 tanks to compete with the Tiger tanks with better performance.


    Seeing my dejected face, Kravchenko suddenly said, "by the way, general oshanina, if you want to help general rotmistrov, there is no way at all."


    "What, comrade general," I asked excitedly, seizing him by the shoulder. "Have you come up with any good way to help general rotmistrov?"


    Kravchenko nodded and said: "in fact, it''s very simple. At present, there are many new tanks in Colonel bere''s army with sufficient ammunition. If they join the war, I think the fighting situation will become very favorable for us."


    "Can you contact Colonel berey here?" At the moment, if I want to contact bere, I can only use radio communication. Although it is possible to leak secrets, I can''t care much about it in order to win the decisive battle of Prokhorov''s tanks. "I need to contact him immediately and ask him to deploy new tanks to support general rotmistrov."


    However, to my surprise, Kravchenko had a direct phone call with berey, which saved me from the risk of German eavesdropping when I used wireless communication with berey. When I heard berey''s voice coming out of the receiver, I asked frankly, "Comrade Colonel, how many new tanks you have with sufficient ammunition can be pulled out now?"


    Berey didn''t know why I asked such a question, so he asked, "Comrade commander, are you..."


    Although he only said half of what he said, I understood what he meant. He wanted to understand the real purpose of my asking this question. So I specially explained to him: "Comrade Colonel, I just learned that general rotmistrov''s tank army was not equipped with new tanks at all. Moreover, before today''s battle, the German army had preempted their offensive starting position, forcing general rotmistrov''s troops to pass through an open area, To attack the German Panzer. In the distance of charging, they will be attacked continuously by German Tiger tanks, No.4 tanks, assault guns and destroyers, and they are bound to pay a high price.... "


    "I see, comrade commander." Without waiting for me to finish, Colonel berey knew where I was calling and asked, "how many tanks do I need to send for support?"


    Because I didn''t know the situation of the tank army, I didn''t give an order casually. Instead, I asked him, "how many tanks can you deploy at present?"


    "I can get captain shamrih''s Third Battalion of tanks to lead 15 new tanks to reinforce." It''s probably to reassure me that the tank commanders he sent are all familiar to me. After finishing this sentence, he specially stressed: "because of the time constraint, we can''t wait for the fuel truck, so I can only let captain shamrih and them go to general Kravchenko''s area and replenish the necessary fuel there."


    After hearing this, I didn''t make a statement immediately. Instead, I turned to Kravchenko next to me for consultation. Seeing that he nodded his head and agreed, I said to berey, "well, comrade Colonel, let captain shamrih come as soon as possible. General Kravchenko can supply them with enough fuel."


    As soon as I put down the phone, I saw Kravchenko calling his chief of staff and asking him to arrange for some oil tankers to be prepared at the foot of the mountain. When the friendly tank battalion arrived, they would be refueled immediately.


    After half an hour, someone came in and reported to Kravchenko: "Comrade commander, the tank battalion of the friendly army has arrived, and now it is fueling at the foot of the mountain. Now their commander is at the door. Do you need to see them? "


    Kravchenko did not answer immediately, but turned his eyes on me, meaning to let me make up my mind. It occurred to me that I had not seen him for a long time. I just took this opportunity to see him. Otherwise, if he had any problems in the next battle, he would not have seen him.


    When Kravchenko saw that I agreed, he immediately told the other party, "go and ask the commander of the friendly army to come in."


    Soon, the figure of shamrih appeared at the door. When he saw that I was also in the headquarters, he was stunned at first, but soon recovered. He raised his hand and saluted me, and said aloud, "report to commander comrade, Captain shamrih of the Third Battalion of the 101 brigade of the 33rd Army of tanks. I am ordered to come here to accept your order. Please give me instructions!"


    "This is general Kravchenko, the commander of the 2nd and 5th army of the guard tank." After a salute, I introduced Kravchenko, who was standing next to me, to shamrih, "the man he arranged is replenishing fuel for you." After shamrih and Kravchenko said hello, I called them to the simple wooden table, pointed to the map above and said to shamrih, "Comrade captain, at present, the fifth group army of our close guard tanks is fighting against the German tanks in Prokhorovka area. My mission to your battalion is to reinforce the friendly forces. " After staring at the map for a while, shamrih tentatively asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t know which direction we should launch a surprise attack from the German army?"¡° Comrade captain, I think you misunderstood me. I asked you to reinforce the friendly forces, not to force you to attack the enemy. You should know that although your tanks are superior to the German army in performance, they are too few. Even if they are exchanged according to the ratio of one to five and one to six, you will lose out in the end. " In order not to make shamrih hot headed and rush to the Prokhorovka area to fight the war of attrition, I specially pointed out to him: "what you have to do is to wander around the battlefield of war, see the enemy''s weakness, and rush up and hit them. After causing losses to them, they move to other directions and continue to harass. In a word, the Germans should not be allowed to concentrate their forces and engage in a war with general rotmistrov''s forces. Do you understand? " Shamrih hesitated for a moment, and then answered decisively, "I understand, comrade commander. I''m sure I''ll make the Germans care about one thing and lose the other."¡° Very well, comrade captain. You understand very well. " I am very satisfied with his understanding ability. I said to him with a smile: "as long as you fight this battle well, I will suggest to the superior that your tank 22nd brigade be reconstituted again, and that you be equipped with the best tanks and the most experienced tankers."

 Chapter 1173

    Shamrih didn''t expect that I would draw such a big cake for him. Suddenly, his mouth almost reached his ears. After a long time, the expression on his face returned to normal. He stood up straight in front of me and said solemnly, "Comrade commander, the 22nd tank brigade rebuilt this time, I will turn it into a strong steel force and beat the Germans away on the battlefield."


    Before I could speak, a telephone next to Kravchenko rang. He grabbed it and listened for a while, and the expression on his face became serious. When I saw the change in his face, I knew that something must have happened. I immediately asked, "Comrade General, what''s the matter?"


    He put his hand over the microphone, turned to me and said, "general oshanina, the observation post at the top of the mountain reported that a German army was coming towards us."


    "What kind of German army?" Although I heard that some German troops were coming here, I was not alarmed at all, because there were three tank brigades and one battalion here, and there were anti tank guns on the high ground. If the enemy does not exceed one division, there is nothing to worry about.


    Kravchenko released his hand covering the microphone and asked the observatory, "what kind of German is it?"


    After he put down the phone, he told me, "general oshanina, the German army has about 20 tanks and the same number of armored vehicles. They are in formation five kilometers away from us. They are coming fiercely. It is estimated that they will rush to our position in ten minutes. What shall we do? "


    "Only 20 tanks, that''s easy." I said to shamrih, "Comrade captain, I''ll give you the task of meeting the German tanks. Are you confident of completing the task? "


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." "Although we don''t have as many people as he does, we''ve also got the Germans looking for teeth," he said confidently


    After shamrih left, Kravchenko asked me with a smile: "general oshanina, the captain''s words just now are very interesting. They want to make the Germans look for their teeth. I think this should be your initiative? "


    "Even so." Instead of grappling with the details, I asked, "how many tanks can you fight immediately?"


    Kravchenko was stunned by what I said. He hesitated for a moment and asked, "Comrade General, do you think that the captain''s 15 tanks can''t compete with Fu''s tanks?"


    "Eagles fight rabbits with all their strength, not to mention the experienced Germans." After I finished this sentence, I urged, "tell me, how many tanks do you have in your hand that can be put into battle?"


    Kravchenko thought about it and answered me, "there are 30 T-34 tanks in combat readiness and ready to fight. Do you need to send them out now?"


    "No hurry." I didn''t want to put my troops into battle without knowing the situation of the enemy. So I refused Kravchenko''s proposal and said, "let''s go to the observation station first."


    When we came to the observation post, we saw that the tank battalion in shamrih had already launched a battle formation, with five vehicles in a row, a total of three rows, driving full horsepower towards the enemy. The German tanks in the distance, from the initial black spot, became clear. The enemy''s tanks formed a wedge-shaped formation, and later were armored vehicles loaded with infantry.


    Kravchenko saw the enemy''s formation and said strangely, "general oshanina, what is the enemy doing? They sent such a team to rush into us."


    "Very simple, Comrade General." After I saw the enemy''s formation clearly, I guessed their intention and explained to Kravchenko, "maybe it''s your building a defensive position here that was discovered by the enemy''s scouts. But because they didn''t know how big you were, they sent this medium-sized armored force to attack you. "


    Kravchenko looked at the dust raised by the German tanks in the distance, which was higher than the dust raised by the tank battalion in shamrih. He could not help worrying again: "general oshanina, I think we should send troops to reinforce them. Although they are equipped with a large number of new tanks, the number is less than that of the German army. Once they fight, I''m afraid our people will suffer! "


    "Don''t worry, Comrade General." I said to him with a smile, "this is a rare exercise program for them. If you are not at ease, you can make the anti tank artillery on the position ready for battle. At the same time, the T-34 is ready to attack. "


    Kravchenko, according to what I said, gave orders to his subordinates by telephone. He stood at my side again, raised his telescope and looked at the tank battalion that Yiwu rushed towards the enemy. He muttered: "the number is much less than the enemy, so he has to rush up against others. Isn''t he looking for his own death?"


    "Comrade General, isn''t that good? Although the number is not as large as the enemy''s and the combat experience is not as rich as the enemy''s, their courage to rush towards the enemy without hesitation is the most precious. " When I said this, I couldn''t help blurting out the famous saying: "if you meet in a narrow road, the brave will win. Only a soldier with this kind of courage will never give up in the face of any difficulties."


    "If we meet in a narrow road, the brave will win!" Kravchenko repeated my words, nodded his head and said: "yes, when we meet the enemy head-on, the most courageous army is the invincible army."


    "Comrade General," seeing that the tanks on both sides were close to the shooting distance, I reminded Kravchenko: "after captain shamrih''s tank battalion has disordered the enemy''s formation, you can send your tank troops out to fight for it, and then the enemy will be completely destroyed, understand?"


    "Don''t worry, general oshanina." Kravchenko replied excitedly: "my soldiers have long been ready to go. Just wait for an order, they will rush out like arrows and beat the enemy to pieces."


    At this time, the tank battalion of shamrih took the lead in firing, and the muzzle of 15 tanks emitted white smoke at the same time. A moment later, in the German tank line, the mud raised by the waves was sprayed into the air like a fountain, but it did not hit any target. The German tanks kept their original speed and continued to rush forward.


    But at the same time as the tank battalion fired the second time, the German tanks stopped to fire. The shells from the tanks of both sides roared and landed in the queue of the other side. The German shells were all lost, while our army hit a Tiger tank. The Tiger tank was still charging forward doggedly, though the smoke was billowing from the back of the tank.


    In the third round of firing, the tank battalion was only 500 meters away from the enemy''s tank line. In such a short distance, the percentage of hits is improved. Not only two tanks were hit, stopped in the plain and began to burn, but also an armored personnel carrier was destroyed. The soldiers on the vehicle jumped down like dumplings.


    "That''s great, that''s great!" Seeing that the tank battalion had reimbursed three German tanks and an armored personnel carrier, Kravchenko couldn''t help cheering. He said triumphantly, "if there are a few more rounds of such shooting, the German tanks will all be reimbursed."


    When the tank battalion completed the fifth round of firing and the German army completed the third round of firing, the tanks of both sides were interwoven. Because the distance between each other is too close, there is no need for special aiming. As long as the gun is fired in the general direction, it can almost hit the target.


    Although the performance of our tanks is better than that of the German troops, when we are hit at a distance of tens of meters, especially when the side armor is hit, we can not escape the fate of fire. Of course, the German casualties were even more serious. After they penetrated the tank battalion, there were less than seven tanks left and 11 armored vehicles left.


    Kravchenko saw that the German armored forces were within the range of the anti tank gun. He immediately picked up the phone, called the anti tank gun position, and gave a short order: "fire!"


    Shortly after his order was given, I heard a short tail in the air. Not only were the anti tank guns firing, but even the T-34 tanks were coming out of their hiding places to occupy an ideal shooting position and fire at the enemy. In a very short period of time, the sound of interior ballistics would be heard. In the deafening roar, I saw the position of the German tanks, black smoke wrapped in the fire.


    When the smoke cleared, I saw the new soil being turned up and the tanks and armored vehicles being destroyed and constantly burning. Around the crater, many soldiers who had not died immediately were rolling and groaning. A tank with a big fire on its body is trying to escape from the place of death. Before long, seven or eight shells hit it directly. It struggled to move forward for a certain distance, then stopped. Then there was an earth shaking explosion, and even the turret was overturned.


    Kravchenko saw this scene, immediately laughed, patted me on the shoulder, and said loudly: "look, general oshanina, the German tanks are really vulnerable. In just a few minutes, we killed them all."


    "Well done, comrade general," I thought he was very happy, so I gave him a casual compliment. Seeing that there were three new tanks of our army burning in the distant battlefield, my heart couldn''t help but raise my voice and said, "can''t it be captain shamrih''s tank that was destroyed by the German army?"


    Kravchenko looked at me, staring at the distance in a daze, and quickly asked with concern: "Comrade General, what are you looking at?"


    I pointed to the burning tanks in the distance and said, "look, there are several tanks of our army burning over there. I don''t know if there are any tanks of captain shamrih in them?"


    "No, No." Kravchenko confidently said: "I had a close look at the tank battalion just passing by the foot of the mountain. The captain''s tanks are in the first row, while the concentrated tanks are in the second and third rows. They will not be his tanks. "


    Although Kravchenko was sure of what he said, my heart was still not stable. "No, I didn''t worry until I saw that Sharm RIH was safe. Comrade general, go ahead and have a look. "


    Kravchenko saw that I would not be reconciled if I didn''t see sharmlich with my own eyes, so he didn''t stop me and accompanied me to the front by car to check.


    When the car approached the burning tank, I saw a lot of bodies near the wreckage of the tank, and my heart was raised again. I quickly told the driver to stop, pushed the door open, jumped out, and ran quickly towards the bodies.


    On the ground not far from the tank, there were two soldiers, one squatting and the other sitting. I went to find that the original squatting soldiers are dressing wounds for the sitting soldiers. I stopped next to them and nervously asked, "what''s going on? Why are there so many bodies near the tanks?" The soldiers who were being bandaged looked up at me and said feebly, "these dead men are almost all German men. After they escaped from the burning tank, they not only did not surrender, but used the pistols they carried with them to fight us." Then he turned to the other side and said, "look, comrade commander, eleven enemies died, and six of us died." I saw the burning tank and asked nervously, "is there anyone else in the tank?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " The squatting soldier replied, "but they have all died. I can''t even lift their bodies out of it." then he couldn''t help looking up and sighing¡° Where is captain shamrih? " Although I knew that there was no shamrih in the hands of the injured tank, I was as if I had suddenly suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder and wanted to find out his whereabouts. The soldier took a look at me and said strangely, "the captain''s tank is OK. He''s coming towards us." I followed the direction of the soldier''s fingers and saw Kravchenko and shamrih coming towards me, talking and laughing. No wonder I haven''t seen Kravchenko come over all the time. It turns out that he went to find shamrih specially. Shamrih came to me and raised his hand to salute me. After that, he reported with some pride: "Comrade commander, tank battalion commander shamrih has reported to you that we have completely annihilated the German tank troops and lost three tanks. The report is over. Please give instructions!" I went forward to hold shamrih''s hand and said to him excitedly, "Comrade captain, you are very kind. You wiped out all the German tanks at the cost of only three tanks. That''s very kind of you!" After I let go of his hand, I said to Kravchenko, "Comrade General, I will immediately order someone to clean the battlefield and prepare for all battles. If our army wins the tank battle in Prokhorovka, there may be more German tanks passing by. Your task is to eliminate them as much as possible. "

 Chapter 1174

    As soon as I got back to Kravchenko''s headquarters, I received the war report forwarded by bezikov. After reading this telegram, my original happy mood suddenly became dark.


    The war report said: close guard tank "katukov, I will give him orders, let him fully cooperate with your counterattack." Vatukin took the matter of persuading katukov to himself, and then asked anxiously, "if after your counterattack, the German troops in Prokhorovka turn south and attack the flanks of your counterattack troops, do you have any preventive measures?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." If we want to launch a counterattack against the German army and prepare to support the Fifth Army of close guard tanks of general rotmistrov, the original task will be adjusted so that they will protect the flanks of the counterattack forces. Therefore, I said with confidence: "I have deployed the Fifth Army of close guard tanks in the southwest of Prokhorovka, even if the second party guard armored army of the German army goes south, And they''re holding it back. " In order to enhance vatukin''s confidence, I added, "a few hours ago, a German army consisting of tanks and armored vehicles was completely annihilated by them. During the fighting, 20 enemy tanks and 20 armored vehicles were destroyed, and 200 German soldiers were killed. We only lost three tanks and a dozen tankers. "


    "It''s a good game." The result of the war made watujing feel better. "In this way, you can rest assured and boldly launch a counter offensive. Don''t worry. I''ll call katukov immediately and ask him to arrange troops to fight back with you. "


    When he was in a good mood, I asked tentatively, "Comrade General, I heard that the German army broke through the position of the 69th group army. How can we restrain their attack?"


    "Don''t worry." "I have just ordered the 26th tank brigade of the 2nd tank army of the guards and the two mechanized brigades of the 5th mechanized army of the guards to reinforce the 69th group army," watujing said in a good mood


    When I put down the phone, Danilov and they all couldn''t wait to ask, "well, did commander vatujing agree to our counterattack plan?"


    "Yes, the senior general completely agreed with our plan of counterattack and promised to persuade general katukov to let his troops join in the counterattack." With these words, I directly told akhromeyev: "major, you call the three division commanders of the 71st, 89th and 375TH divisions of the guards, as well as Colonel bere of the tank army, and ask them to rush to the headquarters immediately. I will deploy new combat tasks to them."


    When Danilov watched akhromeyev go to make a phone call, he secretly asked me, "Comrade commander, which team do you think general katukov can send if he cooperates with us? You should know that his third mechanized army was almost disabled by the German army in the past few days. Even if it was put into combat, it would not play a big role. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander." Although I hate Danilov''s constant chatter in my ear, I still have to patiently explain to him: "general katukov is an excellent commander with rich combat experience. He will surely understand that it is useless to force those incomplete troops to the battlefield, on the contrary, it will consume valuable troops in vain."


    "I hope so." Even though I said it so clearly, Danilov still had a dubious look on his face. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something else, but he didn''t say anything at last.


    Berey and sherekin are in the same place, so they arrived at the same time. I had just returned the gift to them. Just as I was about to say something, the telephone on the desk rang. Kirilov, sitting at the table, picked up the phone and listened for a while. Then he put out the receiver in my direction and said, "Rita, your phone is from general katukov."


    It''s said that it''s katukov. I know it must be the counterattack troops. After a few lunges, I rushed to the table, took the phone call from kirilov, and said nervously, "Hello, is that general katukov? I''m oshanina


    "Rita, commander vatukin called me." Katukov said bluntly: "since the commanders of the front army have agreed to carry out such a counterattack, then I have no opinion. At present, my troops are limited, so I can only transfer major general Gutman''s tank Sixth Army to you to cooperate with your counterattack. "


    "Great, comrade general, that''s great." I was overjoyed to hear that katukov had agreed to give me a complete tank army. Now, under my command, the fifth tank army of Kravchenko''s close guard can''t take part in the counterattack because it is shouldering the flank of the counterattack troops; However, the 33rd army of Colonel berey''s tanks is currently able to use only the 101st brigade of tanks with incomplete organizational structure. I was worried about the small number of tanks. However, katukov readily gave me the most complete tank army in his hands¡° For your generosity, I would like to express my sincere thanks to you


    "Come on, Rita, time is running out. Don''t talk nonsense." Katukov said solemnly, "I''ll let gertman come to you to accept the task. At this time, I''ll seize the time to gather the troops, and then I can launch a counterattack against the German army within the specified time."


    At the end of the call, I saw that all the division commanders who had received the notice had arrived, so I said with a smile to them, "comrades commanders, please sit down for a while. When the friendly general Guttman arrives, we will begin to set up today''s counterattack task."

 Chapter 1175

    When general Gutman arrived, the artillery commander of the group army, Colonel povsky, came with him. In order to prevent the German army from launching another fierce attack on oboyan these two days, povsky usually stayed in oboyan, so that he could command the artillery of the group army there and provide artillery support for katukov''s mechanized Third Army.


    Seeing that all the people had arrived, I coughed and then said, "comrades, before announcing today''s combat mission, I would like to talk about the current situation between ourselves and the enemy. The 2nd SS Panzer Army of German army occupied a certain advantage in prohorovka area, wedged two to three kilometers into the defense area of the 5th group army of close guard tank, and broke through the defense line of the 69th group army, which posed a threat to the flank of prohorovka.


    In order to reverse this unfavorable situation, I concentrated the 71st and 89th divisions of the guards and the 375TH division of the infantry, as well as the 101st brigade of the tanks and the artillery units of the group army to counter the German forces in Yakovlev. " At this point, I took a look at gertman, continued with a smile, "of course, there are general gertman''s tanks, the Sixth Army with our action."


    "Comrade commander, may I ask you a question?" As soon as I finished, the commander of the 71st division of the guards, Colonel sivakov, stood up.


    "Yes, comrade colonel." I said to him in a friendly tone, "you ask!"


    "Comrade commander, our 71st and 77th guard divisions have always been responsible for covering prohorovka''s right wing. Now we have transferred our division away. Once the German forces attack the 77th guard division from prohorovka, can they block it?"


    "Don''t worry about that, comrade colonel." After listening to sivakov''s question, I said with a smile to him and to all the people, "maybe you don''t know. I have deployed general Kravchenko''s close guard tank Fifth Army in the southwest of Prokhorovka. As long as they are there, the German army will never enter our defense area again.


    When general Kravchenko was setting up a defensive position, the German army sent out a tank unit in an attempt to destroy our troops who were building fortifications. But this time they met the iron plate. First, the tank battalion of the 101st tank brigade destroyed several of their tanks. Then, the tank military anti tank guns and tanks saturated the German army and completely wiped them out. In other words, it is absolutely safe for us to attack the left wing of Yakovlev''s forces. "


    "Comrade General," general Guttman said immediately, "on your right flank, with our mechanized Third Army and your 90th division, your flank must be safe."


    "I have consulted the headquarters of the front army and obtained authorization for this counterattack." In order not to let you have any bad ideas about this hasty counter offensive, I have specially explained it. Then I looked at povsky and asked, "Comrade artillery commander, I''d like to introduce you to those places that will be your priority targets before preparing for artillery fire."


    Povsky stood up, went to the map beside the wall, picked up the stick, pointed to it and began to explain: "comrades, according to our reconnaissance, the German troops are assembling to the state farm east of the oboyan highway, and a lot of German troops are also stationed in several villages nearby. In our artillery preparation, these places will become our key targets. " At this point, he raised his hand and looked at his watch. "The artillery preparation time is 30 minutes, and then the artillery will carry out extended firing."


    "Wait a minute, comrade colonel." When he just said this, I couldn''t help interrupting him and put forward my own suggestions in public: "I think our shelling effect is not good, which may be related to the fact that the Germans have mastered our shelling rules. So I ask you to adjust the muzzle and re fire the earliest area after five minutes of extended fire, so as to eliminate as many enemies as possible who have just come out of the blast hole


    After listening, povsky pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Comrade commander, your idea is good. When the German troops saw the extension of the artillery fire, they must have thought that the artillery fire had passed, and they would run out of their hiding place and be ready to stop our army. At this time, if we suddenly cover this area with more artillery fire, it will certainly cause them a lot of losses. "


    After the artillery preparation, I turned to Gutman and said, "Comrade General, your tank troops will charge the enemy''s defensive operations five minutes before the end of the artillery attack. When we rushed to the enemy, the shelling was just over. Before the German who had evaded the shelling had time to enter the positions, our tanks had torn open their defense lines, and then the infantry swarmed up again to encircle and destroy the enemy in these positions. "


    "Comrade General," gertman asked tentatively, "I don''t know whether our tanks are used centrally or scattered in the infantry companies for support fire?"


    "It''s no use saying that, Comrade General." I am very surprised at his question. Is his fighting style different from that of katukov¡° It must be to concentrate all the tanks and use wedge formation to rush into the enemy''s position. In this way, even if there were one or several anti tank guns in the German position, it would not be very useful. After our tanks rush past, we can crush these anti tank guns with tracks. "


    After the assignment, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I said to all the commanders, "everyone hurry back to their respective troops immediately and start to transfer them to the designated starting point of attack. Our attack will start in two hours


    The commanders who attended the meeting stood up to salute me and left the headquarters one after another.


    Looking at everyone''s back as they left, kirilov asked anxiously, "Rita, are you sure this counterattack will work? You know, it''s only four hours before and after the plan was made and the troops launched the attack. It''s a large-scale operation of tens of thousands of people. No mistakes can be made. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade military Commissar." For kirilov''s concern, I nodded gratefully and said with a smile: "although the counterattack is a little hasty, it can surprise the German. As for the next battle process, you can rest assured that commander watujing will never let us suffer losses. Maybe he will send air force or new troops to supplement us when he sees the war getting stuck. "


    An hour later, sivakov called me and complained to me: "Comrade commander, our division is the farthest away from the starting point of the attack. It is estimated that we can''t arrive within the specified time. Do you think you can give us some time?"


    "Comrade Colonel, since there is not enough time, why didn''t you say that at the meeting? Seeing that the battle is about to start, you told me at this time that you can''t move the troops to the designated position within the designated time. " I was not famous for sivakov''s words. I couldn''t help yelling at him: "if your troops can''t arrive at the designated place within the specified time, you will be dismissed as division commander..."


    "Rita!" Seeing that I was furious, kirilov on the other side reminded me in a low voice: "don''t forget that you are now the commander of the group army. You should keep calm at all times, otherwise you will make irreparable mistakes in commanding the battle."


    After hearing kirilov''s persuasion, I took a deep breath and waited for my mood to stabilize a little, then I said to sivakov, "Comrade Colonel, I can give you half an hour more, but if your troops can''t attack with general Gutman''s tank army on time after the artillery preparation, I will still withdraw you. Do you remember? "


    "Remember, comrade commander." Sivakov replied somewhat flustered.


    In order to prevent similar incidents, I also made a special phone call to sheiliujin and govorunanko to ask whether their troops could arrive at the starting point of the attack on time. They both assured me on the phone: "Comrade commander, you can rest assured that our troops will arrive at the starting point of attack on time."


    After listening to the two people''s reply, my heart immediately became more solid. As long as these two divisions can enter the position on time, the 71st division of sivakov''s close guard will not have much influence on the war situation even if it enters the position later.


    There are many people who are concerned about the counterattack process. For example, vatukin and katukov have been paying attention to my preparation. The first one who called was vatukin. He said to me on the phone: "Comrade oshanina, the operation of Kursk bulge has aroused the attention of the Soviet people. They listen to the radio carefully and read newspapers. They stuck to their posts, worked hard and made great contributions to the war. Today, trains full of tanks, fuel, ammunition and food are constantly on their way to Kursk, and a newly formed army is also on foot to Kursk. Our army consumes a lot of ammunition in the battle, especially artillery shells. The Soviet logistic forces are very busy in automobile transportation. They are transporting ammunition to various positions by truck... "


    After listening to what watujing said, I muttered to myself that if you could supply us with the supporting shells of the urgently needed new tanks earlier, the next battle would be much easier. In particular, the Fifth Army of close guard tanks, equipped with all kinds of new type tanks, may smash the enemy''s line of defense as long as they rush towards the enemy in formation.


    Then katukov called again. He asked bluntly, "Rita, are you strong enough to fight back?"


    After hearing his question, I hesitated for a moment, and then said carefully: "the troops participating in the counterattack, including three infantry divisions, one tank army and another tank brigade, plus a large number of artillery regiments, can still form an advantage in some areas."


    "No, No." At the moment, katukov said to me in an unconventional way: "your counter attack force is still too weak. If you can''t defeat the enemy quickly, the battle will soon be stuck."


    I didn''t understand the purpose of katukov''s sudden remark, so I had to say vaguely, "Comrade General, there''s no way. Our group army can only transfer so many troops at present. The rest of the troops are entangled by the German army and can''t be transferred for the time being."


    "Well, in order to strengthen your counterattack strength, I''ll give you a little more support." Katukov forthrightly said: "in the south of oboyan, there is your 90th close guard division. With the arrival of the new troops, our strength has been strengthened. Even without the help of the 90th close guard division, we can still hold oboyan. If you want, I''ll let this unit go back and you can use them as reserves. "


    "Great, that''s great." To tell you the truth, before considering the counterattack plan, I also considered the 90th division of the close guard deployed in the south of oboyan, but I was worried that once this unit was withdrawn, it would weaken the strength of the katukov defense zone, so I had to selectively ignore the existence of this unit. Now that katukov has offered to let them return, I will not show any affectation, so I immediately agreed. The commander of the 90th division, Colonel Chernoff, arrived at my headquarters five minutes before the shelling began. He gave us a ring salute after entering the door, and then said in a loud voice: "commander Chernoff of the 90th division of the guards has come to report, please give instructions!" Recently, bezikov had a good relationship with the following division commanders. After a simple greeting, he pulled Chernoff aside and pointed out the area where the troops should be stationed immediately on the map. After looking at the map, Chernoff looked back at me and asked, "Comrade commander, won''t our division take part in this counterattack?"¡° Don''t worry, comrade colonel. Don''t worry about no war. " Seeing his anxious face, I immediately comforted him and said, "as your division has just had a fierce battle two days ago, I don''t intend to let you take part in the attack as the first echelon for the time being. But as the reserve of the group army, when the counterattack is stuck, we will put you into the battle. " Danilov then said thoughtfully: "Comrade commander, since the goal of our counterattack is to restore the front to the state before July 5, why not tell this plan to the 51st, 52nd and 67th divisions of the guards who stay in the first line of defense? If we can get their cooperation, the German army will lose faster under our double attack. "¡° Yes, comrade commander. " As soon as Danilov''s words were finished, bzikov echoed: "why didn''t we expect the three divisions to stay in the first line of defense? Even if they only sent out one regiment, it would be enough to bring the German army into complete chaos. " At this point, he stopped for a moment and asked me tentatively, "do you want me to send telegrams to the three teachers?"

 Chapter 1176

    A few minutes before the shelling began, vatukin called me again and asked anxiously, "Comrade oshanina, how are you getting ready there?"


    "Report to the general," although I am very busy at the moment, I still try to keep calm and report to him in a smooth tone when I hear vatukin''s voice: "in a few minutes, our shelling of the German positions will begin. At present, all the attacking forces are in place. After the artillery is ready, they will launch a comprehensive counterattack. "


    After a moment''s silence, vatukin asked hesitantly, "Comrade oshanina, how sure are you about this counterattack? Can we drive the enemy back to the south of Yakovlev? "


    I thought about it and said, "I''m 50 percent sure."


    "What, only 50% sure?" When watujing heard what I said, he couldn''t help exclaiming. After a short silence, he tentatively asked me, "o''shanina, if you want to increase the success rate, do I need to do something for you?"


    "Yes, senior general." Although we have a great advantage in artillery and tanks at present, I am still worried that a large number of casualties will be caused to the troops due to the bombing of German planes during the attack. Originally, I was hesitating whether I should ask watujing to send air force support. Now that he offered to help me, I said, "if possible, I hope you can send out strong fighters and bombers to cooperate with our counterattack."


    This request of mine immediately embarrassed watujing. I even thought he hung up when I heard there was no movement from him¡° Comrade general, are you still there? " I asked tentatively, and at the same time I said to myself that if he didn''t reply, it would indicate that he had hung up.


    "I''m still here," said watujing in a voice. After another moment of silence, he continued, "o''shanina, I don''t know if I can provide you with air support. You know, today our army launched a counter offensive in the direction of oriole, and all the assault forces were concentrated in that direction. In addition to the air force, several artillery regiments of the front army were temporarily transferred to that direction. "


    Vatukin''s words cooled my heart. Without the cover of the air force, our attack on the whole line is likely to suffer heavy casualties under the joint attack of the German air force and artillery. Even if the troops barely advance to Yakovlev, they will lose the ability to continue to attack because of the heavy casualties.


    "O''shanina, why don''t you talk?" Watujing may have heard that there was no voice here. He asked with concern: "are you unhappy because there is no air force support?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." I said with a little disappointment: "without the cover of the air force, if our army is bombed by the German air force in the course of attacking Yakovlev, then the tank troops participating in the counterattack will pay a great price."


    Perhaps it was to hear that the tank troops would pay more casualties that watujing hesitated. After a long time, he said, "OK, o''shanina, in order to ensure the success of your counterattack, I''ll send a squadron of assault planes to patrol over the battlefield later. If I find the enemy''s planes, I will resolutely drive them away."


    As soon as I put down the phone, I heard bzikov ask me: "Comrade commander, it''s time to start shelling?"


    I turned my eyes to povsky, who was standing in front of a telephone. He was holding the microphone in his hand and looking at me anxiously, waiting for my final order. I nodded at him and said faintly, "let''s go!"


    Povsky immediately roared at the microphone: "the commander orders to fire at the area occupied by the enemy!"


    When you stay in the headquarters, you can neither see the effect of shelling nor hear the earth shaking sound of shells landing on the enemy positions. I moved a bench and sat in front of the map hanging on the wall, staring at the red and blue arrows on it. My mind was quietly filling up the battle scene.


    With our artillery shells falling on the enemy''s positions in batches, the explosions have become one after another. The impact points of the shells are one after another, and the sound of the explosions is as close as one. We can''t tell the impact point clearly. The panic German soldiers are just like a bunch of ants blown away, and the waves of the explosions are everywhere. In the smoke and dust, thousands of shells burst out, interwoven into a layer of airtight net, harvesting a fresh life. In the rising black smoke, the torn pieces of military uniform, like grass mustard, were scattered on the ground, mixed with the broken limbs, and then collapsed into the sky.


    The shelling stopped and the battlefield suddenly fell into silence.


    Then, a red signal missile flew into the sky, representing the beginning of the attack.


    The first to break the silence of the battlefield was the rumble of hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles that formed the assault formation. Then, under the leadership of commanders at all levels, thousands of officers and men who had been crowding together in the trenches and traffic trenches left the position, straightened up with weapons, yelled slogans and rushed forward


    "Comrade commander, comrade commander!" I was imagining the scene of counterattack, but I felt that someone was gently sending my shoulder. I turned to see that it was bezikov. To interrupt my daydream chief of staff, my heart is particularly uncomfortable, so when I speak with a trace of dissatisfaction: "what''s the matter, chief of staff?"


    Bezikov handed me a piece of paper in his hand, and said: "Comrade commander, a telegram from Colonel Chernoff of the 90th division of the guards. His troops have successfully broken through the German position in the October state farm, and the division is now engaged in fierce fighting with the German troops to the east of oboyan."


    I received the telegram. After reading it, I nodded and asked, "do you have any reports from other divisions?"


    "Not yet." After answering this question, bezikov might have seen the disappointed expression on my face and said to me in a hurry: "Comrade commander, maybe the other three divisions are advancing too fast, so they don''t care to contact us."


    "I hope so." Although I know that he comforted me a lot, I still followed his meaning and said, "maybe they will report the progress of the battle to us after they have established a solid support point."


    As soon as the voice fell, akhromeyev ran to me with a telegram and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, the telegram of the tank army has arrived. A few minutes ago, they just defeated the 19th German tank division and destroyed more than 40 tanks of the other side. They are now in pursuit. "


    "What, the 19th German tank division?" After listening to akhromeyev''s report, I didn''t have any response, but bezikov grabbed the telegram from him and scanned it carefully.


    "What''s the matter?" bezikov''s reaction puzzled me. I asked akhromeyev, "Comrade major, is the 19th tank division very powerful?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Akhromeyev replied positively: "this tank division has defeated several of our infantry divisions. Because their combat effectiveness is so strong that some people have said that if we do not have more than several times the number of tanks of the enemy, we will not be able to win. "


    When I saw that bezikov had finished reading his telegram, I took it out of his hand and said with disapproval: "no matter how powerful the German tank division is, it''s not the same now. It''s defeated by general Guttman''s tank army. I think maybe by nightfall, this unit will be removed from the German establishment. "


    From this time on, the war reports from the front came back in an endless stream. Akhromeyev had no time to send me a telegram in person. Instead, he and several staff officers marked the situation of the enemy and ourselves on the battlefield on the map.


    Looking at the red arrow on the map pushing down little by little, I was overjoyed. At the same time, I seemed to see the cruelest side of the battlefield: Our Army''s commanders and fighters bravely charged forward in the face of the enemy''s bullets and gunfire. On the road of charge, there are layers of soldiers who have been killed or injured. Everyone was rushing forward. No one cared about the wounded soldiers. They had to wait for death on the battlefield, or they were rescued by the health workers who happened to come.


    When I heard that bezikov had reported to me that major general tavartkilaze''s 51st division of guards had also decisively launched from position 1 to meet the fleeing German army. Suddenly I saw thousands of brave commanders and fighters fighting against thousands of German troops who had lost their organizational system. It was a battle without suspense, a one-sided massacre. In recent days, the commanders and fighters who have been oppressed to the extreme by the German attack bravely killed the enemy. They did not accept surrender at all. They did not need to shoot. They could kill the enemy soldiers who had been driven to the extreme with bayonets. They had to wash their grievances with the blood and life of the enemy. And behind the enemy, the main force that followed had been covered up from the front and encircled from both sides


    Just as the good news came one by one, vatukin''s phone call came again. As soon as he got on the phone, he said, "o''shanina, what''s the situation there? Have you broken through the German defense?"


    "Report to the general." Holding a thick stack of war reports, I said in a relaxed tone: "it''s going very well. The 90th division of the guards has recovered the October state farm in the east of oboyan, and now it''s developing to the depth of the enemy. General Gutman''s tank army defeated the 19th German tank division... "


    "Wait a minute, comrade oshanina." When I was just talking about this, I was suddenly interrupted by vatukin. He was surprised and asked, "what did you just say? The 19th German tank division was defeated


    "Yes, Comrade General." When I heard him ask the same question, I couldn''t help muttering in my heart. What is the holy place of the 19th tank division? It makes everyone pay so much attention to it¡° General Gutman''s tank army has destroyed more than 40 tanks of the division and is now pursuing them. "


    After I finished this sentence, I heard watujing gasp for a long time, and then said in a high browed tone, "the 19th tank division is our old enemy. In the battle of Kharkov, we defeated several divisions and captured tens of thousands of us. Today, we finally get revenge." After pausing for a moment, he said solemnly, "Comrade oshanina, please tell the officers and men of the tank army that I, vatukin, thank them. The officers and men of the Voronezh front army thank them. They have washed away the shame of our failure."


    "Comrade General, do you have any instructions?" When I saw that bezikov also came with a stack of telegrams and knew that there were new war reports, I had no interest in continuing to talk with vatukin, so I said in a hurry, "if not, I will continue to command the battle."


    Maybe it was the news of victory that made watujing happy. He didn''t care about the impoliteness in my tone of speaking to him. He said in a reasonable way, "well, comrade oshanina, go and continue to command the battle. Don''t forget to report to me as soon as you have any latest good news."¡° Chief of staff, what''s the good news? " I put down the phone and asked bezikov with a smile¡° Comrade commander, I don''t think that''s good news. " After bezikov handed me a stack of telegrams, he said: "although the troops continue to advance south, the resistance they encounter is not strong. But this report from general Kravchenko is not very good. The enemy sent out more than 50 tanks to attack his position. Because the new tank does not have supporting shells, it can only rely on the anti tank guns on the position to block, and the casualties are not small. " After reading the telegram, I put it on the table and asked, "where is captain shamrih''s tank battalion?"¡° They are entangled by the enemy and can not return to support general Kravchenko for the time being. " Bizikov asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, what should we do? Will the tank troops be drawn from general Guttman for support? "¡° No, comrade chief of staff. " Without waiting for me to speak, Danilov said, "general Gutman''s tank army is pursuing the 19th German tank division. If we turn around to support general Kravchenko in this way, once we let the enemy slow down, our attacking troops will suffer heavy losses."¡° Yes, chief of staff. " I immediately supported Danilov''s statement¡° We have to believe that general Kravchenko, with his existing strength, is not a big problem to block the German tank troops. As for general Guttman''s tank troops, they are now in the critical stage of assault. Once they withdraw from the battle, our counterattack will be in danger of being wasted. "¡° Good news, comrade commander. " While we were still discussing whether to send troops to reinforce Kravchenko, akhromeyev came over and excitedly reported to me: "the 375TH infantry division and the 51st guard division have successfully joined forces in Yakovlev area!"

 Chapter 1177

    The division of the troops in Yakovlev means that our counter offensive has achieved results. As a result, akhromeyev handed over the work of mapping according to the war report to several of his staff officers, and then called the division headquarters of the 51st division of Jinwei to find out the details of the meeting.


    Akhromeyev called the division headquarters of the 51st division of the guards and said in a loud voice, "Hello, is that general tavartkiraze? I''m akhromeyev, director of operations. I heard that you joined forces?! Where? Northeast of Yakovlev, lakovo?! That''s great. Not only are all the leaders of the group army waiting for your good news, but even the commander of the front army can''t wait to know it. Just a moment, please. I''ll take my notes


    With that, he put the microphone between his shoulders, picked up a red and blue pencil on the desk and began to record. In order to let us all know the specific situation in time, he also repeated aloud: "among the personnel who participated in the division, your division has commander Lu Jin, commander of the 309th regiment, major gilkin, commander of the battalion; The 375TH division had captain gagokayev, commander of the 1243 regiment. Well, comrade general, I''ve got it all down. Finally, on behalf of the leaders of the group army, I would like to express my gratitude to you. It is because of the bravery and tenacity shown by the commanders and fighters in the battle that we can defeat the Germans and successfully achieve this reunion. "


    After he put down the phone, he excitedly yelled at us: "Comrade commander, we have joined forces. Our counterattack forces and the 51st division of the guards have joined forces."


    Although kirilov and Danilov heard what ahlomeyev said when he answered the phone, they still picked up the paper full of words and looked over and over, as if they could see something new from it.


    I saw two people like children, snatching that piece of paper to see, can''t help but dumbfounded. Although the counterattack is progressing smoothly, I dare not take it lightly and ask akhromeyev to connect me with general Kravchenko''s headquarters. I want to know the fighting situation there.


    Hearing Kravchenko''s voice, I immediately asked, "Comrade General, what''s the situation there?"


    "General oshanina," Kravchenko said easily, "after a fierce battle, the German attack was repulsed by us, half of the tanks were destroyed by us, and the rest of the tanks ran away in ashes."


    I was very dissatisfied with the ambiguity in his report, so I asked, "Comrade General, I want to know the number of German tanks you destroyed and the casualties of our army."


    The other side was silent for a while, then slowly said: "27 tanks were destroyed and 11 were injured. Our army lost 19 T-34 tanks, 8 anti tank guns and three new tanks in shamrih tank battalion


    "Comrade General," when I heard that the tank army in charge of defense had paid such casualties, I frowned and asked, "it seems that the casualties of your army are not small. Do you need me to send troops to reinforce you?"


    "If only we could send tank troops to support us, or send the supporting shells of the new tanks." Kravchenko nagged: "you know, in the battle just now, the drivers of our new tanks can only stand in the position and watch the tanks of the enemy and us fighting. If they have enough shells, they can at least wipe out more than half of these German tanks with a surprise attack. "


    "Tanks, I don''t have any more now, because they will be more useful in the next counterattack." His requests are beyond my ability, so I can only say euphemistically: "as for the shells, I will contact the superior again and ask them to urge the transport troops to transport them to you as soon as possible."


    "Thank you, comrade oshanina." Kravchenko said politely, "don''t worry, as long as there is a commander and fighter in the Fifth Army of my close guard tank, we will never let the enemy pass through our position."


    I put down the phone and thought about it for a long time. I felt that to solve the problem of ammunition for Kravchenko, I had to go to vatukin, because only when he came forward could the transport troops give priority to mentioning the necessary ammunition and materials for us.


    After hearing my voice, vatukin immediately asked with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, do you have any good news to tell me when you call me at this time?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." I said with a smile: "I call you at this time, just to report to you the progress of our counterattack."


    When I heard that I was going to report on the progress of the counterattack, vatujing was a little nervous: "what''s the situation, comrade oshanina, tell me quickly!"


    I briefly introduced to him the progress of the counterattack, and finally said: "not long ago, the 51st division of the close guard who held fast in Yakovlev and the 375TH division of the infantry who participated in the counterattack successfully joined forces, blocking the German army''s back road. At present, the German second party guard armored forces, which are still in Prokhorovka, will soon have to retreat to their original starting positions because of the depletion of ammunition and fuel. "


    "Well done!" After listening to my report, watujing praised me and then asked, "what can I do for you? As long as it is within my ability, you will do it for you! "


    "The German forces in Prokhorovka, in order to prevent their retreat from being cut off by our forces, have launched two attacks on general Kravchenko''s tank army positions In order to prevent my flank from being attacked, I have to find a way for vatukin to solve the ammunition problem for Kravchenko: "in order to ensure the safety of the defense line, can you provide some help for them?"


    Vatukin was silent for a moment, and then replied, "well, I will transfer a tank brigade and an anti tank artillery regiment to the position of the Fifth Army of the close guard tank as soon as possible to strengthen their defense forces. But as the reserves are still on the road, they may have to wait two more days. "


    At first, when I heard that watujing was going to send tank brigade and artillery regiment, I was still ecstatic. But when I heard what he said, I felt cold again. It''s said that we have to wait two more days to arrive in a week, thanks to God. So I had to follow the original idea and say, "Comrade commander, since the tank brigade and artillery can''t arrive for the time being, can we first supply general Kravchenko with new tank shells. In the face of rushing German tanks, we can''t let our soldiers drive tanks without shells and rush up to collide with them, can we


    "You''ve told me a lot about shells." When I heard watujing mention it, I felt a little impatient and seemed to be angry with me immediately. But I obviously thought too much, because then I heard him say, "well, after dark, I''ll arrange two convoys to deliver shells to Kravchenko''s troops. Since we have a tank with better performance than the German army, we can''t let it be a decoration. We must let it play its due role fully. "


    Just when I thought that vatukin would hang up, he suddenly said mysteriously, "Comrade oshanina, I have a glorious and arduous task for you to complete. Are you confident? "


    "Comrade General, I don''t know what the task is?" I was at a loss because of this nonsense, so I asked cautiously, "can you tell me?"


    "Well, comrade oshanina." "You know, our deputy commander, general apanashchenko, is not used to staying in the headquarters and commanding the troops according to the map. Instead, he likes to go to the front line in person. An hour ago, he said that he would go to the front line for inspection, but I couldn''t stop him. For the sake of his safety, I sent a guard platoon to the front with him to inspect the fighting situation of the front troops. If he comes to your headquarters, you must try to keep him and stop him running any further. "


    For this task of vatujing, I was in a dilemma. For a moment, I couldn''t find anything to reply him. Perhaps it was my delay in speaking that worried him. He raised his voice and asked, "Comrade o''shanina, do you hear what I said?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." I said carefully: "if Comrade deputy commander of the front army arrives here, I will try every means to keep him, but if he has to leave, I have no choice. As you know, he is my superior. According to the regulations, the orders of the superior must be executed unconditionally. "


    Hearing what I said, vatukin also said with understanding, "Comrade oshanina, I understand your difficulties. Well, if you can''t keep him, you will follow him until he returns to the headquarters of the front army. Do you understand? "


    "I see, Comrade General." Although I was very reluctant, I could only honestly agree to the order of watujing. At this moment, I didn''t expect that because of the order of watujing, I almost lost my life.


    When I put down the phone, kirilov saw that my face was serious and asked with concern, "Rita, what''s the matter? You look like you''re in a bad mood."


    I nodded and said with a sad face: "the senior general just said on the phone that general apanashchenko, deputy commander of the front army, came to the front again without authorization to inspect."


    "What, the deputy commander is at the forefront again?" Hearing the news, Danilov immediately jumped up from his position. He looked at me with wide eyes and said, "the front is so dangerous. As a senior commander, how can he run forward casually? Is there no one in the front command to persuade him?"


    "It''s no use, comrade Danilov." Kirilov said helplessly: "the senior general of apanashchenko, usually even Marshal Zhukov wants to give them three points, not to mention the seniority is far less than his commander watujing. What we can do now is try our best to protect his safety. "


    While we were talking, a man burst into the room and cheerfully said hello to us: "Hello, commanders, I wish you good health! What''s the situation here? When I came in, I saw everyone was smiling. Did you win another battle? "


    We stood at attention and raised our hands to apanashchenko, who had just come in. After I put down my hand, I asked him with a trace of helplessness: "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, why did you come to the front again? Don''t you know it''s too dangerous here?"


    Apanashchenko waved his hand to me and said with disapproval, "your commanders at the forefront are not afraid of danger. As your superior, how can I be greedy for life and fear death?" Then, he repeated the same topic: "by the way, comrade o''shanina, you have not told me what happened here and why everyone is so happy?"


    "Report to Comrade deputy commander of the front army." In accordance with the rules, I reported that "today I launched a counter offensive against the German army in Yakovlev area with four infantry divisions, one tank army and one tank brigade, plus several artillery regiments and close guard rocket battalion." Hearing that the troops launched a counterattack, apanashchenko suddenly brightened his eyes and asked curiously, "what''s the situation? Have you driven the enemy away from the positions they occupied?"¡° Yes, comrade deputy commander. " I stood straight in front of him and said, "under our strong attack, the 19th German tank division was first defeated by our army. Then their infantry gave up their position and retreated in the direction of Yakovlev after being attacked by us. One hour ago, the 375TH infantry division joined the 51st guard division in Yakovlev, blocking the inevitable retreat of the main German forces. At present, the fighting continues! "¡° Where did our troops meet? " Apanashchenko looked down at the map on the table, waved to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, please come here. Please point out to me where our two heroic forces met successfully? " I went over, glanced at the map, then pointed to lakovo''s position and said, "right here, comrade deputy commander of the front army. It is here that our two divisions meet. " Apanashchenko looked at the place carefully, nodded and said with satisfaction, "yes, this is the place - lakovo. I know this place and have been to it several times." Speaking of this, he stood up, looked at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, since our troops have joined forces here, why do we still sit in the headquarters tens of kilometers away from them as commanders?" Seeing my look of astonishment, he went on to say, "we should go to the meeting place immediately. This will be of great help to boost the morale of our army. Come on, comrade o''shanina, don''t be stunned. Let''s go together¡° However, comrade deputy commander of the front army! " I was interrupted by his wave before I spoke. He said impatiently, "as the commander of the group army, don''t you have the courage to go to the front line? I''m really wrong about you. "

 Chapter 1178

    If it''s someone else''s provocation, I''ll roll my eyes at him at most, and then ignore him. But this was said by the deputy commander of the front army. It was quite another matter. Knowing that there was a fire pit ahead, I had to jump inside with my eyes closed.


    I sighed in my heart, then said helplessly: "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, since you want to go to the front line to inspect, then I will go with you."


    "That''s right, comrade oshanina." Apanashchenko''s face showed a proud smile: "I knew you had the courage, otherwise you would not be the only female general in our army."


    It seemed that he was about to walk outside. I quickly stopped him: "general, please wait a moment. I asked the guard group to send more soldiers to accompany us. After all, your safety is the first." Then I reached for the phone on the desk.


    "No need, no need." Apanashchenko waved his hand and said to me carelessly, "I came out this time with a full guard platoon, so you don''t have to take any more guards." Then he raised his hand and looked at his watch, urging him to say, "it''s seven o''clock. In two hours, it will be dark, and then we can''t see anything clearly."


    "Well," in this case, no matter what delaying tactics I use, it''s useless, so I can only say politely, "I''ll give my deputy an account of my work."


    "OK, I''ll wait for you outside and come out as soon as the work is handed over to your deputy." With that, apanashchenko left.


    "General Danilov, Colonel bezikov, while I''m away, you two are in full charge of all the work of the army." After hearing their answers, I turned to look at kirilov and said with a sad face, "Comrade military commissar, please report to commander watujing when I accompany the general to inspect the front line. If anything happens to me, please take care of my son in the future. Marshal Zhukov and Comrade belia all know his whereabouts. "


    The look on kirilov''s face changed when I heard the tone of Tuogu. He said with a gloomy face: "Rita, you are just accompanying the deputy commander of the front army to inspect the frontier. There must be some danger, but it is absolutely not serious enough to entrust us with future affairs. Do you think so? " His last words were addressed to the other commanders in the room.


    "Yes." Danilov, a few of them replied without expression.


    Kirilov came up to me, put an arm on my shoulder, comforted me and said, "Rita, don''t worry. After all, the main force of our group army is gathering in Yakovlev area, where the German army has no decent resistance. If you go to inspect, there should be no danger."


    I walked out of the headquarters and saw two trucks and a jeep parked on the edge of the forest. The truck was full of soldiers, and apanashchenko was standing next to the jeep. When he saw me coming out, he nodded, turned, opened the door and got on. As I was about to walk towards the car, I suddenly heard the roar of the car behind me. Turning around, I saw that my jeep was coming out of the forest behind me. After the front door of the co driver was opened, basmanov poked his head out of the car and said to me, "comrade commander, get on the bus. I''ll take you to the front."


    The leading truck and apanashchenko''s Jeep drove away one after another, but the last truck was still in place¡° Comrade driver, let''s drive over. " Basmanov patted the driver on the shoulder and ordered him to say, "that truck won''t start until our car catches up with the car in front."


    When we were driving along the potholes and mud road, I was always restless in the back row. I was afraid that a German soldier with a rocket launcher would come out of the crater on the side of the road and give us a look; Or from the forest in the distance, suddenly out of a straggling German tank, with its track to our car like a matchbox like, crushed to pieces.


    Basmanov, who was sitting in the co pilot''s seat, may have found something strange about me. He quickly turned from his seat and said to me with a smile, "don''t worry, comrade commander. I''ve just had a close look. The guards on the front and rear trucks are well-trained. Maybe many of them are from the interior department."


    "From the Ministry of the interior?" After repeating his words, I asked in a puzzled way, "what about the Ministry of internal affairs? Will their fighting capacity be stronger than those experienced soldiers?"


    My words were said with a trace of anger, so basmanov was stunned for a moment, then blushed and explained to me, "Comrade commander, I heard the soldiers who survived the border defense war say, but at the beginning of the war, when the ordinary border guards were not even dressed and were still running around in the enemy''s artillery, they formed a complete internal service unit, Even the heavy machine guns were pulled out. They were the first to enter the position and attack the invading German army. Therefore, it is most appropriate for the most vigilant internal affairs forces to serve as security guards. "


    Basmanov was afraid that I would not be happy when he saw that I did not speak. He added: "although they are more vigilant, they are not good at fighting regular battles. In the battle, the area where the German army first broke through is the position held by the internal forces."


    "So it is." It''s the first time I''ve heard what basmanov said. No wonder the members of the guard company that Stalin personally sent to me were all from the Ministry of the interior. It turned out that their vigilance was high. If they were there, my safety would be guaranteed. After I said a word lightly, I leaned back and began to close my eyes.


    I had been sleeping for an hour. When I opened my eyes vaguely, I immediately asked busmanov in the front row, "major, where are we?"


    Basmanov looked out of the window, then replied with a smile, "Comrade report commander, we are in berezovka now. We should be there in ten minutes. You look out of the window, there are German tanks and artillery destroyed by our army, and there are enemy bodies everywhere. You can imagine how fierce the battle is today. "


    I looked at the tanks, armored vehicles, damaged cannons, and bodies on the ground, both of our enemies and ours. Not far away, our officers and men were cleaning the battlefield. They divided the collected corpses into two different areas according to the enemy and ourselves.


    Seeing this scene, I can''t help feeling in my heart that if all the people killed were the enemy and all the damaged technical equipment were the enemy, how wonderful it would be. However, I also know that my idea is absurd. No matter how advanced our army''s weapons and equipment are, no one will die in such a large-scale battle.


    "Enemy, enemy! Air defense alert Outside, I don''t know who yelled. Then the soldiers who were cleaning the battlefield stopped their work and began to run around looking for a place to hide.


    I looked down through the window and saw a German four plane formation flying into the sky. Maybe they found the target on the ground and began to lower the altitude. I yelled in a hurry, "stop!"


    As I yelled, the driver slammed on the brakes. Under the action of great inertia, I hit heavily on the back in front of me. However, time is pressing, I can not care about the pain of the shoulder, yelled: "fast hidden." Then he pushed the door open, jumped out and dived into the crater by the side of the road.


    As soon as he jumped into the crater, he heard several roars that cut through the air, accompanied by several huge explosions. I was so scared that my hair exploded. Just listening to the sound, I knew that the impact point was not far from here. Then one bomb after another came down from the air, and the earth began to shake like a drum in the huge sound of the mountain collapse. The violent explosion had just stopped, and the gun on the German plane was pounding again. I didn''t dare to move, so I shrank in the crater and let the blood and limbs splashed from nearby fall on me.


    I don''t know how many enemy planes are in the air. Dense bombs fall down one after another and explode violently on the ground. The earth is shaking violently. My heart jumps to my throat with the roar, and my curled body beats slightly with the explosion. My chest is shocked and I can''t say it''s boring and disgusting. It makes me gasp, just like being oppressed by a bear''s butt. The thick blood made me cough violently, although at the moment I wanted to jump out of my hiding place and quickly escape from the place of death. But I know better that running around under the enemy''s bombing is tantamount to seeking death. Therefore, in the end, reason overcame the impulse and continued to stay in the crater.


    When the enemy stopped bombing and strafing and flew away from our sky, I stayed in the crater for a long time and didn''t move until someone grabbed my shoulder and tried to pull me over. It was as if I was talking to myself and telling each other, "I''m still alive."


    I listen to my voice is very small, may be in the explosion just now, was shocked a little deaf. I sat up and saw that the man squatting in front of me was basmanov. He looked at me with surprise and said, "Comrade commander, you are still alive. It''s very good."


    He was deafened by the shock beside me. He raised his voice and asked, "where is the deputy commander of the front army?"


    Basmanov opened his mouth, but said nothing. He just picked me up and pointed to me not far away. I looked in the direction of his fingers and saw a group of soldiers around a flaming truck. They didn''t seem to worry about the explosion of the truck next to them. They just stood there.


    When I saw that all the people were following the guards of apanashchenko, I could not help but feel a thump in my heart, and said, was he injured in the air raid? With the help of busmanov, he quickly ran over and squeezed into the crowd.


    What I worried about has really come true. A second lieutenant squatted in the middle of the crowd, apanashchenko lying in his arms, slightly twitching, with a big crack in his neck and blood pouring out. Although the second lieutenant pressed the wound desperately, a lot of blood flowed down from his fingers and soaked apanashchenko''s clothes.


    "Comrade General, how are you?" I took apanashchenko''s hand and asked with concern.


    The pale apanashchenko turned his eyes to me, moving his blood clotted lips slightly, trying to say something to me, but he didn''t make any sound.


    I turned to the left and right soldiers and asked aloud, "is there a military doctor or health worker nearby? If so, let him treat the deputy commander. "¡° There is no military doctor, Comrade General. " The second lieutenant holding apanashchenko cried and said, "I''ve already sent people to look for them. There are no military doctors or even health workers nearby. We don''t even have bandages, so we can''t stop the bleeding for the deputy commander. " When I heard this, I wanted to stand up and kick each other. But when I saw apanashchenko, who was in danger, I forced myself to control my situation. I turned to the soldiers around me and asked, "who have clean shirts? Tear them into strips to bandage the general. Stop his blood first."¡° I have it here, Comrade General. " A soldier next to him said, took off his backpack, took out a clean white shirt and began to spread it. Basmanov, on the other hand, approached me and said, "Comrade commander, another truck is in good condition. We should lift the general into the car and send him back to the rear immediately. You know, every minute now is precious. " I nodded and motioned to basmanov to do what he wanted to do. Then I held apanashchenko''s colder and colder hand and comforted him and said, "don''t worry, comrade general, you will be OK. We will send you back to the rear now. You will be OK and you will be better soon." Apanashchenko smiles at me and opens his mouth difficultly to say something, but his body suddenly twitches, coughs silently, and a long, thin, dark blood comes out of the corner of his mouth and flows down his chin¡° Comrade general, he''s dead! " The second lieutenant whispered to me. I was stunned to hear his words. Did not expect half an hour ago, or lively people, so quietly left this world. But busmanov, who drove the truck, didn''t know that apanashchenko had died. After he squeezed into the crowd, he said to me cheerfully: "Comrade commander, I''ve driven the truck here, and I can lift the general into the car..." before he finished his words, he found that apanashchenko had no life, and the rest of his words were stuck in his throat. I held apanashchenko''s cold hand and squatted beside his body for a long time. Only then slowly stood up, took off the military cap on the head to mourn for him, the soldiers around also stood up neatly, took off the military cap one after another, to mourn for the sacrifice of the general.

 Chapter 1179

    After apanashchenko''s body was carried onto the bus and the surviving soldiers of the guard platoon got on the bus one after another, I went to the second lieutenant and said to him without expression: "second lieutenant, let the driver follow my car."


    Hearing my order, the second lieutenant didn''t ask anything, but mechanically agreed: "yes!"


    After I got on my jeep, I clenched my teeth and gave the order to the driver: "go to the front command!"


    After the car started, busmanov turned around and asked with a guilty heart, "Comrade commander, is it appropriate for us to go to the headquarters of the front army at this time?"


    The death of apanashchenko made me feel very passive. Although I didn''t know what would happen if I went to the headquarters of the front army, I had to go there with a stiff head. I said to basmanov carefully, "Comrade major, the deputy commander of the front army was bombed and killed by the enemy plane when he was inspecting the front line with us. This matter must be reported immediately to the headquarters of the front army and to general watujing. "


    Basmanov wanted to say something else, but he opened his mouth and said nothing. I had to turn around again and look out of the window to hide my nervousness.


    When we got there, we waited for the guards to lift apanashchenko''s body from the car and headed for the headquarters, while basmanov, the second lieutenant and several soldiers followed with stretchers.


    The commanders and fighters on the road flashed to both sides to make way for us. Although the guards had covered apanashchenko''s head with his shirt, the epaulets on his uniform revealed his identity. The war has been going on for two years. It is no longer the time when the division commander took the lead in the charge. It is rare to see the casualties of commanders at the general level. Now it is strange to see a general lying on a stretcher with blood dripping all of a sudden, which does not arouse everyone''s special attention.


    When I came to the gate of the headquarters, the major on duty outside met so many people. I didn''t know what was wrong. He quickly met them and asked me politely, "general oshanina, what''s wrong? Why are so many people here?" Then he tilted his head and looked back from my body. When he saw the body lying on the stretcher, he was silly.


    I turned to basmanov, raised my hand to them and said, "put it down first." Then I turned around and asked the major who was standing in front of us, "major, is the senior general in there?"


    "Yes," said the major on duty, without leaving apanashchenko''s body, somewhat flustered, "the commander and marshal are in the room. Go in!"


    I nodded gratefully to the major and strode into the spacious headquarters. After entering the door, I scanned around with my eyes and found that except for the busy staff at all levels, I didn''t see the shadow of watujing. Maybe it was in the room inside, as the duty said.


    As soon as I approached the door of the inner room, I heard the loud voice of watujing coming out from inside: "in order to meet the war, we had a thorough pre war training. In view of how to overcome the infantry''s fear of tank attack, we have set up a special training ground to "crush" the infantry with T-34 tanks. That is to say, let the infantry squat in the trench and let the T-34 tank drive through the trench. Of course, in addition to infantry training, there are also artillery and tank training. The artillery should be trained to rapidly change firing positions, while the tank training should focus on accurate firing from bunkers and tank encounter. "


    When I got to the door, I found that there were a lot of people sitting in the room. In addition to vatukin, vasilevsky and Khrushchev, there were seven or eight men and women in plain clothes. They were lowering their heads and quickly recording what vatukin said in their notebooks. It seemed that they were a group of reporters from Mosco.


    When vatukin was talking about his interest, he suddenly found that vasilevsky and Khrushchev were staring at the door. He instinctively looked towards the door, then turned his eyes back to vasilevsky and asked them, "what are you looking at?" Before his words came down, his body trembled suddenly and turned his eyes to me again.


    After a moment''s absence, he dashed to my door with an arrow. After looking me up and down, I reached out and grabbed my arm and asked excitedly, "Comrade o''shanina, what''s the matter with you? Are you hurt?"


    I shook my head and said dejectedly, "Comrade General, I''m not hurt. I''m covered with other people''s blood."


    Watujing seemed to notice something wrong. He looked over my shoulder and looked out. At the same time, he asked anxiously, "your military commissar has reported to me that you and Comrade apanashchenko have gone to the front line for inspection. Now that you are back, where is the deputy commander? "


    "Sacrifice I bowed my head and said with difficulty, "on the way to Yakovlev, we were attacked by enemy planes. Unfortunately, comrade deputy commander died!"


    "What, sacrifice!" As soon as watujing finished this sentence, he was pulled aside. Then vasilevsky''s big body appeared in front of me. He grabbed my arm and asked, "what do you say, general apanashchenko died?"


    Holding back the pain from my arm, I bit my back teeth and said, "yes, the deputy commander of the front army was attacked by the German army in the front and died with honor."


    Vasilevsky gave me a hard push and asked, "where is his body?"


    I stumbled back into the middle of the outer room and cautiously replied, "it''s at the door."


    "Come in, then." Warsilevsky, who was always mild tempered, yelled at me.


    "Major, bring in the stretcher." I saw busmanov standing at the door and yelled at him, "put it in the middle of the room."


    Seeing that several soldiers put the stretcher with apanashchenko''s body on the ground, watujing immediately jumped on it, squatted on the ground and carefully uncovered the shirt covering his head. When he saw apanashchenko''s face, his face muscles began to twitch violently. He took out a snow-white handkerchief and gently wiped the dried up bloodstains. His eyes began to wet, and tears turned in his red eyes. Finally, he could not help falling on apanashchenko''s blood soaked uniform: "Comrade apanashchenko! My deputy commander comrades, you... How can you go like this again... I am sorry for you! I didn''t send someone to protect you... "


    Khrushchev looked up at the ceiling and did not say a word for a long time.


    And vasilevsky raised his hand to wipe his eyes and took off his cap. His action seemed to be a command. All the soldiers in the room took off their caps and bowed their heads to apanashchenko for a moment of silence.


    When vatukin''s mood was a little more stable, vasilevsky pulled him up from the ground and said to him solemnly, "Comrade vatukin, this matter needs to be reported to Moscow immediately. Let''s go and call the Supreme Commander himself


    After the two men entered the inner room, Khrushchev sent for Bai Bu to cover apanashchenko''s body. Then he called the reporters to his side and announced to them, "comrades, apanashchenko was bombed when he was found by the enemy''s bombers when he was commanding the battle at the very front command post of the position. After the general was hit by the fragments of the bomb, he died because he was seriously injured and failed to rescue. Do you all remember? "


    "Remember!" Several reporters answered in unison.


    After listening to their answers, Khrushchev nodded with satisfaction. Then he called in the major on duty outside the door and asked him to take the body of apanashchenko out first, find a place to put it, and take the reporters to have a rest.


    After the reporters and the soldiers carrying apanashchenko''s body left, Khrushchev waved his head at me, motioned me to go inside with him, and said that he would learn some details from me.


    I followed Khrushchev and walked into the inner room when I heard vasilevsky say his last words to the microphone: "yes, comrade Stalin, we will return the remains of Comrade apanashchenko to Moscow as soon as possible. what? Let oshanina escort the body? " When he said this, he looked at me and then said in embarrassment: "the sixth group army of the close guard is now fighting back against the German army. If the commander is changed at this time, the command system of the army will be in chaos. I suggest other commanders escort the general''s coffin back..."


    After putting down the phone, vasilevsky said to me with a straight face: "Rita, after Comrade Stalin learned about the news of the sacrifice of general apanashchenko, he was very angry. If we ask you to escort apanashchenko''s coffin back to Moscow, you will have to endure his thunder. For the sake of your future, I''ve convinced him to escort the coffin back


    "Thank you, thank you, marshal!" Although I have no responsibility in this matter, after all, apanashchenko has to go to the frontier to inspect. I have no choice but to obey his orders. However, I would like to express my sincere thanks to vasilevsky for solving a crisis for me.


    Watujing looked at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, deputy commander apanashchenko died in your defense area. In order to avenge him, do you have any new counterattack plans recently?"


    I can''t help but frown when I hear these words from watujing, saying that all my reserve forces have been used in today''s counterattack. If I want to fight back again, where should I mobilize my forces? Thinking of this, I shook my head and said with regret, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. At present, the strength of our group army is limited. Apart from consolidating Yakovlev area, we can''t launch a new counter offensive in other areas for the time being."


    Hearing what I said, watujing sat down in silence, tapping gently on the table with his fingers. After a while, he said, "Comrade oshanina, if you want to completely restore your first line of defense, how many troops do you need?"


    When I saw a map on the table, I raised my finger and said cautiously, "may I have a look at that map?"


    "Look Said watujing, pushing the map toward where I was.


    I quickly walked over and bent down to look at the map used by watujing. The above situation is much more comprehensive than the map in my command department. In addition to the location of our group army, there are all the lines of defense of the first group army, the seventh group army, the 69th group army and the fifth group army of the close guard tank. This gives me a more intuitive understanding of the whole situation of the enemy and ourselves in the south of Kursk.


    After reading for a while, I pointed to the map and said to vatukin and vasilevsky, "if general rotmistrov '' After hearing this, vasilevsky raised his head and said to me, "Rita, the counterattack we launched today in the north of Kursk has achieved great results. The attack of the ninth German group army on our front has been completely restrained. Without the support of the central army group, the attack of Manstein would not last long. If Hitler sent troops from him to drive Italy, the German army in the south of Kursk would not pose a great threat to us. " When vasilevsky spoke, vatukin did not speak. As soon as he finished, he immediately added: "yes, according to what we know, with the Allied victory in Sicily, the German forces will become weaker and weaker. Therefore, we should not only restore our defensive positions before July 5, but also start to consider the recovery of Belgorod and Kharkov. " At this point, he pointed to me, "don''t forget the promise you made to the supreme commander that the liberation of these two cities will be the main task of your group army in the next stage."¡° Comrade commander of the front army, "I waited for watujing to finish, and then immediately said," after a week''s fighting, the casualties of individual divisions have exceeded half, so it is urgent to replenish the troops. I don''t know when we can replenish these divisions? " In response to my request, watujing thought about it and replied, "at the earliest, wait three days. That is to say, on the 15th, the members of your group army will be able to arrive in succession." Khrushchev, who had not spoken for a long time, broke in and said, "Rita, almost all the new recruits are added to you this time, so we should also pay close attention to their training to ensure that the troops can form combat effectiveness as soon as possible."¡° Don''t worry, comrade military Commissar. " As for Khrushchev''s reminder, I gratefully said, "I will convey your instructions to the commanders of all divisions." Vasilevsky raised his hand and looked at his watch. He looked up at me and said, "Rita, it''s getting late. You''d better go back to the army as soon as possible. As for the matter of general apanashchenko, although everyone felt very sad, no one meant to blame you. You should never bear any psychological burden because of this matter and affect your command and combat. Do you understand? "¡° I see! " After hearing what vasilevsky said, the stone hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground, saluted the three, turned and walked out of the room.

 Chapter 1180

    In Prokhorovka, after two days of fighting, the battle between the German 2nd SS Panzer Army and general rotmistrov finally came to an end. Although the number of Soviet tanks they destroyed was several times more than their own, because the Soviet tanks could be restored in time and put back into the battlefield, and gradually gained absolute superiority in number, the German troops with fewer tanks had to retreat.


    The combat effectiveness of the SS is stronger than that of the ordinary troops. Even in retreat, they still show their tenacious combat effectiveness. Although they lost nearly 100 more tanks, they succeeded in breaking through the defense line of the Fifth Army of close guard tanks on the 14th and retreated to the starting point of attack on July 5th.


    When Kravchenko came to the headquarters to see me, looking at the gauze wrapped around his forehead, I asked with concern, "Comrade General, how did you get hurt?"


    He replied with a smile: "when the German forces broke through, they bombarded our positions with artillery. The shell landed near my headquarters and exploded. A stone, which was blown away by the waves, just hit me standing in front of the lookout. In this way, the head was hit by a stone, it was injured, but the injury doesn''t matter, it should be OK soon


    I''m relieved to hear that his injury doesn''t matter. I then asked, "how many tanks do you have left in your tank army? If we are going to attack, are your troops on assault duty?"


    "No problem, general oshanina." Kravchenko said excitedly: "although we only have more than 50 tanks left, as long as the superior gives us additional troops, even if we go to Berlin, there will be no problem."


    "General Kravchenko," Danilov said with a smile as he finished, "you don''t have to go that far, just need your troops to rush into Belgorod first."


    "Please sit down, Comrade General." After I asked him to sit down, I said in a smooth tone: "at present, our defense line has returned to the state before the outbreak of the campaign. Next, although we will fight with the German army, the scale is not large, so you should take time to rest and recover the combat effectiveness as soon as possible. "


    Kravchenko was surprised to hear that. "General oshanina, have you heard something? Are we going to attack the enemy? "


    I said to him with a smile: "Comrade General, the Germans have been attacking for the past two years. We defend and counter attack them when the conditions are right. Now, it''s time for us to attack. "


    We were just talking when ahlomeyev came over and handed me a telegram he had just received. At the same time, he said, "Comrade commander, this is the telegram just sent by the headquarters of the front army."


    As soon as I heard the telegram from the headquarters of the front army, I could not help but feel a thump in my heart. My heart said, what''s the matter? If I didn''t make a phone call, I actually sent a telegram. When I finished reading the above, I felt relaxed. I handed the telegram to Danilov and looked at kirilov and said, "the headquarters of the front army has informed us that from now on, all divisions of the sixth group army of the close guard will be organized into two close guards: the 22nd army and the 23rd army. The 22nd army is composed of the 67th, 71st and 90th divisions of the guards, with colonel sivakov as its commander; The 23rd army is composed of the 51st and 52nd guard divisions and the 375TH infantry division. Major general tavartkiraze is the commander of the 23rd army. And the 89th division of the guard of Col. Xie Liujin is directly under the group army. "


    As soon as I finished, the telephone rang on the desk. I picked up the phone, but when I heard that the caller was watujing, I got up from my seat and said respectfully, "Hello, general!"


    "Comrade oshanina, have you received the telegram I sent you?" Maybe there is a lot of good news in the past two days, and watujing is also very happy. He asked with a smile: "do you have any idea about the adjustment of the superior?"


    "Senior general," seeing that he was in a good mood, I jokingly said, "it''s not good to just give him the number. You have to give me some additional troops. If the 51st, 52nd and 67th divisions of the guards were in the early stage of the battle, the losses would not be small."


    "Don''t worry, the reserves have been ready for you. It''s estimated that they will arrive tomorrow and the day after tomorrow." "Each division of the two guards has made up 10000 people, plus other tank brigades and artillery regiments, your troops are close to 100000 people," said watujing with pride


    I was very glad to hear that the headquarters of the front army was going to supply so many troops for us. However, I was not overjoyed. I also asked, "is there only one group army, or do all the group armies need to supply soldiers and weapons this time?"


    After hearing my question, vatukin sighed and said, "in the past ten days of defensive operations, the first group army of katukov''s close guard tanks and the fifth group army of rotmistrov''s close guard tanks have suffered heavy losses. There are less than 300 tanks left in each group army. In order to make them recover their combat effectiveness as soon as possible, Moscow will supply them with new tanks recently. "


    When he said this, I took a look at Kravchenko, who was sitting next to me, and then interjected, "Comrade General, I don''t know if the Fifth Army of Kravchenko''s close guard tanks can also be supplemented. We should know that in their recent defensive operations, tanks have also lost more than half of their capacity. If they can not replenish them in time, they will completely lose their ability to continue to fight. " When Kravchenko heard that I was helping him to ask for a new tank from vatukin, his eyebrows first picked up, and then he showed a surprise expression.


    In response to my request, vatukin snorted and said, "o''shanina, now help Kravchenko get a new tank. Next, are you going to get tanks for your 33rd army? "


    "Yes, yes, Comrade General." I was hesitating about how to ask watujing for tanks to supplement Colonel berey''s tank army. Since he mentioned this first, I quickly took over the topic and said, "if you have any extra tanks, please supplement one or two hundred for Colonel berey''s tank army."


    "One or two hundred!" When vatujing heard my lion open his mouth, he said with a bitter smile, "do you think our tank production is like baking bread, one baking is tens of hundreds? No, absolutely not. I can give you 30 tanks at most, and all of them are T-34. There is no new tank. General Kravchenko''s tank army is the same. They have been given 70 additional tanks, all of which are T-34. "


    Vatukin''s words confused me, because I heard Ustinov say that after the mass production of t-5455 tanks began, I planned to stop the production line of T-34 tanks completely. Why are all the tanks supplied to the army now T-34? With this question, I asked, "Comrade General, I don''t know why there is no new tank."


    "There are plenty of new tanks, but under the current circumstances, we can''t equip a large number of troops for the time being." "That is to say, in the next year or two, the tanks used by our tank forces will still be mainly T-34 tanks," he added


    After listening to what he said, I became more and more at a loss. "Comrade General, I don''t understand. Why are there so many new tanks, but why are they used to equip the army, or the old T-34? "


    "Don''t you understand?" Watujing said helplessly: "it''s not enough for the production capacity of the supporting shells of the new tank. If the whole army is equipped with new tanks, how can there be so many supporting shells? A tank without shells, no matter how advanced it is, will be the enemy''s target when it is on the battlefield. "


    "Oh, I see." Vatukin''s words let me understand that for a long time to come, Soviet tanks will only be attacked by German Tiger tanks.


    "Don''t sigh, comrade oshanina." Vatukin may have noticed my disappointment and continued: "I have another good news for you. This time, at least two assault rifles of the whole division will be provided to your army. As for ammunition, you don''t have to worry. I promise that it will be open to you."


    "Great, that''s great, Comrade General." To tell you the truth, in the next series of battles, infantry will play the leading role. Only by improving their equipment, can their combat effectiveness be improved qualitatively. So I was very happy to hear that we would be equipped with assault rifles from two divisions.


    After I put down the phone, I immediately told akhromeyev: "major, call the division leaders immediately, ask them to come here for a meeting, and announce the reorganization of the troops to them."


    After listening to my instructions, akhromeyev asked me for instructions and said, "Comrade commander, commander of the 67th division of the guards, Colonel barksov, returned to his command post yesterday because his injury has basically recovered. I don''t know whether I should inform him to come to the meeting or Lieutenant Colonel chejerikov? "


    "Let''s call together." In order to let him understand what I mean, I also made it clear: "although the rank of lieutenant colonel xijerikov is low, recently, he has been commanding the 67th division of the guards. In many cases, he knows better than baktsov."


    "Yes, I see." Akhromeyev agreed and went to make a phone call.


    An hour later, the teachers who received the notice came one after another. After everyone came in and saluted me, they began to murmur in a low voice, "what''s the matter with calling us at this time?"


    "Maybe we should continue to consolidate the defensive zone and prepare for a protracted war with the German army?"


    Although I was sitting not far from them, no one dared to inquire about me or other members of the headquarters, so I could only sit in the lower seat and whisper and guess.


    As soon as he came in, he saw that the headquarters was almost full of people. So he searched around with his eyes, trying to find out from his acquaintances what it was that I called all the teachers to have a meeting at this time. Then the teachers who came earlier than him still knew nothing. Facing his consulting eyes, they could only shrug their shoulders and spread their hands to show that they knew nothing.


    Seeing that all the people who should have come were complete, bzikov stood up and announced in a loud voice, "comrades, since all the people are here, we will have a formal meeting next."


    When he said that, the headquarters became silent. "Next, please announce to us the order to form the 22nd and 23rd armies of the guard infantry."


    It was said that a new guard infantry army would be formed. The commanders below could not help but be astonished. However, we all knew that we could not talk casually at this time, so we had to look at each other and cast a meaningful look at each other. After I stood up and glanced at each commander who was present at the meeting, I picked up the telegram on the table and began to read it out: "according to the order of the higher authorities, from now on, all divisions of the sixth group army of our guards will form two guards: the 22nd army and the 23rd Army..."


    When I finished reading the reorganization order, I put the telegram on the table and asked casually, "comrades commander, who has anything to say?" As soon as the words came to an end, nikolasov, the commander of the 52nd division of Jinwei, stood up and asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, our division suffered a great loss in the defensive operations some time ago. The soldiers were cut by half and the commanders by one third. I don''t know when we can replenish our troops and the weapons and ammunition consumed in the battle? " When I heard his question, I knew that it was a problem that existed in all divisions of the group army to varying degrees. Instead of answering him directly, I looked at everyone and asked, "do you have the same question?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " The teachers sitting below answered neatly¡° Don''t worry. "Hearing that everyone had the same question, I immediately gave them a reassurance:" after receiving the reorganization order, I also asked the commander of the front army about this matter. " At this point, I couldn''t help smiling, "commander watujing said that in addition to supplying 10000 soldiers to each division, he would also supply us with 20000 assault rifles. As we all know, this assault rifle is a good thing. Whether it''s positional warfare or street warfare, it''s much better than the submachine guns and rifles we use now. "¡° However, comrade commander, "as soon as I finished speaking, tawalter killaze, the new commander of the 23rd army of the close guard infantry, stood up and asked me in embarrassment," 20000 assault rifles are obviously not enough for our division. Which two divisions do you plan to equip first? " Instead of answering his question immediately, I turned to Danilov sitting next to him and said with a smile, "Comrade deputy commander, it''s up to you to decide the distribution of assault rifles." Before the arrival of the division commanders, we had a detailed discussion on the distribution of rifles. We thought that in order to make a bowl of water level, it would be better for each army to have one division. In the end, it was decided to equip assault rifles to the 51st and 67th divisions of the guards, because in the early fighting, the fighting was the hardest and the casualties were the largest. After adding a large number of new recruits, if you have good weapons, it will also have a lot of benefits for the improvement of the combat effectiveness of the troops. Therefore, when Danilov said that the two divisions should be given priority to equipped with assault rifles, all division commanders understood and agreed with the allocation plan of the group army command.

 Chapter 1181

    The reserve troops supplemented by the front army entered our defense area at noon the next day. As the vehicles were busy transporting materials for the troops, they had to march on foot.


    As one unit followed another into the area, the combat office, which received and placed the new units, became busy. Akhromeyev''s combat office, as a special dispatch office, will send all documents related to the operation and status of the troops directly to them, because the combat office has become the busiest unit in the whole group army.


    At noon, Danilov and bezikov and I were studying the best attack route after the attack started. With a tired face, akhromeyev came in, raised his hand and said to me feebly, "Comrade commander, there are too few people in the combat department now. I can''t get over these two days. You see, can you lend me some more staff, and I''ll let them go back to their original department after they''ve been busy for a while? "


    Before I could speak, Danilov said, "Comrade major, it''s very difficult. The German army has just been repulsed by us. There are a lot of aftermath matters to deal with. The staff of all departments are very tight. They may not be able to meet your request. "


    When Danilov finished speaking, bizikov also laughed at ahlomeyev and said apologetically, "yes, comrade major, the situation is just like what the deputy commander said. The staff of all departments are very tight and can''t be transferred to help you. I think you can only think of other ways."


    I saw akhromeyev''s disappointed face and quickly stood up and said to him, "major, don''t worry. Recently, the work intensity of the operations department is very high, which is in everyone''s eyes. Although we can''t transfer people for you inside the headquarters of the group army, we can transfer people from other places. "


    "Other places?" "Where else can I find the right person besides the headquarters?" asked akhromeyev


    Seeing that everyone''s eyes are focused on me, I can''t wait to know what I can do. I deliberately laughed but did not answer, picked up the phone on the table and dialed the 23rd army headquarters of Jinwei.


    After hearing general tavartkilaze''s voice, I said to him with a smile, "Comrade General, what do you think after you become the commander of the army?"


    Tavartkilaze first laughed twice and then replied, "I feel like I''m tired. I''m busy every day." He is a smart man. He knows that when I call him, I''m sure I won''t just ask him how he feels after becoming a commander. So he immediately asks, "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"


    "How many people are there in the newly established combat division of your army?" I asked briefly.


    Tavartkilaze didn''t expect that I would suddenly ask this question. He opened his mouth and said the data I wanted to know: "there are 19 people in the combat department, including one director, two deputy directors and one assistant director. They are very capable commanders."


    "Good." After hearing what he said, I would save a lot of time, so I said frankly, "in addition to the director, the deputy director and the assistant director, you immediately send the other 15 people to the headquarters. I am short of staff here. I want to borrow them for a few days."


    "Comrade commander, you can''t do that!" When tavartkilaze heard that I was about to transfer all the staff from the combat Department of his army, he was immediately flustered: "how can we carry out the work of the army if you want to draw so many people from us?"


    "Ah?" His answer was in my expectation, so I deliberately pretended to be confused and asked: "Comrade General, if I transfer people from you, it will affect your normal work. Is that right? "


    "Yes, yes, that''s it." Tavartkilaze said busily¡° Comrade commander, as you know, the shelf of our close guard army was just set up yesterday, and there are a lot of things to deal with. If I didn''t see that there are not many people in the group army, I would like to borrow some competent commanders from you. "


    I secretly scold "old fox" in my heart. It''s a master who doesn''t scatter Eagles without rabbits. So I pretended to be sorry and said, "well, comrade general, since you don''t have enough people there, I won''t force you. I''d better call Colonel sivakov, the commander of the 22nd army, and borrow some people from him. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Tavartkilaze breathed a sigh of relief and said with ease: "in this battle, the casualties of the 22nd army are much smaller than ours, and the manpower is certainly richer than ours. If you want someone from him, you must be right."


    "Well, since you say so, comrade general, I''ll call sivakov and transfer the staff from him." I pretended to follow his meaning and said, "nothing''s wrong, so I hung up."


    With that, I still put the microphone to my ear to hear if tavartkiraze would react. If he doesn''t respond, I''ll hang up again.


    My attitude aroused the curiosity of tawalter killazer. When he heard that I was going to hang up, he asked curiously, "Comrade commander, what do you want to do with so many staff officers seconded to the headquarters?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." I deliberately pretended to be casual and said, "the reserve troops that our superiors have given us have arrived one after another. Major akhromeyev''s combat office is responsible for receiving and resettling troops. Because they have to count the casualties of each division before they can calculate the corresponding number of supplementary troops. Finally, they arrange special personnel to take the assigned troops to the divisions they should go to. This work is simple to say, but tedious to do. They have been so busy since morning that they haven''t even taken a sip of water. Well, I won''t tell you. I have to call Colonel sivakov


    "Comrade commander, please don''t hang up." Tavart killazer suddenly cried out, "you call me for help, just to cooperate with the group army''s combat and to allocate new soldiers?"


    "Yes, comrade general, it''s for this." Seeing tavartkilaze enter the urn unconsciously, I thought it was funny, but I had to pretend to be worried. "Anyway, you can''t get any help there. I''d better call sivakov and ask him to send someone to help. After that, I''ll take back the supplementary troops directly."


    "Comrade commander, comrade commander." As soon as tavartkilaze heard what I said, he was in a hurry and pleaded with me: "please, we''d better transfer our troops."


    "Forget it, Comrade General." when I said this, Danilov and kirilov, who were sitting around the table, were already laughing, but I still wanted to finish the play, so I pretended to be serious and said, "as soon as the shelf of your army is put up, there are not enough people. I won''t force you."


    "No, not at all." Tawalter killazer patted his chest and assured me, "don''t worry, comrade commander. No matter how many people are sent to the headquarters to help, my work here can be carried out normally. Fifteen people must be a little less. Let''s do this. I''ll send some more staff members from the division''s headquarters to gather 40 people for you. I don''t know if that''s enough? "


    I forced myself to smile, and tried to say in a smooth tone, "well, comrade general, since you insist like this, I will decide to agree to your request. Can the 40 staff officers you mentioned arrive at the headquarters within an hour? "


    "No problem, no problem." Although I can''t see tawalter killazer''s expression, I can guess that he must be nodding and bowing to the microphone at the moment. "In an hour, they will arrive. You can rest assured."


    When I put down the phone, kirilov pointed at me with a smile and said, "Rita, I''ve known you for so long. I didn''t expect you to have such a humorous side. In a few words, general tavartkilaze willingly sent his most capable staff to the headquarters of the group army to help."


    I grinned, turned my head and asked akhromeyev, "Comrade major, is there enough manpower?"


    "Enough, enough." Akhromeyev nodded again and again and said, "no matter how many people there are, the newly built house of the combat department will not be crowded." With that, he restrained his smile, straightened up and asked me, "will you allow me to go back to work?"


    "Go, comrade major." I waved to him and told him, "it''s the most important task of your combat department to replenish the troops. Other things can be done temporarily or by other departments."


    As soon as akhromeyev was sent away, vatukin called. He said solemnly, "Comrade oshanina, I have just received an order from the supreme command."


    When I heard that he wanted to convey the order of the supreme command to me, I could not help but feel a thump in my heart. My heart said that Stalin would not see that the most dangerous stage of Kursk had passed, and that he would ask me to settle for the sacrifice of general apanashchenko. My legs trembled slightly at the thought.


    He continued: "the supreme command has decided to hand over the task of frontal attack on bergorod and Kharkov to general konev''s Grassland front army, while the sixth group army of the guards is responsible for covering his right flank, while the seventh group army of the guards is responsible for covering his left flank."


    When I heard that it was not for apanashchenko''s sake, I felt a lot more at ease. After watujing simply passed on the orders from his superiors, I quickly asked, "do we have anything to do before the attack?"


    "After my discussion with marshal vasilevsky, we intend to adjust the existing defense area of your group army." After listening to watujing''s suggestion that we should adjust our defense area, I quickly pulled the map in front of me and picked up a red and blue pencil to prepare to record his orders¡° The defense area of your group army moves westward as a whole. Apart from keeping Yakovlev, all the rest of your troops will be transferred to the grassland front army, while you will be transferred to the area west of the bergorod Kursk highway to prepare for the attack in the construction area. "


    After staring at the map for a while, I asked, "Comrade General, bhuttovo is still in the hands of the Germans. Before the offensive campaign begins, do we need to take action to drive the Germans out there?"


    "Not to drive them away, but to wipe them out." "As the starting point of your group army''s attack is in that area, not only butovo should be recovered as soon as possible, but also tomarovka and klukovo should be taken together," watujing said clearly. Otherwise, you will have to spread out your forces and launch attacks in areas full of swamps and forests. As far as I''m concerned, you''ll definitely pay a lot of casualties. "


    "I see." I know that watujing is not a alarmist. I have been to that area several times. I can''t deploy armored forces at all. I have to rely on infantry to fill it with human life. "I will take these three places down in the shortest time."


    "Comrade o''shanina, then you must hurry up." "It''s better to take these three places down within a week, and build a solid defense in the area, so as not to let the Germans take them back again," he told me. In this way, at the beginning of the offensive campaign, you will have a reliable starting point for the offensive. "


    At the end of the call with watujing, I said solemnly to several people around the table: "comrades commander, the higher authorities have new instructions. Let''s give up all areas except Yakovlev and hand them over to friendly forces. After that, the main force of the group army moves westward as a whole and recovers butovlev and batovlev in the shortest time The triangle of tomarovka and cleukovo will become the starting point of our offensive campaign. " After what I said, bzikov looked up at me from the map and said, "Comrade commander, I think our move should be carried out step by step. The friendly forces arrive at one place, and we will transfer the defense after we transfer it. Remember not to move all at one time, which is easy to cause confusion and give the Germans an opportunity to take advantage of. "¡° That''s right, "Danilov continued." I think the replacement of the 52nd division should wait until all areas in the rear are finished. At the same time, we should send troops to strengthen Yakovlev of the 51st division. The German army saw that we had strengthened our forces in the front line, and even if they knew that we were changing our defenses, they did not dare to act rashly. " After listening to Danilov and bezikov''s thoughts, I nodded my head and said, "you are very considerate. Do as you say. After the completion of the transfer work, we will begin to prepare for the attack on butovo. In order to find out the enemy''s strength and deployment, we must start to collect intelligence from now on. "

 Chapter 1182

    The army''s relocation work was completed in the early morning of the 17th. As part of the Manstein troops were transferred to Italy, and the remaining troops suffered heavy losses in the early fighting, the German ground troops did not respond except for two small-scale air strikes during the movement of our group army.


    When I saw the group army''s new defense plan, I could not help feeling better. It seems that history has a great correction power. Before the battle of Kursk, our group army''s defense line was more east than the real defense line in history. Now, after such an adjustment by the supreme command, it has unconsciously returned to the standard historical track.


    "Comrade commander," perhaps bzikov found that I had been giggling at the map, so he asked me curiously, "what are you laughing at? Do you have new considerations about today''s plan to counter attack butovo?"


    I quickly restrained the smile on my face, looked up at him, and said in a disguised way: "chief of staff, I am looking at the formation of our army. I find that as long as we don''t move, we can defeat the Germans as soon as we launch an attack."


    Danilov, who had been dozing at the table, heard me say this, opened his eyes and asked, "Comrade commander, if we really attack, can we reach Kharkov?"


    "Kharkov?" I repeated Danilov''s place name, and then said in a sarcastic tone: "Comrade deputy commander, you underestimate the strength of our army. Once the two front forces assembled in the south of Kursk attack the German army, it will be a thunderbolt. Do you think that Manstein, who has just been repulsed by us and has been transferred many troops, can still block our fierce offensive? "


    As for my point of view, Danilov just laughed and didn''t express any opinions. Perhaps in his mind, he was thinking about the battle of Kharkov a few months ago. At that time, the Soviet army also had an absolute advantage in the number of people. In the end, he was not beaten by the German army, losing hundreds of thousands of troops, not to mention several generals including haridonov.


    When I think of general haridonov who died, I inevitably think of the exchange of Ike''s body for the general''s body and the captured wounded, as well as the events in which Manstein sent people to persuade him to surrender. Now that the general situation of the German army is gone, it''s time for me to settle the accounts with him.


    Thinking of this, I said to Danilov solemnly: "deputy commander, I know what you are worried about. You are worried that our attack this time may be like the battle of Kharkov a few months ago. Although we have gained all the advantages in the early stage, it will end in failure in the end."


    Danilov listened to me, nodded unexpectedly and said frankly, "yes, comrade commander, that''s what I think. In the last battle, we, who just won the battle of Stalingrad, were several times more powerful than the German army and had the same weapons and equipment as the enemy, but we failed in the end and lost a lot of our living strength in vain. Although our strength seems to be equally strong this time, my heart is still not stable, and I''m afraid that we will make the same mistake again. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, this is the rotation of defeatism." After hearing this, bezikov immediately retorted: "the German army has consumed almost all their living strength in the battle near Kursk. They have no resistance in the face of the attack we are about to launch."


    "Yes, I agree with the chief of staff." I echoed: "the strength of the last battle was due to the fact that our troops were too far away from the supply base and the logistics couldn''t keep up. So we lost a battle when our troops and equipment were dominant."


    Kirilov, who is nearby, may be afraid that some of us will argue, so he quickly digs off the topic. "By the way, Rita, the 67th division of the guards will attack bhuttovo at eight o''clock. Will you go to the front in person?"


    I waved my hand and said, "comrades of the military commissar, we need to specify the commanders below. Since the task has been assigned, how to complete it is their job as teachers. We should not interfere too much so as to affect their performance. "


    Just as I saw povsky coming, I turned my attention to him: "Comrade Colonel, are our artillery units ready?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Povsky replied: "the two artillery regiments and a close guard rocket battalion are all ready to attack the enemy as soon as the time comes."


    "Good." Artillery implemented, and then I asked bzikov: "chief of staff, have the tanks entered the designated position?"


    When bizikov heard my question, he thought about it for a moment, and then replied, "because of the road problem, the tank brigade is still on the March, and has not reached the designated position for the time being."


    "Chief of staff, why is the movement of the tank brigade so slow?" Danilov said with some dissatisfaction: "if we delay today''s attack, can Colonel berey afford the responsibility?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, we can''t blame the tank brigade for all this." I know a lot about the recent situation of berey''s tank army, so I heard Danilov angry and explained to him: "after more than a week''s fighting, many tanks in the tank brigade have different degrees of failure. After the emergency repair of the maintenance station, 80% of the tanks were barely kept in good combat condition. In addition, the road leading to butovo was bombed by enemy planes and became uneven, so our tanks were very slow to advance. "


    "So our tank brigade can''t take part in the attack at 8 o''clock." When Danilov heard this, he said thoughtfully, "since they can''t take part in the war, we should let them stay in the repair station and maintain all the tanks."


    "You can''t say that, comrade deputy commander." After listening to Danilov''s words, I said with a smile: "maybe our tank platoon will not be useful in the battle of liberating butovo, but there are still two small cities to recover. Let the tank brigade enter the designated position as soon as possible, we can adjust the combat deployment according to the actual situation, and even connect several separate combat deployments together to form a series of attacks and tear up the enemy''s defense as soon as possible. "


    After listening, Danilov nodded and said, "well, since that''s the case, let''s wait until the battle starts and see the actual effect."


    It''s a hard time to spend such a slow time in the twinkling of an eye. When the pointer finally pointed to eight o''clock, I nodded to povsky, who had been standing by with a microphone, indicating that the artillery could start shelling the German position in butovo.


    Understanding the bofsky immediately at the microphone loudly said: "the commander orders, artillery immediately to butovo open fire!"


    Although we are tens of kilometers away from butovo, when povsky''s order was issued, I vaguely heard the rumble of artillery from outside, as if I saw the dense shells fired by our artillery, which blew up the enemy''s position into a sea of fire.


    I sat at the table, looking at the map with my eyes, but from time to time I cast a glance at the phone in the middle of the table, hoping that Colonel baksov, who was in charge of the army''s attack, would call me immediately and report to me that the army had successfully occupied butovo.


    But I also know that this is impossible, because the shelling is still going on. How can the infantry attack? I just hope that after the shelling, the 67th division of the guards can speed up and rush into the city before the enemy reacts. After repeated fighting between the enemy and us in the city, almost all the buildings collapsed, so street fighting is unlikely. As soon as the troops rush into the city, they will win.


    After a while, I suddenly heard bzikov''s voice: "the artillery preparation is over. Our troops should charge. I believe that good news will come soon."


    "Yes, chief of staff." Danilov also said: "the positions outside bhuttovo can not be supported by our strong artillery attack. I believe it will not be long before the troops can successfully recover bhuttovo."


    Although I sat by without a word, I was more nervous than anyone else. Although the city of butovo is not big, it has become the focus of contention between the enemy and us. Last time, although the troops under the command of shejerikov once recovered butovo, under the fierce German offensive, the troops with heavy casualties had to give up their positions and withdraw from the city.


    I''ve been waiting for about ten minutes, but the phone hasn''t rung yet. He called the director of communications, Mr. lophoff, to him, pointed to the phone on the desk and asked in a serious voice, "Comrade major, what''s the matter with this phone? Why hasn''t it been ringing? Is there something wrong?"


    Lophov did not dare to speak. He picked up the phone and listened to it. Then he reported to me, "Comrade commander, everything is normal on the phone. There is no problem."


    "Rita," kirilov said as he helped lophoff out of the siege, "there must be no problem with the phone. You''re in a hurry. The battle didn''t last long. Even if Colonel baksov wanted to report the situation to you, it wasn''t so fast. At least he had to wait for half an hour or even an hour. "


    After listening to kirilov''s words, knowing that he was too impatient, I waved to lophov and asked him to go back to his post. Then I tried to say to kirilov in a smooth tone: "Comrade military commissar, this is the first battle of our group army after being supplemented. I want to see how the actual combat effectiveness of the troops supplemented with new recruits is through fighting."


    "Colonel baksov is also an old commander. He knows how to lead soldiers. I''m sure his performance will not disappoint you." Kirilov saw that I was still a little upset, and immediately comforted me and said, "according to the reconnaissance, the German garrison in the city has only one incomplete regiment. Can they block the attack of one of our main divisions?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Bezikov also echoed kirilov''s opinion, saying: "during the period of acting division commander Sergeant Sergeant shijerikov, I believe he has instilled your tactical ideas into the following commanders and fighters in various ways. Although this is our attack, I believe the casualties will not be too great. "


    "Chief of staff," Danilov said suddenly, "I can''t agree with you."


    Danilov''s words stunned all of us. After a while, bzikov asked in surprise, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t know what my view is wrong?"


    "After the end of the arduous Finnish campaign, the slogan of" less blood "to win was criticized by the higher authorities as an incorrect slogan to guide the army to dream of winning easily." Danilov quoted a classic saying: "in the battle of liberating butovo, if we still instill this wrong idea into the commanders and fighters, the troops will become passive when there are large casualties in the attack."


    To tell you the truth, this is the first time I''ve heard of the so-called "less bleeding" point of view, so I also looked at Danilov blankly to hear what he would say next. Danilov turned to me, looked at me and said, "Comrade commander, I know that many battles under your command have been fought many times to achieve the greatest results at the lowest cost. But have you ever thought that if all the commanders have such an idea, how can we fight the next battle? " When Danilov finished, I shook my head and said, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t understand you."¡° Is it not obvious what I mean? " Danilov said excitedly: "since the beginning of the battle of Kursk, you can also see how cruel the battle we have been fighting. In the situation of great disparity between the enemy and ourselves, no matter what tactics you use, you will still cause heavy casualties in the battle. If every commander only wants to reduce the casualties of the troops, they will become passive in the battle and always consider what methods should be used to reduce the casualties of the troops. Therefore, I firmly oppose instilling the wrong idea that "less blood" can easily win in the group army. " Danilov''s words made me speechless. As I was thinking about how to retort, the phone that had been silent on the table finally rang¡° It must be colonel baksov When I heard the telephone ring, the first thought came out of my mind. I grabbed the receiver and stuck it to my ear. I said in a loud voice, "Hello, this is the headquarters of the group army. Is that Colonel baksov?"¡° Yes, it''s me, comrade commander. " Colonel baksov said in a low voice: "I report to you that the attack against bhuttovo has failed. After a fierce battle, our troops who rushed into the city were forced to withdraw from the outside of the city¡° What are the casualties of the troops? " I tried to control my emotions and asked coldly¡° One third of the troops who were in charge of the attack were killed or injured. " "They have now returned to their starting position and are assembling for a new attack," baksov said cautiously

 Chapter 1183

    I threw the microphone on the table and walked back and forth in the room with my hands on my back. In order to succeed in this attack, I did a lot of preparatory work in advance, adding enough soldiers to the 67th division, changing into the most advanced assault rifles, and even equipping them with powerful artillery firepower.


    In other words, the artillery they now have can smash up the crude German fortifications outside bhuttovo in the shortest time. I thought I would win the attack, but I was defeated so miserably, which made me feel worse when I heard the news.


    Kirilov saw me fidgeting about the room. He got up first, put the microphone I had thrown on the table on the telephone, and then asked me with concern, "Rita, did they fail their attack?"


    I stopped, nodded at him, and then said angrily, "the troops have rushed into the city, but they are not stable. They were driven out of the city by the Germans, and one third of them were killed."


    "Comrade commander, the failure of the attack cannot be entirely blamed on Colonel barksov." After akhromeyev finished this sentence carefully, he observed that the expression on my face had not changed, and then went on to say: "the soldiers have just finished replenishing, the running in time between the commanders and soldiers is not enough, and there is also a lack of mutual understanding, so there may be some problems in the match in the battle. There are also new assault rifles, which are different from our army''s original standard weapons. If soldiers can''t use their weapons skillfully, their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced. "


    I turned around and looked at akhromeyev and said, "Comrade major, do you think the failure of this attack has something to do with the fact that the soldiers are not familiar with the use of assault rifles?"


    Akhromeyev nodded and said with certainty, "it''s like this!"


    I think it''s true. However, now that the attack on butovo has begun, it is obviously unrealistic to stop and give the soldiers a process of being familiar with weapons. Now there are only two steps. One is to send troops to continue to attack bhuttovo, and the other is to let those troops who have not yet taken part in the battle get familiar with the performance of weapons as soon as possible.


    When I was thinking about how to let the commanders and fighters grasp the new weapons quickly, I heard kirilov calling me: "Rita, Rita, Rita!"


    Because I was thinking, kirilov called me three times in a row before I heard him. I looked up at him and asked, "Comrade military commissar, what can I do for you?"


    "Rita," kirilov said after a moment''s deliberation, seeing that I noticed him, "I don''t think we''ve done enough political agitation in our army."


    "Comrade military commissar, you may as well tell me what you think." I know kirilov is telling the truth. Because of my aversion to political workers, they are often a decoration in the troops under my command. At this moment, hearing kirilov''s sudden mention of this matter made me alert.


    "In my opinion, when the troops attack money, they should hold a general meeting in the troops to introduce the combat tasks to all the commanders and fighters, so that everyone can have a clear idea." When it comes to political work, kirilov, who has always spoken very little in the headquarters, began to talk incessantly, "hold a forum for all the soldiers with regiments or battalions as a unit, and ask them to never allow the Germans to gain a foothold in any place where they have our army commanders and fighters."; Every soldier is required to contribute to the motherland and victory, and not to be afraid of sacrifice.


    Political workers at all levels should set specific tasks for Party members and League members, such as who should do a good job when attacking. Members of the Communist Party and League must charge ahead and become models of attack. "


    "I see, comrade military Commissar." Kirilov''s words reminded me that during the battle of Stalingrad, the political workers at all levels in the division kept making all kinds of propaganda to the soldiers at the forefront, so that my troops could always maintain their strong fighting capacity. I didn''t expect that my position is getting higher and higher, but I don''t pay more and more attention to this aspect of work. I originally wanted to go to the position of the barksov division to see if there was any way to improve their morale. Since kirilov mentioned political mobilization, I would take him there¡° I''m going to go to the front of the 67th division of the guards. Please accompany me. You can tell the political commissar of the division what you just said, and let him arrange time for political mobilization in the army. "


    "All right, Rita." Hearing my proposal, kirilov readily agreed, "I''ll go with you."


    I turned my eyes to povsky again and said to him, "Comrade Colonel, come with me, too."


    On the way to the front line of butovo, kirilov, who was sitting side by side with me in the back of the jeep, comforted me and said, "Rita, don''t worry too much. As long as the political workers at all levels in the division explain the significance of this attack to the soldiers, I believe the next battle will be very smooth."


    Although I also believe that the propaganda and agitation work of the political workers can stimulate the morale of the troops, I still lack confidence in whether or not I can win bhuttovo, so I also have a weak voice: "I hope so!"


    When baksov saw us at his headquarters, he could not help but be surprised. He quickly met us and asked nervously, "commander, military commissar, why are you all here?"


    After I saluted back, I sat down in the position he had just done, looked up at him, and asked sternly, "Comrade Colonel, can you tell me why our troops have been attacked by the Germans since they have all rushed into the city?"


    Hearing my question, baksov''s face turned red and he lowered his head and murmured, "our troops soon rushed into the city after the artillery preparation was over. But as soon as we got to the center of the city, a German Tiger tank company came over. Because our troops lacked anti tank weapons, the queue was soon scattered by German tanks. "


    "Comrade Colonel, what about your division''s anti tank weapons?" It was clear that the army was driven out of the city because of the lack of anti tank weapons. I was so angry that I asked: "if I remember correctly, the superior will give you 40 rocket launchers, and each platoon will be equipped with one or two?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." In the face of my question, barksov admitted with a red face.


    "Since there are bazookas, why don''t you use them?" I asked viciously, "do you think the assault rifles in the hands of the soldiers can kill the German tanks?"


    "I consider that the next battle is in the streets. There are not many places where the rocket launcher can be used, so the offensive troops didn''t carry it at all." After introducing the situation, baksov took the initiative to admit his mistake to me: "Comrade commander, I''m wrong. I hereby order that in a new round of attack, all troops must take rocket launchers, so as not to suffer the losses of the Germans any more. "


    Seeing that baksov''s attitude of admitting his mistake was not bad, I gave up my plan to scold him. I told him: "Comrade Colonel, let the troops take all the rocket launchers. Even if they don''t fight tanks, they can use the rocket launchers to kill the enemy''s firepower points in the city."


    "Hit the enemy''s firepower with a rocket launcher?" When baksov heard me say this, he was surprised and asked, "isn''t the rocket launcher used to hit the tank? How can it still hit the enemy''s firepower?"


    When I heard his question, I almost rushed up to kick him. I didn''t expect that Lao maozi was so determined. Since the rocket launcher can kill the enemy''s tanks, it can also kill the enemy''s firepower points. No one stipulates that the rocket launcher can only be used to fight tanks. I pointed to him and was so angry that I couldn''t speak for a long time. Fortunately, povsky asked me to get out of the encirclement. He said to barksov with a smile, "Comrade Colonel, as long as we can eliminate more enemies, we can use any weapon."


    Kirilov may not want to see baksov continue to be criticized by me. He quickly digs off the topic and asks baksov, "Comrade Colonel, where is your political commissar?"


    "I went to the division health camp to visit the wounded." Barksov replied briefly.


    "Comrade Colonel, please send someone to take me to the health camp. I have something important to ask your political commissar." Kirilov said, raising his hand and looking at his watch, he urged, "time is pressing. Please hurry up."


    Barksov immediately yelled out. When a soldier came in, he immediately ordered the other side: "you take the comrades of the military commissar to the political commissar, understand?"


    "I see, sir." After the soldier agreed, he went up to kirilov, made a gesture of please and said, "please, comrade military commissar, I''ll take you to the political commissar."


    After kirilov left, baksov couldn''t help but ask me curiously, "Comrade commander, do you know that the comrades of the military commissar have anything important to do with my political commissar?"


    "The military commissar said that before launching a new attack, political workers should be allowed to mobilize every soldier to make them understand the significance of the battle, so that they can play a greater role in the battle." When I had finished, I stood up and said to baksov, "come on, comrade Colonel, take us to the observation post."


    "Observation station?" Barksov was stunned when he heard what I said, and then asked, "Comrade commander, what are we going to observe?"


    I turned a white eye at him and said, "Comrade Colonel, can we see the enemy''s deployment when we stay in your headquarters?"


    Fortunately, barksov was not too stupid. After listening to me, he immediately understood what was going on and quickly led me and povsky to the observation center.


    Through my telescope, I could see that bhuttovo had become a ruin. On the periphery of the ruins was the German defensive position. In the preparation for the last attack, their fortifications were blown up beyond recognition. At this moment, countless German soldiers are seizing the time to repair fortifications and prepare to fight against our next attack.


    After looking at it for a while, I asked povsky standing beside me: "Comrade Colonel, how many artillery observers have you brought with you?"


    Povsky quickly put down his telescope, straightened up and reported to me, "Comrade commander, I have brought five artillery observers. Now they are in the trench outside. They can report the observed information to the artillery positions in the rear at any time."


    Seeing that bofsky''s artillery was ready, I turned to ask baksov, "Comrade Colonel, when will your troops launch a new attack again?"


    Baksov also raised his hand, looked at his watch, and then replied, "according to the plan, the shelling will start in five minutes. After half an hour''s artillery preparation, my troops charged again. "


    "Are you sure this time?" I looked at him and asked with some uneasiness. To my question, baksov hesitated for a moment before answering, "Comrade commander, after our army withdrew from the city, the German army laid a new minefield in front of their positions. I hope our artillery can clear the enemy''s minefield when they are shelling later I turned my inquiring eyes to povsky. Povsky''s eyes matched mine. He immediately nodded and answered positively, "don''t worry, comrade commander, our shelling can destroy the enemy''s minefield." As soon as it was time for the shelling, povsky walked out of the observation post, raised his signal gun in the trench and yanked the trigger. With the rise of a red signal bomb, the ready artillery units, according to the set firing data, bombard the enemy fiercely. There was a scream in the sky, and then the first wave of shells hit the enemy positions, accurately covering the German minefield. With the explosion of the shells, the buried mines exploded like volcanoes, and the smoke of the fire quickly covered the enemy''s position. The artillery observer who stayed in the trench quickly reported the firing parameters to the rear, so that the artillery could quickly adjust the firing angle and distance. Under their guidance, raindrops of shells came in waves, smashed into the enemy like meteors, and the sound of trajectory was interwoven. In the fierce roar, dazzling halos burst out, and rolling fireballs blazed under the shrouded smoke. The panicked enemy troops were running around, and the fire reflected their flying figures. The storm with shrapnel smashed the flesh and blood of all the living and dead soldiers near the explosion point. Just as the artillery bombardment had thinned down, the smoke and dust had not yet dispersed, and the high temperature was still there. But before I wiped the sweat out of my forehead, the sound of "Wula" came from outside. Barksov quickly grabbed the observation port and excitedly reported to me, "Comrade commander, our infantry are charging!" Through the telescope, I saw that the charge commanders and fighters used group charge, hundreds of soldiers issued deafening shouts, they waded on the surface soil full of shrapnel, stepped on the enemy''s rotten meat, waved their own flags, and bravely rushed to the city of butovo.

 Chapter 1184

    As soon as the vanguard of the army approached the edge of the city, several firepower points on the German position revived, machine guns opened fire at the same time, and several fire whips swept across the charging crowd. Immediately, they would rush to the front of the commanders and fighters and beat them to the ground. But the commanders and fighters behind did not slow down their pace, still charging forward bravely.


    "Comrade Colonel," I said to baksov, pointing to the fire point in the distance where the flame of death was spitting out, "the German fortifications are very strong. You see, it''s not easy that so many firepower points can survive under the heavy artillery attack of our army. "


    Before baksov could speak, his chief of staff came to him and said, "Comrade commander, please allow me to report to you."


    I glanced at the skinny lieutenant commander, nodded and said, "report!"


    "When the troops first rushed into the city, I went to check these fortifications." The chief of staff of the division replied clearly: "the Germans built a lot of gun holes in the trenches. They left a small number of observation posts as soon as they were bombarded, and the rest of them hid in the blast hole. When we charged, they came out of the hole to meet us. "


    "But at the beginning, our fortifications in butovo also had a large number of gun holes. Why did the troops suffer heavy casualties under the attack of the enemy''s artillery?" I asked, "Comrade commander, can you tell me why?"


    The chief of staff of the division couldn''t answer for a moment. He blushed and was in a daze.


    I said unsatisfied: "the enemy has gun holes in the trenches, and we also have gun holes in the trenches, but our troops often suffer heavy casualties when they are under enemy fire. The enemy, however, has so many firepower points to survive. You have time to find the gap between us and the enemy. "


    "I see, comrade commander." The division chief of staff replied awkwardly.


    At this time, baksov suddenly called me: "Comrade commander, you see our heavy machine guns following the charge have suppressed the German firepower after setting up the position, and the troops are rushing into the city one by one."


    I raised my telescope again and looked at the fire spot that was still rampant. I found that I was dumb under the attack of our heavy machine gun. Then turn the camera to our troops, see some of the officers and men into and occupied the German fortifications, the rest of the people are toward the ruins of the city.


    Seeing that the officers and men outside the city almost rushed into the city, my heart began to worry again, deeply afraid that they would form a dense formation on the narrow street. In this way, in addition to the soldiers in the front row can shoot, the people behind can only be anxious. As long as the German army put a few machine guns on the main road, it would be enough to beat back all our charges.


    After more than half an hour, we didn''t see the troops in the city beaten by the Germans. On the contrary, the originally dense gunfire gradually became sparse. It seems that the battle is coming to an end. Just then, there came the louder and louder roar of the motor outside. When I first heard the sound, I thought the German Tiger tank company was covering their goose troops for counterattack again, but after listening for a while, I found that the sound was not coming from the city, but from our rear.


    "Did the enemy''s tanks detour back to our rear?" When I thought about it, I was in a cold sweat. I was going to remind baksov to prepare for anti tank.


    But I heard the chief of staff of the division shout happily: "tank, it''s our tank!"


    I quickly walked out of the observation post, stood in the trench and looked in the direction of the sound. I saw a dozen t-5455 tanks coming towards us quickly along the uneven road. Seeing clearly that it was my own tank, I was relieved, wiped the sweat from my forehead, turned around and told baksov, "Comrade Colonel, send a signal to the tank troops, so that they don''t have to stay, but rush directly into the city to cover the infantry and drive the Germans out of the city."


    "Come on," barksov, who had accepted the order, turned to the side and called out. Immediately an officer ran up to him, stopped in front of him and stood straight like a telegraph pole. Just listen to baksov''s order, he said: "immediately send a signal to the tank troops, so that they don''t have to stay, directly rush into the city, cooperate with the infantry to drive out the Germans."


    With a promise, the officer climbed out of the trench, stood on a mound of earth, pulled out a red flag and a green flag from the belt around his waist, raised them high above his head and waved them to the coming tank.


    The tank troops saw his signal and sped over the trench towards the city. When I saw the tanks driving into the city one by one, my heart suddenly became steadfast. This time, even if the German army sent another Tiger tank company to attack, and met with our new tanks, it would not escape the fate of the whole army.


    After the tank rushed into the city, nearly an hour later, a yellow signal bomb rose from the city into the air. Seeing the flare, baksov sighed with relief, and then said to me, "Comrade commander, all the enemies in butovo have been driven out by us."


    Since I didn''t see baksov answer any phone calls, I can only guess that he may have come to the conclusion that the troops have occupied butovo according to the signal bomb in the air¡° Very well, comrade colonel Seeing that our army recovered bhuttovo, I felt much better. I said to baksov, "order the soldiers to reinforce the fortifications as soon as possible, so as to prevent the possible German counterattack. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Baksov''s answer was very straightforward.


    I turned to povsky and said, "all right, comrade artillery commander, our mission here has been completed. Let''s go back to the headquarters of the group army. There is still a lot of work to be done. "


    "All right, comrade commander." Povsky said to me with a smile, "before we go back to the headquarters, do we need to call the political commissar together?"


    After thinking about it, I waved my hand and said, "no, let the political commissar stay here for the time being and do political mobilization for the commanders and fighters. I hope they can keep high morale in the next battle


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Barksov said to me with a smile: "I will order political commissars and political workers at all levels to fully cooperate with comrades of the military commissars to carry out political propaganda and agitation among the soldiers."


    "All right, I''m going." I waved my head to povsky, motioned him to follow me out of the observation post, and then said to baksov, "Comrade Colonel, let the soldiers have a good rest at night. There are two more wars to fight."


    Barksov nodded and said, "don''t worry, in the next siege, we can still guarantee such a strong morale as today."


    When we returned to the headquarters, Danilov and bezikov, who were staying here, had already known the result. But they were surprised to see kirilov didn''t come back with me. Danilov asked, "Comrade commander, why didn''t Comrade military commissar come back with you?"


    "Well, comrade deputy commander." I said to him politely: "in order to ensure that the commanders and fighters of the 67th division of the Jinwei will still maintain their strong morale in the next two tough battles, comrades of the military commissar decided to stay and help the political workers of the division carry out propaganda and agitation." After I finished explaining, I changed the topic, "does the headquarters of the front army have the latest orders?"


    "No," bzikov shook his head and replied, "after I reported to my superiors about the recovery of bhuttovo, I specially asked commander vatukin. He said that he would call us directly if there was anything wrong."


    "What about the friendly forces?" I then asked.


    Bezikov obviously knew what I was asking, and went on to say: "the units of the fifth group army of close guard tanks are reinforcing fortifications and replenishing various materials on their defensive positions; And general katukov''s tank army is now actively preparing for war


    "What''s the supply situation of our troops?" Thinking of the big battle to be fought next, I am deeply afraid that there are not enough weapons, ammunition and various materials, so whenever I have time, I have to ask, "how many materials have the transport team delivered to us today?"


    Hearing my question, bezikov immediately turned to ahlomeyev and asked, "major, do you know how many supplies we have received today?"


    Akhromeyev took out a notebook, looked through it for a while, and then reported to me, "Comrade commander, so far today, we have received a total of 70 vehicles of various types of shells, 40 vehicles of materials, and eight vehicles of food and medicine."


    After hearing this data, I asked casually, "how long can we hoard enough materials to launch a major campaign according to such transportation volume?"


    After hearing this, akhromeyev replied bitterly: "Comrade commander, these more than 100 vehicles of materials sound quite a lot, but they can''t meet the daily consumption of the whole group army. If we want to hoard enough combat materials in the shortest time, then the transportation volume of logistics forces should be at least three times more than that of other forces. "


    When I heard him say this, I suddenly felt that my head was getting bigger. Just like the current situation of the Belgorod Kursk highway, the transportation situation is pretty good. It may be no problem to increase the transportation volume a little bit. It is no doubt a dream to increase the transportation volume two or three times.


    When I called for help, I hesitated for a long time before I put forward my proposal. Who knows that after hearing this, watujing almost immediately replied, "Comrade oshanina, under the present circumstances, it is obviously unrealistic to increase the traffic volume by road..."


    Before watujing''s words were finished, it cooled my heart. When I was feeling desperate, I suddenly heard him say: "although the traffic volume of highway can not be increased, we can think of other ways."


    "Is it an airdrop?" After listening to watujing''s idea of finding other ways, the idea of air force support immediately came into my mind.


    After hearing this, watujing said with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, your idea is so naive. You''re not surrounded. You don''t need airdrop. What''s more, you have to spend a lot of troops and energy on collecting the materials dropped by air. It''s really not suitable. "


    "And how to transport it?" I asked, puzzled.


    "Where is the headquarters of your group army now?" Instead of answering my question immediately, vatukin asked, "what cities are nearby?"


    Looking at the map, I replied, "as you know, senior general, our headquarters is now located in ifnia, southwest of oboyan. Except Yakovlev, the rest are small cities with little reputation. "


    "Comrade oshanina, in the northwest of your headquarters, there is a city called beloye. Do you see it?" After I said I had seen the city, watujing continued, "it''s a railway hub, and there are many vacant military warehouses beside it. I can ask the logistics department to transport the materials directly from Moscow, and then you can ask the divisions to get the materials they need. Do you understand? "¡° I see, Comrade General. " If I don''t understand under such circumstances, I am a complete fool. I quickly replied, "I will send troops to guard these warehouses to ensure the safety of military materials." Hearing my promise, watujing laughed and said, "I''ve solved the material problem for you. You have to get it down as soon as possible in the cities of klukovo and tomalovka. "¡° Don''t worry, Comrade General. " I assured him firmly, "you have given me a week, and I will certainly seize the remaining two cities from the enemy before the deadline." After I put down the phone, bzikov asked excitedly, "Comrade commander, what does Comrade General say?" I pointed to the map and said to several commanders around me, "senior general told me that in the northwest of our country, there is a small city called beloye. It used to be a railway hub, and there are many vacant military warehouses beside it. He intends to let the logistics department transport the materials directly from Moscow, which will not only facilitate the storage of the materials, but also facilitate the collection of the divisions. " After I found akhromeyev with my eyes, I pointed to him and said, "major, you call the commander of the 89th division of the guards, Col. Xie Liujin, and ask him to send a battalion to beloye to guard the material warehouse." Akhromeyev promised to go to the side to make a phone call, but he stopped than Danilov. The latter looked at me and said, "Comrade commander, there are too few battalions, at least two battalions." As for Danilov''s proposal, I agreed almost without thinking. Then I told akhromeyev again, "major, according to the advice of the deputy commander, let Col. sheriujin send two battalions to beroye to guard the military warehouse."

 Chapter 1185

    On the early morning of July 18, I was surrounded by Danilov and bezikov in front of the map, studying the attack of the 67th division of the close guard on cleukovo and tomalovka, when the telephone rang on the table.


    Akhromeyev, who answered the phone, reported to me that the call was from Ivanov, chief of staff of the front army. He told me that Danilov and I must arrive at the headquarters in Kursk for a meeting before 10 am. Finally, he added that the meeting was presided over by Marshal Zhukov, who had just returned to Kursk.


    Hearing that the meeting was presided over by Zhukov, I guessed that a new attack must be deployed, so I ordered bzikov to stay and take charge of the internal affairs of the group army. Then I urged Danilov to say, "come on, comrade deputy commander!"


    On the way, Danilov asked me tentatively, "commander, do you know why Marshal Zhukov suddenly held a meeting today?"


    "There''s no reason, of course, to be ready to attack. Haven''t you heard that the place where the main Marshal Zhukov goes means that we are going to attack there? " At this point, I pointed to the infantry line opposite us outside the window, and the trucks towing the cannons, "you see, so many troops are constantly moving to the front, just to prepare for our attack."


    Danilov''s face flashed with joy when he saw so many troops on the road. Then he leaned close to the window, looked up into the sky and said anxiously, "won''t the troops be attacked by the German air force if they march so swaggeringly in broad daylight?"


    "No," I said confidently, looking at the endless flow of troops outside, "since the superior dares to order the troops to march in the daytime, there must be a way to deal with the German air strikes." Maybe it was to verify my statement. As soon as I heard it, two of our military fighters flew over the jeep and flew away


    By the time we got to the conference room of the headquarters of the front army, there would have been a lot of people in it, not only the Voronezh front army, but also the grassland front army. Danilov and I sat down in a corner and looked around to see if we could find an acquaintance. As a result, this search really found an acquaintance - katukov.


    I saw a vacancy beside me, so I waved to him and asked him to come to us. Katukov sat down next to me and said, "Rita, did your attack on bhuttovo go well yesterday?"


    I nodded my head vigorously and said with certainty: "yes, comrade general, yesterday, after a hard struggle, the 67th division of the guards successfully recovered butovo. Today we will also attack klukovo and tomarovka. "


    After listening to me, katukov said thoughtfully, "if you occupy these two small cities again, your group army will have a broad starting point for attack, which is very conducive to the expansion of the offensive forces."


    Danilov couldn''t hear the word "attack" now. At the moment, he heard katukov saying the same word. He immediately seized the other side and asked, "Comrade General, do you know something about the upcoming attack on our army?"


    Katukov gave him a strange look. Then he shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly, "general Danilov, I think I know as much as you do. I also got a call from general Ivanov, and I came here in a hurry from my own headquarters. As for the superior''s attack plan, I know nothing about it. "


    When listening to the conversation between them, I suddenly remembered that I had seen a movie before. At the beginning of the battle of Kursk, katukov was leisurely fishing by the pond, so I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade General, have you been fishing again recently?"


    When katukov heard my question, he shook his head with a smile and said, "there''s no time, Rita. I''m busy fighting with the Germans every day. Where else can I go fishing. You''d better wait until the war is over, and then find a chance to go fishing. "


    "Yes, comrade katukov. After the battle, we''ll go fishing together in the Dnieper As soon as katukov''s voice fell, a familiar voice suddenly rang out behind me.


    I jumped up from the table, raised my hand, saluted the speaker and said aloud, "Hello, comrade marshal of the Soviet Union!"


    The speaker was Zhukov. Behind him stood vatukin and konev. He raised his hand and saluted. He looked at me and said with a smile, "Rita, you''ve done a good job in this period of time. I''ve read the confessions of some prisoners. The Germans are scared to death of you now. " With that, he and the two commanders of the front army, watujing and konev, walked towards the conference table.


    After the meeting, Zhukov was the first to stand up and speak. He looked around with a smile on his face and said in a loud voice, "Hello, comrades, commanders!"


    When the commanders here heard Zhukov say this, they couldn''t help but move and straighten the originally straight waist.


    "I''m glad to see you." Zhukov continued: "in this battle of Kursk, the comrades of both Voronezh front army and grassland front army performed very well. It was your excellent performance on the battlefield that smashed the German plot to attack Kursk from the south."


    At this point, Zhukov suddenly stopped, he slowly looked around the meeting again. I guess he''s organizing words in his head and going on.


    After stopping for a while, Zhukov began to speak again: "comrades, the reason why we call you here for a meeting today is that the headquarters has approved the" rumenzev "campaign in the south of Kursk, which will turn into an all-round offensive. The basic intention of the campaign is to use the Voronezh front army and grassland front army to launch an attack on the left wing of the southern group army group in Manstein and eradicate the Belgorod Kharkov salient south of Kursk. "


    At this point, Zhukov stopped again, threw a meaningful glance at vatukin, and then went on to say: "general vatukin once suggested to the headquarters that we should surround the German heavy army group in this area. And Comrade Moskalenko, commander of the 40th army, even suggested that the siege should be closed at Poltava, west of Kharkov! " At this point, his expression became serious. "But after repeated study, the general staff of the Red Army resolutely opposed the large-scale encirclement plan. We believe that the German army has a solid position in this area, and Kharkov itself is a huge fortress that can be held for a long time. Relying on these fortifications, the besieged German army will hold back the main force of our army for a long time, and buy time for the German army to establish a solid defense on the front line of the Dnieper River.


    In addition, the two wings of the Voronezh front army and the grassland front army were also very weak, unable to carry out large-scale and deep encirclement. If we want to adjust the deployment of our forces, it will take a lot of time. In this way, the German army, whose strength has been greatly weakened after the operation of the fort, will also have the opportunity to enhance its strength.


    After repeated consideration, we finally decided to use two tank groups, the first and the fifth close guard tank groups, which are concentrated in the north of Belgorod, to rush into the defense depth of the German army, cut off the enemy''s aid routes, and at the same time divide them and eliminate them one by one. "


    Zhukov went to the big map hanging on the wall and picked up the explanation stick leaning against the wall. When I was wondering why I didn''t see vasilevsky today, I heard Zhukov say: "according to the plan of the general staff, the Voronezh front army in the south of Kursk will launch a surprise attack from north to south, directly attack the side of the bulge, insert into the junction of the fourth German armored group army and the" Kempf "campaign cluster, and cut off the retreat to the west of Kharkov.


    The main attack of the front army is in the charge of the left-wing fifth close guard group army, and the sixth close guard group army is guaranteed on the right side. The two groups will open a breach in the German position, and then the first group army of the close guard tank will enter the breach from a section of 4km on the right side, and the fifth group army of the close guard tank will enter the breach from a section of 6km on the left side. After the two tank groups rush into the depth of the German flank, they will detour to the left and surround Kharkov: the first group army of katukov''s close guard tanks forms an outer encirclement of Kharkov, and the fifth group army of rotmistrov''s close guard tanks forms an inner encirclement of Kharkov. "


    When Zhukov explained, everyone, including me, did not dare to speak out. He just quickly recorded what he said in a small book.


    "According to the Supreme Commander himself, the operation should start on July 23. However, we found that the Voronezh front army suffered a serious loss after Manstein''s fierce attack and needed more time to recuperate. After the struggle between Comrade vasilevsky and me, comrade Stalin gave you another 10 days to repair and prepare. As a result, the attack date was postponed to August 3.


    On the right wing of Voronezh''s front army are the 27th group army, the Fourth Army of close guard tanks and the tenth army of tanks; The 40th group army and the second and 38th group army of the equipped guard tanks. The 40th and 38th army groups will attack on August 5 and 8, respectively.


    On the other hand, the grassland front army was responsible for attacking the bulging part of bergorod Kharkov from the front. To this end, the 53rd, 69th and 7th guard group forces were deployed. The main enemy to face is the "Kempf" campaign cluster. For general konev, the commander of the front army, this task is quite arduous. Because his most elite troops have been handed over to Voronezh''s front army in the defense stage, the remaining strength is not particularly sufficient, and the only assault force, the first mechanized army, is used to strengthen the 53rd army.


    In addition, the southwest front army to the south of the grassland front army will also attack Kharkov with the 57th group army. Their main enemy is the 42nd army of the German "Kempf" campaign cluster. "


    After explaining the whole plan, Zhukov leaned his stick against the wall, walked back to the table, put his hands on the table, leaned forward slightly, and said solemnly: "comrades commander, the situation has become more and more favorable for us since the war, if we can win this offensive battle, Then the situation on the battlefield will take a huge turn. " When he said that, his face was unexpectedly happy, "that is to say, the German attack and our defense situation will be completely reversed. It''s going to be our attack, and the Germans have to turn to full defense


    Before sitting down, Zhukov said with a smile, "if you have any questions, please ask me."


    As soon as his words were over, Moskalenko, commander of the 40th army, stood up and asked in a loud voice, "Comrade marshal, I want to ask, how much artillery support can we get in the attack?"


    Hearing his question, Zhukov squinted at him and said, "general Moskalenko, before the attack, the headquarters will strengthen the artillery units of Voronezh''s front army. I don''t know to what extent it can be strengthened, but what I can tell you is that at least in the front of the battlefield, our artillery density can reach more than 100 guns per kilometer. "¡° More than a hundred As soon as Zhukov''s words were finished, there was a cry of surprise among the commanders sitting below. We should know that in the early days of the battle of Kursk, when our army carried out preemptive artillery, the most intensive artillery area was only about 80 guns per kilometer. And in the upcoming attack, the average density can reach more than 100, how can we not be surprised. Then another commander asked, "can we get the necessary air support?" When I heard his question, I thought it was funny. I guessed that they might have suffered a lot from the German army. Who knows, the smile on my face just bloomed, just because of a word from the commander with one tendon, and froze on my face. Just listen to him say: "if we don''t have air support, then the troops are bound to suffer heavy casualties. You know, general apanashchenko, the deputy commander of the front army, was killed when he was attacked by enemy planes during the inspection of the front line... "I didn''t hear what the man said. If katukov and Danilov hadn''t noticed my abnormality, grasped my hands from both sides in time and pressed me firmly on the table, I would have picked up my stool and smashed it at the commander¡° Calm down, Rita Katukov came close to me and whispered, "don''t forget this is a high-level military conference. You are also a group commander. If you make any mistakes because of impulse, even Marshal Zhukov will find it hard to defend you in public. " Katukov''s words calmed me down again. I leaned against the wall and gasped. My eyes were fixed on the commander who was talking. I scolded in my heart: "boy, you are lucky today. If you fall into my hands one day, I will never forgive you." After the commanders present asked all the questions, Zhukov stood up and announced, "now that the tasks are clear, all the commanders, go back to the army immediately and make preparations for the attack." The commander on the spot stood up and replied neatly: "yes!"

 Chapter 1186

    As time goes by, all the soldiers and weapons and equipment supplied to us have been in place. At the same time, we have stored enough weapons and ammunition for one month


    On the evening of the first day of the implementation of the "rumenzev" combat plan, I called the commanders of the divisions and divisions under the group army, as well as the commanders of the tank brigade and artillery regiment, to the headquarters to have a meeting, to tell them the combat plan in detail, and to assign tasks to the units.


    Looking at the well seated commanders at all levels below, I decided to introduce the German army to you personally. Because I can not only use the information provided by my superiors, but also add what I learned from later history books.


    Standing in front of the big map, I held the explanation stick in both hands and said to you, "comrades commander, we all know that tomorrow is the day for us to implement the" rumenzev "plan, so today I will first introduce to you the situation of the enemy and ourselves in the south of Kursk."


    At this point, I turned to my side and pointed to the map on the wall with my stick: "in front of our Voronezh front army, we are mainly facing the German fourth armored group army and the seventh army. Among them, the 7th army was deployed in the Sumei area to cover the joint part of the German central front army group and the southern group army group and deal with our 38th group army. Although this is not the main attack direction of our army, from July 26, the 38th group army began to create a series of illusions of concentrating heavy troops, including arranging 450 tank models and running back and forth with eight real tanks, hoping to achieve the purpose of confusing the German judgment. " After I said this, I saw a commander below shrunk his mouth. He seemed to think that the 38th army''s action was a little too trivial. He hastily added, "as early as in the Moscow defense war, general katukov used this tactic to deceive the enemy, and wiped out a large number of enemies with minimal casualties."


    I coughed, cleared my throat, and went on: "the German fourth armored group army mainly covers the front line between East sume and Belgorod, and its front is the main force of Voronezh''s front army: the 27th and 40th group army, the 5th and 6th close guard group army, the 1st close guard tank group army, the 5th close guard tank group army, At the same time, there are more than 1800 tanks and self-propelled artillery support.


    However, the strength of the fourth German armored group army has been greatly weakened due to the large number of troops being transferred to the central and southernmost front of the eastern line and Italy. On July 20, the total number of troops dropped to more than 130000, accounting for only one third of our troops. There are the 48th armored army and the 52nd army. According to the latest intelligence we have detected, the main 52nd army''s sequence as of yesterday includes the 6th, 11th and 19th armored divisions, and the 57th, 167th, 255 and 352 infantry divisions.


    The grassland front army was the 11th army on the left of the German "Kempf" campaign group. The army mainly defends the Belgorod area and has 106th, 168th, 198th and 320th infantry divisions. The 42nd army on the right wing of the campaign cluster is responsible for covering the direction of Kharkov, mainly against our 57th army.


    To sum up, the German army launched three armies in front of our Voronezh front army, namely the 7th army of the 2nd group army; The 48th and 52nd armored forces of the 4th armored group army; In front of the grassland front army, the 11th and 42nd armies of the "Kempf" campaign cluster. There are 18 German divisions with a total force of about 310000.


    In terms of equipment, there are only about 500-600 tanks and self-propelled guns available for the entire German southern army group. "


    When I explained it here, I found that some commanders were relieved and relaxed. In order to prevent them from belittling the enemy, I hastened to add: "although the German army is at a disadvantage in terms of strength and equipment, we should not take it lightly. We should know that after a long period of operation, the German Fortifications on the front line were relatively strong. On the basis of a series of fortresses, dikes and fortifications built in the 17th century, they established defensive positions. It is about 90 kilometers deep, including seven defense areas and two lines of defense around Kharkov. "


    After my words, the expression on everyone''s face became dignified again¡° As far as I know, "after a brief silence, in order to ease the atmosphere in the room, Danilov stood up with a smile and said," comrades, no matter how strong the German defense position is, it is not enough to defend the Belgorod Kharkov area with less than one third of our troops. So please rest assured, comrades, that their fortifications can not stop our attack at all, and the final victory must belong to us. "


    "Yes, the deputy commander has a good point." Bezikov continued: "according to intelligence, Manstein''s main energy was tied down by us in the direction of dunbas and MIUs River, and he had to withdraw a considerable number of troops to cope with the attacks of our southwest and southern front forces. Next, I will give you a detailed explanation of the offensive routes of the divisions of our group army. "


    As I sat in my seat and looked at the commanders at all levels sitting below, I thought to myself, "it''s not the first time for some of the division commanders who are in charge of the attack to understand the information, but it''s probably the first time for them to hear all the information, like me and bezikov


    After assigning tasks to the division commanders, bezikov finally added: "in order to maximize the artillery fire in the direction of attack, the headquarters transferred the 13th, 16th and 17th breakthrough artillery division and the 3rd rocket division from the Bryansk front army to our Voronezh front army and replenished them with sufficient ammunition.


    In the positions of the 5th and 6th group armies, the density of artillery and mortar reached 113 and 129 per kilometer respectively; The 53rd army had 242 artillery and mortars per kilometer.


    At five o''clock tomorrow morning, the front army will first bombard the German front and defense depth with guns, mortars and rockets for five minutes. Then check and test the fire with the gauge of large caliber artillery for 35 minutes; "Katyusha" was used to put pressure on the German targets in a planned way to control, destroy and salvo fire, which took 1 hour and 20 minutes; It takes 20 minutes for artillery and mortar to accelerate to the maximum firing speed; It took 45 minutes to carry out planned artillery fire on the resistance hub in the depth of German defense.


    After taking off, the air force will first bomb the German command post, communication hub and communication line to destroy its command system. Then it will carry out the second, third and fourth successive bombing of the German artillery positions, troop assembly sites and reserves in the defense depth.


    Just half an hour after the first five minutes of shelling, we''re going to send out soldiers and start clearing the obstacles in the attack path and opening the way from the minefield. When the artillery fire increases to 7:55 of the maximum firing rate, our infantry will follow the tanks and self-propelled or artillery to launch an impact!... "


    Every short sentence that bezikov said represents a bloody battle; Every word said means the death of hundreds of people. Perhaps because of this, he took the trouble to explain to you the complicated difficulties that may be encountered in each attack route.


    After bidzikov finished, I asked the commander, "do you have any questions?"


    After I asked my questions, the room fell silent again. Sometimes people are like this. When you don''t ask questions, you feel like you have a lot of questions to ask; Can really let you ask questions, but often do not know what to ask.


    But then the commanders who took part in the first attack began to ask questions to bezikov. Before the meeting, we estimated all the possible problems and specially discussed how to answer them to the lower commanders. At this moment, bzikov, who had been prepared, calmly and patiently answered each commander''s questions.


    After the meeting, when there were only a few of us left in the headquarters, Danilov suddenly asked me, "Comrade commander, I don''t understand why the data you gave at the beginning of your explanation were different from the data we had? Are these data true and reliable, and will not mislead the army? "


    Seeing that everyone''s eyes are focused on me, of course, I can''t tell them that many of the data I mentioned are history books from later generations. I can only answer vaguely: "I came to a conclusion after comprehensive analysis based on the intelligence of the superior and the reconnaissance office. Even if there is a little error, it will not have any impact on the war that is about to begin. "


    Speaking of this, I suddenly thought of tomarovka. This city was the first one captured after the start of the "rumenzev" campaign. Although we captured this city many times a while ago, it was lost again under the crazy counterattack of the German army. Therefore, in this campaign, the task of seizing the city fell on katukov.


    I looked at Danilov and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, the battle will officially begin tomorrow. Shall we go to the front forces to see if we can avoid the lesson of the failure in capturing tomarovka last time?"


    Speaking of tomarovka, everyone''s face became ugly. I''m afraid this is the most humiliating battle of our group army since the battle in Kursk. After hearing of the failure of several attacks on tomarovka, vatujing was furious. He announced in public that he would remove Colonel barksov from his post of division commander and let me find someone else to replace him. Fortunately, I thought that under such circumstances, the change of division level leadership would have a bad impact on the army. Therefore, with my efforts, vatujing finally agreed to let baksov commit crimes.


    Kirilov said: "the failure of the last attack on tomarovka is a disgrace to our army. Only by achieving brilliant results can we wash away this disgrace. I think we should also send troops, at least a division, to take part in the attack on tomarovka. "


    "Which division will you send?" Asked bezikov, looking at me.


    "How about the 52nd division of Jinwei?" Although I knew that the 52nd guard division of Col. Nekrasov was the first to attack tomarovka, I still said to you in a deliberative tone: "after the German army broke through our first line of defense, the 52nd guard division played well behind the enemy. It not only contained a large number of German troops, but also achieved brilliant results. "


    "I agree!" As soon as I had finished, kirilov immediately echoed and said, "let the troops of nebrasov go."


    "But, comrade military Commissar." Danilov said with a little worry: "like the 51st division, the 52nd Division has just added a large number of recruits. And these soldiers have not received any military training before, so the combat effectiveness of the division may be diluted, right


    "My comrade deputy commander." After listening to what he said, bzikov was a little worried and immediately retorted, "which division of the group army has not added new recruits? We can''t wait for the recruits to become veterans before they go to fight, can we? So I still think we should put them into battle immediately, let the blood and fire on the battlefield temper their will and improve their technical and tactical level. " Danilov opened his mouth as if to say something else, but I raised my hand and interrupted. I followed bzikov''s meaning and said, "Comrade deputy commander, I have decided that the chief of staff has made a lot of sense. Do we have to wait for the recruits to get familiar with the troops and master the necessary technical and tactical level before they can go to fight? "¡° Several commanders, I think your worries are totally unnecessary. " Akhromeyev interjected: "although our attacks on tomarovka failed several times. However, we should also consider the objective reasons for the failure. There are two reasons for the failure: first, we used too few troops to attack, and the number of German regiments in the city was larger than that of one of our divisions; 2¡¢ Without artillery fire and necessary air support, and without hard weapons, our commanders and fighters can only use their lives to fill the gap. "¡° What are you trying to say, major? " Danilov didn''t wait for akhromeyev to finish, he impolitely interrupted his words and said: "is it because of the attack failure of the 67th division of the close guard some time ago¡° No, it''s not like that, comrade deputy commander. " Seeing that Danilov was angry, akhromeyev quickly explained, "I mean, the reason why the attack failed at that time was because of insufficient troops and insufficient firepower. But now that all these problems have been solved, the troops involved in the attack have at least three infantry divisions and one tank army. With the support of strong artillery and air force, it is easy to wipe out the enemy of tomarovka. "¡° Well, comrade major, since you say so, I believe you for the time being. " After Danilov had said these words, he turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, I agree to send the 52nd division of Colonel pinekrasov''s guards to take part in the battle to capture tomarovka."

 Chapter 1187

    At 5 a.m. on August 3, the roar of thousands of cannons broke the silence in southern Kursk. Our artillery kept firing at the German position which had been demarcated for a long time.


    Standing in the observation post of the 52nd division of the guards, I saw the hail like shells flying away with the telescope, and the red light spots smashed into the enemy group like meteors, and the sound of the trajectory was interwoven. The shells burst out violently, and then the earth vibrated violently, and burst out dazzling halos in the continuous roar. The smoke and fire rose in the air, and the rolling fireballs were shining under the sun blocking smoke.


    While the shelling was still going on, a lot of armored vehicles drove out of the position and headed for the enemy''s position. Not far from the German minefield, all the armored vehicles stopped, and many soldiers jumped out of the car and bent to run towards the minefield. Standing next to me, nikolasov approached my ear and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, these are the demining engineers. They will open up a way for our attacking troops in the minefield."


    After listening to this, I just nodded silently, but at the same time, I thought with disdain, "why don''t we bombard the minefield, so that after the bombardment is over, there are not many mines left in the minefield. Why should we let our engineers take any risks to clear the mine?"


    Just then, the gunfire stopped. My first reaction at that time was: is the shelling over? Then I focused my telescope on the busy engineers in the minefield, fearing that they would be shot by the German machine gun.


    But I looked for a while and found that there was no movement in the German position except that it was shrouded in smoke. I can''t help thinking to myself, where are all the Germans in the position, crouching in the trenches to avoid shells, or hiding in the blast hole?


    At this time, a green signal bomb rose in the sky. When the signal bomb slowly fell from the sky, a strange sound came from the sky. While niekrasov was still listening, I had judged from my own experience that it was the sound of rocket shells flying in the air.


    After the rocket shells drew beautiful arcs over our positions, they disappeared into the German positions still shrouded in gunsmoke, and then there came a terrible roar.


    Looking at the rocket shells constantly hitting the German positions, I can''t help thinking of the situation that soldiers saw rocket shells fall and explode in the middle of the enemy for the first time two years ago. At that time, most people saw that in just a few seconds, a large number of rockets covered several football fields, making it impossible for the German soldiers in the area to have more places and make effective response. When they suffered heavy casualties, they were not elated, but scared to turn around and run back.


    Seeing that I was staring at the German position washed by rockets, nikolasov couldn''t help interrupting: "Comrade commander, under the attack of Katyusha, I believe there won''t be many survivors on the position, and the next attack will be very smooth."


    I don''t know how long later, the gunfire suddenly stopped, and the whole battlefield became silent.


    A moment later, a red signal bomb, representing the attack signal, flew into the sky.


    With the launch of the red signal bomb, the forward position suddenly boils up. The commanders and fighters hiding in the traffic trenches and trenches jump out of their hiding places and rush straight forward quickly. A product of the word arrow gathered into the sea, rushed into the smoke to kill the front.


    At this time, our army''s artillery extended, the distant explosion of roar, flashing fire, slightly red night sky reflected everywhere scurrying figure, no matter how you German can fight, in front of our absolute superiority of firepower is only a complete collapse.


    Without waiting for the enemy to wake up from the gunfire, the charging officers and men had rushed all over the mountains and fields, and the positions were occupied in a flash, and then left behind in their howls. For those German soldiers who were shocked by the artillery fire, they did not pay any attention at all, did not make any stop, and continued to rush forward, leaving them to the follow-up forces to deal with. In close combat, our assault rifles showed great power, and dense bullets rained on the German army, beating groups of frightened German soldiers to pieces. They were really invincible.


    Seeing the rapid development of the troops in depth, I nodded with satisfaction, turned my face and asked nikolasov, "Comrade Colonel, how many reserves do you still have in your hand?"


    Hearing my question, nikolasov laughed with embarrassment, and then said, "Comrade commander, I''m afraid the progress of the army will not be smooth, so in the first attack, only two regiments were used, and one regiment was left as a reserve."


    After he finished, I pointed to the front position which had been occupied by our commanders and fighters and left far behind, and said, "Comrade Colonel, immediately put the rest of your regiment into battle and let them clear the remnant enemy on the position."


    "Yes With a promise, niekrasov began to call and order his chief of staff to quickly put the remaining regiment into battle.


    Although I have used all the strength of the 52nd division of the guards, I will definitely not let niekrasov sing "empty city plan" here. Otherwise, as long as a small German army touches it, it will be enough to take away their headquarters. So after niekrasov finished his call, I dialed the commander of the 89th division of the guards, Xie Liujin.


    When I heard serekin''s voice coming out of the receiver, I said to him in a loud voice, "Colonel, you should immediately send a regiment to take over their defense."


    Xie Liujin was stunned when he heard my order. Then he asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, did our attack fail?"


    I heard what he was saying. He wanted to ask if the 52nd division of the guards had suffered heavy casualties due to the defeat of the attack. So he transferred his troops to take over the defense and quickly explained, "it''s not what you think, comrade colonel. After the beginning of the attack, the officers and men of the 52nd division successfully broke through the German defensive position and were developing in depth. Because nikolasov sent out all the troops, I asked you to transfer troops to take over their defense. "


    Just now, there were thousands of officers and men rushing forward under the sporadic artillery fire of the enemy, but now there was no one. But when I looked carefully, I found that there were many remains of the commanders and fighters in the open field. They fell under the mortar fire of the German position. Although they were doomed to no longer stand up, the hands of the commanders and fighters on the ground stretched forward and pointed to the German position in the distance, as if they would climb into the enemy position as long as they had breath.


    After the reserve entered the battlefield, except for a small number of people who stayed to collect the remains of our commanders and fighters, the rest quickly rushed into the front positions and began to clean up the remnants of the German army that the first group of troops did not care to destroy.


    Seeing that the battlefield was gradually calming down, I said to nikolasov, "Comrade Colonel, please leave your chief of staff behind to take over the officers and men of the 89th division of the guards. Let''s go to the front together."


    "But, comrade commander." When he heard me say this, he pointed to the shell that occasionally fell on the open ground and exploded outside, and said anxiously, "you see, the German long-range artillery is firing cold artillery at us. If we go further, it''s easy to be dangerous."


    "Comrade Colonel," I laughed gratefully at his concern, and then said, "I remember general rokosovsky once said that only when commanders are with their own troops can they make soldiers fight bravely. Since all my soldiers are fighting in the front, as their commander, can I always hide in the rear headquarters? "


    When I said that, Nekrasov knew that I had made up my mind. No matter how much he said, I would not change my mind. He nodded and said reluctantly, "well, comrade commander, for your safety, you must act in concert with my headquarters. Can you do it? "


    Without waiting for my answer, he said to himself, "if you can''t agree to my request, I can only disobey the order and send someone to forcibly send you back to the rear headquarters of the group army."


    "No problem, no problem, comrade colonel." I was deeply afraid that nikolasov would be stubborn and really send me back to the rear headquarters of the group army, so I had to promise: "I will work with your division headquarters."


    After he got my promise, a smile appeared on his face. He made a phone call to the chief of staff of the division, arranged for the reception of friendly troops, and then followed me to the position he had just occupied.


    When passing through the open area, basmanov worried about my safety, so that more than a dozen soldiers surrounded me, so that not only can block the sniper gun bullets flying from a distance, but also even if the shells explode not far away, they can block the shrapnel. Originally, I didn''t want to work hard, but busmanov insisted on doing so. In order to make him feel at ease, I just let him arrange.


    Walking beside me, neklasov asked: "Comrade commander, do you think the attack we launched this time can win tomarovka?"


    "No problem, comrade colonel." As for his question, I definitely said: "I can responsibly tell you that today''s attack will be successful and tomarovka will be occupied by us."


    "But our previous attacks on tomalovka all ended in failure." "I''m afraid that today''s attack will end in failure," said nikolasov with some confidence


    "Comrade Colonel, you are too pessimistic." I said to him with a smile: "in the previous attacks, we had only one close guard 67th division, and the artillery support was limited, so we could not gnaw at the hard bone of the enemy. But now, how many troops do you have? There are only three divisions in the first group of troops to fight, all of which are close guard divisions with strong fighting capacity. I don''t know the progress of the other two divisions at the moment, but look at our troops. They have successfully broken through the German peripheral positions and are developing in depth. "


    "Comrade commander, according to the reconnaissance, the German army has increased its troops to tomarovka these two days, and laid a lot of minefields at the same time." "It''s probably difficult for us to get rid of the defenders in the city in a day or two," he continued


    "Even if they increase their troops, it won''t help." I said confidently, "Comrade Colonel, you know that our total strength in the south of Kursk is three times that of them. Moreover, their limited forces will be distributed in the vast area from the south of Kursk to Kharkov. In this way, the German army, which lacks mobile forces, can only stay in their positions and wait for us to beat them. "


    After listening to me, the sadness on Nekrasov''s face faded away, and he finally showed a little smile: "Comrade commander, I feel at ease when you say that." When we arrived at the occupied German headquarters, the bodies had been cleaned up, but there was still a strong smell of blood in the room. I didn''t care about the strange smell, so I urged nikolasov: "Comrade Colonel, let your messenger quickly put up the telephone line. I want to talk to the headquarters of the group army." After the signalman put up the phone, I immediately dialed the headquarters of the group army. When I heard Danilov''s voice coming from the receiver, I immediately said to him with a smile, "Hello, comrade deputy commander." When Danilov heard my voice, he also said with a smile: "Comrade commander, it seems that I am very happy to hear your voice. It seems that our 52nd division is playing well."¡° Yes, comrade deputy commander. " I said easily: "after the shelling, the officers and men of the 52nd division of the guards launched an attack, quickly broke through the defensive positions outside the German army, and were developing in depth."¡° Great, great, that''s great After listening to this, Danilov excitedly said three great words, and then asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, do you think our troops can occupy tomalovka today?" His question made me silent. After thinking for a while, I replied, "Comrade deputy commander, it''s hard to say. We should know that in the German position that the 52nd division of the guards broke through, only two German regiments were on guard, and the enemy''s position was seriously damaged in the early artillery preparation, so their defense was quickly broken through by us. And the city of tomarovka... "Speaking of this, I was silent again. Fortunately, Danilov also understood what was going on, and quickly added, "Comrade commander, I understand. The main reason why the 67th division of the close guard failed in several attacks on tomarovka was that it suffered from the shortage of troops and firepower. Now that we have assembled three main divisions, together with the powerful ground artillery, we believe that the German forces inside will not be able to defend. "

 Chapter 1188

    After staying in the headquarters for a while, one of the subordinates of Nekrasov came in, bent down to his ear and whispered something. As soon as I saw it, I raised my voice and asked, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the matter?"


    Hearing this, the officer stood up straight and turned his eyes to nikolasov for help. The latter said carelessly, "report to the commander."


    After obtaining permission from nikolasov, the Officer immediately reported to me, "Comrade commander, our observation post has been built, where we can see tomarovka clearly."


    To understand that the officers had come to report to us that the frontier observation post had been built, I immediately urged nikolasov: "come on, comrade division commander, let''s go to the frontier observation post together."


    "But, comrade commander." "It''s too dangerous there. For your safety''s sake, you''d better not go," he said with a complicated expression


    I waved my hand and said impatiently, "Comrade Colonel, I''ll be fine. You don''t have to worry about my safety. Let''s go and see what kind of city we can''t attack for a long time. "


    Soon I saw tomarovka through the telescope, and Nekrasov also introduced to me: "Comrade commander, before the war, this city was a medium-sized city with a population of 100000, but look what it has become. Factories have been blown up, and the city is in ruins, leaving only the ruins of buildings. "


    Our attacking troops, however, were killed by intensive German firepower when they attacked the ruins. After paying a certain price, they all withdrew to the trench two or three hundred meters in front of us.


    The officers and men who returned to the trench did not wait for nikolasov to send any troops. Except for leaving the necessary troops on guard, the rest began to wave their engineering shovels and reinforce the work which was hollowed out by our artillery.


    Seeing that I had been staring at the commanders and fighters digging the fortifications, he was afraid that I was worried. He quickly explained, "Comrade commander, the commanders and fighters have been pounding the distance of two or three kilometers in a row. They must be very tired. They need to rest for a while before they can attack again."


    "No hurry, sir." I just found out through the telescope that only the 52nd division of the guards was attacking tomarovka, while the friendly forces in the other two directions did not see any trace. In order to avoid being isolated and surrounded by the German army, I specially told nikolasov: "let the soldiers have a rest for a while, and let them launch a new attack after the tank brigade arrives."


    As soon as I finished, a staff officer next to me suddenly called out loudly: "tank!"


    I thought what he said was that when our army''s tanks arrived, he listened to them with his ears on his side, but except for the sound of guns outside, there was no roar of tank motors. I was just about to ask the staff if they had heard me wrong. The other side was already crying out anxiously: "Comrade commander, you are mistaken. It''s not our tank, it''s the German tank. It''s German tanks, coming out of the city. "


    I looked in the direction of his fingers and saw five German Tiger tanks rushing out of the city towards our position along the brick and gravel streets. They were followed by almost a battalion of infantry.


    Seeing the German tanks, nikolasov immediately picked up the phone and quickly gave an order to his commanders: "when the German tanks get close to our army, they will shoot with anti tank rockets and aim directly; As for the infantry following the tank, they use machine guns to fire. Do you understand? "


    After the German tanks left the city, they immediately formed a battle formation and stormed towards our defense. The infantry behind also trotted up.


    When the German tanks were only about 200 meters away from the position, the Rockets in our trench opened fire. As soon as more than a dozen rockets took off, they directly hit the tank armor that was moving forward. Two tanks were directly exploded. The vehicle ammunition killed by the explosion lifted the turret high and flew up, rolled in the air and landed in front of the infantry, which scared the infantry to flee. There is also a tank full of fire, but also to support the forward dozens of meters, then stopped burning. The remaining two tanks stopped in place for a short time, each fired a shell, and then continued to move forward.


    Our anti tank men, after completing the first round of launch, soon launched a second rocket, accurately hit the two tanks that continued to rush up foolishly. The explosion of ammunition in the tank and the blazing fire made the infantry behind stupefied. They didn''t know whether to continue to rush forward or to turn back.


    What the forward commander wanted was this kind of effect. He decisively gave the order to shoot. The machine guns in the positions roared first, then the submachine guns and assault rifles joined the ranks of shooting, and the dull gunfire continued. Within the range of our army, the German troops were beaten to the ground in an instant.


    Seeing the enemy''s loss of resistance, the commander gave the order to attack, so hundreds of them jumped out of the trench and rushed to the German army in chaos. Seeing our soldiers rushing like tigers down the mountain, the German soldiers were immediately terrified. They turned around and ran back in a hurry, while our soldiers followed them.


    As soon as I saw the troops rushing into the city with the fleeing German army, the telephone rang in the observation center. Nekrasov picked it up, listened to it, handed me the microphone, and whispered, "Comrade commander, it''s the chief of staff."


    I took the phone and asked, "Hello, chief of staff, what can I do for you?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Bezikov said excitedly, "I just sent the 71st division of the guards to you. If you don''t think the troops are enough, I can send more troops to you."


    "Comrade chief of staff, what''s going on?" Don''t confuse me with what zikov said. I said in my heart that I didn''t give any combat orders to other divisions except the 89th division of the guards. So I must ask and find out what happened.


    "Comrade commander," bzikov said politely, "it is neither the deputy commander''s intention nor my proposal to send the 71st division of the guards to tomarovka, but the order given to us by the headquarters of the front army."


    "I see." As soon as berzikov explained it, I would understand that it was probably Zhukov''s meaning. Otherwise, with vatukin''s character, he would neither give orders to the divisions below nor take the initiative to put the reserves into battle. This is Zhukov''s meaning¡° Send the troops as soon as possible. I think we will use them soon


    When I put down the phone, Nekrasov, who was in charge of tomarovka''s main attack task, was in a hurry. He kept saying to me, "Comrade commander, you don''t need to send a reserve team. Really, you don''t need to send a reserve team. With our division''s current fighting capacity, there is no problem in winning tomarovka."


    "Comrade Colonel, it is not the decision of the leaders of the group army to send reserve troops here." I knew in my heart that the reason why Nekrasov had such a reaction was that he was afraid that later people would take his credit, so he tried to politely refuse the support of the friendly forces. At such a time, I must make it clear to him, so as not to have any bad thoughts in his mind: "it''s the order given by the commander of the front army directly to the following divisions, who has surpassed the leaders of our group army."


    "So it is." Knowing that the arrival of reinforcements is an unchangeable fact, nikolasov could not help but show a regretful expression on his face. However, he still said firmly: "Comrade commander, when they come, they are estimated to be the life of the reserve team, because with the strength of our division, we can recover tomarovka."


    I can''t help laughing when I saw the appearance of nikolasov''s face full of fat: "Comrade Colonel, look at the troops attacking tomarovka, but you are the only Division, and the other two divisions haven''t seen any shadow up to now. It''s estimated that they haven''t broken through the peripheral positions of the German army. If you only rely on the strength of your division, it is estimated that you will pay a very heavy price to win the city. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." After listening to what I said, niekrasov misunderstood me again and promised me in a hurry: "even if all our divisions are finished, we will surely take tomarov down."


    I heard him say this and said with a straight face: "Colonel, if your division runs out, and then attack Belgorod and Kharkov, there will be nothing wrong with your division." After that, I deliberately observed his reaction


    If I didn''t expect that, as soon as my voice fell, he became impatient and said to me excitedly, "Comrade commander, we can''t liberate Belgorod and Kharkov without our division. Because in the battle of Kharkov a few months ago, many of the wounded in our division were killed by the German army because they were not transferred out in time when Kharkov fell. Now we are looking forward to the day of counter attack. Our division insists on the main attack and avenge our comrades in arms who died in Kharkov! "


    "Revenge Several other staff officers in the observation station also yelled at the same time.


    "All right, all right." I raised my hand and pressed it down to stop the cheers. Then I said, "it''s time to clear up the crimes committed by the Germans against us, so we must first liberate tomarovka, and then turn around and attack bergerold. Do you understand? "


    "I see!" All the commanders, including nikolasov, answered in unison.


    Due to the rapid impact of the troops, there was no time for the signalmen to lay telephone lines, so the next contact could only be made through the telephone. Fortunately, the German army is now in a situation of self-care, so we can confidently and boldly use Ming language.


    "Hello, comrade commander, what''s the progress of your regiment?" he asked aloud


    Inside, a loud voice replied, "report to Mr. commander, our regiment has occupied the bus station in the north of the city. I set up the regiment headquarters here, and the two battalions are developing eastward. "


    "What about the casualties?" Asked Nekrasov.


    "A battalion commander died in the battle." "But I have appointed a new battalion commander. He is a member of the regional Soviet and has rich combat experience. At present, his troops have rushed into the cinema and are fighting a white-edged war with the Germans who are sticking to it," the lieutenant commander said sadly


    After the call, the expression on his face became rich. He said to me with a smile, "Comrade commander, you hear me. Our commanders and fighters are fighting a white-edged war with the Germans, and the result, needless to say, must be our final victory. Now you can rest assured that the combat effectiveness of our division must be the strongest in the whole regiment. "


    I didn''t pour cold water on the self-confidence shown by nikolasov. Instead, I asked with a smile, "Comrade Colonel, what about the other regiment?" When I said that, he immediately remembered that the troops fighting in the city were two regiments, not one. So he contacted another commander and asked about the situation of the other side: "Hey, what''s the situation there and where is the progress of the army?"¡° Report to your teacher. " A hoarse voice came out of the receiver: "we are fighting repeatedly with the German army in the workers'' dormitory of the tractor factory."¡° Why, is the enemy powerful? " Hearing that the troops were engaged in a tug of war, Nekrasov was anxious again. "Why can''t you eliminate them quickly?"¡° Comrade division commander, "the other party said hastily," it is a battalion of the SS that sticks here. Its combat effectiveness is much stronger than that of the ordinary national defense forces. They''re armed with submachine guns and machine guns, hidden in places we can''t find. As soon as our officers and men get into their range, they fire. One of my battalions, so far, has lost nearly half of its casualties. "¡° What measures have you taken to deal with this enemy? " "If you keep pestering with the Germans, their reinforcements will come soon," he asked anxiously¡° Don''t worry, sir The other side vowed: "I should order the mortar company to be transferred and bombard the enemy''s hidden place intensively. I don''t believe that the flesh and blood of the Germans can block our shells. "¡° All right, comrade commander. " Nikolasov heard this, obviously relieved, and then said: "move fast, you are now occupying less than a quarter of the city, if you do not speed up the attack, then we will not be able to recover tomarovka from the German hands today."¡° Comrade division commander, aren''t there still friendly forces attacking from the side? " The commander asked curiously, "where are they now?"

 Chapter 1189

    "There are no more friendly forces, comrade commander." Although niekrasov also knew that saying this would have an impact on the morale of the front commanders and fighters, he did not draw a pie of nothingness for the other side, but told the truth: "the enemy is in the peripheral positions on both sides of the East and the west, blocking their attack. That is to say, in a long time, you can fight alone. I see, comrade commander. "


    The other party hesitated for a long time before answering in a firm tone: "I see, sir. Our regiment will continue to attack the enemy before reinforcements arrive. "


    After Nekrasov hung up the phone, he asked me a little worried: "Comrade commander, can the troops of the 71st division of the guards arrive on time? You know, I have only two regiments in the city. We have to deal with two divisions of the German army. We are at an absolute disadvantage in terms of strength and equipment. Don''t let tomarovka come down, our troops will be eaten by the German army. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade colonel." I remember that in history, it took two days for the Soviet army to launch an attack to liberate Belgorod. Before that, tomarovka would have been recovered. That is to say, no matter how strong the German army in this place is, they can''t encircle and annihilate the siege troops¡° I''m sure you''ll get the reserves soon. If nothing happens, we can recover tomarovka today. "


    I was talking to nikolasov when a staff officer standing in front of the lookout suddenly exclaimed, "enemy plane!"


    When I heard about the enemy planes, I couldn''t help but feel nervous. I said that no matter how powerful our ground forces are, the attack on tomarovka will probably fail if the German forces take control of the air.


    I can''t help clenching my teeth when I see several enemy planes circling over the city and diving down from time to time to drop bombs and strafe. Because every dive, the bombs dropped and the bullets fired will take the lives of several of our commanders and fighters. I really want to immediately transfer the self-propelled antiaircraft artillery regiment to bring these damned planes down.


    Perhaps seeing their own planes to support us, the German artillery which had been hidden revived and began to bombard us. The shell exploded near the observation post, and the dust on the roof fell down. For a moment, I was covered with a thick layer of soil.


    Seeing this situation, nikolasov was a little worried. He came to me and said, "Comrade commander, let''s move to the headquarters for the time being. There is a blast hole in the room, which is much safer than here."


    Although I was scared to death at the moment, I would like to hide in the gun hole next second to avoid the enemy''s shelling. But in front of so many subordinates, I tried to pretend to be calm and said, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the panic? The enemy''s artillery fire can''t do much damage to us. Let''s stay here. " Although I''m a dead duck with a stiff tongue, I still think that if niekrasov tries to persuade me again, I will follow him back to the headquarters.


    I didn''t expect that Nekrasov was a real man. When he heard me say that, he really thought that I was the kind of character who was falling in front of me and didn''t change face and heart, so he stayed with me honestly.


    The German artillery in the city was firing, and the regiment left in the peripheral position was suppressed with fire. The troops moving from the left and right wings of the city were covered, and a section of the trench near the city was occupied, cutting off the back of our troops in the city.


    As soon as he saw the troops in the city, the contact with the division headquarters was cut off, Nekrasov was immediately in a hurry. He picked up the phone and called the chief of staff who was in charge of the regiment. He said, "Hello, chief of staff, do you see the situation outside?"


    The chief of staff who answered the phone said briefly, "yes, sir."


    "Chief of staff, send a battalion immediately." Nekrasov decisively ordered the other side to say: "drive away the enemy who cuts off our army''s back road, move quickly! Do you understand? "


    "I see, sir." The chief of staff replied, "I immediately ordered the troops to attack."


    A few minutes later, I saw hundreds of officers and men rushing out of the trenches under the enemy''s fire, shouting and heading for the German positions on the edge of the city. Perhaps the German artillery observers were hidden among the troops that cut off our rear route. The artillery fire that had been bombarding the positions immediately turned around and began to intercept the charging troops.


    The troops charging had to lie on the ground and wait patiently for the enemy''s artillery fire to finish before continuing to charge.


    "What to do, what to do?" I anxiously thought that if this situation continues, maybe the two regiments in the city will be eaten by the Germans, and then they will turn their heads to carry out counter attacks. Then not only our achievements today will be wiped out, but also the 52nd division of the guards will be in danger of being annihilated.


    Miracles are often people in the most desperate time, at this time, the air came more and more clear aircraft motor roar. Outside ran into a soldier, excited incoherent said: "plane, a lot of planes, a lot of our planes, are flying towards us here, flying to blow up the German..."


    I didn''t wait for him to finish, so I rushed out of the observation station, stood in the trench and looked in the direction of the sound. Busmanov, who was working as a guard nearby, came up to me, pointed to the sky and excitedly said to me, "Comrade commander, you see, our air force is out. My God, so many airplanes, enough for the Germans to drink a pot. "


    Although I heard the sound from the sky when I was in the observation station, I knew that there were a lot of planes dispatched by our army, but I didn''t expect that there were so many. It''s a piece of cake to have 50 bombers in a group and 12 assault planes escorted by 20-30 fighters against the enemy planes over tomarovka.


    The fighter planes serving as air cover found the enemy planes circling over tomarovka. Immediately, sixteen fighters broke away from the flying formation and made a small formation of four fighters and pounced on the enemy.


    The four enemy planes that have been raging over tomarovka for a long time are estimated to have dropped all their bombs and machine guns and are preparing to return. Seeing the flying formation of our army coming, I was scared out of my wits. I immediately ran for my life. Our pilots will certainly not let it go, and each small formation followed an enemy plane.


    The German planes were expelled, and then our strike plane formation began to perform. They divided into six groups and began to assault the German army on the ground, constantly suppressing the enemy''s artillery and German firepower in the trenches.


    "That''s great, that''s great!" With the beginning of the attack on the ground, the German artillery gradually weakened until it stopped. He called his chief of staff and said in a loud voice, "Comrade chief of staff, send the remaining two battalions to destroy the enemy in front of us as soon as possible."


    When I heard what niekrasov said, I thought to myself, it''s a pity that there are no tanks, otherwise, the casualties of the troops will be greatly reduced. I just thought about it casually, but basmanov suddenly rushed in and excitedly reported to me: "Comrade commander, the tanks of the tank brigade have arrived."


    When I heard that the tank brigade arrived, my mood suddenly relaxed, and I immediately told nikolasov: "Comrade Colonel, send someone to send a signal to their troops, so that they can go straight ahead and cover the infantry to rush into the city."


    Nikolasov agreed and immediately ordered a staff officer to send a signal to the tank brigade. The staff officer ran out of the observation post and stood on a relatively high mound, waving a red and a green flag to send a signal to the tank speeding here. Sometimes I admire the people who invented the flag language. Many complex commands can be sent out through the flag in the hands of the staff.


    After seeing the signal, the tank troops, originally in two columns, immediately slowed down, formed a battle formation, and roared forward. They deliberately slowed down when passing by the prone commanders and fighters, so as not to accidentally crush their own people. The commanders and fighters lying on the ground, after the tank passed by, immediately rolled to the side, hid in the shooting dead angle behind the tank, then stood up, carrying weapons and charging with the tank.


    It''s the first time that I''ve seen so many times of cooperation between Bu and tan. I can''t help asking Nekrasov: "Comrade Colonel, your troops are quite well-trained. You see, the soldiers are hiding behind the tanks, so that the bullets from the front of the enemy can''t hurt them."


    Hearing my question, nikolasov looked at me with wide eyes and said strangely, "Comrade commander, didn''t you teach us this kind of cooperation?"


    "What did I teach you?" Confused by what he said, I asked, "when did I teach you that?"


    "You forget," niekrasov carefully reminded me, "last month, you specially sent major akhromeyev, the director of operations, to patrol the various units and guide them to carry out the training of coordinated operations between the two sides."


    I used my telescope to stare at the moving tank in front of me. When I saw that the bullets from the German machine gun hit the armor of the car body, they could only splash out pieces of sparks, and could not hurt the infantry behind. I felt a lot more at ease. After hearing the explanation of nikolasov, I just gave a few hum without any comment.


    The tank stopped 50 meters away from the German trench, not only bombarded with tank guns, but also strafed with vehicle mounted machine guns, killing the German soldiers in the incomplete trench. Seeing that the enemy''s resistance was almost destroyed, a commander issued a command, and the commanders and fighters hiding behind the tank flashed out and rushed towards the enemy''s position with weapons.


    "Comrade commander, look quickly." When we saw our soldiers rush into the trenches and clean up the shivering German troops like hungry wolves rushing into sheep''s flocks, Nekrasov exclaimed excitedly: "the Germans can''t stand it. We can wipe them out in a short time."


    When I saw that the other two battalions were also attacking tomarovka, I put down my telescope and said to nikolasov with a smile, "Comrade Colonel, under our strong three-dimensional offensive, the German army, which has long been demoralized, can''t stop it. As soon as the 71st division of guards arrives, I''ll go to the city with you. "


    When I said this, nikolasov, who was still full of joy, immediately restrained his smile and said seriously, "Comrade commander, the city is too dangerous. You have no right to risk your life. When the 71st division of Jinwei arrives, I will personally take the division''s headquarters to the city to set up a new headquarters. And you will stay here with the commander of the 71st division, Colonel sivakov


    "Comrade colonel." Although I knew that he meant well, I stubbornly said, "I still said that, as the commander of the group army, I must be with my soldiers. As for my safety, don''t worry. I believe major busmanov and his soldiers can do all this well. " After listening to my words, nikolasov cried out to the outside: "major basmanov, major basmanov, please come in." Major basmanov, whose name was called by him, came in from outside, looked at me and then at nikolasov, and finally asked in a confused way, "Comrade division, do you have anything to tell me?" Niekrasov pointed to me and asked, "Comrade major, as the guard of the commander, do you have the responsibility to protect her life?" Although busmanov didn''t know the reason why he asked, he still nodded his head honestly and said definitely, "you are right. My task is to protect the life safety of the commander."¡° But now, comrade major, the commander wants to command the battle in the city. " Speaking of this, nikolasov quickly walked to the lookout, pointed to tomarovka, who was being bombed by our army in the distance, and said in a loud voice: "you see, the battle ahead is so fierce, I have no right to let the commander to take risks in the city." There was an expression of embarrassment on basmanov''s face when he heard what niekrasov said. After a long time, he murmured: "Sir, have you forgotten that according to the regulations, the orders of the higher authorities are not allowed to be discussed but can only be carried out?" Once basmanov said that, nikolasov, who originally thought he was reasonable, suddenly fell down like a rubber ball. He bowed his head and said helplessly, "well, comrade major, you have a point. Then I will obey the commander''s orders. " At this point, he looked up at me and said firmly, "I''ll take the Shizhi organ into the city later, and you can enter the city only when you are sure that the safety can be guaranteed."

 Chapter 1190

    After entering tomarovka with the teacher of nikolasov, I found that I thought things too optimistic. Although all the 52nd division of the guards entered the city, they were at a disadvantage in terms of strength and equipment compared with the German troops who stuck to the city. No wonder some time ago, the 67th division of the guards rushed into the city and was expelled from the city by the German army.


    While I was thinking, a staff officer standing at the window suddenly exclaimed, "look, the enemy is coming. Our guard camp is fighting with them."


    The division headquarters is located on the second floor of a relatively strong building that has not been completely destroyed. The view here is very wide and you can see clearly the battles in many streets. Hearing what the staff officer said, I quickly went to the window, found a relatively safe corner, raised my telescope and looked out.


    Only a few hundred meters away, an isolated two-story building was besieged by the German army. They set up several machine guns on the ruins nearby, shooting wildly with intensive cross fire. After a while, I thought I was not satisfied. I added a mortar to a flat nearby, and only two or three rounds blasted a hole in the roof of the small building.


    Seeing that the roof of the building had been blown through, the German army became more and more crazy. Under the cover of machine guns and mortars, many infantry rushed to the ruins not far from the building and threw grenades into the house from the window.


    After a series of explosions, several soldiers hidden inside were blown out of the window. They fell to the ground, some died at that time, some were just injured, but before they stood up, they were shot by the German nearby.


    With the German artillery, strafing and grenade throwing, the walls of the building were blasted out everywhere. The German machine gun fire is more fierce, hiding in the building of the officers and men, can only lie on the ground, can avoid from the top of the head whizzing bullets.


    Seeing this, Nekrasov loudly told his men: "immediately draw a platoon from the guard camp to rescue the troops in the building."


    After hearing the order, his subordinates said with a sad face: "Comrade division commander, we have only one guard platoon left. If all the guards are sent out, the division headquarters will become empty. We can''t handle it if the small German troops touch it. "


    When he heard this, he turned to me and said seriously, "Comrade commander, it''s too dangerous here. You''d better move outside the city."


    "No," I said disapprovingly, looking at the small German troops still besieging the small building in the distance, "just these few Germans can''t get to us." With that, I called out to the door, "major busmanov."


    As I yelled, busmanov came in from the outside, quietly waiting for my order. I pointed to the building in the distance where there was a fierce battle and said to him, "major, you take the guard and destroy the enemy."


    After hearing my order, basmanov hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Comrade commander, I only need to take one platoon, and the rest is to stay here to protect you."


    I waved my hand and said in an indisputable tone: "Comrade major, there is also a guard platoon of the 52nd division of the guards. With them, our safety can be guaranteed. If you can wipe out the enemy that has come near us as soon as possible, then we will be safer. "


    "I see, comrade commander!" Basmanov agreed loudly, then turned and ran out of the headquarters.


    As soon as basmanov left, I immediately asked Nekrasov, "Colonel, have you got the line with the headquarters of the group army?"


    "Hold on, comrade commander." Nekrasov led me to the table, pointed to one of the telephones above and said, "this is the one that can directly talk to the headquarters of the group army."


    "Please dial for me, comrade colonel." I said politely, "I want to speak to chief of staff bezikov."


    After the phone was connected, bizikov heard my voice and asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, how did you get to the city of tomarovka? Don''t you know that there is street fighting there?"


    "Comrade chief of staff, this is not the point." Without waiting for bezikov to finish, I interrupted him and gave him a direct order: "I found that the enemy''s strength was far stronger than we expected when I got to the city, so I now order you to immediately transfer the 51st army of general tavartkilaze''s guards and the 375TH infantry division of Colonel govorunanko."


    "Throw the whole 23rd army of the guards into battle, comrade commander?" After listening to my order, bzikov asked cautiously, "the enemy in the city, is it really worthwhile for us to put in three guard divisions and one infantry division?"


    "Yes, chief of staff." As for bezikov''s question, I explained to him: "the German army''s strength in tomarovka is far greater than we thought. Relying on the existing city fortifications, they are competing with us for houses and streets. And they are constantly fighting back against us. "


    "There are also two friendly divisions, aren''t there?" Bezikov asked in surprise, "are they still staying in the outer positions and not attacking the city?"


    "Well, the two divisions on the East and West wings are engaged in a fierce battle with the German garrison. Although our army sent out air force support, it still failed to let them break through the German peripheral defense positions. " When I said this, I suddenly thought of another thing, and quickly said, "besides, there is only one tank brigade in the city, which is a little weak. Please order general Kravchenko to draw another tank brigade into the city from his fifth army of close guard tanks. "


    No sooner had I put down the phone than it rang. I thought it was bezikov who didn''t know anything else, so I called again to ask me. Unexpectedly, Zhukov''s voice came out of the receiver.


    He asked in a low voice, "Hello, Rita, what''s the situation there?"


    "Report to marshal." I respectfully reported to him that "at present, the troops of the 52nd division of the guards have successfully intruded into tomarovka in the north of the city and are engaged in street fighting with the enemy in the north of the city."


    After listening to my report, he was silent for a moment, and said, "the German defense in the tomarovka area is more tenacious than we thought. Although your left and right wings, under the cover of artillery, air force and tanks, launched a fierce attack on the German positions. But so far, it has not been able to break through the German peripheral positions. In order to ensure that your troops will not be expelled from the city by the Germans, it is better to join the reserve immediately. "


    "Comrade marshal, the German forces are constantly fighting back against us in the city. Our attack has almost stopped." In order to let Zhukov have a clear understanding of the situation in tomarovka, I report the situation in the city to him in detail: "in order to strengthen the troops'' ability to attack fortified positions, in addition to the 71st guard division which is rushing to tomarovka, I have just ordered chief of staff bezikov to put the 51st guard division and the 375TH infantry division into combat. In addition, in order to strengthen the offensive capability of the troops, I asked general Kravchenko to send a tank brigade to support us. "


    "Rita, you made the right decision." After hearing this, Zhukov immediately agreed with the arrangement I made. "I will call the commander of the fifth group army and the commander of the mechanized army immediately, so that they can speed up their attack. They must rush into the city as soon as possible to join you and annihilate the German garrison in tomarovka."


    After I finished my call with Zhukov, nikolasov came over and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, what does Marshal Zhukov say? Is it to let the friendly forces increase their offensive strength and join us as soon as possible?"


    "Yes, it is, comrade colonel." After giving him a brief introduction of the conversation I had just made with Zhukov and bezikov, I went on to say, "before our reserves arrive, you''d better shrink your forces, so that they won''t be broken through by the German army because their forces are too weak. Well, look over there. I don''t want to see the Germans around the headquarters. "


    When I said this, Nekrasov blushed with shame. He said with some embarrassment, "don''t worry, comrade commander. I promise you that in the future, the German detachment will never appear near the division finger again."


    I nodded, and then told him: "please call the three commanders immediately, and let them appropriately shrink their troops and organize a new defense."


    "Comrade commander, it''s a bit difficult to handle." As soon as I finished, I found that there was an expression of embarrassment on his face. He murmured, "as you know, the troops have been very scattered since the battle. It''s not easy to close them up. A little carelessness may even cause confusion. If the German forces seize this opportunity to fight back, our troops will be defeated. "


    "What about that?" Listening to what he said, I can''t help worrying that if the troops are really like sheep herding, one company here and one platoon there will fight separately and can''t support each other, they will be defeated by the German army. Think of here, I can''t help a little crazy, heart said, can''t we just see our living power is consumed?


    Just then, several commanders came in. One of the leaders came directly to me, raised his hand to salute, and reported: "Comrade commander, division commander sivakov of the 71st division of Jinwei has been ordered to come. I''m waiting for your order to fight. Please give me instructions!"


    Seeing the sudden appearance of sivakov, I was overjoyed. I grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him two times. Then I said excitedly, "Comrade Colonel, you are so timely. According to our observation, the strength of the German army in the city is far beyond our imagination. At present, the forces of the 52nd division of the guards are too scattered, and may be defeated by the counterattack Germans individually. So I order you to immediately send out the troops and strengthen the existing occupied positions. "


    "Comrade commander." When I finished speaking, sivakov immediately reminded me, "our troops have just entered the city and don''t know anything about the situation in the city. If they rashly break into the German firepower network, they will not only help the friendly troops, but also pay unnecessary casualties."


    "Don''t worry, Colonel sivakov." As soon as his words were finished, nikolasov beside him said with a smile, "I''ll send someone to show you the way, so that you can quickly enter the battle position."


    "That''s great," sivakov said to nikolasov, pointing to the commander behind him. "They are all my commanders. Please send someone to be their guide." Although I am not familiar with these leaders under sivakov, I still shake hands with them one by one and say a few words of encouragement: "Comrade leader, whether we can liberate tomarovka quickly depends on your performance." After listening to what I said, the commanders all expressed their determination to me and said, "Comrade commander, please rest assured that our regiment will firmly stick to its position like a nail and never step back." These commanders may have been used to fighting defensive battles. After hearing my instructions, they all thought of holding their positions. However, I did not correct them. Instead, I followed their words: "comrades, please hold your positions for at least two hours. When our reserves arrive, we can launch a comprehensive attack on the German army."¡° Please rest assured, comrades of the commander, "several leaders said with one voice," we promise to complete the task you have given us. " Before the commanders had time to leave, the staff officer standing at the window cheerfully called out: "Comrade commander, come and see, the guard company you sent has wiped out the German army who fled to the headquarters." I walked quickly to the window, but I didn''t care if my position was safe, so I picked up the telescope and looked ahead. The battle in Xiaolou was over, and a dozen dejected German prisoners, escorted by the guard company of major busmanov, were coming towards us¡° Comrades, come and see. " I called several commanders to the window, pointed to the German prisoners coming in the distance, and said to them, "these enemies came here because of their weak defense. I hope your troops will not let any German soldiers pass after they enter the position. Can you do it? "¡° Please rest assured, comrade commander. " The commanders replied neatly, "we can do it. We will never let a German pass through our defense." I nodded, waved my hand to them, and ordered, "let''s go, comrades in charge!"

 Chapter 1191

    Tomarovka is now a necessary place for both the enemy and us. Therefore, while I put in a large number of troops, the German troops also sent reinforcements. As a result, the fighting here was extremely fierce.


    I placed four infantry divisions and two tank brigades in the city of tomarovka. I intended to wait for two friendly divisions to attack the city again, so that we could form a situation of fighting more and fighting less. Who knows, until the evening, the battle between the two divisions of Youlin was still going on outside the city, and it was still my troops who fought fiercely with the German army in the city.


    After several hours of fighting, I found a rule by accident: as long as our army moves to the East and West wings, the German army will fight back against us desperately besides sticking to the battlefield. Several times, my troops approached the outskirts of tomarovka on the East and west sides, and the German troops would launch a crazy counterattack against us under the cover of tanks. If you push directly south, the pressure will be greatly reduced.


    After reading the telegram in front of me, I raised my head and asked the four division commanders sitting opposite me: "Sir, comrades, why did the German army enter such a tenacious resistance when we attacked the East and West wings?"


    "Comrade commander, the German intention is very obvious." First of all, Colonel sivakov said, "they are afraid that when our army controls the East and west sides of the city, it will be able to carry out front and back attacks with the friendly forces who are on the front attack."


    "Comrade Colonel, I don''t think it''s that simple." As soon as his words were finished, tawalter killaze, commander of the 23rd army of the guards, said: "the Germans gave us a false impression that the forces in the south of the city were weak, and made us think that it was not difficult to seize control of the south of the city. Maybe they have already ambushed heavy troops there. When our main forces rush to the south of the city, their troops deployed in the East and west of the city will attack each other and cut off the rear of our shock troops at one stroke. "


    For their analysis, I did not immediately express my opinion, but turned my eyes to bielei on the left. After staring at him for a while, I asked, "Comrade Colonel, are your tanks going well?"


    Bielei shook his head and said with a bitter smile, "Comrade commander, the situation is very bad. Because of the air force''s bombing and artillery''s shelling, the whole city is full of debris and bricks, and our tanks can hardly move. You know, rubble is the natural killer of tanks. When going up the slope, the weak belly of the tank will become the target of German tanks; When going downhill, the top cover of the tank will also be hit by anti tank fire. "


    Don''t listen to ray say that, my heart is half cold. If our infantry are not supported by artillery in the street battle, even if they occupy any position, they will be repulsed in the German counterattack. Thinking of this, I turned my eyes to the artillery commander povsky again and asked him with a smile: "Comrade Colonel, can our artillery be used in street fighting?"


    When povsky heard my question, he quickly got up from his seat and replied, "Comrade commander, rockets can''t be used in the city. Because the accuracy is too poor, it is possible that our own people may be injured by mistake when shelling, so only one or two cannons can be used."


    "Comrade Colonel, this is very good." When I heard that one or two artillery regiments could be transferred to the city, my heart immediately became much more stable. As long as we had artillery support, our speed of tackling difficult problems would be greatly improved¡° Send two artillery regiments to the city immediately. "


    "Comrade commander." After I gave the order, povsky asked me, "I don''t know where the artillery position should be set after the artillery regiment enters the city?"


    "No positions." I said in my heart, if you want to set up artillery positions in the city, what else can I ask you to transfer the artillery regiment to the city for? In order to let him understand my intention, I announced in public: "Comrade Colonel, after the artillery regiment enters the city, we will assign the company as a unit to all divisions, and let our artillery follow the soldiers to charge."


    After what I said, all the commanders present, except bielei, looked at each other in a daze. It only occurred to me this time that berey and I had been together for a long time and knew the "bayonet on the cannon" method I advocated before. Other people became my subordinates only before the start of the Kursk battle. It''s not surprising that they didn''t understand this tactic.


    When bielei saw that everyone was silent, he quickly reminded me in a low voice: "Comrade commander, you''d better tell us. I don''t think they understood you."


    "Yes, comrade commander." First of all, the artillery commander povsky agreed with colonel berey. He said blankly, "let the artillery charge with the artillery. I''ve never heard of this kind of play before, so please explain it to us so that we can have a clear idea."


    "That''s right, that''s right," the following division commanders said with tongue in cheek, "Comrade commander, just tell us, so that we can understand how artillery charges with infantry."


    In order to enable them to carry out this kind of playing method, I explained to them in detail what "bayonet on cannon" is like. Finally, I repeatedly stressed that "... When the infantry are charging, when they encounter the enemy''s solid firepower point, they can use the artillery for direct aim to destroy it."


    After listening to my explanation, everyone began to talk about it again. One of them, tavartkilaze, said excitedly: "if this tactic is adopted, as soon as the German firepower is exposed, it will be destroyed by us immediately. It can not only reduce the casualties of the troops, but also speed up the advance of the troops. "


    Seeing all the people talking about it, Colonel berey couldn''t sit still. He approached me and asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, what should I do for the two tank brigades I command?"


    Considering that the city is full of ruins, which is not conducive to the formation of tanks and the implementation of assault, I ordered bielei: "Comrade Colonel, you should deploy all the tanks of the tank brigade near the positions controlled by our army to serve as fixed battery." At this point, I can''t help muttering in a low voice, "so even if the German troops send out tanks to carry out the counterattack, they will be destroyed by our tanks."


    As I adjusted my tactics in time, when the artillery regiment entered tomarovka, our attack began again. The German Army thought that they could still use the firepower of the firepower point to suppress our offensive troops, as before, and then carry out the counterattack. But this time, as soon as the firepower point was exposed, the machine gunner was blown up into the air by a man with a machine gun before he even finished hitting a bullet chain.


    When I stayed in the headquarters with a group of division commanders, I could not help but see the telegrams sent to me by the signalmen. The contents on them were all as follows: what buildings our army had occupied in the street of XX, how many enemies had been destroyed, and so on.


    Tavartkiraze could not keep his mouth shut when he saw such a battle report. Because almost all the troops fighting in the city belonged to the 23rd army of his guards. He came up to me, raised a stack of telegrams in his hand and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, the kind of playing method you proposed is really effective. You see, just over an hour later, our troops occupied two streets in the East, West and south, respectively. As long as this rate of progress can be maintained, there will be no problem for us to recover tomarovka before dark. "


    I also feel the same about what tavartkilaze said, because according to the feedback from the divisions, the attack was very smooth. I intend to divide my troops to support the attacks of the East and West wings when our army has a larger control area.


    Just when we felt that victory was in sight, an accident happened. Govorunanko, who was commanding the troops to attack the south of the city, called and reported to me: "Comrade commander, the German troops have reinforced the south of the city?"


    Govorunanko''s words startled me. I immediately asked, "what kind of reinforcements are the enemy''s reinforcements?"


    "According to the confession of our captives," govoronenko continued, "the German 332nd Infantry Division was seriously understaffed by our fierce attack. The 19th armored division of general Schmidt of the German army came to reinforce and strengthened the defense force with the 73rd and 74th armored infantry regiments. "


    "See the German tanks?" I heard that it was the 19th armored division. I couldn''t help but sweat. Although this unit was defeated by us some time ago, its overall strength can''t be underestimated. After more than half a month''s rest, perhaps its combat effectiveness has returned to its most powerful state. If we want to eliminate it, we are bound to pay a heavy price.


    "Yes, comrade commander." The more you worry about something, the more you come. I am most worried that there will be tanks with infantry regiment. I didn''t expect that there would be tanks. "My observation post reported that the German army had assembled at least 20 tanks and planned to attack us in several streets at the same time," govoronenko said


    "Comrade Colonel, quickly build barricades and deploy artillery behind them." While thinking about the way to deal with the German tanks, I said to govorunanko: "if the enemy attacks, you will use artillery to kill the enemy''s tanks. As for the infantry following, use assault rifles and machine guns to kill them all."


    Just after the call with govorunanko, sivakov called me again. When I heard his voice coming from the receiver, I asked nervously, "Comrade Colonel, is something wrong with you?"


    "Something''s wrong, what''s wrong?" Sivakov asked in a puzzled way. But after hearing that I did not answer, he excitedly reported to me, "Comrade commander, I have good news for you."


    When I heard the good news, my spirit was suddenly lifted, and I immediately asked, "Comrade Colonel, do you have any good news to tell me?"


    "Comrade commander, the commanders and fighters of our division and the 51st division of Jinwei successfully broke through the defense in the west of the German city, captured the regimental headquarters of the 676th regiment of the 332nd infantry division of the German army, and killed the colonel of the regiment."


    "That''s very good, comrade colonel. What a wonderful news you''ve told me!" I was overjoyed to hear that the German commander had been killed. In this way, the garrison in the west of the city would be in chaos because the commander had been killed, so that we could wipe out the enemy in the west of the city one by one. I hastily told him: "Comrade Colonel, quickly control all the streets in the west of the city, and be ready to attack the German positions in the western suburbs."


    When I put down the phone, tavartkiraze could not help asking curiously, "Comrade commander, what good news has Colonel sivakov reported to you? You see, your face is almost bursting with laughter. "


    "Comrade General." I smile and say to ta killazer, "I want to congratulate you!"¡° Congratulations! " My words confused tawalter killazer, who asked in a confused way, "congratulations on what?"¡° Colonel sivakov reported that the joint forces of the 51st and 71st divisions of the guards had successfully captured the headquarters of the 676th German regiment and killed the head of the regiment. " When I said this, the smile on my face was even more: "is it not worth celebrating that your men have achieved such brilliant results?"¡° It should be, it should be. " Tawalter killazer nodded his head like a chicken pecking rice, and then he said to me, "Comrade commander, I have a suggestion. After our army controls the west of the city, we can let our tank brigade go out of the city from the west of the city and go around to the south of the city to attack the rear of the German army. I don''t know if it''s ok? " After listening to tavartkilaze''s suggestion, I didn''t answer him immediately. Instead, I turned to the nearby Colonel bere and asked with a smile, "Comrade Colonel, what''s your opinion?" Don''t think about it, then nodded and said, "general tavartkiraze''s opinion is very good. We went around to the back of the 19th German Panzer Division and made a surprise attack. If the comrades of the 375TH infantry division attack from the front again, it is possible that the German armored division will be completely destroyed. "¡° Very well, comrade Colonel, "I was full of praise for his proposal." the Germans would never dream that our two tank brigades would suddenly come out from behind them. In this way, we would be caught by surprise. " With that, I waved to him and said, "you can arrange it right away." After berey left, povsky couldn''t sit still. He said to me anxiously: "Comrade commander, it is very difficult to annihilate the 19th armored division of the German army with the tanks of the tank brigade alone. Therefore, I suggest that artillery observers should be sent to the areas where the German tanks gather, so that they can provide parameters for the rocket artillery instructions outside the city and direct the shooting targets, So that German tanks can be turned into scrap iron under our artillery fire. "¡° Comrade Colonel, we have nothing to do here anyway. " To tell the truth, I also want to see with my own eyes how our troops annihilated the German armored division, so I took the initiative to say to povsky, "let''s go there and have a look together!"

 Chapter 1192

    But before I left, the phone rang in the headquarters. I picked up the earphone and heard Zhukov''s voice. Without any greetings, he said frankly, "please report the fighting in tomarovka."


    Listening to the sound of his reading the telegram from the receiver, I knew that he was eager to know the situation here in tomarovka, so he began to report to him calmly as usual: "Comrade marshal. At present, the German army in the 676th regiment of tomarovka has been taken down by the 71st and 51st divisions of the guards under the command of Colonel sivakov, and the head of the regiment has also been killed. The German army there has lost its unified command and is in chaos. In half an hour at most, our troops will be able to completely control the west of the city. In the east of the city, the 52nd division of the close guard of Col. Nekrasov failed to move forward from the area where so much blood had been shed due to the tenacious resistance and constant counterattack of the German army. In addition... "


    "What''s the direction to the south of the city?" Zhukov suddenly interrupted me and asked, "you know, the division of the 332nd infantry division of the German army is stationed there."


    "The 375TH infantry division of Colonel govoruninenko is fighting in the south of the city," I replied hastily. "They were already close to the German division headquarters, but the situation there became serious because the German 19th armored division put the 73rd and 74th armored regiments into the area."


    "Did you find the German tanks?" Zhukov continued.


    "Yes, comrade marshal." To Zhukov''s question, I immediately and unambiguously replied: "according to the report of Colonel govoronenko, they found that the German tanks were assembling and preparing to launch a counterattack."


    "What measures have you taken?" Zhukov asked in a low voice.


    "I ordered Colonel berey to lead two tank brigades out of the city from the west to the south, so as to attack the 19th armored division back and forth with the 375TH infantry division." After introducing the situation, I explained my intention to Zhukov: "if our tank troops can successfully detour, we can cut off the retreat of the 19th armored division and the 332nd infantry division and annihilate them all."


    "That''s good." After hearing this, Zhukov said thoughtfully, "the tactics of German armored divisions have deviated more and more from the original ideas of penetration and attack of group tactics. Instead of pursuing breakthrough, they are seeking encirclement. Now they have completely lost the ability to launch a group breakthrough. It''s time to teach them a lesson."


    Hearing Zhukov''s praise, I couldn''t help feeling a little complacent. As soon as he finished, I added: "marshal, I plan to go to the area of the 375TH infantry division together with the artillery commander of the group army, Colonel povsky, to guide the artillery direction outside the city, and strive to cripple the 19th armored division with strong artillery fire."


    Zhukov was silent for a moment. After weighing what I said, he said, "well, Rita, I agree with your plan. Let Colonel berey lead the tank troops to attack as soon as possible. By the way, I would like to remind you that in the future, don''t put hundreds of tanks in the city where the battle formation can''t be launched. If the German army now holds the air supremacy of tomarovka, your tank troops will have been completely destroyed in the bombing. Do you remember? "


    "Remember, comrade marshal." I blushed and answered, then asked carefully, "do you have any other instructions for us?"


    "Very simple, just one sentence: destroy the enemy." Zhukov said in a flat tone, "well, report to me tomorrow. Good luck


    Although there were bursts of blind sounds in the receiver, I still kept holding the earphone. At the same time, my mind kept thinking: "destroy the enemy". As for how to destroy the enemy, Zhukov didn''t know a word, so I had to rely on myself to understand.


    "Comrade commander, what are you thinking?" The voice of general tavartkilaze suddenly rang out in my ear.


    I answered him a little flustered and said, "Oh, I''m thinking about the last sentence that marshal said."


    My words aroused his curiosity and asked, "what did the marshal say?"


    "He told us to destroy the enemy." After repeating this sentence, I shrugged my shoulders, put down the microphone, and then reluctantly said, "to tell you the truth, I didn''t understand his real intention."


    Tavartkilaze thought about it and then said to me, "Comrade commander, it''s very simple. Marshal''s meaning is: to destroy the enemy and destroy the opponent, whether the tactics of frontal attack or rear surprise attack are adopted, they should be decided by the front-line commander. As a high-level commander, he does not care about the process, but only about the result. "


    "So it is," I suddenly realized after listening to tavartkilaze''s explanation. Zhukov said this in the hope that I would use my own way to solve the enemy forces of tomarovka. As for how to fight, I has the final say. He will never interfere with my command, as long as he can complete his task.


    Thinking of this, I picked up the phone and made a call to the headquarters. When I heard bzikov''s voice coming out of the receiver, I immediately said to him, "chief of staff, please record my order: in addition to the 67th division of the guards, the 89th and 90th divisions of the guards on standby and the 77th division of the guards who have just completed the repair move to the northwest of Belgorod overnight."


    Bezikov didn''t express any objection to my sudden order. He just reminded me: "Comrade commander, if we send out three guard divisions at the same time, we may need a unified command, right? Otherwise, once a fight starts, the forces that fight separately will not be able to achieve effective cooperation. "


    He doesn''t say, I haven''t paid attention to this problem. As soon as he reminded me, I immediately remembered that the commander of the 71st division of Jinwei was sivakov, or the commander of the 22nd army of Jinwei. But at the moment, his troops are entering a crucial stage. If he is taken down to Belgorod to command the other three divisions, the two troops in the west of the city may be in unnecessary chaos due to the adjustment of their commanders. So after thinking for a while, I said to the microphone, "Comrade chief of staff, please give the phone to Comrade deputy commander. I have something to say to him."


    "Comrade commander." Danilov, who spoke to me, said, "if I guess correctly, are you going to let me command these three guards?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." Since Danilov had guessed my intention, I would not beat around the bush with him and simply said, "bezikov has no experience in commanding a large regiment. Let him command three divisions at once. He is not qualified for this job. So after much consideration, I think you are the best person to command the army. I don''t know what you mean. Are you willing to accept my appointment? "


    Danilov did not answer me immediately, but tentatively asked: "Comrade commander, half of our army is not attacking tomarovka. How can they think of attacking bergerode at the same time? We should know that such a division of forces is a big taboo for military strategists in tackling difficult battles. "


    After organizing some words in my mind, I said to Danilov, "Comrade deputy commander, judging from the current situation, our army will be able to seize tomarovka tomorrow morning at first. Next, the main force of our group army will take part in the offensive operations of bergorod and Kharkov. Therefore, it is not a bad thing to place our troops at the starting point of the offensive ahead of time. "


    My words surprised Danilov: "why, comrade commander, have you received a new attack order from the superior?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." I went on in my own way of thinking: "long before the counterattack in southern Kursk began, the order our group army received was to liberate Belgorod and Kharkov. So far, the order has not been cancelled, so we should be ready to attack at any time


    "But with the strength of our group army, can we capture these two cities?" Danilov asked anxiously, "have you considered the consequences you would have to bear if the attack failed?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander." I said to him with a smile: "this attack is not only participated by our group army, but also by general konev''s Grassland front army. You have to understand that under the attack of such a powerful force of our army, the garrison in the city can''t hold on at all. "


    My words finally made a big stone fall from Danilov''s heart, so he said frankly: "in that case, comrade commander, I agree to take over the command of the three divisions. I assure you that our troops will be the first to rush into Belgorod. "


    After I finished talking to Danilov, I called govorunanko again. On the phone, I ordered him: "Comrade Colonel, don''t be busy attacking for the time being. First, gather up the troops and build a solid defense line to prevent the German armored forces from attacking. Remember to lay mines and barbed wire to make it easier for enemy infantry to rush up. "


    "I see, comrade commander." Govoronenko sighed on the phone, then said: "although most of our positions are within the range of German machine gun fire and mortar attack, it is necessary to lay minefields, and should be as close as possible to the German positions, we have no choice..."


    "All right, comrade colonel." I heard him start to nag again. I interrupted him immediately. "Now that the task is clear, what are you delaying? The Germans are preparing for a counterattack in front of you. Gather up the troops immediately. Move quickly! Whether we can successfully annihilate the 19th German armored division depends entirely on the performance of your division. Do you understand? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Govorunanko replied excitedly, "please allow me to assign tasks to the commanders below immediately."


    When I finished the call, I saw povsky walking into the temporary headquarters with several people. Except for two officers who looked like staff officers, the rest of them were ordinary signalmen with all kinds of communication equipment. I pointed to the officers and men and asked povsky curiously, "Comrade Colonel, what do they do?"


    After listening to my question, povsky said in surprise: "Comrade commander, didn''t you say you want to go to the south of the city? These two officers are artillery observers and these signalmen. They will come with us and set up artillery observation points there to provide firing parameters for the artillery outside the city and guide our artillery to destroy the enemy. "


    Finding out that the person who appeared with povsky was actually an artillery observer, I nodded with satisfaction, and then said to povsky, "Comrade Colonel, since you are ready, let''s go. When it''s dark, it''s hard to go


    As soon as I walked out of the headquarters, basmanov brought several soldiers to meet me and reported to me, "Comrade commander, I have assembled the guard company. I can start at any time. Please give me instructions!" When I turned to look at the soldiers of the guard company assembled in front of the ruins, povsky on one side might be afraid that I would try to show off my ability, and he would go to the front with ease, and quickly persuaded me: "Comrade commander, it''s about four kilometers from the temporary headquarters to the headquarters of Col. govorunanko. Although the German army in this area has been basically eliminated by our army, it is inevitable that there are still some fish in the net. In order to prevent possible attacks, I suggest that the guards should be attached In fact, even if pofsky doesn''t say anything, I plan to take the guard company with me. In addition to protecting my safety on the road, I can still use it as an ordinary infantry company at the critical moment after I get to the defense area of the 375TH infantry division. Now that he had brought up the matter first, I said, "well, since that''s the case, I''ll take the guard with me." When our small unit was marching towards the south of the city along the street full of bricks and stones, povsky, who was walking side by side with me, suddenly asked, "Comrade commander, when I heard you call, I asked the chief of staff to transfer troops to take part in the attack on Belgorod. Do you need the artillery of the regiment to provide artillery cover for them?"¡° No need, comrade colonel. " Without hesitation, I gave him a negative answer: "the main forces attacking Belgorod are general konev''s Grassland front army and general shumilov''s close guard seventh army. They have more than enough artillery."¡° Comrade commander, I don''t understand. Why don''t we launch the attack on bergorod before we have captured tomarovka? " Povsky asked me a little puzzled: "is it not faster to defeat the enemy by concentrating on superior forces?" As for his doubts, I patiently explained, "Comrade Colonel, the German line of defense at tomarovka is not just the city where we are now. Even if we occupy this city, we are only wedging a nail in the enemy''s line of defense. It will take us a long time to wipe them out completely. "

 Chapter 1193

    When we got to the south of the city, the troops of govorunanko had just repulsed a wave of German attack. Standing in the humble observation station, you can see the burning tanks and the scattered corpses on the small square with naked eyes.


    Govorunanko''s observation post, still in accordance with the tradition of the Soviet army, was only three or four hundred meters away from the front line. I looked at the building opposite the square with six tall stone pillars and asked the nearby govorunanko curiously, "Comrade Colonel, where is that?"


    "It''s the theater of the workers'' Cultural Palace." Govoronenko pointed to the building and said to me, "the headquarters of the 73rd German Armored Regiment are there. We launched two charges against the enemy and were defeated by the Germans. After receiving your order, I contracted my forces. As soon as I finished the defense, the German army launched a counterattack against us. But fortunately, we had been prepared early, otherwise our troops would have been defeated by the German attack. "


    I looked around at the messenger who was setting up a telephone line next to me, and then asked povsky, "Comrade artillery commander, if we hit the enemy opposite with rockets, will we hurt our own people by mistake?"


    Povsky may have been waiting for me to ask this question for a long time. As soon as I finished, he nodded his head and said, "if the close guard rocket battalion volleys at the theater, plus errors and other factors, our deployment in the most advanced position may be affected." At this point, he turned his face and asked govorunanko, "Comrade division commander, can we make the most forward troops retreat 100 meters?"


    After listening to povsky''s question, govorunanko gave me a guilty look and carefully replied, "Comrade artillery commander, this may not work. If the enemy on the other side finds that our troops are retreating, he may take the opportunity to launch a counterattack, and then the troops may fall into chaos. "


    As soon as povsky heard this, he was worried and couldn''t help raising his voice: "Sir, if the soldiers stay in the trenches during the shelling, even if they are not killed by flying, they will be killed by the huge blast wave alive."


    Govorunanko''s face showed an expression of embarrassment, which made the soldiers withdraw from the existing occupied positions. He obviously did not agree; But if he wanted to let his soldiers stay in the trenches and be killed by the blast wave, he couldn''t bear it. When he was in a dilemma, he could only turn to me for help, hoping that I could come up with a good way.


    Seeing their embarrassment, I couldn''t help laughing to myself. When povsky also focused on me, I said slowly, "comrades of two colonels, in fact, the solution to this matter is very simple. It''s just to extend the impact point of the shell one hundred meters forward. In this way, there is no need for the troops to withdraw from the existing positions and they are not afraid of being injured by mistake. "


    "Yes, I didn''t think of this way." After listening to me, govorunanko patted the wall excitedly and said: "the troops will stay in the existing position. As soon as the shelling is over, they can launch a sudden attack and seize the enemy''s position at one stroke while the Germans are not awake from the shelling."


    But povsky was obviously not so optimistic. He frowned and said, "Comrade commander, is this appropriate? You know, if the shooting distance is extended, then the artillery effect we have will be affected. "


    When I heard bofsky''s worry, I couldn''t laugh or cry. I secretly scolded laomaozi for being rigid in his work. If anything changed a little, they would become uneasy because it was different from their original cognition. I sighed a little, and then said to him, "don''t worry, Colonel povsky, the salvo of the rocket battalion can destroy not only the theater occupied by the German army, but also the German tanks parked in the parking lot in the back."


    "Oh, there are German tanks behind the theatre?" After hearing this, povsky asked in surprise: "Comrade commander, how do you know that it was Mr. govoruninenko who told you?"


    I pointed to the burning tanks in the square and said, "Comrade division commander didn''t tell me anything. I inferred from the destroyed tanks."


    "Comrade commander is right. These tanks are coming around the back of the theater." Govoronenko added in time: "and they came out of the gate of the theatre."


    "I see." Povsky nodded and said, "I''m going to arrange a salvo of rocket barracks." With that, he went to the busy artillery observer next to him and explained something to them in a low voice.


    I asked govorunanko, who was standing next to me, sideways, "Colonel, how many people can you send if you want to charge after the shelling?"


    Govorunanko frowned and thought about it. He replied, "there are about 400 people who can use it, and some of them are light wounded."


    "It''s only 400 people, too few." I thought he could draw a thousand soldiers out of his hand, but I didn''t expect that the soldiers who could take part in the attack were half of what I expected. Even if the 73rd and 74th armored regiments of the German army suffered heavy losses in the early fighting, they could not cope with more than 400 of them.


    In order to increase the success rate of the attack, I called tavart killaze who stayed in the headquarters in the north of the city. Hearing his voice, I immediately said, "Comrade General, I intend to launch an attack in the south of the city, but the 375TH infantry division is limited. You should immediately transfer your 51st guard division to support."


    "All right, comrade commander." On hearing my order, tavartkilaze readily agreed: "I immediately sent lieutenant colonel Lukin''s 309 regiment over. Their regiment lost at least 2000 people in today''s battle."


    "Great, general tavartkiraze." When I heard that Lu Jin would bring two thousand fresh troops to support me, I felt a lot more at ease. With so many troops, even if we fight a seesaw war with the German army, we will not lose¡° When they come, they should bring more anti tank weapons, otherwise they will not be able to attack Fu''s tanks. "


    After I put down the phone, I said to govorunanko, "Comrade Colonel, let your offensive troops be ready to launch an attack as soon as the coverage of the rocket battalion is over."


    "Yes Govorunanko agreed and began to call his men to arrange for them to attack the enemy occupied area after the shelling.


    A few minutes later, the close guard rocket battalion outside the city started shooting. Rockets with long tails swept over our heads and plunged into the German position. Then came the earth shaking explosion. In the deafening successive explosions, smoke and fire soared into the air, turning the area near the landing point into a sea of fire. The houses near the theater were constantly collapsing in the explosion, and the German officers and soldiers who were hiding in them were estimated to be worried about their lives.


    After two rounds of volley, the smoke and dust shrouded in the square has not yet dispersed, and the uncomfortable high temperature is still in the air. But without waiting for me to wipe the cold sweat on my head, a tsunami like "Wula" erupted in front of me. Hundreds of commanders and fighters jumped out of the fortification and rushed forward with weapons.


    Seeing the troops rush up, govorunanko smiles on his face and says to me, "you know, commander, the Germans have actually done a great thing."


    "What''s good?" Govoronenko''s words confused me, so I asked unexpectedly, "what good can the German army do in our country?"


    "If they don''t move the residents of the city ahead of time, we will be tied up in a fight." Govorunanko looked ahead and said, "it''s a great thing they''ve done."


    If there are residents in the city, the German army will certainly not worry about their casualties, but we should try our best to avoid accidental injuries. In this way, the combat effectiveness of the army will not be brought into full play. It is a good thing that they removed all the residents before the war.


    At a distance of two or three hundred meters, our soldiers rushed over, and then searched the ruins of the theater with only a few stone pillars and half a wall left to search for the defeated German soldiers. I looked for a while and found that there were only sporadic exchanges of fire in other places. It seems that the power of the Rockets is really extraordinary. Two rounds of Volley almost wiped out the German army here.


    Seeing this, I put down my telescope and said to govoronenko, "Comrade Colonel, order the troops to build fortifications in the existing areas to prevent possible German counter attacks. When the reinforcements of the friendly forces arrive, they will continue to push forward. "


    After a loud promise, govorunanko called a correspondent to convey my order to the commanders on the front line, so that they would not rush to attack, but to stabilize the defense line first.


    In the process of waiting for Colonel berey, who was circuiting to the German rear, and the Lukin regiment, who was reinforcing the govorunanko division, the troops who occupied the ruins of the theatre sent back a signalman to report the latest information to us. According to the confession of a German major before his death, the 19th armored division only sent 15 tanks to the city to support the 332nd division because of the narrow space in the city, which is not conducive to the deployment of tank troops. There are about 30 tanks outside the city


    After govoruninenko sent away the signalmen, he asked me with a worried face: "Comrade commander, the Germans still have more than 30 tanks, but we don''t have any effective anti tank weapons. It may not be easy to eliminate them."


    "Don''t worry, comrade colonel." In order to reassure him, I had to comfort him again, saying: "the infantry regiment brought by lieutenant colonel Lukin will carry a lot of anti tank weapons. Whether we are attacking or defending, German tanks will not get any advantage in front of us any more. As for the tanks outside the city, you don''t have to worry about them. The two tank brigades under the command of Colonel berey have made a detour from the west of the city to the south of the city. As long as the German tanks meet them, the whole army will be destroyed. "


    Just then, an officer came in and said, "Comrade commander, the friendly troops of the 51st division of the guards are here. Their commander is outside. Would you like to meet him?"


    "Invite him in." I ordered briefly.


    Soon, Lu Jin went into the observation post, raised his hand to salute me, and reported: "Comrade commander, the 309th infantry regiment has been ordered to come and wait for your order, please give me instructions!"


    "You''re just in time, comrade commander." Although it''s getting dark now, the ruins of the theater in the distance are full of fire, so we can clearly see the situation there. I pointed to the front and said to Lukin, "immediately lead your troops there to take over the defense. After an hour''s rest, attack the German army overnight."


    After listening to my command, Lukin did not speak, but nodded silently to show that he understood what I meant.


    As I was about to send him away, I suddenly thought of another thing and asked, "Comrade commander, how are you going to distinguish ourselves from the enemy in the night?"


    "I''m going to have every commander tie a white towel to his left arm." Lu Jin confidently said to me, "in this way, even in the dark, we can distinguish between the enemy and ourselves."


    It seems like one thing to say that we can distinguish ourselves from the enemy in the dark by tying a white towel on our arms, but in practice, it is another thing. When you fight in the dark battlefield, you have no way or time to carefully identify the enemy and ourselves a few steps away through the heavy darkness. All can only rely on hearing or the experience of years of fighting to determine whether the shaking figures slightly away from themselves are enemies or friends.


    Although I know that this method is unreliable, it is undoubtedly the most effective one in the current situation. I can only sigh, and then told Lu Jin: "well, comrade commander, since you know how to distinguish between the enemy and ourselves in the night battle, go and fight bravely. By the way, when you assault outside the city, you may encounter our tank troops. We should send someone to contact us in time, or we will fight with each other. That will be a big joke. "


    "I see, comrade commander." After Lu Jin said this, he straightened up and asked in accordance with the regulations: "am I allowed to leave?"


    "Go, comrade commander." I waved to him and said, "good luck!"


    I saw Lukin leading his troops into the ruins of the theatre in groups, resting for about half an hour, and then attacking the German occupied buildings along the streets. Although the light was too dim to see the specific fighting situation clearly, I could also guess that Lukin must have used my method of playing, and made small troops to assault along the street, then entered the building and started a battle with the German army floor by floor and room by room.


    Hearing the lively fighting ahead, govorunanko squatting beside the telephone suddenly called me: "Comrade commander, Colonel berey wants to talk to you."


    As soon as I heard berey''s name, I guessed that his troops might have strayed back. From govorunanko''s hands, he heard the sound of guns coming from the earphone and the transmitter. It seemed that he was fighting. He asked in a hurry, "Comrade Colonel, where are your troops?"


    "Report to the commander that we have reached the south of the city." "We are at war with the tanks of the 19th Panzer Division..." belay reported loudly


    Because the noise from the earphone was too loud, I didn''t hear what was said behind bielei, so I asked anxiously, "how is the battle going? Have any German tanks been destroyed by us?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Colonel berey''s voice suddenly became clear again. "Our avant-garde battalion encountered German tanks, and there was a battle. In the battle, we had nine t-34s destroyed and four German Tiger tanks destroyed by us. Now the remaining 20 German tanks have fallen into the siege of our army. I believe we will be able to solve the battle in a short time. "


    Hearing the 9-4 battle damage ratio, I felt sad, but thinking that our tanks were several times more than those of the German army, my heart became steadfast again. I calmly ordered: "since we are surrounded, then kill them all. Don''t let any of them run away! Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." "We will never let go of a German tank," belay promised in a loud voice


    Although bere said that the battle would be solved soon, the battle lasted for several hours. Every time I contacted him, he told me briefly that the fighting was still going on, one was fighting with German tanks, the other was fighting with German infantry.


    At five o''clock in the morning, Lu Jin sent someone to report to me that his troops had occupied all the buildings on both sides of the South Street of the city and were organizing troops to search for those who had missed the net. As soon as his report was over, berey finally took the initiative to contact me again. On the phone, he reported to me wearily: "Comrade commander, I have the honor to report to you that except for one tank and several motorcycles, the rest of the German officers and soldiers of the 19th armored division were either killed or captured by us. More importantly, we captured the flag of the 19th armored division in the division headquarters of the armored division. "


    Captured the flag?! When I heard this news, I was stunned at first, and then I was overjoyed, because an army was destroyed and might be rebuilt. Once the flag is captured, they will have to withdraw from the system. After I calmed down a little, I ordered bielei: "Comrade Colonel, immediately send someone to send the flag to the division headquarters of the 375TH infantry division in the south of the city. I''ll wait for you here!"


    I put down my earphone and transmitter, patted govoronenko on the shoulder and said excitedly, "Comrade Colonel, do you know? In the battle just ended, Colonel berey''s tank troops successfully captured the flag of the 19th armored division of the German army. This is a great achievement


    "What, captured the German flag?" When govoruninenko heard this news, he was stunned for a moment, as I just did, and then excited. He said excitedly, "Comrade commander, this is a great achievement. We should report it to the headquarters of the front army immediately and let them inform the whole army of this news, so as to boost the morale of our army."

 Chapter 1194

    "What, you captured the German flag?" When Zhukov saw the telegram I sent him, he personally called my division headquarters to verify it.


    "Yes, comrade marshal." Looking at the pennant in front of me, I affirmed: "the captured pennant is a pennant, which is divided into black, white and red from top to bottom. The white part in the middle is written with letters and numbers representing the number of the army. "


    After hearing this, Zhukov said, "what you have captured is a command flag of the division headquarters, which is also the flag of the 19th armored division. By the way, have you occupied the whole city of tomalovka? "


    "Report to marshal that the battle in the east of the city is still going on." Listening to the gunfire coming from outside, I continued to report to him: "I just transferred the 51st and 71st divisions of the guards to reinforce the 52nd division of the guards in the east of the city. I think we should be able to solve the battle before noon today. "


    "Do you have the senior commander there?" Zhukov then asked.


    I don''t know why Zhukov asked this question, but I told him honestly: "major general sivakov, commander of the 22nd army of the guards, and major general tavartkilaze, commander of the 23rd army of the guards are all in the city."


    "Immediately hand over your duties to major general tavartkiraze," Zhukov said in an indisputable tone. "Then you go to the northwest of Belgorod and join your deputy commander Danilov."


    I have informed my superiors about the transfer of my troops to Belgorod, so it''s not surprising that Zhukov knows about it, but I wonder what happened when he suddenly transferred me to that direction. Because I asked cautiously, "Comrade marshal, don''t you know what important task it is to transfer me there?"


    When I finished, Zhukov said briefly: "first, cooperate with the grassland front army and the seventh group army of the guards to launch an attack on bergerode; The second is to cut off the links between the German forces of Belgorod and tomarovka. All right, the attack on bergerode will start at 8 a.m. time is pressing. After you hand over your command right now, go and join general Danilov. Move quickly With that, he hung up without waiting for me to say anything.


    Although Zhukov was in a hurry, I had a lot to arrange. First, ask someone to find povsky who is not in the headquarters, and then call tavartkiraze who is in the headquarters in the north of the city.


    When tavartkilaze heard my voice, he asked with concern, "Comrade commander, when will you come back to the headquarters?"


    "Comrade General, I will inform you formally now." I didn''t care to explain to him, so I made a direct order saying, "from now on, you will take over the command of all the troops in the city. Do you understand? "


    When tavartkilaze heard my command, he was stunned for a moment and then said in doubt, "Comrade commander, I don''t understand. You are still in the city. Why do you want to transfer the command of the army to me?"


    "Comrade General, I''ve just received an order from my superior to go to the outer command troops of Belgorod, so I''ll give you all the troops in the city." Although it''s only a matter of time before the whole city is recovered, I still told him: "after I leave, please remember to call all the division heads to inform them of this matter, so as to avoid the command getting into chaos. Do you understand? "


    After listening to my question, tavartkiraze gave a straightforward answer: "I see, comrade commander. I will wipe out all the German troops in the city as soon as possible. "


    As soon as I finished talking to tavartkilaze, povsky rushed back to the headquarters. As soon as he saw me, he asked me blankly: "Comrade commander, I''m gathering the scattered artillery in the city. Do you have anything important to send someone to look for me in such a hurry?"


    "Well, comrade colonel." As our group army was not the main force in the attack on bergorod, there was no chance for the artillery of the group army to show their skills, so I decided to keep povsky in the city. In order not to let him be distracted, I explained to him: "I was ordered to command the troops to take part in the attack of Belgorod, so I handed over the command to general tavartkilaze. If possible, you can go back to the headquarters in the north of the city as soon as possible. It''s much more convenient to command artillery there than here. "


    "I see, comrade commander. I will go back to the North headquarters as soon as possible." Povsky held out his hand, shook it with me and said friendly, "have a safe trip."


    "Thank you, comrade colonel." When I finished, I called out, "major busmanov!"


    "Here it is As soon as I spoke, busmanov appeared at the door, standing upright for my orders.


    As I walked out, I ordered him, "major, get the guard company together. We need to get out of here as soon as possible."


    An hour later, we arrived at the headquarters in a village northwest of Belgorod. As soon as I walked into the headquarters, I found that in addition to Danilov and my three guards, there was an acquaintance inside.


    I walked up to the man with a smile on my face, reached out to him with a smile, and said in a friendly way, "Hello, general rodymtsev. I didn''t expect that we would meet again here."


    Rodymzev quickly raised his hand to my forehead, saluted me, then took my hand and said respectfully, "Hello, commander oshanina, I didn''t expect that we could meet here."


    Looking at this comrade in arms at the battle of Stalingrad, I asked curiously, "Comrade General, how can you come to me when you are free?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Before rodimzev could answer, Danilov said, "general rodimzev''s close guard 13th division is now under the command of general katukov''s close guard tank 1st group army. They are here today under orders to cut off the links between the German forces of Belgorod and tomarovka. "


    When I heard Danilov say this, I felt a little surprised. My heart said, didn''t Zhukov give me an order to cut off the connection between the two places? Why did the first group army of katukov''s close guard tanks receive the same order now?


    Seeing my surprised expression, rodymzev quickly replied, "Comrade commander, to be exact, it should be our division company and you to cut off the connection between the two cities. I obey your orders. Please give them


    "Well, comrade general, since you are ordered to be the same as us, I will send troops to assist you in this task." With that, I turned to Danilov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, take a regiment from the 77th division of the guards and cooperate with general rojmtsev to complete this task."


    "Comrade commander, we can''t use so many troops." Rodimzev said to me with a smile: "we only need to send out a regiment with the 77th division of the guards to finish the task of cutting off the German army." With that, he turned to point to a major general standing nearby and introduced to me, "this is major general baklanov, my deputy division commander." At this point, he said to me in a low voice, "I''ll be transferred to another unit soon, and then he will take over the position of my division commander."


    After listening to rodimzev''s introduction, I smile and extend my hand to bakranov standing by: "Hello, major general, nice to meet you. I believe that under the command of general rodimzev and you, the 13th division of the guards will surely create more brilliant results. "


    "Hello, comrade commander." Bakranov took my hand and said respectfully, "we, the 13th division of the guards, will cooperate with your troops."


    After greeting rodymzev and his deputy division commander, I went to the table, looked down at the map on it and asked Danilov, "Comrade deputy commander, tell me about your attack plan."


    "All right, comrade commander." Danilov pointed to the map in front of him with a red and blue pencil and said to me, "our troops have been deployed outside of Belgorod. When our artillery preparation is over, the group troops will follow the friendly troops and attack the city at the same time. The order of attack is the 89th division, the 77th division and the 90th division


    After listening to what he said, I tried to recall the battle of Belgorod in my memory. I felt as if it had been mentioned in history books, proving that the battle was not fierce. So he did not raise any objection to Danilov''s order of attack. He just casually asked, "what are the friendly forces?"


    "The 53rd and 69th group armies of the grassland front army will attack bergorod from the north." Danilov didn''t read any information, but he told me what I wanted to know: "the seventh group army of general sumilov''s guards attacked from the South; The new arrival of the fifth mechanized army bypassed Belgorod from the southwest to cut off the retreat of the German army. "


    I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and then said, "it''s a quarter of an hour before the fight starts. The division commanders will return to their respective units first. As soon as the fighting starts, cut off the road from Belgorod to tomarovka and attack the city at the same time. " Speaking of this, I suddenly remembered that the sixth group army of the close guard wanted to be the first to rush into Belgorod in front of watujing, so I stopped Xie Liujin and stressed to him, "Comrade Colonel, I hope the red flag of your division will be the first to fly over Belgorod. Are you sure? "


    At my command, Xie Liujin''s face flushed with excitement. After a moment''s hesitation, he replied decisively, "Comrade commander, please rest assured that our division''s flag will be the first to fly over Belgorod. If you can''t do it, you''ll remove me. "


    "All right, comrade colonel." I waved to Liujin and said, "do your best. Even if you can''t be the first one to put the red flag in the city, I won''t blame you. Go back to the army quickly. "


    When Danilov and I were the only ones left in the headquarters, he asked me anxiously, "Comrade commander, will the order you gave to Colonel sherekin be a bit too hard?"


    "Why do you say that, comrade deputy commander?" I asked curiously.


    "We need to know what kind of assists our troops take." Danilov said with some regret: "moreover, the German army has a very strong defensive force in this direction. So if our troops want to rush into the city, they will pay a high price. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, you are too pessimistic." After listening to Danilov''s worry, I said with a smile: "our attack on tomalovka was also very difficult, but we managed to rush into the city. It not only annihilated most of the garrison in the city, but also almost completely annihilated the 19th armored division of the German army from which it came, and captured their flag. "¡° Captured the flag? " Danilov obviously didn''t know about it because he wasn''t in the headquarters of the group army. As soon as he heard my news, he immediately opened his mouth in surprise. For a long time, he stammered: "Comrade commander, you are not joking with me, are you?"¡° Comrade deputy commander, how can I joke with you on such a matter? " When I said that, I took out the captured command flag from my satchel, spread it out in front of him, pointed with my hand and said, "look, the flag is here." When Danilov saw the flag, his face muscles twitched twice, and then said, "although it''s not the flag of the German armored division, it''s more significant to capture this command flag." I waited for him to finish, put the flag away, and then said, "as long as our troops attack Belgorod first today, then we will have a chance to capture the real flag of the German army. Now let''s check whether the communication with each division is normal, so that we can''t get in touch with each other, and it''s easy to miss things. " Danilov listened to me, nodded, and then yelled out, "Hello, is the communications officer in? Come in." With his shouts, a young lieutenant ran in, stood straight in front of us, and then respectfully asked, "comrades, what instructions do you have?" Danilov pointed at him with his hand and asked aloud, "Comrade second lieutenant, are the communication lines with the divisions open now?"¡° Yes, comrade deputy commander. " The second lieutenant also replied in a loud voice: "at present, the telephone lines and wireless lines between the temporary headquarters and the divisions and regiment headquarters are kept unblocked and can be put into use at any time."¡° Good. Keep going. " When Danilov finished, he waved his hand to the lieutenant and said, "it''s none of your business here. Go down first." After the second lieutenant left, Danilov asked me with a smile, "Comrade commander, what should we do next?"¡° The next thing we need to do is wait I also replied with a smile, "wait for the divisions to report to us the progress of the fighting."

 Chapter 1195

    Danilov became uneasy as the rumble of guns came into the headquarters from the outside. After walking back and forth in the room, he finally stopped and asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, do you think our troops can successfully take bergerold?"


    I know that the Soviet attack on Belgorod was not smooth at first. The 168th and 198th infantry divisions of the German army, as well as a part of the 6th armored division, which held fast in the city, defeated several Soviet attacks by virtue of their solid defense system. The situation on the battlefield will develop in favor of our army only after the seventh group army of shumilov''s guards joins the battle.


    After a while of deliberate silence, I shrugged my shoulders, opened my arms, pretended to be helpless, and said, "Comrade deputy commander, although I also hope our troops can capture bergerord at one stroke, judging from the information available at present, this possibility is very small. The enemy has built a solid defense system on the outskirts of the city. If we take these positions alone, our army will pay a heavy price. If general shumilov''s troops want to launch an attack from the east of the city, they still need to cross the North donetz River under the enemy''s fire. The situation is not optimistic! "


    Danilov was very surprised when he heard my answer. He asked in surprise, "do you mean that our attack on Belgorod will end in failure?"


    I shook my head and said, "no, in the face of our strong offensive, if the German army wants to defend the city, it must deploy troops to strengthen its defense. But now, where else can Manstein transfer troops to strengthen the defense of Belgorod? From Kharkov?! This is unrealistic, because the next target of our army''s attack is where the existing German defense forces are not enough. How can these limited defenders be transferred? The only place where the troops can be transferred is the tomarovka defense line, because this is the junction of Manstein and the German central army group. In order to prevent their intentions from being exposed to our army, they will certainly transfer troops from here to reinforce the Belgorod garrison. "


    As for my analysis, Danilov still had some doubts: "so, to cut off the traffic from tomalovka to Belgorod is to prevent German reinforcements from entering the city?"


    "Yes, that''s it." I''ve been commanding the battle for a day in tomarovka, and I know the situation there very well, so it''s easy to explain to him: "although our group army has put in four divisions, the first and the fifth group armies of the close guard tanks have all put in the battle, it''s really not easy to eat the German troops deployed in the junction. Our close guard 32nd army, mechanized 3rd army and German army fought one day and one night, but only pushed three to five kilometers on the German defensive position. "


    After listening to these words, Danilov became more and more uneasy. He picked up the phone, grasped the handle on the phone, shook it a few times, and then said in a hurry, "I''m Danilov. Get close to general rodymtsev, commander of the 13th division of the Wei army." Soon I heard him ask in a loud voice, "Comrade General, are your troops in designated positions?"


    After listening for a while, he put down the phone and said to me, "general rojmtsev reported that his 41st guard regiment had set up minefields on the road and built Fortifications on both sides of the road."


    When I heard Danilov talking about the minefield, I cried out that it was not good. I remember in later history books that the German army dug a ten kilometer anti tank trench outside the city in order to defend Belgorod, and laid 50000 mines at the same time. Although we didn''t have the support of tanks in this attack, we didn''t have to consider the impact of tank trenches on us, but the tens of thousands of mines were not vegetarian, and there was no problem for the thousands of people who killed us.


    Thinking of this, I quickly asked Danilov, "Comrade deputy commander, are our offensive forces equipped with engineers?"


    Danilov obviously misunderstood me. He shook his head and said, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. As we are not the main attack force, all the shock engineers sent by the front army have been assigned to the 53rd and 69th army."


    As soon as he said assault engineer, I immediately thought of this kind of arms wearing steel armor, holding submachine guns, looking like the magnetic storm infantry in the game. I used to wear steel armor for a period of time. Although it can play a certain role in bulletproof, it''s just too heavy. I feel tired after walking for a while. I waved my hand to him and said, "Comrade deputy commander, it''s not the kind of engineer you said, but the 20 engineers specialized in mine clearance."


    "Demining?" Danilov asked in surprise, "can''t our heavy shelling destroy all the German minefields?"


    "It''s possible to destroy most of them, but it''s impossible to destroy all of them." It''s very unpleasant to think that our troops may be overwhelmed by German mines: "so it''s still up to engineers to open up a way for our infantry in the enemy''s minefield."


    I said and grabbed the phone to get through to the headquarters of Xie Liujin. When I heard his voice coming out of the earphone, I immediately asked nervously, "Comrade Colonel, are you equipped with engineers in your offensive forces?"


    "Equipped with engineers?" When Xie Liujin heard my question, he was stunned. Then he asked, "Comrade commander, from our attack starting position to the city of Belgorod, there are plains in the middle. There is no need for engineers to set up floating bridges."


    Just now, Danilov understood the Engineer I said as a shock Engineer in steel armor; Now Xie Liujin regards them as the engineers of Zhouqiao battalion who specially set up the floating bridge. I suppressed my anger and said, "Comrade Colonel, please listen to me carefully. The Engineer I am talking about is neither a shock Engineer for street fighting, nor an engineer for erecting a floating bridge, but an engineer specialized in mine clearance. Do you understand me? "


    "But, but, comrade commander." When Xie Liujin heard me say this, he was a little flustered. "The attack will start soon. Where can I go to find engineers?"


    "I don''t care about that." I didn''t want to talk to him, so I directly ordered: "whether you borrow from other troops or you go to mine with an engineer shovel, you should find a way to open up a safe passage for the attacking troops."


    "Yes, comrade commander." Xie Liujin said helplessly: "I will arrange engineers to send mines on the charging road."


    When I put down the phone, I said angrily, "what''s the matter with these division commanders? Don''t they understand that they should send engineers to open up a passage in the middle of the enemy''s minefield before they attack?"


    "Comrade commander, please don''t be angry. I don''t blame the following teachers for this. If you want to blame me, blame me. " When Danilov saw that I was angry, he quickly took the responsibility to himself: "it''s because I didn''t think about it carefully. I thought that I would carry out an hour or two of shelling before shelling. In minefields, there are usually few mines left after the shelling. Therefore, I did not arrange for the divisions to send engineers to clear mines. "


    When I saw Danilov take the responsibility to himself, I couldn''t blame him any more. I just sighed and said helplessly: "Comrade deputy commander, you may not know that although our army has made full preparations for each attack, there are very few shells that fall into the minefield and explode. So that after the shelling, when our troops charge, there will be a large number of casualties in the German minefield. If there are tanks in the front of the assault, I will not say anything, because the tank track can clear a lot of mines. But now we are all involved in the attack of infantry, the flesh and blood of the soldiers can not block the flying shrapnel


    "What should we do, what should we do?" Danilov was so anxious that he began to circle the room again. "There are engineering battalions in the headquarters of the group army, but the water far away can''t save the fire near. By the time they arrive, our army''s attack has begun."


    "I can''t help it. Now the dead horse is the living horse doctor." I picked up the phone and called bezikov, who was staying at the headquarters¡° Chief of staff, I order you to immediately send the Engineering Battalion of the group army to the position of the 89th division of the guards and help them clear the mines on the offensive road. "


    Bezikov probably seldom heard me speak to him in such a stern tone, so he answered without hesitation, "I understand, comrade commander. I immediately ordered them to go to the sherekin division and open up a passage for the troops in the minefield."


    "Very good, chief of staff." Although bezikov had promised to send out the engineering troops immediately, I still told him not to worry: "move fast. The attack of the division Xie Liujin will begin soon."


    Although I gave the order in time and bzikov quickly dispatched the engineering troops, when the trucks of the engineering troops arrived at the sheriujin division, the leading regiment of the division had launched an attack. As the minefields and barbed wire on the offensive road were not cleaned up, the troops paid a third of the cost of casualties when passing through the above areas. In addition, the 53rd and 69th group armies were frustrated in their attacks. They barely approached the vanguard regiment outside the city of Belgorod and had to retreat.


    When I heard about the casualties reported by Xie Liujin, I was so angry that I hit the table with a fist. However, I tried my best to keep calm and asked, "Colonel, have you sent engineers to clear the mine?"


    "Not yet, comrade commander." Xie Liujin replied sheepishly.


    "What, no engineers." My anger, which I had tried hard to suppress, rose again. I immediately asked fiercely to the microphone, "Comrade Colonel, do you plan to let the troops launch a second attack because there will be a large number of casualties in the minefield?"


    "No, comrade commander. It''s not what you think. " Xie Liujin said in a panic: "I had sent engineers to clear the barbed wire and mine. But because the German army blocked the minefield with firepower, the engineers sent out retreated again after more than a dozen casualties. "


    "Even so, you have to find a way!" Although I heard that the German army blocked the minefield with firepower, so that the engineers could not get close to the minefield, I still said to him in the tone of hating iron but not steel: "we can''t wait for our soldiers to clear the minefield with flesh and blood after the second attack?"


    "Please rest assured, comrade commander." Xie Liujin''s voice suddenly became loud, showing a strong look¡° We have come up with a better way to carry out remote demining. "


    "Remote mine clearance?" Hearing this strange term, I sneered and said, "are you going to use artillery to clear the mine?"


    As soon as the words fell, I was stunned. He said in his heart: Yes, why do I only want to use engineers to mine, but not artillery to mine? Every division has a mortar company. It only needs to blast the mortar at the minefield for a while. It can not only detonate the mines, but also blow down the wooden piles with wire. In this way, it will open up a way for the infantry to charge?


    I didn''t speak because I was thinking about things. At the other end of the phone, Xie Liujin did not speak. After a long time, he stammered: "the commander and comrade, unexpectedly, you... You have already thought of this method!" When I heard that his idea coincided with mine, the stone hanging in my heart was temporarily released, and my heart said: Fortunately, this Colonel Xie Liujin''s brain is not too stupid and flexible. Knowing that under the blockade of German firepower, the use of engineers for mine clearance would not only cause heavy casualties, but also fail to achieve ideal results, so they switched to artillery for mine clearance. I just wanted to praise him, but suddenly there was a lot of gunfire and the explosion of tank shells. Danilov ran to the door and asked, "what''s the matter?" Listening to the sound of gunfire and explosion, I was not far away from here. Knowing that something must have happened, I said briefly to the microphone, "well, comrade Colonel, I''ll clear the mine in the way you said. Good luck to you As soon as I put off the phone, I rushed to the door and listened to the conversation between Danilov and an officer who came to inform me: "what''s the matter? We have a heavy tank at the entrance of the village. How can we let the Germans touch into the village?" The officer said with a sad face: "this German army came out of nowhere. Maybe it lost its way, so it bumped into the village by mistake. As a result, it was found by the tank soldiers at the entrance of the village, so the battle took place. Comrades commander, it''s too dangerous here. You''d better move first? "¡° Transfer, where to transfer? " After listening to the officer''s words, I can''t help frowning. Now that the enemy outside is not clear, I rush out rashly. Isn''t that death. I yelled out to the outside, "major busmanov!" Even called twice, but did not see basmanov''s figure. Just as I was about to lose my temper, the officer carefully explained to me, "Comrade commander, the major has gone to meet the enemy with his troops. He ordered me to report to you."

 Chapter 1196

    After about half an hour, basmanov, whose face was blackened by smoke, walked into the headquarters with an assault rifle in his hand. After raising his hand to salute both of us, he reported: "two comrades, we have wiped out all the German troops who attacked us and captured five prisoners." When he said this, he stopped for a moment, looked at me and asked, "do you need to send them here for your own interrogation?"


    "No need." I replied coldly.


    "Wait a minute, comrade major." Danilov will basmanov to leave, quickly stopped him. Then he turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, we should listen to why we were attacked by the German army and learn from our experience so as to avoid similar things in the future."


    "Well, comrade major, tell me what''s going on." I know that Danilov is a strict commander. He won''t give up until he has a clear idea of some things. Let basmanov introduce what happened¡° How did the Germans get to the village? "


    "This is the case." Basmanov had obviously interrogated the prisoners, so he was very confident in answering my question: "our new tank broke its track when it entered the village because of a mine. When the small German troops came up quietly, our tank soldiers were repairing the tanks. Because the noise was too loud, we didn''t hear the approaching footsteps of the enemy. One of the tank soldiers inadvertently turned back and found that there was a German approaching, immediately shouting warning. When the German troops saw that their whereabouts were exposed, they opened fire, causing two tank soldiers to die on the spot. The rest of the tank soldiers got into the tank from the bottom of the tank, fired at the enemy with tank guns and machine guns, and suppressed the German troops outside the village. "


    "Why did the German army come to the village?" Danilov asked curiously.


    On hearing this question, basmanov said with a bitter smile: "Comrade deputy commander, in fact, this German army was ordered to withdraw from the village in the north. When they passed here, they wanted to come in and see if there were any of their own people. As a result, they were found and beaten by our tank soldiers. I rushed up with my troops and wiped them out before long. "


    It was a German garrison that had been stationed in a village in the north. Danilov immediately lost interest and asked basmanov to leave. Then he studied with me how to attack Belgorod.


    Although our army''s attack on Belgorod did not work, Manstein was flustered and quickly drew reinforcements from the direction of tomarovka. When rodimzev called me, his voice became hoarse: "Comrade commander, the German tanks are attacking our division''s defensive positions after the shelling¡° How can it be compared to that. " After listening to what I said, Danilov said somewhat unconvinced: "the defenders who stick to the city are all the elite troops under Manstein. They not only have better technical and tactical level than our commanders and fighters, but also have rich combat experience. It may not be that easy to beat them. "


    Listening to the map, I said to myself, "it seems that this Belgorod can''t be beaten today."


    "What, Belgorod, can''t we fight today?" Although I said it in a low voice, Danilov still heard it. He raised his hand and looked at his watch. He said unconvinced: "it''s just noon now, and it''s almost ten hours before dark. Can''t we capture the city with a limited number of defenders in such a long time?"


    I didn''t want to argue with him on this issue any more, so I digged off the topic: "Comrade deputy commander, the 89th guard suffered a lot of casualties in the morning battle. In my opinion, let Colonel Chernoff''s 90th division be in charge of the attack in the afternoon. What do you mean? "


    As for my arrangement, Danilov asked in a puzzled way, "Comrade commander, although we say that the casualties of Colonel seleucin''s troops are not small, they have not hurt their vitality. Is it appropriate to withdraw them at this time?"


    "Let them have a good rest and attack in the afternoon." When I said this, I specially reminded him: "don''t forget that we have recently added a lot of new recruits. It''s very helpful to let the new recruits feel the atmosphere of the battlefield properly."


    When I said this, Danilov immediately nodded in agreement: "well, you have a point. The tens of thousands of new recruits who have been added to our group army have hardly received any military training. Even if there are some people with military training, they used to be just militia patrolling the city. I''ll call Colonel Chernoff and ask him to take his troops to the attack in the afternoon. "


    After receiving the order, Chernoff promised to take the troops to the front immediately and make all preparations before the attack. When Xie Liujin heard that I asked his division to take a temporary rest and hand over the offensive task to the 90th division of Jinwei, he was a little worried and said to me in a loud voice on the phone: "Comrade commander, although our two attacks failed, the enthusiasm of the commanders and fighters was very high, and they replaced us with friendly forces of unknown factions. I assure you that as long as we launch another attack, our division will certainly be able to attack Belgorod. This time, I will personally lead the troops to charge. "


    "What if your troops can''t rush into the city?" Hearing his promise, I immediately poured a basin of cold water on his head without hesitation: "do you think that as long as the fighting enthusiasm is high, you will be able to rush into the city?"


    "Anyway, you have no right to let our division stop attacking." "We have so many officers and men who died on the road to bergorod. They are watching us from the sky and how we rushed into the city to destroy the bandits," said Xie Liujin. But you ordered our division to rest in place and change to friendly forces to attack. How can I explain to the soldiers? "¡° Comrade Colonel, when I ask you to stop and rest for a while, I do not mean that I do not trust you, but that I have more important tasks to give you. " In order to keep sherekin from feeling down, I made it clear to him: "judging from today''s situation, the German defense is very tenacious. If you attack like this morning, you will pay a great sacrifice. Now, replacing the 90th division of Jinwei is to let them get familiar with the environment. After all, to occupy such a big city, you alone are not enough. "¡° Comrade commander, you mean...?! " Xie Liujin listened to me and asked tentatively, "when the right time comes, will we still send our division to attack?"¡° Yes, that''s it, comrade colonel I said to him firmly: "I once made a statement to the commander of the front army, saying that our army group would be the first to rush into bergorod and Kharkov and put our flag on the highest point of the city. And I''ll give you the task of rushing into Belgorod first. But before that, you should have a good rest, and at the same time, call together all the commanders who have participated in the battle. They should study the causes of the attack and find out the corresponding countermeasures. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander. " Xie Liaojin said happily, "I understand everything now. I immediately had a meeting with commanders at all levels to analyze the reasons for the failure of today''s attack and prepare to succeed in the next attack. "¡° Yes, comrade colonel I said approvingly, "that''s it. Well, your division can rest until tomorrow. Make good use of this time to rest. " With that, I hung up without waiting for him to speak. Seeing that I put down the phone and stood opposite, Danilov asked strangely, "Comrade commander, do you really think our troops can''t rush into the city today?"¡° Yes, comrade deputy commander. " I answered positively: "from the current signs, our attack will not be successful. We will not be able to occupy Belgorod until tomorrow." At 5 a.m. the next day, after a new round of artillery preparation, the 89th division of Xie Liujin''s guards launched an attack from their own positions while the 53rd and 69th group armies launched an attack. Less than an hour later, I received a phone call from Xie Liujin, who said excitedly: "report to commander, my 270th infantry regiment has successfully rushed into the city and is advancing towards the center of the city."¡° Well done, comrade colonel I loudly ordered him to say, "speed up the attack and put the red flag on the commanding height of the city as soon as possible. Do you understand?"

 Chapter 1197

    Although I repeatedly ordered Xie Liujin to put the red flag on the commanding height of the city, for me who had never been to Belgorod, I didn''t know where the commanding height was, but I habitually gave him such an order.


    Putting down the phone, I thought for a moment, and then dialed the "commander" of the guards. Perhaps when I heard that I could get a medal and a military rank promotion, askarepov, who had been hesitant, suddenly made up his mind. He said aloud, "please rest assured that I will immediately organize the troops to fight in groups as a unit." At this point, he stopped for a moment, then asked cautiously, "do you want me to send troops to the south of the city to completely cut off the retreat of the German army?"


    "That''s not necessary, comrade colonel." In my heart, I understand the reason of encircling the three towers. If the German army finds that their rear path is cut off, they will fight desperately, which will cause more casualties to us. Therefore, I have no hesitation in rejecting the proposal of Colonel askarepov¡° As long as the German army found that their back path had not been cut off by us, they would take the initiative to retreat when they felt that they could not resist our attack; If it is found that the retreat is cut off, then their soldiers will fight to the end, causing unnecessary casualties to our army. "


    In the next few hours, the war reports of the three divisions were continuously sent to my temporary headquarters by telephone or telegram. I flipped the stack of telegrams on the table, satisfied with their performance in the street fight.


    Xie Liujin''s 89th division of guards rushed to the front. When he met the enemy''s fortifications, he either directly destroyed them with artillery fire or sent soldiers to blow them up and made a deep charge towards the German army.


    On the other hand, the 90th division of Jinwei fought steadily. After taking over the streets occupied by the sheriujin division, it immediately established defenses to prevent possible German counterattack. At the same time, it also sent small troops to carry out the buildings on both sides of the street to eliminate the remaining enemies.


    Although the 77th division was the latest to enter the city, it achieved great success. If they occupy one place, they consolidate it. It not only beat back several frenzied counterattacks of the German army, but also took the opportunity to launch a counter charge and seize many German positions at one stroke.


    Bizikov, who had just arrived, looked at the telegram on the desk and asked me with a smile, "Comrade commander, do you think we can occupy Belgorod today?"


    I looked up at him and said, "if only the three divisions of our group army are fighting, I can tell you responsibly that it can''t be." Seeing his surprised expression, I added: "of course, there are two friendly divisions in the city, which are also engaged in fierce street fighting with the German army. With their support, the German army could not drive our troops out of the city at all. As long as they can hold on until the seventh group army of the guards rushes into the city, it is only a matter of time before the German army is expelled from the city. "


    Perhaps it was to confirm whether what I said was correct. As soon as my voice dropped, akhromeyev, who was answering the phone, excitedly reported to me: "Comrade commander, Colonel Chernoff has called to say that the flag of the 272th regiment of the guards has been put on the top of the Belgorod radio building, the commanding height of the city."


    "That''s great. That''s great." When Danilov heard the news, he was overjoyed and couldn''t help saying, "major, please tell Colonel Chernoff that you will immediately report to me the name list of the flag bearers and the people who participated in the flag planting operation. I will ask for credit for them and I will honor them..."


    I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and then said, "it''s 11:30 noon. Our flag is on the top of the radio building in Belgorod. Comrades, this is an important moment worth remembering, and it is also an important event that will forever be recorded in the history of the sixth group army. " After that, I turned around and said to bzikov, "connect me with the headquarters of the front army, and I will report this good news to Marshal Zhukov and commander watujing immediately."


    I had just reported to vatukin that our army flag had been placed on the top floor of the radio building in Belgorod when Zhukov snatched the phone. I heard his voice tremble a little with excitement: "is it true, Rita? Has our red flag been flying over Belgorod


    "Yes, comrade marshal." I don''t understand why Zhukov, who has experienced many battles, behaved so abnormally when he heard that the red flag had been planted on the top of the radio building in Belgorod, but he still truthfully replied, "it''s the 272nd regiment of the 90th division of the guard of Colonel Chernoff."


    "It''s not the colonel, it''s the major general. Major general Chernoff. " Hearing my affirmative answer, Zhukov suddenly said to me in a loud voice, "please tell Chernoff and his commanders and fighters the good news of his promotion."


    I can only nod my head and say, "I see, marshal. I''ll pass on the good news to him. "


    "Rita, the central front of general rokosovsky, has liberated Oreal." After revealing this important good news to me, he continued: "if you can liberate Belgorod today, it will be very commemorative. Do you see what I mean? "


    "I see, comrade marshal." When Zhukov said this, I immediately understood why he was so excited. If he could recover two big cities in one day, Stalin would be happy. Now that I knew the reason, I immediately said to him, "please rest assured that our troops will continue to fight bravely and strive to drive all the Germans out of the city before dark."


    "If only you could understand." Zhukov was very satisfied with my reply, "I hope your performance will not disappoint me and Comrade vatukin." After I put down the phone, maybe the expression on my face was too serious, which attracted everyone''s attention. Danilov asked me curiously, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? Why do you look so serious after talking to marshal? "¡° It is necessary to occupy Belgorod today. " I didn''t answer Danilov''s words, but it just came out of my head. Several people looked at each other and saw the confusion in each other''s eyes. Then kirilov curiously asked me, "Rita, what''s the matter? Why do you have to occupy Belgorod today? You always have to explain the reason to us, otherwise everyone will be confused."¡° Marshal Zhukov told me, "I took a deep breath and said as gently as I could," general rokosovsky''s central front army has liberated Orel. If we can liberate Belgorod on the same day, what great historical significance will it have? Even if I don''t say it, you will understand it in your heart A few people listened to my words, all coincidentally nodded. After a while, Danilov said with some embarrassment: "unfortunately, it''s not only our group army but also the 69th group army that are engaged in street fighting in the city. We can''t command them at all!" Seeing that Danilov misunderstood my intention, I quickly explained: "Comrade deputy commander, you have made a mistake. I don''t want the command of these troops, but I want to help more fierce fighting troops outside the city rush into the city. As long as our forces are superior in the city, we will drive the German out of the city. Do you see what I mean? "

 Chapter 1198

    After I had said this, I sat down in my seat and thought about it. Then I stood up and announced to everyone, "comrades, commanders, I have decided to go to the city in person."¡° What? " Hearing my decision, Danilov jumped up from his seat and said in surprise, "Comrade commander, what do you say? You plan to go to the city in person?"¡° Yes, comrade deputy commander. " I nodded and said with certainty, "I decided to go to the city to see the situation myself, to cheer up the commanders and fighters, and let them make persistent efforts to occupy Belgorod before dark."¡° Rita, you know, we have three divisions in the city. Even if you don''t boost your morale, they can still occupy the city. " Out of concern, kirilov earnestly advised me: "the city is too dangerous. Don''t forget the lesson of general apanashenko, deputy commander of the front army. For your safety, you''d better stay here to command." As soon as kirilov''s words were uttered, bzikov repeatedly echoed: "yes, comrade military commissar is right. You are the commander of the group army. You can''t take risks in dangerous places. You''d better stay here to command. " I waved my hand and said firmly: "although we have three divisions in the city, there is no unified command. Now each division is fighting its own way, so it is difficult to form a strong combat effectiveness. It may be able to gain an advantage in some areas, but it is very difficult to drive the German troops out of the city. "¡° In that case, I''ll go with you. " After hearing this, kirilov suddenly said something unexpected¡° Well, comrade military commissar, let''s go to the city together. " I knew that if kirilov was not allowed to go into the city with me, he would oppose my going to the city to direct the battle, just like other people, so I readily agreed. Before leaving, he explained to Danilov, "Comrade deputy commander, you and Colonel bzikov are in charge here."¡° Yeah, no problem Danilov also readily agreed: "I will keep in touch with the front command and the divisions below." More than ten minutes later, the jeep that kirilov and I took entered the city. Seeing the collapsed buildings on both sides of the street, smelling the smell of burnt rust, charcoal, bricks and blood, my mood became irritable. It happened that the jeep couldn''t move forward because there were too many bricks and stones in the street ahead, so I pushed the door open and got out of the car. I walked along the street full of bricks and gravel, looking at the officers and men who appeared in my sight. Except for a few soldiers who were converging on the bodies in the street, others were sitting on the curb and eating their own lunch. Their lunch was simple, just a few slices of dry bread and sausage, a few mouthfuls of bread, and then a drink in a kettle, not caring about the piles of corpses beside them. Seeing all this, kirilov said indignantly, "damn the invaders, look what they have done to our city. How much manpower and material resources will we have to invest in the future to restore the city to its original state. " I didn''t answer, just walked forward in silence, suddenly I saw a ragged old man sitting in the rubble of the road, with his back against a broken wall and his eyes staring blankly ahead. This is what kirilov said when I came into the city. After that, the quiet room became more silent. Everyone was trying to digest what they had just heard. After a while, ascalepov, flushed with excitement, suddenly turned around and yelled to his chief of staff, "Comrade chief of staff, gather the commanders of the offensive battalion, and I will personally assign the offensive task to them!"

 Chapter 1199

    Instead of listening to askarepov teach his men street fighting skills, I took kirilov out of the division headquarters and planned to go to the 90th guard division. Not far from the building, kirilov suddenly stopped, turned to me and said, "Rita, are we going to Colonel Chernoff''s division headquarters like this?"


    "Yes." Although I don''t understand why kirilov asked this question, I answered truthfully: "general shumilov''s troops are attacking the east of the city. I plan to let the 90th division of the guards attack from the rear of the German army to coordinate the friendly forces so that they can attack the city as soon as possible."


    "Can you wait a moment, Rita?" Kirilov pleaded with me: "I want to see the street that Colonel askarepov said."


    His request made me hesitate for a moment, but soon I readily agreed to his request. After all, there is no need to conflict with him on such a small matter. I turned around and asked the officer who was guiding us, "where is the observation post nearby?"


    The officer pointed to a half collapsed building not far away and said, "Comrade commander, there is an observation post on the second floor. You can clearly see the street you said."


    Under the leadership of the officers, we arrived at the observation post smoothly. The three officers and men inside saw us enter the door, quickly raised their hands to salute, and gave us a side position, so that we could observe the situation outside from the window.


    I stood at the window, looking at the road between our and German positions with a blank face. Although the distance is only two or three hundred meters, it is like a natural moat in front of us. There''s bodies all over the floor. I can''t help but feel like a knife in my heart.


    Looking at the officers and men hiding behind various bunkers, I urged kirilov: "Comrade military commissar, can you leave now? We need to get to Colonel Chernoff''s division as soon as possible, or it will be too late. "


    "All right, Rita." After watching the battlefield, kirilov turned pale. Hearing what I said, he immediately replied without hesitation, "let''s go now."


    We followed the street controlled by our army to the radio station building occupied by the 272th regiment of guards. Kirilov looked up at the red flag flying in the wind on the roof. He could not help but burst into tears. His voice trembled and said, "Rita, since we captured Kiev last time, I haven''t seen our flag flying over the city occupied by the German army for a long time."


    I waited for him to finish, then said with a smile: "Comrade military commissar, although it is of extremely important political significance to occupy Belgorod today, it is only a medium-sized city after all. You can express your feelings when we liberate big cities like Kharkov, Kiev and Minsk."


    Kirilov''s face flushed slightly. Then he turned away and said, "come on, Rita, let''s go to the division headquarters. Colonel Chernoff is waiting for us."


    Chernoff didn''t know we would come, and naturally he wouldn''t wait for us. But I followed kirilov''s words and said, "yes, yes, the Colonel must be in a hurry. We''ll see him now."


    Chernoff was set up in a conference room on the second floor. The officer on duty at the entrance of the radio station politely led us to the door. Then he said respectfully, "commander, military commissar, division commander is in there. Please come in!"


    When kirilov and I walked in, we saw a group of commanders around the table. No one noticed us. I called them out loud: "Hello, comrades, commanders!"


    Hearing my voice, all the people stood up and faced me, politely responded: "Hello, comrade commander."


    I went to the table, sat down in an empty chair, pulled the map on the table in front of me, and then asked, "what are you studying, Colonel Chernoff?"


    Chernoff quickly replied, "Comrade report commander, we are studying the next attack direction."


    "Comrade Colonel, what are you going to do next?" Before I give Chernoff a task, I want to hear how he thinks, "tell me your plan."


    "Well, comrade commander." Chernoff pointed to the map and said to me, "our 272th regiment is deployed in a few blocks centered on the radio station, connected to the 77th division of the guards in the West. The 271st regiment is on the north side of the radio building, and it is in the same area as Colonel sherekin''s close guard regiment 270. And our close guard 273rd regiment is to the south of the whole division. I''m going to let them attack South and cut off the retreat of the German army. "


    "Why cut off the retreat of the German army, comrade Colonel?" I waited for him to finish, just asked lightly.


    Chernoff may have dreamt that I would suddenly ask such a question, and he was stunned. After a while, he murmured, "Comrade commander, I think we can cut off the German retreat to Kharkov by attacking south along the street. That way, our troops will have a chance to wipe out all the German troops in the city. "


    "Your troops may have been eaten by the German army before you cut off the retreat." I said impolitely, "there may still be more than 5000 people left in your division, and a regiment will have thousands of people if it''s full of money and money, plus those logistics personnel. Do you think it will be successful to attack an enemy several times more than you with such a force?"


    My words made Chernoff speechless. He turned to look at his subordinates, and then nervously asked, "Comrade commander, what shall we do?"


    "At present, the task of your division is to consolidate the defensive line of the 272th regiment of the guards and defend here at all costs." I pointed to the map and began to assign tasks to Chernoff: "at the same time, transfer the 273rd regiment to attack the east of the city."


    "Attack east of the city?" Chernoff''s chief of staff was puzzled and said, "Comrade commander, it''s the attack area of the seventh group army of the guards. If we go to attack there, will there be a conflict with the friendly forces because of crossing the border?"


    I gave the division chief of staff a vicious look, and I really wanted to kick him. But I still managed to control my mood and said in a smooth tone: "I let you attack eastward to help the troops of the seventh group army enter the city. If you think about it, as long as they enter the city, the comparison of our and enemy forces in the city will develop in the direction beneficial to our army. As for the cross-border problem you are worried about, don''t worry about it at all. After the friendly troops enter the city, you can go back to the original defense area. "


    Chernoff''s brain is not too stupid at all. When I say this, it suddenly dawns on him. He patted the table hard and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, I understand. I understand everything. You asked us to attack the east of the city, just to make sure that the enemy there could not look at each other head and tail, so that the friendly forces could break through the German defense as soon as possible and rush into the city to join us. As long as there are more troops in the city, the initiative in the battlefield will be in our hands. "


    I waited for him to finish, nodded, and then said faintly, "Comrade Colonel, since you have understood my fighting intention, don''t you hurry to arrange it?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Chernoff agreed, turned and called for a lieutenant commander, and began to assign a task to him: "lieutenant commander, in addition to leaving two companies on guard, the rest of your troops immediately turned to the east to help the friendly troops break through the German defensive positions."


    "Yes The Commander agreed, turned and walked out of the headquarters quickly.


    When there were only me, kirilov, bernoff and his chief of staff left in the headquarters, I asked curiously, "Comrade Colonel, where is your political commissar?"


    "He went down to the army." When Chernoff finished, seeing my blank face, he quickly explained: "every time there is a big battle, the political commissar will go to the grass-roots units to do political agitation work. He said it is very helpful to boost the morale and improve the combat effectiveness of the troops. "


    "Yes, comrade Colonel, it is." Kirilov went on to say: "the political personnel have contributed a lot to our victory in the defense of Stalingrad. Without them, it would be hard to say what the final outcome of the campaign would have been like if they hadn''t been in the army all the time, doing political agitation to the commanders and fighters and inspiring their confidence in victory. "


    "By the way, comrade colonel." When Chernoff and kirilov were talking, I suddenly thought of a thing. As soon as they finished talking, they immediately asked, "have you found any residents of the city in the area occupied by your division?"


    After listening to my question, Chernoff first shook his head, then nodded a moment later, frowned and said, "Comrade commander, I am aware of your question. In the more than ten streets we occupied, only no more than 50 local residents were found, and the rest of them were unknown. "


    "Have you ever interrogated German prisoners?" Kirilov also asked curiously, "have they confessed that they have taken the residents of the city to any place?"


    "We have captured several SS prisoners," Chernoff said, word for word. "According to their confession, the SS leader Himmler has issued a new order to implement the scorched earth policy against us. They were ordered to take everything and destroy everything. As early as July 29, the Germans began to move the residents of Belgorod, and destroyed all the factories and civil facilities in the city, destroying almost all the buildings. "


    When I heard Chernoff say this, I was shocked. I didn''t expect that the Germans had just lost the battle in Kursk and started to use this scorched earth strategy to deal with our army. Did they also feel that the situation was over, so they began to use this extreme method. I began to pray in my heart that the 273rd regiment would act more quickly and take the 7th group army into the city as soon as possible, so that we could drive the Germans out of the city soon.


    It''s only 40 minutes since the head of the 273rd regiment left and he called us. But for me, it''s as long as a century. On the phone, the lieutenant commander excitedly reported to Chernoff that "Comrade division commander, the 15th and 36th divisions of the seventh group army of the guards have successfully rushed into the city and are developing southward."


    After reporting this information to me, Chernoff covered the microphone and asked, "Comrade commander, what shall we do next?"


    "Ask the commander," I asked thoughtfully, "did the friendly forces send troops to take over his defense?"


    Chernoff released his hand covering the microphone and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, did the friendly troops enter your defense area?"


    "No, the friendly troops did not enter our defense area, and then they turned south to attack the German defense positions." Perhaps the gunfire over there was so loud that the commander had to report aloud, "Comrade division commander, what''s the next task of our regiment?"¡° Let them stay where they are This time, without waiting for Chernoff to ask me again, I gave the order first¡° Make sure that the gap torn by the friendly forces will not be blocked by the German forces again. " My order was immediately conveyed by Chernoff truthfully. The fighting continued for more than four hours, and the sound of guns outside finally became sparse. Kirilov listened attentively for a while and said curiously, "why is the sound of guns getting weaker and weaker? Are the German troops in the city almost wiped out?" After listening to his conjecture, I said with a smile: "Comrade military commissar, the situation may be as you guessed. As the main force of our army enters the city, we are gradually annihilating the tenacious enemy, so I think the battle will be over soon. " As soon as I finished my words, an officer came out in a hurry. After raising his hand to salute us, he reported, "report commander, there is a general coming out. He said that he is general shumilov, commander of the seventh group army of the guards."¡° Is general shumilov here? " When I heard the news, I jumped up from my seat and quickly walked out of the door, intending to meet my old superior in person. Who knows, just walked to the door, then saw the dusty shumilov came in from the outside. As soon as he saw me, a smile appeared on his face. After he reached out and shook my hand, he said triumphantly, "Comrade oshanina, as soon as I heard from the 273rd regiment leader that you were here, I immediately rushed over." He inadvertently looked up, saw kirilov, and then held out his hand to him with a smile, "Hello, comrade kirilov, I didn''t expect that we would meet here."¡° There is nothing unexpected, general shumilov Kirilov also replied with a smile: "I was Rita''s military Commissioner, so it''s no surprise that I was in the same place as her. Well, have all the troops gone to town? "¡° Yes, they''re all in. " Shumilov said with relief: "after the 15th and 36th divisions of Jinwei rushed into the city, the 78th and 81st divisions of Jinwei also entered the city one after another, and are launching a fierce attack on the German army in the south of the city. I believe that it won''t be long before we can wipe out or drive away the enemy who is in the south of the city. " The German troops who stayed in the south of the city received Manstein''s order to withdraw. Except for leaving a few troops to cover, the rest of the large troops withdrew from bergorod orderly and went to Kharkov. With the withdrawal of the main German forces, the battle in the south of Belgorod continued for more than an hour and ended with a complete victory for our army. Shumilov and I sent a joint telegram to the headquarters of the front army, reporting the good news to Zhukov and vatujing.

 Chapter 1200

    Vatukin''s telegram will come soon. In his telegram, he not only praised the tenacious fighting spirit of our two group armies in the battle of liberation of Belgorod, but also informed us that according to the order of the supreme command, after our two group armies handed over their defense to the grassland front army, they immediately launched their subordinate troops in the south of the city towards the direction of Kharkov, To prevent a possible German counterattack.


    After seeing this telegram from vatujing, shumilov asked me thoughtfully, "Comrade oshanina, how do you see this telegram and why do you want to give bergerode to the grassland front army? You know, it was the first to attack the city, but our two army groups. "


    Listening to schumilov''s words with resentment, I knew that he was unconvinced by this command, and also felt unworthy of those officers and men who died in the process of crossing the northern Donets or attacking the city. But in this case, if I agree with him and attack the superior''s orders, I may be calculated by people with ulterior motives. Therefore, I pondered for a while and used a reasonable reason to persuade him: "Comrade General, I think the reason why the superior issued such orders may be to give the grassland front army a place to rest, To know that they are in this period of attack, can always be charged with the task of frontal attack. You can see that our two army groups have paid such a high price just for assisting. We should be able to judge the casualties of general konev''s troops. "


    After listening to my analysis, shumilov''s anger weakened. He asked in an uncertain tone, "is that so?"


    "General sumilov, I think Rita''s analysis is very reasonable." Kirilov also helped me to analyze to shumilov: "as far as I know, the 53rd and 69th army groups of the grassland front army are newly formed troops. They have a large number of recruits and relatively weak combat effectiveness. Therefore, it is entirely possible to pay a higher price in the battle."


    "But the casualties of our two army groups are not small," shumilov said in a depressed mood. "Why do you order us to go to the south of the city to launch the troops without even giving us time to rest?"


    "Comrades general," I organized the words in my mind, and then said, "although the German army was driven out of the city by us, they will certainly have a good heart. Maybe they will fight back against Belgorod at any time. Think about it. In the face of the frenzied counterattack of the German army, do you think it is the 53rd and 69th army, which suffered heavy casualties, or our two army groups


    After what I said, shumilov fell into a deep meditation. After a while, the expression on his face became relaxed: "so it is. It seems that I wronged commander watujing. By the way, comrade oshanina, when do you think the superior will order us to attack Kharkov? "


    "Why, comrade general, you can''t wait to liberate Kharkov as soon as you liberate Belgorod?" Seeing that he no longer cared about vatukin''s order, I laughed at him and said, "you know, in the last military meeting, the superior only mentioned that the most important task recently is to liberate Belgorod. As for the liberation of Kharkov, it may take two days before the higher authorities make a new decision. "


    "In that case, it''s time for me to go back and carry out the order to mobilize the troops." Shumilov stood up from his seat, reached out to kirilov and me, and politely said, "then we''ll see you later. I wish you good health!"


    As soon as shumilov left, I immediately dialed the headquarters and asked bzikov who answered the phone, "chief of staff, do you know what the fighting situation is like over there in tomarovka?"


    "According to the telegram sent by the headquarters of the front army," I heard the sound of turning the paper from the receiver. It should be that bezikov was reading the war report he had just received: "our army has taken the initiative in tomarovka. Three infantry divisions and one armored division of the German army have fallen into our encirclement. At the moment, the encirclement and annihilation is in progress, It is estimated that the final battle will be solved by tomorrow morning. "


    "Then we have four infantry divisions and two tank brigades in the city of tomarovka." Although I now have three close guard divisions, I still feel that my troops are too weak. It''s enough to talk about such a small number of troops, and it''s not enough to talk about it. If it is used to stick to the line of defense, strength is enough; But if we want to launch an attack on Kharkov, it is estimated that such forces will be lost in the three-dimensional defense of German planes, tanks and artillery before they rush into the city¡° Do the superiors have any up-to-date arrangements for them? "


    "No, comrade commander." "Although our army is in the upper hand, the battle is not over yet. In order to prevent uncertain factors from affecting the final result of the battle, I don''t think our superiors will let us randomly mobilize these troops for the time being. "


    When I heard bzikov''s reply, my heart was cold. With the strength in my hand, I could only fight a defensive war. It seems a little unrealistic to take part in the attack on Kharkov.


    As I am about to mobilize the troops in the city, it is obviously inappropriate for me to go to the south of the city and make the headquarters of the group army stay alone far away from the troops. So I told bzikov: "chief of staff, the troops in bergorod have moved to the south of the city, and the headquarters should move as soon as possible."


    "Yes, comrade commander." "We are ready to move at once," he promised


    "No hurry, chief of staff." Seeing that he was so active, I stopped him immediately: "we haven''t determined the new garrison, so the transfer of the headquarters should be carried out in the daytime tomorrow."


    "OK," bzikov said on the phone, "I''ll use this time to see if I can gather more troops and follow us to the south of Belgorod."


    If he didn''t talk about collecting troops, I would have forgotten rodimzev''s close guard 13th division. When he said this, I could not wait to add: "chief of staff, when you move tomorrow, it is estimated that the battle in tomarovka will be over. At that time, the 13th division, which is responsible for cutting off the connection between tomarovka and bergorod, should have finished their task. Since they have nothing to do for the time being, you can take this unit with you when you transfer. "


    Bezikov may have been thinking about this army for a long time, but as my deputy, he is not good at many things. At the moment, when I heard that I had proposed this matter on my own initiative, I immediately agreed: "don''t worry, comrade commander. I''ll bring you the 13th division tomorrow. "


    Kirilov and I were moving to the south of the city in a jeep. Seeing that there were only US and the driver in the jeep, he worried and asked, "Rita, is it really appropriate to transfer the No.13 division into our group army without asking for instructions from the superior?"


    "There should be no problem." I said with some guilty heart: "since commander watujing has given general rojmzev''s troops to my command, I think he also has plans to let them join our group army."


    When kirilov heard me say this, he did not entangle with me on this issue, but asked about his concerns: "when do you think the superior will let us attack Kharkov?"


    For kirilov''s question, I don''t think it''s easy to answer. Because in my memory, it was after the victory of the liberation of Belgorod that vatukin and konev reported their specific campaign plans to Stalin, and they were approved on August 6 and 8. When I think of these two dates, I think of the two atomic bombs that the Americans dropped in Japan two years later. These two atomic bombs and the subsequent declaration of war by the Soviet Army greatly accelerated the surrender speed of the Japanese pirates.


    I was thinking about the spectacular scene of tens of thousands of Japanese pirates disarming the Soviet army in the documentary when the jeep suddenly stopped. I recovered from my meditation and asked the driver discontentedly, "why did you stop?"


    The driver turned his head and looked at me, and said wrongly, "Comrade commander, there is a car in front of us blocking our way."


    "Do you know who it is?" Kirilov asked.


    The driver shook his head and said, "I don''t know. It doesn''t look like our army people anyway." All of a sudden, he pointed to the front with his hand and said in a loud voice: "a commander came out of the car and was coming towards us. Maybe something is wrong."


    I saw the officer go to our car and narrate. He bent down and looked into the car. At the same time, he asked, "excuse me, general oshanina of the sixth group army, is he in the car?"


    I pushed the door open, leaned out, glanced at his rank, and asked, "Comrade commander, what part of you are?"


    The commander immediately stood at attention, raised his hand to salute me, and reported, "Hello, Comrade General. I am the adjutant of lieutenant general managarov, commander of the 53rd army. Our commander has a few words to say to you. "


    It was said that the commander of the 53rd army was blocking our way, so kirilov and I got out of the car. Walking towards the front, busmanov in the car behind also got out of the car and followed up with several guards.


    Before I got to the jeep, another general in a brand-new uniform came down. He said to me with a smile: "Hello, general o''shanina. I''m managarov. "


    "Hello, Comrade General." Seeing that the other party didn''t salute me, I directly extended my hand to him and politely said, "nice to meet you here."


    After shaking hands with me and kirilov in turn, managarov, without beating around the Bush, said frankly, "general oshanina, we have been ordered to take over your defense. I have a special request. I hope you will agree to it. "


    Special request, his words made me frown. Xin said, does he want me to leave all the captured German prisoners and weapons and ammunition to him? When I think about it, my voice naturally becomes cold: "Comrade General, if you have any request, just put it forward. As long as I can do it, I will satisfy your wish."


    "Well, general oshanina." Managarov may have noticed the change of my attitude and said with embarrassment, "I heard that the city radio station was captured by your close guard 272th regiment, right?"


    "Yes, it is." I replied briefly.


    "Since they occupied the radio building, I want them to keep this honor." Managarov said unexpectedly, "I don''t know if you want to keep this group and stick to the radio building. What do you think?"


    "This..." managarov''s proposal left me at a loss, and I had to turn to kirilov, the narrator: "Comrade military commissar, what do you mean?" Kirilov thought for a moment, then nodded with a smile and said, "since it''s general managarov''s good intentions, I''ll make the decision. The 272th regiment of guards will stay in the city for the time being and continue to be responsible for the security of the radio station building." When we broke up with managarov and moved on, kirilov, who was sitting beside me, said with deep feeling: "this general managarov is not simple. Knowing that our superiors asked us to hand over the defense of Belgorod to them, there would be some emotion. Now he has made his own decision to let us leave the 272th regiment of the guards behind and stick to the radio station building, which has easily solved the contradiction between our two army groups. It''s not simple. This man is really not simple. " Our temporary headquarters is located in a fortification two kilometers southwest of Belgorod. This is an underground structure made of reinforced concrete, which can resist the bombardment of heavy artillery. As for whether it was built by the German army or our army, we can''t make any research in a hurry. When we arrived at the new defensive zone, the division commanders were busy deploying troops, and it was late, so I didn''t call several division commanders for a meeting. I think it''s not too late to call a meeting when all the other members of the headquarters arrive. As soon as we arrived at the new headquarters, we sent a telegram to bezikov informing them of our location. Bezikov was also an acute man. Although the headquarters did not transfer for the time being, many personnel and equipment of the communications department were sent by him first. By one o''clock in the morning, the communication equipment in the new headquarters had been installed and could be put back into use. Just as I was considering whether I should contact the troops staying in tomarovka, the director of communications, lophov, suddenly came up with a telegram and said to me with a look of joy on his face: "Comrade commander, this is the telegram just received. This is a news report. It says that one hour ago, at 0 o''clock on August 6, on Moscow''s Red Square, 120 salutes were fired 12 times in unison to celebrate the victory of the recovery of Orel and Belgorod on the same day. This is the first time since the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War that the people of the Soviet Union celebrated victory by firing salutes. " Kirilov took the telegram from lophov''s hands, trembling with excitement. After a quick scan, he excitedly said to me, "Rita, this message should be sent to all divisions immediately, so that all commanders and fighters can know such inspiring good news."

 Chapter 1201

    Soon after the message was forwarded to the divisions, a voice shouting "Wula" came from outside the headquarters. Since some people started first, others naturally followed suit. Later, everyone was shouting in unison. Although it''s just a simple word, no one thinks it''s wrong to use it to express their inner joy. Instead, the louder they shout, the louder they are.


    Hearing the cheers from outside, kirilov said with a smile: "Rita, you may not know that when I saw this telegram from my superior, all my restlessness and tiredness disappeared in an instant, leaving only the excitement and excitement in my heart. What else is more important than the approval of the supreme command? So I think it''s understandable for soldiers to revel all night. "


    "No problem, comrade military Commissar. Let the divisions leave the necessary troops on guard, and the rest of the troops can revel as soon as possible, even if they drink a little, but only if the fighting tomorrow is not affected. " When I had finished, I got up from my desk and went to the next bedroom. At the same time, I said, "I''ll go to sleep first. If there''s anything else, please call me."


    The so-called bedroom is just a short trench, a broad wooden board on two mounds, and then two captured German overcoats are laid, which makes it a simple bed. Put down the curtain again and it will be a separate room.


    Although the cheers of the soldiers outside resounded through the sky, because I was too tired recently, I lay down on the bed and soon fell asleep.


    I don''t know how long I''ve been sleeping. It seems that I heard someone calling my name out in a daze, so I casually agreed. Then my caller raised his voice: "Rita, are you awake?"


    I recognized that the person calling me was kirilov, so I sat up with my eyes half closed and said feebly, "Comrade military commissar, I''m up. What''s the matter?"


    Kirilov lifted the curtain of the door, stood at the door and said to me, "Rita, come out, something''s wrong!"


    His words made me wake up immediately, and I asked in a hurry: "what''s the matter, comrade military commissar, was there something wrong with the revelry of the commanders and fighters last night?"


    "No," kirilov said, shaking his head, "you''d better come out and see for yourself."


    I put on my boots and ran out of the bedroom. In the dim light, I saw a lot of people in the room, including bezikov and akhromeyev. I quickly walked up to bezikov and asked curiously, "Comrade chief of staff, you''re very early. Where''s the deputy commander? Isn''t he with you?"


    Hearing my question, bzikov unexpectedly lowered his head. I was surprised by his reaction, and I asked, "chief of staff, why do you have this expression? Is there anything else important?"


    "Commander, i... I..." when bzikov heard my question, he opened his mouth and spewed out only two or three words. He was too excited to go on.


    "Major akhromeyev," may be to see bezikov''s gaffe, kirilov turned his eyes to akhromeyev, raised his voice and said to him, "you tell me, what happened?"


    Akhromeyev, who was named by kirilov, quickly stepped forward, glanced at bezikov, then turned his head, looked at me squarely and said, "report commander comrade, on the way here, general Danilov''s Jeep hit the thunder..."


    "Danilov''s car hit the thunder?" It was like a bolt from the blue to hear akhromeyev say that, which scared me out of my wits. Before he finished, he grabbed his arm and asked excitedly, "did Comrade deputy commander sacrifice?"


    Akhromeyev first shook his head, then said: "Comrade commander, the deputy commander did not sacrifice, but was seriously injured."


    It''s said that Danilov was just injured and didn''t sacrifice. The stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. I walked a few steps in the headquarters with my hands behind my back, then stopped and asked him, "where is Comrade deputy commander?"


    At the moment, bezikov''s mood slightly recovered to normal. He quickly took ahlomeyev''s words and said, "I think the deputy commander has been seriously injured. He has ordered the health personnel to transfer him directly to Kursk."


    I nodded in agreement with bezikov''s approach. If the decision he made was not to send Danilov to the rear, but to come here directly, maybe I would scold him. After all, the medical conditions here can''t be compared with the military hospitals in the city.


    I saw lophoff standing in the room, waved to him, and then asked, "major, can you contact the headquarters directly


    "Yes, comrade commander." Lophoff replied briefly.


    I ordered him to say, "connect me with the headquarters of the front army, and I will report the news to the higher authorities immediately."


    While lophov was on the phone, I turned around and asked bzikov, "chief of staff, tell me how the deputy commander''s car hit the mine. I''ll report to commander vatukin later."


    "Our headquarters started to transfer at 2 a.m., but as soon as we got to the west of the city, the armored vehicle in front of us hit the mine and exploded, and five or six soldiers on the vehicle died on the spot." Bezikov''s mood had stabilized, and he began to introduce the incident to me. "Due to the narrow road and the swamps in the forests on both sides, we were unable to get around, so we sent engineers to clear the mine. I don''t know when the German army planted the land mines on the road. They are numerous and scattered. Our engineers spent more than two hours, but only two or three kilometers to clear them. The deputy commander felt that the engineers were too slow to clear the mine, and some of them could not wait, so he drove on in a jeep. The result did not see how far, ran over a mine which was missed by the engineer


    After bzikov''s words, I understood that Danilov''s accident had something to do with his quick temper. If he could be more patient and wait for the engineers to clear all the mines before going on the road, it might not happen.


    At this moment, lophoff, standing by the telephone, respectfully reported to me: "Comrade commander, the phone is connected with the headquarters of the front army."


    I went to him, took the phone, recognized that the person who answered the phone was watujing, and politely said, "good morning, Comrade General."


    "Comrade oshanina," perhaps yesterday''s victory made vatujing feel very happy. He asked in a relaxed tone, "are you calling at this time? Do you have any good news to report to me?"


    "I''m sorry, Comrade General." I was not confident enough to reply, "what I have brought you this time is unexpected bad news."


    "Bad news?" After a moment''s silence, he asked hesitantly, "did the Germans rush back into Belgorod?"


    "What, the Germans are rushing into Belgorod again?" Before I could speak, I heard Zhukov''s unexpected voice in the earphone: "ask Rita what happened. Our seven or eight divisions are in the south of the city. How can we let the Germans rush into the city so easily? "


    "Comrade General, please tell the marshal that everything is normal in our defense line. There is no movement from the German on the other side, let alone launch a counterattack against bergerold." I heard that Zhukov and vatukoto misunderstood the bad news I said, and quickly explained to them, "I''m talking about another thing."


    "Go ahead, comrade oshanina." Vatukin''s voice was full of gunpowder at the moment.


    Although I knew that I would be scolded for telling about Danilov''s injury, I had no choice but to report it. Because with my understanding of Zhukov''s character, if he finds out who cheated him, he will punish him severely. After taking a deep breath, I gingerly reported: "it''s my deputy commander, general Danilov. On the way to the new headquarters, his car accidentally hit the mine..."


    "What, general Danilov is thunderstruck?" After that, there was an obvious pause. It was estimated that he exchanged an unexpected expression with Zhukov. He quickly went on to ask, "how''s Danilov? How did he hit the thunder?"


    "It''s a serious injury." Fortunately, I have just asked them about the course of the mine. Otherwise, vatukin really asked me. After a brief introduction of the course of the mine, I added: "Colonel bezikov has arranged for the deputy commander to be sent back to Kursk."


    "Well, Colonel bzikov is right." "The treatment conditions in the Kursk military hospital are good. As long as general Danilov is sent back in time, I believe his life will not be in danger," said vatujing with approval


    "Senior general," I know that there are still many big battles to fight. If there is no deputy commander, the normal work of the headquarters will be affected. So I tactfully put forward to him: "you see, my deputy commander is injured and may not be able to come back to work for a long time. I wonder if you can send me another deputy commander?"


    "Do you have the right person?" "It''s very difficult to send a deputy commander to you immediately, because the commanders who can take the post of deputy commander all have important positions now," watujing asked in a somewhat embarrassed way


    "General, please help me." I begged him to say, "if you don''t have a suitable person for the time being, you might as well discuss with Marshal Zhukov to see if he has any person in mind."


    "Well, since you say that," watujing said reluctantly, "I''ll discuss with Marshal later to see if there is a suitable person to take over the post of deputy commander."


    "Thank you, thank you, senior general." After thanking him, I asked, "when will the four divisions and two tank brigades in tomarovka be built?" Although I knew that there were still several artillery regiments and close guard rocket barracks in that area, I didn''t say so, so that vatujing would not hear that there were too many troops, which would ruin the return of the troops.


    Vatukin waited for me to finish, then remained silent for a moment, and then said, "Comrade oshanina, the fighting in tomarovka area is still going on. Although it''s only a matter of time before the encircled German troops are eliminated, if we draw so many troops back at once, our defense zone will become empty. I think so. Your troops will stay in tomarovka for another two days. They will be built after August 9. What do you think? "


    "Well, Comrade General." Since watujing has said so, there is obviously no room for further change. I have no choice but to say, "I will obey your arrangement."


    When I put down the phone, bzikov couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade commander, what''s the situation? Did the commander of the front army say who will be appointed as the new deputy commander


    "No, chief of staff." I shook my head and replied, "senior general, there is no suitable person in his hand now. Only after consulting with Marshal Zhukov can he decide who will take the post of deputy commander."


    At this moment, kirilov suddenly said: "maybe this time, along with the new deputy commander, there are new members of the Military Council." Kirilov''s words surprised all of us. I asked in surprise, "Comrade military commissar, why do you say that?" Kirilov laughed at me and explained, "in fact, with my qualifications and ability, I can''t hold the post of military commissar of the sixth group army of the National Guard. The reason why the superior sent me here is that I have been working with you for a long time and have a tacit understanding with each other. " Although I knew in my heart that kirilov was telling the truth, I retorted: "Comrade military commissar, if you have no ability, our cooperation will not be as tacit as it is now. Not to mention that the higher authorities will not send new military commissioners, even if they want to, I will try my best to persuade them to change their mind. "¡° Thank you for your kindness, Rita Kirilov got up from his seat, came up to me, raised his hand, patted me on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "according to my observation and understanding of you, you will take on more important positions in the future. The superior will surely accompany you with more capable military commissars. As for me, I think I''m just the material of a political commissar of a division. At best, I''ll be a political commissar of a military. How can I be qualified as a military commissar of a group army or even a commander of a higher level? " After kirilov''s words, the room suddenly fell into silence. After a while, bizikov suddenly exclaimed: "Oh, comrade commander, I''m busy reporting to you about the deputy commander. I forget that general rojimtev, the commander of the 13th division of the guards, is waiting outside." Bezikov''s words successfully distracted everyone''s attention. I quickly told him, "chief of staff, what are you doing here? Why don''t you invite Comrade General in as soon as possible?"

 Chapter 1202

    I thought the higher authorities would have to wait at least ten days and a half months before they would send us a new deputy commander. Who knows, in the afternoon I got a call from watujing. He said to me with a smile on the phone: "Comrade oshanina, after my discussion with Marshal Zhukov, in order not to affect the next battle, I decided to immediately send you a new deputy commander of the sixth group army."


    "That''s very good, Comrade General." I was overjoyed to hear that a new deputy commander would take office soon. I asked quickly, "I don''t know the name, rank and place of the new deputy commander?" The reason why I ask these questions is that several division commanders stationed in the south of the city will soon be promoted to generals. If the new deputy commanders are of the same rank and have shallow qualifications, they will hardly be convinced.


    I didn''t expect that after listening to my question, vatujing sold me the key: "Comrade o''shanina, this new deputy commander is also an excellent old commander. I won''t say his name for the time being. You will see him in the evening." Maybe I''m afraid that I have any scruples. I specially added, "as far as I know, the new deputy commander and you are also old acquaintances. I believe you will cooperate happily in the next battle!"


    As soon as I put down the phone, kirilov asked curiously, "Rita, what does Comrade vatujing say? Who is he going to send as the deputy commander of our group army?"


    I shook my head and said with a bitter smile, "Comrade military commissar, I don''t know who the new deputy commander is now. The senior general said that we will know when he reports in the evening. Besides, the new deputy commander is an acquaintance of mine. I can''t remember which commander I know would be sent as my deputy by the superior. "


    "The commander you are familiar with is competent for the post of deputy commander?" Kirilov, hearing me say this, frowned and thought for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "could it be general trakov?" As soon as his words came out, he immediately shook his head and denied his guess, "no, definitely not. Trikov is now the commander of the eighth group army of the guards. He has not made any mistakes. How can he come to us as a deputy? "


    Since it was not trekov, we then, with the help of bezikov, speculated on several possible candidates for the post of deputy commander. But after guessing for a long time, I found that the people I guessed were either not qualified or not qualified enough, and even many of them were people I didn''t know at all. I finally waved my hand and said, "forget it, don''t guess. When the new deputy commander arrives in the evening, we will know who he is


    In order to meet the new deputy commander, before dark, I called all the four division commanders to the headquarters. It is said that a new deputy commander is coming. In addition to rodim tsev, the other three division commanders all surrounded bezikov and asked curiously, "Comrade chief of staff, I don''t know who the new deputy commander is?"


    As for the question of several people, bzikov looked at me, shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "Sir and comrades, you want to know who the new deputy commander is. I also want to know. But up to now, even the comrades of the commander don''t know, let alone me. "


    I saw bzikov''s expression of embarrassment, so I came out to help him out and said, "well, teachers and comrades, let''s be calm. Who will be our deputy commander in the end? Before long, the answer will be revealed. Maybe it''s someone we all know." At this point, I turned the subject around and asked, "how are you doing with the task I assigned you this morning?"


    Hearing my question, the three teachers were speechless immediately. Seeing that the three did not speak, I glared and said discontentedly, "when you accepted the task in the morning, didn''t you all express your determination to me that you could finish the task today? Why are you so dumb now? " I casually pointed to Xie Liujin, "Colonel Xie Liujin, first report the completion of your division."


    Xie Liujin, who was named by me, said with a sad face: "Comrade commander, you asked us to clear the mines in the defense area in the morning. Originally, I thought that the Germans could bury as many as seven or eight hundred mines. As soon as the engineers cleared the mine, they dug up thousands of mines. According to the report of the company commander, there are at least so many mines in our defense area. "


    When I turned my eyes to askarepov, he quickly replied, "Comrade commander, the situation of our 77th division is similar. With the efforts of the engineering company, nearly a thousand mines were cleared from the front of the position. "


    "We''re in the same situation." As soon as askarepov finished speaking, Chernoff also added: "fortunately, you let us clear the nearby minefields, otherwise when we push south, we will not know how many unnecessary sacrifices will be caused."


    "Which one of you can tell me when the demining work will be finished?" If Danilov had not met with a mine in the morning, I would not have asked several division commanders to clear all mines inside and outside the area. Although I had guessed that there were many mines left by the Germans, I didn''t expect that there were so many.


    "Three days, comrade commander." Xie Liujin held out three fingers and said to me, "you give me three days, I will clear all the mines inside and outside the defense area."


    Although I can''t remember the day when the Voronezh front army launched an attack on Kharkov, it will never be earlier than the 10th of this month. So after a moment''s hesitation, I simply agreed: "well, three division comrades, I will give you another three days. After three days, you must clear all the mines in the defense area. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" The three teachers replied neatly.


    After the three teachers finished their presentation, rodim Zeff asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, I don''t know when the new deputy commander will arrive?"


    "Soon, soon, Comrade General." I showed great respect to rodimzev, the former superior. "Maybe they will arrive in half an hour or less."


    I was perfunctory at first, but not long after that, the head of the guard, Yushchenko, panted and ran into the headquarters and reported to me, "report commander, there are some jeeps coming from the headquarters of the front army."


    "It should be the deputy commander." After hearing Yushchenko''s report, I immediately made such a judgment, and then waved to everyone, "come on, let''s all go out to meet the new deputy commander."


    We went out of the headquarters and walked along the traffic ditch. Not far ahead, I saw a group of people coming towards us. With the help of the bright moonlight, I could see that Khrushchev, the military commissar of the front army, was walking in the front. He hastened his pace. When I got to the place four or five steps away from him, I stopped, raised my hand, saluted him and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade military commissar, welcome to the sixth group army of our guards!"


    When Khrushchev shook hands with me, he said with a smile, "Rita, I came here today for two things. First, your new deputy commander has been sent; The second is... "


    As soon as he finished his first intention, I couldn''t wait to interrupt him and asked anxiously, "Comrade military commissar, I don''t know where the new deputy commander is?"


    When Khrushchev saw that I was so worried, he could not help laughing and shaking his head and said, "well, since you are so worried, I will let you meet the new deputy commander first." After that, he leaned his back against the dirt wall, turned to a commander in the back and said, "please come up, comrade general, and say hello to your new partner, comrade oshanina."


    I stared at the man who was standing behind Khrushchev, walked up to me with a smile, raised my hand, saluted me and said, "Hello, general oshanina. I didn''t expect that we would meet again."


    I hesitated for a long time before I reached out and took each other''s hand, shaking it hard and saying, "Hello, general chisgakov. I didn''t expect that the superior would send you to the post of deputy commander. " When I said this, I obviously felt that I was not strong enough. If he had not had an accident two months ago, I would not have been the commander of the sixth group army. Now the former commander has returned to the army, but he can only be a deputy commander wrongly, which makes me feel particularly embarrassed.


    After kirilov, who was behind me, and they shook hands with Khrushchev and chisgakov in turn, Khrushchev first said, "well, we all know each other. Don''t stand at the door any more. If there''s anything, let''s go in."


    When we returned to the headquarters, I asked Khrushchev, "Comrade military commissar, you just said outside that you are going to do two things when you come here today. One is to send our deputy commander, comrade chisjakov, to take office. I don''t know what the other thing is."


    Khrushchev couldn''t help laughing when he heard my question. He turned to look at chisgakov and said, "Comrade chisgakov, as soon as Rita saw you, she didn''t care about anything. Now, as soon as I get back to the headquarters, I can''t wait to know my other intention. "


    After a cooperative smile, chisgakov said to Khrushchev, "Comrade military commissar, I am an old acquaintance with Comrade oshanina. We had a relationship between the superior and the subordinate as early as in the eighth division of the guards. Later, we had two contacts in the defense war of Stalingrad. Now I''m going back to her work, and I''m very happy. As for her gaffe just now, it may be due to the reunion with my old comrade in arms. "


    Khrushchev waited for chisgakov to finish, then turned his face to me, and said, "Rita, I know you are eager to know my other purpose, so I will tell you directly without playing the game. Before the attack on Belgorod, Marshal Zhukov made a wish to you that if your troops performed well in this attack, they would be promoted to the ranks of three division commanders after the battle. Is that so? "


    "Yes, comrade military commissar, there is such a thing." When I heard Khrushchev''s question, I knew that the promotion of Xie Liujin and his three men to general was a certainty.


    Khrushchev stood up and called out, "come on!"


    With his shouts, an officer came in from the outside, carrying small suitcases in both hands, one of which was carrying two suitcases. He went to the table and put the suitcase on the table. Then he stepped back two steps and stood aside.


    Khrushchev faced my three division commanders and said, "three division commanders, according to your heroic performance in this battle, Marshal Zhukov will formally grant you three major general ranks after reporting to the supreme command for permission." With that, he opened the top box, held it in his hand, and called the first person''s name: "Comrade Xie Liujin!"


    Captain Xie Liujin, commander of the 89th division of Jinwei. No, it''s major general Xie Liujin now. He quickly took two steps forward and came to Khrushchev. He raised his chin and straightened his waist, waiting for Khrushchev''s next order. Khrushchev handed him the suitcase in his hand and said: "major general Xie Liujin, I congratulate you on your higher rank. I hope you will continue to show your brave and indomitable style in future battles..." Xie Liujin first saluted, took the suitcase in his hand, and at the same time gave a loud reply: "serve the motherland of the Soviet Union!" Then Khrushchev successively awarded the major general ranks of the 77th and 90th division commanders of the guards, and gave them the small suitcases with brand-new uniforms. After the simple ceremony of promotion, Khrushchev introduced to us the reason why the superior sent chisgakov as Deputy Commander: "comrades, I will not repeat the resume of general chisgakov here. What I want to tell you is that the reason why the superior appointed him as the deputy commander of the sixth group army is that he is good at impeccable pre war preparation and is good at expanding depth after breaking through the enemy''s positions, which is exactly what your sixth group army lacks at present... "Although Khrushchev introduced chisjakov, But his words that "one point is exactly what the sixth group army of your guards lacks at present" let my heart begin to beat. I thought that in the eyes of my superiors, my military talents were satisfactory to everyone. I didn''t expect that there was such a shortcoming that the superior sent such a deputy commander to assist me. However, on second thought, it''s not a bad thing to learn from each other. Since I lack this knowledge, I should learn from him in a big way. If we can''t improve our ability as soon as possible, the road to rise in the future will be full of obstacles. After Khrushchev finished, kirilov asked a question of concern to all of us: "Comrade military commissar, do you know when we will launch an attack on Kharkov?"

 Chapter 1203

    Since this is a matter of concern to all, when kirilov finished speaking, everyone''s eyes focused on Khrushchev and wanted to hear what he said.


    Khrushchev laughed at us, then stood up from his seat and said, "comrades commander, I know you are very concerned about when to liberate Kharkov. I''m in the same mood as you. I hope our troops can immediately liberate Kharkov from the hands of the Communist aggressors. However, comrades, as far as I know, the supreme command has no plan for the Voronezh front army and the grassland front army to attack Kharkov. "


    Khrushchev''s words made everyone except me feel sorry. After he finished speaking, bzikov said to himself, "we have just liberated Belgorod, and the morale of our commanders and fighters is high. Attacking Kharkov at this time will surely achieve twice the result with half the effort."


    "Comrade chief of staff," when I saw bezikov talking to himself, Khrushchev glanced at him. He was afraid that he would be criticized. He quickly refuted him in public and said, "although we have won in Belgorod, you should also see what price we have paid for this victory."


    "Yes," Khrushchev added unexpectedly, "our commanders and fighters paid a high price to liberate Belgorod. But in order to save the motherland from the evil claws of the bandits, we can accept even the biggest price we pay. "


    After waiting for him to finish, I asked carefully, "Comrade military commissar, it is the troops of the grassland front army who are mainly attacking bergorod this time. I don''t know how many casualties they have?"


    When Khrushchev heard my question, he sighed and said, "I don''t know the exact number of casualties. Yes, I see that in their report to Marshal Zhukov, the 53rd army alone needs to add 20000 recruits. From this, you can judge how heavy their casualties are. "


    Khrushchev''s words made everyone take a breath. Kirilov was surprised and said, "ah, I didn''t expect that there were so many casualties."


    "It''s true," Khrushchev said helplessly, "the Germans not only built a lot of fortifications to the north of bergorod, but also laid tens of thousands of mines. The 52nd and 69th army groups launched several attacks because they were blocked by these pesky mines and had to withdraw from their starting positions. The 89th division of the guards who joined you took the lead in rushing into the city and dispersing the German forces. It is estimated that they have not been so easy to open up a road in the German minefield, and the offensive and defensive battle of bergerord will last for a longer time. "


    Perhaps because he was afraid that he would lose if he said too much, Khrushchev left in a hurry after saying these words.


    After we sent Khrushchev back, chisjakov began to perform his duties. He said to the three division commanders: "from tonight, comrades, you will send reconnaissance troops to conduct a comprehensive reconnaissance of the German defense zone to the north of Kharkov..."


    After hearing a series of tasks he told him, Xie Liujin said with a sad face: "Comrade deputy commander, at present, the German army has arranged many defensive positions in Kharkov, and has also set up hidden observation posts in many places to closely monitor our defense area. I can say that as soon as our scouts leave the position, they will be found by the Germans. How can we carry out reconnaissance? "


    "Mr. sherekin," chisjakov said solemnly to the new general, who was constantly complaining, "I''ve given you the task. As for how you complete it, I won''t care. I only care about the final result. "


    Hearing chisjakov''s serious words, the dejected Xie Liujin turned to me for help, hoping that I could stand up and say a few words for him. Seeing his pitiful appearance, I coughed and roared, and said to him seriously, "general Xie Liujin, don''t you know that the orders of the superior are not allowed to be discussed, but can only be carried out? If you go out from the front of the defense area, you will be found by the German observation post. Can''t you go around in other directions? "


    After listening to me, Xie Liujin nodded his head like a chicken pecking rice and repeatedly said, "I understand, I understand, comrade commander. Since our front is closely watched by the German army, I will send someone to come out from other directions to avoid the eyes and ears of the German people. Is that what I mean


    "Yes, that''s what it means." After I finished this sentence, I urged him to say, "OK, comrade general, go back to the army as soon as possible, and take advantage of the good time when it''s dark and the Germans are not conducive to observation to send out the reconnaissance team."


    "Yes, I''ll arrange it now." Xie Liujin finished, raised his hand to salute us, and left with the other two teachers.


    Rodymzev was a little worried to see that we had never assigned him a task. As soon as the other three teachers left, he came up to us and asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, don''t you know what our division''s task is?"


    Hearing this question from rodimzev, chisjakov turned to look at me and asked strangely, "why, comrade commander, have you not arranged any task for general rodimzev?"


    "Comrade deputy commander," bzikov quickly explained, "the 13th division of general rojmtsev''s guards was only sent by the superior to help us cut off the traffic between tomarovka and bergorod. Today, although Belgorod and tomarovka have been recovered one after another, because the superior has not yet issued an order for them to return, they have not arranged any combat tasks for them even though they are stationed here. "


    Rodimzev listened to what bzikov said, and hurriedly said, "Comrade deputy commander, please assign us some tasks. The commanders and fighters watched as the friendly troops around them were busy, but they could only stay in the secret department to sleep. Everyone was in a mood. If it goes on like this, it''s not easy for the troops to take them. "


    After hearing this, chisgakov could not help laughing, and then joked to rodimzev: "Comrade division, I don''t think the soldiers below have emotions, but you as a division have emotions. When you withdraw from the Northwest with the headquarters of the group army, you think there will be a hard fight here. Who knows, when I look here, I find that there is no sign of war at all, and other troops are busy with mine clearance and reconnaissance, while their own troops have nothing to do. Then there will be a feeling of loss, which I can understand... "


    When I heard chisgakov preaching to rodimzev, I approached kirilov and whispered to him, "Comrade military commissar, look, comrade deputy commander is not the material of a political worker. I believe that as long as he goes out to do the political and ideological work of the soldiers, he will achieve unexpected results. "


    Kirilov laughed, nodded and agreed, "yes, Rita, I think you''re absolutely right. Although it is my first contact with him, I also think he is the material of a political worker. "


    "Besides political work, he is also very good at military affairs." I went on with kirilov''s words: "Comrade Khrushchev has just said that there are many incomparable advantages in him, which is worth learning from him."


    After preaching to rodimzev, chisjakov sent him away, then sat down at the table, looked at kirilov and me and asked, "comrades commander, do you know what I should do next?"


    "Comrade deputy commander," I said politely to chisgakov, "I think you have done a good job. Judging from the current situation, the superior has no plan to attack Kharkov for the time being, so we have nothing to do except to let the troops take a rest as soon as possible. "


    "Do you really think we will not attack Kharkov in the short term?" Chisgakov looked at me and asked politely, "is this the way to confront the Germans?"


    "It must be so in a short time, comrade deputy commander." Although I can''t remember when the Soviet army began to attack Kharkov, it will never stop here, "but I think the superior will launch an attack on Kharkov in a week or less at most."


    When I said this, chisgakov could not help looking at me. He looked at me and said, "Comrade commander, I don''t think your idea coincides with mine. I also think that after a short rest, the main force of our army will launch a new round of attack on Kharkov, which is occupied by the German army. "


    "We attacked Kharkov three times, if I remember correctly." Bezikov said with some disappointment: "although we had an advantage at the beginning, we lost the battle in the end. I don''t know if there will be a repeat of history this time..."


    "Chief of staff," I was deeply afraid that his words would cause chisgakov''s displeasure. I quickly stopped him, and then pretended to say sternly to me, "although we have lost several previous battles near Kharkov, it doesn''t mean that we can''t beat the Germans. After dealing with the Germans here for so long, our commanders should have accumulated rich combat experience. I believe we will certainly achieve brilliant results in the new battle. "


    At the end of my speech, chisjakov proposed to me: "Comrade commander, anyway, it''s not too late. How about we make a deduction on the map?"


    "Deduction on the map?" Chisjakov''s words surprised me. I didn''t expect that he would play such high-end map homework. Although I said that I knew nothing about the exercise on the map, since there was an opportunity to learn, I would not give up, so I readily agreed.


    Chisgakov put a map in front of me and asked, "Comrade commander, which side do you want to play, our army or German army?"


    "I''ll play the German army." Staring at the map in front of me, I said without looking up, "I will deal with your attack in the way of Mannstein."


    "I''ll judge for you." When kirilov saw that we were going to play the high-end activity of figure deduction, he immediately came out and said that he could be our referee.


    I looked up at chisgakov on the opposite side and saw that he nodded in agreement. Then I turned to kirilov and said, "well, comrade military commissar, you will be the referee."


    When I felt ready, I said to chisgakov, "well, comrade deputy commander, I''m ready. You can start your attack."


    In addition to kirilov and bezikov, there are also operations director akhromeyev, communications director lophov and others around, so chisgakov picked up a stick, pointed to the map and said to everyone, "I will detour back to the south from the two wings of Kharkov to cut off the retreat of the garrison in the city. Then, under the cover of artillery and aircraft, the 53rd and 69th army groups attached to the grassland front army stormed the northern side of Kharkov. " At this point, he put down his explanation stick, pointed to a position in the north of Kharkov with his finger, and added, "my troops will first tear a gap here, and then the tank troops will expand the breakthrough, and use the forces of two divisions to rush into Kharkov..." kirilov, when they heard chisjakov''s explanation, they couldn''t help nodding, I agree with you. Only after I listened to his plan, I felt bitter in my heart. Because according to his method of playing, we should concentrate our superior forces and first surround the German army in Kharkov, and then our army will rely on our superior artillery and air power to cover the troops and penetrate into the city layer by layer like peeling onions. From the heart, this kind of play is in order, and the most likely way to win is to wipe out the main force of the German army in the end. But the only drawback is that the speed of attack is too slow, and the casualties of our army are also quite heavy. After I waited for chisjakov to finish, I sneered and retorted, "Comrade deputy commander, do you think the situation is too simple. With respect, you think our army is too powerful, and at the same time, you seriously underestimate the existing strength of the German army. If we really compete with the German army in this way, we will suffer a great loss. " As soon as I said that, not only chisjakov was stunned, but kirilov was also at a loss. It was obvious that everyone didn''t understand why such a perfect attack plan was so perfect. After listening to it, I didn''t think so. I didn''t want to beat around the Bush, so I said to them, "well, since Comrade deputy commander has said his attack plan, next, I''ll talk about how I will defend against his attack."

 Chapter 1204

    Our map deduction is neither a sand table deduction nor a wargame deduction. We just talk about our own views on the various problems that may arise in the attack on Kharkov. Therefore, we do not need to consider the impact of topography on the March and the effect of firepower attack, and the data of war casualties among different scales and arms.


    I can roughly remember how Manstein arranged his troops in Kharkov, so when it was my turn to introduce the German defense, a little change would be my deployment. I looked at chisgakov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, if I were German, in addition to consolidating Kharkov''s city defense work, I would also focus on the north side of the city. You see here, "I said, pointing to Kharkov and going on," because there are forests and swamps in the East and west of the city, it is very difficult for your large army to detour, so I only need to put in a small amount of troops to block your way. The flat terrain on the north side of the city is conducive to the deployment of mechanized forces, so I will take it as the focus of defense. "


    After I finished, I looked up at chisgakov and saw that he didn''t speak, but was staring at the map without expression. So I went on to say, "I will build five lines of defense in the area close to the north of Kharkov. Each line of defense is composed of several trenches, which are connected by traffic lines. I will reinforce the civil fire points on the positions to reduce the possibility of collapse after being shelled. And all the stone buildings behind the position will be transformed into strongholds by me, with guns under them and machine guns and submachine guns on them... "


    When I said that, akhromeyev couldn''t help interrupting: "Comrade commander, this kind of stronghold you mentioned is a copy of our wartime defense in Stalingrad. The point is, will the German army transform the stronghold into a new type of fortification that we are familiar with? "


    "That''s for sure, comrade major." I looked at akhromeyev and said, "when I was a division commander, you were the chief of staff of the division. You should know what the German paid for our fortifications. Therefore, I estimate that the German army will send a special person to conduct a careful study after it has occupied such fortifications. Now, in order to keep Kharkov, they will certainly use a lot of such fortifications. "


    "Comrade commander, what should we do with these fortifications?" Asked akhromeyev curiously.


    I understand that if we send troops to fight with the Germans in these fortifications, we will certainly pay a huge sacrifice. Therefore, I simply replied, "the way is very simple, that is, we can use artillery to close in and shoot directly to collapse the building. In this way, we can reduce the losses of our troops in the attack."


    "Comrade commander, we need to know that there are a lot of tank brigades we can use." "If our tank brigade launches a strong assault formation after the artillery preparation and attacks the enemy''s defensive positions, I don''t think such fortifications can block our way forward," chisjakov said confidently


    "Comrade deputy commander," I don''t know how I can think of the famous battle of zelauf heights when I heard him say so confidently. The powerful offensive launched by the dominant Soviet army was disintegrated under the tenacious defense of the German army, and the offensive troops suffered heavy losses. In addition to the death and injury of infantry, hundreds of tanks and self-propelled artillery became scrap iron. Thinking of this, I directly poured a basin of cold water on him, "have you forgotten the German anti tank forces? Will they watch our tanks pass through their perimeter? If our army wants to break through their peripheral positions, it must pay a price beyond our imagination. If we cut off the retreat of the German army, they will fight to the end. Even if we enter the city, it will be a protracted street battle similar to the battle of Stalingrad. "


    As soon as my words came out, the whole headquarters fell into silence.


    When kirilov saw this situation, he quickly came out and said, "Comrade deputy commander, Rita is just analyzing the possible situation on the battlefield. She has absolutely no intention of aiming at you. Please don''t be too careful."


    After looking at me, chisgakov said with some hesitation, "Comrade commander, the situation you have assumed does exist in theory. However, at present, the main forces of the German army have been drained out. I think the number of German troops in Kharkov is limited. Facing the joint attack of our four army groups, they are very difficult to resist. So I think your worry is totally unnecessary, even unnecessary. "


    "Comrade deputy commander," I said to him patiently, "I''m just analyzing to you what may happen on the battlefield. According to my experience, what I have just said is not alarmist, but is entirely possible. Maybe the German defense in Kharkov''s northern approach is stronger than I said. Therefore, if our army wants to attack Kharkov from the north, it is bound to pay a high price, and it may even make the troops lose the ability of assault and attack. "


    In my words, the headquarters once again fell into a brief silence.


    Chisgakov might have seen that I was particularly stubborn in this respect, so he closed his mouth wisely and did not continue to argue with me. Maybe he knows in his heart that on the first day when he took office, he would fight with my immediate superior and blush. Even if I don''t care, it will have an impact on his reputation. Those who know know know that there are differences in our strategy; People who don''t know the inside story will say that they don''t know how to respect their superiors, and even they are not familiar with the environment, so they even have a fight with their superiors.


    Kirilov, as a commander of the same level as us, came out to make ends meet again at this time. He coughed lightly and said with a smile, "well, comrade Rita and deputy commander, we all want to defeat the Communist aggressors, but there are differences in their handling methods. It''s common to have differences in our work. We don''t have to fight like this."


    Seeing that kirilov had set a new stage for himself, chisjakov quickly said: "Comrade military commissar is right. I always respect Comrade commander. I just had an argument with her, but it was just a small difference in the concept of war. However, we do not yet know the situation of the enemy and the analysis we have made is inaccurate. I think we have to wait for the scouts to come back and understand the German forces and defense deployment, so that our attack plan can not be divorced from reality. "


    Chisgakov and I originally had only differences on the concept of war, and there was no personal grudge. On the contrary, we used to get along very well when we worked together. So when I saw the other party''s initiative to make friends with me, I waved my hand and said in a conciliatory way: "comrade deputy commander, you just came to our office today, we should give you a good reception." With that, I turned to ask akhromeyev, "chief of staff, can you get some food for the deputy commander?"


    When akhromeyev, who plays the role of the orderly, left, I looked at chisjakov sitting next to him and asked with concern, "Comrade deputy commander, are you all well?"


    Chisgakov nodded and said with a smile, "all right, all right." He looked around, looked at everyone''s eyes, and then said, "when I was sent to the hospital in a car accident, I heard the doctor say that I broke four ribs. At that time, I thought the injury was serious and I had to lie in the hospital for at least half a year. Who knows, only two weeks later, I was discharged. After a period of training in Moscow, I just received a call from Marshal Zhukov today, saying that the deputy commander of the sixth group army of the guards was injured. I was asked to go to bergerord immediately to take over the post. "


    I can''t help feeling a sense of guilt at what he said. He not only replaced him as the commander of the group army, but also made him recover. He drove here from Moscow for about ten hours.


    Kirilov waited for chisjakov to finish, then asked with concern: "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t know when the new military commissar will take office?"


    "The new military Commissioner?" Chisjakov was a little confused when he heard kirilov say so. He asked in a puzzled way, "Comrade kirilov, do you want to transfer to another place?"


    Kirilov shook his head in confusion and explained, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t think it''s appropriate for me to be a military commissar of the group army with my qualifications and level. We should let a more suitable person take up the responsibility. For example, the original military commissar is the most suitable person. "


    "Comrade kirilov, he can''t come!" "He broke his leg in a car accident and is expected to stay in bed for the first half of the year. Even if he recovers, I think his chances of returning to the army are very small," chisjakov sighed


    When chisjakov said that the former military commissar would not come back to replace kirilov, I was relieved. After all, I had been working with kirilov for such a long time, and they cooperated with each other very well. If a new military commissar is to be appointed at this time, there will be a relatively long running in process, which is hard for me to accept.


    "Comrade military commissar," I went on, "since the superior appointed you to the post of military commissar of our group army, you have recognized your ability. Therefore, before the superior appointed a new person, you can work with ease. I''d like to join you in directing the troops into Berlin! "


    Maybe my last words played a role. Kirilov, who is still a little out of shape today, has finally returned to normal. He nodded hard and said solemnly, "well, Rita, since you say that, I''ll be your partner with peace of mind. I want to see with my own eyes our troops rush into Berlin and smash up the bandits'' nest. "


    After kirilov finished, chisjakov said to me with a smile, "Comrade commander, it seems that you are full of confidence in our final victory in the war."


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." I politely responded: "although we were badly beaten by the Germans at the beginning of the war due to lack of preparation, our commanders and fighters grew up rapidly after two years of war. From now on, it''s time for us to attack and defend the enemy. "


    "When do you think we can get to Berlin?" Asked chisgakov curiously.


    "The representative of Germany signed the letter of surrender on May 7, 1945, which came into effect on May 8." When I heard chisjakov''s question, such an answer immediately came to my mind. Of course, I just know these things. If I tell them, I will be regarded as a psycho. And if my prediction is consistent with history, I think the people from the Ministry of interior will come to me and ask me, "why can you tell the exact date of German surrender?" I don''t want to ruin my bright future because of a casual remark.


    I pretended to think for a long time, and finally said in an uncertain tone: "although the German army has suffered heavy losses from our army in Kursk and Belgorod, after all, their strength is still there, so it is very difficult for us to achieve the final victory in a short time. This war may last another two or three years, and then the end of the war will come. " At this moment, akhromeyev came in with a plate of food. I pointed to him as if I saw a Savior and said, "Comrade deputy commander, the major has brought us food. Let''s talk while we eat." Fortunately, chisgakov didn''t go to the bottom of the matter and ask me where my theory is based. Instead, he had dinner with us. After eating for a while, he suddenly asked me, "Comrade commander, I want to know how you would fight if you were commanding the troops to attack Kharkov." I moved the plate with bread slices and dried sausages in front of me to one side, revealing the blocked map. Then I pointed to the location of Kharkov and said to chisgakov, "Comrade deputy commander, if I were to command the attack, I would put two groups of troops in the north of Kharkov to make an uninterrupted feint attack, which would create an illusion for the enemy, Let them think we''re going to make a breakthrough in this direction. And I sent a group army to the west of Kharkov, to the left of the German army, to short breath the Kharkov Poltava railway, and then to attack the city from the West and southwest. " After listening to me, chisgakov looked at the map for a while, then asked his question, "what should we do if the German army sees that we are only feigning in the north and mobilizes troops to resist our attack?"¡° This is very simple. " I said confidently: "once the German army attempts to transfer its troops to the West and southwest of Kharkov to meet our attack, I will change the two groups of troops in the north of Kharkov from feint attack to strong attack, so as to firmly contain the main force of the enemy here, so as to prevent the German army from mobilizing its troops."

 Chapter 1205

    On the evening of the 8th, zaharov, chief of staff of the grassland front army, called me and sent me an order from konev, commander of the grassland front army, to attend a military meeting in Belgorod before 19 o''clock this evening.


    When chisjakov and I drove to Belgorod, he asked me curiously, "Comrade commander, do you think general konev will inform us to have a meeting in the city at this time? Is there anything important?"


    "That''s fair to say, comrade deputy commander." I pointed to the infantry and tanks moving south out of the window and said, "it seems that the attack on Kharkov is about to begin."


    "Are you really going to attack Kharkov?" Asked chisgakov suspiciously.


    "That''s right," I replied in a positive tone. "In two or three days at most, the attack on Kharkov will be in full swing." I am so sure because I know that in real history, konev''s troops launched an attack on Kharkov on the 10th.


    Although the battle of Belgorod Kharkov launched by the Soviet army was only an integral part of the battle of Kursk, I like to call it a separate Kharkov battle. The Soviet Union and Germany have carried out three battles in this important industrial city of the Soviet Union, each of which ended with the victory of the German army. In the fourth Kharkov battle, the Soviet army will change its fate of losing every battle and become the final winner of the battle.


    On the 6th and 8th, respectively, Stalin approved the specific operational plans for the capture of Kharkov reported by the Voronezh front army and the grassland front army to Stalin. In the plan approved by the supreme command, konev''s troops attacked Kharkov from the front, while vatujing''s troops made a deep detour to Kharkov from the west, trying to eat the left-wing heavy soldiers of the southern group of Mannstein here.


    Looking at the passing troops outside the window, chisgakov asked, "Comrade commander, why did general konev inform us to attend such a meeting? You know, although the seventh group army of the guards was incorporated into the grassland front army, we are still subordinate to the Voronezh front army? "


    For a moment, I really don''t know how to answer this question. Because I didn''t receive notice from watujing that our group army would be merged into the grassland front army. After thinking for a long time, I didn''t come up with a reasonable answer. I could only say vaguely, "Comrade deputy commander, don''t worry. When we get to the headquarters, everything will be clear."


    Since most of the buildings in the city were destroyed, konev set his headquarters in the radio building. When I entered the conference room, I saw that the room was almost full. I was going to sit down in a corner with chisjakov, but konev saw me.


    Konev stood up, pointed to the vacant seat next to him, and called to me in a loud voice, saying, "Comrade oshanina, you and Comrade chisgakov, come and sit here."


    I saw that on the long side of the conference table, close to him, there were two empty seats, which should be reserved for chisgakov and me, so I quickly walked over without hesitation. Thank him politely and sit down.


    Seeing that the commanders of all the troops were almost here, lieutenant general susekov, the military commissar of the front army, stood up and said to the commanders on the scene with a smile, "comrades, since we are almost here, let''s have a meeting."


    Almost as he spoke, the conference room became silent. Only his voice reverberated in the whole room: "today, we are calling a meeting because a few hours ago, the Supreme Command officially approved the plan of our front army to attack Kharkov. Next, general zaharov, chief of staff, will give you a detailed introduction to our combat plan. "


    Zaharov stood up, strode to the wall with a huge map, picked up a stick, pointed to the commander and said: "comrades, according to our reconnaissance, the German army defending Kharkov is the battle cluster of Kempf, which governs the 167th, 168, 198, 106, 320, 282, 39, 161 infantry divisions and the remnants of the 6th armored vehicle. In the north of the city, they built a defense position with a depth of 15 kilometers. There were seven lines of defense, each of which was composed of several continuous trenches... The German civil fire points were covered with two or three layers of logs... Almost all the stone buildings were used as strongholds, the lower layers were equipped with artillery, and the upper layers were equipped with machine guns and submachine guns... "


    After listening to zaharov''s data, chisjakov tilted his body to me and said in a voice that only the two of us could hear: "Comrade commander, what the chief of staff said is basically consistent with your inference." After listening to what chisgakov said, I didn''t speak. I just turned back and gave him a faint smile. Then I turned my head and continued to listen to zaharov''s explanation.


    After introducing the enemy''s forces and defense, zaharov put down his explanation stick and went back to the table to sit down. Konev looked around and said with a smile, "comrades, through the explanation given by the chief of staff, you should have known something about the situation of the enemy. Tell us what you think."


    After his words, the conference room was silent, and no commander was the first to speak. Seeing that he didn''t answer his own words, konev restrained his smile and glanced over the commanders one by one. It seemed that he was thinking about who to call back first.


    I gave a quick cough, then said to konev with a smile, "general konev, let our group army take up the main task of attacking Kharkov."


    Konev''s eyes were fixed on the commanders near the door. After hearing what I said, he didn''t look at me. He refused and said, "are you kidding me, general oshanina? Your group army is only attached to our front army. It''s not your turn to attack."


    His words made me feel a little embarrassed. When I was thinking about what to say to resolve this loss of face, he had turned his head and looked at me. Maybe he thought his tone was too heavy. He explained to me in a low voice: "Comrade oshanina, your close guard Sixth Army does not belong to our organizational system, so your task is to contain the German army and cover the south of bergerord to ensure that the German army can no longer launch attacks on the city."


    I clearly understood in my heart that in the early days of the Kharkov offensive, the troops of the grassland front fought very hard. Although they caused a lot of casualties to the German army, they only advanced a few kilometers in a week. Therefore, it is not a bad thing for konev not to give me the main task. When his troops suffer heavy casualties and are unable to attack again, my group army will take part in the battle again, and the honor of being the first to rush into the city will still belong to us.


    After konev finished his conversation with me, he turned to zaharov and said, "chief of staff, let''s announce the combat tasks of all units to the commanders."


    Zaharov picked up a folder in front of him, opened it, took out a document, stood up and began to read to everyone: "the task of frontal attack will be undertaken by the 53rd, 57th and 69th army groups; The seventh group army of general shumilov''s guards will launch a full-scale attack from the east at the same time as launching a frontal attack. "


    Since our group army was a soy sauce player in the early stage of offensive operations, after listening for a while, I began to lose my mind, thinking about how the four infantry divisions, two tank brigades with several artillery regiments and the close guard rocket battalion of tomarovka could be built. With these troops, even if I launch an attack on Kharkov alone, I am sure that I will capture the city, but only if the troops of the grassland front army contain the main force of the German army in the north.


    I don''t know how long after that, I suddenly felt that chisgakov, who was sitting next to me, touched my arm lightly, turned to him and asked him with his eyes, "what''s the matter?"


    "Comrade commander," he whispered to me, "is it true that our group army will not take part in this attack?"


    I turned to zaharov and saw that he was still assigning tasks to the troops. He put his body close to chisgakov again and said in a low voice, "Comrade deputy commander, if the superior does this, it must be their consideration. We''d better obey their orders honestly."


    When zaharov read out the order, he finally said: "artillery will prepare for the German defensive position for two hours at 5 a.m. on the 10th. At the end of the shelling, the main attacking force should not hesitate to attack the enemy''s positions... "


    After the meeting, chisjakov and I followed the crowd out of the conference room. After getting on the jeep, he couldn''t help asking me, "Comrade commander, have you listened to general zaharov''s last words?"


    As I thought that the offensive war the day after tomorrow had little to do with me, I was almost distracted in the second half of the meeting. Therefore, I didn''t understand what chisjakov was asking, so I asked, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t know what you mean by the chief of staff?"


    When chisgakov heard what I said, he was full of doubts, but he said truthfully: "general zaharov said that when the attack on Kharkov began, he would divide the whole artillery into parts and distribute them to the infantry divisions to help them break through the German defense in the alley war. Do you think that''s appropriate? "


    "It''s hard to say. What should we try before we can come to a correct conclusion After I finished these two sentences, I patted the driver on the shoulder and said, "drive!"


    When the jeep drove out of the city, I said, "Comrade deputy commander, I also like to divide the artillery into parts and give them to the shock troops in the lane fighting. In this way, we don''t have to worry about the German fortifications in the street battle, because our artillery can easily destroy them at close range. However, I don''t know what effect can be achieved by assigning all artillery to infantry divisions like general konev


    "Comrade commander, when you say that, I remember that you once put forward a tactic called" bayonet on cannon ", which is to assign artillery to infantry for use in lane fighting in wartime. If not, commander konev borrowed your tactic." Chisgakov said here thoughtfully: "in the face of Kharkov, who was heavily defended by the German army, will such tactics achieve ideal results?"


    Instead of taking up his topic, I digged off the topic: "we should pay close attention to the reconnaissance in the West and southwest of Kharkov. We must let the scouts know the number of the enemy''s troops and the detailed deployment situation..."


    Before I finished, chisjakov couldn''t help interrupting, "Comrade commander, the grassland front army will launch three group armies to attack the German army in the front of Kharkov. Do you still think the enemy can block their attack? Besides, the seventh group army of general shumilov''s guards launched an attack from the east of the city. Even if the frontal attack is frustrated, the attack in the East is likely to succeed. "¡° Comrade deputy commander, you are too optimistic. " As soon as he finished, I immediately retorted, "Kharkov is not only a strategic point, but also an important industrial city. Once our army liberates this city, we will be able to resume the production of tank factories here in a few months. However, if the Germans do not want to see an endless stream of new tanks entering the battlefield from here, they will certainly carry out the most tenacious resistance. " After listening to my explanation, chisjakov finally came back. He nodded his head and said, "I see. The reason why the Germans want to build a tenacious defense in Kharkov is that it is not only a strategic point that can directly attack Kiev, but also an important tank production base in China. Even if they destroy all factories and facilities, we can resume tank production in a few months. It seems that the battle in Kharkov will be extremely cruel. "¡° Comrade deputy commander, although our group army was only making soy sauce in the early stage of offensive combat... "When I was halfway through my words, I suddenly remembered that Russia had no soy sauce, and quickly changed my words and said," it''s just a bystander, but we can''t relax. We must pay close attention to the reconnaissance of the West and southwest of Kharkov to prepare for the later war. "¡° Is the current strength sufficient? " "You know, we only have four close guard divisions, and all of them are infantry divisions. There are no tanks and artillery units. It seems that our offensive strength is not enough," he asked¡° Don''t worry, comrade chisgakov. " After listening to his worries, I said to him with a smile: "I don''t think it will be long before the four infantry divisions in tomarovka, as well as the tank brigade Artillery Corps and other units, can be built one after another. After all the troops are built, even if we attack Kharkov alone, we will still be sure to win. "

 Chapter 1206

    There is no way to hide the large-scale mobilization of the grassland front army from anyone. As soon as I got back to the headquarters, bezikov reported to me, "Comrade commander, the commanders of the 89th and 90th divisions of the guards have called one after another to say that a large number of friendly troops are passing through our defense area. They asked if there is any big action?"


    After he finished, I nodded, "yes, comrade chief of staff, the grassland front army will launch an all-round attack on Kharkov the day after tomorrow."


    "What is the task of our group army?" Don''t zikov, I said, immediately and excitedly.


    "There are no specific tasks for the time being." I went back to the table, sat down, and said with a bitter smile, "at the meeting, I proposed to general konev that our group army should take the initiative, but he refused. He said that the 53rd, 57th and 69th group armies of the grassland front army are responsible for the main task this time, while our group army only needs to be responsible for defending the existing positions and ensuring the safety of bergorode. "


    Hearing what I said, bzikov said reluctantly: "but, comrade commander, as far as I know, the seventh group army of general shumilov''s guards is also being mobilized. It seems that they are also ready to take part in this attack."


    "Yes, comrade chief of staff, the seventh group army of the guards will also take part in the attack the day after tomorrow." "But not long ago, they officially joined the grassland front army," chisjakov added


    When he heard what chisgakov said, bzikov''s face was disappointed. He murmured, "if we are now part of the grassland army, then we can take part in the battle the day after tomorrow."


    Seeing his expression, I said to him with a smile: "chief of staff, don''t worry. Kharkov''s offensive will not end in a day or two. Sooner or later, it will be our turn to launch our group army."


    Just as he was talking, the telephone on the desk rang again. Akhromeyev was closest to the phone. After listening to the phone for a while, he covered the phone and reported to me: "Comrade commander, commander of the 77th division of the guards, general askarepov, called and said that a large force of the 69th group army is passing through their defense area. Do you want to know what big action the army is taking?"


    "No action," I said impatiently, waving my hand to akhromeyev. "Let them rest in their own defense area. As for when their division will fight, the superior will make overall arrangements."


    Seeing that akhromeyev put down the phone, I suddenly remembered a more important thing, and then turned to ask bzikov: "by the way, comrade chief of staff, what''s the current ammunition situation of the army, and when can the logistics deliver the weapons and ammunition we need?"


    When bezikov heard my question, he frowned slightly and replied, "when our troops attacked Belgorod, they consumed a lot of ammunition. Now, except for the infantry, all the mortars and rocket launchers of each division are used up."


    "Chief of staff, have you urged the logistics department?" It''s said that the ammunition promised to be supplied to us the day before yesterday, but now it''s not in place. I can''t help worrying, "if it''s really our turn to fight, how can we fight without ammunition?"


    "No way, comrade commander." Bezikov said with some frustration: "I have called several times to urge, but the logistics department said that the ammunition consumption of each unit is very heavy. Due to the limited transportation capacity, they can''t supply enough ammunition to all units immediately. Considering our current situation, they will supply us as soon as possible, but they can''t give us an accurate supply time. "


    In fact, I also know that when hundreds of thousands of troops take part in the war, the consumption of ammunition is a terrible astronomical number. Logistics can not supply all the troops for the moment, but can give priority to the troops with combat tasks, which is understandable. Anyway, in three or four days, our group army will not have any combat tasks for the time being. If the supply is late, it will be late. Anyway, as long as the commanders and fighters can have enough ammunition when we take part in the war.


    When I finished speaking, I found that I didn''t hear anything from chisgakov. I looked around and found that he was standing still in front of the huge map on the wall. I went up to him and asked curiously, "Comrade deputy commander, what are you looking at?"


    "Comrade commander, please have a look." He picked up the stick leaning against the wall, pointed to the north of Kharkov and said: "according to general konev''s introduction, the German army has built seven lines of defense in the north of the city, which is roughly consistent with your conjecture. If, according to our deduction on that day, they launch a strong attack from the north, they will surely pay a heavy price. "


    "Yes," I said, staring at the position he pointed out, "in the north of the city, the German army has established seven lines of defense, with a defense depth of more than ten kilometers. If the troops of the grassland front want to bite down here, they will certainly pay a heavy price. However, such sacrifice is not totally meaningless, at least it can greatly consume the living strength of the German army. "


    "When I was recovering in Moscow, I heard that our tank troops were equipped with a new type of tank." Looking at the map, chisgakov said thoughtfully: "it is said that this kind of tank, not only the 88 mm antiaircraft gun commonly used by the German army, can''t penetrate its front armor at a distance of 500 meters, even the most advanced Tiger tank can''t take it. If our assault forces can use these tanks extensively, it will be easier to break through the German defensive positions. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, maybe you don''t know." I don''t know when it will come behind us. Bezikov said: "because the supporting shells of this new type of tank are always not available, this new type of tank was almost out of service in the later period of the battle of Kursk. Now, except for a few troops, most of them are still using T-34 tanks. "


    "Damn it." I heard chisgakov murmur, "I have such good equipment, but I don''t use it. Is it so difficult to improve the supporting shells for new tanks? "


    "Comrade commander, I have just received a telegram from the reconnaissance force." The director of communications, lophov, came up to me and handed me a telegram he had just received.


    I took the telegram, took it to my eyes and looked at it carefully. It read: "in the south of Kharkov, we found German cavalry. After our repeated verification, we learned that the number of the cavalry was SS 15th cavalry regiment, with about 1000 troops, carrying three 75mm anti tank guns and fourteen 81mm mortars."


    After reading the phone, I handed the telegram to chisgakov. Unexpectedly, I asked bzikov, "chief of staff, have you heard of the German cavalry?"


    When he heard my question, bzikov thought for a moment, then nodded his head and said, "although there are very few German cavalry units, I have heard of one: the eighth cavalry division of the SS."


    When I thought that the number of cavalry was mentioned in the telegram, there was indeed the SS symbol, so I nodded with approval, and then asked, "what is the combat effectiveness of this unit?"


    "Although this Cavalry Division has long been engaged in the task of eliminating guerrillas in various places." After reading the telegram, chisgakov handed it to bezikov and then explained to me, "but their combat effectiveness is very strong. Our army and the troops that have had a bad fight with them have suffered a lot."


    With these words, he focused on the map on the wall and said to himself, "although our scouts only found one cavalry regiment, I believe that in a short time, their other two cavalry regiments, as well as artillery regiment, armored reconnaissance battalion, tank battalion, assault gun battalion, anti-aircraft gun battalion and other troops, will arrive at Kharkov one after another."


    When I heard chisgakov say that, my heart became heavy. As soon as he finished, I immediately asked, "Comrade deputy commander, are you worried that we will encounter them when we take part in the Kharkov offensive?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Chisgakov said without expression: "although we have the advantage in troops, without the cooperation of tank troops, our charging infantry will be defeated by their cavalry."


    As for what kisjakov said, I agree with him very much. Although cavalry can play a smaller and smaller role in the battlefield, cavalry is still a nightmare for infantry fighting in the plain. If the German Cavalry Division attacks from the side when our guard division charges against Kharkov, our attack will be easily defeated.


    I pondered for a moment, and then said, "Comrade deputy commander, don''t worry. In the short term, we will not take part in the attack against Kharkov. As for the tanks you mentioned, we will have at least two tank brigades when Colonel berey''s tank army is built, so that we don''t have to be afraid of German cavalry divisions any more. "


    "Comrades, I think we should continue to strengthen our reconnaissance." After reading the telegram, bzikov broke in and said, "from the information we have, in order to keep Kharkov, the German army must mobilize more troops from other places to participate in the defense. The eighth Cavalry Division is only a small part of the reinforcements, and more reinforcements will continue to come


    "Yes, chief of staff, you are quite right." As for bezikov''s statement, chisgakov immediately expressed his support. He added: "although we didn''t hear the name of the second SS Panzer Army from the defensive German army at the meeting, I think this army will appear in Kharkov sooner or later. Their combat effectiveness is not weak. If we don''t take preventive measures in advance, we may lose a lot. "


    "Comrade commander, comrade commander." I was listening to the conversation between chisjakov and bezikov when akhromeyev, who was standing in the other corner of the room, suddenly called me.


    I turned to look at him and asked, "major, what''s the matter?"


    "Comrade commander," akhromeyev raised the earphone in his hand higher so that I could see more clearly, and politely reported, "the commander of the front army wants to speak to you."


    I heard that it was watujing''s phone. I quickly walked over and nodded at him with a smile. Then I took the earphone, stuck it to my ear and asked, "Hello, senior general, do you have any instructions?"


    "Comrade oshanina," said vatukin with a smile, "did you go to konev''s military conference tonight?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." I politely replied, "I proposed to general konev at the meeting that our group army should take up the main offensive task, but he refused."


    "That''s why I''m calling you." Vatujing said to me in a smooth tone: "the task of attacking Kharkov is assigned by the supreme command to konev, while your group army is only assigned to the grassland front army temporarily, so it is not your turn to attack for the time being. It''s not that general konev has any opinions on you, but he intentionally doesn''t assign you tasks. Don''t worry about it. " I thought watujing called me to inform me that he was going to let several divisions in tomarovka go back. But he just explained to me why he didn''t let us be the main attack. I felt a little disappointed. After he finished, I immediately asked, "senior general, I want to ask when the troops of our group army in tomarovka can be built?"¡° The army of tomarovka? " Vatukin obviously didn''t expect that I would suddenly ask about it. After a long hesitation, he finally said, "Comrade oshanina, although the German army in tomarovka has been destroyed by our army, our troops there still seem to be a little weak. We still need your divisions to stay in tomarovka."¡° When can we draw them back? " When I heard him say that, I asked reluctantly¡° Don''t worry, we can''t wait a few days. " "Before the 13th of this month, the troops will be built one after another," watujing promised me. Well, I know that if you don''t let the two troops go back, you won''t be able to sleep well tonight. Tomorrow I will order general berey''s tank army to move towards you¡° Great, Comrade General. " I was overjoyed when watujing said that the tank army of berey could be built tomorrow. I quickly said to him, "thank you. Thank you very much. As soon as Colonel berey''s troops come back, the ability of our troops to attack difficult positions will be greatly improved. " As soon as I said this, I suddenly remembered that when he mentioned bielei in his address, he used the rank of general instead of Colonel, so I was surprised and asked, "Comrade General, what rank did you just say bielei is?"¡° Major general, from now on, comrade berei, commander of your 33rd tank army, is no longer a colonel, but a major general. " In order to let me know what happened, vatukin specially explained: "in order to commend him for his bravery, tenacity and excellent decisive command ability in the battle, Marshal Zhukov promoted him from a colonel to a major general."

 Chapter 1207

    On the eve of the grassland front''s attack on Kharkov, I called konev. Maybe I didn''t call at the right time. I chose konev''s busiest time. Maybe the messenger who asked him to answer the phone didn''t tell him who was calling, so his voice was very blunt: "Hello, I''m konev, who is it?"¡° Hello, comrade commander of the front army. " I recognized the impatience in his voice and said carefully and politely, "I''m o''shanina."¡° It''s comrade o''shanina. " Konev heard that it was me, and his tone became more relaxed. "You call me at this time. What''s the matter?" Without waiting for me to speak, he added, "I can grant you all your requests except that your group army should be the main attacker." When I call konev at this time, I don''t want to fight for the main attack task for the troops, but I want to personally go to the positions of the friendly forces to see their attack and German defense, so as to know myself and the enemy and win a hundred battles. As soon as he finished, I immediately went on to say, "Comrade commander of the front army, I''m calling you to visit your front positions."¡° Go to the front and have a look? " "What can I see in the frontier?" konev asked¡° I want to see how the commanders and fighters of the grassland front army bravely broke through the German defense and rushed into Kharkov. " In order to make konev readily agree to my request, I intentionally put on a high hat to him: "I believe that the troops under your command will surely achieve brilliant results in this offensive battle." When konev heard me say this, he laughed twice and said, "well, since you want to go to the front, the sergeant who went to managarov nodded and said excitedly," yes, comrade general, we have met before. " I looked him over again and found that I had no impression of him at all. So I could only shake my head and say apologetically, "I''m sorry, chief. I really can''t remember where I''ve seen you!" The sergeant coughed and said awkwardly, "Comrade General, maybe you didn''t see me clearly at that time, and the time interval was quite long, so it''s normal that you can''t recognize me." When I was at a loss, chisgakov asked the soldier with a smile, "what''s your name, Sergeant?"¡° My name is Florin The sergeant replied, "those who used to be like the Leningrad front army, who were assigned to managarov not long ago, came up, took my hand and said friendly," Hello, general oshanina. I''ve got a call from commander konev, and I''m going to send someone to pick you up, but you arrived first. " After shaking hands with chisgakov, he said to us, "please sit down quickly, and take time to drink some water and eat something. Otherwise, as soon as the battle starts in two hours, you will not be in the mood to eat. "

 Chapter 1208

    At five o''clock in the morning on August 10, the artillery bombardment of the grassland front army began, and the roar of artillery broke the silence of the morning. After an hour and a half of uninterrupted shelling, the German position to the north of Kharkov was shrouded in flames and smoke.


    Just as my ears were buzzing with the bombardment of the platoon, the bombardment stopped. Seeing that the whole battlefield fell into silence again, chisjakov curiously asked managarov, "Comrade General, since the shelling has stopped, why didn''t you see your troops launch an attack?"


    Managarov laughed at him and said, "general chisjakov, don''t worry. The play is still to come."


    As soon as his words were finished, twenty close guard rocket barracks assigned to the grassland front army also opened fire. The continuous fire once again tore through the night sky of Russia and roared towards the target. It soon landed on the enemy''s position, with dazzling fire and earth shaking roar.


    Looking at the red sky in the distance, I thought that after this round of shelling, the attack should begin.


    When the explosion stopped in the distance and the whole battlefield fell silent again, I saw managarov leave the lookout, go to a table in the middle of the observation post, and yell at a lieutenant commander standing there: "let''s go!"


    The Commander agreed, picked up the earphone on the table, stuck it to his ear, and said in the same loud voice, "Comrade commander, order, attack begins!"


    With the order issued, the sky at the same time raised three red flares, which is the signal of attack.


    When thousands of commanders and fighters yelled to leave the trench and launched an impact on the German position thousands of meters away, I suddenly heard the melody of "holy war". At first, I thought it was auditory hallucination, but after listening carefully, I found that it wasn''t auditory hallucination, but the voice of the 53rd army group was broadcasting this song which made people excited after listening.


    Looking at the offensive troops rushing forward like a tide, chisjakov excitedly said to me: "Comrade commander, you see, our troops are rushing up, rushing up! In a few minutes, the vanguard will be able to break into the German defensive position. "


    Managarov, who had just returned to the lookout, said with a smile after hearing what chisgakov said: "general chisgakov, you see, the German front positions have been basically destroyed under our shelling. I don''t believe how many Germans can survive under such intensive shelling."


    I couldn''t laugh or cry at the optimistic conversation between them. If the German army were so vulnerable, we would have driven them out of the Soviet Union. I remember clearly that every time the German army retreated to the rear before the Soviet artillery started, when the artillery finished and the infantry charged, they entered the position along the traffic trench and killed our charging team with intensive fire. Although the Soviet army suffered such losses many times, the commanders did not seem to have learned this lesson at all and still made the same mistakes again and again.


    Chisgakov approached me and asked, "Comrade commander, do you think the friendly forces can break through the German defensive positions?"


    When I heard his question, I just gave a faint smile, and then whispered, "Comrade deputy commander, this is not easy to say. Despite the heavy shelling, it is still unknown how much damage it caused to the German army. "


    Although I have been very euphemistic, chisgakov is still a little vindicated for managarov. He repeated what he had just heard to me: "Comrade commander, I think you have just seen the effect of shelling. Almost all the German forward positions have been destroyed by our shelling. I don''t believe in such positions, There are still enemies to survive. "


    "The answer will soon be known if any of the enemies have survived." After I had said this, I raised my telescope and carefully looked at the German position which was almost destroyed by the artillery fire in the distance, thinking that the enemy would wait until our troops rushed to where they would fire.


    When our commanders and fighters rushed to less than 100 meters away from the German position, the German position, which had been silent, opened fire. Dozens of machine gun bullets, if dozens of firecrackers in our army''s line swept by. The momentum of the rush was suddenly blocked in the hail of bullets, and the commanders and fighters fell into a pool of blood.


    "Hell," chisjakov said in a low voice, "I didn''t expect that the German firepower was so fierce. In just one minute, we lost at least one battalion."


    The officers and men who were forced to hide in the crater by the fire returned to normal after a short period of confusion. They either lie in the crater and shoot at the enemy''s firepower point, or throw out a batch of hand grenades. When they use the explosion smoke to block the enemy''s sight, they jump from one crater to another by leaping forward, and approach the enemy''s position a little bit.


    There was a flash of fire in the rear of the enemy''s position, and then the shells landed one after another in the concealed area of our soldiers and exploded. Seeing this, managarov widened his eyes and said in an incredible voice, "it''s impossible. It''s impossible. Where did the enemy''s artillery come from? If you know where they are now, they have just been hit by our intensive artillery. How can the Germans survive such intensive artillery? "


    "Comrade General," although I don''t want to attack managarov, in this case, I have to say something: "the German army concealed their artillery and troops in the rear when our army shelled. When the shelling is over, move the troops to the front along the traffic trench... "


    "No, it''s absolutely impossible. Don''t the enemy worry that our troops will rush into their lines before they return to their positions? " Before I finished, I was interrupted by managarov, who said with a strong voice: "the Germans must have built strong fortifications in their defensive positions that our shells can''t destroy, so when we attack, they can counterattack us in such a timely manner."


    Seeing that managarov was so stubborn, I didn''t argue with him. After all, today I came here with chisgakov to watch the war instead of directing the war. There was no need to take over his place to command it. So I raised my telescope and continued to watch the movement in front of me.


    In the broad front of the battlefield, the commanders and fighters who were suppressed by the German artillery and machine gun fire in the crater threw rain like grenades at the enemy''s position and exploded the open space in the middle. Taking advantage of the rising smoke, many soldiers, led by their commanders, bravely rushed towards the enemy''s positions.


    Unfortunately, in front of the dense firepower network composed of German machine guns, submachine guns and rifles, the bravery shown by the commanders and fighters did not make any progress. Instead, they were knocked down by the enemy''s bullets in groups and lay in front of the position.


    After more than ten minutes of fighting, we could see that the troops could not move forward in front of the enemy''s dense firepower. After consulting managarov, the commander of the front gave the troops an order to withdraw.


    Managarov''s face turned blue when he saw the commanders and fighters crawling out of the crater with weapons and bending back to run back. It was thought that after the intensive shelling, the troops could break through one or two German lines as long as they came to a charge. Unfortunately, they didn''t even get close to the enemy''s first trench, so they paid thousands of people.


    At this moment, chisjakov really believed my judgment. He leaned slightly towards me and asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, if you were in charge of this offensive, what would you do?"


    Before I spoke, I glanced aside and found that managarov had gone back to the table in the middle of the room. I whispered to chisjakov, "Comrade deputy commander, first of all, when shelling, I don''t just stare at one position to carry out uninterrupted shelling. Because the Germans are not fools. They know that under such intensive artillery fire, as long as they are flesh and blood, they can''t resist. They will certainly retreat to the second line of defense to hide before the artillery attack begins. Therefore, our artillery preparation should be extended after bombarding the first line of defense and continue to bombard the enemy''s second line of defense. When it''s almost done, kill another rifle and bombard their first line of defense again. At this time, even if there is a German to re-enter the position, we will be caught unprepared. "


    "Although artillery can destroy the enemy''s defense, it still depends on infantry to solve the battle." Anyway, there were only two of us left at the lookout, and chisjakov asked me modestly, "how can our infantry attack in that situation?"


    "It''s very simple." since chisjakov''s attitude is sincere, I don''t hide anything from him in terms of tactics: "the offensive forces should be divided into three groups, three groups as a team, and divided into assault group, firepower group and support group in turn. Each group alternately covers in the battle, and constantly suppresses the enemy''s firepower points in high-speed running, In order to break through the position. "


    After listening to what I said, chisgakov pondered for a long time, then nodded at him slowly and said with emotion, "Comrade commander, I have never heard of such tactics you mentioned before." But soon he asked cautiously, "have you ever tried this tactic?"


    "That''s not to say, comrade deputy commander." I looked at him and said solemnly, "whether it''s in Stalingrad or Kiev, the offensive tactics we have adopted have achieved a lot. At the same time, it has greatly reduced the casualties of the troops. "


    At this time, a group of commanders came in from outside the observation post. With sharp eyes, I immediately recognized these commanders. They were the ones we met when we first came here. They were supposed to report to managarov.


    With the idea that it''s none of my business, I looked through my telescope at the far-off battlefield and listened to how managarov taught his subordinates. First, I heard a loud noise, which should be the sound of managarov slapping the table. Then he began to roar, yelling at the commanders, saying that they were all cowards and that so many people had been killed and injured that they didn''t even get close to the first German trench.


    After the attack, managarov''s mood finally stabilized, and then asked the commanders, "do you have any good methods?"


    "Comrade commander," a colonel asked cautiously, "may I make a request?"


    "What request, say it quickly." Said managarov impatiently.


    "The machine gun fire on the German position is too fierce, and infantry alone can''t rush through." The Colonel asked cautiously, "can we ask the comrades of the tank army to send some tanks to cover the infantry charge?" For this request, managarov thought for a while, then nodded and agreed: "OK, I''ll call the commander of the tank army and ask him to send a tank battalion to cooperate with our attack."¡° Comrade commander, "said the colonel," there are too few tank battalions. How can there be a tank brigade? " After listening to the Colonel''s words, managarov slapped him on the table again. Then he pointed to the other side''s nose and said, "isn''t it disgraceful that our three divisions launched an attack at the same time and were beaten back by the hard hit German army? If you ask the commander of the tank army to provide us with a tank battalion, I will lose face. You even want a tank brigade. " When I heard managarov teach his subordinates such a lesson, I couldn''t help wondering what logic it was? What''s the difference between a tank battalion and a tank brigade? Isn''t it all about tanks cooperating with infantry to attack enemy positions? If more tanks are deployed, the success rate of capturing positions will be much higher. After seeing the commanders leave again, chisgakov asked me in a low voice, "Comrade commander, we have seen almost everything we should see. Is it time to go back?"¡° Wait a minute, comrade deputy commander. Please wait a second If managarov didn''t ask the tank army to cooperate with him in the attack, maybe at this time, I and chisgakov really said goodbye to him and left. In order to see how the 53rd army cooperated with Tanzania, I decided to stay and have a look¡° They will launch a new attack soon. Let''s see what the effect will be with the help of tanks this time. "¡° Well, let''s stay and see how they broke through the German positions under the cover of tanks. " Perhaps when he was commanding the troops, chisgakov had cooperated with Tanzania for many times, so as soon as he heard that there were tanks participating in the battle, he immediately had full confidence in the next round of attacks by the friendly forces.

 Chapter 1209

    The second round of attack launched by the 53rd group army soon ended in failure. Seeing our tanks burning on the battlefield and our troops retreating in confusion, I didn''t have the heart to continue to watch. After saying goodbye to managarov, I left the observation post with chisgakov in a hurry.


    On the way back to the headquarters of the group army, chisjakov, who was sitting next to me, asked curiously: "Comrade commander, although general managarov''s second attack failed, they obviously played better than the first, and the commanders and fighters also showed more tenacity..."


    "Comrade deputy commander," I interrupted him impatiently before he finished, "the reason why I am in such a hurry to leave is that I really can''t bear to see it, because general managarov''s wrong way of attack will make us pay a more painful price?"


    Hearing what I said, chisgakov asked curiously, "Comrade commander, you should know that in such a tough battle, no matter how excellent the commander is to command the troops, the attacking troops will pay a great sacrifice."


    "In order to recover the lost city and defend our great Soviet motherland, we can accept the heavy price." I said in an official voice: "but some wrong tactics, not only can''t defeat the enemy, but will make us pay a lot of unnecessary casualties." At this point, I thought of the tragic scene I saw when liuban broke through, and said to him in a low voice, "when liuban broke through, in order to open a gap in the enemy''s weak defense line, a general of the second shock group army at that time commanded our army to attack the German position. Because he was afraid that the soldiers would get lost in the forest, he let them charge hand in hand; When the first echelon''s officers and men fell at the German''s gunpoint, he ordered the second echelon''s officers and men to take a truck and attack the German position again. When both echelons were destroyed, he ordered the tanks to launch the final attack, but the tanks that lost the cover of infantry were destroyed one by one under the attack of German anti tank men. "


    After I finished the story with anger, chisjakov looked at me with strange eyes and asked innocently: "Comrade commander, I don''t understand the connection between liuban''s breakthrough and today''s offensive?"


    "Didn''t you find something wrong in the failure of the second attack organized by managarov?" His reaction really made me feel speechless. Even in my heart, I was secretly complaining that maybe he used the same tactics as managarov when commanding the troops, so he was used to many things¡° When we attack fortified positions, the purpose of using tanks is to tear a gap in the enemy''s line of defense and allow the infantry to expand the breakthrough. But you can see how managarov''s troops used tanks. Those tanks followed the infantry and were slow to move. They also stopped from time to time to use themselves as fixed artillery. As a result, they were easily killed by the German anti tank men like shooting targets. "


    After hearing what I said, chisjakov realized the seriousness of the problem. He frowned and asked me, "if you command, how to use the tank?"


    "Let the tanks charge ahead." I casually replied: "let the commanders and fighters hide behind the tank and rush forward. Our commanders and fighters hide in the dead corner of German light weapons shooting, so it is not easy to pay too much casualties in the process of charging. "


    After listening to my explanation, chisgakov nodded and then said, "I estimate that in the short term, our group army will not have any combat tasks. You can seize the time to let the troops carry out drills to reduce the casualties in the next battle."


    When we returned to the headquarters of the group army, kirilov and bezikov, who had been waiting all night, immediately met us. Kirilov also asked with concern, "what''s the situation, Rita? Has the 53rd army broken through the German defensive position?"


    "No," I said, shaking my head, "before we left, general managarov launched two attacks. But it''s a pity that all his attacks failed. "


    "How?" Kirilov was puzzled and said, "we can also see the artillery preparation before the attack. The sky in the south is red by the fire of the shells. Is the German fortification so strong that it hasn''t been destroyed after being bombarded by our artillery for several hours?"


    I sighed and said, "it''s too much to say." With that, I quickly walked to the map on the wall and turned to greet kirilov: "military commissar, chief of staff, please come here. I''ll introduce the situation to you." Seeing all the people around, I pointed to Kharkov''s position with a stick and said, "in order to defend against our attack on Kharkov, the German army built seven lines of defense in the north of the city, and the lines of defense were connected by traffic trenches. In this way, when our army starts shelling their first line of defense, the main forces of the German army can be transferred to the second or third line of defense. When our shelling is over and the army launches an attack, they will return to the first line of defense and launch a barrage against us. "


    Kirilov listened to me, looked at the map, nodded, and said, "I see what you mean, Rita. Although we made the necessary preparations for the attack, we did not consume much of the German forces. Therefore, we will not only pay huge casualties, but also be difficult to achieve the desired results


    "Yes, that''s it." I leaned the stick against the wall and continued: "if we are going to fight against Kharkov, we have to adjust our tactics."


    "Comrade commander, please tell us about it." as soon as I finished, bzikov said, "let us know what tactics we should use to deal with the enemy."


    Hearing his question, I picked up the explanation stick again and pointed to Kharkov''s position: "the attack to the east of the city is in the charge of the seventh group army, the close guard of general shumilov; In the north of the city, the three army groups of the grassland front army are in charge. If we want to fight, the most likely battlefield is in the west of the city.


    Before the attack, we should still follow the usual practice of shelling the German first line of defense. Forty minutes after the shelling, the artillery extended and smashed the shells into the enemy''s second line of defense. Let the Germans have an illusion that we will launch an attack soon, and they will go back to the first line of defense from the second line of defense which is being shelled, along the traffic trench, to prepare for the battle. When the enemy almost all returned to the first line of defense, our artillery fire suddenly returned from the second line of defense to the first line of defense, attacking the Germans who had just entered the position. "


    "And then we attack the enemy''s position at this time?" When bizikov heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting and asked, "before the end of the shelling on the enemy, let the troops rush up. Will they be hurt by their own people''s gunfire?"


    "Chief of staff, please hear me out." After a discontented look at bezikov, I said, "when our artillery fire extended to the depth of the enemy again, the tanks took the lead in charging, and the armored cars full of soldiers followed. After the tank troops tore open the German defense line, the soldiers on the armored vehicles came down to clean up the enemy in the trench, expand and consolidate the breakthrough... "


    When I was talking about my offensive tactics, everyone nodded while listening, and no one raised any objection. After I finished, I held the stick in both hands, looked around, and then asked, "who has a different opinion?"


    When akhromeyev heard my question, he immediately said, "Comrade commander, your plan is almost impeccable. But the premise is that our tank army, many artillery regiments and close guard rocket barracks can be built on time before the battle starts. "


    It turned out that everyone saw the dawn of victory, but the expression on akhromeyev''s face darkened when he heard that. Bezikov sighed and said, "although commander vatukin has said for a long time that several infantry divisions, the tankers and the artillery should be returned, there has been no movement for such a long time."


    Seeing that all the people became dejected, I coughed quickly and said to them, "well, comrades, even if we are going to fight, we will not be in these two days. That is to say, we still have enough time to wait for the return of tomarovka''s troops. As for this period of time, we should urge all divisions to seize the time to train their troops, especially in street fighting. The German army will never be willing to let us take Kharkov from them. The street battle in the city will be fierce. Let the commanders and fighters carry out targeted training, and in the future, the casualties of the troops will be greatly reduced. "


    When everyone was busy with their own work, kirilov pulled me aside and asked in a low voice, "Rita, when you saw the defeat of the 53rd army in the observation post, didn''t you just express your opinion?"


    I shook my head and replied, "no, comrade military Commissar. As you know, I just went to them to learn about the situation on the front line. I can''t tell the way the friendly forces fight. "


    "That''s good, that''s good." When kirilov said this, he reached out and secretly wiped the sweat on his forehead, "so I can rest assured."


    Kirilov''s words confused me, and I asked, "Comrade military commissar, why do you say that?"


    Kirilov looked around and saw that the other commanders were far away from us. He could not hear us say yes, so he came close to me and whispered, "Rita, in other people''s eyes, you belong to Marshal Zhukov''s family. General managarov, on the other hand, belongs to another department. There is a deep contradiction between his backstage and Zhukov. As for who this man is, please forgive me for not being able to tell you. If you see that managarov''s troops have failed in the attack, feel free to express your views and make suggestions to him. The victory of the army''s attack is undoubtedly the credit of managarov; But if you fail again, you will take the responsibility. "


    Kirilov''s words surprised me in a cold sweat. I didn''t expect that the factional struggle within the army would begin before the Germans were driven away from the territory of the Soviet Union. In everyone''s eyes, my body is branded with the mark of Zhukov. In the coming days, I will definitely be suppressed by another faction, so I will be more cautious in my words and deeds in the future, so as not to be caught by others.


    Just as I was struggling with the unexpected news, there was a faint voice calling for a report outside the door. Bezikov was close to the door. After hearing the sound, he said to the outside, "come in!"


    As soon as his voice fell, two commanders in general''s uniform entered the headquarters. After I looked up to see who was coming, I was overjoyed and rushed to meet them. Far away, I reached out my hands to them and said excitedly, "welcome back, Colonel berey and Colonel povsky!" The next moment, the three of us held hands together. As we shook hands, kirilov came up to me and said with a smile, "Rita, you''ve just got the wrong name. They''re not the Colonel anymore, they''re the general." Then he reached out to berey first. "Hello, Colonel berey, welcome back to the headquarters." The two men who came here were Brey, commander of the tank army, and povsky, artillery commander of the group army. Perhaps their superiors promoted them from Colonel to major general in recognition of their performance in the battle. After I asked them to sit down at the table, I took two cups of tea from akhromeyev and put them in front of them. Then I asked with a smile, "two general comrades, do you come back to the headquarters today to report to me, or do you formally lead the troops back to the headquarters?" Hearing my question, the two people who just picked up the tea cup quickly put down the cup and stood up. Bielei respectfully reported to me: "Comrade commander, we received an order from our superior a few hours ago that we should complete the reconstruction work within today. As it took time for the troops to move in, I was afraid you would be in a hurry, so I and Comrade povsky came by car first. " I waited for berey to finish, and then I turned to bezikov standing beside me and asked, "chief of staff, have you received the notice from the headquarters of the front army?"¡° No, comrade commander. " Bezikov shook his head and said, "I didn''t receive any notice, so I didn''t know that the artillery and tank troops would be built today."¡° Major ahlomeyev. " In order to avoid confusion, as soon as bezikov finished speaking, I called the director of operations who was not far away, "I''ll give you full responsibility for receiving the returned troops. We must arrange our tank forces and artillery forces, and we must not have any confusion. "

 Chapter 1210

    The grassland front army''s attack on Kharkov lasted a whole week. Relying on the solid fortifications, the German army carried out the indomitable resistance, which made general konev''s frontal attack suffered a serious setback and fell into a time-consuming and extremely cruel positional war.


    Although the situation of our army''s attack is not ideal, the four army groups of the grassland front army are still pushing towards Kharkov city. By the 17th, our army had approached Kharkov from the north and the East. Although the attack was completely restrained, the Germans also suffered serious losses. The German divisions on the defensive line were only regiments and battalions, and the number of infantry was seriously insufficient. The tanks and artillery of the 3rd and 6th panzer divisions were also consumed in the battle.


    When konev and the Germans were fighting hard, I was not idle. As there are more and more troops to be built, the original defense area certainly can''t accommodate so many troops. In order to solve the problem of troop resettlement, I made a special call to watujing. He complained to him: "senior general, because there are too many troops returned recently, our existing defense area can no longer accommodate them."


    After listening to me, vatujing was silent for a moment, and then said in embarrassment, "Comrade oshanina, I know that if you let the four infantry divisions return, your defense area will be narrow. Well, I''ll call general konev later and discuss with him to see if I can make room for you


    "No, Comrade General." I heard that he was going to discuss with konev, so he quickly refused and said his plan: "in fact, I have a good idea of a place and intend to drive the troops one by one. As long as you allow me, I can even transfer the whole army. "


    When I said this, vatujing was immediately interested. He asked curiously, "Comrade oshanina, I don''t know what you are looking for? If it can really accommodate the whole sixth group army, I will certainly approve it. "


    "Jergach!" After talking about the ground, I added: "senior general, I think it is most appropriate to deploy the whole group army in this area."


    "What, jergach?" After listening to the place name I said, vatukin almost dropped the phone. It took him a long time to say in surprise, "Comrade oshanina, are you not mistaken? Jergach is to the west of Kharkov, 80 kilometers from your current defense zone. "


    "Yes, comrade general, you are right." I explained to watugin, "jergach is 80 kilometers away from our present defense area, but the German defense in this area is also the weakest. If our group army can enter jergach, it can threaten Kharkov from the West and reduce the offensive pressure of the grassland front army in the north and East. "


    After I finished, watujing didn''t give me an accurate answer immediately. Instead, he said, "I''ll discuss it with Marshal first. You wait for a moment. Don''t hang up."


    I know that Zhukov has been in a terrible situation in the past two days. He even fired at konev several times. If he had listened to my suggestion at such a time, he would have readily agreed.


    Before long, the voice came from the receiver again, and the speaker had changed from watujing to Zhukov. He asked in a low voice, "Rita, give me your reasons. Why did you transfer the troops to jergache?"


    "Marshal," I immediately said respectfully when I heard Zhukov''s voice, "I think our group army''s garrison in jergach can not only contain the German forces, but also reduce the pressure of the grassland front army''s frontal attack. At the same time, at the right time, they could also attack decisively and cut off the retreat of the German army. "


    After listening to me patiently, Zhukov asked, "what can I do for you, Rita?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal. I have two requests. " Since Zhukov asked me to make a request and didn''t know how to take advantage of this opportunity, I said boldly: "first of all, you have to persuade commander vatukin and commander konev to agree to the change of our group army''s defense area."


    At this point, I stopped to know what Zhukov''s reaction was. Without any hesitation, he immediately replied, "don''t worry, Rita. I''m in charge of this matter, and you can mobilize the troops boldly. Go on, what''s your second request? "


    "Although my group army has eight infantry divisions and a tank army, there are also a number of artillery regiments and close guard rocket battalion." After hearing that Zhukov agreed to my first request, I went on to say the second thing, "but there is a lack of enough air defense forces. So many troops can not be transferred without being discovered by the Germans. If they send out air force to carry out air strikes, we will suffer heavy casualties."


    "I see," Zhukov heard my second condition. He was obviously relieved, and then said, "don''t worry, I will ask the air force to send planes to provide you with the necessary air cover."


    "Thank you, thank you, marshal." Hearing that he readily agreed to my request, I quickly expressed my gratitude to him, and at the same time expressed my position: "after entering the new defense area, I will certainly disturb the German people."


    When I finished, Zhukov asked, "Rita, when can you start?"? I''ll arrange the fighters to cooperate with you. "


    I raised my hand to look at my watch, and then said, "Comrade marshal, it''s one o''clock in the afternoon of the 17th. The vanguard is the 67th division of general baksov''s guards, who will leave at five o''clock. "


    "Good. I''ll send the air force out at five. Good luck After Zhukov finished, he hung up the phone decisively.


    I put down the phone and immediately told bzikov: "chief of staff, call the division heads and ask them to come to the headquarters immediately for a meeting."


    "In addition to informing the commanders of the guard division and the tank army," bzikov, after hearing my order, did not immediately carry out it, but stood in the same place and asked, "do you need to inform the commanders of the artillery regiment and the guard rocket battalion?"


    As for the question of bezikov, I frowned and thought about it, then shook my head and said, "forget it, the artillery commander, if general povsky comes to participate, the rest of the people don''t need to be informed." There is a reason for me to say that. Recently, all the division commanders have been promoted to major generals because of their outstanding achievements. In a large group of generals, except for a few lieutenant generals or even major generals, it gives people a sense of being out of place.


    Half an hour later, a dozen generals gathered in the headquarters, greeting each other and talking loudly about the performance of their troops in the recent period. For a moment, the whole headquarters was as lively as a vegetable market.


    When I saw that everyone was coming, I winked at bzikov and signaled that the meeting was ready. Bezikov nodded, then stood up and yelled at the commander on the spot, "be quiet, comrades, be quiet, please!"


    The first two voices didn''t work, so he raised his voice and called out a few more words. All of these people heard it, stopped talking in a hurry and sat down in their seats. The whole headquarters became quiet again.


    I stood up and faced the division leaders who attended the meeting and said, "comrades, in the recent week, the troops of the grassland front army launched an attack on Kharkov from the north and the East. Although we have inflicted heavy losses on the enemy, we have also paid a huge price for ourselves. Just today, the friendly attack on Kharkov has completely stopped. "


    As soon as I finished my words, the following immediately became lively again. The teachers murmured: "what, the attack on Kharkov has stopped?"


    "Didn''t it go well yesterday? How can we say it stopped?"


    ¡­¡­


    Bezikov stood up and tried to stop their discussion, but I stopped him. I know that teachers'' reactions are normal, so instead of interrupting them immediately, I stood at the table with my hands behind my back and waited patiently for the end of their discussion.


    After about four or five minutes, the teachers'' discussion finally came to an end. I then asked with a smile: "comrades, you just had a lively discussion. Who can tell us what you think of our army stopping attacking Kharkov? "


    After I asked, commander sivakov of the 22nd army of the guards stood up. He asked puzzledly, "Comrade commander, I don''t understand that since the front line is so hard, why is our new force here indifferent? Is it the commanders of friendly forces who think our combat effectiveness is too weak and will drag them down? "


    Sivakov''s words were like sprinkling a handful of salt into a hot oil pan, and the atmosphere in the room became lively again. I heard a man saying aloud, "the first one to attack Belgorod rushed into the city, but our 89th guard division, and the 272 regiment of the 90th guard division put the red flag on the top of the radio station building..."


    Seeing the fierce emotions of the group, I felt that when I announced the plan of the troops going south later, I would not be opposed by everyone, so I looked at them with a smile and allowed them to express their opinions.


    After I finally calmed down again, I said to everyone with a smile, "OK, teachers and comrades. It is not up to others to say what the combat effectiveness of the sixth group army is. We should use our actions to tell our friends who have misunderstood us how strong our fighting capacity is. "


    Sivakov, who was still standing, asked me solemnly: "Comrade commander, I don''t know what the task of the 22nd army is? As long as you give us an order, no matter whether we go up the mountain or down the sea of fire, all our commanders and fighters will never turn back. "


    "And the 23rd army of our guards." As soon as sivakov finished, general tavartkiraze, who was sitting next to him, stood up and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, please give us an order. If our army can''t take Kharkov, you can remove me from my post. "


    When they saw that all their commanders came out to fight for the task, the rest of the division commanders could not sit still. They stood up one after another. Seeing that the headquarters would become a vegetable market again, I quickly raised my hand to stop all those who wanted to speak: "well, comrades, you don''t have to say anything. I see what you mean. Let''s all sit down first, and then I''ll assign you tasks. "


    When everyone sat down, I officially announced: "comrades, after I asked for instructions from my superiors, the superiors agreed that our group army would adjust the defense area from its present position to jergach..." I was afraid that someone would interrupt me, so I stopped for a moment. Seeing that everyone was listening to me carefully, we continued to say, "it''s 80 kilometers from here to jergach. Although the German defense forces along the way are weak, we have to go through continuous fighting before we can reach jergach and build a new defense zone there."


    "Comrades commander," tavartkiraze asked as soon as I finished, "I don''t know which division you are going to send as the leading force to march towards jergach?" I turned my eyes to baksov, who was sitting behind sivakov, and then said without hesitation: "after much deliberation, I decided to let general baksov''s close guard 67th division, as the vanguard of the whole regiment, take the lead in advancing towards jergach. Meanwhile, general bere sent the 82nd brigade of tanks to work with general baksov. Before it gets dark, we must push on to jergach. " Berey and baksov stood up and replied neatly, "we promise to finish the task." Then, I arranged for the second echelon, the third echelon, and the troops for the mission after the termination. After equal distribution of all tasks, I habitually asked: "who has any questions?" As soon as my voice fell, povsky stood up. He frowned and said, "Comrade commander, it''s impossible for us to move on such a large scale without being noticed by the Germans. What should we do if the German Air Force sends air strikes on our marching troops?" His words resonated with everyone, and the teachers sitting below began to whisper. I clapped two times on the table and yelled, "be quiet, be quiet, comrades, please be quiet." When all the people stopped talking, sat down again and looked at me, I continued, "as for air defense, you don''t have to worry. Marshal Zhukov said that he would send the air force to provide air cover for our transfer. "¡° There''s air force support When I said that, a smile appeared on bofsky''s face, and he said happily, "in this way, I can rest assured." Then he said to me, "Comrade commander, I will let the artillery move into the jergach area as soon as possible."

 Chapter 1211

    Forests and swamps crisscross the northwest of Kharkov, which is not conducive to the development of large forces. Therefore, the grassland front army chose the main attack direction of the campaign in the north and East. After all, in the last Kharkov campaign, rebarko''s tank troops rushed into the city from these two directions and liberated the fourth largest city in the Soviet Union.


    It was because I took into account the limited number of German troops deployed in the West that I chose to march towards jergach when konev''s front army was hard to separate from them. As long as we can occupy this small city in the northwest of Kharkov, then we have a starting point for attack and will play an important role in the next battle.


    After the meeting, chisjakov, who was full of confidence, suddenly asked me anxiously, "Comrade commander, can our troops really successfully occupy jergach?"


    Seeing his reaction of worrying about gain and loss, I just gave a faint smile, and then said in an understated tone: "don''t worry, deputy commander. The German defense focuses on the north and East. On the west side, according to our reconnaissance, there are only some weak fortifications. I think an infantry division and a tank brigade are enough to clear these obstacles on the way forward. "


    "I hope so." Chisjakov raised his hand, looked at his watch and said to himself, "it''s still three hours before dark. I don''t know if baksov''s troops can advance to jergach."


    "Don''t worry, comrade chisgakov." Kirilov was sitting next to him, looking at the award application forms submitted by the divisions. Hearing the whispers of chisjakov, he raised his head and said to him, "since Rita said don''t worry, you can rest assured. I believe that general baksov''s forces will be able to occupy jergach''s army before dark. "


    Kirilov''s words surprised chisjakov. He sat down in the vacant seat beside kirilov and asked, "Comrade military commissar, why are you so sure?"


    Kirilov put his pen on the table, then looked at chisjakov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, you may not know that when the grassland front army and the Germans are fighting each other, our troops are resting. Seeing that the friendly forces are fighting in full swing, but we have to stay in the rear to repair fortifications and rest, the commanders and fighters always hold a strong feeling in their hearts. Now it''s not easy to have the opportunity to let them go to the battlefield. Don''t these eager commanders and fighters know how to seize such an opportunity? I can assure you that if we don''t fight, we will. Once we open fire with the Germans, they will certainly be able to break out their super combat effectiveness and fight the enemy to the end. "


    Kirilov and I firmly told chisgakov that our vanguard troops would certainly break through the various defensive positions established by the German army along the way, but he was still skeptical. After all, the four army groups of the grassland front army fought with the German army for a week, but they only advanced five kilometers, At present, our troops are still ten kilometers away from Kharkov. Within a few hours, our troops will advance to a small city, seven or eight kilometers northwest of Kharkov, which is about seven or eight kilometers away from the city.


    After about two hours, barksov, who was the vanguard, sent a telegram saying that the troops had met the German defensive position seven or eight kilometers away from jergach and that the troops were launching an attack.


    After reading the telegram, I raised my head and asked lophov standing in front of me, "major, can I speak to general baksov directly?"


    Hearing my question, lophoff''s face showed a bit of embarrassment: "Comrade commander, because the 67th division of the guards is advancing too fast, we can''t lay the cable telephone for the time being." At this point, he nuzui toward a phone placed on the wall, "although you can talk to the front of the wireless, you can call the content will be German eavesdropping."


    "Get in touch with baksov on the phone immediately." Although I know that there is a danger of being eavesdropped by the German army when I use the telephone to talk to baksov, in order to know the situation on the front line in time, I can''t care so much. Besides, we swagger towards jergach during the day. If the Germans can''t find out, they are a group of blind and deaf people.


    Lophoff saw that my attitude was very firm, and he did not dare to refute it. He immediately ran to the telephone and contacted the outpost. After a while, he got in touch with baksov.


    I went over, grabbed the earphone and put it on, although I asked baksov loudly: "Sir, comrade, report the situation there. What kind of enemy are you fighting with? "


    "The enemy''s forces are not many. It''s only like a company. Except for two or three machine guns, no heavy weapons have been found." "However, as they cleared the shooting range, the first attack launched by the first battalion failed and retreated after more than 70 casualties," baksov told me by telephone


    "Comrade division," I heard that barksov had been stopped by a small force without heavy weapons, and the first attack they launched was easily repulsed by the Germans, which made my heart worse. I said in a loud voice to the microphone: "since the Germans have no heavy weapons, let the tanks charge in front, tear a gap in the enemy''s defense line, and then let the infantry go up to destroy the remaining German troops."


    After I finished talking with baksov, chisjakov and bzikov gathered around and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, has our vanguard been blocked by the enemy?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." I said indignantly, "the vanguard battalion of the baksov division was blocked by a small group of German troops. They launched an attack immediately, but unfortunately it didn''t work


    "Is the enemy''s fortification too strong?" "If this is the case, the time for our army to enter jergach will be greatly extended," chisgakov asked anxiously


    "The reason for the failure of the attack was not that the German fortifications were too strong." Thinking of baksov''s way of playing, I was full of anger: "because the enemy cleared the shooting range, our army officers and men had no shelter in the open field, so our attack was easily defeated by the Germans. But don''t worry now. I''ve ordered baksov to let the tanks charge first. After tearing up the gap in the enemy''s line of defense, the infantry will rush to clean up the remnant enemy on the position. "


    After listening to me, chisjakov habitually raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he raised his head and said to me, "Comrade commander, we have nothing to do with staying in the headquarters anyway. Why don''t we go to the front line while it''s still dark?"


    "Well, comrade deputy commander. Since you say so, let''s go and have a look. " After I said this, I turned around and told bzikov: "chief of staff, you and the military commissar will stay. When our main force has occupied jergach, you will come with the 89th division of general Xie Liujin''s guards."


    After receiving my order, bezikov nodded and then said with concern, "Comrade commander, we don''t know how many German positions will be encountered on the road to jergach. You and the deputy commander should pay more attention to safety."


    "Don''t worry, chief of staff." Although I also know that the danger on the battlefield is not small. No matter how high-level a commander is, he may be killed by a bullet flying from nowhere or by the enemy''s cold artillery, but I don''t worry about these at all. No matter how much I say, I also have the aura of the protagonist. Before I came to this world, I had never seen the protagonist in that book after crossing, The loss of one''s own life. So I said triumphantly, "the bullet that can kill me has not been made yet."


    After an hour and a half, our jeep arrived at the fighting area of the 67th division. As soon as I entered the area, I could smell the smoke in the air, and the strong smell of blood. I asked the driver to stop in front of the German position, then pushed the door open and got out.


    Standing in the position occupied by our army, I can''t help feeling a lot when I look at the damaged MG34 machine gun beside the collapsed sandbags, the wooden piles obviously cut by the bullet skin, the broken guns, the overturned helmets, and the dead bodies of our army and German soldiers stacked not far away.


    Not long after I stood in the trench, major general sivakov, commander of the 22nd army of the guards, and Colonel babashin, commander of the 71st division of the guards, came in a hurry.


    After they saluted us, I asked sivakov, "Comrade commander, where is the 67th division of general baksov''s guards?"


    Sivakov thought for a moment, and then replied to me, "Comrade report commander, I just contacted general barksov half an hour ago. Now his troops have arrived outside the city of jergach and are fighting with the German army."


    "Do you have the latest report?" Chisgakov, who had been silent, suddenly asked.


    Looking at chisgakov, sivakov replied: "according to general baksov''s report, there are many anti tank trenches in the fortifications outside the city of jergach, blocking the way of the tank brigade. There is no progress at present."


    When sivakov finished speaking, I severely criticized him and said, "jergach is a small city. Since the tank brigade can''t attack from the front, why don''t we detour back to the side of the enemy?"


    Sivakov listened to my question with a trace of bitterness on his face. He replied with a complicated expression: "there are forests and swamps on the East and west sides of jergach. Tanks can''t get around, they can only attack from the front."


    "How many German troops are there in jergach?" I continued.


    "According to the prisoner''s confession, there was a battalion in the city, a battalion in the outer position and a company outside." Sivakov mechanically replied: "because the front of the attack is too narrow, we can not expand too many troops, so we can only attack the enemy with the battalion as a unit."


    After looking around, I asked Colonel babahin, "Comrade division commander, are your divisions all around at present?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." The new division commander replied nervously: "at present, the whole division is stationed nearby. When the friendly forces behind come up, we can move on after we hand over our positions to them."


    I looked up at the darkening sky, and then told sivakov, "Comrade commander, apart from leaving a regiment here to wait for the follow-up troops, the rest of the troops will continue to move forward and join general baksov''s troops as soon as possible."


    Before sivakov could mobilize his troops, chisgakov and I drove on. After walking about two kilometers, we saw another line of defense that our army had broken through. The commanders and fighters were seizing the time to clean up the battlefield. Seeing this scene, chisgakov''s face showed a satisfied smile, and he said to me in a relaxed tone: "Comrade commander, I didn''t expect that our soldiers are still great. In less than two hours, it broke through several German lines. I believe it is not a difficult thing to capture jergaci When I saw the third position broken through by our army, my heart suddenly became heavy. Because I was 50 or 60 meters away from the trench, I saw a burning tank of my family. Around the tank, there were several bodies of tank soldiers¡° Comrade commander, what are you looking at? " Maybe I''ve been staring out of the window for too long, which makes chisgakov curious. "I think you have something on your mind." I pointed to the tank surrounded by fire and smoke and said to chisgakov, "Comrade deputy commander, do you see the destroyed tank?" Seeing that he nodded to show that he saw it, I went on to say, "from the position where the tank was destroyed, the enemy should have anti tank weapons. I am worried that the more we go forward, the stronger the enemy''s defense will be. In this way, we will pay a considerable price when we capture jergach. " Perhaps it was seeing several positions broken through by our army in succession that made chisgakov confident. After listening to these words, he comforted me and said, "Comrade commander, even if the German army has anti tank weapons, their positions are broken through by us, aren''t they? What''s more, they only destroyed one of our tanks, which can''t hurt the vitality of the tank brigade. I believe general baksov''s forces will soon be able to take jergach from the enemy. " I listened to the more and more clear sound of guns coming from the window, sighed secretly, and said helplessly, "I hope so." As soon as I finished, the jeep suddenly stopped without warning¡° What''s going on? " As soon as the car stopped, chisjakov asked aloud, "Comrade driver, why did you stop?" The driver pointed out the window and said helplessly: "the two commanders are the soldiers who came out of the roadside forest and stopped us."

 Chapter 1212

    When I heard that someone was blocking the car, my first reaction was that the German, who was broken up by our army, held the pistol in his hand at the same speed as the cowboy did in the duel. At the same time, I secretly prayed that basmanov, who was following behind, could come up quickly and solve the enemy.


    But I soon saw that the people coming from outside were all wearing our army uniform. They should be baksov''s men. Seeing that the group of soldiers came to the side of the car, I pushed the door open and asked in a loud voice, "Hello, comrade soldiers, what part of you are?"


    "Who are you?" A second lieutenant asked in a stern voice, pointing his submachine gun at us.


    "I''m oshanina, commander of the group army." facing the muzzle of the gun pointing at me, I slowly put the pistol back into the nest, and then asked in a dissatisfied voice, "are you general baksov''s men? What are you doing here?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." The second lieutenant lowered the muzzle of his gun and replied timidly, "we are ordered to search here for scattered German soldiers. I just had a routine check, but I didn''t expect you to be in the car. "


    "Well, comrade lieutenant, since it''s a misunderstanding, there''s no need to talk about it any more." I interrupted him impatiently and asked, "where is general baksov?"


    The second lieutenant pointed to the distance and said respectfully, "Comrade commander, if you drive a kilometer or so further, there is a line of defense that has just been occupied by us. The division headquarters is located in the original headquarters of the enemy."


    "Thank you, comrade lieutenant." With that, I nodded to the lieutenant, closed the door and told the driver, "driver, drive! We''re going to general barksov''s division headquarters. "


    A few minutes later, the jeep stopped not far from baktsov''s division headquarters. As soon as I got off the train, I heard the movement of shovel and shovel digging around the building, and I could clearly hear the chatter of soldiers. Around you can see the shadow shaking in the dark, it is the soldiers are building fortifications.


    Chisgakov came up to me and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, it seems that general baksov''s troops are building fortifications."


    I looked left and right, and saw two armed soldiers standing in front of a light revealing hiding Department nearby. I guessed that this might be the headquarters of baksov''s division, and strode there.


    The sentry standing at the door saw us walk past, carrying a submachine gun in front of his chest, and walked towards us a few steps. When he saw us clearly with the help of the dim light in the room, he immediately stopped and raised his hand to salute us. At the same time, he politely said, "Hello, comrades general!"


    I stopped in front of him, pointed inside and asked, "Comrade soldier, is division headquarters here?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." The sentry recognized me and replied respectfully: "the division commander and several commanders are in it."


    Chisjakov and I walked into the division headquarters and saw a group of commanders sitting around the table, having a heated discussion. As soon as we entered the door, before we could speak, baksov, who was sitting facing the door, saw us. He called out: "stand up!" After shouting, he took the lead to stand up.


    Seeing that his teacher suddenly stood up, the commander in the room immediately realized that there was a person who was higher than his teacher. He stood up in a panic and turned to look at us.


    Ignoring the eyes of the commanders, I went straight to baksov and asked, "what''s the situation here, sir? When can you take jergach?"


    The commanders around the table quickly gave way for chisjakov and me and stood aside quietly waiting for their teachers to answer my questions.


    "Comrade commander, it''s very difficult to take jergaci tonight." After barksov called us to sit down, he said with a sad face: "the front of the German defense position outside the city is too narrow. As long as it is less than 300 meters, and there are forests and swamps on both sides, it is difficult for us to launch all our troops. The tank brigade lost four tanks, all of which were destroyed in front of the anti tank trench. "


    "How are the enemy forces?" I continued.


    "As it was late when we got here, we couldn''t find out the enemy''s deployment." After reporting the situation, baksov asked me for instructions and said, "Comrade commander, it''s not realistic to win jergach tonight. Can we attack the enemy after daybreak tomorrow?"


    After hearing baksov''s request, chisjakov thought for a moment and said something good for him: "yes, comrade commander. It is unwise for the troops to fight at night in a strange place. I suggest that we postpone the attack until tomorrow? "


    I''ve never been a headstrong person. Since I know it''s unwise to fight at night in a strange place, I certainly won''t force my troops to fight. This is of no help except to increase the number of casualties. So I said frankly, "well, since Comrade deputy commander and Mr. baksov agree, the attack will be postponed to the day tomorrow." As soon as the words came out, I felt that the officers and men around me were obviously relieved. It seemed that they were not optimistic about night fighting at all.


    Seeing that I agreed to postpone the attack, baksov waved to his men and ordered, "comrades commander, go back to your respective units first. Remember to send more scouts to sneak into the German positions for reconnaissance and find out the enemy''s deployment. Do you understand? "¡° I see! " Several commanders replied in unison, then raised their hands to salute chisjakov and me, and left the headquarters in good order. When there were only three of us left in the headquarters, chisgakov said to baksov with a smile, "Comrade division commander, your division has done a good job today. It has broken through four German lines in more than two hours." On hearing chisjakov''s praise, baksov''s face showed a smile. After looking at me, he said modestly, "Comrade deputy commander, in fact, it is thanks to the commander that we have made such a smooth progress. Although there are several German lines of defense, their fortifications are all on the plain, and they lack enough anti tank weapons. Our tanks can lead the infantry to rush forward and tear up their lines of defense. The next battle will be much easier. " After barksov finished, I immediately said, "OK, sir, don''t praise me any more. If the soldiers don''t show bravery in the battle, no matter how good tactics I put forward, it''s useless. By the way, before dawn, I think the regiments will be able to complete the reconnaissance task, and then the commanders will be called together to study how to launch the attack according to the deployment of the German forces. "

 Chapter 1213

    Early the next morning, the heads of the regiments were called to the division headquarters for a meeting. I didn''t act as a teacher. Barksov was still in charge of giving orders.


    According to the collected reconnaissance information, baksov assigned tasks to the regiment heads. I don''t know if it''s because he wanted to please me or for some other reason. As the main force of the division, the shejerikov regiment didn''t get the task of main attack, but stayed in the rear as a reserve team to watch the fun.


    On hearing the arrangement made by baksov, shijerikov turned his head and looked at me meaningfully, as if asking me to give him a good word and let his regiment take up the main task.


    Baksov did not pay all his attention to the map on the desktop when he deployed the mission. He looked around from time to time to understand the first reaction of the commanders. The eye contact between me and shijerikov, not surprisingly, fell into his eyes. When he saw that I wanted to speak, he coughed quickly and said, "Comrade commander, you may be very surprised why the xiejerikov regiment is the most effective, but I don''t let the other regiment take part in the main attack, instead of just acting as the reserve force?"


    Barksov''s arrangement made me very curious. When I heard him ask, I nodded to show that I wanted to know the answer. He went on to say: "after seizing the peripheral positions of jergach, the next attack will be on the city. The street fighting ability of the shejerikov regiment is the strongest in the whole division. If they pay heavy casualties in the battle of cleaning up the periphery, then in the lane war, the troops who are not familiar with the street war will fall into a time-consuming and cruel repeated tug of war with the German army. "


    Baksov''s explanation is impeccable. Don''t mention me. Even shijerikov, who has a problem with him, has nothing to say at the moment.


    Seeing that the task had been assigned, baksov looked at me and asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"


    As the 67th division of the guards was not my direct line, the tactics they used in the battle were still the old Soviet offensive mode. Every time they attack on the open ground, they are always in a dense formation, charging forward blindly with guns. This kind of suicidal charge usually enables the Germans hidden in fortifications or bunkers to spot and strafe them calmly. In the end, the army suffered heavy casualties, and no results could be achieved.


    They are going to attack the German positions again soon. In order to avoid unnecessary sacrifice, I solemnly said to them, "Comrade commander, I know that you have some wrong views. You think that in order to maintain the intensity of firepower, you must adopt a dense formation when attacking. Now I tell you that this mode of attack is totally wrong. Apart from causing heavy casualties to our army, we can not achieve any brilliant results at all. "


    "But, comrade commander." As soon as I finished my words, a regiment chief Wei Qudi said, "if we attack, our army will not be able to gain the advantage in firepower..."


    Seeing that the attack was about to start, I didn''t want to argue with him any more. I quickly raised my hand and interrupted his words behind him. I said impolitely, "Comrade commander, the problem you are worried about is very easy to solve. For example, infantry, under the cover of tanks, attack the enemy''s positions and can get the necessary artillery support; In addition, when the German machine gunners shoot out, due to the limitation of the terrain, they have to show some body no matter what. Then they can be killed one by one with snipers. It''s better than letting our soldiers rush forward in the rain of bullets!... "


    Due to the pressing time, I just mentioned some simple precautions, and I didn''t have time to tell them the tactical principles of "one point two-sided tactics", "four fast and one slow tactics", "three fierce tactics", "four groups and one team tactics", "three three three systems tactics" and "three situations and three ways of playing". However, Rao has benefited these commanders a lot.


    Barksov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he waved to the regimental leaders and said loudly, "it''s late. Everyone go back to their respective units to prepare for the battle."


    After everyone left, barksov respectfully asked me, "Comrade commander, I don''t know whether you and the deputy commander stay in the headquarters or go to the frontier observation post?"


    "To the observation post, of course." Before I could say it, chisjakov said, "how can you see the progress of the battle with your own eyes when you stay here. Do you think so, comrade commander? "


    "That''s right." Since chisgakov''s idea is the same as mine, I naturally want to echo his opinion: "we need to go to the frontier observatory."


    "Well, two comrades in command." Barksov saw that we agreed, so he had no choice but to say, "please let me come, and I''ll take you to the frontier observatory."


    Because our artillery troops are not in place, there is no artillery preparation before the attack. Instead, the tanks open the way in front and the infantry charge behind. However, the commanders of all regiments seemed to have remembered my advice and adjusted the previous attack mode, so that the troops, taking the platoon as the unit, hid behind the tanks and trotted towards the enemy''s positions.


    When our tanks were only three or four hundred meters away from the German army, the machine guns in the position opened fire fiercely. As the infantry were hiding behind the tank in the shooting corner, the German machine gun bullets hit the armor plate, splashing a string of sparks, it is difficult to do any damage to the infantry behind the tank.


    Seeing that the machine gun fire did not work, the German army bombarded them with mortars. As the mortar shells fell around the tank and exploded, the flying shrapnel caused casualties to the commanders and fighters following the tank. Seeing one commander after another fall, chisjakov was a little worried. He patted baksov on the shoulder and asked in a loud voice, "Comrade division, can we use artillery fire to suppress the enemy''s mortar?" Barksov said with a sad face: "Comrade deputy commander, the artillery regiment is not in place. It is very difficult to suppress the enemy''s firepower only by a few mortars in the division."¡° What should we do then? " Chisgakov was a little impatient: "can we watch our soldiers fall under the enemy''s fire?"¡° Comrade deputy commander, don''t worry. " I, who was observing the situation on the battlefield, said to him lightly, "our tanks are not vegetarians. They will kill the enemy''s mortar positions." As soon as I spoke, a tank stopped in front of the anti tank trench, slowly turned the turret, aimed its muzzle at the position of the German mortar, and fired decisively. The shell accurately landed near the German mortar and exploded. After a flash of fire, the mortar team that had been firing was silent.

 Chapter 1214

    As soon as the German mortar team was destroyed, the soldiers behind the tank rushed out of the hiding place and rushed directly into the front anti tank trench. Relying on the fortification, they launched counter fire with the enemy. The tanks that followed also stopped in front of the anti tank trench in a similar way. They used artillery fire to suppress the fire points of the German army, covered the infantry hiding behind the body, and quickly entered the anti tank trench. I can tell which are veterans and which are recruits from the performance of the commanders and fighters. After the veterans ran out from the back of the tank, they immediately rolled a few times and entered the anti tank trench; The recruits are clumsy and use their hands and feet to climb forward. When they get to the pit, they usually have to rely on the veterans to pull them in. Our tanks were lined up on this side of the anti tank trench. Because there were our commanders and fighters in the trench, they didn''t have to worry about the German anti tank hands, and they could calmly fire or strafe towards the exposed fire points. I was watching, when I heard someone at the door asking loudly, "is the commander here?" I recognized sivakov''s voice, quickly turned to the outside and said, "is that general sivakov? Come in As soon as I spoke, sivakov came in with two teachers, babashin and Chernoff. After the three men raised their hands and saluted, sivakov reported to me: "Comrade commander, I have led the guards, but I didn''t expect something. Contrary to my guess, konev continued to say:" after my repeated thinking, and with the consent of Marshal Zhukov, I decided to let you take charge of the joint force. "¡° What? "I thought I had heard konev wrong when I heard him say so. I immediately asked," Comrade commander of the front army, do you mean to let me command this joint force? "¡° Yes, comrade oshanina, that''s it. " Konev confidently said: "I believe that with your ability, you will be able to command the troops to break through Kharkov''s defense and liberate the fourth largest city in our country."

 Chapter 1215

    The fact that the two army groups are under my command is tantamount to giving me a "peace of mind" as well as a lot of pressure. If Kharkov can be captured successfully, everyone will be happy; But if the attack fails, then it is to live up to the trust of the superior, waiting for me will be severely punished.


    However, they did not think so. As soon as they heard that the superior had given me the command of the joint forces, several people immediately cheered.


    After peace was restored in the observation center, chisgakov, who was still a little excited, asked, "Comrade commander, do you want to hold a military meeting when the commander of the friendly army comes to discuss how to attack Kharkov?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander, your proposal is very good. A military conference should be held." Chisjakov''s proposal immediately reminded me that when the two non subordinate forces cooperate for the first time, it is easy for them to fight separately. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to hold a military conference and unify their thinking. So I agreed: "as soon as general managarov and his teachers arrive, we will have a meeting. But the most important task now is to occupy the city of jergach first. "


    When I was on the phone, baksov not only observed at the lookout for a long time, but also received calls from several front-line commanders. At this moment, when he heard what I said, he immediately replied, "don''t worry, comrade commander. According to the report of the front-line commanders, two thirds of the city of jergache has fallen into the hands of our army, and a small number of German troops have been fighting in several buildings, but I believe they will be wiped out or driven out of the city in a short time. "


    I''m not surprised that the 67th division of the guards invaded jergach. After all, it''s just a small city. If it wasn''t for baksov, they marched long distance yesterday and broke through several German defense lines. The commanders and fighters were tired and might have won last night.


    With my eyes fixed on the map, I asked, "general sivakov, have you got a clear idea of the German deployment on the edge of the forest?"


    "Comrade commander, I''ve made it clear." Sivakov pointed to the position of the forest on the map and said to me, "the German army has assembled the 3rd Armored Division and the 168th infantry division in the forest. Although these two units suffered heavy casualties in the early fighting, their combat effectiveness still can not be underestimated."


    My original plan was for Colonel babashin''s 71st guard division to attack the forest area and advance towards the North Bank of the UD river. Now that there is a whole group army, my strategy needs to be adjusted. Thinking of this, I resolutely announced: "I declare that the combat tasks of the 71st and 90th divisions of the guards will be cancelled. After the 67th division of the guards captured jergach, the troops took a rest in place. "


    As soon as my words came out, babashin and Chernoff, who were still eager to try, were immediately dumbfounded. They asked in one voice: "Comrade commander, why is that?"


    After I looked at them, I said, "comrades, you should know that the troops participating in the war are not only the 22nd army of your guards, but also the 23rd army of general tavartkilaze. Behind them are tens of thousands of officers and soldiers of general managarov''s 53rd army. Therefore, our original combat deployment should also be adjusted accordingly. "


    When I finished, chisgakov looked around at our observation post, and then said, "Comrade commander, if a military conference is held, this place is too small, even if only division commanders come to the conference, they can''t sit down. Do you think we should hold the meeting in the city after we take jergach


    "No, comrade deputy commander, it is absolutely impossible." As soon as chisgakov''s proposal came out, I immediately retorted: "the large German troops are stationed not far south of jergach. If they know that we are meeting in the city, as long as they come to the last round of shelling, they may bring us all together. So anyway, we can''t have a meeting in the city. "


    When I say that, chisgakov is in a bit of a dilemma¡° Where should we hold the meeting? It must not be in the tent. There are not many people in it. Shall we have a meeting in the open air? "


    Where to hold a meeting is a real hassle. When he was in a dilemma, sivakov suddenly said, "Comrade commander, there are many woodcutters and carpenters in my army. I can gather them together and find a spacious place to build a wooden house as soon as possible."


    "Well, comrade commander, your proposal is good." In order to ensure the progress, I specially told him: "in order to speed up the construction, the trees cut down need not be stripped of the bark outside, as long as the house can be built, that''s OK. Well, let''s start cutting trees and building houses right away


    After sivakov left with colonel babashin, I looked at baksov on the opposite side and said, "Comrade division commander, once the army has completely occupied jergach, we should not only continue to eliminate the remaining enemies in the city, but also build strong fortifications facing the forest."


    At my command, before baksov could speak, chisjakov interrupted and asked, "Comrade commander, are we really going to attack the forest area after the arrival of the 23rd army of the guards and the 53rd army of general managarov?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." I answered him positively: "with the addition of general managarov''s 53rd group army, we now have twice as many troops in hand. Therefore, we should make corresponding adjustments to Kharkov''s offensive tactics."¡° Adjustment? " "What''s the adjustment method?" chisjakov asked I pointed to the position of the forest on the map and said, "you see, the German army has deployed an infantry division and an armored division in the forest. If we attack now, it is estimated that even if there are heavy casualties, we will not be able to drive the enemy away from the forest area. So, I plan to wait for our artillery and the tank troops behind to arrive. First, we will bombard the forest, and then we will have tanks to cover the infantry attack, so that the chance of winning will be much higher. " Chisgakov stared at the map, frowned and thought for a while. Finally, he nodded and agreed: "well, comrade commander, I''ll do as you suggest. Before the attack, we should make necessary preparations for artillery fire and destroy the enemy''s defensive positions and technical equipment, so that our offensive forces can reduce casualties. "

 Chapter 1216

    Sivakov, under the command of a group of loggers and carpenters selected from the army, started the construction of the new headquarters two or three hundred meters away from the observation post. Originally, I thought it would take at least until dark for this wooden house to take shape. When I was going to go to the scene to have a look, kirilov and bezikov arrived with a group of people from the group army headquarters. I had to give up the idea of going to the scene to supervise the work, and took them back to the headquarters of baksov''s division to learn about the situation of the follow-up troops first.


    As soon as we had lunch, sivakov rushed in from the outside and reported to me with pride, "Comrade commander, the headquarters has been built. You can move in at any time."


    "So soon?" I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was only more than four hours since I gave the order. Unexpectedly, they built the temporary headquarters. So I gave sivakov a thumbs up and said, "good job, comrade commander, you and your soldiers are good." Then I turned to kirilov and said, "Comrade military commissar, let''s go to the new headquarters."


    As our group came out of baksov''s division headquarters and walked along the traffic ditch towards the wooden house that had just been repaired in the distance, there was the sound of motor cars in the distance. I looked in the direction of the sound and saw a convoy of five or six jeeps and three trucks full of soldiers coming towards us.


    Kirilov stood there, squinting for a long time, and then asked me, "Rita, are you from our army?"


    "It''s general managarov. They''re here." "Comrade commander, let''s go out to meet them," chisjakov said excitedly to me With these words, he climbed out of the traffic ditch with his hands and feet and faced the motorcade.


    When kirilov and I left the moat and headed for the convoy. The motorcade has stopped 50 or 60 meters away, and the people in the car have got off the car one after another. I recognized managarov from the crowd at a glance.


    I walked quickly towards the Group Commander, and from a long distance, I raised my hand to greet him: "Hello, general managarov, I didn''t expect that we would meet here!"


    I didn''t expect that managarov actually came to attention. After saluting me, he respectfully reported to me: "Comrade General, managarov, commander of the 53rd group army, reports to you. I''m leading the 53rd group army to report to you. I''m waiting for your order. Please give me instructions!"


    I raised my hand, pulled it off his forehead, shook hands and said, "general managarov, we are all old acquaintances. We don''t need to be so polite." I looked at him with a serious expression, knowing that he must have been temporarily assigned to me to direct this matter, but I was depressed. I quickly cut off the topic and asked, "why didn''t I see your troops?"


    "Report to Comrade General." "The troops are still marching on the road. It''s estimated that they won''t get here until dark," managarov said. But I''ll take the commanders of the group army headquarters and come to accept your orders first. "


    "Come on, general managarov. Let''s go to the headquarters first." With that, I guided him to the new headquarters.


    The new headquarters is very spacious. There is a rough table in the middle of the room. A few tree trunks with bark removed are fixed on the remaining stumps and become simple benches. After seeing the furnishings in the room, I said to managarov with some embarrassment, "Comrade General, the environment here is too simple. Don''t blame it."


    After listening to this, managarov just gave me a faint smile, and then said to me, "Comrade commander, can you see that this is just built?"


    "Yes, general managarov." "This temporary headquarters was built just before you arrived, and it''s our first time to come in," chisjakov said


    "I''m so lucky. As soon as the house was built, I became one of the first people to enter." "Comrade commander, do we need to open the champagne to celebrate?" managarov asked jokingly


    I chuckled, then turned to the group following me and said, "come on, comrades commander, drink champagne. After we liberate Kharkov, we can drink as much as we want. Now let''s talk about how to eliminate the German army in the forest. "


    Due to the limited seats, except for the commanders of the army and the group army, the remaining ten or so division commanders were all around the wooden table, quietly waiting for me to give orders.


    I looked left and right, and then asked managarov: "Comrade General, you''d better talk about it first. After all, you''ve been dealing with the Germans recently."


    "Comrades commander, we need to know that we have an advantage in our military strength. This battle will be much easier to fight." Although managarov''s attacks to the north of Kharkov ended in failure, he did have some skills. Hearing my question, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "there''s no need to spend more brain cells. It''s just artillery preparation, tank infantry covering forward movement, and flanking at the same time. When the extended artillery fire comes to an end, the infantry will be deployed to lure the enemy''s fire points to expose, and exert their own advantages to suppress and clear them. Then concentrate on the other side, forcing the enemy to mobilize their forces... And finally drive them out of the forest, or annihilate them all. "


    After managarov finished, I turned around and asked the teachers around me, "do you have different opinions? They are free to speak. " When I heard this, all the teachers shook their heads in order and answered with one voice: "no, comrade commander. We are at your command. "¡° Well, since everyone has no opinion, I''ll give the battle order. " Since all of you are my only leader, I pointed to the map and said to povsky, "Comrade artillery commander, please immediately mobilize no less than two artillery regiments to bombard the German positions in the forest area for one hour." At my command, povsky quickly got up from his seat and answered loudly, "yes!" I turned my eyes to bielei again: "general bielei, when our shelling is over, your tanks will cover the infantry and attack the forest area. Do you understand? "¡° Understand Bielei also stood up and replied loudly¡° As for the infantry. " As I said this, I glanced at the teachers and then said, "it''s still up to captain babashin''s 71st guard division. The 90th division of general Chernoff''s guards, as the second echelon, launched an attack on the North Bank of the UD River after the enemy in the forest was cleared. "

 Chapter 1217

    According to the operational plan, we will bombard the German positions in the forest area at 4 p.m.


    As time goes by, I sit in the headquarters waiting for the artillery to fire. I feel like an ant on a hot pot. I keep looking at the time and wonder why it''s so slow.


    Managarov, on the other hand, seemed more relaxed. He and chisgakov sat opposite me, chatting and laughing. From time to time, they pulled the map in front of them and talked in a low voice about where the troops under his command had won and what kind of victory they had won.


    Kirilov and bezikov were not idle. He and his friend''s chief of staff and akhromeyev surrounded the huge map on the wall, carefully studying the direction of the army''s next move.


    Looking at more than half an hour before the shelling, I felt really bored, so I got up and went to the map. He pretended to ask bzikov: "Comrade chief of staff, I think you have been studying the place. Do you have any new discoveries?"


    "Comrade commander, please allow me to report to you." Before bzikov could answer my question, the chief of staff of the 53rd army next to him said, "I found a loophole in your plan."


    "Loopholes in the plan?" After repeating his words, I asked curiously, "Comrade chief of staff, can you tell me more about it?"


    "Comrade commander, please have a look." He pointed to the south of Kharkov with a stick and said, "this is the railway and highway from Kharkov to melefa and krasnograd. If we don''t cut it off, the German army will be able to move in the ammunition and supplies needed by the city, and transport out the important materials in the city and their sick and wounded people


    After listening to the chief of staff, bzikov looked at me and asked, "Comrade commander, what should we do?"


    I carefully looked at the location of the railway and highway, and then said: "from the current situation, to cut off the traffic between the enemy and the outside world, we still need to repulse the garrison in the forest and cross the UD river."


    "Yes, comrade oshanina." As soon as I finished, managarov, who didn''t know when to come to me, continued: "I suggest asking the front army to send out air force to carry out air strikes on this traffic line, making it more difficult for the enemy to get in touch with the outside world."


    After listening to managarov''s suggestion, I stared at the map for a while. Although we have reached the west of Kharkov, we still don''t know about the German defense in this area. That is to say, if we want to cut off the enemy''s rear traffic lines, we can''t do it in a day or two. Air raid on the German traffic lines may be the best way at present.


    Thinking of this, I nodded and said to managarov, "Comrade General, you are right about this proposal. Later, when the offensive begins, send a telegram to general konev, asking him to send air force to attack the enemy''s positions. "


    "All right." Managarov clearly understood that the reason why I asked him to negotiate with the air force was that this was the area in charge of the grassland front army. If I went to konev directly, it might lead to conflicts. So he readily agreed, "I''ll call commander konev later."


    Just as he was talking, suddenly there came the sound of guns. After listening, bzikov said with pride, "our artillery are beginning to teach the Germans a lesson."


    I quickly walked to the phone and asked the messenger to connect me to berey. When I heard bielei''s voice coming from the earphone, I immediately asked, "Comrade General, how many tanks have entered the starting position?"


    "Comrade commander, less than one third." General berey said with some embarrassment: "because the road leading here is not easy to walk, so the remaining tanks are still marching on the road. As for when they will arrive, it is not easy to say."


    "Can we get there before the end of the artillery preparation?" In such a tough battle, if there is not enough tanks to help, it is very difficult to successfully occupy the German position. So I heard that the tank troops can not arrive at the designated position on time. I can''t help but worry: "if there are not enough tanks before the attack, then our infantry will pay huge casualties."


    Don''t thunder listen to me some anxious, had to say helplessly: "commander comrade, I do my best.". I will urge the troops behind to speed up their march and try to get there before the attack. "


    Seeing that I put down the phone with an unhappy face, managarov quickly comforted me and said, "don''t worry, comrade oshanina. Even without tanks, our soldiers can defeat the Germans."


    When I heard this, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. My heart said: without tanks, I can only take people to fill in. Two or three thousand people may die, but they can''t take the enemy''s position. However, these words can be thought about in mind, but can not be said. In order not to disappoint him, I said with a smile: "you are right, general managarov. Even without tanks, our brave soldiers can defeat the damned Germans."


    Managarov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he said to me, "Comrade oshanina, there''s nothing wrong now. I''ll call general konev first and ask him to send air force to air raid the German traffic line."


    "Go, go!" Although I knew that the air raid at this time was of little use to the elimination of German troops in the forest, it was better than nothing, so I urged him to call quickly.


    When managarov went to make a phone call, I pulled chisjakov to the map, pointed to the traffic line that was about to be attacked, and said to him, "Comrade deputy commander, look at this traffic line. It''s very difficult to completely cut it off only by relying on the air raid. Maybe in the end, we have to send out ground troops."


    After looking at the map for a while, chisjakov turned to me and asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t know which army you plan to send to complete this important task?"


    Although I want to send troops to cut off the enemy''s traffic lines, it''s really difficult for me to send any troops. Just when I was in a dilemma, the chief of staff of the 53rd army said, "Comrade commander, I have a proposal that the task of cutting off traffic lines can be done by the 84th, 116th and 299th infantry divisions."


    Since the chief of staff discovered the problem of cutting off the traffic line, he must have thought it over before he put it to me. So when he finished, I simply asked, "how many troops are there in these three divisions?"


    My question silenced the chief of staff. I saw his head down, his lips open and close quickly and silently, and I thought he was calculating the number of soldiers in these units. After two or three minutes, he finally stopped, looked up at me and said, "report to Comrade commander, although these three divisions have been seriously reduced in the early fighting, so far there are still nearly ten thousand troops in total."


    "Nearly ten thousand people?" I was stunned when I heard what he said about the data. I only know that when the 53rd group army attacked Kharkov from the north, there were heavy casualties. Unexpectedly, the casualties were close to two-thirds.


    While I was hesitating, managarov, who had finished the call, came back and said to me cheerfully, "Comrade commander, general konev agreed. He said that from tomorrow, he would send the air force to bomb the German lines of communication."


    When I heard that the air force would be out tomorrow, I immediately felt relieved: "that''s great. In this way, the German army will soon have to withdraw from the city because of the depletion of ammunition and materials. "


    "By the way, what were you talking about?" Managarov asked curiously as he saw a group of us gathered around the map and seemed to be discussing something.


    "Well, general managarov." "We are discussing which army will be responsible for cutting off the German traffic line after breaking through the German forest line," chisgakov explained to him


    After hearing this, managarov turned his eyes to me and said nervously, "Comrade oshanina, give this task to our group army. Although my troops suffered heavy casualties in the early stage, they will certainly be able to complete your task well. "


    As soon as his words were finished, the commanders around him sent out a burst of laughter, which confused him. He looked at me mistily and asked blankly, "what are you laughing at?"


    I coughed gently and tried to say to him in a calm voice, "well, general managarov, your chief of staff has just proposed that the 84th, 116th and 299th infantry divisions of your army should complete this task."


    When managarov heard what I said, he immediately said excitedly, "yes, the combat effectiveness of these three divisions is relatively strong in our group army. With them, there should be no problem in cutting off the enemy''s traffic lines."


    "Well, since you say the same, the task of cutting off the enemy''s traffic lines is left to these three divisions." Seeing that managarov was eager to let his troops perform in front of me, he did it without hesitation. "After we broke through the German forest defense line, we immediately sent out these three divisions, quickly inserted them to the south of Kharkov and cut off the enemy''s transportation line."


    As soon as I finished speaking, I heard the communication director ROP Hoff call me: "Comrade commander, there is a call for you. It''s from the commander of the front army."


    When I heard lophov''s words, I instinctively looked at managarov beside me and said that I might be looking for him. Who knows that lophoff called again: "commander, it''s general vatukin."


    When lophov said that, I realized that the caller was not konev, but vatujing. I quickly walked over and took the earphone from his hand. Then he said respectfully, "Hello, senior general!"


    When vatukin heard my voice, he immediately asked with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, do you have any new actions after recovering jergach? I seem to hear the rumbling of guns?"


    "Yes, senior general." I truthfully reported the ongoing offensive to him, and finally added: "my plan is to break through the German forest defense zone and divide the troops into two routes: one is mainly the sixth group army of guards, directly crossing the UD River and attacking Kharkov; On the other side, the three infantry divisions of general managarov went south to cut off the German lines of communication


    "Well, that''s a good plan." After listening to me, vatukin said with admiration: "as long as the German army is cut off from the rear, they will not last long in Kharkov. If they do not retreat, they will not be able to escape being annihilated by us. "


    With these words, he stopped for a moment and said, "by the way, general konev just called me and said that general managarov asked him to send air force to bomb the German lines of communication. O''shanina, do you think this is effective? " After thinking about this question of vatukin, I replied, "Comrade General, bombing German lines of communication will not help if too few planes are dispatched. But if our air force can bombard the German lines of communication in large formations in many batches, I think we can paralyze their transportation in a short time. "¡° Large formation, multi batch? " After repeating what I said, vatujing asked in a puzzled way, "o''shanina, can you be more specific? I''m confused by you. "¡° Comrade general, the so-called large formation means that hundreds of bombers are dispatched at one time; Many batches, that is, the first batch of planes flew away just after the bombing, and the second batch of planes came back to continue bombing. " I indoctrinated vatukin with my own military theory that "under such intensive saturation bombing, the German lines of communication will certainly be paralyzed. In this way, the German army in Kharkov was not supplied with soldiers, ammunition and supplies. Before long, the isolated German army will, like Paulus, obediently lay down its arms and surrender to us. " The beautiful picture I described made watujing''s heart beat. After a moment''s silence, he said to me, "oshanina, this bombing method you said is good. I''ll discuss it with Marshal Zhukov later. If he agrees, the air force of our front army will join forces with konev''s air force to carry out saturation bombing on German lines of communication. " As soon as I put down the phone, bzikov came to me and reported, "Comrade commander, the army has launched an attack on the forest area. But unfortunately, we have a limited number of tanks. As a result, the infantry division may suffer a lot of casualties. "

 Chapter 1218

    Since only one third of major general berey''s tank troops took part in the battle, the two attacks on the forest areas failed to achieve ideal results. It seems that there are quite a number of forty or fifty tanks placed together. Once they are scattered to the front of the attack, which is four or five kilometers wide, they will be a little insignificant.


    Moreover, during the one hour long shelling, the German fortifications built inside and outside the forest were rarely directly destroyed. Even if most of the fortifications are seriously damaged, as soon as our soldiers enter the effective range, these fortifications will come back to life, causing us great casualties.


    After reading the battle report of Colonel babahin, the commander of the 71st division of the guards, I threw it on the table. After turning around the table full of people for two times, I stopped and asked, "commanders, the two attacks launched by the 71st division of the guards against the forest area under the cover of the tank brigade have ended in failure. Please tell me your views."


    The answer is silence.


    I waited patiently for a while. Seeing no one spoke, I sighed in my heart. I went to the wall, looked at the huge map above, and quietly thought about how to adjust the attack tactics so as to drive the German troops out of the forest area as soon as possible.


    "Comrade commander," I was suddenly called by someone behind me. I quickly turned to look. Managarov got up from his seat, picked up the war report on the table, and said, "I think although we failed in two attacks, the German troops in the forest were almost consumed. As long as we launch another attack, the enemy''s defense line will collapse. "


    I didn''t say anything about managarov''s suggestion of no nutrition, but shrunk my mouth. Chisgakov, who was sitting in front of me, saw my little action and quickly stood up and said, "Comrade commander, it is absolutely necessary to launch a new attack. But before attacking, we must first study the reasons for the failure of the previous two attacks, otherwise even if we launch a new attack, we will also fail. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, please go on." As soon as he finished, I politely said, "what do you think?"


    After thinking for a moment, chisgakov frowned and said, "the main reason why our two attacks failed was that the early artillery preparation was not enough and the German fortifications were not completely destroyed. Secondly, the number of tanks is insufficient to provide sufficient artillery support for infantry when attacking... "


    "General chisgakov." Before he finished, managarov retorted: "when we attacked Belgorod, the infantry were not supported by tanks. The tanks were blocked by the German anti tank trench. Even so, we managed to break through the German defense from the north and rush into the city. "


    Hearing what managarov said, I gave a faint smile and said to myself: if my troops had not taken the lead in attacking the city to contain the German forces, plus the close guard seventh group army, you would not have been so easy to break through the German defense. Although my heart was filled with disdain for his statement, the apparent politeness still had to be maintained. I tried to say in a smooth tone: "general managarov, there is an open area from jergach to the forest area, which is three kilometers long and five or six kilometers wide. When our troops attack, they are almost within the coverage of German firepower. If there are not enough tanks to provide cover, our infantry will not only be killed by German artillery, but also suffer heavy casualties under German light fire. "


    With these words, I turned my eyes to the silent bielei and asked with a slight dissatisfaction: "general bielei, when will the remaining tanks of the tank army arrive?"


    Belay quickly got up from his seat and said with a look of shame: "Comrade commander, although I have ordered the remaining tanks to speed up, because the roads are damaged, the troops can only cut down trees and pave the roads while they are advancing, so they are very slow."


    "Comrade commander, what general berey said is completely accurate after my understanding." Then came the chief of staff, Mr. bezikov, who took a look at Mr. berey and continued to defend him: "the road was damaged because our 100000 troops rushed to jergach. The roads here are already poor, and there are hundreds of vehicles of all kinds passing through, which makes the road condition worse. I went to see it in the afternoon. In many places, except for infantry, vehicles can''t move forward at all. "


    Bezikov''s introduction made the commanders in this room suddenly realize that it''s no wonder that the tank troops can''t reach the designated position for a long time. It turns out that it''s all caused by this damn road.


    "Even if the tanks can''t get to the designated position on time, our attack must continue, and we can''t give the Germans a breathing space." After I got to know the truth, I didn''t blame bielei, but continued to ask the commanders here, "do you have any good ideas?"


    "Comrade commander, I have a good idea. May I talk about it?" Povsky, who had been ignored by me, suddenly stood up and said cautiously.


    "Go ahead, comrade povsky." Although I don''t spend too much time with him, I know clearly that if he doesn''t speak, he will be able to get to the point.


    "Since there are not enough tanks to cover the infantry attack, we will strengthen the artillery fire to suppress the German firepower." After povsky expressed his opinion, he saw that everyone looked at him blankly, and then went on to say: "we can concentrate our artillery in one place, aim at a certain defensive zone of the German army, carry out heavy shelling, and destroy as many defensive works of the German army as possible. When the shelling is over, concentrate all the tanks and guide the infantry to attack the area. As long as we tear a hole in the German defense, they will collapse as a whole. "


    "Yes, comrade artillery commander, your proposal is very good." As soon as he had finished his speech, chisjakov even praised it. At the same time, he raised his head and said to me, "Comrade commander, I think we should adopt general povsky''s proposal to concentrate all the artillery and tanks to attack a certain point of the German defense line. I believe that no German army can resist our fierce attack. "


    After listening to what he said, I did not immediately express my opinion, but simply asked, "when can our attack be launched again?"


    After povsky and bere looked at each other, povsky replied, "Comrade commander, because we need to rebuild a new artillery position, I think the attack can start in an hour at the earliest."


    "Another hour?" After listening to this, managarov said somewhat unwillingly: "after the artillery entered the position, they would bombard for about half an hour, so it would be dark before the attack began. I don''t think our troops can achieve any ideal results in the forest after dark. "


    The speaker has no intention, and the listener has intention. Managarov may be just a word of complaint, but it''s another thing in my ears. Yes, night fighting is the most important test of the quality of the troops. When the two sides meet unexpectedly in the dark forest and almost bite each other, the casualties caused by the instant exchange of fire will be so tragic.


    When our commanders and fighters are in the dark forest, they have no way or time to identify the situation a few steps away. At most, they can only judge the number of opponents and the position of the next step by the shadow of the initial firefight. Especially when the enemy and ourselves are fighting together, we can only judge whether the shaking shadows that are a little far away from us are enemies or friends by our own feelings, or by the combat experience accumulated in years of fighting.


    When I expressed my concern, the headquarters was silent again. We all know that even if we walk into the forest during the day, people''s vision will be affected, not to mention the dark night? And even if we keep firing flares into the air, we can''t make our commanders and fighters see more clearly.


    Major general volgeng stood up from his seat as he saw that the plan of the night''s attack was about to come to an end. Looking at me, he said, "Comrade commander, please allow me to talk about my views."


    I looked at the chief of staff of the 53rd army, nodded with a smile and said, "please go ahead, comrade chief of staff. Since at noon, you can see that I ignored the loophole of cutting off the German transport line in my offensive deployment. Well, I believe the suggestions you put forward now must be very constructive. "


    After I finished, volgeng expressed his own suggestion flatly: "Comrade commander, since it is a night battle, not only our troops have the problems you are worried about, but the Germans are also facing the same problems. So we may be able to achieve unexpected results by attacking all night. "


    "General volgeng." "You may forget to consider that in such a night battle, it''s easy to be injured by mistake due to misjudgment," chisjakov retorted At this point, he stopped for a moment, gave me a meaningful look, and then said, "our commander comrades, in the past, when commanding the troops to carry out night attacks, had repeatedly used the favorable opportunity of limited German vision to let the enemy kill each other in the dark. The enemy in the forest is one of the most elite troops in the German army. Maybe they will use the same tactics against us... "


    What chisgakov said made volgeng shut up. He should know in his heart that what chisjakov said is not nonsense, and it is possible that it will become true in tonight''s battle. When the headquarters fell silent again, everyone focused on me, as if waiting for me to make the final decision.


    At this moment, the telephone rang on the wall, which attracted everyone''s attention. I thought silently in my heart: I don''t know who is calling? If the call comes from the headquarters of the front army, maybe they will inquire about the fighting situation here, so I can ask for their opinions and see what they say.


    Lophoff, who was sitting by the phone, picked up the earphone. After listening for a moment, he stood up, covered the phone, reached out to me and said, "Comrade commander, it''s commander watujing."


    When vatukin heard my voice, he immediately asked with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the situation there? After seizing jergach, they didn''t drive the Germans out of the forest together? "


    Although he said it lightly, I was shocked in a cold sweat after listening to it. I guess he asked. It''s very likely that Zhukov wants to know when we will officially attack Kharkov. After taking two deep breaths, I replied respectfully, "Comrade General, we have launched two successive attacks on the forest areas. But unfortunately, it all ended in failure. At present, we are discussing whether we should continue to attack... "


    "Why discuss it, comrade oshanina." Vatukin''s voice suddenly became severe. "You should attack the enemy all the time, and don''t give them any breathing room."¡° But, Comrade General. " I said with some embarrassment: "it will be dark soon. The troops will encounter many difficulties when fighting in the dark forest..." "what difficulties will they encounter?" Without waiting for me to finish, watujing impolitely interrupted me, "can''t you just worry that the forest is too dark and you can''t tell the enemy from us in the scuffle? Don''t forget that many trees in the forest will burn up as soon as a fight starts, and many parts of the forest will be illuminated like day. Do you still have to worry that you can''t tell the enemy from the enemy? " Watujing''s words made my mind suddenly clear. Yes, I didn''t expect that the trees would burn after being shelled. As long as there are burning trees everywhere in the forest, do I have to worry that I can''t tell the enemy from me in the night? So I quickly said: "understand, comrade general, I''m going to arrange the troops to fight the German army in the forest at night."¡° That''s right, comrade oshanina When I said this, vatukin''s voice softened again. "Once you drive the Germans out of the forest, report to me immediately. Do you understand? "¡° I see, Comrade General. " After I put down the phone, I went back to the table and announced loudly to the commanders on the scene, "comrades, I have decided to launch an attack on the German troops in the forest overnight and drive them away before dawn."¡° However, comrade commander, how can we solve the problem of lighting? " Seeing that my attitude was changing so fast, chisjakov was a little puzzled and asked, "even if we keep firing flares in the air, it''s hard for our commanders and fighters to quickly distinguish ourselves from the enemy in the dark forest?"¡° Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander. " As for his doubts, I explained with a smile: "after being shelled, many trees in the forest will burn. Then our commanders and fighters will be able to fight with the enemy in the forest under the light of these fires." Chisgakov listened to me, nodded and said with relief, "that''s good, that''s good, so that our attack can continue." I don''t think you have any more objections, so we began to arrange the task: "general povsky, adjust the artillery position immediately, and prepare to carry out intensive shelling on the German position; Commander berey, gather the existing tanks and attack the enemy''s positions as soon as the shelling is over. " After giving orders to the two men, I told bzikov, "chief of staff, call Colonel babashin and let him prepare for another attack."

 Chapter 1219

    The battle in the forest, due to the strong resistance of the German army, lasted from dark to dawn. To be on the safe side, I did not join any new troops except the 71 st division of the close guard of Colonel babahin who was fighting.


    After daybreak, after listening to the sound of guns outside, I couldn''t sit still. My eyes swept back and forth over the two men, chisjakov and managarov, and I thought to myself who I should take to the forward observation post to see the progress of the battle.


    Take chisgakov. Will managarov think that I deliberately ignored him; Take managarov. When his troops are needed to fight, I''m afraid that chisgakov, who stays in the headquarters, will not command his troops. I thought about it for a long time, but I didn''t come up with a good idea. So he sighed and said to them, "comrades general, I plan to go to the frontier observation post. Which one of you would like to go with me?"


    I didn''t expect that as soon as my voice fell, they stood up together and said, "I''ll go!" Perhaps they did not expect each other to stand up. After a strange look at each other, they said with one voice, "you stay. I''ll go to the observation station with Comrade commander."


    Seeing their reaction, I couldn''t help laughing. Originally, because I couldn''t choose, I asked them who would like to accompany me to the frontier observatory. I didn''t expect that both of them wanted to go, which was troublesome.


    "Rita," kirilov said at this moment, "let them both go with you. If there''s anything, you call back and tell us. We''ll follow your orders."


    I think kirilov''s words are quite reasonable. Although several commanders are not present, the chief of staff of the two army groups are present. If there is anything, they will accurately give orders to the troops at all levels. Thinking of this, I nodded, and then said to them, "well, in that case, two general comrades, please follow me."


    When our jeep passed through jergach, I saw that no building in the city was complete. Either the whole building collapsed or the wall facing the street was blown down. In the jeep, I could see the furnishings of the house clearly. What surprised me was that there were many people in casual clothes in my vision, including men, women, old and young. It was obvious that they were the residents of the city. At the moment, they were looking for something in the ruins of collapsed buildings.


    Seeing this scene, chisjakov said strangely, "Comrade commander, have you seen it? There are a lot of people here. They don''t know where they are hiding when our troops are shelling the city


    I know that there are basements under all buildings in Russia. When the city is shelled, the residents can not only hide in the air raid shelter built by the unified government, but also in the basement of the building. So he said lightly: "maybe hiding in the basement of his home."


    "When we attacked the north of Kharkov some time ago, we rescued many residents." Managarov went on to say: "those damned Germans, when fighting back against us, let the captured residents walk in front of the team and block bullets for them, trying to break through our army''s position."


    "What happened?" Asked chisgakov curiously.


    "The residents were saved, the Germans were wiped out by us." Managarov said in a flat tone and refused to go on.


    Although managarov said it lightly, I know very well in my heart that bullets don''t have eyes on the battlefield. They can''t tell the enemy from the enemy. There must be a lot of people who have been wronged. But if you think about it, even if I am in that situation, I can''t think of any way to keep the residents safe.


    Soon we arrived at the observation post of the 71st division of the guards on the mound.


    Seeing some of us enter the observation post, Colonel babahin quickly put down his telescope and raised his hand to salute us. After giving a salute, I asked, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the situation? When will the battle end? "


    There was a look of embarrassment on Colonel babashin''s face about my question. He seemed to want to explain something to me, but he opened his mouth, but in the end he didn''t say anything.


    Seeing that he didn''t speak, I asked, "Comrade Colonel, why don''t you answer me? Aren''t you sure you will drive all the enemies out of the forest?"


    "No, comrade commander." Seeing that I was not happy, babahan quickly explained: "the area of the forest is too large, and the German resistance is quite tenacious, so our progress is not smooth. Before you came here, I called several commanders and asked them to stop attacking until the commanders and fighters had a rest. "


    I went to the lookout, raised my telescope and looked in the direction of the still smoky forest. Then I asked coldly, "Comrade Colonel, when can the troops finish their rest and launch a new attack?"


    "At least two hours, comrade commander." Colonel babahin said with some guilty heart: "after fighting all night, the commanders and fighters are exhausted, and the ammunition is almost consumed. They need to be replenished..."


    Chisgakov also went to the lookout, raised his telescope and looked into the distance like me, then turned around and said, "the soldiers are very tired, and I see that. But if it takes two hours to recuperate and replenish ammunition, the morale will be affected. When we launch another attack, it''s hard to say whether we can have the same attack strength as last night. "


    After chisjakov finished speaking, managarov also said: "yes, comrade commander, if the soldiers stop attacking at this time, the morale will be affected. After the rest, it will take some time for the troops to return to the offensive state of yesterday. "


    As for the words of chisgakov and managarov, I think it is very reasonable in my heart that fighting is a matter of working hard and then failing three times. If they stop halfway and wait for a new round of attack to start, it will be difficult for the commanders and fighters to maintain their strong fighting capacity.


    I have the intention to let the commanders and fighters of the 71st division of the guards continue to attack. The shortage of ammunition is indeed a problem. If we don''t give them any supplements, we''ll force them to charge. That''s to say, we''ll let them fight a white-edged war with the German army. Before they rush in front of the enemy, they will lose all their troops.


    After thinking about it, I looked at chisjakov and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, do you know where the 90th division of the guards is?"


    "I know, comrade commander." Without waiting for chisgakov to reply, babashin said, "on the right wing of our division, there is a regiment of general Chernoff."


    After listening, I quickly walked to the phone, picked up the receiver, shook the handle a few times, and when I heard the voice of the signalman, I immediately told him, "get close to the 90th division commander."


    "Yes, comrade commander." The signalman recognized my voice and replied politely, "I''ll connect you with general Chernoff right away."


    When I heard Chernoff''s voice coming out of the receiver, I gave him a direct order: "Comrade division commander, immediately put the regiment nearest to the forest into battle, move fast, understand?"


    When Chernoff heard my senseless order, he asked, "Comrade commander, but the task of our division is to clear the German strongholds along the UD River..."


    "The situation has changed now, sir." I heard his tone of voice with a bit of resistance, so I said very impolitely: "the enemy can''t support it immediately, but the commanders and fighters of the 71st division of the guards have been fighting all day and night, and they are very tired, and the ammunition is almost consumed. Therefore, I temporarily decided to send you as a new force to drive away the enemy in the forest. "


    "I see, comrade commander." After listening to my explanation, Chernoff immediately understood my intention, and immediately replied, "I''m going to give the following commander an order to attack the enemy in the forest within ten minutes."


    "In addition to this regiment, the other two regiments should also be ready to fight." I then told him: "in order to break through the German position quickly, all the commanders and fighters who are in charge of the assault task should be equipped with assault rifles and machine guns. At the same time, they should bring more grenades. They must suppress the enemy in the shortest time. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" Chernoff replied loudly.


    Chernoff said it was ten minutes, but only five minutes later, I saw dozens of trucks full of soldiers, full of horsepower, rushing into the forest. When the truck stopped by the forest, the commanders and fighters jumped out of the car one after another. After forming a simple line beside the truck, they rushed to the deep forest under the leadership of the company platoon leader.


    The German army was in a panic when they saw that we had a new force on the battlefield. The soldiers hiding in the trenches or behind the trees kept pulling the bolt and pulling the trigger as fast as they could.


    From time to time, some soldiers were knocked down by the German army''s heavy rain of bullets, but there were a large number of troops who had just entered the battle. They charged and threw rows of grenades at the enemy''s hiding place, blowing up the front like an erupting volcano.


    With the help of the smoke and dust, the machine gun shooters, armed with fire breathing machine guns, charge and fire at the same time; Soldiers armed with assault rifles, carrying reflective bayonets through the smoke, rushed to the front of the enemy. The soldiers in the front, in the dense firepower of the enemy, trembled and fell to the ground, but the commanders and fighters behind continued to launch a fierce charge.


    Our soldiers are falling down and the defenders are losing their lives. The red light spots from the muzzle of the two sides interweave with each other to form a dense fire net. Our commanders and fighters are getting closer and closer to the enemy''s position. In the dense and shaking shadows, grenades are thrown down from each other like raindrops. In one explosion after another, firelights are flashing and groups of figures are flying.


    The German army in the trench, armed with bayonet rifles, attempted to launch a counter charge. As soon as they jumped out of the trench, they were swept to death by our commanders and fighters with machine guns. However, the German officers and men with strong fighting capacity rushed up one by one, howling and using bayonets to kill the commanders and men who had emptied their ammunition. But they were immediately screened by the commanders and men who arrived later with their weapons.


    The commanders and fighters of the 71st division of Jinwei, who had been resting in the occupied fortifications, saw that both the offensive and defensive sides were fighting hard. I couldn''t bear it. Under the leadership of my company''s platoon leader, I rushed out one after another and entered the fierce battle group.


    After 40 minutes of fighting, the German resistance gradually weakened.


    With a sigh of relief, I turned to chisgakov and managarov and said, "two general comrades, it seems that the Germans in the forest can''t support it any more. In a few minutes at most, they will retreat."


    As soon as I finished, babahin suddenly said, "Comrade commander, I still have two battalions in my hand. Do I need to put them into battle now?"¡° What, you have two battalions in your hands? " After hearing what he said, chisgakov gave him a kick and said, "what are you still doing? Don''t let them fight soon."¡° Yes With a promise, Colonel babashin picked up the phone from his desk and told his chief of staff, "Comrade chief of staff, time is almost up. Let our reserves attack." As soon as he put down the phone on his side, the troops of the second regiment of the 90th division of the guards on the other side had rushed into the forest shouting. This new force became the last straw to crush the German army. Before they approached the German fortifications, the battlefield, which was still in scuffle, suddenly quieted down. Looking at the German officers and men who laid down their arms and surrendered to our army in the distance, managarov said in surprise: "hell, how did these Germans suddenly surrender?" I pointed to the troops that were shouting forward and said to him, "Comrade General, the Germans may have seen that we have fresh troops to fight again, but they can''t resist with their existing strength, so they laid down their arms and surrendered to us." As soon as I had said this, chisjakov said to me, "Comrade deputy commander, after this tough battle, we can see many shortcomings."¡° What are the deficiencies? " After repeating what chisgakov said, I asked curiously, "I don''t know what we still have?"¡° First of all, we are not prepared for the attack Chisjakov pointed to our army''s tanks in the forest and said, "these tanks may be of some use in the early stage of the fortified battle. But when the shells and machine gun bullets are finished, they become furnishings. Not only can they not provide the infantry with the necessary firepower support, but on the contrary, the infantry should send out their men to protect them. "¡° Any more? " I knew that he was telling the truth, so I asked, "what else needs to be improved?"¡° The artillery did not have enough ammunition "They provided the infantry with two hours of artillery preparation, but we didn''t expect to supply them with ammunition," chisgakov said with some frustration

 Chapter 1220

    Then, chisjakov pointed out some shortcomings. I accept his criticism and instruction with an open mind. At the same time, I am secretly grateful to Zhukov, who sent him as deputy commander. It is very helpful for me to let such a general with rich combat experience be my deputy.


    Before the battlefield in the forest has been cleaned up, the tanks that failed to take part in the battle have successively appeared near our observation post. After the tank troops have assembled here, they will guide the troops of the 90th division of the guards to attack the German stronghold along the river UD.


    At this moment, there was the roar of the plane''s motor in the air. Hearing this sound, managarov''s face showed a surprise expression. He said excitedly: "our bomber formation is coming!"


    But I was not so optimistic. I immediately told babahin standing beside me: "Comrade Colonel, immediately send some soldiers to the open area with red flags to wave, so that the air force can know that our troops are next, so as to avoid misunderstanding."


    The reason why I give this order is that in Stalingrad, trekov and I were accidentally bombed by friendly forces. If it wasn''t for my big life, I would not have been such a person in the world. Now our army''s victory is in sight. It would be unjust if there were another false bombing.


    After my order was given, babashin stood still. Seeing that he didn''t move, I asked with some dissatisfaction, "Comrade Colonel, why don''t you carry out my order?"


    Babahin looked at the sky outside, and then said with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, it''s day now. Our air force should not be able to distinguish ourselves from the enemy, right?"


    "Captain, now that the commander has given the order, you should go and carry it out quickly." Then he gave him another kick and urged him to "hurry up. Maybe something will happen later."


    Babashin heard what chisjakov said so seriously, so he had no choice but to promise. He called his chief of staff and ordered them to let several soldiers carry red flags to the open area and wave them for a while, so that our air force could identify them.


    There is a reconnaissance plane in front of the flying formation. It may have found the troops and tanks assembled on the ground, so it lowered its altitude and circled above us. I pointed to the reconnaissance plane in the air and said to babashin, "Colonel, you see, this reconnaissance plane is a Pathfinder. If he finds out that the troops on the ground are not our troops, the bombers behind will dive down and drop bombs at us. How many people do you think your troops can survive under such intensive bombing? "


    My words scared babashin into a cold sweat, especially when he saw the soldiers waving the red flag in the open space, the reconnaissance plane raised its height again and flew to the distance. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead and said: "Comrade commander, you are still considerate. If you don''t send someone out to wave the red flag, maybe something big will happen."


    As the dense formation of bombers flew over our heads, I said to them at the top of my voice, "two general comrades, do you see? Such a spectacular flying formation launched continuous and concentrated bombing on the enemy''s transportation lines. Think about it. How spectacular it is for bombers to circle over the enemy''s rear every day! When our bombers blow up the Germans so that they can''t get a bullet or a piece of bread into the city, the German resistance will be completely destroyed. No matter how tenacious the German officers and men are, they can only raise their hands and surrender to us when they have no ammunition, supplies or medicine. "


    As the bombers went away, I again turned my attention to the next combat target. I thought that the tenacity of German defense was far beyond my imagination. According to the original plan, only one division was sent to clean up the German stronghold along the UD river. Is this kind of force enough?


    Thinking of this, I asked chisgakov and managarov to sit down at the table, asked babashin for a map, spread it on the table and said to them, "two generals, you two have witnessed how tenacious the German defense is."


    When I say this, I pause to see how they react. "Yes, we thought we could easily take this forest controlled by the German army with one division under the cover of artillery and tanks," chisjakov said. As a result, the 71st division of the guards fought hard for a day and night, and only drew with the Germans. If the 90th division of the guards didn''t fight in time, I don''t know when it would win here. "


    "That''s right," managarov added after chisjakov finished: "after today''s battle, let me understand that if we want to solve the enemy quickly, we must increase our military input. Comrade commander, in yesterday''s plan, did you not intend to send three divisions of our group army to cut off the German army When he said this, he stopped for a moment. I nodded my head, which was approval. Then he said, "in this way, the task of cutting off the German army''s rear road will be completed by the 48th infantry army from the 69th group army, while my three divisions and the 90th guard Division will clean up the German stronghold along the UD river. Do you think that''s appropriate? "


    In fact, even if managarov does not say so, I intend to use his troops to take part in the attack on Kharkov. As for the remaining divisions, I intend to wait until Kharkov is about to be broken through, and then put them into battle, so that the troops can achieve great results at a very low cost. After all, after the end of the Kharkov campaign, there will be a series of battles to follow. Without a well-informed army in my hand, I have never been steadfast.


    I went on to say to managarov, "Comrade General, there are too many numbers of troops at present. If there is no unified command, then the troops may fall into a state of chaos in the fight against the German stronghold in the Wude river."


    "General managarov, I have a suggestion." Chisjakov said: "let major general sivakov, commander of the 22nd army of the guards, command these troops in a unified way. How about this? "


    After listening to this suggestion, managarov looked at chisgakov, then at me, and finally said very frankly, "well, since both of you mean that, then it''s settled."


    When I saw that managarov agreed to chisjakov''s proposal, I called sivakov to the headquarters of the 71st division of the guards. After listening to my deployment, he politely asked, "Comrade commander, do you have any other instructions?"


    I thought about it and then added two words: "general sivakov, I just want to remind you to remember that when you clear the German strongholds along the UD River, you should try your best to be steady, and once you occupy a point, you should immediately consolidate it. In this way, even if the German counter attack, you will not be expelled from the German position. Only when you have complete control of the north bank can we boldly attack the south bank. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." When sivakov finished this sentence, he asked respectfully, "will you allow me to leave and call some division commanders for a pre war meeting?"


    "Go, go, general sivakov." I waved to him, and finally nagged: "give the division''s tasks as detailed as possible, so that in the battle, the division''s teachers can be clear about their responsibilities."


    After sivakov left, chisjakov asked me, "Comrade commander, shall we stay here or go back to the headquarters of the group army?" Before I could answer, he went on, "you see, the space here is too narrow. Obviously, our headquarters is not suitable for setting up here."


    I looked at the division headquarters, which can only accommodate seven or eight people, and felt that what chisjakov said was very reasonable. I nodded and said, "OK, let''s go back to the group army headquarters."


    When the jeep passed through the city of jergach again, chisjakov, who was sitting in the co driver''s seat, suddenly turned back and said to me, "Comrade commander, I''m worried about one thing now."


    "What''s the matter?" His words surprised me. My heart said, is there any negligence?


    "Here, look at the citizens outside." "Kharkov is the fourth largest city in our country, and there are not a few residents in the city. If we shelled the city, it would certainly cause a lot of accidental injuries," chisjakov said to the residents with a wooden expression on the side of the road


    "Do you have any good way to avoid this?" When I asked this, I muttered to myself, please don''t mention the suggestion that our army should not use heavy weapons such as cannons in the lane war, otherwise this battle will be impossible.


    But sometimes he was more and more worried about what happened. He just said: "I think in street fighting, try not to use artillery..."


    "What, what?" Before he had finished speaking, managarov quickly retorted, "Comrade chisjakov, I don''t know what kind of equipment the Germans are, even if I don''t tell you. If we give up heavy weapons such as artillery and only let infantry equipped with light weapons attack the fortified positions, how much will it cost, do you know? "


    "I know, general managarov." Chisgakov responded with a strong attitude: "have you ever thought about how much casualties would be caused to civilians if we used artillery in street fighting? If your family is also in the city, do you have the heart to give orders to fire? "


    "You...!" Managarov choked on this remark by chisgakov. He wanted to refute it, but he couldn''t find the right words in a hurry. Finally, he could only turn to me for help and said angrily, "Comrade commander, it''s up to you to make up your mind about this."


    The focus of their argument is whether to use heavy weapons including artillery in the city, which makes me feel in a dilemma. From my heart, I don''t want the residents in the city to pay too much for the casualties, but if we don''t use artillery, we can only take human lives to conquer the German firepower support point.


    Maybe I''ve been thinking for a long time, and managarov was impatient. He raised his hand and patted me on the shoulder, urging: "Hello, comrade commander, tell me about it, how do you think about it?"


    "The use of tanks and cannons in the lane war will indeed cause heavy casualties to the residents of the city." I said carefully: "but if we don''t use heavy weapons, but only use infantry to attack, then it is possible that the army will suffer heavy casualties, but still be unable to conquer the German defensive positions..."


    The more I listen, the more confused I am. After I finished, chisjakov asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, I''ve been listening to you for a long time, but I don''t understand. Do you agree to use heavy weapons in the city or not?"


    Seeing that both of them were staring at me nervously, waiting for my final answer, I laughed, and then said: "in street fighting, it is necessary to use heavy weapons, because it can reduce the casualties of our attacking troops, and at the same time, it can destroy the German resistance in the shortest time. Only when we liberate Kharkov in the shortest time can we minimize the casualties of the residents. "


    After my words, chisjakov frowned for a moment, then nodded and said, "Comrade commander, you and general managarov are right. In order to liberate this important industrial city of our country quickly, it is inevitable to pay a certain price." Back at the headquarters, kirilov and I had a brief talk about the fighting in the forest. Then we started to discuss how tanks and artillery can provide firepower support for infantry in attack. Berey first reported to me the achievements of the tank Army: "in the battle just ended, our army destroyed six German tanks and seven assault guns, and lost twelve tanks, almost all of them T-34 tanks." Hearing this, chisjakov couldn''t help interrupting and asked, "Comrade General, as far as I know, your army is equipped with a lot of new tanks. Why didn''t you put them into battle?"¡° Well, comrade deputy commander. " Berey patiently explained to chisgakov: "as the supporting ammunition for the new tank was not available, the departure time was delayed again and again, so that he did not have time to take part in the battle. But now, the new tanks are in a state of sufficient ammunition. I believe they will have a good performance in the next battle. " After hearing this, chisjakov nodded and then asked povsky, "Comrade artillery commander, I don''t know when we can complete the ammunition supply to the artillery regiment?" When povsky heard chisjakov''s question, he quickly got up from his seat and replied respectfully, "report, comrade deputy commander, the supply of artillery ammunition should be completed before 10 a.m. Then the artillery position will be moved forward to the UD River to suppress the enemy on the south bank. "¡° "Very good, very good," chisgakov said. After two very good words, he turned to me and asked, "Comrade commander, I''m finished. Do you have anything else to ask?" I shook my head and said to them, "I have nothing to add. General sivakov''s attack on the banks of the UD river is about to begin soon. You all go and prepare." Then I turned around and said to akhromeyev, "major, call general tavartkiraze and ask him to take some of his division commanders to the headquarters for a meeting before noon."

 Chapter 1221

    The theory and tactics of urban warfare are that after the Soviet army lost a series of important cities such as Minsk, Kiev and Smolensk, it finally mastered a full set of urban defense tactics in the battle of defending Leningrad. Through the battle of Stalingrad, they gradually learned how to carry out the city battle.


    If they were the troops who followed me in the battle of Stalingrad, they would have a lot of experience in both defensive and offensive battles. But at the moment, almost all of my troops have only fought urban defense, but they have not enough experience in tough battles. So I called together the commanders and divisions of the 23rd army of the close guard to teach them some tactics of urban tough battles.


    After everyone came, I asked them to sit down in a corner of the headquarters and began to teach them the theory of urban warfare¡° Comrades, perhaps tomorrow, your divisions will throw themselves into the battle to liberate Kharkov. Before the battle begins, I''d like to tell you how to carry out the urban battle.


    As we all know, the city is a very defensive terrain. In order to capture Kharkov, we, as attackers, should have at least three to five times the strength of the defenders. At present, our strength is absolutely superior to that of the German army; Secondly, in order to successfully capture Kharkov, we must effectively encircle and trap the city so that the enemy can not be reinforced. "


    While I was lecturing to them in tavartkiraze, chisjakov and managarov stood by and listened with great interest to the theories I had instilled in my teachers. I vaguely heard chisgakov saying: "during the war of Stalingrad''s defense, the commander led a division of troops to guard the port at mamayev post, so that the Germans could never cut off the connection between the city and the east coast, so that the troops in our city could hold on to the counter offensive..."


    In view of the fact that these teachers like to charge in dense formation in the city, I specially emphasize that "... In the city, the garrison can build firepower points in all buildings, so we must bear in mind that we can''t use the tactics of group charge, we should focus on small units, and be prepared for hand-to-hand combat and house to house sweeping.


    When attacking buildings, it is most effective to launch multi-point simultaneous attacks on the target buildings in the adjacent buildings. Before entering the building, hand to hand weapons and grenades should be prepared. Once you rush into the building, you must give priority to controlling the stairway, stairway and commanding height. After taking down the whole building, we should immediately arrange defense in the building to resist the possible counter attack of the enemy. The first thing we should pay attention to in defense is our own supply lines and flanks, which should be able to withstand the counter attack of the enemy from multiple channels.


    In addition to the tanks and artillery that must cover the movement of infantry with continuous fire, communication support is the top priority. When changing positions, all units must clearly inform friendly forces to avoid misunderstanding. "


    Several teachers who attended the class buried their heads and quickly recorded every word I said in the book with a pen.


    After I finished, I felt a little thirsty, so I went to pour a cup of tea and asked casually, "anyone who doesn''t know anything else can bring it up."


    As soon as I finished, the 375TH infantry division commander govorunanko stood up and asked seriously, "Comrade commander, you said that when the troops are fighting in the city, they should use small formation operations. If we meet the absolute superiority of the German forces, then our troops are in danger of being destroyed


    One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and govorunanko''s words immediately resonated with several other teachers. Nikolasov, commander of the 52nd division of the guards, also stood up and said, "Comrade commander, you should know that the proportion of new recruits in our team is relatively high. Compared with the German army in terms of technology and tactics, we are in a disadvantage. If we fight by platoon in the city, let alone the superior German forces, our troops may be defeated even if the number of them is equal. "


    After listening to them, I handed the cup in my hand to akhromeyev, who had just come by, and said to them, "two teachers and comrades, you are very considerate. Now I''ll explain it to you.


    In my opinion, when attacking cities like Kharkov, the so-called small troops are not the same as you think. I think each unit should be composed of at least one infantry battalion, one shock engineer company, as well as armored and mortar companies, cannon or howitzer companies, and anti tank infantry companies.


    In addition to the necessary attackers, an assault force also needs to be divided into three to six combat units to serve as support or reserve units. Each combat unit should have an infantry company, plus one or two shock engineer platoons and an anti tank infantry platoon, to provide the necessary support for the shock troops.


    In addition, according to the tactic of "bayonet on cannon", which I always advocated, there should be two or three tanks or self-propelled artillery to cover our infantry forward by suppressing the enemy''s firepower or destroying the enemy''s firepower points. "


    After listening to my supplement, govoronenko and nikolasovton suddenly realized that after they nodded their heads vigorously, they said in one voice: "Comrade commander, I understand."


    After my tactics were finished, when tavartkilaze and his men were packing up and ready to leave, managarov gave me a thumbs up and said, "Comrade commander, the theories you just talked about are really wonderful!" At this point, he sighed and said with some regret, "if I had known such tactics earlier, maybe my troops would have rushed into the city from the north of Kharkov."


    As for managarov''s praise, I said humbly, "Comrade General, these are just some theories. As for whether they work, we still need to test them by fighting."¡° Comrade commander, I think we should add a few more points. " After thinking about it, chisjakov said to me solemnly, "the troops we rush into the city should quickly seize some important buildings, break up the German defense line so that they can''t look at each other, and then destroy them one by one. What''s more, we should consider how to deal with it if the German army occupied the commanding height or the bottom of the building and opened fire on our army? We should know that the tank guns of tanks are affected by the firing angle, and it is difficult to effectively shoot at the enemy''s firepower points. Maybe they will become the targets of German anti tank fighters. This was confirmed in front of the "Pavlov building" of the Stalingrad defense war. Once the first and last of our tank columns are destroyed, other tanks will be blocked and become the living targets of the enemy. "¡° You''re right, "I can''t help nodding my head when I heard what chisjakov said. Sometimes what I learned from books is the experience that I didn''t master through actual combat. As soon as chisjakov finished speaking, I immediately said to several teachers, "comrades, you have heard what the deputy commander said. When you go back, call up all your commanders and study what you should do if you encounter such a situation during the attack. " With that, I looked at my watch, then waved to them, "OK, you all go back to your respective troops." As soon as I finished, a series of dull explosions came from the distance, and the ground under my feet was shaking slightly. My first reaction at that time: was it an earthquake¡° What''s the matter? Where did the explosion take place? " The expression on chisjakov''s face suddenly became serious. He said sternly to akhromeyev: "Comrade commander, listen to the sound. The explosion should have come from the south of jergach. You should contact the commander of the 71st division of Jinwei immediately and ask him if he knows what happened." Tavartkilaze and his subordinates were going to leave, but now they find a reason to stay because they don''t know where the explosion came from. It''s estimated that they also want to find out what happened to the explosion that covered the distant gunfire. I vaguely heard someone behind me saying in a low voice: "did the German bomb magazine explode in the forest?" When I turned my head to see who was speaking, I found that all the teachers looked at me without expression, as if no one had ever spoken. What I just heard was just my illusion. Akhromeyev quickly put down the phone and reported to me with a smile: "Comrade commander, I asked Colonel babashin. He said that the explosion was coming from the south of Kharkov, and the explosion there was still going on. At the same time, the smoke was rising. He judged that our bombers might have destroyed the German train carrying arms." After hearing the good news, the headquarters immediately got excited. I don''t know which commander can''t help but cheer out his joy with loud cheers: "great, our air force is really great! Wura! Wula¡° Wura! Wula!! Wula Someone started first, and soon other commanders followed. Later, all the people in the headquarters yelled in unison, as if only in this way could they best express their inner joy. After the cheers from the headquarters stopped, I told akhromeyev, "major, call Colonel babashin again, and ask him to send someone to investigate immediately to find out what''s going on."¡° Yes Akhromeyev agreed, picked up the phone on the desk, and according to my order, called Colonel babashin, asking him to immediately send the most effective scouts to the south to find out what the air force had achieved.

 Chapter 1222

    At three o''clock in the afternoon, good news came one after another.


    First, sivakov called me. On the phone, he said excitedly, "Comrade commander, the 299th infantry division successfully occupied a bridge on the UD River and built a bridgehead on the South Bank of the river."


    "Great, comrade commander. Your news is really inspiring." I had planned to borrow the Zhouqiao camp from watujing to build a floating bridge on the Wude River, so that the troops could cross the river smoothly. Unexpectedly, they occupied a complete bridge. I immediately told him, "let the other troops go to the south bank through the bridge at once."


    When I said this, sivakov suddenly became hesitant: "Comrade commander, it may be difficult for a large army to cross the river."


    "Why, comrade commander?" His words confused me, and I asked, "can''t our troops get through the bridge?"


    "That''s right," sivakov said, probably hearing his dissatisfaction from my voice. "What the 299th infantry division occupied was only a narrow wooden bridge. Infantry had no problem passing through, but heavy weapons such as tanks and artillery could not pass through. At present, they have been blocked by German firepower, and it is difficult for them to move forward. "


    "How are the German strongholds on the north bank cleaned up?" When I said this, I was deeply afraid that he would take it lightly. I also stressed that "only after clearing all the German strongholds, can we boldly attack the south bank with confidence."


    "Please rest assured, comrade commander," sivakov said confidently. "At present, nearly half of the German strongholds on the north coast have fallen into our hands. The rest of the strongholds, under the attack of troops supported by tanks and artillery, I believe they will not be able to support them for long. I estimate that the troops will be able to solve the battle before dark. "


    "Comrade commander, I would like to remind you that the UD river is the last natural barrier for the German army in the West. Once we can successfully break through it, we will be able to rush to the city of Kharkov." I knew the meaning of the river Wude very well in my heart, so I was impatient when I spoke: "in addition to suppressing the German stronghold on the north bank, we should try our best to expand the bridgehead on the south bank and defend it at all costs. Whether we can conquer Kharkov or not, the bridgehead on the south bank is the key. Do you understand? "


    "All right, comrade commander." Sivakov hastily replied, "I will send the 84th division to support the 299th division and keep it here at all costs."


    As soon as he hung up on sivakov, babashin''s call came. The one who answered the phone was bezikov. After listening to the other party''s report, he excitedly said to me, "Comrade commander, the scouts sent by Colonel babashin have fed back the information they have detected."


    "Oh, so fast!" Babashin got the report from the Scout so quickly, which surprised me a little, "is it accurate information?"


    "That''s right," said bezikov, nodding his head vigorously. "According to the report of the scouts, a train carrying arms was bombed. Now it''s still hot within a kilometer or two. They can''t get close to check the effect, but it''s estimated that all the German soldiers on the train are dead."


    When he said this, everyone, including me, nodded, because according to your experience, after such a violent explosion, there should be no living creatures nearby to survive, and the German soldiers on the bus would have been crushed.


    He then said, "our scouts saw that the railway had been blown off. They went to reconnoitre the road transport line and found that the situation there was not much better. There were craters everywhere. They guessed that there were at least thousands of Germans killed by the explosion..."


    "Just a moment, comrade colonel." Before bizikov finished speaking, managarov interrupted him and said with some dissatisfaction: "how come the intelligence provided by the scouts are all words like" estimate "and" guess ". Can''t they provide accurate numbers?"


    When managarov said this, bzikov said with a wry smile, "Comrade General, you don''t know that there are fragmented corpses everywhere. The scouts can''t put them together and count them, so they can only estimate them."


    Bezikov''s words caused a lot of laughter, even managarov. He said with a smile: "that''s right, comrade colonel. Under the intensive bombing of our air force, it''s strange that the Germans can keep the whole body. You go on


    Bezikov went on to say: "the reason why we can get the report of the scouts so quickly is that Colonel babashin is considerate. He makes all the scouts ride motorcycles to the south of Kharkov, and is equipped with radio stations so that they can feed back the information in time."


    After bidzikov finished, I turned to managarov and asked, "Comrade General, I don''t know when your 48th infantry will arrive?"


    When managarov heard my question, he thought about it and said, "commander konev temporarily transferred the 48th infantry to us from the 69th army. Maybe they didn''t expect that your troops could break through the German defense in jergach so quickly, so they could not arrive until noon tomorrow."


    Listening to managarov''s words, I was a little disappointed. It seems that my original plan needs to be adjusted, so I have to let the 23rd army of the guards out first. Just as I was going to ask bezikov to give the order, I heard managarov say, "Comrade commander, if you are worried about cutting off the German supply line, I can transfer the 252nd division to you first. After conquering Belgorod, this unit has been replenished. At present, the total strength of the division is 6000, with sufficient weapons and ammunition, and can be put into combat at any time. " I just wanted to transfer the 23rd army of close guard, but managarov offered me a division. Since he took the initiative, I couldn''t dampen his interest, so I pushed the boat forward and said, "Comrade General, since that''s the case, the task of cutting off the German transportation line should be left to the 252nd division. When the 48th army comes, we will send troops to strengthen them. " When I finished, I got up, went to lophoff, looked down and asked him, "major, can I get in touch with general berey?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Lophoff said respectfully, "please wait a moment. I''ll get in touch with general berey right away." After a while, I heard the voice of bielei from the receiver and asked with a smile, "Comrade General, how is the tank army doing?"¡° Report to the commander, "maybe the tank army is playing well. I can tell from his voice that he is not in a bad mood." we helped the infantry to strip off three German strongholds on the north bank, and destroyed two German tanks and four assault guns of the 3rd Armored Division. Only one tank has been lost. "¡° That''s a good result, general berey. " When I heard that the tank army had achieved so much at such a small price, I became very happy. Then I asked, "is there any way to rush across the river?"¡° It''s very difficult, comrade commander. " Brey sighed and said, "in order to prevent our tanks from rushing across the river, the German army has blown up the passable bridge on the river. Now we can only stare at the enemy on the other side."¡° Don''t worry, general ray Judging from the current situation, we can only ask watujing for help and hope that he can send the pontoon troops to assume the pontoon bridge for us, otherwise the tanks can''t cross the river and a group of infantry will rush into the city, which is of little use¡° I will report the matter to the commander of the front army immediately and ask the Zhouqiao troops to set up a floating bridge for us. "¡° If so, that would be great. " After finishing these two sentences, bielei said anxiously: "but the speed should be fast. At present, the German army has not built any anti tank trench on the other side of the river. If we delay too long and let them improve their fortifications, it will be very difficult for us to attack again. "¡° Don''t worry, general Although I''m not sure about the Zhouqiao troops, in order to give bielei confidence, I deliberately said to him lightly, "the Zhouqiao troops will arrive at your military station tomorrow morning at the latest." In order to carry out the work of Zhouqiao troops as soon as possible, I quickly walked to the high-frequency telephone and dialed the headquarters of the front army. When I heard the voice of watujing, I immediately indicated my identity: "Hello, senior general! I''m oshanina¡° Comrade o''shanina, do you have any good news to tell me when you call me at this time? " Judging from watujing''s voice, he is in a good mood at the moment. I thought that when a person is in a good mood, the success rate of making a request to him is very high, so I said frankly: "Comrade General, this is the case. My troops are fighting on the North Bank of the UD River, and the German army has blown up the bridge on the river to prevent our tanks from rushing to the south bank. So... "Before I finished, watujing said with a smile," so you''re going to ask me for Zhouqiao camp to build a floating bridge on the Wude River, right? "¡° Yes, Comrade General. " I politely replied, "if Zhouqiao camp builds a floating bridge for us, we can rush to the city of Kharkov tomorrow; If not, we will only see the enemy staring at us. "¡° Come on, don''t complain in front of me, as if Kharkov can''t take it down without your army. I sent out Zhouqiao camp an hour ago. I''ll probably arrive after dark. Then I''ll help you build some floating bridges on the river overnight. " Watujing''s words immediately made me overjoyed. What I just thought of was that the superior leaders had already thought of it and made corresponding arrangements. Without waiting for me to say thank you, he continued: "wait a minute, Marshal Zhukov has something to say to you."

 Chapter 1223

    After waiting for a while, Zhukov''s voice came out of the receiver. He seemed to be in a good mood, and his tone was full of relaxed and comfortable: "Hello, Rita! Judging from today''s war report, you have played quite well. If there is no accident, you should arrive at the bottom of Kharkov tomorrow. "


    "Yes, comrade marshal." Although Zhukov and I are very familiar with each other, due to our different identities, every time I speak to him, I seem to be a little restrained: "our 299th division occupied a wooden bridge on the UD River and built a bridgehead on the south bank."


    I thought Zhukov would praise me for saying this. Who knows, however, he asked in a loud voice, "why don''t you go through this bridge of occupation and put more troops on the south bank?" There was a trace of reproach in the tone.


    "The wooden bridge was too narrow to pass heavy weapons such as tanks and artillery. After crossing the bridge, the infantry was blocked by intensive German fire and could not move forward at all." In order to give him a more detailed understanding of the situation on the front line, I added: "in order to prevent the German army from destroying the bridge, I have ordered general sivakov, who is commanding at the front line, to send the 84th division to strengthen the 299th division, and at the same time, I have given them the order to guard the bridge at all costs."


    "I command you, Rita, to attack the south bank immediately, quickly, and tear a few holes in their line of defense before the enemy is ready." Zhukov told me on the phone: "as long as you have a firm foothold in the depth of your defense, the tanks can quickly eat the German troops in the west of Kharkov as soon as they cross the river tomorrow, so that you can take the initiative in the battlefield."


    "I see, comrade marshal." I heard the implication of Zhukov''s words. He hoped that we would take advantage of the victory and quickly wipe out the peripheral German troops to the west of Kharkov. He quickly replied, "I will immediately deploy troops to attack the enemy''s defense line."


    "Well, act now." After Zhukov finished his sentence, he did not hang up immediately. Instead, he added: "the large cluster of high-density and uninterrupted bombing you proposed has achieved good results today, but the air force has limited ammunition. This tactic can only be used once or twice, and we can''t afford to use it often."


    At the end of the call with Zhukov, I immediately said to chisgakov and managarov who were sitting next to me, "two comrades, Marshal Zhukov ordered us to immediately attack the enemy positions on the south bank."


    "Which division are you going to use?" After hearing this, chisgakov frowned and asked, "at present, only the 51st, 52nd and 375TH infantry divisions of the guards can fight."


    I glanced at managarov and thought if only he had offered me another division. Seeing that he didn''t respond at all, he knew that he was taking it for granted. After all, he had already sent out four divisions on his own initiative. Before the arrival of the 48th infantry army, he would not give me the rest of his troops.


    I thought about it, and then said to chisgakov, "this battle may not end before dark. Take the 52nd division of general Nekrasov''s close guard. They are good at fighting at night, and let them play their best."


    After the assignment, I rushed to the front headquarters of sivakov with several security guards, where I was ready to direct the offensive personally.


    When I arrived at sivakov''s command post on the hillside, a look of surprise appeared on his face: "Comrade commander, how did you come here?"


    Why do you say that every time you see me? Can''t you change something new. I murmured to myself twice, coughed softly, and then said to sivakov, "Comrade commander, I have just received an order from my superior that we should attack the enemy on the south bank immediately."


    My words surprised him again. He asked in surprise, "if we attack the south bank, will we not clean up the remaining strongholds on the north bank?"


    "The German stronghold on the north bank should be completed by the 90th and 116th infantry divisions of the guards, while the task of seizing the position on the south bank should be completed by the 299th and 84th divisions." Seeing sivakov''s displeasure on his face, I added: "in addition, I have also brought general Nekrasov''s 52nd guard division to fight the German army at night."


    I didn''t expect that after hearing this, his face not only didn''t have the slightest joy, but also frowned. To his response, I asked, "Comrade commander, what are you doing with your frown? Do you think I have too few troops?"


    "You are mistaken, comrade commander. I don''t think that there are too few troops. On the contrary, there are too many troops. " Sivakov explained to me: "at present, we have only one battalion of the 299th division in the south bank bridgehead. When the German army saw that we had only so many troops, they would have a kind of illusion that as long as they came to charge twice, they would drive our troops out. So far, they have not used artillery to destroy the bridge. If they find out that we have assembled three divisions on the North Bank of the river and are ready to attack them, they may directly destroy the wooden bridge with artillery fire, making it impossible for us to cross the river. "


    What sivakov said is beyond my expectation. I then asked, "where is your observation? Can you see the wooden bridge?"


    "You can see it." Sivakov replied positively.


    "Take me to the observation post immediately." In order to find out the distribution of the enemy and ourselves, after giving him an order, I turned and walked towards the door.


    Sivakov took me to the observation center at the top of the mountain, pointed to the river in the distance and said to me, "Comrade commander, there it is. You can clearly see the distribution of our positions with a telescope


    I raised my telescope and looked in the direction of his fingers. On the river in the distance, there was a wooden bridge that could only be passed by two people side by side. In both sections of the bridge, there are our defensive positions. Because the main force of our army is on the North Bank of the Wude River, I focus on the south bank.


    At the southern end of the wooden bridge, there is a 200 meter long circular trench, in which our commanders and fighters hide. When the camera is pushed southward for another seven or eight hundred meters, it is the German position. In addition to several trenches connected by traffic trenches, there are also many civil fire points, as well as temporary sandbag fortifications. The windows of several buildings behind are also filled with sandbags. Obviously, this is also the German fire point.


    I stayed in the open area between the two armies and found a lot of corpses lying here, both German and our own. I don''t have to ask at all. I can guess that these bodies were left when the two sides attacked each other.


    After seeing the situation of the battlefield clearly, I gave an order to sivakov: "Comrade commander, let the troops break up into parts, take the platoon as a unit, go through the wooden bridge and enter the defense fortifications of the other side. In addition, let general bielei send two tanks to stop by the river and suppress the fire to the opposite position to cover the infantry charge. "


    Ten minutes later, there were only two tanks sent by berey. I looked at the two tanks listening by the river, but I couldn''t breathe. I told you to send two tanks, but I didn''t expect that you only sent two tanks, none of them more. Although they were all new tanks, they were too few to overpower the German troops in firepower.


    The Germans soon noticed what we were doing and immediately concentrated a few tanks to fire in the direction of the wooden bridge. The shells fell into the river and exploded, stirring up water column after column. The falling water drenched the soldiers on the bridge.


    "Comrade commander, almost a regiment has been assembled across the river. Is it ready to attack?" Sivakov was deeply afraid that I would not realize the seriousness of the problem. He specially stressed that "if the German army smashes artillery fire on our position, such a dense formation, and a shell falls down, it can cause dozens of casualties."


    Seeing that they were ready, I simply ordered, "attack! Remember, we must fight harder and try to tear a few holes in the German defence. "


    With the order, the tanks stopped by the river fired at the opposite German position. The sound of guns was an order, but after the first round of firing of our tanks, thousands of soldiers gathered at the bridgehead positions yelled and rushed out from the hidden place.


    In the face of our charge, there was a moment of silence on the German position, but when our officers and men entered the 200 meter range, they finally opened fire. Mortars began to bombard, and dozens of machine guns in the trenches began to fire wildly. In front of our commanders and fighters, the splashed shrapnel and the burst shrapnel interweave into a dense fire net.


    For most experienced commanders and fighters, such intensity of firepower has not been paid attention to. They went on under the heavy artillery fire and the rain of bullets. They used everything they could make use of, including craters and dead bodies, as a cover. In the continuous explosion, they quickly distinguished the sound of the shells passing by, judged the distance of the explosion point, looked at the gap after the shells exploded, quickly fired, or climbed from one crater to another.


    In the constant whistling of the commander, the soldiers were rolling forward in the rain of bullets. In the dense rain of bullets, from time to time in the charge of the line burst out all over the sky of blood fog. The whizzing bullets and flying shrapnel pierce their bodies, tear their flesh and blood, and make their flesh and blood shake in the rain of bullets. Then the corpse is like a broken pocket thrown out, which is overturned under the impact of bullets.


    Although people fell every minute, the living soldiers still charged forward with slogans. They pushed forward with corpses on the road of attack. Grenades from both sides of attack and defense rained down and threw up smoke walls. The fragments were interwoven to kill the soldiers on both sides. Brave soldiers shining bayonets, staring at the bloodshot eyes, "Ao Ao Ao" to call forward to rush up.


    The German soldiers, who had been demoralized because of successive failures, now saw that the soldiers screamed and killed like evil spirits. They were frightened and timid. Many soldiers threw their guns and fled back in disorder. The soldiers ran after them and stabbed them down with bloody bayonets, leaving no survivors.


    Seeing that the German forward positions were continuously broken through by our army, the opening became larger and larger, and more and more soldiers poured in, I was relieved. Then I told sivakov: "Comrade commander, call berey and bovsky, and ask them to transfer more tanks and artillery. Today we are going to strike while the iron is hot and beat the German defense in this position to pieces. "


    But before berey''s tanks and bofsky''s cannons arrived, the situation on the battlefield changed unexpectedly. In order to prevent our army from breaking through their positions, the German army concentrated their artillery fire and fired indiscriminately at the breach we had just made. In just a few minutes, the breakthrough is like an erupting crater, wrapped tightly by the rising black smoke. The black smoke explodes one after another, one after another. There are explosions everywhere and flames everywhere. The whole land was ploughed and plowed, and the craters where the artillery fire passed were all over the place. The two armies, which were still fighting madly, disappeared in an instant. At the end of the bombardment, dozens of people came out of the positions where the smoke of gunpowder had not yet dissipated. Although they were ragged, they could see that they were all our commanders and fighters. Most of them had no weapons in their hands and were still wounded. They helped each other and walked towards the bridgehead. When I saw that there was still about a company in the trench, I grabbed sivakov by the shoulder, pulled him to the lookout, pointed to the soldiers who were still in the position, and gave him orders in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, call the commander of the 299th division immediately, and ask him to send out all the soldiers in the trench and pick up all the wounded."¡° Cavalry Suddenly a staff officer next to us shrieked¡° Cavalry, what kind of cavalry In my impression, I have only seen Soviet cavalry on the Soviet German battlefield. I heard about German cavalry for the first time two days ago, but I have never seen them. Hearing the cry of the staff officer, I quickly raised my telescope again and looked at the battlefield which was still smoking. I saw more than 100 cavalry in a neat formation, raised the saber high above their heads, pointed forward, and rushed to the wounded who were running hard. When the wounded saw the cavalry rushing up behind them, they immediately panicked and wanted to shoot and intercept. There was no available weapon in their hands; Run, man''s two legs are better than horse''s four legs. At the moment of their hesitation, the enemy''s cavalry had directly bumped into their line. The cavalry lying on the horse''s back, the downward flat saber flashing cold light, the blade of the sabre instantly passed the soldiers'' chest and head, and half of their bodies fell to the ground. Even if the quick reaction of the rifle to resist, but in this high-speed impact, it was even split into two sections with a gun. In an instant, dozens of soldiers who escaped from the intensive German artillery fell to the ground.

 Chapter 1224

    "Damn Krauts, I can''t spare you!" Seeing his own soldiers fall under the German butcher''s knife, sivakov roared angrily, "I will kill you all!"


    Although I hate teeth itching, but still try to keep calm. When sivakov was quiet, I said to him, "Comrade commander, remember, this is the German SS 8th cavalry division. Tell the soldiers that all officers and men who seize the division on the battlefield will be shot on the spot, and we will never accept their surrender! "


    Sivakov, who was still furious, gradually calmed down after hearing my order. After he raised his hand to salute me, he picked up the phone on the desk with his trembling hand and asked the signalman to connect with the headquarters of the 299th division to find the division commander. After the phone call, he said in a slightly trembling voice: "Comrade division commander, the commander has just issued an order that all officers and men of the eighth SS cavalry division who are captured will be shot on the spot. We will never accept their surrender! Remember to convey this order to all the commanders and fighters of your division immediately


    Because the German cavalry came so fast, I didn''t have time to give the order that the commanders and fighters in the bridgehead should go to rescue the wounded. At this time, they saw the enemy''s cavalry rushing forward, and immediately fired with intensive firepower, knocking many cavalry down from their horses. Seeing that the German cavalry could not take advantage of it, they made a detour in front of our position and returned.


    Seeing the cavalry go away, more than a dozen soldiers immediately ran out of the trench to check the cavalry who had fallen. Some of the cavalry fell off their horses, but they were only injured and were escorted by our soldiers towards the trench. When I saw this, I could not help frowning slightly. My heart said, has my command not been conveyed yet?


    At this moment, another commander like man ran out of the trench. He raised his hand to stop the soldiers who were escorting the prisoners back. After a few words, the soldiers released their prisoners and allowed them to stand in the same place with their own ability. Then he ran to one side, took the weapons in his hands and started a fire at them. The prisoners, who were hit by the bullet, trembled a few times like an electric shock and then fell on the ground.


    From the failure of the first attack, I realized that the German army was very skilled in the application of artillery. If our army launched an attack only by infantry without the cover of tanks and artillery, it would cost huge casualties. Thinking of this, I once again ordered sivakov: "Comrade commander, today''s attack will be suspended. Let the commander of the 299th division call and ask them to draw barbed wire and lay minefields in front of the trench, so that they will not be attacked by the Germans at night."


    When I returned from the observation post to the army headquarters in sivakov, I was surprised to find bere, povsky and Nekrasov sitting here. Seeing me enter the room, the three quickly stood up from their seats and raised their hands to salute me.


    After I returned a gift, I asked bielei curiously, "general bielei, how many of you are here?"


    On hearing my question, berey replied solemnly: "Comrade commander, I know that the German position on the opposite side is not easy to fight, so I came to see for myself. I didn''t expect to come here and see that the German army actually opened a breakthrough for our army and carried out indiscriminate firepower coverage. It''s really cruel. "


    After waiting for bere to finish, povsky said, "Comrade commander, according to my observation, although the German army was hit by us continuously, most of their heavy weapons have survived. As soon as they see that their soldiers can''t resist our attack, they will carry out indiscriminate shelling. Today, this situation is not only encountered by our army, but also by the 69th army when it attacked Belgorod. "


    "Is there any way to deal with them?" I also have a headache for the German artillery, because I don''t know when he will give you such a surprise, which will completely upset our attack plan.


    When the telephone rang, sivakov picked it up and handed it to me immediately. At the same time, he whispered, "it''s from the commander of the front army."


    I had a headache when I heard the call from vatukin. I knew that he wanted to know if we had started attacking the German positions on the south bank. I took the microphone, stuck it to my ear and said, "Hello, general!"


    "Comrade oshanina, have you launched an attack on the German periphery?" Vatukin did not beat around the Bush and asked him directly what he was interested in.


    "We just launched an attack." Anyway, the ugly daughter-in-law will see her father-in-law sooner or later. Even if I don''t report the failure of the attack, he will soon know. So I just went out and truthfully reported: "once I tore a few holes in the enemy''s defense line, but..." speaking of this, I can''t help thinking of the tragedy at that time, and then I can''t help but stop.


    After listening to my half report, watujing stopped and said impatiently, "since he once tore a hole in the enemy''s defense line, why don''t he continue to attack. Maybe if you attack again, the Germans will collapse because they can''t support it. "


    "Comrade General, this is the situation." I patiently explained to him, "we launched an impact on the German position with the strength of a regiment. When our brave officers and men tore many holes in the enemy''s line of defense, trying to continue to expand the results, the enemy''s artillery suddenly carried out indiscriminate shelling on the breakthrough. Our offensive troops were completely lost in the shelling, and all of them, except for more than 20 wounded people, died bravely. On the way back to the position, the wounded were chased and killed by the German cavalry


    "German cavalry?" Watugen hesitated for a moment, and then tentatively asked me, "Comrade oshanina, is he the eighth cavalry division of the German SS?"


    "I think so, senior general." I replied vaguely, "I haven''t heard of any German cavalry other than this one."


    "I see," said watujing, after finding out what was going on, "Comrade oshanina, you may not have heard of this cavalry before. They used to carry out the task of eliminating the guerrillas in the swamp area of Pripyat. They owe us a lot of blood feuds. Sooner or later, we will ask them for their blood." Then he turned the subject around and asked, "when are you going to attack again?"


    "I plan to attack the enemy''s position tomorrow after the tanks cross the river." Deeply afraid that my plan would be rejected by watujing, I sped up and said, "with the cover of tanks, infantry can not only reduce casualties in attack, but also greatly increase the probability of breaking through enemy positions."


    I know that in front of the senior commanders like watujing, it is not important to reduce the casualties of the troops. Therefore, I especially emphasize that with the cooperation of tanks, we can successfully break through the enemy''s line of defense. Maybe it was the last sentence that moved him. He said, "well, let''s wait until the tanks pass the pontoon tomorrow, and then attack the enemy. By the way, I forgot to tell you one more thing. In order to support the battle for the liberation of Kharkov, today the southwest front army and the southern front army launched an attack in the zimiyev area to contain the German forces. It is because Manstein can no longer send reinforcements to the Kharkov area. "


    When I heard the name of zmiev, I immediately thought of the campaign currently being carried out by the southwest front army and the southern front army, that is, the "battle of dunbas" carried out at the same time as Kharkov. Although the reputation of this campaign is far less than that of the battle of Kursk, and even that of the ongoing Kharkov offensive, the results are not small. After the recovery of Donbas, Ukraine''s important coal and metallurgical areas returned to the hands of the Soviet Union.


    Since there will be no more attacks on the Germans today, I did not stay at the headquarters of sivakov, but returned to the headquarters of the group army under the protection of major basmanov.


    The first thing I did when I got back to the headquarters was to call all the people together and repeat the failure of the 299th division''s attack. Finally, I asked, "what do you think of the next attack?"


    When he heard my question, chisjakov looked around for a moment. Seeing that no one spoke, he said, "Comrade commander, one failure is nothing. We should continue to attack the enemy''s positions."


    "Comrade deputy commander, if our troops break through the enemy''s line again and are covered by the enemy''s firepower, what shall we do?" "If this happens more than once, the morale of the troops will be destroyed," he retorted. The next time we launch an attack, our officers and men will become cautious for fear of being bombarded by the enemy. "


    "Can we say that our officers and men will not attack the enemy because they are afraid of being bombarded by the enemy?" Hearing bzikov''s retort, chisjakov said unconvinced: "what''s the logic?"


    General volgeng, managarov''s chief of staff, stood up from his seat and said cautiously, "we should extend the time for artillery preparation before the attack and destroy the enemy''s positions and artillery as much as possible, so that the casualties of the troops can be greatly reduced during the attack."


    When I heard volgeng''s opinion, I thought it was very reasonable. But when I think about it carefully, it is not right. The German army knew the Soviet artillery style very well. At the beginning of the artillery preparation before each attack, the German army hid behind the defense line and returned to the position after the artillery attack, causing heavy damage to the attacking Soviet army. If the German artillery is well concealed, even if we are well prepared before the attack, it is still useless.


    What to do? What to do? When I think of this problem, I feel very confused. Do I really need to use people to fill it in? Just when I had a headache, I heard akhromeyev''s voice: "comrades, I have a suggestion. I don''t know whether to say it or not."


    "If you have any suggestions, just say it." Bezikov rolled his eyes at him and said discontentedly, "no one will blame you even if you are wrong."


    "Well, comrade commander." Akhromeyev went to the map, pointed to the west of Kharkov with his explanation stick and said, "if we still use today''s attack position to attack the enemy''s position, we will certainly be killed by the enemy''s artillery fire. Therefore, I suggest that after crossing the UD River, the troops should attack the German army from three to four points at the same time, with the division as the unit. "


    "Comrades in charge of operations," the silent managarov finally opened his mouth at this time. He looked at the map and asked, "if we are divided into several areas to launch attacks at the same time, how can we prepare for artillery fire? As far as our existing artillery regiments are concerned, they can''t take care of so many places at the same time. "


    "Comrade General," said akhromeyev politely in response to managarov''s query, "we don''t need to prepare for the attack tomorrow. Just under the guidance of tanks, attack the enemy''s defensive positions. " When he saw that managarov seemed to want to ask something else, he quickly added, "according to the information I have, the German artillery has been fighting for several times, and there are few shells left. In addition, today another ammunition train has been bombed by us, and the roads and railways have been cut off by the 252nd division. The German army will soon fall into the embarrassing situation of no ammunition and no supplies. So I dare to speculate that in tomorrow''s attack, the German army will not use intensive artillery to bombard our army again. "


    "Yes, what major ahlomeyev said is very reasonable." Seeing that managarov still wanted to refute, I quickly spoke for ahlomeyev, "judging from today''s artillery density, the German army has consumed at least four or five hundred shells, and it is estimated that the remaining shells of each gun are not enough for a base." Then I sprang up from my seat and said decisively, "I''ve decided to adopt the major''s proposal. After the floating bridge was erected tomorrow, the troops crossing the river, taking the division as the unit, launched a fierce attack on the German peripheral positions from several directions at the same time. Before noon, we must rush to the city of Kharkov. "¡° What, rush to Kharkov at noon? " Managarov was a little surprised and asked, "Comrade commander, did I hear you right? You know, our group army has been attacking for a week in a row in the north of Kharkov, but it has only advanced five kilometers, and it is still ten kilometers away from the city. "¡° Comrade general, you heard me right. " Bezikov said to him with a smile, "I believe Comrade commander. She said that if our troops can rush to Kharkov at noon tomorrow, they will certainly rush to the city of Kharkov. It depends on which army is lucky to be the first to rush into the city. "

 Chapter 1225

    The Zhouqiao camp sent by watu Jing arrived at dusk. As for the bridge building, I gave akhromeyev full responsibility and repeatedly told him: "major, our attack on the peripheral positions of Kharkov will start after dawn. So I hope to build no less than three pontoons on the river tonight that can pass tanks, understand? "


    After hearing this, akhromeyev assured me: "don''t worry, comrade commander, I have inquired with the local people. There are many places where bridges can be built on the Wude river. Before dawn, I will help Zhouqiao camp to complete the construction of the floating bridge."


    As soon as akhromeyev left, I dialed povsky again and asked, "Hello, comrade artillery commander, how many artillery regiments do you have now?"


    Povsky replied: "with the artillery of the 53rd army, there are seven artillery regiments and six close guard rocket battalions. At present, the troops have sufficient ammunition and high morale, and they are ready to fight at any time. "


    "Good." When I heard that there were so many artillery I could use now, I felt more confident. Then I said, "I order you to set up artillery positions near the river and deploy at least four artillery regiments and three close guard rocket barracks."


    "To prepare for the shelling before tomorrow''s attack?" Povsky asked tentatively.


    "The Zhouqiao battalion sent by the headquarters of the front army will set up a floating bridge on the Wude River overnight." In order to make povsky aware of the situation, I told him the truth: "if the German army discovers our action of erecting a floating bridge, it may bombard the area where the bridge is erected. I ask you, as soon as you find the enemy''s artillery firing, immediately use more powerful artillery firepower to suppress them and protect Zhouqiao battalion''s action of erecting a floating bridge. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." After povsky found out what was going on, he said with great interest, "as long as the Germans dare to fire, we will certainly clear up all their artillery."


    Then, I called berey and asked about the tank army. As soon as I got on the phone, without waiting for me to speak, he said, "Comrade commander, you are calling me now to ask how many tanks can take part in the battle tomorrow?"


    "Yes, don''t thunder general," I didn''t expect that he could guess the purpose of his call, so he said with a smile, "I just want to ask about this matter, then you can talk about it!"


    "In addition to the original 93 tanks of the two tank brigades, two tank battalions of the 53rd army have been added," said berey, his voice suddenly lowered, as if he was looking at the data: "there are 108 tanks in total, of which 27 are new-type tanks. Even if they encounter German Tiger or leopard tanks, they can still be defeated."


    "I''ve arranged for the new Zhouqiao camp to build a floating bridge over the UD river." I then said, "I ask them to set up at least three pontoons that can pass through tanks. That is to say, your tank army should be divided into at least three units in tomorrow''s battle to guide the infantry to attack the German peripheral positions."


    "Comrade commander, please rest assured." "My tank troops will be able to guide some of them to break through the German defense line in the shortest time," he assured me


    After I made a series of phone calls, managarov, who was sitting next to me, nodded and said with emotion: "Comrade commander, I believe what chief of staff bzikov said now. Although the attack will not start until tomorrow, you have considered all the problems that should be considered and even pointed out the solutions." At this point, he looked sideways at his military commissar and chief of staff and said, "how do you two feel now? Do you think it is the most correct decision for the superior to assign us to the sixth group army of the guards for combat?"


    Major general volgeng, chief of staff, nodded and said with approval, "yes, commander oshanina''s deployment is quite thorough." After a moment''s pause, he hesitated and said, "but I''d like to make a suggestion to you. I don''t know whether to say it or not."


    "Go ahead, chief of staff." I know that every time he puts forward a proposal, it has been carefully considered, and I believe this time will be no exception¡° If you see anything unreasonable in my deployment, just put it forward and I will try my best to correct it. "


    "It''s like this." Seeing that we asked him for advice, volgeng said without hesitation: "at present, the reduction of the 299th division on the south bank is close to half. If the German army launched a counterattack, it would be very difficult for them to hold fast with their current strength. I wonder if you could change your branch to take over their defense..."


    "Enough, general volgeng!" Before he finished speaking, managarov interrupted him in a loud voice, and then said apologetically, "Comrade commander, my chief of staff saw that there were too many casualties in the army, so he thought like this. Please don''t blame me."


    I was filled with guilt when I thought of ordering the 299th division to attack the enemy''s peripheral positions without knowing the details. Seeing that managarov apologized to me, he quickly waved his hand and said, "Comrade General, don''t blame chief of staff volgeng. He''s right. The 299th division suffered too many casualties. It''s time to withdraw and make corrections. It''s my thoughtlessness. I''ll make arrangements now."


    With that, I asked bezikov, "chief of staff, which unit is closest to the 299th division?"


    After looking at managarov, bezikov replied, "is it the 84th infantry division of the 53rd army?"


    When he said this, I immediately remembered that I had indeed transferred the 84th division to the rear of the 299th division, but if I let them take over the defense now, even if managarov didn''t say it, he would have a thorn in his heart. If there is a thorn in their heart, they will be in trouble. When they want to mobilize their troops in the future, they may encounter delays, which will lead to the situation of delaying their fighters. So I said to bezikov without hesitation: "chief of staff, the friendly forces suffered too many casualties in the offensive battle. Let''s use our troops. Which unit is closest to our position on the south bank? "


    Bezikov didn''t expect me to say that. He could not help looking surprised, but he quickly replied, "general govoruninenko''s 375TH infantry division is less than two kilometers away from them."


    "Call commander tavartkiraze immediately and ask him to send the 375TH and 299th divisions to change guard overnight." After giving this order, I added: "at the same time, I would also like to remind general govorunanko to take the time to build fortifications, so as to prevent the Germans from jumping over the wall and launching counter attacks before our attack."


    "I see. I''ll call right now." With these words, bezikov got up and went to the nearby telephone, where he was going to call tavartkiraze.


    At the beginning of the bridge building activities, Zhouqiao camp was discovered by the German army. In order to prevent our army from erecting a floating bridge over the UD River, the German army kept firing flares into the air. With the guidance of the bright flares, the enemy artillery observers provided the artillery with firing parameters and shelled on the Wude river.


    When I heard povsky calling to report to me that the enemy was shelling on the river, I gave him a direct order: "Comrade artillery commander, follow the order I just gave, shelling the exposed German artillery positions immediately, and we must destroy them all."


    When I put down the phone, I still felt insecure. I was afraid that the German artillery was too cunning. After two rounds of design in one place, I immediately transferred the position. In that case, our artillery would not achieve the desired effect. Thinking of this, I picked up the phone, shook the handle a few times, heard the voice of the signalman, and immediately told him: "connect me with the headquarters of the front army."


    Perhaps this signalman is a new comer. After hearing my order, he hesitated and asked, "Comrade commander, is it the headquarters of the grassland front army?"


    "It''s not the grassland front army, it''s the Voronezh front army headquarters." I said sternly, "don''t you know that we are like Voronezh''s army?"


    "I see, comrade commander." The signalman replied in a hurry, "please wait a moment. I''ll connect you to the headquarters of Voronezh''s front army immediately."


    After connecting the headquarters of the front army, the person who answered the phone was Khrushchev. When he heard my voice, he was surprised and asked, "Rita, I didn''t expect you to call so late. What''s the matter?"


    "Hello, comrade military Commissar." After giving him a polite greeting, I said, "is senior general here? I have something important to report to him


    "He is discussing the next battle plan with Marshal Zhukov. Just a moment. I''ll call him Soon, I heard him calling watujing to answer the phone.


    "Hello, comrade o''shanina, is there anything important about calling so late?" Maybe I interrupted his and Zhukov''s work, so there was a trace of dissatisfaction in my tone.


    "Comrade General," in order to avoid him getting angry with me, I had to speed up my speech so that I could finish what I was going to say as soon as possible. "When Zhouqiao camp was erecting a bridge on the river ude, it was found by the German army. At present, German artillery is shelling the river continuously. "


    "Comrade oshanina, the German strongholds along the UD River have not yet been completely cleared. As long as the Germans are not blind or deaf, they will be able to find such a big bridge building operation." When watujing heard that I had reported such a thing to him, he said impatiently, "the enemy has artillery, don''t you have artillery? Immediately order the artillery to fight back and keep down the enemy''s fire. Do you think I have nothing to do every day, even such trifles bother me? "


    I felt that he was going to hang up, so I hurriedly said, "senior general, please don''t hang up. I haven''t finished my words yet."


    "What else do you have to say?" Although there was dissatisfaction in his voice, he didn''t hang up immediately.


    "As soon as the enemy fired, our artillery began to suppress fire." I explained to him, "I''m worried that the German artillery will change firing positions at any time, so I want to ask the air force to go out and bomb the exposed German artillery positions overnight."


    When I finished, there was silence in the receiver. Seeing that watujing didn''t speak, I couldn''t help worrying and asked in a hurry, "Comrade General, can''t our air force dispatch at night?"


    "It''s no problem to send out the air force at night. If there is a night bombing pilot in the air force under the front army, they can carry out the night bombing mission." "But if they go out at night, I''m afraid they won''t be able to find the bombing target. If they throw the bomb on their own head, they will be in trouble," watujing said hesitantly


    "Don''t worry, senior general. There will never be a mistake." When I heard that vatukin was worried about this problem, I immediately felt more confident and assured him, "the enemy keeps firing flares into the air. The whole west side of Kharkov is illuminated like daylight. Our air force will never be unable to find the bombing target."¡° Well, in that case, I''ll call the air force and ask the night bombing pilots to go out immediately. " After these words, vatukin asked me with some worry: "oshanina, I want to hear your truth. How long will it take you to rush to the city of Kharkov?" Although I know in my heart that as long as the enemy''s artillery is eliminated, a few infantry divisions under the guidance of the tank army can break through the German army''s peripheral positions in half a day at most, rush to the city of Kharkov, or even break into the city. However, in front of vatukin, I couldn''t say too much, lest I didn''t finish the task at that time, and there was no room for me to turn around. So I cautiously said, "Comrade General, if the bombing of the air force tonight can destroy the German artillery, then we can rush under the city of Kharkov in two to three days." As soon as I finished, Zhukov''s low voice came from the earphone: "what, it takes two to three days to rush to the city of Kharkov? It''s too slow, Rita. Your attack speed is too slow. " I was startled when I heard Zhukov''s voice, but I soon recovered. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I saw that it was August 20 now. In order not to let Zhukov look down on himself, I said decisively, "marshal, I have just entered the 20th. I promise you that my troops will rush to the city of Kharkov before noon on the 21st."¡° Well, since you are so confident, I''ll wait for your good news! " Hearing my statement, Zhukov''s tone softened: "konev''s Grassland front army also has a night bomber regiment. I will let them go out at the same time." It is said that the air force will soon appear to bomb the artillery positions in the enemy''s city. As soon as I put down the phone, the people in the headquarters cheered. Because we all know that even if the bombing at night can not completely destroy the German artillery positions, it will cause a lot of casualties to the enemy. In that way, the pressure we will bear in the attack tomorrow will be greatly reduced.

 Chapter 1226

    Due to the scattered position of German artillery, bofsky''s artillery troops failed to completely suppress them in the early stage of artillery attack. Sporadic shells fell on the UD River and exploded, causing great casualties to the officers and soldiers of Zhouqiao battalion who were erecting a floating bridge.


    When the formation of night bombers appeared over Kharkov, with the help of German flares, they began to bombard the enemy''s exposed artillery positions. The enemy''s artillery fire became sparse and soon stopped completely.


    Without the interference of German artillery fire, the officers and men of Zhouqiao camp quickened the speed of bridge construction. At dawn, akhromeyev''s men called and excitedly reported to me, "Comrade commander, Zhouqiao camp has built four bridges on the UD River, all of which can pass through tankes."


    "Very good, comrade major. What a beautiful job." I was overjoyed to hear that four floating bridges were built on the river to pass tanks. "Please convey my respect to the officers and men of Zhouqiao battalion."


    Putting down the phone, I said to chisgakov and managarov sitting at the table, "two general comrades, now that four floating bridges have been set up on the UD River, we can divide our forces into four routes and attack the German peripheral positions at the same time."


    When bzikov heard this, he quickly opened the book in front of him and asked, "Comrade commander, what should be the order of attack?"


    After I looked down at the positions of the divisions marked on the map in front of me, I began to dictate: "according to the positions of the divisions, the order of attack is as follows: first, the 67th division of the guards and the 116th division of the infantry, under the command of major general baksov; The second is the 375TH, 299th and 84th infantry divisions, under the command of major general govorunanko; The third way is the 71st and 90th divisions of the guards, under the command of major general Chernoff; The fourth route is the 52nd and 89th divisions of Jinwei, under the command of major general Xie Liujin. Every offensive unit will be covered by 20 tanks... "


    After recording my orders, bezikov said with a little regret: "unfortunately, there are too few tanks. With such a distribution, the number of tanks available to all troops is even less."


    I also know that the number of tanks is a little less, but if the superior doesn''t give me additional tank troops, I can''t turn into a tank, so I have no choice but to continue to command him: "chief of staff, general sivakov will be the commander-in-chief of the former enemy, and immediately convey my order. At the same time, tell him that all the troops will start to cross the river at 8 am. "


    Within half an hour of the order, sivakov called. When I heard his voice, I thought he wanted to ask some questions about the attack. Unexpectedly, he said anxiously on the phone: "Comrade commander, the German army sent out infantry and tanks to charge the position of the 375TH division."


    My heart sank when I heard that the German army had sent out tanks. My heart said that he was so anxious to call me. Was it because the German army had broken through the position? He asked in a hurry, "has the position of the govorunan division been broken through by the German army?"


    When sivakov heard this, he was stunned for a moment and then replied, "not yet, but I''m afraid they can''t hold the position. If we lose this bridgehead, it will affect the morale of our army. "


    Sivakov''s worry really made me laugh and cry. As soon as he finished, I immediately told him, "let bofsky''s artillery carry out blocking fire, and we must use artillery fire to destroy German tanks in front of our army."


    After putting down the phone, I continued to discuss with them about the next action: "once the troops break through the German peripheral defense line, we will move the headquarters forward. All units of the sixth group army of the close guard are also attached to the headquarters. As for the defense here, "I stopped for a moment and looked at managarov," and handed it over to the coming 48th infantry. "


    After listening to my arrangement, managarov only nodded faintly to show that he knew. However, his chief of staff, vorgeng, asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, please forgive me for being frank. Will the scattered use of troops in this way lead to insufficient offensive strength?"


    "If we use our forces in a decentralized way, we will certainly see a great reduction in our strength." I saw that volgeng opened his mouth and seemed to want to say something. He quickly raised his hand to stop him, and then said, "but the terrain in the west of Kharkov is special, with more swamps and forests, which is not conducive to the expansion of the army. Because of the narrow front of the German defense position, even if we concentrate all the troops together, only a few troops can fight with them. Now that we adopt the four-way attack strategy, the German army has to disperse its limited forces. In this way, the strength of each defensive zone will be weak, and our chances of breaking through the position will be greatly improved. "


    "So it is." Volgeng nodded and said with satisfaction, "I understand that this tactic of multiple attacks and multiple breakthroughs can make the German army defenseless."


    Before eight o''clock, watujing called. He asked anxiously, "o''shanina, when can you start attacking?"


    "Report to the general that our attack will officially begin at eight o''clock." I was worried that he would criticize my choice of attack time for being too late, so I took the initiative to explain: "the mobilization of troops takes time, so I didn''t choose the attack time for five or six."


    Fortunately, watujing didn''t blame me. Instead, he told me, "I have good news for you. In order to cooperate with your attack, the grassland front army will use the 57th and 69th group armies and the seventh group army of guards to continue to launch a fierce attack on the north and east of Kharkov, so as to prevent the German army from mobilizing troops to resist your breakthrough. "


    "Great, that''s great." Vatukin''s words were a reassurance to me. Originally, I was worried that when the attack was most fierce, the German army would send troops from the north to reinforce, and then the war would fall into a stalemate. Now, if the grassland front army wants to launch an attack at the same time, it can effectively contain the main force of the German army and make our breakthrough battle from the west of Kharkov easier¡° With the cooperation of friendly forces, I believe our troops will certainly achieve good results in the next offensive. "


    "Good luck then. If you have any news, please report it to me in time."


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Seeing that it was only a few minutes before eight o''clock, I picked up the phone and asked sivakov, "Comrade commander, what''s the situation? Are there any German tanks in front of the 375TH division? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Sivakov replied in a relaxed tone, "but only some of the destroyed tanks."


    "Well done, comrade commander! The soldiers are good. Please convey my thanks to them. " Having said that, I habitually raised my hand to look at my watch again and said, "time is almost up. Let the troops attack."


    "Yes Sivakov replied loudly¡° I''ll order the troops to attack at once


    Hearing the order I gave, managarov beside me breathed a long sigh of relief, and then said with some worry: "finally we are going to attack the Germans. Whether we can break through the German defense depends on today."


    "Don''t worry, Comrade General." I said confidently: "now there are three groups of grassland front forces attacking vigorously in the north and east to contain the main force of the German army. But here we use the tactics of attacking at many places and breaking through at many points. The limited German forces can''t stop us at all. "


    After listening to me, managarov raised his eyebrows and asked, "Comrade commander, how many days do you think we can rush to the city of Kharkov?"


    When I heard him ask this question, I couldn''t help laughing: "Comrade General, you look down on the combat effectiveness of our troops? We should know that although the German army is very powerful, after being hit by us for several times, not only the soldiers lost a lot, but also their morale became low. If we are against such enemies, it will take us a few days to rush under Kharkov, isn''t it too incompetent? "


    "You mean tomorrow at the latest, we can rush to the bottom of Kharkov''s city?" Managarov asked tentatively, "am I right, comrade commander?"


    I have a premonition that some troops will be able to rush into the city today, but at the moment I can only say vaguely: "I think it''s not a big problem to rush into Kharkov''s city today with the strength of the troops. Well, the answer will come out soon, so we don''t have to guess here. "


    I said it lightly, but I understood in my heart that the German defense forces in the west of the city, in addition to the 168th and 198th infantry divisions and the 3rd tank division of the 11th army, also included the imperial division and the 8th SS cavalry division. Although we have an advantage in military strength, it is still very difficult for us to eliminate so many enemies.


    When the attack started, what sivakov had reported threw cold water on me. Although the German artillery suffered heavy losses in the shelling and bombing last night, they used tanks, assault guns, heavy tank destroyers, as well as a large number of anti tank guns, anti-aircraft guns and 105mm self-propelled howitzers to form a tight and hot fire net barrier in front of our tank troops.


    After losing half of the tanks and hundreds of commanders and fighters, baksov''s first troops wedged into the German defensive position. However, due to the German''s tenacious resistance, they were unable to move forward.


    The attacks launched by the second and third route troops were also repulsed by the close defense of the German army. After heavy casualties, the officers and men of several divisions had to retreat back to the offensive starting position.


    As for the two divisions under major general seleucin''s command, they are now storming the German positions from the southwest of Kharkov. After the German troops were broken through in some areas, they organized troops to launch a crazy counterattack against them under the cover of tanks, but they were successfully repulsed by sherekin.


    After seeing a lot of war reports, everyone''s eyes were attracted to Xie Liujin''s troops. After reading the war report about the fourth Route Army several times, chisgakov said to me thoughtfully, "Comrade commander, from the war report I have received, I think that the 89th division of general Xie Liujin may be the first to break through the German position."


    "I agree with Comrade deputy commander." As soon as his words were finished, bzikov went on to say: "last time when we attacked Belgorod, this division was the first one to rush into the city. I believe they will also have a good performance this time..."


    "Comrade commander, telegram, telegram!" Before bezikov finished speaking, lophov rushed to the table with a telegram and said breathlessly: "good news, the 89th division of general seleucin''s guards has successfully broken through the German peripheral defense and has rushed into the city of Harkov."


    Hearing such good news, I snatched the telegram from lophov''s hand, looked at it carefully twice, and after confirming that it was correct, I jammed the telegram into one of my hands, picked up the phone from the desk and dialed berey''s headquarters. As soon as the phone rang, I asked in a hurry, "Hello, general BIE Lei, how many tanks are there in your hand?"¡° There are 28 more, just one tank battalion. " After answering my question, berey asked curiously, "Comrade commander, where are you going to use these tanks?"¡° Comrade general, please listen to me Thinking of finally breaking through Kharkov''s city defense, if we don''t strengthen sherekin''s troops immediately, they may be hit by the German counterattack, so the first thing I think of is to let berey put all the remaining tanks into battle¡° At present, major general seleucin''s troops have broken through the German peripheral defense from the southwest of Kharkov and rushed into the city. I order you to personally lead these 28 tanks to reinforce him, and make sure they have a firm foothold in the city, understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander. " After he found out what was going on, berey immediately assured me, "I will lead the troops to set out immediately. As long as we are here, we will never let the Germans drive our troops out of the city." Tank, tank, after I put down the phone, I thought happily, if only I could have more tanks. Not to mention general slotmistrov''s Fifth Army of close guard tanks, even with the support of Kravchenko''s Fifth Army of close guard tanks, I can quickly expand my achievements in Kharkov. Thinking of this, I went to the high-frequency phone and dialed the headquarters of the front army. The person who answered the phone said, "Hello, I''m o''shanina. Please help me find the commander of the front army, general watujing. I have something important to report to him."¡° I am vatukin. " Maybe I was so excited that the person who connected the phone was watu Kyoto. He asked cautiously, "what can I do for you?"¡° That''s right, Comrade General. " Although I tried to control my emotions, my voice became hoarse because of excitement: "our 89th guard Division has rushed into the city and is now in fierce fighting."¡° It''s great. It''s just great. " After pondering for a moment, vatukin said, "if I remember correctly, this division was the first one to rush into the city in the last attack on Belgorod, wasn''t it?"

 Chapter 1227

    I''m so anxious now that I''m afraid that he''ll ask me more questions, so I said all he wanted to say: "yes, yes, senior general, it''s them. But the first one to put the red flag on the radio building in Belgorod was the 272th regiment of the 90th division of the guards. "


    "Comrade o''shanina, listen to your tone, you seem to be in a hurry now." Watujing didn''t know that I was stamping my feet in a hurry, and he said slowly, "as a senior commander, you should keep calm at all times, otherwise you will make mistakes in decision-making when commanding the battle."


    "Comrade General, I know all this." Hearing that watujing began to teach me in the tone of his superior, I couldn''t laugh or cry. I sped up and said, "I''ll call you. It''s more important."


    "Tell me." Knowing that I had something important to say, vatukin''s tone suddenly became stern.


    "Senior general, in order to ensure that the troops who rush into Kharkov will not be beaten out of the city by the counterattack German forces, I now ask you to do two things for me." After I finished this sentence, without waiting for any answer from him, I said to myself, "first, please ask general konev''s Grassland front army to increase its attack on the north and east of Kharkov, so that the German army can not withdraw its forces from these two directions; Second, tanks. I need tanks now. According to the feedback from the battlefield just now, the enemy has a lot of tanks. If we don''t have enough tank support, then the troops who rush into the city will fall into a bitter battle. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade oshanina." After hearing my two requests, vatukin was relieved and then said easily, "why do I ask? It''s these two things. I can tell you now that half an hour ago, Marshal Zhukov himself gave general konev an order to attack. They are required to wedge at least three to five kilometers into the German position before dark, so as to reduce the resistance suffered by the Western offensive forces. "


    When I heard the first news that watujing said, I felt a lot more at ease. Then I asked, "Comrade General, what about tanks and tanks? I don''t know when we can allocate tank troops to us?"


    "Why, o''shanina?" Watujing listened to me in such a hurry and asked strangely, "hasn''t the Fifth Army of Kravchenko''s close guard tanks arrived at your place by now?"


    "Lieutenant general Kravchenko''s tank army?" When I heard that, I was stunned. Then I said mistily, "Comrade General, I haven''t received the notice that they are coming."


    "Well, after repeated calculations last night, Marshal Zhukov felt that the strength of your existing tank troops was still inferior to that of the Germans." Vatukin patiently explained to me, "so I transferred the Fifth Army of the nearest guard tank to you in the night."


    "But, comrade general, I haven''t seen any trace of tank troops so far?" When I finished saying this, I covered the microphone with my hand and just wanted to ask bzikov to ask the observation post in the north to see if there were any tanks, akhromeyev, who was sent by me to supervise the erection of the floating bridge, came in quickly from the outside.


    As soon as he saw me, he said excitedly, "Comrade commander, who are you looking at?"


    Then he flashed aside and said to the outside, "please come in, Comrade General."


    As soon as his voice fell, a dignified general came in from the outside. As soon as I saw the person who appeared, I felt a lot more confident. I nodded to him with a smile and said politely, "Hello, general Kravchenko. I just talked to commander vatukin about you, and you appeared!"


    Before Kravchenko spoke, I heard vatukin''s anxious voice coming out of the earphone: "Hello, Hello, oshanina, are you still there? Why don''t you talk? "


    I quickly released my hand covering the microphone and said apologetically, "excuse me, senior general. General Kravchenko has just arrived at my headquarters. I''m greeting him."


    "If only the tank army arrived." "So you can use them in important places," said vatujing, relieved. Remember, if there''s anything going on with the troops rushing into the city, call me at any time. "


    After I put down the phone, I immediately went to shake hands with Kravchenko and asked nervously, "Comrade General, where are your troops?"


    "The 20th, 21st and 22nd brigades of the guard tanks are still on the March. They will wait about half an hour before they can get here." Kravchenko shook hands with me and said, "but the sixth motorized infantry regiment of the guards is waiting in the back."


    "Infantry, we can''t use them yet." I politely responded, "what we need most at the moment is tanks." At this point, I called bezikov over and said to him, "chief of staff, please introduce the situation of our army to Comrade General, and be ready to reinforce the 89th and 52nd divisions of the guards."


    With that, I quickly walked up to lophov and ordered him: "major, send out the messenger immediately and quickly set up a telephone line between the headquarters and the 89th division. I want to know the situation of the front line at any time."


    When I watched lophov summon his men and assign tasks to them in a low voice, I picked up the phone and dialed the army headquarters of tavartkilaze. As soon as I heard his voice, I immediately said, "Comrade General, I order you to send the 77th division of the guards to enter the city from the Southwest of Kharkov, Join up with the 52nd and 89th divisions of Jinwei


    "What about the 51st division of Jinwei?" Tavartkilaze heard that some troops had already rushed into Kharkov, but the second echelon I sent to the city was not his 51st guard division. He was a little worried. "Other troops are fighting with the Germans. Our division has no combat mission at present. If it goes on like this, I am worried that the mood of the commanders and fighters will be affected."


    I knew that he was eager to fight, so I deliberately talked to his subordinates. But in order to appease him, I hesitated for a moment and said to him, "Comrade General, in addition to the fourth Route Army rushing into and out of the city, the other three routes are still competing with the German army for peripheral positions. The task of the 51st division of the guards is to wait for one of the troops to suffer serious losses, and then you can replace them. "


    With that, without waiting for him to speak, I hung up the phone and dialed povsky''s headquarters again. I said to povsky with a smile, "Comrade artillery commander, I have a glorious and arduous task to give you. I don''t know if you can complete this task?"


    "Comrade commander, if you have any tasks, please let me know." Povsky confidently said: "our artillery will never let you down."


    "Well, since you are so confident, I''ll give you a task." I restrained my smile and said to him, "the troops of the 89th division of the guards have rushed into the city from the southwest of Kharkov. The Germans will never watch our troops rush into the city. They will surely launch a crazy counter attack. So I order you to send an artillery regiment to the city to strengthen general sherekin''s troops and smash the German counterattack. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Povsky assured me: "I will send the most effective artillery to the city."


    I held the phone and thought about it, then called sivakov. When sivakov heard that I was calling, he was immediately excited: "Comrade commander, do you know? Our fourth troops have rushed into the city from the southwest of Kharkov? "


    "I see, comrade commander." In order to prevent the 89th division of the guards from being driven out of the city by the German army, I should be able to take all preventive measures with my own ability¡° I order you to let the other Third Route Army continue to launch an uninterrupted and fierce attack on the German peripheral positions. We must firmly contain the enemies in these places. We must never let them take part in the counterattack against the 89th division of the guards. Do you understand? "


    "I understand." Sivakov agreed loudly and then said to me in a low voice, "Comrade commander, the troops are attacking the German defensive positions. The casualties are very serious. Can you send me reinforcements?"


    "I''ll make the 51st division of general tavartkilaze''s guards your reserve. Once the casualties are too heavy, let his troops fill in the direction


    "Comrade commander, the matter of the reserve team has been solved, but then a new problem arises." Sivakov hesitated and said, "general tavartkiraze is the commander of the 23rd army of the guards, and I am the commander of the 22nd army of the guards. Who should be the commander of the troops at that time?"


    "General tavartkiraze is older than you. When your two army headquarters are combined, he will take charge." In order to stop sivakov from thinking about the loss of command, I added: "don''t worry, as long as general tavartkilaze''s troops are still serving as reserves, you don''t have to hand over the command."


    After watching me make a phone call, chisjakov said with emotion: "Comrade commander, I have listened to your deployment carefully. If you can''t get a firm foothold in Kharkov city like this, you can only say that the combat effectiveness of our troops is really poor."


    After listening to these words, I nodded and said, "yes, comrade deputy commander, I have done what I should do for them. If the two division commanders, sherekin and Nekrasov, are unable to resist the German counterattack, then I should consider adjusting their positions. "


    Kravchenko, when I had finished with chisjakov, came up to me and said, "Comrade commander, I have discussed with your chief of staff. After the 20th brigade of the guard tank arrived, they went with the motorized regiment to reinforce the 89th division of the guard. The other two tank brigades are engaged in frontal offensive operations. "


    "Great, Comrade General." Hearing what Kravchenko said, chisjakov turned red with excitement. "I believe that with the cooperation of your tank troops, the three-way forward attack troops can also quickly break through the German peripheral defense."


    "Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough Managarov, who was ignored by us, raised his voice after coughing a few times and asked, "do you want our commanders and fighters to watch the excitement in the back when you are fighting in front?"


    "Comrade General, the situation is not what you think." I saw managarov''s displeasure on his face, and quickly comforted him, saying, "the four divisions your army has put in are enough to give us an advantage in military strength. Besides, you don''t have any more troops in your hand now


    "Who said I didn''t have troops in my hand?" before I finished, managarov couldn''t wait to interrupt me and said angrily, "I still have two infantry divisions that are basically complete. In addition, when the 48th infantry arrived, I could still draw out two divisions. In this way, I can put at least four divisions into combat. Comrade commander, tell me how you plan to use these four divisions. "


    When fighting, no one thinks that they have too many troops, and I am no exception. At this moment, listening to managarov say that four infantry divisions can be put into battle, my heart suddenly a burst of ecstasy. But I tried to keep myself calm. I turned around and asked bzikov, "chief of staff, what do you think should be done?" After listening to my question and thinking about it, bzikov replied, "comrades commander, judging from the war reports we received, the position of the first army is the most difficult one at present. I suggest that the two divisions in the hands of general managarov be put in this direction first. As for the other two divisions of the 48th infantry army, they can be incorporated into general govorunanko''s forces when they arrive. Our attack in this direction is progressing very smoothly. If we increase the number of troops, we may be able to break through the defense outside the German army and rush into Kharkov today. " Managarov may have heard from bzikov that the troops could rush into Kharkov as soon as possible. He immediately became interested and said in a flurry of voice: "yes, yes, just do as chief of staff bzikov said. I''ll let the two divisions that are in the process of recuperation rush to the position of the first route army and follow the command of general baksov. " With that, he called major general volgeng, his chief of staff, to mobilize his troops. After about 40 minutes, the special line between Xie Liujin and I was finally opened. I heard Xie Liujin''s voice coming out of the earphone, and the sound of explosions one after another. Then I asked in a loud voice, "Hello, Mr. Xie Liujin, what''s the situation there?" As the explosion was too loud, sheriujin had to say to me in a loud voice: "report to the commander, at present, our division and the 52nd division of general nikolasov''s guards have taken control of the liubojing area to the west of Kharkov. The Germans are unwilling to fail and are organizing troops to carry out an uninterrupted counter offensive against us. Relying on the terrain, our commanders and fighters launched a fierce battle with the German armored forces

 Chapter 1228

    I know that the imperial division is stationed in the west of Kharkov, and the Germans are not stupid. When they see our troops rushing into the city, they will surely send the most elite troops to attack and drive our troops out of the city in the shortest time, so as to restore the broken line as soon as possible. Thinking about this, my heart beat faster. I nervously said to Xie Liujin, "Hello, Mr. Xie Liujin, I sent you reinforcements, so no matter how fierce the enemy''s attack is, you must resist it for me!"


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander. As long as we have one more person, we will never let the Germans drive us out of the city," he cried


    Seeing that Xie Liujin was so confident, I felt a little more secure. Finally, I told him, "if you need any support, please call me at any time!"


    I put down the phone and thought about it. I still felt uneasy. So I picked up the phone and called povsky: "Hello, comrade artillery commander, please send some artillery observers to liubojing area immediately to guide the direction of the artillery shooting."


    "To liubojing?" When povsky heard my somewhat puzzling order, he asked: "Comrade commander, isn''t it occupied by the German?"


    "Comrade General, your news is out of date." In order to make povsky pay attention to this matter, I specially stressed: "at present, the troops of the 89th division of the guards have occupied Liu Bojing. The German army is not willing to let us break through their positions. They are organizing troops to fight back. "


    "I see, comrade commander." Povsky''s reaction was also very fast. I just said that Liu Bojing was occupied by our army, and he immediately understood what was going on. He quickly replied, "I immediately sent the most capable artillery observer to Liu Bojing to guide our artillery shooting direction."


    Although I sent a lot of tanks, artillery and infantry to liubojing, my heart was always like 15 buckets of water. Seeing my situation, chisjakov took the initiative to put forward to me: "Comrade commander, I think you are still worried about liubojing area. Well, I''ll go there myself to coordinate the command of several divisions, so as to gain a firm foothold and expand the results quickly. "


    Without waiting for my promise, the phone on the desk rang. I thought it was the next teacher who called me to complain. After putting the receiver to my ear, I asked aloud, "Hey, where are you?"


    Perhaps my tone is too heavy, the other party Leng for a while, and then said: "Comrade o''xia Nina, who makes you angry, how so angry?"


    I immediately recognized that the speaker was konev, commander of the grassland front army. I immediately apologized to him and said, "sorry, comrade commander of the front army, I thought..."


    "I thought it was your men. I have some bad news for you, right?" Said konev with a smile.


    Seeing that konev guessed my state of mind, I laughed with embarrassment, then looked at managarov beside me, and then tentatively asked, "Comrade General, are you calling to find general managarov?"


    "No, I''m not looking for him, I''m looking for you." Konev always spoke straight: "I heard that your troops have rushed into the city from the west of Kharkov. Is that true?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." As soon as he finished, I immediately replied, "at present, two divisions have broken through the German peripheral positions in the southwest of Kharkov, rushed into the city and occupied the liubojing area. At present, the German army is launching a crazy counterattack against the area, and the enemy and us have launched a fierce battle. "


    "I heard vatukin say that your troops have rushed into the city. I thought he was joking with me." Konev said to me in a serious tone: "Comrade oshanina, I will immediately order the 57th and 69th group armies to strengthen their attacks on the enemy from the north and the seventh group army of the guards from the East, so as to ensure that the enemy can not withdraw a single soldier from these two directions and take part in the counterattack in liubojing area, so as to reduce your pressure."


    "Thank you, thank you, Comrade General." Konev''s words reassured me that as long as the attack on the north and East was more fierce, the German army would not easily transfer troops from these two directions. "I believe that with your support, we will soon be able to gain a firm foothold in Kharkov city."


    After I put down the phone this time, I made up my mind to go to Kharkov city to command the troops. It''s not that I can''t trust chisgakov, but because I didn''t see my own troops beat back the German attack, and I couldn''t feel at ease. So I looked at chisgakov and said to him, "Comrade deputy commander, after consideration, I think it is more appropriate for you to stay in the headquarters. I''ll go to Liu Bojing myself. "


    "What, are you going to liubojing?" When the people in the room heard what I said, they were silent. First of all, kirilov broke the silence. He rushed to me, grabbed my arm, and said sternly, "no, it''s absolutely not. You''re the highest commander here. How can you risk yourself in the city?"


    "Yes, comrades of the military commissar are right." "The front is too dangerous. As the commander of the group army, you have no right to risk your own life," chisjakov said


    After their words, managarov, bezikov and other commanders of the 53rd army all told me that the city was too dangerous for me to leave my post and take risks in such a dangerous place.


    After everyone calmed down, I waved to them and said, "Comrade commander, thank you for your concern for me, but I still have to go to liubojing in person." Seeing everyone''s blank face, I added: "at present, in addition to the 52nd and 89th divisions of the guards, there are also a large number of tanks and artillery units, as well as the newly reinforced 77th division of the guards and the motorized regiment. It is very difficult for so many numbered troops to exert their combat effectiveness to the greatest extent without a unified command. Only after I go, can we make better use of these troops, hold fast to liubojing area, and take the opportunity to expand our occupied area. "


    Kirilov is the person who knows me best. He knows that once I make up my mind, no one can change my decision unless I change my mind. So after a sigh, he said to me, "well, Rita, since you''ve made up your mind, I won''t stop you any more. But when you go, you must bring more guards, at least we can feel a little relieved. "


    After listening, I nodded, and then said to chisjakov and managarov, "two generals, when I didn''t know the headquarters, you were responsible for everything here. As soon as the rest of the third route troops can break through the German line of defense, they will immediately put the reserves into battle and try to rush into the city as soon as possible. "


    "Comrade commander, you can rest assured." Chisgakov said to me solemnly, "I will pay attention to the battlefield at any time. Once the German peripheral positions are broken through, I will quickly put the reserves into battle and tear the gap wider so that our troops can rush into the city quickly."


    Seeing that chisgakov had understood my intention, I nodded with satisfaction and took basmanov and a guard company to liubojing in a truck.


    On the way to liubojing, when our motorcade passed the marching infantry line, busmanov, who was sitting next to me, turned his head and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, do you see that our large army has at least several thousand people. It''s all going in the same direction with us. "


    "There''s no need to say that, comrade major." I can''t help feeling when I look at the infantry line that I can''t see from the outside. If our air force hadn''t firmly grasped the air supremacy of the battlefield, I wouldn''t dare to let the troops march on such a large scale in broad daylight. "We''ve not only surpassed the enemy in strength, but also in weapons and equipment."


    "Comrade commander, I have a question." Basmanov looked out again and asked cautiously, "can we take Kharkov this time?"


    "What''s the matter with you, comrade major?" I turned to basmanov, who raised this absurd question, and said with some dissatisfaction, "don''t you see that our troops have occupied liubojing? Besides, there are so many tanks, artillery and infantry divisions with high morale. There is no doubt that we have won the final victory. "


    When the motorcade passed through the broken German position, the smoke had already dissipated, the open fire on the bare and burnt logs in the fortification had been extinguished, and there was an occasional crackle of smoke. The air was filled with a strange smell of smoke, scorched earth and blood. Looking at the bodies everywhere, I can imagine how fierce the fighting here was a few hours ago.


    Soon after our convoy passed the position, it was stopped by soldiers at the front checkpoint. A second lieutenant politely told me, "Comrade commander, the road ahead has been completely destroyed by the artillery fire, the vehicles are temporarily impassable, and the engineers are busy repairing it. You can stay here and wait, or you can walk through it


    I went out to look ahead and saw a group of engineers filling a crater not far away. They first throw nearby bricks and stones into the pit, and then fill it with earth. I calculated in my mind that it would take at least half an hour or more to fill a pit according to the speed of engineers. And in front of the eye, there are big craters like this everywhere. By the time the engineers had filled all the pits, it would have been dark. Thinking of this, I pushed the door open and got out of the car. I said to busmanov, who was sitting in the front co driver''s seat, "major, let the soldiers of the guard company get out of the car. Let''s walk to general sherekin''s headquarters."


    Basmanov pointed to the front and said curiously, "Comrade commander, don''t you wait for the engineers to fill up the pit before you go?"


    "No," I said, shaking my head, "at the engineer''s current speed, it''s a miracle to fill all the pits before dark. And we don''t have that much time to wait for them to finish it. "


    "I see, comrade commander." Basmanov said and jumped out of the car. After walking a few steps towards the truck behind him, he opened his voice and yelled, "guard company, listen to my command, all of you get out of the car!"


    Although it was only four or five hundred meters from the parking place to the headquarters of sheriujin, the road was not very quiet. It was not that German artillery shells flew over and exploded in the ruins on both sides of the street. The bricks, stones and pieces of furniture inside were thrown everywhere, and several soldiers of the guard company were injured.


    Under the guidance of the guards, I came to the headquarters of Xie Liujin. As soon as I entered the gate, the three division commanders, Xie Liujin, Nekrasov and askarepov, who had been informed, and major general berei, the tank commander, stood in a neat line in front of me, raised their hands to salute me, and said in unison: "Hello, comrade commander!" I didn''t care to be polite to them, so I went straight to the conference table with a big map on it, and asked in the same voice, "what''s the situation here?" As the temporary commander appointed by me, Xie Liujin immediately stepped forward and reported to me, "Comrade commander, the Germans launched two attacks on us, but we beat them back." When I heard his brief report like a telegram, I frowned slightly, and then said in a slightly discontented tone, "Mr. Xie Liujin, please report in detail."¡° Under the cover of more than 20 tanks, the German attacked our position. As our rocket launchers had consumed all the ammunition when they attacked the German peripheral positions in front, we had to let the tank units assigned to us rush up to meet the German tanks. However, the performance of the enemy''s tanks is better than ours. After losing 20 tanks, we only destroyed 10 German tanks, but we beat back their attack. " When Xie Liujin reported here, he stopped for a moment. After looking at major general berei behind him, he continued: "after more than ten minutes, the Germans sent new tanks to cover their infantry and charged towards the positions we occupied. We should know that our tanks have been completely lost in the attack in front of the enemy. Just then, fortunately, general berey''s tank troops arrived in time. After a fierce battle, all the enemy''s tanks were destroyed by us, and all the infantry following the tanks were destroyed by our army. " After listening to Xie Liujin''s report, I nodded and asked casually, "Comrade division commander, when can our troops continue to attack the enemy?"¡° What, attack? " He was surprised to hear that. He gave a quick wink at berey, who was standing behind him, and then stood upright and motionless. Seeing his look, bielei stepped forward and reported to me: "Comrade commander, there are 50 or 60 tanks on both sides of the enemy and us. They were destroyed in the square in front of us and blocked all the roads. If these obstacles are not removed, neither we nor the enemy can launch a new attack."

 Chapter 1229

    After listening, I frowned and asked, "what measures have you taken?" Bielei replied with a bitter smile: "Comrade commander, we have just studied. There are so many tank wrecks in the square. It is almost impossible to use other tanks to push them apart. So I think we should inform the comrades of the tank maintenance station and let them tow the wreckage away with a tractor. " I snorted and said, "Comrade General, do you think the Germans are all idiots? They will stay opposite us like gentlemen and wait for us to take away the damaged tanks in the square?" When I said that, there was an embarrassed look on berey''s face. Xie Liujin quickly stepped forward and said to me sincerely, "Comrade commander, if we don''t clean up the remains of tanks in the square first, our troops will not be able to move forward."¡° Where is the observation? " I know that if I don''t see the scene with my own eyes, it''s like building a car behind closed doors to stay here and discuss the disposal measures. In order to find out what happened, I said to Xie Liujin, "take me to have a look." Seeing that seleucin nodded in agreement, I said to the two teachers standing next to me: "when Mr. seleucin is away, you two will be in charge here." After that, I waved my head to bielei again, "come on, comrade general, come with us to the observation post to see the situation of the battlefield." Ten minutes later, we came to the top floor of a building not far away, which was half collapsed by the blast. There was a close guard, berey. After finding out the identity of the other side, he also extended his hand to the other side. At the same time, he politely said, "hello, comrade Colonel, I''m major general berey, commander of the 33rd tank army. Later, your tank brigade will attack the German position together with my troops." After listening to him, the Colonel replied politely, "Comrade General, it''s an honor for me and my subordinates to fight side by side with your troops." Niekrasov then pointed to another lieutenant and said to me, "Comrade commander, this lieutenant is the artillery observer who came from general povsky. They will provide firing parameters for our artillery in the city and guide the direction of artillery."¡° That''s great. That''s great. " When I heard that the lieutenant in front of me was an artillery observer sent by bofsky, I was overjoyed. I went forward to hold his hand, shaking it vigorously, and said excitedly, "Comrade lieutenant, I''m looking forward to you. Now I have an important task for you! " The lieutenant gently released my hand, stepped back, straightened his back and said, "Comrade commander, time is pressing. Please give me an order."¡° Mr. Xie Liujin, "I turned to call for Xie Liujin, and then said," send someone to take this artillery lieutenant to the observation post and show him where we intend to bombard. Do you understand? "¡° I see, "Xie Liujin agreed loudly, and then called a staff officer to let him leave with the artillery lieutenant. I looked at the four generals and a colonel standing in front of me, and then I said in a loud voice, "comrades commander, as soon as our shelling of the German army is over, we will split up. Along the way, the 77th division of Jinwei mainly attacked the German position opposite the square; On the other hand, the 89th division of general seleucin''s guards, followed by general berey''s tank troops, launched an attack from the side of the German army. "¡° Comrade commander, what about our division? " When niekrasov saw that I had assigned tasks to Xie Liujin, but he was left out, he couldn''t help feeling a little anxious, "what''s the task of our division? Can''t all the other troops attack while we watch the excitement? "¡° Don''t worry, Mr. Nekrasov. " In order to stabilize his mood, I comforted him and said: "any position in the war is important. Have you ever thought about what would happen if our troops were all engaged in the attack and once they were taken back by the enemy? And who will stop them then? "¡° I see, comrade commander. " After listening to my explanation, nekrasovton was relieved. He answered me calmly: "I immediately gave orders to the troops to reinforce the fortifications and prepare for a possible German counterattack."

 Chapter 1230

    After getting the firing parameters provided by the artillery observer, the artillery outside the city shelled the German defense zone for half an hour. When the shelling was over, I immediately gave orders to berey, sheriujin and the other commanders to attack.


    When there were only me, nikolasov and a few staff members left in the headquarters, he asked cautiously: "Comrade commander, according to the reconnaissance, since the German army recaptured Kharkov from our hands at the beginning of the year, a lot of fortifications have been built in the city. If we want to capture the city, these divisions may not be enough."


    In order to reassure Nekrasov, I specially introduced to him the situation of the other three groups of troops, and added: "in addition to these three groups of troops constantly attacking the German peripheral positions to contain the German forces, the 57th and 69th army groups of general konev''s Grassland front army and the seventh army group of guards also stormed the German positions from the East and the north respectively, So that the enemy does not dare to draw heavy troops from this direction for reinforcement. "


    After listening to my introduction, nikolasov stared at the map for a long time, and finally nodded his head and said, "if the three sided attack on Kharkov can contain the main force of the enemy, then the resistance our troops will suffer will be greatly reduced when they develop in depth."


    "The plan I made for this offensive war is: multiple attacks and multiple breakthroughs. But so far, only your fourth Route Army has made a breakthrough and rushed into Kharkov. " Although I heard the fierce fighting outside, I was still extremely disappointed and said, "if we can have another breakthrough at this time, we will be more confident of winning."


    Just then, managarov called me from the headquarters. He said excitedly: "Comrade commander, I have good news for you. After the 252nd infantry division arrived at the designated position and occupied several German strongholds, it successfully cut off the Kharkov boltava railway and cut off the retreat of the German army."


    "Great, that''s great." When I heard such good news, I was overjoyed. As long as the 252nd infantry division could cut off the enemy''s transportation line like a "gate", the German troops in the city would soon run out of ammunition and food. In other words, the more fierce the fighting is now, the more ammunition and materials the Germans will consume. When their guns are empty and their guns are empty, we will see how they can compete with us¡° Comrade general, all the officers and men of the 252nd division are good. We have to ask for credit for them! By the way, don''t forget to report the good news to commander konev and commander vatujing, so as to make them happy. "


    "OK, I''ll call them right away."


    As soon as I put down the phone, he said excitedly, "Comrade commander, this is really wonderful. The German supply line was cut off by us. In this way, their ammunition and supplies can last for three days at most. I''d like to see how they can continue to compete with us when they run out of ammunition and food. "


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I said, "Comrade division commander, our attack has been going on for nearly an hour. Why haven''t we received any reports from the tank army and the two divisions? Do you know where they are now?"


    "Just a moment, please. I''ll ask." With these words, nikolasov went to a nearby telephone, picked up the phone, said for a while, and then came back to report to me: "Comrade commander, according to the report of the observation post, the troops of the 77th division of the guards have successfully occupied the German army field opposite the square after some fighting, and continue to develop in depth after cleaning up the enemies in the area."


    As long as the 77th division of the guards can rush through the square full of tank debris and develop towards the enemy in depth, no matter how far it can advance, it will be a great victory. I looked down at the map and said, "Comrade division, please try to contact General bielei or division commander Xie Liujin again to see what''s going on on on their side."


    "OK, I''ll get in touch." This time, he went to a telephone and said to the operator, "Comrade operator, please contact the 89th division of Jinwei for Mr. Xie Liujin."


    When Nekrasov went to contact the front-line forces, I began to calculate in my heart which of the other three forces could break through the German defense and move closer to us in the shortest time. Unfortunately, because I didn''t know about the German troops, I didn''t come up with a clue after watching for a long time.


    After nearly ten minutes, Nekrasov came back to me and reported to me solemnly, "Comrade commander, I just learned from general berey about the progress of the battle. As a result of the discovery of new German artillery positions, the tank troops suffered great losses during the assault, with almost half of the tanks destroyed or injured. At present, the tank forces are regrouping and preparing to launch another attack. "


    "What about general Xie Liujin''s 89th division?" I asked without looking up.


    "Due to the German artillery fire and the machine gun fire in the building, the 89th division of the guards suffered a lot of casualties." He pointed to the map and said to me, "they are here now, fighting floor by floor with the Germans who occupied the buildings."


    "Do you know the German number?" I asked as soon as he finished.


    "It''s the 106th infantry division of the 11th German army."


    Hearing this, I couldn''t help frowning again and asked, "isn''t this division to the north of Kharkov? When did you transfer here? "


    "After interrogating the prisoners, general Xie Liujin learned that the division had suffered heavy casualties in the early fighting. There were less than 2000 soldiers left in the division, so he was transferred to the west of the city to rest." When he said this, he couldn''t help laughing, and then said, "the Germans may never dream that their retreated troops will continue to fight against the main force of our army."


    "Tell sergeant serryukin," I heard that the German army in front of the 89th division of the guards was actually the 106th infantry division, which was beaten to the size of regiment and battalion. I immediately raised my head and told nikolasov, "let them speed up their attack, and we must find a way to defeat or annihilate most of this enemy!"


    "But the enemy''s fire was too heavy for our tanks to advance." "If we only rely on infantry to attack, maybe our attack speed will be very slow," he said with some embarrassment


    "No tank, no tank." Anyway, in street warfare, unless it is open land, there are not many places where tanks can be used. On the contrary, it is easy to become the target of the enemy''s Anti Tank Firepower. "Let general bielei take a rest in place, destroy those exposed firepower points with artillery fire, and cover the infantry forward attack."


    As soon as nikolasov left, the special line to the headquarters of the group army rang. Originally, I thought that the phone was opened by chisgakov or managarov, but I didn''t expect that the voice came from vatukin: "Hello, comrade oshanina, what''s the situation there?"


    "Report to the chief General that the 252nd infantry division of the 53rd army has successfully cut off the Kharkov Poltava railway." I first reported to him the good news that our army had cut off the retreat of the German army. Then I went on to report that "the 77th and 89th divisions of Jinwei are developing westward from liubojing area. Now I have rushed to... "After looking down at the map, I reported the position of the troops to watujing.


    "Well done, comrade o''shanina, you''ve played well." "The harder you fight in the city, the faster our friendly forces can break through the German city defense..." said vatukin excitedly


    Before he finished, I heard Zhukov''s voice. He asked in a low voice, "Rita, where is your army now?"


    I didn''t expect Zhukov would come out suddenly. I was startled, but I soon recovered calm, and then I reported the place name to Zhukov again.


    I didn''t expect that after he heard it, his voice suddenly became serious: "Rita, it''s too slow. Your attack speed is too slow. How many hours have passed since we broke through the German perimeter, but what about your troops? Only less than two kilometers forward... "


    Zhukov taught me a lesson, which made me laugh and cry. It''s not a real-time strategy game. I can push the whole map in ten or twenty minutes. The tenacity of the German army in Kharkov city is far beyond our imagination. Almost every step forward, we will fall one or several commanders and fighters. But I can''t refute his lesson. Even if I feel aggrieved, I can only listen to it.


    After he finished, I quickly said: "marshal, please rest assured that I will urge the other three siege forces to speed up the attack..."


    "It''s been almost a day, and the other three troops have not yet broken through the German peripheral positions." Zhukov said discontentedly: "if you still have troops in your hands, don''t invest in these three directions. All of them will be transferred to liubojing area. Then you can have enough strength to quickly expand the occupied area."


    "I see, comrade marshal." Hearing his instructions, I immediately readily agreed: "I immediately transferred the remaining troops from outside the city to liubojing area."


    "That''s right, Rita." After hearing my answer, Zhukov''s tone softened again. "Then I''ll mention that I wish you an early victory!"


    I put down the phone and thought about it. It seems that there is only the 51st division of guards left in the army under my jurisdiction. Do you want to transfer them? As soon as I started this idea, I was immediately denied by myself. In any case, the reserve team should be placed behind the Third Route Army. Otherwise, when we lose the attack, the German army will fight back, and my hometown will be in danger of being attacked by the German. So I can only find a way to mobilize the reserve team from other places.


    I dialed the headquarters of the group army and asked bzikov who answered the phone to find managarov. After hearing managarov''s voice, I immediately asked, "Hello, comrade general, do you have any troops in your hand?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Managarov was startled by my sudden question and replied in a hurry: "at present, the 29th guards division and the 107th infantry division are not fighting. Where are you going to use them? "


    When I saw that managarov had guessed my intention, he did not beat around the Bush and said directly, "Comrade General, please send these two divisions to the liubojing area immediately. I intend to launch another fierce attack on the Germans from here and completely disrupt their defense system."¡° Well, comrade commander. " "I will immediately lead two divisions to liubojing area to fight side by side with you," said managarov For his kindness, I didn''t refuse, just politely expressed my thanks. Finally, he said: "Comrade General, please let the troops come by truck. The earlier we launch the attack, the better it will be for us."¡° Yes, comrade commander. I''ll get the troops together immediately. As for trucks, I have to turn to Colonel bzikov for help. I hope he can find enough trucks for me. " More than an hour later, just as I was in a hurry like an ant on a hot pot in the headquarters, a man suddenly rushed in from the outside and loudly reported, "Comrade commander, division commander Xie Liujin asked me to report to you that we have successfully occupied the headquarters of the 106th German division."¡° That''s great. That''s great. " Because I was a little dizzy when I heard the news, I didn''t think about why Xie Liujin didn''t report the good news to me by phone, and sent a commander to report it to me. After my mood calmed down, the officer took out a stack of maps from his satchel and handed them to me. At the same time, he said, "Comrade commander, this is what the division commander asked me to give you." I took the map, put it on the table, looked at the other side and asked, "Comrade commander, did you catch the other side''s teacher?"¡° No, The enemy is very cunning. After our commanders and fighters rush in, they run away from behind. " After reporting to me with some regret, the commander, seeing that I put the map on the table, turned a deaf ear to it. He pointed to the map and reminded me carefully: "Comrade commander, that''s the city defense fortification map we seized from the German division headquarters. Don''t you have a look at it?"¡° What, city fortification map? " When I heard the officers say that, I almost hit the ground. The news was really shocking. I didn''t expect that Xie Liujin and them had captured the German city defense map. I can''t wait to open the map and see that although I don''t know any of the letters on it, I''m familiar with the terrain of Kharkov. It is marked with the distribution of German forces and the positions of artillery and tank troops. After reading it, I slapped the table and said excitedly to nikolasov, "Comrade division, with this city defense map, we only need one day at most to capture Kharkov in an all-round way."

 Chapter 1231

    Niekrasov took a look over his head, and then asked me curiously, "Comrade commander, do you know German?"


    Hearing his question, I immediately shook my head like a rattle. "I don''t know any letters except a few simple spoken German."


    "How can you understand the deployment of German forces on the map of city defense?" Then asked Nekrasov.


    "It''s very simple," I said to him, pointing to the numbers on the picture. "These numbers are undoubtedly the serial numbers of the German army. Even if I don''t know the German alphabet, I can guess them." After that, I saw the officers sent back by Xie Liujin. I thought that if it was just to send a city defense map, it would be OK to send a signalman. Why would an officer be sent? There must be some purpose.


    Thinking of this, I looked at the officer and asked, "Comrade officer, what''s your name?"


    "Melkuli," the officer answered nervously when he heard my question, "Captain melkuli, I''m the intelligence officer of the 89th division of the guards."


    Intelligence adviser, when I heard about his position, I took a chance and asked, "Comrade captain, do you know German?"


    Melkuli nodded his head and answered in the affirmative, "yes, comrade commander, I know German." With that, he shrugged his shoulders and added shyly, "I learned German in college. When the commander ordered me to give you the map of the city defense works, he also asked me to translate it for you. "


    "Comrade captain," niekrasov asked next to him, "how long will it take if you translate this map of city defense and mark it on our map?"


    After thinking for a moment, melkulli replied, "Comrade General, I think I can translate the contents of the German city defense map and mark them on our map in half an hour at most."


    Hearing melkuli''s reply, nekrasovton got excited. He asked his subordinates to take a map of Kharkov and told melkuli in a voice: "Comrade captain, quickly, quickly mark the enemy''s deployment on the map."


    "Wait a minute." I saw melkuli bent down to get ready for work, and quickly stopped them in a voice: "it''s too slow. It will take at least an hour for the captain to mark and send it back to the headquarters of the group army."


    After listening to me, niekrasov was stunned. Then he nodded his head and said, "yes, the captain alone will delay a lot of time. I''ll find someone to cooperate with him."


    "Comrade division, now our troops are engaged in fierce fighting outside, so every minute is precious. So even if we shorten the fighting time by one minute or less, our commanders and fighters will be able to shed less blood. " I didn''t agree with his proposal. Instead, I said to myself, "in order to save time, let captain melkuli directly inform the headquarters of the distribution of forces on the map."


    I picked up the phone and asked the signalman to connect me to the headquarters of the group army. In the short process of waiting for the phone to be connected, I told nikolasov: "Comrade division commander, please send another staff officer with high drawing level to come here. When Captain melkuli reports to the headquarters later, he will also mark the position of the enemy on the map."


    Nikolasov was very satisfied with my proposal and readily agreed: "OK, that''s it!"


    At this moment, a voice came from the receiver: "Hello, comrade commander, is that you?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander, it''s me." I hastened to reply.


    "What''s the situation there?" Asked chisgakov carefully.


    "The battle is still going on!"


    "Has general managarov''s army arrived?"


    "Not yet. I think their troops will arrive in about half an hour." After a brief exchange with chisgakov, I went straight to the theme: "Comrade deputy commander, sherekin''s troops captured the headquarters of the 106th infantry division of the German army and captured a map of the city defense fortification inside."


    "What, city fortification map?" After hearing this, chisgakov asked in surprise, "is that the latest German troop deployment marked on it?"


    "I think so." I don''t know if this figure reflects the actual deployment of the German forces. I can only give a vague answer. Then I said, "Xie Liujin sent me a German speaking staff officer. I''ll let him report to you the deployment of troops on the map. Remember to report to the two front army headquarters immediately after the city defense fortifications are marked. "


    "Major akhromeyev, please bring a map of Kharkov." I heard chisgakov calling for akhromeyev. When he finished speaking, he specially emphasized again: "Comrade deputy commander, this map of city fortification can help our troops speed up the attack and reduce unnecessary casualties. So once the marking is finished, report to the superior immediately! "


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." "You don''t have to wait until it''s completely marked before you report to your superiors," chisjakov told me. You can label and report to the superior at the same time, which can greatly save time. "


    "That''s very good, comrade deputy commander. That''s very good." When I heard the idea of chisgakov, my mood suddenly relaxed. Originally, according to my method, I sent the information from us back to the headquarters of the group army, and then reported it to the headquarters of the front army, and then they sent the city defense map to all the troops in the war. It would take two or three hours at the earliest. According to chisgakov''s proposal, it would take only an hour at most for the division commanders on the front line to receive the city fortification map and clearly know the distribution of German forces¡° Just do as you suggest. "


    When I finished talking to chisgakov, I handed the receiver to captain melkuli and said, "Comrade captain, you can start."


    When melkuli and his staff began to be busy, I pulled him aside and said to him, "Comrade division, since we have this city defense map, our attack must continue even if it is dark."


    "Fight at night?" When he heard me say this, he looked embarrassed. "Comrade commander, I don''t think it''s wise to let the troops fight with the enemy in a strange city at night."


    "There''s no way." I don''t know that what Nekrasov said is true, but we can''t help it. We are racing against time now. If the German Army knows that we have captured their city defense plan, once it is adjusted, our troops may suffer a great loss, so we must make a quick decision¡° Before the German army knew that we had captured the city fortification plan, they would launch an uninterrupted attack, which would make them exhausted. Even at the end of the day, they have no time or way to adjust until we know about their deployment. "


    "That seems to be the only way." After sighing helplessly, Nekrasov said to me, "I will inform several commanders to prepare for the battle. When general managarov''s two divisions arrive, they will immediately attack the enemy."


    Just as niekrasov was assigning a task to his subordinates, a telegraph operator came up to me, handed me a telegram and said, "Comrade commander, your telegram!"


    I took the telegram and saw a word written on it: "good job!" Signed by Zhukov.


    Holding the telegram sent by Zhukov himself, my heart suddenly became excited, and I muttered to myself that if our troops could greatly shorten the time to attack Kharkov according to this map of city fortifications, then when the battle was over, there would be great benefits waiting for me.


    An hour later, the dusty managarov walked into the headquarters. As he came to me, he saluted me and said, "Hello, comrade commander, what''s the situation here?"


    "Our officers and men and the enemy are fighting a tough battle." After I said it in an official voice, I asked, "Comrade General, have the 29th division of the guards and the 107th division of the infantry arrived?"


    "It''s all here." After a brief answer, managarov asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t know where you intend to use these two divisions?"


    "Comrade General, please come here." I guided him to the table, pushed the city defense map marked by the staff officer in front of him, and said with a smile, "what do you see here?"


    Managarov glanced at the map with disapproval. As soon as he looked away, before he could speak to me, he focused on the map in front of him. After looking at it carefully for a while, he said excitedly, "Comrade commander, is this, this, this the map of Kharkov''s city fortification?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." I looked at him and said with certainty, "this is Kharkov''s city fortification map."


    Managarov grabbed the map and asked excitedly, "where did you get it from?"


    "It''s division sherekin, who captured it from the German 106th infantry division." In order to let managarov know, I added: "now that I know the deployment of the German forces, I intend to let the troops continue to attack and even fight at night with the Germans."


    "Your decision is right," managarov said approvingly. "We will beat the Germans hard before they recover and have no time to adjust their deployment. By the way, where are you going to use my two teachers? "


    "I think so, Comrade General." Pointing to the attack route on the map, I politely said to managarov, "your two divisions are going along these streets, making a surprise attack on the central dzerzhinsky square, trying to end up at the German headquarters in the area. Are you confident? "


    "No problem." Managarov readily agreed: "I''m going to inform the two teachers that they will attack the enemy immediately after a little rest."


    After managarov left, nikolasov came to me and said with some worry: "Comrade commander, we have all gone to take part in the attack, and your troops here will become weak. If the German army carries out a counterattack, you may be in danger."


    "Don''t worry, sir." As for his worries, I said with a smile: "the current security task here can be taken over by general Kravchenko''s motorized regiment. As long as you play harder in front, we''ll be safer here. " With that, I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and urged him, "well, it''s late, and your troops should start soon!"


    Niekrasov nodded and said to me solemnly, "Comrade commander, please rest assured that I will bring back the news of victory to you." With that, he raised his hand to give me a solemn military salute, then turned and walked out of the headquarters. Because all the troops participating in the war got the German city defense map provided by me, the battle went on fiercely, and the fierce battle was going on all night inside and outside Kharkov''s city. At one o''clock in the morning, sivakov called me. He excitedly reported to me: "Comrade commander, our three route troops have successively broken through the German defense, have rushed into the city, and are developing in depth."¡° I see, comrade commander. " I heard that the other three troops also rushed into the city one after another, and my mood became excited, "please convey my thanks to the commanders and fighters! Then tell the commanders and fighters not to stop after they rush into the city. They will rush to where there is an enemy and where there is a gunshot. In the shortest possible time, the enemy should be completely and cleanly eliminated. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander. " Sivakov replied loudly. Since all the three groups of troops fighting outside the city rushed into the city, the reserves outside the city could not let them be idle. So I called chisgakov and asked him to put all the other divisions into battle. Another hour later, I received a phone call from sherekin, who excitedly reported to me: "Comrade commander, my troops have rushed to the center of the city and raised the red flag in gosprom building, the tallest building in the city."¡° That''s great, general Xie Liujin. That''s great! " When I heard that the 89th division had occupied the landmark building in the city tonight, my heart beat faster immediately. I said in a voice hoarse with excitement, "what you have achieved today will go down in history!"¡° By the way, comrade commander, there is one more thing I haven''t reported to you. " After feeling a little more stable, he continued: "according to my soldier''s report, the 183rd division of the 69th army also advanced along Sumei street to dzerzhinsky square and was engaged in a fierce battle with the German army. In other areas, friendly forces broke through the German peripheral positions and rushed into the city. "¡° General Xie Liujin, immediately send troops to reinforce the friendly forces. " Hearing that the friendly forces also rushed into the city, I immediately ordered Xie Liujin to "destroy the enemy in the city center as soon as possible."¡° Yes, I''ll send troops to reinforce immediately. " Xie Liujin replied loudly. As more and more of our troops poured into Kharkov, the German resistance was constantly destroyed. By ten o''clock in the morning, the sound of gunfire and explosion from outside became sparse. After calling each division commander in the city one by one for verification, I finally came to a gratifying conclusion: Kharkov has been recovered by our army!

 Chapter 1232

    I immediately called chisgakov and asked him to move the headquarters to the city as soon as possible. As soon as I put down the phone, I saw managarov, who had been commanding troops all night, coming in from outside with another lieutenant commander.


    I carefully looked at the new commander and thought I had never seen him before. But if managarov can take him to the headquarters in person, he must have something important to report to me. So after a moment''s silence, I asked, "Comrade General, I don''t know which unit this lieutenant commander belongs to?"


    Managarov turned to look at the commander behind him, and then replied, "he''s the deputy division commander of the 252nd infantry division, Lt. Col. djielev. He''s here to tell you what happened to the division."


    When I heard that it was the deputy division commander of the 252nd infantry division, especially when I saw his dejected expression, my heart could not help but thump for a while, and then I had a feeling of uncertainty. Last night, when I was in charge of the army''s fierce attack on the city center, I completely forgot that I should send troops to strengthen the 252nd division, which cut off the German rear. According to the expression on his face, it is estimated that many German troops broke through their blocking positions and successfully broke through from the south of Kharkov.


    I looked at jijerev in front of me and said kindly, "Comrade commander, please go ahead. I''m waiting to hear your report."


    "Comrades commander," said jijerev, blushing and somewhat guilty, "after cutting off the German rear road, our division immediately built several fortifications using the local terrain to prepare for the possible German attack."


    "Well done, comrade commander." When I heard this, I nodded with satisfaction at the deployment of the division and said with approval, "it''s an unfinished task to attack the enemy with the strength of one of your divisions, so it''s the wisest choice to stick to your position."


    "Shortly after we entered the position, the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, launched a fierce attack on our position." "Under the tenacious resistance of our commanders and fighters, the enemy''s seven attacks ended in failure," he continued


    I can''t help but doubt my own judgment when I hear what Ji jielev said. I wonder if I guessed wrong? He didn''t come here because he let the Germans go, but because he had something else to report? Thinking of this, I said in an encouraging tone: "go on, comrade commander, please go on!"


    "After dark, because there was fierce fighting all over the city, the division commander worried that the enemy would take the opportunity to break through, so he went to the front position to inspect in person." Speaking of this, a painful expression appeared on jijerev''s face. "Who knows, as soon as he arrived at the front, he was raised by the German cavalry division. They used tanks and cavalry to attack our army in turn. The command post of the division commander was destroyed by German artillery fire, and all the commanders including the division commander were killed. He lost the front line of unified command and was thus broken through by the German army. "


    "German cavalry division?" After repeating what tjelev said, I raised my head and asked managarov, "Comrade General, is it the eighth cavalry division of the SS?"


    "Yes, they are." One of his division commanders died. As soon as managarov mentioned this unit, he was filled with anger. He gritted his teeth and said, "many of our units have suffered losses in front of this division, especially the guerrillas in Ukraine. They have almost wiped out all of them. Early this morning, when the commander of the 252nd division died and the command system of the unit fell into chaos, they used armored assault to break through the line of defense of the 252nd division at one stroke and cover other units to rush out from the open gap. "


    According to my understanding of history, the Soviet army recovered Kharkov because, on the one hand, they launched a fierce attack regardless of casualties; on the other hand, the German army withdrew from the battle because of the heavy casualties. As for the division''s purposeful attack according to the captured fortifications, it only advanced the time for the German army to retreat. Tens of thousands of German troops retreated to the south. With the strength and equipment of the 252nd division, the German troops could not be stopped at all.


    I waited for managarov to finish what he said, then I turned my eyes to jijerev and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, how many people are left in your division now?"


    Hearing my question, jijerev immediately straightened up and said, "Comrade report commander, there are still more than 1700 people in the whole division, half of whom are wounded."


    There are still more than 1000 people left in a division. This figure gives me a surprise. If we get rid of the wounded and non combat personnel, the total strength may be only 600 or 700. Although I know that after all night''s fighting, there are few German troops left in the city, if they are desperate to break through, the 252nd Division will not be able to stop them. So I quickly asked managarov, "Comrade General, how many troops do you have in the first place?"


    "The 29th division of Jinwei has gathered more than 3000 people. I have ordered them to reinforce the 252nd division." With these words, managarov looked at jijerev and asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, lieutenant commander jijerev, they let the German army out of our encirclement. What do you plan to do with him?"


    "Deal with him?" When I heard managarov say this, I immediately asked, "why should I deal with him? We should know that in the face of tens of thousands of German troops, not to mention an infantry division without heavy weapons, even two more well-equipped divisions will not be able to block the enemy who is rushing to the wall. They have done their best, and we have no right to blame them any more. "


    I took a look at Ji jielev, who was very grateful, and then said, "Comrade General, since the division commander of the 252nd Division has died, let commander Ji jielev take over the post of division commander." With that, I waved to jijerev, "Comrade commander, go back to the army first. Remember, no matter how many people are left in your division, as long as the position is still in your hands, we will firmly hold it. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." "On behalf of the whole division, I assure you that we would rather leave bones exposed in the wilderness than let the enemy move forward," he said solemnly


    After jijerev left, managarov said to me with regret, "it''s a pity that so many Germans have run away."


    "Comrade General, it is not impossible for us to force all the enemies to stay. But in that case, the German troops, who have been completely cut off, will be tenacious. If we want to eliminate them, we have to pay at least several times more casualties than we do now. "


    After listening to what I said, managarov shrunk and said, "as long as we can eliminate the enemy, no matter how much we sacrifice, it''s worth it."


    As for his assumption, I said politely: "Comrade General, if the German army uses Kharkov''s strong city defense to contain and kill a large number of troops in the street battle for a long time, we will be in a passive position. In order to avoid this situation, we need to let the Germans leave the city, and then we will divide and annihilate them in the field. "


    "But we''ve got the German fortification map." Managarov said somewhat unconvinced: "if our troops launch targeted attacks according to the enemy''s deployment, we believe that the enemy will be completely wiped out in a short time."


    "Comrade General, it is really helpful for our army to get the German city defense map. But the Germans are not stupid either. If they find out the law of our army''s attack, they will understand the intelligence of their distribution of forces, and they will be mastered by our army, and then they will adjust their deployment. " At this point, I hesitated for a moment, and then decisively said what I thought in my heart, "you also know that our efficiency is low. Even if we notice that the German military deployment has been adjusted, it may take us a day or two to make the corresponding adjustment. In this case, we will pay a lot of unnecessary sacrifices. "


    We were talking when the telephone rang on the desk. I picked it up and heard konev''s voice: "Hello, comrade oshanina."


    "Hello, comrade commander of the front army." Hearing konev''s voice, I quickly came to attention and asked respectfully, "do you have any instructions?"


    "My men reported to me that there was no German army in the city, and now there are only sporadic exchanges of fire in some areas." Konev asked in an uncertain tone: "have tens of thousands of Germans withdrawn from Kharkov?"


    "Yes, comrade commander of the front army." When I heard his question, I had no choice but to reply: "because we only set up an infantry division in the south of the city, the division commander died and the troops were almost disabled under the fierce attack of the German breakout forces. The German troops, who had the advantage of strength and weapons, swaggered out of the open gap. "


    "It''s a pity that we didn''t deploy large troops in the south of the city," konev said with great regret as soon as I finished saying, "otherwise, we can divide and surround the German army which has become a lost dog in the wild, and then eat them all bit by bit."


    "It''s a pity to watch the enemy break through from under our nose, but there''s nothing we can do." After following his words, I changed the topic, "but it''s not a bad thing for the Germans to escape. At least it will lead to the demoralization and demoralization of the broken troops. When our troops eliminate them, they can reduce a lot of unnecessary sacrifice."


    After listening to my "high opinion", konev said, "Comrade oshanina, I also thank you on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of our front army. Without the city fortification map you provided, our troops may have to pay more than double the casualties to break through the German fortifications outside Kharkov and rush into the city. "


    "You are welcome, comrade commander of the front army." I politely replied, "we are friendly forces and comrades in arms fighting side by side. If there is any important information, I think it is necessary for us to share it."


    I just finished my call with konev, and then I got a call from vatugin. He asked excitedly on the phone, "Hello, comrade oshanina, are there any Germans near you?"


    "Yes, senior general." I could tell from his voice that he was in a happy mood, and he jokingly said, "it''s just German corpses and some prisoners."


    "What are the casualties of your troops?" Then vatukin asked.


    "Comrade General, as the casualties and achievements of the troops are still in the statistical collection, I can not provide you with accurate data for the time being." I took a look at managarov, who was standing next to me, and then said, "the 252nd division, which cuts off the German army''s rear road in the south of the city, is still fighting bravely with indomitable spirit in the face of the German army, which has absolute superiority in strength and weaponry. Before the end of the battle, in front of their positions, the * aggressors left at least a thousand bodies. "


    After listening to my report, vatukin was silent for a moment and asked, "did the main force of the German army break through from the south of the city?" I knew that I couldn''t hide this little trick from an old fox like watujing, so I honestly replied, "yes, Comrade General. According to my analysis, the German army may have planned to retreat long ago, so they planned to retreat to the south of the city last night and early this morning when they were attacked by our army. "¡° Comrade o''shanina, you don''t have to say it. I understand it. " "We didn''t think that the German would give up Kharkov so soon, so the troops of Voronezh''s front army haven''t had time to detour back to the south of the city," said vatujing with a trace of regret. Otherwise, on the wide plain to the south of Kharkov, we can surely teach the Germans a lesson that they will never forget. " Soon Zhukov''s voice came out of the receiver: "Hello, Rita, good job! You and your men are good. I didn''t expect you to launch an attack on Kharkov and successfully recover this kind of city in just two days. " Although I knew in my heart that Zhukov''s praise to me was from the bottom of my heart, in order to avoid hatred and estrangement from the commanders of friendly forces, I said humbly, "marshal, if you don''t have the wise command of the superior and the comprehensive cooperation of the grassland front army, you can''t achieve such a great victory only by our troops and general managarov." Zhukov said with regret: "it''s a pity that nearly half of the German troops escaped from our encirclement. If we can eliminate more of their effective forces, we will achieve more brilliant results in the next battle. " I know that with the recovery of Kharkov, the battle of Kursk started in July has come to a successful end. But on Kharkov''s side, there are millions of troops from the southwest front and the south front, fighting against the German army. I estimated that after a short rest, the troops would immediately fight again, so I asked Zhukov, "marshal, my troops suffered a lot of casualties during this period of attack. I don''t know when they will be supplemented?" After pondering for a while, Zhukov said to me in a serious tone: "don''t worry, in two days at most, the additional soldiers and weapons and equipment will be in place. But you can rest for a short time, because I have more important tasks to give you

 Chapter 1233

    I received a phone call from the observation office saying that I found a huge motorcade coming towards us from the west of the city.


    When managarov heard the report, he was shocked and asked me nervously, "Comrade commander, is this the German breakout force?"


    "How is that possible, Comrade General?" When I saw managarov''s frightening behavior, I couldn''t help laughing and saying to him, "you know, for the German army, the best way to break through the encirclement is not to the west, but to the south. Because there are many forests, lakes and swamps in the west of Kharkov, their mechanized forces can not be developed and they can not get rid of our army''s investigation quickly. Therefore, under the existing circumstances, they can only choose to break through southward. "


    After listening to my explanation, managarov''s mood was a little bit normal, but he was still worried and asked: "but who will come to such a big team?"


    "Comrade General, I haven''t had time to tell you something. I''ve asked chisgakov to move their headquarters to the city. It''s supposed to be their convoy. " Then I waved my head to him and said, "come on, go out and meet them."


    Coming out of the headquarters, I immediately felt the atmosphere of the battlefield. Although the commanders and fighters have cleaned up the corpses on the battlefield, the troops cleaning the battlefield have collected and carried away the weapons and equipment that can still be used. But the collapsed houses everywhere and the smoke everywhere still tell us that there was a fierce battle not long ago.


    I stood by the side of the road, quietly watching the residents coming out of their hiding places, looking for something useful for life in the ruins. Just then a jeep stopped behind me, and kirilov''s familiar voice said, "Hello, Rita, what are you looking at?"


    I turned to look at kirilov, who was coming, and said politely, "here you are, comrade military Commissar." When he came to me, I nodded at the residents who were busy in the ruins, unkempt and ragged, and said, "look, how can we help these homeless residents?"


    "We don''t have many tents." "And I don''t think it''s a wise choice to put up a lot of tents in a city full of ruins," chisjakov, who just came by, said


    When he finished, I waved my hand and said, "Comrade deputy commander, it''s summer now. Even if there is no tent, they can find a place to rest at night. They don''t need tents, they need food to survive. "


    "According to my estimation, there are at least hundreds of thousands of residents in this Kharkov city." "It''s almost impossible for us to provide food and other daily necessities for so many residents," chisgakov said with some embarrassment


    Chisjakov''s words made me silent. I think what he said is very reasonable. Although our group army is abundant in materials, it is impossible to ration hundreds of thousands of people. But if I want to watch the residents starve to death, I can''t face it coldly.


    When I was in a dilemma, I suddenly heard kirilov say, "Rita, I have an idea, which can solve the living problems of some residents, especially the elderly women."


    When I heard kirilov say that he had a way, I was overjoyed and urged him to say, "Comrade military commissar, if you have any good way, please tell me quickly."


    "Well," kirilov said carefully, "a large number of our officers and men were killed in this battle. It''s better to call on a group of women and old people to take off the uniforms of the dead and wash them, and mend the places where they have been hit by bullets or shells, so that they can be worn by new soldiers in the future. Of course, we won''t let these residents work for free. Every time we wash a uniform and fill the gap, we will provide 50 grams of bread. What do you think of my method, Rita


    "What, let the residents reclaim the uniforms of the dead soldiers?" Kirilov''s words made me very angry. It was the first time I heard that I wanted to recover the worn uniforms of the sacrificial commanders and soldiers. When I saw the women''s anti-aircraft artillery regiment burying their dead comrades in arms in Stalingrad, the living people took off their best clothes and put them on the dead. At this moment, I suddenly heard that I was going to take off the uniforms of all the victims, which made me feel very twisted.


    "Yes, comrade commander." "There has always been a written provision for the recovery of uniforms from victims," managarov said. What''s more, we are short of materials now, so everything that can be reused must be reused. "


    After hearing managarov''s explanation, I found out what was going on. Since this is the tradition of the Soviet army, I could not raise any objection in public, so I had no choice but to say, "OK, then organize the residents to collect and clean the uniforms of the victims, but only 50 grams of bread is given for each suit, which is a little too little. Well, I don''t have three clothes for 200 grams of bread


    "Well, do as you say." Kirilov first agreed with my proposal. Then he called akhromeyev over and told him to arrange the manpower to organize the residents to collect, clean and repair the old military uniforms in exchange for food and necessary daily necessities.


    Teams of soldiers walked past us with neat steps, and the soles of their boots stepped on the streets full of bricks and stones, making a rhythmic rubbing sound. Looking at these soldiers of different ages and heights, I thought to myself: if they come here today to take over the posts of those who sacrificed their comrades in arms, will the same troops come to take over them tomorrow?


    "Comrade commander, what is the next task of our group army?" Just as I was watching the soldiers continue to pass in front of us, chisgakov asked, "will you stay in the city or pursue the German army?"


    "This is not a good place. Let''s go back to the headquarters first." After I finished, I quickly passed through the troops advancing in the street and walked towards my headquarters.


    Ten or twenty commanders poured in, making the originally spacious headquarters crowded. Bezikov saw that there were too many people in the room, so he asked the operator to take the communication equipment to the next room, so as to make more space for our commanders.


    When there was only a group of commanders left in the room, I said, "comrades, although we have recovered Kharkov, the battle against the Germans is not over. Kharkov is an important strategic point. As long as we occupy this area, our troops can advance boldly to the West Bank of the Dnieper River and liberate those areas occupied by the Communist aggressors. "


    When I was talking happily, I found kirilov frowning slightly, and immediately realized that he was talking too much nonsense, so I quickly went back to the point: "Marshal Zhukov once called to ask our army group to stay in Kharkov for rest. After completing the replenishment, we will carry out more important combat tasks. "


    "Comrade commander, may I ask, what is the combat mission?" What I said aroused the curiosity of chisgakov, who asked as soon as I finished.


    I shook my head with a smile and said, "sorry, comrade deputy commander, I don''t know. Marshal Zhukov said on the phone that it was an important combat mission, but he did not elaborate on what it was


    Bezikov got up and went to the table where the maps were stacked. He took a roll of maps and spread it out on the table. Then he said, "although the marshal didn''t say anything about the task, we can analyze it."


    Managarov looked down at the map and said to himself as if he were asking someone else, "is there any place where there is fierce fighting besides us?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." As soon as managarov''s words came to an end, his chief of staff, general volgeng, stood up, pointed to Kharkov''s southwest position and said, "according to the war report, our southwest front army and millions of troops of the southern front army are engaged in fierce fighting with the German army in the Donbas area."


    "Donbas area?" Volgeng''s words attracted everyone''s attention in the past. A group of people gathered around the table, huddled their heads together, looking down at the new battlefield that might send us to.


    I don''t know how long it took, but after everyone sat down again, I wiped the sweat on my forehead with my hand and asked, "comrades, tell me, can we really be transferred to Donbas next?"


    The first person to talk about his own point of view is, of course, my deputy commander, chisgakov: "commander, apart from Donbas, I really can''t imagine where we will be transferred. After all, our troops are the closest to Donbas."


    As soon as his words were finished, chief of staff bzikov immediately continued: "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t think so. We should know that the reason why our group army took part in the battle of attacking Kharkov was that we were deployed close to the city. I think if the superior wants to send troops to strengthen the Donbas area, the first choice must be general konev''s Grassland front army. So I think that even if the troops are transferred to the south, they may only be the 53rd army of general managarov. "


    "That''s right," managarov added immediately after listening to bzikov''s words: "if you don''t take the lead in marching towards Kharkov, I estimate that the task of attacking Kharkov from the west of the city will also be accomplished by our group army. So as long as your troops are not under the command of the grassland front army, if the superior wants to transfer troops to the south, it must be our group army. "


    "General managarov," chisjakov asked politely, "if you go south to reinforce the dunbas front, what kind of task will our group army get?"


    "Westward, across the Dnieper." When managarov heard this question from chisgakov, he immediately and unequivocally replied, "go and recover Kiev." At this point, he turned to look at me and said in a flattering tone, "you know, a few months ago, comrade commander led the 79th infantry army to recover Kiev. This time when Kiev is liberated, I think the higher authorities will still let you take up the main task."


    Many things are very close to the truth when they are analyzed. When managarov said that, the commanders of the sixth group army, including me, focused on Kiev on the West Bank of the Dnieper River. Everyone was excited at the thought that our troops might be the main force for the liberation of Kiev. Kirilov, in particular, once took part in the battle to recover Kiev, and Kiev would not have been abandoned again if it had not been for the fact that we were outnumbered. I didn''t expect that the glorious task of recovering Kiev was placed in front of us again. It''s strange that he was not excited


    I looked at the map carefully again and found that the main force of Voronezh''s front army has been staying in the direction of tomarovka, and from there to Kiev, we can save a lot of road. Thinking of this, I waved my hand and said, "no, no, general managarov, I don''t think your analysis is accurate."¡° Ah, why? " Hearing that his analysis was denied by us, managarov was surprised and asked, "is there anything wrong with my analysis?"¡° Look, Comrade General. " I pushed the map in front of him, and then said: "at present, the main force of Voronezh''s front army is concentrated in tomarovka and the area to the West. At the same time, general rokosovsky''s central front army is also located in the northeast of Kiev. If we want to liberate Kiev, as long as they send any troops, it will save time than starting from us. " After listening to my brief analysis, I again focused on the map. After repeated studies, they all believed that since it was impossible for us to be sent to Kiev, we had to go south to help the southwest front army and the southern front army and strike them hard from the flank of the German army. We were in a heated discussion when the telephone rang in the room. Bezikov got up to answer the phone, quickly turned his head and said to me with a pale face: "Comrade commander, it''s general konev who called. He asked general managarov''s 53rd army to return to the city center and take over the defense of our army."¡° what? The army returned to build? " Hearing this news, managarov jumped up from his seat. He rushed to bezikov, grabbed the phone from him, and then said to the microphone, "Hello, comrade commander of the front army, this is managarov. It seems that I have just heard that you intend to return our troops. Is that the case? Ah?! It''s true. Why I see. I obey orders

 Chapter 1234

    Managarov put down the phone, came over and said to me in a regretful tone: "Comrade commander, I''m sorry, because of the new combat mission, according to the order of the superior, my group army and I must return before dark today. If it brings you any inconvenience, please forgive me


    "Never mind, general managarov." I said to him in an official voice: "we are all soldiers, and it is their bounden duty to obey orders. Since you are in a hurry to go back, I won''t keep you. Good luck. See you later! " With that, I reached out and shook hands with him politely.


    After shaking hands with kirilov and bezikov one by one, managarov raised his hand to salute us and said to us enthusiastically, "comrades, we''ll see you later!" Then he left the headquarters with his men.


    As soon as the commander of the 53rd army left, the headquarters suddenly became much more empty. Chisgakov looked at me with a worried face and asked, "Comrade commander, many of the areas we are occupying are the commanders and fighters of the 53rd group army. Now they are suddenly pulling away. What troops should we send to take over the defense of the vacant position?"


    I know what chisgakov is saying is the truth. As soon as several divisions are removed from the defense area, the area under our control will appear empty. Especially in the south of the city, if all the troops there are deployed, the remaining small German troops in the city may escape from that direction.


    Just when I was in a dilemma, a heavy sound of footsteps came from the door. When an officer walked into the headquarters, a familiar voice sounded in the room: "Hello, comrades, commanders!"


    After seeing the visitor clearly, they stood up from their seats and raised their hands to salute each other. At the same time, they politely called out: "Hello, marshal."


    It''s not someone else. It''s Zhukov who called me not long ago. He went straight to the table and sat down. He looked down at the open map in front of him. He raised his head and asked, "what are you doing, comrades commander?"


    "Comrade marshal, please allow me to report to you!" After looking at me, chisgakov straightened up and reported to him: "as commander konev of the grassland front army has just transferred the 53rd army, we are discussing what troops should be sent to take over the defense areas vacated by the friendly forces."


    After listening to the report, Zhukov showed a look of astonishment on his face. He turned to look at me and asked, "why, you were discussing this just now?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." I saw a trace of discontent on Zhukov''s face. He was afraid that he would get angry. He quickly replied, "our group army suffered a lot of casualties in the fighting from yesterday to today. We may not be able to spare so many troops to replace the defense area vacated by the 53rd group army."


    "Who told you that the 53rd army would be transferred from your existing defensive zone?" After listening to me, Zhukov raised his face and voice and asked, "who, who gave you this wrong message?"


    Hearing Zhukov''s question, everyone was immediately dumbfounded. You look at me and I''ll look at you. You''re all at a loss. No one knows what''s going on. Finally, chisgakov summoned up courage and asked, "marshal, commander konev personally called managarov to return the 53rd army."


    "Yes. It was my idea to return the 53rd army. " Zhukov readily agreed with the first half of what chisjakov said, but disagreed with the second half: "after all, managarov''s army belongs to the grassland front army. Originally assigned to you, just to strengthen the power of attacking Kharkov. Although the troops returned the organizational structure of the grassland front army, I did not ask them to withdraw from the existing defense area. "


    When Zhukov said that he would not mobilize the 53rd army, everyone was relieved. After all, tens of thousands of troops were deployed in many areas of the city in a hurry, which would easily cause chaos. At this time, I heard Zhukov say leisurely: "although the 53rd group army does not need to be transferred, your group army needs to change its position."


    "Comrade marshal, what''s going on?" I glanced at my dull colleagues and asked cautiously, "don''t you mean to let our group army rest in the city, and say that it will replenish the soldiers lost in the battle for us in the shortest time?"


    "The current situation has changed," Zhukov sighed. He stood up with his hands on the edge of the table, looked at me and asked, "which unit in your hand is relatively complete?"


    After hearing Zhukov''s question, I quickly went through the situation of all the troops in my head, and then I replied, "the 51st division of the close guard infantry of general tavartkilaze is the latest unit to fight, and their organizational structure should be the most complete of the whole group army at present."


    "Tavartkiraze?" After repeating the name, Zhukov asked somewhat puzzledly, "isn''t he the commander of the 23rd army of the guards? Why, hasn''t his position as a teacher been handed over yet? "


    "Marshal," chisjakov explained with a smile: "most of the commanders above regimental level of the 51st division of the guards died in the battle of defending Yakovlev, and there was no suitable person to take over the post of division commander for the time being, so general tavartkilaze continued to take over the post of division commander."


    "Rita, come and see," Zhukov said, pointing to the map on the table. "Our southwest army is near the North donetz River, and the battle with the German army is in a stalemate. After crossing the northern Donets River, the 6th and 12th army groups established a landing site on the right bank. But it is a pity that their attacks from this area have all met with failure. "


    "Comrade marshal," when Zhukov said that he was lagging behind, he tentatively asked, "are you going to pull out our group army and go south to attack from the enemy''s rear and attack the enemy with the 6th and 12th group army?"


    "You''re half right." Seeing my blank face, Zhukov specially explained to me: "at noon today, the southwest front army started from the landing site again and launched a fierce attack on the enemy''s defense. The offensive force is not the 6th and 12th army, but one you are familiar with. "


    "An army I''m familiar with?" Zhukov''s words confused me. Although I had been in the southwest front army before, I belonged to the army that had been in the army. I hardly had any contact with other troops. How could I have a familiar army? Thinking of this, I shook my head and replied stupidly, "I''m sorry, marshal. I really can''t remember which army I''m familiar with in the southwest front army."


    My words made Zhukov''s face look disappointed. He sighed and said, "well, if Comrade trakov knew you said that, how sad would it be?"


    "Trekov?! General trakov''s guards, the Eighth Army Zhukov''s words surprised me, and then I asked curiously, "isn''t his army in the central front of general rokosovsky? When did they be transferred to the southwest front army again? "


    "What about the central front army? Is it good that the eighth group army of the guards has been in the southwest front army?" After a brief explanation, Zhukov stopped talking nonsense with me and gave a direct order: "gather the 51st division of Jinwei immediately, march toward chuhuifu in the southwest after dark, and occupy the city before dawn."


    I looked in the direction of Zhukov''s finger and found that the distance was not too far. It was about thirty or forty kilometers. Let the commanders and fighters of the 51st division of the guards take a truck and arrive in an hour at most. However, although I had the strength of a division in my hand, my strength was seriously insufficient. So I said to Zhukov tactfully, "Comrade marshal, although our infantry commanders and fighters were very brave in the battle. However, without the support of heavy technical equipment, it is estimated that it will be difficult to win chuhuifu before dawn. "


    After scanning the room, Zhukov stopped at Kravchenko, commander of the Fifth Army of the close guard tank. He asked with a smile, "Comrade General, how many tanks do you have in your tank army?"


    Seeing Zhukov''s name, Kravchenko quickly stepped forward and replied respectfully, "report to marshal, there are 156 tanks of various types left in the army. After a short period of maintenance and repair, they can be put into battle."


    After listening to him, Zhukov turned to me and asked, "Rita, if I remember correctly, you should have a 33rd tank army in your hand. The commander is major general berey. Is that right? "


    "Yes, comrade marshal."


    "I don''t think he''s here," Zhukov glanced at all the commanders in the room again, and then decisively gave me an order: "call him immediately and let him report here."


    The chief of staff, bezikov, is naturally responsible for such a small matter as informing bere to the headquarters. But I took this opportunity to review my mistake to Zhukov: "I''m sorry, marshal. Because we have too few troops deployed in the south of the city, we let the German army escape. I ask you for punishment! "


    "Rita, since the Germans have run away, let them go. You don''t have to blame yourself." In order to comfort me, Zhukov also patiently explained to me: "Comrade Stalin once said: if a frightened coward is surrounded, he will immediately lay down his arms, or even not check whether there is a way out to break through the encirclement; If surrounded by a fierce enemy, then he will fight to the last person. In the history of war, there are few examples of the enemy being surrounded in a tight circle. Kutuzov, the great commander-in-chief in Russian history, tried to encircle and divide the French army, but why didn''t he succeed? Just because the French run faster than Kutuzov''s pursuit. Since we annihilated Paulus''s sixth group army in Stalingrad, the enemy has become more cunning. The German general always withdraws from the areas where their troops are in danger of encirclement, so as to preserve their strength. In this way, our plans to encircle the enemy frequently fail. "


    After Zhukov said these words, he saw that I seemed to have some scruples, and then he said, "if the Germans are determined to break through, you don''t have to release one division, even if you release two or three divisions or even four or five divisions, you can''t stop the fierce German breakthrough. In addition to increasing unnecessary casualties for our army, this is of no help to the whole war situation. "


    After listening to Zhukov''s words, I finally let go of my heart. He said to him with a smile: "I understand everything, comrade marshal. I understand everything when you say that. As long as the Germans find it possible for them to escape, they will not fight desperately. In this way, we will greatly reduce the resistance when we attack Kharkov. "


    "Yes, that''s it." We were talking when berey came in from the outside in a hurry. Seeing Zhukov sitting at the table, he quickly walked over, raised his hand and politely said, "Hello, marshal. Major general bielei, commander of the 33rd tank army, has been ordered to come. I''m waiting for your order. Please give me directions Zhukov, who had just sat down, saw bielei standing in front of him, stood up with a smile, reached for his hand and shook it with him, then asked friendly, "Comrade bielei, how are you doing?"¡° I''m fine, comrade marshal. " Although berey and Zhukov were old acquaintances, he put himself in a subordinate position at the moment, straightened up and replied briefly: "but our troops paid a lot of casualties in the attack. There are only 34 tanks left in the army. " When I heard the number reported by berey, my heart felt as if I had been pulled by something. I had no idea that there were only so many tanks left in the tank army. Zhukov frowned slightly after listening to bielei''s report, and then announced decisively, "well, comrade bielei, since you are going to carry out a new combat mission, you will be incorporated into the Fifth Army of the guard tank before you have time to supplement it. You''re going to be deputy commander of general Kravchenko for the time being. Don''t you mind? " When I heard Zhukov''s arrangement, I was stunned at first, but when I thought about it, I was relieved. At such a time, for the sake of the needs of the war situation, major general bielei would not have any objection, let alone be the deputy commander of the tank army or the company commander of the tank company. Sure enough, bielei immediately and loudly replied, "Comrade marshal, I will resolutely obey your order!"¡° General Kravchenko, "said the tank commander beside Zhukov," now you and Comrade bere are going to gather the tank troops and prepare to go south with the 51st division of the guards. "¡° Yes, I''m going to assemble the troops at once. " Kravchenko readily agreed, and then left our headquarters with general bere. After Kravchenko and his family left, Zhukov said to me solemnly: "Rita, I hope you will start with the 51st division of the guards. After all, you are familiar with Comrade trakov, and you can form a tacit understanding if you want to cooperate in the battle. As for the rest of the troops, after a brief reorganization, they will follow you southward as the second and third echelons. "

 Chapter 1235

    Less than two hours after I gave tavartkilaze the order to assemble the troops, he called me and reported to me, "Comrade commander, the troops have assembled and can start at any time."


    When Zhukov heard the news, he couldn''t help saying with emotion: "I really can''t see that tavartkilaze is quite capable. I thought it would take him at least five hours to complete the assembly. Unexpectedly, in less than two hours, the troops were ready to start. If I have a chance to see him, I''d like to ask him how he trained the troops, and how he could complete the assembly of the troops in such a short time. "


    Seeing Zhukov''s praise for talazzi, I laughed bitterly and said: the reason why the 51st division of the guards assembled so quickly was that they put into battle at the latest, almost without any fierce battle, Kharkov was recovered by us. The main force of the Division has not been dispersed, so the assembly speed is naturally fast.


    After praising tavartkilaze, Zhukov said to Kravchenko, "Comrade General, it''s impossible to let all your tank troops go now. Well, you first send a tank brigade to follow the 51st division of the guards. In order to make the troops ready to fight at any time, you will assign the tank brigade to each infantry regiment as a unit and disperse them. "


    Accustomed to the centralized use of tanks, I was stunned when I heard Zhukov say so. But on second thought, it''s not bad. Every infantry regiment equipped with tank battalion is a separate group. Once they encounter the German army, they can immediately fight, entangle them, and then annihilate the enemy when the troops behind arrive.


    As the 51st division of the guards completed the assembly ahead of time, our departure time was also advanced to 5 p.m. In Zhukov''s words, while it is still early, let the troops quickly advance to chuhuyev, strive to seize the city as soon as possible, and take it as our starting point of attack.


    On the way ahead was the first echelon of Colonel Lukin''s 309th regiment and 1st tank battalion. The guard camp led by basmanov and I worked with the second echelon. Originally, according to the plan, tavartkilaze and his military headquarters should be in the third echelon. Who knows, when he saw me in the second echelon, he temporarily changed his mind and asked his chief of staff to stay behind and follow me.


    As the jeep was driving on the road, tavartkilaze asked me carefully, "Comrade commander, I heard that we went south to cooperate with the southwest front army?"


    "That''s right." As for his question, I immediately answered it positively, and then asked, "did Colonel bzikov not clearly explain the reason for your transfer when he explained the question to you?"


    "Make it clear." Tavartkilaze nodded his head and replied, "the chief of staff said that as the vanguard of the whole army, the 51st division of Jinwei should seize chuhuyev first, so that our troops can have a foothold."


    "Now that the task is clear, carry it out!" I said in an official voice: "after the capture of chuhuyev, it can be used as a camp and temporary military station for the troops. This is very good for restoring the physical strength of our commanders and fighters and maintaining the combat effectiveness of the troops."


    "Yes, yes." Tavartkilaze said with a smile: "before Azzi''s troops set out, I asked lieutenant colonel Lukin to send a scout to scout the enemy ahead. He is your old subordinate, and I believe his troops, as vanguards, will surely achieve unexpected results. "


    I remembered that two thirds of the officers and men in Lukin regiment were new recruits who were only added after the German army was repulsed from Kursk by us. I immediately asked, "are the recruits added to the 309th regiment now effective?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Tavartkilaze said with some pride: "I don''t know how lieutenant colonel Lukin trained. Just a week after he arrived, the technical and tactical level of the recruits was almost the same as that of the veterans of other regiments. Especially in the early morning of the attack, the three battalions under lieutenant colonel Lukin, with only two hundred men, broke through the German line of defense, rushed into their regiment headquarters and killed the regiment leader. "


    "Well done." After listening to tavartkilaze''s report, I can''t help but look at Lukin with a new look. "You and I all know what the defense strength of the German regiment command is. It''s impossible to attack without more than ten times the strength of the garrison. I didn''t expect that Lukin used only two companies to complete the task that at least one regiment can complete."


    As we were talking, a burned village passed by the window. Seeing the ruins of the village and the burned black trees all around, I can''t help itching with hatred. I pointed out of the window and said to ta kiraz, "Comrade General, take a good look at the villages outside. The Germans owe us another blood debt."


    Tavartkilaze turned to look outside the village, then nodded his head and said, "Comrade commander, don''t worry, we''ll get this blood debt back with interest sooner or later."


    We drove a little further and suddenly stopped. When I heard the sudden gunfire in front of me, I knew that Lukin''s avant-garde troops and the German troops were on fire. At this moment, a staff officer came down from the communication car in front of me, with a telegram in his hand. He quickly ran to my car, raised his hand to salute and handed a telegram to me. At the same time, he reported: "Comrade commander, the telegram was sent by Lieutenant Colonel Lu Jin, head of the 309th regiment. He said that he had encountered the enemy in the front, and the army was fighting fiercely with the enemy."


    I took the telegram, nodded to the staff officer, then looked at the contents of the telegram, found that it was almost the same as what the staff officer said, and handed it to tavartkilaze. At the same time, I said optimistically: "since we are encountering the German army outside the city, the enemy must have no solid fortifications. As long as our tanks rush in front of us, the enemy will soon be defeated."


    "When a tank rushes, it will defeat the enemy?" Hearing my confident statement, tavartkilaze asked suspiciously, "Comrade commander, you know that many German troops broke through during the day. Maybe there are thousands of Germans in the city. With only two or three thousand guards and a few tanks, can they beat the enemy to pieces? I don''t really believe it will happen anyway. "


    On hearing his suspicions, I didn''t make any more introductions, just a faint smile, and then said: "Comrade General, as for the battle between lieutenant colonel Lukin''s troops and the German troops, I think we are 70% sure of winning. If you don''t believe it, you''ll wait to see the result of the battle later! "


    Although my jeep and the truck that followed with the guard battalion stopped, the infantry regiment of the 51st division of the guards and the tanks of the tank brigade were still advancing rapidly along the dirt road, ready to reinforce the friendly forces outside chuhuyev.


    Sitting in the jeep, I calmly listened to the gunfire coming from the front. I thought to myself, if Lukin''s troops, with the cooperation of the tank battalion, could not even defeat the German troops, it would be a great disappointment to me. I leaned back and rested my head on the back of my chair, while tavartkiraze was restless, afraid that his troops would suffer. After all, the German army has just been expelled from Kharkov by us. No one knows where their main force has gone. If the enemy retreats to chuhuyev, it can only blame us for our bad luck. Then the battle we are engaged in now is purely a fight against stone with eggs. Then what I have to consider is not how to push south, but how to safely withdraw Kharkov.


    However, the situation was obviously not as bad as I thought. After about half an hour, the gunfire in front of me suddenly became sparse. This kind of change makes me feel uneasy like tavartkilaze. My eyes keep glancing at the communication car in front of me, hoping that someone will come out quickly and tell me the war situation in front of me.


    Can wait for a long time, but did not see anyone in and out. Unexpectedly, at this time, tavartkilaze became more calm. He said to me with a smile, "Comrade commander, it seems that you guessed right. Our troops have won!"


    "Our troops won?" I''m curious about his judgment. Like me, he''s sitting in the car without any information. How can he know? How can he know that my family has won unless he has a good eye or a good ear¡° On what basis did you make such a judgment? "


    He pointed out the window and drove past trucks and tanks from time to time. He said with a smile: "you see, if the war situation ahead is not good, maybe the tanks will make way for the trucks and let them rush to the front to reinforce. But now the formation of the troops has not changed at all, and they are still moving forward at the original speed, which proves that we have won the battle in front of us. "


    After listening to tavartkilaze''s analysis, I thought it was quite reasonable, so I nodded and said, "so is lieutenant colonel Lukin. What''s the situation in front of us? Even if you don''t send a telegram, you have to send someone to report it. Let''s have a clear idea. As a result, it''s good now. There''s no news at all. We''re worried here. "


    I''m thinking about whether I should get off the bus and go to the communication car in front to see if there''s a telegram from Lukin. As soon as I put my hand on the handle, before I could push the door open, I saw a three wheeled motorcycle in the distance, coming towards us against the line of troops. Seeing this motorcycle suddenly appeared, the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. I took my hand back and said softly, "here we are at last!"


    "At last Almost as I spoke, tawalter killazer let out a cry of joy.


    A few minutes later, the motorcycle stopped next to us. I pushed the door open and asked the officer who had just come out of the straddle: "Hello, comrade commander, did commander Lu Jin send you?"


    The officer straightened up and reported to me, "yes, comrade commander, it was lieutenant colonel Lu Jin who sent me to report the war situation ahead to you." With that, he took out a few pieces of paper from his briefcase and handed them to me.


    "Bring it to me quickly." I can''t wait to take the paper from his hand and look at it carefully.


    Lu Jin described in detail how they found the enemy and how they exchanged fire with the enemy. Lu Jin wrote about this process for a long time. It took me five minutes to read it. After I handed the report to tavartkilaze, I raised my head and asked the officer standing in front of me, "Comrade commander, where is your commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lukin?"


    "After the enemy outside the city was repulsed by us, he fled to the city, and the commander led his troops to rush into the city."


    "Is the enemy''s resistance tenacious?" Tavartkirazer looked at the report and asked without looking up: "is it a sudden collapse or a resistance before he retreats to the city in an organized way?"


    The officer took a look at his superior and immediately straightened himself up and said, "report to the commander, when the first battalion took the lead in fighting with the enemy, the enemy was still very tenacious and suppressed our attacking troops with machine gun fire, which made it impossible for us to move forward. But when the tanks of the tank battalion appear, the enemy''s resistance becomes weaker. " Although the contents of his report were very detailed in Lu Jin''s report, the officers saw what we wanted to hear and went on to say, "Comrade commander, seize this favorable opportunity and organize troops to attack the enemy''s positions again. The enemy''s hastily constructed position was vulnerable before our attack. Soon, under the cover of tanks, we broke through the German lines from many places. The enemy couldn''t resist it, so the quick ones fled into the city, while the slow ones laid down their weapons and surrendered to us one after another. " As Lu Jin''s report did not mention their achievements, I couldn''t help asking: "Comrade commander, have you got statistics of your regiment''s achievements?" The officer shook his head and said regretfully, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. As the battle has been going on, we haven''t had time to count the specific results." Perhaps seeing the disappointment on my face, he quickly added, "although there is no accurate data, according to my observation, more than 20 German tanks and armored vehicles, more than 50 motorcycles and more than 300 soldiers were destroyed. Today''s roads are full of burning wrecks of tanks, armored vehicles and motorcycles, as well as scattered German bodies. " I''m very satisfied with the result. I took a look at tavartkilaze, and then said to him, "Comrade General, should you order the troops behind to speed up the March so that our army can quickly control the whole of chuhuyev?"¡° Yes, comrade commander, you are right. " Tavartkilaze said, pushing open the door on his side, jumping down, turning to me and saying, "I''ll go to the communication vehicle and give orders to the regimental leaders to speed up the March and join commander Lukin''s troops as soon as possible."

 Chapter 1236

    In every city, village and residential area in Russia, there will be a large or small church. Because these churches are stone buildings, they are much stronger than the surrounding houses. As long as they are not directly hit by shells or bombs, there is almost no danger of collapse. In addition, the high bell tower has a wide view and can see the whole city clearly, so almost all commanders like to set up the headquarters in the church.


    As soon as I entered the city, I had tavartkilaze set up the headquarters in a strong church. While the signalman was pulling the telephone line and setting up the radio antenna, I sat at my desk and looked at the map to study the next battle plan.


    Zhukov''s task is very general. Let''s go south to cooperate with the southwest front army. To be exact, let''s cooperate with trakov''s eighth group army to completely break the German defense. As the commander of the group army, I need to consider how to turn Zhukov''s order into a practical and effective operational plan.


    Maybe I was so absorbed in the map that I didn''t even notice when tavartkiraze came to me. It was not until he stood behind me and coughed heavily twice that I woke up from my meditation. He stood up straight and turned his head to ask him, "Comrade General, have the troops been settled?"


    "The whole division has entered the city." According to the regulations, tavartkiraze reported to me: "in order to prevent the possible counterattack launched by the German army, I deployed the 309th regiment with the strongest combat effectiveness in the south of the city."


    As for his arrangement, I didn''t want to interfere too much. I just nodded noncommittally, and then said, "Comrade General, please sit down. I''m thinking about our next action. Please give me your advice."


    After he sat down, I pointed to the map and said to him, "Comrade General, you see, if we are going to join the eighth group army, there are two routes we can take. One is to move eastward and occupy the cities of kupyansk and swato one after another; The second is to move southeast to occupy ijum. These two places are 50 kilometers away from chuhuyev, where we are. Which route do you think is more suitable for us? "


    After staring at the map and frowning for a long time, tavartkilaze finally replied, "Comrade commander, I think we should take the direction of attack and the east route."


    "Why?" I asked briefly.


    "You see," tavartkilaze politely explained to me the reason for choosing this route: "although we need to attack two German cities in a row when we go eastward, there will be no cities to attack further, only some German field fortifications. I believe we can fight more easily. Moreover, after occupying these two cities, we can turn the three cities, including chuhuyev, into our supply points and military stations, so that we don''t have to worry about the Germans coming back to our rear and cutting off our transportation lines. "


    "Comrade General, your analysis is very reasonable." I agree with his proposal. But then he asked, "can you tell me again why you didn''t choose the southwest route?"


    "The reason is simple." Tavartkilaze spread out his hand, patted on the line I said, and then said with disapproval: "the enemy who was repulsed by the 309th regiment retreated along the Southwest Road, that is to say, the German army probably deployed heavy troops in this direction. If we attack and advance in this way, not only the casualties of our troops will be great, but also the speed of advance will be very slow. Moreover, even if we occupy ijum, we still need to attack a lot of cities to join the eighth group army. To tell you the truth, I don''t think we can capture so many enemy cities in a short period of time with our existing ability. Therefore, I think we should also choose the main attack direction in the East


    After listening to his reasons, I didn''t make any comments. Instead, I asked him, "Comrade General, have you set up the telephone with the headquarters of the group army?"


    "We''re ready to talk to the headquarters." Tavartkiraze replied with a smile, "I just came here to tell you this."


    It was chisjakov who answered the phone in the headquarters. When I heard his voice, I immediately couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade deputy commander, how are the troops in the city coming together?" The reason why I am so anxious to ask about the situation of the troops is that there is only one dissatisfied guard division in my hand. To attack the German troops blocking the road of the southwest front army with such a force is tantamount to hitting the stone with the egg.


    "Comrade commander," chisjakov said with some embarrassment, "the present situation of the army''s collapse is very unsatisfactory. Some troops suffered more than half of the casualties, while others suffered less losses, but they were scattered and stationed in many enemy units. It is very difficult to gather them up in a hurry. "


    I didn''t have enough troops, so I couldn''t carry out the next battle plan. So I asked anxiously, "Hello, deputy commander, how many troops can you send to chuhuyev before dawn?"


    After hearing my question, chisjakov thought for a while and replied, "Comrade commander, from the current situation, before dawn, I can send you at most the 52nd guard division and the 375TH infantry division, plus the 21st tank brigade and two artillery regiments. If you need more troops, there is nothing I can do. If we want to gather all the troops in chuhuyev, we should at least wait until tomorrow evening or the morning after tomorrow. "


    "No, no, comrade deputy commander, the speed of troop assembly is too slow." Although I also know that it is not easy to gather tens of thousands of scattered troops and transfer them to other cities, at least not in a day, I still urge chisgakov: "soldiers are precious and fast. I just want to beat the Germans hard before they recover. If we spend two or three days assembling our troops, then when the attack is launched, the German army, who is waiting for work, will be able to beat our troops into a mess. "


    For this reason, if chisjakov doesn''t understand, he is not qualified to be my deputy. After a moment''s silence, he replied, "well, comrade commander. I''ll send major general Xie Liujin''s 89th division to chuhuyev to strengthen your forces. As for the rest of the troops, I will ask the commanders below to speed up their operations. "


    "Well, comrade deputy commander." When I heard what chisgakov said, I knew that under the current situation, it would be the limit of his ability to send me the 89th division of the close guard first, and send me the 52nd division of the close guard and the 375TH division of the infantry tomorrow. It would be useless to ask more. So I had no choice but to say, "let the three divisions come here first. With the strength of four divisions in hand, I can barely afford to attack the German army."


    As soon as I put down the phone, tavartkilaze couldn''t wait to ask, "what''s up, comrade commander, when will our main force come?"


    "Before tomorrow morning, all the troops of the 23rd army of your guards will be able to kill chuhuyev." After I had said these words to taraze, I told him to say, "Comrade General, call commander Lukin over. I have a task for him to complete."


    After ten minutes, Lu Jin, who received the order, arrived at the headquarters. Since I haven''t seen Lu Jin for a long time, I am very happy to see him appear in the headquarters. I shook hands with him first, then asked him to sit down and asked in a friendly tone, "Comrade commander, tell me about your fighting information today?"


    Lu Jin was stunned when he heard what I said, and then murmured, "Comrade commander, I have already reported to you the detailed course of the battle in the form of a written report."


    "However, comrade commander, some of the contents in the report can not be seen." In order to let him know what I want to know, I added: "for example, what combat characteristics do you find in the war and how do you deal with them? These things are not visible in your report."


    After listening to my explanation, it dawned on lukington. After calming down, he began to report to me: "Comrade commander, when our regiment rushed into the city and fought with the Germans in the lane war, we did not adopt the tactics of intensive formation charge, but let the tanks open the way in front of us, and our soldiers hid behind the tanks and slowly pushed towards the enemy''s stronghold."


    Tavartkilaze heard Lukin''s report and said with some displeasure: "Comrade commander, have you ever thought that if the tank rushing in the front is destroyed by the German anti tank hand, the tank following will be blocked in the street and unable to move, and finally become the target of the enemy."


    "Division commander, no, comrade commander." Hearing the criticism of tavartkilaze, Lukin quickly got up from his seat, straightened up and reported to his commander: "before using tanks, I usually observe the terrain. If the street is narrow and the tanks will block the road after being destroyed, I will not use tanks. Instead, I will let them stay at the entrance of the street and cover our infantry charge with artillery fire. As long as that kind of spacious street, even if the tank in the front is destroyed by the enemy''s anti tank hand, the rest of the tanks can also pass by


    "Comrade commander, you are very considerate." After listening to Lu Jin''s story, I nodded with a smile and said with satisfaction, "it seems that your fighting experience has become more and more abundant in the past year. Well done, I believe that after the liberation of the whole territory of Ukraine, you can get a higher position and military rank. "


    After praising him, I went on to ask, "Comrade commander, I heard general tavartkilaze say that he deployed your regiment to the south of chuhuyev. What''s the matter? Have you taken any actions to strengthen your defense after you entered the defense zone? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Lukin replied positively: "in addition to strengthening the fortifications, I also sent several reconnaissance teams. Some of them went south to ijum to scout the enemy''s deployment. The other part will stay at the periphery of the defense area to monitor the movements of the Germans. Whenever there is any disturbance, they will immediately give warning to the front positions. "


    "Very well, commander Lukin. You''ve thought it all out." When Lukin finished speaking, tavartkilaze immediately gave him a thumbs up compliment and said, "today you won the battle, but you are not proud. You have also taken the initiative to send scouts to carry out reconnaissance. It seems that Comrade commander is right. With your ability and experience, you are fully qualified for a higher position. "


    Seeing a smile on Lu Jin''s face, he added: "of course, meritorious service must be rewarded, and those who have had it must be punished. If your regiment does not perform as well as it did in the early stage in the next battle, then you will be punished! "


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Lu Jin replied with a smile: "our regiment will not discredit the honor of the 51st division." Then he stopped for a moment and tentatively asked tavartkilaze, "may I go back to the army?"¡° No, comrade commander, not yet. " Tavartkilaze immediately stopped him. "To call you to the headquarters is what the commander meant. She has important tasks to assign to you." When Lukin heard what tavartkilaze said, his face showed a look of surprise. He quickly turned to me and asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, commander of the 309th regiment of the guards, Lieutenant Colonel Lukin is waiting for your order, please give me instructions!"¡° Comrade commander, "I saw that he reported to me in accordance with the regulations and said in a business way," I know that you have sent scouts to the south, but that is not enough. Because we don''t necessarily choose this direction in the final attack route. So when you go back, immediately send scouts to the east to find out the enemy''s deployment in kupyansk and swato in the shortest possible time. " After I finished, seeing that Lu Jin frowned and seemed very embarrassed, I raised my voice and asked, "Comrade commander, are you confident of completing this task?"¡° However, comrade commander, "Lu Jin asked a little confused," shouldn''t our main direction be south? Why go and spy on the east? "¡° Whether it''s south or East, we should send scouts. " In order to make Lu Jin really pay attention to this matter, I patiently explained to him: "only after we have a clear understanding of the enemy''s troop deployment can we make a targeted plan for the next step. Do you understand? " Hearing my question, Lu Jin thought about it, then nodded his head vigorously and answered decisively, "I understand, comrade commander. I''ll go back and arrange scouts to conduct detailed reconnaissance on the enemy in the East."¡° That''s right, comrade commander. " Seeing that Lu Jin understood my intention, I nodded with satisfaction, then waved to him and said, "well, there''s nothing for you here. Go back quickly and arrange for the scouts to start."

 Chapter 1237

    In the second half of the night, with the arrival of the 89th division of the guards, there was also major akhromeyev, director of operations. I knew in my heart that this arrangement must have been written by chisgakov. He knows that I trust akhromeyev, and the major has a strong organizational ability. It is most appropriate for him to be responsible for the reception and deployment of the troops.


    After I briefly introduced my plan to akhromeyev, I asked him to deploy the three divisions and two tank brigades he was about to arrive in the right positions according to the attack plan.


    After my order was given, akhromeyev did not leave immediately, but stood in a daze. Seeing his thoughtful appearance, I guessed that he might have some other ideas, and then asked curiously, "major, do you have any different views on my plan?"


    Akhromeyev raised his hand and scratched the back of his head. Then he said with some formality, "Comrade commander, I have different opinions. I don''t know whether to say it or not."


    "Say what you think, without scruple." In order to let him speak freely, I specially stressed: "just think you are still the chief of staff of the division for me."


    When I said this, he immediately seemed a lot more natural. He pointed to the map and said to me, "Comrade commander, although the roads of the east line and the south line look similar on the map, if I really want to choose the direction of attack, I will definitely choose the South instead of the East."


    "Why, major?" I can''t help frowning at his statement, because according to my analysis, it is the best way to choose the east line to attack the German army. At the moment, akhromeyev has put forward the opposite proposal. In order to find out what happened, I urged him to say, "tell me your reasons quickly."


    "According to the information I have, although the road to the East is not blocked by rivers and swamps, there is no forest on both sides of the road." Ahlomeyev frowned and said: "if the road is destroyed by the German army, then our marching speed will be affected. If our troops are jammed on the road, they are attacked by the German air, and there is no shelter around them, they will suffer huge losses. "


    Only a few words from akhromeyev can''t make me change my mind, so I tentatively asked, "if we can get air cover when we march on the east line, will the situation be better?"


    Akhromeyev looked at me and said helplessly, "Comrade commander, it''s good to have air cover. But if the German destroyed the road, so that our troops can not quickly advance, even with the cover of the air force, encounter German air strikes and long-range artillery, then it is still inevitable to suffer huge losses. "


    Hearing that akhromeyev repeatedly tried to persuade me to change my route, my heart was slightly unhappy. After a moment of silence, I asked, "major, what will happen if you take the south route?"


    "Comrade commander, according to the war reports I received, all the enemies we repulsed retreated along the road to the south." Akhromeyev pointed to the map again and said to me: "although it is possible for the German army to build a lot of defense lines along the route of ijum, the road condition is certainly better than that of the south line. After all, the German army are all concentrated in this area. In order to counter attack Kharkov, they will not casually destroy the road here."


    Although akhromeyev has said so much, I still stubbornly believe that I have chosen the right route. But in order not to dampen his enthusiasm, I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and said to him, "OK, major, this will be discussed after the report of the Scout comes back. Now you go to settle the troops first. Remember, before dawn, the 52nd guard division and the 375TH Infantry Division will also arrive. You should arrange their accommodation in advance. "


    "I see. I''ll arrange it now." Akhromeyev finished, raised his hand cleanly and saluted, then turned and walked out of the headquarters.


    Watching akhromeyev leave, tavartkilaze said to me with a smile: "Comrade commander, our combat director has a personality. He knows that launching an attack from the east line is your designated combat plan, but he still stubbornly wants to overthrow your plan."


    When I just heard that akhromeyev was opposed to his plan, I was quite upset. Now I calm down and think about it. I think what he said is reasonable. He raised his hand to stop tavartkilaze and said, "Comrade General, I think we''d better wait until the report of the Scout comes back, and then we''ll study which line to attack from."


    After I finished, I picked up the phone from my desk and dialed the headquarters. The one who answered the phone was bezikov. When he heard my voice, he immediately asked happily, "Comrade commander, have the troops of the 89th division of the guards arrived?"


    "Yes, chief of staff." After I vaguely agreed, I asked, "where is Comrade deputy commander?"


    "He went to the 52nd division of the guards and said that he would urge general Nekrasov to speed up the assembly and try to get to chuhuyev before dawn." He might have guessed that I would ask kirilov next, and hastily added: "Comrade military commissar went to the 375TH infantry division. He said that he would do political and ideological work for the commanders and fighters. What can I do for you? "


    "That''s it, Colonel bzikov." It''s said that the two main leaders are not here, so I can only tell bezikov what I want to do. "I want to contact General trakov of the eighth group army of the guards, but now the communication power here is insufficient. I plan to ask them to send major lophov, the communication director first."¡° I see, comrade commander. " "Although neither of them is here, I can decide this matter. I''ll send major lophov to you right away," he said With my orders, less than an hour later, the dusty major lophoff appeared in front of me. He was accompanied by a communication group with two telephones. While the signalmen were setting up the lines and placing the telephones, lophoff came to salute me and asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, do you want to contact General trakov now?"¡° Yes, comrade major. " "I want to know what''s going on there," I said in an official voice Lophov turned to look at his subordinates and said to me apologetically, "Comrade commander, please wait for a quarter of an hour. After the telephone is installed, I can contact the eighth group army of the guards."¡° Can I speak to general trakov directly? " I asked tentatively. Lophoff shook his head and said regretfully, "sorry, comrade commander, although you can communicate with each other wirelessly with the telegraph, the contents of the conversation are easily eavesdropped by the German army, which leads to the leakage of secrets. So you can only contact General trakov in the form of telegram."¡° What about calling? " "It''s always OK to call him directly from this kind of phone with a telephone line," tavartkiraze asked curiously¡° Neither, Comrade General. " Looking at tavartkilaze, lophov replied with a little bewilderment: "we don''t have a telephone line to the eighth group army, so we can''t make a direct call. The only way is to send a telegram."¡° All right, telegram, telegram. " Knowing that the desire to talk directly with trakov could not be achieved, I said to lophov helplessly, "let the soldiers speed up and contact the friendly forces as soon as possible." It was said that it would only take a quarter of an hour, but it was almost an hour before lophov and trakov got in touch. However, the telegram sent by lophov himself was answered only a few minutes later. "We will attack the enemies of the North Donets at dawn today," wrote trakov''s telegram. If you can cooperate, our attack will be more smooth After reading the telegram, I turned to tavartkilaze and asked, "Comrade General, do you have any news from the scouts sent by the 309th regiment?" Tavartkilaze shook his head and said, "so far, I haven''t received any relevant information." When he saw me frowning, he said, "I''ll call lieutenant colonel Lukin and ask if there''s any progress." When tavartkilaze went to call somewhere else, lophoff looked at me and asked, "Comrade commander, how can we call general trakov back?"¡° Major, call back to trakov. "I saw that lophoff''s finger was on the button of the transmitter, and I began to dictate the message:" because our army has not yet completed the assembly, and the enemy''s situation is unknown, we can not provide you with the necessary support when you attack the German Army. " As soon as the telegram was sent, tavart killazer came over. From his serious expression, I knew something was wrong. I quickly asked, "Comrade General, how did lieutenant commander Lu Jin report to you?"¡° Comrade commander, a situation discovered by the Scouts is basically consistent with the situation just analyzed by major akhromeyev. " Tavartkilaze said anxiously: "the area where chuhuyev started ten kilometers east was destroyed by the German army. They cut off the road every 500 meters and filled it with water. The Scout walked seven or eight kilometers and found that the road conditions were all like this. In order to find out how long the German army has destroyed the road, the scouts are still moving eastward. "¡° What about the situation in the south? " When I heard that the German army had destroyed the road in the East, my heart sank and I asked, "was the road also destroyed by the German?"¡° No, the road to the south is still in good condition. " Tavartkilaze reported to me, but then he said in embarrassment: "however, the enemy has built fortifications in many areas. If we want to pass, we are bound to go through fierce fighting."

 Chapter 1238

    Before I could speak, a familiar voice came from the door: "no matter how perfect the German fortifications are in the south, our main attack direction must be in the south."


    I was surprised to hear the sound. I turned to look in the direction of the sound and saw chisgakov coming in quickly from the door.


    "Hello, comrade commander." Chisgakov came up to me with a smile on his face, reached for my hand, shook it with me, and said in a friendly way, "I''m afraid you can''t help me here. I''m here to help you."


    "That''s very good, comrade deputy commander. That''s very good." I heard that he came to help me. I shook his hand vigorously and said excitedly, "I''m worried about our army''s next action. Now that you''re here, we can discuss the next battle plan."


    During this period of time, chisgakov, who has not recovered from injury, has been in a state of high tension due to overwork for a long time. His eyes are covered with blood due to lack of sleep, and his face is obviously haggard due to fatigue. Although he was extremely tired, he was elated when it came to fighting: "Comrade commander, tell me about your plan. How do you plan?"


    After listening to the two attack routes I chose and the reasons for my choice, he frowned. He looked at the map for a while, and then asked me, "Comrade commander, I don''t think it''s necessary for us to choose the East attack route."


    When he said this, I immediately thought of the two words he said before entering the gate, and I couldn''t help asking, "by the way, comrade deputy commander, when you enter the gate, you said that no matter how strong the enemy''s defense in the south is, we will choose the direction of attack in the south. What do you mean?"


    On hearing my question, chisgakov''s face suddenly showed an expression of surprise. He said in surprise: "why, comrade commander, don''t you know that chuhuyev''s west side has been occupied by our army, and our troops are also active in many areas in the Northeast?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, where did you get all this information from?" The deputy commander, chisjakov, knew more than I did as commander, which made me very unhappy. So I asked with a little emotion, "is it our scout who provided you with the information?"


    After looking at me with strange eyes for a while, chisgakov suddenly raised his hand, patted his forehead heavily, and said repeatedly, "Damn, this is damn. How can I forget this thing?"


    His action confused me, and I asked, "Comrade deputy commander, what are you doing?"


    "Well, comrade commander. As you are not in the headquarters most of the time, we have not been able to report a lot of information obtained from the superior to you. This is all my mistake. Here, I will review it with you. " With an apologetic look on his face, chisjakov said to me, "when our group army launched an attack on the west of Kharkov, the southwest army also actively took cooperative action. The first group army of close guard adopted the superior forces to attack zimiyev city in the southwest of Kharkov, and completely occupied the city in the evening of the 18th." After pointing out the location of zimiyev on the map, he added, "in this way, the security of our right wing is guaranteed."


    "What is the connection between the occupation of zimiyev by friendly forces and your persuading me to give up the eastern route?" Although I know that my right wing can be protected by friendly forces, I still don''t understand why chisgakov opposes my attack from the East.


    "The seventh group army of general sumilov''s guards will also go south later today." He pointed to the area he suggested I give up and said, "they will soon enter this area. If we enter, 100000 people will be crowded together, which will be too crowded and not conducive to the deployment of troops."


    I feel the same about chisgakov''s worries. Since it''s shumilov''s territory, I won''t join in the fun. Not only can the troops not be launched when they are free, but they will also have a grudge with shumilov.


    Just as I made up my mind to give up my plan to attack from the east line, tawalter killazer, who was ignored by both of us, came over and said solemnly, "Comrade commander, I just received a call from lieutenant colonel Lukin, and the scouts have new information coming back."


    "What information?" Seeing his serious expression, I knew that it would not be good news, so I quickly asked, "did you find any German conspiracy?"


    Tavartkilaze went to the table, pointed to the map and said to us, "the scouts found that about 20 kilometers away from us, the German army laid a lot of mines on the road, and also built a lot of defensive firepower points on the highlands on both sides. If we want to break through from here, we are bound to pay huge casualties."


    After hearing this amazing news, chisgakov and I looked at each other and said anxiously, "Comrade commander, we should report this information to the higher authorities immediately, otherwise we will suffer a great loss when general shumilov''s troops arrive."


    I nodded at chisgakov''s proposal, and then said to taraze, "Comrade General, you should immediately sort out the information reported by lieutenant colonel Lukin, and then send it to the headquarters of the front army, so that they can forward it to the seventh group army of the guards, so that they will not suffer unnecessary losses."


    "Yes, comrade commander," tavartkilaze agreed. He picked up some reconnaissance information on the table, turned to a table in the corner and began to sort out the information.


    "Comrade deputy commander," I asked chisgakov after tavartkiraze left, "in this way, we can only take the route of attacking south."


    "That''s right," chisgakov affirmed. "At present, the southwest front forces have established a beachhead in the southeast of ijum, from which the friendly forces will attack. Because the front of this beachhead position will not be too wide, the number of troops that can be launched is limited. Almost every step forward in such an offensive, we will pay huge casualties. "


    Although chisgakov didn''t mention how we should go south, I heard him mention the difficulties that the southwest front army would encounter when it attacked, so I understood the implication of his words and quickly added: "Comrade deputy commander, I understand what you mean. If we decisively go south and attack Izumi when the friendly army attacks, It can contain some of the German forces and effectively cooperate with the attack launched by the friendly forces from the landing site. "


    After listening to me, chisgakov had a happy smile on his face. He nodded and said with a smile, "absolutely right, comrade commander, what you said is exactly what I want to say."


    "Then how do we play?" I refocused my attention on the map, frowned and asked, "you know, the German army can build a lot of fortifications along the way. If we push forward while fighting, not only will we pay heavy casualties, but also after we attack the front line of defense, the German army in the back will be able to conserve energy and wait for work, even after we seize the position, In a situation of exhaustion, fight back against us. "


    "The problem you are worried about does exist." Chisgakov, who also looked down at the map, agreed with me, thought hard for a moment, then raised his head and said to me, "Comrade commander, I have a new idea."


    When I heard that he had a good idea, I immediately urged him: "say what you think, comrade deputy commander."


    Instead of immediately expressing his own thoughts, chisgakov prompted me and said, "do you remember the tactics that Marshal Zhukov recommended to you when our troops advanced to chuhuyev?"


    "Assign the tank brigade as a battalion to the infantry?" After I finished Zhukov''s deployment at that time, I tentatively asked, "Comrade deputy commander, is that what you want to say?"


    "That''s right, that''s right." As soon as I finished, chisgakov nodded his head desperately and said definitely, "that''s the tactic. When the troops moved southward, we still separated the tank brigade and put it under the command of each infantry regiment with the battalion as the unit. After encountering the enemy''s defensive position, first use the infantry regiment and tank battalion of the first echelon to attack. After seizing the position, they will stay where they are to rest and clean up the battlefield, while the second ranked infantry regiment and tank battalion will be automatically replaced by the first echelon to take over their tasks and serve as the leader of the whole army and continue to move forward. "


    After thinking for a moment, I agreed decisively: "yes, comrade deputy commander, your repeated attacks are very good. You can enable the troops that have fought to recover their combat effectiveness in the shortest time through the rest of the battlefield. Well, as soon as the two division commanders, nikolasov and govorunanko, arrive, they will be called to the headquarters for a meeting, so that they can use this tactic to advance to ijum. "


    While waiting for the arrival of several teachers, I suddenly thought of the issue of air supremacy. Although our army firmly grasped the air supremacy of the battlefield at the beginning of the middle stage of the offensive campaign of bergorod Kharkov, the German planes did not disappear. They still took the opportunity to sneak attack. If we are bombed by the enemy in the process of marching or fighting, the troops will pay a heavy price.


    Seeing my puzzled expression, chisjakov asked curiously, "Comrade commander, what are you thinking?"


    "Air force, our air force." Hearing chisjakov''s question, I couldn''t help blurting out: "if we are advancing south, can we get air force support?"


    After thinking about it, he said to me, "Comrade commander, as far as I know, the air defense here should belong to the air force of the southwest front army. If you want to get air support, you should get in touch with the commander of the southwest front army."


    "The commander of the southwest front army is general Malinowski," I asked after saying the name faintly, "are you familiar with him?"


    Chisgakov shook his head and said with some embarrassment, "I know you, but I don''t know you very well."


    "That''s right." After hearing what chisgakov said, I knew that the air force of the southwest front army could not be counted on. I had to ask watujing for help to see if he could send air force support. However, before contacting the headquarters of the front army, I had to let chisgakov know well, "since we can''t get the necessary air support from the southwest front army, Then we can only turn to Marshal Zhukov and commander watujing to see if they can send air force to cover our southward movement. "


    After listening to my proposal, chisjakov sighed, and then said with some helplessness, "this is the only way to do it now. I''ll send a message to the headquarters of the front army and ask them to send air force to cover our southward movement. " It may be because of Zhukov. After receiving the telegram from chisgakov, vatukin immediately called back to express his agreement. He said that when we set out, we would send an aviation division to provide us with air cover to ensure that we could smoothly advance to the city of ijum. Knowing that I would be supported by the air force during the day, the stone hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground. At this time, the three division commanders, including Xie Liujin, came to the headquarters one after another, so I gathered them together to hold a military conference on going south. First of all, tavartkilaze introduced to his three teachers the situation of the enemy and ourselves in front of him, and how we planned to advance to ijum. After he finished, I stood up, looked at the three teachers and asked, "some teachers and comrades, do you have any questions?" After the three men looked at each other, Xie Liujin stood up on their behalf and said, "Comrade commander, I want to ask which division do you plan to take the lead, which division will follow, and which division should stick to the city of chuhuyev?" After he finished asking questions like a tongue twister, chisjakov said, "Comrade Xie Liujin, since the troops of the 52nd division of the guards and the 375TH division of the infantry have not yet fully arrived at chuhuyev, they will not have any combat tasks before noon. As for the leading force, I still intend to be the 51st division of the guards. " With these words, he turned to tavartkiraze and asked, "general tavartkiraze, do you have any problem?"¡° No problem. I''m at your command. " Tavartkiraze readily agreed. After hearing this, Xie Liujin immediately said to ta ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

 Chapter 1239

    As soon as Xie Liujin''s words were finished, nikolasov, the commander of the 52nd division of Jinwei, stood up and retorted. He said indignantly, "Mr. Xie Liujin, your division has taken the lead in raising the red flag in the cities of bergorod and Kharkov one after another. It''s not even possible to win the honor of ijum. Do you want to compete with us?" After these words, he turned to look at me and tavartkilaze, and said unconvinced, "commander, commander, I strongly urge you to let our division be the vanguard of the whole army."


    After listening to Nekrasov''s complaint, I said with a smile to taraze: "Comrade General, the 22nd army of general sivakov''s close guard will arrive as soon as this evening or tomorrow morning. I will give you the task of attacking ijum. As for which division will be the vanguard, it''s up to you. "


    Tavartkilaze, who originally wanted to put the problem on me, hesitated for a long time after listening to me and said, "Comrade commander, the 51st, 52nd and 89th divisions of the guards have been in a tense state of fighting since the beginning of July. Only the 375TH infantry division of general govaruninenko has participated in relatively few battles. I suggest that the division should take the lead. "


    As soon as his words came out, apart from the smile on govorunanko''s face, the other two teachers were expressionless. Seeing this, chisgakov stepped forward in time and said, "well, it''s decided that the 375TH infantry division of general govorunanko will take the lead. Don''t be too disappointed, both of you. You should know that there are still many battles ahead, and you have plenty of opportunities to be the vanguard. "


    After chisjakov finished, he saw that they were still reluctant and gave a little smile. Then he turned away from the topic and said, "comrades commander, before I set out here, I got a good news. Do you want to hear it?"


    After hearing this, nikolasov, who was still sulky, immediately asked curiously, "what''s the good news?"


    "Go ahead, comrade deputy commander." Although I was eager to know what the good news was, I pretended to be calm and said, "let''s be happy."


    "At 0 a.m. today, 224 gun salutes placed outside the Kremlin Wall, all firing 20 times, to celebrate the great victory of our army in the liberation of Kharkov."


    As soon as chisgakov''s words came to an end, tavartkilaze said in surprise: "Comrade deputy commander, this is a big hand. You know, half a month ago, we captured Belgorod, and Moscow only used 120 guns to salute 12 times. "


    "Comrade commander, it is more important to capture Kharkov than to liberate Belgorod." Chisjakov said solemnly: "the liberation of Kharkov means that the battle of Kursk started with the German attack in the south of Kursk on July 5, 1943, which ended with the victory of our army and the defeat of the German army."


    Although the good news that chisjakov said temporarily diverted the attention of several division commanders, according to my observation, Xie Liujin was still worried that his division could not take the lead. So I coughed gently, looked at him and asked, "Mr. Xie Liujin, are you still depressed that your division can''t take the lead?"


    "No, no, comrade commander, you must have made a mistake. I''m not depressed." When Xie Liujin said this, he tried to squeeze out a smile that was uglier than crying: "I''ve always been in high spirits."


    "Come on, don''t cover it up." After I interrupted him, I said solemnly: "at present, in our army, there are only general govorunanko''s troops, not the guard division, but the ordinary infantry division. If we want them to be promoted to the guard division as soon as possible, we must try every means to make them more meritorious so that they can be promoted to the guard division in a short time. If I say so, does anyone have any objection? "


    "No more." Listen to me, the emotions hanging on the faces of sherekin and nikolasov are gone. After all, they are lucky to be with Kobe kovaronian. They are commanding the close guard division instead of the ordinary infantry division. The two said in one voice: "let the 375TH infantry division as the avant-garde, we have no opinion."


    Seeing that everyone''s opinions were finally unified, I thought that the divisions had just arrived at chuhuyev, and there was still a lot of preparatory work to continue, so I waved to several people and said, "well, since you don''t have any opinions, go back to your respective divisions."


    When there were only me, chisgakov and tavartkilaze left in the headquarters, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I asked chisgakov, "Comrade deputy commander, what time do you think we should advance to Izumi instead?"


    To my question, chisgakov thought about it, and then replied, "general trakov only said that they would attack from the southeast of ijum before dawn, but did not say the specific time. I think it''s more appropriate for our troops to leave at 9 a.m. for the sake of safety. "


    "Can you give me your reasons?" When I heard what chisjakov said, I thought it was too late, so I frowned and said, "will it be too late to start at nine?"


    "It''s not late at all, comrade commander." Chisgakov confidently said to me: "general trakov, their attack will be carried out in foxiao. With what I know about him, his troops will certainly be able to tear a hole in the enemy''s line of defense. As long as they engage in a seesaw battle with the enemy near this breach, the enemy''s attention will shift from our southern side, so that when we launch an attack, our resistance will be greatly weakened. "


    After listening to chisjakov, I couldn''t help thinking. From the heart, his words are very reasonable. Let the friendly forces'' fierce attack attract the enemy''s attention, and even draw out the troops that come to defend us to fill the breach caused by the friendly forces. In this way, when we attack to the south, the resistance we encounter will be obviously weakened. But is it really good to sacrifice friendly forces in exchange for your own honor?


    "Comrades commander," tavartkilaze''s words sobered me from my meditation, and he continued, "I think the deputy commander is very reasonable. If we set out too early, we will certainly arouse the German army''s vigilance, and then they will be able to concentrate their superior forces to block us. In this way, we will pay huge casualties every time we go further. Even then, when general trakov''s troops attack, they will be blocked by the German troops drawn from other areas, but the resistance we encounter here will not be reduced at all. "


    At first, I was a little hesitant about when to send troops. After listening to tavartkilaze''s analysis, I felt that chisgakov was very resourceful and even considered such details. So I finally nodded and agreed with the two men''s proposal: "well, since the opinions are unified, then our troops will advance south at 9 a.m.!"


    At this time, tavartkilaze asked again: "if the headquarters of the front army asks, how should we answer?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Under the reminder of tavartkilaze, chisgakov also thought of this problem. He looked at me with some worry and asked, "if the superior sees that we are delayed in starting, will he think that our division is deliberately delaying and delaying the fight?"


    "You don''t have to worry about this." Now that I have decided to wait until 9 a.m. to start, I have a clear idea of how to deal with the higher authorities'' questions¡° I''ll tell them when I get there that the troops are very tired after a long march, so they have to rest for a while before they can continue to go south. "


    "That''s great. Comrade commander''s reason is too good." For my response plan, tavartkilaze first clapped his hands and agreed, "I believe that even if the head of the front army listened, there would be no doubt."


    "All right, general tavartkiraze." Chisgakov said flatly: "although the troops will not leave until 9 am, as the commander of the army, should you go to all divisions to have a look and boost your morale?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander, you are right." Hearing what chisgakov said, tavartkilaze quickly laughed awkwardly and said, "I''m going to inspect the divisions."


    After tavartkilaze left, chisgakov looked left and right, and saw that major lophov''s position was a little far away from us. Even if we said anything, he couldn''t hear it. Then he whispered to me, "Comrade commander, how long do you think we can join the southwest army?"


    This question confused me. I stared at him for a long time and then asked, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t understand what you mean?"


    "Comrade commander, there are only two of us here. I can say something boldly to you." Chisgakov said in a low voice: "in the attack battle of bergorod Kharkov, which just ended, our group army did the best, especially the 89th close guard division, which was the first to rush into the city twice and put the red flag in the commanding height of the city."


    I heard this, nodded and said, "that''s right. The troops of our group army took the lead to rush into the city and put the red flag at the commanding height of the city. But at the military meeting before the Kursk battle and the counter offensive, the commander of the front army informed the Supreme Command and got approval. "


    "I know all that." "It is precisely because we have won the world''s attention in a row that your words and actions will become more eye-catching in the future," chisjakov continued


    I felt that chisgakov''s words seemed to have something to say, so I frowned and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t understand. What are you trying to express when you tell me this?"


    "Comrade commander, this is the situation." Chisgakov hesitated and said to me: "according to my colleagues in other units, your recent performance is too eye-catching, which has caused dissatisfaction from some commanders of your level. If we win the attack on ijum, it''s a happy day for everyone. If our attack fails or we can''t move forward, then some people may have to make small moves in the back


    "Nonsense, it''s nonsense." After listening to chisgakov''s remarks, I got up with a slap on the table and said angrily, "if they are envious of my position, let them be the commander. I''d better be the commander, division commander or even commander of the army."


    All the people in the room were shocked by my words. The operators sitting in front of the phones all looked back at me, and lophoff even stood up to walk towards me. Seeing everyone''s reaction, chisgakov immediately waved to them and said in a loud voice, "it''s OK. It''s OK. My comrade commander and I have a little conflict about work. Please continue to work." When lophoff sat down again, the operators began to work again. Kisjakov said to me with a sad face, "Comrade commander, your reaction is too strong."¡° I''ve been bullied by others. Can''t I get angry? " Although I''m trembling with anger now, I still say in a low voice for the sake of my image in front of many ministries: "no one can always win without losing. Wasn''t Kutuzov, Russia''s most famous commander-in-chief, defeated by Napoleon?"¡° Don''t worry, comrade commander. No matter how we attack ijum, I will firmly stand on your side. " At this point, he hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I think the military commissar and the chief of staff will stand by you unswervingly and support you." No matter how many people try to plot against me outside, at least my deputy and I can keep the same. That''s enough. In order not to let this kind of trouble interfere with my emotions, I took a deep breath, waited for my emotions to stabilize a little, raised my head and said to chisgakov, "Comrade deputy commander, let''s discuss how to launch an attack on the enemy. After all, on the way to ijum, the enemy also set up several defense lines, which our troops had to destroy, To get to the bottom of ijum. " Chisgakov''s face gave a happy smile when he saw that I was back to normal so soon. After looking down at the map for a while, he said to me, "Comrade commander, I suggest that the 375TH infantry division be divided into three echelons, each with a tank battalion, two kilometers apart. When the vanguard troops enter about three kilometers from the enemy''s line of defense, they will launch a battle formation and attack the enemy. "

 Chapter 1240

    Chisgakov''s combat deployment was in order, but my heart was never stable. After all, I didn''t want to use this kind of frontal attack. In the battle of liberating Kharkov, I used the frontal attack method of attacking many times and breaking through many points. Although it greatly accelerated the attack speed, at the same time, it also made the casualties of the troops reach a level that I could not accept.


    Thinking of this, I picked up the phone on my desk and let the signalman get through to the command post of the 309th regiment. When Lukin''s voice came out of the receiver, I asked, "Hello, comrade commander, I want to ask you, what''s the terrain like near ijum?"


    When Lukin heard my question, he was stunned for a moment and then replied, "Comrade commander, the German army has built three lines of defense in the north of ijum, which are connected by traffic trenches. As long as we can occupy their first line of defense, we can divide them into two lines. On one side, they continued to attack along the highway, while on the other side, they made full use of the German traffic trenches to develop their defense depth. "


    "Comrade commander, I have learned from your information about the German defense to the north of ijum." When I heard him say this, I knew that he had misunderstood me and quickly explained, "I want to know what the terrain of the other three sides of ijum is like."


    "The other three sides of the terrain?" Lu Jin was surprised to hear me say this, but he replied truthfully: "according to the reconnaissance, the West and south of iqumu are thick forests, and the soil inside is soft, so it is impossible to pass the technical equipment. In the East, there is a plain, but there is no shelter there. If you choose a commanding point to set up an observation post, you can see the situation within ten kilometers. "


    Lu Jin said that the soft soil in the forest made me understand that the plan of sending tanks through the forest was unrealistic. Although the terrain in the East is flat, which is conducive to the deployment of large-scale tank troops, if the enemy sets up observation posts on the commanding heights, then our every move will be under the enemy''s surveillance.


    Seeing that I was in a daze with a microphone, chisjakov patted me on the shoulder and kindly reminded me, "Hello, comrade commander, lieutenant commander Lukin is still waiting for your order."


    After listening to chisgakov''s words, I remembered that I was talking to lieutenant commander Lukin, and then I said to him, "OK, comrade commander, this is the end of our conversation. I''ll call you when I think of something to ask. "


    "Comrade commander, please wait a moment." Hearing that I wanted to hang up, Lu Jin quickly stopped me, and then asked with a little embarrassment, "I heard that you let the 375TH infantry division be the avant-garde. I don''t know when we can join the regiment?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." For Lu Jin, who was eager to fight, I said with a smile: "when it''s your turn to play, I will let you go up naturally. Tell the commanders and fighters not to think about fighting, but to take advantage of the current rare rest time to have a good rest, so that when you put your regiment into battle, you can break out the strongest fighting capacity. "


    "I see, comrade commander." Lu Jin also replied with a smile: "I will convey your words to the soldiers."


    When I put down the phone, chisjakov tentatively asked, "why, comrade commander, do you plan to attack from other directions as well as from the front?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." I didn''t hide my true thoughts from chisgakov, just like saying on the ground: "although we have tank battalions for every infantry regiment, it is very difficult to break through the German defense line quickly. I''m afraid that it will be like the 53rd group army attacking Kharkov from the front. It''s been fighting for more than ten days, killing 20000 or 30000 people, but only advancing less than five kilometers. "


    "Comrade commander, you''ve been worrying too much." Chisgakov said to me with a smile: "as far as I know, the German defense in ijum is far less solid than that of Kharkov. Even if the 375TH infantry division couldn''t break through the German line, what about the 51st, 52nd and 89th guards? Can''t the repeated attacks of these three close guard divisions tear open a gap in the enemy''s weak defense line? "


    "I hope so." Seeing that chisgakov was so optimistic, I couldn''t dampen his interest. I could only follow him and say: "you know, these close guard divisions are the main forces to attack Belgorod and Kharkov. I believe they can also achieve brilliant results by seizing a small city like ijum."


    Just then, I saw akhromeyev come in from the outside. He went straight up to me, raised his hand to salute me, and then reported, "Comrade commander, I have arranged all the new divisions."


    "Well done, comrade major." After praising akhromeyev, I asked him, "major, do you have any plans for German troops to set up fortifications to the north of ijum?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Akhromeyev nodded his head and said definitely, "but it''s not very comprehensive."


    Chisgakov heard him say so, immediately said: "major, quickly get the map."


    Akhromeyev went out for about two or three minutes, then came in with a roll of map in his hand. He went to the table, spread out the map on the table, and then introduced the situation to us: "two comrades, please have a look. The enemy built three lines of defense to the north of ijum, each consisting of two trenches. The top of the half man high trench is covered with a top cover of different strength, which can not only prevent the damage of shrapnel, but also play a camouflage role.


    The trenches are connected by traffic trenches extending in all directions, with barbed wire and minefields in front. In the depth of defense, at the commanding heights, residential areas and forest edges, there are supporting points to form their own circular defense and maintain mutual firepower contact. "


    After akhromeyev introduced the defense situation of the German army, both chisjakov and I became serious. It seems that we greatly underestimated the strength of the German army when we just arranged the combat mission. Such fortifications are difficult to break through if they are not covered by artillery fire in advance and only rely on tanks to guide infantry to attack.


    "Comrade commander." After thinking for a while, chisgakov said to me solemnly, "why don''t we wait for the artillery to come up and prepare for the enemy''s defensive zone before launching an attack?"


    "No, absolutely not." Without hesitation, I denied chisjakov''s proposal and said to him solemnly, "Comrade deputy commander, when our artillery attacked Kharkov, we almost ran out of shells in stock. Now, even if we transfer them up, it won''t help much. "


    "Is that still the original operational deployment?" After hearing this, chisjakov frowned and then asked, "if it''s not successful to rely on tank impact alone, what should we do?"


    As for whether I can break through the German defense line, I have no idea at the moment. When I heard the question of chisgakov, I could only say vaguely: "now, we have to try."


    More than two hours later, lophoff, who was sitting by the telephone, stood up and came over to give me a telegram. At the same time, he reported: "Comrade commander, the eighth group army of the guards has launched an attack on the enemy''s line of defense."


    "Great, that''s great!" He took the telegram from my hand, looked at it carefully twice, looked up at me and said, "if general trakov''s troops can draw the attention of the main German forces to their direction, then we may break through the German defense line quickly."


    I didn''t say anything about this analysis of chisgakov. I just nodded. Then I told lophov, "major, you are closely following the movement of the eighth group army of the guards. If you have any new information, please report it to me immediately."


    "Yes, comrade commander." Perhaps inspired by the news of our attack, lophoff replied with high spirits.


    "Comrade commander," chisgakov asked me eagerly as soon as lophov left, "do you think general trakov''s troops can break through the German line?"


    "What''s the matter with you, comrade deputy commander?" Seeing that he was worried about gain and loss, I could not help but ask in a strange way: "you and I all know the strength of the eighth group army. Even if other troops can''t tear a gap in the German line of defense, I think general trakov''s troops can succeed. "


    Listening to my confidence, chisjakov nodded with a bitter smile and said helplessly: "Comrade commander, let''s wait and see when general trakov''s troops can break through the German defense line."


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was six o''clock in the morning, but tavartkilaze, who had left the headquarters for several hours, neither returned to the headquarters nor received any phone calls from him. For a moment, I could not help worrying about his safety. After all, we had not occupied chuhuyev for a long time. There might be sporadic German troops in the city. If he was attacked on the road, we would lose a lot.


    Thinking of this, I raised my head and asked chisgakov, "Comrade deputy commander, have you heard from general tavartkiraze? He''s been away from the headquarters for hours, but he hasn''t come back yet. "


    Chisgakov heard me say this, walked quickly to the door, and cried out to the outside, "Hello, where''s major basmanov? Come to me


    Soon, I heard basmanov''s voice outside the door: "Hello, comrade deputy commander, do you have any instructions?"


    "General tavartkiraze has been away from the headquarters for several hours, but he has not come back yet." Only listen to chisgakov give busmanov an order: "major, you immediately send some soldiers out to look for him. If you meet him, ask him to come back to the headquarters immediately. Do you understand? "


    "I see." After busmanov agreed, I heard a rapid step from near to far, and then I could not hear any more.


    Chisgakov came back to me and said to me solemnly, "Comrade commander, I''ve sent the guard camp out to look for general tavartkiraze. I believe there will be a report soon."


    In my heart, I prayed for general tavartkiraze to appear in the headquarters as soon as possible. In a few hours, the army will start. If something happens to a commander at the military level at this time, it will be a blow to the morale of the army.


    Trakov''s troops launched a fierce attack on the enemy''s defensive positions at six o''clock. At seven o''clock, the first wave of war reports came. It is said that the enemy''s first line of defense was torn open by the guards, one kilometer wide, and wedged into the German army, two kilometers deep.


    Seeing such a battle report, chiska cofton was very happy. He said to me excitedly: "Comrade commander, general trakov''s troops are really powerful. In just one hour, they broke through the German position and are developing in depth. Do you think we need to order the troops to set out and help them? " After thinking for a moment about this proposal, I resolutely rejected it: "no, comrade deputy commander, this is not the time for us to send troops. On the contrary, we should continue to stand still and give the enemy in the south a false impression that our commanders and fighters have become exhausted and unable to continue to attack after successively liberating Kharkov and chuhuyev. In this way, they may be used to guard our troops, draw some of them out to the southeast, counter general trakov''s troops, and try to fill the gap that has been broken through. " After listening to my analysis, chisjakov nodded and said with approval, "Comrade commander, you are right. After their attack, general trakov estimated that the enemy to the north of ijumu was also in the first level of combat readiness, ready to attack our troops from the south of chuhuyev. At this time, we deliberately stood still and let the enemy have an illusion, so that they could transfer troops from the defense line to strengthen the defense line in the southeast of the city. " I waited for chisgakov to finish, then turned my eyes to akhromeyev: "major, we are north of ijum. Are there any reconnaissance troops?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Akhromeyev and I have been together for a long time. From my brief questions, I immediately guessed my intention, and quickly replied, "there are two reconnaissance teams at present, which are in the forest west of Izumi. They all carry radio stations, and they can send back the information they have detected at any time. "¡° Major, send them a message immediately. " When I heard that there was a reconnaissance team near ijum, I was confident. I told akhromeyev, "let them closely monitor the movement of the German army, and report to the headquarters as soon as they find the enemy moving."

 Chapter 1241

    At 8:30 a.m., half an hour before our troops left, Zhukov suddenly called my headquarters. He said in a displeased tone, "Hey, Rita, the attack of trakov''s troops has torn a gap in the German defense. Why haven''t you launched an attack on the enemy of ijum to coordinate the actions of the friendly forces?"


    "Marshal, our troops are ready to start at nine o''clock..."


    Before I finished, Zhukov interrupted me: "trakov''s troops are developing in depth, and soon general rusyanov''s guards will be mechanized, and the tanks of the first army will also be put into battle. In order to block their attack, the Germans would certainly withdraw their troops from the defensive area in the north, but they would meet trakov. So, I order you to attack immediately, to hold down the German troops to the north of ijumu so that they can''t rush to the breach opened by trakov. "


    Through what Zhukov said, I understand that it is inevitable for us to attack ahead of time. Originally, we wanted to transfer all the enemies to the north of iqumu through trakov''s attack. In the next battle, our resistance will be greatly reduced. Who knows a command from Zhukov, but it changed all these things. As a result, it became our effective force to contain the German army, so that their attack could be smoother.


    But orders are orders. Even though Zhukov and I have a good personal relationship, we can''t change them at will. I took a look at tavartkilaze, who had just returned to the headquarters, and said to him with a bitter smile, "Comrade General, please give the order to the 375TH infantry division to let them attack ahead of time."


    Tavartkilaze didn''t hear the conversation between Zhukov and me, so he felt a little at a loss when he suddenly gave me such an order. He raised his hand, looked at his watch, and then said in a puzzled way, "Comrade commander, it''s half an hour before the departure time. Why do you want to go ahead?"


    "I just got a call from Marshal Zhukov. He told us to attack the German defensive position to the north of ijumu immediately." In order to make him understand what was going on, I had to patiently explain to him, "now general trakov''s troops are going well, and in a little while, the tank troops of the mechanized army will also go into battle. We attack ahead of time in order to contain the enemy in the north of ijum, so as not to reinforce the enemy in the breach. "


    When tavartkilaze went to make a phone call, chisgakov shook his head with a bitter smile and said to me in a low voice: "Comrade commander, originally we wanted general trakov''s troops to help us contain the German army, but now we have to contain the enemy."


    "All right, comrade deputy commander." Although I was quite dissatisfied with Zhukov''s order, I still had to maintain his image under such circumstances. I said in an official voice: "no matter which army is to contain the enemy, our common goal is to eliminate the enemy."


    Tavartkiraze put down the phone and came over to me and reported, "Comrade commander, division commander govorunanko has set out with his troops."


    "So fast?" Asked chisgakov in surprise.


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." Tavartkiraze replied with a smile: "the troops have been assembled long ago. They can start with a single order. In particular, general govorunanko decided to come to the front line to command in person, so as to achieve brilliant results in this battle, so that his troops can enter the ranks of the guards as soon as possible. "


    After hearing what tavartkilaze said, chisgakov nodded, then turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, the morale of the commanders and fighters is very high. It seems that we can achieve a lot in today''s battle."


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander. Certainly." Although I know that the Soviet army often makes some undeserved low-level mistakes when it is about to win, and as a result, it loses the battle of steady victory. If trakov''s attack fails, the enemy will certainly turn around to deal with our troops, and the 375TH Infantry Division will be seriously damaged. However, when the troops are going out, I still have to say a few good words: "I believe that after today''s battle, general govorunanko''s troops will definitely be promoted to the guard division."


    Govorunenko, perhaps eager to make a contribution, sent a telegram from the front just an hour later, telling us that his troops had launched a fierce attack on the German first line of defense.


    Seeing the telegram, I didn''t say anything, but handed it to chisgakov. I went to the table and leaned over to look at the map on it. He wondered where the German might attack the 375TH infantry division if trakov failed.


    Chisjakov took the telegram and chatted with tavartkilaze for a while. Seeing that I was looking at the map, he quickly came over and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what are you looking at?"


    At such a time, I felt it necessary to make it clear to chisgakov, so I looked up at him and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, do you think general trakov''s troops can rush under the city of ijum today?"


    "Don''t you need to say that?" Chisjakov said confidently: "you see, their attack has only started for a few hours, and they have torn open a gap of three kilometers wide and eight kilometers deep in the enemy''s defense line. As long as our tank troops go out, it will be useless for the German army to mobilize heavy troops to fill the gap. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, what if our tanks can''t fight on time?" Seeing that chisgakov was so optimistic, I could not help saying with great anxiety: "once our tank troops can''t take part in the war, general trakov''s offensive strength will be greatly weakened. If the Germans counter attack at this time, they are completely likely to be repulsed. When the enemy stops their attack, they will certainly pull out their troops and turn around to deal with our isolated 375TH infantry division. At that time, it is estimated that general govorunanko will be in a very dangerous situation. "¡° It''s not that serious, is it? " When chisjakov heard me say this, he had an incredible expression on his face. He looked at the map for a long time, and then murmured, "I think it''s impossible for friendly tanks not to fight in such a big operation."¡° I hope it''s just that I think too much about it. " At this moment, I suddenly felt an ominous premonition that my speculation would soon become a reality. After all, compared with the battle of Kursk and the battle of Kharkov, the battle of dunbas is no more than a very small battle. I can''t know the details of it even more because it''s all covered in history books. Govorunanko continuously sent back the situation in front of him by telegram. Let us know that after the German first line of defense was broken through by us, the enemy immediately organized troops to fight back. As the first echelon suffered heavy casualties in the attack, it failed to block the enemy''s attack and had to withdraw from the occupied positions. When the second echelon arrived, it immediately joined forces with the remnants of the first echelon and launched another attack on the enemy''s position. Today, the fighting is going on nervously. After reading the telegram from govronenko, I put it on the table and said to lophov, "major, send a telegram to general trakov and ask him what''s going on there?" As soon as lophov heard my order, he sent a telegram to the eighth group army. After less than ten minutes, he came up to me with a telegram that he had just received and a serious look on his face. Seeing his expression, I knew that something bad must have happened. I asked first, "major, are you holding a telegram from general govoruninenko or general trakov?"¡° It''s a telegram from general trakov''s Eighth Army Replied lophov. When I heard that the telegram came from trakov, I knew that my guess had come true. When I took the telegram to my eyes, I saw that it read: "because the commander of the armored tanks and mechanized forces of the front army, lieutenant general wolohe, died in the battle, the tanks could not fight as planned. At present, our army''s offensive against the enemy has been restrained..." after reading the telegram, I looked at the table heavily, Then he pointed to chisgakov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, you see, you see, this is a telegram from general trakov, saying that because the tank commander of the front army died, the tank troops could not fight on time, resulting in the defeat of the attack of the eighth group army." After reading the telegram, chisgakov''s expression became serious. He frowned and said to me, "Comrade commander, you are right. Because our tank troops didn''t fight in time, so that the German army regained the rhythm of the battlefield, I think it''s time for them to send troops to attack the flank of general govorunanko I said to tavartkilaze, who was not far away: "Comrade General, call Mr. sherekin immediately and ask him to lead the 89th division of the guards to reinforce the 375TH division of the infantry to ensure the safety of their flanks."¡° I understand Tavartkilaze had just heard my conversation with chisgakov and knew the seriousness of the matter. As soon as he received my order, he immediately called sherekin and conveyed my order to him. When tavartkilaze went to make a phone call, I said to chisgakov, "Comrade deputy commander, you should call bezikov and ask them to come back immediately with the 22nd army of the guards. The 51st and 52nd divisions of the guards in the city should also be prepared for all battles. Once the enemy really attacks the 375TH infantry division, they will attack immediately. "

 Chapter 1242

    Although general govoruninenko''s troops were only half an hour ahead of the original time, it was this half an hour that made us pay a lot more sacrifice. According to the German officers who were captured at the back, they had received the order to move. When they were preparing to leave, they got a report from the scouts outside the city of chuhuyev that the main force of our army was advancing to the South and quickly rushed to ijum. In this case, the German commander immediately cancelled the order to mobilize the forces in the north of the city, and mobilized the forces in the south of the city to fill the breach opened by trakov. And then things got worse and worse. The first was the vanguard of the 89th division of the guards. During the March, the vanguard was defeated by the German armored forces coming from the flank. If it wasn''t for Xie Liujin and the other two regiments who arrived in time to repel the German troops, maybe the vanguard regiment would have been canceled. Then we received a telegram from the reconnaissance team. They reported that the German army did not know whether it was to prevent the 375TH division from retreating into the forest, which was frustrated by the attack, or whether it was afraid that we would send troops to detour back to their rear through the forest, so they opened the sluice on the river and submerged most of the forest in the west of the city. Seeing the bad news coming one by one, and coming to the front command tower in person, general killazer did not get any information, which made me very anxious. After walking back and forth in the headquarters with my hands behind my back, I suddenly saw chisgakov bending over to look at the map, and I had an idea in my heart. I went up behind chisgakov and called him in a low voice. When he came back, I tentatively said, "Comrade deputy commander, the situation ahead is very complicated. I don''t feel at ease. I want you to direct me. What do you think? " For my proposal, chisgakov thought for a moment, then nodded decisively and said decisively, "well, comrade commander, since you have given me this task, I will certainly complete it successfully." For a long time, my performance has robbed these deputies of the limelight. If they are not allowed to take charge of several important battles, the commanders of the friendly forces will feel that my deputies are a group of incompetent people. And every time I''m at the forefront, it''s time to change people. At this moment, seeing that chisgakov readily agreed to go ahead to command the troops, my heart immediately became more secure. But before he left, chisjakov said with some uneasiness: "Comrade commander, as soon as we leave here, there will only be one guard company left in the city. Can they keep you safe? "¡° Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander. " Thinking that I would not be so unlucky, I was intrigued by some stragglers hiding in the city, so I said carelessly, "with major basmanov here, there will be no threat to some Germans." Seeing that I was so confident, chisgakov explained a few words to me and then left in a hurry. When the headquarters became empty, akhromeyev came up to me and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, why did the Germans flood the forest? Do they really think that we will send troops through the forest and detour back to their rear Akhromeyev is my trusted subordinate, so I do not hide him: "yes, comrade major. If it wasn''t for the Scout''s report that the soil in the forest was soft, maybe I would have sent a tank troop to go through the forest and detour back to the enemy. " After hearing this, he sighed and said with regret: "now the German army has flooded the forest, not to mention the tanks, even the infantry are difficult to pass through the forest."¡° Yes, "the German army''s use of water instead of soldiers was really beyond my expectation. I didn''t expect that the way I thought of when I was in Stalingrad was used by the German army first. I was somewhat helpless to say to akhromeyev: "from the current situation, we can only carry out a frontal attack and tear a gap from the front of the enemy''s defense." After staring at the map for a long time, akhromeyev said leisurely: "Comrade commander, if we don''t have the cooperation of artillery and only rely on the tank troops to guide the infantry charge, we will pay a huge price. The German defense force is far beyond our imagination. Otherwise, when we attack the peripheral positions in the west of Kharkov, we will not delay that long with the tactics of multiple attacks and multiple breakthroughs. " After listening to him, I just wanted to speak. It suddenly occurred to me that vatukin had promised me that there would be air force to help me. But the battle lasted half a day, and I didn''t see a single plane of our army going out. On the contrary, I saw the German air force going out to bomb the eighth group army in the telegram sent by trakov. He quickly said to him, "major, you call the chief of staff and ask him when the headquarters of the front army can provide us with the necessary air support."

 Chapter 1243

    As soon as my order was given, lophoff reported to me with a sad face: "Comrade commander, have you forgotten that the headquarters of the group army is in the process of transferring and can''t get in touch for the time being?"


    After listening to what lophov said, I immediately remembered that I had ordered bezikov to lead the headquarters of the group army and the 22nd group army of the guards to arrive at chuhuyev quickly. I patted my forehead with my hand and said with self mockery, "major, you see, I have forgotten such an important thing." When I saw lophoff''s dumbfounded smile, I asked, "can I talk to the front command directly from the phone here?"


    Lophov shook his head again and said, "unless the headquarters of the front army takes the initiative to call us, we can''t make the call." Seeing that I looked disappointed, he quickly added: "although I can''t talk on the phone, I can send a telegram. Maybe the commander of the front army will call us when he sees the telegram we sent."


    Lophov''s words brightened my eyes, and my heart said that it was really a good way, so I immediately told him: "major, you should send a telegram to commander vatukin now to tell him that we have launched an attack on ijum, but our progress is not smooth due to the tenacious resistance of the German Army."


    Seeing lophov sending a telegram, akhromeyev asked me anxiously, "Comrade commander, is it appropriate for you to report our defeat to the headquarters of the front army?"


    "There is nothing inappropriate, comrade major." From what akhromeyev said, I could tell that he was trying to persuade me to hide from my superiors that the attack was not going well for the time being. After seizing the German defense line, I would report it to my superiors. Then I said to him with a straight face, "Marshal Zhukov hates the commanders below very much and conceals the news of the defeat of the attack from him, if he knows who does this, He will certainly give each other the most severe punishment. "


    After akhromeyev found out that he had given me a bad idea, he blushed and apologized to me, saying, "sorry, comrade commander, I''m wrong."


    I waved to him and said magnanimously, "well, comrade major, please remember that as long as you are a commander, then at any time, you should not try to conceal unfavorable information from your superiors, or you will cause yourself a lot of unnecessary trouble."


    Although I wanted chisgakov to show his ability, when he left, I became uneasy, always worried that he could not follow my ideas to organize the attack on the German defense line north of ijum. I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and said to myself, "I don''t know where chisgakov is. Why didn''t I call back?"


    After listening to what I said, akhromeyev quickly explained, "Comrade commander, you are too worried. The deputy commander has just left for a short time. It is estimated that he has not arrived at the front line yet. How can he call you?"


    Chisgakov''s call didn''t come, but after receiving the telegram, vatujing called me directly from the headquarters of the front army. "Hey, comrade oshanina," he asked bluntly on the phone, "what''s the matter? Why is your attack repulsed by the German army?"


    Before answering his question, I carefully asked: "Comrade General, is Marshal Zhukov in your headquarters?"


    "No, comrade Marshal has gone to general konev''s headquarters in Kharkov." After answering my question, vatujing urged impatiently, "Comrade oshanina, I''m asking you why the army''s attack is frustrated, and what do you do for Marshal''s whereabouts?"


    When I heard what vatukin said, I immediately understood that because Zhukov had gone to Kharkov''s konev headquarters, he certainly did not know the news that trakov''s attack from the southwest of ijum had failed. After a quick cough, I asked, "senior general, do you know the current situation of the southwest front army?"


    Watujing was stunned by my question. After a while, he replied, "isn''t general trakov''s army playing very well? Before the departure of the marshal, I saw in the telegram that they had torn a huge gap in the German line of defense, and that the German forces were drawing forces from all over the country in an attempt to fill the gap. "


    "Comrade General, the situation of the southwest front army is not as optimistic as we think." Seeing that vatukin knew nothing about trakov''s defeat, I had to say tactfully: "before we took the initiative to attack the defensive positions north of ijumu, general trakov''s troops really made great achievements. Unfortunately, because the tank commander of the front army died in the German artillery attack before the tank troops launched the attack, the tanks that were supposed to guide the infantry to launch the attack did not go into battle. In addition, the German tanks, under the cover of the air force, launched a fierce counterattack against the trokov troops at the breach. So far, many of their achievements have been turned into nothing. "


    Although I didn''t mention a word about our group army in my words, vatukin was also a smart man. He immediately understood what I meant. As soon as I had finished, he immediately asked, "did the German army contain general trakov''s attack and move the armored forces in your direction?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." Seeing that he had guessed the truth, I quickly explained to him, "when I learned that general govorunanko''s 375TH infantry division had been defeated, I immediately sent General sherekin''s 89th guard division to reinforce them. However, they were still on the March when they were attacked by German armored forces. The first regiment of the division was caught unprepared and suffered heavy casualties. If general Xie Liujin had not led the other two regiments to arrive in time, it is estimated that the first regiment would have been in danger of being destroyed. "


    "If I remember correctly, besides the 89th and 375TH divisions, there should be two more divisions in the city?" Watujing knew the number of our group army very well. He asked in a serious tone, "did you immediately put these two divisions into the battlefield?"


    "Comrade General, I have put the whole 23rd army of the guards into the battlefield. First, general tavartkilaze, the commander of the army, was sent to command. Later, because I was not at ease, I sent Comrade chisjakov, the deputy commander In order to make vatujing feel that I have done my best, I also specially explained the situation in front of me: "now, there is only one security company in the whole city of chuhuyev, which is responsible for the security work of my temporary headquarters."


    "What, there''s only one guard company in town?" After hearing this, vatujing immediately asked with concern, "besides the guard company, are there any troops of your group army nearby? You should know that although you captured chuhuyev yesterday, the remaining enemies in the city may not have been eliminated. It is estimated that there are a lot of scattered German soldiers outside the city. If they unite and cooperate with each other, you will be in danger. "


    "Don''t worry, Comrade General." Seeing that he no longer mentioned the failure of the army''s attack, I felt a lot more relaxed. I said with a smile: "although there is only one guard company, it is not so easy for the German stragglers to capture my temporary headquarters. Besides, bezikov and kirilov are leading the 22nd army of the guards from Kharkov. I think they will arrive in a little while


    "That''s great." Vatujing heard that the troops of the 22nd guard army led by bezikov were about to arrive. He also secretly relieved himself, and then said to me, "Comrade oshanina, when the 22nd guard army arrives, let them also want to leave iqumu after a short rest." At this point, he listened, but I heard the sound of turning the paper in the receiver, and I thought he was looking at the map.


    Sure enough, after a while, his voice came out from the receiver again: "Comrade oshanina, I''ve looked at the map carefully. There are dense forests to the West and south of ijum. Do you think you can send an army around to the flank of the German army and give them a good beating? "


    "Excuse me, senior general." His suggestion made me headache, and I said with some tears and laughter: "even if you give us the order to detour to the enemy''s rear, I don''t think I can carry it out."


    "Why?" Watujing asked coldly, with a puzzled tone.


    "More than an hour ago, I received intelligence from the forward scouts." I picked up the reconnaissance report on the table, moved it to my eyes, stared at the contents, and said, "the enemy opened the sluice, flooded most of the forest in the west of the city, not to mention the mechanized troops, even the infantry could not pass."


    "Damned Krauts, as soon as the water is released, the whole forest becomes a swamp, and our troops can''t get through." Watujing scolded angrily, and then asked me, "Comrade oshanina, what''s your plan? If there''s anything I can do for you, just ask, and I''ll try my best to do it for you. "


    I''ve been waiting for this sentence from watujing. Since he offered to ask me, if I don''t know how to grasp this opportunity, I''m a fool. But I will not be too straightforward to make a request, otherwise watujing will certainly push back. I deliberately hesitated for a long time, and then slowly said: "Comrade commander, I intend to send troops to carry out a positive attack."


    "Frontal assault?" After repeating what I said, watujing hesitated and said, "then your troops will pay heavy casualties in the attack, which is contrary to your tactical idea of reducing casualties and exchanging the minimum cost for the maximum victory."


    What vatukin said surprised me. But on second thought, it''s not surprising that he knows my usual tactical thinking. After all, Zhukov, who is familiar with me, has been staying with him all this time. When they are free, they certainly talk about me.


    "Comrade General, the German army now has not only armored forces but also air force. If we want to break the enemy''s three-dimensional defense from the front, we are bound to pay a heavy price." After I said these words, I felt that I had done almost all the foreshadowing in advance. Then I said my real intention: "if the front army can provide us with the necessary air cover when we attack, then I think our casualties will be greatly reduced."


    Watujing couldn''t help laughing when I said that. He joked: "Comrade o''shanina, you are really cunning. You have been circling with me for a long time. You are waiting for me here." Then his tone became serious again. "Don''t worry, I will immediately send out the air force to bomb the enemy in the ijum area to cooperate with the frontal attack launched by your army. Later, I will ask general krasovsky, commander of the second group army of the air force, to contact you and discuss how to coordinate the air and ground. "


    "Great, Comrade General. That''s great." "With the cooperation of the air force, I believe that it will not be long before we can rescue the city of ijum from the clutches of the Communist Party," I repeatedly said


    As soon as I put down the phone, lophoff over there reported to me, "Comrade commander, the deputy commander has called from the front line. Do you want to answer it?"¡° Call me right away. " Then I picked up the phone on the desk again. Soon, a voice came from the receiver: "Hello, comrade commander, I''m chisgakov."¡° Hello, comrade deputy commander. " I asked politely, "are you at the forefront now?"¡° Not yet. My headquarters is about three kilometers away from the front line where the fighting is most intense. " Chisgakov said to me solemnly, "the enemy is constantly fighting back against our troops. At present, the troops of the 375TH infantry division and the 89th guard division are entangled with the enemy and are engaged in fierce fighting."¡° What is the situation of our army? " Hearing his tone so serious, my heart could not help hanging up, "can they stop the fierce German attack?"¡° It''s not very good, comrade commander. " "Although our officers and men are very tenacious, they are retreating step by step under the attack of the enemy due to the lack of a firm preset position," chisjakov said aloud When I heard that the situation was so severe, I couldn''t help raising my voice and asking, "where is general tavartkilaze, commander of the 23rd army of the guards?"¡° Tavartkiraze is not in the headquarters at the moment. " Feeling that I was on the verge of violence, chisgakov explained to me the whereabouts of tavartkilaze: "I asked him to go to the back to command the 51st and 52nd divisions of the guards, to find suitable areas to build fortifications, so that our troops could resist the more fierce German offensive."

 Chapter 1244

    "Well done, comrade deputy commander." During the battle of Stalingrad, after listening to the words of bezikov, I was stunned, and then asked: "chief of staff, you should know that the soft soil in the forest in the west, coupled with the enemy''s irrigation, almost turned into a swamp. Can our troops still pass?"


    After listening to what I said, bizikov couldn''t help laughing and said, "Comrade commander, many of our troops have experience in fighting in swamps, not to mention that the forest area is just flooded by water. Even if it is a real swamp, our commanders and fighters can pass it smoothly." Perhaps to convince me, he added, "you know, the enemy also knows the terrain very well. They know that the soil in the forest is soft and they can''t go through it even after being irrigated with water, so they will relax their vigilance in this area. We took advantage of this mentality of the German army to send an army to detour back to the left wing of the enemy. When our frontal attack starts, we will launch a surprise attack from the left wing to surprise them. Maybe we can break through the enemy''s defense in a moment. "


    Bezikov''s proposal brightened my eyes. If you think about it carefully, what he said is really reasonable. If the enemy didn''t flood the forest area, maybe the defense in that direction would be very tight. But now, as soon as the enemy releases the water, he thinks that it has become a swamp, and our troops can''t pass through it at all, so he won''t leave too many troops for defense. At most, he will only put some guard troops at some commanding heights.


    Thinking of this, I looked up at bezikov and asked, "chief of staff, which unit do you think can take up this circuitous task?"


    "I suggest that Colonel babashin''s 71st division of the guards do the job." While putting forward his own suggestions, bezikov also explained to me the characteristics of the division. "They have many experiences in fighting in the jungle or swamp. I think it is most appropriate for them to complete this task."


    Although my heart approved the attack by the 71st division of Jinwei, I still hesitated and said, "but as soon as the 71st division of Jinwei arrived at chuhuyev, I immediately asked them to go to yikum. Moreover, after entering the forest, they would march for several kilometers in the swamp. Can the commanders and fighters bear their physical strength?"


    "Please rest assured, comrade commander." After listening to my worries, Colonel babahin, who had never spoken in the headquarters, quickly stepped forward two steps and said to me, "as long as there is war, we can eliminate the Communist aggressors and defend our great motherland. No matter how hard it is, the commanders and fighters will not have any complaints."


    As soon as babashin finished, sivakov, the former division commander of the 71st division of the guards, assured me: "Comrade commander, although this division has paid a lot of casualties in the recent battle, the fighting enthusiasm of the commanders and fighters is still high. As long as you give the order, they dare to break through even if there is a sea of fire ahead."


    I looked at sivakov and babashin, then turned my eyes to bezikov, who recommended them, and said with a bitter smile, "well, since you are recommended by the chief of staff of the division, and you are so confident at the same time, let''s have a try. When can the troops start? "


    Babashin raised his hand to look at the time, then straightened up and reported to me, "Comrade commander, my troops will start in 15 minutes. Do you have any instructions?"


    I went up to babashin, gave him a lot of help, raised my hand and patted him on the shoulder, and said with approval, "Comrade Colonel, since your troops are ready, let''s go. I wish you success


    Babashin raised his hand to salute me, then turned around and walked out of the headquarters.


    Looking at babashin''s back disappearing from the door, I was about to say a few words when a telephone on the desk rang. Akhromeyev, who was closest to me, picked up the phone and listened for a moment. Then he handed me the phone and said, "Comrade commander, it''s for you. It''s general krasovsky, commander of the air force group. "


    I heard it was from the air force. I rushed to him quickly, took the microphone in his hand and put it to my ear. After taking a deep breath, I politely said, "Hello, general krasovsky. I''m glad to receive your call."


    "Hello, general oshanina." Krasovsky used the same polite words: "I just received a call from general vatukin. He asked me to send a plane to cover your attack on Izumi."


    "Yes, Comrade General." When I heard that, I gave him a brief introduction of the enemy''s deployment on the phone, and then asked, "Comrade General, I don''t know how many planes you can send out and how long you can get there?"


    Krasovsky was silent for a while, and then replied: "general oshanina, at present, I can only send out two dissatisfied light bombers and two fighter regiments to cover your attack on ijum. The plane will arrive over ijum in 40 minutes. I hope your troops will do a good job in ground coordination to avoid accidental bombing. "


    "All right, general krasovsky." When I heard that two light bombers could be dispatched, my heart was filled with ecstasy, but I still tried to control my mood and said in a smooth tone: "my troops have many experiences in cooperating with the air force. I believe they know how to get in touch with the air force and direct the pilots to attack targets."


    After I put down the phone, I immediately told akhromeyev: "major, you call the deputy commander and tell him that the air force bombers will arrive over ijum in 40 minutes, so that he can get ready together."


    "Yes, I''ll transfer your order to the deputy commander at once." Akhromeyev said, and ran to another phone by the wall, intending to convey my order to chisgakov immediately.


    Because it was vatukin who came forward to coordinate in person, after only half an hour, I heard the roar of the aircraft motor in the air. I quickly ran outside and looked up into the air. There were hundreds of our bombers flying over our heads in a neat formation, heading south to ijum.


    Without waiting for all the planes to fly over my head, I quickly ran into the headquarters and urged akhromeyev: "major, call the deputy commander immediately and tell him that our plane formation has arrived and let him prepare for all battles."


    Akhromeyev agreed with a happy face: "OK, I''ll inform him right away."


    "Comrade commander, this is a call from Colonel babahin." As soon as akhromeyev walked away, the nearby lophov called out, "his troops have reached the forest area."


    When I saw lophoff with earphone and transmitter standing behind a telegraph operator, I could not help frowning and said with displeasure, "major, are you not afraid of being eavesdropped by the enemy when you make a wireless call with colonel babashin like this?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Lophov, who was criticized by me, said with a smile, "do you forget that many of our operators are Kazakh? They talk in their own language, and even if the Germans eavesdrop, they don''t understand what they''re saying. "


    When lophov said that, I immediately thought of the allusion of "Whisperer". However, after the establishment of this communication force, it was not used for a long time. Almost all of it was idle. I didn''t expect that it would be used unexpectedly today. Thinking of this, I quickly asked, "Colonel babahin, have they gone deep into the forest?"


    "Not yet," said lophoff, shaking his head. "Their convoy has just reached the edge of the forest. The troops are getting out of the car. It is estimated that they will enter the forest in batches in ten minutes."


    "Tell the colonel to speed them up, because we will soon launch a new attack on ijum." In order to make babahin aware of the importance of this mission, I specially stressed: "as our attack unfolds, the enemy''s attention will be attracted to the north of the city. They should seize this favorable opportunity to attack the enemy''s weak defense areas."


    When I saw the Kazakh operator sitting in front of the telephone, yelling in their national language, I turned to ask bzikov, "chief of staff, when will the remaining divisions arrive?"


    As for my question, bzikov said helplessly: "Comrade commander, the number of trucks we have at present is limited. We can only transport the troops of one division at a time. Originally, after the 71st division of the guards was sent here by truck, it could turn around to pick up other troops. However, according to your new operational plan, the 71st division of the guards was sent to the forest area. As a result, other troops could only drive to chuhuyev on foot. "


    "It seems that the other divisions can''t keep up with the battle to liberate ijum." Kirilov said with a smile: "but in this way, the divisions that took part in the war won more honor. In particular, general govoruninenko''s 375TH infantry division is the only unit in our group army that is not a close guard division. It is hoped that through the liberation of ijum, they will also be promoted to a close guard division. "


    "That''s for sure, comrade military Commissar." In a good mood, I said, "the reason why I let general govorunanko''s troops serve as vanguard forces is to give them this opportunity to make contributions. No matter when we liberate ijum, the 375TH Infantry Division will be promoted to the close guard division. It''s a matter of certainty


    While we were chatting, the air force bombed the German positions to the north of ijum, especially the German armored forces that had attacked the 89th division of the guards.


    Chisgakov fully demonstrated his military ability. As soon as the bombing was over and the smoke of gunfire had not yet gone, he decisively directed the troops to launch an attack. In order to make the attack work, he launched two divisions at the same time in the front of the whole attack. Our officers and men, under the cover of tanks, rushed to the scattered position bombed by the air force.


    Although the German army suffered heavy casualties, they still resisted tenaciously in the face of our army. Just as the battle came to a stalemate, the 71st division of the guards under the command of Colonel babashin successfully walked out of the forest and launched a fierce attack on the west side where the German defense was weak.


    After more than ten minutes of fighting, the troops of the 71st division of the guards rushed into the city of ijum. In the north, the German army, who was fighting against our army, found that their rear was attacked by our army, and suddenly became confused.


    Taking advantage of the enemy''s lax morale and precarious defense line, chisjakov decisively put the remaining two guard divisions into battle. The addition of two new forces became the last straw to crush the German defense. When the enemy found that he could not defend his line of defense, he immediately turned around and ran towards the back, while the slow responders stayed in the position and obediently became prisoners.


    After entering the German headquarters in the city, chisgakov called me and happily reported to me: "Comrade commander, ijum has been occupied by our army. There are only a few German troops in the city, and they are still carrying out sporadic resistance. But I believe our soldiers will soon be able to wipe them out. "

 Chapter 1245

    Knowing that chisgakov had led the members of the frontier command to enter the former headquarters of the German army in ijum, I couldn''t help feeling a little excited. I thought that since the army had liberated ijum, it was time for me, as the commander of the group army, to show my face.


    While I was thinking wildly, bzikov suddenly said to me, "Comrade commander, should we immediately report this good news to the headquarters of the front army? So as to make commander watujing happy. "


    "Yes, chief of staff, your suggestion is very good." After I finished, I turned and told lophov: "major, send a message to the headquarters of the front army, saying that after several hours of fierce fighting, the troops of our group army have successfully occupied ijum. At present, deputy commander chisgakov is commanding the troops to wipe out the remaining scattered German troops in the city."


    Lophov promised. As soon as I was about to send the news myself, I suddenly thought of another thing and stopped him immediately: "wait a minute, comrade major. Let the other operators send this telegram of victory. You immediately send a telegram to general trakov, asking where his troops are at present? "


    When bizikov heard my command, he asked unexpectedly, "Comrade commander, do you want to keep in touch with general trakov, so that they can continue to push westward and join forces with our troops occupying ijum?"


    "You are right, chief of staff." I knew in my heart that the German defense line, which could block the fierce attack of trakov''s troops, was not so easy to break through. Only a two-sided attack could break the German defense in a short time¡° As far as I know, in order to prevent our army from expanding the landing site on the North donetz River, the German army deployed a large number of troops to the east of ijum. If we don''t attack general trakov''s forces from left to right as soon as possible, the ijum we occupy will be in danger of being attacked by the German forces at any time. "


    "It makes sense, it makes sense." After listening to my analysis, bzikov quickly went to the map on the wall, looked at it, then nodded his head and said, "Comrade commander, you have a very reasonable point. According to our reconnaissance, the enemy deployed a large number of troops to the east of ijum, including a lot of armored forces. They have the strength to launch a counterattack against ijum. "


    I saw that lophoff was still sitting in the same place and didn''t send a message. I quickly asked, "major, can I speak directly to the deputy commander now?"


    After listening, lophov nodded and replied, "yes, comrade commander, the telephone line between him and the deputy commander has been laid. You can talk to him at any time."


    Hearing what he said, I immediately ran to the phone on the desk. While picking up the receiver, he also told lophov: "major, send a message to general trakov immediately and ask him where he is." Then I said to the messenger in the receiver, "please connect me with the deputy commander''s headquarters."


    After a moment''s waiting, chisjakov''s voice came from the receiver: "Hello, comrade commander." He said with a loud smile: "the sporadic German army in the city has been basically wiped out by us."


    "Comrade deputy commander, this is not the time to celebrate." Although it is a happy thing for me that the troops have captured ijum, I am not happy at the moment, because the German troops in the east of ijum are always my worries. If they are not eliminated or expelled from the existing place, I think I can''t sleep at night¡° Although we have occupied ijum, the strength of the German troops deployed to the east of the city has not suffered much. They are ready to launch a counterattack against us. "


    "Ah, so serious?" He hesitated for a moment and said to me, "Comrade commander, please wait a moment." Then I heard him say in a loud voice, "commander tavartkiraze, call your division leaders together immediately. I have something important to tell them."


    Soon he said to me, "Comrade commander, do you have any plans to deal with the enemy in the east?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, I''m in contact with general trakov. I hope they can join us and attack the enemy in the east at the same time." As chisgakov is the commander of the front line, I want him to understand my intention: "your first task now is to strengthen the fortifications in the east of the city and prevent the possible German counterattack. At the same time, let the troops seize the time to rest, so that they can enter into new battles in the best condition. "


    "I see, comrade commander." Chisgakov assured me: "since we have occupied ijum, we will never let the Germans take it again."


    As soon as I finished the call, watujing, who received the telegram, called in. On the phone, he said in a relaxed tone: "Comrade oshanina, I congratulate you. I didn''t expect that in such a short period of time, your group army successfully broke through the German defense in the north of ijum and successfully occupied the city." After a short pause, he changed his tone and said to me earnestly, "but you can''t be proud of it. You know, the German forces in the east of the city are still very strong. They have firmly blocked our Western army''s 6th and 12th group army and trakov''s guards'' 8th group army near the landing site."


    "Don''t worry, Comrade General." I listened to his voice, and then I might order us to take action against the German army in the east of the city, so I said in advance: "I have ordered to strengthen the defense in the east of the city, and I am actively contacting general trakov, preparing to attack with his forces from left to right, and destroy the enemy in the area."


    "Very well, comrade oshanina, you are very considerate." "No wonder Marshal has been praising you all the time. It seems that he is right, and your judgment of the battlefield situation is quite accurate. Sometimes when we just think about where to send your troops, we find that you have moved ahead of time before we wait for the order. "


    I didn''t say a word, just grinned when I heard the praise from vatukin.


    He then said, "to tell you the truth, just when I heard about your capture of ijum, I asked you to contact trakov and let your two troops attack the German troops in the east of the city. I didn''t expect that you thought about it ahead of time and started to deploy troops. It''s amazing. If you need any help, just call me and I will try my best to help you. "


    I put down the phone and stared at the map spread out on my desk, thinking about how to launch an attack on the German army. Bzikov came up to me and said softly, "Comrade commander, all the remaining two divisions have arrived in the city. How do you plan to arrange for them to stay in the city, or go south immediately and join the battle group of ijum? "


    I looked up at bezikov and said, "Comrade chief of staff, they have just gone through a long march. Let them rest in the city now. Even if they are to be put into battle, it will be tomorrow. "


    On hearing what I said, bzikov said in surprise, "why, comrade commander, don''t you plan to attack the enemy east of ijum today?"


    "The attack on the enemy to the east of ijum must be carried out today, and it may be night fighting." Seeing that bzikov misunderstood me, I quickly explained to him, "the two divisions have just finished their long march. Coupled with the continuous fighting in the early stage, the commanders and fighters must be very tired. If we put them into battle at such a time, even if the commanders and fighters are brave enough, their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced. "


    "Well, let them settle down in the city first." After finishing these words, bezikov said to sivakov, commander of the 22nd army of the guards, who was sitting beside him: "Comrade commander, I''ll ask major akhromeyev to accompany you to settle the troops later. Remember to tell all the officers and men that they have no combat mission until tomorrow. Their current task is to seize the time to rest so that they can fight in good condition tomorrow. "


    While bezikov was giving an assignment to sivakov and akhromeyev, lophov came up to me, handed me a telegram in his hand, and said, "Comrade commander, this is the reply from general trakov."


    When I received the telegram, it read: "our guards succeeded in seizing the villages of dorgenikoye and mazanovka from the enemy''s hands, opening up a channel for the tank troops to attack. However, the tank commander of the front army, general wolohe, was killed by German artillery on the way to the assembly site of tank troops. As a result, the plan of tank troops to attack had to be cancelled temporarily.


    Due to the loss of tank support, our infantry were attacked by German artillery and armored forces when they crossed the village. As a result, the casualties were so heavy that the attack had to stop... "


    After reading trakov''s telegram, I thrust it into bezikov''s hand and told lophov, "major, please send another telegram to general trakov, saying that our army has successfully occupied ijum. At present, the troops are gathering to the east of the city, ready to attack the enemy''s defense depth. Ask them whether they have the ability to continue fighting and form an east-west confrontation with our group army? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." After recording what I said in the telegram, lophov agreed, "I''ll send a message to general trakov immediately and tell him the news."


    When I saw lophov sending the news, I said to bzikov with some regret: "Comrade chief of staff, it''s a pity that we can''t talk to general trakov directly here, otherwise it will be much more convenient for us to discuss the battle plan."


    "Maybe we can talk to him wirelessly." Bezikov said uncertainly: "but the distance between us and them is too far. Even if we talk, it is estimated that the effect will not be much better, and there will be the risk of being eavesdropped by the German army."


    After hearing bzikov''s worry, I waved my hand and said helplessly, "well, since there''s no way, I''d better contact you by telegraph. This is a higher safety factor. Even if the German army intercepts our telegram, it will not be able to decipher it in a short time. "


    After that, I called chisgakov again and asked him, "Comrade deputy commander, are you calling a meeting of all the teachers?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." "I''ve just finished telling them about the enemy in the east of the city, and their commanders are doing pre war agitation work for the division commanders," chisjakov replied positively Speaking of this, he suddenly lowered his voice and said to me, "Comrade commander, after repeated battles, the commanders and fighters are exhausted. At this time, I''m afraid their physical strength will not be able to support them."


    "No, comrade deputy commander," I quickly stopped when I heard that chisgakov was going to let the troops rest. "I know that the soldiers are exhausted, but now they are all supported by a spirit. If we let them rest at this time, they will relax. It will take at least a day or two for them to stay where they are. Comrade deputy commander, what we lack most now is time. We must launch a new round of attacks on the enemy before they slow down. Only in this way can we be sure of winning. "¡° Well, comrade commander, since you say so, I will arrange the political workers of various units to do political agitation work for all the soldiers in the company later. " After that, he asked, "I don''t know when we will attack the enemy?"¡° You should prepare for the war first. " As I said this, I glanced at the back of lophov, who was waiting for a telegram, and then said, "I''m negotiating with general trakov about the attack. I''ll let you know as soon as I have time to prepare for the attack."¡° Well, I''ll tell the division leaders right away and make them ready to fight. " Chisgakov said confidently: "as long as general trakov and they can attack from the east of the enemy, then we have a greater confidence that we will completely wipe out the enemy in the east of the city."¡° I hope so. " I hastily added: "Comrade deputy commander, quickly assign tasks to the teachers and make them ready for all battles." As soon as I put down the phone, kirilov, who was sitting opposite me and didn''t speak, stood up. He took the military cap on the table and put it on his head. Then he said to me with a smile, "Rita, I should go to the army now to do some political work for the soldiers. After all, they are very tired after such a long time of fighting. If our political workers do some ideological work for them, it may be able to boost their morale. "

 Chapter 1246

    After constant telegraph exchanges with trakov, we finally agreed on a joint operation. His troops will attack the German defensive position at 7 p.m. At the same time, in addition to the eighth group army, the first mechanized army of general rusyanov''s guards will also be engaged in offensive combat, and its 200 tanks will become the main assault force.


    Bezikov took the telegram from me, read it carefully, and then asked curiously, "Comrade commander, I don''t understand why general trakov chose the attack time at 7 p.m., knowing that it will be completely dark in two hours at most, and then our troops will have to fight fiercely with the German army in a strange area."


    In response to bezikov''s doubts about the timing of trakov''s attack, I explained to him, "Comrade chief of staff, this is the situation. Because of general trakov, they will concentrate a large number of tanks to carry out armored assault on the enemy''s defensive positions. It is estimated that the reason for choosing this time period is that it will be completely dark after about two hours of fighting, and the enemy''s air force will not be able to pose a threat to our tank forces. "


    "How many tanks can we use now?" After I finished, bezikov suddenly asked, "after several fierce battles, the number of tanks left by the Fifth Army of the close guard tanks should not exceed 50. Even if they were all put into battle, would they be able to break through the German defensive positions? "


    Bezikov''s words gave me a headache. Although judging from the number of the troops, the sixth group army of the guards is still a powerful army. With such strength, even if we hit the Dnieper River, there is no problem. However, as a matter of fact, the whole group army has been reduced by more than half as a result of the successive battles to liberate Belgorod and Kharkov, as well as today''s battle to recover ijum.


    Although I heard from the words of bezikov that I should apply to the higher authorities for additional troops and technical equipment. But I know in my heart that it can only be a good wish now. Even if the superior wants to supply our group army, it will not officially start until after the end of the battle of dunbas.


    After much deliberation, I raised my head and asked bzikov, "where are general Kravchenko and general bere?"


    "They have arrived at ijum, and they are probably with Comrade deputy commander at the moment."


    After listening to bzikov, I went to the table, picked up the phone and dialed chisgakov''s headquarters. As soon as I heard his voice, I asked, "Comrade deputy commander, are the two commanders of the tank army in your headquarters?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, they are both at my side. Would you like to speak to them?"


    When I heard that both the chief and Deputy commanders were in the headquarters, I hesitated for a moment, and then resolutely said, "Comrade deputy commander, please give the phone to general Kravchenko. I have something to say to him."


    "Comrade commander, I don''t know when the attack of general trakov''s troops will begin?" Before handing over the phone to Kravchenko, chisgakov asked: "at present, I have transferred the 51st and 52nd divisions of the guards to the east of the city. We can launch a full-scale attack on the German army only after the friendly attack begins."


    "At seven o''clock, general trakov''s forces will attack the enemy from the east at seven o''clock." I briefly introduced to chisgakov: "they will take general rusyanov''s mechanized first army as the leader to launch a fierce attack on the enemy''s defense depth. Comrade deputy commander, I hope our troops can launch attacks at the same time. Is there a problem? "


    "Yes, we still have a lot of difficulties at the moment." Although chisgakov said that the troops were facing many difficulties, he did not say anything about the difficulties and handed the phone directly to Kravchenko.


    When I heard the voice in the receiver, I suddenly changed from chisgakov to Kravchenko. At first, I was stunned. Then I remembered the purpose of calling. Besides telling chisgakov the time of their attack, another thing I wanted to know about the tank army from Kravchenko.


    "Hello, comrade Kravchenko." After greeting Kravchenko politely, I asked directly, "how many tanks do you have in your tank army?"


    "Report to commander," Kravchenko said slowly, "there are still 65 tanks left in the army, but due to the shortage of ammunition and fuel, only 40 can be put into combat."


    "What, only forty?" Hearing this figure, I was extremely disappointed. I didn''t expect that after the merger of the two tank armies, the number of tanks that can be used is still very small. I said with some regret, "Comrade General, can you find a way to get the remaining tanks to fight?"


    "I''m afraid it can''t be done." For my question, Kravchenko answered helplessly: "the rest are almost new tanks, but we only have the shells used by T-34 tanks. We can''t let our tank soldiers drive tanks without shells to hit the enemy''s tanks or firepower points, can we?"


    "The number of tanks is limited. Don''t we still have artillery?" "We can order general povsky''s artillery troops to speed up the March and get to Izumi to participate in the artillery preparation before the attack," bzikov whispered to me


    "Comrade commander." Before I could reply to bzikov, I heard chisgakov''s voice again: "now you know what problem we are facing. Not only the number of tanks is small, but also there is no artillery support. If we want to attack, we can only use the flesh and blood of our commanders and fighters to fight through the enemy''s bullets. In this way, even if we win, it is estimated that the casualties of the troops will not be too small. "


    "Wait a moment, comrade deputy commander. Please wait a moment." I covered the microphone, turned to ask bzikov: "chief of staff, you just said artillery, where are they now?"


    "Probably on the way from Kharkov to chuhuyev." When bezikov said this, he shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "this road is too narrow, so the artillery had to set out at the end in order not to rush the infantry."


    "If they''re going to arrive at Izumi, when will they arrive?"


    After listening to my question, bzikov raised his hand, looked at his watch, and replied, "I guess our artillery can''t arrive at Izumi until 8 p.m. at the latest. And not all of them have arrived. At most, there are only one or two artillery regiments. "


    If it''s just one or two artillery regiments, even if they arrive at ijum, the artillery support they can provide for the offensive troops is very limited. At this time, I suddenly thought of the famous "Katyusha" and said to bzikov: "chief of staff, contact General povsky immediately, let the towed artillery regiment stop advancing temporarily, and give up the road to the close guard rocket battalion. We need to know that although our rocket barracks are small in number, their speed of action is fast, and the effect of shelling is far better than that of the artillery regiment. Let them go to ijum first to participate in the artillery preparation before the attack. "


    "That''s right, that''s right." When bezikov heard what I said, his eyes suddenly brightened. He immediately said aloud to lophov in the distance, "Hey, comrade major, send a message to general povsky immediately, and order him to let the guard rocket battalion of the group army rush to Izumi as soon as possible. The rest of the artillery regiment, for the time being, stopped to make way for the rocket battalion. After all the rocket barracks have passed, the artillery regiment will continue to advance. "


    "I see. I''ll send it right away." With a resounding promise, lophoff began to send out his message.


    After arranging this, I released my hand to cover the microphone and said to the microphone with a smile, "OK, deputy commander, I have ordered general povsky to speed up the march of all the close guard rocket barracks, and get to ijum as soon as possible to participate in the artillery preparation before the attack."


    "Great, that''s great." When chisjakov heard that there was a rocket battalion participating in the war, he immediately called out. He said excitedly, "even if the rocket can only destroy half of the enemy''s firepower, it will be easier for us to attack."


    At the end of the call with chisgakov, I turned to ask bzikov, "chief of staff, where are the comrades of the military commissar?"


    "Didn''t he go to the division below to do battle agitation for the commanders and fighters?" After looking at me strangely, bezikov replied truthfully: "I think he is talking to the political workers of various divisions or the soldiers in the company at the grass-roots level."


    "Comrade chief of staff." As soon as bezikov finished, I immediately said, "I''m going to visit Izumi in person, and you and the military commissar will be responsible for everything here."


    "What?" When bizikov heard that I was going to the front line again, he quickly stopped me: "Comrade commander, isn''t ijum under the command of a deputy commander? You don''t have to run there any more. It''s too dangerous


    I shook my head and said, "no, comrade chief of staff. Although the deputy commander was in command there, he didn''t see our troops attack the enemy''s positions with his own eyes, so I couldn''t feel at ease, so I had to go there myself. "


    Bizikov understood my character, knew that once I made a decision, even if the superior appeared, it would not necessarily make me change my mind, so he nodded. Then he picked up the phone and said, "Hello, guards? My chief of staff, Colonel bzikov, immediately asked the two chief and Deputy commanders to come to the headquarters. "


    When I heard him call Yushchenko and bukov, I was surprised and asked, "chief of staff, what are you going to do? I''m going to Izumi, and it''s enough to take major busmanov and a guard company. It''s not necessary to disturb the two leaders of the guard regiment for such a small matter. "


    "Comrade commander, your safety is no small matter." After listening to me, bzikov said solemnly, "although I can''t stop you from going to Izumi, I can still ensure your safety along the way."


    Just then, Yushchenko and bukov walked into the headquarters, came to our front and back, raised their hands to salute, and neatly reported: "Comrade commander, chief of staff, head (deputy head) of the security corps, Yushchenko (bukov) has been ordered to come, we are waiting for your orders, please give us instructions!"


    Bezikov raised his hand to me, and then said: "two chief and Deputy commanders, comrades of the commander plan to go to ijum. In order to ensure her safety along the way, I plan to send a guard camp to protect her safety. Which one of you would like to lead the team?"


    When they heard what bezikov said, they looked at each other and took a step forward. Then they said with one voice, "Comrade chief of staff, I''d like to lead the team to ijum." When bizikov saw that they were both volunteering, he chuckled, then turned to me and asked, "Comrade commander, they are both willing to lead a team to accompany you to Izumi. It''s up to you to choose one." After listening, I didn''t speak. I just went forward and shook hands with them one by one. After shaking hands, I stepped back and said to them, "Yushchenko and bukov, I thank you for your concern for me. But in the past, there should be no danger in ijum. You don''t have to go out in person. I''ll take a guard company with me¡° Comrade commander, "as soon as I finished, Yushchenko continued," although our army has occupied ijum, there will certainly be German scattered soldiers along the way. For your safety, you''d better take a guard camp. As for you don''t want us to go together, why don''t you... "He stopped and turned his eyes to bukov. Bukov nodded at him, and then said, "Comrade commander, I suggest you take major busmanov''s camp. The battalion is well-equipped and has a strong fighting capacity. Even if you are attacked by German troops on the road, they can ensure your safety. "¡° It seems that if I don''t bring a guard camp, all of you will not be at ease? " After I asked tentatively, I observed the expressions of all the people and saw that they all nodded their heads in recognition. In this case, I can only follow their meaning and say, "well, in that case, I''ll take busmanov and his guard camp. Now, can you rest assured? " Seeing that all the people nodded in surprise, I directly told Yushchenko: "well, two leaders of the guard regiment, time is pressing, you go back to arrange it immediately." I raised my hand, looked at my watch and added, "I hope I can start in twenty minutes." The two commanders agreed loudly, raised their hands to salute me, then turned around and walked out of the headquarters. It took me nearly two hours to get to Izumi in front of and behind the guard camp under the command of basmanov. By the time our team arrived at the headquarters of chisgakov under the guidance of the commanders and fighters along the way, the offensive battle had begun for half an hour.

 Chapter 1247

    I strode into the headquarters and saw chisgakov and a group of commanders around the table looking at the map. In order to attract their attention, I raised my voice and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, what''s the situation? When will our troops meet with general trakov''s troops?"


    After my words, he saw that chisgakov turned round and his face was very blue. After staring at me for a while, he shook his head and said helplessly: "the situation is very bad. Comrade commander, almost all of our troops and general trakov''s troops are still in their original positions and have not moved."


    Chisjakov''s words filled my heart with a sense of uncertainty. I quickly walked to the table and glanced at the commanders who were staying in the room. I found that not only several division commanders of the 23rd army of the guards were there, but also Kravchenko, berey, povsky and others were here. I turned my eyes to chisgakov again and asked harshly, "Comrade deputy commander, please tell me what happened here?"


    "Comrade commander, please allow me to report to you!" Next to him, Kravchenko stepped forward, straightened up and said in a pleading voice, "I''ll tell you what happened!"


    "Well, comrade general," I said, sitting in a chair at the table and looking up at Kravchenko, "it''s up to you to introduce the current situation."


    Kravchenko said: "although general trakov launched a fierce attack on the enemy''s defense line during the day, they achieved great success. But in the battle, whether it''s the artillery preparation before the attack or the bombing of the enemy''s positions, they didn''t wait to destroy the enemy''s artillery. As a result, when our troops began to gather in the east of the city, they were attacked by German artillery, and the casualties were very large. "


    "What, in the process of assembly, the troops were attacked by German artillery?" Hearing this amazing news, I immediately jumped up from my seat and asked in amazement, "how are the casualties of each division?"


    "The 51st and 52nd divisions of the guards suffered a total of more than 1000 casualties, while general Kravchenko''s tank army also lost 15 tanks in the enemy''s artillery attack." "We may not be able to attack the enemy by tomorrow morning," chisjakov told me with a blank face


    "Comrade deputy commander," I heard chisgakov say, but asked coldly, "when will our troops complete their assembly and launch an attack on the enemy''s defensive positions?"


    "Comrade commander, as I have just said, our troops suffered heavy casualties in the enemy''s artillery attack and must be recuperated." Thinking that I didn''t understand what he said, chisgakov repeated what he had just said: "I don''t think the troops will be able to attack the enemy''s defensive positions until tomorrow morning."


    "Comrade deputy commander," seeing that he still insisted on launching another attack tomorrow, I couldn''t help raising my voice again: "didn''t you hear me clearly? I asked, "when will our troops complete their assembly and attack the enemy''s defensive positions?"


    The answer was silence. Not only did chisjakov not speak, but all the commanders in the room did not speak. Seeing this, I pointed to povsky, who was not far away, and asked, "Comrade artillery commander, where is our close guard rocket camp?"


    "They are all deployed in the east of the city." Povsky took a look at chisgakov, and then said cautiously, "we are ready to fight. We are ready to fight at any time."


    Povsky''s reaction was in my eyes. I guessed in my heart that he might advocate continuing to attack, but his proposal was denied by chisjakov. That''s why I hesitated after hearing my question.


    Since chisgakov repeatedly stressed that the troops could not launch an attack until tomorrow, I decided to take back the command from him and personally command the troops to launch an attack on the enemy''s defensive positions. I turned my eyes to tavartkiraze and asked in an emphatic tone, "Comrade commander, can you tell me how many troops your army has in the east of the city?"


    "The 51st and 52nd guard divisions and a regiment of the 375TH infantry division are all in that direction." Tavartkilaze cautiously replied, "I believe our commanders and fighters will rush to the enemy''s position without hesitation as long as you give us your order."


    "Comrade commander, if only you had this kind of consciousness." Ignoring chisgakov, I said to taraze, "gather the troops immediately, and we will attack the enemy''s defensive positions in half an hour. Fortunately, it''s getting dark now, and the enemy''s air force can''t go out. "


    After tavartkilaze left, I told povsky: "Comrade artillery commander, you should immediately organize a close guard rocket camp to fire at the enemy''s exposed artillery positions first, and then bombard the enemy''s defensive positions after you mute the enemy''s artillery. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Povsky agreed, then turned and walked out of the headquarters.


    When I came to Kravchenko, before I had a good deal to say, he said, "Comrade commander, please don''t worry. I''ll go and gather the remaining tanks now. As soon as our shelling is over, I''ll guide the troops to launch a comprehensive attack on the enemy''s defensive positions."


    Seeing that Kravchenko understood my intention, I nodded with a smile, and then said, "Comrade General, it''s not too late. You should go back to the army to arrange now." With these words, I said to berey, who was standing beside me and didn''t say a word, "and you, general berey, also go with your commander to prepare for the attack."


    When there were only me and chisgakov left in the headquarters, I came up to him. When I was about to speak, he nodded and said, "Comrade commander, maybe I''m too old to be careful. You are right. Although we were attacked by German artillery when we were assembling, we should not postpone the time of assembling again until tomorrow morning. "


    When I saw that chisjakov could think so, I felt a lot more at ease. I went back to the table and sat down. Then I looked up and asked, "is there any news from general trakov?"


    "Yes." He took a piece of paper from the table and handed it to me. At the same time, he said, "Comrade commander, please have a look. This is a telegram from general trakov not long ago."


    I took the telegram and glanced at it first. I found that the message was not short. I was calm and read it carefully. It read: "after a short period of artillery preparation, the group army launched another attack, cleared all the defences of dorgenikoye village, and went out to the western edge of the forest to the south of the village. According to the order of the commander of the front army, lucianov''s mechanized army launched an attack on the enemy''s defensive position in a dense battle formation.


    When our tanks crossed the Highlands south of dorgenikoye village, they immediately fell into the enemy''s tank fire network lying in the ground and hidden in the bush. The enemy''s anti tank hand used direct aim to fire, and our tank was hit by bullet and caught fire. I saw for the first time how the enemy used anti tank torpedoes against our tanks, which were launched from the trenches and guided by wires. The explosion of the torpedo tore the tank into several large pieces of steel, flying more than ten or twenty meters.


    Before our artillery launched a powerful fire attack on the enemy''s tanks and trenches, we could only watch our tanks being destroyed one by one by the German army with a heavy heart. "


    After reading this telegram, my heart became heavy. I didn''t expect that the German defense was so tenacious. With hundreds of tanks, they were unable to get a way out of the German defense. Can we conquer the German defensive position with dozens of tanks?


    At this moment, I suddenly felt that I had just wronged chisgakov. He didn''t postpone the attack because he was timid, but wanted to make the preparations better before the war. Thinking of this, I said to him apologetically, "I''m sorry, comrade deputy commander, I just wronged you. I thought... "


    Before I finished, chisgakov interrupted me with a smile: "you thought I was frightened by the strength of the German army, so I delayed the attack. Is that what you think? "


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander," I admitted with some embarrassment, "that''s what I think."


    "It''s a small matter. Don''t worry about it." After that, chisjakov began to persuade me: "Comrade commander, the situation in the east of the city is very complicated. I suggest that you do not go there for the time being before our troops launch an attack."


    I know he is for my safety, but in order to show his brave and fearless image in front of the Ministry, I stubbornly said: "Comrade deputy commander, since I am the commander of the group army, I should stay with my soldiers. When the soldiers know their commander and watch their every move behind them, it will certainly boost their morale. "


    Although I verbally said that I would go to the front observation post and see with my own eyes how the soldiers charged the enemy''s positions. But when I arrived at the frontier observation post where tavartkilaze was, the commanders and fighters of the 51st and 52nd divisions of the guards, under the guidance of our tanks, rushed to the enemy''s position.


    As it was getting late, we couldn''t see the specific situation clearly. You can only see the fire in the distance, and the crowd shaking in the fire. Compared with my nervousness, tavartkilaze seemed calm. He even said with a smile, "Comrade commander, look, our troops are rushing up. It''s really wonderful. Our troops will be able to kill the enemy. "


    After looking at it for a while, I put down my telescope, turned to tavartkilaze and asked, "Comrade commander, can you contact General trakov here?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Tavartkilaze took me to a telephone and said to me, "this telephone can communicate with general trakov wirelessly, but maybe the signal is not very good."


    Hearing what he said, I thought to myself, even if the signal is bad, it''s better than the telegraph. So he told the soldier sitting in front of the telephone: "the operator, immediately contact General trakov, commander of the eighth group army of the guards, and say I have something urgent to look for him."


    After a few minutes, I put on my headphones and started talking to trekov. As tawalter killazer said, the signal is not very good, and the sound of electric current is constantly coming from the earphone. When I speak to trakov, I have to open my voice and shout, "Hello, general trakov, this is oshanina."


    "Hello, Rita. Nice to hear from you." Trekov also said in a loud voice: "listen to my observation report, there are firelights and explosions in the west of the enemy''s defensive position. Should you attack from the west of the enemy?"¡° Yes, Comrade General. " I was deeply afraid of trikov. If they did not move, then the enemy could put the focus of defense in my direction and hastened to say, "my two close guard divisions, under the cover of tanks, are launching a fierce attack on the enemy''s positions. Please attack at the same time to contain the enemy''s forces so that they can not withdraw their forces for reinforcement. "¡° Don''t worry, Rita Trekov said confidently: "as soon as I received intelligence, I was ready to attack. I plan to let the close guard mechanized tanks of the first army rush in front of our group army to open the way for infantry. "¡° I hope we can meet before dawn. " I couldn''t bear to yell like this, so I quickly said, "general trakov, I wish you good luck!"¡° I''ll see you when we meet, Rita "Good luck to you, too," he said politely After I finished talking with trakov, tavartkiraze asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, do you really think we can join general trakov''s troops before dawn?"¡° It should be possible, comrade commander. " According to the history that I understand, after the Soviet army failed to attack in one place, it would not attack in the same area in the next few hours. The German army had mastered the law of the Soviet Army''s attack, so it usually shifted its defense focus to other places after repelling the Soviet Army''s attack. This time, according to this rule, I judged that after repelling the attack of trakov''s troops and carrying out a rapid artillery attack on us, they would think that we were unable to launch another attack. That''s why they gave a categorical order to let the troops attack again, so that the Germans could be caught off guard¡° Everything will be clear after dawn. " The fierce fighting lasted all night, and it was not until dawn that the sound of guns outside became sparse. A radio operator suddenly cried to me excitedly, "Comrade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lu Jin, head of the 309th regiment, wants to speak to you." I put on my headphones and said loudly to the transmitter, "Hello, commander Lukin? I''m o''shanina. How''s the situation ahead? "¡° Report to commander, "Lu Jin reported to me in an excited voice," our regiment, after a night of fierce fighting, has cut through the three lines of defense of the German army and joined up with the tank unit of the mechanized first army of the close guard who came from the opposite side! "

 Chapter 1248

    After listening to Lukin''s report, I put down the phone and prepared to go to the meeting place. However, I was stopped by tavartkilaze. He was surprised and asked, "Comrade commander, don''t you plan to go to the meeting place like this?"


    Tavartkilaze''s words stunned me, and I stared at him and asked, "Comrade commander, is it not worth me to go to such a big event as the meeting of our troops and friendly forces?"


    "Comrade commander, didn''t you hear what commander Lu Jin said when you just talked to him?" Tavartkilaze explained to me with some tears and laughter: "now it''s only commander Lukin''s troops who have broken through the enemy''s line and joined up with the friendly troops coming from the opposite side, not all our troops and friendly troops."


    "What''s the difference?" I became more and more confused by what tawalter killazer said.


    "That is to say, at present, only Lukin is a regiment joining the friendly forces, and other forces are still fighting with the enemy." Although tavartkilaze was so upset by my reaction that he ran away quickly, he said to me patiently: "if you go there now, you will not only encounter danger on the way, but also catch up with the counterattack of the enemy at the meeting place. For your safety, please don''t leave the headquarters for the time being. "


    With such an explanation from tavartkiraze, I finally understood what was going on. In order not to let him worry about my safety, I had to say reluctantly, "well, since the situation ahead is still unclear, I''ll stay here a little longer. I''ll go there when the enemy is almost cleared up."


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Tavartkilaze assured me, "as long as the enemy in front is cleared up, I will accompany you to the meeting place to meet with the friendly commanders."


    Although I can''t get to the meeting place immediately to feel the exciting scene when the two armies meet, I have to report the news of the meeting to the rear immediately.


    First of all, I got through to the headquarters in the city of Izumi, and when I heard chisgakov''s voice, I immediately said with a smile, "Comrade deputy commander, I have good news for you. The 309th Regiment under the command of lieutenant colonel Lukin has successfully joined forces with general trakov''s troops coming from the opposite side."


    "Joined up?" Chisgakov was stunned at first, then exclaimed excitedly: "this is really wonderful. I will immediately inform Colonel bezikov of this good news and ask him to report the news of the meeting to the commander of the front army. "


    "Wait a minute, comrade deputy commander." At this time, I suddenly thought of tavartkilaze''s words. At present, only the Lukin regiment and the friendly forces join forces. If after we reported the news, the German army counterattacked the meeting place and regained control of the area, then we would be reprimanded by the superior. So I hesitated for a moment, Or he said to chisgakov tactfully: "this good news can be told to the military commissar and chief of staff first to make them happy. However, to be on the safe side, do not report to the headquarters of the front army for the time being. "


    "Ah?" After hearing this, chisgakov asked curiously, "why?"


    So I told him what I was worried about. After hearing this, he said, "I see. Comrade commander, you are worried that the enemy has just reported the good news, but has resumed its position. Then we may be reproached by our superiors."


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander, that''s what I mean." I didn''t hide my point at all.


    After a moment''s silence, chisgakov asked, "Comrade commander, in order to solve the battle as soon as possible, I suggest that the 89th division of general sherekin''s guard can fight immediately, in addition to the 375TH infantry division holding fast to ijum."


    "Well, comrade deputy commander." I thought that although the defeat of the German army had been decided, there were still some variables. If one of the troops could fight again, the chance of winning would be higher. So I readily replied, "let the 89th division of general seleucin''s guards take part in the battle immediately."


    Having arranged for the 89th division of the guards to take part in the war, I suddenly felt that I should talk to trekov and tell him the good news of the division. Maybe he didn''t know the good news at this time.


    As soon as I got to the telephone, before I could tell the operator, he took off the earphone and handed it to me. He said respectfully, "Comrade commander, general trakov of the friendly army wants to speak to you!"


    As soon as I put on my headphones, I heard trakov''s laughter coming out, and then I heard him say out loud, "Hello, Rita, do you know? Our two troops have successfully joined forces. "


    "Yes, yes, Comrade General." I also happily replied, "our 309th regiment of the 51st division of the guards has successfully joined your forces after cutting through the enemy''s three defensive positions."


    "Rita, although we''ve joined up," trekov continued, "it''s not too optimistic. If the whole meeting area is only about one kilometer wide, the gap in the enemy''s defense line will not be big enough. We should concentrate our forces on the two wings and expand our achievements as soon as possible. "


    "Comrade General, please rest assured." I think his idea coincides with mine. He quickly added: "I have ordered the 89th division of the guards to fight..."


    "Wait a minute, Rita. Please wait a minute." Before I finished, trakov couldn''t wait to interrupt me. He tentatively asked, "is the 89th division of the guards you are talking about under the command of major general shelukin, the unit that first planted the red flag in the cities of Belgorod and Kharkov?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." I couldn''t help but wonder that trikov actually knew the name of the 89th division and its commander. I couldn''t help asking, "do you know general Xie Liujin?"


    "I''ve seen his name in the war papers, but I''ve never seen him in person." Trekov let out a sigh of relief, and then said, "since you put all his guards into battle, there is no suspense about the rest of the battle. I believe we can meet again after dawn. "


    After I finished my call with trakov, I turned to taraze and said, "Comrade commander, as soon as general Xie Liujin''s close guard division arrives, I will let them launch an attack immediately, so as to completely smash the German defense and complete the full reunion with the friendly forces."


    A few hours later, at 8:30 a.m., I received a call from Xie Liujin from the front. He said to me excitedly, "Comrade commander, our troops have wiped out all the German troops that can be seen in sight. You and commander tavartkiraze can come to the meeting place."


    I sat in the front command for several hours, waiting for this moment. As soon as I put down the phone, I directly told tavartkilaze, "Comrade commander, please go to prepare the vehicles. We need to get to the meeting place immediately."


    After listening to my instructions, tavartkiraze immediately went to the door and called a soldier on guard. After a few words of explanation, he came back and said to me, "Comrade commander, I have already given the explanation. Five minutes at most, they can get the car ready. By the way, do you need the deputy commander to go with you? "


    If it wasn''t for tawalter killazer''s reminder, I would have forgotten chisgakov who stayed behind in the city of ijum. As soon as I patted my forehead, I chagrined and said, "Damn, how could I forget such an important thing." With that, I went to the table and grabbed the phone.


    When I heard chisgakov''s voice coming out of the receiver, I immediately said, "Hello, comrade deputy commander. General tavartkiraze and I are going to see the meeting place. Would you like to join us


    "Is that true, comrade commander?" When hearing my question, she said excitedly, "how can such an exciting scene be without me? Please wait in the headquarters for a moment. I''ll be there in five minutes


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Looking back on the road I saw when I came here, I knew that he would never arrive in five minutes, but I followed his meaning and said, "well, comrade deputy commander, I''ll wait for you in the headquarters. When you arrive, we''ll go to the meeting place together. "


    As soon as I put down the phone, busmanov came in from the outside, straightened up and reported to me, "Comrade commander, your car is ready. When are you going to start?"


    "Comrade major," I said with a smile, looking at basmanov, "would you please wait a moment? Because we have to wait for the deputy commander. When he comes, we''ll set out together. "


    "Comrades commander," tavartkilaze said to me as soon as I finished saying, "it will take at least half an hour to get to the meeting place from here because the road condition is so bad. For example, I''ll stay here and wait for the deputy commander. Will you take the bus first


    "No, no, general tavartkiraze." Although his words touched my heart, I thought that I had just promised chisgakov that I would wait for him here, so I had to say with regret, "since I said that I would go with him when the deputy commander arrives, I''ll stay here for a while."


    Tavartkilaze saw that I was so stubborn that he couldn''t say anything more. He only nodded in silence, then waved to basmanov and asked him to wait for us outside the door.


    By the time chisgakov appeared, fifteen minutes had passed. I waited for him to enter the headquarters. After a few simple greetings, I waved and said, "Comrade deputy commander, it''s getting late. Let''s go."


    Our jeep, surrounded by several armored vehicles, drove towards the meeting place ahead. Along the way, I saw craters, large and small, and scattered corpses, both of the enemy''s and our army''s commanders and fighters, and even destroyed tanks and artillery on both sides of the road.


    Looking at the soldiers cleaning the battlefield outside, chisjakov said with emotion: "Comrade commander, it seems that the battle last night was really fierce."


    "Yes." I nodded my head and said, "we are the final winners."


    After I finished, chisgakov suddenly asked, "what are we going to do next?"


    I looked at him and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t understand what you mean?"


    "Comrade commander, I mean what new tasks will be assigned to us by the higher authorities after the liberation of ijum and the reunion with the friendly forces?" Chisjakov said with some frustration: "if there is such an offensive battle again, it is estimated that it will be difficult to achieve any brilliant results with the strength of our group army." Hearing this, tawalter killazer, sitting in the front co pilot''s seat, turned and opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, nothing came out and turned his head again¡° Comrade deputy commander, I''m sorry, I don''t know. " After I understood the implication of his words, I answered truthfully: "after a series of large-scale attacks, the strength of our group army has been greatly weakened, and the ammunition has almost been exhausted. Under such circumstances, if the superior gives us any more offensive orders, it is estimated that we will not be able to achieve any results. " Speaking of this, I suddenly thought of a thing. I quickly raised my hand and patted the driver on the shoulder, and cried out: "driver, stop, stop by the side of the road!" When the car stopped, both chisjakov and tavartkiraze looked at me in surprise. Without waiting for the two men to ask, I hastened to say, "I just left in such a hurry that I didn''t even have time to report the good news that the main German forces were destroyed and the division area expanded. At this time, we can let him report the good news of the division to the headquarters of the front army, and make commander watujing happy. " After listening to me, tavartkilaze opened the car door, got out of the car and headed for an armored car parked behind us, because there was a radio station on the car, which could contact the group headquarters directly. Two minutes later, tavartkilaze returned to the car, turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, I have asked the telegraph operator to report the good news to Colonel bzikov." Then he turned to the driver and said, "Comrade driver, drive!" Our jeep bumped on the road for more than 20 minutes. As more and more commanders and fighters appeared in front of us, our car had to stop. Tavartkilaze opened the car door and yelled at a soldier passing by from a distance: "Hello, comrade soldier, I ask you, where is the meeting place?" The other side glanced at his epaulets, and then quickly came to attention in the same place. Then he respectfully replied, "report general, comrade, here we are. The meeting place between us and the friendly forces is here."

 Chapter 1249

    After listening to the soldier, tavartkilaze immediately turned to me and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, do you hear me? It''s here. It''s where we meet with our friends. "


    "Comrade soldier," I also pushed the door open and asked the soldier outside, "what part are you from?"


    Hearing my voice, the soldier quickly turned to me and replied with the same respectful attitude: "report commander comrade, I''m a close guard. Lu Jin flushed with excitement. After he released my hand, he raised his hand to salute me and said excitedly:" thank you, commander comrade. "


    After sitting down again, I first asked Xie Liujin, "Comrade General, how many people are left in your division?"


    After a few convulsions, Xie Liujin said with embarrassment, "report to commander, there are still 3700 people left in the division, and the ammunition is almost consumed. If we don''t make up as soon as possible, I don''t think our division will be able to take part in the next battle. "


    I wrote down what Xie Liujin said in the book in front of me. Then he raised his head and asked Lu Jin, "Comrade commander, how many people are left in your regiment and how about the ammunition?"


    Lu Jin''s rank is the lowest. When you hear my question, you can''t answer it like Xie Liujin. He stood up and respectfully reported to me, "Comrade commander, there are still more than 700 people left in the regiment, and one third of them are wounded. As for ammunition, it''s also very bad. All the grenades of the soldiers have been used up, and there is less than a base number of bullets left. "


    Tavartkilaze frowned after listening to Lukin''s report. He turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, I think we should take the current situation of the 309th regiment of the guards as an example. It is impossible to take part in the next battle. I suggest that they should be withdrawn immediately to make up for it."


    "It is not only the 309th regiment of the guards that needs to be taken down for rectification, but also the 89th division of the guards of general Xie Liujin." I said with some distress: "at present, the losses of the whole group army are very great, and after several battles, the commanders and fighters are very tired. They are unable to take part in the next battle."


    As soon as I finished, I heard someone behind me say, "what''s the matter, comrade o''shanina, why are you playing the retreat drum? You know, it''s not like your character. "


    I followed the voice and saw trakov standing at the door, looking at me with a smile. With a cry of surprise, I jumped up from my seat, stepped up to him, reached out to him, and said excitedly, "Hello, general trakov, nice to see you again!"


    Trekov shook hands with me, looked me up and down, and said, "o''shanina, you''re good. Your men are good, too. Since the battle of Kursk, I have been hearing a series of brilliant achievements made by your group army. Every time I study your achievements in the map, I feel that if I were in your position at that time, I would never do better than you. "


    "General trakov, you are too modest." I was a little embarrassed to hear trekov''s praise, and I quickly flattered and said, "in fact, I learned a lot of tactics when I was your subordinate. Without your guidance, I don''t think I can achieve today''s results. "


    "OK, OK, you original superiors and subordinates, don''t flatter each other like this any more." Just as trekov and I were praising each other, another voice came from outside the tent: "block up the tent door so that we can''t get in."


    When trekov heard the sound, he had a strange smile on his face. He took one side of his body and let the people outside in. With a finger, he asked me with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, do you still know him?"


    I''ll look up and down in the future and feel familiar, but I can''t remember where I met. I tried to think about the commander I knew, but I still couldn''t match anyone. So I shook my head and said with some embarrassment, "sorry, general trakov, I really can''t remember who this commander is."


    When the man heard me say that, he looked up at the sky with a long sigh and said, "Oh, I didn''t expect that. I haven''t seen you for more than a year. Comrade o''shanina doesn''t know me. Comrade trakov, maybe her present position is too high, so it''s not surprising that she can''t recognize my old superior. "


    Old boss?! This strange appellation, let me look at each other again, and finally he and the image of a person in my mind coincide. I pointed to him and asked tentatively, "are you general lelushenko? At the beginning of the battle of Moscow, you were the commander of the first army and the commander of the fifth group army of the guard infantry. Later, you were wounded in the battle. After you recovered, you became the commander of the 30th group army. "


    "It''s just me," he said with a helpless expression. "Comrade oshanina, I thought you would not remember my old friends after you became commander."


    "Look, dear Dmitry danilovich, I''ll say that oshanina won''t forget you. You see, she even remembers the position you held One side of the trakov gloated and said: "you still have to bet with me, this is the loss of heart convinced it!"


    "Nice to meet you here, comrade oshanina." "I can''t believe we can fight together again," he said, shaking my hand¡° General lelushenko, "I asked tentatively as I shook hands with him," I don''t know which army you are in now as commander? " Because I know that he is Stalin''s favorite general, and his rank of lieutenant general is not enough for him to be a commander or division commander, or at least a commander of the group army. I was just guessing, but what he said later confirmed my conjecture: "Comrade oshanina, I am now the commander of the third group army of the guards, and general trakov''s eighth group army of the guards, both belong to the combat sequence of the southwest front army."¡° Well, don''t stand here and talk about the past. " Seeing that we began to chat, trikov was afraid that we would never finish talking, so he urged us to sit down and study our next action

 Chapter 1250

    The space in the tent was very small, and trekov and lelushenko became more and more crowded. Lu Jin and chief of staff zhalijiuk, who were at a lower level, immediately stood up, raised their hands to salute us, and turned to walk out of the tent.


    When everyone sat down around the table again, I began to murmur to myself that if there were German artillery observers nearby to direct the artillery and fire two guns at us, it would be a brilliant result: three group commanders, one deputy commander, one Guard commander and two guard division commanders could be killed at one time.


    While I was thinking wildly, I heard trakov asking Guriev, "Comrade General, how are the casualties of your division in the battle?"


    "Comrades commander," guriyev immediately frowned when he heard trekov''s question. He replied with a sad face, "our troops were wildly shelled by enemy artillery in the battle of expanding the breakthrough, and the casualties were very heavy. After meeting with the friendly forces last night, he fought tenaciously with the enemy who tried to counterattack. At present, one third of the commanders and more than half of the soldiers of the whole division have been killed and injured, which is in urgent need of repair. "


    "Comrades general, your division will definitely carry out rectification, but not now. You still have more important tasks to carry out." "Trekov said, suddenly asked:" by the way, did you catch the SS officers in the battle


    "SS officer?" Guriyev repeated what trakov had said. He was just about to turn to be the chief of staff of his division. However, he found that the other party had left with Lu Jin. He said with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, you have to ask the chief of staff about this. He knows the situation better than I do."


    Just as trikov was about to ask Guriev to call his chief of staff over, sheriujin suddenly said, "general trikov, my men have captured many prisoners, among them the SS. But... "


    Seeing that Xie Liujin''s words were only half said, he didn''t go on and asked curiously, "Comrade General, why don''t you go on. What do you want to say "but"


    I understand why Xie Liujin only said half of what he said. As soon as trikov finished asking, he quickly said, "according to my order, the captured SS prisoners should be separated from other IDF prisoners. After screening, they will all be shot. By the way, general trakov, why did you suddenly think of asking about the SS prisoners? "


    "I''m also entrusted by my friends." When trekov heard me ask, his face became more serious. "He asked me to help him find a SS officer named heinman."


    I know that before the outbreak of the patriotic war, due to the cooperative relationship between the Soviet Union and Germany, it was not strange for us to know a few German friends. However, as soon as the war started, almost all of us decisively drew a clear line. It''s the first time I''ve heard about this kind of behavior of actively trusting the high level of the army to find a German friend of my own. So I asked cautiously, "general trakov, may I ask your friend, why do you want to help find a SS officer?"


    Trikov looked around and saw that everyone''s eyes were focused on him. He laughed and said, "it seems that everyone wants to know why my friend asked me to find a SS officer?"


    Seeing that everyone nodded in agreement, he continued: "my friend worked in the people''s Committee for foreign affairs. He was a member of the Embassy in Germany before the war. After the outbreak of the war, the Germans sent the Ss to surround the embassy and tried to confiscate some of our important documents. I just mentioned heinman. He was the security captain of the Embassy at that time. Although he was a * *, he sympathized with our comrades very much. He used his identity to help our comrades leave the embassy and transfer some important documents to a safe place. After my friend came back to China, he never forgot the friend who offered them selfless help. Later, he found out that Hayman was also transferred to the east line, so he asked me to help him find out Hayman''s whereabouts. "


    Although the briefing given by trakov is brief, we all know that although this heinman is a SS officer, he has selflessly provided a lot of help to our comrades. As soon as I waited for trakov to finish, I asked curiously, "general trakov, I don''t know how old this heinman is this year, what he looks like, and what his current rank is?"


    On hearing my series of questions, trakov shook his head and said with a wry smile, "I''m sorry, comrade oshanina. The information I can provide you is very limited. I only know that heinman is in his forties. When the war broke out, he was a captain. I know nothing about the rest. "


    Chisjakov muttered, "this heinman was a SS captain in ''41..."


    Before chisgakov finished speaking, lelushenko interrupted him and reminded him: "the rank of captain of SS is equivalent to that of squadron leader of SS first-class commando. It''s been two years since the war broke out, and this heinman is at least a major, that is, a second-class SS commando captain. "


    "Mr. Xie Liujin," I am deeply afraid that if we wait a little longer, the officers and men outside will shoot all the SS prisoners. As soon as lelushenko finishes speaking, he immediately tells Xie Liujin, "go and check if there is a man named heinman among the SS prisoners. Anyone by that name, whether a soldier or an officer, will be brought here at once. "


    "Yes Xie Liujin stood up and agreed, then turned and walked out of the tent¡° Comrade oshanina, I don''t understand. " After leaving the tent, lelushenko asked me with a puzzled look: "why do you order your subordinates like that, whether they are soldiers or officers, as long as they call Hayman, they will bring them here. Didn''t you hear Comrade trakov say that he was a captain two years ago As for the query of lelushenko, I replied with a smile: "Comrade General, I think this heinman has a lot of Pro Soviet performance in peacetime. Even during the siege of our embassy, he used his power to let the staff out and help transfer important documents without being noticed by others, but he must have been on the blacklist of Gestapo for a long time, That''s why he was sent to the eastern front to die. "¡° General guriyev, "trikov told guriyev immediately after I finished saying," as for the Germans captured by your division, please go and have a look. Don''t let our men kill our friends. "¡° All right, comrade commander, "Guriev stood up and replied cheerfully," I''ll go and ask about it now. " When there were only a few of our commanders left in the room, trakov finally turned the topic to me: "oshanina, in the battle last night, your troops played very well, and the commanders and fighters were very brave. Without your cooperation, I estimate that it will take at least two or three days to occupy ijum. "¡° Yes, I think so, too. " As soon as his words were heard, lelushenko, who was next to him, added: "after more than a month''s fighting, the 6th and 12th group armies lost a lot of money and were unable to launch a new attack on the enemy''s defense depth. That''s why the headquarters of the front army transferred my close guard 3rd group army as the reserve of trikov." Although I know that in the next half a month or more, my group army will be almost idle, I am still very interested in the action of the southwest Front Army: "general trakov, where do you think our next battle will start?" Trekov looked down at the map in front of him, then pushed it to me, pointed to it and said, "according to the order we received before the attack, after occupying ijum, the troops will continue to move southwest to attack bavinkovo area and wipe out all the enemies on the East Bank of the Dnieper River. In this way, we will be able to complete the recovery of Donbas and bring the entire important coal and metallurgical area back into our hands. " I was staring at the map and thinking to myself. From the position of our deployment, we are getting farther and farther away from the main force of Voronezh''s front army. If we continue to develop in this way, will our superiors classify us as the grassland front army or the southwest front army? If that is the case, then we will not have a chance to take part in the battle to liberate Kiev. Maybe seeing that I didn''t speak, lelushenko misunderstood me and explained to me: "o''shanina, don''t worry. Now that the enemy in the ijum area has been eliminated by us, the enemy''s defense on the whole East Bank of the Dnieper River will become empty, and the Germans will not be able to deploy troops to fill these gaps. In this way, after finishing the task of suppressing the German army, we can continue to develop southward and go down the Dnieper River to liberate zaborosh, liberate nicopol, and even save Odessa on the shore of the Black Sea from the German hands. " When lelushenko was imagining how the army would fight all the way to win back one city after another from the German hands, my eyes also focused on zaborosh''s position. Half a year ago, I led the 79th infantry army to rush across the Dnieper River from here, and all the way to the northwest, stirring up the empty rear of the German army. Even through the way of night attack, lucky from the hands of the German, will defend the empty Kiev won. If Moscow didn''t transfer me away, maybe I could stay in Kiev for a long time. Trekov then told me briefly about the positions of several groups of Southwest army and their next operational direction. Just then, a voice calling for a report came out of the door. Trikov thought it was the teacher who came back after completing the task, so he called out without looking back: "come in." As the curtain was lifted, a lieutenant walked in from the outside. He saw a room full of generals. He couldn''t help but feel at a loss. Trekov looked up at him and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, what''s the matter?"¡° Report to the commander, "the lieutenant, who was obviously a subordinate of guriyev, immediately straightened up and replied," someone is calling for general oshanina. " When I heard that there was a call for me, I quickly stood up and asked kindly, "Comrade lieutenant, do you know where the call came from?"¡° I''m not sure. It should be a senior leader. He said that his name was watujing... "When I heard that watujing was calling, I knew there must be something important. I urged the lieutenant," Lieutenant, take me to the phone. " With that, he quickly walked out of the tent.

 Chapter 1251

    Under the guidance of the lieutenant, I came to a tent nearby. As soon as I entered the tent, I saw the telephone earphone placed on an ammunition box. Two soldiers sitting in the tent saw me enter the door and quickly stood up to salute me.


    I nodded at them, then put the earphone to my ear, heard the voice of watujing coming from inside, and said in a hurry: "Hello, senior general. You are calling at this time. Do you have any instructions


    Unexpectedly, watujing suddenly asked in a serious tone, "is there anyone else around you?"


    "Yes, senior general." I glanced inside the tent and said, "there''s another lieutenant and two soldiers, both of them signalmen."


    "Let them avoid it." "What we''re going to talk about next, we can''t let them hear it," watujing said in an unquestionable tone


    I covered the microphone and looked around at the lieutenant and his men in the tent. I hesitated about what to say to them. However, the lieutenant was obviously very insightful. Seeing my action, he immediately waved to his subordinates, and then the three left the tent together.


    When I was the only one left in the tent, I immediately said to watujing, "Comrade General, now I am the only one left in the tent. If you have anything important, please tell me."


    "Comrade oshanina, first of all, I would like to extend my congratulations to you. After winning successive victories in leading the liberation of bergorod and Kharkov, your group army has successfully liberated ijum and achieved the reunion with the main force of the southwest front army." Watujing did not directly say what it was. Instead, he praised me first, and then said, "Comrade Stalin was very happy when he heard about your achievements. He offered to give awards to all division commanders, regimental commanders, and other commanders and political workers. At the same time, commanders at the level of your group army will be awarded the first-class Medal of the patriotic war. "


    Because he is not "like this, comrade oshanina." When vatukin heard my question, he hesitated a little and said, "Comrade Stalin has called me specially to ask for your opinions and see what your next step is."


    When I heard him say that, my heart sank. My heart said that again. Do I have to go to work? I took a deep breath and tried to ask in a smooth tone, "Comrade General, I don''t know how the Supreme Commander himself plans to arrange me?"


    "Two choices. One is to continue to stay in the army. After a short rest in iqumu, the whole army marched in the direction of priluki, ready to take part in the battle to liberate Kiev. " Vatukin''s tone became stable again: "second, go to work in the local area. According to Comrade Stalin, if you go to work in the local area, you may still have some say in making decisions in the house next to Red Square in a few years. Or after the liberation of Ukraine, you will work in Kiev as deputy to Comrade Khrushchev. "


    Watujing''s words made my heart beat faster and I began to weigh up my power. A few years later, I had a certain say in important affairs, that is to say, I would have the opportunity to enter the highest level committee in the future and become one of the most powerful dozens of people. This proposal inevitably shakes my original idea of staying in the army.


    "Comrade oshanina, what do you think?" "If you make up your mind, I can reply to Comrade Stalin immediately," he said on the phone


    "Comrade General, please... Please wait a little longer and let me think about it again." Hearing the urging of watujing, I answered in a flurried way: "this matter is of great importance. I need to think about it again."


    "I''ll give you two minutes." "In two minutes, you will give me a final reply, because Comrade Stalin is still waiting for my reply," said vatukin flatly


    I quickly thought about the advantages and disadvantages between staying in the front and working in the rear. If more than ten minutes ago, I never thought about working in the past, but the "pie" that watujing threw out made me hesitant.


    "It''s two minutes," watujing''s voice came out through the receiver again, but I didn''t have an accurate answer in my heart. He then asked, "how about it? Have you considered it?"


    At this moment, it suddenly occurred to me that I had been trying to avoid working in the rear since I crossed the world. Because of the cultural differences between the East and the west, some of my abnormal actions may not be easy to be detected in the war field. But if I go to the rear office and deal with those old greasy guys every day, they may soon find their flaws. Thinking of this, I said decisively to watujing, "senior general, I''ve thought about it!"


    "What''s your decision?" Watugin asked tentatively.


    "I decided to stay on the front line with my soldiers." In order not to let watujing down, I added: "I have been in the front line for two years and have adapted to the life here. If I am transferred to the rear at this time, I think I will have to find a way to adapt to that environment myself for a long time. Instead of that, I''d better stay at the front line, stay with my soldiers and think about how to win more battles. "


    After I had finished, I immediately held my breath and listened to watujing''s reaction. Unexpectedly, he was relieved and said, "o''shanina, I knew you wouldn''t go back to work. Your departure is a great loss to our entire Voronezh front army. " Although I know that watujing''s evaluation of me is a bit exaggerated, I also understand that he said this in the hope that I can continue to serve as commander of the sixth group army of the guards. When launching a campaign like this, I have at least one army that can hold hands. I stopped for a moment, and then said, "senior general, after the successive offensive battles of bergorod, Kharkov and ijum, the sixth group army of the guards suffered heavy casualties and depleted ammunition. I don''t know when you can replenish us?"¡° At present, all units are facing the same situation as you. It may be difficult to get timely replenishment. " Perhaps to ease my heart, he added, "but I will give priority to the supplement to your army."

 Chapter 1252

    As I walked out of the tent, I saw the lieutenant and two soldiers standing in a clearing smoking. Seeing me coming out, the lieutenant quickly threw the cigarette end on the ground, then ground it twice with his feet. Then he ran to me and asked with a smile, "Comrade General, have you finished your call?"


    I nodded and said to him politely, "yes, comrade lieutenant, you can go in after I call."


    When trekov saw me walking into the tent, he stopped talking to lelushenko. Instead, he looked up and asked me, "Comrade oshanina, I don''t know that commander vatukin called you. What''s the important thing."


    "It''s no big deal, just to arrange the deployment of the troops." Of course, it is impossible for me to tell them what vatukin said and then perfunctorily say, "but it may take some time to supplement our army."


    After listening to me, trakov didn''t ask any more questions. He just nodded to show that he knew. After I sat down, he pushed the map in front of me and said, "at present, our road condition is very bad. With limited transport vehicles, it is very difficult to complete the replenishment of hundreds of thousands of millions of troops in a short time. So I''ll give you a suggestion. In order to get supplies from the superior in the shortest time, you should build roads. "


    "Road, what road?" Trekov''s words confused me. When I thought of the earth road that would boil when it rained, I had a headache: "you won''t let me send troops to repair the road, will you?"


    "Of course not," trekov immediately denied my conjecture, and then said, "even if you mobilize the forces of your whole army, it will be an unfinished task to build the road from Kursk to ijum in a few days."


    "What road do you want us to build?" What trekov said made me even more confused.


    "O''shanina, look here." He pointed to the map and explained to me: "in fact, from Kursk to Belgorod, to Kharkov, and even to ijum, there are the same railways. As long as you repair the railways in the damaged areas, our railway transportation will be restored. You know, a train carries more than 100 trucks. As long as your superiors can supplement you through the railway, I believe your troops will soon be able to regain their combat effectiveness. "


    "That''s a good idea." As soon as trikov finished, chisgakov continued: "I think we only need to draw out a division to repair the railway from Kharkov to ijum in about two days. As for the railways in other areas, they can only be repaired by other troops. "


    "In what direction will your troops be transferred after the completion of the rectification?" Trekov looked at me and asked curiously, "are we going to deploy our southwest army to take part in the attack on zaborosh, or are we going to move in another direction?"


    It occurred to me that it should not be a secret for a commander of such a rank as trakov to know where the troops would go next. Moreover, even if I didn''t say anything, he could understand it from other directions, so I said frankly, "after finishing the rest, my troops will move towards priluki and take part in the next action of the front army!"


    Trakov searched the map for a moment and found the place I said. After looking at it for a moment, he slapped the table and said excitedly, "priluki is only 100 kilometers away from Kiev. It seems that the task of liberating Kiev is handed over to the Voronezh front army."


    "It''s so enviable." It is said that the task of liberating Kiev falls on the head of Voronezh''s front army. With a look of envy, lelushenko said: "I really hope that my group army can be put under the command of general vatukin, so that we can take part in the battle of liberating Kiev. It will go down in history. "


    "If I remember correctly, comrade oshanina led the 79th infantry army to liberate Kiev a few months ago." Trekov looked at me and said with a smile, "if it wasn''t for the German encirclement of the city, it would be difficult to supply, I think Kiev is still in our hands."


    "Don''t worry, general trakov." When I think of Kiev, I feel like I''ve been pulled by someone. It''s here that my legitimate troops are almost lost. I''m going to start from scratch. I gritted my teeth and said, "if Kiev is liberated this time, I will never let the Germans take it back."


    "If you want to attack Kiev, it''s almost impossible to rush into the city from the river crossing bridge." Trekov pointed to the position of Kiev and began to explain to me all kinds of situations that might be encountered in the battle: "although Kiev is divided into two parts by the Dnieper River, once we eliminate the enemy in the East Bank city and the enemy left in the West Bank, we can decisively blow up the bridge on the river, so that our mechanized troops can not rush across the river."


    "At this time, if we want to capture the cities on the West Bank, we must carry out landing operations." When lelushenka heard this, he also said solemnly: "like the Volga River, the Dnieper River has a flat east bank, while the West Bank is steep. If we rashly attack the West Bank guarded by the enemy without a comprehensive plan in advance, it is likely to end in failure. "


    When lelushenka said this, I found that it was true. The Dnieper River and Volga River were flat on the east bank and steep on the West Bank. After crossing the Dnieper River by force, the troops had to attack the enemy on the bank. The price must be very high.


    "General lelushenko," I thought for a long time, but I didn''t think of any good way, so I humbly asked lelushenko, "do you have any good way?" When I heard this question, Liu Yushchenko and Chuikov looked at each other and then joked, "I didn''t think of that. O Natsu Chaanning Aa, who was good at winning the game, asked me how to force the river Nie de Bo." Having said these two words, he stopped for a moment, and then said thoughtfully, "I have two ways. One is stupid, that is, to let the artillery bombard the German West Bank positions continuously, and then let the infantry force across regardless of casualties; The second is to use a frontal feint to attract the attention of the German army, and then our main force will cross the river from other areas and detour back to the enemy''s rear. " After listening, I didn''t speak. I just frowned and tapped on the table with my fingers. I was thinking about which of the two combat plans proposed by lelushenko was more suitable. Seeing that I didn''t speak for a long time, chisgakov was a little worried. He gently touched me with his arm, and then asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, I don''t know if you think general lelushenko''s plan is more suitable for us."

 Chapter 1253

    As for the plan put forward by lelushenko, I think the vast majority of people will not hesitate to choose the second one. After all, this kind of play is a combination of Qi and Zheng, which can not only break through the enemy''s line of defense and complete the task of forced crossing, but also reduce the casualties of the troops.


    But before I could make my choice, I was interrupted by people coming in from outside the tent. When I saw trakov and lelushenko brush the floor from their seats and stand up, I knew it was a big man. Looking around, there are three commanders standing at the door of the tent. The round faced commander standing in the front is carrying the rank of general. As soon as I saw the rank of the other side clearly, I could guess the identity of the other side: the full name of the man was rojion Yakovlev Malinowski, the current commander of the southwest front army.


    I quickly stood up, raised my hand to the other side, and then stood in silence. Malinowski walked up to me with a smile, reached out to me and said, "is it Comrade oshanina? I''ve heard your name for a long time, but I didn''t expect to see you for the first time until today. "


    "Hello, senior general." I took his hand and said respectfully, "nice to meet you here!"


    After shaking hands with me, he leaned slightly to one side, pointed aside, and said, "I''d like to introduce my deputy to you: General gertov, military commissar, and major general korgenevich, chief of staff. They have admired you for a long time."


    After shaking hands with Malinowski''s two deputies, I sat at the table again because there were too many people to sit down. This time, it was chisjakov and tavartkilaze who gave way. However, they did not leave. Instead, they stood side by side behind me and listened to Malinowski''s speech quietly.


    "General oshanina, it would have taken us three to five days to get here if your army hadn''t occupied ijum in time and launched an east-west attack with us." Malinowski said with emotion: "on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the front army, I would like to thank you and all the commanders and fighters of the sixth group army of the close guard." Then he stood up and raised his hand to give me a solemn military salute.


    Seeing a commander with a higher rank saluted me, I stood up to salute him and said modestly, "senior general, you''re over praised. We are friendly forces and should have helped each other."


    Malinowski waved his hand, said: "although we liberated Izumi only three or five days earlier, but let us reduce at least thousands of casualties."


    I wanted to be modest, but when I heard what he said, I closed my mouth. You know, excessive modesty is not a Russian character. When I was seated again, I thought that my troops would be deployed soon, so I took the initiative to propose to Malinowski: "senior general, according to the order of the superior, the sixth group army of the close guard will be deployed to other areas in the near future. By that time, the ijum will be empty. I don''t know which army you plan to send to take over?"


    Hearing what I said, Malinowski raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise, "why is the superior planning to transfer your army to other areas?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." I nodded my head and said, "it''s OK. In ten days or less, our troops will leave here and move to priluki."


    When he heard that we were going to evacuate, Malinowski sighed and said with some regret, "it''s a pity. Originally, I wanted to ask vasilevsky, who is in charge of our front army, to allow him to put your army under the command of our front army. As soon as you leave, there seems to be no hope at all. "


    Major general korgenevich, chief of staff, looked at the map on the table, frowned and said, "it''s more than 300 kilometers from here to priluki. Even if there are all kinds of vehicles, it will take at least a week for your army to reach the designated place under such bad road conditions."


    When Malinowski heard his chief of staff say this, he was stunned. After looking at the other side, he was surprised. Then he added: "yes, especially when your troops have just added new recruits, such a long March will disrupt the organizational structure of the troops." Speaking of this, he looked at me and asked sincerely, "Comrade oshanina, don''t you really consider staying in my southwest front army? You must know that you used to be a member of the Sixth Army. If you didn''t take the risk of exchanging with the German army, it is estimated that the body of haridonov would not have been found


    Although I was excited to hear Malinowski mention my experience in the southwest front army, I immediately thought that the front army would be reorganized into the Ukrainian third front army on October 20. Although Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria and other countries were liberated successively in the later stage of the war, I did not participate in the major campaign of liberating Berlin, This is a pity. Since I know that there is no possibility to attack Berlin and capture Hitler alive in this front army, if I still choose, I will put the cart before the horse. Therefore, as soon as Malinowski''s words were finished, I said politely, "senior general, thank you for your kindness. I will obey the arrangement of the superior. I''ll stay in whatever unit my superiors want me to stay in. "


    My statement made Malinowski understand that his plan to pry the corner of the wall failed. However, he was very generous, so he did not continue to tangle on this matter. Instead, he turned to korgenevich and asked, "chief of staff, which army do you think is more suitable to replace ijum''s defense?" Korgenevich immediately replied without thinking: "Comrade commander, I think we should let the Sixth Army of lieutenant general shlieminkulishev take over the defense of ijum." He looked at me with friendly eyes, and then said, "I believe that all the officers and men of the group army are very willing to take over the defense of ijum from general oshanina." Considering that we are going to move to priluki soon, it is meaningless to leave the main force of the group army in ijum, so at the end of the meeting with the senior commander of the southwest front army, as soon as I returned to ijum, I gave orders to all the troops stationed near ijum to withdraw, and asked them to return to chuhuyev within three days. Shortly after I gave this order to the troops, bzikov called me from chuhuyev and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, why do you want all the troops to withdraw from chuhuyev? You know, we''ve captured ijum. How can we hand it over to other troops, even if they are our friends? "¡° Comrade chief of staff, a few hours ago, I received a call from general watujing. " My order was so hasty that it was not even conveyed to bezikov by vatukin. At the moment, he hastily added: "he informed me that after a short rest, the troops would move to the priluki area. Anyway, Izumi will be handed over to the friendly forces sooner or later. What''s the difference between a few days earlier and a few days later? " After hearing what I said, bzikov was still reluctant to say: "but, comrade commander, just like this, we handed over the ijum, which we captured only after a bloody battle, to the friendly forces. I''m afraid the soldiers below will have emotions..." "OK, chief of staff, don''t say any more." I was deeply afraid that he would say something unpleasant if he went on, so I interrupted him in time and said to myself, "this is the end of the matter. No one should mention it any more. Besides, it''s not a bad thing that all our troops are concentrated in chuhuyev. At least when we get supplies from our superiors, it will be much easier. " When I said this, bezikov no longer complained, but asked me about my next deployment: "Comrade commander, since our troops do not need to push further south, can all the scouts sent in that direction be withdrawn?"¡° Yes I readily agreed with this proposal of bezikov, and then said, "send these reconnaissance units to the west to scout the road to priluki, so as to ensure the safety of the main forces of the group when they leave." After I put down the phone, chisjakov, who had been standing beside me, asked me, "Comrade commander, the order has been given to all divisions. Shall we go back to the headquarters of the group army now?"¡° Yes, comrade deputy commander, we''ll pack up and set out immediately. " Having said this to chisgakov, I turned to tavartkilaze and said to him, "Comrade commander, you will take a division to stay in ijum for the time being and be responsible for the transfer of defense to the friendly forces."¡° Don''t worry, comrade commander. " Tavartkirazebo assured me that "I will complete the handover with friendly forces as soon as possible." On the way back to chuhuyev, chisjakov, who was sitting next to me, asked, "Comrade commander, when do you think we will launch an attack on Kiev?" I was just about to answer this question of chisgakov, but I was surprised to find that the driver turned his head slightly towards us and seemed to be listening carefully to our chat. He immediately called out to him: "Comrade driver, don''t look around, drive with the spirit of the center!" Seeing that the driver turned his head and drove with all his attention, I turned to look at chisjakov and said, "deputy commander, we have just fought with the Germans for two months. Although we have won and recovered a lot of lost ground, you should also see that our casualties are not small, and our weapons and ammunition are almost consumed. Under such circumstances, if we launch an all-round attack on the enemy, we may repeat the mistakes we made at the beginning of this year. " Although I didn''t say that it was the defeat in the battle of Kharkov at the beginning of the year, chisgakov understood what I was going to say. He nodded and echoed: "yes, after a series of victories, our troops not only suffered heavy casualties and almost exhausted ammunition, but also exhausted their commanders and fighters. It''s going to take a period of rest before they can get back into a new fight. "

 Chapter 1254

    Although vatukin told me that it would only take a few days to rest, our troops would be transferred to the priluki area. However, until the end of September, there was nothing more worthy of special knowledge about the guards than sherekin''s. The only regret was that the application for promotion of the 375TH infantry division to the guard division had not been approved by the supreme command. Perhaps to appease the division commander, major general Peter dmitriyevich govorunanko, he was appointed commander of the 18th tank army by his superiors, and he could take office in a week.


    After receiving this letter of appointment from the higher authorities, I immediately called govorunanko to the headquarters of the group army to have the necessary conversation with him. Judging from various signs, after govorunanko leaves, the superior will not send a new division commander to the division. Therefore, I would like to ask him for advice to see who is more suitable to take over the post of division commander.


    However, our conversation was not pleasant. Govorunanko proposed that the deputy division commander should take over his post, which was rejected by us for lack of ability; The two candidates proposed by chisgakov were also denied by govorunanko because they lacked the overall view.


    Just when the atmosphere in the headquarters became dull, kirilov, who went to inspect the political propaganda work of the divisions, came back from the outside. Seeing a room full of silent people, he asked curiously, "what''s the matter with you? Why don''t you talk? When I was just outside the door, I thought there was no one in the room. "


    "Comrade military commissar, this is the case." When he saw kirilov asking, he told him exactly what we were discussing.


    Kirilov couldn''t help laughing and said to chisgakov, "Comrade deputy commander, since there are no suitable candidates in the 375TH infantry division, why don''t we take them from other divisions?"


    When kirilov said this, my eyes suddenly brightened. Yes, why do we always consider the selection of division commander in the 375TH infantry division instead of focusing on the whole group army? As I was about to speak, I heard chisgakov rush to say: "Comrade military commissar, at present, all divisions have just finished replenishment, and the work of division commander and deputy division commander is very busy. Where can we find the right person to be the division commander of the 375TH infantry division?"


    "Since no one can be selected from the teachers and Deputy teachers, we can consider selecting them from the commander." Kirilov confidently said: "from July to the end of August, there are many regimental commanders with outstanding abilities. They can be competent for higher level work."


    "Comrade military commissar," chisgakov heard kirilov say, looked at him with wide eyes and asked curiously, "do you have a suitable candidate?"


    "Of course, there are. His ability is good. The troops under his command have achieved a lot in the past two months. But the rank is a little lower. At present, it''s only the rank of commander. " Kirilov did not immediately name the person in his mind, but first spoke out the short board of that person. After that, he turned and looked at me with a smile.


    When I saw his expression, I could not help thinking about his rank of lieutenant colonel. The name of the candidate he might recommend immediately came to my mind.


    "Well, if I say comrades of the military commissar, don''t play dumb. Just tell me who it is." "There are dozens of commanders in the whole army, including artillery and tank troops. I can''t guess who you want to recommend from so many people," he asked anxiously


    Kirilov pounced on me and said, "well, comrade deputy commander, I think Rita has guessed who I''m going to recommend. You can ask her."


    After listening to kirilov''s words, chisjakov immediately turned to me for help and asked anxiously¡° Comrade commander, can you guess who the comrades of the military commissar are going to recommend? "


    I looked at kirilov and asked tentatively, "Comrade military commissar, if I guess correctly, you are going to recommend Lieutenant Colonel Lu Jin, head of the 309th regiment of the 51st division of the close guard infantry, to be the division commander of the 375TH division of the infantry, aren''t you?"


    Kirilov, when I had finished, nodded with a smile, and then said, "yes, I think lieutenant colonel Lukin is the best choice for a teacher." After that, he turned to the commander of the 23rd army of the guard infantry, who was sitting at the table without saying a word: "general tavartkiraze, do you agree with my recommendation?"


    When tavartkilaze heard that kirilov had recommended one of his commanders to be the commander of the 375TH infantry division, he was stunned at first. Then he regained his mind, nodded his head and said, "Comrade military commissar, the candidate you recommended is good. He is fully qualified for the position of commander of the 375TH infantry division." At this point, he gave me a smile and said in a friendly way, "Comrade commander, in fact, I want to wait a while longer. If the higher authorities have not appointed a new division commander of the 51st division of Jinwei, they recommend Lieutenant Colonel Lu Jin to take the post of division commander. I didn''t expect that he was preempted by the comrades of the military commissar today."


    "General tavartkilaze," chisgakov said to him solemnly and immediately after he finished his speech: "as Comrade military commissar has just said, Lieutenant Colonel Lukin''s rank is too low and his qualifications are not enough. As commander of the guard division, maybe the headquarters of the front army will not approve him. Since he has the ability, let him be the commander of the 375TH infantry division


    As soon as chisjakov finished, I asked while the iron was hot: "do you have any different opinions on lieutenant colonel Lukin''s position as commander of the 375TH infantry division?"¡° No! " Kirilov answered first¡° Neither do I! " Then he answered that tavartkilaze was very happy that his subordinates could become teachers, so he agreed without hesitation. Then chisgakov, bezikov and govorunanko agreed to let lieutenant colonel Lukin be the commander of the 375TH infantry division. When the bill to appoint Lukin as the commander of the 375TH Infantry Division was passed, I picked up the phone and asked the signalman to get through to the headquarters of the front army. I intend to report the appointment to the higher authorities. When I get permission, I can let Lukin take office. As soon as I got through the phone, I heard watujing say in a hurry: "Comrade oshanina, this is really great. I just wanted to call you, but you called first." I listened to watujing''s tone of voice very eagerly, then I knew that there was something important. I quickly asked, "senior general, I don''t know what important task we have to give us."¡° According to intelligence, the German army is retreating in a large scale. It seems that they want to withdraw across the Dnieper River immediately. " Vatukin ordered me on the phone and said, "your group army should take action immediately and pursue the German army in the shortest time. If it is possible to destroy them on the banks of the Dnieper River, if not, immediately cross the Dnieper River and build a landing site on the West Bank of the river, so that the main force of the front army can cross the river and launch a comprehensive attack on the German army. "

 Chapter 1255

    Although we have been ordered to cross the Dnieper River by force, it is an unsustainable task for us. The 67th division of guards, stationed in the city of karovka to the southeast of Poltava, is the nearest unit to the Dnieper River. Although they were only 150 kilometers away from the river, three divisions of the southwest Front Army stood in front of them.


    As the German army suddenly retreated back with great strides, the friendly troops who got the information also took active action and launched the follow-up pursuit. Following the enemy, they rushed to the Dnieper River. It is estimated that the order they received, like ours, would be the best result if they could destroy the enemy on the East Bank of the Dnieper River; If they can not be eliminated, they will immediately cross the Dnieper River by force, seize some landing sites on the other side of the river, and open up channels for subsequent troops to cross the river.


    After receiving the call from baksov, I immediately held a meeting with the commanders above the army level for discussion. After glancing at the commanders present, I asked, "comrades, judging from the current situation, our troops are too far away from the river to complete the task of crossing the Dnieper River in one or two days. What should we do next? What do you think? "


    "Comrade commander," Kravchenko, commander of the Fifth Army of the guard tank, stood up and looked at me and said, "otherwise, let my sixth motorized regiment of the guard take the lead and follow the retreating German army to the Dnieper River..."


    "Retreating German army, where else can we see retreating German army?" After listening to what he said, bzikov immediately complained, "the West and the south of our group army are all southwest forces. We want to pursue, and they want to pursue. When we get to the river, we will have captured all the prisoners. At the same time, the friendly forces have built enough landing sites on the other side of the river. We are just going to follow them with full arms. "


    "Chief of staff, what do you think we should do?" Although Kravchenko was not satisfied with the interruption of bezikov, he said patiently out of politeness: "since we have received the order of attack from the superior, we can''t stay here, can we?"


    Listening to the dispute between bezikov and Kravchenko, and staring at the map on the table, I felt that bezikov had a point. Originally, according to the original plan, we should have been stationed in the priluki region at least half a month ago. However, vatukin said that the German army with its back on the Dnieper river was ready to move. If we moved at such a time, It''s easy for the Germans to take advantage. As a result, now the Germans not only did not attack, but also retreated with great strides, which completely disrupted our plan.


    I was thinking about where to lead the troops to cross the river when I heard chisgakov calling me. When I looked up, I did not know when the dispute between bzikov and Kravchenko would stop. Then I looked at chisjakov and asked curiously, "Comrade deputy commander, what''s the matter with you?"


    "Comrade commander, I think we should think about the direction of our next action," chisjakov said briefly


    "If there is anything to discuss, just follow the orders of the superior." I said with no expression: "the group army should be ready to start immediately!"


    "Set out?" "Where should we start?" asked chisgakov, somewhat puzzled? You know, the order given to us by the head of the front army is to cross the Dnieper River by force. But look at the map. Zaborosh, dnieboropetrovsk, Gongqingcheng and klemenchug are all friendly defense areas. We can''t cross the river behind others. "


    When he said that, I just laughed, looked around and waved to akhromeyev, who was sitting by the wall, to come to me. When he came up to me and stood still, I asked him with a smile, "Comrade major, do you remember when we were fighting guerrillas in the rear of Manstein at the beginning of the year?"


    Akhromeyev was obviously stunned when he heard my question, but he immediately nodded and replied positively, "yes, comrade commander, I remember very well."


    The commanders here do not know why I suddenly asked akhromeyev this question, but no one spoke, just looked at me with strange eyes.


    I then asked him, "major, since you remember that. Well, you must remember where we planned to break through the Dnieper River before our long-distance attack on Kiev? "


    As soon as I finished, a smile appeared on akhromeyev''s face. He said with some pride, "Comrade commander, have you forgotten that you used the regiment I commanded in the battle to capture the bridge over the river at kaniv?"


    Except kirilov, the rest of the commanders were confused about our conversation. Bezikov asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, what are you two talking about? Why can''t I understand you at all?"


    "Major, since all the commanders here want to know what''s going on, it''s up to you to tell us." I saw that everyone was curious, so I handed the answer to akhromeyev.


    Akhromeyev turned to the commander sitting at the table and said, "comrades of commanders, at the beginning of the year, the commander was the commander of the 79th infantry army at that time. After she commanded the troops to cross the Dnieper River from zaborosh, the empty rear area of the German army was turned upside down. Later, in order to get rid of more and more German troops, we went north along the Dnieper River and chose two places to cross the river, one is cherkaser, the other is kaniv... "


    Hearing two place names, several commanders around the table, except kirilov, crowded their heads together and carefully searched for the two place names they had just heard. Akhromeyev stopped talking in order not to affect them to see the map. Chisgakov was familiar with the map. He just glanced at the two cities. Seeing that akhromeyev stopped talking, he urged him: "Comrade chief of operations, go on, please go on." Akhromeyev agreed and went on to say: "after choosing these two crossing sites, the commander personally went to the field investigation and found that the cherkaser river was too wide and there were not enough ships to cross the river in a short time, so he chose the relatively narrow kaniv to cross the river..." after akhromeyev finished speaking, Chisjakov said thoughtfully, "Comrade commander, I understand your meaning in general. You are going to choose our crossing site in cherkaser and caniv. Do I understand correctly? "¡° Yes, comrade deputy commander. " Seeing that chisgakov had guessed his intention, I did not hide my point of view. I said truthfully, "I intend to cross the Dnieper River by two ferries. After the troops have established themselves on the other side of the river, they will attack Kiev along the river. "¡° Your plan is very bold, comrade commander "You know, our new defense area is in priluki. It''s 150 to 200 kilometers away from the two ferries you mentioned," chisgakov said with some surprise¡° I have decided that the troops will not go to priluki. " As I said this, I went to the surrounding areas, pointed to the southwest of priluki with my hand, and said, "the whole army immediately moved to rouble. The distance between this city and the two ferries is no more than 100 kilometers, which is convenient for the movement of the army." As soon as my words came out, the whole room was in a mess. Although no more than ten people attended the meeting, there was a lot of discussion. Chisjakov slapped his hand heavily on the table twice. "Be quiet, please be quiet!" After the house was quiet again, chisgakov looked at me with some worry and asked, "comrades commander, the new residence arranged for us by our superiors is priluki, but now it''s in rouble. Is that suitable?"¡° Comrade deputy commander, the current situation of the enemy has changed, and we need to make corresponding adjustments. " After I finished this sentence, I thought about it for a moment, and added, "it''s up to you to report the change of station to the headquarters of the front army." One hour later, I started with Kravchenko''s close guard motorized sixth regiment. For security reasons, Kravchenko invited me to ride in his armored car. On the way, Kravchenko asked me, "Comrade commander, after crossing the river, will our army stay at the landing site to provide cover for the troops, or will we continue to advance in the opposite direction?"¡° After all your troops have crossed the river, stay at the landing site and provide the necessary cover for the infantry. " I think that the German army retreated across the Dnieper River in an organized way before we suffered a devastating blow. Let alone one of Kravchenko''s tank troops, even if one of my group troops was pulled over, it would be at an absolute disadvantage in terms of strength and equipment. In this case, it''s not like attacking the German army rashly. So I told Kravchenko: "before the friendly forces launch an attack on the German army, remember to hold still and never attack easily, otherwise the troops will suffer huge losses." Kravchenko probably didn''t expect me to answer like this. After listening to my words, he was stunned for a long time and then said, "Comrade commander, even if there is a suitable fighter plane, don''t we take the initiative to attack?"¡° Comrade general, "I was deeply afraid that he would disobey my orders, so I said solemnly," don''t you know that the German army is retreating to the other side of the Dnieper River on a large scale. As long as they complete their retreat, their troops and equipment on the other side will be in absolute superiority. If we don''t get the cooperation of the friendly forces, we will rashly attack the enemy and attract the German forces in several directions to us. At that time, let alone attack Kiev, even if we can keep the landing site, it is also a problem. "

 Chapter 1256

    In the vast twilight, our armored car passed through deserted fields and small woods. On both sides of the road, in addition to large and small craters, we could see burned villages and trees whose treetops were cut off by shrapnel. Except for the troops we are marching on, there is no sign of a civilian at all.


    Seeing this, Kravchenko asked curiously, "strange, how come all the villages along the way have been burned down and no one in the village can see them?"


    "It''s no use saying that, comrade commander." I looked out from the lookout, then said with a wry smile, "the villages outside must have been burned by the Germans, and the villagers have also been looted by them. Manstein''s hand is very poisonous. He left us a piece of deserted scorched earth. He just wanted us to rely on Moscow or Kursk instead of getting supplies from these places. We have millions of people in the front army, and the huge amount of materials we need is enough to crush the logistics forces, so that they can gain the time to deploy their defense. "


    When I said this, clavchenko said with deep understanding: "I understand that the reason why the headquarters of the front army ordered us to cross the Dnieper River in the shortest possible time may be to prevent the German army from building solid Fortifications on the other side of the river. If we really let them build the fortifications, we are bound to pay a great sacrifice if we want to cross over. "


    I looked out again and saw that it was a strange place, so I asked casually, "Comrade commander, where are we now?"


    Kravchenko, hearing my question, looked out through the lookout. I guess from his tight brow that he should not know where it is. A moment later, I heard him ask the driver, "Hey, comrade driver, where are we?"


    "Report, comrades commander," the driver of the armored car turned his head and said aloud, "we are now in horol, fifteen kilometers from rouble."


    "Give me the map." After hearing the driver''s position, I quickly reached out to Kravchenko, "I''ll see where horol is."


    When Kravchenko spread the map in front of me, he was afraid that I didn''t know where horol was, and he pointed out: "Comrade commander, you see, it''s right here, southwest of rouble." Then his finger moved to the left along the line on the map. "If we keep going west, about 30 kilometers ahead, we can reach zolotonosha, which is only two or three kilometers away from cherkaser."


    Kravchenko''s words moved my heart, and then I told him: "Comrade commander, order the troops to change the direction of March and move towards zolotonosha."


    Kravchenko was puzzled by my order. He asked blankly, "why, comrade commander, are we not going to rouble?"


    "Send a telegram to the deputy commander to send a division into the ruble, while the rest of the troops move immediately towards zolotonosha." In order to keep him from being confused, I specially explained to him: "Comrade commander, you have a look. Zolotonosha is in a good geographical position, just between cherkaser and kaniv. Do you see that the Dnieper River, which used to be wide, becomes narrow and turbulent here. I don''t think the German army has time to build fortifications in this area, so we need to cross the river as soon as possible and build a landing site on the other side


    Listening to what I said, Kravchenko knew that it was useless to oppose. He had no choice but to agree. He ordered the signalmen to inform the troops to change the direction of March and move towards zolotonosha. In addition, a telegram was sent to chisgakov informing them of my decision.


    An hour later, our team arrived at zolotonoza. In the city, as we saw along the way, all the residents disappeared, factories and stations were destroyed, and all the buildings were burned. Kravchenko ordered the head of the motorized regiment to set up the command post in the city. Then our armored car, surrounded by seven or eight motorcycles, passed through the city and drove towards the river.


    After driving along the rough road for more than ten minutes, the armored car finally stopped. The pilot turned to us and said, "commander, commander, we are by the river."


    After we got off the armored car, the soldiers who followed us jumped off the motorcycles one after another and set up a circular defense line around us. I looked left and right, and saw a hill not far away. I patted Kravchenko on the shoulder and said to him, "Comrade commander, let''s go there. We should see the enemy''s position more clearly there. "


    Standing on the earth bag, I raised my telescope and looked across the bank. The cliff on the West Bank of the Dnieper River is like a high wall blocking my view. After my repeated observation, it has no slope at all. Except for climbers who can climb up with tools, ordinary soldiers can only climb up with ladders. From the river to the cliff, there is a distance of about forty or fifty meters. There are rows of wooden piles with barbed wire in the middle. It is obvious that it is the minefield arranged by the German.


    I put down my telescope, pointed to the cliffs and minefields on the other side, and said to Kravchenko, "Comrade commander, do you see that? The cliff on the other side is 30 meters high. If the enemy sets up several firepower points on it, they can attack our river crossing troops from a commanding height. "


    Kravchenko looked at the cliffs and minefields on the other side, then frowned and said: "from the current situation, it seems that there is no German guard on the opposite side, but the current here is too fast. I''m afraid that the army can''t reach the other side without crossing equipment." If I didn''t want to cross the river, I never cared about whether there were any crossing equipment in the army. At the moment, when Kravchenko said that, his heart suddenly thumped. He said that if we can''t go to the other side of the river as soon as possible and wait for the enemy to react and build a defense on the other side, our crossing operation will become more difficult than it is now. Thinking of this, I ordered Kravchenko: "Comrade commander, immediately organize the soldiers to cut down trees, make rafts and cross the river overnight." For my command, Kravchenko''s face showed a embarrassed expression: "Comrade commander, it''s too late. Can we wait until tomorrow morning before we act?". We should know that the river is fast and the vision at night is not good, which is prone to accidents. " Then he pointed to the other side and added, "look again, there are so many minefields on the opposite side. If there is no engineer to clear the mine, our soldiers can only squat by the river and can''t move on."¡° Comrade commander, "I said with some dissatisfaction," the Germans have no idea that our troops have reached the Dnieper River. It''s a good time for us to cross the river. If we wait until tomorrow, when the Germans find us and set up mortars and machine guns on the cliff on the other side to block the river, how much sacrifice will we have to pay to cross the river that we could have crossed smoothly? " Kravchenko, who had been taught a few words by me, nodded after a moment of silence, and then said, "Comrade commander, you are right. Although crossing the river at night is very dangerous, it is safer than crossing the river under the enemy''s shelling and machine gun fire. " After that, he turned around and told the messenger standing behind him with the radio on his back: "Comrade telegraph operator, send a message to the head of the motorized regiment immediately, and ask him to send two battalions to gather by the river with tree cutting tools." When the operator squatted aside to send the message, Kravchenko said to me in a low voice: "Comrade commander, we have too few people. It''s still a little difficult to make a raft that can cross the river in a short time. Do you think we should ask the deputy commander to send a guard division to cooperate with our river crossing operation¡° Comrade commander, your proposal is good. Let''s do as you say! Let them transfer the 67th division of the guards first. " When I said this, I thought about it and added, "I remember that there seemed to be a lot of canoes in their division. They were asked to send all these river crossing equipment to the river."¡° I see, "Kravchenko agreed excitedly, and ran to give the operator a new order. When Kravchenko came back from the radio operator, he said to me with concern: "Comrade commander, it''s cold outside. The ordered troops will have to wait a long time to get here. Let''s go back to the car." Although I was more than 400 meters away from the other side, I was still worried about being killed by German snipers. Although I wanted to go back to the armored car for a long time, I saw that Kravchenko had just been seriously looking at the opposite terrain, so I didn''t want to mention it. Now that he mentioned it on his own initiative, I promised to go back to the armored car with him and wait for the arrival of the river crossing troops.

 Chapter 1257

    The officers and men of the motorized regiment came quickly and arrived by the river half an hour after receiving the notice. After listening to Kravchenko''s order, the deputy head of the team led the troops into the woods and began to cut down trees to prepare rafts for crossing the river.


    Hearing the sound of felling in the direction of the grove, Kravchenko asked with some worry: "Comrade commander, our existing forces are limited. Even if the commanders and fighters do their best to cut down, it is estimated that they will have to wait until daybreak to make rafts that can transport the two battalions to the other side."


    "No, comrade commander." When I heard him say this, I immediately waved my hand and refuted his statement: "we are now competing with the Germans for time. If they find that we are about to cross the river here and have deployed defensive forces on the opposite cliff, we will not be so easy to cross the other bank again."


    "However, comrade commander, it takes a lot of time to cut down trees. In addition, the trees that have been cut down have to be made into rafts. It takes time." Kravchenko said with a worried face: "I think the troops can''t cross the river until after dawn at the fastest."


    Kravchenko''s understanding ability makes me feel speechless, I can''t help but look up and sigh. After a moment''s silence, I said to him, "Comrade commander, when all the troops can cross the river on the raft, it is estimated that the enemy has already set up fire points on the opposite cliff. Then, like hitting a moving target, we will wipe out our river crossing troops little by little in the river. So now we have to speed up our troops and cross the river before the Germans react. Even if we only cross one class, as long as they can occupy the opposite cliff, our next crossing operation will be much smoother. "


    "Only one class in the past, will the number be too small?" Kravchenko asked foolishly, "if there are enemies, they will be destroyed soon."


    When I heard him say that, I wish I could kick him. I don''t know how he became the commander of the tank army. He was so slow. I mean at least one class of soldiers should be sent to seize the position, but not only one class. I said in a bad voice: "Comrade commander, the troops sent to seize the highlands on the other side can serve as both a guard and a cover. If they find that the enemy appears, they can immediately carry out on-the-spot blocking. It only takes more than ten minutes, and our successor troops will arrive. "


    When I said this, Kravchenko nodded and said reluctantly, "well, I''ll tell the deputy head of the team later that after making two or three rafts, I''ll cross some of the troops across the river to seize the opposite highland and cover the river crossing operation of the subsequent troops."


    After more than an hour, just when I was in a hurry, the deputy commander in charge of commanding the troops to cut down trees came and excitedly reported to us: "commander, commander, we have made ten rafts. Do we need to go into the water immediately?"


    When I heard his report, I felt ecstatic, but on the surface I asked calmly, "Comrade deputy head, how many people can you ride on a raft?"


    After thinking for a moment, the deputy commander replied, "Comrade report commander, a raft can take six people."


    There are six people on one raft and 60 people on ten rafts. There should be no problem for so many people to hold on for half an hour to an hour even if the enemy attacks. Thinking of this, I immediately told the Deputy Commander: "Comrade deputy commander, let your people carry the raft to the river first."


    The deputy commander took out a flashlight from his briefcase. After pressing it on, he turned around and swayed in the direction of the woods. After the light of a shaking flashlight came from the direction of the woods, he nodded with satisfaction, put out the flashlight, turned back to me and said, "Comrade commander, the raft will be delivered soon."


    A few minutes later, a sound of orderly bugles came with the sound of rapid footsteps. I looked in the direction of the sound and saw a group of commanders and fighters running towards us with rafts. I asked the deputy commander, "are the troops ready to cross the river?"


    "Ready!" The deputy commander replied respectfully, "we can ferry 50 people at a time by five soldiers and their weapons on each raft."


    "Wait, comrade deputy chief." I interrupted the excited deputy commander and asked curiously, "didn''t you just report that six people can ride on each raft? How did you become five people after a while? "


    "Well, comrade commander. Listen to my explanation, "said the deputy commander, seeing that I was not happy on my face," when I said that each raft can carry six people, I mean when they are empty handed. Now they need to carry the weapons they carry to cross the river, so the number of people on the raft will be reduced. "


    I wanted to see the troops crossing the river with my own eyes, so I followed the rafters to the river. After the deputy head of the regiment has chosen the place to launch the raft, I specially told him: "Comrade deputy head, tell the officers and men who want to cross the river that when they get to the river, they must not be reluctant to paddle and cross the river as soon as possible. On the other side, after carefully crossing the enemy''s minefield, he quickly occupied the cliff and established defensive positions on it. "


    "Yes, comrade commander," the deputy commander replied solemnly, "I will convey your order to the commander crossing the river, so that he can set up a defensive position on the cliff as soon as he reaches the other bank."


    Then with the order of the deputy commander, the soldiers carried the raft down to the knee deep river. With the command of the deputy commander, we put the raft in the water. But the amazing scene happened. Instead of floating on the surface as I expected, the raft sank directly to the bottom.


    "What the hell is going on?" This scene is not only seen by me, but also by Kravchenko, the deputy commander and all the commanders and fighters standing around. Without waiting for me to speak, Kravchenko grabbed the collar of the deputy commander and asked aloud, "what''s the matter? Why did the raft sink?"


    The deputy commander was flustered, shook his head like a rattle, and said repeatedly, "Comrade commander, I don''t know. Maybe this kind of wood is not suitable for rafting, or the raft is too small, so it sank as soon as it was launched


    Although I didn''t know why the raft sank, I knew that it was not the time to investigate the responsibility, so I told the deputy commander, "OK, comrade deputy commander, first pick up the raft and try again to make it bigger."


    Just as the deputy commander was directing the soldiers to pick up the rafts, the roar of the car motor came from the distance. In the bright moonlight, I can see clearly that there is a long motorcade coming. Seeing the sudden appearance of the motorcade, chisgakov immediately asked with vigilance, "Comrade commander, who is coming, and will it be the German troops preparing to withdraw to cherkaser?"


    "No, comrade commander." Although the team is still a few kilometers away, I can basically conclude that it is not the German army, but our team. "If the German army has such a large team, I don''t think they will march at night."


    After a few minutes, a jeep came quickly and stopped more than ten meters away. As soon as the car stopped, someone pushed the door open and jumped out. Then he asked aloud, "where is the commander?"


    I recognized the voice of major general baksov, commander of the 67th division of the guards, and quickly replied with a smile, "I''m here, Comrade General. Your 67th division of the guards has arrived?"


    Barksov quickly walked up to me. Instead of saluting, he straightened up and said, "Comrade commander, the 67th division of the guard infantry has arrived at your command. Please give us instructions!"


    I pointed to the cliff on the other side of the river and said, "major general baksov, do you see the cliff on the other side? The task I gave your division is to cross the river as quickly as possible, build solid defensive operations on it, and cover the main force of the Group Army crossing the river. Is there a problem? "


    Baksov raised the telescope around his neck, looked at the opposite bank for a long time, then turned to me and said, "don''t worry, comrade commander, my troops can occupy the opposite cliff in half an hour at most, and build the fortifications."


    Although barksov agreed very readily, I was not sure. I pointed to the posts of the barbed wire and said, "do you see the barbed wire? If I''m not mistaken, it''s the German minefield. Among the first group of river crossing troops, there must be engineering troops to open up channels in minefields. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." "In the first group of river crossing troops, I will arrange an engineering platoon. They should be able to open up roads in minefields in the shortest time," baksov said confidently


    While we were talking, the deputy commander was commanding a group of soldiers, carrying the dripping raft, and passed us in a mess. I took a look at the raft that sank into the water and asked baksov anxiously, "Sir, do you have enough equipment to cross the river?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." The deputy commander''s embarrassment was also seen by baksov, so he understood what I said very well. "We have more than 70 kayaks in our division, and we can take eight soldiers at a time. It will only take five or six hours at most to cross the whole division to the other side of the river. "


    "Since that is the case, sir, let''s move quickly." I heard that there were so many river crossing equipment in the 67th division of Jinwei, and my heart finally fell to the ground. I hastened to say, "you should seize the opposite cliff and build fortifications on it before the Germans find us."


    The next crossing was very smooth. At baksov''s command, dozens of canoes parked on the banks of the Dnieper River moved at the same time. As the oarsmen paddled desperately, the canoe advanced rapidly on the dark river. Seeing this scene, baksov said to me with a proud expression: "Comrade commander, have you seen it? At this speed, five minutes at most, our first echelon will be able to cross the river. "


    As there was no German resistance on the other side, our first river crossing troops soon landed. After disembarking from the ship, the first to rush forward were the engineers sent by barksov, who were responsible for opening up channels for the follow-up troops in the minefield. The troops remaining on the shore also continue to be on guard. The machine gunners even set up one machine gun position after another. Even if the German army carries out a counter attack, it is estimated that it will be defeated by our intensive fire.


    Before the ship returned to our side of the shore, the troops on standby on the other side of the river had already launched a battle formation, bent down along the passage opened by the engineers, and quickly rushed towards the cliff ahead. And the machine gunners still stay in place, continue to maintain a state of alert.


    I vaguely saw in the telescope that several agile soldiers climbed up the cliff, and then dropped ropes one by one from above, so that the commanders and fighters who stayed at the bottom of the cliff could climb up along the ropes. After a little while, with more and more figures at the top of the cliff, Captain baksov turned to me with a sigh of relief and said, "Comrade commander, at least one company has reached the top of the cliff. I believe they will soon be able to build a good defensive position to cover our main force and cross the river leisurely."

 Chapter 1258

    Seeing the first landing site built on the other side of the river, I was very happy, but Kravchenko''s words cooled my heart: "Comrade commander, our tanks can''t climb mountains, at least we haven''t learned it yet. I can''t deploy our tanks on the cliff


    Kravchenko''s words made me think deeply. It''s very difficult for infantry to climb such a steep cliff, not to mention heavy equipment such as tanks and artillery. It seems that in order for the main force of the group army to cross the river and establish a stable landing site on the other side, it is necessary to have a wharf suitable for parking large ferries so that heavy technical equipment such as tanks and artillery can be transported across the river.


    "Comrade commander, what are you thinking?" Maybe seeing me standing in a daze, Kravchenko next to me asked with concern, "are you not feeling well? Do you need to go back to the car and have a rest?"


    I waved my hand and then said to baksov, "Comrade division commander, immediately send reconnaissance troops to cherkaser and kaniv to find out the enemy''s deployment."


    "Yes After hearing my command, barksov said nothing and immediately went to assign reconnaissance tasks to his subordinates.


    "Why, comrade commander, do you plan to continue to carry out the battle plan of capturing the two port cities?" Hearing my reconnaissance mission, Kravchenko asked unexpectedly, "we can build a floating bridge in this area and transport heavy equipment such as tanks and artillery across the river. Why attack the German city with heavy troops? Isn''t it unnecessary?"


    "Comrade commander, look at the terrain here." I pointed to the opposite bank and said to him, "the soil by the river is too soft, so it''s easy for our tanks and artillery to sink in and not move. If the enemy plane appears in this situation, our tanks will become the live targets for bombing."


    As soon as I said this, Kravchenko, who had intended to persuade me for a second, swallowed what he had said. He thought for a moment, nodded his head and said: "Comrade commander, you are right. The terrain on the other side is really not suitable for the deployment of tank troops. If we really transport all heavy equipment across the river indiscriminately, it may really become the target of German air strikes. It seems that reconnaissance of the upstream and downstream is absolutely necessary. "


    After listening to Kravchenko''s routine, I was just about to add a few words when I saw a tricycle with its light on coming towards us. I turned to Kravchenko and said, "Comrade commander, it looks like I''m from zolotonosha. Is there something wrong with the city?"


    After the motorcycle stopped more than ten meters away from us, an officer jumped down from the sidefight and asked the commander and fighter passing by in a loud voice: "Hello, comrades, who knows where the commander is? Comrades... "


    I was surprised to hear that the officer was looking for me. I took a few steps towards him and cried out, "Hello, comrade commander, I''m here. What can I do for you?"


    When the officer heard my voice, he immediately stopped yelling, squinted at us, and then trotted all the way. He stood upright in front of me and reported, "Hello, comrade commander, I''m the staff officer of the group army headquarters. On the order of the deputy commander, please go back to the city. The headquarters had been stationed in zolotonosha an hour ago. "


    "What, the headquarters is in zolotonosha?" I was surprised by the officer''s words. I didn''t expect that chisgakov''s action was so fast. They were only a few hours later than me when they arrived in zolotonosha. I turned to Kravchenko and said, "Comrade commander, what''s your plan? Do you want to stay here or go back to the headquarters with me?"


    Kravchenko thought about it and then replied, "Comrade commander, I''d better stay by the river. Maybe after a while, three tank brigades will come one after another. I want to coordinate the garrison locations of all brigades. I can''t leave at will. "


    I also know that if there is no one to direct and coordinate the tank troops when they arrive, it will be a mess. As the deputy commander of the army, bere is definitely not suitable. After all, he has just served as the deputy commander of the army and has not established his own prestige, so Kravchenko has to stay.


    I nodded, agreed with Kravchenko, then got on the motorcycle, escorted by a group of soldiers, and returned to the headquarters in zolotonoshari.


    As soon as I walked into the headquarters, I saw that there were still a lot of people inside, but they were all around the table with the map spread out, and no one noticed me. I quickly called out: "comrades commander, Hello!"


    Hearing my voice, everyone turned to look at me and said with one voice, "Hello, comrade commander!"


    I walked quickly to the table and asked curiously, "what are you looking at?"


    Chisjakov took over my topic and said, "Comrade commander, we are studying where the main force of the group army should cross the river from."


    "Any results?" I had been standing by the river for several hours and bumping on the motorbike for more than ten minutes. I was already exhausted. Seeing that the seats around the table were empty, I found a place to sit down, looked up at chisjakov and asked, "where are you going to cross the river?"


    Chisjakov looked at bezikov and akhromeyev standing on the other side, and then replied, "after our repeated discussions, we think we should choose kaniv as the place to cross the river."


    "Give me your reasons." I asked briefly.


    "It''s very simple. The river here is very narrow. It''s only 500 meters wide. The narrowest place is only over 200 meters." "Even if the Germans blow up the river crossing bridge, we can also choose other areas for forced crossing," chisjakov said with confidence


    "Comrade deputy commander, since we have chosen the place to cross the river." After listening to this, I asked, "when are you going to start?"


    Chisgakov frowned and thought for a moment, then said: "as it takes time for the troops to assemble and prepare the crossing equipment, I think we should choose the crossing time in two days, that is, foxiao on October 1. After the powerful artillery preparation, our troops launched a strong crossing operation... "


    "All right, comrade deputy commander." I did not wait for him to finish, then interrupted him, "two days later, it is estimated that the enemy has already built a perfect defense system on the other side, and their artillery and machine gun fire will be able to destroy our river crossing commanders and fighters in the turbulent Dnieper River like shooting targets."


    After hearing me say this, chisjakov''s face muscles twitched violently for a few times, and some of them said reluctantly, "but Comrade commander, even if he crossed the river two days later, he seemed a little too hasty. After all, our main force is too far away from here. When the soldiers come here after a long journey, it is not realistic to ask them to fight across the river immediately. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." After chisjakov finished, bzikov added: "before dawn tomorrow, in addition to the 67th division and the motorized sixth regiment, there will be at most one 52nd division, and the rest of the troops will arrive at noon or evening. I don''t think it''s wise to use such a limited force to fight across the river. "


    "Be careful, Rita!" After their words, even kirilov, who seldom talks at military meetings, unexpectedly expressed his own opinion: "if the exhausted troops are allowed to attack the enemy, even if they barely cross the river, it is estimated that the troops will suffer heavy casualties."


    When kirilov spoke, I kept silent. I just glanced at akhromeyev, who was standing opposite and didn''t speak. When I saw his mouth open, he seemed to want to say something, but he didn''t say it at last. However, from his expression, I can guess that he must also be on the same front with the first few people who spoke. They all wanted to dissuade me from taking any rash action before the troops finished preparing to cross the river.


    After the room was quiet, I coughed softly, stood up with my hands on the table, leaned forward slightly, and said, "comrades, before we discuss the capture of kaniv, I''d like to tell you some good news. An hour ago, the 67th division of general baksov''s guards successfully crossed the Dnieper River and established a landing site on the other side. "


    "What? The 67th division of Jinwei has crossed the river? " Hearing the news I announced, everyone opened their mouths wide in surprise with an incredible expression on their faces. After a long time, chisjakov stammered and asked me: "Comrade commander, are you... Are you telling me the truth?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." I nodded to chisgakov and said with certainty, "I saw the division''s troops cross the Dnieper River and build a landing site on the opposite cliff."


    Chisjakov grabbed the map and dragged it to me. He asked impatiently, "Comrade commander, where is the 67th division of Jinwei successfully crossing the river?"


    "Here," I said, pointing to the crossing place on the map, "there are no German defensive positions here, only minefields. But in the first group of river crossing troops, there were engineers. It didn''t take long for them to open up a passage in the minefields after they went ashore."


    Chisgakov looked here for a long time, then unexpectedly called akhromeyev over, pushed the map in front of him and asked, "Comrade chief of operations, what do you think of this crossing place?"


    Akhromeyev looked back and forth for a while, then shook his head and said, "if it''s a small group of light troops crossing the river here, there should be no problem. But if large forces, especially those with heavy equipment, cross the river, they will become hesitant and unable to advance rapidly and deeply to the enemy''s defense. " After that, he immediately raised his head and looked at me nervously to see what I had to say.


    "The major is right. The current crossing site is not conducive to the development of large troops." In order not to make akhromeyev nervous, I walked around the table to him, raised my hand, patted him on the shoulder, gave him a smile of approval, and then said, "so we have to choose other directions as the main crossing site of the group army."


    "Where should we choose to cross the river?" Asked chisgakov.


    When I heard his question, I immediately focused on him and asked strangely, "didn''t you choose kaniv as the place to cross the river?"


    "But, comrade commander." After listening to what I said, chisgakov''s face again showed a embarrassed expression: "from the current situation, after dawn, the only one who can fight in this area is the 52nd division of the close guard. Compared with the enemy''s forces, it''s too big a gap."¡° If we only get close to the 52nd division of Wei, I think it''s hard to succeed. However, we can let the 67th division of the guards who have successfully crossed the river go up along the river to attack the flanks of the German army, so that they can''t look at each other head and tail. In this way, the success rate of crossing the river will be greatly improved. "¡° If that is the case, I think there should be no problem in capturing kaniv. " After these two words, chisgakov turned around and said to bzikov, "chief of staff, please send a telegram to the 52nd division of the guards immediately, so that they can speed up their march and get to the other side of kaniv before dawn, and be ready to cross the river."¡° No problem. I''m going to send a message to general Nekrasov After finishing this sentence, bzikov said on his own, "I also asked him to collect more crossing equipment along the way, so that more troops can cross the river at one time." As soon as bezikov left the headquarters to send a telegram next door, the telephone rang in the room. The phone call was from vatukin. When he heard my voice, he asked directly, "Hello, comrade oshanina, where are you and your troops?"¡° Report to the general I respectfully replied, "I''m in zolotonosha now."¡° Zolotonosa? " After hearing this place name, watujing immediately looked it up on the map. A moment later, his voice came out of his headphones again: "Damn, how did you get to the Bank of the Dnieper?"¡° That''s right, Comrade General. " I thought that I had temporarily changed the direction of my March, but I didn''t report it to my superiors in time, which was an unorganized and undisciplined behavior. If my superiors wanted to investigate, I thought it would be too much for me, so I quickly and sincerely replied, "I think it''s good for us to carry out the river crossing operation to gather our troops in the zolotono sandy area." After listening to what I said, watujing did not go into the matter of my unauthorized deployment of troops in zolotonosha, but asked, "o''shanina, when do you plan to start the cross river battle? As far as I know, individual units of the southwest front have now set up landing sites on the other side of the Dnieper River. Your group army is the main force of Voronezh''s front army. You can''t fall behind them in action. "¡° Please rest assured, senior general. "Thinking that baksov''s 67th guard division is currently building Fortifications on the other side of the Dnieper River, I feel proud to report to vatujing that" my 67th guard division successfully crossed the Dnieper River an hour ago and established a landing site on the other side of the river. "

 Chapter 1259

    "What, your troops have crossed the Dnieper?" I was surprised to hear that. After a moment of silence, he asked nervously, "where did you cross the Dnieper?"


    "A lot between cherkaser and caniv." I briefly reported the situation of the troops crossing the river to watujing. In order to prevent him from directly ordering all the troops to cross the river from this area, I finally specially emphasized: "senior general, although there is no German defense at the place where we cross the river, the terrain is not suitable for the deployment of large forces, especially the deployment of armored forces. After all the research, we plan to choose other places to cross the river. "


    "Why, are you going to cross the river from other places?" After I finished, watujing asked slowly, "I want to hear, where do you think the right place is?"


    "Kanev!" I replied decisively: "we intend to send troops to carry out the forced crossing from kaniv. After seizing the city, we will build it as the starting point for our attack on Kiev."


    "Although the river of kanevu is very narrow, the current is too fast," vatukin asked anxiously, though he heard my plan clearly. "Are you sure the troops can cross the river successfully if there are heavy German soldiers on the other side?"


    I hesitated for a moment about watujing''s worries, and then answered with confidence: "Comrade General, don''t worry. I think our troops will be able to cross the river. Because according to the operational plan, when a troop is forced to cross the river, the 67th division of the guards will attack the flanks of the German troops along the river, so that they can''t look at each other head and tail. "


    "How many divisions are you going to send to take up the task of forced crossing?" "And what kind of firepower support can they get when they are forced to cross?" watujing continued


    "Although our troops are moving towards the banks of the Dnieper River overnight, the only troops that can arrive before daybreak are major general Nekrasov''s 52nd guard division. As for the firepower support they can get? " At this point, I pause for a moment, and turn my eyes to chisgakov. He quickly wrote a few numbers on the paper and handed them to me. After glancing at the above, I said, "before the attack, we will cover the German position on the other side with the firepower of a artillery regiment. At the beginning of the attack, the tanks of the 22nd brigade of the close guard tank will stop on the shore and destroy the enemy''s exposed fire points. "


    "No, you have too few troops." After listening to me, vatukin raised his voice and said, "after the main forces of the German army have retreated across the Dnieper River, we have no idea what their current forces are. If we only use one or two divisions to launch such a large-scale cross river operation, I don''t think it is appropriate."


    I''m a little at a loss about what vatukin said. After a long silence, I asked tentatively, "Comrade General, if we are not wrong, do you not agree that we should launch a river crossing operation immediately?"


    "It''s not that you disagree, it''s that your forces are too weak. To attack the enemy''s heavily fortified cities with your present strength is undoubtedly to die. " "Although we have won a lot of battles recently, we must not have the idea of belittling the enemy, otherwise we will suffer a great loss," watujing said to me earnestly


    What vatukin said made me laugh and cry. I said in my heart: where did I belittle the enemy? Although there was only one division in the frontal attack, there were similar forces attacking the German flanks. Can''t I solve the problem of the German army in kaniv? But a lot of words can be said in the heart, but must not be said. After much deliberation, I said to watujing, "Comrade General, please believe me that I have never underestimated the enemy because I have won several battles. The reason why we dare to fight across the river with two divisions is that the German army has just returned to the other side of the Dnieper River and has not yet had time to build a perfect defense system. When we launch an attack at this time, we can take them by surprise. If we wait until our successor troops arrive, and then launch the battle of crossing the river, it is estimated that the enemy will have built solid Fortifications on the other side long ago, and we will pay twice or even several times more when we attack. "


    As soon as I finished, I closed my mouth and waited anxiously for watujing''s response. After several minutes of silence, vatujing''s voice came out of the receiver: "well, comrade oshanina, I agree with your attack plan. However, your forces are still too weak. I will contact the friendly forces immediately and ask them to cooperate with you. "


    friendly forces! When I heard this word, I couldn''t help but have a flash in my eyes. As long as we have the support of friendly forces, our success rate of crossing the river can be greatly improved. But when I think about it, I don''t know which friendly army he is going to let fight with us. If the fighting force is strong, it''s better to say that if we meet a team mate like a pig, it''s our sorrow. Thinking of this, I couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade General, I don''t know which friendly army you plan to arrange to cooperate with us in the war."


    "This is a secret for the time being." I didn''t expect that watujing, who has always been more rigorous, also sold the pass at this time. He pretended mysteriously and said, "don''t worry, comrade oshanina. He will call you later to discuss the joint operation between your two troops."


    After I put down the phone, chisjakov and bzikov immediately asked with concern, "Comrade commander, did the senior general say which army should cooperate with us?"


    I shook my head and answered bitterly, "I don''t know."


    "What, you don''t know?" Hearing my answer, there were incredible expressions on everyone''s faces.


    I understand why you all have this kind of expression. After all, the battle of crossing the river will begin in a few hours, but as the commander of the group army, I don''t even know who I want to cooperate with. Isn''t that funny. However, I really didn''t know which army watujing was going to arrange to cooperate with us, so I had to shrug my shoulders, spread my hands and said, "sorry, I really don''t know, because the senior general didn''t say. But before long, the commanders who cooperate with us will call me to discuss joint operations. "


    With these words, I turned my eyes to bezikov and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, apart from the 52nd division of the guards, which army is closest to us?"


    Bezikov looked down at the map and then replied, "Lieutenant Colonel Lukin''s 375TH infantry division should be here by noon tomorrow. Therefore, even if the attack of the 52nd division of the close guard fails, it can be replaced by the Lujin division. "


    Lu Jin''s application for the post of division commander of the 375TH Infantry Division was approved almost as soon as it was reported. But I don''t know whether Lukin can control the army in a short time. So when zikov finished, I asked, "is general govoruninenko still in the division?"


    Bezikov shook his head and replied, "general govoruninenko has taken up his post in the tank army. At present, the division is under the command of Lt. Col. Lukin." Finally, he added, "I believe lieutenant colonel ilukin''s ability can build up his prestige in the army in the shortest time."


    Then I learned about the deployment of zolotonoza from akhromeyev. According to our reconnaissance, the main forces of the German army retreated to the other side of the Dnieper River, leaving behind unorganized stragglers. However, we still can''t take it lightly when we are on guard. If the headquarters is taken away by a small group of enemies, I will become the laughing stock of everyone.


    When he was busy, the telephone on the desk rang suddenly. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was only 20 minutes since I talked with watujing. I immediately guessed that the call must have been from a friendly commander. Unfortunately, I don''t know who this person is and whether it''s easy to get along with.


    While I was thinking, bzikov, who answered the phone, handed me the microphone in his hands, and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, the commander of the friendly army wants to talk to you."


    As soon as I put the receiver to my ear, I heard a familiar voice: "Hello, is that Rita? I''m katukov. "


    Hearing this voice, I immediately understood why bezikov was so excited. It turned out that the phone call was from katukov. I quickly calmed down and said politely, "Hello, general katukov. I''m glad to hear your voice."


    "Yes, we haven''t seen each other since we beat back the German attack on oboyan." Katukov''s voice was a little hoarse, but he was too excited: "commander vatukin just called me and asked me to send troops to assist you in launching a river crossing operation against kaniv. Well, tell me about your plan! "


    When I heard that the unit cooperating with me was actually the first group army of katukov''s close guard tank, my heart immediately became more solid. In my impression, katukov has not lost any battle, that is to say, the battle of crossing the river launched at dawn will surely win the victory I imagined.


    "Well, general katukov." I gave katukov a detailed account of my battle plan on the phone, and finally asked, "I don''t know what kind of forces you are going to send to assist our attack?"


    "I''ll send general Guttman''s tank Sixth Army to support you." Katukov was deeply afraid that I didn''t know who gertman was. He specially explained: "before you just served as the commander of the sixth group army of the guards, I took general gertman to you once."


    In fact, even if katukov didn''t say it, I still remember who gertman was, so as soon as he finished, I nodded and said, "remember, general katukov, I''m very impressed with general gertman." Then I changed the subject and asked, "but what''s the strength of the sixth tank army?"


    "The army governs the 22nd, 100th and 200th brigades of tanks and the 6th brigade of motorized infantry." in order to dispel my doubts, katukov immediately reported to me the serial number of the Sixth Army of tanks: "although they suffered huge losses in the battle of Kursk. However, after more than a month''s rest, the army has been supplemented with equipment and personnel, and now it is fully equipped and ready to enter new battles at any time. "


    "Great, general katukov. That''s great." When I heard that I could get the support of a fully loaded tank army, I immediately laughed and said, "with the tank army you support, I believe the river crossing battle in foxiao will surely win."


    "The Germans have just pushed to the other side of the Dnieper River. It is estimated that it is too late to build a perfect fortification. If you launch a sudden attack at this time, you will certainly catch them by surprise." When I heard katukov''s words, I couldn''t help feeling a lot. I didn''t expect that his judgment of the situation coincided with mine. When he wanted to say a few words, he continued: "however, I want to remind you that your crossing battle must be decided quickly. Once the delay, the enemy forces in the vicinity will continue to pour in. By that time, your battle of crossing the river will become a protracted and cruel war of attrition. Even if you barely occupy kaniv, the strength of the sixth group army will be greatly reduced. "¡° Don''t worry, general katukov. " For katukov''s reminder, I think he is too pessimistic. Under the current circumstances, even without the support of the Sixth Army of tanks, our two divisions can complete the river crossing operation in the shortest time and recover kaniv from the German hands¡° At the latest, before dark, we will be able to resolve the battle and successfully establish our defensive position in kaniv. By that time, if the enemy does not come, they will be defeated as long as they come. "¡° Since you have this confidence, I won''t say more. I believe you have such ability. " Katukov, who knew me well, said confidently: "I hope that one day, my first group army of close guard tanks, together with your sixth group army of close guard tanks, will rush into Kiev with head high and liberate this great city from the hands of the Germans." The people in the headquarters knew that there would be a fully loaded tank army to cooperate with us in crossing the river. They were excited. Everyone gathered around the map and began to talk about where to build a floating bridge to cross the river and where to launch a surprise attack on the enemy. The discussion was so heated that no one found out when general Gutman, accompanied by the staff of the headquarters, entered the headquarters and stood behind us for a long time. After hearing the staff''s loud report, the room was quiet. Everyone turned their attention from the map in front of them to the general standing in the middle of the room. I recognize the person is the tank Sixth Army commander gertman, quickly went up and said hello to him: "Hello, general gertman, welcome to my headquarters." After a quick glance at his epaulets, I hastened to add, "and congratulations on your higher rank, lieutenant general Gutman!"

 Chapter 1260

    Before the battle of Kursk, I just served as a guard. "Hello, comrade colonel." After shaking hands with him, Gutman pointed to me and said, "this is commander o''shanina. Later, your tank brigade will cooperate with their troops to launch the river crossing operation against kaniv."


    "Hello, Comrade General." Veradelle raised his hand to salute me and politely asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what our troops should do?"


    "Captain, please come here." I led him to the lookout, pointed to the river in the distance and said, "when our soldiers start crossing the river, you will deploy the tanks of the tank brigade to the river to attack the exposed fire points."


    After making clear his responsibilities, veradelle immediately left the observation post and arranged his tank brigade for the next combat mission. As soon as his front foot left, povsky came in with his back foot.


    As soon as povsky came in, he said to me, "Comrade commander, the artillery has been deployed. When can we start shelling the enemy''s positions?"


    Instead of answering his question immediately, I asked, "have you found out the position of the fire point on the other side?"


    Povsky nodded his head and said, "don''t worry, comrade commander. Our artillery observers have seen most of the positions of fire points, which are marked on the map. After the shelling starts, we can focus on these exposed fire points. "


    "General Nekrasov," I asked, looking back at Nekrasov, "are your troops ready to fight?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." "My troops are ready to fight and ready to cross the river at any time," he said


    After listening to his reply, I nodded with satisfaction, and then asked akhromeyev, "major, contact the 67th division of the guards and see where they have arrived?"


    Five minutes later, ahlomeyev came up to me with a map, pointed to a position on it and said, "Comrade commander, according to general baksov''s report, two regiments of the 67th division of the guards have arrived here, only three kilometers away from kaniv. The head of the leading group is lieutenant colonel shejerikov. "


    After listening to akhromeyev''s special explanation, the commander in charge of the team was my former subordinate, shijerikov. My heart felt a lot more secure. It seems that there should be no problem for us to successfully occupy kaniv today. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was only three o''clock in the morning. It was four hours before dawn. I thought for a moment, and then said decisively to povsky, "Comrade artillery commander, the artillery started shelling the enemy''s position at 3:30."


    "Yes Povsky immediately replied loudly.


    I turned to face Nekrasov and said, "general Nekrasov, we will have half an hour''s artillery preparation before the attack. As soon as the shelling stops, your soldiers will rush to the river with crossing equipment. Tell the soldiers that after the ship is launched, we must use our utmost strength to paddle, and strive to rush to the other side as soon as possible, so as to reduce unnecessary casualties. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Niekrasov confidently said to me, "I will certainly convey your order to the regiments."


    My temporary decision to advance the attack time is to consider the speed of the troops. Every move we made on this side of the river may have been discovered by the Germans. We are preparing for the attack, and they are not idle. They must be working against the clock to reinforce their fortifications. So advance attack, maybe the probability of success can be higher.


    At that time, the needle pointed to 3:30, and with bofsky''s command, the close guard rocket camp and the cannon regiment fired at the same time. In an instant, the German position on the other side became a sea of fire, and even the dark sky was red.


    When the shelling stopped, and before the smoke of the gunfire was gone, nikolasov picked up the phone on the table and cried out, "comrades, brothers, it''s time for you to make contributions! March forward bravely, cross the Dnieper, liberate kaniv and build up your immortal achievements! Go ahead


    Hearing what he said, kirilov couldn''t help smiling. He patted nikolasov''s lunge and said with a smile, "Mr. teacher, you are really not simple. You have the restraint of being a political worker. Well, do you want to be my deputy


    Although he knew kirilov was joking, there was an expression of embarrassment on his face. Just when he didn''t know how to answer, the sound of "Wula" outside relieved him.


    I went to the lookout, raised my telescope and looked out. I saw countless figures pouring out from the hiding place, carrying kayaks or weapons, shouting and rushing towards the river. After throwing the canoe into the water, the soldiers turned over and got on the boat. They waved their oars and rowed toward the opposite bank.


    As we watched the boats of our river crossing troops rush toward the opposite bank, I watched nervously at the positions ploughed by gunfire on the opposite bank, fearing that the enemy would suddenly come out to block. But the opposite side was quiet, as if all the German firepower had been destroyed by our shelling.


    "What''s the matter, comrade commander?" General Gutman stood beside us and asked solemnly, "why didn''t the enemy move at all?"¡° Perhaps in the recent shelling, our artillery has destroyed all the enemy''s firepower points. " Niekrasov also said with a puzzled face: "otherwise they would not not have fired."¡° Sir, you are so optimistic. " As for this idea of nikolasov, I immediately refuted, "the enemy does not want to fire, but wants to wait for our troops to get close before firing. But our troops are entangled with them, and the artillery behind them dare not fire at will, so that they can reduce casualties. "¡° What about that? " "If that''s the case, won''t our river crossing troops suffer heavy casualties?" he asked excitedly¡° Sir, look there! " I pointed to the tank troops driving towards the river and said, "although our artillery can''t suppress the enemy''s firepower, these tanks parked near the river are OK. Moreover, we have so many machine gun positions along the river. As long as the machine gun and tank fire at the same time, there is no problem in suppressing the enemy''s fire on the other side. " The German position on the other side was silent all the time. When the 51st division of guards was only 50 or 60 meters away from the river bank, the enemy machine guns began to fire. The soldiers who rushed in front of more than a dozen canoes fell into the river one after another after being shot. Then the enemy''s artillery also opened fire. The shells fell into the river and exploded, raising water columns one by one. Two unlucky canoes were hit directly and were blown to pieces in the rising fire. Seeing this, I turned my head and yelled at nikolasov: "Comrade division commander, the tanks and machine guns ordered to fire together! FireStarter! Put down the enemy''s fire. " With the order issued, the tanks and machine gun fire points stopped on the shore began to suppress fire, which soon made those crazy fire points on the other side dumb. Seeing that the enemy''s firepower was mute, our soldiers speeded up the speed of the rowing boat. The boat had just landed, but before it could stop, everyone jumped off the boat and rushed to the shore. Soon, a green signal bomb rose on the other bank, which indicated that our troops had rushed to the bank. Then there were more flares in the air, indicating that more areas were occupied by us. At this moment, ahlomeyev, who was next to him, suddenly exclaimed: "Damn, how come the signal bomb has also risen in kaniv? Our troops can''t rush into the city so quickly. " We crossed the river two kilometers upstream of kaniv. Even if our troops succeeded in crossing the river, they would have to run for at least ten minutes if they wanted to rush into the city without being blocked by the enemy. But now less than five minutes later, our army''s signal bombs appeared in the city. This situation is really strange! Just as we were guessing, the operator standing by the telephone suddenly called out: "Comrade commander, commander of the 67th division of the guards, Lieutenant Colonel xiejerikov wants to talk to you!" I passed by, took the microphone and asked aloud, "Hello, comrade commander, where is your unit?"¡° "Report commander comrade," shejerikov reported to me in an excited voice, "our regiment has successfully rushed into kaniv, wiped out the garrison and occupied the whole city!"¡° What, comrade commander? " I was startled by what he said. I was afraid I had heard it wrong, so I asked, "what did you say just now, please repeat it again."¡° Report to Comrade commander. " "Our regiment has rushed into kaniv, wiped out the garrison in the city, and liberated the whole city," shejerikov reported excitedly

 Chapter 1261

    "Colonel, before the shelling started, you were a few kilometers away from kaniv. How did you get into the city so quickly?" "What''s the matter? What''s the matter?" I asked


    "Comrade commander, this is the situation." Shejerikov reported to me the process of seizing kaniv: "before the battle started, I remembered that in the previous battles, you often took advantage of the favorable opportunity when the enemy was being shelled by our army and could not observe the situation, let the army quietly approach the enemy''s position, and when the shelling was over, you launched a decisive charge. In this way, the enemy can be caught unprepared and the casualties of our army can be greatly reduced. "


    "Yes, when the enemy is suppressed by our artillery fire, sending troops to quietly approach the enemy''s position is indeed my usual tactic." I nodded my head and said, "in such a time, the Germans usually leave only a few soldiers for observation, and the rest either hide in the blast hole or retreat to the second line of defense. Why, did you sneak into the city today when the enemy was shelled and unable to observe? "


    "You guessed right. After our shelling started, my scouts reported to me that the enemy in the city was moving to the defensive position by the river." Shejerikov went on to say: "I think that since the enemy in the city is moving towards the river, the forces in the city will become empty. If we attack the city at this time, we can certainly contain a lot of enemy forces and cover the cross river battle of friendly forces, so that we can lead the troops to approach the city quietly.


    As a result, when I arrived at the outskirts of the city, I sent someone to sneak into the city for reconnaissance. Unexpectedly, I found that the garrison in the city was so small that there was no more than one company. Seeing that the garrison in the city was so empty, I knew the opportunity was rare, so I immediately organized troops to attack the city.


    Our attack blinded the defenders in the city. Only after more than ten minutes of fighting, we solved the battle. Except for a few enemies who were killed, the rest laid down their arms and surrendered to us. "


    "What, only after more than ten minutes of fighting, has the battle been solved?" If shijerikov is not a subordinate I am familiar with, then I will definitely think that he is talking nonsense and lying about the military situation. The Germans are not paper-based. Even when they face the attack of a regiment, they will not give up their arms after resisting for more than ten minutes. So I asked in a more emphatic tone, "Comrade commander, is what you said true?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Obviously, shejerikov recognized the suspicion in my voice and quickly explained: "although the German army has a company in the city, there are more than a dozen serial numbers, so it is impossible to organize effective resistance in the face of our sudden attack."


    "So it is." After listening to xiejerikov''s explanation of the reason, I can''t help feeling that his luck is really good. Originally, he thought that the capture of kaniv would be a fierce battle. Unexpectedly, he met a group of mobs. In just ten minutes, he ended the battle and successfully occupied kaniv. However, in order to prevent this lucky commander from belittling the enemy, I specially told him on the phone: "Comrade commander, at present, the 52nd division of the guards has not completely occupied the German position, and the fighting is still going on. You immediately deploy troops and send them to the riverside to support the 52nd division of the guards, so as to eliminate the enemy as soon as possible. "


    After I gave this order, I was deeply afraid that he would have a fever and send out all the troops. I quickly added: "Comrade commander, I remind you that although I order you to send troops to the river to support the friendly forces, it can not affect the defense of the city. I don''t want to see the enemy by the river being destroyed and the city being taken back by the enemy. "


    "Comrade commander, you can rest assured." "I will immediately send two battalions to the riverside to support the friendly forces, and leave the most effective battalion in the city. I will never let the enemy enter kaniv again," he told me confidently


    I put down the phone and remembered that baksov had sent two regiments to assist the 52nd division of the guards in capturing kaniv. But now that the shejerikov regiment has captured the city, whether another regiment will come or not is of little significance. On the contrary, they can be used in a more important position.


    Thinking of this, I picked up the phone and contacted barksov, who was staying at the landing site. As soon as I heard baksov''s voice, I asked frankly, "Comrade division, how many troops do you have in your hand?"


    After a moment''s hesitation, barksov replied, "Comrade commander, I still have a infantry regiment in my hand, and some divisions directly under it. There are about 3000 people left."


    "Can you fight now?" I asked briefly.


    My question kept baksov silent for a long time, and then he tentatively asked, "Comrade commander, I want to know what the fighting situation is like in kaniv? Have the two regiments I sent been defeated by the Germans? "


    "Defeated?" When I heard baksov''s worry, I couldn''t help laughing and saying, "Sir, where do you want to go. You know, kaniv is now occupied by the shejerikov regiment, and the other regiment has not yet entered the battle? "


    "What, Kanev is occupied by our army?" A moment later, he asked me in a puzzled voice, "Comrade commander, since kaniv has been occupied by our army, why do you ask if our army can fight immediately?"


    "Although kaniv has occupied, we will attack cherkaser next." I looked at the flaming River in the distance, and then said, "you immediately lead the troops down the river, lurking in the vicinity of cherkaser, ready to cooperate with my offensive troops to take the city back from the German hands."


    Barksov then asked, "Comrade commander, what will happen to the landing site after our division leaves?"


    "Hand over the landing site to general Kravchenko''s motorized regiment," I said with some disapproval. "Anyway, we have captured kaniv, and that landing site is useless."


    At the end of baksov''s call, I went to the lookout and asked nikolasov, who was standing there to observe the war situation: "Comrade division commander, what''s the situation? Has your division not completely occupied the position by the river?"


    "Soon, soon," said Nekrasov excitedly. "Comrade commander, almost all our river crossing troops have landed on the opposite bank. I think we can seize all the positions by the river in half an hour or even less at most."


    Seeing that it was only a matter of time before we could wipe out the enemy by the river, I began to consider the next action plan. After staring at the map in front of me for a while, I raised my head and asked Gutman, "Comrade General, are there any units in your tank army that can set up pontoons?"


    Gutman came over from the lookout, nodded his head and said, "yes, our army has a Zhouqiao battalion. After general Nekrasov''s troops have destroyed the garrison by the river, I can transfer the Zhouqiao battalion to build the floating bridge. "


    "Comrade General, come and have a look." I pointed to the map and said to him, "I want your Zhouqiao battalion to set up a floating bridge here as soon as possible to pass tanks."


    "Isn''t Kanev already occupied by us?" Hearing what I said, gertman asked, "even without my tank troops, you can enter the city smoothly?"


    "Although we have won caniv, it is not enough. Then, we have to attack cherkaser I introduced my next action plan to him: "you see, after crossing the river from here, your tank brigade can go down the road to the South and directly attack cherkaser 30 kilometers away. Taking advantage of the favorable opportunity that the enemy has not recovered, it can cooperate with the 67th division of the guards hiding there to quickly seize the city."


    After looking at the map for a while, gertman said with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, please forgive me. Your plan may be difficult to implement."


    "Why?" I asked, frowning.


    "If you think about it, even if we seize the position on the other side, let the Zhouqiao camp come to build the bridge. Even if the bridge is built at the fastest speed, it will take at least two hours to complete a floating bridge that can let tanks pass through. " Guttman pulled his fingers to show me the possible difficulties: "it will take at least an hour for the tank brigade to complete the assembly on the other side through the pontoon. And then, with the formation of infantry and the preparation of trucks to carry soldiers, it would take an hour or two. By the time we arrive at cherkaser, it is estimated that the German army will be ready for defense. "


    When I heard that he was worried that we would be delayed for too long, so that the Germans would be aware of our actions and prepare for the corresponding defense, my locked brow stretched out, "don''t worry, Comrade General. I''m going to wait for your tanks to cross the river and rush down the road to cherkaser


    "What, let our tanks go straight to cherkaser?" Guttman was surprised to hear me say that. He opened his eyes wide and asked, "don''t you need the infantry to cover you?"


    Shaking my head, I replied, "Comrade General, the enemy''s defense system is full of loopholes. They never thought that we would turn around and attack cherkaser immediately after we captured kaniv. So even if you don''t have infantry to cover you, you can get to the bottom of chelkather''s city


    Gutman was staring at me as if to see if I was joking with him. In the face of his engrossed eyes, I didn''t turn my eyes to other places, because that would be regarded as the performance of guilty heart by him.


    After staring at me for a while, he sighed, nodded heavily, and replied, "well, comrade commander, since you say so, I will inform Zhouqiao camp to come as soon as possible."


    When Gutman contacted his Zhouqiao battalion with a telephone, I received a call from chisjakov''s headquarters: "Comrade commander, the 375TH infantry division of lieutenant colonel Lukin has arrived. Do you need me to send them to kaniv to support you?"


    "No, comrade deputy commander." It occurred to me that before I had time to inform chisgakov of the news of the occupation of kaniv, I hastily added: "kaniv has been occupied by our army, and the next attack target of the army is cherkaser downstream. Well, take Lukin and his troops across the river from the landing site occupied by general Kravchenko, and go down the river to take part in the battle of seizing cherkaser. "


    "What, Kanev has been occupied by our army?" Hearing this news, chisgakov could not help exclaiming: "my God, you just went to the river for a few hours and brought us such amazing news. Is it true that our army really occupied kaniv? "


    Hearing chisjakov''s unbelievable tone, I replied with a smile, "yes, deputy commander, middle school sergeant shijerikov wants to lead his regiment, harass the defenders in the city and relieve the pressure on our river crossing troops. I didn''t expect that there was only one company''s garrison in the city, and it was still made up of a number of troops that didn''t belong to each other. How could such troops have any combat effectiveness? So they successfully occupied the city in only ten minutes. "


    "Have we occupied all the German positions by the river?" Asked chisgakov tentatively¡° Unfortunately, comrade deputy commander, the fighting by the River continues. " I once again looked at the battlefield in the distance, where there was still fierce fighting, and then said, "but I have ordered shijerikov to send troops to attack from behind the enemy. I believe that in a short time, all the enemies on the kaniv river will be destroyed."¡° By the way, comrade commander, I forgot to report one more thing to you. " Chisgakov continued: "the commanders of the divisions who were marching on the road sent telegrams saying that they might arrive at us before noon. I don''t know how you plan to arrange them? "¡° It must be tiring for the troops to march all night and walk so far again. " Considering that even if these troops are directly towed to the river, they may not be able to take part in the battle for the time being, on the contrary, it will make the place chaotic, so I decisively ordered: "let''s have a rest in the city, and then decide where to deploy them according to the situation after 4 p.m." As time went on, the gunfire by the river stopped. I saw through the telescope that some surviving German soldiers, seeing that there was no point in resisting any more, came out of their hiding places with high hands and surrendered to our soldiers. Just then, the commander of the 100th tank brigade, Colonel villadley, came in in in a hurry. He raised his hand to me and gertman, and then excitedly reported: "Comrade commander, comrade commander, under the cover of the artillery fire of our brigade, the friendly forces successfully landed on the other side and wiped out all the enemies. I''m here to ask, "what''s the next combat mission of our 100th tank brigade?"

 Chapter 1262

    "Colonel, it''s very nice of you to come," Guttman said immediately when he saw veradelle''s appearance. "I just wanted to call your headquarters, but you came first."


    After listening to this, veradelle tentatively asked, "Comrade commander, do you want to arrange the next combat task for our brigade?"


    "That''s right, Colonel. It''s the plan to deploy new combat missions to you. You see, "Guttman said, after calling veradelle to the table and pointing to the map," when the pontoon camp has set up the pontoon, your brigade will cross the river quickly, and then rush down the road to cherkaser. "


    Veradelle tilted his head and looked at the map for a while. Then he tentatively asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t know which army the higher authorities are going to send to cooperate with us?"


    "Comrade colonel." I didn''t wait for gertman to speak, but I said in advance, "as soon as your brigade crosses the Dnieper River, it''s going to rush down the road to cherkaser. We didn''t arrange troops to follow you this time. We just want your tank brigade to give full play to its mobility and rush into cherkaser before the Germans recover. "


    Veradelle turned his eyes from the map on the table to behind me, and said in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, I have only 60 tanks and a small number of motorcyclists in my hand. I don''t think I can occupy cherkaser with such strength alone."


    "Don''t worry, comrade colonel. I won''t let you estimate the battle." After listening to his concerns, I immediately comforted him and said: "a regiment of the 67th division of the guards is now approaching cherkaser. At the same time, the 375TH Infantry Division has also changed its march direction and is moving towards cherkaser. I think that with the cooperation of infantry from division to regiment, you should have no problem in winning cherkaser. "


    When I said that, veradelle stepped back, then straightened up and said to me, "don''t worry, comrade commander, since we have friendly cooperation, we should have no problem in seizing cherkaser."


    "Now that the task is clear, let''s get ready." With these words, gertman took veradelle''s hand, shook it a few times, and said, "good luck, Colonel!"


    Before the floating bridge was ready, watujing''s call went straight to my headquarters. When he heard my voice, he said, "Hello, comrade oshanina, what''s the situation? Have your troops crossed the Dnieper?"


    "Comrade General," I replied respectfully, "our troops have successfully crossed the Dnieper River and recovered kaniv."


    "What, has Kanev been recovered?" Vatujing was startled by our results. He said with some disbelief: "I thought you could cross the river as soon as noon, and then you would have to wait for the night to capture kaniv. I didn''t expect that the action was so fast. Before dawn, the city would be recovered by you. It''s too fast!"


    "Comrade General, I will send a detailed report to your headquarters later." Thinking that his old subordinate, shijerikov, has made so many contributions since the battle of Kursk, but his position has not been promoted yet, he took the opportunity to ask vatukin, "the army that liberated kaniv this time is the shijerikov regiment of the 67th division of Jinwei. The regiment leader, shijerikov, said that my old subordinate, his contributions in Stalingrad, I said it. Since the battle of Kursk, he has made a series of contributions. "


    "Come on, comrade o''shanina, stop talking. I understand." Before I had finished, vatukin interrupted me and asked in a calm voice, "what is his current position and rank?"


    "Commander, commander." After a brief answer to this question, I added: "his position and rank have not changed since the battle of Stalingrad."


    After a long silence, vatujing suddenly asked, "o''shanina, if I remember correctly, this lieutenant colonel xiejerikov, who had commanded the 67th division of the guards for a period of time in the battle of Kursk on behalf of general baksov?"


    Although I didn''t understand the purpose of watujing''s question, I answered truthfully, "yes, comrade general, you don''t remember wrong at all. It''s true."


    After listening to this, vatujing talked to himself and said to me, "Lt. Col. Lu Jin, commander of 309 regiment of 51st division of Jinwei, is now the division commander of 375TH infantry division. At present, the command of the 51st division is too weak and needs to be strengthened. "


    When I heard him say this, I suddenly had an idea in my heart: Oh, my God, he didn''t want sjerikov to be the commander of the 51st division of the guards. Although the former division commander tavartkilaze was promoted to the commander of the 23rd army of the guards, he still held the post of division commander of the division because there was no suitable person to replace him.


    I was just thinking about it when I heard vatujing continue to say: "since this lieutenant colonel shijerikov is so capable, I will now promote him as a colonel and appoint him as the acting commander of the 51st division of the guards."


    Although I have guessed in my heart that vatukin may have made an exception to appoint Sergei rykov as the teacher, I still find it hard to believe what he said. The promotion rate is too large.


    After watujing finished, hearing that there was no movement on my side, he couldn''t help raising his voice and asked, "Hello, o''shanina, why don''t you speak? Do you have any different opinions on my appointment?"


    "No, comrade general, I have no opinion on your appointment." When I heard that my old subordinates had been promoted, everyone would be very happy. I quickly said, "on behalf of Colonel xiejerikov, thank you!"


    "What are you going to do next?" Watujing changed the topic and asked, "do you plan to cross the river as soon as possible and build a defensive area with kaniv as the center?"


    "Senior general, it''s not enough to have kaniv alone. The space that can be provided for the movement of the army here is too narrow and lacks sufficient strategic depth." Since vatukin asked me about my next plan, I also said without reservation: "if the Germans concentrate their superior forces and technical equipment to attack us, maybe in the end, we will have to retreat across the Dnieper River to the original starting point."


    "What''s your plan?" "Let''s hear what you think," he asked in an official voice


    "If we can take cherkaser in the shortest time, connect the two cities and build a huge landing site, we can not only cross the river continuously, but also build a solid and perfect defense system, so we don''t have to worry about the German counterattack."


    After listening to this, vatukin remained silent for a long time, and then said, "your idea is very good. Once we have both the ferry cities in our hands, then this place can also be a starting point for attacking Kiev. But only if you can capture cherkaser in time


    "Comrade General, please rest assured." In order to dispel the doubts of the other side, I said confidently: "I have sent a part of the 67th division of the close guard and the 375TH division of the infantry down the river to cherkaser. In order to strengthen the strength of the troops, I''m also going to send a tank brigade from kaniv to rush to kaniv along the road. "


    "Well, you think it over." After praising me, vatukin added, "send me a detailed battle report immediately, and I will inform Marshal Zhukov in Moscow of this victory in the shortest time."


    After I hung up the phone, I called ahlomeyev over and said to him, "major, I believe you know the whole course of the battle very well, so I''ll give you the task of writing a report to the headquarters of the front army. Is there a problem? "


    After hearing this, akhromeyev shook his head and answered positively, "don''t worry, comrade commander, there is no problem for me to write a report. I can finish this report in half an hour, at most


    "It''s not too late. Write now." Then I folded up the things on the table, and said to akhromeyev, "just sit here and write."


    Writing a report may make me racked my brain, but for akhromeyev, I am familiar with it. After only about 20 minutes, he put down his pen, handed me some pieces of paper, and said, "Comrade commander, I''ve finished writing. Do you see if there is anything else that needs to be revised?"


    I took it over, quickly scanned it, nodded and praised it: "yes, comrade major, it''s really good. Well, anyway, you are very familiar with the whole process of the battle. This report will be sent to the headquarters of the front army by you. If the senior general has any questions, you can explain to him on the spot. " Having said these words, I turned to nikolasov and said, "Comrade division commander, please send some soldiers to escort the combat director of the group army to the headquarters of the front army."


    "All right, comrade commander." At my command, nikolasov readily agreed, "I''m going to arrange personnel to escort him to the headquarters of the front army." With that, he turned and walked out of the headquarters. It was estimated that he was going to arrange the manpower.


    Not long after akhromeyev drove to the headquarters of the front army under the protection of the guard platoon sent by Nekrasov, Gotman received a report from Colonel viladelle: "Comrade commander, the floating bridge has been erected."


    "Now that the bridge is ready, cross the river quickly." Gertman urged: "now we''re going to fight for time with the Germans. You''re going to rush into cherkaser before they come back to their senses. Do you understand?"


    "I see, comrade commander," veradelle replied briskly, "I''m going to lead the troops across the river."


    After a few minutes, I saw through my telescope that the tanks of the villadley brigade, one by one, were driving up the newly built pontoon and slowly heading towards the other bank.


    Looking at the tank troops crossing the river, Guttman said with some worry: "Comrade commander, I think the strength of Colonel villadley is still too thin. If we meet the enemy''s anti tank men on the road, we estimate that the troops will suffer a lot."


    Although I understand that the situation mentioned by Guttman is quite possible, I can''t send mobile troops to follow the action under the current situation. So I could only sigh a long time, and then said, "Comrade commander, it''s only more than 30 kilometers from Kanev to cherkaser. If the tank brigade is fully powered, it can arrive in an hour at most. Even if you encounter German anti tank men on the road, I believe they will be able to rush through. "


    To be on the safe side, I contacted baksov, who was hiding near cherkaser, by telephone: "Comrade division commander, where is your army?"¡° We''re hidden behind a hill southwest of cherkaser, about three kilometers from the city After reporting his position, baksov asked, "Comrade commander, when can we launch an attack on the city?"¡° Fast, fast, comrade teacher. One more hour at most, and you can attack. The tank brigade that you captured the city is crossing the river in kaniv area at the moment. After crossing the river, they will rush straight along the road to cherkaser. I have an important task for you now. I will immediately send people to monitor the cherkaser kaniv road. If we find German anti tank men along the road, we will resolutely eliminate them. "¡° Comrade commander, although the kilometer is only more than 30 kilometers long, I have to send at least one battalion of troops to complete the task you told me. " "In this way, our forces to attack the city will be weak," barksov said bitterly¡° Don''t worry, sir I comforted him and said, "I''ve sent commander Lukin''s 375TH infantry division to you in a hurry. I believe they will be able to get there and join you before the battle starts. By the way, what''s the situation in the city, how many troops the enemy has, and have you noticed your arrival? "¡° Don''t worry, comrade commander. Although our troops are quite large, they are well concealed. The enemy has not found us at all. " Barksov reported to me: "my scouts reported to me half an hour ago that there was probably a German regiment in the city. According to the confessions of the captured prisoners, however, their defense focus was on the side close to the Dnieper River. In order to prevent our army from crossing the river, they built several fortifications along the river and deployed two-thirds of their troops along the river. The rest of the forces are scattered in all parts of the city. "¡° Continue to send people to monitor the movement of the German army, "I ordered briefly," and report to me as soon as they make any troop movements. "¡° Yes Barksov replied loudly.

 Chapter 1263

    As for whether the coalition of baksov, Lukin and veradelle can successfully capture cherkaser, although I seem very relaxed on the surface, my heart is like 15 buckets of water. I kept thinking: Although baksov told me that cherkaser had only one German infantry, it could not resist our attack. But what if the Germans still have troops nearby, or if our tank brigade just rushes into the city and the enemy''s reinforcements arrive? In that case, we will not only be unable to capture cherkaser, on the contrary, the troops involved in the siege will be in danger of being destroyed.


    "Rita, Rita!" While I was thinking, kirilov''s voice pulled me back from my meditation to reality. Seeing that I was looking at him in confusion, he continued, "what shall we do next? Will the group command be moved to kaniv immediately, or will it stay in the distance? "


    "Stay in the distance first." Almost without thinking, I rejected kirilov''s proposal and gave my own reasons: "at present, there are only two regiments of the 52nd and 67th guard divisions in the city. If the enemy strikes back at this time, the headquarters will be in danger."


    "Well, in that case, let the headquarters stay in place until the follow-up troops arrive." For my statement, kirilov did not express any opinions, but said along with my meaning: "after all, the main force of the German army is on the other side, and it is possible to launch a counterattack against us at any time."


    As soon as kirilov finished, gertman asked with a smile, "Comrade military commissar, do you want to go to the other side to have a look?"


    Kirilov did not answer, but looked at me, as if seeking my advice. I looked outside and saw that although the tank troops had finished crossing the river, the German position by the river was still full of fire. I shook my head and said, "no, at least not yet. We have just occupied the enemy''s position, but we may not have cleared up the remaining enemy. It''s too risky at this time. We''d better wait until after noon. "


    When I said that, there was a look of disappointment on both Gutman''s and kirilov''s faces. I deliberately pretended not to see it, turned my eyes to the map, and said in my heart: Although we have occupied the German position, there may still be residual scattered soldiers who have not been eliminated. What should we do if we go out at this time and get shot in the cold? It''s not too late to cross the river when the army arrives at noon.


    After a while, I looked up and asked Gutman, "Comrade General, I don''t know when your motorized brigade and the other two tank brigades will arrive?"


    My question made gertman feel embarrassed. After a violent twitch of his face, he replied awkwardly: "Comrade commander, I really don''t know that. According to the order, they should have arrived by the river an hour ago. But up to now, I haven''t seen any troops. "


    "Do you need to call?" I asked faintly.


    "I''ll call right away." With that, gertman walked quickly to the telephone and told the operator to contact his men.


    "What a pity. What a pity." Kirilov came up to me and said in a low voice, "if the other two tank brigades can arrive earlier, they can join forces with colonel villadley and go straight to cherkaser. With so many tanks moving at the same time, even if the Germans ambush the anti tank men on the road, they will not be able to stop them


    I nodded and said, "yes, if we can concentrate more tanks and attack the enemy, I believe that cherkaser will soon fall into our hands." I said this, pausing for a moment, then sighing, "Alas, it''s a pity that this bad road makes our troops unable to improve the speed of March."


    While we were waiting for news from the front line, chisgakov called me and asked, "Comrade commander, what is our next task after we have captured kaniv and cherkaser?"


    Staring at the map in front of me, I said, "after the successful capture of cherkaser, except for the 89th division of sherekin''s guards, the rest of the troops will cross the river and rely on the cities of kaniv and cherkaser to build the necessary fortifications and establish a solid starting point for the attack."


    "Comrade commander, look at the map. We are not far from Kiev." "Aren''t you going to try and see if our army group can liberate Kiev again?" he asked tentatively


    "Comrade deputy commander, your idea is good, but there is no possibility of implementation." I immediately poured cold water on his whim: "although I led the troops to capture Kiev half a year ago, there was no main force of the enemy in the city at that time, and Manstein was also commanding the troops on the right bank of the Dnieper River, so it was reasonable to capture Kiev. But now, the enemy has accumulated a lot of troops in Kiev, and has built a perfect defense system. Let alone a group army, even with general katukov''s first group army of close guard tanks, it is an impossible task to capture Kiev. "


    "Well, that''s a pity." "I thought you were going to go straight to Kiev after you successfully captured kaniv and cherkaser," chisgakov said with disappointment


    "Comrade deputy commander, we have captured Kanev and cherkaser, only to open up a landing site on the other side of the Dnieper River. We can''t attack Kiev until we have established a perfect defense system. " I pointed to the map with my hand and then said, "after we have eliminated the enemies of the two cities, we have to divide our forces to capture smira and other cities, cut off the connection between Kiev and zaborosh, so that the enemy can not look at each other head and tail, so that we can concentrate our superior forces to attack Kiev."


    After my conversation with chisgakov, I asked Gutman, "Comrade General, when will your follow-up troops arrive?"


    Gutman said to me with a sad face, "Comrade commander, due to the poor road condition, my other three brigades will not be able to reach the river until at least after noon."


    Although it''s still several hours before the follow-up troops arrive, I won''t wait here. I looked outside and saw that some troops were passing through the pontoon. I had an idea. I turned to gertman and said, "Comrade General, anyway, your pontoon camp is idle. Let them build two more pontoons on the river, so that when the big troops arrive, they can also improve the speed of crossing the river."


    Gutman raised his telescope and looked out, then said: "Comrade commander, although the river is not wide, the current is too fast. It is difficult to build two more pontoons. Otherwise, I''ll let Zhouqiao camp build another floating bridge, which should be more than enough. "


    "Well, comrade general, as you say, there will be one." I said with disapproval: "anyway, there is more than one place for us to cross the river. At that time, we will just set up a few more in other places."


    As soon as Guttmann gave Zhouqiao battalion the task of building a floating bridge through the telephone, veradelle sent a message. Hearing the Colonel''s voice, Guttman asked excitedly, "Hello, comrade Colonel, where are you traveling?"


    "Report to the commander." There was a huge roar of tank motors in the headphones, and veradelle was reporting in his voice: "we''ve reached three kilometers from cherkaser. There is no trace of the German army along the way. I repeat, there is no trace of the German army along the way. "


    Gertman was stunned when he heard the report. He turned to me and asked, "Comrade commander, Colonel villadley has reported that the tank brigade has arrived only three kilometers away from cherkaser, and there is no trace of the enemy for the time being. What should they do next, please tell me! "


    When Guttman finished, I frowned and thought: there was no sign of the enemy along the way, and there was only one regiment in the city. Where was the main force of the German army? As Gutman was waiting for my reply, I didn''t think about it any more, so I said to him directly: "Comrade General, order the colonel to lead the tank troops on. If you arrive at the outskirts of the city, you will rush directly into the city without being attacked by the German army. "


    "I understand." Gertman agreed, and then he said in a loud voice to the transmitter, "the commander orders us to move on. If we are not stopped by the German army in the suburbs, we will rush directly into the city."


    As soon as the call between Guttman and veradelle was over, I told the operator, "operator, get in touch with general baksov. I want to talk to him."


    Kirilov walked up to me quickly and reminded me in a low voice, "Rita, when making a wireless call with the army, it''s easy to be eavesdropped by the enemy. This will..."


    "Comrades of the military commissar," I interrupted kirilov''s words before he finished, "I know that such calls are easily eavesdropped by the German army. But there''s no way. Now we have to compete with the Germans to seize cherkaser decisively before they recover. "


    As soon as I finished, the operator handed me the earphone and transmitter. He also said, "Comrade commander, the line is connected. You can talk to general baksov."


    I put on my headphones and said to the transmitter, "Hello, barksov? What''s the situation with you there? Have commander Lukin''s troops arrived yet? "


    "Here we are. A leading group of Colonel Lukin has arrived." Barksov said very quickly: "the rest of the troops will arrive in 20 minutes. Comrade commander, when are we going to attack? "


    "What''s the situation in the city?" I then asked, "did the enemy increase its forces?"


    "No, the main force of the enemy was basically concentrated on the defensive positions by the river, and the garrison in the city was limited." After a short pause, baksov replied, "according to the latest report of the scouts, there are only about two companies of infantry in the city, no heavy weapons."


    "Great, that''s great." It was said that the number of defenders in the city was limited, and there were no heavy weapons. The big stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. I immediately gave an order to barksov to attack: "Comrade division, a friendly tank brigade is rushing to cherkaser along the road. In a few minutes at most, they can rush into the city. You also immediately lead your troops to attack, and use some of your troops to contain the garrison by the river, so that they can''t send troops back to the city. When the enemy forces in the city are eliminated, you are commanding the troops to destroy the German troops by the river. "


    When I returned the earphone and the transmitter to the operator, kirilov, who was talking with baksov, was surprised and said, "Rita, the situation is really good for us. As long as we occupy the city, we will cut off the retreat of those enemies by the river. As soon as the rest of Lukin''s troops arrive, the two divisions will join forces and launch a final attack on the enemy under the cover of the tank brigade. It is estimated that the battle will be solved in a short time. "¡° The situation will not be as optimistic as you think. After all, the German army has a regiment in cherkaser. " "Even if we are caught by surprise, we have to support it for half a day or even longer," Gutman said anxiously I didn''t answer his concerns immediately. Instead, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I couldn''t stop staring at the second hand above, and turned round and round. It was five minutes before I let go, sighed softly, and said, "Colonel villadley''s tank brigade should have rushed into chercasse." When I said this, kirilov learned from me, looked at his watch, and then said, "baksov''s and Lukin''s troops are infantry. Their speed is slower than that of the tank brigade, but within ten minutes, they should also rush into the city." As soon as he had finished, he heard the operator exclaim excitedly, "Comrade General, Colonel veradelle wants to speak to you." Gutman heard that the operator was calling for the general, and knew that he was calling for himself. He quickly took the earphone and the transmitter from his hand. He asked in a loud voice, "Hello, comrade Colonel, what''s the situation there?" I tilted my head and stuck it to the earphone that Guttman was wearing. I heard veradelle clearly say, "Comrade commander, our brigade has rushed into the city. Although the enemy set up sandbags at the intersection, they couldn''t stop our attack because they didn''t have heavy weapons. We have rushed into the city from the northwest and are moving towards the center of the city. "¡° Well done, comrade Colonel, you and your men are well done. " When he heard that the tank brigade had rushed into cherkaser, gertman couldn''t help but get excited. He said loudly to the transmitter, "keep on attacking. We must eliminate all the German troops in the city in the shortest time." A few minutes later, I received a phone call from baksov, who excitedly reported to me: "Comrade commander, our troops have rushed into the city to join the friendly tanks. I put some infantry in tanks and went down the street to wipe out the remaining German troops in the city. I believe it won''t be long before we can control the whole city. "

 Chapter 1264

    Kirilov was stunned to learn that the tank brigade of Colonel villadeley had been rampaging in the streets of cherkaser. After a while, he said tentatively, "Rita, it''s unbelievable that our tank brigade rushed into cherkaser in just a few minutes. It''s a bit unbelievable."


    "Yes, the comrades of the military commissar have a point." After kirilov finished, nikolasov, the commander of the 52nd division of the close guard, said: "if the Germans are really so vulnerable, will we pay such a high price in Belgorod and Kharkov to defeat them? I think there must be a conspiracy. "


    "Conspiracy, what conspiracy?" After listening to this, Gutman said to nikolasov, "Comrade General, do you still think that our army, as it was at the beginning of the war, is far inferior to the German in terms of equipment, technology and tactics? We should know that since the battle of Kursk, our army has gradually grasped the initiative of strategic attack as well as the air supremacy on the battlefield. "


    "General Gutman, even if the situation is as you say, the enemy can''t be vulnerable." Niekrasov retorted somewhat reluctantly: "it is entirely possible for the enemy to block our troops for half an hour or even an hour even if they have a regiment in cherkasse''s garrison. But now? Just a few minutes, a few minutes, our tanks swaggered into the city


    "Then tell me, what plot will the enemy have?" Gertman looked at nikolasov, who was a head higher than himself, and asked in a discontented way, "will the enemy arrange a pocket array near cherkaser to put us in?"


    When they were arguing, I kept silent. At the same time, my brain was trying to think about why the German army of cherkaser was so weak because of the repeated defeats, which led to the demoralization of the soldiers? Or, as niekrasov analyzed, did the Germans set a trap for us in cherkaser and wait for us to jump in?


    Before I could think of it, kirilov called out to me, "Rita, I want to hear your opinion. What do you think of the fact that the tank brigade rushed into cherkaser almost without fighting? "


    Seeing that everyone''s eyes are focused on themselves, I know that if they don''t express their own judgment, they will not be reconciled. After a moment''s silence, he began to say carefully: "I don''t think what Mr. Nekrasov said is likely to happen. We should know that once we have captured chercas, we will not be surrounded by the enemy with our backs on the Dnieper River. If we want to destroy us, we must make a frontal attack. If we can''t hold on, we can come back from the other side of the river. "


    After listening to my analysis, niekrasov thought about it, then nodded and said, "Comrade commander, your analysis is very convincing. However, I still don''t understand that even if our troops are superior and they are caught off guard, they can''t be so vulnerable. "


    This question of niekrasov really bothers me. I gave him a wry smile and then said perfunctorily, "don''t worry, sir. Everything will be clear. When baktsov, Lukin or viladelle have wiped out the remaining German troops and occupied the city, they will give us a clear answer. "


    After I had said these words, I told the operator beside me: "send a message to general baksov, so that he can report the whole battle to me immediately after he has eliminated the enemy and completely occupied cherkaser."


    While the telegraph operator was sending the news, I called chisjakov and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, how many troops have arrived there?"


    "Commander tavartkiraze and his 51st guard division have just arrived." Chisgakov asked me, "in which direction should I send this division, Kanev or cherkaser?"


    "I''m going to take them to chelkarther." No matter whether the German army has set a trap in the direction of cherkaser or not, I will send the 51st division of the close guard to make the troops there strong, and even if they are attacked by the German army, they will be able to resist for a while¡° However, general tavartkilaze does not have to go with him. I have appointed Colonel shejerikov of the 67th division of the guards as the new division commander of the 51st division of the guards. "


    For my appointment, chisgakov did not show too much surprise. After all, it is still during the war. For various reasons, it is very common for a person to get a sudden promotion. What''s more, the ability that shijerikov has shown in the past few months of fighting is obvious to all. He is well-known as the commander of this close guard division.


    As soon as I finished my call with chisgakov, I called the new guard division commander, Sergeant chejerikov: "sergeant chejerikov!"


    Hearing my address like this, shijerikov reminded me in a hurry: "Comrade commander, I''m a lieutenant commander, not a colonel."


    "From now on, you are not only the colonel, but also the commander of the 51st division tonight." I said in an unquestionable voice, "hand over the troops to your deputy commander immediately, and then rush to the cherkaser area to take over your troops."


    After a series of phone calls, I turned my eyes to gertman and asked in a friendly way, "Comrade General, can your Zhouqiao battalion continue to work?" As soon as Guttman heard this, he shook his head desperately and said, "Comrade commander, I understand what you want to say, but I tell you, it can''t be done." Seeing that I was displeased, he quickly added, "after a busy night in Zhouqiao camp, the commanders and soldiers are exhausted. It is not realistic for them to go to build bridges in cherkaser area again. Moreover, they built two floating bridges in succession, and the materials needed to build the bridge were exhausted. " When I was in the headquarters, I could observe the whole process of bridge construction of Zhouqiao camp through the telescope, so I understood what Gutman said was true. Since we can''t count on them, we have to think of another way. After thinking about it, the only one who can count on is watujing. He still has several pontoon camps in his hands. If you send any one, you can finish the task of erecting the pontoon. Just as I was about to call vatukin, the operator got up and gave me a telegram. At the same time, he said, "Comrade commander, this is a telegram from general baksov." I took the telegram, quickly skimmed through the contents above, handed it to kirilov at any time, and then said to gertman and Nekrasov: "Mr. baksov has sent a telegram saying that all German troops in the cherkaser area have been eliminated. The reason why their fighting is so easy is that the enemies in the city come from different forces, which were not subordinate to each other before, and the commander at the highest level was only a major. It is precisely because the enemy does not have a unified command and is fighting separately in battle that it can be easily eliminated. " After listening to my explanation, commander Nekrasov breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I thought the enemy was so vulnerable and said there was a conspiracy. Now I understand what happened. It turned out to be a false alarm."

 Chapter 1265

    In the evening, in addition to the 89th division of the guards directly under the group army, which stayed in zolotonosha, the other two guards entered the two cities. For the sake of management, I had general sivakov''s guard 22nd army stay at kaniv, while general tavartkilaze''s guard 23rd division was deployed at cherkaser.


    Because the German army intended to hold fast on the other side of the Dnieper River, they did not destroy the city, but they moved all the residents away, so that we could not get additional soldiers from the residents.


    As for the headquarters of the group army, I am based in cherkaser. First, the city is big. Second, my next step is to send troops to capture smira nearby. With the headquarters, the Fifth Army of Kravchenko''s close guard tanks, two artillery regiments and three close guard rocket battalions of povsky were stationed.


    While the communication director lophov was arranging for people to lay out the communication lines, I called the reconnaissance battalion commander travkin and said to him, "Comrade captain, we are going to launch an attack on smira soon. However, we know nothing about the enemy''s situation at present, so your reconnaissance battalion should send people to scout the city as soon as possible to find out the enemy''s strength and distribution. "


    After listening to my instructions, travkin immediately straightened his back and said, "don''t worry, comrade commander, if you give me two days, I will be able to make clear the German forces and distribution in smira."


    "No, two days is too long. I can only give you 24 hours." After hearing travkin''s reply, chisgakov came over and said, "we are now seizing the time of the Germans. Before they recover, we should smash their defense and liberate the city from their hands."


    When travkin heard this, his face was embarrassed, so he turned to me for help. I knew in my heart that he was worried that the time was too short to complete the reconnaissance task well, so he took the initiative to round up for him and said: "Comrade deputy commander, the time of one day is too short. If the German defense is tight, the captain will not be able to get close to the city, let alone investigate the situation in the city."


    "But two days is really too long." "The enemy in smira must have known that we have captured cherkaser and kaniv and are ready to defend," chisjakov said anxiously. If it is delayed for two days, I am worried that the enemy will build more fortifications to make their defense system more perfect. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, it is impossible for us to capture such a big movement in the two cities and try to hide it from the enemy." I understand that if I want to be quick, I will not be able to achieve it. If I blindly rush to attack without waiting to find out the specific situation of the enemy, I may suffer failure. I can''t take this risk, so I have to carry out detailed reconnaissance before I can launch an attack on smira. I went on to say: "although the German army withdrew its main force across the Dnieper River, judging from our fighting situation today, the enemy''s chaotic organizational system and lack of unified command will not be able to organize effective defense even if they are given two days. Therefore, I think it is absolutely necessary to give the reconnaissance battalion two days to conduct reconnaissance. "


    "I agree with Comrade commander." At this time, bzikov echoed: "if the reconnaissance is not meticulous enough because of the rush of time, our troops will suffer unnecessary losses when they attack."


    Seeing that my opinions are the same as those of bezikov, chisjakov can not say anything more. He can only nod his head and say helplessly, "well, comrade commander, since you have the same opinions as the chief of staff, I will not insist on my own." After that, he turned to look at travkin and said, "Comrade captain, I hope you will seize the time to complete the reconnaissance of the enemy in smira area as soon as possible. Do you understand?"


    "I see!" After a loud reply, travkin raised his hand to salute us, then turned and walked out of the headquarters.


    As soon as they had debugged the line, vatukin''s call came to my headquarters: "Comrade oshanina, I''ve read the battle report you asked major akhromeyev to send me. You fought well today, not only successfully crossing the Dnieper River, but also successfully occupying the two port cities of kaniv and cherkaser. I want to ask you, "what are you going to do next?"


    When I heard this question from vatukin, I quickly made a sign to bzikov to bring the map. When bezikov saw my gesture, he immediately understood it. He came up with a battle map and put it in front of me. I looked down at the map and began to answer vatukin''s question: "Comrade General, I have arranged this: General sivakov''s close guard 22nd army is located in kaniv. They will build fortifications in the northwest and due west of the city to block the road of Kiev''s enemy going south. The 23rd army of guards deployed in cherkaser is building fortifications in the southeast and due south of the city to block the way for the German army to go north from zaborosh. At the same time, we should be prepared to capture smira city. "


    After listening to my report, watujing was silent. He estimated that he was looking at the map according to what I said and weighing my deployment. After a long time, he said, "Comrade oshanina, your deployment is very good. As long as a perfect defense system is built around the two cities, it is equivalent to cutting off the links between the enemies from Kiev to zaborosh and separating their defense lines. In this way, our front army and the southwest front army will be able to separate and eliminate the enemy. "


    Originally, I was worried about watujing''s opinions on my deployment, so I was always worried. At this moment, hearing his praise, the big stone hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground. I waited for him to finish and asked carefully, "senior general, do you have any instructions?"¡° When can you launch an attack on smira? " "If you take this city, you can make kaniv and cherkaser into a whole. It''s also very difficult for the German army to eat you or drive you back from across the river," vatukin said anxiously¡° Senior general, we have sent scouts to spy on smira. " To his urging, I cautiously replied: "at the same time, we also need time to adjust the defense of the troops. So the attack on smira, the fastest, can be officially launched in two days

 Chapter 1266

    "Two days?" Hearing what I said, watujing hesitated for a moment and then tentatively asked, "can''t we advance to tomorrow?"


    "No, Comrade General." Although I heard from his tone that he wanted us to take advantage of the victory, I resolutely rejected him: "in the two cities we occupied, all the residents were moved by the Germans. In this way, not only can we not get any additional soldiers, but also we can not grasp the German trend. Therefore, we must stop for a while and wait until we have a clear idea of the enemy''s strength and distribution in the vicinity before we can start our next operation. "


    My farfetched reason made watujing silent again. After a while, he said, "well, in that case, we''ll wait another two days. During this period, we happened to send troops to occupy the areas that were let out by the Germans. "


    From watujing''s tone, I heard a lot of helplessness, and then said: "don''t worry, comrade general, as soon as the intelligence of the reconnaissance team comes back, I will immediately launch an attack on smira."


    As soon as I put down the phone, chisgakov asked me, "Comrade commander, smira is a medium-sized city and can''t deploy too many troops. Which army do you plan to take up the main task this time?"


    Instead of answering his question immediately, I turned my eyes to bezikov and asked with a smile, "Comrade chief of staff, which unit do you think is the most appropriate to take on the main task?"


    After listening to my question and thinking for a moment, bzikov replied, "I think this attack can be taken up by the 51st guard division of Colonel chejerikov."


    "No, no, absolutely not." As soon as his words came to an end, chisjakov strongly objected and said, "you know, Colonel shijerikov just took over the command of the 51st division of the guards today. If he goes into battle before he can get familiar with the troops, the command system may fall into chaos." At this point, he looked at me and said in a flattering tone, "I think lieutenant colonel Lukin''s 375TH infantry division is very suitable for the main attack."


    "Comrade commander, how do you think about it?" Asked bezikov with concern.


    "Although shejerikov has just taken over the post of division commander, he once fought here a few months ago and is very familiar with the terrain here." Although both xiejerikov and Lukin are my valued old subordinates, after weighing, I decided to choose the former: "I think it is appropriate for his troops to take the initiative."


    It''s hard for chisjakov to object to my statement. He thought about it, then nodded his head and said, "well, since Comrade commander has made a decision, I will reserve my opinion."


    As soon as it was decided which unit was responsible for attacking smira, I saw bere, the deputy commander of the tank army, coming in from the outside. Seeing the appearance of bere, I couldn''t help looking at chisjakov and bzikov in surprise. I said in my heart that I didn''t summon him. Did either of them ask him to come.


    I was about to ask who had called berey. Berey had already said, "Comrade commander, I want to ask, when will we launch our attack on smira?"


    "Comrade deputy commander," kirilov, who was sitting beside him, stood up and said to him with a smile, "why, do you want to go back to the old place and show yourself well?"


    Kirilov''s words confused chisjakov and bezikov, but I knew very well that we had captured smira when we crossed the north of Dnieper from zaborosh a few months ago. But at that time, bielei was seriously injured and didn''t take part in the battle in person. I guess I always felt very sorry. Now seeing the chance of seizing smira again, he can''t help but want to lead the troops to establish meritorious service.


    After kirilov finished speaking, berey also said with a smile: "Comrade military commissar, the last time I liberated smira, I could only lie on a stretcher and watch you establish your meritorious deeds eagerly. Now we have the chance to liberate the city again. You should let me direct the troops to take part in the battle. "


    "No problem." Kirilov took a look at me and said, "I''ll grant your request for Rita. Two days later, when our attack on smira begins, you will personally command a tank brigade to cover our infantry to attack the city."


    Although kirilov had explained that he had agreed to bere''s request on behalf of me, bere was still a little worried. He looked at me and asked, "Comrade commander, can you really let me command the troops to attack smira?"


    "Yes, general berey." In order to reassure him, I also said with a smile: "I know you didn''t take part in the attack last time, I always feel very sorry, so I will let you do it this time."


    "Great, that''s great." With these two words, bielei raised his hand to salute us, turned and walked out. After two steps, he suddenly stopped and turned to look at me.


    I saw that he wanted to stop talking and asked, "general bielei, what else can I do for you?"


    "Well, comrade commander." "Don''t you remember my captain shamrih and how many of them?" he said He was deeply afraid that I couldn''t remember who this man was, and he specially reminded me, "it was the commanders of several tank soldiers who fought guerrillas here at the beginning."


    In fact, as soon as he said the name of captain shamrih, I knew who he was talking about, but I recognized from his words that he had more important things to say, so I went on to say, "general bere, I remember captain shamrih. At that time, he took out their well preserved flag and asked us to rebuild a tank brigade. Now that you have mentioned them all of a sudden, do you have something important to tell me? "


    "Yes, comrade commander, you are right. I have something important to tell you." Berey walked a few steps towards me, came to the table, pointed to the map and said, "according to captain shamrih, there should still be our guerrillas near the small city of Koson west of cherkaser."


    "Guerrillas?" Hearing that, chisjakov exclaimed: "I can''t believe that there are still our guerrillas here!" At this point, he turned to look at me and said, "Comrade commander, we should send someone to get in touch with them and learn about the enemy''s strength and defense from them."


    I nodded at chisgakov''s proposal, and then said to berey, "Comrade General, you should immediately arrange for captain shamrih to go to korson to see if you can contact the guerrillas active near the city. If we can get in touch, in addition to collecting the enemy''s intelligence, we''d better let them cooperate with us when we attack the city. "


    "All right, comrade commander, I''ll arrange it now." After finishing this time, bielei turned decisively and left the headquarters.


    Looking at berey''s back, chisjakov said with emotion: "I didn''t expect that we could meet guerrillas here. If we could get their help, we could get twice the result with half the effort in the next battle."


    Seeing the joy of chisjakov''s face when he talked about the Ukrainian guerrillas, I could only smile bitterly, and then said: "Comrade deputy commander, although there are many Ukrainian guerrillas, there are not many troops that can be trusted, because many of them are pro German. In addition to helping the Germans attack our army, they often rob villages. We can not accept such troops. On the contrary, we have to eliminate them all. "


    As I said this, the expression on his face suddenly became serious. He tapped the table with his fingers and said thoughtfully, "it seems that after going deep into Ukraine, we will organize special forces to eliminate these scum who betrayed our motherland."


    "Comrade deputy commander is right." As soon as his words were finished, bzikov continued: "I suggest that a battalion be drawn from general seleucin''s forces and be used exclusively to eliminate these scum troops."


    "Chief of staff, don''t worry." Seeing that the two men put on a posture of "do as you say", I quickly raised my hand to stop them and said, "at present, our primary task is to eliminate the enemy in smira. As long as those scum troops who commit crimes in Ukraine, we will deal with them later. "


    As our army has just occupied cherkaser and kaniv, we have a lot of work to do, which has kept us busy all night. When I saw that it was bright outside, I just wanted to find a place to rest. However, akhromeyev, who was going to the headquarters of the front army to deliver a report, rushed out and came in.


    I nodded at him and asked politely, "major, are you back all right?"


    "Report to Comrade commander, it''s been a smooth journey." After answering my question, akhromeyev suddenly said a surprising news: "Comrade commander, on the way from kaniv to here, I heard the soldiers along the way say that we have successfully recovered the small city Kesong from the enemy this morning."


    "What, regained Corson?" Akhromeyev''s words startled me. I looked at chisgakov and saw that he was also puzzled, but I casually asked, "Comrade deputy commander, do you know what''s going on?"


    "I don''t know..." chisjakov just shook his head twice, suddenly his face showed an appearance of a sudden realization. "Wait, comrade commander, it''s not general berey who commands the army and goes all night to take Corson down, is it?"


    I listened to what chisgakov said, frowned and thought for a moment, and felt that it was completely possible. Compared with yesterday when berey took the initiative to mention the small city of korson, it was a bit too coincidental that he was recaptured by our army this morning. Thinking of this, I picked up the phone on my desk and told the operator, "connect me to the tank command."


    After I got through the phone, I heard Kravchenko''s voice coming from the opposite side, so I politely said, "Comrade General, don''t worry, is major general Lei here? I have something important to ask him


    A moment later, there was a voice from the receiver: "Hello, comrade commander, what can I do for you?"


    "Comrade General, I congratulate you." Although it is a good thing to capture Kesong, he acted without asking me for instructions, which I can''t tolerate. So I said coldly, "I congratulate you on your successful capture of Kesong."


    "What, took Corson?" I didn''t expect that after hearing this, bielei was also surprised. He asked in surprise: "Comrade commander, what did you just say? Our troops captured Kesong. What''s the matter? You have confused me."


    When I heard that, I couldn''t help doubting my own judgment. I tentatively asked, "why, comrade general, didn''t you send the troops to attack Kesong?"¡° No, comrade commander. " "To capture a city, it''s impossible to rely on tanks alone. It also needs the cooperation of infantry," said berey. You didn''t send us infantry to cooperate. How can we attack Kesong? "¡° Comrade commander, I can testify for major general berei. " From the receiver came Kravchenko''s voice again: "he was in the headquarters with me all last night, and he didn''t go anywhere. It must have nothing to do with us to attack Corson''s troops. "¡° I know. I''ll find out which army captured Corson overnight. " After I finished, I hung up without waiting for them to talk. After I put down the phone, I looked at akhromeyev standing in front of me, frowned and asked, "Comrade major, who did you listen to about the liberation of korsong by our army?"¡° Of course, the comrades of the tank army told me that. " Akhromeyev said somewhat unexpectedly, "you also know the commander, Captain shamrih, who used to fight guerrillas around here. When I met him on the road, he was walking back to the tank army, and I gave him a ride As soon as akiromeyev finished speaking, chisjakov proposed to me: "Comrade commander, it seems that we should call captain shamrih to ask what''s going on." But before I called the tank army again, they called first. What reported to me was Kravchenko, who said excitedly: "Comrade commander, it''s clear that it''s really our own people who successfully captured Kesong this morning."¡° Which army captured Corson? " I frowned at the question¡° It''s not the regular army. According to captain shamrih''s report, it''s the local guerrillas who attacked korsong at night and liberated the city from the German hands. " Kravchenko continued to report that "since there were only more than 100 German soldiers in the city, seven or eight guerrilla units operating nearby formed an army of more than 800 people. They took advantage of the night to touch in, wiped out the garrison in the city, and successfully liberated the small city."

 Chapter 1267

    What, the guerrillas formed a coalition and recaptured Corson overnight? When I heard this news, my first reaction was: Oh my God, it''s impossible. Even if there are seven or eight hundred guerrillas, it''s not so easy to clean up more than 100 German troops. It must be a mistake.


    Thinking of this, I raised my voice and asked, "Comrade General, is captain shamrih with you? I want to ask him personally, "what''s the matter?"


    "All right, comrade commander, just a moment," Kravchenko said politely. "I''ll let captain shamrih speak to you."


    In the earphone soon came the respectful voice of shamrih: "Hello, comrade commander, this is shamrih."


    "Hello, captain." After a polite greeting, I asked him directly, "is it true to hear that the guerrillas form a coalition?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, a coalition of several guerrillas succeeded in liberating kosong from the enemy''s hands early this morning." Perhaps for fear that I might get to the bottom of the matter, he went on to say, "they used to be guerrillas active along the Dnieper River, because some time ago the German army withdrew from the other side of the river. They are worried that they will be wiped out, so as soon as the commanders of several guerrilla units discuss, they will join forces and act together. "


    When sharmlich finished speaking, I continued to ask a question in my heart: "Comrade captain, if I''m not mistaken, these guerrillas should be small in number. Where did they put together seven or eight hundred people to attack the German army of korson?" The reason why I ask this question is that at the beginning of the year, when I passed here with my troops, almost all the guerrillas with hundreds of people were incorporated, while the remaining guerrillas were no more than 40 or 50 people, and only a dozen less. When the seven or eight units are united, it''s good to have two or three hundred people. Seven or eight hundred people are too many.


    "Well, comrade commander." After hearing my doubts, shamrih explained to me again, "the original strength of the guerrillas was only 30 or 40 people on average. But some time ago, when the German army withdrew from the other side, it carried a large number of civilians. In the process of transferring, some young people quietly fled into the forest and joined the local guerrillas while the Germans didn''t pay attention. As a result, the number of troops has multiplied. "


    Hearing from shamrih that the increase in the number of guerrillas is due to the participation of a large number of fleeing civilians, I can not help but worry more and more. In the era of hot weapons, the number of people is not the key to victory or defeat, but depends on the level of equipment and technology and tactics. The fighting capacity of the guerrillas is not strong at all. They have added so many civilians who have not received military training. It''s a headache to think about their fighting capacity now.


    After a moment''s silence, I asked tentatively, "Comrade captain, how are the casualties of the guerrillas in the battle of liberating Kesong?"


    My question immediately silenced him. After a long time, he slowly replied, "the casualties are not small. Originally, the guerrillas sneaked into Kesong in the dark. Who knows, they were discovered by the enemy just after they solved several sentries. As a result, the sneak attack turned into a strong attack. Those civilians who had just joined the ranks, because they had no combat experience, ran about in panic on the streets of the city when they heard the sound of the gun. As a result, they became targets of the Germans for nothing. Still, the backbone of the guerrillas fought hard to reverse the final situation. "


    When shamrih finished, I went on to say, "Captain, report to me the results and casualties of the guerrillas."


    "The guerrillas wiped out 69 German troops, captured 15, and more than a dozen enemies, and rushed out of the weakest defensive areas of the guerrillas." "If they can get in touch with us in advance and cooperate with us, I don''t think an enemy can escape," he said with some regret


    "What about the casualties of the guerrillas?" When I heard that he only talked about the results of the war, but avoided talking about the casualties of the guerrillas, I urged him to say, "Comrade captain, tell me quickly."


    "357 people were killed, 239 injured and 32 missing."


    I could not help frowning after hearing the report of shamrih. I did not expect that the German army was besieged by several times of forces, resulting in such heavy casualties. I stopped for a moment and then asked, "what''s the matter with the missing person?"


    "Maybe... Maybe... Maybe these new fighters saw that the situation was not good for the guerrillas, so they went on a little errand," he said


    Although I feel extremely uncomfortable about this explanation, I can barely accept it. It''s strange that so many civilians without military training don''t panic in the face of a barrage of bullets that may take their lives at any time, so it''s perfectly normal to have a few deserters. After thinking about it, I asked, "Comrade captain, according to your observation, with their existing forces, can they hold Kesong?"


    "Comrade commander, I don''t think so." Shamrih said solemnly: "the fighting backbone of the guerrillas suffered too many casualties in the battle. If the enemy does not attack, they can still hold the city. Once the enemy launches an attack above company level, it is estimated that the city will fall again. It was because of this that I rushed back to the military command post and wanted to ask the commander for help... "


    "Let general Kravchenko send troops to Koson to take over the defense from the guerrillas?" After hearing his affirmative answer, I went on to say, "Comrade captain, give me the phone to your commander. I have an order to give to him."


    When I heard Kravchenko''s voice, I immediately gave him an order: "Comrade General, you will immediately send a motorized regiment to Kesong to take over the defense of the guerrillas. Remember to build the necessary fortifications around the city to prevent a possible German counterattack. " After I had said these words, I thought for a moment and said, "if the enemy recaptures Koson, they can cut off the road from cherkaser to kaniv at any time. Do you understand? "


    "Fully understood, comrade commander." Kravchenko said with a deep understanding: "the German occupation of kosong is tantamount to inserting a wedge in our defense area, which is not allowed. You can rest assured that I will let the motorized regiment firmly guard Kesong and never let the enemy move forward. "


    The guerrilla''s sudden attack on Kesong made us connect cherkaser and kaniv as a whole, so that when we deploy our defense, we don''t need to set aside special troops to ensure the safety of the road traffic between the two cities.


    At the next group army meeting, chisgakov asked me curiously: "Comrade commander, since our group army has established a consolidated landing site on the left bank of the Dnieper River, which direction will our superiors let us take part in the next battle. Attack zaborosh to the South or Kiev to the north? "


    When I heard chisgakov talking about Kiev, I was surprised to find that both kirilov, who was sitting opposite me, and akhromeyev, who was standing on one side, were surprised. I understand that their reaction is that they are very excited because they think that they will soon be able to return to the place where they made their contributions.


    "According to my judgment, our group army may be used in the direction of Kiev." After giving my judgment, I went on to explain my analysis: "from the map, we are half closer to Kiev than to zaborosh. What''s more, the main force of the southwest front army is approaching zaborosh from the south. Their next action is to attack the city, then cross the Dnieper River and advance to western Ukraine. "


    "When do you think we can attack Kiev?" Asked chisgakov excitedly.


    "Although we have occupied cherkaser and kaniv, our troops are limited, so there is no chance of winning if we want to attack Kiev, a conservative German army." In order to prevent our minds from overheating, I specially give them an alarm, "so our main task at present is to consolidate the occupied area and build a stable landing site here, so that our troops and energy sources of the front army can continuously cross over from the other side of the river. After the main force of the front army is in place, I believe that general watujing will take our place as the starting point to launch an attack on Kiev. "


    "Comrade commander, I heard that you took Kiev from the German army in just one night with the 79th infantry." Chisgakov looked at me and said in an adoring tone, "I don''t know how long it will take to put this group army into battle this time and win Kiev again?"


    "My deputy commander," said chisgakov, with a bitter smile, I replied, "when we attacked Kiev, the main force of the German army was still on the right bank of the Dnieper River, fighting with our southwest army and Voronezh army. Kiev was almost an empty city, so we could easily seize it. Today, Kiev is not only heavily guarded by the German army, but also has built a large number of fortifications. If we want to capture this kind of city, the difficulty is no less than that of seizing Kharkov. "


    What I said made everyone take a breath, because everyone had seen the cruelty of Kharkov''s hard war. The 53rd army, which was the main attack force, suffered huge losses, so that they could only play the role of auxiliary attack in the period of cooperating with us.


    However, chisgakov was still reluctant to say: "Comrade commander, although the German forces are strong in Kiev, there is a perfect defense system inside and outside the city. But in the face of the attack of Voronezh''s front army with hundreds of thousands of us, they may still be unable to resist it? "


    "Comrade deputy commander, although our troops are larger than those of the Germans and our equipment is on a par with them, we are bound to pay a heavy price to capture this fortified city from the enemy." When I think of the cruel battle, I feel afraid¡° Even if we make a forced attack, not only everything in the city will be beaten to pieces, but our troops will also lose the ability to fight continuously. "


    "Is the enemy really so tenacious?" As for what I said, chisgakov asked in disbelief, "but look at the enemies in kaniv and cherkaser. Almost all of them were defeated as soon as they exchanged fire with us. Are the defenders in Kiev stronger than these troops?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, the reason why we can capture these two cities in such a short period of time is due to a lot of luck." I saw a puzzled expression on chisjakov''s face, and then said, "because the enemy gave up a large number of defense areas on the right bank in the shortest time, they withdrew to the left bank of the river. In this case, there will inevitably be chaos in their troop establishment. For example, among the prisoners we captured, more than 100 belonged to a dozen companies that did not belong to each other. The enemy has so many names, and there is no unified command. It''s strange that they won''t be defeated. However, as time goes on, this kind of problem will soon be solved by the Germans. In the future, if we want to fight such an easy battle, it will not be so easy. "


    As soon as I had finished, lophov came over with a telegram and reported to me, "Comrade commander, it''s the reconnaissance report from captain travkin." After I quickly read the above, I handed the telegram to chisgakov, and then told bzikov to say, "Comrade chief of staff, Captain travkin is reporting that the enemy has only one infantry battalion and one tank company in smira. You immediately call Colonel shejerikov and ask him to move his troops around smira overnight and attack the city after daybreak. "¡° Do you need the cooperation of artillery and tank troops? " After recording my orders, bzikov did not leave immediately, but looked at me and kindly reminded me, "you know, the enemy has a tank company in the city, which is the enemy of our infantry."¡° There is no need for artillery in such a small city. " I thought about it for a moment, and then said, "you can call general Kravchenko again and ask him to send the 20th brigade of guard tanks to cooperate with the 51st division of guard." I had just issued a series of orders, and I saw lophoff appear in front of me again with several messages in my hand. I worried that something was wrong, so I frowned and asked, "Comrade major, is there anything else?" With a smile on his face, lophov handed me some telegrams in his hand, and said with a smile, "Comrade commander, this is the message just received. Two hours ago, the forces of the 40th group army successfully captured two cities downstream of us, klemenchug and svewodesk. The landing site they set up is connected with our defense area. " After listening to lophov, chisgakov immediately buried himself in the map. After watching for a moment, he slapped heavily on the map with his hand, and then said to me excitedly: "Comrade commander, this is really great. After the friendly forces occupied these two cities, they helped us block the enemy who might come from zaborosh. In this way, we can turn our defense focus to the north and be ready to attack Kiev at any time."

 Chapter 1268

    Just as we successfully crossed the Dnieper River for the friendly forces and established a new landing site in the adjacent area, the telephone on the desk rang untimely. Bezikov picked up the receiver and listened for a few words, then he was shocked. He covered the microphone with his hand, turned his head and said quickly, "Comrade commander, the situation is not good. A large number of enemies are rushing to the defense area of the 375TH infantry division."


    "What? Has the enemy launched an attack on Lu Jin''s defensive area? " Bezikov''s words made the originally hot headquarters quiet. I took the microphone from bezikov''s hand and asked solemnly, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? How many Germans attacked you?"


    When I asked questions in such a severe tone, Lu Jin, who answered the phone, said in a panic: "Comrade commander, I just received a report from the frontier observation station. They said that the dust was flying in the distance. It seemed that there were a lot of enemies rushing towards us."


    "How many troops does the enemy have?" I continued to ask sternly, "are the infantry attacking you supported by tanks or other technical equipment?"


    "I''m sorry, comrade commander. It''s hard for me to give you a definite answer on this point." Lu Jin replied awkwardly, "I just heard the report from the frontier observation post, and I think I should report this to you in time."


    "Commander Lukin," I heard that the intelligence of the so-called large German army was just the conjecture of the observation station. I regained my composure and said calmly, "don''t forget that you are now the division commander. Let the troops prepare for all battles immediately. At the same time, send someone to find out what''s going on and report the latest progress to me at any time."


    When I put down the phone, I looked at the others who had focused on us. In order to ease the tense atmosphere in the headquarters, I deliberately understated: "don''t worry, everyone. Lt. Col. Lukin is making such a fuss. He said that one of his observation posts reported to him that they found dust on the road in the distance, and it was estimated that the enemy''s troops were rushing towards our defense area. As commander Lu Jin is not clear about the specific situation, I will let him find out what is going on, and then report to me. "


    After listening to me, chisgakov kept staring at the map. After a while, he tentatively said to me, "Comrade commander, I suddenly have a bold guess about the enemy rushing to our defense area."


    "Comrade deputy commander, let''s hear what you have to guess." Chisgakov''s words aroused my interest, "I think this enemy is very strange, even if they didn''t prepare for the attack, they would attack us..." as soon as I said this, a strange idea suddenly appeared in my mind.


    I stopped quickly, looked up at chisjakov and asked carefully, "Comrade deputy commander, is your guess Later, I didn''t say it. I just gave him a look of inquiry.


    "Yes, comrade commander," said chisjakov, nodding his head, "we may be thinking of the same problem."


    "Comrades, two commanders," we had a dialogue like a riddle, confusing the people beside us. Don''t zikov asked blankly, "what are you talking about? Why can''t I understand you at all?"


    After looking at each other, chisgakov and I replied with a smile, "chief of staff, I think it''s better for the commander to explain this question to you." With that, he made a gesture for me.


    "Well, comrade chief of staff." Seeing that everyone couldn''t wait to know the answer, I said to them instead of selling the key: "just now, we didn''t receive a report from the friendly forces that they had successfully occupied klemenchug and svewodesk after crossing the Dnieper River. I reckon that the dust we see is the German troops retreating from these two cities. "


    "Yes, I think the same as Comrade commander." As soon as I had finished, chisgakov echoed. He continued, "the enemy has just lost the battle, so they must have no fighting spirit. Why don''t we take the initiative and give them a head-on blow, and wipe out as much as we can. "


    After listening to chisgakov''s suggestion, I looked at the map again for a while, then slowly shook my head and said, "no, comrade deputy commander, although the enemy escaped from klemenchug and svewodesk, it can''t be said that they have no combat effectiveness. If they are on the way to retreat and our army blocks them, they will certainly fight to death. So even if we get the final victory, we will pay a heavy price


    "What should we do? Can we watch the enemy escape?" "If they go north to join forces with Kiev''s enemies, it will make it more difficult for us to liberate Kiev in the future," chisjakov said with an unhappy expression


    Due to the lack of time, I didn''t discuss with you, so I told bzikov: "chief of staff, call commander Lukin immediately and ask him to transfer the 1243 regiment to the road to stop the retreating German troops."


    "Comrade commander," chisjakov was a little worried when he heard my order, "although we don''t know how many troops the enemy escaped from, it is estimated that it will be difficult to block the enemy''s attack only by the strength of the 1243 regiment."


    "Chief of staff, after you call commander Lukin, call general Nekrasov." I looked at the map and said, "let him ambush the 52nd guard division northwest of chelkathur. Well, you can call them


    Seeing that bzikov followed the order to make a phone call, chisjakov got worried and said with some emotion: "Comrade commander, we should take advantage of the low morale of the enemy to give them a head-on blow, fight for heavy damage or eat part of them, so as to reduce our pressure in the next battle."


    I just had a bold battle plan in my heart, but if it was too bold, it would certainly be opposed by everyone. Therefore, I stubbornly said, "general chisjakov, I remind you that I am the commander of the sixth group of guards, not you. Therefore, how the army should fight is the one I has the final say.


    As soon as I spoke, chisjakov closed his mouth, but his face was disappointed. I also saw that bizikov, who had just finished the phone call, opened his mouth to say something, but kirilov held him and gently shook his head at him, indicating not to interfere with my command.


    More than ten minutes later, the 375TH infantry division began to fight. Hearing the sound of heavy gunfire coming from the southeast, I personally called Lu Jin and ordered him to "never step back or send reinforcements to the 1243rd regiment until it''s finished."


    Although Lukin thought my order was a little ridiculous, he carried out it faithfully. He gave a death order to the head of the 1243 Regiment: firmly hold the position, and even if a soldier is killed, he is not allowed to step back.


    During the two-hour battle, the retreating German troops launched seven or eight charges against the positions of the 1243 regiment. Under the cover of tanks, German infantry occupied part of the regiment. Two battalion commanders and two-thirds of the company commanders of the regiment were killed. There was only one battalion left under the commander''s command. He repeatedly fought for positions with the German army who tried to break through the encirclement, and even fought a cruel white-edged battle in some areas.


    Lu Jin called me. He cried and said, "Comrade commander, my 1243rd regiment is almost finished. Can you let me transfer the other two regiments?"


    "No, comrade commander, the other two regiments can''t fight yet." Although I knew that the 1243 regiment would be rebuilt after the end of the battle, I still clenched my teeth and ordered, "you order the head of the 1243 regiment to continue to insist. As long as there is one person left, you can never retreat."


    After I finished Lukin''s call, I called nikolasov again and asked frankly, "Comrade division commander, are your troops in position?"


    "Report to the commander. In five minutes at most, all my troops will be in position." After reporting his intelligence, niekrasov asked strangely, "I heard that the 375TH infantry division is fighting fiercely with the German army at present. Why don''t you send us to reinforce, but transfer us to ambush in this area without enemies?"


    "Sir, when it''s time for you to know something, you will know it." I didn''t give him a clear answer, but urged: "let the soldiers speed up, the enemy''s offensive is too fierce, commander Lu Jin, they can''t stand it."


    I put down the phone, raised my hand and looked at my watch, wondering in my heart whether the troops of the 52nd division could complete the ambush task within the specified time. At this moment, chisgakov asked me, "Comrade commander, the 1243rd regiment is going to be unbearable. If you don''t let lieutenant colonel Lukin send another two regiments to reinforce them, I''ll take the guard camp to support them. Is that ok?"


    But he never dreamed that his request was rejected by me without any doubt. Chisgakov saw me go my own way, and his face was sad, but he had nothing to do with me.


    Just then, nikolasov called and he reported to me, "Comrade commander, all our troops are in position."


    I looked at the time. It took only three minutes. I nodded, said: "good, let your troops ready to fight, once the enemy enters your ambush circle, immediately open fire, try not to let a German escape."


    When I finished, I hung up without waiting for him to finish. Then I picked up the phone again and dialed Lu Jin''s division headquarters. After hearing Lu Jin''s voice, I told him directly: "Comrade commander, let the officers and men of the 1243rd regiment withdraw from the position immediately and make way for the Germans."


    "What, a passage for the Germans?" When Lukin heard my order, he was startled. After a moment''s silence, he made a request to me: "Comrade commander, don''t worry. Although the 1243rd regiment is about to run out, I will lead a regiment to reinforce immediately. I will certainly block the enemy."


    "Commander Lu Jin, you can''t just fight and rush in a war. You have to use your brains." When I finished this sentence, without waiting for his reply, I went on to say, "after the enemy''s big troops rush past your position, you will immediately lead the other two regiments to rush up and quickly plug the gap. Never let the enemy escape from your position. Do you understand? "


    Lu Jin listened to me and was silent for a long time. Then he cheered and raised his voice and said, "Comrade commander, I understand everything. Don''t worry, I will never let a German escape from our division''s defense zone. "


    After I put down the phone this time, I asked chisgakov, who was standing beside me, "Comrade deputy commander, do you understand why I am doing this now?" When chisgakov heard me ask him this, he was stunned at first, then nodded his head abruptly, and said with a little emotion: "I understand, comrade commander, I understand everything now. In this way, the 52nd division of our guards will be able to wipe out all the German troops entering the ambush circle. "¡° Two comrades, can you tell me what''s going on? " He looked at kirilov, who was also confused beside him, and added: "it''s not just me. I guess the comrades of the military commissar can''t figure out what''s going on."¡° Yes, Rita. What are you doing with general chisgakov? " Kirilov also puzzled to ask: "since the blocking war has just been so fierce, why give the enemy a channel?" After I looked at chisjakov this time, I made a gesture of invitation to him, and then said, "Comrade deputy commander, it''s up to you to introduce the situation to the military commissar and chief of staff." Chisgakov nodded, and then explained to kirilov and bezikov the tactics I used: "although the enemy is defeated, they will attack as hard as they can when they see the blocking position we have established, and they want to open a channel and escape to a safe place. If we put the 375TH infantry division in defensive positions, what we are going to do is a cruel and protracted positional battle Only one regiment is placed in the position, and the enemy infantry, under the cover of their tanks, can rush into our defensive position, so that they can see the hope of a successful breakthrough. When the wounded 1243rd regiment withdrew from the battle, the German army would think that our troops were forced to withdraw from the battle because they could not stop them Once we see that the road ahead is unimpeded, the German officers and men with high morale just lose their will to fight and just want to cross our defense area as quickly as possible to join their friendly forces Under such circumstances, the 52nd division of Jinwei ambushing in the northwest of the city can easily defeat or even completely annihilate these officers and men who have no fighting spirit. " At this point, he turned to look at me and asked with a smile, "Comrade commander, is my understanding correct?"

 Chapter 1269

    Although chisjakov understood my intention, kirilov and bezikov were confused about his explanation. Seeing that everyone was focusing on me again, I had to explain it to them again: "after being repulsed by our 40th army, the German army retreated along the road to Kiev. Although their morale is low, if they encounter our army''s tenacious resistance, their desire for survival will be aroused in order to escape from the natural world. In this way, their combat effectiveness will be multiplied and unstoppable like a torrent. If we rely on weak defensive positions to block them under such circumstances, even if we barely block them, we will pay huge casualties. "


    When I say this, I want to pause and see what reaction you have. Bezikov looked at me, nodded thoughtfully, and then said, "Comrade commander, what you said is very reasonable. The madness of the German attack is completely beyond our imagination, otherwise the 1243 regiment would not be crippled by the German in such a short time. "


    Seeing that bezikov understood what I meant, I went on to say, "if the enemy is a flood, then our army is a dam. Once the dam is unable to support under the impact of the flood, the best way is to release the flood. When the flood comes out of the gap we opened, the impact will soon weaken, and then we can slowly clean up the mess. "


    When I heard the metaphor, kirilov''s face was suddenly enlightened. He nodded his head and said, "Rita, your metaphor is very vivid. I see what you mean. When the German saw that the passage in front of him was opened, he immediately saw the hope of life. In this case, even though he knew that there were enemies nearby, everyone thought that since there was a chance to live, he would run forward quickly. As long as he rushed out of the death zone, he would escape from life. "


    "Yes, that''s what it means." "In the process of the enemy''s escape, our troops, which have been in ambush for a long time, suddenly attack them. They simply can''t organize effective resistance, and the troops may collapse in an instant," chisjakov added


    As soon as he had finished, the telephone on the desk rang. After listening to the phone for a moment, bizikov said to me with a smile, "Comrade commander, it''s general nikolasov. He said that the enemy has entered the ambush area of the 52nd division of the guards. He asked if he could attack immediately."


    "Strike After I said a light word, I felt that it was too short. Nekrasov might not be able to understand my intention, so I specially added: "tell Mr. Nekrasov that the troops should be alert when they attack, and prevent the Germans from jumping over the wall and turning around to bite us when we attack or pursue."


    "I understand." Bezikov agreed and said to the microphone, "Comrade division, the commander orders you to attack immediately. However, when attacking, we should keep enough vigilance to avoid the Germans jumping over the wall to bite you


    As soon as nikolasov hung up, Lukin''s call came in. He said with some emotion: "Comrade commander, the German army has almost passed through our division''s defense area. I beg you to allow me to lead the other two regiments to pursue the fleeing German army."


    "No, comrade commander." For his request, I immediately denied it with an unquestionable tone: "if you all go to pursue the enemy, then who will defend the position?"


    "A division of the 40th group army has just been stationed in our division''s defense area. They can take over our defense." Lu Jin was deeply afraid that I would not agree with him. He also played a sentimental card to me: "Comrade commander, our 1243rd regiment almost lost all its casualties in the blocking battle. The whole division was filled with anger and wanted to pay back the blood debt to the Germans."


    When I heard that there were friendly troops stationed in the defense line of Lu Jin''s headquarters, my heart immediately became more secure. It is impossible for the Germans to turn around and go south even if they find that the road ahead is blocked. Besides, the commanders and fighters of the 375TH infantry division are eager to fight, so they should be given a chance to vent their emotions. Thinking of this, I nodded slightly, and then said: "Comrade commander, as long as you can persuade the friendly forces to help you hold your position, you can lead the troops to attack for a long time."


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander," Lu Jinxin swore to me, "I will persuade the commanders of the friendly forces to take over our defense."


    After I finished the conversation with Lu Jin, I sat at the table for a moment. Then I got up and went to the wall to pour tea. Unexpectedly, as soon as I picked up the cup, the phone on the table rang again. I took a look at the position where the phone was placed and saw that akhromeyev had picked up the phone, so I continued to pour my tea.


    Before I filled the cup with tea, I heard akhromeyev calling me: "Comrade commander, it''s your phone." I put down the teapot and walked slowly towards the table with the cup half filled. I thought to myself, "I don''t know if it''s nikolasov or Lukin who''s calling for me?"


    Seeing that I was not in a hurry, akhromeyev''s face showed a nervous expression. He covered the microphone with his palm and said to me in a low voice: "Comrade commander, it''s general Moskalenko who is looking for you!"


    Moskalenko?! I think the name sounds familiar, but I can''t remember who it is for a moment. Seeing my blank face, chisjakov, standing at the table, reminded me in a low voice, "Comrade commander, general Moskalenko is the commander of the 40th army."


    Oh, it''s the commander of the 40th army! With such a reminder from chisgakov, I immediately remembered who this general was. Although I knew him as early as the battle of Stalingrad, he played an ignominious role in the fall of Zhukov in the history I know, so I always had a bad impression on him


    I put the teacup on the table, took the microphone from akhromeyev''s hand, took a deep breath, stuck it to my ear, and politely said, "Hello, comrade general, this is oshanina. What can I do for you?"


    Moskalenko recognized my politeness with a kind of estrangement. After a moment''s silence, Moskalenko said, "general oshanina, my troops crossed the Dnieper River today and successfully captured two German cities. At present, one of my divisions has followed the fleeing enemy into the defense area of your group army. As the commanders and fighters are very tired from continuous fighting, I would like to ask you to let your troops take over the task of investigating the German army, so that my commanders and fighters can have a good rest. Is that ok? "


    "No problem, no problem, general Moskalenko." I was worried about how Lukin would persuade the friendly commanders to defend the positions on their behalf. At the moment, when I heard Moskalenko''s request, I really wanted to doze off. Someone gave me a pillow. I quickly pushed the boat along and said, "we are friendly forces. I will tell the commander below to handle these little things immediately. You can rest assured."


    Moskalenko also knows that I have something to do with him. He may have prepared a lot of things to say in advance, but I didn''t expect that I would promise so readily that he didn''t even have the chance to say it. However, he may feel that it''s impolite to hang up in such a hurry and chat with me for a long time.


    When I put down the phone, I rubbed my numb smile face, then looked up at bezikov and asked, "chief of staff, is there any feedback from the front line?"


    After hearing this, bzikov shook his head and said, "not for the time being, but I think I''ll be able to receive the battle report from the front line in more than ten minutes."


    I nodded, picked up my tea cup, sipped the tea slowly, staring at the map, thinking: in addition to the main force, there may be a small group of German troops who have crossed the line of defense of the Lukin division, which will flee to Kiev, they may flee to smira and kosson respectively. There is a division of Colonel chejerikov in smira, and the enemy poses no threat to them; In Kesong, there is only a motorized regiment of the Fifth Army of the close guard tank. If a large number of enemies rush past, they may suffer.


    I was thinking about whether I should call Kravchenko and ask him to send a tank brigade to reinforce Koson when lophoff came up to me, handed me a telegram, and said with a look of joy: "Comrade commander, general Nekrasov called and said that the whole German army collapsed directly after being hit by the 52nd division of the guards."


    When I heard what lophove said, I raised my eyebrows. I was afraid that I had heard it wrong. I asked again, "Comrade major, what do you say? After the enemy was attacked by us, the whole army collapsed directly?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Lophov looked down at the telegram and said, "general nikolasov reported that the whole army collapsed directly after our attack on the enemy. The soldiers did not run along the road towards Kiev, but scattered in all directions."


    I took the telegram and read it carefully several times. Then I put it on the table and looked at chisjakov and kirilov, who were looking at me. They said, "yes, from this telegram of general nikolasov, the enemy''s troops collapsed directly after our attack. If they run along the road towards Kiev, it can be called a retreat, or they may regroup after ten or twenty miles, and then turn around and bite us. But judging from the current situation, the enemy has turned into a mass of loose sand. In addition to a small number of enemies, they also rushed to Kiev along the road, and most of the remaining enemies ran aimlessly in all directions. "


    "What shall we do next?" Asked bezikov, looking at me.


    "Comrade chief of staff, since the enemy has become a group of loose sand, it''s time for us to beat the water dog." With that, I stood up and gave an order to bezikov: "you should call general sivakov, commander of the 23rd army of the close guard, and ask him to send two close guard divisions to attack immediately, so that they can take part in the fight against the remnants of the German army."


    "Yes, since the enemy is demoralized, we should pursue and fight hard." As soon as I finished, chisgakov echoed. He continued: "I believe that as long as kaniv''s troops attack again, they can safely escape back to the enemy in Kiev, there will not be many people."


    "By the way, chief of staff, please call general Kravchenko again." At this time, I finally made up my mind to let the Fifth Army of close guard tanks go out, and then decisively gave an order: "let him send a tank brigade to attack, to destroy all the enemy''s armored forces at the fastest speed, and strive not to let go of an enemy."


    Although I also understand the saying that an enemy will not be let go, I can only talk about it. After all, there are forests all around. If the desperate enemy goes into the forest, unless we use several times of our forces to search for them, someone will surely miss the net. However, when giving an order, we have to mention it, otherwise it will not be powerful enough.


    In the next more than an hour, nikolasov and Lukin kept calling or telegraming me, telling me where they had defeated the enemy''s defenses, and how many enemies they had captured, and so on. From akhromeyev, who is responsible for recording the results of the war, chisjakov asked for the war report he had just received. After reading it for a while, he frowned and said to me, "Comrade commander, something is wrong?" His words startled me, thinking, did he find any plot of the enemy? Thinking of this, I can''t help asking with a little guilty: "Comrade deputy commander, what''s wrong?" He put the war report in front of me, pointed to it and said to me, "Comrade commander, you see, in the war report of the 52nd division of Jinwei, besides how many enemies were destroyed, the number of prisoners was also written. However, commander Lukin''s war report did not provide prisoners at all except for the number of German resistance and the number of enemies he destroyed. " I picked up the war report and read it. I soon realized that it was so. So I put down the war report, sighed, looked up and said to chisgakov, "Comrade deputy commander, in fact, the reason why lieutenant colonel Lukin didn''t mention the issue of prisoners is that they didn''t catch any prisoners at all."¡° What, no prisoners? " After listening to what I said, chisgakov could not help shouting: "Comrade commander, you see, in general nikolasov''s report, he has captured more than a thousand prisoners. No matter how poor their division''s combat effectiveness is, commander Lukin can''t catch even one or two hundred prisoners?" With a wry smile, I replied, "Comrade deputy commander, I think you have made a mistake. It''s not that they can''t catch the prisoners, but that they didn''t intend to catch them at all."

 Chapter 1270

    "But, comrade commander, what''s going on?" Hearing what I said, chisgakov asked in a puzzled way: "you know, from the current situation, the Germans have almost completely lost their resistance. As soon as our people rush over, maybe they will raise their hands and surrender."


    "Comrade deputy commander, have you forgotten about the 1243rd regiment?" I sighed softly and said leisurely: "even if lieutenant commander Lu Jin didn''t give any orders to the troops, I think the following officers and men will be red eyed when they see their own casualties. Let alone the fact that the Germans are still struggling in many areas. Even if they do not resist, they will stand on the side of the road and raise their hands to surrender. As long as the commanders and fighters of the 375TH infantry division see the person standing in front of them and the uniform they are wearing is different from their own, they will immediately sweep past. "


    After listening to my explanation, chisgakov''s brow was locked. He looked at me with a serious expression and said, "Comrade commander, this can''t work. Although the Germans have deep blood feuds with us, since they have laid down their weapons, we should give them the prisoner treatment they deserve."


    "Comrade deputy commander," kirilov, who was always silent before I spoke, suddenly said, "you said that we should give the Germans the treatment they deserve as prisoners, but how do the Germans treat our captured soldiers? The enemy''s prisoner of war camps are located far away from the front line. They have no spare trucks and trains to transport prisoners of war, so they let our soldiers walk for hundreds of kilometers. In addition to many exhausted soldiers died on the road because of hunger and disease, they also shot and killed those left behind prisoners of war at will. " At this point, he smashed his fist on the table and raised his voice. "Blood debt should be paid with blood. Now it''s time for us to pay them back."


    Chisgakov did not expect that his casual words would infuriate kirilov, who was just like a good man. He even let him say these words with righteous indignation, and the whole person was stunned.


    When I saw this situation, I quickly came out to make ends meet. First I said to kirilov, "well, comrade military commissar, we all know what you said." Then he turned to chisgakov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, as senior commanders of the group army, we only need to make operational plans and give them to division commanders. As long as we can win the final victory and how to fight the war, we will not interfere too much. "


    "Yes, comrade commander is right." As soon as my voice fell, bzikov echoed to ease the tense atmosphere in the headquarters¡° As long as we can eliminate the enemy who has intruded into our defense area, it will be a great victory even if no one of Lieutenant Colonel Lu Jin''s troops can catch a prisoner. " Then he gave a friendly smile to chisgakov, "besides, the 52nd division of general nikolasov''s close guard should not have captured thousands of prisoners and handed them over to the superior, which is also the result of our whole army."


    With the steps that bezikov and I had given him, after a moment''s hesitation, chisgakov raised his hand, saluted kirilov, and then said respectfully, "Comrade military commissar, you are right*** The bandits have committed so many heinous crimes in our country that we really can''t be too kind to them. "


    "All right, all right," I said as I saw them shaking hands and making peace. "Deputy commander, military commissar, let''s discuss the direction of our group army after seizing smira."


    My words immediately attracted chisgakov''s attention. He stared at me and said, "Comrade commander, didn''t we say that we should consolidate the existing defensive position after seizing smira and take it as the starting point of attack for seizing Kiev in the future?"


    "Although there are all kinds of signs that our group army may become the main force in attacking Kiev, we are not afraid of ten thousand, just in case," I said. I saw that everyone''s faces showed a nervous look. I coughed and said, "I just said in case, it''s not true. In case the front command has other plans to prevent us from participating in the war, but just put us here as a reserve team to cut off the German links between Kiev and zaborosh, what shall we do then? "


    After staring at the map for a while, chisgakov looked up at me and asked tentatively, "commander, do you mean to send troops to occupy some more western cities?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander, that''s how I think about it." I pointed to several cities in the West and south of smira and said, "you see, these cities were recovered by us a few months ago. Here, our troops have a certain mass base, and I believe they can be supplemented by soldiers."


    After listening to what I said, chisgakov said with some disapproval, "the residents of kaniv and cherkaser have been moved by the German army. Can''t the German army also move the residents of these cities?"


    "I don''t think so." Although I don''t know where Manstein moved so many city residents, I do know that hundreds of thousands of people can''t be moved back to Germany, they can only be arranged in these areas that our military forces can''t reach for the time being. "You know, the German moved from the banks of the Dnieper River, but hundreds of thousands or even millions of people. They can''t transport all these people back to Germany in a short time, so they have to settle in these cities far away from the Dnieper River. "


    "I think we should send scouts to these cities as soon as possible." When bezikov heard that after occupying these cities, he was able to obtain additional soldiers, he was immediately excited: "once we have determined which city has enough population, we can recover all of them, so as to achieve the goal of replenishing soldiers."


    After looking at him with a strange look, chisjakov said slowly, "Comrade chief of staff, although we can get military supplement from cities with large population, we also have to face the clothing, food, housing and transportation of hundreds of thousands of people at the same time. It is far from enough to rely on the actual strength of our group army."


    After a moment''s silence, bizikov said, "Comrade deputy commander, it is estimated that only comrades of the military commissar among us know how to manage the city, and the rest only know how to fight. This is a real trouble."


    "What''s the trouble." As for bezikov''s worries, I said lightly: "after the liberation of the city, we just need to report to the higher authorities and let them send people who know how to manage the city to take over the management of the city. The first thing we should consider is how to eliminate the enemy''s effective forces. Never put the cart before the horse. "


    As soon as I finished, nikolasov called from the front line. When I heard his voice, I asked with a smile, "what''s the situation, sir? Have you wiped out all the Germans?"


    Niekrasov respectfully reported to me: "Comrade commander, after rough statistics, we have killed 1149 German soldiers and captured 1364. Destroy seven tanks, 19 armored vehicles and a number of trucks. "


    "Well done, sir." I am very satisfied with his achievements: "have you started cleaning the battlefield?"


    After hearing my question, nikolasov hesitated for a while and then replied, "Comrade commander, we are in a bit of trouble and need artillery support."


    "What, need artillery support?" What niekrasov said surprised me very much. I asked in surprise, "did you encounter the counterattack of the German army?"


    "Comrade commander, this is the situation." Nekrasov quickly explained to me: "we surrounded a small German army unit on a hillside, and the enemy resisted tenaciously relying on the woods and terrain on the hillside. Although we launched several charges under the cover of tanks, they all ended in failure. We not only sacrificed nearly 100 soldiers, but also bombed two tanks by the German army. "


    As soon as nikolasov finished, I asked, "where are the Germans trapped?" After listening to his specific location, I said coldly, "I asked general povsky to send a close guard rocket battalion to support you."


    After hanging up the phone, I immediately told akhromeyev: "major, immediately call general povsky and ask him to immediately send a close guard rocket battalion to support general Nekrasov. The specific address is... "After I finished, I announced to you," I will go to the battlefield to have a look myself. "


    The people in the headquarters have long turned a blind eye to my bad habit of running forward. As you know, they can''t persuade me, so they just let it go. Bezikov immediately called for major Yushchenko, the head of the guard, to arrange for him to escort me to the section of Nekrasov division to see if this besieged German army could be solved.


    It took less than half an hour for the jeep to get to the position mentioned by nikolasov. Unexpectedly, in such a short time, he built a semi underground shelter seven or eight hundred meters away from the hillside. From the lookout here, we can clearly see the situation on the hillside in the distance.


    I raised my telescope and looked at the hillside. I saw that there were many trees on the hillside. I couldn''t see where the enemy was hiding. If I had to launch a forced attack, I would have to pay a heavy price. I turned my telescope to the foot of the mountain and saw more than a dozen of our tanks parked 200 meters away from the hillside. Behind the tanks, there was a half man deep trench with hundreds of meters of commanders and fighters hidden inside. I put down my telescope, turned around and asked, "Comrade division, how do you plan to attack next?"


    Niekrasov came up to me, pointed to the distance and said, "Comrade commander, you see, the enemy is hiding in the woods on the hillside. We can''t see where they are at all. Once the attack is launched, we will see that the enemy is in the dark, which is very unfavorable to us. Unless we wait for the rocket barracks to come and cover the trees on the hillside twice, as long as the trees start to burn, then the enemies on the hillside will have no hiding place. Then they have only two choices, one is to stay on the mountain and be burned to death, the other is to lay down their arms and surrender to us. "


    Looking at nikolasov, I asked with a straight face, "Comrade division, have you not considered any other way besides using rockets to deal with the enemy?"


    "Other ways?" Nikolasov was stunned for a long time when he heard what I said. Then he asked in a misty way, "is there any way to destroy the enemy?"


    "Comrade division commander, we need to be able to fight not only military but also political." I looked at the hillside in the distance and said with a sneer, "you should send soldiers to shout and persuade the enemies on the hillside to lay down their arms and surrender."


    After listening to me, niekrasov looked at me stupidly and asked, "Comrade commander, is this method effective?"¡° If it has any effect, just try it, won''t you? " I saw an armored car parked outside the shelter. I pointed to the car and asked, "Comrade division, is there a radio in that armored car?" Without looking over there, he replied decisively, "yes, comrade commander, there are radio and loudspeakers on the armored vehicle, which can shout at the enemy."¡° Since that is the case, sir, let''s go. " I shook my head at Nekrasov and said, "we''ll go to the front in an armored car and shout to the Germans ourselves."¡° Is it, is it too dangerous? " When he heard me say this, he was shocked. He tried his best to persuade me to change his opinion: "although the enemy has no heavy weapons, if any German who is not afraid of death rushes down the hillside with a cluster grenade, you will be too dangerous."¡° Don''t worry, sir I said confidently, "our armored car doesn''t drive to the foot of the mountain, but only stops next to those tanks. I don''t think the German army can break through the armor of armored vehicles even if they shoot with machine guns hundreds of meters away At my insistence, our armored car arrived 200 meters away from the hillside and stopped beside a tank. I picked up the loudspeaker, turned to Nekrasov and asked, "Comrade division, are you or am I speaking to the German army?" When niekrasov heard my question, he immediately said with a smile, "you are the commander, of course you are shouting." I nodded, then put the megaphone close to my mouth and said in a loud voice, "German officers and men on the hillside, you are surrounded by us. There is no point in continuing to resist. I order you to immediately lay down your arms and surrender to us, or you will be completely destroyed by us. " After I finished calling out these words, I heard niekrasov next to me muttering in a low voice: "Comrade commander, can you understand the German when you shout in Russian?" If niekrasov didn''t speak, I didn''t expect that he didn''t understand the language. After hearing what he said, I couldn''t help hesitating. I thought to myself whether I should find a German fighter to translate my words to the German. But before I could make up my mind, I heard the sound of Jingling from the armored car body, as if there were hail in the sky¡° Hell, "said nikolasov, gritting his teeth," the Germans are shooting us with machine guns. " As soon as his voice fell, he heard the sound of a tank shell coming out of the chamber. After a moment, there was a deep explosion in the distance, and then the sound of hitting the body armor suddenly disappeared. Although I didn''t look outside, I still guessed what had happened. It must have been the nearby tank that fired and destroyed the enemy''s machine gun fire point. Now that our tanks are escorting me, I''m more confident. So I repeat what I just said twice, of course in Russian. As for the Germans, if they don''t understand me, it''s their bad luck. As soon as the guard rocket battalion arrives, I will order them to blow up the forest on the mountain into a sea of fire¡° Commander, division commander, "the armored car driver sitting in front suddenly turned to us and said," there are Germans coming down the hillside with white flags. " I heard him say that, so I pushed to the front row and looked out through the observation hole. A German officer in a cornice hat, holding a white shirt in a branch, came over the hillside tremblingly. Seeing this, nikolasov pushed the door open and yelled to the outside, "past two men, bring him here!"

 Chapter 1271

    At the command of Nekrasov, two soldiers immediately jumped out of the trench and bent over to run towards the German in front of them. Looking at the far away figure of the soldiers, Nekrasov turned to me and asked, "Comrade commander, will the Germans really surrender?"


    I shrugged my shoulders and said with some disapproval: "Comrade division, we should know that every soldier''s life is precious. If we can persuade the Germans to surrender, we can reduce many unnecessary casualties."


    A few minutes later, the German officer, escorted by two soldiers, came to the armored car. I sat in the car motionless, and nikolasov got up and went out. The German officer took a quick glance at the epaulets of Nekrasov, then straightened up and said respectfully, "Hello, sir. I''m Lieutenant Vincent of the 339th division of the German army. I salute you."


    Listening to his fluent Russian, I feel much more at ease. As long as there are people who understand Russian in the besieged German army, then my shouting will not be casting pearls before swine. Nekrasov looked at him and asked, "Lieutenant Vincent, who is your commander?"


    "Captain Linus." The second lieutenant replied respectfully, "he is our supreme commander."


    "How many people are there on the hillside?" Asked Nekrasov.


    The second lieutenant did not immediately answer his question, but asked in a slightly too modest tone, "Sir, I don''t know who I am honored to speak to now?"


    "I''m major general nikolasov, the commander of the 52nd division of the Soviet guards," said nikolasov impatiently after making his identity known. "Lieutenant, did your commander send you to negotiate the surrender?"


    Vincent heard the identity of Nekrasov, his face showed a contemptuous expression: "general, your level is too low, even if you make any promise to us, I think it may not be fulfilled in the end."


    Niekrasov was so angry at Vincent''s words that he pointed to the other side and said, "if you don''t surrender, we will destroy you all immediately."


    Vincent sneered and said with disdain, "Sir, although your forces are stronger than ours, and you have heavy weapons like tanks. But don''t forget that rabbits will bite when they are in a hurry. Even if we are all wiped out by you in the end, you can also pay a heavy price. "


    "Go away!" In the face of Vincent''s provocative tone, Nekrasov finally broke out. He pointed to Vincent''s nose and said, "you go back immediately and tell your captain that if you don''t surrender, you will be destroyed by us! Get out of my face and don''t let me see you again. "


    After a few words of conversation, they broke up in discord. Vincent snorted and turned to leave. I called out, "wait a minute!"


    I stooped through the hatch and came up to Vincent. He looked him up and down, and then said to the handsome German lieutenant, "after you go back, tell your captain that you are surrounded by our regiment. It''s meaningless to continue to resist. Only by laying down your arms and surrendering to our army can you have a chance to survive. It''s a choice between life and death. I believe it''s easy for him to make the final decision. " Then I waved to him and said, "well, lieutenant, you can go back."


    Who knows, his second lieutenant not only didn''t leave, but stared at me in a daze. Seeing that he was staring at me endlessly, and that my face was not happy, Nekrasov came up to him, gave Vincent a push, and said impatiently, "well, lieutenant, you can go back to your commander."


    Vincent was pushed to stagger and came back to me. He leaned forward slightly and asked respectfully, "Sir, are you general oshanina, commander of the sixth group army of the guards?"


    I didn''t expect an ordinary German lieutenant to know me. After a brief surprise, I tried to ask in a calm tone: "yes, Lieutenant Vincent, I''m o''shanina. Do you have any advice?"


    As soon as I made my identity known, Vincent made an unexpected move. He straightened his body, raised his hand to salute me, and then said to me respectfully, "Sir, since it''s your promise, I will immediately go back to report to the captain and ask him to let the troops lay down their arms and surrender to you."


    I didn''t expect that the German Lieutenant''s attitude would be respectful before and after the meeting after he made his identity known. However, I didn''t care to study deeply, but urged him: "well, Mr. lieutenant, please go back quickly and let your troops lay down their arms and surrender to us. Otherwise, as soon as our artillery arrives, it will cover the hillside with fire. Don''t blame me for not saying hello in advance. "


    "Sir, please give me five minutes." Hearing that I wanted to bombard the hillside, the second lieutenant quickly raised his right hand, opened his fingers, and said in a hurry, "in five minutes, I will persuade the captain to lay down his arms."


    "All right, lieutenant." Seeing that his attitude was so respectful, I said, "I''ll give you ten minutes. Ten minutes later, if I don''t see you come out and surrender, I''ll order the artillery to fire. "


    "Don''t worry, sir. In less than ten minutes, I promise the captain will take people down the mountain and surrender himself. " Vincent said, raised his hand to salute me again, and then trotted back to the hill with the simple white flag on his shoulder.


    Looking at Vincent''s back, Nekrasov asked me curiously, "Comrade commander, do you say that the German army will lay down its arms and surrender to us?"


    "I don''t know." I replied very simply, "but we can only gamble now. Of course, it''s good for the enemy to surrender voluntarily. We can reduce many unnecessary casualties; Even if they don''t surrender, they are not afraid. As long as they are covered with rocket fire twice, they can be wiped out for most of them. "


    Although I gave Vincent ten minutes, only five or six minutes later, I saw a group of dejected German soldiers, led by a German officer holding a white flag, coming out of the woods on the hillside.


    Seeing that the enemy really came out to surrender as promised, nikolasov pointed to the front and excitedly said to me, "Comrade commander, look, I didn''t expect that the enemy really came out to surrender to us."


    I saw more than 100 German soldiers coming out of the woods. Believing that they were not playing a conspiracy, I waved my head to Nekrasov and said, "well, sir, let your men accept the German surrender."


    The German officers and men who came down from the hillside showed great cooperation when they saw our officers and men who surrounded them. After they put the gun in the designated position, they stood by and waited for our disposal.


    Seeing this situation, while excited, he asked strangely, "Comrade commander, do you know the commander of the German army?"


    "The commander of the German army?" When I heard this question from nikolasov, I instinctively shook my head and said, "Comrade division commander, all the German commanders I know are now in our prison camp."


    "But, as you can see, the second lieutenant who just came to negotiate had a very bad attitude when he talked to me first." Niekrasov said somewhat unconvinced: "as a result, you only said a few words to him, and he immediately bowed to you and tried his best to please you. It''s really strange."


    The speaker did not mean to listen, and the listener meant to. What niekrasov said brought me a wake-up call. If I don''t know what''s going on, once I''m targeted by the Ministry of internal affairs, I can''t clear the matter even if I jump into the Dnieper River. So I told him, "Comrade division commander, ask someone to call the German commander. I want to have a chat with them."


    After a while, Vincent and a dozen German officers came to me. I took two steps towards them. Just as I was about to speak, I heard a captain in the crowd shouting something, and the officers quickly lined up in two rows. After queuing up, the captain issued another command, and then all the German officers raised their hands and saluted me solemnly.


    I didn''t return the gift. Instead, I went up to Vincent and asked him in a low voice, "Mr. lieutenant, can you tell me what''s going on?"


    "Sir general," said the German captain politely to me in fluent Russian without waiting for Vincent''s reply, "because you are the one we admire, I ask you to salute and show our respect to you."


    I looked this captain Linus over carefully and found that I didn''t know him at all, so I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Captain, do you know me, or have we met before?"


    "Yes, sir, we have." "We met at the beginning of this year, not far from here," Linus replied


    When I heard Linus say that, I was even more confused. If I had seen him a few months ago, he should not have appeared in front of me, but should have been killed by us or put into a prison camp. Thinking of this, I shook my head and said in a positive tone, "Captain, you must have made a mistake, because I have no impression of you at all."


    "Yes, sir." When Linus saw that I denied the fact of knowing him, he quickly explained, "have you forgotten the exchange of prisoners of war a few months ago?"


    "Exchange of prisoners of war a few months ago?" When Linus said this, it immediately reminded me that, led by Lieutenant Colonel Huber, who was the first one in Manstein, I used the body of Ike, the division commander of "skeleton division", to exchange for the body of haridonov and 200 captured wounded¡° I remember that, Captain, but I don''t remember seeing you anywhere


    Linus listened to me and said with a wry smile, "Sir, I was one of the six people who carried the coffin. It''s normal that you didn''t notice such a small person as me."


    "By the way, Captain, I have one more thing to ask you." After a quick glance at Vincent next to me, I asked, "even if we met in the exchange of prisoners of war, you can''t surrender so easily?"


    "Sir, do you want to hear the truth?" Linus asked with a wry smile.


    "Of course," I said, nodding, "of course I want to hear your truth."


    "Mainly because you are so famous in our army." Linus looked at me with adoring eyes and said devoutly: "since the battle of Kursk, a series of achievements you have made have been circulating in our troops. In particular, following the fall of Belgorod, Kharkov and other cities one after another... "


    "Mr. captain," as soon as Linus said this, I impolitely interrupted him, and then corrected, "we are liberating our own city."¡° Yes, yes, liberation, liberation Linus quickly echoed me in a flattering tone¡° Because your troops are the first to rush into the city every time, our generals are afraid of you. As soon as they hear that the attacking troops are under your command, their consideration is not how to beat back your attack, but how to withdraw the troops safely in the fierce attack you organize. " What Linus said really made me laugh and cry. In the Soviet army, except for the commanders who often dealt with me, there were only a few people who knew me in other troops. But I didn''t expect that, among the German commanders, I became the person who made everyone talk about it. Niekrasov reminded me in a low voice: "Comrade commander, the captured weapons have been collected. Will someone send them to the headquarters of the front army on the other side of the river?" I nodded, and then gently said: "Sir, comrade, please wait a moment, I''ll have a few words with them." Facing the German officers'' line, I said in a loud voice, "officers and gentlemen, you are now the prisoners of the sixth group army. Next, I will send someone to take you to the rear camp. Don''t worry, I will let the superior give you the treatment you deserve as prisoners of war. " On hearing my promise, Linus nodded and said to me, "Sir, I have heard from some of my colleagues about how to abuse our prisoners of war in the Russian POW camp. That''s why I led the troops to occupy this hillside and make the final resistance. But since you have said that, I will restrain my subordinates and let them cooperate with you. " Looking at Linus and his subordinates, escorted by a platoon soldier, walking along the road in an orderly way, Nekrasov said with emotion: "Comrade commander, I didn''t expect that your prestige in the German army is so high. After just a few words, these German prisoners will honestly cooperate with our soldiers and go to the prison camp to report."

 Chapter 1272

    After the battle, I went back to the headquarters and saw that bezikov had counted out the results of all the troops participating in the battle. When I was carefully checking the data with the war report, chisjakov said to me with a smile: "Comrade commander, I didn''t expect that the four divisions we participated in today''s war have achieved good results. Among them, the 52nd division of Jinwei was the most brilliant. It killed and captured 2000 German soldiers each. Commander Lukin''s 375TH infantry division did not capture a single prisoner, but they had nearly 3000 people, including the enemy they destroyed during the attack. The two divisions of the 22nd army of the guards killed more than 400 enemies and captured more than 700 prisoners. The 339th division of the German army has been crippled by us. In the next battle, they can be ignored... "


    I quickly read the data in the war report and saw that he and kisjakov said there was no income, but I was not satisfied with the result. I threw the war report on the table, shrunk my mouth and said, "Comrade deputy commander, from the war report, we have indeed wiped out a large number of German forces. But I don''t know if you have noticed that there are no middle or senior officers among the captured or killed enemies, and the highest rank is just a lieutenant commander. I want to ask, where are the commanders of the enemy''s divisions and regiments? As long as the command system still exists, the division that we defeated can be rebuilt in the shortest time. "


    What I said made the whole headquarters silent.


    After a while, bzikov said, "Comrade commander, although we have not been able to eliminate the enemy''s division and regiment level command organs in this battle, they have lost thousands of soldiers after all. Judging from the current situation, Manstein can not supply so many soldiers for them in a short time, so I think we have won the battle today. "


    After bidzikov finished speaking, I pushed the war report in front of him. At the same time, I told him, "chief of staff, report our achievements to the headquarters of the front army immediately."


    "Yes Bezikov agreed, picked up the war report on the table and prepared to publish it to the headquarters of the front army. But they didn''t take two steps before I stopped them. I then said, "chief of staff, please call Colonel zejerikov again by the way and order him to capture more middle and senior German officers in the battle of seizing smira."


    "I see," said bezikov, nodding at me. "I''ll pass on what you mean to Colonel chejerikov."


    As soon as bizikov left, chisjakov told me, "Comrade commander, engineers from the headquarters of the front army are rushing to repair the river crossing bridge in kaniv. It is estimated that it will be completed in two or three days at most."


    "That''s great. If the bridge across the river is repaired, our troops will be able to keep coming from the other side of the river. " After I finished these two sentences, I thought about it a little, and then went on to say, "the original pontoon should not be demolished for the time being. If there are two more bridges, the speed of crossing the river can also be greatly accelerated."


    At the end of the call, bzikov went back to the table and reported to me, "Comrade commander, the telegram to the headquarters of the front army has been sent, and I have also called Colonel chejerikov."


    I recognized something in his words, so I asked, "what did the Colonel say when he got your call?"


    When I finished, bzikov began to repeat what xiejerikov said: "the colonel said that all the troops had entered the offensive position, and he planned to launch an attack on the city at 8 p.m. According to what they have, he is sure to take smira by noon tomorrow


    "Smira is small, but after all, there are more than 1000 German troops stationed." He frowned and said, "don''t mention the 51st division of the guards. Even if we add two more divisions, we don''t remember that we can win the city in more than ten hours."


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander." Hearing chisjakov''s suspicion, I immediately spoke up and supported my old subordinates: "I know Colonel xijerikov very well. He is a very down-to-earth commander with rich combat experience. He said that if he can win smira before noon tomorrow, I believe he can do it."


    The attack on smira started at eight o''clock in the evening. I got a phone call from sheijerikov saying that his troops, under the cover of tanks, were attacking the city.


    Thinking of shejerikov, they were not covered by artillery before the attack, I was worried that if the German army had solid fortifications, the attacking troops would pay heavy casualties. Therefore, I asked with concern, "Colonel, can you successfully break through the enemy''s defensive positions without artillery cover?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Shejerikov said confidently: "according to our prior reconnaissance, the German army has no solid fortifications in smira city. Besides, we have tank cover. I believe it will not be long before our troops can rush into the city."


    Although xiejerikov said so confidently, I was still a little uneasy. So after I finished the call with him, I called povsky and told him, "artillery commander, please send an artillery regiment to smira area immediately, and be ready to provide artillery support for our siege troops when necessary."


    While we were waiting for the battle to pass, chisjakov suddenly said to me, "Comrade commander, I think we should make a request to the headquarters of the front army for them to supplement our troops. You know, in today''s battle, the total casualties of the 375TH infantry division are about 4000, of which the 1243rd regiment has more than 2500 casualties. "


    "Well, I''ll call general vatukin and see what he means." With that, I picked up the phone on the desk and called watujing. After hearing each other''s voice, I immediately said, "Hello, senior general. When I call you at this time, I have something important to discuss with you. "


    "Comrade oshanina, if you have anything, just let me know." Because of the constant victories in recent years, watujing also seemed very happy. He said carelessly, "as long as I can do something, I will help you immediately."


    "In today''s battle, although we have won a great victory, the casualties of our troops are not small. More than half of the casualties of the 375TH infantry division are in urgent need of replenishment." Because I think that Moskalenko''s 40th army once crossed the Dnieper River today, the casualties of the army must not be small. If I don''t rush to ask watujing about the replenishment of troops, then the front army will replenish the recruits to the 40th army, "so I hope that the division can be replenished in these two days."


    "Two days is a bit too tight." After hearing my request, vatujing said with some embarrassment, "besides, our front army has been fighting for several times, and the casualties of all the troops are not small. They all need to be supplemented, so we have to take our time." At this point, he stopped for a moment, and then said to me as if determined, "don''t worry, I will supply you with no less than 5000 recruits in a week."


    Originally, I was still thinking that when watujing saw a series of achievements made by our group army, he might directly announce that he would add 10000 people to us as soon as he was happy. Who knows, he only gave 5000 people, and there will be a week to give them. There are too many variables. When I was disappointed, I had no choice but to say, "well, senior general, since you say so, I will wait patiently for you to supplement our troops."


    I put down the phone and said to them with a sad face: "comrades of the commanders, the casualties of division Lukin today are obvious to all. I wanted the headquarters of the front army to supply us with more soldiers as soon as possible, and then I would put them all in the 375TH infantry division. However, general watujing said that there are too many troops that need to be replenished recently. It will be at least a week before they can replenish us. "


    "What should we do then?" After hearing this, bezikov also said with a sad face: "after today''s battle, although we have achieved a lot, the 375TH Infantry Division has almost lost its combat effectiveness because of the heavy casualties."


    Just when our group were at a loss, a voice calling for a report came from the door¡° Come in Berzikov turned and yelled out.


    With his shouts, a commander came in from the door. I looked up and saw that it was captain travkin who had been sent out on a reconnaissance mission. I nodded at him, and then politely asked, "Comrade captain, you''re back!"


    "Yes, comrade commander." "I''m back from the reconnaissance mission," answered travkin


    "Have you detected anything useful?" As we can receive all kinds of information from him at any time through the radio station, I only ask this out of politeness.


    To my surprise, as soon as I spoke, travkin nodded and replied, "yes, comrade commander, we have detected an important piece of information. Because the radio station fell into the river when crossing the river, it can no longer contact the headquarters, so I can only come back to report to you in person. "


    "What''s the important situation?" Hearing what travkin said, it immediately aroused the interest of all of us. Chisjakov urged, "Comrade captain, tell me!"


    Travkin walked into the table, looked down at the map on the table for a while, then looked at me and said, "Comrade commander, when we were scouting southwest of smira, we unexpectedly found a prisoner''s camp."


    "What, prison camp?" When I heard the words he said, I almost jumped up from my seat. As long as we can liberate the prison camp, we can get the supplement from the soldiers. I asked, "where is it?"


    Travkin pointed to a place in the lower left corner of smira and said, "Comrade commander, there''s a large prison camp right here in spola. According to our inquiry of the residents nearby and the interrogation of the captured prisoners, we know that there are more than 4000 officers and men of our army in the POW camp. They were captured in the battle of Kharkov at the beginning of the year, belonging to the southwest front army and Voronezh front army respectively. "


    "Great, that''s great." When chisjakov heard this, he was overjoyed. He said to me excitedly, "Comrade commander, as long as we take this prison camp, we can incorporate the rescued commanders and fighters into the army."


    "Wait a minute, comrade deputy commander." Kirilov opened his mouth and poured cold water on chisgakov: "although there are more than 4000 people in this prison camp, even if we occupy here and rescue all people, we can''t immediately incorporate them into the army."


    "Why?" Asked chisgakov, puzzled¡° They must have suffered a lot of inhuman treatment, hunger and disease in the prison camp in recent months, which has greatly weakened their combat effectiveness. This is one aspect. " Kirilov carefully said: "more importantly, according to the order of the superior, the rescued prisoners of war must go through the examination of the superior, in case there are German spies lurking in them." After listening to kirilov''s words, he was disillusioned. He fell into his seat and murmured, "what can we do? We can''t just give up these soldiers with combat experience." When I saw the silence in the room again, I rushed out to liven up the atmosphere. First of all, I said to kirilov, "Comrade military commissar, what you have said is very reasonable, but this is a special period, so the censorship of the commanders and fighters need not be so strict. Moreover, they were able to stay in the enemy''s prison camp for the first half of the year, but they did not give in. That long proved that they were qualified soldiers. It would be an insult to them if they were censored again under such circumstances. " Seeing kirilov nodding, I turned to chisgakov and said, "don''t worry, deputy commander. After we have captured the POW camp, we can integrate the strong soldiers into our army. " Then I asked travkin, "Captain, I remember you just said, you met local people on the way?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Travkin gave me a positive reply: "our people entered the city of spola in disguise and found that although the city was small, it had another 70000 residents. Some of them are local residents, and some of them are German soldiers who moved from across the Dnieper River. "¡° Well, I see. " Seeing that, I had a more complete plan in my heart, so I waved to him and said, "Captain, you''ve worked hard all the way. Go back and have a rest first. I''ll send for you if there''s anything When I finished, and raised my hand to salute, trafkin turned and strode out of the headquarters.

 Chapter 1273

    As soon as travkin left, chisgakov looked at me and asked, "Comrade commander, do you want to get additional soldiers and supplies from spola?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." As for chisgakov''s conjecture, I definitely replied: "the Germans will certainly make these areas angry. As long as our troops reoccupy spola and set up a few recruitment sites, I think the people who sign up for the army will be able to form a long line."


    "Spola is a small city with a limited garrison." Gazing at the map, bzikov said: "although the nearest one to this area is the 23rd army of the guards, their troops have been greatly reduced in the two days of fighting. Moreover, the 51st division of the guards is still attacking smira. It''s really hard to spare forces, but they are liberating spola and the POW camp. Therefore, I suggest that the 22nd army of the guards of general sivakov be transferred to participate in this battle."


    "No, comrade chief of staff." As soon as his words came out, he was strongly opposed by chisgakov. "You see, it''s about 120 kilometers from kaniv to spola, which is nearly double the distance we have here. After a long march, the troops need to rest for a period of time to launch another attack, which gives the German army a breathing space. Therefore, I think general tavartkilaze''s troops should be allowed to complete this task. "


    As for the dispute between them, I didn''t express my opinion. Instead, I quietly looked at the map and weighed which army was suitable to complete the task. After a while, I straightened up and looked up at the two men and said, "although kaniv''s close guard 23rd army is complete, their task is to defend the northern side of the whole group army. We need to know that the German army can have heavy troops stationed in Kiev. Once they find that our troops in kaniv show signs of mobilization, they may directly send troops to the south to launch an attack on kaniv. We can''t take the risk, so the 22nd guard can''t move. "


    After listening to my statement, bzikov couldn''t help asking, "Comrade commander, what division are you going to take part in this battle?"


    "At present, the 52nd close guard division and the 375TH infantry division are temporarily unavailable, while the 51st close guard division of chejerikov is attacking smira. Even after they have captured the city, they will not be able to continue to attack spola, so we can only consider mobilizing other troops."


    "Mobilize other troops?" After bizikov repeated what I said, his eyes suddenly brightened and he asked me in surprise: "Comrade commander, are you going to use the 89th division of the guards of Xie Liujin?"


    "That''s right," I replied with a smile, seeing that bzikov had guessed my intention so easily. "Anyway, on the other side of the Dnieper River, there are no German troops, and the main force of our army is coming towards the river. Let Mr. seleucin leave a regiment to stand out of zolotonosha, and the rest of the troops immediately cross the river and move to spola overnight to launch a sudden attack on the German army at daybreak. "


    "Do you need to send tank troops to cooperate?" After recording my orders, bezikov asked cautiously, "I''m afraid that the enemy has solid fortifications in the city. If we don''t have the cooperation of tanks or artillery, we will capture the city, and it is estimated that we will pay more casualties."


    "If you want to send tank troops to support, you have to go through smira." Chisgakov explained to me, "our infantry can go straight through the forest, but the tanks can''t. So I suggest that after the liberation of smira, the tank troops cooperating with the operation of Colonel shejerikov should rush to spola along the road. "


    "Yes." Judging from the terrain marked on the map in front of me, what chisgakov said is true. Both smira and spola are surrounded by forests. If smira is not occupied first, it will be difficult for tanks to pass through the forest and swamp nearby. So I nodded my head and said with certainty, "just do as the deputy commander said. First, let the general''s troops move towards spola and attack the city and the prison camp at the right time. The tank troops supporting them will drive along the road to the spola area after the liberation of smira. "


    The pronunciation of the two cities is very close. In order to avoid unnecessary mistakes in recording orders, I deliberately slowed down my speaking speed when I read the names of cities, and tried to read the names of each city accurately.


    After the deployment, he looked at bzikov and asked, "chief of staff, have all the orders been recorded?" Seeing that he nodded in recognition, I reached out to him and said, "let me have a look."


    I took over his notebook, carefully checked it twice, and when I saw that there was no mistake, I gave it back to him. At the same time, I said, "OK, chief of staff, give an order to general Xie Liujin, and let his troops start crossing the river in an hour."


    "Yes Bezikov agreed and turned away.


    I took a look at akhromeyev, who was busy not far away. Then I asked him in a loud voice, "Comrade major, what''s the latest development of division xiejerikov?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Akhromeyev agreed to come over, put a war report in front of me, and then said: "the army under the command of the Colonel has attacked the city from the northeast of smira, occupied three streets, and is engaged in street fighting with the German army."


    Then he put a topographic map of smira in front of me, pointed to it and said, "these are the three streets. As long as they have a firm foothold, they can quickly rush to the city center after clearing up the enemy''s resistance."


    "Comrade major, where did you come from?" Looking at akhromeyev, chisjakov asked strangely, "why is it all in German? When did you capture it?"


    Chisjakov didn''t remind me that I didn''t notice that the map in front of me was actually a German military map, so I turned my curious eyes to akhromeyev to hear his explanation.


    Akhromeyev laughed and said to me, "Comrade commander, didn''t we liberate smira a few months ago? This map was captured by me at that time and has been preserved until now."


    "Not bad, not bad," chisgakov said with a thumbs up to akhromeyev. "Major, I didn''t expect you to keep this map so well. It seems that you are very competent as the chief of operations."


    I glanced at the map in front of me, then looked up and asked akhromeyev, "major, there are no residents in the city except the enemy, are there?"


    "No Akhromeyev shook his head and said, "according to our reconnaissance, except for an infantry battalion and a tank company, there are no residents in the city at all."


    "That''s good, that''s good." "As long as there are no residents in the city, our commanders and fighters don''t have so many estimates when they fight," chisjakov said happily. I don''t think there will be any problem for them to solve the battle before noon tomorrow. "


    As soon as he had finished, the telephone rang on the desk. I thought that it might have been shejerikov who called back from the front and reported the war to me, so I grabbed the phone. But it was Xie Liujin''s voice that came from the receiver. He told me excitedly: "Comrade commander, I asked the political commissar of the division, commander yeermohin, to lead a regiment and stay at zolotonosha. The rest of the troops are moving towards the river."


    Xie Liujin''s words startled me. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Less than ten minutes after I issued the order, they had already moved towards the river. I asked quickly, "Mr. Xie Liujin, can you be a prophet? You know, it''s less than ten minutes since I gave you the order to cross the river into spola? "


    "Well, comrade commander." Xie Liujin explained to me with a smile: "I know that I attacked a battle during the day and almost wiped out a German division, so I guess you will definitely assign tasks to our division, so I sent out a battle alarm to the regiment leaders to make them ready to start."


    "So it is." After listening to Xie Liujin''s explanation, I couldn''t help laughing. It seems that my subordinates now know more and more about my character. They can guess my next action from a battle. I then asked in an official voice, "what''s the mood of the soldiers?"


    "Comrade commander, you can rest assured." Xie Liujin swore to me: "the soldiers are all in high spirits and want to fight with the Germans immediately. As long as our troops arrive at their destination, even without the cooperation of tank troops, we are sure to wipe out all the enemy. "


    "Comrade Xie Liujin," after hearing that he was so confident, I still told him, "in order to prevent the Germans from killing our comrades in the prison camp, your division''s primary target of attack is the prison camp. After all our comrades are rescued, we will turn around and attack the city. Do you understand? "


    "I see." "When the troops arrive at spola, I will leave the troops to monitor the garrison in the city, and then concentrate the main forces to attack the POW camp first and rescue all the officers and men in the camp," he said


    "Well, Comrade Xie Liujin, since you are so confident, we are waiting for your good news."


    After I put down the phone, I raised my head and asked akhromeyev, "major, how long will it take for the troops of the 89th division of the guards to get to spola?"


    After carefully calculating the distance on the map, akhromeyev replied, "Comrade commander, it''s only about two hours for them to get to smira area from the river. Although it is only ten kilometers away from spola, it will take them at least five hours to get close to the target because they can''t move along the road and can only pass through the forest. "


    "Seven hours?" After hearing this, chisjakov looked at the map and said thoughtfully, "when they get to the vicinity of spola, they can rest for another two hours. That is to say, they can launch an attack on the enemy before eight o''clock tomorrow morning."


    "Comrade deputy commander, it is like this." Akhromeyev replied respectfully, "as long as they don''t get lost when they are going through the forest, there is no problem in launching an attack at eight tomorrow morning."


    When akhromeyev finished speaking, I suddenly cut in and said, "if Colonel shejerikov''s troops succeed in seizing the city before they arrive at smira, can they shorten their March time?"


    "Is that true?" Chisgakov listened to me and said with a smile, "if smira had been liberated by us before sherekin''s troops arrived. Then perhaps there is no need to use the troops of the 89th division of the guards at all. Colonel chejerikov can take advantage of the victory to pursue and attack spola directly under the cover of the tank troops. In an hour at most, he can rush under the city. "


    Bezikov, who had just come by, could not help but feel his heart beating when he heard these words. He looked at me and asked, "Comrade commander, do you need to call Colonel xiejerikov and ask him to speed up his attack?" Although I also want to call shejerikov, let him speed up the attack, strive to win smira in the shortest time, and then move westward to capture spola. But on second thought, if I did call him, it would disrupt his operational deployment and cause unnecessary losses to the troops. When I saw chisjakov and bezikov, their eyes were all focused on me. When I made the final decision, I shook my head and said, "forget it, I''d better let shijerikov attack according to his plan. If I call him, I will definitely plan his predetermined attack rhythm. Maybe before noon tomorrow, I won''t be able to liberate smira Hearing that I had such an attitude, several people around me could not help sighing with disappointment, and then went to their own work. I went to kirilov and sat down. Looking at him who was filling in the application forms for awards, I jokingly said, "Comrade military commissar, you have filled in thousands of such forms these days, haven''t you?" Kirilov heard my voice, looked up at me, put down his pen, and then said with a smile, "yes, Rita, although I have filled in so many application forms, I find that I haven''t filled in more. There are so many meritorious officers and men. If you want to report all their deeds, I can''t do it alone. You can find someone to help me. "¡° This is no problem. " I just wanted to have a chat with kirilov, but I didn''t expect that he would make such a request to me. However, I saw that he had too much work to do recently, so I readily agreed, "I will ask all divisions to recommend suitable political workers to come here to help you."

 Chapter 1274

    While we were waiting for the battle report on the front line, vatujing called to ask me about the progress of the army''s attack on smira and when it would take the city.


    Staring at the new war report in front of me, I replied clearly: "Comrade commander, the 51st division of the close guard of Colonel chejerikov has rushed into smira City, occupied two thirds of the city, and is engaged in fierce fighting with the stubborn enemy."


    "When will smira be liberated?" Vatukin repeated the question just now.


    Although judging from the current situation, maybe in two hours or even less, we can solve all the enemies. However, to be on the safe side, I deliberately put off the time: "senior general, I think they can successfully occupy smira before noon."


    "What, before noon?" Watujing asked in surprise, "didn''t he occupy two-thirds of the area? How can it take more than ten hours to capture the remaining one third? "


    "The reason why the early stage of the army went smoothly was that the enemy''s strength was limited and the deployment was too scattered." In order to satisfy vatukin, I tried to weave a reasonable reason to reply him: "now the enemy has been compressed in a limited space. With the concentration of their forces, it will be difficult for us to defeat them as quickly as in the early stage of the battle."


    After listening to my explanation, watujing nodded and said thoughtfully, "well, you have a point. The enemies are all driven together by you. It''s very difficult to eat them. Well, I wish you good luck. I hope you can take smira as soon as possible and let me know the good news in time. "


    After I put down the phone, bzikov asked curiously, "Comrade commander, judging from the current progress of the fighting, our troops can solve the fighting in two or three hours at most. But why did you tell the general that we need at least ten more hours to liberate smira? "


    I looked at bezikov and said with a smile, "Comrade chief of staff, as commanders, we should always consider the possible adverse factors on the battlefield. Even when the victory is in hand, we should not take it lightly. Although judging from the current situation, it is certain that our troops will not be able to liberate smira within two hours. But if the enemy of spola is desperate to come and support, then the fighting time will be prolonged. "


    As soon as I finished speaking, lophoff came over with a telegram and reported to me, "Comrade commander, general sherekin reported that the 89th division of the guards was only two kilometers away from smira, and the sound of guns coming from the city could be heard clearly. He asked us if his troops were needed to fight? "


    After listening to lophov''s report, chisjakov took the telegram from him. After reading it carefully twice, he raised his head and asked me, "Comrade commander, how are you going to reply to Mr. Xie Liujin?"


    I only thought for a moment, and then said to lophov decisively, "major, record my order: the 89th guard will continue to march according to the original route, and there is no need to participate in the battle of friendly forces for smira." When he finished recording, I waved to him, "OK, send the telegram."


    Hearing the order I gave, it was chisjakov''s turn to be puzzled. He asked in surprise, "Comrade commander, why don''t you let general Xie Liujin''s troops take part in the war? We should know that the enemy in smira is still alive. Even if we put in a little more troops, we can easily destroy or defeat the enemy. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, the city of smira is too small. If we put in too many troops, the troops will not be able to expand. That''s why I ordered general Xie Liujin to continue to lead the troops and march along the original route. "


    "So it is." After listening, chisgakov nodded gently, and then looked at the map in front of him.


    Seeing his expression, I could not help but feel a thump in my heart. I said that if he was the commander of the group army and wanted to organize the troops to attack smira, it was estimated that there would not be only the 51st division of the guards, but also the 52nd division of the guards and the 375TH division of the infantry. It never occurred to him that if too many troops were put into a small city, it would not only be difficult for the troops to launch, but it would also be easy for them to restrict each other.


    Two hours later, I got a call from chejerikov. He said excitedly in the microphone: "Comrade commander, all the enemies in smira have been eliminated and the whole city has been occupied by us."


    "Well done, comrade colonel. You and your subordinates are good After a few words of appreciation, I covered the microphone and asked bzikov in a low voice, "chief of staff, where is Mr. Xie Liujin''s troops?"


    Bezikov pointed at the map with his hand and said, "they should be here now. In about two hours, they will be able to get to the location of the POW camp."


    If I knew where he was before shejerikov reported the good news to me, I would say, "yes, they are marching very fast." But at this moment, when I heard bzikov''s reply, I frowned and said, "too slow, too slow. It is believed that the enemy will soon get the news of smira''s fall, so that they will seize the time to prepare for the war, and many unnecessary casualties will be increased when sherekin''s troops launch an attack. "


    Chisjakov, who is familiar with my character, knows that I usually have something to say, so he respectfully asks, "Comrade commander, do you have any good idea?"


    I didn''t let go of the hand that covered the microphone. I just nuzzled at the map and said, "I''m going to thank jerichov''s troops, under the cover of tanks, to rush straight down the road to spola. But Xie Liujin''s troops are only responsible for attacking the prison camp and rescuing the prisoners of our army who are held in it. "


    "With such a two pronged approach, I believe we can take the enemy by surprise." After looking at the map, chisgakov nodded and agreed with me: "let''s do it like this."


    I released my hand from the microphone and said to shijerikov, "Colonel, listen carefully: in addition to leaving a regiment to guard smira, the rest of the troops immediately rushed to spola along the road under the cover of tanks, striving to liberate the city in the shortest time."


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." After listening to my order, shejerikov said with disapproval, "in a city as small as spola, my troops won it in an hour at most."


    "Comrade Colonel, there''s something I haven''t been able to tell you yet." I was deeply afraid that shijerikov would be dazzled by the victory. I specially reminded him: "although spola is only a small town, there are more than 80000 civilians in it now. Except for some of them are aborigines, the rest of the population is taken away from other places. "


    After a long silence, he tentatively asked, "Comrade commander, do you mean there are more than 80000 civilians in a small town like spola?"


    "Yes, according to the reconnaissance information, although there are not many garrisons in this city, there are 80000 residents. In this way, you will be a little tied up in the battle." In order to prevent him from belittling the enemy, I specially sounded the alarm for him, "although it took you only a few hours to capture smira. But it''s not so easy to recover this little spola. "


    As they are going to fight side by side with the 89th division of sherekin''s guards, I specially stressed: "sherekin''s guards division is now going through the forest near smira, intending to capture a prisoner''s camp outside the city and rescue our captured commanders and fighters. You remember to send someone to scout their location and keep in touch with them at any time to avoid misunderstanding. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." "Will you allow me to carry out your order?" asked shijerikov politely


    "Go, comrade Colonel, and good luck to you!"


    Thinking of smira''s successful recovery, it is undoubtedly the best time to call vatukin to report the good news. So I dialed the headquarters of the front army, and when I heard someone talking, I politely said, "Hello, I''m oshanina, commander of the sixth group army of Jinwei. Please let commander watujing answer the phone."


    After less than a minute, vatujing''s voice came out of the receiver. He asked with a smile, "Comrade o''shanina, do you have any good news to inform me when you call me at this time?"


    "Yes, comrade general, I''m calling you at this time. I have some good news to tell you." I said politely, "ten minutes ago, our troops successfully wiped out all the enemies in smira, liberated the city, and put the red flag on the commanding height of the city."


    "Well done, o''shanina! It''s very kind of you to take smira from the enemy so quickly. " After a pause, he asked, "what are your plans after the troops have captured smira?"


    "Comrade General," I heard his question and said my own arrangement quickly: "I have ordered the troops of Colonel chejerikov to leave one regiment to stand outside smira, and the remaining two regiments, under the cover of tank troops, to rush to spola along the road and strive to liberate the city in the shortest time."


    "Spola! Spola! " Vasukin repeated the name twice and asked with a smile, "o''shanina, how many hours are you going to take this city?"


    As for his question, I had been prepared and quickly answered, "our army will conquer spola this evening at the latest."


    "What, until evening?" Vatukin almost jumped out of his seat when he heard my answer. He was a little out of breath and said, "smira is a medium-sized city. You only attacked it in a few hours. While spola is a small city, you have to spend more than ten hours to attack. It''s incredible. "


    "General, please don''t worry." I was deeply afraid that he would give me a limited time to complete the occupation of the city by what time. I quickly explained to him, "if it is to attack other cities, I may have no problem. But in a city as small as spola, the German army actually resettled more than 80000 residents, which made it difficult for us to attack. "


    After I finished, watujing sighed and said with some helplessness, "yes, comrade oshanina, the enemy has put so many residents in such a small city. It''s really malicious. As long as a shell falls, it may kill more than a dozen people. Well, in that case, I''ll set a time for you. But I have one condition


    "What conditions?" I asked in agreement¡° In the process of seizing the city, you try not to hurt our residents. " "I don''t want them to sacrifice their lives in vain when they are about to see victory," he said¡° Don''t worry, Comrade General. " Although I knew that it was inevitable to hurt civilians by mistake in the battle, I still insisted on answering, "I will tell the troops below to pay attention not to hurt ordinary residents by mistake when they attack." There is no suspense about the next battle. There are only two German infantry companies holding fast to the city of spola, and only one company guarding the POW camp. Under the strong attack of our two main divisions, these two troops, which were short of even heavy weapons, only lasted less than half an hour, and their resistance collapsed. Except that more than 100 people were killed, the rest of them obediently laid down their weapons and raised their hands to surrender to our army. After completing the combat mission, the two heroic division commanders drove to the headquarters and personally reported the fighting to me. At the end of the day, chejerikov asked rather stiffly, "Comrade commander, may I ask you a question?" I looked at him and replied with a smile, "Comrade Colonel, we are all old acquaintances. If you have any questions, just ask them. As long as I know the answer, I will give you a satisfactory answer. "¡° Well, comrade commander. " Shejerikov took a quick glance at the man standing beside him, and then said with some embarrassment, "our troops have paid a lot of casualties in the battle. It happened that general Xie Liujin''s troops rescued more than 4000 of our officers and men from your POW camp. I would like to ask if our division can add a number of soldiers from among them? " Instead of answering him immediately, I looked at Xie Liujin and asked, "Comrade General, how many of the 4000 officers and men rescued from the prison camp can be incorporated into the army immediately?" When Xie Liujin heard my question, he immediately straightened up and replied, "report to the commander, the physical condition of the 4000 commanders and fighters is still good, and they can all be incorporated into the army!"¡° What? Can more than 4000 captured officers and men be incorporated into the army immediately? " I was puzzled by Xie Liujin''s answer and asked, "isn''t there any wounded among them?"¡° No, comrade commander. " A look of anger suddenly appeared on his face. He gritted his teeth and said to me, "after being captured, all the wounded were shot by the German army except those who were in good health. The officers and men in the prison camp are in good physical condition because they have not been detained for a long time. They can be incorporated into the army at any time. " After I found out the situation of the rescued prisoners of war, I said to them, "you two divisions, from the rescued commanders and fighters, each select 500 people to join the army. The remaining 3000 were all added to the 375TH infantry. They suffered too many casualties in yesterday''s battle and needed to be added urgently. "¡° However, comrade commander, "said shijerikov with some embarrassment," our division also lost more than 2000 people in the attack on smira and spola. It is not enough to add 500 people. "¡° Yes, "Xie Liujin echoed," five hundred people are too few. Can you give us more¡° No, I can only supply you with 500 officers and soldiers rescued from the prison camp. " I said to them, "but don''t be disappointed. There are 80000 residents in spola. Now, I''ll allow you two divisions to set up recruitment offices in the city to recruit new soldiers to supplement their respective units. " On hearing this, the two people''s faces suddenly showed a happy color, and then said in unison: "thank you, thank you, commander!"

 Chapter 1275

    In the following days, our whole group army did not take any military action, but built fortifications wantonly in the occupied areas, so as to prevent the Germans from jumping over the wall and carrying out possible counterattack against us.


    Colonel shejerikov''s 51st guard division is now stationed in smira and spola. Two days ago, after receiving my order, he evacuated the crowded spola. Except for the original residents, the rest moved to smira, where only troops were stationed.


    The order I gave was approved by all the people in the headquarters. Kirilov was full of praise, and he said to me, "Rita, your order is correct. Spola is a small city with a population of more than 10000, but now it has increased to 80000 due to the German. It is estimated that many residents can only sleep on the streets. Now it''s getting colder. If we don''t arrange their accommodation as soon as possible, and wait for a few days, then two snows may freeze to death. "


    Kirilov was praising me for evacuating the population, but he reminded me that the winter in Russia started in October. Now, several days have passed since October, and it may snow tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, but most of our commanders and fighters are still wearing thin summer uniforms.


    Thinking of this, I immediately told bzikov: "chief of staff, please contact the Logistics Department of the front army as soon as possible, so that they can replenish our winter clothes as soon as possible. I don''t want to see my troops have unnecessary non combat casualties because they don''t have winter clothes. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Bezikov replied respectfully, "I''ll call the Logistics Department of the front army and ask about replenishing our winter clothes."


    When bzikov went to make a phone call, my eyes were looking around the room, and I was surprised to find chisgakov sitting at the table, his eyes fixed on the floor of the table, a look of deep meditation. I went to him, sat down and asked in a low voice, "Comrade deputy commander, what are you thinking?"


    When I asked him this, chisgakov immediately woke up in his meditation. He looked at me with a smile, and then said, "Comrade commander, I am considering when the troops of the front army will launch an official attack on Kiev."


    His words aroused my curiosity. I looked at him with a smile and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, when do you think we will launch an attack on Kiev?"


    "There''s still one month left. It''s October Festival." "According to our military tradition, the supreme command may take November 7 as the day to recover Kiev to celebrate our great festival," chisgakov said, staring at the map


    "Yes, I think Comrade deputy commander''s analysis is reasonable." Kirilov said: "in recent years, our army has won various victories in all battlefields of the country. So next, the liberation of Kiev will be a gift to celebrate the great October Festival


    "The German army is gathering a lot of troops in Kiev to confront us." I only remember that Kiev was liberated after the end of the Kursk war in history. As for the specific time, I can''t remember very clearly. So I can only say vaguely: "if we want to win this heavily guarded City, I think it will take at least half a month, that is to say, the time for the front army to launch an attack will not be later than October 23."


    Having said that, I stopped and thought to myself: if the attack on Kiev is really to be launched on the 23rd, then the headquarters of the front army should call for a military meeting ten days before the launch of the campaign to deploy the combat tasks of each group army. But today is the 9th, but there is no movement. Is it my wrong judgment?


    Before I could think of a reason, the telephone ring in front of us suddenly rang, which scared me. Just as I raised my hand to grab the microphone, chisgakov grabbed it first, stuck it to his ear and said aloud, "Hello, I''m chisgakov, deputy commander of the group army!"


    Then I heard him saying, "yes!"¡° I see! "¡° OK, I''ll follow your orders. I carefully observed his expression and saw that his face was full of eyebrows. Then I guessed that eight out of ten things had something to do with the attack on Kiev.


    As soon as he put down the phone, I asked frankly, "Comrade deputy commander, is it a call from the headquarters of the front army telling us to go to the meeting?"


    When I asked, chisjakov''s smile froze on his face. He hesitated for a moment, and then asked politely, "Comrade commander, how did you guess?"


    I laughed and didn''t answer his question. Instead, I said to bzikov who came up to me: "Comrade chief of staff, I''ll go to the headquarters of the front army for a meeting with the deputy commander and the military commissar later. I''ll leave all the work here to you."


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Hearing my work arrangement, though a trace of displeasure flashed on his face, bezikov soon returned to normal. "The work here is up to me. You can go to the meeting safely."


    After four hours on the road, our jeep finally arrived at priluki, the headquarters of the front army, in the evening. We passed through the air defense position composed of self-propelled anti-aircraft guns outside the city and entered the city. Although it has been a long time since I left the anti-aircraft artillery position, chisjakov, who was sitting next to me, kept looking back to see those self-propelled anti-aircraft guns in the distance.


    "Comrade commander," chisjakov asked curiously, "do you think these antiaircraft guns outside the city can stop the enemy''s planes?"


    "That''s for sure, comrade deputy commander." After glancing back in my rearview mirror, I said to chisgakov, "in the Kursk war, our group army once had a self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery regiment. As long as they are there, it''s a nightmare for the enemy''s aircraft. In every air defense operation, in the end, except for a few aircraft, the rest were shot down by intensive artillery fire. "


    Because the Voronezh front army is strong and has a large organizational structure, there are as many as 40 or 50 commanders attending the meeting. After entering the conference room, the commanders of the army groups were divided into two rows and sat at the long conference table with tea cups.


    Besides vatukin, Zhukov and vasilevsky presided over the meeting. After watujing''s brief opening remarks, he began to get down to business. Major general korgenevich, chief of staff, pointed to the map and said to everyone: "according to the plan of the headquarters, our front army should seize liujieri landing site north of Kiev and buklin landing site south of Kiev. Then, the troops from priluki launched a strong attack on Kiev from three directions at the same time. "


    During the narration of the chief of staff of the front army, I was acutely aware that there were some differences in the direction of the attack. For example, Zhukov advocated a breakthrough from liujieri landing site in the north to the south, which is his style. Stalin, on the other hand, believed that the assault direction of our front army should be close to konev''s forces, so that the four front armies currently fighting in Ukraine could attack side by side. Therefore, he ordered our front army to gather the main forces and technical equipment at the buklin landing site and launch an attack on Kiev''s defenders.


    Major general korgenevich turned his eyes to my position at the end of the speech, and then said: "because of general oshanina''s close guard, the sixth group army successfully occupied kaniv and cherkaser, which played a role in restraining the German army. Because of this, when we set up the liujieri landing site to the north of Kiev, the resistance we suffered was far less than our estimate, so we successfully set up the landing site to the north of Kiev at a minimal cost.


    However, with the successful crossing of the river by the sixth group army, the buklin landing site in the South became insignificant. " At this point, korgenevich again picked up the explanation stick, went to the big map on the wall, pointed to it and said to us: "now our main forces can enter our attack starting position from the kanevdu river. Therefore, the headquarters of the front army has made a decision to let general Moskalenko''s 40th group army hand over the existing defense area to general konev''s troops, and then go northward as a whole. After passing through the defense area of the sixth group army of the close guard, they can enter the offensive position secretly. "


    During the one hour long meeting, I heard that watujing had assigned tasks to the 27th army, the 40th army, the 47th army and the 3rd army of the close guard tank, but it seemed that he had forgotten us.


    Chisgakov, who was sitting behind me, was a little uneasy. He leaned forward slightly, approached my ear and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, what is the task of our group army?"


    Under the gaze of Zhukov and vatujing, I didn''t have the courage to go back and whisper to chisgakov. I could only shake my head gently to show that I didn''t know.


    Just then, I heard vatukin calling my order: "Comrade oshanina."


    I quickly stood up from my seat, straightened up and said loudly, "here it is!"


    "Do you know why I have assigned tasks to almost all the troops, but not to you?" watujing asked with a smile


    "Sorry, comrade general, I don''t know." I replied loudly


    After looking at each other, vatukin and Zhukov, who were sitting next to him, turned to look at me and said with a smile, "at present, your close guard sixth group army controls the landing site in the south of Kiev. Our main forces will continue to drive to the other side of the river through you and get ready for all battles. Your task is not only to arrange the accommodation for these troops, but also to protect the landing site. "


    "Protect the landing site?" I was stunned when I heard vatukin''s question. I said to myself, can the Germans still spare their forces to attack our kaniv and cherkaser in the face of our powerful offensive? I muttered in a low voice: "our group army first crossed the Dnieper River and destroyed so many enemies. Now let''s turn to passive defense. I''m afraid it will affect the morale of the troops."


    Zhukov''s ears were sharp. He heard my complaints and saw a look of disapproval on my face. He restrained his smile and said to me with a straight face: "Rita, the Germans will never be willing to be eliminated by us. They will certainly fight back madly. If we do not stay in the kaniv area and leave a strong and trustworthy force, then when our offensive forces are frustrated, they may be driven back to the other side of the Dnieper River by the Germans. "


    When he saw that I was blushing with shame, he slowed down and said, "Rita, when you go back, tell the soldiers that although you didn''t take part in the main attack, you didn''t take part in the war passively. Your purpose of sticking to your present position is to build a solid rear for our offensive forces, so that they can confidently and boldly attack the Kiev garrison until the enemy is eliminated and the great city of Kiev is liberated from the enemy''s clutches. " As soon as Zhukov finished, I quickly and loudly replied, "please rest assured, marshal. When I go back, I will convey your words to the soldiers, so that they can understand the importance of sticking to the existing defensive zone, and ensure that the friendly forces can successfully liberate Kiev."¡° That''s good. " After I finished, Zhukov nodded his head and added: "in addition, the troops of your group army suffered a large number of casualties in the early fighting, so we can take advantage of this time to rest and let the troops form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, so as to play a greater role in the next fighting." When Zhukov finished, he raised his hand and pressed down, indicating that I should sit down. Then he turned around and asked vassilevsky, "Comrade chief of general staff, do you have anything else to add?"¡° No, comrade marshal. " Vasilevsky said politely to Zhukov, "you and the chief of staff of the front army have just finished what you should say. I have nothing to add."¡° Now that we have finished what we should say, "Zhukov said to vasilevsky with a smile. After finishing this sentence, he turned to scan the whole room with his eyes and announced," let''s finish the meeting. " With his command, the commanders who attended the meeting stood up, raised their hands to salute him, turned around and left the meeting room slowly. As I was about to leave, I heard Zhukov calling me from behind, "Rita, you stay. I have something else to tell you." On hearing Zhukov''s words, chisjakov, who was walking beside me, quickly approached me and said in a low voice: "I''m waiting for you outside with Comrade military Commissar." Then, without waiting for me to say anything, he quickened his pace and left the conference room with other commanders.

 Chapter 1276

    When the commanders in the meeting room were almost gone, Zhukov and some of them seemed to forget my existence. Their heads were huddled together, looking at the map in front of them and whispering something.


    Looking at several people in the heated discussion, I can''t help falling into a dilemma: to leave directly will certainly cause Zhukov''s displeasure. After all, he said that he announced in public that he wanted me to stay; But it seems inappropriate for me to interrupt their conversation and remind them of my existence.


    Just when I was in a dilemma, chief of staff korgenevich inadvertently raised his head and saw me still standing in the same place. He couldn''t help asking strangely, "general oshanina, why don''t you go back to the army?"


    "Comrade chief of staff," I explained in a tearful way after smiling at him, "I was ordered to stay."


    "By orders, by whose orders?" Korgenevich didn''t know whether he was forgetful or absent-minded at the meeting. He didn''t even hear Zhukov''s words of leaving me alone.


    "Major general, I asked Rita to stay." Zhukov looked away from the map in front of him, and then said slowly, "I''d like to ask her in private what she thinks of this battle plan."


    I was stunned by Zhukov''s words. I never dreamed that after he made the decision not to let my army take part in the war, he even asked me in private about my views on the battle plan.


    "Tell me, Rita." Ignoring the reaction of the people around him, Zhukov looked at me and asked, "what do you think of the battle plan announced today?"


    I took a look at the map in front of Zhukov, pointed with my hand and politely asked, "can I use that map?"


    Zhukov nodded and pushed the map straight towards us. I looked down at the red and blue arrows above, then pointed to Kiev and said, "because our group army and general Moskalenko''s 40th group army crossed the Dnieper River back and forth and established a wide landing site. In this way, the Kiev German army''s attention was drawn to the south. According to the operational plan, we will concentrate the forces of the three army groups and launch a fierce attack on the German army from the south. We have to know that the terrain here is not conducive to the deployment of large forces. In this way, we can only adopt the tactics of adding oil and put one group army after another into combat in turn. "


    "It''s very good," said korgenevich with disapproval. "No matter how strong the enemy''s fortifications are, can they withstand the repeated attacks of our three army groups?"


    "No, comrade chief of staff." After he finished, I gave him a wry smile, and then I put forward my own opinion: "if we take turns to put our troops into combat, it will lead to the shortage of offensive strength. It is possible that Kiev will not be able to enter after serious losses. "


    Seeing that korgenevich wanted to refute me, vasilevsky broke in and said, "chief of staff korgenevich, I think Comrade oshanina has a better say than any of us in attacking Kiev. After all, a few months ago, she once commanded a small infantry army, and it took her one night to take over Kiev. "


    Vasilevsky''s support made korgenevich give up the idea of mocking me. After a moment''s silence, he asked, "Comrade oshanina, if you were to make a battle plan, how would you take Kiev?"


    Looking at the map, I said, "if I want to make a plan to capture Kiev, then I will definitely put my heavy troops to the north of Kiev, build a landing site in liujieri, and launch an impact on Kiev from there, striving to capture the city in the shortest time." As I knew in my heart that it was Zhukov''s idea to launch an attack from the direction of liujieri, I made the name of liujieri very loud when I talked about my own ideas.


    After hearing that I firmly agreed with his opinion, Zhukov looked at me and asked with a smile, "Rita, our troops are about to assemble in your defense area. At this time, pulling out our troops to liujieri will certainly lead to chaos."


    Now I have a clear memory of the Kiev campaign in history: on October 16, the Soviet army launched a fierce attack on Kiev with the 27th, 40th and 47th army from the buchlin landing site south of Kiev. However, the German army used the 72nd infantry division, the 112th infantry division and the 255th infantry division to fight against the Soviet Army''s attack in the first line. At the same time, the German army tried to counter attack with the 11th armored division, the 19th armored division and the 20th armored division, which led to the defeat of the Soviet Army''s attack. Later, the Soviet Army quietly moved its troops to liujieri, leaving behind only some models of tanks and artillery in buklin to confuse the German army and contain their main forces here.


    "Marshal," I said immediately after Zhukov finished saying, "at present, we can still rally the troops with great fanfare, but the assembled troops are no longer three group armies, but only general Moskalenko''s 40th group army, and the rest have no troops to cross the river, so they quietly move towards liujieri."


    "But general oshanina, no matter how big the movement is, one group army is not as big as three." As soon as I finished, korgenevich began to refute me: "if the German army finds that there is only one group army in our attack direction, they will send a large number of scouts to scout the whereabouts of the rest of our troops. In this way, our troops moving in the direction of liujieri will be found by the enemy, and the enemy will transfer enough troops to the north. "


    "In fact, it is not impossible for the enemy to have the illusion that one of our group armies should be regarded as two or even three." When I said this, I looked at korgenevich with a smile on my face, but I thought with disdain: Although I haven''t been in the army as long as you, you are not my opponent in terms of how to come up with the idea of cheating the Germans.


    "Comrade oshanina, I''m very curious about what you said." Watujing asked with a smile, "what can you do to make the enemy regard one of our army groups as two or three?"


    "It''s very simple, Comrade General." I replied with a relaxed look: "during the day, we drive trucks full of commanders and fighters towards the front line. At night, we quietly transport them back to the original camp. After dawn, we carry them to the front line in a big way. In this way, the German scouts will think that we are sending a large number of troops to the front. When the enemy is convinced that our direction of attack is to the south of Kiev, they will concentrate their main forces to the south to defend against our possible attack. "


    Since I have used this tactic more than once, Zhukov and vasilevsky are not surprised. On the contrary, vatukin exclaimed: "it''s wonderful, comrade oshanina. I can only say that this method you have come up with is really wonderful. In this way, as long as this method can deceive the Germans, then we can use general Moskalenko''s 40th army to contain the main force of the German army in the south of Kiev, while the rest of the troops quietly move to the north of Kiev. After the deployment is completed, a sudden attack can be launched from liujieri in the north to take the Germans by surprise. "


    When vatukin finished, I looked at Zhukov and said, "although we can use this way to confuse the enemy, for the sake of safety, we should send more planes to patrol in the air and prevent the enemy''s reconnaissance planes from taking off, otherwise this plan of hiding the truth from the world may be discovered by the Germans."


    "What is" hiding the truth from the world and crossing the sea " I used to say an idiom by accident, but it was heard by korgenevich. He asked curiously, "it''s the first time I''ve heard this kind of saying."


    "Concealing the world and crossing the sea" is a word from the East. Its general meaning is to use deception to divert the enemy''s attention in order to achieve the goal we want to achieve. " After volunteering to explain the whole idiom, vasilevsky turned to me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, am I right?"


    "Yes, marshal," said vasilevsky. Although his explanation was not accurate enough, at such a time, I could only flatter him, so as to cover up the slip of tongue caused by my quick talk as soon as possible. "That''s exactly what you mean."


    "Well, comrades in command, Rita has already expressed her opinion. What do you think?" After glancing at the crowd, Zhukov asked slowly, "do we need to adjust the attack direction of the 27th and 47th army?"


    Zhukov''s words made the room fall into silence. After looking at each other, vatukin and korgenevich turned their eyes to Zhukov again. Just half an hour ago, korgenevich had just assigned offensive tasks to the commanders of the 27th and 47th army groups. Now he has to adjust his deployment, which will not only affect the prestige of the commanders in the army, but also cause unnecessary confusion. It is based on this consideration that neither of them has expressed their opinions.


    "Well, let the 40th group army hand over the defense area to the friendly forces as soon as possible and assemble to the attack starting point." At this time, it was vasilevsky who came out to make a comeback. He looked at Zhukov and asked in a consultative tone: "as for the 27th and 47th group armies, since they have not crossed the river to the other side, they will stay in the defense area and continue to stand by. Before the battle starts, they will quietly move towards liujieri. Deputy commander, what do you think? "


    "Well, comrade vasilevsky." Zhukov immediately expressed his support for China''s silevsky proposal, and said: "let general Moskalenko lead his 40th army northward, and the rest of the troops stay in the current camp and continue to stand by." With that, he waved to korgenevich and said, "chief of staff, what are you still doing here? Hurry up and call the two commanders of the group army and ask them to stop mobilizing troops immediately..."


    After I came out of the headquarters of the front army, I joined chisgakov and kirilov outside the door. Chisjakov asked curiously, "Comrade commander, marshal asked you to stay. Is there anything important?"


    I turned my head and looked left and right. I saw that there were not only military vehicles coming and going in the street, but also soldiers passing by from time to time. I raised my hand and said, "this is not a place to talk. Let''s get on the bus."


    Kirilov was not in the same car with us when he came here. At the moment, he heard that there was something important. He immediately drove busmanov down from the co driver''s seat and sat on it himself, just to listen to the reason why Zhukov left me.


    After the car started, except for our three commanders, there was only one driver on board, and the driver was also a trustworthy person. So I told them what happened after I stayed.


    After listening to what I said, chisjakov asked thoughtfully, "Comrade commander, do you really think that if we attack from the South with three group armies, we will be defeated?"¡° Yes, comrade chisgakov After listening to his whole question, I immediately restrained my smile and said to him seriously, "I think the assembly of our troops in the south of Kiev will soon be discovered by the Germans. They will build a strong and perfect defense system in the South against our attack. At the same time, due to the terrain restrictions in the south of Kiev, we can not launch large forces here, so we can only use the worst refueling tactics to put one division after another into combat. If we fight like this, we will pay huge casualties. " While chisjakov was deep in thought about my statement, kirilov suddenly interrupted and asked, "Rita, can we still make our troops disguised as Germans, bypass the enemy''s defensive zone, quietly enter Kiev and make another sneak attack on the horses, just like a few months ago?" As for kirilov''s statement, I refuted it almost without thinking: "no, comrade military commissar, today''s situation is different from a few months ago. At that time, because the main force of Manstein confronted our southwest front army and Voronezh front army on the other side of the Dnieper River, Kiev was almost an empty city, and the defenders were not on guard, so we easily captured the city. Now Kiev has a lot of German troops. Even if we have one or two divisions, disguised as German troops, we will be quickly divided and eliminated by the enemy after launching the attack. Therefore, we can only fight a face-to-face battle with the Germans this time. " Kirilov sighed at what I said, then stopped talking and turned to look out the window in silence¡° Comrade commander, although our superior did not assign us an offensive task this time, do you think we will join the war in the future? " Asked chisgakov, who was in deep thought¡° Yes, my deputy commander I replied with a smile, "if there is only one group army left when we attack Kiev from the south, then we will have a chance to fight."

 Chapter 1277

    Chisgakov had always been worried that we could not take part in the war directly. When he heard that I had taken part in the war, his eyes suddenly brightened and he couldn''t wait to ask me, "if only general Moskalenko''s 40th army attacked from the south, could the head of the front army put our army into battle once they were defeated?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander." Looking at the eager chisjakov, I replied with a smile: "as soon as the battle starts, maybe the 40th group army will be defeated, and the superior will put us into the battle."


    After I said this, chisgakov was unexpectedly silent. After a while, he tentatively asked: "Comrade commander, you just said that if you attack from the south, the big troops can''t be launched, so you can only use the tactics of refueling to put one division after another into battle?"


    "Yes, I said so." When I heard this question from chisgakov, I immediately nodded my approval.


    "In the face of Germany''s solid defensive position, if we only attack with one division, will our ability of attack be too weak?" "In this way, our attack on Kiev, even with heavy casualties, will not be able to achieve the desired results," he asked with some concern


    It turned out that chisjakov was worried about this incident, which made me feel much more confident. "Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander, even if our group army goes into battle, it won''t launch an attack from the south. In addition to increasing casualties, it won''t help much in the fighting process."


    "What direction are we going to attack from?" My words aroused great interest of chisjakov, and he was about to take out his pocket


    "Wait a moment, comrade deputy commander. Please wait a moment." I took a look at the driver who was concentrating on driving, and said that although this is a trustworthy soldier, I still can''t talk about such a confidential matter in front of him. So I deliberately digged off the topic: "even if I have analyzed the situation for you now, I will have to analyze it again with chief of staff bezikov when I get back to the headquarters later. But in this way, when we get back to the headquarters, we will explain to you. How are you


    After hearing this, chisgakov saw the special glance I threw at the driver. He immediately put down his picture bag and said, "well, comrade commander, let''s wait until we get back to the headquarters."


    After a few hours of bumping on the road, we crossed the Dnieper and returned to our headquarters in cherkaser. As soon as we entered the door, bzikov came up and asked with a smile, "the meeting is over so soon. I don''t know what tasks the superior has assigned us?"


    "Chief of staff, we are going to launch an attack on Kiev in a while. At today''s meeting, we will arrange the order of attack of each group army. " Chisgakov explained to bezikov as he walked towards the table in the middle of the room. Seeing the surprise on the other side''s face, he stopped and added coldly, "but our group army will not take part in this attack."


    "What, we don''t take part in the attack?" Bzikov trembled when he heard this, then looked at me in surprise and asked, "Comrade commander, why? Why don''t we take part in the attack? "


    "Chief of staff, sit down first, and I''ll explain it to you slowly." I made a please sign and whispered.


    Bzikov frowned, then sat down at the table honestly, his eyes fixed on me, waiting for me to give him a reasonable explanation.


    I called ahlomeyev over and told him, "major, from tomorrow, the 40th army will enter our defense area and assemble northwest of kaniv. You call commander sivakov of the 23rd army and ask him to send someone to do the coordination work


    "Yes, I''ll do it right away." Akhromeyev then turned and left.


    "Comrade commander, can you tell me now why our superior did not let us take part in the attack?" As soon as akhromeyev left, bzikov asked impatiently, "we have won a lot of battles recently. These superiors should know about it, but it''s really strange why they didn''t let us take part in the war?"


    "Chief of staff, it''s no surprise. In such a big offensive campaign, the higher authorities must have an overall arrangement. They can''t let all the troops participate in the offensive without leaving the troops to defend. " In order to let bzikov understand the real intention of the superior, I told him the general situation and added: "please remember, if our army''s attack is frustrated and the enemy turns into a counter attack in a certain area and tries to rush to our rear, what will be the consequences if there are no troops sticking to our defense line to stop them?"


    After I finished, bezikov nodded his head vigorously, but still said wrongly: "Comrade commander, other troops are going to take part in the attack, but let us stay in the original defense area for defense, which will have a negative impact on our morale."


    "Chief of staff, don''t worry about that." After listening to bzikov''s worry, I just gave a faint smile. Then I looked at kirilov and confidently said, "this can be entrusted to Comrade military Commissar. He will personally go to the army in the near future to conduct political agitation work for the commanders and fighters. I believe that with his ability, we can avoid unstable morale. "


    "Comrade commander, there is no outsider here. You can talk about your analysis." As soon as I finished my analysis, chisgakov, who had been waiting impatiently for me, urged: "you know, I''ve thought about all kinds of possibilities in the past few hours, and I haven''t figured out which direction we will put our troops into before the friendly attack is frustrated."


    Instead of answering his whole question directly, I asked, "Comrade deputy commander, I want to ask you, if the German army were driven away from Kiev by us, where would they retreat?"


    Hearing my question, chisgakov put his head close to the map. After looking at it for a moment, he pointed with his hand and said confidently, "that''s fair to say. It must be Zhitomir retreating to the West. It''s a big city."


    "You are quite right. Once the Germans are expelled from Kiev by us, their troops will certainly retreat to Zhitomir along the road. After all, the distance between the two places is only more than 100 kilometers." After echoing chisgakov''s opinion, I patted the map with my hand and continued, "if you look at the map more carefully, you can find a place called shepetovka to the west of Zhitomir."


    "Yes, I know this place. At the beginning of the war, it was the main warehouse of our army." Chisjakov didn''t know why I suddenly mentioned shepetovka, but he told me what he knew: "the materials stored there are enough to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of troops of the southwest front army. Unfortunately, due to the enemy''s fast advancing speed, most of the materials in the warehouse did not have time to transfer, and finally fell into the hands of the German army. "


    Seeing that chisgakov knew more about the Ukrainian cities near Kiev, I did not explain any more, so I said my analysis directly: "I think that after the attack on Kiev, it is very difficult for the troops of the front army to break through the defense built by the German army in a short time. In this case, the superior may order us to attack from the flank of the German army to cut off the road and railway from Zhitomir to Kiev. As long as we control this traffic line, it is equivalent to cutting off the main transport artery of the German army. In this way, the weapons, ammunition and materials needed by Kiev cannot be transported in, and the wounded in the battle cannot be evacuated to the rear. As long as this situation is maintained for about a week, the morale of the German army in Kiev will be shaken, and the friendly forces may break through those solid defensive positions. "


    With this analysis, I turned to look at chisgakov. But he sat there without expression, staring at the map in front of him in a daze, as if thinking about something.


    "Comrade deputy commander, comrade deputy commander." I called several times to wake chisgakov from his meditation.


    "Ha ha, I''m sorry, comrade commander. I was thinking about the situation you analyzed, but I was distracted for a moment." Chisgakov said to me with a smile, "please go on."


    I nodded, pointed to the map, then analyzed and said: "I estimate that when the battle starts, general Moskalenko''s 40th army will engage in repeated tug of war with the German army in the two regions of obukeshiv and baitzerkovi. If we want to finish cutting off the connection between Kiev and Zhitomir, the commando forces must bypass the two cities, first go west to capture the small city of skovya near baitserkovi, and use it as a supply point, and then attack north to occupy korostoviv in the north, making use of the favorable terrain with numerous forests and swamps, Cut off the link between Zhitomir and Kiev. "


    "Zhitomir, Zhitomir." Kirilov, who had been listening, repeated the name twice and then shut up.


    Kirilov''s inexplicable remark aroused my curiosity. I looked at him and asked, "Comrade military commissar, why are you so interested in the city of Zhitomir? Have you been there before?"


    Kirilov nodded and affirmed: "I used to be a city leader in Zhitomir for a period of time. I didn''t transfer to Moscow until 40 years ago. By the way, when I was transferred, comrade rokosovsky, then commander of the ninth mechanized army, was transferred to the garrison commander of Zhitomir. "


    "It is a pity that the central front army of general rokosovsky did not take up the task of liberating Kiev this time." After listening to what kirilov said, bezikov said with some regret: "otherwise, it must be a very meaningful thing for him to command the troops to recover Zhitomir."


    "Although general rokosovsky''s troops can''t participate in the battle to liberate Kiev this time, they will enter Belarus and eliminate the bandits who are there," chisjakov said


    "Since the end of the battle against Kursk, our army has changed from the original strategic defense to strategic attack." What has the final say, "I am also interested," is that the initiative of the battlefield is in our hands, where we are going to attack and what kind of forces to attack.


    After I finished, bzikov said cautiously, "Comrade commander, I have a question. I don''t know whether to ask or not."


    "Ask, chief of staff." I said with disapproval: "since you are my chief of staff, you can ask any questions you think of. As long as I know the answer, I will give you a satisfactory answer."


    "Will our troops attack from the south not succeed?" Although I have just said time and again that the attack from the South will not achieve any effect, bezikov is still unwilling to ask: "you know, in our South, there are strong grassland front army and southwest front army. Can''t we break the German defense?"¡° If we want to attack the enemy''s defensive positions at all costs, we will certainly be able to break through the enemy''s fortifications. " To bezikov''s doubts, I answered with certainty: "but at the same time, we will pay a heavy price. Maybe when the troops rush into Kiev, the organizational structure of many troops will no longer exist. "¡° Since this is the case, why did the superior choose the main attack direction in the south of Kiev? " Bezikov puzzled to ask: "is it really ready to use the sea of people tactics to break through the German solid defense?" As it was Stalin''s intention to attack from the south, even Zhukov could not disobey it. Because of this, I didn''t elaborate on this matter when I was just introducing the situation, but just passed it by. At this moment, I can''t help hesitating when I hear bzikov ask this question reluctantly. If I don''t tell the truth, I can''t make bzikov feel at ease; To tell you the truth, there is a suspicion of slandering the supreme commander. However, after pondering over it for a while, I still said to bzikov, "the choice of attack direction is the decision of the supreme command, and no one has the right to modify it." I threw out the supreme command because there were seven people in it, including Stalin and Zhukov, so that they would not be given a handle. Sure enough, after hearing what I said, bzikov sighed with disappointment, and then said, "if the headquarters can adjust its strategic deployment according to the actual situation of the battlefield, it can reduce a lot of casualties." At this time, akhromeyev suddenly cried out to me: "Comrade commander, your phone number!"¡° Who''s calling? " I thought it was a teacher, so I asked casually¡° He is commander konev of the grassland front army, "akhromeyev reported respectfully." he said that he had something important to discuss with you. "

 Chapter 1278

    "What, commander konev to me?" Hearing the report of akhromeyev, I was a little surprised and said, "we are not fighting with his troops now. What does he want me to do?"


    On hearing this question, both chisjakov and bzikov shook their heads in a daze, while kirilov said, "Rita, you can answer the phone if there''s anything wrong."


    I went to take the microphone in akhromeyev''s hand, took a deep breath, and politely said, "Hello, general konev, what can I do for you?"


    "Hello, comrade oshanina." Konev heard my voice and said with a smile, "I tell you a good news. My 53rd army is crossing the Dnieper River and is ready to take over clementchug, who was sent out by general Moskalenko. In this way, you can fight side by side with general managarov again."


    "Great, that''s great." I was overjoyed to hear that I could join hands again with the troops who had fought side by side in Kharkov. I repeatedly said, "senior general, thank you for telling me the good news."


    "General managarov, as soon as they take over clemenzuk, they will attack Alexandria and kilovgrad." Konev then said: "I hope your troops can cover his right wing, so as not to be attacked by the German army. Is there a problem? "


    "Don''t worry, senior general." Staring at the map in front of me, I said: "at present, our army has captured not only kaniv and cherkaser, but also smira and spola, which has connected the whole defense area. The remaining German forces between us are now too busy to take the initiative to attack. "


    "If so, that would be great." Konev then added, "Comrade oshanina, do you know? Our present five front forces are gathering on the banks of the Dnieper River and are about to launch a final assault on the enemy. I believe that in a short time, the whole German population in Ukraine will be completely expelled from our territory. "


    "Yes, senior general. This is certainly the case." I flattered and said, "we have more than two million troops, and the enemy has so many talents that they will not be able to resist our fierce offensive. Before long, they will be driven out of the territory of Ukraine by us."


    After the call with konev, I felt more confident. I said to chisgakov and bezikov, "deputy commander, chief of staff, you have made a plan to capture korostevev in a hurry, so that we can cut off the enemy''s traffic line from Kiev to Zhitomir in the shortest time after the battle starts."


    Chisgakov nodded and then asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t know which army you are going to send to take up the main task of this attack?"


    I thought about it, and then said, "the fighting forces are the 71st guard division of Colonel babashin, the 77th guard division of major general askarepov, and the fifth guard tank army of general Kravchenko. Well, with these three troops, I believe they can complete the task of cutting off the Kiev Zhitomir traffic line. "


    When chisjakov, bezikov and akhromeyev went to work out the battle plan, kirilov put his head together and said excitedly: "I never thought that we could gather five front forces along the Dnieper River with a force of more than two million. This time, even if Manstein''s troops can fight again, it is estimated that he will not be able to stop our five Route Army from attacking at the same time. "


    "You are right, comrade military Commissar." I echoed kirilov''s statement, and then went on to say: "our army has been constantly trained in the war, and now its combat effectiveness has been greatly improved. In addition, the initiative in the battlefield is gradually in our hands. If we can''t defeat the Germans in this way, it''s really strange. "


    I gave the task of cutting off the traffic line between Kiev and Zhitomir to general sivakov''s close guard 22nd army, while general tavartkilaze, commander of the 23rd army of close guard, went directly to the headquarters to ask me for a fight.


    In the face of many group army commanders, he said to me with an aggrieved face: "Comrade commander, although our army has suffered a lot in the fighting these days, you can''t give the task of cutting off the Kiev Zhitomir road to the 22nd military region of Jinwei to complete, can you?"


    Instead of answering his question, I asked, "what are you going to do?"


    "Is that true, comrade commander?" When he heard what I said, he admitted that he saw a glimmer of light. Then he said with a smile, "let''s leave this important task to our army. I assure you that we will complete the task successfully. "


    "No way," I said in an indisputable tone as soon as he finished, "your army lost too much in the early fighting, especially the 375TH infantry division of Lieutenant Colonel Lu Jin, which has just added 3000 recruits. The combat effectiveness of the army has not been formed, so it can''t take part in the fighting for the time being."


    "Even if the 375TH infantry division can''t fight, can the 51st guard division of Colonel chejerikov always fight?" At this point, tavartkilaze said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, I know that Colonel chejerikov is your old subordinate. Don''t you give him a chance to make contributions?"


    When I heard tavartkilaze say that, I did move the idea of letting sjerykov make contributions, and the order almost blurted out. But when I thought about it, I immediately denied tavartkilaze''s request again without hesitation: "no, chejerikov Division has added more than 2000 recruits. I will not consider sending them to the battlefield until they have completed the training and become combat effectiveness."


    "Comrades commander," tavartkilaze was a little worried when he saw that his other proposal was rejected by me. "Although our troops paid a great price in the battle, our combat effectiveness has not been affected. After all, there are still so many backbone fighters left behind. If you let them fight, I believe their performance will not disappoint you. "


    "Comrade commander, I feel that since the general is so eager to fight, we can''t let him chill." Perhaps seeing tavartkilaze pleading with me, chisgakov could not see it any more. He also helped the other side and said: "although we have sent two close guard divisions and a tank army outside, although the troops seem to be quite a lot, they are a little weak if we want to go deep into the enemy''s rear. So I suggest that the 51st division of the close guard be included in the attack list


    "What''s your opinion, chief of staff?" I asked, looking at bezikov.


    Bezikov looked at me, then turned his eyes to tavartkiraze, who was worried. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Comrade commander, I agree with the deputy commander. Let the 51st division of the guards also take part in this battle?"


    "Major ahlomeyev." After listening to bzikov''s statement, I still did not express my opinion, but turned my eyes to ahlomeyev next to me: "how do you think about it?"


    "Comrade commander, my opinion is the same as that of the chief of staff," akhromeyev replied without hesitation: "you should know that the Kiev Zhitomir line is after all the lifeline of the German army. Once attacked, it is estimated that there will be German soldiers coming from all directions to encircle our raiding troops. If we are strong enough, we will not have to worry about the siege and wait for reinforcements when we patiently deal with them. "


    Seeing that everyone''s opinions were agreed, I didn''t insist any more. Instead, I pushed the boat forward and said, "well, general tavartkilaze, since everyone agrees that the 51st division of the guards will take part in this battle, you should go back as soon as possible and inform Col. shijerikov, so that he can seize the time to train his troops and strive for more meritorious deeds in this battle."


    "Yes, comrade commander, I will certainly convey your message to him." After tavartkilaze said these words excitedly, his expression returned to normal: "will you allow me to go back to the army?"


    "Go I waved to him to let him go.


    After tavartkilaze left, I said to chisjakov, "if we want to transfer three close guard divisions this time, the deployment of troops in the defense area may have to be adjusted appropriately."


    "Of course, it should be." Chisjakov took over and said, "now that the defense area of the grassland front army is bordering on us, we don''t have to deploy so many troops in the south. The extra troops just fill the vacancy after the 51st division of the guards left, so that the Germans won''t find our difference."


    "Commander, deputy commander." Akhromeyev said to us cautiously after chisgakov finished his speech: "I think we should send more reconnaissance teams to carry out uninterrupted reconnaissance in Kiev Zhitomir area to prevent accidents."


    "Accident?" On hearing akhromeyev say so, chisjakov could not help but sneer, and then said contemptuously, "Comrade major, what do you think will happen?"


    Hearing such a tricky question from chisgakov, akhromeyev looked at the other side and said, "Comrade deputy commander, although we have gathered more than two million troops along the Dnieper River, there are many German defenders near Kiev, and there are many armored divisions among them. If we don''t know the location of these armored divisions in advance, I''m afraid that even if our troops occupy korostwev, it will be difficult to keep there. "


    "Can''t our elite close guard tank army defeat several incomplete German armored divisions?" "You think too much," chisjakov said contemptuously about akhromeyev''s worries


    I was stunned by the sudden argument between them. My heart said that I just asked you to make an attack plan together. How could there be such a big difference now? Thinking of this, I quickly raised my hand to stop them, and then said, "well, deputy commander, major, don''t argue any more."


    After the two men were quiet, I said to chisjakov: "Comrade deputy commander, I think the major is right. We must send a large number of reconnaissance teams to investigate the situation of the German army, so that we can have a clear idea when we are in action."


    Then I turned to ahlomeyev and said, "major, in order to find out the distribution of the enemy''s forces as soon as possible, we should not only send out the reconnaissance battalion of Tel avin, but also let the divisions send out their own reconnaissance troops. The information detected should be fed back to the headquarters of the group army in time, and I''ll leave it to you to be fully responsible for it. "


    Akhromeyev knew that I was resolute and resolute. After accepting the order, he immediately called the division commanders and asked them to send a reconnaissance team to the northwest to detect the German movement. After everyone got busy again, kirilov said to me with emotion, "Rita, when I broke through Kiev with the army, I never dreamed that I could fight back so soon. At that time, when we broke through the encirclement, we were fighting and withdrawing at the same time, so that we didn''t have time to bury the bodies of many dead officers and soldiers. I hope that after the liberation of Kiev, their remains will be collected and buried well. "¡° Don''t worry, comrade military Commissar. " When I heard kirilov mention those comrades who died, my heart was blocked. If I had not been transferred back to Moscow at the beginning, I might have been able to bring more commanders and fighters to stand out when the German army besieged Kiev again¡° When Kiev is liberated, I will send someone to do it. We must let all the bones of the heroes be buried. "

 Chapter 1279

    Although Zhukov had accepted my proposal, he was only prepared to let the 40th army attack Kiev from the south, while the 27th and 47th army attack Kiev from the north. However, in the process of implementation, the plan was rejected by the supreme command. In desperation, Zhukov had to transfer the two army groups that stayed on the other side of the Dnieper River, as well as the third army of general rebalko''s close guard tanks, to kaniv area.


    In this way, the original starting point for the offensive forces becomes narrow. In order to facilitate the assembly of three army groups and one tank army group, vatujing ordered general sivakov''s close guard 22nd army to withdraw from kaniv and the whole army to withdraw to cherkaser.


    This medium-sized city on the Dnieper River became crowded as a whole four guard divisions and several artillery regiments continued to move into chercasse. Seeing this situation, bzikov complained in a low voice: "it''s a waste of so many troops to be crowded here and not be able to take part in the battle."


    When I heard his complaint, I laughed and said, "chief of staff, it''s not a bad thing for us to gather our troops in cherkaser. Don''t forget that when the battle against Kiev begins, we will not only cover the flanks of the 53rd army, but also dispatch troops to cut off the Kiev Zhitomir road. If the original defense area remains unchanged, with the departure of the two troops, our forces will become thin. If we are attacked by the enemy, the situation will become very bad. Now general vatukin has withdrawn kaniv''s troops, which is tantamount to helping us solve a big problem


    "Do we need to adjust our original attack plan?" Don''t zikov asked cautiously when I finished.


    "Yes, chief of staff." "Now that the friendly forces are stationed in kaniv, our plan to send troops from kaniv will not work. We have to choose a new route," I said positively


    "In that case, let''s make a new sneak attack plan." After he broke in, chisjakov turned to akhromeyev and said, "Comrade major, please give us the information obtained by the reconnaissance team. We need to make a new plan for the sneak attack."


    After reading the information given to him by akhromeyev, the expression on his face became serious. He looked at me and said, "Comrade commander, if we want to adjust our attack route, not only the troops have to go further, but also several large and medium-sized cities. In this way, our whereabouts are hard not to be found by the Germans. In the end, this sneak attack may have to turn into a strong attack. "


    When I heard him say this, I was stunned for a moment, and then asked, "Comrade deputy commander, can you tell me about the new route you have envisaged?"


    "Our sneak attack troops started from spola and went west to attack the occupied areas of vatuti, Dana and uman." Speaking of the last place name, he frowned: "as far as the reconnaissance knows, the German army has two infantry regiments in uman area, with an armored battalion and a number of artillery troops, and there are solid fortifications in the city. It will take us at least two or three days to capture the city, and at the same time, we will make great sacrifices. If the troops are seriously downsized, they will find it hard to go north to capture chakhkov next. "


    After listening to the new plan of chisgakov patiently, I gave a wry smile, and then asked, "Comrade deputy commander, since you know that our troops are going to attack korostev and cut off the traffic line between Kiev and Zhitomir, why do you have to fight so many tough battles on the way? You know, if we fight a tough battle every time we go to a city, not to mention three close guard divisions and one tank army, even if the whole group army is transferred to korostwev, it is estimated that there will not be many people left in the army when we arrive at korostwev. What kind of forces can we use then to cut off the enemy''s traffic lines? "


    What I said stopped chisgakov. He turned red and stared at the map without saying a word. He was probably thinking about how to avoid the heavily defended city of the German army and quickly rush to korostev to cut off the enemy''s traffic line.


    "Comrade commander, since you don''t think the deputy commander''s plan is desirable." Bezikov thought that he didn''t want to see chisjakov embarrassed. He quickly came out and said, "can you tell us about your plan?"


    On hearing what bzikov said, chisgakov quickly agreed: "yes, comrade commander, can you tell me your plan? I want to see how our troops have penetrated through the German defense. "


    I heard the dissatisfaction from chisgakov''s words, but I didn''t care with him. Instead, I pointed to the map and said to them, "you see, after successfully crossing the Dnieper River, we successfully captured cherkaser and kaniv, and successively occupied smira and spola. As for Kesong, he was handed over to us after being liberated by the local guerrillas. "


    "Corson!" After repeating the name, chisgakov slapped the table and said, "Damn it, how can I forget kosson? If we send troops from here, we can choose a completely different road."


    "Your judgment is accurate, comrade deputy commander." Seeing that chisjakov had judged the possible new route from what I said, he said to him with a smile, "after we start from korson, we can go northwest along those deserted paths. Take skovya without knowing it, and then go north to take korostev, to cut off Kiev and Zhitomir. "


    "Comrade commander," chisjakov asked uneasily after listening to me, "it''s really hard to meet the Germans along the road you choose, but there are many rivers and swamps in that area. Can our tanks pass through? Without the cooperation of the tank troops, we could not achieve the goal of cutting off the German traffic line. How about another route? " As for the situation that chisjakov was worried about, I knew it was real. After thinking about it for a while, I shook my head and said, "no way, comrade deputy commander, no matter where we go, we will be found by the German army, which will lead to the failure of our sneak attack plan. As for the difficulty of roads, it''s not a big problem. We can let the accompanying soldiers of the guard division cut down trees and pave the way, so that the tanks can pass smoothly. " Seeing that I had a plan, chisgakov didn''t persuade me any more. He pushed the map in front of bezikov, and then said, "chief of staff, please work with major akhromeyev to make a new sneak attack plan according to what the commander just said." Bezikov took over the map and said firmly, "don''t worry, comrade deputy commander, we will work out a new plan of sneak attack in the shortest time."

 Chapter 1280

    On October 16, Voronezh''s front army launched an attack on Kiev.


    Hearing the rumble of artillery from the north, chisjakov could no longer sit. He stood up and walked back and forth in the headquarters. From time to time, he stopped and looked out of the window, as if he could see the battle field from there.


    "Comrade deputy commander, don''t go back and forth. You keep walking back and forth like this, which makes my eyes dazzle. How can I work? " Seeing that chisjakov was out of his wits, kirilov said something jokingly, then pointed to the empty seat beside him and said, "even if you step out a trench in the house, you can''t see the battle going on ahead. All right, just sit down. "


    After sitting down, chisjakov said to kirilov with some embarrassment, "Comrade military commissar, I''m also worried. I''m worried to see other army groups fighting fiercely with the German army in the front, while we are doing nothing here. "


    "Comrade deputy commander," my heart was a little unhappy when I heard what chisgakov said, so I said in a dissatisfied tone, "although we have no combat task now, we are not doing nothing. What we are doing now is preparing for the next battle."


    After these words, I called ahlomeyev over and asked, "major, how are the fortifications of the 89th division of the guards in spola?"


    Hearing my question, akhromeyev immediately and respectfully replied, "I just called general seleucin. He said that two defensive positions have been built in the West and south of spola, and barbed wire and minefields have been laid in front of the positions."


    "Comrade commander, I don''t understand." After hearing akhromeyev''s report, chisgakov asked a little puzzled: "to know that the main force of the German army is in Kiev in the north and zaborosh in the south, why do we build fortifications in the west of spola?"


    Regarding this question of chisgakov, I looked at him and said, "Comrade deputy commander, although the main forces of the enemy are in the two directions you said, they are highly mobile. Manstein may transfer his troops to the weak defensive areas at any time."


    After listening to my explanation, chisgakov shrugged his shoulders, shrunk his mouth, and said with a little disapproval: "if I were Manstein, I would never send troops to attack spola. This is a small city, surrounded by forests and swamps, which is not conducive to the expansion of large forces."


    "You are right." I waited for him to finish, and then said: "although spola has the characteristics you said, it does not mean that the enemy will not take it as the target of attack."


    "Why?" "Can you give me a reason?" he asked


    "Very simply, general managarov''s forces, starting yesterday, launched an attack on Alexandria." I pointed to the map and explained to him, "after seizing the city, they will continue to go west to attack kilovgrad and threaten uman. The Germans are not fools. They will not wait to die. They will certainly fight back. In addition to facing the 53rd group army from the front, they will also attack from the flank of the group army, and spola is undoubtedly the best starting point for the attack. "


    Chisgakov looked down at the map in front of him and pointed at it with his hand. He was probably deducing the situation I said. After about five or six minutes, he pushed the map away, raised his head and said to me, "Comrade commander, I think what you said is reasonable. According to the information we have in the past two days, the German army has several infantry divisions and an armored division in uman. If they really rush to spola, it is estimated that our defense may be broken through by them."


    "Comrade commander, a regiment of the 89th division of the guards, originally stationed in zolotonosha, is now crossing the Dnieper." Bezikov asked me, "where are you going to deploy them?"


    "That''s to say, comrade chief of staff." I looked at bezikov and said, "of course they were deployed in smira. In this way, the entire 89th division of the guards will be deployed in the front line of smira and spola, responsible for ensuring the safety of the west side of our defense area. "


    After I finished, bzikov asked, "Comrade commander, do we need to report our attack plan to the higher authorities immediately?"


    "Not for the time being." I waved my hand to bezikov and said: "now our army''s attack on Kiev has just started, whether the friendly forces can break through the German defense line is still unknown. Our plan may be rejected by the superior if it is reported at this time."


    "But all our troops have assembled," bzikov asked anxiously. "Do you want them to stay there all the time?"


    I sighed and said with some helplessness: "Comrade chief of staff, judging from the current situation, what they can do is to continue to wait. Only when the enemy''s attention is completely attracted by the friendly forces attacking Kiev, is the best time for us to start."


    At noon, we received a telegram from the headquarters of the front army, which detailed the fighting in the morning. The 27th group army, as the main attack force, launched a fierce attack, but in front of the German fortifications, the bravery and self sacrifice shown by the commanders and fighters would not help. Their attacks were smashed again and again by the German army.


    After seeing the war report, chisjakov said to me with an iron face: "Comrade commander, it seems that you are right. The terrain to the south of Kiev is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Even with the support of aircraft, artillery and tanks, it is not easy for us to conquer the enemy''s solid fortifications in one go. "


    "Yes," bezikov added after chisjakov finished saying, "judging from the war report, the damage to the enemy''s fortifications caused by the artillery preparation before the attack or the air force bombing is very slight. In just one morning, our casualties reached more than 6000, which means that a division has been disabled. If we continue to fight like this, if we want to break through the German defense, the 27th group army will probably be completely wiped out. "


    "Comrade Colonel," said bzikov, with an expression of discontent on his face. Unexpectedly, he did not hold any post, but called each other by military rank. We can see how angry he was in his heart: "as long as we can eliminate the enemy, it is worth the price we pay. But please don''t overestimate the enemy''s strength. No matter how strong they are, we will not break through the enemy''s defensive positions until we lose a group army. "


    I saw the possibility of a quarrel between them, so I quickly cut in and said, "OK, stop talking. Chief of staff, please report our attack plan to the headquarters of the front army immediately. "


    "Will the plan be reported at this time?" Bezikov asked with some surprise: "you know, the battle of attacking Kiev has just started. It will take at least a few days to attract the enemy''s attention from other directions."


    "Report it!" I didn''t explain why, I just gave a brief order.


    When bierzikov went to send a telegram, chisjakov curiously asked: "Comrade commander, I think this sneak attack plan should be reported at least two to three days after the attack on Kiev, because the war situation at that time was clear, and it was easy for the superior to make a correct judgment."


    "Comrade deputy commander, our sneak attack troops have assembled near Kesong." I smile at chisgakov and say in his tone, "we can''t have so many troops huddled together and doing nothing."


    Half an hour after our plan of sneak attack was reported, watujing''s phone call arrived at the headquarters. He asked me on the phone, "Comrade oshanina, why do you suddenly think of making such a plan?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." From his tone, I can tell that he is not interested in this plan. After all, there are four army groups gathering in the south of Kiev to launch attacks on the German defensive positions in turn. Launching a sneak attack plan at this time will add to the story. I quickly explained to him: "at the last meeting, I once proposed to you and Marshal Zhukov that the terrain south of Kiev is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even if our troops pay heavy casualties, it may be difficult to break through the enemy''s defense, so we must think of other ways to deal with the Germans."


    "So that''s why you thought of this sneak attack?" Watujing asked faintly.


    "Yes." I definitely replied: "as long as our sneak attack forces can cut off the traffic line between Kiev and Zhitomir, the enemy in Kiev will soon run out of ammunition and food, and then the main force of the front army will be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort, whether it is attacking from the South or the north."


    "When are you going to start?" Then vatukin asked.


    When I heard what he said, I knew that he had acquiesced in my plan and quickly replied, "as the battle against Kiev has just started, the enemy''s attention has not been fully attracted by the friendly forces. If they attack at this time, they will be easily detected by the enemy, and then the sneak attack will turn into a strong attack. So I plan to wait another two days until more German troops are transferred from some small cities of no importance to the south of Kiev, and then let the troops set out to carry out the sneak attack. "


    When I finished, there was no sound in the receiver. After waiting for a long time, I didn''t hear vatukin''s voice. I was worried that the line was broken. I was about to tell lophoff to check the telephone line. Suddenly, a familiar voice came out of the receiver: "Hello, is that Rita?"


    "Yes, it''s me. Comrade Marshal Suddenly I heard Zhukov''s voice from the receiver, which really surprised me. After a short period of confusion, I stabilized my mood: "I''m glad to hear your voice!"


    "I''ve just seen your sneak attack plan," Zhukov said slowly. "The plan is very detailed. It seems that this Colonel bzikov is really the material for the chief of staff."


    Seeing that Zhukov did not show his attitude, but was asking irrelevant questions, I quickly replied, "Comrade marshal, the operational plan was jointly formulated by the chief of staff, Colonel bezikov, and the chief of operations, major akhromeyev."


    "Three guard divisions and a tank army," I heard the sound of turning the paper from the receiver. It was estimated that Zhukov was looking through my plan. "Rita, according to your judgment, how long will it take for so many troops to pass through the area full of forests and swamps?"


    When I heard Zhukov''s question, I thought about it, and then replied, "marshal, although it''s only about 120 kilometers from korson to korostevev, it''s hard to get there because of the road. Even if I start tomorrow, I can''t get to my destination until at least the 20th."


    "More than 100 kilometers, four days walking?" Zhukov said in a discontented tone, "it''s too slow, Rita. You''re too slow. If so, even if the attention of the German army is attracted by the friendly forces attacking Kiev, your slow marching speed will be noticed by the German. In such a long time, they can set up several defensive positions on your way forward, and then you will have to march in the way of attacking and advancing. " Zhukov''s words surprised me in a cold sweat. Ginger is still spicy. He pointed out the shortcomings of the sneak attack plan. If we don''t overcome them, our sneak attack may turn into a strong attack. But on second thought, even if the speed of infantry can be raised, it will take at least a few days for the 200 tanks of the fifth tank army of the close guard to completely pass through this area of deep forest and swamp. Thinking of this, I said to Zhukov with a sad face: "however, marshal, due to the limitation of the terrain, the tanks of the tank army are unable to move forward quickly, which inevitably affects the speed of the whole army."¡° Rita, I think you used to be smart. Why are you so confused this time? " Zhukov said angrily: "you can let the three guard divisions take the lead, but seize those empty German defense cities, and then the tank troops follow slowly. When they arrive at korostwev, they believe that the city has long been attacked by the guards." Zhukov''s words made my eyes bright. When making plans, I fell into a misunderstanding. I always thought that infantry should get the cooperation of tanks, so I decided the marching speed of infantry according to the moving speed of tanks in forest and swamp areas¡° I see, marshal. I''ll let the two guard divisions March fast towards korostev, leaving one guard division to assist the tank army. In this way, we can reach our destination in two days at most. "¡° That''s right. " Zhukov''s tone became gentle again, and then he asked, "the 53rd army of general konev has launched an attack on Alexandria yesterday. You must ensure the safety of their flanks. Don''t let their flanks be exposed to the enemy." After Zhukov finished, I grinned silently, and then replied, "don''t worry, marshal. At present, I have placed major general Xie Liujin''s 89th guard division in the area of smira and spola, and built the necessary defensive positions, which can completely resist the German forces from uman. "¡° It seems that you are very considerate. " Zhukov said with a smile, "in that case, I will wait for the good news of your victory in the headquarters of the front army."

 Chapter 1281

    As soon as the conversation with Zhukov was over, I asked bezikov to call the three division commanders who participated in the attack plan, as well as general Kravchenko, to the headquarters.


    Seeing the four commanders standing in front of me, I nodded and announced to them, "comrades commanders, Marshal Zhukov and the commander of the front army have agreed to our sneak attack plan and asked us to implement it as soon as possible."


    When I said that, the four commanders looked at each other, and their faces were filled with joy. Colonel babahin, commander of the 71st division of Jinwei, said excitedly: "Comrade commander, when we hear that the friendly forces in the north are attacking Kiev, our commanders and fighters have long been eager to try. They all wish they could rush up to compete with the Germans. Our division is ready to go now. We can start at any time. Please give us your order


    After babashin finished, I turned my eyes to the other commanders and asked in a smooth tone, "are you all ready?"


    Hearing my question, the other three said with one voice: "our troops have been assembled and ready to fight at any time. Please give the commander an order."


    "Well, now that everyone is ready, I''ll give you a formal order to fight!" First of all, I said to babashin, "Colonel, as the vanguard, the 71st division of the guards will leave as soon as it gets dark. We have to travel day and night to our destination and get to korostev within 48 hours. "


    "What, in two days to korostev?" After I finished, babashin opened his mouth in surprise. It took quite a long time for him to say, "Comrade commander, I didn''t mean four... Four days. How could it be changed to two days?"


    "Why, comrade colonel." As for babashin''s answer, chisjakov, standing behind me, asked discontentedly, "can''t you complete this task?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Babahin nervously explained to us: "although it''s only more than 100 kilometers away from korostwev, in addition to personal equipment, the commanders and fighters have to carry light machine guns, heavy machine guns, 50 mm and 82 mm mortars and ammunition. Moreover, the road is still so difficult, they can only walk 20 or 30 kilometers a day at most. According to the original plan, it''s almost our limit to arrive in four days. "


    "That''s right, comrade commander," Kravchenko said to babashin, "if it''s on a flat road, the more than 100 kilometers is nothing. Our tank army can let the infantry take the tank to advance, so that they can reach their destination in four hours at most. But in areas full of forests, swamps and many rivers, I think it''s almost the limit of our army''s officers and men to travel 20 or 30 kilometers a day. It is not impossible to increase the speed of the March by force, but in that case, when the soldiers arrive at their destination, they will become exhausted and unable to form effective combat effectiveness in a short time. "


    Kravchenko''s words, let the whole room into a silence.


    While I was thinking about how to reply to Kravchenko, kirilov came over with a smile and broke the silence in the room: "general Kravchenko, you have a good point, but you seem to forget that our commanders and fighters have a tough and hard-working character, and the spirit of self sacrifice that other soldiers don''t have, as long as you are before you leave, Let the political workers at all levels do a good job of encouraging the commanders and fighters to fight. I believe you can still accomplish this task well. "


    Kirilov''s words made the other two teachers who wanted to talk shut up. At this time, chisjakov lost no time to add: "comrades commander, the troops we used in this sneak attack on korostev are three close guard divisions and a tank army. Even if our tracks are hidden, as long as the Germans are not blind or deaf, our troops will not be found by them. In this way, a well planned sneak attack will turn into a battle of fortification and positional warfare that we do not want to see, which will lead to the failure of our plan to cut off the traffic line between Kiev and Zhitomir. "


    Chisgakov''s words made the room silent again.


    After a moment''s hesitation, Kravchenko asked carefully, "Comrade commander, what should my tank troops do? You know, on that road, tanks are slower than infantry


    "Comrade General," although I have racked my brains for a long time to think about the problems existing in the tank army, I haven''t come up with any good solutions. At the moment, I heard Kravchenko raise this problem, and I can only harden my head and say, "fortunately, tanks can''t be of any great use in the early fighting, and your army can advance to korostwev according to the original plan."


    "I have a suggestion, comrade commander." After I finished, Kravchenko suddenly asked, "can I ask you something?"


    I didn''t know what he would say, so I nodded and said politely, "Comrade General, if you have any good suggestions, just let me know."


    "I don''t think it''s necessary for all three tank brigades to take part in this battle!" Kravchenko said unexpectedly: "and you have just said that if the troops move slowly, they will be found by the Germans. If our tank troops were attacked by the German army in the process of moving, the crowded tanks would suffer huge losses. So I suggest that in this battle, we only need to put a tank brigade into the battle. "


    "What, just one tank brigade?" Hearing Kravchenko say that, not only I was stunned, but also they were stunned. Finally, bezikov first asked: "in this way, our tank troops have no advantage over the enemy''s armored division?"


    "No, comrade chief of staff." Kravchenko said to bzikov with a smile: "I will send the 21st tank brigade equipped with new tanks. Although they have only 50 tanks, they can also keep a complete victory record against the most elite Tiger tanks of the German army."


    Since the end of the battle of Kursk, I haven''t heard anyone mention that new type of tank in front of me for a long time, so that I thought that the surpassing t-5455 tank had completely withdrawn from the stage of history after a flash in the pan because of insufficient ammunition production capacity. I didn''t expect to hear Kravchenko mention it today. I immediately asked him excitedly: "Comrade General, as far as I know, the shells of this new type of tank can not be supplied to the army because of its production capacity. Are the new tanks of the 21st tank brigade equipped with sufficient ammunition? "


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Kravchenko nodded his head hard and replied: "in addition to the base ammunition of the tank, the accompanying logistics convoy also transports a base ammunition and fuel, which is enough to cope with a medium-sized battle."


    I heard that the 21st tank brigade had enough ammunition and I had a lot of confidence. Then I asked, "Comrade General, I don''t know when your two remaining tank brigades will leave for korostev?"


    "At the earliest, it will be after our army has occupied korostwev." After Kravchenko said this, seeing my blank face, he quickly explained: "the terrain there is too complex to facilitate the deployment of large-scale armored forces. Since one tank brigade can''t solve the enemy, no matter how many tanks we send to the past, we can only adopt the tactics of adding oil and put the tanks into battle in turn. "


    "But with only one tank brigade, your army is too weak." Looking at Kravchenko''s indifferent face, I said with some worry: "if you are attacked by German anti tank men on the way, you will suffer huge losses."


    "Comrade commander, you don''t have to worry about that." However, I was obviously worried. Kravchenko said confidently: "with the tank brigade, there is also the 6th motorized infantry regiment of the guards. Although they have only one regiment, their combat effectiveness is similar to that of an ordinary division. As long as they are there, the German sneak attack will not pose any threat to our moving tanks. "


    "Well, since you are so confident, do as you say." After speaking with Kravchenko, I turned to the other two teachers and said, "Colonel chejerikov, major general askarepov!"


    "Here it is They replied neatly.


    "As the second echelon, the 51st division of the guards will leave one hour after the 71st division." I have considered that chejerikov has been with me for the longest time and knows a lot about my strategies and tactics. Let his troops walk in the middle. If there is anything, he can coordinate the two troops at the same time.


    "I understand!" Chejerikov replied briefly.


    "And you, major general askarepov." I then said to the commander of the 77th division, "your troops will leave one hour after the 51st division. Remember, a regiment must be left to cut down trees and pave the way for general Kravchenko''s tanks. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Major general askarepov replied flatly, "please rest assured that I will earnestly complete the task you have given me."


    "Well, since the tasks are clear, let''s go back and make preparations." I waved to the four commanders and said, "remember to keep in touch with us. If you have any information, please report it to the group army command in time."


    After several people left, akhromeyev put a telegram he had just received on my desk. I skimmed through the above command quickly, then asked coldly, "major, who sent this telegram?"


    "It''s from captain travkin. Some of our reconnaissance teams are working near uman." Akhromeyev said clearly: "I believe the information they reported is accurate."


    "What''s the matter?" Seeing my serious face, chisgakov asked in a hurry, "Captain travkin, what did they find?"


    "Look I pushed the telegram on the table to chisgakov, and then said, "Captain, they found the skeletons division''s troops loading near uman. It''s estimated that they are going east."


    "To the east?" Chisgakov frowned and asked, "where are they going to drive to the east?" As soon as the words came out, he was stunned. A moment later, he suddenly exclaimed, "God, the Germans are going to drive to kilovgrad!"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." I waited for him to finish, nodded bitterly, and said, "according to my judgment, the destination of the German army is to drive near kilovgrad and launch a fierce attack on the flank of the 53rd army which is attacking Alexandria."


    "What shall we do?" Asked chisgakov nervously¡° First of all, immediately report this information to general managarov and let them take necessary precautions. " Staring at the map, I said carefully, "at the same time, we should use no less than one division to launch a surprise attack on the rear side of the skull division, disrupt their attack steps, and ensure the safety of the friendly flanks."¡° Although the "skeleton division" suffered heavy losses in the battle of Kursk, as the trump force of the German army, they must have been supplemented enough in the past two months. " "If we don''t have enough tanks, it''s almost impossible to hit them hard," chisgakov said anxiously¡° Didn''t Kravchenko leave the 20th and 22nd tank brigades behind? " "We will use these two tank brigades to carry out a surprise attack on the rear side of the" skull division ". I believe they will be severely damaged," bzikov interrupted I just wanted to say that these two tank brigades will be used in the direction of korostwev to cut off the traffic line between Kiev and Zhitomir. But on second thought, if the skull division really defeated the 53rd army, then we would have to face a strong German army, and then the whole defense deployment would be disrupted. In order to ensure the security of the defense area, the two tank brigades can only be called temporarily. Thinking of this, I immediately told bzikov: "chief of staff, you immediately call general Kravchenko and ask him to put the 20th and 22nd tank brigades under the command of the group army."¡° Yes After hearing my order, bezikov did not express any different opinions, and immediately turned to carry out the order¡° And you, comrade major. " I pointed to akhromeyev standing beside me with my hand: "you should immediately send a message to general managarov of the 53rd army, inform him of this information, and he should make the necessary defensive deployment." After the telegram to managarov was sent, it was not until an hour later that a reply was received. It says, "I see, thank you." After reading the telegram, my heart sank. My heart said that perhaps the attack of the 53rd army was too smooth, so that general managarov didn''t think much of our warning. I handed the telegram to chisgakov and bezikov, and then decisively gave the order: "let the 375TH infantry division reinforce the fortifications facing the friendly forces at night, so as to prevent the German troops who defeated the friendly forces from rushing to cherkaser along the road."

 Chapter 1282

    On hearing my order, chisgakov immediately frowned. He said with some worry: "Comrade commander, you should know that there are no decent fortifications in the defense area of the 375TH infantry division. Even if we rush to repair them overnight, I am also worried that the fortifications built in a hurry will not be able to resist the German attack?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, you are too worried." In response to chisgakov''s groundless thought, I comforted him and said: "although our scouts found that the enemy had gathered in the uman area, it would be four or five days before they moved. By then, maybe the 53rd army will have taken Alexandria


    Chisgakov looked at the map and said, "if general managarov''s troops can really take over the city, even if the German troops attack from the flank, it may not be easy to defeat them."


    After he finished, I said bitterly: "Comrade deputy commander, although I don''t know how many troops the 53rd army has replenished in more than one month, I can guess that after the capture of Alexandria, the army will certainly be unable to continue to attack because of heavy casualties. If the German army at this time, suddenly launched a counterattack against them, with their strength can stop it


    When I had finished these two sentences, I fixed my eyes on chisgakov to see his reaction. Unexpectedly, he stared at the map for a long time, then threw the question to bzikov: "chief of staff, what do you think?"


    "In my opinion, after the liberation of Alexandria, the 53rd army will continue to attack kilovgrad. Because of the heavy casualties in the battle, their remaining forces in the city must be very limited. They really can''t resist the German counterattack. " After finishing his analysis, bezikov turned to look at me and said, "Comrade commander, since we find that the German army is gathering, we can take the initiative and attack uman decisively while their gathering is still going on, so as to completely smash their counter attack plot."


    "But now we don''t have the strength and technical equipment to attack." As for bezikov''s proposal, I immediately and unambiguously rejected it: "we used three close guard divisions to attack korostev secretly, and the rest of the troops can be used for defense. If they are used for attack, it''s too far away."


    Although my opinion was rejected by me, bzikov still said reluctantly, "maybe we can take a chance. Maybe the Germans didn''t expect that we would give them such a sneak attack all of a sudden?"


    As for bezikov''s insistence, I didn''t argue with him. Instead, I pushed the map in front of him and pointed to uman''s position with a pencil: "chief of staff, uman is a big city. The German army originally has a lot of troops here. If we add a" skeleton division ", even if we are lucky, we will defeat the" skeleton division "tank troops, It''s just like hitting a stone with an egg to attack a fortified position with our existing strength. "


    After my words, the whole headquarters fell into silence. With the exception of kirilov, everyone''s eyes were fixed on the map on the table, trying to think about how to deal with the German troops in uman.


    "Comrades, can I make a suggestion?" Akhromeyev, who has never had a voice in such a meeting, suddenly asked timidly.


    It was the first time that akhromeyev broke in at such a meeting, so I said with tolerance, "please speak up, comrade major, and let us discuss your ideas."


    With my permission, akhromeyev pointed to the map and said to us, "comrades, I think the situation may be more serious than we thought. Although only the German "skeleton division" has been assembled in the uman area, I am afraid that they will quietly transfer the surplus troops from other directions in order to achieve the goal of local dominance. "


    "Well, it''s reasonable," I thought, when I heard akhromeyev say so, it''s really possible, so I urged him, "major, please go on."


    "If the enemy''s forces in uman, in addition to the original Garrison and" skeleton division ", are not too big a threat to us. But if they secretly transfer other troops into uman, the situation will be particularly serious for us. " Akhromeyev said nervously: "so, I suggest that besides the 375TH infantry division to strengthen the defense, the German army should not rush to us along the road. At the same time, we should also order the defenders in spola and smira to rush to repair the fortifications to avoid being caught off guard when they are attacked by the German army. "


    After akhromeyev finished speaking, my eyes were fixed on the map, and my mind was desperately recalling the history of the Kiev campaign, but after thinking for a long time, I didn''t come up with a reason. Later, he comforted himself, saying that perhaps the campaign was not carried out in a short time and the fighting was not fierce enough. Therefore, in the history books of the Soviet Union, this historical knowledge was only taken by one stroke.


    Although I can''t remember the specific plot of the Kiev campaign, for the sake of safety, I still agreed with akhromeyev''s opinion: "major, you will call general seleucin and lieutenant colonel Lukin later, and ask them to temporarily stop training these days and concentrate on repairing the fortifications."


    After akhromeyev communicated my order by telephone, sherekin called soon. He complained in the microphone: "Comrade commander, originally we were not sent to take part in the attack, so the mood of the whole division''s commanders and fighters was strong enough. Now you tell the troops to build fortifications in the existing defensive positions, and the emotions of the commanders and fighters are even more grumbling... "


    "Enough, Comrade Xie Liujin." Without waiting for Xie Liujin to finish speaking, I interrupted him in a loud voice and said discontentedly, "it''s not up to your soldiers to say whether it''s attack or defense; For yourself, it''s not up to you. I has the final say, I want to know that the commander of the group army is me, not you. Do you understand?


    "I see," Xie Liujin replied feebly, "since that''s the case, I''ll try my best to do ideological work for the commanders and fighters so that they can settle down."


    Xie Liujin''s phone just hung up, and Lieutenant Colonel Lu Jin''s phone also came. He complained about the same thing on the phone, so unfortunately he was scolded by me, and then he went to the army to build the fortifications honestly.


    The troops who went to attack korostwev were not found by the Germans all the way due to their hidden whereabouts. On the evening of the 18th, I received a telegram from Colonel babahin, commander of the 71st division of Jinwei. He wrote in the telegram: "our army has reached a distance of only five kilometers from korostwev. Does it need to send people to carry out reconnaissance?"


    "Is that true, comrade Colonel?" Although I heard a piece of good news, my heart was not happy at all, because babahin did not dare to make decisions without authorization when he was commanding the battle more than 100 kilometers away from me. He even had to ask me for instructions when sending scouts to detect the enemy''s movements, which made me very dissatisfied with him.


    I said to akhromeyev, "major, call back Colonel babashin. Let him immediately send his men to spy on korostwev. If the German forces are limited, then immediately launch a comprehensive attack and strive to control the transportation line between Kiev and Zhitomir in the shortest time. Do you understand? "


    "I see," akhromeyev replied decisively, "I''m going to send a telegram to him to urge him to send someone for reconnaissance as soon as possible."


    "Come on, major." I waved to akhromeyev and urged him to send him a message as soon as possible, so that he could make the right adjustment according to the enemy''s situation. Do you understand? "


    "I see." Akhromeyev replied briefly, "I''ll go and send a telegram to Colonel babahin to convey your message to him."


    After receiving the telegram, Colonel babashin immediately sent several reconnaissance teams to investigate the defense situation of korostev. When he found out that there was only one German battalion in the city, he didn''t even have time to ask for my instructions, so he decisively gave the order to the troops to attack.


    Facing the fierce attack of our army, the German army who stuck to the city of korostvev was caught off guard by us. After two hours of fierce fighting, the 71st division of the guards rushed into the city and divided the garrison into two separate areas.


    Our attack naturally alarmed the enemy in the Zhitomir region. A infantry regiment of the enemy, under the cover of the tank battalion, rushed to korostwev in an attempt to cooperate with the city''s garrison and wipe out the 71st division of our guards. But at this time, the troops of shejerikov arrived. Seeing that the situation was dangerous, the 51st division of the guards had no time to rest, so it immediately put into battle and launched an attack from the flank of the reinforcements.


    However, after the reinforcements from Zhitomir were repulsed, they stuck to the remnant of the German army in korostwevri. When they saw that the reinforcements had been repulsed, their morale was in turmoil. At this time, the troops of the 71st division of the guards increased the intensity of the attack and ate the besieged garrison bit by bit.


    At 1:00 a.m. on the 10th, the gunfire in korostwev city became sparse. Seeing that there was no hope of breaking through, some German officers and soldiers laid down their weapons and surrendered to our army.


    When I received a telegram from the front line reporting to me that korostvev was in our hands, I could not help but breathe a sigh of relief, and then ordered akhromeyev: "major, call back the two division commanders babashim and shejerikov, and let them build fortifications all night in the direction of facing Zhitomir and Kiev, so as to prevent possible German counterattack."


    When akhromeyev sent the report, chisjakov, who knew the war report, asked excitedly: "Comrade commander, I didn''t expect that our plan of sneak attack was really successful." After a short pause, he asked cautiously, "do you need to report to the front command immediately?"


    "Don''t you need to say that, comrade deputy commander!" In recent days, although the attack from the south of Kiev has never stopped, the friendly forces have not made any progress at all, except for losing their troops in front of the German fortifications. For this matter, watujing was very anxious. He would be angry with others if he was dissatisfied. Now that we have achieved such results, we should immediately report to him and make him happy¡° Such good news, of course, should be reported to general vatukin. "


    With that, I picked up the high-frequency phone that had just been installed on the desk and called vatukin. After hearing the voice of watujing, I immediately said respectfully, "Hello, senior general."


    "Oh, it''s o''shanina!" There was a lazy voice from the receiver: "you call me at this time. Is there anything important?"¡° Yes, senior general, I do have something important to report to you. " In accordance with the regulations, I said, "I have the honor to report to you that the 51st and 71st divisions of our group army, after several hours of fierce fighting, have successfully occupied korostev and destroyed the garrison in the city. At present, the commanders and fighters of the two divisions are building the necessary fortifications facing the direction of Zhitomir and Kiev respectively, so as to prevent the possible German counterattack. "¡° What? " After listening to my report, vatukin was stunned for a long time, and then asked in surprise: "o''shanina, if I hear you right, have your sneak attack troops successfully captured korostev and successfully cut off the traffic line between Kiev and Zhitomir?"¡° Yes, Comrade General. " I repeat what I have just said, adding: "the 77th division and the 21st tank brigade of the guards are still on their way to korostwev. As soon as they arrive, the troops who stick to the city will have confidence to completely cut off the links between Kiev and Zhitomir." As long as we hear the news of victory, everyone will be in a good mood, and vatujing is no exception. It turned out that he was still worried about the defeat of the army in attacking Kiev. At the moment, he was happy to hear me say that korostev had won. His voice, a little trembling with excitement, came out of the receiver: "good job, o''shanina, you are so good! Please express my gratitude to the commanders and fighters for their bravery and tenacity in the battle, which makes the deadlock near Kiev possible to be broken. I want to report this good news to Marshal Zhukov immediately Hearing the blind sound coming from the receiver, I couldn''t help laughing, shaking my head, and then put down the receiver. After restraining the smile on my face, I asked bzikov, "chief of staff, is there any news from uman today?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Bezikov got up and picked up some papers on the table by the wall, then came back and said to me, "two hours ago, we got a call from captain travkin saying that the German army in uman city had a new number. As their final reconnaissance result has not come yet, I have not reported it to you for the time being! "

 Chapter 1283

    The German troops have increased in the uman area. When I saw the report, I had a headache. In this way, the German army''s counterattack against the grassland front army in the near future was definitely not an ordinary skirmish. Maybe they wanted to drive our army across the Dnieper River again, so they would be willing to give up.


    I immediately told bzikov: "chief of staff, call captain travkin back immediately, and let him grasp the German name of uman area as soon as possible. In addition, report the situation to the headquarters of the front army. "


    "Don''t you need to inform the 53rd army?" Bezikov kindly reminded me.


    "No, no notice." Think of their good intentions to alert the friendly, but the other side responded indifferently. Fortunately, this is a unit that once fought side by side with us. If other units were replaced, it might arouse the suspicions of those commanders, thinking that I gave them such a situation in order to fight for credit with them in the future. "Since the intelligence we reported last time did not attract their necessary attention, there is no need to hit a nail in the head this time."


    "I see." Bezikov gave a wry smile, then turned and sent a message to travkin and the headquarters of the front army.


    Kirilov, who was busy, heard me, stopped his pen, looked up at me with a strange look, and then continued to write his report.


    Compared with kirilov''s indifference, chisjakov was worried. He frowned and asked me, "Comrade commander, if we don''t report this information to the friendly forces, once their flanks are attacked by the German forces and affect the whole campaign plan of the superior, I''m afraid it will cause us trouble."


    "Comrade deputy commander, you are too worried." In order not to let him continue to worry, I specially explained to him: "the task of our group army is to cover the flanks of the 53rd group army. As long as we don''t let the German army threaten their flanks, then we don''t have to bear any responsibility."


    Looking down at the map in front of him, chisgakov continued to ask, "Comrade commander, what kind of forces do you think the German army will send to fight back against the grassland front army?"


    "We can''t do without more troops." I looked at the telegram from travkin and carefully organized my own words: "I estimate that the German army will carry out a surprise attack on the front of the grassland front army at least in the scale of two or three armored divisions."


    Listening to me, chisgakov became more relaxed. He said with disapproval: "if the German forces counterattack from the front of the friendly forces, then don''t worry. You know, we have several army groups on the banks of the Dnieper River. If the German army wants to eat them, it needs to have good teeth. "


    I waited for bzikov to return from his telegram and asked him, "chief of staff, is there any new information coming back from the troops in korostevev?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, there is no news for the moment." After finishing these two sentences, bezikov suddenly said to me: "I think that now in korostwev area, there are three close guard divisions and one tank brigade. If there is no unified command, when the battle starts, the troops may go their own way, so that they can be easily defeated by the German forces. Therefore, I suggest that a commander be appointed to be responsible for the unified command of the forces in the area. "


    Bezikov''s remark reminds me that when I first sent troops to set out, I didn''t expect to appoint a special person to be responsible for unified command of these troops. At this moment, since biezikov mentioned it, I would push the boat forward and say, "among the commanders in korostwev, general Kravchenko has the highest rank and position. Let him be responsible for commanding all the troops."


    "Well, I''ll pass on your order." Seeing that my suggestion had been accepted by me, bzikov immediately went to send a telegram to Kravchenko.


    This time, without waiting for bzikov to come back, a call came from the headquarters of the front army. I was talking to Zhukov, who asked in a loud voice, "Rita, I heard that your troops have successfully occupied korostev and cut off the connection between Kiev and Zhitomir. Is that so?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." I replied positively.


    "How long are you going to stay there?" Zhukov continued.


    Hearing his question, I couldn''t help but be stunned. I don''t understand why he asked this question. However, he answered truthfully: "marshal, of course, he will stick to it until Kiev is liberated by our army."


    Zhukov sighed and said, "Rita, you have to prepare the commanders in korostwev for the crazy German counterattack."


    "Don''t worry, comrade marshal." When I heard that Zhukov was talking about this, I felt that he was making a fuss. Since I had decided to send troops to occupy korostwev, I was ready to be attacked by both sides of the enemy. Is it necessary for him to remind me¡° Our officers and men have long been ready to meet the enemy. "


    "Don''t take it lightly, Rita." Zhukov probably recognized my disapproval from my tone, so he specially emphasized: "since the liberation of bergorod, due to the limitation of the terrain, we can only besiege the city from three directions at the most, so the enemy can withdraw from the direction of no attack if they can''t support it. You cut off the German traffic line this time, which is also equivalent to cutting off the German retreat. In this way, the enemy who has cut off the retreat will become more crazy, and you will pay huge casualties. "


    Zhukov''s words startled me. In the last battle, no matter Belgorod or Kharkov, because of the dense forests and rivers around the city, we could only attack from three directions. Once the Germans could not support us, they could withdraw from the direction not controlled by our army. Now that I have occupied korostwev, I have encircled the German army in Kiev. The character of imanstein is that this situation is absolutely not allowed. He will definitely order the troops of Kiev and Zhitomir to launch a fierce attack on our troops who have controlled korostwev. In the face of such an offensive from the enemy, it''s really a big question whether Kravchenko can keep them.


    After a long silence, I said to Zhukov solemnly, "don''t worry, marshal. No matter how fierce the enemy''s attack is, our troops will firmly hold korostev. "


    "Since you have such confidence, I can rest assured."


    When I heard Zhukov about to hang up, I suddenly thought of wuman''s affair and cried out: "Comrade marshal, please wait a moment, please don''t hang up."


    "What can I do for you, Rita?" Asked Zhukov, somewhat puzzled.


    "Well, comrade marshal." I hastened to report to Zhukov the intelligence that they had detected. At the same time, I said anxiously, "marshal, please hand over this intelligence to commander konev, so that he can make preparations in advance, so as not to be caught off guard by the Germans."


    "Is it really as serious as you say?" Zhukov said suspiciously: "we now have five front armies along the Dnieper River, with a total force of more than two million. I think as long as Manstein is not a fool, he will never launch any suicide counterattack against our army, which is several times more powerful than him."


    "But, marshal..." seeing that Zhukov didn''t believe what I said, I didn''t want to persuade him again, but he interrupted me: "well, Rita, you don''t have to say anything. I don''t think it''s realistic for the German army to launch a counterattack before our strong offensive. You don''t have to worry about this. I''ll tell konev myself. " With that, he hung up without waiting for me to speak.


    I can''t help laughing bitterly when I listen to the blind sound coming from the microphone. When I put down the phone, chisgakov asked curiously, "Comrade commander, what''s the situation? What did the commander think of the increase in the number of uman German troops? "


    I shrugged my shoulders, spread my hands, and said with some helplessness, "Marshal comrades do not believe that the enemy in wuman will have the courage to attack the defensive area of the grassland front army."


    After I finished, chisgakov said cautiously: "Comrade commander, I''ll say something I shouldn''t say. Please don''t be angry. Maybe you think too much this time. The total strength of our five front forces is seven or eight times more than that of the German forces. Under such circumstances, what Manstein has to consider is how to block our attack, instead of withdrawing troops from the already stretched forces to carry out a counterattack that has no chance of winning at all. "


    Although I can''t remember exactly what this period of history was like, it is an indisputable fact that Kiev was liberated in early November. If all the five front armies are going well, why have they fought with the Germans for more than half a month? It must have suffered a great loss from the German army, which affected the process of the liberation of Kiev.


    Although I made such a judgment, I didn''t tell anyone. Instead, I personally called Lu Jin and Xie Liujin to ask them about the construction of the fortifications there.


    Xie Liujin told me on the phone: "Comrade commander, you can rest assured that my troops have built two lines of defense relying on forests and swamps, and laid minefields in front of the positions. If the Germans don''t come, they will be punished as long as they come. "


    Lu Jin''s reply was more cautious: "Comrade commander, we can''t build solid fortifications in such a short period of time because we are in a hurry. It may be no problem to block the Germans for a day or two, but if the time is too long, I''m not sure. "


    I know what Lukin said is a fact. If we want to block the attack of German armored forces in such open terrain, the casualties of the troops will be very heavy. In order to enhance his confidence, I specially stressed: "don''t worry, comrade commander, I have not only arranged the 22nd brigade of the close guard tank behind you in this battle, but also two artillery regiments. They can block and shoot the enemy when the enemy attacks your position."


    When Lu Jin heard what I said, he immediately felt at ease. He sighed for a long time and said, "Comrade commander, if that''s the case, then there will be no problem for us to hold the position."


    In the next two days, the troops who held fast in korostwev were attacked by both sides of the German army. Krasovsky sent me a telegram saying that the German armored forces from Zhitomir had broken through the defense line of the 51st division of the guards, rushed into the city, and were engaged in fierce street fighting.


    Seeing the telegram, the people in the headquarters were shocked. In particular, chisgakov said nervously: "Comrade commander, whether korostvev can hold on or not is related to the success or failure of the whole Kiev campaign. I suggest that troops be immediately deployed to reinforce."


    "Reinforcements?" When I heard what chisgakov said, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. Then I asked, "Comrade deputy commander, where are we going to reinforce?"¡° But we still have a few close guard divisions and two tank brigades in our hands. " It is estimated that this plan has been brewing in chisgakov''s mind for a long time, so when he heard my question, he replied without hesitation: "we can take out two more close guard divisions and a tank brigade to reinforce korostwev."¡° Comrade deputy commander, once our troops are transferred northward, our defense area will become empty. " I flatly refuted him and said, "if the enemy launches a counterattack against the friendly forces from uman at this time, then what strength do we have to protect their flanks?"¡° As early as a few days ago, you have been emphasizing that the German army of uman will launch a counterattack against the grassland front army. " After I finished, chisgakov said unconvinced, "but what''s the actual situation like this? After the successful liberation of Alexandria, the 53rd army is now besieging kilovgrad. If there is no accident, the city will be liberated from the German hands in two or three days at most. "¡° Comrade deputy commander, however, the German forces in Wurman have been increasing their forces all the time Bezikov reminded him carefully: "I think that since the Germans have assembled so many troops, they will certainly make some moves somewhere. According to the information gathered by various parties, the 53rd army is most likely to be attacked. " Hearing that bezikov was also questioning himself, chisjakov was not happy. He raised his voice and said, "Comrade chief of staff, the Germans have assembled a large number of troops in uman. I think they are not for attack, but for defense. Think about how many troops we have gathered in front of them. If they don''t gather heavy troops in such an important city as uman, our troops will be able to seize the city from them in a few days. " In the face of the dispute between chisjakov and bezikov, I kept silent and thought to myself, "am I really wrong? Is it true that, as chisjakov said, the German forces assembled in uman not for counterattack, but for defense against our attack? "

 Chapter 1284

    Before I could think of a reason, Kravchenko''s telegram came again.


    After reading the telegram, chisgakov was in a hurry. He came up to me, put the telegram forward, and said, "comrades commander, the situation of korostwev is very bad at present. The German army is not willing to cut off their traffic line by us. They used the forces of two armored divisions to attack the city from both East and west sides at the same time. So far, the enemy in the West has broken through the line of the 51st division and rushed into the city; The German forces from Kiev have broken through the two lines of defense of the 71st division of the guards and approached the city from the East. "


    I picked up the telegram, quickly read the above content, looked up at chisjakov, and asked slowly, "Comrade deputy commander, if you were allowed to make a decision, what would you do?"


    After hearing my question, chisgakov hesitated for a moment, and then replied unambiguously: "whether we can hold korostrov is the key to whether we can cut off the Kiev Zhitomir traffic line. If I were to make a decision, I would immediately pull out two divisions and a tank brigade from the defense area to reinforce them. "


    "If we take away two divisions now, won''t our defense line become empty?" When I heard that chisgakov suggested that troops should be sent to support korostev, I said with some displeasure, "when the enemy attacks the flanks of the grassland front army, we will not have enough strength to support them."


    Seeing that I was still adamant, and knowing that I would still insist on my own opinion after persuasion, chisgakov said to kirilov, "Comrade military commissar, you see, the German army is attacking korostvev. Our defenders in this area are in danger. If we don''t send troops to support them, they will be completely annihilated by the German army tomorrow."


    Perhaps kirilov was a little worried when he heard that the troops would be completely annihilated by the German army. He looked at me and asked tentatively, "Rita, since korostrev is the key to cut off the German traffic line, we should think of all ways to keep there. Since the situation there is dangerous, I suggest that two divisions be drawn from the troops in the defence area to support them. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." As soon as kirilov finished speaking, chisjakov immediately added: "I don''t think you need to worry about the German troops deployed in uman. These troops should only prevent us from attacking the city. They will not take the initiative to attack our troops. As for whether the enemy will launch an attack on our defense area after the troops have been dispatched, I think you need not worry more. There are so many forests, swamps and rivers to the west of our defense area that the enemy''s large forces are unable to launch. Our forces are fully capable of blocking and pulverizing their attacks. "


    These words of chisgakov almost made me decide to deploy troops to reinforce korostov on the spur of the moment. After repeated thinking, I said firmly, "no, No. If we are not afraid of 10000, we are afraid of just in case. If our defense forces become weak, once the German forces launch an attack from uman, the momentum of this attack will be irresistible. If we are broken through by the German forces because of our weak strength, not only the flanks of the 53rd group army are in danger, but also the flanks and rear areas of several group armies attacking Kiev from the south at the moment will be seriously threatened. "


    "But, comrade commander, we can''t just watch the troops in korostwev being eaten up by the German army, can we?" Seeing that my oil and salt didn''t go in, chisjakov said angrily, "in the future, when the higher authorities investigate, who will take the responsibility?"


    Facing the Furious chisgakov, I tried to keep calm and said: "Comrade deputy commander, I am the commander of the group army. If the troops in korostwev area are annihilated by the German army because I refuse to send reinforcements, if the superior wants to investigate, I will bear all the responsibilities."


    My tone of voice is very calm, but my meaning is very firm. Now the troops in the defense area can never be mobilized. However, thinking of the telegram sent by Kravchenko, I still told bzikov: "chief of staff, please send a telegram to general Kravchenko, so that when he resists the German attack, he should pay attention to reasonable distribution of forces and not engage in passive defense. Even after dark, don''t stop fighting. In the daytime, the enemy will attack and defend us. In the night, we will attack and defend us. We must disrupt the enemy''s offensive steps. "


    As soon as bzikov had sent a telegram to Kravchenko, he received a telegram from the headquarters of the front army. After reading the telegram, he raised his head high and said to us in a loud voice, "commander, deputy commander, telegram from the headquarters of the front army."


    Seeing his cheerful appearance, I knew there must be something good, so I asked with a smile, "chief of staff, you look very happy. Do you have any good news?"


    Bezikov quickly walked to the table and said excitedly: "the headquarters of the front army has transmitted the latest order of the supreme headquarters: from now on, the central front army of general rokosovsky will be renamed the first front army of Belarus; Our Voronezh front army was renamed the first front army of Ukraine; The grassland front army of Marshal konev was renamed the second front army of Ukraine; Malinowski''s southwest front army was renamed the third front army of Ukraine; The southern front army of general torbhuin was renamed the Fourth Front Army of Ukraine. "


    It''s common for me to keep the original command system while changing the number of troops, but chisjakov and kirilov are excited. As soon as they had finished speaking, they snatched the telegram, huddled their heads together and read the contents over and over again.


    While several people''s attention was attracted by the good news, I waved to akhromeyev, called him to the front and asked, "major, what happened to our army''s attack from the south of Kiev?"


    On hearing my question, akhromeyev shook his head and said with some regret: "Comrade commander, the situation may disappoint you. Although the 27th and 40th group armies continue to launch fierce attacks against the enemy, they only reach the city of obukeshiv as far as they can. Before they have a firm foothold, they are repulsed by the German army."


    "It''s terrible, comrade major." I sighed and said, "the terrain in the south is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is impossible to break through the German defense system in two or three months."


    "But, comrade commander." "A few months ago, we captured Kiev easily with only one army, but now several group armies are crowded here, with the support of aircraft, tanks and artillery, launching attacks on the enemy''s defensive positions again and again, but they have not succeeded. What''s the matter?"


    Looking at akhromeyev, the commander who had been in Kiev with me, I smile and then say: "when we attacked Kiev last time, the main force of the German army was still on the other side of the Dnieper River, confronting our two front forces. Kiev was almost a lonely city. In addition, our offensive troops were disguised as German troops, which caught the enemy by surprise and forced them to give up the city. But now, the Germans have been prepared for a long time. It is almost impossible to imagine seizing cities as easily as last time. " After a pause, I asked, "do you know what kind of forces the German army has deployed to the south of Kiev?"


    Akhromeyev took out his notebook, looked at it, and replied, "according to the information we have, the 48th armored army is holding fast to the south of Kiev. The enemy is using the 72nd infantry division, the 112th infantry division, and the 255th infantry division to fight our attack on the front line. At the same time, they are also using the 11th armored division, the 19th armored division, and the 20th armored infantry division, Counter attack our army from the front. "


    "After fighting for such a long time, our army certainly paid huge casualties. What about the enemy?" I waited for him to finish, then asked: "I guess their casualties must be not small."


    Akhromeyev didn''t look at his notebook this time, so he answered my question directly: "yes, comrade commander, the 48th armored army of the German army consumed a lot in the battle, so the Germans transferred the imperial armored division from other places to strengthen their defense forces."


    Although I knew that I could not get more detailed information from akhromeyev, I tentatively asked, "which two armored divisions of the German army do you think are attacking korostvev?"


    He thought for a moment, then shook his head. As I expected, he replied, "I''m sorry, comrade commander, we haven''t got any more valuable information from the friendly forces yet."


    As Kravchenko could not get any additional troops from me, he could only use his existing forces to carry out tenacious defense in korostwev area to ensure that the city would not fall into the hands of the Germans again. After a day and night of fierce fighting, the 51st division and the 77th division finally eliminated all the German troops in the city.


    We have eliminated the enemy in the West and consolidated our defence. Kravchenko also commanded the new guard tank 21st brigade, so that they launched a counterattack against the German troops from the East. Although the number of tanks in our army is absolutely inferior to that of the German army, the good character of tanks makes up for this deficiency.


    After more than an hour of fierce fighting, the German army dropped more than 40 damaged tanks in front of our position, and then retreated to their starting point.


    Seeing such war reports, chisgakov was relieved at last. He looked at me and said with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, the movement of the 77th division and the tank brigade of the close guard is too slow. They are two days behind the troops in front of them. If they can arrive earlier, the situation of korostwev may be better than it is now."


    "Now we have three more close guard divisions and a tank brigade in korostwev. With their strength, even under the double attack of the German army, we should be able to hold the city." As soon as he finished, I immediately added: "our attention should be focused on the Wurman area. After all, several German divisions are assembled here, so we should not take it lightly."


    Perhaps it was because of seeing the korostwev region turn the corner, chisgakov was in a good mood and unexpectedly did not compete with me on the uman issue. He even called ahlomeyev over and asked with a smile, "major, does captain travkin have the latest intelligence?"


    "No, comrade deputy commander." Akhromeyev politely replied, "I haven''t received a telegram from the captain today, but in his intelligence two days ago, he said that he saw a large number of tanks coming to the railway station outside uman city."


    "What, a lot of tanks coming?" These words of akhromeyev immediately made chisjakov nervous. He immediately asked, "Captain, have they found out how many tanks the enemy has and in what direction are they deployed?"¡° In addition to the skull division, it seems that there is a new tank division, but the number of the unit has not been made clear Akhromeyev clearly reported: "the captain said that he would seize the time to find out the enemy''s number in the next two days."¡° Major akhromeyev, please come here As soon as akhromeyev''s report was over, lophov, who was sitting in the corner, turned and called to him, "it seems that the telegram from captain travkin has arrived."¡° OK, I''ll come right away! " As he spoke, akhromeyev walked quickly over. After a minute or two, akhromeyev came back with the telegram. Seeing the serious look on his face, I knew something must have happened. I asked in a hurry, "major, what''s in captain trafkin''s report?"¡° Comrades commander, the captain reported that the German forces in the uman region had begun operations. " Akhromeyev then handed the telegram in his hand: "you see, the German armored forces are driving along the road towards kilovgrad." After reading the contents quickly, I thrust the telegram into chisgakov''s hand, walked quickly back to the table and looked down at the map lying on it. It''s only more than 70 kilometers from uman to kilovgrad. If there is no accident, the German vanguard can resist kilovgrad in two hours at most. After reading the map, I raised my head and said to akhromeyev, "major, go and send a message to captain travkin so that he can find out the number of this armored force as soon as possible."¡° All right Akhromeyev, who received the order, turned around and ran to lophov, urging him to send a telegram to travkin in order to find out the number of the German army as soon as possible. While akhromeyev was going to send the news, I told bzikov: "chief of staff, this situation is very important. You should report it to general vatukin immediately and ask him to pass it on to general konev."¡° Comrade commander, time is pressing now. If the intelligence is relayed through the headquarters of the front army, time will be wasted. " After hearing my order, chisgakov stopped bzikov, who was preparing to make a phone call, and mildly said to us, "why don''t we call the 53rd army directly to make them ready for battle ahead of time."¡° It''s no use, comrade deputy commander. " I waved to bzikov to call the headquarters of the front army and said to chisgakov, "maybe it''s a series of victories that have made some commanders of the friendly forces confused, so even if they get such a situation, they won''t be taken seriously. If we turn this situation around through the headquarters of the front army, they will pay more attention to it. "

 Chapter 1285

    After bezikov left, I looked at the map and asked, "which division can fight immediately, except the 89th division of the guards and the 375TH division of the infantry?"


    "In addition to the two divisions you mentioned," said chisjakov as soon as I finished, "we can use the 52nd, 67th and 90th divisions of the guards, plus two tank brigades and several artillery regiments." After introducing the situation, he looked at me and asked, "Comrade commander, do you need to send a combat alert to these troops?"


    After looking at the positions of the divisions for a while, I said to chisgakov, "let the 90th division of general Chernoff''s guards be ready to fight. When the enemy attacks the flanks of the 53rd army, they will fight again."


    "Comrade commander, actually we can do better." Seeing that I only ordered a guard division to be ready for battle, chisgakov said anxiously, "we can catch up with the enemy, build defensive positions on the road, and block the German armored forces heading for kilovgrad."


    "Use the guard infantry division to block the German Panzer Division in the open." As for this proposal, I immediately denied it without hesitation: "that would be a one-sided massacre. As the commander of the group army, I can''t let my soldiers die in vain."


    "In order to win the battle, the necessary sacrifice is inevitable." Chisgakov earnestly advised me: "if we put our troops into the barrage, we can buy enough time for the friendly forces to build a defense..."


    "Well, comrade deputy commander, you don''t have to say it." Although I understand that chisjakov''s consideration is for the overall interests, I am not willing to accept his proposal. If my troops are maimed in the process of blocking the German army, then in the next series of battles, our group army may change from the main force to the reserve force. Such a stupid thing can''t be done. Therefore, I firmly said: "in addition to the task of covering the flank of the 53rd group army, we also have the responsibility of covering the attack on the rear side of the Kiev forces. If our troops were to go out now and block the German Panzer on the open plain. If the troops could not resist the German counterattack because of the heavy losses, and let them reoccupy cherkaser, then the troops attacking Kiev would suffer from the enemy from both sides. Perhaps in the end, they would have to retreat to the other side of the Dnieper River. "


    After listening to what I said, kisjakov stopped talking and just stared at the map in front of him. After a while, he asked reluctantly, "can we just watch the German attack the friendly forces and stand by?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, we are not standing idly by." In order to untie his heart knot, I explained to him: "you should know that general konev''s Ukrainian second front army has not only the 53rd group army, but also the 5th group army of close guard tanks, the 5th group army of close guard tanks, the 7th group army of close guard tanks, the 37th group army, the 57th group army and two independent mechanized forces. In addition, as far as I know, the Supreme Command transferred one mechanized army and four infantry divisions of general Malinowski, and the 20th tank army of general torbusin to konev''s front army. They have such a strong force, do you still worry that you can''t stop the German attack? "


    Some of the data I have mentioned come from the superior''s reports, while others are simply the information I have seen in later generations. After listening to me, chisgakov opened his mouth and said in surprise, "ah, general konev''s Grassland front army has so many troops now?"


    "That''s right." I nodded and said, "so even if the German army pours on kilovgrad, with the existing strength of the friendly forces, it should be able to stop them temporarily. When the German attack is weak, we will rush out of their side and beat them to pieces


    Bezikov went back to the table and said in a steady tone, "Comrade commander, the telegram to the headquarters of the front army has been sent out. I believe they will soon be able to transfer this information to the friendly forces."


    After listening, I nodded, and then asked akhromeyev, who was standing next to lophov in a loud voice, "major, is there anything new about travkin?"


    Akhromeyev shook his head and replied, "no, comrade commander, we haven''t received the latest information from the reconnaissance team yet."


    I didn''t wait for Tarasov''s latest information, but I waited for vatukin''s call first. He asked in a loud voice on the phone, "Comrade oshanina, I saw your telegrams. Are they all true? The German Panzer Division is on its way from uman to kilovgrad


    "Yes, Comrade General." I replied positively, "this is the information from my deputy battalion commander of reconnaissance battalion, Tel avin. They are trying to figure out the number of the German army."


    "Since that is the case, I will inform konev of this situation after they have found out the number of the German army." "He can''t believe such a short piece of information even if he''s told it," watujing said impatiently


    "Comrade General," I was immediately worried when I heard that watujing said this in such a tone of disapproval, "the enemy has now dispatched from uman, and it will be on the flank of the 53rd army in two hours at most. If you don''t inform general konev of this information in time, they may be caught off guard by the Germans. "


    "But we can''t judge the target of the enemy''s action until we know the number of the enemy." "Maybe the enemy is not going to fight back, but just to reinforce the garrison of kilovgrad," said vatujing with some helplessness. If we inform konev of the wrong information and let him make a wrong judgment, the next battle will be very unfavorable. "


    When I heard these words, I suddenly felt that I was a little nosy. But now that I was in a dilemma, I had to say, "Comrade General, although I don''t know the number of the German troops going to kilovgrad at the moment, please believe my judgment, they are not going to reinforce the garrison in kilovgrad, It''s about attacking the flanks of friendly forces. "


    "Well, well, I see." As soon as I finished speaking, I immediately said, "I will report this information to konev immediately, so that they can prepare for the necessary battle."


    After I put down the phone, I immediately told akhromeyev: "major, send a telegram to travkin again, so that he can find out the enemy''s number in the shortest time."


    Hearing such an order from me, several commanders sitting at the table looked at me with strange eyes. Kirilov couldn''t help asking, "Rita, what''s the matter? You look worried."


    "Comrades of the Military Commission." I looked at kirilov and said, "don''t worry now. The enemy is rushing from uman to the flank of the friendly forces in kilovgrad, but the general thinks that the enemy is only going to reinforce, not to fight back. So far, he has not informed general konev. "


    "Ah, how could that be?" Kirilov was surprised at what I said. He stood up, walked back and forth in the room two times, then stopped and suggested to me, "Rita, I think you have a good relationship with general managarov. It''s better for you to inform him of this in person."


    "No, comrade military Commissar." I said to kirilov with a bitter smile, "if I could, I would have informed general managarov. Don''t you forget that a few days ago, I informed him of a similar situation, but he was very indifferent. Now is the critical moment for the attack on kilovgrad. His character will definitely not agree to let him stop the attack and deploy his forces in the direction where the German army may appear. "


    "But now that we know that the Germans are rushing to the friendly forces, we have to find a way to remind them." Kirilov said anxiously: "all of you here should know what our troops are like. Some troops are doing well in a tailwind battle, but if they are to be caught off guard by the German army, the defense line is likely to collapse. Moreover, the proportion of recruits in today''s troops is too high. "


    "What we can do now is to order the troops in the defense area to be ready for battle." I have no choice but to say: "when the German and friendly forces begin to fight, we choose the right time to launch an attack from the enemy''s side and rear, strive to smash their attack, and let the situation develop in the direction beneficial to us."


    More than an hour later, we finally got a telegram from travkin. Seeing akhromeyev coming in a hurry, instead of receiving the telegram in his hand, I told him, "major, read the intelligence of the reconnaissance unit to you."


    Akhromeyev nodded and then began to read from the telegram: "we captured a German staff officer who sent a message through our efforts. After interrogation, we learned that the number of the armored division going to kilovgrad was the 11th armored division, followed by the 16th armored infantry division and the skeleton Division..."


    After akhromeyev finished reading the telegram, I observed everyone''s expression on purpose and found that whether it was chisjakov, kirilov or bezikov, they were all stunned. I coughed gently. After everyone''s eyes focused on me, I asked faintly, "we all know the situation. Let''s talk about it. What should we do next?"


    "Comrades commander," said bezikov at first, somewhat flustered, "the German army now has two armored divisions and one armored infantry division, charging down the road to kilovgrad. Let alone the fact that the 53rd army is not prepared at all, even if they are allowed to build solid defensive positions, it is uncertain whether they will be able to hold on to the impact of these German divisions. "


    "Yes, chief of staff, you are quite right." I supported bezikov''s statement in time: "the German army has rushed to kilovgrad with such a force. The fate of the 53rd army is almost doomed. It is inevitable that it will be defeated. It depends on their support for a few days under the fierce attack of the enemy."


    "What about us, comrade commander?" "Should we attack the 53rd army from their flanks at the same time as the German forces attack the 53rd army, so as to relieve general managarov''s pressure on them?" he interrupted


    "Comrade deputy commander, have you ever seen a drowning man?" After I asked this question, without waiting for him to answer, I said to myself, "the 53rd army is now a drowning man. If we do not rescue them properly, we will not only fail to get rid of their encirclement, but also take ourselves in. The losses of our group army are serious and small. Once the flank and rear of the troops attacking Kiev are exposed to the enemy, this is a great event. "


    "What shall we do?" Although chisgakov didn''t fight me any more, he still asked reluctantly, "do we really watch the friendly army defeated by the German army?"¡° Chief of staff, "I didn''t take what chisgakov said, but turned around and told bzikov:" give general Chernoff an order, let his troops immediately enter the defensive position, make all combat preparations, and resolutely block the German from the direction of kilovgrad. At the same time, the 52nd and 67th divisions of the guards should be given a combat alert to make them ready for the second level combat and ready to enter the battlefield at any time. " As soon as my series of orders were issued, something happened again on korostwev''s side. This time Kravchenko didn''t know where he got a communication line, but he called my headquarters directly. His anxious voice came from the receiver: "Comrade commander, the German army, who was unwilling to lose, has launched another fierce attack on our city after being repulsed by us. We are short of artillery support, so the casualties of the troops are very large. I beg you to send me another division, so I can have a greater grasp of the city. "¡° Comrade general, I''m going to have a fierce battle with the main force of the German army. I can''t spare any troops to support you. " In order to let him have a clear idea, I also briefly introduced the situation here to him, and finally stressed: "Comrade General, please tell the commanders and fighters that since we have occupied korostwev, we must never hand over the city, tell them not to panic, not to be afraid of shameless enemies, and keep the confidence of winning. Many of them made great contributions to the liberation of Belgorod and Kharkov. Now it''s time for them to make contributions again. I hope they will continue to fight bravely against the German invaders who are armed to the teeth... "After listening to my words, Kravchenko immediately replied with high morale:" Comrade commander, I understand everything. I will certainly convey your words to the soldiers. You can rest assured that we will try our best to keep the city and never let the enemy take it back. "

 Chapter 1286

    The German forces from uman moved quickly and launched an attack on the flank of the 53rd group army, which was besieging kilovgrad at about two o''clock in the afternoon. In order to quickly break through the fortifications hastily built by the 53rd army, the German army sent out bombers to carry out heavy bombing.


    Chisgakov and I were standing outside the headquarters, listening to the roar from the South and looking at the gray smoke that we could see clearly without a telescope. Chisgakov asked me anxiously, "Comrade commander, the German offensive is very fierce. If we play like this, the 53rd army will be defeated in an hour or two at most. "


    I turned my head and looked at chisgakov standing next to him. He didn''t speak. In my heart, I scolded managarov. He didn''t pay attention to the information I provided him. He deserved that his troops were defeated by the German army. However, if you think about these things in your mind, if you say them, you will cause great trouble. I coughed gently and said insincerely, "don''t worry, comrade deputy commander. General konev''s main force almost crossed the Dnieper River. I believe he will immediately send troops to support the 53rd army when he sees danger."


    "The 90th division of our close guard, if we attack at this time, will certainly be able to repel the enemy." Chisgakov didn''t catch what I said. He said to himself, "although our troops may pay a lot of casualties, they can buy time for the 53rd army to build positions."


    I snorted softly. As soon as I wanted to express my opinion, I saw akhromeyev running out of the headquarters in a hurry. Looking at him, I thought there was something urgent. I quickly swallowed what I wanted to say. Then I asked akhromeyev, "major, what''s the matter?"


    Akhromeyev came to me and said hastily, "Comrade commander, the chief of staff asked me to inform you that the headquarters of the front army has called. It''s the commander himself. He wants to speak to you in person."


    "I see. I''ll go right away." I followed akhromeyev for a few steps towards the headquarters, then stopped, turned to look at chisjakov, and said somewhat impolitely, "Comrade deputy commander, I remind you that you are the deputy commander of the sixth group army, not the deputy commander of the 53rd group army." With that, I didn''t pay any attention to chisgakov, who was standing in a daze, and walked into the headquarters without looking back.


    I took the microphone from bezikov''s hand, and immediately I heard vatukin''s voice coming out: "Comrade oshanina, the German army really launched an attack on the 53rd army. In addition to tank raids, a large number of bombers were used to bombard their positions. Under such circumstances, what actions can your group army take to prevent the 53rd group army from being defeated? "


    "There must be ways, senior general. As long as we attack from the flank of the German army now, we can stop them from attacking the 53rd army. However, "in order to prevent vatukin from impulsively giving us the order of counterattack and putting my group army into a hopeless situation, I told him what I thought:" at present, only the 11th armored division of the German army is attacking the position of the 53rd group army, and there are the 16th Armored Infantry Division and the skeleton division behind. If I put my troops into battle now, the battle will be stuck. When the German successors arrive, our group army will also face the fate of being defeated. "


    After listening to my statement, watukin asked with dissatisfaction, "Comrade oshanina, if I didn''t understand it wrong, you don''t plan to send troops to the 53rd group army to clear the siege?"


    "Comrade General, it''s not that I don''t send troops to support the friendly forces, but that it''s not time to send troops."


    "Tell me, when is the best time to send troops?"


    "I think we should at least wait for the German successor troops to join in the battle and be weakened to a certain extent before putting them into the battle." I was deeply afraid that vatukin would deny his proposal and hastily added: "by that time, our group army will launch an attack from the rear side of the German army and we can easily defeat them. Now, if you rush into battle, there is little chance of winning. Even if we barely win, it will be a tragic victory. It is estimated that our army has lost the ability to continue fighting. "


    After I had said this, I held my breath and waited anxiously for watujing''s reply. Vatukin was silent for a long time, and then said slowly, "Comrade oshanina, I can''t do this. I need to ask Marshal Zhukov for instructions." Then he hung up.


    Bzikov saw me put down the phone without expression and asked, "what does commander watujing say? Do you want us to attack now?"


    I looked at bezikov, shook my head, and then replied, "the general said that he can''t be the master. He needs to ask Marshal Zhukov for instructions and then reply to me."


    "Rita," kirilov stood up from his position, walked up to me, and asked with concern, "what do you think Marshal will say to commander vatukin?"


    Instead of answering his question immediately, I sat down at the table, tapping my fingers gently on the table, thinking about how Zhukov would reply to vatukin. Although he agreed with the possibility of my proposal, he did not rule out sacrificing our group army for the sake of the overall situation.


    "Rita, Rita." Seeing that I was not speaking, kirilov called me twice again. Seeing that I looked at me blankly, he said a little displeased, "what are you thinking? I called you for a long time, and you didn''t answer me. "


    I gave kirilov an apologetic smile and said, "Comrade military commissar, I''m thinking about how Marshal Zhukov will use our troops."


    What I said immediately aroused everyone''s interest. Chisjakov, who just came in from the outside, did not blame me for what I had just said to him. Instead, he asked curiously, "Comrade commander, tell me how Comrade Marshal will use our army."


    I laughed apologetically at chisgakov, and then said to everyone, "I think there are two situations: first, I agree to my proposal that we should hold our ground for a while, and when the German offensive momentum weakens, we should order us to attack from the rear and side of the German army and inflict heavy damage on them; The second is to order us to immediately counter attack the German forces, to confine them to this area, and to give the enemy a false impression that the attack on Kiev from the South will continue. In order to consolidate the rear, we have to counter attack them. "


    After hearing what I said, chisgakov looked at me for a long time, then said blankly, "Comrade commander, please forgive me, I didn''t understand you. Why should we let the Germans think that our army will continue to attack from the south of Kiev? Haven''t we been attacking the south of Kiev all the time? "


    "Our attack from the south of Kiev has been going on for a week. Although the 27th and 40th army groups, which are the main attack forces, have made great sacrifices, little progress has been made. " In telling the contents from the history books, in order to avoid arousing their suspicion, I deliberately pretended that I was based on intelligence analysis. "If I didn''t make a mistake in analysis, Marshal Zhukov might transfer the main attack forces from the south of Kiev to the north. In order to prevent the enemy from noticing such a move, some deceptive actions must be carried out. For example, one of the means is to let our group army carry out a counterattack against the German army. When the German forces see our counterattack, they will think that we have to take risks in order to cover the rear of the attacking troops. In this way, they will take it lightly and ignore our action of quietly mobilizing troops. "


    After my explanation, the room fell into silence again. After a long time, bezikov broke the silence in the room: "Comrade commander, if the second situation really happens, do you think the organizational structure of our group army will remain intact after the end of the battle?"


    "Chief of staff, if we really want to be bait, to hold the main force of the German army, and want to maintain the integrity of the organizational system, it is possible." I said helplessly: "according to my estimation, the casualties of the whole army group should be at least more than half."


    "What, more than half?" Hearing this, chisjakov jumped up from his seat and said in surprise, "if we lose more than half of our staff, it means that the whole army has lost its fighting capacity. In this way, we will not be able to take part in any fighting for at least three months. "


    Not only chisgakov was worried, but kirilov also said helplessly: "if Marshal Zhukov wants us to attack the German army immediately, there''s no way. We have to leave it to fate."


    A few of us sat around the table, staring at the phone on the table, waiting for a call from our superiors. After waiting for a while, the phone on the desk suddenly rang. We looked at each other and wanted each other to answer the phone. Finally, bezikov stood up and picked up the receiver. After listening for a moment, he raised his voice and said, "Comrade division commander, before receiving orders from the higher authorities, you should stay in the defensive position honestly and never act rashly."


    After he put down the phone, he laughed at us, and then said: "the phone call is from commander Chernoff of the 90th division of the guards. He can clearly see the German tanks from the observation post, guiding the infantry to attack the defensive positions of the 53rd army. He wanted to ask, "when can they attack?"


    If before I made an analysis, it was estimated that chisjakov would definitely suggest that I send the 90th close guard division to attack, but now he looked at bezikov and said in a low voice, "if you attack the armored division with infantry, isn''t that death?"


    As soon as he had finished, the telephone on the desk rang again. Bizikov grabbed the earphone and stuck it to his ear. He asked impatiently, "what''s the matter, sir?" Ah?! Hello, marshal! Just a moment, please. I''ll put her on the phone right away


    Bezikov handed me the receiver and told me, "it''s Marshal Zhukov''s phone!"


    "Hello, comrade marshal." I politely asked in front of the microphone, "I''m o''shanina. What instructions do you have?"


    "Rita, you''re playing a lot in the south." Zhukov said lightly.


    "Yes, comrade marshal, the defensive positions of the 53rd group army are being attacked by the German army."


    After listening to my reply, Zhukov asked impolitely, "how do you think about it? Do you still let your troops stand still and watch the friendly army be defeated by the German army?"


    I guess Zhukov must have called me because vatukin reported my proposal to him. I don''t know what he''s going to do next, so I don''t know how to answer for a moment¡° Rita, why don''t you talk? " Zhukov saw that I didn''t reply to him. He couldn''t help raising his voice: "are you deaf?"¡° "Marshal," I quickly replied, "I think that under the present circumstances, my troops should hold still for the time being. When the German offensive momentum weakens, we will surprise ourselves to launch a counterattack. If we attack rashly now, it will not only be difficult to repel the German attack, on the contrary, it will attract them to our defense area, which will have a negative impact on your next plan. " When Zhukov heard me say this, he could not help but be happy: "tell me, what will German attack your defense area affect my plan? If you can convince me, I''ll agree with you to hold on. If you don''t, attack me all the way to the flank of the German army. "¡° Marshal, I know that according to your thinking, if you want to win Kiev, launching an attack from the north is the best course of action. But for various reasons, the attack on Kiev is still in the south. " In order not to let my troops become the bait to attract the German army, I tried hard to persuade Zhukov: "although our army launched one fierce attack after another from the south of Kiev these days, it did not achieve the desired effect. I dare to speculate that you may quietly transfer the offensive troops from the south to the north. In order to prevent the Germans from discovering your intention, you may cheat the enemy and make them think that our main attack direction is still south of Kiev. " Zhukov did not deny my conjecture, but he continued to ask, "even if I have such an idea, what does it have to do with whether you are fighting back against the German army?"¡° It''s very simple, because we''ve deployed half of our troops to occupy korostwev. If we really attract the attention of the German army, I''m afraid that our existing forces will not be able to stop their fierce attack. Once they break into our sector, they will find that the number of troops attacking Kiev from the South has decreased. In this case, your intention to transfer troops to the north will be discovered by the German army. In the next attack on Kiev, there will be many unknowable variables... "Zhukov patiently listened to my words. After a while of silence, he finally said," well, Rita, I think your reason has convinced me, so you will stay still for the time being, Wait for the right time to fight back against the German army. "

 Chapter 1287

    Before he hung up, Zhukov suddenly asked, "Rita, there is something I hope you can answer me truthfully. I''m about to transfer troops to the north. Did you hear something or did you analyze it yourself? "


    When I heard Zhukov''s question, I felt like I was caught by the teacher doing my homework and peeking at the answers behind the reference books. As for the fact that he was going to move his troops to the north, I certainly would not tell him that I learned it from later history books. After a long time, I finally brazenly said, "Comrade marshal, of course, I analyzed it according to your fighting style."


    "Your judgment is accurate." When Zhukov finished, he hung up.


    I put down the phone and raised my hand to wipe the sweat off my forehead. At that moment, I saw a serious looking akhromeyev with a telegram, went straight to kirilov and handed it to him.


    Kirilov received the telegram with a blank face, and with a few glances his brow wrinkled. After reading the telegram, he slapped the table. Then he stood up and handed it to me. He said, "Rita, look at the telegram from general trakov."


    A telegram from general trakov? When I heard him say this, I was stunned and said that there was a Ukraine between us and trakov''s troops. "I see, comrade commander." Hearing that I was going to withdraw his rank, Chernoff was a little nervous. He quickly assured me, "I will do everything possible to hold the position."


    After I finished my conversation with Chernoff, I made another call to artillery commander povsky. When I heard his voice, I immediately told him, "Comrade artillery commander, there is now a German army rushing towards the front of division Chernoff. Immediately order the artillery to fire and intercept the German troops attacking our positions. "


    Under the artillery attack of our army and the tenacious resistance of the officers and men of the 90th division, the German army''s attempt to break through the defense line of our group army and attack our troops attacking Kiev from the side rear failed. As a result, the German army adjusted its tactics in time. Apart from leaving a small number of troops to monitor our army, it concentrated all its forces and continued to pursue and attack the defeated 53rd army.


    In the next two days, the fall of Alexandria made all the achievements of the 53rd army come to nothing. What''s more, Manstein took advantage of the favorable opportunity of the smooth progress of the 40th armored army, including the skull division, and launched a counterattack from Dnepropetrovsk to the West with the 57th armored army, mainly including the great German division, the 9th armored division, the 23rd armored division, and the 306th division, and the 52nd group army.


    Seeing that konev''s troops were in danger of being surrounded by the German army, Zhukov was a little worried. He called me and asked frankly, "Rita, tell me the truth, when can your army attack the flank of the German army?"


    Holding the receiver, I glanced at the commanders standing at the table. Everyone vaguely heard Zhukov''s question, but no one said anything. Instead, they turned their eyes to me. I can see from their eyes that they want me to be the master.


    So I coughed gently, and then answered, "marshal, I know very well that the current situation is very dangerous. If we don''t attack again, general konev''s troops will probably suffer heavy losses. However, due to the lack of air power, we will pay a huge price if we attack rashly. "


    Before I finished, Zhukov impolitely interrupted me. He said impatiently, "I don''t want to hear so much from you. You just need to give you an accurate answer. When are you going to attack the enemy?"


    "Evening, comrade marshal, this evening." Although I knew that this was not the best time to attack, I thought that if I stood by and watched, general konev''s Ukrainian second front army would suffer huge losses, so I had to harden my head and say, "this evening, I will concentrate no less than two close guard divisions and a tank brigade to launch a fierce attack on the enemy''s flank."


    "Well, in that case, I''ll wait for your good news." Zhukov finished and hung up.


    After I put down the phone, I said to my colleagues standing in front of me, "comrades commander, I believe you have heard my dialogue with marshal. At present, general konev''s troops are in bad condition. Although it is not the best time to send troops, if we don''t help them, they will soon be driven back to the other side of the Dnieper River by the German army. "


    "Comrade commander, where and with what forces are you going to fight back?" First of all, chisgakov said, "if our attack can''t hurt the Germans and contain some of their troops, then it''s meaningless to send troops this time."


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander." Looking at chisgakov, I said confidently, "if we don''t attack, we will. Once we attack, we will surely learn a lesson that will never be forgotten."


    I turned to bezikov and said, "chief of staff, record my orders." Seeing that he had prepared his pen and paper, I began to dictate: "the 52nd and 90th divisions of the guards participated in the attack. Each division was equipped with a tank brigade. In the evening, they launched the attack on kilovgrad respectively, drawing the enemy''s attention back from Alexandria, and fighting for time for the friendly forces to reorganize their troops and rebuild their defense lines."


    "Where is the specific attack position?" Bezikov stopped writing and asked politely, "are the two divisions attacking kilovgrad in turn, or are they each responsible for one attack area?" Staring at the map on the table, I said, "the 52nd division of the guards, under the cover of the tank brigade, attacked malaviska; And the 90th division of the close guard directly attacked kilovgrad from the north When bezikov went to convey my order, chisjakov said with emotion: "unfortunately, we have too few tank troops in our hands, otherwise we can launch three attacks at the same time, which will create more momentum. In order to prevent us from cutting off their back, the German army will definitely transfer troops back. In this way, The pressure on general konev''s forces will be greatly reduced. " As soon as his words were finished, akhromeyev came quickly, put two telegrams in front of me and reported to me, "Comrade commander, these are the two telegrams I just received. One was from captain travkin. They said that there was only one German battalion left in uman City, and the defense was quite empty. If they attacked, they might be able to take the city directly. " Hearing akhromeyev say that there is only one German battalion left in uman City, chisjakov could not help but brighten his eyes. He looked at me sideways and said, "Comrade commander, we''d better adjust our deployment and send only one division to attack kilovgrad, and the other troops will attack uman secretly. As long as we take over such a big city as Ukraine, the morale of the German army will be shaken. In this way, general konev''s troops may turn the corner. " I can''t help but feel a little excited by chisgakov''s proposal. But I didn''t have a fever in my head and agreed to his request without thinking. Instead, I looked at akhromeyev and asked, "major, what''s the other telegram about?"¡° Another telegram came from general Kravchenko in korostvev. " Akhromeyev replied solemnly: "the German army didn''t want their traffic to be cut off by us, so they launched a fierce attack on them. After fierce fighting, the 77th division of the guards had to move south after suffering huge losses. The remaining two guard divisions, though incomplete, showed superhuman combat effectiveness. In recent days, they blocked more than 40 German attacks, destroyed 56 tanks in front and behind, and left nearly 2000 dead bodies in front of their positions. "

 Chapter 1288

    After listening to akhromeyev''s report, all the people present turned their eyes to me, waiting for me to make a final decision. I picked up two telegrams, looked at them, and then said without hesitation: "we have three divisions in such a small city. The troops are too dense. Every shell fired by the German army and every bomb dropped by the German army may cause more than 20 casualties to us. The withdrawal of the 77th division does not mean that our defensive strength has been weakened. "


    "What shall we do now?" "Do you want them back?" bezikov asked me


    "No, no," I said with a wave of my hand, "let them stay near korostwev and support the other two divisions if necessary. As for the emptiness of uman, whether we should send troops to sneak attack, "I said decisively, raising the telegram in my hand." I don''t think we can take risks. Although there is only one battalion in the city, we still have to consider that maybe when we launch the attack, new German troops will arrive. Once the attack is not smooth and the German forces attacking general konev turn around again, our troops may fall into encirclement. Therefore, I still mean that the original plan remains unchanged, and the soldiers will attack the German side rear in two ways to relieve the pressure on general konev. "


    Although I made the decision not to attack uman, which made everyone feel sorry, they still faithfully conveyed my attack order to all divisions in time.


    There was an unexpected storm. When the troops started to move, it suddenly began to rain cats and dogs. Looking at the dark sky outside, bzikov asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, will the heavy rain outside affect our attack in the evening?"


    I look out of the window at the heavy rain, my heart has become not practical. After all, the road construction in the Soviet Union has not been very successful. The roads in the city are still better, and the roads outside the city are in terrible condition. Not to mention now, even 70 years later, in many areas, it is still sunny, rainy and muddy. If the road becomes muddy, the movement of tank troops will be limited.


    Seeing that I was staring at the outside and didn''t speak for a long time, chisjakov kindly reminded me: "you also know our road conditions. After such a heavy rain, the place will soon become muddy. Not only will the tank troops fall into the mire and be difficult to move, but also the speed of our infantry will be affected when they attack. And judging from the current situation, the rain can''t stop completely in a day or two. "


    I thought to myself: the troops have begun to move. If the order to cancel the attack is given to them at this time, the troops may fall into chaos. Thinking of this, I casually said, "I''ll go outside and have a look." With that, he went out on his own.


    The sentry outside the headquarters saw me go out and handed me a raincoat. After I put on my raincoat, I rushed into the rainstorm. Basmanov did not worry about my safety, but also followed up with two soldiers.


    It wasn''t long before we came to the side of the road where there were troops passing by. Basmanov looked around for a moment, then pointed to the side and said, "Comrade commander, let''s go to the front of that house, where the terrain is high and we can see more clearly."


    I nodded, and then under his guidance, walked up the roadside steps, came to a four story building, looking down at the troops passing by.


    In this sudden rainstorm, teams of officers and soldiers in raincoats, carrying flags and weapons, lined up in neat lines, slowly passed through the road below me.


    Basmanov came close to my ear and asked in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, is it going to rain so hard for our troops to attack the Germans?"


    When I heard his question, I turned around and asked, "needless to say, since the combat order has been issued, how can it be revoked at will. Not to mention the rainstorm, even if it''s hail, they have to attack on time. "


    "But, comrade commander, look at the heavy rain. You can''t see clearly from a little distance. Won''t our troops lose their way when they attack?" After that, basmanov murmured in a low voice: "when the Germans see such a heavy rain, they are probably hiding in their own fortifications."


    The speaker didn''t mean it, and the listener meant it. I grabbed his arm and asked excitedly, "major, what did you just say? Say it again


    Basmanov, who was caught by my arm, was stunned at first. Then he repeated his words carefully and asked me: "Comrade commander, did I say anything wrong?"


    "No, no," I said repeatedly, "major, not only did you not say something wrong, but you reminded me of one thing. Well, it''s useless for us to stand here. Go back to the headquarters first. "


    When I heard that I was going back to the headquarters, busman novton was very happy. After all, it''s windy and rainy outside. If I stay here all the time and don''t go back, I guess the people who stay in the headquarters are not at ease. He doesn''t have to worry if he can send me back earlier.


    As soon as I got back to the headquarters, I immediately called bzikov over and asked bluntly, "chief of staff, according to our operational plan, should we prepare for the enemy''s defensive positions before attacking?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." "According to the plan, we will prepare the German defensive positions for about an hour, and then the infantry will launch a fierce attack on the enemy''s defensive positions under the cover of tanks," he said


    After answering my question, he hesitated for a moment, and then resolutely said, "but Comrade commander, if this rainstorm does not stop in the evening, our offensive forces will not be able to get any artillery support."


    "Don''t worry, chief of staff." I took off my raincoat and handed it to busmanov who followed me. I said, "since it''s raining so hard, we''ll cancel the artillery preparation before the attack."


    "What, cancel the fire preparation before the attack." On hearing my decision, chisgakov said with some hesitation: "Comrade commander, if there is no artillery preparation, the price our troops will pay when attacking the enemy''s positions will increase exponentially."


    I pointed to basmanov, who had not yet left the headquarters, and said, "just now I was outside and heard the major say something casually. I thought it was very reasonable, so I changed my decision temporarily and cancelled the artillery preparation before the attack."


    "What did he say?" Kirilov, who had never spoken, asked curiously.


    "He said that in such weather, the Germans are hiding in the fortifications for shelter from the rain." I went to the table, sat down, and continued: "as long as the heavy rain continues, even if we bombard the German defensive positions, it is difficult to achieve the desired results. Therefore, I feel that instead of carrying out such meaningless shelling, it is better for the troops to sneak close to the German positions in the heavy rain and then launch a fierce charge. When the enemy discovers our attack and wants to defend, it''s too late. Our troops have rushed into their line of defense. "


    "Well, is that ok?" After listening to my wonderful ideas, chisgakov asked unexpectedly, "even if it''s a rainstorm, there must be sentinels on duty in the German army. It''s not so easy for our main forces to avoid their ears and eyes and approach the position quietly?"


    "Chief of staff, call the two division commanders involved in the attack." I directly told bzikov: "tell them that they don''t have to wait until evening. As long as the attacking troops enter the position and have a rest, they will immediately attack the enemy''s position in the rain. In order to prevent the target from being exposed, they will not get artillery support before the attack. At the same time, they need to send small troops to clear the Sentinels on the German positions... "


    After recording my series of orders, bezikov asked, "what about the two tank brigades that were originally scheduled to fight?"


    According to the original order, two tank brigades belonging to the Fifth Army of the close guard tank will cover and guide the infantry charge in this evening''s attack. But now, the original frontal attack has been changed to sneak attack, and the battlefield road is muddy, so the movement of tank troops has been greatly restricted. When I heard this question from bezikov, I only thought about it for a moment, and then I replied, "forget it, let them stop for a while and wait until the heavy rain stops."


    A few hours later, the commander of the 52nd division and the commander of the 90th division of the guards, nikolasov and Chernoff, respectively, called to say that all the troops had entered the offensive position and asked me if I would launch the attack now.


    I looked out the window at the increasing rain and nodded to bzikov, who was holding the microphone, indicating that I could start attacking. Seeing my expression, bezikov, who understood me, immediately said in a loud voice, "the commander ordered the troops to attack immediately!"


    After bezikov gave the order, the headquarters fell into silence again, and no one was in the mood to speak. I don''t know how long it took for chisjakov to cheer up, try to squeeze a smile on his face and say, "comrades, what''s the matter with you? Why don''t you talk? I think the attack plan made by Comrade commander, though it seems very risky, can surprise the Germans. "


    Chisjakov''s words improved the mood of bezikov and kirilov, but I was still worried. For this attack, in fact, I have no bottom in my heart. This is a kind of gambling and a kind of risk. I bet that when it''s raining so heavily, the Germans will stay in the fortifications, but our soldiers can take advantage of the heavy rain to approach their fortifications quietly, and then make a sudden attack and take them by surprise. But such a big action, let alone my hasty decision, even after careful planning in advance, if there is any mistake in the middle, the attacking forces will suffer heavy casualties in front of the German well defended positions, and the attack will end in failure.


    Before the report of the offensive troops arrived, Zhukov''s phone call arrived first. When he heard my voice, he immediately asked, "Hello, Rita, it''s very windy outside now. Can your troops launch an attack on the German position on time in the evening?"


    Hearing that the caller was Zhukov, I quickly stood up from my seat, straightened up and reported, "Comrade marshal, my troops have launched an attack on the German army."


    "What, the attack has begun?" Zhukov was surprised to hear me say that. He was surprised and said, "it''s only three o''clock in the afternoon, isn''t it


    "Comrade marshal, it''s raining hard outside." I explained to Zhukov, "the Germans must be hiding in their fortifications. I never dreamed that our army would launch an attack on them in this weather. Therefore, I temporarily changed my operational plan, which not only changed the attack time, but also cancelled the artillery preparation before the attack, allowing the troops to take advantage of the favorable opportunity of heavy rain and low visibility to quietly approach the German positions and carry out unexpected attacks on them. "


    When Zhukov heard that I had sent troops to attack, his tone became relaxed. He asked with concern, "is there any news coming back from the front line?"¡° No, comrade marshal. " I looked at akhromeyev and lophov, who were sitting beside the wall''s telephone, and saw that they both sat there without any reaction. I knew that there was no latest war report coming back, so I truthfully reported to Zhukov, "there is no news yet." Fortunately, Zhukov was very reasonable: "well, if you have the latest war report, report it to me immediately." First of all, the 52nd division of the melee guards in nikolasov sent back the news. They secretly touched the German position and launched a surprise attack on the enemy after killing the sentries. After half an hour of fighting, they managed to break through the German perimeter defense in malawiska and rush into the city. However, the report of the 90th division came much later. Due to the fact that their detachment failed to clear all the German sentries, a hidden secret sentry gave an alarm, resulting in a sneak attack turned into a strong attack. Without artillery and tank cover, the commanders and fighters fell in pieces in a fire net interwoven with dense bullets from the German positions. Seeing that the situation was not good, general Chernoff immediately ordered the artillery battalion of the division to bombard the exposed firepower points of the enemy with mortars to protect the troops from continuing to attack. However, due to the tenacity of the German army, even if they saw our army officers and men rush into the trench, they still fought to death, and even opened a cruel white-edged war with us. After reading the battle report of the 90th division of the guards, I told bzikov: "chief of staff, order the 22nd tank brigade of the guards to act immediately, and try every means to push forward in the direction of kilovgrad to support the attack of general Chernoff''s troops." After delivering my order, bzikov asked carefully, "Comrade commander, do you need to report these war reports to Marshal Zhukov and the headquarters of the front army immediately?" Looking at the two reports in front of me, I felt that although the attack of the 90th division was not smooth, the results of the 52nd division were remarkable. If they were reported together, Zhukov would not blame me. So I nodded and said, "chief of staff, please report these two war reports to the headquarters of the front army immediately."

 Chapter 1289

    After bezikov sent out the two war reports, there was no movement. After waiting for a long time, I saw no reply from Zhukov or vatujing. He walked to lophov''s body, bent down and asked, "major, can you contact the troops below?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Lophov quickly stood up from his seat, straightened up and reported, "we have a special telephone line here, which can directly contact the division headquarters of the following divisions."


    When I heard what lophov said, I immediately told him, "get through to general Chernoff''s division headquarters immediately, and I''ll ask him about the situation on the front line."


    "Yes Lophov agreed, then went to the side, picked up a telephone hanging on the wall, dialed a number, and said to the microphone, "get close to the 90th division headquarters for me."


    After a while, he handed me the microphone and said respectfully, "Comrade commander, the phone is connected."


    I nodded, took the receiver from his hand, put it to my ear, and asked aloud, "Hello, Chernoff? What''s your situation there? Can you break through the German peripheral defense? "


    "Comrade commander, the situation is very bad." Chernoff yelled at the top of his voice: "the Germans have been very tough and the fighting has come to a stalemate. Now we can neither attack nor withdraw. "


    "Hell, how could that be?" When I heard him say this, I could not help frowning. Then I said, "since we can''t rush up, we should withdraw our troops first, readjust our troops, and then attack the enemy."


    Chernoff roared: "because of the heavy rain, the water in the trench is knee high. As soon as our commanders and fighters jump into the trench, they are covered with muddy water. Now they are entangled with the enemy, and the people we sent to send orders can''t distinguish between them."


    "All right, comrade teacher." I didn''t wait for him to finish, then I directly interrupted him and said in a firm tone, "I don''t care what you do, but I want to withdraw the troops as soon as possible. I''ve ordered the tank brigade to attack. When they arrive, you can follow them to attack. "


    After I had finished, Chernoff was silent immediately. He was probably in a dilemma about whether to accept my order. Seeing that he did not speak, I raised my voice and asked, "Sir, why did you not speak? Did you not hear my order?"


    "Yes! Comrade commander. " Hearing my tone so severe, Chernoff replied reluctantly, "I''ll try to get the troops back immediately."


    After I put down the phone, chisgakov immediately asked with concern, "Comrade commander, is the situation in the 90th division very bad?"


    I nodded, sighed and said: "although this rainstorm has affected the enemy''s vision, it is also not good for our army. Now they are mixed up with the enemy, and the order of retreat can''t be conveyed at all. " After these words, I turned to ask ahlomeyev, "major, do you have the latest news about the 52nd division of the guards?"


    "Comrade commander." Akhromeyev handed me a telegram he had just received and said, "telegram from general nikolasov. They once occupied the whole city half an hour ago. However, the German army was unwilling to fail and was fighting back at all costs. Now part of the enemy had rushed into the city. The battle is going on


    The battle is on! I know that such a simple sentence contains many meanings. In a little while, perhaps, Nekrasov will report that the Germans have taken the city back.


    Not only did I understand the meaning of this, but also chisjakov and bezikov understood the meaning of this telegram. Bizikov said to me carefully: "Comrade commander, the rain is too heavy to use heavy equipment such as artillery and tanks. Whether we can win or not depends on the technical and tactical level and fighting will of the officers and men on both sides."


    As soon as his words were finished, chisjakov asked back impolitely, "chief of staff, do you think general nikolasov and general nikolasov can hold the city?"


    When I saw the problem of chisgakov, bezikov was speechless and stood up to help him out: "Comrade deputy commander, I believe our commanders and fighters will surely be able to defend the city. From their performance in the fighting in recent months, they can be regarded as a model of our army''s tenacity, hard work and self sacrifice."


    Seeing that I''ve already said that, it''s not good for chisgakov to embarrass bzikov. For the time being, the battle in the South couldn''t be divided, so we turned our attention to the north. After contacting Kravchenko, I knew that due to the heavy rain, the German army''s attack on korostev had been completely stopped, and the troops were rushing to repair the fortifications in the rain.


    I thought about it, and then asked akhromeyev to send Kravchenko a telegram with only one sentence: "how many tanks are there in the 21st brigade of the close guard tank?"


    After about five minutes, Kravchenko returned the telegram. He may have understood the purpose of my question, and specially explained in detail: "there are 31 tanks left in the brigade, and the lost tanks were all lost in the enemy''s shelling or bombing. In the face-to-face battle with the enemy''s armored forces, our tanks won a complete victory. "


    After reading this telegram, I feel a lot more secure. Now it seems that the decision to transfer all the new tanks to korostev is completely correct. If the former tank brigades are all equipped with T-34, it is estimated that in addition to the part lost in shelling and bombing, they will also lose a lot in the war against German tanks.


    After reading the telegram in front of me, bzikov asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, how can we call back general Kravchenko?"


    "Chief of staff, please tell him that when the enemy attacks next time, let him gather all the tanks and counter attack the enemy. Take advantage of the superior performance of our tanks to bring down the German offensive forces. "


    "I understand!" Bezikov had seen the power of the new tank with his own eyes, so he immediately sent a report to Kravchenko after recording the order.


    In the evening, the rain outside finally came down.


    First of all, Nekrasov called me and reported to me, "Comrade commander, all the German troops who rushed into the city have been wiped out by us. At present, the troops are cleaning up the battlefield."


    "How are the casualties of your division?" I didn''t ask them in detail about their achievements, because they can be seen in the report later. I understand their casualties, and I want to judge as soon as possible whether they have the ability to continue to fight.


    "Report, comrade commander," said Nekrasov in a relaxed tone, "in the battle just ended, the division lost more than 800 people, annihilated a German battalion and captured its commander. At present, we can''t see any organized units within a few kilometers of us, except for a small number of skilful German soldiers. "


    After listening to nikolasov''s understatement, I couldn''t help reminding him: "Sir, the Germans are very cunning. You can''t take it lightly. In addition to consolidating the existing defensive zone, it is also necessary to send people around to carry out reconnaissance to prevent possible German counterattack. "


    "You can rest assured." "As soon as the battle is over, in addition to arranging people to clean the battlefield, I also sent a large number of reconnaissance teams around with radio stations. As long as there are German troops nearby, I will know at the first time," he said confidently


    "Well done!" After listening to Nekrasov''s report, I gave him a compliment and hung up.


    Then, division commander Chernoff, who attacked the outskirts of kilovgrad, also called. He said with relief, "Comrade commander, after a fierce battle, we have finally captured the first line of defense of the German army. Now the commanders and fighters are strengthening fortifications to prevent possible German counterattack. "


    I looked out of the window and saw that the rain had stopped outside. Then I said to the microphone, "Sir, the rain has stopped now. Maybe the German counterattack will start soon. I immediately contacted general povsky and asked his troops to intercept the enemy''s attack. "


    After listening to this, Chernoff replied with ecstasy, "I understand, comrade commander. I''m going to contact povsky."


    After I put down the phone, I directly told akhromeyev: "major, call general povsky and say that Chernoff, the commander of the 90th division of the close guard, will call him soon to make him fully cooperate with the division''s defense outside kilovgrad."


    When the headquarters was busy, vatujing called. He said to me, "Comrade oshanina, there is something I want to tell you. The decisive action of your army completely disrupted the German offensive. I have just received a call from general konev that the German forces attacking them from the West have stopped their attack, giving them a rare respite. "


    "Great, that''s great." When I heard this, I was overjoyed. It seemed that I had made the troops attack in heavy rain, and I said with some complacency: "Comrade General, don''t worry. In the next few days, we will try our best to contain the German forces, so that they can''t attack the friendly forces with all their strength."


    I didn''t expect that when watujing heard me say this, his voice suddenly became cold: "Comrade o''shanina, do you think I''m calling you to praise you?"


    I was stunned. A moment later, I asked, "what does that mean?"


    "According to the information we have." "The German army has pulled out two regiments from the vicinity of Alexandria and is turning west towards the outer position of kilovgrad that you have just captured," said vatugin in a calm voice. You have to make the troops ready for defense as soon as possible. I don''t want to see your troops defeated. "


    "Don''t worry, Comrade General." When I heard this, I felt no more nervous. I assured vatujing: "the troops occupying the positions outside kilovgrad have been strengthened by the artillery of the group army. But when the enemy attacks them, the artillery will stop the attacking enemy. Besides, I have a division behind them. If I find that they can''t support me, I will immediately put this division into battle. "


    "Now that you''re ready, I''m at ease." After finishing this sentence, watujing suddenly changed the topic: "Marshal Zhukov asked me to tell you that the troops have assembled to the north. About two days later, the attack could be resumed. He asked your army to make the movement as big as possible in these two days, so as to attract the attention of the Germans to you, so that the troops in the south of Kirov could quietly move to the north without being noticed by the German army. Do you understand? "


    "Comrade General, it''s not impossible to attract the enemy''s attention, it''s just..." to attract the German army''s attention is simple to say, but not easy to do. What''s more, I don''t have many available troops in my hand now. To carry out this task, the coefficient of difficulty is very high. So I put forward my own difficulties in time. "I just have a limited number of troops. I don''t know if you can increase or decrease even one or two divisions for me so that I can complete this task again." Watujing thought for a moment, then said: "the forces of the front army are also very tight now, and may not be able to take out the troops for you in the short term. It''s still up to you to figure out for yourself. " When watujin hung up, I was still holding the phone in a daze. Seeing that my expression was so strange, chisjakov could not help asking, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter?" I put down the microphone and said to the people standing in front of me: "comrades, our decisive attack completely disrupted the German attack plan. Now their attack on general konev''s troops has completely stopped..." "great, this is really great." Before I had finished, bzikov exclaimed excitedly, "as long as we try to contain the enemy near kilovgrad, then general konev''s troops will have a breathing space."¡° Chief of staff, I''m not finished yet. " Seeing this chief of staff who only listened to half of what he said, I couldn''t laugh or cry: "although the enemy stopped attacking general konev, they have now transferred their forces from Alexandria and directly rushed to kilovgrad. It seems that they want to clean up our army on the outskirts of the city before continuing to attack general konev''s forces. " "Comrade commander, what are we going to do next?" chisjakov asked I looked at bezikov and motioned to him to record my orders. Seeing that he was ready, I began to give orders: "order lieutenant colonel Lukin''s 375TH infantry division to move forward and deploy behind the 90th guard division. Once the division is unable to support under the German attack, they will fight immediately. The 89th division of general seleucin''s guards sent a regiment to move westward, posing as a threat to uman to attract the attention of the German army. "

 Chapter 1290

    In the next two days, while Chernoff''s 90th division of guards fought the German attack tenaciously, a guard regiment of the sherekin division approached uman, known as the fortress, and tried to attack.


    There were fortifications built by the Soviet Army on the periphery of uman. After the German army occupied the area, all fortifications were reinforced. According to our information, there was only one German battalion in the city, but they resisted by relying on solid fortifications. Many attacks launched by the guards ended in failure.


    When I saw a series of war reports sent back from the front line, I couldn''t help frowning. At the same time, I realized in my heart that I was opening my clenched fist when I used my troops so scattered. If Zhukov can launch an attack to the north of Kiev as soon as possible, we can get rid of the current predicament, otherwise the troops will be defeated by each other.


    As my deputy, chisgakov obviously found out this problem. He tentatively asked me, "Comrade commander, I think such use of troops will make our strength more dispersed. According to the war report received today, general konev''s troops are in a bad situation. It is inevitable that they will be defeated by the German army. Once they are defeated, our scattered troops may fall into the encirclement of the German army. "


    "Ah?" Kirilov was startled by his words. He looked at me and then at kirilov again. Then he asked in an uncertain tone, "general konev has hundreds of thousands of troops and has been strengthened by the other two front forces. Can''t he really stop the attack of the two German armored forces?"


    On hearing this question, chisjakov did not speak. He just sighed for a long time. Then he looked at me and said, "Comrade commander, I think it''s more appropriate for you to answer this question."


    I nodded and said solemnly, "comrades of the military commissar and deputy commander, what they said is true. Judging from the current situation, it is only a matter of time before general konev''s troops are defeated. In order to contain the German forces, we put our only four divisions into the battle. If the German forces crush the friendly forces from the northeast, the 90th guard division and the 375TH infantry division outside kilovgrad will be in danger of encirclement. "


    "Do we need to shrink our forces?" As soon as I finished speaking, chief of staff bezikov said anxiously, "if the German forces attack the 90th guard division and the 375TH infantry division, and at the same time send a force to rush to cherkaser along the road, we have no force to stop them."


    "Chief of staff, you have a point." I looked down at the map and found that the city that the 52nd division of Jinwei held fast to was just like chicken ribs. On the surface, they occupied the city and successfully cut off the traffic between uman and kilovgrad. Once the troops outside kilovgrad had to retreat, they would fall into the situation of being attacked by the German left and right. I don''t think they can defend a city without danger under the German attack. Therefore, I made my own decision in a very short time. I looked at bezikov and said, "call general Nekrasov and ask him to immediately withdraw the 52nd division of the guards to its original defensive position."


    Bezikov agreed. He just wanted to convey my order, but he was stopped by chisgakov. The latter kindly reminded me: "commander vatukin ordered us to take a big action to attract the attention of the German army, so as to cover the advance of friendly forces to the north of Kiev. If we withdraw our troops without asking for instructions, will it affect the overall arrangement of our superiors? "


    "Well, comrade deputy commander, as you said, report this to the headquarters of the front army." I waved to him and said feebly, "I''ll give you full responsibility for this matter."


    When chisjakov called the headquarters of the front army, I called bezikov to him, pointed to the map and said to him, "chief of staff, I think the attack on uman should stop immediately. We put in too few troops and have no heavy weapons. Apart from sacrificing our commanders and fighters in vain, it is also easy to stimulate the enemy. According to my judgment, in order to prevent the loss of uman, it is entirely possible for the Germans to transfer more troops from venica. In this way, not only the guard regiment may not be able to keep it, but even the 89th division of the guard may be entangled by the enemy. "


    "OK, I''ll call general Xie Liujin and ask him to withdraw the guards." Bezikov didn''t talk any nonsense. After recording my orders, he went to call sherekin directly.


    I sat at the table and looked up at chisgakov, who was calling vatukin. From the change of his face, I knew that the situation we are facing is extremely serious. After he put down the phone, I immediately stood up and asked with concern, "deputy commander, what does the senior general say?"


    Chisjakov shook his head and said helplessly: "Comrade commander, the situation is very bad now. Due to days of heavy rain, the road has become muddy, and our troops moving north of Kiev are now trapped in the heavy rain. It will take at least three to five days for the troops that could have entered the attack position today. "


    "What about general konev?" As soon as he stopped, I immediately asked, "can they block the German attack?"


    Chisjakov shook his head again and said bitterly, "Comrade commander, I''m sure I''ll let you down again. Commander vatujing said that in addition to the fact that general konev''s close guard seventh group army stayed at clemenzuk, the main force of the Ukrainian second front army had withdrawn across the Dnieper River. "


    "What, general konev''s troops retreated across the Dnieper?" Kirilov was startled by the sudden news. After a long time, he asked tentatively, "is this all true?"


    "In the intercepted German war report, they claimed that they destroyed 400 tanks of our army, killed and wounded more than 80000 people of our army, and captured nearly 10000 people." With a wry smile, chisgakov added: "although there is a lot of moisture in the German war report, we can also judge that general konev''s troops have suffered heavy losses, otherwise they would not have retreated to the other side of the Dnieper River in such a hurry."


    "As for our request to shrink our troops, has general vatukin agreed?" The defeat of konev''s troops has a direct impact on us. If we don''t gather up the troops in time and wait for the main force of the winning German army to turn around, our troops will also face the fate of being defeated or encircled.


    "Commander watujing said that you are in charge of the sixth group army." Chi Sky Kopf looked at me and said, "you has the final say whether the army is in the status quo or the troops are being reduced. However, the only requirement is that before the main force of the front army attacks from the north of Kiev, you should confine the main force of the German army to the vicinity of cherkaser, so that they can not join the German army cluster in Kiev. "


    "There''s no problem with that." As long as vatuking allows me to gather up the troops, I have the confidence to block the German army from Alexandria to Kiev, even if I pay more casualties. I solemnly said to bezikov, "chief of staff, immediately give orders to the divisions to withdraw their original positions under alternate cover."


    "Comrade commander, I want to remind you of one more thing." After I gave the order, chisgakov said with some embarrassment, "I don''t know whether to say it or not."


    "Go ahead, comrade deputy commander." I don''t know what other things chisgakov thought were neglected by me, so I said in a reasonable way, "whatever you think, just say it."


    Although he got my consent, he still hesitated when he said: "well, in the recent battle arrangement, I think you seem to have forgotten the existence of the two guards commanders..."


    Before I had finished, I clapped myself on the forehead. If he didn''t remind me, I really forgot the two guards commanders. I always ask bzikov to directly inform the division commanders of what orders to give. I forgot all about the two commanders.


    Now that chisgakov has reminded me, if I choose to ignore it again, it will be a little too unkind. I watched bezikov on the phone and turned my attention to akhromeyev. I waved to him. When he passed, I asked, "major, do you know where the two commanders of the guards are?"


    Akhromeyev took out a book, looked at it, and then reported clearly: "general tavartkiraze, commander of the 23rd army of the guards, is in the 375TH infantry division; General sivakov, commander of the 22nd army of the guards, is in the 90th division of the guards. "


    After listening to akhromeyev''s report, I laughed awkwardly at chisgakov, and then said, "Comrade deputy commander, it''s a coincidence that the two commanders are now on the outskirts of kilovgrad, and I don''t know who they are and who they are commanding during the war."


    After I finished, kirilov suggested to me, "Rita, our headquarters is very spacious anyway. Why don''t we have two commanders working here. In the future, any combat task can be assigned to them directly, and then they will give orders to the troops below. What do you think? "


    "Well, good idea." I also know that commanding at a higher level is very annoying. If the orders issued by different superiors are the same, the commanders below also know how to do it. Once the order contradicts itself, the commander who accepts the task will fall into confusion. So I readily agreed to kirilov''s proposal, and told akhromeyev: "major, immediately inform the two commanders of our resolution, and let them report to the headquarters as soon as possible."


    With a series of orders issued, the part that was fighting with the German army quickly broke away from contact with the enemy and retreated to the original defensive position under alternate cover.


    In the evening, tavartkiraze and sivakov reported to me that their troops had retreated to the designated positions as ordered.


    According to the reports of the reconnaissance units, shortly after our troops withdrew from their positions, they were occupied by the German troops who rushed to them. Perhaps for fear of being attacked by our army, the German army, after entering the position, did not care to rest, so they rushed to repair the fortifications in the rain. In the city of uman, another tank regiment entered at about 3 p.m. After seeing this information, I can''t help but feel relieved. Fortunately, I stopped the meaningless attack of the guards in time, otherwise they might have been defeated by the new German tanks.


    The troops near cherkaser have been gathered and we are safe for the time being until the German forces near kilovgrad attack. I think of the troops in korostvev. I don''t know how they are now. I haven''t got their information for more than a day. I called the chief of communications, Mr. lophoff, to me and asked, "major, what''s the matter? Why haven''t we contacted the troops in korostvev?" There was an expression of embarrassment on lophov''s face. He argued: "Comrade commander, we have not received a telegram from korostev since yesterday afternoon."¡° What measures have been taken? " Asked chisgakov, grimacing. Lophoff nodded hard and then replied, "we kept calling, but we didn''t get in touch. So in the early hours of this morning, I sent a communication team, carrying a radio station, to korostev quietly to get in touch with the garrison in the city. "¡° Is there any news back? " This time it''s my question. Lophoff shook his head and replied awkwardly, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. So far, I haven''t got any information. I think the road is muddy and difficult to walk, so the communication team I sent has not reached the destination yet. " I didn''t blame him. I just told him briefly, "if you have any news, report it to me immediately." When I returned to the table, chisgakov asked with some worry, "Comrade commander, we have lost contact with korostev for more than a day. What''s the accident?" Although I feel uneasy at the moment, I still try to calm down and say, "don''t worry, maybe their radio station is broken, so I can''t get in touch with us. You know, they have been there for such a long time. It''s not easy for the Germans to destroy them. "¡° Comrade commander. " As soon as I finished, tavartkilaze continued, "I know my commanders and fighters. They don''t think they will step back even if there is one left."¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Seeing that tavartkilaze had made a statement, sivakov naturally did not dare to fall behind. He also said loudly, "our officers and men of the 22nd army of the guards will shed their last drop of blood in order to defend our motherland."

 Chapter 1291

    "Comrades, I believe our soldiers have the spirit of tenacity, hard work and self sacrifice. I''m very relieved to have them stick to korostvev." After I said these two words to the two commanders, I raised my hand and pressed it down, indicating that they would sit down. After they sat down again, I continued: "since we can''t contact korostvev''s troops for the time being, let''s put their affairs aside and discuss how to deal with the German troops from Alexandria. They have just severely damaged general konev''s troops and their morale is high. If they rush towards us, they want to stop them, Our army is bound to pay a heavy price. "


    After hearing what I said, sivakov, who had just sat down, stood up again, frowned and said, "Comrade commander, I think you are too worried. Our troops have been at war with the Germans these days, and I know their strength very well. Now the road is muddy, the German tanks can''t fight, the infantry without tank cover, the combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced. "


    "Comrade commander," as soon as sivakov''s words were finished, chisgakov retorted solemnly: "even in the next battle, if the German tanks can''t fight because of road problems, we can''t take it lightly. They can''t use tanks, they can use airplanes to bomb. "


    Sivakov opened his mouth, just wanted to refute, but was interrupted by chisgakov: "you may want to say that we also have airplanes, but I don''t know if you have found that our air force has appeared several times since it began to rain? If the Germans had not taken control of the air, I think general konev''s troops would not have been so easily defeated. "


    "But, comrade deputy commander, why is that?" "Do you know that we have several air force groups along the Dnieper River, and one or two thousand planes can''t control the air supremacy of the battlefield?" sivakov asked


    "General sivakov, you don''t know." I broke in to explain to sivakov and the other commanders, "the Germans use concrete runways, so they can take off even in rainy days. The runways used in our field airports are damaged by rain blisters, and pilots risk their lives every time they take off. That''s why we often see German planes in the recent sky, but seldom see our military planes. "


    After my words, the expressions on the two commanders'' faces became serious. After a long time, tavartkilaze began to say: "in this way, we have to stick to the existing defense, air defense is very necessary."


    "Yes, comrade commander. Air defense is very important if you want to keep the present defense area. "I looked at tavartkiraze and said," general povsky has two conventional anti-aircraft artillery regiments and two anti-aircraft machine gun battalions, as well as a self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery regiment. After the meeting, you and sivakov will go to his place and work out an air defense plan. "


    When I finished, chisgakov stood up and just wanted to say a few words to the two captains, but he was interrupted by lophov who came in a hurry. He handed me a telegram and said in a panic, "Comrade commander, I have just got in touch with the communication group sent to korostwev. This is a telegram from them."


    "You must have read this telegram, major." After I said this, I swept the whole room with my eyes. Seeing that everyone''s eyes were focused on me, I went on to say, "now everyone is eager to know the news of the troops in korostvev city. Please give us a brief introduction."


    Lophov immediately faced everyone and said: "in the report sent back by the communication group, it is said that the German army sent out more than 50 bombers yesterday afternoon and bombed korostev for an hour. During the bombing, general Kravchenko''s headquarters were unfortunately hit by the bomb. "


    "What, general Kravchenko''s command was blown up and hit?" On hearing the bad news, chisgakov jumped up from his seat. He asked with a flustered look, "what''s the matter with him? Is he alive or... Sacrificed?" By the time he said the last word, his voice had become inaudible.


    Seeing that chisjakov was so impolite, lophov quickly explained: "no, general krasovsky was only injured. After the first aid of military doctors, he was out of danger."


    I know that there are three close guard divisions and a commander of a tank brigade in korostwev, just three colonels and a general. Although askarepov, commander of the 77th division of the guards, is the only major general, his command ability is limited. He can barely manage to command one division. If he is allowed to command three divisions, he may be in a mess. In order to find out who is in command of the army, I waited for the end of lophoff''s speech, and immediately asked, "major, who is in command of the army at present?"


    "It''s general askarepov, commander of the 77th division of the guards." Lophoff replied truthfully.


    Askarepov was not the right person, and the other two division commanders and a tank brigade commander lacked the ability to be independent. If we want the troops to form a unified command, we must send someone else from the headquarters to command the troops.


    I scanned the people present with my eyes: the first was chisjakov, who was the deputy commander of the group army. When I was not in the headquarters, he could take over my command; Second, zikov is not suitable. No matter whether I or chisgakov is directing the battle in the headquarters, he needs the cooperation of his chief of staff. The third akhromeyev is also impossible to go to korostev to command the joint forces. First, his rank is too low. Second, he has no experience in commanding such a large regiment


    My eyes turned around the room and finally fell on tavartkiraze and sivakov. I coughed softly, and then said, "because of general Kravchenko''s injury, korostevev''s troops are now leaderless. I need a military commander to command the troops. Which one of you would like to go?"


    "Comrade commander," said bezikov before the two commanders answered, "we don''t need to send any more people to take over the command of the army. General askarepov will take over the command automatically."


    "I know, chief of staff. I know that general askarepov will automatically take over command. " After bidzikov finished, I immediately said in a discontented tone: "but his ability is limited, and he has no experience in commanding large regiments. If he is fully responsible for the defense of korostev, I am afraid that the army will fall into the encirclement of the German army."


    Although you can tell from my words that I don''t trust askarepov, no one said anything. After a while, chisgakov said, "I think the commander is right. The troops of korostwev need a strong commander. Since the commanders there are not suitable, we should send one from here." After he finished, he asked me, "Comrade commander, do you have a suitable person?"


    "Comrade commander, let me go." Before I could speak, sivakov said, "there are two divisions in korostvev''s army that belong to the 22nd army of our guards. It is most appropriate for me to command the army."


    Seeing sivakov''s offer, I almost nodded my head and agreed. Unexpectedly, chisjakov said, "I think it''s more appropriate for korostvev''s troops to be under the command of general tavartkilaze. After all, he has been in the army for more than 20 years and has rich combat experience."


    Looking at the two captains standing in front of me, I couldn''t help but feel embarrassed. In a hurry, I didn''t know who to give the task of going to korostev as commander.


    When I was in a dilemma, I heard bzikov cough gently. Then he came close to me and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, after our troops liberate Kiev, they will certainly attack Zhitomir next. At that time, our troops deployed in korostwev will certainly take part in the attack as the leading forces. Under the command of tavartkiraze, we will have a higher success rate in attacking Zhitomir. After all, he has much more combat experience than general sivakov. "


    After listening to these words, I made a decision in my heart. The commanders in korostwev need to be able to take charge of their own affairs, and sivakov obviously lacks some in this respect. I turned my eyes to tavartkilaze and said to him, "Comrade General, go back and hand over the commander to the deputy commander or the military commissar, then rush to korostvev as soon as possible, take over the command from general Kravchenko, and stick to korostvev with all your strength. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Tavartkiraze saw that I had given him the task, and his face immediately showed a sunny smile.


    However, sivakov, who had the greatest hope but failed in the election, was a little worried: "Comrade commander, why don''t you let me go to korostev? You know, there are two of the three guard divisions, which belong to the 22nd army of our guard infantry. "


    "Comrade General, don''t worry." I said to sivakov with a smile, "although you can''t go to korostev, I''ll give you full responsibility for the defense to the east of cherkaser." Although I know that his ability is limited, I still give him the heavy task of defense because I can take over his command at any time if I see his command is weak.


    Sivakov didn''t know what I really thought in my heart. Seeing that I entrusted him with such an important task, his mood immediately stabilized.


    When sivakov commanded the troops to reinforce fortifications and deploy anti-aircraft gun positions, tavartkilaze, with a group of chief of staff, hurried to korostwev.


    From the 26th, the German troops from Alexandria launched a fierce attack on the defensive positions of the 90th division of guards and the 375TH division of infantry. Although the road is still muddy, it is difficult for tanks to fight, but it does not affect the intensity of the battle.


    While the German troops shelled our army, they also sent out a large number of bombers to bombard the ground. When they saw that the fortifications on the surface were almost destroyed, their infantry launched a battle formation and launched a comprehensive attack on our defensive positions.


    I stood outside the headquarters and saw the enemy planes flying away. I immediately called povsky and said in a loud voice, "Hello, artillery commander, do you see the enemy planes flying?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Povsky replied in a loud voice, "I see. All the enemy planes over us are flying away."


    "Although the German planes fly away, their infantry will soon join in the attack on our army." I told povsky, "Comrade General, immediately order the artillery to fire and intercept the enemy''s infantry with artillery fire."


    "Yes," povsky replied readily, "I immediately let the close guard rocket battalion open fire and use intensive artillery fire to destroy the enemy on the road of charge." When Katyusha opened fire and hurled hundreds of rockets into the German attack line, chisjakov sent akhromeyev out to call me, saying that he had received a telegram from general tavartkilaze from korostvev. I hurried back to the headquarters, and as soon as I entered the door, I asked, "Comrade deputy commander, what does general tavartkiraze''s telegram say?" Chisgakov handed me a telegram and said solemnly: "according to general tavartkilaze''s report, the three divisions in korostvev have been greatly reduced due to the continuous shelling and bombing by the German army. At present, only half of the troops are left in each division." I looked down at the telegram in my hand and said casually, "Comrade deputy commander, please tell me what you think."¡° Although korostwev''s position is important, the terrain there is peaceful and smooth, which can not prevent effective defense. " "If we keep on sticking to it, the three divisions will be finished soon," chisjakov said anxiously I raised my head, looked at chisgakov and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, don''t you know that if we give up korostev, the enemy will resume the traffic line between Kiev and Zhitomir, which will greatly increase the pressure on our main front forces to attack Kiev?" Chisgakov shook his head and said, "I didn''t think so far. I only know now that if we don''t withdraw our troops from korostev as soon as possible, they will be in danger of being destroyed."¡° No, comrade deputy commander. " I said firmly: "even if all three divisions are finished, we can''t hand over korostwev to the Germans, because only by holding here can we cut off the German lines of communication and support our main front force''s attack on Kiev."

 Chapter 1292

    In the next week, when our group army was fighting with the German army on both fronts at the same time, the troops deployed in the south of Kiev, in addition to the routine attacks of the 27th group army and the 40th group army, the main force of the front army went north along the Dnieper River and secretly transferred to the liujieri landing site.


    On October 31, looking at the mountain of war reports on the table, chisgakov asked me with a sad face: "Comrade commander, we have been fighting with the Germans for a week, and the casualties of all divisions are more than half. I don''t know how long we will fight such a war? "


    Hearing the complaints of chisjakov, both bezikov and kirilov were surprisingly silent. Seeing that several people have cast their eyes on me, I know I have to say a few words. I coughed gently, cleared my throat, and then said, "comrades, I know that the casualties of the troops are a little heavy recently, but in order to protect our great motherland, I think it''s worth the price, no matter how much it costs."


    As I said this, chisgakov could not help sighing a little and continued to look at the war reports and telegrams in front of him. But bzikov asked curiously, "Comrade commander, in your estimation, when will our attack from the North begin?"


    As soon as bzikov''s words were finished, I noticed that chisgakov, who was looking down at the document, was shocked. It was bzikov''s words that stimulated him. In order to appease him, instead of answering bzikov''s question, I turned to kirilov and asked him, "by the way, comrade military commissar, if I remember correctly, general Romanov''s guerrilla army should be in the north of Kiev?"


    "Yes, when Kiev broke through, he led some troops to the north. It is now active in the area of Chernobyl and Pripyat. " Kirilov said thoughtfully: "I think he will lead his troops south to join our main force after he gets the information."


    "Comrade military commissar, if this is the case, we will soon be able to join general Romanov." Akhromeyev said with infinite reverie: "maybe we can see many comrades who thought they had already died."


    Akhromeyev''s words remind me of the missing bandeleyev. Although he is a little narrow-minded, he is also a very capable commander. It would be a pity if he died.


    I was just thinking about it when I heard kirilov ask me, "by the way, Rita, you haven''t answered the question that the chief of staff just asked you. When do you think our main force will attack Kiev from the north? "


    Hearing kirilov also raised this question, chisjakov did not lower his head, but turned his eyes to me, waiting for me to give you a satisfactory answer.


    I see that everyone''s eyes are focused on themselves, and I know that if they don''t make their own judgments, they will never give up.


    "Well, since everyone wants to hear my judgment, I''ll talk about it." I stood up, went to the map on the wall, picked up the stick leaning against the wall, pointed to the map and said, "comrades, during the fierce fighting between our group army and the enemy, the main force of the front army has gone north along the Dnieper River and quietly transferred to the liujieri landing site. Because of the heavy rain in recent days, the roads in many areas have turned over, which will have a great impact on the army''s progress... "


    "Well, Rita, we all know what you''re saying." Kirilov interrupted me and urged impatiently, "just tell me, according to your judgment, when the main force of the front army will attack from the north of Kiev."


    Holding the explanation stick in both hands, I looked at kirilov and said with a smile, "Comrade military commissar, you are a bit embarrassed. I am neither the commander of the front army nor the chief of staff of the front army. I don''t know when the army will launch an attack. "


    As soon as I finished, akhromeyev said respectfully, "just tell me your judgment, comrade commander."


    "Tomorrow is November 1, and there is still a week to go before the great October Festival." I faced you with a smile and said: "according to the tradition of our army, on this commemorative day, we will achieve some special results. Therefore, I boldly analyze that our army''s attack on Kiev from the north will start tomorrow and completely liberate this heroic city by November 7. "


    "It makes sense, it makes sense." As soon as I finished my words, bzikov echoed them in a loud voice: "I think the commander is very right. With the character of Marshal Zhukov, he will definitely ask the troops to liberate the city before November 7 and pay tribute to our great festival."


    "It''s all in one week until October''s birthday." "If we don''t launch an attack now, and if something happens in the middle of the attack, I think it will be very difficult for us to complete the arduous and glorious task of liberating Kiev before the 7th," chisjakov said solemnly


    "What time has the commanders, when will they launch the attack on Kiev, has the final say of the commander of the front army, and we are also going to analyze it privately." After I said these words, I immediately told akhromeyev: "major, call the observation post in the north, let them closely monitor the movements of the friendly forces, and report to the headquarters as soon as they find anything unusual."


    On hearing my somewhat puzzling order, akhromeyev asked mistily, "Comrade commander, can I ask, what is strange?"¡° Major, as you and I all know, the attack of the friendly forces on Kiev from the south is to go through the motions in order to attract the attention of the German army. " I said carefully, "if the observation finds that their attack strength against the German army has suddenly increased, for example, the artillery preparation before the attack, the number of guns used has increased, and the preparation time has been longer, these are all strange manifestations, do you understand?"¡° I see. "Akhromeyev''s mind is very easy to use. When I explain it so simply, he fully understands," I''ll call the observation center right now. " After noon, the observation post called. After receiving the call, akhromeyev came up to me and reported, "Comrade commander, the observation post reported that the friendly forces shelled the enemy''s defensive positions for an hour, and then the infantry attacked the enemy under the cover of two tank battalions."¡° Thank you, major I turned my head and said to chisgakov, who was sitting next to me, "Comrade deputy commander, it seems that our all-out attack will start tomorrow." Chisjakov was puzzled. He asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t understand. Based on a simple report from the observation post, do you know that the friendly forces will attack Kiev tomorrow?"¡° Yes, comrade deputy commander. " I explained to chisgakov, "the reason why the friendly forces in the south of Kiev make such a big move is to attract the attention of the German army and make the enemy have the illusion that our attack direction is still in the south. Then they will relax their vigilance to the north, so that our attack from liujieri landing field can catch the enemy by surprise."

 Chapter 1293

    The friendly attack from the south of Kiev continued until midnight. Standing at the window, looking at the red sky in the north, chisgakov said to me with emotion: "Comrade commander, the friendly forces have been fighting from the afternoon until now, they have a posture that they have to win Kiev. In this way, the main forces of the German army will be restrained in the south, and our attack from the north will be much more smooth."


    "It''s not true. When the friendly forces hit like this, the Germans thought that our army would win Kiev, so they pulled out their troops from all over the country to stop our army''s attack." Bezikov said: "commander tavartkiraze has just sent a telegram saying that the German army attacking korostwev from the East has stopped attacking. In addition to leaving a small number of troops to monitor our army, the rest have been returned to Kiev. "


    Hearing that bzikov mentioned korostev, chisjakov asked with concern: "chief of staff, how many troops do we still have there?"


    Bezikov shook his head and said helplessly: "at present, there are 8000 people in the three divisions, and there are nine tanks left in the tank brigade. If the German army continues to attack, it will be difficult for them to support it. "


    After bezikov finished, I asked, "chief of staff, I remember that the German army from Zhitomir attacked general talazzi killazer fiercely. How is it? Has it stopped now?"


    "It''s stopped." "According to general tavartkilaze, when the German troops from Kiev began to retreat, the attack of the western German troops stopped, and now they are slowly retreating to Zhitomir," bezikov said with a strong nod


    While we were standing at the window chatting, we suddenly heard akhromeyev calling me: "Comrade commander, your phone is from the headquarters of the front army."


    I passed by, took the microphone, stuck it to my ear and said respectfully, "Hello, senior general."


    Vatujing did not exchange greetings with me. He asked directly, "Comrade oshanina, our 27th and 40th army have been attacking Kiev for more than ten hours. What''s the situation there?"


    "The enemy in the direction of korostwev has stopped attacking and retreated to Kiev and Zhitomir respectively. And the fighting in the south is still going on southeast of cherkaser. " After a brief report on my situation, I asked tentatively, "senior general, I don''t know when our main force will launch an attack?"


    After listening to me, watujing immediately said with a smile, "I can''t hide anything from you. Marshal Zhukov asked me to tell you that the attack will start in five hours. He asked you, in any case, to block the way for the German army to flee to the West. Well, are you sure you can stop the enemy? "


    Standing very close to me, chisgakov vaguely heard the content of the phone, then shook his head at me, as if he had something to say. I quickly covered the microphone with my hand and asked in a low voice, "Comrade deputy commander, do you have anything to say?"


    Seeing that I covered the microphone with my hand, chisgakov immediately said, "Comrade commander, our troops in korostwev have suffered heavy casualties. If the Germans rush there recklessly, our troops will not be able to stop them."


    I nodded at him to show that I knew it. Then I released my hand on the microphone and said to watujing, "senior general, our troops in korostwev have been severely attacked from both directions at the same time. The troops have been greatly reduced. It is estimated that it is very difficult to block the enemy if there is no supplement."


    After listening to my difficulties, vatukin was silent for a while and said, "Comrade oshanina, I understand your situation. I''ll transfer two tank brigades and a cavalry division to your command overnight. You need to deploy them to korostwev as soon as possible. In any case, you need to completely cut off the way of the German army''s escape to the West. You must never let them join the garrison of Zhitomir. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Although vatukin only sent me two tank brigades and a chicken like cavalry division, it was better than nothing. It could increase the strength of korostwev''s garrison to some extent. So I quickly replied, "I will report to you that the Germans will never escape to Zhitomir in an organized way."


    Vatukin heard what I said, but he didn''t criticize me. Instead, he said briefly, "two tank brigade commanders and cavalry division commanders can arrive at your headquarters in an hour at most. Then you can give them orders directly."


    After I put down the phone, I couldn''t wait to ask bzikov, "chief of staff, which unit of our group army has a relatively complete organizational system?"


    Bezikov replied without thinking: "Comrade commander, at present, the organizational system of the 225th regiment of the 52nd division of the guards is the most complete. I don''t know what you want to do with this? "


    "The name of the head of the guard regiment is yershov, right?" With these words, I observed the expression of bezikov''s face. Seeing that he nodded in affirmation, I then said, "call him to the headquarters immediately. I have important tasks to give him to complete."


    Ten minutes later, commander yershov, who was fully armed, appeared in front of me. He straightened his waist and said to me with his eyes shining: "Comrade commander, commander of the 225th regiment of the guards, commander yershov, has been ordered to come. I''m waiting for your order, please give me instructions!"


    "Comrade commander, I have a glorious and arduous task to hand over to your regiment." From yelshov''s expression, I can see that he is eager to fight, but the task I want to give him is different from what he expected, so I hesitated and asked, "are you confident to complete it?"


    "Comrade commander," yershov said confidently, "you can rest assured that as long as it is your task, I will spare no effort to complete it."


    "Commander, please come here." I guided him to the map on the wall, pointed to it and said to him, "the task I gave you is to lay a shechai road from korson to korostev in two days..."


    Yeershoff was still smiling. When he heard my order, his smile froze on his face. After I finished speaking, he immediately said with a sad face: "Comrade commander, our regiment has not been able to win a battle during this period of time, and the commanders and fighters are in a mood. Now let them become engineers and pave the way, I''m afraid..."


    "What are you afraid of?" Kirilov took over and said, "Comrade commander once said," a revolutionary soldier is a brick. Where you need it, you can move it. " Since the superior has given you the task of paving the way, you should obey unconditionally. "


    Kirilov''s crackling training left yershov speechless. When kirilov finished speaking, I saw yershov look dejected, and comforted him and said, "Comrade commander, go back and tell the soldiers that the war is endless. It doesn''t mean that you have no chance to fight in the future when you are engineering soldiers now. When you get to korostwev, you will stay there for the time being under the command of general tavartkiraze and take part in the next battle. "


    Hearing that they could take part in the next battle, yershov''s head was raised again. Seeing that he was in a state of high morale again, I went on to say, "the reason why I asked you to pave this firewood road is to let our tank brigade and cavalry division go to korostwev. And along the way, you may encounter with the German army. The responsibility is not light


    "Comrade commander, you can rest assured." Yershov made clear his task and assured me, "our regiment will complete the road paving task within two days." After that, he asked, "may I go back to the army?"


    I waved to him and said, "Comrade commander, go back and let the commanders and fighters prepare more axes and ropes, which can be used when paving the road."


    "Yes Yelshov agreed loudly, then turned and walked out of the headquarters.


    More than an hour later, the tank brigade commander and cavalry division commander sent by vatugin arrived. From the three people''s clothes, I can tell the identity of each other: two commanders in black tank uniform must be the tank brigade commander; The other major general in army uniform was the cavalry division commander.


    After shaking hands with the three men one by one, I asked with concern, "I don''t know when the troops of the commanders will arrive at dacherkaser?"


    The first one who answered my question was the cavalry division commander. He frowned and said, "Comrade commander, as you know, our cavalry speed will be greatly affected because of the continuous heavy rain and the road has been damaged by the rain. I think we can arrive at noon today at the earliest."


    I know what he said is true. After nodding slightly, I turned to the other two tank commanders: "two commanders, I don''t know when your troops will arrive?"


    After the two commanders looked at each other, a burly commander stepped forward and reported to me, "Comrade commander, under the current road conditions, our tanks can''t even move faster than the infantry. I think the tank brigade will be able to cross the Dnieper River and get here as soon as tomorrow evening."


    Although all three of them are bare commanders without troops, I still called them to the map, pointed to it with a stick and said to them, "three commanders, your tank brigade and cavalry division, will start from korson, along the shuchai road we have paved, and go to korostev to strengthen the troops there."


    As soon as I finished, the cavalry division commander first asked on behalf of everyone, "Comrade commander, I don''t know when we will start?"


    "The sooner the better, of course." I pointed Kiev''s position with the explanation stick and continued: "our army''s attack on Kiev is about to start in full swing. In the face of our strong offensive, the enemy will be defeated in a very short time. At that time, they will rush down the road to Zhitomir, join the defenders there and build a new line of defense to confront our army. And your task is to cooperate with korostwev''s defenders and resolutely block the Germans so that they never have a chance to reach Zhitomir. "


    "I understand." The cavalry division commander said decisively, "when my Cavalry Division arrives, I will send my troops to korostwev day and night to strengthen the defense there."


    "Don''t be in such a hurry, Comrade General." I thought that even if the main force of the front army launched an attack from the north, it would not be possible to capture Kiev in a day or two, so I said to the cavalry division commander in a relaxed tone: "the road to korostwev is muddy. If we force the army, it will cause too much damage to the horses. If you don''t have horses, can you still be called cavalry? As long as you can get to korostev in two days


    "What about our tanks?" Asked the burly lieutenant¡° When your tanks arrive, follow this road to korostev. " I looked at the two captains and said, "the time I give you is also two days. You must arrive at korostev within the specified time. Can you do it? "¡° No problem, comrade commander. " The lieutenant commander replied, "as long as the road is laid, our tank brigade will certainly arrive in korostev on time." After daybreak, the German army, which was supposed to attack the smira defense zone every day, suddenly had no movement. Sivakov, who was commanding the battle at the front, immediately sent someone to check it. After two hours of reconnaissance, he reported to me a piece of expected information: "Comrade commander, the scout reported that the German army had given up their occupied position and was moving slowly in the direction of Alexandria and kilovgrad." After listening to this, I turned to ask the tired looking chisgakov next to me, "Comrade deputy commander, what do you think?" Chisgakov thought about it, and then replied: "Comrade commander, I guess it may be like this: the reason why the Germans rushed towards cherkaser regardless of everything a while ago was that they were ready to attack the troops assembled in the south of Kiev, cut off their back roads, destroy them or drive them back to the other side of the Dnieper River." I nodded and said with approval, "Comrade deputy commander, what you said is reasonable. Please go on."¡° I think the reason why the German army chose to retreat is that it has something to do with the attack on Kiev from the North today. The Germans may have known that the main force of our army is the one attacking from the north, so they adjusted their strategy in time. " "Now they''re going back to Alexandria to prevent general konev from making a comeback," he said, pointing with his hand on the map on the table¡° Now that the enemy has retreated, we also need to adjust our deployment. " I pointed to the map and said to bzikov, "order the 52nd, 67th and 375TH guards divisions to continue to take charge of the defense southeast of cherkaser. And the 89th and 90th divisions of the close guard will seize the time to rest and get ready to move to korostev

 Chapter 1294

    While we were having lunch, the cavalry division commander hurried into the headquarters and reported to me, "Comrade commander, my Cavalry Division has passed all of the medals on the chest of the division commander. He nuzzled his mouth and asked curiously," Comrade General, please excuse me for asking, where did you get your medal? "


    The cavalry division commander looked down at the medal on his chest. Then he looked up at chisgakov and replied with a proud face: "Comrade deputy commander, I got this medal in the battle of haraha river. At the beginning of the campaign, I was still a battalion commander. During the seven days of fighting, I led a cavalry battalion with insufficient personnel, and fought back more than 30 squadron level charges of the Japanese pirates. On the counterattack, I led the cavalry battalion to defeat an infantry brigade of the Japanese pirates. At the end of the campaign, comrade Zhukov personally awarded me the medal. "


    After listening to the glorious history of the cavalry division commander, I nodded with satisfaction. Although the cavalry division is newly established, as long as the division commander is a commander who has fought and has rich combat experience, it is enough.


    "Wonderful, comrade general, you are wonderful." After a few words of appreciation, chisgakov turned to kirilov and asked, "Comrade military commissar, can you take out your wine and let''s honor this hero of the halaha river?"


    Kirilov because of neurasthenia, sleep at night is not good, usually rely on drinking wine to help sleep. However, in order to prevent accidents, he usually does not drink. At this moment, hearing what chisjakov said, he immediately got up and went to the wall and took out a stainless steel wine pot from his briefcase hanging on the wall.


    Kirilov came over with a wine jug, poured wine into the teacups of all the people except me in turn, and then took the lead in raising the cup. After sweeping everyone with his eyes, he said aloud, "we wish Comrade General a great victory and a new meritorious service this time."


    "Win a grand victory and build a new meritorious service." Everyone echoed loudly.


    After seeing off the cavalry division commander, in order to understand the attack of the main forces of the front army in the north of Kiev, I specially called watujing to inquire about it. I didn''t expect that watujing was very busy. The messenger who answered the phone just said, "sorry, comrade commander is directing the battle. If there is nothing important, please call back later!" With that, he hung up the phone involuntarily.


    When I put down the phone, bzikov saw my dissatisfied face and asked, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? I didn''t get through?"


    I gave a wry smile and said, "the signalman said that the senior general is commanding the battle and that there is nothing important. Let me not disturb him."


    "What?" Don''t zikov listen to me, immediately anxious: "which signalman said that? I''ll call the chief of staff of the front army and ask him to teach this impolite guy a lesson. " Then he would reach for the phone.


    I quickly raised my hand to stop him, and asked, "chief of staff, how is the paving of the 225th regiment of the guards going?"


    When he heard my question, bzikov immediately forgot to trouble the signalman. He reported to me: "Lieutenant Colonel yershov just called a few minutes ago and said that his regiment had finished laying 15 kilometers of road. He asked me to tell you that they will be able to finish the task within the time limit


    "What about the tanks?" I then asked, "have the tanks of those two brigades arrived?"


    "No," bezikov said with some regret, "according to the report of the pontoon garrison, so far, no signs of tank troops have been seen. Now I''m worried that the German army will lose so fast that they won''t even have a chance to fight. "


    "Don''t worry, chief of staff. The battle to liberate Kiev will not end so soon. If the Germans are not willing to lose, they will resist frantically. Without four or five days, our army will not be able to occupy the city. "


    With that, I walked quickly to akhromeyev, who was sitting by the wall, and said to him in a loud voice, "major, send a telegram to general tavartkiraze and ask him how things are going there?"


    Akhromeyev stood up, picked up a telegram from the table and handed it to me. At the same time, he said: "Comrade commander, general tavartkiraze has just sent a telegram saying that the enemy in Kiev has not moved at all except the German army in the direction of Zhitomir. It is estimated that he has been restrained by the attack of our main force."


    Chisgakov heard akhromeyev''s words, came over, took the telegram from my hand, read it carefully, and then said to me excitedly, "Comrade commander, this is good news. As long as the German forces in Kiev do not attack, we only need to set up some guard forces in the east of korostwev and concentrate the main force in the west to fight against the enemy from Zhitomir. "


    "Although the German forces in the direction of Kiev are unable to attack korostwev because they are too busy to do so, we should not take it lightly." Staring at the big map on the wall, I said, "if we only leave a small number of troops to monitor and guard the direction of Kiev, once the German army retreats to the West on a large scale and we rush to deploy our troops for defense, it will cause chaos."


    "But, comrade commander..." chisjakov said uneasily, but as soon as he spoke, I raised my hand and interrupted him. I looked at him and said, "I expect that the cavalry division will arrive at korostwev by noon tomorrow, so that general tavartkilaze will have enough troops in his hand to make a reasonable deployment."


    As we were talking, the telephone on the table in the middle of the room rang. I quickly walked over and picked up the phone. I heard vatukin''s voice: "Hello, is that oshanina? Did you call me just now? "


    "Yes, Comrade General." I respectfully replied, "I just called you, but the messenger who answered the phone said you were commanding the battle, so I didn''t disturb you."


    Vatujing heard what I was saying and was afraid that I was in any mood. He said a good word for the messenger: "yes, comrade oshanina, I did tell the messenger that when I was busy, it was not an important phone call, so don''t take it in. Don''t worry about it!"


    I didn''t get entangled in this matter. I took the opportunity to ask, "senior general, can I ask, how are we progressing?"


    On hearing my question, vatukin said in a good mood: "it''s going very well. General rebalko''s tank group army, covering the 47th group army, has broken through the German army''s three lines of defense in a row and has reached a place five kilometers away from the northern suburb of the city. I think as long as there is no accident, we can rush into the northern suburbs before noon tomorrow. "


    "Then, does the friendly attack in the south of the city need to continue?" As soon as he finished, I immediately said, "to be exact, do they need to continue to contain the German forces in the south of the city?"


    "That''s for sure." Vatujing''s tone suddenly became serious: "if we stop attacking the south of the city at this time, then the enemy can calmly deploy troops to strengthen the north line of defense."


    I couldn''t bear to think of the heavy casualties and fruitless attack in the south of the city, so I said, "Comrade General, can I make a suggestion?"


    Vatukin said magnanimously, "o''shanina, say it. If you have any ideas, just say it."


    "At present, the 27th and 40th army groups deployed in the south of Kiev have suffered heavy casualties. If they continue to attack like this, many troops may be wiped out." In order not to let the friendly commanders and fighters die in vain, I risked offending vatukin and said boldly: "in fact, to contain the German army, it is not necessary to launch attacks on the enemy''s positions again and again. We just need to put our troops where the enemy can see them. Even if we don''t take any military action, it can also have a deterrent effect on the German army and make them dare not act rashly. "


    After a long silence, vatukin said slowly, "Comrade oshanina, the strategy of attacking Kiev from the south to contain the German forces was formulated by Marshal Zhukov and reported to the Supreme Commander for approval. I don''t have the right to ask the troops in the south to stop attacking. I have to ask Marshal Zhukov about this. "


    When watujing was about to hang up the phone, he suddenly thought of another thing and quickly added: "by the way, I almost forgot to tell you one more thing. From now on, the two newly equipped tank brigades will be officially put under the command of the Fifth Army of close guard tanks."


    Speaking of the tank army, I immediately thought that Kravchenko was wounded in the battle two days ago, so I couldn''t command the army at all, so I quickly reported this to vatujing: "Comrade General, general Kravchenko, commander of the Fifth Army of the close guard tank, was wounded. I don''t know who will take his place?"


    "The Fifth Army of close guard tanks is your army. You can decide who will take over the post of commander by yourself." After pausing for a moment, watujing said, "by the way, I remember that major general belei, the commander of the 33rd army of tanks, is now the deputy commander of the 5th army of guard tanks. He can take over the post of commander."


    As soon as I put down the phone, I immediately told akhromeyev: "major, call general bere immediately and let him report to the headquarters!"


    When akhromeyev called, I turned to ask bzikov, "chief of staff, what''s the situation in the southeast of smira? Is there any news from the enemy?"


    "No, after the German army stopped attacking, some retreated to Alexandria and some returned to kilovgrad." "In the short term, it is impossible for the enemy to launch a new attack on smira or cherkaser," bezikov replied clearly


    Major general bielei arrived at the headquarters more than ten minutes later. I went forward to hold his hand and said in a friendly way, "Comrade General, you have worked hard. If it wasn''t for the two tank brigades under your command, which have dealt a severe blow to the German offensive forces these days, they might have broken through smira''s direction. "


    Although he didn''t know why I said that, he replied according to the regulations: "serve the Soviet motherland!"


    "I can see that you have done a good job." Kirilov stood up and held out his hand to bere. "Your tank brigade has made a great contribution to our ability to defend smira."


    "Comrade General, how many active tanks are left in the tank brigade?" I think that in a short period of time, the German army may not be able to launch an attack from our southeast direction, and the tank brigade has no meaning to stay here. It''s better to send them to korostwev to take up the task of cutting off the traffic line between Kiev and Zhitomir. But before that, I want to know what the current strength of the tank brigade is.


    Berey frowned and thought about it, then replied, "Comrade commander, after a long battle, the tank brigade has lost a lot of tanks. At present, there are only 80 tanks in the two brigades, all of which are T-34."

 Chapter 1295

    "Eighty tanks, if used for defense, are enough; If it''s used to attack, it''s too little. " After I said these two words, I officially announced the appointment of bere: "general bere, from now on, you will officially take over the post of commander of the Fifth Army of the close guard tank. At the same time, I will assign my superiors to our two tank brigades and give them to you for command."


    "Great, that''s great." When bielei heard that he had taken over the post of commander of the Fifth Army of the close guard tank, he immediately expressed his position to me excitedly and said, "as long as these two tank brigades join in, no matter how many enemies come, we can crush them."


    "No, don''t, General Ray, you misunderstood me." Chisgakov came up to him and said, "the reason why we give you two additional tank brigades is not to let you help the infantry block the German attack near smira. Our artillery can do that. We have called you here today to send your troops to korostrev. "


    "To korostrov?" After hearing this place name, berey was shocked. "Comrade deputy commander, it''s a small city. Five tank brigades are crowded in a narrow city. As long as they are bombed by German planes, they are in danger of being destroyed."


    "Don''t worry about that, general ray." In order to dispel his doubts, I gave him a brief introduction of the main force''s attack on Kiev from the north, and then said: "judging from the current situation, the Germans can not hold out for a few days in Kiev. Once they can''t support it, they will try their best to break through the encirclement to the West and join the garrison of Zhitomir. At such a time, the troops who stick to korostwev will be under great pressure. The reason why I sent the whole tank army is not only for defense, but also for you to organize the tank army to carry out counter attack against the German army when it is appropriate. Do you understand? "


    "I see!" Don''t ray nodded his head and said with a little pride: "Comrade commander, don''t forget that when I used to command a tank brigade, I dared to counterattack the dominant German armored division, not to mention now there are five tank brigades. You can rest assured that I will command the troops to beat the enemy to pieces. "


    When bielei left the headquarters, biezikov said to me anxiously, "Comrade commander, do you think general bielei is a little confident? We should know that in the face of the fierce German offensive, all our tank armies were defeated, not to mention that he had only one tank army? "


    If bezikov had been in the combat forces for a long time, he might not have asked such layman questions. Chisjakov, the old ginger, grinned when he heard that, and then said to bzikov, "Comrade chief of staff, you are too worried. I admit that the situation you just mentioned does exist. However, in the past, our tank army was defeated by the enemy because the enemy was stronger than us. Now, we are far superior to the enemy in terms of both strength and weaponry. It is very difficult for the enemy to defeat us again. "


    "But just a few days ago, the German army also defeated general konev''s troops?" Some unconvinced, bzikov retorted: "in terms of military strength, general konev''s forces far exceeded those of the German aggressors, but he did not escape the fate of being defeated in the end."


    "Chief of staff, you don''t know." Seeing that the two continued to talk, it was possible for them to quarrel. I quickly came out to make it over: "it was the elite German troops that defeated general konev. The enemy they are facing, general bere, is nothing more than a rout from Kiev. Therefore, I firmly believe that our troops in korostwev can not only block the enemy, but also teach them a lesson that will never be forgotten. "


    The main forces of the front army have made great progress in attacking Kiev from both the north and the south. The 27th group army and the 40th group army, which had always been difficult to form an effective breakthrough in the south, finally broke through the German seven lines of defense and occupied obukeshiv, leaving only the last 15 kilometers from Kiev.


    After clearing the German positions on the north side of Kiev, the northern troops rushed into Kiev in several ways and opened a street battle with the German forces in the city. The German army, which held fast to the city, resisted tenaciously by relying on buildings and fortifications, so that our army had to pay a few or even a dozen casualties every time we went further. But even so, the officers and men of the 38th and 60th army who rushed into the city seized buildings and streets from the German hands.


    The fighting continued into the afternoon, and the enemy''s resistance began to weaken. It''s not that their casualties were so great that there were not enough troops to guard the defensive positions, but that they received orders from Manstein, and in order to avoid being encircled, the troops began to retreat to the West in an orderly way.


    Shortly after the beginning of the German retreat, the commander-in-chief of korostwev, general TA kiraz, sent me a telegram, which was very simple: "the German army has begun to break through!"


    When I saw the telegram, I immediately told akhromeyev, "major, record my orders. General tavartkiraze, I command you, in any case, to hold back the enemy firmly so that they can not rush through korostwev and reach Zhitomir to join the defenders there. Tell the soldiers not to be merciful to the enemy in battle, because they will not be merciful to you. They should resolutely and decisively destroy the enemy... "


    When akhromeyev went to send the telegram, I picked up the high frequency telephone on my desk and dialed the headquarters of the front army. In order to avoid repeating the same mistake this time, as soon as I got through the phone, I immediately indicated my identity: "I''m oshanina, commander of the sixth group army of Jinwei. I have something to report to general watujing."


    "It''s Rita A friendly voice came from the phone. After a few seconds of hesitation, I immediately identified the speaker, Khrushchev, military Commissioner of the front army. He continued: "Comrade watujing is talking to the commander at the front line, and can''t answer your call for the time being. Please let me know if you have anything important."


    "Yes, comrade military Commissar." Although Khrushchev''s tone was very easygoing, I said in a business way: "I have just received a report from korostvev''s garrison. The Germans in Kiev have begun to break through."


    "What, the Germans are breaking out?" Khrushchev was startled by the sudden news. After a moment''s silence, he said decisively to me, "Rita, don''t hang up. I''ll report this important news to Comrade vatukin immediately."


    When I didn''t have much time, I heard watujing''s voice coming out of the receiver: "Hello, comrade oshanina, are all the things you just said true?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." I respectfully reported that "it was general tavart killazer himself who sent me a telegram saying that the German army in Kiev had begun to make a great breakthrough westward."


    "Did you know the name of the German army that broke through the encirclement?" Then vatukin asked.


    "I''m sorry, comrade commander. General tavartkilaze only reported to me that the German army began to rush to korostwev. Since there was no battle yet, we can''t figure out the number of the retreating German army for the time being. "


    "Comrade oshanina, please tell your officers and men that they should resolutely block the German soldiers who fled to the West and stop them at all costs." "I''ll order the first cavalry of the guards to quickly cross the city to hunt down the German troops who have withdrawn from Kiev," vatukin said firmly


    After I finished talking with vatujing, I immediately went up to lophov and asked him, "major, is there any way for your communication department to establish a telephone contact with korostvev in the shortest possible time?"


    "No, comrade commander." "We can''t lay such a long telephone line in a short time because the road to korostvev is too complicated," lophov replied with a sad face


    I pointed to the telephone set on the table and asked, "how about this one? Can I talk to general tavart killazer directly?"


    When I asked, lophov''s tears almost came down. "Comrade commander, we are more than 100 kilometers away from korostwev, which is beyond the effective communication range."


    "What can we do? Can we only get in touch with general tavartkiraze by telegram?" "In this way, the communication speed is too slow, and it may delay the fighter plane," I asked discontentedly


    "No way, comrade commander." Lophov shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands and said helplessly: "in the present situation, telegram is the only way for us to contact korostwev."


    "Well, since you can only contact by telegraph, you should immediately record my order and send it to general tavartkiraze." I see that when lophoff is ready, he begins to dictate the order "... That your department should resolutely block the German troops who are trying to flee to Zhitomir. Commander vatujing will send the first army of close guard cavalry to follow him in the shortest time. As long as you can stop the enemy in the east of korostwev, as soon as the cavalry arrives, your two troops will be able to annihilate the German army completely.... "


    Not long after the telegram was sent, tavartkiraze''s reply arrived. He wrote in the telegram: "the German breakout forces, under the cover of tanks, are making a fierce impact on the position of the 71st division of the guards. Our commanders and fighters are fighting to the death with the enemy. The tank army and cavalry division are assembling behind the division''s line of defense. When the enemy''s attack fails, we will launch a comprehensive counterattack. "


    "Comrade General, I agree with you." As for the counterattack mentioned by tavartkilazer, I did not hesitate to express my support. I also specially reminded him in the telegram: "while concentrating the main forces to defend the German troops breaking through the encirclement in the East, we should still maintain sufficient vigilance in the west, so that the German dogs can jump over the wall and send out the garrison of Zhitomir to meet the German troops breaking through the encirclement in Kiev."


    When the telegram was sent, it was like a dead sea, and there was no more movement. In the middle of the journey, vatukin called several times to ask about korostwev''s direction. I could only prevaricate on the ground that I had not received the latest war report for the time being. It was not until late in the evening that general tavartkiraze''s telegram arrived.


    It was said that it was a telegram from korostvev. Chisjakov rushed over and took the telegram from lophov in front of akhromeyev. After looking at it for a while, his face was full of joy. When I saw his expression, I knew that it must be good news, otherwise he would not be so impolite, so I asked with a smile, "Comrade deputy commander, you are so happy. The telegram must have said good news?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." "It''s not just good news, it''s great news. Our troops have won one battle," he said with a smile¡° Come on, comrade deputy commander, don''t play the game. " When he heard of the good news, even kirilov, who had always been calm, could not hold his breath at the moment. He urged, "please read the contents of the telegram to everyone."¡° Well, let me read to you the telegram sent by general tavartkilaze. "After that, chisjakov read aloud:" after the German attack was repulsed, all the tanks were destroyed. It was in this case that we counterattacked the German army. In the battle, the tanks of the Fifth Army of the close guard tanks were in a dense formation. They did not fire at all, but directly rolled over the German troops. And our cavalry followed. They were responsible for chasing and destroying the German soldiers who had fled. Our tanks were crushing the enemy. The tank knocked over the enemy''s truck and rolled it over from the truck and carriage. It was like crushing matchboxes one by one, crushing the enemy''s officers and soldiers and flattery into meat mud. " After reading this passage, chisgakov could not help but say with emotion: "it''s wonderful. This battle is really wonderful. Seeing such war reports, I can''t help but want to go to the front line in person to command an army and fight with the German army General tavartkilaze''s report was gratifying, but I didn''t take it lightly. Then I asked, "Comrade deputy commander, what''s the situation in Zhitomir? Is there any news from the German army?"¡° No, comrade commander. " After glancing at the telegraph, chisgakov looked up at me and said, "general tavartkiraze has reported that the enemy on the western front has not moved at all. Perhaps our tenacious resistance a few days ago has deterred the Germans, so that they can only nest in their positions and dare not compete with our army. "¡° Although the German army did not move, it could not relax its vigilance. " I said to chisgakov solemnly, "once the Germans rush to korostwev, then our defense line will collapse completely."

 Chapter 1296

    I just urged lophov to send a telegram to tavartkilaze, reminding him to keep a close watch on the German movement in the direction of Zhitomir, so as not to be caught off guard and cause the whole defense line to collapse. When the man left the telephone, bzikov, who was sitting at the table, called out to me in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, your number."


    When I went over and took the phone from bzikov''s hand, he told me in a low voice, "it''s commander vatukin himself."


    When vatukin heard my voice, he immediately asked, "Comrade oshanina, did your troops stationed in korostwev counterattack the German breakout forces?"


    As soon as I heard watujing''s question, the first thing I thought of was that he was going to honor our troops. He quickly replied, "yes, Comrade General. After our troops beat back the German charge and destroyed all the tanks, the Cavalry Division launched a comprehensive counterattack against the enemy, led by the Fifth Army of close guard tanks. In the battle, more than 2000 enemies died under the tracks of our tanks... "


    After listening to me patiently, vatukin suddenly said, "do you know that your counterattack broke the dream of German retreat safely. Except for a few scattered soldiers who fled into the nearby forest, their main force turned back to Kiev."


    The German army found that the way to break through was blocked by our army and was forced to return to Kiev. This is the most normal thing. I can''t understand why vatukin asked this question at all. So I hesitated for a moment, and replied, "yes, the enemy found that they could not break through our defense line, so they would have to return to Kiev temporarily, readjust their deployment, and choose a new direction to break through."


    "Although your decisive action smashed the German breakout, but..." I heard vatukin''s words with "although... But", and I cried in my heart, but I couldn''t figure out where the problem was. He continued: "but the enemy, who was defeated by you, rushed to Kiev in desperation and crushed the vanguard of the first cavalry army of the close guard."


    If someone else is in front of me and talks about the cavalry being washed down by infantry, I''m sure it''s a big fan. On the plain, when the infantry meets the cavalry, it''s the lamb to be slaughtered. It''s a daydream that they want to defeat the cavalry. But at the moment, this is what watujing said, so I have to consider it carefully. After all, he can''t joke with me on this matter.


    Seeing that I did not speak for a long time, vatukin continued: "the speed of the cavalry could not be improved because the road was full of bricks and stones. You should know that the cavalry in this case is the enemy''s live target. The enemy hid behind the ruins and opened fire on our commanders and fighters on horseback. In just ten minutes, the vanguard cavalry battalion lost two companies. "


    When I heard that from watujing, I was more and more confused. I thought that I would be praised by my superiors if I won a big battle, but now it seems that it has become an extravagant hope. I don''t know what watujing will say next, so I can only ask stubbornly, "senior general, what shall we do next?"


    Watujing sighed and said, "if your counterattack can last a few hours at night, maybe our troops will be able to drive the enemy out of the city. In this way, on the open plain, we can easily wipe them out through field operations. But now, seeing that there is no hope of breaking through, they may have to stay in the city. In this way, it may be difficult for our troops to liberate Kiev in two or three days. "


    From what he said, I can see that the Supreme Command hopes that the first front army of Ukraine can liberate Kiev before November 7 as a gift to the great October Revolution. I tried my best to recall this period of history. It seems that Kiev was liberated by vatukin''s troops in these two days. However, whether the present history will be changed because of my appearance is in my mind.


    The joy of knowing that our troops were to the east of korostwev and had been badly damaged by the breakout of the German army has long gone. I began to think about whether there is any way to prevent a greater degree of deviation in history. After a short time of thinking, I solemnly asked vatukin, "Comrade General, do you think we should let the Fifth Army of the close guard tanks, following the retreating enemy, rush into Kiev and attack the friendly forces back and forth?"


    My proposal obviously moved vatukin so much that he was silent for a long time. But at last he sighed again and said, "Oh, No. The tank troops can not play a big role in the city, but are easy to suffer unnecessary losses. They are still allowed to stay in korostwev to ensure that the enemy can not escape to the city through the road between Kiev and Zhitomir, adding trouble to our next attack. "


    It''s said that vatukin doesn''t intend to let the Fifth Army of close guard tanks enter Kiev to fight. I can''t help but feel a sigh of relief. If the only tank troops in my hand are really transferred away, it will be difficult to stick to korostwev. So I pushed the boat along the river and said, "well, comrade general, since you say so, I will resolutely obey your orders!"


    After I put down the phone, bzikov immediately asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what did commander watujing say on the phone? When I just answered the phone, I felt that he was in a bit of a bad mood."


    I gave bzikov a hard look and said to myself, why don''t you remind me if you can hear that vatukin is in a bad mood? I thought he called to praise us for our successful counterattack in korostwev. I coughed a little, tried to control my emotions, and said: "the senior general said that the enemy who was defeated by our army in korostwev fled back to Kiev and broke down the first army of the close guard cavalry following them..."


    As soon as I said that, chisjakov, who was drinking water, choked and coughed violently. Akhromeyev, who was standing nearby, quickly came forward and patted his back gently. After stopping coughing, chisgakov turned back to ahlomeyev, gave him a smile, then looked at me and said, "Damn, how can cavalry be washed down by infantry? It''s a myth. "


    As vatukin was not very clear when he mentioned this matter, I could only say vaguely in the face of chisjakov''s Questioning: "according to the senior general, the cavalry camp, as the vanguard, encountered the German army when it was passing through the ruins. The enemy hid behind the ruins and fired at the soldiers on horseback. As a result, within a short period of time, the cavalry battalion lost two companies


    "What is the task that commander watujing has given our group army?" Then chisgakov asked.


    "Let''s continue to control the road between Kiev and Zhitomir, and never let the enemy escape to Zhitomir through the road." After I said this, I immediately asked akhromeyev: "major, I''ll send a phone call to tavartkiraze and tell him to do everything possible to resolutely cut off the contact between Kiev and Zhitomir. In order to be on the safe side, a tank battalion was immediately drawn from the Fifth Army of the close guard tanks to strengthen the direction of Zhitomir. "


    Then I said to chisgakov and bezikov, "deputy commander, chief of staff, after the liberation of Kiev, I estimate that our next combat target is Zhitomir, so I plan to send reconnaissance troops to investigate the deployment of German forces in the region. Do you have any different opinions?"


    They shook their heads neatly, then said in one voice, "no, I totally agree with you."


    Seeing that they did not object to my proposal, I told bzikov: "chief of staff, I will give you full responsibility for sending the reconnaissance team to Zhitomir. We must find out as soon as possible the German forces in Zhitomir and their defensive deployment, so that we can work out a comprehensive offensive plan based on these intelligence. "


    As far as I know later, while I was arranging the deployment, vatukin was not idle. In order to win Kiev as soon as possible and pay a tribute to the October Revolution, he put general rebalko''s guard tanks, the reserves of the third group army and the main force of the 38th group army into battle, and asked them to eliminate the German army in Kiev as soon as possible.


    Under the strict order of vatukin, the troops who rushed into the city of Kiev launched a fierce attack on the German army, who resisted tenaciously relying on the fortifications. From the map marked by akhromeyev according to the war reports he received, I can see that our army is nibbling away at the German defense area from the East and the north. By the late night of November 5, Kiev was still under the control of the German army except in the southwest. The rest of Kiev had been occupied by our army.


    After staring at the city defense map in front of him which can reflect the latest war situation for a long time, chisgakov raised his head and asked in surprise: "Comrade commander, if I remember correctly, you led the 79th infantry army and a tank unit of general rebalko to take Kiev overnight, right?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." I nodded my head and answered positively, "although our troops are much smaller than they are now, the number of defenders in the city is much smaller. They are scattered in all parts of the city, and the troops become even weaker, so that we can defeat them individually."


    "Even if it''s like this, it can liberate a big city like Kiev overnight," chisgakov said with a smile. "It''s enough to go down in history."


    "In fact, we can liberate Kiev overnight because of a lot of luck." When I heard chisjakov''s praise, I was not overjoyed. Instead, I analyzed to him the reason why we were able to capture Kiev quickly at that time: "before the attack, our army made preparations to cross the Dnieper River from kaniv to join the main forces of the front army, which also made the enemy relax their vigilance, so that our defense was lax and gave us an opportunity to take advantage of it, That''s the easy way to take Kiev.


    The situation in this battle to liberate Kiev is much more complicated. In order to prevent our army from attacking, the German army not only accumulated heavy troops in Kiev, but also strengthened the original fortifications. That''s why our army has been attacking from the south for half a month in a row, and still has not made any progress after making great sacrifices. "


    After I finished, chisjakov looked at the map again and asked thoughtfully, "Comrade commander, do you think our troops can take Kiev tomorrow?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, I think there is no problem." Before I finished, kirilov broke in and said, "although I''m a layman in military, judging from the situation of the enemy and ourselves marked on this map, our troops will be able to liberate Kiev before noon tomorrow."


    "Tomorrow at noon?" "Comrade military commissar, although the area occupied by the German army is only a small area in the southwest of the city, it is not so easy for our army to nibble at this area," chisjakov said in surprise Staring at the area still occupied by the German army, I said slowly, "I think what the military commissar said is reasonable. The area controlled by the enemy now is only so large. Even if we don''t send troops to attack and cover it with artillery fire, we can clear all the enemies here." Although I said that, I was worried about the residents in this area. If watujing really covered this area with artillery fire, it would be the result of burning jade and stone. According to our estimation, the troops fighting in Kiev will not be able to liberate the largest city on the Dnieper River until at least noon. Unexpectedly, as dawn broke, akhromeyev came up to us with a telegram and said excitedly, "good news! hot wire! The battle report just came from the headquarters of the front army. At five o''clock this morning, Kiev was occupied by our army, and the remaining German troops laid down their arms and surrendered to us. Among the thousands of captives, there were 17 officers above the regiment level in the 7th and 13th infantry armies. "¡° That''s great. That''s great! " Hearing the good news, bezikov immediately slapped the table, stood up and said excitedly, "we have finally liberated Kiev from the hands of the Germans." After walking back and forth two times in the room, he stopped and said to me, "Comrade commander, we should report this good news to the commanders and fighters of the whole group army, so that this great victory can boost their morale."¡° I agree. " Kirilov, who is in charge of political work, first expressed his support: "I''ll ask the political commissars of divisions to call and ask them to arrange political workers to tell every soldier the good news."¡° Comrade military commissar, about informing the whole army of our liberation of Kiev, "when I saw kirilov volunteering to take charge of this matter, I said to him with a smile," I will give you full responsibility. " Then I said to chisgakov and bezikov, "Kiev has been liberated, so the next city we want to liberate is Zhitomir. If I guess correctly, our group army will be the main force in this offensive. You should seize the time to work out a combat plan. As soon as the superior''s operational order is given, we can launch an attack on Zhitomir. "

 Chapter 1297

    After reading the telegram, kirilov unexpectedly told akhromeyev: "major, find a way to find a radio, let''s listen to the voice from Moscow, watch the heart of our great motherland, and prepare to celebrate this hard won great victory!"


    Since the successful liberation of Belgorod and Aurel, the supreme command decided to celebrate the victory by firing salutes, which has become a convention. Kiev is the capital of Ukraine. After the liberation of such an important city, the standard of celebration is naturally incomparable with that of Belgorod, Kharkov and oriol.


    Therefore, kirilov''s proposal has been unanimously agreed by all. Bezikov even gave advice to the other party: "major, you go to the residence of the former senior German commander to try your luck. They have the habit of listening to the radio. You should find the radio where they live."


    Akhromeyev is very efficient. Just after half an hour or so, I heard his joyful voice outside the door: "Comrade commander, the radio has been found."


    As soon as his voice fell, I saw him come in with two soldiers carrying a half man high radio. Akhromeyev also kept reminding the soldiers: "be careful, don''t damage it. The place by the wall is spacious, so put the radio there! "


    After turning on the radio, after a loud current, I finally heard a thick bass voice: "please pay attention, please pay attention, Moscow is broadcasting, Moscow is broadcasting..."


    "It''s a voice from Moscow!" "Maybe we can still hear Comrade Stalin''s speech later," said akhromeyev, who stood by the radio to adjust the frequency


    "Be quiet, comrade major." "You are so noisy that we can''t hear what''s on the radio," chisjakov said sternly


    In fact, the voice from the radio is very loud. Even if akhromeyev keeps talking, we can hear what the announcer says clearly. This is just a way to let off his excitement.


    "... all male and female citizens of the Soviet Union, according to the war report of the Soviet intelligence agency, at 5 a.m. today, November 6, our troops of the first front army of Ukraine successfully liberated Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. This city, known as the" mother of Russian cities "and known as the" imperial city "on the Dnieper River, has returned to the embrace of the motherland


    Kiev, a city with numerous legends, was liberated from the hands of the bandits by the troops under the command of general oshanina in February this year. But later, because of the great disparity between the enemy and our forces, the city fell into the clutches of the German army again... "


    "Rita, do you hear me?" Kirilov came close to me and whispered, "radio in Moscow is talking about our liberation of Kiev."


    I nodded, and as I was about to speak, I saw lophoff coming with a telegram in his hand. From the serious expression on his face, I knew something important. I stood up and asked, "major, what''s the matter?"


    "Comrades commander," said lophov, handing me the telegram in his hand. "This is the telegram that captain travkin has just sent back."


    I took the telegram to my eyes and scanned it carefully. After reading the content, I could not help frowning. Seeing my reaction after reading the telegram, chisjakov couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade commander, what''s the new discovery of the reconnaissance team?"


    I sent the telegram to chisgakov and said, "Captain travkin reports that they have found a secret German base in the Forest east of Zhitomir. After their observation, every few hours, there will be a convoy of more than a dozen covered trucks, driving into the base along the simple road in the forest, stopping for about an hour, and then returning along the original road. Because there are armored cars and motorcycles at the front and back of the convoy, they can''t figure out what the convoy is carrying. "


    After reading the phone, chisgakov frowned and thought for a while, then tentatively said, "Comrade commander, do you think the forest will be the German Arsenal? These motorcades are going to transport weapons and ammunition. "


    I immediately shook my head and denied his conjecture: "impossible, comrade deputy commander. If the armory is located in the forest, it will be very inconvenient for the German army to collect it. They will not do such thankless things. "


    "But if it wasn''t for arms, what would it be?" Asked chisgakov.


    Before I could tell why, bzikov cut in and asked, "comrades commander, what are you talking about?"


    Chisgakov shoved the telegram to him, and suddenly found that the news broadcast on the radio did not know when it turned into pleasant music. He asked curiously, "hell, how is the news broadcast over?"


    Bezikov looked down at the telegram and replied: "at 12 noon, Moscow will salute with 320 guns in red square, firing 24 times to celebrate the great victory of the liberation of Kiev."


    When he had finished reading the telegram, he exclaimed in surprise, "my God, how did you find the secret German base in the Forest east of Zhitomir?"


    "Chief of staff," I said to him with a wry smile, "just now the deputy commander and I were discussing what was in this secret German base?"


    "Arsenal?" As soon as bezikov said this conjecture, he immediately vetoed it: "impossible, the German army will never build such an important facility as the Arsenal within the scope of our artillery attack. Although our troops in korostwev are not equipped with enough artillery, the fire of the Fifth Army of the close guard tank can also turn the forest here into a sea of fire. "


    "I think it''s better to send a strong fighting force to capture this secret base than to make a wild guess here." After reading the telegram, kirilov immediately expressed his opinion: "as long as we occupy this base, then what''s inside will be clear at a glance?"


    "That''s right, but before we take offensive action, we must first let them know how many troops the enemy has." After I released my opinion, I directly told lophoff: "major, send a telegram to the captain immediately, so that he must find out the strength of this secret base in the shortest time."


    When lophov went to send a telegram, I turned around and asked bzikov, "chief of staff, apart from the yershov regiment which paved the way, which other army has stronger combat effectiveness?"


    "The sixth infantry regiment of the guards, which belongs to the Fifth Army of the guards tank, has been stationed in the Kesong area, and they have not participated in any combat yet." "Do you want to send them to attack?" he asked tentatively


    "The chief of staff''s proposal is good." Chisgakov immediately agreed: "after the sixth mopping regiment of the guards leaves, the defense of Koson can be replaced by the commanders and fighters of the guerrillas."


    I nodded and asked, "chief of staff, when will the mob get to captain travkin''s area if it leaves now?"


    "The speed of our motor vehicles has been greatly improved because the roads leading to korostev are paved with bunches of firewood." After a simple calculation, bezikov replied to me: "if there is no encounter and battle on the road with the German army, they should arrive at their destination within three hours."


    I was relieved to hear that from bzikov, and then I said to chisgakov with a smile, "Comrade deputy commander, it took at least two days to get from us to korostev a week or two ago. I didn''t expect that after the road was repaired, the time would be shortened to a few hours. "


    "Yes Chisjakov also said with emotion: "in this way, we can mobilize our troops more quickly and strike hard at the enemy." After that, he hesitated for a moment, and then asked me, "do you need to report to the front command immediately about the secret base?"


    "Not for the time being." I shook my head and rejected chisgakov''s proposal: "we don''t know what''s stored in this German base at present. It''s better to report to the headquarters of the front army after occupying this base. "


    An hour later, we received a telegram from travkin. He reported that after their efforts, they quietly approached the German base and found that it was an underground base. There were two platoons of German troops guarding the entrance outside, and the forces inside the base were unknown.


    After reading the telegram, bzikov immediately said excitedly, "Comrade commander, it seems that the enemy forces are not many. Even if the number of troops inside the base is twice that outside, it''s only two companies. We''ve sent out an elite bodyguard mob of more than 2000 people. Even if we step on them with our feet, we can trample them all to death. "


    I thought about it and then replied, "chief of staff, for the sake of safety, I suggest that the 225th regiment of the guards of lieutenant colonel yershov be put into action as well. There should be no problem for the two regiments to take this secret German base. "


    When he heard what I said, chisgakov couldn''t help laughing: "Comrade commander, you are too cautious. The German army has only two companies at most, that is, four hundred men, but you have mobilized more than ten times of them to attack. It''s really a bit of killing chickens with a bull''s knife."


    "Comrade deputy commander," I said to chisjakov with a smile after he finished saying, "the goshawk needs all his strength to fight the rabbit, not to mention that we have to deal with the German armed to the teeth. If it wasn''t for the limited number of troops in hand, I would even like to use a division to attack this small group of enemies. "


    At two o''clock in the afternoon, the attack on the secret base in the forest officially began.


    At the beginning of the battle, the battle went smoothly. One of yershov''s battalions quickly wiped out the German troops outside the base and launched a fierce attack on the base. After a short period of confusion, the German army closed the gate of the base and began to resist tenaciously by using the ready-made fortifications.


    Neither the 225th regiment nor the 6th mobu regiment were equipped with enough weapons to attack the enemy. As a result, they were helpless in the face of the German fortifications. They launched four attacks in a row. Except for more than 300 commanders and fighters falling outside the base, they didn''t even get close to the gate of the base.


    Knowing that the attack ahead was not going well, I asked lophov to send a telegram to yershov, ordering him to stop the attack temporarily and wait for the arrival of the attack weapons before reorganizing the attack.


    After sending the telegram, I ordered a group of 40 rocket launchers to be mobilized from the 89th division of the guards and immediately transported to the fighting area. Of course, in this case, I could not stay in the headquarters, so I took busmanov and a company of guards to the Forest east of Zhitomir with the convoy of rocket launchers. After three hours of bumping on the road, I finally arrived at yershov''s headquarters before dark. As soon as I entered the headquarters, I saw yershov and another lieutenant commander sitting at the table, big eyed and small eyed. He took the initiative to say: "Hello, comrades in command!"¡° Hello, comrade commander Hearing my voice, they jumped up from their seats and raised their hands to salute me. After shaking hands with them one by one, I asked, "two comrades in charge, what''s the situation now?"¡° After receiving your telegram, I have ordered the troops to stop attacking. " "I surrounded the entrance of the base with two battalions, and organized troops to search in the forest to make sure there was no other exit from the base," yelshov replied¡° Comrade commander, "said another lieutenant commander after yelshov," the enemy''s fortifications are too strong. If they don''t destroy them, our offensive troops will become their targets. We have organized several demolition teams to prepare for the demolition of the gate of the base, but they have all been lost. "¡° Don''t worry, I gave you a batch of 40 rocket launchers I said to them, "the soldiers can kill the enemy''s firepower one by one from 200 meters away. After all the firepower points have been eliminated, the gate will be opened with a rocket launcher. Do you understand? "¡° I see The two commanders replied in unison. The battle began again twenty minutes later. This time, our army did not continue to launch intensive charge. Instead, more than a dozen soldiers quietly approached the enemy base 200 meters away and destroyed the exposed fire points one by one with rocket launchers. When all the firepower points are destroyed, the gate of the base is like a tiger that has been stripped of its teeth. It has no deterrent power to us. When the two rockets hit the gate impartially and blasted two huge holes in the strong iron gate, yershov issued an order to attack the troops. The commanders and fighters, who had been holding their breath for a long time, jumped out of the trench shouting and rushed towards the gate of the base with weapons.

 Chapter 1298

    Since I knew that the soldiers had rushed into the German base, I couldn''t sit still in the headquarters, and urged yershov to take me to the front. Yeershoff used the telephone to talk with several forward commanders continuously. After confirming the safety of the front, he took me away from the headquarters and went to the position where I could see the situation of the base clearly.


    After walking in the forest for about 200 meters, our sight suddenly brightened. I saw in the open space hundreds of meters in front of us, there was a soil slope more than 20 meters high, with reinforced concrete structure on the front. Two big iron doors were opened, each of which had been blown up a hole. From time to time, there were puffs of smoke and explosions.


    Yershov held me and said, "Comrade commander, the fighting in the base has not stopped. For your safety, we can''t go any further. We''d better go to the observation post."


    I didn''t want to embarrass yershov, so I readily agreed to his request and followed him to a nearby observation station. Standing in front of the lookout, I raised my telescope and looked into the distance. Yershov next to me began to introduce the situation: "Comrade commander, according to the architectural style of this base, it should be built by us. In order to clear the shooting boundary, the German army cleaned up the trees within a few hundred meters around the base. Therefore, as soon as our offensive troops leave the forest, they will be exposed to the enemy''s fire. "


    I first looked through my telescope at the destroyed and smoke blackened fire points, and then asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t understand. Why don''t you attack from the rear of the base?" I pointed to the slope with my hand, "the enemy''s defense is aimed at the front. If you approach the gate of the base from the left and right sides, you can reduce a lot of unnecessary casualties."


    "Comrade commander, please have a look!" Yershov pointed to the right side of the base and said to me, "after the attack, I sent a company to detour from the flank to the enemy''s firepower point and destroy them, but..."


    Although he didn''t finish his words, I could see clearly that where the trees had been cut down and the weeds and rocks had been cleared, there were several craters still smoldering with smoke, and many of our commanders and fighters were lying around the craters. Seeing this, I immediately understood what was going on. I couldn''t help being surprised and asked, "did the enemy lay a minefield behind the base?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Yelshov replied with a wry smile: "the German army not only laid ordinary pressure and trip mines, but also electric detonating mines. I sent a company, and when it was removed, there was less than one class left. "


    The German minefields were severe, and the two Guard regiments were not equipped with engineers, so there was no reason for them to attack from the front regardless of casualties. In order to ease the awkward atmosphere in the observation center, I changed the topic and asked, "Comrade commander, what do you think there will be in this base?"


    Yeershoff replied very simply: "there is something in it, I can''t think of it. But since the German army has chosen this hidden base, I think there must be something very important in it. " After a pause, he asked, "Comrade commander, what do you think the Germans will put in it?"


    When I heard his question, I shook my head with a bitter smile and replied, "Comrade commander, to tell you the truth, I don''t know. I knew that the German army often sent covered convoys escorted by armored vehicles to transport things from here


    "The battle is almost over." Yelshov listened to the sparse gunfire in the distance, turned to me and said, "after we have eliminated the enemy, we can go in and solve the mystery."


    Time in our anxiously waiting, a second to the past. Just when I was about to lose patience, yershov suddenly pointed to the distance and said to me, "Comrade commander, look, a motorcycle is coming towards us."


    I looked in the direction of his fingers and saw a tricycle coming towards us. In addition to the motorcyclist, there was a commander with submachine gun and helmet in the sidefight. I put down my telescope and said to yershov, "come on, let''s go out and have a look."


    The commander in the straddle, seeing us coming out of the observation station, raised his voice and yelled to the motorcyclist, "stop, stop, stop here!"


    As soon as the motorcycle stopped, the commander jumped out of the straddle and trotted all the way to us. After raising his hand and saluting, he excitedly reported to me, "Comrade commander, our team leader has found something good in the base. Let me invite you to have a look."


    I knew from the tone of his voice that he was the commander of the sixth mopping regiment of the guards. I looked at the rank on his shoulder and asked curiously, "Comrade lieutenant, don''t you know what''s good in the base?"


    Unexpectedly, the lieutenant shook his head and replied, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. I was commanding the soldiers to clean the battlefield near the gate, but suddenly the commander came to me and said that he found a lot of good things in the base. Let me invite you to have a look. " After he finished, he stopped for a moment and added, "the head said you would be very interested in what''s inside."


    I looked back at yershov and asked him with a smile, "how are you, comrade commander? Do you want to go and have a look together?"


    "Of course, comrade commander." Yelshov said, then turned to a soldier next to him and said, "go and ask the driver to drive the jeep."


    As our jeep followed the motorcycle and headed for the gate of the base, yershov shook his head and said, "this Colonel Carmela doesn''t know what''s going on. It''s mysterious."


    At this time, I knew that the head of the sixth mopping regiment of the guards was Carmela. I could not help but secretly despise myself. When I used to be a division commander, I even remember the name of the platoon leader clearly, but now I don''t even know the name of one of my commanders.


    The jeep stopped in front of the damaged gate. Commander Carmela, who had been waiting here, quickly came up and opened the door for me. He said respectfully, "Comrade commander, please follow me. I''ll show you something unexpected."


    "Colonel Carmela, what the hell are you up to?" Yeershoff, who got off the car from the other side, said discontentedly, "if you find anything, you can say it directly. It''s so mysterious."


    When I walked into the base, I found that there was a special hole here. The passage was made of concrete. Maybe there was a generator somewhere inside. The electric light installed on the top of the passage illuminated the whole passage clearly. I saw many spacious rooms on both sides of the passage. I looked into one of the open rooms and saw that it was empty and nothing.


    Carmela noticed that I was looking around from time to time and reminded me: "Comrade commander, dozens of rooms outside are empty. The things originally stored here should have been carried away by the Germans."


    In the passage, we constantly meet the soldiers who are escorting the prisoners and cleaning the battlefield. When they see us, they slow down or stop their work and salute us.


    After another 20 or 30 meters, Carmela stopped in front of the room where a soldier stood guard, turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, here it is." Then he pushed the door open and went in.


    I followed him and walked into the room, where I saw a pile of wooden boxes stacked neatly. I was guessing when these boxes would be put, when yershov asked Carmela, "Comrade commander, did you call us here to see the German ammunition stored here?"


    "Munitions?" Carmela repeated the word, raised her eyebrows, and said with some pride, "commander yershov, how can I call the commander and you here for a room full of ammunition?"


    Then he stepped forward, lifted the lid of a wooden box, picked up a rectangular object that looked like a brick from inside, turned and handed it to me, and said, "Comrade commander, look what this is." See my hand to pick up, quickly added, "be careful, a little heavy, be careful to hit the foot."


    I carefully took the brick like object from his hand. I just felt that it was very heavy. If Carmela hadn''t just reminded me, it might have hit my foot. I carefully looked at the object in my hand. After seeing it clearly, I was surprised: "commander, is this a BRIC?"


    "What, BRICs?" When yelshov heard me say this, he was also surprised. He took the gold brick from my hand, looked it over and over carefully, and finally said in surprise, "my God, it''s really a gold brick." Then he looked up and asked Carmela, "commander, where did you get this thing from?"


    "Where else, here, of course." After answering yershov, Carmela reported to me: "Comrade commander, after our commanders and fighters rushed in, they found that there were not many enemies in the base, only about one company, but their resistance was very tenacious. It took us nearly an hour to completely occupy it. "


    "Comrade commander, how many BRICs are there?" But I''m sure that when I put hundreds of boxes in front of me with gold in them, I couldn''t help breathing, "have you ever done any statistics?"


    "A piece of gold brick weighs ten kilograms, and there are forty such gold bricks in a wooden box." Carmela, like an accountant, reported to me the amount of gold in the house: "there are 150 wooden boxes in the whole house, which means there are 60 tons of gold."


    "What, 60 tons of gold?" Hearing this number, my heart beat faster, but yershov was even worse. He just sat down on the ground and murmured, "I''m not dreaming. I can see so much gold."


    "Commander Carmela," when I learned that there were 60 tons of gold in this room, my mood suddenly became nervous. I was deeply afraid that someone might have some wrong ideas. I said to Carmela with a serious expression: "we must strengthen the guard here. There are too few sentinels at the door. At least one class should be sent."


    "Comrade commander, just 60 tons of gold, I think a sentry is enough." After listening to what I said, Carmela said with disapproval: "I think we should use the security forces in more important places."


    "Comrade commander," I heard him say, and I couldn''t help laughing bitterly, "what else do you think is more important than a room with 60 tons of gold?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Carmela said confidently: "if you look at the things in the other rooms, you will think that 60 tons of gold is nothing. Please follow me. I''ll show you


    I followed Carmela and walked out of the room where the gold was stored, muttering to myself: it''s really a toad yawning - it''s a big breath, unless there''s a room full of diamonds, there''s nothing worth more than 60 tons of gold. But when I followed him around the corner and walked into the room with four soldiers on guard, I knew I was wrong, and it was a big mistake. In the spacious room, there are hundreds of half person high picture frames. When Carmela asked the two soldiers who came in with me to lift a picture frame in front of me and tear off the kraft paper tied outside, I recognized it as the famous "the trackers on the Volga River" at a glance. Even without looking at the scribbled signature of the painter in the lower right corner, I knew it was a famous work by Lebin. I hold my breath, stare at the oil painting in front of me, and carefully look at this familiar world famous painting. But after confirming that this is definitely not a fake, I asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, besides the works of Liebin, are there any other works of famous painters?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Carmela nodded his head and said: "in addition to Lebin''s works, there are also a large number of Leviathan''s works, of which four are his peak works: Vladimir Road, by the abyss, evening bell and above the cemetery. This is his exploration of expressing the flavor of the times in landscape paintings. It is totally different from the praise of Russian natural scenery in his early Volga group paintings, which deeply expresses the repressed social emotions at that time. Vladimir Road, known as Russian historical landscape painting, describes a road formed by Tsar''s dark rule. The lonely tombstones and road signs at the crossroads, the cloudy sky and the moving clouds strengthen the pathos and desolation of the picture¡¶ "Beside the abyss" reflects the story of a girl who died in a dead pool for love. The whole picture is silent and terrifying, with legendary color¡¶ The painting of "evening bell" is a corner of the ancient city of Russia, which contains depression in the bright color, conveying people''s spiritual sustenance for the ancient past. Two years later, Leviathan painted "over the cemetery", which combines the association and emotion of the first three works, depicts the moment when thunderstorm is coming and wind is blowing in a monumental composition. The whole picture has a grand and vigorous melody... "I listened to Carmela''s popularization of science, and after he finished, I immediately told yershov:" Comrade commander, send a report to the group army headquarters immediately, and report our findings here to them. "

 Chapter 1299

    Standing in a room full of oil paintings, I muttered to myself, "these paintings are priceless. Don''t mention 60 tons of gold. Even if you give me 600 tons of gold, I won''t change it."


    Although the whole base is under our control, and there are several soldiers standing guard outside the gate, my heart is still not secure. I called Carmela to him and told him: "Comrade commander, this batch of cultural relics is very important. The number of people outside the gate is far from enough. You should transfer more people to take charge of the security work as soon as possible."


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Carmela said with a relaxed expression: "as soon as the base is cleaned up, I''ll transfer the guard company and let them take charge of the guard work here."


    It''s said that Carmela''s guard company will be responsible for the security work here, so I feel more secure at last. Standing in front of the oil painting "the TrackMan of the Volga River", I carefully studied the world famous painting and asked casually, "Comrade commander, is there anything important besides gold and oil painting?"


    I just asked casually, and I didn''t expect Carmela to give me any more detailed answers. Unexpectedly, after hearing my question, he nodded his head and replied, "yes, comrade commander, at the end of the corridor, there are two large rooms, which are also full of cultural relics."


    Even if a shell fell on my side and exploded at the moment, it was not as shocking as Carmela''s words. I grabbed him by the arm and stammered, "commander, what do you say? There are two... Two big rooms left?"


    Carmela nodded hard and said definitely, "yes, comrade commander, please let me show you the way." With that, he reached out sideways and made a gesture of invitation.


    I followed him nervously along the corridor to the door of another room guarded by many soldiers. I saw him stop and asked, "is it right here?"


    "Yes, right here." With that, he opened the door and took me in.


    He groped around the wall and turned on all the lights in the room. In the bright light, I saw hundreds of wooden cases piled up neatly in this room, which is more than 200 square meters wide and seven or eight meters high. I asked tentatively, "commander, what''s in this box? Is it also gold?"


    "It''s not gold, but it''s like gold leaf." Carmela said, went to a wooden box on the ground alone, uncovered the wooden cover, carefully rushed inside and took out something, turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, please see, we have checked and found that there are several rows of wooden boxes outside


    I took what he was holding and looked at it carefully. It was a clock with exquisite workmanship. Except for the gold-plated body, the angel sculptures on the top of the clock were all pure gold. After watching it, I handed it back to Carmela, and then asked, "Comrade commander, what''s in all the boxes except the bell?"


    Carmela put the golden bell back into the wooden box and replied, "statues and vases of ancient Greece and Rome. By the way, the most precious one is Michelangelo''s sculpture the boy in a huddle. "


    "Michelangelo''s sculpture?" When I heard the name of the master, I couldn''t help taking a breath. It took me a long time to come back to me and asked tentatively, "how can his works be here?"


    Carmela shrugged, spread his hands and said, "I don''t know why I''m here. As far as I know, this work should be in the Hermitage Museum. It''s a treasure of the winter palace. "


    We were just talking when yershov, who had just sent a telegram, found us. He first looked at the wooden boxes in the room, and then said to me, "commander, I have received a call back from Comrade kirilov, the military Commissar. He asked me to tell you that these things are of great importance. In order to prevent the German army from seizing again, he has sent a report to the headquarters of the front army, and at the same time, he has urgently mobilized the 89th division of the guards to rush here."


    When I heard that it was kirilov, not chisgakov, who mobilized the troops, I realized that the value of these cultural relics was far beyond my imagination. It seemed that it was necessary to deploy them immediately to prevent them from being taken away by the German army. Therefore, I immediately solemnly ordered yershov and Carmela: "two comrades, you should immediately take the base as the center to build defensive positions to prevent possible German attacks."


    When they were about to leave, I suddenly remembered that it was less than 20 minutes since yelshov left. I stopped him and asked, "Comrade commander, where did you send the telegram just now? Why did you come back so soon?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Yelshov pointed out casually with his hand and said, "there is a telecommunication room in the base. The messenger has just set up our radio station there, so I can receive a call back from the headquarters of the group army in such a short time."


    A few hours later, kirilov arrived with a company of guards. Accompanied by me, he visited the rooms where gold, oil paintings and various cultural relics were stored. He said with emotion, "these damned Germans have robbed so many of our precious cultural relics. Fortunately, God forbid them to take these things away, otherwise it will not be so easy for us to chase them back in the future. "


    "Yes, once these cultural relics are transported away, even if we beat the Germans, some cultural relics will be sent to the people, and it will be very difficult for us to collect them." I said to kirilov with some worry: "before they found this base in travkin, they didn''t know how many cultural relics were carried away by the Germans."


    "Don''t worry, we''ll find out soon." Kirilov raised his hand, patted me on the shoulder and said, "Rita, after receiving the telegram from lieutenant commander yershov, I immediately reported this to vatukin and Moscow. The senior general said that he would be here soon."


    Kirilov reported this to vatukin. I know, but I don''t know. He also reported this to the relevant authorities in Moscow. After hearing this, I was surprised and asked, "Comrade military commissar, I don''t know which department in Moscow you reported this matter to?"


    Kirilov gave me a smile and said, "Rita, do you forget that I''m from the Central Committee? Of course, I will report this to the person in charge of my former unit. I believe that he will let Comrade Stalin know about it through Comrade bosklebshev. "


    After listening to what he said, I immediately nodded and said with approval: "not only do we have no right to dispose of such a large number of gold and cultural relics, but even general watujing may be in a dilemma. Therefore, it is most appropriate to report this matter to the higher authorities and let them decide how to deal with it."


    Just as we were talking, a soldier brought by kirilov came in and reported to us: "commander, military commissar, we received a phone call from the observation post above the base, saying that there was a motorcade coming towards us in the distance, with three armored cars and seven or eight trucks, full of our soldiers."


    When kirilov finished listening, he turned to me and said, "Rita, I think commander vatukin is here. Come on, let''s go out and meet them. "


    We walked out of the gate of the base and saw the approaching motorcade stopping 50 or 60 meters away. Among them, the door of the armored car was opened first, and a commander jumped down from it. I recognized it as general watujing with my sharp eyes. I quickly said to kirilov, "it''s the senior general." With that, he trotted to watujing.


    I came to watujing and raised my hand to salute. According to the regulations, I reported to you, "senior general, commander of the sixth group army of Jinwei, lieutenant general oshanina, i..."


    "Come on, comrade oshanina, don''t be so polite." Vatukin interrupted me, pulled my hand down from my forehead, held it tightly, shook it a few times and said, "Comrade Stalin is very happy to know that you have seized the cultural relics looted by the German army. Let me especially convey his thanks to you."


    "Serve the Soviet motherland!" Hearing this, kirilov and I, who arrived later, straightened up and replied neatly.


    At this time, through the door of the armored car, an old man with a hat, a suit, a pair of round eyes and a goatee on his chin emerged. As soon as he got out of the car, he asked, "where is it?"


    Watujing gave me a little embarrassed smile, and then introduced me to him, saying, "Comrade oshanina, let me introduce you. This is the curator of the almitash Museum."


    When watujing finished speaking, I reached out to the curator and politely said, "Hello, curator. Nice to meet you here!"


    I didn''t expect that the curator didn''t answer me at all. He repeated the question: "where is the thing?"


    "Comrade curator, are you talking about the cultural relics we seized?" Kirilov asked politely. Seeing that the other party nodded in affirmation, he made a gesture of asking and then said, "please follow me. I''ll take you to see the cultural relics captured by our army."


    Seeing the curator and kirilov walking shoulder to shoulder towards the gate of the base, I shook my head with a wry smile. Just as I wanted to follow, I heard a familiar voice behind me: "Hey, why don''t you say hello to me, Rita, don''t you know me?"


    I looked back and saw a tall and handsome general standing at the door of another armored car. I immediately recognized the general, who is my most familiar rokosovsky. I quickly opened my arms and walked towards rokosovsky. At the same time, I cried out excitedly: "Hello, comrade general, what''s the matter with you? I''m so glad to see you here. "


    Rokosovsky and I gave a hug, and then politely kissed each other on both sides of my cheek. Then they let me go, looked at vatukin, and said helplessly: "I was commanding the battle in the headquarters, but I received a call from Marshal Zhukov, who ordered me to report to vatukin''s headquarters immediately, saying that there was something important. Only when I arrived did I know that you found a German underground base in the Forest east of Zhitomir. As the base was built under my command, the marshal said that I knew the situation here, so he asked me to come with Comrade watujing. What''s the matter? Did you find anything in the base? "


    Rokosovsky''s words surprised me. I asked with wide eyes, "why, comrade general, don''t you know what''s in the base?"


    "Don''t say Comrade rokosovsky doesn''t know, even I don''t know." Watujing came up and said, "from your message, I know that you have seized 60 tons of gold and at least thousands of precious oil paintings. I don''t know what else. "¡° Let''s not stand here. Let''s talk as we walk. " Seeing that kirilov and the curator were going to enter the gate, rokosovsky urged us: "Comrade watujing, let Rita tell you the specific situation slowly on the way." As I walked between the two commanders of the front army, I looked at vatukin and said, "in addition to the oil paintings and gold you know, there are also two large rooms in which ancient Greek and Roman sculptures and vases are found in wooden boxes..." Rita, are the two large rooms in the deepest part of the base Rokosovsky suddenly interjected. Seeing that I nodded my approval, I explained to watujing, "those two rooms are used to store grain, ammunition and drinking water, so they are very large. I didn''t expect that after the German occupation, it was used to store looted cultural relics. " When we came to the room where the oil paintings were stored, we saw the curator holding the oil painting "the boatman of the Volga River" with tears streaming down his face and muttering to himself, "yes, yes, that''s it, that''s it..." "Comrade General, what''s the matter?" Seeing the impolite curator, I quietly asked watujing next to him, "where did you find him?"¡° Comrade oshanina, let me tell you a secret. " "He came here to get information that the German had met Kiev from the" Amber Room "in the palace of St. Petersburg in Leningrad. So when he learned that we had liberated Kiev, he flew from Leningrad to Moscow and from Moscow to Kiev. I just heard that you found the German base for storing gold and oil paintings, so he came with us. " Amber, I''ve seen, is resin wrapped with insects or leaves, buried underground for thousands of years, and fossilized under the action of pressure and heat. But the biggest amber I''ve ever seen is only the size of a fist. I can''t think of what kind of room is built with such high-end things, so I can''t help but ask curiously, "what is an amber room?" Hearing that I knew nothing about the amber room, the kind-hearted rocosovsky popularized science to me: "in 1709, King Frederick I of Prussia ordered the most famous architect of Prussia to build the" Amber Room "in order to imitate the luxurious life of King Louis XIV of France. The whole "Amber House" covers an area of about 55 square meters. It has 12 wall panels and 12 plinths. All of them are made of amber, which was 12 times more expensive than gold at that time. The total weight of the "Amber House" is at least 6 tons. At the same time, it is decorated with diamonds, gemstones and silver foil. It can be assembled into various shapes at will. After being built, it is dazzling and magnificent. It is known as "the eighth wonder of the world". In 1716, King William I of Prussia presented this rare treasure to Tsar Peter the great in order to form an alliance with Russia. "

 Chapter 1300

    As soon as rokosovsky finished, vatujing went on to say, "after Peter the great accepted the gift of Frederick I, he put it in the winter palace as a small reception room for important guests. Later, the Czar Ekaterina sent people to move the amber room to Ekaterina palace in Pushkin, a suburb of Leningrad. "


    As soon as watujing finished, I asked curiously, "since this amber room is so precious, why didn''t we transfer it in time after the war broke out?"


    After looking at each other, vatukin and rokosovsky sighed and said, "as the German army''s speed of advance exceeded our imagination, they rushed to the outskirts of Leningrad in just over a month. We simply did not have enough time and manpower to carry out the transfer of cultural relics. Even so, the staff of the almitash Museum, in a very short period of time, will be up to a million pieces of collection, safely transported to Yekaterinburg, located in the Eurasian boundary


    When we were talking, the curator came over and asked, "where are the other cultural relics?"


    I know he must have learned from kirilov that there are still two rooms with a lot of cultural relics. Seeing his anxious face, I didn''t care about his rudeness. Instead, I politely said, "Comrade curator, please follow me. I''ll show you the cultural relics in the box."


    We all came to the big room with wooden boxes. As soon as we entered the door, the curator could not wait to ask, "are these the cultural relics seized? Do you have a list? "


    Commander Carmela, who had been waiting in the room for a long time, agreed: "yes, but it''s all German. We can''t understand it."


    "Give me the list quickly," the curator said in an unquestionable voice, staring at the pile of wooden cases. "I can read German."


    From a drawer of a table near the door, Carmela took out a thick, large notepad and handed it to the curator. After the curator took it, he couldn''t wait to read it without saying a word of thanks. I watched him turn the book quickly, and my heart said, with such a fast speed, can I find what he wants?


    Just as I surmised, the curator stopped reading. He walked quickly to the wooden box with the book in his hand and examined one of the boxes carefully. After a while, he turned to watujing and said, "senior general, please send some soldiers to find the wooden boxes with the number of" 4108 "and move them out."


    After he finished, watujing winked at me and motioned for me to send soldiers to assist the curator. I immediately understood his hint and told Carmela: "Comrade commander, send two classes of soldiers to come and ask them to help the curator find the wooden box with the number of 4108."


    "Yes Carmela agreed, turned and walked out of the room.


    I heard vatukin ask rokosovsky in a low voice: "dear koschka, why do you think the curator wants to find the wooden box that starts with" 4108 "


    "If I remember correctly, Ekaterina Palace should have been occupied by the German in August 1941?" Rokosovsky replied in a low voice: "the Germans numbered the boxes according to the time of plunder."


    After listening to rokosovsky''s explanation, vatukin nodded and said with approval, "koschka, you have a good point." He took a look at the curator who was walking back and forth in front of the wooden box pile with the account book, and added, "do you think you can find the amber room in these wooden boxes?"


    Rokosovsky shook his head slightly and said uncertainly, "it''s hard to say. It depends on whether we have good luck."


    While listening to the conversation between them, I suddenly had an impression of the amber room in my mind. It seemed that when I heard enough about it. So I frowned and began to remember. When I think about it, I really remember what happened to the amber room. It seems that I have been missing since I was plundered by the German army in the patriotic war. Later, in 2003, in order to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg, Germany and Russia copied the historical photos of the amber house. The appearance of the new amber house is very similar to the original one.


    As soon as the gate of memory opened, I thought of more information about amber room. It is said that before the Soviet army retreated from yekaterina palace, in order to prevent the amber room from being discovered by the Germans, after removing some furniture and small pieces of art ornaments, they pasted a new layer of wallpaper in an attempt to cover up the true face of the amber room. Unfortunately, the German soldiers saw through such a trick, so the amber room was demolished and transported to Konigsberg by train.


    When I recalled the contents related to the amber room, I immediately realized that the amber room could not be found here, because the Germans had already transported the broken up amber room to other places, and our search here became ridiculous. I saw that rokosovsky and vatujing were still talking in a low voice. They coughed softly. When they stopped talking, they asked, "comrades commander, where is Konigsberg?"


    "It''s a German city on the Baltic Sea." After answering my question, rokosovsky asked curiously, "what''s the matter, Rita, do you think of anything?"


    Just at this time, Colonel Carmela came in with a group of soldiers. When the curator saw them, he immediately accused Carmela impolitely: "Comrade commander, how slow are you? Do you know how long you have been out? Five minutes, five minutes away? Do you know how many things will be delayed in these five minutes? "


    Carmela was inexplicably scolded a few words, his face showed a bitter expression. Seeing that he was in such a dilemma, I quickly helped him out and said, "well, comrade commander, let your people start working. Remember to move out all the wooden boxes whose numbers start with" 4108. ". Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Carmela agreed, and he directed the soldiers to look for the wooden boxes I said.


    "Rita," rokosovsky asked me again at this time, "why did you just ask about Konigsberg?"


    "Comrade General," I replied in a low voice, "I just remembered who I had heard before that the German broke up the amber room after plundering it and packed it up and transported it to Konigsberg by train..."


    "What, Gothenburg?" Although my voice was not loud, I was heard by the paranoid curator. He rushed to me, waved his fist and said in a loud voice: "it is impossible for the Germans to transport the amber room to Konigsberg. According to our information, the amber room was transported to Kiev and is ready to be transferred from here to Berlin."


    Seeing that the curator was so stubborn, I couldn''t say anything more. I had to shrug my shoulders. Then I closed my mouth quietly and watched Carmela and a group of soldiers move the wooden boxes numbered "4108" from the pile of wooden boxes to the open space.


    We stood by and waited for an hour. When we saw that about forty wooden cases had been piled up, the curator raised his hand and said, "stop, stop, first pry these cases open to see if they are what we are looking for."


    When I saw a soldier prying the lid of a wooden box with a crowbar, I wondered in my heart whether the box was filled with ancient Greek sculptures or ancient Roman vases after it was opened? So as soon as the lid is lifted, I''ll look over to see what''s going on. No, it''s OK. After seeing it, I don''t want to look away from the box.


    The wooden box was not a sculpture or a vase, but a pile of tortoise shells and animal bones. Looking at the symbols carved on them, I recognized at a glance that these oracle bones with characters were the famous oracle bone inscriptions. Then the wooden boxes were filled with cultural relics from the East, including rare silk and embroidery, porcelain, enamel, lacquerware, as well as calligraphy and painting of some ancient masters.


    When I saw that these may be valuable cultural relics stolen from the capital in the Far East when the Russian army joined the eight Nation Alliance, I suddenly had the idea of taking all these cultural relics as my own. I planned to return them to their original owners at a suitable time in the future, so that these cultural relics, which were exiled in other countries, could return to my motherland one day.


    When I was daydreaming, I suddenly heard a loud noise, which scared me. I looked in the direction of the sound, and saw the curator slam his account book on the ground, and then trample on it with his feet.


    "Calm down, comrade curator, please keep calm!" Seeing that the curator''s mood was out of control, watujing, who had been standing beside him and didn''t speak, quickly came forward to persuade him, "do you want to continue looking for the amber room?"


    "What else are you looking for?" The curator pointed to the account book on the ground and said indignantly, "according to the above records, as many as 50 wooden cases with serial numbers beginning with" 4108 "were transported away a few days ago."


    Hearing what the curator said, watujing turned to look at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, have you interrogated the prisoners? What''s the matter?"


    As soon as his voice fell, Carmela, who was standing beside him, took a step towards him, straightened up and said aloud, "Comrade commander of the front army, I personally interrogated the prisoners. Do you want me to report them to you?"


    Watujing nodded at him, then said faintly, "well, comrade commander, please report."


    "Comrades commander," Carmela reported, "because during the fighting, the German commander in the base was killed, and the officer in charge of the cultural relics left along with the convoy carrying the cultural relics. So no one of these ordinary soldiers knows what is put here, let alone where the things transported by car will be sent. "


    "I see, comrade commander." Watujing waved to Carmela, and then asked the curator, "Comrade curator, please forgive me for asking a question that has puzzled me for a long time. Is that ok? "


    The curator looked up at watujing with blank eyes and said feebly, "Comrade watujing, if you have any questions, just ask them."


    "Comrade curator, I just learned that there is a Michelangelo sculpture in this room, which is the treasure of your museum. Am I right? "


    "Yes, the cultural relic you mentioned is indeed one of the treasures of our museum." The curator nodded and answered in a positive tone.


    "But the Germans didn''t enter Leningrad at all. How could they get this cultural relic?" "Even if you didn''t move it to Yekaterinburg in the rear, you''d seal it up in the basement of your museum, but it''s so strange that it''s here now," vatujing asked strangely


    "It''s no surprise, comrade watujing." The curator sighed and said, "we have a train carrying cultural relics. Not long after it left Leningrad, it was bombed by German planes. The railway ahead was blown off. The train full of cultural relics couldn''t move on. It had to stop. As a result, it was captured by the encircled German army. " The words of the curator let us understand why there are so many relics in the almitash museum here. They should have been safely stored in Yekaterinburg, but they became the spoils of the German army in the wrong circumstances. However, I still can''t figure out why these cultural relics were sent to Kiev instead of being sent there, since the German army could transport the amber room to Konigsberg by train? When the curator heard my question, he was unexpectedly not angry, but patiently explained to me: "according to the German plan, Leningrad and Moscow will be flooded and become a swamp after they are occupied. Kiev will establish a pro German puppet political power. In order to whitewash the peace, they will certainly transport many important cultural relics here to decorate the appearance of the puppets to be set up soon. " I found that when the curator was calm, his words were very organized. At least he could give a good reason why the German army did not transport the cultural relics back to Berlin through Konigsberg, but to Kiev¡° Comrade curator, what do you want us to do? " After he finished, watujing asked with concern, "do you need me to send a special force to help you find the missing amber room?" To my ears, there is obviously a perfunctory and shirking of responsibility in vatukin''s words. Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the curator immediately nodded his head like a rattle: "Comrade watujing, if so, that would be great. In order to prevent the German from transporting the amber room back to Germany, I implore you to set up this treasure hunting force immediately. "¡° Comrade o''shanina, your troops are all around here. " Vatukin turned to look at me and said, "then I will give you this glorious and arduous task. I don''t know if you have any suitable candidates? " Without waiting for me to speak, kirilov came close to me and whispered, "Rita, Captain travkin''s reconnaissance team should be working nearby. We can give this task to them."

 Chapter 1301

    After listening to kirilov''s reminder, I immediately straightened my back and reported to vatujing, "senior general, we have a reconnaissance team nearby to search for the amber room. I suggest that they complete the task." In order to prevent my opinion from being opposed by watujing or the hysterical curator, I specially added, "the base was discovered by this team."


    After listening to what I said, vatukin was obviously stunned for a moment, and then asked hesitantly, "I don''t know who is the commander of the reconnaissance team?"


    "Travkin, Captain travkin, is the deputy commander of the reconnaissance battalion." Kirilov replied preemptively: "he was going to be promoted to the rank of captain a few months ago, but he is still a captain because of other delay."


    "Rita, if I''m not mistaken," broke in rokosovsky. "Is this captain travkin my man? It seems that he was surrounded by the superior forces of the German army when he was on a mission. When he was on the verge of extinction, you personally led people to save him and his subordinates, so they joined your independent division. "


    Rokosovsky''s words aroused watujing''s curiosity. He quickly asked, "what''s going on?"


    Kirilov, who knew about the whole incident, quickly explained in detail how we rescued travkin and how we made him join our army. After hearing this, watujing nodded and said with approval, "this is an excellent scout commander. I believe he will be able to complete the task successfully if he is given the task." At this point, he suddenly looked at me and said, "by the way, comrade oshanina, why is the promotion of the golden rank of Tel Aviv delayed? He made such a great contribution this time. Even if he was given the rank of captain, he was a bit wronged. I think so. He was directly promoted to the rank of major; Besides, as far as I know, there has never been a battalion commander in your reconnaissance battalion. Let him be the battalion commander directly. "


    From my heart, travkin has made such a great contribution. Even if vatukin doesn''t promote his rank, I will promote his position and rank when he comes back. Now that watujing is in place in one step, I will push the boat forward and say, "senior general, since you say so, I will resolutely obey your orders."


    "Well, comrade watujing, let''s stop standing here." As soon as I finished speaking, rokosowski immediately urged vatukin: "there is a war room nearby. We''d better go there to discuss how to search for the whereabouts of cultural relics."


    Rokosovsky took us to the war room with a good command of the road, and we all sat around the long wooden table with a white table. Then watujing turned around and asked a staff officer standing behind him, "do you have a map?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." The staff officer agreed and took out a folded map from his official bag. After it was unfolded, he put it in front of watujing.


    After staring at the map for a while, vatukin looked up and asked me, "Comrade oshanina, you should know the significance of this base, even if I don''t say it. If the Germans know that we have occupied this place, they will send troops to fight for it regardless of everything. Have you taken any measures? "


    "Yes, senior general." I quickly stood up and pointed out on the map with my hand, "I deployed yershov''s close guard 22nd regiment to the north of the base, and Colonel Carmela''s close guard 6th mopping regiment to the south. As for the defense in the west, I plan to deploy major general Xie Liujin''s 89th division when they arrive. Among them, two regiments of the division will focus on the northwest to stop the German troops from Zhitomir. "


    "No, Rita. You can''t do this." As soon as I finished speaking, rokosovsky raised his objection. He pointed to the map and looked at me with his eyes. He said, "you can''t deploy defense forces simply based on the map, but also consider the actual situation here. If you look at the enemy''s convoy of cultural relics, after leaving the base, it first drove south for about two kilometers, then turned around and went west through the forest to darytomir. Therefore, it would be totally wrong for you to focus your defense on the northwest, because the enemy is not coming from the northwest but from the southwest. Do you understand? "


    "I see, Comrade General." As for rocosovsky''s reminder, I just wanted to say something with a polite smile, but the voice calling for a report outside the door interrupted me.


    "Who''s out there?" Watujing turned to look at the door and asked with some displeasure.


    A loud voice came from the door: "report, major general Xie Liujin, commander of the 89th division of Jinwei sixth group army, has been ordered to come!"


    "Come in!" Watujing said a loud word to the outside, and then stood up. When Xie Liujin came in, he took the initiative to shake hands with him.


    Watujing may not even dream that watujing is still here, so that after being held by watujing, he still stands in a daze. Watujingsong opened his hand, pointed to the table and said, "major general, please come here. General rokosovsky has something to tell you."


    "General rokosovsky?" When Xie Liujin heard the name, his behavior became more formal. He didn''t expect to see two commanders of the front army in this room at the same time.


    I looked at him standing in the same place and urged him: "Sir, what are you still doing there? Come here and let general rokosovsky arrange your defense. "


    After listening to rokosovsky''s deployment, and after a moment''s silence, sherekin raised such a question: "general, I don''t understand why you asked us to deploy only one battalion in the northwest. You should know that the nearest place is Zhitomir, and the Germans can reach us on foot, two hours at most."


    "Comrade major general, that''s a good question." Rokosovsky kindly explained: "from the map, this line is too short. But why didn''t we build the road here? Because all along the way are swamps and peat roads, which are not suitable for vehicles. So you just need to build defensive positions at some commanding heights to completely stop the German attack. "


    Sitting on one side, watujing raised his hand and looked at his watch, then muttered in a low voice, "Damn, how come the reconnaissance battalion commander hasn''t come yet?" After that, he turned his eyes to me. In order not to affect rokosovsky''s assignment to scheliujin, he asked in a low voice, "oshanina, did you inform the reconnaissance battalion commander to come here?"


    "Don''t worry, Comrade General." Before we went into the war room, kirilov told me privately that he had informed travkin, so I immediately stood up and reported to him that "major travkin has been informed, and I believe he will be here soon."


    Although I told vatukin that travkin would be there soon. But it wasn''t until an hour later, when everyone was about to lose patience, that the dusty travkin finally arrived.


    When he came into the room and saw that there were so many big people in the room, he couldn''t help hesitating and didn''t know who to report to. I coughed and said, "Comrade travkin, report to the commander of the front army. He has important tasks to give you later."


    "Commander of the front army, Captain travkin, deputy commander of the reconnaissance battalion of the sixth group army of the guards, reports to you..."


    Before he had finished his words, vatukin went over with a smile, took his hand, and said in a friendly way, "Comrade travkin, I want to correct you two points: first, you are not a captain, but a major; The position is not vice battalion commander, but battalion commander. "


    "Comrades commander," said travkin, looking sideways at vatukin, though he still held his hand tightly to vatukin. "Is this all true?" he asked excitedly


    "Yes, major trafkin." I purposely bit the word major very clearly and said to him with a smile, "in view of your great contributions in this reconnaissance mission, the commander of the front army has personally promoted your position and rank."


    After hearing what I said, travkin released vatukin''s hand, stepped back, straightened his back again, and replied, "I''d like to serve the Soviet motherland!"


    "Major, come here!" Watujing called travkin to the front and back of the table and said to him, "this morning, a German team left the base. According to our understanding, there are precious cultural relics on the car. I hope you can immediately lead a team to find out where the German put these cultural relics. How are you, confident? "


    Instead of answering immediately, travkin asked cautiously, "Comrade commander of the front army, may I ask what cultural relics are in the car?" In order to avoid making him think he was reckless, he specially explained, "if we know what''s inside, it''s easier for us to detect."


    Vatukin turned and looked at the curator sitting next to him, asking for his advice. When I saw the curator frown, my heart hung. If he resolutely refused to tell trafkin what was loaded in the car, the reconnaissance team''s search for the amber room would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.


    Fortunately, the hysterical and arrogant curator was very reasonable this time. After thinking for a moment, he said to watujing, "Comrade watujing, in order to let them quickly find out where the cultural relics are, you can tell him what''s in the car. But in order to prevent leakage, he is the only one in the whole reconnaissance team who knows about it. "


    After getting permission from the curator, vatukin turned to look at travkin and said, "major, have you heard of amber room?"


    "I''ve not only heard of it, I''ve seen it several times." "You know, I''m from Leningrad. Before the war, I visited Ekaterina palace where the amber room was stored almost every year..." he said suddenly, and then his face showed an unbelievable expression. "Comrade commander of the front army, you won''t tell me, Is that the Amber Room loaded in the car? "


    Watujing turned to look at me and said with a smile: "Comrade oshanina, it seems that we have chosen the right person. Your reconnaissance battalion commander is very smart. I haven''t said it yet. He actually guessed what I was going to say. " After that, he turned to travkin and said, "yes, comrade major, your task is to follow the German convoy and find out where their last stop is, so that we can take action in the future and take back the amber room which was robbed by the German."


    "But the German army has been gone for a day. I don''t know where to go to find them," he said¡° Don''t worry, comrade major. " Rokosovsky interrupted again: "I was the garrison commander of Zhitomir a few years ago, and I am very familiar with the terrain here. After leaving the base and arriving at Zhitomir, the motorcade will certainly drive westward along the highway after a short stop. I think they will arrive at Lutsk after passing through the new town of wallensky and Rovno. There, they may find a place to store the cultural relics, or change trains to transport things to Germany. That is to say, you must catch up with the German convoy before they arrive at Lutsk and find out where the relics are After rokosovsky finished speaking, vatukin solemnly asked travkin, "Comrade major, how many people are you going to take to carry out this arduous task?" Travkin thought about it, and then replied, "I think five people are enough."¡° Five people? " Hearing this number, almost everyone was stunned. After a long time, watujing asked, "is it too little?"¡° No, comrade commander of the front army. " "Five people are enough, and if there are more people, they will arouse the suspicion of the Germans," he replied¡° Who are you going to take with you? " Because this is the most important thing, so I can''t wait for travkin to finish. Travkin looked at me and said, "Comrade commander, as I intend to disguise the unit as a German army, I need a German Translator first. And the most suitable person is lieutenant gretka Gretka was a German officer who defected to our department in the battle of Stalingrad. If he came out, the risk of the detachment being seen through would be greatly reduced. After confirming the candidate, I asked, "who else?"¡° In addition to me and lieutenant gretka, we need a radio operator, because we need to get the message back through the radio in time Travkin continued: "the other person is an old scout, who has rich experience in reconnaissance. If you have him, the success rate will be greatly improved. As for the last person to choose, it''s a bit troublesome. " Hearing that travkin said this, he suddenly stopped talking. Vatukin could not help but ask anxiously, "major, who else is there to choose?" Travkin''s eyes turned to the curator sitting next to him, who was almost ignored by everyone. Then he said slowly, "I also hope that an expert who understands cultural relics can join our team, so that we can identify whether the cultural relics are genuine in the shortest time after we find them." As soon as his words were finished, everyone in the room turned their eyes to the curator sitting there in a daze.

 Chapter 1302

    Seeing that everyone''s eyes were focused on himself, the curator stood up quickly, shook his hands desperately and said, "no, no, this is absolutely not OK. Although I am proficient in German, if I work with the reconnaissance team, I may become a burden to them. "


    Hearing what the curator said, vatujing sighed and said to travkin with some helplessness: "major, the curator is right. If he joins your reconnaissance team, it will not only drag you down in the speed of action, but also easily expose you even if you disguise as a German and have an old man of his age."


    There was a look of disappointment on travkin''s face, but he quickly adjusted his mood and said to watujing: "Comrade commander of the front army, even if the curator can''t go, he should find a knowledgeable person to go with him. In this way, he may get unexpected results while searching for the Amber Room."


    The curator seemed very interested in this proposal. After listening to it, he thought for a moment and said, "Comrade commander, if you need someone who understands cultural relics, I think it''s OK." Then he said to vatujing with a side face, "the military representative in our museum, who worked in the history museum in Moscow before the war and had nearly 15 years of experience in cultural relics identification, is the most suitable person to accompany you."


    "Oh, your military representative, comrade curator?" Watujing asked curiously, "where is he?"


    "In Kiev," the curator replied very simply, "he is in the National Museum in Kiev, examining a batch of cultural relics we have just seized. But even if he is informed immediately, it will take at least three or four hours to get here. I''m afraid it will delay the work. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade curator, you can''t miss anything." Then vatukin turned and said to travkin, "well, comrade major, I''ll give you ten minutes to gather all your people together, and then come back to Kiev with me."


    "But, comrade commander of the front army," said travkin with a embarrassed face when he heard vatukin''s command, "if we go to Kiev to pick up the comrade who knows about cultural relics now, it will take at least six or seven hours to get back to the circuit. In this way, I''m afraid we will not catch up with the German convoy."


    "Major, do you think that if you set out to chase the German convoy, you will surely catch up?" Watujing asked with a smile: "even if you disguise as a German, it will take a lot of time to cross the enemy''s lines. Maybe by the time you leave Zhitomir, the German motorcade will have arrived in Lutsk


    "What should we do then?" When trafkin heard this, his forehead was sweating, and he quickly turned to me for help.


    I can tell from vatujing''s words that he intends to let travkin use other methods to track the motorcade instead of going by car. I frowned and thought about it for a while, and soon thought of a possibility, so I tentatively asked: "Comrade General, if I guess correctly, you are going to parachute them to the enemy''s rear, aren''t you?"


    "Yes, comrade oshanina, you are right." As soon as I finished, watujing gave me a look of approval. "Your mind is so good. I just thought of this method, but you guessed it." With that, he raised his hand and looked at his watch. He called the staff officer who handed him the map to him and gave two orders in a low voice. As soon as the staff officer left, he urged the curator and travkin, "major, it''s getting late. We have to prepare for you the documents, uniforms, weapons, etc. you need to use when reconnoitering behind enemy lines. Don''t delay. We''re going back to Kiev! "


    Rokosovsky and I followed behind vatukin and left the war room. As we were walking outside, rokosovsky suddenly asked, "Rita, I seem to have heard that Marshal Zhukov, comrade Khrushchev and even the Supreme Commander himself wanted you to work in the local area, but you politely refused. Is that the case? "


    "Yes, Comrade General." I politely replied, "I think it''s the best choice to stay in the army with my own personality."


    "Rita, our war with the Germans can''t go on like this all the time. According to my estimation, the war will be over in one or two years at most. " Perhaps out of his concern for me, rokosovsky earnestly advised: "after all, the army is not a place for women to stay for a long time. Although Russia once had a female Czar, it does not mean that there will be any female Marshals in the future. If you stay in the army, you may stop at the position of Group Commander for life. Well, you''d better think about it. Maybe it''s the best place for you to work. "


    Rokosovsky''s words have shaken my determination to stay in the army. But soon after I was confused for a moment, I thought of Zhukov, the invincible commander-in-chief, and his tragic fate in history. I finally strengthened my confidence in staying in the army.


    I looked up at the sincere rokosovsky and said with a smile, "Comrade General, I know you are for my good, but I''m used to the life of the army and I''m reluctant to leave here. If possible, I''d like to work in the army all my life. Since a czar can be born in the era of tsarist Russia, a marshal may not be born in the future. You know, I''m the first female general in the world. "


    Seeing that my attitude was so firm, rokosovsky laughed helplessly, and then said, "Rita, since your attitude is so firm, I won''t advise you any more."


    We walked to the gate of the base side by side. Rokosovsky suddenly stopped and said to me with a side face: "Rita, since Kiev has been liberated, then we will certainly launch an attack on Zhitomir. Have you started to make a battle plan?"


    "No, Comrade General." When I heard him ask this question, I was a little embarrassed and said, "you know, our main forces are still in the direction of cherkaser and smira. If there are no other forces to take over the defense, we can''t transfer forces to strengthen the troops of korostrov."


    "Let me remind you that no matter whether the troops from cherkaser''s direction can be transferred or not, you have to work out the plan to attack Zhitomir overnight." Rokosovsky said to me solemnly, "Kiev will be safer only if our outpost moves westward indefinitely. Do you understand? "


    "I see, Comrade General." I thought that since rokosovsky used to be the garrison commander of Zhitomir, he must have a good understanding of the situation here. Maybe he can give us any constructive suggestions, so I asked on my own initiative, "I don''t know what good suggestions you can give us?"


    "The early fortifications of Zhitomir were mainly to prevent the attack from Poland, so they were concentrated on the west side of the city. As for whether the Germans have built a solid defense system in the east or in the other two directions after they came, I''m not sure After a brief introduction to the situation, rokosovsky specially told me, "send more people to the direction of Zhitomir for reconnaissance, and find out the German forces and deployment as soon as possible, which is very helpful for your next attack."


    After listening to rokosovsky''s words, I was just about to express my thanks to him when I heard watujing in the distance shouting: "Hello, comrade rokosovsky, we are going to start. Hurry up and get on the bus!"


    "I''ll be right there!" After that, rokosovsky turned and held my hand. After a moment''s silence, he said softly, "Rita, although we have won a series of battles in succession, the next battles will be more cruel. You should be prepared for this. Good luck With that, he let go of my hand, turned around and walked quickly forward.


    Kirilov came up to me, looked at rokosovsky''s back and asked, "Rita, do you think our group army will be the main force in attacking Zhitomir?"


    "Yes, comrade military commissar, I think this is for sure, so we must make preparations in advance." After I had said this, I turned around and called basmanov, who was far behind me. I told him, "major, go to the communication room immediately and send a telegram to the deputy commander and chief of staff. In addition to the 52nd and 375TH guard divisions, the 67th and 90th guard divisions will arrive here with the group army headquarters."


    Hearing a series of orders from me, kirilov could not help getting worried: "Rita, while commander vatukin is still here, please let him know about the transfer, so that he won''t say that you deliberately hide him in the future."


    As kirilov suggested, I was going to report to vatukin. After two steps, I saw that his armored car had turned around and headed for a distance. I stopped, turned to kirilov with a wry smile and said, "comrades of the military commissar, they have already left. We''d better report to him about the troop mobilization when we report the battle plan."


    As soon as it was dark, chisjakov and bzikov arrived with all the members of the headquarters. After a brief exchange of greetings with chisjakov, I asked, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t know when our troops will arrive?"


    "Although we have carried out emergency mobilization, it took us a lot of time to gather the troops of the two divisions just because they were too scattered." Chisgakov said helplessly: "I think it will be as soon as dawn before the two guards can get here."


    "Comrade deputy commander, while the comrades in the headquarters are deploying a new headquarters, let me show you around." Kirilov, in order to ease the tension in the room, took the initiative to propose to chisjakov: "let''s show you the good things we have seized."


    "Great, that''s great." As soon as kirilov''s voice dropped, bzikov said, "I also want to see the seized * * gold and the works of art they plundered."


    Kirilov pointed to the busy officers and men in the room and asked, "chief of staff, if you leave, who will be responsible for arranging the headquarters?"


    "Akhromeyev!" As soon as kirilov finished speaking, bezikov immediately called the war chief ahlomeyev in front of him and told him: "Comrade major, you will be fully responsible for the work here later. After the headquarters is set up, send someone to us. Do you understand? "


    "I see, chief of staff." Akhromeyev replied respectfully.


    "Well, comrade military Commissar." "Now you can show us around," said bezikov, with a smug look on his face


    Kirilov shook his head with a wry smile, nodded at him with his fingers, then turned to chisgakov and said, "come on, comrade deputy commander, Rita and I will show you two around." Although chisjakov and bezikov knew from the telegram that we had seized gold and a large number of works of art in the German base, they were still amazed when they saw these things. Bezikov said indignantly, "look how many things these damned Communist aggressors have taken from our motherland. Sooner or later, we will let them return with interest." At three o''clock in the morning, the 67th and 90th divisions of the guards began to arrive in the forest area one after another. While the headquarters was busy arranging for these troops, I received a call from vatukin. Originally, I thought he had heard the news from somewhere and knew that I had mobilized my troops without authorization and had come here to ask questions. Unexpectedly, he said in a heavy voice, "Comrade oshanina, I have bad news for you." When I heard that there was bad news, I couldn''t help but feel a thump in my heart. What''s the bad news? Is it to transfer me or is the German army going to launch a counter offensive after dawn? I took a deep breath, and then said, "Comrade General, please say it!" Vatukin did not make a sound, but kept silent. He may be thinking about how to tell me the bad news in a euphemistic way. I didn''t dare to disturb him. I could only wait awkwardly for him to go on. After a while, he finally said, "Comrade oshanina, I have bad news for you: we have lost contact with major trafkin''s reconnaissance team." Hearing this, the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. In a relaxed tone, I said, "don''t worry, senior general. Maybe the reconnaissance team didn''t find the airborne backpack with radio station after parachuting; It is also possible that the radio station has been broken. Anyway, various objective factors have made it impossible for them to get in touch with us for the time being. "¡° It''s not what you think, comrade oshanina "According to the reports of the relevant departments, our plane was found by German anti-aircraft fire before it got close to the airborne area," said vatukin sternly. Before losing contact with the plane, the pilots reported that their plane had been hit by anti-aircraft fire and was planning to make a forced landing somewhere. " At this point, watujing was silent for a while, and then continued to say, "I''m afraid that the reconnaissance team crashed with the plane before it could parachute. In that case, our plan would be a complete failure." I was dumbfounded when I heard that.

 Chapter 1303

    Seeing me holding the microphone in a daze, kirilov came up and asked, "what''s the matter with you, Rita?"


    Kirilov pulled me out of my absence. I put the receiver close to my ear and listened. There was a blind sound in it. Vatujing didn''t know when he had hung up. I put the receiver on the base of the phone, looked at kirilov and said without expression: "Comrade military commissar, general vatukin told me that the plane on which major travkin''s reconnaissance team was flying was found by the enemy''s anti-aircraft fire before it arrived in Lutsk. Now the headquarters of the front army has lost contact with the pilots on the mission. At worst, they may have died because of the plane crash


    "Ah, crash?" Kirilov was startled by the news I said. He hesitated for a moment, just like I did, and said in a skeptical tone: "Rita, maybe they succeeded in parachuting before the crash. The reason why we can''t get in touch may be that the radio station installed in the airborne backpack is broken, or they haven''t found the backpack after landing, so they can''t send us a message for the time being. "


    "It''s possible." I still have a bit of illusion about the loss of contact between them. So I told the director of communications, lophov, to him and said, "Comrade major, the reconnaissance team of major trafkin has lost contact with us. I order you to use two radio stations to make continuous calls and try to get in touch with them."


    "Yes, comrade commander." Lophoff simply replied, "I''m going to arrange it."


    After lophov left, bzikov said anxiously, "Comrade commander, now major trafkin is missing. Who should we send to command the reconnaissance camp? You know, they are indispensable to the reconnaissance around Zhitomir. "


    "It is necessary to arrange the new commander of the reconnaissance battalion as soon as possible," kirilov said solemnly. "The reconnaissance battalion is tantamount to our eyes and ears. Only through them can we know the German''s every move in time."


    "Commander, military commissar, I have a suitable candidate." "I just don''t know if you agree or not," chisjakov said slowly


    "Who is it, comrade deputy commander?" Kirilov asked anxiously.


    "It''s major basmanov, the commander of the security battalion who has been running around with the commander recently." After giving his choice, chisjakov asked for our advice: "do you think it''s suitable?"


    I see everyone''s eyes are focused on me, and I know everyone is waiting for me to make a statement. As for chisjakov''s proposal, I was in favor of ten thousand people. In an important position, who is not willing to promote the person I trust most? So I nodded decisively and said, "I agree with the deputy commander''s proposal."


    "Me too!" Kirilov waited for me to finish, then echoed.


    Seeing that both of us agreed to let basmanov take over the post of commander of the reconnaissance battalion, bezikov naturally would not object. After agreeing, he asked, "who will take over the post of commander of his guard battalion?"


    It was kirilov who gave his opinion this time. What he recommended to me was a commander he valued: "I think captain Rosenberg will take the post. He was an excellent grass-roots commander. In the battle of capturing kaniv for several months, he personally led a small boat to cross the Dnieper River full of floating ice in the late night, and made great contributions to our capture of the river crossing bridge; In the battle of Kursk, the troops under his command... "


    Before kirilov had finished his words, lophov, who had just left, hurried into the headquarters, handed me a telegram, and said in a low voice: "Comrade commander, this is the telegram from the 52nd division of the guards. They found that there was a change in the German army in uman."


    "What, there is a change in the German army of uman?" I listened to what he said and quickly brought the telegram to my eyes and looked at it carefully.


    After a brief introduction of Captain Rosenberg, kirilov turned to me and asked curiously, "what''s in the telegram, Rita?"


    After reading the telegram, I handed it to chisjakov and bezikov and asked them to study it slowly. Then I said to kirilov, "Comrade military commissar, division commander Nekrasov said in the telegram that the scouts they sent to uman found that the German armored forces were gathering all night long. It seemed that they were ready to take big action."


    When I talked to kirilov, chisjakov, bezikov and akhromeyev stood head to head in front of the map on the wall to study the possible direction of the German army''s next move.


    In my memory: after the liberation of Kiev, the Soviet army launched an attack on Zhitomir a few days later, and soon captured the city. But at the moment, I can''t find any useful information in my mind about what kind of action Wurman''s German army is going to take, so I can only turn to my deputies for help. I quickly walked up to chisgakov and asked with concern, "well, have you judged the direction of the German army''s next move?"


    "Comrades commander," akhromeyev said on the map, picking up the stick beside the wall, "according to our judgment, it is entirely possible for the German army of uman to go north along the road and carry out counter attacks from the southwest of Kiev through chakhkov and bazerkovi."


    After listening to akhromeyev''s explanation, I turned to chisjakov and bezikov again: "do you two have the same views as the major?"


    Chisgakov nodded and replied, "yes, comrade commander, we think so. You should know that the road a few days ago made the road muddy. Only on the road to the north can the large-scale German armored forces be launched. "


    Although I think what chisjakov said is very reasonable, he still asked: "will the German armored forces of uman not regard other places as the main direction of attack except to attack Kiev upward?"


    "No, comrade commander." "I can say for sure that uman''s armored forces will fight back to Kiev with the cooperation of the enemy in the direction of Zhitomir after they go north," chisjakov said firmly


    "But, comrade deputy commander," kirilov, who had just come by, could not help but ask curiously after hearing what chisjakov said: "although Kiev has just been liberated, there are five or six army groups of our front army, and the German army is fighting back at this time. Isn''t that beating the stone with the egg?"


    "Comrade military commissar, you don''t know something." Chisjakov patiently explained to kirilov, who did not understand military affairs, "although our troops in Kiev have five or six army groups in name, what kind of troops are they? After a long period of fighting, not only the troops were greatly reduced, but also the commanders and fighters were exhausted. I am sure that the vast majority of the officers and men are resting. Once the battle starts, perhaps more than half of the troops will not be able to gather and fight in a short time. "


    "It seems that we are going to report the situation to the headquarters of the front army." when I picked up the phone from my desk and prepared to call vatukin, I asked chisgakov: "Comrade deputy commander, can our troops build a defense line on the road and delay the speed of the German army''s recommendation to Kiev?"


    "We could have done that before yesterday''s day, but not now." Chisgakov said with some regret: "we have transferred three relatively complete close guard divisions near cherkaser here, and the remaining two divisions have been severely reduced in the early fighting. They are barely enough to defend the existing defensive positions. If we want them to slow down the advance of the German army, I don''t think we can do it. "


    After I got a definite answer from chisgakov, I immediately called vatukin. As soon as I got through the phone, I immediately reported to vatukin: "senior general, according to our scout''s report, the German armored forces in uman are assembling. It seems that they have a big operation."


    Hearing my warning, vatukin said absently: "we have just liberated Kiev, and the main forces of your group army have gathered near Zhitomir. They can''t even take care of their defense now. Where can any forces take the initiative to attack us?" He stopped for a moment and asked, "according to your judgment, where will the enemy choose the direction of attack?"


    "Kiev!" I replied briefly.


    "Kiev?" Vatukin raised his voice and asked me, "Hey, comrade oshanina, did you hear about the plane crash of the reconnaissance team and lose your mind because of too much grief. The main force of the German army was devastated by us in Kiev. How dare they launch a counterattack against Kiev? "


    Holding the microphone in my hand and staring at the map on the wall, I cautiously reminded vatukin: "senior general, although the main force of the front army liberated Kiev and controlled korostev and obukoshiv, the two medium-sized cities in the middle, baitserkovi and fastif, are still under the control of the German army. Their armored forces can take these two cities as the starting point of their attack, gather the dominant forces and counter attack Kiev. "


    After a moment''s silence, vatukin said, "Rita, judging from all the signs, it''s quite possible that what you said will come true. In order to smash the German attempt to recapture Kiev, I intend to deploy the 38th group army in the southwest and let them block the German forces from uman. "


    After I put down the phone, I said to chisgakov: "the general is ready to transfer the 38th army to the southwest of Kiev, and build fortifications there to resolutely block the German armored forces from uman." Then I told akhromeyev, "major, you go to the communication room and send a phone call to general nikolasov, so that they must find out the number of the German troops..."


    Before I had finished speaking, lophov came in again in a hurry. "Comrade commander, general Nekrasov called to tell me that they had figured out the number of the enemy''s armored forces."


    "Which army is it?" I asked chisgakov in unison.


    Lophov looked at us and replied in a flurried way, "it''s the 25th German armored division, and the division commander is major general Scher. According to the Scout''s report, the German army was strengthened by two Tiger Tank companies before departure, about 16 Tiger tanks. "


    When we heard about German Tiger tanks before, we still felt a little pale. After all, in the battle of Kharkov at the beginning of the year, our tanks met German Tiger tanks, which were lambs to be slaughtered. However, with the help of fleuning engineers, 40 rocket launchers and t-5455 tanks were developed in advance, and the German tank superiority in the battlefield disappeared. If our army''s tank tactics are used properly, it will not be a big problem for a tank company to clean up a tank battalion.


    I waited for lophov to finish, then I asked bzikov with a side face: "chief of staff, how many new tanks do we have in the Fifth Army of our close guard tanks?"¡° There are 31 more, "bezikov said after turning over his Notepad." at present, these new tanks have sufficient ammunition. As long as the German army does not send air force bombing or heavy artillery bombardment in the battle, the whole battle will become one-sided. "¡° Don''t worry, chief of staff. " "Now that we have recovered Kiev, we can deploy the air force group forces to the airports around the city," chisjakov said with a smile to bezikov. If the runways of these airports are made of reinforced concrete, our fighter planes can go out normally on sunny or rainy days. "¡° If so, that would be great. " Bezikov, who had been suffering from frequent German bombing, had a relaxed expression on his face: "as long as the air supremacy of the battlefield is in our hands, the German armored forces are not enough for our tank troops to plug their teeth." After all, the performance of the new tank is far better than that of the German Tiger tank, so they are not opponents of the same level. As long as they meet on the battlefield, the Tiger tank will only have to flee. Staring at the map spread out in front of me, I asked bzikov without looking up: "chief of staff, are the troops of the 67th and 90th divisions in position?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " "They are a few hours ahead of schedule. At present, the commanders and fighters of the two divisions are in the designated area to rush to repair the fortifications," bezikov replied respectfully¡° Chief of staff, please call the two division commanders immediately and ask them to come to the headquarters immediately. " I specially stressed that "their task is not only to protect the safety of this base, but also to launch an attack on Zhitomir as the main force of the group army when necessary."

 Chapter 1304

    The two teachers came to the headquarters. After a brief greeting, on behalf of chisjakov and me, bzikov asked: "comrades, the task of your two divisions is not only to defend this base, but also to participate in the attack against Zhitomir as the main force of the group army."


    Then, bezikov explained to them in detail the tasks under the two different states of defense and attack. After that, he habitually asked, "do you have any questions?"


    "If the existing forces are used to defend, it''s totally enough." "But if we want to attack the enemy''s defensive positions, we need a lot of artillery support, otherwise it will be difficult to tear up the German defensive positions," Chernoff, commander of the 90th division of the guards, said first


    "Comrade General, it''s not like your style." When kirilov heard Chernoff say this, he couldn''t help interrupting and saying, "when did you learn to complain in front of your superiors?"


    Chernoff looked at kirilov with a bitter smile and said, "Comrade military commissar, it''s not me who is complaining, it''s the situation that we will definitely encounter in offensive operations. After a series of attacks from us, the German army changed its defensive tactics and made our attack more difficult. If we don''t have enough artillery support, it will be very difficult for us to eliminate their effective forces and successfully break through the defense line. "


    "The German changed their defensive tactics?" Chernoff''s words aroused great interest of chisjakov. He asked curiously, "Comrade General, tell us what you know. We can also make necessary adjustments to the next offensive tactics according to the defensive characteristics of the German army. "


    Chernoff took out his notepad and pencil from his official bag and politely said to us, "I''ll draw a diagram for you now."


    When Chernoff put the opened notepad on the table and began to draw a sketch on the blank page with a pencil, our leaders of the group army all put their heads together. Akhromeyev and major general baksov, commander of the 67th division of the guards, could not squeeze in, so they had to stand behind and stand on tiptoe to look inside.


    Chernoff first drew two trenches on the paper, and then connected them with several lines. Then he looked up and said to us, "comrades, please see. The enemy''s defensive positions are generally composed of two trenches with a distance of two or three hundred meters, which are connected by traffic trenches. When they are attacked by our artillery, their main force will temporarily retreat to the second trench to avoid our artillery. When our artillery fire extends or stops, the enemy will quickly enter the first trench along the traffic trench to intercept the attacking troops.


    At the same time, the enemy will start to build new fortifications four or five kilometers behind the first line of defense. Even if we break through their line of defense and attack the second line of defense, they will use tank troops to counterattack, so as to consume our attacking troops. "


    After Chernoff finished speaking, bezikov first expressed his opinion: "general Chernoff is right. According to my observation, since the later period of the battle of Kursk, the German army has been using this kind of defensive tactics, which made our army suffer a lot of unnecessary casualties during the attack. Moreover, when the enemy is shelled, they all retreat directly to the second trench, so that they can dig a lot less anti artillery holes and reduce the amount of work for building positions. It seems that we need to make a good study of how to crack the enemy''s defensive means. "


    "We should also consider minefields and anti tank trenches in front of positions." "Our artillery can get rid of the enemy''s minefield, but there is no effective way to get the anti tank trench," chisjakov added


    While a few people were discussing with each other, I was frowning and thinking about how to solve these difficult problems in attack. It is very simple to solve the problem that the German army retreated from the first trench to the second trench when it was shelled by our army. As long as we pretend to let our artillery carry out extended firing to make the German army think that the danger has been relieved, and return to the first trench from the second trench, when we are ready to stop our army''s attack, our artillery fire unexpectedly returns to the first trench and covers the first trench again. In this way, we can kill a lot of the enemy''s effective forces.


    "Comrades commander," chisjakov saw that I was just staring at the sketch in my notepad and kept silent. He could not help asking strangely, "what are you thinking? Why don''t you speak?"


    "I''ve come up with a way to inflict heavy damage on the enemy with artillery fire." I said to him with a wry smile, "but I can''t think of any good way to let our tanks pass through the anti tank trench in front of the enemy''s position."


    "What, have you come up with a way to deal a heavy blow to the enemy?" When I said that, chisjakov''s face immediately showed a surprised expression. He repeatedly asked, "Comrade commander, tell me quickly, what are you going to do to deal with this special defense style of the German army?"


    When I finished my thoughts, bzikov couldn''t help clapping his hands. He said excitedly, "that''s great. That''s a great way. The Germans have long mastered our way of attack, thinking that as soon as the artillery stopped or extended, the infantry would attack under the cover of tanks. This time, we will make use of their habitual thinking to teach them a good lesson, and let the intensive artillery fire blast the bandits who have just returned to the first trench


    "But what about the anti tank trench in front of the position?" Chisgakov was obviously not as optimistic as bizikov. He immediately pointed out the problems we faced: "if the tanks can''t pass through the anti tank trench, what should we do if we encounter the counterattack of the enemy''s tanks when we seize the German outpost and attack new targets? You know, in the open plains, the enemy''s tanks can easily defeat our infantry without tank cover. "


    After what chisjakov said, everyone fell into meditation again.


    After a while, bezikov said again, "we can send engineers to fill the German anti tank trench when we are suppressing the enemy."


    "No, no," kirilov said excitedly. "Once the enemy finds out that our engineers are burying anti tank trenches, even if they are being attacked by our army''s artillery, they will still organize forces to suppress them. I''m afraid that our engineers will make a great sacrifice in this way. "


    Although bezikov''s proposal was rejected by kirilov, it provided me with an idea. After careful consideration, I said to several people, "comrades commander, I have come up with a way to make our tanks pass through the anti tank trench smoothly."


    My words stunned a few people, and they all had incredible expressions on their faces. Imagine a group of people racking their brains to think hard, but also did not come up with any way. After only a few minutes'' consideration, I announced to them that I had found a solution to the problem. If it were me, I would have the same reaction as them.


    Looking at everyone''s dubious appearance, I quickly said¡° If the engineers can use explosives to collapse the anti tank trench in several places and open up a passage for the tanks to pass, then our tanks can pass through the anti tank trench smoothly and provide the necessary support for the charging infantry. "


    "But, comrade commander," bezikov said, looking at kirilov first and then looking at me, "Comrade military commissar has just said that once the enemy finds out that our engineers are burying anti tank trenches, even if they are being suppressed by our army''s artillery fire, they will forcibly organize firepower to inflict heavy casualties on our engineers."


    After bezikov''s words, several people around nodded at the same time, and then Qi Qi focused on me, waiting for me to say the following.


    I asked them with a smile: "the distance between the enemy''s trench and the anti tank trench is usually about 100 meters. When our guns covered the first German trench, on the side of the anti tank trench near our army, should it be a safe area? "


    Don''t zikov think about it, and then replied: "yes, even if occasionally a shell missed, it would not cause too much damage to the troops staying near the anti tank trench."


    "Since our artillery will not cause damage to the troops near the anti tank trench, then our opportunity will come." I pointed to the sketch in my notebook and said, "when our artillery shelled the first German trench, the engineers quickly approached the anti tank trench and began to dig individual bunkers. After completing the individual bunker, continue to dig forward until the anti tank trench is dug, and the explosives are embedded. As soon as the time comes, it will detonate immediately, opening up a way for the tank to move forward. "


    After listening to this, chisgakov thought about it, and then reminded me, "Comrade commander, it takes a long time from digging individual bunkers to burying explosives in anti tank trenches. Can the Germans give us such a long time?"


    "Don''t worry about that." I said with confidence: "perhaps before the engineers began to bury explosives, our artillery fire has extended forward, and the Germans hiding in the second trench have gradually returned to the first line of defense..."


    "Will our engineers soon be in danger?" Before I finished, bezikov said in surprise, "the enemy only needs to shoot our engineers with machine guns. We will all pay a great sacrifice."


    "Chief of staff, you are too worried." I went on to say: "when the enemy returns to the first trench, our artillery will surprise the Germans and teach them a lesson. At the same time, we should cover our engineers for geotechnical work. "


    After listening to my detailed narration, it suddenly dawned on you that chisgakov immediately ordered akhromeyev to write down what I said and convey it to the engineers at an appropriate time.


    While akhromeyev was writing hard, chisjakov asked me, "Comrade commander, when do you think we should launch our attack on Zhitomir?"


    "As the German army may move northward from uman at any time and launch an attack from the southwest of Kiev, our troops will stay in place for the time being to defend. When will the attack on Zhitomir be launched? " After a while of serious thinking, I finally said: "at least we will wait until the situation in the southwest of Kiev is stable. It will take about three or four days. Well, today is November 7. In the evening of November 11, the 67th and 90th divisions of the guards moved to korostwev and launched a formal attack on Zhitomir in the early morning of November 12. "


    The reason why I chose the attack time to be five days later is not only to prevent the German troops from uman from attacking from our side rear, but also to transfer the artillery troops far away from cherkaser. On the rugged road, it will take at least three days for such artillery to be transferred to korostev. Seeing that the time of the attack had been officially fixed, chisgakov sent the two division commanders back to their respective units to ensure the security of the current defense area and prepare for the attack on Zhitomir. Uman''s German armored forces arrived in fastif early the next morning and launched a fierce attack on boyalka, a small city southwest of Kiev. The officers and men of the 38th army stationed in the city launched a tenacious resistance against the fierce German army. When boyalka was in full swing, I made a special phone call to watujing to ask if I needed to send troops to the war. When I finished speaking, vatujing immediately rejected my offer: "Comrade oshanina, there are still many troops in Kiev, and you are not available for the time being. You''d better stick to korostwev and the base, and be vigilant to prevent the German army of Zhitomir from sneaking attacks on you. " Since vatukin didn''t need my troops to support the 38th army, I was happy. After I put down the phone, I asked akhromeyev to inform the following divisions and let his mother hurry up to prepare for the attack. Seeing that I did not mention the reinforcement of the friendly forces, chisgakov urged the troops below to make preparations. He was surprised and asked, "Comrade commander, do we just watch the German attack on the friendly forces and turn a blind eye to it?" After hearing this, I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Comrade deputy commander, when I saw that boyalka''s garrison was attacked by the German army, I was also worried. I wanted to send troops to harass the rear of the German army and disrupt their offensive deployment. But I can''t help it. The senior general said that Kiev has enough troops and we don''t need to take part in the fighting. So we should concentrate on preparing for the attack on Zhitomir now. As long as the city is liberated, the German forces of fastiev will become isolated. In the end, they can only give up the counter attack against Kiev and return to uman obediently. "

 Chapter 1305

    On the evening of November 11, our attack on Zhitomir was about to begin, and the divisions were gradually entering their designated positions. In order to ensure the victory of the offensive, I asked bzikov to inform the officers at or above the regiment level of the divisions participating in the war and the commanders of the units cooperating in the war to rush to korostev immediately to attend the pre war military meeting.


    As soon as the jeep that chisjakov and bezikov took arrived in the southern suburb of korostev, I saw two jeeps parked on the roadside in front of me, and several commanders and fighters stood upright on the roadside. After a closer look, one of them was the guard tavartkilaze. He took a look and then replied, "Comrade deputy commander, this is major chukliko, the new head of the 309th regiment of the 51st division of the guard. The former commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lukin, is now the division commander of the 375TH infantry division


    After I found out the identity of the other party, I felt good for him because of Lu Jin, and said with a smile: "Comrade major, please rest assured that we have left special troops to the southwest of the other party. They don''t want to sneak from behind us when we attack Zhitomir. If they want to come, then our troops will mercilessly smash their wishful thinking. "


    "Commanders, comrades," after major chukliko sat down, chisgakov stood up, his hands on the edge of the table, leaning forward slightly, and said, "tomorrow''s battle is the time for us to pay back the blood debts of the bandits, and the time for us to punish the enemy for the suffering of the people of Ukraine. In order to make this coming attack, can achieve the final victory, we make all preparations. Now the main force of the German army is being held in other directions by our friendly forces. They are no longer able to send troops to reinforce the garrison of Zhitomir. Comrades, that is to say, we are bound to win the final victory in tomorrow''s battle.


    Fight, comrades! Fight to the death with the enemy who occupied Zhitomir


    "Wula As soon as chisjakov''s speech was over, there was a tsunami like cry in the auditorium, as if the roof were going to be pulled off.


    When peace was restored in the auditorium, I stood up and said to the commander at the meeting below, "comrades, it''s over. Let''s go back to our troops and deploy tomorrow''s attack."


    After all the commanders left, I took a look at tavartkilaze, bofski and bere, and then asked, "three general comrades, I don''t know where your headquarters will be before the battle starts?"


    "My artillery headquarters is in the forest to the south of the city, because our artillery position is in that position." The first person who answered me was major general povsky, the artillery commander. "At the same time, we also sent a large number of artillery observers to the front line to guide the artillery direction."


    "The army headquarters of the tank army is located in the forest to the north of the city," major general berey said immediately after bovsky said, "there are two tank brigades and a cavalry division deployed there. According to the plan, if the attack is not smooth, the tank brigade and cavalry division as the reserve will immediately fight."


    "My headquarters is only 500 meters away from the forward position, where we can clearly see the situation on the battlefield." Tavartkilaze looked at me and asked, "Comrade commander, would you like to go there and see with your own eyes how our commanders and fighters stormed into Zhitomir?"


    "Yes, comrade general, that''s what I mean." After responding politely to tavartkilaze, I turned to chisjakov and bezikov and said, "deputy commander, chief of staff, I''ll go to general tavartkilaze''s headquarters alone. You''d better go back to the headquarters of the group army to coordinate the overall situation."


    "I understand." When chisjakov heard me say this, his face was disappointed, but he simply replied, "I''ll go back to the headquarters of the group army with the chief of staff."


    At seven o''clock in the morning on November 12, more than 150 cannons hidden in the forest in the south of korostwev opened fire at the same time, and the German defense position was enveloped in flames and smoke in an instant.


    After an hour of shelling, the battlefield suddenly became quiet. At this time, a red signal bomb rose in the sky, which was the signal of attack. As dozens of tanks took the lead to cross the trench and quickly rushed towards the enemy''s position, thousands of officers and men hiding in the trench, shouting with weapons, rushed up behind the tanks.


    A few days ago, we specially studied how to deal with the German anti tank trench, but now it seems to be unnecessary. I saw a lot of tanks with logs tied to their bodies, so I knew that general bere must have a good way to fight against the tanks.


    After a while, our tanks stopped at the anti tank trench one after another, using artillery fire and vehicle mounted machine guns to suppress the fire on the German position, while some infantry climbed onto the car body, unloaded the logs tied to it, and put them on the trench. In a short time, I saw seven or eight tanks driving slowly from the simple wooden bridge.


    With the support of tanks, the infantry quickly approached the German position. After a short period of intense docking, our officers and men rushed into the trench one after another. Seeing this, tavartkilaze said excitedly, "Comrade commander, have you seen it? Our soldiers have entered the first line of defense of the German army and are expanding their achievements. "


    After looking through the telescope for a while, I turned around and told him, "Comrade General, immediately order the second echelon to be ready for battle and ready to fight at any time!" Hearing my order, tavartkilaze was stunned for a moment, and then asked, "Comrade commander, the offensive battle has just started, and the progress of the first echelon is very smooth. Is it necessary to put the second echelon into the battle so early?"¡° Don''t you see that the enemy is in chaos? " I pointed to the smoke filled battlefield in front of me and said, "we just want to take advantage of the enemy''s confusion and ineffective command to defeat them decisively. Otherwise, once we wait for them to slow down, we will have to pay a higher price if we want to eliminate them. "¡° I see With that, tavartkilaze told the staff next to him: "call the commanders of the 51st and 71st divisions of the guards and ask them to move forward and be ready to attack at any time." The troops of the first echelon made extraordinary progress. In less than an hour, except for the small troops that were cleaning the battlefield and eliminating the remnant enemy, the main force had rushed into the city along the open breach. Seeing this situation, I nodded to Tara kiraz and said, "Comrade General, time is almost up. Order the second echelon to attack!" After the troops of the second echelon rushed into the city one after another, tawalter killazer picked up the phone and contacted the commanders of the 67th and 90th divisions of the guards who first rushed into the city. I heard him ask in a loud voice, "major general Chernoff, the second echelon of troops have rushed into the city behind you. What''s the situation there?"¡° Report to the commander I leaned over and heard Chernoff''s voice on the phone: "my troops have now turned to the south of the city and are competing with the German troops on the street."¡° What''s the situation of the 67th division of Jinwei? " "I can''t get in touch with them right now," tavartkiraze asked in a raised voice¡° I saw the troops of the 67th division of the guards rushing straight down the main street towards the center of the city "I think they''re going to be the first to put the red flag on the church in the center of the city," Chernoff replied After putting down the phone, tavartkilaze reported to me optimistically: "Comrade commander, at present, the 67th and 90th divisions of the guards are developing towards the city center and the south of the city respectively, and the progress is very smooth. I believe that when the second echelon enters the city, it will soon destroy the German resistance and liberate the city. " Vatukin was also very concerned about our attack on Zhitomir. He specially called me and asked me, "Comrade oshanina, did your attack go well?"¡° Yes, Comrade General. " Seeing the smooth progress of the troops, I am happy to report that "at present, our two echelons and four close guard divisions have rushed into the city and are engaged in street fighting with the German army."¡° Because of your initiative to launch an attack on Zhitomir, the German army, which forced the 38th army to retreat step by step, has now stopped its operation and seems to be standing by. " "I''m afraid they will launch a surprise attack from your rear. You have to be more vigilant," vatukin kindly reminded me¡° Don''t worry, Comrade General. " I said confidently, "I have stationed the 77th division of the guards and a tank brigade to the east of the city. They are enough to crush any German attack." Seeing that I was so confident, watujing stopped talking nonsense and just said, "good luck to you!" And then I hung up. The German Air Force tried to bomb our attacking forces, but our fighters were driven away from the city. Seeing that there was no threat from enemy planes in the air, our commanders and fighters became more and more brave, and the whole war situation continued to develop in the direction beneficial to us. At 1:00 a.m. on the 13th, tavartkilaze received a call from major general Chernoff from the city and excitedly reported to me: "Comrade commander, the remaining German troops have been driven away from the city by us and are retreating south to the area of venica. Let''s just say that our troops have conquered Zhitomir and successfully liberated this suffering city. "

 Chapter 1306

    After I reported the news of the capture of Zhitomir to vatukin, he also looked very happy, even said: "great, this is really great. Comrade oshanina, I would like to extend my congratulations to you on the victory of the flag of the sixth group of guards in liberating hitomir, which has been occupied by the German army for two years, with resolute and decisive offensive action. I will immediately report to the supreme command the whole great victory you have won. "


    As soon as watujing finished speaking, I immediately asked, "Comrade General, now that Zhitomir has been liberated, what is the next combat task of our group army?"


    After a moment''s silence, vatukin replied, "the Germans will certainly not be reconciled to the defeat they suffered. They will certainly gather their superior forces to carry out a counter offensive against Zhitomir. What you have to do is to consolidate the city defense and prepare for the German attack. "


    Just as I was about to hang up the phone, I heard a call from watujing, and then asked, "Comrade oshanina, do you have any news about the detachment?"


    "No, Comrade General." I answered bitterly: "although our operator is constantly calling the team, there is no reply. They''ve been out of touch with us for more than six days, and it''s probably more or less bad. "


    After listening to my reply, vatukin sighed and said, "even if they have an accident, we should try every means to find their bodies and bury them well after we liberate Lutsk in the future."


    "Don''t worry, senior general." After he finished, I assured him, "don''t wait for the liberation of Lutsk. As long as the troops get close to the crash site, I will send people to search for it. We will never let our soldiers die in the wilderness."


    "Well, that''s good." Vatukin finally added two words: "by the way, your headquarters should stay in the base. Don''t rush to korostwev. What''s more, you just need to concentrate on guarding Zhitomir. As for the German forces of fativ, I will send new troops to deal with them. "


    After I put down the phone, I said to tavartkilaze standing next to me, "Comrade commander, in order to command the troops, I suggest that you transfer the headquarters to the city of Zhitomir as soon as possible, and let the commanders and fighters rush to repair the fortifications to cope with the possible counterattack launched by the German army."


    Tavartkilaze nodded and then asked, "Comrade commander, we went to Zhitomir. Who will defend korostrov? With the 77th division alone, I''m afraid they are a little too weak. "


    "In the forest to the north of the city, aren''t there two tank brigades and a cavalry division under the command of general berey?" I pointed to the map on the table, and said to ta kiraz, "you can order the tank brigade to stay in the forest, and transfer the cavalry division to take charge of the city''s defense."


    I went back to the base from the front line. As soon as I entered the headquarters, I saw a happy looking akhromeyev greet me. At the same time, I said excitedly, "good news, comrade commander, great news."


    I thought what he said was that we had captured Zhitomir, so he said with disapproval: "it is perfectly normal that the main force of the German army is held in different directions by our friendly forces, and the number of defenders in the city is limited, so they can''t block our attack."


    Akhromeyev waved his hands in a hurry and said, "no, comrade commander, I''m not talking about the victory of Zhitomir, but another more important thing."


    "Something more important?" I looked at some gaffe akhromeyev and asked strangely, "what else is more important than our victory in Zhitomir?"


    "Look, Rita. This is the telegram we just received." Kirilov, who was sitting at the table, waved to me and said, "when you finish reading these telegrams, you will understand why everyone is so happy."


    I took a close look at all the people in the room and saw that their faces were filled with irrepressible joy. Then I walked quickly to kirilov, took the thick stack of telegrams from his hand and scanned them carefully.


    When I see the above content clearly, I can''t help but be overjoyed. I didn''t expect that this telegram was from travkin, who had been missing for several days. He said in detail in the telegram: after the plane was shot, the members of the reconnaissance team jumped the umbrella in time, but the airborne backpack with radio station, military uniform, weapons and various forged documents crashed with the plane.


    In order to get back in touch with us as soon as possible, trafkin and his team searched the forest for two days before they found the wreckage of the plane. However, all the things in the backpack had been burned down and could not be used any more. In all kinds of helpless circumstances, travkin had to take the team on foot toward the direction of Lutsk.


    They went through all kinds of hardships and finally got out of the forest. Then they attacked a sentry near the forest and killed three German soldiers in it before they were supplied with weapons and food. After a half day''s rest in the post, the exhausted team continued along the road to Lutsk.


    This time, they were lucky. Not long after they left, they met a guerrilla group active in this area. Although the guerrillas carried radio stations, they were unable to use them due to exhausted batteries. Later, with the help of a local who sympathized with the guerrillas, the badly needed battery was finally fixed.


    At the back of the message, travkin said that he would sneak into Lutsk, disguised as a German, with gretka and heritage experts, to see if he could find the amber room. I put the telegram on the table and said with emotion, "no wonder we can''t get in touch with major trafkin. It turns out that there is something wrong with the radio." Chisgakov, who had never said anything, interrupted: "major travkin is really good. He has the ability to sneak into Lutsk even though he has lost all his radio stations, weapons, military uniforms and forged documents. It''s really not easy."¡° I hope they can gain something when they enter Lutsk this time. " Kirilov still had the amber room in mind, so he said anxiously, "if the Germans transport the amber room ahead of time, it will not be so easy to find it in the future."¡° Comrade military commissar, "apart from me, kirilov is the one who knows the most about travkin''s mission. Therefore, I specially asked him," can we get in touch with the major now? " Kirilov shook his head and said, "not now. As the hidden place of the detachment was near the city, they did not dare to send messages during the day in order to prevent being found by the enemy. I don''t think we''ll be able to get further information from the unit until the evening at the earliest. "

 Chapter 1307

    Now that I have the whereabouts of the detachment, I will definitely report it to watujing, who has always been concerned about it. When I got through to the headquarters of the front army, it was major general kleinukov, the new military commissar of the front army, who answered the phone.


    When he recognized my voice, he immediately asked politely with a smile, "Hello, general o''shanina! May I ask you to call Comrade commander? Is there anything important


    I didn''t know if he knew that watujing had sent a reconnaissance team to search for the amber room, so he said anxiously, "Comrade military commissar, can you ask the senior general to answer the phone? I have something very important to report to him. "


    When I said this, kleinukov said with some displeasure: "Comrade oshanina, the German army is launching a fierce attack in the southwest of Kiev, and our 38th army is almost out of support. The commander is mobilizing troops from other directions to meet the German forces. If you have anything important to tell me, I''ll let the commander know when he''s free. "


    Although kleinukov''s attitude is so unfriendly, I can''t get angry with him. After all, he is my superior. It''s a very serious act to commit crimes in the Soviet army. I don''t want to affect my future for such a small matter. I coughed hard, and then said vaguely, "Comrade military commissar, please tell the commander that the detachment is missing. We have just received a telegram from them. I will report the specific situation to the commander when he is free. "


    "Unit, what unit?" "Comrade oshanina, I''m confused by what you''re talking about," he asked mistily


    I opened my mouth and was hesitating whether I should simply report the matter to him. However, vatukin''s voice unexpectedly came out of the receiver: "Hello, o''shanina, what did you say just now? The team has news? Is it major trafkin''s team? "


    "Yes, Comrade General." When I heard watujing''s voice, I guessed that it was watujing who grabbed the microphone from him when he heard the military commissar mention the detachment. When I heard that he was so concerned about this, I told him the telegram from travkin in detail.


    As soon as I finished my report, I heard someone shouting beside me. It seemed that there was something urgent. "I''ll be right there," watujing said to the side Then he told me, "Comrade oshanina, I know about this matter. If major trafkin has any latest news, please call me immediately."


    After I put down the phone, kirilov immediately asked with concern, "Rita, what does commander vatujing say?"


    "What else can we say? Of course, let''s report to him as soon as we have information." I shrugged my shoulders and said helplessly, "but we don''t know what will be said in the telegram we received in the evening."


    Kirilov seemed full of confidence in travkin. He said confidently, "Rita, I''m sure the major''s telegram in the evening will bring us good news."


    "I hope so, my comrade military Commissar." After that, I turned to bezikov and said, "chief of staff, in order to prevent the German army''s counterattack against Zhitomir, the headquarters of the front army ordered us to strengthen the city''s defense immediately. I have ordered general tavartkilaze to transfer his command to the city of Zhitomir, where he can command the troops better. "


    "Comrade commander," chisjakov interrupted immediately after hearing what I said to bezikov, "in order to strengthen the defense of Zhitomir, I suggest that at least one artillery regiment be deployed to the east of the city. In this way, when attacked by the German army, our artillery can stop and shoot the enemy''s tanks and infantry. "


    "I agree." As for the whole proposal of chisgakov, I agreed without thinking. Then I said to bzikov, who was recording the order: "chief of staff, one artillery regiment may not have enough firepower. You call general povsky and ask him to send another two close guard rocket barracks to hide in the forest area in the east of the city and prepare for all battles. "


    As I thought that they would have information back at night, I no longer paid attention to the reconnaissance team, but gave orders to the divisions to prepare for the counterattack of the German army.


    I''m not in a hurry about the reconnaissance team, but someone is. Just after noon, watujing called. As soon as he heard my voice, he couldn''t wait to ask, "Hello, comrade oshanina, major, do they have the latest information?"


    "No, senior general. I don''t have any up-to-date information about them. " Staring at the battle map in front of me, I said absently, "if there is any news, I will report it to you immediately."


    Hearing what I said, vatukin said with some disappointment, "well, I''ll wait for your latest news."


    I thought they would not send a telegram until after dark. I didn''t expect that just in the evening, lophov came over from the nearby communication room with a telegram, and said to me with a smile: "Comrade commander, I just received a telegram from major trafkin from the enemy."


    "Show it to me." I took the telegram in his hand and immediately got close to my eyes. I couldn''t wait to browse it.


    "Comrade commander, what did the major say in the telegram?" Asked chisgakov with concern. After I gave the phone to chisgakov, I said to kirilov and bzikov, who were waiting anxiously: "the major said that after a day of reconnaissance, they finally got something. There are a lot of covered trucks parked near the bank in the city. The major immediately recognized that some of them were driven away from the base at the beginning... "That''s great, that''s great." Before I finished, kirilov cheered: "since the trucks are here, the cultural relics we are looking for must be in the bank." After a pause, he asked, "by the way, have they seen the wooden boxes that hold the amber room with their own eyes?" Seeing kirilov''s gaffe, I said with a bitter smile, "Comrade military commissar, I haven''t finished my words. The major said that because the uniforms and documents prepared by the superior for them were lost, and they were wearing the uniform of ordinary soldiers, they could not get close to the bank at all. " Hearing this, kirilov sat down like a deflated balloon and murmured, "hell, if they don''t try to get into the bank, how can they know if the amber room is in it?"¡° Don''t worry, comrade military Commissar. " Although I don''t have confidence in whether they can get into the bank, I still comfort kirilov: "since the major can successfully parachute before the plane crash and touch luzk, I think they will always find a way to get into the bank to see if the things we are going to leave are in it."

 Chapter 1308

    I have never seen the banks in the city of Zhitomir. So, like the protagonists in mission impossible, they disguised themselves as Russian generals and swaggered into the Kremlin. They disguised themselves as senior commanders of the German army and entered the bank from the front; Or sneak in from the skylight of the bank like a Skylark? I don''t know about all this, but in order to calm kirilov''s mood, I purposely put it so high sounding.


    After listening to what I said to kirilov, bzikov suddenly gave me a bold suggestion: "Comrade commander, if we send a fast tank column to rush to Lutsk along the road. Then, by tomorrow morning at the latest, our troops will be able to rush out of Lutsk. The Germans certainly did not expect that we would take such a risky action, and we would be caught by surprise. "


    "And then, comrade chief of staff." After listening to bzikov''s words, I asked in a sarcastic tone, "as soon as our tank column arrives in Lutsk, it rushes directly into the bank, grabs the cultural relics stored in it and withdraws them?"


    "Yes, that''s how I think about it." Instead of recognizing the irony in my words, bzikov replied solemnly, "if we plan carefully, this action can achieve the desired effect."


    I really didn''t expect that a commander of such a level as bzikov would make a simple and low-level mistake. He simply regarded the German as an idiot and a fool. Our tank troops are marching more than 200 kilometers westward along the road. If the Germans are really weak to this extent, will it take us several months to advance from Kursk to here?


    As soon as he finished, I immediately retorted, "no, comrade chief of staff, your whole plan is not feasible at all. Do you know how many German troops our fast column will encounter on the road of more than 200 kilometers? Maybe the troops will be exhausted by the German troops along the way before they reach Lutsk. To say the least, even if our troops reach Lutsk successfully, have you considered whether they can break through the defense of the garrison and rush to the bank in the city? "


    "I think Comrade commander is right." Chisgakov echoed: "chief of staff, even if our fast column can get to Lutsk and get into the cover smoothly. But have you ever considered how the troops with so many cultural relics can safely withdraw from behind the enemy lines? "


    "We can send someone to take care of it." Bezikov reluctantly retorted: "we have taken control of Zhitomir. It should not be difficult to send someone to meet the convoy carrying cultural relics."


    "Chief of staff, with all due respect." Chisgakov said impolitely: "although we have occupied Zhitomir, I don''t think the Germans are willing to give up. They will definitely gather forces and launch a counterattack against the city in a short time. Our main task at present is not to go to Lutsk to rob cultural relics, but to try every means to strengthen the defense of Zhitomir, so as not to let the city fall into the hands of the German army again. "


    "Comrade deputy commander is right. The German army may launch a counterattack against Zhitomir in the near future. Our current task is to improve the city''s defense system to resist the German attack." I was deeply afraid that the two men would continue to argue over this boring issue, so I broke in and said, "because of the fear that the troops holding on to Kiev would be surrounded by our army, Manstein ordered his men to give up Kiev on their own initiative. However, he is absolutely not willing to let our army gain a firm foothold in Kiev. Therefore, for quite a long time, the German attack on Kiev will not weaken, on the contrary, it will become stronger and stronger. When we captured Zhitomir, it completely disrupted the German offensive plan. In order to prevent the attack on Kiev, they would certainly mobilize heavy forces to pull out Zhitomir. So I think in the next few days, we are going to face a vicious battle. "


    Although my words are so clear, bezikov is still a little dubious. After all, the fighting of our group army has been going on so smoothly recently that people below will inevitably have the idea of belittling the enemy.


    I stopped for a moment and told bzikov: "chief of staff, call the divisions immediately and ask them to send reconnaissance teams to the nearby areas to conduct reconnaissance and find out the German action." Seeing that bezikov was ready to leave, I added after him: "also, inform major basmanov and ask him to send no less than ten reconnaissance teams to conduct detailed reconnaissance around the base."


    After bezikov left, chisgakov asked me unexpectedly, "Comrade commander, since all divisions will send out reconnaissance teams, is it a bit redundant for us to send out another ten?"


    I looked at chisgakov and said solemnly, "Comrade deputy commander, not much at all. Compared with our current defense area, ten reconnaissance teams seem to be quite a lot, but it is far from enough to be deployed in this vast area. "


    "Do you really think the Germans will make a big counterattack against us?" After listening to me, chisgakov asked cautiously, "you know, they have just suffered such a big defeat in Kiev. It is estimated that the officers and soldiers have long been demoralized and unwilling to fight."


    "The enemy is not willing to be defeated by us. They will certainly make a last ditch struggle." After I had said this, I waved my hand to tchijakov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, I haven''t had a rest all night. Now I''ll go back and lie down for a while, and you will be responsible for the business here. If you need anything, please send for me


    "Go and have a rest." Chisjakov said with understanding: "you are in the forefront of the war, all day and night without rest. You must be tired. Hurry up and have a rest. If there is anything, I will send someone to call you."


    I was so tired that I went back to my lounge and fell asleep as soon as I lay down on the bed. I thought chisgakov would send someone to call me soon, but no one knocked on my door until I woke up. I sat up from the bed, raised my hand and looked at my watch. The time has already pointed to nine o''clock. It seems that I haven''t slept for long, but why am I so hungry?


    After I simply washed, I walked out of the room and met a staff officer. When he saw me, he immediately stopped and stood at attention. He raised his hand to salute me and said, "good morning, comrade commander."


    good morning?! Hearing this, I was stunned. I fell asleep until the next morning. God, I''ve been sleeping so long. I hope I haven''t delayed anything.


    I quickly walked into the headquarters, and when I saw that some of them were busy, I was embarrassed to say hello to them in a loud voice: "Hello, comrades, commanders!"


    When I got to the table and looked at the telegrams on the table, I asked casually, "is there any information this evening?"


    "No, comrade commander." Akhromeyev, who was standing next to me, replied loudly, "we received reconnaissance reports from various divisions an hour ago. They did not find any sign of large-scale German mobilization."


    I heard that there was no sign of the German army moving. I felt a little more confident, so that we would have more time to prepare. I picked up the telegram on the desk, looked at it casually, and then asked, "major, do you have a report from our reconnaissance battalion?"


    Akhromeyev pointed to the telegram in my hand and said, "so far, seven groups have sent back calls saying that they have not found any German action."


    "What, only seven groups sent back telegrams?" I put the telegraph paper on the table and asked solemnly, "what about the remaining three groups? Which direction are they in charge of reconnaissance operations? "


    Ahlomeyev looked sideways at the map on the table, then pointed with his hand and said: "Comrade commander, the reconnaissance position of these three groups is berkichev to the south of Zhitomir. If the main German forces want to go north from venica, they must pass through this city."


    I saw a little doubt in akhromeyev''s eyes. Maybe he thought I was too nervous. I picked up the telegram on my desk and looked at it again. I thought the peace around me was too strange. After thinking about it, he asked again, "has the German army increased its forces to fastiev?"


    Akhromeyev could not help picking up his eyebrows when I asked, and then quickly said, "Comrade commander, I''m going to call the 77th division of the guards and ask them how things are going there."


    Standing in front of the big map, chisjakov and bzikov whispered a few words and then came to me. He said with a smile, "Comrade commander, according to the reports of the divisions, there is no sign of German troops gathering in their reconnaissance area. Are you too nervous? After the Kiev war, the German army was demoralized and demoralized. Without two or three months'' rest, I think they would not dare to launch a large-scale attack on us. "


    Akhromeyev, who called, soon came back and reported to me, "the commander of the 77th division of the guards reported that the German army of fastyv had added two armored divisions and one infantry division this morning. The specific number has not been made clear yet."


    "What, the German forces of fativ have increased?" On hearing this news, chisgakov rushed to the map on the wall with one quick step, looked at it for a while, then turned his head and said to me anxiously, "Comrade commander, if the German troops increase, our situation will be a bit bad."


    "Yes, comrade commander." Berzikov, who had been standing by the wall, looked at the map and said, "even if they only sent out one armored division to attack korostev from the East, our close guard 77th division and tank brigade could not stop them. I suggest that the two tank brigades deployed in the north of the city be immediately transferred to the east to take part in the defense. "


    "This situation should be reported to the headquarters of the front army immediately." After I finished, I grabbed the phone from the desk and called the headquarters. As soon as I heard watujing''s voice, I couldn''t wait to say, "senior general, I have important information to report to you."


    Watujing may have misunderstood me and said with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, is there any good news from the major''s reconnaissance team? Well, did they find what they were looking for? "


    "Senior general, I don''t have the latest information of the reconnaissance team here for the time being." I said to myself, "the German army sent two more Armored Divisions and one more infantry division to fastieff this morning. It seems that they have made a big move." My purpose of saying this is to remind vatujing that one Armored Division has defeated the 38th group army. Now there are two more. If we don''t want to take countermeasures, then the group army may be in danger of being defeated or annihilated.


    After listening to my report and being silent for a long time, vatukin asked cautiously, "Comrade oshanina, is this news reliable?"¡° Absolutely reliable, Comrade General. " I said boldly, "although we haven''t got the name of the new German army, there''s absolutely nothing wrong with this information."¡° I see. I sent someone to verify it. " With that, watujing hung up. I was disappointed to see that vatukin did not say how he was going to deal with the Germans. After sighing, he put down the phone, and then told akhromeyev: "major, continue to contact the three reconnaissance teams, and find out as soon as possible whether the German army has any major action in the direction of venica." After watching akhromeyev''s back disappear from the gate of the headquarters, I said to chisjakov and bezikov: "the tank brigade deployed in the forest north of korostvev should not be used for the time being. Our first task now is to find out where the German army''s attack direction will be after they have assembled a large number of troops in fativ? Continue to attack Kiev, or attack us from the east? " Chisjakov turned to look at the map, then came up to me and asked in a deep voice, "Comrade commander, I want to ask you a question. If a German armored division of fastiev is going to attack us, how many troops will we use to stop them?"¡° At least two infantry divisions plus two tank brigades and part of the artillery are needed. " I carefully answered his question: "only such a force can block the fierce German attack." After listening to me, chisgakov nodded, and then said, "in that case, I suggest that the Zhitomir troops be transferred to one or two divisions to participate in the defense in korostev."¡° No, absolutely not. " As soon as his proposal was exported, I refuted it: "Zhitomir is our next defense focus, and no one in the city can be transferred." As soon as I finished speaking, akhromeyev rushed in from the outside, waving a telegram in his hand and reporting to me in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, we have just received telegrams from the other three reconnaissance teams."

 Chapter 1309

    When akhromeyev handed the telegram to me, he solemnly reported that "the reconnaissance team found a large number of German tanks unloading at the railway station outside berkichev."


    "How many tanks did the German army unload?" When I heard the report, I was shocked and asked, "have you got the serial number clear?"


    Akhromeyev shook his head and replied, "we haven''t got the name of the enemy yet, but it''s estimated that it''s at least an armored division of the German army."


    Chisgakov took the telegram in my hand, looked at it, and then asked in a suspicious tone: "Comrade major, is this reconnaissance intelligence reliable? Isn''t it because our scouts got it wrong? "


    "No, comrade deputy commander." Akhromeyev argued: "this information was sent back by the reconnaissance team led by major basmanov himself."


    When basmanov''s name came out of akhromeyev''s mouth, all doubts disappeared. After all, the commander is a familiar and trustworthy person, and the information he reported is undoubtedly true and reliable. Therefore, after a moment of silence, chisgakov asked akhromeyev, "major basmanov, when can they find out the name of the enemy?"


    Akhromeyev shook his head again and replied, "the major said that the enemy''s guard is very strict and they can''t get close. But he will find a way to capture a valuable prisoner and find out the situation of this German armored force. "


    After staring at the map for a long time, I raised my head and asked, "comrades commander, what do you think will happen next when the German army gathers an armored division in berkichev?"


    "Needless to say," said bezikov, "when they gather as usual, they will certainly go north to attack Zhitomir and try to reoccupy the city."


    "Chief of staff, you are quite right." Bezikov''s judgment coincided with my conjecture. After praising him, I went on to say, "since the German army is sure to win against Zhitomir, the troops they used will never be just an armored division."


    "It seems that we need to increase our reconnaissance in other directions." As soon as chisgakov finished his sentence, he told akhromeyev, "major, go and send a telegram to the garrison of Zhitomir, and ask them to send reconnaissance troops to increase the reconnaissance area around the city."


    "Wait a minute, major." I saw that akhromeyev was about to leave the headquarters. I quickly stopped him and said, "this is the most important thing. The telegram is too slow. I''d better call commander tavartkilaze myself."


    When I got through to the headquarters in Zhitomir, I heard tavartkilaze''s voice coming out of the receiver and asked directly, "Comrade commander, what''s the situation there?"


    "All is well, comrade commander." Tavartkilaze replied in a smooth tone: "there is no movement of the enemy within ten kilometers around the city. It seems that there will not be any large-scale fighting in the near future. I strongly suggest that one or two divisions should be transferred from the city of Zhitomir to korostwev to defend the German forces in the fastif area."


    As soon as tavartkilaze finished speaking, I said to him sternly, "Comrade commander, I am very disappointed in your reconnaissance ability. The enemy''s Armored Division has already arrived in berkirchev, but you are still at a loss. Are you going to fight in a hurry after the German troops come to the city?"


    My words flustered tavart killazer. "Comrade commander, is this true? But my first scout reported to me that he had not found the whereabouts of the Germans at all. Maybe you have received the wrong information... "


    "Enough, general tavartkiraze." Without waiting for him to finish, I angrily interrupted him and impolitely said: "the intelligence gathered by the German armored division in berkichev was personally reported by major basmanov, the new battalion commander of the reconnaissance battalion. What kind of commander he is, I don''t say, you should know, he will never give back the false information that has not been proved."


    Fortunately, tavartkilaze knew busmanov and knew what kind of person he was, so he could understand what kind of situation he was in now without my much explanation. After another silence, he asked, "Comrade commander, what should we do?"


    "General tavartkiraze, listen to me." As I slid my finger across the map, I said to the microphone, "send your scouts immediately to the new city of warrensky in the West and crosten in the north as soon as possible. We must find out in the shortest possible time whether the enemy has assembled troops in these two directions. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Tavartkilaze solemnly replied, "I''m going to send scouts to the enemy''s defense area for reconnaissance."


    In order to be on the safe side, I also told him to say, "also, seize the favorable time when there is no battle, repair and reinforce the fortifications outside the city, and be ready to fight against the German attack."


    Just after calling tavartkiraze, vatujing''s call came in. Since I haven''t had time to report to him about the German armored division''s assembly in berkichev, he thought that we are still safe here. After reporting the information that the 60th group army was transferred to the southwest of Kiev, he said lightly: "oshanina, your task is to defeat the enemy of farstev by our new force, Cut off their escape to the West. "


    "Comrade General, the situation here may be much worse than you think." As soon as he finished speaking, I quickly gave him a detailed report on the intelligence of the German armored division in berkichev.


    After hearing this, he was surprised: "what, is there a German armored division gathering in berkirchev? It''s only tens of kilometers away from Zhitomir. If the enemy wants to launch an attack, it can rush under the city of Zhitomir in two hours at most. By the way, have you taken any measures? "


    "In addition to informing general tavartkilaze to repair the fortifications, I also asked him to send a reconnaissance team to reconnoiter warrensky new town and crosten respectively, so as to quickly find out whether there are large-scale German troops in the above two areas."


    After hearing this, vatukin said, "it''s not enough to send scouts on the ground. Well, I''ll order the air force to go out later and conduct reconnaissance in the two areas you mentioned to see if there are any signs of German troops gathering. "


    With vatukin''s support, we found out the enemy''s troop build-up more than an hour later: in addition to the German armored troop build-up found in the new town of vorensky, we also found signs of movement of the German regiment near crosten.


    Seeing the reconnaissance information forwarded by watujing, the faces of all the people in the headquarters changed. After looking over the information several times, chisgakov said to me, "Comrade commander, we have only four close guard divisions and two tank brigades in the city of Zhitomir. We are going to face two German armored divisions and several infantry divisions. They can block the enemy''s attack."


    "The situation is very bad, comrade deputy commander." Staring at the map, I said solemnly, "I think the enemy''s purpose of gathering such forces is not only to capture Zhitomir, but also to capture Kiev."


    If I put forward such a view a few days ago, it would certainly be refuted by everyone. However, the iron facts in recent days tell us that although the German army was driven away from Kiev and Zhitomir by us, they still have the strength to seriously damage or even destroy our army, and we must not take it lightly.


    "What shall we do?" Asked chisgakov.


    "If the German forces attack from three directions at the same time, it is a question whether we can keep Zhitomir." As soon as chisjakov finished speaking, bezikov immediately expressed his views: "in my opinion, we should send troops to the north, West and south respectively to set up blocking positions and prevent the enemy from advancing towards hitomir."


    "Chief of staff, have you ever thought that the enemy''s recommendation to hitomir is not a small force." As for bezikov''s proposal, chisgakov first retorted: "if more troops are sent to block, our defense force in the city will be weakened; If we send fewer troops, we will not be able to stop the enemy. On the contrary, we may be completely annihilated by the German army. "


    "What shall we do?" Hearing that his proposal had been rejected, bzikov could not help but be a little worried. He said in a loud voice: "even if our troops stay in Zhitomir, if the enemy encircles us in three directions, it is uncertain whether we can hold the city."


    During the fierce debate between the two of them, I didn''t express my opinion. At least I kept glancing at the door from the corner of my eye. I was anxious that akhromeyev, who was in the next telecommunication room, would come back soon and report to me the latest situation of the reconnaissance troops.


    When I saw akhromeyev appear at the door, I immediately stood up from my position and asked him in a loud voice, "major, have you received the latest reconnaissance information?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Akhromeyev nodded and agreed. He walked around the table to me and handed me a fresh telegram. At the same time, he said, "I''ve just received a telegram from major basmanov. They have found out the German number in berkichev."


    "Which army is it?" Asked chisgakov and bzikov in one voice.


    Akhromeyev turned to look at the two men, still turned to look at me and said, "it''s the first German armored division. According to major basmanov''s report, the division is from Greece, with 95 long barrel No. 4 tanks, 76 leopard tanks, 7 fire breathing tanks and 7 command tanks, with a total of 185 tanks. "


    "My God." When bezikov heard this, he couldn''t help exclaiming. Then he said to himself, "the first armored division of the German army is second only to the great German division and the 130th armored instructor in the German defense forces. In ''41, they were the first troops to attack Leningrad and occupied several settlements in the suburbs. When they were transferred to the midline, they were also pushed to the nearest force to Moscow. We have only two incomplete guard tank brigades in Zhitomir with such a strong fighting force. It is estimated that they are not their opponents. "


    I very much agree with this statement of bezikov, so I told akhromeyev: "major, you should immediately send a telegram to major general Berek, so that he can come to the headquarters immediately." Then I explained to them, "with the tank brigades hidden in the forest, we can use up to four brigades in Zhitomir, but it is still far from enough. Because in addition to the first armored division in berkichev, the German army also has an armored unit in wallensky new town. Although we don''t know the number of the other side for the time being, we believe that their combat effectiveness will not be too weak. "


    Chisgakov suggested to me: "Comrade commander, I think we should call general tavartkilaze and ask him to dig more anti tank trenches in front of the defensive positions, so as to prevent German tanks from rapidly advancing under the city of Zhitomir." After akhromeyev left, kirilov, who sat next to him and did not speak, kindly reminded me: "Rita, do you need to report to commander vatukin immediately about the news that the German army stationed in berkirgizev is the first armored division?"¡° Just a moment. " Although I am anxious to report the news to the higher authorities, considering that there are still two directions where the number of the German army is not clear, if I report it rashly, it is very difficult for watujing who has received an incomplete report to make a correct response¡° We will report to the senior general after we have found out the number of German troops in the two directions of wallensky new town and crosten. " Not long after we waited, akhromeyev came in in a hurry. From the stern expression on his face, I know that the situation is very serious. The enemies in the East and North may be more serious than we think. When he came up to me, without waiting for him to speak, I raised my hand to stop him and said, "major, please read the message to us." Ahlomeyev took a deep breath, picked up the telegram and read aloud: "after our reconnaissance, it is now clear that the commander of the seventh German armored division, Lieutenant General von mantefield, is in the new town of wallensky. In addition to the earlier 208th infantry division and 340th infantry division, the eighth German armored division was found in the direction of crosten¡° What? " After listening to the telegram read by akhromeyev, bzikov rushed over and snatched it. As he looked at it, he said in an unbelievable voice: "how can it be, how can it be sure that there are three German armored divisions at the same time?" Originally, I knew that Zhitomir would be attacked by the first and seventh armored divisions of the German army, which was enough to make me uneasy. Now there is an eighth armored division. In this case, can Zhitomir still hold on? Thinking of this, I told akhromeyev: "major, call the headquarters of the front army for me, and I will personally report the intelligence to the general."

 Chapter 1310

    "What, there are German armored divisions in the north, West and south of Zhitomir?" After listening to my report, vatukin also said in an unbelievable tone: "our front soldiers are listening to me at the same time. Chisjakov and bzikov quickly put their heads together, and their eyes are staring at the position I pointed out with my pencil. After a long time, chisjakov tentatively asked: "Comrade commander, do you plan to send small troops to hide in the forest and constantly harass the enemy?"


    Bzikov nodded his head, shrunk his mouth, and said with a little disapproval: "although the small team hidden in the forest can cause some trouble to the German army, I don''t think it''s realistic to delay their advance."


    When I saw chisjakov''s hesitation, I explained to them, "our small troops, with 40 rocket launchers, are hiding in the forest. As soon as the enemy''s tank column entered our range, the rockets fired decisively, decisively destroying the leading tank. Once the attack is completed, the small forces will immediately move to choose a new ambush location. "


    After I finished, chisgakov looked at the map for a while, then nodded his head and said with approval, "great, comrade commander''s proposal is really great. When attacking our city, the German infantry could not rely on their tanks. If we continue to let small units with 40 rocket launchers on their way to destroy their tanks piecemeal, it is estimated that the number of tanks of each Armored Division will be greatly reduced when they advance to the city of Zhitomir. " Then he looked up at me and said, "Comrade commander, I totally agree with your proposal!"


    I turned to look at bezikov and asked, "what''s your opinion, chief of staff?"


    Don''t think about it, zikov, then replied decisively, "I agree, too!"


    Although both of them agreed to my proposal, I still felt very uncomfortable. Other commanders in their own headquarters were full of their own words. What they said was what they said, and their subordinates could only carry out their orders unconditionally. And me? Although they are all commanders now, the only way to give orders is to put forward their own opinions first and convey them to the grass-roots units only after obtaining unanimous consent.


    I called akhromeyev over and repeated my order. I told him to convey it to major general tavartkiraze immediately, so that all divisions in the city of Zhitomir could send small troops to carry out the task of delaying the advance of the German army.


    As soon as I was given the order, the telephone rang on my desk. I thought it was some subordinate, so I picked up the phone. Unexpectedly, Zhukov''s voice came out: "Hello, Rita, this is Zhukov."


    I had just sat down. Hearing Zhukov''s voice, I quickly stood up from my seat, straightened up and said, "Hello, marshal, what''s your instruction?"


    "Comrade vatukin just called me and said that there were German armored divisions in all three directions of Zhitomir." Zhukov asked slowly, "I heard that you plan to stay in the city for a few days and then retreat. Is that the case?"


    Although Zhukov''s tone of voice was smooth, I also recognized that he had come to ask for a crime. He quickly explained, "well, comrade marshal. Judging from the current situation, the enemy''s forces are far more powerful than ours. If we want to stick to Zhitomir, we will fall into the encirclement of the German army. Once surrounded by the German army, it is estimated that the whole army will be destroyed in less than a week. "


    My words may remind Zhukov of the Kiev battle. Before the outbreak of that battle, he once advised Stalin to give up Kiev and withdraw his troops across the Dnieper River to build a new defense line. As a result, he was not only reprimanded by the Supreme Commander himself, but also removed from his post as chief of general staff and let him become commander of the reserve front army. Today''s Zhitomir is somewhat similar to the original Kiev. If the order is issued recklessly, the defenders in the city may be completely annihilated by the German army.


    Zhukov didn''t speak for a long time, and I didn''t dare to disturb him. I could only hold the microphone and wait for him to make the final decision. I don''t know how long later, Zhukov sighed in the receiver: "Rita, if I let you do your best to defend, how many days can your troops hold on?"


    As a matter of fact, I have no idea that the troops can hold on for a few days in Zhitomir. In real history, the sixth group army of the guards was assigned to the second front army along the Baltic coast in October. Only because of the appearance of my butterfly, there was a small deviation in history here, so I continued to stay in the army of watujing. As for Zhukov''s question, I thought it over carefully, and then answered, "Comrade marshal, I ordered the garrison in the city of Zhitomir to send small troops to harass the enemy so that they could not get close to our city in a short time. However, due to the great disparity between the enemy and ourselves, once the battle starts, I estimate that the troops can only hold on until the 21st of this month at most. "


    "Today is the 15th," Zhukov said to himself. "That is to say, you can only stay in Zhitomir for six days at most."


    "Yes, from the current situation, my troops can only hold on for six days." When I finished speaking, I suddenly thought of the priceless cultural relics in the base, and quickly added: "of course, if we want to transfer the cultural relics in the base, I can let the troops stick to it for two more days."


    My last sentence woke Zhukov up. He took a cold breath and said, "Rita, if you don''t mention it, I forget that there are so important things in your base. It''s the same with watujing. It''s been so long. Why don''t we arrange for people to transport things from the base? " Although I''m dissatisfied with vatukin today, I can''t speak ill of him, otherwise it will damage my image in Zhukov''s mind. So I argued for vatukin: "maybe the vehicles are used in other places. You know that Kiev has just been liberated, and the transport team has a lot of transport tasks..." "OK, you don''t have to say." Zhukov interrupted me and said to himself, "I will ask vatujing to arrange no less than 300 trucks to transport the precious cultural relics to you as soon as possible." Hearing this, I couldn''t help saying: "marshal, I don''t know which route the transportation team will take to transport the cultural relics to a safe place."¡° Is that true? " When Zhukov heard my question, he said impatiently, "after leaving the base, the motorcade carrying cultural relics first went north into korostev, and then turned east along the road to Kiev."¡° Marshal, I don''t think this route is suitable for transporting cultural relics. " At the thought of the German troops in fastiev, my heart was particularly uneasy. I quickly reminded Zhukov: "the German troops are now gathering heavy troops in fastiev. Since they can easily repel our 38th army, it will be easy to cut off the road from korostwev to Kiev, We can''t watch these precious cultural relics fall into the hands of the Germans again. " When I finished speaking, the sound of turning the paper came from the receiver. Zhukov should have brought a map and was studying the transportation route of cultural relics. After a while, he continued to ask me, "if the German army is attacking cherkaser now, can you hold it?" As soon as Zhukov''s words came out, I understood that he intended to transport the cultural relics out of the port city of cherkaser. He quickly replied, "don''t worry, marshal. Although we have only two divisions in the direction of cherkaser, there are still several artillery regiments and guard rocket barracks. I believe that it''s no problem to block the enemy for ten days and a half months."¡° "Good," Zhukov said after hearing my reply, "I will contact Comrade vatukin immediately to discuss the transfer of cultural relics. You must do a good job in cooperation." For reasons of confidentiality, Zhukov did not tell me on the phone where the convoy of cultural relics would go to dachelkaser, but I had to make preparations in advance. I immediately called sivakov, who was left behind in cherkasse, and asked frankly, "Comrade commander, what''s the situation there?"¡° Very calm, comrade commander. " Sivakov reported to me that "except for the sporadic exchange of fire in individual sections, the German army did not attack our defensive positions."¡° It''s best if the Germans don''t attack. " I heard that the direction of cherkaser was calm, and I felt a little more secure. Then I told him, "in two days, we may have a large team to cross the Dnieper River from cherkaser. You must protect the pontoon on the river, and never let the German destroy it."

 Chapter 1311

    After the phone call, I sat at the table, staring at the map spread out in front of me and pondering for a long time. Then I sighed and said to kirilov, who was sitting opposite me, "Comrade military commissar, the situation is really not optimistic."


    Kirilov was stunned for a moment, then asked in a puzzled way, "why, Rita, what are you worried about?" Before I could respond, he began to ask himself, "are you worried about the German attack? Although they forced Tommy from three directions, with our strength, we can completely block their attack in a short time; Even if it doesn''t hold up, it can go back to Kiev along the road. Are you worried that the cultural relics in the base will fall into the hands of the German army again? This kind of worry is also unnecessary. I believe that before long, the superior will send a special motorcade to transport all the cultural relics stored here. "


    "My worry is that our troops may be surrounded by the German army." When I saw that all the people''s attention was attracted by me, I was shocked to announce: "according to all kinds of signs, the German army in fastif will take a surprise attack to cut off the road between Kiev and Zhitomir. As soon as this assumption becomes apparent, the troops that we have withdrawn will have to go through the rough road and return to cherkaser. "


    "Is that really possible?" "At present, the 38th and 60th army groups are deployed in the southwest of Kiev. When they see that our situation is critical, they will surely send troops to rescue us," he asked suspiciously


    After listening to bzikov''s too idealistic idea, I poured a basin of cold water on him: "chief of staff, if you hold this idea, we will not escape the fate of being encircled and annihilated by the German army in the end."


    "Ah?" My words startled bzikov. He opened his eyes wide and said in disbelief, "how can this happen?"


    "Why can''t it appear?" as the room was full of my own people, I didn''t have much scruples when I said: "a 25th armored division of the German army defeated our 38th army, which was full. Although the headquarters of the front army added the 60th group army to the southwest of Kiev, the German army also added several Armored Divisions and infantry divisions. I doubt whether our two groups can block the German offensive. "


    Seeing that I have described the situation so seriously, kirilov, who has personally experienced the recovery of Kiev and the loss of Kiev, is unable to do so. He stood up and walked back and forth in the room with his hands on his back, as if thinking whether what I said was alarmist.


    But chisjakov, who did not speak for a long time, hesitated and asked, "will Kiev be lost again?"


    "No, Kiev won''t lose it." Without waiting for me to speak, kirilov, who was pacing, stopped, looked at chisgakov and said firmly: "although we have lost Kiev twice, we will never lose it again this time. Our officers and men will shed their last drop of blood to defend this great city. "


    "Comrade military commissar is right." In my memory, although the German army launched a crazy counterattack after the recovery of Kiev, Kiev was firmly controlled by the Soviet army. So as soon as kirilov finished, I immediately agreed: "Kiev will never lose it. Although the German offensive is fierce, it''s not 1941. They don''t have the power to capture Kiev. "


    "But, comrade commander," said bzikov in surprise after listening to my analysis, "don''t you say that our 38th and 60th army groups can''t resist the German offensive in the fastif area? But now you say... "His words suddenly stopped here. Although I didn''t finish, I could hear the implication in my heart. He thought what I said was contradictory.


    "Yes, chief of staff," I said, looking at bezikov, "I did say just now that the 38th and 60th army could not stop the German army from cutting off the Kiev Zhitomir road. However, it can not be stopped because there are no solid fortifications in the southwest of Kiev. Facing the fierce German army, our troops can only retreat step by step. But once they get back to Kiev, things will change. In addition to the perfect defense system in the city, the commanders and fighters also have the determination to fight to the end. In this case, it is impossible for the Germans to achieve the kind of victory they imagined. "


    After analyzing the situation for them, I changed the topic: "OK, it''s time for us to study how to transfer cultural relics. As the main force of the German army was gathered by fastiev, it was not appropriate to transport the cultural relics into Kiev through the Kiev Zhitomir highway. The meaning of the higher authorities is to let the convoy of cultural relics transport cross the Dnieper River from the direction of cherkaser, and then go to a safe area. "


    Although chisgakov could not be more familiar with the map in front of him, he still read it for a long time before he said slowly, "I think the safest route for the motorcade is to go to cherkaser through the firewood road we laid."


    Listening to what he said, bzikov quickly leaned over, looked at it for a moment, and added: "but this road still has to pass near the German occupied area, and there is still danger." At this point, he looked up at me and said with some regret, "at that time, we only considered how we could not be detected by the German army, and successfully attacked korostwev, without removing the German army from the small towns along the way. Now to transport cultural relics through this road may be constantly harassed by the German army. "


    "Although it''s only a hundred kilometers from the base to the Koson we control." "But to ensure the transportation safety of this road, we need to use at least one division to defend it," chisjakov said anxiously. Our two divisions in cherkaser are not available. There are four infantry divisions and tank brigades in Zhitomir, one infantry division and one cavalry division in korostwev, and one infantry division and two Guard regiments here. Although the total number of troops seems to be quite large, under the current situation, no one can use them. "


    Just when we were worrying, watujing''s phone call came back. He said to me sternly, "Comrade oshanina, I will send a convoy of 50 trucks to your base tonight. The motorcade will follow the Kiev Zhitomir highway, enter korostev, and then turn south to enter the base. You have to arrange people to do the security work along the way. "


    I couldn''t laugh or cry at vatukin''s words. I told him that the road between Kiev and Zhitomir might be cut off at any time by the German army from fastif. He even sent a motorcade to come swaggering along the road. I really thought that the German army would not take any action.


    After I put down the phone, I said to them in tears, "Comrade deputy commander, it''s very bad. The senior general sent a motorcade to arrive here tonight and ordered us to send someone to meet him. "


    "Leave it to me." "I''ll call the commander of the 77th division and ask him to send a battalion of infantry and a tank company to meet the convoy," bezikov asked


    The more I worry about what''s coming, the more I worry that the convoy will be attacked by the German army on the road. In the end, it was attacked by a German army. Although the German army only has more than 100 people and several armored vehicles, this is not what the convoy with only three soldiers in each vehicle can cope with. If the troops of the 77th division had not arrived in time, they would have been destroyed. But even so, the team arrived at the base, the original 50 trucks, is the remaining 21.


    Akhromeyev brought in a captain from outside and introduced him to me, saying, "Comrade commander, this is captain morochov, the leader of the transport team from Kiev."


    After I saw the man clearly, I immediately went over to him, reached out my hand to him and said in a friendly way, "Hello, Captain morochov. I didn''t expect that we would meet here."


    Molochov was a transport team leader I met during the Kursk war. Because I appreciated him very much, I had thought about digging him up to me to become a battalion commander. But later, for various reasons, I had no chance to implement this plan. However, his rank was also promoted, from lieutenant to captain. He first saluted me, then took my hand and said excitedly, "Comrade General, if your troops hadn''t arrived in time, I think our transportation team would have been destroyed."


    "Comrade captain," I asked curiously, "are you in charge of this transportation?"


    Unexpectedly, morodrov shook his head and said, "no, Comrade General. This time, it was led by a major. He also had an order in his hand, which contained a marching route map drawn up by his superiors, clearly stating which route to return to Kiev after the convoy had finished loading materials. "


    I heard that the person in charge of the motorcade had a marching route in his hand, so I knew that watujing probably didn''t intend to let the motorcade go to cherkaser. After all, the way around there was too far. I looked at molochov and asked, "Captain, where is your major?"


    "Sacrifice After he said this, he lowered his head, looked at his toes and said, "the truck he was in was hit by a bullet and caught fire, and the orders he was carrying were burned down."


    Without a route map drawn up by the higher authorities, the motorcade did not know how to return to Kiev even after loading the cultural relics. I ordered akhromeyev to take morodrov to rest first, and I called vatukin.


    When vatukin heard my voice, he directly asked, "Comrade oshanina, has the team arrived at the base?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." I hastily replied, "the convoy was attacked by the German army on the road. Nearly half of the vehicles were lost, and the major who led the convoy was also killed. What''s worse is that the order he carried with him was burned down, and we don''t know what direction to arrange for the motorcade to return from. "


    "That''s what you''re doing?" After hearing my report, vatujing immediately started a fire, "didn''t you send people to meet them? Why does it make the team suffer so much


    I knew that watujing was angry, so I didn''t defend myself. I could only bear his thunder without saying a word. After he calmed down, I quickly asked, "senior general, I don''t know which route the motorcade should take to return to Kiev or other places after loading."


    Watujing sighed and said to me, "I''m sorry, comrade oshanina. I''m a little excited just now. I''m angry with you. It''s my fault. Please forgive me!" After he apologized, he paused for a moment. Then he said, "according to the original plan, the motorcade should transport 60 tons of gold and some valuable oil paintings. After returning to Close Te Veff from the base, they will continue to drive north and turn east into Kiev through the forest."


    After listening to the route of the convoy, I nodded secretly. I felt that his arrangement was far safer and more convenient than crossing the river through Kiev Zhitomir highway or cherkaser. After thinking about it, I asked him, "senior general, there are only 21 trucks left in the team. The original transportation plan may need to be adjusted. I think 60 tons of gold must be transferred first, but the oil painting can wait a moment. You might as well transfer some marble sculptures of ancient Greece and Rome first. What do you think? " As for my proposal, watujing thought for a moment, and then readily agreed: "well, comrade oshanina, according to what you said, first transfer the gold and part of the sculpture. As for the oil paintings, I will arrange the motorcade for transportation after the current situation is stable. " After determining the materials to be transported and the route of the March, I had akhromeyev called in and said to him, "major, go and get rid of your men and help captain morochov load the truck. Remember, first load all 60 tons of gold, and then load some sculptures in ancient Rome and Greece. As for the marching route, I''ll give it to captain morochov after loading. " While I was giving orders to akhromeyev, bezikov kept looking at the map. After akhromeyev left, he raised his head to me and said, "Comrade commander, although this road in the forest is hidden, it does not rule out the danger of being discovered by the German army. Therefore, I suggest that troops should be sent to escort it."¡° The road in the forest may be hard to bear tanks, so send a motorized battalion escort. " I simply said: "let them carry more anti tank weapons, so that even if they encounter with German tank forces, they will not have no fighting power." After hearing this, bzikov nodded and said with approval: "this arrangement is very reasonable. As long as there are infantry with anti tank weapons, even if we encounter German armored forces, we can retreat completely."

 Chapter 1312

    Although there were only 21 cars left in captain morodrov''s motorcade, I transferred another guard camp to be responsible for loading, but due to the lack of necessary lifting tools, until bezikov did not want to argue with morodrov, but turned to look at me and asked for my opinion: "Comrade commander, what''s your opinion?"


    Seeing that bezikov had pushed the contradiction to me, I couldn''t help worrying. With such a heavy snow, it is obviously unrealistic to return to Kiev through the path in the forest as planned; Although it is fast to return along the road, no one can guarantee that there will not be a few idle Germans who are unwilling to stay in the warm room for heating. Instead, they like to lie in the snow on both sides of the road and be ready to ambush the passing Soviet convoys at any time.


    I looked at bzikov, then at the anxious looking morochov, and finally made the most difficult decision: "comrades, under the current situation, in order to transfer the materials from the base as soon as possible, I think we have to take risks." With that, I said, "Captain, take the motorcade and set out. I''ll let the commander stationed in korostrov send a small force to escort you back to Kiev."


    "Comrade commander..." seeing that I agreed with the proposal of morochov, don''t worry about zikov. He tried to persuade me, but I raised my hand and stopped him: "OK, chief of staff, the materials in the base need to be transferred as soon as possible. Our time is limited, so we can only take risks."


    "Chief of staff," seeing that bezikov still wanted to persuade me, chisgakov, who was always silent, said, "the decision made by Comrade commander is correct. We must strive for time to transport all the materials from the base, otherwise, as soon as the enemy arrives, these things will fall back into their hands."


    We went back to the headquarters after seeing the cultural relics go away. Due to the temporary change of the march route of morodrov''s motorcade, it is necessary for me to report to vatukin immediately, so that he can adjust the direction in time.


    After hearing my voice, vatujing said impatiently, "Comrade oshanina, have you finished loading all the gold and cultural relics to be transported?"


    "Yes, it''s all loaded. A list of cultural relics. I''ll report it to you by cable later. " Originally, I wanted to read to him directly the cultural relics that have been reprinted, but seeing the dense names on the list, I backed out and decided to let akhromeyev send the list to the headquarters in the form of telegram. I stopped for a moment, and then said, "Captain morochov''s team has started."


    "What, the team''s off?" Listen to me, watujing was a little surprised and said, "it''s snowing so heavily outside. It''s estimated that the roads in the forest have been covered with snow for a long time. In this case, the motorcade may be trapped in the forest."


    "Things have changed, comrade commander." I said cautiously: "considering that the roads in the forest may be covered with snow, I asked molochov to lead the motorcade back along the Kiev Zhitomir road."


    "What the hell have you done, comrade oshanina?" As soon as I finished talking, watujing immediately said, "don''t you forget that they were ambushed by the enemy and lost more than half of their vehicles on the way to you? Now you even let them go back the same way. If anything happens to the convoy transporting cultural relics, I will send you to the military court. "


    I''m not worried about the threat of watujing. As a passer-by, if I didn''t have the aura of the protagonist on my head, I would have died ten times and eight times. I believe that this time I can turn the bad into the good. I waited patiently for vatukin to finish, then I said without hesitation: "Comrade General, please rest assured that when the motorcade arrives at korostwev, I will ask the defenders there to send armored troops to escort along the way. I believe that the motorcade will arrive in Kiev safely."


    After making a fire at me, vatukin saw that I didn''t try my best to defend myself. He just said lightly that the motorcade could arrive safely, and his mood soon returned to normal. He asked cautiously: "Comrade oshanina, can the motorcade transporting cultural relics really return to Kiev smoothly?"


    "I think so." I replied vaguely: "with such heavy snow, the enemy may not have any more action, so it is unlikely to send troops to the motorcade near the road. Even if there are, it can only be some scouts. Our troops escorting the convoy can easily get rid of them all. "


    "I hope so." When watujing saw that the matter had come to an end and everything could only be left to fate, he sighed and said, "although only 60 tons of gold and some sculptures were transported this time, they can''t fall into the hands of the enemy in any case, so I hope you will dispatch elite troops to carry out this escort mission."


    "Don''t worry, Comrade General." Seeing that watujing had acquiesced to the fact that the motorcade was returning along the original road, in order to reassure him, I quickly assured him that "I will definitely send excellent troops to protect the motorcade from reaching Kiev smoothly."


    At present, the commander at the highest level in korostevri is major general berey, acting commander of the Fifth Army of the close guard tank. So after I finished talking with watujing, I made a special call to him and told him: "general berey, there will be a car team of our army passing through korostevri later, carrying important materials of our army, I order you to send out elite armored forces and escort them back to Kiev safely. "


    After hearing my order, berey didn''t simply agree as usual, but hesitated for a long time and said: "Comrade commander, the snow outside is too heavy, and the road condition becomes complicated. I can only send a small force composed of two tanks and a motorized company to escort the convoy back to Kiev." For the arrangement of bierre, I thought about it, then nodded and agreed: "well, general bierre, since the convoy entered korostwev, I''ll leave their safety to you. Anyway, you have to find ways to escort them back to Kiev safely." After I put down the phone, chisgakov suddenly said to me: "Comrade commander, I just received a report from all divisions that the German troops on three sides of Zhitomir had stopped advancing towards Zhitomir and retreated to their original city soon after they were attacked by our small troops and snowed heavily." Hearing the news, I was overjoyed and said, "great, that''s great. The snow came in time. Although it caused us a lot of inconvenience in transferring cultural relics, it also made it difficult for the enemy to March. The heavy snow has won us precious time for a few days. In addition to ordering the troops of Zhitomir to seize the hard won opportunity to reinforce and improve the fortifications, we should also take some necessary actions here. "¡° Necessary action? " What I said confused chisjakov. He asked back with a blank face: "Comrade commander, you have confused me. I don''t understand what you said?" I saw that not only chisjakov didn''t understand what I meant, but also kirilov and bezikov, who were nearby, were also at a loss, so I explained to them, "from the current situation, it is unrealistic for our army to transfer all the cultural relics here before the enemy seizes Zhitomir and this base."¡° Yes, comrade commander. " As soon as I finished, bzikov agreed: "if there is a railway, the transfer of cultural relics may not be affected much. But at present, the only way we can use road transportation is because we are threatened by the German army, which makes it impossible for us to carry out normal transportation. Therefore, I think that in any case, before Zhitomir and the base are lost, all the cultural relics here can not be transferred. "¡° What shall we do then? " Kirilov interposed and asked, "can we leave these priceless treasures of our country to the Communist aggressors again?" Before we could speak, he said indignantly, "no, No. To do so would be a crime, a crime against the motherland and Comrade Stalin. First of all, as long as one cultural relic has not been transferred, I will never leave this base*** If the bandits want to take away our cultural relics again, they will not go there unless they step on my body. " Kirilov''s words made the whole headquarters quiet. Finally, I opened my mouth to break the silence in the room. I said to him with a smile, "Comrade military commissar, the situation will not be as bad as you think. Even if the cultural relics here can not be completely transferred before the base is lost, then I will never let them fall into the hands of the Germans again. " My words brightened kirilov''s eyes. He asked unexpectedly, "Rita, have you come up with any good idea?" See me nod approbation, he hastens a way immediately, "that quickly tell us your idea, lest everybody in the heart is not at ease." I went to the wall, pointed to the plan of the base on the wall, and said to them, "Dear commanders, please see, the rooms for storing cultural relics are almost in the deepest part of the base. If we blow up the gate of the base, the damage to cultural relics will be minimal. My idea is to blow up the gate of the base and the front half of the passage before we move, so that the Germans can''t enter the base and steal our cultural relics in a short time. In a month or more, our troops will be able to fight back. At that time, we will organize people to get through the passage blocked by the collapsed gravel, and see the cultural relics hidden in the depth of the base

 Chapter 1313

    When we discussed the disposal of cultural relics in the base, we inevitably mentioned travkin, who was reconnoitred in Lutsk. Hearing the name of travkin, chisgakov could not help saying to himself, "it''s strange that the major hasn''t heard from them these two days, and they don''t know whether they have successfully entered the bank and found the whereabouts of the amber room."


    "Major akhromeyev," when I heard what chisgakov said, I immediately called him over, frowned and asked, "have you contacted major travkin these two days?"


    "Contacted." With an expression of embarrassment on his face, akhromeyev replied, "according to the reports of the remaining members of the guerrillas and the detachment, major travkin, Lieutenant gretka and the cultural relic experts have lost contact with them since they entered Lutsk."


    "What, the whereabouts of travkin are unknown?" When I heard akhromeyev say that, I couldn''t help but feel a thump. I said that the team was really full of disasters. First, the plane was shot down, and then the leader, travkin, disappeared again. "When did this happen?"


    "Information received last night." Akhromeyev replied.


    "Major, since I received the information last night," although I highly value akhromeyev, it does not mean that I can tolerate his behavior of not reporting his information. Therefore, I asked sternly, "why not report in time?"


    "Comrade commander," akhromeyev replied somewhat flustered, "at that time, you were busy deploying troops to defend Zhitomir and transporting materials. I think since major travkin''s whereabouts are unknown now, we might as well wait a little longer. I will report to you when we have his exact whereabouts!"


    "Well, Rita, don''t blame him. From what I know of major ahlomeyev, he''s not an irresponsible staff officer." After pleading for akhromeyev, kirilov narrowed his eyes, looked at each other and asked kindly, "Comrade major, do you have the latest information about the detachment?"


    "No, comrade military Commissar." Akhromeyev looked gratefully at kirilov, who had rescued himself, and shook his head vigorously. "So far, we haven''t received any new telegrams."


    "It''s strange that the guerrillas who stayed outside the city lost contact with major trafkin." Chisgakov was puzzled and said: "normally, if three people go to the city together, even if there is any accident, there will always be someone out of danger. Why do three people disappear at the same time?"


    As soon as chisgakov finished, bzikov immediately told akhromeyev, "major, go to the communication room and tell major lophov to keep in touch with the team. Report to us as soon as you hear from major travkin. "


    At noon, watujing called us. "Comrades o''shanina, it seems that you have taken the right risk. The convoy of cultural relics has successfully entered Kiev," he said in a relieved voice on the phone


    It is said that the team has successfully arrived in Kiev, and my heart is hanging on the ground. After a long breath, I asked carefully, "Comrade General, are all the cultural relics transported back by the motorcade stored in Kiev?"


    "Although we have assembled several army groups in Kiev, it is still uncertain whether we will be able to hold on to the fierce German offensive." "Therefore, I intend to let the team make a stop in Kiev and rush to Moscow in the snow. Under the present circumstances, there is no better place to store the goods than Moscow. By the way, major trafkin, have they found the amber room? "


    I was really more and more afraid of something. I was hesitating about how to report the disappearance of travkin to vatujing, but he asked about it first. My brain was spinning fast, trying to figure out how to answer his question.


    It may be that I haven''t heard my answer for a long time. Vatukin was a little impatient. He raised his voice and asked, "Comrade oshanina, are you deaf? Why don''t you answer my question? "


    "Yes, Comrade General." I knew that I didn''t hide it any more, so I just said with a stiff head and trembling: "according to the reports of the remaining members of the guerrillas and the detachment who stayed outside the city of Lutsk, major trafkin, Lieutenant gretka and the cultural relic experts, they completely lost contact after entering Lutsk."


    "What, major travkin and the heritage expert are missing?" Watujing said in surprise. I noticed that when he spoke, he missed a gretcar, and I don''t know whether he meant it or not.


    Vatukin was silent for a moment, and said slowly, "Comrade oshanina, if I remember correctly, this second lieutenant gretka surrendered to our army during the battle of Stalingrad?" After getting my approval, he went on, "is his loyalty guaranteed? I think the first thing you need to know is whether there is any necessary connection between major trafkin''s disappearance and him


    "Comrade General, I can assure you with my reputation that there is absolutely no problem with lieutenant gretka." When I heard that vatukin suspected gretka, I quickly explained to him, "there is absolutely no problem with his loyalty. There may be other reasons for the disappearance of major trafkin this time."


    "What''s the reason, then?" "Major travkin went to the enemy''s rear to carry out reconnaissance missions, not once or twice. Why didn''t anything happen before? But this time, he lost contact with the guerrillas outside the city when he worked with this second lieutenant gretka¡° Chief general, major travkin reported last time that he saw a truck carrying cultural relics outside the bank in the city. " In order to dispel vatujing''s suspicion, I patiently explained to him, "at that time, the major wanted to sneak into the bank to have a look. However, because the military uniform and fake documents you prepared for them were burned when the plane crashed, they in ordinary soldiers'' uniforms could not get close to the heavily guarded bank, so they had to find another way to enter." Vatukin may be busy with his work, and he doesn''t want to entangle with me on this matter any more. "Since you think gretka is trustworthy, I''ll give you another day to find out the whereabouts of major travkin anyway." Then he hung up. After I put down the phone, I said to chisgakov, who has been following me all the time: "the senior general is very concerned about the disappearance of major travkin. He has given us a day to find out the whereabouts of the major. To be exact, it means to live to see people and to die to see corpses. What should we do? "¡° Send a telegram to the guerrillas immediately, let them try to sneak into the city, and find out what happened to the major After listening to this innocuous proposal, I immediately shook my head and rejected it: "no, comrade deputy commander, if this method is feasible, I think the guerrilla comrades will have entered Lutsk long ago."¡° What shall we do then? " "I can''t think of any other way than waiting for the latest telegram from the guerrillas to find out the whereabouts of major travkin in the shortest possible time," he asked anxiously I thought about it. If I continue to wait for the news from Lutsk, I don''t know that it will take me a long time to get the news about travkin. It''s better to take the initiative to attack than to wait. Thinking of this, I said to chisjakov, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t think it''s a good way to wait like this. We should send another reconnaissance team to Lutsk to establish contact with the guerrillas and jointly find the whereabouts of major trafkin."¡° Comrade commander, we are more than 200 kilometers away from Lutsk, and we have encountered heavy snow blocking the road. " "Even if we send a reconnaissance team immediately, they will not be able to get to Lutsk in one day, let alone establish contact with the guerrillas," bezikov added¡° Yes, commander watujing left us too little time. " "If you give us three days, then our reconnaissance team will be able to send back the information we need within the specified time," chisjakov sighed I looked up to see akhromeyev coming in from the outside and said to him, "major, it''s very nice of you to come. You call the division heads and ask them, "who has a reconnaissance team near wallensky?"¡° Yes Akhromeyev agreed briefly, turned and walked to a telephone beside the wall, picked up the receiver and began to dial. Bzikov took a look at akhromeyev, who was on the phone, and said to me with some worry: "Comrade commander, even if we have a reconnaissance team near the new city of vorensky, they are still more than 100 kilometers away from Lutsk. They can''t reach their destination without a day or a night."¡° Not so much. We have to find major travkin by all means When I said this, I stopped for a moment, and then said, "as for the senior general, you don''t have to worry. His main focus now is on how to protect Kiev. If we don''t remind him of the disappearance of major travkin, he can''t remember it at all. " At this time, akhromeyev, who was on the phone next to him, suddenly said in surprise: "Comrade commander, commander of the 51st division of the guards, Colonel xiejerikov reported that they had a reconnaissance team near Rovno."¡° That''s great. That''s great. " Bezikov pointed to Rovno on the map and said excitedly: "there are only dozens of highways from luzk here. If the reconnaissance team acts quickly, it will only take more than ten hours to get outside luzk and get in touch with the guerrillas hiding there."

 Chapter 1314

    Just as we were trying to figure out where travkin was, he and gretka, as well as the heritage experts, were sitting in a covered truck full of soldiers, snowing along the luzk Rovno highway.


    Back to yesterday morning, travkin, together with gretka and cultural relic experts, walked around the street not far from the bank, carefully observing the bank. Just then, a convoy of more than a dozen covered trucks passed by them.


    Three people do not want to cause trouble, quickly avoid the roadside, ready to wait for the team to leave, and then continue to move forward. But unexpectedly, a car in the front of the team stopped beside the three people. A captain officer pushed the door open and went out. He came to gretka, who was wearing the rank of corporal, and said in a blunt voice, "soldiers, please show me your identification!"


    As they all had military and vacation certificates obtained by the guerrillas, when they heard that the officers asked them for certificates, they did not panic at all. Instead, they calmly took out their certificates and handed them to them.


    After checking the three men''s certificates, the officer made an unexpected move. He tore off all the leave certificates in the military certificates, and then stuffed the three men''s certificates into his pocket.


    Seeing that the officer tore off his leave card and confiscated his own, gretka was a little worried. He quickly asked on behalf of everyone, "Mr. captain, what''s the matter? All three of us have leave permits, which are valid until 22 p.m. tomorrow


    "From now on, soldiers, your leave has been cancelled." The captain said to the two men who came by, "let them get in the car."


    At the captain''s command, two soldiers in helmets came by and pushed three of them to the back of a covered truck parked on the side of the road. Then a soldier yelled at the top, "Hey, I found you three more."


    When the tarpaulin was lifted to both sides, the two soldiers in helmets leaned out their heads and looked at trafkin and others standing under the car. Then they reached out to them and said friendly, "Hey, man, hold my hand. I''ll pull you into the car!"


    With the help of the two soldiers, the three got into the truck. With the tarpaulin down, the whole car became pitch black. In order to find out what happened, gretka touched the soldier who had just pulled himself into the car with his arm and asked in a low voice, "Hey, man, what''s the matter? Why did he catch us in the car? Where are you going?"


    "Go to the barracks south of the city." The soldier replied briefly, "as for where to go, is that true? The Russians occupied not only Kiev, but also Zhitomir. Marshal Manstein ordered to deploy forces to fight back and seize the two cities from the Russians. And you will soon be incorporated into the counterattack force. "


    The soldiers'' explanation made them understand that the German army was ready to launch a counterattack against Kiev and Zhitomir, but because of the shortage of troops, they collected soldiers everywhere so that they could have enough strength to launch an attack against the Soviet army.


    They were taken to a barracks in the south of the city, where there were hundreds of soldiers from different forces, and several officers were methodically distributing them to different companies. When it was gretka''s turn, he said to the officer in charge of the distribution with a smile on his face, "Mr. lieutenant, we are all from the same army. Do you think we can be divided?"


    The German lieutenant, sitting behind a small wooden table, glanced at him casually, then asked impatiently, "corporal, which three men?"


    Gretekarian pointed to the travkin and the cultural relic expert behind him and said with a smile, "it''s just the two of them. We used to be in the same class. I was their monitor."


    "Well, since you used to be in the same class, now you are in the same class." With that, the officer lowered his head, wrote a few words on the three cards, stamped a seal on each card, handed it to gretka, and said, "take this card with you and go to the quartermaster to get your weapons and food." With that, he waved to the three and yelled, "next."


    The three received rifles, ammunition and a day''s food from the Quartermaster. Travkin looked left and right, then whispered to gretka, "Lieutenant, let''s find a quiet place."


    Gretkadt told travkin that there was something important to discuss with you. He nodded, observed the surrounding environment, and then took them to a quiet place.


    The three squatted on the ground, looking around warily while eating. First of all, travkin said, "comrades, we must find a way to get out of here as soon as possible, or we will be transported to the front line tomorrow at the latest."


    "Major, how do we get out of here?" Gretka looked warily at a few German soldiers passing by from a distance and asked in a low voice: "just before entering the barracks, I observed carefully and found that the barracks was heavily guarded inside and outside. It might not be so easy to leave. Once we are caught, we will be shot as deserters. "


    "If we are really transported to the front line, we will not be able to complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors," said the cultural relics expert who had been silent all the time


    "But the barracks are so heavily guarded, how can we leave?" Gretka said anxiously, "don''t you just walk away from the door? You know, we don''t even have a military license. Even if we leave the camp, we will be caught by the patrol before long. "¡° Stop it. Someone''s coming Seeing some German soldiers coming here, travkin quickly stopped them and said, "since we can''t leave the barracks now, let''s try to escape on the road." Early the next morning, though it was snowing heavily outside, the soldiers were chased out of the barracks by the officers and headed for Rovno in a covered truck in the snow. Although the truck was not fast on the road because of the heavy snow, travkin couldn''t help but feel very anxious when he saw that the truck was gradually away from Lutsk. Because every minute, they''re a little further away from Lutsk. But getting out of a truck full of German soldiers is almost an unfinished task. He kicked gretka, who was sitting opposite, with the tip of his foot. At the same time, he coughed loudly, signaling him to ask the officers in the same car where the motorcade would stop to rest. Gretka couldn''t see travkin''s face clearly, but when he heard his cough, he immediately understood what he meant. He quickly turned to a second lieutenant sitting beside him and asked, "Mr. second lieutenant, it''s so snowy outside that the motorcade may not be able to drive any further. Are we going to stop for a rest later?" After hearing this, the second lieutenant snorted, and then said, "corporal, do you still want to stop and have a rest? Don''t dream. The front line is waiting for more soldiers. Even if the car can''t continue to move forward, it will let us get off and march on foot. "

 Chapter 1315

    Hearing that the troops were moving to the front without any obstacles, trafkin could not help but feel anxious. If they were transported to Zhitomir, the search for the amber room would be a complete failure. Moreover, when the three men arrive at the battlefield, they will no longer have the chance to escape. They will certainly be incorporated into the offensive forces, and they will face the fate of being killed by their own bullets or shells.


    Just as he racked his brains to think about how to get out of danger, there was a huge explosion in front of him. The truck came to a sudden stop. As soon as the car stopped, the second lieutenant in charge asked aloud, "what''s the matter? Why did you stop?"


    A German soldier in the front row knocked heavily on the board of the bridge with his hand. The driver turned to open the glass separating the bridge from the carriage. Unable to convey the second lieutenant''s words to the soldiers, he said in a loud voice, "Mr. second lieutenant, it seems that the car in the front of the motorcade is loaded with mines. We may have to stop here for a while and wait for the engineers to clear the mines on the road before moving forward."


    After the second lieutenant heard this, he said to gretka, who was trying to fish in troubled waters and took the opportunity to get out of the car: "corporal, what are you doing standing up? Why don''t you sit down?"


    "Mr. second lieutenant," gretka said, pretending to be alarmed, "I''m afraid we''ll be attacked by the Russians when we stay in the car. We''d better get out of the car safely."


    "Don''t worry, corporal. Just stay in the car. " The second lieutenant said with disapproval: "it must be the mines planted by the cowards of the guerrillas. Every time they bury the mines, they don''t know where to hide."


    At this time, a cry came from the outside: "Mr. major, you have orders to stay in the car. No one is allowed to get off! Stay in the car, no one is allowed to get off! "


    The second lieutenant leaned over the canvas at the back of the car and looked out. Then he turned to the soldiers in the car and said, "you all heard that. The car in front of him must have accidentally hit the mines laid by the Russian guerrillas. The major should be preparing to send engineers to clear the mines. In order to prevent chaos, he asked everyone to stay in the car."


    As soon as his voice dropped, the shouts of the soldiers under the car suddenly stopped. In the second lieutenant''s astonished eyes, the soldier''s helmet wearing head jerked back, and then fell straight on the snow. Startled, the second lieutenant quickly released his canvas and pulled himself back into the car because he knew he had met a Soviet sniper. Gretka could see the soldier lying in the snow clearly through the crack of the canvas, his feet twitching constantly.


    "It''s a Russian sniper," gretka said in a loud voice close to the second lieutenant''s ear. "Mr. second lieutenant, we should get out of the car and get out of the car to find a place to hide, or we''ll be killed one by one by the Russian snipers."


    "No, absolutely not. No one is allowed to get out of the car. Stay in the car. " The second lieutenant was terrified and said, "this may be the Russian guerrillas. It seems that they won''t have too many people, and they don''t have any heavy weapons. Otherwise, they would have rushed up or blown up our car with mortars. "


    Almost as the second lieutenant said this, a huge explosion came from outside, shaking the whole carriage. The air wave of the explosion raised the canvas at the rear of the car high. Everyone in the carriage saw the truck more than 20 meters away. They didn''t know what hit it. The whole body was burning. Soldiers on fire jumped out of the car one after another, waving their hands and running around.


    Seeing this, trafkin and gretka immediately understood that the truck behind was hit by 40 rockets. The soldiers in the car, seeing that the truck behind was hit by a mysterious weapon, were afraid that they would make the same mistake. Regardless of the second lieutenant''s obstruction, they rushed to jump down the car like dumplings.


    The soldier who jumped first fell on the ground and fell in the snow.


    "There are Russian snipers!" When he saw his companion fall to the ground, the snow under his body immediately turned red. A German soldier who jumped out of the car took up his submachine gun and headed for the direction where the bullet might have come. He pulled the trigger desperately and yelled at him angrily.


    Before he finished playing a clip, the curse and shooting stopped. Then, the sound of heavy objects falling in the snow came from under the car. The other soldiers jumped out of the car and fell down in the snow, shooting aimlessly at the forest where the bullets came.


    "Here''s the chance," said travkin in a low voice to his two comrades, seeing that there were only three of them and the timid second lieutenant left in the carriage. "We can run into the forest while we are in trouble."


    "But where shall we run?" Cultural relic experts said in a panic: "we are wearing German uniforms. If we are killed by our own people, we will be wronged."


    Maybe he was so loud that the second lieutenant, who was hiding behind the baffle and shooting aimlessly in the forest with a pistol, heard him. He turned his head and said in horror, "you are Russian." With that, he raised his gun, aimed at them, and instinctively pulled the trigger.


    The gun clattered twice, but no bullets came out. With rich experience, trafkin recognized that the second lieutenant''s gun was jammed. He threw a tiger to the ground, covered his mouth with his left hand, drew a dagger with his right hand, and stabbed the second lieutenant twice in the chest.


    After the second lieutenant stopped struggling and lay still in the carriage, trafkin sat up straight for a few breaths, pointed to the South tarpaulin with his hand, and said to gretka, "Comrade second lieutenant, in order to prevent being injured by our troops when we get off, you cut a hole in the tarpaulin over there, and we get off from there." Bullets and rockets are flying from the north side of the road, getting off from the south side is undoubtedly the safest. Gretka nodded, pulled out the dagger, got up, made a big cut in the tarpaulin, and climbed out first. When the three of them got out of the car, they looked at the German soldiers lying next to a dozen trucks lined up on the road and in the snow below. They were shooting desperately in the forest to the north. Seeing that no one noticed him, trafkin whispered, "run!" He took the lead and ran to the south side of the forest. The three of them ran for a while in the knee less snow in the forest. They heard the gunfire and explosion going away, and then they found a leeward place to stop. Gretka gasped for breath and said to trafkin, "major, I think it''s our regular troops who ambush the convoy."¡° If it''s regular troops, why don''t they rush out? " "With their weapons, there should be no problem rushing out to destroy the enemy on the truck," the expert asked¡° "Comrade expert," said travkin with an air of politeness, "the 40 rocket launchers used by the ambush forces are currently only equipped with close guard divisions, not even ordinary infantry divisions, let alone guerrillas that are not included in the establishment. Moreover, from the sound of shooting, I can hear the sound of new assault rifles. Only the most elite guards, such as the 51st and 52nd, have such guns. Therefore, I am sure that our regular troops attacked the motorcade. The reason why they didn''t rush onto the road may be that the number of people is too small, which can only harass and delay the advance of the German army, but can''t eliminate them. " Gretka, when he had finished, asked aloud, "Comrade major, what shall we do now?"¡° Is that true? It''s going back to Lutsk, of course. We haven''t finished our task yet. " "If any of us should be in an accident or get separated, the rest of us should try to get back to Lutsk, get in touch with the guerrillas outside the city, and report the information here to the headquarters of the group army through their radio station," he said aloud¡° But, comrade major, "gretka said in embarrassment," we can''t do anything without documents and passes. Once we meet the military police in the field, we will be shot as deserters. " The cultural relic expert looked in the direction where the gunshot was still heard in the distance, and then proposed, "maybe we can go to the highway to search the bodies of those killed soldiers after the battle is over, and maybe we can still find the certificates and passes."¡° Comrade experts, this is impossible. " As soon as his proposal was exported, gretka objected: "all the soldiers'' documents have been taken away. We will risk our lives to go back to the road in vain." The cultural relic expert continued reluctantly: "then we can tell the gendarmerie that the certificate has been lost?"¡° No, comrade expert. " Gretka said with a wry smile: "your German is not up to standard. When the gendarmes listen to it, they will be suspicious. If they ask more questions, they may be able to help."¡° Second lieutenant gretka, "the expert thought for a moment, and then said again," as far as I know, Hitler''s military composition is very complex, people from all countries have it. Even if German is not standard, with your help, maybe we can muddle through. "¡° The loss of documents is punishable. " Gretka said with a wry smile, "as long as the gendarmes confine us, we will know our identity." Seeing that he had put forward one proposal after another, gretka had rudely rejected them. Experts can not help but some worry, finally choked out a sentence: "otherwise, we say that the certificate was stolen."¡° The papers have been stolen? " Hearing the expert''s suggestion, gretka couldn''t help thinking. As soon as the expert saw gretka''s reaction, he thought that there might be some drama in his mind. He quickly asked, "Comrade lieutenant, what do you think of my proposal?"¡° I think it''s good. " Worried that gretka would deny the proposal again, trafkin cut in and said, "I think it''s worth considering."¡° Major, "seeing that travkin echoed his opinion, the expert was overjoyed and immediately asked," when we met the gendarmerie, did we say that the certificate was stolen? "

 Chapter 1316

    After taking a look at him, travkin shook his head and said, "no, comrade expert, it''s not that we told the gendarmerie that our papers had been stolen, but that we should try to steal some papers and passes so that we can return to Lutsk smoothly."


    When the expert heard what travkin said, he immediately let off steam and said feebly, "in the forest, except we can''t see a ghost, where can we steal useful documents?"


    After a long rest, gretka stood up and said to the cultural relic expert, "don''t worry, comrade expert. We are going west in the forest. If we are lucky, we will meet a village. There are usually several German soldiers stationed in the village. They all have documents on them. We can use their documents and transportation to go back to Lutsk. "


    "Come on, comrades." Travkin also stood up and said to the two: "I estimate that we are at least 30 kilometers away from Lutsk. It will take us at least ten hours to walk in such deep snow to get back to Lutsk. "


    Travkin is an old scout. Although he doesn''t have a compass in his hand, he looks at the surrounding terrain and leads them to the West.


    "Where did the regular troops that ambushed the German convoy come from?" As he shuttled through the forest, trafkin''s thoughts returned to the troops who ambushed the convoy. The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. "Why are they attacking the German convoy here?"


    After walking in the snow forest for more than two hours, while the three were exhausted, gretka suddenly found a small wooden house in front of him with white smoke in the chimney. He immediately pointed to the front and said excitedly, "major, look quickly. There are people there. The chimney is still smoking. We can just have a rest there and have something to eat."


    Travkin stopped, looked carefully at the lonely cabin ahead, then frowned: "Lieutenant, do you see the motorcycle parked at the door? I think there must be Germans in it. "


    Gretekar listened to travkin''s words, carefully observed them for a moment, and then said, "Comrade major, I''ll go and spy on them and see what''s going on." With that, he took off his rifle and put it in his hand. Under the cover of trees, he quickly approached the hut.


    A few minutes later, gretka approached the cabin. He could see clearly that there were two motorcycles, one with two wheels and one with three wheels. The motorcycles were covered with snow. If his eyesight was not good, he could not see clearly in the distance.


    He approached the window carefully, leaned his back against the wall, and peered into the room secretly. Next to the fireplace in the room, there was a long table covered with tablecloth. Two German soldiers in underwear and military trousers were eating the food on the table. A man in a hat was sitting on the ground with his head in his arms, his shoulders shaking. There was a woman''s cry in the room. Gretka looked carefully and found that the sound came from a room with a closed door. Needless to say, there must be a German soldier doing something worse than animals.


    Seeing this, the former German national defense army officer was not well-known. He came to the door with a gun, kicked open the door, raised his gun, aimed at the soldier who was eating at the dinner table, and cried out: "hands up!"


    The German soldiers, who were eating, heard the cry and looked at the door. After seeing gretka standing at the door, a bald German soldier said with disdainful taste: "corporal, there''s no business for you here. Get out of here!"


    After gretka kicked the door, he saw that there were several military uniforms on the wooden table beside the door, the exact one was the SS uniform, and three submachine guns were casually pressed on the uniform. Instead of paying attention to baldness, he asked angrily, "what part of you are? Take out your papers! "


    Baldness stood up, went to the door to put the military uniform position, in turn from the three uniforms out of the certificate. As he was about to hand it to gretka, the latter suddenly yelled, "put the papers on the table, and you go back to the dining table."


    After baldness returned to the dining table, gretka held his rifle in one hand and flipped through the three men''s papers in the other. After seeing the documents clearly, he was overjoyed that the three German soldiers were not only from the SS, but also from the field gendarmerie. Among them, baldness and German soldiers sitting at the dining table are the first-class team leaders (staff sergeants) of the SS. Their ranks are higher than those of themselves. No wonder they speak so arrogantly. There is also a squadron leader (Second Lieutenant) of the SS Level 3 commando who has not been seen. He may be doing something wrong in the room with the door closed.


    After reading these documents, gretka could not help but feel ecstatic. As long as he seized these documents, he would not be questioned even if he swaggered into Lutsk.


    He rushed to the door with his rifle, kicked the door open, pointed his gun at the room, and yelled: "team leader of level 3 commando, come out!"


    With his shouts, a German soldier with bare arms came out from inside. As he walked, he tied his trousers and said impatiently, "corporal, where did you come from..."


    Before he had finished, the man who had been sitting on the ground jumped up, picked up a low stool beside him and smashed it at the SS lieutenant who had just come out of the room. Unexpectedly, the second lieutenant flashed to the side gently, and then hid. The man''s stool hit the wooden wall. As soon as the second lieutenant turned around, he raised his foot and kicked the angry man to the ground. Then he pulled out his pistol and fired two shots at the man.


    Gretka watched all this happening in a daze. Although he had already surrendered to the Soviet army, he couldn''t make him shoot his compatriots without hesitation. Just as he hesitated, he heard a loud cry, and the bald man pounced on him and pressed him to the ground. Gretka struggled to death, but he could not fight with two fists and four hands. He was soon subdued and disarmed by three SS soldiers. The SS lieutenant, who had been ruined by him, came up and hit him on the forehead with a pistol. The blood immediately flowed down gretka''s cheek, and the second lieutenant said angrily, "damn the national defense forces, you dare to meddle in the business of the SS. I don''t think you want to live."¡° Third level commando team leader, let me deal with him Baldy went to the door, picked up the submachine gun from the table, pulled the bolt, pointed it at gretka and said, "go to hell, IDF son of a bitch." As Gretel closed his eyes and waited to die, he suddenly felt a chill coming on his face. After a clear shot, he heard the sound of heavy objects falling to the ground. He opened his eyes and saw that it was travkin and the cultural relic experts who rushed in from the open door in time to save himself. After travkin shot off his bald head, he saw a German soldier raise his pistol at him and immediately pulled the trigger at him without hesitation. The shot SS Lieutenant threw the pistol, took two steps towards travkin with his chest in his hand, and then fell to the ground. Gretka, who escaped from death, no longer had the mental obstacle he had just suffered. He picked up his rifle and aimed at the German soldiers standing at the dining table with both hands raised. Without saying a word, he pulled the trigger. After solving the German soldiers in the room, gretka picked up the documents and handed them to travkin. He said excitedly, "Comrade major, these SS are all field gendarmes. With their documents, we can enter Lutsk smoothly." Just as they were talking, a beautiful young woman with black hair, wrapped in snow-white sheets, rushed out of the room. See lying on the ground motionless man, immediately yell, pounce on each other''s body to cry. Because too sad, so wrapped in the body of the sheet off also did not find. Gretka took a look at the woman''s graceful figure, then said to trafkin, "her husband was shot and killed by the German in order to protect her." Travkin nodded, looked at the sad woman and said, "this is the blood debt that the Germans owe our people. Sooner or later, we will pay it back." Then he coughed, cleared his throat, and said to gretka and the heritage expert, "well, put on the SS uniform and get out of here on their motorbike."¡° What about her? " Gretka looked at the woman again and asked hesitantly, "can you just leave her here and ignore her?"¡° Second lieutenant, please remember that we have more important tasks to carry out. We can''t get her out of here at all After saying this, travkin raised her hand, patted gretka on the shoulder and whispered, "I''m sure she''ll find a way to get rid of all the bodies in the room." The three put on their SS uniforms, helmets and goggles, mounted the motorcycles left outside, and headed for Lutsk. Put on the uniform of the SS, you have an unimpeded pass. The patrols and checkpoints along the way not only failed to check their documents, but also provided them with free lunch at a supply point. It took them four or five hours to arrive at the guerrilla camp outside the city of Lutsk, only to find that the people here went to the empty house. Seeing this situation, gretka could not help but be worried. He said to trafkin, "Comrade major, if we can''t find the guerrillas and the remaining two of us, then we can''t contact the headquarters of the group army. What can we do?" At this moment, someone nearby suddenly said out loud in stiff but fluent German, "don''t move, hands up! Drop all your weapons on the ground and squat on the ground with your hands on your heads! "

 Chapter 1317

    Gretka and the cultural relic experts heard the cry, immediately aimed their submachine gun at the direction of the sound and pulled the bolt. When travkin heard this voice, he was overjoyed and cried out, "don''t shoot, it''s your own people!" With that, he raised his hand, lowered the muzzle of the submachine gun in their hands, and asked in the distance, "is it Comrade Alexander?"


    "It''s me, comrade major." A middle-aged man in civilian clothes came out from behind a big tree with a German submachine gun. He slung his submachine gun over his shoulder, ran forward quickly, gave a hug to trafkin, and said excitedly, "Comrade major, you''ve been missing for a few days, but we''re in a hurry."


    This Alexander is one of the two men left behind by the team. He is the most respected old scout of trafkin. After embracing with travkin, he gave a warm hug to gretka and the cultural relic experts respectively to celebrate the rest of their lives.


    After Alexander and the other two hugged, trafkin asked, "where are the others?"


    "Well, comrade major." Alexander replied, "because of the blizzard yesterday, the guerrilla leader said that the open-air camp could not stay any longer, so he took people to move. But he arranged me and the operator in a cave nearby, waiting for you to come back. I just came to try my luck, but I didn''t expect to meet you. Let''s go. It''s snowy outside. Let''s go back to the cave. "


    Travkin nodded and said, "let''s go, comrade Alexander. I don''t think our whereabouts have been found in these two days. Comrade commander should be worried. "


    When the four entered the cave, the telegraph operator, who was receiving telegrams inside, heard the news from outside, grabbed the pistol put aside, hid behind a rock, and aimed his gun at the hole.


    "Hello, comrade operator, don''t be nervous." Alexander obviously heard the movement in the cave, guessed that the operator must be hiding, and quickly called out: "it''s the major. They''re back."


    Although the operator heard Alexander''s voice, he still looked at the entrance of the cave suspiciously. When he saw that the three men in German uniforms, who were following him, were really travkin, they suddenly gave a surprise and rushed out of the hiding place. He came to travkin, raised his hand to salute him, and then said excitedly, "Hello, comrade major, welcome back."


    Travkin glanced at the location of the station and asked, "what are you doing, comrade operator?"


    The operator turned to look at the rock where the radio station was placed, and immediately exclaimed, "Oh, no, I''m receiving a telegram from the group army." With that, he quickly rushed to the radio station and sat down. He put on his earphone and continued to receive the news.


    After a while, the operator raised his head and said to travkin, "major, the telegram from the group army said that they had lost contact with you, so they sent a detachment of the 51st division of the guards to come here day and night. They were sent to Lutsk to find out the whereabouts of travkin and others. If by the time the troops arrive, major travkin has returned, then the troops are officially under his command. "


    After waiting for the operator to finish speaking, he immediately told him: "Comrade operator, please send a message to the group army headquarters, saying that when we went for reconnaissance two days ago, we were forced into a temporary team by the German army and were ready to transport us to the front line to take part in the attack on Kiev and Zhitomir. Fortunately, the motorcade was ambushed by an army on the road, so we had a chance to get out of danger. "


    The telegraph operator sent the telegram truthfully and received a reply soon. The telegram read: "the unit that ambushed the German convoy may be a unit under the command of Captain Rosenberg of the 51st division of the guards. They are operating in that area."


    "It''s him." Hearing Rosenberg''s name, trafkington was overjoyed and said, "with their cooperation, we are more confident of completing the tasks of our superiors." He then asked, "is there any new order from the headquarters?"


    The operator nodded and continued: "Comrade commander ordered us to find out whether there are any cultural relics we are looking for in the German things stored in the bank within two days."


    The cultural relic expert sitting on one side of the rock laughed bitterly when he heard what the telegraph operator said. Then he said angrily, "Comrade major, we can''t get into the bank now. How can we check the things stored in it?"


    Alexander looked at the three men''s SS uniforms, and then put forward his own opinion: "Comrade major, since you are wearing SS uniforms, you might as well try to see if you can get into the bank?"


    "It''s no use, comrade Alexander." As soon as Alexander finished speaking, gretka mercilessly poured cold water on the other side: "it''s not enough to have this SS uniform alone. I think I need a special pass to enter the bank. If we don''t know the situation, we''ll be shot to death before we get close to the bank. "


    "What shall we do?" "We only have two days," said the cultural relic expert anxiously. "If we don''t find a way quickly, I''m afraid we won''t be able to complete the task assigned to us by our superiors."


    Sitting on a rock covered with a small blanket, travkin pondered for a while, then stood up and said, "comrades, there are three ways to get into the bank. The worst strategy is to concentrate all the forces of Rosenberg and guerrillas, launch a fierce attack on the bank, and forcibly break in to check the cultural relics stored in it; Zhongce: there should be sewers under the bank. We can enter the bank through sewers; The best policy is to wait for captain Rosenberg''s troops to arrive, let them disguise as Germans, forge a document, and then go to the bank to take over the defense of the garrison. "


    As soon as the top, middle and bottom strategies of travkin came out, gretka shook his head and objected: "Comrade major, what you said is not feasible at all. As soon as we launch an attack on the bank, we will soon attract the enemies around us. Before our people rush into the bank, they will be completely destroyed.


    Let''s talk about the best policy. Even if there is a sewer that can enter the bank, because of the existence of the underground vault, the outlet of the sewer should be in the business hall and other places. In these places, there must be Germans patrolling day and night. If we want to sneak in quietly, our chances are slim.


    As for the best policy, I think it is feasible. If you think about it, a team of 40 or 50 troops, with the command of the superior to change the guard, may really be able to fool the Germans in the past


    "Comrade lieutenant, the Germans are not that stupid." Alexander also said his opinion without hesitation: "even if there is an army of 40 or 50 people to change the guard, the highest rank of the officer in charge is just captain. If the commander in the bank is a major or an officer of a higher rank, and they see that there are new troops to take over their defense, the first thing they think of is to ask their superiors if there is a change of defense. In this way, our actions will go through. "


    After he finished, he thought about it quietly for a while, and then continued¡° On the contrary, I think it''s worth trying. We don''t have the design of the bank in our hands. We can''t know where the entrance to the sewer is, so we have to take a chance. "


    It''s the first time that travkin has been a scout for such a long time. In the past, to understand the enemy''s troop deployment, we only needed to capture two prisoners and interrogate them. But now the defenders in the bank are all moving in groups near the bank, according to the fact that they don''t have the chance to catch prisoners. And even if you''re lucky enough to meet a single officer or soldier, as long as you catch him, you''ll scare the snake, which will also lead to the failure of the operation.


    "Comrade major, what shall we do?" Seeing trafkin''s hesitation, everyone turned their eyes on him. Alexander, who was closest to him, touched him gently with his arm and asked in a low voice, "what are we going to do next?"


    Travkin took a deep breath and said, "comrades, since no one can think of a good way now, let''s have a rest. We''ve been working too hard these two days. We should have a good rest. Maybe we''ll come up with a good way after we get to sleep. "


    All night long.


    Early the next morning, when everyone got up, travkin began to assign a task to everyone: "today, it''s still lieutenant gretka, the heritage expert and I who are going to scout the city together. Comrade Alexander, on the other hand, moved eastward to see if he could meet captain Rosenberg''s forces and bring them here. "


    "Comrade major," Alexander said with some worry, "if there are too many people coming, this cave will not be able to live in."


    Travkin scanned the whole cave again, and then said in a relaxed tone, "don''t worry, comrade Alexander. Even if there are forty or fifty people, this cave should be able to accommodate them."


    "Major, major." When the operator saw that everyone had been assigned a task, but only he had been left out, he could not help being a little worried. He called out the rank of travkin and asked nervously, "since you have arranged a task for everyone, what about me? What task did you assign me? "


    "Comrade telegraph operator," said travkin with a smile, "your task is to keep in touch with the outside world, so that you can receive instructions from your superiors at any time, and report the situation here to your superiors."


    Seeing what travkin said, although the operator was unwilling, he had no choice but to agree to stay in the cave alone and keep in touch with the headquarters of the group army through the radio.


    Travkin and others, driving the seized motorcycles, swaggered along the road towards Lutsk. But when they saw the fuel truck parked on the side of the road, they stopped the motorcycle and ordered the logistics soldiers to refuel the motorcycle. Then they walked into the tent of the nearby field canteen as if there were no one else and had a barely sumptuous breakfast in it.


    As the three continued on their motorcycles, the cultural relic expert in the straddle said with some pride: "I didn''t expect the uniform of the Ss to work so well. You see, since we got the vehicle and military uniform certificate yesterday, we had no obstacle on the way. There was no one to check it."


    Driving a tricycle, travkin turned to look at the cultural relic expert, and said in a loud voice: "OK, comrade expert, we are going to enter the city soon, so you don''t have to say any more Russian to avoid crossing the border." Hearing travkin''s warning, the cultural relic expert nodded and closed his mouth.


    Just then, a checkpoint loomed on the road ahead. From the nearby sentry box and the cross bar in the middle of the road, travkin judged that there were not many people in it.


    When the motorcycle arrived at the checkpoint, the crossbar of the checkpoint was not raised. A German soldier with a helmet and a submachine gun around his neck walked slowly to gretka, who was riding the motorcycle, and said coldly, "please show me your identification."


    Gretka dealt with the SS soldiers yesterday, and he knew that to deal with such a big soldier, he had to be superior to him. So he learned the bald tone and said, "go and lift up the crossbar for me. If you delay our military police affairs, be careful not to take it away." But the German soldiers were not moved. Instead, they stepped back, pointed their submachine guns at the three men, and said impolitely, "don''t think you''re a great SS. I''m not afraid of you. If you don''t show your identification today, you don''t want to rush here. " Facing the black muzzle of the gun, gretka pushed up the goggles, then turned to the nearby travkin and the cultural relics experts for a wink, indicating that everyone was ready to start. Unexpectedly, his little action was discovered by the German soldiers. With a loud cry, two or three German soldiers rushed out of the guard boxes on both sides of the road and surrounded them with guns. Seeing that there are six or seven people on the other side, gretka knows that the situation is not optimistic. If he doesn''t show his ID, he may not be able to pass the checkpoint today. So he pretended to be helpless and said to travkin, "OK, take out your and the second lieutenant''s papers, too." When the three men''s documents were handed over to the German soldiers, he quickly looked through them. Instead of returning them to gretka, he put them directly into his pocket. Seeing this, gretka was in a hurry. He asked in a loud voice, "Hey, since we''ve finished checking the ID, why don''t we return it to you?" As soon as his voice fell, he felt a hard thing on his back. According to his intuition, it was the barrel of the submachine gun. Seeing the six or seven muzzles in the front and the muzzles at the back, he sighed helplessly, raised his foot, got off the motorcycle, stood beside the car and bowed his head in despair. Just when he felt that he was at the end of his life, he suddenly heard the people behind him joking in a mocking tone: "gentlemen of the SS, you are our prisoners now." When gretka heard the voice, he was stunned, and then he felt ecstatic, because the visitor spoke Russian, and the voice was relatively familiar. He turned and saw that it was captain Rosenberg who appeared in front of him. The other side lowered the muzzle and gave him a warm hug. At the same time, he said out loud, "Hello, Lieutenant gretka, we''ve finally found you."

 Chapter 1318

    Seeing Rosenberg and gretka embracing together, the German soldiers who pointed their guns at Tel avin also put down their weapons and looked at the touching scene of the reunion of the surviving comrades with a smile.


    Seeing this behind the scenes, he took a deep breath and calmed down his excitement. Then he got out of the car and quickly came to the two people who were hugging. He said with a straight face: "Comrade captain, you''re kidding too much. If you don''t show up in time, maybe we''ll shoot each other and kill each other. Can you afford the consequences? "


    Gretka got close to Rosenberg''s ear and said in a low voice, "don''t admit your mistake to the major, or you''ll feel better."


    Rosenberg released gretka, straightened his back, saluted travkin, and then respectfully reported, "excuse me, comrade major. We seized this checkpoint in the early morning. Just now we found that two motorcycles were coming towards us along the road, so I ordered the soldiers disguised as German soldiers to try to seize the motorcycles. Therefore, this kind of unpleasant misunderstanding happened


    After hearing Rosenberg''s explanation, travkin frowned and thought for a moment, feeling that what he said was reasonable. All three of them were wearing goggles. When they rushed back to the guerrilla camp yesterday, even Alexander, the old scout who lived with them day and night, didn''t recognize them at the first time, let alone Rosenberg, who had only a few sides.


    After a warm hug from travkin and Rosenberg, they punched him twice in the chest with their fists and said gratefully, "thank you, comrade captain. If you didn''t lead the troops to attack our convoy yesterday, we would have been sent to Rovno at this time. Thank you for saving us


    "I saved you!" Rosenberg was confused by this mindless remark. He turned to look at gretka next to him and asked in surprise, "you know, it''s the first time we''ve met since crossing the river. Where do I start when I save you?"


    "Well, comrade captain." Gretka spent a lot of time with Rosenberg, so he spoke more casually. He explained: "the day before yesterday, the major and I went to the city of Lutsk for reconnaissance. As a result, we were caught by a German reception team. They said that there were not enough troops on the front line. We and hundreds of soldiers in the barracks were reorganized and transported to the front line. As a result, on the way to Rovno, the car in front of the car first hit the land mine and stopped the whole team; Then a car behind us was hit by a rocket. We fled into the forest in chaos. After walking in the forest for a few hours, I met the owners of the two motorcycles and three SS officers and men who served as military police in the field. After killing them, their weapons, uniforms, certificates and vehicles belonged to us. "


    "Yes, we ambushed a German convoy, bombed seven trucks and killed more than 100 German soldiers on the road from luzk to Rovno yesterday." Speaking of this, Rosenberg could not help but raise his hand to touch the sweat from his forehead and said happily: "fortunately, we only had one rocket left at that time, otherwise we would certainly destroy several more trucks. In that way, we would not only save you, but also hurt you by mistake."


    Travkin looked around and said, "well, comrade captain, let''s not stand here and chat. If the real Germans come, we''ll be in trouble. Let''s talk about it in another place. By the way, how did you get here? "


    Rosenberg asked the soldiers to stay at the checkpoint, continue to disguise as German soldiers, check the traffic, and told them to solve the problem if they saw a single enemy. After all this, he turned to travkin and said, "well, comrade major, we can go." With that, he got behind gretka''s motorcycle.


    The two motorcycles drove in the direction he had directed towards the snow forest. Because the snow is too deep to drive far, you have to get down and push the car once.


    About ten minutes later, when the motorcycle was once again in the snow, Rosenberg and the cultural relic experts came down to push the cart. From behind several trees nearby, two German soldiers with helmets and submachine guns suddenly appeared.


    To see the sudden emergence of the enemy, Gretel Carrian busy loose car, reach out to grab the submachine gun behind, but was Rosenberg gra stopped. Rosenberg yelled at the two men, "Hey, come here and help!"


    The two German soldiers slung their submachine guns around their necks. Without saying a word, they rushed over to help push the cart. Gretka realized that the two men were not real German soldiers, but Rosenberg''s men.


    After the motorcycle had traveled a certain distance, Rosenberg, sitting in the back, suddenly said aloud, "Comrade lieutenant, our camp is here. There is a snow wall in front of us. We can see our camp around. "


    Greteka fixed his eyes and saw that there was a half person high snow wall tens of meters in front of him. Behind the wall, there was a wooden roof full of snow. Just around the snow wall, a soldier in camouflage clothes stood up from the next snow pile. Seeing Rosenberg sitting in the back seat of the motorcycle, he politely said, "Comrade captain, come back!"


    "Back As soon as the car stopped, Rosenberg stepped out of the motorcycle, walked up to the soldier and asked, "what''s the matter?"


    "No, comrade captain." The sentry quickly replied, "everything is normal. The soldiers are resting in the snow house."


    "Go on duty!" When Rosenberg finished, he turned and pointed to a little hut full of snow and said to trafkin, "Comrade major, it''s a woodman''s room. Let''s go and have a rest in it."


    Instead of moving, he looked around and asked curiously, "Comrade captain, where are the soldiers resting? Why can''t I see them?"


    "There it is Rosenberg pointed to a snowdrift more than ten meters away and replied¡° It''s a snowhouse built by soldiers. From a distance, it''s just a snowdrift. When you get close, you can see clearly that it''s a house where people can live. "


    The four went into the forest keeper''s cabin. Although the cabin was small, it had a complete range of things, including tables, chairs and a small wooden bed. After everyone crowded around the wooden table to sit down, Rosenberg said to everyone with some apology: "I''m sorry, because we are afraid to expose the target, we dare not live in the room, so it''s a little cold. Please forgive me."


    Travkin waved his hand and said with disapproval, "Comrade captain, we are all scouts. We have experienced more difficult conditions than this. It''s nothing. How did you get so far behind enemy lines? "


    "Well, comrade major." Rosenberg explained to travkin: "my former superior was lieutenant colonel chejerikov. Not long ago, he was appointed commander of the 51st division of the guards and promoted to colonel. The first thing he did after he took office was to apply to the commander and transfer me to his division as a company commander. On the night of our division''s occupation of Zhitomir, he called me to the headquarters and said to me, "Comrade captain, according to what I know about Comrade commander, she may attack the depth of the German army. You lead an army to go deep into the enemy''s rear in the night. While you are reconnoitering the enemy''s deployment, you are destroying the enemy''s traffic lines and logistics supply bases, making the enemy''s rear restless. " At this point, Rosenberg shrugged and said, "that''s how I got here with my troops."


    "Comrade captain," said travkin tentatively after Rosenberg finished, "do you think our troops will attack in the direction of Lutsk in the near future?"


    "Comrade major, I think my news disappoints you." Rosenberg said solemnly: "according to the information I have, the German army is gathering heavy forces and preparing to launch a counterattack against Zhitomir from the north, West and South at the same time. Although our group army is making intense preparations for war, whether it can block the enemy''s attack is a problem, let alone take the initiative to attack the enemy''s defense depth. "


    After hearing Rosenberg''s words, the cultural relic expert sighed a long time, then turned his head and asked travkin, "Comrade major, what should we do? If the main force can''t attack Lutsk quickly, even if we find out what''s in the bank, maybe we can only watch the Germans carry it away again. "


    Rosenberg didn''t understand what the cultural relic experts meant, but he was ordered to take command of major trafkin after finding a reconnaissance team. As soon as he had finished, he stood up and said to travkin, "Comrade major, I have been ordered to accept your command. Don''t worry. As long as the enemy transports the things you are looking for out of the bank, I will lead the troops to get them back near the road. "


    After hearing Rosenberg''s statement, travkin stood up, patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "thank you, comrade captain. However, the things we are looking for are quite special. Once we find that the enemy wants to transfer these things, we can only watch them leave without taking any action. Otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable. "


    Rosenberg was confused by travkin''s words. He looked at each other with wide eyes and said, "what, comrade major, when we see the enemy moving, we can''t take any action. Can I know what it is?"


    Instead of answering, travkin turned to the cultural relic expert sitting next to him. The expert shriveled his mouth and said, "sorry, comrade captain, your rank is not enough to know what we are looking for."


    Rosenberg''s smile froze on his face when he heard the expert say this in a disdainful voice. He said, "I understand, I understand. You''re on a confidential mission, and we''re just cooperating with you. "


    Looking at his old friend''s embarrassed expression, gretka took the initiative to come out and help him out: "major, when you set out this morning, you sent Alexander to the east to look for captain Rosenberg, but they are here now. Didn''t you let Comrade Alexander go to the sky?"


    "Oh, comrade lieutenant, if you don''t remind me, I almost forgot about it." Travkin looked at gretka and then at the heritage expert, and said in embarrassment, "but you two are going to accompany me to Lutsk, so who should go to Alexander?"


    "Comrade major, let me have the task." Rosenberg asked for help from travkin to resolve his embarrassment.


    After thinking about it, travkin nodded in agreement with Rosenberg''s request. Then he asked, "Captain, do you have a map here?" Rosenberg took a map out of a briefcase hanging on the wall and spread it out on the table. Travkin found Lutsk''s location, looked at it carefully for a while, then took his pencil, drew a circle somewhere, and said to Rosenberg, "Captain, there is a cave here, and our operator is hiding here. Comrade Alexander, on the other hand, started from the cave and went east to find you. If he can''t find you, he will return to the cave before dark. So you just need to send someone to find the cave. "¡° I see. I''ll send someone right away. " Said Rosenberg, ready to go outside and call. Who knows just walked two steps, then was stopped by greteka. Looking at Rosenberg''s surprised eyes, gretka kindly reminded him: "Comrade captain, the people you sent to the cave must not wear German uniforms, so as not to cause misunderstanding."¡° Don''t worry, comrade lieutenant. " After figuring out what was going on, Rosenberg gave greteka a grateful smile and said, "I''ll let the soldiers wear our uniform." As soon as Rosenberg left, the cultural relic expert couldn''t wait to ask travkin, "Comrade major, we''ve stayed long enough. When are we going to leave for the city?"¡° Don''t worry, comrade expert. " "We haven''t found a way to get into the bank yet," he said thoughtfully. Let''s wait for the captain to come back and see if he has any good ideas. " After hearing this, the cultural relic expert said with disdain, "he has never been a scout. Is that ok?" Travkin ignored the expert''s words. Staring at the map in front of him, he thought, "maybe it''s a good thing that our troops will not attack luzk for the time being, because the Germans have no time to pay attention to the cultural relics stored in the bank because they have to concentrate on transporting the soldiers, weapons, ammunition and various military materials urgently needed at the front line, In this way, we will have plenty of time for reconnaissance. "

 Chapter 1319

    Gretka, hearing from travkin''s words that he intended to let Rosenberg know the inside story of the operation, could not help but feel a move. When travkin finished, he offered his own idea: "major, if you want to get reasonable advice from the captain, I think it is absolutely necessary for him to know the real purpose of this operation."


    "We''ve had repeated discussions about how to get into the bank." The cultural relic expert took a look at travkin and then said, "I can''t think of any other way to get into the bank than the three ways mentioned by the major. Lieutenant gretka, are you so sure that Captain Rosenberg can come up with a more perfect plan as long as he knows what we are going to do? "


    The expert''s words made him hesitate for a moment, but he soon made up his mind. He tapped twice on the table, waiting for gretka and their attention to focus on themselves, and then he said, "OK, stop arguing. I think we should let captain Rosenberg know the truth, because only in this way can he better cooperate with us to complete the task. "


    Seeing that travkin had made a statement, the cultural relic experts could not object any more. They could only murmur in a low voice: "is it really appropriate to tell others what we are going to do without asking for instructions from our superiors?"


    "Comrade expert," said travkin politely, "our superiors ask captain Rosenberg to cooperate with us. If he doesn''t know the inside story, how can he cooperate with us?"


    "But the more people we know about this task, the greater the possibility of divulging secrets." The cultural relic expert retorted unconvincingly, "if the mission fails because of leakage, who can bear the responsibility?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade expert." "Captain Rosenberg is a very good military commander. I believe he should know how to keep secrets," he continued patiently


    After a while, Rosenberg came in from the outside and reported to trafkin, "Comrade major, I have sent eight soldiers to look for the cave you are talking about. They are all wearing the uniform of our army. I believe they will not misunderstand the comrades left in the cave. "


    "It''s very kind of you to come, captain. I have an important thing to tell you." "I''m going to tell you the details of our mission," travkin told Rosenberg solemnly


    When Rosenberg heard what he said, he waved his hand again and again: "forget it, comrade major, I''m not good enough. Don''t tell me such an important secret. Anyway, I will cooperate with you to complete this task. "


    Seeing Rosenberg''s scruples, gretka interrupted and said, "Comrade captain, we are in a bit of trouble now and need your help. Therefore, it will be helpful for you to know the actual situation of this mission."


    When gretka said this, Rosenberg closed his mouth and listened patiently to travkin''s explanation of the task they had accepted. After travkin finished his three action plans, Rosenberg frowned and thought about them. Then he asked, "Comrade major, if I don''t get it wrong, you just want to know if the relics in the bank are the amber room you are looking for?"


    "Yes, it is." "So far, I can only think of these three ways to get into the bank," he said awkwardly. However, it is a pity that any method is imperfect, so I will tell you the truth about the task we are carrying out, hoping to get some useful help from you. "


    "If we want to find out whether the cultural relics stored in the bank are amber rooms or not." Rosenberg said slowly and abruptly, "you don''t have to go into the bank. Even outside the bank, we also have a chance to find out whether the amber room was kept in the bank by the Germans. "


    Originally, they were racking their brains to think about how to get into the bank and complete their tasks. I didn''t expect that Rosenberg said lightly that he could find out whether the things he was looking for were in the bank without going into the bank. The three men stared at Rosenberg with wide eyes, with an incredible expression on their faces.


    After a while, with a dry throat and a knotted tongue, travkin asked, "Comrade captain, if we don''t enter the bank, how can we find out if what we are looking for is stored in the bank?"


    "Comrade major, I am a layman in cultural relics. But I think that since they are such precious cultural relics, it is impossible for the Germans to ignore them after they leave them in the bank. Are you right? " When travkin nodded his approval of this view, he continued: "the Germans will definitely find experts to inspect and maintain these cultural relics on a regular basis. As long as we stay outside the bank, see experts coming out from inside, and then start from these people, we can complete our task."


    "That''s great, that''s great!" As soon as Rosenberg''s words were finished, gretka exclaimed, "Comrade captain, you are so thoughtful. I think this method will work." He looked sideways at travkin and said, "Comrade major, my troops have been looking after cultural relics before. It''s true that every two or three days, they will ask the experts of cultural relics to check whether the relics are damaged. If I had not heard the captain say so, I would not have thought of it


    Travkin was somewhat skeptical of Rosenberg''s formulation, but when gretka proved it, his doubts disappeared. He thought about it and then said, "but we don''t know when the experts will go to the bank. We can''t wait outside the bank endlessly. It''s easy for the bank guards to find out."


    "Either today or tomorrow, we have to try our luck." Gretka raised her hand, looked at her watch, and then urged, "Comrade major, it''s time for us to go, if I remember correctly. Experts usually leave the bank at about one o''clock at noon after inspecting the cultural relics. We''ll be there now, maybe in time. "


    Three people immediately bid farewell to Rosenberg, riding a motorcycle along the road, toward Lutsk quickly.


    Half an hour later, the three successfully entered Lutsk. After they stopped by a building not far from the bank, travkin raised his hand to look at the time, and then whispered, "it''s almost 12 o''clock now. If the German invited a cultural relic expert into the bank today, he must not have come out yet."


    The cultural relic expert sitting in the STRIDDLE looked in the direction of the bank and said suspiciously, "major, we are here. Can we really wait for the German expert to come out from inside?"


    "Experts, don''t talk." Gretka looked around for a moment, and then kindly reminded the cultural relic experts: "be careful, the wall has ears. If someone hears us speak Russian and secretly reports to the Germans, then we are all finished."


    The cultural relic expert snorted, then closed his mouth, and, like the two of them, stared warily at the exit of the bank.


    Time passed by minute by minute, but there was no one in and out of the bank except a few soldiers on guard. Seeing this, the cultural relic expert was a little upset. He asked travkin in a low voice, "major, what''s the matter? Why has no one been in or out? Is our judgment wrong?"


    "Don''t worry," said travkin without looking back. "We''re just trying our luck. If we don''t have it today, we''ll come back tomorrow. We''ll have a chance."


    As soon as his words were finished, a man came out of the door of the bank. Seeing this middle-aged man in a black woollen coat, a top hat and an official bag under his arm, the cultural relic expert suddenly got excited: "major, you see, here we are. This should be a German..."


    "Hush, be quiet, comrade expert." In time, travkin pointed to him and continued, "don''t get carried away."


    After the middle-aged man went out, he raised his hat with his right hand and said hello to the German soldier beside the gate. Then he put on his hat again and walked down the steps. When he came down the last step, a German soldier who had been doing nothing on a motorcycle immediately met him, nodded and said something to each other. The middle-aged man waved his hand and then walked alone down the street toward the south of the city.


    "Lieutenant, we need to find out who this man is and where he lives." Travkin said that he planned to start the motorcycle to follow him, but gretka stopped him.


    "Lieutenant, if we don''t catch up, we won''t find him later." Seeing gretka stop himself from starting the motorcycle, travkin said anxiously, "in that case, our efforts will be in vain."


    "Don''t worry, he can''t run." With a smile on his face, gretka said confidently, "I''m going to ask who he is and where he lives." With that, he started the motorcycle and headed for the bank.


    "What the hell is he going to do?" Seeing gretka driving his motorcycle towards the Bank alone, the cultural relic expert sitting in the straddle was scared out of his wits. He asked travkin gingerly, "major, he won''t sell us to the Germans, will he?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade expert." Although travkin didn''t know why gretka went to the bank, he knew that he would never sell himself, so he comforted the experts: "he won''t sell us."


    "But, but," said the heritage expert, pointing to gretka''s back, "why did he drive to the Bank alone?"


    "Don''t worry, the truth will come out in a little while." Although he is not strong enough at the moment, he still insists: "when he comes back, we should be able to figure out a lot of things."


    Gretka, riding a motorcycle, came to the German soldier who had just talked to the middle-aged man. He stopped the motorcycle, took off his goggles and gloves, took out a packet of cigarettes from his coat pocket, took one out of it and put it on his mouth. He pretended to feel for it, then turned his head and asked the soldier, "Hello, is there a fire?"


    When he saw a motorcycle suddenly stop at his side, the German soldier was very unhappy. He had planned to drive the other party away directly, but he saw the two lightning bolts on the bearer''s badge clearly, and then he closed his mouth, because he understood that the SS people could not offend them casually, otherwise his fate would be miserable.


    Hearing the SS first-class squad leader wearing the field gendarmerie sign asking if he had a fire, he quickly took a box of matches out of his pocket and struck them respectfully. Gretka took a deep breath after lighting his cigarette. After spitting out a cigarette ring, he handed his cigarette case to the German soldier and said casually, "come on


    The German soldier reached out to get it, but when his hand was about to touch the cigarette case, he stopped again. He quickly took it back, shook his head desperately, and said in mourning, "thank you, no need!" Gretka didn''t take back the cigarette case. Instead, he continued to pass it to him with a heavy grace. The German soldier saw that the first-class team leader really wanted to invite him to smoke, and he did not delay any more. He took one out of the cigarette box, put it in his mouth, and then lit it with a match. As they leaned against each other to breathe, gretka was angry at the middle-aged man who had not disappeared from his sight. He pretended to be casual and asked, "who is that man?" The German soldier looked at the middle-aged man in the distance, and then replied, "you mean Dr. Stein?"¡° Well, "gretka nodded slightly, then continued," what does he do? "¡° He is a cultural relic expert from China. " The German soldier replied without warning, "the major in the bank asks him to come every two or three days. As for what to do, I don''t know." Gretka stared at Stern''s back and said, "soldier, you seem to know him very well."¡° It''s true, "said the German soldier with some pride." I brought him here from home today. Just saw that he was going to leave, I asked if I needed to send him home, but he said no, he wanted to walk back by himself. " In order to prevent the German soldiers from discovering the flaw, gretka did not continue to ask questions and chatted a few words. When his cigarette was finished, he threw the cigarette end on the ground, and then started the motorcycle to chase stern in the direction he left. Although stern walked for a long time, how could his two legs compare with his two wheels. After a while, gretka caught up with him and forced him to a corner. Stern was stopped suddenly, and he was very dissatisfied. Although he saw clearly the two flashes on the other party''s badge representing the SS, he still asked with a strong attitude: "Mr. SS, I don''t know what''s the matter with you stopping me?"

 Chapter 1320

    Gretka got out of the car, walked up to stern and said in a loud voice, "I suspect you''re a resister. Take out your identification and I''ll check it."


    "What, I''m a resister?" Stern was so angry when he heard gretka say this. He pointed to each other''s nose and said angrily, "do you know who I am? I''m a historian at the University of Berlin. I came to work in Lutsk on the order of Dr. Goebbels. You''re part of it. I''m going to sue your officer for your rudeness. "


    "It''s your right to sue my officer." Gretka said slowly, "but I''ll have to wait until I''ve checked your identification."


    "No, you don''t have the right to check my papers." Stern said excitedly, "if you want to know my identity, you can follow me to the bank. Major Hans there will prove my identity to you."


    "I don''t have much time to go to any bank," gretka estimated, rattling the bolt and continuing to frighten stern. "If you don''t show your ID again, I''ll shoot."


    Just as the two sides were at loggerheads, a roar of motorcycles came from far and near, and then a voice asked, "what''s the matter?"


    Gretka turned around and saw that the motorcycle that travkin was driving had come behind him. The questioner was a cultural relic expert sitting in the scuttle. He quickly stepped forward and pretended to be serious. He reported: "Lieutenant, I have caught a suspicious person. I suspect that he is a resister. I want to check his ID, but he refused to cooperate."


    After hearing this, the cultural relics expert gave a sigh of gratitude, and then pretended to say, "since he won''t show his identification, send him to the Gestapo. I believe the people there will let him tell the truth."


    Travkin took off his goggles, looked at stern standing on the side of the road, and then winked at gretka. Gretka turned to stern, reached for his collar at the back of his neck, and said, "well, don''t dally. Come with us to the Gestapo. They''ll find out if you''re a resistance."


    In this case, stern, who had a tough attitude, had to give in because he knew that it was easy for the Gestapo to get in and difficult to get out, and the SS soldier just wanted to check his ID. He quickly struggled to say: "let go of me, I''ll show you my certificate."


    Gretka was just bluffing him. When he said that, he immediately let go. When Stein took out his identification from his official bag, he grabbed it and read, "Dr. George Stein, Professor of history at the University of Berlin." After looking through the certificate, he went to the expert of cultural relics, handed it to him and said, "Lieutenant, this certificate looks very real."


    Stern was not happy to hear gretka say this. He said in a loud voice, "what does it mean to look like it''s true? It''s true."


    It happened that a seven member patrol passed by, and heard stern shouting. The sergeant wanted to come and have a look, but saw that three SS officers and soldiers stopped a civilian like man, so he didn''t want to cause any more trouble, so he took his men on.


    When the patrol appeared, travkin put his finger on the trigger of the submachine gun, ready to shoot immediately when he found something abnormal. Who knows, these national defense forces patrols are all bullies. Seeing that there are several SS here, they dare not even fart, so they turn around and leave.


    Watching the patrol leave, trafkin breathed a sigh of relief. He touched the cultural relic expert with his arm. Then he came close to the expert''s ear and said in a low voice, "the road is too dangerous. Try to go to his home first."


    The cultural relic expert returned the document to gretka, and then said to stern, who was standing beside him with a face full of anger: "Mr stern, in order to confirm your identity, I think we need to go to your residence for inspection."


    Travkin thought that the request put forward by the cultural relic expert on his behalf would be rejected by stern. Unexpectedly, the other party readily agreed: "well, my home is not far from here. You can go there like me. I''ll show you that I''m not a resister. "


    Gretcard got stern on his motorcycle and, under his guidance, came to his house. Steiner lives in a big place, with two bedrooms and a huge living room in addition to a complete kitchen and bathroom. Looking at the red velvet curtains hanging by the window, the light blue table on the dining table, and a few leather armchairs beside the table, the cultural relic experts can''t help muttering to themselves: "the environment here is really good."


    Stern asked the three to sit down at the table and went into a bedroom. After a while, stern came out of the bedroom with a thick album in his hand. He went to the expert of cultural relics, put the album on the table heavily, and then said with pride, "Mr. lieutenant, take a look. The photos here will prove my identity."


    Travkin opened the photo album on the table and saw that there were all photos of stern and German officers at all levels. Seeing the faces of the SS officers and soldiers escorting him back, after seeing the group photo of himself and the officers, stern could not help but say with complacency: "have you seen all of them, gentlemen of the SS, these group photos can prove that I am not a member of any resistance organization?"?! You see, the picture on the last page is a picture of me and Dr. Goebbels


    If it was the real SS, it might be scared by stern, especially the last photo of him and Goebbels, which proved that he was not an ordinary person. In his imagination, these SS gentlemen, after looking at these photos, must bow and apologize to him, and then leave here in dismay. Unfortunately, what he met was a fake, so it was impossible for him to imagine that.


    Travkin closed the album, snorted and said, "I''ve got it. You''re such a hard nut to crack. Lieutenant gretka, when we leave, we''ll take him out Greteka agreed, pulled out the dagger and pretended to be ready.


    Stern was frightened, because the words of trav Jingang were spoken in Russian. It happened that he also knew Russian, so he had no difficulty in understanding what they said. When he heard that the other party was going to kill him, he could not help shaking like chaff. Looking at gretka coming towards him with a dagger, he was even more frightened. He quickly asked for mercy in stuttering Russian: "comrade, don''t... Don''t kill... Me, actually i... I''m not... * *, on the contrary, I''m still an anti... Anti Communist."


    Hearing that he could speak Russian, trafkin was a little surprised. He quickly made a sign to gretka, indicating that he would put away the dagger first, and then asked Stein, "Mr. Stein, you say you are an anti Communist. Do you have any evidence?"


    Stern was speechless for a moment and didn''t know what to say.


    Seeing that he couldn''t answer his question, travkin realized that he had just said that he was an anti Communist, which was just a hoax. Seeing that the other party was scared out of his wits, he had an excellent idea in his heart. He coughed gently, and then said, "Mr. Stein, even if you were not an anti Communist before, as long as you are willing to help us, we can treat you as a real anti Communist from this moment on."


    Stein listened to what travkin said, nodded his head in a hurry and said, "Sir, as long as it is within my ability, I will help you do it."


    Travkin and gretka look at each other and say that they didn''t expect stern to be obedient so soon. "Let me ask you, what do the Germans want you to do in the bank?" he asked


    "There are a number of cultural relics collected from various places in the bank. Knowing that I am an expert in this field, Berlin sent me to take charge of the identification and maintenance of these cultural relics." Stern honestly reported to travkin: "today, I was asked to go to the bank because during the routine inspection, it was found that there was mildew on the surface of some oil paintings, so major Hans asked me to deal with it."


    "How can the surface of an oil painting get moldy?" Stern''s words aroused travkin''s curiosity. He wanted to find out what was going on, but when he asked this question, his eyes were not looking at stern, but at the cultural relic experts around him.


    When it comes to his major, Stein obviously forgot that he was in danger. Like a lecture in a university class, he kept on publishing his theory: "it''s very simple. Any professional can tell you, because these painters added egg white to the paint when they were painting. Over a long period of time, under certain conditions, The surface of the oil painting will be cracked or moldy... "


    After listening patiently for a while, travkin saw that Stern didn''t show any sign of stopping. He quickly raised his hand to stop and said, "come on, Mr. stern, stop talking. I want to ask you something else. "


    Stern''s words were interrupted by others. Although he was very unhappy, he thought that the other party could decide his own life and death. He could only ask with a smile: "Mr. officer, what do you want to ask?"


    "A few days ago, did you get a few trucks of cultural relics from other places in the bank?" Asked travkin cautiously.


    Stern heard the question with a look of surprise on his face. He asked in surprise, "how do you know this, sir? That''s right. A few days ago, I arrived at the cultural relics of jiuche. According to major Hans, these things came from a secret base near Zhitomir. "


    Secret base! On hearing this word, trafkin''s heart could not help a burst of ecstasy. It seemed that what he was searching for was really here. He took a deep breath, and when he calmed down a little, he asked, "Mr. Stein, do you know what these relics are?"


    Travkin thought he would get the answer soon, but stern shook his head and said, "I don''t know. As soon as the cultural relics arrived, they were sent to the Treasury. There was a class of SS officers and soldiers outside to guard them. Even major Hans, the most senior in the bank, could not enter. So no one knows what''s in there. "


    Travkin stood up, walked around the room with his hands behind his back, stopped and asked Stein tentatively, "Mr. Stein, do you think that the mysterious relics in the vault are amber rooms?"


    "Amber room?! A gift from King Frederick I of Prussia to Tsar Peter the great? " After being confirmed by travkin, Stein shook his head like a rattle. "Officer, I think you must be mistaken. Since we found the amber room in St. Petersburg, we will definitely send it directly to Gothenburg, because it is a famous amber producing area. If there is any damage to the amber room, it will be easier to repair it. As long as the information leaks, the amber room may be robbed. Therefore, even if you are a fool, you will not transport amber rooms all the way from St. Petersburg. I think you must be mistaken. "


    Although so far, it is not clear what the cultural relics stored in the bank vault are, it is almost certain that the amber room is definitely not in Lutsk. Thinking of this, travkin waved disappointingly to his subordinates, indicating that they were ready to leave. The cultural relic expert took a look at stern standing next to him and whispered to travkin, "Comrade major, we''re leaving like this?" He nuzui toward the back, "maybe we go forward, he went back to the German informer." Seeing that travkin turned and looked at him, stern quickly shook his hands desperately and said, "don''t worry, don''t worry. I won''t mention a word of this to others. You can rest assured to leave. " After a pause, he may feel that his words are not accurate enough. He quickly added, "I cooperate with you in the hope that you can bypass my life." Travkin took two steps towards him, then said in a low voice, "Mr. Stein, I think it''s necessary for me to remind you that anyone who works for Hitler is guilty. When the war is over, we will come to settle these crimes. But if you have meritorious service, you will not only be punished, but also be rewarded. " With that, he waved his head at the other two and said aloud, "let''s go!"¡° Sir As he watched travkin and others really go out, stern yelled, "please wait a minute. I have another important thing to tell you."

 Chapter 1321

    Travkin stopped, turned his head and asked, "Mr. Stein, what else can I do for you?"


    Stern saw that travkin stopped, raised his hand and scratched the back of his head. He said with some embarrassment, "Sir, if you really want to find out what''s in the bank vault, I think there may be a way to find out."


    Just a few minutes ago, travkin learned from Stein that the Treasury, where important cultural relics are stored, is closely guarded by SS soldiers. Not to mention that he wants to sneak in from outside, even Stein himself and major Hans, the top commander of the bank, can not get close to the Treasury. He has already determined that his mission has ended in failure. I didn''t expect that when I heard stern say that there was a way to know what was in the vault, it was like a man walking in the dark suddenly saw a glimmer of dawn.


    He dashed to stern, grabbed his shoulder with both hands, shook it vigorously, and hastened to say, "Mr. stern, did you suddenly come up with a good idea? Please, please tell me the truth."


    Stern was dazed by the excited travkin and could not speak for a long time. Travkin soon found out, released his hands, stepped back, and apologized, "I''m sorry, Mr. Stein. I''m so excited. If you have any way to know what''s in the vault, please let me know. "


    Stern calmed down for a moment, then said, "I heard major Hans say that there is a photographer from Berlin whose train will arrive at noon tomorrow. His task is to take photos and archive all the cultural relics in the bank, so as to facilitate the sorting in the future. "


    After hearing this, trafkin nodded noncommittally, then extended his hand to Stein and said gratefully, "thank you, Dr. Stein. I will always remember what you have done for us today. Goodbye, see you later! "


    After they came out of Stein''s house, the cultural relic expert asked in a low voice, "Comrade major, don''t you really need to kill him? He won''t report our affairs to the Germans


    Gretka was a little upset about the skepticism of the experts on cultural relics. He went up to the experts and said impolitely, "Comrade experts, Dr. Stein is a senior intellectual. People like him always keep their word. If they say they will not reveal our whereabouts, they will never reveal our whereabouts. I believe him


    After that, gretka turned and asked travkin, "major, where are we going next?"


    "Where else can I go?" he said without thinking? Of course, we should go to captain Rosenberg''s residence. We should report what we have learned to the headquarters of the group army as soon as possible. "


    When they returned to Rosenberg''s camp in the forest, they found Alexander and the telegraph operator here. Trafkin could not help but be surprised and said, "my God, comrade Alexander, aren''t you looking for friendly troops in the east? How did you find this place so quickly? "


    "Comrade major, let me introduce the situation to you." Rosenberg, standing on one side, said with a smile: "it''s a coincidence that the soldier I sent to the cave to look for a telegraph operator happened to meet Comrade Alexander on the way. Fortunately, the two sides showed their identities in time, otherwise they might have started a fight. By the way, how are you doing in the city? "


    Travkin''s eyes swept over everyone in the room and found that they were all people who knew the inside story of the operation. Therefore, he told us what happened after he entered the city. After that, he asked the operator with his face on his side: "operator, I don''t know when I can send a message to the headquarters of the group army?"


    The operator immediately got up from his seat and said, "Comrade major, you can send a message at any time."


    "Send a report to the commander immediately, and report the situation here to her..." before travkin finished his words, suddenly a sentry''s voice came out of the room: "who, stop!" Then there was the click of the submachine gun.


    "Is the enemy coming up?" Rosenberg said this to himself, leaped from his seat, grabbed the assault rifle hanging on the wall, and rushed out of the house. They pulled out their pistols, picked up their submachine guns and rushed out behind Rosenberg.


    As soon as I went out, I saw the sentry hiding behind the snow wall, shooting a few shots from time to time. Rosenberg rushed up to him, squatted in a safe position and asked aloud, "what''s the matter?"


    After another two shots, the sentry drew back and said to Rosenberg, "I just saw two people prowling around stealthily. They yelled at them, but they turned and ran away, so I shot them."


    Rosenberg could not help but ask, "where is the enemy? Why can''t I see it?"


    "Behind the snowdrift 30 meters away," the sentry said, pulling the trigger in that direction and nervously saying, "they should be held down by my fire."


    The soldiers in the nearby igloo were also startled. They rushed out one after another, found a suitable position, fell down on the spot, searched the targets around with vigilance, and were ready to shoot. Just then, trafkin stood up from behind the snow wall where he was hiding, looked around, and then decisively ordered, "stop shooting. Captain, let your men go up and catch the live ones. "


    "Comrades major," Rosenberg saw that travkin, despite the danger, leaned out of the snow wall and quickly reminded him, "be careful of the enemy''s cold shots!"


    But after hearing this, he just waved his hand and said, "Captain, maybe it''s not the enemy. Let the soldiers go up and see who they are."


    When Rosenberg received the order, he immediately made a sign to the soldiers lying in the snow. The soldiers immediately got up from the snow, put the butts of their submachine guns or assault rifles against their bellies, bent over and trotted towards the Tibetan snowdrift.


    Not much effort, two people in the uniform of railway workers were brought to them in front of travkin. Rosenberg stepped forward and asked, "who are you and why are you sneaking around?"


    "Comrade commander," asked a railway worker, who was nearly middle-aged excitedly, "are you a Soviet army?"


    "Who are you and what do you do?" Instead of answering his question, Rosenberg asked, "how do you know we are Soviet troops?"


    Hearing Rosenberg''s rhetorical question, the middle-aged man''s face actually showed a happy smile. He put his feet together, straightened his waist, raised his hand and saluted a standard military salute. Then he said aloud, "Comrade commander, Lieutenant wajim, the former commander of the ninth mechanized army motorized infantry regiment, reports to you. I''m waiting for your order, please give me instructions!"


    "The ninth mechanized army?" Hearing this special number, travkin asked in surprise, "is it general rokosovsky''s army?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Vajim took a look at the soldier in the SS uniform. Although he didn''t know his rank, he was obviously an officer, so he said respectfully, "in June, 41, general rokosovsky was our commander." After a pause, he asked nervously, "comrades of commanders, do not know my commander, is he still alive?"


    It is said that the railway worker in front of him used to be rokosovsky''s subordinate, and everyone became friendly to him. Travkin nodded his head vigorously: "alive. However, he is no longer the commander of the army, but the commander of the front army. " Then he stepped forward, took lieutenant wajim''s hand, and said in a friendly way, "coincidentally, I used to be a subordinate of general rokosovsky, but later I was transferred to another army."


    While shaking hands with travkin, vajim said excitedly: "in the battle of July 41, because I was seriously injured, I was placed in the house of the farm keepers of the collective farm. Only under their cover can I escape from the poisonous hands of the Germans. However, many of our comrades in arms died under the butcher''s knife of the bandits. "


    "Comrade lieutenant, we will recover the blood debt owed by the bandits sooner or later with interest." After he said this, he suddenly remembered an important thing and asked, "by the way, how did you get here?"


    Wajim nodded at the young railway worker standing next to him and said, "Vasha and I are switchers. When we were inspecting the line today, we suddenly saw two motorcycles in front of us passing the crossing and heading for the deep forest. I have been here for more than two years, and the terrain is very familiar. Knowing that there is an abandoned forest watcher''s cabin in the forest, I brought Vasha to have a look. I didn''t expect to find you hiding here


    Wajim''s words surprised travkin. He quickly turned to Rosenberg and said, "Captain, please send someone outside immediately to check to see if there are any signs of other people''s activities. If we are found, we must be transferred immediately. "


    He sent scouts and arranged for a telegraph operator to send a message to the headquarters. Seeing that all the arrangements had been made, travkin invited wajim to sit in the room to learn something about Lutsk from him.


    While travkin was chatting with wajim, the operator came up, handed him a telegram and whispered, "Comrade major, this is the reply from the headquarters."


    Travkin took the telegram and was stunned when he saw the contents clearly, because the headquarters not only did not order them to withdraw immediately, but emphasized once again that they should try every means to sneak into the enemy''s Treasury and find out what was in it. He handed the telegram to gretka and racked his brains to figure out how to get into the vault.


    When gretka finished reading the telegram, he saw that travkin was still looking sad. He quickly reminded him in a low voice, "Comrade major, have you forgotten the photographer who will be here tomorrow? Maybe we can start with him. "


    When gretka mentioned the photographer, he had an idea. Then he asked wajim, "Comrade wajim, do you know anyone at the station?"


    Vajim nodded, then pointed to the shy young man beside him and said, "vajim''s uncle is the Deputy station master of the railway station. I don''t know what we can do for you? "


    After thinking for a moment, travkin decided to tell vajim part of the truth without divulging the secret, so as to gain his trust and get his full cooperation. He said carefully: "Comrade wajim, in the Treasury of the Lutsk bank, there is an important piece of German intelligence. Our task is to find a way to get this situation, but because of the enemy''s tight guard, we can''t get into the bank at all. It happens that tomorrow there will be a photographer from Berlin who is responsible for going into the vault to photograph this important document. "¡° I see, comrade commander. " Before travkin finished, vajim said, "you mean we hijacked the photographer from Berlin at the station and sent someone to replace him. Is my understanding correct? "¡° Yes, that''s what it means Trafkin did not expect that wajim''s reaction was so fast, and he guessed his own idea before he finished his words. He hesitated for a moment and said, "but now there is a problem. We only know that the photographer''s train will arrive at noon tomorrow, but we don''t know what the other person looks like or what his name is." As soon as trafkin''s words came out, the whole room became quiet. There are so many people coming and going to the railway station every day, and almost all of them are German officers and soldiers. It''s like looking for a needle in a haystack to find someone who doesn''t know his name and appearance. But the problem was soon solved by wajim, who said to travkin, "Comrade commander, you don''t have to worry too much. Even if you don''t know his face and name, it doesn''t matter. We should know that when photographers go out, they will certainly bring a lot of things, such as cameras, tripods and other equipment. As long as we see who is carrying big bags and small bags when they go out, we are probably the people we are looking for. "¡° That''s right, "gretka said with approval as soon as wajim finished." Comrade wajim''s words are very reasonable. The photographer must be in such a suit that we can recognize him at a glance in the crowd. But if we really want to hijack him, we may need to find another car. We can''t pick him up with a motorcycle. "

 Chapter 1322

    At noon on the 17th, it began to snow outside again. I thought it would be another day without war. Unexpectedly, when the guards said this, wajim stopped, glanced at all the people in the room, and then continued to say, "I don''t think you can take your photos with you?" Seeing that everyone nodded in recognition, he added, "so we have to take a picture of each other in case of emergency. As it happens, I have a friend who has opened a photo studio in the city. We can go to the city immediately to find him and get the photos ready. "¡° Comrade vajim, it''s easy to solve the problem of photos. We''ll follow you to take a picture in the city later. " "Do you know where I can get German cars?" he asked politely After hearing this, wajim laughed and said, "there is a military hospital in the city. The parking lot is full of all kinds of vehicles. I think it''s not a big problem for you to go in and get one out."¡° Well, I''ll take care of the car with lieutenant gretka After saying this, travkin turned to his old comrade Alexander and said, "Comrade Alexander, you are an old scout with keen observation. I want to find a target in the crowd when I get off the bus. Isn''t that hard for you?"¡° No problem, comrade major. " Alexander quickly stood up and said: "as long as the photographer can arrive at the station on time at noon tomorrow, I will be able to recognize him from the crowd." After all the tasks were explained, the scouts sent out also came back. After listening to their report, Rosenberg reported to travkin, "Comrade major, the scouts report that there is no sign of the enemy in the vicinity."¡° That''s great. " Hearing that the neighborhood was safe and sound, travkin felt much more secure. He confidently said to Rosenberg, "Captain, as long as it''s not exposed here, you can stay here. In this way, every time we come back from the task, we can have a place to stay. "¡° Major, when shall we start? " Gretka said anxiously, "it gets dark early in winter. If we don''t act quickly, we can''t get to the city before dark." Travkin raised his hand and looked at his watch. Seeing that it was three o''clock in the afternoon and it was only two hours before dark, he nodded and said, "OK, let''s go now." But when everyone walked out of the woodman''s cabin and looked at the two motorcycles parked outside, trafkin couldn''t help worrying, because motorcycles couldn''t hold so many people. Seeing his embarrassment, wajim took the initiative to say, "don''t worry, comrade commander. Vasha and I won''t take the bus. We are familiar with the terrain here. If we take the path back, we may arrive before you. Well, after dark, we''ll meet outside the gate of the station. I''ll take you to the photo studio and the hospital to prepare what we should prepare. "

 Chapter 1323

    Alexander, who was walking out of the station with the officer, suddenly saw gretka standing on the steps outside the station. He quickly winked at him, indicating that the officer beside him was the one they were looking for.


    Alexander was a little stunned by what happened next. Gretka walked up to officer De, raised his hand and politely asked, "is that lieutenant Lucas?"


    The officer stopped, nodded and said, "yes, I''m Lucas."


    "Hello, lieutenant." Gretka said with a smile, "I''ve come to meet you on the order of major Hans. Please follow me. The car is waiting for you on the other side of the road."


    Lucas nodded again and said, "please lead the way, Mr. first class commando captain."


    When the three of them came to the car, gretka put Alexander''s bags into the car and was thinking about how to get him on the car. I didn''t expect Lucas to take a look at Alexander, and then said to gretka, "let this soldier follow us. He has just helped me a lot to get so many things from the platform."


    Although Lucas offered to give Alexander a ride, gretka didn''t immediately agree. He pretended to be embarrassed and asked trafkin in the co driver''s seat, "do you think you can give this soldier a ride, Lieutenant?"


    Travkin turned his head, looked Alexander up and down with an affectation, then nodded and said reluctantly, "since it''s Mr. Lieutenant''s proposal, let him have a ride."


    As soon as travkin finished speaking, gretka immediately raised his hand and patted Alexander on the shoulder, saying, "lucky soldier, our second lieutenant agreed to give you a lift. You just sit in the back row and squeeze with Mr. lieutenant


    Alexander made a loud promise, pretending to be overjoyed. Then he opened the back door and respectfully asked Lucas to get on the bus. He also pushed up.


    After the car started, Lucas asked casually, "shall we go to the bank now?"


    Gretka, who was driving, turned his head and said, "Mr. lieutenant, we are ordered to take you to the photo studio in the city to see if you need anything else."


    "I have a complete range of things." Lucas, after listening to gretka, waved his hand and said, "don''t go to the photo gallery, just go to the bank. It only gives me one week. If I don''t hurry up, I don''t think I can finish the task within the prescribed time. "


    "I''m sorry, lieutenant." "We have orders to take you to the photo studio first," he said slowly, turning around


    "It''s up to you." When Lucas finished this sentence, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.


    The car soon stopped at the gate of a photo shop a few blocks from the bank, which was naturally owned by wajim''s friend. Gretka stopped the car, turned to Lucas and said, "Mr. lieutenant, we''re here. Please get out of the car."


    When Lucas walked into the photo gallery behind travkin and gretka, he found that there was only one person dressed as a civilian in the photo gallery. He felt that something was wrong. He stopped and asked them in a loud voice, "what''s the matter? Why did you bring me to a civilian photo studio?"


    Just then, Lucas felt a hard thing on his waist, and a voice said in his ear, "we''ll explain it to you, lieutenant."


    Lucas turned to look at the soldier who was respectful to him at the station. He didn''t know when his pistol had fallen into his hands, and now it was on his waist.


    Lucas quickly raised his hands and asked, "who can tell me what''s going on?"


    Travkin turned to Lucas and said, "Mr. lieutenant, I now announce to you that you have been captured by the Red Army of the Soviet Union."


    "Are you Russian?" When he heard that travkin had made his identity known, Lucas said reluctantly, "it''s impossible. According to what I know, how can Russian troops, still more than 200 kilometers away in Zhitomir, suddenly appear in Lutsk?"


    "We are scouts, not to mention appearing in Lutsk, which is only 200 kilometers away from the front line. Even in Berlin, it is normal." After these words, travkin made a gesture to the owner of the photo studio who was standing next to him. He immediately walked to the door and put up a sign of "suspend business".


    When the boss came back, travkin politely asked, "we are going to detain this German for a while. Do you have a suitable place?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." The boss said excitedly: "I dug a basement under the darkroom, which can hold seven or eight people. It''s very suitable to lock him in."


    With the help of the boss, the three take Lucas to the basement. After closing the door, travkin said to Lucas, "we are all aware of your mission to Lutsk, lieutenant. If you can cooperate with us, we will protect your personal safety. "


    Lucas thought he was going to die, but he heard a glimmer of life from travkin''s words. He quickly asked, "officer, I don''t know how I can cooperate with you so that you can protect my personal safety." Seeing that Lucas was very cooperative, travkin felt at ease. He asked leisurely, "Mr. lieutenant, tell me. How do you carry out your work after your officer orders you to come to Lutsk?" Lucas thought about it, and then said, "according to the order, when I get to Lutsk, I should report to major Hans at the bank immediately, and with the help of the SS guard guarding the vault, I should take pictures of the things stored inside."¡° Do you know what''s in the vault? " Asked travkin¡° I don''t know, "Lucas replied truthfully." my superiors didn''t say it, and I didn''t ask. Anyway, when you get to the vault, you''ll understand everything after you look at it. " Just as travkin and Lucas were asking and answering questions, Alexander picked up Lucas''s identification and studied it over and over again. Suddenly, as if he had discovered a new world, he called out: "major, look, if lieutenant greteka wears glasses, he can directly impersonate this lieutenant."

 Chapter 1324

    In my limited memory of the Soviet Patriotic War, it seems that as soon as the battle of Kursk ended, the Soviet army went all the way to Berlin. However, it has been more than ten days since Kiev was liberated, and the German army around our defense area, regardless of the slightest sign of defeat, has beaten the 38th and 60th army to the ground.


    Yesterday, when the 7th panzer division of the German army launched an attack on the defensive area of the 67th guard division, although I did a lot of preparatory work, I strengthened the artillery and tank brigade for the barksov division. As far as I can imagine, even if they can''t deal a heavy blow to the German troops in the snow, they can at least draw with each other.


    But unexpectedly, after the first German attack was repulsed by us, the deployment was adjusted in time. After long-range artillery fire was used to suppress our artillery, the infantry, under the cover of tanks, launched a rush to our forward position again.


    More than 20 Tiger tanks and leopard tanks spread out in formation and rushed to the defense positions of our army. The fast-moving tracks made deep tracks on the vast snow. However, the 20th brigade of the close guard tank, which was deployed in the front, only had more than 30 T-34 tanks left, but faced with the fierce German tanks, it bravely met them.


    Unfortunately, the next battle turned into a one-sided massacre. The 76mm tank gun equipped with the T-34 tank could not penetrate the 102mm front armor of the Tiger tank; The tilted armor of leopard tank also turns most of the shells of the target into ricochets.


    Although the T-34 tank is helpless to the German Tiger and leopard tanks, the 88mm tank gun of the German Tiger tank and the 75mm tank gun of the leopard tank can easily pierce the front armor of the T-34 tank at a distance of 1000m and 500m respectively.


    With the dull sound of German tank guns, the tanks of the 20th brigade of the close guard tank were destroyed one by one in the snow by German tanks. The turrets of several tanks were lifted to the sky by the lethal ammunition, and then hit the ground heavily, causing certain casualties to the nearby infantry commanders and fighters.


    By virtue of their powerful armored assault capability, the German army tore a two kilometer gap in the forward position of the 67th division of the guards. Just as the enemy was rushing down to the city of Zhitomir along the breach, the division commander baksov arrived in time with a regiment. He first ordered the anti tank men to kill the tanks in range with 40 rockets, and then he commanded the troops to attack the German infantry who had lost the cover of the tanks, blocking the gap opened by the German army again.


    When it was dark, I was in the headquarters and received a call from baksov, who had just recovered his position. He said with some emotion: "Comrade commander, I thought our troops were supported by fortifications and covered by artillery and tanks. No matter how strong the German 7th Armored Division was, it could easily block them. However, after a real exchange of fire with them, I found that this unit is very different from the units we have contacted before. Their combat effectiveness is too strong. In just a few hours of fighting, I have lost almost a regiment''s strength. If such an attack is repeated twice, our division should withdraw to the back and make up for it. "


    I didn''t talk too much nonsense with him, but simply ordered him: "general baksov, hurry up to repair the fortifications. If there are no solid Fortifications on the plain, it will be the end of the German armored forces."


    After I put down the phone, I directly told akhromeyev, "major, call general bere, the commander of the tank army, here."


    As soon as I put down the phone, watujing''s call came in. He asked me straightforwardly: "Comrade oshanina, the situation in the direction of fativ is very bad at present. According to our latest intelligence, the 48th German armored army has been stationed. If they attack Kiev with all their strength, it may be difficult for me to keep Kiev


    Hearing that I was confident two days ago and said that there was no problem at all in keeping Kiev, I used such a euphemistic word to say that Kiev was facing a grim situation. I had an uncertain premonition in my heart: the difficulty is that we intend to launch an attack from the rear of the German army and hold the strength of the 48th armored army, so as to gain more time for Kiev''s troops to deploy?


    As soon as this idea came out, I immediately denied it, because I think vatukin should be very clear that Zhitomir was threatened from the north, West and south, and had no strength to launch an attack from the German rear of fastif. I hesitated for a moment and asked tentatively, "senior general, do you have any important instructions for calling me?"


    "Well, I can''t talk about instructions. I just want to discuss with you." "If your close guard sixth group army can launch a surprise attack from the enemy''s flank, it may be able to contain part of the German army in the fastif area and relieve some pressure on the 38th and 60th group army sticking to the southwest of Kiev," said vatujing


    "Comrade General, if it is your order, I will obey it; If it''s just negotiation, I''m sorry. I think I can only refuse your proposal. " In order to avoid causing vatukin''s displeasure, I specially explained to him: "the German 48th armored force of fastiev is threatening not only Kiev, but also korostwev. Today, the 7th German Panzer Division in wallensky new town launched an attack against the defense area of the 67th guard division in the face of heavy snow, although after a fierce battle, the enemy''s attack was smashed by our brave commanders and fighters. But judging from their strong fighting capacity, I think we can only stick to it for a week at most in Zhitomir. "


    "Comrade o''shanina, this is not going to work." After listening to me, vatukin said with some reluctance: "if the other three German armored divisions, together with the 48th armored army of fativ, attack Kiev together, it will be very difficult for me to defend this city. Therefore, I command you to stick to Zhitomir at all costs and keep the German troops from three directions as long as possible. "


    "Don''t worry, Comrade General." When I heard that he no longer asked us to send troops to harass the flanks of the German army of fastif, he said, "I will tell your words to our commanders and fighters, so that they can fight bravely to defend Kiev. Even if there are only one soldier left, they will never give up their position easily."


    Berey, who had received my order, rushed to the headquarters in a jeep in the wind and snow. As soon as he saw me and raised his hand to salute him, he couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade commander, please call me to the headquarters. Do you have any important tasks to explain?"


    "Comrade General, I want to ask, many of the original tank brigades have been equipped with new tanks, but why don''t they even have one in the 20th brigade of guard tanks?" When I think of the new tanks that surpass this era, they all play the role of hanging tiger and leopard on the battlefield, but now they are rare. I feel very uncomfortable, so my voice is very heavy: "if there are several such new tanks in the brigade, then in today''s tank battle, the battle will not become a one-sided trend, They will not be annihilated by German Tiger and leopard tanks. "


    When I said that, the muscles on berey''s face twitched violently. After a while, he replied, "Comrade commander, you don''t know. Although the new tanks were installed in the army for a period of time, they were gradually replaced by the original T-34 tanks because of the serious shortage of maintenance parts and supporting ammunition in the later period."


    "Replaced by T-34? So, where did the new tanks go? " I can''t help but be stunned when I heard bielei say that, but then I asked, "it''s not all coming back, is it?"


    "Back to the furnace?! I don''t know how it''s possible With a bitter smile, berey said: "although two production lines have been opened up, which are specially used to produce supporting ammunition for new tanks, due to the demand of troops, supply has always exceeded demand. Just in the last ten days of last month, it is said that a member of the Supreme Command proposed that efforts should be concentrated on the production of T-34 tanks and supporting ammunition. Even if the tank performance is not as good as the German tiger leopard tank, it can be made up by the advantage in quantity. "


    "Who said that?" Bezikov, who had seen the power of the new type of tank, immediately asked after him as soon as he finished saying: "this is not the same as making our tank a target of German tiger leopard tank as soon as it goes to the battlefield."


    "I don''t know exactly who said it." In response to bzikov''s questioning, berey said vaguely: "anyway, my source is reliable, and this is absolutely true."


    Seeing the expression that bzikov still wanted to ask, I quickly raised my hand to stop him: "OK, chief of staff, don''t ask any more questions. Maybe general Lei doesn''t have any trouble about this, so don''t embarrass him any more." After that, I looked at bielei and asked, "general bielei, what can you do to deal with the German Tiger and leopard tanks?"


    Don''t think about it, then said: "Comrade commander, this is not easy to do. Our tanks can''t destroy enemy tiger and leopard tanks even within 400 meters, but they can easily blow up our tanks one by one. In addition, it is also very difficult for the infantry to carry 40 rocket launchers to be used alone against the enemy''s tanks. They must wait for the enemy''s tanks to enter the range of 200 meters before they can shoot down the tanks. "


    After berey talked about all the difficulties he was facing, the commanders in the room were silent. After a while, chisgakov bit his back teeth and said, "damned Krauts, it''s because we know our fighters can''t go out in such snowy weather that we attack us in the snow."


    After complaining, he turned to look at me and said, "Comrade commander, I know you are resourceful. You must have thought of a way to deal with the enemy''s tanks."


    Although I have been thinking about the way to deal with the German tanks, I can''t think of a better way in a hurry. At the moment, everyone''s eyes are focused on me. When I make up my mind, I can only change some of the old ways I know and say, "general bielei, when you go back, immediately send engineers to bury explosives and anti tank mines on the road of the enemy''s tanks. In order to prevent mines from being pulled out by enemy engineers, you should also ambush snipers and anti tank men 200 meters away from the minefield. "


    "Sniper and antitank?" Bielei looked at me in surprise and asked, "why do you want this arrangement?"


    "It''s very simple. Snipers are for engineers who want to clear the ground. As for the anti tank hand, it is to solve those tanks in close range and avoid them causing damage to the sniper. " After I said this, I thought that the snipers and anti tank men were in the infantry company, and quickly added: "when you go back, you can send these men to tavartkilaze in the city of Zhitomir."


    "I see, comrade commander." After saying this, bielei immediately straightened up and asked me, "will you allow me to do it now? I want to go back and lay out minefields right now to deal with German tanks¡° General berey Seeing that bielei was leaving, I quickly added: "in addition to anti tank mines and anti tank men, we should also consider how to use our tanks reasonably. Do you understand? "¡° I see After answering, bielei raised his hand to salute us, then turned and walked out of the headquarters. After berey left, I went to the map on the wall, looked at it for a while, then turned and waved to chisgakov and bzikov to come to me. When the two men came to me, I picked up the explanation stick, pointed to the map and said to them, "you see, if the information from the headquarters of the front army is accurate, now the 48th armored army is stationed in fativ. I think that if I don''t say what the combat effectiveness of this unit is, we all know very well. Not long ago, they defeated general konev''s troops and drove them across the Dnieper River, exposing our occupied cherkaser to the German army. "¡° Comrade commander, what are you worried about? " Asked bzikov cautiously, taking advantage of my pause. I used the explanation stick to place fastiev heavily: "chief of staff, what I am most worried about is here. If the German army wants to recapture Kiev, they must first take our occupied Zhitomir. In other words, in the next battle, we will not only face the German attack from the north, West and south. It is also possible for the 48th armored force in the southeast to deploy some troops to attack us from the East. In this way, the whole of the sixth group army will fall into the encirclement of the German army. "¡° What, trapped in a German siege? " Bezikov was startled when he heard me say this. He took a step forward, drew his hand on the map, and said to himself, "if the German army really attacks from the East, then our contact with Kiev will be completely broken, and we will become a surrounded and isolated army."¡° Comrade commander. " After bierzikov finished his speech, chisjakov also expressed his own opinion: "our group still has 50000 or 60000 people. The ammunition and various military materials consumed by so many soldiers and horses every day are astronomical. If the German forces cut off the link between us and Kiev, then it will not be long before our troops will be on the verge of extinction because they run out of ammunition and food. "

 Chapter 1325

    "How long can our ammunition and supplies last?" I asked briefly after listening to chisgakov.


    "At today''s fighting intensity, I estimate that the ammunition will last about a week." Chisjakov said solemnly, "more materials are needed. If we save a little, it will take about half a month."


    What chisjakov said reminds me of last year''s situation at mamayev post. At that time, our ammunition and material consumption was also an amazing amount. The reason why we could maintain the normal operation was that in addition to a large number of weapons, ammunition and materials stored in the secret warehouse at mamayev post, as well as the German materials we seized from the battlefield, the most important thing was that, Or do I make use of the advantage of the military defense area close to the port to order people to intercept part of the materials sent to the city from time to time to give priority to meet the needs of our department.


    Today, the troops under my command are several times more than when I was at mamayev post. Naturally, the consumption of weapons, ammunition and materials will increase. If we can''t solve this problem, the Germans only need to surround us for ten days and a half months, and the troops will probably collapse.


    To be honest, where did the weapons and equipment used by the army come from? Where did the daily supplies for the commanders and fighters come from? This kind of problem is never in my consideration, because these are all in the charge of the logistics department. But now the situation is different. We may have to fight in the enemy''s encirclement for some days. If we do not accumulate enough ammunition and materials, it will be difficult to maintain normal operations. So I looked up and asked, "where did our ammunition and supplies come from?"


    "Most of the materials we need come from Kiev and are transported by the transport team to korostev, where they are distributed and sent to the various units." Bezikov now has a very clear understanding of what he is in charge of. After listening to my question, he immediately replied unambiguously: "of course, a small part is transported across the river from cherkaser, and then sent to us through the path of Koson."


    "Comrade chief of staff, I don''t think it''s necessary to consider the use of korsong''s transport line unless I have to." "The roads there are very rough and the supplies are very limited every time," chisjakov said with a sad face. Moreover, because of the complex terrain, the German army could easily cut off the transport line with only one or two companies. If any German commander, on a whim, disguises his troops as our men and makes a sneak attack, we will suffer a heavy loss. "


    As for the concern expressed by chisjakov, I thought about it for a moment and said, "Comrade deputy commander, the Germans may soon launch an attack on the area we are defending. Under the current situation of urgency, I think we should transport ammunition and materials here through different transport routes at the same time."


    At this moment, akhromeyev, not far away, suddenly called me and said, "Comrade commander, commander tavartkiraze of Zhitomir, has important information to report to you."


    When I heard the sentence "commander tavartkilaze report", I felt nervous all over. He seldom took the initiative to call me. Generally, I called him to assign tasks. I went over to take the phone call from akhromeyev, took a deep breath, prepared to hear the worst news, and then said, "Comrade commander, do you have anything to report to me?"


    "Well, comrade commander." "According to the Scout''s report, in addition to the seventh armored division in the west, the German forces in the north and South are also assembling. It seems that they will launch a large-scale attack on Zhitomir tomorrow at the latest," tavartkiraze said by telephone


    After waiting for him to finish, I asked slowly, "Comrade commander, what preparations have you made in the face of the large-scale German attack?"


    "In addition to having the troops rush to repair the fortifications overnight, I also ordered the divisions to move their main forces to the most advanced areas." After a brief report, tavartkilaze said to me, "don''t worry, no matter how much I pay, I will keep Zhitomir."


    Although tavartkilaze made a promise, when I put down the phone, I was very uneasy. I still remember clearly that the defense line of the 51st division of the guards under the command of general tavartkilaze was first broken by the German army in the battle of Kursk.


    I stood by the telephone and thought for a moment, then turned to chisgakov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, according to general tavartkilaze''s report, the enemies from north, West and South are gathering. It seems that they will launch a large-scale attack on Zhitomir tomorrow at the latest."


    "This situation should be reported to the headquarters of the front army immediately." As he said this, he picked up the phone and said, "operator, connect me with the headquarters of the front army and find general watujing."


    Seeing my unhappy face, chisjakov quickly advised me, "Comrade commander, this matter is of great importance. We should immediately report it to the headquarters of the front army, so that Comrade vatukin can make the correct deployment according to the actual situation of the battlefield."


    When chisjakov finished, I didn''t say anything. I just stared at bezikov to see if he had contacted vatukin. After waiting for two or three minutes, bzikov turned to me, handed me the microphone and said, "Comrade commander, the headquarters of the front army is connected."


    I wanted to report this matter to the chief of staff of the front army, but I didn''t expect that the person who answered the phone was watujing. It seems that it''s really like what Zhukov said: watujing, who was born as a chief of staff, took over almost all the work of his own chief of staff, making the chief of staff who should be responsible for these things idle. As a subordinate of watujing, I have no intention of commenting on whether his work style, which involves himself in every detail, is correct. I only know that by doing so, he undoubtedly increases the pressure he is facing, and even leads to the deterioration of his physical condition.


    "Hello, senior general." I politely said to the microphone, "I just received intelligence from Zhitomir. The enemy''s forces from north, West and South are gathering. It seems that they are ready to launch a large-scale attack on Zhitomir in a short time!"


    "What, the enemy is about to attack Zhitomir?" After a moment''s silence, he asked tentatively, "Comrade oshanina, don''t you know the credibility of this information?"


    "Comrade General, this information was reported to me by general tavartkilaze, commander of the 23rd army of the guards." In order to dispel vatujing''s doubts, I specially explained the source of intelligence to him, "he is an old commander with more than ten or twenty years of rich combat experience. I think the intelligence he reported should be accurate."


    "I knew tavartkilaze before the war. He was a commander with brave fighting spirit. Since he provided the information, I don''t think it was false." After knowing that the intelligence was provided by tawalter killazer, vatujing''s attitude changed greatly. It can be seen that he still has great trust in the older generation of commanders in the army. After a pause, he asked, "Comrade oshanina, what measures are you going to take to resist the enemy''s attack?"


    "Judging from the daytime fighting of the 67th division of the guards, a solid fortification can greatly reduce the offensive pressure on the troops. So I''m going to go to Zhitomir overnight to check the fortifications there. "


    "You are very considerate. As long as our troops can rely on solid fortifications and build a perfect defense system, they can still block the German attack." After finishing these two sentences, vatukin asked casually, "is there anything else I can help you solve?"


    "Yes, senior general." I had planned to wait until Zhitomir called vatukin to talk about weapons, ammunition and materials. Unexpectedly, he asked us what difficulties we had. I immediately pushed the boat along the river and said, "I''m afraid Zhitomir may fall into the siege of the German army after the battle starts. As long as the enemy cuts off the road between Kiev and Zhitomir, we will lose supplies of weapons, ammunition and materials. "


    "Under the present circumstances, I think the German army may not be able to encircle your group army." After listening to me, watujing said with some disapproval, "you know, to the east of you, there are the 38th and 60th army groups. As long as they exist, if the German forces of fastiev want to attack you from the East, they must think about the end of being cut off by our army in advance. "


    Seeing that vatukin did not arouse the necessary vigilance, I immediately reminded him, "however, senior general, judging from the various signs at present, it is entirely possible for the German army to launch an attack on our occupied Zhitomir from four directions at the same time."


    "All right, comrade oshanina." Without waiting for me to finish, vatukin interrupted me and said with a strong voice, "don''t worry, if the German army really attacks you from the direction of fastif, I will immediately order the two army groups on the west side of Kiev to attack the enemy''s rear, so that they can''t look at each other head and tail."


    I have nothing to say for vatukin''s stubbornness. After I put down the phone, I said to chisgakov, "Comrade deputy commander, I''m going to gotomir overnight. I''ll leave it to you. If you have anything to do, you can call general killazer''s headquarters. " Then I told bzikov, "chief of staff, please contact General sivakov, commander of the 22nd army of the guards, and ask him to organize forces to transport some of the weapons and ammunition stored in the cherkaser River to us. Remember, in order to prevent German attacks, let him send more troops to escort cars. "


    When I went out, it was already eleven o''clock in the evening. I looked up at the sky. There was a moon in the sky. The road should not be difficult. In order not to expose the target, I only needed two jeeps, one for me and the other for the driver and four guards.


    The driver was very familiar with the route we had to take. He drove quite fast and sped along the snowy forest path. It took less than an hour for the car to enter Zhitomir. Although the driver carefully avoided the bricks and gravel on the road, he could not avoid the potholes covered by snow, so that danger often occurred.


    I watched the city outside, which was destroyed by German artillery and bombs. Although we had occupied it for a long time, it still felt like a battlefield that had just ended the battle. Everywhere we could see the remains of tanks and armored vehicles, burned trucks, and some bodies that had not yet been collected.


    As we were driving forward, our car gave a jerk and then came to a sudden stop. I quickly asked the driver: "Comrade driver, what''s the matter?"


    The driver turned to look at me and said, "Comrade commander, the car broke down. I''ll go down and check it. Don''t worry, just a few minutes at the most. " Then he pushed the door open and got out of the car. When I watched the driver lift the hood in front of me and start to check, I looked out of the window a little bored. Just in front of the right not far from the street, two soldiers appeared. Although the light is not very good, but I still see at a glance is a man and a woman. Two people may be separated for too long, come together to embrace together, did not let go. When I saw the intimacy between them, my heart said: maybe it''s a couple in the field. Because of the fierce war, they have no chance to be together. That''s why they are so close when we meet today. Just then, further down the street, I saw a five person patrol coming towards us along the street. When they come to their lovers, they stop one after another. Then I heard a stern voice saying, "Hey, comrade commander, please pay attention to your image. How do you feel when you cuddle in the street?" With this voice, the lovers who had been hugging each other immediately separated. Then I heard a male voice saying apologetically, "I''m sorry, chief, we haven''t seen each other for a long time, so we just lost our manners." The patrol sergeant said coldly, "please show me your papers and passes." The couple cooperated very much and took out the certificate and handed it to each other. After the sergeant insisted, he didn''t immediately return the certificate to them. Instead, he said with a strong attitude: "Comrade commander, the city is under martial law after ten o''clock, but your pass is not in this area. I think you may want to come with me."¡° Chief The commander said in a flattering tone: "although my pass is not in this area, my residence is only a few streets away from here. Please accommodate me."¡° No, your pass is out of question. You must come with us to the garrison headquarters. " The sergeant of the patrol said reluctantly, "Comrade commander, do you take the initiative to follow us, or do I ask the soldiers to escort you?"

 Chapter 1326

    The tone of the sergeant''s voice made me uncomfortable. Because he reminds me that when you encounter those black hearted policemen in later generations, they will also deliberately pick on your ID card, saying that you are not qualified to appear in a certain area after what period of time, for example, your residential address is in the west of the city, but you appear in the East after dark, which is illegal. However, they did so for several grand reasons deliberately fabricated for blackmail. But at the moment, the staff sergeant''s behavior is typical of harming others and not benefiting himself. If I don''t see it, I have to take care of it.


    Thinking of this, I raised my hand and pushed the door open. But the cold wind outside the car made me shiver. I turned and grabbed the military coat that the driver had thrown on the back seat. After I put on my military coat, I got out of the car and walked to the place where the patrol and the couple were staying. A long way away, I asked aloud, "Hey, who can tell me what''s going on here?"


    Hearing the sudden sound, several people turned to look at me. The sergeant took a step forward, squinted at me, and asked sternly, "who are you, comrades of women soldiers, and what part of you are."


    Just as I was considering whether I should show my identity directly, the female soldier standing beside the sergeant suddenly exclaimed, "my God!" Then an unexpected scene happened. The female soldier rushed directly at me, hugged me, and cried excitedly: "Rita, Rita, is it you? Is it really you? I''m not dreaming, am I? "


    The sergeant of the patrol team, without my reply, saw the female soldiers who had been interrogated by him come to me and hugged me tightly. He could not help getting angry. He came to us and said angrily, "OK, two female soldiers, please don''t rush to hug. We still have business to do." Then he asked me impolitely, "your name is Rita. We are on patrol. Please show me your identification. We need to check."


    I didn''t pay any attention to the sergeant''s words, because I first wanted to find out who the female soldier I hugged was. It seems that not many people would call me by nickname. I let go of each other, backed a small bag, and looked up and down at the young soldier. After I saw her face clearly, a familiar name came to my mind and blurted out: "razumeyeva, are you lieutenant razumeyeva?"


    "Rita, yes, it''s me." "I thought I would never see you again. I didn''t expect to see you here today," she said with tears in her eyes


    "Come on, you don''t want to talk about the past anymore." One side of the sergeant was a little worried. He impatiently interrupted the conversation between us. He said with no expression and business as usual: "Comrade Lida, please show me your ID, or I will take you to the headquarters with them for examination."


    "Sergeant," the officer who dated razumeyeva came up to the sergeant with a smile and asked, "don''t you know who she is?"


    The sergeant glanced at the epaulets on my military coat, shook his head, and then said to me in an emphatic tone, "corporal, I repeat, please show me your identification." He was deeply afraid that I would not cooperate. He pointed to the officer who had just asked him, "see, even if this second lieutenant commander is in front of our patrol, he can only obediently cooperate with our inspection."


    "Comrade sergeant, the second lieutenant is going to be examined by you. I wonder if my major is going to be examined by you as well?" Behind me came the voice of major bukov, the deputy head of the guard regiment. Because he was not at ease, he personally took several guards to accompany me to Zhitomir. Seeing that I was in trouble, he took the initiative to help me out.


    I thought the sergeant would say something in an official voice. After all, theoretically speaking, the night patrol has the right to interrogate anyone. But he didn''t expect that when he saw bukov clearly, he stood at attention, raised his hand to salute bukov, and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade major."


    Bukov was very surprised at the sergeant''s performance. He asked in surprise, "why, comrade sergeant, do you know me?"


    "Yes, comrade major." The sergeant replied politely, "we are the night patrol of the 71st division of guards. I saw you before when you and the commander came to our division."


    Bukov gave a little smile, then pointed to me and said to the sergeant, "sergeant, since you can recognize me, why can''t you recognize the commander himself?"


    The sergeant was startled by bukov''s words. He looked at me carefully and turned to salute me in a hurry. He said apologetically, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. Please forgive me, because you are wearing a corporal''s coat, so I can''t recognize you in the first time."


    "Just a moment, chief." After I said this, I turned and looked at razumeyeva standing in front of me: "Comrade razumeyeva, can you tell me what''s going on? Why are you dating this officer here? "


    "Comrade commander, this is the situation." In this case, razumeyeva knew that it was not appropriate to call me by my nickname again, so she called my position according to the regulations, and explained to me: "shumakov is my fiance, and his home is in Zhitomir. He sent someone to send a message to me, saying that he would come back to his original place to have a look this evening and let me come here to see him when I have time. So, after asking the commander for leave, I took a free ride here. You know what happened next. "


    I nodded, turned to the sergeant standing upright beside me and said, "sergeant, you are very loyal to your duty, which is worthy of praise. However, I would like to remind you that it is not easy to meet friends and relatives during the war, so I hope you can put yourself in the other side''s shoes and make some modifications in the future. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." The sergeant nodded his head like a rattle. "I know how to deal with this kind of thing in the future."


    I waved to the sergeant and said calmly, "well, there''s no business for you here. You can continue to patrol."


    After the patrol left, I looked at the tall and handsome young officer standing next to razumeyeva and asked curiously, "Comrade lieutenant, I think you look familiar. Have we met somewhere before?"


    The officer quickly stepped forward, straightened his back and said, "yes, comrade commander, I have seen you several times before. I used to be the company commander of the 79th division of Jinwei."


    "The 79th division of Jinwei? General wachuk''s troops? " I heard that the other party used to be a subordinate of wachuk. After looking him up and down, I was surprised and asked, "since you used to be a company commander, why are you still a second lieutenant now?"


    "I''ll explain that to you, Rita." Standing next to me, razumeyeva pulled my sleeve and said in a low voice, "we were both separated from our troops in the breakout battle in Kiev. When I returned to the team a few months ago, I was demoted and demoted because I had been censored. You see, I''m just a sergeant now


    Thinking that shumakov was a subordinate of general wachuk before and took part in the battle to defend Kiev at the beginning of the new year, he should be an experienced commander. It would be a bit too condescending to let him continue to hold the rank of second lieutenant. So I asked curiously, "Comrade second lieutenant, which army are you in now?"


    "I''m now a platoon leader in the 51st division of the guards," shumakov replied with some embarrassment


    When I heard that he was in the 51st division of the guards, my mind began to calculate. Two days ago, Xie jerikov complained to me that a battalion commander of the 309th regiment of the guards had died in the battle of liberating Zhitomir. I hope I can arrange a commander with rich combat experience for him. Now I really want to doze off. Someone gives me a pillow. I''m considering which army will transfer a commander to him. This suitable person appears in front of me.


    I was about to tell schumachoff about the appointment when the driver came up to me and said, "Comrade commander, the car has been repaired. We can start at any time."


    "Let''s go. We need to get to general killazer''s headquarters as soon as possible." When I finished, I pointed to razumeyeva and shumakov and said, "you all get in my car. I have something to tell you."


    After waiting for the bus to start, I asked razumeyeva, who was sitting beside me, with my head on my side, "razumeyeva, do you want to go back to work in the headquarters?"


    Hearing this, razumeyeva''s face was surprised. However, she looked at shumakov in the co pilot''s seat and hesitated to say, "Rita, if I go back to the headquarters, can I have shumakov come with me? Even if he''s a platoon leader in the guard company. "


    Shumakov, sitting in the front row, heard what razumeyeva said and quickly turned over to listen to my reply to razumeyeva. I thought about it, then shook my head and said, "I''m sorry, comrade razumeyeva. I don''t think I can agree to your request. In a short time, you may have to continue to separate, shumakov must stay in the 51st division


    When they heard my reply, they both looked disappointed. I coughed a little, and then said, "Colonel xiejerikov, the commander of the 51st division of the guards, said that the 309th regiment is short of a battalion commander, and I intend to let captain shumakov take the post of battalion commander."


    When I heard that I had appointed shumakov to the post of battalion commander, razumeyeva was very happy, but she soon quietly reminded me, "Rita, shumakov is now a second lieutenant."


    I looked at razumeyeva and said with a smile, "I can''t let a second lieutenant become the battalion commander of the guards. There is no precedent in the army. By the way, which division are you in now? When I get to the army headquarters later, I can say hello to your division commander, lest he think you are a deserter. "


    Razumeyeva quickly replied, "I''m in the 90th division of general Chernoff''s guards, and I''m the monitor of the newspaper in the communications battalion."


    Our car drove for another ten minutes to reach a less destructive part of the city, where at least half of the buildings are still intact. The jeep stopped in front of a three story building. Looking at the five or six sentinels standing at the door and the vehicles parked outside, I knew that the headquarters of tavartkilaze should be here.


    As I pushed the door open, I turned to razumeyeva and shumakov and said, "you two don''t go anywhere. Just stay in the car and wait for me. I''ll arrange your new positions."


    Under the guidance of the officers on duty, I came to the headquarters of tavartkiraze. Seeing me enter the door, tavart killazer welcomed me with several of his subordinates, who were in a meeting before I came here.


    Seeing that the commanders of all divisions in the city were present, I directly asked tavartkiraze, "Comrade commander, how are your fortifications going?" When tavartkilaze heard my question, he turned to baksov and said, "as the 67th division of the guards is the forefront of the whole defense area of Zhitomir, it''s up to him to talk about the construction of fortifications." Baktsov stood up and said solemnly: "Comrade commander, because the original defense fortifications in the west of Zhitomir have been completely destroyed by the enemy, we can only build fortifications on the open plain. Unfortunately, due to the time constraint, although we asked our commanders and fighters to work as soon as possible, we still couldn''t build permanent firepower points. We had to rely on the terrain to complete some temporary firepower points. " He said, drawing his hand on the map and introducing to me: "our firepower points are here, here and here. It is not only set on open ground, but also on the top because there is no steel plate for fortification, so it can only be replaced by logs. Under the heavy artillery bombardment of the enemy, such fortifications are estimated to be unable to sustain for even ten minutes, and the people inside will suffer heavy losses. " After listening to his introduction, I looked at the map for a moment, and then asked, "general baksov, how many trenches do you have in your fortification?"¡° Three trenches. " Baksov immediately replied, "each of our trenches is 300 meters apart, and there are several traffic trenches in the middle."¡° General baksov, "I said to him, pointing to the map," when the enemy starts shelling your first line of defense, except for leaving a few people on guard, all the others retreat to the second trench. When the enemy''s shelling is over and the infantry begins to attack, your troops will return to the first trench along the traffic trench. " At my command, baksov was obviously stunned for a moment. Then he hesitated and asked, "what should we do if the enemy attacks our empty first line of defense while shelling?"¡° Don''t worry, "I waved to him and said confidently," the Germans are very old-fashioned. Before the end of the shelling, their troops will never quietly approach the front of our army. " Then the division leaders also introduced the construction of their own fortifications one after another. After they finished, I stood up, glanced at all the people, and then said, "comrades, from the current situation, the enemy''s attack on ritomir will officially start after dawn. The forces they employ are at the campaign level. Therefore, in combat, we must spare no effort to resolutely block the enemy''s attack. Do you understand? " All the commanders stood up and answered neatly, "I understand!"¡° Now that the tasks are clear, let''s go back to our respective units. " I waved to all of you and said, "go back and get ready to fight against the German campaign."

 Chapter 1327

    When the division commanders got up and left one after another, tavartkilaze pushed the map in front of me, and then said: "Comrade commander, the strength of our group army is now divided into four parts: shumakov saw that xijerikov politely refused my arrangement, and his face showed an embarrassed expression. He opened his mouth, as if to explain something for himself, However, seeing that there were commanders whose ranks were much higher than his, knowing that it was not appropriate to speak for himself at this time, he kept silent wisely¡° Comrade Colonel, "I feel a little uncomfortable when I see that shijerikov wants to reject the candidate I have arranged for him. But on second thought, he must have seen that shumakov''s rank was too low, and he was afraid that the other party would not be competent for the post of battalion commander, so he declined me in public. Having figured this out, I patiently explained to him, "Comrade shumakov turned out to be a close guard. I heard that shumakov had won the red flag medal. Everyone''s eyes focused on him to see if he was wearing the medal. Just when I saw that there was nothing on his military coat and I was a little disappointed, I suddenly heard tavartkilaze say to him in an encouraging tone: "Comrade shumakov, please untie your military coat and let us see your medal." Instead of immediately following his orders, shumakov turned to me and looked at me, the most senior commander present, for advice. When I nodded my approval, he unbuttoned his overcoat and opened it. I saw him wearing not just one medal on his chest, but three. In addition to the red flag medal, there are also the medal for the defense of Stalingrad and the second class medal for the patriotic war. Tavartkiraze, seeing the medal on his chest, nodded with satisfaction, then turned and asked sjerykov, "well, comrade Colonel, do you want him to be the commander of the third battalion as well? If you don''t agree, I''ll arrange for him to take up the same position in other divisions. "¡° Yes, yes! " Shejerikov immediately nodded desperately, fearing that tavartkilaze would assign the commander recommended by me to other troops if he reacted a little slower¡° Comrade commander, I think it is most appropriate for Comrade shumakov to assume the post of commander of the Third Battalion. " Tavartkilaze and I looked at each other with a smile, and then solemnly said to shejerikov, "well, comrade Colonel, since you have no objection, shumakov will be the commander of the Third Battalion of the 309th regiment of the guards from now on." After thanking tavartkilaze, shejerikov came up to me again and said sincerely, "Comrade commander, I have a request. I don''t know whether to say it or not."¡° Colonel, we are all old acquaintances. You can say anything you want I understand the character of chejerikov and know that he will never ask too much, so I said generously, "as long as I can do it, I will promise." Shejerikov turned to look at shumakov, who was buttoning his overcoat. He was a little embarrassed and said to me, "Comrade shumakov is now the commander of the Third Battalion, but he is still a second lieutenant. Do you think he can..." Although xiejerikov didn''t finish what he said, I had guessed what he meant, so I nodded and said, "Captain, I know what you mean. Do you want me to promote shumakov. Well, in any case, our group army has never had a second lieutenant as a battalion commander, so let''s promote him to major. " When he heard that I had promoted him to a new rank, Jerry cofton was very happy. However, shumarkov was surprised, because more than an hour ago, I said that he would be promoted to a captain, but now he would be promoted directly to a major, which is equivalent to four grades in a row. Tavartkilaze saw that shejerikov seemed to want to continue to talk, and he quickly stopped him. He said a little impolitely: "Hello, comrade Colonel, since you have the choice of battalion commander, go back to the army quickly to arrange the defense. There may be a fierce battle tomorrow." Before shejerikov left, shumakov came up to me, raised his hand and saluted me solemnly. Then he said firmly, "thank you, comrade commander. I will return your trust with practical actions in the battle. " I nodded, then turned my mouth to razumeyeva''s position, and said, "OK, major shumakov, you''re leaving soon. Take the time to say goodbye to razumeyeva. You are so separated today that I don''t know what to wait for when we meet next time. " I turned and patted tavartkilaze on the arm and said, "come on, chief, let''s go back to the headquarters." With that, I lifted my legs and walked into the building.

 Chapter 1328

    When I returned to the headquarters, I sat down at the table again. In view of the shumakov incident, I specially stressed to tavartkilaze: "Comrade commander, in the early fighting of your army, the commanders and soldiers were reduced a lot. We will be supplemented by our superior officers, but the selection of commanders at all levels needs to be made from the backbone of the fighting. By the way, you should tell the division leaders to go to the grass-roots units when they have time to see if they can find more excellent commanders like shumakov. "


    "Comrade commander," tavartkilaze said after I finished, he immediately looked down at me and said, "this is a mistake in my work. I didn''t expect that there are so many talents in our grass-roots commanders. I will pay attention to it in the future to avoid similar things happening again."


    At this time, I suddenly thought about razumeyeva. I could not help slapping the table and said, "Oh, I almost forgot an important thing."


    "What''s the matter?" Tavartkiraze asked curiously.


    "Well, comrade commander." I shook my head in the direction of the door and said, "did you just see the woman soldier next to major shumakov?"


    "I see it."


    "The female soldier''s name is razumeyeva. She is the fiancee of major shumakov. She turned out to be a good communications company commander under my command. Like shumakov, she was separated from the army when she broke through Kiev. After returning, he was demoted from lieutenant to sergeant. Now he is a messenger of the 90th division of the guards. " With a bitter smile, I said to ta killazer, "before I come to your headquarters, I plan to call Chernoff as soon as I come in and get her back from the 90th division. As a result, I have been talking about the fortifications since I came in. I forgot all about it


    "So it''s this thing," tavartkilaze said with disapproval. "It''s not a big deal that you want to transfer a signalman. I''ll just tell Chernoff." With that, he called a staff officer and told him to inform Chernoff.


    Now that we''ve finished talking, we''re back to the German attack. Tavartkilaze asked me with some worry: "Comrade commander, since you also know that the forces used by the German army are at the campaign level, don''t you need to report to the headquarters of the front army and ask for their assistance?"


    "Not for the time being. The situation of the front army is not very good. They will soon face the attack of the 48th German armored army." As for tavartkilaze''s proposal, I turned it down almost without thinking. As a commander of the group army, I can''t go to watujing for help when I have a little difficulty. I will leave an impression that I have no ability in the mind of watujing and other senior commanders. I don''t want to collapse the image I''ve worked so hard to build, so I have to rely on my own ability to face the coming crisis¡° We now have four close guard divisions in Zhitomir, plus tank brigade and artillery. Even if the German army launches a full-scale attack, we will block them for about a week, there will be no problem


    "A week?" Tavartkilaze felt as if I had something to say. He immediately asked, "Comrade commander, if I don''t understand correctly, will the enemy''s attack last only a week?"


    I know in my heart that if imanstein''s character really wants to take Kiev back from vatukin''s hand, his attack will not stop for a week or even a month before he reaches this goal. However, at this moment, in order to strengthen tavartkilaze''s confidence in winning, I said without conscience: "yes, comrade commander, from all kinds of signs, the enemy''s attack can last for a week at most. When their offensive troops become exhausted, our reinforcements will almost arrive. By then, we will be able to wipe out more than half of these invincible German troops


    After talking to tavartkilaze about the details of the defensive battle, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I said, "well, comrade commander, it''s time for me to go back to the headquarters. I''ll give you all the defense of Zhitomir. If you feel you can''t keep the city, you should report to me immediately, and then I will arrange for you to leave the city. "


    After hearing this, tavartkilaze was a little reluctant. He raised his voice and said to me, "Comrade commander, you really look down on us. Don''t mention that there are so many troops in the city, even if it''s only my original 51st guard division. Before we all die, none of the enemy''s soldiers can enter the city."


    "I believe you, comrade commander." With these words, I got up and shook hands with him, then left the headquarters again.


    When I took razumeyeva back to the headquarters, I first found that her akhromeyev was stunned, and then exclaimed, "my God, isn''t this lieutenant razumeyeva? Am I seeing you or your ghost? "


    "Hello, comrade major." Razumeyeva saw her familiar comrades in arms appear in front of her. She could no longer control her emotions, and tears ran down her cheeks¡° I didn''t expect to live to see you


    After a hug with razumeyeva, akhromeyev took her hand and came to kirilov and said, "Comrade razumeyeva, look who this is."


    "Hello, Lieutenant razumeyeva." Before razumeyeva finished, kirilov said, "when Kiev broke through, you were separated from us. I thought you were sacrificed. I didn''t expect to see you here today. It''s so nice. " With that, he got up and gave each other a warm hug. After several acquaintances met, I looked at razumeyeva, who was still wiping tears, and said to bezikov: "Comrade chief of staff, razumeyeva used to be our communications company commander, but because she was separated from the army when Kiev broke through, she was censored and demoted when she returned. You see, how to arrange her? " Bizikov took a look at kirilov, who was standing with razumeyeva. He thought for a moment, and then said, "Comrade commander, major lophov is a little too busy because of the coming war. He needs help. In my opinion, let Comrade razumeyeva serve as deputy director of the communications department. As for the military rank, it will be temporarily designated as captain. What do you think? "¡° I agree! " I have no hesitation in agreeing with this arrangement of bezikov. Later, kirilov and akhromeyev also expressed their views one after another: "I agree!"¡° I agree, too! "

 Chapter 1329

    Early the next morning, our expected German attack arrived on schedule.


    Perhaps the Germans wanted to take Zhitomir at one go. When they used powerful artillery fire to bombard the defensive positions of the 67th division of the guards, they also sent out more than 40 bombers to bombard the city.


    After reading tavartkilaze''s war report from Zhitomir, chisgakov muttered: "the Germans really paid a lot of money in order to capture Zhitomir."


    After listening to this, I laughed a little, and then said, "Comrade deputy commander, you are right. Judging from today''s posture, the German army will never give up until it wins Zhitomir."


    Bezikov looked at the map spread out in front of him and echoed me: "it seems that Manstein is not willing to accept their defeat in Kiev, so now he has concentrated all the forces they can and launched a counter offensive against Kiev. The capture of Zhitomir in the first place could give the German army another starting point of attack besides fativ. Once they have completed their occupation of Zhitomir, they will form a confrontation with the German forces of fativ, and they can get timely support no matter which direction is attacked. "


    After waiting for bezikov to finish, chisjakov looked up and said, "Comrade commander, we all know the importance of Zhitomir. What I want to say now is whether we should change our original plan, instead of resisting in the city for a few days and then withdrawing from the city, we should turn it into a solid fortress and contain the main forces of the German army here. After our main forces arrive, we will fight a Stalingrad style siege and annihilation for the enemy here? "


    I began to think seriously about this proposal made by chisgakov. Although the city size and population of Zhitomir can not be compared with Stalingrad, because the residents of the city were moved to other places by the Germans, we did not have too much scruples when we were engaged in street fighting. The only pity is that there are too few stone buildings in the city to establish a perfect defense system.


    Before I made a final decision, akhromeyev came up to me with a piece of paper and asked for instructions: "Comrade commander, general tavartkiraze called to say that the enemy''s bombing had caused many casualties to the troops in the city. He asked if we could send our air force out to drive the enemy planes out of the city


    After listening to akhromeyev''s words, chisgakov snorted heavily, and then said discontentedly, "does tavartkiraze think we are the headquarters of the front army? You can mobilize the air force at will to drive out the enemy planes over the city. "


    Bezikov looked at me first and saw me staring at the map without expression. Then he cautiously said to chisjakov, "Comrade deputy commander, I think we should report to commander vatukin immediately and ask him to contact the air force to cover the sky over Zhitomir."


    Under such circumstances, I can''t keep silent any more. So I put aside the idea of whether or not to turn Zhitomir into a second Stalingrad, and told bzikov, "chief of staff, now you call the headquarters of the front army immediately to report that Zhitomir is being bombed by more than 40 enemy planes, and ask them to join the air force to provide the necessary air cover for our garrison."


    After bezikov left, I picked up the phone from my desk and dialed the artillery headquarters. Then povsky, who answered the phone, said, "Comrade General, if today tomir is being bombed by the enemy, the troops in the city have suffered a lot. I now order you to immediately put the two self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery battalions deployed in the city into battle."


    "Comrade commander," said povsky mildly after hearing my order, "self propelled antiaircraft gun is our secret weapon. If we fire under such circumstances, it will soon be lost."


    "Comrade General," seeing that povsky was a little bit evasive, my heart suddenly became anonymous: "self propelled anti-aircraft guns are originally used for air defense, and they are not used when cities are bombed. When do you plan to use them? I order you to let the antiaircraft artillery battalion fire immediately and drive the enemy''s aircraft away from the sky of the city. "


    Seeing that I hung up the phone angrily, chisjakov asked curiously and cautiously, "Comrade commander, didn''t you ask the chief of staff to call the headquarters of the front army and ask them to send out the air force to expel the enemy planes over Zhitomir? How can the self-propelled antiaircraft artillery regiment risk firing? "


    From the tone of his voice, I can hear that he is questioning my order, which seems to be adding to the story. After all, from the end of the Kharkov campaign to now, the new antiaircraft guns have been shut down for special reasons. The rest of these self-propelled antiaircraft guns are losing one and the other. Therefore, they are less and less used in air defense operations.


    I took a look at chisgakov, and then said solemnly, "Comrade deputy commander, even if the head of the front army agrees to send out the air force, it will take at least half an hour or even an hour for our fighters to arrive at the battlefield. And the longer the city is bombed, the greater the impact on the morale of the troops. Therefore, we should drive the obnoxious enemy planes out of the sky over Zhitomir in the shortest time. "


    The German offensive is threatening. If we discuss everything as before, it will easily lead to a mistake. So I has the final say that I must be decisive and I will make the final victory in the campaign.


    Two anti-aircraft artillery battalions stationed in Zhitomir fired in the face of intensive German bombing. It has to be said that equipment beyond this era can sometimes not achieve unexpected results. Although more than 20 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns were lost by the anti-aircraft artillery battalion after the fierce battle, the enemy did not get along well. Fifteen enemy planes were shot down and seven others were injured. The remaining enemy planes saw the fierce anti-aircraft fire on the ground, threw their bombs at random and turned their heads away from the battlefield.


    After the German artillery and bombing stopped, the infantry, under the guidance of tanks, rushed to the defensive position of the 67th division. And all of this, tavartkiraze reported to the headquarters by phone.


    After listening to the report reported by bezikov, chisgakov could not help frowning, as if to all of us and to himself, and said: "I did not expect that the enemy''s artillery fire was so fierce that even the snow in front of the position was melted by the high temperature generated by the explosion. Would the commanders and fighters who stayed in the trenches suffer heavy casualties?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander. I believe the casualties of the troops will not be too great. " After he finished, I said faintly: "last night when I presided over the meeting in Zhitomir, I told the division commanders that when the enemy was in the artillery position, except for leaving a small number of observation posts, the rest were withdrawn to the second line position, and then the first line position was resumed after the enemy''s artillery attack. If we do so, we can greatly reduce the casualties of our troops when they are bombarded by the enemy. "


    After hearing this, chisjakov asked incredulously: "Comrade commander, this method sounds very good, but I don''t know how it works in actual combat?"


    "It''s not easy to understand the effect." Then I told bzikov: "chief of staff, call general tavartkiraze and ask about the casualties of the 67th division of the guards."


    Bezikov agreed, then picked up the phone from the desk and called tavartkiraze. After the two ended their conversation, bizikov raised his head and said with a smile: "two commanders, according to general tavartkilaze''s report, although the enemy''s artillery fire was fierce just now, because general baksov strictly followed the defensive tactics you formulated last night, only seven people were killed and more than ten people were injured in the shelling."


    "What, in such a heavy shelling by the enemy, only 20 or so people were killed?" After listening to bzikov''s report, chisjakov was shocked. Then he looked at me and said, "my God, comrade commander, this is incredible. If the chief of staff didn''t verify it personally, I would think it''s impossible. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, as long as we use tactics rationally in defensive operations, we can greatly reduce unnecessary casualties in our troops." After I said these words, I told bzikov: "chief of staff, the Germans will launch a large-scale attack on us next. You should pay close attention to the news of Zhitomir."


    "I understand." Bezikov promised: "I always pay attention to the war in the direction of Zhitomir."


    From the end of the shelling to noon, the German army launched three successive regimental attacks, but all of them were repulsed by the brave guards without exception. When we heard that another German attack had been smashed by us, we were all relieved. It was just in time for lunch. Biezikov called the cooks and asked them to deliver lunch immediately.


    While everyone was eating lunch, I unexpectedly saw razumeyeva come in. I could not help but raised my eyebrows and asked, "Captain razumeyeva, what''s the matter with you?"


    "Comrade commander," razumeyeva came to me and said respectfully, "I just received a telegram from the 77th division of the guards saying that there was a change in the German army in the direction of Steve."


    "What''s the matter?" As I spoke, I reached for the telegram in razumeyeva''s hand. The telegram was sent by askarepov, the commander of the 77th division of the guards. He said that the German army was building fortifications five kilometers east of korostvev and seemed to be ready to cut off the traffic line between Kiev and Zhitomir.


    When we heard that there was a change in the German army near korostwev, although we didn''t know the contents of the telegram for the time being, all the people who were eating stopped and focused on me, waiting for my final decision.


    I put the telegram in front of chisgakov, then stood up, walked back and forth in the room, thinking about how to deal with this dangerous German plan.


    After reading the telegram, chisjakov handed it to bzikov beside him and asked me in a flurried way, "Comrade commander, what should we do? By doing so, the German army obviously wants to cut off the communication between us here and Kiev, cut off our ammunition supply, and make us unable to stick to it in Zhitomir. "


    Kirilov took the telegram from bzikov, looked at it, and then said to himself, "if the German army really cuts off the communication line between Kiev and Zhitomir, then our ammunition supply can only be completed through the direction of cherkaser."


    "But, comrade military Commissar." Listening to kirilov''s words, bezikov said with a wry smile, "although we have two divisions near cherkaser, they are not full. The 225 regiment of the 52nd division of the close guard still shoulders the defense task of the base."


    "Then let the 225th Regiment (yershov regiment) be returned!" As soon as bzikov''s voice came to an end, I said in unison with chisgakov. When we heard each other talking, we immediately stopped, looked at each other with a smile, and then continued to say at the same time, "let them take charge of the safety of the transportation line." Chisgakov and I had surprisingly identical views on the protection of the transport line, which surprised the commanders here. They all looked at each other and couldn''t help smiling. Bzikov got up from his seat and said to me, "Comrade commander, I''ll call lieutenant commander yershov right now to make him ready to lead the troops back to cherkaser." After bezikov went to one side to make a phone call, I also sat back in my position. When I was preparing to continue eating, I unexpectedly found that razumeyeva was still standing in the same place. Can''t help asking curiously: "Comrade captain, what else can I do for you?"¡° Comrade commander, there is also a telegram indicating that it is "top secret." Razumeyeva handed me another telegram in her hand and said carefully, "I want to ask you if you need to call back immediately?" When I heard that it was a top secret telegram, I couldn''t help frowning, because the telegrams that can be related to top secret are usually from the headquarters of the front army. However, we now have a telephone line with the headquarters of the front army. We communicate everything by telephone and seldom use telegrams. When I saw the contents of the telegram clearly, I handed it to kirilov at any time and said to him, "Comrade military commissar, I''ve been busy directing the battle recently. I don''t have time to deal with this matter for the time being. I''ll leave it to you. You can decide for yourself how to call them back. You don''t have to ask me for instructions. " When he first heard the word "top secret", he couldn''t wait to find out what it was. When I mentioned travkin, he immediately understood what the telegram was about. He took a sip of tea from his cup, pretended to be casual, and asked casually, "have they got someone to pick up?" Although his words were a bit unintelligible, a few of us who knew about it understood that he was asking travkin if they had received the German photographer. As there are several staff members who are not authorized to keep secret and razumeyeva who has just returned to the team, I didn''t make it clear. I just nodded slightly to show that his guess was correct.

 Chapter 1330

    After seeing my reply, chisjakov suddenly came close to my ear and whispered, "Comrade commander, what are you going to do? The Germans are attacking Zhitomir. Even if we know what we are looking for is in Lutsk, under the current situation, we can do nothing


    I didn''t answer him immediately. Instead, I waved to razumeyeva to leave. While eating, I thought quietly: the German army has launched a full-scale attack on Zhitomir. Whether we can stop them or how long we can hold on in Zhitomir is unknown. Once the German army has occupied Zhitomir, we can''t get it back without a month or two. During this period, the Germans had plenty of time to transfer the cultural relics from Lutsk to other places.


    If I could find the amber room a few days ago, I really don''t care. I just need to think about how to defeat the Germans who are standing in front of me and liberate more cities from them. Now that the Supreme Commander himself has asked about the amber room, the situation is different. If I lost Zhitomir, maybe I will be reprimanded by my superiors or be demoted or demoted. But if the Amber Room disappears out of thin air, I guess I will be dismissed and sent to the military court.


    Thinking of this, I looked around and saw that the staff officers had finished eating and went back to work. There were only a few insiders left at the table, such as me, chisjakov, kirilov and bezikov. So I said to them in a low voice: "comrades commander, although we don''t know how long we can last in Zhitomir, we are looking for work in amber room, But it can''t stop. Comrade military commissar, please call major travkin back and tell him that if the cultural relics stored in the vault are really amber rooms, he will try his best to keep an eye on them. Even if the Germans move things, he will also take people to track them and find out where the enemy has moved things. "


    "Don''t worry, Rita." Kirilov nodded and said gravely, "I''ll tell major travkin what you mean. Amber room is our national treasure. If we can''t find it back, we will become the sinners of history. "


    While we were discussing the amber room in a low voice, akhromeyev came up to us and reported that the German army had launched another attack. The German troops of this attack came from the eighth armored division and the 208 infantry division in the direction of crosten in the north. In the process of advancing to the front of our army, their troops also sent out several groups of planes to bomb the defensive positions of the 67th guard and the 90th guard in the rear in turn.


    Hearing such a report, chisjakov frowned and asked bezikov a little unhappily: "chief of staff, didn''t we contact the headquarters of the front army and ask them to send air forces to provide air cover for us? How come there are only enemy planes on the battlefield, our fighters? "


    "Comrade deputy commander," bzikov said with embarrassment in the face of chisjakov''s criticism, "when I called, general krasovsky of the second air force group was also there. He told me that because the enemy was launching a fierce attack on Kiev, his air force was used in that direction and might not be able to provide air cover for us in a short time."


    After hearing this, chisgakov slapped his hand on the table angrily and said, "Kiev is dangerous. Aren''t we dangerous here? We use a group army to fight against the enemy twice as much as Kiev, but we still can''t get air support. What''s the matter? "


    I was deeply afraid that chisgakov would say something taboo when he went on, so I quickly raised my hand to stop him, and then asked bzikov somewhat puzzled: "Comrade chief of staff, even if the war is fierce in the southwest of Kiev, the air force group army can''t provide us with large-scale air support, but can one or two fighter squadrons always be sent out?"


    Bizikov shook his head again and said, "Comrade commander, you don''t know something. The chief of staff of the front army, lieutenant general Bogoliubov, hasn''t been in office for a long time. He doesn''t understand the situation of the whole front army and doesn''t realize the importance of Zhitomir in protecting Kiev. Therefore, he focuses on the garrison of Kiev in terms of resource arrangement."


    After listening to bzikov''s words, I couldn''t help sighing. In the past month or two, after the reorganization of the front army, a large-scale personnel adjustment has been carried out. Not only Khrushchev has been transferred, but also chief of staff Ivanov, who used to be very talkative, has been transferred. If it is in peacetime, such personnel changes have no impact, but now is the time of war emergency. After the new leader comes, it will take some time to run in with watujing. In this period, it will certainly have some bad effects on the whole front army, and even lead to the defeat of the army.


    "What shall we do?" "If we don''t get air support, it will be very difficult for our commanders and fighters to stop the German attack even if they are extremely brave," chisjakov said to me solemnly


    I looked at several people around me, only kirilov and akhromeyev, who had participated in the defense war of Stalingrad with me, so I asked them, "comrades of the military commissar and major, both of you have fought with me in Stalingrad. Do you think Zhitomir can become the second Stalingrad?"


    Hearing my question, they were shocked. Akhromeyev''s rank is low. Before kirilov spoke, he could not freely express his opinions, so he looked at kirilov anxiously.


    Kirilov noticed this little action of akhromeyev, coughed gently and said to me, "Rita, although we fought in Stalingrad for some time, I am mainly responsible for political work. In military affairs, I have no right to speak. I think major akhromeyev should answer this question."


    When akhromeyev saw that everyone turned their eyes to him, he quickly straightened up and replied, "Comrade commander, please forgive me for saying that Zhitomir can not become the second Stalingrad. Although the Sixth Army of Paulus was fierce at the beginning, because the city was backed by the Volga River, they could only attack us from three directions, and we could continuously transport the required troops, weapons, ammunition and various material resources into the city through the Volga river behind us. Zhitomir is a city on the plain of Ukraine. Although there are forests on both sides of the city, the Germans can encircle us and completely cut off our transportation lines. If our troops lose their logistic supplies, we will not be able to support them for several days in the enemy''s encirclement. "


    Although akhromeyev''s words did not clearly state the outcome of the siege, we all know that the southwest front army was completely annihilated by the German army in Kiev in 1941. More than 700000 Soviet officers and soldiers were killed, missing or captured in the battle. Even the commander, military commissar and chief of staff were all killed, and the senior commanders were all killed, so that the whole front army was later rebuilt.


    "Major, are you too alarmist?" After listening to akhromeyev''s remarks, bzikov said a little unconvinced: "Zhitomir is more than 100 kilometers away from Kiev. If you start from korostev, it will be even closer. Even if the German army cut off our transportation line, Kiev''s troops can get it through in a short time... "


    As soon as his voice fell, razumeyeva rushed in from the outside. From the anxious expression on her face, I knew that something must have happened, so I quickly stopped bzikov and asked aloud, "Captain razumeyeva, what''s the matter?"


    Razumeyeva put a telegram in front of me and said with some breath: "Comrade commander, the urgent telegram from the 77th division of the guards, the German army has occupied kanevka."


    As soon as her words came out, the whole room became quiet, and everyone focused on her. Even if I don''t look at the map, I know what kanevka''s fall means. Although it is only a small town with only a few hundred residents, it is not too much to say that it is the throat leading to Kiev because it is located in the middle of Kiev Zhitomir highway. Now that the enemy has occupied this place, it is tantamount to completely cutting off the connection between Kiev and us.


    After reading the telegram quickly, chisjakov looked up and said to bezikov, "chief of staff, please contact the 77th division of the guards in person and ask them to send troops immediately to take kanevka back from the enemy."


    Bezikov said, but his foot didn''t move. Seeing that the other party did not immediately carry out his orders, chisjakov was about to get angry when he found that bzikov was looking at me and immediately said, "Comrade commander, if you don''t take back kanevka as soon as possible, wait for the enemy to build a solid defense here, Then it will completely cut off the connection between us and Kiev. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, it is necessary to recapture kanevka." As for his opinion, I agreed with Gasol a little bit, "in order to ensure that our back road is not cut off by the German army, we must control the town in our hands."


    "I understand," bzikov said hastily, "I''m going to send a telegram to general askarepov and ask him to send troops immediately to capture kanevka." When he walked out, he stood razumeyeva in the same place and said, "Captain, come with me to the telegraph room."


    After bezikov and razumeyeva left, I went to the wall and looked up at the map. The effect of a map on the wall is different from that of a map on the table. Although there were forests to the north and south of Zhitomir, and the German army could only attack from the East and West, we were surrounded on all sides. In the cold winter, to let troops through the snow forest to retreat to a safe area, the non combat casualties are no less than a fierce battle.


    Looking at me staring at the map in a daze, chisjakov came up to me and said, "if the German army only attacks from the west, our troops can still rely on the existing fortifications to resist until they retreat into the city and fight with them in the street. But judging from today''s actions of the German army in the fastif area, it is entirely possible for them to cooperate with the enemy in the west to launch an attack from our rear and move from east to West in order to achieve the goal of seizing Zhitomir. "


    "Zhitomir can''t lose it." Staring at the map on the wall, I said, "once the enemy has occupied Zhitomir, they will have a bridgehead to attack Kiev. When they bring in more troops and attack Kiev again, I fear that the tragedy of 41 years will happen again. "


    Chisgakov agreed with me. He added: "although the strength of our army has made great progress compared with that in 41 years, it must be difficult for us to attack Kiev." I raised my hand in the position of Zhitomir, slapped heavily, and then said firmly: "because of this, even if we have exhausted the sixth group army, we can never let the enemy occupy Zhitomir."¡° What about our supplies? " Asked chisgakov. I pointed to the position below Zhitomir and said: "from the current situation, we can only transport the weapons, ammunition and materials we need from the direction of cherkaser according to the original plan. Because of the road, there is less material to be supplied, but it''s better than not getting it at all. " Chisjakov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he said, "the 225th regiment of Jinwei has not started yet. I''ll go to them to have a look. By the way, I''ll talk with lieutenant colonel yershov and tell him the importance of protecting this traffic line." I nodded and added: "Comrade deputy commander, please tell Comrade yershov that their defense is not just a traffic line, but the way of life of our group army. As long as there are goods and materials that can be continuously delivered to korostwev and Zhitomir through this road, we can persist in the siege of the enemy until we win the final victory. "¡° I see, comrade commander. " When I finished, chisgakov immediately said, "I''ll pass on your message to lieutenant colonel yershov." With that, he nodded at me, then turned and walked out of the headquarters. In the evening, tavartkilaze called and brought us bad news. He told us that due to the continuous fierce attack of the enemy, the defense lines of the 67th division of the guards were broken through in many places, and the troops of the first armored division of the German army wedged into our defensive position, two to five kilometers deep.

 Chapter 1331

    After learning the bad news, the first thing to lose his temper was bzikov, who said in a hurry: "Comrade commander, should we immediately send the 90th division of the guards to reinforce and plug the gap opened by the enemy?"


    After listening to bezikov''s statement, chisjakov nodded and agreed: "yes, we should let the 90th division of the guards meet us and block the German advance, otherwise they will rush to the city of Zhitomir soon."


    However, I was thinking: there are no solid fortifications in the west of the city. With the field fortifications built in a short period of time, in the face of such a powerful three-dimensional offensive of the German army, even if I fill them in with human lives and fill up the 67th and 90th divisions of the guards in the west of the city, I can not stop them. Since our troops are faced with the German army which is superior in quantity and weaponry, it is difficult to support them indefinitely, so it is of little significance to stick to the field fortifications in the suburbs.


    So I announced to them, "there are no solid fortifications in the defense zone outside the city. In the face of enemy shelling and bombing, our officers and men suffered a lot of casualties. If the resistance continues, I am afraid that the 67th division of the guards will soon be wiped out, so I decided to give up the positions outside the city, withdraw all my troops into the city and continue to fight in the streets with the enemy. "


    "What, give up the position outside the city? Comrade commander, the officers and men of the 67th division of the guards have shown great bravery. They can continue to fight. " On hearing my command, chisgakov did not speak, but frowned and pondered. But bzikov said anxiously, "once we give up the position outside the city, the German army will rush into the city soon. If we fight in the street, I don''t know whether we can still hold the city."


    When I saw such a strong reaction from bezikov, I shook my head with a bitter smile and said, "chief of staff, you don''t know enough about the current situation. I don''t deny that the officers and men of the 67th division of the guards fought bravely and tenaciously and wiped out many enemies. However, their fortifications are too simple. In the face of German shelling and aircraft bombing, such fortifications will not last long, but cause unnecessary casualties. Let our commanders and fighters stick to their positions under such circumstances. In three days, there will be no living people in the whole position. "


    "In the morning''s battle, didn''t the 67th division play very well? He beat back the enemy''s attacks several times, and his own casualties were not great. " Kirilov, who was sitting next to him, asked in a somewhat puzzled way, "how come in the afternoon, the situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse?"


    When I heard kirilov''s question, I couldn''t help saying bitterly: "Comrade military commissar, the reason why the fighting was easy and the casualties were small in the morning is that when the German troops shelled our army, our commanders and fighters withdrew from the first line of defense covered by fire to the relatively safe second line of defense, thus minimizing the enemy''s fire damage.


    The German might have been aware of our tactics, so when they attacked in the afternoon, their attack methods were adjusted accordingly. On the one hand, we sent out ground troops to launch attacks, on the other hand, we sent out a large number of bombers to carry out indiscriminate bombing of our positions. Our officers and men know that if they stay in the trenches, they will suffer heavy casualties because of the enemy''s bombing, but they can no longer retreat to a safe area as they did in the morning, because it''s easy for the German army to take advantage of the situation... "


    "Oh, so it is." After listening to my explanation, kirilov finally came to realize it, but he still asked in a puzzled way, "can we get better if we withdraw to the city?"


    "As long as the street battle begins, we are intertwined with the enemy''s defense lines. In order to prevent accidental injuries, the enemy will not dare to use aircraft and artillery on a large scale. In this case, our officers and men will be able to rely on the fortifications in the city to launch a close street battle with the enemy. " In order to persuade kirilov as soon as possible, I also gave a special example in the battle of Stalingrad, "Comrade military commissar, you should remember that in the battle of defending Stalingrad, general trakov borrowed our regiment to participate in the defense of the factory area, but in the fierce shelling and bombing of the enemy, it took less than one day for 3000 troops, It''s almost gone. "


    After my explanation, the headquarters soon reached a consensus, agreed to let the troops give up the defensive position to the west of Zhitomir and withdraw to the city to prepare for street fighting with the German army. However, when I asked bezikov to give an order to the troops, there was a slight accident. Tavartkilaze resolutely refused to let the troops withdraw. He said excitedly on the phone: "Comrade commander, the troops can''t withdraw. We can continue to fight. Although the German army broke through many lines of the 67th division, the soldiers were still fighting bravely. Every time the enemy advanced one meter, they would suffer heavy losses... "


    "All right, comrade commander." Although I knew in my heart that tavartkilaze was telling the truth, in order to defend Zhitomir, I had to put the enemy into the city and fight with them in the street, so that the enemy could not exert the power of the air force, artillery and tanks. So before tavartkilaze finished, I cut him off without any hesitation, and then said coldly, "this is an order. There''s no room for bargaining. Go ahead now."


    Maybe it was the first time that tavartkilaze saw me take such a tough attitude. After a long pause, he replied difficultly, "I see, comrade commander. I will order the 67th and 90th divisions of the guards to withdraw to the city as soon as possible and start street fighting with the enemy relying on fortifications. "


    As soon as I finished my call with tavartkilaze, I received a call from general bere from korostev. "Comrade commander, the German forces of fativ, launched a fierce attack on the defensive position of the 77th division of the guards," he said excitedly by telephone


    As I listened to his report and looked down at the map in front of me, I thought to myself that the German forces of fastiev might have been inspired by the friendly forces'' breakthrough in the defensive position on the west side of Zhitomir before they suddenly launched an attack on korostev and prepared to March East and West with the troops from the west side, so as to achieve the goal of seizing Zhitomir.


    As soon as he finished, I immediately made a decision: "general bere, immediately send out two tank brigades to fight back against the German offensive forces. Now it''s dark, and the enemy''s air force can''t send out. It''s just the advantage of our tank troops to smash the German attack. "


    "I understand." "I will teach the German a painful lesson, so that he will not think that we are easy to bully," he promised loudly


    "By the way, has kanevka got it back?" As soon as I was ready to put down the phone, I suddenly remembered that the German army had occupied kanevka, a small town in the middle of the road from Kiev to Zhitomir, and I immediately asked.


    "It was recaptured from the enemy." To my question, berey replied awkwardly: "but before we reported to the headquarters, we were taken back by the enemy. At present, the two battalions of the 77th division of the guards, with the cooperation of a tank battalion, are fighting repeatedly for the town with the German army. "


    I understood the importance of this small town to the war situation, so I especially stressed to berei: "Comrade General, please tell the commanders and fighters that we should seize the small town at all costs."


    I put down the phone, picked up the map on the desk, looked at it carefully, and continued to study how to fight the German siege. My eyes were fixed on Zhitomir, and I thought to myself, this is the place where rokosovsky was the garrison commander before the war. I don''t know if he can provide any useful suggestions for our defense?


    Thinking of this, I put down the map, looked up and asked, "who knows where general rokosovsky is now?"


    Akhromeyev quickly replied: "report commander comrade, general rokosovsky is commanding the Belarusian front army to fight with the enemy in Belarus. According to the latest information, they have eliminated the German army in a large area of Belarus and are besieging Gomery, a strategic place. It is estimated that the city will be liberated in one week at most. "


    Chisjakov asked me curiously, "Comrade commander, why do you suddenly think of asking general rokosovsky?"


    I pointed to the position of Zhitomir and said, "he was a garrison commander in Zhitomir for a period of time. Compared with being quite familiar with the terrain here, I want to hear some suggestions from him on how to defend the city."


    After understanding what was going on, chisgakov couldn''t help laughing twice. Then he said to me, "Comrade commander, even if general rokosovsky is here, he may not be able to give you any good advice." When he said this, he stopped for a moment, and saw a surprised expression on my face. Then he said, "the Germans have occupied Zhitomir for two years. In such a long period of time, maybe the defense facilities in some areas have been demolished, and new fortifications have been built in other places. In a word, Zhitomir has changed a lot from two years ago. It''s easy to lose money if we make defensive measures according to the memory of the past. "


    After thinking about it, I found that chisgakov''s words were very reasonable, so I turned my attention to the anti attack that berey''s tank brigade was about to launch. I called ahlomeyev over and said to him, "major, go to the telegraph room and tell razumeyeva that as long as the telegram comes from the 77th division of the guards or korostev, it will be sent to us at the first time."


    Attacking the enemy of korostwev from fativ, I never dreamed that the defenders in the city would suddenly launch a counter attack under the cover of two powerful tank brigades. Although there were Tiger tanks in the German offensive units, they became lambs to be slaughtered against the only t-5455 tanks left in the 22nd brigade of the guard tanks.


    When we looked at the war report from razumeyeva, tavartkiraze called from Zhitomir just a few minutes after we were happy. As soon as I heard the tone of his voice, I knew that something had happened again, so I asked solemnly, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter again?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Tavartkilaze reported to me: "after the 67th and 90th divisions of the guards gave up their defensive positions outside the city and retreated into the city, one part of the German army followed. They tentatively launched an attack. After being repulsed by us, they came to the north and south of the city in two directions. It seems that they intend to launch another attack from there. "


    I took out the city defense map of Zhitomir, which was under the map, and put it on the table. After looking at it for a moment, I found that because the north and south of the city were close to the forest, the defense in these two directions was relatively weak. If the German Army started from these two directions, it might have hit us more than seven inches. Therefore, I hastened to order tavartkilaze: "Comrade commander, strengthen the defense in these two directions immediately. We must not let the enemy rush in."


    "What''s the matter?" Seeing that I took out the city defense map of Zhitomir, chisjakov had a bad premonition. After my call with tavartkilaze, he quickly asked, "is there any unexpected change in the situation?"¡° Yes, comrade deputy commander. " I didn''t hide him, but I told him the truth: "the enemy sent troops to the north and south of Zhitomir. In this way, the enemy''s attack changed from East-West to encirclement, and the situation of the garrison in the city became more severe."¡° Don''t worry too much, comrade commander. " "We have four close guard divisions and a tank brigade in the city of Zhitomir, and several artillery regiments and close guard rocket barracks are deployed in the forest to the east of the city," bezikov said. As long as the German army does not send air force, it is not easy for them to attack and occupy Zhitomir as soon as possible. " We were talking about the defense of Zhitomir when a telephone in front of me rang. Before I could raise my hand, bzikov had picked up the phone first. After listening for a moment, he immediately handed me the phone. At the same time, he said in a low voice, "it''s the phone of the commander of the front army. He seemed very angry." As soon as I put the receiver close to my ear, I was almost deafened by the roar of vatujing. I quickly took the microphone away a little, and then politely said: "Hello, comrade general, what instructions do you have?"¡° Comrade oshanina, I come to ask you, why did you order the troops to give up the defensive position in the western suburb of Zhitomir and allow the enemy to rush out of the city? " "Do you know what kind of danger this order will put Zhitomir in?" watujing asked angrily¡° Comrade general, because the enemy''s counterattack has come so fast, our troops have not had time to build solid permanent firepower points. They can only build simple fortifications. " In order to appease vatujing''s anger, I patiently explained to him, "our troops will be killed and killed as long as they are bombarded and bombed by the enemy in such fortifications. I can''t watch my commanders and fighters die in vain in the enemy''s artillery and bombing, so I asked them to give up their positions outside the city and retreat into the city to fight a defensive war with the enemy relying on the existing fortifications. "

 Chapter 1332

    After listening to this, vatujing was silent for a while, and then solemnly reminded me: "Comrade oshanina, your idea is good, but the measures you have taken are wrong. Have you ever thought that if you crowd tens of thousands of people from four guard divisions and a tank brigade into the city of Zhitomir, such a dense battle formation will cause more casualties once it is heavily shelled and bombed by the German army¡° Senior general, I have taken into account all the information you have said. " In response to vatukin''s concern, I quickly explained to him: "as the residents of the city have been moved by the German army, our troops are very scattered. When they are bombarded or bombed by the enemy, they can use a lot of air defense fortifications or basements to avoid, so as to reduce unnecessary casualties."¡° How long are you going to stay in Zhitomir? " Seeing that I was ready, vatukin asked, "or rather, when are you going to give up Zhitomir?" I thought it over in my heart for a while, and then cautiously replied, "senior general, it all depends on our material supply. At present, our ammunition is only enough for one week. If we can''t replenish it before it is exhausted, I think we can only choose to withdraw. "¡° The German army has occupied kanevka and cut off the road between Kiev and Zhitomir, "vatukin said hesitantly after I finished saying," I don''t think the supplies from Kiev will reach you until I take back this town. "¡° Chief general, I am organizing troops to attack kanevka and prepare to take the town back from the enemy. As long as normal transportation can be restored, I believe the troops can hold on in Zhitomir until the situation improves. " After I had said these words, I suddenly felt that I should take this opportunity to ask watujing something, so I added: "Comrade General, I have a request."¡° Comrade o''shanina, please let me know what you want It may be that I am going to stick to Zhitomir, but vatukin seems very generous¡° I hope you can provide us with the necessary air cover. If today''s air force development is exactly as tavard killazer expected, the enemy''s attack will be postponed to the afternoon. In order to prevent the tanks from being shelled by our army again in the process of assembly, the German army sent out several flying groups of planes to keep circling over Zhitomir. As long as they found the target, they would dive down and bombard indiscriminately. When chisjakov heard that the north side of Zhitomir had been bombed by the enemy, he stamped his feet in a hurry. He said repeatedly: "strange, didn''t commander vatujing promise to send the air force to help us? How come we haven''t seen our plane yet? "¡° Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander. " Seeing his uneasy appearance, I quickly comforted him and said, "maybe our air forces have gone to support the 38th and 60th army groups in the southwest of Kiev. For the time being, no troops can be sent here to support us. Wait a minute. The plane without an aviation engineer will arrive soon, and it will be enough for the Germans to drink a pot. "

 Chapter 1333

    Although I''ve been quite mentally prepared, it will be a vicious battle until I stick to Zhitomir. But the real fight, the situation is far more serious than I thought.


    The aviation division that watujing promised did not appear on the battlefield for a long time. However, under the cover of aircraft and artillery, the German army launched another charge against the 309th regiment of Jinwei, which stuck in the abandoned processing factory in the north of the city.


    Tavartkilaze called me from Zhitomir. He asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, I don''t know when the aircraft of the second group army of the air force will appear. Our commanders and fighters suffered a lot of casualties in the enemy''s bombing. If they don''t come again, I''m afraid the 309th regiment will be unable to withstand it."


    Although I know that there are still some self-propelled anti-aircraft guns in the city, using them in this case is tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg, so I can only harden my head and say to ta ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^


    After listening to my obviously perfunctory reply, tavartkilaze sighed and said helplessly, "well, comrade commander, I will tell your words to the commanders and fighters."


    As soon as the call with tavartkilaze was over, I couldn''t wait to tell akhromeyev, "major, get me the call from the headquarters of the front army. I need to see the senior general for something urgent."


    As soon as I got through the phone, I heard the voice of watujing coming from the receiver, and immediately said to him, "Comrade General, the situation in the north of the city of Zhitomir is very serious. The enemy is bombarding the garrison there with heavy casualties. If our air force doesn''t go out any more, I''m afraid they will not be able to defend it."


    Vatukin hesitated for a moment, and then apologetically said to me, "Comrade oshanina, I''m really sorry. There have been some unexpected changes in the situation on the battlefield. The enemy of fativ is rushing madly to Kiev, and now the battle is unfolding in the south of the city. Our air force is engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy''s air force in this area. We are unable to send forces to reinforce you for the time being. Please tell the commanders and fighters that when the situation here is a little more stable, I will send an aviation division to reinforce you. "


    Seeing the lost expression on my face when I put down the phone, chisgakov knew that I had hit a wall in vatukin. He immediately asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? Is the headquarters of the front army still not willing to provide air cover for us?"


    "That''s right," I replied feebly. "It''s said that the air force''s attack ability has reached the limit at the moment, and it can''t provide air cover for us. It seems that our commanders and fighters can only continue to insist."


    "Comrade commander, although the German bombing and shelling caused some casualties to the officers and men of the 309th regiment of the guards." Bezikov pushed the city defense map in front of me, pointed to the location of the abandoned factory and said to me, "however, due to the limitation of the terrain, the enemy''s superiority in military strength and technical equipment can not be fully exerted, so we still have no big problem sticking to the factory area for two to three days."


    I didn''t think about what would happen in two or three days, but rather focused on the more practical question: can the 309th regiment of the guards block the German attack today? Is it necessary to ask sjerykov to send some troops for reinforcement? Or organize the only remaining guard tank brigade 21 in the city to counterattack the attacking enemy?


    Just as I was thinking about it, tawalter killazer called again. He said excitedly on the phone: "Comrade commander, I just got intelligence. A few minutes ago, a German shell directly hit the regiment command post of the 309th regiment of Jinwei. The commander who was commanding the battle and the two battalion commanders who were going to report their work were all martyred."


    "What, the commander died?" Tavartkilaze''s words made me a little confused, "how about the troops? Are they still fighting?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, the troops are still fighting." Tavartkilaze continued: "the news of the commander''s sacrifice has not yet been sent to the grassroots commanders and fighters, so the current mood of the troops is relatively stable."


    At this time, I remembered that tavartkilaze said that the commander and the other two battalion commanders had died, which proved that there was at least one battalion commander in the regiment. I quickly asked, "Comrade commander, who is the remaining battalion commander?"


    "It''s major shumakov who just took office two days ago. He is the only surviving battalion commander of the regiment." Tavartkilaze asked me, "do you want to immediately transfer a commander from another regiment to take over the post of head of the regiment?"


    "No, comrade commander, it''s very inappropriate to transfer commanders from other regiments to serve as regiments'' commanders at such times. It is impossible for him to be familiar with the regiment in a short time. " As for tavartkilaze''s proposal, I rejected it without thinking, and expressed my own opinion: "isn''t there a major shumakov at present? Let him take over the post of commander and continue to command the troops against the German attack. "


    "But Comrade commander," tavartkiraze was a little worried when he heard my order. He carefully reminded me, "major shumakov has only been in the 309th regiment of the guards for a few months, and his qualifications are too shallow. What''s more, he was promoted just two days ago, and now he is appointed as the commander. Is that appropriate? "


    "There''s nothing wrong, comrade commander." Tavartkilaze''s attitude has long been expected by me, because I said very impolitely: "during the war, we can''t talk about seniority in the army. As long as we have the ability, we should try our best to put him in the right position. If according to what you said, then I am only worthy to be an ordinary soldier in the anti-aircraft machine gun company all my life. "¡° Comrade commander, you have misunderstood me. I don''t mean that. " Tavartkilaze was flustered by my words, and he quickly explained: "I''m just worried that if major shumakov is promoted too fast, other commanders will have opinions. Since you say so, I will immediately give Comrade shumakov this latest appointment. " Seeing that tavartkilaze was very witty, I nodded with satisfaction, and then asked, "what''s the situation in the West and south of the city?"¡° Because the terrain in the south of the city was not conducive to the deployment of the armored forces, the German army stopped the attack after the failure of the exploratory attack, leaving only a small number of troops in front of our defensive positions for surveillance. " After hearing my inquiry, tavartkilaze immediately told me: "the first armored division of the German army launched an attack in the West. Due to the tenacious resistance of the commanders and fighters of the 67th and 90th divisions of the guards, their attack did not work." I thought the war in the West would be the most fierce. After all, the main force of the German army was in that direction. However, in tavartkilaze''s report, I found that the fighting was not warm and the most fierce area was the abandoned factory area defended by the 309th regiment of the guards. I looked down at the city defense map and found that the German army''s intention of attack seemed to be to open a breakthrough from the north of the city, to cut off the narrow terrain of Zhitomir, to divide the garrison in our city into two parts, and then to destroy it. After understanding the intention of the German army, I told tawalter killazer in front of the microphone: "Comrade commander, from the current situation, the German army is in the west of the city, using their main force to maintain the offensive pressure on our army, holding our 67th and 90th guard divisions in place. At the same time, he used heavy troops to launch a fierce attack on the north of the city, trying to open a gap here and rush into the city to divide our garrison into two unconnected parts. Therefore, whether we can keep the north of the city is the key to the defense of Zhitomir. "¡° I see, comrade commander. " Tavartkilaze assured me: "I will send some troops to reinforce the 309th regiment of the guards to make sure that our defense line is solid."¡° Good. As long as we can hold on to the abandoned factories, we can keep on defending Zhitomir for a longer time. " After I finished these two sentences, I suddenly thought of the German troops in the south of the city, and quickly ordered: "by the way, comrade commander, since there are not many German troops in the south of the city, let the defenders who stick to the south of the city launch a counterattack, even if they can''t be completely annihilated, as long as they are driven away from our city." Tavartkilaze replied very readily, "I understand. I''ll fight back immediately." I put down the phone and said to them, "comrades commander, the current situation is very clear. The abandoned factory in the north of the city is the main target of the German army. As long as we hold this place, we can smash the enemy''s attempt to rush into the city. "¡° I think we should immediately send troops to the north of the city for reinforcement. " Bezikov pointed to the city defense map and said, "since there is no war in the east of the city for the time being, we can deploy no less than two regiments to strengthen the defense of abandoned factories."¡° No, chief of staff. That''s not going to work. " As soon as bzikov''s words were finished, chisgakov retorted, "you put all the troops in the abandoned factory, didn''t you let them go to be bombed?"¡° However, comrade deputy commander, "seeing that his opinion was rejected, bzikov was not willing to show weakness and retorted," if we don''t send troops to reinforce, can we just watch the 309th regiment of the guards be destroyed by the enemy and our defense line be broken through by the enemy? "¡° Come on, you all stop talking. " Seeing that they would fight for this matter again, I quickly stopped them, and then said, "my opinion is to deploy two regiments here and here respectively." I pointed to the map with my hand. "These two places are a few blocks away from the abandoned factories. Even if the German bombed, they had enough space to hide. Well, it''s so decided. The chief of staff should contact with the two division commanders, shijerikov and babahin, to see which regiment they can transfer to the north of the city for reinforcement. "

 Chapter 1334

    In his heart, chisgakov was always worried about vatukin''s reneging on his promise and not sending us an aviation engineer to help us. He looked at bzikov who was on the phone and asked me unfairly, "commander, do we need to call Comrade vatukin again to ask about air cover?"


    I gave him a smile and said faintly, "deputy commander, please remember that the mountain will fall down and the water will flow. You can only rely on yourself. Even without the support of the air force, we can still defend the battle of Zhitomir, just as we did in Stalingrad. "


    Although I said this far fetched, but no one to refute, we just turned to look at me, and continue to busy their own things. I saw that akhromeyev was just passing me, so I stopped him and asked, "major, where is the transport team from cherkaser?"


    Akhromeyev stopped, opened the city defense map in front of me, pointed to the map below, and said: "ten minutes ago, I received a telegram from the transport team. They just passed by skovya, about 40 kilometers away from us."


    "When did they start?" I continued.


    "It started at seven in the morning." Ahlomeyev raised his hand, looked at his watch, and then replied, "because the road is not easy to walk and the speed can not be increased, it took nearly eight hours and only two-thirds of the distance. But the rest of the road should be easier. I believe they can reach us in three hours at most. "


    "Comrade major, the transport team has to walk for more than ten hours for more than 100 highways." After listening to akhromeyev''s report, chisjakov said somewhat discontentedly: "such a transportation speed can not meet the supply of the whole army."


    "Comrade deputy commander, comrades of the transport team have done their best." Akhromeyev said with some frustration: "these roads are all opened up in the forest. Although our commanders and fighters have laid bundles of firewood in many areas, it is still very difficult to pass so many trucks."


    "All right, comrade major, you can do it." After I sent akhromeyev away, I said to chisgakov, "the materials transported from cherkaser through Koson can only ensure that our troops will not run out of ammunition and food in a short time, so you should not have too much hope for the traffic volume of this line. Only by reopening the road between Kiev and Zhitomir can our logistic supply return to the normal level. "


    After hearing what I said, chisgakov nodded and said with a little helplessness: "the 77th division of the guards and the enemy are still fighting for kanevka repeatedly. At present, the town has long been a ruin in the tug of war between the enemy and us. Fortunately, the residents here have been moved away by the Germans. Otherwise, it is estimated that not many people will survive."


    "Comrade deputy commander, you should be psychologically prepared. It is estimated that the traffic line will not be restored in a short time." Thinking of the recent performance of the German army on the battlefield, I think it is necessary to give chisgakov a preventive shot. In the face of the future when the army can not support itself and has to choose to break through, he will raise a lot of objections.


    "However, we now have several group armies in Kiev to block the attack of a German 48th armored force. It should still be no problem," chisjakov said unconvinced


    As soon as his voice fell, lophoff, who had rarely appeared in the past two days, came in. He came to us, handed me a telegram and said, "Comrade commander, the telegram just received. As the 48th armored army of the German army concentrated 300 tanks and rushed to Kiev, the 38th group army was defeated because it could not bear the intensive impact of German tanks. With the retreat of the Ministry, the 60th army, whose flanks have been completely exposed to the enemy, was forced to retreat into Kiev. "


    "How could it be, how could it be?" As for lophov''s report, chisgakov could not believe it. He grabbed the telegram on the desk, read it repeatedly, and murmured, "how could it be that our two army groups were defeated by the German army? The combat effectiveness of the 38th army under the command of general Moskalenko is one of the best in the whole front army. How can it be defeated so easily by the enemy? "


    "Nothing is impossible, comrade deputy commander." Bezikov, who had just finished the phone call, just heard these words from chisgakov, so he said: "the 38th army was defeated in almost every battle until it approached fastiev and was repulsed by the defenders. He was beaten back for more than 100 kilometers from fastiev. I really don''t know how Moskalenko commanded... "


    "Comrade chief of staff, don''t say anything that undermines unity." Although I don''t like Moskalenko, there are too many people in the headquarters today. I''m worried that if such words are spread, it will be detrimental to the future of bezikov. So I quickly stopped him and changed the topic in time: "have you finished calling both teachers?"


    "It''s all over." Bezikov nodded his head and replied, "what they mean is that if these two newly reinforced regiments are not used for any purpose before dark, they will be used to carry out counter attacks against the enemy at night."


    "Night attack?" After listening to bzikov''s words, chisgakov frowned and looked at the city defense map for a while, then raised his head and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, have you ever thought about how the night attack troops with only light weapons can deal with the German armored forces, which will not increase the casualties of our army in vain?" I think that chisgakov''s words are reasonable. Now the German army has set up an offensive starting position in the north line of the city. If they launch a night attack at this time, they will not only fail to disrupt the target of the German army''s deployment, on the contrary, they may pay huge casualties. I don''t want to see this situation. I don''t want to see it before the battle begins, So many fresh troops have been lost in vain. So I told bzikov: "chief of staff, call the two division commanders again and say I don''t agree with their plan of night attack. If our living strength is to be used to defend Zhitomir, there is no need to expend it in counterattack with little chance of winning. Of course, we can''t watch the enemy stay in front of us and remain indifferent. We can send small troops with platoons as units, carrying anti tank weapons, to harass the enemy''s camp and make them restless all night. " Without waiting for zikov to leave, I called the two teachers. Suddenly, I saw razumeyeva rushing in from the outside. From the expression on her face, I guessed what might be good. I quickly asked her in a loud voice: "Comrade captain, have you brought us any good news?" Razumeyeva nodded and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, I have just received a telegram from general sivakov saying that the troops of the 27th group army are crossing the Dnieper River and entering cherkaser one after another."

 Chapter 1335

    The first reaction of all of us to razumeyeva''s report was: wrong. How could the 27th army, which retreated to the rear, cross the river in the direction of cherkaser? There must be a mistake.


    As like as two peas, Radhu Meyer Va, I read the telegram, though I was just the same as I mentioned, my mind was full of doubts. In order to say that such a large-scale troop deployment, especially in our defense area, the higher authorities would always give me a chance to get angry.


    I waited for the telegram to be circulated in the hands of some of them, and then asked razumeyeva, "Captain, are you sure the contents of the telegram are correct?"


    Razumeyeva nodded her head vigorously and answered positively, "don''t worry, comrade commander. This telegram is indeed from commander sivakov. There should be no mistake."


    Having confirmed that the telegram was indeed sent by sivakov, I knew in my heart that the 27th Army crossing the river into our defense area was a firm fact. I quickly used the high frequency telephone on my desk to call the headquarters of the front army. When I heard a voice coming from the receiver, I quickly said, "Hello, I''m oshanina, commander of the sixth group army of Jinwei. Please help me find general watujing. I have something important to do."


    "I''m sorry, general oshanina." Unexpectedly, the person who answered the phone said, "Comrade commander of the front army is not here."


    Is vatukin not here? I can''t help but feel a little surprised when I heard what the other party said, because in my impression, watujing almost never left his headquarters. How could he not be in the headquarters when the war was so fierce? After a moment''s hesitation, I asked, "is the chief of staff here?"


    "The chief of staff is not here, either."


    "What about the military commissar? Are comrades of the military commissars always here? " When I heard that both watujing and the chief of staff were absent, I had to go to the military commissar to report to him about the entry of the 27th group army into our defense area and find out what happened.


    "Sorry, the military commissar is not in either." The other party may be afraid that I will continue to ask, and hastily added: "the head of the front army is not in the headquarters now, and I don''t know when he will come back. But I will report to the chief of staff about your call later. " With that, he hung up directly.


    Seeing that I put down the phone, chisgakov immediately asked, "well, comrade commander, what did general vatukin say about the 27th army?"


    Looking at him, I shook my head and said, "the senior general, the chief of staff and the military commissar are not in the headquarters, and the personnel on duty do not know where they have gone."


    "Ah? How could that be? " After listening to me, chisgakov said in surprise: "at present, the war in the southwest of Kiev is fierce. How can the head of the front army leave the command post collectively? It''s incredible. "


    The 27th military group directly entered our defense zone without notice; At the critical moment, watujing was not in the headquarters. There was something strange about these two things, but I couldn''t understand it for a moment, so I directly told razumeyeva: "Captain, you go back to keep in touch with general sivakov, and let him find out the purpose of the friendly forces."


    "Yes Razumeyeva agreed, then turned and left the headquarters.


    "If the 27th group army can take over the defense of our department in cherkaser," said bezikov, who had not spoken after razumeyeva''s departure, "then we can transfer the 52nd close guard division and the 375TH infantry division, who are still there, to take part in the defense of Zhitomir."


    "Tell me, what''s the intention of the higher authorities to transfer the 27th army to cherkaser all of a sudden?" I didn''t answer bzikov''s words, but directly asked everyone, "and there was no news before the troops were stationed."


    After staring at the map for a while, chisgakov raised his head and said to me, "Comrade commander, I think there are two possibilities for the troops of the 27th army to enter cherkaser: one is to move southward to capture Alexandria and kilovgrad; The second is to attack to the west to occupy uman and venica. "


    After listening to chisgakov''s analysis, I quickly looked down at the map, and at the same time I was thinking about whether the two conjectures he said were reasonable. After about five minutes, after considering all the causes and consequences, I looked up and said to you, "comrades commander, the two possibilities mentioned by Comrade deputy commander just now. I don''t think the first one is possible. General konev''s troops are on the other side of the Dnieper River. If they want to capture Alexandria and kilovgrad, it will be more convenient for them to send troops. Moreover, they will be able to avenge the German army''s driving across the river.


    As for the analysis of attacking uman and venica, I think this kind of speculation is very accurate. As we all know, the main forces of the German army are all in the vicinity of fastif and Zhitomir at present, while there are only three infantry divisions and some sporadic small parts around uman and venica. The defense force is relatively weak. If we launch a surprise attack at this time, I believe we will achieve considerable results. "


    "Comrade commander, you have a point." As soon as I finished, bzikov reminded me: "although the attack on uman and venitza can achieve great results, I don''t think it is the commanding style of commander watujing at all. He will never divide his troops to open up new battlefields in the fierce war in both places at the same time."


    "If the 27th group army is mobilized to attack uman and venica from the direction of cherkaser, it is really an order from the headquarters of the front army." At this time, I suddenly had a bold idea. Anyway, there was no outsider on the scene, so I said decisively: "that is the replacement of the commander of the front army."


    "What, the commander of the front army has changed?" After listening to what I said, chisgakov was stunned at first, and then burst into laughter. He pointed to me and said, "Comrade commander, you must have seen that the atmosphere in the headquarters is too tense. Tell jokes deliberately to make everyone relax. Ha ha ha!"


    "Comrade deputy commander, I''m not kidding." Originally, I just had this kind of speculation, but seeing that chisjakov took it as a joke, my mind suddenly became strong, so I said decisively, "I think it''s really possible for the commander of the front army to change. The superior suddenly deployed the 27th army near the enemy''s weak defense area, This kind of deployment is far from the style of general watujing in peacetime


    Bezikov said anxiously: "but now, when the fighting in Kiev is at its most intense, the superior suddenly quietly changes the commander of the front army. Won''t this cause chaos in the army?"


    Kirilov, who has always said little, interjected: "perhaps the supreme command has seen the poor performance of general vatukin recently. In order to save the current situation and ensure that Kiev will not be reoccupied by the enemy, it is possible to send a new commander to replace him. But who will be sent by the supreme command to take over the post of commander of the front army? "


    After listening to kirilov''s question, I had five or six names in my mind: Zhukov, rokosovsky, konev, torbhusin, Malinowski and trakov. But I soon ruled out one by one that Zhukov was busy coordinating the overall situation and would never be a commander in the first front army of Ukraine; Rokosovsky and konev are now commanders of the front army. They are commanding their own troops to fight with the German army. If they are flat at this time, they will not only have a bad impact on the original troops, but also not be familiar with the environment in just a few days. As for trekov, it is even more impossible. At present, he is just a commander of the close guard group army, and he is suddenly promoted to the position of commander of the front army. It is estimated that he is not qualified for this position.


    Just as I was daydreaming, tavartkilaze called from Zhitomir and told me, "Comrade commander, the German army has rushed into Zhitomir from the west of the city and occupied a street on the edge of the city. At present, our troops are engaged in fierce fighting with the enemy."


    "Comrade commander, immediately organize forces to take back the lost street for me." I sternly ordered tavartkilaze to say, "tell the commanders and fighters to fight for every inch of land with the enemy, to fight for every street, every building with the enemy, and to let them go further, they have to pay a huge price."


    "Understand, I immediately organize the strength to take back the lost street." After giving me a pledge, tavartkiraze continued: "the enemy who is attacking Zhitomir has chosen the direction of attack to the West and the north. They have invested a large number of troops in these two directions in an attempt to open a breakthrough quickly."


    "Please tell the soldiers that they should make more use of the fortifications in the city to eliminate the enemies who break into the city." After I finished this sentence briefly, I hung up.


    I put down the phone and said to chisgakov and bezikov, "general tavartkiraze reports that some of the enemies have broken through our defense in the west of the city, rushed into the city and occupied a street. I have ordered them to fight back immediately and take the streets back from the enemy. "


    The battle of Zhitomir did not stop until late at night. Finally relieved, I told tawalter killazer to be more vigilant to prevent the possible German attack at night.


    Just as I was dozing on my desk, the telephone rang. I picked up the phone, put the receiver to my ear, heard each other''s voice, said feebly: "Hello, I''m o''shanina, where are you?"


    "Hello, Comrade General." A low male voice from the other side said, "I''m the combat staff officer of the headquarters of the front army. The commander wants to speak to you."


    I didn''t know what watujing was looking for at this time. Besides, he was sleeping in a daze, so he said vaguely, "well, staff officer, please give the call to the commander."


    "Are you sleeping, Rita?" Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the receiver: "how can I speak powerlessly?"


    Hearing this sound, I had a cold war, and the sleepers disappeared. I took a deep breath and asked cautiously, "is that general rokosovsky?"


    "Yes, Rita, it''s me." "If my phone calls disturb your sleep, I''m here to apologize to you," rokosovsky said with a smile on the phone


    "Look what you said, Comrade General." Rokosovsky and I always talk casually, so we jokingly said, "if I knew it was you, I would jump out of bed to pick up your call even if I fell asleep."


    Rokosovsky chuckled twice, and suddenly asked unexpectedly, "the 27th group army should have entered your defense area, right?" In front of me was a telegram received not long ago. It was sent by sivakov himself. He wrote in the telegram: "about 80000 troops entered the cherkaser area and took the initiative to occupy some positions we gave up because of the shortage of troops... It seems that they are preparing for a big war." At this moment, when I heard rokosovsky ask about it, I quickly replied, "yes, comrade general, since the afternoon, the troops of the 27th group army have crossed the Dnieper River on a large scale and entered the cherkaser area without prior notice to us." When I said this, I suddenly remembered how he knew about the transfer of the 27th army. Was he really transferred to the post of commander? So I asked tentatively, "Comrade General, how do you... How do you know..." without waiting for me to finish, rokosovsky said the question I wanted to ask first: "Rita, you want to ask me how do I know about the transfer of the 27th army, right?"¡° Yes, comrade general, that''s it. " I replied quickly¡° Because I am now the acting commander of the first front army of Ukraine, I am very clear about the situation of troop movements. " Rokosovsky announced to me with great surprise: "moreover, I personally ordered the 27th group army to enter cherkaser. This is the first order I gave after I took office." Although I had long guessed that rokosovsky might take the post of commander again, I was surprised when the news was verified. I quickly asked, "where has general navatukin gone?" As for my question, rokosovsky said lightly, "Comrade vatukin, because of his health, went back to Moscow to train himself today. The Supreme Command asked me to take over his post temporarily." After listening to rokosovsky''s words, I couldn''t help but smile bitterly, because when I called vatukin in the morning, I heard his voice lively. How could his health be in trouble before one day? In addition, the 27th group army crossed the river from below and entered cherkaser. It is not possible to mobilize tens of thousands of troops in an hour or two. It must have been arranged two days ago. However, since rokosovsky does not want me to know the truth, I will not entangle in this matter, but change the topic: "Comrade General, I have a question to ask you. I don''t know where the 27th group army will attack next when it enters cherkaser? " Rokosovsky laughed and asked, "Rita, aren''t you very analytical? Guess what the next target of the 27th army is? " As for the attack targets of the 27th army, chisjakov once analyzed them to us in the afternoon. Since there are konev''s large troops on the other side of the river, it is purely superfluous to let us attack Alexandria and kilovgrad. Therefore, attacking uman and venica is the most possible. Thinking of this, I answered decisively: "Comrade General, if I guess correctly, your next attack target should be uman and venica?" After I said that, rokosovsky was silent for a moment, and then said in surprise: "Rita, you are really not simple. You can see clearly my intention of fighting at once. Fortunately, you are not on the enemy''s side, otherwise our attack will definitely suffer setbacks. "¡° Comrade general, "I asked cautiously," can I ask you whether the 27th group army, which has just finished its consolidation, has the strength to capture uman and venica? "

 Chapter 1336

    "Rita, it seems that you are not sure about the 27th army." Rokosovsky said to me with a smile, "I''ll tell you the truth. Initially, tomorrow night, in addition to mortars and 76.2 mm cannons, there will be more than 300 122 mm howitzers, 152 mm howitzers and self-propelled guns, all of which will be deployed in smira line. At the same time, 180 T-34 tanks, 40 new tanks and 80000 combat troops are moving cautiously westward and quietly entering the final attack positions. "


    When I heard a series of data reported by rokosovsky, I couldn''t help but glare and say with emotion: "Comrade General, your deployment is a big one. I believe that as long as you launch a thunderbolt, several German divisions deployed in the direction of uman and venica will be vulnerable. "


    After I finished, rokosovsky said with a smile: "Rita, you don''t have to deal with me for one day or two. Do you think you can crush the main German forces in Kiev and Zhitomir just by relying on the 27th army?"


    His words confused me. In my heart, is the 27th group army just a partial division, not the main force to encircle and annihilate the German army? Thinking of this, I tentatively asked: "Comrade General, if I understand correctly, the 27th group army is not your trump card?"


    "That''s right." Rokosovsky replied positively: "we should still take Kiev as the starting point of attack. After defeating the 48th German Panzer Division in the southwest of Kiev and in fastyv, we should continue to push westward to eliminate the main German forces besieging Zhitomir and capture berkichev, echoing the forces occupying Vinica, Establish a wide defensive area on the right bank of the Dnieper River. "


    "Comrade General, I don''t know when our great counter offensive will begin?" Thinking of the frenzied German attack on Zhitomir in the past two days, I was so angry that I wanted to launch an all-round counterattack immediately and wipe out the elite German divisions that besieged Zhitomir.


    "The fastest way to counter attack is to wait a few days." Rokosovsky said this, suddenly changed to the tone of discussion: "Rita, I know that your troops are fighting fiercely with the German army in Zhitomir, but I beg you to hold on for more than a week anyway, so as to gain valuable time for us to assemble our troops."


    Whether it''s fighting in positions or in streets, it''s all fighting for consumption. Although I have four divisions in the city of Zhitomir, the strength of the German army''s attack is so strong that if we want to hold on for a week, we may still have a little less troops.


    Seeing that I didn''t speak, rokosovsky raised his voice and asked, "Rita, why don''t you speak? How do you think about it, answer me? "


    "Comrade General, if you want me to stay in Zhitomir for a week, you need to promise me two conditions." I know very well that it would be very difficult for us to keep Zhitomir without the help of rokosovsky. In the end, we can only stick to the city for a few days as much as possible according to the original plan, and then give up the city.


    "Come on, Rita." "As long as it is within my ability, I will promise you," rokosovsky said in a smooth tone


    Seeing that rokosovsky agreed, I began to put forward my own conditions: "first, since the 27th group army has been stationed in cherkaser, I want the 52nd guard division and the 375TH infantry division left there to withdraw and go to Zhitomir to strengthen the city''s defense."


    "No problem. Anyway, there are 80000 people in the 27th army. Even if you withdraw your two divisions, it will not have much impact on the war situation." Rokosovsky very readily agreed to my first request: "say your second request, I believe I should be able to do it."


    "Comrade General, the current air supremacy over Zhitomir is in the hands of the German army. They send out hundreds of planes every day to bombard our defensive positions, causing great casualties to the troops. " The second condition I put forward is to ask rokosovsky to help improve the air supremacy over the city: "if you can send two or three groups of fighters to patrol and drive the German bombers out of the city, then I think you will be more sure to hold Zhitomir."


    Listen to me, rokosovsky can''t help but wonder: "why, Rita, during your defense of Zhitomir, vatukin never sent fighters to support you?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." Although vatukin has left his post and I am not willing to speak ill of him behind his back, it is absolutely true that he has never sent fighters to support us¡° While attacking Zhitomir, the enemy also launched an attack on the southwest of Kiev. The forces of the second group army of the air force were all contained by the enemy. Maybe it was for this reason that the superior did not provide us with the necessary air support. "


    After listening, rokosovsky was silent for a long time. Then he asked, "Rita, if I send two pilots to cover the sky over Zhitomir, are you sure you can hold the city?"


    I was overjoyed to hear that rokosovsky could provide us with air forces of two aviation divisions. I immediately replied, "don''t worry, comrade general, as long as the air supremacy over the city can be controlled by our army, the combat effectiveness of the army will be greatly improved. Recently, because the German bombing is too frequent, it is difficult for us to use tanks and artillery in combat, because once these technical equipment are exposed, it will attract the enemy''s indiscriminate bombing. "


    I put down the phone, I and rokosovsky''s call content, to the next few deputies said, everyone was immediately elated. After he was happy, bzikov took the initiative to say, "Comrade commander, I''m going to send a message to general sivakov, so that he can gather the troops of the two divisions as soon as possible, hand over the defensive positions to the friendly forces, and then move quickly to us."¡° Well, chief of staff, go and send a message to general sivakov. " Seeing that bezikov turned to leave, I quickly stopped him and added: "if possible, let the troops come with the convoy carrying the next batch of materials. After all, with two more divisions, the consumption of materials will increase greatly." After bezikov left, chisjakov and I began to analyze which troops would attack from Kiev: "the enemy''s current area of Zhitomir and Kiev has used seven or eight hundred tanks. If we want to defeat the German armored forces, we must at least send out tank troops at the group level."¡° Yes, comrade deputy commander, your analysis is quite right. " As for this judgment of chisgakov, I immediately agreed: "if there are no equal number of tanks, it is an impossible task to destroy or defeat the German armored forces of fastiev."¡° Comrade commander, since you also think that the troops to attack from Kiev will be mainly tank group army, let''s analyze which tank army may undertake this task in the end. " Chisjakov enthusiastically analyzed to me: "at present, the only tank group army near Kiev are general katukov''s first group army of close guard tanks and general rebarko''s third group army of close guard tanks. I think it must be one of them who will lead the troops to attack from Kiev and give a head-on blow to the German 48th armored force in fativ. "¡° Whether katukov or rebarko, they are old acquaintances with Rita Kirilov interrupted with a smile: "at the beginning of the year, general rebalko''s troops cooperated with us to successfully capture Kiev, which severely hit the arrogance of Manstein. And general katukov''s troops, during the Kursk war, also fought side by side with us. I believe that no matter which unit it is, it will certainly coordinate with us in the next battle. " Chisjakov and kirilov are laughing and talking while staring at the map. However, I am thinking that if only katukov or rebarko''s troops are deployed from Kiev, it is obviously not enough, because although there is a mechanized army in the formation of the tank group army, the strength of the infantry is still relatively weak. At that time, because of a week of fierce fighting, our group army will certainly be greatly weakened and will not be able to undertake the main task. If rokosovsky wants to expand his achievements as soon as possible, he will at least have to send another group army¡° Comrade commander, what are you thinking? " Chisgakov, who was talking to kirilov, suddenly found that I was staring at the map instead of speaking. He asked curiously, "why don''t you speak? Don''t you have any confidence in the counterattack we are about to launch?" I waved my hand, then told them what I thought, and finally added: "if general rokosovsky wants to send another group army to assist the tank group army in the war, which one do you think is most likely?" After looking at each other, chisjakov and kirilov turned to look at me and said, "Comrade commander, can''t our group army take charge of the task of cooperating with the attack of the tank group army?"¡° This is unrealistic, comrade deputy commander. " I flatly retorted: "from the fighting in these two days, I can analyze the situation of our troops after a week of holding on to Zhitomir. At present, the number of casualties of the four divisions in the city is at least more than half, and many of the battalion and company level organizational systems will be wiped out. How can they take on the main task under such circumstances? "

 Chapter 1337

    At dawn the next day, the German attack on Zhitomir began again.


    In the streets of Zhitomir, the officers and men of the 67th and 90th divisions of the guards, relying on solid fortifications, fought the German attack tenaciously, making the enemy pay one or several lives for every meter of advance.


    Because the elite German soldiers who are good at street fighting almost lost in Stalingrad or Kharkov and other places, these soldiers who have no experience in street fighting still bravely rush forward with weapons and dense bullets in the way of field fighting. They didn''t have much Kung Fu. On their way to charge, there were layers of dead soldiers. Because the streets are within the range of our army, no one dares to treat the wounded soldiers. They can only stand on the battlefield and wait to die, or be mercifully shot by the guards who can''t bear to watch them wail.


    At noon, the commander of the 208th division, seeing that the casualties were too great, ordered to stop the attack and withdraw from the city for a rest. At the same time, call the air force to bombard the buildings on the edge of the city, trying to kill all our army officers and men who stick to these buildings.


    However, the German commander soon found out that he had miscalculated. Their bombers had just arrived in the sky of Zhitomir, but before they could dive and drop bombs, our fighters, which had been missing, unexpectedly appeared in the air. After a fierce battle, more than 20 German bombers were shot down, and the rest dropped their bombs casually, then turned around and flew West.


    Seeing that the enemy''s bombers fled, and our air force was bombing the German troops assembled outside the city, tawalter killazer, who was commanding the troops in the city, was a little restless. He called me and asked for instructions: "Comrade commander, the enemy''s bombers were beaten away by our fighters, and the ground troops were driven away from the city by us."


    "I know all that." I knew that tavartkilaze must have some thoughts when he said that to me, so I asked, "Comrade commander, what do you think? Let me know?"


    "Comrade commander, I want to use the artillery troops that have been snowed recently." Tavartkiraze said frankly: "since the air supremacy of Zhitomir is back in our hands, we don''t have to worry about being bombed by the enemy when we use artillery."


    "Is it merely the use of artillery to bombard the enemy, comrade commander?" I guessed that he wanted to launch a counterattack against the enemy while the German attack was frustrated, so he jokingly asked, "in that case, the air force commanders and fighters can blow up the enemy, so you don''t have to waste shells."


    When I said this, tawalter killazerton was in a hurry: "no, comrade commander, it''s not what you think. We should not only bombard the German troops assembled outside the city, but also take the opportunity to launch a counter offensive and take back all the lost positions. "


    "I agree with you!" Hearing that tavartkilaze was a little worried, I said magnanimously, "Comrade commander, but I want to remind you that even if a comprehensive counter offensive is launched, enough defensive forces will be left in the city, so that the enemy will not launch a counter offensive in unexpected places when we attack. You should consider all these things."


    After I finished, tavartkilaze immediately replied, "don''t worry, comrade commander, I will let the 90th division of the guards finish this counterattack, while the 67th division of the guards has been greatly reduced in recent battles. I will give them the task of defending the west of the city."


    "You are very considerate, comrade commander." I urged him to say, "when the enemy is dazed by our air force, take action immediately."


    It must have never occurred to the German army that after the shelling, our army suddenly launched an attack on the positions they occupied, and they were all in a hurry. After a short period of resistance, they fled to the second position and reorganized a new defense.


    After reading the battle report on the front line, bzikov said excitedly, "it''s wonderful. The soldiers of the guards are really wonderful. I didn''t expect that they could take back the positions lost two days ago so quickly. I believe that when it gets dark, our troops will be able to recover all the lost positions. "


    Compared with the euphoria of bezikov, I was much calmer. I knew in my heart that the German army was not so easily defeated. Although they were defeated so fast now, it was because they were caught off guard by us. When they recovered, the battle would be stuck.


    Seeing that I was silent, chisjakov immediately asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter with you? Why do we hear that our troops have won? It''s also a gloomy look. "


    I sighed softly and then asked bzikov, "chief of staff, what''s going on north of the city? Is the enemy still attacking the defensive area of the 309th regiment of the guards? "


    "Yes, the German army is still attacking." Bezikov was a little puzzled and said: "the enemies in the west of the city have been repulsed by us. What''s the matter with the enemies in the north of the city? Not only did they not retreat, but they increased the strength of the attack. General tavartkiraze has transferred one of the two regiments deployed behind the regiment. "


    "In the west of the city, the 208th Infantry Division was repulsed, while in the north of the city, it was the elite 7th German armored division." At this time, I did not hide my worries and told them my worries: "although judging from the current situation, the counterattack of the 90th division of the guards is going well, once the German troops put in armored forces, the situation on the battlefield will be reversed. I hope our troops will not be driven into the city by the enemy again. "


    "No, comrade commander." Bezikov comforted me and said, "the air supremacy is now in our hands. In the face of our strong counter offensive, the enemy in the west is just surviving."


    "The attack in the west of the city should be put aside for the time being. Let''s study how to stop the German attack in the north of the city." I pointed to the map and said, "from the situation that the seventh armored division would rather be bombed by our fighters than stop attacking, they are determined to seize the north of the city. Once they break through the north of the city, the garrison in the city of Zhitomir will be divided into two parts. I am afraid that this will cause chaos in the troops. "


    "What shall we do?" Don''t ask zikov anxiously.


    "Call general tavartkilaze and ask the artillery to turn around and fire towards the assembly area of the German army in the north of the city. We must destroy the fighting spirit of the German army with heavy artillery fire to ensure that the north of the city is safe."


    "Yes, I''m going to call general tavartkiraze."


    The seventh armored division in the north of the city had to temporarily stop its attack on the north of the city because of the heavy shelling of our army and the heavy casualties.


    When I heard that the attack of the seventh armored division had stopped, I was relieved. Then I called the commander of the 51st division of the guards, Sergei kirikov, and asked him about the situation in the city. When I heard his voice, I immediately asked, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the situation there? Has the enemy really stopped attacking?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, the enemy''s attack has stopped." "Major shumakov reported to me that in front of his position, there was nothing but burning German tanks and bodies all over the place," shejerikov told me excitedly over the phone


    "Well done, comrade Colonel, your soldiers are well done." After praising him, I went on to say, "you should use this time to repair fortifications and treat the wounded and prepare for the next round of German attack."


    "We''re already starting to do that." "Comrade commander, with the appearance of our air force, I feel that the situation on the battlefield has changed fundamentally. Are we going to launch an attack on the Germans soon?" he asked hesitantly


    "Comrade Colonel, who told you this?" As for his hearsay, I was a little dissatisfied and said, "although we have regained the initiative in the battlefield today due to the emergence of the air force, I don''t think the time is ripe to launch an attack on the enemy."


    "Why?" He was puzzled by my statement. He asked curiously, "now that we have the cooperation of artillery and air force to defeat the German troops outside the city, there should be no problem."


    "It''s not enough just to defeat the enemy, they will soon regroup in a new place," I thought, "it''s better to break one finger than to hurt ten fingers." this is not necessarily understandable for chejerikov. He can only use as simple a word as possible to say: "when they regroup, they will launch a more fierce attack on us, so we are fighting, We should eliminate as many of their living forces as possible. "


    "So it is. I see." Shejerikov understood what I meant and then asked, "Comrade commander, what is the next task of our 51st division tonight?"


    "Continue to defend the north of the city, like a nail there, not a step back." I was afraid that shijerikov had misinterpreted what I meant, and only let the troops defend passively instead of going beyond the minefield. So I reminded him, "when the conditions are ripe, we can appropriately counter the enemy face to face. In a word, you have to find a way to contain the German elite tank here, so that they can not withdraw, so that when our comprehensive counter offensive begins, we can severely damage or even completely annihilate it. "


    As soon as my call with shijerikov was over, bezikov, who received the latest battle report, ran over to me and congratulated me. He was a little overjoyed and said, "Comrade commander, the fighting in the west of the city is really going smoothly. Now the commanders and fighters of the 90th division of the guards have successfully occupied the second line of defense and are preparing to attack the third line of defense occupied by the German army, That''s the last line of defense to attack. "


    When I heard that the 90th division of the guards had captured two German defense lines in succession, I felt a little less worried. I even thought that I was a little worried. The enemy had been defeated and defeated. Did they still have the strength to launch a counter attack on our attacking forces?


    Thinking of this, I can''t help regretting that my decision to force tavartkilaze to leave the 67th division of the guards to take charge of the defense in the west of the city may be wrong. If the two guards attacked the German army at the same time, they would have recovered all the positions outside the city. Before the German army launched a counter attack, they should have enough time to reinforce and perfect the fortifications.


    However, for the sake of safety, I still told bzikov: "chief of staff, please call general tavartkilaze and ask him to transfer several anti tank companies to the positions outside the city as soon as possible to fight against the German tanks that may appear."


    Tavartkilaze was immediately busy after receiving my order. As the anti tank companies were scattered in different blocks, it took a lot of time to gather them. It will take the same time or even longer to reach the positions occupied by our army.


    Just when the city was in a mess due to the movement of the anti tank company, the German counterattack began. At that time, I was talking with tavartkilaze. Suddenly, I heard the commotion in his headquarters. I could not help frowning and asked discontentedly, "general tavartkilaze, what''s the matter? Why is your headquarters in a mess?" It took a while for tavartkiraze to report to me in a flustered voice: "Comrade commander, I think we are in trouble. While we were attacking the third line of defense, the German infantry of a regiment, supported by more than 20 tiger and leopard tanks, suddenly turned to counter attack. Our commanders and fighters were suppressed in the open ground by the enemy''s artillery and machine gun fire, and the casualties of the troops were constantly increasing. "¡° What about your artillery? " When I heard that the enemy really launched a counterattack, my guess became a reality. I couldn''t help getting impatient. I said loudly to the microphone, "let the artillery fire immediately, intercept the enemy''s tanks and infantry with artillery fire, and cover our commanders and fighters to withdraw to the second line of defense."¡° Our commanders and fighters are very close to the enemy. "At this time, the speaker in the receiver suddenly turned into povsky. He anxiously said to me," if we fire, we will hurt our own people by mistake. "¡° Comrade povsky, the situation is urgent. We can''t think so much about it. " I think that with Chernoff''s character, after each position is occupied, except for leaving a small number of troops to clear up the remaining enemy, the remaining main forces will continue to attack. If the German counter attack is really successful, the positions we won with blood and sacrifice will be recaptured. Therefore, I decisively ordered: "if we don''t fire any more, the enemy''s tanks will rush into our positions, and those commanders and fighters who are suppressed by fire will be completely annihilated by the enemy. I order you to fire immediately, block the way of German tanks with artillery fire, and cover the retreat of the officers and men of the 90th division of the guards. You can withdraw as much as you can. "

 Chapter 1338

    The German commander in charge of the counterattack was general mantefield, division commander of the seventh armored division. He had a good grasp of the timing of the counterattack. It was just at the moment when our fighters returned and the artillery stopped shelling because of the infantry charge to prevent accidental injury. Our attack collapsed in a moment.


    When the German tanks were more than 300 meters away from our army, they slowed down and used tank guns and vehicle mounted machine guns to suppress our commanders and fighters. The commanders and fighters are pressed on the ground by the dense fire and are hard to move. As soon as they look up, they will be killed by bullets and flying shrapnel.


    Some of those anti tank men with 40 rocket launchers killed the enemy''s tanks, but because they were out of range, they had to lie on the ground and stare. The commander who stayed in the second line of defense saw that the troops in front of him were in danger, so he ordered the only anti tank guns to fire in an attempt to destroy the enemy''s tanks, and then covered his troops to withdraw. Unfortunately, the 45mm anti tank gun was a fortune teller for the German tank and could not penetrate its thick front armor.


    At this critical moment, the artillery of the group army began to fire. Pieces of shells roared and landed in the open area between the two armies. The smoke and fire covered the sight of both sides. A commander in charge of the charge quickly passed the order through the messenger: "all retreat!"


    Just as the correspondent was about to convey his order, he was stopped by the regiment commissar, who was lying next to him and had his leg broken by the shell. The political commissar of the regiment anxiously said to the regiment leader, "Comrade regiment leader, this is not good. The existence of a large number of wounded people will make us pay more casualties when we retreat."


    "What should we do then?" Hearing what the political commissar of the regiment said, the head of the regiment was in a bit of chaos. "These wounded are all our comrades in arms. Should we let them live and die on the battlefield?"


    "Comrade commander, the enemy''s aim is very clear. They want to destroy our troops in the open and then seize our positions. We must not allow the German plot to succeed. " The political commissar of the regiment said with firm expression: "I will leave cover with the wounded. You can take the rest of the soldiers back to the position."


    "But, comrade political commissar." When the regimental commissar said this, the regimental leader immediately said with emotion: "how can I leave you and the wounded here? Our regiment has never lost the tradition of its comrades in arms. "


    "Comrade commander," seeing that the commander was delayed in making a decision, the political commissar of the regiment was in a hurry: "time is pressing. Take the soldiers with you. It will be too late. I beseech you, for the sake of victory, withdraw Hearing what the political commissar of the regiment said, the head of the regiment had no choice but to give orders to the commanders and fighters that the wounded should stay behind and the rest of them should withdraw.


    After the commander and his troops withdrew, the German infantry swarmed in without waiting for the political commissar of the regiment to do any political work. The wounded soldiers, who knew that they had no hope of survival, fully showed the most valiant side of the fighting nation. The lightly wounded soldiers sent out a loud cry and rushed straight past with bayonets. Soon they collided with the German soldiers, their bayonets to bayonets, their chests to chests, fighting and fighting with each other. The battlefield of thousands of people was like a duel between cold weapons in the middle ages.


    The slightly injured members fought for their lives in the thick smoke, just for the sake of death. The severely wounded, who could not move, did not hesitate to ring the grenade after firing all the bullets in the gun, and died with the enemy.


    By the time the German army had wiped out the wounded who had stopped them, the soldiers who had retreated to their positions had been ready. Seeing that the soldiers who had covered their retreat had been slaughtered by the Germans, the commanders and soldiers were already filled with anger. Seeing the enemy enter the fire range, the commander yelled at the top of his voice: "revenge for the sacrifice of comrades in arms! Shoot Then he raised his hand and fired at the enemy in the distance.


    "Revenge for the dead comrades in arms!" The shouts of the commanders and fighters echoed in the position.


    Heavy and heavy machine guns opened fire, mortars opened fire, and all the heavy and heavy weapons in the position opened fire at the same time. The dense firepower weaves a dense fire net in front of the position. The Germans who rush into the net are like hitting an invisible wall and being knocked down in pieces.


    When the war outside the city came to a stalemate, I received a call from Zhitomir from tavartkiraze. After reporting the war situation outside the city, he asked me, "Comrade commander, do I need to put the 67th division of the guards into battle immediately?"


    "No need." Without hesitation, I denied his proposal and said firmly: "the original task of the 67th division of the guards will remain unchanged, and we will continue to stick to the city. And the battle in the western suburbs of the city was completed by the 90th division of the guards alone. "


    "Why, comrade commander?" Asked tavartkiraze, puzzled, at my command.


    "Comrade General, I ask you to make it clear whether you are the commander of the group army or I am the commander of the group army?" "I don''t have to explain every decision I make to my men," I said in a strong voice


    When I hung up, kirilov, who was looking at me, shook his head and said, "Rita, since we came to the base, you seem to be a little different and stronger. In the past, you had to discuss with all of us before you made any decision, but now you have to do what you say. What''s going on? "


    As for kirilov''s observation, I laughed at him and then explained: "Comrade military commissar, whether we can hold Zhitomir or not is related to whether our army can gain a firm foothold on the right bank of the Dnieper River. Only when we have established a vast defensive area in Kiev - Zhitomir, can our army complete the task of recovering all Ukraine on the right bank. "


    After I finished speaking, seeing that both chisjakov and bezikov had something to say, I guessed that it must have something to do with my attitude towards tavartkilaze, so I took the initiative to explain to them: "the reason why I didn''t let tavartkilaze put the 67th division of the guards into battle was mainly because the infantry met the armored troops on the plain, and they had to be slaughtered. Although we have four tank brigades in name, we are basically equipped with T-34 which can''t beat tiger and leopard tanks. Instead of losing valuable technical equipment in vain and letting our commanders and fighters die, we should let them stick to the peripheral positions they have just captured and consume the enemy''s living strength. When the counter offensive begins, we will slowly settle accounts with them. "


    "Comrade commander," bezikov asked me after I finished saying, "when the 52nd guard division and the 375TH infantry division arrive, I don''t know where to deploy them? Zhitomir or korostwev? "


    "Deploy to the city of Zhitomir." I explained to them, "in the days to come, the fighting there will be more exciting. It''s not a bad thing to send more troops to them. As for korostwev, if necessary, we can transfer the 89th division of the close guard directly under the central government. "


    After talking for a long time, I felt a little thirsty, so I picked up the empty tea cup on the table and went to the teapot to pick up a cup of hot tea. When I went back to my seat with the cup, I saw kirilov sitting at the table in a daze. I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade military commissar, what are you thinking?"


    Kirilov looked up at me and said with a smile: "Rita, it suddenly occurred to me that I should find someone to write a military song. The military song of our close guard sixth group army should include all the brilliant achievements we have made, and let the officers and men sing the military song to fight bravely and write a brilliant page in the history of defending the motherland and striving for the liberation of the people."


    Bezikov, standing beside him, was excited when he heard kirilov say that he would write military songs. He echoed: "I think comrades of the military commissar are right. From the battle of Kursk to the battle of Kharkov, to the liberation of Kiev and the defense of Zhitomir, our troops have made a series of achievements." At this point, he hesitated for a moment, and then said, "it may be a little difficult to write all these things into songs, but it''s much easier to write them into poems."


    Kirilov listened to what bzikov said and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, can you write a poem?"


    Bezikov shook his head and said sheepishly, "I can''t write."


    Kirilov''s face was disappointed at this reply. After a long silence, he said, "it seems that we need to find two people who can write poems and songs in the army as soon as possible to create poems and military songs that praise the sixth group army of Jinwei."


    "Don''t be so troublesome," I heard two people chatting, my mind suddenly came out of a later generation in a film and television works to hear the song, after reciting twice in my heart, said: "to write military songs, I can write one right away."


    "What? Comrade commander, can you write songs? " Bezikov was stunned by what I said. He said in an unbelievable voice, "as soon as we talked about writing military songs, you said you could write them. How could that be possible?"


    "If you can, just try." I said confidently.


    When I heard that I was going to write songs, not only chisgakov, who was standing by the wall, came over, but also akhromeyev and several staff officers. A dozen people gathered around the table and quietly watched me write. After I finished writing the lyrics, I handed them to kirilov and said, "it''s done. Comrade military commissar, what do you think of my writing? "


    Kirilov grinned awkwardly and took the lyrics I handed him. I know that the reason for his reaction is that I can''t write any good lyrics in such a short time.


    But after he saw two lines, the expression on his face suddenly became solemn. After reading all the lyrics, he couldn''t help clapping his hands and exclaiming, "great, Rita, this is great. I really didn''t expect that you still have the talent to write songs. Any song you write is so wonderful


    "Comrade military commissar," akhromeyev reminded him in a low voice nearby, "I don''t know what Comrade commander wrote. Read it to you."


    Kirilov nodded and said, "well, since everyone wants to know, I''ll read it to you." He coughed gently, cleared his throat, and then began to read aloud:¡°


    Red Army, Red Army


    Red flag


    The Red Army is invincible


    No fear, no fear


    Let''s hold high the bright red flag


    Red Army, Red Army


    Red flag


    The red flag guides you


    We will always unite to see who can defeat our Red Army! " After he finished reading it, he did not forget to say: "it''s wonderful. It''s just wonderful. I never thought that Rita, who has a good command of war, has a good command of songs. Ha ha ha ha ha After that, he carefully folded the paper full of lyrics, put it into his pocket, stood up and said, "I''ll find someone to compose this song and try to spread it among the army as soon as possible." Looking at kirilov''s back as he left, I couldn''t help asking bezikov curiously: "chief of staff, in our group army, there are still people who know how to compose music?" To my question, bezikov said uncertainly, "maybe. After all, our commanders and fighters come from all walks of life. It''s not surprising that some of them can write music." The German troops who attacked the outer positions in the west of the city were shot back by the indomitable commanders and fighters, and the enemy shelled our troops with artillery fire. At the end of the bombardment, they quickly moved the artillery to the position, making the air force that we were going to attack empty. When I called rokosovsky to report the situation of the war, I specifically mentioned that the enemy should transfer the artillery position in time after finishing the shelling. After hearing this, rokosovsky said thoughtfully, "the enemy is very cunning, so even when we are in the upper hand, we can''t take it lightly, otherwise we will easily suffer a big loss." I reported a few things to rokosovsky. Before I hung up the phone, I suddenly asked on a whim: "Comrade General, do you know you will return to the front army of Belarus?"¡° It''s hard to say. " "At present, I am still the commander of the Belarusian front army, but the commander of the Ukrainian first front army is only an acting position," rokosovsky said hesitantly. Perhaps when the war situation is stable and Comrade watujing''s physical condition permits, he will come back and continue to take charge of the work of the front army in an all-round way. " From what rokosovsky said, I understand that his position as commander of the front army is only a temporary post. When the war situation is stable and even a large-scale counter offensive begins, vatujing may come back to pick peaches. Although I think rokosovsky is a bit of a kick to do the wedding dress, but there is no way, the order of the superior is the order, we can only implement unconditionally. Finally, rokosovsky told me, "Rita, we still need some time to prepare for the counterattack, so anyway, you should keep the main force of the German army in Zhitomir, so that we can mobilize our troops leisurely."

 Chapter 1339

    In the next few days, our troops occupied the defense line near the city, the German occupied the defense line farthest from the city, and the defense line in the middle became the focus of contention between the two armies. At dawn, our commanders and fighters, under the cover of artillery and fighters, attacked the areas occupied by the German army and seized the trenches after fierce fighting. At noon, the German army would take advantage of the return of our fighters, launch a counter attack with the support of tanks and artillery, and then take back the position. Positions change hands several times a day, often tavartkilaze just reported to me that our army has occupied the other side. Seeing me staring at him in a daze, he raised his hand and saluted me, then extended his hand to me and said with a smile: "Hello, general oshanina, nice to meet you."¡° Hello, Comrade General Although his Russian is very stiff, with a local or national accent, but I understand what he said, quickly and politely said: "I''m glad to meet you, too."¡° "Commander," said nikolasov, shaking hands with this strange general. "This is major general Svoboda, commander of the first brigade of Czechoslovakia. His troops came with us from cherkaser." Czechoslovakia?! Hearing the name of this country, I couldn''t help but have a flash in my eyes. I didn''t expect that rokosovsky sent me a foreign friendly army. Although I don''t know the combat effectiveness of this unit, I still expressed my due enthusiasm for Svoboda. While holding his hand and shaking it, I said in a friendly way: "Hello, general Svoboda, my comrades and I welcome you here." Then chisjakov, kirilov, bezikov and others all came forward to shake hands with Svoboda. After we all sat down, I asked Svoboda with a smile, "Comrade General, can I ask general rokosovsky why he sent your troops here?" Hearing my question, Svoboda shrugged his shoulders and said, "what else can we do, of course, is to fight side by side with the Soviet army to drive the German Communists out of the territory of Ukraine." From Svoboda''s words, I recognized that he seemed to know something about rokosovsky''s attack plan, so I asked curiously, "Comrade General, general rokosovsky is going to launch a comprehensive counterattack against the Germans soon. What do you know, can you tell us?" Instead of answering me immediately, Svoboda looked around. I knew that he was worried, so I quickly comforted him and said, "don''t worry, comrade general, we are all our own people here. If you have anything to say, you will never let it out."¡° Yes, yes, general Svoboda As soon as I finished, chisjakov continued: "you don''t know that we have been holding fire all this time. We have been looking forward to teaching the Germans a lesson. Please tell us about the great counterattack." Svoboda seems to be a real man. Seeing that both chisjakov and I are introducing the plan of the great counterattack to him, after hesitating for a moment, Svoboda tentatively asked, "general oshanina, what I said will not be disclosed?"¡° Yes, Comrade General. " Eager to know rokosovsky''s battle plan, chisjakov said in advance, "everyone in our headquarters is trustworthy. If you have anything to say, feel free to say it boldly." After receiving the assurance from chisjakov, Svoboda nodded and said, "as far as I know, general rokosovsky intends to launch a full-scale attack on the German army from both cherkaser and Kiev. Now the 27th army has entered cherkaser... "Comrade General, we all know about the 27th army." When the impatient bezikov heard this, he couldn''t wait to interrupt him and asked curiously, "we want to know what scale of troops the front army has assembled in the direction of Kiev." Svoboda thought about it, then said: "I''m not sure about the specific deployment of troops in Kiev. However, I listen to general rokosovsky. In addition to using three other army groups besides the 38th and 60th army groups, he is also preparing to put two tank army groups into battle. "¡° My God When bezikov heard this, he couldn''t help exclaiming: "general rokosovsky is really a big hand. He put in three army groups and two tank army groups at once, which is enough to crush any defense of the German army." Svoboda''s words brought me great shock. I thought that apart from our group army and the 38th and 60th group army which are going to be disabled, rokosovsky would send out two group armies at most, and take a tank group army to the sky. I didn''t expect that he was ready to put in so many troops. It seems that Manstein is in trouble.

 Chapter 1340

    After talking with them for a while, I asked Yushchenko to take three people to a nearby vacant room to have a rest. After they left, chisgakov said to us, "I don''t understand why there is such a foreign army in our organization."


    "No surprise, comrade deputy commander." Kirilov said in a familiar tone: "in fact, as early as World War I, the Czar''s army had a separate Czech Army to fight with us. At the present stage of the war, after the liberation of the whole territory of Ukraine, we will cross the border to attack the countries occupied by the German army and save the enslaved people from the iron hooves of the Communist Party of China. I think the destination of the Czech brigade sent by the higher authorities is to let the people there have a sense of identity with us when we liberate Czechoslovakia. "


    "So it is." After hearing this, chisgakov became more and more curious. He approached kirilov and asked tentatively, "Comrade military commissar, since you worked in key departments, you must know more than us. Can you tell us something about it?"


    Kirilov shook his head with a bitter smile and said helplessly: "Comrade chisjakov, you are not embarrassing me. You should know that my previous party and government work involves a lot of secrets. If I can, I will. What I can''t say, I can''t say a word. "


    I was thinking about whether I should come out to help kirilov when the high-frequency phone on my desk rang. When I heard the ring, my first reaction was that the call was from the headquarters of the front army. I immediately grabbed the microphone, stuck it to my ear and said excitedly, "Hello, Hello, I''m o''shanina!"


    From the receiver came rokosovsky''s hearty laughter: "Rita, I think you must have guessed that I''m calling you, otherwise I won''t be so excited."


    "Yes, Comrade General." I didn''t hide my thoughts from rokosovsky. I immediately gave him a positive reply, and then asked cautiously, "do you have any important instructions when you call at this time?"


    "I''ll call you at this time. It must have something to do with the counterattack." When I heard rokosovsky mention the great counterattack, I immediately pricked up my ears and wanted to hear what he said later. Unexpectedly, he changed the topic: "you have played well in Zhitomir these days. You have restrained six or seven German armored divisions and infantry divisions and won precious time for the main force gathering."


    As soon as he finished, I couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade General, I don''t know when the counterattack will start?"


    "Don''t worry. I''ll tell you more about it later." Rokosovsky said leisurely: "at present, the 27th and 40th army groups have been successfully assembled in the cherkaser area and will attack uman and venica; In the direction of Kiev, we have assembled the 18th, 38th and 60th group armies, the 1st group army of close guard, the 1st group army of close guard tanks and the 3rd group army. They will carry out major raids in the central area to smash the German heavy army group and attack berkirchev after meeting with you; And the 13th group army carried out the right-wing support campaign of the front army and attacked koroskin, wallensky new town and other places. "


    "Great, comrade general, that''s great." As I quickly recorded what rokosovsky said in my notebook, I said excitedly: "the Germans may never dream that we will gather such forces in Kiev in such a short period of time. In the face of our attack, they will soon be defeated. "


    "Our attack will be on November 27, two days later." After I finished, rokosovsky began to assign tasks to me: "the first attack will be the German army''s mustering of heavy troops, and I hope we can get your cooperation when we attack. If you can send even one division of troops to attack the enemy''s rear when our frontal attack is launched, they will be thrown into chaos, so that we can break through their defensive positions in the shortest possible time. "


    "All right, Comrade General." I assured rokosovsky with confidence that "when the great counter offensive begins, my troops will certainly launch an attack from the west of fastif to disperse the enemy''s defensive forces."


    After rokosovsky finished his assignment, I suddenly remembered an important thing and took this opportunity to consult him: "Comrade General, we have a Czech Comrade here..."


    Before I finished, rokosovsky said, "Lida, are you talking about general Svoboda, commander of the first Czech brigade? As early as in 1916, during the first World War, he joined the Czechoslovak army formed by the czar. After the Czech Republic was occupied by the German in 1939, he retreated to Poland to organize underground anti Communist forces. Later, after the outbreak of the patriotic war, he and his subordinates joined us and set up the Czech independent battalion to fight side by side with us. The reason why we sent them to you this time is that the first brigade has just been established and lacks battlefield experience. It''s just time to train with you... "


    After I put down the phone, I called ahlomeyev over and told him directly, "chief of staff, call the division heads and ask them to rush to the headquarters for a meeting after dark."


    After I finished, akhromeyev asked, "Comrade commander, do you want to inform all the teachers, or just a few teachers in tomir?"


    "All the division commanders in the group army, of course." After I finished commanding akhromeyev, I suddenly remembered that I had just seen only two division commanders, Nekrasov and Lukin, but major general sivakov, commander of the 22nd army of the guards, had not seen anyone. I quickly turned to ask bzikov, "chief of staff, have you seen general sivakov?"


    Bezikov shook his head and said, "No. I didn''t see it Then he turned to look at chisgakov and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, do you see that?"


    "I didn''t see it either." "I don''t know if something happened to him. I should ask them," he said blankly


    Before I could send someone to inquire, Yushchenko came in to take them to rest. He came to me and reported, "Comrade commander, I have sent General sivakov to the infirmary. The military doctors are treating him."


    "What happened to sivakov?" I never dreamed that Yushchenko would report such bad news to me. I quickly asked, "how can I be sent to the medical room?"


    "According to general Nekrasov, general sivakov was in a car accident on the way. He is still unconscious because of his head injury." Seeing my anxious face, Yushchenko explained in a hurry, "Comrade commander, you don''t know about this? I thought general Nekrasov had already reported to you


    I quickly stood up and said, "comrades commander, let''s all go to see general sivakov." With that, he was about to take the lead to walk outside, but he was stopped by kirilov.


    I stopped, looked at kirilov with some surprise, and asked in surprise, "Comrade military commissar, what are you stopping me for?"


    "Don''t worry, Rita." Kirilov said in a smooth voice: "don''t you hear major Yushchenko say Comrade sivakov is still in the rescue? Let''s go now. It''s not only useless, it may even interfere with the doctor''s work. Let''s stay and wait for the news. "


    I agree with kirilov very much. We are not doctors. After we go there, we will not only help but also make trouble. So I turned and went back to the table and told Yushchenko, "major, go to the infirmary and report to us as soon as you have any news. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" Yushchenko said, raised his hand to salute me, then turned and walked out of the headquarters.


    At the meeting in the evening, the first commander to arrive at the headquarters was askarepov, commander of the 77th division of the guards in korostvev City, in addition to sherekin, who was stationed nearby.


    After seeing me, the middle-aged general said in shame, "I''m sorry, comrade commander, I failed to live up to your expectations. Our troops attacked the small town of kanevka for a week and failed to take it from the enemy."


    Although I have a lot of dissatisfaction with this general in my heart, others admit their mistakes as soon as they see my face. I can''t scold him at this time. He could only comfort himself by saying, "Comrade General, it''s not your fault. Your troops have made great achievements in the liberation of Kharkov and Belgorod. It doesn''t matter if we don''t fight well in this period of time. We can make new contributions in the following battles. "


    Listen to me, askarepov lowered his head and raised it again. He assured me: "don''t worry, comrade commander, in the next battle, our division''s performance will never let you down."


    I said to him with a smile, "general askarepov, in two days'' time, we are going to attack fastif. I hope your troops will have satisfactory results in this battle. "


    "What, attack fastieff?" When I said this, ascalepovton was in a cold sweat. He took off his cap, wiped the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve, and said with some panic, "Comrade commander, I want to remind you that there are at least seven or eight German armored divisions and infantry divisions in the region of fastif. We attack them with one division, which is almost like death."


    I waited for him to express his views and said with a smile, "Comrade General, you are not my subordinates for one or two days. When did you see me attack the enemy on my own initiative when my troops were not dominant?"


    "However, comrade commander, there are indeed seven or eight divisions of the enemy of fativ, which are better than us..." askarepov said this and suddenly stopped. After a while, he opened his eyes wide and asked in surprise, "it''s rare that our great counterattack will begin?"


    "Comrade General, your response is too slow. It took so long to understand." To reassure him, I went on: "at that time, the friendly forces will attack from the East, and we will attack from the west at the same time to coordinate the actions of the friendly forces. At present, you have only one division, which is a little less. But don''t worry. Before the battle starts, I will send the 89th division of general Xie Liujin''s guards. "


    "That''s great." Askarebov was excited when I said this: "except for general sherekin''s troops, if we add the cavalry division and one or two tank brigades in the city before the attack, we will be more confident of winning." I took him to the map hanging on the wall, handed the stick leaning against the wall to him, and said to him with a smile, "general askarepov, tell me something about your side." Askarepov took over the baton and said to them, "since our last counterattack, we have taught the Germans a great lesson that tiger and leopard tanks can''t deal with our new tanks. But at the same time, they also understood that the troops stationed in korostvev were limited and could not take the initiative to attack them. So they adopted the strategy of attacking to the East and defending to the West. On the side facing us, they built a lot of fortifications to resist our possible attack. "¡° General askarepov, what kind of fortifications have the enemy built to the west of fastif? " After he finished, chisjakov immediately asked, "can you give us a detailed introduction?" Askarepov may not have thought that chisjakov would suddenly ask this question. For a moment, he was a little flustered. He stammered: "the enemy has built anti tank trenches in the west, as well as various fortifications..." "OK, general askarepov, don''t say any more. It seems that you don''t know about the enemy''s defense. " Without waiting for him to finish, I directly interrupted him, and then turned to akhromeyev and said, "major, go and call major basmanov, the commander of the reconnaissance battalion, and let him bring the information related to fativ. We will listen to his reconnaissance report here." After akhromeyev left, I saw askarepov standing there awkwardly with his explanation stick in both hands. I laughed and comforted him and said, "OK, general askarepov, don''t blame yourself. As for the defense deployment of the enemy, I think we should find a special person in charge of reconnaissance to answer this question, so that we can formulate an effective operational plan according to the actual situation. Are you right? " Askarepov saw that I had given him a step, quickly nodded his head desperately and said, "yes, comrade commander, you are absolutely right. Every time we make operational plans, we make them on the basis of the accurate intelligence improved by the scouts. I think it is most appropriate for the scouts to explain the enemy''s deployment. "

 Chapter 1341

    Less than two minutes later, basmanov appeared at the headquarters. After saluting us, he went to the wall, pointed to the map on the wall with his stick, and began to tell us about the German defense on the west side of fativ.


    Basmanov looked at the map and said: "in order to prevent the enemy from being attacked by our new tanks, the enemy built a seven kilometer anti tank trench in the west of the city. The width and depth of the anti tank trench were five meters and three meters. The German army also poured about one meter of water into the trench. It can be said that the trench not only plays the role of anti tank, but also an insurmountable obstacle against infantry. On the side of the anti tank trench near our army, the German army also laid a large number of anti tank mines.


    On the inside side of the trench were German fortifications. Their shelters are all made of solid materials, and the top can defend against our 76.2 mm artillery and small aerial bombs. At the same time, the disposition of their firepower forces can block the trenches. "


    After hearing basmanov''s introduction, Xie Liujin tentatively asked: "Comrade major, if we cover the enemy''s positions with dense artillery fire before the attack, can we destroy these fortifications?"


    Basmanov shook his head and said politely, "Comrade division commander, for the enemy''s solid fire points and civil works, we need the most destructive technical equipment, such as our army''s 122mm or 152mm howitzer, to completely destroy them."


    After basmanov finished speaking, askarepov turned to look at me and said, "Comrade commander, it seems that when we attack fastif, we need artillery support. Otherwise, infantry and several tanks alone will not be able to break through the enemy''s positions."


    "Don''t worry, general askarepov. I will provide you with the artillery you need. " Staring at the map, I said: "before the friendly forces attack fastif, they will prepare for one or two hours of artillery fire. Although we have limited artillery reserves, we can cover the enemy''s positions for half an hour. I think there should be no problem."


    Just at this time, I saw the artillery commander of the group army povsky come in, quickly stopped him, pointed to the map and asked: "general povsky, we will launch the attack on fastif in the morning the day after tomorrow, when the attacking forces may need your artillery support, you have no problem?"


    After listening, povsky asked: "Comrade commander, I don''t know how long our artillery will need to bombard the enemy''s defensive positions?"


    "Of course, the longer the better." After I said this, I felt a bit forced. Since the traffic line between Kiev and ours was cut off, many supplies were not available. I quickly changed my words and said, "at least half an hour''s artillery preparation is needed."


    Povsky thought for a moment, then scratched the back of his head and said, "Comrade commander, I think you should be very clear that because the traffic line between us and Kiev has been cut off by the enemy, the supplies from cherkaser alone can not make up for our daily consumption. If we want to guarantee the shelling half an hour before the attack on fativ, the artillery support to the west of the city of Zhitomir in these two days must be temporarily stopped. "


    What povsky said is a new problem for me. For example, today, the west of tomir city is attacked by the German army every day. If there is no artillery support, it is a question whether it can hold. It is obviously impossible not to leave enough shells for half an hour to bombard the troops attacking fastif.


    Seeing me staring at the map and saying nothing, bizikov came up to me and asked me in a low voice, "Comrade commander, do you have any good idea?"


    I can''t help but laugh when I hear bzikov''s question. This independent colonel is quite different from a few months ago. He has to ask me for advice on everything. He seems to think that I can come up with a good idea.


    Before I could speak, chisgakov spoke first. He said to povsky in the tone of discussion: "Comrade artillery commander, do you think it is possible that the artillery support to the west of Zhitomir will continue, but I ask you to at least let a heavy artillery regiment and a close guard rocket battalion not participate in such artillery support, and leave the shells for the use of the artillery when shelling fastif. You see, is that all right? "


    Povsky only thought for a moment about chisjakov''s proposal, then readily agreed: "well, comrade deputy commander, do as you say. When I get back later, I''ll transfer a heavy artillery regiment and a close guard rocket battalion to korostev, ready to provide artillery support for the troops attacking fastif. "


    We chatted for a while, and when we saw that all the commanders who had come to the meeting were almost there, bzikov said to them in a loud voice, "comrades commanders, please sit down. We will have a meeting soon."


    After everyone was seated, I stood up and looked at the dozen commanders in front of me. I was very excited. This was the first time I met all of them after crossing the Dnieper River. I tried to squeeze a smile on my face, raised my voice and said to you, "Hello, all commanders! I''m very happy to meet you here today. This is the first meeting of commanders at or above the division level held by our group army since it launched the river crossing operation. "


    I stopped here, glanced at each commander, and then went on to say, "in more than a month, we liberated cherkaser, kaniv and Zhitomir, and helped the main force of the front army liberate Kiev. All the commanders and fighters of our group army have made great contributions in the battle.


    After the liberation of Kiev, the troops of the front army had to stop for a rest because of the heavy consumption of troops, weapons and ammunition. But the enemy did not want to give us time to recover. They gathered more than a dozen divisions and launched a crazy counterattack against Kiev and Zhitomir.


    Although they have made some progress in Kiev, they have not achieved their strategic goal. Especially in Zhitomir, the attacks of the five Armored Divisions and infantry divisions were crushed by our brave commanders and fighters. We have been fighting with them for such a long time, and it''s time to settle accounts with them. Next, the chief of staff, Colonel bezikov, will introduce to you the great counter offensive to be launched the day after tomorrow. "


    Bezikov stood up, went to the wall, picked up the explanation stick, pointed to the map on the wall and said to everyone, "comrades, the forces of the front army are about to turn into the offensive in Kiev, Zhitomir and cherkaser areas, smash the enemy''s heavy military groups in the above areas, and complete the task of liberating all the territory of Ukraine on the right bank of the Dnieper River.


    According to the Circular of the headquarters, at present, our front forces have assembled the 27th and 40th army groups in the cherkaser area, and their targets of attack are uman and venica; In the direction of Kiev, the 18th, 38th and 60th group armies, the 1st group army of close guard, the 1st group army of close guard tanks and the 3rd group army are assembled. They will carry out major raids in the central area to smash the German heavy army group in the fastif area. After joining our group army, the main force will continue to attack in the direction of berkichev; The 13th group army launched on the right wing of the front army to ensure the implementation of the campaign, and was responsible for raiding koroskin, wolensky new town and other places... "


    When biezikov introduced the mission to you, the commanders at the meeting all bowed their heads and quickly recorded something in their notebooks. Only when they heard bezikov mention a specific place name would they look up at the map and confirm where the place name was on the map.


    After introducing the situation of the front army, bezikov began to assign the task: "first of all, we should cooperate with the friendly forces to attack the enemy in the fastif area, and strive to annihilate or severely damage them. According to the orders of the higher authorities, the main forces from Kiev will attack from the East and north of fativ, while our group army will attack from the West.


    In order to strengthen the offensive force, the commander decided to transfer the 89th division of general Xie Liujin''s close guard to korostwev to take part in the attack on fastev. In this way, the forces of fastif that we took part in the attack included the 77th and 89th guard divisions, the cavalry division and the 22nd guard tank brigade. "


    "What will happen to our offensive forces?" Chisgakov continued: "according to our reconnaissance, in order to prevent our sudden attack, the enemy built a relatively perfect defensive position on the west side of the city. The seven kilometer long anti tank trench alone became a gap that infantry and tanks could not cross. At the back of the trench, the enemy not only built a large number of shooting shields, but also built solid fortifications to block the trench with firepower... "


    I listened carefully to every word that chisjakov said, and realized that if we could not find an effective way to break through the German defense, then our cooperation with friendly forces would only become empty words. Just then, I heard chisgakov raise his voice and say: "Comrade commander, although we and the friendly forces launched an attack on fastif at the same time, the enemy did not have any decent fortifications in the front of the friendly forces'' attack, so in the end, the friendly forces may be the first to rush into the city."


    Sitting in the commander below, someone suddenly asked in a loud voice, "Comrade deputy commander, can I ask you a question?"


    I looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was the cavalry division commander who was talking. Chisgakov looked at me and asked me if I agreed with the cavalry division commander. I nodded slightly, indicating that chisgakov could ask the other party to ask his own questions.


    At my suggestion, chisgakov nodded, then pointed to the cavalry division commander and said, "Sir, if you have any questions, just ask."


    The cavalry division commander stood up and asked politely, "Comrade deputy commander, I want to ask why the German forces in fastiev are only building fortifications in our direction? We need to know that our forces are far less than the main forces in Kiev. Even if the German forces want to defend, they should defend the East. How can they build positions in the West that are not important? "


    "Comrade division commander, I think that as long as you are a division commander of the sixth group army, you should be able to answer this question." With a smile, chisgakov said these words to the cavalry division commander. Then he turned to bezikov and said, "chief of staff, I think it''s up to you to answer this question."


    Bezikov stood up again, faced the cavalry division commander, and said, "Comrade division commander, there are only two reasons why the enemy built fortifications to the west of fastif. The first is that some time ago, we held fast to the tank brigade in korostwev and had a contest with the German tank division. Our new tanks broke the German Tiger and leopard tanks. Maybe they were afraid that we would attack them with armor, so they built fortifications to prevent our attack.


    The second point, I think, may be the fear of our commander. As you know, she is well-known in the German army. The last time we besieged a group of enemies, they were fighting tenaciously in the corner, but as soon as they heard the name of the commander, they immediately stopped resisting, laid down their arms and surrendered to our army. If I were the German commander and such a powerful opponent was close at hand, I would strengthen my defense. " After answering the question of the cavalry division commander, bzikov raised his voice and asked, "the task has been assigned. Does anyone have any questions?"¡° Comrade chief of staff, "tavartkilaze first asked," according to the order, our troops should hold on until the friendly troops arrive. I have a question. After joining forces with friendly forces, should we join forces with them and continue to attack the enemy in depth? "¡° General tavartkiraze, your task is to firmly defend Zhitomir. " Bezikov replied briefly and clearly: "as for the actions after the friendly forces join forces, you will be informed by the headquarters." After tavartkilaze asked questions, bere also stood up and said to me with a melancholy expression: "Comrade commander, my tank army is mainly T-34. The 76mm main guns of these tanks can''t penetrate the front armor of Tiger tanks and Ferdinand self-propelled guns at all, while the 88mm guns of the enemy can easily destroy our tanks."¡° General bielei, you are more experienced than me in dealing with enemy tanks. " I said to berey with a smile: "since the front armor of the enemy''s tanks can''t be penetrated, we will change our tactics and let the enemy''s tanks pass through our battle formation, and let the infantry use 40 rocket launchers, anti tank guns, anti tank grenades and * * to deal with them. Your tanks only need to deal with the infantry following them. "

 Chapter 1342

    After the commanders of the meeting left one after another, I suddenly thought of travkin, who was still in Lutsk. They quickly found kirilov, who was in charge of this matter, and asked, "Comrade military commissar, have they heard from travkin recently?"


    Kirilov nodded and replied, "we have been in telegraph contact with major trafkin."


    From kirilov''s facial expression, I guessed that he had not got any specific information about the amber room, otherwise he would not have mentioned to me about their reconnaissance team in such a long time. But to keep track of the latest developments, I asked, "what''s going on?"


    "Lieutenant gretka, posing as a German photographer, has successfully infiltrated the bank." Kirilov opened the book, stared at the contents and replied: "according to the information disclosed by Steiner, a German cultural relic expert they won, gretka has been taking photos in the vault, but because he has no access to the vault, he is not clear about the specific situation of second lieutenant gretka."


    From kirilov''s words, I could hear what he meant: gretka had been posing as a German photographer and had been in the vault for several days, but never came out of it. After thinking about it, I asked tentatively, "Comrade military commissar, do you think lieutenant gretka will stay in the Treasury all the time? It''s not going to leave the other exit long ago, is it? "


    "No way." Kirilov shook his head and said, "to get out of the vault, you have to go through the gate to get out of the bank. And travkin, they''ve been watching across from the bank and never seen Gretel come out


    "Why do you think this is happening?" I continued.


    Kirilov frowned for a moment, then replied, "I think lieutenant gretka should still be in the vault. The reason why he didn''t come out late just shows how valuable the cultural relics are. Maybe he can''t get out of it until he has finished shooting all the cultural relics. "


    Kirilov and I were talking about the reconnaissance team and cultural relics. Bizikov came up to me and said, "Comrade commander, there is a railway passing station more than ten kilometers to the northeast. I ask you to authorize me to use the materials in the warehouse of the passing station."


    "Will you let the goods in the warehouse stand?" Hearing this, I asked curiously, "chief of staff, I don''t know what materials are in the warehouse?"


    "The tracks!" Before I could continue to ask, bzikov replied clearly: "I think the best way for our tanks to cross the enemy''s anti tank trench is to set up tracks on the trench. After the tanks have passed, we will lay steel plates on the rails so that infantry and transport vehicles can pass through. "


    After listening to bezikov''s story, I filled in the plot of the tank driving through the trench from the track, then nodded and said with approval, "well, chief of staff, I authorize you to use all the materials in the warehouse. As long as there is something that can be used in battle, I will be responsible for the investigation by the higher authorities in the future. "


    Seeing that I had promised so readily, bzikov happily agreed and left the headquarters with a staff officer.


    Looking back at the departure of bezikov, I feel that since I became the commander of the group army, I have never been involved in many things. If bezikov doesn''t talk about preparing the rails, I haven''t thought about how to make our tanks successfully cross the enemy''s anti tank trench.


    I turned around and saw chisgakov sitting next to me, writing something on the paper. I went over and asked curiously, "Comrade deputy commander, what are you writing?"


    He looked up at me and said, "I''m calculating the amount of ammunition we need to take fativ."


    I sat down beside him, looked askew at the dense data he had written on the paper, and then asked, "can our existing ammunition reserves support us to complete such an offensive battle?"


    Chisjakov gave a wry smile, shook his head and said: "after repeated calculation, general povsky and I found that not only how we could save money, but also the artillery bombardment time for the German army could not last more than half an hour before we got new ammunition."


    Kirilov, who had heard our conversation, also came over and said, "Comrade deputy commander, if our artillery preparation time can not reach half an hour, it will be very difficult to destroy the enemy''s fortifications."


    "Yes, comrade military commissar, you are quite right." Chisgakov said bitterly: "if we follow the normal way of attack, we should prepare for the enemy''s defensive positions for a long time before the attack, so as to destroy the enemy''s fortifications and kill their living forces, and reduce the attack our troops suffer during the attack."


    Although kirilov is not familiar with the military aspect, he can''t be more familiar with the old style of our army. He nodded and echoed: "Comrade deputy commander, you are right. Our offensive tactics have always been like this. "


    Chisgakov turned his eyes to me and said with deep feeling: "however, some time ago, I heard from the commander that when the enemy is shelled by us, they usually transfer their troops in the first trench to the second trench to avoid our shelling, so as to reduce the casualties of the troops. I think that if we carry out such shelling before we attack fastif, the German officers and men who were originally deployed in the front will retreat to the second trench temporarily to avoid our shelling. We now have a limited number of shells. It is a waste for us to carry out such meaningless shelling. I think it is absolutely not allowed. "


    "Do you have any good idea, comrade deputy commander?" I listen to the implication of his words, it seems that I have other ideas, so I humbly ask him for advice: "speak it out, let''s all listen to it."


    He took out a piece of white paper, drew a simple sketch on it, and then looked up to us and said, "you see, this is the German defensive posture to the west of fativ. My idea is that after the shelling starts, let our tanks quickly advance to the anti tank trench, and fire at the enemy''s fire points behind the trench to destroy them one by one. At this time, our artillery can stop shelling, let the infantry hidden behind rush up, set up tracks on the trench, and help the tanks cross the enemy''s anti tank trench and develop in depth to their defense. "


    Mr. chisjakov''s proposal is somewhat of my fighting style, so after listening to it, I just gave a gentle grace and did not express any opinions. Kirilov pointed to the sketch and continued to ask, "what if our tanks were attacked by German anti tank fighters hiding nearby when they crossed the trench?" At this point, he turned his eyes to me. "I remember an anti tank trench invented by Rita. In the battle of Kursk, it was proved by facts that it could completely block the large-scale German armored forces. What shall we do if the German army uses this tactic against us? "


    "Comrade military commissar, I have also considered what you said." "We''re going to send infantry and tanks together, and we''re going to send anti tank fighters to cover our tanks," chisjakov said


    "Comrade deputy commander, you are very considerate." After listening to the proposal of wanchisgakov, I felt that it was quite effective to deal with the German defensive position on the west side of fastev. I nodded and agreed and said, "when the battle starts, do as you said."


    How to make the tank successfully cross the German anti tank trench, this problem is solved. Kirilov asked curiously, "Comrade deputy commander, since the German anti tank trench is no longer a great threat to our troops, what are you worried about?"


    "Tank!" Looking at kirilov, chisgakov said with a wry smile: "we have too few tanks now. Although there are three tank brigades in korostrov, the total number of tanks is no more than 100, while in fastyv, the German tanks are more than 400. One to four, comrades of the military Commissar. I have a headache when I think about it. "


    "Don''t we have new tanks? They are most suitable for dealing with German Tiger and leopard tanks Kirilov obviously didn''t realize the seriousness of the problem, and still said with enthusiasm: "although the number is a little less, the German tanks have no way to take them."


    "Comrade military commissar, the number of our new tanks is too small and the ammunition they carry is too small." Chisjakov patiently explained to kirilov: "once their shells are exhausted, the remaining T-34 tanks of the tank brigade can only become the targets of German Tiger and leopard tanks."


    After hearing this, kirilov was silent for a long time before he said, "this attack on fastif is to move with the friendly forces at the same time. I hope they can attract most of the enemy tanks to the East, so that we can reduce some pressure on our attack."


    "It''s hard to say what happened on the battlefield." As for the upcoming counter offensive, chisgakov showed his skepticism at the moment. "During this period of fighting, the 38th and 60th army groups were defeated by the German army. I am afraid that after the counter offensive, their attack will be restrained by the 48th German armored army of fativ. If that is the case, our attack will become an isolated battle. At that time, let alone destroying the enemy, we may still be surrounded by the enemy. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, you are too pessimistic. The situation will not be as bad as you think." I''m deeply afraid that chisgakov''s mood will affect kirilov''s pre war mobilization work. I''m ready to let him take charge. If he doesn''t have the confidence to win, how can he encourage his commanders and fighters to fight? So I broke in and said, "although the enemy has temporarily taken advantage, their living strength is almost consumed. As long as our counterattack starts, they will soon be defeated by us. "


    In order to make my words more credible, I specially stressed: "you should not forget that among the units of the front army, there are the first group of close guard tanks of general katukov and the third group of close guard tanks of general rebalko. These two tank units with outstanding achievements in war, however, make the Germans feel frightened. I believe that with their participation, the great counterattack we have carried out this time will surely win an unexpected victory. "


    "Yes, comrade commander. I admit that the tank troops under the command of general katukov and general rebalko can teach the German army a lesson that will never be forgotten. " "It''s a pity that they are too far away from us. If they can help us with one or two tank brigades, I believe that in two days'' battle, our chances of winning will be greatly improved."


    It''s beyond my reach. The first idiom that comes to mind when I listen to chisjakov. I was looking for something to comfort him when I saw razumeyeva come over with a happy face. Seeing the expression on her face, I knew I was curious, so I raised my voice and asked, "Captain razumeyeva, have you brought us any good news when you look so happy?"


    "Comrade commander, you guessed right." While walking towards me, razumeyeva said excitedly: "the telegram was sent by general katukov. He said that he would send two tank brigades to cooperate with the next battle of our group army."¡° What, general katukov sent us two tank brigades. " Chisgakovton, who was still sad, was stunned. He suddenly stood up, grabbed in front of me, took the katukov telegram from razumeyeva''s hand, and read it eagerly. He soon finished reading the telegram and handed it to me. At the same time, he said excitedly, "Comrade commander, that''s great. That''s great. Katukov said in the telegram: he is ready to send the 100th and 200th brigades of tanks and the 20th brigade of mechanized guards to cross the forest and enter korostev to join our troops in the attack on fastif. The troops will leave tonight and arrive at noon tomorrow at the latest. " While I was reading the telegram, kirilov was still worried and asked, "the forest is full of makeshift roads, and even the passage of trucks is very difficult. Can tanks pass through?" I put the telegram on the table, and then said faintly, "Comrade military commissar, you may not know that the temperature will start to drop in the morning. By tonight, the temperature will reach minus 20 degrees. By that time, the roads in the forest will have frozen, and there will be no big problem for the passage of tanks."

 Chapter 1343

    Although katukov sent me a telegram saying that his two tank brigades and a mechanized brigade would arrive at noon the next day and take part in our offensive against fastif. But the plan couldn''t keep up with the change. Until 3 p.m., I still didn''t receive the message of friendly troops arriving. So I called major general berey in korostvev, and he replied that he had sent people to scout in the direction of the friendly forces, but he had not received any report so far.


    Chisgakov was a little worried when he learned that the reinforcements had not arrived. He carefully reminded me: "Comrade commander, do you want to send a telegram to general katukov to ask what happened and why the troops had not arrived at the designated position in the afternoon?"


    Although I was worried about the delay of the troops, I also knew that it was useless to send a telegram to katukov at this time. In the case of wind and snow, if the troops want to march for hundreds of kilometers in the forest, they are bound to encounter many unexpected difficulties. It''s perfectly normal when they can''t arrive on time. It''s like when we go to express delivery and deliver the things to express delivery company, when we can reach the destination, to a large extent, we can only let fate decide.


    However, seeing that chisgakov was in such a hurry, I would like to say a few words: "Comrade deputy commander, you see the wind and snow outside is so heavy, even if you march on the road, you will inevitably be affected, let alone in the forest. Moreover, general katukov''s support for our troops has not been considered in our operational plan at all, so even if they can''t arrive before the battle, we will launch the attack on fativ according to the original plan. "


    Listen to me, chisgakov''s face was full of disappointment. He sighed with regret and said, "it''s a pity. Unfortunately, I thought that general katukov had supported our two tank brigades. Our armored assault strength could be greatly improved, so as to conquer the German defensive positions in the shortest time. Now it seems that whether they can take part in this battle is a question. "


    After he finished, I said with a smile, "don''t worry, comrade deputy commander. We haven''t launched an attack on the enemy yet. Maybe they can arrive before the battle starts."


    After that, I called bzikov over and said to him, "chief of staff, it seems that the snowstorm outside can''t stop for a while. In addition, the weather is too cold. If the troops enter the attack position too early, it will lead to a large number of non combat casualties. You should inform the commanders of all the departments participating in the war that the troops will wait until one o''clock in the morning tomorrow before they start to attack the positions. "


    When bezikov called to convey my order, I asked akhromeyev again, "major, does the reconnaissance battalion have the latest information about fastyv?"


    Akhromeyev nodded and said, "I received information from the reconnaissance battalion a few minutes ago. At present, there is a silence in the west of farstev. It may be because of the heavy snow and wind. The enemy''s position can''t see any movement. They may be hiding in a warm shelter. "


    After listening to akhromeyev''s report, I turned my face to look at chisgakov and jokingly said, "Comrade deputy commander, if the Germans will not come out of the warm shelter when we attack tomorrow, our attack will be as easy as a drill."


    As for what I said, chisgakov just grinned, then changed the topic and asked me, "Comrade commander, who are you going to send to the front to command the battle tomorrow, are you or me?"


    Because of the large number of troops participating in the war tomorrow, we can''t do without unified command. At present, there are only two military commanders in the group army, tavartkilaze and bere. The former shoulders the heavy responsibility of defending Zhitomir and can''t get rid of it at all; The latter is only a tank commander, who is asked to command all kinds of operations, but his ability is slightly insufficient. Therefore, we can only send people from the headquarters to command in the middle.


    After thinking about it, I answered him, "Comrade deputy commander, if you stay at the headquarters tomorrow, I''ll be in charge of the battle at the front line of fativ."


    After listening to my proposal, chisgakov said nothing, but nodded his head and agreed. After a while, he asked me, "will general Svoboda''s Czech first brigade also let them take part in tomorrow''s battle?"


    "The 89th division of general seleucin''s guards has been transferred to korostwev, and there is only one motorized infantry regiment left at the base. The troops are too weak." I calmly replied, "it''s still according to the original plan to let the first Czech brigade take over the defense of the sherekin division."


    "But, comrades commander," chisjakov said with some embarrassment, "general Svoboda is quite dissatisfied with our arrangement of their defense base. He said that shortly after the new expansion of the army, most of the soldiers have not participated in combat. In order to make the army form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, he proposed to let them exercise in tomorrow''s battle. "


    "No, no," I said with an extremely arduous attitude, "Comrade deputy commander, I think you should understand in your heart that tomorrow''s battle will be a fierce one. If the Czech first brigade is transferred up rashly, once the new soldiers are frightened by the sound of guns and the cruel and bloody scenes in the battle, they will turn around and run back, which will lead to our demoralization and demoralization. "


    "Well, comrade commander, since you say so, I''ll go and persuade general Svoboda later so that he can change his mind." "In fact, it''s a very important responsibility to be responsible for the defense work here, and I will make it clear to him about the interests of this," chisgakov said


    In the evening, I called Yushchenko in and ordered him to assemble a company of guards, led by major bukov, the deputy commander, to follow me to the front of farstev.


    As soon as we left the base, we saw a jeep coming in front of us. I stared at the jeep that was getting closer and closer. I thought that if I was driving so fast on a snowy day, I must have some important information to send to the headquarters, so I immediately told the driver, "stop!"


    "I understand!" The driver agreed, honked the horn twice, and then pulled the car to the side of the road. The following trucks first stopped in turn, and then the trucks in front of them stopped one after another because they heard the driver''s horn.


    The jeep coming from the opposite side saw our motorcade stop and slowed down. Because of our team, the only car I took was jeep, and the rest were trucks, so the jeep stopped next to us.


    Bukov, who had been getting off from the co driver''s seat for a long time, saw the other party''s car stop and rushed to the front of the car. Then the back door of the jeep rang, and a commander in general''s uniform got out. When I looked at each other carefully, bukov had come up to him, raised his hand and politely asked, "Hello, Comrade General! What part are you and why are you here? "


    The general of medium build and thin face raised his hand and politely said, "Hello, comrade major! This is major general babajaniyang, commander of the 20th brigade of the mechanized guards of the Eighth Army. Who is this As he said this, he took a quick glance at our car. "Where are you going?"


    "I''m major bukov, deputy head of the group''s military and police regiment." After listening to the other party''s identity, bukov truthfully answered the other party''s question: "I was ordered to escort the commander to the front."


    I sat in the car, and after hearing babajanian''s name, I frowned and thought for a moment, vaguely remembering that katukov had mentioned him to me. At this time, I felt that it was not suitable to sit in the car again, so I pushed the door open and got out of the car. With a smile on my face, I reached out to babajanian and took the initiative to say hello to him: "Hello, general babajanian, I''m oshanina. Nice to meet you here."


    Babajanian saw me coming out of the car and quickly saluted me. Then he took my hand and politely said, "Hello, comrade general, I have heard our commander and commander mention you many times. It''s my honor to fight with you tomorrow. "


    "How''s general klivaschein?" I asked politely, "I haven''t seen him in four months since the battle in Kursk."


    "He''s fine." Babajanian replied, "he often mentions you in front of me. He says that the troops under your command have made many achievements on the battlefield, which has made the Germans scared."


    I don''t know whether his praise comes from the heart or from the common courtesy. When he finished, I asked, "general babajanian, where are your troops?"


    Babajanian raised his hand, looked at his watch and said, "it''s time for them to drive into korostrev." Maybe he guessed that I was going to ask about the tank brigade next, and he quickly added, "because the roads in the forest are not completely frozen, it is very difficult for the tanks to drive, so the tank brigade gave way to the motorcade of our brigade''s commanders and fighters."


    "When will they arrive?" I continued.


    Babajanian shook his head and said helplessly: "it''s hard to say. If the road is frozen, I think they should be able to arrive in the middle of the night, otherwise they will be waiting for tomorrow afternoon at the most."


    I was very disappointed to hear that the tank brigade could not arrive in a short time. But in front of babajanian, I tried to hide my disappointment. I tried to say in a calm tone, "Comrade General, are you going to the headquarters to find me?"


    "Yes, general oshanina." Babajanian said politely, "according to the order I received, the troops must report to you immediately after they arrive at their destination." At this point, he grinned and said, "I''m lucky. I met you on the way."


    "Comrade General, please get in the car and go with me?" Finish saying, I then the body side, stretched out a hand to do a please posture. He was not polite, nodded at me, then limped to the open door, helped the door and got into the car.


    After the jeep was restarted, in order not to be cold, I intentionally talked about babajanian''s past achievements: "Comrade General, if I remember correctly, in the battle in early July, your tank brigade successfully blocked the German 48th armored army, and beat back the attacks of the Hitler division and the great Germanic division. But at that time, your serial number didn''t seem to be the 20th brigade of guards mechanization? "


    Babajanian''s mouth tilted slightly when I mentioned his past achievements. After a while, he replied, "yes, at that time our serial number was still the mechanized third brigade. After the capture of tomarovka in October, our army was renamed the mechanized eighth close guard army because of its military achievements, and our brigade was also renamed the mechanized 20th close guard brigade."


    I remembered that babajanian was a little lame when he was walking on the bus, so I asked with concern, "Comrade General, I think your feet are a little inconvenient when you walk. Have you ever been injured?" Babajanian replied with a smile: "general oshanina, you have observed it very carefully. Not long after the battle in Kursk, I was seriously injured in my left leg and spent four months in the hospital Four months later, when I heard what he said, I immediately calculated it silently in my heart and found that even if he was injured in early July and stayed in the hospital for four months, it should be not long after he was discharged. Thinking of this, I immediately asked with concern: "Comrade General, the injury on your leg will not affect the command of operations, will it?"¡° Don''t worry, general oshanina Babajanian patted his chest to give me a reassurance and said, "after lying in the hospital for four months, my leg has been healed a long time ago. Although it''s a little inconvenient to walk, it''s no problem for me to drive a tank to charge the enemy. " After expressing his determination to me, he asked curiously, "general oshanina, I don''t know what our brigade''s mission is in tomorrow''s battle?"¡° Since we did not know that general katukov would send you when we formulated the combat mission, we did not include you in the list of offensive forces. " When I finished these two sentences, I saw that he looked disappointed and said in a hurry: "of course, with the participation of your brigade, we have a higher chance of winning. After tomorrow''s battle, your brigade will stay in the rear as a reserve. When there is a shortage of troops along the line, you will join the cavalry division in the battle. "¡° Since your operational plan has been worked out for a long time, I will obey your arrangement. " Babajanian''s mood soon returned to normal, and he said in a flat tone: "however, general oshanina, I beg you to put my troops into battle, no matter whether the troops at the front are tight or not. We walked for almost a day and a night, from Kiev through the snow covered forest to korostev, 200 kilometers away. We didn''t come to be a reserve team

 Chapter 1344

    When I heard babajanian say these words with a sense of anger, I restrained my smile and said sternly: "Comrade babajanian, although we have liberated the forces of fastif to the scale of two infantry divisions, one cavalry division and three tank brigades, we still have a long way to go to conquer the city occupied by the German army, So your brigade will be put into battle sooner or later. But you''ve just gone through a long journey. What you need now is rest so that the commanders and fighters can recover. "


    "But, general o''shanina." Babajanian asked anxiously: "can''t we make our brigade the main attack? You know, the 48th armored army is our enemy. They owe us countless blood debts. We will let them pay them with blood. "


    "Comrade babajanian, good steel should be used on the blade." After babajanian finished, I said to him with a smile, "the battle to liberate fastif will be very fierce. When the war between the enemy and us becomes stalemate, your brigade will play an important role in fighting again. Do you understand? "


    "I see, general oshanina." Babajanian said suddenly: "the first thing I do when I go back to the army is to arrange for the soldiers to have a good rest. Only in this way can they maintain their strong fighting capacity in the battle tomorrow. "


    "Yes, that''s it."


    Babajanian straightened up, asked for my advice and said, "now I want to go back to the army immediately. General oshanina, will you allow me to leave?"


    I nodded, and then told the driver: "Comrade driver, stop by the side of the road!"


    After the car stopped, babajanian raised his hand to salute me, pushed the door open, got out of the car and limped to his jeep.


    The forward command headquarters is located at the edge of a forest five kilometers west of farstev, where there is a high ground. The observation post set up above can clearly see the whole battlefield.


    When I walked into the headquarters, I didn''t know who yelled out: "the commander is here!"


    With the shouts, the busy people in the headquarters suddenly stopped their work, straightened up and paid attention to our bank.


    I quickly raised my hands and motioned to everyone to continue working. Then I went to berey and povsky, who were standing at the table, and said to them with a smile: "Hello, two general comrades. I didn''t expect you to be here so early. "


    "Comrade commander, you are not too late." Povsky replied with a smile, "as soon as general bere and I finished building the headquarters, you came."


    When I sat down, the first thing I said was, "how''s it going?"


    "According to the position, the enemy''s position was as usual, and there was no sign of any reinforcement or fortification." "Perhaps our attack was not noticed by them, so their defense didn''t seem tight," berey replied


    I was surprised to hear that. Because up to now, we have not deployed more than one battalion here, which is mainly used to build forward headquarters. It is not surprising that the German army has not found it. So I said to him, "general berey, our army has not been here yet. How can the Germans find us?"


    As soon as I finished, I saw bere and povsky look at each other, then turn around and look at me with strange eyes. I felt that something must have happened that I didn''t know. I immediately asked, "why, am I wrong?"


    "The 22nd brigade of the close guard tank entered the attack position an hour ago." Bielei was a little surprised and asked: "after the troops arrived at the designated position, I asked the staff to report to the headquarters. Comrade commander, didn''t you receive my report?"


    I calculated the time. When he reported it, I should be on my way¡° Oh, I was on my way at that time, so I didn''t get your report. " I pause for a moment, then ask a little worried, "the remaining two tank brigades and two or three divisions will enter the attack position in the early morning. Will there be too much movement then?"


    "Don''t worry." "We are more than five kilometers away from the enemy''s position. The enemy can''t hear anything," he said


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Seeing that it was still early, I asked them, "I want to go to the observation station above. Which one of you will go with me?"


    "I''ll go with you." With these words, berey took a look at povsky and explained to me, "the artillery commander is here to verify the data provided by the artillery observer, so as to provide more accurate firing parameters for the artillery."


    "Yes, comrade commander." Povsky then said: "because our artillery shell reserves are limited, it requires our shooting accuracy to be higher. In order to be on the safe side, I will carefully verify the data provided by the observer. "


    After listening to what bofsky said, I did not force him any more, but went along the traffic ditch with bere to the observation post on the east side of the hillside.


    After entering the observation station, I nodded to the two soldiers who saluted. Then I quickly came to the observation port, raised my telescope and looked into the distance. Here, you can clearly see the buildings in farstev city in the distance, and the long anti tank trench outside the city to block the advance of our tanks. I thought to myself that although I saw the calm on the surface, there might be German troops watching us in the snow covered firepower.


    "Comrade commander, what are you thinking?" Don''t look at me holding the telescope. I can''t help but ask curiously, "are you thinking about the attack tomorrow?"


    I put down my telescope and looked sideways. "General bielei, how sure are you to let our tanks cross the anti tank trench and rush to the depth of the enemy''s defense in the shortest time?"


    Don''t think about it, then shrug his shoulders and reply, "it''s not easy to say. According to the normal way of playing, at least one hour''s artillery preparation should be carried out before the attack, so as to destroy the German defensive positions as much as possible and relieve the pressure for our next attack. " At this point, he shrunk and said rather reluctantly, "but because of the limited reserves of shells, the artillery attack on the enemy''s positions can not be sustained for half an hour. I''m afraid that even if our tank troops rush up when the enemy is suppressed by our artillery fire and it is difficult to defend, it will be difficult to achieve any ideal results."


    "General bielei, I just looked at it. Although the enemy''s anti tank trench seems to be an insurmountable obstacle, if we fight, the situation may not be so bad." I pointed to the German position in the distance and continued: "when the tank troops carry out the assault, you can concentrate on destroying all the fortifications and firepower points in a certain area of the enemy, and rush to the depth of the enemy from there to completely disrupt their defense."


    At five o''clock in the morning, I heard a rumbling sound from outside the headquarters, and I knew immediately that it was our tanks and trucks full of commanders and fighters, slowly moving towards the final attack position.


    After about half an hour, askarebov, sherekin, the cavalry division commander and several other tank brigade commanders entered the headquarters one after another and reported to me that the troops had entered the designated attack position and could attack the enemy at any time.


    After they finished their report, I scanned the commanders in the room one by one, but I didn''t find any sign of babajanian. I asked curiously, "why didn''t I see general babajanian? Where is he?"


    After hearing my question, several commanders looked at each other and Xie Liujin reported to me, "Comrade commander, when we set out, general babajanian''s troops were still resting. I don''t think they will arrive here in a short time."


    "Hell, it''s time to sleep in the city." After listening to Xie Liujin''s report, bielei said a little displeased: "even the reserves should enter the offensive position before the battle starts."


    I saw that bere was complaining about babajanian''s absence. He quickly raised his hand to stop him and said, "general bere, the mechanized 20th brigade of babajanian''s guards, braved the wind and snow all night. The commanders and fighters are very tired. Let them have a good rest. I estimate that even if they want to fight, they will have to wait until the afternoon at the earliest. They will have enough time. "


    Then I turned to the commanders and said, "comrades, although you are very clear about your tasks, I still want to repeat them here. Five minutes after the shelling, the three tank brigades formed a battle formation and charged against the enemy''s defensive positions; Ten minutes after the departure of the tank brigade, the 77th division of the guard infantry took a truck to get off at a distance of two kilometers from the enemy position, and then rushed to support the tank troops. Do you understand? "


    "I see!" Two guards division commanders and three tank brigade commanders replied in unison.


    "Comrade commander, what about the tasks of our division?" Seeing that I didn''t mention the task of the cavalry division, the cavalry division commander was a little worried. He couldn''t wait to ask, "our cavalry can attack the enemy''s position before the infantry starts."


    "The cavalry division can''t attack until our troops break through the enemy''s anti tank trench." I was deeply afraid that the cavalry division commander would be emotional and patiently explained to him, "the target of the cavalry is too big. If we rush up before our troops break through the anti tank trench, we will be trapped in front of the anti tank trench. The crowded cavalry is the target of the enemy."


    "Well, comrade commander, I see." The cavalry division commander said helplessly: "my troops are ready to go, ready to fight at any time. At your command, we will charge towards the enemy''s defensive positions. "


    "Comrade division, it''s too cold in the forest. If the soldiers are allowed to ride on horseback for several hours, they will be easily frostbitten. After you go back, let them find a place to rest and wait patiently for the attack order. "


    At six o''clock in the morning, there was a rumble of artillery in the distance. The commanders who were waiting for orders in the headquarters all stood up. They all looked up to see what was going on. Seeing this, I thought about it, and then said, "comrades, you can''t see anything in the headquarters. If you want to see it, you''d better follow me to the observation post on the hillside. "


    When we arrived at the observation post, several commanders rushed to the observation port to see what was going on outside. It wasn''t bright yet, but we all saw clearly that the sky to the east of farstev was red. "Comrades commander, this is a friendly artillery attack on the enemy''s defensive position. In terms of scale, at least two artillery guns have been used," he said


    The experienced bofsky is an expert in artillery. I absolutely believe what he said is true. So he nodded and asked, "Comrade bofsky, when do you think it is appropriate for us to start shelling the enemy?" Povsky thought for a moment, and then replied, "I think it will be at least an hour after the friendly artillery attack, when the attention of the German army will be attracted to the East, we will surprise the enemy at this time, which will surely lead them into a short period of chaos. In this way, I don''t think they can draw much artillery, Stop and shoot at our tank troops rushing to the city. "¡° Well, comrade povsky, since you say so, do as you say. " Povsky raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he asked me, "Comrade commander, I''m going to go back to the headquarters and give orders to the Artillery Corps and the rocket battalion. Will you allow me to leave?"¡° Go, go. " I waved to him and finally told him, "please call me before the shelling starts." Watching povsky leave, some dejected scheliujin came up to me and asked carefully, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what we started to bombard the German army?"¡° It''s going to be an hour at the fastest. " After answering his question, I called all the commanders to me and said, "well, comrades, it''s time for you to go back to your respective units. Although the shelling will not start for some time, you should make the tanks and trucks warm up during this period, and then you can quickly attack the enemy''s defensive positions after the shelling starts. " After listening to my orders, the commanders raised their hands to salute me, and then left the observation post, rushing back to their troops one after another to arrange the attack. After an hour and a half, the eastern friendly shelling on the enemy of fativ finally stopped. The whole battlefield suddenly became silent, but it lasted only a few minutes, and the silence was broken by the roar of guns behind me. This is bofsky''s artillery, the German position in the west of the city began shelling.

 Chapter 1345

    I saw in the observation post that the shells of the howitzer regiment fell on the enemy''s position and exploded, and the soil and snow powder burst into the sky. The civil bunkers that were originally covered with snow, like paper toys, were torn up by the air waves of explosion and then flew high into the air and scattered around the explosion point.


    Standing next to a telephone, wearing earphones, bielei said loudly to the microphone, "all brigades are ready to attack. Pay attention to keep the formation. Every car is separated by 100 meters." Then he stopped, probably listening to the commander''s reply. After a moment, he raised his voice and called out, "at my command, the whole army will attack!"


    In a short time, I heard a huge roar. The tanks from the forest crossed our highland, formed in neat formation, and attacked the German position in the distance. As the snow was melted by the high temperature of the shell explosion, the trench which was only vaguely visible became clear. From time to time, I could see one or two swaying helmets in the telescope, which should be the observation post left by the German army.


    I was concentrating my attention on the enemy''s position when I heard bielei''s voice in my ear: "Comrade commander, are you a little disappointed?"


    "Disappointed?" When I heard his mindless words, I quickly put down my telescope, looked at him and asked curiously, "general bielei, why am I disappointed?"


    Instead of answering my question directly, berey pointed at the advancing tank troops with his hand, and then said, "look at the tanks that are rushing to the enemy''s position!"


    I don''t know what he''s talking about, but I''m still turning my face, looking at the tank troops with a telescope in front of me. At the same time, I roughly count that there are at least hundreds of tanks driving towards the enemy''s position at high speed on the snow.


    "General berey, I still don''t understand you." I was really confused by berey, so I put down my telescope and said to him impatiently, "if you have anything to say, I''m not interested in playing any guessing games."


    "Well, comrade commander." "There should have been about 160 tanks participating in the assault today, but before entering the attack position, some of the tanks broke down, so there were only more than 110 tanks participating in the battle at last," he said


    In my impression, there should be at least 300 tanks in the three tank brigades, but now only one third of them are fighting. So I asked sternly, "general bielei, why are there so few tanks?"


    "The two tank brigades that our superiors have given us are not fully equipped." "The 22nd brigade of the integrated guard tank lost more than half of the battle with the enemy. In addition, when we were bombed by the enemy in the early days, we also lost some tanks. Therefore, in today''s battle, the only tanks that we can put into combat are those. "


    "Well, don''t ray general, don''t say it. It''s not your fault. Don''t blame yourself." I saw the shame on berey''s face. I quickly interrupted him with a wave, comforted him and said, "there are more than 100 tanks, which are enough to break through the enemy''s positions."


    As our tanks got closer and closer to the enemy''s positions, the howitzer regiment stopped firing, and a salvo fire came from the close guard rocket battalion. As the smoke turned from thick to thin, I saw groups of German officers and men running quickly from the second trench to the first trench along the traffic trench. When the traffic moat was blown down and the area was impassable, they jumped out decisively, bent forward and ran for a while, and then jumped into the passable traffic moat again.


    Seeing this situation, bielei snorted and said with emotion: "Comrade commander, the Germans are really the same as you said. When they were shelled by our army, except for a few observation posts, the main forces withdrew to the second trench. When our shelling is over, they''ll be back. "


    When povsky heard what berey said, he went to the observation port, raised his telescope for a while, and then said rather helplessly: "general berey, if it wasn''t for the limited reserves of our shells, I might be able to make a rapid attack at this time, maybe I could kill more enemies. But I can''t do anything now. The rest is up to you tank troops. "


    Just a few hundred meters away from the anti tank trench, the truck full of our commanders and fighters rushed out of the forest and quickly rushed to the German position.


    Then the German artillery opened fire. In addition to shelling the tank troops that were rapidly approaching the anti tank trench, more shells fell into the speeding motorcade. Shells with a scream, constantly falling on the high-speed truck around the explosion} blast. The tarpaulin on several trucks was ignited by gunfire. The driver immediately stopped the truck so that the commanders and fighters in the compartment could jump out of the car.


    Unfortunately, a truck was hit directly by German artillery shells as it snaked wildly in the snow and tried to break through the barrage¡° Boom A loud noise, I only see in the light of the fire, car parts were blown flying all over the sky, soldiers covered with fire were thrown around by the waves. A burning tire rolled out of the flames and continued to roll forward.


    Seeing that the truck was directly destroyed by the enemy''s shells, my heart seemed to be seized by something, and I felt very sad. After a long time, I murmured: "all the commanders and fighters in this car are finished. It seems that none of them survived."


    Perhaps it was because of the enemy''s shelling that the troops taking the truck should get off at a place two kilometers away from the enemy''s position, but I don''t know who gave the order, so the truck rushed directly to a place less than 300 meters away from the enemy''s position. As soon as the car stopped, the commanders and fighters jumped down like dumplings, and then rushed to the tank parked by the ditch.


    Our tanks stopped by the trench and shelled the enemy position opposite. Under the attack of tank guns and vehicle mounted machine guns, the German troops in the trenches were suppressed so that they could not raise their heads. Only their long-range guns were still shooting.


    Seeing the tanks beside the trench, one of them was hit by the enemy''s artillery from time to time, and then began to burn. Berey''s face twitched violently. He turned to povsky and said, "Comrade artillery commander, can your artillery fire to suppress the enemy''s fire?"


    Povsky shook his head, regretfully said: "general bielei, I would like to help you, but the artillery shells are all out, I can do nothing now."


    I held up my telescope and quietly looked at the battlefield in front of me. I found that the situation was not as bad as I thought. Because the German troops in the fortifications near the anti tank trench were suppressed by our tank fire, they could not form any threat to our attacking troops. Many commanders and fighters unloaded the rails tied to the body of the tank and put them on the trench to build a passage for the tank to pass through the anti tank trench.


    With the help of infantry, more than 30 simple bridges were set up on the anti tank trench used by the German army to prevent our tanks from attacking. So our tanks and infantry, along these channels, rushed through the trenches and headed for the depth of the enemy.


    Seeing that the tanks and troops were crossing the anti tank trench one after another, Captain povsky sighed and said, "thank God, our tank troops broke through the German anti tank trench so easily. I thought it would take heavy casualties to cross the trench."


    "Comrade artillery commander, our casualties are not small." "You see, in front of the anti tank trench, at least 20 tanks are burning, and a dozen trucks are destroyed by German artillery fire in the process of impact. Our infantry have lost at least one battalion," said berey with a sad face


    As more and more tanks and infantry passed the trench and rushed to the depth of the enemy, bielei suggested to me, "Comrade commander, can you let the cavalry attack now? They are moving fast. As long as they rush up, they can shorten our speed of defeating the enemy. "


    "No, not yet." I pointed to the battlefield where we were fighting, and said, "after crossing the trench, our soldiers rushed into the enemy''s position and are fighting with them in the trench. At this time, the cavalry will not be of any use at all. On the contrary, it will easily become the target of the enemy. "


    As soon as I finished, the cavalry division commander called in. As soon as the phone rang, he said, "Comrade commander, now the infantry and tanks have broken through the enemy''s line of defense. When can our division go up?"


    From my heart, I don''t like cavalry very much. In today''s battlefield, it is a chicken branch. According to my original intention, it''s better to let them all dismount so that I can use them as infantry. At the moment, I''m not happy to see that the cavalry division commander is eager to fight. My heart says that the infantry are fighting for the trench with the German army. What can you do for the cavalry? You can''t ride a horse in the trench and wave a sabre to fight with the enemy? However, without dampening his enthusiasm, I said perfunctorily, "don''t worry, sir. When it''s your turn to be in the division, I will let you go. Your first task now is to seize the time to rest, so as to ensure that you can maintain a strong fighting capacity in the next battle. "


    "Well, comrade commander, I will obey your orders." When I said that, the cavalry division commander recognized that I was perfunctory, but he had no choice but to agree and hang up.


    Seeing that I refused the cavalry division commander''s request, berey hesitated for a moment, and then began to cautiously suggest to me: "Comrade commander, I think our infantry, under the cover of tanks, can completely occupy the first German trench and attack the second one in more than ten minutes at most. You see if you can let the cavalry comrades attack first, and when they arrive at the anti tank trench, they will be able to catch up with our attack on the German second line of defense. "


    I know that berey was also a cavalry many years ago. He had a special feeling for the cavalry. When I heard him say that, I hesitated again and again, thinking that it would be good to let the cavalry division come out with a strong momentum. So he nodded and said, "well, general bielei, since you say so, let the cavalry division be ready. Five minutes later, the whole division will be officially put into battle."


    Seeing that I let go and agreed to let the cavalry division take part in the war as soon as possible, bielei agreed excitedly and went to call the cavalry division to convey my latest order to them.


    Looking at bere on the phone, I suddenly found that I didn''t bring major akhromeyev when I came here this time. If he was there, I only need to give an order on many things, and he can do it properly.


    When I saw the tank troops leading the infantry towards the second German line of defense, I put down my telescope and nodded at bierre, indicating that the cavalry division was ready to attack. With a smug promise, bielei happily called the cavalry division commander and asked him to lead the cavalry to attack immediately.


    A few minutes later, the attacking cavalry division appeared in my view. They were in a sparse formation. Almost all the cavalry on the horse were wearing black cloaks. Their shoulders were high on both sides, and their sabers were pointed to the front, shining in the sunshine. The cavalry had just crossed half of the distance when a thick black spot suddenly appeared in the distance and rushed towards their side. Seeing this situation, berey suddenly exclaimed: "hell, it''s German tanks. Where did they come from?" The German tanks, hearing what berey said, I quickly turned the telescope around and carefully observed the direction of the black spot. Soon I saw that these black spots were made up of more than 40 German tanks. They were in two lines and rushed towards the side of the cavalry division. My heart is not good, if really wait for the German tanks to come, then the cavalry division will be cut off. In the open, cavalry will become lambs to be slaughtered when they meet tanks. Brey grabbed bofsky''s shoulder and asked anxiously, "Comrade artillery commander, can your artillery intercept the enemy''s tanks with artillery fire? Otherwise, when they rush to the middle of the cavalry division, the cavalry division will suffer heavy casualties. "¡° No, general berey Povsky said bitterly, "the artillery regiment has just run out of shells. Otherwise, if you don''t tell me, I will order the artillery to fire." He stopped for a moment and asked tentatively, "can you turn your tank troops around and counter attack the enemy''s tanks?"¡° If there''s no trench, I can turn the tanks around right away. " He pointed to the antitank trench in the distance and said, "at this time, to make the tank turn around, we should not only pass through the trench and antitank trench occupied by our army, but also prevent the armored forces behind the enemy''s second line of defense from attacking. In a word, our tank troops can only march forward and never retreat, otherwise our attack will be defeated, and the thousands of officers and men who took part in the war will be wiped out by the enemy. "¡° What can we do? We can''t just watch the cavalry division be destroyed, can we Bofsky, who has always been calm, is also in chaos.

 Chapter 1346

    At first it looked like a tank the size of a black spot, but now it''s almost like a beetle. They stopped one after another and began to attack the flanks of the cavalry division with tank guns and vehicle mounted machine guns.


    After seeing the enemy''s tanks, the cavalry, who had been running at a constant speed, immediately bent down and speeded up their horse''s speed, trying to cross the anti tank trench in front of them as soon as possible and stay away from the German tanks that suddenly appeared.


    But no matter how fast the horse runs, can it run faster than shells and bullets? Immediately, many cavalry commanders and soldiers fell from the tall horses because they were shot or hit by shrapnel, and smashed heavily in the snow, splashing a mass of snow powder. Some of the officers and men were directly hit by tank shells, and their horses were blown to pieces on the spot.


    "General povsky, order your artillery to fire quickly." Nervously, I watched the massacre on the battlefield with my telescope. At the same time, I yelled to povsky, who was standing beside me, who was numb. "If this goes on like this, before the cavalry division rushes through the trench, it will be wiped out by the German army for most of the time."


    "But, comrade commander." "The artillery regiment and the rocket battalion have used up all their ammunition," povsky replied with a sad face


    "It''s impossible," he said angrily. "I see that the rocket battalion has only launched one volley. How can it use up all the shells?"


    "General bere," povsky explained, seeing that his old friend was angry with him, "our rocket battalion has not been replenished for at least a month. For today''s attack, I concentrated all the Rockets, just barely enough to make up a volley


    Hearing this, I can''t help thinking about the cavalry regiment that was completely annihilated by the German army during the Moscow defense war the year before last. Is the cavalry division facing the same fate? I thought bitterly, "if the howitzer regiment had just a few shells left, it wouldn''t be so bad."


    Povsky suddenly pointed to the outside and exclaimed in surprise, "look, what are these cavalry going to do?"


    I quickly raised my telescope and looked at the battlefield again. I saw a group of cavalry with about 100 people turning their horses and rushing towards the parking position of German tanks in the north. From the equipment they had on their horses, I immediately understood why they did so. I put down my telescope, turned to povsky, and they said, "do you see the equipment on the cavalry? If I read it correctly, it should be 40 rockets. They intend to use the speed of horses to destroy enemy tanks with rockets after approaching them. "


    Seeing the coming cavalry, some of the firepower of the German tanks had been drawn in. Hundreds of thousands of bullets thrown out by the vehicle mounted machine guns are interwoven into a dense fire net. Soldiers are constantly falling down on the horses, and the horses are constantly falling over while running. When they trip other horses, they are rolled under the surrounding iron hoofs together with their owners. But even so, the war horse in the high-speed impact is constantly moving forward.


    "Report!" Suddenly someone at the gate of the observation post called out, "may I come in?"


    I was worried about the fate of the cavalry division. When I heard someone calling a report at the door, I immediately said, "come in!"


    As soon as my voice dropped, someone quickly walked behind me and loudly reported: "Comrade commander, major general babajanian, commander of the 20th brigade of mechanized guards, reports to you that our brigade has entered the attack position and is ready to attack the enemy at any time. I''m at your command, please give me directions


    Major general babajanian was heard. I quickly put down my telescope, turned to shake hands with him, and then said, "general babajanian, it''s good that you can enter the offensive position ahead of time. However, for the time being, you can only stay there, not attack. "


    "Why, comrade commander?" Hearing this command, babajanian asked strangely, "when I came here, I knew that the tank troops and the two guard divisions had broken through the German defense and were developing in depth. In addition, the cavalry division seems to be charging against the enemy''s positions. "


    "General babajanian, don''t you see that the flank of our Cavalry Division is being attacked by German tanks?" I patiently explained to him, "the cavalry division has suffered a lot of casualties under the German artillery and machine gun fire. If they can''t cross the anti tank trench as soon as possible and enter the trench occupied by our army for shelter, they will be in danger of the whole army''s destruction..."


    When I just said that, a series of huge explosions came from outside. My heart was shocked and I thought to myself, "did our cavalry rush up and blow up the enemy''s tanks?"


    I quickly turned to grab the telescope and looked in the direction of the explosion. I saw the German tanks in the north were covered by the wall of fire, and our cavalry continued to rush towards them at the moment, but only a dozen of them were left. The cavalry has not yet entered the effective attack range of the rocket launcher. The fire and smoke of the German tanks must have nothing to do with them. What''s the matter?


    Without waiting for me to come up with a reason, I don''t know when babajanian, who crowded in front of the lookout, exclaimed: "tank, it''s our tank!"


    When I heard babajanian calling for our tanks, I rushed to the east of the anti tank trench and found that the tank brigade, which was cooperating with the infantry to launch an attack on the German second line of defense, was engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy and was unable to support the cavalry division attacked by the German tanks. Since it''s not the tanks in the east of the trench, where are the tanks coming from? It''s not our tanks coming from the sky, is it?


    At the thought of the word "fall from the sky", I was shocked. Suddenly, I thought of the two tank brigades who had not arrived at the battlefield. Did they arrive at this critical moment? Thinking of this, I quickly turned the lens of the telescope to the north to observe the movement there.


    At this time, I found some differences. Behind the German tanks, in the snow further north, there were more black ideas. As soon as there was white smoke, a moment later, the German tank line would be covered with fire and smoke.


    Seeing that the German tanks began to turn around in a disorderly way, berey also found something strange. After observing for a while, he tentatively said to me, "Comrade commander, I think there are two possibilities. One is that the friendly forces that are attacking the East and north of fativ are coming to support us; Second, the troops of the 100th and 200th tank brigades just arrived at the battlefield. When they saw that the German tanks were attacking our cavalry division, they beat them hard behind the German buttocks. "


    No matter where the troops came from, I knew at least one thing that our Cavalry Division was free from the danger of the whole army being destroyed. I quickly called a staff officer and said, "take a jeep and contact the commander of the tank troops to find out what part they are." With a promise, the staff officer turned and walked out of the observation post.


    Babajanian saw that I seemed to have forgotten him. He coughed heavily and quickly. After attracting all our eyes, he quickly said, "Comrade commander, you haven''t said what the task of our brigade is?"


    "General babajanian, don''t worry." When I thought that two guard divisions were attacking the German second line of defense, and the cavalry division was going up again, it was a bit like painting a snake to add to the foot to send another mechanized brigade, so I said euphemistically: "after a long march, the commanders and fighters of your brigade are very tired, so they should be given more rest. I''ll let you know when it''s your turn. "


    "Comrade commander, our commanders and fighters have been resting too long." Babajanian went on to say, "I think we are ready to fight."


    "Comrade babajanian," seeing that he repeatedly asked me to fight, I said to him impatiently, "we all have overall arrangements for which army to fight and when to fight. Now there are enough troops to attack, and you don''t need your brigade to take part in the battle for the time being, so you''d better stay in the offensive position and stand by. "


    "Comrade commander," babajanian said anxiously as soon as I finished saying, "other troops are fighting with the Germans, but our brigade is staying in the offensive position to watch. How can we not feel bad about that?"?! You know, we''ve come so far... "


    "Wait a minute, general babajanian." I knew what he would say next, so I interrupted him first, looked at him and said in a stern tone, "I told you that good steel should be used on the blade. Now that the attack on the German army has just begun, no one can predict the direction of the war. So I have to keep a strong fighting force in my hands to prevent the situation from deteriorating. Do you understand? "


    When I spoke to myself with such severe words, babajanian immediately admitted his mistake and said, "Comrade commander, I''m wrong. I''m eager to fight. That''s why I''ve asked you again and again to let my troops fight. If this affects your deployment, I apologize to you. "


    "Well, general babajanian, you don''t have to say that." At this time, berey came out and said, "no one is wrong. It''s all about winning."


    After I sent babajanian away, I asked berey, "what''s the latest news on the frontier?"


    Bierre nodded and replied: "the German army deployed a large number of 88mm anti-aircraft guns on the second line of defense to deal with our tanks. We lost more than 20 tanks in our recent attack. Now our troops are regrouping to attack the enemy''s positions again. "


    I knew that at such a time, the artillery could not be expected, so I was disappointed and said, "without the support of artillery, even with the support of tanks, our troops would not be able to attack the enemy''s positions successfully."


    Bielei pointed to the battlefield with smoke in the distance and suggested to me, "Comrade commander, isn''t there a friendly tank to support us? If we combine their tanks with ours and attack the enemy, the chances of victory will be greatly improved. "


    "General bere, if we have a decisive battle with German tanks on the plain, the more tanks we have, the better. But now we want to attack the German defense solid positions, and the fortifications also deployed a lot of 88 mm anti-aircraft guns, which is the enemy of our tanks At this point, I stopped, thought about it, and then said, "besides, within a narrow range of a few kilometers, more than 200 tanks are concentrated to attack the enemy''s positions, and the enemy''s long-range artillery can turn them all into burning scrap iron."


    Berey turned to look at the embarrassed povsky, then said solemnly, "what should we do? Are we not going to attack without artillery support? "


    "The attack must continue." Seeing that they were helpless, I said with a smile, "without artillery, don''t we still have air force? I can ask general rokosovsky to send out the air force to bomb the German peripheral positions to the west of fastif, destroy the technical equipment that poses the greatest threat to our tanks, and clear the way for the next attack. "


    Don''t thunder listen to me so say, immediately immediately in front of a bright, then repeatedly call up good: "yes, yes, how I put our air force to grasp the battlefield air supremacy this matter to forget." He grinned and said to himself, "it''s mainly because we were bombed too much by the German army some time ago, and we forgot to get air support." I waited for him to finish, and immediately said, "give orders to the troops in the front, let them stop attacking temporarily, and wait for the air force to bomb the enemy''s positions before launching a new attack." By means of the telephone, berey can directly shout with the front tank brigade and convey the order directly. And I had to get in touch with rokosovsky by telegraph. Seeing that the operator had finished the call, povsky asked nervously, "Comrade commander, I don''t know when our bombers will arrive?" I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and then said, "maybe as soon as half an hour or so. Our troops just took advantage of this time to have a short rest." Berey soon ended his communication with the front line, and then reported to me, "Comrade commander, the tank troops in the front line have stopped attacking and have a rest in place. When our air force has finished bombing, they can attack the enemy''s defensive positions again." I went to the observation port, raised my telescope and looked at the battlefield. I saw that the German tanks, which were originally fierce, had almost become piles of burning debris. Our new tanks are coming through the burning German tanks towards us. The rest of the cavalry division commanders and fighters entered the positions occupied by our army through the simple bridges erected in the trenches.

 Chapter 1347

    Rokosovsky''s reply came ten minutes after our telegram was sent. In the telegram, he clearly wrote: "the second group army of the air force is about to send out two air regiments to bomb the position to the west of fativ. Please provide ground signs in time to avoid being bombed by mistake."


    After reading rokosovsky''s telegram, I immediately told bere: "Comrade General, get in touch with the commanders of the front tank brigade immediately and ask them to make signs on the ground. One is to point out the direction of air attack for our air force, and the other is to prevent possible accidental bombing. After all, they are only a few hundred meters away from the nearest position of the enemy."


    "I understand." Bielei agreed, went to the telephone, grabbed the microphone, and began to contact the three tank brigadiers in the front.


    I was staring at bielei and watching him talk to the commander in the front line when I heard someone outside asking loudly, "is Comrade commander here?"


    "Who is it?" Suddenly I heard someone asking me outside. I could have yelled, "I''m here. Please come in!"


    As soon as I spoke, a commander in a big cornice hat came in from outside. He came up to me, raised his hand and said with a smile, "Comrade commander, major akhromeyev, director of operations, reports to you that I have come to assist you on the order of the deputy commander."


    "Great, comrade major, that''s great." I went forward to hold ahlomeyev''s hand and said excitedly, "you''re just in time. I''m short of professional staff here." After that, I simply introduced the current situation to him.


    After hearing this, he nodded and said, "don''t worry, comrade commander, I know what to do."


    When akhromeyev began to be busy, the staff officer I sent out came back. With him came the observation post, as well as the commander of the 100th tank brigade, Col. veradelle, whom I knew.


    When veradelle saw me in the observation center, he was surprised and asked, "general oshanina, why are you here? You know, it''s only a few kilometers away from the battlefield. Once the place is found by the enemy, it may be attacked by the enemy''s artillery or tanks. In that case, you will be in danger. "


    After smiling and thanking veradelle for his concern, I went on to say, "Comrade Colonel, the tradition of our senior commanders is to set their headquarters only a few hundred meters away from the front line. I am a few kilometers away from the battlefield, which should be considered a very safe area. If you didn''t show up in time today, maybe our Cavalry Division would be destroyed under the attack of enemy tanks. "


    Veradelle grinned and then said, "it seems we''re lucky we didn''t miss this fierce fight."


    I subconsciously looked behind him. Seeing that no one was standing behind him, I asked curiously, "by the way, comrade Colonel, aren''t you two tank brigades? How come there''s another brigadier I didn''t see? "


    "Well, general oshanina." Veradelle explained to me, "when we were going through the forest, a lot of tanks broke down. In order not to affect the next battle, after discussing with the commander of the 200th tank brigade, I decided that I would lead the intact tanks of the two brigades to move on, while he would stay in the back, and the commander repaired the broken tanks. "


    "Well done, comrade colonel." After listening to veradelle''s words, I gave him a thumbs up and said, "it was because you arrived in time that our Cavalry Division avoided the fate of the whole army. On behalf of them, I thank you."


    "General oshanina, don''t know what our next task is?" After I finished, veradelle asked carefully, "I''ve brought hundreds of tanks this time. Do we need to fight immediately?"


    "No, no," I said, shaking my hand at veradelle, "not for the time being. At present, three tank brigades, two infantry divisions and one cavalry division have taken part in the offensive. There are enough troops. You should stay here for a rest. After walking for more than 200 kilometers, many tanks should be repaired, otherwise they will easily break down. If a tank breaks down due to failure on a battlefield full of gunfire, not only the life of the tank soldiers will be threatened, but also the victory or defeat of a battle may be affected. "


    As soon as veradelle reached the door, he suddenly stopped, turned and asked me, "general oshanina, where is general babajanian''s mechanized 20th brigade?"


    "They rest in the forest not far behind the highlands." Looking down, I heard veradelle''s question. I looked up at him and said, "if you have something to do, you can go there and find him."


    After veradelle left, akhromeyev came up to me, handed me the information he had sorted out, and said solemnly: "Comrade commander, according to the information from the front, the enemy has built solid permanent fire points in the second line of defense, and many 88 millimetre anti-aircraft guns are deployed in these fire points..."


    When I saw the materials arranged by akhromeyev, I threw them on the table and said angrily, "hell, how can there be a solid permanent fire point on the German defense line? Did they calculate that they would be attacked from the west? "


    After listening to what I said, povsky couldn''t help laughing: "Comrade commander, in fact, these firepower points were not built by the Germans, but by our own people."


    "We built it ourselves?" After repeating what povsky said, I suddenly thought of a possibility, so I tentatively asked, "general povsky, do you mean these fortifications are the national defense fortifications we built before the war broke out?"


    Povsky nodded and said positively, "I think so. Because these fortifications were facing the west, which was exactly the direction of the German attack. Unfortunately, these fortifications were almost useless in the early days of the war and were occupied by the Germans. It turns out that it''s better now, and they turn it around and use it against us. "


    Speaking of fortifications, it suddenly occurred to me that rokosovsky was about to send planes to bomb the German defense positions. I didn''t know whether the troops in front of him had done a good job in marking the ground. If he was accidentally bombed by his own plane, it would be too tragic. I quickly asked akhromeyev, "major, our air force is about to bomb the enemy''s defensive positions. I don''t know if the troops in the front line have set up ground signs to guide the air force to bomb the enemy?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Akhromeyev confidently said to me: "I have just contacted general sherekin. He said that they used the red flag to put an arrow in front of the position, pointing directly at the enemy''s defensive position. In this way, as long as our air force appears, we can carry out saturation bombing on the enemy according to their instructions. "


    "Mr. Xie Liujin is very considerate," I said to everyone with a smile, "the ground signs set up in this way are simple and clear. As long as our air force lowers its altitude, it can clearly see..."


    Before I finished, there was a huge explosion, and then the snow fell like an avalanche from the gap in the log at the top of the observation post, making us "snowmen".


    "No, the enemy has found the location of the observation post and is shelling us." The experienced bofsky yelled, then rushed over, grabbed my arm and pulled it out. Beley, who was slow in reaction, saw bofsky''s action and rushed up, holding my other arm and running out.


    Povsky and bere, on their left and right sides, ran wildly behind the hillside along the traffic ditch connecting the observation post. I could not help but follow the two people''s inertia to run forward, while turning a look, only to see akhromeyev and the rest of the staff, the operator just ran out, the observation post was hit by a shell. In a huge dark red flame, akhromeyev and several of them fell forward to the ground.


    The two of them held me up until they came to a safe place at the back of the hill. Bielei bent over, put his hands on his waist, gasped for breath, and said: "Comrade commander, there must be German artillery observation posts nearby, otherwise the enemy''s shells could not hit so accurately."


    Bukov, who was on guard at the foot of the hillside, saw that we were in such a mess, so he rushed over with a dozen soldiers. He asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter?"


    Pointing to the hillside where the enemy was shelling, I gasped and said, "it may be the German artillery observer who found our observation post and provided firing parameters for the German long-range artillery." At this point, I took a few more breaths, and then said, "major, send someone to search nearby to see if you can find the enemy''s observer. Also, take people to the observation post on the top of the hill to see if they are still alive? "


    Just when bukov agreed to leave, I suddenly heard a weak voice: "Comrade commander, I''m ok. I''m still alive."


    I looked in the direction of the sound and saw akhromeyev coming towards us step by step, holding the wall of the traffic ditch. The cap on his head was gone, and blood was streaming down his forehead. He was followed by a staff officer and a telegraph operator, who were in rags and whose faces were blackened by gunsmoke. They helped each other and stumbled behind akhromeyev.


    "Hygienist, hygienist!" Seeing that akhromeyev was injured, I was heartbroken. I rushed to the direction of the headquarters at the foot of the mountain and cried out: "there are wounded here. Come to us."


    With my shouts, a soldier in a cotton uniform came out of the headquarters. He was carrying a medicine box on his back and ran towards us quickly.


    When the health worker came to me, I pointed to ahlomeyev next to him with my hand and told him, "health worker, the major is injured. Please bandage him as soon as possible."


    "Comrade major, please sit down, or I can''t reach you." After akhromeyev sat on the ground, the health worker scrubbed the wound with alcohol, then put iodine on it, and then began to bandage it carefully.


    "How do you feel, major?" I saw the health worker grinning in pain when he was cleaning the wound for akhromeyev. I couldn''t help worrying and asked, "is the pain particularly severe?"


    Akhromeyev couldn''t move because his head was held by the health worker. He grinned and tried to squeeze a smile on his face. He replied, "it''s OK, comrade commander. I can stand it."


    While bandaging akhromeyev''s head, the health worker who was dressing the wound said to me, "don''t worry, comrade commander. The major''s wound is not serious. He was knocked by a hard object on the ground when he fell down. In a few days, the wound will be healed." After wrapping up akhromeyev, the health worker went to the staff officer and the telegraph operator with the medicine box and squatted down to deal with the wound for them. It''s said that akhromeyev is OK, and the stone hanging in my heart has fallen to the ground. You know, in addition to being my best assistant at the moment, he was also the Minister of defense when the Soviet Union disintegrated decades later. If he died unexpectedly because of my appearance, many unpredictable changes will take place in the future history. I was just thinking about it when the sound of the guns above my head stopped. The sudden arrival of silence, so that all people Leng for a while, and then we vaguely heard the rumble from the distance. Povsky listened for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise, "Comrade commander, listen, our air force is bombing the enemy''s defensive positions. I think their artillery positions have also been attacked at this moment, otherwise the shelling will not stop suddenly. " When I heard that our army was attacking the enemy''s defensive positions, I suddenly had a feeling of elation. This is not Stalingrad last year, nor Zhitomir a few days ago. I can only watch eagerly as the German air force controls the air control of the battlefield. Now our air force can provide us with reliable air support. So I stood up straight, straightened the cap on my head, and then said aloud, "come on, let''s go back to the headquarters." With that, he took the lead to walk along the traffic ditch toward the headquarters. The communication equipment in the headquarters is much more complete than that in the observation station. I asked akhromeyev and some of them to take a rest. I came to a telephone and asked the operator to contact Xie Liujin. Then I put on my earphone and said loudly to the transmitter, "Mr. Xie Liujin, is our air force bombing the enemy''s defensive position?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " "Our air force is setting up a strong position for the German army and carrying out dive bombing," he replied excitedly. Now I see rows of dust columns rising from the enemy''s positions and black smoke rising. The enemy''s defense line is completely shrouded in smoke. "¡° That''s great. " After listening to Xie Liujin, I began to give him orders: "as soon as the bombing is over, your division will take the lead in attacking the enemy''s positions under the cover of the tank brigade. As the second echelon, the 77th division of the close guard will go up to expand the breach and eliminate the remaining enemy after you break through the enemy''s line of defense. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander. " Xie Liujin replied loudly.

 Chapter 1348

    As the main forces of the front army launched attacks to the East and north of farstev, which restrained the main forces of the German army, the situation gradually became clear in the afternoon. The three divisions of our department have broken through the German peripheral positions in the west of the city and launched a street battle with the German army.


    When I learned that the troops of Sheikh Liujin had rushed into the city and were fighting a fierce battle with the German army, I directly told akhromeyev: "major, call general babajanian and ask him to lead the mechanized 20th brigade of the guards into the city to replace general Sheikh Liujin who is fighting a lane battle with the German army."


    Ahlomeyev raised his hand, touched his bandaged head, and carefully reminded me, "Comrade commander, general babajanian, they are too far away from the city. Do you want to transfer the cavalry division stationed in the peripheral positions first?"


    I shook my head and immediately denied akhromeyev''s proposal: "cavalry can''t play any role in street fighting. On the contrary, because the target is too big, it will become the target of the enemy''s attack. It is for this reason that I did not send them to participate in street fighting. Now, the commanders and fighters under general babajanijan are eager to fight and have high morale. Let them take over from Mr. Xie Liujin and take part in the street fighting in the city. I believe the commanders and fighters will be able to break out extraordinary combat effectiveness. "


    Seeing that my words were solid, akhromeyev didn''t say anything more. He immediately went to the telephone that could reach babajanian''s headquarters to convey my orders.


    When akhromeyev came back from the phone call, I asked him, "major, when can we talk directly to the frontier?" Although I have kept in touch with the front-line troops by telegram since the beginning of the battle, the speed of the telegram is slow and some things are not clear, which makes me unable to understand the situation in front in time and accurately. Although I can get information from sherekin through the telephone, there is a risk of being eavesdropped by the German army. So the first thing I do when I go back to the headquarters is to let the signalmen set up a telephone line connecting me and the frontier.


    "Not yet, comrade commander." After answering my question, akhromeyev saw the disappointment on my face and quickly added: "although we can''t communicate directly with the frontier for the time being, we have connected with the headquarters. Do you need to communicate with the deputy commander or the military commissar?"


    I was overjoyed to hear that I could talk to the headquarters. I immediately told akhromeyev, "major, please connect me to the headquarters. I want to talk to the deputy commander immediately."


    The phone was soon connected, and I heard chisgakov''s voice coming from the earphone, so I asked, "Comrade deputy commander, what''s the situation over there in Zhitomir?"


    Although I have kept in touch with the headquarters, they will send telegrams to me every other hour to report information about Zhitomir. However, the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. One hour is enough for a lot of things to happen. Therefore, as soon as I get through to the headquarters, the first thing I ask is about Zhitomir.


    "Comrades commander," replied chisgakov politely, "it is possible that the German army was aware of the news that fativ was about to fall. Ten minutes ago, it suddenly launched a large-scale shelling on the western periphery of Zhitomir."


    "What''s the situation now?" I know that the German army''s sudden attack on Zhitomir is a sign of their eagerness to jump over the wall. They want to contain our forces and relieve the pressure of the fastiev garrison by attacking. Although I am not interested in their tactics of "encircling Wei and rescuing Zhao", I am worried that the defenders in the peripheral positions will suffer heavy casualties under the enemy''s shelling. So I asked, "how are the casualties of the troops?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." As if nothing had happened, chisgakov said: "our peripheral positions have now built a lot of anti artillery holes. When they are attacked by the enemy, the commanders and fighters can avoid the artillery there. Although our troops will inevitably suffer a certain amount of casualties in such heavy artillery bombardment by the enemy, they are also within the acceptable range. "


    "I see." I heard that the enemy was only shelling our army, so I didn''t worry any more. I believed that general tavartkilaze, who was in charge of Zhitomir, was fully capable of dealing with the Germans, so he said lightly, "call me in time if you have anything."


    "Just a moment, comrade commander." Just as I was about to hang up, chisgakov suddenly yelled, and then asked cautiously, "I don''t know what''s going on with fastiev?"


    When I heard this question from chisgakov, I couldn''t help looking at akhromeyev in surprise and saying in my heart, didn''t he inform chisgakov about our army''s attack on fastyv? However, thinking that chisgakov was still waiting for my reply, he quickly replied, "our troops have occupied all the German positions outside the city, and now the troops rushing into the city are engaged in street fighting with the enemy."


    As soon as I put down the phone, berey asked me, "Comrade commander, what about our tank troops? Will they follow the infantry into the city, or will they stay outside the city as reserves


    Although tanks play a little role in street fighting, they can''t do without them. The troops who rush into the city are generally short of heavy weapons. It is far from enough to clear the German fortifications in the city with only a few rocket launchers. Therefore, after thinking for a moment, I said, "general bere, deploy some tanks to cooperate with the infantry to destroy the enemy fortifications, so that they can quickly develop towards the center of the city, Try to join forces with friendly forces as soon as possible. "


    "I see, comrade commander." As soon as I finished, bielei immediately replied, "I''ll arrange it right now."


    As soon as berey left, I specially told akhromeyev, "major, you should inform me as soon as there is a battle report forwarded by the friendly forces." With that, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. "There''s nothing wrong now. I''ll go to sleep for a while and wake me up in an hour."


    At first, I felt so sleepy that I could hardly open my eyes, but when I was lying in the camp bed in the corner blocked by canvas, my mind became very clear. I pondered silently in my heart how long the German army could last in fastif, and which city would be the first to attack after our army captured this city?


    Although I closed my eyes, I kept thinking in my head until akhromeyev came to call me. I never fell asleep. I sat up from the March bed, pulled the canvas beside the bed, and asked akhromeyev, "major, what can I do for you?"


    "Comrade commander, we have just received the information on the war." Akhromeyev came up to me, handed me a telegram, and then briefly introduced: "our forces of the first group of guards and the third group of guard tanks have successfully occupied most of the city of fastif. According to the interrogation of German prisoners and battlefield reconnaissance, the enemy''s imperial armored division, 213th guard division and 25th armored division have withdrawn from the city and are retreating to the southwest. "


    I received the telegram. Instead of reading it immediately, I continued to ask, "do you know the enemy number in the city?"


    After hearing this question, akhromeyev quickly replied: "it has been made clear that it is part of the 75th infantry division of the German army that keeps in contact with the 20th mechanized brigade of our guards. The other 82nd and 198th infantry divisions are engaged in fierce fighting with friendly forces. "


    I took the telegram to the table and looked down at the map on the table, trying to find out the difference between the enemy and ourselves on the battlefield as soon as possible. At this moment, berey came up to me and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, the German army has gradually withdrawn from fativ. Should we take some action?"


    "Take action?" When I heard him say this, I immediately looked up at him and asked in surprise, "what action will you take?"


    "Comrade commander, look here." "We are now less than ten kilometers away from the German retreat route. Do you think we should send troops to attack them?" said berey, pointing to the southwest of fastif. If the enemy has more troops than us, we will withdraw after a while; If the enemy''s forces are weaker than ours and their combat effectiveness is not strong, then our troops can annihilate them. "


    "General berey, where should we use our troops to carry out the attack you said?" I looked at him and asked briefly.


    "Colonel villadley''s tank 100th brigade, and the cavalry division." "The mobility of these two forces is very strong. I think it is most appropriate for them to carry out this attack mission," said berey without thinking


    "Yes, general berey, you have a point." Cavalry divisions are not very useful in siege or lane warfare, but when used for surprise attack, they can just play their strengths. In addition, Vera delle, they annihilated a German tank unit in the morning, and their own casualties were not large, so the commanders and fighters were eager to fight. Sending these two troops to attack the German troops on the way of retreat, I felt that I had a high chance of winning. So I said frankly, "just do as you said. I''m going to arrange two troops to attack the enemy on the way of retreat."


    "Comrades commander," seeing that I had just made an important decision, akhromeyev, as my assistant, reminded me immediately, "whether it is necessary to inform general sherekin about the withdrawal of the cavalry division from the outer position of fativ, so as not to make bad guesses when they see the sudden withdrawal of the cavalry division."


    "Major akhromeyev, you are right to remind me." Bielei turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, when you give an order to the cavalry division, it is necessary to inform division commander Xie Liujin, so that they all have a clear idea. After all, the positions vacated by the Cavalry Division also need someone to defend."


    I nodded, and then told ahlomeyev: "major, you immediately inform general babajanian and the cavalry division commander, so that they can mobilize their troops as soon as possible and rush to the southwest of fativ to attack the retreating German troops."


    Shortly after a series of orders were issued, the observation post we set up again on the hillside called and said that some armored vehicles were coming towards us. It seemed that some big people had come.


    When I heard the report from the observation post, I could not help frowning. I thought, is it the commander of the friendly army? It is thought that the units that are fighting fiercely with the German army in the city are the first group army and the third tank group army. The commander of the tank group army is general rebalko I know, but I don''t know who the commander of the guard group army is. I turned and asked ahlomeyev, "major, do you know who the commander of the first group army of the guards is?"


    "Report to Comrade commander." Akhromeyev straightened up and replied, "the commander of the first group army of the guards is general glicko."


    Admiral glicko? After hearing the name, I was trying to search for the information about the commander in my mind, but I heard berey say: "Comrade commander, general glicko and I have been in the first cavalry of Marshal bujonny. He is a commander with great fighting spirit. Before the war, he used to work in the general staff. After the outbreak of the battle, he voluntarily applied to be transferred to the southwest front army as the commander of the 34th division of the independent cavalry, and was promoted to the commander of the 5th cavalry because of his outstanding achievements. Since 42 years ago, he has served as commander of the 12th group army, the 47th group army, the 18th group army, and the 56th group army. Not long ago, he was just transferred to commander of the first group army of Jinwei. " Although Brey''s brief introduction is very short, I also have a general understanding of glicko, who should also be a commander with rich combat experience. Otherwise, the superior would not have let him go to so many units successively to take the post of commander, and would not have given him the command of the most effective first group of guards¡° General bere, I think it might be general glicko I guessed that it might be glicko, so I said to berey, "since you and he are old comrades in arms, you can meet him on my behalf."¡° Don''t worry, comrade commander. " When berey heard that I asked him to be the representative to welcome the coming general glicko, he immediately said with a smile, "I will get the commander of the friendly army here as soon as possible." After bierre left, povsky, who was almost ignored by all of us, suddenly said, "Comrade commander, what do you think of general glicko coming to us at this time?" Povsky''s words stunned me. I was silent for a moment, and then said carefully, "maybe it''s to discuss with us how to carry out cooperative operations?" I didn''t expect that after listening, povsky shook his head and said, "I don''t think it''s possible. If we want to discuss cooperative operations, this should be something we should do before the battle starts. It''s not as meaningless as running to discuss after half the battle. Moreover, as the commander of the group army, he should stay in the headquarters and command the troops to eliminate the remaining enemies in the city of fastif instead of running around blindly. I don''t think it''s him, it''s other important people. "¡° Other important people? " After listening to what povsky said, I suddenly said to myself in a confused way: "who would that be?"

 Chapter 1349

    The war ahead is tense, so it''s impossible to give me too much time to guess puzzles. While I was still racking my brains to figure out who the visitors would be, Xie Liujin called me from the city.


    When he heard that it was me who answered the phone, Xie Liujin immediately complained to me: "Comrade commander, our division is fighting well in the city. We have captured two streets in a row. When we are preparing to develop in depth, you let general babajanian''s troops replace us."


    "OK, Mr. Xie Liujin, stop complaining." I knew that my ears would suffer if I let Xie Liujin complain, so I interrupted him decisively: "considering that your division and the 77th guard division had been attacked in the morning, the casualties of the troops were heavy, and the commanders and fighters were very tired, so I replaced you for the time being."


    "But, comrade commander." "When it comes to street fighting, general babajanian''s mechanized brigade has little experience," he continued. I just went to the front to have a look. They actually attacked the enemy''s defensive positions in the narrow street by way of group charge, resulting in heavy casualties. "


    "Mr. Xie Liujin," I heard him say, immediately and impolitely retorted, "since you see that the tactics they have adopted are not correct, why don''t you remind general babajanian and just watch the friendly troops suffer heavy casualties like a spectator?" Xie Liujin, who was taught by me, didn''t say a complete word for a long time. Then I said, "I order you to send commanders with street fighting experience to general babajanian''s troops immediately to instruct their soldiers how to fight with the German army. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" After Xie Liujin agreed, but soon he was a little uneasy and said, "Comrade commander, I''ll send my commanders in this way. Will general babajanian have any idea?"


    "Don''t worry, general babajanian won''t be so careful." In a casual tone, I said, "I''ll inform general babajanian later and let him know."


    After I put down the phone, I told akhromeyev: "major, you call general babajanian, saying that in order to reduce the casualties of the troops in the street battle, I am ready to transfer experienced commanders from the 77th and 89th divisions of the guards to guide and prepare him for reception."


    On hearing my order, akhromeyev said to me with a smile, "Comrade commander, when it comes to street fighting, we say second. No one dares to say first. I believe that as long as general babajanian''s troops get our help, they can not only reduce the casualties in street fighting, but also greatly speed up the attack. "


    Taking advantage of akhromeyev''s phone call, povsky came up to me and said, "Comrade commander, with our army''s successive defeats in fativ, I believe that the road between Kiev and Zhitomir has been opened." Seeing that I nodded my approval, he went on to say, "we should immediately apply to the Logistics Department of the front army, so that they can immediately resume the transportation on this road and supply us with urgently needed materials."


    I understand the reason why povsky can''t wait. If we don''t run out of shells in today''s battle, we can not only speed up our attack, but also effectively reduce the casualties of our troops. At the same time, when the German tanks bombarded the cavalry division, we were not at a loss.


    "Comrade commander, look quickly. Who''s here?" Just as I and povsky were sorting out the urgently needed supplies, there was a surprise voice from outside.


    Hearing bere''s voice, I looked up at the door with disapproval. Then I lowered my head and continued the topic with povsky: "in addition to grenades, I think rockets are also necessary..."


    Before I finished, a familiar voice came from the door: "it seems that I''m not welcome. I don''t even have a welcome person here."


    Who is this? Why is the voice so familiar? I thought, looking up at the door. When I saw the person coming at the door, I immediately stood up straight and quickly met him. At the same time, I was surprised and said, "Comrade General, how did you come here?"


    Standing at the door, rokosovsky spread his hands and said helplessly, "can''t I come here?"


    After saluting rokosovsky, I shook hands with him and said excitedly, "I thought you were commanding the battle in Kiev. I didn''t expect you to come to me in person. Come and sit down, please


    After a few of us sat down and didn''t wait for me to speak again, rokosovsky said, "Rita, I''m here today to say goodbye to you."


    "Say goodbye to me?" I was stunned to hear that. After a long time, he asked weakly, "Comrade General, aren''t you the acting commander of the front army? Where are you going at the beginning of the campaign? And who will take your place after you leave? "


    "Rita, don''t forget, I''m the commander of the Belarusian front army. As for the commander of the Ukrainian first front army, he is just an agent. " Facing a series of questions from me, rokosovsky replied with a smile: "now the war in Belarus is tense, and Comrade vatujing''s health has improved. He is fully competent for the work of commander of the front army, and he will be back soon. As for the period from my departure to his return, the work of the front army will be in the charge of the new deputy commander and commander of the first group army of the close guard, glicko


    When I heard that rokosovsky was going to leave, my heart was in a mess. Apart from feeling that my backer was going to fall, my main worry was that many unexpected changes would happen next.


    Seeing my melancholy face, rokosovsky comforted me and said, "don''t worry, I have already introduced the situation of your army to glicko. After the road traffic between Kiev and Zhitomir is restored, your army group will receive priority replenishment. "


    "What about your original campaign plan?" I was deeply afraid that when vatukin returned, he would overthrow all the battle plans originally made by rokosovsky, so I asked anxiously, "won''t he be overthrown and start again?"


    As for my question, rokosovsky was silent for a long time, and finally said in an uncertain tone: "I think Comrade vatukin may still have to decide whether to modify the original combat plan according to the changes in the battlefield situation."


    Rokosovsky, who was about to leave office, did not want to entangle in these matters, so he digged off the topic and asked me, "when I came here, I saw that your troops had rushed into the city from the west of farstev. Apart from launching street battles with the enemy, have you taken any measures against the enemy who fled south? "


    "We sent a tank brigade and cavalry division to move southwest of fativ." I pointed to the map and introduced to rokosovsky: "prepare to launch a surprise attack on the way of the enemy''s retreat. We should try our best to consume the enemy''s living strength and reduce the pressure for our next stage of fighting. "


    Rokosovsky looked at the map for a while, then raised his head and said to me, "you''ve put in too few troops. You know, the enemy can retreat with several divisions, including armored divisions. I''m afraid that in the end, you will not be able to achieve any results, but will be severely damaged by the enemy. "


    "Comrade General, please rest assured." When I sent out troops, I didn''t expect to annihilate the main force of the enemy with the help of a tank brigade and a cavalry division. Therefore, after hearing rokosovsky''s worry, I said easily: "although we sent out troops, we were ordered to harass the enemy. But when conditions are ripe, we can''t rule out that our troops will seize the favorable fighters and eat part of the enemy, thus making the retreating enemy more chaotic. "


    "On the way of the enemy''s retreat, there should be two bridges." Rokosovsky looked at the map for a few eyes, then looked up at me and said, "if you blow up the bridge, won''t you be able to hold back the enemy''s retreat?"


    "It makes sense, it makes sense." When bielei heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting and saying, "Comrade commander of the front army, we didn''t think about this matter carefully. We didn''t expect to destroy the bridge on the way of the enemy''s retreat. In this way, we can delay the enemy and make our troops destroy more effective forces of the enemy."


    When it comes to destroying the enemy''s effective forces, a bold idea suddenly appeared in my mind, and I said to rokosovsky in a hurry: "Comrade General, I have an idea. I don''t know whether to say it or not."


    "There''s something you shouldn''t say." Rokosovsky said with an easy-going attitude: "you can say whatever you think. Even if you say it wrong, I won''t blame you."


    "Comrade General, I think so." I said what I thought: "since the bridge on the German retreat road will be destroyed by us, I believe the enemy''s retreat speed will be affected. If our air force is deployed at this time, will it be able to achieve greater results? "


    "Well, Rita, you have a point." As for my proposal, rokosovsky said with approval: "as long as the bridge on the German retreat road is bombed, they will definitely be blocked on the road. In this way, if we send air force to bomb, we can achieve great results."


    Although rokosovsky said it so easily, I still asked uneasily, "Comrade General, I would like to ask, is the air force still under your command?"


    "I''m kidding. As long as I haven''t left the first front army of Ukraine, the second group army of the air force will be under my command. I''ll send them out. Who dares disobey orders? " After he said these words, the domineering rokosovsky called a staff officer who came in with him and told him: "commander, send a message to the second air force group, and let them send out air force to carry out air strikes on the German troops in the southwest direction of farstev, which will surely achieve the goal of delaying the enemy."


    "I understand!" With a promise, the staff officer turned and went out of the headquarters to send a message to the car outside.


    Before the air force arrived at its destination, bere, who kept in touch with the 100th brigade of the tank, received a call from veradelle. The Colonel reported that they had encountered a retreating German army, that there had been an exchange of fire and that the battle was in progress.


    Although veradelle was not one of his subordinates, when he heard the report, he was still excited. I heard him yell excitedly at the transmitter, "good job, captain. You and your commanders are good. You immediately attack the enemy, don''t worry about those anti tank men, just along the road forward, can let the enemy into complete chaos


    After finishing the call with veradelle, berey came over and reported to us excitedly: "Colonel veradelle reported that they had encountered the retreating German guard division 213. After a short exchange of fire, the enemy had retreated in the direction of fativ. In addition to ordering them to continue to pursue the fleeing enemy, I also ordered him to send tanks to blow up the two covered bridges and completely cut off the enemy''s retreat. "


    "Well done, general bearley." Rokosovsky said with approval immediately after bere finished his speech: "as long as the enemy is in chaos, then they will not withdraw back to uman smoothly. In this way, the resistance to our attacks in uman and venica will be greatly reduced. " When I heard what rokosovsky said, I couldn''t help thinking in my heart: "if the commander of the front army had been vatukin, would he take this kind of all-round attack against the German army at more than 200 kilometers at the same time?" After praising bere, rokosovsky suddenly asked me, "Rita, after this battle is over, I don''t think there will be any big battles in Ukraine in the near future. How about going to my Belarusian front army? " When I heard the sudden invitation from rokosovsky, all the people in the headquarters focused on me. They all wanted to know how I would reply to rokosovsky. I am very clear in my heart, because of my appearance, a lot of history has been changed unconsciously. For example, the commander of the sixth group army of the close guard I command now in real history is my deputy general chisgakov. At the moment, the troops should not stay in the first front army of Ukraine, but have been transferred to the front army along the Baltic Sea for a long time. Therefore, I have to seriously consider rokosovsky''s invitation, because if I want to be his subordinate, I may not have the chance to participate in the Berlin campaign again. Seeing that I didn''t speak for a long time, bere next to me took a look at rokosovsky, and then urged me anxiously to say, "Comrade commander, what do you think? You always have to say a word. The commander of the front army is still waiting for your reply. " Urged by bere, I finally made up my mind. I stood up and said to rokosovsky, who was sitting opposite me: "Comrade General, I firmly obey the orders of my superiors. If I go to the front army of Belarus, I will take the troops north without saying a word; If I am allowed to stay in the first front army of Ukraine, I will not have any objection. "

 Chapter 1350

    Only after the battle to liberate fastif was over did I know that the fighting in the southwest was quite different from what veradelle had reported to bere.


    When the tank brigade led by veradelle was five or six kilometers away from the road, his scouts came back on motorcycles to report that a large number of German troops were retreating southwest along the road. After getting this information, villadelle was really happy and worried at the moment. Happily, the 48th German Panzer Army, which had been defeated by the 38th and 60th army some time ago, was defeated by the Soviet counterattack. The worry is that although only the defeated German troops were intercepted, without the cooperation of the cavalry division, only their own tank brigade wanted to stop them, but not so much.


    But he couldn''t let the opportunity slip away from his eyes. Therefore, even if he knew that without the cooperation of the cavalry division, his tanks might be destroyed by the German anti tank men. He knew that the road they were walking was bad and their speed could not be improved. But he still issued the order of assault to the troops without hesitation.


    After receiving this order from veradelle, one of his battalion commanders immediately raised an objection: "Comrade brigade commander, we don''t have the help of cavalry division to launch an attack on the enemy. Even if the enemy is just retreating, it''s like committing suicide. The enemy''s anti tank men can kill all our tanks. "


    Although veradelle knew that the battalion commander was telling the truth, it was time to stop. Although, as long as we can stop most of the enemy''s retreat, let the main forces annihilate a part of the German army in fativ, and reduce the pressure for the next battle, even if our own troops suffer serious losses, it is worth it.


    It was for this reason that when he reported the situation to berey, he deliberately concealed the real situation, and then led more than 60 tanks of the whole brigade to attack the retreating German army.


    Two or three kilometers away from the road, villadley vaguely saw that the fleeing German army was passing quickly. He immediately ordered the troops to form a formation and bombard the enemy.


    In a hurry, less than ten tanks fired at the German army. But the retreating German troops, like frightened birds, fell into chaos immediately after seeing the shells exploding on the road and overturning several trucks.


    However, they were the elite of the hundred battles. After a short period of chaos, they immediately organized a counterattack. The German artillery took off the gun hanging behind the car, quickly established the artillery position, and fired towards the Soviet tank. A Tiger tank company of the imperial Panzer Division also spread out on the side of the road, fighting back in the direction of the shells.


    In the face of the enemy''s artillery and the Tiger Tank''s counterattack, the T-34 tank brigade suffered a big loss. Four or five tanks were hit by the enemy''s shells and immediately began to burn.


    The battalion commander, who had warned veradelle, saw that his tanks suffered heavy losses under the enemy''s artillery fire. He could not help crying out to veradelle: "Comrade brigade commander, when will the cavalry division arrive? If they don''t come again, all the tanks in our battalion will be killed by the Germans like shooting at targets. "


    "Comrade major." Vera delle had always attached great importance to the battalion commander. Seeing that he used such rigid tactics to fight against the German army, he could not help getting angry and scolded him: "I said you were very smart before, why are you so confused now? At such a long distance, our 76mm artillery can''t penetrate the front armor of the Tiger tank, but the enemy''s 88mm artillery can lift our tank turret. And what did you do to line up the tanks in order to let the Germans be your targets? "


    After receiving a scolding from veradelle, the battalion commander said wrongly, "but you just ordered us to bombard the enemy on the road."


    "I asked you to bombard the fleeing enemy on the road, but I didn''t let you be a target there." After two more words of abuse, veradelle added: "tell your tankers to fight two guns in another place. Don''t stop at the same place. That will be the target of the German army. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade brigade commander." After listening to veradelle''s instructions, the battalion commander immediately said with deep understanding, "I will tell the soldiers immediately that they can change their places after two rounds. Anyway, there are so many trees here, which is convenient for our tanks to hide. Let the German artillery slowly waste their shells. "


    Seeing his own tanks arriving at the attack position one after another, Vera delle, who stayed behind to command, was still murmuring about what to do in order to intercept more enemies. Just then, berey got in touch with him through the radio. "Comrade Colonel, in order to escape, the enemy will certainly fight with you. In order to keep more enemies and reduce your casualties, comrade commander, let me tell you to blow up the bridge on the only way for the enemy to retreat. As long as the bridge is broken and the enemy wants to escape again, he must discard such technical equipment as tanks, artillery and armored vehicles. Without heavy weapons, even if the German army fled back to Wurman, our friendly forces would bear much less resistance when launching an attack. "


    "I see, Comrade General." After hearing what berey had said, veradelle immediately replied, "I will personally lead the troops to blow up the bridge on the German retreat road and leave more enemies in fativ."


    After the call, he asked his chief of staff on the radio, "when will the cavalry division arrive?"


    After a moment''s silence, the chief of staff of the brigade replied, "report to Comrade Colonel, the cavalry division is still seven or eight kilometers behind us. It will take about an hour at the earliest to get to the battlefield."


    Veradelle thought about it and said to the chief of staff, "chief of staff, you stay here to command the troops. As soon as the cavalry division arrives, take the tanks as the guide and attack the places on the road."


    "I''ll stay in command!" When the chief of staff heard that, he was stunned. Then he asked curiously, "Comrade brigade commander, where are you going?"


    "General berey just called me and said that Comrade commander ordered us to blow up the bridge on the German retreat road." Veradelle didn''t know when he would be back, so before he left, he had to tell his chief of staff what he had to tell him clearly: "I''ll lead the heavy tank company to carry out this task, and I''ll give it to you."


    "Don''t worry, comrade brigade commander." The chief of staff of the brigade said to Willard: "we will certainly intercept the enemy who fled south, drive them back to fastiev, and let our main forces wipe them out completely and cleanly."


    Thinking that it would not be difficult for the remaining 50 or so tanks to intercept the enemy fleeing south after they led the heavy tank company to leave, they boldly led five heavy tanks southward, ready to destroy the bridges on the road.


    Because the retreating enemy was afraid of being shelled by the tank brigade, they had already stopped withdrawing to the south. The troops that had been withdrawn in the early stage had already passed the bridge. At the moment, there was no one on the bridge nearest to the blocking place except a dozen German soldiers guarding the bridge.


    Seeing the tank rumbling towards them, the Germans thought it was their own tank at first. When it was clear that the Soviet tanks were coming, they quickly hid in the sandbags beside the bridge and shot the coming tanks with machine guns.


    The front armor of Soviet heavy tanks, even the artillery of Tiger tanks, could not be broken down, not to mention two ordinary machine guns. The tank driving in the front stopped more than 100 meters away from the bridge, ignoring the rattling bullets on the turret and slowly adjusting the muzzle. After aiming at the machine gun bunker that was shooting crazily, he fired without hesitation and lifted the other side''s machine gun into the air.


    After annihilating the German soldiers on the bridge, the tanks in front of them checked their vehicles and asked veradelle for instructions: "Comrade brigade commander, the enemy did not place explosives on the bridge. How can we destroy the enemy''s bridge?"


    When he heard that there was no explosives on the bridge, veradelle was slightly disappointed. He thought that the German army would bury explosives on these important bridges in order to prevent the Soviet army from pursuing them at any time. Who knew that he had not found explosives on the first bridge he had captured. After thinking about it, he ordered the tank soldiers in front of him: "after all the tanks pass the bridge, you drive the tanks to the side of the bridge and destroy the bridge pillars with artillery fire, so that the bridge deck will collapse."


    "I see, comrade brigade commander." In front of the tank, the tank soldiers made a loud promise, then drove the tank quickly through the bridge, then turned to the side, ready to wait until the rest of the tanks passed, and then destroyed the bridge with tank guns.


    After rokosovsky gave the air force an order to air attack the German army southwest of fastif in my headquarters, I was worried that the tank brigade and cavalry division of veradelle would rush to the depth of the enemy because they were too strong. In that case, they would suffer from the disaster of the pond when they were attacked by our plane. So I hastened to say to berey, "Comrade General, please pass on the news of the air raid to Col. veradelle immediately, so that he can take preventive measures to avoid being bombed by our air force."


    Berey didn''t raise any objection to my concerns. He immediately contacted veradelle on the radio. After waiting for veradelle''s voice, he first asked, "Comrade Colonel, where are you?"


    "Report to general," veradelle replied immediately and truthfully, "I am leading the heavy tank company to destroy the bridge on the German retreat road. Do you have any instructions? "


    "Well, comrade colonel." When berey said this, he looked at me and rokosovsky, "the commander of the front army has ordered the air force to carry out an air raid on the German army in the southwest of fativ. I''m afraid that if you get mixed up with the German army, you will be bombed by the air force by mistake, so I''ll let you know first."


    "I see, general bearley." "I will inform my chief of staff of this news, so that they can immediately get out of contact with the enemy, so as not to be mistakenly bombed by our bombers," veradelle immediately replied


    As soon as veradelle finished talking to bere, he immediately contacted his chief of staff. As soon as he got through, he couldn''t wait to ask, "chief of staff, how''s it going?"


    "Report to the brigade commander." The chief of staff of the brigade said excitedly: "after you left, the enemy infantry launched a wave of attacks on us, but they were repulsed by our soldiers with vehicle mounted machine guns. Just at this moment, the vanguard regiment of the cavalry division arrived, and they followed the retreating German infantry in pursuit. Now they were mixed up with the enemy. The enemy''s artillery and tanks may be afraid of injuring their own people, so they dare not shoot. At present, the fighting is very fierce. "


    When he heard the chief of staff''s report, veradelle could not help crying bitterly. He thought for a moment, and then decisively ordered: "Comrade chief of staff, I order you to immediately send someone to inform the commanders and fighters of the cavalry division who are fighting with the enemy, so that they can immediately withdraw from contact with the enemy and withdraw as far as they can!" The chief of staff, puzzled by the order given by veradelle, asked: "Comrade brigadier, our cavalry are very brave. They have beaten the enemy''s infantry into a rout. They are losing ground. When the two regiments behind them arrive, I believe the German army on the road will be defeated by us..." "chief of staff, there is no time, Follow my orders immediately. " When veradelle heard the chief of staff speak in a tone of disapproval, he could not help stamping his feet. He said in a hurry: "according to the superior''s report, our air force is flying in your direction, ready to bomb the German troops gathered there. If you don''t withdraw, you will be blown up with the German army. "¡° Ah, is that true, comrade brigadier? " The chief of staff was shocked when he heard that, but he asked in an unbelievable voice, "how can our air force go out at such a time to bomb the retreating enemy?"¡° Chief of staff, general berey told me that. " Veradelle raised his voice and said, "chief of staff, don''t delay any longer. Send someone immediately to get the cavalry division down, or it will be too late."¡° I understand, I understand. " When the chief of staff heard what veradelle said, he was shocked and broke into a cold sweat. He said busily, "I''ll send people to the battlefield immediately and ask the cavalry to withdraw." After the call with his chief of staff, veradelle''s heart could not calm down. He knew that even if the chief of staff immediately sent someone to the battlefield to inform the officers and men of the vanguard regiment of the cavalry division to withdraw, the red eyed cavalry would not be able to withdraw. Many people might be killed in vain in the bombing of their own air force.

 Chapter 1351

    After receiving the order from veradelle, the chief of staff of the tank brigade immediately sent a messenger, riding a motorcycle to inform the cavalry vanguard regiment who was fighting with the German army.


    The signalman who sent the herald managed to find a wounded major and informed him of the evacuation order. But at the moment, the organizational structure of the vanguard regiment is in complete disorder. The commander can''t find the battalion, and the battalion can''t find the company. Even if the major wanted to report the order to the commander, he couldn''t find anyone.


    Seeing the bombers flying over the battlefield, the major knows that if he doesn''t withdraw, all the people in the regiment will be here. So he gritted his teeth, with dozens of cavalry around him, followed by the messenger to leave the battlefield.


    When the German aviation division was ordered to bomb the ground, it immediately lowered its altitude and began to dive to the ground. As the air bombs fell from the sky, the German tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and trucks on the road suffered. In the fierce explosion, the whole battlefield was filled with dust and fog, and the German army was in a mess.


    At this time, the cavalry division commander and two other regiments arrived at the battlefield where they were being bombed. When the chief of staff of the brigade saw that the cavalry division commander was coming, he immediately left his tank and went forward to meet him.


    Unexpectedly, as soon as the cavalry division commander saw him, he immediately turned over and dismounted, rushed to him, grabbed his collar, and said: "Comrade commander, I''ve come to ask you, where is my leader group? Where is my vanguard? "


    Instead of struggling, the chief of staff of the brigade pointed to the exploding battlefield and explained, "I''ve sent the signalmen to inform them to withdraw, but I still didn''t have time."


    "More than 2000 people." The cavalry division commander loosened his grip on the collar of the chief of staff of the brigade, looked at the smoke in the distance, and said bitterly, "it''s all over. No one has run out!"


    As soon as his words were finished, the chief of staff of the brigade suddenly pointed to the distance and exclaimed in surprise: "Comrade division commander, look, there are cavalry coming towards us over there."


    The cavalry division commander looked in the direction of his fingers and saw that more than 100 cavalry soldiers were coming towards him at the fastest speed. Seeing this situation, the division commander really had mixed feelings. His troops were really full of disasters today. In the morning, when they launched an attack on the German peripheral positions to the west of farstev, they were attacked by German tanks, resulting in nearly one third of casualties. But now, after the fierce battle of the German army, only such a few people have withdrawn.


    The major in charge of the team saw that his division commander was here, so he raced to him. Five or six meters apart, the major stopped the reins, then threw the reins off the horse, walked up to the teacher, raised his uninjured left hand and saluted him: "Comrade teacher, we are back!"


    The cavalry division commander took a look at the major first, then looked at the cavalry who were crowded behind, and then asked without expression, "where is your commander?"


    The major bowed his head and answered in a low voice, "before the bombing, we broke up with the commander. After receiving the evacuation order, although I sent someone to look for the commander and wanted to convey the order to him, it was a pity that I never found his person. Seeing that the plane began to bomb, in order to avoid greater losses, I led the soldiers around me to withdraw. "


    The cavalry division commander waved to the major and ordered, "come back."


    With a salute, the major turned around and led the surviving officers and men into the queue.


    The cavalry division commander asked the brigade chief of staff with red eyes: "Comrade commander, I don''t understand. Who arranged the bombing? Why did he let the air force blow up even our own people, regardless of what happened? "


    The chief of staff gave another wry smile and said, "it is said that the order of bombing was given by the commander of the front army himself. He intends to intercept as many German troops as possible in fativ so that we can launch a war of annihilation against them. After receiving the notice, I immediately sent someone to inform the head of the vanguard regiment, hoping that he could take his troops down as soon as possible, so as not to be accidentally bombed by our bombers. But man is not as good as nature. My signalman didn''t find the commander at all on the battlefield, so the order of retreat didn''t go on in time. "


    Just when the cavalry division commander and the tank brigade chief of staff were talking about the sudden bombing, a German division commander on the way to retreat, seeing that his troops had been heavily bombed by the Soviet army and were in a mess on the road, gave a direct order to speed up the southward advance. He tried to let tanks and armored vehicles, relying on their own advantages of thick armor, rush through the firepower circle of Soviet bombers at the fastest speed and escape to safety as soon as possible.


    But to his surprise, the bombed German army was already in chaos. The road did not work, the bridge on the only way was broken again, and the German tanks turned to the roadside forest, trying to open up a way to escape in the forest. Seeing the tanks hiding in the roadside forest, the remaining armored cars, self-propelled guns and trucks follow behind the tanks, hoping that the tanks in front can open up a passable road for them in the forest.


    Because our army holds the air supremacy of the battlefield, and the German army in chaos has no air defense firepower, our bombers can attack the German infantry and technical equipment on the ground like practicing shooting.


    Although the front armor of the German Tiger tank is thick, the armor on the top of the tank is helpless when facing the bombs dropped from the air. Tiger tanks, which once swaggered on the battlefield, were quickly turned into piles of burning scrap iron under the bombing of our military aircraft.


    The German army was not willing to wait for death. Some machine gunners set up their machine guns and fired at the air in an attempt to shoot down our bombers and cover the transfer of troops. If there were only a few bombers, the enemy''s attempt might succeed. But now there are dozens of bombers in the air, diving and bombing in turn. These anti-aircraft firepower soon became the focus of bombers. After being hit by more than a dozen bombs and thousands of airborne machine gun bullets, these enemies were wiped out.


    With the coming of night, our planes could not fly away from the battlefield. The German division commander saw that in addition to the craters, there were countless burning tanks, armored vehicles, trucks and artillery, blocking the road to death. In addition, the scouts came back to report that all the bridges had been destroyed and could not move on, so he had to order the troops to return to fativ.


    When the bombers carried out air raids on the German army on the road, rokosovsky left my headquarters and went back to the front army headquarters in Kiev. Before he left, he mentioned to me again what he had just said: "Rita, after the destruction of the enemy of fativ, I think vatukin will withdraw your army for rest. Even if you don''t go to my Belarusian front army, the possibility of returning to the first front army of Ukraine is very small. Because other front forces are also in urgent need of troops, maybe you will be transferred to the front forces along the Baltic Sea. Therefore, you must consider this matter carefully! "


    Although I was a little excited when rokosovsky first proposed this matter to me, I couldn''t agree too readily in front of so many subordinates. There are only two of us at the moment, so I have to give him an accurate answer: "Comrade General, I was your subordinate during the Moscow defense war. If possible, I still hope to return to your command and accept your command. "


    There was a happy smile on rokosovsky''s face when he heard my reply. He nodded, laughed and said, "Rita, I knew you''d answer me that way. After the battle, contact me again, and then you and your troops can be determined. " Then he reached out to me and said, "well, we''ll see you now. I hope we''ll see you soon."


    Holding his right hand in both hands, I gently shook it twice and politely said, "Comrade General, have a nice trip. See you later!"


    When rokosovsky left, I went back to the headquarters. Berey looked out the door, then came close to me and asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, general rokosovsky mentioned that to you again?"


    Although he didn''t say it clearly, I knew in my heart that what he said was whether he was willing to go to the Belarusian front army, so I nodded, indicating that rokosovsky had mentioned it to me again.


    When bielei saw me nodding, he immediately asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, how do you reply to him? You are now a member of the first front army of Ukraine. If you suddenly proposed to go to another front army, what would general vatukin think? You know, he has a good relationship with the Supreme Commander himself. If he complains about you when he comes to Moscow, it will have a great influence on your future. "


    I first looked around and saw that all the people were far away from us except akhromeyev. So I said boldly to bere, "general bere, after such a long time of fighting, our group army has been seriously reduced, especially the divisions in the city of Zhitomir. Almost all of them were killed or injured, We are no longer able to take part in the next battle. Our superiors will certainly send us to the rear for rest. "


    "Judging from the current situation," said berey, after listening to me, he unexpectedly analyzed the situation to me: "even if our group army is transferred to the rear for rest, it will only take half a month to a month at most, and then it will be transferred to the next stage of fighting, so I don''t think it''s necessary to go to the Belarusian front army."


    I couldn''t help laughing bitterly at berey''s view, saying in my heart: if it wasn''t for me, the group army would have been transferred to the front army along the Baltic coast by the headquarters long after the liberation of Kharkov, to take part in the battle to liberate the Baltic coastal countries. It would not have been possible to fight such a tough battle with the German army here in Zhitomir.


    However, I can only think about these words in my heart and can never say them. In order to persuade bere, I frowned and thought for a long time. Then I said to him, "general bere, I come to ask you, if we eliminate the enemy of fastif and liberate the important cities on the right bank of the Dnieper River, such as uman, venica and berkichev, will our army launch a new offensive campaign in a short time?"


    Don''t think about it, then shake your head and answer, "I don''t think so. After all, in the liberation of Kiev and the subsequent battles, not only the troops were seriously reduced, but also the consumption of weapons and ammunition was astonishing. If we want to launch a new attack on the enemy after the end of this campaign, we must replenish a large number of troops and accumulate ammunition before we can carry out it. I estimate it will take at least a month to prepare. "


    "Yes, general berey, your analysis is correct." Seeing that bere was already thinking about the problem according to my thinking, I went on to say, "I expect that our group army will be transferred to the rear for rest after the enemy retreats in the direction of Zhitomir at the latest. When we have finished our recuperation, the whole campaign will come to an end, and the supreme command will certainly not let us, such a highly meritorious army, idle and idle, and then send us to the place where the fighting is most intense. And this place, according to my analysis, may be the Baltic Sea area. "


    "The Baltic region?" When bielei heard the place name I mentioned, he couldn''t help frowning and thinking. After a while, he said carefully, "Comrade commander, do you mean that as long as our group army is transferred back to rest, there will be very little chance of returning to the right bank of the Dnieper River?"¡° Yes, general berey, that''s how it is. " When I saw that berey''s tone was loose, I quickly struck while the iron was hot and said, "instead of being transferred to the front army along the Baltic Sea and led by an unfamiliar superior, I''d better go directly to the front army of Belarus and get along better with the familiar general rokosovsky."¡° Comrade commander, perhaps you are right. " After hearing this, berey nodded thoughtfully: "instead of going to the troops that are not familiar with his superiors and colleagues all the time, it''s better to go directly to general rokosovsky''s Belarusian front army. At least we are familiar with his commanding style." After discussing the future of the troops, I asked akhromeyev, "Comrade major, what''s the situation of the tank brigade and cavalry division? Are they blocking the enemy?"¡° Report to commander, "ahlomeyev came up to me with a war report and said," a pioneer regiment of the cavalry division was mistakenly bombed in the bombing of our army and almost completely destroyed. As all the bridges on the road of retreat have been destroyed by our army, the remaining words have given up the plan of southward retreat and returned to fativ. "¡° Has the German Panzer Division been intercepted As soon as akhromeyev finished speaking, bere couldn''t wait to ask¡° No, "said akhromeyev, shaking his head with regret." as the armored division can''t play a very important role in the city''s street fighting, the German armored division will be the first to withdraw from fastif. Most of the armored forces were evacuated long before our tank brigades arrived and destroyed the bridge. Only the 82nd, 198th and 75th infantry divisions were surrounded by our army in the fastif area. "

 Chapter 1352

    I was a little disappointed to hear that all the German armored divisions had run away and only two and a half infantry divisions were surrounded by us. After staring at the map for a while, I looked up at akhromeyev and asked, "major, if you were the commander of the German army, which route would you take to break through the siege?"


    "That''s not to say, comrade commander." Akhromeyev looked at me, shrugged his shoulders, shrunk his mouth, and said, "now the north and east of fastiev are heavily oppressed; To the West are our two infantry divisions, a mechanized brigade and three tank brigades. No matter which direction they break through from, they will be blocked by our superior forces. Therefore, they can only choose the south direction, because along this road, they can retreat into their defense area in the shortest time, join with other forces, and form a heavy group confronting our army. "


    "Your analysis is accurate, comrade major." I nodded with satisfaction at akhromeyev''s analysis, and then asked, "if the German forces concentrate on breaking through, do you think that the tank brigade and cavalry division arranged by our department in the southwest direction are capable of blocking the enemy who fled south with all his strength?"


    Akhromeyev thought for a while, then shook his head and said, "I don''t think I can stop it. The cavalry division is good at attacking rather than defending. Moreover, there are no decent fortifications in the south of the city. If they want to block the German army''s breakout by force, they will inevitably suffer heavy casualties and even the whole army will be destroyed. "


    For akhromeyev''s view, berey agreed: "although it is only the German infantry division that is surrounded, if they try their best to break through, let alone a cavalry division, even if they add the tank brigade, it will not help."


    "What shall we do?" Povsky also broke in and said, "is it necessary to transfer an infantry division to build fortifications and fight a close positional war with the Germans?"


    "But where shall we send infantry to reinforce us?" Akhromeyev looked at me and said to the other two: "although the main force of the group army is in Zhitomir, they are under attack from the German army and obviously cannot be mobilized; And the two close guard divisions, one mechanized brigade and three tank brigades that participated in the fastif attack could not be drawn out. "


    After listening to akhromeyev''s words, I knew that he was trying to tell me that although we have a lot of troops under our name, we can''t find any troops that can be mobilized at the moment. After I went over the situation of several divisions in my mind, I found that he made a very reasonable statement. Under the current situation, it is really impossible to use these troops. The only force that can be used is major general Svoboda''s Czech first brigade, but I have no bottom in my heart to let them carry out such a combat mission.


    Just as I hesitated, chisgakov called me from the headquarters. He first said by telephone: "Comrade commander, the German attack on Zhitomir has been smashed by us. The German forces to the north of the city have retreated to their starting point of attack. "


    "What, the German army in the north of the city has withdrawn?" Although all the German attacks from the north of the city of Zhitomir were repulsed by the commanders and fighters of the 51st division of the guards without exception, they were still a great threat to us. Now I can''t help but feel relieved to hear that they have retreated. But I still asked: "did the enemy retreat?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." "I''ve sent scouts to check it out. The German camp in the north of the city is empty. They also carefully searched the nearby areas and found no trace of the Germans. They can be sure that the enemy has all retreated from the north of the city. "


    If I had not been born, the commander of the sixth group army of the guards would have said that chisjakov, as a commander of the group army with a very long term of office, is still very capable. When he called me at such a time, it must be more important than just reporting the German retreat. So after a pause, I asked frankly, "Comrade deputy commander, what do you think of this?"


    "We launched a large-scale attack from several directions at the same time, which certainly aroused the vigilance of the German army," chisjakov said cautiously. "In order to prevent our encirclement and annihilation, I think they are ready to shrink their forces."


    As for this analysis of chisgakov, I agree: "yes, the Germans may find that our offensive is unprecedentedly strong, so they should adjust their deployment in time to minimize losses."


    When I said this, my eyes were fixed on the map on the table, and I was thinking that rokosovsky''s tactics this time could be called a magic stroke. The 27th and 40th group armies launched attacks on uman; In the southwest of Kiev, the 38th and 60th group armies kept the two German armored divisions in check through constant counterattack; The first group army and the third group army bypassed the battle site and made a direct attack on fastif. By storming the city, they threatened the flank rear of the German Panzer Division that was attacking Kiev.


    "Comrade commander, I have another question." After I finished, chisgakov suddenly said, "I want to ask you something."


    "Go ahead, comrade deputy commander." I said politely, "if you want to ask anything, please don''t hesitate to ask."


    Chisgakov was silent for a while, then asked slowly: "according to the battle report provided by the headquarters of the front army, after 50 minutes of artillery preparation and bombing, the main assault group of our front army turned to comprehensive attack, broke through the German defense in a very short time, and successfully developed in depth. I want to ask, "why did this all-round attack progress so successfully?"


    "Very simple, comrade deputy commander." I heard clearly that he was still entangled in this matter, so I said to him with a smile, "don''t forget that the person in charge of making the battle plan and commanding the battle is general rokosovsky. Because of the good secrecy work, Manstein obviously didn''t know that the commander of our front army had been temporarily replaced, and he was still using the same way to deal with watujing to deal with rokosovsky, so he didn''t suffer a big loss. "


    "So it is." After listening to my explanation, chisjakov suddenly realized: "it''s like two chess players are playing chess. They''ve played for a long time. One of them suddenly changes players, while the other doesn''t realize it. He still follows the original steps. It''s strange that he doesn''t lose."


    "This metaphor is very vivid." After I finished this sentence, I turned the topic to the encirclement and annihilation of the German forces in fativ: "at present, the primary task of the front army is to completely annihilate the German forces in fativ and eliminate their threat to Kiev, so that the main force can be quickly transferred to the direction of hitomir and continue to advance in depth to the German forces."


    "In that case, is it necessary for our troops in Zhitomir to take some action?" "For example, a small-scale counter offensive, the restoration of some positions occupied by the enemy, and their main force firmly contained here?" he asked tentatively


    "Not for the time being." Although this proposal of chisgakov is extremely attractive, I know in my heart that it is not appropriate to adopt such tactics with the existing strength of our group army¡° At present, the artillery shells are exhausted, so it is impossible to provide the necessary firepower support for the troops when they attack. It is difficult to seize the enemy''s position only by relying on limited tanks to guide the infantry to charge. "


    Hearing what I said, chisjakov was somewhat disappointed. However, he did not refute me, but said helplessly: "well, comrade commander, since you say so, I will let the troops of Zhitomir continue to maintain the status quo." After a moment''s pause, he continued, "I heard that you sent the tank brigade and cavalry division to cut off the road of the South escape of the German army of fastif?"


    "Yes, under the cover of the air force, we temporarily cut off the road for the German army to flee south." When I answered his question, I intentionally emphasized that it was with the support of the air force. At the same time, I also told him the current difficulties: "however, only cavalry divisions and tank brigades are not enough. Once the German forces break through again with all their strength, I am worried that their defense line will be broken by the German."


    "Your concerns are quite right." "When it comes to attack, it''s the strength of the cavalry division and the tank brigade," chisjakov echoed. But when it comes to defense, it''s obviously not what they''re good at. Therefore, I suggest that an infantry unit should be dispatched immediately to build field fortifications by using the terrain there to prevent possible German breakout operations. "


    As for his proposal, I complained endlessly: "our troops are mainly in titomir and fastiev. Even in korostevev, there are only battalion level formed units in defense. How can we draw troops and strengthen the defense of cavalry division?"


    "Comrade commander, in fact, we still have an army that has not been used." When I finished, chisgakov reminded me carefully.


    Although I guess what he said may be the first Czech brigade in Svoboda, I still tentatively asked, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t know which army you are talking about?"


    "General Svoboda''s first Czech brigade." Chisjakov''s answer was exactly what I expected.


    I said cautiously, "but now they are in charge of the defense of the base. If they are transferred away, the defense of the base will become weak."


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander. I have taken into account all your concerns. " Chisgakov said confidently: "even if the Czech first brigade is transferred, we still have commander Carmela''s close guard motorized sixth regiment here. With them, there should be no problem with the security of the base."


    Seeing that, I knew that he must have thought it over. Originally, he immediately agreed, but he thought that he did not know the situation of the Czech first brigade, so he asked: "what is the strength of the Czech first brigade?"


    "The brigade consists of three infantry regiments and an artillery regiment, as well as some other units, with a total of 6000 troops." On hearing my question, chisgakov immediately reported it to me as if it were his own. "In their equipment, there are 2000 assault rifles, 1000 bobosha submachine guns, and 100 light machine guns..."


    When I heard the series of data reported by kisjakov, I felt a lot more at ease. Since they have such equipment, their combat effectiveness must be about the same. Besides, there will be the cooperation of cavalry division and tank brigade at that time. It should be no problem to block the German breakthrough. Thinking of this, I immediately and decisively replied, "well, comrade deputy commander, since that''s the case, you can tell general Svoboda that he will immediately lead his troops to the southwest of fastif, join the cavalry division and tank brigade that are there, and seize the time to build fortifications."


    Berey, who was standing nearby, listened to my conversation with chisgakov, and his face was full of joy. When I put down the phone, he immediately said, "Comrade commander, it''s very right to send the first Czech brigade to the southwest to stop the German army from breaking through. Although the number of them is small, their combat effectiveness will never be worse than that of one of our divisions. I believe they can resolutely smash the German attempt to break through the encirclement. " The battle of fativ did not stop because of the coming of night, but became more intense. Our twelve tank divisions and infantry divisions are in the final battle with the German two and a half infantry divisions. In the southwest of fastif, although I only invested in two infantry divisions, one mechanized brigade and three tank brigades, thanks to the rich experience of street fighting in the front command, sherekin has achieved far more results than the friendly forces. At the moment, they are advancing towards the city center at an amazing speed. Xie Liujin called from the front edge to announce his good news. He said excitedly: "Comrade commander, I have good news for you. My vanguard is less than two blocks away from the church in the center of the city. In an hour at most, we can put the red flag at the highest point of the church." From his tone, I recognized that he was a little complacent, and immediately reminded him, "Mr. Xie Liujin, although you are going well now, you can''t take it lightly. Although the German armored division has jumped out of our encirclement, they still have a lot of tanks and cannons in the city. These technical equipment will cause great casualties to our attacking troops. Therefore, when you attack, you should keep a high degree of vigilance and try to minimize the casualties of the troops. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander. " Xie Liujin confidently said to me: "it''s not the first time for me to command the troops to fight in the street. Our tactics are steady and steady. Every time we occupy a street, we will consolidate one street. We will never give the Germans a chance to make a comeback."¡° Well done, Comrade General. You and your men are well done. " After praising him, I asked, "by the way, how did general babajanian''s mechanized 20th brigade perform?"¡° Although I sent a lot of grassroots commanders to assist him in the past, the speed of the brigade was not ideal. " "When they attacked the bus station, they lost more than a battalion of troops and failed to take down the ticket hall of the station. In the end, the 77th division of the guards sent a company and launched two charges in a row. Only then did it eliminate the enemy inside and successfully win the ticket hall. "

 Chapter 1353

    After I finished my conversation with chisgakov, berey began to persuade me: "Comrade commander, the situation here has stabilized. It''s only a matter of time to eliminate the German forces in fastif. Major akhromeyev can deal with anything. You''d better go back to the headquarters."


    After thinking for a moment, I readily agreed to berey''s persuasion. After all, I am very familiar with akhromeyev, and I am very clear about his ability. So I called ahlomeyev to the command and said to him, "major, all the troops in the city of fastiev know what their tasks are. You just need to coordinate well. If there''s something you can''t handle, call me again. "


    "Comrade commander, you can rest assured." Akhromeyev said respectfully: "I know how to deal with the cooperation between the various forces. If there''s something I can''t cope with, I''ll call you for instructions. "


    With the assurance of akhromeyev, I went back to the headquarters with confidence and boldness.


    When I got back to the base headquarters, I saw a busy scene in the headquarters. And chisjakov and bezikov were standing by the wall, pointing at the map on the wall.


    Standing not far from them, I noticed that both of them were frowning. It seemed that something unexpected had happened to them.


    I quickly walked towards them and asked in a loud voice, "Comrade deputy commander, what''s the matter? What''s the matter?"


    Chisjakov suddenly turned around and saw that I was the one who was speaking. Instead of answering my question immediately, he asked in surprise, "Comrade commander, why did you come back in silence?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, it seems that something serious has happened to you and the chief of staff." I didn''t care to ask him why he came back suddenly, but continued to ask the question just now.


    On hearing my question, bzikov quickly took a step forward and solemnly reported to me: "Comrade commander, the German army unexpectedly launched a strong attack on Zhitomir an hour ago. Now they have broken through the peripheral positions of our army, rushed into the city, and successively occupied the National Normal University of Zhitomir and the national Agricultural College of Ukraine, And built a solid defense system there.... "


    "Why the hell is that?" At this moment, even if a shell falls on my side and explodes, the fright it brings is absolutely not equal to the words bezikov said. I checked the map carefully and found that the two universities were not located in the western suburbs, but slightly close to the city center. I patted the location of the university with my hand and asked in a loud voice, "who can tell me what''s going on? How could the enemy burst into our defense so far in such a short time? "


    "Comrade commander, please listen to me." "None of us expected that after the withdrawal of the German troops in the north of the city, we would send a small team to sneak into the city from the south of the city to cooperate with the enemy''s attack in the western suburbs," bezikov said humbly


    I stared at bzikov and said: "Comrade chief of staff, even if the Germans can sneak in from the south of the city, how many troops can there be? At most, one company can hold up the sky. With this force, can we pierce the line of defense established by our divisions?"


    Bezikov, who was reproached by me, turned red with shame. After a moment''s silence, he explained to me in a low voice: "the enemy disguised as our army, destroyed our communication lines, and created chaos in the city when the German army launched an attack in the west of the city, paralyzing our command system..."


    "Come on, don''t say any more." When I heard that the German army had rushed into Zhitomir, I was very angry and didn''t have the heart to listen to bzikov''s explanation. I told him directly, "get me general tavartkilaze. I want to ask him what''s going on?"


    As soon as I got through, I yelled at tavartkilaze who answered the phone: "Comrade General, what''s the matter? There are several divisions in the city of Zhitomir that actually let the Germans rush into the city. How did you become the commander of the army?"


    "Comrade commander, please listen to me." When tavartkilaze heard that I was angry, he was out of breath and explained to me, "the German attack launched during the day was successfully repulsed by our army. As a rule, the enemy will not attack again after dark. Under such circumstances, except for a small number of guard forces, the main forces in our positions will temporarily withdraw to the back to rest and re-enter the positions after dawn the next day! "


    After listening to tavartkilaze''s explanation, I finally understood why the German raid was so easily successful. It turned out that there were no US troops in the positions they attacked. Biting my back teeth, I asked, "Comrade General, can you explain to me why you withdrew the main force from the position after dark?"


    "I pulled the troops down for two reasons." Tavartkilaze explained to me with trembling fear: "first, we should prevent the enemy from shelling our positions at night. The number of people on the positions is small, which can reduce casualties; Secondly, I also want to let the commanders and fighters have a good rest, so that they can maintain a good mental state when fighting the next day. Comrade commander, you should know that my starting point is good... "


    "Comrade General," I don''t want to entangle with him any more. At present, the primary task is to drive the enemy out of the city as soon as possible: "what kind of action did you take after the enemy occupied the university?"


    "I''m building up my forces. At present, I''ve mobilized two regiments and only five tanks of the 20th brigade of the guard tank," tavartkiraze continued to report. "I plan to attack the enemy overnight."


    "When will the troops be assembled?" I asked with a straight face.


    "In an hour at most, we can attack the enemy." Tavartkiraze replied.


    When I was in Moscow, I had been to several colleges and universities. I knew that the terrain in the school was easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as the garrison occupied several solid teaching buildings, it could block the open area with firepower and eliminate those enemies who tried to approach the buildings through the open area. Thinking of this, I specially told tavartkilaze: "Comrade General, the buildings of the school are relatively strong. Our tanks and guns may be difficult to destroy them. If the troops launch a strong attack, they may pay a huge sacrifice. Before launching the attack, you''d better study with the commanders and fighters to minimize the casualties of our army while destroying the enemy. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Maybe my tone became relaxed, I vaguely heard tavartkilaze sigh of relief, "I will personally come to the front command, and strive to eliminate the enemy occupying the University in the shortest time."


    As the battle had not started, I didn''t say anything more. After a few more orders, I hung up.


    When I sat down at the table, I was surprised to find that kirilov, who stayed in the headquarters every day, was not there. So I was surprised and asked, "where have the comrades of the military commissar gone?"


    "He''s gone to hitomir." As soon as I finished, chisjakov immediately replied, "the military commissar said that our counter offensive is imminent, and we should do a good job of political agitation for our commanders and fighters. Some time ago, the political workers of various divisions suffered heavy casualties, so he went to Zhitomir to select suitable candidates to replace those who died. "


    I waited for chisjakov to finish, nodded and changed the topic in time: "has general Svoboda''s Czech first brigade started?"


    "They started two hours ago." As he said this, chisjakov raised his hand and looked at his watch, then said, "if there is no accident on the way, they should have arrived at their destination."


    Without what happened in Zhitomir, maybe I would not care about the Czech brigade in a short time after listening to the report of chisjakov. But at the moment, I am anxious to know whether they have entered the position on time, because this is the key to the complete annihilation of the German army of fastif.


    I got ahlomeyev on the phone and asked, "major, do you have any information about the Czech brigade?"


    "Comrade commander, I''m going to report to you." "I have just received a telegram from general Svoboda that his troops have arrived at the designated position and are building fortifications," akhromeyev said by telephone. He promised that no matter how powerful the enemy is, they will crush the enemy''s attack. "


    "I see." Although Svoboda said that his troops could hold the position, I still told akhromeyev: "major, whether the Czech brigade can block the inevitable German army is the key to our army''s total annihilation of the German army in fastiev, so you must pay close attention to the movement there and report to me in time."


    "I see. Comrade commander, I will report the Czech brigade to you at any time." After these words, akhromeyev stopped for a moment, then suddenly said in a surprised voice, "there is one more thing I want to report to you. The transport team has sent a base number of shells to our artillery regiment, so that the artillery can provide the necessary artillery support for the infantry again in tomorrow''s battle. "


    Chisgakov, who sat next to ahlomeyev, also heard what he had reported. He waited for me to put down the phone and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, since the artillery units in the direction of fativ have been replenished, when can we replenish the artillery units in Zhitomir? If they have shells, then when we launch a counterattack, the infantry can also get the necessary artillery support. "


    I shook my head and said with a wry smile, "Comrade deputy commander, if I am not mistaken, general povsky has been supplemented by general rokosovsky himself. After today, when we can get new supplies is still unknown, because the commander of the front army will be replaced again. "


    "What, the commander of the front army is going to change again?" On hearing this news, chisgakov suddenly widened his eyes in surprise. After a long time, he asked, "I don''t know who will take over the post of general rokosovsky after he leaves?"


    Before I could speak, bzikov said hastily, "hell, how long has the commander just changed? It''s going to change again. Don''t the superiors know that changing the commander of the front army frequently at the critical moment of the campaign will lead the army into chaos? "


    "Chief of staff!" Chi Sky Kopf suddenly stopped the other''s officers. He looked around and saw that the staff were far away from us. He lowered his voice and said, "do not whine about the matter, and who will be the commander of the front army. We has the final say, but we will decide by the superior."


    "General watujing''s physical condition has recovered, and he will soon return to command the troops again." I took a look at the two men, and then said, "general rokosovsky, on the other hand, will go back to the front army of Belarus and direct his troops to liberate Belarus." Listen to me, bzikov whispered: "if I have a choice, I still hope to accept the command of general rokosovsky. His level is obviously a long way higher."¡° Don''t worry, chief of staff. " After listening to bzikov''s complaint, I said to him with a smile, "your wish will come true soon." As soon as my words came out, both of them looked at me in surprise. In particular, chisjakov asked nervously, "Comrade commander, you just said that we would still accept the command of general rokosovsky. Am I right?"¡° Yes, comrade deputy commander, your understanding is very correct. "¡° How could this happen? " Chisgakov said, "don''t you mean that general rokosovsky will go back to the front army of Belarus because of the return of general vatukin? How can we accept his command? " Bezikov frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly asked in surprise, "Comrade commander, will we be transferred to Belarus and join the formation of the Belarusian front army?"¡° Is that true? " As soon as he had finished speaking, chisgakov could not wait to ask me for confirmation¡° Rokosovsky came to my headquarters during the day and talked to me about it. " In order to avoid letting more people know about it, I said in a low voice to chisgakov and bzikov: "after the main forces of the front army have destroyed the German forces of fastif, they will send troops to take over the defense of Zhitomir. Our group army will be transferred to the rear for rest. After the rest, it is unlikely that we will return to the first front army of Ukraine. If we do not go to the front army of Belarus, we will be transferred to the front army of the Baltic Sea. "¡° If I had a choice, I would rather go to the front army of Belarus. " After I finished, bezikov said, "I still like the commanding style of general rokosovsky."

 Chapter 1354

    "Well, comrade chief of staff, we will not discuss this issue for the time being." Chisgakov interrupted bzikov: "who will lead our group army in the future is decided by the supreme command. No matter how much discussion we have in private, it is useless." After he said these words to bezikov, he turned his head and looked at me: "Comrade commander, our first task now is to eliminate the enemy in the city of Zhitomir and prepare for our next attack."


    As for the reminder from chisgakov, I immediately nodded and agreed. I raised my hand and looked at it. Then I said to bezikov, "chief of staff, I think the troops should have assembled long ago. You should call general tavartkilaze and ask them to launch an attack immediately and try to get the school back from the enemy in the shortest time."


    After receiving the order of attack, general tavartkilaze of Zhitomir immediately ordered the troops that had been deployed near the two universities to launch a fierce attack against the enemy in the schools.


    Hearing the news of the beginning of the attack, chisgakov looked at me and asked, "Comrade commander, do you think general tavartkilaze can drive out all the enemies in the city of Zhitomir before dawn?"


    "There should be no problem." "Although there is no accurate information about how many German troops there are in the two universities, they will not be able to sustain long in the face of the strong offensive of our two regiments," bezikov vowed


    Seeing that bezikov was full of confidence, I felt a little uneasy. If the German army was so easily driven away, maybe they could not occupy the two schools in the city. But when I saw the two men in high spirits, I couldn''t pour cold water on them. I could only stare at the map in front of them silently, thinking whether I could teach the Germans a lesson after driving the enemy out of the city before the main force of the front army arrived.


    After the battle in the city of Zhitomir started, without waiting for tavartkilaze''s report, an unexpected call came first. A staff officer reported to me, "your call is from the headquarters of the front army."


    I heard that it was a call from the headquarters of the front army. I can''t help wondering: rokosovsky should be on his way back to Belarus now. Who will call me?


    I took the earphone and stuck it to my ear. I said politely to the microphone, "Hello, I''m o''shanina. Where are you?"


    "I''m vatukin." As soon as the person on the other side of the phone spoke, I was startled: "I''m back."


    When I heard watujing say this, I suddenly saw a figure in a mandarin jacket, leaning on the stick of civilization, and with a face full of flesh. Surrounded by a group of people, the man waved the stick of civilization while shouting: "I Hu Hansan is back!" Although such an image is not very brilliant, I don''t know how. As soon as I heard what watujing said, I immediately overlapped their images.


    With a smile in my heart, I said to the microphone, "Comrade General, you are back. It''s great that we can fight against the German invaders under your leadership again. "


    "Some time ago, my body... Physical condition... Is not good, so let Comrade rokosovsky command for a period of time instead of me." At the beginning of his speech, watujing stammered a little, but soon returned to normal: "now our battle with the enemy is entering a critical time. As the commander of the front army, how can I stay in the hospital? By the way, what''s the situation in Zhitomir? "


    I heard him ask about Zhitomir, quickly covered the microphone, turned to ask chisgakov and bezikov: "did you report the German army''s rush into Zhitomir to the headquarters of the front army?"


    When they heard my question, chisjakov and bezikov looked at each other and said nothing.


    In order to get an accurate answer as soon as possible, I raised my voice: "is it reported?"


    Chisgakov first asked bzikov, "chief of staff, have you reported it?"


    "No Bzikov shook his head and said in surprise, "I thought you reported it?"


    I didn''t know what to say because of their reply. After staring at them fiercely, I released my hand on the microphone and reported to vatukin with a red face: "Comrade General, the German army launched a surprise attack on Zhitomir in the dark, and successfully broke through our army''s defense and rushed into the city, They occupied the National Normal University of Zhitomir and the National Agricultural College of Ukraine. "


    "What?" When vatukin heard me say this, he immediately raised his voice: "the German army rushed into the city and occupied the National Normal University of Zhitomir and the National Agricultural College of Ukraine." When he said this, he slapped the table, and the loud voice startled me. Then he continued to say, "what have you done?"


    I quickly and respectfully replied: "I''ve given it to the close guard tavartkiraze. Maybe I never dreamed that if we can''t clear the enemy in the city before 3 a.m., it will bring such serious consequences. After a long silence, he suddenly raised his voice and said to me, "Comrade commander, you can rest assured that I will personally direct the attack on the agricultural college. If the enemy can not be eliminated within the specified time, I will never come back alive to see you."


    When I put down the phone, I saw that chisjakov and bzikov were all around me, so I asked curiously, "what are you doing around me?"

 Chapter 1355

    They were silent for a while. At last, chisgakov asked: "Comrade commander, I think the battle in Zhitomir may be the last battle of our group army in the formation of the first front army of Ukraine. What do you think?"


    "It''s impossible." Before I could express my opinion on this speculation, bzikov retorted: "we have to know that our troops are distributed in three regions and there are still many wars to fight. Even if we have to withdraw, it is not so easy."


    "Chief of staff, you think too simply." With a sneer, chisgakov said to bezikov, "at present, apart from Zhitomir, we only have two infantry divisions, one mechanized brigade and three tank brigades of fastif. As soon as the battle in fativ is over, these troops will be transferred to Kiev. And the troops of Zhitomir will move to Kiev in the shortest time after the friendly forces take over. "


    "Isn''t there a tank brigade, a cavalry division and a Czech brigade to the southwest of fastif?" "Even if the main force of the front army clears out the enemy in the city of fastif, the southwest blocking battle will last for quite a long time," bezikov said unconvinced


    When I heard this, I couldn''t help laughing: "chief of staff, do you forget that the troops that are preventing the German army from escaping in the southwest direction of fativ at this moment do not belong to our group army. They are all temporarily transferred by the higher authorities to cooperate with us. As long as they reach the target of the campaign, they may be transferred back at any time. "


    What I said cooled the hearts of the two people. Chisjakov said anxiously: "Comrade commander, maybe what you said is correct. As long as we eliminate the enemy in the city of Zhitomir, the front army will send troops to replace our defense, and then transfer us to the rear to rest. By the way, can general tavartkilaze''s troops clear all the enemies in the city of Zhitomir before three o''clock in the morning? "


    "I think it''s a bit overwhelming." Seeing their puzzled faces, I quickly added: "general tavartkiraze reported to me that the only tanks in the city had been lost in the attack on the normal college. The troops attacking the agricultural college can only attack the enemy hidden in solid buildings without artillery cover. I think the casualties of our army will not be small after this battle. "


    "What, all the tanks in the city have been lost?" Hearing this unexpected news, chisgakov''s brow was more and more wrinkled: "without the support of tanks, our troops would have to pay a huge sacrifice just to rush through the open space in front of the teaching building and student dormitory. It seems that it is very difficult to finish the task within the prescribed time. "


    Just when the three of us were worried that it would be very difficult for our troops to complete the task assigned by vatukin within the prescribed time, the fighting in the city of Zhitomir became white hot. Except for the 309 regiment of the 51st division, which besieged the agricultural college, the rest of the troops who had contact with the German army were in full swing.


    Seeing that the troops besieging the agricultural college did not attack for a long time, tavartkiraze was a little worried. He called chejerikov: "Comrade Colonel, what''s the matter with you? Why hasn''t it launched an attack on the agricultural college so far? If you can''t finish the task within the prescribed time, you will be sent to the military court. "


    "Comrade commander." Hearing the rebuke from tavartkilaze, shejerikov quickly explained: "the 309th regiment has just entered the position, and may still be adjusting its forces, so it has not launched an attack. Please wait patiently for a while. Maybe the attack will start soon


    "I''ll give you half an hour to prepare," tavartkilaze said, looking up at the watch on his wrist. "When the time comes, you must attack the enemy."


    "At present, the division headquarters can''t get in touch with the 309th regiment, and the order of attack can''t be conveyed." When shejerikov saw that tavartkilaze had given him an ultimatum, he quickly declared his position and said, "I will go to the front in person and order the troops to attack the enemy immediately."


    After shejerikov put down the phone, he ran out of his division headquarters and walked quickly down the street towards the position of the 309th regiment. When he just jumped into the traffic ditch, he was immediately stopped by two soldiers, and one of them whispered to him: "stop, command!"


    "Password?" When he heard the soldiers'' shouts, he couldn''t help but think that he didn''t set any password tonight, which should have been just set by major shumarkov.


    "Are you blind?" Just as shejerikov was thinking about how to answer each other, a staff officer behind him stepped forward and said in a loud voice to the two soldiers, "don''t you see this is the division commander?"


    Hearing the staff officer''s roar, the talking soldier stared at Xie jerikov for a moment, then put down his gun and said apologetically, "I''m sorry, sir, I didn''t see it was you..."


    "Comrade soldier." Without waiting for the other party to finish, he interrupted and asked, "where is your chief?"


    The soldier quickly said: "Comrade division commander, you go along the traffic ditch, turn right after you come to the end, you can see an observation post, and the commander is there."


    Shejerikov, with a few staff officers, walked along the traffic ditch at a brisk pace. Along the way, many officers and men saw him, and they all stood up and raised their hands to salute him. However, in a hurry, the worried Xie jerikov turned a blind eye to them.


    As soon as shejerikov entered the observation post, he saw shumarkov with his back to himself, looking out with a telescope. Seeing that the division chief entered the observation post, the chief of staff of the regiment quickly reminded him in a low voice: "Comrade commander, the division chief is here!"


    Shumakov turned and faced shejerikov, and reported, "Comrade division commander, major shumakov, head of the 309th regiment of the guards is..."


    He did not even care to greet him, so he immediately asked, "major, I ask you, when can you launch an attack?"


    After listening to what shejerikov said, shumakov was silent for a while, and then cautiously replied, "Comrade division, I don''t think it''s time to launch an attack."


    "If you don''t attack now, when are you going to attack?" he asked angrily


    Although he saw that shijerikov was angry, shumarkov still replied with a flat expression: "I think at least the enemy should relax his vigilance."


    "When will the enemy relax his guard?" "Don''t you attack at daybreak if the enemy doesn''t let down his guard before daybreak?" he asked


    "It won''t take that long." Shumakov said to me with a smile, "Comrade commander, you can see for yourself that the enemy has begun to relax its vigilance."


    Shejerikov went to the observation port, raised his telescope and looked at the dark building hundreds of meters away. As there was no light in the building, there was no movement at all. He put down his telescope, turned to shumakov and said, "major, I don''t see anything."


    "Don''t worry, sir." Shumakov went to shejerikov''s body, pointed to the dark building in the distance and said, "look carefully at the windowless windows on each floor."


    After being prompted by shumakov, shijerikov began to observe the windows of the teaching building carefully. At this point, we can see the problem. The German army may be for the need of heating. There are people smoking on almost every floor. In the dark, the burning cigarette end jumps up and down like a ghost fire. For shejerikov, the little red dot not only has no warm feeling, but also has a strange atmosphere in the night sky.


    When shejerikov saw this, he turned to shumakov and asked, "major, what do you want me to see? I''ve been watching for a long time, but I don''t seem to see any sign of the enemy relaxing their vigilance? "


    "Comrade division commander," shumarkov began to explain to shijerikov the reason why the troops did not attack for a long time: "not long ago, the Germans beat back the attack of the 90th division of the guards, and the degree of vigilance must be at the highest level. If we attack the enemy as soon as we get here, we will be tenaciously blocked by the German army waiting for work. In that case, the casualties of our division will be very serious. "


    "Is the situation in the building clear?" Asked chejerikov.


    "The German army has at least two companies in the teaching building; On the other side of the dormitory, there are a few troops, but there is also a company. " Shumakov was not slow to introduce the difficulties he was facing to shijerikov¡° The two construction departments occupied by the enemy at the same time can echo each other because they are only 200 meters apart. If we launch an attack, the cross fire formed by the bullets from the two buildings can block the way for the commanders and fighters to charge, causing us huge casualties. "


    "But just now I heard you say that the enemy has begun to relax their guard." With curiosity, shejerikov asked shumakov, "how do you judge?"


    "Sir, look at the windows on all floors. You can see the red dot beating. It''s the enemy smoking." Shumakov continued to analyze the current situation to shejerikov, "the Germans have dealt with us for several years, and they know a lot about our army''s combat styles. For example, they are very clear that we will not attack in the same area for several hours after we are frustrated in an attack in a certain direction. I have not let the troops attack for a long time. I just want them to have the illusion that we will not attack them in a short time, so that they can relax their vigilance. "


    At the end of shumakov''s explanation, shijerikov nodded and said, "yes, comrade major. Your consideration is correct. After the troops are deployed in place, they will not launch an attack so that the Germans think that we will not attack them for the time being, so as to reduce their vigilance. When the time is ripe, they will be surprised again. "


    Seeing that xiejerikov understood his intention, shumakov''s face showed a happy smile: "Sir, comrade, we can continue to wait until the enemy completely loses its vigilance, and then we will launch a surprise attack on them."


    Shejerikov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he said to shumakov solemnly, "Comrade major, although I want to give you more time, I can''t. The higher authorities issued a death order that before 3 a.m., they must seize two colleges and clear the enemy in the city of Zhitomir. Now we don''t have much time left. "


    These words immediately froze shumakov''s smile on his face. After a long time, he murmured: "Comrade teacher, why does the superior give such an order?"¡° You ask me, who am I going to ask? " "This is an order issued by the commander himself, saying that if the task can not be completed within the specified time, the general will be removed from office and sent to the military court," he said Major shumakov''s eyes widened and his face was inconceivable: "no, she would never give such an order from my understanding of Comrade commander. In every battle, she will repeatedly emphasize to commanders at all levels that we must rationally use strategies and tactics in combat, reduce casualties of troops, and achieve the greatest victory at the lowest cost. "¡° Major, "said Sergey reekov with a straight face," whether you can take the agricultural college before the time is related to the fate of the whole army. Do you understand? "¡° I see, sir. " After a fierce ideological struggle, shumakov clenched his teeth and replied, "our regiment initially launched an attack on the enemy in the Agricultural College at 1 a.m., striving to solve the battle within two hours." After hearing shumakov''s statement, shijerikov extended his hand to him and said in a friendly way, "Comrade major, I''m waiting for your good news in the division headquarters. Good luck!" After shaking hands, he turned and walked out of the observation post. At one o''clock in the morning, schumakov ordered the first battalion to quietly approach the teaching building under the cover of the night. At a distance of 50 meters, they suddenly launched a charge and rushed into the teaching building at the fastest speed. However, when the first battalion was just close to 100 meters away, a guard in the teaching building heard the movement outside and fired a flare into the sky. Suddenly, the whole offensive troops were exposed to the enemy''s eyes. As a result, the enemy machine guns in the teaching building and dormitory building opened fire on our soldiers in the open field. The dense bullets woven a fire net on the charging Road, and the soldiers who rushed up fell into the net. For a moment, the sound of gunfire, explosion and scream came and went one after another. If the officers and men didn''t fall down, the whole fighting scene was extremely tragic. Seeing this situation, shumakov immediately called the chief of staff and told him in a loud voice: "chief of staff, order the light and heavy machine guns of the battalions to fire to suppress the enemy''s firepower. At the same time, we should send sniper teams as close as possible to the enemy''s positions, kill the enemy''s machine guns and reduce our attack pressure. " With a promise, the chief of staff ran to the side to make a phone call and conveyed a series of orders from shumakov. The 309th regiment of Jinwei is a strong fighting force. Although it suffered heavy casualties under the intensive fire of the enemy, none of the commanders and fighters retreated. They searched for shelter one after another and continued to rush towards the teaching building. After a while, the heavy and heavy machine guns on the position opened fire, suppressing the enemy''s machine gun fire; Sniper team, also the enemy''s plane gunners and officers as the primary target of sniper. Seeing the enemy''s firepower weakened, the commanders and fighters, who had been suppressed and could not move forward, jumped out of the hiding place and rushed into the teaching building occupied by the German army with weapons. Seeing the officers and men of the first battalion rush into the teaching building, shumakov felt a lot more relaxed. He once again ordered the chief of staff: "let the second battalion and the third battalion also rush up. The second battalion went to reinforce the first battalion, and the Third Battalion went to seize the dormitory. We should strive to eliminate all the enemies in the Agricultural College in the shortest possible time. " At two o''clock in the morning, I received a call from tawalter killazer. He told me excitedly: "Comrade commander, the normal college and the agricultural college have been recaptured, and all the German troops in the city have been wiped out by us. We have successfully completed the task assigned to us by the upper level before the specified time."

 Chapter 1356

    When I learned that the German army in the city of Zhitomir had been completely eliminated, and after praising tavartkiraze for a few words, I called vatukin in Kiev to report to him the victory I had just won.


    After listening to my report, vatukin froze for a long time, then asked unexpectedly, "do you really wipe out all the German troops in the city of Zhitomir?"


    "Yes, comrade general," although I don''t understand why he spoke to me in this tone, I told him truthfully, "our troops have recaptured two universities and eliminated all the enemies in the city."


    "Good. You did a good job." After a few words of praise, vatukin turned the subject and said, "the battle of fativ will be finished by this morning at the latest. I will transfer the troops that were originally going to the area to ztomir. As for you, come to Kiev as soon as possible. I want to have a good talk with you. "


    "I understand, Comrade General." I knew in my heart that he was definitely going to talk to me about the troops being transferred to the rear for rest, so he said in a smooth tone, "I''ll get to you as soon as possible."


    When I put down the phone, I took the time to explain my work to chisjakov and bezikov: "deputy commander, chief of staff and senior general asked me to go to Kiev immediately. I think I was ready to talk with me about the issue of transferring troops to the rear for rest. When I was away, you would be responsible for the work here."


    As for my trip to Kiev, both of them have been psychologically prepared for a long time, so they are very calm, but chisjakov repeatedly told me to pay attention to safety on the road.


    It''s only 1670 kilometers from the base to Kiev. Although the road is not too long, because this road has just been opened by our army, no one can tell whether there will be residual German troops in the forest on both sides of the road. So before I set out, I asked major Yushchenko to find me an armored car, and then under the escort of a company of soldiers, I set out towards Kiev.


    On the way to Kiev, there are still traces of fighting left on both sides of the road. Destroyed tanks, armored vehicles, trucks and artillery can be seen everywhere, both from our army and German. When you pass through kanevka Town, you can see that the trenches outside the town are crisscrossed with the bodies of officers and soldiers from both sides, so you can judge how fierce the fighting was here at that time.


    After entering Kiev, I can hardly recognize the city I once occupied. I can hardly find the complete building. I don''t know whether it was destroyed by the siege artillery of our army or the deliberate destruction of the German. In the ruins on both sides of the street, soldiers and civilians are buried in the cleaning work.


    When I met watujing in the headquarters, he had just finished a phone call. Maybe he heard some good news. He looked very happy. After he asked me to sit down, he politely asked, "Comrade o''xanina, is this a smooth journey?"


    I nodded and replied, "yes, Comrade General. All the way was smooth, and there was no encounter with the enemy''s stragglers. "


    "I have something important to tell you when I call you here today." After asking the adjutant to bring me a cup of hot tea, watujing told me the reason why he called me: "your group army has been fighting for more than a month, and the soldiers and ammunition are consumed a lot, and the commanders and fighters are exhausted. So the supreme command decided to withdraw you to the rear for a rest. "


    I saw that he didn''t mention the topic that he would classify us into other front forces at all, and I began to guess whether he didn''t know about it or didn''t say it on purpose. But I can only think about it in my heart, I can''t ask him directly. As soon as he finished, I immediately asked, "senior general, our group army now occupies three areas: Zhitomir, the base and korostwev. We can withdraw only after we have troops to replace our defense."


    "Don''t worry, I''ve already made plans for it." "I will send the 60th group army to take over the defense of the two cities of Zhitomir and korostwev," vatujing said lightly; At the base, the 38th army will take over. After the handover of defense, your troops immediately withdraw to Kiev. "


    "Yes, Comrade General." I quickly stood up and answered.


    "Your troops are playing very well." "I would like to thank you for the successful completion of the tasks assigned to you by your superiors," watujing added. We will give necessary rewards to the commanders and fighters who perform well in the battle. Well, is that clear now? "


    "That''s clear." After answering this question, I was silent for a moment, and then tentatively asked, "Comrade General, have all our troops launched a counter offensive? I mean, have we launched counter offensives on all battlefields across the country? "


    "Needless to say," said watujing with some pride, "our troops have certainly turned to a full-scale counter offensive. I attended a high-level meeting in Moscow two days ago. At the meeting, I mainly discussed and summarized the situation of the Soviet German war and analyzed the potential of military economy. The meeting pointed out: the strength of the Red Army has increased in all aspects. The most fundamental thing is that it has sufficient weapons. Commanders at all levels have matured. The patriotic enthusiasm of the soldiers in the army is unprecedented. Our army has nearly five million troops on the battlefield, 55000 guns and mortars, 5400 tanks and more than 3000 planes. After combat training, the Red Army is now superior to the enemy in many aspects: the number of people is 1.3 times that of the enemy, the number of artillery is 1.7 times, and the number of aircraft is 2.7 times... "


    I was surprised by a series of data that watujing said. Although the Soviet army paid a lot of price in the continuous large-scale decisive battle, their supplement number was far beyond my imagination. I murmured: "I didn''t expect that our army had unconsciously occupied the advantage of military strength and technical equipment."


    "Yes, after our troops have established themselves on the right bank of the Dnieper, they will launch a series of continuous attacks against the enemy." "When we have no strength to fight back against the enemy, we can make great strides forward to the original border line and make all preparations for going abroad to fight in the future," said vatujing confidently


    When vatukin mentioned advancing to the border line, he reminded me that travkin''s team is still in Lutsk to detect the whereabouts of amber house. He quickly reminded vatujing: "senior general, our reconnaissance team is still in the city of Lutsk, trying to find the whereabouts of the amber room. If our group army retreats to the rear, will it affect the task of looking for the amber room? "


    As for the question I mentioned, watujing frowned and thought for a while, then said, "Comrade oshanina, you don''t have to worry about this matter. I''ll send someone to follow up. When he comes, you can tell him about it


    Watujing was talking when the telephone on the desk rang. As he walked towards the phone, he said to me, "sit down first. I''ll ask you something later."


    Originally, I thought he could finish his phone call in a few words, but he kept talking with each other. Waiting is sometimes a kind of torment, because I don''t know whether he is ready to ask me a question and blame me for not secretly promising rokosovsky to go to the front army of Belarus, so I feel even more uneasy.


    Finally, when he came to me after calling, I got up from my seat. He came to me and said with a trace of apology, "the phone call was from marshal vasilevsky. It took a long time to talk. I''m sorry to have kept you waiting so long."


    He added: "when I discussed the next strategy with Marshal Zhukov yesterday, he suggested to me that I listen to your opinions. Now I want to ask you, if our army is going to have a large-scale battle with the Germans next, what should we pay attention to? "


    I didn''t expect that he would suddenly ask this question. For a moment, my mind was in a mess and I didn''t know how to answer him.


    When watujing saw that I was just staring at him and didn''t speak for a long time, he laughed and said to me in an encouraging tone: "tell me about it, comrade oshanina. I know you have many ideas. You can say what you think. Even if you are wrong, I will never blame you. "


    After serious consideration, I finally expressed my opinion: "senior general, I think in the next battle, we should not simply carry out a frontal attack to defeat the enemy, so that they will soon regroup in the rear and launch a new attack on us. Instead, we should boldly carry out the encirclement campaign, thoroughly eliminate the enemy''s effective forces, and relieve the pressure for future overseas operations. "


    After listening to my opinion, watujing nodded with a smile and said with approval, "Comrade oshanina, it''s a coincidence that your idea coincides with that of Marshal Zhukov. No wonder he asked me to consult you. In the battle of liberating Kiev, your group army did a good job. They decisively occupied korostwev, cut off the retreat of the enemy forces in Kiev, and let our army annihilate more effective German forces near Kiev, reducing the pressure in the next battle. "


    With these words, he walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, stopped and looked at me, and said, "Comrade o''shanina, if you were not the commander-in-chief, I would never let you go."


    "The Supreme Commander himself?" Vatujing suddenly mentioned Stalin, which made me confused. I asked in surprise: "Comrade General, I don''t quite understand what you mean. How can I get involved with the Supreme Commander himself again?"


    "Well, comrade oshanina." After calling me to sit down, vatujing said to me with a sad face: "before I came back yesterday, Marshal Zhukov talked to me about the use of you and your close guard Sixth Army. He thought that our army''s strength in the direction of Ukraine was sufficient, while general rokosovsky''s Belarusian front army still needed to be strengthened, Therefore, it is proposed that your army should be included in the formation of the Belarusian front army. Originally, I strongly disagreed. I even offered to replace you with other troops. However, the marshal has been very stubborn and, in spite of my strong opposition, must remove you. This matter finally shocked the Supreme Commander himself, and he decided that after you had a rest, you would be formally incorporated into rokosovsky''s army. "


    When I learned that the future of our group army had been decided by Stalin himself, and no one could change it, I was secretly relieved. To tell you the truth, although vatukin is also very good, I don''t know how to do it. Under his command, I always feel constrained. Now I can''t wait to go to rokosovsky. However, on the surface, I still want to pretend that I am reluctant to part with it: "senior general, can you ask the supreme commander to take back his life? You know, I''m used to fighting with the Germans under your leadership. I''m really not used to this sudden change of place. "


    "I''m sorry, comrade oshanina." "I''ve tried my best, but I can''t change the decision of the Supreme Commander himself," said vatukin with a gloomy face Maybe I saw my frown and comforted me and said, "don''t worry, anyway, you and rokosovsky are old acquaintances. I believe you will get along well..." after a trial, I knew that our group army''s going to the front army of Belarus was a certainty. So I changed the topic and asked, "senior general, I don''t know where our group army will retreat to rest? "¡° The higher authorities have not yet decided on the specific location for the rectification. Either Tula or Smolensk, they are all near Moscow. " "Now your first priority is to let the troops withdraw to Kiev. As for the next destination, I''ll let you know then," he continued After that, he went to the desk where the telephone was put, picked up a document, handed it to me, and said, "you are right here. I will give you the order for your army to withdraw to the rear." After I took the order, I looked straight at him and asked, "Comrade General, will you allow me to leave? I''m going back to deploy the retreat. "¡° Just a moment Vatukin stopped me again and added: "I know that before the battle to liberate fastif, katukov sent you two tank brigades and a mechanized close guard brigade. When you retreat, let them stay there and continue to stand by. By the way, the cavalry division and the Czech first brigade of general Svoboda are no longer under the command of your group army. " Although I knew for a long time that the troops mentioned by watujing could not be maintained, I was still a little disappointed when I really heard the order. Anyway, it was more than 20000 commanders and fighters and nearly 200 tanks, which were a force that could not be underestimated in the battlefield. But at the moment, with a few words from watujing, it all came to nothing.

 Chapter 1357

    At the end of the conversation with vatukin, I raised my hand to salute him, turned and walked out the door. Who knows just walked to the door, suddenly heard him calling me: "Comrade oshanina, wait a moment, please wait a moment."


    I quickly stopped, turned and looked at him, politely asked: "senior general, do you have any instructions?"


    He came up to me quickly and said, "I almost forgot that Bogoliubov, chief of staff of the front army, is in the next room. Go to him and give him the contact information of the reconnaissance team in Lutsk."


    "Yes, I''m going." After that, I raised my hand again and walked out of the room.


    I walked a few steps along the carpeted corridor and saw a room with an open door, in which many commanders were busy nervously. I thought that was what watujing said, so I stepped in.


    Entering the room, I quickly scanned it with my eyes, and saw those commanders who were busy in front of the map or the telephone, either the school officer or the lieutenant, who were definitely not the people I was looking for. I was about to find someone to ask where the chief of staff was. Suddenly, a low voice sounded behind me: "who are you? What are you doing in my headquarters?"


    I quickly turned around and saw a middle-aged commander without a military cap standing at the door, frowning and looking up and down at me. I habitually glanced at each other''s epaulets and saw that they were the same rank as me. Then I guessed that this man must be the chief of staff I was looking for, general Bogoliubov. So I tentatively asked, "are you the chief of staff, general Bogoliubov?"


    "Are you general o''shanina?" Bogoliubov guessed his identity when he saw me. He couldn''t help laughing twice. Then he asked in a low voice, "commander watujing asked you to come to me?"


    "Yes, chief of staff," I replied positively, "it was the senior general who asked me to come to you."


    Bogoliubov looked into the room, then took one side of his body and made a gesture to the outside: "Comrade oshanina, we''d better find a quiet place to talk about this."


    I know that Bogoliubov called me to another place to talk about the search for the amber room, because it was a confidential matter, and it was not suitable for too many people to know. There are no more than five people in my command who know about it.


    I followed him to a small room not far away, with simple facilities, a desk and two armchairs. When we entered, he closed the door behind us, then went to the back of his desk and sat down. He gestured to me and said, "please sit down, comrade oshanina."


    After I sat down, I first asked: "Comrade chief of staff, because of the recent fierce war, I have entrusted all matters related to the treasure hunting detachment to Comrade kirilov, military commissar of the group army. I wonder if he has reported the latest progress to you?"


    Bogoliubov shook his head and said without expression: "no, I have never contacted your military commissar Comrade kirilov since I took office."


    I can hear a trace of dissatisfaction from his tone. He may think that we have never communicated with him on the treasure hunt. Now that the army is going to withdraw to the rear to rest, he will be responsible for it. A little emotion is inevitable. In order to prevent him from wearing shoes for them in the future, I accompanied them carefully and said, "since Comrade kirilov has not reported this to you, I will report it to you now."


    Seeing that he nodded his head slightly to show his agreement, I reported to him what I knew about the team. While I was telling the whole story, Bogoliubov kept on remembering it. When he had finished, he looked up and asked, a little puzzled, "why, there has been no news since lieutenant gretka got into the bank?"


    I think of gretka posing as a German photographer and sneaking into the bank vault to take pictures of cultural relics. Kirilov will definitely report to me if there is any following. Since he has never mentioned it in front of me, it proves that gretka has never come out of the bank. Thinking of this, I definitely replied: "yes, comrade chief of staff, if he has come out of the bank, the reconnaissance team will report to me as soon as possible. Unfortunately, unfortunately, I haven''t received any information in this respect up to now. "


    Bogoliubov listened to me, frowning closer and closer, and then tentatively asked, "Comrade oshanina, do you think it''s possible that gretka has defected, so the reconnaissance team waiting outside can''t get accurate information."


    "No, comrade chief of staff, this is absolutely impossible." When I heard his suspicion of gretka, I couldn''t help standing up from my seat and yelling at him: "although gretka is German, he has been very good since he defected to our army. I don''t think he can mutiny." At this point, I realized that I was a little too excited. I quickly lowered my voice and muttered, "if you want to mutiny, you will mutiny as early as Stalingrad. Do you still have to wait until now?"


    Seeing that I firmly supported gretka, Bogoliubov nodded and then said, "Comrade o''shanina, although I saw you for the first time, I believe what you said will not be wrong. Since lieutenant gretka will not rebel, is it another possibility that he will not show up, that is, he has been identified by the enemy and imprisoned? "


    "It''s not ruled out." The thought that gretka might have been locked up by the Germans and that travkin''s reconnaissance mission was a failure made me panic. I was silent for a long time. After my mood became stable, I began to say, "Comrade chief of staff, I have reported to you all the things I know. As for the treasure hunt team, since I have officially handed it over to you, I have no right to ask what happens next. " Hearing that I shirked all my responsibilities, Bogoliubov could not help looking at me in surprise. After a long time, he said, "well, comrade oshanina, since I have officially taken over the task of the reconnaissance team, I will personally investigate what happened."¡° Comrade chief of staff. " Seeing that my conversation with him was over, I asked directly, "can I leave now? I''m also going to rush back to the army to arrange for the withdrawal of the whole army. "¡° I was just about to tell you about it Bogoleubov also stood up and said to me, "when you are on your way to Kiev, after consulting the commander, I have ordered the 77th and 89th divisions of the guards who are staying in fativ to drive to Kiev immediately. I don''t think you can go far out of the city, you''ll meet a convoy carrying troops. " I left Kiev with the guard company and drove West for two hours. As I approached kanevka, I saw a motorcade in the distance. I hastened to order the driver of the armored vehicle: "speed up to meet." In a few minutes, I saw the front of the team began to slow down, and soon stopped at the side of the car. The front door of the co driver''s side of the truck opened, and then an officer jumped down from it and quickly ran towards the armored car I was in. I pushed the door open, jumped down and stood by a snowdrift, waiting for the officer to arrive. The officer came to me, raised his hand and respectfully reported, "Comrade commander, Lieutenant bolowensky, deputy commander of the first company of the guard battalion of the 89th division of the guards, reports to you that our department is being ordered to move to Kiev!" I raised my hand and asked, "where is major general Xie Liujin, your teacher?"¡° "In the back," the second lieutenant said with a wave of his head. "I think he knows you''re here and will report to you soon." Just then, I saw a jeep close to the motorcade parked on the side of the road, driving towards us quickly. I guess it might be sherekin, so I stopped talking with the lieutenant and turned to the jeep. The jeep came to a sudden stop 20 meters away from us, then the doors on both sides opened, and two commanders jumped out of the car and ran towards me quickly. I only took a look and recognized Mr. Xie Liujin and his political commissar, Lieutenant Colonel ye ermohin. They came to me and raised their hands to salute. They were about to report, but I raised my hand to stop them. I asked first, "general Xie Liujin, how many people are left in your division?"¡° Report to commander, "Xie Liujin took a step forward and replied," there are still 4000 people in the whole division, so we can continue to fight with the enemy. "¡° The superior has given the combat task to the friendly forces. " The 89th division of Jinwei is a reserve force left by me. They are seldom sent to the battlefield. Now they are only half of the troops left, so the casualties of other divisions will be more serious. I said with a heavy heart, "the reason why I''m here to stop you is to let you clean the battlefield and gather the bodies of the enemy and us outside the town of kanevka." Xie Liujin agreed, turned around and ran back to the team, shouting orders at the back. I looked at the commanders and fighters in the car. With Xie Liujin''s order, I jumped off the truck one after another and quickly lined up beside the car. I couldn''t help nodding with satisfaction. In the final analysis, my heart is elite. The speed of gathering is much faster than others. Xie Liujin watched the troops forming under the car, ran back to me, and reported to me, "Comrade commander, the troops have been assembled. Please direct the next step." With a wave of my hand, I announced, "pass my orders, all of you turn left and move towards kanevka!"

 Chapter 1358

    At the beginning of December, the troops moved into Smolensk and were stationed in Smolensk, yarcevo, viazima and roslavur. The headquarters of the group army is located in the Dnieper District of Smolensk. Our task is to help the local residents rebuild their homes as well as to make a rest.


    After we were stationed in Dnieper District, kirilov introduced the situation of Smolensk to me while the staff were arranging the headquarters: "Smolensk was founded on September 27, 1937, with a total area of 49800 square kilometers. The number of administrative units in the week is 25 districts, 7 cities under the state, 8 cities under the state, 3 urban districts, 17 towns, 419 administrative farms... The capital of the state is Smolensk City, which was built in 862, 419 kilometers away from Moscow. "


    Before kirilov had finished speaking, major bukov, the deputy head of the guard regiment, hurried in from the outside. He came up to me, leaned down to my ear and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, the high official of Smolensk, comrade brusoek is here, and he is at the door now."


    "Comrade major, how can you keep him waiting outside?" When I heard bukov say this, I quickly told him, "please invite him in!"


    As bukov walked out the door, I stood up and pulled the hem of my uniform. Then I said to my colleagues sitting on both sides of the long conference table, "comrades commander, comrade brusoek, the high official of Smolensk, is here. Let''s meet him."


    As soon as we got to the door, we saw bukov leading a middle-aged man with a big body and a smart appearance into the room.


    "Dear Ivan Petrovich, is that you?" Seeing the middle-aged man behind bukov, kirilov passed me, stepped forward two steps, took each other''s hand, and said excitedly, "I''m not dreaming, old man. I can see you here."


    After kirilov held his hand, he hesitated for a moment, although his face also showed a surprise expression, "my God, you are kirilov, what I see is you or your ghost."


    "I''m alive and you''re alive. It''s not easy." Kirilov did not let go of each other''s hand. Then he put his left hand on each other''s shoulder and pulled it in front of him. They hugged each other tightly.


    After the two separated, kirilov took one side of his body and introduced him to me. He said, "Rita, I''d like to introduce you. This is my old friend Ivan Petrovich brusoek. He was the Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Committee of Smolensk before the war. I didn''t expect that in just two or three years, he had been promoted to a senior official of the state." After that, he turned to brusoek and said, "old man, this is Comrade oshanina, commander of the sixth group army of our guards."


    Brusoek must have never dreamed that the commander of the group army would be a young woman. He could not help opening his mouth in surprise and could not speak for a long time.


    I couldn''t help laughing at his surprise. As soon as kirilov finished his introduction, I took the initiative to hold his hand and politely said, "Hello, comrade brusoek, nice to meet you!"


    Brusoek soon regained his composure, took my hand and said politely, "Hello, general oshanina!"


    After kirilov had introduced the others to brusoek, we went to the conference table. I heard brusoek behind me asking kirilov in a low voice, "Comrade kirilov, I remember you worked in the Central Committee of the CPC. How could you work in the army?"


    "Well, as early as the battle of Stalingrad, due to the shortage of political workers on the front line, the higher authorities transferred civilian personnel from various units to enrich the troops. It was at that time that I was transferred to the 62nd army as director of the political department. " Kirilov replied in a low voice: "later, I was transferred to oshanina''s independent division and held the post of political commissar..."


    After everyone was seated, brusoek asked me with a smile, "general oshanina, how about getting used to everything after arriving at Smolensk?"


    Hearing his question, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. My heart said that I just arrived in Smolensk today. How can I know if I''m used to it? But out of politeness, I replied politely, "it''s not bad. At least it''s not as cold as Kiev."


    My answer immediately made brusoek find the topic, "Comrade General, you don''t know that we have a mild continental climate here. It''s not too hot in summer and it''s not too cold in winter. The annual average temperature is 4.3 degrees, and the coldest is January, which is 9.4 degrees below zero; The hottest is July, the highest is 17.1 degrees.... "


    "It''s really nice," I agreed after he finished, "it''s so cool in summer, it''s a good place for summer." Having said this, I changed the topic in time. "By the way, comrade brusoek, as far as I know, Smolensk is an important industrial area. Now the enemy has been driven away by us. I don''t know how the factory is preserved. Can we start as soon as possible?"


    "It''s not very good, Comrade General." Hearing my question, brusoek immediately looked sad: "before the war, the main industrial centers in the state were Smolensk City, roslavur City, safonovo City, viazima City, yarcevo City, upper dneprchen City, etc., with more than 35000 industrial workers. Surrounded by the electric machinery industry, road construction machinery and energy equipment manufacturing, the chemical and food industries also play an important role in the state''s economic share.


    After the outbreak of the war, many enterprises moved to the rear, and the factories that were not moved were all destroyed by the Germans. In a short period of time, they could not resume production at all. "


    "Don''t worry, old man." Kirilov said with a smile after brunsok finished, comforting him: "we are now resting in Smolensk state. If you need anything, just speak up and we will send troops to support you."


    "Great, that''s great." After listening to kirilov''s words, brusoek said excitedly: "although many refugees have returned, there is still a serious shortage of manpower to clean up the city''s debris. If we can get the support of the army, the situation will be completely different."


    "Don''t worry, comrade brusoek." As soon as he finished, I said with a smile, "our Red Army is originally the people''s soldiers. It is our bounden duty to help the city residents rebuild their homes."


    "Soldiers of the people?" Kirilov and I are used to some new words that come up frequently. After listening to this, brusoek repeated the word I said, and then said excitedly, "Comrade General, you are so vivid."


    As soon as his voice fell, there was a deep explosion outside. Hearing this voice, all the commanders, except brusoek, including me, got up from their seats. The busy staff also stopped and went to the window to see what happened outside. But I couldn''t see anything clearly except a puff of black smoke in the distance.


    After listening for a moment, I found that there was no explosion outside, so I told akhromeyev, "major, go and ask what happened outside and why there was an explosion."


    After akhromeyev left, I asked brusoek to sit down again and continue to discuss with him about cleaning up the city walls. Since this is a local affair, and our task is only to cooperate with them, after I put forward the proposal to clean up the districts one by one, I gave kirilov the right to speak and let their two old friends continue to negotiate.


    More than ten minutes later, akhromeyev hurried in from the outside. After he came to me, he respectfully reported: "Comrade commander, it''s clear that when a group of workers were cleaning up the bricks and rubble in the factory building, a bomb buried in the rubble exploded}, causing 11 deaths and 75 injuries on the spot..."


    Hearing that there were so many casualties in the explosion just now, brusoek couldn''t help but be anxious: "how can this be possible? How can there be a bomb in the factory?"


    Akhromeyev turned to look at brusoek, and then replied humbly, "Comrade brusoek, maybe it was the bomb dropped by our army after occupying Smolensk and unwilling to fail when the bandits sent out planes to bomb. But I don''t know why. The bomb didn''t explode until today. "


    "Where are the wounded?" Before akhromeyev finished, I asked in a hurry.


    "It''s been taken to a military hospital nearby." When akhromeyev said this, he suddenly showed a embarrassed expression on his face, "but... But..."


    Seeing akhromeyev''s words suddenly faltering, I urged impatiently, "major, if you have something, just say it at one go. Don''t falter all the time."


    "Well, comrade commander." Akhromeyev quickly straightened up and reported to me, "although all the wounded were sent to the hospital, because the hospital has just been established, there is a lack of drugs, especially plasma. Among the more than 70 wounded, at least half of them need immediate blood transfusion.... "


    I stood up and walked back and forth in the room with my hands on my back, thinking about where to go to get plasma to treat the wounded. The others in the room were afraid of interrupting my train of thought. They didn''t speak and just looked at me silently.


    After walking around the house for more than ten times, I finally came up with a solution. So he walked quickly to the door and called out, "major bukov, please come here."


    With my shouts, bukov, who had been standing in the corridor chatting with others, came to me quickly, straightened up and asked, "Comrade commander, what''s your instruction?"


    "Major, how many guards are there near the headquarters?" I asked briefly.


    "There are two battalions," bukov replied without thinking


    "Major, this is the case. Dozens of workers were wounded by bombs dropped by the bandits when they were cleaning up the ruins of the factory. They are in urgent need of blood transfusion, but there is not enough plasma in the hospital I spoke very quickly to bukov and said, "you should take a battalion to the military hospital immediately and let the soldiers bleed for the injured workers. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Bukov agreed excitedly, raised his hand to salute, turned and trotted away.


    On hearing this order, brusoek immediately came up to me, held my hand and said, "thank you, Comrade General. On behalf of the injured workers, I thank you."


    "You''re welcome, comrade brusoek." I said to him with a smile, "I just said that our soldiers are the children of the people. When something happens to the common people, we are duty bound to help them. " At this time, kirilov also came over and reminded me, "Rita, since you asked the guard camp to bleed the injured workers, should we go to the hospital to comfort the wounded?"¡° Yes, comrade military commissar, you are right to remind us that we should go to the wounded. " I turned to chisgakov and bzikov, who were still standing at the table, and said, "deputy commander, chief of staff, you two are going together." Just as we were about to go out, Lop Hoff, director of communications, suddenly called me at the back: "Comrade commander, your phone number!" When I heard that there was a phone call for me, the first thing I thought was that we no longer belong to the first front army of Ukraine in vatukin, nor to the Belarusian front army incorporated into rokosovsky for the time being. The person who called me would not be any of them, so I instinctively asked, "where is it from?"¡° It''s from Moscow, comrade commander. " Said lophoff respectfully¡° Comrade military commissar and Comrade brusoek, "I heard that the call for me came from Moscow, so I apologized to them and said," I have something to do now. I can''t go to the hospital with you to visit the wounded. Please forgive me. " After hearing this, brusoek waved to me and said magnanimously, "Comrade General, if you have something to do, please help yourself. It''s enough for a few of us to go to the hospital." After they left the headquarters, I came to lophoff, took the microphone in his hand, put it in his ear and said, "I''m o''shanina. Where are you, please?"¡° Rita, I''m Zhukov Zhukov''s familiar voice came from the receiver: "what''s the matter with you? I seem to hear you say that you are going to the hospital or something?"¡° Well, comrade marshal. " Hearing Zhukov''s question, I quickly and truthfully reported that: "when a group of workers in Smolensk were cleaning up the ruins of the factory building, a bomb buried in the middle exploded, causing great casualties. After the injured workers were sent to the nearby military hospital, they found that there was not enough plasma, so I sent a soldier from the guard camp to the hospital to give blood transfusion to the injured workers. Before you called, we were going to visit the injured workers in the hospital¡° So that''s what happened. I see. " Zhukov said in a voice¡° Marshal, "although Zhukov and I are very familiar, I also know that he will not specially call me to chat. There must be something important to explain to me, so I asked carefully," do you have any instructions? "¡° That''s right, Rita. I''m calling to tell you what kind of replenishment your group army will receive in the near future. " After Zhukov finished, he began to read me a supplementary list: "because you were in a very serious situation of attrition in the early fighting, this time the supreme command will supplement you with 45000 to no perfect soldiers, half of them recovered and discharged from the hospital. They have rich combat experience. In addition, you will get 30000 new assault rifles and 36 million bullets; Six thousand light machine guns and ten million bullets; One thousand heavy machine guns and eight million bullets; Three hundred mortars of various types and 100000 shells... "I quickly recorded a series of data reported by Zhukov, and I couldn''t help but feel happy. If I wait for these weapons to be replenished, even if tens of thousands of recruits are replenished, the troops will be able to form combat effectiveness in the shortest time. After hearing Zhukov''s report on the total number of light weapons, I thought there was only so much that could be added to us. Unexpectedly, he continued: "in order to strengthen the offensive capability of your group army, we will add 180 tanks to you, half of which are new tanks you are familiar with; In addition, I have assigned you two flying regiments. In this way, when you need air support, you don''t have to ask for instructions at all levels. You can directly give orders to the head of the flying regiment and let them carry out combat tasks according to your orders. "

 Chapter 1359

    I was overjoyed to hear that Zhukov was willing to make an exception to provide two flying regiments for our group army. I know very well in my heart that in the next battle, if we can''t control the air in the battlefield, no matter how many tanks and artillery there are, the enemy only needs to send out a few bombers to blow up our weapons and equipment into a pile of scrap iron.


    After I put down the phone and saw that akhromeyev was closest to me, I quickly called him over and asked directly, "major, do you know how many planes there are in a flying regiment?"


    Akhromeyev suddenly heard this question from me. He was tongue tied for a long time before he stammered, "there should be more than twenty or thirty airplanes."


    Seeing that he was the same layman as me, I reached out and pulled him aside. Then I asked the staff, "major akhromeyev doesn''t know how many planes there are in a flying regiment. Who knows?"


    The staff stopped their work and focused on me, but no one spoke. I don''t know if they didn''t know or didn''t hear what I said, so I raised my voice and asked the question again: "who can tell me how many planes there are in a flying regiment?"


    When I asked a question for the second time, a young staff officer took a step forward and answered aloud, "report to commander, the air force flying regiment is composed of three flying groups and one maintenance group. Each flight brigade has three flight squadrons. The maintenance brigade consists of three outfield maintenance squadrons and one infield Maintenance Squadron. A fighter flight group generally has 24-27 aircraft, and a bomber group has 12 bombers. "


    I waited for the staff officer to finish, and after expressing my thanks to him, I turned and walked back to the table and wrote down what I had just heard in my notebook. When akhromeyev looked at me and closed my notebook, he tentatively asked me, "Comrade commander, isn''t it the superior who is going to assign air force to our group army?"


    "Yes, major, that''s what you think." I feel very happy when I think of the two flying regiments that will be under the command of our group army. Therefore, I didn''t hide some things from akhromeyev: "the superior is going to send us two flying regiments. Major, where should we deploy them? "


    "Comrade commander, there is a military airport in the north of Smolensk," akhromeyev told me, pointing to the map. "We can deploy the flying regiment there."


    "Can the airport still be used?" I heard that there was an airport in the north of the city. I asked nervously: "when the Germans withdrew, didn''t they destroy it?"


    "No "Maybe they thought they could return to Smolensk soon, so they just removed some equipment and didn''t damage the runway or the airport control tower," ahlomeyev said, shaking his head


    When I heard that the German didn''t destroy the airport outside the city, I felt more at ease. As long as the airport is in good condition, I don''t need to use the troops to repair the runway or some infrastructure. After the two flight regiments report to me, I can make the plane transfer as soon as possible.


    Kirilov and chisjakov, who went to the hospital to express their sympathy, didn''t come back until noon. As soon as the three men entered the door, bzikov said, "Comrade commander, it''s lucky that you didn''t go to the hospital today, otherwise you will be frightened by the tragic situation of the wounded. It''s really miserable. Almost everyone is covered in blood. "


    After bierzikov finished speaking, chisjakov said slowly: "Comrade commander, when the Germans withdrew from Smolensk, they carried out great damage to the city and planted bombs in many places, just to create panic among the residents and create conditions for them to fight back. I suggest that engineers should be sent immediately to investigate the ruins in the city, remove the hidden dangers, and ensure that today''s tragedy will not repeat itself. "


    I waited for bzikov and chisgakov to finish and asked kirilov sideways, "Comrade military commissar, how are the wounded? Can you recover in a short time? "


    "I don''t think it''s a big problem for people with minor injuries to recover in about ten days. But when it comes to the seriously injured, "kirilov said here, some helplessly shook his head:" even if some people are good, they will be disabled in the future. "


    Thinking of the report I just received that nearly 100 people were killed or injured, I couldn''t help but ask curiously, "what exploded in the ruins of the factory building should be a heavy bomb. It''s so powerful that it caused so many casualties to us."


    "It''s just ordinary air bombs." "It''s just that the bomb was exploded in the middle of the ruins," chisgakov said, frowning. "Except for a few of the wounded who were injured by shrapnel, the rest were injured by falling bricks and stones."


    "Well, I''ll send engineers to check whether there are bombs in the ruins one by one." After I finished these two sentences, I put a smile on my face and said to the three people who just came back, "now let''s change the topic of relaxation. I have good news for you."


    When they heard that I had good news to tell them, the three suddenly felt their eyes lit up and immediately fixed their eyes on me. In particular, bzikov hastened: "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? You should say it quickly


    Kisjakov, on the other hand, was right to be steady. He frowned and thought about it. Then he tentatively asked, "does it have anything to do with the phone call when we left?"


    I didn''t say anything about chisgakov''s guess. I just nodded with a smile, indicating that he was right.


    "Comrade commander." Seeing that I agreed with his conjecture, chisgakov began to be a little worried, "hurry up, I believe this must be a news that everyone can be happy to hear, with the exception of Germany." His words immediately caused a soft laugh.


    I waited for everyone to be quiet again, and then I conveyed Zhukov''s content on the phone to the three people. As soon as I finished, bzikov couldn''t wait to calculate: "forty or fifty thousand soldiers and tens of thousands of light and heavy weapons could have brought our strength to a higher level. Now we have to add two flying regiments, which is just like adding wings to a tiger."


    After chatting for a while, chisgakov suddenly put forward to me: "Comrade commander, didn''t you say before that you should sum up experience and lessons after every battle? Only in this way can we make fewer mistakes and achieve the greatest results at the lowest cost in the next battle. "


    "Yes, I have said that before." I don''t know why chisjakov said that today, so I asked curiously, "Comrade deputy commander, do you want to sum up the experience and lessons of that battle?"


    "The battle of Smolensk!" declared chisgakov


    "The battle of Smolensk?" When I heard him say this, I was shocked: "this two month campaign was not carried out by the Western Front Army and the Kalinin front army?"


    "Yes. The purpose of the Smolensk campaign is to smash the left wing of the central group army of Germany, prevent them from transferring their troops to the southwest of the main assault area, and liberate Smolensk. "


    "Major, please pour us some tea!" In my opinion, chisgakov''s posture is that he is going to give us a battle analysis class here. It will not be over for a while, so I asked akhromeyev to help us pour tea. After akhromeyev left, I said politely to chisjakov, "Comrade deputy commander, please continue."


    Chisgakov nodded, and then began to talk about it: "according to the campaign intention, it is stipulated that a series of simultaneous assaults should be carried out by two front forces, so as to contain the enemy forces in a broad front, divide them, and smash the German army groups in duhofchener, yarcevo, dorogobrz, yelenia, spazgemensk and other regions. After smashing the German army in front of it, the Western army should attack roslavley and attack one wing of the German army group in front of the Bryansk army in the southwest. The right wing of the western front army should cooperate with the left wing of the Kalinin front army, and after completing the current task, it should develop its attack in the general direction of Smolensk. If the Bryansk front army attacks smoothly, the main force of the Western Front Army will turn to Smolensk. "


    While chisjakov was speaking with interest, akhromeyev came in from the outside with a tray containing four cups of steaming tea. As soon as he came to me, I took the cups off the tray one by one and put them in front of everyone. Then I continued to listen to chisjakov''s opinions.


    "... in the first more than a month, the * * army relied on solid and layer upon layer positions to fight tenaciously, while our army made slow progress and suffered huge casualties. It was not until model, south of Smolensk, was repulsed, and the general situation of the east line deteriorated, that our army had a chance to advance 135-145 km in the last half month. The whole campaign progressed 200-250 km, recaptured a part of Kalinin state and the whole territory of Smolensk state, and established a base to recover the whole of Belarus in the future


    In this war, our army pushed westward 200-250 kilometers in a 400 kilometer wide area, cleared a part of Kalinin state and the whole territory of Smolensk state, and laid a good foundation for our liberation of Belarus. In order to block the attack of our army in Smolensk, the * * army was forced to transfer 13 divisions from the direction of Orel Bryansk and 3 divisions from other directions, which reduced the pressure of our army on other fronts and helped our army to successfully end the Kursk counter offensive. "


    When chisgakov sat down for tea, I politely asked bzikov and kirilov, "what do you want to say about the Smolensk campaign?"


    "Let me just say a few words," kirilov, who has rarely expressed his views, said. "Our army lost in the early attack on Smolensk, also for a reason. Like all the rivers in Russia, the Dnieper River is steep on the West Bank and flat on the east bank. Kiev, Smolensk and mogilyov are all on the West Bank of the river. Because these cities are backed by the river, it will be very difficult for them to defend in front of them; In the future, when our army recovers, it is bound to cause great casualties to feint attacks on the enemy who is perched on the highland by the river after crossing the river. "


    The city defense on the West Bank of the river is easy to attack but difficult to defend; In the recovery, it''s just reversed. It''s easy to defend but hard to attack. This is the first time I have heard it, so I quickly took out my pen and paper and wrote down what kirilov said in my notebook.


    After I wrote down what I heard in my notebook, I looked up and said to you, "what you have said is very reasonable. Let me add a few words: the German commander Kluger was able to stay in Smolensk for such a long time and caused huge casualties to our army. First of all, he benefited from the solid defensive positions they established. Then, after withdrawing from the Oreal bulge, modle provided him with a lot of mobile forces. When the German defense line was broken through by us and the enemy had to retreat, Kluger and modle''s troops still maintained a strong fighting capacity, which can be seen from their ability to reorganize the new defense line at a very fast speed. In my opinion, Kluger''s preset position in depth seems to be better than that of Manstein, and his delayed counterattack, though not as powerful and concentrated as Manstein''s, is more comprehensive in protecting the retreat. Considering that the armored forces and air force of Kluger and modle are far less than those of Manstein, I think that even from the standpoint of the enemy, his tactical achievements should be affirmed Just as we were expressing our views on the Smolensk campaign carried out by the friendly forces, major bukov came in and reported, "there are two commanders outside, who say they are from Moscow."¡° From Moscow? " When I heard bukov say this, the first person I thought of must have something to do with the newly added troops or technical equipment, so I immediately told bukov, "major, please come in quickly!"¡° Yes Bukov agreed, turned and walked out of the headquarters. As soon as bukov left, bzikov could not wait to ask, "what are the origins of these two commanders from Moscow?"¡° Is that true? " Chisgakov immediately expressed his own opinion: "it must be the commander who was supplemented by the superior. Maybe the two flight commanders came." Before zikov could say anything more, bukov had entered the room with two commanders. Seeing someone coming in, I couldn''t sit still and quickly got up to meet him. The two commanders wore completely different uniforms. The captain on the left was wearing a common military coat of a school officer and a big cornice hat with a red hat ring; On the right, the commander, who looks very thin, is wearing a black uniform, with a black cap and a white Hoodie. After they raised their hands to salute me, the Colonel first reported to me, "Comrade General, Captain bovishchenko, head of the fighter regiment of the 287th division of the air force, has been ordered to report to you!" After the Colonel finished his report, the commander in a strange uniform next to him said in Russian with a strange tone: "Comrade General, commander of the French flying regiment of the 287th air force division, lieutenant commander bliss, has been ordered to report to you! The pilots of our regiment are all anti Communist fighters from France. " When I heard the commander say he was French, I understood why his uniform looked so strange. I shook hands with them one by one and said politely, "welcome, welcome to our company!"

 Chapter 1360

    Bovishchenko looked like an acute man. Before the stool was hot, he couldn''t wait to ask me, "Comrade General, I heard that there is a large military airport to the north of Smolensk. I want to ask, is the airport seriously damaged by the Germans? If it''s going to be an emergency repair, how long will it take? "


    After listening to bovishchenko''s question, I turned to akhromeyev standing beside me and said with a smile, "major, I think it''s most appropriate for you to answer the Colonel''s question."


    After receiving my instructions, akhromeyev quickly took two steps forward, stood at the conference table, faced bovishchenko and bliss, and said: "although the German troops carried out great damage to Smolensk City, bombed all factories, hospitals and schools, and set fire to most of the buildings in the city during the evacuation, but for the airport, They didn''t do any damage. Not only did the runway not be destroyed, but also the large hangar, underground oil tanks, ammunition depots, and even the pilot''s dormitory remained intact. Your plane can make a transition at any time. "


    I looked at akhromeyev, who was talking to bovishchenko, and thought to myself: rokosovsky once said that his chief of staff, general malining, was the best staff officer. In my case, akhromeyev is undoubtedly such a person. If he is not young, junior and junior in rank, maybe I would suggest to the higher authorities that he be appointed as the chief of staff of the group army. Perhaps it was because of the ease of use that kirilov suggested to me several times that he should be the commander of the next army, but I strongly refused.


    After listening to akhromeyev''s introduction, bovishenko and bliss looked at each other, got up and reported to me, "Comrade General, later commander bliss and I will personally go to the airport to check. If the situation is really like what the major said, then our two flight regiments can make a transition tomorrow."


    As soon as bovishchenko finished, commander bliss stood up and asked me respectfully, "Comrade General, will you allow us to leave? We want to go to the airport now and arrange the transfer as soon as possible. "


    Although I know that there will be no combat mission in a month or two, it doesn''t matter when the two regiments enter the airport in the north of the city. But seeing that the two flight commanders were so urgent, I couldn''t say anything more. I just nodded and said, "well, in that case, you can get to the airport as soon as possible." With that, I told akhromeyev, "let major Yushchenko send a guard company to escort the two commanders to the airport."


    After the two commanders from the air force left, chisjakov suddenly said thoughtfully, "Comrade commander, since the air force will be able to enter the airport in the north of the city in the near future to provide us with the necessary air cover. Then we should talk about infantry and tank soldiers next


    "Go ahead, comrade deputy commander." I guess he might put forward some constructive personal opinions, so he took out his pen and paper and prepared for the record.


    "Last year, the assault rifles and new tanks equipped with the army showed their great strength in combat." Seeing the power of these two weapons, chisjakov said: "when the new weapons are in place, we should change the clothes for the veterans as soon as possible, and seize the time for adaptation training."


    "What should we do with the replaced weapons?" Kirilov interjected: "you know, in addition to the mosinlagan rifle, there are quite a lot of bobosha submachine guns. We have to figure out what to do with these old weapons."


    "Chief of staff, aren''t we going to recruit soon?" Looking at kirilov, chisgakov said: "among the new recruits who have been added to the army, there will never be more than half of them with weapons. We just give them these weapons to use."


    When it comes to new equipment, bietzekovton is excited. As soon as the dialogue between chisjakov and kirilov is over, he is a little complacent and says, "if all our troops are equipped with new assault rifles and all the tanks of the tank army are new tanks, then the next battle will be much easier. As long as the artillery and the plane blow up, then our infantry attack the enemy''s position under the cover of tanks. I don''t believe how long the enemy can support us in the face of such a powerful offensive. "


    I could not help frowning when I heard what bzikov said. As soon as he finished speaking, I immediately criticized him impolitely and said, "Comrade chief of staff, your idea is very important!"


    Bezikov, who was elated, was immediately dumbfounded when I said that to him. He looked at me blankly. After a long time, he murmured, "Comrade commander, I don''t understand what you mean?"


    I looked at him and said with no expression: "Comrade chief of staff, I remind you not to think that our army has changed from attack to defense in China, and our group army has won many battles, so we think that the Germans are vulnerable and underestimate the enemy''s strength by mistake. Such a serious thought of belittling the enemy will directly lead our commanders and fighters to suffer unnecessary and great losses in subsequent campaigns. " At this point, I turned to kirilov and said, "Comrade military commissar, I hope you can communicate with the political commissars of the divisions, and let them pay more attention to the signs of underestimating the enemy in the army. Through various forms of propaganda, we should give the commanders and fighters a wake-up call, let them have a clear understanding of the current situation, and urge the underestimation of the enemy within the scope of the group army. "


    Kirilov kept nodding as he wrote down what I had said: "Rita, you have a point. To be honest, not to mention the commanders and fighters below, even I was a little complacent after the army won a series of victories one after another. Your reminder is very timely. I will pass on your words to the political workers at all levels. "


    After kirilov finished recording, he raised his head and said to me, "Rita, when brusoek and I went to the hospital to visit the wounded, he once mentioned to me that winter has come, but the houses in the city have been almost destroyed. We should build some simple houses as soon as possible to accommodate the residents living in the ruins. And we have to find a way to restore the power supply and water supply in the city, and solve the heating problems... "


    When I heard kirilov''s crackling words, I felt a headache. None of these urgent problems is worrying. I waited for him to finish, nodded and shamelessly said: "Comrade military commissar, we used to have division of labor. I has the final say in military affairs. And the life has the final say. The construction of simple houses, the restoration of power supply and water supply should be regarded as a matter of life, and you are solely responsible for it. "


    After I finished, kirilov looked at me, shook his head, and said helplessly: "Rita, I find that you are more and more able to shirk responsibility now. You always put things on me and let me take full responsibility."


    As soon as his words were finished, they caused a good laugh.


    After everyone calmed down, I said another important thing: "comrades, apart from solving the accommodation problem of the residents in the city, repairing the roads and railways damaged by the German army is an urgent matter. Today''s roads are totally useless and have lost the significance of marking them on the map. If there is no road or railway, our speed of getting supplies will be greatly reduced. Our primary task now is to repair the whole line. " Speaking of this, I pause for a moment, and then say in embarrassment, "according to my estimation, it will take at least a month to repair the road from here to Moscow. But this is only a preliminary repair. Once the spring thaw comes, we have to carry out a new repair again. "


    "I thought that when the troops were transferred to Smolensk, the most important thing was to train new soldiers. The rest of the time was to rest and let the exhausted officers and men have a good rest. Who knows, it''s not like that now. In addition to the daily training of the army, it is also necessary to help the residents build simple houses, clean up the ruins and resume the production of the factory. In addition, we have to repair the road traffic completely destroyed by the German army. Our responsibility is not easy. "


    "You are quite right, chief of staff. The city has been destroyed so much by the Germans. " As soon as bzikov''s words were finished, kirilov went on: "now that we have liberated this city, we should try our best to build it well. Many things, such as cleaning up the ruins and helping residents rebuild their homes, if we don''t do them, there will always be others to do them. If we take the initiative to shoulder this responsibility, we can lighten the burden on our superiors. Do you think so? "


    After listening to kirilov''s words, bzikov could only smile bitterly and nod his head: "yes, comrade military commissar, that''s exactly what happened. It seems that in order to give orders to the division leaders, in addition to daily training, the troops should also take part in voluntary labor, clean up the ruins in the city and help the residents rebuild their homes. "


    "Comrade military commissar," I wrote down what kirilov had just said in my notebook, and then asked, "I want to ask how many wounded people were evacuated by our group army in several successive battles?"


    Hearing my question, kirilov quickly turned it to the front of his notebook. After a simple calculation, he raised his head and reported to me, "from the battle of Kursk to now, the number of wounded people evacuated by our group army is 39000."


    The figures reported by kirilov surprised me, because the wounded are usually heavily wounded, and the lightly wounded stay in the field hospital, so that they can return to the army in time after recovery. In this way, the commanders and fighters of the group army have changed as a whole, and the intensity of the war can be seen from this.


    "How many wounded people will be able to return in a short time?" Although my superiors are going to supply me with tens of thousands of soldiers, I still think there are fewer people. If the wounded can recover and return to the team, it would be better.


    "About seven thousand people!" Kirilov once again after a simple calculation, said to me: "these are about to return to the wounded, basically injured in the battle of Kursk. Those injured in cherkaser and Zhitomir will not be able to recover and leave the hospital until around February next year. "


    In order not to let the fat and water flow to other people''s fields, I specially told kirilov: "Comrade military commissar, I suggest that you immediately send a team to make statistics on the treatment of the evacuated wounded. As soon as they are discharged from hospital, they will be mobilized to return to their homes and try not to let other troops pry them away. We need to know that these veterans have rich combat experience, and they are rare combat backbones in any army. "


    "Don''t worry." Kirilov wrote down the things I told him in his notebook and assured me, "as soon as the meeting is over, I will set up a team like this to go to the rear to learn about the recovery of the wounded of our army and try my best to let the wounded soldiers return to the battlefield as soon as possible."


    When I said it, I closed my notebook and asked, "does anyone have anything else to say? If not, we will break up¡° Comrade commander, I want to say a few words. " Seeing that I was going to announce the end of the meeting, akhromeyev, who was standing beside me, quickly raised his hand and asked to speak¡° Go ahead, major With that, I opened my notebook again, ready to record his speech¡° Just now, two air force commanders have said that their regiment will be transferred tomorrow. " Akhromeyev stepped forward, came to the table, faced me and said, "I want to ask, which army is responsible for the security of the airport?"¡° Oh, major akhromeyev, I almost forgot about the security of the airport. " Hearing what ahlomeyev said, bezikov raised his hand and patted his forehead and said with regret: "if there are so many planes parked at the airport, if there is not enough guard force, as long as there are German spies sneaking into the airport and throwing two hand grenades at the planes we parked on the apron, it will be enough to cause heavy losses to our air force."¡° Comrade commander, "chisjakov turned to look at me and asked slowly," have you thought about it? Which army is going to be responsible for the security of the airport? "¡° In my opinion, let major general Xie Liujin''s 89th guard regiment be responsible for the security of the airport. " When I said that, I looked up at akhromeyev and said to him, "major, go and call general sherekin and ask him to send two battalions to take charge of the security of the airport." Seeing akhromeyev''s promise and turning to make a phone call, I closed my notebook again, stood up and announced to everyone, "since we have finished discussing all the things that should be discussed. Let''s break up! All of us are very tired these few months. We will go back and have a rest. "

 Chapter 1361

    When I was about to leave the room of the headquarters, I specially told bezikov: "chief of staff, inform several army commanders and division commanders to come here tomorrow morning for a meeting."


    "And general sivakov?" Bezikov asked cautiously, "is it necessary to inform him that his injury has not yet healed?"


    After thinking about it, I feel that since sivakov had a car accident on his way to the base, he has almost become a decoration. The combat tasks are all over him and directly assigned to the following divisions. Now that his injury has obviously improved, it is obviously inappropriate to leave him idle. So I nodded and said to bzikov, "chief of staff, don''t forget to inform him."


    As soon as I got out of the room, I was wondering if I should go back to my room and have a lie in. Kirilov came out of the room and said, "Rita, wait a minute."


    I stopped, turned to look at kirilov and politely asked, "Comrade military commissar, what else can I do for you?"


    "Rita, if you don''t have anything like it now, I''d like you to go outside with me." After kirilov finished, he specially asked for my advice: "I don''t know if you want to?"


    I thought that I had not seen the city carefully since I arrived in Smolensk, so I thought a little bit and readily agreed: "well, comrade military commissar, since you are so interested, I will accompany you!" After that, I called bukov, who had been standing by the door, and told him, "major, prepare a car for us. My comrades and I are going to visit the city."


    "Do you need to attach the guard?" After listening, bukov immediately asked respectfully, "I''m worried that there are still some pro German forces left in the city, so there should be necessary preventive measures."


    "No, No." Considering that the trip between myself and kirilov is more like a private visit in micro clothes, if you take a guard company and drive seven or eight cars on the street, it will certainly attract the attention of passers-by. Maybe we won''t see a lot of things we want to see at that time, so I firmly said, "just take a few soldiers with you in another car and follow us."


    After kirilov and I got on the jeep, the driver turned around and asked, "commander, comrade military commissar, where are you going?"


    "Just drive along the highway." As I said this, I kept looking at kirilov. "We want to look around the city."


    "I see!" The driver turned around and started the car. As soon as he stepped on the gas, the jeep moved forward.


    Looking at the collapsed buildings on both sides of the street and the soldiers and residents who are cleaning up the ruins inside, kirilov said with emotion: "what a wonderful city, it''s a pity that it was destroyed by the Germans. If you want to restore this beautiful city to its pre war appearance, you can''t do it without three or five years. "


    I peered at the busy people in the ruins through the window and said thoughtfully to kirilov, "Comrade military commissar, I think it''s not too efficient for us to clean up the ruins without saying a word like this."


    Kirilov took a look outside, then turned to me and said, "it''s very boring to clean up the ruins, but I believe everyone is aware of it. No matter how hard and tired they are, they won''t complain about this kind of voluntary labor."


    "People who complain or go slow are sent to gulag." After murmuring to myself, I looked sideways at kirilov and said, "Comrade military commissar, I have an idea whether we can install loudspeakers on all the main streets of the city and play some inspiring songs when people are working. I believe that people''s labor efficiency will be improved in the rhythm of the song


    After I finished, I suddenly found kirilov''s face showed an incredible expression. I thought I was wrong, so I asked with a guilty heart: "Comrade military commissar, is there anything wrong with what I said?"


    "No, no, Rita, you said it very well." Kirilov said excitedly: "originally, I asked you to go out for a walk, just to find a chance to talk with you about installing a tweeter in the city, but you thought of it first. When I get back later, I''ll arrange the following comrades to start the installation. "


    I saw a light blue square building in front of me, with several onions on the roof, telling people silently that it was a church. Seeing that the building of the church is still intact, I can''t help but say to kirilov in some surprise: "Comrade military commissar, look quickly. The building of the church in front is actually complete. It''s a miracle."


    Kirilov listened to me, just a little bit, then leaned forward slightly, raised his hand and patted the driver on the shoulder, and told him: "Comrade driver, drive to the Kremlin."


    The Kremlin?! When I heard kirilov say that, three black lines suddenly appeared on my head. My heart said that it was hundreds of kilometers from here to Moscow, and even if the road was not broken by the German army, I would not be able to reach my destination in the dark. Thinking of this, I hastened to remind kirilov: "comrades of the military commissar, we can''t go back to Moscow without orders from our superiors."


    "Back to Moscow?" Kirilov was stunned when I said this, and then he burst out laughing, "Rita, you thought I was asking the driver to drive to the Kremlin in Moscow."


    "Yes, besides the Kremlin in Moscow, are there any other cities with the Kremlin?" I asked in a puzzled way.


    "I thought you knew everything. It seems that there are many things you don''t know." After making fun of me, kirilov began to popularize science to me: "Kremlin refers to the fortress in the center of the city. The word comes from Greek and means "fortress" or "cliff". In addition to the well-known Kremlin in Moscow, there are also the grand Novgorod Kremlin, Kazan Kremlin, Suzdal Kremlin, Astrakhan Kremlin, lower lovgorod Kremlin, and the Kremlin in our present city. "


    I always thought Moscow''s Kremlin was unique in the world. If kirilov is not popular today, I really don''t know that there are so many Kremlins in Russia.


    The jeep followed the cleaned streets to the red wall of the Kremlin, where more than a dozen soldiers stood guard. When we saw that we were opening towards the palace gate, a lieutenant Officer immediately came up and waved to us from a long distance, shouting, "stop


    The driver looked back at me quickly. Although he didn''t speak, I knew in my heart that he was asking me whether to stop. After thinking about it, I told him, "Comrade driver, drive to the commander and stop."


    After my car stopped, the officer quickly went to the door, bent down and said to us: "this is not open to the public, please immediately..." before he finished his words, he suddenly stopped.


    Knowing that he must have recognized kirilov and me, I asked through the window, "Comrade lieutenant, no admittance. Who gave the order?"


    "It''s... It''s... I''m... Our... Teacher." The lieutenant replied with a flustered look: "it''s general Xie Liujin, commander of the 89th division of the guards."


    "Can I go in?" I guessed that Xie Liujin''s order might be because he was afraid that someone would loot the precious cultural relics in the palace after entering the palace. So he politely asked the lieutenant, "or would you call him and ask him if he could make an exception to let me and the comrades of the military commissar go in and have a look?"


    "No, comrade commander, no phone call." The lieutenant said respectfully, "you can go in any time." With that, he stood up straight, turned and yelled to the palace gate, "open the gate!"


    Our jeep drove into the Kremlin through the open palace door. As soon as the car entered the open space in front of the palace, kirilov told the driver, "just park the car here. Comrade commander and I want to walk around."


    I stood by the car and looked around at the Kremlin and found that there were very few buildings in the walls. In addition to the light blue church just seen in the distance and several low yellow buildings nearby, there is a palace that looks very simple in the distance.


    Kirilov took me up the stairs, up the palace wall, and down the palace wall. And bukov quickly followed several guards up the wall, far behind us.


    The palace wall is very spacious, even if four horses are in parallel, it will not appear crowded. As it snowed recently, the gardens in the palace were covered with snow. Two big trees, uprooted by roots, fell in the white of the garden, which was particularly dazzling. Pointing to the fallen tree, I said to kirilov with a little fear: "Comrade military commissar, look, those two trees should have been knocked down by our siege artillery. Fortunately, the shells were all in the garden. If the churches and palaces were destroyed, the damage would be incalculable. "


    As for what I said, kirilov immediately agreed: "it seems that our commanders and fighters had made careful plans in advance when they attacked the city. Except for the two big trees, the palace, the church and the palace were intact."


    After a long walk, kirilov suddenly stopped. He went to the wall, supported the battlements with one hand, pointed to the outside and said to me, "look, Rita, that''s the Dnieper River."


    I hurried up to him and looked out. Only a few hundred meters away is the surging Dnieper River. It may be because the weather is not too cold. At present, there is no ice on the river.


    "Smolensk city is located in Smolensk, the Smolensk highland in the west of Moscow highland, on the Bank of Dnieper River. It is located on the main road connecting Moscow and Belarus, the Baltic Sea region, and central and Western European countries, with a very advantageous geographical location. " Kirilov talked to himself and introduced the city to me? Smolensk is one of the oldest cities in Russia. Smolensk was first mentioned in the annals of Russia in the 9th century. Since entering the territory of Kiev Russia in 882, it has actively participated in the trade and military expeditions of ancient Russia. Smolensk flourished for a time in the 12th century and was once Russia''s main strategic center. From 1404 to 1514, it was invaded by Lithuanians and poles. It was occupied by Poland in 1611 and returned to Russia in 1667. In the Patriotic War of 1812, the battle of Smolensk from August 4 to 5 broke Napoleon''s plan to destroy the Russian army


    When we were strolling on the palace wall, Xie Liujin came in a hurry. He trotted up to us, raised his hand to salute, and panted to report: "commander, military commissar, commander of the 89th division of Jinwei, major general Xie Liujin, report to you, i..."


    Before he finished, kirilov raised his hand and interrupted him, saying, "Comrade Xie Liujin, I just went out for a walk with the commander today, so I didn''t intend to disturb too many people. Now that you''re here, let''s have a look. " After the three of us formed a triangle and walked along the palace wall in silence for a while, it suddenly occurred to me that since the Kremlin is now under the guard of sherekin, he must be no stranger to the situation here. So I slowed down and asked in parallel with Mr. seleucin, "when did you enter the Kremlin, sir?"¡° Last night. " After answering my question, Xie Liujin may feel that his statement is not comprehensive enough, and hastily added: "in order to prevent saboteurs from entering the palace to steal precious cultural relics, I have sent two companies in. One company is responsible for guarding the palace gate, and the other company is responsible for patrolling the palace." Then he pointed to the distance and said, "look, that''s our patrol." I looked in the direction of his fingers and saw a patrol of ten people walking beside the palace. I nodded at the arrangement, and then asked, "when the Germans withdrew, was the damage to the palace serious?" Xie Liujin shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "I went to the palace and saw that hundreds of oil paintings on the wall had disappeared. Those valuable furniture, can move all moved, can''t move, also all smashed. Some gold-plated doorknobs have been pried away by the damned Germans. "¡° What about the church? " Kirilov asked unexpectedly. "The copper coffins of the archbishops in the church have been pried open, the bones have been thrown on the ground, and all the funerary objects in the coffins have been looted," he said¡° Damn the Krauts. " After listening to the report from Xie Liujin, kirilov also said in a wrong way: "I will remember the heinous crimes they committed, and I will make them double their repayment when they go straight to their hometown in the future." I wanted to go to the palace or the church after I had made a circle on the palace wall, but when Xie Liujin said this, I was not interested. I stopped and said to kirilov, "Comrade military commissar, it''s getting late. We''d better go back to the headquarters."

 Chapter 1362

    The meeting I arranged was held at nine in the morning. A few minutes later, akhromeyev came to my room and reported to me, "Comrade commander, almost all the commanders of the meeting are here. You can go to the headquarters."


    I can tell from his words that not everyone has arrived, at least so far, there are still absentees. So I frowned and asked, "major, who hasn''t arrived yet?"


    "General sivakov." Akhromeyev respectfully reported that "except for him, all the commanders who have been informed have arrived."


    When I heard that sivakov was the only one absent, I felt more secure. I stood up, waved to akhromeyev and said, "come on, major, let''s go to the headquarters." With that, I walked out of the room quickly, and akhromeyev, who followed me, closed the door behind me.


    My room is on the third floor and the headquarters is on the second floor. As soon as I went down the stairs to the second floor, I saw that in front of the corridor, there were three soldiers walking slowly. The line of three people just blocked the way.


    I went to the back of the three people, coughed heavily, and planned to give them a severe reprimand when they turned around. As a result, as soon as they turned around, I saw a familiar face. The man standing in the middle was sivakov, whom akhromeyev had just mentioned to me. Under the bright light of the corridor, his face looked very pale. When he saw me standing in front of him, he immediately squeezed out a smile on his bloodless face: "Hello, comrade commander, I didn''t expect to see you here."


    "How is your injury?" I asked with concern.


    "It''s OK," sivakov said casually. "Seven ribs were broken in the car accident, but they''re all good now. The military doctor said that as long as you stay in bed for another week, you will be able to recover completely. "


    "Major, give me a hand." I called akhromeyev and took the place of the two commanders who helped sivakov. We helped sivakov to the headquarters from left to right.


    A few steps away from the headquarters, I heard the loud voice of tawalter killazer in the room: "this music is really exciting. I tell you, I remember the first time when I heard the commanders and soldiers of the song and dance troupe sing "holy war", I felt blood boiling. If there were 100 Germans standing in front of me, I would dare to rush up and fight with them without hesitation... "


    Sivakov looked at me in surprise when he heard tavartkilaze''s voice and what he said. When I heard the music coming from the headquarters, I knew that loudspeakers had been installed on the streets outside according to the arrangement of kirilov and I, playing songs, so as to stimulate the enthusiasm of the soldiers and civilians who took part in voluntary labor on the ruins.


    Seeing sivakov''s inquiring eyes, I said in a relaxed tone: "Comrade General, on your way here, you must have heard the loudspeakers on the street outside playing all kinds of songs, right? In this way, we want to mobilize the enthusiasm of the army and the people who participate in voluntary labor. "


    "So it is." After listening to my explanation, sivakov nodded slightly and said with approval, "Comrade commander, I think this has a good effect. When I heard the songs played on the loudspeaker on the road, I also had a feeling of blood boiling. As general tavartkilaze said, as long as we have the Germans in front of us, not only what kind of troops they have, we will rush forward without hesitation. "


    See me and akhromeye help sivakov into the headquarters, the original chaos of the room suddenly quiet down. Major general baksov and Colonel babashin quickly got up from their seats, took over their commander from me and akhromeyev, and carefully helped him to sit in their seats.


    After I sat down in my seat, I looked around and saw chisgakov sitting opposite me, kirilov, major general berey and commanders at all levels of the 22nd insp sitting on the right side of the table; On the left are the commanders of bezikov, povsky and the 23rd infantry.


    Seeing that all the people were in place, I announced in public, "now that everyone is here, we will have a formal meeting." Then I turned to look at bezikov and said, "first of all, the chief of staff, Colonel bezikov, will announce to you the contents of today''s interim meeting."


    Bezikov nodded, then stood up and looked around. He said, "comrades commander, it''s important to call you here today. We want to announce to you that because our troops were seriously reduced in the early fighting, our superior plans to replenish our troops and weapons and ammunition. The specific supplements are as follows: 45000 to 50000 soldiers, half of whom were discharged from the original group army 30000 new assault rifles... 6000 light machine guns... 1000 heavy machine guns... All kinds of mortars... "


    When bezikov began to speak, I noticed that some commanders were still absent-minded. But when bezikov read out the soldiers and weapons that the superior was going to supply to our group army, they all sat up straight, put their hands on the table, tilted their heads and stared at bezikov and the document in his hand.


    Due to the absence of the two leaders of the flying regiment, when reading the documents, all of bezikov intentionally omitted the fact that our superior had equipped us with two flying regiments.


    After bidzikov finished reading, I put my elbows on the table, crossed my hands on my chin, and asked everyone, "if you have any opinions on the superior''s supply plan, you can talk about it."


    "Comrade commander, may I speak?" Major general bielei, the acting commander of the fifth tank army of the close guard, who stood up first, looked at me sideways and asked respectfully, "can I talk about the future of the tank army?"


    "Go ahead, Comrade General." Bielei stood up and prepared to speak. I didn''t want to dampen his enthusiasm at this time, so I nodded at him and said politely, "I just want to hear your opinions."


    "At present, our tank army has five tank brigades and one motorized infantry regiment, two of which are friendly tank brigades. However, after repeated battles, its organizational structure is also incomplete." Berey looked at me and said cautiously, "since the superior has added 180 tanks for us, I plan to restore the original 82nd and 101st tank brigades on the basis of the friendly tank brigades. The restored tank brigades will have 90 tanks per brigade, just like the current 20th, 21st and 22nd guard tanks, Thirty armored vehicles and various combat vehicles... What do you think? "


    "No problem." I readily agreed to berey''s proposal. Then he asked, "who else wants to speak?"


    "Let me say a few words." As soon as bere sat down, tavartkilaze stood up and said, "Comrade commander, you also know that our troops of the 23rd army of the guards suffered serious losses in the battle to defend Zhitomir. Almost every division has been reduced by more than half, and the number of personnel in the 51st division of the close guard of Colonel shejerikov has been reduced by an astonishing two-thirds. I strongly suggest that priority should be given to the 23rd infantry unit of our close guard in this recruitment. "


    "The number of divisions in your army has been seriously reduced. Can''t we have been seriously reduced?" As soon as tavartkilaze''s voice fell, sivakov began to retort. I saw him try to stand up, but as soon as he leaned forward, he bared his teeth in pain and sweated. He had no choice but to sit in his own position and debate with tavartkilaze: "in addition to the 71st division, the casualties of our army were a little smaller, only one third, and the 67th, 77th and 90th divisions of the guards were more than half. If it is not possible to supplement us as soon as possible, I am worried that our troops will not be able to form combat effectiveness before the next battle. "


    "General sivakov," tavartkiraze interrupted, "tell me, in the whole group army, is your unit highly effective or mine?"


    Although tavartkiraze put forward the hypothesis in a calm tone, he still angered sivakov. He raised his voice and said, "is that true? Of course, the combat effectiveness of our army should be higher. We have four close guard divisions, but only two of your three divisions are close guard divisions. If the group army wants to take part in new battles, it must be our army that will fight the main force. "


    Tavartkiraze gasped and stared at sivakov with a sullen look. When I saw the two men at war, I was hesitating whether I should come out to interrupt them. Suddenly there was a sharp alarm outside. As soon as the alarm went off for a few seconds, chisgakov, who was sitting opposite me, suddenly stood up and said in a loud voice, "air raid alarm, all commanders go to the basement immediately."


    With his shouts, almost all the commanders got up from their seats and turned to run out. But I sat on the seat all the time, but I clapped my hands on the table. Then I tried to endure the pain from the palm of my hand and said to everyone, "what''s the panic? Don''t forget who you are. Sit down and continue the meeting. "


    "But, comrade commander." The initiator, chisjakov, said to me in a flustered expression: "if this place is bombed by enemy planes, the command system of our troops may be paralyzed. So I suggest that we go to the basement immediately. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, please keep calm." For the panic of chisgakov, I was a little dissatisfied and said: "the strength of the enemy now can''t be compared with before. Even if they want to bomb our city, the fighters sent out are small formations, and the air defense forces in our city are enough to deal with them." At this point, I turned to akhromeyev, who was standing by, and told him, "major, go and call the air defense headquarters and ask what''s going on?"


    "Yes Akhromeyev agreed, and he followed my order to call the air defense headquarters.


    The air raid alarm went off for less than a minute, and then it stopped suddenly. The commanders sitting in the room all showed surprised expressions on their faces. I heard them ask each other in a low voice: "what''s the matter? How did the air raid alarm stop? Did the enemy plane just pass us and fly in other directions?"


    "What''s going on?" The confused kirilov asked me quietly, "Rita, do you know why the alarm suddenly stopped?"


    I shook my head and said softly, "Comrade military commissar, I don''t know what happened. But it doesn''t matter. We''ll know the truth when major akhromeyev comes back from the phone call. "


    After akhromeyev finished the call, he came to me and bent down to report to me in a low voice, but I raised my hand to stop him. I looked up at him and said, "major, if you have anything, please report it out loud so that all the commanders can hear it." After hearing my order, akhromeyev stepped back, straightened up and clearly reported to me, "Comrade commander, I just called the people in the air defense headquarters. They said there was a mistake. They thought our fighters were enemy planes. Moreover, the tower also received a report from Colonel bovishchenko and Lieutenant Colonel bliss, saying that the fighter formation they led will pass through Smolensk at low altitude, asking the air defense forces to pay attention to identification, not to say that their aircraft has been shot down. "¡° Comrade commander, "as soon as akhromeyev finished speaking, tavartkilaze could not wait to ask," what is the matter? What plane passes through the airport at low altitude? I''m confused. " As soon as his voice fell, a group of people echoed: "yes, comrade commander, what''s the matter? We are all confused by you. "¡° Well, in order to strengthen the strength of our group army, "I saw that everyone was anxious to know the truth, so I announced to them," two flying regiments were specially sent to us, and they entered the airport in the north of the city during the attack. "¡° Come and see, comrades. " With the roar of the aircraft engine coming from the air, tavartkilaze got up and left his seat, went to the window, bent his whole body on the open mouth, looked up at the sky, and announced triumphantly: "our plane is coming." At this time, the engine sound from the sky is more and more clear. At this moment, there is no other sound that can sound like this noise, which excites the commanders here. They stand up from their seats and rush to the open window. I sat in my seat and saw our fighters appear in the air. The regiment is composed of four aircrafts in three groups, flying over Smolensk at ultra-low altitude. Those people who are busy on the ruins will suddenly appear our fighter formation in the sky, and fly at ultra-low altitude, passing through the city at low altitude. They can''t help cheering¡° Comrades, "after seeing the plane disappear from the sky of Smolensk, bzikov pretended to shout sternly to everyone," let''s continue the meeting and continue to discuss how to distribute the soldiers, weapons and ammunition. "

 Chapter 1363

    Tavartkilaze and sivakov finally reached an agreement on the distribution of soldiers and weapons after a fierce argument.


    Seeing that the two people who had just been fighting with each other were looking at me as usual, waiting for my final decision, I couldn''t help laughing to myself. But I didn''t ask them to wait. I got up from my seat and announced, "since your two opinions have been unified, let''s do it according to your agreement." With that, I turned to look at bezikov, "chief of staff, you are responsible for the supervision of the distribution of troops and weapons and equipment."


    "I understand." Bzikov nodded in agreement¡° I will draw up a distribution plan as soon as possible and monitor the progress of the distribution work. "


    I nodded with satisfaction at bezikov''s reply, and then ordered the meeting to end.


    In the next few days, I had the most relaxed life since the beginning of the battle of Kursk. Since the task of the army is to recuperate and coordinate with the local residents to rebuild their homes, commanders at all levels only need to carry out the long established plans step by step, so the whole headquarters is very idle.


    It was not easy to meet a sunny day. After I got up, I moved a chair and sat in front of the window, lazily basking in the sun. I was thinking about whether I should call kirilov or chisgakov in the afternoon and go to some place to inspect. Just then, there was a knock on the door.


    I got up and went to the door. When I opened the door, akhromeyev was standing at the door anxiously. Seeing his expression, I couldn''t help clapping in my heart. Did something big happen?


    Before I could speak, he said, "Comrade commander, there is an emergency. Comrade deputy commander is waiting for you in the headquarters."


    I reached out and took off the coat hanging on the coat rack beside me. As I put it on my body, I asked, "is the deputy commander alone in the headquarters?"


    "Yes, the deputy commander is alone." Akhromeyev quickly replied: "according to the supply plan, a group of new soldiers will arrive at yarcevo today, and the chief of staff will arrive early in the morning."


    I took off my military cap, closed the door behind me, walked along the corridor, and asked in a hurry, "where are the comrades of the military commissar?"


    Akhromeyev then replied, "half an hour ago, a factory delegation from Moscow came to Smolensk. Comrades of the military commissar received them."


    Since we arrived in Smolensk, some representatives of Moscow''s factories and party and League organizations have come to visit us, party workers, political activists, writers and journalists have visited us frequently, and even the higher authorities are preparing to arrange actors to perform in our troops. Kirilov is responsible for the reception of visitors. He hopes that through these interactions, we can establish a valuable and solid contact with visitors.


    It was said that kirilov and bezikov had gone out to work, and chisgakov hurriedly asked me to go to the headquarters. I felt very uneasy. I thought something important must have happened, so I asked with a sidelong face: "major, do you know why the deputy commander wanted to see me?"


    Originally, I thought I could get the answer I wanted from akhromeyev. Unexpectedly, he just shook his head and said, "I''m not sure. Originally, I was sorting out information in the war room. It was the deputy commander who came to see me in person and asked me to ask you to come and report important things to you immediately. And he told me that it''s better not to disturb too many people. "


    Although I didn''t get what I wanted to know from akhromeyev, I at least heard the key point from his words, that is, this matter is very important, important enough to control the insiders in a very small range.


    As soon as I entered the headquarters, I saw chisgakov sitting at the side of the long conference table, looking solemnly at the pieces of paper in his hand. As I walked towards him, I asked, "Comrade deputy commander, what''s the matter?"


    Hearing my voice, chisgakov put down the document in his hand, got up to shake hands with me, and said politely, "Comrade commander, here you are!"


    "Good morning, comrade deputy commander," I reached out and shook him gently, then immediately released, "you asked major akhromeyev to come to me, I don''t know what happened?"


    "Comrade captain, I think it is more appropriate for you to report to the commander." Unexpectedly, she suddenly turned to her rear and said, "because she has the final say for everything in the sixth group of guards."


    I looked behind chisgakov and was surprised to find that there was still a soldier with a blank face. As soon as I saw the blue cap on the other side, I couldn''t help frowning. My heart said, "what are the people from the interior department doing here?"


    The soldier stepped forward two steps, raised his hand to salute me, and then politely reported to me, "Comrade General, I''m captain yevgeni, chief of Smolensk special service section. The reason why I''m here today is that I feel obliged to report this matter to you and get your assistance."


    I nodded at him as a compliment, and then asked faintly, "tell me, comrade captain, I want to hear what''s important, which is worth your visit."


    "I suspect there are German spies in your headquarters." After Eugene had said this, he must have felt that it was too arbitrary, and immediately added: "this is only our guess, but there is no doubt that there is a German spy''s accomplice."


    When I heard what Eugene said, my heart suddenly became anonymous. The army had a chance to rest, but you came to tell me that there were German spies in my army, and they were still in the headquarters. If I could do what I wanted, I would have pulled out the gun and killed the chief of the secret service standing in front of me without saying a word. But now, I can only suppress the anger in my heart and pretend nothing happened and ask, "Comrade captain, do you have any evidence?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." Eugene said confidently, "the evidence we have has been given to general chisgakov. If you want to see it, let him show it to you. "


    "Yes, comrade commander. It was after reading the materials given to me by Captain Evgeny that I asked major akhromeyev to call you Said chisgakov, turning to pick up the papers from the table and handing them to me. I think you will understand why I am so anxious to invite you here after reading the above contents. "


    When I took the materials in the hands of chisgakov, I wishfully thought that they must have listed the criminal evidence of my so and so commanders, in order to prove that they were suspected of colluding with the enemy and treason. But after I read a few lines, my expression became serious immediately. It''s not what I imagined, but the garrison, strength and equipment of the divisions of the group army. Even the distribution plan drawn up by bezikov a few days ago is in it.


    After reading it, I looked up at Eugene and asked in surprise, "Comrade captain, where do you come from?" The reason why I ask this is that many of the contents involved in the information are confidential, which can not be known by outsiders except for a limited number of people in the headquarters of the group army. But now it appears completely in the data I read. How can I not be surprised.


    Eugene looked at me and replied humbly, "Comrade General, this is a mysterious telegram that we intercepted in the early morning. After decoding, we found that it was actually information related to the garrison, so I sent it to you immediately!"


    "Thank you, thank you, comrade captain!" Because of my prejudice against the Ministry of the interior, I almost missed the big event. In order to make up for my mistake, I took the initiative to shake hands with Eugene and said warmly, "please sit down, comrade captain. You are in a hurry to send us the documents. I don''t think you have breakfast yet? Akhromeyev, "I said to the major," bring the captain breakfast and a pot of hot tea for us. "


    After akhromeyev left, I looked around the room and found that except for the three of us, there were no other staff officers or signalmen. They should have been sent away by chisgakov. So I confidently asked Eugene, "Comrade captain, when did you discover this mysterious radio station?"


    "Three days ago," Eugene said succinctly, "radio signals first appeared in Lenin District, then in post Dnieper district and industrial district."


    I didn''t ask the other party why they didn''t catch the sender, because I know that in the city full of ruins, people can be hidden everywhere, not to mention a few people from the Ministry of interior, even if hundreds of people surround an area to search, it''s hard to gain. I thought for a moment, then asked, "did you intercept their last two messages?"


    Evgenie shook his head and replied, "because they''ve been sending messages for a short time, almost as soon as we''ve locked in their radio waves, it''s over."


    "Comrade commander," chipped in chisgakov, "I think it may be their superiors who are giving them some tasks. If they only accept messages and don''t send them, we can''t intercept them. "


    Thinking of German spies in the city, I felt like I was stuck in my throat. I immediately asked Eugene, "Comrade captain, what can we do to eliminate this hidden danger?"


    Hearing my question, Eugene quickly stood up and replied without expression: "first of all, all the people in the headquarters must be examined to find out who leaked the secret..."


    "No, it can''t be that way." Before Eugene finished speaking, I interrupted him and said in an indisputable tone: "if we review the personnel of the whole group army command, it will cause people panic and scare the snake. Therefore, we must not adopt this method. Is there any other way? "


    "Comrade General, do you have another way?" Eugene asked respectfully when I had finished.


    His reaction surprised me. When did the people in the interior department become so talkative? In particular, he is also a chief of secret service with amazing power? I was so busy thinking about Eugene''s attitude that I forgot to answer his question for a moment.


    "Comrade General." Seeing my delay in speaking, Eugene guessed the reason and quickly added: "I have received orders from my superiors. Since you are a person trusted and valued by Comrade belia, as long as you are in your place, the staff of the local Ministry of internal affairs should obey all your orders! "


    What, belia told the interior to obey my orders, didn''t I hear you right? When I heard Eugene say that, I almost hit my chin on the ground. Is that ridiculous? However, I soon recovered from my shock. I remember that when I visited o''shanin and Kulik, belia did give me such authorization. It''s just that I didn''t use it all the time, so I forgot about it. If Eugene hadn''t reminded me, I wouldn''t have remembered that. The people of the Ministry of internal affairs may not be able to fight, but they have a unique way to detect and solve cases. It''s impossible to dig out the German spies hidden in Smolensk and leave them. After organizing the words in my mind for a while, I said to Eugene, "Comrade captain, although I have rejected your proposal to censor the members of the whole group army headquarters, the headquarters is really the key to find the source of the information leakage." As I said that, I raised the information in my hand. "As for the distribution plan of soldiers and materials, no more than seven people, including me, know the details. You can start from this point, and you may soon get the information you want. "¡° That''s great. That''s great. " Eugene hurriedly took out a pen and paper from his satchel, prepared for the record, and then asked, "Comrade commander, please tell me which seven people knew the details of this plan." I answered very cooperatively, "the people who know about this plan are me, deputy commander chisjakov, comrade kirilov, military Commissioner, Colonel bezikov, chief of staff, akhromeyev, director of operations, lophov, director of communications, and Archivist of the reference room." After yevgeni finished recording, he bowed to me and said, "Comrade General, you, deputy commanders, military commissars and chief of staff can be excluded from this list. I just need to review the last three people. "¡° I think the chief of operations and the chief of communications can also be ruled out. " "They didn''t work with us for a day or two," chisjakov replied calmly. "Since they haven''t leaked secrets before, it''s not them. As for the archivist, we were transferred from Moscow after we arrived in Smolensk. We don''t know much about her. You can take her as the focus of your investigation. " Yevgeni did not immediately agree after chisgakov finished, but asked me: "Comrade General, I don''t know how you think about it?" I took a look at chisgakov, and then answered decisively, "do as the deputy commander says."

 Chapter 1364

    I don''t have any opinions about the possible German spies in the army, but I don''t want Eugene to make too much noise. In this way, it is not only easy to scare the snake, but also make people in the team panic, so we must find someone to restrict him. Thinking of this, I picked up the phone on my desk and dialed the regiment headquarters of the guard regiment. The person who answered the phone said directly, "I''m o''shanina. Let your commander answer the phone."


    Soon, Yushchenko''s voice came from the receiver: "Comrade commander, it''s me, major Yushchenko. Do you have any important instructions?"


    "Major, come to my headquarters at once." With that, I hung up without giving him a chance to speak.


    When Eugene saw me calling others, he might have guessed that I was arranging staff to handle the case with him. He couldn''t help looking embarrassed: "Comrade General, this matter can''t be known to too many people, otherwise there will be the possibility of leakage."


    "Don''t worry, comrade captain. Major Yushchenko used to be in the Ministry of the interior. " I knew what he was worried about and quickly gave him a reassurance: "more importantly, he was personally sent by the supreme commander to our army."


    When I said that Yushchenko used to be a member of the Ministry of interior, Eugene''s face was relaxed; But as I went on to say, he was sent here by the Supreme Commander himself, which immediately made the officer of the Ministry of interior respect him. He stood up from his seat, straightened up and said to me, "Comrade General, I think this major should be in charge of this clean-up operation. After all, his rank is higher than mine."


    Seeing that Eugene was so wise, I nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "well, comrade captain, since you think it''s more appropriate for major Yushchenko to direct this operation, I''ll let him take charge of it. And now he''s the head of the guard under me, and it''s more convenient to move troops. "


    Just then, Yushchenko came in from the outside. He came to us, looked at evgenny standing beside him with a strange look, raised his hand, saluted chisgakov and me, and then asked, "Comrade commander, major Yushchenko, head of the guard regiment, has been ordered to come. I''m at your command, please give me instructions!"


    "It''s very nice of you to come, major. Let me introduce you. This is captain Eugene, chief of Smolensk''s secret service I first introduced Yevgeny to Yushchenko, a senior officer, and then I introduced Yushchenko to Yevgeny: "Comrade captain, this is major Yushchenko, my head of security."


    After they shook hands, I said, "major, I called you here because some radio station appeared in the city and sent out the stolen information of our army. It''s up to the captain to give you a detailed account of the specific situation. "


    After listening to Eugene''s introduction patiently, Yushchenko turned to me and asked, "Comrade commander, what should we do?"


    "We should do it in two steps." I went up to Yushchenko and said to him, "first, immediately investigate where the secret was leaked; Second, let the Communications Department of the group army cooperate with the comrades of the secret service section to locate the enemy''s radio station and try to eliminate him. " At this point, after a pause, I continued, "now you and captain Eugene will go and cross examine the new archivist to see if the leak is related to her. Pay attention, don''t make too much noise, so as not to scare the snake. "


    Just as Yushchenko and yevgeni were about to leave, akhromeyev, who was ordered to get breakfast, finally appeared. Seeing that they were going out, he said to Eugene, "Captain, you haven''t had breakfast yet."


    Eugene quickly reached out and picked up two pieces of bread from the plate, put a few pieces of cut sausages in it, then gave akhromeyev a polite smile, and sped up to catch up with Yushchenko.


    After akhromeyev came and put the plate on the table, I asked him to sit down, and then told him in detail what Evgeni had reported.


    After hearing this, he had an incredible expression on his face. He was surprised and asked, "Comrade commander, you can''t make a mistake. How can we have German spies in our troops? "


    "Not before, not now." Then I picked up the information on the table, put it in front of him, and said, "have a good look. This is a telegram intercepted by comrades of the secret service. All the information on it is our army''s secret. At present, we are still in the process of recuperation. Even if the Germans get the information, it''s not a big deal. But once our group army rejoins the battlefield and such a leak happens again, the situation will be serious. Therefore, we must find out the leaker in the shortest time to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. "


    After listening to me, akhromeyev asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, will these things be self defeating if they are handed over to those guys in the Ministry of interior?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade major." Akhromeyev, like me, has prejudice against the Ministry of internal affairs. I have to say a few good words for Smolensk''s special service section from an objective point of view, in case akhromeyev is resistant when I arrange for him to cooperate with them. "The comrades of the special service section are quite good at handling cases. Although I don''t like dealing with them very much, I sometimes have to express my admiration for their efficiency in solving cases. "


    Akhromeyev put forward his own views on my two plans: "Comrade commander, you ask major Yushchenko and captain yevgeni to examine the archivist. With my understanding of the major, he will be able to examine what he wants without knowing it. As for the cooperation between the communications department and the secret service, I don''t know who you are going to put in charge of this? "


    "Who do you think is more suitable?" Instead of answering his question, I asked with a smile, wondering in my heart whether he would name the person in my mind.


    Fortunately, akhromeyev didn''t disappoint me. He only thought for a moment, and then he did not hesitate to name the candidate I had long thought of: "I think it''s more appropriate for captain razumeyeva to be in charge. She''s proficient in her business. No one is more suitable than her for the work of targeting the area where the enemy''s radio station is located."


    "Comrade commander," after listening to the candidate recommended by akhromeyev, chisjakov couldn''t help interrupting: "although I haven''t dealt with Comrade razumeyeva for a long time, I think the candidate recommended by the major is very suitable."


    "Well, comrade deputy commander." Seeing that chisgakov also agreed with akhromeyev''s opinion, I pushed the boat forward and said, "since you agree, it''s up to the major to give an account to captain razumeyeva. Remember, during this period of time, comrade razumeyeva should be provided with a separate room to facilitate her work and prevent the leakage of secrets. "


    Yushchenko and Eugene, who went to examine the archivists, came back. I looked at them and asked, "what did the archivists say?"


    "She said that when she received the document, she would archive it according to the category, and she would not open the document to see what was in it at all." After finishing these words, Yushchenko took the initiative to defend for the archivist: "according to my observation, what she said should not be a lie, and her suspicion can be ruled out."


    Yushchenko quickly handed me a bunch of keys and said, "Comrade commander, please see, this is the key to the archives."


    I took the key and looked back and forth for a long time, but I didn''t see why. So I asked Yushchenko, "major, what do you want me to see?"


    "Comrade commander, look at the traces left on the surface of these keys." seeing that I didn''t see a name, Yushchenko quickly explained to me, "according to captain Yevgeny''s judgment, someone should have copied these keys with impressions, and then secretly opened the archives room with the key after the archivist got off work, stealing our secrets."


    After I put the key aside, I frowned and said, "if, as the captain analyzed, the situation is that the key was stolen, then the Archivist''s suspicion can be ruled out. Now we need to figure out who has access to the keys to the archives. "


    "Comrade General, I have taken this into consideration." Eugene said confidently: "the only person who can get access to the keys of the archives is the person who has been to the archives. All of these have detailed levels in the archivists. I''ve got the list of people who have been in the archives this week. "


    When I took the list that Eugene had handed me, I suddenly felt black in front of me, and it was covered with two pages. I counted roughly, and there were about 200 people. But at the same time, I was also secretly glad that I arranged Yushchenko to be in charge of this matter. If Yevgeny was in charge, he would certainly detain more than 200 people for examination. At that time, he would not only scare people, but also cause panic in the army.


    I put the list on the table and asked calmly, "Comrade captain, what are you going to do with these people?"


    "They should all be isolated." Yevgeni replied decisively, "then we will screen them one by one to find out the hidden enemies."


    "Captain, have you ever thought about what would happen if so many people were isolated?" I was worried that Eugene only wanted to eliminate German spies, but he didn''t pay attention to ways and methods. In the end, he was kind-hearted and did bad things, so he specially reminded him, "at that time, we will not only paralyze the work of many departments, but also create a kind of panic in the army, and everyone will feel threatened. How can we carry out our work?"


    When I said this, Eugene scratched the back of his head and said in great embarrassment, "Comrade General, what shall we do? We can''t let the enemy, who is hidden among us, go unpunished, can we


    "Don''t worry, he can''t run. As long as we find the man who stole the key to the archives, the problem will be solved. Is that right, comrade captain? " Seeing that he nodded in affirmation of my statement, I went on to analyze it for him: "according to my judgment, the person who stole the key should have been in the archives before yesterday, so the person who went to the archives today can be directly excluded." With that, I crossed out the names of more than ten people registered today with a pencil.


    My demonstration inspired Eugene. He patted his forehead and said, "yes, I''m so confused. Judging from the mark on the key, it should have been made yesterday, so people before yesterday can be ruled out."


    After my exclusion and his exclusion, the original list of more than 200 people was reduced to more than 20. I carefully looked at the rest of the list, then crossed out the commander of the 51st division of the guards and commander Lukin of the 375TH division of the infantry. Then I pushed the list to Eugene and said to him, "well, comrade captain, now there are only 20 people left. I believe that with your ability, you can complete the screening work in the shortest time."


    "But, comrade general," said Eugene, somewhat embarrassed, "what should I do next? You know, even if there are only 20 or so people, if you want to isolate them, there will be no small disturbance. " In fact, his concern has been puzzling me all the time. Whether it''s isolating 200 or 20 people, it will cause a big stir in the army. What''s a good way to isolate these people without disturbing more people? When I was in a dilemma, chisgakov suddenly got up from his seat, went up to Eugene, picked up the list on the table, looked at it carefully several times, and said, "Comrade commander, I have an idea that these people can be isolated temporarily without causing suspicion from the outside world."¡° Comrade deputy commander, what can I do for you? " Listening to chisgakov''s words, I was like a drowning man holding on to a straw, and hastened to say, "come on, listen!"¡° It''s very simple "I looked at the list and the positions of these people, and they were almost all staff officers of the headquarters or divisions," chisjakov said lightly. We can publicize to the outside world that because of the heavy casualties of the army commanders some time ago, we plan to promote some of them from the grassroots commanders, so we plan to organize some promising commanders to the headquarters for a three-day short-term training. "¡° That''s great. That''s great! " After listening to chisjakov''s proposal, I gave him a thumbs up and said sincerely, "Comrade deputy commander, your proposal is really wonderful. It is estimated that none of the staff members who have been informed would have thought that they came here to be examined. Even if there were German spies inside, they would relax their vigilance. Well, comrade deputy commander, it''s up to you to send this notice. "

 Chapter 1365

    That night, Yushchenko and Evgeny came to report to chisgakov and me that they had caught the leak. The leaker was a combat staff officer of the 77th division of Jinwei. When he went to the archives the day before yesterday to collect the information, he secretly printed the key with the impression when the archivists were not prepared. Then he used the key to steal the information of our army in the middle of the night.


    When I heard this news, my first reaction was that I made a mistake. Maybe the so-called spy was tortured by Eugene. So after a while of silence, I tentatively asked Yushchenko, "major, are you sure that the person you arrested is the one who leaked our military information?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, there is no mistake." Yushchenko said, took out a bunch of keys from his satchel, put them in front of me, and added: "this is the key we found on him, and he confessed to his crimes during the interrogation."


    When I look at the key placed in front of me, I can''t help feeling: as a passer-by, I always like to make a mistake. I feel that the people I deal with are not as smart as myself, and my thinking is too rigid. I don''t know how to use tactics when fighting, and I often lose some victorious battles. However, recent facts show that my view is very wrong. For example, on how to eliminate internal spies, I have more experience in bringing out any officer at school level. The reason why I can stand out in this era is that I can''t rely on my own understanding of the history of later generations. If this factor is removed, I think even an ordinary monitor is inferior.


    I picked up the key, looked at it casually, handed it to chisgakov, then turned to Yushchenko and asked, "major, when was he betrayed by the German army?"


    "Early November." Yushchenko reported: "at that time, the troops of the 77th division of the guards, under the cover of tank troops, met the German troops who escaped from Kiev. At that time, the staff officer and two soldiers captured several SS members, one of whom was an intelligence officer. The man slipped his gold watch and ring to the staff officer when the soldier didn''t pay attention. After accepting the German advantage, the staff officer asked the soldiers to escort the other prisoners away, but he quietly let them go. "


    "Hell," I could not help frowning when Yushchenko said this, "the staff officer let go of the prisoners without permission. After the battle, no one found out?"


    "No one found out that the staff officer had let the prisoners go." Yushchenko continued: "at that time, the situation was very chaotic. There were defeated Germans all over the mountains and valleys. After releasing the prisoners, the staff officers arrested several other prisoners and took them back to hand over, cleverly covering up his crime of secretly releasing the prisoners."


    When it comes to releasing prisoners privately, I seem to have done it, so when I heard Yushchenko say that, my face turned red. I quickly cut off the topic and asked, "major, it seems that he just released the prisoners privately, which has nothing to do with being instigated?"


    "Comrade commander, I will talk about that next." Yushchenko stopped for a moment, as if recalling the contents of the confession, and then said: "shortly after the 77th division of the guards entered korostwev, the released SS officer disguised himself and sneaked into the city. After several rounds of turnover, he found the staff officer and threatened him. Because the staff officers had the handle in the hands of the German officers, and the German forces of fastiev were constantly carrying out counter attacks against Kiev at that time, the staff officers could not see our hope of victory, so they wavered and agreed to the request of the German officers to provide information for the other side. "


    After I took a sip of the tea on the table, I said with great dignity, "major, go on. I want to know if this staff officer provided any information about our army to the Germans during the battle of Zhitomir. "


    "Not at all." Yushchenko affirmed: "I have checked with the chief of staff of the 77th division of Jinwei. As a representative sent by the division, the chief of staff has always been at the forefront of the fighting forces and has no chance to contact secrets. It was not until our group army withdrew from Ukraine and entered Smolensk that the German contacted him again and asked him to find out the strength and garrison situation of our army. "


    "How did he get the information out?" When I said this, I thought to myself that maybe I should transfer the 77th division of Jinwei and leave an 89th division in the city.


    "Near the division headquarters of the 77th division of Jinwei, there is a piece of ruins that is not within the scope of clearing up for the time being. The staff officer hid the stolen information in a corner of the ruins, and then marked it. When the Germans see the mark, they will try to get the information out. "


    "Has he met the German he met?" I continued.


    Yushchenko nodded his head slightly: "once, the German told him that once he got the information about our army, he would put it in the designated place and there would be a special person to get it. And there will be a note for him if there are any instructions. "


    After hearing this, I asked thoughtfully, "so he doesn''t know how many Germans there are in Smolensk and where these people are hiding?"


    "I think so." Yushchenko said with disapproval, "but it doesn''t matter. As long as we cut off this way of divulging secrets, it will not be so easy for the Germans to obtain our army''s intelligence."


    I waited for Yushchenko to finish, then I turned and looked at Eugene, who was standing by without saying a word. Although Yushchenko was also born in the Ministry of interior, he has been fighting with me for the past two years, and his original major is a little strange. If you want to solve the latent German in the city once and for all, you can only rely on professionals like Eugene: "Comrade captain, what do you want to say?"


    Hearing my question, Eugene quickly stepped forward and said, "Comrade General, I feel that if we want to eradicate the German lurking in the city, we must take advantage of this arrested spy."


    "Oh, comrade captain," Eugene''s words aroused my interest, so I asked with great interest, "what are you going to do?"


    "We have to block the news of German spies and give the enemy lurking in the city the illusion that we have not noticed their existence at all, so that they can move boldly and safely." As soon as Eugene talked about his profession, he kept on saying: "at the same time, we can let this staff officer continue to provide German intelligence, of course, the false intelligence after our audit..."


    "Just a moment, comrade captain." When I heard that he asked the staff officer to provide false information for the German, I had an idea and stopped Eugene immediately. "This matter is very important. I want to ask the superior for instructions. You and major Yushchenko should avoid it first. I''ll call you when I get a reply from my superiors. "


    After watching them go out, chisjakov, who kept silent all the time, said, "Comrade commander, do you still plan to use this staff member?"


    "That''s right." I had a complete plan in my mind. Anyway, there were only two of us in the room, so I confidently and boldly told chisjakov: "if we deliberately leak some false information to the Germans through this staff officer to mislead them in their judgment of the war situation, in the next battle, The pressure on us can be greatly reduced. " When I finished this sentence, seeing that chisgakov was still a little hesitant, he quickly added, "don''t forget that when our army was liberating Kiev, in order to surprise the enemy, they deliberately sent out false news to make the Germans think that our attack direction was in the south. When the enemy''s attention was focused on the south, our troops launched an attack from their unexpected north and captured Kiev in the shortest time. "


    "Since you said that," chisjakov heard me mention the Kiev campaign and knew that I had made up my mind, he could not oppose it any more, so he nodded his head and reluctantly agreed, "then call Moscow and see what the upper authorities mean."


    Seeing that chisgakov and I had reached an agreement, I went to the high-frequency telephone, picked up the receiver, dialed a number, and then said to the operator inside, "connect me with Moscow and find Marshal Zhukov!"


    After waiting for two or three minutes, when I heard Zhukov''s familiar voice coming out of the receiver, I said politely, "good evening, comrade marshal."


    "What can I do for you, Rita?" Zhukov knew that I was the kind of person who didn''t have to go to the three treasures hall and didn''t care to talk to me, so he asked directly.


    "Well, comrade marshal." I quickly told him about the leak and some of my plans.


    After hearing this, Zhukov was silent for a long time and seemed to be thinking about my proposal. It wasn''t until I lost patience that I heard him say in a low voice, "Rita, you''re very thoughtful. I think you can try. As long as you are sure that you can firmly control that staff officer, then every once in a while, he will provide some true and false intelligence to the Germans, so that the Germans mistakenly think that this is a reliable intelligence source. In this way, when our army takes important actions, it can effectively divert the enemy''s attention and let them concentrate their forces on unimportant areas. "


    After getting Zhukov''s Shangfang sword, I called Yushchenko and yevgeni back, and first asked them, "where are the other commanders participating in the training?" I am deeply afraid that some of their measures will involve innocent people and hurt these valuable staff members.


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Yushchenko is the person who knows my mind best. When he heard me asking, he knew what I was worried about. He quickly said, "in order to prevent leakage, I temporarily locked them up."


    I thought about it, and then told Yushchenko: "major, we should arrange three days of training for them according to the original plan. After the training, ask everyone to sign a confidentiality agreement, and then send them back to their respective units. Remember, before they leave, you can hint to them that the superior will check their performance in private, and those with outstanding performance will be promoted to higher positions. Do you understand? "


    "I see."


    "Now you go and bring the staff officer here, and I''ll talk to him." I also specially told Yushchenko, "be careful not to be seen on the way here. Because no one can guarantee that there are no enemy spies in our team. "


    More than ten minutes later, Yushchenko personally came in with a young officer who was not wearing a military cap, his military uniform looked a little shabby, and his face was black and blue.


    "It seems that people from the Ministry of internal affairs have done a lot of work." Chisgakov suddenly came close to my ear and whispered, "if the key to the preparation had not been found from this man, I would have worried that he would have been beaten."


    The staff officer came up to us and suddenly made an unexpected move. He fell on his knees, opened his hands, and cried to us in despair: "two commanders, please forgive me, I was forced."¡° Hum, forced. " Chisgakov snorted coldly and said, "I don''t know what you have to do with the German people. They will be threatened by him."¡° When I caught the German officer, he quietly gave me a watch while the soldiers were not paying attention, and begged me to let him go The staff officer bowed to the ground and murmured, "I was greedy for a while, so I sent the soldiers who followed me to carry out the task, and then let him go."¡° Fool, you fool. " Chisgakov stood up, pointed to the staff on his knees and scolded: "as a rule, you hardly have to hand in anything you find from the prisoners. You don''t have to let him go even if you''ve got everything on him? "¡° I''m too confused. " The staff officer cried bitterly and said, "I saw that it was a very good watch. In addition, I was so soft hearted that I let the German officer go. It wasn''t long before he came to the city in disguise and found me. He said that my watch was actually a camera, and there was film in it. If I didn''t cooperate with him, he would tell me that I was a spy in the army. " After hearing the staff officer''s statement, I really want to kick his feet. For this kind of threat and inducement, why don''t you be polite to him? When he doesn''t pay attention, just give him two shots in the back and finish him up. Do you still need to be threatened? But from this point, I think my plan is feasible. Just let the staff know that if they want to continue to live, they must choose to continue to cooperate with us, or they will die. Thinking of this, I coughed heavily, and then asked, "do you want to die, or do you want to live?"

 Chapter 1366

    When I said this, the staff officer who thought he would die was like catching a straw and nodding his head as if he were pounding garlic. "Comrade commander, I want to live, of course I want to live."


    "Since you want to live, it''s easy. By the way, major Yushchenko, "I was just about to call the staff officer''s name, but I was surprised to find that I still don''t know his name. So I quickly turned my eyes to Yushchenko and asked," what''s his name? "


    "Semunov," Yushchenko quickly replied, "his name is semunov. He is the Lieutenant''s combat staff officer of the 77th division of the guards."


    Knowing the name and rank of the staff officer, I nodded, lowered my head again, and said to the staff officer, "Lieutenant semunov, since you want to say it, you must do as I do. I need you to continue to provide information to the Germans... "


    Before I had finished, he put up his hand desperately and even said, "dare not, comrade commander, I dare not divulge our army''s secrets to the Germans any more."


    Yushchenko may not be used to his servile manner. He raised his hand and slapped him on the back of the head. He said angrily, "don''t interrupt when the commander is talking."


    The slapped semunov was honest immediately. He nodded to me and said, "Comrade commander, please continue. I will never interrupt you again."


    I first gave Yushchenko a smile, and then said to semunov, "Lieutenant, I think you know in your heart what kind of punishment you will get for what you have done. However, the impact of your first offence on us is not too great, so after the study of the leaders of the group army, we decided to treat you with a lighter punishment. We will give you a piece of information every once in a while, and then you will provide it to the Germans. If we do a good job, we will be free from punishment when we reward you for what we have done; But if something goes wrong, hum, hum, hum... "I hummed coldly on purpose," then there will be several crimes. Not only will you be sentenced to death, but also your relatives will be sent to the labor camp in Siberia. Do you understand? "


    "I see, I see, comrade commander." After listening to me, he patted his chest and assured me, "don''t worry. I won''t let you down."


    After listening to his statement, I called yevgeni over and told him, "Comrade captain, from now on, Lieutenant semunov will give it to your secret service department. When there is any information that needs to be disclosed to the German, I will ask someone to give it to you, and then he will pass it on."


    After seeing Evgeny leave with semonov, chisjakov asked with some worry, "Comrade commander, would you take too much risk in doing this?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, we must take this risk." As for the worry of chisgakov, I said rather reluctantly: "in fact, I also want to bring all the German spies lurking in the city, but under the current situation, it is almost impossible. Even if we carry out a city wide search, they just need to find a ruins to hide, and we can''t find them at all. "


    "Didn''t you arrange for captain razumeyeva and the secret service to work together to find German radio stations?" "Can''t you find the enemy''s hiding place like this?" asked chisjakov reluctantly


    I can''t laugh or cry at this assumption of chisgakov. If the city is not too badly damaged by the German army, once the enemy''s telegram is found in any area, as long as the troops are sent to block that area and carry out door-to-door search, the German spies who sent the telegram may still be caught. But now the residents who come back to the city live in simple houses or tents built on the ruins, even if we find the enemy''s message area and surround it. But as long as we start to search, the German people can hide the transmitter in which ruins, and then hide in a certain room. Our soldiers can''t catch people at all. On the contrary, they will make the other side more cautious.


    I organized some words in my mind, and then said without hesitation: "Comrade deputy commander, at present, the conditions for catching the spy who sent the news are not mature. We deliberately pretended to be indifferent, as if we didn''t know that our army''s information had been leaked out, so that we could paralyze the enemy. When their vigilance is lowered and the location of the message is completely fixed, we can take action, and the success rate will be greatly improved. "


    When I said this, chiska cofton regained his mind. He nodded his head and said, "I see. It seems that you are considerate."


    At this time, it suddenly occurred to me that kirilov and bezikov had not shown their faces since the whole leak. Bezikov: I know he went to viazima to deal with the new supplies. He can''t come back in a day or two. Kirilov, with the members of the visiting group, wandered around the city. Why didn''t he come back so late? Thinking of this, I couldn''t help asking chisjakov curiously: "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t know when the military commissar will be back?"


    "In the afternoon, he called me and said that he would accompany the delegation to the Katyn Forest." At this point, chisgakov said with indignation: "it is clear that the Germans slaughtered tens of thousands of Polish officers and buried them in the Katyn Forest, but they planted them on us, so the comrades of the military commissar will take you to the scene to have a look, so that the rumors can be broken."


    When chisgakov said this, I just picked up my glass to drink water, and I saw his angry expression about Katyn Forest, which made him cough violently.


    Seeing that I coughed out of breath, chisjakov quickly asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s wrong with you? What''s wrong with you?"


    I quickly waved my hand, coughed and said, "it''s OK. I just got caught in the water cavity by accident." When the cough was not so severe, I tentatively asked about Katyn: "Comrade deputy commander, what''s the matter with Katyn Forest?"


    "Don''t you know?" Seeing that I didn''t seem to know anything about the situation in the Katyn Forest, chisjakov patiently explained to me, "in the middle of April this year, Germany announced that a large number of Polish soldiers'' bodies had been found in the Katyn Forest, and claimed that this massacre was committed by our side. As for such nonsense, our country immediately denied it and counterattacked it, exposing to the whole world the truth that * * Germany was trying to cover up. Although we have refuted the rumor, the rumor spread by the Germans is still spreading in various forms in China. All the visiting delegation want to take the opportunity to find out the truth and make it known to the people of the whole country. "


    I couldn''t help laughing bitterly at what he said. As for the Katyn massacre, I read the declassified materials before I went through it. It can be said that in today''s era, in addition to organizations and participants, I know the truth best. The reason why the Soviet side wanted to execute these Polish prisoners of war was that they were a big burden for themselves: on the one hand, the Soviet Union had to consume precious human and material resources for them in the tense preparation for war; On the other hand, the Polish prisoners of war may resist the imprisonment of the Soviet army at any time, so they decided to deal with the officers of the Polish prisoners of war first. Without the officers, the rest of the soldiers would be left without leaders.


    According to the relevant parties of the Soviet Union, the best way is to eliminate them physically. On March 5, 1940, belia, the people''s commissar of internal affairs of the Soviet Union, wrote a special report on the execution of more than 20000 prisoners and prisoners, mainly Polish officers, and submitted it to Stalin and the Communist Party (Bolshevik) Central Committee for examination and approval.


    In early April 1940, the execution of Polish prisoners of war officially began. Hundreds of captured Polish officers were taken into cars from the three camps and secretly transported to Katyn Forest, where they were executed. The executioners stood behind the Polish prisoners of war and shot them in the back of the head with pistols. After burying, Soviet personnel laid a thick layer of soil on it. Before long, the second group of prisoners of war were transported to the same place and treated the same way. In just one and a half months, more than 20000 people were slaughtered.


    I surmised to myself that the reason why the visiting delegation came here to find out the truth was probably because the headquarters of the people''s Committee of the Ministry of the interior was located in Smolensk before the war.


    Although I know what the truth is, I can''t say it. I can only vaguely say, "Comrade deputy commander, if it''s true, if it''s true, the truth will always be clear."


    As soon as I finished, I saw akhromeyev coming in with a piece of paper. He came to me, handed me the paper in his hand, and said: "Comrade commander, we have just received a telegram from our superiors to supplement our tanks. Tomorrow, 30 new tanks will be transported to dasmorensk by railway. They told us to be ready to receive the equipment."


    After reading it, I handed the telegram to chisgakov, and then told akhromeyev to say, "major, you call general bere and ask him to send tanks to receive new equipment."


    After reading the telegram, chisgakov''s face brightened: "Comrade commander, this is very good. Originally, I thought it was inconvenient to transport by road, and the tanks added to us would have to wait at least half a month to arrive. I didn''t expect that they would be delivered by railway so soon. " With that, he handed the telegram back to akhromeyev and urged, "major, go and call commander berey quickly. I think he''s going to be gray waiting for these tanks."


    As soon as I think of the 30 new tanks that will be delivered tomorrow, my heart is filled with emotion: the senior engineer of the military factory, florin, can be described as non-human. He can draw the drawings of AK47, which is nothing; What''s important is that he can also draw all the tank drawings of the Soviet troops in 1950-60. If it is not because of the lack of existing production technology to produce the engines needed for the newer models of tanks and the special steel plates up to the standard, it is estimated that the tanks equipped with troops today are not only t-5455 tanks, but also t-62 tanks. Even if these tanks attack with 40 rocket barrels at a distance of 100 meters, they can not penetrate the front armor, Not to mention the German iron fist or anti tank gun. Even if they meet with German Tiger and leopard tanks, they can hang a group of them.


    While I was thinking wildly, I suddenly heard chisgakov say: "Comrade commander, if our army''s new tanks were not for lack of production capacity and could not be fully equipped, the enemy''s armored forces would not be able to compete with us in local battlefields."


    "In the Kursk war, we equipped a company with new tanks, even against a tank battalion of the upper German army, we were not at all inferior." Thinking of a series of brilliant achievements made by the new tanks during the battle in Kursk, I can''t help but say with emotion: "if it weren''t for the shortage of artillery supply of the new tanks in the later period, we would not have paid such a high price in the large-scale battle with the enemy''s tanks."


    After we talked about the new tanks, we went on to talk about the assault rifles that the army had already begun to install. The more we talked, the more lively we were. Unknowingly, the time went by, because the conversation was so devoted that I didn''t even notice the dawn. In the end, kirilov, who suddenly walked into the headquarters, interrupted us: "Gee, why did you two come to the headquarters so early today?" When I looked up and saw kirilov, I nodded to him with a smile and said, "Comrade military commissar, when did you come back?"¡° Just got back by car from Katyn. " Kirilov replied¡° What about the factory delegation you accompanied? " Asked chisgakov hastily¡° I''m leaving. I''ll be back in Moscow early this morning. " Kirilov finished answering this question and asked strangely, "it seems that you chatted here all night last night. I don''t know what''s good that can make you two forget the time? " Hearing that the delegation had left, chisjakov could not help but worry and said: "they are now back to Moscow. The motorcade is on the road during the day. Is it safe?"¡° Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander. " Kirilov said with disapproval: "now there are our army''s fighters in the sky constantly patrolling, and the enemy''s planes will be expelled as soon as they appear." Soon he turned the topic to the question just now, "by the way, you haven''t said that there''s anything good that can make you talk all night without feeling tired. Let''s talk about it quickly."¡° That''s right, comrade military Commissar. " Chisjakov said to kirilov with a smile: "the superior informed us that today there are 30 new tanks, which will arrive in Smolensk by rail transportation. Let''s send troops to receive the new tanks."¡° What, the new tank will arrive today? " After hearing this news, kirilov could not help but be overjoyed. He had just sat down. Now he stood up again and said to both of us, "anyway, there is nothing wrong now. Let''s go to the railway station and have a look."

 Chapter 1367

    When the jeep we three took arrived at the railway station, the whole station was under martial law. Except for the tank soldiers who were on the task of receiving the train, the rest of the people were not allowed to enter. Of course, our motorcade was definitely not within the forbidden range. From a long distance, the soldiers on duty took the lead to open the obstacles on the road, so that our jeep drove directly into the station without even reducing its speed.


    General berey and the station master, who led the team to the station to pick up the tanks, are waiting outside the station master''s office at the moment. Seeing that our car stopped, bielei trotted all the way, politely opened the door for me, and asked, "Comrade commander, why are you here?"


    Kirilov, who got off from the other side door, heard him saying this. He put on a serious face and said, "why, I want to come here to see the new tank. Can''t this work?"


    "Comrade military commissar, look what you said." Brey grinned, then said to kirilov, "if I hadn''t worried about your busy work, I would have invited you to the headquarters."


    I shook hands with the station master and asked, "is the tank here?"


    "It''s already here." The station master quickly replied, "it''s parked at platform 3. Now it''s unloading."


    I turned and asked kirilov, who had just finished talking with bere, "Comrade military commissar, shall we go to the platform or wait for the tanks to come out here?"


    Kirilov thought about it, and then said reasonably, "I think we''d better wait here. The soldiers are busy unloading the new tanks on the platform. If a large group of us rush past, it will certainly affect their work. Anyway, this is the exit of the station. When they leave, it''s the same when we look at the tanks. "


    When kirilov wants to stay here, I''ll let it be. Although the new tanks were equipped with troops long before the battle of Kursk, they have never been seen by political cadres like kirilov. He just wants to take advantage of the opportunity of the arrival of new tanks today to have a good look at our army''s magic weapon.


    After waiting for more than ten minutes, suddenly came the rumble of the tank motor, kirilov immediately looked in the direction of the sound, and soon saw a team of tanks driving out from behind the building of the station.


    Looking at the new tanks passing in front of us one by one, kirilov pointed to one tank and asked the nearby bielei excitedly: "Comrade General, the artillery of this new tank seems to be much thicker than the T-34 tank."


    "Comrade military commissar, this is a 100 mm rifled gun, while the T-34 tank is equipped with a 76 mm F-34 cannon," he replied with a smile


    Kirilov said with emotion: "with such a long and thick barrel, the range and power must be good."


    "In the years of 41 and 42, the enemy''s tanks No. 3 and No. 4 were not our opponents of T-34, but since their tiger and leopard tanks came out, our T-34 has not been their opponents." "Fortunately, the weaponry Department has launched this new type of tank, so that our tank troops can regain their advantage in the battlefield," said berey with a relaxed expression. This kind of tank is invincible on the battlefield as long as it is not bombarded by the enemy''s heavy artillery or aircraft. The best record of our tank army is the encounter between five new tanks and a German tank battalion. After a fierce battle, the enemy''s tank battalion equipped with four Tiger tanks was completely destroyed, while only two of our tanks were slightly injured, which did not affect the next battle. "


    Kirilov could not help but look at me and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, since the new tanks are so good, why have they been launched for so long and have not been fully equipped?"


    As for kirilov''s question, I gave a wry smile and replied, "the key is that the production capacity is not enough and there are not enough special steel plates, so that large-scale production is impossible. There are also some new tanks in use for a period of time, because there is not enough ammunition or updated parts, so they are temporarily suspended


    "Comrade commander," as soon as I finished, berey suddenly said, "I think this new type of tank will become the basic configuration of all tank brigades in the first half of ''44."


    When I heard that berey was so confident, I asked curiously, "general berey, did you hear something we didn''t know?"


    "In the early days of the war, our tanks were mainly produced in Kharkov tank factory, Stalingrad tractor factory, Leningrad 174 tank factory and solmoff 112 factory. With the pressure of the German army, the Kharkov tank factory did not wait to move to the lower tajir of Urals until the beginning of 42. 174 tank factory also moved from Leningrad to Omsk, and began to produce tanks in March of 42. However, in the autumn of 42, due to the defense war of Stalingrad, the tractor factory of Stalingrad was destroyed, and some production workshops were moved to Kirov factory in Chelyabinsk to continue production. "


    When he said this, he stopped for a moment. After another tank passed in front of us, he said, "now Kharkov has recovered. By January next year at most, the production of tanks can be officially resumed. It is said that all the tanks there will be used for the production of new tanks."


    "Great, that''s great." Kirilov said with a smile after listening to bierre''s introduction: "if your close guard fifth tank army can be equipped with this kind of tank, not to mention the German ordinary armored division, even if you meet the most elite SS ace division of the German army, you will still beat them to pieces."


    After all the tanks passed in front of us, chisjakov, who had never spoken, asked kirilov with a smile: "Comrade military commissar, we have finished what we have changed. Should we go back to the headquarters?"


    "Well, let''s go back." Kirilov finished and led the way to the jeep.


    I came to the jeep, opened the door and was about to bend down to get in when I heard the roar of the plane engine in the air. When I almost blurted out the air raid alarm, I found that people around me were calm and looked up into the air.


    At this time, my heart became much more stable. Passing over us are two propeller planes. From the red five pointed star pattern on the fuselage, we can tell that they are our military fighters. It turns out that our fighters are on air patrol. With that in mind, I stooped into the jeep.


    As soon as we got back to the headquarters, the director of communications, lophov, sent me a telegram. He also reported to me: "Comrade commander, this is a telegram just received from the headquarters of the Belarusian front army."


    While I was reading the telegram, both chisjakov and kirilov looked at me nervously. They were eager to know what was said in the telegram sent to me by rokosovsky.


    After reading the telegram, I put it on the table, and then said to the two deputies with a smile: "rokosovsky said in the telegram that the troops of the Belarusian front army pursuing the retreating enemy have now arrived in tukhofka, new bekhov, east of zhylobin and east of moziri, and they have set up local defenses to prevent the Germans from jumping over the wall. In addition, they have received active assistance from guerrillas fighting in Vitebsk, mogilyov, gomeli and polesiyah. "


    After I finished, kirilov suddenly asked, "by the way, Rita, why didn''t I hear from general Romanov for a long time? I haven''t heard from him since Kiev broke through."


    "I don''t know." To tell you the truth, I still miss this general who used to be my partner very much. "After the Supreme Command appointed him commander of the guerrilla group army, it seems that no one mentioned him again." Speaking of this, it suddenly occurred to me that Romanov''s area of activity was near Chernobyl, not far from Kiev. But I don''t know why, no matter in the battle of liberating Kiev or defending Zhitomir, I didn''t see his troops take part in the battle. Maybe something happened to him, which is more or less dangerous.


    Chisjakov''s patience was very good. After I talked with kirilov about general Romanov for a while, he asked, "Comrade commander, I want to ask, general rokosovsky suddenly sent us a telegram like this. Don''t you know what the purpose is?"


    "Isn''t that obvious, comrade deputy commander?" I pushed the telegram in front of him, and then said: "general rokosovsky informed us of the position of the front army troops, probably to let us know the commander well, so that when the troops arrived at the battlefield, they could fight as quickly as possible."


    "Into battle?" Chisjakov picked up rokosovsky''s telegram and just looked at it. Listening to what I said, he quickly put down the phone and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, have you heard anything?"


    "I can hear something." As I spoke, I pointed to the telegram in front of chisgakov and continued, "I inferred from this telegram. From what I know about general rokosovsky, it is impossible for him to send us such a telegram without any reason. You see, the names above must be the main battlefields in the next stage of fighting. We should make use of this precious time to train our troops and familiarize ourselves with the terrain, so that when our group army is transferred, it will not be discredited


    "So it is." Chisgakov picked up the telegram and looked at it again for a while. Then he asked me, "when do you think we will join in the fight against the enemy?"


    "It should be around the middle of January." I pointed to the map on the table and analyzed to them: "according to my understanding of general rokosovsky, he will definitely deploy us on the left side of the whole front army. After the group army''s mojiliov launches, he will launch an attack on kalinkovich and moziri in the West. After seizing these two cities, he will turn to the local defense in the area, Waiting for the spring thaw to come, we should seize the time to accumulate materials and strength, and prepare to launch a comprehensive attack again. "


    After staring at the location of the two cities I mentioned for a long time, chisgakov said leisurely: "if our troops capture kalinkovych and moziri, they can connect with the defense area of the first front army of Ukraine of general vatukin through Chernobyl. In this way, the combat effectiveness of our two front forces in the future will no longer be fighting alone, but can echo each other from afar. "


    When we were discussing how to carry out the strategy in Belarus, we suddenly heard a familiar voice at the door asking, "Oh, it''s very lively here. What are you discussing?" I looked up and saw bzikov coming in from the door. I nodded at him and asked politely, "chief of staff, you are back."¡° Come back Bezikov took off his beaver cylinder cap and hung it on the clothes rack beside him. Then he came to us and said, "I''ve been busy for two days. I''ve finally distributed all the supplies."¡° Speaking of equipment, I have an important matter that I haven''t had time to tell you and the military Commissar. " As he said this, chisgakov kept looking at me. He was consulting me, asking if there were German spies in the city, and telling them. Seeing that I nodded my tacit approval, he went on to say, "we received a report from the Ministry of interior yesterday that they intercepted a German telegram, which recorded in detail our troops and deployment, and even your equipment allocation plan, etc..." what? " When he heard what chisgakov said, bizikov, who had just sat down, jumped up from his seat. He yelled and asked, "Damn, how did the Germans get our military secrets?"¡° He was a combat staff officer of the 77th division of Jinwei who was bribed by the German army. Taking advantage of the negligence of the archivists, he secretly assigned the key to the archives and sneaked into the archives overnight to steal the information. " Seeing the angry look on bzikov''s face, chisgakov quickly added: "but he has been caught by us."¡° I''ve got it. That''s great. " It was said that the information stealing spy had been caught. Bizikov asked excitedly, "did you dig out all his accomplices in the city and then shoot them all?"¡° No, we haven''t touched their accomplices for the time being. " Chisgakov took a look at me and continued to say to bzikov, "even if the spy was caught, we just sent someone to control him and didn''t shoot him."¡° Why, why is that? " Not only bzikov was surprised, but kirilov was also surprised, because when other troops caught such spies, they were usually simply interrogated, and after obtaining the necessary information, they were directly executed¡° Military commissar and chief of staff, don''t worry. Let me explain to you. " Chisjakov repeated what I said yesterday to them in detail, and finally said, "I think the measures taken by Comrade commander are completely correct."

 Chapter 1368

    Kirilov has always supported me unconditionally. It is said that I made this decision, so naturally I will not express any objection. Even bzikov, seeing that chisgakov was supportive of my opinion, pushed the boat forward and said, "since this decision was made by Comrade commander, I firmly support it."


    Then, our topic turned to the equipment of the army. I asked bzikov: "chief of staff, during this period, we have accepted 10000 rifles, 2000 light machine guns and 100 mortars provided by our superiors. How did you allocate them?"


    "Only about one-third of the supplies are in place now," bezikov said after taking out his Notepad from his satchel. "So I gave priority to major general tavartkilaze, the 23rd army of the close guard infantry."


    "Why?" As soon as he had finished, chisgakov asked in a puzzled way.


    Bezikov coughed, laughed a little embarrassed, and then said, "Comrade deputy commander, I think so. There are only three divisions in the 23rd army. It''s easier to supplement, so we can give priority to supplement. When their replenishment is complete, they will replenish the 22nd army of general sivakov''s close guard infantry. "


    I laughed silently at the reason for the farfetched reason of beichav, and then said to Chi Sky Kopf, "Comrade deputy commander, since the supplies of the various units have been handed over to the chief of staff, he has the final say in the arrangement of the supplementary orders."


    After I said these words to chisgakov, I turned my attention to bzikov again. "Chief of staff, what''s the response of the army to the new assault rifles?"


    "Don''t you need to say that?" When bizikov heard my question, he immediately said excitedly, "used commanders and fighters all say that this kind of assault rifle has good shooting performance, is solid and durable, and has low failure rate. The range of the ruler is 800 meters, and the effective range is 400 meters, which is much better than that of the bobosha submachine gun. If the latter is more than 100 meters, there is almost no accuracy. "


    "Is there no defect?" Asked chisgakov curiously, who had never used an assault rifle.


    Don''t zikov thought about it, and then replied: "yes, according to the reaction of some infantry comrades, the muzzle jump of the assault rifle is quite serious when it is fired repeatedly, which will have a certain impact on the shooting accuracy."


    "Chief of staff, do you think that if all our troops are equipped with this kind of assault rifle, will it lead to the increase or decrease of combat effectiveness?" Chisgakov continued.


    "This..." the question of chisgakov stopped bzikov. He was speechless for a long time.


    "Comrade deputy commander, let me answer your question." I could not bear to see bzikov''s embarrassed appearance, so I took the initiative to come out and help him out: "in fact, this kind of assault rifle began to equip a small number of troops in the Moscow defense war as early as 41 years ago. I had an assault rifle number 7 at that time. Unfortunately, when I broke through liuban, I was damaged by German artillery fire. "


    "What, this kind of assault rifle was in 1941?" This time it was chisgakov''s turn to be surprised. "How come I''ve never heard of it?"


    I''m sure I won''t tell them that the reason why this kind of light weapon appeared in 41 years is that a future engineer from a military factory said vaguely, "this is a new weapon developed by the technology and equipment department at that time. For the purpose of confidentiality, only a small part of it was produced to test the performance of the weapon."


    After hearing this, chisjakov nodded thoughtfully: "so it is."


    I remember that when my superior equipped me with assault rifles, chisjakov was one of my commanders. As for whether he had never seen a new type of assault rifles or completely forgot about it, I did not go deep into it. Instead, I went on to say, "after the actual combat test, the parties concerned think that this kind of weapon can improve the overall combat effectiveness of our army. So they increased production and began to equip a large number of guard divisions. Before the battle of Kursk, we had several divisions equipped with such assault rifles. "


    "That''s right," bzikov echoed after I finished saying, "the reason why the 51st and 52nd divisions of the guards can still hold fast in Yakovlev area under the fierce attack of the enemy is largely related to the equipment of this kind of weapon. In some key positional battles, assault rifles also play an important role. They are a kind of continuous firing weapon that is very suitable for close combat. "


    Hearing what bzikov said, chisjakov couldn''t help mentioning the question he had just asked: "if our army were all equipped with such assault rifles, would the combat effectiveness of the whole army go up to a higher level?"


    Among you, only I know that this kind of assault rifle will be widely equipped in the future. In addition to the Soviet army, troops of more than 30 countries are also equipped with this kind of weapon, and even some countries have imitated or licensed it. There is a saying that more people were killed by AK47 assault rifles than by nuclear bombs.


    "Comrade deputy commander, it is only a matter of time before all the troops are equipped with these assault rifles. I believe that with the completion of the change, the combat effectiveness of our army as a whole will go up to a higher level. " After I had said these words, I turned around and told bzikov: "chief of staff, you should urge these troops to carry out more adaptive training. Do not see soldiers holding new weapons in their hands, but because they are not familiar with guns, their combat effectiveness will decline. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." "I will go to all divisions at any time to check the use of new weapons, so as to ensure that all commanders and fighters can adapt to the use of new equipment as soon as possible," bezikov said to me With the repair of Smolensk Moscow highway, the higher authorities speeded up the transportation of materials to our group army. All the weapons and equipment that Zhukov promised us will be in place by December 20. But when I heard that bezikov reported to me that all the equipment supplied to the divisions were in place, the stone hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground. I told him: "chief of staff, at present, the work of the group army is mainly in two aspects: first, let the army strengthen the training of new recruits and new equipment; Second, let the divisions send reconnaissance teams to carry out reconnaissance in kalinkovich and moziri, and find out the enemy''s forces and deployment. " When bzikov asked him to arrange a scout for kalinkovic and moziri, he raised his eyebrows and asked, "Comrade commander, did you get any news when you gave such an order? Is the superior really going to let us attack these two cities?"¡° Chief of staff, "I said to him without expression," I don''t know anything. According to my own judgment, I think the next strategic target of the Belarusian front army should be kalinkovic and moziri. Well, you don''t have to say any more, just pass on my order at once. "

 Chapter 1369

    Originally, according to my assumption, the attack of rokosovsky''s troops on kalinkovich and moziri would officially start in early January. After all, according to the information I have, the left wing of general Batov''s 65th army has advanced near kalinkovich; General belov''s 61st army also reached moziri''s approach. The two groups are now fortifying the above-mentioned areas due to the excessive consumption of soldiers, weapons and ammunition in the early fighting.


    Just when the situation looks good, something unexpected happens. The German army quietly gathered a large number of troops near kalinkovich and launched a surprise attack on the right wing of general Batov''s 65th army. After our troops, who are now recovering, are attacked, it is very difficult to organize effective resistance in a hurry. They can only retreat to the rear continuously in the process of continuous resistance.


    As the remaining troops were severely reduced in the early fighting, and the weapons and ammunition were not replenished in time, it was very difficult to provide effective support to the 65th group army which was under attack. At this time, rokosovsky called me for help: "Rita, at present, comrade Batov''s situation is very bad. They were suddenly attacked by the German army, and the army suffered a lot of casualties. Although your group army has not been officially included in the composition of the Belarusian front army, can you send troops to support them? "


    I looked at the map in front of me, and then answered, "Comrade General, it''s more than 300 kilometers from Smolensk to zhylobin, where the headquarters of the 65th group army is located. If you add in more than 100 kilometers from zhylobin to kalinkovich, the whole journey will be more than 400 kilometers. Even if I immediately send troops to support general Batov day and night, it will take at least two to three days. I don''t know if they can support that long? "


    Rokosovsky listened to me and immediately fell silent. From the receiver came the sound of turning the paper, I guess he was calculating which route my troops should take. After a while, his voice came out from the receiver: "Rita, the railway traffic from Smolensk to zlobin has returned to normal. You can let a division of troops take the train to zlobin to cooperate with the local troops to build fortifications to stop the enemy rushing there."


    I used my hand to draw a figure on the map. If the troops were to take the train to zlobin, it would only take six or seven hours on the road at most, which is much faster than taking the car from the road. So I readily agreed, "well, comrade general, I''ll send troops to zhelopin by train at once."


    When I put down the phone, I asked akhromeyev to contact the railway station and ask the station to prepare the car for us immediately and prepare to transport troops and tanks.


    When chisjakov heard that I had to transport tanks by train, he persuaded me: "Comrade commander, a train can transport at most 30 tanks, but if it is used to transport infantry, it can transport at least 3000 more people."


    "Comrade deputy commander, I see what you mean." I laughed at chisgakov, and then explained, "general Batov''s 65th army is losing ground under the fierce German attack. If all our reinforcements are infantry, how can we resist the German armored forces?"


    "Isn''t our infantry equipped with 40 rocket launchers?" Chisgakov said strangely: "they can completely solve the German tanks."


    "Rockets are enough for defense." I didn''t beat around the Bush and made it clear to chisgakov, "but we should not only block the enemy''s attack, but also counterattack the enemy when conditions are ripe. If we don''t have the cooperation of tanks in counterattack, our troops will pay a high price, which I don''t want to see


    With these words, I told bzikov: "chief of staff, call the two flight commanders and ask them to report to me immediately. I will assign combat tasks to them."


    When I heard that I would call the head of the regiment, chisjakov felt even more incredible. "Why, comrade commander, do you still want the air force to take part in the counterattack against the German army?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander, that''s how I think about it." I said confidently, "in the face of the fierce attack of the enemy, our newly recovered troops can not only tenaciously block the enemy''s attack, but also have the strength to counterattack the enemy and return them to their original starting point. Of course, in order to do all this, we need not only the support of tank troops, but also the air force to control the air. "


    As for my arrangement, chisgakov shook his head with a wry smile and did not speak any more. Instead, he looked down at the map and studied which division he was going to transfer to go to zhylobin by train.


    Akhromeyev first came over and reported to me, "Comrade commander, the station master has said that in one hour, the locomotive head and carriage we need will be in place, and then our commanders and fighters and tanks will be able to wait for the train."


    Then bzikov also came to me and reported, "Comrade commander, I have called the two heads of the flying regiment. They will arrive at the headquarters in half an hour to accept your orders."


    After hearing the reports of akhromeyev and bezikov, I nodded with satisfaction. Then he turned to look at chisgakov and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, have you considered it? Which army is going to reinforce general Batov? "


    "What I am most optimistic about is the 51st division of the close guard of Colonel shejerikov, whose combat effectiveness is among the best in the whole group army. Unfortunately, they are currently stationed in yarcevo and can''t catch up with Smolensk within three to four hours. And the most precious thing we have right now is time. " Chisgakov said helplessly: "I think it''s better for major general Xie Liujin''s close guard 89th division to go up first. As for the tank brigade that took part in the first battle, we sent the 82nd tank brigade, which was soon rebuilt. I believe that these two troops will perform well when they arrive in zhylobin. " Xie Liujin, who received the order, trotted all the way into the headquarters. He walked up to us, raised his hand and saluted everyone. Then he looked at me and said, "Comrade commander, major general Xie Liujin, commander of the 89th division of Jinwei, has been ordered to come. I''m at your service. Please give me instructions."¡° Come to me, sir. " When sherekin came over, I pointed to the map and said to him, "the German army counterattacked our troops in kalinkovich. At present, general Batov''s troops have suffered serious losses and are retreating towards zhylobin. The task of your division is to take the train to zhylobin as soon as possible, cooperate with the local garrison to build fortifications and resist the possible German attack. " Xie Liujin grinned after listening to my assignment, and then confidently said, "don''t worry, comrade commander, our division has just completed the replenishment of troops and equipment, the morale of the commanders and fighters is high, and everyone is full of fighting enthusiasm. When we get to zhylobin this time, we will certainly defeat the enemy in the future."¡° Your task is not just to block the enemy''s attack. " When he finished, I immediately added: "when conditions are ripe, we need to fight back to the enemy without hesitation and drive them back to kalinkovich." As soon as I said this, Xie Liujin''s face suddenly changed, and the corners of his mouth twitched violently. He said, "Comrade commander, please forgive me. Since the enemy can defeat general Batov''s troops, they must be very strong. I have only one division in my hand. With the cooperation of friendly forces, it may not be a big problem to block the enemy''s attack, but I think it is impossible to counter the enemy. "¡° Comrade Xie Liujin. " Seeing his intention to shirk responsibility, I immediately put on a face and said in a serious tone: "do you think I will let your division die? In addition to a tank brigade, I will also send the fighters of the flying regiment to provide you with the necessary air support. "¡° What, air support? " When Xie Liujin heard that I would send the air force to assist in the battle, his eyes suddenly brightened and he quickly asked, "is this all true?" I gave a wry smile and said, "Mr. Xie Liujin, when did I cheat you? I said that if there is air force support, there must be air force support. You just have to be confident and dare to launch a counterattack against the enemy. I assure you that your division will never fight alone, and there will be new troops coming to chilobin tomorrow to fight side by side with you. " While we were talking, the two flight commanders who received the notice came to the headquarters. They came up to me, raised their hands and said in a neat way, "Comrade commander, Captain bovishchenko (lieutenant commander Bliss) is here. We are at your disposal. Please give us instructions!" I called the two commanders to the table, pointed to the position of zhiluobin, and asked bovishchenko: "Comrade Colonel, I plan to let you two flying regiments arrive over zhiluobin tomorrow to provide air support for our combat forces. How about that? Is the range of our fighters enough? "¡° That''s enough. " Bowie first learned what I was like and drew on the map with his hands for a while. Then he said, "our jacques-7 fighter has a maximum speed of 560 kmh and a range of 643 km. There is no problem in a round trip."¡° What kind of weapons do you have on your fighters? "Asked chisjakov, who, like me, knew nothing about airplanes." can you cope with enemy airplanes? "¡° Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander. " "Our fighters are equipped with a 20 mm gun, two 7.62 mm machine guns and six rs-82 rockets, which are specially used to deal with German aircraft," bovishchenko told chisgakov with a smile After hearing this, chisgakov turned to me and said with a smile, "this is really wonderful. In this case, I believe that the strength of the flying regiment is enough to provide enough air cover for the 89th division and tank brigade of the close guard on the ground." After all the tasks were deployed, I waved to Xie Liujin, who was standing on the side, and said, "Mr. Xie Liujin, it''s getting late. Go back and organize the troops to board the car immediately. The troops of zhiluobin are still waiting for you."

 Chapter 1370

    With the departure of sherekin, chisjakov''s face suddenly became serious¡° What''s the matter with you, comrade deputy commander? " Seeing that chisgakov suddenly changed his face, I also felt very strange, and quickly asked, "is there anything missing when I was just deploying the mission?" Unexpectedly, chisjakov suddenly said coldly: "Comrade commander, you are looking for trouble for yourself, do you know?" I don''t understand why chisgakov said this suddenly. I can''t help looking at him blankly. For a moment, I don''t know what to say. However, bezikov asked me to get out of the siege in time. He was a little unconvinced and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, why do you say that? I think the commander''s operational plan is very detailed. There is nothing wrong with it. "¡° I''m not talking about the battle plan, "chisjakov waved impatiently to bzikov, then looked at me and asked," Comrade commander, I ask you, which army does our group army belong to now? "¡° We belong to... "As soon as I opened my mouth, I found that there was no way to answer this question. We have already left Ukraine in vatukin. After making these rather awkward remarks, he asked me again, "shall we let general seleucin''s troops board the car now, or shall we let them board the car after the official order is given?" I know a lot about the efficiency of the Russians. If we really have to wait for the official order to place us in the Belarusian front army and then get on the bus, when we get to zlobin, it is estimated that the day lily will be cold. So I said decisively to chisgakov, "the situation on the front line is very bad for our army. The reinforcements should rush to support us as soon as possible. Let Xie Liujin get on the bus on time, without waiting for your order. " I then told bzikov: "chief of staff, the 89th division of the guards is in a hurry, and the ammunition carried by the commanders and fighters is limited. I will give you full responsibility for the transportation of ammunition."¡° Don''t worry, comrade commander. " Bzikov patted his chest and assured me, "the ammunition for the 89th division of the guards will be transported to zlobin with the second reinforcements." Kirilov, who had not spoken for a long time, interjected: "Rita, since zhilobin is the seat of general Batov''s 65th army, I believe they should have enough ammunition there. Instead of letting the ammunition occupy so many wagons, it''s better to use all the ammunition to transport soldiers, so that we can put more troops into combat in the shortest time. " On hearing kirilov''s words, bzikov, who was about to deliver the order, stopped. He seemed to be moved by kirilov''s words. I saw him open his mouth. Although he didn''t make a sound, I could guess that he was trying to persuade me to take kirilov''s advice. I coughed a little, then said to kirilov, chisjakov and bezikov, "you should understand that not all units of the 89th division are equipped with assault rifles. If we don''t take precautions and rush to transport the ammunition they need to zhylobin, but place our hope on the friendly forces. Once the battle starts, the troops who can''t get ammunition will be defeated by the German army because they run out of ammunition and food. We will never allow this to happen, so it is imperative to transport ammunition to the participating forces. "¡° I see, comrade commander, "said bzikov, nodding his head after he understood what I was doing." I''m going to arrange the transportation of ammunition. " It was not until the evening that a special messenger took the plane to deliver the documents signed by Zhukov himself to the official order of putting our group army under the command of rokosovsky. At this time, the troops of Xie Liujin had been departing for more than six hours.

 Chapter 1371

    With the order signed by Zhukov himself, it is no longer unknown that we support rokosovsky''s action, but a matter of course. After all, from this moment on, our group army is officially under the command of rokosovsky. According to the order of our immediate superior, it is perfectly normal to go to a certain place to fight.


    Although the troops of the 51st division of the guards stationed in yarcevo have successively moved into Smolensk, their trains will not return to the city until at least eight to ten hours later. So I ordered shejerikov to let them camp in the city first, and then board the train after the train returns.


    Chisgakov came up to me with a list and asked for instructions: "Comrade commander, in addition to the 89th guard division which has already gone to zhylobin and the 51st guard division which has just entered the city, the 52nd guard division and the 375TH infantry division are also marching here on foot. So many troops have to go to lobin. We can''t do without a unified command. "


    "Comrade deputy commander," I know what chisgakov said is the truth. From the beginning to the day after tomorrow, we will launch four divisions in zhylobin. If there is no unified command, each division will fight its own way, then it will not be a mess? So I asked politely, "who do you think is better to direct?"


    Chisgakov thought for a moment, and then answered me, "from my personal point of view, I prefer to give these divisions to general sivakov, who is a little young but has a lot of command ability. But... "


    As soon as I heard the word "but", I knew that chisjakov had a more suitable candidate in his mind, so he didn''t speak. He just listened to him in silence and continued: "I think the most suitable candidate at present is general tavartkiraze, who has the experience of commanding the defense of Zhitomir; Second, three of the four divisions going to zlobin this time are from the 23rd army of the guard infantry


    "No, comrade deputy commander," I interrupted chisjakov before he finished. Then I explained my opinion without any politeness: "although general tavartkilaze is old and has conducted many large-scale battles alone, he is not suitable to be the commander-in-chief of the reinforcement troops of Zhebin."


    "Why?" Seeing that I had a clear-cut attitude against tawalter killazer''s assumption of the command post, chisgakov could not help asking curiously, "I remember you appreciated him before. Why do you..."


    Although his words stopped abruptly in the middle of his speech, I understood his voice out of the picture. He wanted to say that since I used to trust tavartkilaze, why do I suddenly distrust him now, and even give him no chance to command his own troops. I organized the words in my head and said, "don''t you see anything in the battle of Zhitomir? General tavartkilaze is a commander with rich combat experience. Unfortunately, with his ability, he is almost finished as a division commander. If he is allowed to assume a higher position and command a battle on his own, it may be a disaster for our troops. "


    "Comrade deputy commander," kirilov saw that chisgakov seemed to want to refute me. He quickly interjected, "I think Rita''s decision is correct. If Comrade sivakov is not injured, it may be the most appropriate for him to command the army of zhylobin."


    "However, comrade sivakov''s injury is not suitable for a long march." Chisgakov frowned and said, "but general tavartkiraze can''t do it. Who will be the commander-in-chief of the front line?"


    I thought about it. No matter who I send, I''m not sure. So I said, "I''d better go."


    "Ah, comrade commander, do you intend to go to jerobon in person?" Hearing what I said, chisgakov was so surprised that he went to persuade me: "it''s too dangerous there. Let''s go to another person."


    "Comrade deputy commander, thank you for your concern. If I don''t go there myself, our troops will be under the command of general Batov. We should know that the fighting style of our group army has always been different from that of other forces. If the four divisions are under the command of friendly forces, there will be a long running in process between the two sides. In this way, the army will not be able to give full play to its combat effectiveness for a long time, so I have to go there myself. " After I said this, I scanned the headquarters and added, "akhromeyev and razumeyeva will come with me."


    Bezikov did not object to my going to zlobin in person, but he was worried because I was going to take razumeyeva: "but Captain razumeyeva wants to cooperate with the comrades of the secret service section to monitor the radio stations in Smolensk city?"


    "Major lophov can be in charge of monitoring enemy stations. After all, he is the communications director of the group army." In order not to make bezikov feel uneasy, I specially explained to him, "Captain razumeyeva is skilled and I can use it easily. As long as she is there, I can keep communication with the group army headquarters at any time."


    Seeing that I have taken into account all the things that should be considered, no matter chisjakov or bzikov, they have said nothing more. Instead, they continue to concentrate on their own work.


    Akhromeyev, who received the order, saw that I had nothing to do at the moment, so he took the initiative to call razumeyeva over and let her accept my order. I was going to ask someone to call razumeyeva. Since she came first, I don''t have to bother others any more. I told razumeyeva: "Comrade captain, we are going to go to zhylobin overnight. You should take time to dispatch a communication team from the communication office, carry enough communication equipment, and be ready to start at any time."¡° But, comrade commander. " Although razumeyeva called me by my nickname in private, in front of so many commanders, she still called me by my official title: "if I want to go with you to zlobin, what should I do about what you told me two days ago?" I saw that she, like bezikov, mentioned the monitoring of enemy radio stations, and said straightforwardly, "major lophov will be in charge of this matter from now on. When you go to transfer the communication class later, you can make a handover with him by the way."¡° I see Razumeyeva finished, raised her hand to salute, turned and walked out of the headquarters quickly. At three o''clock in the morning, the train returning from zhylobin entered the station. As soon as bezikov got the news, he immediately reported to me, "Comrade commander, the train has returned from zhylobin. Can you inform the 51st division of the guards stationed in the city to enter the station and board the train?"¡° Yes With these words, I went to the door while bzikov was on the phone. I took off my coat and cap and asked akhromeyev to leave the headquarters together. When we arrived at the railway station, it had become a sea of soldiers. Under the leadership of our respective commanders, the square array in the square in front of the station entered the station orderly. We were soon found by the officer on duty. Although he gave a command, the marching line stopped, and the officers and men leaned aside to make way for us. As I walked along the passageway where the commanders and fighters had made way, I noticed the soldiers'' appearance on both sides. One by one, they stand on both sides of us with their heads held high. They are very dignified, especially those veteran soldiers who have been in the battlefield for a long time. They give us a sense of killing. After arriving at the carriage specially prepared for us, the commanders and fighters standing on the platform continued to complete the boarding operation just now. Looking at these valiant commanders and fighters, razumeyeva, standing next to me, could not help but say with emotion: "Rita, we have such an elite army, even against those fierce Germans, we will still defeat them." After about half an hour, all the officers and men of the 51st division boarded the three trains on the platform. With the sound of the siren, the train began to start slowly, heading for the fierce battle of zhylobin.

 Chapter 1372

    Although the condition of my special carriage is much better than that of the stuffy tank carriage where the commanders and fighters stay, I still feel backache when I get off the train after seven hours.


    As soon as I got out of the car, a burly commander came up to me, raised his hand and politely asked, "is that general o''shanina?"


    "Yes, it''s me." After looking up and down the strange commander, I asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what part of you are?"


    "Comrade General," the commander replied with a smile, "I''m lieutenant commander Matvey, general Batov''s adjutant. I''ve been ordered to take you to the headquarters of the group army."


    "Matvey." After repeating the name, I said with a smile, "Matvey means" the gift of the Lord. "It''s a very good name."


    When Matvey heard me comment on his name, he grinned and said, "Comrade General, you know a lot." Said, the body side, made a please posture, "Jeep waiting for you outside the platform, please!"


    I looked left and right for a moment, but I didn''t see Xie jielikov''s figure, so I asked razumeyeva to stay so as to inform Xie jielikov of my whereabouts. After all this, I said to lieutenant colonel Matvey with a smile, "OK, comrade lieutenant colonel, let''s go to general Batov''s army."


    The city of zhylobin is full of scenes of the coming war. I look out through the window. From time to time, I can see soldiers building barricades in the street and a small army in a hurry. I took my eyes back from the window, looked at Matvey and asked, "Comrade commander, what''s the situation like now? How far is the enemy from zhylobin?"


    Matvey, sitting in the co pilot''s seat, leaned over and said, "Comrade General, the situation is very bad. Under the cover of tanks, the enemy is pushing our army''s defense in depth and tenaciously. Now it is nearly 60 kilometers away from the city. Perhaps in this evening or tomorrow morning, the shells of the enemy''s tanks may fall on the streets of the city and explode. "


    It would take a week or two for our army to break through the enemy''s defensive position six kilometers deep. According to the lieutenant commander, it only takes a few hours for the German army 60 kilometers from the city to advance to the city of zhylobin. This variance is too large. Thinking of this, I couldn''t help but ask myself, "how could this happen?"


    Matvey didn''t answer my question. He just gave me a wry smile, and then said euphemistically, "Comrade General, it''s better to wait until the headquarters and let the commander explain it to you in person."


    The jeep stopped next to a church near the center of the city, and lieutenant colonel Matvey guided me into the group headquarters here. From the respectful attitude of the soldiers we met on the way to Matvey, I guessed that the comrade commander who led me must be a man whom Batov trusted deeply.


    We walked through the noisy hall and came to a corner. Matvey suddenly quickened his pace, walked behind several commanders around the long wooden table, raised his hand to salute, and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, I have been ordered to take general o''shanina to the area!"


    Hearing Matvey''s voice, the commanders straightened up and looked at me. Then Batov, who was of medium build and thin face, came up to me. At the same time, he took the initiative to extend his right hand and said in a friendly way, "Hello, general oshanina, welcome to my headquarters."


    When I shook hands with Batov, I politely said, "Hello, general Batov. I''m glad to meet you here, too. I hope that in the next battle, our two troops can fight side by side. "


    Batov let go of my hand and made a gesture to me sideways. When I came to the table, he took the initiative to introduce to me: "general oshanina, I don''t think you know my deputy. I''ll introduce you: This is my military commissar..., this is the deputy commander..., this is my chief of staff..., this is my artillery chief..."


    Every time he introduced me to someone, I would step forward, hold each other''s hand, and politely exchange greetings. After the introduction of all the commanders, I turned to look at him and asked, "general Batov, we are all old acquaintances. We used to fight side by side outside Stalingrad, so I want to ask you a question. I hope you can answer me truthfully."


    When Batov heard me say this, he flashed an uneasy expression on his face, but he soon recovered his calm and said faintly, "excuse me, comrade oshanina, as long as I know, I will answer you truthfully."


    "General Batov, how did all this happen?" I thought to myself, according to the war report, the 65th army has been going smoothly on the battlefield in Belarus. How could it be suddenly defeated by the German army? There must be some reasons, so I asked, "according to the war reports I have seen, isn''t the progress of your group army very smooth? How could they be defeated by the German army in such a short time


    "Well, comrade o''shanina, you don''t know something." Batov sighed and said: "yes, our group army is progressing very smoothly on the battlefield. In order to defeat kalinkovich''s German army as soon as possible and join the 61st group army which is close to moziri, I will concentrate the main forces of the group army on the left. Because our progress was too smooth, we did not send scouts in time to investigate the German deployment. The Germans took advantage of our negligence and concentrated a large number of troops on the right side of our army. When the left wing of our army was restrained by a German army, the enemy suddenly launched a fierce attack on our right wing. "


    When Batov said this, he stopped and sighed. Fortunately, his chief of staff saw that I was eager to know what happened next, so he took the initiative to introduce to me: "our army has only one division on the right wing, with a tank brigade outside. How can we block the strong attack of two German armored divisions and three German infantry divisions? Besides, the main force of the left wing is also contained, Even if you want to transfer troops, you can''t do it. "


    "Our soldiers are very tough." Batov''s military commissar went on to say: "although the German troops are several times more than us, and their technical equipment is also better than us, after a long period of fighting, the already exhausted soldiers are fighting tenaciously. With their own blood and life, they are delaying the German army''s advance to zhylobin."


    After listening to the military commissar''s euphemistic description, I immediately understood what happened. One of the factors was that they were caught off guard by the German army; What''s more, it may be that after a long period of fighting, not only the troops and weapons and ammunition were consumed seriously, but also the commanders and fighters were exhausted.


    Now that I know the reason why Batov lost, I have some idea whether I can stop the German attack. I was silent for a moment. Then I asked Batov, "general Batov, I don''t know where the leading division of our army is?"


    "Comrade o''shanina, look here." Batov pointed to the map in front of him and said to me, "there was only one mixed brigade of more than 3000 people in zhylobin. I was worried that the troops were not enough and it was difficult to keep the city. When your 89th guard division arrived in time. At present, I have deployed them in the west of the city, where there are relatively perfect defensive positions. If they rely on their positions for defense, they can completely block the strong attack of the German army. "


    After staring at the map for a while, I raised my head and said to Batov, "don''t worry, general Batov, the 89th division of general Xie Liujin''s close guard is a group army directly under the central government. Their combat effectiveness is second to none in the whole group army. Moreover, with the assistance of a tank brigade, I believe they have no problem in guarding the position in the west of the city."


    "Comrade General, I''m sorry. Can you listen to me?" As soon as I finished, the deputy commander took the initiative to speak. With my permission, he said awkwardly, "the tank brigade you sent is not deployed in the west of the city."


    "What, the tank brigade is not deployed in the west of the city?" I thought that I would arrive at the 82nd tank brigade in zhylobin with the 89th guard division. Although they were only equipped with 30 tanks, they were all new tanks. With the cooperation of infantry, they were fully capable of competing with the 100 or 200 tanks of the German armored division. But now I heard that the tank brigade and the guard division were deployed separately. I couldn''t help but ask in exasperation, "so where are they deployed?"


    "South of the city, your tank brigade is now deployed in the south of the city." The deputy commander probably saw that my face was very ugly, so he quickly explained to me with fear: "our defense in the south of the city is quite weak, and the Germans may know this loophole in our defense. In order to avoid their detour from here, I will deploy your tank brigade there. "


    After listening to the deputy commander''s explanation, my mood became worse and worse. Without the cooperation of infantry, the tank brigade would be easily killed by the enemy''s anti tank men. But in front of so many commanders at the same level, I can''t get angry with the deputy commander.


    I took two deep breaths and tried to calm myself. Then I turned to Batov and said, "general Batov, I want to discuss something with you."


    "Go ahead, general oshanina." Batov said politely.


    "The troops of our group army will continue to march into zhiluobin. In order to avoid causing confusion, I suggest that we divide the defense areas as soon as possible." I picked up the red and blue pencils on the table, pointed to the position of zhylobin and said, "our army is responsible for the West and south of the city; Your troops are responsible for the defense of the north and east of the city. Do you think that''s all right? "


    "Comrade o''shanina, may I ask why the defense areas should be divided in this way?" Batov questioned my simple and direct way of dividing defense areas.


    "General Batov, your troops are limited at present. It is obviously inappropriate to use your troops for defense in key directions." Although I was standing in Batov''s group army headquarters, I seemed to say to a group of my subordinates as if there were no one else: "the enemy can''t come from that direction because it borders on general fijiuningsky''s 11th group army in the north; In the East, it belongs to the rear of our army. Our troops are entering the city one by one along this direction, and it is even more impossible for the enemy to attack the city in that direction. "


    When I finished, all the commanders around the table were silent. After a long time, Batov''s chief of staff first spoke and broke the silence. He carefully asked, "general oshanina, I can ask, why do you divide the defense area like this?"


    Hearing that he repeated Batov''s question again, I knew in my heart that they were not satisfied with the answer I had just given. I organized some words in my mind, and then I said, "Comrade chief of staff, please forgive me for saying that it is very difficult to compete with the enemy with the existing forces in your city. Instead of letting you sacrifice in vain, we should let our troops, who have been keeping their energy and energy, go ahead. After we have blocked the enemy''s attack and consumed a lot of their living strength, it will not be too late for you to take part in our counter offensive. "


    Before I came in, everyone was discussing how to block the enemy''s attack, but at this time I talked about the counter attack to them without shame. In addition to Batov, several of his deputies showed disdainful expressions on their faces. Although they flashed by, they were clearly seen by me. When I saw that all the people were silent, I raised my voice and asked, "I don''t know if you have any different opinions on my defense division plan. If there is no objection, it will be settled." As soon as the voice fell, I saw the deputy commander''s mouth open, as if he wanted to say something. Before he spoke, I hastily added: "since there is no objection, then we should report this plan to the headquarters of the front army immediately. I believe general rokosovsky will certainly support my proposal. " Seeing that I carried out rokosovsky, the deputy commander who was about to speak quickly closed his mouth and turned to Batov for help, obviously hoping that his superior would come forward to oppose my proposal. But after staring at the map for half a day, Batov looked up at me, tried to squeeze a smile on his face and said, "Comrade oshanina, I know you are doing it for our sake. To tell you the truth, I really want to refuse you. There is no reason why we need friendly forces to protect ourselves in our own defense zone. However, after repeated consideration, I have decided to accept your proposal. After all, our troops are not only severely reduced, but also the soldiers are exhausted. It is almost impossible to block the enemy with superior strength and equipment. So I finally decided that the division of defense areas in the city should be as you said! "

 Chapter 1373

    After I said goodbye to Batov, as soon as I walked out of the headquarters, I met with razumeyeva, who came in a hurry. The female captain pushed open the door of the truck, jumped down from the co pilot''s side, ran to me, raised her hand, saluted and asked for instructions: "Comrade commander, I have already understood. General Xie Liujin''s headquarters of the 89th division of the guards are located in Kirov street in the west of the city; The headquarters of the 51st division of the guards of Colonel shejerikov is located in Minsk street, southwest of the city. I don''t know where we should put our communication equipment? "


    Considering that the west of the city will be the main attack direction of the German army in the next battle, if I set up my headquarters there, the risk factor will be too high, so I said without thinking, "let''s go to Minsk street."


    "But, comrade commander." At my command, razumeyeva''s face showed a embarrassed expression. She took a look at the commander Matvey who sent me out and said carefully, "we can''t find there. I don''t know if we can let the commander send someone to be our guide."


    I just turned and looked at Matvey beside me before I could speak. He had already waved to the opposite razumeyeva, "don''t worry, comrade captain, the order I received is to send general oshanina to her headquarters. You can just follow our car later. "


    With that, Matvey led me to the jeep parked on the side of the road, opened the back door, reached out and made a gesture of invitation, respectfully said: "Comrade General, please get on the bus!"


    "Thank you, comrade commander!" After thanking him, I bent down and got into the car. Just as he was going to help me close the door, I reached out to block the door, leaned out and yelled to razumeyeva in the back, "Captain, follow our car." After shouting, he retreated into the car and let Matvey close the door.


    On the way to the destination, from time to time, you can see soldiers in a neat line, or trucks with guns. Because of the narrow roads in some areas, our jeeps had to stop by the side of the road again and again to make way for them.


    Matvey may be worried about parking too many times and make me angry, so he explained to me with a smile: "Comrade General, these are all mixed brigade people. They are moving towards the north or east of the city to make room for your troops."


    When I watched the heavy footed, tired and expressionless commanders and fighters passing by, I was deeply grateful for the decision I made in Batov headquarters. I believe that anyone with a clear eye can see what the outcome will be if these exhausted and exhausted soldiers compete with the powerful German army.


    When I got to my destination, after thanking Matvey, I took razumeyeva and them into the building where the headquarters of the division in shejerikov was located. Before entering, I had a special look at this three story building. It may be that it hasn''t gone through any war. It''s relatively intact, and it''s very suitable to be used as my headquarters.


    As soon as I entered the building, a second lieutenant came up to me, saluted me and said respectfully, "Comrade commander, major akhromeyev asked me to wait for you here."


    "Where is the major?" I asked briefly.


    "The major is in your new headquarters." The second lieutenant said with a smile, "I''ll take you to the headquarters. Please come to me."


    I felt very strange that akhromeyev could establish a headquarters for me ahead of time. I couldn''t help muttering: "strange, how does akhromeyev know that I plan to set up a headquarters here?"


    "I told him, Rita." Walking beside me, razumeyeva suddenly whispered to me, "there is a radio station in my car. On the way here, I had someone inform the major."


    "Oh, so it is." After listening to razumeyeva''s explanation, I finally understood what was going on. It turned out that he was not able to predict, but was informed, so he was able to set up a headquarters for me here in advance.


    When we walked into the new headquarters, akhromeyev quickly came up and said to me with a smile, "Comrade commander, this is your new headquarters. Are you satisfied with it?"


    Akhromeyev''s choice for me should be similar to that of a conference room. Not only is it large in area, but also the interior space is very high. The three chandeliers on the ceiling illuminate the whole room like daylight. Around the long conference table placed near the window, there are a circle of armchairs, and many maps on the table.


    Akhromeyev saw that I was very satisfied with the environment here when he kept nodding. He quickly pointed to a door on the opposite wall and said, "Comrade commander, it''s a small room. For the sake of convenience, I suggest setting the communication room in it."


    "No problem." After I agreed with akhromeyev''s proposal, I turned around and told razumeyeva, "Captain, your communication room is in that small room. And then inform the two division commanders, sherekin and sherekov, to come to me for a combat meeting. "


    Half an hour later, the commanders who received the notice came to my headquarters. In addition to sherekin and shejerikov, there is also captain chamrih of the first battalion of the 82nd brigade of the tank.


    Seeing that all the people had arrived, I first asked Xie Liujin, "general Xie Liujin, have your troops entered the defensive position?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Hearing my question, Xie Liujin quickly stood up and answered, "there is a solid defensive position in the west of zhylobin city. It seems that it is a national defense fortification built before the war. I set up a regiment in it, and I put the remaining two regiments in the city as reserves."


    "And you, Colonel shejerikov." After listening to Xie Liujin''s report, I turned around and asked Xie jerikov, who was sitting on the other side, "are the troops in place?"


    "Not yet, comrade commander." Shejerikov saw me frown slightly, and quickly explained: "when our division got off the bus, it was originally said that we would be deployed in the downtown area. As a result, as soon as the troops came to one side, we were suddenly informed that the superior had readjusted the defense area and deployed US in the south of the city, so I led the troops back to the south of the city. At present, only major shumakov''s 309th guard regiment is deployed, and the rest are still on the way. "


    "Tank brigade..." as soon as I began to ask about the 82nd tank brigade, I suddenly remembered that only one battalion of this brigade had arrived in zhylobin, so I immediately changed my tongue and asked, "Captain shamrih, where is your tank battalion?"


    "Comrade commander, after my tank battalion got off the train, general Batov deployed us to the south of the city." Shamrih stood up, pointed to the map in front of me and said to me, "you see, there are forests, rivers and hills in this place, which is not conducive to the deployment of tank troops. On the contrary, in the front of the 89th division of the close guard, there was an open area, which was conducive to our tank battalion''s assault on the enemy. Comrade commander, I request that our battalion be transferred immediately to the area where the general''s troops are located. "


    "Comrade captain, please pay attention to your identity." Aharhas the final say to him, he spoke sternly to him: "what is the location of your tank battalion, and the commander has the final say. It''s not where you want to be. "


    I saw that shamrih, who had been criticized by akhromeyev, turned red and quickly raised his hand to stop him. He turned to shamrih and said, "Comrade captain, judging from the current situation, if the enemy is going to attack zlobin, their attack direction will be in the west of the city. It doesn''t matter where the tank battalion will be if we just think about holding on to zlobin. But now I think that after our army has blocked the fierce attack of the enemy, we will launch a comprehensive counterattack against the enemy in the shortest time. In this case, your tank battalion will play the greatest role. "


    When I said that, there was a look of joy on shamrih''s face. He patted his chest and assured me, "Comrade commander, our battalion is all equipped with new tanks. Let alone encounter the same number of enemy tanks, even if they are several times more than us, we will still beat them all over the ground."


    Originally, there was a trace of melancholy on his face. When he heard that the tank battalion in shamrih was equipped with all new tanks, he couldn''t help but be overjoyed. He said excitedly to me, "Comrade commander, as long as there is support from the tank battalion, I will report to you that no matter how many enemies come, I will defeat them."


    "General sherekin, don''t get too excited." In my opinion, Xie Liujin was a little too excited and quickly poured cold water on him: "the enemy is coming fiercely. If we meet them hard, even if we win, we will win miserably. Therefore, in the early stage of the battle, you will not get the support of the tank battalion. You must rely on your own strength to stop the enemy, wear away their spirit and consume their living strength. When the enemy''s attack seems inadequate, we will strike back unexpectedly to inflict heavy damage on the enemy. If it is possible, we will go all out to take kalinkovic


    After hearing what I said, Xie Liujin took a look at xiejerikov, who was sitting opposite him. Then he turned his head and said bitterly, "Comrade commander, if we want to fight like this, our division will lose more than half of its casualties when this battle comes to an end, and we may not be able to take part in the next battle."


    I looked at Xie Liujin and asked in a sarcastic tone, "what''s the matter with you, general Xie Liujin? Are you afraid?"


    "Comrade commander, it''s not my first time to go to the battlefield. How can I be afraid?" Xie Liujin stood up abruptly and said to me with a red face: "don''t block the German attack of several divisions. Even if we block the attack of a group army, I believe our soldiers won''t have any complaints. I am worried that if our division consumes too much in the early stage, then in the later stage, our commanders and fighters will have to watch the friendly forces make contributions. "


    When I saw that Xie Liujin was worried about it, I couldn''t help laughing. He didn''t know why I was laughing, just looked at me blankly. After I laughed, I revealed the answer to him: "general Xie Liujin, don''t forget that you are not fighting alone. In the west of the city, not to mention the 51st guard division of Colonel chejerikov, more of our troops are coming to zhylobin by railway and road. In three days at most, all our troops of the whole group army can arrive here. When the enemy and our forces are reversed, it is our turn to deal with them. "


    After my words, Xie Liujin''s face finally showed a relaxed expression: "great, this is really great. If the main force of the group army can arrive in time, we will be able to withstand even more divisions. "¡° Also, "to reassure him, I added," when the enemy''s armored forces attack your positions, I will order the air force to attack the enemy''s tanks. " Next, after I explained some defensive precautions to the two men, sheiliujin and sheijerikov, I sent them back to the army. Seeing that shamrih was still standing in the same place, I knew that he must have something to report to me alone. One hour after their backs came from the door, I asked, "Captain, do you have anything else?"¡° Well, comrade commander. " Shamrih came up to me and said to me, "although the tanks in our battalion are of the latest type, which can''t be matched by the enemy''s tanks, there are still some problems. I hope the commander can help us solve them."¡° Come on, comrade captain, "I let go of the book in front of me, picked up my pencil and prepared for the record. Then I looked up at shamrih and said," let me know if you have any problems. "¡° One is the problem of logistics supply, and the other is the problem of tank maintenance. " As soon as he talked about his major, shamrih kept on talking. He pointed to me and said, "we only have one base number of ammunition and fuel in the tank this time. If logistics can''t guarantee it, our tanks won''t be able to start soon. On the other hand, the tank needs to be maintained after a certain number of kilometers, so I would like to ask you to build a repair station in our camp. When there is no battle, only the tanks are maintained daily; Once a battle begins, it is necessary to repair the tanks that have been damaged on the battlefield After I wrote down his opinions one by one, I raised my head and asked, "Comrade captain, I have recorded what you said. I will arrange the later supply for you as soon as possible, and send a maintenance team to follow you. Anything else? "¡° No more After answering these words, shamrih immediately straightened his waist and asked me, "Comrade commander, will you allow me to go back to the army?"¡° Go ahead, Captain shamrih. " I waved at him and said with a smile, "good luck!"

 Chapter 1374

    The German vanguard arrived in the west of the city in the evening, following the defeated allies. Perhaps they underestimated the enemy too much and thought that the Soviet troops defeated by them would not have much fighting power, but they bumped into the solid defensive position of the 89th division.


    After an hour of fierce fighting between the long-distance German troops and the leisurely sheriujin division, they dropped more than a dozen burning tanks and more than 200 corpses in front of the position, and then retreated in ashes.


    When he learned that our army had successfully repulsed the German attack, Batov called me. He said excitedly on the phone: "general oshanina, your troops are really good. They let the enemy get a head in front of your position."


    I know very well in my heart that the reason why we can easily beat back the German attack is that the German army is very tired after a long-distance attack and repeated battles; Second, relying on solid positions, our army is waiting for work with ease. So after listening to Batov''s praise, I just smile, and then understate: "general Batov, the Germans will never be reconciled to their failure. I believe they will carry out crazy revenge tomorrow."


    "What can I do for you?" Batov asked politely.


    I thought that the fuel of the tank battalion was limited, and our fuel would have to wait at least a few days to arrive, so under the current situation, I had to ask Batov for help. I tentatively asked, "general Batov, I don''t have much fuel for my tank battalion. I wonder if you can provide us with the fuel we need?"


    "Tank fuel?"


    "Yes, tank fuel."


    "No problem." After getting my definite reply, Batov told me very simply: "in the southwest of the city, there is an oil depot with six tanks full of fuel. Your tanks can go there to replenish fuel."


    It was said that there were six oil tanks, and my heart was at ease. In this way, let alone one tank battalion, even if there were ten or eight more, the fuel supply would not be a problem.


    After informing shamrih to go to the oil depot in the south of the city to replenish fuel, I called sherekin again. I could tell from his voice that his fighting enthusiasm was high at the moment, so I said with a smile, "general Xie Liujin, although you have won today, you can''t be proud. The Germans have suffered a great loss today, and they will certainly take revenge on you tomorrow. You should be prepared for it


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Maybe it was the victory in the evening that made Xie Liujin confident. He patted his chest and assured me, "when did our division let you down?"?! If the enemy doesn''t come, it will. As long as they come, we will surely teach them a lesson that will never be forgotten. Let them tremble as soon as they hear our name


    Self confidence is good, but overconfidence is pride. It''s easy to suffer big losses. So as soon as Xie Liujin finished, I immediately reminded him in a serious tone: "Comrade Xie Liujin, although you have won a battle, you can''t be complacent. You know, the German is not as bad as you think."


    "Comrade commander," Xie Liujin said respectfully after receiving my criticism, "there are a lot of concrete blockhouses in the west of the city. If the enemy wants to open a channel from them, it will take at least four or five days. In such a long period of time, not only the other divisions of the group army can arrive at zhylobin in time, but with good luck, the Fifth Army of the close guard tank can also arrive here. If we add many artillery regiments and rocket barracks, we can launch a comprehensive counter offensive as long as we repel the enemy''s attack. "


    "All right, all right, general Xie Liujin." I didn''t wait for him to finish his YY, so I directly interrupted his words: "when to counter attack the enemy is not what you should consider. Your first task now is to let the commanders and fighters reinforce the fortifications overnight, resolutely block the German attack, and gain precious time for our army''s assembly. "


    As soon as I got through with sherekin, rokosovsky''s call came in. He said, "Rita, your troops are fighting very well today and have prevented the enemy from rushing to zhylobin. Please express my thanks to your soldiers for their great contribution to the defense of our motherland."


    "Comrade commander of the front army," since he officially became a member of the Belarusian front army, my name for rokosovsky has changed, "please rest assured that we will guard zhylobin at all costs and never let them cross the city for a step."


    "I''m mobilizing the 11th army to attack from the flank of the attack on zhylobin." "However, it may take two or three days to assemble the troops because they are too scattered at present," rokosowski said slowly. What I''m asking you now is to stay in zhelobin for three days and fight for precious time for the assembly of troops. "


    When I heard the name of the 11th army, I immediately thought of feijiuningsky, who had saved my life, and asked with concern: "Comrade commander of the front army, are you talking about the troops of general feijiuningsky?"


    "Fejaninsky was transferred to the Leningrad front army just two days ago," rokosovsky said with a bit of depression, probably because his good friend had been transferred away. "The troops are under the command of the deputy commander at present, but according to the information I have, they will be withdrawn soon, and the troops will be divided into the 48th and 63rd army groups. That is to say, this is the last battle of the group army. "


    I recognized that rokosovsky was in a bad mood, so I quickly changed the topic and said, "don''t worry, comrade commander of the front army, with our existing strength, it''s no problem to stick to zherobin for three days." Because I was worried about what would happen, which would lead to the failure of the follow-up troops to arrive on time, I did not report to rokosovsky about my plan to launch a counterattack against the German army.


    "If so, that would be great." After listening to my statement, rokosovsky immediately said in a relaxed tone, "Rita, I believe in your promise."


    Considering that the successive victories of the German army are in a stage of high morale and still have an advantage in strength and equipment, we are bound to pay a high price if we fight them hard. After thinking for a long time, I called razumeyeva over and told her to say, "Captain, send a telegram to the air force and let them be ready to attack tomorrow. Once you receive an order to attack, you must rush to the battlefield for air support in the shortest possible time. "


    When razumeyeva went to the communication room to send a report, akhromeyev suddenly said to me, "Comrade commander, I just heard that the 11th army will be withdrawn in the near future, right?"


    "Yes, it is." I don''t think akhromeyev can ask about this without any reason. He must have some thoughts. He asked curiously, "major, do you have anything to say to me?"


    "That''s right." Akhromeyev nodded and admitted my conjecture, "as far as I know, the troops under the command of general fejiuningsky are still quite powerful. Now that they have withdrawn, I don''t know if I can ask the superior to assign some commanders and fighters to us, even if an infantry division or a tank regiment is not full. "


    If akhromeyev didn''t mention it, I haven''t really thought about it. After hearing him mention this, I feel a little excited: Yes, there should be a lot of experienced veterans in the 11th group army. If we can add them to our group army, it will be very helpful to enhance the combat effectiveness of our army.


    However, considering that rokosovsky is not in a good mood at the moment, if he calls rashly to discuss this matter with him, he may be rejected. Why don''t we wait until tomorrow''s battle is over, and when I call him to report the situation, I''ll tell him something about it and see how he will react at that time.


    When I made up my mind, I said to akhromeyev, "major, thank you for reminding me of this. However, it is not the best time to mention it to the commander of the front army. Or when I call him to report to him after tomorrow''s battle, I''ll mention it. I think he may readily agree to it


    There is a church near the headquarters. Although it is not as good as the one in the center, you can still see the defensive positions in the western suburbs from the bell tower.


    As soon as it was light, akhromeyev and I came to the bell tower. I raised my telescope and looked at our army array a few kilometers away. I found that there were many concrete fortifications, as Xie Liujin said. These fortifications should have been built before the war. Unfortunately, the speed of German attack was too fast, and our army was defeated by the enemy before they could use these fortifications. Now we just use this fortification to compete with the German army.


    Akhromeyev, standing next to me, saw these fortifications and said with emotion: "Comrade commander, do you know? At the beginning, after general Petrovsky''s troops successfully occupied zhylobin, the German army launched a crazy counterattack against the city. A battalion of the 437th infantry regiment, under the command of batarov, the battalion commander, persevered for half a month. "


    When akhromeyev told the glorious history of the 63rd infantry army, I just listened in silence. From time to time, I gave a "grace" or nodded to show that I was listening.


    Finally, akhromeyev concluded to me: "since a battalion of friendly forces could hold out outside the city for such a long time, it should be no problem for us to use the strength of a division to hold the old defense line."


    As for akhromeyev''s statement, I immediately agreed: "major, what you said is very reasonable. At the beginning, our troops were able to hold on for such a long time under the condition of backward equipment and little experience in fighting with the enemy, not to mention being one of the most effective troops in our group army, I''m sure general sherekin won''t let me down. "


    At that time, when the needle pointed to eight o''clock, the enemy began to bombard the western suburbs. In an instant, the whole position was enveloped by fire and smoke.


    I stood on the clock tower, listening to the endless explosion in the distance, one by one, and the floor under my feet was shaking slightly. Although I can''t see the position clearly, I can also guess that most of the commanders and fighters should have gone into the blast hole. The soldiers who stayed as observers should also be hiding in the trenches, with their mouths open, their bellies retracted and their backs arched slightly to reduce the vibration of the ground.


    I turned to akhromeyev and said, "major, ask razumeyeva to send a message to the air force, so that they can attack the German artillery positions immediately."


    After akhromeyev left, I raised my telescope and looked at the smoke filled position for a while. I found that I still couldn''t see anything. I went to the nearby phone, grabbed the phone, stuck it to my ear, and quickly dialed Xie Liujin. As soon as I heard his voice, I said to him in a loud voice, "general sherekin, the Germans are shelling your position. Can you contact the front now?"


    "No problem, comrade commander." "Even if the telephone line is broken by the bomb, we can still keep in touch through wireless communication," Xie said with a clear mind¡° Good, good. " After two good words, I said to seleucin, "I have given the air force an order to carry out air strikes on German artillery positions to relieve your pressure. Please inform the commander of the front line that when our fighters appear, they will direct the attack targets for them. "¡° No problem. I''ll get in touch with the frontier right away. " After these words, Xie Liujin said with some regret: "unfortunately, the planes allocated to our group army are all fighters. If there are several bombers, it will be a disaster for the German artillery."¡° It would be nice to have a fighter. " As for Xie Liujin''s greedy statement, I said with a slight smile, "don''t forget that in the early days of defending Zhitomir, our troops were bombed in the city every day, so that even the artillery didn''t dare to use them casually. We are deeply afraid that once we are locked in the direction by the enemy''s reconnaissance plane, we will be bombarded by bombers. " As soon as I put down the phone, akhromeyev with a happy face came up with a telegram and told me excitedly, "Comrade commander, the air force has called back."¡° So fast? " I thought that it was less than five minutes before akhromeyev''s return when I gave the order. So when I received the telegram from him, I couldn''t help asking, "how can the air force react so quickly?"¡° I think the air force operator should always be in front of the telegraph, "akhromeyev told me, knowing that I didn''t have the patience to read the contents of the telegram carefully." Colonel bovishchenko said that at dawn today, his pilots were sitting in their own planes waiting for the order of attack. As soon as they received the telegram, they immediately took off and came to us as fast as they could. It only took them 40 minutes at most to reach the sky above the enemy artillery position. "

 Chapter 1375

    Before our plane arrived, Batov called first. "General oshanina, I''ve heard from the observation post that the enemy is carrying out heavy shelling on your positions," he asked with concern over the phone. What''s up? Are you sure you can hold on? Shall I draw two battalions from the mixed brigade to support it? "


    "No, general Batov. Thank you for your kindness." After thanking Batov, I politely said, "the troops deployed in the west of the city have rich experience in positional warfare. It is not easy for the Germans to break through their defenses."


    "Well, so it is." Although I have declined Batov''s offer, he said politely, "Comrade oshanina, we are friendly forces. If you need any help, please call me immediately, and I will arrange someone to help you immediately."


    As soon as I finished talking with Batov, sherekin called. As soon as I heard his voice, I asked, "general Xie Liujin, what''s the situation on the battlefield? Are our casualties serious?"


    "There were not many casualties," Xie Liujin quickly replied, "according to the frontier report, at the beginning of the enemy''s shelling, except for leaving a few observation posts, the rest of the officers and men hid in the blast hole or shelter. Although the enemy''s shelling continues, we can''t count the specific casualty data, but I believe it won''t be too big. "


    "Very good," I thought. Before the enemy shelled, I saw concrete fortifications all over the position. If the German army did not use concrete sabotage bombs, it would not be easy to destroy these fortifications. "Call me whenever there is any change."


    It seems that the German artillery positions have accumulated a lot of shells. They have been fighting for nearly an hour, and there is no sign of stopping at all. Akhromeyev saw all this and said angrily: "damn the Germans, it must have taken a whole night to hoard so many shells last night, otherwise they would not have been fighting endlessly like now."


    I put down my telescope, turned to look at akhromeyev and said with a faint smile, "major, the German artillery bombardment lasted a long time. It''s not necessarily a bad thing for us. We need to know that our air force is coming here. As long as the enemy does not stop shelling, it is tantamount to indicating the target for our air force. "


    "Why hasn''t our plane arrived yet?" Akhromeyev listened to me, looked up at the sky and murmured to himself, "didn''t Colonel bovishchenko say that he could get to the battlefield in forty minutes?"


    I just want to tell akhromeyev that it takes time for so many planes to take off; Formation in the air also takes time. In this way, it can be excused that it is later than expected. But without waiting for me to speak, a messenger ran up the stairs and hurriedly handed a telegram to akhromeyev.


    "What''s the matter?" Seeing akhromeyev looking at the contents of the telegram at a glance, I guessed that something unexpected had happened, and hurriedly asked, "is something wrong?"


    After hearing my question, akhromeyev said to me excitedly, "Comrade commander, the telegram is from Colonel bovishchenko."


    When I heard bovishchenko''s name, I muttered to myself that he didn''t have to talk about it. As soon as he talked about it, he sent a telegram. "What did the Colonel say in the telegram?" I asked casually


    "The captain said that it was a slight accident that the plane was late for the scheduled time." When akhromeyev reported to me, he couldn''t help but look at the telegram in his hand again. "They joined a bomber brigade sent by the headquarters of the front army in the airspace 50 kilometers away from here. Due to the re formation in the air, it will enter the battlefield later than the scheduled time. "


    "Great, that''s great." I was overjoyed to hear the good news. You should know that although a fighter like the jacques-7 can also attack the ground, its effect is definitely not as good as that of a bomber. Now that there are bombers sent by rokosovsky to assist in the war, it is no longer difficult to completely destroy the German artillery positions.


    Before long, there was a roar of aircraft engines in the air. I looked up and saw a group of four fighter planes, followed by four pei-2 bombers. Behind the bombers was another group of fighters. In this way, a formation of 12 bombers and 24 fighters roared over our heads.


    As soon as akhromeyev saw our plane appear, he was very excited. Although he knew that the pilot could not see us, he still waved his hands in the air desperately and kept shouting: "Wula! Wula!! Wula


    I raised my telescope and followed the plane. When the bomber reached the German artillery position, he immediately lowered his altitude and dived toward the target on the ground. A moment later, a huge mushroom cloud rose in the air, and then the white fireworks from the ammunition on the battlefield filled the whole skyline in a straight line.


    "Comrade commander, the enemy''s artillery positions have been destroyed," akhromeyev said excitedly, pointing to the area being bombed by our plane. "Our air force is really wonderful."


    The German artillery, who was still bullying our army, immediately became a lamb to be slaughtered with the appearance of our air force. With the destruction of the position, the western suburb position, which had been shelled all the time, finally revealed its "true face of Lushan Mountain" from the smoke of gunfire because the shelling stopped. I could not help frowning when I saw the huge craters one by one on the position and the concrete fortifications that had been hollowed out.


    I picked up the phone and called sherekin''s headquarters. As soon as I got through the phone, I asked anxiously, "what''s the situation, sir? Has the casualty data come out?"


    Xie Liujin was silent for a moment, and then replied, "Comrade report commander, I just talked to the front line by telephone. According to statistics, 35 soldiers were killed and 114 soldiers were injured in the shelling just now, which will not have any impact on the combat effectiveness of the troops."


    I heard that there were only more than 100 casualties, so I felt more secure. Don''t see that the German artillery has just shaken the ground, but our officers and men can minimize the casualties in the solid fortifications. After I said "yes", I told Xie Liujin: "Comrade division commander, please tell the forward commanders to enter the position immediately. Maybe the enemy''s ground attack will begin."


    As for my repeated admonitions, Xie Liujin said with a little disapproval: "Comrade commander, our air force is bombing their artillery positions wildly. In this case, do the Germans dare to attack?"


    "If you are not afraid of 10000, you should be afraid of just in case. Comrade Xie Liujin, no matter whether the enemy will launch an attack or not, we still have to make preparations." Seeing that Xie Liujin had a tendency to belittle the enemy, I immediately reminded him, "don''t think that the enemy will be vulnerable after losing part of his fighting capacity because of our air attack. As a division commander, you should never underestimate the enemy. "


    "Comrade commander, please rest assured." Xie Liujin immediately changed a serious tone and assured me, "I''ll call the front line immediately, let them enter the position immediately, prepare for all battles, and be ready to meet the enemy at any time."


    Originally, I let the troops into the position just to prevent the enemy from launching a crazy attack. In akhromeyev''s words, our planes are still flying on the battlefield. The German army will never dare to launch an attack on our army''s position unless they eat the gall of a leopard.


    Who knows that the German work is dull, clearly see our air force will blow up their artillery positions in a mess, but the infantry still according to the original plan, when the shelling stopped, under the guidance of tanks and armored vehicles, launched a fierce attack on our army.


    If they launched such an attack an hour ago, it would be a great threat to our army. But now we are in control of the air, and their attack is out of reach, even suicidal. It''s hard to say whether we can achieve the result, but the goal of suicide can certainly be achieved.


    After bombing the German artillery positions, our fighters saw the enemy''s tanks and armored vehicles, leading the infantry to attack our positions. They immediately turned their heads to lower their altitude and dived into the enemy''s tanks and armored vehicles.


    In the sound of explosions, German tanks and armored vehicles were either set ablaze by bombs or rolled all over the ground. When the fighter planes, who served as the escort mission, saw that the German troops on the ground were beaten to rout, they also dived down to mend their swords, and used the airborne machine guns to shoot frantically at the German soldiers who were crowded together, which made them cry and cry.


    Seeing this scene, I had a feeling of elation. If there is no air supremacy, even if the Germans have more tanks and artillery, they will not pose any threat to us. On the contrary, they will become the primary target of the air force.


    Just when the German ground offensive troops were strangled by our air force, the defenders who held their positions grasped this favorable opportunity in time and launched a decisive counterattack against the enemy.


    When we saw one or two thousand officers and men rushing out of the smoky fortifications, our pilots immediately readjusted their formation and guided our troops from defense to attack.


    As the enemy was suddenly countered by our army in the course of attack, they could not rely on any fortifications to stop. Occasionally, some German soldiers hide behind the overturned tanks, trying to organize temporary defensive positions, but a few bombs fall from the air, which immediately extinguishes the trivial resistance.


    Looking at our infantry advancing in the distance under the cover of the air force, I quickly called Xie Liujin and ordered him: "Comrade Xie Liujin, immediately put all the two regiments with reserves into battle. One regiment cooperated with the friendly forces to continue to pursue the enemy, while the other regiment entered the position and rushed to repair the fortifications. "


    As soon as I finished, Xie Liujin said anxiously, "Comrade commander, the enemy is now defeated by our air force. I suggest that we put our whole division into battle and try to drive the enemy further away from the city."


    As for his proposal, I did not hesitate to deny it, and said to him in a tone of learning a lesson: "Comrade sherekin, don''t forget that we are facing several divisions of the German army, and the troops defeated by the air force at the moment are at best a regiment of the German army. If you attack on the whole line, once you meet the main force of the German army in front of you, when your attack is frustrated, the enemy suddenly turns to the counter attack, and then the empty position will be able to block their attack? "


    After a moment of silence, Xie Liujin, who was criticized by me, said sincerely: "Comrade commander, I am wrong. I just wanted to take advantage of the enemy''s defeat to wipe out more of their effective forces, without much consideration. Don''t worry. I''ll immediately deploy a regiment to take over the defense in the western suburbs, and let another regiment fight in pursuit. " After half an hour, the bombers and fighters that had dropped all their bombs and bullets withdrew from the fighting. After no air threat, the restless Germans, relying on the ready-made terrain, built defensive positions in groups and launched fierce battles with our troops. The rapid progress of our troops depends on the cover and support of air fighters. At this moment, the fighters had to withdraw from the battle because of the lack of ammunition, and the attack speed immediately slowed down because of the loss of air support troops. After seeing this situation through the telescope, akhromeyev said to me carefully: "Comrade commander, you see, our army has no air support now, and even attacking some of the enemy''s temporary firepower points has become very difficult. If the enemy reinforcements come up at this time, they will suffer greatly. Do you want to withdraw them first I saw that akhromeyev''s opinion coincided with mine. After nodding, I dialed the headquarters of sherekin again. I said to him in an unquestionable voice, "Comrade Xie Liujin, now our air force has withdrawn from the battle. In order to avoid unnecessary casualties, I order you to withdraw the troops immediately."¡° What, get the troops down? " To my order, Xie Liujin said with some resistance: "Comrade commander, don''t you see that the troops have advanced seven kilometers, and we can build a new defense there..." "enough, general Xie Liujin." Without waiting for him to finish, I suddenly interrupted him and said sternly, "do you think your temporary fortifications can withstand the German heavy artillery bombardment? Don''t forget, the order I gave you was to block the German attack within three days and give our main forces time to gather. So I order you to withdraw all your troops immediately to the positions in the western suburbs, and by virtue of the fortifications there, continue to deal with the German forces. "

 Chapter 1376

    Although our troops, with the support of the air force, have inflicted heavy losses on the enemy who attacked zhylobin, I know in my heart that not to mention the 89th division of sherekin''s guards, even with the 51st division of sherekov''s guards and the tank battalion, they are not the opponents of the German divisions who are rushing towards the city.


    But fortunately, the enemy''s artillery positions were destroyed by us, and the infantry and armored forces were also severely damaged. Until dark, they did not try to attack again.


    As soon as it was dark, I called sherekin and sherekov to the headquarters to sum up today''s battle with them.


    The first one who came to the headquarters was Xie jerikov. As soon as he saw me, he cried and said, "Comrade commander, I remember you said before that our division''s combat effectiveness is among the best in the whole group army."


    When I recall it, I feel as if I once said that the combat effectiveness of the 51st division of the guards is very strong in the whole group army. So I nodded and said, "yes, Colonel shejerikov, I said that once."


    "In that case, why don''t our division take part in today''s battle?" "You know, when our officers and men saw the friendly troops in the west of the city fighting with the enemy, they were very red eyed. They kept calling me to ask when the troops would attack," he said wrongly


    When I found out that it was this thing that shijerikov was going to tell me, I immediately restrained my smile and said to him, "Colonel, although we seem to have the advantage in today''s battle, the actual situation is not what you see. Only the German vanguard was repulsed by us, and there were several divisions behind them, including two armored divisions. Can you stop us if we attack the whole line and encounter the German armored forces? "


    Hearing my question, he shook his head without thinking and replied in an old-fashioned way: "Comrade commander, although my division is equipped with a lot of anti tank weapons, it is not so easy to destroy the enemy."


    "Now that you understand that, you can understand what I''ll explain to you next." When I saw that shijerikov understood what I meant, I went on to say, "although in today''s battle, we have won. But at the same time, I also found a problem. Under the cover of the air force, the progress of the troops was very rapid; However, as the fighters withdrew from the battle, our combat effectiveness was greatly reduced, and even seizing the temporary positions of the German army became constrained. Moreover, there are several German divisions who are working day and night to catch up with Sabine. If you rush to attack the whole line, you will be in danger of being surrounded by the German forces. "


    My explanation made sjerykov understand my pains. As soon as I finished, he immediately said, "Comrade commander, I understand. When I get back to the army, I will explain it to the commanders and fighters below."


    Just then, sheriujin and shamrih came to the headquarters together. When I saw that all the people had arrived, I announced the meeting. On behalf of me, akhromeyev made some comments on the performance of the 89th division of the guards on today''s battlefield. Finally, he criticized Xie Liujin and said, "general Xie Liujin, in today''s battle, we could have achieved greater results because you were indecisive and did not join the reserve team in time. As a result, our troops could not leave the battlefield before the fighters left, To wipe out more of the German forces. "


    For akhromeyev''s criticism, sheriujin blushed and accepted. After reviewing to me, he asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, I want to ask, can we still get the support of the air force in tomorrow''s battle?"


    "This..." when I heard his question, I could not help hesitating. Although my superior assigned me two flying regiments, I could not use them without restraint. "This depends on the situation on the battlefield. If the German army does not carry out artillery attack of this scale today, I think there may not be air force for the time being."


    Xie Liujin''s face showed a disappointed expression, it seems that he also wants to copy today''s air to ground combat, so that the troops under the cover of the aircraft, into the depth of the German offensive line. "It''s a pity," he murmured. "I wanted the air force to cooperate with us in counterattack."


    "Comrade Xie Liujin." Seeing his silent face, I immediately reminded him, "don''t forget, the task I gave your division is to hold the position in the suburbs for three days, so as to gain precious time for the assembly of the main force of our group army. As soon as our troops arrive, we can carry out a comprehensive counterattack. "


    Hearing what I said, Xie Liujin cheered up again and said to me, "don''t worry, comrade commander, our division will firmly hold the defensive position in the west of the city in these three days, and will never let the Germans move forward."


    Just then, razumeyeva came out of the communication room, saluted me and handed me a telegram. Just as I looked down at the telegram, she saluted again, turned and walked back to the communication room.


    As soon as he saw me, he put down the telegram and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, what does the telegram say? Is our main force coming soon?"


    As for his guess, I nodded, then said with a smile: "general chisjakov called and said that the troops of the 52nd division of the guards had been on the train and were coming all night. At the same time, the 375TH Infantry Division also took trucks and drove along the road to zhylobin. If there is no accident, our troops in zhelopin will be increased to four divisions by noon tomorrow at the most. "


    "Great, that''s great." After taking a look at each other, he said excitedly, "in this way, our strength will be greatly enhanced. We have enough troops not only to hold fast to zhylobin, but also to carry out counter offensive against the enemy. "


    I am also a little excited to think that my army will be increased to four divisions tomorrow. Seeing that it was getting late, I asked a few men to go back to their respective units to prepare for the battle. When they got up to leave, I specially told Xie Liujin: "Comrade Xie Liujin, go back and let the troops rush to repair the fortifications damaged by the German artillery fire and prepare to fight against the more fierce German attack."


    All night long.


    Early in the day, the enemy began shelling on the defensive position of Xie Liujin.


    Standing on the bell tower of the church, I first looked through my telescope at our military field shrouded in smoke, and then at the German artillery position in the distance, and I could not help sighing.


    "Comrade commander, what are you sighing for?" Akhromeyev thought that I was worried about the German artillery attack on our army, and even comforted me by saying: "although the German artillery fire is so fierce, because our army''s fortifications are particularly reinforced, as long as they do not use concrete sabotage bombs, it is not easy for them to destroy our fortifications."


    "Major, I''m not thinking about it." I pointed to the distance and said, "yesterday our air force bombed the German artillery positions. Today they learned a lesson. They spread the artillery in different positions and then concentrated their fire on our positions. In this case, even if I let the air force attack, the results will be very limited. "


    "If our artillery is there, we can bombard the scattered German artillery positions." Akhromeyev said with some regret in his voice: "it''s a pity that it''s too far away to be near thirsty. All our artillery are still far away in Smolensk."


    Speaking of artillery, it suddenly occurred to me that at this time, the Soviet Army seemed to have self-propelled artillery. However, the caliber of artillery is not too big. If engineers Florin can launch two self-propelled guns of their time, even a few self-propelled guns of 122mm caliber will be enough for us to meet Buddha and kill God on the battlefield.


    Just as I was daydreaming, I suddenly heard someone below asking in a loud voice: "is the commander here?"


    Akhromeyev heard someone asking. He went to the stairs and looked down. At the same time, he asked aloud, "who''s down there?"


    "It''s major ahlomeyev." The following person replied, "we are from the special artillery regiment. We are here to report to the commander."


    Akhromeyev saw that the visitor knew himself, but he didn''t ask me for instructions, so he waved his head down and said in a loud voice, "come up."


    After a while, two middle-aged officers appeared in front of me. Looking at the major rank on their shoulders, I was a little puzzled and asked, "two major comrades, I don''t seem to have met you. Which part of you are you?"


    "Report commander," the younger major on the left said preemptively, "I''m major shuklin, head of the special artillery regiment, and this is my deputy, major beztijko, political commissar of the regiment. We used to be general wachuk''s troops, and we fought with you on the right bank of the Dnieper at the beginning of this year. "


    "It''s you." Although I still didn''t remember who they were, on the surface, I pretended to be suddenly enlightened. After shaking hands with them, I asked curiously, "what do you mean by special artillery regiment?"


    "Comrade commander." Shuklin and his commissar looked at each other, then said to me with a smile, "Comrade commander, our cannon is parked in the street below. If you are interested, you can go down and have a look."


    I raised my telescope and looked at the position in the distance. I found that it was still being shelled by the German army. It seemed that it would not be over for a while. So I agreed to shuklin''s invitation and went with him outside the church to see the guns he had brought.


    Walking out of the church, I looked at the combat vehicles parked along the street. The first thought that flashed through my mind was: "the appearance of these tanks is so beautiful. The turret is actually square, and the gun barrel is so thick. It is estimated that the Tiger tank was shot thousands of meters away, thinking that it was beaten into scrap iron."


    I pointed to the vehicles parked on the side of the road, turned to shuklin and asked, "Comrade major, how are the turrets of your tanks square?"


    "Comrade commander," shuklin replied with a smile, "this is not a tank, but a self-propelled gun just developed by the Armament Department."


    It was said that it was a newly developed self-propelled gun. I quickly ran over and circled around the new self-propelled gun. After a careful look, I began to ask shuklin what I was interested in: "major, how big is the caliber of this gun?"


    "Comrade commander," shuklin came to me and introduced this weapon from the future: "this is a 152mm self-propelled gun newly developed by the ordnance and equipment department, with a range of 24km, a maximum firing rate of 3 rounds per minute and a carrying capacity of 46 rounds."


    I looked up and saw the unseen combat vehicles in the street. Then I asked, "major, how many combat vehicles do you have and how many troops do you have?"


    "The regiment has two battalions, equipped with 24 self-propelled guns, and more than 210 trucks, observation vehicles, ammunition vehicles, jeeps, three wheeled motorcycles and two wheeled motorcycles, with a total force of 1100."¡° There are a lot of people in your regiment. " As I said this, I made a circle around the self-propelled gun again. I found that the turret of the self-propelled gun was large, and it was installed in the rear of the car body. The front was curved, and the commander''s command tower was to the left. The 152mm gun barrel is suspended above the car body, with double baffle muzzle brake and smoke cleaner; There are six load-bearing wheels on both sides of the car body, the driving wheel is restrained, the inducer wheel is rear mounted, and there are four belt supporting wheels. The gap between the first and the second, the second and the third loadwheels is large. After careful study, I stood up straight and asked shuklin, "Comrade major, how did your regiment get to zlobin with so many vehicles? We should know that trains are used to transport infantry, and combat vehicles, including tanks and armored vehicles, can only be officially launched after all infantry are transported. "¡° Well, comrade commander. " Shuklin respectfully replied: "our regiment did not take the train, but drove along the road. It took us ten hours to get here from Smolensk. " After listening to his story, I nodded with a smile, and then tentatively asked: "Comrade major, you have advanced several hundred kilometers in the night. Do you need me to arrange for you to have a rest for two days first?"¡° No, comrade commander. " Shuklin waved his hand to me and said, "although our regiment has just been formed, the commanders and fighters are enthusiastic about fighting. They want to fight immediately." Seeing shuklin''s eagerness to fight, I couldn''t beat his enthusiasm, so I waved my head at him and said, "major, follow me to the bell tower. I''ll discuss with you how to maximize the effectiveness of self-propelled artillery." When I got to the bell tower, I pointed to the German artillery positions scattered in several places, turned around and asked shuklin, "major, do you see that? The enemy''s artillery positions are so scattered, are you sure you can get rid of them all? "

 Chapter 1377

    Shuklin raised his telescope for a moment, then frowned. It seemed that the arrangement of German artillery was beyond his imagination.


    After looking back and forth for five or six minutes, he put down his telescope and said to me, "Comrade commander, the German artillery is of a high standard. If our conventional artillery wants to eliminate them, they can only use the method of point by point clearance to destroy the enemy''s scattered positions one by one. There is a disadvantage in doing so. Maybe when we bombard the first artillery position, we will be bombarded from other directions... "


    Before he had finished his words, akhromeyev broke in and said, "if so, we can let the artillery bombard these targets at the same time."


    "Major, if we do that, we will be caught in the trap of the Germans." Shuklin pointed to the German artillery position a few kilometers away and said, "if we spread the artillery, the attack power will be greatly weakened. Maybe the enemy''s artillery positions will not be destroyed, but our artillery will be destroyed by the enemy. "


    As soon as shuklin''s words were finished, akhromeyev immediately put forward his second plan: "since the artillery can''t kill them, we will use the air force to blow them up."


    "Even if the air force is deployed, it will not be able to achieve the desired results." Shuklin and his political commissar looked at each other and said with a smile to akhromeyev: "you see, the enemy''s artillery positions are very cleverly camouflaged. The guns are hidden behind the stacked sandbags, and there are camouflage nets on them. It''s not easy for our bombers in the air to find their whereabouts, let alone destroy them."


    "What shall we do?" Akhromeyev saw that his two plans were overthrown lightly by shuklin, and he couldn''t help feeling a little crazy. "If we don''t destroy the enemy''s artillery positions, our troops will suffer heavy casualties because of the enemy''s artillery fire when they fight back."


    But I have been watching coldly, only to find that shuklin and betzjijko''s expressions are very calm, and they seem to have confidence in destroying the enemy''s artillery. After repeating what shuklin had just said in my mind, I figured out the key point. So, I said to shuklin with a smile, "major shuklin, I listen to your voice. It seems that I am fully sure of getting rid of the enemy''s artillery. Tell me, what''s the matter?"


    "Comrade commander is still very powerful. I guess we have a way." After flattering me, shuklin began to talk about his plan: "in this way of deployment of German artillery positions, if the ordinary artillery regiment wants to destroy them, it is bound to pay a huge price. Unfortunately for these Germans, they met our new self-propelled artillery regiment. After the whole regiment is launched, we can complete five volleys in a minute or two to destroy one of the enemy''s artillery positions. You know, in such a short period of time, the enemy''s artillery observers could not lock our position at all. When they confirmed our position, our regiment had moved to a new position and shelled the next target... "


    Shuklin''s explanation made akhromeyev suddenly realize. He nodded his head and said excitedly: "yes, that''s right. When our self-propelled artillery regiment destroyed one of the enemy''s positions, it could immediately transfer. Even if the German army carried out retaliatory shelling, what it hit was just a piece of open space. That''s a great way to play


    Seeing what shuklin said and my guess, I nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "major shuklin, since you have a combat plan, go ahead and carry it out as soon as possible. As long as your artillery destroys the German defensive positions, we can launch a full-scale counterattack. "


    As soon as shuklin left, I called ahlomeyev in front of me and said, "major, you should call captain shamrih immediately to prepare his tank battalion for attack. In addition, I''m asking where the 52nd guard division and the 375TH infantry division have arrived and when they can get to the west of the city. "


    After hearing these orders, akhromeyev hesitated and said to me, "Comrade commander, after a long journey, the commanders and fighters of the two divisions should be very tired. If they are put into battle at this time, their combat effectiveness may be greatly reduced."


    "Major, we have only two divisions in our hands. We are still at a disadvantage compared with the enemy in terms of strength. If we want to launch a counterattack against the German army, we must put the two new divisions into combat. " When I saw ahlomeyev frowning, I explained to him: "I also know that the officers and men who have just arrived in zlobin are very tired, but if they are given a rest, their combat effectiveness can not be restored to the best state without more than one day."


    Akhromeyev gave a faint smile and did not speak. He just listened to me in silence.


    "We should take advantage of the favorable opportunity of the self-propelled artillery regiment to attack the enemy, so as to achieve unexpected results." I looked at the battlefield in the distance and confidently said, "maybe we can work hard to defeat the enemy in front of us and push the battle to the depth of the enemy''s defense."


    After listening to me, akhromeyev straightened his waist and said, "don''t worry, comrade commander. I''ll contact the two divisions on the way to urge them to speed up and try to get to zlobin as soon as possible."


    Shuklin''s artillery regiment soon spread out in a clearing southwest of the city. At the fastest speed, they launched several rounds of salvo fire at a German artillery position, and the dense shells quickly hit the target, breaking more than a dozen guns apart and causing the death of the shells.


    After completing the task, they quickly transferred their positions, re launched the line, and prepared to bombard the second German position. Only when the German artillery knew it later, they hit the retaliatory shell at the previous position of the self-propelled artillery regiment.


    When akhromeyev, who came back from the phone call, saw this scene, he said excitedly to me: "Comrade commander, you see, our artillery regiment is really wonderful. It''s so easy to destroy the enemy''s artillery position."


    I take for granted the achievements of the self-propelled artillery regiment. After all, the artillery they are equipped with is the product of the times. It is really strange that they have not achieved such brilliant results.


    I put down my telescope, turned around and asked akhromeyev, "major, where are the other two divisions?"


    "In ten minutes, the 51st division of the guards will arrive at zhylobin. And the 375TH Infantry Division will be a little slower, and it will take half an hour at the fastest to get to the west of the city. "


    After listening to akhromeyev''s report, I calculated in my heart that it would take about half an hour for the self-propelled artillery regiment to destroy all the enemy''s artillery positions. At that time, four divisions gathered in zhylobin and then launched a counterattack against the enemy in front of me. It was too late.


    Thinking of this, I made a call to bartov. After hearing his voice, I politely asked, "Hello, general Batov! I want to ask, "how many troops do you have at present?"


    "Comrade o''shanina, why do you ask this?" Batov was confused by my question. He asked in a puzzled way, "is it because the enemy''s attack is so fierce that your troops can''t stand it?" Without waiting for my reply, he went on to say, "don''t worry, since we are friendly forces, I will certainly support you if you have difficulties."


    Instead of taking up his topic, I repeated the question just now: "Comrade General, I want to know how many troops you can use at present?"


    "About eight thousand." Batov hesitated for a moment and told me the truth: "in addition to the original mixed brigade in the city, I have gathered some defeated troops in the past two days, so the total strength has increased."


    When I heard that he had 8000 troops in his hand, I felt more secure. It was more than enough for him to defend zhylobin. Besides, the 11th army sent by rokosovsky also drove here day and night. After I made clear the situation, I informed Batov of my plan: "Comrade General, my troops are about to launch a comprehensive counter offensive against the German army. Please send your troops to the West and south of the city to take over our defense."


    "What, are you going to launch a full-scale counterattack against the German army?" Batov was startled by what I said. He said in some confusion: "Comrade oshanina, as far as I know, there are at least five German divisions in your front, two of which are armored divisions. If you only have two divisions, you will suffer a great loss. Why don''t you wait another two days and attack the enemy when your main force and the 11th army arrive? "


    "No, general Batov." Although I think his idea is more appropriate, it will delay the fight. Therefore, I refused him without hesitation and added: "at present, the morale of the enemy is low. If we launch a counter offensive against them, we can get twice the result with half the effort. If we drag on all the time, the strength of our army can certainly be improved, but the enemy will also seize the time to build a new defense line, which will be very detrimental to our next attack. "


    After listening to what I said, Batov knew that he could not persuade me to change my mind. He could only give a long sigh, and then kindly told me, "Comrade o''shanina, since you have made up your mind, I will not say anything. But to be on the safe side, in addition to sending troops to replace your defense, I will also send troops to assist you. "


    "Thank you, general Batov." When I said this, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I said, "please send troops to the West and south of the city to take over our defense."


    After discussing the issue of position transfer with Batov, I called sheriujin and shejerikov respectively, informing them that as soon as the tank battalion attacked, their troops would also rush up and fight hard towards the enemy''s depth, so as to completely disrupt the enemy''s defense and create a favorable situation for our next battle.


    After the German artillery was attacked by the self-propelled artillery regiment, they were completely defeated. In particular, the German commander was confused. He only knew that his scattered artillery positions were constantly destroyed by our artillery fire. Every time an artillery position was shelled, he would immediately order several other artillery positions to concentrate their firepower and carry out retaliatory shelling on the positions of our artillery. However, a lot of shells were fired, but our artillery fire showed no sign of weakening. On the contrary, they fought bravely and killed their artillery positions one by one.


    More than 100 guns in eight German artillery positions were finally destroyed by the attack of the self-propelled artillery regiment, which constantly changed its firing positions.


    Seeing that all the German artillery had been destroyed, shuklin immediately reported to me through the radio: "Comrade commander, we have destroyed all the enemy artillery. You can order the infantry to attack."¡° Major shuklin, your regiment will find a place to hide first. " In order to prevent the self-propelled artillery regiment from being found by the possible enemy planes, I immediately ordered shuklin, "I will contact you when you need to provide artillery support for the attacking forces." As soon as I put down the phone, there was a rush of footsteps from the position of the stairs. I thought it was the staff officer who sent the telegram. But I turned my head and was overjoyed. It wasn''t others who came. It was the two teachers I had been waiting for. I went to the two men, and after they saluted me, I gave them a smile, and then asked, "two division comrades, have your troops arrived?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Lu Jin said: "the troops have just got out of the car and are assembling. I wonder what task you assigned to our division? "¡° Our troops are on the point of counterattack against the enemy. You are here in time, so that we will be close to the Germans in strength. " After that, I pointed to the new tanks heading for the battlefield and said to them, "the 51st and 89th divisions of the guards are about to launch an all-round attack on the enemy. These tanks are the ones that guide the infantry to attack. After the two of you completed the assembly of the troops, you immediately commanded the troops to rush up to the defense depth of the German army. Do you understand? "¡° I see! " The two division commanders agreed loudly, then raised their hands to salute me, turned around, walked out of the bell tower, and went back to their respective units to deploy troops. I dialed Xie Liujin''s phone again and said in a loud voice, "Mr. Xie Liujin, do you see the tank battalion? Order your troops to attack immediately, follow our tanks, and make a deep rush to the enemy''s defense. "¡° Yes, "Xie Liujin replied excitedly," I immediately gave orders to the whole division to follow behind the tank battalion and launch an attack on the enemy''s defense depth. "

 Chapter 1378

    As soon as I put down the phone, akhromeyev, who was standing beside me, suddenly said, "Comrade commander, may I make a suggestion to you?"


    "Yes As soon as I thought that my troops were about to launch a full-scale counter offensive, I was particularly happy, so I said to akhromeyev very readily, "major, just let me know what you think."


    "Comrade commander," said akhromeyev respectfully, "we only have 30 tanks. If they attack too fast, the infantry following the attack may not be able to keep up. Once the German forces separate the tank battalion from our infantry, they are in danger of being completely destroyed. "


    Akhromeyev''s words remind me that what we are going to attack is the defense line composed of several German divisions. Even if the tank battalion is equipped with the most advanced tanks, it is not invincible. German heavy artillery and anti tank men can destroy it.


    Thinking of this, I picked up the phone and dialed the headquarters of the 51st division. When the phone was connected, there was such a noisy noise that the person who answered the phone repeated it several times before I could hear what he said clearly, "... The headquarters is preparing for the transfer, and the division chief is not in. Do you want me to ask the chief of staff to answer the phone?"


    "Have Colonel chejerikov brought back immediately. I have something important to tell him."


    After a while, the noise in the receiver suddenly disappeared, and then came the voice of chejerikov: "it''s me, comrade commander. Do you have any instructions?"


    The disappearance of the noise on the other side of the microphone made me think that it must be in order to concentrate on talking with me, that chejerikov deliberately kept the people in the headquarters quiet. I asked tentatively, "Comrade Colonel, do you have any trucks there?"


    "Truck?" A moment later, he replied hurriedly, "yes, comrade commander, there are more than 40 trucks of various types. I am ordering my subordinates to carry the materials onto the truck and prepare to move forward with the troops."


    "Captain, listen to me." Knowing that there were dozens of trucks in shijerikov''s division, I knew that my plan could be carried out smoothly. I then said, "you should immediately give these trucks to the assault troops of your division and let them follow the tank battalion to attack the enemy''s defense."


    After my words, there was another silence.


    I sighed in secret. Just as I was about to explain the reason to shijerikov, I heard him exclaim: "Comrade commander, I understand why you are doing this."


    "Oh, Colonel chejerikov." I don''t know if he really understood my intention. He asked curiously, "since you can guess my intention, let''s hear it. I''ll see if you''re right."


    "I think the reason why you want the assault troops to take trucks and charge with the tank battalion is that the infantry can''t keep up with the speed of the tank. In the event of a German counterattack, the tank battalion is in danger of being isolated from the infantry. " Shejerikov finished his conjecture and added: "Comrade commander, we still have more than ten armored vehicles in our division. Do we need to put them into battle?"


    "Great, that''s great." I didn''t expect that there would be armored vehicles in the division of shejerikov. Instead of inquiring about the origin of these armored vehicles, I directly told him, "Colonel, let''s incorporate these armored vehicles into the assault force. In this way, the strength of our army will be greatly enhanced."


    In this way, after being reminded by akhromeyev, I promptly asked the incoming 51st division of the guards to equip the vanguard with armored vehicles and trucks to ensure that they could keep up with the assault speed of the tank battalion.


    When he arrived at the 375TH infantry division in zhylobin by truck, he saw that the first troops to follow the tank assault were in trucks and armored vehicles. So lieutenant commander Lu Jin did not wait for my instructions, so he asked his troops to take the truck to overtake the 89th infantry division to catch up with the vanguard of tank battalion and 51st infantry division.


    Seeing that the 375TH infantry division had overtaken its own troops and rushed to the front, Xie Liujin couldn''t help feeling a little anxious. He called me and complained, "Comrade commander, do you see that? The unit of the 375TH infantry division rushed to our division by truck


    "Yes, Comrade Xie Liujin." I said lightly, "because the infantry can''t keep up with the advancing speed of the tanks, in order to prevent the German army from isolating our tanks and infantry from each other when they are fighting back, I ordered them to take trucks and follow the tank battalion for assault."


    "So it is." With a trace of regret in his voice, Xie Liujin complained to me: "originally, the commanders and fighters knew that our division was the vanguard of the counter offensive, and they were still enthusiastic about fighting. But now it''s the second echelon. I''m afraid they still have emotions. "


    "It''s not the soldiers who have emotions, but your teacher who has complaints?" In order to make him command the battle with ease, I gave them a special reassurance: "don''t forget, it''s more than 100 kilometers from zhylobin to kalinkovich. It''s impossible for the tank battalion and the 375TH infantry division to rush to their destination in one go. Once their attack gets stuck, it''s time for your division to take action. Of course, not only your division, but also the commanders and fighters of the 51st and 52nd divisions of the guards, who will also take part in the relay fighting. "


    After hearing what I said, Xie Liujin, who was in a low mood, rekindled his fighting spirit. He immediately declared his position to me and said, "Comrade commander, I understand. You can rest assured that our division will keep its current speed and push forward at a constant speed. When the officers and men of the 375TH division are tired, we will continue to fight against the Germans instead of them. "


    My four divisions, under the guidance of the tank battalion, launched a full-scale counterattack against the enemy approaching zlobin. Just then, rokosovsky called me from the headquarters. He asked frankly, "what''s the situation there, Rita? The enemy''s artillery positions have been destroyed?"


    "All destroyed." Because the self-propelled artillery regiment is a secret unit, I don''t know whether I am qualified to know the existence of this unit under the authority of rokosovsky. So I evaded the heavy and gave the light answer: "my unit has launched a comprehensive counter offensive against the German defense depth under the guidance of the tank battalion."


    "What, we launched a comprehensive counter offensive today?" After hearing my report, rokosovsky could not help but be surprised: "didn''t you say that the counter offensive would be launched in three days? How could the troops be put into the offensive in such a hurry? Are you strong enough now? "


    "Enough, comrade commander of the front army." Hearing rokosovsky''s worry, I quickly explained to him, "today, two other divisions have just arrived in zhylobin, so I put them into battle."


    Rokosovsky may have wanted to criticize me, saying that I was too bold and so on, but he was silent for a long time. At last, he didn''t say it. Instead, he kindly reminded me: "Rita, there''s something I think it''s necessary to remind you. The Germans are very cunning. When they see that our army is strong, they deliberately pretend to retreat hastily to lure our troops to pursue us, so that they can attack us from our flanks when we pursue. Therefore, you should not relax your vigilance against the cunning of the bandits for a moment. We must maintain the necessary caution and be ready to smash any conspiracy of the enemy at any time. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander of the front army." As a matter of fact, I have already considered the concerns of rokosovsky. Otherwise, I would not let the troops of shijerikov take trucks and follow tanks to attack the German army in depth¡° I have made the necessary preparations. The troops of the four divisions are advancing alternately. Even if the German forces attack from our flanks, they can''t get along with each other. "


    When I heard this, rokosovsky was silent for a long time, and then said, "to be on the safe side, I will let the two divisions who are going to zhylobin change their defense line and advance parallel to you to kalinkovic."


    I finished my conversation with rokosovsky. As soon as I put down the phone, another call came in. The person who called me this time was Ustinov, who had not been contacted for a long time.


    When he heard my voice, he immediately said with a smile, "Rita, have you received our present for you?"


    A gift for me? Hearing what Ustinov said, I frowned and thought for a moment. Then I immediately understood that what he said was a gift, which should refer to the self-propelled artillery regiment. I quickly replied, "yes, I have received it, comrades of the people''s Committee."


    He said with a smile: "this is the new equipment we just launched. A total of 30 vehicles have been produced, of which 24 are allocated to you. Well, it''s doing well on the battlefield, isn''t it? "


    I knew in my heart that these self-propelled guns were all produced according to the information provided by Florin. If it is not limited by the production process and materials, I believe he can launch more magic weapons beyond this era. For example, if the t-62 tank, which once participated in the May Day parade in red square, can be mass produced and equipped with a large number of troops, it may be able to create a brilliant record of fighting dozens or even hundreds of tanks in the battle of Kursk.


    I nodded and answered in a affirmative way: "comrades of the people''s Committee, it''s wonderful. This new type of artillery is really wonderful. Today, for the first time they took part in the war, they easily destroyed several scattered artillery positions of the enemy and taught the Germans a lesson they will never forget. "


    "Tell me the details." Ustinov''s tone suddenly became severe: "I want to know the specific performance of this kind of artillery in the battlefield."


    Seeing that Ustinov was anxious to know the test results of this new type of weapon, I told him what I learned from using self-propelled guns today, and specially stressed that "... I think the advantage of self-propelled guns is that besides their great power, they have greatly enhanced their mobility. We should know that the German artillery positions were so scattered that if the conventional artillery wanted to destroy them, they would usually be countered by artillery fire from all sides in the first round of attack. Even if we eliminate the enemy in the end, we will pay a great price. "


    After recording what I said, Ustinov was obviously not very satisfied. He continued to ask, "what''s more, is there any defect in this kind of gun?"


    Is there any problem with a new weapon beyond this era? This is obviously impossible, so I simply replied, "comrades of the people''s Committee, although this is the first time we have used this kind of weapon, after seeing its power, we all think it is quite good. As for the defects, I haven''t found any at present. Maybe I can''t come to an objective conclusion until these weapons are used for a while longer. "


    I had another chat with Ustinov, and it suddenly occurred to me that I hadn''t seen fronin for a long time. He asked Ustinov curiously, "comrades of the people''s Committee, I don''t know where engineer Florin is. I haven''t seen him for a long time." "Alas!" Ustinov sighed, then said: "he has been in poor health for the past six months, and has been sick several times. He should have been responsible for understanding the performance of new weapons on the battlefield, but because he was bedridden, I was responsible for it. " Ustinov''s words made me worried about the health of Florin. We should know that the current medical conditions can not be compared with those of later generations. If there is an accident for the elderly, we will never have the chance to use any new weapons beyond this era¡° His illness is not serious, is it I asked cautiously, "should be able to recover soon?"¡° It''s hard to say. " Ustinov said in a low voice: "some time ago when he was developing new guns, he fell ill because of overwork. Now the body has not haliso, and infected with the cold, so has been bedridden. However, according to my observation, his illness will be completely improved, at least after the Spring Festival. " It''s said that the old engineer''s health is so bad, I can''t help feeling a little sad. Although I have been used to life and death for a long time, none of the people who died were of the same age as me. Engineer florin, like me, came from the future. Our arrival has made some changes in history¡° All right, Rita Ustinov cordially said to me: "today we will talk here. If you find any problems with the new artillery in the next battle, please contact me in time so that we can further improve it." I put down the phone, stood in the same place for a while, looked up and saw that akhromeyev was holding a telescope to observe the battlefield, so I couldn''t help asking, "major, where is the self-propelled artillery regiment now?"¡° Here, you see, there it is Akhromeyev heard my voice, immediately turned his head, pointed to the front and said: "the ammunition truck has just joined them, and now it is replenishing the shells that have just been consumed."

 Chapter 1379

    After less than an hour, I could not see the battle going on when I stood on the bell tower of the church. I could only know that the battle was still going on fiercely according to the distant rumble of guns and the smoke rising into the air.


    I went back to my own headquarters and learned about the progress of the fighting according to the telegrams from the divisions.


    Through the telegram that akhromeyev put in front of me, I know that the 51st and 89th guard divisions of sheijerikov and sheiliujin have advanced 15 kilometers, broken through the German defense line in the forest area of the southwest line of zhylobin, occupied a number of villages and settlements, and are now cleaning up the remnant enemy.


    However, the 52nd guard division and the 375TH infantry division, under the cover of the tank battalion and the self-propelled artillery regiment, are continuing to advance towards the southwest. Because the enemy has not formed a decent resistance, they are only one step away from the two larger settlements guarded by the German army.


    Seeing such war reports, I nodded silently, then raised my head to akhromeyev and said, "from the current situation, the German resistance is very weak, so the progress of the divisions is very fast."


    Akhromeyev replied with a smile, "yes, comrade commander. The 52nd guards and the 375TH infantry division are now 23 kilometers away from zhylobin. If our troops can maintain this speed of attack, we will be able to restore the original posture of the 65th group army the day after tomorrow. "


    I was still immersed in the joy of the smooth progress of the troops. When I heard akhromeyev''s advance of Batov''s troops, my face immediately darkened. You should know that Batov''s troops were attacked by the enemy and lost their helmets and armor when victory was in sight.


    I stared at the map for a moment, then frowned and asked akhromeyev, "major, what is the distance between the two echelons at present?" When the troops launched a counter offensive, for convenience, akhromeyev and I called the 51st and 89th divisions of the guards the first echelon, while the other two divisions were the second echelon.


    When akhromeyev heard my question, he probably realized the seriousness of the problem. After a pause, he replied, "the first echelon is now 15 kilometers away from the city, eight kilometers away from the second echelon in front of him."


    "Send a message to the two teachers, nikolasov and Lukin, to slow down their attack." After I said this, I saw ahlomeyev''s face in surprise, and added: "because of the speed of advance, now the two echelons are out of touch. If the German army carries out a counterattack, they may be divided and surrounded."


    "It''s impossible, isn''t it?" For me, akhromeyev said a little inconceivably: "in the face of our fierce offensive, the Germans should not be able to withstand it."


    "Major, please don''t take the German as a fool. If they are so vulnerable, after two years of fighting, they should have been driven out of the country by us." I said solemnly: "as a commander, we should have a clear understanding of the whole war situation. We should not overestimate ourselves or underestimate our enemies. We have to know that the enemy has seven divisions, including two armored divisions, while we have only four infantry divisions participating in the counter offensive. "


    "But, comrade commander." Akhromeyev reluctantly retorted: "our superiors sent us two divisions of the 11th army. As a result, our total strength increased to six divisions, and we are fully equipped to compete with the German army..."


    "Comrade major, don''t place the hope of victory on others." I criticized akhromeyev impolitely and said, "if we think that there are friendly forces cooperating with us from the flank, we will blindly rush forward. Once the enemy detours back to our flank and the friendly forces are not in place, have you ever thought about what will happen then?"


    Akhromeyevton, who was criticized by me, blushed with shame when he said, "Comrade commander, it''s my thoughtlessness. The main reason is that our troops are fighting so smoothly, so I can''t help feeling a little bit flustered. "


    "Well, major, stop talking." I don''t want to blame akhromeyev too much. After all, he is one of my most effective subordinates, so I slowed down and said to him, "go and send the news quickly, let the second echelon slow down the attack speed. At the same time, the first echelon not only left a small number of troops to eliminate the enemy, but also continued to push forward and shorten the distance between them and the second echelon."


    When akhromeyev went to the communication room to send a message, I received a phone call from Batov by accident. As soon as he opened his mouth, he first congratulated our department on its achievements in counterattack, and then said, "Comrade o''shanina, I have another good news to tell you."


    When Batov said that he had good news to tell me, I couldn''t help frowning and saying that your troops were all defeated by the Germans. What good news can you tell me? Do you still have the skill of turning a soldier into a soldier, and turn out tens of thousands of people to cooperate with our counter attack? But out of politeness, I asked flatly, "general Batov, I don''t know what good news you have?"


    "Well, comrade oshanina." Batov a little embarrassed to say: "my troops, in a few days ago, not because of negligence was repulsed by the German army?"


    "Yes, comrade general, I know that." If his troops were not defeated by the German army, I think my troops would have to wait a few months before they could enter Belarus¡° What does this have to do with your good news? "


    "At present, the three divisions of our group army are rushing to svelogorsk at the fastest speed," Batov said with a little emotion. "They can launch an attack on the city at noon tomorrow as soon as possible, so as to make a complete retreat for the German army who rushed to zhelopin."


    I found on the map what he said about svelogorsk, and found that the city was 60 kilometers southwest of zhylobin. If the city was in our hands, the German troops who rushed to zhylobin would be cut off. But as for where Batov found the troops, I was puzzled: "general Batov, I don''t know the troops attacking the city. Where did you find them?"


    "Where else? My troops, of course." In order to make me understand what happened, Batov was ready to explain: "the reason why my troops were defeated by the German army is not only the reduction of troops and excessive consumption of weapons and ammunition, but also because my main forces are concentrated on the left wing, while the German army attacked my weak right wing, resulting in the collapse of the whole defense line. But fortunately, my troops on the left have not lost much. Just now commander rokosovsky called and said that he would send troops from the 61st group army to take over the defense of our department in kalinkovich. In this way, I had mobile troops in my hands, so I ordered one of them to take the German back as fast as possible. "


    Batov''s words surprised me a little. I thought that the 65th group army was almost exhausted under the attack of the German army. I didn''t expect that the main force of the group army was still there. I could even easily deploy three divisions to assist our army in fighting.


    I calculated the distance between the second echelon and the city, and then said to Batov, "general Batov, my offensive troops are still more than 30 kilometers away from svelogorsk. Even if the German resistance is weak, it will take at least one day to get near the city."


    "That''s great." I don''t know if Batov had thought about it long ago, or had a temporary idea. He said excitedly: "since the time for our two troops to arrive at svelogorsk is almost the same, it''s not like a joint operation to seize the city together and make it the starting point for us to attack kalinkovich."


    Although I don''t know how the German troops are deployed in the city, I know in my heart that it''s not easy to capture the city. The Germans have been operating in this area for more than two years, and they must have built a lot of fortifications. However, the number of tanks and cannons I can use at the moment is very small, which leads to the lack of offensive ability of the troops, Even if we besiege the city with Batov''s troops, we won''t win it in a short time.


    "What do you think of my proposal?" Perhaps I haven''t heard my reply for a long time. Batov asked anxiously, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think? You should always show your attitude."


    I pondered for a moment, thinking that tomorrow, there should be new troops arriving, and even tanks or artillery arriving here, then our firepower output will be improved. Thinking of this, I said decisively, "general Batov, I agree with your proposal that we should discuss joint operations when our troops arrive at the approach of the city."


    When I put down the phone, I saw akhromeyev standing by and asked casually, "major, have all the telegrams been sent?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, the telegrams have been sent out." Akhromeyev asked me tentatively after saying this: "the phone call just now is from general Batov. What did he say?"


    "What else can you say? Talk to me about joint operations." Anyway, akhromeyev is not an outsider. I pointed to the map and said to him, "major, come and see. General Batov said that he had dispatched troops near kalinkovich to the city, and that if our department continued to move forward, it would be here soon. He suggested to me that our two army groups should work together to seize this place and use it as the starting point for attacking kalinkovic. "


    Akhromeyev tilted his head and looked at the place I pointed out to him. After a long time, he asked: "Comrade commander, the proposal of joint operations is good, but what I am worried about now is that our two army groups do not have any guns and tanks, so it may be very difficult to capture this city."


    Seeing that akhromeyev''s point of view coincided with mine, I nodded, and then said, "if we want to capture this city, we need a lot of artillery and tanks. Unfortunately, our heavy equipment is still in Smolensk, and we can''t get by for a while. If we only use infantry to attack the city, in addition to increasing casualties, I am also worried that this battle will fall into a stalemate, so that the enemies of moziri and kalinkovic will have a breathing space. "


    "Comrade commander, I am about to report this to you." As soon as I finished speaking, akhromeyev immediately went on to say, "our artillery troops have actually moved along the road to zhylobin since last night. If there is no accident, they will arrive here before noon tomorrow."


    When I heard that the artillery would arrive soon, I could not help raising my eyebrows. Unexpectedly, I asked, "did general povsky say how many artillery will arrive here tomorrow?"¡° Four close guard rocket battalions, two cannon regiments and one howitzer regiment. " Akhromeyev was very familiar with the data. Without looking at the Notepad, he directly said the data I was interested in: "because they were ordered to get here as soon as possible, they only carried one base ammunition. It will be at least a week before their ammunition supply returns to normal. "¡° Why After listening to akhromeyev''s words, I couldn''t help frowning. If the artillery didn''t have enough ammunition, I couldn''t even compare with the infantry. So I asked discontentedly, "if the ammunition is not enough, what''s the use of sending so many artillery here. Can I get in touch with general povsky? " Akhromeyev thought about it, and then replied, "povsky is already on the road. I have to try to send him a message to see if I can get in touch with him."¡° Let''s go. " I waved to akhromeyev and urged, "maybe his radio is on during the March, so that I can get in touch with him." When akhromeyev left, I suddenly remembered one thing, and felt as if I had thought of a simple problem as complicated. Since this is Batov''s territory and he was able to provide us with tank fuel last time, he must be able to solve the problem of artillery shells. When I thought of this, I immediately picked up the phone from my desk and got through to Batov''s headquarters. As soon as I heard someone talking in the microphone, I said straightforwardly: "Hello, I''m general oshanina, commander of the sixth group army of the guards. Please find general Batov. I have something important to discuss with him." Batov was very surprised that I called him shortly after the end of the call. He was surprised and asked, "Comrade oshanina, don''t you know what''s important about you?"¡° Yes, general Batov, it''s a very important thing. " Instead of beating around the bush with him, I asked frankly, "do you have enough shells in your hand?"¡° Shells, what shells? " Bartov was confused by my mindless question. He asked, "what do you want these things for?"

 Chapter 1380

    "Well, general Batov." Seeing that he didn''t understand the situation, I quickly explained to him, "my artillery regiments will arrive in zlobin tomorrow, and I intend to put them into the battle of liberating svelogorsk. However, because they came on a light March, the amount of ammunition they carried was limited. If you have surplus shells, can you lend me some first and return them to you as soon as my supplies arrive? "


    After finding out why I need shells, Batov said to me with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, I really don''t know about the artillery. Just a moment, please. I''ll ask my artillery chief and chief of staff to see if we have any extra shells After a few minutes of silence in the receiver, Batov''s voice came again, "I have asked, in the military warehouse of zhylobin, there are three thousand 122mm and 152mm shells, each of which can be used by you."


    "Great, that''s great." Although the number is a little less, it should be enough for siege. After thanking Batov, I said, "tomorrow I''ll send someone to collect the shells from you."


    Hearing that I was going to hang up, Batov suddenly said, "by the way, comrade oshanina, I have something to inform you. Just now, I talked to the commander of the front army by telephone. He said that in order to have a unified command in the battle of seizing svelogorsk, he suggested that we form a joint command to formulate a combat plan. "


    Bartov''s words solidified my smile on my face. It is natural for the two forces to fight together and set up a joint headquarters. But I know very well that my own headquarters is only a front-line headquarters at best. If it is to be merged, it will certainly be under the leadership of Batov.


    To tell you the truth, Batov''s fighting style is quite different from mine. If I let him take the overall responsibility, I''m afraid that my troops will not be able to adapt to his fighting style. Maybe they won''t even be able to play half of their fighting power. It was on this basis that my heart sank when I heard about the establishment of the joint headquarters.


    "Comrade o''shanina, why don''t you speak?" Seeing that there was no movement on my side, Batov immediately asked, "did you hear what I said?"


    "Yes," I asked Batov with a wry smile, "general Batov, I don''t know how the commander of the front army arranges the candidates for the joint headquarters, and where will the headquarters be located?"


    He hesitated for a long time before he replied, "the commander of the front army has not given any instructions as to where the joint command is located and who is in charge of it."


    After I finished my call with Batov, akhromeyev asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, does the higher authorities want our two army groups to set up a joint headquarters?"


    "Yes," I replied, nodding my head, "the commander of the front army does mean that."


    "So who should lead who?" Without waiting for my answer, akhromeyev said to himself, "you know, we have more troops than them. If they are allowed to command, I''m afraid the commanders and fighters will have opinions."


    "I think it''s more likely that general Batov will be in charge." I explained to akhromeyev, "after all, zhilobin is the headquarters of their group army. Besides, his entire headquarters are here. At best, we are just a forward headquarters without a complete leadership. Therefore, I think it is quite normal for the superior to appoint general Batov as the supreme commander of the joint forces. "


    As rokosovsky has not given the final order, I do not want to entangle with akhromeyev on this matter, because I changed the topic in time and asked, "major, have you contacted general povsky?"


    "No Akhromeyev shook his head and replied, "but I asked Comrade razumeyeva to continue calling and report to me as soon as he got in touch."


    I heard that I didn''t wait to get in touch with bofsky, the artillery commander, for the time being. I said with disapproval, "well," and then asked, "have both echelons stopped attacking?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Akhromeyev replied positively: "not only did the two echelons stop advancing and build simple fortifications in the existing areas, but also the tank battalion and self-propelled artillery regiment were temporarily withdrawn. After all, in today''s battle, their ammunition and fuel were consumed so badly that they could not participate in tomorrow''s attack if they did not replenish immediately."


    Thinking that although today''s counterattack was progressing smoothly and the troops of several divisions were advancing rapidly, my heart was never secure, so I ordered akhromeyev: "call several commanders at the front, and let them rush to the headquarters as soon as possible to discuss the situation between ourselves and the enemy on the battlefield."


    An hour later, four division commanders, tank battalion commanders and the head of the self-propelled artillery regiment all came to my headquarters. I stood up with my hands on the edge of the table, leaned forward slightly, and said to them with a smile, "comrades of the commanders, you have done a good job today, beating the enemy to pieces."


    As soon as my voice fell, the commanders in this room began to laugh. After the laughter stopped, nikolasov, the commander of the 52nd division of the guards, stood up and said, "Comrade commander, while our division was advancing in depth towards the German army, we unexpectedly received your order and had to give up attacking the enemy temporarily. I want to ask, "what''s going on?"


    One stone aroused a thousand waves, and the question of nikolasov immediately aroused the resonance of the other three teachers, who also sent their own opinions. "If you hadn''t given the order to stop the attack, we might have all advanced to the city of svelogorsk. Now that the troops have stopped advancing, the enemy will have a chance to breathe. They will certainly take advantage of this evening to reinforce their defensive positions and increase the pressure on our attack tomorrow. "


    As for Xie Liujin and his questions, I immediately explained: "comrades, although our counterattack today is going very smoothly, we can''t take it lightly, which leads to the idea of belittling the enemy. We should know that the enemy didn''t use the air force at all. Once our troops are attacked by the enemy''s aircraft, they are bound to pay a huge price. In addition, the reason why I ordered you to stop attacking today is that the 52nd division of guards and the 375TH division of infantry have just arrived in zhylobin, and the commanders and fighters are very tired. If they are allowed to fight in low spirits for a long time, it will have an adverse effect on the morale of our army. "


    "Didn''t the enemy plane show up and be chased away by our fighters?" Xie Liujin said reluctantly: "now our air force is in charge of the air control of the battlefield. We don''t have to worry about the enemy''s air force at all. Even if they show up, our air force will kick them out. "


    "There is one more point, and the most important one." I saw that everyone''s faces were indifferent. I said with a straight face and no expression: "the ammunition we brought here from Smolensk is not enough to support us in a big battle. If we blindly rush forward, once the supply line is cut off by the German army, our commanders and fighters fighting in front of us may run out of ammunition. "


    My words silenced everyone.


    After a long time, the first to break the silence of the 51st division commander of the guards, shigerikov: "Comrade commander, when are we going to launch an attack on sveltorogorsk?"


    After shejerikov asked his question, everyone turned their eyes on me and waited quietly for me to announce the answer to them.


    Then I announced to you, "comrades, our superiors have asked us to form a joint headquarters with general Batov to complete the attack on svelogorsk. By the way, general Batov has drawn three divisions from their left wing and has rushed to svetogorsk from our southwest. "


    "Comrade commander, may I ask," Lu Jin asked cautiously after I finished saying, "does the superior intend that commander to be the person in charge of this joint headquarters?"


    "Although the superior has not made a final decision on the selection of the person in charge, I think general Batov will definitely take up the post." I carefully said: "after all, the 65th army has a complete headquarters in zhylobin, and we, only major akhromeyev and I, plus a communication class, any superior who sees this situation knows what kind of decision to make."


    "However, our group army''s combat style is quite different from that of other troops," he muttered. "If we change our commanders rashly, I''m afraid they will be at a loss on the battlefield."


    "General Nekrasov is right." As soon as his words were finished, Xie Liujin echoed: "I don''t think it''s appropriate for this army to change the top commander. What do you say, Colonel chejerikov? "


    "We won Kiev at the beginning of this year," he said with a wry smile. When the German army launched a crazy counterattack against us, the commander was transferred back to Moscow. Although the troops who had changed their commanders were very tenacious in the battle to defend Kiev, they won less and lost more. In the end, the city we had painstakingly captured was recaptured by the Germans. "


    In his words, although he was only talking about the Kiev campaign at the beginning of the year, everyone understood him. He was also echoing Xie Liujin''s opinions.


    "Well, let''s not talk about it any more." I''m afraid that if I don''t speak any more, people will complain more. I don''t like their words. They spread to belia''s ears through special channels, so I interrupted what you wanted to say later: "who will be in charge of the joint command, you don''t count, I don''t count. The decision is up to the commander of the front army."


    After I finished, akhromeyev asked carefully, "if the superior really decides to let general Batov take the post of commander, what should you do?"


    "It''s the bounden duty of soldiers to obey orders," I replied in an official voice. "As long as it''s orders from the higher authorities, I will resolutely obey them. You have not been in the army for one or two days. You should know that the orders of your superiors are not allowed to be discussed. Therefore, no matter who is appointed by your superiors to take up this post, we should resolutely obey them. "


    In order not to let you talk about it again, I patted the map in front of me with my hand and announced to them, "I''m going to talk about the battle deployment tomorrow."


    When all the people were quiet and focused on me, I pointed to the map and began to give orders: "as the current position of the first echelon is behind the second echelon, I ordered: after dawn tomorrow, the troops of the second echelon will continue to march towards svelogorsk, ten kilometers away from the city, Stop and build simple fortifications where you are. The first echelon, on the other hand, followed closely and quickly filled the vacant position of the second echelon, so as not to be taken advantage of by the Germans. "


    When they heard of my arrangement, Nekrasov and Lukin were overjoyed, but sheiliujin and sheijerikov were not. Xie Liujin complained to me: "Comrade commander, we are the first echelon. You should give us the first echelon the task of launching the first attack on svelogorsk."¡° Comrade Xie Liujin, "I pointed to the map, then looked at him and asked," how far is your first echelon behind the second echelon? " After glancing at the map, Xie Liujin replied, "if I remember correctly, it should be no less than eight kilometers."¡° Yes, Comrade Xie Liujin, you remember very correctly. " I said to him and to everyone, "if I want to order the first echelon to take the lead in advancing towards svelogorsk, it will take you at least one and a half hours to complete the eight kilometer journey, and then you will have to cross the second echelon''s line of defense. Am I right? "¡° Yes, it is The other teachers replied in unison¡° Have you ever thought about how much confusion your 10000 officers and men of the first echelon will cause when they cross the defense line of the second echelon? " I stared at scheliujin and asked sternly, "if the German troops attack you under the cover of planes and tanks at this time, do you think the organizational structure of the troops can remain intact?"¡° Comrade commander, I am wrong. " After my words, after thinking about the cause and effect, he apologized to me in time and said, "I will obey your order. Tomorrow, when the second echelon moves forward, our troops will take over the defense area vacated by them and stop the German army''s attempt to cut off our rear route."

 Chapter 1381

    Although akhromeyev reported to me that the artillery troops would not arrive at zhiluobin until noon, general povsky, the artillery commander of the group army, arrived at the headquarters at 3 a.m.


    Looking at the sudden appearance of povsky, I gave up the plan to sleep for a while, and asked unexpectedly, "Comrade General, did you come alone, or did you arrive at zlobin with the artillery?"


    "I''m with two close guard rocket battalions." Povsky took the tea that akhromeyev gave him, drank it all, and then answered me, "the other two close guard rocket barracks, the howitzer regiment and the cannon regiment are still behind. It will take at least four or five hours for them to arrive."


    "Don''t you mean to arrive at noon?" After listening to povsky''s words, akhromeyev couldn''t help interrupting and asked, "so we haven''t taken you into consideration for the time being in the daytime fighting."


    After hearing what akhromeyev said, povsky quickly stood up and said to me, "Comrade commander, although the artillery commanders and fighters have been very tired after a long journey. But if you need us to take part in the war, I believe the performance of the commanders and fighters will not disappoint you. "


    "It''s said that the artillery regiment only carries one base ammunition?" Although the main Artillery Force of our group army will arrive one after another in a few hours, I feel very uncomfortable when I think that povsky only let them carry one base ammunition, so I asked rather discontentedly: "this kind of artillery shell is OK for defense, if it is used for attack, it is far from enough. Do you forget how much we paid for the lack of shells when we attacked fastif? "


    "Comrade commander." Povsky, who was criticized by me, said with some embarrassment: "it''s not that I don''t want the artillery to bring more ammunition, but that the shells that the superior promised to supply were not in place. Even the ammunition of this base number was pieced together by me, so I left two howitzer regiments in Smolensk. "


    After listening to povsky''s explanation, I found that I had wronged him. Just as I wanted to apologize to him, the telephone on my desk rang suddenly. Akhromeyev picked up the phone and said, "Hello, this is the headquarters of the group army. Where are you?" What, are you the commander of the front army Hello, comrade commander, what instructions do you have Yes, she is. Just a moment, please. I''ll put her on the phone right now... "


    Akhromeyev covered the microphone with his hand and said to me in a low voice, "Comrade commander, it''s the telephone of the commander of the front army."


    I quickly stood up, took the microphone from akhromeyev''s hand, put it in my ear and said respectfully, "Hello, commander of the front army, do you have any instructions?"


    After laughing twice, rokosovsky said apologetically, "Rita, I''m sorry to wake you up."


    "Never mind, I haven''t slept yet." After being polite, I repeated the question again: "do you have any instructions?"


    "Well," rokosovsky continued, "in order for our troops to return to kalinkovich, it is necessary for you to establish a joint headquarters with general Batov''s 65th army to command the troops in the area."


    My heart sank when I heard about rokosovsky''s advance of the joint command. However, in this case, I had to smile and say, "don''t worry, comrade commander of the front army, my troops and I will certainly, under the command of general Batov, beat the enemy head-on and beat them to pieces."


    "Batov command?" Rokosovsky said a little puzzled: "when do I say to let general Batov command?"


    From what rokosovsky said, I could see that he didn''t mean to let Batov be the head of the joint command. I couldn''t help but feel ecstatic and said, does he intend to let me take the overall responsibility? Thinking of this, I tentatively asked: "commander of the front army, I don''t know who will be in charge of the joint command?"


    "Who else? You, of course Rokosovsky said in an indisputable tone: "although you are junior, your prestige in the army is not as good as general Batov. But he is far inferior to you when it comes to commanding operations. After much deliberation and approval from Marshal Zhukov, I have decided that you will be in charge of this joint command. "


    "Great, that''s great." Knowing that I could be in charge of the joint forces, I was overjoyed and couldn''t help saying to myself, "then I can arrange the attack according to my own wishes."


    "Rita, I''m here to remind you," rokosovsky said solemnly, "although the German army has begun to decline under a series of attacks from our army. But they will never give up, so we should always be vigilant. This time Batov was beaten away by the German army because he felt that the enemy was about to lose, so he took it lightly and was caught off guard by the enemy. "


    "Comrade commander, please rest assured." I said to rokosovsky: "I will never have the idea of belittling the enemy because of the series of victories the army has won. In the next battle, we will continue to destroy the enemy. "


    As soon as I finished my call with rokosovsky, I called Batov and told him about rokosovsky''s decision. I want to tell him that I am the head of the joint command, and I has the final say in the direction and timing of the attack.


    After daybreak, I called nikolasov and sherekin respectively, and told them to push slowly towards svelogorsk. No one was allowed to attack until the artillery arrived.


    In order to facilitate the command, after consulting with Batov, I decided to temporarily form three divisions of the 65th group army into the third echelon. They will attack from the southwest of svelogorsk.


    After arranging the offensive task, Batov asked me, "Comrade oshanina, I don''t know where our headquarters should be located, whether to stay in the city or close to the front line?"


    After thinking about it, I feel that there is no need to move the headquarters forward in a hurry before so many troops arrive. Thinking of this, I said to him with a smile: "general Batov, I think the headquarters should be set up in the city first. After our troops have captured svetogorsk, we can move the headquarters forward."


    Batov obviously didn''t expect me to reply him like this. After a long hesitation, he nodded and said, "well, comrade oshanina, since you think it''s more appropriate for the headquarters to stay in zherov, I agree with you."


    Although he said that he agreed with my proposal, I still felt a little helpless from his tone. It seemed that I was sorry that the headquarters could not be located near the front line. I know that according to the tradition of the Soviet army, the division level headquarters are usually located about 300 meters away from the front line positions where the fighting is most intense; The headquarters of the group army is a little far away from the battlefield, but it is definitely no more than two kilometers. Only the German headquarters would be located far away from the battlefield.


    Instead of thinking too much about what Batov was thinking about, I was staring at the map and thinking about how to capture Svetlogorsk. According to the information I received this morning, the German army had built several solid lines of defense around the city, and there was a division in the city. If we don''t come up with a practical way, the troops will pay a high price when they attack the city.


    Seeing that I had been staring at the map and not talking, Batov could not help asking: "Comrade oshanina, there are solid fortifications around svelogorsk. If we do not have concrete sabotage bombs, it is very difficult to destroy these reinforced concrete fortifications."


    I quite agree with Batov''s statement. For example, most of the fortifications in the positions outside the city of zhylobin were still intact after two successive long-term German shelling. If we want to rush into the city, we must destroy all the German fortifications outside the city.


    I scratched the back of my head and asked Batov with some headache, "Comrade General, do you have any good way to quickly clean up these enemy fortifications?"


    "There are two ways." Batov thought for a moment, then said to me: "first, the German defense positions to carry out a long period of shelling..."


    "No, the German army has strong fortifications outside the city. This method will not cause much damage to the enemy except wasting shells." I also specially stressed: "don''t forget that the enemy used to bombard our Fortifications on the outskirts of zherobin for two consecutive days, but most of them are still intact. Moreover, the number of shells we have is limited. Even if we want to carry out intensive shelling on the German army, it is very difficult. "


    "The second way is to apply to the higher authorities for a batch of concrete sabotage bombs." Seeing that I denied my first proposal, Batov added, "in this way, the enemy''s fortifications can be destroyed on a large scale."


    After he finished, I crossed my hands on my chin and seriously thought about which of the two solutions proposed by Batov is more suitable.


    "Comrade commander, can I have a word?" Seeing that I was lost in thought, povsky quickly raised his voice and said, "as an artillery commander, I believe I have a very strong voice."


    "Yes, general povsky, when it comes to artillery, no one here can match you." I nodded and laughed at him, and then said, "tell me, let''s all listen to your opinions."


    "At the beginning of the war, we had a lot of fortresses in Ukraine, and the fortifications were made of reinforced concrete." Povsky said with a sad face: "we originally thought that the troops could hold fast in the above areas for at least half a month, but in fact, these concrete works were all lost after holding fast for less than one day."


    I didn''t know what povsky said before, so I was surprised and asked, "Comrade General, what''s going on? Why do we sometimes fail to attack German positions for ten days and a half months, but they attack us so easily? "


    "The German army has special shock troops, which are specially used to break through the solid fortifications of our army." In order to convince me, Batov, who has rich combat experience, gave me an example: "the commando team is composed of engineers and light artillery. However, after encountering our fortifications, they usually bombard our blockhouses with artillery fire to suppress our firepower, and then engineers come forward to throw grenades into the shooting holes to kill all the commanders and fighters inside. Finally, they sent out flame throwers to blow fire at the shooting holes of the blockhouse, and burned all the wounded or the remaining fighters inside. "


    Batov''s words made me feel stunned. What he said is similar to what I often emphasize about "bayonet on cannon". Before I could speak, Batov continued: "later, the German army replaced the original artillery with assault guns. This kind of weapon, unlike tanks, had to appear in groups. Instead, it was used as an auxiliary tool to cover the attack of infantry. After encountering the fortifications of our army, they were fired by assault guns aiming at the fire points, and then the engineers and flame soldiers added explosives and flame throwers to wipe out the people in the fortifications. " After listening, I looked at Batov and asked, "so what can we do to deal with them?"¡° Unfortunately, there seems to be no particularly effective way Batov said with a wry smile: "the contents of our fortifications are too narrow. The commanders and fighters who stay in them can''t move at all. Once they encounter the enemy''s assault tactics, they can basically stay in them and wait for death." After listening to Batov''s introduction, I had some idea how to capture the German peripheral positions. I turned to povsky and said, "artillery commander, we can also use this method to break through the German defense zone and rush to the city of svelogorsk as quickly as possible."¡° This can only be tried. " After finishing these words, povsky saw an expression of discord on my face and quickly explained: "this time we came here, we only carried heavy guns, not 76.2 mm guns suitable for attack." Seeing my sad face, Batov suddenly said, "by the way, comrade oshanina, don''t you have a self-propelled artillery regiment? If they are placed only a few hundred meters away from the enemy''s position to destroy the enemy''s fortifications, I think it is quite good. "¡° That''s right, that''s right. " After listening to Batov''s proposal, povsky said excitedly: "how can I forget our self-propelled artillery regiment. With them, it''s easy to clear the German positions outside the city. "

 Chapter 1382

    With the entry of artillery troops, the advance speed of the first and second echelons was greatly accelerated. By two o''clock in the afternoon, the troops of the second echelon had reached an area only ten kilometers away from svelogorsk. Here, even without a telescope, you can clearly see the German fortifications.


    When Batov heard that our vanguard troops had reached the approach of svelogorsk, he could not sit still. He urged, "Comrade oshanina, maybe in an hour or two our troops will launch an attack on svelogorsk. As the commander of the army, we set our headquarters in zhelobin, which is tens of kilometers away from the battlefield. Do you think this is appropriate? "


    Batov said this because rokosovsky once taught his subordinates that only when a commander is with his soldiers can he boost morale and make the troops more cohesive. I knew that if I didn''t agree, he would move rokosovsky out and convince me.


    After a brief weighing, I nodded and agreed, "well, general Batov, since you say so, let''s go to the front."


    After an hour''s journey, our team came to the outskirts of svelogorsk. As I had contacted Xie Liujin before departure, when we arrived, the headquarters for us was ready.


    It''s a semi buried shelter. You can enter the newly built trench through the traffic trench, or go to an observation post built on a nearby hillside. When we walked into the spacious headquarters, we found that there were more than a dozen school level officers besides the staff.


    When I saw some strange officers coming up to Batov and raising their hands to salute him, I guessed that they must be his men, the commanders of the third echelon.


    After I asked everyone to sit down, I said to them, "comrades, in a little while, we will launch an attack on svelogorsk. Now major ahlomeyev, director of operations of the group army, will announce the order of attack to you."


    Seeing that all eyes were focused on themselves, akhromeyev coughed softly, then took out a long prepared order and read it aloud: "after the artillery preparation, the second echelon first attacked svetlogersk from the north and East; The third echelon attacked from the south. "


    After akhromeyev finished reading out the troops, I stood up from my seat, supported the edge of the table with both hands, leaned forward slightly, scanned all the people with my eyes, and said in a stable tone, "the order has been read out. Do you have any questions?"


    "Comrade commander," the first one to stand up was major general nikolasov, commander of the 52nd division of Jinwei. He shrunk his mouth and asked, "what is the combat mission of our division?"


    Hearing his question, I asked in surprise, "why, comrade general, didn''t you just hear the order read out by the major?"


    "I hear you." With an unnatural expression, nikolasov said, "you know, the combat effectiveness of our division is very good in the group army, but why should we be the reserve team in this battle?"


    "Comrade General, I told you yesterday that the current position of your division is behind the second echelon." As for niekrasov''s query, I said lightly: "if you are transferred to attack now, it will cause unnecessary confusion. So you''d better wait patiently for our army to break through the peripheral positions of the German army, and then you can take your troops to fight in the street with the German army. "


    "Comrade General, may I ask you a question?" As soon as Nekrasov sat down, one of Batov''s teachers stood up and asked respectfully, "I want to ask why we only attack from the north, the East and the south, and only leave the west?"


    "Fool, it''s called Wai San que Yi." After murmuring in my heart, I raised my head and explained to the elder division commander, "Comrade division commander, at present there are three German divisions in svelogorsk, two of which are outside the city and one in the city. If we encircle the city, when the enemy is attacked by us, they will cut off their retreat and fight us to the end. But if we deliberately leave a gap as a way for them to escape, then the enemy''s will to resist our attack will be greatly reduced. If the situation is a little unfavorable to them, they may abandon the city and flee. "


    "So it is." After hearing this, the old teacher nodded and said with a smile, "now I understand everything. Thank you, Comrade General!"


    Batov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he stood up and announced: "since the tasks are clear, everyone should go back to the army and get ready for the battle as soon as possible. When our artillery preparation is over, we will immediately attack svelogorsk."


    Looking at the commanders leaving the headquarters, I turned and asked povsky, who was sitting at the table, "Comrade artillery commander, I don''t know when we can start shelling the enemy?"


    "Four o''clock at the latest." Povsky replied: "at present, the artillery regiments are building shooting positions, which takes time."


    "Four o''clock?" Batov could not help frowning. He murmured: "even if the shelling lasts for an hour, the army''s attack will not start until around five o''clock."


    "Yes, general Batov." If the troops really attack at five o''clock, even if they rush into the city within an hour, it will be dark by then. In this way, our troops had to fight the German army in the dark night¡° Swetrogorsk is a small city. Our five divisions rush into the city at the same time. With the German division in the city, tens of thousands of people will rush into the city. Will it be too crowded then? "


    After listening to me, Batov shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "it''s hard to say whether so many troops will rush into the city and cause congestion. But I know that there are at least 30000 residents in the city. I don''t know how many people will survive this battle. "


    Batov''s words made my heart sink. Although I''ve spent a lot of time in the past few months attacking cities and plundering land, the residents of those cities who have fought have long been moved to other places by Manstein, so I can''t concentrate on fighting. Now there are more than 30000 residents in the small town, which makes me feel like a rat.


    After thinking about it, I said decisively to Batov, "general Batov, since there are so many residents in the city, our five divisions will rush into the city to fight in the street, which is bound to cause or cause a large number of civilian casualties..."


    "Well, comrade o''shanina." Batov said with a wry smile: "I also know that fighting like this will cause huge casualties to civilians, but there is no way. After all, this is war, and there are no undead people in war."


    "But we have to find a way to minimize civilian casualties." As soon as my words came out, I immediately thought of a way and said to Batov, "general Batov, I have come up with a way to annihilate a large number of German forces and reduce the casualties of civilians in the city."


    "Oh, comrade o''shanina, do you have a good idea?" Batov''s eyes lit up when he heard what I said. He couldn''t wait to ask, "come on, what''s the best way?"


    "It''s very simple. We''ll get the enemy out of the city." I said with a clear mind, "then we will wipe them out in large numbers on their peripheral positions."


    Batov thought that I had a good way to break the sky. When I said this, he immediately said with interest: "Comrade oshanina, the enemy is not a fool. How can we obey our orders and transfer our troops to the defensive positions outside the city so that we can eliminate them?"


    "To achieve this goal, the key is that we should take the initiative to fight a positional offensive and defensive war with the Germans."


    "Positional offensive and defensive warfare?" As for what I said, Batov became more and more confused. He asked mistily, "Comrade oshanina, I am confused by you. Can you tell me what is positional offensive and defensive warfare?"


    "General Batov, please listen to me." I think of an old movie that I saw a long time ago. In order not to destroy the city and cause civilian casualties, the attacking troops planned to send all the enemies outside the city to annihilate them. Now I plan to draw the same picture: "I plan not to attack the city for the time being after the troops break through the enemy''s peripheral defense line. When the enemy in the city goes out of the city to counterattack, I will order the troops to withdraw from the position after resistance and bring the German counterattack troops into the position we let out. "


    When I said this, Batov, who had rich combat experience, immediately understood. He said tentatively, "Comrade oshanina, if I am not wrong, you want to wipe out all the Germans with artillery fire and infantry attack after they re-enter these positions."


    "That''s right," I said with a nod. "As long as the enemy''s forces are consumed in a large number of positions outside the city, the street fighting will be too fierce when our troops rush into the city."


    "Well, let''s pass on the latest orders to our teachers." Batov looked at the empty door and said with some regret, "if you had thought of this plan earlier, you could deploy it directly to the teachers. Unexpectedly, now we can only call them next to each other and re deploy them. "


    Seeing Batov''s words, I was ready to get up and make a phone call. I quickly stopped him. "General Batov, you see, I''m not familiar with your three teachers. I''m afraid that if I give them orders directly, they won''t pay attention to it," he said in a deliberative tone


    "No problem, leave it to me." "I''ll explain to them why," Batov said voluntarily


    I first called Xie Liujin. Unexpectedly, as soon as he heard the beginning, he immediately called out: "no, no, comrade commander, since we have broken through the German peripheral positions, how can we not continue to rush to the city? I assure you that if you let our division into the city, it will destroy all the German troops in the city by noon tomorrow at the latest. "


    "General sherekin." I snorted coldly, and then said impolitely, "don''t forget that there are 30000 ordinary people in the city. If they die for nothing because of the street fight between us and the Germans, will your conscience live well?"


    "This... This..." hearing my rhetorical question, Xie Liujin hesitated. After a long time, he murmured: "in order to liberate our motherland, no matter how much we pay, we will think it is worth it."¡° If we can find a way to minimize the casualties of urban residents, why not try this method? " Seeing that Xie Liujin''s mind could not turn around, I patiently convinced him: "even saving one more person is a great victory. At least when your children and grandchildren are full in the future, when they ask you what you should be proud of during the Great Patriotic War. You can tell them with pride that you used special tactics to save the lives of countless civilians from the hands of the Germans. " My words, let Xie Liujin into meditation. However, he did not think for a long time, then decisively replied: "Comrade commander, I understand everything. As long as we do not attack the city immediately after breaking through the German peripheral positions, the enemy will have the illusion that we have no ability to win the city, so that they can boldly counter us. While we pretended to give up our positions during their counterattack. When they regrouped in these positions, we used artillery fire and ground attack to consume a lot of their living strength and relieve the pressure for us to liberate the city in the next step. "¡° That''s right, that''s right. "Seeing that Xie Liujin guessed my whole plan before he listened to what I said, I couldn''t help but say with joy," this is my plan. The more enemies we destroy outside the city, the weaker resistance we will encounter when our troops rush into the city and fight with the enemy in the future. "¡° Comrade commander, "Xie Liujin said after I finished, he volunteered to me:" I''ll be responsible for giving orders to Nekrasov. He is stubborn. As long as my old friend persuades me, he will probably be able to listen. As for Mr. chejerikov and Mr. Lukin, it''s up to you to inform them. After all, they are your old subordinates, and they can listen to what you say. "¡° Well, Comrade Xie Liujin, that''s settled. " Since someone is willing to take the initiative to help me, I can''t wait for it. In this way, I can spend less time explaining the task.

 Chapter 1383

    When I was about to call Lukin, I suddenly remembered something. I put the receiver I had picked up on the base of the phone again, looked at Batov and asked curiously, "general Batov, I want to ask you how you drove away the enemy in the city when you captured svelogorsk some time ago."


    Batov shook his head and said with a smile: "when we attacked, the German army ran away. It can be said that without fighting, we successfully entered svelogorsk."


    After listening to Batov''s words, I can''t help feeling a little unbalanced. These damned Germans ran away without firing a shot when they were fighting with the 65th army; Now my troops have laid heavy troops outside the city, and they are ready to fight against me.


    Perhaps aware of my mood swings, Batov quickly added: "at that time, the German forces were too limited to stop our attack, so they had to retreat. But in the process of retreat, they used special railcars to cut all the sleepers on the railway into two sections, which made it impossible for us to transport troops and materials through the railway for quite a long time. "


    The German army''s practice is very vicious. They cut off the sleepers, which is much better than simply blasting the roadbed or scraping the rails. If our army wants to resume the railway transportation, it needs to lay the rails and sleepers again. That''s a lot of work. At least in a month or two, we will no longer be able to use the railway for transportation, but we will not be able to transport the soldiers and materials, It can only be carried out through roads with poor road conditions.


    Without waiting for me to call Lukin or nikolasov, rokosovsky called first. He asked bluntly, "Rita, are you close to Batov in svelogorsk?"


    I took a look at bartov sitting next to me. He obviously heard rokosovsky''s voice. He immediately focused on me and looked at me quietly without saying a word. I rushed to the microphone and said, "yes, comrade commander of the front army, general Batov and I are in the forefront."


    "Tell me about your situation there." Although rokosovsky received our report, in order to grasp the situation on the front line more accurately, he asked with concern: "when can you launch an attack on the enemy?"


    "The artillery will bombard the German positions on the outskirts of the city at four o''clock." I took no time to report to rokosovsky our operational plan: "after the shelling, the 52nd guard division and the 375TH Infantry Division will attack from the north and east of the city respectively; The three divisions of the 65th army launched attacks from the south of the city. "


    After I finished my report, rokosovsky asked directly, "Rita, it''s getting dark early now. It will be completely dark around six o''clock. Are you going to let our five divisions fight the German army at night in the city? Svelogorsk is a small city. It is estimated that it will be difficult for so many of our troops to enter it. At that time, it will not only affect the fighting process, but also cause unnecessary casualties. "


    "Comrade commander, I have taken into account what you said." "Although I gave orders to the troops to attack, they would not fight at night with the Germans," I said


    "Not to fight at night with the Germans?" My words confused rokosovsky. He asked, "Rita, I''m confused by you. Please explain to me what''s going on?"


    "Well, comrade commander of the front army." I politely replied, "you should know that there are still 30000 residents in the city. Their houses are too crowded to withstand our shells. Besides, the population in the city is so dense that if a shell goes down, it will cause many casualties. Of course, there are Germans, but more of them should be our civilians. "


    After listening to my explanation, rokosovsky hesitated for a moment, and then said with deep feeling, "yes, it''s not easy to fight this battle, not only to destroy the enemy, but also to preserve the city and ensure the safety of civilians. Do you have any good ideas? "


    "That''s my plan. As soon as the shelling is over, I will order the troops to launch a fierce attack on the German defensive positions outside the city, seize the first German line of defense before dark, and then stop the attack. "


    "Stop attacking?" Rokosovsky asked in a puzzled way: "since you have successfully captured the first German defense line, why don''t you take advantage of the victory, continue to capture their second and third defense lines, and then rush directly into the city?"


    "Comrade commander of the front army," seeing that rokosovsky did not guess my intention, I was slightly disappointed, but patiently explained to him, "if we stop attacking after seizing the first line of defense of the German army and reinforce the fortifications in place, the German army will certainly concentrate its superior forces to carry out the counterattack. We can rely on our positions and consume a large amount of the enemy''s living strength. When we run into the city again when their strength is exhausted, the resistance we encounter will be greatly weakened. "


    "Well, you have a good plan." After my words, rokosovsky immediately agreed, "if we do this, we can annihilate a large number of enemies outside the city, making our next siege easier. Good, good, just do as you say. "


    The plan was supported by rokosovsky, which made me more confident. After I put down the phone, I said to Batov with a smile, "general Batov, the commander has agreed to our plan, striving to destroy the enemy in large numbers outside the city, so as to prepare us for seizing svelogorsk."


    Next, I called nikolasov and Lukin respectively to inform them of the new plan. Lu Jin is good to say that, after all, he is my old subordinate for many years. As soon as I finish, he immediately and unambiguously said that he would follow my instructions.


    After listening to my explanation, he said carelessly, "Comrade commander, if you are worried that there are too many troops swarming into the city and you can''t do it, you might as well send our division to fight alone in the street. I promise you that we can wipe out the enemies in the city."


    "General Nekrasov." I don''t support whether sherekin has passed through the gap with Nekrasov. However, seeing that he is a little ungrateful at the moment, I can''t help but say angrily: "don''t forget that the German army still has a division in the city. Although they have been weakened in the battle, I don''t think they have any problem in dealing with your division. If this battle is affected by your disobedience, I will punish you severely. "


    Nikolasov may have never seen me angry. At this moment, he was a little flustered when he heard my tone was very severe. He said quickly, "Comrade commander, you misunderstood me. I didn''t mean that I also want to wipe out a few more Germans... Well, I will obey your order. When the troops have captured the first German line of defense, we will stop attacking and reinforce the fortifications in place. "


    When the roar came from outside, Batov was somewhat worried about gain and loss: "Comrade oshanina, if the German did not fight back against my position, but chose to retreat directly? What shall we do then? "


    "It would be great if the Germans could take the initiative to withdraw from swetrogorsk." As for Batov''s worry, I said with disapproval: "in this way, we don''t have to worry about destroying the buildings in the city and causing huge casualties to the civilians in the street fighting."


    After receiving a phone call, akhromeyev turned to me and asked for instructions: "Comrade commander, the convoy carrying shells has arrived. Let them stop here, or send them directly to the artillery position? "


    "It''s no use saying that, comrade major." I raised my hand and looked at my watch. The shelling had been going on for more than ten minutes. The artillery regiment used the little shells they were carrying. If they didn''t replenish them in time, the artillery preparation would have to stop. So when I heard that the convoy was arriving, I immediately ordered: "let the convoy send the shells to the artillery position. General povsky should be worried about the shortage of shells. These shells can just solve his urgent need."


    "I see." Akhromeyev released his hand on the microphone and said in a loud voice: "Comrade commander has an order that the convoy immediately send the shells to the artillery position."


    The shelling of the German army lasted for 40 minutes, followed by another salvo from the rocket battalion, enveloping the enemy''s position in flames and smoke.


    Batov turned to look at me and said solemnly, "can we start?"


    I didn''t speak, just nodded slightly.


    After Batov got my instructions, he turned to ahlomeyev, who had been holding the microphone, and said, "major, let''s go!"


    Akhromeyev immediately said in a loud voice to the microphone: "Comrade commander orders: attack all lines!"


    After less than a minute, there was a tsunami like "Wula" outside the headquarters, which was the roar of the commanders and fighters who took part in the attack.


    At the beginning of the attack, Batov and I stood at the lookout, raised our binoculars and watched the attack nervously. In my view, the unit that launched an attack on the German position where the smoke of gunfire had not yet dissipated was lieutenant colonel Lukin''s 375TH infantry division. As the starting point of the attack was more than two kilometers away from the enemy''s position, the soldiers rushed straight forward and tried to rush to the enemy''s position as soon as possible. At the back of the army were soldiers with Maxim heavy machine guns or mortars, whose speed was seriously affected by the heavy equipment.


    The German army kept silent until our troops were 500 meters away, and the mortar on the position opened fire first. The shells fall in the attack line and explode, resulting in the air waves and flying shrapnel, which will lift or directly knock down the commanders and fighters near the explosion point.


    The speed of charge of the commanders and fighters did not slow down at all because of the enemy''s shelling, and they continued to rush bravely to the enemy''s positions. When they were still 100 meters away from the enemy''s position, all kinds of weapons on the position opened fire together and stormed the attacking soldiers, forcing them to lie down on the spot.


    The mortars behind the attack team immediately set up the mortars and fired at the rampant fire points. As the German machine gun fire point after point was killed by our mortars, the German position''s firepower weakened. The soldiers who had to crawl because the enemy''s firepower was too fierce jumped up from the ground one after another and rushed to the enemy''s position with weapons.


    "Good job!" Seeing this, Batov put down his telescope, turned to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, the tactics are good. I don''t think in a few minutes, they will be able to rush into the first line of defense of the German army and fight with the enemy in the trench." As long as the troops can rush into the German trenches, I believe it will not be difficult for them to seize the enemy''s positions with their existing equipment and the ability of white-edge warfare. After I nodded, I told akhromeyev, "major, call general Nekrasov and ask how they are doing?" As akhromeyev went to make a phone call, Batov gave me a smile and then said to me, "Comrade oshanina, I''ll also call those teachers and ask them how things are there."¡° Well, go and fight. " When I saw Batov pick up the phone, I specially added: "let them not attack too hard, just occupy the first line of defense of the German army, and don''t go on."¡° Don''t worry, comrade oshanina. " Bartov said with a smile, "I''ll let them take it easy. I won''t scare the Krauts out of town." I watched from a distance as akhromeyev put down the phone and walked towards me. Although I didn''t hear what he said, I knew from the joy on his face that he must have brought me good news. Sure enough, he came up to me and said with a happy face: "Comrade commander, general nikolasov has reported that his vanguard regiment has rushed into the enemy''s trench and is now engaged in a white-edged battle. In half an hour at most, they will be sure to seize the position." After listening to his report, I smile, then look down at the map in front of me, thinking to myself: "now we have occupied the first line of defense in the north, and Lukin''s troops can also rush into the enemy''s position. As for the south side, I don''t have to worry any more. After all, there are three divisions there. There is no problem in completing the offensive task I set. In this way, the German forces besieged on three sides were forced to make a choice, either to counterattack us or to retreat from the west without our army. "

 Chapter 1384

    To the north and East are my two infantry divisions. Their progress is very smooth. In less than an hour, they successfully captured the first line of defense in both directions. However, the situation in the South was surprisingly bad. The attack of the three divisions was defeated by the Germans.


    When akhromeyev reported the news to me, I was shocked. According to the previous reconnaissance, the enemy forces in the South were far less than those in the north and East. It is reasonable to say that as long as our attacks in these two directions are effective, the enemy forces in the South will be even less worried.


    I turned to look at Batov and said in a bit of surprise, "general Batov, I didn''t expect that the German army actually repulsed the attack of our third echelon and held the position in the south."


    "What the hell is going on?" When Batov heard the news, he agreed to be surprised. He rushed to the telephone, and without saying a word, he called his subordinates to ask them for their crimes. He angrily asked, "a friendly division can capture the German peripheral positions, but you are three divisions, but you can''t take the enemy positions. Can any of you tell me why? "


    Because of the distance, I couldn''t hear what he said to Batov, but from his increasingly ugly face, it was certainly not good news.


    When he put down the phone, he walked back to me with a black face and sat down. After a while of sulking, he raised his head and said to me, "Comrade o''shanina, I have found out the reason why the army failed to attack. First, after a period of continuous fighting, the troops were not only severely reduced, but also exhausted; Second, there were too many solid Fortifications on the German positions, which were not completely destroyed by the shelling. As a result, when our army attacked, these surviving fortifications caused us great casualties. Moreover, the third most important point is that because the three divisions did not have a unified command, they fought separately in the battle. As a result, the Germans seized the opportunity and launched a fierce counterattack under the cover of tanks, repelling our offensive forces. "


    After finding out the reasons for the defeat of the third echelon, I nodded and said to Batov, "general Batov, the way of attack in the South should be appropriately adjusted. The original simultaneous attack of the three divisions should be replaced by repeated attacks. I don''t believe that the German forces can block the continuous attacks of our troops."


    After listening to me, Batov looked at the sky outside and said carefully, "Comrade oshanina, don''t you mean to stop attacking after dark? Now it''s dark outside, do you want to fight with the German army at night? "


    "Yes, I said that in the dark, the troops stopped attacking. But... "I looked at Batov and said in a more emphatic tone," but that was after our army successfully captured the first German line of defense. Since the troops in the South have not succeeded in seizing the German positions, let them continue to attack. Anyway, we can''t let the Germans have a good sleep tonight. "


    "Well, it should be. It should be." Batov said awkwardly: "it''s all my subordinates'' failure to fight, which has affected the progress of the whole battle. I will call the division leaders and inform them to continue to fight with the German army at night."


    Batov stood up and was about to call his subordinates again when akhromeyev, who had just received the call, came over quickly and reported to us, "comrades, two commanders, I have just received a report from the scouts that I found a troop due north of us and it is approaching us quickly."


    "What, troops are approaching us?" Akhromeyev''s intelligence startled me and Batov. I couldn''t wait to ask, "did the scouts find out what troops are coming, the German army or our army?"


    "It''s our army." Seeing the confused expression on our faces, akhromeyev added: "the scouts have verified that they are from two divisions of the 11th army. They should have been ordered to support us. I want to ask, "where should they be deployed?"


    "What do you say, comrade oshanina?" Instead of being a good advocate, Batov turned to me for advice¡° This attack has the final say of you. What you should deploy is what you have to say. "


    There were seven divisions of German troops rushing to zhylobin. In the two days of fighting, we annihilated one division and defeated one division. Now we surrounded three divisions, and the remaining two divisions retreated to the West. It is for this reason that I did not put all the troops into combat when I deployed the offensive mission, but left two divisions of the first echelon as reserves.


    After a day''s fighting, I found that the German army had no intention of breaking through the siege at all, and the original siege of sanque did not make a fuss. I looked down at the map for a while, then looked up and said to Batov in a deliberative tone, "general Batov, you are more familiar with the commanders and fighters of the 11th group army than I am. Can you send a liaison officer to contact the division commanders of the friendly army, so that they can deploy their troops in the west of the city and completely cut off the retreat of the German army?"


    "When the Germans see that they are besieged, will they risk breaking out westward?" Batov said with a little worry: "even if the friendly forces arrive in the west of the city, it is difficult to build any fortifications in a hurry. In this way, the success rate of the enemy''s breakthrough will be very high."


    "It''s not a bad thing for us that the Germans break through." I pointed to the map and said, "you see, except for the forests around the city, the roads from here to kalinkovych are smooth. As long as the enemy enters this area, we can use the air force or artillery to destroy them."


    "I see." Batov then quickly walked to the door, called out to the outside, called an accompanying staff officer, and gave him a few orders in a low voice. The staff officer nodded and soon disappeared from my view.


    Although it was dark, the friendly offensive from the South was still going on. When the crafty German noticed that the troops in the north and East had occupied the first line of defense, they stopped moving forward and just stayed in place to reinforce the fortifications. The German commander then transferred troops from the east to support the troops in the south.


    After a fierce battle, a division of the third echelon finally occupied the first trench of the German army. However, before they got a firm foothold, the German reinforcements launched a crazy counterattack against them under the cover of tanks and armored vehicles. Under the fierce attack of the German army, the division had to give up the position it had won with countless blood and returned to the starting point of the attack.


    After receiving the report from the division commander, Batov said to me solemnly: "Comrade oshanina, the German commander saw that our troops in the East and North, after seizing the first line of defense, stopped attacking and stayed where they were, so he boldly dispatched troops from these two directions to reinforce the area under attack."


    I stared at the map and thought for a moment, then said decisively: "general Batov, since the enemy situation has changed, our tactics also need to be adjusted accordingly. Major ahlomeyev. "


    Hearing my voice, akhromeyev immediately came over and stood straight in front of me, waiting to accept the task I was about to assign.


    "Major, record the order," I said without looking up, "order major general nikolasov and lieutenant commander Lukin to launch an attack on the second German position within half an hour. Remember, if you want to fight hard, the enemy will have to withdraw all the troops sent to the south, so as to relieve the pressure on the commanders and fighters of the third echelon. "


    "Comrade commander," akhromeyev asked cautiously after recording my orders, "what if we can''t let the enemy withdraw our troops in our attack?"


    I looked up at akhromeyev in front of me and said with a cold snort, "if the German troops don''t come back, let Nekrasov take down the enemy''s second and third lines of defense and put on a posture of rushing into the city to see if the Germans are in a panic."


    Looking at akhromeyev who is talking on the phone, I can''t help sneering. My heart says that you have a good plan and I have a ladder to cross the wall. Since you see that my troops in the East and North are standing still, you will send troops to reinforce the south. Then I will let the troops in the East and North attack again when you are empty, forcing you to withdraw your troops. Although I know little about Sun Tzu''s art of war, I still know how to use it.


    The East and North troops launched another attack, which not only made the German troops in the city panic, but also made the first echelon of scheliujin unable to sit still. He called me and said with grievances, "Comrade commander, you didn''t mean our troops didn''t take part in the field, why did they suddenly open up again?"


    "Comrade Xie Liujin, the situation has changed. When the German army saw that the troops of our group army had won the first line of defense, they did not move. They sent their troops to support the enemy in the south, which frustrated the attack of our friendly forces." I knew in my heart that he must have heard the gunfire, so I couldn''t help it and wanted to lead the troops to fight against the German army. However, considering that it was not time to use them, I gave him a preventive injection in advance: "however, we have enough troops for attack now. You''d better stay where you are. I''ll let you know when to transfer you up. "


    With that, I hung up without waiting for him to speak. Batov asked me psychologically: "Comrade oshanina, I think we should send troops to support the troops in the south, not to let the troops in the north and East attack. I think the effect of doing so is limited. "


    "Don''t worry, general Batov." Although Batov was skeptical of my arrangement, I was full of confidence. The things left by my ancestors proved to be fully applicable through countless practical tests. They were more than enough to deal with the German troops who were not familiar with my way of fighting. "No matter whether they would withdraw the troops transferred to the South, at least when they were attacked by us, They will not send another soldier to the south. "


    Seeing that I was so confident, Batov said with a dry smile, "Comrade oshanina, since you are so sure, I believe your judgment must be correct."


    Batov said he trusted me, but in his heart he was like 15 buckets of water. From time to time, he stood up, walked back and forth in the headquarters, even ran to the door several times, anxiously holding out, as if waiting for someone.


    Worry comes from worry. The next development of things is almost in accordance with my judgment. When the German commander saw that our army in the East and North had launched a new attack, he was deeply afraid that the position would be broken through, so he immediately sent troops to reinforce these two aspects. As for the enemy in the south, although they did not withdraw, they could not be supplemented by a single soldier.


    The tactics I have formulated are to try every means to eliminate as many German troops as possible outside the city of svelogorsk, so that when the troops rush into the city and fight against the severely weakened German troops, the civilian casualties can be minimized. I also made a special phone call to povsky and told him to keep in touch with the divisions at the front. Once the infantry needed artillery support, he would support them with artillery. Povsky took my order very seriously. Lukin''s troops were also attacked by German tanks after they successfully captured the second line of defense. Lukin made a phone call to povsky. In less than two minutes, dense shells fell in the middle of the German line. In the fierce artillery attack, the German tanks were like toys, either burned or overturned by the air waves. As for the infantry, they were slaughtered. As soon as a shell fell down, the German soldiers near the bombing site were blown to pieces. With the strong support of the artillery, the German troops who counterattacked the Lukin position were repulsed. In front of the position, there were more than 20 burning tanks and more than 300 bodies. After hearing Lu Jin''s report, I said to him excitedly, "good job, comrade commander. You''ve played really well. If you go on fighting like this, you must wipe out all the Germans who are trying to recapture their positions on the way of attack. " At two o''clock in the morning, Batov''s liaison officer called and reported to him, "Comrade commander, the two divisions of the 11th group army have been deployed in the west of the city. They are building fortifications." Batov put down the phone, looked down at the map, then slapped it hard, and said excitedly, "it''s all surrounded. The Germans in the city can''t escape. They''re waiting for us to destroy them."

 Chapter 1385

    The German army not only attacked the position of the Lukin division in the east of the city, but also constantly sent out infantry, under the cover of tanks, to attack the defense area of the sherekin division in the north of the city, in an attempt to recover their lost position at one stroke.


    Seeing that all three sides of the city were in full swing, Batov sighed with relief and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, it seems that you have guessed it right. In order to regain their lost positions, the German army is madly fighting back against our army. If it was in the past, in order to beat back their attack, we may pay a great price. But today''s situation is different. Our artillery can use artillery fire to intercept the enemy in attack and give them a lot of damage. When their defeated soldiers barely rush to our positions, our soldiers in the trenches can easily defeat them. "


    I beamed at him and said, "general Batov, you''re a great credit to our troops for playing so well."


    "My credit is the greatest?" When he heard my praise, Batov was a little embarrassed. He said with a dry smile, "you are always in charge of commanding the army. I don''t seem to have done anything. Where do you start?"


    "If you didn''t have the shells you lent us," I said with deep feeling, listening to the rumble of artillery from outside the headquarters, "it is estimated that our artillery can only watch the infantry soldiers fighting repeatedly with the enemy in the position at such a time, but can''t do anything about it."


    After I finished, Batov said politely, "we are all friendly forces. We should have helped each other, let alone thousands of shells. You just want to borrow some divisions from me..."


    As for Batov''s polite remarks, I''ll just listen to them and never take them seriously. Don''t ask him to borrow a few divisions, even if he borrows a few regiments, he''ll have to push back. After staring at the map for a moment, I raised my head and asked Batov, "general Batov, do you think there is any conspiracy for the other two German armored divisions to withdraw from kalinkovich without fighting?"


    "There will be some conspiracy." When I finished, Batov waved his hand and said with disapproval: "I think the German armored division retreated. There are two voices: our air raid two days ago must have scared the enemy. They are deeply afraid that if they let the armored forces stay in front, they will repeat the mistakes of artillery. So the German commander ordered them to retreat. This is one of them. I think another possibility is that after continuous fighting, the German armored division should have consumed almost all the ammunition and fuel, so it chose to retreat, leaving only the infantry division to deal with us. "


    Akhromeyev walked up to Batov and said politely, "Comrade General, your liaison officer has called and said that there is something important to report to you."


    "My liaison officer?" After repeating akhromeyev''s words, Batov suddenly remembered that he had indeed sent liaison personnel to two divisions of the 11th group army in order to cooperate in combat. He stood up and walked quickly towards the telephone not far away.


    When I saw Batov answering the phone, I asked akhromeyev in a low voice, "major, do you know if the other party has anything to ask for general Batov?"


    "I don''t know." Akhromeyev shook his head and answered in a low voice: "although the other side didn''t say anything, I think something serious must have happened from his worried tone."


    The troops of the 11th group army are setting up defenses in the west of the city. What major event can we encounter? With this question, I watched Batov finish the call quietly. As soon as he came back to me, I couldn''t wait to ask, "general Batov, what''s the matter?"


    "The Scouts of the 11th group army found a large number of signs of German troops gathering in the west of the city," Batov replied solemnly. "According to this situation, the two division commanders judged that the enemy might have signs of breaking through, so they asked us what to do? Is it to fortify and defend, or to take the initiative to attack and completely disrupt the German deployment? "


    I heard that there were signs of German troops gathering in the west of the city. My first thought was that the Germans were going to run. Considering that the two divisions came from the North nonstop, it is estimated that they did not carry any heavy weapons. If the German army used tanks to open the way in front of them when breaking through the encirclement, the two divisions could not keep them at all. Thinking of this, I quickly called akhromeyev to him and asked him, "major, where is our tank battalion?"


    "In the defense area of general Xie Liujin in the north of the city, they received the task of intercepting with artillery fire when the enemy launched an impact on our army''s position..."


    Before akhromeyev finished speaking, I raised my hand to interrupt him and said, "major, the two divisions in the West are not carrying any heavy weapons because of the long-distance attack. If the German troops break through the encirclement under the cover of tanks, they will not be able to stop it at all. "


    "What shall we do?" Asked akhromeyev nervously.


    "Immediately move the tank battalion to the west of the city to cooperate with the friendly forces in defense." After I gave this order, I told akhromeyev, "get me captain shamrih''s phone immediately. I want to talk to him in person."


    The call to the tank battalion was soon connected. I picked up the phone and said, "Captain, the situation in the west of the city is a little bad. I need you to rush to support me immediately. Is there a problem?"


    As a rule, when I ask such a question, all my subordinates will answer it firmly: "no problem, I promise to finish the task!" Who knows that after half a day''s wheezing, shamrih stammered, "Comrade commander, we may not be able to complete this task."


    "Why?" I almost jumped out of my seat when I heard shamrih''s reply. I knew in my heart that shamrih was not a man who was afraid of death. There must be his reason for his saying so, so I asked patiently, "Comrade captain, can you tell me your reason?"


    "Comrade commander," after a moment''s silence, shamrih clearly reported to me, "after two days of fighting, our battalion''s tanks are now seriously short of ammunition and fuel. Even if we start now, we will run out of fuel before we reach the west of the city. But please rest assured that I have sent the tanker back to zlobin to replenish fuel. As soon as the tanker comes back, we can move on again. "


    "When will your tanker be back?" I asked discontentedly.


    "It''s hard to say. Maybe I''ll be back at seven or eight in the morning. If I''m a little later, I should be able to arrive at noon." Shamrih assured me, "Comrade commander, I assure you that as soon as the tanker arrives and our tanks are refueled, we will attack the enemy immediately."


    Seeing that the tank battalion could not be expected, I had to turn my attention to major shuklin''s self-propelled artillery regiment. I know that they are now stationed in the east of the city, so without akhromeyev''s help, they directly called the regiment.


    The chief of staff of the regiment answered the phone. After hearing my voice, he said apologetically, "I''m sorry, comrade commander, our commander is not in the headquarters."


    "Where is he going?" See oneself run into a Wall twice in a row, my mood becomes a little bit bad, "how can I contact him?"


    "Two guns of the first battalion had some problems, and the mechanical maintenance personnel were unable to solve the problem, so they asked the head of the regiment to deal with them in person." The chief of staff said respectfully, "Comrade commander, I don''t know when he will be back. If you have something urgent, you can tell me. I will help you deal with what I can do immediately; If it is something beyond my ability, I will report it to the commander immediately after he comes back. "


    "Well, comrade chief of staff." I think since the other party is the chief of staff of the regiment, many things should be clear, and it''s the same for me to deploy tasks to him. Before giving the order, I would like to ask, "how about your regiment''s ammunition and fuel?"


    "Before we came here, the commander organized a lot of trucks to transport fuel and ammunition to follow our regiment." The chief of staff of the regiment reported to me that "in this way, our regiment can replenish fuel and ammunition at any time during the fighting to ensure that the mobility of the troops will not be affected."


    "Very good, comrade chief of staff. This is very good." The chief of staff''s words reminded me that the self-propelled artillery corps had stopped to let the accompanying oil tank trucks refuel them on the first day of fighting. If shuklin could guarantee the logistic supply of the troops at any time, it would be most appropriate to send them to the west of the city for reinforcement. I quickly went straight to the theme and issued orders to him: "now the west of the city is in urgent need of reinforcement. I intend to transfer your regiment to assist the defense of the friendly forces."


    When the chief of staff heard my order, he was silent for a moment. Just when I thought that they would also seek reasons from shamrih to refuse these tasks, the chief of staff of the regiment suddenly asked, "Comrade commander, when our regiment arrives in the west of the city, where should we go to accept orders?"


    What he said reminds me that after all, the troops over there are not under my command. I don''t know the commanders of the troops at all. If the self-propelled guns are used rashly, it may be counterproductive. When I was hesitating whether to cancel the operation for the self-propelled artillery regiment, I heard Batov ask: "Comrade oshanina, if you want to cooperate with the troops of the 11th group army, it is estimated that you need to send liaison officers in the self-propelled artillery regiment."


    "You are quite right." As for Batov''s proposal, I immediately followed suit: "I''ll send a liaison officer to take the self-propelled artillery regiment to the west of the city. Remember to call the liaison officer you sent first and ask him to take care of it. "


    The choice of liaison officer is very easy. I asked ahlomeyev to arrange a staff officer to go to the self-propelled artillery regiment as liaison officer and take them from the north of the city to the west of the city to support the troops of the 11th group army.


    Soon after the liaison officer was dispatched, shuklin led his self-propelled artillery regiment around the north of the city to the west, but strengthened the firepower of the 11th army. But before they got to the west of the city, Batov''s liaison officer sent a bad news: "the German army has begun to break through!"


    When akhromeyev reported this to us, Batov and I looked at each other, eyes full of surprise. Because the German army''s behavior is really abnormal. At the moment, their troops are engaged in fierce battles with our army in the north, East and south directions of the city. Now there are enough troops to break through the encirclement to the West.


    "These Germans are crazy." Batov shook his head and said: "it''s dozens of kilometers from here to kalinkovich. Except for a few areas where there are forests, the rest are plain with a clear view. It''s no different for the German army to retreat westward without air cover and to die. Our artillery and air force will be able to exhaust the German forces exposed in the wilderness. "


    According to the intensity of the battle, I judged that the German army fighting outside the city should be about two divisions, and it was the infantry division that suffered heavy losses under our constant attacks. However, there is only one division stationed in the city. It seems unreasonable to use two divisions to cover the withdrawal of one division. But now is not the time to consider these problems. I called ahlomeyev to him and told him: "major, get in touch with major shuklin immediately. He told him that if by the time their regiment arrived in the west of the city, the German army had made a successful breakthrough, they must immediately bombard the retreating enemy with artillery fire. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander. " Akhromeyev replied loudly, "I will immediately convey your instructions to major shuklin." In the following time, while waiting for the news from the west of the city, I stared at the map and thought carefully about the target of the German army''s breakout in the dark. After watching for a long time, I didn''t think of a reason, so I had to look up and ask Batov standing beside me, "general Batov, do you think the Germans have any conspiracy to break through at such a time?" Bartov thought about it, then shook his head and denied my guess: "I don''t think it''s possible. According to our reconnaissance, except for the German troops surrounded by us, the rest of the troops have retreated to kalinkovich. I think the reason why the Germans chose to break through at this time is that they saw that the city was surrounded by our army, and knew that if they persisted, they would not be able to escape the end of the whole army. Therefore, they were desperate to break through to the west, trying to join their main forces as soon as possible. " When Batov and I were studying the real target of the German army''s breakthrough, akhromeyev, who had just received a phone call, suddenly came up to us and said in a loud voice: "two comrades, the situation is not good. The German troops, under the cover of tanks, cut through two directions of the 11th army, and now they have retreated westward. " After hearing akhromeyev''s words, Batov and I could not help but exclaim with one voice: "what, the defense line of the 11th group army was broken by the German army?"

 Chapter 1386

    Batov and I looked at each other, both eyes full of shock. Because in our initial assumption, even if the two divisions of the 11th army did not have the ability to break through the German defense line, there should still be no problem in blocking the German army trying to break through. Unexpectedly, their defense line was broken through by the German army, and many German troops escaped.


    Batov got up from his seat, went to a telephone, bowed his head to the operator and said, "contact the liaison officer in the 11th army immediately and ask what happened. How could the German escape easily?"


    Batov was trying to contact his subordinates, and I was not idle. I told akhromeyev, "major, go and ask major shuklin, where is his self-propelled artillery regiment?" At this time, it must be too late to send troops to reinforce the 11th group army. I can only consider using artillery to bombard the German army that broke through the encirclement, and I can only calculate how much can be eliminated. And the best person for this mission is shuklin''s self-propelled artillery regiment.


    Before akhromeyev could get in touch with shuklin, Batov came back in a hurry and said to me with an iron face: "Comrade oshanina, the situation is clear. After a long march, the officers and men of the 11th army were exhausted. The commanders of the two divisions arranged for a regiment to build fortifications, while the rest of them rested in temporary tents. When most of the officers and men were asleep, the German army suddenly launched an attack, caught them by surprise, and easily tore a hole in their simple defense line


    When I found out the reason why the German army was able to break through the encirclement successfully, it was not because of how brave the enemy was, but because the commanders of the 11th army underestimated the enemy and did not take necessary preventive measures. I hit the table hard and said with a gnash of teeth, "hell, we could have hit three German divisions here, but the whole plan was disrupted by the 11th army."


    After I finished, Batov tentatively said, "Comrade oshanina, our tactics in the daytime are not to encircle three towers and one tower? It only encircles the East, North and south of the city. To the west, there are no soldiers. The enemy can leave the city in a swagger. "


    "General Batov, the way we play in the daytime is not the same as it is now." In order to eliminate the doubts in Batov''s mind, I specially explained to him: "when we attack from the north, East and south, the Germans will think that we are only doing this to drive them out of the city, so they will stay in the city and stick to it. However, when the troops of the 11th group army moved into the west without our army, the Germans realized the danger. They found that their retreat had been cut off. If they were entangled with us here, they would be in danger of destroying the whole army. Therefore, they would take risky actions to break through from the West where we had not yet built a solid defensive zone. "


    My explanation finally made Batov understand what was going on. He tapped the table with his fingers and asked me with a sad face: "Comrade oshanina, judging from the current situation, except for the part of the enemy entangled by our army, the rest of the enemy may escape from the West. What should we do now? "


    "It''s not so easy to escape." I cold hum a, continue to say: "even if want to run, I also want to let them pay a painful price."


    As soon as my voice fell, akhromeyev, who was ordered to contact shuklin, came back to me, pointed to the map on the table and said to me, "Comrade commander, major shuklin''s troops have now reached this position. If they are launched here, they can bombard the German troops who are breaking through."


    "Great," I saw that shuklin''s self-propelled artillery regiment was only five or six kilometers away from the German breakout. At such a distance, it was just right to bombard with artillery fire. I looked up at akhromeyev and said, "major, you immediately convey my order to major shuklin to deploy the troops on the spot, and then block the German breakthrough route with artillery fire."


    "Yes, I''ll send your order right away." With that, akhromeyev turned and walked to a telephone, ready to convey my order to shuklin.


    With the order issued, shukelin ordered the self-propelled artillery regiment to launch on the spot. According to the firing parameters provided by the observation vehicle, the artillery regiment fired in the direction of the enemy''s breakthrough. After the German army had broken through the line of defense of the 11th group army, because of the smooth progress, they wishfully thought that the enemy in front of them had been basically solved, and the remaining Soviet troops would collapse when they saw their large troops rush out. But the so-called extreme joy leads to sorrow. Just when they are overjoyed, there comes a long whistling sound in the air. When most of the German troops were still staring up in the air, the shells had fallen from the sky. In an instant, the road west of the city, which was crowded with fleeing German troops, was blasted into a sea of fire by dense shells.


    In the smoke and dust, thousands of shells burst out, interwoven into a layer of airtight net, harvesting a fresh life. In the rising smoke, the German soldiers, like torn rags and grass mustard, did not wait to fall from the air, but were mixed with the air waves, and then the broken limbs and fragments were smashed into the sky.


    The German division commander, who was still in the city, found that his troops had been shelled by the Soviet army, and immediately yelled at his chief of staff angrily: "let the artillery regiment of the division fire back. We must suppress the Russian artillery fire and cover our troops for a smooth breakthrough."


    The order of the German division commander was soon conveyed to the artillery regiment. According to the calculated position, the artillery made a fierce counterattack. But what they never imagined was that shuklin''s self-propelled artillery regiment had moved to a new artillery position after completing five rounds of salvo fire, and all the shells fired by the German artillery fell to the open space.


    Seeing the constant casualties of his troops in the artillery fire, the German division commander called the artillery commander and said angrily, "Damn, why didn''t you suppress the Russian artillery fire? If our breakout fails because of you, I will send you to the military court and hang you all. "


    "Sir." The head of the artillery, who was scared out of his wits, quickly replied, "our artillery has been fighting back, but the Russian artillery has never weakened. It seems that after a few rounds of shooting, they moved their positions in time. "


    "Nonsense The German division commander didn''t know our new self-propelled artillery at all, so he took it for granted that the artillery commander said so in order to shirk his responsibility. He said maliciously: "I''ll give you ten minutes to eliminate the Russian artillery. If at the appointed time, my soldiers are still being bombarded by the Russians, then you can end it by yourself. "


    When the German division commander was investigating the responsibility, we got the war report from shuklin here. Seeing that our army''s artillery had blown up the broken German army, my mood was much better. However, I always remember that the carrying capacity of self-propelled guns is limited. If there are no shells at the critical moment, the Germans will escape.


    I called ahlomeyev in front of him and said, "Comrade major, please send a telegram to major shuklin to ask if they have enough shells. Don''t run out of ammunition in the middle."


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Akhromeyev saw that I asked about this matter and said to me with a smile: "I have just asked major shuklin. He said that in this operation, they took ammunition trucks with them, and each gun prepared five bases of ammunition, enough for the Germans to drink a pot."


    "That''s good." I''m relieved to hear that shuklin has been preparing for a rainy day. Thinking that it was the infantry who finally settled the battle, I called sherekin and sherekov respectively, and asked them to immediately lead the troops around the city from the north and quickly move towards the west to block the passage opened by the German army. Of course, in order to have more confidence, I also sent the tank battalion of Sharm RIH.


    Seeing that I was deploying troops, Batov tentatively asked, "Comrade oshanina, do you think it is necessary for me to deploy a division from the southern army and reinforce the Western friendly army?"


    "No, general Batov." When I heard him say so, I immediately declined his request politely. Because the performance of his troops before dark let me down too much. At this time, we may not be able to help them. If we don''t get it right, we have to drag our feet. "I''ll transfer two divisions to get there. The troops should be enough."


    Batov is also a wise man, and I guess the reason from my answer. But he said quietly, "well, comrade oshanina, since you said no, I won''t do anything more. I''m going to order them to step up their attack and contain more German troops so that they can''t easily escape from us. "


    Just as the troops of the first echelon were bypassing the city from the north, our army was no longer hiding. At the same time, the troops of the north, East and South increased their strength of attack and launched a fierce attack on the second or third line of defense of the German army. And the German army, which stuck to the outer position, was also unwilling to give up an inch of land and launched a fierce battle with our army.


    Standing in front of the lookout, I raised my telescope and looked at the battlefield of blood and fire in front of me, thinking: if there were no mistakes in the direction of the 11th group army, I would not need to transfer the two divisions of the first echelon to the west, as long as they were strengthened to the north or East, I could speed up the advance of the army.


    When I was thinking about it, I suddenly felt as if someone had entered the headquarters, and the whole room became quiet. I put down my telescope and turned to look behind me. After seeing the comer clearly, I was overjoyed and quickly welcomed him. At the same time, I said excitedly, "deputy commander, chief of staff, what are you doing here?"


    The commanders who entered the headquarters were none other than chisjakov and bezikov who stayed in Smolensk. While shaking hands with me, chisjakov replied, "Comrade commander, I know you are in urgent need of troops here, so I bring the 67th and 71st divisions of the guards to support you."


    I looked behind them and saw that there were only a few staff officers in the headquarters. I didn''t see kirilov''s shadow, so I couldn''t help asking curiously, "by the way, why didn''t I see the military commissar?"


    "Originally, we planned to bring the whole army here, but we received orders from our superiors that we must leave troops in Smolensk and wait for the new troops to change their guard." When he shook hands with me, bezikov reported that "so comrades of the military commissar, two captains and the 77th division of the guards all stayed in Smolensk."


    I waited for the two men to greet Batov and then asked bzikov, "chief of staff, where are the troops of the other two divisions?"¡° It''s about seven or eight kilometers away from here, "bzikov replied with a smile." the deputy commander and I were worried that you were in a hurry, so we came by car first. "¡° What about the tank army? " When I heard the gunfire coming from outside, it suddenly occurred to me that if there were tank support, the next battle would be much easier. I raised my voice and asked, "where is the Fifth Army of general berey''s close guard tank?"¡° Because our train transport capacity is limited, the tanks of the tank army are driven along the road. " Chisgakov took over and said, "when they get to zlobin, they need a short rest and maintenance before they can fight again. I don''t think they will be able to get here before noon. "¡° Deputy commander and chief of staff, since you two are here, let''s command the battle together. " After I said this, I looked into the room and said with some embarrassment, "but the room is too limited to accommodate more people and communication equipment." As soon as I finished, bzikov said, "don''t worry, comrade commander. Before we came here, we saw a shelter nearby, which is quite spacious. I think we should set up the communication room there."¡° Comrade chief of staff, you are fully responsible for this. " Now that bezikov is here, I can be the boss of many things. I will explain my work to him, and then discuss with Batov and chisjakov how to carry out the combat deployment. After listening to my introduction to the battlefield, chisgakov frowned and thought for a while, and then suggested to me, "Comrade commander, although our first echelon is rushing to the west of the city, I think even if they are put into battle, the battle may be stuck at that time. I think it''s better to make way for the German army so that they can get out of the city. "

 Chapter 1387

    I know in my heart that ichiskakov''s ability, he will never give me some bad ideas, there must be something deeper behind what he said. Before I could come up with a reason, Batov could not wait to ask, "general chisjakov, I don''t understand why you are doing this. Can you explain it to me?"


    Instead of answering Batov''s question immediately, chisgakov looked at me and asked with a smile, "Comrade commander, can you guess what I mean?"


    I vaguely guessed the intention of chisgakov, but for the sake of safety, I tentatively asked: "Comrade deputy commander, if I guess correctly, it is no longer meaningful for the Germans to continue to fight with our army now that they have a way to live. In this way, the whole German army will be demoralized and only want to escape, while our troops will follow after us, and we will be able to achieve great results. "


    "Yes, comrade commander, you are right." After a few words of praise, chisjakov turned to Batov and explained, "general Batov, if we get out of the way, as long as we don''t attack the Germans when they pass, they won''t take the initiative to provoke us. What these Krauts want to do is to escape from our encirclement as soon as possible and return to a safe place as soon as possible. After we deliberately let them pass, we will follow them. At that time, the Germans will be in a mess and there will be no decent resistance at all. In this way, our army will be able to achieve the greatest victory with the least casualties. "


    After listening to chisgakov''s explanation, Batov nodded and then thought, "Comrade chisgakov, your idea is good and worth a try." He was also an activist. He immediately got up to call the liaison officer and asked him to inform the 11th army to slow down its attack on the German army and let the German army withdraw from the open gap.


    With the successful breakthrough of the German army from the west of the city, the German army from other directions also gave up their existing positions and retreated to the city.


    Bezikov came up to me with the war report he had just received and said, "Comrade commander, judging from the current situation, the German forces are shrinking. However, it''s not easy to judge whether they intend to break through from the west of the city or stay and stick to the city for the time being. "


    "Comrade oshanina," said Batov, turning to me immediately after bzikov said, "what should our troops do next, follow the defeated German troops into the city, or continue to try to attract the enemy to the fortifications outside the city to destroy them?"


    "Our nearest army to the city is still in the third line of defense, fighting fiercely with the German army, and it is at least five kilometers away from the city." In a moment, I made a decision: "as long as we continue to increase the intensity of the attack and press the enemy back to the city bit by bit, we can make these enemies determined to break through."


    "I see, comrade commander." Bezikov nodded at me and then asked, "at present, the 90th division of general Chernoff''s guards has arrived outside the city. Do you need to let them take part in the attack?"


    "What, the 90th division of Jinwei is here too?" Bezikov''s report surprised me a little, because in his report just now, there was no mention of the 90th division of the guards, so that I thought they stayed in Smolensk. Seeing that bzikov nodded for sure, I pushed the boat forward and said, "since general Chernoff''s troops have arrived, let them cooperate with the commanders and fighters of the Lukin division and attack from the East."


    Seeing that bezikov was going to deliver the order, I added after him: "if the 67th and 71st divisions of the guards arrive, let them go around from the north of the city, cooperate with the 11th group army and self-propelled artillery regiment, and pursue the German troops in the process of retreat."


    The German breakout from the west of the city stopped at dawn. After abandoning their positions, the German troops, who had held fast to the outer positions, retreated into the city one after another and continued to fight against the attack of our army.


    Seeing that the German army in the city had no sign of breaking through, chisgakov could not help feeling a little worried. After walking back and forth in the room, he said to me, "Comrade commander, there is something wrong with the situation. Why do these German troops who stick to the periphery not retreat with us after their friendly troops break through our defense line, but stay to confront us? Is there any conspiracy among them? "


    I also think there is a problem with the German army''s action. However, considering that there is at least one German division in the city, if I rashly lift the siege of the city and send troops to chase the fleeing German troops, the enemy in the city will cause us a lot of trouble.


    Not only did I see the crux of the problem, but Batov also found it. He kindly reminded me, "Comrade oshanina, I don''t think the situation is right. Your four divisions, my three divisions and two divisions of the 11th group army, together with nine divisions, surrounded the enemy here. After a fierce battle, we only wiped out two German regiments. Now, one division has broken through, while the other is still in the city. I don''t know what we should do next? "


    I stare at the map, frown and think. Although there is only one German division in the city, if it is used for defense, even if we put all nine divisions into battle, we will not be able to eat them in a short time. What''s more, these divisions are not all under our command, so we can''t achieve the effect of using our hands as we wish in battle.


    Seeing my delay in speaking, chisjakov could not help but hasten to say, "what''s the matter, comrade commander, have you made the final decision?"


    "It''s decided." I pointed to the city we were besieged and said, "if we don''t eat the enemy in the city, we will have a large number of troops restrained by them. Maybe one of them will suffer a great loss if he doesn''t pay attention. Therefore, our current task is to eliminate them. As for those enemies who have fled, let them be arrogant for a while, and we will get rid of them sooner or later. "


    When I finished, I looked up at bezikov and said, "chief of staff, record my orders. The 51st and 89th divisions of the guards, together with the troops of the 11th group army, immediately closed the breach opened by the German army to ensure that no one of the enemy''s soldiers could escape from the city. "


    When bezikov finished recording my order and was about to deliver it, akhromeyev suddenly ran over in panic and handed me a telegram. After only a few glances, I was so angry that I slapped the newspaper heavily on the table and said angrily, "nonsense, it''s just nonsense. Who has given them the right to mobilize their troops without consulting their superiors? "


    "What''s the matter, comrade oshanina?" Seeing my anger, Batov asked curiously, "who made you so angry?" Then he would reach for the telegram on the desk and find out what made me angry.


    When his hand just touched the Telegraph newspaper, before he could pick it up, one of his staff members rushed in from the outside. The staff officer came to him, handed him a telegram and said solemnly, "Comrade commander, this is an urgent telegram just sent by the liaison officer."


    Batov took the telegram, only looked at it a few times, and then made the same reaction as I did. He raised his voice, learning from me, and said, "these people are just mischievous. They adjust their deployment without asking for instructions and reports. Don''t they want to live?"


    On one side, chisjakov and bzikov saw that we were both angry, and their faces showed a confused expression. At last, chisgakov first asked, "comrades commander, I think you are both very angry. Is there something unexpected?"


    I grabbed the telegram on the desk, thrust it into chisgakov''s hand, and said angrily, "the 11th group army, without asking for instructions, left the position and pursued the German troops fleeing westward. Fortunately, the 51st division of the close guard of Colonel shejerikov has filled the gap in time. Otherwise, we don''t know how many German troops will jump out of here


    "How could that be?" "Don''t they know the consequences of unauthorized action?" said chisjakov, puzzled as he read the telegram


    Batov snorted heavily, then said: "I think they are bold enough to think that the troops are about to withdraw and they can do whatever they want. No, I need to report this matter to the commander of the front army immediately, so that he can stop this kind of disorganized and undisciplined behavior. "


    When I saw Batov pick up the phone on the desk and want to contact rokosovsky, I remembered that the 11th army had fallen into a situation of no leader after the transfer of fijiuningsky. Without the unified command of the division commander, they could do whatever they wanted.


    Batov soon got in touch with rokosovsky. After a conversation, he handed me the microphone and said in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, the commander of the front army wants to speak to you."


    I took the receiver, stuck it to my ear and said politely, "Hello, comrade commander of the front army, what instructions do you have?"


    "I already know about the 11th army." Rokosovsky said with some helplessness: "since fejiuninski was transferred, the troops have been in a bit of a mess because of the impending withdrawal and the absence of a new commander from the higher authorities. But I''m giving you the authority to command this force. "


    Rokosovsky''s arrangement gave me some confidence. I quickly expressed my position to him and said, "don''t worry, comrade commander, I will immediately contact the teachers of these two divisions to let them stop pursuing and return to the original defense area to fulfill their obligations and responsibilities."


    After I put down the phone, bzikov immediately asked me, "Comrade commander, what should we do now?"


    "Order the 51st and 8.9 divisions of the guards to immediately take over the original defense area of the 11th group army to prevent possible German breakout operations." I carefully said: "after the 90th division of Jinwei arrived in the north of the city, it quickly joined the two divisions mentioned above to strengthen the defense force in the west of the city."


    "What about the 67th and 71st divisions of Jinwei?" Bezikov then asked, "they and the tank army will be here soon. How can they be arranged?"


    "Let them stand by in the east of the city for the time being," I said after thinking about it. As for when they will fight, I will make a decision according to the development of the war situation


    When bezikov went to the radio station to send a telegram, I called ahlomeyev and told him, "major, find a way to contact the two divisions of the 11th group army and tell the two division commanders that they are under the command of the sixth group army of our guards. Let them stop their blind actions immediately and wait for my latest orders in place."


    "I see, comrade commander." "I''m going to try to get in touch with them now," akhromeyev replied with the same expression When I was deploying the mission to akhromeyev, I caught a glimpse of Batov''s expression in the corner of my eye. I immediately faced him and asked politely, "general Batov, do you have anything to remind me?"¡° Comrade oshanina, "Batov grinned when I asked him this, and then hesitated to say," those two divisions of the 11th army are pursuing the German army at the moment. Is it really appropriate to stop pursuing at such a time? Didn''t you spit out the meat you had in your mouth? "¡° General Batov, to be honest, I don''t think much of the strength of these two divisions. " When Batov finished, I said to him frankly, "they can''t stop the enemy''s attack in the case of defense. If, in the course of pursuit, the German army stops withdrawing and carries out a counter offensive against them, I can hardly imagine what the consequences will be Batov listened to me and said bitterly, "Comrade oshanina, I admit that the two divisions did not perform well in the night fighting. However, now the German army is busy running away. It''s estimated that they will concentrate on how to escape to a safe place as soon as possible and will not fight with our army at all. Moreover, the two division commanders are also commanders with rich combat experience. I believe they will perform well in the next battle. Therefore, I think your worry is totally unnecessary. " Seeing that Batov was so partial to the commanders of the two divisions, I couldn''t say anything more. I had to look down at the map in front of me to avoid the embarrassment that suddenly appeared in the room. Before akhromeyev could contact the two divisions of the 11th army, the staff officer under Batov broke in from the outside. He came quickly to us, handed a telegram to Batov, and said, "Comrade commander, the situation is not good. Two divisions of the 11th army have been surrounded by the German army."

 Chapter 1388

    "What''s going on?" Batov raised his voice and asked the staff in a loud voice, "how can our troops fall into the siege of the Germans?"


    The staff officer replied bitterly: "the troops of the 11th group army pursued the German army and advanced nearly 20 kilometers in an hour. When passing through a forest area, they are suddenly ambushed near the German army in the area. At present, they are engaged in fierce fighting with the German army. "


    After listening to the staff''s introduction, Batov did not care to discuss with me, so he directly told the staff: "this matter is of great importance, and it needs to be reported to the headquarters of the front army immediately." With that, he picked up the phone on the desk and was ready to call rokosovsky.


    I was shocked when I heard that two divisions of the 11th army were ambushed by the German army. Originally, our troops were chasing the fleeing German army, but in a flash, the roles of both sides changed. The hunter who chased the prey fell into the trap built by the prey. It was a naked face.


    While Batov was talking to rokosovsky, I called bezikov to him and asked him in a low voice, "chief of staff, how long will it take for our troops to get there?"


    "The troops of the 11th group army are isolated and deep-seated. There are no our troops in their vicinity." Bezikov said cautiously: "the nearest one to them now is the 51st division of the guards of Colonel shejerikov, but even if the road is not blocked by the German army, it will take at least an hour or so to arrive. I''m afraid the two divisions won''t last that long under the German siege. "


    I know that bezikov is not alarmist. When the two divisions are chasing the German army, they may never dream that they will be ambushed, so their march must be very long. In the case of a sudden attack by the German army, it is estimated that it is difficult to organize decent resistance.


    I was hesitating whether I should risk sending out the 51st division of the guards when Batov suddenly called me, "Comrade oshanina, comrade commander, I want to talk to you."


    After receiving the phone call from Batov, I said respectfully to the microphone, "Hello, commander of the front army, what instructions do you have?"


    Hearing my voice, rokosovsky didn''t say a word, but said, "Rita, now you have two divisions surrounded by the German army. Do you have any good way to rescue them?"


    "I''m going to send a division to rescue them." After I said this, I felt that if I rashly sent an infantry division to reinforce, if I met the German army with technical equipment such as tanks, then I would send this unit to give head to the German army. I quickly added, "I will send self-propelled artillery regiment and tank battalion to work with them."


    "I heard that the two divisions were isolated and there were no troops of our army near them." Rokosovsky said anxiously: "if you want to send people to rescue, you need to act immediately, otherwise they may be eaten by the German army. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander. I will try to rescue the troops of these two divisions from the German encirclement. " After I finished my statement to rokosovsky, it suddenly occurred to me that the ground forces were slow. It would take at least an hour for them to come into contact with Germany. The only way to prevent the two divisions from being completely annihilated in the shortest time was to ask rokosovsky to send out the air force. Thinking of this, I said to rokosovsky: "Comrade commander of the front army, I have a suggestion. Can we send air force to air raid the German ground forces, so as to reduce the pressure on our besieged forces and buy time for our rescue forces?"


    For my proposal, rokosovsky was silent for a moment, then readily agreed: "well, Rita, I''ll send the air force to bomb our enemies nearby. At the same time, you should send two divisions to reinforce them. I would like to remind you that the deployment of troops should not affect the defensive forces in the west of the city. Because if the German forces in the city find out that we have the situation of troop mobilization, they may concentrate their strength again and launch a counterattack against the defenders in the west of the city. "


    "I understand." At present, the most urgent task is to rescue the trapped troops from the encirclement of the German army. Since rokosovsky ordered to send two divisions, I have to send out both the 51st division and the 8th 9th division of the guards. The defense in the west of the city can only be temporarily transferred to the 90th Division of the guards.


    At the end of the call with rokosovsky, I immediately told bzikov: "chief of staff, record the order. The 8th.9th and 51st divisions of sherekin''s guards will immediately hand over the existing defensive positions to the 90th division of sherekov''s guards, and then take all available means of transportation to move westward as fast as possible to rescue the besieged troops. In addition, the tank battalion of captain shamrih and the self-propelled artillery regiment of major shuklin are also involved in the fighting. "


    I couldn''t help but smile bitterly as bezikov walked quickly to the operator beside the wall and urged him to send a message. Then I said to Batov and chisgakov, "I hope these two divisions of the 11th army can support our Reinforcements under the siege of the German army."


    After staring at the map for a while, chisgakov looked up at me and asked, "why do the Germans ambush in the forest? Is it true that all their commanders are clever and know that our troops will surely follow us in pursuit, so they use ambush to fight a war of annihilation? "


    "It''s not what you think, general chisgakov." Batov raised his right hand, scratched the back of his head and analyzed to us: "I don''t think the enemy who broke through last night chose to break through westward because he couldn''t hold on to the city. There is a huge conspiracy, they say


    "Conspiracy, what conspiracy?" Asked chisgakov curiously.


    "According to my judgment, when we attacked the frustrated enemy of zhylobin, we found that we had a new force pressing against them from several directions. We knew that if we met each other hard, we would not be able to get along with each other, so we set up a trap." Batov is really a very capable commander. After a little thought, he guessed the intention of the German commander, so he pointed out on the map with his hand and said to us, "the German commander is very clear that if their troops give up the city and retreat to the west, then we can follow them."


    "General Batov, the Germans should understand very well that as soon as they retreat, our troops can pursue them." Some unconvinced, chisgakov said: "don''t the German commanders understand that they will be more easily eaten by our army if they give up the cities with solid fortifications and flee to the open wasteland?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, don''t talk." I want to hear if Batov''s analysis coincides with what I think. I quickly stopped chisjakov and said, "let''s continue to listen to general Batov''s analysis."


    Batov nodded gratefully at me, and then said, "the German commander is a smart man. He knows that if we let all the troops retreat now, they will be in danger of being destroyed once our whole army comes down. Therefore, he ordered the troops of the two divisions to fight a defensive war with us outside the city, while the German troops who stayed in the city chose to break through. In this case, our main force will be contained here, and we can''t spare too many troops to pursue the defeated enemy. "


    "The enemy is not defeated." Hearing this, chisgakov whispered, "they are pretending to retreat, but they are actually leading our troops into a trap."


    "Yes, general chisgakov, you have done a lot of analysis." Batov agreed with this statement of chisgakov, "the Germans know that they can''t help us with their existing strength, so they can only try to eat part of our troops to weaken our strength."


    "I don''t know if these two divisions can support our reinforcements." I saw that Batov''s analysis was similar to his own idea. I asked with some worry: "if they were wiped out by the German army before the guard division arrived, then the Germans could turn around and attack our guard division."


    "If that happens, it''s a problem." Batov obviously had a similar experience. He frowned and said, "the enemy is waiting for work, so we can eat our reinforcements a little bit."


    Bezikov went back to us and reported, "I have received two telegrams from the division commander of the close guard division. They said that they would set out in half an hour to rescue the trapped troops."


    "Chief of staff, remember to remind them that the Germans are cunning rabbits. It takes a lot of heart to deal with them." I am deeply afraid that they will make the same mistake again. I specially asked bezikov to send a telegram to remind them: "on the march of the troops, we should send more scouts to find out the enemy''s movements, so as to avoid falling into a new ambush circle."


    Seeing that I was so serious, Batov comforted me unexpectedly and said, "don''t worry. No matter how cunning the rabbit is, it''s just a grass eating animal. The hunter can easily deal with him."


    The troops of sheiliujin and sheijerikov soon drove along the road towards the area where the friendly troops were ambushed. In order to let us know the situation of the front line in time, they sent me a telegram every ten minutes to report the movement of the troops in detail.


    "The sound of guns in front of us can be heard clearly. It should be the friendly forces fighting!"


    "The vanguard regiment of the 51st division of Jinwei has exchanged fire with the German army. The enemy has built simple Fortifications on our way forward, and we are assembling our troops to launch an attack! "


    "The first battalion of the vanguard regiment has lost its attack. The second battalion and the Third Battalion are gathering in the forest north of the road, ready to launch another attack on the enemy''s defensive positions."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    All the telegrams sent back from the front line are directly in my hands. After reading the telegram, I put it on the table at any time, while Batov and chisjakov picked up the telegram and checked the advancing speed of our army with reference to the map.


    After watching for a while, Batov said to me, "Comrade oshanina, judging from the current situation, the two divisions of the 11th group army are still fighting. As long as you urge the commanders and fighters of the close guard division to speed up the attack, I believe our troops will join forces in a short time."


    "No, I can''t drink hot soup in a hurry." I poured cold water on the optimistic Batov, and then said, "our contact with the besieged troops has been interrupted for a long time, so that we still don''t know what kind of German troops are besieging them, how many troops they have, and what technical equipment they have. These questions are completely unknown to us. Therefore, no one can tell what kind of danger our reinforcements will encounter in the next battle. "


    Batov listened to me, nodded silently, and then said with a little regret, "it''s a pity that almost all my troops have been scattered. Otherwise, at this time, they can be used." Just as we were worried about the encircled troops, the German army surrounded by us unexpectedly launched a breakthrough operation. They seemed to notice that our troops were weak in the west, so they concentrated their superior forces and launched a ferocious attack on the defensive area of the 90th division. When the news reached the headquarters, bzikov asked me in a flurried way, "Comrade commander, the German offensive is very fierce. It seems that they are bound to win the defensive positions of our army. What should we do?"¡° Chief of staff, what shall we do? " I took a look at bzikov, and then told him, "since the German army has launched an attack in the west of the city, we will also attack."¡° Are we going to attack? " On hearing my command, bzikov could not help but widened his eyes and asked in disbelief, "the German offensive is very fierce. If we attack them, the casualties of the troops will be absolutely no small."¡° Chief of staff, when did I say I was fighting the German army? " Seeing that bezikov had misinterpreted what I meant, I had to explain to him: "when I said attack, I meant the three directions of North, East and south. The peripheral positions of these places all fell into our hands. Since the enemy was going to attack the west of the city, you should inform the 90th division of the guards to hold their positions and resolutely block the enemy''s breakthrough. In the other directions, they turned to all-round attack, so that the Germans could not spare themselves, so that they could not spare any more troops to take part in the breakout battle in the west of the city. "¡° I see, "said bzikov, immediately after listening to me," I see it all, comrade commander. Let''s take a drastic tactic to make the German army in the city run to the end, so that they can only defend passively and can''t spare more troops to break through. " I nodded to bzikov, indicating that his analysis was correct. Then I turned my attention to akhromeyev, who was standing by the telephone, and asked aloud, "major, what''s the situation with the guards division? Have they contacted the besieged troops?"

 Chapter 1389

    "Not yet!" When akhromeyev heard my voice, he turned around, shook his head and said, "the German army has arranged several blocking positions along the way, and the 51st division of the guards are attacking. It may take some time to break through the enemy''s defense. "


    "To Colonel shejerikov." Now the two divisions of the 11th group army are in danger under the siege of the German army, but the speed of the 51st division is not ideal, which makes me very anxious. I gave a voice to akhromeyev and said, "to speed up his attack, he must break through the German defense line and join the encircled friendly forces within a quarter of an hour."


    "Yes After the expressionless akhromeyev agreed, he bowed his head and told the radio operator to send the order I had just given directly to Colonel chejerikov.


    "Comrade oshanina, what shall we do now?" Seeing that the progress of the troops was not smooth, I was very anxious, and bartov next to me was not easy. He frowned and said to me, "if these two divisions are annihilated or severely damaged by the German army, then even if we completely annihilate the enemy in the city, it is equivalent to a defeat."


    Just when we were worried that we could not join the encircled troops for the sake of reinforcements, bizikov came over with a happy face. Standing in front of me, he asked me, "Comrade commander, all the troops of the 67th and 71st divisions of the guards have arrived in the west of the city, and the main forces of the 20th and 82nd tank brigades of the guards have arrived at the same time. What to do next? Let them enter the defense area of the 90th guard brigade and attack the German army in the city from the west


    When I heard that two more divisions had arrived in the west of the city, I couldn''t help looking at Batov and seeing that his face also showed an expression of joy. I just wanted to ask him if he had any good suggestions. Suddenly, I heard chisjakov asking me, "Comrade commander, can I make a suggestion?"


    Chisgakov has been my deputy for several months, but I seldom hear any advice from him. When I heard him say this, I immediately reached out and made a gesture of invitation, and then politely said, "please go ahead, comrade deputy commander."


    "Two comrades, please look." Chisgakov picked up the red and blue pencils on the table, pointed to the besieged area of the friendly forces and said: "at present, two friendly divisions are surrounded by the German forces, while the two close guard divisions we went to reinforce are approaching them step by step by attacking and advancing. Originally, I was worried that if we continued to fight like this, our reinforcements would have been annihilated before they joined up with the friendly forces. However, as the 67th and 71st divisions of the guards arrived in the west of the city, the situation suddenly became favorable to us. I suggest that the two new guard divisions should detour from the two wings of the German army and cooperate with the guard divisions who are in charge of a frontal attack to completely annihilate this enemy


    After chisjakov finished, I didn''t make a statement immediately. Instead, I turned to Batov and asked, "general Batov, what do you think of this plan?"


    After looking down at the map for a while, Batov raised his head and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, I think the plan proposed by your deputy is good. Think about it. At present, the German army has set up several defensive positions between us and the friendly forces. These positions are not conducive to the development of large forces. We can only put in one battalion at a time. In this case, it is a waste to put too many troops here. "


    Seeing that Batov also agreed with the plan, I nodded and ordered bzikov: "chief of staff, send a telegram to the two division commanders of the 67th and 71st divisions of the guards, so that they can immediately divide their forces into two places, detour back to the two wings of the German army, and cooperate with the 51st and 8th 9th divisions of the guards to encircle and annihilate the enemy forces that surrounded the friendly forces."


    "Comrade Colonel, please wait a moment." Batov saw that bzikov was going to send the news, and quickly stopped him. Bezikov stopped and looked back at bartov with a blank expression on his face.


    I don''t understand why Batov stopped bezikov and asked, "general Batov, what can I do for you?"


    "Well, comrade oshanina." Batov kindly reminded me: "sending troops to detour back to the two wings of the German army can achieve great results, but at the same time there is a risk of failure. In order to be on the safe side, I suggest that the matter be reported to the headquarters of the front army immediately, and we can take action after getting the permission of the commander. "


    "General Batov, the current situation of friendly forces is very dangerous and may not last long." As for Batov''s absurd proposal, I immediately refuted it, "if we ask for instructions from the headquarters of the front army and wait for the permission of the superior before we take action, we will lose a lot of time. In my opinion, bezikov immediately sent a telegram to the two division commanders, asking them to lead the troops to attack immediately. As for the commander, I''ll send a telegram to him after our troops leave. I''m sure he will understand my difficulties. "


    "All right, comrade commander." "After giving orders to the two division commanders, I will send a telegram to the commander of the front army to report our new deployment to his superiors," he said


    Not long after the telegram to the headquarters of the front army was sent, rokosovsky called me. He asked me on the phone, "Rita, do you have time for the two divisions to detour from the German flanks?"


    "Comrade commander of the front army, it''s hard to say. I''m afraid that the encircled troops have been destroyed by the whole army before our troops complete their detour." I know in my heart that the troops that detour from the two wings will not advance too fast if they want to cross the forest and the stream. Even if they are not obstructed by the German army, it will take at least an hour or two to reach their destination. Originally, I was thinking about how to fight for time, but now rokosovsky called me, but let me think of a good way: "in order to fight for time, I ask you to send air force again to provide air support to the besieged friendly forces."


    "I''ll call the air force group immediately and ask them to send out fighters to bomb the German troops in the forest area." Rokosovsky followed the good advice and immediately agreed to it. But he went on to say, "Rita, after a series of battles, not only the army has consumed a lot of ammunition, but the air force is no exception. They are extremely short of fuel and ammunition. It''s their limit to send out twice a day. So your troops should speed up as soon as possible and rescue the besieged troops as soon as possible. "


    After I put down the phone, I said to Batov, "general Batov, the commander of the front army, agreed to send out the air force again to bomb the German troops in the forest area, so as to relieve the pressure on our besieged troops and gain precious time for the reinforcements. Now I want to ask you, do you still have the power to use near kalinkovich? "


    "There are still two infantry divisions, but they have been greatly weakened after several battles." After introducing the situation of the army, Batov asked, "what do you want to do with this?"


    "Now the situation on the battlefield has turned into a mess. Our two army groups are inseparable here and in the forest area." As I said, I pointed out kalinkovich''s position with my hand, and continued: "the main force of the German army has been contained by us. If one of the troops makes a feint attack on kalinkovich, it may attract some German troops to come back, which is equivalent to reducing the pressure on the besieged troops in disguise."


    As for my proposal, Batov looked at it on the map for a long time, then nodded slowly and said, "OK, I can let my troops have a try, but because of the limited number of troops we can use, I''m not sure whether we can achieve the desired effect." With that, he picked up the phone on the table and called the chief of staff in zhylobin, telling him to let the troops staying near kalinkovich make a feint attack on the enemy.


    In order to save the fate of the encircled troops, we have done everything we can. Staring at the map, I said to myself, "I don''t know when the encircled troops will be able to resume contact with us, so that we can also understand what the situation is there."


    After listening to me, bzikov said with a bitter smile, "Comrade commander, I think their communication system may have been damaged. You think that if the radio station is still in good condition, they will keep sending messages to us for help instead of nothing like this. "


    "Yes, comrade Colonel, you have a point." Batov echoed: "since the friendly forces have completely lost contact with us, it proves that there is something wrong with their communication system. Moreover, the liaison officer I sent has never contacted me. I''m afraid that he is already in danger. "


    Time passes by in the worries of several of us. Just as we were about to see it, chejerikov sent a telegram, which mentioned the friendly situation we were concerned about.


    In order to let everyone know the situation of the friendly forces at the first time, I told akhromeyev, who was holding the telegram, "major, tell us what''s in the telegram."


    "Yes." Akhromeyev has a good memory. Without looking at the phone in his hand, he began to tell us about the friendly forces: "five minutes ago, the troops of Colonel chejerikov had contacted the guards of the 96th infantry division of the 11th group army. According to the head of the regiment, as soon as the fighting started, their division was cut into several sections by the German armored forces and forced to fight separately. According to rough statistics, the battle damage of the regiment reached two-thirds. Now the 309th regiment of our close guard is continuing to attack, looking for the 96th infantry division and the other two regiments. "


    "Comrade major." As soon as akhromeyev finished, Batov immediately asked, "is there any whereabouts of the 260th infantry division?"


    Akhromeyev shook his head and replied without expression: "Comrade General, there is no mention of the 260th infantry division in the telegram sent by the 51st division of the guards."


    Only at this time did I know the serial numbers of the encircled units of the 11th army, the 96th and 260th infantry divisions. I waved to akhromeyev and said, "OK, major, please report to us if you have any new information."


    After akhromeyev left, I frowned and said to Batov, "general Batov, it seems that the situation is more serious than we thought. You see, how long has it been? The number of casualties of the guard regiment of the 96th Infantry Division has exceeded two-thirds. I''m afraid that after this battle, the title of this division should be almost cancelled. "


    "That''s right." Batov also said with a sad face: "I really didn''t expect that the combat effectiveness of the 11th group army would drop so quickly soon after Comrade feijiuningsky was transferred. I thought the maximum number of casualties in the army was half, which was the limit. I didn''t expect that they would be crippled by the German army in such a short time. "


    After Batov finished his speech, chisjakov also talked about his own view: "perhaps it was the news that the commanders and fighters heard that the troops were going to be withdrawn, which led to the laxity of the morale of the army. In this way, they would behave so badly when they were attacked by the German Army."¡° In any case, if the troops are going to be withdrawn, they will be dismissed. " "According to my analysis, the rescued troops, no matter how many people are left, will be scattered and incorporated into other units after the original organizational system is abolished," bezikov said with disapproval The speaker didn''t mean it, and the listener meant it. Don''t let zikov''s casual words brighten my eyes. In any case, these commanders and fighters in the 11th group army have rich combat experience, which is unmatched by the recruits. If I can persuade rokosovsky to incorporate the remaining commanders and fighters of these two divisions into my army, then the combat effectiveness of the army will be improved. After breaking through the German blocking position, the 51st Division continued to advance westward. Before long, shejerikov sent a telegram again, saying that he had contacted another regiment of the 96th infantry division. As for the whereabouts of the division headquarters, there were different opinions. Some soldiers said that as soon as the battle started, the division headquarters was raided by German tank units, and all division commanders had died; It was also said that after being attacked by the German army, the division fought and retreated westward¡° Hell, how could that be? " Batov took off his military cap and fell heavily on the table. He said angrily, "the division was taken off by the enemy at the beginning of the battle. No wonder the command of the army was in chaos."¡° Don''t worry, general Batov Seeing Batov''s anger, I quickly comforted him and said, "the story that the division was taken away by the enemy is just a rumor about individual soldiers. It''s not true. Moreover, up to now, Col. shejerikov has not said that he has found the remains of the division commander of the division. Perhaps they really retreated to the West and joined the 260th Infantry Division under the attack of the enemy. "¡° I hope so. " Batov said. He put the general''s cap on his head again. He called a staff officer and said, "staff officer, please send a message to our liaison officer to see if you can get in touch with him. Once contact is restored, ask him to give me a detailed report immediately. "¡° I understand With a promise, the staff officer turned and ran out of the headquarters to the communication room of the 65th army next door.

 Chapter 1390

    Before Batov could get in touch with the liaison officer sent to the friendly army, akhromeyev came in a hurry with a telegram. He put the telegram on the table in front of me, and then respectfully reported: "Comrade commander, Colonel chejerikov reported that he had found out the German serial number of ambushing the friendly army in the forest area, which was the commander of the 24th motorized army of the 2nd Armored group of goodrian in his 4th Armored Division after the outbreak of the war. At the beginning of the war, the division had made great achievements, but in the areas of Orel and msensk, it was resisted by general katukov''s tank troops, and its abelbach armored brigade suffered great losses.


    ... at the end of ''41, he was the commander of the 4th Panzer Division, and in the area north of Orel, he blocked our attack and severely damaged one of our troops. It is precisely because of this record that he was promoted to major general soon after A few days later, he was seriously injured when he was commanding the troops. After he was discharged from hospital, he was transferred to the post of headmaster of the fast troops school because the post of division commander of the 4th armored division had been replaced by someone else.


    In April this year, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, and took the post of division commander of the fourth armored division again. He also led his troops to participate in the battle of Kursk and the battle of Orel.... "


    After listening to Batov''s introduction, I couldn''t help worrying about the besieged friendly forces. If I just heard that the division headquarters of the 96th division had been killed by the German army, I still had a sense of fluke. I thought it was the surviving commanders who had spread the wrong information. But now that I knew that it was Shoken''s troops who were responsible for the ambush, I knew in my heart that what the soldiers said might be true, and that the division commanders of the division were in danger.


    "Comrade commander, what should we do?" After learning about Shoken''s resume, chisgakov also worried about the fate of the besieged troops, because even if the reinforcements of our four divisions were pressed up, it was not as easy to rescue the friendly troops from the encirclement of the fourth armored division as he thought.


    "Comrade deputy commander, we have done everything we should do." I am quite helpless to say: "as for whether they can be rescued, we can only let fate."


    After that, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. In fact, it was just an instinctive action. I took an absent-minded look at my watch. I didn''t even know what time it was, so I casually asked bzikov, "chief of staff, what position have we arrived from the two wings of the army?"


    "Because the troops can''t March quickly in the forest," bezikov replied with a sad face, "it will take at least an hour or two to get back behind the German army."


    "An hour or two?" Hearing this time, I could not help but feel a thump in my heart, saying that in this way, the burden of rescuing the 96th and 260th divisions can only be accomplished by division xiejerikov and division xieliukin. Thinking of this, I quickly asked bzikov, "has Colonel xijerikov got in touch with the 260th division?"


    "Not yet, comrade commander." After answering my question, bezikov''s facial muscles twitched violently and said carefully, "do you think they have been annihilated by the German army?"


    "No, chief of staff, certainly not." As soon as bezikov''s words came to an end, chisjakov began to retort: "when the two divisions were chasing the enemy, there were continuous lines, at least seven or eight kilometers long. Even if the German armored division and infantry division attacked at the same time, it was impossible to eat our troops in such a short time, not to mention the 51st division of Colonel xijerikov''s guards, Have you not contacted the two regiments of the 96th division? "


    "What''s the use of getting in touch?" Bezikov retorted unconvinced: "two thirds of the guards were killed and wounded, while the situation of the other regiment was not much better, with more than half of the casualties. As for not being able to contact the infantry regiment and division headquarters for the time being, I think it''s more or less dangerous. "


    "Come on, let''s not fight." Although Batov never said a word when they were arguing, I didn''t want outsiders to see that our headquarters were red in the face about something, so I quickly stopped them: "if you have time for this quarrel, why don''t you think about how we can get back in touch with the 260th division and the 96th division."


    Two people were scolded by me after two, finally quiet down. Batov then said, "Comrade oshanina, I haven''t been able to get in touch with my liaison officer. I don''t think the situation of these two divisions is optimistic."


    "Comrade commander, comrade commander." I was talking to Batov when akhromeyev suddenly let out a cry of surprise, grabbed a telegram from the desk and rushed towards me. At the same time, he cried out in a loud voice, "telegram, the telegram just received is from the 260th infantry division."


    "Major, what''s going on?" I looked at akhromeyev, who rushed in front of me, and couldn''t wait to ask, "what does the telegram from the 260th infantry division say? What is their current situation and how many troops are left? And why haven''t they been in touch with us? "


    "Well, comrade commander." Akhromeyev knew my character very well and knew that I would not read the telegram. After handing the telegram to chisgakov, he directly reported to me: "Colonel walenkin, commander of the 260th division, reported that they were ambushed by the German army in the process of pursuing the German army and that the division''s radio station was damaged in the battle, That''s why we couldn''t get in touch. Now that the radio station has been repaired, comrade Colonel feels it necessary to report the actual situation of the division to you. "


    "Be more specific." I saw that there were several pages of telegrams in chisjakov''s hand. I knew that Colonel walenkin''s report must be particularly detailed, so I ordered akhromeyev: "only after I have a detailed understanding of the situation of the 260th infantry division can I send troops to rescue them from the German ambush circle."


    After glancing at the telegram in chisjakov''s hand, akhromeyev began to report to me: "according to Colonel walenkin''s report, during the pursuit of the troops, he suddenly heard fierce gunfire coming from the front. He thought that the troops had caught up with the German guards and that they were exchanging fire.


    Just as he was about to get out of the car and go to a higher terrain to check the war situation ahead, an officer came to him on a motorcycle to report that the vanguard regiment was ambushed by the German army in the process of pursuing.


    After hearing the officer''s report, WA Lianjin thought that the other side had made a mistake, and quickly corrected the other side, saying: "should it be a block, not an ambush?"


    Unexpectedly, the officer replied anxiously: "yes, sir, absolutely! The enemy who attacked our regiment rushed out of the forests on both sides. The commander said it was definitely not the army we were pursuing. "


    When he heard the officer''s affirmative reply, he immediately broke out: "what are you doing here?"?! Why don''t you go back and tell your team leader that we should use the quickest action to seize the favorable terrain on both sides of the road, and we should seize as much as we can! "


    The officer agreed, got on the motorcycle and returned to the area where the battle was going on.


    Walenkin, on the other hand, rushed a group of people from the division headquarters to them and said, "comrades, according to the report of the avant-garde regiment, they were ambushed by German troops from the forest on both sides of the road. Now they are engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy."


    After listening to walenkin''s words, the political commissar of the division thought about it, and then said, "Comrade division commander, could it be that the troops after the German army was cut off were misunderstood by the leading group as other troops?"


    "No, absolutely not." "The leader of the vanguard regiment is a commander with rich combat experience. He will not make such a low-level mistake," he said


    "But, sir." The chief of staff of the division then said, "what should we do next, continue to pursue the enemy, or stop and destroy the enemy who ambushed us first?"


    Before he finished speaking, the political commissar of the Division continued: "I think we should continue to pursue the fleeing enemy. As for ambushing our enemy, we should leave a regiment to deal with them."


    When he heard his political commissar say this, he was a little worried. He said, "comrades, I suspect that we have fallen into the trap of the enemy. If we do not immediately launch our troops on the spot for defense, I am worried that the troops may suffer huge losses."


    The political commissar of the division could not help but sneer at wa Lianjin''s worry and said, "Mr. teacher, you are worried too much. It was only a small group of German troops that ambushed the vanguard group. The purpose was to disrupt our offensive steps and cover the fleeing troops to flee back to kalinkovich. We can''t be fooled by the German army. "


    "Comrade political commissar," wa Lianjin said anxiously, "time is pressing. We can''t hesitate any more. If we delay further, the consequences will be very serious. "


    Before he had finished his words, there was a shrill whistling in the air. Before they made a response, there were pieces of shells falling on the marching troops on the road, which exploded continuously and broke the marching troops into pieces. At ordinary times, these soldiers will certainly be able to react quickly, but now, after two days of Long March and a night of fierce fighting, how can they react quickly, from physical strength to spirit. But no matter how fast they are, how can they be faster than the enemy''s action and the incoming shells that are already ready


    Out of his survival instinct, walenkin fell to the ground at the same time as the first shell exploded. When the shelling was over, the black enemy appeared in the forest on both sides of the road. Out of the instinct of survival, the surviving soldiers rushed into the crater beside them, pulled the bolt as fast as they could to load the bullet, and then the sound of orderly platoon of guns sounded on both sides of the road. The reason why the platoon of guns seems to be a little time-consuming is that there is no way to do it. At the end of the artillery bombardment, the soldiers are still in a bit of panic, and they will inevitably be nervous when they are suddenly attacked. Instead of firing indiscriminately, it is better to kill the enemy with a platoon of guns, which can also buy more time for the establishment of machine gun firepower. "


    It took akhromeyev five minutes to finish the contents of walenkin''s telegram. After he finished speaking, Bartov grinned and laughed at me and said to me, "Comrade O Natsu Chaanning Aa, you have a great eloquence in your major. You can tell the wonderful content of the boring telegram. How about giving him up to me? I can let him become a political commissar in the regiment, just give him a chance to give full play to his eloquence. "


    "General Batov," chisgakov said politely to Batov, "please forgive me. Major akhromeyev is our chief of operations. For us, he is indispensable."


    "All right, all right, general chisgakov." Batov laughed. "You know, we are fighting side by side now, but when it comes to the exchange of cadres, I feel like we have become hostile parties."


    "General Batov," I know that in this situation, if I don''t come out and say something to ease the atmosphere, both Batov and chisjakov will probably mutter, "major akhromeyev is a very capable commander. As early as in the battle of Stalingrad, he was the chief of staff of my division, Now he is the chief of operations of the group army. I have always been very careful about his use and always put him in the right place... "" well, comrade o''shanina, I''m just joking with you. " Batov said jokingly, "it turns out that you and general chisgakov are both serious."¡° By the way, general Batov When I saw the stack of telegrams that chisgakov had put on his desk, I suddenly thought about the liaison officer and asked Batov, "have your men got in touch with the liaison officer at the front line?"¡° Not yet. " After finishing this sentence, Batov''s face became serious: "I sent him to the 96th infantry division, but so far, we haven''t even found the division headquarters of the division. I think he is more or less dangerous."

 Chapter 1391

    Just when we were worried about the 96th division we contacted, in a swamp in the middle of the forest area, there was a camp that was not marked on the map. It used to be a resting place for the guerrillas. But at the moment, it was bombarded by German tank guns. All the huts were destroyed by the gunfire. Some of them were burnt down, and there were short flames on the dark wood of some huts.


    More than 200 people from the 96th division headquarters and the units directly under them were trapped in this narrow area, which is less than 800 meters long and less than 500 meters wide. Due to the barrier of the swamp, the German tanks could not pass, so they could only stop on the other side of the swamp and bombard our troops in the middle of the swamp with artillery fire. The seven or eight attacks launched by the German infantry were all defeated by the tenacious resistance of our commanders and fighters.


    According to what we learned later, in schoken''s plan, they are going to use one hour to annihilate our troops who broke into the ambush circle. However, as I asked rokosovsky to send the air force in time to continue to support, the aerial bombs dropped by the fighter planes during the dive destroyed many German tanks, greatly weakening the enemy''s attack capability. In this way, the troops entering the ambush circle can escape into the forest and deal with the German forces.


    At that time, the division headquarters of the 96th division was surrounded by German troops covered by tanks. The commander of the division, Colonel Yakov, had a bad situation and knew that if he wanted to survive, he had to rush out. So he personally carried a submachine gun and charged the German army with his troops.


    When the German army saw our commanders and fighters trying to break out of the encirclement, the machine guns on the tanks and armored vehicles began to fire fiercely, trying to destroy them on the road of charge. Although he saw one after another of the commanders and fighters fall beside him, and the casualties of the troops made Yakov feel like a knife in his heart, he rushed forward in front of the whole team without fear and braved the enemy''s bullets. Seeing that their own division leaders are taking the lead in charge, and their commanders and fighters are unwilling to lag behind, they rush forward one after another.


    After paying half of the casualties, the officers and men of the 96th division finally rushed in front of the enemy, waving their weapons, entangled with the enemy, and started a white-edged battle.


    There was a guerrilla soldier in the group. He knew that there was a guerrilla camp nearby. When the troops opened a bloody path from the middle of the German army, he volunteered to act as a guide, and with the remaining troops, he withdrew to the isolated island in the middle of the swamp.


    The German army saw that our troops rushed out from their encirclement and immediately followed them. And under the cover of tank fire, launched an attack on the swamp. As the enemy was slow in the waist deep water, he became the target of our army''s commanders and fighters, so their several attacks ended in failure.


    Unfortunately, when the division radio station was passing through the swamp, the operator was hit by a stray bullet, and even the man and the radio station fell into the swamp together. In an instant, they were engulfed by the swamp. In this way, the small forces trapped on the isolated island completely lost contact with the outside world.


    After the troops settled down, the division commander, Colonel Yakov, looked around at his troops. He could not help feeling dejected. There were more than 1500 troops in the division headquarters and the troops directly under it. At this time, the three or four hundred who retreated to the island with him were also scattered. They suffered a great loss.


    At this time, the chief of staff came up and asked, "Comrade division commander, what should we do next? Is it to organize the troops to rush out? "


    Yakov pointed to the bodies floating on the water and said to the chief of staff, "see, chief of staff? When the troops pass through the swamp, they can''t speed up at all. Walking slowly in the water is tantamount to letting the enemy shoot. It''s better to wait until dark. After dark, we''ll send someone to sneak out quietly and get in touch with the other three regiments, so as to cooperate with each other inside and outside and eliminate the enemy. "


    Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the chief of staff said bitterly: "Comrade division commander, listen to how fierce the gunfire is outside. I think not only our division headquarters was ambushed by the enemy, but the situation of the other three regiments is not much better. And I think the 260th infantry division, which opened the way in front of us, was also attacked by the German army. They are all unable to protect themselves. How can they rescue us? "


    "What about the radio?" Yakov thought of the radio station and asked, "chief of staff, where is our radio station? We can report our situation to the headquarters of the group army through radio. "


    "No, no radio." The chief of staff said with a sad face: "it is said that when the radio operator was carrying the radio across the swamp, he was hit by a stray bullet, and he had sunk into the bottom of the swamp with the radio and his men. We have not only lost contact with our superiors, but also with the other three regiments. "


    Although the chief of staff said so, Yakov said with a fluke: "even if we temporarily lose contact with the outside world, the three regiments will definitely report our situation."


    "Comrade teacher, have you forgotten?" The chief of staff reminded Yakov that "after repeated battles, many communication equipment were damaged, and the replenishment from the superior was so slow that the communication between us and the regiments was carried out through telephone lines or communication soldiers."


    As they were talking, a sharp whistling came from the air¡° Artillery, cover up After the chief of staff yelled, he pulled Yakov into a nearby crater.


    Soon, German tank shells fell on the isolated island one after another, blowing up the soldiers who had no place to hide. When the shelling was over, the huts on the island began to burn. The disheartened Yakov stood up and told the chief of staff: "count the casualties of the troops immediately, and let the health workers treat the wounded." In the afternoon, just when Yakov was pessimistic that his troops could not support themselves until dark under the attack of German tank fire, the sharp whistling of the trajectory across the air suddenly came from the distance. In a moment, the fire of the enemy''s position burst into the sky. In the deafening explosion, the artillery hit with unprecedented density. The enemy on the edge of the swamp had been completely blinded by the heavy artillery fire, although most of them rushed into the temporary trench at the beginning of the artillery fire Made a variety of evasive actions, but in an instant hit nearly a hundred shells under the heavy blow, will still blow their bones¡° Sir, look Pointing to the German position on the other side of the swamp, the chief of staff said to Yakov excitedly and incoherently, "the enemy''s position is being shelled. It''s our artillery. Our reinforcements are coming. We are saved."

 Chapter 1392

    After listening for a moment, the chief of staff added, "this is at least one artillery division, and all of them are heavy artillery of 152mm or more."


    As for the size of our artillery, the chief of staff only made a judgment based on his own experience. He never thought that it was not an artillery division that shelled the German positions, but a new self-propelled artillery regiment.


    Yakov was too excited to enjoy the spectacular scene of the attack. He grabbed the submachine gun thrown aside, jumped up from the ground and drank: "brothers, give it to me!"


    The officers and men trapped in the swamp by the German army and bombarded for almost a day were already holding their breath. At this moment, they took the charge of the division commander and got up one after another. They followed the division commander and launched a fierce attack. More than 200 officers and men cried out and jumped into the cold water with no formation, They rushed to the opposite German position.


    Several surviving German soldiers in the position saw the Soviet army officers and men wading in waist deep muddy water and rushing towards them. They quickly pulled the trigger and began to shoot wildly. There was no weapon in hand. He grabbed the grenade at any time and threw it as soon as he pulled the string. The soldier who rushed to the front was shot, and his body was the same as that of the back. Then he fell into the mud with a plop, but the soldier behind still bravely rushed forward, but he slowed down unconsciously.


    When Yakov saw this situation, he first stopped, raised his gun and fired a few shots at the front position. Then he turned around, raised his submachine gun above his head, and yelled at the soldiers behind: "brothers, keep up, don''t fall behind. Go


    A hand grenade fell on Yakov''s side and exploded. The muddy water raised by the explosion waves fell heavily on Yakov''s body. Yakov''s body shook for a while, and a wisp of blood came down from his cap, but he still yelled to the soldiers: "don''t stop, brothers, keep on running¡°


    The chief of staff, who found something strange, rushed over and hugged Yakov from behind. He asked nervously, "what''s the matter with you, comrade division commander? Are you hurt?"


    Yakov was deeply afraid that his injury would affect the morale of the soldiers and lead to the failure of the breakthrough. He quickly shook his head and gritted his teeth in pain and said, "I''m ok, chief of staff. When the Germans are blinded by our army''s artillery fire, take the soldiers out quickly and try to get out of their siege as soon as possible."


    The chief of staff turned his head and roared at the rear. Immediately, several soldiers rushed over, held Yakov and continued to break through.


    The German resistance on the edge of the swamp did not last long, but was destroyed by our artillery fire. Because the soldiers rushed too fast, they had already burst in before the artillery stopped completely, so that the soldiers who rushed in the front were blown to pieces by the last falling shells.


    Because the artillery fire of the self-propelled artillery regiment destroyed the tanks around the swamp and most of the infantry, Yakov and his subordinates, after paying a certain price, finally managed to break out of the encirclement and join the 309th regiment of the guards.


    When a battalion commander saw a group of officers and men rushing out of the forest, he immediately went forward to inquire in person. After he reached out to stop the panting officers and men, he asked aloud, "which part are you from?"


    "We are the 96th infantry division and its direct subordinate units. What part of you are there?" When the chief of staff saw that the visitor was only a major, one rank lower than himself, he said in an official voice, "I''m the chief of staff of the division. Do you want to know who I''m talking to?"


    "I''m major chukliko, commander of the first battalion of 309th regiment of 51st division of Jinwei," chukliko said. After saying this, he turned to the operator who was following him and said, "report to the commander immediately that we have contacted the 96th division headquarters."


    While the operator was shouting at the transmitter, chuckleko politely asked, "chief of staff, where is your division commander, Colonel Yakov?"


    The chief of staff of the division turned around and made a gesture. The soldiers behind immediately carried a stretcher. Yakov, covered with mud and bandaged on his head, was lying unconscious on the stretcher. Chuckleko was surprised to see this. He asked in a hurry, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter?"


    "The division commander was wounded by German grenades when he led the troops to break through the encirclement." Looking at Yakov on the stretcher, the chief of staff of the Division said, "plus the fact that the troops have been marching all this time, he hasn''t slept for days and nights. As soon as I lay on the stretcher, I completely lost consciousness and couldn''t wake up. "


    At this time, the operator contacted the regiment headquarters. He quickly handed the microphone to chukliko and said, "Comrade battalion commander, we have contacted the regiment headquarters."


    Chuckleko put the receiver to his ear and said in a loud voice, "Hello, is that the commander? I''m chuckleko. I''d like to report to you that my battalion has joined the division and the immediate units of the 96th infantry division. "


    "Great, that''s great." Knowing the whereabouts of the division headquarters of the 96th infantry division, shumakov finally dropped the stone hanging in his heart. He then asked, "how many people are there in the division headquarters and the directly subordinate units?" As early as the meeting with the guard group, shumakov learned from the head of the other side that there were at least 1500 to 2000 troops in the division headquarters and the units directly under it. He asked this question to determine whether it was necessary to send troops to escort him.


    "Comrade commander," chuckleko quickly covered the microphone and asked the chief of staff of the division standing in front of him, "how many of you are left


    The chief of staff of the division turned to his side, turned his mouth toward the back, and said helplessly, "look at it for yourself, comrade major. All of us alive are here. "


    Chuckleko was surprised to hear that the officers and men standing in front of him were all members of the division headquarters and the troops directly under it. While he was quietly counting the number of people, the chief of staff of the Division continued: "we still have 135 people left, and the rest were sacrificed when we broke through the encirclement."


    After learning the number of survivors from chukliko''s report, shumakov almost threw out the microphone in his hand. He never dreamed that in less than one day''s battle, the casualties of division headquarters and directly subordinate troops were more than 90%, and division commander Yakov was also injured when breaking through the encirclement. After a moment''s hesitation, he gave an order to chuckleko: "Comrade battalion commander, I now order you to escort Colonel Yakov from your battalion to the headquarters of the group army. I would like to remind you that it is not necessarily safe all the way. You should guarantee the safety of Colonel Yakov at all costs. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." After finishing the call, chukliko returned the microphone to the operator, and then said to the chief of staff of the division with a smile, "Comrade commander, our battalion is ordered to escort you back to the headquarters of the group army. Please follow me."


    As major chuckleko led his battalion and escorted Colonel Yakov and his surviving men back to the headquarters of the group army, we launched a final general attack on the German forces besieged in the city.


    The most fierce battle was in the northern direction of the city attacked by the 52nd division of the close guard of major general nikolasov, where the most elite German troops were defending. After the German army found their retreat and was completely cut off by our army, the originally fierce street fighting became more and more fierce. The officers and soldiers of both sides were fighting house by house and street. In the heavy rain of bullets, more and more soldiers fell down. In the fierce explosion, the houses were burning, and the walls with thousands of holes collapsed.


    In the dust blocking the sky, the officers and men of both sides collided again. In the whole day''s shouting and screaming, the two sides strive to fight for every street, every house and every ruin. The bodies of the dead were everywhere, and the blood gushed over every pile of rubble.


    Narrow streets, dark corners, unavoidable officers and soldiers of both sides, close hand to hand combat, everywhere there are both sides of the figure, everywhere is their battlefield. They trampled on each other''s corpses and fought desperately. Every lane and every street was covered with layers of corpses. The wounded and fallen can''t be removed at all. As soon as the health workers who help the wounded and the dying in the battlefield appear, they will also become the targets of the other party''s attack. Therefore, they can only lie on the corpse and die, or look for opportunities to pull one or two enemies to their backs. In some places blocked by the bodies of both sides, the blood gathered has gone over the feet.


    In the light of fire and explosion, they clench their teeth, wave rifles, bayonets, hand grenades, and even use engineering shovels as weapons. They fly hand grenades over their heads, entangle and fight with each other in the rain of swept bullets and splashed shrapnel. Many red eyed officers and soldiers, yelling and burning grenades, rushed into the middle of the enemy and died with them.


    Street fighting is cruel and fierce. Both the offensive and defensive sides are consuming their own soldiers and strength at a very fast speed. Only the small area in the north of the city has carried too much blood from both sides, so that Lennie krasov could not bear it. He called me and said with a cry: "Comrade commander, you can''t call like this any more. At this speed, it won''t be long before there are a few living people left in my army. "


    "No, general Nekrasov." In response to his request for a truce, I replied without hesitation: "our troops attacked the German forces simultaneously from four directions, and now they are showing signs of collapse. At such a critical moment, we must never stop fighting. Once the troops stop attacking, the courage of the soldiers will dissipate. It will not be so easy to wipe out the enemy at that time. "


    "But, comrade commander." Although I refused my request, he said reluctantly, "you can''t watch our division die with the enemy, can you?"


    "General Nekrasov, I tell you, I don''t have a reserve team here. It''s all up to you." Although I also want to send reinforcements to relieve the pressure of the 52nd division of the guards, my troops, except three divisions, are sent out to rescue. The 96th and 260th divisions can''t match each other, so there is no troops to send¡° If you bite your teeth again, the German defense line will collapse. Tell the commanders and fighters that it''s time to make contributions and wipe out all the enemies in the north of the city. "


    Seeing that I put down the phone, chisjakov said in a low voice: "Comrade commander, I think the use of forces of the 52nd division of the guards has reached the limit. If we do not send troops to support them, I am afraid that the enemy will open a breakthrough from them and then escape from the city."


    As for what chisjakov said, I just nodded and asked bzikov, "chief of staff, what''s the situation in the other three directions?"


    "The 90th division of Jinwei in the west of the city has occupied most of the blocks in the west of the city and is developing towards the center of the city." Bezikov drew a red and blue pencil on the map in front of me and said, "the 375TH infantry division in the east of the city, under the command of the division commander, Lt. Col. Lukin, played well. They took a step-by-step strategy, occupying one street and consolidating another, and successfully repelled several German counterattacks. At most, in the middle of the night, we can advance to the city center and join up with the 90th division of Jinwei¡° The two divisions played very well After I finished this compliment, I looked up at Batov, and then asked bzikov, "where are the three divisions in the south?" On hearing my question, there was an embarrassed expression on bzikov''s face. He turned to Batov and did not answer my question. Batov obviously saw bzikov''s embarrassment and waved his hand to him. He said with disapproval, "Comrade Colonel, don''t have any scruples. You will report to your commander as the actual situation is. " With Batov''s permission, bezikov said, "the three divisions in the South have been slow. So far, they have occupied only one street in the south of the city. Because the German defense firepower in this direction is very strong, so they can not continue to move forward To tell you the truth, I had planned to send a troop from the south to reinforce the northern part of the country, but at the moment I heard from bezikov, I gave up this unrealistic idea. None of the three divisions was able to break through the German defense, and even if one of the divisions was reluctantly sent to support niekrasov, it would not have any effect. After thinking about it, I called ahlomeyev in front of me and asked, "Comrade chief of operations, I don''t know which army we have now to send to reinforce the 52nd division of the guards?"¡° General sherekin''s 8.9 division. " Akhromeyev replied without hesitation: "in our rescue of the 96th and 260th divisions, the 51st guard division and the 67th and 71st guard divisions on both wings successfully defeated the 102nd infantry division and the 4th armored division of the German army at the fastest speed, so general sheriujin''s troops had no chance to fight at all. Now the place where they are stationed is less than 20 kilometers from the north of the city. If the troops are allowed to take a bus, they can reach their destination in half an hour at most. "

 Chapter 1393

    I agreed with akhromeyev''s suggestion, and immediately ordered Xie Liujin to lead his troops to the north of the city as soon as possible to support the attack of the 52nd guard division.


    When I confirmed that division Xie Liujin had taken trucks in batches to drive to the north of the city, I made a special call to him in order to reassure him. When I heard his hoarse voice, I asked without expression, "Comrade nikolasov, what''s the situation there?"


    "The fighting continues." "The commanders and fighters are still fighting with the German army to the death. They are very brave," he said


    "Come on, general Nekrasov, stop complaining to me." I know that after niekrasov replied with such an attitude, he expressed his dissatisfaction to me in a special way. I quickly appeased him and said, "I have given the order to master seleucin to help you as soon as possible. So just hold on for another half an hour, and the reinforcements will be there. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." When he heard that I had sent reinforcements to him, his mood suddenly rose again. He said excitedly to me, "as long as you send reinforcements to us, don''t say to persist for half an hour, even if we persist for another two hours, we will have no problem."


    Nikolasov put down the phone and said to the commanders standing in the headquarters, "do you hear that? The commander sent us reinforcements, but the elite 8.9 division of guards. With their support, we should have no problem in occupying the city center before dawn. "


    As soon as his words were finished, a commander whose face was blackened by gunsmoke asked out of time: "Comrade division commander, didn''t you just say that you would rather risk going to the military court to withdraw our whole division from the battle?"


    Hearing his subordinates say so, nikolasov stepped forward and said with a smile: "hell, just now, now. Didn''t you hear the commander say, send us a guard division? I don''t believe that with the fighting power of two close guard divisions, we can''t win the north of the city. "


    Then he raised his hand to the other two commanders and said solemnly, "you all go back to your respective units and immediately organize a new attack. No matter what price you pay, you have to push the front several hundred meters forward for me. "


    "But, sir." "If we continue to fight like this, we will not have a few living men left in our regiment," the head of the regiment, who was beaten by nikolasov, said


    "Don''t worry. Your regiment has run out. I will give priority to replenishing your regiment as soon as the superior soldiers arrive." With that, nikolasov raised his hand and patted the commander on the arm, urging him to go back to the army quickly. The soldiers are waiting for you to take them to make contributions


    At the same time, on the bloody ruins in the north of the city, there was a moment of strange tranquility. Except for the fierce gunfire in the distance, there was no explosion, no shouting, or even no gunshot. If it wasn''t for the dense corpses of the dead of the two sides, there would be no explosion, If it wasn''t for the smoky ruins and the buildings that were still "crackling" and burning, and if it wasn''t for the low screams of the seriously injured people before they died, it''s hard to imagine that there would have been thousands of people who had been killed here.


    The sudden silence was so strange and abnormal that it made the chest and ears of the officers and men on both sides feel uncomfortable. It was like climbing to the top of a mountain and being blocked by the changing air pressure.


    This situation lasted only a few minutes. As the three commanders returned to their respective units, a new round of attacks began again.


    The German Colonel, who stayed in the north of the city, had tried his best, though he had made up his mind to fight to the end, relying on the advantage of the land and his regiment''s strength to resist the Soviet attack at all costs, though he had shot and killed several fleeing officers and soldiers himself to frighten the rest of the officers and soldiers who were going to retreat, and though his bloody subordinates could fight to death, And at the same time, they smashed the fierce attack of the Soviet army. But at the moment, when he saw that the Soviet army launched another offensive with great momentum, he felt that what he had just done was in vain.


    After several commanders returned to the army, they conveyed the news that reinforcements were about to arrive to the grassroots commanders and fighters. The exhausted commanders and fighters suddenly became enthusiastic. The battalion and company commanders formed a dense attack formation and launched another attack towards the German defense area, striving to make a successful attack.


    As soon as I put down the phone, the two commanders of the 96th infantry division and the 260th infantry division, who were rescued, came to my headquarters. Looking at the two teachers with haggard faces and a little frustrated spirit, especially Colonel Yakov who was still lying on the stretcher, I didn''t know where to start when I wanted to blame them.


    After staring at them for a while, I went to the stretcher, leaned down and asked Yakov, "Comrade Colonel, how is your injury? Shall I send you to the rear? "


    When I heard this, Yakov, lying on the stretcher, waved his hand and said, "no, no, comrade commander, I''m not seriously injured. Just lie for two days. I don''t need to go to the hospital in the rear."


    Before the two men came to the headquarters, I learned from the news that the total strength of the two divisions was no more than 5000, and many of them were wounded. Therefore, after consulting with Batov, I made a phone call to rokosovsky and reported the specific situation to him. Finally, I said, "Comrade commander, at present, there are only 5000 people left in the two divisions. Maybe it will be difficult for the two divisions to undertake separate combat tasks in the next battle."


    "And how do you think about it?" Rokosovsky asked faintly.


    "I''m going to abolish the formation of these two divisions and integrate the remaining commanders and fighters into other units." I rely on their own and rokosovsky is very familiar, so the courage to say: "do not know this line?"


    "Nonsense, it''s nonsense." As soon as I finished speaking, rokosovsky immediately criticized me, saying, "only the general staff can decide on the abolition of the troop establishment. What right do you have, on behalf of the leaders of the general staff, to make a decision to abolish the organizational system of the two divisions? "


    Rokosovsky''s criticism immediately blushed at me. In a hurry, I didn''t know how to answer. When he heard that there was no movement on my side, maybe he realized that what he just said was a little too heavy, so he slowed down and said, "but what you said is still reasonable. It may be very difficult for the troops that have been badly hit by the German army to carry out any single task in the short term. Well, I''ll call marshal vasilevsky and ask if it''s possible to suspend the establishment of these two divisions and put the rest of the troops in the divisions. "


    "Thank you, thank you, comrade commander." I had no hope for this matter. At this moment, I was overjoyed to hear rokosovsky''s words and quickly expressed my thanks to him: "as long as I have these thousands of soldiers, I guarantee that my troops can take kalinkovych from the enemy in the shortest time."


    With the permission of rokosovsky, when I faced Yakov and walenkin, I was able to say to them with full confidence: "comrades, because your troops have suffered serious losses in recent battles, with the approval of the higher authorities, the serial numbers of your two divisions will be revoked, and the surviving commanders and fighters will be incorporated into the divisions of the group army. As for the appointment of you two, I need to consult the commander of the front army before I can give you an accurate answer. "


    "What, abolish the organizational structure of the troops?" After hearing this thunderbolt from the blue, walenkin was a little better. He knew that it was the price of defeat. It was better for his troops to be withdrawn than for him to be sent to the military court. Yakov''s reaction was particularly strong. He suddenly sat up from the stretcher, widened his eyes and asked me, "Comrade commander, are you telling me the truth? Do you really want to cancel the establishment of our two divisions, and then integrate the commanders and fighters into other units? "


    "Yes, comrade colonel." I nodded and said in a positive tone: "this is the case. From now on, the organizational structure of the 96th and 260th infantry divisions will no longer exist, and you two will no longer serve as division commander, but will be appointed separately. I hope you can go back to your respective units and do a good job in persuading commanders and fighters at all levels. Do you understand? "


    "I understand." The two replied feebly.


    "Wait a minute," Batov stopped the soldiers as they were carrying Yakov''s stretcher to leave the headquarters. He stepped forward, went to the stretcher, looked at Yakov sitting on it, and said, "Comrade Colonel, there is snow water seeping out of the bandage on your head. I''ll ask the health worker to dress you again."


    Yakov nodded in disapproval of Batov''s statement, with an indifferent look. Batov quickly called a staff officer and told him, "Comrade staff officer, take the colonel to the medical station and ask the medical staff to dress him up again."


    As soon as the stretcher was carried out of the headquarters, chisjakov couldn''t wait to ask me, "Comrade commander, since the 96th and 260th infantry divisions are about to be abolished, what troops are you going to add these 5000 commanders and fighters to?"


    "In today''s street fighting, the most severely fought troops are general nikolasov''s 52nd guard division." I looked at chisgakov and said solemnly, "I intend to give them all these 5000 troops."


    "What, five thousand people will be added to the 52nd division?" In response to my decision, chisgakov was a little surprised and asked, "don''t you share it with other troops? You know, in the past few days of fighting, all divisions have been downsized to varying degrees. If they can''t be supplemented by soldiers, I''m worried... "


    "What are you worried about, comrade deputy commander?" I didn''t wait for chisgakov to finish, then I interrupted what he said behind him and said impolitely, "don''t divisions get emotional if they don''t get the supplement of soldiers? Don''t worry. Although we can''t get the supplement from the soldiers, we''ll feel a little bumpy, but when they know about the casualties of the 52nd division of the guards, they won''t complain to us any more. "


    "Well, comrade commander." Seeing that I was obviously partial to the 52nd division of the guards, chisjakov had no choice but to say, "I respect your decision. Then I will add all the soldiers of these two divisions to the 52nd division of the guards."


    At this time, in the north of the city, the German Colonel, in his command post, received one phone call after another from his subordinates. The contents of the phone call are all the same: "the Russians have rushed into our position and are engaged in a white-edged battle with our soldiers", or "Mr. Colonel, there are not many living people in our position, please send troops to reinforce us!" Or something.


    For these calls for help, the German Colonel replied in a unified way: "I don''t have a reserve team. Even the soldiers standing guard at the door have been sent to the front line to fight. You can only rely on your own ability to resolutely block the Russian attack. " The chief of staff of the regiment was a little flustered when he saw that the Soviet army took streets from their own hands, occupied buildings, and got closer and closer to the regiment headquarters. He went up to the colonel, and said in a low, rapid voice, "Mr. Colonel, the Russian offensive is so fierce that we can''t stand it." The colonel looked at him and asked with disdain, "chief of staff, what are you going to do?" The chief of staff put up two fingers and whispered, "Mr. Colonel, if we don''t want to be wiped out by the Russians, there are only two ways to go."¡° Which two roads? " Asked the German Colonel curiously¡° The first is that we give up our present positions and retreat. " The chief of staff of the regiment nuzui in the direction of the city center, and then said: "shrink the forces and join the division headquarters, repose the fortifications in the city center, and continue to fight against the Russian attack."¡° No way. " After hearing this, the Colonel shook his head and directly denied the chief of staff''s proposal: "if we really shrink our forces and retreat to the city center, then the Russians can use artillery to bombard our assembly area. Even if they don''t attack at that time, the intensive artillery fire can destroy us all. Let''s talk about the second way! "¡° The second way. " The chief of staff hesitated for a moment, and finally clenched his teeth and said, "immediately order the troops to cease fire, and send someone to negotiate with the Russians and surrender to them."¡° What, surrender to the Russians? " When the German Colonel heard his chief of staff say this, he immediately jumped up from his seat, his eyes wide open, and said angrily, "chief of staff, do you know what you''re talking about? You suggested that I let the soldiers lay down their arms and surrender to the Russians. You know, if you make such a suggestion, I can execute you on the spot in the name of treason. "

 Chapter 1394

    "I know." After listening to the Colonel''s words, the chief of staff of the regiment put on an expression that a dead pig is not afraid of boiling water. "Anyway, even if we continue to fight, we will only live a few more days or hours. We have lost the value of our use as bait to lure the Russians. Instead of sacrificing our lives in vain, we should lay down our arms and surrender. Only in this way can we have a chance of survival. "


    Several staff officers and signalmen in the command post all heard what the chief of staff of the regiment said, and they all turned their eyes to their commander, expecting him to make a wise decision.


    The German Colonel saw despair in the eyes of his subordinates, and knew that if the battle continued like this, all the officers and men of his regiment would be explained here. Perhaps surrender was the best choice at present. Thinking of this, he sighed and said, "well, chief of staff, do as you say. Let all the troops that can be contacted stop shooting and send people to negotiate with the Russians as soon as possible. "


    Seeing that his head of staff agreed to surrender, the chief of staff of the regiment agreed with joy, and then ordered those staff officers: "hurry up, contact all the troops immediately, and let them stop shooting."


    After listening to the order of the chief of staff, one of the staff members asked, "chief of staff, what if the Russians continue to attack after we stop shooting?"


    "Fool, you fool." "Can''t you use your head?" the chief of staff of the Chinese people''s Liberation Army said? After the troops cease fire, let them fly the white flag. As long as the Russians are not blind, they can see it. As long as they see the white flag, they will definitely stop attacking and send someone to contact us. "


    "I see." The scolded staff officer quickly agreed, then picked up the phone in front of him and gave orders to the troops he could contact.


    Our commanders and fighters, who were assembling their troops and preparing to launch another attack, suddenly found that the German army in front of them had stopped fire, and even some buildings occupied by the enemy, as well as white flags, stretched out from the windowless windows and swayed desperately. Seeing this situation, the commanders of the battalions and companies could not figure out what was going on, so they immediately ordered the troops to stop attacking and reported to division commander nikolasov in time.


    Nikolasov was discussing with the newly arrived Xie Liujin about which direction to put the new troops. When he heard the report from several of his subordinates, he thought he had heard it wrong and asked the other party to repeat it again. Only then did he know that the Germans had unilaterally stopped fire and played the white flag in many places.


    Niekrasov did not dare to make a decision casually, so he called to report to me immediately. He said excitedly on the phone: "Comrade commander, the Germans have put up the white flag and surrendered to our army!"


    "What, the Germans surrendered?" Less than an hour ago, nikolasov was still worried about Germany''s tenacious defense. Unexpectedly, shortly after that, the German army took the initiative to surrender. The change of painting style is too fast. After listening to his report, I pondered for a moment, and then asked, "have you sent someone to take the prisoners and take over those positions?"


    "Not yet." Niekrasov replied honestly, "my subordinates have reported to me that the German army has taken the initiative to cease fire and put out a white flag. I think we should report this matter to you at the first time. Therefore, we have not yet carried out the task of taking over the position."


    "What are you still doing?" When I heard that nikolasov had not taken any action, I immediately said with some dissatisfaction, "Comrade General, don''t you know that every minute on the battlefield is precious? If you take over the position one minute earlier, you will be able to destroy the enemy''s resistance one minute earlier and let our commanders and fighters shed less blood. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." "I''m going to send someone to take the prisoners and take over the defense area in the north of the city. After consolidating the position, I''m going to attack the center of the city," he replied politely


    With the surrender of the German army, the street battle in the north of the city came to an end. Next, I should care about the other three directions. The first one I called was Lukin of the 375TH infantry division. As soon as I got through, I heard clear gunfire coming out of the receiver. It seemed that the fighting was also very fierce. I said in a loud voice to the microphone, "Hello, is that lieutenant commander Lukin? I''m o''shanina. What''s the situation there? "


    "The tension in the army went well." Because of the gunfire and explosion at the other end of the phone, Lukin had to cry out: "we have just taken another street from the Germans, and now the troops are attacking the next street."


    The sound of gunfire from the receiver kept Lu Jin''s voice very low. I couldn''t hear it clearly most of the time, so I had to ask Lu Jin to repeat it several times. Finally, I couldn''t help but ask aloud, "Comrade commander, why are the guns there so loud?"


    "Comrade commander," Lu Jin roared and replied, "my division headquarters is only 150 meters away from the most fierce fighting place..." as soon as he said that, a mortar shell fell outside his headquarters and exploded. The roar covered what Lu Jin said behind. The flying shrapnel cut down a soldier standing guard at the door.


    After the noise over there was slightly reduced, I said in a loud voice to the microphone, "Comrade Lu Jin, don''t forget that you are now the division commander, not the commander or battalion commander. I now order you to keep your headquarters at least 300 meters away from the most fierce fighting area. It''s not my request, it''s my order. Do you hear me? "


    "Yes," Lu Jin replied loudly, "Comrade commander, when my soldiers occupy the support point in this street, I''ll move the headquarters back. Is that ok?" He was deeply afraid that I would not agree with him. He specially added, "if the commanders and fighters see me retreat at such a time, it will affect their morale."


    I know that Lu Jin is telling the truth. If his subordinates see their division commander move the headquarters backward at such a time, they will surely be demoralized, and it will be difficult to fight the next war. There is no way, I can only reluctantly say: "well, then wait for your soldiers at the entrance of the street, occupy the support point, you will move the headquarters back."


    When I put down the phone, chisgakov immediately asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the situation of the Lukin division, where did they call, and are there any casualties in the army?"


    As for several consecutive questions from chisgakov, I replied with a smile, "Comrade deputy commander, don''t worry. Lieutenant commander Lu Jin is my old subordinate. He knows my fighting style very well, so he doesn''t have to worry about heavy casualties of his troops in the lane fighting. "


    "Why As soon as I finished, Batov couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade oshanina, why do you say that? You should know that your 52nd division of guards, because of the heavy casualties of the attacking troops, asked you to reinforce the reserve. You don''t worry about the Lujin division. You know, the fighting power of the ordinary infantry division can''t compare with that of the close guard division. "


    "General Batov, as I just said, Lieutenant Colonel Lukin knows my fighting style very well." I explained to Batov with a smile, "so the tactics he used in commanding the troops in the alley war are the ones I usually instill in them. On the streets, the troops did not charge in dense formation, but in groups of three or five, making use of the buildings on both sides and alternately covering the wall. In some streets where German firepower is tightly sealed, they will use the method of blasting through the walls of buildings and detour from the flank to the German firepower points.... "


    Batov nodded at my lengthy speech. After I finished, he said with emotion, "Comrade oshanina, I understand why your troops have made great achievements in the siege battle. It turns out that in addition to the bravery and tenacity of the soldiers, the use of tactics is also very important."


    "From the current situation, there is no big problem in the East and north of the city." I looked at Batov and said to him with a smile, "I''m going to call the 90th group army in the west of the city. Do you want to call your three divisions in the south of the city to find out their progress?"


    "OK, no problem." Batov agreed very readily: "I''ll call them now and ask where the troops have advanced. From this we can infer when my troops will join your troops."


    I nodded, then dialed Chernoff, commander of the 90th division of Jinwei, and asked frankly, "general Chernoff, what''s the situation there? How many streets have you captured in the west of the city?"


    "Report, comrade commander," Chernoff replied hastily, "after our division captured two streets in a row, the battle fell into a stalemate. Now our troops are fighting repeatedly with the German troops on the third street. In just one hour, two buildings have changed hands three times, and the two sides of the buildings are covered with the bodies of the enemy and us. "


    "General Chernoff," I heard that the attack of the 90th guard division was not going well. Instead of blaming Chernoff, I used the achievements of Nekrasov and Lukin to stimulate him: "now the 52nd guard division of general Nekrasov has successfully occupied the north of the city and is ready to attack the city center; And commander Lu Jin''s 375TH infantry division now occupies most of the eastern part of the city, and is pushing towards the city center step by step. "


    "They played really well." Chernoff said something sour and said to me, "but our division will not be inferior to them. Comrade commander, you can rest assured that before dawn, my troops will be in the center of the city, meeting with friendly troops from the north and the East."


    "Since you are so confident," I know what Chernoff said may not be realized, but in this case, I can''t pour cold water on him, so I have to follow his meaning and say, "then I wish you good luck. I hope your troops can join the other two divisions as soon as possible."


    I put down the phone, turned to Batov, who had just finished the call, and saw that his face was tight. I knew that there was no good news for him. However, in order to understand the progress of the siege, I asked politely, "general Batov, don''t you know that the attack in the south of the city is going well?"


    Hearing my question, Batov''s face turned red and white for a long time. He was embarrassed to reply, "it''s not very smooth. Their attacks were repulsed by the Germans, and now they are forced to retreat to the first street they occupied."


    "What, the attack was repulsed?" "General Batov, you are three divisions. The German army has two regiments at most. How can you defeat the enemy when you have the advantage of your troops?" he asked in surprise


    Batov turned to look at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, I think my troops failed in the attack. Maybe there was something wrong with the use of tactics. As you know, the attack mode of our infantry is always rigid. The soldiers wear striking Brown uniforms, line up in dense formation in the snow, and rush forward with guns. This kind of suicidal charge enables the German army to dodge behind the fortifications built in front of the position, and then shoot and strafe calmly. As a result, we have made great sacrifices, but we can not achieve any results. "


    Batov''s words made me understand why they failed in attack. In order for the three divisions in the south of the city to enter the city smoothly and join my three divisions, I began to give him advice. After calling Batov to sit down beside him, I took out my paper and pen and began to explain to him while drawing: "general Batov, you see, the narrow streets in the city force our troops not to launch any tactical formation, and the soldiers can only charge shoulder to shoulder in a pile. Therefore, as long as the Germans set up machine gun fire points in every narrow street, put two or three machine guns on them, and fire fiercely at our army''s commanders and fighters. As long as you consider the firing rate of the German machine gun, it is not difficult to imagine how bloody the scene would be. It was not so much a battle as a massacre. In most of the streets, it is a scene that our soldiers who rush in the front are swept to the ground by machine guns, and the people who follow them can''t dodge and trip over the corpses, making the pile of people and corpses higher and higher. The soldiers who didn''t trip over were shot by machine guns. After being shot, some of them didn''t even have the space to fall to the ground. They directly leaned against their companions behind them. The lethal bullet then penetrated the bodies of the dead and shot into the bodies of the people behind them, and put the dead and living people through. " After listening to my analysis, Batov nodded, then stood up and said, "Comrade oshanina, I understand. I''ll call the three division commanders and ask them to attack the enemy''s positions after adjusting their attack tactics. We must not let our soldiers die so meaninglessly."

 Chapter 1395

    Batov, who followed the good example, immediately went to call his three division commanders to instruct them how to adjust their tactics so as to reduce the price paid by the troops in the attack.


    Not long after Batov left, another call came in. I thought it was one of my teachers, so I picked up the phone and pasted it in my ear: "Hello, I''m oshanina. Where are you?"


    "I''m rokosovsky." All of a sudden, rokosovsky''s familiar voice came over the phone. "What''s the situation there, Rita?"


    "Report to the commander of the front army," I heard rokosovsky''s voice. I quickly stood up from my seat, straightened my back to the microphone and said, "the two German divisions surrounded by us in the city are being wiped out bit by bit. I estimate that in ten hours at the most, we will be able to end the whole battle. "


    When he heard my report, rokosovsky let out a sound. He was silent for a moment, and suddenly asked, "Rita, I''d like to ask you a question. If you destroy the German army besieged by you in the city, I order you to continue to push westward to attack moziri and kalinkovich, will you be able to complete this task?"


    To tell you the truth, although I have never been to the two places mentioned by rokosovsky, I know that they are only two small cities with tens of thousands of people. I believe that the German defense force will not be too strong, so I confidently replied: "don''t worry, comrade commander, although my troops have been reduced a lot in the battle, But as long as you can replenish our troops and expended weapons and ammunition in time, I believe that with the strength of our group army, there is no big problem in winning these two places. "


    "There is no supplement in terms of soldiers, weapons and ammunition, and there is no support from artillery and air force." When I finished speaking, rokosovsky suddenly said, "you can only rely on your existing forces and weapons to attack moziri and kalinkovic and win the final victory. Well, are you confident? "


    "Comrade General, wait a moment, please wait a moment." I was a little flustered and said, "give me a few minutes. I''ll think it over and give you a reply, OK?"


    "OK, I''ll give you ten minutes." "I''ll call you back in ten minutes," rokosovsky said in a reasonable way With that, he hung up without waiting for my opinion.


    "What''s the matter, comrade commander?" Seeing that I was in a daze holding the microphone in both hands, chisjakov asked with concern, "how did you lose your soul? Did the senior general say anything to you?"


    I put down the receiver, and Chunchy scakov gave me a smile that was worse than crying. Then I said, "Comrade deputy commander, I want to ask you a question."


    "Go ahead, comrade commander. As long as I know the answer, I will say everything." Although he did not know what question I was going to ask, he replied very readily.


    "Do you think our troops, after destroying the German army in the city, are still capable of attacking moziri and kalinkovich?" I was deeply afraid that chisgakov would perfunctory me, and specially stressed: "don''t use any formula to perfunctory me, I just want to listen to your sincere words."


    "Well, comrade commander, since you want to hear my truth, I''ll tell you." With a restrained smile on his face, chisjakov said to me solemnly: "our group army has just added new recruits not long ago. Although we have been training day and night, the combat effectiveness of the army has not been improved. It was under such circumstances that we pulled our troops into Belarus and began to fight against the fierce enemy. Of course, we have achieved a lot, but at the same time, we should see what kind of price we have paid for such achievements. Let''s say the 52nd division of the guards. After the settlement of the German troops in the city, they are estimated that there will be no one left. If they can not add 5000 troops from the friendly forces, the organizational structure of this division can be almost abolished.


    As for continuing to attack moziri and kalinkovych, if the headquarters of the front army can supply us with troops and consumed weapons and ammunition in time, I believe we will not have much problem in winning these two cities after fierce fighting. What''s more, there are still our troops in the vicinity of these two cities. With their cooperation, the battle against the city will be much easier. "


    I waited for chisgakov to finish, shook my head with a bitter smile and said, "Comrade deputy commander, I''m very sorry to tell you. According to the intention of the commander of the front army, we can not get any supplies. Even in combat, we can not get the support of planes and artillery. We can only rely on our existing strength to deal with the enemies in these two areas. "


    "It''s an unfinished task." Before I could say anything more to chisgakov, bzikov said hastily: "our group army has competed with the German army of seven divisions since it entered Ukraine. Of course, the enemy has suffered heavy losses, but we have also paid a great price. I think it''s extremely unwise to attack moziri and kalinkovic when we can''t get supplies. Once the battle starts, it won''t be long before our troops run out of ammunition and food. "


    "It''s not that serious, is it?" I think that bezikov''s statement is a bit alarmist. "In any case, with our current strength, even if we meet four or five German divisions, we will not fall behind."


    "Comrade commander, have you forgotten our supply situation?" Bezikov said to me with a bitter smile: "our artillery regiment and rocket battalion depend too much on logistics. If they can''t replenish shells in time, soon our artillery will have to stand aside as spectators when we attack."


    "All right, chief of staff, you don''t have to say." When I heard what bzikov said, I felt in my heart that rokosovsky''s proposal was tantamount to "asking the horse to run and the horse not to eat grass". If he did not solve the problem of logistics supply for me, I would never agree to his request.


    Ten minutes later, rokosovsky called as he wished. He asked frankly, "Rita, how are you thinking about it? Give me a definite answer


    "Comrade commander of the front army," I said dryly, "I have carefully considered your proposal. If our troops are provided with logistics, my offensive troops will be weakened in a short time due to the lack of weapons and ammunition, which may delay the fight."


    "If I could get a supplement, would I let your group army undertake such an important task?" When rokosovsky heard that I had rejected his request, he immediately said to me in a stern tone: "now all the supplements from the supreme command are given priority to the first front army of Ukraine, because they are engaged in important battles there, so we will not get any supplements in the short term." After venting, he slowed down and continued, "and the superior didn''t give us the order to stop attacking or turn to defense, so we have to choose to continue attacking."


    "Keep on attacking?" I heard rokosovsky say so, and I felt vaguely that he seemed to imply something. After a little thought, I immediately thought it over and asked excitedly, "Comrade commander of the front army, what you mean is that as long as our troops keep on attacking, it doesn''t matter whether we can achieve the goal of the campaign?"


    "Rita." Rokosovsky said with a smile: "this is what you said, but I didn''t say anything. Since you think so, I wish you good luck and early success. "


    When I put down the phone, I realized that I was being tricked by rokosovsky again. After a long period of fighting, several groups of the former Belarusian front army have experienced a large number of casualties. The consumption of weapons, ammunition and various military materials is also very large. Moreover, the commanders and fighters are extremely tired and need a period of rest. Our troops from Smolensk can replace them and give them enough time to rest.


    When Batov came back, he saw the three of us around the table, studying the next battle plan. He couldn''t help asking, "Comrade oshanina, what are you doing?"


    "General Batov, please come here." Because Batov is familiar with the direction of kalinkovic, if I want to attack these places, I have to learn from people who are familiar with that area. When he got to the table, I pointed to the map and asked him, "general Batov, can you tell us something about kalinkovich?"


    "What, the situation of kalinkovich?" When Batov heard my question, he could not help showing a blank expression on his face. He pointed to the outside with his hand and said with a little dissatisfaction: "Comrade oshanina, at present, the fighting in the city is still going on. You don''t think about how to eliminate the enemy in the city as soon as possible, but you think about seizing kalinkovich. I''m really confused by you."


    "General Batov, the situation is like this. When you just went out to make a phone call, the commander of the front army himself called..." I told him what happened after he left, and finally said: "my troops will go to moziri and kalinkovich next. If someone who is familiar with the terrain, please give me some advice, I will be very grateful to him. "


    "No problem, comrade oshanina. I will tell you what I know. " After finding out what was going on, Batov immediately said with great cooperation: "at present, general belov''s 61st army is deployed near moziri. If you want to attack these two cities, you can attack moziri first. With the cooperation of general belov''s troops, I believe you can easily win this city. As long as you win moziri, then turn your head to attack kalinkovic, and your resistance will be greatly reduced. "


    I waited for Batov to finish, nodded, and then said to chisjakov and bezikov, "next we''ll discuss how to mobilize the troops."


    "Comrade commander," as soon as I finished, bzikov said hastily, "now our 51st, 67th and 71st divisions of the guards are returning from the forest area. As they had no means of transportation, the officers and men had to walk back. Now that we have received the order to attack moziri and kalinkovic, we should immediately order them to stop withdrawing, turn to the West and move forward to moziri and kalinkovic. "


    "You reminded me in time, chief of staff." I waved to bzikov and urged him: "hurry up and contact the commanders of the three divisions, let them turn to the West immediately, and take our offensive starting position when the Germans are not ready."


    When bidzikov went to make a phone call, Batov said to me, "Comrade oshanina, I just repeated your tactics to my teachers in detail when I was talking to them. They promised to adopt such tactics in the next round of attack to deal with the German troops who rely on the buildings and streets to build defense. " I nodded slightly and said flatly, "general Batov, as long as your men can use our street fighting tactics, they can not only win in the next battle, but also reduce the casualties to a lower level." When I finished, Batov didn''t speak. All that could be heard in the room was the ticking sound of the telegraph and the voice of akhromeyev shouting into the microphone. I am very clear that after such a long battle, the ammunition consumption of the troops must be very serious, and it will take at least two or three days for our logistics department to transport the materials we need from Smolensk. That is to say, in the period before the goods are transported, we are likely to run out of ammunition and food, so we have to ask Batov for help. After a slight cough, I asked tentatively, "general Batov, I have something I want to ask you for help. What do you think?" Although Batov didn''t know what I would ask him for, he said carelessly: "Comrade oshanina, we are friendly forces. If you need anything, just ask me. Even if you ask me to transfer one or two divisions to support you, I won''t have any objection. "¡° Thank you, general Batov After thanking him, I said directly, "as for the soldiers, we don''t need them yet. It is mainly ammunition, which has been consumed seriously after these two or three days of fighting. Shells, in particular, were almost exhausted after several rounds of artillery preparation. Do you think it is necessary to supply us with a batch of ammunition, among which there must be shells for our heavy artillery. Do you think so? "

 Chapter 1396

    Batov did not immediately agree to my request, but he did not refuse. He pondered for a long time, and then said to me, "Comrade oshanina, you also know that after a long period of fighting, all kinds of military materials, including ammunition, have been consumed severely by my troops. As for whether I can help you, I don''t know yet. I need to call my deputy commander and chief of staff


    "General Batov, you can call soon." As soon as bezikov heard that there was a door for supplies from Batov, he immediately grabbed the microphone from the base of the telephone and handed it to Batov. At the same time, he said in a flattering way, "I hope your deputy commander and chief of staff can bring us good news."


    When Batov called, I kept staring at him, trying to keep abreast of the progress of things according to the change of his facial expression. I soon found that my statement was very effective. Although I couldn''t hear what the other party said to Batov, I knew from his more and more serious expression that things might not be as smooth as I thought.


    Sure enough, when Batov put down the phone, he gave me a smile worse than crying: "sorry, comrade oshanina, I just asked the chief of staff. He said that we have provided you with all the heavy artillery shells in stock. In today''s warehouse, there is nothing but one or two thousand military coats. I''m sorry, but I can''t help you


    "It''s all right, general Batov." After learning the real situation, although I was extremely disappointed, I still said calmly, "I understand your difficulties. After all, you have consumed a lot of military materials in such a long battle. It''s almost your limit to provide us with thousands of shells. On behalf of all the officers and men of the sixth group army, I would like to thank you. " With that, I stood up and bowed to him.


    "Comrade oshanina," Batov said in a flustered way, not expecting that I would suddenly bow to him, "you see, we are all friendly forces. We should have helped each other."


    I see that we can''t get the supplies we want from Batov, and rokosovsky can''t give us any supplies either. We can only solve everything by ourselves. I turned to look at chisgakov and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t know how much ammunition we have in Smolensk?"


    Mr. chisjakov was stunned by my question, but then he spoke to Mr. bezikov and said, "the chief of staff is familiar with this matter. You can ask him."


    When bezikov saw that I turned my eyes on him, he quickly took out a book from his satchel, looked at several pages, and then replied, "at present, the reserve of heavy artillery shells in Smolensk can provide artillery regiments at the front line with no less than five base shells."


    "Great, that''s great." I didn''t expect that there were so many shells stored in Smolensk. As long as they were transported here, we could crush the German troops on the fire. Thinking of this, I called ahlomeyev over and told him, "major, send a message to the military commissar immediately, and let him immediately send the shells stored in Smolensk as soon as possible, They''re all coming to us. "


    "Yes Akhromeyev simply agreed, and then turned to send the message.


    Less than five minutes later, akhromeyev came up to me with a telegram he had just received and reported to me, "Comrade commander, the military commissar has called back. He said that due to the limited number of cars and vehicles, it will take at least three to five days to deliver all the shells we need. "


    "What, three to five days?" When I heard what akhromeyev said about time, my heart sank and I frowned and said, "if we have to wait so long, then our artillery will become idle during this period of time."


    "No way, comrade commander." As soon as I finished speaking, he immediately explained to me, "the train carrying troops, after zhylobin unloaded the troops, drove to Moscow full of the wounded. It is estimated that it will not be able to return in a day or two. That is to say, before the train returns, we can only meet our badly needed shells here by means of truck transportation. You also know what our road conditions are like. From my heart, three to five days is already very fast. "


    Seeing my disappointed expression, chisgakov comforted me and said, "don''t worry, comrade commander. Maybe after we have solved the enemy in the city, we can capture the heavy artillery shells we urgently need from their warehouse."


    Unexpectedly, as soon as chisgakov''s words were finished, he was refuted by Batov. He said impolitely: "Comrade chisgakov, if I remember correctly, the German army does not have 152 mm guns, only 150 mm guns. Unless you capture the enemy''s artillery together, these shells are useless even if they are captured. "


    I was deeply afraid that they would quarrel over the caliber of the gun, so I quickly stopped them: "well, we don''t have to talk about it. I estimate that even if there are heavy artillery shells in the German warehouse, the estimated quantity is very limited, which can''t solve our problem. If we want the artillery to continue to maintain a strong fire output, we have to wait for the shells from Smolensk. "


    With that, I asked bezikov, who was standing beside me and watching the crowd: "chief of staff, how are our troops going in the city? When can we occupy the German headquarters in the city center?"¡° At present, the sheriujin division in the North has been inserted near the German headquarters, and is engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy in this area. " Bezikov pointed to the map and reported to me: "the Lukin division is only one street away from the German headquarters. Now his troops are competing with the German army for the buildings on both sides of the street."¡° And the Chernoff division to the west? " Staring at the map in front of me, I asked without looking up, "where are the three friendly divisions in the south?"¡° The Chernoff Division has been pushed to the "October square" to the west of the city center. In the square, there are many German tanks as fixed fort. In the process of destroying these targets, our troops paid a great price. As for the three divisions in the south, "at this point, bezikov stopped, looked around at Batov, and then said," this situation needs to be introduced to us by general bezikov. "

 Chapter 1397

    Batov waved to the staff officer standing by, and when he came, he whispered a few words in his ear. After the staff officer left, he said to us, "I''ll let him know about the fighting situation of the other three divisions."


    "General Batov," chisjakov asked, looking at Batov in an uncertain tone, "do you think they can successfully occupy the south of the city?"


    Batov was not angry at the mistrust of chisgakov. He said calmly, "general chisgakov, if it had been a few hours ago, I might not have been sure to answer your question. But since I learned new street fighting skills from Comrade o''shanina and told my three teachers, I believe that the progress of the fighting is much smoother than we thought. "


    "Yes, yes, general Batov is right." I don''t know why chisgakov was always aiming at Batov, and then came out to make a comeback: "now our troops have approached the city center from three directions, the German army may shrink its forces and fight a final battle with us in the city center. In this way, the troops attacking in the south of the city will greatly speed up their advance. "


    With these words, thinking of Batov''s report, he changed the topic in time: "OK, let''s discuss how to attack the enemies of moziri and kalinkovic in the next stage. Remember, our attack was carried out in a short period of time without any logistics supply. "


    I found that when I first spoke, bzikov seemed to want to express his opinion, but when he heard my last words, he quietly closed his mouth. I waited for a while and saw that both chisgakov and bezikov kept silent. I understand their performance very well in my heart. After all, if we want to conquer the city guarded by the German army, we can''t succeed without the support of aircraft, tanks and artillery, even if we have paid a huge sacrifice. Now we have all three, but because of the influence of logistics supply, it is not very useful.


    Seeing that they did not speak for a long time, I had to turn to Batov for help and asked with a smile, "general Batov, after all, your troops have arrived near kalinkovich, and they know more about the situation there than we do. Do you have any useful suggestions for us? "


    Batov went to the table, leaned forward slightly, pointed to the map and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, although there is no forest near kalinkovich, there are many rivers that prevent us from using tanks on a large scale. If you want to capture the city, you have to rely on infantry to attack. "


    He stopped for a moment, then added: "the German army has established defensive positions on some highlands outside kalinkovich. If you want to capture the city, the first thing you need to do is to remove all the German defensive support points on these highlands. Otherwise, when attacking the city, the attacking troops will be killed by the artillery and machine gun fire in these fortifications, causing great casualties to the troops. "


    When I heard Batov''s explanation, I couldn''t help but feel lucky. Fortunately, I had an extra heart and let Batov introduce me to the situation there. Otherwise, my troops would rush in regardless and launch a siege without saying a word. Maybe they would fight to the end. They would suffer heavy casualties, not to mention that they did not win the city.


    The thought that the troops are going to fight in a strange area makes me feel a little weak. In order to ensure that I will live up to rokosovsky''s expectations and successfully complete the task he assigned me, I continued to consult Batov with an open mind: "general Batov, you know, it is difficult for us to use tanks on a large scale in the next attack. Because of the influence of logistics, artillery can not help us in the short term. Under such circumstances, how can we seize these commanding heights of the German army and open the way to the city? "


    Hearing my question, Batov shrugged his shoulders and said with a bitter smile, "I don''t have any good way, but I know the most effective way is to seize these commanding heights one by one."


    I know that Batov''s method is bound to cause heavy casualties for our army, but I still thank him. At the same time, he thought to himself that from the current situation, to capture kalinkovic, we must first clear the German positions outside. If we want to reduce casualties, we must study an effective way.


    Just then, Batov''s staff came in. From the joy on his face, I knew that my judgment was correct. The three divisions in the city must be progressing smoothly. Maybe they are close to the downtown area now.


    When the staff officer came up to Batov and tried to report to him in a low voice, Batov waved his hand to him and then said in a loud voice, "Comrade staff officer, if you have anything to say, just say it in a loud voice, so that I won''t repeat it later."


    The staff officer agreed, walked up to us, straightened his back, and reported: "the three division commanders reported that our troops have occupied several streets in the south of the city one after another. The German army has no desire to fight and is retreating towards the city center. Our troops are also rushing up."


    "They played very well," said bartov, looking at me with his eyes after he said this with some pride. "Don''t you think so, comrade oshanina?"


    "Yes, they played well." After I finished, I looked down at the map in front of me and thought that if all the troops were close to the city center, the battle would be over smoothly by this evening at the latest. As soon as the battle is over, I''ll be able to move in the direction of kalinkovic.


    By 9 a.m., the sound of gunfire from the city was becoming sparse. When he heard the news outside, chisgakov said to me excitedly, "Comrade commander, listen, the news in the city seems to be getting smaller and smaller. It seems that our troops will soon be able to solve the battle."


    I nodded gently, and then told bzikov: "chief of staff, contact all the troops in the city immediately to inquire about the progress of the battle."


    "Yes Bezikov said yes and went to carry out my orders.


    As soon as bezikov left, akhromeyev came over with a telegram and reported to me, "Comrade commander, the 51st, 67th and 71st divisions of the guards, the 82nd and 101st brigades of tanks and the self-propelled artillery regiment have reached the area eight kilometers away from kalinkovich. They are building fortifications here."


    "Major, why did our troops stop?" When I heard that the three guards were actually building fortifications, I found it hard to understand, so I asked akhromeyev, "why don''t they continue to push towards kalinkovich?"


    Before akhromeyev could reply, Batov broke in and said, "Comrade oshanina, I think I can explain this to you."


    I don''t know why Batov said that, so I turned to him and waited for him to say the answer. He laughed and then said, "the reason why your troops stop advancing is that less than two kilometers ahead are the Highlands where the German army has established its firepower support. If they rush in at this time, they will be the targets of German artillery and machine gun fire. "


    After listening to Batov''s explanation, I finally understood why they would take the initiative to stop and build fortifications without asking for instructions. It turned out that they intended to use this place as the starting point of the army''s attack.


    "Comrades commander," at this time, bzikov ran over to me with an excited face and reported, "after fierce fighting, the enemy trapped in the central area of our city, flaunted a white flag at us and began to surrender."


    "What, the enemy began to surrender?" Hearing the news, everyone''s faces were full of joy. In particular, Batov said excitedly: "I didn''t expect that two German divisions were annihilated after only a day or two of fighting with us."


    But my mind at the moment was not on the destruction of the German army in the city. I turned to Batov and said, "general Batov, I want to go to kalinkovich immediately. You and my deputy commander will be responsible for the affairs here. After accepting the surrender of the German army in the city, your troops will take over the defense of the city. " After that, I turned to face chisgakov again, "Comrade deputy commander, when the war in the city is over, you can gather the troops as quickly as possible and come to kalinkovich to join us."


    Seeing that I was leaving with akhromeyev, Batov asked me in an unbelievable tone: "Comrade oshanina, don''t you really wait for the Germans in the city to lay down their arms before you leave?"


    "There''s no time, general Batov." When I think of the troops deployed outside kalinkovic, I feel very uneasy. If there are many troops, but there is no unified command, it is easy to fall into the situation of fighting separately if war starts. Therefore, I firmly said: "the troops outside kalinkovic are lack of unified command now. If the German army carries out counter assault at this time, it is estimated that it will be difficult for them to beat back the enemy''s attack when they fight separately, so I must rush there immediately."


    Akhromeyev and I, with a guard company, took jeeps and trucks to the kalinkovich area along the road. As I passed through the forest area, I saw tanks that had been blown up outside the window, trucks that had only frames left, and the bodies of both sides of the road that had not been taken away.


    Akhromeyev saw that I had been staring out of the window, trying to distract my attention. He deliberately said to me, "Comrade commander, if you look at these destroyed tanks and trucks outside, the bodies on both sides of the road and all kinds of abandoned weapons and equipment, you can imagine how fierce the fighting was at that time."


    "Yes, comrade major, you are right." Thinking that an armored division and an infantry division of the German army almost completely annihilated our 96th and 260th divisions and caused a lot of casualties to the reinforcements, I gritted my teeth with hatred. "Although the German army is losing, their combat effectiveness should not be underestimated. In a one-on-one situation, our troops are not their opponents at all, so we must not underestimate the enemy in the next battle. "


    Before I set out, I asked akhromeyev to send a telegram to them, informing them of my going. So when our motorcade approached the new defense area, I saw several commanders in military coats standing on the side of the road. I quickly glanced at them and recognized that they were the division commander, brigade commander and regimental commander I wanted to see.


    I asked the driver to stop by the side of the road and shake hands with the people who met me. Then he asked shijerikov, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the situation here and how is the fortification going?"¡° Comrade commander, this is not a place to talk. Let''s talk in another place. " Major general baksov, the commander of the 67th division of the close guard, grabbed in front of chejerikov and politely said to me, "in our newly built headquarters, the fire is burning. Go and get some warm first." Besides me, baksov has the highest rank here. Since he has put forward such a proposal, other commanders can not object to it. They can only agree one after another and say, "yes, comrade commander, general baksov is right. It''s too cold outside. Let''s go to the headquarters." Since I got off the bus, I felt so cold that I could not wait to find a warm place. Since barksov suggested this, I pretended to think for a moment, and then I said, "well, since everyone says so, let''s go to the headquarters. It''s really cold here. " My last words caused a lot of laughter from the commanders on the scene. Then they gathered around me and walked towards a semi underground shelter not far away. When we entered the gate, several sentinels on duty stood at the gate and saluted us. Walking into the headquarters, I saw two hot braziers beside the wall, which made the whole room warm. I went to the middle of the room and sat down at a wooden table that was apparently just finished. Then I looked up and asked, "who can tell me what''s going on here?" This time, baksov did not speak, but turned his eyes to the next shejerikov. Shejerikov stepped forward, took out a quadruple map from his briefcase, spread it out in front of me, and said, "Comrade commander, according to our reconnaissance, the German army has built a lot of fortifications around kalinkovich. These fortifications are built on commanding heights. If we want to attack kalinkovic, we are bound to be hit by firepower from these commanding heights. " As I had known the general situation from Batov for a long time, I only glanced at the map and asked faintly, "how are you going to launch an attack?"¡° First bombard the enemy''s high ground with artillery. " "When the shelling is over, we will attack again with infantry and take these highlands from the German hands," he said confidently¡° Now, comrade Colonel, the situation has changed. " I looked up at shejerikov and said, "due to the influence of logistics supply, artillery may support your attack in a short time due to the lack of shells. You can only rely on your own strength to take down the enemy''s highlands bit by bit. "¡° But, comrade commander. " Shejerikov heard me say: "the superior ordered us to take kalinkovic and moziri. If we play like this, I''m afraid it will take quite a long time."¡° Yes, the higher authorities want us to take these two cities as soon as possible. " I stood up, scanned all the commanders with my eyes, and then said slowly, "but now we don''t have the strength to capture these two cities, so we need to have some small flexibility in executing the superior''s attack orders."¡° What''s the alternative? " Asked chejerikov, puzzled¡° As long as we attack every day, we will execute the orders of our superiors. It doesn''t matter whether we can capture the commanding heights of the German army. It is not too late to launch a full-scale attack on the German army when our artillery has made up for the shells. " When I finished speaking, I saw that no matter it was chejerikov, barksov or other commanders, they were staring at me without saying a word. I couldn''t help but look straight and ask seriously, "didn''t you hear my orders?"¡° I heard you All the commanders replied in unison.

 Chapter 1398

    Although their answers were quite straightforward, I knew in my heart that they did not understand my orders at all. Their answers were just a kind of obedience habit formed in the army. To tell you the truth, I haven''t come up with the idea of how to carry out the attack order of the superior.


    However, seeing that it was getting late, the soldiers were tired after many battles, and they were not suitable for continuous combat, so I ordered several commanders: "it''s late, we won''t attack the German army for the time being. Let the commanders and fighters have a rest in the built fortifications for one night." In order to prevent German sneak attack, I specially stressed that "when camping at night, we should strengthen vigilance and send more reconnaissance teams to carry out reconnaissance to prevent German sneak attack."


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." After I said that, shejerikov replied with a smile, "when it comes to sneak attacks and night battles, we are good at it. How can we let the German troops sneak attacks?"


    "Today, we all have a good rest. We can only fight with full spirit tomorrow." I finished these two words, then waved to everybody, "OK, you go back to the army."


    When akhromeyev and I were the only ones left in the headquarters, he asked me for instructions and said, "Comrade commander, I think there are too many army numbers outside, which makes it a bit confusing. In order to prevent the German make-up, I plan to deploy the guard company near the headquarters and let them ensure your safety. Do you think that''s appropriate? "


    With the promotion of my position, I feel a little greedy now. When I heard akhromeyev''s proposal, I immediately nodded and agreed, "well, comrade major, I''ll do as you say. In addition, we should set up the communication room as soon as possible so that we can get in touch with the deputy commander in time. "


    Because of Batov''s advantage, they were defeated by the German sneak attack, so I was very cautious. Before I went to bed, I specially checked the defensive positions built by the divisions, and confirmed that they had the ability to resist the German sneak attack at night. Only when I was on the ground could I find the stones hanging in my heart.


    But the more you worry about something, the more you come. I was worried that the German might sneak attack on our position. In the early morning, the German really launched a sneak attack.


    At that time, I was in a daze when I heard the faint roar of the tank engine, and then the telephone rang on the table. I woke up and got out of bed. I couldn''t even care about my boots. I rushed to the desk, grabbed the phone and said loudly to the microphone, "Hello, I''m o''shanina. What''s the matter outside?"


    "Comrade commander, I''m chejerikov." From the receiver came the voice of chejerikov, who excitedly reported: "the roar of tank engines came from the direction of the city. It seems that the German army is ready to attack our position with armored forces."


    At the moment, I felt the ground shaking slightly under my feet. It seemed that the German troops were not small troops. I quickly directed at the microphone and asked, "Colonel, can your troops block the German tanks?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." "Our division is equipped with a large number of rocket launchers, which are the nemesis of these tanks," he said confidently. As soon as they get into range, our anti tank men will turn them into piles of scrap iron. "


    "Colonel, the German attack at such a time may have been premeditated." The roar I heard from the outside and the shaking of the ground under my feet determined that the scale of the German tank troops must not be small. It was different from the situation that Batov told me that the tanks could not be used on a large scale in this area. Therefore, I was deeply afraid that xiejerikov would underestimate the enemy, so I quickly reminded him, "you should be on your guard and never take it lightly."


    "Comrade commander, I have another request." Just as I was about to hang up, shejerikov suddenly said, "I ask that artillery and tanks can cooperate with us in counterattack against the German army after our division blocks the German attack."


    "Col. chejerikov, I''ll get the tank brigade and artillery to cooperate with you." As for his request, I only agreed to the part where the artillery and tank troops should cooperate. As for the part of counterattack, I directly ignored it. "We can''t figure out the scale of the German troops who attacked secretly. It''s very unwise to counterattack at night in a strange area, so you just need to hold the position. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Although shejerikov gave me a positive answer, I heard a trace of disappointment in his voice.


    After I put down the phone, I sat by the bed, put on my boots, and then said to akhromeyev, who heard the news, "major, let''s go to the observation post nearby. See how our troops repel the German attack. "


    When akhromeyev and I walked out of the headquarters, along the long traffic moat and toward the observation post in front, I saw the soldiers of the guard company standing in the traffic moat, standing upright one by one, holding the weapons tightly in their hands, without any panic on their faces.


    Seeing this, I nodded with satisfaction, turned to ahlomeyev, who was following me, and said, "major, the soldiers of the guard company are good. In the face of the German sneak attack, they all showed calm and did not panic at all."


    When I came to the observation post, the first thing I saw was whether there were telephone and other communication equipment in it, which had a bearing on whether I could command the troops like an arm. Fortunately, akhromeyev''s work is very reassuring. There is a telephone on the table in the middle of the room. It seems that there is no problem in communication between me and the troops.


    I raised my telescope and looked into the distance, but I saw nothing but the roar of the tank engine. I turned and asked akhromeyev, "major, didn''t general Batov tell us that there are so many rivers here that we can''t use tanks on a large scale? Listen, the Germans sent out at least 30 tanks. "


    "Comrades commander," said akhromeyev, frowning for a moment, and then carefully saying, "after all, kalinkovich has been occupied by the German army for a long time. They are very familiar with the terrain here. It should not be difficult for them to let tanks pass through the blocked river."


    "You have a point." I agreed with akhromeyev and asked him, "can I get in touch with major shuklin of the self-propelled artillery regiment?"


    "Yes." Akhromeyev said, went to the table, picked up the phone, carefully asked: "Comrade commander, need to continue to contact him immediately?"


    "That''s right." I nodded slightly: "although when we checked the defensive positions, we felt that these fortifications could completely resist the German attack. But if we let the German troops break through the defense line, our troops will fall into chaos. So we must let the artillery teach them a lesson before the German tanks approach our position. "


    When I dialed shuklin''s phone, I took the phone from akhromeyev''s hand and said sternly, "Comrade major, the German armored forces are rapidly approaching our position. I order you to send artillery observers immediately to find out the German route, and then intercept with artillery fire to destroy as many tanks as possible on the way of attack."


    "When we heard the roar of German tank engines, I sent artillery observers." As soon as I finished speaking, shuklin immediately replied, "they will soon report back the exact coordinates of the German army, and then we can bombard the German army."


    I am very satisfied with shuklin''s preparation. At least he is not a mediocre person who dares not do anything before receiving orders. So I said with appreciation, "Comrade major, you have done a good job. As long as you annihilate the German armored forces with artillery fire, I will give you credit. Do well. You and your subordinates will make immortal contributions in this battle. "


    As time went on, the German tank troops showed a blurred outline in my telescope. Although I still can''t count the exact number, my heart is still hanging in my throat. After all, there is an outstanding fourth armored division on the opposite side, which is a hard bone. If it is really their sneak attack, we can hardly get along with it.


    Just when I was worried, the sound of shells in the sky suddenly sounded. A moment later, the first wave of shells had fallen in the middle of the German tanks. In a burst of explosions, the German attack line seemed to be on fire. In a puff of smoke, the fire flashed violently.


    "Well done, our artillery did a great job." Akhromeyev, who was standing next to me, saw such a magnificent scene and couldn''t help exclaiming excitedly: "damn German, let''s try our heavy artillery. Don''t think it''s great that you have tanks. Our cannons turn them into piles of scrap iron. "


    However, the German army is not a vegetarian either. They must have done a lot of preparatory work in advance for the attack. When they saw that their attack line was shelled by our army, their artillery deployed around the city also followed suit and carried out counter fire on the exposed artillery positions of our army.


    Seeing the firelight and roar from behind the observation post, I couldn''t help looking a little flustered. You know, the self-propelled artillery regiment is our trump card. If we are killed by the German artillery in this way, it will be a bit more than worth the loss.


    I grabbed ahlomeyev''s arm and nervously said, "major, the German army is shelling the position of the self-propelled artillery regiment. Call major shuklin quickly and ask him what''s going on there? "


    Akhromeyev replied calmly: "Comrade commander, major shuklin should be in the car at this time. We can''t call him. You can''t get in touch with him unless you have a telephone


    "Then what are you doing standing here?" Seeing ahlomeyev''s calm, I yelled at him angrily: "find a telephone immediately. I''ll contact major shuklin to find out what''s going on there." Akhromeyev, who was scolded by me, turned and ran out of the observation post without saying a word to find the telephone I needed.


    After a few minutes, akhromeyev came in with a radio operator with a telephone on his back. He pointed to the corner and said, "Comrade radio operator, just sit there."


    The operator nodded, took down the telephone on his back, put it on the stool beside the wall, then picked up the transmitter and started to call. Two or three minutes later, the operator turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, you have contacted major shuklin. You can talk to him."


    I put on my headphones and said aloud to the transmitter, "Hello, is that major shuklin? I''m o''shanina. What''s the situation there? How much is the army losing? " Shuklin was silent for a moment, and then replied, "Comrade commander, please rest assured. After five rounds of salvo fire, we have moved our position in time, and the German shells have landed in the open space. We have no loss. "¡° There is no loss. " When I heard his report, I suddenly remembered that the biggest characteristic of the self-propelled artillery regiment was that it could transfer positions in time after several rounds of shelling. Their mobility is very strong, in the dark, the German artillery is difficult to lock their exact location, so that we can hit them, but they are difficult to find our location. Knowing that the artillery was ok, I was just relieved when I heard shukelin say, "Comrade commander, there is something I think we should report to you immediately." When I heard him speak in such a serious tone, my heart sank, but I still pretended to be calm and said, "major, if you have anything, just say it and I''ll listen."¡° Shells. We don''t have many shells. " Instead of going around the circle, shuklin said frankly, "the most we have is two or three rounds of Volley against the German army. Once all the shells are used up, our regiment will basically lose its combat effectiveness. " It''s hard to make bricks without straw. I feel this feeling at the moment. After a sound, I said to shuklin, "major, I can''t supply shells for you at the moment, but in order to prevent German tanks from rushing into our army, I still order you to shoot all shells immediately and find a place to hide. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander. " Shuklin clearly replied: "immediately shoot out all the shells, and then hide the troops." Once the shells of the self-propelled artillery regiment were consumed, the shejerikov division, which was deployed at the forefront, could only rely on its own anti tank forces to resist the assault of the German armored forces. I picked up the phone from my desk and dialed the division''s headquarters. As soon as I heard someone talking, I said, "let Colonel chejerikov answer the phone." The other party recognized my voice and said respectfully: "Comrade commander, please wait a moment. I''ll let my teacher answer the phone right away."

 Chapter 1399

    "Comrade commander, I''m chejerikov." Soon there was a familiar voice from the receiver. He asked respectfully, "what instructions do you have?"


    "The self-propelled artillery regiment is running out of shells." I didn''t hide anything from this familiar old subordinate. Instead, I told him, "as soon as their shells are exhausted, you can only rely on your existing strength to deal with the German tanks and infantry. How about blocking the German attack? "


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Shejerikov confidently said to me: "we are ready for all battles. As long as the German tanks are in range, our anti tank men will roll them one by one with rocket launchers. As for the German infantry, that''s all the more important. The minefields we set up in front of the positions are enough for them to pay a lot of expenses. "


    Seeing that xiejerikov was so confident, I was not able to dampen his enthusiasm. After a pause, I said, "I''ll call baksov and babashin immediately and let them cover the flanks of your division."


    As soon as I put down the phone, the bell rang again. I grabbed the microphone and stuck it to my ear. I heard major general baksov''s voice. He said excitedly, "Comrade commander, I just saw our artillery beat the Germans. Now is it our turn to attack?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade baksov." Seeing baksov''s eagerness to fight, I quickly said: "although the German offensive troops were attacked by our artillery. But at night, the effect of the bombardment would be greatly reduced, so the enemy''s strength did not suffer much loss. If we launch a counterattack at such a time, our counterattack forces will certainly suffer a lot of casualties. Wait patiently. When they meet in front of the 51st division of the guards, you will attack from the enemy''s flank. "


    Before I finished, there was a loud roar in the receiver.


    Hearing the sudden sound of guns, I yelled at the microphone: "Comrade General, what''s the matter with you? Why is the sudden sound of guns coming out?"


    After I finished, I didn''t hear baksov''s answer. I only heard the explosion of shells in my headphones. A moment later, baksov''s voice came back to my eardrum: "Comrade commander, it''s a ghost. The German army suddenly launched artillery attack on our defensive position. It seems that they are worried that we will hit them from the flank, so they use artillery fire to suppress us."


    "Comrade General, this is normal." Although the German artillery attack on the 67th division of the guards made me very angry, I said to bactsov calmly: "the enemy''s artillery attack on your position proves that they are afraid that you will attack their flanks. Let your men hide and be ready for the counter attack. When the Germans suffer great losses in front of the chejerikov division, you will attack immediately. "


    Although I said it with ease, when I put down the phone, I was worried. If the German artillery fire is not suppressed, the attack of the 67th Division will only increase the casualties. Just when I was sad, there was a man at the door named akhromeyev. When he re entered the observation post, he said to me with a happy face: "Comrade commander, one of our 122 mm howitzer regiments has established a position two kilometers behind us. Their commander sent someone to ask for instructions. Is it necessary to immediately suppress the German artillery that is shelling our army


    I really wanted to doze off, and immediately someone gave me a pillow. I didn''t care to ask why the artillery regiment came so coincidentally, so I directly told akhromeyev: "well, comrade major, let them immediately counter the German artillery firing, and we must suppress the enemy''s fire."


    Akhromeyev went to the door, said a few words to the outside, and then came back and reported to me, "OK, comrade commander, I have conveyed your order."


    When I heard akhromeyev say that, I was stunned. Then I asked, "major, didn''t you say that the artillery position is two kilometers behind us? How could my orders be passed on so quickly? "


    "Well, comrade commander." Akhromeyev replied with a smile: "the artillery commander sent several artillery observers here to observe. Since they are in contact by telephone, I only gave your order to one of the commanders in charge, and then he would convey the order to their leader by telephone. "


    "So it is." After figuring out what was going on, I went to the lookout and raised my telescope to look into the distance. At this moment, the battle has begun in front of the 51st division of the guards. In the distance, the tanks destroyed by our army''s cannon fodder are burning. The fire makes the commanders and fighters in the position can see the enemy''s action clearly. When the enemy''s tanks and infantry entered 200 meters in front of the trench, the heavy and heavy machine guns and mortars on the position opened fire decisively, and the anti tank men climbed out of the trench to find a suitable place to destroy the approaching tanks.


    Just as the battle started in front of the 51st division of the guards, the new artillery regiment fired at the German artillery position. A moment later, it landed on the German artillery position. The deafening sound of explosion filled the sky with smoke and dust, and the German position became a sea of fire in an instant.


    After a short period of confusion, the German artillery also returned fire to our artillery position. At one time, both sides are extremely hot. But in this era of artillery attack based on experience, no matter how fast the reaction is or how fast the counterattack is, it is not easy to estimate the time spent on the position of the other side''s artillery positions in the counterattack, let alone the accuracy of the counterattack in a hurry, So the effect of this can be imagined. On the other hand, our army ignored the counterattack of the enemy''s artillery, fired shells with the fastest speed, and destroyed the German artillery positions with intensive artillery fire.


    Just then, the phone on my desk rang. I grabbed the phone and asked aloud, "I''m o''shanina. Where are you?"


    "Comrade commander, it''s me." From the receiver came baksov''s relieved voice: "our artillery are really good. They successfully suppressed and attracted the German artillery. Now that the enemy''s artillery has stopped bombarding our positions, should we attack them? "


    "Wait a second, Comrade General." I looked at the place where there was still fierce fighting in the distance, and replied, "the German attack has not been defeated by shejerikov. Please wait a little longer. Now your first task is to rescue the wounded as soon as possible. During the shelling, many shelters must have collapsed by the German artillery. You should rescue the trapped officers and soldiers as soon as possible. Do you understand? "


    "I see." Barksov replied very simply, "I''ll let the commanders and fighters below to rescue those trapped comrades."


    In front of the 51st division of the guards, five German tanks were approaching the position of the 2nd Battalion of the 309th regiment. Soldiers in white camouflage clothes followed the tanks with guns and rushed towards the position.


    A few minutes ago, the command post where the second battalion commander was located was attacked by a German tank. Except one correspondent of the battalion survived, more than a dozen commanders including the battalion commander died. At the moment, instead of commanding the battalion commander, it was the commander, major shumakov. He looked at the approaching tanks and issued an order: "anti tank men, prepare, aim at the German tanks with bazookas! Fire


    At his command, a dozen rockets with dark red tails flew out of the trench and plunged into the body of the German tank. With a series of loud noises, the five tanks were shrouded in fire and smoke. After detonating the ammunition in the vehicle, they stopped and started to burn.


    Many of the soldiers who followed were cut down by the flying shrapnel, and the rest were lying on the ground, shooting forward with their guns. Seeing that all the German tanks had been killed, the commanders and fighters of the second battalion were greatly boosted. They clamped their weapons on the sandbags in front of them and fired at the German soldiers lying on the ground.


    The soldiers were crushed on the ground by the bullets of our army. As soon as they raised their heads to fight back, they were hit by the sand splashed by the dense bullets, which broke on their faces and heads. They could not lift their heads at all. They lay on the ground, their guns extended forward, their wrists raised slightly, they pulled the trigger with their senses, and they shot forward in vain. This kind of shooting is more accurate for the purpose of emboldening rather than fighting back.


    After a while, the German soldiers felt that if they continued to fight like this, they would not be able to fight well. As soon as the bullets in the gun ran out, they would only be captured or killed. So some experienced veterans, while lying on the ground and shooting, rubbed back under the cover of the corpses of their companions, prepared to stay further away from our army''s position, jumped up and ran backward.


    There is always a gap between the ideal and the reality. The soldiers rubbed back for some distance and found that under the intensive fire of our army, people around them were killed one after another, leaving only fear in their hearts. What''s more, a few people could really stay in the dungeon where the corpses were executed and in the dense rain of bullets.


    After a short time, some soldiers broke down. They jumped up because of their extreme fear, threw their weapons and fled back. Watching the enemy stand up and run away, our officers and men quickened their shooting speed, and the bullets nipped the German behind their buttocks and knocked them down one by one. Soon, in the snow, and covered with a layer of corpses. But in this case, it would only accelerate the escape speed of the surviving German soldiers. They all have the same idea, no matter who is killed, as long as they don''t lie down.


    Seeing that the German attack was repulsed, shumakov immediately called to report to shijerikov: "report to Mr. division commander, the enemy attacking the second battalion position has been repulsed by us. Now that the enemy is in a rout, I ask to lead the troops to attack immediately! "


    "Strike, comrade major." When he heard that the enemy had been repulsed, he was very happy. He immediately replied, "I will send 310 regiments to meet you."


    I received the report of the army''s attack from shijerikov. I was satisfied with the positive performance of his action. I nodded and said, "Comrade Colonel, since the German attack has been repulsed, you should leave a regiment to hold the position and the rest of the army to fight back."


    "But, comrade commander." Hearing my order, shejerikov said with some worry, "will we fall into the trap of the Germans if we go in this way alone?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade colonel." Seeing that he was afraid of wolves before and tigers after, I said with a smile, "I will not let you go deep alone. I will immediately order major general baksov''s close guard 67th division and Colonel babashin''s close guard 71st division to rush up from both wings of your division to pursue the fleeing enemy."¡° Comrade commander, I have something to report to you. " As soon as I put down the phone, akhromeyev came up to me and said with embarrassment, "without your consent, I ordered the 82nd brigade of tanks to assemble and prepare to lead the troops to attack the enemy when our army launched a counterattack." As for akhromeyev''s self assertion, I stared at him for a moment, and then said solemnly, "Comrade major, it is very wrong for you to mobilize troops without asking for instructions according to the regulations. However, in the current situation, your approach, "I said here, finally a little strained, with a smile on my face," is undoubtedly the most correct. " After that, I raised my hand and patted him on the arm, and said in a soft voice, "immediately give the order to the brigade commander of the tank brigade, let him lead the tanks to rush up and open the way for our infantry. We can rush as far as we can before dawn. Do you understand? " Seeing that I didn''t blame myself for my self assertion, akhromeyev breathed a sigh of relief and then replied clearly, "I''ll call the tank brigade right away." While akhromeyev was on the phone, I also picked up the phone on the desk, dialed the division headquarters of the 67th division of the guards, found baksov, and then said to him, "Comrade General, now that the xiejerikov Division has launched a counterattack against the enemy, you also actively take action and command your troops to follow. Remember, before daybreak, go as far as you can and occupy as many commanding heights as possible. Do you understand? "¡° Understand, comrade commander, I understand. " Barksov repeatedly said, "I will direct the troops to attack immediately!"

 Chapter 1400

    After giving orders to baksov, I gave orders to babashin to attack.


    Akhromeyev looked at the troops of the three divisions with binoculars and rushed out from their respective defensive positions. Under the guidance of our army''s tanks, he launched a chase after the fleeing enemy. He could not help asking me with some worry: "Comrade commander, we are going out all the way. Isn''t the existing defensive position empty? If our counterattack doesn''t go well and the German army turns to attack in a certain area, how can we stop them? "


    "Don''t worry, major." I think that akhromeyev''s worries are totally groundless. I confidently said to him: "although I gave orders to all three division commanders to attack, I also ordered each of them to leave a regiment and stick to the existing defensive positions. Even if the German army turns to defense in a certain area, it is not so easy to break through our defense in a short time. "


    I guess the reason why the German army sent tanks to assist in the attack is that our army has no solid position. As long as their tanks rush, our defense line will be destroyed. But I didn''t expect that our position had such big killers as self-propelled artillery, which could just restrain their tank attack. The German sneak attack tonight is nothing but stealing chicken.


    Our counterattack was smooth at the beginning, but things changed as we approached the commanding height of the German garrison. After the initial chaos, the defenders who held fast to the commanding height began to use mortars and machine guns to intercept our counter attack forces.


    The sound of guns, which had become sparse, suddenly became intense. Our army''s commanders and fighters followed behind the tanks, facing the bombardment of bullets and artillery. In the shrouded smoke, they stood up bayonets and formed a dense wave formation. Sweeping in the rain of bullets, they fell in a string; In the fierce explosion, each figure was lifted. Although on the road of counterattack, the lower layers of dead bodies have been laid, the commanders and fighters are still charging forward one after another.


    When I was in the observation post, I saw through the telescope that the tank''s firepower to suppress the German commanding heights was limited. On the contrary, the casualties of our army''s commanders and fighters were increasing under the enemy''s firepower. Although with the progress of the battle, there are burning lights everywhere, which can illuminate the battlefield in fierce battle, it is night after all, and the visibility is limited, so it is difficult for commanders at all levels to command their troops like hands.


    In order not to suffer more casualties, I immediately told akhromeyev: "major, call the three division commanders and order them to stop the attack immediately and withdraw the troops back to the defensive position."


    "Comrade commander, why retreat?" When akhromeyev saw that the fighting situation was the most fierce, I gave the order to retreat. He asked me in a puzzled way: "the enemy''s garrison on these commanding heights will not be many. At most, there will be one or two platoons of troops. As long as our soldiers rush several times, they will be able to win."


    "Dark is not conducive to the command of commanders at all levels." After I simply stated my reasons, I repeated my original order: "let all divisions withdraw their troops immediately, and the tank brigade is responsible for cutting off the rear, so as to prevent the German army from launching a counter offensive."


    After receiving my order to withdraw, the two division commanders, shijerikov and babahin, had no opinion. They immediately ordered the attacking troops to return to their original defensive positions under alternate cover. However, baksov called me and said, "Comrade commander, my troops are playing very well. In half an hour at most, they will be able to win a commanding height of the German army. But you suddenly ordered us to retreat, and we fell short of success. "


    "General baksov," I said with a straight face after listening to his complaints, "don''t you see that our commanders and fighters have paid a huge price under the German artillery fire and machine gun fire?"


    "But, comrade commander." Barksov didn''t understand me. He asked vaguely, "if we can win the enemy''s high ground, it''s worth our sacrifice."


    "Have you forgotten?" I said with some tears and laughter: "we can''t get any support in a period of time. This is the case with weapons, ammunition and military supplies, let alone soldiers. If you run out of divisions, you will have to stay behind as spectators in the next battle. "


    When I said this, barksov suddenly realized it and quickly said, "yes, comrade commander, I understand. I''ll ask the troops to withdraw immediately."


    After all the troops of the 51st division of the guards had withdrawn from the defensive position, shejerikov called me. He reported to me on the phone: "Comrade commander, many of our division''s commanders and fighters were injured in the offensive just now. However, due to the limited number of health workers, many of the wounded are still on the battlefield. What should we do now? "


    "What else can we do?" When I heard that, I was so angry that I raised my voice and yelled at him: "Colonel, do you forget that our army''s tradition is that under no circumstances can one of our comrades in arms be left behind? I order you to immediately organize people to take advantage of the dark weather, which is not conducive to German observation, to carry down the wounded on the battlefield. "


    As soon as I put down the phone, akhromeyev added: "Comrade commander, your withdrawal order was a little sudden. I think not only the 51st division of the guards, but also the 67th and 71st divisions of the guards, many of the wounded are still on the battlefield. You should also call the other two teachers and ask them to send people to carry the wounded down. "


    Just as I was about to call the other two teachers and ask them if there were any wounded left in the battlefield, the telephone rang on the desk. Akhromeyev and I looked at each other and said, "major, guess who''s calling."


    "I can''t guess who called." "But it must be one of the two division commanders. They expect to see someone in the 51st division leave the defensive position and re-enter the battlefield, so they call to inquire," said akhromeyev, staring at the ringing telephone


    With that, he raised his hand, grabbed the phone, stuck it in his ear and said in a loud voice, "I''m major ahlomeyev, the war chief. Where are you?" It''s Colonel babashin. How do you do! Can I help you That''s right, that''s right. The 51st division of the guards is going out with the permission of the commander. Instead of attacking the enemy, they are going to bring back all the wounded left in the battlefield Not yet? Why is that The commander ordered that your division should immediately organize personnel to rescue the wounded... "


    With my order, the three divisions sent a large number of health workers and stretchers to carry back most of the wounded in the battlefield, and even some of the German wounded. As for how to deal with the German wounded, Xie jerikov specially called me to ask for instructions: "Comrade commander, our division has rescued more than 100 German wounded. What should we do with them?"


    Originally, even if I don''t say anything like this, he should know that it must be out of humanitarian considerations to treat these German wounded. But the destination he called me was because I had ordered the execution of captured German soldiers several times, so he felt it necessary to call me for instructions, and after obtaining my approval, he could decide whether to treat the wounded or simply shoot them all.


    As the situation of war develops in our favor, I have rarely given such orders as shooting prisoners. Therefore, as for shejerikov''s request for instructions, I said lightly: "Colonel, since these Germans have become our prisoners, as long as they don''t do any damage, let the military doctors treat them. At the right time, send someone to send his mother to the rear


    After daybreak, chisgakov and bzikov arrived at my headquarters. When they saw the defense area where fierce fighting had happened, they could not help but be surprised. Chisjakov asked nervously, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? Have you fought with the Germans? "


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." I replied with a smile: "last night, the German army sent out tanks to attack our positions, but we found them. Then we first used artillery fire to intercept the German offensive forces, and then destroyed their artillery. When the enemy''s attack was frustrated, we launched a full line counterattack, causing a lot of casualties to the enemy. Unfortunately... "


    At this point, I stopped, sighed, and then said, "unfortunately, our counterattack troops were attacked by the German troops deployed at the commanding height, and they paid a lot of casualties. In order to avoid more casualties, I ordered the troops to stop the attack in time. "


    After my words, bzikov nodded and said with approval, "Comrade commander, your determination is very timely. Before coming to the headquarters, I had observed the German commanding heights in the distance with the deputy commander and found that there were many bodies of our commanders and fighters in front of their positions, which shows how fierce the fighting was last night. "


    "The chief of staff is right." As soon as besikov finished his speech, chisjakov went on to say: "according to my observation, the casualties suffered by the troops during the counterattack were almost negligible. But further on, many bodies of our soldiers began to appear. The closer to the German commanding heights, the more corpses there were on the battlefield. If you didn''t ask the troops to stop attacking in time, I think some troops might be disabled in the battle. "


    When we were talking, many members of the communication department, under the command of razumeyeva, pulled telephone lines and set up telephone antennas inside and outside the headquarters.


    There is a newly opened telephone on the desk. Razumeyeva just finished trying the phone, nodded to me and said, "Comrade commander, the phone is normal. You can use it at any time."


    As soon as her words were finished, the telephone on the desk suddenly rang, which startled her. She quickly picked up the phone and handed it to me. I took the microphone and pasted it to my ear. Politely, I asked, "I''m o''shanina. Where are you?"


    "Rita, I''m rokosovsky." Rokosovsky''s familiar voice came out of the microphone. He asked with concern, "how are you? Have your troops reached the outskirts of kalinkovich?"


    "Yes, comrade commander of the front army." Since it was rokosovsky who asked this question himself, I would of course answer truthfully: "our troops arrived outside kalinkovic yesterday afternoon and built fortifications. Last night, the German armored forces attempted to attack us, and their attack was smashed by us. "


    Rokosovsky has long been used to my concise and comprehensive way of reporting. After a hum, he then asked, "Rita, I once told you that the military personnel and weapons provided by the supreme command are mainly supplied by the Ukrainian first front army in vatukin, and our front army can hardly get any supplement. Even under such circumstances, the attack orders given to us have not been cancelled. Therefore, it is up to you to act according to the situation of the battlefield. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander of the front army." Although rokosovsky put such a heavy burden on me, which made me feel a great responsibility on my shoulders, I replied confidently: "I will try my best to eliminate the German forces of moziri and kalinkovic."¡° I''m relieved to hear that you are so confident. " After finishing these two sentences, rokosovsky stopped for a moment, and then suddenly said, "by the way, the siege you ended yesterday wiped out two German divisions and captured 3000 prisoners. What a beautiful job. The commander-in-chief himself knows about this and speaks highly of you. " I heard that Stalin praised me for yesterday''s battle. I couldn''t help grinning silently. In the microphone came rokosovsky''s voice again: "but you can''t be proud. In addition to sending more scouts to scout the enemy''s defense, you should also make all combat preparations. When your group army arrives, it will officially launch a comprehensive attack on the German army." When I heard rokosovsky''s words, my heart suddenly sank. I said that there was not enough ammunition now. It was simply an impossible task for my troops to take the initiative to attack the heavily defended German city. If our artillery ammunition is sufficient and we can send an aviation division every day to bombard the German defensive positions, then there is no problem in launching a full-scale attack. Thinking of this, I can''t help asking rokosovsky: "Comrade commander, we are going to launch a comprehensive attack on the German army. I don''t know what kind of assistance the headquarters of the front army can provide us?"

 Chapter 1401

    Rokosovsky was silent for a long time when he finally said, "Rita, I have ordered the other divisions of the 11th army to move closer to kalinkovich. When you attack the city, these troops can be under your command for the time being. "


    Although I didn''t get the support of artillery and air force that I wanted in my heart, I thought that if I could have a few more divisions, at least in the use of troops, I would not be stretched.


    As I was thinking about how to use these divisions in the next battle, I didn''t answer rokosovsky in time. It wasn''t until he coughed heavily that I woke up from my meditation and quickly replied, "Comrade commander of the front army, this is really wonderful. If we can add a few more divisions, we believe that there will be no problem in getting rid of the German forces deployed in kalinkovic and moziri. "


    "Well, since you are so confident, I can rest assured that I am here waiting for your good news. As for the serial numbers of these divisions, I will send them to you by telegram later. " Rokosovsky said that, he wanted to hang up, but I stopped him. So he asked, "Rita, what else can I do for you?"


    "Well, comrade commander." I thought that although rokosovsky could not provide air support for me, I had two flying regiments that could provide air cover for the attacking forces. The only regret is that the airport is hundreds of kilometers away in Smolensk, which has many inconveniences. Now that I have accepted the task of attacking kalinkovic and moziri, I should move the flying regiment to the front position as far as possible. "I intend to transfer my two flying regiments from Smolensk to Belarus. I wonder if you will allow me?"


    "Flying regiment, is there a flying regiment in your organization?" Rokosovsky was surprised when I said this, but he was relieved after listening to my explanation and asked me in a relaxed tone: "where are you going to deploy your flying regiment?"


    "Zlobin!" Although I hope to deploy the air force in the front position as far as possible, if it is too close to the enemy''s defense area, it may be attacked by the enemy''s air attack and by the German special detachment. Therefore, after my consideration, I think the most suitable place is zhelobin, "what do you think of this place?"


    "Yes." Rokosovsky readily promised: "I will inform Comrade Batov to clean up the airport as soon as possible, so that your flight regiment can transfer."


    After I put down the phone, I immediately told akhromeyev: "major, you immediately send a telegram to the military commissar, saying that I am ready to transfer the two flight regiments to zlobin, and ask him to inform the flight regiment to be ready."


    When akhromeyev went to telegraph, I said to chisjakov and bezikov: "commander rokosovsky promised to transfer several divisions of the 11th army to our headquarters. In this way, our strength for attacking kalinkovic and moziri will be greatly enhanced, even without the support of artillery, We can also take the commanding heights in front of us


    "Comrade commander, do you have any good way to attack these commanding heights?" After I finished, chisjakov said, "according to my observation, these commanding heights of the German army can support each other with firepower. When we organize our troops to attack the first commanding height, we may be attacked by firepower from both wings, thus causing great casualties to our troops. "


    Bzikov heard him say this, looked at the map in front of him, and then said, "if so, we can attack three German commanding heights at the same time, and they will not be able to concentrate their fire on us."


    "No, it''s not a good way to attack." I objected to bzikov''s suggestion: "you should have seen that in front of the German Highlands, there are open areas. If there is artillery support, we can also let the infantry charge and seize the commanding height as soon as possible when the enemy is suppressed by artillery fire. But now, our offensive forces can only nibble at these highlands without much artillery support. If a large number of troops are put in, and several commanding heights of the enemy are attacked at the same time, thousands of commanders and fighters exposed in the open field will become the targets of German shooting. "


    "What should we do then?" After listening to my negation of his proposal, bzikov said sullenly, "can''t we not attack the enemy''s positions just because there are too many casualties?"


    "The German forces at these commanding heights are limited." I pointed a map with my hand and said to them, "if we make a night attack on the enemy''s positions after careful planning, we may be able to seize these commanding heights with minimal casualties."


    When they heard what I said, their faces suddenly looked puzzled. "I don''t understand, comrade commander," he asked, puzzled. "Don''t you say that attacking at night is not good for the commander to command the troops? Why do you mention the use of night raids to capture the commanding heights of the enemy? "


    I knew very well that they must be complaining that I was contradicting myself. In order to relieve their doubts, I explained to them: "last night, during the attack, I ordered the troops to stop attacking and withdraw to the defensive positions because there were too many troops invested at that time. The troops were basically in chaos, and it was difficult for commanders at all levels to control their troops, If we don''t take it down, we will pay a high price. The night raids I proposed are carried out by companies. Even at night, it is easier for a company commander to control his own troops than for a commander to control his own troops. Do you understand what I say? "


    When I finished, I nervously looked into their faces to see how they reacted. The two men looked at each other, and chisgakov first said, "I understand, comrade commander, I think that with your tactics, there should be no problem in winning the commanding heights controlled by the Germans, and the casualties of the troops can be minimized."


    "I agree." After chisgakov finished, bzikov also added: "anyway, you said that although the superior gave us the task of attacking kalinkovic and moziri, it did not set a deadline for us to finish. We have enough time to deal with the enemy deployed in these places. "


    "Comrade commander, I have a question." Looking at the map in front of us, chisgakov said, "according to my observation, the enemy has minefields and barbed wire in the front of the commanding height. How can our troops open a passage from the middle without being noticed by the enemy?"


    This question of chisgakov really caught me. At this moment, akhromeyev came back with several telegrams in his hand. When he handed me the first telegram, he said, "Comrade commander, this is a telegram from the headquarters of the front army. It says that the 4th, 126th, 128th, 273rd and 323rd infantry divisions and the 225th tank regiment of the 11th group army will be assigned to us for combat."


    After listening to this, bzikov could not help saying with emotion: "Comrade commander, the head of the front army is so generous that he gave us five infantry divisions and a tank regiment. In this way, the combat effectiveness of our troops will be able to go up to a higher level, and it will not be a problem to win kalinkovic and moziri. "


    After listening, I just nodded and did not speak. Instead, I continued to focus on akhromeyev, waiting for him to introduce the contents of the other telegram to me. He soon handed over the second telegram and said, "general Batov called and said that there is a German Field Airport in the north of the city. The runway is basically complete and can be put into use again after simple repair."


    "How long will it take to put it back into use?" As soon as akhromeyev finished, I immediately asked.


    "This, this is not clear." Akhromeyev said with some embarrassment: "general Batov said that it will be put into use soon, but did not say the specific time."


    "Comrade razumeyeva," I saw that the communication soldiers who were busy in the room seemed to be almost gone. Only razumeyeva and several other operators were left, so I called to her, "come here for a while."


    When razumeyeva came to us, I asked her, "Comrade captain, can I contact General Batov on this phone?"


    Razumeyeva thought for a moment, and then replied, "Comrade commander, because the time is too short, the telephone line we laid is not long enough. Although it''s a little difficult to talk to zlobin, it''s no problem to get in touch with general Batov. "


    "Great, that''s great." When I heard that I could talk to Batov directly, I immediately told her, "connect me to general Batov immediately. I have something important to discuss with him."


    When razumeyeva left, I saw that akhromeyev still had a telegram in his hand. I looked at him and asked, "major, who sent the telegram in your hand?"


    "It''s a call back from the military Commissar." Akhromeyev replied briefly.


    I know that kirilov''s reply must have mentioned something about the flying regiment. I immediately asked, "what did Comrade military commissar say?"


    Akhromeyev looked down at the telegram in his hand, and then replied, "comrades of the military commissar said that because there is a little problem in logistics, the fighter planes of the air force are seriously short of fuel. Maybe they will not be able to fight because there is no fuel after they fly to zlobin."


    "What, the air force is out of fuel?" When bzikov heard akhromeyev say this, he could not help exclaiming, "when we left Smolensk, didn''t the superior just send several oil tankers to send fuel to the air force? How can it be consumed so quickly? "


    As for bezikov''s question, chisjakov explained: "don''t worry, chief of staff. I think this situation is entirely possible. Just think about it. A few days ago, didn''t the air force ever go out to attack the enemy of zhiluobin? This operation consumed a lot of fuel. In addition, the air force''s fighter patrols also required a lot of fuel... "


    Looking at the two people''s repeated calculations for the fuel of the air force, like factory accountants, I couldn''t help laughing. I turned my eyes again to akhromeyev and continued to ask, "we can find a way to solve the fuel shortage. Is there enough ammunition? If there is a shortage, they will not be able to provide air support for our troops when they get here. "


    "Because our fighters are fighters, it is relatively easy to replenish ammunition." Akhromeyev continued to report to me that "except for the ammunition carried by the plane during the transition, the rest will be transported by train or car."


    "Comrade commander." As soon as akhromeyev finished speaking, razumeyeva took the microphone on the other side and called me: "the phone has been connected with general Batov of the 65th army. The general is waiting for you."


    I quickly walked over, took the phone from razumeyeva''s hand, and said in a loud voice, "Hello, it''s general Batov. Hello, I''m oshanina!"¡° Hello, comrade o''shanina Because there was something wrong with the line, Batov''s voice sounded so low that I had to stick it closer¡° May I help you? "¡° It''s like this, general Batov. " I said politely, "you know, I have two regiments of fighters, which are about to transfer to zlobin. I don''t know when your airport will be put into use, so I''m calling to ask."¡° At the airport of zlobin, when the German army withdrew, although they emptied the airport facilities, they did not completely destroy the runway. " "Maybe the Germans think they will be back in the city soon, so even the command tower and the pilot''s dormitory have not been damaged," Batov said sarcastically¡° When can it be put into use? " I heard that the airport is still basically intact, and I feel more at ease. I quickly repeated my question: "I want my flight group to get to zlobin as soon as possible."¡° Tomorrow, "Batov said to me decisively after a moment''s silence," I will immediately call the chief of staff who stayed in zhylobin and ask him to send someone to clean up and repair the airport, so that the airport can be put back into use in the shortest time, so that your fighters can enter zhylobin. "¡° Thank you. Thank you, general Batov¡° You''re welcome, comrade oshanina. " As for my thanks, Batov said carelessly, "we are friendly forces. We should have helped each other. Besides, after your plane comes, we can also provide necessary air support for our troops in the next battle." After I finished my call with Batov, I immediately told bzikov: "chief of staff, gather all the division leaders immediately, and I will discuss with them how to seize the German highlands."

 Chapter 1402

    With the order, the teachers soon came to my headquarters. Originally, I thought there were only three division commanders, plus at most a few tank brigade commanders and artillery commanders. Unexpectedly, the four division commanders of the 52nd, 8.9, 90th and 375 divisions of the guards also came. So many people swarmed into the headquarters, which made the room crowded.


    I stood in front of the map on the wall and looked at many teachers, brigades and commanders sitting in front of me. I was still a little excited. After all, so many people are my subordinates. After a slight cough, I began to say, "comrades, the purpose of calling you here today is to deploy the next combat mission. The task of seizing kalinkovich and puziri will be handed over to our group army by the headquarters of the front army. "


    As soon as I said that, the commander sitting below began to talk. I listened attentively, mainly because the newly arrived teachers were inquiring about the situation from the first three teachers.


    After several minutes, seeing that the following discussion had not stopped, chisjakov slapped him on the table, and then said in a loud voice, "be quiet, be quiet, comrades in command, please keep quiet and let comrades in command continue to assign duties to you."


    The commanders, who were whispering and talking to each other, immediately calmed down and cast their eyes on me. I picked up an explanation stick, pointed to the map on the wall, and said to everyone, "our task is to capture kalinkovic and puziri. At present, our main force is stationed near kalinkovic, so this city will be our priority target. If we want to liberate this city, we must first remove the German firepower deployed at the commanding heights in the suburbs. "


    "Comrade commander," said Chernoff, commander of the 90th division of the guards, suddenly and loudly, "when I came here, I observed the situation of the battlefield. There are no solid Fortifications on those commanding heights. As long as we concentrate on the superior artillery fire for a while, and when the artillery fire is over, we can send infantry to attack again, and we will be able to seize these positions."


    After listening to Chernoff''s words, I took two steps to the table. I put my explaining stick on the table, supported the edge of the table with both hands, leaned forward slightly, and then said to him solemnly: "general Chernoff, because of our logistics supply problems, when we seize these commanding heights, The attacking forces are not supported by artillery. "


    "What, no artillery support?" Chernoff was startled by what I said. He said in surprise: "Comrade commander, if our offensive forces are not supported by artillery, we will pay huge casualties in seizing these commanding heights."


    "Comrade General, I have already considered what you said." After I finished this sentence, I swept my eyes away from the commanders on the scene one by one, and then went on to say, "that''s why I called everyone together to study a practical plan to eliminate the enemies on these commanding heights."


    After my words, the whole headquarters fell into silence, and the commanders sitting below were frowning and pondering. After waiting for a long time, and seeing that no one was speaking, bzikov picked up the stick on the table, got up and went to the map, pointed at it with the tip of the stick and said, "comrades, the commander imagined that at night, he would send a small team with company as the unit to seize the Highlands occupied by the enemy by sneak attack. What is troubling us now is that the enemy laid minefields and barbed wire at the commanding height facing our direction. How can our sneak attack troops open up a passage without being noticed by the enemy? If you have any good ideas, you can talk about them. "


    When I saw that there was still no one in the room to speak after bzikov finished speaking, I stood up again and spoke in a leisurely voice, as if talking about the simplest and most common thing. "Comrades commander, maybe you will wonder why I chose to sneak attack instead of attack when our army is dominant?"


    "But have you ever thought about how many casualties our commanding enemy would cause us if we attacked in the daytime without artillery cover?" I continue to follow my own way of thinking: "according to our reconnaissance, the German army only deploys one or two platoons on each highland. Even if we take a company level sneak attack, we can still have an advantage in the strength. More importantly, we can reduce the casualties of the troops."


    After I explained my point of view, all the commanders who attended the meeting remained silent. I don''t mean to blame them for this kind of reaction. On the contrary, I know very well in my heart that people always spend more time to consider when they are faced with a major choice.


    The first one to break the silence was commander Lu Jin of the 375TH infantry division. He stood up and looked at me and said, "Comrade commander, may I talk about my opinion?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Seeing that someone finally stood up to respond to me, I couldn''t help smiling on my face. I nodded to him and said casually, "if you have any ideas, just tell them to everyone."


    Lu Jin raised his hand to the big map on the wall and asked respectfully, "is that ok?" Seeing that I nodded and agreed, he quickly walked to the wall, took the baton from bezikov''s hand, leaned over to me and talked to all the commanders about his plan: "I have two plans. One is to bombard the front of the German highland with tank fire, clear the enemy''s minefields and barbed wire, and open up the way for our sneak attack troops. However, there is a drawback to this scheme. It will not only consume our precious shells, but also arouse the German''s vigilance. "


    "Tell me about your second plan." I think Lu Jin''s good idea may be in the second plan, so he urged: "then we will make the final choice according to your two plans."


    "The second plan is very simple," Lu Jin grinned up, and then said, "the enemy has laid minefields on the front of the commanding height? Well, instead of attacking from the front, our sneak attack troops detour back and touch it from the other side of the highland. I don''t believe that the enemy also has mines and barbed wire in this direction. "


    Lu Jin''s words made many commanders sitting below suddenly realize that sneak attacks can still be carried out like this. Everyone, including me, fell into a fixed mode of thinking, just thinking about how to feel it from the front, but forgetting that the so-called highland area of the German army was not large, and it would not take long for our troops to detour back.


    Just as I was about to praise Lu Jin, the 71st division commander of Jinwei, Colonel babahin, stood up and asked in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, may I ask you a question?"


    The idea just put forward by Lu Jingang has been accepted by most commanders. At this moment, we see a man who is obviously preparing to smash the field standing up and asking questions. Everyone turns around and looks at him in surprise.


    "Comrade commander." Without waiting for Lu Jin to speak, babashin asked aloud, "I have a question for lieutenant commander Lu Jin. Do you allow me?"


    Hearing babashin''s provocative tone, I raised my eyebrows and looked at him in bewilderment. Then I turned my eyes to Lu Jin, the "initiator".


    "Colonel babashin." After seeing my tacit eyes, Lu Jin looked at Baba and said, "I don''t know if you have any questions. I can answer them one by one for you."


    "Comrade commander," said Colonel babahin, with obvious dissatisfaction, "though it seems to all that there is a better chance of success to sneak around the enemy''s high rear. But I would like to ask the question: the enemy must be on high alert when our troops are close to the city. How can you ensure that our sneak attack troops will not be found by the enemy''s sentinels when they are moving? "


    "Comrade Colonel, I have considered what you said." Lukin replied humbly, "in front of the raiding troops, a five man vanguard will be sent. Their task will be to clear the enemy''s sentries so that the enemy will not be aware that our troops are approaching their high ground."


    "What you say is only theoretical." For Lu Jin''s answer, babahin asked: "even if you send a group of top soldiers to clear the enemy''s sentries, have you considered the enemy''s Secret sentries? If we only clear the clear sentry, but ignore the secret sentry, so that he sounded the alarm during our army movement, then our sneak attack will be defeated. Have you considered this? "


    Lu Jin was speechless when babashin asked these sharp questions. After thinking for a while, I found that babashin''s questions were just what we ignored. It''s hard to imagine that when the troops were making a detour to the rear of the highland, they were found by the German secret whistle and sent out a battle alarm. Our commanders and fighters will be exposed to the enemy and become the targets of their slaughter.


    After a long breath, I looked at babashin and asked, "Comrade Colonel, do you have any good idea?"


    "Comrades commander," babashin replied with a straight back, "I think we should still attack the German army in the daytime. As for commander Lu Jin''s first plan, I am very much in favor of it. When the troops attack the high ground, our tanks can provide them with artillery support in the distance, clear the minefield in front of the position, and blow up the gap in the barbed wire fence, so that our troops can smoothly rush to the high ground. "


    "Comrade commander, I agree with colonel babashin''s plan." Barksov, the commander of the 67th division, stood up and said to me sincerely, "we should try to attack in the daytime. If we fail, it''s not too late to attack at night. I ask you to let our division take the lead in attacking the enemy''s high ground. "


    "Comrade commander, and our division." Seeing that barksov agreed with his own opinions, babashin became more confident. He also volunteered to me: "if our two divisions attack the enemy''s highlands at the same time, they will be overwhelmed. Of course, if the 51st division of the guards can also launch an attack, I believe the chances of success in capturing the Highlands will be greatly increased. "


    "What do you think, Colonel chejerikov?" When I saw baksov and babashin, I was eager to command the troops to attack the Highlands in the daytime. While xiejerikov was still sitting on the Diaoyutai, he asked, "do you plan to attack the Highlands with them in the daytime?"


    Shejerikov looked around and saw that in addition to the two teachers, the rest of the commanders also cast their eyes on him. Under such circumstances, he had no choice but to stand up and say reluctantly, "yes, comrade commander, since both the left and right wings are going to attack the enemy, our division must not stand idly by. I ask you to allow our division to take part in the daytime attack as well. "


    "Well," seeing that the three division commanders were standing on the same front, I didn''t want to dampen their enthusiasm, so I nodded and agreed, "you should go back to your respective units immediately and tell the commanders and fighters below about the upcoming offensive task." At this point, I looked up at my watch and added, "your attack will start in half an hour."


    Half an hour later, the three divisions launched an attack on the commanding heights opposite their respective positions at the same time. In this attack, the Highlands attacked by baksov and babashin divisions, no matter in terms of geographical location or military deployment, could not be compared with the Highlands faced by the shejerikov division. Therefore, my attention was focused on the fight for positive highlands. I stayed in shejerikov''s observation post, stood in front of the lookout with him, raised my telescope and looked at the high ground in the distance. The shell fired by the tank of the 82nd brigade exploded on the front of the high ground, and quickly opened up several passages between the minefield and several barbed wire fences. In front of the German Highlands, several passages were blasted open. The commanders and fighters who had been ready to go broke out a loud cry and launched a fierce charge towards the highlands. Hundreds of them rushed to the highlands. As they rushed two or three hundred meters from the German position, all the enemy''s weapons opened fire. Rushing in front of the officers and men as if hit a transparent wall, have to fall to the ground, and then rolling down from the hillside. However, the commanders and fighters behind did not hesitate at all, and they still rushed forward without hesitation. When approaching 50 meters, the commanding enemy not only kept shooting, but also desperately smashed grenades downward. The officers and men who were charging up did not dare to show weakness, and they also threw grenades at the enemy. The grenades thrown by the two sides were like hailstones, which made the front of the position smoke. Under the cover of the smoke, the commanders and fighters rushed up and stabbed the defenders with bayonets, and launched a fierce white-edged and hand-to-hand battle in the position.

 Chapter 1403

    Looking at the red flag''s height, Jerry cofton got excited. He put down his telescope, looked at me, pointed to the front with one finger, and said to me excitedly, "Comrade commander, as you can see, my troops have rushed to the high ground. I believe they will be able to wipe out all the enemies above in a short time."


    But when I saw more and more officers and men rushing to the Highlands, I didn''t cheer as much as shejerikov, because I saw the corpses of our officers and men everywhere in front of the highlands. These soldiers who fell down during the charge are doomed to no longer stand up. But they lay on the ground, their heads still facing the high ground. It seems that as long as they have a breath, even if they climb, they will climb up the high ground and wipe out all the enemies.


    It pains me to think that in order to win this highland, we should pay several times more than the German army. I turned to look at shejerikov and coldly said, "Colonel, when the highlands are all occupied by our army, order the army to stop advancing. Build fortifications in place to prevent a possible German counterattack. "


    "But, comrade commander." Shejerikov was stunned when he heard what I said. He pointed to the front and said reluctantly, "our division''s officers and men have just captured a high ground. It''s the time when our morale is high. We should take advantage of the victory and pursue the enemy''s high ground as much as possible."


    "Don''t you see the bodies lying in front of the high ground, Colonel?" I pointed out with my hand to the outside and said impolitely, "you know, an hour ago, they were able to talk and laugh with their comrades in arms; But now, they lie on the ground and become lifeless and cold bodies. Don''t you feel sad when you see the heavy casualties of your subordinates? "


    My words immediately silenced shijerikov. After a while, he said with difficulty, "Comrade commander, I understand what you mean. If we fight like this, even if we capture all the Highlands outside kalinkovic, the troops will lose their fighting capacity because of heavy casualties. "


    When I returned to my observation post, I first asked bzikov, "chief of staff, the 51st division of the guards of Col. chejerikov has successfully won the highland in front of them. How about the attack of the 67th and 71st divisions of the guards?"


    "After fierce fighting, these two highlands were captured by the 67th and 71st divisions of the guards respectively." When reporting the war situation to me, bezikov''s face was very serious. "Although we occupied the Highlands, we paid too much. According to the reports of the two divisions, their casualties were nearly one thousand, while the garrison in the Highlands was only one hundred and twenty. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." After bezikov finished, chisgakov also said: "without heavy artillery support, the price we paid for launching such an attack is really too high. It seems that we should adjust our tactics, change the attack to night, and minimize the casualties of the troops. "


    "Now that the battle is over, call all three division commanders to the headquarters." I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and then said, "I think after this terrible win, they should no longer be stubborn and have to attack in the daytime."


    A quarter of an hour later, in my headquarters, I met three infantry division commanders, i.e. shejerikov, baksov and babashin, as well as the commander of the 82nd tank brigade. When I saw that all the members of the meeting had come together, I said frankly, "comrades of commanders, I called you here to make a summary of the just concluded offensive."


    "Comrade commander," the first speaker was Colonel babahin, who said with great pride, "after the tenacious fighting of our division''s commanders and fighters, we have successfully captured the high ground in front of our division''s defense and completely annihilated two enemy platoons."


    "It''s a great victory to annihilate two enemy platoons." After he finished, I snorted and said in a sarcastic tone, "Comrade Colonel, please tell me the number of casualties in your division?" Seeing that the other party was red faced and bowed his head, I continued, "according to your report, 153 people were killed and 329 injured. If we take down one highland, we will pay such a price. How much will we pay to take down all the more than ten highlands? "


    After a short silence, the tank brigade commander tentatively asked me, "Comrade commander, can I have a word?"


    "Yes," I nodded and agreed to the request of the tank brigade commander, "if you have any ideas, just let them know."


    "Comrade commander, according to our reconnaissance, after crossing several occupied Highlands, there are not only rivers but also many swamps in front of us. Our tanks can''t be launched on such terrain at all. That is to say, our tanks will not be able to provide more effective firepower support to the infantry in the next battle to capture the highlands. "


    "Comrade commander." Barksov glared at the tank brigade commander and asked in a bad manner: "you said that the river and swamp in front of us are impassable for tanks. But when the German troops attacked us last night, they used a lot of tanks? They can do it. Why can''t you do it? "


    "Comrade General." As for baksov''s recklessness, the tank brigade commander patiently explained to him: "the German tanks came through the bridges on the river, and now these bridges are under the German fire control. If the enemy finds that we have an attempt to seize the bridges, they will immediately destroy them without hesitation. If our troops want to build a floating bridge for tanks under the enemy''s eyes, it is bound to cause heavy casualties. "


    "All right, general baksov, don''t say any more." I was deeply afraid that the argument between baksov and the tank brigade commander would be endless, so I interrupted them first and said in accordance with my own way of thinking: "I have decided to temporarily stop attacking during the day in order to reduce the casualties of the troops and adopt the method of sneak attack at night."


    If there was no battle just now, baksov might still raise objection to my arrangement, but at this time, he could only reluctantly promise: "well, comrade commander, when I get back to the army, I will immediately arrange the troops for the night attack. We should strive to take these highlands from the enemy''s positions with minimum casualties. "


    As soon as he had finished speaking, a telephone by the wall rang. Bezikov was sitting close to him, so he got up and went to pick up the phone. He said in a loud voice, "this is the headquarters of the group army. Where are you?" What, what do you say, say it again? "


    When I heard him say this, I knew that something must be wrong. Instead of talking, I focused on him. He covered the microphone with his hand and solemnly reported to me: "Comrade commander, major shumakov, head of the 309th regiment of the guards, reported that the German army had sent out troops and launched a counter offensive towards the highlands."


    "What kind of forces does the enemy have?" When I heard the news, I was a little surprised, but I didn''t panic. I asked as usual.


    "Comrade commander, what kind of forces does the enemy have?" Bezikov released his hand on the receiver and conveyed what I said to shumakov truthfully. After listening for a while, he raised his head and reported to me, "the enemy has sent out about a battalion of infantry, and eight other tanks, which are rushing to the position of the 309th regiment."


    "Tell shumakov," I said simply to bezikov, "to order him to hold the position firmly and never to step back. I will send someone to support him."


    When bezikov was conveying my message to shumakov, I looked down and asked the tank commander, "Comrade commander, can your tank go up to the high ground?"


    When the tank brigade commander heard that I was asking him a question, he immediately stood up and reported, "Comrade commander, our tanks are all the latest models. There should be no problem climbing such a slope."


    "That would be great." When I heard that the tank could go up to the high ground, my heart immediately became more stable. I then said, "Comrade commander, immediately order your tank to go up to the high ground. And then, from a commanding height, destroy the enemy''s tanks with artillery fire and strafe the enemy''s infantry with machine guns, understand? "


    "I see." After the tank brigade commander promised, he asked for my advice: "can I leave now?"


    "Remember, not only in the Highlands occupied by the 51st division of the guards, tanks should be sent to support, but also in the other two divisions." After I gave the last few words, I waved at him and said, "Comrade commander, go back to the army immediately and arrange it."


    After the tank brigade commander left, I saw that bzikov was also ready to hang up. I quickly stopped him and told him, "chief of staff, please tell major shumakov to report to us every ten minutes."


    Then I discussed with some teachers about the details of the night attack and sent them away.


    Just after a few people left, a telephone in front of me rang. I know that it''s not the front-line units that can get through this high-frequency telephone. Usually only rokosovsky or Batov can get through. So I picked up the receiver and politely said, "Hello, I''m o''shanina. Where are you?"


    "Hello, comrade oshanina." But a strange voice came out of the receiver: "I''m belov!"


    "Belov, which belov?" Although I indicated my identity to the opposite direction, I couldn''t remember who the other party was in a hurry, so I asked, "which company are you from?"


    When the other party heard my question, he could not help sighing, and then said rather helplessly: "general oshanina, please allow me to introduce myself to you. My full name is Pavel alexeyevich belov, commander of the 61st army. You can call me by my full name or by belov. "


    "It''s you, general belov." Only after he explained his position did I know that the person who called me turned out to be the 61st army headquarters stationed near moziri. My face smile, and then apologetically said to him: "sorry, I did not recognize your voice, please forgive me. I wonder if you are calling at this time. Is there anything important


    "Well, comrade oshanina." Belov said politely: "my troops have been stationed in the vicinity of moziri, but because in the early fighting, the troops were severely reduced and the ammunition was consumed very little. Therefore, although we have stayed here for a long time, we are unable to attack moziri''s enemies because of the shortage of soldiers and ammunition. "


    "I understand, general belov." I have learned something about the situation of the 61st army through Batov. Therefore, in the attack on kalinkovic and moziri in accordance with the order of the superior, I did not include the strength of the 61st army at all. I did not even care about the five divisions and one tank regiment of the 11th army. In today''s situation, the troops with insufficient soldiers and ammunition are just like a toothless tiger, which can only scare people. At the moment, belov called me on his own initiative. Even if I looked down upon them again, I had to maintain the necessary respect on the surface. "I know something about you. You see, I was going to take time to see you, but because of the fierce war, I couldn''t get away from it, so I haven''t been able to do it up to now. "


    "I know the fighting there is fierce." Unexpectedly, after hearing this, belov said in a reasonable way, "since you can''t spare time, why don''t I call on you tomorrow and talk about the cooperation between our two troops."¡° Good, good, "I heard that the other party was coming. I said insincerely," welcome, welcome, welcome to my army. "¡° By the way, our troops have been in this area for some time Belov continued: "I have a certain understanding of the situation here. I plan to bring a group of commanders to you to help you get familiar with the terrain here." If what I just said to belov was perfunctory, I was overjoyed to hear that he would send a group of commanders to help us, and my voice trembled with excitement: "general belov, is this true? That''s great. As you know, my troops only entered Belarus for a few days, and they knew nothing about the situation here. If we can get your selfless help, I believe that in the next battle, we will achieve more brilliant results. " After another friendly talk with belov, I put down the phone and asked chisgakov, who was sitting beside me, "Comrade deputy commander, do you know anything about general belov?"¡° I know some. "¡° Can you tell me all you know? " I sincerely said to chisgakov, "I want to know what kind of person this general belov is going to fight with us."

 Chapter 1404

    "General belov was originally a cavalry and had participated in the first World War." Seeing that I was eager to get to know belov, and knowing that I must have my own reasons for doing so, chisjakov began to introduce belov''s resume to me: "a few months before the outbreak of the war, he was appointed 41 years ago. Since November, he led his troops to participate in the Moscow defense war, especially the defense war they carried out near Tula, which dealt a heavy blow to goodrian. Because of the excellent performance of the army in the battle, the Supreme Command awarded the guard cavalry. Although I learned from the words of chisjakov and bzikov that belov was a great commander, I felt very uncomfortable when I thought that his troops had stayed near moziri for half a month, but had made no achievements. I then asked, "can you tell me what kind of help general belov can offer us in the next battle?"


    Chisgakov and I have been dealing with each other for quite a long time. Hearing what I said, he immediately understood what I wanted to say, and quickly said: "the reason why general belov did not stand still near moziri may be that after a long period of fighting, his troops were seriously reduced, and the ammunition was also consumed seriously, so he did not have the ability to launch a large-scale battle."


    "I agree with the deputy commander." After chisgakov finished speaking, bezikov agreed somewhat unexpectedly: "the reason why the superior gave us the order to attack may be that there is no problem in solving the enemies of kalinkovich and moziri with the strength of our group army, the 61st and 65th group army, and the five divisions of the 11th group army. However, they did not know that, except for us, the other three army groups were severely reduced and lack of ammunition, and their combat effectiveness was less than half of the normal level. That is to say, in this small-scale campaign, only the sixth group army of the close guard will fight alone. "


    "Comrades commander," chisgakov pushed the map on the table in front of me, pointed to it and said to me, "in fact, it is not difficult for us to capture these two areas. As long as we occupy all the commanding heights outside kalinkovic, the city will automatically fall from the tree like a ripe apple. "


    After staring at the map for a while, I suddenly found that I had made a big mistake. To the east of kalinkovich is the area with the largest number of swamps and rivers, which is not conducive to the expansion of large forces. But now I have concentrated all my forces in this area to compete with the enemy one by one.


    Thinking of this, I raised my hand and patted my forehead hard, and said with chagrin: "muddle headed, it''s muddle headed!"


    Chisgakov and both of them were confused by my action and looked at each other in surprise. After a long time, chisjakov tentatively asked, "Comrade commander, what''s on your mind?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, come and see." I pointed to the map and said to him, "according to the information provided to us by general Batov, there are three divisions of the 65th group army deployed to the south of kalinkovich. Not long ago, in order to cooperate with our actions, they had launched a feint attack on the enemy in the city."


    "Yes, it is." Chisgakov looked up at me and asked, "are you going to let them attack the enemy from the south while we fight for the German commanding heights?"


    "No, comrade deputy commander, it''s not what you think." I waved to chisgakov and said, "you see, there are swamps to the north and east of kalinkovich, forests to the south, and open plains to the West. Now I''m concentrating all my troops on the east side of the city. Because I can''t launch a large force, I can only use the tactics of refueling and put them into battle in turn. "


    At this point, chisgakov''s brows wrinkled. He spoke to himself and said to me again, "Comrade commander, do you want to detour the troops to the west of the city and attack from that direction?"


    Seeing that chisgakov judged my intention, I nodded with a smile and affirmed: "Comrade deputy commander, you guessed very correctly. I think that in addition to continuing to attack in the east of the city, we can send troops to detour back to the west of the city and attack the city from there."


    "What troops are you going to send back to the enemy?" Chisgakov knew that I like to use the tactics of two wings detour when the frontal attack doesn''t work, so he didn''t raise any objection and asked on his own initiative: "if there are fewer troops sent, it won''t play any role; If more troops are sent, they may be detected by the enemy. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, do you think that if we only send small troops, their actions will not be noticed by the Germans?" After refuting him, I went on to say, "I intend to transfer the 52nd guard division, the 375TH infantry division, and the 101st tank brigade to the west of the city after passing through the defense area of the 65th group army in the south of the city."


    As I was absorbed in thinking about how to make the troops detour to the west of the city, I completely forgot that the battle was still going on in the position of the 51st division of the guards. I didn''t think of it until shumakov called. I took the phone from bzikov''s hand and asked aloud, "Hello, major shumakov, what''s the situation there? Are there any more Germans? "


    "Report to commander," shumakov replied excitedly, "only a few destroyed tanks and a lot of German bodies."


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I had been fighting for less than half an hour. I couldn''t help but wonder, "Comrade major, how can the fighting be over so soon?"


    "Well, comrade commander." After listening to my question about the war situation, shumakov reported to me: "originally, I wanted to send anti tank men with rocket launchers to destroy German tanks at close range when they got close. Who knows, at this time, more than a dozen tanks of the 82nd brigade of the tank opened their positions and launched a volley at the German tanks, which soon destroyed seven German tanks. The rest of the infantry, barely in front of our position, were intercepted by our intensive fire. In the end, they left more than 200 bodies behind and retreated back


    "Comrade major, send someone to clean up the battlefield as soon as possible and collect the weapons that can still be used." Thinking that the ammunition of the troops could not be replenished in a short period of time, I could only collect ammunition from the German soldiers who were killed, just like I did in mamayevgang, "in addition, your fortifications need to be strengthened to ensure that there will be no heavy casualties when they are shelled by the German troops. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Shumakov replied in a loud voice: "I will immediately arrange for people to clean the battlefield and reinforce the fortifications. Please rest assured that as long as one of the 309th regiment of the guards is still alive, we will never let any German troops pass through our positions. "


    "Comrade commander, I have an idea for you." As soon as I put down the phone, bezikov pointed to the map and said to me, "at present, our army has occupied three commanding heights of the German army. We can turn this place into the starting point of attack and deploy artillery here to provide firepower support for the attacking forces."


    "Comrade chief of staff," I said without thinking about this proposal of bezikov, "if the logistics supply is normal, your plan is very appropriate. But because our artillery has no shells, it is impossible to provide the necessary artillery support for the infantry when they attack, so even if they are deployed on high ground, it is meaningless. On the contrary, if the German army knew that our artillery were all deployed on high ground, it would be possible to concentrate on destroying them. If we lose our artillery, we will suffer a lot in the next battle. "


    Listen to me, don''t stop zikov. On one side, chisjakov added: "Comrade Stalin once said: artillery is the God of war. If our artillery is placed on these commanding heights and destroyed by the German artillery, then in the next battle, our army''s ability to attack key positions will be greatly reduced. "


    I don''t want to get entangled in this matter. Anyway, the commanders of the three front divisions all understand that their task is to stick to their existing positions and at the same time send small company sized troops at night to carry out sneak attacks on the Highlands still occupied by the German army. At present, the primary task is to gather the commanders of several units to be sent to the west of the city and assign tasks to them.


    When bezikov was about to call several division commanders to come to the meeting, chisjakov suggested to me, "Comrade commander, I think there are too few infantry divisions. We might as well add the 90th division of general Chernoff''s guards. Anyway, we can leave the sherekin division here."


    Thinking that this must be the decision made by chisgakov after careful consideration, I nodded and said frankly, "well, comrade deputy commander, as you said, let the 90th division of the guards also take part in this operation."


    While waiting for several division commanders and tank brigade commanders, I called Batov. After all, if the troops want to pass through his defense area, they must say hello to him, otherwise misunderstanding will be bad.


    After hearing my voice, Batov said with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, do you have anything important to call me at this time?"


    "Yes, general Batov, I''m calling you now. There is something very important." Then I told him in detail that I was going to send troops to attack the city by way of his defense area and detour to the west of the city.


    After I finished, he said frankly, "no problem, comrade oshanina, I will greet the troops who are there and let them pass for you. In addition, in order to prevent misunderstandings, I will send personnel to meet your troops outside. Then you just need to follow these people through our defense area. "


    Ten minutes later, three infantry division commanders and a tank brigade commander came to the headquarters. Chernoff was a little impatient. As soon as he sat down, he couldn''t wait to ask me, "Comrade commander, are you going to let us replace the troops in front and continue to attack the enemy''s defensive positions?"


    Seeing that Chernoff was so anxious, chisjakov deliberately did not explain the reason for their coming, but asked: "Comrade General, why do you think so?"


    "Don''t you need to say that?" Chernoff pointed to himself, then to the other commanders, and then said firmly, "the troops fighting the German army in the front are three infantry divisions and a tank brigade. And here, we happen to have three infantry division commanders and a tank brigade commander, who are clearly ready to let us change our guard. "


    "It''s really for the sake of attacking kalinkovic to call you here now." Instead of beating around the bush with them, I said bluntly, "but it''s not from the East. There are many swamps and rivers here, which are not conducive to the expansion of the big army. So I''m going to let you detour back to the enemy''s rear and launch an attack from the west of the city."¡° Detour back to the west of the city? " Nikolasov, the commander of the 52nd division of the guards, said somewhat unexpectedly, "Comrade commander, I don''t know which direction you intend us to detour back to the enemy''s rear?"¡° From the south of the city. " I pointed to the map and introduced to the commanders, "you have passed through general Batov''s 65th group army line and detoured to the west of kalinkovich. And quickly spread out the offensive formation and attack the enemy. "¡° We have to go through the 65th army''s defense zone. " Looking at the map, nikolasov raised his head and said to me, "Comrade commander, you should communicate with general Batov first, so that he can inform his troops about our passing through the defense area, so as to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding."¡° Don''t worry, general Nekrasov. " Chisjakov looked at me with a smile, and then said to nikolasov, "what you said has long been considered by the commander. She has already communicated with general Batov. The general not only agrees to let you pass through his defense area, but also sends people to meet you. "

 Chapter 1405

    As soon as I assigned the task, baksov called to complain to me: "Comrade commander, you ask the highland to strengthen the defense on the side facing the enemy. According to the regulations, we should lay minefields and draw barbed wire, but we don''t have any of these things at present. Can the group army provide us?"


    "Comrade General, I don''t have mines or barbed wire here." When I heard his request, I felt very uncomfortable. I said to myself what the logistics of the group army is like now. You don''t know. You even asked me for this and that. So I said in a bad voice, "I have nothing here. You can find a way to solve it yourself."


    All I said was to this extent, but barksov still said endlessly: "if you can''t provide us with mines and barbed wire, the enemy may touch the high ground at any time. At that time, in order to compete with the enemy for the ownership of this commanding height, it is bound to pay a great price."


    I couldn''t bear being entangled by baksov, so I had to say helplessly, "OK, general baksov, don''t say any more. I order you to immediately organize engineers to take out the unexploded mines in the minefield on the side of the highland facing our army and lay them on the side facing the German army. Barbed wire is also dealt with as usual. As for the rest, we will find a way to get some for you. "


    When I put down the phone, I racked my brains and began to think about where I could get the mines and wires they needed. Bartov certainly didn''t. After several days of dealing with him, I knew his family background very well. What I could pick up had already come to me. And there is rokosovsky, even if there is, because it is too far away, a little too far away. The only place to take a chance is general belov of the 61st army.


    Thinking of this, I dialed the 61st army headquarters. When I heard belov''s voice, I immediately said politely, "Hello, general belov, am I not disturbing you?"


    "No, no," said belov politely, "I''m arranging for the commander who will go to you to assist in the battle. You call me. Is there anything important?"


    "Well, general belov." Although I haven''t seen belov yet, I haven''t concealed the real purpose of calling him: "I intend to deploy minefields and draw barbed wire in front of the newly occupied highlands. But because of the logistics supply, we don''t have these things at all. I wonder if you can provide some for us? "


    After I finished, belov was silent for a moment, and then asked, "Comrade oshanina, I don''t know how many mines and barbed wire do you need each?"


    When I heard belov say that, I immediately felt that there was a door to it. But I don''t know how many such military materials he has. I can only say vaguely, "Comrade General, I don''t know how much you can provide for me?"


    "A thousand mines, five tons of barbed wire." After balov hesitated to give me the data, he tentatively asked, "is that enough?"


    "Enough, enough." Originally, I thought that the maximum he could give me was 200 grams of land mines or one or two tons of barbed wire, which was his limit. Unexpectedly, there were so many things he gave me. I quickly said, "thank you, thank you, Comrade General!"


    After laughing twice, he said politely, "Comrade oshanina, we are friendly forces. We should have helped each other. If you need any help from me in the future, I will definitely help you as long as it is within my ability. "


    When he said that, I thought of the three infantry divisions that were going to cross the 65th group army defense area. From the division commander to the present ordinary soldiers, they knew nothing about the situation in the west of kalinkovich. In order to make the circuitous troops adapt to the situation in the west of the city as soon as possible, I said to belov tactfully, "Comrade General, I have one more thing. I''m going to send three divisions to the west of kalinkovich and attack the city from that direction. But my officers and men are not familiar with the terrain there, and I''m afraid they will suffer losses when they fight in unfamiliar areas. "


    Although I didn''t take the initiative to ask for help, belov was also a smart man. He heard my voice out of the picture from my words and said with a smile, "Comrade o''shanina, I just said that we are friendly forces and should help each other. Why are you so outspoken? If you need my help, just say it. "


    I''m a little embarrassed that belov has now spoken out to me. I said awkwardly, "general belov, I didn''t just ask you for so many military supplies. I''m sorry to ask you for a commander."


    "I''m sorry." Belov said carelessly: "I have prepared 100 commanders at all levels for you. I wanted to bring them to you later. Now that your troops are going to detour back to the enemy''s rear, I will send them to help your commanders get familiar with the terrain. "


    After he had said these words, the sound of turning the paper came from the receiver, and then I heard him ask, "Comrade oshanina, which direction do you want your troops to detour from kalinkovich?"


    "From general Batov''s 65th army sector." I was afraid that belov would ask any more questions, so I said in advance: "because there are many swamps and rivers in the north of the city, if the troops detour in that direction, it will certainly delay a lot of time. So after consulting with general Batov, I decided to let the troops pass through his defense area and directly enter the west of the city. "


    "I see." "I''ll have these commanders go straight to general Batov''s area and join your forces there," belov said briefly


    After I put down the phone, I felt that the stone hanging in my heart had finally fallen to the ground, so I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. But at this moment, chisgakov suddenly said to me, "Comrade commander, I found an interesting thing."


    "Interesting things?" Hearing this, I immediately opened my eyes, looked at him and said curiously, "Comrade deputy commander, what interesting things have you found?"


    "Comrade commander," chisgakov said to me with a smile, "I don''t know if you have found that after the commander of the front army gave you the task of attacking kalinkovic and moziri, he basically ignored it. But to capture these two cities, with the strength of our group army, it is still a little bit worse. So we have to rely on the 61st and 65th army groups stationed in this area, as well as the 11th army group which is coming here. "


    "Yes," I heard here, nodded and said with certainty, "although our group army has tens of thousands of people, it is still difficult to eliminate the enemy in the moziri kalinkovich area and liberate the two cities. So in this case, we have to rely on the strength of friendly forces. "


    "According to my observation, both general Batov and general belov are very active in your actions and are willing to follow your instructions." After analyzing a lot of problems, chisgakov suddenly said, "I think the superior is inspecting you to see if you have the ability to stand in your own way. In addition, you will be given the command of the four army groups in disguise this time. As long as you perform well, I think the next higher authorities may ask you to command a front army. "


    If there is a shell falling on my side and exploding at the moment, there is no greater shock to me than the words of chisjakov. I was staring at him for a long time before I said in an uncertain tone, "Comrade deputy commander, I''m not sure. There are many commanders in the army who are more competent and more experienced than me. How can I be appointed commander of the front army. You must have guessed wrong


    Instead of refuting my resolute denial, chisgakov turned to look at bezikov and asked with a smile, "chief of staff, what do you think?"


    Bizikov giggled two times, then touched his nose and said to me in an uncertain tone: "Comrade commander, although what the deputy commander said sounds a little strange, it is reasonable to think about it carefully. You should know that our group army has been in Belarus for the shortest time and is not familiar with this area. It is reasonable to say that commanding such a campaign requires at least a commander who is familiar with this area to take charge of it, but the higher authorities have entrusted such a heavy task to you. In this way, I think what the deputy commander said may come true. "


    In my heart, though, after being the commander of the group army for such a long time, I really had the idea of being a commander of the front army. I even hope that the supreme command will continue to promote my rank, and I will be promoted from the present lieutenant general to the general, senior general, and even the future marshal. But at the moment, listening to what chisgakov said so frankly, it makes me feel guilty.


    I retorted with feeble reasons: "deputy commander, chief of staff, the superior asked me to command this campaign, and let so many troops cooperate with me, probably because the strength of our group army is the most powerful, so we temporarily handed over the command to me. Once the rest of the army groups have been replenished, the superior will have the opportunity to reconsider the selection of commanders for this campaign according to their abilities and qualifications. "


    After listening to my self defense, chisjakov and bezikov looked at each other and laughed. When the laughter stopped, chisgakov said, "Comrade commander, you are so modest. Although your qualifications are relatively shallow, the other two commanders can''t be compared with you when it comes to the achievements in previous battles. Believe me, my judgment will not be wrong. The higher authorities asked you to command this campaign just to test your ability and see if you have the ability to serve as commander of the front army. "


    "Well, well, let''s not talk about it any more." Although chisgakov''s words made me feel elated, I tried to be extremely calm in front of many subordinates. I deliberately digged off the topic: "our current combat task, the troops in the East, should eliminate the German Fortifications on the commanding heights of the periphery as soon as possible; In the west, it is necessary to enter the attack position as soon as possible, cooperate with the troops in the East, and form a pinch attack on the enemy in the city. "


    "Comrade commander, comrade commander." As I was about to go on, there was a cry of excitement outside. Then akhromeyev, who was sent out to carry out the task, rushed in and said to me excitedly, "Comrade commander, look, who''s coming?"


    "Who''s here?" I can''t help but wonder, seeing akhromeyev''s excited appearance, to find out what is sacred and how he can make such a gaffe. When I saw the commander in a military coat coming in after me, I jumped up from my seat and exclaimed, "Comrade military commissar, why are you here?"


    Seeing kirilov''s sudden appearance, not only me, but also chisjakov and bezikov were surprised. Because in our impression, kirilov is still in Smolensk at the moment to deal with the later supply. Without three or five days, he can''t get here at all.


    While shaking hands with kirilov, I asked in surprise, "Comrade military commissar, aren''t you in Smolensk? Why are you here all at once? "¡° Well, "kirilov explained to me," it happened that there was a transport plane from Smolensk to zlobin, so I came by downwind. When I arrived in zhlobin, it was just in time for general rokosovsky to send a message to general Batov, so I flew to the nearby city just occupied by you by the messenger plane, and then was escorted here by general Batov. "¡° General Batov, that''s cunning enough. " I let go of my hand and stood aside, watching kirilov shake hands with chisgakov and said, "I didn''t even inform us of your arrival." After kirilov and bzikov shook hands, they waved at me and said, "Rita, don''t blame general Batov. I won''t let him tell you. Because I know you were commanding the troops at that time. I don''t want to affect your command because of my coming. " I did not entangle in this issue, but timely changed the topic: "after you come here, you do not know who is in charge of Smolensk?"¡° I have handed over all the work of Smolensk to tavartkiraze and sivakov. With their ability, there should be no problem in handling our logistics supply. " After kirilov had answered my question, he stopped for a moment and said, "I heard another news on my way here."¡° What''s the news? " Asked bzikov curiously. Kirilov looked at me and said word by word, "our sixth group army will be reorganized in the near future. Our superiors will supply us with some new troops, and at the same time, they will transfer some old troops away. For this matter, you should be prepared in advance

 Chapter 1406

    Adaptation? When I heard kirilov mention this, I couldn''t help falling into confusion. After a short silence, I asked kirilov, "Comrade military commissar, do you know why the higher authorities reorganized our group army? What''s more, which of our troops are they going to transfer? "


    Although I am usually dissatisfied with the performance of the divisions in combat. But after such a long time together, I still have feelings for Shao. I really can''t bear to transfer my teacher.


    Seeing my anxious face, kirilov laughed and then said to me, "Rita, don''t worry. Just listen to me and explain to you, and you''ll see what''s going on.


    For example, the 8.9 division of general shiliujin''s guards was initially composed of the 443rd, 537th, 636th infantry regiments and the 566th artillery regiment. But after a long time of fighting, the soldiers of the three infantry regiments all changed, and the artillery regiment no longer existed because of the loss of artillery in the battle.


    General Nekrasov''s 52nd guard division was adapted from the 8th motorized infantry division of the interior guard of the Ministry of interior. In the original formation, there were the 6th, 16th and 28th motorized infantry regiments and the 10th grenade artillery regiment. But now? The artillery regiment has gone, and the motorized infantry of the three regiments have become real infantry after losing almost all their combat vehicles.


    As far as I know, after the superior has transferred the 52nd division, the sheriujin division, the 77th division, the 375TH infantry division and some auxiliary units, they will supplement the 2nd Infantry army, which has jurisdiction over the 9th, 46th and 166 infantry divisions; There is also the 103rd infantry army, which governs the 29th and 270th infantry divisions. Within the composition of the 22nd infantry unit, it was adjusted to the 90th, 47th and 51st infantry divisions; Within the 23rd army, the 51st, 67th and 71st infantry divisions of the guards. As for the changes in artillery and tank forces, I can''t remember for a moment because there are too many units involved. "


    Although after the reorganization of the troops, the higher authorities will transfer four infantry divisions with strong combat effectiveness from me, but they have added several divisions to me. In this way, not only the number of infantry divisions has increased from eight to eleven, but also the combat effectiveness of the troops has been improved accordingly. I still welcome such an adaptation.


    Seeing that I was relieved, chisgakov said to kirilov with a smile: "Comrade military commissar, before you came, I and bezikov were telling the commander that the superior entrusted such an important campaign task to her to complete, which is probably a test for her and preparation for her next promotion."


    Kisjakov''s words aroused kirilov''s great interest. He looked at each other and asked with a smile, "Comrade deputy commander, what''s the matter? Please tell me."


    A few minutes later, kirilov nodded thoughtfully and said to me, "Rita, I think the deputy commander is very reasonable. Although you are still the commander of the sixth group army in name, the superior has given you the command of the other three groups, It''s just to see if you have the ability to stand in your own way, so as to decide whether to let you take on a higher position. "


    When chisgakov was the first to talk about the possibility that I might be commander of the front army, I just thought it was ridiculous; After his statement was echoed by bezikov, I couldn''t help feeling a little excited. At this moment, listening to kirilov''s words, my heart beat faster. My heart said, is it true? Does the Supreme Command really want me to be the commander of the front army?


    "Rita, don''t be burdened." While I was meditating, kirilov came up to me, patted me on the shoulder, and said to me in the tone of a passer-by: "soldiers are not born. Similarly, excellent commanders are not born. They need constant learning and training. If you pass the test, you will certainly be able to go further. Even if the performance is not satisfactory for the time being, don''t care. Anyway, this battle will not be finished for a while. You can perform well in the future. "


    After listening to kirilov''s words, I secretly made up my mind to solve the enemies of kalinkovic and moziri in the shortest time, so as to leave a good impression on the Supreme Commander himself, which will be of great help to my future promotion. Thinking of this, I immediately asked kirilov: "Comrade military commissar, I want to ask you when the ammunition and all kinds of military materials stored in Smolensk will be transported here?"


    When I finished, kirilov sighed slightly and said with some embarrassment, "Rita, Smolensk is too far from here. It takes too long to transport by car alone through the long road. I think it will take at least a week to get all the ammunition in stock. "


    Although kirilov''s answer disappointed me, I didn''t mean to reproach him at all. After all, he was not strong enough. The railway can''t get through here, and the condition of the road is so bad that the commanders and fighters of the transportation team have done their best to meet the materials here within a week.


    After giving kirilov a brief introduction to our situation here, I asked akhromeyev, who was standing by the telephone: "major, are the troops going to detour to the west of the city?"


    "Report to Comrade commander." Akhromeyev quickly came to me and reported: "at present, the 52nd and 375TH divisions of the guards have started, while the 90th division of the guards is still assembling. It is estimated that it will take another half an hour."


    "I see. If you have any new information, please report it to me at any time." After I finished, I waved ahlomeyev back to his original position.


    Kirilov listened to akhromeyev''s report and said to me in a low voice: "Rita, the three divisions that detour back to the west of the city are all to be transferred by the superior..."


    He only said half of what he said, but he didn''t go on. Chisgakov seemed to hear something from it. He asked tentatively, "Comrade military commissar, do you mean..."


    Chisgakov did not finish his words, but kirilov nodded and said definitely, "yes, comrade deputy commander, you guessed very correctly, just as you imagined."


    Seeing the two people''s guessing dialogue, I only hesitated for a moment, then I understood what they meant. They want to say that the three divisions are going to be transferred, so it''s better for them to give play to their surplus heat before they leave. Guessing their thoughts, I didn''t say anything. Pretending I didn''t understand anything, I looked down at the map in front of me.


    "Comrade commander," chisgakov asked tentatively, seeing that I had no reaction here, "after our troops detour to the west of the city, will they still attack according to the original plan?"


    I looked up at him and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, when did you hear my order to cancel the attack?" Seeing that his head was like a rattle, I continued, "since I have not given the order to cancel the attack, the attack on the west of the city will proceed as scheduled."


    After dark, xiejerikov, baksov and babashin called me respectively and asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, our night attack troops are ready, or are we going to carry out according to the original plan?"


    I don''t know why the three people asked this question, so they answered with the same content: "yes, the night attack on the German commanding heights is carried out according to the plan. Remember, if the night attack fails, we must withdraw from the battle before dawn. "


    After talking to the three teachers in the East, I asked akhromeyev to send a telegram to the three teachers in the west, asking where they are now. Less than ten minutes later, the three division commanders also called back in turn, saying that the troops had entered the offensive position and could attack kalinkovic at any time.


    It was said that all the troops in the west of the city had entered the attack position. Bezikov was a little uneasy and asked me, "Comrade commander, since our troops have reached the attack position in the west of the city, why don''t we attack the city decisively before the German army has time to build a defense?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, I agree with the chief of staff." As soon as his words were finished, chisjakov echoed: "the Germans may never have dreamed that we would send several divisions to detour to the west of their weak city. I don''t think they have time to set up defense in the west of the city. Why don''t we attack now and take them by surprise? "


    Although I had the same idea at the moment, I didn''t immediately give the order to attack. Instead, I called ahlomeyev over and said to him, "major, you should immediately send a telegram to the three division commanders to confirm whether the divisions have really entered the attack position and where our tankers brigade is now?"


    After listening to my special question about the location of the 101st brigade of tanks, chisjakov and bezikov knew that I had planned to agree with their proposal and order the troops who detour back to the city to attack overnight, because without artillery volunteers, they could only rely on the tanks to guide the troops to attack the city.


    Soon, akhromeyev came back and reported to me, "Comrade commander, I have verified that the commanders and fighters of the three divisions have entered the attack position only three kilometers away from the city, and the tank brigade is now deployed in the position of the 90th close guard division. The three division commanders and tank brigade commanders all said that they are ready for all battles and can attack the enemy at any time. "


    I first raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I looked at chisjakov and bezikov on the left and right. I asked, "deputy commander, chief of staff, do you agree to attack kalinkovic at night?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, that''s how we think about it." They both nodded at the same time, affirming: "we must take advantage of the favorable opportunity when the enemy has not yet established a solid defense in the west of the city to launch an attack decisively."


    Seeing that all the people agreed, I told akhromeyev: "major, send a telegram to the teachers, saying that they will attack the west of kalinkovich at ten o''clock. After the battle starts, report to me the progress of the battle every half an hour. "


    It is said that the attack time is at ten o''clock in the evening. Chisjakov said anxiously: "Comrade commander, it''s too late to launch the attack at ten o''clock, isn''t it?"


    "It''s not too late, comrade deputy commander. It''s not too late at all." I explained to him with a smile: "the officers and men of the circuitous army should be very tired after a long march. It is very helpful to give them some time to recover their physical strength for the next battle. In addition, if the enemy finds our troops in the west of the city, they must be on high alert at the moment. If we launch a hasty attack on the enemy with a tired division at the moment, it is estimated that even if we pay a great price, we will not get any results. On the contrary, if the enemy sees that we have not moved for a long time, they will think that it will be safe tonight. When they relax their vigilance, our attack will become more smooth. "


    After listening to my analysis, it suddenly dawned on her. After laughing a few times, he suggested to me: "Comrade commander, I have another thing in mind. As the troops in the West and east of the city have an offensive mission tonight, no matter which direction they attack first, they will arouse the enemy''s vigilance. I think it''s better for the three divisions in the east to attack the enemy''s highlands at ten o''clock on time? "¡° I''m going to call them at barksov. " As soon as we finished talking, bzikov volunteered to take on the task of delivering orders. He picked up the phone and said to the microphone, "I''m Colonel bzikov, chief of staff of the group army. Please find me..." kirilov, who always plays the role of soy sauce, sat beside him and said nothing. He just looked at the three of us with a smile to see how we discussed how to fight tonight, And give orders to the troops below. With the loss of time minute by minute, the time from the start of the battle is getting closer and closer. It was ten minutes before it was ten o''clock. My palms were all sweaty because of tension. I wiped my clothes hard, and then asked bzikov with a tremor: "chief of staff, have the night attack troops of the three divisions in the east of the city started?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " When bzikov heard my question, he gave me a strange look and replied truthfully, "they detoured back to the commanding height 20 minutes ago, ready to rush up behind the enemy as soon as the time came."¡° Good, good. " Although I kept talking in my mouth, my face was very nervous. I turned my head and looked at akhromeyev not far away. I asked in a loud voice, "major, do you have any latest information?"¡° No, comrade commander. " Akhromeyev replied: "you have told us that in order to prevent the German army from judging the action of our army according to the frequent radio signals of our army, you ordered all radio stations in the west of the city to remain silent before the battle started. It must wait until the fighting starts before it can be used again. "¡° Yes, yes, I did After I said this, I waved my hand to akhromeyev and said feebly, "major, if they have any latest war news, they will report it to me at any time."

 Chapter 1407

    Since the battle in Kursk, I have not conducted large-scale battles once or twice, but I have never been as tense as I am today. The reason is that what kirilov and chisjakov said to me played a role. Their words made me see a golden road in front of me, so that I became worried about gain and loss. It was not until bezikov told me that the battle was on time that my mind was barely at peace.


    Because the troops in the east of the city adopt the tactics of sneak attack, the troops carrying out the strong attack are in the east of the city, which is more than ten or twenty kilometers away from our headquarters. In other words, as long as we stay in the headquarters, we can''t hear the movement of the battle at all. The whole process of the battle can only be understood through the reports of our division commanders.


    As the battle has just begun, it will take some time for each division to receive the battle report. I just use this spare time to think about my future. The more I think about it, the more I feel that what kirilov and chisjakov said is not groundless. After all, when Zhukov assigned us two flying regiments, we can see the clue. Besides the units of the front army, who has heard that the group army can also be equipped with air forces.


    I remember that in the post of later generations, I read that if you want to be a marshal, the first thing is that your location must be the focus of the whole battlefield. Such a place, on the one hand, has ample opportunities for you to show your talents; on the other hand, such a place will become the focus of the Supreme Commander himself, so that every victory can be known by Comrade Stalin for the first time. Only the kind of people that Stalin paid attention to would have more room for improvement.


    Secondly, we should take part in several decisive battles that determine the victory or defeat of the patriotic war. The decisive battles can be called: the battle of Moscow, the battle of Stalingrad and the battle of Kursk. The Moscow defense war was the first tragic defeat of Germany; After the battle of Stalingrad, the German army never won a strategic victory; The battle of Kursk was the last strategic attack of the German army. Since then, the German army began to decline.


    At the beginning of the battle of Moscow, although I was only a humble staff officer in the headquarters of the Western Front Army, by the end of the battle, I had become the division commander of the eighth division of the close guard infantry with my own ability. If he had not been demoted because of the massacre of prisoners of war, he would have been a deputy commander of the group army in the defense war of Stalingrad.


    In the battle of Stalingrad, I led a division to stick to the mamayev post, resisted numerous German attacks, successfully stopped the German army from rushing to the port, and ensured that the connection between the city and the other side of the Volga River was not interrupted. So at the end of the campaign, I was promoted to commander of the 79th infantry.


    When the battle of Kursk broke out, I took the place of chisjakov, who was injured in a car accident, as the commander of the sixth group army. My team played well throughout the campaign. Especially in the conquest of bergorod and Kharkov, my troops were the first to rush into the city. Although the Supreme Commander took all the credit for recovering the city on konev, as a concrete executor, I believe that the Supreme Commander himself knows this well.


    There are some things that I don''t think I have paid attention to, but after my deliberation, I am surprised to find that if my performance in this small campaign is satisfactory to the supreme command, there may be a position of commander of the front army waiting for me. As long as I became the commander of the front army, my rank might rise from lieutenant general to general, or even become the first female marshal of the Soviet Union, as Zhukov joked.


    I was so paranoid that I didn''t even hear when bzikov reported to me. Kirilov, who was sitting next to me, saw that I was staring at the map in front of me and was giggling all the time. He grabbed my arm and shook it a few times. He called me twice: "Rita! Rita


    Kirilov''s cry woke me from my meditation. I turned to look at kirilov and asked, "Comrade military commissar, what can I do for you?"


    Seeing me like this, kirilov laughed, pointed to bezikov standing in front of me with his hand, and said, "I''m not looking for you. It''s the chief of staff who reports the current situation of the war to you."


    When I heard kirilov say that, I laughed sheepishly. Then I looked up and asked bzikov, "chief of staff, what''s the situation?"


    "The night attack in the east of the city went very smoothly." Bezikov handed me a piece of paper in his hand and said: "at present, the 51st division of the guards has successfully won another commanding height of the enemy. However, the 67th and 71st divisions of the guards fought with the enemy on the high ground. It is estimated that it will take some time to win these two commanding heights. "


    After reading the contents of the paper quickly, I told bzikov: "chief of staff, call major general baksov and Colonel babashin, and order them to send reserves immediately to support the troops in fierce fighting." After I finished speaking, I said in a voice that only I could hear, "what''s the matter with these two division commanders? They thought that they would just send a company to carry out the night attack mission, but they didn''t even care. Seeing their own troops in a bitter battle, they didn''t know to send troops to reinforce them."


    "Yes, I''ll call the two teachers immediately and order them to send the reserve team to reinforce." Bzikov took out his book and wrote down my orders.


    "How are the troops in the west of the city?" Thinking that it''s too far away from the west of the city, I can''t hear what''s going on there at all, so I''m very uneasy. So as soon as I saw that bezikov had finished, I asked, "do they have the latest war report?"


    "Yes," bzikov said, taking another piece of paper in his hand, "the 52nd and 90th divisions of the guards are attacking kalinkovic''s defenders under the cover of tanks."


    After reading these two sentences, he put the paper in front of me. I glanced at the paper in front of me, then looked up at bezikov, who was standing upright, and asked strangely, "why is the battle report of the garrison in the east of the city so concise?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Bezikov replied respectfully: "the telegrams sent by two generals, nikolasov and Chernoff, are so concise. They only mentioned that their troops were attacking the enemy''s simple positions under the cover of tanks. They did not report on the situation on the battlefield or the results they had achieved. "


    "What about commander Lukin''s 375TH infantry division?" After zikov finished, I immediately asked, "why didn''t he send a telegram? Is there something unexpected?"


    "I don''t think so." Bezikov said in an uncertain tone: "after all, our army has an advantage near kalinkovich. Under our attack, the enemy has no fighting power at all. "


    "Comrade chief of staff," as this campaign is related to my future, I dare not take it lightly, so I said to bzikov in a stern tone, "immediately send a report to lieutenant colonel Lukin to find out what happened there, and why he did not take part in the attack on kalinkovich?"


    Ten minutes later, bzikov came back to me with Lukin''s call. From his frosty face, I knew something important had happened. As soon as he stood in front of me, I asked solemnly, "Comrade chief of staff, is there something serious going on with Lieutenant Colonel Lu Jin?"


    "Comrade commander, your judgment is correct." Bezikov handed me the message in his hand, and said: "the reason why commander Lukin''s troops didn''t take part in tonight''s attack is because there was an accident before the battle started."


    "What accident?" Before I picked up the message to see exactly what was going on, the nearby chisgakov could not wait to ask.


    "According to lieutenant colonel Lukin''s report." On hearing chisjakov''s question, bzikov turned to him and answered truthfully: "five minutes before the attack, they accidentally found a small group of German troops behind them. He couldn''t report to us in time because we gave orders to keep radio silent. He sent out a battalion of troops to get rid of the enemy. However, when the battle started, he found that it was only the German vanguard who exchanged fire with our army, and there was at least one regiment behind. In order to prevent the troops in the west of the city from being taken back by the enemy, he left one regiment behind to stick to the attack starting position, and the remaining two regiments turned around to deal with the sudden emergence of German troops. "


    "At ten o''clock, why didn''t lieutenant colonel Lukin report the situation?" After listening to bzikov''s report, I was filled with anger at Lukin''s old subordinate: "instead, I reported to us that the army had launched an attack on kalinkovic on schedule?"


    Seeing that I was angry, bzikov and chisgakov looked at each other, but no one said anything. They just happened to turn their eyes to kirilov, who seemed to want him to persuade me.


    When kirilov saw that both of them were looking at him, he immediately understood each other''s meaning. He nodded and said to me, "Rita, don''t worry. Although Lt. Col. Lu Jin did not report the situation of the enemy found in their rear to us in time, it was his mistake. However, it is commendable that he can take the initiative to command the troops to stop the unknown German troops and ensure that the friendly forces can launch attacks according to the original plan when he is unable to ask us for instructions. "


    Although I was a little dissatisfied with Lukin, I didn''t intend to deal with him. When I heard kirilov say that, I said, "where did this enemy come from?"


    As soon as my words came out, chisgakov, kirilov and bzikov crowded over. The four of us put our heads together and looked at the map in front of us, trying to figure out where these enemies came from as soon as possible.


    After watching for a while, chisgakov first said, "Comrade commander, you see, moziri is on the right bank of the pripyaji River, while kalinkovich is on the left bank. Could it be that moziri''s enemies found that our army was going to launch an attack on kalinkovic, so they quietly came up from behind our army and prepared to cooperate with the defenders in the city to severely damage or destroy our attacking troops? "


    I carefully looked at the two cities on both sides of the pripyaki River, and felt that chisgakov''s analysis was very reasonable, so I nodded and said, "that''s right. The German army has no solid fortifications in the west of kalinkovich. It will certainly not be able to withstand our fierce attack. But if the German forces from puzilli attack from the rear of our army, our forces in the west of the city may suffer huge losses, which will lead to the failure of our attack plan. "


    "Comrade commander, what should we do now?" After finding out where the enemy came from, chisjakov asked me solemnly: "if we need to send troops to reinforce us, first, we have only a limited number of troops that we can use, and only the sherekin division can use them; Second, the distance is too far. Before the reinforcements arrive, the enemy from moziri may have broken through the defense of lieutenant colonel Lukin and exchanged fire with the other two divisions. " Don''t say that I have only one division of major general Xie Liujin in my hands now. Even if there are four or five divisions, it''s not easy for me to drive ten or twenty kilometers overnight. If so many troops are mobilized in the dark, the slightest carelessness will lead to chaos. It seems that we can only think of other ways to solve the current problems. I stare at the map in front of me, tapping my fingers gently on the table, trying to figure out how to deal with it. Although chisjakov and bezikov were very anxious, no one dared to speak casually for fear of interrupting my train of thought. If it had been yesterday, I might have ordered the troops in the east of the city to stop attacking, to monitor the enemy of kalinkovich with the strength of one division, and to deal with the enemy from moziri with the strength of two divisions. But now that I have guessed the intention of the supreme command to let me direct this attack, I dare not take it lightly any more. I must take this campaign seriously¡° Comrade commander, have you thought about it? " Maybe it was because I didn''t respond for a long time. Bezikov was a little upset. He asked: "should we let the troops in the east of the city temporarily stop attacking kalinkovic? Otherwise, they will be attacked by the German army from moziri. " Bezikov mentioned moziri again, which made me think of a good way immediately. "Chief of staff, get me through to the headquarters of the 61st army immediately. I want to talk to general belov," he said At my command, bzikov frowned and seemed to want to say something. But his mouth opened. Before he could speak, he immediately guessed where I was going to call and readily agreed, "OK, comrade commander, I''ll call the 61st army headquarters immediately."

 Chapter 1408

    Belov didn''t expect to receive my call at night. He asked strangely, "Comrade o''shanina, what''s the important thing for you to call so late?"


    "Yes, comrade general, I''m calling you now. It''s really urgent." Because of the urgency of time, I did not exchange greetings with him, so I went straight to the theme: "our troops are launching an attack in the west of kalinkovich, but the enemy of moziri sent troops across the pripyaji River, trying to launch an attack from the rear of our army to stop our attack."


    I thought that after what I said, belov would hesitate. Unexpectedly, he asked me directly, "Comrade o''shanina, what do you want us to do?"


    "As we have no further information at present, we do not know how many enemies are from moziri. So I would like to ask you to immediately send troops to feint at moziri''s peripheral positions, so that the enemy can not rest assured and dare to send more troops to support kalinkovich." After I said these words, I was deeply afraid that belov would disagree, so I tentatively asked, "Comrade General, can you help us?"


    "Just a moment, please." Instead of agreeing immediately, belov called his chief of staff to his side and murmured. Although I couldn''t hear what they were saying, I knew in my heart that it must have something to do with sending troops. Two or three minutes later, belov''s clear voice came out again from the receiver: "Comrade oshanina, after my discussion with the chief of staff, I feel that we can immediately use two infantry divisions, an artillery regiment and a tank brigade to attack the positions outside moziri."


    I really didn''t expect that after listening to my request, belov was ready to send so many troops to cooperate with us. For a moment, he didn''t know how to answer him. Belov heard that I didn''t reply here for a long time. He said with some apologies, "I''m sorry, comrade oshanina, because your request is too hasty, so I can''t mobilize more troops to cooperate with you for the time being..."


    "No, Comrade General." I found that belov listened to me for a long time. He thought that I thought his troops were too few. He quickly explained: "I was just going to let you send troops to feint to attract the attention of the German army. I didn''t expect you to send so many troops. It''s really beyond my expectation. "


    After hearing what I said, belov laughed twice, and then said, "I think so. If the enemy is on guard, I can only use so many troops to restrain them. But if the enemy''s defense is lax, I don''t mind turning the feint attack into an active one. As many positions as I can take are as many as I can. "


    Belov agreed to send troops, and akhromeyev, who contacted Lukin, also came back with a telegram and reported to me: "Comrade commander, division Lukin reported that there were more and more German troops from moziri. At first, there was only one regiment, but now there are more than one division fighting with our army, and many tanks have been found at the same time."


    After listening to akhromeyev''s report, chisjakov asked me nervously: "Comrade commander, at present, the situation of our three divisions in the west of the city is not very good. Do you think it is necessary to order them to stop attacking temporarily, turn around and solve the enemy from moziri first, and then choose the right time to attack kalinkovic? "


    "No, comrade deputy commander." After thinking for a moment, I resolutely rejected chisgakov''s proposal¡° The battle has already started. If the troops are withdrawn from combat at this time, they will not only cause a fatal blow to morale, but also mobilize troops in the dark. If kalinkovic''s enemies counterattack us under such circumstances, these three divisions may suffer heavy losses. "


    "What shall we do?" "Although general belov is going to send troops to attack the peripheral positions of moziri, it is also a question whether they can make the enemy who crossed the river withdraw," he asked anxiously


    "Major, you send a telegram to major Lukin first. Let him also transfer the regiment that monitors the enemy to the West and resolutely block the German attack. " Instead of answering chisgakov, I told akhromeyev, "tell him that the fate of our whole campaign may be in his hands. It must be emphasized that the whole campaign! Do you understand? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Akhromeyev said in a loud voice, "I must have sent your order to lieutenant colonel Lukin accurately."


    After akhromeyev left, I walked back and forth in the headquarters with my hands on my back, thinking quickly: belov will attack moziri soon, and Lukin''s troops will try their best to block the German offensive. What should I do next?


    Whether it was chisgakov or bezikov or kirilov, their eyes just moved as I walked back and forth. No one spoke, fearing to interrupt my thoughts.


    After repeated consideration, I feel that since the battle has been carried out to the present stage, I might as well make more noise. In the vicinity of kalinkovich, there are several divisions of general Batov, five divisions of the 11th army and a tank regiment. As long as these troops are also put into battle, the balance of victory in battle can be tilted to the side beneficial to our army.


    Thinking of this, I stopped, turned to bezikov and said, "chief of staff, immediately contact the 11th group army troops in the north of the city and let them launch an attack from the north of the city."


    "Attack from the north of the city?" Bizikov was startled when he heard my order. Then he reminded me carefully: "Comrade commander, the 11th group army units nearest to kalinkovich are more than ten highways away. I''m afraid that their attack is far from enough."


    "Chief of staff, you don''t have to think that much." I waved to bezikov, raised my voice and said, "as long as they make a little noise on the north side of the city, they can draw some attention of the German army and reduce the pressure on our siege forces."


    After listening to my explanation, bzikov nodded, got up and went to the telephone, ready to send a message to the 11th army and give them the order to attack.


    I picked up the phone from the desk and called bartov. When I heard a voice coming out of the microphone, I said immediately, "please help me find general tolfe."


    "Hello, general oshanina." Although the other party was a strange voice, he immediately guessed my identity when he heard me say that I was looking for Batov. He respectfully said, "Comrade commander has fallen asleep. Please wait a moment. I''ll call him right away."


    After a short time, Batov''s familiar voice came out from the microphone: "Hello, comrade oshanina, I don''t know what''s important to call me so late?"


    "Well, general Batov. My troops launched an attack from the west of the city tonight... "Although he knew my attack plan, I took the initiative to mention it to him and told him the current situation of the attack troops. Finally, he said: "Comrade General, in order to distract the enemy''s attention, I hope that your troops deployed in the south of the city will also attack the city as soon as possible, so that the enemy can not concentrate their forces on the main attack areas of our army..."


    Batov thought for a moment, then answered me, "don''t worry, comrade oshanina. I''ll call the commanders there immediately and order them to attack kalinkovic in the shortest time." At this point, he stopped for a moment, and then said, "in order to ensure that the commanders below can better cooperate with you, I will personally go there to command the troops."


    "Great, general Batov. That''s great." If we think of Batov in the south of the city, then their attack will not be too weak. If we are lucky, we can solve the enemy in kalinkovic city in a day or less. "With your support, I believe our attack will be more smooth."


    I put down the phone and said excitedly to chisgakov and bzikov, who had just sent a telegram: "deputy commander, chief of staff, general Batov promised to send his troops to attack kalinkovich from the south of the city. In this way, the German forces who stick to the city of kalinkovich will have to divide their forces to defend because they are attacked by us in four directions at the same time. As long as the enemy''s forces are dispersed, our resistance to attack will be greatly reduced. "


    After that, I stopped for a moment, and then told bzikov: "chief of staff, call the three division commanders baksov, xiejerikov and babashin, so that they don''t have to use sneak attack tactics any more, and immediately launch a full-scale attack on the remaining commanding heights."


    I know that my playing style is a little desperate. I''m afraid that they will oppose it. I didn''t expect that after I finished speaking, they even nodded. Chisjakov also said: "yes, comrade commander, this is the way to fight an offensive battle. First of all, we should defeat the enemy in momentum. As long as their morale is low and their morale is lax, our next battle will be easy to fight. "


    With the order, the outside soon became lively. In a short time, there were incessant explosions and faint gunshots outside the headquarters. As soon as I heard them, I knew that the three divisions in the east of the city were poised to attack the German defensive positions.


    Just after listening to the gun sonata from outside for a while, suddenly the telephone on the desk rang. Hearing the ring, my heart can''t help but tense, because the division teachers of this phone can''t get in, only the outside line can get in. When I reached for the microphone, my hands were shaking slightly. I was afraid that belov or Batov would call and tell me that the army should be unable to cooperate with us in launching attacks against the German army for various objective reasons.


    When I put the receiver close to my ear, I took a deep breath, and then said, "Hello, I''m oshanina. Where are you?"


    "I''m rokosovsky." Rokosovsky''s familiar voice came into my ear through the receiver: "I just received a phone call from belov and Batov saying that your troops are attacking kalinkovic and asking them to cooperate. Is that the case?"


    I listened to rokosovsky speak in a smooth tone. I didn''t like to call specifically to ask for a crime, so I honestly answered, "yes, comrade commander, my troops are attacking kalinkovic. However, shortly after the beginning of the attack, the enemy from moziri crossed the pripyaji River and attacked the rear of our attacking troops. Therefore, I ask general belov to feint at moziri and contain the main enemy forces so that they do not dare to send more troops to support kalinkovic. At the same time, I ordered the five divisions of the 11th group army and asked general Batov''s troops to attack from the north and the south of the city respectively, so that the garrison in the city had to be divided and guarded, so as to reduce the resistance of our attacking troops. "


    "Well, your plan sounds good." After listening to this, rokosovsky said with approval: "in this way, in order to keep the city, the Germans have to disperse their forces in the city as you imagine. It''s very beneficial for us to capture the city. " I was relieved to hear rokosovsky''s praise. Just as I wanted to praise myself, I heard him say again: "however, in case of such joint operations of the group army in the future, you must report to me in advance. After all, you are still the commander of the group army, not the commander of the front army. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander of the front army. " As soon as he finished speaking, I immediately replied loudly, "if there will be another operation of this scale in the future, I will report it to you in advance."¡° I''m waiting for your good news. Good luck When rokosovsky finished, he hung up directly. While I was talking to rokosovsky, nikolasov and Chernoff, who were attacking the city, sent telegrams one after another, saying that they had eliminated the enemy outside the city, and that the vanguard regiment had rushed into the city and was engaged in street fighting with the German army¡° The troops have rushed into the city? " Deeply afraid that he had heard wrong, chisjakov specially asked akhromeyev, who was encouraged by telegram. When he saw the other party nodding his head in affirmation, he said happily, "this is really great. As long as our troops can rush into the city, this is a great victory." It''s a pleasure for the troops to rush into the city, but behind their two divisions, there are enemies from moziri who are attacking the Lukin division''s defensive area. I don''t know if they can stop the enemy''s attack. Thinking of this, I asked akhromeyev, "major, do you have any news from Mr. Lukin?"¡° No, comrade commander. " Akhromeyev shook his head and said, "we only know that the fighting is going on, but we haven''t got any further reports."

 Chapter 1409

    "Quick, send a message to Lukin immediately," I told akhromeyev as soon as he finished saying, "let him report the details of the battle immediately." When he saw akhromeyev going to send the news, kirilov, who was always silent, suddenly asked, "Rita, do you plan to stay in the headquarters to command all the time?"¡° Yes, I will stay in the headquarters until the end of the battle. " After I said this, I suddenly felt that kirilov''s question must have some other purpose, so I asked curiously, "Comrade military commissar, why do you ask this question?"¡° According to your character, if you hear that the fighting is not going well in any place, you will transfer the command here to the deputy commander or chief of staff, and then drive to that area to command the fighting. " After kirilov had said these words, he looked at chisgakov, who was close to him, with a smile, and then said, "but today you don''t seem to have any intention of leaving the headquarters. It''s a bit strange." After understanding kirilov''s meaning, I said to him with a smile: "Comrade military commissar, the troops attacking kalinkovic are not only a group army, but also a group army. In this way, the battle is not over. My two deputies and I have started to discuss the issue of reward for merit. However, under the current situation, it''s only a matter of time before so many troops launch attacks on kalinkovic at the same time and win the city. It''s not aimless for us to start discussing rewards for meritorious officers and soldiers now. When shejerikov called to report that his other two regiments had rushed into the city one after another, converged with the 309th regiment of the guards, and were advancing towards other streets of the city, the two men, nikolasov and Chernoff, also sent a joint telegram, saying that most of the streets in the west of the city had been occupied by the troops of the two divisions, and that the fighting was going on fiercely. Seeing that the west of the city was almost occupied by our army, I felt more secure. Thinking that the tank brigade could not play a big role in the city''s street fighting, I asked akhromeyev to send a message to the tank brigade commander. The tank troops were ordered to withdraw from the city as quickly as possible and go west to support the Lufkin division, which was in fierce fighting with the German army. Belov and Batov also called me one after another, saying that their troops had also launched an attack on the south of moziri and kalinkovic as agreed in advance, and were engaged in a fierce battle with the German army. Then the troops of the 11th group army, which moved to the north of the city, sent us telegrams saying that they had basically entered the offensive position and would soon attack the city from the north. Seeing that kalinkovic on the map was surrounded by various red arrows, chisjakov said excitedly: "Comrade commander, you see, the enemies in the city have fallen into our heavy encirclement, and their final results are only two, either they will be destroyed by us or they will lay down their arms and surrender to us."

 Chapter 1410

    I waited for chisgakov to finish, then I turned to ask bzikov, "chief of staff, how many German officers and men are there in the units directly under the headquarters?"


    On hearing my question, bzikov was silent for a moment, and then replied, "Lieutenant gretka and major travkin are investigating the whereabouts of the amber room in Lutsk. The rest are either transferred by other troops or killed in the battle. Now only captain Grimes is left."


    When I heard that gramus, who I knew best, was still here, I asked, "where''s the captain?"


    "In the Guard Corps." After answering my question, bezikov tentatively asked, "do you need to call him here?"


    "Yes, let him report to me immediately."


    When chisjakov saw bezikov pick up the phone and call the guard regiment, he couldn''t help asking me curiously: "Comrade commander, I don''t understand why you asked the captain to come here? Can he help us in our next battle? "


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander, you guessed right." I nodded and said, "at this point in the battle, it is estimated that the German army in the city has begun to fall into chaos. In order to get rid of the enemy in the city as soon as possible, we should adopt political offensive as well as military offensive. "


    "Yes, Rita is right." As soon as I finished, kirilov, who was next to me, echoed in time: "we will ask captain Grimes to take people to shout to the enemies who are still fighting tenaciously, urge them to stop resisting, lay down their arms and surrender to us."


    "Is that effective?" Seeing that kirilov was in agreement with me, chisjakov asked suspiciously, "will the enemy really stop resisting and surrender after hearing captain gramus''s voice?"


    Before I could speak, kirilov took the lead and said, "when we were defending Stalingrad, we made a lot of enemies lay down their arms and surrender to us by shouting to the German army. If our propaganda to the German army can be effective, we can greatly reduce the casualties of the troops. "


    When kirilov finished, I added, "even if captain gramus'' persuasion doesn''t work, we should try. Even if only one company, one platoon, or even one class lay down their arms and surrendered to us, it would be a great victory. "


    Seeing that kirilov and I were in harmony, chisjakov could not raise any more objections. He nodded and said, "well, since you have the same opinion, I agree to do so. Later, when Captain gramus arrives, let him take a guard platoon to the city to shout, hoping to play a role in disintegrating the enemy''s will to resist. "


    After a while, Captain Grimes, who received the order, came to the headquarters. I hesitated for a moment to see gramus appear in front of me in a new army coat, a cornice hat, and a captain''s rank on his shoulder. In retrospect, since I became the commander of the group army, I have hardly ever met Grimes, except for spending more time with gretka. If it wasn''t for the sudden thought of using shouting to break the morale of the German army, I would not have thought of him.


    Grimes came up to me, raised his hand to salute, and then reported in good order: "Comrade commander, Captain Grimes has been ordered to come. I''m at your command. Please give me instructions!"


    After he reported it to me according to the regulations, I was surprised to find that he actually said it in standard Russian, and it was no longer the ugly emphasis he used to have. I asked in surprise, "Captain, I didn''t expect that you speak Russian so well now! When was it written? "


    "Report to Comrade commander." "Since I broke through Kiev, I have been working hard to learn Russian because I have no task all the time," said Grimes with a smile


    Seeing that his Russian level was quite good, I didn''t have to bother to find a German speaking commander to translate the conversation between us, and asked frankly, "do you know the purpose of my calling you?"


    Grimes shook his head and said respectfully, "Comrade commander, please give me your instructions. I promise to complete the task you assigned me successfully. "


    "Well, Captain Grimes." When I called him captain, I hesitated for a moment. I used to call him captain, but now I''m not used to calling him comrade. So I added a military rank after his name: "we''ll launch a general attack on kalinkovic, and we can take down the whole city at noon at the latest. In order to reduce unnecessary casualties on both sides, I hope you can go to the front line and shout, so that those Germans who are still struggling can stop resisting and lay down their arms to surrender to us. I assure them with my honor as a soldier that I will give them the treatment they deserve as a prisoner of war. "


    On hearing this command, gramus was silent for a long time. Then he looked up at me and said, "Comrade commander, I''m willing to complete the task you gave me. I don''t know when to start?"


    "You go back and get ready." I raised my hand and looked at the watch on my wrist. Then I said, "start in half an hour."


    "Comrade commander," I didn''t expect that gramus would step forward and say to me, "every minute on the battlefield is precious. If I arrived one minute earlier, I would have sacrificed a few or even a dozen lives. I don''t have anything to clean up. I can start any time. "


    Seeing this reaction, I nodded with satisfaction. Then I called ahlomeyev over and said to him, "major, take captain Grimes back to the Guard Corps and tell major Yushchenko to send a platoon to escort the captain to the city of kalinkovich."¡° Yes Akhromeyev agreed, then walked two steps to gramus and made a gesture of "please, Captain gramus, I''ll accompany you to the guard." After akhromeyev and gramus left, it suddenly occurred to me that I had forgotten to ask him about the fighting situation of the Lukin division. I called bzikov and asked, "chief of staff, do you have the fighting situation of the Lukin division?"¡° A few minutes ago, I just received a telegram from Colonel Lukin There was no telegram in bzikov''s hand, but he still reported to me eloquently, "Master Lu Jin''s" guard division, red flag medal? " Bezikov, with wide eyes, repeated the two words I said. Then he nodded his head and said, "don''t worry, comrade commander, I will convey your meaning to him immediately." In the twilight, the sound of gunfire in the middle of the night finally became sparse. In my experience, this is a precursor to the end of the battle. I went to the phone where I could get in touch with the divisions in the east of the city, picked up the phone, and first called my common people, Xie jerikov. After hearing each other''s voice, I asked in a relaxed tone, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the situation there? Are there any Germans in front of your troops?"¡° Except for the dead German bodies, the rest are prisoners. " Shejerikov said excitedly, "Comrade commander, the grammes you sent is really wonderful. There used to be a building. Our troops launched four charges before and after, but they all failed because the enemy''s fortifications were solid and the firepower was fierce. It was captain gramus who, with some German speaking soldiers, cried for half an hour, but the enemy in the building stopped shooting, laid down their weapons and surrendered to us. Our division captured more than seventy prisoners in one go. " When I heard that gramus had really achieved good results, I was surprised and asked, "really, comrade Colonel? Through captain gramus''s call, is it true that the enemy has taken the initiative to lay down his arms and surrender? "¡° Yes, yes, comrade commander. " "I can''t believe my eyes when I see the enemy coming out of the building with a white flag. I haven''t seen such a situation for a long time," he replied¡° Where is captain Grimes? " I continued¡° After the enemy surrendered, he went to general baksov with several German speaking soldiers and guard platoons¡° I know After I hung up the phone, I immediately dialed the guard "medal thing is very simple, I can make the decision." After kirilov finished this sentence, he hesitated to say to me, "as for the promotion of military rank, I''d like to ask the headquarters of the front army for instructions. After all, there was no such precedent before."

 Chapter 1411

    I picked up the phone and was about to call rokosovsky, but on second thought, our army did not completely capture kalinkovic at the moment. If we disturb the commander of the front army for such a small matter at this time, we might get a bad rap. Thinking of this, I put the microphone on the base of the phone again.


    Seeing that I picked up the phone and put it down again, kirilov was a little surprised and asked, "Rita, aren''t you going to call Comrade rokosovsky? How did you change your mind?"


    I looked up at him and said with a smile, "comrades of the military commissar, let it go for the time being about the promotion of captain gramus until we have liberated kalinkovich."


    Kirilov was stunned at first, but he soon guessed the purpose of what I was doing. He nodded and agreed: "it''s OK. When we liberate kalinkovic and report the victory to Comrade rokosovsky, we will mention the promotion of gramus to him. I believe that when he is in a good mood, such a request will certainly be passed. "


    As I was more concerned about the progress of the battle at the moment, the matter of captain gramus was put aside. At nine o''clock in the morning, general Batov called me. He said with some complacency, "Comrade oshanina, my troops have rushed into the city from the south of the city and are engaged in a street battle with the enemy."


    "Well done, general Batov," I heard that Batov''s troops had also rushed into the city. I knew that it was only a matter of time before the end of the battle. However, thinking of their bad street fighting tactics, I could not help but ask anxiously, "but how about the casualties of your troops?"


    "Not bad." When Batov heard my question, he coughed quickly, and then replied solemnly, "I''ve already introduced the way of street fighting you said to the division leaders. Although they are not familiar with the use of this tactic in actual combat, they still adopt the tactic of fighting with the enemy step by step, building by building, street by street, and consolidating one place after another. At present, although the progress of the troops is slow, the casualties have been greatly reduced... "


    Before bartov finished, I suddenly heard bzikov calling me. I turned to look at him, only to see his hands of the microphone toward me, some excited to say: "Comrade commander, general nikolasov to speak with you."


    "Nekrasov?" After repeating the name, I looked at bzikov with puzzled eyes, deeply afraid that he was excited and said the wrong name. If you want to know the location of the 52nd division, it''s too far from us. Since they entered the attack position, we have to contact them by telegraph¡° Chief of staff, are you right? "


    "No, comrade commander, absolutely not." Bezikov held out the microphone to me persistently and said definitely, "I recognized the voice of general nikolasov."


    When I heard that, I had to put the microphone in my hand to my ear and said apologetically to Batov, "general Batov, please wait a moment. I''ll answer an important phone call and be right back."


    I carefully placed the microphone in my hand on the table, and then quickly walked up to bzikov, took the microphone from his hand, and said, "Hello, I''m oshanina. Is that general Nekrasov?"


    "Yes, yes, comrade commander, it''s me." On the other end of the line, nikolasov excitedly said to me, "I''m talking to you."


    After confirming that the person who called me was indeed nikolasov, I asked casually, "are you alone?"


    "No, no, no, I''m not alone. General Chernoff is also here After he said this, I heard him say to the people next to him, "Comrade General, come and have a word with the commander."


    After a while, Chernoff''s voice came from the receiver: "Hello, comrade commander, I''m Chernoff. I''m with general nikolasov now."


    "Comrade General, can you tell me what''s going on?" They may have been too excited, but none of them took the initiative to explain to me how they established telephone contact with us: "either of you can tell me how you called my headquarters. I''m confused by you."


    When I said this, Chernoff immediately said with a little embarrassment: "sorry, comrade commander, it''s my fault, my fault. I''m so happy that I didn''t report to you what happened. General Nekrasov''s forces and I have captured the German headquarters, and the commander of the enemy has ordered the troops to stop resisting and surrender to our army! "


    "What, what do you say?" The news Chernoff said was so unexpected that I was afraid I had heard it wrong. I hastened to add, "please say it again."


    "German command, we have it." Chernoff slowed down and said, "the German commander has ordered the troops to stop resisting and surrender to our army."


    "Great, that''s great." The excitement came so suddenly that I didn''t know how to accept it. After a moment of confusion, my mood finally stabilized slightly. After taking a deep breath, I said to the microphone, "Congratulations, Comrade General. I would like to congratulate you on your achievements in this battle. "


    After I put down the microphone, I didn''t have time to talk to chisgakov, kirilov and bezikov about what happened. Instead, I quickly walked to the table, picked up the microphone on the table and stuck it to my ear. I asked excitedly, "Hello, general Batov, are you still there?"


    Batov didn''t answer, but the phone didn''t hang up. The staff inside could be heard talking in a low voice. So I raised my voice again and asked, "Hello, general Batov, this is oshanina. Are you still there? I have important news for you. "


    There is still no response.


    Standing nearby, chisgakov was about to ask me what, when several telephone rings in the room rang at the same time. Bezikov, who was closest to the phone, picked up the phone and asked aloud, "Hello, where are you..."


    Maybe the noise on my side was too loud, which startled Batov on the other side. His voice came out from the receiver again: "Hello, comrade oshanina, I''m still here!"


    "General Batov, I..."


    "Comrade o''shanina, please wait a moment." Before I finished, Batov couldn''t wait to interrupt me and said in a hurry, "I just got the news that the German army suddenly stopped resisting and threw out a white flag to surrender to our army. According to the report of my subordinates, the Germans used to fight very firmly. Sometimes they would fight repeatedly in a building, but now they surrender without warning. I think there must be some conspiracy. "


    After Batov finished speaking, I said with a smile: "don''t worry, general Batov, let your troops go to surrender boldly. The Germans have no conspiracy. They really surrendered."


    "But why?" Batov asked in a puzzled way: "now I am in the forward headquarters. I can hear the movement in the city. Originally, the whole city was very busy. Suddenly, it was all quiet. What''s the matter?"


    "Well, general Batov. The troops of the 52nd and 90th divisions of my guards successfully captured the German headquarters and captured the German general who was commanding the battle there. It was he who told his troops to stop resisting, lay down their arms and surrender to us. " After explaining, I said with a smile: "originally, I just wanted to tell you the good news, but you didn''t give me a chance to talk."


    After figuring out what was going on, Batov''s tone became relaxed: "it turns out that the enemy suddenly stopped resisting, not because of any conspiracy, but because your troops took over their headquarters, forcing the enemy commander to order surrender. I see. I see. I''ll order the army to take the prisoners. "


    As soon as I put down the phone, I looked up and saw the faces of chisgakov and bezikov standing in front of me with happy expressions. I couldn''t help asking curiously, "do you all know?"


    Chisgakov nodded and affirmed: "yes, while you were talking to general Batov, Col. xijerikov of the 51st division, major general baksov of the 67th division, and Col. babashin of the 71st division all called one after another to report to us that the German army in the city had stopped resisting and was laying down their arms to surrender to our army."


    "Great, that''s great! Finally, we have solved all the enemies in kalinkovich. " Relieved, I picked up the phone on my desk and prepared to call rokosovsky to report the good news of our liberation of kalinkovych.


    Just as I was about to dial, bzikov suddenly raised his hand and pressed down the clasp. He said with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, although the enemy in the city laid down their arms and surrendered, there are still two enemies on the commanding heights outside the city who continue to resist."


    I put the receiver on the base of the phone and asked, "chief of staff, why? Have these enemies not been ordered to surrender? "


    Besikov said bitterly: "Comrade commander, according to the report of Colonel babashin, they cut off the telephone line between the high ground and the city when they besieged the high ground in order to prevent the enemy from asking for help in the city. Because the telephone line was cut off, the German commander''s surrender order could not be transmitted to the enemy on the high ground. "


    "A bunch of idiots!" After listening to bzikov''s words, I couldn''t help being rude. I pointed to him and said, "the commanders and fighters of the 71st division of guards are a group of idiots. If you cut off the telephone line, can''t you connect it again? Even if the line is badly damaged, don''t you know to find a German officer with a higher rank in the city and ask him to pass the order of surrender on the high ground? "


    Bezikov, who was scolded by me a few times, looked at chisgakov with a red face, raised his hand and slapped his forehead. He said with regret, "hell, why didn''t I think of such a simple way?" After that, he looked up at me and said firmly, "Comrade commander, please rest assured that I will immediately convey your new order to Colonel babashin and let him follow your instructions."


    When berzikov went to call Colonel babashin, I picked up the phone again, but this time I didn''t rush to call rokosovsky. Instead, I called berzikov''s headquarters first. When I heard belov''s familiar voice coming from the receiver, I immediately said politely, "Hello, general belov."


    "Hello, comrade oshanina." "Due to our constant attacks on moziri, according to the reconnaissance, the enemy did not send any more troops to kalinkovich," belov asked in a friendly tone¡° Thank you, comrade general, for all that you and your men have done. " As for the general I have never met, I am grateful to say: "it is because of your selfless help that we can successfully capture kalinkovich and liberate this ancient city from the German clutches."¡° What, you have captured kalinkovich? " Batov listened to me and asked in surprise, "did you really take down the city?"¡° Yes, Comrade General. " I answered truthfully, "in addition to a small group of enemies outside the city, who continue to resist stubbornly, the enemies in the whole city have laid down their weapons and surrendered to our army."¡° That''s great. That''s great. " Belov said to me sincerely, "Comrade oshanina, I congratulate you on the liberation of this ancient city by your troops. What should we do next? "¡° Comrade general, our troops will soon turn around and pounce on moziri. At that time, I hope your troops can cooperate with us and take the city from the enemy''s hands at one stroke. "¡° No problem, no problem. We are friendly forces. We should have cooperated with each other. " Belov readily agreed to my request and then took the initiative to remind me: "Comrade oshanina, the liberation of kalinkovich is a great victory. You should report to the commander of the front army at the first time to make him happy. After all, during the period when the German army launched a counterattack from kalinkovic, he was under great pressure. "¡° I understand, Comrade General. " With a smile on my face, I said, "I will immediately report the good news to the commander of the front army." After talking with belov, I took a deep breath in the microphone. Then I dialed the headquarters of the front army. I politely answered the phone and said, "Hello, I''m oshanina, commander of the sixth group army of the guards. Please help me find general rokosovsky. I have something important to report to him."¡° I''m rokosovsky, "the voice of the commander of the front army quickly came into my ear from the receiver." Rita, do you have any good news for me? "

 Chapter 1412

    "Yes, comrade commander." I learned from other generals and reported to rokosovsky in a serious tone: "I have the honor to report to you that after a night of fierce fighting, our guards" what''s his rank now? " Asked rokosovsky noncommittally.


    "The rank of captain," because rokosovsky did not make a statement, made me feel guilty again: "I discussed with the military commissar and decided to promote him to the rank of captain."


    "What did he do to liberate the city?" Asked rokosovsky quietly.


    When I heard rokosovsky''s question, I quickly reported to him that gramus had been in the city to persuade the German army to surrender by shouting, and urged the enemy in several places to voluntarily lay down their arms and surrender.


    Rokosovsky was silent immediately after hearing this. Although he didn''t speak for a long time, I didn''t dare to urge him. I was afraid that he would criticize me for nonsense. I had to stick the microphone to my ear and wait for his reply quietly.


    After a long time, he finally said, "Rita, you are now the commander of the group army. With your authority, you can be promoted from corporal to colonel. You can make your own decisions without asking me for instructions. Do you understand? "


    When I heard what he said, I couldn''t help but be stunned. I don''t know whether his original intention is to agree with me or not. Just when I was in a daze, he added: "although he used to be German, as far as I know, he has been in our army for more than a year. He can be regarded as one of our own people. His promotion can be carried out according to the standards of our army. Do you understand?"


    "I see, comrade commander." I was overjoyed to hear that rokosovsky agreed to my promotion proposal instead of blaming me. I said repeatedly, "thank you, thank you!"


    "The rank of captain is a little too low. If it''s me, he has made such a great contribution. Even if he is promoted to lieutenant colonel, it''s not too much." After talking about gramus, rokosovsky said to me, "Rita, there''s something I need to remind you of. As for when we will capture moziri, the supreme command has not made any rigid rules, so you have enough time to adopt a steady strategy and eat up moziri''s German army a little bit. "


    Seeing that I put down the phone, kirilov asked nervously, "Rita, has Comrade rokosovsky agreed to the promotion of captain gramus?"


    I nodded my head and said, "yes, comrade military commissar, the commander of the front army has agreed that we are going to be promoted to the rank of gramus. However, he said that thanks to gramus, he was only promoted to the rank of captain, and the reward was a little too small. "


    "Since the rank is a little too low, we can discuss it again." Chisgakov asked me tentatively, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what general rokosovsky means. What rank is he going to be promoted to?"


    "Commander!"


    "Ah. "The rank of commander?" As soon as my words came out, they were stunned by chisgakov and kirilov.


    After a long time, chisjakov said cautiously: "Comrade commander, I admit that gramus made great contribution in the battle of capturing kalinkovic, but it''s inconceivable to promote him from captain to lieutenant commander."


    "Yes, Rita, I agree with the deputy commander." After chisjakov finished, kirilov echoed: "it''s really too fast to promote Grimes from captain to lieutenant commander. If he makes similar contributions in the future, won''t he be promoted to general? No, the rank of lieutenant commander is absolutely not. We should think it over carefully. "


    In fact, my heart has always thought that rokosovsky said that the promotion of gramus to the rank of lieutenant colonel might be just a casual remark, which is not true. But these commanders under me may have been used to obedience, so they gave the chicken feather the order. I waved my hand and said, "since both of you say that the rank of lieutenant is too high, and the commander of the front army says that the rank of captain is too low. Well, you don''t mind if you promote him to major? "


    "No, we agreed to promote him to the rank of major." Two people wait for me to finish, reply with one voice.


    Seeing that everyone agreed, I immediately called bezikov to him and said, "chief of staff, please draw up an order to promote captain gramus to the rank of major."


    When berzikov was drafting the order, I called ahlomeyev over and asked him, "major, what''s the situation with major Lukin? Did they beat the Germans back?"


    Akhromeyev nodded his head and replied: "Lieutenant Colonel Lukin reported that the enemy in front of them had stopped attacking, but there was no sign of the enemy retreating at present."


    "What on earth is colonel Lukin doing?" When chisjakov heard akhromeyev say this, he couldn''t help saying angrily: "if the enemy doesn''t retreat, doesn''t he know to take the initiative to attack?"


    "Comrade deputy commander." Akhromeyev said with a wry smile to chisgakov: "it''s not that lieutenant colonel Lukin didn''t want to launch an attack, but because the troops suffered heavy casualties in the night battle with the German army. According to his report, except for the relatively complete organizational structure of the 1243rd regiment, the casualties of the other two regiments are more than two-thirds."


    "Ah, so many casualties?" Chisgakov originally took out a cigarette from the cigarette case and was about to light it in his hand. When he heard akhromeyev say so, his hand trembled, and the unlit cigarette fell to the ground. "So the 375TH Infantry Division has been completely crippled after last night''s fighting," he murmured¡° I think so. " Akhromeyev nodded¡° Since the Lujin division suffered heavy casualties, it seems unrealistic for them to take the initiative to attack the German army. " I stared at the map in front of me for a while, then began to give orders: "major, you go to inform the two division commanders baksov and babashin, and let them each leave a regiment in the city to receive the prisoners. The rest of the troops immediately leave the city, but support the LuKin Division."¡° Comrade commander. " After listening to my orders, chisjakov tentatively said to me, "we still have a lot of troops in the north and south of the city. We can order them to rush to the west of the city quickly. If we are lucky, we can assemble five or six divisions in an hour, and with such a force we can attack the remaining German troops. " I saw that bezikov had just finished writing the order, so I told him: "chief of staff, you should send a message to the troops of the 11th group army, and let them immediately turn west to reinforce the Lukin division there. Even if the infantry can''t get to the west of the city in time, the tank regiment must go first. Do you understand? "¡° I see. I''m going to give an order. " After bezikov handed me his written order, he got up and went to the walkie talkie to send a telegram to the 11th army. The 11th group army in the north of the city was temporarily assigned to us by the superior. I have the right to mobilize them. But the divisions in the south of the city were Batov''s troops. I had to talk to him and ask him to cooperate. So I picked up the phone from the desk and called bartov. When I heard Batov''s voice, I couldn''t wait to say, "Comrade General, there''s an emergency. I need your cooperation." Perhaps I spoke in such a hasty tone that Batov was startled by me. He thought that something big had happened and hurriedly asked, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the matter?"¡° It''s like this, general Batov. Last night, when we launched an attack on the west of the city, the German army dispatched a division from the direction of moziri to launch an attack on the rear of our forces in the west of the city. One of my divisions resisted their attack overnight in the west of the city. Although the enemy stopped attacking now, its strength was almost exhausted and it was unable to launch a counterattack against the German troops who stopped attacking. So I want to ask you to send your troops to the west of the city to support the troops there. " Batov did not immediately agree to my request. Instead, he kept silent and began to think carefully about the gains and losses of this move. Seeing that he did not speak, I quickly added, "don''t worry, general Batov, your troops will not fight alone. I have ordered the 11th army in the north of the city, and the two divisions in the city, to turn quickly to the west of the city, but to destroy this enemy from moziri. "

 Chapter 1413

    Although the German troops from moziri knew that the city of kalinkovich had been lost, they did not retreat in a hurry. Instead, they concentrated all their strength and launched a fierce attack on the defense area of the Lukin division. They tried to make our defensive forces suffer heavy casualties by attacking, and they were unable to pursue them when they retreated.


    When I received a telegram from Lukin, knowing that the German army had launched a crazy attack on their division''s position, I saw through the enemy''s attempt. I sneered twice with the telegram, and then told akhromeyev, "major, call commander Lukin back. He told him that the enemy was trying to withdraw quickly from the battlefield after inflicting heavy damage on our army. In order not to let the enemy escape back to moziri smoothly, they must delay the enemy at all costs and wait for the arrival of reinforcements. "


    When akhromeyev went to send the news, I told bzikov: "chief of staff, urge the 52nd and 90th divisions of the guards, as well as the troops of the 11th group army in the north of the city, to quickly approach the LuKin department in the west of the city. And try to detour back to the enemy''s rear and cut off their retreat. "


    "Comrade commander, the remnant enemies in the city have not been completely eliminated," chisjakov carefully reminded me after listening to my orders and said, "what if the enemies who are tenacious in the corner see the emptiness in the north of the city and escape from here?"


    I only thought about chisgakov''s worries for a moment. Then I told him, "Comrade deputy commander, you should immediately call the three division commanders, Sergeant chejerikov, Sergeant baksov and sergeant babashin, and inform them to immediately deploy their troops and search for the enemy in the city. If we encounter enemies who refuse to surrender, we will resolutely eliminate them. "


    Because the south of the city is Batov''s army, I can only negotiate. So I picked up the phone, dialed Batov''s headquarters and asked anxiously, "general Batov, can your troops still speed up the March?"


    "Comrade oshanina," Batov replied with some tears and laughter when he heard my urging, "our troops have rushed to the west of the city as fast as possible. Five or six kilometers of road, soldiers carrying weapons and ammunition, at least take an hour to complete


    After he said this, he worried that it would hurt my face and asked with concern, "is there something wrong?"


    "Yes, general Batov." I did not intend to conceal the situation faced by Master Lu Jin, just as I said on the spot: "according to the feedback from the frontier, the Germans are planning to escape. In order to prevent them from being pursued by our army, they launched a preemptive attack in an attempt to make our army unable to pursue them because of heavy casualties, so that they could return to moziri calmly. "


    When he heard me say this, Batov gave a cold snort, and then said, "now that they are here, they can''t go back to moziri. Don''t worry, comrade o''shanina. I will let our troops speed up their march, and the rest will support the troops under attack. "


    I put down the phone, sat around and thought about it, though there were so many troops speeding up to the west of the city. However, it can not be ruled out that the German army would abandon the car to protect the commander, leaving a regiment of troops to feint at the defense area of Lukin division, while the main force took the opportunity to escape.


    Thinking of this, I turned to kirilov and asked him, "Comrade military commissar, has our air force entered zhylobin?"


    Kirilov thought about it, and then replied, "I find it a bit difficult for our air force to fully enter zhylobin. But there is a fighter squadron escorting me at the airport. If you want to use the air force, you can put them into combat. "


    There are only four planes in a squadron. Although it is a little less, it is better than nothing against the German army which has no air supremacy. Thinking of this, I quickly nodded and said to kirilov, "Comrade military commissar, please call the airport in zhylobin and ask them to send all the fighters that can be used in the airport to the west of kalinkovich to support our ground combat."


    "OK, no problem." Kirilov agreed to my request without hesitation: "I''ll call the airport and ask them to send the air force immediately."


    I calculated that although it will take half an hour for the air force to take off and get to the battlefield, it will be much faster than our ground forces.


    Just as I was thinking, the phone in front of me suddenly rang. I thought it was bartov or belov, so I grabbed it, stuck it to my ear and said in a loud voice, "Hello, I''m oshanina. Where are you?"


    "Is that Rita?" What came out of the receiver was not bartov''s or belov''s voice, but a familiar and deep voice.


    Hearing this sound, I immediately jumped up from my seat, stood at attention and raised my chest, then said respectfully, "yes, I''m o''shanina. Hello, comrade Stalin


    As soon as I spoke, the whole headquarters became silent. The staff who were talking with microphones also stopped talking and, like others, turned their eyes on me. They all want to find out what''s important about Stalin''s call at this time.


    "Rita." Stalin said slowly in the microphone: "I just got a report from rokosovsky that your troops have occupied kalinkovich, right?"


    I raised my hand, wiped the cold sweat from my forehead with my sleeve, and answered with a stiff head, "yes, comrade Stalin, the city of kalinkovich has now fallen into the hands of our army. I''m going to redeploy my forces to besiege moziri. "


    "Although kalinkovic is a small city, it is a great victory for you to capture this kind of city in so much time." Stalin was pleased to hear me reply in a positive tone. He continued: "just a few days ago, I was angry because general Batov''s troops were beaten to the ground by the German army. Unexpectedly, only a few days later, the whole war situation was reversed by you. Yes, you are


    When I heard Stalin''s praise, I was very excited, but I didn''t know how to answer him. I had to hold the microphone and wait for his next instructions.


    "I''ve just heard from you, Rita, that I''m going to mobilize my forces to besiege moziri." When Stalin said this, he stopped for a moment and seemed to be thinking about how to choose words and sentences: "how many days do you think you can take this city?"


    Stalin''s question makes me a little difficult. Originally, according to the current strength of our group army, as long as the ammunition is sufficient, it only takes one or two days at most to win a medium-sized city like moziri. But now, after continuous fighting, the army''s ammunition consumption is huge, and it is unable to launch a large-scale offensive war until it is replenished. But it''s not that I can''t attack the city. If my superior gives me a death order and asks me to seize this city in a few days, I can still launch an attack, but I can only carry out the order by using the tactics of filling with human life.


    "Rita, why don''t you talk?" Stalin was a little worried when he heard that I didn''t reply. He raised his voice and asked, "are you still there?"


    "Yes, comrade Stalin," he said. "I''m still here."


    "Since it''s still there, why don''t you talk?" After criticizing me, Stalin charged the question again: "if I order you to take moziri, how many days can you take this city?"


    "Comrade Stalin, it''s a bit hard to say." Although I know that Stalin is easier to speak than he was before the war, I still have a lack of confidence in mentioning the difficulties facing the army in front of him. So I replied with fear: "after continuous high-intensity operations, our army''s ammunition consumption is very serious. The artillery, for example, was unable to take part in the offensive because all the shells were consumed. If we don''t get artillery support when we attack moziri, then the siege forces will certainly pay a high price. "


    "Pay a high price?" After repeating my last sentence, Stalin said with a sneer, "I don''t know how high the price you said is?"


    "Comrade Stalin," I said to Stalin in one breath, but I was not as nervous as I had just been. At this moment, when I heard Stalin''s query, I replied calmly, "I deployed a division in the west of the city. In order to block the German army from moziri, after a day and night of fierce fighting, the casualties of the whole division have exceeded half. This is still in the case of defense. Without the support of heavy technical equipment, we have paid such a high price. If we still can''t get artillery support when we launch an attack on moziri, the casualties of the troops may reach two-thirds or even higher. "


    After listening to my explanation, Stalin unexpectedly did not get angry, but asked as usual: "when do you think it is most appropriate to launch an attack on the German army?"


    "It will take at least three more days." After I said this, I was deeply afraid that Stalin did not know why I had to mention the three-day time limit, and specially added: "the ammunition stored in Smolensk of our army group will reach the moziri kalinkovich area in three days. As long as the artillery supply enough shells, we can launch a comprehensive attack on moziri and liberate the city from the enemy''s clutches in the shortest time. "


    "Well, since you say so, let''s make this the deadline for attack." After I finished, Stalin said calmly, "there is one more thing I want to inform you. From now on, in addition to the 11th army, the 61st army of belov and the 65th army of Batov will be under your unified command for the time being. After seizing moziri, you will defend the area and prevent a possible German counterattack. "


    Let me command the other two army groups. When I heard the news, I couldn''t help losing my mind for a moment. I turned to look at kirilov and chisgakov next to me, and then replied decisively, "Comrade Stalin, please rest assured that as soon as our troops have replenished their ammunition, they will immediately attack moziri."


    "Very good!" When Stalin finished the word, he hung up.


    When I put down the receiver, I found that my vest was soaked with sweat. I sat back in my seat with my back against the wall and felt my strength drained. When I saw kirilov and chisgakov around, I knew they wanted to find out what had happened. But now I just felt lazy and didn''t have the strength to open my mouth, so I waved my head slightly to them, indicating that they would not ask me for a moment.


    Seeing my action, their faces couldn''t help showing a disappointed expression, sighed gently, and then turned to continue to do the work I assigned them. Five or six minutes later, when I saw that my spirit had recovered, chisjakov and kirilov came to me again, and even bzikov and akhromeyev followed me. In this case, I did not hide anything from them, so I repeated to them the contents of my conversation with Stalin. At first, a few of them could keep calm, but when they heard that Stalin had decided to hand over the 61st and 65th army to me, they could not help but cry out in a low voice. "Comrade commander, it seems that the analysis made by the deputy commander and the military commissar a few days ago is correct. Although general konev gave us a group army to command when we liberated Kharkov, there was only one group army after all. But now it''s three group armies, plus ourselves, that''s four. It seems that as long as we succeed in winning moziri, then our Comrade commander will be promoted to the commander of the front army. " Although bezikov''s words pleased me, on the surface, I waved my hand as if nothing had happened, and then asked, "Comrade chief of staff, these are all things in the future. It''s too early to say now. By the way, how is Master Lu Jin? " When bizikov heard my question, he rushed to akhromeyev and said, "it''s better for the major to report to you. He knows the specific situation." Akhromeyev saw that I had turned my eyes on him. He quickly stepped forward and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, Mr. Lukin reported that the German attack troops had rushed into their defensive positions and launched close combat with the commanders and fighters. But because a regiment of the 52nd division of the guards arrived in time, the enemy fell into our encirclement. Now the battle is unfolding in the defense area of Lu Jin division. Our army has absolute superiority. I believe that the enemy will be destroyed by us in a short time. "

 Chapter 1414

    After hearing akhromeyev''s report, I nodded and said: "the German army knew that we had captured kalinkovich. In order to get out smoothly, they launched an attack on the Lukin division, which was to make our army unable to pursue the retreating troops after suffering heavy losses. But they may not even dream that we can mobilize troops to pounce on them in such a short time after we have captured the city. "


    "As long as commander Lukin''s forces can hold down the enemy," chisjakov said thoughtfully, "then we may wipe out the enemy from moziri."


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander. The more enemies we annihilate here, the less pressure we will be under to attack moziri in the future. " At this point, I once again told akhromeyev: "major, send a message to lieutenant commander Lukin, ordering him not to launch a final attack on the encircled enemy for the time being, and to concentrate his forces to attack the enemy who is going to return to moziri."


    "What, attack the enemy?" When he heard my command, bzikov''s reaction was the strongest. He was deeply afraid of what I had done. He quickly persuaded me: "Comrade commander, division Lu Jin suffered heavy casualties in the battle. Even if he concentrated all his strength to attack the encircled troops, it was a bit difficult. How could he take the initiative to attack the main forces of the German army?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, I think the chief of staff is right." Chisjakov agreed with bzikov''s statement, and also advised me: "Lieutenant Colonel Lukin''s troops are too few, and it''s a little too risky to attack the main German forces, otherwise, let them cooperate with the friendly forces to continue to attack the besieged German forces."


    After chisgakov finished speaking, I said slowly: "deputy commander, chief of staff, if we only attack the besieged German forces, then the main force of the German forces in front of our army may take the opportunity to slip away and return to moziri. If we let go of this enemy, we will pay more when we take moziri. "


    "But Lukin''s troops are too few." Chisgakov still tried to persuade me to change my mind.


    I shook my head and said, "Comrade deputy commander, have you forgotten that several divisions of our army are rushing to the west of the city at the fastest speed, ready to join the Lujin division in annihilating this German army from moziri? I asked division Lu Jin to launch an attack. Did I want him to contain the enemy and prevent him from escaping so easily? "


    "So it is. I see." After finishing this sentence, bezikov made a sign to akhromeyev, who was standing beside him, to send a message to Lukin according to my intention. He then said to me, "Comrade commander, I will also send a message to the two division commanders, nikolasov and Chernoff, urging them to speed up their march, join the Lukin division as soon as possible, and leave this German army behind."


    "Go ahead, chief of staff." Seeing that bezikov understood my intention, I nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile, "while urging the two division commanders to speed up their march, you should make them understand the significance of destroying this German army."


    While bzikov''s telegram was still waiting for a reply, akhromeyev had come back to me first and reported to me, "Comrade commander, commander Lukin, call back. He said that long before your order was given, he left one regiment and the infantry regiment of the 52nd division of the guards to encircle the enemy who broke through the defense line. Then he let the other two regiments attack the main force of the German army under the cover of the tank brigade. "


    After listening to akhromeyev''s report, chisgakov snatched the telegram, read it carefully twice, looked up at me, and asked with a little surprise, "Comrade commander, I don''t understand. We have just discussed the plan of setting aside troops to surround the enemy who breaks through our defense line, and then attacking the main German forces in front of the defense line with the forces of the other two regiments. How can lieutenant colonel Lukin know in advance? Does he have the ability to foretell? "


    Kirilov couldn''t help laughing when he heard what chisgakov said. After laughing, he looked at me and explained to chisjakov, "Comrade deputy commander, maybe you don''t know. This lieutenant colonel Lukin, from the time of the Moscow war, was under Rita. He has also fought side by side with Rita in the Don River Basin, so I''m not surprised that he can understand Rita''s intention in advance. "


    "So it is." After listening to kirilov''s explanation, kisjakovton suddenly realized. He looked at me, gave me a thumbs up and said sincerely, "Comrade commander, you are so amazing. As far as I know, as long as the commanders who have been under your command perform better in battle than the commanders of other troops. Colonel Lukin is good, and so is colonel chejerikov. This time, they can win kalinkovic so smoothly, and both of them have contributed a lot. "


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In the all night fighting, the Lujin division was severely reduced. Although the German army was in chaos at the beginning of their attack, the German commander soon found that the number of Soviet troops attacking was limited, so he left two battalions to block the Lukin division, and led the remaining two regiments to retreat towards moziri.


    Seeing that the German army was going to withdraw, Lukin could not help but be worried. However, due to the limited strength in his hand and the tight defense of the German army, he could not break through the German resistance in a short time. Just as he was about to report this situation to me, two regiments from the 90th division of the guards arrived.


    With the addition of the new forces, the German line of defense, which seemed to be impregnable, collapsed, and the officers and men retreated in turn, hoping to get out of contact with our army, so that they could return to moziri smoothly.


    If the commander of the German army left behind a regiment after he knew that kalinkovic was lost and led the main forces to retreat, he might still have the chance to escape and ascend to heaven. But with the arrival of the 11th group army and the 65th group army, they soon fell into the encirclement of our army.


    By noon, three tanks, a dozen or so and about a battalion of troops had rushed out from the west side of our encirclement, trying to escape back to moziri along the road. However, they did not escape far, but they were intercepted by the air force. The fighter plane dived down from high altitude and strafed the German army who fled in a hurry on the road, killing the enemy with blood and flesh.


    Just as the escaped German army was intercepted by the air force, the pursuers from behind arrived. Under the attack of our tank brigade, German tanks and armored vehicles soon turned into piles of burning scrap iron. The rest of the infantry faced the rushing tanks and found that they could not fight and could not escape, so they had to raise their hands to surrender.


    By two o''clock in the afternoon, all the besieged German troops, except those who were killed, obediently laid down their arms and surrendered to our army. The participating troops immediately reported the German surrender to me by telegram or telephone.


    The first person who called me was general Batov, who said excitedly on the phone: "report to Comrade oshanina, the German troops surrounded by us, except those who were killed, the rest of the enemy laid down their arms and surrendered. Our 65th army is accepting the surrender of prisoners. "


    Then it was belov who called. Unexpectedly, he said, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the matter with you. According to my scout report, there are about two German regiments, under the cover of tanks, heading northeast. But less than half an hour later, the army quickly returned to moziri. "


    "The withdrawal of the German army may have something to do with the destruction of the enemy who reinforced kalinkovic." After I finished this sentence, it suddenly occurred to me that belov mentioned in his report that his scouts had detected the enemy''s movement, but he did not report this situation to me. Therefore, I asked with some dissatisfaction: "general Batov, since your scouts have found the German army''s unusual movement, why don''t you report it to me in time?"


    "I''m sorry, comrade oshanina." Belov, who was reproached by me, said with some embarrassment: "the radio station carried by the scouts I sent was damaged when they encountered with the small German troops, so they were unable to feed back the information they detected. Later, a soldier seized a German motorcycle and rode back to the headquarters to report to me. "


    After listening to the story of belov''s failure to report in time, I could not blame him, so I had to calm down and say, "OK, general Batov, forget this time. I will never allow similar situation to happen next time. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" After Stalin and I had a conversation, he once said hello to the commanders of the group army through rokosovsky, so everyone was obedient to me, and belov respectfully said, "I will never let similar mistakes happen again."


    Then Lukin, nikolasov, Chernoff and others also sent telegrams to report to me the situation of the German army''s destruction. After reading these telegrams, bezikov asked me, "Comrade commander, kalinkovich has been liberated and the enemy from moziri has been eliminated. What shall we do next?"


    "Order Col. shejerikov to take over the defense of kalinkovich, general babahin''s 67th guard division, and Col. babahin''s 71st guard division, to move quickly westward." Since kalinkovic had been occupied by our army, there were not so many troops left in the city, so I transferred them all out. Considering that the 11th army has five divisions and a tank regiment, I went on to say, "as for the troops of the 11th army, they are all transferred to the area north of kalinkovych, where they will build defences and build necessary fortifications to defend against possible German attacks from the north."


    "Is that necessary?" After listening to this, bezikov asked me in surprise: "Comrade commander, moziri, the enemy in the kalinkovich region, has been severely damaged by us. They don''t think they have any ability to launch a counterattack against us, do they? Instead of transferring the 11th army to the north and doing nothing, would it be better for them to join in the attack on moziri? "


    "Comrade chief of staff." After listening to these words, I put on a face and said solemnly, "although we have won the war now, don''t forget that the Germans are not willing to lose. They will certainly try their best to take these two cities away from us again. So we must take precautions and do the necessary defense work well. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, what do you think?" Bezikov turned to chisjakov for help, hoping that the other side could say a few good words for him.


    Unexpectedly, after looking at me, chisgakov said to bzikov earnestly, "Comrade chief of staff, don''t forget that more than a week ago, general Batov''s troops also made progress and advanced to kalinkovic''s approach. However, because they underestimated the enemy, they felt that the enemy was vulnerable, As a result, he was defeated by the sudden counterattack of the German army and retreated to zhylobin. If our group army did not enter the battlefield in time, it is estimated that they would be in danger of being seriously damaged or even completely annihilated by the German army. We can''t make the same mistake again. "


    His words made bzikov''s face turn red. He was a little embarrassed and said to me, "Comrade commander, it''s my fault, it''s my thoughtlessness. I''m going to send a telegram to the troops. " Seeing that he turned to leave, I quickly stopped him and said, "chief of staff, we need to send a message to three division commanders, Lukin, Nekrasov and Chernoff, so that they can rush to the East Bank of the pripyaji River to build a defense line immediately after cleaning the battlefield. No one is allowed to cross the Pripyat until I have my orders After waiting for bzikov to send the news, chisjakov asked me in a low voice, "Comrade commander, why don''t you let the troops cross the Pripyat river? You know, we can build a defense line on the West Bank of the river? "¡° Comrade deputy commander, "as for this question of chisjakov, I can only say with a wry smile," if the troops cross the river, they are bound to be attacked by the enemy from moziri. At present, our ammunition is limited. Under the fierce attack of the German army, we are bound to pay a huge price. Therefore, we should not cross the river for the time being, but stay on the east coast for defense. Even if the enemy takes the initiative to attack, they can rely on the riverbank position to attack the enemy. "¡° Yes, yes, "as soon as I finished, chisgakov nodded and said," you are considerate. Don''t launch a final general attack on moziri''s enemies until we get ammunition I looked down at the map in front of me, and then said, "after our troops have built a defense line on the East Bank of the river, we will call all the division and brigade commanders together to make a summary of this battle. At the same time, the meritorious persons such as xiejerikov, Lukin and gramus were commended. Do you have any comments? "¡° No "I totally agree with you," he said, shaking his head

 Chapter 1415

    Since kalinkovich had been occupied by our army, there was no need for the headquarters of the group army to stay in the eastern suburb of the city, so they moved to the former headquarters of the German army in the city.


    I was sitting in a jeep, looking through the window at the city we had just liberated. Although we did not use artillery in the siege, there are still collapsed buildings on both sides of the street. This should be the result of mortars or rocket launchers used by both sides in the fight. In these ruins, there are civilians and soldiers are constantly busy, presumably trying to find some daily necessities.


    The headquarters of the German army is located in a department store in the center of the city. Seeing the pockmarked bullet marks on the walls and the smoke blackened walls, I can imagine how fierce the battle was last night. It''s obvious that this place has been cleaned by the people of shejerikov, because there is no dead body of an enemy or our soldiers on the street except for the craters.


    As soon as our car stopped, sjerikov, who was waiting in front of the building, ran over and opened the door for me. Then he stepped back, raised his hand to salute me, and loudly reported: "Comrade commander, when the guards heard that there was a report asking the superior to award the red flag medal, sjerikov immediately looked down and quickly looked through it, Seeing that there was a close guard on it, shijerikov looked up and said to me, "Comrade commander, it''s really great. If all the troops are awarded medals by the superior, Lukin''s division can also be awarded the title of close guard division. In that case, our group army will be a close guard force worthy of the name. "


    "Comrade Colonel, this report will not be handed in until we have successfully captured moziri." Kirilov withdrew the report in front of shejerikov, stuffed it into his briefcase and said, "so we must fight better in the battle of liberating moziri a few days later."


    "Comrade commander, I have an idea. I don''t know whether to say it or not?" After kirilov finished speaking, he turned to me and said cautiously, "it''s about this siege."


    "Comrade Colonel, I now order the forces in the west of the city to build a line of defense on the East Bank of the Pripyat river." According to my understanding of shejerikov, I could easily guess what he wanted to say, so I said in advance: "when the fortifications are almost finished, I will call all the division leaders here to hold a battle summary meeting to summarize the battle last night."


    "Great, that''s great." Shejerikov looked at me in awe and said, "Comrade commander, I just wanted to say this. I didn''t expect that you had thought about it first."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In the evening, the commanders of all divisions and divisions, as well as the commanders of tank brigade and artillery regiment, came to my headquarters one after another to participate in my temporary postwar summing up meeting.


    At the beginning of the meeting, kirilov first announced the order of Jin rank issued by the group army: Lieutenant Colonel Lukin, commander of the 375TH infantry division, was promoted to the rank of colonel; And captain gramus of the guard regiment was promoted to the rank of major because of his outstanding military achievements.


    The commanders attending the meeting had no objection to their promotion. After all, their contributions to the liberation of kalinkovic were obvious to all.


    Then, we had a heated discussion about the problems in this battle. As for your opinions, I did not express them easily. I just put them on record one by one so that they can be used for future inspection of your commanders.


    Just as the discussion was in full swing, the telephone rang in the headquarters. Bezikov, who was closest to the phone, went up and picked up the phone, but because of the noise in the room, he couldn''t hear what the other person was saying. So he covered the microphone with his hand and yelled at the commanders who were discussing fiercely: "be quiet, everyone. I can''t hear what''s on the phone."


    With his roar, the headquarters, which was as lively as the vegetable market, suddenly became silent. Then bezikov put the microphone back to his ear and said aloud, "I''m Colonel bezikov, chief of staff of the group army. Where are you?" What, what did you say Again At the end of the day, he said, "I see."


    After he put down the phone, he reported to me: "Comrade commander, frontier report, a German army has crossed the pripyaji River and launched a fierce attack on my troops stationed on the east bank."


    "The enemy crossed the Pripyat?" The news that bezikov reported surprised all of us. I didn''t expect that the German army would be able to launch a counterattack against us so soon after the defeat. I asked in a hurry, "where is the battle going now?"


    Bezikov glanced at the commander sitting below, then went to the map, pointed to it with a stick and said, "according to the observation post, the enemy crossing the river is attacking the defense area of the 52nd division of the guards. In the defensive areas of the 90th guard division and the 375TH infantry division, we also found signs of German troops gathering on the West Bank. It seems that their friendly troops preparing to cross the river will attack the positions of our two divisions after they occupy the bridgehead on the east bank. "


    When I heard that the enemy suddenly launched an attack, I didn''t have the heart to hold any more summing up meeting, so I stood up, put my hands on the edge of the table, looked at the many commanders sitting below, and said, "well, comrades commanders, because the German suddenly launched an attack, our meeting today will be here for the time being. The commander of the 52nd and 90th guard divisions, and the 375TH infantry division, immediately returned to the troops to block the German attack. "


    "Yes The three teachers who were ordered by me immediately stood up, agreed neatly, turned around and walked out of the headquarters¡° Tank 82nd and 101st brigades. " I think that since the German army dares to launch such a counter offensive, it must have used a lot of tanks and motorized troops. If it only relies on infantry to resist, it is estimated that the casualties will be small. So I think of the two existing tank brigades¡° Your task is to cooperate with the garrison by the river to counterattack the German troops crossing the river. Do you understand? "¡° I see After the two tank brigade commanders made a firm promise, they also learned from the three division commanders, saluted us, turned around and walked out of the headquarters to carry out my orders. I looked at the rest of the commanders. Except for the four division commanders, the rest were all artillery regiment leaders. Although I also want to send artillery to help, bombard those German troops crossing the river with cannons, and blow them all to death in the river, but in this case, I can only think about it, because in these days of fighting, all the artillery shells have been consumed. Just as I was about to announce the end of the meeting, major shuklin, who had been neglected by me for several days, suddenly stood up and asked aloud, "Comrade commander, what is the task of our self-propelled artillery regiment?" Originally, the commanders sitting below were all packing up and ready to leave at any time. Suddenly, they heard someone asking a question. They unconsciously stopped their work and looked up at the rash ghost in surprise. When shuklin saw that everyone''s eyes were focused on him, his face turned a little red, and then he repeated the question to me: "Comrade commander, I don''t know what the task of our self-propelled artillery regiment is?"¡° "Comrade major," I said, looking at the commander who took the initiative to fight, "although I also want to assign tasks to your regiment, it''s a pity that since you don''t have any shells, even if you''re sent up, you won''t be of any use."¡° Comrade commander, if it had been yesterday, perhaps our regiment would not have been able to take part in the battle. " After I finished speaking, shuklin said unexpectedly, "but we found a batch of shells in the German warehouse today, with 800 shells, which is enough for us to use for a while."¡° What, found shells in German warehouses? " When I heard shuklin say this, I was immediately delighted and asked, "does the caliber of the shells match?"¡° It''s a perfect match. It''s a 152mm shell. " Shuklin nodded his head and said: "I think that the shells in the German warehouse were captured by them before. Because there were no suitable caliber cannons, they kept throwing them in the warehouse and did not use them."¡° That''s great. That''s great. " When I heard that a shell suitable for our artillery was found in the German warehouse, I was overjoyed. I immediately told shuklin, "since you have enough ammunition now, go to the pripyaji river immediately and deploy in the rear of the three divisions to provide them with the necessary artillery support."¡° Yes Shuklin agreed and was ready to turn away¡° Comrade major, please wait a moment At this moment, chisgakov suddenly stopped him. Then he turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, the number of shells seized by the self-propelled artillery regiment is limited. I think we should keep them for use when attacking moziri?"¡° Comrade deputy commander, our attack on moziri will take place in three days. By that time, the shells from the rear will have arrived. Now the German army is attacking our defensive positions in the pripyaji river area. If we do not provide the necessary artillery support for the garrison, the army will pay a huge price. If the casualties of the troops are too large, it will also have an impact on the subsequent operations to capture moziri. " After clarifying my idea, I said decisively, "I have made up my mind. You don''t have to persuade me any more." Then I waved to major shuklin and said, "major, carry out the order." Shuklin saluted me, turned and walked out of the headquarters. I took a look at the four teachers sitting below, thought about it, and then called out, "general baksov, Colonel babashin." The two teachers named by me immediately stood up, straightened up and waited for me to give orders¡° You two divisions, as reserves, are deployed behind the three divisions. " I looked at the two men and said, "as soon as we find that the situation there is dangerous, we will send troops to support immediately. Never let the Germans break through our defenses on the Pripyat, understand? "¡° I see! " The two teachers answered neatly. After listening to the two people''s reply, I nodded, then waved to the people below, and said loudly: "farewell!"

 Chapter 1416

    After the commanders who attended the meeting left one after another, chisjakov saw me sitting there quietly looking at the map. He couldn''t help feeling a little worried: "my commander, why are you so calm? Don''t you know that the enemy is attacking our garrison?"


    I looked up at chisgakov, who was so worried that he stamped his feet, and said, "Comrade deputy commander, I know that the German army is attacking our troops on the east coast. But haven''t I told the three division commanders of the troops to set up defenses by the river to rush back to command the troops in a hurry? "


    "Comrades commander," he said anxiously as I said, "don''t you know that the West Bank of all the rivers in Russia is high and steep, while the east bank is flat? Our army''s temporary fortifications could not stop the German armored forces from attacking. "


    "It doesn''t matter if you can''t stop it." I pointed to the map on the table and said to chisgakov, "we can ask general Nekrasov to make way for the Germans, and then the troops deployed in the second line will block the German attack. As long as the 52nd division of the close guard quickly recovers its position after the enemy passes, it will encircle the enemy. If we can annihilate the German forces along the Pripyat River, the resistance we will encounter when attacking moziri will be greatly reduced. "


    Listen to me, chisgakov stopped whining and began to think about the map. After a long time, he finally nodded, and then said: "Comrade commander, you are right. We should try our best to consume the enemy''s living strength along the Pripyat River, so as to prepare for our next capture of moziri."


    Bezikov also came over, pointed to the map and said, "our three divisions, the 90th guard division and the 375TH infantry division, which were deployed along the Pripyat River, were severely weakened in the early fighting. If the German army chooses their breakthrough point, I don''t think they can stop the German attack at all. "


    "That''s right," I echoed after he finished saying, "at present, among the three divisions, the 52nd division of general nikolasov''s guards is the only one with the most troops and the strongest combat effectiveness. However, the German army has chosen the focus of attack here. It''s strange that they don''t touch a head and blood."


    An hour later, Nekrasov called me. He said anxiously: "Comrade commander, the German army used a large number of tanks to launch a fierce attack on my defense area. Because our fortifications are too simple to resist the enemy''s attack, we have been torn up a gap of nearly two kilometers, and the German army has rushed to our defense depth. "


    "Comrade General, the German army has broken through your line of defense?" As the situation he reported was already in my expectation, I asked calmly, "I want to know what measures you have taken?"


    "I''m organizing forces to counterattack the enemy who broke through the position." Niekrasov thought that I was going to blame him for asking this question. He quickly explained to me, "Comrade commander, please rest assured that I will take back the lost position within half an hour."


    "Take the position back?" When I heard him say this, I couldn''t help laughing. Then I said to him easily, "Comrade General, there''s no need for this at the moment."


    "What, don''t you have to take back the lost position?" Nikolasov was confused by what I said. He asked, "Comrade commander, what''s going on?"


    "Comrade General, immediately order your troops to stop counterattack and retreat to the two wings of the defense line, leaving a passage for the Germans." After I gave this order at one go, I was deeply afraid that he would not understand my intention. I added: "after putting the enemy in, you will fight back, recover the lost positions and block the enemy''s retreat. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." After listening to my explanation, nekrasovton suddenly realized that he immediately replied, "I understand everything. I''m going to follow your orders, stop the counterattack, retreat to both sides of the line, and make way for the German army. "


    I put down the phone and thought about my battle plan carefully. I felt that I should inform baksov and babashin to prepare for the battle in advance, so that they would not be caught off guard by the enemy who crossed the line of the 52nd division. Thinking of this, I picked up the phone again and dialed the joint headquarters of the two divisions.


    After hearing baksov''s voice, I said frankly, "general baksov, the German army has broken through the line of the 52nd division of the guards and is charging at you. You should make all preparations immediately to avoid being caught off guard by the German army. "


    Barksov was startled by what I said. He asked in some confusion: "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? How long has it been since the end of the meeting? How can general Nekrasov''s position be broken through by the enemy?"


    "It''s no surprise that the enemy''s offensive is too fierce, and the troops stationed by the river have no solid fortifications to block the enemy''s attack." After two words, I said, "you must be ready for all battles and resolutely block the German attack. I have ordered general nikolasov to immediately resume his lost position after the enemy passes through, and to keep this enemy in the rear of our army. When the enemy''s offensive momentum weakens, you will launch a counterattack and make sure to wipe out this enemy completely. Do you understand? "


    However, baksov did not reply to me immediately. On the contrary, he said anxiously: "Comrade commander, if the enemy has a large number of tank troops, I am afraid that we will not be able to complete the task you told us."¡° Don''t worry, general baksov Fortunately, the self-propelled artillery regiment with enough shells was deployed in the rear of their defense area, so I can say with full assurance: "our self-propelled artillery regiment is in the rear of your defense area. If you need artillery support, you can contact him directly."¡° That''s great. That''s great. " When barksov listened to what I said, he suddenly felt energetic. He patted his chest and assured me, "Comrade commander, you can rest assured. With the support of the self-propelled artillery regiment, we can completely annihilate the enemy who has intruded into the rear of our army, and we will have full confidence. Please wait patiently for the news of our victory. " As soon as I had finished the deployment of annihilating the enemy, belov called to warn me: "Comrade oshanina, my scouts reported to me that the German army had sent out two divisions and directly rushed to the pripyaji river. You should be on your guard so as not to be hit suddenly by the German army. "¡° Thank you, Comrade General After thanking belov for his kind reminder, I said to him, "the enemy is attacking our east coast position, but it doesn''t matter. I have set traps for them and they will jump in."

 Chapter 1417

    Two German regiments rushed in through the intentionally open gap in nikolasov. When he saw that the enemy had rushed past and no new troops were following him, Nekrasov decisively ordered the troops to carry out the counterattack, quickly recovered their lost positions and cut off the retreat of the German army.


    When I heard the news, I immediately called baksov: "Comrade General, two German regiments have been isolated between our two lines of defense. Whether you can eliminate this enemy depends on your performance. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Barksov, who had been rubbing his hands for a long time, said excitedly to me: "since the German army has been separated, it is only a matter of time to eliminate them. You are waiting for my good news."


    The distance between the two lines of defense is five kilometers. It''s difficult to encircle the enemy. So I thought about it and ordered, "Comrade General, remember to compress the enemy to the South as far as possible after the battle starts. I will call Comrade Batov immediately and ask him to send troops to support you. "


    "I see, comrade commander." Barksov replied solemnly, "I will try my best to drive the enemy to the South and never let them escape from our encirclement."


    After the call with baksov, I quickly called Batov''s headquarters again. After hearing his voice, I immediately asked, "general Batov, I want to ask you, can your troops continue to fight?"


    "No problem." When Batov heard my question, he said in a relaxed tone: "you don''t see that the soldiers have just fought a battle during the day. They are a little tired. But the victory we have won has filled every commander and fighter with fighting enthusiasm. As long as you give me a command, I think the soldiers will be able to join in a new battle


    "If so, that would be great." When I heard Batov say this, I was deeply relieved, so I directly explained the purpose of my call: "general Batov, my troops are surrounded by two German legions from moziri. I am afraid that they will flee to your defense area, so I would like to ask you to send your troops to set up a blocking position to intercept the enemy defeated by our department. "


    "So that''s it." Batov said bluntly: "I immediately transferred an infantry division, plus a tank regiment and an artillery regiment, to build positions in the south of your group defense area to block the German troops who may go south."


    I can''t help feeling a little tired after I put down the phone. When I was the commander of the battalion, I just had to obey the orders of the superior and attack the enemy or a certain area for defense. Today, as commander of the group army, although he is in a high position, he has too many problems to consider every day. If he is careless, it will bring irreparable consequences.


    I sat and had a rest for a while. When my mood returned to normal, I told bzikov, "chief of staff, please report to me at any time what''s going on in the front."


    "All right, comrade commander," bzikov nodded and replied, "as long as a few teachers send telegrams or call back, I will report to you at the first time."


    "Comrades commander," chisjakov asked me in some surprise after bierzikov finished saying, "when we attacked kalinkovic last night, no matter how dangerous the situation was, you didn''t change your face. But why are you so nervous in today''s small-scale battle? "


    I shook my head and said, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t know. I just have an ominous premonition that something is wrong."


    "Something''s wrong. What''s wrong?" Asked chisgakov curiously.


    "Think about it. After the German army knew that we had captured kalinkovic, they had only a few divisions in moziri City, so they should shrink their forces to defend. How could they suddenly launch an active attack on our Hedong position? Don''t they know that if they spend too much of their troops in the field, it will be difficult to fight the next battle of defending the city? " Speaking of this, I suddenly thought of a key question. I called ahlomeyev and asked nervously, "major, do you have any news from the fourth German armored division?"


    "No Akhromeyev shook his head and said, "since the division ambushed our troops in the forest area, it has suddenly disappeared. Even in the vicinity of kalinkovich, they have not been found."


    "The German armored division is not weak," chisjakov said thoughtfully after hearing akhromeyev''s report. "If the enemy deployed them near kalinkovich, we would not be able to seize the city from the German hands so soon."


    "Is there any conspiracy?" After hearing what chisjakov said, bzikov also became nervous. Then he said to me, "Comrade commander, I suggest that the reconnaissance troops should be sent immediately to carry out reconnaissance near kalinkovich. We must find out where the German armored division has gone!"


    "Could it be the enemy who sent them away?" Kirilov, who had not spoken for a long time, suddenly said: "the Germans may feel that kalinkovic is unable to hold fast and is unwilling to bury such elite troops here, so they quietly transferred them away."


    "What comrades of the military commissar said is reasonable." As for kirilov''s analysis, I nodded in agreement: "but this is only one possibility. We can''t rule out the German conspiracy, so we hid the armored division. When we''re on guard, we''ll take a surprise attack from the rear of our army. "¡° Come on, all of you. " Chisgakov gently patted the map with his hand and asked all of us to come and have a look. After everyone gathered around the map, he continued: "before we captured kalinkovic, we were deployed to the east of the city, and to the south of the city there were general Batov''s troops, and the 11th army came from the northeast. That is to say, if the fourth armored division wants to retreat, it will definitely not go through these three directions. Then the only way they can go is to the West. "¡° The west side leads to moziri. " As soon as chisjakov finished speaking, bezikov pointed to the map and said, "if they retreat here, they will be found by general belov''s scouts, so this direction is impossible. In my opinion, the direction of their retreat must be north or northwest. There is no other possibility

 Chapter 1418

    Some things are not analyzed, and once they are carefully analyzed, many problems will be found. For example, the whereabouts of the German fourth armored division let us find that moziri''s enemies suddenly attacked the Pripyat River, which was not as simple as it seemed. The Germans must be brewing some conspiracy.


    Staring at the map, I began to think about how the elite armored division, which was under the command of German lieutenant general shocken, would disappear out of thin air? As long as the German command does not transfer them out of Belarus, they will come out again sooner or later. What I''m anxious to make clear now is when and where they will suddenly appear.


    Seeing that I was staring at the map and didn''t speak, chisgakov coughed gently. Seeing that my attention was attracted by him, he said, "Comrade commander, can I talk about my opinion?"


    "Go ahead, comrade deputy commander." Seeing that he wanted to talk about his views, I was very happy, so I nodded and said politely, "I want to hear what you think."


    "You see," chisjakov said to me, pointing to the map, "according to our analysis, the missing German armored division should have retreated to the north or northwest. If they want to recapture kalinkovic, the attack on us can only come from these two directions. "


    "That makes sense. Please go on." When I heard what chisgakov said, I felt that the answer was ready. I hastened to say, "do you think the fourth Armored Division will launch a sudden attack on us?"


    "Yes, that''s what I think." Chisgakov tapped his finger gently on the table and continued his judgment: "the 102nd infantry division of the German army is missing with the fourth armored division. After ambushing our troops in the forest, these two divisions disappeared, which is very unreasonable. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, can you speak more clearly?" What chisjakov said made the onlooker bezikov confused. He frowned and asked, "why is that not in line with common sense?"


    "Chief of staff, it''s very simple." Instead of answering bzikov''s question directly, chisgakov made a hypothesis to him: "if you were the commander of the German army, after sending troops to ambush the two Russian divisions, what measures would you take if you saw the enemy with strong troops coming towards you?"


    "I''m sure I''ll withdraw these two divisions, shrink our forces and fight a defensive war in the kalinkovich area..." after a few words, bezikov suddenly stopped. He bent down and stared at the map on the table, as if there were the answers he wanted.


    And at this time, I also think about the whole story clearly. Seeing that bezikov was studying the map repeatedly, I asked him with a smile, "chief of staff, do you want to understand what''s going on?"


    "I get it. I get it all." Bezikov slapped the table hard and said excitedly: "the darn Krauts are so cunning. They have laid such a big trap for us. We are waiting to drill."


    "Chief of staff, what are you talking about? What you said confused me Because bezikov''s voice was too loud, kirilov, who was sitting beside him, got up, went to the table, looked down at the map in front of him and asked strangely, "who can tell me what kind of trap the Germans have laid for us?"


    Bezikov looked at me, then at chisgakov, and finally said to kirilov, "Comrade military commissar, I think the two commanders have figured out what''s going on. They should explain to you what''s going on."


    When berzikov said that, kirilov first looked at me and then asked, "Rita, can you tell me what''s going on?"


    "Yes, comrade military Commissar." In order to better explain the trap of the German army to kirilov, I pushed the map in front of him, and then said: "you see, in the east of the city, there is the sherekin division defense; In the north of the city, there are five divisions of the 11th army; And in the south of the city there are general Batov''s troops. The most likely direction for the enemy is the northwest. "


    "Well, that''s right." When kirilov heard this, he nodded his head and said, "in the northwest of the city, there are other German forces, the fourth armored division and the 102nd infantry division, which are going to withdraw, and they can only withdraw to the northwest to join their main forces. But even so, I don''t see what trap the German army has set for us? "


    "According to the judgment of the German army, after we captured kalinkovic, the casualties of the troops must be very heavy. As long as they send out moziri''s troops at this time to launch a counterattack against kalinkovich, we are bound to mobilize our main forces to the pripyaji River to block the German attack. At this time, the defense of the city becomes weak. At this time, their fourth armored division and 102nd infantry division quietly went south to attack the defenceless kalinkovic At this point, I put my hands on the table, made a closing gesture, and then said: "when our troops by the river see that the city is under attack, they are bound to turn around to reinforce, so they can take the opportunity to attack back and forth and inflict heavy damage on our troops."


    "But in the battle to capture kalinkovic, except for blocking the 375TH infantry division from moziri, the casualties of other troops were not large." Kirilov, after I finished the explanation, still puzzled and asked: "even if they come to attack, the 51st division of guards in the city is enough to block their attack?"


    "Comrade military commissar," when he heard kirilov''s question, chisjakov said with a smile, "the main reason why the enemy made such a wrong judgment is that they did not know that our group army was very familiar with the tactics of street fighting and thought that, like other troops, they would have to pay a lot of casualties to capture the cities they occupied."


    "Yes, yes, that''s it." Bezikov also explained to kirilov: "just a few days ago, the troops of the 65th group army occupied only one street of the German army after paying a great price in the siege. The troops that attacked the city from the other direction only paid less than half of the casualties and occupied most of the city. Now I finally understand that reasonable tactics can achieve the greatest victory with the least casualties. "


    "What shall we do now?" Kirilov asked, looking at me.


    "Now that there is a pot of porridge near the pripyaji River, it is easy to cause chaos when troops are mobilized at such a time." After weighing the pros and cons, I decided not to use the five divisions deployed near the Pripyat River and general Batov''s troops for the time being. I looked at bezikov and said, "chief of staff, send a message to the troops of the 11th group army. In addition to leaving two divisions to stick to the existing positions, the other three divisions and tank regiments should be ready to attack the German flank from the northwest."


    "What shall we do here?" After a moment''s hesitation, bzikov carefully reminded me that there was only one division in the city, and I was afraid that they would not be able to resist the German attack


    "Don''t worry, I believe in Colonel chejerikov." To bezikov''s worry, I said with disapproval: "there is a regiment left in the city. The remaining troops quickly leave the city and enter the defensive position in the west of the city to prepare for the possible German attack."


    "I see." Bezikov saw that I had no intention of sending reinforcements to strengthen the city''s defense, so he had no choice but to promise and turn around to call the commander of xiejerikov and the 11th army. But after just two steps, I stopped again. When I saw him stop and look at me with strange eyes, I said, "chief of staff, please tell some division commanders that they can make operational deployment according to the specific situation of the battlefield. They don''t have to ask for everything."


    As soon as I issued a series of orders on my side, Lukin, who was on the Pripyat River, called me. He said in a flustered tone on the phone: "Comrade commander, my scouts report that a large number of German troops have been found in the northwest direction, including many tanks. They are rushing at kalinkovich at the moment."


    When I heard that the German army in the northwest was really out, my heart beat faster. In order not to let Lukin feel my panic, I asked calmly, "Comrade Colonel, are you sure the enemy is directly on kalinkovich?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Lukin said in a positive tone: "at the beginning, I thought the German army was going to detour back to our division and attack us. It turned out that the enemy was a few kilometers away from our defense zone, turned around and headed southeast, and rushed along the road to kalinkovich. "


    After Lu Jin said these words, he was silent for a moment, then tentatively asked: "Comrade commander, do you want me to send troops to attack from the side and teach the Germans a lesson?"


    "No, comrade colonel." As for Lu Jin''s good intentions, I immediately declined politely: "you''d better concentrate on your defense line, lest the enemy on the west bank suddenly launch a cross river battle when you are mobilized. I have the ability to block the German attack here. You can rest assured. "


    As soon as I put down the phone, chisjakov asked anxiously, "Comrade commander, does Colonel Lukin have any important information to report to you?"


    I looked at chisgakov and said as usual: "the Colonel reports that a large number of enemies are rushing along the road towards our kalinkovych. In order to prevent the German army on the West Bank of the Pripyat from crossing the river, I declined Comrade Lukin''s request for reinforcements. "


    "You''re right, Rita." Kirilov expressed his support for the decision I made: "as long as we are deployed on the Pripyat River, the German plan of East-West attack will fail."


    Although it is not clear what kind of forces the German army from the Northwest has, I still need to take necessary preventive measures. Thinking of this, I told akhromeyev to call major general sheriujin, who was stationed in the east of the city, and ask him to immediately dispatch a regiment to the city to strengthen our defense.


    Then, I personally called major shuklin, the head of the self-propelled artillery regiment, and asked him to intercept the German armored forces with artillery fire when the enemy attacked the defensive position in the west of the city, so as to reduce the pressure on the defensive forces.


    After giving these orders, I deeply feel that my military command ability still needs to be improved. Now I''m in such a hurry to command only a few divisions. If I command dozens of divisions in a front army, I will not make a mess of the world.


    When the enemy who came to attack karinkovic was still on the road, the two German legions, which were isolated behind our army, were dealt a devastating blow. First, a round of artillery bombardment by the self-propelled artillery regiment turned the swaggering German tanks into piles of burning scrap iron, and the 67th and 71st divisions of the guards also took the opportunity to launch counter attacks.


    The irresistible German army tried to turn west and flee back to the West Bank of the pripyaji river. As a result, when they fled to the river, they found that the position they had broken through had been restored by our army. They suffered heavy casualties under the attack of intensive fire. Seeing the two close guard divisions coming from the East, they had to turn around and flee to the south. Of course, they couldn''t escape to the south. General Batov''s two divisions had been here for a long time, and these bereaved German soldiers broke into their ambush circle. After half an hour''s fighting, the remaining German troops, seeing that they could not escape from the sky, laid down their weapons and surrendered. I got a call from Batov when the German troops from the northwest just started shelling our position in the west of the city. He excitedly reported to me on the phone: "Comrade oshanina, the German troops defeated by you broke into our ambush circle when they went south. After half an hour''s fighting, except for the enemy who was killed, the rest have laid down their arms and surrendered." When I heard that two German legions were destroyed by us, my mood became relaxed. Without any worries, apart from allowing baksov and babashin''s troops to turn north to attack the enemy from the northwest, I can also ask Batov to send more troops to join the new battle. Thinking of this, I coughed and said, "general Batov, there''s one more thing I want to tell you. A German army from the northwest is attacking our position in the west of the city. I was about to order the 67th and 71st divisions, which had destroyed the enemy''s guards, to turn north and attack the German flank. If it''s convenient for you, can the commanders and fighters of those two divisions continue to take part in the battle? "¡° No problem, no problem. " Hearing that I asked him to borrow troops instead of giving orders, Batov said very frankly, "we are friendly forces, so we should help each other. Don''t worry. I''ll call the two division commanders right away and ask them to lead the troops northward to cooperate with you in destroying the enemy from the northwest. "

 Chapter 1419

    After I gave a series of orders in a hurry, the battle in the west of kalinkovich officially started.


    The German army bombarded the position of the 309th regiment of the guards with tank guns, preparing to take advantage of the suppression of our army by artillery fire to cover the infantry to launch a rapid impact on our army.


    As soon as the German forces started charging, shuklin''s self-propelled artillery regiment opened fire. The shells fired by the 152mm artillery immediately shrouded the German tanks in smoke. After five rounds of salvo fire, when the artillery regiment moved to a new position, only one third of the German tanks were intact. The rest were destroyed in the artillery fire and became the burning debris.


    After hearing major shumakov''s report, I thought about it and said, "Comrade Colonel, please tell major shumakov to be calm and not to attack for the time being. Only when we see that the enemy is about to flee, can we send troops to attack. We should try every means to drag the enemy to the present position so that they can not get out of contact with us. Do you understand? "


    Shejerikov hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Comrade commander, may I ask, when are we going to drag the enemy?"


    "I have ordered the 67th and 71st divisions of the guards to quickly turn north to attack the German forces from the northwest." In response to the question, I answered with confidence: "in addition, the three divisions of the 11th group army in the north of the city are also moving westward, ready to cut off the retreat of the German army. At the same time, the troops of the 65th group army in the south of the city will cooperate with our troops and attack the German army from the front. "


    "I see, comrade commander." After listening to my explanation, shejerikov said simply, "I will let major shumakov do everything possible to hold down the enemy in the west of the city, and never let them escape."


    I have arranged the siege and annihilation battle in the west of the city. The next thing I should care about is the battle along the pripyaji river. I asked bzikov, "chief of staff, how''s the battle going on along the Pripyat river?"


    "According to the reports of Colonel Lukin and general Chernoff, an hour ago, the enemy had prepared a large number of river crossing equipment by the river, showing a posture of preparing to cross the river and fight with our army." Bezikov reported to me: "when they found that although there was a battle in the west of kalinkovich, our army on the east bank was still well prepared, so they gave up crossing the river."


    When I heard this, I felt that it was natural for the German army to do this. Since they saw that our defense line was impeccable, they would not risk heavy casualties and forcibly cross the river. I looked at the map and then asked, "what''s the situation with the 52nd division of general nikolasov''s guards?"


    "The German army may know that their river crossing troops have been destroyed." Bezikov pointed to the map and said to me, "so now they have stopped attacking and have withdrawn their forces to the West Bank. They are building a defense line here in an attempt to block our attack."


    I saw that the direction of bezikov''s finger was just on the way to moziri. I frowned and asked, "chief of staff, if the enemy builds a defense line here, is it blocking our way to moziri?"


    "Yes, it is." Bezikov replied positively.


    "Comrade commander, I have an idea." Chisgakov, who had not spoken for a long time, suddenly said, "do you think we can order the 52nd division of the guards to launch an attack, take the tank brigade as the leader, and go straight into the depth of the German army?"


    "Let the 52nd division, under the cover of the tank brigade, attack the German troops who are building fortifications?" When I heard this suggestion from chisjakov, my brain began to work at full speed, weighing the severe gains and losses of doing so. After a fierce ideological struggle, I said decisively, "I think the deputy commander''s plan of turning defense into attack is workable. OK, let''s have a try. Chief of staff


    When he heard me yelling, bzikov immediately agreed, "Comrade commander, will you give command to general nikolasov and the tank brigade commander at once?"


    "Yes, tell general nikolasov that in addition to leaving one regiment defensive array, immediately order the other two regiments to attack the enemy who is building fortifications under the cover of tanks." I am deeply afraid that after receiving this order, because there are other German troops around, and they will be fearless when executing the order, Nekrasov specially asked bezikov to emphasize to him: "as for the German troops on both wings, he does not have to worry. He has to deal with them with the troops of colonel Lukin and general Chernoff."


    When I saw bezikov turning around to send a telegram to nikolasov, I could not help feeling afraid. The series of orders I gave tonight were just a mess, without any order, which belonged to the practice of treating headache and foot pain. Fortunately, the strength of the German army is not as strong as ours. Otherwise, one of the many orders I give will destroy the whole army.


    While I was blaming myself, I suddenly heard chisjakov ask me: "Comrade commander, if we have solved the enemy in the west of the city after daybreak, and general Nekrasov''s troops have successfully built a bridgehead on the West Bank, what will we do next?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, is that true?" I looked at chisgakov with strange eyes and said, "as long as we can successfully cross the Pripyat River, we must march westward, besiege moziri and wipe out all the enemies in the city."


    "I want to ask one more question." Chisgakov pointed to karinkovic on the map. "If our troops are going west, then who will give the city to?"


    "I''m going to give it to general Batov," I''ve already considered the question raised by chisjakov, so now I can answer him without thinking: "the 65th army used to consume a lot of soldiers and ammunition in the early fighting. In addition, the German army''s sudden counterattack a few days ago almost destroyed the army. It''s OK for such troops to fight defensive battles. If they are used to attack cities, they are not suitable at all. So after my careful consideration, I decided to let general Batov''s troops defend kalinkovich, and we and the troops of the 11th group army moved westward, together with general belov''s 61st group army, besieged moziri and completed the task of attacking moziri kalinkovich given to us by our superiors. "


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    At dawn, the battle in the west of the city came to an end. As a result, at least half of the fourth panzer division of lieutenant general shocken escaped from Shengtian because the 11th army did not enter the blocking position in time. And the 102nd infantry division, nearly a third of the troops, rushed out of the encirclement before we could close.


    When I saw the war report, I was so angry that I dropped the teacup in front of me on the ground. The teacup fell to the ground and immediately fell to pieces. The tea in it all splashed on chisgakov''s body.


    Seeing the water splashed on chisgakov''s body, I immediately felt a little embarrassed. My impulse was to involve others. When I was about to apologize to chisgakov, he dusted the tea splashed on the army coat with his hand, and then said to me as if nothing had happened: "Comrade commander, although quite a number of enemies have escaped our encirclement, their strength has been seriously damaged. I believe that with their current strength, they can''t attack us any more until they get a new supplement. In this way, we can safely and boldly attack moziri''s defenders. "


    I waited for him to finish, nodded, and then asked bzikov, "chief of staff, what''s the situation with the 52nd division of the guards?" Because of the tenacious defense of the German army in the report of Nekrasov, their four attacks ended in failure. If they could not capture the German positions, the next battle would be difficult.


    On hearing my question, bzikov said with a happy face: "Comrade commander, general Nekrasov reports that after fierce fighting, they have successfully captured the German defensive position, and the enemy has retreated in the direction of moziri."


    I think that the reason why the attacks of Nekrasov failed repeatedly was that they were attacked by the German forces from both sides. At the same time when they were attacked by the enemy, neither the Lukin division nor the Chernoff division could help them, because their troops were doggedly obstructed by the German army when crossing the river, so that they have not been able to reach the West Bank up to now.


    After listening to bezikov''s words, chisjakov said to me, "Comrade commander, I feel that since the 52nd guard Division has captured the German position on the West Bank and established a bridgehead, then the 90th guard division and the 375TH infantry division can stop this futile crossing. They do not have enough crossing equipment and heavy weapons. If they want to cross the pripyaji River by force, they are bound to pay huge casualties. "


    "Well, I''ll give the two teachers an order to stop this meaningless crossing." In fact, I knew in my heart that to let the two divisions launch a river crossing operation against the heavily guarded West Bank of the German army without artillery cover and sufficient crossing equipment was to kill the commanders and fighters. Since chisgakov raised this question, I would push the boat along the river and say, "let them leave the guard force behind, and the rest of the troops move towards the defense area of the 52nd division of the guards, and go to the West Bank through the bridge over the Pripyat river."


    When bzikov went to telegraph, I picked up the phone in front of me and made a call to baksov. When I got through, I heard him talking and laughing with colonel babashin, and I asked directly, "Comrade General, can your troops continue to fight?"


    "Comrade commander, please give an order." Barksov did not ask what kind of combat order I would give him, but said very simply: "our division has won two battles in a row, and the commanders and fighters are fighting with high morale. I think as long as you give an order, they will scream and pounce on the enemy, and beat the enemy in front of them to pieces. "


    "Very well," I nodded with satisfaction when I heard that the fighting spirit of the troops was high. Then I ordered, "Comrade General, you and Colonel babashin, stop cleaning the battlefield and go straight to the pripyaji river."


    "When we get to the river?" Barksov asked curiously, "do you want to stay by the river for defense, or do you want to cross the river and fight the German army on the West Bank?"


    "At present, the 52nd division of general Nekrasov''s guards has successfully established a bridgehead in the West Bank. I''ve ordered the 90th guard division and the 375TH infantry division to get there. " After giving him a brief introduction, I continued, "as soon as you two divisions cross the river, their left and right wings spread out to attack the enemy still on the West Bank of the river. Do you understand? "


    "I see." After promising me, baksov asked in a low voice, "who should the defense here be handed over to after we leave?"¡° Is there a unit of the 65th army near you? " I don''t know where general Batov''s troops are after a night''s fighting. I can only say tentatively, "if they are near you, then hand over the position to the friendly forces." Let the 65th Army take over such a major task as defense, I will definitely consult with Batov. So just after I called baksov, I called Batov again and said, "Comrade General, I have a very important task for you!"¡° Ah, a very important task? " Batov was startled by my tone of voice and asked in a hurry: "Comrade oshanina, what''s the matter?"¡° Don''t worry, Comrade General. Nothing''s wrong. " When I heard Batov''s reaction, I knew that he had misunderstood the tone of his speech. I quickly changed a soft tone and said, "well, I intend to lead my troops to moziri, so I intend to hand over the defense work of kalinkovic and the surrounding areas to your troops. I wonder if you have any comments? " After I had said this, I noticed Batov''s breath of relief. Then I heard him say, "no problem, comrade o''shanina. Our group army has been ordered to accept your command. No matter what arrangements you make, I will implement them unconditionally. I don''t know when I should send troops to take over your defense? "¡° The 67th guard of general baksov and the 71st guard of Colonel babashin are about to move towards the pripyaji river. If your troops are nearby, let them take over the defense of these two divisions. "¡° I see, comrade oshanina. I''m going to give orders to the teachers to take over the defense. "¡° As for kalinkovich''s defense, you may have to wait a little bit. " I thought that there was no suitable position for the establishment of a group army headquarters on the West Bank of the pripyaji river at present, so I euphemistically said, "I will move the headquarters to the West Bank after the troops on the West Bank have a firm foothold."

 Chapter 1420

    By the afternoon of the battle, the German army on the West Bank had been completely eliminated by us. Several guard divisions rushed to moziri and besieged the city from the north and East. After receiving my order, belov quickly sent a troop to occupy the western suburb of the city. In this way, the enemy who sticks to moziri will fall into the encirclement of our army.


    In the evening, members of the headquarters and I arrived at a small settlement in the eastern suburb of moziri. The new headquarters is located in a strong Church in the town.


    When I walked into the church, the hall was full of bustling staff officers and messengers busy laying telephone lines and setting up antennas. Bezikov took me to the southeast corner of the hall and said it was our office.


    As soon as I sat down at the table with the map, the telephone rang before I could even out my breath. Looking at the five or six phones on the table, I tried to figure out which one was ringing. Akhromeyev, who was standing nearby, responded very quickly. He quickly found out the phone and handed it to me.


    I took a look at the microphone in my hand and recognized that it was the high-frequency telephone that contacted the outside world. I put the microphone to my ear and politely said, "Hello, I''m o''shanina. Where are you, please?"


    "Rita, it''s me." From the receiver came rokosovsky''s magnetic baritone.


    "Hello, senior general." Hearing the call from rokosovsky, I quickly got up from my seat and said respectfully, "do you have any instructions?"


    "Can''t I call you without instructions?" "Don''t you forget that we are not only superior and subordinate, but also friends?" joked rokosovsky


    "No, no," I said easily before thinking that rokosovsky had supported me on different occasions, "I''ve always been proud of having friends like you." With that, I held the microphone and stopped talking, patiently waiting for his follow-up.


    "Rita, I''ll be proud to have a good subordinate like you." Rokosovsky was silent for a long time before he said, "I thought it would take at least ten days and a half months for your troops to capture cities like kalinkovic after a long-distance attack and insufficient ammunition. I didn''t expect that you took this city back from the enemy in only two days. What a pity! What a pity


    Originally, rokosovsky''s words in front of me made me happy, but the last sentence made me feel like falling into the ice, and my heart said, "why did he say that? Is something wrong?" In my heart, I quickly guessed the things he might feel sorry for, and found that the closest thing was that I had the hope to become the commander of the front army. Was there any unexpected change when it came to the present situation?


    Just when I was worried, I heard rokosovsky continue to say: "unfortunately, kalinkovich and moziri are small cities. Even if you take these two places, there will be no salute on the Red Square. If you can command the troops and capture Minsk in the future, you may be able to enjoy such treatment. "


    Knowing that he just won the battle I commanded and could not get the Red Square salute celebration ceremony, the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. To tell you the truth, it doesn''t mean much to me whether to fire a salute or not. I am only concerned about whether I can become the commander of a certain front army and the first female marshal of the Soviet Union at the end of the war. Even if I can''t be a marshal, I''m satisfied to be a general.


    Thinking of this, I said to him with a smile, "senior general, what I''m thinking about now is how to defeat the Communist aggressors as soon as possible, drive them out of our territory, and let the Communist Party be completely destroyed. As for whether I can enjoy the honor of the Red Square salute celebration, I really don''t care


    What I said casually left a good impression on rokosovsky. After a moment of silence, he added, "I didn''t expect you to be so open, Rita. I thought... "


    "I thought I would be depressed because I couldn''t enjoy the honor of firing salutes." Before he finished, I said, "don''t worry, senior general. I won''t be so careful."


    After a simple greeting, rokosovsky went back to the point and asked, "I heard that your troops have surrounded moziri, haven''t they?"


    "Yes, comrade general, that''s exactly what it is." I replied, "at present, my seven divisions occupy the East and the north of the city respectively; General belov''s forces, on the other hand, controlled the South and west of the city. It can be said that the enemy of moziri has been surrounded by us. Only when our ammunition arrives can we launch a comprehensive general attack. "


    "To the north of moziri, there are several German armored and infantry divisions." When I finished, rokosovsky kindly reminded me, "they may attack you from behind when you attack moziri. You can''t help but guard against that."


    "Comrade General, I think so." I know that the German commander will not watch his troops being eaten by us one by one. If there is a chance, they will launch a crazy counterattack. Therefore, I have already figured out the countermeasures. At this moment, listening to rokosovsky''s question, I truthfully replied, "I plan to deploy the five divisions of the 11th army in the north of moziri. As they do not have a unified command, in order to avoid fighting separately, I intend to let the deputy commander, general chisgakov, command this unit. "


    "What about karinkovich?" As soon as I finished, rokosovsky continued to ask, "your troops have been transferred to moziri, so there is no empty city left?"


    "How is that possible, senior general?" To his question, I replied with a smile: "isn''t general Batov''s troops always stationed in the southern suburbs of kalinkovich? I have handed over the defense of the city to them."


    "If so, that would be great." After listening to my report, rokosovsky''s tone became relaxed. "Since general Batov''s troops have been stationed in kalinkovich, it seems that I have nothing to worry about. By the way, is there anything I can do for you? "


    I was rather hesitant to hear what rokosovsky said. Now I want soldiers, ammunition and all kinds of military supplies, and he can''t provide them for me at all; Even if he wanted the bombers to go out and help us bomb the German defensive positions, he could do nothing. After thinking about it for a long time, I finally thought of one thing that I couldn''t do without his help. I quickly said, "Comrade commander, I really want to ask you for help."


    "Come on, Rita." "As long as I can do it, I will try my best to satisfy your wishes," rokosovsky said cheerfully


    "Comrade General, this is the situation. According to my understanding, during the whole period of time, when the German army was defeated by you, they carried out extensive destruction, setting fire to villages, blowing up factories, and even using special railway cars to destroy railway sleepers, so that we could not transport by railway. " After explaining the whole story, I begged him to say, "please send engineers to repair the railway line from zhylobin to kalinkovich, so that the supplies we need can be quickly transported from the rear."


    "I can make up my mind about it, Rita, and promise." "However, I still need to apply to the planning department before I know when the repair of the railway line can be carried out," rokosowski said with some embarrassment


    I understand laomaozi''s procrastination and inflexibility in his work, so I fully understand rokosovsky''s mood at the moment, so I said generously: "senior general, as long as you agree to this, I will be relieved. I believe that with your efforts, this problem will soon be finally solved. "


    After I finished my conversation with rokosovsky, chisjakov, who was standing beside me, asked me in surprise, "Comrade commander, what made you decide to let me command the 11th army?"


    I gave him a smile, and then said: "just now, when I was talking to the commander of the front army, I had this idea in my mind." In order to prevent him from disobeying my orders, I pointed to the map on the table and said to him, "Comrade deputy commander, you see, there are still a large number of German troops in the north of moziri area. If we do not put one of our troops here for defense, it is estimated that the war to liberate moziri will not go smoothly."


    After I said this, I paid special attention to the expression of chisjakov. Seeing that he was just staring at the map without saying a word, he seemed to be engaged in a fierce ideological struggle, so he said while the iron was hot: "Comrade deputy commander, although there are five divisions and one tank regiment in the 11th group army, due to the lack of unified command, they are just a mess of loose sand. All divisions are fighting on their own and lack of necessary cooperation. So I have to send a reliable and capable commander to command them. "


    I put a hand on his shoulder and continued, "after much deliberation, I think you are the best person."


    On hearing this, chisjakov looked up at me. After a moment of silence, he said firmly, "Comrade commander, since you trust me so much, I will go to the 11th army immediately. You can rest assured that I will never live up to your trust. As long as I am alive, I will never let the enemy rush to your rear. "


    Holding chisjakov in my hand, I said, "Comrade deputy commander, you should pay more attention to your own safety. I hope that in the future we can command the army together, conquer Berlin and wipe out the Communist Party completely, so you must live well before we can see that day coming. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." My words made chisjakov''s mood become high. He said with a smile: "the bullet that can kill me has not been made yet. I will live to see the day of victory."


    When chisgakov shook hands with kirilov and bezikov one by one, it suddenly occurred to me that chisgakov seemed to have robbed my lines and said, "the bullet that can kill me has not been made yet." only a person like me with the aura of the leading role can say that. If he said that, is he also a future passer-by like me?


    After chisgakov left, bzikov asked me, "Comrade commander, all divisions are in place. Would you like to call all the divisions together for a meeting and give us an account of the combat tasks?"


    I thought about bezikov''s proposal, then shook my head and said, "chief of staff, not for the time being. Because we are short of ammunition, we have no ability to launch siege. We''d better wait. When the ammunition arrives, we''ll call everyone together to set up a combat mission. Now you are responsible for informing the division leaders that their current task is to seize the time to build fortifications, prevent the Germans from jumping over the wall, and take advantage of our army''s unstable foothold to carry out a breakthrough operation. "


    Just as I told bzikov, several signalmen came over and carefully took away a pile of telephones in front of me, leaving only high-frequency telephones that could communicate with the outside world. I stared at the phone and thought about it. I felt that the cooperation of general belov was crucial to win moziri. Now it is necessary to discuss with him how to launch the attack. Thinking of this, I picked up the phone, dialed a number, and heard a female voice: "commander comrade, where do you want?" I immediately recognized that it was razumeyeva who was speaking. I quickly said, "Comrade razumeyeva, connect me with the headquarters of the 61st group army. I want to speak to general belov."¡° All right, comrade commander. " Razumeyeva said very quickly, "I''ll connect you right away." Two or three minutes later, I heard belov''s voice coming out of the receiver: "Hello, comrade o''shanina. I don''t know. Can I help you? "¡° Comrade general, "I said politely," the enemy of moziri has been surrounded by us. When the rear ammunition arrives, we can immediately launch a final general attack on the enemy. Now I''d like to discuss with you how the two army groups should work together. " After hearing my proposal, belov was silent for a long time, and then said, "Comrade oshanina, according to the order of the superior, the troops of general Batov and I are assigned to you for the time being. If you launch the attack on Mo Ji Li, you has the final say. " Although belov''s words are to the point, I dare not trust him. After all, other people''s qualifications are there. Even if he can fully obey my orders, can his subordinates be as reasonable as him? In the event that in the course of carrying out the operational orders, anyone who stealthily violates the law will miss the important event. Thinking of this, I said tactfully, "Comrade General, can you come to me? I want to talk to you face to face. "

 Chapter 1421

    After two days of long waiting, ammunition and military supplies from the rear finally arrived on schedule. In addition to the 77th division, the Fifth Army and several artillery regiments, a large number of senior commanders remained in Smolensk.


    When I saw the tank commander, major general bielei, artillery commander, major general povsky, and two guards commanders appear in front of me, I was overjoyed. I quickly got up to shake hands with them one by one, and asked how they were doing.


    After we all sat around the long wooden table, I asked povsky with a smile: "our artillery commander comrade, you are so timely. We ordered to launch an attack on moziri. I am worried that the number of artillery is not enough to bombard several German positions at the same time. I didn''t expect you to come."


    After I had finished, povsky immediately stood up from his seat, straightened up and said, "don''t worry, comrade commander, I have brought seven artillery regiments and six close guard rocket barracks this time, which is more than enough to deal with the German defensive positions."


    Although so many artillery troops have been added, the expression on my face is still serious. For me, there are not enough shells. No matter how many artillery we have, it can only be a decoration. Therefore, I asked nervously, "Comrade povsky, do you know whether the artillery troops have enough ammunition?"


    "That''s not to say, comrade commander." After hearing my question, povsky gave me a strange look and said, "the artillery I brought has enough ammunition. Each artillery has at least ten base ammunition. Even if moziri is razed to the ground, it''s OK."


    "Comrade povsky, we can''t blow moziri into ruins." As soon as pofsky finished, kirilov continued: "you know, there are tens of thousands of residents in the city. Once we fire on the city, it will cause huge casualties to them. So our artillery fire can only fall on the defensive positions outside the German city. "


    I thought that these commanders had just gone through a long march and certainly didn''t know our battle plan for tomorrow, so I turned around and told bzikov, "chief of staff, please tell us about our battle plan for tomorrow."


    Bezikov nodded, got up and went to the wall, picked up the explanation stick, pointed to the map on the wall, and said to us, "comrades, as you have just arrived here, you probably don''t know our attack plan against moziri tomorrow. I will explain it to you now. At present, moziri has been surrounded by our group army and the 61st group regiment of general belov. In the east of the city is our 23rd group army, in the north of the city is our 23rd group army, and in the West and south of the city is general belov''s 61st group army. "


    When sivakov heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting: "Comrade commander, I''m the commander of the 22nd army of the guards. I ask to return to the army to command this battle."


    Since sivakov had made his stand, major general tavartkiraze would not keep silent. He also stood up and said, "Comrade commander, I also request that I return to the army to command our troops to capture moziri."


    Seeing that the two commanders asked me to fight, I quickly raised my hands and pressed them down. I said, "two commanders, please don''t worry until the chief of staff has introduced our combat plan."


    After they were seated again, I raised my chin to bezikov and said, "chief of staff, please continue."


    "... before the attack, we will bombard the German peripheral positions." When bezikov said this, he couldn''t help but look at povsky and said excitedly: "due to the arrival of the main Artillery Force, we can carry out the pre attack shelling in the East and north of the city at the same time..."


    "What about the South and west of the city?" Bofsky general bezikov did not mention two directions. He couldn''t help interrupting and asked, "don''t we care?"


    "Comrade povsky," I explained to him as soon as povsky finished saying, "those two directions are in the charge of general belov''s group artillery, so we don''t have to worry about them."


    After I finished, bezikov went on to say, "on the Highlands in the East and north of the city, the German army has arranged heavy defense and solid fortifications, so we have to carry out artillery preparation for these places for about an hour before the infantry attack."


    After talking about tomorrow''s combat deployment, bezikov put down his explanation stick and returned to his seat. After glancing at every commander on the scene, I said with a smile, "the two commanders will go back to their respective units in a moment. After all, there are so many divisions participating in the battle, so we need a unified command to give full play to our combat effectiveness. Is there anything else I don''t understand? "


    As soon as I finished, bielei stood up and asked me, "Comrade commander, what''s the task of our fifth tank army?"


    "Comrade General," I said to berey with a smile, "because the soft soil outside moziri is not suitable for large-scale use of tank troops, you can only stay as an audience."


    "The soil is soft. We can use wood to pave the road, so that the tank can run normally." After expressing his opinion, berey said to me wrongly, "it''s said that the 82nd and 101st brigades have played well recently. The commanders of the other three close guard tank brigades all asked me for a task, saying that they must not fall behind the ordinary tank brigades. Comrade commander, if you don''t arrange combat tasks for our army, how can I explain to them when I go back? "


    As for bere, who was eager to fight, I said with some embarrassment: "general bere, you should understand that our commanders and fighters are bound to pay heavy casualties if we want to pave roads for tanks under the German artillery fire. Moreover, after breaking through the German peripheral positions, the tanks entering the city can not play a very important role In my mind, the tank army has been reduced to the role of chicken ribs, but bielei did not give up. He then said: "Comrade commander, the enemy''s peripheral fortifications can not be completely destroyed after being shelled by our army. Our infantry will certainly pay a great price when attacking. I plan to place the tanks about one kilometer away from the enemy position to provide artillery support for the infantry. Do you think that''s all right? " I turned to bezikov and asked for his advice.

 Chapter 1422

    Bzikov frowned and thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Comrade commander, I think general Berek''s suggestion is good. Even if we bombard the German positions intensively, many fortifications will survive. Once we attack, the fire points in these fortifications will revive, causing great casualties to our attacking troops. If we have the cooperation of the tank army, then our tanks can destroy the fire points exposed by the enemy one by one. "


    "Since the chief of staff thinks the plan is feasible, let''s do it." I looked at berey and told him, "one tank brigade will be set up in the East and the other in the north of the city, and the remaining one will be used as a reserve team for a rainy day. Do you understand? "


    "I see!" After a loud reply, bielei sat down in his seat again.


    "By the way, comrade commander." As soon as Berek sat down, povsky asked me as if he had found a new world: "where is Comrade deputy commander? Isn''t he with you?"


    "Well, general povsky." Kirilov replied instead of me: "in order to prevent us from being attacked by German forces from the north when we attacked moziri, comrade chisgakov temporarily went to the north to command the five divisions of the 11th army deployed there."


    Seeing that all the tasks to be explained had been completed, I stood up and said to you, "well, that''s all for today''s meeting. Next, major general tavartkilaze will set up a headquarters in the defensive area of the 23rd army of the guards in the north of the city, while general sivakov will set up your headquarters in the defensive area of the 22nd army of the guards in the east of the city. In tomorrow''s battle, all operational orders will be sent directly to your army headquarters, and then you will convey them to all divisions... "


    Before I spoke, I heard someone asking in a loud voice, "where is general oshanina?"


    When I heard someone calling for my order, I stopped and looked in the direction of the sound. There were more than a dozen officers and men standing at the entrance of the church hall. All the people in the headquarters heard the cry. The staff officer and the signalman turned their attention to the door, and the whole hall became quiet.


    "Here I am!" I yelled at the officers and men standing at the entrance, "I don''t know who''s looking for me?"


    Hearing my reply, the group of commanders and fighters immediately strode towards me and stopped just a few steps away. A tall officer came out of the crowd and came up to me. He reached out to me with a smile and said, "Hello, general oshanina!"


    I quickly reached out to hold his outstretched hand and politely responded, "Hello, comrade commander."


    As soon as my voice fell, there was a sudden Bang behind me, as if someone had broken the teacup. Instinctively, I turned to look back, only to find that the person who broke the cup was kirilov, who was bending over and frantically cleaning up the broken glass on the ground. When I saw this situation, I could not help frowning slightly and said that kirilov was usually a very stable person. What happened today?


    The other side released my hand, looked at a group of commanders standing at the table and asked, "are you in a meeting?"


    "Yes, comrade sharov." Without waiting for me to speak, kirilov''s voice came from behind, "we are calling a battle Conference!"


    I know from kirilov''s address that this must be someone he knows, but I don''t know why. I hear his voice is a bit out of tune, as if with a trace of fear. However, I know that this is not the time to ask him questions, so I can only keep silent and watch the change.


    When he heard someone call out his name, the commander was stunned for a moment. When he saw what he was saying, a smile appeared on his face: "it''s comrade kirilov. I didn''t expect to see you here."


    "I''m a military commissar of the group army. It''s normal for you to see me here." After kirilov finished this sentence humbly, he began to introduce the identity of the other party to me: "Rita, let me introduce you. This is Comrade Ivan alexandrovitch sharov, who was awarded the rank of political commissar of national security II in the first half of this year and is the first deputy people''s member of the Ministry of internal affairs. "


    After listening to kirilov''s introduction, I couldn''t help taking a breath. I thought this man might be from the headquarters of the front army, or at best, the deputy commander or the military commissar, but I didn''t expect that he had such a large background. The first deputy member of the people''s Committee of the Ministry of the interior is belia''s deputy and the second in charge of the Ministry of the interior. This kind of person should not be offended at will. Otherwise, not only the future will be in danger, but even his life will be in danger. Now I can see why kirilov is acting so impolite.


    "Comrade oshanina," sherov asked politely, looking at me, "I''m here. I don''t affect you, do I?"


    "No impact, no impact." I hastily and respectfully replied, "our meeting is over, and it''s about to end." After that, without waiting for him to say anything more, I told the commanders at the table, "OK, go back to your respective units immediately and get ready for battle."


    "Yes Several commanders agreed in good order, then they went around the table, across the hall and left the church.


    "Comrade Deputy people''s commissar," after I asked Xie Luofu to sit down, I respectfully asked, "do you have anything important to do when you are here today?"


    Sherov waved to the heavily armed commanders and fighters standing behind him. When they saw his gesture, they immediately turned around and walked out through the hall with neat troops, leaving only one lieutenant commander standing in the same place. It seemed that he might be his adjutant or something.


    Sherov then said to me, "Comrade oshanina, I''d like to explain my current position. I''m the plenipotentiary representative of the Ministry of interior in the Belarusian front army. I am entrusted by Comrade Stalin to supervise the implementation of your attack on moziri tomorrow. "


    I can''t help but look a little silly when I hear sheroff say that. I thought a little-known campaign like moziri kalinkovich would not attract the attention of any big man at all. But now I find that the actual situation is quite different from what I thought. Stalin even sent the second leader of the Ministry of internal affairs. If the attack goes well, it goes without saying; If I lose the attack, I don''t know if he will directly order my dismissal?


    Think of here, I feel my scalp numb, a chill from the back, the chill spread quickly, and soon surrounded my whole body. I sat in my seat in a daze without saying a word, so that I didn''t hear sharov even call me twice. It was kirilov who pulled my sleeve so hard that I woke up from my meditation.


    Kirilov saw me staring at him blankly and said to me in a low voice, "Rita, comrade sheroff has something to say to you."


    I quickly turned to look at sharov again. After a smile on my face, I asked, "Comrade Deputy people''s commissar, do you have any advice?"


    "I can''t tell you," sheroff said politely. "I just want to know your battle plan for tomorrow, so that I can have a clear idea."


    "No problem, no problem. I''ll introduce you now." I heard that he just wanted to know about the battle plan, so he quickly introduced the plan to him in detail, and finally said, "in order to facilitate the command, general belov will come here before the battle starts tomorrow, and go to command with me."


    "I understand." When sheroff finished, he raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he asked me, "Comrade oshanina, do you have a place to rest here? I''ve been all day and all night trying to find a place to sleep


    "Yes, there are many dormitories in the basement where you can rest." After I finished, without waiting for sherov to say anything, I immediately told bzikov, "chief of staff, please take the Deputy people''s commissar and his subordinates to the basement."


    Bezikov nodded, then stood up, went to sheroff''s side, made a please sign, politely said: "Comrade Deputy people''s commissar, please follow me!"


    Sheroff said to me, "well, comrade oshanina, I''ll see you tomorrow morning." After that, he got up, took his adjutant and followed bezikov to the basement.


    After a few people left, I turned to look at kirilov and found that his forehead was covered with cold sweat. I couldn''t help asking with concern, "Comrade military commissar, what''s the matter with you? What''s the matter with your forehead?"


    Kirilov raised his hand, wiped the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve, then asked me with a wry smile, "Rita, have you ever heard of sheroff before?"


    Speaking of the Ministry of internal affairs, the first thing I think of is belia, and this cheroff is covered by his light, which is normal for me not to know. I honestly replied, "no, comrade military commissar, I have never heard of him."


    "While there are only two of us here, I''ll tell you about him." Kirilov didn''t see what kind of reaction I had, so he said to himself: "sheroff was a soldier. After graduating from the Military Academy of vorongze, he was not assigned to the army, but to the people''s Committee at home and abroad. There, he got belia''s respect, and since then, he has made a rapid progress. After leaving the army, he first became the director of the general police department of the Ministry of the interior, and soon was transferred to Ukraine to become a member of the Ukrainian internal and external personnel.


    In Kiev, he built a close relationship with Khrushchev. Soon, he became friends with Zhukov, the new commander of Kiev special military region. Two weeks after his transfer to Kiev, China declared war on Poland and incorporated western Ukraine into the territory of the Soviet Union. He was responsible for leading the institutions of the Ministry of interior to eliminate anti Soviet elements in the new states.


    Their main task is to establish and imprison Polish prisoners, and to search and arrest Polish officers, police, political activists, intellectuals and all well-known people. We need to know that it has been nearly 20 years in our country to achieve the final goal of eliminating counter revolutionaries. Obviously, it can not take so long in those newly merged states.


    In addition to the Polish reactionary officers who were executed in a certain place, many poles arrested by the Ministry of interior were directly executed in prisons in western Ukraine. Because of his outstanding performance, after working in Ukraine for one and a half years, he was recalled to Moscow and appointed as the first deputy people''s member of the National Security Council. Later, after the merger of the people''s Committee for internal affairs and the people''s Committee for national security, he was appointed Vice people''s member. "


    What kirilov told me scared me out in a cold sweat. Although kirilov didn''t know where the Polish officers were slaughtered, I knew that Katyn was near Smolensk, where we had been stationed. I didn''t expect that this tall, polite looking man was responsible for such a massacre. No wonder kirilov just sat with him for a while and was scared out in a cold sweat. I don''t understand what Stalin thought, why he suddenly sent such a man to me, and there was no prior information. As soon as I thought of it, the telephone on my desk suddenly rang. I picked up the topic and pasted it in my ear. I asked aloud, "Hello, where are you?"¡° Rita, I''m rokosovsky From the receiver came rokosovsky''s familiar voice, "has Comrade sharov come to you?"¡° Yes, Comrade General. " When I heard rokosovsky''s question, I replied respectfully: "he arrived half an hour ago. I reported to him the battle plan for tomorrow, and now he has gone to rest." After I finished, rokosovsky said with some regret, "I''m sorry, Rita. I didn''t know the superior would send him to you suddenly, so I didn''t have time to inform you. Don''t worry. Although his position is very high, he is still a reasonable person. I believe you will get along well. " Since Stalin sent me a supervisor, if I was not satisfied, I would have to accept it. Otherwise, if someone made a report about me and said that I was resentful, I would not be able to bear it. At the moment, hearing the reminder from rokosovsky, I can only say with a puffy face: "don''t worry, senior general, I will do a good job in communication with comrades of the vice people''s Committee to ensure the smooth progress of the battle to capture moziri tomorrow."¡° Are you ready for the attack? " Asked rokosovsky uneasily¡° Please rest assured, senior general, "I assured rokosovsky with confidence," my troops are ready for all battles. As soon as the time comes, they can launch an attack on moziri immediately. "¡° How sure are you? "¡° At least 70% of the time. " I feel a little confident when I think that our army is superior in strength. However, in order to prevent something unexpected from happening, I said cautiously: "as long as the enemy in the North doesn''t make any small moves, we can try our best to win moziri."¡° Good, good. " Hearing that I was so confident, rokosovsky said with satisfaction: "then I am here waiting for the good news of your victory. Good luck

 Chapter 1423

    Our plan for the attack on moziri was to launch a heavy artillery attack on the German peripheral defensive positions at 6 a.m., and after an hour''s artillery preparation, the infantry would attack from four directions of the city at the same time.


    Belov arrived at my headquarters before four o''clock. As soon as he got to the door, I heard his hearty laughter. I quickly got up to greet him and said politely, "welcome, general Batov. Welcome to my headquarters."


    Belov took my hand and said excitedly: "Comrade oshanina, for more than half a month, our troops have been unable to launch an attack on moziri alone because of the shortage of soldiers and ammunition, so they have to stay in the trenches and confront the enemy. The thought of launching a general attack on moziri''s enemies today made me too excited to sleep, so I came here early. "


    After I asked him to sit down at the table, I poured a cup of hot tea from the teapot on the table and put it in front of him. I politely said, "Comrade General, it''s too cold outside. You must be very cold after driving so far. Come on, have a cup of hot tea to warm up. "


    Batov took the cup in the silver cup holder, sipped it gently and asked, "how are you, comrade oshanina? Are you ready?"


    "Yes, they are all ready, Comrade General." I thought of the new tank and artillery troops. Before I could report them to him, I took this opportunity to say, "there''s another thing I haven''t reported to you. Last night, the Fifth Army of the close guard tank and several artillery regiments arrived. In this way, we can be more fully prepared for the fire before the attack. "


    Hearing this news, Batov opened his mouth a little unexpectedly and asked in surprise, "what do you say, the Fifth Army of the close guard tank is here, and how many other artillery regiments are there?"


    "That''s right," I nodded, and answered positively, "in addition to replenishing enough ammunition, we have tank troops and a number of artillery regiments."


    "Great, that''s great..."


    "What''s great?" Before belov finished speaking, a voice came from the side and asked, "can I share your good news?"


    I turned my head and saw cheroff coming out of the room leading to the basement. He quickly stood up from his seat, straightened his back, and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade Deputy people''s Commissar. The battle doesn''t start until six o''clock. Why don''t you sleep a little longer? "


    Sheroff waved to me and said with a smile, "I can''t sleep, so I got up early to have a look. Besides, in the past, when there was a big war, I didn''t sleep for a few days and nights, which was a common practice. " Then he looked at belov sitting beside me and asked curiously, "who is the general next to you?"


    "Comrade sharov, let me introduce you." According to Russian tradition, I first introduce people with higher status to those with lower level, "this is general belov of the 65th group army command."


    Later, I introduced to belov: "Comrade General, this is Comrade Xie Luofu, vice people''s member of the Ministry of interior. He is the plenipotentiary representative of the Ministry of interior to the front army. This time, he was under the command of the Supreme Commander himself to supervise and understand our implementation of the moziri strategy. "


    After listening to my introduction, bilov showed an embarrassed expression on his face, but he still took the initiative to extend his hand to Xie Luo Fu and said politely: "Hello, comrade Deputy people''s commissar, although you have been working in the headquarters of the front army for a long time, I have never seen you since I have been commanding operations outside."


    "General belov, I see you for the first time, too." "I hope our cooperation this time can be a good start," sheroff said politely


    After the two exchanged greetings, everyone took a seat again. Bizikov poured a cup of hot tea and put it in front of sherov. Then he said in a respectful tone, "Comrade Deputy people''s commissar, the battle will start in two hours. Do you need me to report to you the preparations of the troops again?"


    Cheroff, holding the teacup in both hands, leaned back on the back of his chair, nodded and said, "well, there''s nothing wrong now, comrade colonel. Please give me a detailed introduction to the combat deployment."


    "All right, comrade Deputy people''s Commissar." Bezikov told shirov about our combat deployment in a servile manner. He even gave a detailed report on some problems that he might encounter in the battle and how to deal with them.


    Bezikov talked on and on, sherov listened with interest, but my eyelids began to fight. But for the sake of politeness, I still tried to refresh myself by drinking cup after cup of black tea, so as not to doze off by the boring report.


    At the end of bezikov''s report, sharov nodded with satisfaction and then said to me, "Comrade oshanina, it seems that you have done a good job in preparation. I believe you will achieve satisfactory results in today''s battle."


    After muttering in my heart, I said with a smile: "Comrade Deputy people''s commissar, I believe my soldiers will be very brave in the battle. No matter how strong the fortifications of the enemy are, they will not be able to resist the attack launched by our brave soldiers."


    After I said these words that gave me goose bumps, I saw that sheroff seemed to be very helpful and nodded his head. He then said, "Comrade oshanina, I have heard many people mention you on different occasions, saying that you are a very excellent commander. According to my observation, I think their evaluation of you is very impressive. I will continue to stay with you and report the good news to the supreme commander in chief as soon as you take moziri Sheroff''s understatement of these words, let me feel Alexander. Although we have an advantage in both military strength and equipment, who can say clearly about the war? What should we do if there is any accident after the full-scale attack and our attack is frustrated? However, seeing the expectation in shirov''s eyes, I could only harden my head and say, "don''t worry, comrade Deputy people''s commissar, in the face of our attack, moziri''s defenders can''t hold on. It''s only a matter of time before we can liberate this city enslaved by the Communist aggressors. " After listening to my statement, sherov asked with great interest, "Comrade oshanina, how long will it take to liberate this besieged city?" I turned to bezikov and wanted to get the answer from him. Bzikov, seeing me staring at him, secretly held out two fingers. When I saw the number he had compared, I was stunned and instinctively widened my eyes. But when he saw my reaction, he nodded slightly, indicating that the number he said was correct. I was looking over at sharov and said in a firm tone, "Comrade Deputy people''s commissar, our officers and men of the sixth group army of the close guard are sure to win moziri in 20 hours!" As for my reply, sharov nodded with satisfaction, and then said, "Comrade oshanina, since you are so confident, I will immediately report the good news to the supreme commander."

 Chapter 1424

    Sherov was a man who did what he said. After he said this, he took his adjutant and went to the radio station to send a message to Stalin.


    While sharov was away, belov asked me nervously, "Comrade oshanina, will he be with us when we fight later?"


    "Yes, general belov." I said rather reluctantly, "since he is sent by the supreme commander to supervise the execution of the campaign, I don''t think he will leave until the end of the battle."


    "Comrade commander," as soon as I finished, bzikov rushed to me and asked anxiously, "why do you say we can solve the battle in twenty hours?"


    "Ah?" I was stunned to hear what bzikov asked, but then I asked, "didn''t you just give me a sign that the battle can be solved in 20 hours?"


    After I finished, bezikov said with tears and laughter, "I''m telling you that moziri''s enemies can be solved in two days. Who knows you misunderstood it as 20 hours."


    "What about that?" I asked bzikov in some confusion: "otherwise, we should tell Comrade sharov that we have just made a mistake. It is not 20 hours to solve the battle, but two days to solve the battle."


    Bezikov looked behind me, then sighed and said softly, "it''s too late, comrade commander. I see that the Deputy people''s commissar has finished sending telegrams and is coming towards us."


    I turned to see that cheroff was coming towards us with a smile on his face. When he approached, I asked tentatively, "Comrade Deputy people''s commissar, your telegram to the Supreme Commander himself has been sent out?"


    "Yes, it has been sent out." Sheroff nodded and said, "it''s up to you next."


    When I heard that the telegram had been sent out, I knew that it was done. Even if I wanted to change my words, I would not have a chance. I had no choice but to say, "don''t worry, comrade Deputy people''s commissar, I will never let Comrade Stalin down."


    ¡­¡­


    Ten minutes before our shelling began, bzikov stood up and said to us, "comrades, our preparations for the enemy''s defensive positions are about to begin. Can we go to the bell tower now?"


    "Comrade Deputy people''s commissar," I saw that after hearing these words from bezikov, Xie Luo Fu still couldn''t recover. He quickly explained to him, "we can see the progress of the battle on the clock tower."


    When sheroff understood what was going on, he said, "in that case, let''s go up to the clock tower."


    Due to the small area of the clock tower, the last people standing on it were me, sherov, belov and bezikov, as well as a operator with a telephone. It was so cold on the clock tower that I had to put up the collar of my army coat against the cold wind from all directions.


    At this time, our radio station has established contact with the military headquarters. The first report to me is major general sivakov: "Comrade commander, the 22nd army of the guards is ready!"


    "Comrades commander," then reported to general tavartkiraze, "all the commanders and fighters of the 23rd army of our close guard are ready for battle."


    "Comrade commander, all the tank brigades of the tank army have entered their respective attack positions." Don''t worry, ray reported¡° Prepare to provide the infantry with the necessary artillery support when they launch an impact! "


    The last report to me was artillery commander povsky: "Comrade commander, the artillery is ready and ready to fire."


    After listening to the reports of the armies, sharov and I raised our binoculars and looked into the distance. Unfortunately, because the light is too dim, I can only see the faint outline of the highland from the telescope. After looking at it for a while, sharov put down his telescope and asked me, "Comrade oshanina, with such poor visibility, can our artillery accurately hit the enemy''s position?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade Deputy people''s Commissar." I replied with a smile: "our artillery observers have carried out a detailed survey in recent days and marked the places to be shelled on the map in detail. No matter how dark the light is, our artillery can accurately hit the target according to the data provided by the observer. "


    "Comrade commander, there is one last minute left." Bezikov reminded me suddenly behind me.


    Cheroff raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he looked up at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, it''s a pity to break such a quiet dawn."


    I also raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I said to sheroff with a smile, "Comrade Deputy people''s commissar, in order to destroy the enemy, we always have to break it. Now it''s time. " With that, I raised my hand to bezikov and said, "go ahead, chief of staff!"


    "The commander ordered shelling of the German peripheral positions." At my command, bzikov said to the microphone, "go ahead, general povsky!"


    With the order of bezikov, hundreds of cannons deployed in two directions northeast of moziri opened fire. The huge roar broke the silence of the cold winter morning, and the enemy''s defensive positions were covered with fire and smoke.


    After the shelling lasted an hour, it suddenly stopped. I heard bzikov shouting behind him: "comrades, the shelling is over. Let the troops attack!" General bere, when the infantry attack the enemy''s highlands, you can let the tanks of the tank brigade push forward to provide them with artillery cover and destroy the surviving German firepower points. "


    Not long after bezikov''s voice disappeared, several red flares rose in the air. Belov explained to him behind sherov, "Comrade Deputy people''s commissar, do you see the red signal bomb? That''s our signal of attack, and you will soon see thousands of officers and men rushing bravely towards the enemy occupied highlands from their own hidden trenches. "


    As the church is in the east of the city, we can only see the 22nd army of the guards. With the rise of the signal bomb, the four divisions in the east of the city launched a fierce attack on the enemy''s position. On the far left is major general baksov''s 67th division, in the middle is colonel babashin''s 71st division, and on the far right is Chernoff''s 90th division. The 77th division of the guards of major general askarepov followed the three divisions and rushed to the enemy''s defensive positions.


    Since the soldiers had launched an attack, I raised my telescope and looked nervously at the situation on the battlefield. At this time, the sky was slightly bright, and the fire was still burning in the highland ahead, so that I could see clearly how the commanders and fighters were advancing. In order to improve their speed, the soldiers rushed straight forward, striving to reach the enemy''s high ground as soon as possible. Heavy machine gunners and mortars, however, were trailing Maxim heavy machine guns or carrying mortars far behind.


    The place where our army attacked was about two kilometers from the enemy''s high ground. Seeing that the commanders and fighters were getting closer and closer to the highland, but there was no movement on the highland, sharov could not help frowning. He seemed to talk to himself and asked me, "what''s the matter? Why didn''t the enemy fight back? Were they all wiped out by our cannons in the shelling?"


    But I have always maintained a high degree of vigilance, because according to my experience, the Germans did not fight back. They must want to fight again when our army is close, so that they can cause great casualties to our army.


    Sure enough, when our troops were still more than 100 meters away from the high ground, the German machine guns, submachine guns and rifles fired together, causing the front commanders and fighters to fall down in unison, while the back ones fell down on the spot to find a place to hide. The heavy machine gunners and mortars, who followed behind, quickly searched for suitable positions, built machine gun or mortar positions, and prepared to suppress the German fire.


    I quickly turned around, grabbed the microphone of the telephone and yelled, "Hello! Hello! General berey? Immediately order your tanks to fire, destroy the resurrected fire points, and cover our infantry to rush to the high ground. "


    When the tanks deployed in the highland front opened fire, the exposed fire points were destroyed one by one. The German troops in the trenches were also overwhelmed by our tank fire and heavy machine gun fire. At this time, I saw a commander in a cornice hat get up from the ground, raise his pistol high above his head, turn around and shout something to the soldiers. When he turned and rushed to the top of the hillside, countless soldiers on the ground also stood up and rushed up with him.


    Seeing our commanders and fighters flooding over the highland, sharov put down his telescope, turned to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, did you see the commander just now? It is because of his courage that our troops can rush up to the enemy''s high ground so quickly. When the battle is over, I''ll meet the commander and have a good talk with him. "


    I can''t laugh or cry at sheroff''s whim proposal. I can''t say that it''s so far away and the light is dark. I don''t know who the other party is at all. Even if you know who it is, it''s useless. As soon as the battle starts, you can''t say clearly that he died in the next battle. However, I couldn''t refute Xie Luofu''s face in public, so I had to say vaguely, "well, comrade Deputy people''s commissar, as soon as the battle is over, I''ll bring this commander to see you."


    However, as soon as I finished speaking, sharov waved his hand and said, "you can''t wait until the end of the battle. You''d better call the commanders at the front line now and ask them who is the commander who first rushed to the enemy''s high ground?"


    "All right." Since cheroff has made a request, I can''t refute him, so I have to follow his instructions. I turned around and said to bzikov, "chief of staff, the section just now is in the charge of the 71st division of the guards. You call Colonel babashin and ask him if you can see who is the first commander to rush to the high ground?"


    "Yes After hearing my order, bzikov immediately asked the operator to answer the 71st division of the guards, and then asked aloud, "Hello! Colonel babashin? I''m bzikov. Comrade commander, let me ask you, who was the first commander who just rushed to the enemy''s high ground What, you didn''t see clearly I''ll give you ten minutes to find out who the commander is! "


    ¡­¡­


    Under the fierce attack launched by our commanders and fighters, the German army fell one by one in the peripheral highlands. When he saw that general berey had a passage made of wood, povsky lost his breath. He called me to ask for instructions and said, "Comrade commander, since the tank army has gone up, should our artillery move forward a little?"


    "How do I move?" I asked, puzzled¡° I let the artillery advance along the road laid by the tank army to the high ground, and set up new artillery positions on the hillside, so that we can attack the remaining German fortifications from a commanding position. " After hearing this, I felt that his proposal was not bad, so I nodded and agreed: "OK, general povsky, just do as you said, but you need to deploy a lot of artillery from two artillery regiments on the high ground to provide artillery support for our offensive forces!" The tanks went up and the cannons were deployed at the commanding heights. The remaining German fortifications outside the city were vulnerable. By noon, the commanders from all directions had heard that some of their own troops had rushed into the city and started a fierce street fight with the German army. When he heard that some troops were rushing into the city, sharov''s tense face showed a smile. He nodded with satisfaction and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, a few hours ago, you told me that I was still a little skeptical that the battle could be solved within 20 hours. But now the battle is progressing so smoothly that it may not take 20 hours, You can get rid of all the enemies in the city. " Sharov standing beside me, let me have a kind of binding feeling. Seeing his happy mood at the moment, I took the opportunity to say: "Comrade Deputy people''s commissar, the clock tower is windy. You''d better go downstairs to have a rest and have a cup of hot tea to warm up. Do you think so? " After listening to me, sharov immediately agreed, "OK, I''ll wait for your victory in the headquarters downstairs. In fact, even if you don''t say it, I''m going to go down. " He gave me a sly wink and said in a low voice, "I''m here. Maybe you''ve been uncomfortable. So I''d better go down early so as not to be annoying The next battle went very smoothly. The German army had less than two divisions left in moziri, and most of them were deployed in the peripheral positions. Under the attack of our artillery and infantry, they had already suffered heavy losses. The rest of the troops in the city can not withstand the repeated attacks of more than a dozen divisions. By 4 p.m., the gunfire became sparse, and the German army in the city began to lay down their arms and surrender to our army. A bright red military flag was planted on the highest building in the center of moziri, declaring that the city, which had been enslaved by the German army, was back in our hands.

 Chapter 1425

    The campaign of moziri kalinkovich, under my command, ended successfully in less than a week. According to the data reported to the front army, we destroyed and defeated 11 German divisions and captured more than 4000 people.


    At first glance, it was a great victory, wiping out so many enemies and liberating two cities occupied by the German army for two years. But only in my heart can I understand that such a victory will be greatly reduced. Several German divisions have been severely reduced after several other group armies have fought in turn. Some companies have only 10 or 20 men left. It''s very good that a division with 15000 men can have 4000 left. Almost all of the German troops that were destroyed or defeated by us were in this situation, and there was no comparison with the victory that the German troops would destroy or capture hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops.


    However, in any case, to liberate moziri and kalinkovic is still popular with the higher authorities. Stalin and rokosovsky called me one after another to congratulate me on my victory. Stalin also told me that the next task of our group army is to build a defense in the newly liberated areas and prevent the German army from launching a possible counterattack.


    After the end of the campaign, the 61st group army of belov, the 65th group army of Batov, and the 11th group army without leaders were all transferred from our existing areas. In this case, I had to readjust the part, with major general tavartkilaze''s close guard 23rd army in charge of the defense of the newly recovered city of moziri; The 22nd army of general sivakov''s guards were all transferred back to kalinkovich and took over the defense from general Batov''s forces.


    After all the troops entered their respective defensive positions, I held a meeting in the church in the east of moziri, attended by all the commanders above division and brigade level, to discuss and study the next work focus of the group army.


    After two days of separation, chisjakov sat down beside me again, looked around and said with emotion, "Comrade commander, I didn''t expect that we would meet again so soon. I thought it would take at least ten days and a half months. "


    Bzikov couldn''t help laughing at what he said. "Comrade deputy commander, you have no confidence in our commander. Let alone a small city like moziri, even a big city like Kharkov and Belgorod, it took her only a few days to liberate the city from the clutches of the German army. "


    Several leaders of our group army are sitting around the long conference table used for commanding operations, and there are many benches in the middle of the hall specially for the commanders who come to the conference. While we were chatting, from time to time, the teachers or political commissars of various divisions came, and akhromeyev, who was in charge of reception, took them to the designated positions.


    Seeing that the benches below were almost full of people, bzikov came close to me and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, I think the people are almost here. Let''s have a meeting!"


    I took a look at the commanders in the hall below, then nodded my head and said, "well, comrade chief of staff, please announce the meeting."


    With my permission, bezikov stood up and clapped his hands. The commanders who were sitting below and chatting with each other were suddenly quiet. Everyone turned their eyes on bezikov and heard what to say.


    Seeing that there was no one to speak, bzikov cleared his throat and said, "comrades commander, let''s have a meeting now. First of all, let''s invite comrades commander to speak. Welcome!" Then he took the lead in clapping.


    I stood up in a warm applause, raised my hands and pressed them down. When the hall became quiet again, I said, "Hello, commanders! To call you here today, first of all, to sum up our achievements and lessons in this campaign; The second is to discuss the focus of the group army''s next work.


    First of all, I would like to talk about our achievements in this campaign: we defeated and annihilated 11 German divisions and captured more than 4000 people.... "


    As soon as I said that, I was interrupted by the applause of the storm. Although the commanders here are all participants in this campaign, and even some of them are independent commanders in their own directions. They know that we have won the final victory, but they don''t know much about what kind of results we have achieved. At this moment, hearing the data I said, you can''t help clapping.


    After the applause stopped, I went on to say, "maybe you think this victory is very remarkable. Do you think the small campaign we launched is even more successful than the campaign that used millions of troops? Are you right? "


    After I finished this sentence, I stopped to listen to the response of the commander below. After listening for a while, only a few people said "yes!" Most people are still silent.


    "I''m not right." I went on to say, "on the surface, there are as many as eleven enemy divisions that have been wiped out by us, but how many are actually wiped out by us?" When I finished, I saw that no one was answering, so I asked myself, "less than 30000 people! Why are there so few enemies to annihilate? It''s because they were greatly consumed by other troops under the command of commander rokosovsky in the early fighting, and we were only defeated by some disabled soldiers, so we can win moziri and kalinkovic so easily. If all the German troops are fully equipped, we can''t defeat them with our strength without half a month to a month. "


    I saw tawalter killazer in the front row frowning slightly and looking at me with a puzzled look. It seemed strange why I said this to you. I was silent for a moment, and then said: "comrades, the reason why I say this to you is that I am afraid that some commanders will be complacent and despise the enemy after winning such a victory. I''m here to remind you that the enemy is not a paper tiger. If you despise it, you may be bitten at any time. The reason why general Batov''s troops were beaten to the ground by the German army is related to the despising sentiment of commanders at all levels after their successive victories. I don''t want the same tragedy to be repeated in my troops. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" The commanders below answered in unison.


    When I sat down, bezikov stood up again and said, "comrades, now the campaign of moziri kalinkovich has come to a successful end, and our army has won the final victory. According to the latest orders from the higher authorities, the next task of our group army is to build fortifications in the existing areas and prepare for the new offensive that may be launched by the German army. "


    "In addition to what the chief of staff said, I want to mention one more thing." As soon as bezikov finished, kirilov stood up and said unexpectedly, "I believe all commanders know that after the fierce battle, both moziri and kalinkovic are almost in ruins. In order to prevent the displacement of our people, the next task of our group army is to build fortifications while deploying manpower to help local residents rebuild their homes. "


    When I heard kirilov talk about helping the residents rebuild their homes, I knew that this might become a focus of our next work. I stood up and echoed: "Comrade military commissar is right. Since we have rescued our people from the enemy''s clutches, we should help them rebuild their homes as soon as possible."


    Having said that, I organized some words in my mind, then turned to kirilov and said, "Comrade military commissar, I think a temporary committee should be set up to help residents rebuild their homes, restore railway transportation, and restart factories. You will be the person in charge. Several commanders and I are your deputies to assist you in urban reconstruction. What do you think? "


    "I have no problem." Kirilov was very happy to see that I agreed with him. He looked down and asked, "do you have any different opinions?"


    After his words, tavartkilaze, who was the first to speak, said in a loud voice, "I have no opinion. I firmly obey the orders of the commander and the military commissar!"


    After he made his statement, sivakov, bezikov, povsky and others were not willing to be outdone. They responded one after another: "we have no opinions and resolutely obey the orders issued by the leaders of the group army."


    ¡­¡­


    After the meeting, several commanders at the rank of commander stayed behind to join us in the discussion on how to rebuild the city. After repeating what he said at the meeting, kirilov asked the commanders, "do you have any good ideas? If so, just say it. Even if it''s wrong, the commander and I won''t blame you. "


    After kirilov''s words were over, the first one to be agreed this time was commander sivakov of the 22nd army of the guards. He looked at kirilov and me again, and said, "we did urban reconstruction when we were in Smolensk, and the commanders and fighters all have experience. However, the two cities have become ruins in the fighting. If they want to be rebuilt, they should first dispatch people to clean up the ruins. As you know, the workload of clearing up the ruins is very huge. In the absence of heavy machinery, even if we use one or two divisions and spend one or two months, we may not be able to complete the work of clearing up the ruins. On the contrary, it may affect the construction of fortifications because of the deployment of too many manpower. "


    Sivakov''s words made everyone silent. After a long time, kirilov said: "now it''s getting colder and colder, and it''s going to be the coldest month soon. If the residents don''t have a place to live, when the cold current arrives, there will be a large-scale freezing situation, which we absolutely can''t allow."


    When I saw kirilov''s words, the scene became awkward again, and I quickly came out to make it over: "who has any good way to solve the current problem?"


    "Comrade commander, can I have a word?" Asked akhromeyev, who was standing by.


    "Major, if you have any ideas, just let me know." Although akhromeyev''s rank is relatively low, I think he is a very flexible person, otherwise in a few years, he will not become the defense minister of the Soviet Union, so I looked at him and said, "let''s hear whether your ideas are applicable."


    "What general sivakov said just now is to build temporary houses for the residents after clearing the ruins." Akhromeyev asked politely, looking at sivakov. After seeing the other side nodding in agreement, he continued: "if you do this, it will waste a lot of manpower and time. What we have to do now is to give the homeless residents a place to spend the winter in the shortest time. "


    "Yes, that''s it." Tavartkilaze urged: "major, if you have any good ideas, just say them quickly. Don''t make us feel like this." Akhromeyev smiles and then says, "we can clean up the ruins of the square, build simple temporary houses there, and settle some residents first. Secondly, for those buildings that have not completely collapsed and can still live in, we can resettle some residents after a simple cleaning... "Akhromeyev talked about his ideas endlessly. Seeing that all the people were nodding in agreement, I couldn''t help saying with emotion: it seems that I let akhromeyev speak, What a right decision. After akhromeyev explained his point of view, I asked the commanders with a smile, "do you understand what the major said?"¡° I understand. " Several people answered neatly. I waited for them to finish, and then I began to arrange work: "two guards, each drawing out a division, to build fortifications in the north of the city; The tank army dispatched manpower to assist the railway workers sent by the higher authorities to repair the railway damaged by the German army. We should try our best to restore the railway transportation between us and the rear in the shortest time. As for the city, according to major akhromeyev, we should first build some temporary houses on the square to accommodate some homeless residents; In addition, we will send engineers to clean up and maintain the buildings that still can live in... "After I explained the matter to several people, I waved to them and said," now that the task is clear, you should go back to your respective troops immediately and carry out the order I gave you. "

 Chapter 1426

    Early the next morning, rokosovsky called me. He asked with concern, "Rita, what are your troops doing now? Have you started building the fortifications?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." Hearing his question, I immediately replied respectfully, "I have ordered the two commanders of the 22nd and 23rd armies of the guards to deploy one division each to build fortifications in the north of the city."


    "What, one division each?" When I said that, rokosovsky raised his voice and asked, "what''s the matter with you? It is clear that there are eight divisions, as well as tank troops and so many artillery troops. Why only two divisions are deployed to build fortifications? What about the rest of the troops? What are they doing? "


    I know rokosovsky''s character. If I interrupt him when he is talking, he will be furious, so I listen to his rebuke quietly. After he finished, I said, "senior general, please listen to me. Although only two divisions were building fortifications, the rest were not idle. Most of them help the residents clean up the ruins in the city and build temporary houses for them to spend the winter; For the other part, I will send them to assist the railway workers you sent to repair the railway damaged by the German army, so that the railway traffic in the rear can be restored this morning. "


    After listening to my explanation, rokosovsky was silent for a moment, and then asked, "it''s right to help the residents rebuild their homes, but have you put in too many troops? If you don''t finish the fortification as soon as possible, you will be very passive once the German army goes south


    "Don''t worry, senior general. I know this well." In order to prevent rokosovsky from forcibly ordering me to deploy more troops to build useless fortifications, I specially explained: "the enemy has just suffered a disastrous defeat and will not take the initiative to attack us in the short term. Secondly, there are already ready-made fortifications outside the cities of moziri and kalinkovic. Our troops only need to reinforce and perfect these fortifications, and there is no need to send too many troops to them. "


    "The Germans are not reconciled to their failure." After listening to what I said, rokosovsky said in a discontented tone: "how do you know that they will not go south in the near future and compete with you again for moziri and kalinkovic? You know, after our army captured Kiev, it was because we belittled the enemy and did not pursue the victory. As a result, the German counterattack appeared passive everywhere at the beginning, so that the German almost occupied the city again. "


    I happened to be a participant in what rokosovsky said. Because he found it difficult to stop the German army''s counterattack, vatukin was once idle by Stalin, and was replaced by rokosovsky when he came. Until the whole war situation improved, vatukin was able to return to his position as commander.


    However, at one time and another, when our army captured Kiev, it failed to eliminate the main German forces, so they could carry out a crazy counter attack. Today, the situation in moziri kalinkovic is quite different. First, our army has accumulated a lot of troops here. Second, there is no strategic value here. The German army does not invest too many troops here.


    After waiting for rokosovsky to finish, I explained in detail what I thought in my heart, and finally said: "senior general, in addition to the reason I just mentioned, it''s because the new year is coming and the German Christmas is coming. They think they are thinking about the festival now; In addition, the weather is getting colder and colder, and it''s not suitable for the movement of the big Corps. That''s why I dare to predict boldly that the Germans will not attack us in the short term. "


    "Oh, it''s almost new year!" After I reminded him that new year''s day, the most important festival in Russia, was coming. After a pause, rokosovsky said, "it seems that I want the logistics department to deliver more supplies to you, so that the commanders and soldiers and the residents of the city can have a happy new year."


    When I heard that rokosovsky was going to prepare new year''s gifts for you, I couldn''t help arousing my curiosity. Then I asked, "Comrade General, I don''t know what you are going to provide for us?"


    "Mainly chocolate, beef, pork and flour." Rokosovsky, after saying that he was going to deliver the goods to us, specially explained, "chocolate is an indispensable gift for the new year. Beef and pork are for you to make dumplings. It''s new year''s day. How can soldiers and residents have a meal of Siberian Dumplings? "


    "Thank you, thank you, senior general." I was overjoyed to hear that rokosovsky was going to send us so many good things. I expressed my gratitude to him.


    When I put down the phone, kirilov next to me asked tentatively, "Rita, does Comrade rokosovsky say that he is going to provide us with the materials we need for the new year?"


    "Yes, comrade military Commissar." I said to him with a smile, "the senior general said that chocolate and meat were included in the supplies provided for us. Let everyone have chocolate and authentic Siberian Dumplings in the new year. "


    "Siberian Dumplings." When akhromeyev heard what I said, he couldn''t help interrupting: "the last time I ate dumplings was in the battle of Stalingrad. How time flies! More than a year has passed in a flash. "


    I looked down at kirilov and said to him, "Comrade military commissar, you are solely responsible for making dumplings. You should make sure that all people can eat dumplings." At this point, I stopped and tried to recall in my mind the Siberian Dumplings that kirilov had introduced to me before, adding, "I remember you once said that dumplings must be frozen before cooking. Freezing before cooking makes dumplings juicy and delicious, so everyone likes to eat them. Also, dumplings are usually cooked in chicken or beef soup, and they are eaten with sour cream


    "That''s right, that''s right," kirilov said with a smile. "You have a good memory, Rita. You remember what I''ve said for so long."


    Chisgakov stood up and asked me to take the initiative, saying: "Comrade commander, there are only a few days left before the new year. In order to make every resident in the city and our soldiers eat chocolate and dumplings on time, I ask you to let me supervise the repair work of the railway. Only by resuming the railway transportation between us and the rear can we transport the rear materials to us more quickly. "


    I am very satisfied with the initiative of chisgakov. As long as he takes the initiative, I believe the speed of railway repair can be greatly improved. So I nodded and told him, "well, comrade deputy commander, I''ll give you full responsibility for railway repair. It''s better to finish before the 29th or the 30th, otherwise it''s estimated that the materials will not be met on time. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." "We have sent so many troops to cooperate with the railway workers that we believe we can complete the project within the time limit you set," he assured me


    Seeing the figure of chisjakov''s departure, I suddenly thought that I had forgotten one thing. I said to kirilov, "Comrade military commissar, I have forgotten one important thing."


    "What''s the matter?" Kirilov looked a little nervous when he saw my serious face.


    "Well," I said to kirilov, pointing to the map in front of me, "although we have occupied the cities of moziri and kalinkovich, we still don''t know how many residents there are in the city. If we don''t figure out the number of people, I''m afraid there will be mistakes when distributing materials. "


    "That''s what you''re worried about!" After kirilov found out what I was worried about, he said with a relaxed expression: "I''ve organized people to check the population of the two cities these two days, and then I can get accurate data."


    "You can''t be busy by yourself." Although kirilov was able to get the assistance of the personnel sent by the divisions when he arrived in the city, I didn''t trust him to go alone, so I specially said, "I''ll send you another assistant."


    Kirilov didn''t refuse my kindness. Instead, he nodded in silence. Then he sat by and waited patiently for me to assign his deputy.


    My eyes first fell on bzikov. As soon as he saw that I was looking at him, he quickly stepped forward two steps and said, "Comrade commander, let me finish this task."


    I thought about it, then shook my head and said, "no, comrade chief of staff, although I believe in your ability, you are not the right person. You have more important things to do in the headquarters, so you can''t be sent."


    "Who is the right person to send?" Asked bezikov, who was refused by me.


    After scanning the room, my eyes fell on akhromeyev, who was standing not far away. I pointed to him and said, "I plan to send major akhromeyev. He has been working with comrades of the military commissar for a long time. I believe they will cooperate with each other."


    "That''s right," kirilov said, turning his head to ahlomeyev. "The major is a commander I am very familiar with. He has been cooperating very well since we worked together. Therefore, if he accompanies me in this demographic survey, I will certainly achieve very ideal results."


    "Commander, military commissar," akhromeyev walked two steps in front of us, and then said, "there is a suitable candidate. If she is added in, I believe this task will be completed easily."


    "Who is it?" Kirilov and I asked in unison when we heard akhromeyev say so.


    Akhromeyev turned and pointed to the position where the operators were gathering, and said, "here she is, Captain razumeyeva. I believe with her, our work will get twice the result with half the effort."


    When I heard that the candidate recommended by akhromeyev was razumeyeva, I immediately agreed without hesitation: "I agree. Comrade military commissar, what''s your opinion? "


    Kirilov took a look at razumeyeva''s position, nodded and said, "I don''t mind. With major akhromeyev and captain razumeyeva as my deputy, I will be able to complete the urban population survey in the shortest time. "


    When I spoke with rokosovsky, I said that it would be more than enough to send only two divisions to build fortifications. But I know in my heart that although the work of urban construction and traffic restoration is important, the fortifications outside the city that are being strengthened and improved are still the top priority.


    Fortifications are a barrier to protect the safety of the city. If the fortifications can not be strengthened and improved before the German army goes south, the two cities will be in danger of being captured by the German army. So when kirilov left with akhromeyev, I called bezikov in front of him and asked him, "chief of staff, how is the progress of the construction of fortifications around the two cities?" When he heard my question, bzikov was obviously stunned, because when he heard me talking to rokosovsky not long ago, he said with full assurance that the German army could never go south in a short time. At this time, I suddenly asked about the construction of the fortifications, which was obviously in contradiction with what I had just said. So he hesitated for a long time before he tentatively asked me, "Comrade commander, are you asking me about the construction of fortifications outside the two cities?"¡° Yes, I am When I saw that he was still at a loss, I added: "although the possibility of German going south in the short term is very small, it is always right for us to take preventive measures in advance." After completing the confirmation work, bezikov pointed to the map and introduced to me: "Comrade commander, the 77th division of the guards of major general askarebov is currently building fortifications in the north of moziri City, and they are the ones with the least casualties in the early fighting; Outside the city of kalinkovich, the fortifications were built by the 51st guard division of Colonel shejerikov. According to the reports they provided, the officers and men of the two divisions have restored the damaged barbed wire in front of the position. At present, they are sending engineers to take out the mines laid by the German army and prepare to bury them in new areas. " After listening to bezikov''s report, I thought that a few days ago, when barksov called me for barbed wire and mines, he was scolded by me and reminded him that he could use the original German things to build defensive barriers in front of the position. I didn''t expect that the two divisions who are now in charge of building fortifications can actually make use of German minefields and barbed wire without any teachers and without reaching out to me for things. On second thought, however, it is not enough to rely on the remnants of the German army. So I raised my head and said to bzikov, "chief of staff, in order to ensure the establishment of a solid defense system on the outskirts of the city, as soon as the barbed wire and mines supplied by our superiors arrive, they will be allocated to these two divisions."

 Chapter 1427

    With our help, some shops closely related to people''s livelihood soon resumed business. In order to solve the actual difficulties of the residents, we distributed food free of charge for the first week. As soon as the news came out, there was a long line in front of the food shop and bakery.


    Since I thought that this was a newly liberated area and I could not copy the methods of the Soviet Union, I put forward that instead of implementing the rationing system in these two cities, I should pay for it. When I put forward this opinion at the meeting of the military committee of the group army, it immediately aroused the opposition of the overwhelming majority of people, including kirilov. After we finished, I slowly said, "comrades, you know moziri and kalinkovich are cities that have just been liberated by us. Our superiors have not sent local leaders here, so we can only exercise military control temporarily.


    In my opinion, in areas under military control, there are no conditions for rationing. That''s why I suggest that residents use money to buy the food and daily necessities they need. "


    "Comrade commander," chisjakov, who has just returned from the railway line, first stated his attitude: "at present, the rationing system is being implemented all over the country. Even if moziri and kalinkovich are newly liberated cities, there is no exception. Otherwise, we are not in opposition to the central government?"


    After he finished speaking, I didn''t immediately express my views. Instead, I left the question to kirilov: "Comrade military commissar, what''s your opinion?"


    "Rita, as you have just said, these two cities are just liberated from the hands of the Germans." Kirilov said in a euphemistic tone: "how many Soviet rubles do you think the residents here will have left after two years of German rule?"


    I didn''t think about what kirilov said. I was speechless when he said that. Seeing that I was speechless, he continued, "even if there are still many people with money in their families, the cities are in ruins. Do you still think these people can find the money they hide at home?"


    "Comrade military commissar," bezikov obviously agreed with kirilov''s statement, so he asked, "tell me what we should do?"


    "Our work on urban population statistics has been basically completed." Kirilov thought about it, and then replied, "we can put up notices to inform the residents to go to the designated places and get food."


    "But I''m afraid some residents won''t see these notices," bzikov said with some embarrassment. "We can''t ignore these people, can we?"


    "It''s a good problem to solve." To solve this problem, I thought of a good solution in a moment: "we can send radio cars to every street for continuous broadcasting. I believe that in a short time, all residents will know the news."


    "Comrade commander is still very powerful. He thought of this good method at once." After flattering me, bezikov asked the group army logistics minister who attended the meeting as a nonvoting member, "Comrade logistics minister, how much grain reserves do we have now?"


    The fat logistics Minister stood up, opened a notebook, looked at it, and then reported to us: "at present, the grain in the two cities can last for seven days, sugar and butter can last for two days, and meat is very little, which can only meet the needs of some units..."


    After listening to the report from the Minister of logistics, I couldn''t help frowning. I didn''t expect that there was only such a small amount of goods transported by the truck transport team at full load. I turned and asked chisgakov, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t know how long our railway will be completed?"


    "Comrade commander, today is the 24th," chisjakov stood up and replied, "it will take five days at the earliest to finish."


    "Can''t it be two days in advance?" I asked tentatively.


    "No way." "At present, our soldiers and railway workers have done their best," chisjakov said, shaking his head. In the absence of large-scale lifting machinery, our soldiers can only use their own shoulders to see one rail after another from the warehouse to the construction site.... "


    After listening to chisjakov''s statement, I know that it is very unrealistic to restore the railway line as soon as possible. He could only sigh in secret, and then announced: "at present, there is not enough food in the city. From the day after tomorrow, we will no longer provide free food to the residents, but adopt the rationing system. Next, our work is to seize the time to produce a batch of ration cards, which will be distributed to the residents in one day tomorrow. "


    At this point, I turned to kirilov and said to him with a smile, "Comrade military commissar, since you, akhromeyev and razumeyeva are responsible for the census in the city, then you three are also fully responsible for the distribution of ration cards."


    "What is the standard of rationing?" Kirilov asked without expression.


    To be honest, Kirilov asked me again about this question. I really don''t know how to allocate the quota. I can only say with embarrassment: "Comrade Military Committee, you know me better than this, or you has the final say."


    "Well, the average citizen has 600 grams of bread a day, and the elderly and children are halved." Kirilov said the rationing criteria, glanced at everyone, and then asked, "do you have different opinions?"


    "No, I agree." As the head of the group army, I first agreed.


    "Agreed!"¡° No comment After hearing my statement, members attending the meeting also agreed with kirilov''s proposal one after another.


    After the meeting, kirilov looked around and said to me in a low voice, "Rita, you have great command ability in the military, but in the local work, I think you still have a lot of things you don''t understand."


    Kirilov''s words made me blush with shame. I nodded hard and admitted with embarrassment: "yes, comrade military commissar, you should know that before the outbreak of the war, I was just an ordinary housewife. I did housework and took care of children at home every day, and I didn''t know much about things outside. Later, when I came to the army, I was promoted to my present position step by step by chance. I really don''t have the experience of managing the city, but thanks to you, everything can go well


    Kirilov patted me on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Rita, if I''m not wrong, you may get a promotion in a short time. Then I may be separated from you. Even if I want to help you again, I can''t do anything. So while we are still together, if you have time, you''d better go out with me to learn how to manage a city. "


    "Yes, comrade military commissar, you are right." I nodded my head and said, "this war will come to an end sooner or later. At that time, the whole country''s recovery and reconstruction work will be on the agenda. If you don''t understand urban management, you will be eliminated. From tomorrow on, as long as I have nothing to do, I will accompany you to the city to see how you manage a city. "


    ¡­¡­


    At noon, bezikov suddenly came up to me with a telegram and said solemnly, "Comrade commander, according to the report of the reconnaissance team, there are a lot of trucks coming from the enemy''s defense area. They are very busy. I don''t know that this is the precursor of their intention to launch an offensive against us."


    After listening to bzikov''s report, I said with a smile, "Comrade chief of staff, you are too worried. Today is December 24. It''s Christmas Eve in Germany. I think they must have some celebration activities. That''s why so many trucks come from the rear to deliver the materials they need for the festival. "


    "Even so, I don''t think we should take it lightly." After listening to my explanation, bzikov still said uneasily: "for the sake of safety, I think the troops should be allowed to enter the defensive positions to prevent possible German attacks."


    I am a very cautious person. Although I think that this statement of bezikov is a bit groundless, for the sake of safety, I still ordered him: "in this case, you should inform the two divisions who are in charge of building fortifications to stop working, enter the defensive position immediately, and make all preparations for combat."


    "What, just two teachers?" When bizikov heard that I only sent two divisions to prepare for the battle, he looked embarrassed: "is it too little?"


    "Not less." I waved my hand to bezikov and said, "at present, the troops that build fortifications in the north of the two cities are all the most complete and powerful troops. As long as they are ready for battle, the Germans will have no chance. To say the least, even if the German army really attacks us on Christmas Eve, as long as they can stop the enemy for two or three hours, our main force will arrive. "


    "Comrades commander," although I have made my words very clear, bezikov said stubbornly, "I think we should immediately issue a battle alert to the two commanders. In addition to the troops in the north of the city should immediately enter the defensive area, the troops in the city should also gather as soon as possible to prepare to support the garrison outside the city when necessary."


    Seeing that bzikov held the telegram tightly in his hand, I knew that he would keep pestering me if I didn''t promise to send the battle alarm to the two commanders. Thinking of this, I waved my hand to him and said rather helplessly, "OK, chief of staff, go and call two commanders tavartkilaze and sivakov, saying that the enemy may attack us and make them prepare for the necessary battle."


    Seeing that I finally agreed to my request, bzikov agreed excitedly, and then ran to call the two commanders. When I heard him say aloud to the receiver, "Hello, is that commander tavartkiraze? I''m the chief of staff, bezikov. The commander ordered... "And shook his head with a smile. Then he lowered his head and continued to look at the map in front of him.


    ¡­¡­


    With the arrival of Christmas morning on the 25th, there was still no sign of the German army in front of our defensive positions. Biezikov, who knew that his judgment was wrong, gave a wry smile and said to me with embarrassment, "Comrade commander, you are right. The German army is busy with their Christmas Eve and has no intention to attack us. "


    "Call the two commanders," I told bzikov, "and let them clear the battle alarm, continue to clean up the ruins of the city, and build winter houses for the residents."


    Just as bezikov went to make a phone call, kirilov hurried in from the outside. As soon as he saw me, he said, "Rita, you''re here. I thought you didn''t get up. Pack up now and go out with me


    "Where are you going, comrade military commissar?" I asked, looking blankly at kirilov¡° Didn''t you agree yesterday? " When kirilov heard my question, he said rather speechlessly, "don''t we agree to go to the city together and find out how to manage a city?" After half an hour, kirilov and I took the jeep, along the road into puzili. This is the first time I have entered this city since I liberated moziri, so everything outside makes me very curious. I looked out of the car window and saw that the bricks and stones on the street had been cleared and the craters on the road had been filled. Although it was not long before dawn, we can still see our soldiers and residents moving the bricks and stones from the ruins to the cars parked on the roadside, and then transporting them far away. Seeing one after another passing by our muck trucks, I asked kirilov curiously, "Comrade military commissar, where have all these cleared bricks and rubble been transported?"¡° There are open plains on all sides of the city. Let''s dump the bricks and stones there first, so that we can clean up the city as soon as possible. " Kirilov replied, "as for the muck, we can deal with it after the city is rebuilt in the future." Suddenly, I saw a hundred meter long dragon standing in front of a half collapsed building on the roadside. I pointed to the line and asked kirilov, "Comrade military commissar, what are they doing?" Kirilov looked out and replied, "these people are here for ration cards. In order to distribute all the ration cards to the residents today, we have set up 20 points in the city. There are the same number of distribution points in kalinkovic, which are in the charge of major akhromeyev. " If it is in a big city like Moscow and Kiev, 20 distribution points are far from enough. However, moziri and kalinkovich are both small cities, which are more than enough¡° If before the end of today, some residents have not received the ration card, what should they do? " I looked at the endless dragon and asked casually, "if there is no ration certificate, what is waiting for them is the end of starvation."

 Chapter 1428

    Kirilov was silent for a long time about my question. Finally, he said, "I''ll have people put up notices in food stores or bakeries, so that residents who don''t have ration cards can get them from the city defense headquarters with valid certificates."


    "City defense headquarters?" When I heard kirilov say that, I couldn''t help but feel that I didn''t set up any city defense headquarters in the two cities. Thinking of this, I asked curiously, "when was the city defense headquarters established? Why don''t I know?"


    "It''s my decision. I asked the two guards commanders to set up their positions in the city and take the post of city defense commander." Kirilov explained to me, "the city defense commander of moziri is sivakov; And kalinkovic was appointed city defense commander by major general tavartkilaze


    After listening to his explanation, I nodded and said, "this is good. The two cities have city defense headquarters, which makes the management of the city more convenient."


    "By the way, one more thing, I just forgot to ask you." Kirilov asked curiously: "last night, I saw that the troops in the city suddenly entered the first level of combat readiness. What''s the matter? Are the Germans ready to launch a counterattack? "


    I shook my head and replied: "last night, the chief of staff received a reconnaissance report that a large number of trucks suddenly appeared in the enemy''s defense area in the north, and the enemy''s station was very busy. He felt that the German army might want to launch a surprise attack on us, so he tried his best to convince me that all the troops were ready for war. "


    "But the whole night was quiet. Did the chief of staff make a mistake?"


    "Yes. It turns out that the chief of staff made a mistake. Yesterday was Christmas Eve in Germany, and the trucks that suddenly appeared might be the convoys carrying holiday supplies for officers and soldiers; And the station seems busy, maybe the enemy is preparing for the festival. " After I explained the whole thing to kirilov, I didn''t forget to say something for bzikov: "the chief of staff is not wrong in doing this. Although the Germans were defeated by us, they are certainly not willing to suffer the defeat. They may attack us at any time. That''s why I agree with him to put the troops into combat readiness."


    "The new year is coming, and so are the supplies that our superiors have delivered to us." Kirilov said thoughtfully, "I have a big headache now."


    "What''s the matter, comrade military commissar?" I saw his sad face and asked.


    "You once said that chocolate and dumplings would be given to every citizen in the new year." Kirilov looked at me and said, "now there are nearly 40000 residents in two cities. It''s OK to say that two pieces of chocolate can be given to one person, but that dumpling is troublesome. If you think about it, when the flour, beef and pork from our superiors arrive, we have to make dumplings ourselves. In addition to our tens of thousands of people, even if a citizen is divided into ten dumplings, that is 400000 dumplings. Our commanders and fighters have too much work to do every day. How can they have so much time to make dumplings? "


    "That''s a problem." I said that when distributing chocolates and dumplings to residents as new year''s gifts, I really didn''t take kirilov''s problem into consideration. Although my ability to manage internal affairs is not as good as kirilov''s, the problem that bothers him is not a problem for me. I thought about it a little bit, and then said to him, "Comrade military commissar, it''s easy to do. Let''s gather some elderly women to make dumplings for us. As for the work of mincing meat, it is left to those experienced workers. The main industry here is meat and poultry processing plants. "


    After hearing this, kirilov laughed and gave me a thumbs up and said, "Rita, you still have a lot of ideas. Let''s gather people from the public to make dumplings."


    "Call as many people as you can, at least one or two thousand. Because with our troops, we have to make at least one million dumplings. We can''t be busy without people. " In order to improve the efficiency of dumpling making, I specially stressed to kirilov: "Comrade military commissar, we can''t let these people work in vain. They take part in this work and get 500 grams of bread a day. "


    Although money is something everyone likes, in troubled times, a bite is better than anything. Kirilov listened to me and said, "I agree with you. That''s it. When I get to the city defense headquarters later, I''ll pass on this order. "


    The jeep stopped at the gate of the city defense headquarters in sivakov. After I got out of the car, I looked around and saw that the buildings where the city defense headquarters was located were relatively complete, and the bricks and stones on the surrounding streets were almost cleaned up.


    The duty officer standing at the door, seeing kirilov and I come out of the car, ran to salute me and politely told me that the commander and some division commanders were having a meeting in the conference room on the second floor.


    After thanking the officer on duty, I went into the building. Then I went up the stairs, along the long corridor, to the door of the conference room at the end of the corridor, and pushed the door open.


    The commanders in the meeting, hearing someone pushing the door open, all turned around and looked at the door. Seeing that kirilov and I were standing at the door, we quickly stood up and raised our hands to salute us.


    As I saluted, I walked to sivakov''s position and asked aloud, "comrades, what are you discussing?"


    Sivakov asked kirilov and I to take a seat in the middle of the road, sit down in a nearby chair, and then reported to me with a sad face: "Comrade commander, we are discussing how to eliminate the German agents in the city!"


    "German spy?" When I heard sivakov say this, I was stunned and then relieved. After all, this is a city that has just been liberated, and some of the remaining evils of the German army are normal. I asked casually, "did you find the enemy agents lurking in the city?"


    "I think so." Sivakov said cautiously: "last night we received an order from the chief of staff to put the whole army into combat readiness. At about one o''clock in the morning, our operator intercepted the mysterious telegram in the city... "


    "Mysterious telegram!" Before he finished, I couldn''t wait to interrupt him, because I remembered that when I was in Smolensk, German radio signals were also found in the city. Unexpectedly, I also met them here. I quickly asked, "have you locked the position of German radio?"


    "No, comrade commander." Shivakov shook his head and said regretfully, "the time for the enemy to send the message is too short. Before we can track it, the signal disappears."


    "Did you intercept the contents of the enemy''s telegram?" I then asked.


    "Yes," sivakov said, winking at a nearby staff officer, who rushed forward, took a piece of paper from his briefcase and put it in front of sivakov. Sivakov pushed the paper in front of kirilov and me and said, "the content is very simple. It means that our army has entered the first level of combat readiness. It seems that there is any military action."


    When I heard that the contents of the telegram were so simple, I was relieved. I pushed the telegram to kirilov, looked at sivakov and asked, "Comrade General, how do you plan to deal with the German secret agents hidden in the city?"


    "Comrades commander," sivakov said firmly, "I think it is necessary to carry out a city wide search and capture the German agents who are hiding among the residents."


    "How to grasp it?" After reading the intercepted message, kirilov threw it on the table and asked sivakov coldly, "Comrade General, how do you plan to find out one or two German spies from more than 20000 people in the city?"


    Seeing that sivakov was speechless by kirilov''s words, in order to ease the embarrassing atmosphere in the room, I said to him earnestly: "Comrade sivakov, there is no writing on the German''s face. We don''t even know whether he is male or female, old or young, so we rashly search the whole city, which is bound to cause chaos. Moziri has just been liberated by us. The residents here can''t fully trust us. It''s good if we can catch the spy in a big search, but if we can''t, we will leave a bad influence in the eyes of the residents. At that time, we will have to spend more than several times of our efforts to reverse the negative image in their minds. "


    "What shall we do?" "Are we going to let the German agents continue to lurk in the city?" sivakov asked, somewhat embarrassed


    "Comrades, commanders," I did not immediately answer sivakov''s question. Instead, I turned to look at all the teachers present and asked with a smile, "do you have any good solutions?"


    After listening to my words, the people looked at each other for a few minutes, then shook their heads in order to show that they had no good way. Seeing that the teachers were helpless, kirilov asked me in a low voice, "Rita, do you have any good ideas?"


    I shook my head gently and said in a voice that only the two of us could hear, "Comrade military commissar, I can''t help it."


    Kirilov''s face was slightly disappointed when he heard my reply, but a moment later, he said to himself gently, "I have a good idea."


    "What can I do?" When kirilov said there was a way, I immediately asked, "can you catch the German spy?"


    He nodded, then gently spat out a word: "interior!"


    Interior department?! When I heard the word, I only hesitated for a few seconds to guess what kirilov meant. I turned to sivakov and asked, "Comrade General, is there a high frequency telephone in your headquarters?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Seeing that I didn''t say how to deal with the German spy, sivakov asked him if he had a high-frequency telephone. He couldn''t help saying with a blank face, "do you want to use it now?"


    "Yes, it''s urgent." I nodded and said definitely.


    "Follow me, please!" Sivakov got up and took me to his office. He pointed to a telephone on the desk and said, "Comrade commander, this is a high frequency telephone. Besides talking to you, it can even talk to the headquarters of the front army directly."


    I heard that I could talk to the headquarters of the front army directly, but I said in my heart that it was really wonderful. Because of the next call, I didn''t want to let too many people know, so I made a gesture of invitation to him: "Comrade General, please go back to the conference room first, and I''ll come to you after the call."


    When sivakov left, I immediately dialed a number and asked the operator to connect me with the headquarters of the front army. When I heard general marinin''s voice coming out of the receiver, I said with a smile, "Hello, chief of staff. I''m o''shanina. Is the commander there?"¡° Hello, Rita Malining replied with a smile, "Comrade commander is right next to me. I''ll let him answer the phone."¡° What can I do for you, Rita? " As soon as marinin''s voice fell, rokosovsky''s voice came out of the receiver¡° That''s right, Comrade General. " When I heard that rokosovsky was talking to me, I immediately gave him a detailed report on what sivakov said about the German spy. After listening, rokosovsky was silent for a long time before he asked, "where are you now? What kind of help can I offer you? "¡° I''m in the city defense headquarters in moziri, "I quickly replied," I hope you can discuss with Comrade sharov and send us some internal agents with investigation experience to help us clean up the German secret agents hidden in the city. "¡° Ask Comrade sharov to send someone? " Rokosovsky was startled by my proposal. He reminded me in a low voice, "Rita, you can think about this matter clearly. It''s easy for them to go to you, but it''s not so easy to transfer them back. I don''t want to see you being held back by all this, which will affect the next battle. "¡° Don''t worry, Comrade General. " In order to reassure rokosovsky, I told him that I had Shangfang''s sword: "when I was in Moscow at the beginning of the year, the Supreme Commander himself asked Comrade belia to write me a power of attorney. With this power of attorney, I have the right to temporarily transfer the local internal forces. I believe those in-house staff who came to help us clean up the German secret service know that I have this power of attorney in my hand, and they will not do anything excessive¡° Since you are so confident, I will go to discuss with Comrade sheroff and try to send people to you as soon as possible. " When rokosovsky finished this, he suddenly asked, "what''s going on with your enemy in the north?"¡° No, senior general. " I quickly replied: "these two days are German Christmas, they are busy with the holiday, it is estimated that they have no heart to attack us."¡° Despite this, we should not relax our vigilance. Think about how we were caught off guard by the German army two years ago in June Rokosovsky was deeply afraid that I would despise the enemy. He specially reminded me and finally said, "good luck to you!"

 Chapter 1429

    I am very clear that what rokosovsky mentioned two years ago is that on the eve of the outbreak of the war, the signs of the German invasion have already been detected. On the contrary, they also sneer at those who give warning and feel that what they say is nonsense.


    Fortunately, I was on the phone alone in sivakov''s office. If kirilov was around, he would have to ask questions again. I sat in the office for a while before I got up and went to the conference room.


    As I called in my office, sivakov did not discuss any more issues with his subordinates. Instead, a group of people sat there chatting. Seeing me enter the door, sivakov immediately stood up and asked me respectfully, "Comrade commander, shall we continue the meeting?"


    "Yes, let''s continue the meeting." As I walked towards my position, I waved to him and said, "we have just liberated this city. We should not only prevent the German army from fighting back, but also do a good job in the construction of the city. If you have any good opinions, you can just talk about them."


    Hearing what I said, baksov first stood up and said to me, "Comrade commander, I want to give you a suggestion. Don''t you know what I can say?"


    "Go ahead, Comrade General." I have never made a speech inside the group army, so when I heard that he wanted to make suggestions to me, I made a gesture of invitation to him.


    "I don''t think we should provide food to the residents like we do now." Barksov said solemnly: "according to my subordinates'' report, although it is stipulated that everyone can only get one piece of bread and one piece of cheese every day, they find that someone is queuing up to get things and then go back to get them."


    "Comrade General," I asked with a blank face after listening to barksov''s words, "can you tell me what your subordinates did when they found out this situation?"


    "What else can I do?" Barksov gritted his teeth and said, "when I received the report from my subordinates, I immediately ordered them to confiscate all the food that those people had received, whether they had received it before or later, and then drove them away. I also ordered other food stores and bakeries not to receive them."


    "General barksov," after listening to barksov''s words about how to deal with those citizens who are trying to take advantage of, kirilov''s face muscles twitched violently for a few times, and then asked impolitely, "do you know these people, why do you want to line up more and get more food?"


    "Don''t you need to say that?" Barksov shrugged his shoulders and said smugly, "I think they must be trying to hoard food and then trade it on the black market, to trade our free food in private. Therefore, if you want to find one, you should deal with one. You can''t tolerate one. "


    "Comrade General, you have gone too far!" Before baksov finished, kirilov slapped the table, stood up and said angrily, "you didn''t know the actual situation at all, so you took this rude approach. You know, these people get more food. Maybe they have more patients or children at home. That''s why they have to use this method. But you''re good. You''ll confiscate all the food that others have been queuing up for a long time. If there are starving people in the city, you should take full responsibility. "


    "All right, all right, comrade military Commissar." Seeing that baksov was red in the face after being trained by kirilov, I quickly came out to be a peacemaker: "general baksov''s starting point is right, but there is something wrong with the way of handling it. With this lesson, he believes that he will not make similar mistakes in the future. "


    After kirilov listened to me, although his face was still angry, he did not criticize baksov any more. I turned to baksov and said, "Comrade General, in order to avoid the situation you said, we are distributing ration cards today. With the ration certificate to get food, you can maximally eliminate the situation you just said


    Next, when talking about how to improve the living conditions of the residents, Colonel babahin stood up and asked, "Comrade commander, I think the urgent task is to restore the water supply to the residents as soon as possible. As far as I know, many people use cars to push buckets to the pripyaji River to fill water."


    "Is that so? Comrade sivakov. " When I heard babashin say this, I quickly turned to sivakov, who was sitting next to him, and asked him, "is the drinking water of the city residents collected from the river outside the city?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." "We are planning to deploy special personnel to restore the city''s water supply as soon as possible," sivakov replied awkwardly


    "Restoring water supply is not enough." When he finished, I added, "it''s better to restore the power and heating. Residents have no electricity and can light candles; But without heating, it''s not easy to live in this cold winter. Maybe it will freeze to death. "


    "Yes, comrade commander is right." Kirilov promptly supported my opinion: "as far as I know, before we captured the two cities, the city could still supply water, electricity and heating. Since the Germans can do this when they occupy cities, can''t we even compare with the Germans after we liberate our cities? "


    "General sivakov." Although I know that kalinkovic has the same problem, now that I am in moziri, I will solve the problem first: "I don''t give you a specific time limit, I just ask you to restore the heating, power supply and water supply in the city as soon as possible. Power supply can be slowed down a little, but heating and water supply are related to people''s livelihood. You must deal with them as soon as possible. "


    After the meeting, kirilov and I followed sivakov back to his office. It''s very warm here because there''s a stove. After we all sat down, kirilov looked at me and asked, "Rita, what did you talk about with Comrade rokosovsky?"


    "After listening to my request, the senior general agreed to discuss with Comrade Xie Luofu immediately, and let him send the internal affairs department personnel who are good at investigation to come here to assist us in arresting the spy." After explaining to kirilov, I looked at sivakov and asked, "Comrade General, are you really unable to lock the German radio station?"


    Sivakov first shook his head, then nodded and said, "it''s not accurate to say that the German radio station is not locked. According to the comrades of the communications department, the location of the enemy''s radio station should be in the area of October street and Soviet street in the west of the city, but the radio station''s signal disappeared before we could lock the specific location. "


    "Just know the general direction." It''s said that the German radio station is in the west of the city. Don''t worry. It''s more or less a comfort to me. Knowing the general direction, we don''t have to search the whole city like a needle in a haystack. After nodding, I said to sivakov, "Comrade General, I have asked the superior to send someone to help us. However, before they arrive, you must continue to monitor the German radio stations to see if they will transfer the sending place. "


    "Comrade commander, you can rest assured." Sivakov assured me: "I will let the people in the communication department keep a close eye on this radio station, and they will never miss the net easily. As soon as the people sent by the higher authorities arrive, I will send troops to assist them and try to talk about this damned German spy as soon as possible. "


    ¡­¡­


    After the inspection in moziri, kirilov and I returned to the headquarters. As soon as he entered the door, bzikov met him. He said with some doubts: "Comrade commander, I have received a strange telegram from the headquarters of the front army."


    "Strange telegram, what strange telegram?" When I heard what bzikov said, I immediately reached out to him and said, "show me!"


    I took the telegram from bzikov and looked up at it. There was a short sentence on it: "the repairman is on the road!"


    Seeing this strange telegram, I was stunned for a moment, but I immediately understood what rokosovsky meant. He was afraid that the contents of the telegram would be intercepted by the German, so he used the code language¡° "Repairman" must be the investigators in the interior department I need.


    Kirilov looked over his head to see the contents of the telegram, and then asked strangely, "Rita, what exactly is written in Comrade rokosovsky''s telegram? How can I not understand it at all?"


    I asked them to come to the table and sit down. I lit a telegram with my hand and said, "Comrade military commissar, you should remember that I once called rokosovsky and asked him to discuss with Comrade sharov and send the internal affairs personnel who are good at investigation to cooperate with us in cleaning up the city''s secret agents. The "repairman" mentioned in this telegram should refer to the person sent to us by Comrade sharov. "


    After kirilov heard this, he suddenly nodded and said, "Oh, so it is. I see."


    But bezikov asked blankly: "commander, military commissar, what are you talking about? What kind of spy, what kind of house agent, what''s the matter with me? "


    "Well, comrade chief of staff." In order to dispel bezikov''s doubts, I had to repeat what I knew to him: "general sivakov, they found strange radio waves in the city last night and intercepted a telegram sent by a German spy."


    "Ah, there are German agents lurking in moziri?" Listening to me, bzikov could not help feeling a little anxious. He asked in a hurry, "did general sivakov send someone to arrest him? Have you caught anyone and seized the radio station? "


    "Don''t be so anxious, my chief of staff." I said with a smile: "because the time for German spies to send news is very short, we can''t lock their location at all. We only know that they are probably near October street and Soviet street in the west of the city."


    "Now that you know the general direction, it''s easy." Bezikov was also an acute man sometimes. He stood up and said to me, "I immediately asked major Yushchenko to send a guard camp to the west of moziri to carry out a big search. We must find out the German spies who were lurking."


    Seeing that he was about to leave, I stopped him and asked him in a tearful and laughing manner: "Comrade chief of staff, how do you know who is a German spy when there are so many people living in the city? If you can''t help but send someone to do a random search, it will not only cause panic among the residents, but also frighten them."


    "What should we do then?" Bezikov sat down dejectedly and said helplessly, "we can''t just watch the German spies in the city all the time, can we?"


    "By the way, Rita." As soon as I finished, kirilov broke in and said, "I remember when we were in Smolensk, there were German spies in the city. Do you think the agents in these two places are the same person? "


    Kirilov''s casual words made me feel that this possibility existed completely. I quickly asked kirilov, "Comrade military commissar, I don''t know where Captain razumeyeva is?"¡° The captain is in kalinkovich, "kirilov said curiously after answering my question," Rita, how did you remember to ask her? "¡° When I was in Smolensk, I put her in charge of tracking down German radio stations. " In order to let kirilov and bezikov understand what I mean, I specially explained to them: "she is a professional telegraph operator. She can distinguish whether the person who sends the news in different places is the same person by listening to the German spy''s method of sending the news."¡° If so, what are you waiting for? " Kirilov said, immediately told bzikov: "chief of staff, immediately call general tavartkilaze, let him immediately inform captain razumeyeva to return to the headquarters of the group army." Two hours later, razumeyeva returned to the headquarters. She came to us, raised her hand to salute, faced me and said, "Comrade commander, deputy director of communications, Captain razumeyeva, has been ordered to return. I''m waiting for your order, please give me instructions!"¡° Comrade captain, "although I have a good personal relationship with razumeyeva, I still call her rank on such a formal occasion:" when we were in Smolensk, we found German radio signals in the city. I''ve been asking you to follow this up. Do you remember? "¡° Remember Razumeyeva definitely nodded, and then tentatively asked me, "is there another enemy radio station around here?"¡° Yes, comrade captain, you are right. " For such a smart razumeyeva, I nodded with a smile, and then said: "I found the signal of the enemy radio station in moziri last night. I want to send you to general sivakov to assist the telecommunication personnel there to monitor. By the way, you can confirm whether the agent who sent the message is the same person as the agent in Smolensk. "¡° No problem, comrade commander. " As for my order, razumeyeva said confidently: "as long as I listen to him, I can determine whether he is the same person as the spy last time."¡° "Very good, very good," I said. After two good words, I got up and put my hand on her shoulder. I said, "now you go to moziri and report to general sivakov."¡° Yes Although razumeyeva had just returned to the headquarters, as soon as she received my order, she immediately agreed, raised her hand to salute the three of us, turned around and walked out of the church through the hall.

 Chapter 1430

    Early the next morning, sivakov called me. He said to me in an excited voice, "Comrade commander, the German spy sent another telegram last night."


    "What''s on the telegram?" I asked nervously at once.


    "It''s nothing," sivakov replied, "just say that our troops in moziri have been released from combat readiness, and at the same time, they are distributing ration cards in the city and so on."


    When I thought of sivakov''s excited tone, I couldn''t help asking strangely, "Comrade General, what do you find in particular?"


    "It was captain razumeyeva who was in charge of monitoring last night," sivakov was a little excited when he heard me ask. "She judged from the characteristics of the enemy''s telegraph operator that this telegraph operator was the same person as the one in Smolensk."


    "What, the same person?" When I heard the amazing news, I suddenly stood up from my seat.


    "Yes, comrade commander." For my question, sivakov said in a positive tone: "after repeated confirmation by Captain razumeyeva, it''s really the same person."


    "I know!" I just hung up.


    Maybe I was a little excited when I found out that the enemy operator I found in moziri was the same person as the operator in Smolensk, so that I caught the attention of bezikov. He asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter?"


    I looked up at bezikov and said, "chief of staff, general sivakov called to say that they had intercepted a telegram from a German spy last night, and confirmed by Captain razumeyeva that they were the same person as the operator found in Smolensk."


    "The same person?" As like as two peas, I heard the news from him just like what I just said. But after a moment''s hesitation, he bent over the map in front of him and seemed to be looking for something.


    I could not help but ask curiously, "chief of staff, what are you looking at?"


    Hearing my question, he looked up at me and asked, "Comrade commander, if I remember correctly, the person who leaked the information last time was a staff officer of the 77th division of Jinwei?"


    "Yes, a staff officer of the 77th division. For this reason, the division commander, major general askarepov, also made a special review to me, saying that he was lax in his defense, and he did not find any German secret agents lurking in his troops. " After I said this, I looked at bzikov and asked curiously, "is there any connection between the two?"


    "Comrade commander, please have a look." He pushed the map in front of him towards me a little bit, and then said: "the last time he sent information to the German spy, it was a staff officer of the 77th division of the guards. But this time, it happened that the location of the German secret service was also in the defense area of the 77th division of the guards. "


    "What, in the defense area of the 77th division of Jinwei?" Bezikov''s words startled me. I quickly pulled the map in front of me and carefully checked the garrison numbers of Shiyue street and Soviet street in the west of the city. I found that it was the 215th regiment of the 77th division of Jinwei. After reading it, I murmured, "if sivakov and they find the right place, then the spy is the telegram sent out in the defense area of the 215th guards regiment."


    "Comrade commander, I have a bold inference." Bezikov raised his voice and said to me, "if the operators of moziri and Smolensk are the same person, then the German spies will not dress up as ordinary citizens, because no citizens follow us here from Smolensk, so I think the spies must be lurking in our troops."


    "Lurking in our troops," I rapped my fingers on the table, repeating what bzikov had just said. After repeated thinking, I think what he said is reasonable. I quickly grabbed the phone in front of me and dialed the headquarters of sivakov.


    As soon as I heard sivakov''s voice, I asked frankly, "Comrade General, please ask captain razumeyeva for me, where was the last German spy posted in Smolensk?"


    "All right, comrade commander." Sivakov said politely, "Captain razumeyeva is next door. Please wait a moment. I''ll call her here."


    After a while, the voice of razumeyeva came from the receiver: "Hello, comrade commander, this is razumeyeva. Do you have any instructions?"


    "Captain, the last time I asked you to monitor the enemy station in Smolensk, the enemy''s operator sent two telegrams later. Do you remember the general location?" I''m deeply afraid that razumeyeva doesn''t pay attention to this issue, and specially stressed: "you just need to tell me which street the signal of the enemy''s radio station appears."


    After being chief of staff for a long time, bezikov became more and more familiar with his own work. Hearing that I was asking razumeyeva about Smolensk, he quickly found out a map of Smolensk and put it in front of me. I nodded at him and laughed, then marked out what razumeyeva said with a pen.


    When I finished marking on the map and looked at the number of the troops stationed in the area at that time, I couldn''t help taking a breath of air, because what I saw was still the station of the 215th regiment of the guards. Seeing this, I coughed softly, and then said to razumeyeva, "Captain, come to my headquarters with general sivakov immediately."


    ¡­¡­


    An hour later, sivakov and razumeyeva came to my headquarters. After saluting me, sivakov asked with a puzzled look: "Comrade commander, I don''t know if you have any instructions for me to come here?"


    "Comrade General, please have a seat." I reached out to him and made a gesture of invitation. Then I pushed the map of moziri and Smolensk in front of him, pointed to the circled position on it, and said to him, "look, this is the approximate position of the enemy that we locked when they released in the two cities."


    Sivakov looked at the map carelessly. When he saw the position of the circle on it, he jumped up from his seat and cried out, "it''s impossible. It''s absolutely impossible."


    "Captain razumeyeva," I waved to razumeyeva, called her to the table, pointed to the two maps that made sivakov mad, and asked, "look, is the location of the spy station marked on the map right?"


    Razumeyeva took two maps and looked at them carefully. Then she put them back on the table, nodded at me and said, "yes, comrade commander, absolutely right. The two cities found the location of the enemy''s radio station, and they all marked it correctly. "


    "Thank you, comrade captain." After smiling at razumeyeva, I turned to sivakov and said, "general sivakov, do you understand something now?"


    Shivakov nodded in dismay and said weakly: "Comrade commander, I understand that since the German radio station was located in the same unit twice, it means that there are German agents lurking in our team. What we need to do now is to find a way to dig out the spy. "


    "Yes, Comrade General." Seeing that he understood my intention, I nodded with a smile and said, "all the evidence we have now points to the 215th regiment of the guards, which proves that the enemy is lurking in our troops."


    "What shall we do?" Sivakov raised his hand and wiped the cold sweat on his forehead with his sleeve. Pitifully, he asked me, "will it cause unnecessary panic to immediately review the 215th regiment of the guards?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." For sivakov''s worry, bezikov also agreed: "we have just recovered moziri. If we carry out large-scale inventory in the army at this time, it may cause people panic."


    Although there was a large-scale reduction in the number of troops in the liberation of moziri and kalinkovich, the 77th division of Jinwei was the last to enter the battlefield, so the troops were relatively complete. At the moment, the total number of troops in the 215th regiment of Jinwei is still as high as 2000. If they are rashly checked, I am afraid there will be scenes out of control.


    Seeing my delay in speaking, bzikov asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, what should we do now?"


    "Wait a minute," I said rather reluctantly, "we''d better leave the investigation of potential agents to the internal staff sent by the higher authorities. After all, what they are good at is to clear our internal enemies."


    "When will the interior staff sent by the superior arrive?" Don''t ask zikov nervously.


    I shook my head and said, "I don''t know. When it''s time to come, it comes naturally."


    As soon as I finished, I heard the voice of the head of the guard, Yushchenko: "Comrade commander, comrade commander."


    I turned and looked in the direction of the voice. Yushchenko came to me with a tall, thin officer. Before and after they came to me, Yushchenko introduced them to me with a smile and said, "Comrade commander, I''d like to introduce you to my former colleague, Captain Gosha, who is now working in the secret service section of the headquarters of the front army."


    As soon as Yushchenko''s words were finished, the tall and thin officer stepped forward, raised his hand to salute me, and respectfully reported, "Comrade General, I''m captain Gosha of the secret service section of the front army. I came to help you clear up the German secret service on the order of Comrade sharov."


    "Hello, Captain Gosha." I went forward to hold his hand and said with emotion, "we have just locked the position of the German spy. We don''t know how to start. You have solved the big problem for us."


    "Comrade General," Gosha heard me say, eyebrows slightly online, some surprised to say: "you have locked the location of the German spy?"


    I took Goza to the table, pointed to the two maps on the table, and said to him, "Comrade captain, according to our monitor operator, the sender in moziri is the same person as the sender in Smolensk."


    After hearing this, Guosha asked without expression: "Comrade General, can I meet the operator who is responsible for monitoring?"


    "Yes," I nodded, then pointed to razumeyeva standing beside me and said, "it''s the female captain''s monitoring. If you have any questions, you can ask her directly."


    Gosha turned to razumeyeva and asked like interrogating a prisoner, "Comrade captain, are you sure that the sender in moziri and the sender in Smolensk are really the same person?"


    Although she was not happy with his tone, razumeyeva politely replied, "yes, comrade captain, for a skilled telegraph operator, we can judge whether it is the same person by the way of the sender."


    "I have no problem." Without waiting for razumeyeva to finish, Guosha coldly interrupted her later words and said to me, "Comrade General, according to the information collected at present, German spies may be lurking in the 215th regiment of the guards."¡° Yes, comrade captain I looked at the expressionless man and asked, "do you have any way to find out the German secret agents among the more than 2000 members of the regiment?"¡° No problem, "Guosha said confidently as soon as I finished," since you have provided so many useful clues, I believe that in one day at most, we can find out the spy who lurks in our army. " Seeing his self-confidence, I couldn''t help but feel a thump in my heart. I said that he would not carry out torture to extort confessions. Maybe the 215th regiment of the guards would be in danger at that time. I immediately reminded him, "Comrade captain, I hope you will not involve innocent people while you find out the internal secret agents."¡° Please rest assured, Comrade General. " "Now that we have so many clues, we don''t have to examine the officers and men of the 215th regiment of the guards one by one, but we can narrow the scope of the examination to a very small one," she replied¡° Narrow it down to a very small area? " After repeating his words, I asked curiously, "Comrade captain, I don''t know how to narrow it down?"¡° In combat forces, ordinary soldiers are in danger of dying at any time. If the agents sent by Germany only disguise themselves as ordinary soldiers, they may be reimbursed after a war. The Germans will not be interested in such a role that is easily lost. " When Gosha heard my question, she began to analyze it to me: "in this way, the more suitable role is an officer, and he is also an officer who is not easily in danger of his life. That is to say, at least the company and battalion level officers of the regiment. " When I heard Gosha say this, I turned to sivakov and said, "general sivakov, I think captain Gosha has a point. We should narrow the scope of the review to the company and battalion officers of the 215th regiment of the guards."¡° I see Sivakov stood up and replied, "I''m going to take this captain to the 77th division of the guards to examine the company and battalion officers of the 215th regiment of the guards." I thought sivakov would at least wait until tomorrow to give me a final reply, but at two o''clock in the afternoon, he called me and excitedly reported to me, "Comrade commander, the German spy who lurks in the 215th regiment of the guards has been found out by the comrades of the Ministry of interior."

 Chapter 1431

    "Oh, so soon?" When I heard sivakov''s report, my first reaction was that it might be the result of Gosha''s success. After all, the Ministry of internal affairs has been doing similar things all the time, so I asked uneasily, "can''t you make a mistake?"


    "No, comrade commander, there is absolutely no mistake." Hearing my question, sivakov replied in a hurry: "I personally participated in the whole interrogation process, and the German spy who was arrested also confessed."


    "Did you torture the prisoners?" To be on the safe side, I went on to ask, "the arrested man confessed his crime at captain Gosha''s suggestion because he could not bear punishment."


    "It''s not that bad," sivakov said with some hesitation. "That is, he tied the man on the shelf, whipped a few whips, and then he confessed all the things he should confess."


    "Soft bones." When I heard sivakov say that the secret agent admitted his identity after being whipped a few times, I couldn''t help but despise the secret agent in my heart. I thought that he should stick to it for two days under severe torture, and then I would go out and do it both hard and soft. Finally, his will finally collapsed and he confessed everything to me personally.


    I asked with interest: "Comrade General, the spy belongs to that unit. What did he confess?"


    "Comrade commander, please listen to me." When I finished speaking, sivakov began to report to me in detail: "after we and captain Gosha returned to the city, the captain suggested that I call up all the officers above platoon level of the 215th regiment of the guards in the name of a meeting..."


    I heard that they didn''t even send a platoon commander. I was stunned for a moment, but when I thought about it, I was relieved. If I was really anxious to screen officers above the company level, it would be very easy for the secret agents lurking in them to miss the net. You know, there are many platoon commanders who can contact the radio.


    I then asked, "and then, how do you recognize it?"


    "In the process of waiting for those commanders to report, Captain Gosha asked me in detail, who of these dozens of junior commanders had been in the army before, and who had been added during the rectification of the army." Sivakov reported to me in a smooth tone: "I asked people to find the information of these commanders. After careful examination, it was found that seven company and battalion commanders had been added at that time, but they had already died in the battle to liberate moziri. So Captain Gosha decided decisively to target the remaining five.


    After the commanders coming to the meeting arrived, Guosha called out five people for questioning. After detailed cross examination, four people had evidence that they were patrolling the city with their troops when we found the radio signal. And the rest of us are the key suspects. "


    "What''s his name?" I asked again, seeing that sivakov had not answered my question. "What''s his rank and position now?"


    "His name is ruerba, with the rank of captain. At present, he is the deputy commander of the first battalion of the 215th regiment of the guards." When sivakov said this, he said awkwardly: "as the battalion commander, major yemelianov, has performed well in the near future, the division commander is going to promote him to the deputy commander of the 215th regiment, and ruerba will take over the post of his vacant battalion commander."


    As for the appointment of major yemelianov, I did not express my opinion. Instead, I was interested in how ruerba was instigated by the German army and how he joined our army: "Comrade General, did he say how he was instigated by the German army and how he joined our army?"


    "Well, comrade commander." Sivakov quickly replied: "ruerba was captured by the German army in Kharkov at the beginning of the year, and rebelled by the German in the prison camp. Later, when he was in the battle of Oreal, he came back to our army and said that he had been recovering in a collective farm since he was injured. As soon as he recovered, he could not wait to return to the army. "


    "He said he was recovering in the farm. Didn''t the superior send someone to verify it?" I used to think that the superior''s examination of returning officers and soldiers was unnecessary, but now I think it is necessary.


    "Comrade commander, we need to know that there were too many officers and men returning to the army at that time. We simply could not spare enough manpower to verify them one by one." Sivakov said with some embarrassment: "besides, when the village he mentioned was liberated by our army, it had been burned to ruins by the Germans. The villagers in the village did not know where they were going for a long time."


    "I see. Comrade general, send someone to send the record of the trial as soon as possible. " After telling sivakov, I suddenly thought of major yemeiyanov and quickly added: "by the way, the promotion of major yemeiyanov can not be affected by this spy incident. We need to put the outstanding commanders and fighters in more suitable positions. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." Sivakov promised loudly, "I''ll send someone to send you the spy and the interrogation report at once."


    As soon as I put down the phone, bzikov next to me asked, "Comrade commander, have you caught the spy lurking in the city?"


    "Yes, I did." I nodded my head and said, "it''s captain ruerba, the deputy battalion commander of the 1st Battalion of the 215th regiment of the guards. If we don''t find him out this time, general askarebov is going to promote him to the first battalion commander."


    "Ah, promote him to battalion commander." When he said this, bzikov unconsciously raised his hand and wiped his forehead. "Fortunately, we found him out in time. If we really let a German spy take the post of battalion commander in the guard division, it would be troublesome."


    I nodded and said to bzikov, "chief of staff, due to the long fighting, the divisions have been greatly reduced, and there is an urgent need to replenish a large number of troops. In addition, we should do a good job in screening to prevent the recurrence of similar situations. "


    "Understand," bzikov said to me, nodding his head, "Comrade commander, I think we should ask our superiors to arrange enough internal staff for us to prevent the infiltration of German spies into the army."


    "It''s a matter of proportion." Although we know that it is inevitable for internal and external personnel to enter our army on a large scale, considering the problems of the army, I still remind bezikov: "it is necessary to eradicate the secret agents infiltrating our army, but it can not affect the stability of the army."


    As soon as I finished, the telephone rang on the desk. I quickly looked at the place where the bell rang, and found that the high-frequency telephone that could make outside calls was ringing all the time¡° Comrade commander, I think captain Gosha has reported the results of the trial to the higher authorities. This call should be from the superior to ask for the result. " With that, bzikov grabbed the microphone and handed it to me.


    As for bezikov''s conjecture, I nodded in agreement. Then I took the microphone and stuck it to my ear and said, "I''m oshanina!"


    "Rita, it''s me." "I''m rokosovsky," he said. Well, did the German agent in the city catch it? "


    "Yes, Comrade General." Although I haven''t had time to report this incident to the public, I''m not surprised that rokosovsky knows about it. Apart from Gosha''s report, he may have other sources of information. So I truthfully replied, "the potential agent is lieutenant relba, the deputy battalion commander of the 1st Battalion of the 215th regiment of the guards. He''s in...", He gave a detailed report to rokosovsky.


    After listening to my report, rokosovsky was silent for a while and said to me, "just a few minutes ago, comrade sharov had a talk with me. Do you want to know what it is?"


    When I heard what rokosovsky said, I couldn''t help feeling flustered and asked, "what did you say?"


    "He said that in order to prevent such incidents from happening again, it is necessary to send you special internal affairs personnel to deal with the enemies who infiltrate into our army." Rokosovsky said this, sighed, and then asked me in a deliberative tone, "Rita, I want to hear your opinion."


    If I had been in the past, I would have refused without hesitation. However, I just picked up a German spy from the army, which made me have no confidence to refuse. Since it has become a settlement for the superior to send personnel from the Ministry of internal affairs, I might as well agree as soon as possible, so as to leave a good impression on the superior.


    Thinking of this, I said decisively: "senior general, as you know, after more than half a year''s fighting, our group army''s commanders and fighters have almost changed. In this case, we really need someone to help us check the situation and catch the German spies who have infiltrated our army. So I begged my superiors to send me the necessary members of the interior department. "


    "Well, now that you''ve agreed, it''s easy." When rokosovsky heard my reply, he was immediately relieved, and then said, "Comrade sharov''s opinion is to send captain Goza and his subordinates as a special team to your headquarters to assist in the work."


    "I agree with Comrade sharov." Since the second leader of the Ministry of internal affairs has made a statement, I naturally have to show some cooperation: "I have dealt with Captain Gosha, and I think it is very appropriate for him to be the head of this special mission."


    "In addition to captain Gosha," rokosowski added as soon as I finished saying, "the other ten comrades are also anti insurgency workers with rich experience. I believe that with their participation, those enemies who attempt to infiltrate your troops will not succeed. "


    After my conversation with rokosovsky, bzikov asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what did Comrade General say?"


    "He''s going to send a special team to our headquarters," I put down the phone, looked up to bezikov and said, "the members are captain Gosha and his men. Where do you think we should put them?"


    Although I didn''t make it clear, bezikov understood what I meant. He knew that the special team should not be allowed to stay in the headquarters at any time, which would inevitably bring us a lot of inconvenience, so we had to send them to places where we couldn''t see them. He frowned and thought for a moment, then tentatively asked, "how about putting them in the guard group? You know, the commander, major Yushchenko, and captain Gosha used to be colleagues. I believe they will get along well. "


    Hearing this proposal, I immediately nodded in agreement and told him: "call major Yushchenko and let him report to me immediately." When bizikov picked up the phone and dialed, he raised his head and said to me, "Comrade commander, I want to talk to you about Comrade Yushchenko''s rank. After all, he is our head of the guard and still holds the rank of major. Is that appropriate?"¡° On the issue of major Yushchenko''s rank, "to be honest, although I always wanted to promote Yushchenko''s rank, I never found a suitable opportunity. After all, even if I was the head of the regiment, I didn''t have any chance to make contributions when I stayed in the guard regiment. Besides, after he was promoted to his military rank, should akhromeyev, who has been busy in front of me all the time, also be promoted to his military rank? Should the directors of several major ranks also be promoted. When this group of people are promoted, should the rank of chief of staff of bzikov also be mentioned? Anyway, it''s a matter of pulling the whole body, so I can only take the way of procrastination: "we''ll talk about it later. You should inform him to come to me now." Before Yushchenko arrived, Captain Gosha came first. After he saluted me, I took his hand and said gratefully, "thank you very much, comrade captain. As soon as you come, you will dig out the German spies who are lurking in our army. On behalf of the commanders and fighters of the whole army, I thank you Guosha said without expression: "Comrade General, this is my duty." Finish saying, then loosen my hand, step back, straight waist board, like a pole like standing there. Seeing his polite and distant reaction, I said awkwardly, "Comrade captain, I have one more thing to inform you. I have just spoken with the headquarters of the front army. In order to prevent German spies from infiltrating into the headquarters of our army, the higher authorities have decided to let you and your subordinates enter our group army as special teams of the Ministry of interior. " When Guosha heard me say this, she raised her eyebrows slightly and asked unexpectedly, "why didn''t I receive the order?"¡° I also received this order from my superior a few minutes ago. At that time, you were on your way from moziri to here, so it was perfectly normal that you didn''t receive orders in time. " I''ve said that for my part, but Gosha''s face is still half convinced. He pointed to the high frequency telephone on the desk and asked me politely, "Comrade commander, can I use this telephone to check with the higher authorities?"

 Chapter 1432

    More than ten kilometers north of moziri and kalinkovych, although the German elite 4th and 9th army troops were stationed, with the coldest January approaching, the enemy was shrinking in their defense area, and there was no sign that they were ready to launch a counter offensive. But I dare not take it lightly and deploy half of my troops to the north of the city.


    The biggest advantage of the cold weather is that the roads are frozen. The rivers and swamps that were originally impassable can pass not only the trucks carrying materials, but also the tanks and armored vehicles. At the same time, the railway between the two cities and zhylobin has also been repaired, and a steady stream of materials have entered our defense area through railways and highways.


    Seeing more and more materials in the city, kirilov''s face showed a smile. He even proposed to me: "Comrade commander, since we have enough materials, we should raise the residents'' ration standard a little bit. Anyway, in two days, the rationing system will be implemented for a month. "


    "Well," I knew that only a few hundred grams of bread a day could keep people from starving, so I readily agreed to his request. At the same time, I also said to kirilov, "in addition to bread and cheese, I propose to increase the supply of salt, sugar and meat. Salt, in particular, must be distributed to every resident in a timely manner. "


    The reason why I will focus on the issue of salt is that Russian salt is widely used in daily life. No matter what you eat, you have the habit of putting a little salt in it. Even the most ceremonious etiquette to welcome guests is round bread with a dish of salt.


    "You''re absolutely right, Rita." Kirilov immediately agreed with my proposal, and he said, "I have calculated that there are about ten tons in the city, which fully meet the needs of the residents."


    After he finished, I said happily, "fortunately we don''t have cavalry now, otherwise we have to provide salt for the horses. At the same time, the hay and bean cakes needed by horses also need to be transported from behind


    "The ruins of the city have been basically cleared up." Kirilov, when I finished, continued: "the vast majority of the residents have already lived in the simple houses we built for them, or the old houses we cleaned up. A small number of homeless residents also live in the tents we have prepared for them. Now every household can get one kilogram of coal a day for heating. "


    When I heard kirilov say that the residents use coal for heating, I quickly told him: "Comrade military commissar, please tell the residents that the remaining cinders can not be thrown around, they should be stacked in a unified place designated by us."


    As for my arrangement, kirilov immediately understood and said, "I see, Rita, are you going to lay these cinders on the road when the spring thaws, so as to facilitate the mobilization of our troops?"


    "Yes, that''s it." Thinking of the bad road conditions in Russia on sunny days and rainy days, I said with a wry smile: "I just intend to use these cinders to pave the road. I can''t hope that our armored forces can''t cooperate with the infantry when the Spring Festival thaws because of the road conditions."


    "I''ve been running back and forth between the two cities for more than a month," kirilov asked me curiously after pointing out his busy work: "is there any news from the superior?"


    "What''s going on?" January and February are the coldest months of the year, and the lowest temperature can reach minus 50 degrees. Not to mention that the Germans can''t stand it, even our own commanders and fighters can''t bear it. Therefore, under such circumstances, both sides are tacitly in a state of armistice. Therefore, when I heard kirilov''s question, I couldn''t help asking: "in such cold weather, what orders do you think the superior will give us?"


    "Comrade military commissar," said chisjakov, who was not long after supervising the troops to repair the railway and returned to the headquarters, "in such cold weather, our troops are unable to launch an attack on the enemy, so the order given to us by the higher authorities is to strengthen the defense work in moziri and kalinkovich areas."


    "Oh, so it is." Kirilov finished this sentence, stood up and said to me, "OK, Rita, I''ll go to the city immediately, arrange the adjustment of the quota, and organize people to deliver the salt stored in the railway station to the rationing points."


    I got up and shook hands with him, politely said: "be careful on the way!"


    After kirilov left, I asked bzikov, "chief of staff, did the higher authorities say when we will be replenished? Now, except for the 77th division of Jinwei, nearly half of the other divisions are short of staff.... "


    Before I had finished speaking, major bukov, who was on duty outside the door, came in and reported to me, "Comrade commander, there''s a general out there who wants to see you."


    "General?" When I heard bukov say that, I thought it was one of his teachers, so I asked casually, "I don''t know which one?"


    "Not the commander of our group army." Bukov replied: "I have accompanied you to the grass-roots units so many times. I know all the generals in the group army, but I have never seen this general."


    I heard that a general bukov didn''t know was coming. I guessed that rokosovsky might have sent him to convey some orders, so bukov said: "major, please ask that general to come in."


    Seeing bukov walking towards the door, chisgakov couldn''t help saying to himself, "who will come?"


    I looked at the entrance of the church and said, "don''t worry, comrade deputy commander. We''ll soon know who it is."


    As soon as I finished, bukov came to us with a general. The visitor was a tall, thin man with a kind face. It seemed that I had seen him somewhere before.


    Before I remembered where I had seen each other, the general came to our table, raised his hand and saluted me, then said to me, "Comrade commander, major general beloborodov, commander of the second army of the guards, report to you!"


    "It''s you, Comrade General." When I heard about him, I suddenly remembered who he was. We were all members of the 16th army during the Moscow defense war. At that time, beloborodov was a colonel. He was the commander of the 78th infantry division from Siberia. Later, because of the outstanding performance of the troops in the battle, he was reorganized into the 9th close guard division. I went up to hold his hand and said excitedly, "I didn''t expect to see you here for two years!"


    "Comrade commander," he said politely, holding my hand, "I didn''t expect that after two years, we would be under general rokosovsky again."


    After I let go of beloborodov''s hand, I explained to chisjakov and bezikov who were standing beside me, "let me introduce to you that general beloborodov led the 78th infantry division from Siberia to defend Moscow. He was awarded the title of the ninth division for his outstanding military achievements. "


    After introducing chisgakov, I introduced him and bzikov to beloborodov. Finally, I said, "it''s a pity that you''re a little late, or you''ll see Comrade kirilov, military commissar of the group army."


    When beloborodov heard what I said, he just laughed, and then said, "it doesn''t matter. Anyway, our army has been put under the command of the sixth group army. We will see it sooner or later."


    "General beloborodov, you just said that your troops are under our command. What''s the matter?" As soon as beloborodov''s words were finished, bzikov looked at me and chisjakov and asked curiously, "why didn''t the superior inform us?"


    "Chief of staff, you are in such a hurry." I saw that bzikov was in a hurry to break the casserole and ask to the end, and quickly stopped him. "Don''t you see that general beloborodov is still standing? What''s the matter? Let''s wait until he sits down


    "That''s right. Comrade commander is right. I''d better sit down and say it." With that, bezikov made a gesture of invitation to beloborodov with a smile: "general beloborodov, please sit down."


    When beloborodov sat down, I first asked, "general beloborodov, how many divisions are there in your army?"


    "Comrade commander, there are three divisions in my division, namely the 9th, 46th and 166 divisions of the guards." Beloborodov reported to me: "each division consists of three infantry regiments and two artillery regiments, each of which has 8000 people. With the troops directly under the army, the whole army has 26000 people."


    "Twenty six thousand." Hearing this number, bzikov immediately said to me with bright eyes, "Comrade commander, there are so many troops. In this way, the strength of our group army will be greatly improved."


    I nodded, thinking that I had not received any notice from the superior and that no one had reported that a large army was approaching us in the past two days, I then asked, "where is your army?"


    "Still in zhlobin." "I came here by train with some guards to report to you," beloborodov said with a smile


    Although I heard that the troops were still hundreds of kilometers away in zhylobin, I was not worried at all. Instead, I asked another question of my own concern: "general beloborodov, why didn''t the headquarters of the front army inform us of your coming?"


    For my question, beloborodov said with a smile: "Comrade commander, you don''t know that our army is subordinate to the highest base camp. It was Marshal Zhukov who directly ordered us to enrich your army. Maybe general rokosovsky, commander of the front army, didn''t know about this."


    After listening to his explanation, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly to myself. I didn''t expect that Zhukov would send us a full-fledged guard without communicating with rokosovsky. Although the troops are still hundreds of miles away in zhiluobin, I need to report this to rokosovsky immediately.


    Thinking of this, I turned to beloborodov and said, "general beloborodov, I intend to report to commander rokosovsky about your army joining our group army. Do you have any objection?"


    When I asked for my opinion, beloborodov laughed awkwardly, and then said, "you are the commander. It''s perfectly right to report this to the higher authorities."


    I picked up the high frequency phone on my desk and dialed rokosovsky''s headquarters. General malining, who answered the phone, recognized my voice and asked with a smile, "Rita, are you looking for the commander?"


    "Yes, chief of staff," although malining and I have a good relationship, I still used honorific words to him: "I have something important to report to the general immediately. Please let him answer the phone."¡° Well, just a moment Malining put down the phone and yelled at the distance, "Comrade commander, Rita has something important to see you." A moment later, rokosovsky''s serious voice came out of the receiver, "Rita, this is rokosovsky. Do you have anything important to report to me?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " I looked at beloborodov next to me and reported, "here comes major general beloborodov, the commander of the second army of the guards. He said that he led the troops to strengthen our group army on the order of Marshal Zhukov. I think this matter is of great importance and I need to report it to you immediately. "¡° What, Marshal Zhukov sent you a guard? " I report the situation, let rokosovsky surprised, he asked: "when did the troops arrive?"¡° The troops are still in zhylobin. At present, only major general beloborodov, the commander of the army, is with us. "¡° Beloborodov? " After repeating the name, rokosovsky immediately remembered who he was and asked me: "is it Colonel beloborodov, the division commander of the 78th Infantry Division under my command during the Moscow defense war?"¡° Yes, Comrade General. " I first gave rokosovsky a positive answer, and then corrected the mistake in his address, "but now he is no longer a colonel, but a major general." Rokosovsky didn''t care about my attitude. When I finished, he said, "Rita, I received a phone call from marshal vasilevsky two days ago. He said that according to the advice of the Supreme Commander himself, he planned to add new troops to you in the near future. I was going to wait for the higher authorities to set a specific date and then inform you. I didn''t expect that they would come so soon. " What he said reminds me of the grapevine that kirilov told me some time ago, saying that our superiors would supply us with a lot of new troops, and at the same time, they would transfer some old troops away. With this question in mind, I asked rokosovsky cautiously: "senior general, I heard that when our superiors supplement our troops, they will also transfer some old troops away. I don''t know whether this statement is reliable?"

 Chapter 1433

    Kirilov heard that a new commander was coming, and immediately returned from moziri. After meeting with beloborodov, he offered to me: "Rita, before long, many of our troops will be transferred. Do you think that before these troops are transferred away, we should hurry up to complete the awarding ceremony for commanders and fighters at all levels? "


    As early as before the beginning of the battle of Kharkov, I made a promise to the division commanders that I would award medals to the commanders and fighters who had made outstanding contributions and performed bravely in the battle. However, due to the number of battles our group army took part in, this matter has been delayed. At this moment, hearing kirilov''s old story mentioned again, I can''t help but think of a movie I saw later. In the movie, the Berlin city defense commander announced that he had surrendered to the Soviet army and the allies, but their ceremony of honoring soldiers continued. Thinking of this, I nodded and agreed to Ji Lingling''s proposal, and added: "Comrade military commissar, please contact the Political Department of the front army as soon as possible, Ask them to send us a batch of medals as soon as possible. "


    "No problem," kirilov readily agreed, and then asked, "but will this ceremony be presided over by me or by us?"


    "It''s up to you." I don''t like to participate in the so-called honorary ceremony, especially those honorary certificates to be read. Except for the different names, the contents on them are almost the same, so I can push them on such occasions. However, as soon as I had said this, kirilov''s face became very ugly. He quickly added, "general chisjakov, deputy commander, will accompany you in this work."


    I pushed this matter to chisgakov. I thought he would refuse, but he happily agreed: "yes, comrade commander, I will obey your order!"


    After I finished, I turned to bzikov and said, "chief of staff, while general beloborodov is here, you can tell him about our intelligence."


    With a promise, bezikov went to the big map on the wall, pointed to it with a stick and said to beloborodov, "Comrade General, please see, our group army has deployed two divisions to the north of moziri and kalinkovych, and they are confronting the ninth regiment of the German army. In the direction of kalinkovich, the enemy deployed the 102nd and 900th infantry divisions; To the north of moziri are the 35th and 161st infantry divisions of the 5th army and the 28th infantry division of the 8th Army.


    To the west of us is general belov''s 61st group army, which confronts with the German second group army to ensure the security of the left wing of our group army; On the right wing of our army, in the lechca area, general Batov''s 65th army is deployed. They are responsible for blocking the enemy from gomeri area. To the south of us, we are backed by the troops of the first front army of Ukraine. "


    After listening to bzikov''s introduction, beloborodov looked at me and said, "Comrade commander, marshal Ernst Busch of the German central army group, is a very powerful opponent. We have suffered from him many times. I hope we can be ashamed this time."


    "Don''t worry, general loborodov." When beloborodov finished speaking, I said to him with a smile, "not only do we have to teach Marshal Busch a lesson, but even his commander of the Ninth Army, Walter modle, must not let it go. We will teach them a lifelong lesson in this land of Belarus. "


    "Report!" As soon as I finished, I heard someone calling for a report. Looking up, it turned out that two other guards commanders, tavartkiraze and sivakov, reported to me in unison: "Comrade commander, we are ordered to come. Please give us instructions!"


    After I introduced beloborodov to the two men, I asked them to sit down and continue to explain my views on the current situation of the war: "according to the information gathered by all sides, I think the German commander may make a decision to give up some prominent units. The purpose of doing so is to prevent the troops of the prominent units from being destroyed by us, At the same time, it can also shorten the line of defense to strengthen the defensive forces in some areas and increase the difficulty of our army''s next attack. "


    "Comrades commander," beloborodov asked tentatively after I had finished saying, "what would the German commanders do if they were opposed by Hitler after they made the decision to withdraw the bulge?"


    To his question, I replied with a smile: "general beloborodov, if it is true, it will be very good for our army. In this way, the enemy will have to wage a seesaw war with our army in many important areas. No matter what the final outcome is, their losses will be very serious. By the time they are expending more and more troops, the German general will find that they are unable to provide the forces needed for defense. "


    As soon as I finished, bzikov said with surprise, "Comrade commander, if the German forces are really not strong enough to defend such a vast occupied area, can we not launch a large-scale counter offensive?"


    "Yes, chief of staff." When I think that there are no outsiders here, I don''t have to worry so much: "after our army has consumed a lot of German forces, we can launch one or two major battles to push the front to the border line. I didn''t expect that all the enemies will be driven away from our territory before the end of this year!"


    It is said that the German can be driven out of our territory before the end of the year. Not only the three commanders are talking to each other, but even kirilov is not calm. He asked in a trembling voice, "Rita, is it really possible for our troops to drive the enemy out of our territory before the end of the year?"


    "Yes, comrade military commissar, that''s for sure." In order to make me believe what I said, I got up and went to the map, picked up the stick leaning against the wall, pointed to the map and said to them, "you see, in Belarus, our group army and the 61st and 65th army have occupied the southeast. Although there is a German Army in Gomery, they have become a turtle in a jar, It''s only a matter of time before we get rid of it.


    Olsha, to the north of mogilyov, is also surrounded by our army. As long as our army launches an attack, it can take two or three days at most to win this important city and open the road to Minsk. Once the friendly forces occupy olsha, they can cut off the road from Pskov to Kiev to the south of Vitebsk, making the German army in Vitebsk a lone army. "


    "What about us?" This time, chisjakov couldn''t help it. He couldn''t wait to ask, "what kind of action will our group army take?"


    "It''s very simple, destroy or defeat the five German divisions in front of our army, and then push northward," I said after a few clicks on the name of bilarus with the explanation stick. "Then occupy bilarus and use it as the starting point of the attack to capture Minsk."


    "If only our group army could take part in the battle of the liberation of Minsk," chisjakov said reversibly


    According to the history I know, in the battle of the liberation of Minsk, chernyahovsky''s Belarusian third front army was the main attack force, while rokosovsky''s Belarusian first front army only dispatched one to cooperate with the friendly forces to carry out centripetal assault in the direction of Minsk. Although I don''t know whether our group army has the honor to be a force cooperating with the friendly forces with the change of history, I still insisted on saying to chisgakov, "don''t worry, comrade deputy commander, if we really occupy bilarus, then we will certainly have a chance to take part in the battle of liberating Minsk."


    ¡­¡­


    As soon as I arranged for someone to take beloborodov to rest, major general berey, the tank commander, and major general povsky, the artillery commander, walked into the headquarters one by one. The expression on the two faces is very different, the former is sad, the latter is happy.


    I gave them a strange look, asked them to sit down and asked, "comrades general, what''s the matter? Why are you all depressed and happy? "


    "Comrades commander," said berey with a sad face, "I have received an order from the superior to let the Fifth Army of our close guard tanks withdraw from the existing defense area before January 22 and move towards mogilyov."


    "What, let you leave for morjiliov tomorrow?" The unexpected news surprised me. I turned around and asked bzikov, "chief of staff, have you received any comrades from your superiors?"


    "No!" Bezikov looked at me blankly and said, "Comrade commander, I haven''t received any orders from my superiors." With these words, he turned to bielei and asked, "Comrade General, who gave you the order?"


    "It''s the order sent to me by the armored chief of the front army." He took out a piece of paper and handed it to me. At the same time, he said, "our army will be under the command of the front army along the Baltic Sea."


    After reading the order signed by the superior commander, I felt very uncomfortable. I can understand the fact that the superior transferred my troops and enriched other troops, but at least give me a hello. Now go directly over me and give orders to the commanders below. What''s the matter?


    I threw the order on the table, and then asked povsky, "general povsky, I see you are in high spirits. Is there anything good about it?"


    "Comrade commander, of course it''s good news." Povsky said excitedly: "the superior will send us new artillery troops."


    "The new Artillery Force?" When I heard what povsky said, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade General, I don''t know how many new artillery units our superior can send us?"


    "Too much. I can''t tell for a while." Povsky took out a piece of paper from his briefcase and handed it to me with a proud face: "Comrade commander, look at it for yourself!"


    I took the piece of paper and saw that it was densely written: "the artillery units assigned to your group army are as follows:


    The 333rd and 335th self propelled artillery regiments of the guards


    8th artillery division (26th and 27th artillery brigades)


    21th breakthrough artillery division (103rd powerful howitzer brigade, 64th and 94th heavy howitzer brigade, 55th howitzer brigade, 66th light howitzer brigade, 25th mortar brigade)


    64th and 283rd howitzer brigades


    No.4 artillery brigade, No.38 artillery regiment, No.22 and No.99 mortar regiment, No.2 mortar division (No.20 and No.26 mortar brigade)


    The 45th anti tank artillery brigade, the 496th anti tank artillery regiment, the 295th and 408th mortar regiments, and the 2nd mortar division of the guards (the 20th and 26th mortar brigades of the guards); The 22nd and 99th mortar regiment of the guards, the 39th antiaircraft artillery division (1406, 1410, 1414, 1526 antiaircraft artillery regiment), the 46th antiaircraft artillery division (609, 617, 618, 717 antiaircraft artillery regiment) and the 1487 antiaircraft artillery regiment... "After reading the dense data, I was very sad because the fifth tank army was about to be transferred tonight, And become happy again. On second thought, anyway, we can''t use tank troops on a large scale in this area. The higher authorities have added so many artillery troops to us, which is tantamount to raising our ability to tackle difficult problems to a higher level. After reading it, I handed the paper to chisgakov and bezikov for circulation, and then said easily, "if the superior really equipped us with so many artillery units, then we would have no difficulty in breaking through the fortifications built by the German army." After I said this, I found that bezikov, who was looking at the list of artillery troops, had a surprised expression on his face. Then I knew that it must have been the superior who stepped over again. We directly informed povsky and asked him curiously, "Comrade General, who provided you with this list of artillery troops?"¡° The artillery headquarters in Moscow After povsky said this, he seemed to think of something, and then asked in a careful tone: "Comrade commander, didn''t the superior inform you?"¡° No I shook my head and said solemnly, "not only did you give us more artillery, but you didn''t inform us; At the same time, we didn''t talk to each other in advance about the transfer of general berey''s tank troops. "¡° Comrade commander, "chisjakov stood up and said to me," I think whether it''s the transfer of tank troops or the increase of artillery troops to us, we should talk to the commander of the front army, so that he can have a clear idea. " After thinking for a moment, I readily agreed to chisgakov''s proposal. Because I know that in the Soviet army, there are still cases in which the superior directly transfers troops without saying hello, so we must communicate with rokosovsky to let him know, so that he can make overall arrangements according to the actual situation.

 Chapter 1434

    After hearing my report, rokosovsky was also surprised. I heard him asking malining next to him: "Comrade chief of staff, do you know that the superior has sent more artillery troops to the sixth group army of the guards?" No notice! What about the transfer of the fifth tank army I don''t know?! I see


    After asking malining, rokosovsky said awkwardly, "Rita, I don''t know anything about the transfer of tank troops or the increase of artillery troops by you."


    "Comrade commander," as soon as he finished, I quickly asked, "although it is difficult for us to use tank troops on a large scale in the existing area, the transfer of all the superior tank troops will still have an impact on the next operations of our group army."


    Listen to me, rokosovsky was silent for a long time before he said, "Rita, we may soon launch a full-scale attack on the German army in Leningrad and Belarus at the same time. Perhaps the higher authorities have taken into account the large number of new-type tanks allocated to the Fifth Army of close guard tanks, so that they can gain an absolute advantage in the tank battle with the German armored forces on the open plain. The tank army has been transferred. I believe it won''t be long before new tank troops will be added to you. "


    As a matter of fact, according to what I know, in the north of moziri and kalinkovich, there are too many swampy areas to deploy too many tanks. The superior has given us so many artillery, even without tanks, we can attack cities and plunder land. But rokosovsky said that the news of the attack on the German army in the near future confirmed that I was very excited. I tentatively asked, "senior general, can I ask when our army will launch a counter attack on the German army?"


    "Rita, this attack is mainly a joint operation of the Leningrad front army, the volhoff front army, the second front army along the Baltic coast and the red flag Baltic Fleet against the German northern army group in Leningrad and its surrounding areas." I didn''t expect that when rokosovsky heard my question, he said: "since the task of our front army is only to cooperate with friendly forces, there are not many troops participating in the battle, and your group army will not take part in this offensive battle."


    "It''s a pity," I said bitterly. I was disappointed to hear that the counterattack was not for our group army. I saw that we could only stick to moziri and kalinkovich, continue to confront the ninth group army of the German army, and watch the friendly troops annihilate the enemy


    "Speaking of the ninth group army of the German army, I have one thing in mind. I want to inform you. The former commander of the group army, maudel, was appointed commander-in-chief of the German northern group army by Hitler "As for who will take over the post of commander of the ninth group army, it''s not very clear now, so you should prevent the German army from giving you a sudden blow after changing the commander," rokosovsky said in a smooth tone


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Hearing rokosovsky''s worry, I said with disapproval: "we have been waiting for the Germans. If they don''t come, we will beat them to pieces as long as they come."


    When I put down the phone, I found that all the people sitting at the table focused on me. On behalf of everyone, chisjakov asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what good news the senior general has told you."


    "It''s really good news," I said. After I finished, I went to the wall, picked up the stick, pointed to the map and said to you, "please see, in January last year, the troops of Leningrad front army and volhoff front army carried out a campaign to break through the German encirclement south of schluselberg, and successfully restored the land contact between the city and the country.


    After a year of preparation, the supreme command was ready to carry out a larger campaign to eliminate the German army in the region. In a few days, the Leningrad front army, together with the volhoff front army, the second front army along the Baltic coast and the red flag Baltic Fleet, will launch a large-scale offensive campaign against the German northern army group in Leningrad and Novgorod.


    According to my judgment, after the end of this campaign, our troops will be able to completely liberate Leningrad, which is blocked by the North German army, eliminate the German army in the whole territory of Leningrad state and part of the territory of Kalinin state, and smoothly advance to the territory of Estonia. "


    After hearing what I said, beloborodov, full of doubts, asked: "Comrade commander, are you really so sure about our new year''s offensive? After the end of this round of campaign, can we really achieve the huge and even brilliant results you said? "


    I was thinking about how to answer this question of beloborodov, and berzikov replied with a smile: "general beloborodov, you may not have much time to deal with our commander, so that''s why you asked. You know, even Marshal Zhukov said that she had a strategic vision. At the beginning of a campaign, she could give a general idea of what kind of results she could achieve. "


    I feel a little ashamed to hear bzikov praise me. In fact, I just know a little bit about the historical process. Otherwise, how can I tell Zhukov before the start of the Moscow defense, the Stalingrad defense and the Kursk battle, that our army will surely win the final victory.


    In my opinion, bezikov had to go on. He quickly raised his hand to interrupt him and said to beloborodov, "Comrade General, our army has gradually gained an advantage in the battlefield. Although we can''t drive all the enemies out of our country in a moment, every battle we will carry out in the future will achieve great results, After consuming a large number of German troops, one city after another was liberated from the rule of the Communist Party. "


    Before I finished, the high-frequency telephone on the desk suddenly rang. I stare at the phone that can call outside, and I wonder to myself, who will call me at this time? Bezikov was the nearest to the phone. He grabbed the phone, put the receiver to his ear and listened for a while. His face suddenly showed a joyful expression. He said repeatedly, "I understand, I understand, I completely understand!"


    After he put down the phone, I asked curiously, "chief of staff, who is calling?"


    "Comrade commander, this is general malining, chief of staff of the front army." Bezikov stood up and faced me and said, "he told me that he had just been informed by his superior that he would send us a new infantry army tomorrow."


    "The new infantry?" When I heard that, I couldn''t help but be overjoyed and asked, "what''s the serial number?"


    "It''s the 103rd infantry army, which governs the 29th and 270th infantry divisions," bezikov replied. "There are also two tank brigades and two tank regiments."


    When chisgakov heard this, he broke in and asked, "what''s the serial number of the tank brigade and the tank regiment?"


    Bezikov turned to chisjakov and said, "the 34th tank brigade and the 2nd tank regiment, the 143rd tank brigade and the 47th tank regiment."


    "Did the superior say that in addition to the Fifth Army of close guard tanks, those troops should be transferred away?" I continued.


    Bezikov looked at the two guards who were sitting opposite him and said, "general sivakov''s 22nd guard has added the 47th and 51st infantry divisions in addition to retaining the 90th guard division; The 23rd army of general tavartkilaze retained the 51st division of the guards, joined the 67th and 71st divisions of the former 23rd army, and transferred the 52nd and 375TH divisions of the guards. " At this point, he turned to look at me and continued, "at the same time, general Xie Liujin''s close guard division 8.9, directly under the group army, was transferred."


    After listening to him, I calculated to myself, and then said slowly, "chief of staff, even if the higher authorities want to transfer our 52nd, 77th, 8.9 and 375 divisions besides the Fifth Army of general berey''s close guard tanks, right?"


    When bizikov heard me ask, he calculated for a moment, and then replied, "yes, comrade commander, that''s right. The superior transferred four infantry divisions and one tank army."


    "Although we have been transferred four infantry divisions, our superiors have given us two additional armies, a total of five infantry divisions." Seeing that bzikov''s face was livid, chisgakov stood up and said with a smile, "in this way, our strength has been greatly strengthened, no matter it has not weakened."


    "But, comrade deputy commander." Bezikov said somewhat unconvinced: "with the infantry division transferred together, there are also general bere''s tank troops, which have a great impact on our ability to attack fortified positions."


    "Chief of staff, I think you''re over worried." "You know, in the north of moziri and kalinkovych, it is impossible to use large-scale tank troops, so the superior will not only transfer the tank troops, but also supply us with a large number of artillery troops. With so many artillery, I believe that we should have no problem in seizing the cities heavily guarded by the enemy. "


    Perhaps seeing that the atmosphere in the room became a little tense, beloborodov suddenly said, "Comrade commander, I have a request for you to let our army be the main force in the battle of liberating piraroth."


    As soon as his words came to an end, sivakov was a little reluctant: "general beloborodov, why do you want your troops to attack bilarus? Let''s leave this task to our army. "


    Seeing that sivakov wanted to compete with himself, beloborodov laughed and put forward a compromise to the other side: "general sivakov, do you think this is OK? Our two armies will launch an attack against laros at the same time to see whose army will first put the red flag on the top of the municipal building."


    When I heard beloborodov say this, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "general beloborodov, why do you want to put the red flag on the top of the municipal building?" According to my idea, as long as the troops rush into the city and insert the red flag on the top of any high-rise building, it will be a great victory.


    But beloborodov looked at me and said strangely, "Comrade commander, don''t you know bilarus is a city built in the Middle Ages?"


    Beloborodov''s words made me even more confused. I asked, "it seems that there is no connection between the red flag on the top of the municipal building and whether the city was built in the Middle Ages?"


    "According to the medieval tradition," beloborodov patiently explained to me, "as long as the flag is placed on the top of the city''s municipal building, it represents the occupation of the city." I turned to kirilov and asked in a low voice, "Comrade military commissar, is there such a tradition?" Kirilov nodded slightly, then said to beloborodov with a smile, "general beloborodov, our commander is still young. She doesn''t know much about tradition. So it''s not clear that when seizing a city built in the middle ages, the flag should be placed on the roof of the municipal building. " After kirilov finished, I asked tentatively, "Comrade military commissar, I have a question. Is it true that as long as the red flag is planted on the top of the municipal building, even if the battle in the city has not been decided, we have occupied the city? "¡° Yes, it is Kirilov nodded with a smile and gave me a positive answer. After listening to his explanation, I seem to understand something. No wonder when the Berlin campaign was still in full swing, some commanders organized a special team to plant the red flag on the dome of the parliament building. It was because of this tradition. When kirilov saw that I understood the meaning of setting up flags in the municipal building, he suddenly changed the topic and said to me, "Rita, many of our troops are leaving in the next few days. Do you think we should call all the division commanders together for a meeting and give them practice by the way?" In fact, even if kirilov doesn''t say it, I will call those teachers who are going to leave together to say goodbye. After all, they have been fighting together for such a long time, and they get along very well with each other. It is very necessary to practice them. Therefore, I nodded my head and said, "I agree with comrades of the military commissar that it is necessary to practice these comrades before they go to new battlefields." After that, I told bzikov: "chief of staff, the four infantry divisions to be transferred by the higher authorities will not leave until the new troops arrive here to take over the defense. So the practice ceremony for them can be pushed back a little. And general bielei will lead the troops to withdraw from our defense area tomorrow. I think we''d better practice it for him and the commanders at all levels of the tank army first. "

 Chapter 1435

    A quick tap on the door woke me up from my sleep. I opened my eyes vaguely, and with the help of the weak light in the room, I could see clearly that the time on my watch was just five o''clock. Although I know that the people who can knock on the door are not ordinary soldiers, but kirilov and a few of them. However, I am still very uncomfortable when I am awakened from my dream at this time. I can''t help raising my voice and yelling out: "who''s out there?" There was a moment''s silence outside the door, and then ahlomeyev''s familiar voice came in: "Comrade commander, it''s me! Comrade deputy commander, please go to the headquarters immediately, "Comrade commander, you are the person I admire most." After my words, Lu Jin also flattered me: "at that time, when you took us to the enemy''s rear for reconnaissance, you were just a lieutenant, but now? Lu Jin and I flattered each other, then I went to shake hands with the regimental commander in the back row. After shaking hands with all the commanders, I went back to the conference table to face all the commanders, and then told the soldiers standing around: "comrades, fill up the wine for the commanders." At my command, the soldiers quickly poured vodka from the open bottles into the ceramic teapots, and then handed the teapots with vodka to each commander. When I saw that the commanders who were going to travel were all holding the teapots with wine in their hands, I picked up the teapots on the table: "comrades of the commanders..." I just finished this sentence, but I got stuck because I was too excited. I held the teapot high and stood there silent. The commanders also held the teapot and looked at me. The whole hall was quiet. After a few minutes of silence, I finally calmed down my mood and continued: "comrades, you are leaving today, leaving the fighting sequence of the sixth group army of the guards and embarking on a new journey." In the more than half a year we have been together with you, from Kursk to Kharkov, from Belgorod to Kiev, from Ukraine to Belarus, we have fought side by side and established a profound fighting friendship Comrades, I don''t want you to leave... "Speaking of this, my nose is sore, and tears almost burst out of my eyes. The commanders standing below, seeing me like this, cried out: "Comrade commander, we don''t want to leave you!"¡° Comrade commander, let''s stay! " After waiting for everyone to shout for a while, I raised my left hand and pressed it down to signal everyone to be quiet. Then I raised the teapot high in my hand and said loudly, "comrades commander, I believe we will fight side by side one day. Now, please raise your glasses and drink the wine of practice. I wish you more success in killing the enemy in the new battlefield. Do it With that, I took the lead in drinking the liquor in the teapot¡° Do it Everyone yelled in unison, then looked up and drank vodka from the glass. After drinking, the commanders didn''t throw the teapots on the ground together, as they did in some TV series. Instead, after saluting me, they turned and walked towards the door of the church, placing the teapots neatly on the table at the door.

 Chapter 1436

    The day after the troops left, rokosovsky came to my headquarters and briefed us on the current situation.


    Standing by the wall, he pointed to the map with a stick and said: "after a comprehensive summary and military analysis, the supreme command decided to launch a large-scale attack from Leningrad in the north to crim in the south in the winter of 1943 and early 1944. These include: in the southwest, the liberation of Ukraine and Crimea; In the western direction, we should liberate the territory of Belarus as much as possible; In the northwest, it should advance to the borders of the Baltic republics; Break the German blockade of Leningrad and drive them out of Leningrad.


    In order to concentrate the superior forces, the Supreme Command concentrated the main forces and technical equipment in the first, second, third and fourth front forces of Ukraine in the winter of 1943 and early 1944, so as to achieve the goal of crushing the German Southern Group and a group in a short time. It is precisely because of the different emphasis that we have only got a limited number of troops and technical equipment.


    Today, two marshals Zhukov and vasilevsky are in their respective front forces. Among them, Marshal Zhukov is responsible for coordinating the actions of the first and second front forces of Ukraine, while marshal vasilevsky is responsible for coordinating the actions of the third and fourth front forces of Ukraine.


    In December 1943 and early January 1944, the first front army and the second front army of Ukraine launched new campaigns and launched offensive campaigns to liberate Ukrainian territory on the right bank of the Dnieper River. In order to prevent our attack, the German army deployed a quite powerful combat group on the flanks of our two front forces. The group is under the command of German General William steinmerman, with nine infantry divisions, one tank division and one motorized division. Because the German army occupied a protruding part of more than 100 kilometers, it seriously restricted the development of the two front armies to the West... "


    After listening to rokosovsky''s situation analysis, bzikov was a little unconvinced and said: "the German army has only this strength. Can''t our two front forces eat them? You know, we started from zhylobin, and in a few days, we defeated or destroyed the seven German divisions. "


    When he heard that, rokosovsky laughed and said nothing. Instead, he threw a meaningful smile at me and motioned for me to say a few words. I gave him a slight nod, then said to bezikov: "Comrade chief of staff, the German forces we are facing cannot be compared with those who are fighting with the two Ukrainian front forces. Under the fierce attack of the troops under the command of the senior general, they have suffered heavy casualties for a long time. Some divisions even have only one battalion and are surrounded by more than a dozen of our divisions. It is inevitable that they will be eliminated. "


    In fact, bezikov is very clear about this fact. The reason why he chose to ignore it is that he felt that the Ukrainian side was in a hot fight and Leningrad was also in a big fight. However, more than a dozen of our divisions were confronted with five German divisions in the moziri and kalinkovich regions, resulting in some imbalance in his mind.


    "Comrade General, other troops are fighting, but we are here to rest." After I finished, chisgakov asked rokosovsky curiously, "I don''t know when the superior will order us to launch a comprehensive attack on the German army?"


    "Comrade chisgakov," rokosovsky said to chisgakov solemnly with a smile on his face: "your group army has successfully captured moziri and kalinkovich, successfully restrained the German second and ninth group army, so that none of their divisions can be transferred to the fighting Ukraine. This is a great victory. Do you understand? "


    "I see, Comrade General." After listening to rokosovsky''s explanation, chisjakov''s face showed a relieved expression. He nodded and said: "our group army stationed here forces the German army to leave enough troops to confront us. It is tantamount to supporting other battlefields in disguised form and reducing the resistance of friendly forces in attack."


    After we continued to talk about the current situation for a while, rokosovsky suddenly asked, "Rita, is the order in the city back to normal?"


    "Yes, comrade rokosovsky." Hearing this question, kirilov answered first: "after a month''s efforts, we have basically cleaned up the ruins of the city, and built temporary houses for the residents in the square, so that they can live through the winter safely."


    "Nothing''s going on now anyway. Let''s go to the city and have a look." Rokosovsky then stood up and said to kirilov and me, "let Comrade Rita and kirilov go with me."


    On the way to moziri, rokosovsky, who was sitting next to me, suddenly said, "Rita, in a week or two, the Belarusian front army will not exist?"


    Although I have known for a long time that the Belarusian front army will be renamed the first front army of Belarus in February, and the second and third front army will be added at the same time, when I heard rokosovsky mention this, I pretended to be very surprised and asked, "senior general, why is this? After the withdrawal of our front army, to which front army are we going to divide the following army groups? "


    "Don''t worry, your army won''t be transferred." Rokosovsky thought that I really knew nothing about the upcoming reorganization of the army. In addition, kirilov, who was sitting in the co pilot''s seat, turned around and looked at us curiously, eager to know what happened. He then said: "in order to strengthen our army in Belarus, our current front army will be renamed the first front army of Belarus, The second and third front forces will be added soon. "


    "Comrade General," I asked, pretending to be curious, "you are undoubtedly the commander of the first front army; But who are the other two commanders of the front army? "


    "I heard from the comrades of the general staff that the commander of the second front army was general kurotchkin; As for the third front army, "rokosovsky said here, pausing for a moment, then continued," the higher authorities mean to appoint general chernyahovsky. "


    After listening to rokosovsky''s words, I couldn''t help feeling a little disappointed. I thought that my outstanding performance in the Belarusian battlefield had left a good impression on the Supreme Commander himself, so that I could take up a new position in the two newly established front armies. It turns out that I think too much, and history has not changed at all. The original two generals are still the commanders of the new front army.


    Rokosovsky may have noticed that I was a little depressed. He raised his hand and patted me gently on the back twice, comforting me and saying, "what I just said is just the list set by the higher authorities. I don''t know if there will be any new changes when the new front army is established. Maybe you''ll still have hope. "


    Rokosovsky''s last words, let my heart again lit up hope. It is true that the two new front armies have not yet been formed. It is still unknown who will be the commander of the front army. I still have a glimmer of hope. What''s more, even if he can''t be a commander now, there''s nothing to worry about. Isn''t general chernyahovsky, commander of the third front army, killed in the later battle? Maybe I can take over his post then.


    The jeep we took entered the city of moziri. Rokosowski no longer spoke, but turned to look out of the window and looked carefully at the city which was not long liberated by our army. Kirilov, who was sitting in the front row, turned to rokosovsky and said, "Comrade commander, you see, we have basically cleared up the ruins on both sides. After a simple repair, we have arranged for the residents to live in the houses that have not collapsed. At the same time, we have also provided each family with a stove for heating, which can ensure that they can survive this cold winter safely. "


    "A stove for heating?" When rokosovsky heard kirilov say this, he immediately asked two questions: "Comrade kirilov, I don''t know where these stoves were obtained from? What do the residents rely on to burn for warmth? "


    "These stoves were found in the German warehouse. After they were given to the residents, they had to pick up wood from the ruins to make a fire. Later, with Rita''s consent, we provided them with coal. " When kirilov said this, he turned to look at me, and then went on to say, "coal for heating, when they get food, they can get the same day''s coal through their own ration card."


    On hearing this, rokosovsky nodded and said to me with a smile, "Rita, you are very thoughtful. Since these residents did not die in our fight to liberate the city, we should let them live well when we become the masters of the city. "


    As for rokosovsky''s praise, I said awkwardly: "Comrade commander, the military commissars have always been responsible for the reconstruction of cities and the resettlement of residents, and I have not helped much."


    "Comrade kirilov," rokosovsky said, then turned to kirilov and asked, "I don''t know how many factories in the city have resumed production?"


    "Comrade rokosovsky," kirilov replied politely, "nearby moziri is rich in timber, and it is an important timber processing and export center of Belarus. At the same time, there are agricultural machinery factories, automobile repair factories and soil improvement machinery factories in the city. But when we went to the city, we got the wrong direction, thinking that the pillar industry here is animal husbandry processing. So far, only two animal husbandry processing plants have resumed production. "


    Hearing this, I whispered in my heart: "what animal husbandry processing plant is just two slaughterhouses. Every day''s work is to slaughter the pigs and sheep transported from the rear and sell them to local residents. "


    "What, comrade kirilov, what do you say?" To his surprise, rokosovsky asked, "you just said that two animal husbandry processing plants have resumed production?"


    "Yes, comrade rokosovsky." Kirilov nodded his head and gave him a positive answer.


    "That is to say, the residents of moziri already have meat supply?" I didn''t expect rokosovsky to pay so much attention to people''s livelihood. I thought he only cared about how many enemies we defeated and how many cities we liberated. He then asked, "I don''t know how much meat each resident can get every day?"


    "At the beginning of the ration card, we could only provide 600 grams of bread to each resident." As soon as kirilov talked about his job, his words became endless: "but with the improvement of the situation, every resident can get one kilogram of bread and five kilogram of coal every day; You can get 100 grams of sugar and 100 grams of salt every two days; You can get 50 grams of pork or mutton every three days... "


    Rokosovsky listened with great interest to kirilov''s talk about the situation in the city, and kept nodding his head and saying yes.


    The jeep stopped at the gate of the garrison headquarters in moziri unconsciously. I looked at beloborodov and his group of subordinates who were standing outside to meet us. I had to interrupt them and said to rokosovsky, "senior general, we have arrived at the garrison headquarters. We''d better talk inside. It''s too cold on the bus." After I reminded him, rokosovsky found that there were 20 or 30 commanders with different ranks standing in front of the building outside the car. He said to kirilov with a smile, "Comrade kirilov, I was fascinated by your introduction of moziri. I didn''t find that I had arrived at the garrison headquarters. Let''s go. We''ll talk again when we get to the headquarters. " Then he pushed the door open and got out of the car, shaking hands with major general beloborodov. When we were walking towards the headquarters, I whispered to rokosovsky, "Comrade General, the garrison commander of moziri was originally general sivakov, commander of the 22nd army of the close guard. As his troops are now moved to the north of the city, I let major general beloborodov, commander of the 2nd army of the close guard in the city, take over the post of garrison commander." Rokossovski did not say what different opinions he had on the personnel adjustment I made. Instead, he said, "since you are all your subordinates, you has the final say to appoint who to serve as the commander of the garrison." We all came to the meeting room. As soon as we entered the door, I felt a rush of heat coming towards me, and I felt much warmer. Beloborodov explained to us: "I think the senior general will definitely call you to meet here and give us some instructions, so we specially have two stoves installed here, so that the whole conference room won''t look too cold during the meeting."

 Chapter 1437

    Rokosovsky and others sat down, scanned all the people with their eyes, and then said, "comrades of commanders, I think we should really become guards." that''s right, comrades of general "Since the second half of last year, our army has not received any combat tasks, so there are not many chances for us to get medals," beloborodov replied awkwardly


    "Jinwei" don''t worry, Comrade General As soon as rokosovsky finished speaking, beloborodov immediately declared his position to him and said, "when you come to our army for inspection next time, I want you to guarantee that every commander who attended the meeting will get the medal they deserve." With that, he stood up and asked the commanders in the audience, "do you have any confidence?"


    The commanders stood up in unison and answered in a loud voice: "yes, we have confidence!"


    "Senior general, move us to the front line and work hard with the Germans!" Even some commanders are still shouting: "we will certainly build immortal meritorious deeds in the battle."


    Seeing rokosovsky''s understatement, the morale of the commanders on the scene was aroused. I really admire him. After waiting for the commanders to shout a few voices, he raised his hands and pressed them down, motioned everyone to sit down, and then said, "comrades, don''t worry. There are many opportunities to fight, and there are many opportunities for you to make contributions. But first of all, I want to talk about how to rebuild the city. "


    "Comrade commander," the commander of the 46th division of Jinwei stood up. The old colonel with white temples said to rokosovsky, "you''d better let''s go to the front and compete with the Germans. What kind of construction are we going to do here? The commanders and fighters below are in a mood."


    "I don''t think the soldiers have emotions. You have emotions." Rokosovsky uncomfortably exposed the other side, and then said: "although for more than a year, our army has continuously liberated one city after another from the enemy''s clutches. But many cities have become ruins in the fighting. In the face of those homeless and displaced residents, what should we do? Let them live and die on their own


    After he had said this, he stopped for a moment. Seeing that there was no one to speak, he continued: "no, it certainly can''t. What we should do is to rebuild the cities destroyed by the war and solve the basic necessities of the residents.... "


    After listening to rokosovsky''s long speech, the teacher murmured: "however, comrade general, it is not a matter of time to rebuild a city. If we concentrate on rebuilding the city, where is there time for war? "


    "Although the main task of the army is still to fight." After listening to what the division commander said, rokosovsky did not lose his temper, but patiently explained to him: "however, in the spare time of fighting, our troops'' more important task is to help local residents rebuild the city or waterproof layer, so that they can live and work in peace and contentment. Mr. and comrade, you may as well think about it. If your family is not fed and clothed in the back, can you still fight at ease in the front line? "


    The teacher, who was criticized by rokosovsky, blushed and shook his head, then said aloud, "Comrade General, I''m wrong. I always feel that other troops are fighting against the Germans, while we stay in the rear and do nothing... "


    "Wait a minute, comrade colonel." Kirilov interrupted the division commander and said in a tone of teaching: "you and your troops are not idle in moziri. There are many things to do. For example, you can help residents build houses, restore water supply, clean and dredge sewers and so on. Now many cities in China are carrying out reconstruction work. Since we are not going to take part in any battle for the time being, we should make some preparations in the early stage. When the real construction team arrives, their progress can also be accelerated. "


    "Comrade kirilov, I want to ask you a question." After listening to kirilov''s words, rokosovsky suddenly asked, "is the supply of goods and materials for the residents in the city back to normal?"


    "Supplies to residents?" Kirilov repeated rokosovsky''s words and asked, "Comrade General, do you mean the food we distribute to the residents?"


    "No, not food, but the supply of daily necessities." Rokosovsky explained to kirilov, "I think in a city that has been turned into ruins after fierce fighting, the residents need a lot of daily necessities, such as clothes to wear, quilts to cover, pots and pans for cooking and so on. It is estimated that many of these things are buried in the ruins. With their ability, they can''t dig out from the ruins at all, Only new ones. "


    Kirilov frowned at the question that rokosovsky had mentioned, and then turned to me for help. Rokosovsky looked at me with his eyes and said with a smile, "Rita, I think you''d better give me an answer to this matter."


    "May I sit down, please?" The teacher, who was playing against rokosovsky, looked pitifully at me and asked.


    "Please sit down, sir." I answered him with a smile, then turned to rokosovsky and said, "senior general, since you have asked us a question, we will put the work of providing daily necessities for residents on the agenda in the next time, and solve it in the shortest time."


    "Comrade commander, please allow me to ask a question." As soon as I finished, beloborodov asked me a question: "if the department stores in the city are simply repaired, they will soon be put into use. My question is, when we sell goods in the building, what should residents use to buy the daily necessities they need? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." As soon as his words were finished, his military commissar then asked, "obviously, it''s very unrealistic for residents to use ration cards to get them; In addition, it is impossible to buy with cash. After all, the city has been in the clutches of the enemy for more than two years. I don''t think the residents still have enough money in their hands. "


    The questions raised by both of them are to the point. After listening, rokosovsky folded his hands on his chest and looked at me with a smile. He seemed to want to hear what kind of reply I would make.


    In fact, it''s hard for me to know how to buy daily necessities. As soon as their question was raised, I thought of work relief, so I said with a smile, "it''s easy to do. From today on, we will provide work cards for urban residents who take part in labor, and the time they take part in labor will be marked on the cards. Then they go to the shops and exchange their working hours for the necessities of life. "


    "Work cards for residents?" On hearing my proposal, rokosovsky frowned. He was silent for a moment, then asked in an uncertain voice, "is that ok?"


    "Don''t worry, senior general. This method is absolutely feasible." I saw that not only rokosovsky didn''t understand, but other commanders in this room were still at a loss, so I explained to you, "we use the scoring system, and every half hour is one point. A resident who works eight hours a day gets eight points. We work out the product score for each commodity, so as long as the score on the work card reaches the standard, the residents can exchange for the corresponding commodity. After exchanging goods, we deduct the corresponding points from the card. If they want to buy other goods, they have to increase the points through labor... "


    After I explained my idea in detail, I finally saw rokosovsky nodding his head suddenly. Then he asked kirilov, "Comrade kirilov, what do you think of this method proposed by Lida?"


    "General," kirilov said with a smile, "I think it''s OK. After the meeting, general beloborodov and I will discuss the details, and then we can carry out this kind of work card in moziri and kalinkovich After that, he turned to beloborodov and said, "Comrade commander, you have to arrange people to improve the repair work of the department store as soon as possible."


    "Don''t worry, comrade military Commissar." Beloborodov patted his chest and assured kirilov, "as soon as the meeting is over, I will send the engineering battalion to carry out this task."


    After recording the incident in the book in front of him, beloborodov carefully asked rokosovsky, "Comrade General, do you have any other instructions?"


    "Yes," rokosovsky said solemnly to beloborodov, "Comrade General, you need to start the agricultural machinery factory and automobile repair factory in the city as soon as possible. It is very helpful for the unemployed workers in the city to have a stable income, so as to stabilize people''s mind.


    When all the factories in the city start again, you can arrange the staff to resume the production of the wood processing plants outside the city. You know, wood processing and wood export are the important pillar industries of moziri. We can''t let thousands of forestry workers lose their food. "


    "Don''t worry, Comrade General." While recording rokosovsky''s words in the book, beloborodov assured him: "I will do it according to your instructions!"


    Rokosovsky did not continue to explain the task, but suddenly asked: "by the way, how many field hospitals are there in your army?"


    Beloborodov raised his right hand, held out four fingers, and replied, "we have four field hospitals, one military hospital and three division level field hospitals."


    "Where are these hospitals?" "Are they all in the city?" rokosovsky continued


    "The military field hospital and the field hospital of the 9th division are in the city," beloborodov replied truthfully. "The other two division level field hospitals are outside the city."


    "In addition to being open to wounded soldiers, do your field hospitals also receive ordinary people?"


    When he heard rokosovsky''s question, beloborodov didn''t answer immediately. Instead, he called the name of the commander of the 9th division and asked, "does your division''s field hospital receive ordinary civilians?"


    "No The commander of the ninth division of Jinwei stood up, shook his head and said, "we only receive the sick and wounded of our army. In order to prevent the infiltration of enemy agents, we never receive non military personnel."


    "It''s not going to work." After listening to each other''s words, rokosovsky immediately put forward his own view: "in the battle of our liberation of this city, many civilians were injured by mistake. If our hospital does not receive them, many people will die because of their serious injuries..."


    "Comrade General," kirilov interrupted rokosovsky as soon as he said this and reminded him in a low voice, "after the liberation of the city, we sent comrades of the ambulance team to treat the injured residents in the city. In addition to the two military hospitals, those residents who have not recovered from injuries are arranged in the only public hospital in the city. "


    "There are too few hospitals." "The residents have a headache and want to see a doctor. It''s too inconvenient," rokosovsky said, waving his hand He then told beloborodov, "Comrade commander, from today on, all military hospitals will be open to civilians. Do you understand?" Beloborodov did not immediately accept rokosovsky''s order. Instead, he said in embarrassment, "what if an enemy agent pretends to be a resident and sneaks into the hospital to do damage?"¡° Don''t worry. There are people from the interior department in the city. They will be responsible for clearing the enemy agents lurking in the city. " "But for the sake of safety, you can set up a special area and staff to receive the residents who come to see a doctor," rokosovsky comforted him

 Chapter 1438

    After listening to rokosovsky''s guidance on the work in the city, I tentatively asked him, "Comrade General, do you want to go to the defensive positions outside the city?"


    "Yes, of course." For my proposal, rokosovsky agreed very readily. He stood up and said to kirilov, "Comrade kirilov, if you have Rita to accompany me to the defensive positions outside the city, you can stay in the city and discuss with beloborodov about how to implement the wage card." With that, he shook his head at me and said in an unquestionable voice, "Rita, come with me."


    Coming out of the garrison headquarters building, rokosovsky saw me walking towards the jeep and stopped me, saying, "we''re just going to inspect the fortifications outside the city, so we don''t have to take a car."


    "Comrade commander," I heard him say, and quickly explained, "the fortifications to the north of moziri are 15 kilometers deep. If we don''t take a bus, it will take us at least one day to complete the inspection."


    "Well," after listening to me, rokosovsky realized that our fortifications outside moziri actually occupied such a large area, so he waved his hand and said, "get in the car!"


    Not far out of the city, I saw a few jeeps parked on the side of the road, and several commanders standing nearby. At a glance, I saw that the leader of the team was the 22nd army commander of the guards, sivakov, and immediately told the driver, "Comrade driver, stop by the side of the road."


    While the driver was slowing down to stop, I introduced to rokosovsky, "senior general, you see, outside, major general sivakov, commander of the 22nd army of the guards, came to meet us."


    As soon as rokosovsky and I got out of the car, sivakov, standing on the side of the road, raised his hand to the brim of his hat and saluted both of us.


    Rokosovsky took off his gloves, took sivakov''s hand, and said in a friendly way, "major general sivakov, we want to see the fortifications you built, and please be our guide."


    "Welcome, Comrade General." Sivakov gave me a quick glance and continued to report to rokosovsky, "we''ve been looking forward to your inspection of our fortifications."


    "I hope you don''t let me down." After releasing sivakov''s hand, rokosovsky simply said, "well, major general sivakov, please show us the way ahead."


    Sivakov and his men got on two jeeps and showed us the way ahead. Rokosovsky ordered the driver to follow closely.


    On the way, rokosovsky said to me, "Rita, from the current situation, you will confront the ninth German army for quite a long time. If there is no solid fortification, it will not be able to block the German attack, so that they can tear a gap in your place and rescue the gomerie group trapped in our encirclement. "


    "Don''t worry, Comrade General." As for rokosovsky''s worry, I said confidently: "the defense to the north of moziri and kalinkovic is as solid as gold. If the German army doesn''t come, it will be broken as long as they come."


    Rokosovsky didn''t seem to believe me very much. He asked suspiciously, "are you so confident?"


    I understand why rokosovsky is so worried. Although there are different arrangements between the 61st group army of rolov and the 65th group army of Batov on the left and right sides of our group army, the enemy''s strength is not weak. On the west side there is the second group army of the German army, on the front side there is the ninth group army, and on the north side there is the fourth group army of the German army, These are all the main forces of the German central army group. They have beaten hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops to pieces. It is not difficult to deal with tens of thousands of our troops.


    In order to dispel the misgivings of rokosovsky, I explained to him: "Comrade General, we have reinforced the fortifications on the basis of the original fortifications of the German army, and placed the strongest division on the first line, while the other two divisions are deployed in the depth of the defense."


    After listening to my report, rokosovsky asked with great interest: "in your report, I saw that you ordered the troops to push the moziri line northward by 10 kilometers, while the kalinkovich line northward by 5 kilometers. Now I want to know, what''s the purpose of your doing this? "


    "Very simple, comrade general, in order to get enough defense depth." In the face of the fact that the military talent can easily crush my rokosovsky, I truthfully replied: "the defense depth of the two cities was only seven or eight kilometers. After moving the defense line northward, our defense depth reached more than 15 kilometers. In this way, our rear forces can respond in time when they are suddenly attacked by the German forces... "


    After listening to my report patiently, rokosovsky nodded with a smile and said with approval, "yes, your defense deployment sounds very good. I believe that as long as you have a solid and perfect defense system to block the German attack, it will not be a problem at all."


    "By the way, comrade general," I suddenly thought of the fierce fighting in other battlefields and asked, "how is our counterattack against the German army going? Is it going well?"


    "It''s a good game." Rokosovsky nodded and said: "because the German army did not expect our army to launch a sudden attack on them in such a cold season, we were unprepared. Because of the loss of unified command, the German army, which was divided and surrounded by us, had to adopt rigid defensive tactics and stick to fixed points. Therefore, when we attack, we can mobilize more than seven or eight times of their troops, as well as the number of aircraft, tanks and artillery, to carry out a war of annihilation against them.... "


    I feel very familiar when I hear what rokosovsky said. If you think about it more carefully, isn''t this the German tactics against the Soviet two years ago? However, the situation has changed, and the original attacker has become a defender. He has been beaten by the defeated generals in the past and has no fighting power.


    Before long, I stopped the jeep in front of me and sivakov got out of the car and came towards us. Rokosovsky asked strangely: "why, so soon to the forefront?"


    "No," I have visited the defensive positions in the northern suburbs several times. Just looking out of the window, I can judge the approximate position. I turned to rokosovsky and said, "this is only the second line position."


    "How come I stopped just after I got to the second line position," rokosovsky said with some reluctance. "I should continue to drive forward. I want to go to the forefront to have a look."


    At this moment, sivakov came to our car. He reported to rokosovsky through the window and said, "Comrade General, we are here. Please get out of the car."


    Rokosovsky pushed open the car door and said to sivakov unhappily, "general sivakov, I want to go to the first line to see how you stop here?"


    Sivakov, who was criticized by rokosovsky, blushed and replied awkwardly: "Comrade General, the enemy occasionally shoots cold guns at our front line, or some snipers hide in a place not far from the trench, causing us a lot of losses. For your safety''s sake, don''t go to the front line. "


    "What the hell''s going on, Rita?" After sivakov finished speaking, rokosovsky immediately turned to look at me and asked impolitely, "why didn''t you report to me that the German troops fired cold guns at your positions?"


    Rokosovsky''s question made me a little silly. In fact, it''s not that I deliberately concealed it, but that I didn''t know about it at all. You know, it''s still my usual tactic to use cold guns and cold guns to deal with the enemy. I didn''t expect that the Germans have learned to use our tactics to deal with us.


    However, in front of rokosovsky, I can''t put the responsibility on my subordinates, because even if I shirk the responsibility, I can''t get rid of rokosovsky''s dissatisfaction with me, on the contrary, it will make the people below feel cold. After a short period of weighing, I decided to take the responsibility on myself: "sorry, senior general, I don''t think this kind of small action of the German army will do much harm to us, so I didn''t pay enough attention to it."


    After listening to me, rokosovsky snorted heavily twice, and then said to sivakov, "general sivakov, take me to see your fortifications. I hope you don''t let me down too much."


    Sivakov himself served as a guide, leading me and rokosovsky from one position to another. Rokosovsky went to the trench, carefully looked at the fire point, shelter, and measured the height of the trench with his own height. Occasionally, he would use his fist to look at the log panels in the trench to see if they were strong enough.


    After we inspected the second line position for more than an hour, rokosovsky nodded with satisfaction and said to sivakov, "general sivakov, it seems that your fortifications are well repaired. I hope that when the Germans attack you, you can rely on these fortifications to block their attack and consume a lot of their living strength. Can you do that? "


    "Comrade General, please rest assured." Sivakov replied with his head held high: "as long as there is still one soldier alive in our close guard 22nd army, the enemy will never be allowed to pass through our position."


    Although rokosovsky was smiling at the people below, as soon as he got into the jeep, he restrained his smile and told the driver with a straight face: "Comrade driver, drive directly to the headquarters of the sixth group army."


    I thought rokosovsky would leave with his guards after his inspection. But at the moment, when I heard him tell the driver to drive to my headquarters, my heart could not help but thump, knowing that I would be criticized by him later.


    Sure enough, after returning to my headquarters, rokosovsky went to the table without a word, took off his hat, fell heavily on the table, and said angrily, "Rita, I''m so disappointed in you!"


    Being busy at the table, chisjakov and bzikov were startled by rokosovsky''s action. They didn''t know what was going on, and they didn''t dare to ask. They could only stand beside each other looking at each other.


    Only listen to rokosovsky continue to say: "I think you in the continuous liberation of kalinkovic and moziri, the enemy has been beaten scared.". As a result, although the German army was driven far away by you from the vicinity of the city, they were not willing to fail and wanted to counterattack at any time. But what did you do? Although the defense line has been pushed five to ten kilometers to the enemy''s defense area, it has not really suppressed the enemy. In the face of their constant consumption of your effective strength in the form of cold guns and cold artillery, you have done nothing. I am really disappointed. "


    I know rokosovsky''s character, and I know that sometimes he is just a knife in the mouth and a bean curd in the heart. When he is angry, he never treats things to others, so I keep silent wisely and listen to him patiently to express my dissatisfaction.


    Finally heard him say: "you say, how do you plan to deal with this matter?" I knew that he had finished his anger, and he said the plan he was considering on the road: "Comrade General, since the Germans can deal with us with cold guns and cold guns, we can deal with them in the same way. I plan to dispatch sharpshooters from within the group army, organize sniper teams, go deep into the depth of the German army, and kill valuable targets. " When I heard that I was going to organize a sniper team to deal with the enemy, the expression on rokosovsky''s face softened. He then asked, "how are you going to deal with the enemy''s cold artillery?"¡° It''s very simple. I''ll deploy artillery observers at the front. When the enemy fired cold artillery at us, the observer calculated the position of the German artillery and provided it to the artillery units in the rear. By our artillery units, the German run positions to implement fire coverage After listening, rokosovsky nodded, and then said, "now that you have a thorough consideration, then implement it as soon as possible." After that, he raised his hand and looked at his watch. He put the cap on his head again and held out his hand to me. "It''s late. I''m going back to the headquarters of the front army. I hope I can hear your good news as soon as possible." After rokosovsky left, chisjakov first asked curiously, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? Why did the general get so angry?" I replied with a wry smile: "when we went to inspect the defensive positions in the outskirts of moziri, he wanted to go to the front-line positions, but general sivakov said that they were often attacked by German artillery and snipers, which caused a lot of casualties to our forward commanders and fighters. For the sake of the general''s safety, it''s better not to go."¡° So that''s what happened. " After he understood what was going on, chisjakov urged bzikov: "well, chief of staff, don''t stand there. Come quickly and study how to deal with the cold guns and cold guns of the Germans."

 Chapter 1439

    After working out a plan to deal with the cold guns and guns of the German army, I ordered bezikov to call sivakov and tavartkilaze, and summon them to my headquarters. In addition, considering that the artillery will also play a big role in the next operation, I personally called povsky and asked him to come to my headquarters for a meeting.


    When the three commanders who received the notice came, our temporary military meeting began. When I heard clearly that I had called them here to deal with the cold guns and guns of the German army, tavartkilaze complained: "great, comrade commander, it should have been done a long time ago. The enemy''s snipers often lurk in front of our positions, sniping our officers who go to the front to inspect. Yesterday, a battalion commander of the 51st division of Jinwei was killed on the spot because he was shot in the head while inspecting the frontier. "


    "What, a battalion commander of the 51st division of Jinwei was killed by snipers?" Hearing the unexpected news, I almost jumped out of my seat. I slapped the table hard and said angrily, "why didn''t shijerikov report to me in time when such a big thing happened?"


    Just when I was about to ask bzikov to call shejerikov, tavartkilaze took the initiative to take responsibility for himself: "Comrade commander, I can''t blame Colonel shejerikov for this. After receiving his report, I didn''t let him report it. After all, it''s no big deal... "


    The disapproval and understatement on tawalter killazer''s face completely angered me. I slapped the table, stood up and yelled at him: "general tavartkilaze, let me ask you, one of our major or battalion commander captains was killed by German snipers during the frontier inspection. It''s not a big deal. What''s a big deal? Is it a big deal if the people who are killed by jerikov are killed, or if you are killed, or even if I am killed by the enemy''s snipers? "


    In the face of my series of reproaches, tawalter killazer turned red and speechless.


    "Well, comrade commander, don''t get angry for the moment." Seeing that I was furious, chisgakov came out in time to make a comeback: "tavartkilaze didn''t report it. Maybe he didn''t realize the seriousness of the problem. After all, the proportion of our commanders and fighters killed in the battle is quite high. Not to mention the battalion commander, even the injury or sacrifice of the commander or even the commander at a higher level is very common. Let''s talk about how to deal with the cold guns and cold guns of the German army. "


    I called these commanders here today to give them the task of dealing with the cold guns and cold guns of the German army, not to get angry with anyone. Instead of criticizing tavartkilaze, I controlled my emotions and said, "we''ll talk about dealing with snipers later. Now let''s talk about how to deal with the German cold artillery. "


    Povsky heard me say this, quickly stood up, respectfully asked: "Comrade commander, do not know what our artillery task is?"


    "It''s simple, general povsky." Bezikov said: "you should send artillery observers at the front. Once the enemy fire cold artillery at our position, the observers should quickly calculate the location of the enemy artillery and provide accurate data to the artillery in the rear. So that our artillery can strike at the enemy''s artillery positions. "


    "Comrade commander, our artillery is now deployed to the south of the city." For my proposal, povsky was very embarrassed: "if we want to attack the German artillery positions, we will deploy new artillery positions in the north of the city. I''m worried... "


    "What are you worried about?" I saw that bofsky was eager to talk but stopped. He asked, "if you have any difficulties, just say it. I''ll see if I can find a solution."


    After receiving my encouragement, povsky continued: "once we deploy artillery positions in the north of the city, it will become a priority target for the German army. In order to destroy us, they may deliberately fire cold artillery at our forward positions. As soon as we fight back, they can use the artillery fire to counter us. I''m afraid that in the end, the enemy''s artillery will not be destroyed, but our artillery will suffer a lot. "


    After listening to his worry that stealing chicken will not erode rice, I said to him with a smile: "general povsky, if it was a few months ago, you said that this situation is really unavoidable. But now that we have firmly grasped the air supremacy of the battlefield, once the German artillery positions are exposed, our bombers will rush in and blow up their artillery. When it comes to German artillery, you don''t have to worry about it. Do you forget that there are two powerful self-propelled artillery regiments in the artillery establishment of our group army? "


    "Self propelled artillery regiment?" After repeating the word, povsky asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, do you mean the 333rd and 335th self-propelled artillery regiments of the guards?"


    "Yes, it''s the 333rd self-propelled artillery regiment and the 335th self-propelled artillery regiment adapted from major shuklin''s regiment." I said to povsky with a smile, "don''t forget that the characteristic of self-propelled artillery regiment is its strong mobility. Once the position of the enemy''s artillery position is found, let the self-propelled artillery regiment choose an open place to launch, and immediately transfer the position after several rounds of shelling on the enemy. Even if the enemy''s artillery strikes back, it will only hit an open space. Are you right? "


    "Yes, yes, comrade commander." Listening to my explanation, povsky''s face also showed a smile: "if you don''t remind me, I forget that there are two such powerful regiments in my hands. When I go back later, I will deploy them in the northern suburbs of the two cities, ready to attack German artillery at any time."


    "The problem of cold guns has been solved. Now let''s talk about how to deal with the cold guns of the German army." After I finished, I scanned sivakov and tavartkiraze several times and asked, "which one of you will talk first?"


    "Comrade commander, let me talk about it first." This time, sivakov stood up and said to me, "after you and the general left, I called the division commanders of all divisions to the military headquarters for a meeting, so that we could work together to work out a response."


    "You''ve got a response?" When I heard what sivakov said, I couldn''t help but feel shocked. I thought that they were all people who didn''t dare to make decisions without orders. I didn''t expect that rokosovsky and I had just left his defense area when he organized his subordinates to work out the corresponding plan. So I asked curiously, "general sivakov, what''s your plan, Tell us all about it. "


    Sivakov nodded and then said, "we are prepared to take three measures against the enemy''s cold guns. 1¡¢ Strengthen the machine gun on duty at the front. Once the location of the enemy''s sniper is found, fire suppression will be carried out immediately; 2¡¢ Set up two or three mortar teams in the first trench to destroy the hidden snipers with artillery fire; The third is that we also organize a sniper team and use snipers to fight snipers. "


    After listening to sivakov''s plan, I looked around and asked, "what do you think of general sivakov''s three plans?"


    "I think it''s good." The first person to express his opinion was chisjakov, who said thoughtfully: "the enemy''s snipers usually act alone, and occasionally two people act together. There should be no problem in using the methods proposed by general sivakov to eliminate the enemy''s snipers. "


    "I agree with Comrade deputy commander." "I think in addition to the above three methods, we can also send a search team based on platoon to round up those snipers who have exposed their targets," bezikov echoed chisjakov''s statement He was deeply afraid that anyone would raise an objection. He specially stressed that "no matter how powerful the enemy''s snipers are, they only have one gun. In the face of a large number of our soldiers, they will end up either captured alive or killed. There is no third possibility."


    "I think the plan that general sivakov heard is very applicable." After they spoke one after another, I also expressed my own opinion: "the machine gun and mortar teams should be deployed as soon as possible, and the sniper team should be set up as soon as possible."


    Speaking of this, I first turned my eyes to tavartkilaze and said to him, "Comrade General, although the whole group army has been greatly readjusted, your troops are all the veteran members of the original sixth group army. There should be a detailed list of snipers in each division. After the meeting, you will go back to study with your teachers how to set up the sniper team. "


    "Yes Hearing what I said, tavartkilaze quickly stood up and said, "I will set up the sniper team as soon as possible."


    I nodded silently, then turned my eyes to sivakov: "general sivakov, you have two divisions in your hand. They are new troops sent by our superiors, so it may be a bit more troublesome to set up a sniper team. After you return to the army, ask all divisions to gather the sharpshooters, and then choose the right person from them. Do you understand? "


    "I understand." Sivakov also stood up and replied, "as soon as I get back to the army, I will immediately proceed with this matter."


    "Now that the tasks are clear, let''s break up!"


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Early the next morning, sivakov called me. "Comrade commander, I have selected more than 200 sharpshooters from the 47th and 51st divisions of the infantry. After overnight selection, more than 80 of them are qualified," he told me excitedly


    I was startled to hear what sivakov said. If so many sniper qualified fighters are selected from two guard divisions, I still believe. But now I am puzzled by the fact that so many people have been selected from the ordinary infantry division. You know, almost all of these troops are recruits. If you want to think of so many people who can be snipers, it is only possible that there are a large number of hunters in the recruits.


    I asked, full of questions, "general sivakov, is the data you gave me correct? As far as I know, most of the ordinary infantry divisions are recruits. Most of them have not received any professional military training. It is estimated that they don''t even have enough guns. How can they pick out so many snipers? "


    "It''s true, comrade commander." When sivakov saw that I didn''t believe him, he couldn''t help feeling a little anxious. He even introduced to me and said, "among the more than 200 sharpshooters, the 51st infantry division accounts for two-thirds of the total. Maybe it''s because they were garrison troops before the reorganization."


    "Garrison?" When I heard sivakov say this, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "is it the garrison of Moscow?"¡° Ah, it''s not. " Sivakov replied somewhat flustered: "it''s a garrison in a medium-sized city along the Volga River. Although most of the soldiers have never been on the battlefield, their technical and tactical level is still very good."¡° General sivakov, "after listening to his explanation, I finally understood why so many sharpshooters appeared. These garrison troops staying in the rear must be trained frequently. It''s not surprising that their technical and tactical level is higher than that of ordinary troops. I told him," you should immediately organize these 80 soldiers who meet the standard into a sniper company, And appoint a commander in charge. After selecting the right commander, bring him to me. I''ll give him some important notes in person. "¡° All right, comrade commander. " Sivakov replied respectfully, "I''ll bring you the commander of the sniper company at noon at the latest." At noon, I was standing on the wall with chisgakov, staring at the map to study the situation between the enemy and ourselves, when I heard sivakov''s voice coming from behind: "Comrade commander, major general sivakov, commander of the 22nd army of the guards, has been ordered to come!" My eyes were fixed on the map, and without looking back, I asked, "general sivakov, the commander of the sniper company, have you brought it to me?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " "I''ve brought him," sivakov replied in a positive tone I wanted to see what the commander sivakov had chosen was like. I slowly turned around and looked in the direction sivakov was standing. I saw a young officer who was about the same height as him standing behind him. When I turned around, the officer quickly stepped forward, raised his hand to the brim of his hat, and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, Captain o''shaning, deputy company of sniper company of the 22nd army of the guards, report to you! I have been ordered to report to you. Please give me directions! " In fact, as soon as the other party spoke, I recognized that the person I was most afraid to see was o''shanin. After hearing his name clearly, my heart beat faster. I thought to myself, "how can he be here? Is his memory restored? Does he remember who it is? "

 Chapter 1440

    When I was in a daze, chisgakov had already bypassed the table, went to shake hands with oshanin, and said with a smile, "Hello, comrade captain, nice to meet you."


    After that, he seemed to suddenly think of something. After an obvious pause, he turned and looked at me standing in a daze. Then he turned to see o''xianing, who was still holding his right hand, and asked me thoughtfully: "commander, your name is o''xianingna, his name is o''xianing. Is there any relationship between you? Is it a relative, or just the same surname? "


    Hearing this question, I gave a wry smile, and then a little reluctant to reply, "it''s a relative." As for what kind of relative he is, I really have no mood to explain to him.


    "Relatives?" My words aroused greater interest in chisgakov. He continued to ask, "Comrade commander, what is your relative?"


    I gritted my teeth, hardened my head and said faintly, "husband."


    Listen to me say so, chisgakov is a Leng at first, then ha ha ground laughed: "originally is such." His eyes swept over oshanin and me twice, adding with concern, "I haven''t seen your husband for a long time, have I? Why don''t you talk about the past first? We can postpone the task a little bit. "


    As soon as chisgakov''s words were finished, bizikov and sivakov also added fuel to the flames: "yes, yes, comrade commander, you and your husband haven''t seen each other for a long time. Let''s talk about the past first. We can put things at work for a while."


    "No, no, no, thank you for your kindness." I refused the kindness of several people in time and said solemnly, "what we need to do now is to send our sniper troops in time to solve the enemy''s snipers."


    After my words, oshanin said to them with some restraint, "comrades of commanders, I met the commander in cezland last year. At that time, she told me that I was her husband." At this point, he turned his eyes to me, shrugged his shoulders and said apologetically, "I''m sorry, comrade commander. I believe everything you said is true, but I really can''t remember it at all."


    When I heard o''shanin say that, the stone hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground. It''s best if I don''t recover my memory. If his memory is recovered, I''m sure I can find my flaws with his familiarity with Rita. Thinking of this, I waved to him: "don''t think about it if you can''t remember, captain. Go to the map and I''ll explain the task."


    After oshanin stood in front of the map, I pointed to the north side of moziri with a stick and said to him, "Comrade captain, you take the soldiers of the sniper company, after crossing the defense line of our army, break the whole into parts, approach the front of the enemy or go deep into the rear to snipe those valuable targets in the situation of a combat group."


    After listening to my assignment carefully, o''xianing asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, can I ask what is the order of sniping targets?"


    "When you are lurking in the front of the enemy, the order of sniping targets is sniper, officer, machine gun fire or mortar, signalman, and finally ordinary soldier." After organizing some words in my mind, I said slowly, "if you are behind enemy lines, whether officers or soldiers, as long as their numbers are at a disadvantage, you should kill them without hesitation, understand?"


    "I see." Oshanin replied with a straight body.


    As I was about to wave him away, I suddenly remembered something I wanted to know. I asked with concern, "Comrade captain, are you married again?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Hearing my question, o''shanin''s face showed a happy expression: "we got married half a year ago. As you know, during the war, soldiers can get preferential treatment in many ways. We went to the marriage registration office and went through the formalities very smoothly. Then we invited some relatives and friends to have a simple meal, and we were officially married. "


    Although I always wanted to get rid of o''shanin, I heard that he had remarried, but I had a sour feeling in my heart. When he finished, I asked casually, "is it still the daughter of the commander of the szeland garrison?"


    "Yes." After answering this question, o''shanin stood in the same place, staring at me, waiting for me to ask him a new question.


    I stared at the man whom the real Rita loved for a while, then sighed softly, waved to him and said, "Comrade captain, there''s nothing for you here. Go back to the army now!"


    Oshanin left, but sivakov stayed, as if trying to figure out what had happened. The first person to speak was chisgakov, the highest ranking person here besides me. He came up to me and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? We are all confused by you."


    "Deputy commander, chief of staff, sit down and I''ll talk to you slowly." When I saw chisgakov sitting down, sivakov was still standing by. So I gestured to him: "general sivakov, please sit down, too!"


    After everyone sat down, I coughed twice, cleared my throat, and began to tell them the story of Rita and oshanin: "after the war broke out, oshanin''s posts were occupied by the German army, and he was also captured because of his injuries. Later, on the way to the prison camp, he found a chance to escape


    ... during the Moscow defense war, he was the company commander of the dog training company. Together with the soldiers, he used the trained dogs to blow up the German tanks. We met briefly when he came with his troops to the 16th army headquarters to accept the mission. When the battle ended, almost all the company''s soldiers died, and he was seriously injured. On the way back to Moscow by ambulance, he was attacked by small German troops, and almost all the wounded transported by the convoy died. He was very lucky, because one of our troops just passed by, and he was rescued.


    ... I was recalled to Moscow shortly after I took command of the 79th infantry army to liberate Kiev. When he was interviewed by the Supreme Commander himself, he told me that oshanin and my son Alek were in the small city in the East, and he gave me a holiday to visit them.


    ... when I arrived in cezland, I happened to meet the staff of the Ministry of interior. Because o''shanin had been captured by the German army and wanted to arrest him, I saved him. But after we met again, he didn''t recognize me at all


    "Wait a minute, comrade commander." When I said this, I was interrupted by chisgakov. He asked curiously, "I want to know one thing. Since the personnel of the interior department want to arrest him, are you not afraid of being implicated when you go to rescue him?"


    In response to this question, I replied with a smile: "Comrade deputy commander, before I left Moscow, comrade Beria once gave me a power of attorney, authorizing me to transfer the local staff of the Ministry of internal affairs. Seeing that oshanin is going to be arrested by the Ministry of the interior, I just need to take out the power of attorney, and they will obey my orders completely. "


    "Then what happened?" After hearing this, chisgakov immediately asked, "did you return that power of attorney to Comrade belia?"


    "No I shook my head and said, "no one asked me for that authorization, so I kept it."


    After hearing this, chisjakov nodded, gestured at me and politely said, "please go on."


    "I was surprised to find that oshanin didn''t recognize me. I thought he was afraid that his capture would affect me. But later I learned that he had been seriously injured in the head and had lost his memory, so I didn''t remember who I was. I was going to stay in cezland for two days and take him to a nearby city to see if his memory could be restored. "


    "Is the memory restored?" Sivakov asked curiously when he heard this.


    "Don''t interrupt, general sivakov. Continue to listen to the commander." Seeing that sivakov interrupted the story I was telling, he complained discontentedly, and then urged me: "Comrade commander, go on. What happened later?"


    "On the first day of departure, I received a telegram telling me to go back to Moscow immediately to participate in the May Day parade. So, without even calling him, I rushed back to Moscow by train with the guards At this point, I couldn''t help sighing and said with false regret: "after returning to Moscow to attend the military parade, I was appointed commander of the sixth group army of the guards. I was busy preparing for war in Kursk, so I had no chance to visit my son in a distant city."


    When I finished telling the whole story, sivakov asked me carefully, "Comrade commander, do you think I need to tell captain oshanin the story you have told him again? Maybe I can arouse his memory."


    "No need, general sivakov." If oshanin''s memory was restored, I would have to be with him again. Thinking about the picture of myself being pushed down by a man, I felt a chill on my body. So I refused sivakov''s proposal without hesitation: "thank you for your kindness, but oshanin has lost his memory, completely forgotten me, and he has a new wife, Don''t disturb his happy life any more. "


    "Well, comrade commander," said sivakov, nodding his head when he saw that my attitude was so firm that he did not insist any more. "It seems that''s the only way."


    Without waiting for sivakov to leave, kirilov, who had been guiding the work in moziri, came back first. He and sivakov met at the door and asked curiously, "isn''t this general sivakov? Why are you here to report to Rita again? "


    "Comrade military commissar," sivakov said to kirilov with a smile, "I brought the commander of the newly formed sniper company to the headquarters to accept the task."


    "Sniper company?" After kirilov repeated the name, he asked: "general sivakov, after the formation of this unit, it will go deep into the front or back of the enemy to fight. How about the comrades of the commander still satisfied with the commander of the unit?"


    Instead of answering kirilov''s question immediately, sivakov turned to look at me and said to kirilov, "Comrade military commissar, although the commander only gave him an official assignment, I can see that she trusts the other party unconditionally and believes that the troops under the command of this commander will surely achieve good results." Then he raised his hand to kirilov and strode out of the church.


    Kirilov was confused by sivakov''s mindless words. As he came to us, he asked strangely, "what''s the matter? What''s general sivakov talking about? How can I be more confused with him?"


    Bezikov, who was nearest to him, quickly got up, walked up to him, and whispered a few words in his ear. Seeing the surprised expression on kirilov''s face, I knew that bzikov had made a simple report to him about what I had repeated with oshanin¡° Rita, how did this happen? " Kirilov, after listening to bzikov''s explanation, came quickly. He went to the table, put his hands on the edge of the table, and asked me curiously, "since you have finally met, why don''t you have a good talk with him? Even if he lost his memory because of a head injury, you can sit down and have a good chat. Maybe you can remind him of something. How can you let him go like this? "¡° Comrade military commissar, please sit down and listen to me slowly. " Anyway, there is no important combat task now, so I have the leisure to tell them the story of Rita and oshanin. Now I have to repeat this story to kirilov. After listening to the whole story, kirilov couldn''t help sighing and saying, "it''s a pity that you''ve been separated like this." He frowned and thought for a moment, then raised his head and said to me, "Rita, I want to know, what''s on your mind now? If you still want to be with him, I think I have a way¡° But he''s married. " I''m sorry to refute kirilov again, so I have to use oshanin''s remarriage as a shield¡° If you''re just worried about this, I can come forward and solve it. " Kirilov, who always cares for me, said solemnly: "although they have been graded, we can send an official letter to setzland to declare the marriage null and void, so that captain o''shanin can come back to you."¡° No, thank you for your kindness Kirilov''s words frightened me. I was deeply afraid that he would send such an official letter through the headquarters of the front army on a whim. When the time came, things would be in trouble, so he quickly put forward his hand and desperately refused to say: "since oshanin has a new wife, I can''t be so selfish and destroy his family. Well, let''s call it a day. "¡° You really don''t want to be with oshanin anymore? " When kirilov saw that my refusal was so simple, he was a little surprised and asked, "don''t you want your family to reunite?"¡° O''shanin has lost his memory. To him, I am a stranger. " When I saw that it was not easy to use oshanin''s remarriage as a shield, I had to change the direction and continue to decline kirilov''s kindness: "I''d rather let him go and let him live a new life than share a strange dream. Comrade military commissar, are you right? " After listening to my question, kirilov gave a long wheezing and finally said, "well, Rita, since you''ve made a choice, we outsiders can''t say anything more. But as your military commissar and an elder, I still hope you can find someone you like and live a normal family life again after the war. "¡° Thank you, comrade military commissar, "I said gratefully for kirilov''s care." thank you for your care. As for my personal problems, I''ll wait until after the war. The first thing we have to think about now is how to defeat the Germans and drive them out of our country. "

 Chapter 1441

    Early the next morning, an artillery company of the 28th German infantry division, as usual, fired cold artillery at the position of the 90th guard division on time. According to the usual practice, they usually fired two shells first, and after five minutes, they fired a volley at the second time.


    However, something unexpected happened today. Just as the German artillery was preparing for the second artillery attack, a long whistling sound came across the sky. There were all artillery soldiers on the scene. How could they not recognize the sound? There were even a few soldiers with sharp ears who recognized that the heavy shells were about to fall.


    With a cry, the artillery fell to the ground. The shell of the self-propelled artillery group landed on the artillery position and exploded. In the earth shaking explosion} explosion, the artillery was blown into parts, the artillery were blown to pieces.


    The German infantry, who were on guard duty nearby, saw that within a few minutes, the artillery company was destroyed under the attack of our artillery fire, so they reported to the commander immediately. It was said that an artillery company had been destroyed by our artillery fire. The German commander immediately contacted the artillery in the rear and asked them to fire on the artillery position.


    Unfortunately, no matter how fast the enemy moves, it is still half a beat slower. When their shells fell in pieces, the self-propelled artillery regiment had already moved to a new position.


    Bezikov''s eyes narrowed with laughter when he received a call from sivakov from the front. When I heard that the German army was shelling the open space, I had an idea and immediately ordered bezikov: "chief of staff, call major general povsky immediately and order him to concentrate the artillery fire of the two self-propelled artillery regiments to counter the enemy''s artillery positions and strive to eliminate as many German artillery as possible."


    "Comrade commander," bezikov said hesitantly to my order, "although the self-propelled artillery regiment is equipped with 150 mm heavy artillery, it may not be so easy to completely destroy the German artillery position. Besides, the German army will not wait to die. They may fight back crazily. I''m afraid our artillery regiment will suffer huge losses. "


    After thinking about it, I think that what bezikov said is very reasonable. German artillery positions can not be deployed in the same position. When our artillery attacks one of their positions, they will definitely be hit by artillery from other directions, and they are bound to suffer a lot of losses. If it is other artillery, it will also be lost. But the artillery equipped by the self-propelled artillery regiment is the most advanced artillery in this era. It would be a pity if it is lost. Thinking of this, I told bzikov: "give the air force another call and order them to send out immediately to attack the enemy''s artillery positions according to the coordinates provided by the artillery forces."


    "That''s right, that''s right." When chisjakov heard what I said, his eyes suddenly brightened. He raised his head and urged bzikov: "chief of staff, the bomber regiment that our superiors have equipped has completed the transition for a week and has not participated in the battle. Now that the German artillery positions have been exposed, let the fighter regiment cover their movements and resolutely destroy the German artillery positions. "


    It never occurred to the German army that their shelling had just begun when it was countered by our army''s shelling. When they had just locked the positions of our two self-propelled artillery regiments, they were bombed from the air. The German fighter plane took off from the airport to the north of Minsk and tried to drive our bombers out of the air of the artillery position. However, it was hit hard by the French volunteer flying group. After seven of them were shot down, the rest of them fled the battlefield.


    After the statistics of the results of the war came out, bzikov could hardly smile. He put the war report in front of me and said with pride, "Comrade commander, what a surprise. Originally, I just wanted to clean up the German artillery who fired cold artillery at our army, but unexpectedly, I got such a big result.... "


    Seeing that bzikov started to talk a lot, chisjakov couldn''t help interrupting him and asked curiously, "Comrade chief of staff, can you tell us what we have achieved?"


    "In this artillery battle, we destroyed 51 German guns of all kinds and shot down seven enemy planes." After reporting the results, bezikov asked me, "Comrade commander, do you need to report the results to the headquarters of the front army immediately?"


    I wanted to report to rokosovsky after the sniper troops got the results. But after listening to what bezikov said, chisjakov echoed: "Comrade commander, the chief of staff is right. This is a great victory. We need to report to the headquarters of the front army immediately."


    Seeing that chisjakov and bzikov had reached an agreement, I would not be stubborn. So I nodded and said to bzikov, "well, chief of staff, then you will report the results of today''s war to the headquarters of the front army."


    Just as bezikov promised to turn around and leave, I suddenly remembered something and stopped him immediately: "chief of staff, please wait a moment." When he looked at me in surprise, I asked, "I just forgot to ask. How about our war damage?"


    "Four self-propelled guns were destroyed and two were wounded. In the air battle, we had two fighters shot down. " When I heard that two fighter planes of our army were shot down, I couldn''t help staring. Just when I wanted to ask in detail, I heard bzikov continue to say, "two parachute jumpers, one pilot was captured by the German army after landing because he landed in the German defense area, and the other pilot landed in our defense area. He has been rescued successfully."


    "Chief of staff, when reporting the results of the war, we should also report our war losses." I was deeply afraid that bzikov would report good news but not bad news. I immediately reminded him that "the chief general is concerned not only about the results we have achieved, but also about the war losses of our troops. This will help him make a correct judgment of the enemy''s strength."


    Bezikov handed the drafted telegram to the operator, told him to send it to the headquarters of the front army immediately, and then returned to us. I looked at him and asked, "chief of staff, any news from sniper company?"


    "Captain oshanin''s sniper company killed two German snipers who were lurking near our positions last night, but we also lost nine soldiers." Bezikov first reported to me the results of the sniper company in the direction of moziri, and then began to report the situation in the direction of kalinkovich: "the sniper company formed by the 23rd army of the guards has not made any progress for the time being. However, according to the report, one of their three person sniper teams has penetrated into the enemy''s rear, and I believe they can achieve good results by tomorrow at the latest. "


    After I finished, I frowned and asked, "chief of staff, why are the casualties of the sniper company so serious?" I even doubt whether it''s right for me to send snipers to fight against German snipers. Last night, in our first confrontation, we were defeated by a 9-2 casualty ratio.


    "According to the subsequent inspection, the two German snipers were found to be lurking near our position for at least a week. Because they haven''t fired, our soldiers haven''t found them at all. " Listening to my question, bzikov said awkwardly, "it was because we didn''t notice the potential enemy that our sniper team was suddenly attacked when they left the position. As a result, after a contest, we killed these two enemies by sacrificing five soldiers."


    Although bezikov has reported to me the cause of the heavy casualties, I still called sivakov. I would like to hear his explanation for this. So as soon as I heard his voice, I asked, "general sivakov, I want to ask you why the sniper company sacrificed nine soldiers. The number of casualties exceeds 10% before a troop is put into combat. What''s the matter? Can you explain to me? "


    When sivakov heard my voice, he might have thought that I would praise him for the results of today''s artillery battle. After all, the two artillery regiments fighting with the German artillery were all deployed in his defense area. To achieve such a good result, he was also the commander of the guards. But he didn''t expect that I asked about the serious loss of the sniper company.


    After a long silence, he sighed and explained to me, "Comrade commander, please listen to me. The two German snipers have been lurking in front of our army for a long time. They may be in order to kill the higher level commander, so they have never fired on the lurking position, so we are paralyzed. As a result, when the sniper company left the defense area yesterday, it was suddenly attacked by them. After some fighting, we finally killed all the enemies after paying the price of nine deaths and three injuries. "


    He said that in addition to the nine snipers who died, there were three injured. I couldn''t help worrying about oshanin. But if I want to ask oshanin directly, I don''t know how to speak, so I can''t help being in a dilemma.


    Fortunately, sivakov was also clever. Seeing that I suddenly stopped talking, he guessed why I was worried and quickly took the initiative to say, "Comrade commander, don''t worry, Captain o''shanin is OK. He also killed a German sniper himself. Now he has personally led three sniper teams to the rear of the German army. "


    "I understand," I heard that oshanin is safe, my heart suddenly became relaxed, "sniper company has any new results, report to me in time." Before hanging up the phone, I specially added, "by the way, you have made great contributions to our success in today''s artillery battle."


    As soon as I put down the phone, rokosovsky called my headquarters. He asked me straightforwardly, "Rita, why do you suddenly think of the artillery battle with the German army?"


    When I heard rokosovsky''s question, I quickly reported to him the cause of the shelling in detail, and finally said: "I just wanted to teach a lesson to the German artillery who fired cold artillery at us. Unexpectedly, it became a shelling scale above the regiment level. It''s beyond my expectation to achieve such a result. "


    "Don''t say it''s out of your expectation, it''s out of my expectation as well." Rokosovsky said with a smile: "when I received your report of the results of the war, I felt very strange. I still said in my heart, why did you prepare to launch an attack on the German army, but did not report it to me. It turned out that it was just a shelling operation for the purpose of destroying the cold artillery enemy. By the way, the sniper didn''t get any results? "


    As for rokosovsky''s problem, I thought about it and decided not to report the serious casualties of the sniper company to him. Instead, I said vaguely, "senior general, our sniper team has just been sent out. Maybe it will be as soon as tomorrow before we can get the report back."


    "Tomorrow is tomorrow." Perhaps because of the impact of the artillery victory, rokosovsky did not continue to ask, but told me in a relaxed tone: "once there are any results, remember to report to me in time."¡° I understand, Comrade General. " After I promised, I repeated his order loudly: "once the sniper gets any results, I will report to you in time." Just as I was about to hang up, I heard rokosovsky say, "by the way, Rita, you will transfer the command to general chisjakov tomorrow, and then come to my headquarters." When I heard that the command would be handed over to chisgakov, I knew that it would not be too short for me to go to the headquarters this time, so I nervously asked, "Comrade General, I don''t know if you want me to go to the headquarters of the front army. Is there anything important?"¡° While there is no big battle now, I plan to call all the commanders of the group army to learn new tactics. " Rokosovsky didn''t seem to be aware of my tense tone. He said as if nothing had happened: "in order to achieve the greatest victory at a minimal cost in the next battle, I think such learning is absolutely necessary." When I knew that I was just going to study in the headquarters of the front army, I felt a lot more at ease. Now I am deeply afraid that when my superiors ask me to hand over my command power, they will transfer me to the rear to engage in local work, or they will let me stay in the headquarters of the front army. I don''t want to see these two situations. Put down the phone and I started handing over the work to chisgakov. Chisjakov was stunned at first, and then asked in surprise, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? Why do you want to transfer the command to you? Do you have a new appointment from your superiors? "¡° It''s not like that, comrade deputy commander. " I waved to chisgakov and said, "you think too much. The chief general asked me to hand over the command to you temporarily because he wanted me to go to the headquarters of the front army to learn new tactics, which will be of great help to our next battle."

 Chapter 1442

    It is hundreds of kilometers from moziri to rokosovsky''s headquarters. Although these areas are nominally under the control of our army, no one can guarantee that they will not encounter with a small group of German troops on the way, so I not only took a guard company, but also chose to take armored vehicles with high safety factor.


    I was accompanied by major bukov, the deputy head of the guard regiment. On the way, he said to me with a smile, "Comrade commander, I used to accompany you to the frontier inspection. This time I went to the headquarters of the front army, how could I think of taking an armored car?"


    I clearly remember that in a month at most, general vatukin, commander of the first front army of Ukraine, was attacked by the enemy on the way out for inspection. As a result, he was seriously injured and died after a long period of hospitalization. I can''t risk my life in order not to repeat it. As soon as bukov finished speaking, I said to him with a smile: "Comrade major, we are going to a place hundreds of kilometers away. It''s not clear whether we will encounter danger on the way. So for the sake of safety, it''s better to take an armored car safely."


    Armored car is safer than jeep, but it''s too stuffy in the car. It''s OK for a short distance. If you drive for a long time, it''s easy to get carsick. Thinking that it was about ten hours'' drive to the headquarters of the front army, in order to prevent carsickness, after the car started, bukov and I chatted a few words, then we leaned back in the chair and began to close our eyes.


    At first, I just closed my eyes, but after a while, I fell asleep unconsciously. I don''t know how long I slept. I suddenly felt the car stopped. I immediately opened my eyes and asked bukov, who was sitting beside me: "major, where are we?"


    When he heard my question, bukov quickly replied, "Comrade commander, we have just passed zhlobin and are now heading for Pugachev."


    I can''t help frowning when I heard that the car hasn''t arrived at Pugachev, because after we passed Pugachev, we had to drive more than 100 kilometers to reach the headquarters of the front army, so we asked impolitely, "why stop?"


    "There''s gunfire ahead," bukov said. He listened to the outside, and then said to me, "judging from the gunfire, there are our mosinlagan rifles, Popov submachine guns, and the German mp40 submachine guns."


    I also listened to the movement outside. Although the gunfire kept on, it didn''t sound like positional warfare. I turned to bukov and asked, "major, what do you think is going on outside?"


    "I think it''s probably our men who have encountered a small German unit." In order to make me understand the situation outside, bukov added: "sometimes the German army will send motorized teams around our defense zone to attack our transportation line. I think that may be the case."


    As for bukov''s analysis, I nodded my head and agreed that since we can send people behind the enemy to do damage, the enemy can also come to our rear and do the same to us. Thinking of this, I immediately told bukov: "major, you take people to the front to see what''s going on?"


    "OK," bukov said, nodding his head, "I''ll take a platoon to see. If it''s a small German unit, we can completely annihilate or repel them."


    "One platoon is too few." Seeing bukov''s hand on the door handle, I stopped him and said, "leave me a squad. You can take the rest of the soldiers."


    "Ah, only one class left?" When I said this, bukov''s face showed a look of panic. He said nervously, "Comrade commander, only a few troops are left. If the enemy rushes here, aren''t you in danger?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade major. Before you come back, I''ll stay in the armored car and have a class of soldiers to protect me from any danger. " After that, I waved to him and said, "go quickly. If you delay any longer, those officers and men who encounter with the German army will pay more sacrifices."


    When bukov left, I closed the car door and told the soldier who controlled the machine gun: "be ready to fight. If you see the Germans coming towards us, you will open fire immediately. Take them all out with heavy fire. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Sitting in front of the machine gun was an elderly corporal who raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, turned to me and said, "I will never let the enemy rush in front of the car."


    Through the observation hole on the armored car, I saw bukov running past our car with hundreds of soldiers from the guard company. And the guard group who stayed to protect me also opened the cordon around the armored car. The soldiers took cover and stared at the front with weapons.


    After bukov took people to rush up, the gunfire became fierce at first, accompanied by the explosion of grenades. After less than five minutes, the gunfire became sparse. I was relieved to think that bukov was carrying hundreds of people, and that such a force could not be eliminated in such a short period of time. Only the Germans could be eliminated.


    I stood up and bent slightly to push the door open. The soldier next to me quickly stopped me: "Comrade commander, you can''t go out. It''s too dangerous outside."


    "Don''t worry, comrade soldier." I laughed at the soldier who was concerned about my safety and said, "don''t you hear that the gunfire outside has stopped? It may be that major bukov led the soldiers of the guard company to wipe out the enemy. "


    Listen to me, the soldier took the initiative to push the door open for me, and got out of the car first. He stood outside the car and looked around. He turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, it''s safe outside. You can come out."


    Standing next to the armored vehicle, I saw a small hillside on the right side of the road, and the road turned a bend close to the hillside 50 or 60 meters ahead. Seeing the black smoke rising from the other side of the hillside, I guessed that the battle must have taken place in front of me, but I didn''t know what convoy was attacked by the German army.


    Just then, the soldier beside me said to me in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, look, major bukov is back."


    I followed the direction of his fingers and saw a group of people turning out from the side of the hillside and coming towards us along the road. I was eager to know what was going on in front of me, so I went up quickly.


    When bukov and I were still more than ten meters apart, a man came out of the crowd and said to me in a loud voice, "Hello, general oshanina. I didn''t expect that we would meet here."


    It was very familiar to hear the voice of the visitor. I looked at it. It turned out that it was general Batov, commander of the 65th group army, which surprised me. I stepped forward a few steps, reached out my hands, took his first hand, and asked with concern, "general Batov, why are you here? What''s the matter ahead?"


    Batov shook hands with me, shaking his head and said, "Oh, don''t mention it. I was ordered to go to the headquarters of the front army for a meeting. As a result, I was ambushed by the German army as soon as I turned the front corner. As our motorcade was exposed on the open road without any shelter, the security forces I took suffered heavy casualties. If your subordinates hadn''t arrived in time, you would have to collect my corpse now. "


    After listening to Batov''s words so seriously, I turned to bukov standing behind him and asked aloud, "Comrade major, what''s the situation? Has the enemy been eliminated?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Bowing his head, bukov replied, "we rushed up from the side of the enemy and caught them by surprise. The number of the enemy is not large. We went up and wiped them out in just a few minutes. "


    "What about the casualties?" I did not ask how many enemies have been eliminated, but first of all, the casualties of the troops.


    "Comrade o''shanina, you are very kind." When Batov heard the question I asked bukov, he immediately gave me a thumbs up, "as a commander, you didn''t first ask about the achievements of the army, but about the casualties of our army. You are so considerate of your subordinates." Without waiting for any response from me, he continued, "my guard platoon sacrificed 27 people and killed nine of the enemy. But your troops killed 11 enemies and captured 4 as long as they sacrificed 3 and injured 1. "


    When Batov finished, I asked, "where are the prisoners?"


    "On the road ahead." Bukov waved in the direction of the smoke and asked me, "Comrade commander, do you need to be interrogated?"


    When I heard bukov''s question, I almost asked him to bring the prisoners to me for interrogation. But then I thought that I had to rush to the headquarters of the front army. There was no need to waste time on the way, so I waved my hand and said, "no, major, you take the prisoners with you. When we get to the headquarters of the front army, we will interrogate them."


    After that, I smile and send an invitation to Batov: "general Batov, since we are all going to the headquarters of the front army, let''s take my armored car and go together."


    As the motorcade continued to move forward, I looked at the burning vehicles on the side of the road through the lookout hole and said to Batov with lingering fear, "general Batov, look, two jeeps and one truck in your motorcade have been destroyed. It''s really dangerous. Why don''t you ride in an armored car, so that even if you are attacked by the enemy, your life safety can be guaranteed. "


    After listening to my worries, Batov waved his hand and said with disapproval: "Comrade oshanina, as a senior commander, we should set an example for the soldiers. If you have to take an armored car as soon as you go out, it will leave the soldiers an impression of being greedy for life and afraid of death... "He just said that, he seemed to find that he had said something wrong, he said with a smile," I''m sorry, I''m not talking about you, I... "


    As for Batov''s careless words, I waved my hand and said with affectation, "it doesn''t matter, general Batov. It doesn''t matter at all. You don''t have to pay attention to it." Although my words were beautiful, I muttered to myself in my heart: "if I don''t do my own security well, I will be wronged if I lose my life in case of German attack on the road." At the same time, he secretly decided that no matter where he went in the future, he would take an armored car, or even a tank when necessary. Although it is more difficult to sit in a tank than in an armored car, it at least greatly improves the safety factor.


    I closed the armor plate of the lookout hole, turned around and asked Batov, "general Batov, have you also received the order from the general to rush to the headquarters of the front army to study?"


    "Learning, what learning?" Hearing my question, Batov asked in a dazed way, "didn''t the notice say that we should go to the military meeting?"


    "Why, general Batov, you have been informed to attend a military conference?" Batov''s words confused me. Why did rokosovsky tell me that he was going to learn new tactics, but when he informed Batov, he said that he was going to attend a military meeting? Thinking of this, I asked Batov curiously, "I don''t know who called you."¡° Who else? Of course, it''s general malining, chief of staff of the front army. " Batov said with a bitter smile: "he ordered me to hand over the command of the troops to my deputy, and then immediately rush to the front army headquarters as soon as possible to attend the upcoming military meeting." Because of the differences in the contents of the notices we received, I don''t know which statement is correct now. So I stopped pestering about this matter and changed the topic in time. I asked, "general Batov, the German forces of Gomery have fallen into your encirclement. I don''t know when we can launch the final attack on them?"¡° I think maybe the theme of this military conference is to discuss when to eliminate Gomery''s enemies. " As for my question, Batov said optimistically to me: "the German army besieged by us, because the land traffic has been completely cut off by us, can only supply by air. However, with the strengthening of our air force''s air patrol in this area, their number of airdrops has been greatly reduced. Even if we do not take the initiative to launch an attack, I believe they will not support it for long. "¡° If Gomery''s enemies are not eliminated, we will have a considerable number of troops trapped in the area. " Although Gomery''s enemies are besieged by the first front army of Ukraine and our front army, I am not as optimistic as Batov. After all, there are more than 10000 enemies in the encirclement. If we want to eat them completely, we are bound to pay a great price¡° Only when the enemy here is completely eliminated can we turn around and concentrate our superior forces to launch a final attack on the enemy in the direction of Minsk. "¡° That''s right, that''s right As soon as I finished, Batov nodded his head and said, "as long as Gomery''s enemies are not completely eliminated, our army will not be able to move, let alone turn north to attack Minsk. When I see the senior general this time, I must ask him to give a general order as soon as possible so as to wipe out Gomery''s enemies as soon as possible. "

 Chapter 1443

    When Batov and I walked into rokosovsky headquarters side by side, he was a little surprised that we both arrived at the same time: "how did you two come together? I remember your defense area was far away."


    After looking at each other, Batov and I answered in advance, "report general, general Batov and I met on the way, so we have come here together."


    After listening to me, rokosovsky turned his eyes to Batov and immediately found that his face was black and white. He couldn''t help asking in surprise, "Comrade Batov, what''s the matter? Have you just come down from the battlefield?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." Batov replied with a wry smile: "I was ambushed by a small German army unit on my way to the headquarters of the front army. During the battle, almost all the guard platoons I took were exhausted, "he said, looking at me with mixed feelings." fortunately, comrade o''shanina passed by and sent troops to destroy the enemy and save me. "


    When he heard Batov say this, rokosovsky was shocked. He quickly walked up to Batov, raised his hand, grasped his arms, looked him up and down, and asked with concern, "Comrade Batov, are you not hurt?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Batov said to rokosovsky with a smile: "don''t look embarrassed when you see me. In fact, I didn''t hurt a hair."


    Rokosovsky turned to ask malining, who was busy beside him: "chief of staff, are all the people attending the meeting here?"


    Hearing rokosovsky''s question, malining quickly stood up straight and replied, "there is no general belov, commander of the 61st army. He''s one of the furthest commanders, and I think he''ll be there in an hour or two at the earliest. "


    As for malining''s statement, I agree with him very much. Belov''s defense area is on our left wing. If he wants to come here for a meeting, he has to go through my defense area first. In this way, it will take at least one or two more hours.


    "Chief of staff, you take general Batov to rest. Let your deputy finish the work here." After giving malining an order, rokosovsky stopped me: "Rita, you stay. I have something to tell you."


    After malining and Batov left, rokosovsky asked me to sit down at the table and then asked me, "Rita, do you know why I called you to the meeting?"


    "It''s no use saying that," I pointed to the door where malining had just walked out, and said, "you must have deployed military operations to us, otherwise you would not have called all the group commanders here for a meeting."


    "The deployment of the next military operation is only one aspect of it." Rokosovsky pushed a cup of tea for me in front of me and continued: "I also want to take time to teach you some new tactics."


    "Yes, new tactics." Rokosovsky said firmly: "with the development of the war situation in our favorable direction, the initiative of the attack is now in our hands. From all kinds of signs, you will be responsible for the operation in one direction one day, so I''m going to tell you about the theory of great depth campaign?"


    "The theory of great depth campaign?" When I heard the new term he mentioned, I ignored the past when he mentioned that I had a chance to be my own man. I tried to think in my mind where I had heard the name.


    "Why," rokosovsky asked strangely as he saw me frowning and pondering, "have you never heard of such a campaign theory?"


    When I heard him say this, I suddenly remembered that I had heard this term in a series. At that time, a female mate wanted to pursue the male protagonist in the military academy, so that they could have a common language when they chatted. Thinking of this, I nodded my head and said, "senior general, I''ve heard about it before, but I don''t know exactly what''s going on."


    I did not answer him in this way because I was modest, but because I had never received systematic education on the operational command of the army. If I did not understand some historical process, I would not be as good as an ordinary army monitor. Therefore, I respectfully said to rokosovsky: "senior general, can you explain it to me?"


    "Well, since you don''t know, I''ll tell you more about it." Looking at me, rokosovsky guessed that I was a layman to the letter, so he patiently taught me a military theory course: "the theory of great depth campaign, also known as great depth combat, is regarded as the greatest achievement of China''s military science in the 1930s and 1940s. On the basis of summing up the experience and lessons of the first World War in the 1930s, this theory was put forward to adapt to the development of weapons and equipment, and is an important guiding ideology for the implementation of offensive campaign.


    The great depth campaign is a kind of combat form of the campaign Corps. Its essence is to suppress the whole defensive column of the enemy with lethal weapons at the same time and break through its tactical range in the selected defensive direction. Then, the development of victory echelons, such as tanks, motorized infantry and cavalry, will be put into combat, and airborne troops will be used to carry out aircraft landing, so as to quickly transform tactical victory into campaign victory, so as to achieve the predetermined goal as soon as possible. "


    When rokosovsky said the first sentence, I quickly took out a pen and paper from my briefcase and wrote down his military theories in as much detail as possible.


    Seeing that I was burying my head in recording, he deliberately slowed down my speaking speed so that I could keep up with him: "the basis of the theory of great depth operations is the breakthrough theory advocated in the early days: our offensive forces are divided into two echelons. The first echelon is mainly composed of infantry. After the firepower preparation of artillery and aviation is completed, we can break through the enemy''s line of defense under the coordination of various arms, Expand and consolidate the breakthrough; The second echelon is mainly composed of armored forces and motorized forces. Their main task is to go through the breach opened by the first echelon and continue to develop to the depth of the enemy''s defense. "


    After recording these words, I stopped my pen and asked rokosovsky: "senior general, I want to talk about my personal opinion. This breakthrough theory is too idealistic. We should know that in actual combat, when our first echelon breaks through the enemy''s line of defense, the enemy will often carry out counter attacks on us, In order to achieve the goal of closing the breach. "


    "Yes, you are right." After I finished, rokosovsky said with approval: "it seems that your understanding is not bad, and you have discovered the shortcomings of the breakthrough theory. When this theory was launched, it did not consider what kind of countermeasures the opponent would take."


    For the praise of rokosovsky, I just smile, and then go on recording the following content: "after the Sufen war, this breakthrough theory is divided into two groups. On the one hand, when our offensive forces have not yet formed a breakthrough in the enemy''s line of defense, but have made decisive progress, they should promptly put in the second echelon to assist the first echelon to complete the breakthrough and develop in depth. On the other hand, after the first echelon completes the breakthrough, expands and consolidates the breakthrough, it is necessary for the other faction to put in a complete armored force and develop in depth to the enemy.


    Rita, if you were a commander of the front army, which way would you choose? "


    I stopped writing again and tried hard to think about the theories mentioned by rokosovsky. Then I replied, "senior general, if I command the army, I think the first tactic works best in actual combat. Commanders should choose when to put the second echelon into combat according to the changes of fighters on the battlefield. This is the key to our victory and the size of the results. "


    "Well said." After praising me again, he continued: "because of the sudden outbreak of the war, our army has always been in a state of strategic defense, unable to effectively use breakthrough tactics. But with the change of the war situation, the situation is more and more favorable for us, so the theory of great depth campaign is put on the agenda again.


    ... since the quality and equipment of our troops have been greatly improved, we have made new additions to the original theory. In the next battle, the tactics we will adopt will be: first, we will use the assault group composed of the combined group army and the tank group army, as well as the air force, to attack the whole tactical depth of the enemy at the same time, so as to destroy the enemy''s defense; Second, with the rapid action of fast troops and airborne troops and the assault of aviation forces, tactical victory will be developed into campaign victory. "


    Rokosovsky spoke seriously, and I, a student, listened attentively. I didn''t realize that time was passing unconsciously. Until malining came up and whispered to rokosovsky: "Comrade commander, general belov is here. Can we start our meeting?" I raised my wrist and looked at my watch. I found that more than an hour had passed.


    "Give general belov a rest." Rokosovsky also raised his hand and looked at his watch, adding: "ten minutes later, let all the commanders of the group army come in for a meeting."


    "Yes," malining agreed. He turned and walked out of the headquarters. He went to the commanders of the group army waiting outside to pass on rokosovsky''s order.


    "Rita, we can talk while we have some time." Rokosovsky pushed the map in front of him, pointed it with his hand and said, "if you were the commander of the front army, what kind of military action would you take under the current situation?"


    I looked at the map in front of me, then pointed to it and said to rokosovsky, "senior general, if I were to command the front army, I would order all the army groups of the front army to advance northward and threaten Minsk."


    "The main force of the front army moved northward to threaten Minsk?" After listening to what I said, rokosovsky said with a smile: "Lida, don''t you find that in the north of our defense area, there are forests and swamps? We simply can''t use a lot of tanks in this area. Therefore, if we want to capture Minsk, we must bypass this swamp area... "


    After listening patiently to rokosovsky''s refutation, I carefully reminded him, "Comrade General, do you forget that it''s the coldest season now? The swamp is already frozen, and our armored forces can pass through this area. If I have no scruples about my mistakes, the enemy should have no heavy troops in this area. They can''t stop us at all. "


    Rokosovsky had been listening to my analysis of the situation carelessly. When he heard the back, he couldn''t help but widened his eyes, lowered his head and looked at the map in front of him again and again. When I saw his reaction, I quickly stopped talking, so as not to disturb his thinking.


    After a long time, he finally looked up at me and said, "Rita, I have to say that your plan is really attractive and has a high success rate. If we use no less than three army groups to advance to Minsk in the north, I think it will be very difficult for the enemy to block our attack. But... "When I heard rokosovsky''s praise, I was still complacent. But when I heard him say the word" but ", my heart sank and said that my proposal would be rejected by him¡° But... "Rokosovsky went on to say:" as the attention of the supreme command is now focused on the Ukrainian region, priority should be given to the Ukrainian side in terms of military and equipment replenishment. When we replenish enough troops and equipment, the frozen areas will thaw again, and then our tanks and infantry will be trapped in the swamp area. The Germans only need to carry out shelling or bombing, which can cause huge casualties to our shock troops. Do you understand? " Knowing that the attack plan I put forward had to be grounded because the supplies from the superior couldn''t be in place in time, I was disappointed. It seems that it''s not so easy to change history with my personal ability. At this moment, the commanders of the group army who attended the meeting came in one after another. When they saw Batov and belov coming in one after another, I quickly welcomed them, said hello to them and shook hands one by one. Finally, I sat down with them. Seeing that all the people were coming, malining stood up and glanced over every commander in the room. When the room was quiet, he said, "comrades, since all the people are coming, we will have a meeting. The theme of today''s meeting is to discuss the focus of our next work. Judging from the current situation, what we have to do is how to build a good defense in the existing area, so as to prevent the possible German anti assault... "As for what malining said, everyone seems to have known for a long time, who didn''t whisper in private, took out his pen and paper, and silently recorded every word he said.

 Chapter 1444

    After the meeting, rokosovsky left me alone, saying that he wanted to have a good talk with me, and at the same time, he asked my familiar chief of staff, malining, to accompany me.


    After chatting with me for a few minutes, malining turned to the next combat task. He asked frankly, "Rita, when our army has won absolute victory in the Dnieper River and Ukraine on the right bank, in what direction will we open up a new battlefield?"


    "Exactly speaking, it''s the main attack direction of the summer campaign. Where do you think it will be?" As soon as marinin''s words were finished, rokosovsky added: "I think our army will have a complete victory in Ukraine, at least after May. When the Supreme Command supplies us with soldiers and supplies, and when we go into battle, it should be summer. So what we are going to discuss now is the main attack direction of the summer campaign. "


    After listening to what malining and rokosovsky said, I did not immediately tell them my "conjecture", but asked in a strange way: "Comrade General and chief of staff, where is the main direction of our army''s summer campaign? This is a question to be considered by the Supreme Command and the general staff. I''m just a small group commander. I don''t seem qualified to talk about this, do I? "


    After I finished, rokosovsky and malining looked at each other with a smile, and then continued: "Rita, first of all, I want to tell you a good news. According to the news from the supreme command, you will be able to command a front army alone in the near future, maybe our two branches will fight side by side. We are now studying the main direction of attack, which is to lay a foundation for future cooperation. "


    From rokosovsky''s mouth, knowing that he had a chance to serve as commander of the front army, my heart beat faster. My heart said that it was true, or did he tease me? My eyes swept back and forth on their faces, and I saw that they both looked as usual. It was estimated that they would not deceive me on such a big event, so I did not hide and said what I knew about history in the form of "speculation".


    "Senior general, chief of staff," I got up and went to the map, pointed to the map and said to them, "I think the higher authorities may order the troops of the front army along the Baltic Sea to attack first, cut off the contact between the German northern army group and the mainland, and let the troops attack prozick and Drissa along the West Dewey River to capture Riga."


    "Wait a minute, Rita." As soon as I finished talking about the action to be taken by the front forces on the Baltic coast, malining interrupted me. He frowned and said, "I don''t think launching a large-scale attack on the German forces on the Baltic coast can surprise them, because the Germans are fighting on the inside line. They can take advantage of the perfect railway network and roads under their control, Maintain their mobility advantage. On the other hand, there are many swamps and lakes in this area, which is not conducive to the use of tanks by our army. "


    "Yes, comrade chief of staff, your analysis is quite correct." As soon as marinin finished, I said, "in our main attack direction, if we want to use the tank corps to fight, we must have a broad plain. We can think of that, and so can the Germans. "


    "It makes sense, it makes sense." "According to the German military theory, they think that tank troops are more suitable for fighting in plain areas," rokosovsky interjected. Rita, since you mentioned this, I think you must have your own ideas. Let''s hear them


    I gave rokosovsky a smile, and then said: "Comrade General, if we want to ensure the sudden launch of the campaign, I think we should surprise the German army in unexpected places. In this way, the main direction of attack will be along the Baltic Sea and become the swamp and Lake area of Belarus. "


    Rokosovsky heard me say this, suddenly stood up, walked quickly to the wall, looked up at the map in front of him, frowned and thought. In order to avoid interrupting his thoughts, I stood by and looked at him quietly without saying a word.


    I didn''t speak, and malining didn''t speak, so we stood still and stared at rokosovsky, and the whole headquarters fell into silence.


    After a long time, rokosovsky turned to look at me and said, "Rita, I think what you said is very reasonable. After returning to the army, you should send more reconnaissance teams to conduct all-round reconnaissance on the German army and find out their deployment, so that when we are about to launch an attack, we can know the whole terrain of Belarus like the palm of our hand."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    I rushed back to my headquarters overnight. As soon as I entered, chisjakov came up and asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t know what general rokosovsky said at today''s military meeting. Is it our troops that are going to attack Minsk?"


    After I waved my hand to him and sat down in my seat, I said to him and bzikov, who was sitting next to me: "the matter discussed in today''s military meeting is very simple, that is, to let the group armies strengthen and improve the defense system in the existing defense area, so as to prevent the possible anti assault by the German army."


    After listening to what I said at the military meeting, chisjakov said rather disappointed: "so it is. I thought the superior was going to order us to attack Minsk."


    "Comrade deputy commander," seeing chisjakov''s disappointed expression, I quickly comforted him and said, "don''t say it''s you, even me, want to immediately organize troops to attack Minsk, wipe out all the German troops in that area, and rescue our city from the enemy''s clutches. But, no, the current conditions are not mature. "


    "What conditions are not yet ripe?" Bzikov, listening to me, said somewhat unconvinced: "the Germans have only the second, fourth and ninth group armies in Belarus, and our group army is twice as many as theirs. If we attack them at the same time, I don''t believe they can stop us. "


    "Comrade chief of staff," I said patiently after listening to the angry words of bzikov, "although the enemy has only three army groups in name, their strength and equipment are still superior to our whole front army. Not to mention that our forces are not as many as the enemy''s, even if we have an advantage in our forces, if we do not have enough ammunition and rashly attack the enemy, we will only be defeated in the end. At the beginning of last year, although we fought on the left bank of the Dnieper River several times as much as the enemy, we were defeated by the Germans because our logistic supplies could not keep up with us. We can''t make the same mistake again in Belarus. "


    "Did the superior say when we can attack the enemy?" Kisjakov asked reluctantly


    "At present, our army is fighting hard with the German army in Ukraine on the right bank of the Dnieper River." I went on to explain to the two: "because of the supply of troops and weaponry by the supreme command. They are all inclined to Ukrainian forces, so we have to wait for the final victory of the battle in Ukraine before we can get enough supplies. "


    "The fighting on the right bank of the Dnieper is very fierce." Chisjakov turned to look at the map on the wall and said thoughtfully, "although our troops have the initiative in the battlefield and continue to attack the enemy, the enemy is also making a tenacious defense. I estimate that the battle will not be known until after June at the latest. "


    "What, until June?" After listening to the analysis of chisgakov, bzikov said in surprise: "in this way, our attack on Minsk will not be postponed until after July?"


    "Almost," chisjakov continued to stay on the map, and said carelessly about the question of bezikov: "if the attacks of several Ukrainian front forces are successful and the whole campaign is completed in June, then we can launch an attack on the German army in Belarus in early July or earlier."


    From later generations, I remember the attack time of the Soviet army very clearly. However, in this case, I would not jump out to be a magic wand and tell them that the attack on the German army would take place on a certain day and a certain month. Instead, I would sit by and listen to their conversation quietly without saying a word.


    Although chisgakov did not become the commander of the sixth group army of the guards as he did in real history, he was still very capable. He got up and went to the wall, pointed to the map on the wall and said to us, "you see, between our defense area and Minsk, there are swamps, lakes and forests. If we launch an attack now, we can make use of the favorable conditions of freezing up and use a large number of tank units in swampy areas. If the attack starts at the end of June and the beginning of July, these swamps and lakes will become obstacles for us to use tank troops. "


    After listening to chisjakov''s analysis, I couldn''t help nodding my head, because in the attack launched a few months later, due to the influence of swamps and lakes, the number of tanks put into combat by the Soviet army was very limited, and his analysis was completely consistent with the judgment of the general staff of the Soviet army.


    After expressing his views, chisjakov turned to look at me and said, "Comrade commander, do you have anything to add?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, I think what you said is very reasonable." I would like to flatter him and then say, "if the attack really takes place in June and July, our troops can only attack the enemy through swamps and lakes. However, I think that since we all think that it is difficult to use tank troops in these places, I believe that the Germans will also consider it that way. "


    As soon as I finished, he immediately asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t understand what you mean."


    "Since both sides of the enemy and us think that it is difficult to launch large forces in these places." I went to the map, pointed to the blank area between moziri kalinkovich and Minsk with my stick, and said to him: "then, their defense in this area will not be very tight. You see, according to the information we have so far, on the edge of the swamp, the German army only deployed sporadic defensive forces on some commanding heights... "


    "The German army is on the edge of the swamp, with only a few small troops deployed?" When bizikov heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting and asked, "Comrade commander, don''t you know how you got the news?"


    When I heard bezikov''s question, I immediately realized that I had let slip. We didn''t send any scouts to the enemy''s defensive zone to conduct reconnaissance. How can we know what kind of troops the enemy deployed at the edge of the swamp? So I quickly changed my tongue and said, "I got the information from the Intelligence Department of the headquarters of the front army." Thinking that it was impossible for them to go to rokosovsky or malining for verification for this kind of thing, they continued to bluff, "I think it might be general Batov''s troops. In order to successfully capture moziri and kalinkovic, they specially sent people to carry out reconnaissance. However, because they were exposed by the German army, the intelligence they detected was naturally handed over to the intelligence forces of the front army. "


    "Oh, so it is." After listening to my explanation, bezikov''s face was suddenly enlightened. He went on to say: "however, general Batov, the intelligence they investigated is from a long time ago. Maybe with our successful occupation of moziri and kalinkovic, the German deployment will be adjusted."¡° The chief of staff is quite right. " "In order to find out the enemy''s deployment, I think we should immediately send reconnaissance personnel to go deep into the enemy''s defense and find out their deployment. In this way, when the offensive campaign begins, we can launch targeted attacks. "¡° Since we were transferred from the first front army of Ukraine to the command of the Belarusian front army, major travkin, the best scout, has left our organization. " When it comes to sending people to scout, bzikov thinks of the former scout battalion commander travkin and says with emotion: "so far, I haven''t found a more capable scout than him. If only we could get him back from the first front army of Ukraine." To tell you the truth, I also very much want to get travkin back from vatukin, but when I think about the confidentiality level of the tasks he is involved in, I know that my idea is wishful thinking. After a long sigh, I had no choice but to say to bzikov, "forget it, chief of staff. I don''t think it''s possible for major travkin to be rebuilt. To be on the safe side, you''d better choose a few suitable scouts from our existing troops. "

 Chapter 1445

    For an army of tens of thousands of people, it''s not a piece of cake to find several qualified scouts. Besides, every division already has a reconnaissance company, and there is also a reconnaissance battalion in the group army. With the order issued, more than a dozen reconnaissance teams set out overnight and went deep into the enemy''s rear.


    Since there is no Reconnaissance Office in the headquarters of the group army, and the director of the intelligence office died in the fighting a few months ago, I gave the task of managing the reconnaissance team to the director of operations, major akhromeyev.


    Within two days, the reconnaissance teams sent back the reconnaissance reports one after another. After collecting the information, akhromeyev put it on my desk. After reading the bizikov lamp, I also picked up the information and looked at it carefully. After reading it, he said to me thoughtfully, "Comrade commander, it seems that the information we got from the headquarters of the front army is absolutely correct. The enemy only deployed a small number of Guard troops at some commanding heights on the edge of the marsh. This kind of deployment is somewhat similar to the situation when we attacked kalinkovic. "


    As soon as besikov finished his speech, chisjakov immediately said: "Comrade commander, since we have made clear the deployment of the German forces, should we take some action?"


    "Take action?" After repeating what chisgakov said, I asked, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t understand what you mean. What action should we take against the German army?"


    "What else can we do, comrade commander?" Without waiting for chisgakov to reply, bzikov replied excitedly: "since the German defense is weak, we might as well strike them by surprise. Take advantage of the favorable opportunity when the swamp freezes, and use tanks to cover infantry to capture these commanding heights. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." Chisgakov expressed his support to bezikov in time: "now that we can advance here from Smolensk in a week, we have captured moziri and kalinkovych. Then, we can replicate this victory and capture the German commanding heights on the edge of the swamp. "


    As a person who understands history, I know that the first "Leningrad Novgorod campaign" and the second "right bank Ukraine campaign" of the famous "ten Stalin raids" have all started as scheduled, just like the real history. However, the attack on the German army in Belarus will have to wait until June, which is about five months from now. If we act without authorization at such a time and attack the weak defensive areas of the German army, even if we can achieve certain results, we will expose our future operational intentions to the Germans.


    Thinking of this, I asked: "deputy commander, chief of staff, I wonder if you have considered that the German army is far more powerful in Belarus than our army. Even if we capture the commanding heights on the edge of the swamp, can we hold these positions under the frenzied counterattack of the German army? Moreover, more than a month later, the Spring Festival thaw will begin. The muddy swamp will separate the main force of our army from the troops occupying the commanding heights. Without timely replenishment of troops and ammunition, it is easy to be annihilated by the superior forces of the encircled German forces. "


    After my words were finished, they closed their mouths and seriously thought about what I said before. After a long time, chisjakov asked: "Comrade commander, our team is launching a powerful offensive against the German northern army group. What do you think we can achieve in the end?"


    Even if Zhukov or rokosovsky were to answer these questions, it would take a long time to consider them. However, for me who knows the history of later generations, I came here with open mouth: "although our army broke through the German blockade of Leningrad in 1943, it did not completely lift the German threat to Leningrad, and the city is in danger of being besieged again by the German army at any time. After the victory of this campaign, we can not only completely remove the threat to Leningrad, but also create favorable conditions for our army to further liberate the Baltic coastal areas and eliminate the Finnish bandits in the Karelia isthmus area. "


    "It makes sense, it makes sense." After listening to my statement, bzikov nodded repeatedly, and then couldn''t wait to ask, "then you are talking about the significance of the right bank Ukraine campaign."


    "In order to achieve the goal of delaying the war against our country with strategic defense, it is very important for the German general headquarters to guard the Ukraine area on the right bank of the Dnieper River, because it is not only a huge food and raw material base, but also a cover for the proximity of Crimea and the Balkans. Therefore, they deployed a heavy military group here. The Germans think that whether they can hold on to this area will determine their fate in the whole eastern battlefield. " When I said this, I couldn''t help laughing, and then added: "Ukraine has four of our front forces at present. I believe that the German defense line will collapse in a short time under our attack. At that time, our army can not only drive the enemy out of our border line, but also advance to the enemy''s territory and separate their defensive areas so that they can not echo each other. "


    "That''s right, that''s right, that''s right." After listening to what I said, chisjakov looked at the map in front of him for a long time. Then he could not help but exclaim: "as long as our four front forces have solved the enemy in Ukraine on the right bank, we can go out to the border and transfer the war to the enemy''s territory."


    When do you think our troops will launch a full-scale attack on the German army


    "Comrade chief of staff, at least under the present circumstances, we are unable to take the initiative to launch an attack on the German army." Seeing what he wanted to ask, I quickly added: "according to the intelligence of the headquarters of the front army, the enemy has deployed more than 60 divisions and millions of troops in the whole territory of Belarus. In addition, there are tens of thousands of various types of artillery, thousands of tanks and self-propelled artillery, and more than 1000 combat aircraft."


    "Ah, the enemy''s strength and equipment are so strong?" Bezikov was startled by what I said, but he probably thought that my information came from the headquarters of the front army, so instead of asking the source of the information, he asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, is this all true?"


    "Maybe the figures are not accurate enough," I specially stressed in order to let both of them know. "But the enemy forces must be more than we know, so our main task now is to establish a solid and perfect defense to prevent the German army from carrying out a preemptive attack."


    "At present, we have only one front army in Belarus. We are absolutely inferior to the German army in terms of strength and equipment. With such a force, to attack the German army, who stood behind the fortified fortifications, would be a suicide After listening to what I said, chisjakov immediately made a sober judgment: "therefore, if our army wants to gain an advantage in Belarus, it needs at least one or two additional front forces."


    "Comrade deputy commander, your analysis is quite correct." After praising chisgakov, I revealed some inside information I knew to them: "this time I went to the headquarters of the front army for a meeting, and I heard some news from the chief of staff that the supreme headquarters was ready to set up one or two more front armies in Belarus at the right time to fight against the German army."


    "One or two more front armies?" When bizikov heard what I said, his eyes lit up. He looked at me and asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, if you really want to build a new front army, will the Supreme Command let you command one of them?"


    Since the last time rokosovsky told me implicitly that I might take the post of commander of the front army, I have been itching. Every day, I look forward to being informed by my superiors to go to Moscow for a talk, and then take the post of commander of the new front army in Belarus. However, they have been waiting for several days, but there is no news at all. At the moment, when I heard bzikov mention this, I had to laugh and pretend to be modest and say, "Comrade chief of staff, you look up to me too much. We should know that in the army, there are many commanders who are older than our army, senior and senior. When the Supreme Command wants to consider the selection of the commander of the front army, it must first consider them, who can be my younger generation. "


    "Don''t be modest, comrade commander." I didn''t expect that as soon as I finished, chisjakov echoed: "if the superior didn''t plan to let you be the commander of the front army, how could the 11th, 61st and 65th group army be handed over to you for unified command some time ago? You know, after taking over the command of these three forces, you liberated moziri and kalinkovich, and destroyed and defeated seven German divisions in just two or three days. I don''t think the supreme command can miss such a brilliant record, can it


    Although I was elated by what chisjakov said, I still said calmly: "Comrade deputy commander, the reason why the superior gave me the command of the three units at that time was that the strength of our group army was the strongest among the several units, and it was only us who decided the final battle. The higher authorities may have made it difficult for me to act as the temporary commander-in-chief in order to prevent the other two commanders from commanding my troops. "


    What I never dreamed of was that while we were chatting here, the general staff in Moscow was discussing the choice of the commander of the Belarusian second front army. As Stalin also attended the meeting, vasilevsky, who presided over the meeting, was somewhat restrained. He looked at Stalin and said, "Comrade Stalin, in order to more effectively combat the German people in Belarus, we are going to increase the organizational structure of the two front forces. The Belarusian front army of general rokosovsky will be renamed the first front army of Belarus; The topic we are discussing today is who will be the commander of the newly formed Belarusian second front army. "


    After listening, Stalin raised his hand clutching the cigarette end, waved it, and said, "vasilevsky, I''m here today to attend the meeting as a nonvoting member, only with ears but no mouth. Who will be the commander of the new front army or has the final say? "


    First of all, vasilevsky looked at Zhukov sitting opposite him and asked, "Comrade Zhukov, who do you think is suitable to be the commander?"


    Zhukov looked around at Stalin, who was smoking his pipe, and then said slowly, "Comrade General Staff, I have been responsible for the coordination between the first and second front armies in Ukraine. I think the comrades in the general staff has the final say on who will be the new commander of the front army.


    Vasilevsky sighed when he saw Zhukov kicking the ball back to him. Then he turned his eyes to his deputy general Ivanov and asked, "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, do you have any suitable person in your mind?" Hearing his immediate superior''s question, Ivanov quickly stood up, straightened his waist and answered vasilevsky: "marshal, I suggest that oshanina, commander of the sixth group army of the guards, will take up this position in the future."¡° O''shanina? " After repeating my name, vasilevsky asked, "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, tell me your reasons."¡° Although she is a lesbian and hasn''t been in the Army long enough, she is an excellent commander. " Ivanov, who has been familiar with my resume for a long time, said clearly: "since the battle of Kursk, her troops have won a series of victories. Whether it is the liberation of Kharkov or bergorod, her troops are the first to rush into the city, and the first to put the red flag on the commanding height of the city In the liberation of Kiev and the defense of Zhitomir, her troops also achieved brilliant results A month ago, her troops entered the territory of Belarus from Smolensk. In less than a week, they destroyed and defeated seven German divisions, and liberated moziri and kalinkovich in succession... "Zhukov could not help smiling when he heard Ivanov''s statement of my great achievements. In fact, he also very much wanted me to be commander of the second front army of Belarus, but considering the close relationship between him and me and the fear of others gossiping, he refused to express his views. At the moment, seeing that Ivanov obviously supported me, and vasilevsky kept nodding, without any objection to my assumption of the post of commander, he secretly decided to vote for me when voting later. After Ivanov introduced my situation, vasilevsky did not immediately express his attitude, but asked lightly: "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, is there any other candidate?"

 Chapter 1446

    Since it is such an important post as the commander of the Belarusian second front army, I am definitely not the only one. Therefore, after listening to vasilevsky''s question, Ivanov immediately nodded his head and replied, "yes, Comrade General Staff, there are two other candidates."


    "Tell me all about it." Stalin, who had been silent, suddenly said.


    Suddenly hearing Stalin''s voice, Ivanov could not help shivering, but he soon returned to normal and said in a calm tone: "one is Ivan danilovich, general chernyahovsky." Thinking that the commander he mentioned was an ordinary division commander before the war, he grew up step by step under the attention of vasilevsky. After a quick glance at vasilevsky, he quickly told us chernyahovsky''s resume, "... In February 1941, he served as the division commander of the 28th tank division of the 12th mechanized Army. On June 23, he took part in the battle in the eighth group army of the northwest front army, and the tanks of the whole division were lost in the battle. In December, his headquarters was changed into the 241st infantry division.


    He was granted major general on May 3, 1942, and served as commander of the 18th tank army in June, holding Voronezh. In July, he served as commander of the 60th group army, fighting successively in the Voronezh front army, the central front army and the first front army of Ukraine.


    On February 14, 1943, he was awarded the title of Soviet hero on October 17, 1943 in recognition of his courage and bravery in crossing the Dnieper River.


    March 5, 1944


    "Yes, a very good commander." Stalin, who initially said that he would only listen in and not speak, interrupted Ivanov again. He looked at vasilevsky and asked, "Comrade General Staff Chief, do you agree with me?"


    Vasilevsky quickly got up from his seat and replied respectfully, "yes, comrade Stalin, my opinion is the same as yours. I think Comrade chernyahovsky is an excellent commander. Moreover, he has served as commander of the group army for two years and has rich experience in command. I think he will take the post of commander, It''s very appropriate. "


    Vasilevsky basically thought that Stalin would go along with his proposal. Unexpectedly, the latter waved his hand after hearing his proposal and said unexpectedly, "no, comrade vasilevsky, I don''t think it''s appropriate for chernyahovsky to be the commander of the front army."


    Stalin''s words stunned everyone here. Vasilevsky, in particular, put forward this candidate only after he heard Stalin''s praise for chernyahovsky. Unexpectedly, he was rejected. When everyone did not know how to respond, Stalin continued: "the scale of the second front army is too small. There are only the 47th, 61st and 70th group armies, as well as the 6th group army of the air force. It''s a bit too condescending for an excellent commander like chernyahovsky to serve as commander. The Belarusian third front army, which we plan to set up in April, has not only a combined group army of three arms and an airborne army, but also a fifth group army of close guard tanks. Such a team needs commanders like him. "


    It was said that Stalin intended to appoint chernyahovsky as commander of the third front army. Vasilevsky was secretly relieved. He turned to Ivanov and said, "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, please continue to talk about the next candidate."


    "The other candidate is general Pavel alexeyevich kurozhkin." Compared with chernyahovsky, kurotchkin''s resume is much better. Therefore, when Ivanov introduced him, he felt that he had enough confidence: "he was the old red guard who once attacked the winter palace. He was the cavalry division commander in 1935. During the Sufen war, he once commanded an army excellently. Since the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, he has successively served as commander of the 20th, 43rd, 11th and 34th group army, deputy commander and commander of the northwest front army and deputy commander of the first front army of Ukraine. He has a clear and definite working method in leading and running the army and commanding operations. "


    But when Ivanov introduced kurotchkin''s resume, Stalin got up from his seat, walked slowly around with his pipe, and occasionally turned to take a look at Ivanov who was speaking. After Ivanov finished, vasilevsky quickly turned his eyes to Stalin to see if he would express any opinions. Who knows to see Stalin''s pipe is not in his mouth, but continue to hold in his hand, still walking back and forth in the room without expression.


    Seeing that Stalin did not intend to speak, vasilevsky had to ask Ivanov, "Comrade deputy chief of staff, who do you think is more appropriate to be the commander of the second front army of Belarus?"


    Ivanov had intended to propose kurotchkin, but when he saw that Zhukov, who had always been careless, suddenly sat upright and stared at him without expression, his heart was a little flustered. He knew the friendship between Zhukov and me very well. Seeing Zhukov''s performance, he knew that Zhukov wanted me to be the commander, He quickly changed his words and said, "although kurotchkin is old, he is not familiar with Belarus. I suggest Comrade oshanina take the post of commander."


    After Ivanov''s words, Zhukov turned to vasilevsky and asked, "Comrade vasilevsky, what''s your opinion?"


    Seeing that Zhukov gave himself the difficult problem of choice, vasilevsky quickly glanced at Stalin who was pacing. Then he coughed gently and was about to express his opinion. Suddenly, everyone heard Stalin''s voice: "I don''t agree to let Comrade oshanina take the post of commander of the front army."


    When he heard Stalin''s decision, Zhukov was stunned. He turned and looked at Stalin standing behind Ivanov in surprise, thinking about why the other party made such a decision.


    Stalin did not pay attention to everyone''s surprised eyes, but walked slowly to his desk and sat down. Then he said slowly: "I admit that o''shanina is a very good commander. The army she commands has achieved a series of brilliant results that many male commanders can''t match..."


    When Zhukov heard Stalin''s comments on me, he frowned and murmured to himself, "Comrade Stalin, since you appreciate her so much, why don''t you let her be the commander of the front army?" Although he thought so, he also understood that some words could only be kept in his heart, but could not be said casually, so he had to be patient and wait for Stalin to solve the final mystery.


    "... the reason why I don''t agree with her to take the position of commander of the front army is that she is young and hard to convince the public even if she has made great achievements in the war; Second, her rank is the lowest of the three candidates... "


    Zhukov heard Stalin''s reason, turned around and looked at Vasilevsky next to him, and said, secretly, "if you make complaints about Lida''s low rank, you can be promoted." When the war broke out, vasilevsky was only a major general. And you think that his ability is outstanding, is not to promote him to marshal. Because I''m afraid that I will have a problem with you if I promote him too fast, I''ll promote him to a general first, and then to a marshal a week later. "


    When Zhukov was full of complaints, he only listened to Stalin''s final decision: "I think the post of commander of the second front army of Belarus should be taken by kurotchkin in the future. This appointment should be immediately given to Comrade kurotchkin in the form of an order, so that he can go to Belarus immediately to form his army. "


    Now that Stalin has made the final decision, no one can raise any objection. So vasilevsky quickly stood up, after a promise, told Ivanov: "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, you immediately go to prepare the order?"


    Ivanov nodded, turned and walked out of the room.


    When Ivanov''s back disappeared from the door, Stalin''s facial expression became serious. He looked at vasilevsky and asked, "Comrade vasilevsky, I don''t know when you can change your deputy?"


    "Comrade Stalin," vasilevsky obviously did not expect that Stalin would bring up this matter again. He replied awkwardly, "at present, there is no suitable person to replace Comrade Ivanov."


    As soon as Zhukov heard Stalin mention the replacement of the post of deputy chief of general staff, he immediately understood why he opposed me as commander of the front army. Originally, he was implicated by Ivanov. Zhukov knew very well that Stalin didn''t like Ivanov. As early as in the battle of halaha River, Stalin urged the general staff to report Stern''s whereabouts. Ivanov, who worked in the general staff, received a telegram from stern to Chita, He took it for granted that the other side would arrive at the battlefield in an hour, and reported the result based on this inference. As a result, Stalin was furious the next day when he received the report that schonte was detained at Chita airport due to bad weather. He not only sent Ivanov to the military court, but also drove him out of the general staff.


    It was not until 1942, due to the lack of staff, that he had the opportunity to return to the general staff as deputy chief of the general staff. As a result, after Stalin found him, he was ready to drive him away, because the Supreme Commander himself could not tolerate liars staying in front of him. After vasilevsky repeatedly interceded with him for reasons of rare talent, Stalin withdrew the order and agreed to let Ivanov stay in the general staff, on the condition that he would never appear in front of him.


    It is precisely because of a small mistake he once made that even if he was full of talent, he could not be appreciated and trusted by Stalin. On the contrary, many of his proposals or recommendations were usually brutally rejected by Stalin. And I was defeated in the competition for the position of commander of the front army this time, which was inseparable from him.


    When Zhukov wanted to understand the cause and effect, he immediately had an idea in his mind. He said to Stalin tactfully, "Comrade Stalin, may I talk about my views on this appointment?"


    Stalin guessed that he might be trying to intercede for me, but as for his most effective commander, he said in a reasonable way: "Comrade Zhukov, just say what you think. Even if it''s wrong, I won''t blame you. "


    After getting Stalin''s permission, Zhukov expressed his own opinion: "I don''t think it''s appropriate to have Comrade kurotchkin as commander of the front army. Although he has held many important positions, his performance on the battlefield is mediocre. If he is really allowed to hold the post of commander, I am afraid that unexpected problems may arise in our counter offensive against Belarus in the next stage. "


    Zhukov had the courage to say this. He was afraid that his opposition to Stalin would cause the other party to be furious, and even demote himself to the reserve army. However, it was unexpected that Stalin nodded in agreement with his statement and said, "yes, comrade Zhukov, you have analyzed a lot. Kurotchkin is really not suitable for the position of commander of the front army." Stalin''s words made Zhukov and vasilevsky dumbfounded. They looked at each other and saw confusion in each other''s eyes. Seeing that they were at a loss, Stalin explained to them with a smile, "I admit that Rita is far better than kurotchkin in directing the war. But when it comes to the formation of troops, I don''t think Rita can be compared with kurotchkin at all. "¡° Oh, so it is. " Zhukov is also a wise man. Listening to Stalin''s words, he immediately felt like a mirror: "you are going to appoint kurotchkin to other posts after he has completed the formation of the army."¡° We are going to set up the third front army of Belarus in April. After Comrade chernyahovsky takes office, his post as commander of the 60th group army will be vacant, won''t it Stalin stopped for a moment, struck a match and lit the cigarette end, and then continued: "let Comrade kurotchkin be the commander of the group army then." Both Zhukov and vasilevsky understood the ability of kurotchkin. They agreed to hear that Stalin''s next position for him was commander of the 60th army. After a puff of smoke, Stalin then asked vasilevsky, "I heard that the chief of staff of rokosovsky, malining, is an excellent staff officer. What do you think of him swapping with Ivanov?"

 Chapter 1447

    "Comrade Stalin," although Zhukov knew in his heart that Stalin hated Ivanov, he did not expect to replace Ivanov at the critical moment when the general staff needed to coordinate and command major battlefield operations. At such a moment, he felt that he should not keep silent any more, so he stood up first before vasilevsky spoke, "Now our army is engaged in a fierce battle with the German army in Leningrad and Ukraine. If we change the deputy chief of general staff at this time, I think it is very inappropriate," he said


    After hearing Zhukov''s objection, Stalin turned to look at vasilevsky and asked noncommittally, "what''s your opinion, comrade vasilevsky?"


    When vasilevsky heard Stalin call his name, he quickly got up from his seat and replied respectfully, "Comrade Stalin, as you know, although I am the chief of the general staff, most of the time I stay on all fronts like Marshal Zhukov. Comrade Ivanov has always been in charge of the work of the general staff. If the deputy chief of general staff is replaced at this time, it will certainly have some negative effects on the work of the general staff. "


    Seeing that Zhukov and vasilevsky raised objections to the replacement of the post of deputy chief of general staff, Stalin stood up without saying a word, clenched his famous pipe with his fist, and began to pace slowly in the room. At the same time, he began to seriously consider whether his proposal was too impulsive.


    Seeing that Stalin didn''t speak, Zhukov just walked back and forth in the room. He knew in his heart that he didn''t really want to change the deputy chief of the general staff. He just had an opinion on Ivanov. He said quickly, "according to my understanding, comrade marinin''s main characteristics are to make a combat plan, to be careful in calculation, and to organize troops'' operations in a creative way, Try not to wait for the commander''s instruction to put forward the necessary reasonable suggestions to warn the superior. Therefore, the headquarters of the front army under his leadership is the best of all the headquarters of the front army of our army. The staff under his leadership get along well with each other, and their work is well coordinated. "


    When Stalin heard Zhukov say this, he could not help but stop. He looked at him with some surprise and began to wonder why he even introduced marinin''s advantages to himself when he opposed the exchange of the two commanders?


    Seeing Stalin stop and look at himself, Zhukov continued: "however, he is impatient and can''t get along with many commanders. Only his collocation with rokosovsky complements each other. Not long ago, rokosovsky suggested to me that malining should take the post of commander of a group army, but he stubbornly refused. He said that he didn''t want to be commander of any group army, but wanted to be chief of staff of Comrade rokosovsky all his life. "


    When vasilevsky heard Zhukov praise malining, his heart went up to his throat. He was afraid that Stalin would make up his mind to let malining and Ivanov exchange notes. After Zhukov said the following words, he finally realized that Zhukov was gently persuading Stalin to change his mind.


    Fortunately, today''s Stalin is no longer as headstrong as he was before the war. He can listen to the opinions of his subordinates with an open mind. Seeing that Zhukov and vasilevsky are both opposed to changing his deputy chief of general staff, he is no longer stubborn, but says casually, "well, since you two don''t agree to the swap, that''s all. Don''t talk about it any more."


    While the general staff is discussing the selection of the commander of the Belarusian second front army, I am reporting the recent reconnaissance situation to general malining, chief of staff of the Belarusian second front army. After recording my report, malining said to me with a smile, "Rita, I have good news for you."


    hot wire? When I heard what malining said, I thought to myself, is it because my superior is going to add new troops to me? Although I now have four infantry units in my hands, if the superior gives me the same number of units, I will not be too many. In order to confirm my conjecture, I tentatively asked: "Comrade chief of staff, do you want to add new troops to us?"


    "Additional troops?" When malining heard me say this, he was stunned at first, and then replied, "don''t you forget that the supreme command is going to set up a second front army in Belarus. Today, the general staff is discussing who will take the post of commander."


    "Ah, today we are discussing the candidates for the new front army?" When I heard malining say this, I was quite surprised. It should be considered a top secret thing. How could he know? Is our army''s level of confidentiality so low? Thinking of this, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade chief of staff, how do you know?"


    "The source of the information is kept secret for the time being." Instead of answering my concerns, malining said bluntly, "there are only three candidates for the commander of the front army. You are one of them."


    I''m eager to know who the other two competitors are. If they are better than me, I''ll be out of business. So I can''t wait to ask, "who are the other two commanders?"


    Malining didn''t know from what way he got the information, but he actually accurately named the other two candidates: "one is chernyahovsky, commander of the 60th group army, and the other is general kurotchkin, deputy commander of the first front army of Ukraine."


    "Well, chief of staff, I don''t think I can do it." When malining finished speaking, I probably sighed and said to him, "these two generals are higher than me in terms of rank and seniority. I have no hope of running for office with them."


    "Don''t be so pessimistic, Rita." Malining was more anxious than I was about whether I could take the post of commander of the second front army. He heard me sighing and comforted me, saying: "I have studied this issue with the commander. Although there are outstanding military commanders like general chernyahovsky among the candidates, the higher authorities will not let him serve as the commander of the second front army, but let him serve as the commander of the third front army to be formed later. "


    After listening to malining''s words, I had to praise the analysis made by him and rokosovsky. They guessed it very accurately. In real history, chernyahovsky was the commander of the third front army of Belarus, and he was not replaced by a new Commander until he died in February 45.


    I knew in my heart that whether I could become a marshal before the end of the war depended entirely on whether I could become the commander of a certain front army before driving the German army out of the Soviet Union. According to my experience, the position of commander of the newly formed front army is reserved for those commanders who have withstood the most severe test on the battlefield. In addition to finding a basic condition, they also need to have brilliant achievements and be appreciated by the Supreme Commander himself. Although kurotchkin is the deputy commander of the front army, he has been mediocre since the outbreak of the war. If he is the only one competing with me, my chances of success are still very high.


    After hearing that I hadn''t spoken for a long time, malining thought that I was still worried about losing the election, so he comforted me and said, "don''t worry. The other candidate, general kurotchkin, was the commander of the group army at the beginning of the war, but because of his mediocre record, he was not favored by the higher authorities, so even if he became a candidate, It''s just because of his seniority. In the end, the post of commander is yours. "


    Although kurotchkin once served as the deputy of vatukin, he really didn''t have much impression on him. Even when rokosovsky came to act as the commander of the first front army of Ukraine, I didn''t deal with this deputy commander. Try to think back to those famous Soviet generals I remember. It seems that I have never heard of him. When I think about it, I automatically put kurokijin in the role of soy sauce.


    "I''m sure your appointment will be conveyed later today, Rita." Malining was good at reminding me: "since you are leaving, you should choose a suitable person to take over your position as soon as possible."


    I didn''t have to think about the successor at all. I just pushed chisgakov out. After all, if it wasn''t for my sudden appearance, the post of commander of the sixth group army would have been his, so I said without hesitation: "is that true? Of course, it is Comrade chisgakov, who is fully qualified for the post of commander. "


    "Good. I''ll write down the candidates you recommend first." Malining quickly wrote down the name of chisgakov in his book, and then said to me, "once your transfer order comes down, you should immediately transfer the command to your deputy, and then report to the new army."


    I think that if I go to the new army alone, it will not be easy for me to carry out a lot of work. I must have someone to help me. So I asked tentatively, "Comrade chief of staff, when I go to the new army, how many people can I take with me?"


    "No problem, this is allowed." Malining was deeply afraid that I had no experience, and he was good at reminding me: "I think the combat Director under you is very capable. You might as well take him."


    In fact, even if he doesn''t remind me, I also want to bring major akhromeyev to the new army. After all, this is my old subordinate, who weighs his hands. I nodded and then asked, "I want to take Comrade kirilov, the current military commissar, with me. I don''t know if I can?"


    "If you''re going to take it, there''s no problem. However... "Malining said with some embarrassment:" because of his low rank, he can no longer serve as your deputy. He can only work in the group army or the Political Department of the front army. I suggest you consult him in advance. "


    As soon as I put down the phone, chisjakov, who was sitting next to me, stood up, reached out his hand to me and said with a smile, "Comrade commander, I congratulate you on your promotion!"


    I shook his hearsay lightly and said humbly, "Comrade deputy commander, this is just a grapevine. As for who will be the commander of the front army, it has the final say."


    "Comrade commander, you are too modest." With a smile on his face, chisjakov said, "since the chief of staff of the front army has congratulated you in advance, it''s a matter of certainty." At this point, he came close to my ear and said in a low voice, "besides, when we captured moziri and kalinkovic, the superior handed over another three army groups under your unified command. This is a test for you. Fortunately, you have successfully liberated these two cities from the enemy''s hands in just two or three days under your command. It can be said that you have successfully passed the test. Now it''s time to reward them for their merits. "


    After chisjakov, bzikov also congratulated me. He whispered to me, "Rita, when you go to the new army, can you take me with you?" After hearing his request, I took a look at chisgakov standing next to him, and then said in embarrassment, "chief of staff, if I really want to leave and take you and the military commissar away, I will leave the deputy commander to sing a solo. In that case, it will be difficult for him to carry out his next work. "¡° Yes, chief of staff. " As soon as I finished, chisjakov also said to bezikov in a friendly way: "if you leave with the commander, the work of the group army will fall into chaos in a short time. So I have a proposal. Even if you want to leave, you need to wait until our superiors send us a new chief of staff and military Commissar. Do you think so? " Seeing that chisgakov was so sincere, bizikov had no choice but to say, "well, comrade deputy commander, I''ll stay first and leave after the internal work of the group army is straightened out." Thinking that I was going to leave, chisjakov asked me modestly, "Comrade commander, what is the main work of our group army after you leave?" If we really want to launch a counter offensive in Belarus, then they must be the main force of the attack. Thinking of this, I said to chisgakov, "Comrade deputy commander, we need to give a new order to the troops that are going to the enemy''s rear for reconnaissance, so that they can try their best to get in touch with the local guerrillas."¡° Get in touch with the guerrillas? " Chisgakov could not help frowning when he heard me say this: "Comrade commander, the fighting capacity of the guerrillas is limited, and it may not help us much."¡° On the contrary, my comrade deputy commander. " Seeing his disapproval of the guerrillas, I specially reminded him: "as long as we establish extensive contact with the guerrillas behind the enemy, after our attack, they can make trouble in the enemy''s rear, prevent the enemy from sending reserves to the front, and inform us of the German movement in time by radio." As soon as I explained to chisjakov the importance of contacting the guerrillas, I got a call from malining. "I''m sorry to disappoint you, Rita," he said apologetically on the phone. According to the information I just got, the higher authorities intend to appoint general kurotchkin as commander of the second front army of Belarus. " Although I have no confidence in whether I can become commander of the front army, I am ready to lose the election. But when I really heard malining tell me the bad news, my heart was still sour, but I still pretended to be calm and said: "I know, comrade chief of staff, I can''t be the chief of staff this time. Maybe there will be another chance in the future. Thank you for informing me of the news."

 Chapter 1448

    When chisjakov and bezikov knew that I had been defeated in the competition for the commander of the front army, their faces were filled with regret. Perhaps it was because I was worried that I couldn''t think of it. Chisgakov also advised me to say, "don''t be sad, comrade commander. The higher authorities appointed general kurotchkin as commander of the front army, probably because of his old qualification and experience in commanding the front army. But in terms of command level, I don''t think he can match you."


    I knew that chisgakov meant well. I gave him a little smile and said as if nothing had happened: "Comrade deputy commander, thank you for persuading me. In fact, I don''t think I have the experience of commanding a large regiment. Suddenly, I was promoted from Group Commander to commander of the front army. Maybe my work didn''t go as smoothly as I thought. " I told myself in my heart: Although I really want to be the commander, I don''t want to force it. I''m lucky to get it and I''m lucky to lose it. Let it be.


    While I was chatting with chisjakov, at the headquarters of the front army hundreds of kilometers away, rokosovsky was also talking about me with malining. Rokosovsky nervously asked malining: "chief of staff, after Rita heard the news you reported, what''s her reaction?"


    "The reaction was flat." Malining replied.


    Rokosovsky was surprised by malining''s answer. He asked in surprise: "is she not disappointed after she learned that she lost the election?"


    "Well, maybe." "I guess she''s a little disappointed, but I can''t hear anything from her tone," malining said in an uncertain tone


    "What else did she talk to you about?" What rokosovsky is very concerned about is that after malining brought me bad news, he talked with me for a long time and what he talked about.


    "She said that she intends to let the reconnaissance team go deep into the enemy''s rear to conduct reconnaissance and at the same time try to contact the guerrillas in the area." Malining gently reported to rokosovsky: "when our army launches a large-scale attack, these guerrillas can be put to use."


    "Rita has a point." After listening to this, rokosovsky nodded his head and said: "at the beginning of the war, due to the paralysis of the command system of the Western army, the forces in their own ways were unable to resist the rapid advance of the German army. As a result, many of our scattered troops scattered in Belarus and formed a group of guerrillas, fighting tenaciously with the Communist occupation army for a long time."


    "Speaking of the fighting capacity of the guerrillas," malining said with a lingering fear, perhaps because he was frightened by those dragon and snake mixed guerrillas in Ukraine: "it''s OK to fight with the wind. Once defeated in the battle, they will flee. I''m afraid that contacting the guerrillas behind the enemy''s lines, no matter how helpful it is to us, will drag us down on the contrary. "


    "Chief of staff, you can''t say that." Regarding malining''s statement, rokosovsky refuted it without hesitation: "Ukraine is Ukraine and Belarus is Belarus. The two cannot be confused. We need to know that some of the guerrillas in Ukraine support us, some support the Germans, and even fight on both sides. This kind of army is originally a group of loose sand. How can it form combat effectiveness? The situation in Belarus is different. The guerrillas here are almost made up of small units of our army that have been broken up. They not only have a unified command, but also have political workers. Their cohesion and combat effectiveness far surpass those of the Ukrainian guerrillas. "


    "Comrade commander," malining asked tentatively after rokosovsky finished saying, "in that case, we should also send people behind the enemy lines to contact those guerrillas who have always insisted on fighting and organize them. When we launch a large-scale attack on the German army, they will cooperate with us and harass the enemy''s rear. "


    Rokosovsky expressed his support for malining''s proposal and said, "chief of staff, you immediately order the chief of reconnaissance to select a suitable person to go deep into the German rear for reconnaissance, and try to get in touch with the guerrillas in this area."


    "I''ll add." After recording the orders, malining continued: "I think every reconnaissance team should be equipped with radio stations. After contacting the guerrillas, we should stay in the guerrillas as liaison officers, so that we can give various operational orders to the guerrillas."


    "Your proposal is good. Let''s do it. "


    Malining just got up to call the reconnaissance director when the high-frequency telephone in front of rokosovsky rang. He put the earphone to his ear and said in a loud voice, "Hello, this is rokosovsky. Where are you?"


    Zhukov''s deep voice came out of the receiver: "Comrade rokosovsky, I''m Zhukov. How are you recently?"


    Hearing Zhukov''s voice, rokosovsky quickly stood up from his seat, straightened up and said politely, "Hello, dear Georgi konstantinovic, I''m glad to hear your voice. I don''t know what good news you have brought us?"


    Zhukov sighed and said, "I''m sorry, comrade rokosovsky. I think I''ve brought you bad news."


    Zhukov''s words surprised rokosovsky. He said in his heart that apart from something important, he immediately asked, "Comrade Zhukov, what''s the matter?"


    "There are two things," Zhukov said slowly. "First, your Belarusian front army will be officially reorganized into the Belarusian first front army on February 17. It may be necessary to transfer one or two army groups from your army to enrich the newly formed second front army."


    After writing Zhukov''s in the book in front of him, rokosovsky asked, "Comrade marshal, don''t you know what the second thing is?"


    "As far as I know, you have a good relationship with the individual leaders of the general staff." Zhukov didn''t beat around the bush with rokosovsky, so he said directly: "you should know who will be appointed as commander of the second front army today. Originally, Rita was also one of the candidates, but because of a small situation, she was the most promising, but in the end she lost the election


    From Zhukov''s words, rokosovsky seemed to hear something, so he asked cautiously, "Comrade marshal, can you tell me what kind of small situation has happened?"


    "If it''s me or vasilevsky who will speak when recommending candidates, maybe Lida will not be able to run away when she becomes commander of the second front army." When Zhukov said this, he could not help sighing again and said with regret: "who knows that it was Ivanov, deputy chief of general staff, who recommended Rita to Comrade Stalin."


    Although Zhukov''s words came to an abrupt end, rokosovsky understood immediately. Because Stalin hated Ivanov, many senior commanders knew it. Only then did he understand why I was implicated in Ivanov when I became commander.


    Rokosovsky was silent for a long time, then tentatively asked: "marshal, as far as I know, although it will take two months to form the third front army, the post of commander has been designated as general chernyahovsky. I want to ask, "will Rita have such a chance in the future?"


    "There are always opportunities." Zhukov couldn''t tell rokosovsky about his private dialogue with Stalin and vasilevsky. He just said vaguely: "in fact, even if he becomes the commander of the front army now, it''s not good. There are too many aspects to be dealt with in a newly formed army. With Rita''s ability, it is difficult for her to cope with it. Rather than this, it is better for experienced people to lay a good foundation in front of her. "


    After these words, Zhukov didn''t wait for rokosovsky to respond, so he promptly changed the topic: "by the way, I think you''ve already informed her about Rita''s defeat. What''s her mood now?"


    Although Zhukov''s words were vague, rokosovsky still realized from his words that kurotsky, who is now the commander of the front army, is only a transitional role, and he could not help but feel relieved. After hearing Zhukov''s questions, he said with a smile, "don''t worry, marshal. Her mood has not been affected."


    "Oh," Zhukov asked curiously, "how do you know?"


    Rokosovsky laughed and said with some embarrassment: "I asked the chief of staff, general malining, to call her after I learned that she had lost the election. When she heard this news, she may feel a little disappointed, but she soon talked to my chief of staff about work. "


    "What did you talk about?" Rokosovsky made Zhukov more curious, so that he couldn''t wait to ask, "did she come up with any good idea?"


    "You are right, comrade marshal." Rokosovsky replied with a smile: "she suggested to malining that the reconnaissance troops we sent to the enemy''s rear should not only scout the enemy''s deployment, but also contact the local guerrillas, so that when we launch a large-scale attack on the German army in the future, the Rangers can cooperate with us behind the enemy."


    "Interesting, interesting, really interesting." After these words, Zhukov said, "I''ll call her myself and ask her how she thinks about it." With that, I hung up the front army headquarters and ordered the operator to get through to my headquarters.


    When Zhukov''s phone call came in, I was personally telling bzikov that he should deploy competent personnel to set up the reconnaissance and intelligence services in the shortest possible time.


    I was really surprised to hear Zhukov''s voice coming out of the receiver. I was a little surprised and asked, "marshal, aren''t you in charge of the coordination of the first and second front forces in Ukraine? How did you remember to call me today? "


    "There are some things that I think rokosovsky has already told you. I won''t repeat them here." Zhukov said to me frankly, "I just called him. He told me that you are going to send people to the enemy''s rear to contact the guerrillas in those areas. Is that the case?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." Although I didn''t know the destination of Zhukov''s question, I answered truthfully: "I have given orders to the following troops to let each reconnaissance team try to get in touch with the local guerrillas when carrying out reconnaissance behind enemy lines."


    "What are you going to do when you get in touch?" Zhukov asked noncommittally after listening to me¡° After establishing contact, I plan to leave liaison officers in the guerrillas and keep in touch with us through radio so that in the future, I can give operational orders directly to the guerrillas. " I confidently said to Zhukov: "after our offensive battle starts, the guerrillas can destroy the German lines of communication behind the enemy, prevent the enemy from sending reserves to the front line, and timely report the latest situation of the enemy to us through the radio station we left behind."¡° Rita, have you ever thought that the front of your group army is swamp, lake and forest, which is not conducive to the development of large forces at all? " After listening to my statement, Zhukov said without hesitation: "in other words, your group army may not have the opportunity to participate in the attack on the German army at all. What should these guerrillas do then? They were surrounded by heavy German troops. If they were not careful, they would be in danger of being destroyed. Have you considered all these? "¡° I''ve thought about it all, comrade marshal. " As for Zhukov''s worry, I said with complete assurance: "we can''t surprise the German troops by launching attacks from other directions. But after our reconnaissance, the German army only set up a few firepower points on some commanding heights at the edge of the swamp. If our troops can cross the swamp by surprise and give the enemy an unexpected attack, they will certainly achieve great results. "¡° What would you do if the German forces strengthened their defense at the edge of the swamp when the troops were assembled? " Zhukov, like an interviewer, kept asking me new questions: "the troops trapped in the swamp may become the targets of the German army."¡° Comrade marshal, please listen to my explanation. " I know that in the real history, Zhukov has not considered the possibility of launching an attack on the German army in the swamp and lake areas, so I must remind him first: "you just said that because it is a swamp area, we can not use large-scale tank troops. And the Germans must be closely monitoring our tank forces. As long as they find that these forces are not in Belarus, then our attacks will also be taken as auxiliary attacks by them. " After listening to what I said, Zhukov was silent for a long time, and finally said, "Rita, you have a good point. I want to discuss with vasilevsky. If necessary, I''ll ask him to call you in person and discuss the direction of attack carefully

 Chapter 1449

    From the afternoon to the evening, no matter whether we wait for vasilevsky''s call or even Zhukov''s call. Chisgakov, who was waiting for the call with me, sighed and said disappointedly, "Comrade commander, it seems that our superior is not optimistic about our plan, so they don''t even make a phone call."


    Bezikov also said dejectedly: "I thought Marshal Zhukov had approved your judgment, so it would certainly arouse the necessary attention of the general staff. Who knows, up to now, they don''t believe you at all."


    I couldn''t wait for a call from Moscow. I was already in a state of confusion. At this moment, when I heard the harmony between chisjakov and bezikov, I became more and more upset. I waved to them and said, "OK, deputy commander and chief of staff, it''s getting late. You go back to have a rest first. We''ll talk about something tomorrow."


    After they left, I went back to my room. After a simple wash, I lay down in bed. I wanted to have a good sleep, but I didn''t feel sleepy because I had something on my mind. Lying on my bed, I tried to recall the dialogue between myself and Zhukov. I found that all the contents were the strategies and tactics adopted by the Soviet army in the implementation of the Belarus campaign in real history. There should be no mistakes. But why did the people in the general staff ignore them?


    After a sleepless night, I got up early and went to the headquarters. As soon as I came out of the basement, I saw a staff officer come quickly over me. Seeing him in a hurry, I guessed that there might be something important to report to me, so I stopped and waited for him.


    "Comrade commander," the staff officer quickly came to me, raised his hand to salute, and reported, "just received a phone call from the airport. They reported that a plane from the headquarters of the front army had landed a few minutes ago."


    "The plane from the front command?" When I heard this, I frowned and asked, "did they say who was on the plane?"


    The staff officer first shook his head, then nodded and replied, "they said there were two generals."


    Seeing that I couldn''t get more information from the staff officer, I waved to him to go back to work. I walked back and forth at the conference table with my hands behind my back, wondering which two generals of the front army had come to inspect us?


    "Comrade commander," I was thinking hard when a voice of chisgakov came from my side. "You''ve been walking around here in the morning. Are you thinking about something important?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, you are just in time." When he came up to me, I told him that two generals had arrived by plane, and finally said, "unfortunately, we don''t know which two generals are here."


    However, after listening to me, chisjakov raised his hand, looked at his watch and said calmly, "don''t worry, comrade commander. It''s only forty minutes from the airport to our headquarters. We''ll know who it is after a while." After that, he met a staff officer and said, "go up to the clock tower. When you see a car coming, come down and let us know."


    After the staff left, he specially explained to me: "no matter who is coming, after all, it''s from the headquarters of the front army. We should go out to meet them. But it''s cold now, and it''s not appropriate to wait outside too early. That''s why I asked the staff to go up and observe. When the bus comes, it''s not too late for us to go out to meet it. "


    What I am most concerned about at the moment is what kind of mission these two generals are carrying, and whether they are ordered to reprimand me, saying that what I said yesterday is nonsense? If I am really reprimanded by the superior for this, it may affect my future.


    Seeing my sad face, chisjakov immediately asked with concern, "Comrade commander, are you worried that the two generals from the headquarters of the front army were sent by the higher authorities to reprimand you?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." In front of my partner, I didn''t hide my true thoughts. After nodding, I answered truthfully, "what I''m worried about is this matter."


    "I don''t think so." Chisjakov said in an uncertain tone: "if the superior wants to reprimand you, he can call you or send you a telegram. There is no need to send two people specially. Unless... "When he said this, he suddenly stopped, then shook his head desperately and said," no, it shouldn''t be like this. "


    I was startled by his appearance, which made me a little flustered and asked, "unless something, my deputy commander, can you finish your words all at once, or you will scare me out of heart disease sooner or later."


    "If it had been before, I would have thought that the superior might have sent you to take over." Chisjakov said thoughtfully: "but under the current situation, it is obviously very unclear to remove you from your post, so I can''t judge what their real intention is?"


    After a while, bzikov had come. After listening to the conjecture of chisjakov and me, he shook his head and said, "Comrade commander, I think you are a fan of the game. How can you just think about the bad side? I think they may have been ordered to discuss the details with you. "


    Sometimes people like to trouble themselves. As soon as chisjakov and I got to the top of our horns, we thought that the people from the headquarters of the front army must have come to teach me a lesson. They didn''t think about other aspects at all. After listening to what bezikov said, I immediately had a feeling of being shocked. I nodded my head and said, "yes, the chief of staff is right. How can we always think of things in a bad direction. Maybe Marshal Zhukov should study the details after thinking about it all night, so he asked the commander of the front army to send a special person to us. "


    As soon as I finished, the telephone on the desk rang suddenly. Bzikov grabbed the microphone and listened to it for a moment. Then he handed it to me and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, it''s general rokosovsky."


    I nervously took the microphone, stuck it to my ear and said, "Hello, senior general, do you have any instructions?"


    "Comrade marinin, are you there?" Rokosovsky didn''t say any nonsense, but asked directly.


    "Chief of staff malinin?" Rokosovsky''s words made me confused. Just as I wanted to ask what was going on, I suddenly thought of the two generals who were coming to us. I asked in surprise: "Comrade General, did you say that it was general malining who came to me by plane?"


    "Not him, who else?" "I think he should be at your headquarters, so I''m calling to ask," rokosovsky said in a slightly discontented tone


    "Comrade General, chief of staff malining has not arrived yet." When I heard that malining was one of the people who came here, I felt at ease. Even if the superior sent me to reprimand me, at least a high-level commander could say a few good words for me. I quickly and respectfully reported to rokosovsky: "but he and another commander are already on the way."


    "Why, don''t you know who the other person is?" When rokosovsky heard me say this, he was stunned and then asked, "I thought you knew that already?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." I heard a trace of dissatisfaction from his tone, so I explained: "the airport only reported two generals, but they didn''t make it clear who they were."


    Rokosovsky heard me say this, immediately laughed: "since you don''t know who the other person is, I won''t tell you for the time being, so we can give you a surprise when we meet."


    After I put down the phone, I said to chisgakov and bzikov standing beside me, "the senior general said that we are here general malining, chief of staff, and another mysterious figure who can surprise us."


    "Mysterious people?" Don''t zikov quick mouth, preemptive said: "can it be Marshal Zhukov?"


    "Nonsense, how can it be." As soon as his words came to an end, chisgakov taught him, "Zhukov is a marshal, but only two generals have come to us."


    "Comrades commander, comrades commander," the staff officer, who had just been sent to the bell tower by chisgakov, trotted down the stairs and reported to us, "there are three jeeps in the distance. They may be the people you are waiting for."


    I waited for the staff to finish, then I rushed to chisgakov. They waved their heads and said, "come on, let''s go out to meet them."


    The three of us stood on the platform in front of the church for a few minutes and saw two jeeps coming. The car in front of us drove straight past the door, drove forward for more than ten meters and then stopped. The second car stopped at the church steps. I knew that malining and the mysterious general must be sitting in the car, so I took chisgakov to meet them.


    Before I got to the door, the back door facing me opened and a chubby general came out. At a glance, I recognized that it was really malining, the chief of staff I was familiar with, so I quickly extended my hand to him and said in a friendly way: "Hello, chief of staff, welcome to visit us."


    Malining shook hands with a smile on his face, then shook his head at the open door behind him and said, "Rita, I''ll introduce you to my companion."


    Out of the car came a general in a military coat and a cylindrical cap. Looking at the commander in front of me, who was about the same size as malining and had a round face, and was carrying the same rank as me, I hesitated. I didn''t know whether I should salute him first or wait for him to salute me first.


    When I was embarrassed, I heard malining introduce to me: "Rita, you don''t know him. This is lieutenant general Ivanov, the deputy chief of the general staff of the Red Army. He came here to see you on the order of Marshal vassilevsky."


    After learning the other party''s true identity, I immediately saluted him without hesitation. Although I have the same rank as him, others are the deputy chief of the general staff, whose position is much higher than mine. How can he salute me first? So after my salutation, I said with the respectful attitude of the lower level to the higher level: "Comrade deputy chief of the general staff, welcome to my headquarters."


    Ivanov is also a very easy-going person. After he raised his hand to return the salute, he shook hands with me, chisjakov and bezikov one by one. After he finished shaking hands with bezikov, I politely said to him, "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, please come in!"


    After we returned to the conference table in the corner of the hall and sat down, Ivanov looked left and right, and then asked me, "general oshanina, I don''t know where your military commissar is?" Before I could answer, malining, who was sitting on the other side of Ivanov, approached him and said in a low voice, "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, I''ll explain this to you. As a result of the orders received by the sixth group army of the close guard, no matter it is to build a defense in the moziri kalinkovich area, it is also necessary to make the life of the city residents return to normal as soon as possible. Comrade kirilov is in full charge of this matter, so he is staying in the city now. If there is any problem, he can deal with it in time. " After listening to malining''s explanation, Ivanov nodded, turned to look at me and asked casually, "Comrade oshanina, how is the current urban reconstruction going?"¡° The overall progress is good. " Although I went to the city a few times, I still know the construction of the city very well, because kirilov reports to me almost once a day, so when I heard Ivanov''s question, I easily replied: "the work of cleaning up the ruins of the city is going smoothly. Residents have returned to their original homes, or live in temporary simple houses, without sleeping on the streets. Half of the factories in the two cities were started. In order to facilitate the travel of the residents, we resumed several bus lines... "After listening to my report, Ivanov laughed at malining and said," Comrade malining, it seems that our general oshanina is really not simple. It''s only more than a month, We will keep the two newly liberated cities in good order. " Hearing Ivanov praising me, malining, who had a good relationship with me, naturally agreed with me. The atmosphere in the room was very harmonious. After all the extraneous remarks, Ivanov went back to business. He looked at me and asked seriously, "Comrade oshanina, I want to ask you, can we really only attack the German army from the swamp and lake areas to achieve unexpected results?"¡° Yes, comrade deputy chief of general staff. " Seeing Ivanov''s serious question to me, I solemnly said: "according to our reconnaissance, the German army deployed only a few troops at some commanding heights at the end of the swamp. As long as we make a surprise attack on them through the swamp area, we can easily break through their defense and quickly retreat to Minsk. "

 Chapter 1450

    (thanks to zylovestt children''s shoes)


    Ivanov listened patiently to my views and then asked, "Comrade oshanina, in the areas you mentioned, the terrain is very complex. There are a lot of rivers and beaches, and there are a lot of swamps. It''s very difficult for our troops to move. I want to find out why you insist on choosing the direction of attack here. We must know that we can certainly achieve great results by advancing along the road to the cities occupied by the enemy


    "Comrade deputy chief of general staff," I answered with a smile when I heard Ivanov''s question, "it seems to be the most ideal way to break through the German defense line along the road, but the German army is not a fool. They have strong and deep echelon fortifications at the main commanding heights near the Road, and at the same time, they have echelons of heavy and heavy firepower, Our attack from the front is bound to cause huge casualties. "


    "Yes, Rita is very thoughtful." As soon as I finished, marinin echoed: "from the area where there was no river or swamp to attack the German defense positions, which was completely expected by them. Their officers and soldiers would hide in the solid fortifications and take the commanders and fighters involved in the attack as targets."


    "What about the technical equipment?" As soon as malining finished speaking, Ivanov continued to ask me, "our soldiers can pass, but how can tanks and cannons pass through the swamp?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy chief of the general staff." As for how to let the tank pass through the swamp, I have found the answer from the film for a long time, and I answered with a clear mind: "as long as the soldiers can go to the place, then our tank can also go, which will make the German unexpected."


    Seeing that I was so confident, he then asked, "Comrade oshanina, I have an important question to ask you. How can we prevent the Germans from discovering the action of our assembled troops?" He was deeply afraid that I could not understand him, and added, "you know, it is absolutely not one or two divisions, but one or two army groups. It is almost impossible for such a large-scale assembly not to be discovered by the German army."


    "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, we can create a false impression and create an illusion for the German army." As for his question, I hesitated for a moment, and then answered with full assurance: "at the beginning of the offensive, we didn''t need a large number of tanks to cooperate with the operation, so that the tank group army still stayed in the original station, and the German Army thought that the focus of our attack was not Belarus. In this way, even if the defense line is attacked by our army, they will think that our attack is just to cooperate with the containment attack on the Ukrainian battlefield. "


    Ivanov wrote down what I said one by one in his notebook, then raised his head and continued to ask me, "Comrade oshanina, if you are chief of the general staff, how do you plan to direct the campaign launched in Belarus?"


    Before crossing, I had seen the schematic diagram of the Soviet Army''s attack in the battle of Belarus. In addition, I read the map every day when I had nothing to do. I was already familiar with it. Hearing Ivanov''s question, I bowed my head and pointed to the map in front of me and explained to him, "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, please see, if we want to destroy the enemy of Belarus, we need to use at least four front forces. The southernmost is the Belarusian front, followed by the second and third front to the north, and the Baltic front of general bagramian. The four front armies advanced westward in the same way. After completing the task of seizing Kiev, they continued westward to drive the enemy out of our border line.... "


    Ivanov listened to me and asked the four front armies to act at the same time and advance from east to West in a way of going hand in hand. He couldn''t help looking up. He laughed at malining and said, "it seems that Comrade oshanina is quite confident that we will win in Belarus." After that, he turned to look at me and said solemnly, "Comrade oshanina, I don''t know if you have ever thought about how to overcome the possible chaos by putting so many troops into battle at the same time. You know, in the battle to defend Smolensk a few years ago, we put in too many troops. As soon as the battle started, all the troops were in a mess. Not only did we not defeat the enemy, but also the troops fell into the encirclement of the German army. "


    "The battle of Smolensk?" When I heard Ivanov mention this battle, I could not help frowning slightly, because I was not interested in the series of Soviet failures at the beginning of the war, so I did not know what he was talking about. I remember that rokosovsky also took part in the defense of Smolensk. At that time, malining was his chief of staff. Presumably he knew something inside, so he turned to him for help.


    Seeing that I looked at him blankly, marinin guessed that I didn''t know much about the Smolensk defense, so he took the initiative to come out and help me out and said, "Rita, you joined the Moscow defense at a later stage, so you don''t know so much about the battle in Smolensk. I''ll give you a brief introduction.


    At that time, in order to deal with the German pincer attack, the commander of the front army, marshal timoshinger, put four army groups into battle. Rokosovsky''s 16th group army pushed the German''s pincers upward, while general Lukin''s 20th group army pushed the pincers downward. The other two groups received orders to attack the two German pincers at the same time. However, after the battle started, our offensive forces fell into chaos, failed to cooperate effectively, and had to fight on their own until they were defeated by the superior forces of the German army.... "


    After marinin finished what happened in Smolensk, I frowned and thought for a long time, then slowly told Ivanov their judgment: "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, according to my judgment, the chaos in the defense of Smolensk should be like this: because at the beginning of the war, Many of our senior commanders had no experience in commanding large regiments, and their ability at that time was not enough to control such an offensive; However, the ability of our military staff is limited, which is not enough to organize an offensive of this scale; In addition, the logistics support capability of our army at that time was not enough to support such an offensive. In this way, it was supposed to be a coordinated fortification, but it was destined to be a melee in which there was no coordination and cooperation After my words, Ivanov looked at me in surprise and said, "Comrade oshanina, have you ever heard anyone comment on the reasons for the failure of this campaign, and can you point out the problem to the point?" Naturally, I would not tell the other party that I saw these contents from later military forums. Instead, I brazenly said, "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, no one has told me anything. Not long ago, I didn''t even know that our army had put in four army groups at one time in the battle of defending Smolensk. These are all my own judgments based on the deduction of the map. "¡° It''s amazing. It''s amazing. " Ivanov turned to malining and said excitedly: "I used to listen to Zhukov and vasilevsky about how powerful Comrade oshanina was. I still don''t believe them. I think they are exaggerating. When I saw them today, I knew that what they said was true! " After that, he stood up, took the initiative to extend his hand to me, and said in a friendly manner, "don''t worry, comrade oshanina. I will report what you just said to the Supreme Commander himself and the chief of general staff."¡° Thank you I know what Ivanov''s words stand for, so I stood up and expressed my sincere thanks to him: "thank you for your kindness!"¡° You''re welcome, comrade oshanina. " He waved to me, sat down again and said, "if you are not really capable, I just can''t help you. I think you know what happened yesterday. " He said here, pause for a moment, wait for me to nod to confirm, then continue to say, "but don''t lose heart, I believe for you, there is still a chance." After he finished speaking, malining next to him interrupted and asked, "Rita, I also want to ask you, how are you going to get our tanks through the swamp?"¡° This is very simple, comrade chief of staff. " If malining didn''t remind me, I almost forgot to tell Ivanov how to let the tanks in the war pass through the swamp¡° When we were preparing for the artillery fire, we asked the engineers to pave a few passages in the swamp with trees, so that our tanks could pass smoothly. "¡° Can we really use wood to pave the road in the swamp during the time of artillery preparation? " Ivanov was skeptical of what I said¡° Maybe enough, maybe not enough. " Although I saw in the movie that the Soviet Army paved the road to the other side of the marsh before the end of the artillery attack, I was not sure whether this situation had been artistically processed, so I could only say politely: "after the artillery attack, when our engineers paved the road, the infantry would rush through the marsh first. Even if the road to the other side is not paved after the shelling, infantry without tank cover can attack the enemy first. After all, the German army did not have any solid defense lines in these areas, but established small-scale defensive positions on a few dry highlands. " After seeing off Ivanov and malining, chisjakov suddenly said to me excitedly, "Comrade commander, listen to the deputy chief of general staff, you will still have a chance to be commander of the front army in the future." I was deeply afraid that I would be happy again in the future, so I quickly raised my hand to stop what he said. At the same time, I said, "Comrade deputy commander, whether I will have the opportunity to be commander of the front army in the future, the superior will make overall arrangements. We should not discuss it in private." Then I called bezikov in front of me and said, "chief of staff, immediately give orders to the commanders of the 22nd and 23rd armies of the guards, let them organize soldiers to cut down trees, and store all the logs in their respective defense areas."

 Chapter 1451

    From the day after Ivanov left, I stayed in the headquarters of the 22nd army of the guards, urging sivakov to command the troops to cut down trees.


    Since I didn''t tell sivakov the real purpose of cutting down trees, he complained to me after cutting down trees for a week: "Comrade commander, the trees cut down by our three divisions are enough for all the residents of moziri to burn for a winter."


    Considering that we haven''t received any new orders from our superiors, the troops will definitely stay here. If these tens of thousands of people are left idle all day, no one can guarantee that they will not disturb the people. I am deeply impressed by the bad deeds of the Soviet army after the occupation of Germany. After hearing sivakov''s complaint, I told him to call the commander of the garrison, general beloborodov, and ask him to send someone outside the city to pull timber.


    After calling beloborodov, sivakov said to me with a sad face: "Comrade commander, you see, my troops have become loggers. I don''t know when the superior will give us the attack task."


    "Comrade sivakov, don''t worry." Looking at his sad face, I comforted him and said, "we are about to enter the stage of thawing in spring. During this period, due to muddy roads and difficult logistics transportation, it is impossible for us to attack the enemy. I don''t think we will launch an attack on the enemy until May or June at the latest. "


    "What, until May or June." When I said that it would take so long, sivakov''s face showed a look of despair: "the soldiers are a little upset when they hear that the troops of the first front army of Ukraine have won another battle."


    I know that sivakov''s victory is the cooperation of the first and second front forces of Ukraine to encircle the two German armies in the Korsun shevchenkovsky region. However, because of vatukin''s carelessness, he let the German Army stand out from his defense line. Thanks to konev''s decisive action, he encircled the German army again.


    Konev''s action was appreciated by Stalin. In order to reward konev, he not only put the 27th army, which originally belonged to the first front army, under his command, but also made him responsible for the encirclement and annihilation of the encircled German troops.


    More than 40000 of the 60000 besieged German officers and men succeeded in highlighting the encirclement. However, the SS "Viking division" in the encirclement suffered heavy losses, with more than 40% of the division''s casualties. Even the commander of the 11th army, general Steinmann, who was responsible for the termination of the siege, was killed in the battle.


    Although the scale of this campaign could not be compared with those battles with millions of people, it occupied an important position in the whole Patriotic War. The final offensive force of the German army in Ukraine was exhausted, which created favorable conditions for the Soviet army to successfully march into Poland, Romania and the Balkans in the middle of 1944.


    "I think you''re the one who can''t hold your breath." I saw through his little trick at a glance and said to him with a smile, "Comrade sivakov, don''t worry. When the battle in Ukraine is almost finished, it''s our turn."


    "Really?" Sivakov is a typical soldier born for war. As soon as he heard that there was a battle, his eyes lit up with excitement: "when Ukraine is almost ready to fight, is it really our turn to play?"


    "That''s right, that''s right," I nodded hard and said repeatedly, "in two or three months, it''s time for us to teach the Germans a lesson. But until then, the work of cutting down trees must continue. "


    "And cut down trees?" Hearing what I said, sivakov was almost tearful. He looked at his face and asked blankly, "Comrade commander, can you tell me why we two guards cut down trees every day?"


    "It''s not the right time to tell you." My conversation with Ivanov that day was only clear to chisyakov and bezikov, even to kirilov. Naturally, I would not explain the truth to a commander of my opponent, but could only say vaguely, "then you will understand the purpose of what I asked you to do."


    As soon as I finished, sivakov got a call from the headquarters. After listening for a moment, he handed me the microphone and said solemnly, "Comrade commander, your phone is from the chief of staff."


    When bzikov heard my voice, he immediately said, "Comrade commander, can you come back to the headquarters immediately?"


    From what I know about bezikov, if he spoke to me in this tone, something must have happened. Thinking of this, I frowned and asked, "chief of staff, what''s the matter?"


    "It''s hard to say on the phone," bzikov said nothing, but urged me: "you''d better come back soon."


    I told sivakov about the big event and drove back to the headquarters in a hurry. But when I got out of the car, I saw two t-5455 tanks, two armored cars and more than a dozen covered trucks that I hadn''t seen for a long time outside the church.


    Full of questions, I quickly walked into the church, and bzikov, who rushed up, asked, "chief of staff, what''s the matter with the tanks and armored vehicles outside?"


    "Comrade commander, something''s wrong." Bezikov brought it up to me again.


    "What''s the matter?" I asked as I walked towards the conference table. At the same time, I still think that our defense area has not been attacked by the German army these two days. What else can happen? Chisgakov, who was standing at the table, approached me and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, there''s something wrong with general vatukin!" What happened to vatukin? Although I knew that something would happen to him, I felt a little sad when I heard what chisgakov said. I grabbed chisjakov''s arm and asked nervously, "Comrade deputy commander, what happened to general vatukin?"¡° On the way to the subordinate group army, he was ambushed by the enemy''s scattered soldiers, but unfortunately he was shot and injured. " After introducing what happened to vatukin, chisgakov added: "Marshal Zhukov, who had been inspecting the front army, suggested that he send his deputy to do the work, but he insisted on going by himself. As a result, he was ambushed by the enemy in a small village." I have read about watujing''s injury in history books for a long time. It''s not surprising to know that. But it''s a bit of a surprise to me that chisgakov, who is introducing the situation to me, knows so much about it. I asked curiously, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t know where you got this information. Is the source reliable?" Chisgakov nodded hard and then replied, "chief of staff malining called to tell us about the injury of general vatukin. In addition, he asked me to tell you that after handing over the command of the troops to me, we will finish Zhitomir immediately, and Marshal Zhukov wants to see you. "¡° Marshal Zhukov wants to see me? " I was very surprised to hear that Zhukov wanted to see me. You know, I''m not a member of the first front army of Ukraine now. What''s the meaning of running from Belarus to Zhitomir? In order to understand Zhukov''s intention, I asked chisjakov, "did you say anything?"¡° No Chisgakov shook his head and replied, "it''s just that you''re going to gotomir at once. Nothing else." Chisgakov''s words reminded me of the tanks, armored vehicles and trucks parked outside the church. It was probably related to my going south this time. So I continued to ask, "are the tanks, armored vehicles and trucks parked outside the church going to escort me to Zhitomir?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " Chisgakov nodded and agreed with my guess: "for your safety, I have transferred two tanks and two armored vehicles from the 2nd tank regiment of the close guard, and a company from the 10th shock engineer brigade to escort you to Zhitomir, so that we can rest assured." I am very satisfied with the arrangement made by chisgakov. With the new type of t-5455 tank, I don''t have to worry even if I encounter the German Tiger tank. The combat effectiveness of the commando engineer brigade is no less than that of our guard regiment and other elite units of the group army. With their protection, I''m sure we can go to dzetomir safely. It''s evening now. It seems that we can only go all night to get to daytonmill before dawn tomorrow. I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and said to bzikov, "chief of staff, please call major bukov. I''m going to let him accompany me to tomir."

 Chapter 1452

    Although it is hundreds of kilometers from my headquarters to Zhitomir, the road is not very safe, and it may encounter with the enemy''s scattered soldiers, so it is not unreasonable to strengthen the security measures. In my opinion, it''s more than enough to have two armored cars and a dozen trucks full of soldiers. It''s really exaggerating to send two more tanks along.


    But when I ordered the tanks to be left and only the armored vehicles and trucks to go on the road, they met with unanimous opposition from chisjakov and bezikov. They stressed that this was an order issued by rokosovsky himself and that I should do everything possible to protect my safety. Seeing that both of them have carried out rokosovsky, I can''t argue with them any more. I can only agree to let tanks escort me.


    When we were on the March, there were two tanks, one in front of us, the other in the rear of the convoy, with a long line of trucks in the middle, and the armored car I was riding was in the middle of the whole convoy.


    Sitting in a muggy armored car, I feel like crying when I think that I have to bump hundreds of kilometers to reach my destination. From my heart, it''s the most convenient way to travel such a long way, and you can reach your destination in an hour at most. Secondly, you can get to your destination in seven or eight hours by jeep; But now there are two tanks in the team, and our marching speed is greatly slowed down. Although the design speed of the tank is 50 km / h, according to my feeling, the speed is only 30 km / h at most.


    "Comrade commander, what''s the matter?" Major bukov, who was sitting next to me, approached my ear and asked, "the superior sent tanks to escort you. Must be something extraordinary?"


    "Yes, comrade major, something really happened," I replied carelessly. "Marshal Zhukov called me to go to Zhitomir. The person who conveyed the order didn''t say what it was."


    Bukov looked around for a while, then approached my ear again and asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, can you tell me what happened?"


    The reason why I was in a hurry to go to Zhitomir was only known to chisgakov and bezikov, and not even kirilov, except me. Although bukov''s rank is relatively low, as my entourage, he is responsible for protecting my safety. I don''t intend to hide this from him: "general vatukin was ambushed by the enemy and seriously injured when he went out today. Then Marshal Zhukov sent an order through general rokosovsky to send me to hitomir overnight. "


    "Ah, general watujing is injured?" When bukov heard the news, his face showed a surprised expression, but he soon became aware of it and said: "I now understand why the superior equipped us with two tanks to prevent accidents on the road. Although our army has won a series of victories in Ukraine, there are always some small defeated German troops hiding in unexpected places. With the protection of tanks, we can reach our destination safely. "


    "Senior general is also too sensitive." For Rokossovski, I make complaints about this kind of protective measures. "Actually, I sent an armored car to me and a guard company would be enough." I didn''t expect that my superiors had equipped me with two tanks, which directly affected the marching speed of the whole army. "


    I thought that bukov would agree with me, even give me some advice, secretly suggested that I leave the tanks and the motorcade, take the armored car directly, and rush to gotomir as soon as possible. Unexpectedly, after hearing this, he said to me solemnly: "Comrade commander, I think the superior should take such security measures. After all, only today did a senior commander encounter the enemy on the road."


    "Comrade major, you don''t know something. When general watujing went out to inspect today, he only brought three jeeps." I don''t know the real situation of watujing''s encounter with Fu, so I can only introduce it to bukov according to the plot I saw in the movie: "the first jeep was crushed by a mine and was blown up, and all the soldiers on the jeep were killed. While sitting in the second car, watujing saw the car in front of him hit the mine and jumped out of the car to command the soldiers and the enemy to continue fighting. It was during the battle that he was unfortunately hit by the enemy''s bullets. " At this point, I can''t help but smile bitterly, "if he brings as many entourage as I do, even if there are no tanks and armored vehicles, he can destroy all the enemy."


    "We should pay attention to the necessary safety." Bukov''s responsibility is to protect me. After listening to me finish the attack on vatukin, he said solemnly: "although we won the battle some time ago and wiped out a large number of German forces, the remnants of the German army may have set up temporary positions on both sides of the road to ambush our convoys. And even if there is no organized German army, there may be some soldiers who leave the army and will shoot at the target they see. All in all, I think the road from moziri to Zhitomir is dangerous. "


    I know that bukov is a man of principle. Since he takes it for granted that his superiors send tank escorts, if I propose to get rid of tanks and armored vehicles and go to Zhitomir by armored vehicles alone, I will definitely be strongly opposed by him. When I saw that I didn''t speak, I stopped talking. I raised my body back and began to close my eyes.


    At first, I just wanted to take a nap, but I fell asleep unconsciously in the left and right shaking of the armored car. I don''t know how long I slept, but the armored car suddenly stopped. I opened my eyes in a daze and asked feebly, "major, have we arrived yet?"


    "Not yet, comrade commander." Bukov stood up, pushed the door open and asked out loud, "what''s the matter? Why did you stop?"


    Soon, I heard a step from far to near outside. After the sound of footsteps disappeared, someone reported to bukov: "Comrade major, we caught a man in front of us. When she saw our motorcade appear, she not only didn''t dodge, but also stood in the middle of the road to block the car. Our tank soldiers went down and caught her."


    From his address, I recognized that the man who was caught by the tank soldiers was a woman. I immediately told bukov, "major, let them bring the woman who stopped the car here."


    After a few minutes, sitting in the car, I saw two soldiers coming with a tightly wrapped woman in a headscarf. They took the woman to bukov, who was standing under the car. They raised their hands and said, "major, we''ve brought the man."


    Bukov nodded to the two men, then asked the woman with the tight package, "Comrade woman, who are you, where are you from, and why are you blocking our motorcade?"


    Hearing bukov''s series of questions, the woman pulled open her scarf and said to bukov, "are you such a top commander?" When she opened the scarf, I saw her side face clearly. It was a beautiful young girl.


    "Is there any connection between your identity and whether I am the Supreme Commander?" Bukov was confused by the girl''s question. He looked at me in the car and said, "please answer my question first."


    "I will not identify myself until I see your top commander." It''s said that bukov is not the top commander. The girl said stubbornly, "it''s related to the life and death of more than twenty people."


    "Girl, if you have anything, just let me know." Seeing that the situation outside was a little bad, I said, "I''m the top commander here."


    When the girl was talking to bukov, she might not have thought that I was still sitting in the armored car with the door open. I suddenly opened my mouth, which made her shiver. When she turned to see me, her face showed a puzzled expression. After looking me up and down, she asked in a suspicious tone: "Comrade commander, are you really their top commander?"


    "Yes, my name is o''shanina, and I''m the top commander of this army." Instead of getting up, I continued to sit in my seat, smiling and talking to the girl, "now you can show who you are."


    "O''shanina?" After repeating my name, the girl suddenly covered her mouth in surprise and stared at me. After a while, she put down her hand covering her mouth and asked tentatively, "are you general oshanina, commander of the sixth group army of the guards?"


    If I surprised the girl just now, it''s the girl who surprised all of us now. I asked myself that my reputation was not as big as that of any pedestrian on the road. At this moment, I doubted the identity of the girl in front of me. I wondered if the German sent me to assassinate me?


    Just as I was about to put my hand on the holster and take precautions, bukov, who was standing beside the girl, had already started. He cut the girl''s left hand behind her, then put a pistol on the girl''s head and asked fiercely, "who are you and why do you know our commander?"


    The girl didn''t expect that her casual words would make the people behind him have such a big reaction. He hurriedly struggled and nervously said: "I''m my own person, I''m my own person. I know general o''shanina. There''s a reason


    I saw the girl crying when she spoke, and there were tears in her eyes. Judging from her reaction, I didn''t think she was a German agent, so I waved to bukov and said, "major, let her go and let her get on the bus."


    "Comrade commander," bukov said nervously, after releasing the girl''s hand, the pistol in his hand still pointed to the other side, and reminded me: "you can''t let her get on the bus until you know her identity. It''s too dangerous."


    I knew that bukov was responsible. He would not let her get on the bus until he knew the girl''s identity. So I asked the girl with a smile, "can you tell me your name? What I do and why I know who I am. "


    "Comrade General," the girl stood up straight and said to me with red eyes, "my name is Sasha. I''m from a nearby village. I''m a member of an underground resistance organization. I know your identity because I have heard your name in the war report of the Soviet intelligence agency before. You once commanded the troops and successfully liberated Kiev from the enemy at the beginning of the year... "


    "Hell," bukov heard here, and could not help interrupting the words behind Sasha, "as far as I know, after the German army occupied the village, they would cut off the power supply of all the villagers'' houses, in case they listened to the war report of the Soviet intelligence agency through the radio. I want to ask you, how do you listen to the program when there is no electricity? "


    "Yes, comrade commander, the electricity in the village is strictly controlled by the Germans and can only be used by them. Even if we are lighting, we can only light candles or oil lamps." Sasha turned to look at bukov, who was attacking her, and said humbly, "but next to my uncle''s house, there is a wire passing through. Every day when it gets dark, he uses a hook tied to a bamboo pole to put the wire on the German wire, so that our radio will have power." Sasha''s narration has a sense of scene. I seem to see an old man with a full face and a beard. Every day when it gets dark, he comes out of the house with a long bamboo pole and carefully puts the hook connecting the wire on the German special wire. Sasha''s explanation made bukov dispel his doubts about her. He even reached out to help her get on the bus. At the same time, he said to Sasha in a kind and polite tone: "girl, you must be frozen out after you''ve been out for so long, aren''t you? Get in the car, get warm and start with us. " After the girl got on the bus, bukov took out a stainless steel wine pot, pulled out the lid and handed it to the girl: "come on, dear Sasha, have a drink, it will make you warm." Sasha looked up at the man who was courting her and took the bottle from his hand. Instead of drinking it immediately, she turned her inquiring eyes on me¡° Drink, Sasha Although I basically don''t drink, I don''t object to others drinking some wine to keep out the cold under the condition of not too much. At the moment, seeing Sasha''s embarrassed appearance, I quickly said in a soft tone: "you must be frozen. Drink two to keep out the cold, so that your body will feel warm." When I said that, Sasha looked up at bukov, said "thank you" with a sweet smile, and then took a big sip of the bottle close to her lips. Seeing that Sasha was going to give the bottle back to him, bukov said politely, "more!" Sasha shook her head hard and resolutely handed back the bottle to bukov. At the same time, she said, "no, I''m drunk again. Thank you!" After bukov put away the bottle, I looked at Sasha and asked, "OK, Sasha, now you can tell us, why do you want to stop our motorcade?"

 Chapter 1453

    Sasha was silent for a moment, and then said to me, "general oshanina, after the German occupation of Ukraine, the young people in our village and several nearby villages, because they were not willing to submit to the German comrades, quietly set up an underground resistance organization. Since we had no weapons, we had to stick leaflets in villages and towns and destroy German telephone lines. By the way, last October, we also took advantage of the night to raise our national flag on the building near the German headquarters


    "That''s good. That''s good." I don''t know if bukov was fascinated by the young girl in front of him, or for some other reason. Before the other party finished speaking, he began to echo: "to raise the national flag near the enemy''s headquarters is to tell the enemy that we have not given in and are still fighting bravely to defend our motherland."


    In addition to the three of us, there are three crew members in the armored vehicle: the commander, the driver and the shooter. They saw clearly that a young girl was in the car with us. They were silent and became active immediately. The conductor told the driver, "Hey, brother, give this girl a box of" second battlefield. "


    "The second battlefield?" After repeating the strange name, bukov asked the conductor curiously, "what are you talking about, Sergeant?"


    Although I knew the origin of the name of "the second battlefield", I laughed but did not speak. I just looked up at the conductor to see how he planned to explain to bukov.


    The conductor coughed softly, then looked at Sasha and said, "it''s the canned stewed meat that the Americans gave us. We all call it" the second battlefield. "


    After hearing this, bukov couldn''t help smiling. He rushed to the conductor and said, "chief, don''t dally. Get your canned stewed meat quickly. Our young girl must be hungry."


    When the shooter delivered the unsealed can of stewed meat, bukov also handed the bottle to Sasha again, but it was rejected. The conductor also took out a piece of black bread, cut it into thick pieces, handed it to Sasha, and said with concern, "girl, I think you must be hungry. Eat more."


    Sasha took the canned bread and stewed meat and ate it with relish. It seemed that she was really hungry. In a short time, she ate half a can of stewed meat and seven or eight pieces of bread. I saw that she had almost eaten. Then she asked, "Sasha, it seems that you haven''t finished what you just said. You said that you have something important to find me, because it is related to the lives of more than a dozen people."


    "Yes, general oshanina." After swallowing the bread in her mouth, Sasha looked up at me and said, "a few days ago, one of our members was caught by the German when he was posting a flyer. He couldn''t stand the torture, so he confessed to our organization, and then the Germans started to arrest people door to door. I happened to go to a relative''s house, and the German people didn''t catch me. "


    From what she said, I vaguely felt that she might have something to do with the arrest of these companions when she came to the road to stop the car. Then I asked, "how did you think of coming to us?"


    "I heard on the radio that the Germans had lost the battle and were about to start a massive retreat." Sasha looked at me and said excitedly: "I thought our troops would come soon, but after waiting for several days, most of the Germans in the village withdrew, but you haven''t come yet. I heard from a villager today that the Germans will shoot all the arrested partners early tomorrow morning, so I went out all night to find our own troops. I''m glad I met you, otherwise I don''t know what to do


    "Where is the village?" I''ve heard that most of the Germans have withdrawn. I believe there won''t be too many left. Maybe I just need to send a platoon to solve this enemy. But before giving an order, I need to find out the enemy''s strength and position¡° How many Germans are left


    "The village is just west of the road, about five miles from here." Sasha told me carefully: "there are still six Germans left in the village. They keep all the people they have caught in the barn of the village."


    "Is there a German sentry at the entrance of the village?" Bukov interrupted.


    Sasha shook her head and said, "no, in order to prevent our people from escaping, they all stay in the barn to guard."


    After listening to Sasha''s introduction, bukov turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, as long as you give me a platoon of troops, I can rescue these arrested comrades."


    "Is there a road to the village?" Thinking that five Russian miles is about six kilometers away, if you walk, it will take at least half an hour, so I specially explained to Sasha: "if you can pass through vehicles, we can rescue your companion from the enemy''s clutches as soon as possible."


    Sasha nodded and replied, "yes, a little further, there''s a fork in the road to our village. It''s cold now. It''s freezing everywhere. It''s OK for trucks to drive by. "


    It is said that there is a road leading to the village, so I feel much more at ease. It can save time and energy to let the soldiers go by car. Thinking of this, I told the commander: "sergeant, please contact other armored vehicles and ask their commander to come to me."


    "OK," the conductor promised. Without seeing the phone in his car, our armored car slowly stopped by the side of the road. As soon as the car stopped, the conductor turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, the conductor will come right away."


    As soon as his voice dropped, I heard someone outside hitting the door with his fist. Hearing this voice, the conductor said with a smile, "Comrade commander, he''s here." With that, he reached up and opened the door.


    As expected, there was a sergeant in tank uniform standing outside the car. Seeing that the door was opened, he looked into the car. After seeing me clearly, he quickly raised his hand to salute and respectfully said, "Comrade commander, please call me here. Do you have any instructions?"


    I didn''t see the conductor use the radio in the car at all, but the conductor outside the car took the initiative to find it. Although I was very curious about this matter, saving people is like fighting a fire. At this time, I didn''t care to ask him how he knew I called him, so I told him frankly, "chief, you and the major are going to perform a special task. The major will tell you the specific situation later on the way."


    I turned to bukov and said, "Comrade major, you take a platoon and an armored car. Sasha will be the guide to go to the village to destroy the Germans and rescue all the arrested young people."


    After they left, I asked the conductor curiously, "sergeant, I don''t understand. You don''t use the radio. Why does the conductor in the car behind know I''m calling him?"


    The conductor gave me a smile, and then explained, "Comrade commander, there are many ways to contact us, one of which is the way to signal by light. I just need to flash the small light behind the armored car twice, and the conductor will know that you have something to tell him."


    "So it is," said the conductor, which surprised me. I always thought that Lao maozi was an old-fashioned and tough man. I didn''t expect that they could come up with such an ingenious way to communicate. It made me look at them with new eyes.


    I waited in the car for almost an hour, and bukov, who was on the mission, finally came back. Regardless of the chilling air he brought in, I couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade major, what''s the situation? Have all our people been rescued?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Bukov said excitedly: "they are all saved. The Germans never dreamed that we would suddenly rush into the village, and all but one was watching over the arrested young people, and the rest were sleeping. Even God didn''t come, we all killed him. "


    When I heard him speak so easily, I knew that he must not have suffered any loss in the operation just now. So I asked casually, "do we have any casualties?"


    "No," bukov said, shaking his head, "I was worried that the armored car would expose the target and let the commander stay one kilometer away from the village. I told him that if he heard the fierce gunfire or explosion in the village, he would come to provide us with fire support. Unexpectedly, in addition to killing the soldier who didn''t sleep, after firing a gun, the rest of the soldiers saw us rush in, and there was no resistance at all, so they raised their hands and surrendered to us. "


    Seeing that Sasha didn''t come back with him, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "where is Sasha?"


    "She stayed in the village." Bukov replied with a smile: "I gave her and her partners all the Germans I caught. She said that she would take good care of these prisoners. As soon as the day dawned, she would let others look for our troops nearby, and then give them to them. "


    As we are going to tomir, it will be inconvenient to take a few prisoners with us, because I have no objection to his disposal. I just told the conductor, "drive, comrade conductor, we''ve been here long enough."


    Our team arrived in Zhitomir around 8 a.m. The garrison outside the city saw a convoy, which was neither small nor large in scale, driving towards them. They thought it was a sneak attack by the German army, and they immediately prepared for the war. But the misunderstanding was soon cleared up, and they lifted the battle alert. A colonel also sent someone to guide our convoy to the headquarters of the front army where Zhukov stayed.


    A second lieutenant on duty at the gate of the headquarters saw me coming down from the armored car and coming towards him. He quickly led me up to salute me and asked politely¡° Comrade general, what can I do for you? "


    "I''m oshanina, commander of the sixth group army of the guards," I said politely to the second lieutenant. "I came at Marshal Zhukov''s order. May I see him now, please? "


    "No problem, no problem," the second lieutenant said with a smile after hearing my identity. "General o''shanina, marshal is in the room next to the conference room on the second floor. I''ll take you there."


    It''s easy for me to find the wrong direction when I arrive at a new strange place. Now that someone wants to be my guide, I can''t help it. So I gave him a smile and said politely, "Lieutenant, please lead the way ahead."


    Under the guidance of the second lieutenant, I came to the second floor. After walking along the long corridor for a while, I saw a desk outside the door. This seems to be a common practice in the army. I can usually guess the rank of the people in the room from the rank of the officer on duty at the door.


    Sitting at the door at the moment was a colonel. He saw me coming towards his position under the guidance of the second lieutenant. He quickly stood up, raised his hand and saluted me. He asked first, "is that general o''shanina?"


    "Yes, it''s me." Hearing the Colonel''s question, I hastened to walk up to him. After stopping, I said, "I came at the order of Marshal Zhukov."¡° General o''shanina, marshal has been waiting for you. " The colonel said to me respectfully, "he was just asking if you have arrived. Please go in." After thanking the second lieutenant for guiding me, I tapped on the door twice. Without waiting for an answer, I pushed the door open and went in. Zhukov''s office is about 20 square meters. There is a huge military map on the wall, which is placed on a long wooden table in the middle of the room. It is full of all kinds of papers, which should be war reports and other documents from various troops. Without waiting for me to speak, Zhukov, who was looking at the map with his back to me, asked¡° Can I help you? "¡° Report to marshal, "I know Zhukov mistook me for the Colonel on duty at the gate. He quickly stepped forward two steps and said aloud," lieutenant general oshanina, commander of the sixth group army of the guards, reports to you that I have been ordered to come from moziri and wait for your orders. Please give me instructions! " Zhukov heard my voice, turned and grinned at me, then asked, "Why are you so late?"¡° Marshal, you know the distance is too far, "I shrugged when I heard his question, and said with some helplessness," because general rokosovsky arranged two tanks to escort me, our marching speed was affected. "¡° So it is. " Zhukov asked me to sit down, while defending for rokosovsky: "I think rokosovsky did it for your safety. You should know that Comrade watujing didn''t bring enough guards when he went out, so an accident happened."¡° Is general vatukin seriously injured? " When Zhukov finished, I asked tentatively¡° The injury is not light. He has been shot in the leg and abdomen. I don''t think he can command the army in a few months Zhukov looked and continued: "according to the order of the supreme command, during the period when he is unable to command the army, I will temporarily take over the position of commander of the front army."

 Chapter 1454

    When I heard Zhukov say this, I couldn''t help but wonder: after vatukin was injured, you, the representative of the headquarters responsible for the coordinated operations of the two front armies, stood up temporarily, walked back and forth in the room, and continued: "the combat task of the first front army of Ukraine is very heavy, They successfully carried out the battle of Korsun shevchenkovsky in January and February, and the second front army of konev encircled and annihilated more than ten German divisions in the battle. At the same time, the 13th and 60th group armies on the right carried out the battle of Rovno Lutsk against the enemy, and successfully occupied the favorable position where our army could carry out the assault from the north to the rear of the German southern group army. "


    I''m not familiar with the Rovno Lutsk campaign, probably because the scale of the campaign is small and the duration of the campaign is short, and the final results can''t be compared with those of the same period. Although I was eager to find out why Zhukov called me, I knew that he didn''t like to be interrupted, so I had to listen to him patiently and quietly about the glorious achievements of the first front army of Ukraine.


    He finally finished, went back to his seat and sat down. He picked up the cup on the table and took a drink, then put it down again. I quickly got up, picked up his cup, went to the side, picked up the teapot and added water to him. When I gently put the teacup in front of him, I respectfully asked, "marshal, I don''t know what''s important for you to call me here?"


    Zhukov looked up at me and said, "as the representative of the headquarters responsible for the coordination of the two front armies, it is unrealistic for me to stay in the first front army headquarters for a long time. However, before vatujing was injured, his deputy general kurotchkin went to the second front army of Belarus as commander. I continued to find a suitable person to assist me in my work. "


    Zhukov''s words surprised me. I thought to myself: how can I help you? It is obviously impossible to be a member of the Military Commission in charge of political work, because Zhukov knows that I am not good at this aspect of work; As for the post of chief of staff of the front army, I think it is even more impossible. General Bogoliubov, the current chief of staff, is very competent for this post.


    When I was making a random guess, Zhukov suddenly asked, "how about, are you interested in coming back, acting as deputy commander? While I''m away, you are in charge of the daily affairs of the front army. "


    If I was surprised when Zhukov just asked me to help me with my work; At the moment, when he said that I would act as deputy commander and take charge of the daily affairs of the whole front army during his departure, I was a little at a loss. The first thing I thought about was not how to exercise my rights when I was acting deputy commander, but how ridiculous it was to ask me to command a front army with hundreds of thousands of people. I must have heard it wrong.


    Zhukov, who was waiting for my reply, saw that I was always absent-minded. He raised his voice and asked in a discontented voice, "Hello, Rita, what are you thinking? Why don''t you answer my question?"


    "Ah, comrade marshal." Startled by his voice, I replied in a flustered way, "I''m thinking about whether I''m qualified for this position."


    "There''s nothing I can''t do." Zhukov frowned and said to me, "you know, some time ago, I was still in the general staff to discuss how to use your meeting. Although for various reasons, you failed to become the commander of the second front army of Belarus, it has nothing to do with your ability."


    "Marshal," I don''t know whether it is the meaning of base camp or his personal decision to let me take the post of deputy commander of the front army, so I have to say cautiously, "I''m afraid that my qualifications can''t convince the public."


    "Give me your reasons." When Zhukov listened to me, he didn''t get angry unexpectedly. Instead, he said to me in a calm tone: "let me hear what''s the reason why you don''t want to be the deputy commander of the front army?"


    "Although my performance in recent years is more eye-catching, but there is a fatal weakness." Since Zhukov asked me to say what I think, I must say what I think and see what his attitude is: "the first front army now has six army groups, one tank army group and one air force army group. All the commanders of the group army have experienced many battles and made numerous outstanding achievements. If we are at the same level, we can still be at peace. But once I am a younger generation, the most junior group commander in the whole front army, to be the deputy commander in charge of the affairs of the front army, I think many people will be unconvinced. "


    After I finished these words, I carefully observed Zhukov''s expression and saw that he seemed to be moved by my words and was frowning and thinking. I hastened to strike while the iron was hot and said: "even if they do not turn their faces on the spot because of obeying the orders of their superiors, they will probably disobey my orders. If they can''t be convinced of me, and you use me rashly, it may lead to the general''s disharmony and leave dangerous hidden danger, which is a big taboo of military experts. "


    What I said made Zhukov deep in thought. When I saw him leaning back in his chair, frowning and staring at the ceiling in a daze, I quickly stood aside, fearing that it would affect his thinking.


    After a while, Zhukov sat up straight again, looked at me and said, "Rita, I understand your scruples. But you don''t have to worry. In order to win the war, we boldly employed many young commanders. Facts have proved that these promoted and reused commanders have achieved remarkable results in commanding troops on the battlefield. " To tell you the truth, I really want to agree to Zhukov''s appointment, but if I act too eagerly, I may leave him an excuse, so I''m ready to shirk: "but, marshal, I''m still different from these commanders. Before the war, they served as brigade commander or even division commander in the army and had rich combat experience. As for me, I joined the army only after the outbreak of the war. If I didn''t get your appreciation, I might still be an ordinary female soldier now. "¡° Come on, Rita, don''t be polite Zhukov raised his hand and interrupted me. He said to himself, "although you were promoted by me, if you don''t have the ability to be a battalion commander, you can''t be the youngest group commander in the army." Seeing that I was silent, he sighed softly and then said, "when I discussed the post of commander of the second front army of Belarus some time ago, I was very optimistic about you. When your nomination was rejected by Stalin, I still feel sorry for you. But on second thought, you have no experience in commanding hundreds of thousands of people. If you are rashly promoted to this position, it will not be good for you. Now I happen to meet the vacancy of the commander and deputy commander of the first front army of Ukraine, so I want you to go back to your familiar troops and serve as the deputy commander for a period of time. After you accumulate some practical experience, it will also be very helpful for your future promotion. " I savor Zhukov''s words carefully, and feel that he is very reasonable. I have no experience in commanding a large regiment. This can be seen from my commanding the sixth group army of the guards. Although I have a brilliant record, I often issue some wrong orders that make my commanders at a loss. Fortunately, the flaws do not cover up their weaknesses, which does not affect the final victory. But if I was promoted to the commander of the front army, my previous mistakes might turn into fatal ones. The reason why Zhukov arranged me to serve as deputy commander in the old army is that, first, it was a coincidence; second, many group army commanders in the front army were people I knew. No matter how friendly they were, at least after I took office, everything would be on the right track after a short period of attrition. After careful consideration, I took a deep breath, straightened my back and said to Zhukov, "marshal, I firmly obey your order. I don''t know when I can officially start work."¡° No hurry, no hurry. " Zhukov waved his hand to me and said, "I''ll call all the commanders of the group army together for a meeting and announce your appointment in public. It''s also very beneficial for your future work." After that, he picked up the phone on his desk, dialed a number and said to the microphone, "I''m Zhukov. You should immediately inform the commanders of the various army groups of the front army to come to me for a meeting at 1 p.m. and I''ll introduce them to the new deputy commander of the front army." When I heard Zhukov giving orders to the microphone, I was still a little dizzy. I felt like I was dreaming. A few days ago, I was still upset that I didn''t become the commander of the front army. As a result, today''s opportunity fell from the sky. However, I am glad that my former superior, trikov, was not in the front army. Otherwise, the post of deputy commander would not have fallen to me. If he didn''t come back too late and let other commanders take up all the important positions, he would not have been in charge of the eighth group army when Berlin was liberated. If I can''t take this opportunity well, maybe in the future, like him, I will still command only one group army by the end of the war.

 Chapter 1455

    To be the deputy commander is both an opportunity and a challenge. If I can''t make remarkable achievements, I guess my future will stop at being the commander of the group army. Like trakov, I can only command one group army at the end of the war.


    After Zhukov finished the call, he rang the bell to call in the colonel at the door, and told him: "you go to find a staff officer, but the deputy commander is familiar with the environment."


    "Comrade deputy commander?" When the Colonel heard Zhukov''s words, he looked confused. He asked mistily, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know which deputy commander you are talking about?"


    Zhukov shrunk his mouth, waved his head at my position, and said impatiently, "who else can it be? Don''t you see that it''s just me and general oshanina here? "


    The colonel was also a wise man. After listening to Zhukov''s words, he immediately understood and said, "I see, comrade marshal." Then he came up to me, reached out and made a gesture of invitation, politely said, "Comrade deputy commander, please come to me, I''ll find someone to take you to get familiar with the environment."


    After coming out of Zhukov''s office, the Colonel politely said to me, "Comrade deputy commander, please wait here for a moment. I''ll find a staff officer to accompany you around."


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It had been almost an hour, but they were still waiting for me outside, so I said to the colonel, "Comrade Colonel, let''s do this. We are divided into two groups. You can help me find the staff. I''ll go to the door to see my subordinates. We''ll meet at the door later. What do you think?"


    As for my proposal, the Colonel agreed without hesitation: "yes, comrade deputy commander. In five minutes, I''ll take someone to the door to see you. "


    As I walked down the corridor towards the door, I saw two generals coming face to face. With sharp eyes, I can see clearly that the commander in front is lieutenant general Moskalenko, who is now the commander of the 38th group army, while the general behind looks like a stranger.


    I quickly stopped, stood in the same place, raised my hand to my forehead, saluted Moskalenko, and said with a smile, "Hello, general Moskalenko!"


    Moskalenko was stunned for a moment when he heard someone calling his name, but he recognized me quickly. He quickly stepped up to shake hands with me and said in a friendly way, "it''s you, comrade oshanina. Aren''t you transferred to the Belarusian front army? Today you want to visit us? "


    Although I didn''t like Moskalenko, I had fought side by side in several places, so I showed enough politeness: "Comrade General, I was called here by Marshal Zhukov." After I said this, I turned to the general beside him and asked, "I don''t know who this general is?"


    The round faced lieutenant general saw me ask him, quickly stepped forward, took the initiative to reach out to me, and introduced himself: "Hello, general oshanina! I''d like to introduce myself. My name is zhimachenko. After general Moskalenko was transferred to the 38th army as commander, I took over his original position as commander of the 40th army. "


    "Hello, general jumachenko." After shaking hands with zhimachenko, I turned to Moskalenko and said, "Comrade General, are you looking for Marshal? He''s in the office at the moment


    "Thank you." Moskalenko first said thanks to me and then asked, "how long can you stay here? If you can stay two more days, I''d like to call on some old friends to get together with you. "


    "Don''t worry, I''ll be here for a while." I didn''t tell him that I was going to be the deputy commander of the front army. Instead, I said vaguely, "there will be opportunities to get together at that time."


    Moskalenko didn''t realize my indifference to him, and still asked enthusiastically, "where are you going now?"


    "I don''t know how long I will stay in Zhitomir," I politely replied to his question, "the soldiers who escort me to Zhitomir are still waiting outside. I''ll go and settle them first."


    "Then go and settle them up," Moskalenko urged. "We''ll have a good chat after I see the marshal come out."


    Out of the gate of the building, the cold wind made me shiver, and I found that it didn''t know when it began to snow outside. I stood on the high steps and looked around for bukov. I soon found bukov and seven or eight soldiers standing by a broken wall on the opposite side of the road. They were covered with snow and turned into a group of snowmen.


    I quickly walked up to them and asked in a reproachful tone, "major, it''s snowing so hard outside. Why don''t you find a place to avoid it? You see, all of you have become snowmen. "


    Bukov and the soldiers looked at each other and said to me with a smile: "Comrade commander, I''m afraid you can''t find us when you come out, so I''m standing here waiting for you." After a pause, he asked me tentatively, "shall we go back to the group headquarters now?"


    "Why are there only a few of you, the others?" Instead of answering his question immediately, I looked around and didn''t see the tanks, armored cars and trucks that came with me, so I asked with concern, "where are they?"


    Bukov raised his hand to the side and said, "there is a square over there. The comrades of the garrison headquarters told us to stop the motorcade there, and the security forces are also resting there." After reporting the position of the team, he asked me, "Comrade commander, shall we go back to moziri now?"


    "We''re not going back to moziri for the time being." Facing bukov, who was eager to return home, I shook my head and said to him, "from the current situation, we may stay here for a while."


    "Not back to moziri?" Bukov was surprised by what I said. After a moment''s hesitation, he asked carefully, "Comrade commander, is there something wrong that you can''t go back to moziri in a short time?"


    Although I didn''t tell moscalenko the truth just now, in front of my most trusted subordinates, I didn''t hide: "Marshal intends to let me be the deputy commander of the front army, so in the short term, I won''t go back to moziri."


    "Fang... Front army... Deputy... Division... Commander?" After listening to these words, bukov stammered, "is this true?"


    "That''s right," I nodded, and then said to bukov, "major, you go to the people in the garrison headquarters and ask them to arrange a place for you. You can live here first."


    "Yes Bukov promised, and he wanted to leave with the people. But after two steps, he stopped, reached out to me and said respectfully, "Comrade commander, I congratulate you on your higher position."


    "Thank you," I said, shaking him gently, then releasing my hand and telling him, "OK, you go and carry out the order."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The meeting presided over by Zhukov was held on time in the afternoon.


    Zhukov was sitting at the main table. The chief of staff and I were sitting on his right side. On his left side were two members of the Military Commission: General Khrushchev and major general kleinukov. The reason why there are two military commissioners is that after the recovery of Kiev, Khrushchev was appointed chairman of the Ukrainian people''s Committee and concurrently served as the first book of the Central Committee of Ukraine. Because he was absent from the army for a long time, and the political propaganda work could not be stopped, the superior appointed kleinukov to assist him in his work in the army.


    Seeing me sitting beside Zhukov, Moskalenko''s face not far away showed a surprised expression. Just as he was about to ask questions, Zhukov announced the beginning of the meeting.


    Zhukov stood up, put his hands on the edge of the conference table, leaned forward slightly, and said to the commanders present: "comrades, as you all know, comrade watujing was ambushed by the enemy yesterday and was seriously injured. He was unable to command the army for the time being, so I was asked to take over his position as commander of the front army. And the deputy commander of the front army, general kurotchkin, was transferred some time ago. In order to ensure the normal operation of the work of the front army, I decided to appoint comrade oshanina to act as deputy commander of the front army after reporting to the Supreme Commander for approval. "


    After Zhukov''s words, the whole room fell into silence.


    Seeing this situation, my heart was like 15 buckets of water, I thought to myself: "is it true that as I guess, people are not willing to accept my appointment as deputy commander, even if it is temporary, because my qualifications are too shallow?"


    Just when I was worried, a middle-aged general sitting diagonally opposite me stood up and said to Zhukov, "marshal, my troops once fought side by side with general oshanina''s troops. I highly approve of her ability. I think the decision of the superior to appoint her as deputy commander of the front army is very correct."


    After staring at each other for a moment, I immediately recognized the bald general as Lieutenant General pokhov, commander of the 13th group army, who had indeed fought side by side with him before. I gave him a grateful smile for his support. Poorhoff looked at me, nodded, and sat down again.


    Seeing that some of his colleagues expressed their views, Moskalenko stood up not to be outdone and made remarks similar to those made by pokhov. Then the commander of the 27th group army, troffi Menko, the commander of the 40th group army, rimachenko, the commander of the 60th group army, the commander of the 3rd group army of the close guard tank, rebalko, and the commander of the 2nd group army of the air force, all recognized me as deputy commander one after another.


    Seeing that no one objected to my taking the post of deputy commander, I finally put down my heart hanging in my throat. Next, when discussing other tasks, the atmosphere in the meeting room becomes more harmonious.


    The meeting lasted for a full hour. After explaining all the tasks, Zhukov turned around and asked Khrushchev on the left, "Comrade military commissar, do you have anything to add?"


    "No," said Khrushchev, shaking his head in the affirmative, "I have nothing to add."


    Zhukov nodded, looked at me again, and asked the same question: "what about you, Rita? Is there anything you need to tell the commanders?"


    "No, comrade marshal." I also shook my head and replied, "I''ll spend a few days familiarizing myself with the environment before I start my work formally."


    "I''ll give you two days." Zhukov said to me in an unquestionable tone: "in a few days, we will launch a new campaign with the second front army, so you should get familiar with the internal affairs of the front army as soon as possible." After he said these words, he stopped for a moment. After I nodded my head for confirmation, he announced in a loud voice: "this is the end of today''s meeting. It''s over!" Several group commanders stood up one after another and walked out slowly through the open door. After saying hello to Zhukov, I got up and walked to the door, intending to have a chat with an old friend, rebalko. As soon as I got to the door, I saw a young lieutenant trotting down the corridor. He looked at the commanders coming out of the conference room for a moment and then walked decisively towards Moskalenko. Moskalenko obviously knew the lieutenant. He stopped and drew close to the wall, waiting for the lieutenant who was coming towards him. I saw the lieutenant come up to him, close to his ear, and whisper a few words. Moskalenko, with a look of panic on his face after hearing what the lieutenant said, turned and walked quickly towards the conference room. He passed me and walked into the conference room. He said to Zhukov, who was still packing his things in a flustered way, "Comrade marshal, no, ADA is injured?"¡° What, ADA''s hurt? " On hearing this news, not only Zhukov was shocked, but also Khrushchev, who was chatting beside him, jumped out of his seat. Seeing that both of them came towards the door in panic, I couldn''t help muttering in my heart: I don''t know who is Ada that Moskalenko said, who can make the two big men in the army so impolite. When I was thinking, Zhukov rushed to Moskalenko, raised his hand, grasped his arm and asked anxiously, "how did she get hurt?" Without waiting for Moskalenko to say why, Zhukov repeatedly urged: "where is she? Come on, take us. Let''s walk as we go When I saw Zhukov and Moskalenko passing me like a gust of wind, and I was hesitating whether I should follow them, Khrushchev patted me on the shoulder and asked strangely, "Rita, won''t you go?" I listen to Khrushchev''s tone, is ready to let me also go to see the injured ADA. Although I didn''t know why he wanted to pull me, I casually replied, "yes, of course I will. Since you and marshal are going, I''m no exception. I''ll go and have a look with you. " When we followed Zhukov and walked along the corridor, the commanders of the group army looked at us with strange eyes. They didn''t know what was wrong, but they didn''t ask. Instead, they looked at us with curious eyes. When there was no one around, I asked Khrushchev quietly: "Comrade military commissar, can I ask who this ADA is? Why are you and marshal so nervous when they hear that she has been injured? " Khrushchev turned to me and said, "ADA, you may not know him. But you know her father very well Hearing that I was familiar with Ada''s father, I instinctively asked, "who?"¡° Rokosovsky, "Khrushchev said with a smile," general rokosovsky, commander of the Belarusian front army. "

 Chapter 1456

    The injured ADA, is rokosovsky''s daughter?! After hearing the shocking news, I almost hit my chin on the ground. It took me quite a long time to recover from the shock, and some stuttered and asked, "military commissars and comrades, what''s the matter? How can the daughter of general rokosovsky appear here? "


    I thought ADA was going to visit tomir again. After all, rokosovsky served as a garrison commander here before the war. However, Khrushchev told me: "although ADA is only 16 years old, she responded to the call and quietly joined our army without telling her father."


    "ADA''s in the army?" When I heard Khrushchev say this, I couldn''t help laughing and crying. I asked curiously, "which army is she in and what kind of work is she engaged in?"


    "The 38th army in Moskalenko is a health worker." Khrushchev replied briefly.


    I''m eager to know how ADA was injured. I''m going to catch up with Zhukov and them, but I find that the lieutenant who just reported to Moskalenko is following us. When he thought about ADA, he came to inform Moskalenko. He must know the details, so he slowed down and asked him, "Comrade lieutenant, can you tell us how ADA was injured?"


    When the lieutenant heard my question, he had a embarrassed expression on his face and had to turn to Khrushchev next to him for help. The latter saw that the lieutenant turned his eyes on him, then waved to the other side and said, "Comrade lieutenant, this is our new deputy commander of the front army. You can tell her the whole story."


    The lieutenant agreed, and then told us about ADA''s accident: "today we have a convoy carrying the wounded back to Zhitomir from wallensky new town. As a result, in the middle of their walk, they were suddenly ambushed by a small group of German troops. The enemy destroyed two trucks with rocket launchers, and then strafed the trucks in the middle with machine guns, causing great casualties to us.... "


    When I heard this, I couldn''t help clapping in my heart and thought to myself, "isn''t ADA just sitting in the first car?"


    Not only do I think so, but Khrushchev thinks the same way. He grabbed in front of me and asked, "Lieutenant, is Ada on the front car or the rear car?"


    "No, ADA stayed in the third car." The lieutenant shook his head and replied, "at the beginning of the battle, two soldiers on the escort were shot and killed. ADA picked up one of the soldiers'' weapons, bravely fought back, and successfully killed one machine gun shooter and one deputy shooter


    "Well done." Khrushchev said a word of praise, then asked: "how did she get hurt later?"


    "When the troops nearby learned that the convoy carrying the wounded was ambushed by the German army, they immediately sent cavalry troops to reinforce them." The lieutenant replied, "when the enemy saw that our troops were arriving, they knew that they could not take advantage of it, so they fired several mortars at the remaining trucks. Unfortunately, ADA was hit by shrapnel."


    "Where is she now?" As soon as the lieutenant finished, I asked in a hurry.


    "On the way to the military hospital." The lieutenant said excitedly: "the military doctor said that she needs an operation immediately, otherwise her life will be in danger."


    We took two jeeps and rushed to the military hospital in the west of the city.


    When we came to the military hospital, we saw a lot of medical staff waiting at the door. It seems that they are ready to receive the wounded, but we didn''t expect that the convoy carrying the wounded would be attacked by the German army on the road.


    Zhukov''s car was in front of him. As soon as it stopped, he pushed the door open and jumped down. He yelled at the medical staff, "who is in charge among you?"


    With his shouts, two officers came out of the crowd, raised their hands to salute Zhukov, and then reported, "Comrade marshal, we are the president and representatives of the military hospital. What instructions do you have?"


    "Your convoy carrying the wounded was ambushed by the German army on its way to tomir." After briefly introducing the situation to the president and the military representatives, Zhukov said, "one of the female health workers was seriously injured when she was covering for her comrades in arms. I order you to rescue her as soon as the car carrying her arrives. Do you understand?"


    Hearing Zhukov''s order, they looked at each other. Although they both saw the surprised expression from each other''s eyes, they didn''t know why the marshal paid so much attention to a female health worker, but they replied with one voice: "I understand."


    "I don''t think you understand." Khrushchev quickly walked up to the two men and told them, "when the female health worker arrives, you should transfer the best military doctors and rescue her at all costs. Do you understand? " After he said that, seeing their blank faces, he added viciously, "if she has any problems, you''ll wait to go to the military court."


    Khrushchev''s words scared them into a cold sweat. They raised their hands to wipe the sweat from their forehead, nodded and said, "don''t worry, comrades of the military Commissar. We will try our best to rescue her. We can certainly save her."


    We stood in the yard with the paramedics, waiting for the truck to deliver ADA. Can wait for a long time, but never see the car to transport ADA. I quietly looked at Zhukov standing next to him and found that his face was as ugly as it was. Seeing ADA''s injury affected his mood.


    "Strange, why hasn''t the truck come yet?" Moskalenko, standing next to Khrushchev, said to himself.


    "Maybe the driver is afraid that the car will drive too fast, and the violent bumps will make ADA unbearable." Khrushchev, who was also worried, speculated: "wait a little longer, maybe it will arrive in a moment."


    They are worried, and I am not relaxed. I thought in my heart, if ADA really has a good or bad, I don''t know how much damage it will cause to rokosovsky. To say the least, if ADA really had an accident, would Zhukov give me the task of reporting the bad news to rokosovsky? How can I refuse such a task?


    Just as I was daydreaming, a truck with a hood rushed in. Before the car stopped, the president and the military representative standing beside me, in order to perform well in front of Zhukov, yelled to the medical staff nearby, "what are you still waiting to do? Don''t go to carry the wounded."


    Hearing the shouts of the president and the military representatives, more than a dozen medical staff rushed toward the truck that had just stopped. They carried a stretcher off the truck with all hands and feet, and then ran towards the building. Seeing that the expressionless Zhukov had quickly followed him, Khrushchev and I could not continue to stand in the yard and blow the northwest wind, so we walked in.


    Zhukov walked straight ahead, but when he came to the door of the operating room, he was stopped by the president and the military representative. Two people politely said: "Marshal comrade, please wait outside, we will try our best to rescue."


    Seeing that the door of the operating room was closed, Moskalenko walked up to Zhukov and asked, "marshal, if ADA has any problems, what should we do? How can we explain to her father?"


    After listening to Moskalenko''s worry, Zhukov turned to look at me, and then said to Moskalenko without expression: "Comrade General, please keep calm. Now we have just started to carry out first aid, and we don''t know what the specific results will be. If there is any accident, I will personally inform rokosovsky


    "Alas Moskalenko looked up to the sky with a long sigh, and then said with chagrin: "if there is any accident, I will personally go to ask general rokosovsky to admit my mistake. It''s all my fault that I didn''t take good care of his daughter."


    I saw Moskalenko constantly remorse himself. I was afraid that when we were waiting for the result of the operation, he would keep talking like Xianglin''s sister-in-law, and quickly cut off the topic: "Comrade General, I think of one thing."


    "What''s the matter?" My words succeeded in diverting Moskalenko''s attention. He turned to look at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think of?"


    "Our troops have just gone through a great war. It is estimated that there are many wounded." After I said this, I saw not only Moskalenko, but also Zhukov nodding his head, and then said, "to operate on the wounded, in addition to various surgical instruments, we also need drugs and plasma."


    "Yes, you are right to remind me." Before I finished my words, Moskalenko immediately understood: "if you don''t say it, I really forget. Yesterday, the president of the hospital reported to the logistics minister that the plasma in the hospital is in urgent need. If it is not replenished in time, it is likely that there will be no plasma available."


    "What measures have you taken?" Zhukov asked sternly, "Comrade Moskalenko, what do you plan to do if ADA has insufficient plasma during the operation?"


    "This... This..." Zhukov''s words put Moskalenko in an embarrassing situation. Seeing that he scratched his head in embarrassment, I couldn''t help suggesting to him, "Comrade General, I have a way to solve the problem of insufficient plasma during the operation."


    "Is it?" Moskalenko''s face showed a surprise expression, he was a little emotional and asked: "Comrade oshanina, hurry up, what''s a good way?"


    "I had a similar situation last time, when a group of wounded patients were in emergency treatment, there was a lack of plasma." I said slowly: "at that time, I immediately transferred a guard company to the hospital to mobilize the soldiers to donate blood to the wounded."


    "Great, great, that''s great." Hearing my suggestion, Moskalenko said: "I immediately transferred a guard company to the hospital on standby. Since there was a shortage of plasma, I immediately asked the soldiers to donate blood for ADA." After that, he called the following lieutenant and told him, "Lieutenant, go back to the headquarters of the group army immediately and ask the deputy commander to send me a guard company."


    When the lieutenant heard our conversation, he knew where the guard company was going. He quickly agreed, then turned around and ran out.


    My proposal was just for a rainy day, but I didn''t expect that the door of the operating room opened just half an hour after the operation. A nurse came out and saw that the whole corridor was full of officers. She couldn''t help standing at the door.


    When I saw the nurse coming out, I quickly met her, raised my hand and grasped her arm, and asked, "Comrade nurse, what''s the situation inside?"¡° The operation is still going on. " The nurse I caught said nervously, "but I don''t have enough plasma. I want to go to the blood bank of the hospital."¡° What are you doing? Hurry up. " I heard that she came out to look for plasma, so I gave her a strong push and urged: "get the plasma back quickly."¡° Well, I see. " The nurse agreed in a panic and quickly walked out of the passageway where the people were making way. Results not far out, there is a nurse running to her face, said loudly: "the blood bank of plasma are used up."¡° What? We ran out of plasma. " Zhukov''s face turned blue when he heard the nurse say that. He snorted heavily and asked Moskalenko, "general, when will your guard company arrive?"¡° Well, I''m not sure. " Moskalenko did not expect that Zhukov would suddenly ask, and said in a flustered look: "I''ll go and have a look." As soon as he turned his head and walked two steps, he heard a rapid sound of footsteps at the end of the corridor. Everyone turned around and saw that the lieutenant, who was going back to move the rescuers, was trotting all the way. He came to Moskalenko and stood in front of him. After he raised his hand to salute, he gasped and said, "report to commander, the guard company has arrived. They are waiting in the yard at the moment."¡° Comrade nurse, "I quickly walked up to the nurse standing in the corridor and asked her," I don''t know the blood type of the wounded? "¡° Type a! "¡° Lieutenant, "after knowing ADA''s blood type, I turned to the lieutenant standing in front of Moskalenko and said," immediately order all the soldiers with type a blood to come up. "¡° Yes The lieutenant agreed, went to the window, pushed open the window, and yelled, "Hey, all the soldiers with type a blood have come up." As he called, I heard a loud sound of footsteps coming from downstairs¡° And type O blood The nurse did not know how many type a blood soldiers would come up with blood, and added casually: "type O blood can also be used." The lieutenant yelled at the downstairs again: "all the comrades with type O blood should come up, too."

 Chapter 1457

    Zhukov looked at the long line of blood transfusion at the other end of the corridor. He could not help nodding slightly, turned to me and said, "Rita, you are still very considerate. If we didn''t transfer the guard company here in advance, it would be a waste of time just looking for plasma. "


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander did a good job in preparing for a rainy day." Moskalenko and Zhukov said with a smile: "there are so many soldiers to donate blood, I believe it should be able to meet the needs of the operation."


    When I heard the praise from Zhukov and Moskalenko, I just gave a faint smile. Then I nodded at the lieutenant standing by the window and said, "I think that Comrade lieutenant is very good. If he is not clever, he will open the window in the corridor and call in the soldiers waiting in the yard. Maybe we will have to go downstairs to find someone in person, This will inevitably delay some time. In the process of rescue, every minute is precious to us. "


    "You have a point." Zhukov nodded his head in agreement with me. Then he said to the lieutenant, "Hello, comrade lieutenant, please come here!"


    On hearing Zhukov''s call, the lieutenant quickly strode over. After standing in front of us, his chin rose slightly and asked respectfully, "what instructions do you have, marshal?"


    Zhukov looked him up and down, nodded, and then asked, "Comrade lieutenant, what''s your name and what do you do?"


    Instead of answering Zhukov''s question immediately, the lieutenant gave Moskalenko a furtive glance, as if seeking his opponent''s advice. Seeing that Moskalenko nodded slightly to show his permission, he replied, "report to marshal, I am" I have no opinion. " Zhukov naturally agreed to my proposal, but out of respect for Khrushchev, he did not immediately make a decision. Instead, he asked in a consultative tone, "what''s your opinion, comrade Khrushchev?"


    After listening to Zhukov''s words, Khrushchev quickly scanned the array of medals hanging on my chest, and then said, "Comrade Zhukov, I think ADA is very brave in this encounter. It''s not enough to give her a" medal for bravery ". I think she can be awarded a higher level medal."


    "Well, your proposal can be considered." Zhukov raised his hand, looked at his watch and said, "we can wait a few days for the specific medal to be awarded to ADA. But it''s not a short time to get in and out. It''s time to go back to the headquarters. " After that, he stood up and said to ADA, "ADA, I still have work to deal with. Next time I come to see you, you can stay here and recuperate peacefully."


    Seeing that the three of us were about to leave, ADA suddenly raised his voice and called out, "Uncle Georgie!"


    Zhukov, who always likes to keep a straight face, now looks like an amiable old man. He smiles at Ada lying on the hospital bed and asks, "ADA, do you have anything else to do?"


    "Uncle Georgie," ADA said, trying to squeeze a smile on his face, "please don''t tell my father about my injury, so that he won''t worry and affect his command of the battle."


    After hearing ADA''s request, Zhukov hesitated for a moment. Then he shook his head and said, "I''m sorry, ADA. My uncle can promise you anything else, but I can''t do it. You may not know that Comrade Stalin has sent people to the rear to find your mother and sent her to Belarus. Maybe she will come here to see you in a few days. Even if you want to hide it, you can''t hide it. Now I''ll let your father know about it and prepare him for it. "


    Seeing that Zhukov said so, ADA knew that it was impossible to hide this from his father. He could only give a gentle "um" and never speak again.


    The three of us walked out of the hospital, huddled in a jeep and returned to headquarters.


    On the way, Khrushchev said with emotion: "rokosovsky is an excellent commander who has a cool head and is calm in dealing with chaos. He has been able to make remarkable achievements in adversity in the war. I didn''t expect that tiger father has no dog daughter. His daughter, ADA, is young and shows maturity and sophistication that does not match her age. Rokosovsky is a successor. "


    After listening to Khrushchev''s words, Zhukov said with a smile, "Comrade Khrushchev, since we can have a general oshanina now, why can''t we have another general ADA in the future? Let rokosovsky and his daughter both become generals in our army, which will certainly be a good story in the future. "


    "Marshal, I don''t think it will happen that both father and daughter are generals." After I finished this sentence, I put a look of surprise on Zhukov''s and Khrushchev''s faces and quickly explained: "from the current situation, we can completely defeat the enemy in two years at most. It will take three to five years or even longer for ADA to be promoted from an ordinary soldier to a general, even if he is lucky. As for general rokosovsky, according to his military talents and achievements, I believe that in a short time, his epaulet will become the epaulet of Grand Marshal Venus. "


    When I finished explaining, Zhukov and Khrushchev looked at each other and laughed at the same time. Khrushchev laughed for a while and said, "Comrade Zhukov, I think what Lida said is very reasonable. Even if ADA can succeed in becoming a general, there will not be two generals in the rokosovsky family at the same time, but a marshal and a general." At this time, the jeep suddenly stopped. Zhukov asked in surprise, "why did you stop?" The driver turned his head and reported to him, "marshal, there is a motorcycle in front of us. It seems that there is something urgent to report to you." As soon as his words were finished, I heard someone outside the car asking aloud, "is Comrade marshal in the car?" I heard the sound very familiar, quickly turned to look out of the window. If I don''t look, I will. When I see the person clearly, I can''t help shouting, "major trafkin, is that you?"

 Chapter 1458

    I really didn''t expect to see travkin here again. You know, soon after they went to Lutsk to carry out their mission, our army was transferred from the Ukrainian front army to the Belarusian front army, and we lost contact with him. Although I have been thinking about him all the time, I couldn''t ask him even if I wanted to.


    When travkin heard that his name was called, he was stunned for a moment. But he soon found out that it was me who called him. His face showed a surprised expression: "Comrade commander, it''s you!"


    "Major," Zhukov asked travkin with a straight face before we could say a word, "what''s the matter


    Travkin quickly turned to Zhukov, straightened his back and reported, "marshal, I have just received the reconnaissance information from pinproskurov. The director asked me to send it to you."


    Zhukov pushed the door open, reached out and motioned to travkin to give him the information. Travkin took a document from his briefcase, respectfully handed it to Zhukov, raised his hand, and then turned to the motorcycle. As soon as he got into the sidecar, the motorcycle started. After turning around in place, he drove forward along the road.


    Taking advantage of Zhukov''s intelligence, Khrushchev whispered to me, "Rita, the major just now is your subordinate. Comrade watujing felt that his ability was not bad, so he was appointed deputy director of the Reconnaissance Office of the front army. "


    When Khrushchev said this, I immediately remembered that he knew how to find the amber room. At this moment, I wanted to know what the final reconnaissance result was, so I asked politely, "after I arranged for him to go to Lutsk to carry out the mission, my troops were transferred to Smolensk. I''m not very clear about what kind of reconnaissance result they have achieved. Comrades of the military commissar, don''t you know that they have finished their task in the end? "


    "I''ll talk about it later." Before Khrushchev could speak, Zhukov took the lead and said, "drive, let''s go back to the headquarters of the front army."


    On the way to the headquarters, I frowned and tried to think about the scale of the fighting between the Soviet and German sides in the proskurov area. Unfortunately, I didn''t remember it until the jeep arrived at the headquarters. After all, in my impression, except for such heavyweight battles as the battle of Moscow, the battle of Stalingrad, and the battle of Kursk, I am hardly impressed by other battles. Even the famous ten Stalin raids, I only know their names.


    After returning to the headquarters, Zhukov put the reconnaissance information on the table, asked Khrushchev and I to sit down, and then walked back and forth in the room with his hands on his back. Seeing his action, I instinctively turned my head and looked at Khrushchev next to him, hoping to get some inspiration from him. As a result, when he met my eyes, he shook his head blankly and shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he did not know what had happened.


    After walking in the room for a while, Zhukov quickly came to the table, pushed the information he had read to both of us, and said, "Comrade Khrushchev, Rita, you should know that our army has just ended the battle of Rovno luzk. After continuous fighting, the troops have become exhausted. In addition, the weather is so cold. Under such bad weather conditions, according to convention, we should stop all military operations and stay for rest. " Khrushchev and I did not understand the purpose of Zhukov''s words, but we nodded our heads in abnormal cooperation.


    "But judging from the present situation, we can''t do it yet. We should take advantage of the favorable situation in which the enemy is defeated by us and launch a new offensive against the enemy in a short period of time. " Zhukov said as he sat down across from us and pushed the map on the table towards us, adding: "therefore, our new round of attack will start in a week."


    "A new attack in a week?" When I heard Zhukov say this, I couldn''t help but feel a thump in my heart. I secretly said that with the strength of the army, can we really launch a new offensive against the German army? I knew Zhukov didn''t like to be interrupted when he was talking, so I listened to him quietly.


    "We will use the main force of the front army to launch a fierce attack on the German army in the proskurov chernovitzer area." Zhukov said solemnly: "the purpose of our campaign here is to smash the main force of the German southern army group together with general konev''s Ukrainian second front army."


    I know in my heart that I just arrived from moziri today. It''s impossible for me to know the battle plan. Although Khrushchev is a member of the military committee of the front army, his energy is almost focused on the local work. It is not surprising that he does not know the battle plan. Perhaps it was with this in mind that Zhukov introduced us to the destination and preparations of the campaign.


    I waited for him to fall behind, and asked cautiously, "Comrade marshal, I want to ask, which troops are you going to put into this campaign? And general konev, who is cooperating with us in the war, plans to join those forces? "


    "Good question, that''s what I''m going to say next." Zhukov opened a small book, looked at the contents above, and began to say: "in this battle, the troops I plan to invest are general glicko''s guards 1st group army, pokhov''s 13th group army, zhulavrov''s 18th group army, Moskalenko''s 38th group army, chernyahovsky''s 60th group army Rebarko''s third group army of close guard tanks, katukov''s first group army of tanks, lelushenko''s fourth group army of tanks, and the second group army of the air force.... "


    I was surprised to hear the serial numbers of troops he gave me. In the coming battle, we could join three tank groups at the same time. More importantly, I learned that chernyahovsky is still the commander of the 60th army. At the meeting a few hours ago, the general I saw representing the 60th army should be his deputy.


    "Our enemy in front of us is the 1st and 4th group army of tanks supported by the 4th air force of German army..." without looking at the little book in front of him, Zhukov casually said a series of serial numbers of German troops and the deployment of our troops in the campaign: "the 1st group army of close guard, the 4th group army of tanks and the 3rd group army of close guard tanks, Responsible for the implementation of major raids on jortkov; The tasks assigned to the left wing groups of the front army are the 18th group army to attack hmelinik and the 38th group army to attack the flank of uman of the German army in the south for a few days. "


    Having carefully written down what Zhukov had said, I raised my head and asked, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know what general konev''s troops are going to put into battle."


    "Konev''s 27th group army, 52nd group army, guards'' 4th group army, tanks'' 2nd group army, guards'' tanks'' 5th group army, tanks'' 6th group army, from the front lines of vinogler, zvinigorodka, and shipola, carried out major raids in the direction of uman. The 5th and 7th group armies of the guards carried out auxiliary raids from the kilovgrad area to the direction of the new Ukrainian Ka. " Zhukov said with one breath that after finishing the name of konev''s troops, he took a sip of cold tea on the table, and then said, "their campaign attempt is to smash the German 8th Army, divide the German southern army group, cut off the withdrawal of the German tank 1st army group, and cooperate with us to smash the German army group."


    While recording what Zhukov said, I murmured in my heart that after my troops captured cherkaser, they once threatened uman''s defense line. However, a few months later, general konev''s troops, who took over our defense, still failed to capture uman from the German army.


    Think of here, I unconsciously shriveled shriveled mouth, also gently snorted. I didn''t expect that my little action was noticed by Zhukov. He asked curiously, "Rita, do you have any opinions on my deployment?"


    "No, comrade marshal." I quickly put down my pen, stood up and said, "I think your deployment is very correct. There is no different view."


    "But I just saw you shrivel and look scornful." But Zhukov broke the casserole and asked, "if you have any ideas, just say them. You are my deputy now. It''s right for you to give me advice. "


    "You are mistaken, comrade marshal." Hearing him say so, I quickly explained to myself: "after listening to the deployment you said, I feel that the German army is not our opponent at all, but I despise them in my heart."


    Zhukov was perfunctorized by these two words. He looked at me suspiciously and said solemnly: "although we have the advantage in military strength, we can''t take it lightly. As long as we succeed in smashing the main force of the German southern army group, then our troops will be able to advance to the border and let the aggressors drive out from our territory. "


    "Yes, comrade marshal." As for Zhukov''s statement, I immediately nodded my head and said, "I believe that it won''t be long before we can drive the Germans out of our territory, and then march into Berlin to smash Hitler led Germany."


    As soon as I finished, Khrushchev, sitting next to me, began to laugh. He looked at me and said, "Rita, I didn''t expect you to be so optimistic about the outcome of this campaign. Tell me, how long do you think it will take us to reach the predetermined campaign target? "


    Khrushchev''s question aroused Zhukov''s interest. He also looked at me with a smile and asked, "tell me about it, Rita. Do you think our two front armies can achieve their respective goals in this cooperative battle?"


    "No problem, comrade marshal. I think we can definitely achieve the expected goal of the campaign." After giving them a positive answer, I put forward my own question: "but the time for thawing in spring is coming soon. I''m worried that the bad weather and muddy roads will adversely affect our campaign."


    "Well, you are right to remind us that the upcoming spring thaw will cause great inconvenience to the mobilization of our troops and the transportation of materials." After he said this to me, he turned his head and looked at Khrushchev, "Comrade military commissar, I would like to ask you to return to the army for a while. After all, major general kleinukov can''t compare with you in doing political and ideological work."


    "Well, comrade Zhukov, since you say so, I will temporarily hand over the local work to others. I will come back to manage the political propaganda work of the front army first." Khrushchev readily agreed to Zhukov''s request: "although our troops have been fighting incessantly since last summer, and the commanders and fighters are very tired, their morale and offensive spirit are very high due to repeated victories and good party and government work. I will arrange for political workers to go to the grassroots level to carry out propaganda work, mobilize all commanders and fighters to overcome all difficulties brought about by bad weather and complex conditions, liberate the territory of Ukraine occupied by the German army as soon as possible, and advance to the border one day earlier. "


    When Khrushchev got up and left, I tentatively asked Zhukov, "marshal, I heard that my former deputy battalion commander, major trafkin, is now the deputy director of the Reconnaissance Office of the front army?"¡° Major trafkin? " Zhukov frowned. After repeating the name, his brow immediately stretched out: "so you''re talking about the major who sent me information on the road today?" Seeing that I nodded to confirm, he asked curiously, "what do you ask him to do?"¡° That''s right, comrade marshal. " In my opinion, Zhukov and I were the only two people in the room. We didn''t have to worry about the confidentiality, so we put forward the question in our mind: "I want to ask about the amber room. Do you have a clue?"¡° Amber room? " When Zhukov heard my question, he frowned and asked warily, "Rita, who did you listen to about this?" Zhukov''s words surprised me. I was tongue tied for a long time before I said, "Yuan... Marshal, don''t you... Don''t you know, major travkin, is it my order that they go to look for the amber room?"¡° Did you give the order? " After listening to me, Zhukov raised his hand and slapped heavily on the forehead. He said with chagrin, "yes, how can I forget that he is the deputy commander of your reconnaissance battalion. That''s right, that''s right. He was sent to Lutsk on a reconnaissance mission before you transferred him. "¡° Did you find the amber room? " Although I know that the amber room was robbed by the German army, after the end of the war, there has been no news, but I still hold a fluke psychological question: "now I want to know what is in the vault of that bank?" With that, I stared nervously at Zhukov to hear what he would say¡° Maybe the amber room, maybe something else. " Zhukov said bitterly: "among the people who went to reconnoitre with major trafkin at that time, there was a German officer who surrendered to our army."¡° Yes, comrade marshal. " When I heard this, I hurriedly said, "his name is gretka. He is a very trustworthy German. How is he now? Where is he?"¡° He''s dead. " Zhukov looked at me and said faintly¡° What, he''s dead? " I was shocked by Zhukov''s words. I asked, "how did he die? Who killed him?"¡° Who else, of course, the SS. " With a trace of anger in his voice, Zhukov said, "he went into the bank vault to take photos of the cultural relics stored in it. They had been waiting outside for a week, but they didn''t hear from him. Soon they found his body in the sewer. His hands were tied back, and there was a fatal bullet hole in his head, which should have been shot against the back of his head. "¡° Why When I heard that gretka was dead, and died miserably, I couldn''t help but feel like a knife in my heart. I couldn''t wait to ask, "was he identified by the German?"¡° I don''t think so. " Zhukov shook his head and said: "beside him, there are still four or five bodies of German soldiers, all with their hands tied back and shot in the head. After travkin and their careful examination, there were no other obvious scars on these people, that is to say, they were executed and thrown into the sewer without any punishment at all. " Hearing that there were several other bodies beside gretka''s body made me more and more confused, I frowned and murmured, "why on earth is this?"¡° After my analysis with Comrade belia. " Seeing that I was eager to know the truth, Zhukov told me the results of his and belia''s research: "he may have photographed extremely important cultural relics in the bank vault. After the shooting, in order to kill him, the German executed him and several other soldiers who helped move cultural relics in the vault. " In order not to let the secret out, I often see the way of exterminating the participants after completing a certain project in some films and TV works looking for * * gold. I didn''t expect that one of my valued subordinates had unfortunately become such a victim. Seeing the pain on my face, Zhukov walked around the table and came to me. He raised his hand and patted me on the shoulder. He comforted me and said, "Rita, your subordinate is good. You should be proud of him, not sad. You must be very tired when you drive all night. Go to have a rest first. If you have anything to do, wait until tomorrow. " I walked out of Zhukov''s office, stood in the corridor and pondered for a moment. I thought I should go to the reconnaissance office to find travkin, and maybe I could get more information from him.

 Chapter 1459

    Unfortunately, when I arrived at the reconnaissance office, a reconnaissance staff officer told me, "excuse me, comrade deputy commander. Major travkin has gone to wallensky new town for more than half an hour. He will come back tomorrow evening. Do you have anything urgent to ask him?"


    When I heard that travkin had left, I was a little disappointed. However, on second thought, it doesn''t matter if I ask about the specific circumstances of gretka''s death. So I waved to the staff and pretended to be nothing. I just didn''t see him for a long time and wanted to talk to him. Since he''s not here, I''ll come back to him another day. "


    I went back to my room, and soon after I fell asleep, I was awakened by the fierce knock on the door. I vaguely opened my eyes, looked at my wrist watch, and found that I had slept less than five hours. I sat up and asked impatiently, "who''s out there?"


    "Comrade deputy commander," after the knock stopped, there was a timid voice: "Comrade marshal is going to hold an emergency meeting. Please go and attend it."


    "I see. I''ll go right away." As soon as my voice fell, the sound of footsteps came from outside.


    As I put on my clothes, I thought that Zhukov would hold an emergency military meeting in the middle of the night, and there would be something important to discuss. Let''s call a meeting. I have met with most of the leaders of the group army during the day; As for the military conference, it is even more unlikely. The campaign was launched a week later, and now it is too early to discuss it.


    I came to Zhukov''s office full of questions. As soon as the door was opened, all around the long conference table were filled with senior commanders. Seeing me enter the door, Zhukov pours at the empty seat beside him and says, "sit down and wait for you."


    When I was seated, Zhukov stood up, put his hands on the edge of the table, leaned forward slightly, and said in a loud voice, "comrades commanders, your troops will all take part in the battle of proskurov chernovitzer in a few days. I have just received a call from Comrade Stalin, who said that it is a bit too late to launch a campaign in a week''s time, so our offensive campaign must be advanced. "


    Zhukov''s words were like throwing a handful of salt in a hot iron pot, which suddenly burst open. Seeing his subordinates talking, Zhukov unexpectedly kept silent and didn''t stop them. After the meeting became quiet again, he asked, "well, who has any questions?"


    "Marshal," rebalko said at first, "the 3rd group army of our close guard tanks is ready to fight at any time."


    "Good." Zhukov was very satisfied with rebalko''s statement. Then he turned his eyes to katukov and lelushenko: "are your two commanders'' troops ready?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." The tall katukov stood up and replied with a smile, "the first group army of our tanks is ready to fight at any time."


    Then lelushenko also made a statement: "Comrade marshal, my fourth group army of tanks is ready for all battles."


    After hearing this, Zhukov nodded with a smile, and then asked lelushenko, "general lelushenko, your predecessor Comrade badanov was wounded in the battle. How''s the situation?"


    "It''s said that the injury is very serious," said lelushenko with a curl of his mouth. "At least in the first half of this year, he won''t be able to take part in any major battle."


    "Comrade lelushenko, according to the rank system of our army, the position of commander of the tank group army you are now holding is equivalent to demotion." "Don''t you have any emotions?" Zhukov asked in a friendly manner


    "No, comrade marshal." "I like this position very much, so that I can run around with the right name," he said with a smile


    After the polite remarks, Zhukov restrained his smile and said to the three: "three tank commanders, it is the first time in the war for us to concentrate the three tank groups on the main attack direction of the front army at the same time. You should overcome the disadvantages of muddy roads and flooding rivers in spring, and cooperate with infantry to break through the German defense area. Are you confident? "


    "Yes!" "We have confidence," the three replied in unison


    Zhukov asked the three to sit down and continued: "according to the instructions of the Supreme Commander himself, our attack will start at 8 a.m. on March 4. At the end of the artillery preparation, the 13th and 60th army and the 1st army of the close guard first carried out major raids on the German defensive positions in the chortkov area. The 18th and 38th army carried out auxiliary attacks. So, are you all ready to fight? "


    As soon as Zhukov''s words came to an end, the five commanders of the Group Army stood up and answered neatly, "we are ready for all battles and can attack at any time."


    After listening to the answers from the eight commanders of the group army, I felt a lot more at ease. Although the campaign was launched in a hurry, the good news is that all the troops are ready to fight and can fight at any time. I believe that with their efforts, we will be able to complete the campaign.


    After the meeting, Zhukov''s office was left with me, the chief of staff and Khrushchev. Khrushchev carefully reminded Zhukov, saying: "Comrade Zhukov, since we have determined the specific attack time, we should immediately report this to Comrade Stalin."


    "Well, comrade Khrushchev, you are right." Zhukov quickly walked to the table, picked up the high-frequency telephone, dialed a number, and added: "it''s time to report the preparations for the campaign to the Supreme Commander himself."


    When I got through, I listened attentively to the conversation between Zhukov and Stalin. Stalin asked, "well, comrade Zhukov, did you have any results in the discussion of the emergency military meeting you convened?"


    "Yes, comrade Stalin, the results have come out." Zhukov reported to him the results of the meeting and the preparations of the participating troops.


    After listening to Zhukov''s report, Stalin said slowly: "konev called me not long ago and said that they were ready to fight at any time. He is confident that in the shortest time, he will destroy the German fortifications and tear a hole in the enemy''s line of defense. "


    After a moment''s silence, Stalin said slowly, "well, comrade Zhukov, I''m waiting for the good news of your victory."


    ¡­¡­


    At 8 a.m. on March 4, our artillery began shelling the German defensive position in the chortkov area.


    When I was the commander of the group army before, I felt that the artillery preparation before the attack was too far away from me. In my headquarters, I could only hear the faint roar and see the smoke rising in the distance. Now in the headquarters of the front army, we can''t even hear the sound of the guns.


    I walked back and forth in the headquarters, anxiously waiting for the war report from the front. When he saw me like this, Zhukov couldn''t help laughing. He said to me, "come on, Rita, don''t walk around in the room. It''s killing my eyes. Just sit down and wait patiently for the news from the front. "


    With a long sigh, I sat down next to Khrushchev, staring at the map lying on the table in a daze. Khrushchev looked at me and then asked Zhukov, "Comrade Zhukov, when will our tank troops go into battle?"


    "It depends on the progress of our army." Zhukov patiently explained to Khrushchev: "you see, according to our operational plan, the 4th group army of tank of lelushenko and the 3rd group army of close guard tank of rebalko will enter into a state of engagement from the position of the 60th group army of chernyahovsky. Only this direction is suitable for the tank troops."


    Although Khrushchev had heard all of Zhukov''s remarks at the pre war military conference, he still asked uneasily, "can our tank troops quickly go out to the area of jernopol and proskurov and cut off the main traffic lines of the German southern army group?"


    "There should be no problem with that." Zhukov confidently said: "we have established a strong assault group in the main assault direction, and we have an advantage in both military strength and technical equipment. Moreover, three tank armies were put into this main attack direction, which was totally unexpected to the German army. According to our reconnaissance, the enemy has no power to block such a large tank regiment. "


    "Great, it''s just great." Khrushchev pointed to the map and said triumphantly, "our army has invested so many tank troops in such a small area, which should exceed the scale of the decisive battle of tanks in the Kursk war?"


    Instead of answering Khrushchev, Zhukov threw this question to me: "Rita, you once led the troops to the battle of Kursk. I believe you have a better say in this matter."


    Seeing that Zhukov pushed the problem to me, I laughed awkwardly, and then said, "Comrade military commissar, the number of tanks put into our army may be similar to that in the Kursk war, but the number of tanks put into the German army can not be compared with that at that time. Even compared with us, they are at a disadvantage in quantity and quality."


    After we had a demonstration on the map, chief of staff Bogoliubov came up with a war report and handed it to Zhukov. At the same time, he said, "Comrade commander, after the artillery preparation, the 60th army, under the cover of tanks, launched an impact on the enemy''s position."


    After reading it, Zhukov asked Bogoliubov without expression: "chief of staff, do you have any information about the 13th group army and the 1st group army of the guards?"


    "No," Bogoliubov said, shaking his head, "I haven''t received any reports from these two groups yet, but I think they are also attacking the enemy''s positions."


    "If you have any latest information, please let me know." Zhukov waved to bogoleubov and said, "remember, whether it''s good news or bad news, you should report it to me at the first time."


    As soon as Bogoliubov left, Stalin''s call arrived.


    The Supreme Commander himself asked in an excited voice that I had never heard before: "Hello, comrade Zhukov, has your attack begun?"


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." Zhukov, holding the microphone in his hand and straightening his waist, said: "at present, general chernyahovsky''s 60th army is under the guidance of tank troops, charging towards the German first line of defense. According to our latest battle reports, fierce fighting is unfolding in the front of the enemy. " Stalin was silent for a moment, then asked slowly, "Comrade Zhukov, do you think our troops can break through the German defense?" When he heard Stalin''s question like Khrushchev''s, Zhukov''s face twitched. Then he said firmly, "Comrade Stalin, our army is absolutely superior in both strength and technical equipment in this offensive campaign. I believe our commanders and fighters will be able to break through the German defense."¡° Well, I''m just confirming. " Stalin certainly knew what kind of forces we had put into the main assault direction, because Zhukov had reported these to him. The reason why he still called to ask about the launching of the offensive was undoubtedly that after the campaign goal was achieved, our troops could liberate the whole of Ukraine and push the front line near the border. When we think that after nearly three years of war, we can finally return to the border line, Stalin, who has always been calm, will also lose his position. Zhukov understood Stalin''s mood very well, and he promised again, "Comrade Stalin, please rest assured. Although the offensive campaign was launched in a hurry, our troops are fully capable of crushing or destroying the enemy. You can rest assured. "¡° Well, I wish you good luck When Stalin finished, he hung up. After Zhukov put down the phone, he called bogoleubov in front of him and said solemnly, "chief of staff, comrade Stalin has just called in person to inquire about the progress of our campaign. So let me remind you once again that no matter what happens on the battlefield, as soon as there is a battle report, you must report it to me immediately. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade marshal. " Bogoliubov replied in a loud voice: "as soon as there is the latest war report, I will report it to you immediately." When I saw that other people in the headquarters were busy, but I was sitting next to Zhukov and Khrushchev doing nothing, I felt extremely uneasy. I stood up and asked Zhukov, "marshal, can you arrange something for me? I''m really not used to sitting around doing nothing like this. "

 Chapter 1460

    Zhukov waved his hand to me and said kindly, "Rita, don''t worry. You are not familiar with many things and have a lot to learn. Our offensive campaign has just begun. You can learn from it slowly. When the campaign is half-way through, it is estimated that you will be able to command a front army independently. "


    It''s only a few days since I served as the deputy commander of the front army, but I have found that there is a big difference between being the commander of the group army and being the commander of the front army. Not only the overall situation but also more issues need to be considered. When Zhukov said that, I sat down and prepared to learn what he said.


    When bogoleubov reported to Zhukov again with the war report, his face was full of joy. When he handed the war report to Zhukov, he said excitedly: "Comrade commander, our troops in the jortkov area have successfully broken through the German defense line and are rushing to the depth of the German defense."


    After reading the war report briefly, Zhukov looked up at bogoleubov and asked, "is our air force out?"


    Bogoliubov didn''t expect Zhukov to ask this question suddenly. After a moment''s hesitation, he replied, "marshal, because of the bad weather today, it snows in the morning and it rains at noon, our fighters can''t take off at all."


    "How can that work?" Zhukov frowned and said to bogoleubov, "if our offensive troops can''t get air cover, what should we do once they are attacked by German air strikes?"


    Bogoliubov''s mouth twitched violently and said carefully, "marshal, I''ll call air force commander General krasovsky now and ask him to send out fighters to provide air support for our attacking forces."


    "I''ll make this call." Zhukov picked up the phone on the desk, dialed a number and told the operator, "this is Zhukov. Connect me with the air force 2nd group army command."


    The phone soon got through. Zhukov said frankly, "Hello, is that general krasovsky? I''m Zhukov. "


    "Hello, comrade marshal." Krasovsky, who answered the phone, asked politely: "do you have any special instructions?"


    Zhukov asked sternly, "Comrade General, I''ll ask you why we don''t send out fighters to provide air support for our offensive forces."


    "Well, comrade marshal." Krasovsky replied in a flurry: "because the snow began to melt these days, the runway of the Field Airport became muddy, and our pilots risked their lives every time they took off..."


    "I don''t care what the runway is like, it can''t be a reason why you don''t provide air cover for the ground forces." "I''ll give you half an hour," Zhukov said in an unquestionable voice. When the time comes, I hope that from the reports of commanders at all levels in the front line, we can see that they have obtained air support. "


    Seeing what Zhukov wanted to say, he hung up the phone without hesitation, which made me feel a lot. I guess it''s just too easy to talk, so sometimes after giving orders, the commanders under my command have to bargain with me. Look at Zhukov, how decisive he is. No matter what objective reasons are put forward by the other party, the orders he gives will be resolutely carried out by the other party. There is no room for maneuver.


    Seeing Bogoliubov still standing in the same place, I couldn''t help asking curiously: "Comrade chief of staff, I have something to ask you."


    "Speak, comrade deputy commander." Bogoliubov heard that I was asking him a question. He quickly turned to me and said politely, "as long as I know, I will give you a satisfactory answer."


    I am thinking of Romanov, who was appointed commander of the guerrilla group army. I haven''t heard from him for almost a year, and I don''t know how he is doing. So I asked Bogoliubov politely¡° When our army launched a frontal attack, did the guerrillas active behind the enemy provide any help? "


    Hearing my question, Bogoliubov frowned and hesitated: "Comrade deputy commander, in every large-scale campaign, there are guerrillas operating behind the enemy lines to provide us with necessary help. They attacked the German lines of communication and bombed the railways, so that the enemy''s additional soldiers and materials could not be transported to the front line in time; Destroy communication lines, paralyze German communication, and so on.... "


    I saw him talking for a long time without mentioning the guerrilla group army under Romanov''s command, so I reminded him, "Comrade chief of staff, we still have a guerrilla group army in Ukraine, don''t we? Why haven''t we got their help until now? "


    After I finished, Bogoliubov asked carefully, "you are talking about the guerrilla army under the command of general Romanov?" Seeing my nod of approval, he continued, "don''t you know? In September last year, the headquarters of the guerrilla group army was encircled and suppressed by the superior forces of the German army, and the whole army was destroyed. "


    "Ah, the whole army is destroyed?" Hearing the bad news, my heart seems to be pulled by someone. After a moment''s hesitation, I summoned up my spirits and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, do you know the specific situation?"


    "This, this..." my question made Bogoliubov become hesitant. It took him a long time to say: "I also listen to others, because I don''t have much contact with him, so I don''t care too much."


    I can''t refute his answer. After all, the guerrilla group army can be recognized by its name. It''s not a regular organization, but a nominal command organization. I estimate that Romanov''s commander can command only two or three hundred guerrillas. He may not be able to fight against the same number of German troops. If he is surrounded and suppressed by superior forces, That''s even worse.


    "Do you know the whereabouts of commander General Romanov?" In order to get more information from Bogoliubov, I also specially stated my relationship with him: "when I was the commander of the 79th infantry army, general Romanov was my deputy commander. We used to fight side by side in many areas, so I am very anxious to know his whereabouts."


    "Rita, don''t embarrass the chief of staff any more. He doesn''t know a lot of things." Zhukov came out to relieve bogoleubov. He looked at the situation and said, "according to the information we have, comrade Romanov was seriously injured in the battle. After being captured by the German army, he showed bravery and unyielding, and was finally killed by the enemy."


    At this moment, even if there is a shell falling on my side, it is not as big as Zhukov''s words. In real history, general Romanov was wounded and captured at the beginning of the war. Later, he escaped from the enemy''s prison camp with his men, fought guerrillas behind the enemy, and finally died because of the betrayal of the traitors. When I fought with him on the right bank of Ukraine last year, I thought his fate had changed because of his appearance. Who knows, in the end, he died on the battlefield.


    I asked reluctantly, "Comrade marshal, do you know how he sacrificed?"


    Zhukov put down his pen, leaned back on the back of his chair and said slowly, "the remnants of the 79th infantry led by Comrade Romanov have been active in the area of Pripyat and Chernobyl since he withdrew from Kiev last year. In order to eliminate the unstable factors in the rear, the German army dispatched a division to encircle and suppress the area.


    After arduous fighting, Romanov led the remaining more than 100 officers and men to break through the encirclement eastward, trying to cross the Dnieper River and join our troops approaching the Dnieper River. But when they crossed the river, they were found and surrounded by the enemy. The commander of the German army was very cunning. He sent a pro German guerrilla group to join them, posing as an outstanding force. When Romanov''s specific position was determined, the German army launched an attack and cooperated with Mali, the evil group that had been mixed in, leading to the destruction of their whole army. "


    After Zhukov finished, he observed the expression on my face, and then added: "only after we intercepted the German war report did we know that general Romanov and his guerrilla army headquarters were destroyed."


    Although Zhukov vowed that Romanov had died, I still asked with a little luck: "marshal, did everyone really die?"


    Zhukov thought for a moment, then shook his head and said: "in the German intelligence, it is only said that the guerrilla group army of our army headed by Romanov was destroyed. It is not known whether all the commanders and fighters were sacrificed."


    At this time, a telegram from the fourth tank army was placed in front of Zhukov by a staff officer. With the latest news on the frontier, the topic of Romanov came to an abrupt end. After reading the telegram in front of him, Zhukov raised his hand and asked bogoleubov: "chief of staff, general lelushenko called, saying that his tank assault force was blocked by an anti tank trench in front of the second German line of defense. You immediately contact Zhouqiao battalion and build a bridge on the anti tank trench so that our tanks can pass quickly. "


    "Is there an antitank trench in front of the second line of defense?" Bogoliubov was also surprised by this information. He picked up the telegram and read it again. Then he said, "strange, when did the enemy dig the anti tank trench? Why didn''t this point be mentioned in our reconnaissance report?"


    "There''s nothing strange about it. The German army may have done something to deceive our scouts. " Zhukov snorted, and then said with disdain, "but no matter how many anti tank trenches they dig, they can''t stop us from moving forward. You should contact Zhouqiao battalion quickly and let them build more bridges on the anti tank trench for tanks and all kinds of technical equipment. "


    "OK, I''ll go right now." Bogoliubov said and turned away.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Zhouqiao battalion built twelve bridges on the German anti tank trench. Our officers and men followed the tank, rushed through the trench and bravely rushed to the enemy''s position. After half an hour of fierce fighting, he finally succeeded in seizing the second German position.


    One after another, Zhukov''s face showed a knowing smile. Seeing the battle report, he nodded his head and said, "yes, we spent a day today, breaking through the two German lines of defense, occupying more than 20 villages and residential areas, and wedging into the German defense, which was four to seven kilometers deep. If our troops can advance such a long distance every day, I believe that the so-called solid defense of the enemy will be completely smashed by us before long. "


    After Zhukov finished, Bogoliubov asked cautiously, "marshal, when can our two group armies, which are carrying out auxiliary attacks, fight?" After listening to bogoleubov''s words, Zhukov tapped lightly on the table with his fingers for a while, then raised his head and said, "order general zhulavrov''s 18th army to attack hmelinik tomorrow and coordinate our main attack direction."¡° What about general Moskalenko''s 38th army? " Zhukov replied without thinking: "although our attack today is going smoothly, we still have to prepare for the worst and let the 38th army as a reserve team stay in its present position for the time being."¡° But, comrade marshal. " After Zhukov finished, Bogoliubov carefully reminded him, "according to the combat plan made in advance, the troops of the 38th group army should fight with the 18th group army at the same time."¡° Comrade chief of staff, plans are dead, people are alive. We should make necessary adjustments according to the actual situation on the battlefield. " With that, he waved to bogoleubov and said, "well, you can pass on my orders." In the face of such a strong Zhukov, Bogoliubov had no choice but to promise and turned to call the commanders of the 18th and 38th group army. Looking at bogoleubov''s back, I think we should talk with Zhukov about the actions we should take after destroying the German defense. Thinking of this, I stood up and said to Zhukov, "marshal, I want to make a suggestion to you." Zhukov raised his head, looked at me strangely, and asked, "what do you think of, Rita?"¡° It is only a matter of time before the German defense is crushed by our army. " My eyes were fixed on Zhukov and I said, "I think we should now consider how to pursue the escaped enemy."¡° Do you have any good ideas? " Zhukov raised his chin to me and said with great interest, "let''s hear it."¡° When the enemy begins to retreat, we can use part of our troops to follow us. The aim is to slow down the retreat of the German army so that they can not get rid of us easily. At the same time, we used our main forces to carry out parallel pursuit from the two wings of the German army, preempting the defensive positions they were prepared to occupy, cutting off their back roads, and achieving the goal of encircling and annihilating the enemy. "

 Chapter 1461

    After listening to my talk patiently, Zhukov nodded slowly, handed me a piece of paper in front of him, and said, "look, this is the order I intend to give to the army after a week of the campaign." With a puzzled face, I took the paper he handed me and looked down quickly. At that moment, I was stunned. It read: "all the army groups should pursue the German army faster to prevent the enemy from escaping. We should make extensive use of powerful vanguard forces to seize road intersections and passes and disrupt the enemy''s March and battle lines I absolutely forbid frontal attacks on fortified German defensive positions. Krasovsky said loudly in accordance with the regulations: "willing to serve the Soviet motherland!" With yesterday''s offensive experience, the 18th army is progressing very smoothly. They succeeded in breaking through the first German line of defense and continued to advance towards the second. Although the attacking troops were still blocked by the wide anti tank trench, according to Zhukov''s order, the Zhouqiao battalion assigned to them opened up in time and began to build bridges on the trench, so that our tanks and infantry could pass smoothly and continue to rush to the enemy''s second line of defense. When Khrushchev saw the war report, he excitedly said to Zhukov, "Comrade Zhukov, it''s good to stagger the main attack direction and the auxiliary attack direction. Yesterday, our main offensive troops were in front of the enemy''s anti tank trench for at least two hours. Today, in less than an hour, two tank brigades and an infantry division crossed the anti tank trench and rushed to the second German line of defense. I believe that the achievements of the 13th group army today will never be less than those of the main offensive forces yesterday. " As for Khrushchev''s statement, Zhukov nodded in agreement and said confidently, "Comrade Khrushchev, what you said is very reasonable. Last night, I had a talk with general ruraliov about the problems encountered by the main attack forces in the course of their attack, and I had an exchange with him and studied the corresponding solutions. It''s just one of them to use Zhouqiao battalion to build bridges on anti tank trenches for attacking troops... "At this moment, chief of staff Bogoliubov strode over, put a telegram on the table and said excitedly:" Comrade commander, this is a telegram from the 60th infantry division of the 18th group army. They have successfully broken through the second line of defense of the German army, It is developing in depth. "¡° Well done. " After reading the telegram, Zhukov raised his head to bogoleubov and said, "call zhulaviov and ask him to immediately transfer the second echelon of troops up. We should cooperate with the 60th infantry division to widen the breakthrough so that our successor troops can follow up in time."¡° I understand. I''ll call him right away. " When the war was going well, everyone in the headquarters had a happy look on their faces, and bogoleubov was no exception. After receiving Zhukov''s order, he agreed and turned to convey the order to zhulavrov. After bogoleubov left, Zhukov picked up the phone from his desk, dialed chernyahovsky''s headquarters, and asked frankly, "Comrade General, what''s the situation there? How much progress has been made today? "¡° Comrade marshal, we are still in our original defensive positions. " Chernyahovsky said angrily: "originally, we wanted to take advantage of the favorable opportunity of the friendly attack to continue to advance in depth towards the German defense. As a result, as soon as the attack started, it was attacked by the German forces under the cover of the air force and tanks. My troops had to return to the defensive area and rely on their positions to resist the German attack. "¡° We must withstand the enemy''s attack, Comrade General. " After listening to chernyahovsky''s words, Zhukov said solemnly, "I will send the air force to support you immediately."

 Chapter 1462

    I once heard people ridicule that "after the battle of Kharkov, the German army forgot how to launch an attack." I used to listen to this as a joke, but today''s situation has proved that it is very reasonable.


    The German counterattack against the 60th group army, after being bombarded by the air force, was like a small shrimps who could not turn over a huge wave, throwing down countless corpses and destroyed technical equipment, and returning to the starting point of the attack. Chernyahovsky seized the opportunity in time to allow the army to launch a comprehensive attack again.


    The main direction of attack went well, and the 18th group army, which carried out auxiliary attack in hmelinik, also showed remarkable performance. In particular, the main force of the group army, the 17th infantry army, was on the offensive, constantly seizing the villages and settlements occupied by the German army, and deeply wedging the attack arrow into the defense depth of the German army.


    Seeing the war report from the 18th group army, Bogoliubov, chief of staff, could not help but say with emotion: "marshal, general zhulaviov has done a good job, and he has beaten the Germans so badly."


    "Yes, the 18th Group Army played well this time, especially the 17th infantry army As soon as he finished, Khrushchev said with approval: "as far as I know, in the early days of the war, before the army was incorporated into the group army, this army, together with the border forces, had a hard defensive battle in the border area of Bukovina in order to cover our troops in the direction of chernofse. It is a pity that since the 18th group army was incorporated into the southern front army, its achievements have been mediocre, so its achievements have been very limited. "


    While they were chatting, Zhukov, sitting on one side, was silent, just holding the war report in one hand and marking it on the map in front of him with a red and blue pencil in the other. After the marking, he raised his head to Bogoliubov and said, "chief of staff, call general pokhov, commander of the 13th group army, and order his troops to stop advancing and use the main force of the group army to defend the existing line of defense."


    Bogoliubov hesitated for a moment about Zhukov''s sudden order, and then euphemistically said, "Comrade marshal, our troops are advancing to the depth of the enemy''s defense. Is it a bit inappropriate to order one of them to stop attacking at this time?"


    "There''s nothing inappropriate." Zhukov waved his hand to him and said carelessly, "even if the 13th group army turns to defense on the spot, aren''t our 60th group army and the 1st group army still advancing in depth towards the enemy?"


    Seeing that Bogoliubov opened his mouth, he seemed to want to say something else. He added: "Comrade chief of staff, the German counterattack today reminds me. If we do not prepare for a rainy day and do not defend well in advance, and if our attack is frustrated and the enemy turns to attack in a certain area, what forces should we use to stop them? "


    "I see, comrade marshal." Zhukov''s words convinced Bogoliubov that he was willing to call general pokhov.


    After staring at the map on my desk for a while, I found that in front of the area now occupied by our army, the roads that can pass became narrower. In such an area, it would be too crowded to launch three army groups at the same time. Today, Zhukov decisively orders the 13th army, which is the slowest to advance, to turn to defense on the spot, in order to prevent the troops from being frustrated in attack and to rely on solid defensive positions to block the enemy when they are attacked by the German army.


    After a few minutes, Bogoliubov came back and reported to Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, the order has been given. General pokhov''s troops will stop attacking in ten minutes and turn to defense on the spot." After the report, he hesitated for a moment, and then asked carefully, "does general Moskalenko''s 38th army really have to wait a few days for them to attack?"


    "Do you have any questions?" Zhukov looked up at Bogoliubov standing in front of him and asked, "don''t you know that in such a large-scale offensive campaign, reserve forces must be left? Judging from the current situation, the 38th group army, which has not yet been put into combat, is the most suitable. "


    In the evening, just as we were jubilant about today''s achievements, general Antonov, the first deputy chief of general staff and head of the combat department, called Zhukov. He said to Zhukov in a relaxed tone: "Marshal Zhukov, please allow me to pay homage to you and your Ukrainian first front army, and congratulate you on the results of the two days of fighting. In two days, you crossed almost impassable fields and swamps, broke through the German solid defense 180 kilometers wide, and advanced 50 kilometers.


    In order to pay homage to all the commanders and fighters of Ukraine''s first front army who have achieved brilliant results, comrade Stalin ordered that 224 cannons be fired 20 times at Red Square in Moscow at 8 o''clock tonight. "


    Zhukov was surprised for a moment by what Antonov said. Then he said in a loud voice to the microphone, "thank you, comrade Antonov. Thank you for telling me such good news."


    "There''s another piece of good news." Antonov continued: "your troops and general konev''s troops have made great achievements in these two days of offensive campaigns. In order to allow you to continue to expand your achievements, the general staff decided: General Malinowski''s Ukrainian third party army will be advanced on March 6, that is, tomorrow, Launch the offensive campaign of bereznegovatoya snigiliovka. "


    "Great, that''s great." It is said that another front army has joined the industry of beating the German army. Zhukov''s face shows a sincere smile. He even said: "we attack the German southern army group from three directions at the same time. The German army is expected to be overwhelmed."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In the next few days, the offensive of the front army was still vigorous. Under the command of Zhukov, the troops crossed the swamps in the muddy area of Ukraine and marched towards the border line. They successively captured the volodysk cherne Ostrov region, cut off the Lvov Odessa railway line, pushed the defense line forward for nearly 100 kilometers, and separated the defense lines of the German tank 1st group army and the German tank 4th group army.


    At the same time, general konev''s Ukrainian second front army, after smashing the German 8th Army Group, arrived at the South Bouguer river with the advance troops of various fast corps, cutting off the South escape road of the German tank 1st army group.


    General Malinowski''s troops also liberated the city of new Bouguer, divided the German sixth group army into two parts, and blocked the retreat of the group army with a fast corps to bereznegovatoya snigiliovka.


    Seeing that the situation was very good, the supreme command was not calm. After some discussion, it formulated new strategic tasks for all front forces. The latest resolution was passed down by the general staff. As vasilevsky was in the third front army of Ukraine, and deputy chief of general staff Ivanov was not welcomed by Stalin, this order was conveyed by the first deputy chief of general staff Antonov.


    He told Zhukov on the phone: "marshal, in view of the success of the battle, the headquarters of the supreme command has redefined the tasks for the troops today, even on March 11: the first front army of Ukraine forcibly crossed the Dniester River from the March, and made a surprise attack on chernofse with its main force, while the right wing, in coordination with the second front army of Belarus, made a new attack on Broder and the Russian army Lvov develops attack. The second front army of Ukraine should forcibly cross the nanbuge River and Dniester River, capture the belizi and kishniov regions and advance to the Prut river. When the front army attacked the Dniester River, it should cooperate with the first front army of Ukraine, the first group army of German tanks, and then turn its main force to the south to cooperate with the third front army of Ukraine to crush the German Binhai group. The task of the Ukrainian third front army is to stop the German army from retreating to the South Bouguer River, seize the ferries of the river in konstantinovka, wozneshinsk and new Odessa, and then attack Tiraspol and Odessa.... "


    After putting down the phone, Zhukov repeated the new order of the supreme headquarters to several of us and said: "comrades, in the face of our fierce offensive, the German headquarters has been panicked. According to the latest information they got today, they quickly deployed 15 divisions to deal with our first front army in Ukraine. What measures should we take to smash the German plot


    First of all, Bogoliubov said, "marshal, I think it''s time to put general Moskalenko''s 38th army into combat."


    "Well, I think so, too." As for bogoleubov''s proposal, Zhukov nodded his head and said: "after a week''s attack, individual troops have become tired. It''s time to put the 38th army into battle. Chief of staff, you immediately prepare an order for general Moskalenko to put the main force of the group army into battle at eight o''clock tomorrow morning. "


    When bogoleubov left, Zhukov looked at me again and asked, "Rita, don''t you have any idea?"


    When Zhukov asked me, I was just looking at the big map on the wall, the red and blue arrows representing our army and the German army. Hearing Zhukov''s question, I quickly turned my eyes to him. After thinking for a moment, I began to reply, "Comrade marshal, judging from the current situation of our army, the 48th armored army of the German army will soon be surrounded."


    Hearing what I said, Zhukov knew the map of the war zone like the back of his hand, but instinctively looked back at the map, then turned to look at me and said, "yes, it is. Did you find any problems? "


    "I''ve dealt with Herman balk, the commander of the army. He''s a very cunning opponent." After the liberation of Kiev, it was this balk who commanded the troops and continued to fight back against Kiev. As a result, the troops of the front army were gradually defeated. When it was his turn to be the target of attack, with his character, he would not wait to die. "I think he would definitely take some measures to get rid of the current predicament."


    "What measures will he take to get rid of the current predicament?" Zhukov looked sideways at the map on the wall and asked me with interest, "Rita, tell me what you think."


    I nodded, quickly walked to the wall, picked up the stick, pointed to the map and said: "marshal, please look. Because our army is advancing too fast, a no man''s land with a width of four or five kilometers has appeared between the 60th group army and the 1st group army of Jinwei. If I were general balk, I would risk passing through the area and retreating towards tarnopol. "


    After hearing what I said, Zhukov held his chin in his right hand and paced back and forth in the room, as if he was thinking about the questions I raised and what decision he was making.


    Seeing Zhukov''s reaction, Khrushchev came up to me and asked me in a quiet voice, "Rita, are you wrong? The German army is badly beaten by our army at the moment. Even if they want to retreat, they will only retreat towards the back. How can they pass through our defense area from the front?" Zhukov stopped, looked at me coldly, and asked very seriously, "Rita, I want to hear how you come to this conclusion?" As for Zhukov''s question, I have already figured out the answer. When I heard him ask, I simply answered, "according to our habitual thinking, the German army will surely be defeated when it is attacked by our army. If they do the opposite at such a time, they will be far beyond our army''s expectation and reach the target of their successful breakthrough. " After listening to what I said, Zhukov did not express any opinions, and began to pace the room with his hands behind his back. Seeing Zhukov''s reaction, Khrushchev was a little anxious. He said to me, "Rita, I think you must have made a mistake. Although there is a gap as wide as four or five kilometers between our two army groups, the Germans do not necessarily know it. Since they don''t know that there are loopholes in our defense, they certainly don''t want to break through from the front. " As soon as Khrushchev finished, Zhukov stopped, turned to me and said, "Rita, I think your judgment is reasonable. With balk''s character, he will not wait to die. He will certainly try to rescue the troops from the danger of encirclement. Chief of staff When bogoleubov came to him, he told him directly, "chief of staff, go and call chernyahovsky and glicko, and ask them to pay attention to their left and right wings respectively, so as to prevent the German army from really taking advantage of the gap between their two groups." When Bogoliubov turned around and wanted to leave, he added: "in addition, let the reconnaissance office send competent personnel to scout the German 48th armored force and closely monitor their movements. If there is anything unusual, report it to me immediately."¡° I understand From Zhukov''s serious expression, bogoleubov realized the seriousness of the problem and immediately turned to make a phone call. He first conveyed Zhukov''s order to the reconnaissance office, and then informed the two group commanders to provide vigilance to prevent the German army from taking advantage of the gap between the two armies to break through.

 Chapter 1463

    The plan couldn''t keep up with the change. At 6 a.m. the next day, before general Moskalenko''s 38th army entered the battle, the German army had used 15 divisions to launch a fierce counterattack in the main assault direction of our army, trying to drive our troops back to the starting position.


    After reading the telegram from the front, Zhukov said to several of us, "look, the German army put nine tank divisions and six infantry divisions into battle in the line of jernopol and proskurov, and took the lead in carrying out a fierce counter attack against us, in an attempt to prevent our army from advancing south."


    After reading the contents of the telegram, I raised my head and asked Zhukov, "marshal, we have ordered our troops to turn to defense immediately and rely on solid fortifications to fight against the German attack and avoid being driven back to the north of the railway line of jernopol proskurov by the enemy. In this way, the railway line of the German southern army group, which was cut off by our army, will be restored. "


    Before Zhukov spoke, Bogoliubov retorted, "Comrade deputy commander, I think you are too pessimistic. Although the German army sent out 15 divisions, it was our three multi arms group army and two tank group army in front of them. If they launched such an attack, they would only seek their own death. "


    "Chief of staff," Zhukov said after listening to bogoleubov''s words, he ignored me directly and asked the other side, "what do you think we should do?"


    "Attack instead of defense!" As for Zhukov''s question, Bogoliubov actually put forward a fighting method that made me laugh and laugh, but he also said with a strong voice: "marshal, although the enemy has carried out counter assault on our army, they do not have any advantage in strength and technical equipment. Our army''s commanders and fighters are in high morale. If we attack them, we can defeat them."


    Bogoliubov''s proposal brightened the eyes of major general kleinukov, who was always playing the role of soy sauce. He stood up from the corner where he was sitting, walked quickly to the table, and said to Zhukov, "marshal, I agree with the chief of staff. Our commanders and fighters are at the peak of their morale because they are successful in company battles. Let alone the superiority of our army in strength and technical equipment, that is to say, the strength and equipment are roughly the same, or even at a disadvantage. The Red Army soldiers armed with Stalin''s ideas can also defeat the enemy. "


    "Yes, comrade Zhukov. I think kleinukov is right." When Khrushchev, who was still calm, heard his deputy say this, he felt a little bit feverish. He pushed the boat forward and said to Zhukov, "if Comrade Stalin knew that our commanders and fighters were fighting against the German army and achieved brilliant results, I think he would be very happy."


    The suggestion of three people leaning to one side made Zhukov difficult. He went to the wall, held his chin in his hand, and looked up at the map on the wall. After thinking for a long time, he turned to bogoleubov and said, "chief of staff, call general Moskalenko and let his troops attack at the scheduled time."


    When bogoleubov ordered, he asked, "how do we deal with the German attack?"


    "Order general lelushenko, commander of the 4th group army of tanks, to dispatch the 22nd army of tanks, the 133rd brigade of tanks and the 18th infantry division to assist the 60th group army and the German army in the attack." Zhukov stared at the map and issued his order clearly: "order general rebarko of the 3rd group army of the guards to send the 6th army of the tanks, the 91st brigade of the tanks and the mechanized 2nd army of the guards to cooperate with the attack of the 1st group army of the guards."


    On hearing Zhukov''s order, bogoleubov''s face showed a happy expression. After he gave a loud answer, he quickly ran to make a phone call.


    Zhukov''s decision cooled my heart, because I knew very well that after a week of high-intensity attacks, with the loss of soldiers and technical equipment, the combat effectiveness of the troops had been weakened. If in this case, regardless of the German attack, the outcome will be very bad.


    Although I had guessed the ending, I didn''t persuade Zhukov, because according to my understanding of him, as long as he made up his mind, even if nine cows could not be pulled back, it would not help if I said it. So I simply kept silent and wanted to see what kind of measures Zhukov would take when the team was repulsed by the German army.


    Khrushchev and kleinukov were talking and laughing. When they looked back, they saw me sitting beside me with a look of depression and saying nothing. They immediately guessed why I was like this. In order to enlighten me, he deliberately turned away from the topic and asked me, "Rita, I have something I haven''t figured out. I want to ask you for advice."


    "Comrade military commissar," when I heard Khrushchev speak to me in such a polite tone, I was not used to it. I quickly and politely responded, "I don''t dare to ask for advice, but as long as it''s something I know, I will answer truthfully."


    "Usually in combat, our division headquarters, even the group headquarters, are only a few hundred meters away from the forefront," Khrushchev asked unexpectedly. "Why are the German headquarters a few kilometers or more away?"


    "It''s no use saying that, comrade military Commissar." Major general kleinukov said contemptuously, "German commanders are cowards who are afraid of death. They can''t be compared with my fearless revolutionary soldiers. They were afraid to hear the gunfire on the battlefield, so they set their headquarters far away from the front line. "


    After kleinukov finished speaking, I gave him a dry smile, and then said to Khrushchev, "Comrade military commissar, major general kleinukov has a certain truth, but this is only one of them. I think the reason why the German army set up their headquarters far away from the front line is that when the headquarters are on the front line, our army may be too aggressive and involved in the battle. In that way, they will lose control and command of the troops. That''s why they set up their headquarters far away from the frontier or the main road. "


    After listening to my analysis, Khrushchev nodded and said thoughtfully, "Oh, that''s true. I always thought they were greedy for life and afraid of death."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The battle ahead was relatively smooth at the beginning, but as more and more German troops entered the battlefield, the battle began to fall into a stalemate. In the afternoon, the troops who had received good news from the top sent out instructions one after another, asking if they could stop the attack and turn to defense on the spot.


    Zhukov looked at the stack of war reports in front of him, his face as if he was going to eat people. The chief of staff, Bogoliubov, stood nervously in front of him and asked, "Comrade marshal, what shall we do next? Is it to order the troops to continue to attack, or to turn them into defence on the spot? "


    "Rita, you are the deputy commander of the front army. What should we do now?" Instead of answering bogoleubov''s question directly, Zhukov turned to me and asked, "do you want to continue to attack or turn to defense on the spot?"


    "Comrade marshal," when Zhukov asked for my opinions, I immediately stood up and replied, "I think under the present circumstances, we should immediately order the troops to turn to defense. After all, since the summer of 1943, our officers and men have been engaged in uninterrupted offensive operations and are very tired. Under the present circumstances, we can turn our troops to defense on the spot. On the one hand, we can prevent our troops from suffering greater losses; on the other hand, we can use the fortifications to weaken and fatigue the enemy''s anti assault forces and prepare for our next attack. "


    After hearing what I said, Zhukov turned to bogoleubov and said, "chief of staff, have you heard everything? The deputy commander''s opinion, which is my opinion, immediately ordered all troops except the 38th group army to stop attacking and turn to defense on the spot, relying on the existing fortifications to resist the German counter assault. "


    After listening to Zhukov''s order, Bogoliubov gave me a look of incomparable resentment. Then he sighed softly and promised with insufficient confidence: "yes, I''m going to convey your order."


    Seeing that Zhukov was working hard after bogoleubov left, Khrushchev pulled me aside and asked in a low voice, "Rita, if our troops turn to defense, when can we turn to attack again?"


    "Don''t worry, my comrades of the military committee." As for Khrushchev''s worries, I said to him with a smile: "the German anti attack on our army is the last madness. They can''t last long. You can wait and see. For a week at most, maybe three or four days, the enemy will have to return to their defensive positions again for passive defense because of the loss of troops. "


    When I spoke, I didn''t deliberately lower my voice, so that Zhukov, who was working, also heard me. He looked up at me. His eyebrows went up involuntarily. He seemed to want to say something, but he didn''t say it in the end and continued to work.


    By nightfall, the front lines of the enemy and US had basically stabilized. Due to the fierce German offensive, several troops were repulsed to the north of the railway. Fortunately, there were many fortifications occupied by our army in the north of the railway. After the repulsed troops entered these fortifications, they blocked the German army advancing northward in time.


    Looking at the newly marked situation of enemy and ourselves on the map, Zhukov''s eyebrows turned into a knot in one''s heart. Seeing him standing in front of the map with his hands behind his back, motionless like a statue, I quickly walked over and stood beside him, and said in a low voice, "Comrade marshal, our troops will temporarily turn to defense. After greatly consuming the effective strength of the German army, we can put general katukov''s first tank group army into the battlefield, and then we will certainly defeat the enemy."


    Zhukov nodded and echoed, "yes, I think so, too." With that, he pointed to the map on the wall and asked, "Rita, do you still think the German 48th Armored Division will break through the gap between our two army groups?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." As for Zhukov''s question, I gave a positive answer: "I am sure that, with Herman balk''s personality, the army will never be allowed to fall into our encirclement. Therefore, he will definitely choose the way to break through. "


    "Then tell me, if they want to break through, where will they go?" Zhukov asked, expressionless, as I finished.


    After a moment''s pause on the map, I pointed decisively at jernopol and said confidently, "Comrade marshal, I think balk will go to this place when he commands his troops to rush out of the junction of our army."


    Zhukov looked at the direction of my finger, shook his head, and said in a suspicious tone: "look, Rita, if the German army is going to pass our defense area and go to jernopol, you see how many cities they will pass through. As long as our troops block them in these places for more than half a day, they will be surrounded by our troops coming from all directions. Balk is not a fool. He will never send his troops into a trap like this. " Seeing that Zhukov was suspicious of what I said, I hesitated and thought about how to persuade him. When Zhukov saw that I didn''t speak, he couldn''t help saying, "Rita, do you think I have a point?"¡° Marshal, "I don''t want to watch balk''s 48th armored army pass through our defense line, so I braved the possibility of offending Zhukov and said," I think it''s balk who has mastered our army''s operational characteristics that he dares to cross our defense line. "¡° The operational characteristics of our army My words aroused Zhukov''s curiosity. As he was about to turn around and walk away, he stopped and asked, "tell me, what are the combat characteristics of our army that balk has mastered?"¡° The present operational feature of our army is to launch offensive operations against larger towns. Many of the previous failures of the German army were to set up their high-level headquarters in big towns or too close to the front line. Balk seems very cunning to avoid this mistake and set up his headquarters far away from the town and traffic lines. " When Zhukov heard this, he raised his hand and interrupted me. After looking at Khrushchev not far away, he said, "Rita, it seems that Comrade Khrushchev asked you in the afternoon why the enemy''s headquarters are far away from the front line, and you answered him. Why, do you think balk will order the troops to bypass our big towns and major traffic arteries when breaking through the encirclement? "¡° Yes, comrade marshal, "I nodded and replied positively," I think balk will do it. "

 Chapter 1464

    Zhukov looked at me for a while, then shook his head and said slowly, "Rita, if the German army used 15 divisions to counter attack our army, this possibility you said really existed. However, at this moment, the enemy who carried out the counter attack has temporarily gained the upper hand. It seems that there is no need for balk to command the troops to break through again. "


    "But, comrade marshal." When Zhukov didn''t care about my proposal at all, I couldn''t help feeling a little anxious. I quickly raised my voice and said, "you should know that even if the enemy is attacking, this kind of attack won''t last long and will be crushed by us sooner or later. I implore you to send reconnaissance planes to reconnoiter the movement area of the 48th German armored division, so as to keep abreast of the latest enemy movements in time... "


    "Well, you don''t have to say it." Zhukov raised his hand and interrupted me. He said with some arbitrariness: "now we are not discussing whether the German 48th armored army will break through the encirclement, but how to smash the German anti assault. "Chief of staff," he said to me briefly, then called Bogoliubov, who was busy on the other side of the room, and said, "inform the commanders of the group army to go to the headquarters of the front army after dark."


    In my mind, Zhukov has always been an invincible and invincible talent, which is certainly related to the legend in the army that where Zhukov is, he will turn to attack; What''s more, he has won great victories in all the battles he commanded. Therefore, his image in my mind is extremely tall. But through the past few days, I found that he was sometimes headstrong, too confident to listen to different opinions.


    When all the commanders of the participating army groups came to the headquarters. From their gloomy faces, I know how much they are holding back in today''s battle. The German was still under pressure yesterday. As a result, today the offensive side turned to the defensive side.


    The first speaker was chernyahovsky. After introducing the defense situation of the group army, he said to Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, the enemy has mobilized reserve forces to attack our attacking forces under the cover of tanks and planes. After the fighting lasted for several hours, although the enemy paid a huge price, our group army had to give up some positions in the afternoon because of the temporary transfer of defense, the poor Fortifications on the positions and the large consumption of ammunition in the fighting these days. In a word, the German offensive today has almost wiped out the achievements we have made in recent days. "


    At the end of chernyahovsky''s speech, glicko also expressed a similar view. He finally asked: "under the current circumstances, comrade marshal, I suggest that the troops temporarily stop attacking and rely on the existing fortifications to consume a lot of the enemy''s living strength."


    With the leadership of the two group commanders, the rest of the commanders no longer have any scruples. They talk about their views on the current situation, and then make a request to Zhukov, hoping that the troops can set up defenses in place, so as to consume the effective strength of the German army.


    Zhukov and all the commanders of the Group Army stood up and analyzed the situation: "comrades, at the beginning of this campaign, we succeeded in achieving tactical suddenness, even though the enemy knew that we were going to attack them and might even guess where our army would launch a surprise attack, Because the deployment of our front army has shown that. Every day, the Germans built more and more fortifications in the expected breakthrough areas, and even deployed elite troops to strengthen these areas. However, under our strong offensive, their defense was soon destroyed by us


    As soon as he said that, a staff officer came in a hurry. "What''s the matter?" Zhukov asked Obviously, I''m not happy to be disturbed.


    Hearing Zhukov''s severe tone, the staff officer flurried over the telegram and said, "Comrade marshal, the urgent telegram from the supreme command."


    Originally, Zhukov, who was full of anger, heard that it was an urgent telegram from the supreme headquarters, and his face immediately softened a lot. He took the telegram from the staff officer''s hand, scanned it quickly, then handed it to me, and continued to analyze it to the commanders present.


    I took Zhukov''s telegram to my eyes and found that the superior''s idea coincided with ours. We ordered our front forces to suspend their offensive operations in the main direction and turn to defense on the spot, so as to fight against the German counter assault and mobilize forces to prepare for more powerful assault operations.


    When I finished reading the telegram, Zhukov just finished analyzing the situation of the battlefield to the commanders here. He took the telegram from my hand, raised it high above his head, and said in a loud voice: "comrades, this is the telegram just sent by the supreme command, ordering us to suspend the attack in the main attack direction and turn to defense, After the enemy''s living strength has been consumed by our army, we will turn to a new attack. "


    At the command of the supreme command, everyone was also relieved to turn attack into defense. Zhukov, after the house regained calm, then announced: "according to the order, we will cross the Dniester River on the way and make a strong assault on chernovitzer, so as to advance to the original border line of our country.


    In order to achieve this goal, after the new attack, the 13th group army was transferred to the right wing of the front army to attack Brody and Lvov; On the left, the 18th and 38th group armies continued to attack the areas of khomelinik, venica and zhmeilinka. And the 60th group army and the 1st group army of the guards, together with the three tank groups concentrated there, with the air support of the air force, took the most decisive action to destroy the enemy''s resistance and quickly pushed south. "


    The military conference presided over by Zhukov ended in only half an hour. As soon as bogoleubov announced the end of the meeting, the commander stood up, raised his hand, saluted Zhukov and me, turned and left the headquarters.


    Seeing that there were only a few of us left in the headquarters, I was hesitating whether to persuade Zhukov to pay more attention to the German 48th armored force, so as not to make balk jump over the wall and escape from the gap of our defense line while other German forces launched a fierce attack on us.


    "Rita, come here." Zhukov, who was already behind his desk, saw that I was still standing at the conference table in a daze, so he called me over. When I walked towards him, I carefully observed his face and saw that he was smiling. It seems that he is in a good mood at the moment.


    I went up to him, thinking about how to mention balk again, but he said, "Rita, are you still thinking about the German 48th armored army?"


    Seeing that Zhukov had guessed what was on my mind, I didn''t deny it. I nodded hard and said calmly and seriously, "yes, marshal, you are right. I still insist on my original view that the 48th armored army of the German army will escape from the gap between the 60th group army and the 1st group army of the guards."


    "Rita, why are you so stubborn?" Zhukov said sternly to me, "can''t you see so far that the enemy''s target is to drive our troops back to the starting point of attack?"


    I saw him frowning and quickly replied, "marshal, although the German army has made a lot of achievements in today''s battle and seized some positions from our troops, these are only temporary. In a week at most, we will have enough strength to launch a more powerful offensive, break through the German solid defensive zone, and advance to our country''s border line. Not only do we understand this, but I believe balk will also know it in his heart. In order not to let his troops be driven into Romania or eliminated by us, all he can do is to lead the troops to break through in unexpected directions when the time is favorable to him. "


    Zhukov did not immediately express his opinion after I made these words clear. Instead, he called bogoleubov over and asked, "chief of staff, what do you think of Rita''s analysis? What I want to hear is the truth. Don''t use ambiguous words to deal with me. "


    I saw Bogoliubov''s embarrassed smile, and I knew that he might be trying to make peace. As a result, Zhukov''s words put him in a dilemma. After a long hesitation, the general, who once served as the first vice minister of the combat department at the general staff, finally said, "marshal, I don''t think the situation mentioned by the deputy commander is possible." He originally thought that neither side would offend, but under the current situation, he can only choose to support Zhukov¡° Even if the enemy can''t resist the attack of our army, they can choose to retreat into Romania. There''s no need for them to break through our defense zone at the risk of the whole army''s collapse. This kind of play is totally inconsistent with military theory. "


    I don''t know what bogoleubov really thinks, but I don''t care a bit about his standing on Zhukov''s side against me. This is because the chief of staff has been in a state of failure since he was taken down from the post of deputy director of the combat Department of the general staff. First, he went to the northwest front army to serve as chief of staff for konev and kurotchkin. In less than a year, the front army was withdrawn. After he was transferred to the front army and served as chief of staff for watujing, he became a soy sauce player in the headquarters because watujing was originally a staff officer and liked to do things by himself. Now it''s not easy for Zhukov to come here. He will certainly seize this opportunity and try to keep in line with Zhukov, which will help his future.


    I waited for Bogoliubov to finish. After a short weighing in my mind, I said decisively to Zhukov: "marshal, although you think the 48th German armored army will not break through our defense line, I still reserve my own opinion. At the same time, I implore you to send a reconnaissance team to closely monitor the movement of the force. "


    "This is no problem." After listening to my last sentence, Zhukov said frankly, "I will order the reconnaissance office to report to you as soon as there is any news from the German 48th armored army."


    Zhukov can say that, has given me a lot of face, I will not fight against him. Anyway, he has said that as long as there is news of the 48th armored army, I can know it at the first time, so that as long as I find any clues of the enemy''s breakthrough, I can inform Zhukov and ask him to deploy accordingly.


    I left the headquarters and walked a little along the corridor. Khrushchev followed me quickly. With an expression of hatred on his face, he said to me in a tone of teaching: "Rita, how can you contradict Comrade Zhukov? You know, he has been in the army for a longer time than you, and his experience in commanding operations is beyond your grasp. Since he said that it is impossible for the German armored forces to pass through the middle of our defense zone, he certainly can''t be wrong. "


    Looking at the leader standing in front of me, I can''t help feeling with emotion. As early as in the war of Stalingrad''s defense, he still looked down on me, but now he is worried that I may have offended Zhukov. In the face of his care, I gave him a little smile, and then said: "Comrade military commissar, facts speak louder than words. As for whether the German army will break through the gap of our defense, I think it will be almost clear in a week at most."¡° A week? " When Khrushchev listened to me with such confidence, he couldn''t help wondering, "Rita, why are you sure you''ll see it in a week?"¡° It''s very simple, "I explained patiently to Khrushchev about his doubts." judging from the scale of the anti attack carried out by the German army at present, it can last about a week at most. When they are greatly weakened and tired, it''s our turn to launch a new round of attack. In order to avoid being annihilated by our army, balk can only choose to break through the encirclement. For him, the best way to break through the encirclement is the gap between the 60th group army and the close guard 1st group army. " When Khrushchev saw that I repeatedly insisted that the German army would break through from the front, he did not criticize me any more. On the contrary, he humbly asked me for advice: "Rita, if, I said if. If the German army really breaks through from the position you said, do you think our two army groups can annihilate them? " To tell you the truth, I admire balk''s adventurous spirit. I dare to let the troops break through our defense area at the risk of the whole army being destroyed. Although I also want to annihilate this armored force, after my repeated observation in the past two days, let alone the fact that the loss of our troops in the main attack direction is too large, even if the organizational system is complete, it is almost impossible to leave this German unit with strong combat effectiveness. Thinking of this, I shook my head and said helplessly: "Comrade military commissar, although I also want to destroy this German army, their soldiers are brave and have strong fighting capacity, and they have such an excellent commander as balk. Even if they pay a heavy price, they can still stand out our encirclement."¡° Is that true? " After listening to what I said, Khrushchev said with regret: "I can''t imagine that with the strength of our two army groups and three tank army groups, we can''t completely annihilate one of the German armored forces!"

 Chapter 1465

    When I was commander of the group army in the past, as long as there was a battle, I didn''t sleep for two or three days. It was a common practice. But since I became the Acting Deputy Commander of the first front army of Ukraine, I feel as if I have entered the holiday mode. No matter how fierce the war is, I can have time to go back to my room to sleep. Even if I sleep until dawn, no one will disturb me.


    Although Zhukov always let me go, he never asked me when I would arrive at the headquarters and when I would leave. But I can''t be too lazy. It''s a bit too much for me to sleep until I wake up naturally. In March, the dawn is getting earlier and earlier. It''s almost bright at four o''clock. I left my room at dawn and went to the headquarters to report.


    I thought I had come early enough, but as soon as I entered the headquarters, I saw Zhukov and bogoleubov sitting at the table, gazing at the map in front of me. Bogoleubov was pointing at the map with a red and blue pencil and telling him something.


    Hearing my footsteps, they looked up, nodded slightly at me, and then looked at the map in front of them. I was very curious about what they were studying early in the morning, so I hurried to get to know.


    After listening for a moment, I could hear Bogoliubov talking about the battle plan of konev''s troops: "marshal konev, with the main force of the front army, attacked the general direction of uman from the region of chemeriskye and ollihowitz, and then went out along the direction of belizi and Yasi to the front of the Dniester river; The left wing of the front army acted as an auxiliary assault to the general direction of new Ukraine


    When Bogoliubov mentioned konev, I couldn''t help thinking that he had been promoted to the rank of Marshal on February 10, but many commanders couldn''t change their words and always called him general konev.


    "... there will be three combined arms groups and three tank groups operating in the direction of the main Turkistan. They will break through the enemy''s defense in the front line of yablonovka olkhowitz and attack in the general direction of uman. Their task is to smash the enemy uman group and occupy radren, gavoron and new Ukrainian areas.


    The auxiliary Raiders were general Zadov''s fifth group army and general sumilov''s seventh group army. The task of these two army groups is to break through the enemy''s defense in the 18 km area of shestakovka and mukhortovka, annihilate the enemy in the new Ukrainian region, and guarantee the victory of the main direction of attack. "


    At this time, a soldier brought us breakfast. Zhukov quickly finished a piece of bread, took a sip of tea from his cup, and then asked in a relaxed tone, "chief of staff, how about marshal konev''s combat plan?"


    Long before the beginning of this campaign, I had read this battle plan of konev, let alone Zhukov. At this moment, he suddenly asked Bogoliubov about his personal opinion. It seemed that they were studying friendly tactics in private. Therefore, I kept silent and ate breakfast quietly.


    After swallowing the bread in his mouth, Bogoliubov pointed to the map and continued to express his opinion: "Comrade marshal, judging from the fighting situation of the friendly forces in recent days, marshal konev''s choice of the main and auxiliary assault directions was completely successful. Of course, due to the crisscross rivers in the main direction, our tanks are difficult to pass, so the enemy''s fortifications here are also weak.


    The chosen direction of attack enables the front forces to divide the enemy''s defenses, expose the enemy''s flanks, and encircle the enemy group between the stebunoy settlement and grand visinka, south of zvinigorodka. There are nearly seven divisions in the first echelon and two tank divisions in the second echelon.


    There are two echelons of friendly forces in the main attack direction. There are 31 infantry divisions in the main attack direction. In the direction of auxiliary assault, of the 10 divisions of the 5th and 7th group army, 8 divisions are in the first echelon of the group army, while the remaining two divisions are in the second echelon of the two groups army.


    Marshal konev adopted this kind of campaign layout because the enemy''s defense was not perfect. He tried to crush the enemy''s resistance at one stroke, thus giving the enemy psychological influence, because the defeat in the Korsun shevchenkovsky campaign had made the enemy''s morale quite low. "


    "Yes, you are right. From the current situation, it is true. " After a few words of appreciation, Zhukov turned to me with a smile and said, "Rita, do you remember when you first met Comrade konev?"


    "Yes, of course." When Zhukov asked me, I quickly nodded, "it was during the defense war in Moscow. I followed you to the headquarters of the Western Front Army. I just saw that the commander at that time, general konev and marshal voroshlov, were having a fierce quarrel about the war pattern of the army''s defense."


    "You have a good memory." Zhukov said to me with a smile, "it''s been so many years. I didn''t expect you to remember the situation at that time."


    "Yes, comrade marshal." I hastened to add: "at that time, the Supreme Commander himself appointed you to take over the post of commander of the Western Front Army, but you recommended general konev... No, now it''s marshal konev, who will be your deputy to command the troops in the direction of Kalinin."


    "He was my deputy for only a day or two and was sent to Kalinin to command the right wing of the front army. While commanding the army far away from the main force and fighting the German attack tenaciously, he fully demonstrated his capable command ability and won the trust of the Supreme Commander himself again. Therefore, as soon as Kalinin''s front army was established, he was appointed commander of the front army. " Zhukov said with great emotion: "konev''s reputation was established after the start of the Kursk battle. The troops under his command not only smashed the German army''s hope of winning the battle at the critical time, but also liberated Kharkov, known as the second capital of Ukraine, in the subsequent campaign counterattack. This is a great achievement." At this point, Zhukov turned his eyes to me, with a smile on his face. "I remember it was your army that planted the red flag on the commanding height of Kharkov."


    Listening to Zhukov talking about my proud achievements, I was a little complacent, but I still pretended to be modest and said, "if it wasn''t for the positive attack of friendly forces, which restrained a large number of German forces, it would not be so easy for us to rush into the city first."


    "What are you talking about?" At this moment, Khrushchev and his deputy, general krinukov, appeared at the headquarters at the same time. As they walked towards us, they asked curiously, "I''m so happy talking!"


    Bogoliubov and I quickly stood up and politely said hello to Khrushchev. At the same time, we politely said, "Comrade military commissar, you must not have breakfast. Please come and have some together


    After Khrushchev took his seat, he continued to ask the question: "what are you talking about? You are all in high spirits."


    "We are talking about the operational plan formulated by konev." Zhukov added: "in the early days of the battlefield, konev''s poor performance as commander of the western front army made Comrade Stalin very disappointed with him and even removed him several times. But later, because he had a good command of the grassland front army and won one battle after another, Stalin found out that he was actually a commander who was good at fighting, so he slowly changed his attitude towards him. "


    After Zhukov finished, Khrushchev coughed gently, then hesitated and asked, "Comrade Zhukov, did you say that?"


    Zhukov was confused by his question: "what''s the matter?"


    Khrushchev gave him a strong wink: "Oh, that''s it!"


    I saw the two people frown and wink, and my heart thumped for a while. My heart said, does what they want to say have anything to do with me? Thinking of this, I couldn''t help staring at them nervously to see if they had anything to say.


    Zhukov, who has always acted decisively, now has an expression of embarrassment on his face. After a long hesitation, he looked at me with a wry smile and said, "Rita, I have bad news for you."


    Bad news. Hearing Zhukov''s words, I couldn''t help but have a cold war. My heart said that except for something, would I have to cancel my post as deputy commander and transfer me to another place¡° Marshal, if you have anything, just say it Although I try to speak with a tone of indifference, there is a tremor in my voice.


    "Last night, I received a notice from the supreme command that, according to general kurotchkin''s recent performance, he is not suitable to continue to serve as commander of the second front army of Belarus." When I heard Zhukov say that, my heart was bright. Was the superior ready to let me take his place? But from Zhukov''s expression, it''s not very like that. If it''s good news, I guess he couldn''t wait to let me know last night. Only bad news, he will have been delayed until now, so as not to affect my rest. I kept silent and listened patiently to what Zhukov said: "the Supreme Command intends to appoint general Petrov to take his place."


    Petrov, I think the name is very familiar, but I can''t remember it in a hurry. When Zhukov saw my blank face, he immediately reminded me, "his full name is Ivan yefmovitch Petrov. During the battle of Stalingrad, under your persuasion, the officer of the" Oriental battalion "who led the army was his subordinate."


    When Zhukov reminded me, I immediately remembered who this Petrov was and asked curiously, "Comrade marshal, isn''t general Petrov in the Caucasus?"


    "Yes, he''s still in the Caucasus." Zhukov nodded his head and said: "Comrade Stalin was satisfied with his outstanding achievements in defending Odessa, Sevastopol and the Caucasus, and called him a rare" defensive general. ". So he is going to be appointed commander of the second front army of Belarus in the near future. "


    Zhukov''s words made my heart sink. My heart said that the superior asked such an excellent commander to take over kurotchkin''s post. It seems that my hope of becoming the commander of the front army has become more remote. However, I pretended to be natural and unrestrained and said: "thank you, marshal. Thank you for telling me the news! As a matter of fact, general Petrov''s command ability is far superior to mine, and his seniority is also very old. It''s true that he will be the commander of the front army. "


    Khrushchev, who was sitting beside me, raised his hand and patted me on the shoulder. He comforted me and said, "Rita, although you haven''t become the commander of the front army for the time being, it''s not a bad thing. It''s time to learn how to be an excellent commander with Comrade Zhukov. When you have rich experience in commanding large regiments, I believe there will be higher positions waiting for you


    "Comrade Khrushchev is right." As soon as Khrushchev finished, Zhukov went on to say, "although you have made outstanding achievements in the war, you have not received systematic education in the operational command of the army forces, and you have no experience in commanding large regiments. If you are promoted too quickly, it may not be good for you." As for Zhukov''s words, I agree with him very much. After the end of the Great Purge of the Soviet Union, the performance of those military commanders who were promoted to important command posts in the early days of the war was obvious to all. The commander of the Western Front Army, Pavlov, and the commander of the southwest front army, kirponos, both lost their lives because of their limited ability. If I am appointed commander of the front army now, without much practical experience, I may be dismissed by my superiors because of my poor performance. I tried to squeeze out a smile and pretended to listen carefully. At the same time, I secretly prayed that the German army would launch an attack earlier. As soon as the successive War Reports arrived, everyone''s attention would be distracted, and I could be saved from the current embarrassment. But I don''t know what happened today. It''s almost six o''clock. The German army may still be sleeping, but the front line of our army is quiet. Just as I was burning with anxiety, I suddenly heard Zhukov say: "however, Rita, the supreme command will never forget the great contributions you made in the liberation of Belgorod, Kharkov and Zhitomir." At this point, he stood up and said to bogoleubov, who was sitting at the table, "chief of staff, announce the order of the supreme command."¡° Comrade o''shanina, please stand up. " Bogoliubov stood up and said a word to me. When I got up, I took out a folded piece of paper from my pocket, opened it, and said solemnly, "in view of the bravery and heroism shown by Comrade oshanina in the fight against the Communist aggressors, and the brilliant results achieved. Tejinshenglida mushdakova oshanina is the rank of general.... "

 Chapter 1466

    After listening to Bogoliubov''s reading of my promotion, I was stunned. Just now I was told that my chance as commander of the front army is slim; In a twinkling of an eye, I was promoted to my rank. I don''t know if this is a slap to a sweet jujube?


    Looking at me standing in a daze, Zhukov coughed and asked sternly, "Rita, why don''t you talk? Don''t you know what to say when you get a promotion? "


    Zhukov''s words made me shiver. I said in a loud voice, "serve the Soviet motherland!"


    After looking me up and down, Zhukov said to Khrushchev with a smile, "Comrade military commissar, do you know that the first time I saw Rita was when I was commander of Leningrad''s front army, when she was a sergeant, commanding an anti-aircraft machine gun platoon, sticking to the polkovo highland. I didn''t expect that just over two years later, she had become one of the senior commanders of our army and won the rank of general. "


    "Yes, comrade Zhukov." As for Zhukov''s statement, Khrushchev also said with a smile: "although the promotion of post and rank during the war is easier than that in peace time, it is almost impossible for a male commander to get such a rapid promotion in such a short time without special ability, let alone a female comrade."


    My heart was very happy with their praise, but on the surface, I tried my best to pretend to be modest and said, "Comrade marshal and Comrade military commissar, in the next battle, I will try my best to live up to the trust of my superiors."


    Just then, a staff officer trotted up to us, holding the telegram in his hand and reporting to Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, the telegram of the 60th group army, the enemy has launched an attack on their defensive positions."


    Zhukov took the message, quickly browsed the above content, raised his head and told Bogoliubov: "chief of staff, you go to call back general chernyahovsky and tell him that in the face of the German crazy attack, you can''t carry out passive defense, you should carry out small-scale counterattack at any time and disrupt the German offensive steps."


    "I see, comrade marshal." Bogoliubov readily agreed: "I''m going to telegraph."


    Looking back at bogoleubov''s departure, Khrushchev said with emotion: "Comrade Zhukov, I find that since you became the commander of the front army, the enthusiasm of the chief of staff is much higher than before."


    Zhukov was surprised by Khrushchev''s words. He was surprised and asked, "has he been living here before?"


    "Comrade Zhukov, you should know that general watujing is a staff officer." In response to Zhukov''s question, Khrushchev said vaguely: "moreover, comrade bogoleubov can not play a significant role in the headquarters for those who like to do things by themselves, which affects his enthusiasm for work to a certain extent. Now, since you came, he has regained the value of his existence, so his enthusiasm is unprecedented. "


    After hearing this, Zhukov just gave a hum, then turned to the wall, looked up at the map, and began to judge the German army''s next move according to the information.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Just as the 60th group army and the 1st group army of the close guard, which were the main attack directions, were frantically attacked by the German superior forces, the 18th and 38th group armies on the left wing of the front army launched a fierce attack on the areas with weak German defense. In a short period of four days, khmerinik, venica and zmerinka were successively liberated, and the defeated troops of the first German tank group army were compressed to the vicinity of kamenitz podoliski.


    After receiving the good news from the front line, Khrushchev became a history teacher for us with great interest. He pointed to the map and said loudly to us: "kamenitz podolisky is a famous historical city in western Ukraine. It is located on the Bank of the motrich River, a tributary of the Dniester River on the left bank. It is a military fortress of all ages and has a Turkish castle built in the middle ages. Once belonged to Lithuanian, military and Turkish respectively, in 1793 with Ukraine into tsarist Russia. It''s an important road hub and railway intersection... "


    Before he finished, Bogoliubov came to Zhukov in a hurry with a newly received telegram and said excitedly, "good news, good news, marshal."


    All of us were attracted by his shouts. Zhukov looked at him and asked, "chief of staff, what''s the good news?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." When Bogoliubov handed the telegram to Zhukov, he deliberately raised his voice and said to everyone, "the troops of the first German tank group army are divided and surrounded by our army in the kamenitz podolisky area, including the famous" Hitler division "and the seventh German armored division..."


    "What, the seventh armored division is surrounded by us?" When Zhukov heard Bogoliubov say so, he snatched the telegram and couldn''t wait to see it. After reading the above, he slapped the telegram on the table and said excitedly, "great, just great. This is really a narrow road for our enemies. In this way, we can settle the accounts with our old enemy, the seventh armored division. "


    Zhukov''s words aroused my great interest. In order to find out what happened, I asked Khrushchev in a low voice, "Comrade military commissar, why do you say that the seventh armored division and we are enemies?"


    When Khrushchev heard my question, he was stunned and then relieved: "I remember that you joined the army after the war broke out, so it''s normal that some things are not clear.


    At the beginning of the war, the seventh armored division cut off the retreat of the Minsk garrison in Belarus, resulting in their encirclement and annihilation. Then, in the vicinity of Smolensk, the division repulsed the troops we were trying to get out of the siege many times, resulting in the annihilation of the troops trapped in the siege. Later, in August, they crossed the Dnieper River and surrounded our four army groups in viazima with several other armored divisions.... "


    Looking at the angry expression on Khrushchev''s face when he told us about our army''s defeat, I knew how embarrassed the Soviet army was beaten by the seventh armored division. Now Fengshui turns to be the seventh armored division, which is surrounded by us. The opportunity for us to take revenge finally comes.


    After a brief introduction, Khrushchev went up to Zhukov, looked at the map lying on the table, and said thoughtfully, "Comrade Zhukov, as long as we capture kamenitz podolisky, our troops will be able to set foot on the former frontier again. Who will be the first to reach the border will be of great significance. Therefore, I suggest that general katukov''s first tank group army be transferred from the main attack direction to our left wing to launch a final assault on kamenitz podolisky. "


    As long as we capture kamenitz podolisky, our troops will be able to set foot on the long-distance border line. Khrushchev''s proposal is so attractive that I feel a little excited. I quickly turned to Zhukov to hear what kind of decision he would make.


    Zhukov stood up, walked back and forth a few times, stopped to look at Khrushchev and said, "Comrade military commissar, I can''t deny that your proposal is very attractive. From my heart, I really want to win such an honor, but under the current circumstances, it is not appropriate to transfer the first group army of tanks from the main attack direction. "


    After that, he quickly went to the table, called me, Khrushchev and Bogoliubov to the table, pointed to the map and said to us, "you see, the German forces are concentrating their superior forces to attack the 60th group army and the 1st group army of the guards in the main attack direction, trying to drive them back to the starting point of attack. At present, we are here to continue our strength and prepare for a new round of attack. Once general katukov''s forces are transferred to the left, we will fall short of our long-term attack. "


    When Zhukov said that, Khrushchev''s face was disappointed. He said with regret: "Oh, if that''s the case, maybe marshal konev will get the honor of reaching the frontier first."


    As soon as he said that, I heard a strange noise. Looking in the direction of the sound, I found that Zhukov had broken the red and blue pencil in his hand. When I saw Zhukov''s gaffe, I was surprised, and then I guessed the cause of his gaffe. In the battle of Korsun shevchenkovsky, Stalin gave the command of the two front armies to konev of the Holy Family zhelung because of the wrong command of vatukin. Konev was promoted to marshal by Stalin because he achieved the goal of the campaign. If, in the campaign launched by the three front armies at the same time, konev led the command troops to reach the border line first, then he would overtake Zhukov as deputy commander in the limelight, which Zhukov could not accept psychologically.


    However, after a period of silence, Zhukov looked up at Khrushchev standing in front of him and said with firm expression: "Comrade military commissar, please remember that our task is to defeat the Communist aggressors and drive them out of our territory. As for whose troops arrive at the border first, it doesn''t matter. Anyway, they are all Soviet troops. "


    With that, he threw the broken pen in his hand on the table and said without expression, "OK, let''s discuss when to launch a new attack on the German army."


    Bogoliubov frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "marshal, today is the 19th. I think we can start our attack on the German army again in two days."


    "Can we attack the day after tomorrow?" Khrushchev doubted bogoleubov''s statement: "you know, the enemy''s attack on us is still very fierce, and our troops in many areas have to withdraw temporarily."


    "Comrade military commissar, what you see is only temporary imagination. In the last few days of the German attack, we have received a lot of replenishment from the rear. In addition to the soldiers, there are also many tanks Bogoliubov confidently told Khrushchev: "our army will have enough strength the day after tomorrow to launch a new attack on the enemy."


    "What''s the matter, chief of staff? Has the superior supplemented the front army?" Zhukov and other Bogoliubov nodded to confirm, and immediately ordered: "all the new troops will be added to the two group armies in the main attack direction; As for the tanks, "he thought about it, and then decided decisively," they will all be added to the 3rd group army of rybalco''s close guard tanks. After the new attack, they will be the main assault force. "


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Zhukov chose 6 a.m. on March 21 when he resumed his main attack on the German army. But two hours before the attack, something unexpected happened.


    Chernyahovsky called Zhukov and reported to him, "Comrade marshal, after the strong artillery preparation, the German army suddenly launched an attack on our defensive position. Although our commanders and fighters have been tenacious in defense, there are still a large number of enemies who rush to our defense depth through the gap between our group army and the first group army of the close guard. "¡° What, the German army, from the junction of your two armies, rushed into your defense depth Zhukov was startled by chernyahovsky''s report. After frowning at me, he continued to ask, "Comrade General, can your troops stop them?"¡° It may be difficult. " Chernyahovsky replied with some embarrassment: "the German forces have rushed into our defense depth. There are at least two armored divisions and one infantry division, and our main forces are concentrated in the front of the defensive position, ready to launch an attack on the German forces. Because the enemy has chosen the weakest defensive area of our army, it may be possible to slow them down; As for blocking them, I don''t think it''s realistic. "¡° Why is that? " Zhukov was particularly dissatisfied with chernyahovsky''s reply. He raised his voice and asked, "can''t one of your army groups stop the three German divisions? Besides, you are not fighting alone. As long as your troops block them, I will inform general glicko of the 1st group army of the guards, and let his troops attack the flank of the German army from another direction, so as to ensure that you can encircle the German army. "¡° "Marshal," chernyahovsky said, after a moment of silence, as if with great determination, "we captured several German officers in the battle. According to the prisoner''s confession, the troops that break into the defense depth of our army are not for attack, but for breakthrough. They are going to risk a passage between us and the first group army of the guards, rush out of the possible encirclement of our army and rush to jernopol. "¡° What, they''re going to rush to jernopol? " When Zhukov heard this, he cast his eyes on me again and asked in a dubious way: "Comrade General, are you sure the prisoner didn''t lie? They may deliberately spread such false information so that we can misjudge the situation on the battlefield. "

 Chapter 1467

    "No, comrade marshal." Hearing Zhukov''s skeptical voice asking such a question, chernyahovsky quickly replied in a positive tone: "I''m also worried that the prisoners provided false confessions, but after interrogating several prisoners, I got the same answer. After understanding this situation, I think it is necessary to report to you immediately to determine whether we need to modify our original attack plan


    After chernyahovsky''s words, Zhukov didn''t speak. He just held the microphone and frowned. It seemed that he was engaged in a fierce ideological struggle. Everyone present, including me, kept silent so as not to disturb Zhukov''s thinking. We should know that in the first two years, the Soviet army was always ready for all attacks, but it was preempted by the German army, which led to the failure of all preparations. This time, he is faced with the same problem. How can Zhukov not be worried.


    Seeing Zhukov''s delay in speaking, chernyahovsky at the other end of the phone was a little upset. He carefully asked, "are you still there, marshal?"


    "I''m still here!" Zhukov said in a voice.


    "What shall we do?" Chernyahovsky asked him, "is it to stop the attack and turn around to destroy the German troops who are trying to break through our army?"


    "Rita, you told me a few days ago that the German army might break out of our defense area. At that time, I didn''t think much of your conjecture, but now your judgment is correct. " Instead of answering the question immediately, Zhukov covered the microphone with his hand, looked at me and asked, "what should we do now?"


    I didn''t feel flattered when I heard Zhukov asking for my opinions. Based on my understanding of Zhukov, he may have found some countermeasures long ago. The reason why he asked me was just to find a supporter. Therefore, I said in a calm voice: "marshal, it''s the thawing season in spring. Our defense area is full of impassable fields and swamps. I believe that the German movement speed will be greatly affected. You can make me smile and say modestly, "Comrade General, I just got this rank a few days ago." After that, I looked at the epaulets of his tank lieutenant general and changed the topic in time: "the next thing your group army is going to attack is the first group army of German tanks. How about it? Do you have the confidence to defeat them?"


    "Don''t you need to say that?" Katukov replied with a relaxed expression: "our officers and men have been keeping up their energy for such a long time. They have long been envious at the achievements of our brother troops. I believe that if we put them into combat now, we will certainly be able to give full play to the strongest combat effectiveness of our troops. "


    I took a look at the map spread out on the table, the dense red arrows on it, and saw that I almost had a phobia, so I only glanced at it, quickly looked away, looked at katukov and asked, "I don''t know which army is the leading army?"


    "The main attack is the 11th army of general Guttman''s close guard tanks," katukov said after saying the number of the leading army. Seeing my blank face, he quickly explained: "they joined our group army after the battle of Kursk."


    Thinking that katukov''s next enemy is the first German tank army, the key to victory lies in the number of tanks, so I asked, "do we have more tanks?"


    Katukov shook his head and said with some regret: "after a long battle, there are still 478 tanks in the whole army. Compared with the German army, there is not much advantage." When he finished this sentence, he stopped for a moment and suddenly asked me, "by the way, I have just received intelligence that the 48th German armored army has broken through from our main attack direction. Is that true?"


    "Yes, general katukov, it''s true." I nodded my head and gave him a brief account of the German breakthrough. At last, I said lightly, "don''t worry, under the attack of our air force, not many German troops can successfully escape our encirclement."


    "Oh, what a pity. What a pity." Listen to me, katukov didn''t say anything, but his chief of staff said with regret: "we missed a good chance to fight with the 48th German armored force. It seems that we don''t have a chance to avenge ourselves."


    The military commissar''s words confused me. I looked at katukov and asked, "Comrade General, what''s the matter? When did your group army and the 48th German armored army form a feud?"


    "Last December, we had a tank encounter with the 48th army." Katukov said bitterly, "as a result of the battle, we lost, losing nearly 200 tanks."


    "Ah, what a loss?" I didn''t know anything about the battle between katukov''s troops and the 48th armored army because I had been transferred to the Belarusian front army at that time. At this moment, listening to katukov''s words, I immediately ordered why he had less than 500 tanks in a tank group army.


    I was silent for a while, then comforted them and said, "don''t worry, although you don''t have a chance to compete with the 48th Panzer Army, as long as you destroy or maim the German tank 1st group army in the next battle, it''s equivalent to revenge with one stone."


    ...... As the first group army of katukov''s tanks entered the battle, the situation on the battlefield became more and more favorable to our army. On the day when the main attack resumed, the German resistance was crushed by our fierce attack. Our army, which broke through the German position, advanced rapidly to the south. Just as general katukov''s tank army advanced to the south, the other army groups attacking from the East, northeast and North also advanced triumphantly. That night, I got a call from Zhukov''s headquarters. He said happily on the phone: "Rita, please tell general katukov that our army has made great achievements in the main attack direction because his troops have successfully broken through the German defense..." after Zhukov finished praising katukov, I asked carefully: "marshal, I don''t know what happened to the German 48th armored army? Have our troops blocked them? " Hearing this question, Zhukov was silent for a long time before he said, "Rita, the German armored forces suffered a heavy loss after being attacked by our air force. At present, the German army has abandoned a large number of technical equipment and broken up into parts to carry out scattered breakouts. I have ordered chernyahovsky and glicko to send reserve teams to eliminate these scattered breakouts. " I didn''t expect that balk could make such a decision decisively after his troops were attacked by our air force. I can''t help admiring him. Under the current situation, it is almost impossible for German tanks to successfully pass through those muddy fields and swamps under the bombing of our air force. But he actually knew how to get rid of the strong men, and let the troops abandon the technical equipment that was inconvenient to move, and take the way of scattered breakout to get rid of our army. When katukov saw that I put down the phone with a sullen look, he asked me curiously, "Rita, you look so ugly. What''s the matter?" I nodded and said with great frustration: "when balk''s 48th army broke through, because of the air attack of our army''s aviation, it abandoned all its technical equipment and let the troops disperse and break through."¡° So that''s it. " After listening to this, katukov said to me with disapproval, "Rita, if the German army really adopts the way of breaking through the encirclement, then they will not be far away from the destruction of the whole army."¡° Why? " I was very interested in his statement, so I looked at him and asked curiously, "Why are they in danger of destroying the whole army?"¡° Isn''t that easy? " Katukov analyzed to me: "after the German army abandoned the heavy equipment, it adopted the way of scattered breakthrough. In this way, the combat effectiveness of their troops will be greatly reduced, and our troops can easily eliminate them."¡° It''s not that easy, general katukov I was not as optimistic as katukov. I shook my head and said to him, "in our defense area, only two divisions have been sent to intercept them. In such a wide area, it is very difficult for a few thousand people to block the enemy who desperately wants to break out of our army''s encirclement. " Katukov listened to me, frowned and thought, and finally nodded in agreement: "Rita, you have a point. In order to quickly break through the German defense line, we can say that all the troops deployed in the main attack direction were put into combat, and the rear became relatively empty. It''s not easy for balk to seize the gap of our army and take bold and risky actions to break through the encirclement. " Everything is arranged by heaven in the dark. It seems that the 48th armored division should not die. As early as a week ago, I repeatedly reminded Zhukov that it was possible for the German army to use the gap between the two groups in the main attack direction to break through, but he didn''t agree at all. Although we tried our best to take remedial measures after the German army broke through the encirclement, if we wanted to encircle and annihilate the enemy who broke through the encirclement, we could not catch them. In any case, in the end, a considerable number of enemies would succeed in breaking through the encirclement.

 Chapter 1468

    Since I am not in the headquarters of the front army, how can I eliminate those who attempt to break through the encirclement? "Let me introduce to you," katukov said to them in a friendly tone: "general oshanina is now the deputy commander of the front army and the representative of Marshal Zhukov."


    After katukov''s introduction, I asked deliomov standing on one side, "general deliomov, your troops are the main attack force tomorrow. Tell me, how do you plan to capture jortkov?"


    Deliomov stepped forward two steps, reached the table, leaned down and looked at the map on the table: "deputy commander, I intend to let the motorized infantry of Colonel babajanian give a death order. Naturally, Boyko did not dare to show weakness. In order to win the high ground, he personally drove the tanks, led all the tanks of the tank brigade, and passed through the area where the scuffle was going on, He stormed into the empty highland.


    The German officers and men, who had fallen into a scuffle with our infantry, were in a panic when they saw our tanks rushing to the high ground. Some of them continued to stay in the same place and launched counter fire with our commanders and fighters in the fortifications; Others turn around and run back, trying to get in front of the tank and run back to the high ground to continue to resist.


    Although the speed of tanks in this era is not too fast, they are definitely faster than infantry. Seeing the German troops coming up from behind, Boyko did not slow down the tank troops, but ordered the tankers to use machine guns to destroy the enemy who came up. With this order, the machine guns on dozens of tanks began to fire at the same time. The German officers and soldiers who foolishly caught up became the targets of the tank soldiers. Under the intensive fire, they fell to the ground in pieces.


    Seeing that the German army was in chaos and a large number of soldiers fell under the machine gun fire of tanks, babajanian resolutely seized the favorable fighter plane and ordered the troops to launch another attack. The officers and men who had received orders stood up from behind the fortifications where they were hiding, carrying weapons, shooting at the surviving German troops, and rushing to the distant highlands without looking back.


    There are only a few dozen enemies left on the high ground. Facing the tide of our army''s officers and men, we are already overwhelmed. In addition, there are dozens of our tanks at the foot of the hillside. As soon as our tankers find the enemy''s firepower point, they immediately adjust their muzzle, aim at the target, and then bombard them, and then the other side will be destroyed.


    Under the successive attacks of our tanks, there were very few German soldiers left on the highlands. The remaining dozen soldiers found that if they resisted any longer, they would either be killed by tank guns or by our soldiers'' bullets. They quickly stopped shooting and waved white flags to surrender to our army.


    General dlyomov gave Boyko an hour to attack, but Boyko, a tank brigade commander who won the title of Soviet hero, only took half an hour to capture the high ground and open the way for the attacking troops behind.


    When he saw that the road ahead was clear, deliomov was excited. When he called katukov to report his good news, his voice was filled with unbearable joy: "Comrade commander, I''ll tell you a good news. We have successfully captured the highlands. At present, the 1st Brigade of Colonel golerov''s close guard tank is along the open passage, Head for jortkov. "


    "Great, general dlyomov. You''ve done a great job After katukov said this, he covered the receiver and asked me, "Rita, do you have anything to tell me?"


    I know that the highland we have just captured is the only barrier to the north of the city of jortkov. As long as we occupy it, the front will be flat. Even if the German army establishes any defensive positions, our tank troops can easily push under the city. After thinking about it, I think that if the tanks encounter German resistance in the process of advancing, it is also a trouble. We must find a way to suppress the enemy in the defensive position. Thinking of this, I said to katukov: "Comrade General, let him set up the artillery position on the high ground and attack the German army that may appear on the way forward."


    Katukov nodded, then released his hand covering the microphone and said in a loud voice, "general dlyomov, deputy commander, order that the artillery position be set on the high ground in order to carry out artillery attack on the German army."


    As for the order given by katukov, deliomov hesitated at first, and then said cautiously: "Comrade commander, the highland is dozens of kilometers away from the city of jortkov. Even if we set up the artillery position here, we can''t get there."


    "What do you want me to say about you, deliomov?" Hearing the question of deliomov, katukov said with some tears and laughter: "I said you were smart before, but now you are confused. Our front is constantly moving forward. After we have occupied the new strategic points, you can just forward the artillery position. Do you understand? "


    "I understand, comrade commander. I understand everything." After listening to katukov''s explanation, delioumov, who was still at a loss, suddenly realized that he even said, "I''m going to order the artillery to set the firing position on the high ground."


    Just when deliomov was ready to put down the phone, katukov told him again: "general deliomov, please tell Col. golerov of the first brigade of the guard tank to carry forward the fearless spirit of fearing neither hardship nor death, overcome the resistance of the enemy and the bad road conditions, and rush to jortkov quickly."


    Katukov put down the phone and said to me with a smile, "Rita, if our troops can really win jortkov in three days, I really want to thank the German commander on the high ground."¡° The German commander on the high ground? " When I heard him say this, I was stunned. Then I understood what was going on. I nodded my head and said, "yes, general katukov, you are right. It would not have been so easy for us to take this high ground if the German commander had not been so hot headed and ordered his troops to pour out and try to seize our defensive positions. " Speaking of this, I suddenly thought of Boiko, who had made great contributions, and quickly added, "there is also Colonel Boiko, who has won the title of Soviet hero. If he had not made a decisive decision and directly attacked the enemy''s highlands, he would have been fighting in our army''s position at the moment."

 Chapter 1469

    As the pioneer of the 1st group army of tanks, the 1st Brigade of close guard tanks led by Col. gorelov, just like a chicken''s blood, rushed directly to the city of jortkov along the road after crossing the highlands.


    Only four hours later, deliomov called us again and excitedly reported to katukov, "Comrade commander, I have good news for you. The tank brigade under the command of Colonel golerov has broken through the German defensive position outside the city of jortkov and rushed into the city."


    "What, Colonel golerov''s forces have already rushed into jortkov?" After listening to the report of deliomov, katukov asked in an unbelievable voice: "this is incredible. Their attack speed is too fast."


    When I heard that the tank troops had rushed into the city, I patted katukov on the shoulder in a hurry. When he turned to look at me, he sped up and said to him, "general katukov, if there is no infantry cooperation, the combat effectiveness of our tanks in the city will be greatly reduced."


    Katukov nodded, then turned to the microphone and asked, "general dlyomov, where is your mechanized brigade?"


    "The mechanized 1st and 3rd brigades, which have just passed the Highlands, are advancing towards jortkov." I heard deliomov on the other end of the phone report: "the mechanized 10th brigade is following the tank brigade of Col. golerov. I believe they are close to the city now."


    "Let Col. golerov slow down his attack and wait for the mechanized 10th brigade to enter the city for coordinated operations." Katukov told deliomov: "in addition, he ordered the mechanized 1st and 3rd brigades to speed up the March and get to jortkov as soon as possible to cooperate with the leading forces to seize the city."


    When katukov put down the phone, before I had time to speak, the military commissar with a happy face beside him said to him with emotion: "Comrade commander, this is the first big city our group army has invaded since the beginning of the offensive campaign. I think we should report this good news immediately."


    Katukov turned his eyes to me and asked seriously, "Comrade deputy commander, do you want to report to the headquarters of the front army now, or do you want to report to the higher authorities after you have completely occupied the city?"


    After thinking about it, I feel that although the troops have just rushed into the city, it is only a matter of time before they capture jortkov. Early report has the advantage of early report, which can make Zhukov happy. Thinking of this, I nodded to katukov and said, "general katukov, you can tell the marshal the good news that the troops have rushed into jortkov, and say that we will be able to liberate the city from the enemy in 30 hours."


    Katukov nodded casually, picked up the phone and was ready to call Zhukov. As he was about to dial, he shivered, looked up and asked nervously, "Rita, what did you just say, report to Marshal Zhukov that we can solve jortkov in 30 hours?"


    "Yes, general katukov, that''s what I said." I nodded with a smile and said, "don''t you have confidence in your men?"


    "There must be some confidence," katukov said hesitantly. "But if something happens and you can''t capture jortkov within this hour, won''t it make Marshal Zhukov angry?"


    "As long as you have confidence." I''ve been staying with katukov these two days to understand his operational deployment and the combat effectiveness of various troops. One day or so is enough to capture a city guarded by only one regiment of German troops. "Now the fighting in the rest of the area has fallen into a stalemate, and the 48th armored army is breaking through. I think the marshal is in a mess at the moment, If he can hear good news, he may be in a better mood. "


    Katukov obviously agreed with what I said. As soon as I finished, he grabbed the crank of the phone and shook it a few times. Then he put the phone to his ear and said, "connect me with the headquarters of the front army and find Marshal Zhukov!"


    After the telephone was put through, katukov reported to Zhukov with some trepidation: "marshal, the troops of the 8th mechanized army of my guards have rushed into jortkov and are engaged in fierce battle with the defenders in the city?"


    "What, your troops have rushed into jortkov? That''s great Zhukov was very relaxed when he heard katukov''s report. After a moment, he asked, "the Eighth Army of the guards has entered jortkov, so where is the 11th army of Gutman''s guards?"


    After katukov reported the position of the 11th army of the close guard tank, Zhukov immediately said, "Comrade katukov, let the 11th army of the close guard tank move forward to the south at full speed. As for your exposed flanks, you will be covered by friendly forces. "


    After katukov finished his communication with Zhukov, he called the chief of staff to himself and said, "chief of staff, give an order to general Guttman of the 11th army of the close guard tank immediately. Let him take action immediately and push southward at full speed. In order to strengthen the army, the 24th Infantry Division was assigned to them


    After the order was given, katukov turned to me and said, "Rita, now the distance between us and the leading forces has exceeded 100 kilometers. I plan to move the headquarters forward. What do you think?"


    "It should be, general katukov." It was obviously inappropriate to think that all the troops of the first group army of tanks were about to move forward and that the headquarters would be left alone in the last place. So I nodded and echoed katukov''s opinion. "Let your chief of staff stay behind and take care of the aftermath. Let''s go to the front line first."


    Although I made up my mind not long ago that I would never take risks in the forefront. However, this time I put forward to go to the front with katukov, mainly considering two points. First, katukov is the commander of the tank group army. Even if we go to the front with a light car, at least we are equipped with armored vehicles or command shelter, so we don''t have to worry about the attack of scattered soldiers on the road; Second, even if he was lucky, he hardly encountered any danger in the later stage of the war. If he acted with him, his safety could be guaranteed.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Our armored car slowed down after a short time driving along the road over the high ground. Katukov asked curiously, "why slow down?"


    The second lieutenant in the armored car turned and reported, "Comrade commander, the road ahead is too crowded for us to speed up."


    Hearing what the driver said, I quickly opened the lookout and looked out. The road was full of stopped and destroyed vehicles. A convoy of our army was also blocked here. I saw many dead Germans lying on the road ahead. A large number of supplies, not only filled the road, but also spread all over the fields, so that our armored vehicles could not pass by the roadside, and could only follow the motorcade slowly.


    Katukov also saw this scene. He pointed to the outside and said to me, "look, Rita, before our army broke through the highland line, the German army was in chaos. On the road and in the fields, there were many upside down vehicles, guns, supplies and hundreds of German soldiers and officers."


    I really didn''t expect that the German army would be defeated so quickly after being attacked by katukov''s troops that the tank brigade of Col. golerov broke through the German defense line along the way in just a few hours and quickly pushed forward to the city of jortkov. From this situation, it is estimated that the German army in the city can''t sustain for a day.


    Our armored car had to stop because of the traffic jam ahead. As soon as I stopped, I heard the sound of the motorcycle motor coming from far and near, and soon stopped beside our car. Then I heard someone asking loudly, "is the commander in the car?"


    At the sound of the inquiry, katukov got up, pushed the door open, then half popped up and asked, "isn''t this comrade deliomov? Where did you come from?"


    It''s said that it''s deliomov outside the door. I quickly look out the door. Standing upright under the car, deliomov replied with a smile: "report commander, my headquarters is located in the forest only a few hundred meters away from here. Some subordinates reported to me that I might be you only after several armored cars came. So I came to take a chance. I didn''t expect it to be you."


    Katukov asked deliomov to get on the bus and asked, "Comrade General, what''s the situation there at present? When can our troops capture the city?"


    "We have occupied one third of the cities and the fighting is still going on." "The first brigade of the close guard tank and the other three mechanized brigades all showed great bravery," he replied


    "Why, in the city of jortkov, there is only one tank brigade and three mechanized brigades?" After listening to his reply, katukov frowned and asked discontentedly, "where are the rest of the troops?"


    Seeing the dissatisfaction on katukov''s face, deliomov quickly explained: "well, comrade commander, according to the reconnaissance, there is no defense in the southwest of jieliebovli, so I asked babajanian''s motorized infantry 20th brigade and captain Boyko''s tank 64th brigade to turn around and attack jieliebovli."


    Katukov spread the map on his leg, bowed his head to find the position of terebovli, nodded and said with approval: "Comrade General, well done. If we can capture terebovli, then we are equal to establishing a starting point of attack that can rush to the Dniester river at any time."


    "Comrades commander," heard that katukov agreed with his own practice, deliomov''s face showed a proud expression: "I think the same way. Even if our army can''t succeed in attacking jortkov for the time being, with the foothold of jieliebovli, we can launch a new offensive against the city again."


    Katukov set up his new headquarters ten kilometers north of jortkov, where he could hear the roar coming from the front and see the smoke rising from the city.


    When it was dark in the battle of jortkov, only half of the city was occupied by our army, and the remnants of the German army stuck to the south of the city, relying on the buildings and the fortifications they had built in advance, and were fighting tenaciously. Just as katukov and his deputies were discussing whether to suspend the attack or continue the night battle, the expected good news came from the 8th guards.


    "Comrade commander, I''d like to tell you the good news that babajanian''s troops have succeeded in seizing jieliebovli," he told katukov over the phone


    When he heard about the liberation of terebovli, katukov, who had always been calm, also made some gaffes: "is this true, general deliomov?" After receiving the affirmative reply from the other side, he said in a slightly trembling voice, "well done, general dlyomov, your soldiers are all well done. Please convey my thanks to them for liberating terebol from the clutches of the German army." After katukov finished speaking, deliomov asked carefully, "Comrade commander, it''s dark, and fierce fighting is still going on in the city of jortkov. Do you think we can stop the attack and wait until tomorrow morning?"¡° No, general dlyomov, the attack cannot stop. " If katukov had been in a dilemma a few minutes ago about whether to continue or suspend the attack, he had made up his mind at the moment. He said to the microphone, "according to the information we have, there are only seven or eight hundred German troops left in the city, and our strength is several times that of them. The attack must not be stopped. The commanders and fighters must continue to carry out the attack and strive to annihilate the garrison in the city in the shortest time. "¡° Well, comrade commander. " After listening to katukov''s words, deliomov said frankly: "there is no unified command for the troops in the city. If we want to fight at night, I need to go to the city myself. Do you allow it? "¡° I agree! " Deliomov spoke boldly, and katukov agreed very readily. However, he finally said, "but you should pay attention to your own safety!" As soon as we finished our conversation with deliomov, we got a call from Gutman. Hearing katukov''s voice, he immediately reported: "Comrade commander, my tank army has broken through the German four lines of defense today, and the whole army has advanced 70 kilometers. If there is no accident, it will reach the Dniester River tomorrow afternoon at the latest." Katukov was also very satisfied to hear that Guttman''s troops were advancing so fast. He said to the microphone, "well done, general Guttman. I hope you will continue to work hard tomorrow to get to the banks of the Dniester River as soon as possible."

 Chapter 1470

    The news of the recovery of terebovli was reported to Zhukov by me instead of katukov. After hearing this, Zhukov gave a hum, and then said a routine: "katukov''s men are all good, Rita. Please convey my thanks to the commanders and fighters for their excellent performance."


    Since Zhukov is saying the same thing, I can only politely say: "serve the Soviet motherland!"


    Zhukov was silent for a moment, and suddenly asked, "Rita, what do you think is the reason why katukov''s troops can capture the city occupied by the German army in such a short time?"


    I didn''t expect Zhukov to ask this question suddenly. After a short period of confusion, some stuttered and said, "marshal, I think there are three main reasons why we are able to liberate jieliebovli so quickly. First, our commanders have become more mature after a long period of fighting. They can adjust their tactics according to the situation; Second, our technical equipment has been strengthened. Compared with the enemy, we occupy a larger proportion; Third, our soldiers are very brave in the battle. I think these are the reasons why our army can win quickly. "


    Zhukov did not comment on what I analyzed. Instead, he asked, "according to what I know about katukov, his troops must be attacking jortkov at the moment, right? So, when can you take the city? "


    I silently calculated the number of remaining German troops in the city and the number of our troops participating in the street battle. Then I decisively replied, "if there is no accident, marshal, I think that at about two o''clock tomorrow afternoon, the troops will be able to solve the battle and eliminate the remaining enemies in the city."


    As soon as I put down the phone, katukov asked me nervously, "Rita, although there are only a few hundred German soldiers left in the city, they are scattered in the residential buildings in the city, cooperating with those fixed fire points to prevent our army from advancing towards the south of the city. I think if we want to win the city completely, it will take at least one day and one day, and the battle will be solved at two o''clock in the afternoon. I think it''s a bit unrealistic. "


    This battle of proskurov chernovitzer has no impression in the history I know. But just because I don''t know doesn''t mean I can''t guess the outcome of the campaign. After all, it''s 1944 now. After the Kursk war, the German army won''t have any decent victory in the Soviet battlefield. As for katukov''s worries, I comforted him with a smile and said, "general katukov, there is nothing to worry about. You should have confidence in your subordinates. It is believed that there will be no problem to completely capture jortkov in more than ten hours. "


    "But, Rita," katukov said with an embarrassed look on his face, "although the number of German troops in the city is limited, we can''t be blindly optimistic and prepare for the worst. In case of any accident, it''s not easy to explain it to Marshal Zhukov. "


    "Don''t worry, general katukov." I pointed to the red arrow representing our army on the map and said to him, "we are three front armies attacking from several directions at the same time. The German army had to allocate their limited forces to several battlefields to fight against our army''s attack. In our battle area, the 11th army of general Guttmann''s close guard tank has rushed to the Dniester River rapidly, which has restrained a large number of German troops. They are unable to send troops to reinforce the city of jortkov. In this way, the German army in the city has become an isolated army. Under the attack of several times our strength, they will not last long


    My words strengthened katukov''s confidence. He nodded and said, "well, Rita, since you say so, I''ll call general deliomov immediately and ask him to strengthen the offensive at night and try to completely solve the enemy in the city by tomorrow afternoon."


    Seeing that katukov was going to make a phone call, I suddenly remembered what Khrushchev had told me some time ago, and quickly asked: "Comrade General, I once heard that when our army attacked a city built in the middle ages, as long as we put the red flag on the top of the municipal building, it was equivalent to occupying this kind of city. Have you heard of that? "


    "Yes, it is." As soon as I finished, the military commissar next to me took the lead and said to katukov, "Comrade commander, this is a good way. If, at two o''clock tomorrow afternoon, our troops have not been able to wipe out the enemy in the city, they will plant a red flag on the top of the municipal building, which will also announce that we have occupied the city. "


    Seeing that the military commissar agreed with me, I kept my eyes on katukov and saw what kind of decision he would make. Unexpectedly, after thinking for a while, he shook his head and said firmly, "no, I can''t cheat like this. As long as there is a German in the city, I will never report the occupation of jortkov to my superiors. "


    Katukov''s attitude made me feel a little embarrassed. After all, I boasted to Zhukov without consulting him. If I really couldn''t capture the city before two o''clock tomorrow afternoon, it would cause him to be blamed by Zhukov.


    While I was blaming myself, katukov said to me with a smile, "Rita, you have a very right saying. I want to believe in my own soldiers and believe that they will be able to liberate this city enslaved by the Germans within the prescribed time. "


    ... in the next few hours, I felt like I was on pins and needles, just like when I was studying, waiting for the teacher to announce the exam results. Katukov asked me to rest several times, but I waved him down. I''m kidding. In the current situation, even if I go back, I can''t sleep at all. I might as well stay here and at least know the progress of the battle at the first time. At three o''clock in the morning, deliomov called katukov. He reported: "Comrade commander, after fierce fighting, the remnants of the German army in the city have been compressed into the machinery factory in the south of the city by our army. They rely on those solid factory buildings to carry out the final resistance. " After listening, katukov was silent for a moment. Then he asked, "general dlyomov, can your troops solve the battle before dawn?" When I heard what katukov said, I was stunned. After March, it was early in the morning, usually around 4:30, and it was almost full. That is to say, he hoped that deliomov would solve the battle in an hour and a half. Eager to find out what deliomov''s answer was, I leaned slightly towards katukov so that I could hear the conversation between him and deliomov. After a long silence in the microphone, I heard deliomov reply: "Comrade commander, the situation is not very optimistic. The production workshops occupied by the enemy were solid and surrounded by open fields. Our soldiers launched two charges and were repulsed by the enemy. "¡° If the enemy were so easily destroyed, we would have driven them out of the border. " After muttering, katukov asked, "are there any tanks in the factory?"¡° Yes, "he said immediately after hearing katukov''s question," there are more than a dozen tanks of gorelov''s tank brigade in the factory. "¡° It''s easy with tanks. " Katukov began to teach his subordinates how to attack: "Comrade General, you have three tanks in a group, followed by a platoon. After the tank fire destroyed the enemy''s exposed fire points, the infantry crossed the tank and occupied those destroyed fire points. Do you understand? "¡° I see, "deliomov promised casually, but still asked a little uneasily," Comrade commander, is this attack effective? "¡° Do you know if it has any effect by trying? " Katukov said impatiently: "it''s better to have tanks to guide the attack than to let our commanders and fighters rush to the open ground without any firepower cover and let the Germans be the target."¡° I see, comrade commander. " Deliomov recognized the dissatisfaction in katukov''s tone and quickly replied, "I immediately organized the troops to launch a new attack." I don''t know whether katukov''s tactics are good or whether there are few German troops left to resist the fierce attack of our army. Only forty minutes later, deliomov called katukov to report his good news: "Comrade commander, I have good news for you that my troops have successfully eliminated the enemy who is in the factory. So far, the whole city of jortkov has been destroyed by us. "¡° Great, general dlyomov. That''s great. " Katukovton beamed with joy when he heard the news reported by deliomov. He said repeatedly to the microphone, "please express my thanks to the commanders and fighters for liberating the city from the clutches of the German army." After they finished a lot of nutritious words, katukov also put down the phone. I looked at him and asked, "Comrade General, what are you going to do next?" After taking a look at the map, katukov turned and asked the chief of staff, "Comrade chief of staff, where is babajanian''s motorized infantry brigade 20?" Hearing katukov''s question, the chief of staff quickly picked up the red and blue pencils on the table, pointed to the map and said, "Comrade commander, after occupying jeribovli, after a short rest, babajanian''s troops and captain Boyko''s tank 64th brigade have moved along the road to the Dniester river. I believe they can reach the river before noon." After the chief of staff finished, katukov pointed at the map with his hand and added: "now that jortkov has won, let the 1st Brigade of the close guard tank rest until 8 a.m., and then drive along the road to zaleshiki area with the 10th mechanized brigade."

 Chapter 1471

    Katukov and his chief of staff were ready to March the troops all night, and to rush decisively to the depth of the enemy before the German army had time to adjust its deployment. As for the deployment of the two, the military commissar expressed his worry. He looked at katukov and said, "Comrade commander, our commanders and fighters have not been well rested after a long battle and have become exhausted. If they are ordered to march all night under such circumstances, I am afraid that the combat effectiveness of the troops will be greatly reduced. " After that, in order to seek my support, he turned his eyes to me and added, "don''t you think so, comrade deputy commander of the front army?"


    I very much agree with the deployment made by katukov. Under the current situation, only when the troops are expensive and swift can the German army be beaten hard to turn over. Thinking that katukov''s military commissar was a political cadre and a layman in military affairs, he explained to him with a smile, "Comrade military commissar, I understand what you mean, though the commanders and fighters are very tired after many battles. However, the huge victory we have just won is bound to boost the morale of the troops and make them more brave in the next battle. At the same time, our pursuit while winning will make the Germans have no time to build fortifications, which will help us further expand our achievements. "


    After I finished, katukov added: "yes, comrade military commissar, what Lida said is exactly what I want to say. If nothing happens, our troops will be able to reach the Dniester River during the day


    After listening to katukov''s words, the military commissar said with a smile: "Comrade commander, you are the chief military officer. You know more about military affairs than I do. Since you said that we can achieve greater results while pursuing victory, I believe that what you said will come true. "


    I reminded katukov, "Comrade General, since we have captured jortkov, should you report this good news to the marshal?"


    In fact, even if I don''t remind katukov, he is ready to report the good news to Zhukov. At the moment, hearing what I said, he pushed the boat forward and said, "well, I''ll report to the marshal right now."


    Zhukov was also overjoyed after receiving katukov''s good news call. After a while, he asked cautiously, "Comrade katukov, can your troops reach the river Dniester today?"


    "No problem, comrade marshal." In response to Zhukov''s question, katukov answered with confidence: "my troops were divided into two groups and rushed to the Dniester river at the same time. According to our prior reconnaissance, the German army has no particularly strong defense in this area. I believe that my soldiers will be able to complete this glorious task. "


    After listening to katukov''s reply, Zhukov continued: "at present, rebarko''s third group army of close guard tanks is attacking kamenitz podolisky. At the same time, general lelushenko''s fourth group army of tanks is also sent to detour westward. We must encircle the first group army of German tanks in the shortest time."


    "I see, comrade marshal." Although Zhukov did not explain the specific task, as an experienced senior commander, katukov immediately understood what he should do. He said to Zhukov, "we will capture chernofse in the shortest time and encircle the German tank 1st group army with friendly forces."


    Seeing katukov put down the phone, his military commissar said with a smile: "Comrade commander, we are the first group army of tanks, and Hube is also commanding the first group army of German tanks. We will soon see who is really the first."


    After listening, katukov laughed at his military commissar, and then asked the chief of staff, "chief of staff, when will our infantry division be able to get to the Dniester?"


    I understand katukov''s purpose of asking this question. Without the assistance of infantry, it is not difficult to encircle a city only by tank troops, but it is not so easy to capture a city.


    Only the chief of staff replied, "Comrade commander, at present, the 24th infantry division is advancing towards the Dniester river with general Gutman''s close guard tank 11th army. They are less than 40 kilometers behind the tanks."


    "Forty kilometers?" Hearing the data reported by the chief of staff, katukov could not help frowning: "for infantry, forty kilometers is equivalent to a day''s journey. Is the distance between our infantry and tanks a little too wide? "


    "There''s no way, comrade commander." The chief of staff shrugged his shoulders and said with some helplessness, "due to the shortage of vehicles, except for mechanized brigades, ordinary infantry can only walk, so the marching speed is inevitably affected."


    After the chief of staff finished, katukov turned to me for help: "Rita, do you think you can apply to Zhukov to provide us with a batch of trucks to transport troops?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander of the front army." When he heard katukov say this, his chief of staff could not help but brighten his eyes and quickly added: "I heard that there are a number of new US aid trucks in the headquarters of the front army, whose cross-country performance and load are better than those we are equipped with now. Do you think you can ask the higher authorities to provide us with a batch for transporting soldiers? " Fearing that I would not agree, he added, "not too many, just a hundred will be enough."


    A hundred is enough? When I heard the chief of staff say this, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly to myself. I said in my heart: do you think there are American aid trucks all over the mountains and fields, and you can easily transfer 100? However, since he made a request and katukov looked at me with expectant eyes, I couldn''t help but nod my head and say reluctantly, "OK, I''ll try by phone, but I don''t know if the superior is willing to provide you with the trucks you need."


    Before I called, I thought about it carefully. It would not be appropriate to find Zhukov for this kind of thing. He was full of thoughts about how to capture the city and encircle the German troops. He would never mind such trifles. If you want to do this, you can only go to bogoleubov, chief of staff, who will negotiate with the Minister of logistics to provide necessary trucks for katukov''s troops.


    I made up my mind. I asked the chief of staff of katukov to call the headquarters of the front army for me. When I heard Bogoliubov''s voice, I didn''t beat him around the Bush and said frankly, "chief of staff, I have something I want to ask you for help."


    Bogoliubov was stunned for a moment when he heard that I had something to ask him for help. Then he asked, "Comrade deputy commander, do you want to call me? Do you want to transport soldiers for the first group army of katukov''s tanks?"


    I didn''t expect that before I spoke, Bogoliubov guessed what I was going to do and asked curiously, "chief of staff, how do you know I want to ask you for a truck?"


    Bogoliubov snorted, and then replied: "recently, I have received phone calls from various army groups every day. They are all about the idea of new American dodge trucks..."


    When I heard Bogoliubov say the name of dodge truck, the image of Jiefang Truck, which is common in later generations, appeared in my mind. This kind of truck not only transports many soldiers, but also can pull heavy artillery. Compared with it, the trucks the Soviet army is now equipped with are a pile of rubbish.


    After he finished, I said in a deliberative tone: "Comrade chief of staff, at present general katukov''s first tank group army is advancing towards the Dniester river. Due to the shortage of transport vehicles, the infantry are far behind the tanks. You should know that without the cooperation of infantry, it is very difficult for tank troops to capture a city. "


    I don''t know if it was my words that moved Bogoliubov, or if he thought about my identity and hesitated for a moment, he asked carefully, "how many cars do you want?"


    "I''ll take as much as you can give me." Next to katukov, they heard bogoleubov was willing to provide us with trucks, and they all came together. I gave a few people a smile, and then said: "it''s better not less than 200."


    When I said this, I knew in my heart that even if the Logistics Department of the front army had 200 dodge trucks, it would not be possible to give them all to me. When I say this, I''m just thinking about asking exorbitant prices and repaying money on the spot. I always want to give Bogoliubov a bargaining space. If I only want 100 cars, he may only give me 80 or even less in the end.


    When katukov heard that I wanted 200 trucks, he opened his eyes wide in surprise. However, at this time, he did not dare to speak, so he could only write a few strokes on the paper and then handed them to me. I quickly looked through the contents on the paper and saw that it said: "there are too many 200 cars. The superior won''t give them to me. A hundred will be enough! "


    After reading the contents of the paper, I nodded to him slightly, indicating that I knew, and then waited for Bogoliubov''s reply. Bogoliubov, on the other end of the line, was silent for about two or three minutes. Then he said with some embarrassment, "Comrade deputy commander, at present, there are only less than 300 trucks in the logistics department. If you have to walk 200 trucks this time, you can''t meet the needs of other troops. Besides, it may also cause gossip that I am too eccentric... "


    "Come on, chief of staff, stop talking. I understand what you want to say. " I didn''t wait for him to finish, so I interrupted him and asked decisively, "just say, how many trucks can I have?"


    "I can''t give you two hundred." Bogoliubov bit his back teeth and replied, "I can only give you 120 at most. No more."


    In order to prevent Bogoliubov from going back on his words, I pretended to regret and said, "there are only 120. It''s too few. But there''s no way. After all, it''s a big regiment fighting now, and we can''t give all the materials in the rear. In this way, the commanders of other troops will have opinions on you, so I''ll take these 120 vehicles. But there is a condition, you should give me all the drivers, and then drive to... "Speaking of this, I covered the microphone with my hand and asked katukov in a low voice," Comrade General, where do you want them to drive the truck? "


    When he heard that I had asked for 120 American trucks from my superior, katukov was very happy for a long time. He gave me a thumbs up and then whispered, "let the driver drive all the trucks to jortkov."


    I nodded, released my hand covering the microphone, and then said, "Comrade chief of staff, let the driver drive the truck to jortkov. We can let the infantry wait there."


    "Great, comrade deputy commander. How wonderful you are After I put down the phone, the chief of staff, like katukov, gave me a thumbs up and said with admiration: "it was very difficult for me to get a hundred trucks, but I didn''t expect that with a few words from you, we wanted 120 trucks."


    After listening to the chief of staff''s praise, I just smile and say that in future generations, I am a businessman in your country. This kind of bargaining is just a piece of cake for me. However, my face did not show complacency. Instead, I turned to katukov and asked, "Comrade General, don''t you know these trucks are enough to transport your troops?" Katukov thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "enough. As long as the carriage of dodge truck is slightly modified, one car can hold at least 30 soldiers, 120 cars can hold 3600 people. The 24th Infantry Division has only 5000 people, so half of the commanders and fighters can ride on cars, and the rest can walk, so that the combat will not be affected. "..." Bogoleubov''s truck arrived at jortkov at noon. The 24th infantry division, who had been waiting here for a long time, after waiting for cars one after another, the motorcade advanced along the main road to the banks of the Dniester river. In the evening, encouraging news came from the troops ahead. Col. gorelov''s 1st Brigade of close guard tanks and Col. babajanian''s 20th brigade of motorized infantry arrived in the zareshiki region and the Dniester river. The 11th army of general Gutman''s bodyguard tanks also entered the Dniester river. After receiving this series of good news, katukov couldn''t help cheering. After he was happy, I asked him with a smile, "Comrade General, since your two armies have reached the Dniester River, what are you going to do next?"¡° Chief of staff, "katukov turned to his chief of staff," have the troops chosen a good crossing point? " The chief of staff shook his head and replied, "Comrade commander, because all the bridges on the river were destroyed when the German army retreated, our army is unable to cross the river for the time being." When I looked at the map, I found that the shape of the Dniester river was nine bends and eighteen bends. I couldn''t help interrupting and saying, "general katukov, look at the shape of the river. Although the bridge on the river was destroyed by the German army, we can build bridges in the gentle section of the river, and then cross the Dniester River from this section."

 Chapter 1472

    Katukov listened to me, looked down at the map on the table, and said casually: "the front army assigned us two pontoon barracks. Even if the German army blew up all the bridges, it''s no big deal. We can choose the section with gentle River to set up the pontoon bridge for the army to pass. But... "


    Half way through katukov''s words, it suddenly stopped. I couldn''t help asking anxiously, "but what?"


    "Comrade deputy commander of the front army," katukov''s chief of staff respectfully explained to me, "although the battle has only lasted two or three days, our logistics supply troops have fallen far behind because our troops are advancing too fast. If our troops in the front can''t replenish in time, it won''t be long before they lose the ability to continue to advance. So I think that after the completion of the river crossing operation, the troops should stop and rest on the spot, wait for the rear supply to arrive, and then continue to attack the enemy. "


    The chief of staff''s words made me aware of the seriousness of the problem. At the beginning of last year, although the forces of the Voronezh front army and the southwest front army launched the Kharkov campaign were several times more than those of the German army, due to the lack of logistics, they won first and then lost, and were defeated by the forces of Manstein. If the same happens to katukov''s troops, I''m afraid they will make the same mistake in the end.


    Thinking of this, I turned to look at katukov and asked with a serious expression, "general katukov, if you move the logistics base forward, it will take you a few days to launch another attack."


    Katukov thought for a moment, then frowned and said, "I think under the current road conditions, it will take at least three days to replenish the troops with the ammunition and fuel they need to continue fighting."


    "Three days?" After hearing this, I immediately shook my head and objected: "no, three days is too long for the Germans to build a new defense on the South Bank of the river. When the time comes, our troops will have to pay a huge price to launch another attack. "


    "But Comrade deputy commander of the front army." The chief of staff was a little worried after hearing what I said in a non-negotiable tone. He quickly explained: "according to the information I have, the fuel and ammunition of the tank troops are almost consumed. If they don''t supplement, they can''t push forward at all."


    "The chief of staff is right." After his chief of staff finished speaking, katukov sighed and said to me in a deliberative tone: "Rita, according to the report, at present, there are less than five shells per tank of the 1st and 64th brigades of the close guard tanks; As for the fuel, most tanks only have the fuel tank left. If they travel 20 or 30 kilometers at most, they will lie down because they have no fuel. "


    "I see what you mean." As for the difficulties raised by katukov, although I knew in my heart that what he said was the truth, I still insisted on my own opinion and said, "but I still said that I can''t give the Germans a breathing space. We must thoroughly smash their defense on the road to chernofse before they build a new defense line."


    Seeing the embarrassed expression on katukov''s face, I couldn''t bear it, so I thought of a compromise: "general katukov, you first order Zhouqiao battalion to set up a floating bridge, even if the tank can''t pass for the time being, you can let our infantry cross the river to build a defensive position."


    "Comrade deputy commander of the front army," the chief of staff said to me reluctantly, "but without the support of tanks, our river crossing troops may be driven into the river when they are fiercely attacked by the German army."


    I looked at the chief of staff and said to him with a relaxed expression: "Comrade chief of staff, I think the next battle will be played by the 11th army of general Gutman''s close guard tanks. You ask him to gather all the tank fuel and ammunition and give them to captain Boyko''s 64th tank brigade, which will continue to advance as a leading force and disrupt the German deployment. And the rest of the troops, after they have replenished their ammunition and fuel, can quickly catch up. "


    Katukov thought about my proposal for a moment, then nodded his head and agreed: "Rita, your method is good. It can not only maintain the offensive against the German army, but also avoid the problem of not being able to provide volunteers for the infantry due to the lack of ammunition and fuel. " After he said this, he immediately told his chief of staff, "chief of staff, call general Gutman and ask him to do it according to the way of the deputy commander of the front army."


    I know in my heart that what I have put forward is only an expedient policy. If I want to completely defeat the main force of the German army, it is not enough to rely on only one tank brigade and one infantry division. I have to press up the strength of the whole group army. Thinking of this, I took the initiative to say to katukov, "Comrade General, I''ll call Comrade marshal and tell him the difficulties you are facing to see if he can find any solutions."


    "Great, that''s great." Katukov was overjoyed when I said this. He said repeatedly, "you can ask Marshal Zhukov to order the air force to deliver fuel and ammunition for us, so that by noon tomorrow at the latest, our troops can continue to move forward."


    Katukov''s words made me feel like I was in a daze. Yes, how can I always think about automobile and railway transportation, but forget the fastest way of transportation, air transportation? I nodded my head in a hurry and said, "yes, yes, general katukov. Your remark really reminds me that I immediately asked marshal to send air force to deliver materials for you."


    After hearing my voice, Zhukov, who answered the phone, said with a smile, "Rita, are you going to report to me that the troops of the 1st group army of tanks have successively arrived in the zareshiki region and the Dniester river? The comrades of the intelligence service have already told me the good news. "


    Although Zhukov was aware of the achievements of katukov''s troops, I still reported to him in detail the achievements of the troops in accordance with the regulations. Finally, I cautiously put forward my request: "marshal, because the first group army of tanks is advancing too fast, it is far away from the logistics supply base now. After repeated battles, the troops are seriously short of ammunition and fuel. If they can''t replenish them in time, our attack may have to stop for a while. "


    "No, it can''t be." As soon as I finished, Zhukov said firmly, "in any case, the attack on the German army can''t stop for a moment. How long will it take for katukov''s troops to complete the replenishment? "


    Hearing Zhukov''s question, I looked up at katukov, who was standing opposite, and carefully replied, "according to the current road conditions and the carrying capacity of the transport team, it will take three days at the most to complete the supply of all troops."


    "Three days is too long." Zhukov''s tone became severe: "don''t you know the reason why war is so expensive and fast? If you linger so long, the German army has built a new defense line in front of you after you have completed the replenishment. When you launched the attack, you would pay a much higher price than now. Well, you ask katukov to give all the fuel and ammunition to one of the tank brigades, which will guide the infantry to continue to attack South and disrupt the German defense deployment. "


    As soon as Zhukov finished, I immediately replied, "Comrade marshal, I have just given them similar orders. However, with only one tank brigade and one infantry division, the attack power is still weak, so I would like to ask you to provide some necessary help. "


    "Help, what help?" Zhukov asked in a discontented tone.


    "Well, comrade marshal." Hearing that Zhukov was about to get angry, I quickly explained, "if you transport fuel and ammunition by car, the time on the road is too long. So I would like to implore you to send air force to supply the troops of the 1st group army of tanks, so that they can launch a new attack on the German defense depth at noon tomorrow at the latest. "


    I thought my request would be rejected by Zhukov. I didn''t expect that he was silent for a moment, and he readily agreed: "well, since you say so, I''ll call air force commander krasovsky and ask him to send a transport plane to deliver materials for katukov early tomorrow morning. But you''ve got to get ready for the landing and storage, okay? "


    "All right, comrade marshal." Listening to Zhukov''s consent to the request for air transportation, my mood became happy: "we will prepare the landing site for the Air Force transport plane as soon as possible."


    Putting down the phone, I excitedly said to katukov, "general katukov, marshal has agreed to send us transport planes to transport materials. The transport plane will take off at dawn. Before that, you should do two things well: one is to prepare the place where the plane can land and the area where the materials have been stored; The second is to set up a floating bridge overnight, so that the 64th brigade of Colonel Boyko''s tank can guide the 24th infantry division to move forward. "


    "Chief of staff," katukov told his chief of staff immediately after I finished saying, "you should arrange these two things immediately, so that our troops can launch a new attack on the German army tomorrow."


    When the chief of staff went to one side to make a phone call to explain the mission, I suddenly thought of something and asked curiously, "general katukov, I remember that during the Kursk war, I asked you, saying that the 24th Infantry Division was abolished because of the loss of its flag. Why was it restored later?"


    Hearing that I suddenly asked this question which was not related to the fighting, katukov gave a wry smile and said, "yes, the 24th Infantry Division was removed by the supreme command because of the loss of the flag. But later, with the help of a local resident, the staff of the Ministry of interior found the cemetery of a sacrificial officer. When they took out the remains, they found that the division''s flag was wrapped around him. Although it was damaged, it was still recognizable In this way, the higher authorities restored the organizational structure of the troops. "


    At three o''clock in the morning, general Gutman called to report to us that the floating bridge over the Dniester river had been completed and asked for the next task.


    After listening to the other party''s report, katukov said in a loud voice: "Comrade General, the order is clear. Captain Boyko''s 64th tank brigade guides the 24th infantry division to attack in the direction of chernofse. Don''t give the Germans any breathing space. And are you ready to land the transport


    "Ready." "We''re still on both sides of the runway, and we''ve got bonfires ready," Gutman replied loudly. "As soon as we see the plane, we''ll light the bonfires and show them the direction of landing."


    "Very well, general Guttman, you''ve done a good job." After praising his subordinates, katukov continued: "as soon as your troops have completed the replenishment, they will cross the Dniester River, follow the vanguard troops, continue to push south, and strive for the early capture of chernovitzer. Do you understand? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." As one of katukov''s most trusted subordinates, gertman immediately expressed his attitude after listening to the superior''s words: "as long as the supply is completed, our troops will rush to chernovitzer at the fastest speed, you can rest assured." When katukov and his chief of staff gave orders to the troops, I sat at the table, staring at the map in front of me. Suddenly, I found a very humble place name. When I saw the chief of staff coming, I waved to him. Then I pointed to the place name and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, what is this place?" The chief of staff came up to me, looked down at the map and replied, "this is Mosha station, on the ground near chernovitzer." Just as the chief of staff explained to me, katukov also came over. He saw that I seemed very interested in this small place, and then added: "according to our reconnaissance, the German defense force at Mosha station is not strong, there is only one company. As soon as my tank brigade arrives, it won''t be long before I can capture the station. " I pointed to the location of the station and asked nervously, "how far is this station from the nearest station controlled by our army?" Katukov saw my nervous look. After a moment''s hesitation, he guessed my intention and quickly asked, "Rita, do you want our troops to transport the materials they need by railway after they occupy here?"¡° Yes, general katukov, that''s what I think. " Hearing that katukov guessed my intention, I replied with a smile: "our troops consume a lot of materials every day. Now it''s the spring thawing season. The roads have become more and more difficult to transport, and the air transport capacity is also very limited. Only railway can deliver the materials we need as quickly as possible. "¡° Chief of staff, did you hear Rita Katukov stood up straight and said to the chief of staff, "you call general Guttman immediately and ask him to order the 64th brigade of Colonel Boyko''s tank to rush to Mosha station at the fastest speed and seize the station from the German in the shortest time."

 Chapter 1473

    After giving orders to his chief of staff, katukov turned his eyes back to me and said solemnly, "Rita, it''s about 100 kilometers from the Dniester River to the Mosha station. We don''t know how many fortifications the German army built on this road, and whether the road is suitable for tanks


    I heard his voice out of the picture. Although our army successfully reached the Dniester River, we still don''t know how strong resistance we will encounter on the road to chernovitzer. As a passer-by who knows the outcome of the war, I don''t know what the final outcome of the battle will be, but according to the history I know, katukov had no defeat in the later stage of the war, so I comforted him and said, "general katukov, don''t worry, the German army has been defeated by your troops, It is difficult for them to organize effective defense in the short term. As for the muddy road ahead, you can rest assured that our tanks have a wide track and are superior to German tanks in such terrain. "


    My words made the expression on katukov''s face a lot easier. After the chief of staff came back after giving orders, he asked, "chief of staff, do you know the number of the German troops in front of the Boiko tank brigade?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." After hearing katukov''s question, the chief of staff replied positively: "the German army in front of Colonel Boyko is the 68th infantry division. They have been maimed by our army in recent battles. According to the prisoner''s confession, there are only seven or eight soldiers in each company of the division, and only a few more than thirty. In a word, the total strength of the division is probably only one reinforced battalion. "


    After listening to the chief of staff''s report, katukov nodded and then asked, "I remember this division was with the 7th German armored division two days ago. Where is the armored division now?"


    "The 7th armored division of the German army, under the joint attack of our group army and the 4th group army of tanks, has now retreated to the kamenitz podoliski area, and has fallen into our encirclement with several other German troops." With a smile on his face, the chief of staff said, "I expect that as soon as general lelyushenko''s forces win kamenitz podoliski, they will be able to launch a final attack on these besieged German forces."


    After the chief of staff introduced the current situation to us, I became more interested in the tank brigade''s capture of Mosha station. After he finished, I looked up at him and said, "chief of staff, we should let Colonel Boyko''s tanks speed up and rush to Mosha station as fast as possible, so as to prevent the German army from destroying the station after discovering our army''s intention."


    "Comrade deputy commander of the front army," the chief of staff said to me with some embarrassment, "I have received a report that the infantry crossing the Dniester River can only take the form of a walking army because the convoy of dodge trucks has returned to the north to meet the walking troops of the 24th Infantry Division. If the tank brigade is allowed to speed up its March, it is bound to be out of touch with the infantry. "


    As for the chief of staff''s worry, I waved my hand and said to myself, "Comrade chief of staff, we need to seize the Mosha station and resume the railway traffic in the rear area in the shortest time. It will take at least two days to get to the station if you want to work with the infantry. In such a long period of time, if the German army finds that it can''t hold the station and completely destroys the station and railway, we will have to spend more energy to restore the traffic. "


    Seeing the embarrassed look on the chief of staff''s face, I quickly added: "don''t worry, comrade chief of staff. After our tank brigade has captured the station, it will start in place and wait for the coming of the successor troops, so that even if the German army carries out a counterattack, our troops can easily crush them. "


    After hearing what I said, the chief of staff didn''t say anything, but looked at katukov. I looked at katukov and complained in my heart that he was the commander here. How could I do anything for him. Just when I was annoyed, I heard katukov say to the chief of staff in a smooth tone: "chief of staff, since the deputy commander of the front army has given you a combat order, you should convey it to the front forces as soon as possible."


    Before the chief of staff left, he asked me in a deliberative tone, "Rita, do you have anything else to add?"


    After thinking about it, I said decisively, "for the convenience of command, now captain Boyko''s 64th tank brigade is under the direct control of the group army. When the headquarters gives orders or he reports the situation, it is no longer necessary to pass them on through general Gutman, so as not to delay the fighter plane."


    "I agree." With no hesitation, katukov expressed his support for my proposal. Then he waved to the chief of staff and said, "chief of staff, you should convey this order immediately. From now on to the end of the campaign, the 64th brigade of Colonel Boyko''s tanks will be under the direct command of the headquarters of the group army."


    Half an hour later, Boyko contacted katukov directly through his radio station. Because the distance is too far, the effect of wireless communication is not good, so whether it is the order given by katukov or the result reported by Boyko, it is completed by telegram.


    Just as Colonel Boyko''s tank brigade was charging deep into the German defense, Zhukov called. He asked directly, "Hello, Rita, have katukov''s troops crossed the Dniester river?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." I looked up at katukov, who was lying at his desk looking at the map, and then answered positively, "at present, the 64th tank brigade and the 24th infantry division of the 11th guard tank army have successfully crossed the Dniester River and rushed to chernovitzer. General katukov and I have given them the goal of first seizing the Mosha station near chernovitzer. "


    "Mosha station?" After hearing the name, Zhukov looked it up on the map and said, "this railway station is about 100 kilometers away from the Dniester river. If tanks and infantry work together, it will take at least two days. Do you think the Germans are all idiots and will do nothing for two days? "


    "Marshal," I heard Zhukov''s dissatisfaction from his voice, and quickly explained, "I have taken into account what you said, so I ordered the tank brigade to abandon the infantry and rush to the defense depth of the German army alone, so as to win the Mosha station near the city in the shortest time."


    "Well, that''s not bad!" Although Zhukov only said "not bad" about our plan, I can see from my understanding that he is actually very satisfied¡° I''ll wait for your report. "


    After I put down the phone, I asked katukov with some trepidation: "general katukov, do you think Colonel Boyko''s troops can capture Mosha station in the shortest time?"


    Katukov listened to me, gave me a strange look, and then said, "what''s the matter with you, Rita? You are the most confident when you rush to Mosha station. How can you become bottomless after a phone call with Marshal? "


    I gave a dry smile and explained with a thick face, "general katukov, I''m afraid of something unexpected."


    "Deputy commander of the front army," this time the chief of staff said to me with a smile, "according to Colonel Boyko''s report, the tank troops encountered resistance from the 68th infantry division of the German army along the way, but these resistance were very weak. Our tank brigade had almost no loss and rushed through these areas."


    After the chief of staff finished speaking, I raised my hand to look at my watch and said to katukov, who was buried in the map: "general katukov, the 64th brigade of the tank has only advanced 30 kilometers in four hours, which is a bit too slow. If you don''t speed up, you can''t get to Mosha station until dark. "


    Listening to me, katukov quickly removed his eyes from the map, stood up straight and said to his chief of staff, "chief of staff, send a message to Colonel Boyko, so that he would not entangle with these small enemies along the way, and leave them to the troops behind to solve. His first task at present is to lead the troops to rush forward quickly and strive to occupy the Mosha station in the shortest time. "


    When the chief of staff went to make a phone call, katukov comforted me and said, "Rita, don''t worry. As long as Colonel Boyko is not on the road with the German army, their marching speed will be greatly improved." He raised his hand, looked at his watch, and then added, "it''s 12 noon. If everything goes well, they should arrive at Mosha station at 4 pm."


    Having listened to katukov''s words with such confidence, I did not tangle in this matter any more. Instead, I discussed with him how the rest of the troops should be deployed after crossing the river.


    At three o''clock in the afternoon, a staff officer came up with a telegram and said in a loud voice, "report, the telegram that Colonel Boyko had just sent back from the front line."


    The chief of staff took it and looked at it only once, then his eyes looked like copper bells. When I saw his reaction, I guessed that something must have happened beyond our plan. However, before he finished reading the contents of the telegram, I was patient and did not rashly ask him what had happened.


    "Chief of staff, what''s the matter?" As soon as the chief of staff removed the telegraph from his face, katukov and I asked in unison.


    The chief of staff flushed with excitement and said to katukov, "Comrade commander, we are really lucky this time. We have made a lot of money


    "Rich, what''s rich?" "I want to see what makes you so happy," katukov muttered as he took the telegram from the chief of staff


    In my impression, katukov has always been a very calm man. Unexpectedly, he took the telegram to his eyes and looked at it for a moment, and his eyes immediately glowed with excitement. He even said, "great, great, this Colonel Boyko is really great. I''m going to give him credit. I''m going to give credit to all the officers and men of the 64th tank brigade! "


    "General katukov," seeing that katukov, like his chief of staff, became very excited after reading the telegram, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "what''s the good news that makes you and your chief of staff so impolite?"


    "That''s right, Rita. It''s good news. It''s great news!" He handed me the telegram he had read and said, "look at it. It''s exciting news."


    I took the telegram and looked down at it. Just looking at the beginning, I can see why katukov and his chief of staff are so impolite. It read: "our brigade is rushing into Mosha station, destroying the garrison in the station and seizing a German train. This train full of tanks and ammunition was captured by our tank soldiers shortly after it arrived and had no time to unload. According to statistics, there are 12 tanks, weapons and ammunition... "


    After reading the full text of the telegram, I handed it to the military commissar who came together to find out what was going on, and then said to katukov, "general katukov, with this batch of captured ammunition, even if Colonel Boyko''s tank brigade is fighting alone, it doesn''t have to worry about the shortage of ammunition."¡° That''s right, "katukov agreed with me." in particular, the 12 captured tanks, although Colonel Boyko did not specify what type they were, were just in time for a tank brigade with a serious shortage of tanks. As soon as the unloading is completed, the captured tanks can be put into combat at any time. " After listening to katukov''s words, I suddenly realized a problem. When the 64th brigade of the tank attacked forward, how did the tank soldiers who lost their tanks follow the troops? But when I asked katukov this question with doubts, katukov and his chief of staff looked at each other, and then burst into laughter, which made me look blank. After they finished laughing, katukov explained to me, "Rita, the tank brigade is equipped with a lot of armored vehicles. The tank soldiers who have lost their tanks usually follow the tanks in armored vehicles. If they meet the enemy''s anti tank men, they will get out of the car and act as infantry to eliminate these blocking elements. " After his explanation, I understood why he would say that after the tank was unloaded, it could be put into battle quickly. Katukov turned and asked the chief of staff, "where is our 24th infantry division?"¡° Here it is. " The chief of staff pointed to the map and said to katukov, "because the infantry are fighting with the German stragglers as they move forward, they are still about 70 kilometers away from Mosha station."¡° No, they''re too far away from the tank brigade. " As soon as the chief of staff finished speaking, I hastened to say, "once the large German forces counter attack the Mosha station, it will be difficult to hold it only by the strength of the 64th tank brigade."¡° Rita is right Katukov agreed with me again and asked the chief of staff, "go back to the north to pick up the infantry truck. When can I get back to the river?"¡° If all goes well, they will arrive at the river dardniester in ten minutes'' time. After refueling, they will continue to push southward and rush to Mosha station to join the 64th brigade of tanks. " Speaking of this, the chief of staff also showed a little worry: "Comrade commander, at present, our troops are rushing to Mosha station along the highway. On the South Bank of the Dniester River, many troops are crowded together, blocking the road leading to the station. It may not be easy for the motorcade to pass quickly. "¡° Inform general Guttman and ask him to arrange for immediate evacuation and diversion. " Pointing to the map, katukov said without expression: "let the infantry on foot go through the fields on both sides of the road, continue to move south, and give up the road to tanks and trucks."¡° Let the infantry march through the fields? " For katukov''s order, the chief of staff showed an expression of embarrassment. He scratched the back of his head and said, "I''m afraid that in this way, the commanders and fighters will have emotions."¡° Chief of staff, do you think our tanks can move in the impassable fields? " After the chief of staff shook his head, he went on to say, "you need to explain this to the commanders below, and then they can explain it to the soldiers. Do you understand?"¡° I see The chief of staff nodded and said rather reluctantly, "I''m going to call general Gutman and ask him to order the infantry to make way for tanks and trucks."

 Chapter 1474

    The other two tank brigades of the 11th army also accelerated their advance speed after the infantry made way for themselves. With the cooperation of the mechanized 6th brigade, they pushed forward to Mosha station while clearing up the German remnants along the way.


    General Guttman reports the progress of the troops to the headquarters at any time by telegram. Every time katukov receives information, he will mark the position of the troops on the map with red and blue pencils. Seeing the red arrow on the map and getting closer and closer to Mosha station, his chief of staff could not help saying happily: "Comrade commander, if our tank troops can maintain this speed, they can join the 64th brigade of tanks occupying Mosha station before dark."


    Today''s weather is long day and short night. It won''t get dark until around nine o''clock. Now it''s just after four o''clock in the afternoon. As long as there is no accident, Gutman''s two tank brigades and a mechanized brigade will arrive at Mosha station in five hours.


    Just when we thought that the main force of the 11th army of close guard tanks would join the tank brigade that occupied Mosha station in the dark, something unexpected happened.


    A communications officer came over in a hurry with a telegram. After handing it to the chief of staff, he turned and left. As the chief of staff looked at the telegram with his back to me and katukov, we could not see the expression on his face. However, katukov seemed to be aware of something wrong, so he asked first: "chief of staff, what''s the matter?"


    Hearing katukov''s voice, the chief of staff turned and handed the telegram to katukov. At the same time, he said solemnly, "Comrade commander, our radio operator has just received a telegram of unknown origin. This is the content of the telegram."


    After reading the telegram, katukov''s face became serious. He looked at the chief of staff and said, "chief of staff, how much do you think this telegram is true?"


    Without waiting for the chief of staff to answer, I reached out and took the phone from katukov''s hand. When I saw the contents clearly, I was stunned. It said: "please pay attention, please pay attention, the German army is about to flood the South Bank of the Dniester river. Please be alert to our troops in this area."


    There was no signature on the back of the telegram. After reading this telegram, I was also at a loss. I said in my heart who sent the telegram, why the contents of the telegram were vague, and where the German army was going to submerge the area on the South Bank of the Dniester river.


    I put the telegram on the table. Just as I wanted to ask a few questions, I heard the chief of staff say, "Comrade commander, I think this may be a conspiracy of the German army. They couldn''t stop our advancing troops, so they sent out such a fake telegram in an attempt to stop us


    After listening to the chief of staff''s analysis, I felt in my heart that what he said was very reasonable. We crossed the Dniester River from many places and came to the south bank area. Even if the German Army wanted to flood our way forward, they didn''t have the ability to do so. They couldn''t break their dikes and flood the area hundreds of kilometers wide, could they?


    Just when I thought that katukov would be our same judge, I heard him say, "chief of staff, go to the communication room and check who sent this telegram."


    With regard to katukov''s order, the chief of staff may feel that katukov is a bit superfluous, so he stands still. Just when he began to persuade katukov, katukov raised his hand to stop what he was about to say, "chief of staff, no matter where this telegram comes from, we can''t take it lightly. So you should find out the source of the telegram as soon as possible, so that we can deploy the next combat mission according to the specific situation. "


    Since katukov had said that, his chief of staff also realized that he had done something against the wishes of his superiors, which was a little inappropriate. After nodding, he turned and walked out.


    After the chief of staff left, I tentatively asked katukov, "general katukov, do you really think the German army will flood our way forward?"


    Katukov heard my question, looked up at me and said solemnly, "yes, Rita, that''s what I think. The Germans are very cunning. Although they are defeated by us at the moment, we should be on guard against them jumping over the wall and doing something unexpected. "


    "Where do you think the German army will submerge the roads?" After listening to his judgment, I asked a little dubiously, "there are so many roads leading to chernovitzer on the South Bank of the Dniester river. How can the German army know which one our army will take?"


    Katukov''s eyebrows were locked, his eyes fixed on the map in front of him, and he thought bitterly: "if the German army wants to blow up the levee, it will surely choose a suitable place to bury explosives and blow up a gap in the levee. Where will they choose this blasting point? "


    Just as katukov was pondering, his chief of staff rushed in like a gust of wind. When he came to us, he said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, the source of the telegram has been made clear."


    Katukov raised his head, raised his eyebrows and urged: "chief of staff, tell me quickly, which reconnaissance team sent this valuable information?"


    The chief of staff turned to look at me, and then replied: "it''s a reconnaissance team under the Reconnaissance Office of the front army..." when I heard the reconnaissance office, I couldn''t help but clap. I quickly concentrated on what the chief of staff said: "there were six people in this reconnaissance team, who were found by the German army when they returned after completing the reconnaissance mission. As the retreat was cut off, they were forced to move to the depth of the enemy. The operator died in the process of transfer. The telegram was sent by the group leader. Because he was not proficient in sending the telegram, the content was a little vague. "


    "Did they say who he was?" As soon as the chief of staff finished, I couldn''t wait to ask.


    "They said he was major travkin, deputy director of reconnaissance." After the chief of staff said this, he looked at me and asked curiously, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, do you know them?"


    "Yes, chief of staff, I know them." As for the chief of staff''s question, I nodded my head and said, "major travkin was my reconnaissance battalion commander before he was transferred to the Reconnaissance Office of the front army. Since he provided the information, I believe the information that the enemy is preparing to flood our army must be true. "


    "Chief of staff." When I finished, katukov asked his chief of staff, "did the major say where the enemy is going to submerge?"


    The chief of staff nodded, then pointed to a dot on the map and said, "Comrade commander, here it is. There is a reservoir here. As long as the German army opens the gate, it can completely submerge the road of our army. "


    After I saw the position of the chief of staff clearly, I was surprised: "what, the enemy''s reservoir is near the Mosha station? If they open the gate to let the water out, don''t they want to submerge all the stations? " At this point, I couldn''t help rubbing my forehead in a cold sweat. I said in my heart that the Germans were really cunning. When I first stood at mamayev post, I thought about replacing soldiers with water, but for various reasons, I didn''t implement this plan in the end. But now the German army tried to use the same tactics to block our way forward.


    I looked up at katukov and asked, "general katukov, what are you going to do? To be on the safe side, let the troops rushing to Mosha station suspend operation; Or take a risk and let the troops move on? "


    "Comrade commander," as soon as I finished my words, the chief of staff began to persuade katukov, "I looked at the map. The reservoir is still several kilometers away from Mosha station. Even if the Germans release water, it may not submerge the station. At most, it will make the station an island in the flood. Why don''t we take the risk and let general Guttman''s main force continue to move closer to Mosha station? "


    Katukov looked at me, then at the chief of staff, and finally slapped him on the table and said decisively, "OK, that''s it. Let''s move on. As long as the German army opens the gate to release water, the garrison of the station will become a lone army, but at the same time, their troops will not be able to launch a counterattack against the station in a short time because of the barrier of the flood. "


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Although katukov''s order was conveyed in time, it did not wait for general Guttman''s main force to arrive at the station. As the German army opened the floodgate, all the tanks of the 300th brigade, which were at the front, were immersed in the turbulent flood. Fortunately, the flood only submerged the track and did not cause any casualties to the brigade.


    After learning the news, the chief of staff said happily to katukov, "Comrade commander, although the flood has flooded the way forward and made our tanks unable to move forward, it has not caused any casualties. This is a great misfortune."


    "Yes, as long as there is no loss of personnel and equipment." After a sigh of relief, katukov continued: "after two days, when the flood recedes, our tank brigade can continue to move forward. By the way, chief of staff, I''m worried that the tank soldiers don''t carry too much supplies. After the flood recedes, you should arrange special personnel to send supplies to them. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." The chief of staff said confidently, "I''ll call general Guttman later and ask him to arrange special personnel for the tank soldiers of the 200th brigade who are trapped in the flood."


    "What''s going on at Mosha station?" Katukov was always more concerned about the 64th brigade of tanks in Mosha station. As soon as the chief of staff finished, he immediately asked, "is the water depth in the station?"


    "Not bad." The chief of staff nodded his head and said with disapproval: "according to the report of Colonel Boyko, the deepest part of the water in the station is just above the knee, which has little impact on the troops."


    After nodding, katukov said, "Mosha station is only a few kilometers away from chernovitzer city. Let Colonel Boyko take air defense measures to avoid sudden German air attack."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Katukov worried that Mosha station would be attacked by German planes from chernovitzer City, but the actual situation surprised us. The German army sent out six bombers to fly over Mosha station at an altitude beyond the range of the ground anti-aircraft machine guns to bomb the 200th brigade of tanks besieged by floods.


    Because the tanks of the 200th brigade were trapped in the flood and unable to move, they became the targets of German bombers. When katukov heard that the German army was attacking the tank brigade, he was furious. He directly called Bogoliubov, chief of staff of the front army, and said in a hurry: "chief of staff, my 200th tank brigade was attacked by the German army 20 kilometers north of Mosha station. He asked for air force support and air force support."


    Bogoliubov was also startled when he heard the unexpected news and said in a hurry, "general katukov, don''t worry. Are you sure the enemy is bombing your tank brigade?"¡° Yes, of course. " Seeing that Bogoliubov still didn''t believe his report, katukov became more and more worried. "On the way to Mosha station, the 200th tank brigade was trapped by the flood because the German army opened the gate and flooded the road. The enemy''s bombers take these immobile tanks as targets. If you don''t send any more planes to volunteer, they are in danger of destroying the whole army. " Seeing that katukov was in such a hurry, Bogoliubov realized the seriousness of the problem and quickly said, "general katukov, don''t worry. I''ll call the air force immediately and ask them to send fighters to support you." Seeing katukov put down the phone, the red eyed chief of staff asked nervously, "Comrade commander, can our air force arrive in time?" Katukov sighed and said helplessly: "now we can only let fate decide. No matter how fast our air force comes, it is estimated that the loss of the 200th brigade will not be small." When the fighters arrived at the battlefield, the six German bombers had already dropped all the bombs, fired all the bullets of the airborne machine guns, and were preparing to return. Our fighters rushed up and swept at the enemy''s bombers, successfully shooting down two and injuring one. The remaining three scattered and fled to chernovitzer. After the air battle, Guttman called katukov to report the loss of the tank brigade: "the brigade has 21 destroyed tanks and 3 existing tanks. The brigade commander died in the air raid, and lieutenant nikitin will temporarily take over the command of the brigade." When I heard Guttman''s report, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly in my heart and said: "it seems that the 200th brigade has suffered heavy losses. Not only almost all the tanks have been destroyed, but only one lieutenant is left in the commander of the whole brigade. If it can''t be replenished in time, the brigade can only be cancelled."

 Chapter 1475

    As soon as I thought about this, I heard the chief of staff asking katukov, "Comrade commander, at present, the 200th tank brigade has almost been destroyed, and the remaining troops are not enough to carry out separate combat tasks. What do you think we should do?"


    "Merge them into the 100th tank brigade of Colonel viladelie for the time being," katukov said without hesitation when he heard the chief of staff''s question. "When our superiors have added new tanks and soldiers to us, we will reconstitute the 200th tank brigade. In the present situation, the remaining soldiers can only be assigned to the command of veradelle


    When we were discussing how to place the remaining tank soldiers, the political commissars who went to the grassroots level for inspection came back. After he entered the door, he looked at the serious expressions on our faces and asked, "what''s the matter? Why are you so serious?"


    After listening to the chief of staff''s story, he slowly nodded his head and said, "it was the German army that blocked the way forward."


    "Yes, comrade military Commissar." Katukov frowned and said, "the enemy has flooded the road. Guttman''s troops can only stop temporarily until the flood recedes."


    Just as we were worried about the progress of our troops, the military commissar of katukov suddenly said, "Comrade commander, in fact, I feel that the German army has opened the floodgates and stopped the progress of our army. This is not necessarily a bad thing."


    "Huh?" When katukov heard the military commissar say this, he frowned even more. He asked in a puzzled way: "Comrade military commissar, why do you say this?"


    "Well, comrade commander." The military commissar coughed and then said, "today, I went to inspect the troops below. I found that with the victory of our army, a very bad sign appeared in the troops. We all feel that the German people have completely lost their resistance after being hit by our army. As long as we push from north to south, we can reach the Romanian border smoothly. "


    "You have a point." Before the military commissar''s words were finished, I understood what he meant: "successive victories are really easy to make our commanders and fighters despise the enemy." At this point, I turned to katukov and continued, "the more time it is, the more calm our commanders are."


    "The German army opened the floodgates and got trapped in our assault forces. Then the air force was dispatched to bombard our troops trapped in the flood, causing heavy casualties. " Katukov went on to say: "the German''s action has sounded an alarm for our commanders and fighters, let us all understand that in order to win the final victory, we need to fight hard with the German army."


    As soon as his words were finished, Zhukov called in. Maybe he focused on other areas, so he just knew about the fact that katukov''s troops were blocked by the flood and the heavy losses suffered by the troops trapped in the flood. As soon as he knew about it, he made a special call to inquire.


    As soon as he heard katukov''s voice, Zhukov asked seriously, "general katukov, what''s the situation there? Can the army continue to advance?"


    "Marshal, it''s a pity that the 11th army of the close guard tank was blocked by the flood caused by the German army and was unable to move forward for the time being." Katukov truthfully reported to Zhukov, "we can only continue to push towards Mosha station and join the 64th brigade of tanks stationed there after the flood recedes."


    After listening to his report, Zhukov was silent for a moment and asked, "how many days do you think the flood will completely recede?"


    "At least two days, comrade marshal." After thinking for a moment, katukov replied decisively, "plus a bridge in front of us was destroyed by the flood, that is to say, it will take us at least three days to get to Mosha station."


    "Three days, it''s a little too long." Zhukov said discontentedly: "Colonel Boyko''s 64th tank brigade has been alone, stationed only a few kilometers away from chernovitzer. It is very likely that under the fierce German offensive, it will be driven away from the station by the German army."


    "Don''t worry about that, marshal. Mosha station is besieged by floods at the moment. Our troops can''t get out and the Germans can''t get in. " Katukov, holding the microphone in one hand and pointing to the map on the table, continued: "although the left wing forces of our group army are blocked by the flood, the mechanized Eighth Army of the right wing guards can continue to go south after crossing the Dniester River, capture kitzman and then turn southeast to cooperate with the 11th army of the guards tanks to capture chernovitzer."


    Seeing that katukov had already taken measures, Zhukov said with satisfaction, "well, general katukov, your troops should cross the Prut River as quickly as possible to capture chernovitzer. And I will order lelushenko and rebalko to speed up their attack and, after annihilating the German forces besieged in the kamenitz podoliski area, rush to support you. "


    When katukov finished his conversation with Zhukov, I said with a smile: "general katukov, as long as our troops occupy chernovitzer, the connection between the German tank 1st army and the tank 4th Army will be completely cut off. In order to achieve this goal smoothly, I think we should adjust our original operational deployment. "


    "You''re right." Katukov agreed with my proposal: "as the flood trapped our right-wing forces and destroyed the bridge on the Prut River, it was very difficult for the 11th army of close guard tanks to get to Mosha station as soon as possible."


    "Comrade commander," the military commissar suddenly interjected, "since we occupy the Mosha station, why don''t we transport the troops and supplies by train?"


    When he heard his military commissar say this, katukov said with a bitter smile: "Comrade military commissar, if we could transport the troops by railway, I would not be so upset as I am now. The flood destroyed a section of the railway, and then it was blown up for a long time by the German air force. We can''t repair the railway until the flood recedes. "


    "It seems that the German general Hube is also a man of great ability." In order to ease the dull atmosphere in the room, I said with a smile: "he knew that only those panicked disabled soldiers could not stop the strong offensive of our army, so he made such a tactic of" replacing soldiers with water. "


    "Yes, you''re right." As soon as I finished, katukov echoed, "Hans Valentine Hube is a very capable German general, and he has won Hitler''s trust. It is said that during the battle of Stalingrad, the 16th armored army under his command, like the 6th group army, fell into the encirclement of our army. Hitler himself sent planes to rescue him and promoted him to armored general. He uses the tactics of opening the gate and releasing the water, which is very effective. At least we are at a loss. "


    With these words, he said to the chief of staff, "call gertman and deliomov, and let them come to my headquarters in the evening."


    The chief of staff carefully reminded him, "Comrade commander, if you want to adjust your operational deployment, you can give them orders by telephone or telegram. After all, they are too far away from the headquarters now, and it will take several hours to go back and forth on the road. "


    Katukov glared and said, "don''t say it takes hours to go back and forth. Even if it takes a day, they have to come in person. Because the new operational deployment is the key to our army''s successful capture of chernovitzer. "


    When the chief of staff saw that katukov said so seriously, he went to make a phone call obediently.


    Because the army and the headquarters are far away, and the road is difficult to walk, it will be late at night when the two generals arrive at the headquarters.


    Seeing the arrival of the two men, katukov nodded, then called them to the map and began to explain how to deploy them: "after seizing kitzman, the mechanized 8th Army of general dlyomov''s guards left a small number of troops to defend, then turned around to the southeast, crossed the Prut River and attacked the West of chernovitzer..."


    Deliomov obviously knew nothing about the flood blocking and bombing of the 11th army of the guard tank. After hearing what katukov said, he couldn''t help but wonder: "Comrade commander, our original task is to continue to capture vashkovzi to the South and rush to the Romanian border after seizing kitzman. But why do you suddenly turn to the southwest to cooperate with the 11th army of guard tanks? "


    "General dlyomov, the reason why your army''s operational direction has been adjusted is that unexpected changes have taken place in the situation on the battlefield." Katukov saw that deliomov did not know the embarrassment of Gutman''s troops at all, so he told him the cause of the incident in detail.


    After listening to this, deliomov suddenly nodded and said, "so it is. Don''t worry, comrade commander. When I get back to the army, I''ll adjust my deployment. After finishing the attack on kitzman, I''ll turn to the southeast and cooperate with the friendly forces to seize chernovitzer. "


    Gertman was undoubtedly the most depressed man in the headquarters. When Captain Boyko''s tank brigade occupied Mosha station, he might be thinking about launching an attack on chernovitzer tonight or tomorrow morning. As a result, just a few hours later, his plan was in vain in front of the torrential flood. His face became more and more ugly when he heard that katukov had arranged the troops of deliomov to cooperate with his attack on chernovitzer.


    After katukov and deliomov finished, he carefully asked katukov, "Comrade commander, what is the new task of our army?"


    Katukov looked at the unlucky subordinate and said, "general Guttman, since your troops are unable to move forward for the time being, you need to build a defense line in the existing area and prepare for air defense. You can''t forget the lesson of the heavy losses of the 200th tank brigade today


    "Don''t worry, comrade commander." Gertman said to katukov with a bitter smile: "since the 200th tank brigade was attacked by the German army, I have ordered the tank troops behind to camouflage and build anti-aircraft gun defense positions in key areas, so that even if the German planes come, I will not let them leave so easily."


    "It''s good to be prepared." Katukov was very satisfied with Guttman''s remedial measures. He went on to say: "in addition to air defense works, we should also build positions for infantry to defend. Although you are blocked by floods in front of you, no one can guarantee that the Germans will not send troops to attack you when our defense is slack. "


    German attack? When I heard katukov say this, I could not help but frown, thinking about how the German army could cross the water several kilometers wide? However, on second thought, there were many ways for the German army to get through this period. Apart from rowing, they could also take the way of vainly wading. As I was thinking about this, I heard Guttman asking katukov, "Comrade commander, in front of our army is a water surface several kilometers wide. The Germans can''t get through it. If we say rowing, it is estimated that they will not be able to collect so many boats for a while; As for wading in vain, it''s even more impossible. Although it''s thawing season, the temperature is still very low. If one has to walk in the cold water for an hour or two, it''s estimated that he will lose his fighting power. "¡° Comrade Guttman, "katukov said sternly after listening to Guttman''s words," don''t forget that your troops are in the defense depth of the German army, not only facing the enemy from the south, but also facing the possibility of being attacked by the German army in the north, West and East directions. " Katukov''s words made me blush. I felt that I had got to the top of my head. When it came to the possibility that the troops might be attacked by the enemy, I instinctively thought of the enemy in chernovitzer''s direction, and even imagined how the enemy would pass through the flood area. But it just forgot that when the 64th brigade of the tank rushed to Mosha station, it ignored the small group of enemies along the way. After such a long time, these vulnerable stragglers may have regrouped and become a force that can not be underestimated. Maybe they won''t have much advantage in face-to-face competition with Guttman''s troops, but it''s still easy to make some sneak attacks and create a little trouble for our army. Then, katukov pointed to the map and explained to gertman the direction of the key defense and some precautions. Finally, he said, "general Gutman, I estimate that the flood will not recede until two days at the most. During this period, you should organize the soldiers to cut down more trees to pave the road after the water recedes. Do you understand? "¡° I understand After Guttman agreed, he thought of another important thing and quickly proposed to katukov: "Comrade commander, the bridge on the Prut river has been destroyed by the flood. Do you think we should allocate the Zhouqiao camp to us so that we can set up a floating bridge on the river as soon as possible?"

 Chapter 1476

    Although the flood receded in two days, the original road became more difficult. It took the 11th army of general Gutman''s bodyguard tank a full day to get to Mosha station, join the 64th brigade of tanks who had been here for three days, and be ready to cross the Prut River and attack chernovitzer.


    After the successful capture of kitzman, general dlyomov''s mechanized 8th Army of guards reached the North Bank of the Prut River from the northwest of chernovitzer.


    For katukov, who has always been adventurous, since kitzman, which is only tens of kilometers away from chernovitzer, has fallen into the hands of our army, as the commander of the group army, there is no reason for him to stay 100 kilometers away from the first line. Therefore, on the second day after he captured kitzman, he could not wait to move his headquarters here.


    To the north of chernovitzer, there is a German airport, and the location of katukov''s new headquarters is just within the radius of German bombers. Because the interval is only a few tens of kilometers, the enemy''s aircraft only need a few minutes to fly over us, and there is no time for early warning.


    I tried to persuade katukov to set his headquarters away from the enemy''s airport, but he countered me and said, "Rita, do you forget what general rokosovsky once said? As a commander, he should always stay with his troops, instead of hiding in the rear, so as to be recognized by the soldiers. "


    Seeing katukov''s obstinacy, I could only turn to Zhukov and ask him to send more planes to patrol over kitzman in case of possible German air strikes.


    But it soon turned out that I was worried. During the two days when the headquarters was stationed in kitzman, there was no German plane at all. I think the reason for this is that the German army did not find that there was a headquarters at the level of our group army; Second, the German aircraft was short of ammunition and fuel, so that they had to reduce the number of liftoff operations.


    On the afternoon of the 27th, two commanders, gertman and deliomov, who had arrived at the Bank of Prut, directed their troops and launched an attack on the German army on the other side.


    After the battle, katukov didn''t want to stay in his headquarters any longer, so he tentatively asked me, "Rita, I plan to go to the front to see how our troops cross the Prut river. Do you want to stay here or go to the river with me?"


    To be honest, for personal safety reasons, I''m very happy to stay in the headquarters. I don''t want to be killed by a bullet coming from somewhere when the war is drawing to a close. But at the moment, katukov is going to the front. If I still swagger in the headquarters, maybe I will leave a bad impression on Zhukov. Based on this consideration, I hesitated for a moment, then nodded my head and said, "general katukov, I''m going to the river with you to see for myself how our brave commanders and fighters broke through the German defense and crossed the Prut river."


    I heard that I was going to follow katukov to the river to supervise the battle. His military commissar was a little worried. He grabbed my arm and said anxiously, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, the river is too dangerous. You can''t go there."


    I saw his worried face and knew that he was worried about my safety. I couldn''t help saying gratefully, "thank you, comrade military Commissar. But since general katukov is not afraid of danger, what can I fear? " With that, I gently broke my arm out of his hand, grabbed his hands and added with a smile, "don''t worry, I will pay attention to safety, and it''s not the first time I''ve been on the battlefield."


    Seeing his military commissar''s desire to talk and stop talking, katukov added: "my military commissar comrades, don''t worry about it. Rita has grown from an ordinary soldier to a general step by step. She has experienced many dangers. I''ll be responsible for her safety. You can rest assured. "


    Seeing that katukov said so, the military commissar could not say anything more. He had to hold my hand and shake it a few times. He told me, "pay more attention to your safety."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    By the time katukov and I got to the Guttman command by the river, the crossing had already begun.


    I saw our tanks lining up by the river, shelling on the other side of the river. Behind them were our artillery, which bombarded the German positions on the other side all the time. There were countless boats and kayaks on the river, and they were rowing rapidly to the other side.


    In the face of our army''s forced crossing, the German army would not wait to die. The firepower points on the south bank, which were not destroyed by the artillery fire, were shooting madly at our warships on the river. At the same time, their long-range artillery fire is also constantly bombarding the river, the river from time to time raised a column of water into the sky.


    Our soldiers cling to the boat and paddle their oars to avoid bullets from the other side. From time to time, shells hit the boat full of soldiers. How can the wooden boat resist the steel shells? The human body and the fragments of the boat were mixed together and blasted into the sky.


    The ships rushing in front of them were blown up and scattered. They were still on the shaking water. The burning wrecks were emitting black smoke. The overturned ships were sinking rapidly. The bloody river was filled with fragments of ships and the bodies of soldiers. In the cold river, the soldiers who fell into the water were pounding like boiling dumplings. Some of the boats behind continued to row bravely to the opposite side, while some slowed down and rescued the fallen comrades on the river.


    "General Guttman," katukov said angrily as he saw the scene. He put down his telescope and turned to Guttman, who was standing nearby? When did our river crossing commando team become a rescue team? Don''t you know that if our ships don''t get close to the south bank quickly, but huddle in the river, they will be the target of German artillery? Do you think the flesh and blood of the commanders and fighters can block the German bullets and shrapnel? "


    When I heard katukov scold gertman, I was stunned for a moment, and then I understood why he said so. Our army is crossing the Prut River by force. If the ships of the shock troops do not rush to the other side quickly, but stay in the river to save people, it will not only lead to the confusion of the attack formation, but also become the target of the German attack because of the crowd. At this moment, my heart suddenly has a further understanding of the idiom "Ci Bu Zhang Bing".


    In the face of katukov''s criticism, gertman blushed and said, "Comrade commander, I am wrong. I will immediately stop the rescue operation tomorrow."


    After that, he called the chief of staff and said, "Comrade chief of staff, call the commander of the 6th brigade of motorized infantry and ask him to order the troops in the middle of the river to stop rescue and continue to attack the south bank."


    After Guttman finished, the chief of staff glanced at us with a guilty heart, and then asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, what about those officers and men who fell into the water? There are hundreds of them


    Guttman sighed softly and then said, "it''s not that we don''t rescue the fallen officers and men, but that we can''t affect our forced crossing operation by rescuing them. Well, another fleet will be sent to rescue the fallen officers and men


    Katukov''s order was soon conveyed to the fleet in the river through the flag. After seeing the signal from the north bank, the ships that were slowing down and were rescuing their fallen comrades stopped the rescue operation immediately. The officers and men on the ships waved their oars desperately and rowed toward the other bank.


    More than ten minutes later, the small boat of the shock troops finally came to the shore. The officers and men jumped out of the boat and rushed forward. The machine gunners, on the other hand, seize the favorable terrain, set up the light and heavy machine guns, and provide fierce fire support for those comrades who are charging forward.


    Seeing our troops on the other side and developing in depth, gertman breathed a long sigh of relief and said to katukov, "Comrade commander, do you see that? Our soldiers have set foot on the land on the other side and are heading towards the city of chernovitze. "


    "I see it." After katukov said this lightly, he put down the telescope in his hand, turned around and said to some complacent gertman: "since our commanders and fighters have boarded the south bank, you immediately order the Zhouqiao battalion to come and set up the floating bridge, so that our heavy equipment can pass in the shortest time."


    "But, comrade commander." Hearing the order from katukov, gertman hesitated and said, "our troops have just landed on the south bank, and we haven''t had time to build a solid beachhead. At this time, we will set up a floating bridge..."


    Before Guttman finished speaking, katukov said with a discontented face: "general Guttman, don''t you know the reason why troops are expensive and fast? If we have to wait for our army to gain a firm foothold on the other side before erecting a floating bridge on the river, how much time will it take, do you know? "


    Katukov''s series of questions, let Gutman obediently shut up. He came to his chief of staff and said, "chief of staff, have you heard the command of the commander? Immediately order Zhouqiao battalion to set up a floating bridge here. It is necessary to set up a floating bridge for heavy equipment in the shortest time. "


    When Zhouqiao battalion set up a floating bridge on the river, although Gutman urged them to speed up again and again, it still took them about two hours to build a floating bridge for tanks on the Prut river. At the same time, the commanders and fighters of the seventh brigade of motorized infantry set up a beachhead with a width of three kilometers and a depth of two kilometers on the south bank.


    As soon as the pontoon was set up, all the tanks stopped shooting, shifted their positions, formed a long snake line, and fished through the pontoon to cover the infantry for the German defense.


    Looking at the far away tank troops, katukov asked me with great interest, "Rita, do you think our troops can reach chernovitzer today?"


    "No problem." according to the information I have in recent days, the German army is heavily guarded by the Prut river. Since their south coast defense line has been broken through by us, it is almost difficult to encounter large-scale resistance on the road to chernovitzer. Therefore, I confidently replied, "I believe in general Guttmann''s troops, I''m sure I can get to chernovitzer today and make a final attack on the German army in the city. "


    After looking at me gratefully, gertman patted his chest and assured katukov, "Comrade commander, you can rest assured that our army not only broke through the German defense line of Prut river today, but also cleared the peripheral positions of chernovitzer and launched an attack on the city."


    As whether our army can successfully capture chernovitzer is directly related to whether the defense lines of the German tank 1st group army and the tank 4th group army can be separated and started, Zhukov is very concerned about the battle progress of katukov''s troops. The 100th brigade of veradelle''s tanks had just crossed the Prut river when Zhukov''s phone call reached Gutman''s headquarters.


    Zhukov was stunned when he heard that I was the one who answered the phone. He asked strangely, "Rita, what are you doing here and there when you don''t stay in the headquarters of the group army?"¡° Well, marshal, "when I heard Zhukov criticizing me, I quickly explained," I went to the front with general katukov to command the battle. "¡° Nonsense. It''s nonsense. " When Zhukov heard that katukov was also in the forefront, he could not help saying two nonsense. Then he turned the topic and asked, "did general Gutman''s troops succeed in crossing the Prut river?"¡° Yes, comrade marshal, the unit of the 11th army of general Gutman''s close guard tank has successfully completed the task of forced crossing. " I took a look at katukov and gertman, who were standing nearby, and said with a smile to the microphone, "the pontoon bridge on the Prut river has also been set up. The 100th tank brigade has successfully crossed the river and is guiding the infantry towards the defense depth of the German army."¡° Well done, "Zhukov said with approval after hearing of the success of the forced crossing." Rita, please tell katukov that his attack speed should be fast. Only by seizing chernovitzer in the shortest time can we really cut off the connection between the first and fourth army of German tanks. " I took another look at katukov, who was standing next to me. Then I cautiously said to Zhukov, "marshal, general katukov is next to me. If you have anything, you can tell him in person." Zhukov listened to me. After a moment of silence, he decisively ordered, "give him the microphone." I took the microphone away from my ear, handed it to katukov and said, "general katukov, marshal wants to speak to you."

 Chapter 1477

    After katukov finished his call with Zhukov, he put down the phone and asked Guttman, "Comrade Guttman, are you sure the troops can clear the German peripheral positions outside chernovitzer before dark?"


    Guttman thought for a moment, then replied in an uncertain tone, "Comrade commander, I think our troops should be able to do this."


    Katukov was obviously dissatisfied with Guttmann''s answer. He frowned and said sternly, "Guttmann, if you think your troops can''t arrive at chernovitzer before dark, I''ll give this glorious task to the 8th Army of the mechanized guards of deliomov, and your army''s task will be to help them clean up the periphery."


    As soon as katukov''s voice fell, the whole headquarters became silent. Except for the sound of guns from outside, there was no sound in the room. Everyone''s eyes were focused on gertman.


    I saw gertman''s face flushed with excitement, and quickly came out to fight for him: "general katukov, since we have decided to let gertman''s tank Army take charge of the main attack in the battle plan made in advance, I think it''s better not to adjust it casually."


    Guttman, who had been in despair, immediately regained his hope. After looking at me with gratitude, he said to katukov, "don''t worry, comrade commander, since our troops have already crossed the Prut River, there should be no problem in clearing the German peripheral positions in chernovitzer before dark."


    After Guttman finished, katukov did not speak, but snorted coldly.


    "Comrade commander," seeing that katukov was still expressionless after hearing what he said, gertman was a little worried. He said in a hurry, "I promise you in the honor of a soldier that if the troops can''t clear the German positions outside chernovitzer before dark, you will remove me."


    "Comrade commander, we assure you with the honor of our soldiers," said the rest of the commanders in the headquarters, as soon as Guttmann finished saying, "we must clear the German positions outside chernovitzer before dark."


    "It''s no use just saying it," he said coldly, though everyone expressed his attitude to katukov. "I want to see your actions."


    Hearing what katukov said, gertman immediately turned around and yelled at the commanders, "what are you all doing? Don''t you continue to work! Chief of staff, after calling Colonel Boyko and ordering his tank brigade to cross the river, he quickly turned southeast to seize the German airfield. "


    The chief of Staff promised, grabbed the phone and was ready to give an order directly. At this time, katukov added: "remember, I want a complete airport, not an airport beaten by your tanks. As long as the runway of the airport can be completely preserved, our fighters can immediately enter chernovitzer and provide the necessary air support for the troops. "


    After listening to this, Guttman immediately replied loudly, "don''t worry, comrade commander, we can take the airport completely from the German army."


    When Guttman is busy, I just want to ask katukov why he behaves so abnormally today and even stimulates Guttman by changing his main attack force. Before I could speak, I saw katukov wink at me, and then turn his mouth to Guttman''s position.


    Katukov''s eyes and movements made me suddenly realize that the reason why he said these words to Guttman was that he used the method of provocation. I turned my head and looked at the busy Guttman, and said in my heart: Guttman, Guttman, I hope your troops can give full play to the strongest fighting capacity in the next battle. Don''t let katukov down on your expectations.


    At this time, a staff officer who came with us from the headquarters came in from the door, handed a telegram just received to katukov, and said: "Comrade commander, general dlyomov reports that the 1st Brigade of the close guard tank of Col. golerov and the 20th brigade of the motorized infantry of Col. babajanian have successfully crossed the Prut river, Moving in the direction of chernovitzer. "


    After reading the contents of the telegram at a glance, katukov handed it to me and said, "it seems that the operation of this dlyomov is very fast. Next, it depends on the troops of him and gertman. Who can clear the German positions outside the city first and launch the attack on the city."


    I turned and looked at the place on the table behind me. I saw the distance between the two armies and chernovitzer. Then I said to katukov, "although general dlyomov is a little farther from the city, the flat terrain on his side is very conducive to the deployment of the tank troops. Maybe they can clear the obstacles first, Take the lead in attacking the city. "


    After listening to me, katukov did not express any opinions. Instead, he asked an irrelevant question: "Rita, it is reasonable to say that the German airport is very close to our army, and they can arrive at the battlefield a few minutes after taking off. But when our army carried out the forced crossing of the Prut River, why did they not have their plane?"


    If katukov doesn''t mention this issue, I haven''t noticed that the air is very calm today. There are neither German bombers nor our fighters. I thought about it carefully for a while, and then said slowly, "general katukov, maybe it''s not that the German army doesn''t want to send out the air force, but after a long battle, they are seriously short of fuel and ammunition, so they can''t take off to fight."


    "It makes sense." After listening to my analysis, katukov nodded and said, "your analysis is very reasonable. If the German air force is not short of ammunition and fuel, it is estimated that the positions occupied by our army will be bombed continuously these days. But since yesterday, there have been no German planes in the sky. I think their strength is almost exhausted. "


    Katukov and I stood in front of the lookout, watching the distant troops crossing the river orderly from the pontoon, chatting about the current situation.


    Just as we were engaged in the conversation, we suddenly heard a cheer from the headquarters. Katukov and I turned our heads at the same time, looked at the cheering commanders and asked in one voice, "what''s the matter?"


    Guttman walked up to us quickly and reported excitedly, "comrades commander, we have just received a report from the 64th tank brigade."


    Tank 64th brigade, Colonel Boyko''s unit! As soon as I heard the name, and combined with the excited expression on Gutman''s face, I knew that it must be great news. "General Gutman, do you have any good news for us?" he asked


    "Yes, yes, comrade deputy commander of the front army. It''s really great news. " Gertman nodded his head and said, "when Colonel Boyko''s tank brigade broke into the German airfield, it happened that the plane parked on the runway was trying to take off. When he met him, he ordered five tanks to drive to the runway and blocked the way of the enemy plane. After a fierce battle, they destroyed seven enemy aircraft and seized 41 aircraft of various types.... "


    "Where is the war report?" When katukov heard this, he interrupted gertman, reached out his hand and asked eagerly, "show it to me quickly."


    After reading the war report, katukov became excited. As he walked back and forth in the headquarters, he said excitedly: "great, this is really great. We need to report the result to the higher authorities immediately. General Gutman, get through to the front command immediately. I''ll report the good news to Marshal Zhukov myself. "


    While I was still on the phone, I suddenly remembered something and said to katukov in a low voice: "Comrade General, after you report the good news to the marshal later, you can ask him to send out the air force to air attack the German artillery position south of chernovitzer, so as to reduce the pressure of our troops in the attack."


    "You''re right, Rita." Katukov nodded and said, "if you don''t mention it, I don''t think about it at all. As long as our air force bombed the German artillery positions, the artillery attack on the infantry would be greatly reduced, and the casualties of our troops would also be greatly reduced. "


    When katukov finished reporting to Zhukov, he put down the phone with a smile and said to me, "Rita, marshal has agreed to send a bombing pilot to assist our department in attacking chernovitzer." He raised his hand, looked at his watch, and continued, "since the German air force and artillery have lost their function, the frontier must not be too dangerous. How about going to the front with me? "


    I know that katukov is telling the truth. Since the German airfield is occupied, the artillery position will soon be heavily attacked by our army, and there is no time to support the garrison in the city. Then katukov and I will go to the front to inspect, and the risk factor will be greatly reduced. Thinking of this, I nodded and happily replied, "well, general katukov, I''ll follow you to the front."


    Seeing that katukov and I were going to leave, gertman also volunteered to ask, "two comrades, I''ll go with you. We can take care of each other."


    Unexpectedly, after his words came out, katukov waved to him and said, "no, general Gutman, you''d better stay in your headquarters and continue to command the troops. I''ll just go to the front with Rita. "


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Half an hour later, the armored vehicle in which katukov and I were travelling arrived at the division headquarters of the 24th infantry division. After hearing the news of our arrival, the division commander, an elderly Colonel, rushed to the gate of the headquarters to meet us and respectfully invited us into the headquarters.


    After we sat down in the division headquarters, katukov looked up at the old colonel and asked kindly, "Comrade Colonel, are you ready to attack?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." The old Colonel replied respectfully, "our artillery are building a firing position. When their artillery preparation is over, we will launch a full-scale attack."


    As soon as his words were finished, a loud voice came from the door: "excuse me, is the commander here?"


    "Come in, Colonel veradelle!" On hearing this, the old Colonel immediately turned to the door and said, "Comrade commander is here. Please come in."


    As soon as his voice fell, a commander in a military coat and a cornice hat came in from the door. After entering the door, he looked around the room, then came quickly to us, raised his hand to his forehead, and said in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, the commander of the 200th brigade of tank, veradelle, reports to you that our brigade is preparing for the attack. Please give instructions! "


    Katukov stood up, raised his hand to return the salute, reached out to hold the other party''s hand, and asked in a friendly way: "Comrade Colonel, in the next battle, your tank brigade will serve as a sharp knife of the whole army and first insert it into the enemy''s heart. Are you ready for battle?" When he heard katukov''s question, veradelle almost roared and said, "report to the commander, all the commanders and fighters of the 200th tank brigade are ready to go, ready to fight at any time." Katukov nodded with a smile, and then said, "Comrade Colonel, I want to tell you another good news. Not long ago, Captain Boyko''s 64th tank brigade successfully occupied chernovitzer airport and seized 41 aircraft of various types. In other words, you will not be attacked by the German air force during your attack on chernovitzer. " When veradelle heard that the friendly troops had occupied the airport, his face muscles twitched violently. Then he stabilized his mood and asked calmly, "Comrade commander, will you allow me to go back to the army?" Instead of agreeing to his request, katukov asked, "Colonel, if you take it here, can you direct your troops?"¡° It should be possible, comrade commander. " Veradelle pointed to a telephone by the wall and said, "I can use that telephone and give orders directly to the troops."¡° Good. Since you can give orders to the troops directly here, you should stay here first. " With these words, katukov turned to the old colonel and said, "as far as I know, general Guttman has assigned you two artillery regiments, right?" After the old Colonel nodded his approval, he continued, "now order the artillery to fire and bombard the German defensive positions." With the order of the old colonel, dozens of cannons of the two artillery regiments opened fire at the same time. In an instant, the German position was shrouded by the fire and smoke of the shells.

 Chapter 1478

    The fire preparation time before the attack was very short. It was only ten minutes. Before the rocket battalion could cover the German defensive position with another round of rocket fire, the old Colonel hastily gave the order to attack.


    I could not help frowning when I saw countless commanders and fighters, armed and shouting, leaping out of their hiding places and rushing towards the German defensive positions in the distance. Because according to the information I had before I came here, the enemy had built solid fortifications outside chernovitzer, and the dozens of cannons equipped by the two artillery regiments could not destroy the German defense system in ten minutes.


    Thinking of this, I turned to look at the old colonel and asked without expression: "Comrade Colonel, although we demand that the German peripheral positions be cleared and the attack on chernowitzer be launched before dark. But if we don''t have enough time for artillery preparation to destroy the German defense system, we will order our infantry to launch such a large-scale attack. Aren''t they going to die? "


    The old Colonel''s face was embarrassed after I scolded him for a few words. His eyes looked at katukov beside me and asked him for help. At this time, katukov quickly came out and said, "Rita, you misunderstood. Comrade colonel is not irresponsible for the lives of the commanders and fighters. Before we arrived here, they launched two attacks and found out the position of the German firepower. I observed and found that the fire points that survived the first two rounds of shelling were also cleared by our army''s shelling in the just concluded shelling. "


    After listening to katukov''s explanation, I knew that I had wronged the old colonel. When I was considering whether I should apologize to the other party, veradelle came to the old colonel and said, "Comrade Colonel, I have ordered all the tank brigades to attack. Please inform the infantry in front of me to make way for our tanks."


    Although veradelle was very polite, the old Colonel gave up. He glared and retorted, "why, Colonel villadre, even without the help of your tank brigade, our 24th infantry division can occupy the German position."


    Perhaps for the sake of respecting the elderly, veradelle did not argue with the old colonel, but left the contradiction to katukov: "Comrade commander, what do you think we should do?"


    In the face of the contradiction between the two, katukov obviously favors veradelle. After all, this is his old subordinate. He said to the old Colonel: "although the German firepower points were basically clear in the shelling, no one knows how many survived. If you only rely on your infantry to eliminate these firepower points, it is bound to be a great sacrifice. You immediately order the infantry to get out of the way and let our tanks go ahead. "


    "Yes, comrade commander." The old Colonel reluctantly agreed and turned to give orders to his troops.


    As the order was given, the infantry commanders and fighters who were charging flashed aside one after another to make way for the tanks that were rumbling towards the German position. Seeing that our army''s officers and men had entered the range one after another, countless helmets came out of the work which had been loosened by the gunfire, and then several German machine guns began to fire.


    As the tanks of the 100th brigade rushed to the front, the bullets fired by the German machine gun hit the tank body and spattered a series of sparks. Our tanks slowed down and used tank guns and coaxial machine guns to eliminate the resurrected fire points.


    Under the attack of powerful firepower, the rampant firepower spot on the German position was silent again. The tank speeded up again and rumbled over the German trench. With the impact of tanks, some of the infantry went down on one knee after a few steps, aimed at the front and fired a gun, then continued to rush forward; Some of them use the butt of a submachine gun or assault rifle to pull the trigger from time to time as they rush forward.


    By the time our tanks ran over the trench, the German resistance had crumbled. When the infantry rushed up, they were surprised to find that in addition to the German soldiers who had been killed and bombed, there were only some half dead and wounded soldiers in the trenches. Those soldiers who had not been injured had already fled to the back trenches along the traffic trenches.


    When I saw this scene through the telescope, I couldn''t help giving orders: "leave one regiment to clean up the remnant enemy and clean up the battlefield, and the remaining two regiments to continue to follow the tank brigade! The enemy has fallen into chaos, and they can no longer organize effective resistance. We should take advantage of the victory to pursue, quickly clear the German positions outside the city, and then go straight to chernovitzer... "


    After my series of orders, I didn''t hear any response. Unexpectedly, I put down my telescope and turned to look back. The old colonel and Vera delle were looking at me in amazement. When I saw their expression, I suddenly remembered that I was not in my own headquarters. This was a unit under the command of katukov. I gave orders to them, which was a bit of a bit of a bully.


    Just when I was embarrassed, katukov''s loud voice came to me: "two colonels, what''s the matter with you? Didn''t you hear the order from the deputy commander of the front army?"


    Seeing that they were still standing there, katukov stepped forward two steps, stood side by side with me, and said with a smile, "don''t you know that Lida is now Acting Deputy Commander of the front army? Can''t her orders compare with mine? "


    Hearing what katukov said, they immediately turned their eyes to me and answered loudly, "yes, deputy commander of the front army, we promise you that we will clear the German positions outside the city in the shortest time and launch the attack on chernovitzer before dark."


    When they went to deliver orders to their subordinates, I turned to katukov and said gratefully, "thank you, general katukov. If it wasn''t for you, I just didn''t know how to step down."


    Katukov said to me with a wry smile: "Rita, don''t forget your current status. Don''t always put yourself in the position of liaison officer. You are the deputy commander of the front army. Even if you are just an agent, you have the right to issue all kinds of combat orders to the troops of the front army."


    What he said reminds me that I am now also the deputy commander of the front army. I came to the 1st group army of his tanks not to be a liaison, but to be responsible for the coordinated operations between them and the friendly forces. My present position is a bit similar to that of the Ming Dynasty. In military affairs, I not only have the right to speak, but also have the right to decide. During this period of time, katukov has played a low key role. If it continues like this, it is estimated that it will leave a bad impression on the members of the base camp and even affect their future.


    I realized that the moment I came back to Ukraine, I began to be too mediocre. Originally, many people had a lot of private discussions about my position as commander of the group army, thinking that I was in charge by some improper means. After being appointed deputy commander of the front army by Zhukov, I became the target of public criticism. If I can''t show my command ability beyond other commanders, then my time in this position will be numbered.


    At this moment, seeing that katukov intended to hand over the troops to me, I would not give up. After nodding to katukov, I saw the staff officer who came here with us and came in from the outside. I waved to him. When he came to us, I asked, "staff officer, where is the army of general dlyomov now?"


    When the staff officer saw that it was me, not katukov, who asked the question, he was stunned. But when he saw katukov nodding at him, indicating that he would obey my orders, he pointed to the map and continued: "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, according to the latest information we have, general dlyomov''s mechanized 8th Army of guards has reached the northwest of the city and is attacking the German peripheral positions."


    As soon as he finished, I continued to ask, "what''s the current situation of the war? Is general de liaomov''s troops going well?"


    The staff officer nodded and replied, "yes. A few minutes ago, our radio station just received a report from general de liaomov that the 20th brigade of motorized infantry of Colonel babajanian, with the cooperation of the 1st Brigade of close guard tank of Colonel gorelov, has successfully captured the first line of defense of the German army. "


    "Why didn''t the information be reported in time?" When katukov heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting.


    "Comrade commander," the staff officer seemed to be a real man. Hearing katukov''s dissatisfaction, he replied in a flustered way, "as soon as I receive this information, I will report to you."


    I wanted to help the staff officer, so I pointed to the map and said to katukov, "general katukov, you see, now the two armies of dlyomov and getman, just like the two jaws of pincers, are holding chernovitzer hard. Judging from the current battlefield situation, we can eliminate the German peripheral positions and launch attacks on the city before dark. "


    "I agree with you." Katukov pointed the map with his hand and said to me, "however, judging from the current situation, general dlyomov is still too cautious in his use of troops. In such a wide offensive area, he has only invested in a tank brigade and a motorized brigade. The remaining three mechanized brigades, is he going to stay and give birth? "


    "Yes, general katukov." Now there are our planes in the sky to provide air cover, and the number of artillery and tanks on the ground far exceeds that of the enemy. The whole battlefield situation is very favorable to us, but this way of playing is too conservative. Therefore, I echoed katukov and said, "as long as we increase our military input, the enemy in the northwest and west of the city will be eliminated soon. In this way, we can attack from both directions at the same time. "


    Katukov stood up straight and told the staff officer who was still standing beside him: "send a telegram to general dlyomov immediately and order him to put the three mechanized brigades into combat immediately, so as not to delay the fight."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Two hours later, after receiving a call from the front commander, the old Colonel excitedly reported to katukov: "good news, comrade commander. According to the frontier report, the peripheral positions to the north and northeast of chernovitzer have been completely occupied by our troops, and my troops are approaching the city. "


    As soon as his report was over, veradelle, who had finished talking with his subordinates, came quickly. From the joy on his face, I knew that he must have brought us good news, so I asked in advance, "Colonel veradelle, do you have any good news for us?"


    "Yes, general oshanina." Veradelle unconsciously returned to what he used to call me, but he didn''t notice it at all. He still happily reported: "one of my tank companies has rushed into the city from the north along the road."


    "What?" Hearing the news, katukov rushed to him, grabbed him by the shoulder, and asked with some gaffe, "Colonel, what did you just say? A tank company has rushed into the city?"¡° Exactly, comrade commander. " Veradelle replied with a smile: "I asked specifically. The first tank company that rushed into chernovitzer was nikitin company of the original tank 200th brigade."¡° That''s great. That''s great. " After confirming the hour, katukov said excitedly to the villadre in front of him: "Colonel villadre, you go back to the brigade immediately and direct the battle yourself. And you, "katukov continued, turning his eyes to the old colonel," except for leaving a few troops to hold on to the occupied perimeter, the rest are following the tank brigade and attacking the city. " After the two colonels left, katukov grabbed the phone from the desk and dialed the army headquarters. As soon as he heard Guttman''s voice, he said aloud, "Hello, Guttman? I''m katukov. How many troops do you have? " Gertman, who stayed on the North Bank of the Prut River, obviously did not know at the moment that the 24th infantry division had cleared the German peripheral positions. Therefore, after hearing katukov''s question, he hesitated for a long time and then replied, "Comrade commander, you know, my 64th tank brigade is sticking at the airport; And the 100th tank brigade and the 24th Infantry Division... "" well, I know what you''re saying. " Without waiting for him to finish, katukov cut him off and said, "now you just need to tell me how many troops you can use?" Seeing the signs of katukov''s anger again, Gutman replied in a hurry: "there is also a tank brigade and a mechanized brigade. However, comrade commander, I intend to put these reserves into combat after they fail to attack the peripheral positions. "¡° General Gutman, I have good news for you. The German positions on the periphery have been cleared by our army. " After katukov reported the good news to gertman, he gave orders again: "put all the troops in your hands into battle immediately. Besides, your headquarters will move forward immediately and move to the 24th infantry division. "

 Chapter 1479

    After dark, more and more troops swarmed into the city of chernovitzer and started a fierce street battle with the German army. According to the plan that katukov and I discussed in advance, in order to keep the officers and men attacking chernovitzer full of physical strength, the all-round attack stopped at night. Most of the officers and men took a rest in the occupied area, and only a small number of troops continued to keep in touch with the defenders, which forced the enemy officers and men to fight at night.


    The chief of staff, who was directing the staff to set up the new headquarters, came to us and said, "two commanders, this is a good way you think of. Let''s use some of our troops to attack continuously, so that the enemies in the city dare not sleep and have to fight with us at night. After daybreak, we will put our troops back into battle after a night''s rest. It is estimated that the enemy will be tired and exhausted, and then we will be more confident of winning. "


    After listening to the chief of staff, katukov only gave a faint smile, and then asked, "chief of staff, where is general Guttman''s headquarters now?"


    With most of the troops of the 11th guard tank army entering the city of chernovitzer, not only the division headquarters of the 24th infantry division moved to the city, but also the general headquarters moved to the north of the city. The headquarters vacated by the infantry division became the site of katukov''s new headquarters.


    The chief of staff spread out a map on the table in front of us, pointed to it and said, "most of the troops of the 11th army of close guard tanks have entered the city. In order to command easily, general Gutman set his headquarters at the north gate."


    As soon as the chief of staff finished speaking, I immediately asked, "where are the troops of general dlyomov?" I''m very concerned about their progress at the moment because I''m not impressed by the command of deliomov during the day.


    "The 1st guard tank brigade, the 49th tank brigade, and the 20th motorized infantry brigade of babajanian have now rushed into the city from the West." Although the chief of staff felt that my question was very abrupt, he still truthfully reported to me that "general dlyomov sent the mechanized 1st and 3rd brigades to detour along the edge of the city to the south of the city..."


    "Wait a minute, chief of staff." Before the chief of staff finished, I raised my hand to interrupt him. Then I turned to katukov and asked him, "general katukov, I don''t understand. Why did general dlyomov send troops to detour to the south of the city?"


    "Don''t you understand?" The chief of staff shrugged his shoulders and said blankly, "general dlyomov may want to go around to the south of the city, block the retreat of the German army and try to annihilate them in the city."


    "What do you think, general katukov?" After listening to the chief of staff''s analysis, I didn''t express any opinions. Instead, I pushed the contradiction to katukov: "don''t you think that it''s a bit superfluous to do this?"


    What I said stunned the chief of staff, while katukov frowned and thought for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "Rita, do you mean to drive the enemy out of the city?"


    "Yes, that''s what I think." Seeing that katukov understood my intention, I nodded with a smile, and then said: "there are a lot of residents in the city. If the street fight between us and the German army goes on too long, it is bound to cause a lot of civilian casualties, so we have to find a way to drive the enemy out of the city."


    When I said this, the chief of staff suddenly realized that he was surprised and said, "Oh, that''s what happened. I get it. I get it all. Now that we have surrounded the city, the defenders in the city will fight against us as they see no way out. But if they find that their retreat has not been cut off by us, then they will not fight too hard. "


    "Yes, yes, chief of staff, you have guessed a lot." After listening to the chief of staff''s words, I said with a smile: "so please immediately send a telegram to general deliomov, ordering him to immediately stop the detour to the south of the city, concentrate the main forces, and eliminate the German army in the west of the city as soon as possible."


    As soon as our orders were sent out, Zhukov''s phone call came in. He said to katukov, who answered the phone in a hurry, "general katukov, how are you doing?"


    "Report to marshal," katukov said cheerfully, "the 11th army of guard tanks is in the north of the city, and the 8th Army of guard mechanization is in the west of the city, all of which are progressing very smoothly."


    "When will you take chernovitzer?"


    Katukov was very surprised that Zhukov wanted us to capture chernovitzer so urgently. He stammered a little: "marshal, because the German army has a relatively strong defense system in the city, we may not be able to completely liberate the city until tomorrow evening at the earliest."


    "What, tomorrow night?" Zhukov was obviously very dissatisfied with katukov''s answer. He said slowly: "according to the latest information we have obtained, in order to prevent their defense line from being separated by our army, the German army has transferred some reinforcements from Germany, France, Romania and Yugoslavia, including the second tank army of the SS; The first Hungarian Army has also been transferred to Hungary. "


    "Ah, the German army has increased?" This unexpected news made katukov a little confused. He was surprised and asked Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, how much time do we have now?"


    Zhukov was silent for a moment, then said gravely, "I suggest that chernovitzer be captured by noon tomorrow, so that you can have enough time to build a strong defense in the south of the city."


    At the end of the call with Zhukov, katukov sat at the table, holding his head in his hands, thinking bitterly. And his chief of staff said beside him, "Comrade commander, I think it''s better to let all the troops in the city stop recuperation and go into battle, so that they may completely occupy the whole city of chernovitzer within the time set by the marshal."


    Katukov was silent about the chief of staff''s proposal for a long time before he asked, "Rita, how do you think about it? I want to hear from you


    "I agree with the chief of staff that the troops should stop recuperation and let them fight." Before I finished my words, I saw the chief of staff turning around to give an order, so I quickly stopped him and continued: "chief of staff, don''t worry. When the commanders and fighters continue to rest and wait until two o''clock in the morning to fight, the German army has become exhausted after a night''s fighting. We can quickly defeat them by putting in new forces at this time. "


    "It''s reasonable. During that period, even if our army did not fight at night, people were the most tired and the least vigilant. If we put in a new force at that time, I believe we can take the enemy by surprise. " After echoing my opinion, katukov then tentatively asked, "in order to make the Germans lose their vigilance, we need to make the news bigger. I don''t know what to do at this time?"


    I thought to myself that it might not be easy to attract the main force of the German army and put them in a high state of tension if we did not increase the input of troops in the night war. When I was worried, I suddenly heard the chief of staff saying to himself, "chernovitze is an old city in Ukraine. It''s full of old buildings. It would be a pity if they were destroyed in the war."


    The speaker didn''t mean it, and the listener meant it. The chief of staff was whispering, but in my ear, I immediately thought of a good way. I looked at katukov and asked, "general katukov, do you know the tradition of seizing medieval cities?"


    "Tradition, what tradition?" Katukov didn''t know what I was saying, but he soon understood what I was saying. He immediately widened his eyes and asked tentatively, "Rita, do you mean the tradition of putting the red flag on the municipal building?"


    "Yes, general katukov." Seeing that he had guessed what I meant, I nodded and affirmed: "we can order gertman and dlyomov to focus their attack on seizing the city hall in the center of the city."


    As for my proposal, katukov thought about it, and finally shook his head and raised his objection: "Rita, no way. If we have enough time to send someone to put the red flag on the top of the municipal building and announce that we have occupied the city, there is nothing wrong with it. But now the higher authorities want us to completely liberate the city before noon tomorrow, and set up defensive positions in the south of the city. "


    "General katukov, you misunderstood me." Seeing that katukov missed his point of view, I quickly explained to him, "I asked general Guttman to take the municipal building as the focus of their attack, not just to plant a red flag on the top of the building to declare our sovereignty over the city. This may be right in other cities, but it doesn''t apply here. "


    After listening to me, katukov became more confused. He frowned and asked me, "I don''t understand, Rita, if you don''t think this tradition applies to chernovitzer, why do you mention it?"


    "If we focus on the municipal buildings, the German forces will concentrate their main force in this area." I waited for him to finish, and slowly expressed my own idea: "in this way, the troops in other areas will become relatively weak, and when we join the new forces, it will be easy to seize these areas."


    After katukov found out what was going on, he nodded, and then told the chief of staff around him: "chief of staff, send a message to Guttmann and deliomov immediately, let them first concentrate their forces to attack the city hall in the city center, and disrupt the German defense deployment." Seeing that the chief of staff turned to leave, he added, "such an attack must be completed on the basis of the existing combat forces."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Getman and deliomov, who had been ordered, used the forces of a regiment to attack the municipal building in the center of the city from the north and the west, respectively.


    In order to know the attack situation in time, katukov asked the communication director to send someone to lay a telephone line leading to the front, so that he could get the latest battle report from the two commanders in the shortest time.


    An hour after the fighting, katukov called Guttman first. He could not take any time to say hello. He asked frankly, "general Gutman, what''s the situation? How far is your army from the municipal building?"


    "Report, comrade commander," Guttman called out in a loud voice, "the German firepower is too fierce. Although my troops launched two charges, they were defeated by the enemy, and the casualties of the troops are not small."


    "Hell, how could that be?" After listening to Guttman''s report, katukov asked, "didn''t you send tanks to help?"¡° I sent out two tanks, which were destroyed by the German anti tank men, and the burned tanks blocked our way forward. " Gertman said wrongly, "my troops were a mile away from the municipal building when they were bombarded by German mortars, which caused great losses to the attacking troops. When we finally got into the 200 meter range, the German concealed fire points opened fire at the same time. At the same time, they sent a small group of troops to carry out counter attack, which made our commanders and fighters unable to stand firm and they were beaten back. " Katukov covered the microphone with his hand, turned to me and asked, "Rita, you have rich experience in street fighting. What can you do?" Attacking municipal buildings will cost huge casualties, which has long been my expectation. After all, the buildings there are not only tall, but also extremely strong. The damage caused by tank fire is limited. Hearing that katukov was consulting me, I quickly reached out to him and said, "general katukov, give me the phone. I''ll personally tell general Guttman what tactics to use to capture the municipal building." I took the phone, put it to my ear, and said aloud, "Hello, general Gutman, this is o''shanina!" When Guttman heard my voice, he was still a little stunned for a moment, and then politely said, "Hello, comrade deputy commander of the front army, what instructions do you have?"¡° General Gutman, listen to me Because of the urgency of time, I didn''t talk nonsense with him. Instead, I said to him straightforwardly: "you can transfer some guns to the street and fire directly at the fire point in the municipal building at the starting point of attack. Do you understand? "¡° Use artillery to destroy German firepower at close range? " After repeating what I said, Gutman tentatively asked, "this is the legendary bayonet on the cannon. Do I understand it correctly?"¡° Yes, general Gutman I saw that he also knew some tactics I had promoted before, so he further stressed that: "the closer the artillery is to the enemy''s firepower point, the greater the results will be achieved. Time is running out. Take action now

 Chapter 1480

    Gertman''s troops were frustrated in the attack, and deliomov was not much better. Before katukov could call him, he called first. As soon as he heard katukov''s voice, he couldn''t wait to say, "Comrade commander, the German army has deployed a large number of troops in the municipal building. Our attacks have been repulsed by the enemy, and the casualties of the troops are very high."


    Since gertman''s troops are not attacking smoothly, it is estimated that the situation is not much better for dlyomov who is attacking in the other direction. At this moment, when he hears dlyomov''s complaint, katukov can ask calmly, "general dlyomov, did you not send tankers to fight when you were attacking?"


    "I sent a tank company to cover a battalion of infantry and attack the city building from the West." "The enemy deployed a large number of anti tank men in the buildings on both sides of the road and destroyed our tanks one by one. Now the burned tanks have blocked the way forward, so that we can''t send new tanks to take part in the war," he said in a loud voice


    Both gertman and deliomov are traditional soldiers. Their tactics in the battlefield are all based on the knowledge they learned in the military academy. Therefore, their fighting styles are both regular and lack of necessary changes. This is also why after the tanks that assist the infantry attack are destroyed by the enemy, It''s hard for them to make any more progress.


    "General dlyomov, since we can''t send any more tanks to attack, we''ll switch to artillery." Katukov repeated what I had just said to gertman to deliomov, and finally said, "but you have to send troops to kill the anti tank men in the buildings on both sides of the road, otherwise our artillery will become their targets."


    After katukov finished, deliomov made another request cautiously: "Comrade commander, I have another request. According to your order, most of my troops are resting in order to make them have enough physical strength when they fight tomorrow. However, due to the defeat in attacking the municipal building, my existing troops are seriously insufficient. Can we let some of them stop resting and let them also take part in the night battle? "


    "No, it can''t be." As soon as deliomov''s words came out, he was denied by katukov: "the battle we are fighting now is not the warm-up before the war. We don''t need to invest too many troops. When it''s time for the rules, when the German army is exhausted by our attack, it can get twice the result with half the effort to let those troops who have fully developed their spirit into the fight. Do you understand? "


    "I understand." "I''ll arrange the artillery to cooperate with the infantry to launch the attack immediately," he replied reluctantly


    The Germans may never have dreamed that our army would use artillery to fire directly at their fortified municipal buildings when the tanks were destroyed, and they would be defeated for a moment. Seeing our army approaching the municipal building quickly from the West and the north, the German commander was a little worried and immediately ordered the tank troops hidden in the south of the city to attack the rear side of our attacking troops along the street.


    When katukov heard what Guttman had reported to him, he couldn''t help laughing and saying, "general Guttman, it''s time for you to take revenge. It''s not German people who have anti tank men. We have them, too. Moreover, our 40 rocket launchers are much better than the anti tank weapons used by the German army. Immediately set up combat teams in the buildings on both sides of the street, each group of five people, equipped with rocket launchers, light machine guns and sniper guns. The enemy infantry were dealt with machine guns and sniper guns, and the tanks were dealt with bazookas. Do you understand? "


    When he heard that his troops could take revenge, gertman excitedly agreed: "don''t worry, comrade commander, I will let the anti tank men teach the Germans a lesson. No matter how many tanks the enemy comes, we must make them useless. "


    "I''m waiting for your good news." When katukov finished, he hung up.


    After listening to katukov''s arrangement, I couldn''t help nodding. He said that this mode of operation is very effective against the attack of German infantry with tank cover. The combat team is deployed in the building. The target is small and not easy to be detected by the enemy; Even if the German army found out where they were, it would not be easy to destroy them. It must be able to cause heavy losses to the German troops who launched a hasty attack.


    Katukov saw me nodding and asked me, "Rita, what do you think of my arrangement?"


    "Not bad, not bad." I replied briefly.


    "That''s good. Let''s hear it." Katukov sat down at the table, took out a cigarette, lit it, looked at me and said with great interest, "I want to hear what you really think."


    I nodded and said what I thought in my heart: "general katukov, it''s very difficult to attack the city with conventional large forces. As one side of the attack, he is very vulnerable. We use the combat group mode to deal with the German group charge, which can eliminate the enemies in our field of vision one by one just like practicing shooting. I believe that in a short time, the enemy will be dazed by our way of fighting, and then their attack will be completely disintegrated. "


    My story was soon confirmed: after the German tanks attacked the streets near the municipal building, they were attacked by our combat team. In the narrow streets, the German armored forces could not fight at all. When their first tank was destroyed, the long armored line following was blocked in the streets. Then our combat team, relying on the favorable terrain, sniped the German tanks and soldiers.


    After the tank troops that came to reinforce the municipal building were eliminated by hundreds of combat teams of our army, katukov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he looked up at me and asked tentatively, "Rita, although it is still more than an hour before the general attack, I think the German army has completely fallen into chaos. Even if we attack ahead of time, we can still achieve the ideal state."


    I think katukov''s proposal is completely correct. As a senior commander, he should be good at grasping the fighters that appear on the battlefield, so as to achieve the greatest victory. So I nodded hard and said decisively, "general katukov, since you think the time is right, give an order. Let our officers and men stop recuperating and immediately launch an attack on the garrison in the city. "


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    After fighting in the middle of the night, the German army was already exhausted, and with repeated losses, their morale was in a low state. They never dreamed that our army would launch an attack at this time, and the number of troops and technical equipment invested in it increased several times. The resistance in most of the areas was soon destroyed by our army, and only a few German troops remained in the corner.


    However, no matter how tenacious the enemy''s resistance is, it will not help under the strong offensive of our army. By about eight o''clock in the morning, the sound of guns coming from the direction of the city gradually became sparse. Hearing this, I knew that the battle in the city was coming to an end.


    While we were anxiously waiting for the war report from the city, Zhukov''s phone call came in first. "Comrade katukov, what''s the situation? When will your troops take chernovitzer?" he asked the man who answered the phone


    "Marshal," said katukov, after listening to Zhukov''s question, "my troops occupied most of the city after a night of fierce fighting. Although there is no final report yet, judging from the increasingly sparse gunfire, the German resistance has become weaker and weaker. "


    "Well done, comrade katukov." When Zhukov heard that most of the cities were in our army''s hands, his voice became warm: "it seems that you can win chernovitzer before noon."


    According to the analysis of various signs, the capture of chernovitzer can be completed in an hour or two, but katukov said cautiously: "Comrade marshal, we will do our best."


    "I have one more thing to tell you. Once chernovitzer is completely liberated, the city will be renamed chernovitzer. You use the new name of the city in the war report. " Zhukov may be afraid of katukov''s questioning, and he added: "this is the decision made by Comrade Stalin."


    From the expression on katukov''s face, I can see that he asked why he changed his name suddenly. However, after listening to the last sentence of Zhukov, he closed his mouth obediently. Since the Supreme Commander himself made a speech, it is reasonable to change it into "chernofsze", even if it is "Moscow".


    Zhukov stopped for a moment, and then said, "if you succeed in liberating chernofze before noon, you''d better make a city entrance ceremony, so that the city residents can see our soldiers."


    "I understand, marshal. I''ll be safe at the entrance ceremony immediately." Katukov put down the phone, called the military commissar sitting next to him, briefly repeated Zhukov''s words to him, and then said, "Comrade military commissar, you are more familiar with the city entry ceremony than I am, so I will give you the responsibility."


    "Comrade commander," the military commissar stood up and said to katukov, "our main forces are all fighting in the city. It is obviously inappropriate for them to withdraw from the city and attend the ceremony of entering the city. Do you think we should use the troops directly under the group army to hold this entrance ceremony


    "Comrade commander, please wait a moment." As soon as the military commissar''s words were finished, the chief of staff came to remind katukov, "the battle in chernovitze is still going on. Is it a bit early for us to prepare for the entrance ceremony now?"


    "Chief of staff, judging from the current situation, our troops can completely liberate the city in one or two hours at most. If they don''t make preparations in advance, it will be too late." With these words, katukov stopped for a moment, and then reminded the chief of staff: "right, from now on, the city in front of us is no longer called ''chernovitzer'' but ''chernovitzer''. Please remember this. Don''t make mistakes when writing the report."


    "I see, comrade commander." Seeing that katukov had made up his mind to prepare for the entrance ceremony in advance, the chief of staff had no choice but to promise and turn around to do his own business.


    After the chief of staff left, katukov discussed with the military commissar which troops should participate in the ceremony. The military commissar said: "the 11th tank regiment, the 19th self-propelled artillery brigade and a motorized infantry regiment are all the units directly under the group army. I think we should let the tank regiment open the way in the front, the infantry in the middle, and the self-propelled artillery brigade at the end of the whole army entering the city. What do you think? "


    "I have no opinion," katukov said with approval. "Comrade military commissar, I''ll give you full responsibility for this matter. You can arrange it as soon as possible."


    The military commissar nodded, got up and walked out of the headquarters. At eleven o''clock in the morning, our army completely occupied chernofse. Along with the good news, a telegram was sent to the headquarters by the military Commissar. He said that the city had been properly arranged and the troops directly under the group army could enter the city at any time. After reading the telegram, katukov handed it to me and whispered, "this military commissar actually went to the city first. I don''t know what he''s going to do." Then he raised his voice and told the chief of staff, "chief of staff, it''s time for us to go to the entrance ceremony." Because the city has been occupied by our army and the German army around the city has been eliminated by our army, when katukov and I entered the city, we did not take the armored car as usual, but took an open jeep. As soon as I got close to the city, I saw a team holding flowers on the roadside to welcome us. At this time, I understood why the Military Commission came to the city ahead of time. It turned out that he arranged for the residents of the city to welcome the liberators of our cities. At the end of March, the temperature was still very low. Sitting in the open city, I felt that my whole body was freezing to ice. I really wanted to find a warm place to hide. But when I saw the cheering crowd on the roadside, I had to try to keep a smile on my face and wave my hands to the people on both sides. Our jeeps followed the tank line and drove down the street into the city. Driving about two or three hundred meters ahead, katukov suddenly ordered the driver to stop. Just as I was about to ask what was the matter, I saw that he had pushed the door open and got out of the car. He was walking towards a group of young girls in holiday costumes by the side of the road. I got out of the car and followed quickly. When we got closer, we could see that there was an old man with white hair standing among the girls. When he saw katukov coming up to him, he quickly bowed and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade general, on behalf of all the residents of the city, I welcome you!" With that, he turned to take a big tray from a beautiful girl. I saw in the tray a huge bun with a small plate of salt on it. I have known the customs of the Soviet Union for a long time that adding salt to round bread is the highest etiquette to welcome guests. It seems that the old man wants to express his gratitude to the residents of the city for liberating them from the hands of the Germans.

 Chapter 1481

    Katukov took the bread from the old man''s hand and handed it to the guard behind him. Then he stretched out his hands, held the old man''s hand tightly and said warmly, "thank you, old man!"


    After releasing the old man''s hand, he leaned slightly, pointed to me and introduced to the old man, "old man, this is general oshanina, deputy commander of our front army."


    "Hello, old man!" I think that since the old man in front of me can represent the residents of the city to greet us, he must be a respected elder. Therefore, while shaking hands with him, I politely said, "you have suffered!"


    Unexpectedly, the old man showed indifference to me. As soon as he let go of my hand, he turned to katukov and asked, "Comrade General, you will not leave this time when you fight back."


    Although I know very well in my heart that maybe the old man couldn''t figure out the establishment of the army, so that he took me as katukov''s valet, I felt a little embarrassed when I was given such a cold reception in public. Katukov gave me an apologetic smile and then replied to the old man, "don''t worry, old man, since we can call back, we will never leave again. We should not only liberate all our territory, but also go to the hometown of the Communist Party of China. "


    Hearing what katukov said, the old man''s eyes were filled with tears. He nodded his head hard and said, "great, great. That''s great. Comrade general, you don''t know that the Germans have done us a lot of harm in recent years... "


    I like an idle person like standing on one side, listening to two people say some polite and no nutrition, feel extremely boring. As I was looking around, I was trying to figure out a reason to pull katukov away. Suddenly, I heard the old man say to katukov, "Comrade General, since you have reoccupied this ancient city, should you follow the tradition?"


    The old man''s words immediately aroused my great interest. I wanted to find out what the tradition was, so I stared at the old man, waiting for him to say the following words. And katukov was also attracted by the old man''s words. He asked curiously, "old man, I don''t know what you mean by tradition."


    "Comrade General, don''t you know?" Seeing katukov, the old man did not know what he said about the tradition, and his face showed displeasure. However, he patiently explained: "according to the tradition, after occupying a city, a street in the city is usually named after the first army or its commander who rushes into the city."


    Name a street in the city after the commander of the first army to rush into the city? When I heard the old man''s statement, I was stunned and said in my heart, does Russia have such a tradition? But when I looked at katukov with puzzled eyes, it was just opposite his eyes, and I saw that his eyes were also puzzled.


    In public, if the old people say that there is such an ancient tradition, then there must be, if not, there must be. Katukov turned his head, looked at the old man and said with a smile, "old man, we still have something important to do. See you later." Then he reached for the old man''s hand and shook it vigorously.


    As we drove along with the self-propelled artillery brigade just entering the city and headed for the position of the new headquarters, katukov approached me and said in a low voice, "Rita, the old man just now may not know the rank of the army, so he is so indifferent to you. I hope you don''t mind."


    "General katukov, this is a small matter. Don''t care too much." Although I was left out in the cold when I was standing next to katukov, it was nothing. What I couldn''t stand most was the cold weather. At the moment, my bones were freezing and I couldn''t wait to find a warm place, so I urged katukov: "we''d better go back to the new headquarters as soon as possible. It''s too cold."


    When katukov heard me say this, he immediately said with a smile, "Rita, this is my thoughtlessness. I asked you to ride with me in this open car, which made you cold." With that, he patted the driver on the shoulder and said, "Comrade driver, speed up and get to the new headquarters as soon as possible."


    Katukov''s new headquarters is located in a church more than 300 meters away from the municipal building. When the car passed the municipal building and saw the buildings full of holes, as well as the burned tank wreckage on the street, I immediately understood why katukov did not set up the headquarters here.


    When we got out of the car and walked into the church, the hall was in a mess, with soldiers cleaning up the bricks and stones and signalmen laying telephone lines. There are also two stoves in our office area. The fire inside is very hot. As soon as I walk by, I feel a stream of hot air coming.


    While I was sitting by the fire, a staff officer came over with a telegram and reported to katukov, "Comrade commander, the call from the headquarters of the front army says that the marshal will arrive in half an hour."


    "What, Marshal Zhukov is coming to us?" Katukov, hearing what the staff officer said, snatched the telegram in his hand and scanned it carefully.


    When katukov was reading the telegram, I muttered to myself that it was hundreds of kilometers away from the headquarters of the front army. Even if Zhukov started immediately, he would have at least seven or eight hours'' drive on the road. How could he arrive in half an hour? Thinking of this, I asked curiously, "general katukov, I don''t know when Marshal Zhukov started, but he can arrive at chernofze in half an hour?"


    "It''s been half an hour since we started." As he handed me the telegram, katukov said, "he came by plane. In half an hour, it''s almost time to arrive."


    After reading the telegram, I put it on the table, looked up and asked, "general katukov, shall we wait for him here, or shall we meet him at the airport?"


    After walking back and forth in front of me, katukov stopped and said, "we''d better stay here and wait for him. He doesn''t like other people''s airs. If we go to the airport to meet him, maybe we''ll have some complaints."


    To tell you the truth, I''ve been freezing outside for so long. I feel frozen and stiff. I''m a little bit hot. I''m still reluctant to go to the airport to meet Zhukov. Since katukov said that he would stay in the headquarters and wait for Zhukov, I would push the boat forward and say, "anyway, the chief of staff and the military commissar have not arrived, and there can not be no person in charge in the headquarters. Let''s stay here and wait for the marshal."


    Zhukov''s car arrived outside the church forty minutes later. Fortunately, the chief of staff and the military commissar came to the headquarters one after another before Zhukov arrived, so as soon as Zhukov''s car arrived, katukov took us outside to meet him.


    Seeing that the car stopped steadily under the steps of the church, I trotted over and took the initiative to open the rear door. I shook hands with Zhukov who got off the car first: "Hello, marshal, welcome to visit here."


    Zhukov gave me a little smile, then shook hands with katukov, who was standing behind me, and asked directly, "Comrade katukov, what''s the matter? Have your troops started to build a defense in the south of the city?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." While shaking hands with Zhukov, katukov replied: "at present, general Gutman''s 11th army of close guard tanks and 24th infantry division are strengthening their defense by using the original fortifications in the south of the city."


    When we returned to the conference table of the headquarters and sat down, katukov asked Zhukov carefully, "Comrade marshal, are the German troops really assembling and preparing to attack us?"


    Zhukov nodded to katukov and said, "yes, according to the latest information we have, the German army is assembling troops in Romania, ready to fight back against you. As long as you can stop them for a while, and when the rest of the troops arrive, we can drive the Germans out of our country completely. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade marshal." Katukov vowed to Zhukov, "we must be able to block the German attack like a gate."


    "General katukov, you''ve done a good job!" After receiving katukov''s assurance, Zhukov turned the topic and said with a smile: "because you decisively occupied chernofse, the German tank 1st group army and tank 4th group army''s defense lines were completely separated, making them unable to echo each other, creating favorable conditions for us to annihilate these two isolated enemies in the next step."


    Perhaps Zhukov used a new name to call the city which was occupied by us soon, which immediately reminded katukov of what the old man said in the street. So he carefully asked Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, may I ask you a question?"


    Since katukov was the conqueror of chernofse, Zhukov said with a kind face after hearing what he said: "general katukov, if you have anything, just ask. As long as I know, I will give you a satisfactory answer. "


    "Comrade marshal, it is like this." When katukov saw that Zhukov was in a good mood at the moment, he repeated the old man''s words to him and finally asked, "can we really name the street after the commander of the army that first rushed into the city?"


    "Yes, there is such a tradition." Zhukov nodded his head and said, "it''s like if we just put the red flag on the top of the municipal building to declare that the city has been occupied by us." When he said this, he stopped for a moment, and then asked, "I don''t know which army first rushed into the city?"


    Katukov turned to look at his chief of staff and said, "chief of staff, you are the most clear about this matter. It''s up to you to report it to the marshal."


    The chief of staff agreed, got up from his seat and said respectfully to Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, the first one who rushed into the city was lieutenant nikitin''s tank company."


    When I heard the name of nikikin, I couldn''t help interrupting and asked, "chief of staff, if I remember correctly, Lieutenant nikikin belongs to the 200th brigade of the tank?"


    The chief of staff nodded and replied with a smile, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, you remember right. Lieutenant nikitin was originally from the 200th tank brigade, but the brigade was almost dead after the German air attack. So the tank company of lieutenant nikitin was temporarily assigned to the command of the 100th tank brigade of Colonel veradelle. "


    As soon as Zhukov and other chief of staff finished speaking, they immediately said, "not only which tank brigade he belongs to, he is in the organizational structure of the first group army of your tanks." At this point, he turned to katukov and asked, "general katukov, am I right?"


    "That''s right, that''s right." Katukov shook his head like a rattle and said, "no matter which brigade the tank company originally belonged to, he was in the organizational structure of our group army."


    Seeing that katukov agreed with his own opinion, Zhukov made an arbitrary decision: "general katukov, you are going to build a memorial platform at the entrance of the city to place the tank driven by lieutenant nikitin on it. At the same time, you are going to write on the memorial board: on March 27, 1944, when the city was liberated by the German plunderers, The tank of the squadron of guard tank Lieutenant Nicky king was the first to break into the city. At the same time, name a street in the city after nikikin Hearing a series of orders issued by Zhukov, the military commissar quickly stood up, straightened his back and said, "don''t worry, marshal, I will immediately arrange for people to build this memorial platform. It will only take three days at most." Zhukov nodded to the military commissar''s reply with satisfaction. Then he looked around, looked at the reaction of the people, and continued to say, "I know that you are very envious of the honor that lieutenant nikitin has received. But don''t be disappointed, because our war with the Germans can''t be finished in a day or two. Maybe you will have a chance to name a street in the city in your own name in the future. " Although I have no interest in naming a street after myself. However, for the Soviet people with a strong sense of honor, it is a great honor to name the streets by their own names. No matter how excited the chief of staff and military commissars are, even katukov, who has always been mature and steady, is a little restless. After a few more words, Zhukov suddenly looked at me and asked, "Rita, what''s your next step? Will you stay here, or will you go back to the front command with me? " As soon as I thought of going back to the headquarters of the front army, I would live a life of idleness and no real power. My heart was filled with fear, so I resolutely rejected Zhukov''s good intentions: "Comrade marshal, before our troops arrived at the border line, I was willing to stay with general katukov and fight side by side with them."

 Chapter 1482

    After listening to my answer, Zhukov looked at me for a long time, then nodded slowly and said, "well, Rita, since you want to stay, stay!"


    He turned to look at katukov with a smile and asked, "general katukov, I heard that in the German counterattack, you used a special way of fighting to defeat the enemy''s armored forces. Can you give me a brief introduction to your tactics? See if it can be promoted in the whole front army. "


    Katukov laughed and then said, "yes, marshal, when I learned that the German infantry under the cover of tanks launched an attack on the rear side of our army headquarters, they did not send large troops to the enemy''s only way to establish a defense line, but adopted the mode of group operation to meet the enemy."


    Zhukov took out his pen and book and said with great dignity: "speak in detail."


    "Each of my combat teams consists of five snipers, machine gunners and antitank fighters." When katukov saw that Zhukov was ready to record, he slowed down his speaking speed intentionally: "to the enemy''s infantry, he fired with machine guns; Tanks, use 40 rocket launchers to deal with; The sniper''s responsibility is to take out the German commander. The enemy loses unified command and falls into chaos. Judging from the results of the fighting, it seems that the tactics of using combat teams to block the German army in street fighting is very successful. "


    "It''s very good. This tactic is very effective in dealing with the big enemy in the city." Zhukov put down his pen, looked up at katukov and said with satisfaction, "according to the information I have, you lost seven combat teams in the battle, but killed more than 200 German soldiers and destroyed more than a dozen tanks." At this point, he stopped, raised his hand, scratched the back of his head, and then asked, "general katukov, can you tell me how you came up with such a tactic? You know, these tactics can''t be learned in our military academy. "


    Katukov looked at me and said modestly, "to tell you the truth, marshal, I can come up with such a tactic. I also want to thank Rita. When I knew that her troops could achieve the greatest results with the least casualties in urban street battles, I carefully studied the tactics she used, so as to figure out such a set of tactics that can be used in urban warfare. "


    When I heard these words, I couldn''t help but feel stunned. I said that katukov was really not simple. According to some of the tactics I used, I found out the essence of urban warfare. You know, at the end of the 1990s, the Chechen rebels in Grozny used this tactic to beat the Russian Army full of people and power, Even the commander was killed in the city.


    After listening to katukov''s words, Zhukov turned his head and looked at it, with a thoughtful expression on his face. After a moment of silence, he asked katukov in a low voice, "is there any quiet place here? I have one thing to ask Rita


    Although katukov didn''t know what Zhukov was going to talk to me about, he pointed to the room with the door closed by the side and said, "Comrade marshal, it''s a quiet room where the priest prays."


    Zhukov nodded, then stood up, shook his head at me and said, "Rita, come with me."


    I followed Zhukov into the priest''s prayer room. After closing the door, I asked cautiously, "marshal, is there anything important you want me to do here?"


    Zhukov, who sat down in a back chair, looked up at me and asked unexpectedly, "Rita, you went to Washington last year. It''s said that you also participated in the formulation of their plan to open up a second battlefield. Is that true?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal, I did provide some offensive ideas to the senior commanders of the US Army." I don''t know why Zhukov mentioned it all of a sudden. He replied in a hurry: "but..."


    Before I had finished, Zhukov raised his hand to stop what I was going to say later, and said to himself, "I have the authorization of the Supreme Commander himself, so you should report to me as you reported to Comrade Stalin at that time."


    When I think of the famous Normandy landing, which was first proposed by my Soviet general and approved by the high-level military circles of Britain and the United States, I feel like I''m dreaming. Maybe it is because of this feeling that I have always been confused about whether my plan to give up Calais and choose the landing site in Normandy to Michelle really happened or a dream of mine.


    Seeing that I didn''t speak for a long time, Zhukov thought I didn''t hear clearly, and raised his voice to ask again. Hearing his voice with some dissatisfaction, I asked in some confusion: "marshal, what do you want to know?"


    "When and where will the Allies open up a second battlefield?" Zhukov did not beat me around the Bush and asked me the key question directly: "in addition to these questions, I also want to know, will they really open up a second battlefield?"


    I never dreamed that Zhukov was concerned about the second battlefield of the Allied forces instead of how to push our front to the border as soon as possible when the battle was at the most critical moment. Although I did not mention the second battlefield after I came back from the United States except when I reported to Stalin, I had to answer Zhukov''s question now.


    "Marshal, I think the second battlefield will certainly be opened up within this year." I organized some words in my mind, screened out some things that I could say, and then replied, "as for the attack time, I guess I will choose summer."


    "And the place?" When Zhukov heard this, he couldn''t wait to ask me, "where will the Allies choose the landing site?"


    "The Allies first chose Calais as the landing site," I said evasively. "Later, when General Michel asked for my opinion, I suggested that they choose Normandy as the landing site."


    Normandy When Zhukov heard the name, he quickly took out a map from his briefcase and unfolded it. With the help of the candlelight in the room, he found the location of Normandy on it. After comparing Calais with Normandy, he raised his head and asked, "Rita, can you tell me why you suggested the allies to land in Normandy?"


    "It''s very simple." In response to Zhukov''s question, I said very easily: "the Allied forces will cross the English Channel and seize a strategic landing site in the north of France, so as to create conditions for opening up the second battlefield in Europe and finally defeating Germany. From the map, there are only two best landing sites - Calais and Normandy.


    Calais is the closest to Britain, only more than 30 nautical miles away, and close to the German mainland, it seems to be the best landing point. However, the Germans also took this into consideration, so their defense force here is the strongest, not only the defenders are elite troops who have experienced many battles, but also have a perfect defense system. There is neither a large port nor an inland transportation line nearby, which is not conducive to the deep development of the Allied forces after landing. If we really choose this area to land, we will repeat the same mistake of DIEP landing. "


    After listening to me, Zhukov frowned and thought for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Rita, you mean the landing of Dieppe in July 1942 when the British sent commandos to Dieppe, France?"


    Fortunately, I still know something about this period of history, so as soon as Zhukov finished, I immediately added: "yes, according to the information I learned when I was in Washington, the situation of safflower girl in the Soviet German battlefield was extremely severe at that time. The German vanguard troops had arrived near Stalingrad. Our country strongly demanded that Britain and the United States launch landing operations in Europe, To contain the German forces and reduce the pressure on our army. Under such circumstances, Britain hastily sent a shock force composed of 6000 people to carry out landing operations in Dieppe, France. As a result, under the attack of the German army, almost all the troops were destroyed. "


    In order to make what I said more convincing, I specially added: "when I chatted with General Marshall and General Patton, I heard them mention that Britain insisted on delaying landing on the European continent on the pretext of the failure of DIEP landing and the complexity and danger of large-scale amphibious landing, which must be carried out with caution."


    Zhukov nodded and urged me to say, "go on and tell me why you chose Normandy!"


    "There are three reasons why I chose Normandy: first, Normandy is far away from England. The German army did not expect that the allies would land in this area, so their defense would not be too tight; Secondly, Normandy had an open terrain, which allowed the deployment of 20 or 30 divisions at the same time; Third, it''s also an important reason. It''s only 80 kilometers away from the largest port in northern France, Cherbourg. "


    After I said this, Zhukov got up from his seat and walked back and forth in the small room with his hands on his back. While I took advantage of his thinking, I went over what I had just said in my head to check if there was anything wrong.


    After Zhukov stopped, he hesitated and asked me, "Rita, you are a general of the Soviet Union. How can Britain and the United States let you participate in the formulation of such an important battle plan? Is there any conspiracy? Is it not the deliberate smoke of the United States and the United States? Maybe they have no plan to open up a second battlefield in Europe, do you think


    Zhukov''s series of questions stunned me. I asked myself, how can I participate in the formulation of Operation Overlord? If I don''t know the real history, maybe I will have the same idea as Zhukov, thinking that this is a conspiracy between Britain and the United States. They deceived the Soviet army to fight against the German army on the ground of opening up a second battlefield, and then they would take advantage of it.


    I took a deep breath and said to Zhukov, "marshal, I think Britain and the United States are really ready to open up a second battlefield in Europe. Otherwise, once our troops enter Europe first, they will become very passive politically and militarily."


    After listening to my analysis, Zhukov sat back in his chair, picked up the map in his hand and looked at it repeatedly, digesting everything I just said.


    After a long time, Zhukov stood up again, folded the map and put it into his briefcase. At the same time, he said to me solemnly, "Rita, I will tell you what you said to the Supreme Commander himself. However, I remind you that the conversation between us must not be known to a fourth person. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade marshal." I raised my hand, touched the sweat from my forehead, and answered with relief, "as soon as I get out of this room, I will immediately forget everything I just said."


    "Good, good." Zhukov nodded with satisfaction to my answer. Then he put his hand on my shoulder, took me and walked out, and said, "well, next, we should discuss with general katukov how to get our troops to the Romanian border as soon as possible." Katukov, who was sitting at the table studying the map, saw Zhukov and I come out of the prayer room and quickly stood up from our seats. Katukov respectfully asked, "marshal, are you finished?" Zhukov nodded, took his hand away from my shoulder, waved to everyone and said, "everyone, sit down. Let''s talk about how to push forward to the border." After we sat down again, katukov pushed the map on the table to Zhukov, and confidently said to him: "marshal, if the German army does not increase its troops, I can send the mechanized 8th Army of guards to rush to the Romanian border quickly along the road. In three hours at most, our flag can be re planted on the border." Compared with katukov''s impassioned enthusiasm, Zhukov is much calmer. After hearing this, he just nodded a little, and then said, "general katukov, you are right. If our troops advance to the border line immediately, they will be able to stand on our 1941 border line before dark. But there is no decent defense there. Once the German troops arrive and counter attack our troops, our troops without fortifications will be defeated by the enemy in a short time. " Seeing that his proposal was rejected by Zhukov, katukov''s face showed disappointment. After a short silence, he asked Zhukov carefully, "do we really need to defend the south of chernofse for a period of time before we can launch a new attack on the frontier?"¡° Yes, that''s how it is. " Zhukov saw the dejected look on katukov''s face, comforted him and said, "don''t worry, general katukov. I know you are a famous offensive general, but it''s not a bad thing to defend properly. You can take advantage of this time to rest your troops. At the same time, your superiors will give you additional troops and weapons. When the fourth group army of tanks and the third group army of close guard tanks arrive, you can concentrate your superior forces and attack the enemy no later. You must tell the soldiers that today''s defense is to prepare for tomorrow''s attack. "

 Chapter 1483

    After we sent off Zhukov, the military commissar of katukov said with some chagrin, "if we turn to defense, I don''t think we can launch a new attack on the enemy for ten days and a half months."


    "Comrade military commissar, didn''t you hear the marshal say that during the period of your defense, the higher authorities will supply you with new soldiers and technical equipment?" As for the concerns expressed by the military commissar, I said with a smile: "due to the frequent and long-term fighting, not only the soldiers and technical equipment have been greatly lost, but also the commanders and fighters are very tired. We can take advantage of this period of time for defense, so that the commanders and fighters can have a good rest. "


    "Comrade deputy commander of the front army," as soon as the chief of staff listened to what I said, he immediately expressed his own view: "I think even if our army wants to turn to defense, it can completely advance the front line to the border line. You know, we are only 30 kilometers away from the border. As long as we build a defense at the border, we can also block the German attack. "


    After the chief of staff finished complaining, I asked with a smile, "Comrade chief of staff, I don''t know if you have found any difference between the terrain of Romania and that of Ukraine?"


    As for my question, the chief of staff frowned for a moment and then replied, "Ukraine''s terrain is mainly plain, which is suitable for large-scale use of tank troops; Romania is mountainous, which is not conducive to the assault of our mechanized troops. But what does this have to do with the position of our defense? "


    Pointing to the map in front of me, I patiently introduced to the chief of staff and said, "chief of staff, please see, if we build a defense on the border line, it will be difficult for us to allocate enough troops at a depth of 30 kilometers behind us to protect this area. Once the German forces detour from the two wings, our troops deployed on the border line will be in danger of being encircled. However, the situation will be much better if the defense line is set to the south of chernofse. Our troops can rely on fortifications inside and outside the city to establish a perfect defense system. "


    Katukov, who did not speak for a long time, continued: "Rita is right. After a long period of fighting, our troops have been seriously reduced, and the number of tanks that can be used for fighting is very limited. Even if we reach the border with such a force, it will be very difficult for us to block the German counterattack. "


    At first, the chief of staff and the military commissar were full of expectations for arriving at the border line as soon as possible. Hearing what katukov said, they immediately thought of the current situation of the army and shut up one after another. After a while, the chief of staff tentatively asked katukov, "Comrade commander, after months of fighting, we have lost more than half of our troops, and there are not many tanks left. If we turn to defense on the spot, can we block the counterattack carried out by the strengthened German army?"


    After listening to the chief of staff''s worry, I turned to katukov and said with a smile, "general katukov, I am full of confidence in your troops'' adherence to chernofse. I believe your commanders and fighters can not only block the enemy''s crazy attack, but also fight the enemy in the shortest time after completing the replenishment. "


    "Comrade deputy commander of the front army," the chief of staff asked unexpectedly when he saw that I had so much confidence in katukov, "I want to know why you have so much confidence in our commander?"


    "It''s simple, because your commander is known by the Germans as the commander of the" slippery general. " I know that the chief of staff and katukov have been working together for less than a year, so I don''t know enough about many of katukov''s heroic deeds, so I take this opportunity to popularize science to him: "in October 41, when general katukov just took over the fourth brigade of tankers, he had only 45 old tanks and not enough ammunition. With such troops and technical equipment, it seems an impossible task to complete the order issued by the higher authorities to block the Guderian armored cluster and defend the west gate of Moscow.


    But general katukov was very clever. He knew that hard work was not the way. He urged the soldiers to repair the fake bunkers day and night, and to deploy a large number of fake tanks made of plywood inside, while deploying the real tank positions thousands of meters away.


    A lot of officers and men resented him for his hard work. They called him "a German spy general who wants to kill everyone.". However, as soon as the battle started, we found that we had wronged him. Following this slippery brigade commander, we could at least save our lives and win the battle.


    Because of the limited military strength, general katukov had to use every soldier carefully, and ordered each tank to have at least three or four firing points. He fired a few shots at the enemy and then changed to another place, thus giving the Germans the illusion that the Soviet army was very powerful. Facts have proved that his tactics have indeed worked. When the Germans reported to the higher authorities, they all said that they found thousands of tanks of our army in the area.


    After eight days of fighting, the tank brigade under the command of general katukov destroyed 133 German tanks and two planes, but his own troops suffered little loss, and successfully completed the defense task assigned to him by his superiors. "


    After I introduced katukov''s brilliant achievements, katukov waved to me with a smile and said with a little embarrassment, "Rita, it''s all years ago. What do you want to do with it at this time. Chief of staff, "he said to the chief of staff in his last sentence," go and give orders to the troops immediately, and let general dlyomov''s guards mechanize the Eighth Army and build a defense in the south of the city; General Guttman''s bodyguard tank 11th army and infantry 24th division are responsible for the city''s defense. "


    After learning about katukov''s great achievements in the past, the chief of staff readily followed his instructions and issued orders to the two commanders of the guards through the telephone of the headquarters.


    When the chief of staff sat back at the table, katukov suddenly looked at me and said with great interest, "Rita, there won''t be any war now. I want to hear your judgment of the next war situation!"


    "Yes, yes, comrade deputy commander of the front army." When katukov said that, his chief of staff naturally added, "let''s talk about your analysis."


    Seeing katukov''s gracious attitude, and my desire to build up a tall image in front of commanders who were not familiar with me, I did not refuse, but took the history I knew as my own analysis: "according to my analysis, the reason why we launched a series of offensive campaigns on the right bank of the Dnieper River is that I think there are mainly two main campaign targets. First, our army wants to liberate all the territory occupied by the German army in the south of the Soviet Union and threaten the Romanian oil fields; Second, although the supreme command also understands that our launching of this series of attacks does not necessarily make the German army believe that our army will attack Romania in the summer, it can make the Russians feel that the focus of our next attack will be the northern region of Ukraine, so as to achieve the goal of covering the offensive campaign in Belarus. "


    Katukov was stunned by what I said. He looked at the map silently for a long time, nodded slowly and said, "that''s right, Rita. From the current attack direction of our army, not to mention the German headquarters, even I think the focus of our next attack is the north of Ukrainian." At this point, he looked around and saw that except for me and him, as well as the chief of staff and the military commissar, the rest of the staff were far away from us. They should not hear what I said just now. Then the chief breathed a sigh and solemnly told the chief of staff and the military commissar, "what Lida said is the absolute secret of our army. I hope you don''t let it out, Do you understand? "


    "I understand." At the same time, the military commissar and chief of staff said, "don''t worry, we will abide by the confidentiality regulations."


    "Good, good!" After listening to their answers, katukov nodded with satisfaction, and then turned to look at me, "Rita, there are no outsiders here anyway. Can you give us some more important information?" Deeply afraid of my misunderstanding, he specially explained, "I don''t want to know what you and Zhukov are talking about, but I want to hear you judge what the German army will do next?"


    I stood up, picked up a red and blue pencil on the table, pointed to the map spread out in front of me, and said to the three men, "comrades, from the current battlefield situation, it is very dangerous for the German army. In order to save the crisis, the only way out for the Germans is to maintain a defensive line in the east line to block our fortifications.


    According to my judgment, the enemy has two directions to ensure: one is Belarus or northern Ukraine, because our army can enter Poland through these two directions, and then rush to the German mainland; The second is the south of Ukraine, because our army can enter Romania through it.


    The first direction is directly related to the safety of Germany; The latter direction is related to the Romanian oil field, which is very important to the German army. Once it is occupied by our army, the German army will lose its main source of energy. "


    At this point, I put down my pencil and said to them with a smile: "once the main source of energy is lost, the German tanks and planes will become immovable scrap iron, and their combat effectiveness will be greatly weakened."


    Katukov looked at the map and then asked a question: "if we want to defend both directions at the same time, the German army will need a lot of troops. But can they deploy enough troops on both fronts after repeated failures? "


    After katukov finished, I shook my head and continued: "if they had enough troops in both directions at the same time last year, it would be possible. However, with successive losses in the Soviet German battlefield, they have lost a large number of elite troops. In the north of Ukraine, let alone in the south, they have to rely on their allies: Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia to ensure that our army can not seize the large oil fields in Romania. But as the German army lost on the battlefield, their allies began to become less reliable. "


    Katukov looked at me with a mysterious smile on his face. After a little meditation, he carefully asked, "Rita, I know you have many ideas. Do you want to make ideas on German allies?"


    "Yes, general katukov, that''s what I think." Seeing katukov, I guessed my intention, and I said without concealing: "although the fighting capacity of these servants'' armies can''t be compared with that of the German army, our army will pay a great price to destroy them. But if we can bring these enemies to our side, it will not only reduce our casualties, but also greatly weaken the enemy. "


    I thought my theory would win everyone''s applause after it was put out. I didn''t expect that when I finished, katukov looked down at the map and said nothing; The chief of staff looked at the ceiling of the church and seemed to appreciate the painting carefully.


    The military commissar looked around for a moment. After seeing the reaction made by katukov and the chief of staff, he said with a bitter smile to me, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, although I think your formulation is very novel, please forgive me for being frank. I don''t think the superior will agree with it."¡° Why? " I was surprised by the military commissar''s words and asked, "why do you say that?"¡° It''s very simple. " Katukov could not avoid this problem, so he could only stand up and explain on behalf of the military commissar: "whether it is Romania, Hungary or Czechoslovakia, they did a lot of bad things with the Germans during the Great Patriotic War. Now their master can''t hold on any longer, so he wants to change his family. There''s no such easy thing. At least let them pay enough for the bad things they have done before they can consider joining our camp. " Katukov''s words made me feel a little taken for granted. Did Stalin, who was above me, not consider the problems I considered? Have the senior leaders of the supreme command not considered it? Even Zhukov, who was just sent away by us not long ago, may not have considered this matter. But why didn''t anyone take the initiative to woo these servants? However, I was still a little unconvinced and said: "although the Germans occupied these countries, the people of these countries never gave in. The resistance movement against the German occupation has been going on and on."¡° All right, Rita, no more Katukov waved to me and sidestepped the subject: "we are soldiers, so don''t bother to think about the issues that should be considered by politicians. It''s more practical for us to study how to resist the possible anti assault of the German army. "

 Chapter 1484

    I''m now deputy commander of the front army. Although I''m only acting, I can''t stay in the headquarters of katukov all the time. So in seizing chernofze''s "this is great." I was also happy to hear that rebalko''s tank commander was about to be promoted, so I instinctively said, "general rebalko, please convey my congratulations to him."¡° Yes, Rita. I''ll give him what you mean After finishing this sentence, rebalko suddenly changed the topic and said: "the next task of our group army is to attack jernopol. After a scuffle, though most of the technical equipment was discarded on the battlefield, half of the German 48th armored forces successfully retreated to jernopol. " When I heard the name of the 48th armored army, my face muscles could not help twitching violently. I secretly complained about Zhukov in my heart. It would not be so easy for the 48th armored army of the German army to break through the encirclement if he had not been stubborn and delayed in filling the gap between the two groups. Now that more than half of the enemy have successfully retreated into jernopol, our troops are bound to pay a higher price in seizing the city. But I can only hide these complaints in my heart, but I can''t speak them out in public. On the contrary, I had to say a few good words for Zhukov in front of rebarko and his deputies: "the 48th German Panzer Army broke through because the enemy found a gap of several kilometers between the two groups we were attacking. Because of the limited number of troops we can use, we are unable to fill these gaps in a short time. As a result, the elite German armored forces escaped from these gaps. It is a pity. Although the marshal discovered that the enemy unexpectedly broke through the front of our army and took corresponding measures to send planes to bomb the German armored forces in the process of breaking through, he did not expect that the enemy could leave the technical equipment behind and escape from the encirclement of our army lightly. " After these words, I saw that everyone was silent and knew that they were inconvenient to express their views against Zhukov in front of me, so that they would not be put on shoes after I made a small report. I adjusted the subject and asked, "general rebalko, I don''t know what your attack sequence is at jernopol?" Hearing the question I asked, the chief of staff, who had just said nothing, immediately took over my topic and said, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, I am the chief of staff. Please allow me to introduce the situation to you." After I nodded my head, he talked on and on: "as the first echelon, general Panfilov''s close guard tank Sixth Army, behind them, is the close guard mechanized seventh army. And our second echelon is the 7th army of close guard tanks... "After the chief of staff introduced the situation of the army, we turned to rebalko and asked," Comrade General, how long do you think it will take your army to capture jernopol? " As for my question, rebalko thought for a moment, then frowned and said: "because the German army has a solid defense system in this area, and the disabled soldiers of the 48th armored army retreated into the city not long ago, all these make our attack more difficult. I think it will take us half a month at the earliest to capture the city. "

 Chapter 1485

    half a month? When I heard rebalko''s reply, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly, saying that even if I could agree with you to liberate jernopol in half a month, Stalin and Zhukov would not agree.


    Seeing my expression, rebalko knew that his answer would not satisfy me. He quickly and carefully asked, "Rita, how long do you think we should take del noble?"


    I stretched out a finger and said decisively, "a week! I can only give you one week at the most, and you have to take del noble


    "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, please allow me to introduce to you the situation of tarnopol." As soon as I finished, the military commissar said to me with a smile, "this is a city in western Ukraine, the capital of tarnopol state. In the left bank of the Dniester River tributary sheret River, population 120000. It was built as a fortress in 1540, belonged to Poland in 1920-1939, and belonged to the Soviet Union in 1939. "


    When listening to the military commissar introducing the history of jernopol to me, it suddenly occurred to me that this city was renamed "jernopol" after it was liberated by the Soviet army in 44 years, and the name used at the moment is still "tarnopol". Although I always use "jernopol" when I mention this place name, no one reminds me that I have said the wrong place name. Maybe they think I am not pronouncing it correctly.


    However, from what the military commissar said, I can see what he meant. The city we are about to capture can be regarded as a fortress. The enemy''s fortification is solid. It is almost impossible for our army to capture the city in a short time.


    Rebalko remained silent about what the military commissar said. And the chief of staff then said to me, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, it''s snowing season in spring. In previous years, we all stopped fighting and had a rest at this time. Only this year, we continue to launch offensive campaigns against the enemy. The muddy roads and the fields and swamps that are difficult to pass greatly limit the range of activities of the armored forces and make our attack difficult. "


    I immediately refuted the chief of staff''s statement: "Comrade chief of staff, your statement is not correct. It''s the spring thawing season, but our tank tracks are wider than those of the enemy''s tanks. Our tanks can pass normally in many areas where the enemy''s tanks can''t pass. In other words, when we attack cities, the number of tanks that can be put into combat will greatly exceed the number of enemy tanks. "


    Seeing what I said, the chief of staff immediately shut up. At this time, he may remember that I just came from the first group army of tanks. Katukov''s ability and experience in commanding tank troops are much better than rebarko''s.


    After my words, the whole room fell into an awkward silence.


    Just as I was about to find something to break the silence in the room, a telephone on the desk rang. The chief of staff picked up the phone and listened for a moment. Then he handed me the phone. At the same time, he said respectfully, "your phone is from the headquarters of the front army."


    A call from the headquarters of the front army? When I heard what the chief of staff said, I immediately thought whether Zhukov had any important task to explain to me. As soon as I put the microphone close to my ear, I said aloud, "Hello, marshal, do you have any latest instructions?"


    Unexpectedly, Khrushchev''s voice came out of the receiver: "Rita, not Zhukov, I''m Khrushchev."


    "It''s you, comrade military Commissar." When I heard Khrushchev''s voice, I still asked with a smile, "what can I do for you, please?"


    "Is there anyone else next to you?" Instead of answering my question immediately, Khrushchev asked in reverse.


    Holding the microphone, I looked at rebalko and his deputies, then said to the microphone, "yes, general rebalko, as well as his deputy commander, chief of staff and military Commissar."


    "Let them dodge first." Khrushchev said in an unquestionable voice, "I have something important to tell you."


    After listening to Khrushchev''s words, I quickly covered the microphone and said to rebalko with a little embarrassment, "excuse me, general rebalko. Comrade Khrushchev wants to talk about important things with me. Can you and your colleagues avoid it?"


    "No problem." Rebalko nodded, stood up, waved to the others and said, "come on, let''s go out first. We''ll come in after the deputy commander of the front army gets through the phone."


    After several of them and the signalmen sitting in the corner left the room, I released my hand covering the microphone and said respectfully, "Comrade military commissar, general rebalko, they have gone out. Now you can say what you have to do."


    "It''s like this, Rita." Khrushchev said slowly on the phone: "judging from the current situation, it won''t be long before our troops can recover the whole of Ukraine. However, the war brought huge losses to Ukraine. According to incomplete statistics, about 4 million people were lost, and tens of thousands of industrial and mining enterprises and more than 20000 collective farms were destroyed. In order to rebuild Ukraine as soon as possible and make it a big granary of the Soviet Union, the Supreme Command told me to return to Kiev tomorrow to take charge of local work and rebuild the destroyed factories, enterprises and collective farms... "


    When I heard this, I couldn''t help shivering. I asked him what he said to me. Did he want me to be his assistant and go to local work? To tell you the truth, I really don''t want to work in a local area. The personnel relationship is too complicated. With my EQ, I will be killed by others soon.


    After waiting for his words to come to an end, I asked cautiously, "Comrade military commissar, what can I do for you?"


    "I appreciate you, Rita. You are a capable comrade." Khrushchev''s words made my heart beat faster. It turned out that he really wanted me to work in a local place. Just when I was on the verge of despair, I heard him say, "but I know you like to stay in the army rather than work in a local place."


    "That''s right, comrade Khrushchev. It''s true." When I heard Khrushchev say this, I seemed to see a glimmer of life. I quickly followed his words and said, "I don''t think my ability is suitable for working in local areas, so I can only command the troops in the army and divide them with the enemy."


    When Khrushchev heard me say this, he couldn''t help laughing and made me confused. After he finished laughing, he said to me, "Rita, I know you don''t want to work somewhere, so I won''t force you. I''ll call you today. There are two things. First, although I still hold the post of military commissar of the front army, major general kleinukov will be in charge of political work in the army in the future. "


    "Well, I see." I heard that Khrushchev didn''t ask me to work in a local place. The stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. Then I asked, "is there another thing?"


    "I know you have many ideas. I want to ask you something."


    "Please don''t dare. If you have anything, just ask." When I heard Khrushchev speak to me in such a polite tone, my heart became uneasy again: "as long as I know, I will answer truthfully."


    "I think you should know that the people in western Ukraine were not very friendly to us, so there were a lot of anti Soviet guerrillas supported by the Germans during the war." Khrushchev asked unexpectedly, "if we encounter resistance from the local people when we are carrying out the reconstruction work, what should we do?"


    In the process of reconstructing Ukraine, was it resisted by the local people? Hearing Khrushchev''s question, I can''t help but have a headache. My heart says that you can''t think of a good way. Can I still think of it as a layman?


    When Khrushchev saw that I had not answered, he mistakenly thought that I was thinking about how to solve it, so he did not urge me. After a while, he asked, "what''s the matter, Rita? Do you have any idea?"


    Seeing that he could not evade the answer to this question, he had no choice but to harden his head and say, "Comrade Khrushchev, as far as I know, if the local people want to boycott the reconstruction work, there are two measures we can take..."


    "Oh, there are two ways." When Khrushchev heard this, he couldn''t help but cut in and said, "come on, let''s hear it."


    I gave a wry smile and said that if you didn''t interrupt me, I would have said my own idea: "the first way is to divide. We should try to win over and support the pro Soviet natives and entrust them with a heavy task, so that they can deal with those who oppose us.... "


    "That''s good. That''s a good idea." While recording, Khrushchev exclaimed, "go on."


    "The other way is to take a cut from the bottom." When I began to make suggestions for Khrushchev, I spoke more fluently than just now. Thinking that this was a private conversation between us, I said without hesitation: "you will call up those who may cause trouble in the army. In this way, we can not only supplement the soldiers we lost in the battle, but also eliminate the local unstable factors. "


    "That''s great, that''s great!" After listening to my suggestion, Khrushchev said excitedly, "Rita, I didn''t expect your opinion to coincide with mine. I think the same way. As long as there are no serious diseases, men between 18 and 50 years old will be added to our army to make up for the soldiers who lost in the battle. As long as these people leave, I believe that the rest of them will be helpless even if they want to resist the reconstruction work. "


    Khrushchev and I had another chat and hung up. I went to the door and said to rebalko, who was smoking outside, "general rebalko, I''m finished. You all come in."


    When rebalko and I walked into the headquarters together, while other people were not paying attention, he asked me in a low voice, "Rita, comrade Khrushchev is calling you. Do you want you to work somewhere?"


    I quickly shook my head and said, "no, comrade Khrushchev didn''t invite me to work any more. He called me to tell me that in two days he would be transferred to work in the local area, and major general kleinukov would be in full charge of the political work of the front army. "


    "Oh, so it is." Rebalko nodded, raised his hand and made a gesture of invitation, indicating that I would sit down and continue.


    After we were seated again, the chief of staff first asked, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, I don''t know which army the higher authorities are going to send to strengthen us so that our army can quickly seize tarnopol?"


    "Army, what army?" The chief of staff''s mindless words confused me. I turned to look at rebalko and asked, "general rebalko, do you know what he said?"¡° Chief of staff, you are mistaken. The content of the conversation between Rita and Khrushchev is not what you guessed. " When rebalko finished speaking to his chief of staff, he carefully explained to me, "Rita, the chief of staff thought that you were talking to Khrushchev to discuss how many reinforcements to send us." After listening to rebalko''s explanation, I finally understood what was going on. With a smile, I said to the chief of staff, "Comrade chief of staff, comrade Khrushchev called me to inform me that he was going to work in the local area. In the future, the political work in the army will be in the charge of general kleinukov." The chief of staff could not help but look disappointed when he heard me say this. He murmured, "I thought the superior would send reinforcements to us. Now it seems that we can only finish the strategy independently." After listening to what his chief of staff said, rebalko, who was originally smiling, immediately put on a face and asked sternly, "Comrade chief of staff, can''t we win tarnopol if our superiors don''t give us additional troops and technical equipment and send troops to support us?"¡° No, comrade commander, it''s not like that. " After receiving the training from rebalko, the chief of staff repeatedly waved his hand and explained, "if the superior can give us assistance, then our siege will be much easier. But even if there is no support, "the chief of staff said, pausing for a moment, as if he was weighing up his strength. He finally gritted his teeth and continued," we can capture the city by our own ability, but the casualties of the troops may be a little larger. "¡° Don''t worry, chief of staff. " In order to ease the dull atmosphere in the room, I tried to smile on my face and said to the chief of staff, "you will not fight alone. Even if the superior can not provide you with troops, at least you can be provided with enough air support. Today''s German combat effectiveness can''t be compared with that of last year, especially after losing the support of aircraft and artillery, they are not our opponents any more. " When I finished, rebalko stood up, raised his hand, patted his chief of staff on the shoulder twice, and said with a smile, "chief of staff, don''t worry. As far as I know, the troops under Rita''s command, whether defensive or offensive, can minimize the losses of the troops." At this point, he turned his eyes to me and continued, "I believe this time will be no exception."

 Chapter 1486

    Rebalko''s praise to me made me feel very embarrassed. I quickly interrupted him with a wave of my hand and said modestly, "general rebalko, you flatter me. I''m not as capable as you said. I''m just lucky enough to win a few battles occasionally. "


    "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, don''t be modest." After listening to rebalko''s words, the chief of staff''s face became relaxed. He said to me with a smile, "it''s not a short time for me to partner with the commander, but it''s the first time I''ve seen him praise someone so much. But when he says that, I feel at ease. "


    After the chief of staff sat down, I humbly asked rebalko, "Comrade General, what are you going to do with the attack tomorrow?"


    Rebalko pushed the map in front of me, pointed to it and said, "as tarnopol is the old bastion area of our country, there are many strong fortifications outside the city. Before the attack, we need to use intensive artillery fire to open a gap so that our tanks can guide the infantry to the city


    When I heard the term "old fortified area", I felt headache, which meant that our army would occupy the city, and it was bound to launch a difficult battle with the German army on the periphery. Those reinforced concrete fortifications, even under the heavy artillery attack of our army, can support for a long time. No wonder rebalko just said that it will take at least half a month to capture the city.


    However, since I have only given them one week, the adjustment at this moment will definitely affect my prestige in their eyes. It seems that if we want to capture the city as soon as possible, we need to think of other ways.


    Although I was worried in my heart, on the surface, I pretended to be no trouble and asked rebalko easily: "Comrade General, if the superior really sends troops to assist, can you capture the city within the time I said?"


    "I don''t know which army it is?" Hearing my question, the chief of staff couldn''t help but look at it. He said cautiously, "if it''s just one or two divisions, we can''t effectively improve our ability to tackle key problems. If we want to liberate the city as soon as possible, I think we need at least a mechanized army. "


    After hearing the data mentioned by the chief of staff, rebalko seemed a little excited. He turned to look at me and asked tentatively, "Rita, do you think the superior will send troops to support us?"


    I looked down at the map in front of me and found that the 13th group army of lieutenant general pokhov was now attacking the city and plundering the land to the north of jernopol. If I proposed to Zhukov that we should transfer troops from this army to assist rebarko in seizing jernopol, it would not be a big problem.


    When I made up my mind, I looked up at rebalko and said solemnly, "Comrade General, to the north of the city, there is general pokhov''s 13th army. They are less than 60 kilometers away from tarnopol. I''ll call Marshal Zhukov right now. If he agrees to send the 13th army to support you, it will be easier to seize the city. "


    As soon as I finished, I heard the chief of staff yelling excitedly at several radio operators beside the wall: "Hey, come here quickly and help the deputy commander of the front army answer the phone. You should get in touch with the headquarters of the front army in the shortest time."


    After a short wait, I got through to the front command. Hearing that the person who answered the phone was chief of staff Bogoliubov, I said in a friendly way: "Hello, chief of staff, is Marshal Zhukov in? I have something important to discuss with him. "


    When he heard that it was my voice, Bogoliubov said unexpectedly, "it turned out to be Comrade deputy commander. Do you have anything important to do with Marshal?"


    I thought that he was the chief of staff. If Zhukov was not there, it would be the same to report to him, so I said, "general rebalko''s troops will launch an attack on tarnopol tomorrow, but after a long time of fighting, they have suffered a lot in terms of strength and technical equipment. So I would like to ask Marshal comrade to send an army to support them."


    "Comrade marshal is not in the headquarters now." After I finished, Bogoliubov didn''t make a statement immediately, but unexpectedly said, "I''ll call the chief of staff to answer the phone. You can tell him."


    Bogoliubov''s words confused me. After a moment''s hesitation, I asked, "general Bogoliubov, aren''t you the chief of staff of the front army? Where is a new chief of staff?"


    "Well, comrade oshanina." Bogoliubov apologetically said to me: "according to the order of the higher authorities, I will go to the newly formed Belarusian third front army tomorrow to serve as chief of staff. Now the chief of staff here is general sokolovsky. You should know him."


    "Yes, I know general sokolovsky." From Bogoliubov''s words, I know that the higher authorities changed the military commissars of the front army, and even the chief of staff at the same time. But fortunately, I have dealt with sokolovsky before, and I get along well with him, so I politely said: "please give him the phone, I want to have a few words with him."


    A moment later, sokolovsky''s voice came from the receiver: "Hello, is that Rita?"


    When I heard that another general called me by my nickname, I couldn''t help smiling. I said to the microphone, "Hello, general sokolovsky. Welcome to our front army."


    "Rita, I''m handing over with general Bogoliubov," sokolovsky said anxiously. "I don''t have much time. If you have anything, please tell me quickly."


    When I said that rebalko''s troops needed the cooperation of friendly forces to attack jernopol, he was silent. After a long time, he hesitated and said, "Rita, I can''t decide this matter. You know, the commander of the front army is Marshal Zhukov. I can only give him advice and assist him in his work. I can''t make any decision on these matters." He said this, suddenly a little hesitant, "and... And... That, there seems to be some contradiction between marshal and general rebalko."


    Sokolovsky''s words surprised me. I remember that in the Soviet movies I saw, Zhukov and rebalko got along very well. How could he say there was a contradiction between them?


    Seeing that I put down the phone, military commissar melinikov suddenly said, "general oshanina, I see your surprised expression. Are you surprised to hear that there is a contradiction between our commander and marshal?"


    I didn''t hide my point of view on melinikov''s question, so I nodded and said, "yes, comrade military commissar, I also find it strange that general rebalko and Marshal Zhukov have conflicts."


    "It''s a long story," melinikov said. He got up and poured a cup of tea in the teapot beside the wall. He put it in front of me and continued, "rebalko is a mature, professional and confident military chief who has acquired profound theoretical literacy and command experience in many aspects. He has extraordinary self-control, which is combined with perseverance and strong will, which is clearly reflected in his whole action.


    He never does things by means of concession, appeasement, flattery or forgiveness. On the contrary, the most stringent requirements are often given to subordinates - which is necessary in the military. But at the same time, they are very impartial and considerate. He has very correctly established his relationship with the Military Commission. In the third group army of the close guard tank, the Military Commission is an excellent and United leading body, working together. Of course, the commander has an unquestionable leading position. "


    When I heard that melenikov gave rebarko such a high evaluation, I could not help looking curiously at rebarko sitting next to him. I saw that he was sitting in his seat without expression, looking down at the map in front of him.


    Meilenikov technology said: "but when a commander of a very high level gives his subordinates a combat mission, he is like a ruthless person. He doesn''t know that he is sitting in front of a group of living people, and he doesn''t know these people, he always makes me feel a kind of disgust in my heart. Such leaders usually dictate orders to themselves without even glancing at the people around them: "first, about the enemy..."; Second, about our army; Third, your task is; I order you to wait. It seems that everything is right in form, but it has no soul and has no connection with its subordinates.


    The reason why I use the contrast method to describe this senior commander is that rebalko is the opposite of this kind of person. When he put forward tasks and orders to his subordinates, of course, he expressed them in accordance with all the rules of military science, but at the same time, he often felt the human factor. Moreover, he regards people as another kind of people, not just mechanical executors... "


    Although melenikov never mentioned who the commander was, I knew in my heart that he was talking about Zhukov. The contradiction between Zhukov and rebalko is nothing more than a difference in command style, not a deep hatred. But now I seem to understand why Zhukov let rebarko attack jernopol, but did not send troops to support him.


    After thinking about the whole story, I expressed my opinion to several people: "in order to win, I think the personal grudges should be put down for the time being." At this point, I turned to rebalko and said to him in a friendly tone, "it''s very difficult for you to win talnopol in a short period of time. Well, I''ll go and make a request to Marshal Zhukov that general pokhov''s 13th army cooperate with you to capture tarnopol. Do you think that''s all right? "


    After listening to me, rebalko showed a grateful expression on his face, but he still hesitated and said, "Rita, will this make you conflict with the marshal?"


    As for rebalko''s worries, I also thought of them. However, according to my understanding of Zhukov, as long as we grasp his weakness, it is entirely possible for the 13th army to cooperate with us. Even if Zhukov didn''t agree, I could exercise my right to transfer troops from the group army to assist rebarko. But in this way, the relationship between Zhukov and me will become rigid.


    After weighing things up, I think I should call Zhukov again. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was a quarter of an hour since I called last time. I don''t know if Zhukov has come back at this time. But I still picked up the phone and was ready to take a chance.


    My tone is good this time. I found Zhukov who just returned to the headquarters of the front army. When he heard my voice, he was a little surprised and asked, "Rita, you call me. What can I do for you?"


    I quickly reported to rebalko that they were going to attack jernopol, but they were a little weak and needed some assistance. After listening to my report, Zhukov kept silent and didn''t make a statement. When I heard that there was no voice coming from the receiver, I was a little worried, so I raised my voice and said, "marshal, you should know that tarnopol is an old fortified area, where there are solid fortifications. Although our army failed to use these fortifications effectively in the early days of the Patriotic War, at this moment when we launched an attack on this city, these damned fortifications, It will certainly bring a lot of trouble to our army. " Before I finished my speech, Zhukov interrupted me. He said in an impassioned voice, "I used to be the commander of the Ukrainian special military region. I know better than you what the old fortification area is." Zhukov''s words made me blush with shame. When I was thinking about how to go on, I heard him continue to say, "by the way, I heard that you gave Comrade Khrushchev a good suggestion today." I can''t keep up with Zhukov''s jumping thinking. Looking at them sitting beside me, I can''t speak too clearly. I can only say vaguely in front of the microphone, "yes, I gave him a little advice." However, after hearing this, Zhukov said excitedly, "this proposal is very good. Let me tell you the truth. I''m worried about the soldiers. The troops transferred from Central Asia can''t satisfy our current troops at all. If we really recruit troops from the recovered Ukrainian areas, our troops will be able to get the necessary complement in the shortest time. " When I find out what Zhukov said, it turns out that it''s about replenishing soldiers, I''ll let go of my worries. Even if they hear about it, it doesn''t matter¡° Marshal, it may take several months of military training to add these soldiers to the army. "

 Chapter 1487

    The recruits from the newly recovered areas of Ukraine can only be added to the army in a month or two at the earliest, but the most urgent task now is to win the cooperation of friendly forces for rebalko. Therefore, after a pause, I said to the microphone: "marshal, I want to ask you to send troops to support general rebalko, It''s a little bit too weak for them to capture tarnopol After I finished my request, I held my breath and waited patiently for Zhukov''s reply.


    I don''t know if it''s because of my request, or if the contradiction between Zhukov and rebalko is not as serious as meilenikov said. After a moment''s silence, Zhukov said, "well, in the next battle, I only said one number. Unexpectedly, the chief of staff told us the commander of the army, and the achievements and honors he has achieved in the battle. I can''t help but look at him with new eyes. After a meaningful look at him, I continued: "in addition, Marshal Zhukov will cooperate with the 13th group army, the 121st division of guard infantry and the 61st brigade of guard tank to cooperate with us."


    "Chief of staff," rebalko said after listening to me, he turned to the chief of staff and asked preemptively, "do you know the commanders of these two forces?"


    After thinking about it, the chief of staff replied, "the division commander of the infantry division of the close guard is Col. chervony, and the brigade commander of the tank brigade of the close guard is Lt. Col. zukov. The establishment of the two units," he said helplessly, spreading his hands. "I''m not sure about that."


    Listening to what the chief of staff said, rebalko didn''t continue to ask. Instead, he told him, "since there are friendly forces cooperating with our attack, the original deployment can be adjusted appropriately. You can call several commanders and ask them to come to me for a meeting after dark."


    As soon as he had finished, the telephone rang on the desk. The chief of staff who was about to get up picked up the phone and listened for a moment, then handed me the phone: "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, your phone."


    I took the microphone and pasted it to my ear and said politely, "Hello, I''m o''shanina. Where are you, please?"


    "Hello, comrade deputy commander of the front army." A familiar voice came out of the receiver. He took the initiative to show me his identity: "I''m the commander of the 13th army, pukhov."


    "It''s general pokhov." When I heard that it was the commander of the 13th army, I immediately said with a smile, "I was just about to call you, but I didn''t expect that your call came first."


    "Comrade deputy commander, I have received from Marshal Zhukov that I should dispatch troops to cooperate with general rebalko''s close guard tanks and the third group army to attack tarnopol." Pokhov clearly explained to me the reason for his call, and then asked, "I don''t know when and from what direction my troops should attack the city?"


    When I heard this, I quickly covered the microphone with my hand and asked rebalko: "Comrade General, general pokhov of the 13th army asked, when and where should they attack? When were you supposed to attack? "


    "According to the original plan, our group army will bombard the German peripheral positions at six o''clock tomorrow morning." When rebalko heard my question, he quickly replied, "after an hour''s shelling, the 6th army of my close guard tanks will attack from the south of the city."


    "I see, Comrade General." After I finished this sentence, I released my hand covering the microphone and said to pokhov, "general pokhov, general rebalko''s troops will launch a fierce artillery attack on the enemy outside the city as early as six o''clock tomorrow morning, and then launch an attack on the city from the south at seven o''clock on time."


    "Attack from the south?" After repeating my words, pokhov said decisively, "well, I will order the troops to attack from the north of the city at the same time."


    When I put down the phone, I heard the chief of staff asking for instructions from rebalko: "Comrade commander, shall I inform some commanders to come to the meeting after dark?"


    I didn''t expect rebalko to change his mind when he saw me after the phone call with pokhov: "no, you don''t have to wait until dark. It''s a little too late. Now you order all the commanders to come to the group army headquarters for a meeting in the shortest time."


    An hour later, the commanders of the tank, mechanized and Artillery Forces of the 3rd group army of the close guard tank arrived at the headquarters of rebarko.


    I thought there would be five or six people at most, but I didn''t expect that there would be nearly twenty. Everyone, rebalko, took the trouble to introduce to me: "this is the tank commander, this is the mechanized commander, that is our artillery commander..."


    When rebalko saw that everyone was here, he officially announced the meeting. He first called a general close to us: "general MALEKIN!"


    "Here it is The general, who was named, got up from his seat with a brush and gave a loud answer. Then he fixed his eyes on rebalko and waited for his order.


    "General MALEKIN, as the 13th army in the north will send troops tomorrow to assist our army in capturing tarnopol, the tasks of your mechanized 9th army of guards should be adjusted accordingly." When rebalko said this, he lowered his eyes, quickly glanced at the map in front of him, and continued, "cancel the task of monitoring the north of the city, and move the whole army to the east of the city to serve as a guard."


    "Comrades commander," marekin asked eagerly after rebalko said, "since we don''t have to stay in the north of the city to watch the German movement, let''s attack the east of the city." For marekin''s request, rebarko shook his head without hesitation and refused his request: "general marekin, your mechanized 9th army of guards is the reserve of the whole group army. We can''t put the company''s reserve into battle at the beginning of the battle." When marekin sat down in disappointment, rebalko called Panfilov''s name again: "general Panfilov!" As the Sixth Army of Panfilov''s close guard tank is the first echelon of attack, when he heard rebalko call his name, he immediately stood up and answered with his head high: "here it is!"¡° General Panfilov, your task is to quickly break through the German peripheral positions and open a channel for our troops after our artillery fire stops. " "I know that this is a difficult and responsible task," rebalko told Panfilov in a conversational tone rather than an imperative tone. But I believe that Comrade Panfilov, you will be able to complete it. I know you. It is not the first day or the first year that I have fought with you. But, in addition, remember that you can always ask for my support when you are in trouble. Although I believe that even if there is no such support, you can be competent for this task. Your troops should break through the German periphery and approach the city of tarnopol before dark. Remember, behind you is the main force of our group. We will not let you fight alone. You know this better than I do. So you can go as fast as you can without worrying about your wings. " Although I have been a partner with rebalko before, it is the first time that I have seen him give orders to his subordinates. Compared with the tone of command adopted by Zhukov, his way of speaking, let alone his own subordinates, even I, an outsider, feel like a breeze. Everyone will feel that since the commander gave me this task, he must have trusted me, otherwise he would not have spoken to me in such a friendly tone. Then, rebalko called the names of several commanders and repeated to them the tasks in the battle tomorrow. When all the words were finished, his eyes swept over everyone and asked, "what''s the problem?"¡° No The commanders here answered neatly¡° Since there is no problem, the meeting will be over. " With a wave of his hand, rebalko decisively ordered: "everyone, go back to their respective units and set up tomorrow''s combat tasks." After everyone left, while rebalko went to pour water, melenikov, who was sitting next to me, touched me with his elbow and said in a low voice, "how about, comrade oshanina, do you find the tone that general rebalko used when he gave orders to his subordinates?" I nodded and said, "yes, it''s different." Meilinikov wanted to say a few more words. However, rebalko had already poured the tea. He came over, put meilinikov and I together and spoke in a low voice. He also asked excitedly, "what are you two talking about? Are you so happy?" I gave him a smile. Instead of answering his question, I digged off the topic: "general rebalko, are you going to the front tomorrow?"¡° Yes, Rita, that''s for sure Rebalko nodded his head and gave me a positive answer: "I think in order to understand the situation of the frontier in time, the commander must go to the frontier in person. Although we don''t have to rush to the front, we should be as close as possible to the place where the fighting is most intense, so as to boost the morale of our army. "¡° Go in a tank? " For the sake of safety, I really don''t want to go to the places where the fighting is most intense now, because there is life danger in those places at any time, so I tentatively ask, "so that we can get closer to the front." I didn''t expect that as soon as I finished, rebarko and melinikov looked at each other and suddenly laughed. Then rebalko turned to look at me, patted his belly with his hand, and said with a little embarrassment, "Rita, I''d like to go to the front in a tank, but look at my figure now. How fat I am. A famous tank general can''t even get into the tank. If we want to go to the front, we can only go by jeep. "¡° Comrade commander, "melinikov said to rebalko," I think you can go to the front alone. Comrade oshanina should stay at the headquarters. At least safety can be guaranteed. "¡° That''s right, that''s right, "rebalko immediately nodded and agreed with the military commissar''s suggestion. He looked at me and said in a deliberative tone," Rita, you''re the representative of the front army command. I think you''d better stay in the group army command. At least the risk here is much less than that in the front. "

 Chapter 1488

    With all the offensive units ready and half an hour to go before the attack, I came out of the forward command in rebarko, stood in the trench covered with camouflage net, and looked at the German defensive position in the distance with a telescope.


    Through the lens of the telescope, I can see a layer of mist floating on the German position in the distance. Whether it is the trench or the reinforced concrete fortification, it is quiet. No one can be seen or heard.


    There was a rapid sound of footsteps coming from the side. I followed my steps and saw that rebalko was walking towards me quickly. I said to him with a smile, "general rebalko, it''s a pity to break such a quiet dawn."


    Unexpectedly, after listening to what I said, rebalko said solemnly, "Rita, from the current situation, we don''t expect to break the silence for the time being."


    Rebalko''s words made me stunned. I immediately restrained my smile and asked seriously, "Comrade General, what''s the matter?"


    "Marshal Zhukov called and asked us to stop the attack!" He said he wanted to talk to you


    "Why, why let''s stop the attack?" After I asked this, I didn''t wait for rebalko to answer, so I went to the headquarters to ask Zhukov what happened.


    As soon as I entered the headquarters, a staff officer came up, pointed to the telephone on the desk not far away, and respectfully said to me, "deputy commander of the front army, the telephone is there."


    Seeing the microphone on the table, I felt a group of anger burning in my heart. At the moment when our army had to launch an attack on jernopol, Zhukov suddenly stopped unexpectedly, and I didn''t know what was going on. If my subordinates are on the other end of the phone, maybe I''ll pick up the phone and scold them. But unfortunately, the person who called me was Zhukov. No matter how hard I tried, I could only remain respectful in front of him.


    I stood at the table and took two deep breaths. When I was a little more stable, I picked up the microphone and stuck it to my ear and said, "Hello, marshal, what''s your important instruction?"


    "Stop attacking tarnopol immediately." Zhukov also ignored the greetings and said frankly, "according to the latest information we have, the battlefield situation has changed."


    "What''s the change?" When Zhukov said that, I asked instinctively.


    "Just yesterday, Manstein was removed by Hitler." Zhukov said in a relaxed tone: "our first task now is to concentrate our superior forces and encircle and annihilate 20 German divisions in the kamenitz podolisky region. Among these divisions, 10 are tank divisions, mainly from general Hube''s tank 1st group army."


    "And tarnopol?" Manstein is recognized as the most talented German marshal. For Zhukov, his departure can be regarded as a loss of a strong competitor. However, I still don''t understand why Zhukov will adjust his deployment accordingly when Manstein is dismissed? So I asked puzzledly, "are we letting go?"


    "You may not know, Rita, that balk''s 48th tank army has safely left tarnopol, and there are less than 5000 troops left in the city." Zhukov patiently explained to me: "since the strength of the city is far less than what we know, then we can change the way of fighting and take the city without blood."


    "Take this city without blood?" I repeated Zhukov''s last sentence and immediately thought of a possibility. I asked cautiously, "Comrade marshal, do you want to..."


    Before I had finished, Zhukov had already said the answer I wanted to say: "send someone to persuade the German commander in the city to let the troops lay down their arms and surrender to our army."


    Zhukov''s suggestion made me frown. At any time, balk''s 48th armored army escaped, but it doesn''t mean that the defenders in the city would think that their general situation is over and then lay down their arms and surrender to us? Thinking of this, I hesitated to remind Zhukov: "marshal, even if the 48th armored army runs away, there are nearly 5000 garrison in the city. Will they really lay down their arms and surrender to our army?"


    "I think I should have tried." For my worry, Zhukov thought for a moment, and then said, "I think it''s most appropriate for you to do it yourself. When you were in Stalingrad, you used to go to the German headquarters alone to persuade Paulus to surrender. Although you didn''t get him to order the troops to surrender to our army immediately, it destroyed the morale and morale of the German army, It was a lot of German officers and men who took the initiative to stop resisting and surrender to our army. "


    "I see, comrade marshal." Although I guessed that I would come back in frustration after persuading him to surrender this time, since Zhukov gave such an order, I had to carry it out with a stiff head¡° I immediately went to tarnopol to persuade the garrison in the city to surrender. "


    I put down the phone and asked rebalko, "Comrade General, do you know who the German commander in tarnopol is?"


    "Major General von naindor." When rebalko finished the name, he frowned and asked me, "Rita, do you really want to go to the city and persuade this von naindol to lay down his arms and surrender to our army?"


    I nodded and replied, "yes, since Comrade Marshal has given this order, I can only carry it out."


    "But it''s too dangerous for you to go to tarnopol at such a time." Rebalko said with a worried face: "otherwise, it''s better to go to another person."


    "Never mind, general rebalko." I knew that I was not qualified to change Zhukov''s order at this time, so I had to pretend to be calm and say, "when I was in Stalingrad, I was also a representative of the 62nd army to persuade Paulus to surrender. Although I didn''t succeed in the end, I also have experience in dealing with senior German commanders. " After I said this, I immediately urged rebalko, "first order the artillery to stop shelling, at the same time, let the frontier send people to contact the German army, saying that we should send people to negotiate with them."


    "Yes Seeing my resolute attitude, rebalko could not say anything more. He could only turn around and tell the staff around him: "call the artillery and order them to stop the coming shelling. At the same time, inform general Panfilov to send someone to contact the German, saying that our senior commander will negotiate with von naindor. "


    After giving a series of orders, rebalko turned to look at me and asked tentatively, "Rita, have you really considered that you don''t need someone else to carry out this task for you?"


    I knew in my heart that rebalko had mentioned this matter again and again for two reasons: first, I was worried about my safety, for fear that I would be detained or killed by the German army; Second, the German army would not negotiate with us, let alone surrender, at such a time.


    Considering that he didn''t know German, gretka, who used to work as a translator for me, died again. When he wanted to go to the city to negotiate with von naindor, he was bound to find a suitable translator. So I asked rebalko, "Comrade General, do you have any of your people who know German?"


    "Yes," rebalko said, and then he called out to the side, "Captain, come to me."


    With his shouts, a tall, thin faced young captain ran up to us. After a quick glance at me, he looked at rebarko and asked, "Comrade commander, what instructions do you have?"


    Rebalko nodded at me and said, "the deputy commander of the front army is going to tarnopol to negotiate with the German commander. You should follow her as an interpreter."


    With a smile on his face, the captain asked rebalko in a relaxed tone: "Comrade commander, since I am going to accompany the deputy commander of the front army to the enemy''s lair, please allow me to take submachine guns and grenades."


    "No need," rebalko said, waving to him. "Even if they don''t have any weapons, the Germans don''t dare to touch you. Your task is to translate for the deputy commander of the front army and ensure her life as safe as possible, understand? "


    "I see," the captain replied with his head held high. "I promise to finish the task!"


    Half an hour later, Panfilov sent a telegram back from the front line, reporting: "Comrade commander, the German army has sent a lieutenant officer to drive and stop at a place 100 meters away from our army, waiting for the commander to enter the city to negotiate with them."


    "I see, general Panfilov, thank you. We''ll be there soon When rebalko put down the phone, he said to me solemnly, "Rita, a German officer is at the front of our army, waiting to pick you up into town."


    "OK, I''ll go right now." Then I stood up, ready to go out. But rebalko reached for my arm and asked anxiously, "is it really OK?"


    "Don''t worry, general rebalko." Although I didn''t know the final result of the negotiation, I guessed that my life was not in danger, so I waved my head to the captain standing beside me, "come on, comrade captain, it''s time for us to go."


    Our jeep crossed our line of defense and came to the German officers waiting at the front. Seeing a jeep coming up to him, the lieutenant hesitated for a moment, then left the convertible behind him and came to our car.


    When he saw me get out of the car, his face was obviously surprised, but soon returned to normal. After he raised his hand to salute me, he said politely in Russian: "Hello, general. I have come to meet you at the command of the commander of tarnopol fortress." Then he put his body slightly to one side and made a gesture of "please." the car is ready for you. Please get on the bus


    According to the original plan, when we meet with German officers, we will enter the city with white flags in our cars. Although this is only a temporary measure to enter the enemy''s defense zone, I feel very embarrassed. Now the German officers let us ride in his car, so that when we enter the German defense area, we don''t have to fly the white flag. Maybe it''s for this reason, so I readily agreed.


    The German lieutenant, after waiting for me and the interpreter to get on the bus, immediately started the car, turned around in the same place, and drove along the road towards jernopol. I wanted to have a talk with him, but I saw that he was staring at the road ahead and driving intently. Instead of disturbing him, I looked around.


    The car we were in passed through the German line of defense. In the car, I can see a lot of situations that I can''t see in the front headquarters. In those seemingly empty trenches, there are actually a lot of German soldiers sitting. Seeing our car passing by the trench, the German soldiers stood up one after another, looked at me in the car, and talked with their fingers. Our car entered the city, passed several streets and stopped in front of a tall building. As soon as the car was finished, several German officers standing at the door came down the high steps to meet us. The captain pushed the door open and got out of bed. Then he put his seat down so that I could get out of the car smoothly. After seeing me, the faces of the German officers who came down all showed surprise. A major came up to me, looked me up and down, and asked me in Russian with a straight face: "are you the one the Russians sent to negotiate?"¡° Yes, sir major Seeing that he understood Russian, I didn''t ask the captain to translate for me. Instead, I said impolitely, "I''m the one who came to negotiate with you. I don''t know where your fortress commander General von naindor is." After listening to my reply, the major reached to one side of his body and made a gesture of invitation. Then he said, "Your Excellency, it''s the adjutant of General von naindor. Our commander is waiting for you in the office on the second floor. Please follow me." Under the guidance of the adjutant, the captain and I followed him to a spacious room on the second floor. On entering the room, around the long conference table, there were full of German school officers. See me enter the door, all eyes are coincidentally focused on me. When you see that I am a woman, the quiet room suddenly becomes noisy. I turned my back and looked at the gray haired German commander opposite me. I guessed that he might be major general von naindor whom I wanted to see this time. Just then I heard a few taps on the table, and then a low baritone roared in a voice I didn''t understand. Fortunately, the captain did the simultaneous translation for me in time: "Comrade General, the German commander is angry. He said that his subordinates are not soldiers at all. I don''t know that they are not allowed to talk casually during the meeting!" When the room became quiet, the German general sitting opposite said a word to me. Then the major, who was not far away from me, said to an empty chair opposite the general, "please take a seat. Our commander asks you to take a seat." After I sat down, I heard the German general opposite me ask, "Sir, can you tell me your identity? So we all know who we are talking to face to face. "

 Chapter 1489

    I stood up without hesitation, looked at the front and said, "I''m general oshanina, the Soviet negotiator!" The main reason why I didn''t explain my position was that I didn''t like looking at the opposite von naindor. A little major general, who was bigger than the German marshal, didn''t even have the least politeness when he saw me enter. He didn''t even stand up to say hello to me, as if I had surrendered to him. The adjutant, who was standing next to von naindor, bent down and translated my words to him in a low voice. After listening to this, von naindor looked at me and said, "general oshanina, I want to know what is your destination here today?" When I was listening to the captain behind me translate for me, a German lieutenant commander sitting not far away suddenly said something. After that, he leaned back and laughed. But it''s strange that, except for one or two officers who are lower than him, other officers of the same rank or higher look at me with a look of surprise. I wanted to find out what the German Lieutenant said, so when the captain finished translating von naindor''s words, I whispered to him, "what did the German Lieutenant say, translate it to me!" The captain, who acted as a translator, was embarrassed when he heard what I said. Seeing his expression, I am more convinced that the German lieutenant commander did not speak well, otherwise the captain would not dare to translate these words for me. Thinking of this, I ordered him in a low voice in a stern tone: "Captain, translate the words of the German lieutenant commander to me. It''s an order!" When the captain heard me speak to him in such a stern tone, he could only translate it honestly and said: "the German lieutenant commander said: are all the Russian men dead, and even a woman is required to come forward for such a big deal as negotiation?" After listening to the translation, I looked coldly at the fat German lieutenant commander and said that if I came out with a weapon today, I would have shot you in the head¡° Be quiet, please be quiet Von naindor tapped his fingers on the table and looked at the accident prone lieutenant commander with discontented eyes. Seeing the commander staring at him, the fat commander immediately closed his mouth and resumed his serious posture. When the room was quiet again, a German Colonel sitting on my left stood up and asked with a smile, "is it general Lazer who was captured by you? In Stalingrad. "¡° General Lazer? " To tell you the truth, I don''t have much impression of the name Laize. If he hadn''t added that it was Stalingrad, I couldn''t remember him at all. As he reminded me, I immediately remembered that general leiser was German motorized infantry. Once you declared your surrender, we would immediately provide normal diet for all surrender officers, sergeants and soldiers, as well as medical treatment for all injured or sick officers and soldiers. " Although I was in a hurry this time and didn''t have time to prepare a written letter of persuasion, I have tried to persuade Paulus before. I can still remember that the letter of persuasion written by rokosovsky in that year was used today. After I had finished speaking, I could only hear the deputy of von naindor translating what I said in the room. No one spoke. Looking at these officers with different expressions, I know very well that some of them want to lead the troops to surrender, but more people want von naindor to make up their mind, because their so-called military honor does not allow them to voluntarily surrender. After listening to the adjutant''s translation, von naindor nodded and said politely, "thank you, major!" Then he turned his eyes on me and asked slowly, "general oshanina, I want to know what you will do if we don''t accept your terms?" His reply had been expected by me for a long time. I sneered and then said, "if we do not accept our terms, the Red Army will have to launch an attack until the whole annihilation of the besieged German army. The German headquarters will take full responsibility for all the casualties and material losses caused by it."¡° I see Von naindor nodded, glancing over his lower body one by one, and seemingly casually asked, "I don''t know what you mean?"¡° Your highness commander, "the first one to rise was the SS officer. He looked at me with hatred and said," we will never surrender. Even if we fight to the last man, we will never surrender. "¡° Yes, commander At first, the German lieutenant commander, who laughed at me, stood up and echoed: "we must not surrender to the Russians. You know, not long ago, they were defeated by our troops. We can never surrender to the defeated generals of the past. "¡° General o''shanina, have you heard my men''s reply Von naindor stood up, put his hands on the edge of the table, leaned forward slightly, and answered firmly: "German soldiers will not lay down their weapons without resistance. I now give you the final answer: we will never surrender, please go back! "

 Chapter 1490

    The captain and I were in the German limousine and back in our defense area. Seeing me coming out of the city, Panfilov ran over and asked with concern, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, are you ok?"


    "It''s OK. I''m safe. Thank you for your concern! " After saying this, I suddenly remembered the defense situation I saw along the way to the city, and said to Panfilov in a low voice: "general Panfilov, when I just entered the city, I found that the German army had transferred its troops to the second line of defense, and there were only a small number of Guard troops in the first line of defense."


    "Is the enemy ready to give up the first line of defense?" After listening to me, Panfilov asked blankly, "you know, they only have three lines of defense outside the city. If our army takes their first line of defense and takes it as the starting point of attack, they can''t stop it at all."


    "You are mistaken, Comrade General." Seeing that Panfilov didn''t understand my intention, I had to explain to him: "the German army transferred its main forces to the second line of defense, not intended to give up the first line of defense. It''s because it''s their common tactic. When our army shelled their positions, they would transfer their troops to the relatively safe second line of defense. When our shelling stopped and our troops began to attack, they would go back from the second line of defense to the first line of defense through the traffic trench and stop our attacking troops. "


    After listening to me, Panfilov immediately asked, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, what should I do?"


    "At the end of our artillery bombardment, you will lead the tank troops out to a distance of 200 meters from the German position. As soon as the shelling stops, you will run forward with full power and break through the German defense before they return to the first line of defense. " In order to dispel his worries, I specially stressed: "don''t worry, general Panfilov, your tank stops 200 meters away from the shelling area. Even if the shrapnel flies, it won''t be damaged."


    "I understand, I understand." Panfilov nodded his head and said excitedly, "this is a wonderful way. When the shelling stopped, even if there were living Germans on the first line of defense, they were all dazed by the shells. My tanks could rush up in less than a minute, and they had no time to respond. You can rest assured that my tank army will break through the German defense as soon as possible after the shelling. "


    As soon as I got back to the headquarters, rebarko and melinikov met me. Rebalko took a look at the expression on my face and nervously asked, "Rita, how''s it going? Has it been rejected?"


    "Yes, the German commander rejected our ultimatum." After I briefly explained the result of the matter, I said to the surrounded chief of staff, "Comrade chief of staff, please get through to the headquarters of the front army immediately. I will report the final result of the negotiation to the marshal."


    When Zhukov heard my voice, he was silent for a moment. Then he asked slowly, "what''s the situation, Rita?"


    "Comrade marshal." I said respectfully into the microphone, "it''s a pity that General von naindor refuses to accept our ultimatum and is ready to fight us to the end."


    I thought Zhukov would be furious, but after hearing this, he said lightly: "if the enemy does not surrender, then we will use force to solve him."


    His attitude made me feel very puzzled. I said that since he had guessed the result, why did he ask me to persuade von naindor? Isn''t that obviously useless work?


    His next words solved the mystery in my heart: "Rita, do you think it''s very strange that I know that the German fortress commander will not surrender to us, but before your attack begins, he orders you to suspend the attack and go to have such meaningless negotiations with them?" Without waiting for my answer, he said to himself, "although there are less than 5000 enemies in tarnopol, they are holding down one of our elite tank armies and a number of other troops. If we appeal to the German commander to act rationally, take the initiative to stop resistance and surrender to our army, we can send these troops out to deal with the encircled German tank 1st army. "


    Zhukov''s words made me understand why he would deploy a task that could not be completed at all. His troops are limited at present. If he wants to annihilate the besieged German tank 1st group army, he can''t catch it. Therefore, he hopes to pull out the nail of jernopol through this way of persuasion, so that more troops can be transferred, Turn to the battle of encircling and annihilating Hube''s troops.


    After I put down the phone, melinikov, standing next to me, asked first, "Comrade oshanina, what did Marshal say on the phone?"


    From the expressions on their faces, I guessed that I had just had a conversation with Zhukov, but they didn''t understand it at all. So they repeated Zhukov''s original words to them, and finally said, "since the German army doesn''t surrender, we can only solve the problem by force."


    "So the attack on tarnopol is going on as usual?" Rebalko asked tentatively.


    "That''s right, that''s right." I nodded my head and said with certainty: "we have given von naindor a chance. He doesn''t cherish it himself. That''s no blame to others. Next, let''s give them a good lesson from artillery and tanks. "


    "What about the direction of the friendly forces in the north of the city?" The chief of staff suddenly asked, "let them attack as planned?"¡° That''s for sure, comrade chief of staff. " After I said this, I went on to tell the chief of staff, "put me through to general afuning, and I''ll give him an order myself." While the chief of staff was on the phone, I asked rebalko in a low voice, "Comrade General, when are you going to resume the shelling of the German positions?" Rebalko raised his hand and looked at his watch, then replied decisively, "ten o''clock! At ten o''clock sharp, the artillery began to fire on time! " When I called afuning and announced that the new attack would start at ten o''clock, he still asked with some lingering fear: "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, this attack will not be cancelled, will it?"¡° Don''t worry, Comrade General. This attack will never be cancelled. " I replied with a smile, "our attack will not stop until we have wiped out all the enemies in the city."¡° I see! " Hearing what I said, afuning replied loudly, "I''ll get the artillery ready immediately. When the friendly shelling starts, we will also shelling the German peripheral positions."

 Chapter 1491

    As soon as the time for the attack arrived, the artillery units, which were already ready to stand by, opened fire on the German defensive positions.


    In an instant, the German position was like an erupting crater, wrapped in the rising black smoke, which exploded one by one, one by one, everywhere, everywhere, everywhere.


    Listening to the movement outside, rebalko said to me with a smile, "Rita, I think the German position can''t withstand such heavy artillery attack. As soon as the artillery attack stops and our tanks rush again, the German defense will be completely destroyed."


    Compared with rebalko''s optimism, I was extremely calm. As soon as he finished, I immediately said coldly, "Comrade General, the situation may not be as optimistic as you think. Just now, on my way to the city for negotiation, I saw that the German forces were concentrated in the second line of defense, and the first line of defense had only a few troops on guard. "


    My words surprised rebalko. Before he spoke, melinikov asked, "are the Germans going to give up the first position?"


    "It''s not like that, comrade military Commissar." I repeated to them what I had just said to Panfilov, and finally said, "you know, tarnopol is a fortress, and the fortifications outside the city are mainly reinforced concrete. If our artillery does not use special shells, it is very difficult to destroy these fortifications."


    "Rita, if I don''t get it wrong, you think it''s very difficult for us to take talnopol." Rebalko asked slowly: "even if you win the first line of defense, will you have to pay a heavy price?"


    "Maybe not." At this moment, I remembered that I hadn''t made my own decision. I communicated with rebalko and said, "on the way back, I met general Panfilov. I told him that if I wanted to capture the first German line of defense at the fastest speed, I had to move the tanks 200 meters away from the enemy''s position before the end of the shelling. As soon as the shelling is over, a tank assault will be launched, so that when the German troops return to the front line positions, they can occupy their positions first. "


    "Let our troops, when shelling, be within 200 meters of the German position?" Meilinikov was startled by what I said. He was surprised and asked, "in this way, the troops coming out of the front are not easily injured by gunfire?"


    "No, comrade military Commissar." This time, rebalko took the lead and answered, "our tank soldiers stay in the tanks. The flying shrapnel will not do any damage to them."


    "If so, that would be great." After finishing these words, melinikov turned his eyes back on me and said in a flattering way, "it''s general o''shanina who has rich experience in fighting and can come up with such a good idea. If I''m in charge, it''s estimated that after the shelling is over, the commanders and fighters of the tank army will leave the starting position to attack the German army. "


    In order to take care of melinikov, a layman, I gave a ha ha, and then said, "Comrade military commissar, you can''t say that. You are a political cadre. If we talk about political and ideological work, I can''t compare with you."


    Melinikov seemed to be very helpful to me. After listening to my praise, he said a few words on the scene. He even went to pour a cup of hot tea in front of me and said in a friendly way, "general oshanina, you must be tired and hungry after you have been busy all morning. Have a cup of hot tea first, and I''ll ask the comrades below to prepare something for you. "


    As melinikov himself told me, there were sliced sausages, biscuits, black bread slices, American canned stewed meat, and a can of homemade pickled mushrooms on the table.


    I couldn''t eat alone, so I said to rebalko: "the shelling has just started. It will take an hour to finish. Let''s sit down and have something to eat. Even if you want to command a battle, you have to have enough to eat first. "


    When I said that, rebarko and melinikov looked at each other, then sat down to my left and right, and the chief of staff sat opposite me. After eating two biscuits, I took another sip of tea and said casually, "I seem to hear you say that there are more than 100000 residents in the city, but when I entered the city, I didn''t seem to see anyone on the street."


    I was just chatting. Who knew that when melinikov heard me say that, he couldn''t help but widened his eyes and asked in surprise, "Comrade oshanina, what did you say just now? When you entered the city, you didn''t find any residents in the city?"


    "Yes," I nodded and replied, "I don''t know that it was the German who acted as the resident to cooperate with us and forbid them to go out; Or have they moved the inhabitants of the city to other places? "


    "It''s impossible for the residents of the city to help us." Melinikov shook his head and said: "you know, the residents of western Ukraine do not have a high degree of identity with the Soviet Union because they joined the Soviet motherland for a short time. It is said that when the German army occupied these areas, the local residents went to the streets to welcome them with flowers in their hands, and regarded these Communist aggressors as their liberators. "


    "So the residents were moved to other places by the Germans?" I wait for melinikov to finish, carefully expressed his views: "if it is true, then our siege tactics can be adjusted accordingly."


    Listening to me, the chief of staff who was eating stopped, swallowed the piece of bread in his mouth with tea, looked at me and asked, "how to adjust tactics?"


    "After entering the city, we generally do not use heavy artillery in densely populated areas, so as not to hurt the residents of the city by mistake." According to my own experience, I said: "but if the German army evacuated them from the city, it would be different. For those strong fortresses, we can safely and boldly use artillery fire. "


    "Have a drink, Rita?" Just as I was arguing with the chief of staff about how to use artillery in the city, rebalko asked coldly, "it''s cold. You can get warm with a drink."


    "Thank you, Comrade General." I waved to rebalko and said apologetically, "I don''t drink."


    "And you, comrade military commissar?" Seeing that I refused my best friend, rebalko was not upset. Instead, he turned to melinikov and said, "just a small cup will not affect your normal judgment, but also make your body warmer."


    "Well, in that case, I''ll have a drink." With that, melinikov called a soldier and told him to get his glass.


    When he got the glass, rebalko poured it into the glass and said casually: "to capture talnopol, we must first clear all the German positions outside the city. It will take us at least four or five days to complete this task. As for whether heavy artillery should be used in the city and how to use heavy artillery, let''s wait until the periphery of the German army is cleared. "


    Rebalko''s words made me suddenly realize that I said how he suddenly asked me if I was drinking. It turned out that he was worried that I and the chief of staff would have unnecessary disputes over unimportant matters, so he used drinking to divert our attention. However, his method is very effective. At least we have not mentioned the use of artillery.


    With the last five minutes to go before the end of the shelling, rebalko stood up and went to the place where he put the phone. I picked up the receiver, put it to my ear and dialed a number. After a moment, I heard him say to the receiver, "Hello, is that general Panfilov? I''m rebalko


    At this point, he stopped for a moment, and then said, "according to the order of the deputy commander of the front army, your tank troops should now move towards the German position that is being shelled. Have you carried out this order? "


    Rebalko quickly put down the phone, came back, and said to me with a smile, "Rita, general Panfilov, is leading the tank troops to the first line of defense of the German army according to your troops."


    I am very satisfied with what rebalko said. At least in the 3rd group army of the close guard tank, what I said is as good as what rebalko said. So I replied with a smile: "Comrade General, let''s wait for good news, if we are lucky. Ten minutes, ten minutes at most, general Panfilov''s forces will be able to occupy the first German line of defense. "


    A quarter of an hour later, Panfilov called in person and congratulated rebalko: "Comrade commander, my tank army has occupied the first line of defense of the German army. At present, the infantry are cleaning up the remnant enemy in the fortifications."


    "Well done, comrade Panfilov." Rebalko winked at me and motioned to me to come and listen to the report. When I came to him, he continued to say to the microphone, "I think the German troops in the second line of defense are well prepared. It may not be so easy for you to capture the position as easily as you did just now. There are two things you need to do now: first, send troops to eliminate the remnant enemy in the first line of defense; Second, after eliminating the remaining enemy, we should readjust the deployment of our forces and let the tanks guide the infantry to attack the enemy''s second line of defense. "


    After rebalko put down the phone, the chief of staff immediately came to ask for instructions: "Comrade commander, do you want to order the artillery to bombard the second line of defense again?"


    "No," rebalko said, waving to the chief of staff, "the farthest distance between the first line of defense and the second line of defense is only 500 meters, and the nearest one is only 300 meters. If we allow our artillery to carry out shelling, it is easy to cause unnecessary accidental injuries. Let general Panfilov''s tank army complete the attack on the second line of defense alone. "


    "Since general Panfilov captured the German first line of defense so easily, the northern attack should not be too bad, should it?" Melinikov approached me and suggested in a low voice, "would you like to call general afuning and find out what''s going on in the north?"


    In fact, even if melinikov doesn''t say anything, I will call afuning next. After all, I am responsible for the cooperation between several troops. After I dialed the command headquarters of the 18th army of the guards, I heard afuning''s voice and asked directly, "Comrade General, what''s the situation over there? Have you attacked the German periphery


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander of the front army." Afuning respectfully replied: "as soon as the shelling was over, the 121st division of the guard infantry, guided by the tanks of the 61st brigade of the guard tanks, launched an attack on the German peripheral positions."


    From afuning''s tone, I guessed that there may not be any achievements at present, but in order to verify my judgment, I continued to ask, "how is the current progress?"


    "Our shock troops have reached a distance of only 300 meters from the German fortifications, but they have suffered some losses due to the suppression of German artillery and machine gun fire." Afuning reported to me in a euphemistic tone: "although we have not achieved any results for the time being, our commanders and fighters are very brave." I''m most afraid to hear the saying "the soldiers are very brave" now. Generally, this word is used when people report to me, which means that their attack has not made any progress. As the battle has just started, I can''t push afuning too hard, so I can only casually say, "well, comrade general, if you have any latest results, please report to me at any time." After I put down the phone, I said to rebarko, "Comrade General, the way of fighting on afuning''s side is too safe. It was only after the shelling that the infantry attacked the German defensive position under the cover of tanks. Now it was suppressed by the enemy''s artillery and machine gun fire, and it was temporarily unable to move forward. It seems that the only way to conquer this fortress is to place your hopes on you. "¡° Don''t worry, Rita After listening to me, rebalko immediately replied with a smile, "our commanders and fighters will not let you down." Now in front of this fortress city, which is called "jernopol" in later generations and "tarnopol" at the moment, I am going to take a step-by-step and steady way to consume the garrison in the city and achieve the goal of capturing the fortress. However, some people are extremely impatient, hoping that we can take this fortress in one day. While rebalko and I were talking and laughing, Zhukov called. He asked bluntly, "Rita, have you started your attack on tarnopol?" After receiving my affirmative reply, he continued to ask, "what''s the current situation?"¡° In the south of the city, the Sixth Army of Panfilov''s close guard tanks has successfully captured the first German line of defense. " I truthfully reported to Zhukov that "the progress in the north of the city is not very smooth. Due to the suppression of German artillery fire, general afuning''s troops have not made any decent progress."¡° It''s too slow. It''s too slow. " Zhukov was calm when he began to hear the result of the battle in the south. But when he heard that there was no progress in the north, he became a little impatient: "you call afuning immediately and ask his troops to speed up the attack. You must seize the German position in the shortest time."

 Chapter 1492

    After I called Zhukov, rebalko led me to the map beside the wall and said, "Rita, although general Panfilov''s tank army successfully captured the German first line of defense, it''s not so easy to capture the second line of defense. Maybe our army will pay a huge price and it''s hard to move forward."


    Rebalko has mentioned to me more than once the difficulty of seizing del noble. Instead of showing the slightest impatience with his platitude, I politely asked, "general rebalko, I don''t know what you''re worried about?"


    He pointed to the map on the wall and explained to me, "Rita, tarnopol used to be a fortress of our army. We built all the fortifications outside the city. After the German army occupied this area, they strengthened it on the original basis. According to our reconnaissance, the firepower points of these fortifications can be cross covered. Even if we have the support of tanks, we will pay a huge price every time we go further to win the fortress. "


    Although rebalko has put forward a lot of problems that he may encounter in tackling difficulties, I am not worried at all. Because among the many defeats of the Soviet army I know, it seems that there is no such area as jernopol at all. So when rebalko finished, I said in a relaxed tone, "Comrade General, don''t worry. We can take the tactics of occupying one place and consolidating one place to nibble away the German defense area a little bit. How big a place tarnopol can be, it will all fall into our hands in a few days


    "You have a point, Rita." Rebalko listened to me, nodded, and then said with approval, "as long as we consolidate the occupied positions, the German army will not try to take them back even if it strikes back."


    After listening for a while, melinikov asked anxiously, "general oshanina, I want to ask, at present, there are our troops in the north, South and east of tarnopol, but there are no troops in the West. Are you not afraid that the enemy will break out from this direction?"


    "Comrade military commissar, I did it on purpose." I explained to melinikov, a military layman: "if the German army finds that the city is surrounded by our army, it is bound to be in a dilemma. Even if their forces are at a disadvantage, our army will pay a huge price to eliminate them.


    But now they only surrounded in three directions, leaving them a way to flee to the west, so that when the German army was attacked by our army, the resistance would not be too tenacious. Once they leave the city, we can take advantage of the victory to pursue them. When the fleeing German army is attacked by us, it is bound to be disrupted. The superior can''t find the subordinate, and the subordinate can''t contact the superior. It will be a relatively easy thing to eliminate the enemy who can''t organize effective resistance. "


    "So it is." After listening to my explanation, melinikov''s face suddenly showed a sudden realization.


    I turned to rebalko and said in a deliberative tone, "Comrade General, at present, the progress of general afuning''s troops in the north is not smooth. Do you think you can order the mechanized 9th army of the guards in the east to attack the east of the city. In this way, the German defense forces can be dispersed, so that they can only be in a passive defense, and can not carry out counter attacks in some areas. "


    Rebarko nodded, called the chief of staff and said, "chief of staff, you call major general MALEKIN immediately and order him to command the mechanized 9th army of the guards immediately to launch an attack on tarnopol from the East."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The plan can''t keep up with the change, and the German defense is far beyond our imagination. In the north of the city, the 18th army, the 121st division, and the 61st brigade of the tank of the guards did not work. After losing their troops, they had to withdraw from their original starting point.


    The situation in the south of the city is no better than that in the other two directions. The crisscross trenches, anti tank tripods and barbed wire netting all over the place blocked the advance of Panfilov''s No.6 guard tank army and No.7 guard mechanized army. Under the attack of intensive German artillery and machine gun fire, our tanks were destroyed from time to time, and the charging infantry fell in front of the German fire point in batches.


    Seeing this, rebalko became impatient. He walked back and forth in the headquarters, racking his brains to think about the best way to attack. I sat at the table, staring at the map on the wall, thinking about how to break the current deadlock.


    Before we could figure out a good way, Zhukov''s call came in again. As soon as he heard my voice, he couldn''t wait to ask, "Hello, Rita, how''s it going? Where are your troops? "


    "Marshal," I replied awkwardly when I heard Zhukov''s series of questions, "the current situation is not optimistic. Although our army attacks tarnopol from the north, the East and the south at the same time, it''s a pity that, except for the attack team in the south, which broke through the first line of defense of the German army, the other directions are not optimistic, We haven''t got any results yet. "


    As soon as my voice fell, Zhukov burst into a rage: "Rita, please explain to me what''s going on? A few hours ago, in your report to me, you mentioned that the Sixth Army of close guard tanks, which attacked from the south, successfully captured the first German line of defense. Why are your troops still stagnant after a few hours? In addition, what happened to the two troops attacking from the East and the north? Why have they not achieved the slightest success so far? "


    Zhukov''s series of why, asked me speechless, do not know how to answer him. After he finished, I said cautiously, "well, comrade marshal, the German defense is far stronger than we thought. As you know, the fortifications of tarnopol were originally built by our army in order to prevent Polish attack, and their firmness is one of the few in the whole Ukraine. After the German army occupied here, they reinforced these fortifications again... "


    "Enough, no more." Before I finished, Zhukov interrupted me and said angrily, "I asked you why the troops didn''t win. What are you doing with those useless things?"


    I raised my hand to wipe the cold sweat. While I was thinking about how to answer Zhukov''s question, I suddenly heard the chief of staff next to me exclaim. I turned to see that he was holding the microphone and whispering something to rebalko. I quickly covered the microphone and asked the chief of staff, "what''s the matter?"


    When the chief of staff heard my question, he did not immediately answer me. Instead, he looked at rebalko for consultation. When the other party nodded and indicated that he could report to me, the chief of staff solemnly reported to me: "the tank on which general Panfilov was riding was destroyed by German artillery fire in the battle."


    After a cold war, I asked, "how is general Panfilov? Is he still alive?"


    The chief of staff nodded hard and then replied, "yes, the soldiers have rescued general Panfilov, but he is so badly injured that he may not be able to command the battle any more."


    "Hello, Rita, what''s the matter with you?" Zhukov may not have heard my voice for a long time. He seems a little impatient. "Are you still here? Why don''t you speak?"


    I quickly released my hand covering the microphone and reported to Zhukov, "marshal, something happened. General Panfilov, commander of the 6th army of the guard tank, was wounded in the battle."


    Zhukov was silent for a moment, then asked, "can he still command the battle?"


    I quickly looked at rebalko. Although he didn''t speak, he understood what I meant. With a wry smile, he waved his head to me, indicating that Panfilov could not continue to command the battle. So I said to the microphone, "Comrade marshal, he is seriously injured and can''t continue to command the battle."


    "Then find someone to take over his command." Zhukov muttered, "before dark, I must take down the second German line of defense."


    After I put down the phone, I asked rebalko directly, "Comrade General, who are you going to take over the command of general Panfilov?"


    "Let the deputy commander of the army, major general Novikov, tank soldier." To my question, rebalko answered with confidence: "he is also a tank commander with rich combat experience."


    "Well, let him take over." I sat down at the table again and said feebly, "let them continue to attack the German second line of defense, and make sure to occupy the German second line before dark."


    However, after the chief of staff announced his appointment to Novikov, I personally explained to the new commander of the tank Army: "general Novikov, the headquarters of the front army gave us a death order to take the second German defense line before dark. Now it''s four hours before dark, if you can''t take the position on time... "


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander of the front army." General Novikov, who had never met him before, replied confidently: "we will certainly take the enemy''s position within the prescribed time. If you can''t finish the task, you withdraw me. "


    "Wait a minute, Comrade General." Hearing that the other party was ready to hang up, I quickly added: "remember, you are the commander, not the company commander. Your position is to command the troops at the back, not to take the soldiers to the front like a company commander. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" Novikov gave a loud promise and hung up.


    "Comrade oshanina, will it affect the morale of our army if the tank commander stays behind to command the troops?" When melinikov heard what I told Novikov, he said something worried: "will this make our soldiers feel that their commander is a coward?"


    "Comrade military commissar," to tell you the truth, I don''t like melinikov very much. He''s old-fashioned, and sometimes he''s a muscle. But at the moment, I have to patiently explain to him: "the commander is a commander, not a fighter. His post is to plan and strategize in the headquarters, not to attack and trap. If he is killed or wounded in the battle, the army will lose unified command and fall into chaos. "


    As soon as I explained to melinikov, rebarko suggested to me, "Rita, the German fortifications are almost all reinforced concrete. When tanks and shells hit them, they don''t work at all. Do you think we should move the artillery forward and bombard the German fortifications with heavy artillery? "


    "No matter how strong the German fortifications are, they will not last long in front of our heavy artillery." As for rebalko''s proposal, I agreed without hesitation: "you immediately give the artillery an order to move forward and bombard the German fortifications at close range."


    "Comrade deputy commander of the front army," after hearing the decision made by me and rebalko, the chief of staff reminded me cautiously, "the periphery of tarnopol is almost open plain. If we put our artillery here, will it be attacked by the German air force?"¡° Don''t worry, "I said dismissively to the chief of staff''s groundless thought." how many times have you seen German planes in the air since the beginning of this offensive campaign? Now the air supremacy of the battlefield is firmly in the hands of our army. If it wasn''t for the bad weather today, I could have asked the air force to send out and bomb the German defensive positions, so as to reduce the resistance our army will encounter when attacking. " When the chief of staff called the artillery commander, I suddenly thought of some tactics used by the German army to attack the Soviet fortifications, and said to rebalko: "Comrade General, I remember that when the German army attacked our defense area, it was a defensive gun or a tank that guided a class of infantry to attack. After discovering the fortifications of our army, we will fire a gun first, and then send engineers or firemen up to throw grenades or spit fire at the shooting holes to blow up or burn the defenders inside. Today we can use the same tactics against the German army After hearing this, rebalko nodded and said, "there are some firemen in our army, but they usually cooperate with infantry, and they have never cooperated with tanks. I think you have a good idea. You can try it. " After that, he took out a pen and paper and wrote down all the tactics I just said. After the chief of staff called the artillery, he handed the note to him and said, "call the commanders of the participating troops and let them take this tactic to attack the German defense." After reading the note, the chief of staff nodded and said, "in the 9th army of mechanized guards in the east of the city, there is a company of firemen. They can try it first. I''ll call general MALEKIN right now."

 Chapter 1493

    After my ideas were carried out in the army, they have achieved amazing results. The infantry followed the tanks in groups and approached the German positions. When it reached a distance of about 150 meters, the tank stopped, turned its muzzle and fired a shot at the fire points that were shooting wildly. Taking advantage of the enemy''s "dumb" firepower, firemen or shock engineers come forward to spray fire or drop bombs to destroy the enemy in the fortifications.


    In the next more than an hour, the three directions of attack were the news of success. First, the troops in the north and East occupied the first line of defense of the German army and continued to develop in depth. The tank army and mechanized army in the south are also progressing smoothly, breaking into the second line of defense of the German army and launching a fierce battle with the enemy.


    Seeing the battle report, the chubby rebalko showed a happy expression on his face. He said to me, "Rita, it seems that your method is not bad. The troops in the three attack directions have achieved good results. If we continue to fight like this, the Sixth Army of the close guard tanks will be able to occupy the second line of defense of the German army before dark. "


    I just gave him a faint smile. Then I looked at the phone on the table and said, "general rebalko, with what I know about Marshal Zhukov, he will call soon to inquire about our progress."


    "No way." Rebalko obviously doubted my statement, "didn''t the marshal say that he would call after dark to find out the progress of the army''s attack?"


    As soon as the voice fell, the telephone rang in front of us. Rebalko looked at me with wide eyes and said in surprise, "no, is it really the call from the marshal?"


    "If it''s Marshal''s call, you''ll know when you answer it." I grabbed the microphone and handed it directly to rebalko.


    Rebalko put the microphone to his ear and asked carefully, "Hello, is that the marshal?"


    As soon as his words were finished, I heard Zhukov at the other end of the phone give a strange "eh", and then asked curiously, "Comrade rebalko, would you have guessed that I would call you?"


    "No, comrade marshal." Rebalko replied in a flustered way: "it''s not that I can predict, but that Rita analyzes that you may call at this time."


    "Give Rita the phone." Zhukov didn''t talk to him either. He said, "I want to talk to her."


    Seeing the embarrassed expression on rebalko''s face when he handed me the microphone, I couldn''t help complaining about Zhukov in my heart. Isn''t it hatred for me. I answered the phone and asked politely, "Comrade marshal, what instructions do you have?"


    "Now that you have guessed that I''m going to call, can''t you guess what I''m going to ask?" Zhukov said with some displeasure: "well, report the situation. How is the progress in the three directions now?"


    "Report to marshal." Since the Sixth Army of general Novikov''s close guard tank had already rushed into the second line of defense of the German army, it was only a matter of time before I occupied it, so when I reported to Zhukov, I became confident: "the offensive troops from the north and the East have successively occupied the first line of defense of the German army and are developing towards the enemy in depth. The troops in the South also broke into the second line of defense of the German army and were fighting for fortifications with the enemy. "


    After listening to my report, Zhukov didn''t say anything praising. Instead, he asked, "Rita, I always listen to you about the attack from the north, the East and the south, but why is there no report on the west? Which unit was deployed there, and why didn''t they attack at the same time? "


    "Comrade marshal, it''s not that the troops in the West don''t attack." Since it was my own decision not to deploy troops in the west, I did not have time to report to Zhukov. Since he asked at the moment, I could only answer truthfully, "but there were no troops deployed in that direction at all!"


    "What, you don''t have troops in the west?" Zhukov almost roared at me and said, "are you not afraid that the Germans will highlight our defense from that direction?"


    I quickly removed the microphone from my ear, and then explained: "Comrade marshal, please listen to my explanation. If we had encircled tarnopol in the beginning, the defenders in the city would have fought hard. But now we only encircled three sides and left the west side. This would give the Germans an illusion that their retreat has not been completely cut off. Maybe after being attacked by our army, they would give up the city and flee westward... "


    "Enough, don''t say it again." Zhukov angrily interrupted me: "how can you take such a fluke? What should we do if the German army, after causing heavy casualties to our army, uses alternate cover and escapes through the gap you left intentionally? "


    After that, without giving me a chance to speak, he said to himself, "I now order you to send troops to the west of tarnopol and set up defensive positions to prevent the German army from breaking through in that direction. You can''t delay my order. You have to carry it out immediately. Do you understand? "


    I put down the phone, gave a wry smile to rebarko, who was standing next to me, and then said, "Comrade General, Marshal Zhukov ordered us to send troops immediately to the west of the city and use the terrain to build fortifications."


    Rebalko''s command to Zhukov was very calm. He pointed to the map and said to me, "it''s not a problem to build a defense in the west of the city. We can transfer Ivanov''s 7th army of close guard tanks. With their strength, even if the German army chooses this direction to break through, it can still resolutely block them. "


    After that, he pulled the phone I had just used in front of him, grabbed the microphone, dialed a number, and said to the microphone, "I''m rebarko. Get close to the 7th army of Weitan immediately and find the commander, major general Ivanov."


    After he got through the phone, he didn''t even care to exchange greetings. He gave a direct order: "Comrade Ivanov, you and your troops have had a day off. Now it''s time to find something for you to do."


    Hearing what rebalko said, Ivanov was surprised and asked, "Comrade commander, are you ready to let our army take part in the attack?"


    "It''s not your turn to attack yet. Your task is to turn to defense." Without giving the other a chance to speak, rebalko continued: "you immediately lead your troops around to the west of tarnopol and build up a defense there, so as to prevent the German army from withdrawing from there when it can''t stop our attack."


    "Build a defense in the west of the city?" After hearing this order from rebalko, Ivanov said with some difficulty, "Comrade commander, if the German army breaks through from the west before we have time to build a defense, what should we do?"


    "What to do? Do you still need to ask me, tank commander? " "Don''t forget, you command a tank army, there are dozens or hundreds of tanks," rebalko said to Ivanov. If the enemy wants to break through, you line up the tanks and sweep them with artillery machine guns. When the enemy is defeated, you charge with infantry again. "


    Ivanov heard that rebalko was teaching him strategy and tactics. Before he finished, he even said, "I understand, comrade commander, I know how to do it. You can rest assured that I will never let a German escape from our defense zone. "


    Seeing that rebalko had finished the call, melinikov was still a little worried and said, "Comrade commander, is it too late to transfer Ivanov''s troops at this time?"


    "Not too late, not too late." In order to reassure melinikov, I specially explained to him: "Comrade military commissar, according to my observation in the city, General von naindor, commander of the German fortress, is a traditional German soldier. He values his honor more than his life. If the fortress is lost, he will never run away, but will defend the honor of his soldiers by living and dying together with the fortress. "


    "What? Will General von naindor defend his military honor by living and dying with the fortress? " After listening to what I said, melinikov could not help but say with half a doubt: "I think German officers are greedy for life and afraid of death. Why else can the headquarters of our military division commander be located only 300 meters away from the front line, while the headquarters of the German army are usually several kilometers or even more?"


    "Comrade military commissar, I think Lida is right." Rebalko echoed me and said: "although the Germans are our enemies, there are many traditional German soldiers who are no worse than our commanders and fighters in defending the honor of soldiers. I think that since von naindor did not surrender, maybe he really intended to stick to tarnopol and fight with us to the last soldier. "


    Although I guessed that von naindor would not surrender, I didn''t think that he might end up burning all the stones. So I hastened to say to rebalko, "Comrade General, please inform the troops at the front that besides military attack, they can also take appropriate political offensive to break up the German defense and try to let the enemy in the fortress voluntarily lay down their arms and surrender to us."


    "What if our political offensive doesn''t work?" With a worried look on his face, melinikov asked, "what measures should we take then?"


    "If the enemy does not surrender, we will resolutely destroy him." After I finished this sentence firmly, I urged rebalko: "Comrade General, please give orders to the troops immediately."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    After dark, Novikov''s tank army and mechanized army completely occupied the German second line of defense. After a little rest, they continued to attack the third line of defense. The East and the north of the city were also attacking the second German defense line.


    After three o''clock in the morning, the troops on the South Road broke through three lines of defense and finally arrived at the foot of the city of jernopol. After learning the news, I said to rebarko, "Comrade General, let Novikov''s tank army and mechanized army stop attacking, stay in place, and wait until daybreak to launch a new attack."


    Rebalko was confused by my inexplicable order. He asked, "Rita, since our attack is very smooth now, why should we stop all of a sudden?"


    "Although the peripheral positions in the South have been cleared, if we continue to attack, the wall in front of us will block the way of our tank troops." When I saw rebalko''s blank face, I explained to him, "it''s better to wait until daybreak and let the artillery prepare for heavy fire before continuing to attack the city."


    "Well, since you say so, I will immediately order Novikov to stop attacking." After that, rebalko asked, "what about the other two directions? Let them stop, too? "¡° No I waved my hand and said what I thought: "in addition to continuing to attack in the East and north of the city, the troops in the west of the city should also attack the enemy''s positions."¡° At this time, let the troops in the west of the city attack? " Rebalko was more and more confused about my deployment¡° Yes, the forces in the west of the city will launch an attack at this time, and part of the German defense forces can be transferred. " I pointed to the map and said, "we stopped attacking in the south of the city, but the other three directions are still going on. If the German army wants to keep the fortress, it is bound to send troops from other directions. If they can send troops from the south of the city, our attack after daybreak will be much smoother. "¡° Yes, it''s a good idea. " After listening to my explanation, he immediately ordered the chief of staff to inform the troops in the south of the city to suspend the attack, while the troops in the west of the city immediately switched from defense to attack. Maybe I confused the German army in the city with my unrestrained way of playing. In order to prevent our army from breaking through from the other three directions, they had to mobilize some troops from the south of the city to strengthen the attacked areas. All these information were obtained from the documents we seized after we occupied the fortress. After daybreak, after an hour of heavy artillery preparation, the tank army and mechanized army in the south of the city rushed into the city from the gap. It began to slowly and effectively nibble off one position after another of the German army, and gradually retreated to the German Defense Center. In the evening, as the troops from the other three directions broke into the city one after another, the situation became more favorable to our army. Although the German army showed great tenacity in defense, when they ran out of bullets, they would rush out with bayonet rifles to fight with our army. Even the wounded soldiers who were seriously injured would ring grenades when our soldiers rushed up, and they would die with our soldiers. However, under the strong offensive of our army, the dying struggle of the German army could not recover their defeat. At seven o''clock in the evening, the gunfire in the city finally stopped. General Novikov and general Ivanov called one after another to report the good news that they had successfully captured the fort. According to the statistics of the results of the war, the 5000 German defenders in the city were all brave soldiers except for the 50 wounded. General von naindor also shot himself when he saw that the situation was over.

 Chapter 1494

    Shortly after the capture of jernopol, I urged rebarko to come with me to the city to see the newly recovered city. Rebarko wanted to go to the city after he reported the results to the headquarters of the front army, but when he saw that I was in such a hurry, he changed his attention and asked someone to prepare an armored car to accompany me to the headquarters of von naindor.


    On the way, rebalko asked strangely, "Rita, our army has captured tarnopol. We should first report the good news to the headquarters of the front army, but why do you rush to the headquarters of von naindor?"


    "Comrade General," I asked rebalko, leaning sideways, "I was in a hurry to get to the city to see what our officers and men were doing with General von naindor''s body."


    "Rita, how could you be so interested in a German general who committed suicide?" After listening to me, rebalko asked more puzzledly, "is it because he made a good impression on you when you were negotiating?"


    "General rebalko, although von naindol is our enemy, he is a soldier worthy of our respect." I said solemnly: "our soldiers are not afraid of death, and the Germans are not afraid of death. You see, there are about 5000 defenders in the city, but in the end, our army only captured 55 wounded people. You know, this may be the first time in such a large offensive battle. Therefore, even if they are our enemies, they are soldiers worthy of our admiration. "


    After hearing this, rebalko was silent for a long time. Finally, he nodded his head and said, "Rita, you''re right. Such a soldier as von naindor deserves our admiration. "


    When we arrived at the German headquarters, I saw the building I had seen, which had been badly damaged by our artillery fire. There was about a class of soldiers standing guard at the door. Seeing me and rebalko coming out of the armored car, they quickly raised their hands to salute us.


    Walk down the corridor to the conference room I''ve been to. I saw that the walls and ceiling on the left and right were blackened by the smoke of the explosion. The floor was also in a mess, with broken glass and fallen bricks. Sometimes I could see a few German guns that I didn''t have time to take away.


    When I was more than ten steps away from the conference room, I suddenly saw a group of soldiers pouring out from the next room. Four of them were still carrying two bodies in their hands. I thought they were carrying the body of von naindor, and I cried out, "Comrade soldier, please wait a minute!"


    The soldiers stopped at my cry. It''s me and rebalko. Except for the four soldiers who carried the body, the others raised their hands to salute us.


    I didn''t care to return the gift, so I quickly walked over and carefully looked at the two bodies carried by the soldiers. I only looked at it once and knew I was wrong. It turned out that they were carrying not the remains of von naindor, but the bodies of two young German officers. One was shot in the head and the other in the chest.


    "What''s going on?" Seeing that two beautiful young women soldiers died, though they were enemies, I still felt sorry. So I looked at the soldiers and asked, "how did they die?"


    Maybe the tone of my question was too severe, which frightened the soldiers. After a long time, a staff sergeant came out of the crowd. He raised his hand to salute me and said in a flurried way, "Comrade General, when we cleaned up here, we found two bodies in the room and carried them out." At this point, he turned to look at the two bodies, "when we came, they were already dead."


    "Chief, I don''t blame you." I asked, slowing down, "I mean, how did they die?"


    "Well, Comrade General." The sergeant quickly replied, "they may be signalmen. Seeing that the building was about to be occupied by our army, they shot themselves. We found only one pistol at the scene, and it was in her hand. " He pointed at the body that had been shot in the head, and then said, "according to my judgment, in order not to be our prisoner, this female soldier first shot and killed her companion, and then shot herself."


    "Well, chief, there''s no business for you here." After waiting for the other party to finish, rebalko said directly, "take your people and leave first."


    We all stepped aside, with our backs against the wall. After the sergeant passed us with the body, we continued to walk towards the conference room.


    We went through two big open wooden doors and into the conference room. There was a mess everywhere. The floor was full of paper. Many of the chairs around the long conference table were tilted to the ground.


    I picked up the chair I used to sit in and asked a lieutenant who was our guide, "Comrade lieutenant, I don''t know where the remains of General von naindor are?"


    "We have removed his body and piled it up with the German soldiers who were killed." The lieutenant said, pointing to the position where von naindor had sat, and continued, "that''s where he committed suicide."


    I looked up in the direction that the lieutenant pointed out and saw on the wall behind the chair where von naindor was sitting a startling pool of blood. Although it had already dried up, I still felt that the whole conference room was full of blood.


    I walked over slowly, staring at the bloodstain in a daze, thinking that if von naindor was not so stubborn and did not choose to fight to the end, but actively ordered the troops to lay down their arms and surrender to us, it would not cause more than 30000 casualties on both sides. Although he is our enemy, he is worthy of our respect.


    Thinking of this, I took off my cap and silently mourned for the German general who would rather commit suicide than surrender, hoping that his soul could enter heaven as soon as possible.


    "Rita," I heard rebalko''s voice behind me. I turned to look at him, and there was a look of horror on his face. He looked around for a moment, then said to me in a low voice, "how can you have a moment of silence for a dead German commander? If someone in the interior knows, you''ll be in trouble. "


    I put on my cap again, waved my hand to rebalko, and said, "don''t worry, general rebalko. Even if the Supreme Commander himself knows, he won''t care about such trifles, let alone Marshal Zhukov."


    After listening to me, rebalko nodded and then asked me, "do we have a new headquarters here?"


    I didn''t speak, just nodded in agreement. When rebalko arranged for the meeting room to be arranged, I called the lieutenant to him and said, "Comrade lieutenant, I''ll give you an important task now."


    When I heard that I was going to give an account of the task, the lieutenant straightened up and waited for my order¡° Lieutenant, you immediately take people to find the body of General von naindor and find a coffin to put in. Do you understand? "


    The lieutenant was stunned for a moment when he heard my order. Then he looked at rebalko. Rebalko glared at him and said, "Lieutenant, what are you looking at me for? Didn''t you hear the order of the deputy commander of the front army to go to the Deputy coffin and gather up von naindor''s body? "


    In the 3rd group army of the close guard tank, what rebarko said was that he was better than me. After hearing this, the lieutenant gave a loud promise and turned to the conference room to carry out my orders.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In less than five minutes, the floor of the conference room was cleaned up, and even the blood on the wall was wiped off by the soldiers with sandpaper they didn''t know where to find it. After the military map is pasted, you can''t see the shocking blood on the wall.


    Maybe in order to take care of my mood, rebalko also ordered someone to move the position of the conference table to the side for a certain distance. In this way, when I was in a meeting, I would not turn my back to the wall where there had been a bloodstain.


    The communication department had just set up the telephone line when the telephone rang in front of me. As rebalko was at the door, directing the soldiers to clean the mess in the corridor, I picked up the microphone and asked, "I''m oshanina. Where are you?"


    "It''s Rita." Zhukov''s voice came from the receiver. He said to me in a joyful tone: "I want to tell you a good news. Because you quickly captured tarnopol, the supreme command decided to salute the commanders and fighters of the third group army of the close guard tank with 20 rounds of 128 salutes at Moscow Red Square at 10 o''clock this evening."


    "Great, comrade marshal." After listening to Zhukov''s good news, my originally depressed mood disappeared immediately, and I said excitedly: "I will immediately tell the good news to all the commanders and fighters of the 3rd group army of the close guard tank, so that they will be happy."


    Maybe my voice is too loud. The busy commanders and fighters in the conference room heard me. They stopped their work and turned to look at me. Even rebalko, who was standing at the door, came quickly and asked aloud, "Rita, do you have any good news for us, marshal?"


    I quickly covered the microphone and said to rebalko excitedly, "general rebalko, I want to tell you some good news. At ten o''clock this evening, in Moscow''s Red Square, there will be 20 salutes from 120 guns, saluting all the commanders and fighters of the third group army of close guard tanks who captured tarnopol! "


    "Wula As soon as I was finished, someone took the lead in cheering, and then all the people in the whole conference room were cheering: "Wula! Wula!! Wula


    They were so loud that I couldn''t hear Zhukov in the microphone. I quickly raised my voice and said to rebalko, "Comrade General, the marshal still has something to say, but the room is too noisy!"


    There was too much noise in the room. Rebalko might not have heard me clearly, but he guessed what I wanted to say from the anxious expression on my face. He raised his hands and waved them down desperately, shouting: "quiet, everyone


    Although his voice was drowned in cheers, his gestures were seen by everyone. Soon the room was quiet, and the commanders and fighters continued to be busy with their work.


    I let go of the hand that covers the microphone and said with a smile: "Comrade Zhukov, you have heard it. The commanders and fighters are very happy to hear the news. "


    "Yes, Rita, I heard it all." Zhukov obviously also heard the cheers in the conference room. He also said with a smile, "it''s really worth the cheers of the commanders and fighters to get such a great honor." But what he said next made my heart sink: "Rita, there''s one more thing I want to ask you. As far as I know, there are 5000 German troops in tarnopolli. Why did you only take 55 prisoners? What''s the matter? Will the German army sneak away when there are no troops in the west? "¡° No, comrade marshal. " Hearing Zhukov''s conjecture, I quickly replied: "although we did not deploy troops in the west of the city before the attack, there were many reconnaissance teams. If the German army broke through from this direction, it would not escape their eyes."¡° Then why did you only catch this prisoner? " Zhukov asked sternly, "don''t tell me that the German army would rather die than surrender. It''s not like the style of the German army."¡° Marshal, "seeing that Zhukov had doubts about our army''s achievements, I had to patiently explain to him," tarnopol''s defenders are more tenacious than we thought. In the face of our fierce offensive, their officers and men tenaciously stick to every street, every house, and our army officers and men fighting for every inch of land. In order to capture the city, our army paid huge casualties. According to the information I have, many battalions of our army only have more than 100 men left after the battle. Even when a company of the 121st division of the guards withdrew from the battle, there was only one deputy platoon leader and three soldiers left, and everyone was wounded. " After a detailed explanation to Zhukov, I specially stressed: "if our army is not several times as strong as the German army, and also has an advantage in technology and equipment, it is almost impossible to capture this city."¡° Well, stop complaining. " After accepting my words, Zhukov suddenly said, "we are going to launch the encirclement and annihilation of the encircled German tanks of the first group army. You ask rebalko to seize the time to adjust the deployment and dispatch elite troops to participate in the final battle. As long as the first group army of German tanks is completely annihilated, the German army will no longer be able to gain a foothold in the remaining areas of Ukraine, and can only retreat to Romania or Poland obediently. In that case, Ukraine will become the first country we will recover. "

 Chapter 1495

    "When can you finish your rest?" Zhukov asked finally.


    Although we have captured jernopol, we have to take a short rest in order to encircle and annihilate the first group army of German tanks. That''s why Zhukov asked this question. I covered the microphone and asked rebalko, "Comrade General, how long does it take for your troops to rest before they can fight again?"


    "Two days." Rebalko stretched out two fingers and said solemnly, "if you want the troops to recover their combat effectiveness, you need to rest for at least two days."


    "Marshal," I released my hand covering the microphone and reported to Zhukov, "it will take at least two days for the troops to return to battle."


    After my words, Zhukov was silent for at least two or three minutes, and then said slowly, "well, rebarko, they have just gone through a fierce battle. The troops have suffered a lot of losses, and the ammunition also needs to be replenished. Then I''ll give you two days to replenish your troops and ammunition. In two days'' time, they will have to fight again. "


    When I put down the phone, I was surprised to find that besides rebarko, there was melinikov standing in front of me. I was a little surprised and asked, "Comrade military commissar, when did you arrive?"


    "I just arrived a few minutes ago, but seeing you talking to marshal, I didn''t disturb you." After simply answering my question, melinikov asked curiously, "I don''t know what Marshal said?"


    After I repeated Zhukov''s words, melinikov was surprised and said, "if we can eliminate the first German tank army, Ukraine will return to its motherland in a short time."


    As for the joy on melinikov''s face, I can''t bear to pour cold water on him. I can only euphemistically say: "Comrade military commissar, judging from the current situation, it is only a matter of time before our army recovers Ukraine. But the German army will not easily admit defeat, they will certainly carry on the dying struggle. We must not take them lightly until we completely drive them out of our country. "


    "That''s right, that''s right." "As long as there is an enemy in our country, I believe our soldiers will never lay down their weapons," he said, nodding his head vigorously


    "Rita," rebarko said after melinikov finished, he then asked me, "what''s the reply of Marshal? Does he agree with our rest plan?"


    "Yes, the marshal agreed." I nodded my head and said, "he gave you two days to rest, and then put into the battle of encircling and annihilating the 1st group army of tanks."


    I didn''t expect melinikov to listen to me. He immediately turned to rebarko and put forward his own suggestion: "Comrade commander, I don''t think our troops need to rest at all. In the siege battle, in addition to Novikov''s close guard tank No.6 army and close guard mechanized No.7 army, the casualties of several other troops were still within the acceptable range. I think that Ivanov''s 7th army of close guard tanks and the 9th army of marekin''s mechanized close guard should be put into combat immediately. "


    As a result of the battle to capture jernopol, I stayed in the headquarters all the time, so I knew the situation of the troops very well. At the moment, it is barely possible to put the two forces mentioned by melinikov into combat immediately. However, after such a fierce battle, the commanders and fighters become tired. If they are allowed to continue to fight, their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced.


    "Comrade military commissar," rebarko said patiently to melinikov without waiting for me to speak, "even if the losses of the two armies you mentioned are small, they can''t fight until they replenish their troops and ammunition, otherwise their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced."


    "If our troops were to fight earlier," melinikov said, "then we could defeat the German army besieged by our army earlier."


    When they quarreled, I stood by the wall, looked at the map on the wall, looked at the red and blue arrows representing the enemy and ourselves, and thought about how to eliminate the German army besieged by our army.


    "What do you think, Rita?" I was studying which direction Hube was going to lead the troops out of our encirclement when I heard the voice of rebalko behind me.


    I turned and looked at him, a blank face asked: "Comrade General, what do you think?"


    After listening to me, rebalko immediately understood that I certainly didn''t hear the dispute between him and melinikov, so he explained to me, "well, I have a little disagreement with the military commissar on whether to send troops to fight immediately. I''m going to let the troops rest for two days and then fight according to the Marshal''s arrangement. And he advocated immediately putting the two armies with little loss into battle. "


    After listening to what rebalko said, I found out where their differences were. To tell you the truth, I don''t agree that at such a time, the troops that have just been fighting will be put back into more exciting fighting. Therefore, I stood on the side of rebalko and said to melinikov, "Comrade military commissar, I agree with general rebalko that the troops should rest for two days and then fight again."


    Seeing that melinikov opened his mouth and seemed ready to persuade me to change my mind, he continued: "Comrade military commissar, I do not deny that our commanders and fighters are fully capable of continuous combat. But don''t you think that having the troops replenished with troops and technical equipment and put them into combat after two days'' rest can make them play a greater role? "


    As soon as my words came out, melinikov was speechless, and rebalko said while the iron was hot: "Comrade military commissar, let the troops rest for two days and then take part in the battle, which was agreed by Marshal Zhukov himself. According to the regulations, orders from higher authorities are not allowed to be discussed and can only be executed unconditionally. "


    The words of me and rebalko made melinikov lose his temper. He had to nod his head and said helplessly: "since it''s Marshal Zhukov''s order, then I don''t have any opinions."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Two days later, rebarko left a brigade of the mechanized 7th army of the guards to take charge of the defense of jernopol. The rest of the troops rushed to the kamenitz podoliski area to encircle and annihilate the 1st German tank group army besieged in the area.


    At the same time, I also completed my mission and went back to the headquarters of the front army to cooperate with Zhukov to command the battle that determined Ukraine''s fate. After seven days and nights of fierce fighting, the besieged German army had been compressed by our army into a narrow section less than 100 kilometers long and 70 kilometers wide.


    Although the situation is very favorable to our army, Zhukov''s face has never been relaxed, because the German reinforcements, including the elite SS 2nd army, have successively arrived in the Lvov area. At the same time, a Hungarian Army Group also came from the southwest in an attempt to rescue the besieged German army.


    Sokolovsky, the new chief of staff of the front army, asked me in front of Zhukov, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think of the combat effectiveness of the Hungarian Army? If we don''t mobilize our troops to reinforce the troops in the southwest, will they be able to block the enemy''s attack? "


    From sokolovsky''s expression, I can see that he is dismissive of the Hungarian Army. In his eyes, the only force with combat effectiveness is the German army; The rest of the troops from Italy, Romania, Hungary and other countries are just playing the role of soy sauce, which is not worth mentioning at all.


    In order to prevent the irreparable consequences of belittling the enemy, I specially stressed to Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, we can''t underestimate the Hungarian troops. I remember that in the battle of Stalingrad, the troops under my command had dealt with Hungarian troops. According to my judgment, the combat effectiveness of individual troops is not inferior to that of the German army at all. "


    As soon as I finished, sokolovsky began to laugh. He looked at Zhukov and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, how can you build up the ambition of the enemy and destroy the prestige of our army. Yes, it is true that some Hungarian troops are not weak in combat effectiveness, but they have been exhausted in the battle with our army. Today''s troops are all new recruits, and their combat effectiveness can''t be compared with the old veterans. "


    As soon as sokolovsky finished, I turned to Zhukov and wanted to hear what he said. Zhukov frowned and thought about it. Then he said to sokolovsky, "Comrade chief of staff, Rita is right. Although the combat effectiveness of Hungary is not strong, we should not take it lightly. You call general katukov and order him to move a mechanized army westward, but help the troops in the west block the Hungarian Army. "


    When sokolovsky went to call katukov to assign a task, Zhukov suddenly asked me, "Rita, judging from the fighting in the past two days, the German army is not willing to lose and is in a desperate struggle. I think they will soon choose a direction and carry out a breakthrough operation. What line of defense do you think they will break through? "


    I began to think about the question that Zhukov asked when he captured jernopol. At this moment, listening to him ask this question, I did not immediately answer, but first looked at the map for a while, and then cautiously said: "Comrade marshal, from the map, the terrain in the south is flat, and there are good roads, so we can use armored forces on a large scale. If I were Hube, I would choose this road first, because as long as I break through our army''s defense, I can enter Romania along the road. The terrain of Romania is easy to defend and difficult to attack. We can''t cross the border in a short time. "


    When I said this, I stopped for a moment to observe Zhukov''s reaction. Who knows he saw me listen down, looked up at me after a glance, light asked: "there are other possibilities?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." I quickly pointed to the north of kamenitz podolisky and continued: "there is another possibility that the German army will abandon the existing heavy equipment and cross the mountain road to the north."


    After hearing what I said, Zhukov shook his head with a smile and said jokingly, "Rita, you are still too young to understand a lot of things." He pointed to the map and continued, "the German armored forces can''t cross the mountains, so the most likely thing is to concentrate on the south. General Hube used powerful armored forces to break through our defense line on the South Road and enter Romania along the road. "


    After that, he looked up at me and said, "I think your first analysis is completely correct."


    After the phone call, sokolovsky came over, and Zhukov then gave him an order: "Comrade chief of staff, judging from the current situation, it is very possible for the German army to break through the encirclement to the south, so we should immediately dispatch troops to detour back to the retreat of the German army, and at the same time, let the air force be ready to carry out air strikes on the German armored forces. They must be wiped out on the way to Romania. "


    Zhukov''s words put me in a dilemma, because I didn''t know which direction the German army would choose if they wanted to break through, because I didn''t know much about this period of history. I hesitated for a moment, then summoned up courage, Zhukov said: "marshal, since we can analyze the direction of the German army''s breakout, will they still rush in according to our imagination?" My words made Zhukov''s face look discontented. He looked at me and said, "Rita, I just said that you are too young to understand many things. From the analysis of the current situation, the German army did not break through from the south, did it break through from the north? It''s full of mountains, and the enemy''s armored forces can''t get through. "¡° But, comrade marshal. " If Zhukov didn''t speak to me in such a harsh tone, maybe I would have acquiesced in his decision. But when I heard him say this with such confidence, my heart became uneasy. So I said with a stiff head, "according to my judgment, the German army may be in danger this time. It will abandon heavy equipment and cross the mountains to break through to the north." Unexpectedly, after I finished speaking, Zhukov waved his hand and said with a strong voice, "Lida, don''t forget, I am the commander of the front army. I has the final say. Since I think the German army will break through from the south, they will certainly break through from the south. As for the idea of breaking through in the north, only an inexperienced commander like you can think of it. " After that, he told sokolovsky: "well, comrade chief of staff, according to the instructions I have just given, give orders to the commanders of the following army groups, so that they can enter the designated position as soon as possible to stop the German army which is hard to escape, and make sure not to let a German escape." Although an ominous premonition welled up in my heart at the moment, I was helpless in the face of the domineering and stubborn Zhukov. I could only pray secretly in my heart that the German army would follow Zhukov''s idea and choose the route to break through the encirclement to the south.

 Chapter 1496

    Just when sokolovsky was going to give orders to the army according to Zhukov''s orders, I suddenly didn''t know where the courage came from and yelled at his back: "chief of staff, please wait a moment."


    Sokolovsky stopped and looked at me blankly, wondering why I stopped him. Instead of telling him the reason immediately, I got up and walked up to Zhukov and said solemnly, "marshal, I have a warning that the German army will never choose to break through in the south, because they can guess the direction of their retreat, which will be analyzed by us, and we will take measures to prevent them. The German is not a fool. General Hube is a famous general in the German army. Will he lead the army foolishly and break into our encirclement? "


    After listening, Zhukov got up from his seat, looked at me for a moment, and then made an unexpected action. He grabbed the cup in front of me and fell to my feet. The glass with the silver cup holder fell to the ground and smashed. The warm tea splashed on my trouser legs.


    "Comrade oshanina!" Zhukov pointed to my nose and said angrily, "don''t forget that I am the commander of the front army, not you. Do you want to know whether the commander commands the deputy commander or the deputy commander gives orders to the commander


    After he made a fire at me, seeing sokolovsky still standing in the same place, he glared and said discontentedly, "chief of staff, what are you still doing here? Don''t go and give an order soon."


    Just as sokolovsky, who looked embarrassed, was about to leave, I suddenly heard a familiar voice asking, "what''s the matter here, marshal?"


    I looked in the direction of the voice and saw a big bellied commander enter the headquarters. Seeing his appearance, the commanders in the room took the initiative to let him aside and raised their hands to salute him. Even if I don''t look at the Marshal''s epaulet on his shoulder, what I recognize at a glance is the current chief of general staff of the Red Army, vasilevsky.


    Seeing the sudden appearance of vasilevsky, I feel very curious. I want to know that he is in charge of the third and fourth aspects of cooperative combat in Ukraine. How can he suddenly appear here?


    Zhukov saw the appearance of vasilevsky, his face also showed a surprised expression. He walked around the table and shook hands with each other. At the same time, he asked curiously, "Comrade vasilevsky, how can you come to me today?"


    "Hello, comrade Zhukov." Holding Zhukov''s hand, vasilevsky replied, "we are about to launch a counterattack against Sevastopol. I''m passing by you today, so I''m here to say hello to you."


    After saying his intention, vasilevsky turned to look at me standing upright beside me, seemingly casually asked Zhukov: "Marshal comrade, I don''t know what happened just now, how can I make you so angry?"


    Zhukov nodded at me and said with a trace of anger, "Rita and I have a little difference in the judgment of the direction of the German breakthrough."


    "Oh, that''s the thing." After hearing this, vasilevsky asked Zhukov with a smile: "marshal, can you tell me your judgment?"


    When he heard that, Zhukov took him to the wall, pointed to the map on the wall and told him his and my analysis.


    Vasilevsky stood in front of the map and looked at it for a while. Then he turned to me and said, "Comrade Rita, I think what you said is very reasonable. The German army can completely throw away their heavy equipment when they have no way out, and then cross the mountains lightly to escape from the encirclement of our army. But... "


    Originally, when I heard that vasilevsky agreed with his opinion, I was still very happy. But when I heard that he said "but", the word representing turning point, my heart cooled. I guessed that he would stand on Zhukov''s side and deny my judgment. Sure enough, he continued, "but I still agree with Marshal Zhukov. After all, he is recognized as an excellent commander in our army. His judgment should be correct."


    After being approved by vasilevsky, Zhukov''s face also showed a trace of satisfaction. Because I don''t understand this period of history, and my judgment of the direction of German breakthrough is only based on my own intuition, so if I want to continue to debate with Zhukov, I''m not confident enough. Therefore, I can only keep silent and watch Zhukov again command sokolovsky to give orders to the following troops to set up an ambush circle in the south of the battlefield.


    However, through this, I have a further understanding of vasilevsky. The reason why the marshal, who succeeded Zhukov as chief of the general staff, was able to cope with Stalin was due to his character. Zhukov made a proposal to Stalin, but when he was rejected, he would do everything he could to remonstrate him. As a result, he lost his position as chief of the general staff and was demoted to the reserve army as commander.


    Compared with Zhukov, vasilevsky is much smarter. Having learned from Zhukov''s experience, he was extremely clever. In order not to repeat his mistakes, he played tricks and let Stalin willingly adopt his own opinions. His approach is to talk about irrelevant military issues around Stalin in his spare time before he made strategic plans with his pipe in his mouth, which is neither systematic nor profound. But when he said that, inspired by Stalin''s inspiration, he quickly deployed the strategic points, but there was no big mistake.


    In addition, when Stalin held a military conference, vasilevsky, who was sitting next to him, also had to speak. However, every time he talked about strategy and tactics, he was incoherent. He talked about one thing upside down for a long time and was very wordy, which often confused the participants. However, when he talked about the latter part, he was clear-cut and logical. Anyone with a little military common sense could recognize that these were all super nonsense. As a result, he was naturally denounced by Stalin. However, he often made Stalin make the right decisions because of his carelessness.


    Perhaps because of his performance, many military commanders think that he is a chief of the general staff with no achievements, and they always look down on him. But vasilevsky always laughs at other people''s opinions. What he said at the military conference was just to guide Stalin to make correct strategic deployment according to his own ideas.


    Seeing that Zhukov and vasilevsky had something to say, I consciously followed sokolovsky and walked out of the headquarters. On the corridor leading to the telecommunication room, the chief of staff kindly reminded me, "Rita, marshal sometimes is stubborn. He is right about things and not about people. Don''t take it to heart."


    Zhukov''s image in my mind has always been a polite and kind old man, so I always respect him. But I didn''t expect that after I became his deputy, I found the bad side of his character, and also had several conflicts with him, which is probably "far fragrant near smelly".


    When I heard sokolovsky comforting me, I quickly waved my hand, tried to squeeze a smile on my face, pretended to be indifferent and said, "I see, chief of staff. Marshal Zhukov and I have known each other for several years. I still have some idea of his character. What happened just now is just a dispute at work. I won''t keep it in mind. "


    Sokolovsky looked left and right, saw only a few staff officers in a hurry with papers, and asked me in a low voice, "Rita, do you really think the German army will break through from the north?"


    Instead of answering his question directly, I asked: "Comrade chief of staff, although you have not been in the first front army of Ukraine for a long time, you should know the 48th armored army under the command of general balk of the German army?" Without waiting for him to speak, I said to myself, "at that time, I also judged that they would break through our attack. Unfortunately, this analysis was denied by the marshal."


    With that, I didn''t wait for sokolovsky to say anything, so I quickened my pace and walked forward, leaving him alone in a daze.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The day after vasilevsky left, an unfortunate news suddenly came. On his way to the front by car, he unfortunately triggered a mine buried by the German army. He was seriously injured in the head and had been sent back to Moscow by plane overnight.


    Zhukov''s face became more serious when he heard the news. Seeing Zhukov''s expression, all the busy staff members in the headquarters were afraid that if they were not careful, Zhukov would be scolded. More than a month ago, vatujing, the former commander of the front army, was ambushed by the enemy and seriously injured on his way to inspect the army; Now that vassilevsky is seriously injured again, Zhukov''s mood becomes worse. If anyone makes him angry, the end will be very miserable. So I sat quietly in the corner and watched the war report, trying to be a transparent person to avoid Zhukov''s attention.


    When I heard the telephone ringing in front of Zhukov, I could not help shivering. If there was any bad news, the commander on the phone would be scolded by Zhukov. But sometimes the more you worry about something, the more you come. When I thought to myself that there would be no telephone to disturb Zhukov, the high-frequency telephone in front of him rang again.


    I saw him put the microphone to his ear and said, "I''m Zhukov. Where are you?"


    A moment later, I suddenly found that he stood up from his seat, straightened up and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade Stalin, do you have any instructions?"


    Because the headquarters is very quiet, even though I am separated from him for a certain distance, I can still hear the voice from the receiver clearly: "Zhukov, now Comrade vasilevsky is seriously injured, who do you think is more suitable to take over his post?"


    Zhukov was silent for a moment, then said: "Comrade Stalin, I think it is most appropriate for Comrade Antonov, the first deputy chief of general staff of the general staff, to take over the work of vasilevsky and take charge of the coordinated operations of the third and fourth front forces of Ukraine."


    "No way." Stalin rejected Zhukov''s proposal without hesitation: "at present, the general staff can''t go without Comrade Antonov."


    "What about Ivanov, deputy chief of the general staff?" Although Zhukov knew that Stalin hated the deputy chief of general staff, he could only harden his head and say, "he has the experience of commanding the group army and has been in the general staff for so long. If he is sent to take charge of the coordinated operations of the two front armies, it is OK."


    Stalin was silent for a long time about the candidate proposed by Zhukov, and finally said, "well, in that case, I will send Ivanov to the third and Fourth Front Army tomorrow to command the troops."


    Just when I thought Stalin would hang up on this, I suddenly heard Stalin mention my name: "by the way, comrade Zhukov, when I went to visit vasilevsky today, I heard that you were angry with Rita yesterday. Is that right?" Zhukov gave me a blank look, which made me pretend to be buried in the war report, but I still listened to the conversation between him and Stalin¡° Yes, comrade Stalin, "Zhukov truthfully reported to Stalin," we had some disputes on the analysis of the direction of the German army''s breakthrough. " Stalin snorted and said slowly, "is it really just a dispute? But I seem to hear that you''ve also broken your glass. It seems that your argument is quite fierce. " Stalin''s words made Zhukov look a little embarrassed. He said in a somewhat awkward way: "Comrade Stalin, you know, I''m a bit too hasty..." "yes," Stalin said, without waiting for Zhukov to finish, and then interrupted, "you are the commander of the front army, and the deployment of the front army has the final say. That''s it. Good luck Then he hung up without waiting for Zhukov to say anything. Zhukov put down the high frequency phone, picked up another phone, shook the crank a few times, and said to the microphone, "do you have the latest German war report?" Send someone to me immediately... Yes, right away. " The first German tank group army, besieged by our army, in order to get rid of the fate of being destroyed by our army, after repeated stubborn resistance, finally began to break through the encirclement. The German army''s preferred direction, like Zhukov''s judgment, was to break through Romania along the road to the south. When I saw the war report, my heart could not help but thump and thump, saying in secret, was my judgment really wrong? But in the evening, unexpected changes appeared on the battlefield. Originally, only three German infantry divisions broke south along the road, while the armored division abandoned its heavy weapons and crossed the mountains to the north.

 Chapter 1497

    When sokolovsky reported the bad news to Zhukov, the air in the room seemed to solidify in an instant, so quiet that he could hear the breathing of the people in the room. After a long time, Zhukov finally broke the silence. He asked in an unbelievable tone: "Comrade sokolovsky, do you confirm that what you reported is the real thing that happened on the battlefield, not the rumors created by the German spies lurking in our army?"


    "I''m sure, comrade marshal." Sokolovsky replied awkwardly: "after repeated verification of this news, I have been able to confirm that at least eight to ten German divisions have entered the mountainous area after discarding their heavy equipment."


    Zhukov sat in his seat, looking at the map on the wall for a long time. And sokolovsky did not get his instructions before, dare not leave, can only continue to stand in place.


    I know it''s useless to say anything now. Zhukov deployed all the mobile forces that can be used in the south. If Hu Bei led his troops to the south, they would run into the iron wall made up of guns and tanks and end up in smoke. However, it is a pity that the cunning Hubei led his main force into the mountain area and fled to the northwest where our army''s defense was weak.


    In order to break the dull atmosphere in the room, I stood up, went to stand side by side with sokolovsky, and asked Zhukov with no expression: "marshal, since the German army has broken through the mountains to the northwest, what measures should we take to stop them?"


    Zhukov took a look at me. Though he picked up the high-frequency phone on the desk, dialed a number and said to the microphone, "connect me with marshal konev."


    The phone was soon connected and Zhukov asked aloud, "konev? I''m Zhukov. What''s the situation there? "


    "Comrade marshal," konev replied politely and respectfully on the phone, "when the German army saw that the situation was not good, it left behind the tanks, artillery and vehicles trapped in the mud, took the way of walking, and fled to the northwest mountains."


    "Well done, comrade konev." Zhukov said dryly: "because our mobile forces are deployed in the south, it is difficult to mobilize troops to carry out interception in the short term. I wonder if you can send troops to pursue the enemy and keep them in the kamenitz podoliski area to buy us time to mobilize our troops? "


    As for Zhukov''s proposal, konev was silent for a long time before he replied tactfully: "marshal, you know that the weather is not good recently. It''s either raining or snowing. The boundless mud makes our army''s T-34 and new tanks often trapped in the mud. It''s more difficult for cars and cannons to move forward, so we have to rely on manpower to push them. In this case, the troops with heavy equipment will not be able to catch up with the German army. "


    Konev cleverly did not mention the matter of allowing the troops to move forward light, because he knew that without the cooperation of tanks and artillery, even if the troops caught up with the German army, they could not destroy each other, so he would not do anything more.


    On hearing konev''s refusal of his request, Zhukov''s expression did not fluctuate at all. He gave a simple Oh and said, "I see, comrade konev. I wish you good health With that, he hung up directly.


    Zhukov leaned back, his back against the back of the chair, his eyes slightly closed, his fingers tapping gently on the table. Sokolovsky and I stood still, waiting patiently for his orders.


    After a while, he opened his eyes and sat up straight, looked at me and asked, "Rita, if you were the commander of the front army, what remedial measures would you take in this situation?"


    In fact, just when I heard the dialogue between Zhukov and konev, I was quietly thinking about how to deal with this situation. But unfortunately, as soon as the idea of several schemes came out, it was directly denied by me. Although our army is superior in strength, without the cooperation of tanks and artillery, even if we catch up with the fleeing German army, it is not easy to eliminate them.


    At this time, when Zhukov suddenly asked me this question, I suddenly blurted out: "since the muddy road makes it difficult for the troops carrying tanks and artillery to move, we might as well send out the air force!"


    "Comrade o''shanina, this is not appropriate." Before Zhukov could speak, sokolovsky said in embarrassment: "recently, not only is the weather bad, it''s either raining or snowing every day, but the runway of our army''s Field Airport has also become * * our pilots have to take great risks every time they take off."


    "Rita," Zhukov called me, and from his surname back to his nickname, he could see that his anger at me was gone. He looked at me and asked, "can we stop the German retreat with our air force?"


    "No I didn''t want to give him a vain hope, which eventually affected his position in his mind, so I truthfully replied: "the terrain of the mountain area is complex, and the German army can''t crowd together to march forward, so it''s impossible for us to achieve great results in our air raid."


    "Since you think our air force can''t win absolute victory in the air raid on the German army, why do you propose to let the air force out?" When Zhukov saw that I knew that the air force would not be able to achieve any results, he made such a suggestion. He asked curiously, "if you want to know that our air force is going to take off, you have to take some risks."


    "It is almost certain that the German army will escape from our encirclement." After putting forward the air raid plan, my thinking gradually became clear. "Due to the muddy road, our armored forces can''t move quickly. We only rely on troops without heavy weapons to pursue the enemy. Even if we catch up, we don''t have the ability to eat them. So I think we should send planes to bomb the German troops who are passing through the mountains, delay their progress, and gain precious time for us to mobilize our troops. " After I finished my proposal, Zhukov did not immediately express his opinion. Instead, he turned his eyes to sokolovsky and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, what do you think?" Sokolovsky has been dealing with Zhukov for a long time. He knows the character of the Deputy commander-in-chief very well. He knows that as long as he doesn''t oppose the proposal immediately, he agrees with it. Therefore, he pushed the boat forward and said, "marshal, I think the deputy commander is very reasonable. Since our troops can''t slow down the retreat of the German army, we can use air strikes to create some trouble for the Germans."¡° Since you two have the same opinion, "Zhukov''s face finally showed a little smile when he saw that sokolovsky agreed with my proposal," then I''ll inform krasovsky and ask him to send out the air force to bomb the German troops who fled into the mountains. " With that, he picked up the high frequency phone on the desk again and began to dial. When krasovsky''s voice came out of the receiver, Zhukov''s face returned to a calm expression: "general krasovsky, I''m Zhukov!"¡° Marshal, "Zhukov was the one who heard the words. Krasovsky seemed a little flustered:" do you have any new instructions? "¡° Comrade krasovsky, when the crafty German army saw their doomsday approaching, they left the heavy equipment trapped in the mire and fled into the northwest mountains with light clothes. " After a brief introduction, Zhukov began to give orders: "you immediately order the formation of bombers to go out and bomb the fleeing German troops in the mountains." Krasovsky was startled by Zhukov''s words, and he said in surprise: "marshal, don''t you know that the runways of our field airport have become a mess? In this case, our plane can''t take off at all. "¡° Due to the muddy road, our mechanized troops are difficult to move quickly, so they can''t catch up with the fleeing enemy. After your air force is dispatched, it will carry out air strikes on the enemy in the mountainous area, delaying their retreat, so that we can mobilize our troops in time to carry out the front blocking and back intercepting, so that they can''t escape from our encirclement. Is there any difficulty? " Krasovsky hesitated for a long time before he reluctantly replied, "Comrade marshal, we will make every effort to keep the enemy in the mountains." Zhukov raised his hand, looked at his watch, and then said, "Comrade krasovsky, it''s still three and a half hours before dark. I hope your air force can take off in half an hour to bomb the retreating German troops." After giving the air force an operational order, Zhukov raised his head and said to sokolovsky, "chief of staff, I gave the guard a slip, but when I saw the officer, my eyes focused on him. Along the way, Zhukov and I all took the initiative to give way to the side of the road and saluted us. And the lieutenant, not only did not salute, but also he was smoking and looking around, looking a little flustered. The officer soon found that I was watching him, so he threw the cigarette in his hand and walked quickly towards us. No! Seeing the officer''s abnormal behavior, an ominous feeling suddenly surged in my heart. I quickly dodged in front of Zhukov. At the same time, I put my hand on the holster, raised my left hand, pointed at the officer, and said loudly, "Hey, that commander, stay where you are!" My voice did not fall, the other side has quickly pulled out the pistol, the black muzzle at me. Almost as soon as I pulled out my pistol and aimed it at him, I could see his fingers pulling the trigger. But fortunately, I heard a gentle "click" from the opposite side, which seemed to be stuck. I caught each other''s stupefied moment and pulled the trigger decisively. The bullet hit the Lieutenant''s right shoulder impartially. The huge inertia made him fall back and fall into the mud.

 Chapter 1498

    When the assassin fell to the ground, the commanders and fighters standing near him just woke up. Several people rushed to the assassin who fell on the mud. Two guards, who were responsible for protecting Zhukov''s safety, rushed past me with guns.


    Seeing the gun in the assassin''s hand, when he fell, he didn''t know where to fly. At the moment, he was pressed down by three or four big soldiers and couldn''t move at all. Seeing that the assassin could no longer pose a threat to Zhukov, I was deeply relieved and turned to ask if Zhukov was frightened.


    Looking back, I saw Zhukov and sokolovsky getting up from the ground covered with mud. Zhukov looked at his military coat and then at sokolovsky. He couldn''t help laughing and said, "chief of staff, look at how embarrassed we are now." As he turned and walked toward the assassin''s position, he muttered again, "by the way, chief of staff, it''s time for you to lose weight. When you just threw me to the ground, I felt like a bear was pressing on me


    Zhukov''s humor made me laugh in silence. As Zhukov passed me, he patted me on the shoulder and whispered, "thank you, Rita."


    After Zhukov passed by me, sokolovsky also came over. He was a little embarrassed and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, I used to see you wearing a belt and a pistol on the outside of your military coat. I was very uncomfortable. I thought you were just doing this. After all, like our current level, there is almost no chance to use weapons again, so it doesn''t matter whether we wear weapons or not. But today, I admit that I was wrong. If you had not been on high alert, it is estimated that Comrade Marshal would be in danger today. "


    Just as sokolovsky and I were talking, Zhukov had come to the position where the assassin fell to the ground. After staring at each other for a while, he told the soldiers who held the assassin down: "OK, let him stand up."


    At Zhukov''s command, several soldiers lifted the assassin from the ground. Although the assassin''s right uniform was soaked with blood, the soldiers worried that he would pose a threat to Zhukov and twisted his hands behind him.


    Zhukov looked the assassin up and down with his hands behind his back and asked coldly, "come on, who sent you?"


    Although the assassin was sweating with pain, he bit his teeth and said nothing. Hearing Zhukov''s question, he snorted scornfully, turned his head to one side, and ignored Zhukov standing in front of him.


    "You are deaf." A guard nearby saw that the assassin was so arrogant that he punched his injured right shoulder with his fist. The pain made the assassin snort, and the tears and runny nose remained.


    "Come on, don''t hurt him any more." Zhukov waved to the soldier and said, "send him to the secret service and let the comrades of the interior department interrogate him."


    After the assassin was taken away, sokolovsky asked Zhukov in a low voice, "Comrade marshal, do you need to report this matter to the supreme command?"


    Zhukov gave him a strange look, then shook his head and said decisively, "no need."


    "Do I have to go to the trial myself?" Seeing that Zhukov vetoed his proposal, sokolovsky tentatively asked, "then we can know at the first time who sent people to assassinate you."


    "It''s not necessary." Zhukov said something impatiently, then turned his eyes to me and said in an imperative tone, "go, let''s go back to the headquarters."


    On the way, it suddenly occurred to me that before I found the assassin, sokolovsky came to Zhukov in a hurry and gave him a telegram. He didn''t know what was important. In order to satisfy my curiosity, I secretly asked sokolovsky, "chief of staff, I just saw that you sent a telegram to the marshal. I don''t know what it said."


    "The telegram came from general krasovsky." As I am now the deputy commander of the front army, sokolovsky did not hide the slightest after listening to my question and truthfully reported to me: "because of the unsatisfactory condition of the runway, a bomber broke down during takeoff, and all the crew members were killed when the plane crashed."


    It''s said that one of the crew members of a bomber died when taking off. My face muscles can''t help twitching violently. You know, I forced the air force to go out in such a bad environment, but my idea is that the sacrifice of these pilots has something to do with me.


    When he got back to the headquarters, Zhukov sat back at his desk, looked up at me and asked, "Rita, the chief of staff must have told you about the air force accident."


    "Yes, comrade marshal." I took two steps towards his desk, bowed my head and admitted: "it was my thoughtlessness that led to this accident..."


    "Don''t blame yourself. It''s not your fault." Before I finished, Zhukov raised his hand to interrupt me and said to himself, "the bad weather, rain or snow, has damaged the runway of our field airport. At ordinary times, when an aircraft takes off or lands, it crashes due to runway problems. "


    As soon as Zhukov had finished comforting me, military commissar kleinukov came in from the outside. He quickly came to Zhukov and said with a smile, "marshal, I have something to ask you."


    "What''s the matter, comrade military commissar?" Zhukov looked at him and asked politely.


    "Well, after the beginning of the campaign, our army successively occupied some German prison camps." Kleinukov said solemnly, "in these camps, our army''s officers and men who were captured in various periods are held."


    "How many people?" Zhukov asked faintly.


    "There are two or three hundred people in a small prison camp. The bigger one has two or three thousand people. So far, more than 15000 prisoners of war have been rescued by our army. " Kleinukov asked cautiously, "I want to ask you how to deal with these rescued prisoners of war?"


    When I heard the figure of more than 15000 prisoners of war, I couldn''t help feeling ecstatic. This is really just want to doze off, immediately someone gave the pillow. As long as we add these prisoners into the army, we can make most of the troops recover their fighting capacity as soon as possible.


    Zhukov, perhaps aware of my abnormality, cast his eyes on me and asked, "Rita, what do you think we should do with these rescued prisoners of war?"


    "Needless to say," I immediately replied when I heard Zhukov''s question: "after a long period of fighting, the number of troops in the front army has been greatly reduced. Now many companies have only 20 or 30 people left. If these rescued prisoners can be added to the army after screening, the combat effectiveness of the army will be improved in a very short period of time. "


    "What''s your opinion, chief of staff?" As for my proposal, Zhukov did not express his own opinion, but put the same question to sokolovsky.


    "Marshal comrade," sokolovsky heard Zhukov''s question, his face immediately showed an embarrassed expression. He looked at me and said cautiously, "the Supreme Commander himself once said that we have no prisoners of war, only traitors of our motherland."


    Sokolovsky''s words made me dumbfounded. In my heart, I blamed myself for thinking only about using prisoners of war to supplement the army, but I didn''t forget Stalin''s "famous saying".


    "And you, comrade kleineukov." After consulting us, Zhukov put the contradiction to the military commissar kleinukov: "what do you think?"


    Seeing Zhukov''s practice of consulting everyone''s opinions first, then synthesizing their opinions and making a final decision on major issues, I was filled with emotion. My heart said that this is the real art of imperial power, and I want to learn more from him.


    "Marshal," kleinukov''s idea is obviously the same as that of sokolovsky. He repeated Stalin''s "famous saying" and added: "I think these people have been brainwashed by the Germans to varying degrees. If they are put into the team, it will be an unstable factor. Therefore, I suggest that they all be sent to Gulag concentration camp, Let them be re educated there. "


    When I heard kleinukov''s proposal, I could not help worrying about the fate of these rescued prisoners of war. We should know that Gulag concentration camps are all in Siberia or the Arctic circle. Let these soldiers who are conservatively tortured in German POW camps go to concentration camps thousands of kilometers away. We don''t know how many people will die on the road.


    Thinking of this, I said to Zhukov: "marshal, I don''t agree with the military Commissar. Now that the army is employing people, we should incorporate these commanders and fighters into the army after a simple screening, so as to strengthen the strength of our army."


    "If they have two minds, once they are incorporated into the army, it will be an unstable factor." When I finished speaking, kleinukov immediately retorted: "and there is a worst-case scenario, maybe these people will turn around on the battlefield. Once this happens, what should we do? "


    Zhukov could not help frowning when he saw that my opinion was different from that of kleinukov. He stood up and walked back and forth in the room, as if trying to figure out what to do with the rescued prisoners.


    "Comrade marshal," kleinukov, perhaps afraid that Zhukov would agree with me, specially reminded me: "you know, we have rescued more than 15000 prisoners of war. There are almost the same number of rescued prisoners of war in konev and the third front army, with a total number of nearly 50000. "


    "What, fifty thousand?" When Zhukov heard the number, he could not help but stop and asked kleinukov in surprise, "are there so many people?"


    Kleinukov nodded hard and answered earnestly, "yes, comrade marshal, this is only a rough figure. According to my estimation, the actual number of prisoners of war should be more than 70000. At present, the work of counting the number of prisoners of war in some camps has not been completely completed. "


    If there were only 15000 prisoners, Zhukov might be able to make a decision easily. At this moment, he became more cautious when he heard that there might be more than 70000 prisoners of war. He stood in the same place and thought for a long time. Then he went back to his desk and sat down. He looked at us and said, "comrades in command, have you ever thought that if these 70000 people are included in our team, then the current shortage of troops can be greatly alleviated. But if we escort these people to the Gulag concentration camp, how many wagons and vehicles will we deploy, and how many troops will we use to escort them. "


    As Zhukov''s old subordinates, whether it''s sokolovsky or kleinukov, if they still can''t hear Zhukov''s voice out of the picture, they will be in vain for so many years. Sokolovsky quickly stepped forward and said: "marshal, at present, there is a large shortage of soldiers in our army. It is not realistic to get the supplement from the superior in a short time. Therefore, I think it is very appropriate to incorporate these rescued prisoners into our combat forces."¡° Yes, comrade marshal. " As soon as sokolovsky finished, kleinukov quickly echoed: "these tens of thousands of commanders and fighters have suffered a lot in the German prisoner''s camp. If we integrate them into the army, they will surely have superhuman fighting capacity in order to wash away the humiliation they have suffered in the prisoner''s camp."¡° "Well," Zhukov saw that the two deputies agreed with him. He could not help smiling. He looked at me and asked, "what about you, Rita? Do you have any different opinions?" Although I understood that Zhukov just asked casually, he answered with a straight body and said, "marshal, I think your decision is completely correct. I firmly obey your order." We had just decided the fate of the prisoners of war when a staff officer came over and said, "report to marshal, there is a commander of the secret service outside. He said that there is something important to report to you."¡° It should be the result of the interrogation. " Sokolovsky said these words to Zhukov, then turned and told the staff, "please come in the commander of the secret service." In a short time, a major of the Ministry of interior, under the leadership of the staff, came to us. After he raised his hand to salute us, he said to Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, we have asked the assassin what we want to know." Zhukov slightly surprised asked: "so soon the trial is completed?"¡° Yes, comrade marshal. " The major replied respectfully, "according to the assassin''s confession, a former captain of the southwest front army was captured by the German army in the battle of uman shortly after the outbreak of the war. When we attacked Kiev last year, the German army picked out a group of people who were hostile to the Soviet from the prison camp. After a short period of training, they were sent to the areas where there was fierce fighting, mixing with the contents of our army, waiting for the opportunity to carry out assassination and sabotage operations. "

 Chapter 1499

    After the report of the major of the Ministry of internal affairs, kleinukov, who was standing on one side, probably out of his own professional habits, then asked, "is the identity of the assassin clear?"


    "Yes, comrades of the military commissar, they have made it clear." The major immediately recognized the person who asked him. He was general kleinukov, a military commissar of the front army. He quickly turned to him and reported, "the assassin''s name is Baska. His father is a White army officer. He was shot and killed by the counter revolutionaries committee not long after the victory of the October Revolution. He grew up in a child care home. Although he was only seven or eight years old when his father was executed by us, he never forgot his father, and he always hated such organs as the Anti Japanese Committee and the people''s Committee of internal affairs.


    In July 1941, as soon as the German troops surrounded uman, Baska, who was then a platoon leader, with several scum like him, laid down his arms and surrendered to the enemy. When our army liberated Kiev, he was assigned by the German army, pretending to be a commander who was killed in battle, and mixed into the army of the front army. "


    After the major introduced the assassin, kleinukov turned to Zhukov and said angrily and excitedly, "Comrade marshal, I know that only the remaining evils of the white bandits can do such a mean thing. It seems that we were too kind at that time. We killed too few white bandits. We should cut them all to the root, so that there is no chance of resurgence. "


    When kleinukov made some radical remarks, I can''t help but think of a movie called "Cheka" I saw before crossing. Cheka is the abbreviation of the all Russian anti revolutionaries Committee. The scene of the film is very monotonous. Most of the scenes are in the basement of a detention house. Every day, a large group of men, women, old and young are brought here. In groups of five, they take off their clothes and walk to the door plank, standing facing the door plank. Behind them stood five members of the anti counter revolutionaries Committee. As soon as the prisoners were in place, they shot at the back of their heads with their hands and feet. The body was hoisted to the ground from a special passage, thrown onto a truck waiting outside, and dragged outside the city for burial.


    After people enter the Cheka, they lose all dignity, waiting for their only death. The reasons for their arrest were simple: they were hostile to the Soviets, they went slow in their work, or they were relatives of Czar officers and teaching staff. The anti insurgency officers'' judgments on them are the same: shoot!


    If anyone''s relatives were shot by the anti counter revolutionaries Committee, I think they are full of fear of this organization in their hearts and will also plant the seeds of hatred. As long as they are given a suitable opportunity, they will certainly do something that people and gods share indignation to retaliate.


    Zhukov waited for kleinukov to finish, then asked slowly, "Comrade military commissar, I want to know what you want to express to me?"


    "Don''t you understand?" Kleinukov raised his voice and said: "among the 70000 rescued prisoners of war, I don''t know how many people like Baska are left. If they are left in the army, they may cause irreparable consequences in the future. Therefore, I propose once again that, for the sake of safety, these prisoners of war should be sent to the Gulag concentration camp. "


    As for his proposal, Zhukov frowned and said, "Comrade military commissar, we have just reached a consensus to integrate these rescued commanders and fighters into the combat forces after careful screening."


    "But, comrade marshal." Seeing that Zhukov did not agree with his proposal, kleinukov was a little worried: "when we made the decision just now, there was no vicious incident of assassinating you. Since it is found that there is an enemy lurking inside our army, we need to re-examine the way we deal with these prisoners of war. "


    Sokolovsky saw a trace of anger on Zhukov''s face. Knowing that it was the precursor of his anger, he quickly stretched out his hand and pulled lacrynukov''s sleeve, persuading: "Comrade military commissar, since Comrade Marshal has made a decision, we must obey. Moreover, not long ago, I called the commanders of the army who were taking in prisoners of war and ordered them to complete the screening work as soon as possible, and then integrate the prisoners into the army. "


    Zhukov shrunk his mouth and said, "yes, general kleinukov, you are fully responsible for the screening of prisoners of war. We should not only find out the enemy elements hidden in our ranks, but also give special care to the officers and men who fought tenaciously before they were captured. "


    "Special care?" Kleinukov repeated Zhukov''s last word and asked, "don''t know how to take care of them?"


    "Comrade military commissar, this is not simple." Sokolovsky, who is good at observing words and expressions, quickly took over the topic and said: "restore the ranks and positions of these commanders and fighters. If they have outstanding performance, they can also be decorated or promoted."


    "If we meet people who fish in troubled waters, how can we identify them?" he asked, frowning


    "It''s easy." Zhukov gave him advice, said: "for those outstanding people, in addition to looking at the records of the German prison camp, but also need to find a few witnesses to prove that he had fought bravely with the Germans in the battlefield."


    "That''s a good idea." At the end of Zhukov''s words, kleinukov nodded and said, "that''s what to do." With that, he was ready to go out.


    At this time, the interior major who had not left suddenly said, "Comrade military commissar, for your safety, you must take more security guards when you go out."


    "That''s right, that''s right." Sokolovsky immediately supported the major''s proposal: "shortly after our army occupied the area, the German scattered troops and anti Soviet guerrillas are still rampant. You must pay more attention to your own safety."


    "Comrade marshal." After sokolovsky finished speaking, the major faced Zhukov and said, "in order to ensure your safety, I decided to transfer the internal forces to take charge of the security work. What do you think? "


    Zhukov looked up at the major, and then said coldly, "major, thank you for your kindness, but there''s no need to transfer the house troops. I believe my security forces are fully competent for security work." With that, he waved to the major, "well, there''s no business for you here. Go back first."


    Seeing that Zhukov''s attitude towards himself was so cold, the major''s face showed an embarrassed expression. He raised his hand and saluted, turned and walked out of the headquarters with great strides.


    When there were only Zhukov, me and sokolovsky left in the headquarters, I heard Zhukov ask, "chief of staff, how is that going?"


    "What''s the matter?" When Zhukov asked sokolovsky this question, I guessed what I didn''t know. Before Zhukov turned me out, I listened to their conversation.


    "According to the order of the supreme commander, we have got in touch with general zmiersky of the Polish people''s army," sokolovsky said. When did a Polish people''s army come out? How come he never heard of it? In order to find out what was going on, I listened to him patiently "... In addition to sending them weapons and ammunition, medical supplies and other necessities. At the same time, the Soviet guerrilla corps or guerrillas led by comrades Bokov, kalashev, sankov and propayuk were sent to enter Poland from the gap between the German defense lines. "


    The content of their conversation completely confused me. You know, we haven''t driven all the German troops out of Ukraine yet. It''s a bit too early to talk about the aid plan for Poland at this time.


    After sokolovsky finished reporting to Zhukov, I asked tentatively, "Comrade marshal, can I ask what happened to the Polish people''s army?"


    When Zhukov heard my question, he looked at sokolovsky with a puzzled face, but soon his face was suddenly enlightened. He said to me with a smile, "Rita, I''m sorry. I forgot that you were in katukov and rebarko some time ago. I haven''t had time to introduce the Polish people''s army to you."


    "Marshal, I''d better introduce the specific situation to Comrade o''shanina." After obtaining Zhukov''s consent, sokolovsky began to introduce to me the situation of the Polish people''s Army: "in January this year, with the direct participation of Polish leader Gomulka and other activists of the Polish workers'' party, the highest organ of the Polish resistance organization was established, and the people''s guards and other left-wing forces were merged into a unified people''s army, General zymarsky is in command of the force.


    After learning the news, the supreme command was full of hope and trust in the PLA, so it specially authorized Comrade Zhukov to establish contact with the Polish side and provide them with the necessary armed forces. "


    After listening to sokolovsky''s explanation, I finally understood what was going on. I was just about to open my mouth to learn more about the situation in detail when the high-frequency telephone in front of Zhukov rang.


    When Zhukov heard the voice from the phone, he immediately stood up from his seat and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade Stalin, what''s your instruction?"


    "Comrade Zhukov," I clearly heard Stalin ask slowly, "how is the establishment of ties with Poland going?"


    When Zhukov heard Stalin''s question, he immediately repeated to Stalin what sokolovsky had just reported.


    After listening, Stalin was silent for a moment, and then said in a deliberative tone: "Comrade Zhukov, do you think that sending a troop into Poland at this time will make the war situation in Ukraine more favorable?"


    "Comrade Stalin, the Soviet Polish border is still in the hands of the German army." For Stalin''s whimsical, Zhukov reluctantly replied: "if our troops can reach the Soviet Polish border, then there is no need to send troops to the enemy."


    "Since we can''t get through on the ground, we can consider going through the air." Hearing Zhukov''s negation of his first proposal, Stalin said somewhat reluctantly, "transport no less than one close guard troops to the enemy''s rear."


    When I heard Stalin''s proposal, I couldn''t help sneering in my heart. My heart said that his proposal was more unreliable than the one just proposed. How could the German army not find it by airlifting so many troops behind the enemy lines. If I''m not wrong, Zhukov will deny his proposal again.


    When I was just thinking about this, I heard Zhukov say solemnly to the microphone: "Comrade Stalin, we can only use 170 transport planes now, and each transport plane can only carry 20 soldiers and their personal weapons. Even if we use all the transport planes, each plane must send at least ten sorties to transport a close guard force and light weapons to its destination. Moreover, heavy equipment such as artillery and tanks can not be transported by air at all, so that our troops can only be light troops when they arrive behind enemy lines. Of course, there are still many difficulties in airlifting troops behind enemy lines. For example, in order to ensure that the above-mentioned number of transport planes can take off and land normally, at least five airports are needed, and there must be enough fuel for our transport planes to fly at these airports. At the same time, we also need to send fighters to escort the transport planes. In addition, even if our first airlift is successful, the next airlift will be in danger of being discovered by the German army. They will send the air force to intercept and cause heavy losses to our transport aircraft group. Because of the range orchard of the transport aircraft, it is impossible to send enough fighters from the existing airport as cover. Even if our close guard army successfully arrived in Poland, in order to guarantee the fighting and living materials of this army, we need to use a large number of transport planes to transport materials for them every day. " After listening to Zhukov''s series of difficulties, Stalin was silent. Perhaps after repeated weighing, he thought that sending transport planes to transport troops to the enemy''s rear was a business worth more than the loss, so he sighed softly, and then said to Zhukov, "Comrade Zhukov, since this is the case, the matter of transporting the guards to Poland will not be considered for the time being. However, in order to ensure that the commanders and fighters of the Polish people''s army can persist in fighting behind enemy lines, you need to provide them with timely support in terms of weapons, ammunition and personnel. "¡° Don''t worry, comrade Stalin. We won''t let the comrades of the Polish people''s army fight alone. " Seeing that Stalin was no longer opinionated, Zhukov said with ease, "we have sent a large number of guerrilla regiments and guerrillas into Poland''s territory secretly. They will fight side by side with the commanders and fighters of the Polish people''s army to fight against the Communist aggressors."

 Chapter 1500

    Listening to the dialogue between Zhukov and Stalin, I can''t help but have a strange idea. Since both of them are so optimistic about the cooperation with Poland, what kind of decision will they make when the Warsaw Uprising erupts as scheduled a few months later, that is, to send troops to support them? Or, as in real history, let Zhukov''s first front army of Belarus stay on the East Bank of the visva River and watch the fire from the other side of the river, and let the rebel army and the German army lose each other?


    Just then, a telephone on the conference table suddenly rang. Sokolovsky looked at me and quickly walked over to answer the phone.


    Because of the distance, I didn''t hear his call, but from the serious expression on his face when he came back to us, I knew that something big had happened. When Zhukov saw sokolovsky gesturing at him, he said to the microphone: "Comrade Stalin, if there is any progress, I will report to you at any time!" Yes, I have other things to deal with now I wish you good health


    As soon as Zhukov put down the phone, he asked sokolovsky, "chief of staff, what''s the matter?"


    "General pokhov called and said that his defense area was being attacked by the German army." Sokolovsky went to Zhukov''s desk, looked down at the map on the desk, pointed to a certain point and said, "the armed SS 2nd army from Lvov is attacking the defense area of the 21st infantry army."


    I hastened to see the line of defense that sokolovsky pointed to, which was very close to the area where we judged the German army to break through. Zhukov frowned and thought about it, and then said, "chief of staff, call general pokhov immediately, and order him to transfer the 50th infantry division and the 8th anti tank artillery brigade from the mountain pass where they are now stationed, strengthen the frontal defense of the 13th group army, and block the 2nd SS army of Paul Hauser of the German army."


    "If these two forces are transferred away." As soon as Zhukov and sokolovsky finished talking, they immediately worried and said, "then the German army can not easily rush into the plain and flee to the kovov area after crossing the mountains."


    "Chief of staff, as we have placed our heavy forces in the south, the forces in the north have become weak." Zhukov was obviously aware of the question raised by sokolovsky, but at the moment, he did not have many troops to mobilize. He could only say helplessly: "the 13th army is too weak to withstand the German double attack, so we can only weaken one direction and strengthen the other direction."


    While Zhukov was setting up his task, the telephone on the conference table rang again. Sokolovsky, who is accepting the task, instinctively turns to look at the phone, but does not move at his feet because he is accepting the task. Seeing that I was the only idle person in the room at the moment, I hurried over to pick up the phone and politely asked, "Hello! This is the headquarters of the front army. Where are you calling? "


    The other party hesitated for a moment, then asked carefully: "is it Comrade deputy commander?"


    The voice sounded familiar. After thinking for a moment, I remembered that the speaker was karasovsky, the commander of the air station. I asked with a smile, "it''s general karasovsky. Do you have any good news to report at this time?"


    "That''s right, that''s right." Listening to my question, krasovsky replied busily, "I just made a special phone call to report the results of our air force to marshal."


    "Marshal comrade is busy," I looked at Zhukov''s position and said to the microphone, "you report to me, it''s the same."


    My words reminded krasovsky, and he quickly reported to me: "Comrade deputy commander, we have dispatched 300 sorties to bomb the German troops who fled into the mountains. However, due to the complex terrain of the mountain area, our bombing did limited damage to the German army. "


    As a matter of fact, when I made this suggestion to Zhukov, I knew that sending planes to bomb the German troops who were looking through the mountains would achieve limited results. In any case, our bombing will affect the speed of the German March and gain time for our pursuit.


    "Well, I see." After listening to krasovsky''s report, I said faintly, "Comrade General, at daybreak tomorrow, we will continue to send out air forces to bomb the German troops crossing the mountains."


    "What, continue bombing tomorrow?" Krasovsky was a little surprised when he heard me say that: "Comrade deputy commander, I have just said that our bombing of the German army has achieved very limited results. If the bombing goes on like this, it will be a waste of ammunition and fuel. "


    "Comrade General," I said sternly and immediately after he finished, "I know that your bombing of the mountainous areas has not achieved satisfactory results. But if they didn''t bomb, the Germans would be able to get through the mountains and retreat to their defense zone. Our bombing can effectively delay the German army''s transfer speed and gain valuable time for the following pursuit troops. Do you understand that? "


    After listening to me, krasovsky reluctantly replied, "I see, comrade deputy commander."


    I heard from his tone that he was a little reluctant to give me this order. In order to prevent him from having any resistance, I quickly added: "Comrade General, since intensive bombing in the mountainous area can not achieve the desired effect, you can take the tactics of four aircraft formation to carry out small-scale air strikes on the German army and delay their advance."


    "Great, that''s great." As soon as I finished, krasovsky was immediately happy. "If we adopt the tactics of four aircraft formation and attack in turn, even if there are not many planes involved in the bombing, it can also cause trouble to the Germans."


    After I finished the phone call, I turned around and saw sokolovsky. He laughed at me and then explained, "Comrade oshanina, I''m going to call general pokhov of the 13th army and pass on the Marshal''s order."


    "Please." After I reached out and made a gesture of invitation, I turned and walked back to Zhukov''s position to hear if he had any orders for me.


    Zhukov nodded slightly, then said to me with a smile, "Rita, I just heard your order to krasovsky. Well, that''s good. I think you''re more and more like a senior commander. I think as long as you stay here for another half a year or so, you can be on your own. "


    After listening to Zhukov''s praise, we talked about the current problems faced by the front army for a while. Then we saw that sokolovsky came quickly. He approached Zhukov and said in a low voice, "Comrade Zhukov, I received a call and the Polish people''s army sent someone to come..." when he said this, he suddenly lowered his voice, I couldn''t hear what he was saying.


    "That''s great. Let''s go and meet their representatives now." Zhukov got up and walked around the table towards the door.


    Although I didn''t understand what sokolovsky said, I also guessed that it must have something to do with the Polish people''s army. Seeing that both of them walked towards the door quickly, I quickly followed them to see what the representatives were like.


    But as soon as he got to the door, Zhukov stopped, turned to me and said, "Rita, I can go with the chief of staff. There can''t be none in the headquarters. You can stay here to deal with some unexpected work."


    Looking at their back, I can''t help feeling a little sour. As the deputy commander of the front army, I didn''t even have the qualification to meet the representatives of the Polish people''s army. It really hurt my self-esteem.


    It was strange that they had been away for an hour. They were not there, and the telephone didn''t ring in the headquarters. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was nine o''clock in half an hour. I began to think: if they don''t come back after nine o''clock, should I stay and wait for them? Or go back to your room and have a rest?


    Just as I was faced with a difficult choice, the high-frequency telephone on Zhukov''s desk rang. I know that this phone is usually used to contact Moscow or other units at the same level, so I dare not take it lightly. I quickly grabbed the phone and politely said to the microphone, "Hello, this is the headquarters of the front army. Where are you?"


    But after I finished, there was no sound in the receiver. I thought there was something wrong with the line, so I quickly raised my voice: "Hello, Hello, Hello, where are you? Speak quickly!"


    "Comrade oshanina?" A strange voice came out of the receiver.


    "Yes, I''m o''shanina." I tried to remember the voice I heard, trying to connect it with the senior commander I knew. Unfortunately, I don''t know such a person at all, so I can only say apologetically, "excuse me, can I know who I''m talking to?"


    When the other party heard me speak in an official voice, he couldn''t help laughing. After laughing, he showed me his identity: "Comrade oshanina, I''m general shijmenko, chief of operations of the general staff."


    When I heard the other party''s identity, my mind immediately began to recall the other party''s resume: "Sergei matvievich, shigemenko, served as deputy director of the direction Department of the general staff combat department since August 1941, appreciated by vasilevsky, then deputy chief of staff, and served as director since June 1942. As a representative of the supreme command, he was once sent to the Caucasus, during which he formed close comrades in arms with belia and Antonov. He was the first deputy director of the combat Department of the general staff since April 1943, and was officially promoted to minister in May.


    In the early days of the patriotic war, the post of War Minister of the general staff was a hot potato. Several ministers were successively replaced, but the general staff could not find a suitable person. Most of these troops were dismissed after reporting to Stalin only a few times, which caused chaos in the war department.


    At the critical moment of the transformation of the war situation, shijmenko is facing a more severe test. However, with his high theoretical level, excellent organization and coordination ability, clear mind, firm and steady character and outstanding military talent, he soon won Stalin''s trust. "


    After briefly recalling shijmenko''s resume, I politely asked, "Comrade combat minister, Marshal Zhukov is not here. If you have anything important, please tell me the same. When the marshal comes back, I will convey it to him. "


    "Comrade oshanina, I say the same to you." Shijmenko said in a friendly tone: "because the first front army of Ukraine, under the command of Marshal Zhukov, successfully arrived at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains; In mid February, under the command of Marshal konev, the Ukrainian second front army, with the cooperation of the Ukrainian first front army, arranged a "battle of little Stalingrad" like ending for the enemy in the Korsun shevchenkovsky region, then pushed forward to the Dniester River, and crossed the Dniester River in the front with a width of 175 km, Occupied the railway hub - beliqi city. Then, marshal konev''s troops continued to attack. Just two hours ago, they successfully advanced to the border with the Prut River on the 85 km wide front. "


    I am now the deputy commander of the first front army of Ukraine, so all my energy is focused on my one mu and three cents, and I don''t know much about konev. At the moment, when I heard what szemenko said, I still felt as if I was dreaming. After a long hesitation, I tentatively asked, "Comrade minister, if I don''t understand correctly, marshal konev''s troops have successfully reached the border of Romania, right?"¡° Yes, it is "This is the first time since the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War that our troops have stood on their own borders," shjemenko said excitedly Our army has arrived at the border line, which is really exciting news. However, what puzzles me is that the troops arriving at the border line are under the command of konev. What does he mean by calling us? Just when I was puzzled, I heard him continue to say: "after I got the news, I immediately reported to the Supreme Commander himself. The Supreme Commander himself was very happy to hear the news and ordered to fire a first-class salute for konev''s troops: 324 salutes for 24 volleys. My deputy gretzkov and I have just drafted this order, and the firing of the salute will take place at nine o''clock. I know that although Marshal Zhukov temporarily commands the first front army of Ukraine, as the representative of the base camp, both the first and second front army are under his jurisdiction. Therefore, I will definitely inform him of such an important matter. "¡° So it is. " After I found out the reason why szemenko called, I politely said to him, "Comrade minister, I believe Marshal will be very happy when he learns of this news. On behalf of the marshal and all the commanders and fighters of the first front army of Ukraine, I would like to thank you. Thank you for bringing us such good news! "

 Chapter 1501

    Before Zhukov returned to the headquarters, I received an unexpected call. General lelushenko''s voice came from the receiver. He couldn''t wait to ask, "is the marshal here?"


    "General lelushenko, he''s not here!" For this former superior, I have always maintained enough politeness: "I am the only one in the headquarters. If you have anything to do, it''s the same to me."


    "Our army is under fierce attack from the German army," lelushenko said anxiously. "According to the latest intelligence, their tanks have broken through two lines of defense of our department in succession and are rushing to my headquarters."


    I pressed the receiver tightly to my ear and heard the sound of explosion. My heart beat faster. I asked nervously, "general lelushenko, which German army is attacking you? How many troops do they have?"


    "It should be the Waffen SS of the German army. Maybe they heard that I didn''t answer. Lelushenko raised his voice and asked anxiously," Hello! Rita, are you still listening? Hello! Are you still there? "


    "Yes, comrade general, I''m still here." Lelushenko''s voice made me calm down, thinking that Zhukov might not come back in a short time, so I had to deal with this emergency with a stiff head. But to be on the safe side, before giving the order, I asked, "how many troops can you mobilize there?"


    "Only one mechanized brigade and two anti tank artillery companies, as well as a guard battalion." After reporting the number of troops available to me, lelushenko added: "the rest of my troops are scattered over a vast defensive area and cannot reinforce us in a short period of time."


    I took a quick look at the map in front of me and found that the defense area of the 1st group army was next to his headquarters, so I said decisively, "Comrade General, gather all your forces immediately and try my best to block the enemy rushing to the headquarters. I will send friendly forces to support you as soon as possible."


    After making a phone call with lelushenko, I immediately called the combat department and ordered the officer on duty: "I''m o''shanina. I ordered the relevant personnel to rush to the headquarters immediately. There''s important work for them to complete here."


    The officer on duty didn''t ask me anything, so he said, "I see. Comrade deputy commander, they should all be in position in five minutes."


    While waiting for the staff, I dialed the headquarters of the 1st group army of Jinwei, found the commander, general glicko, and said frankly, "Comrade General, general lelushenko has just called me and said that an enemy is rushing to his headquarters. I order you to send troops to reinforce them immediately, and we must eliminate all the enemies in the future."


    "I see, comrade deputy commander." Glicko respectfully replied: "I immediately sent the 18th tank army and the 153rd infantry division to reinforce them. I hope general lelushenko can support them."


    "Don''t worry, general glicko." Hearing that he said in a suspicious tone that lelushenko, I said with some dissatisfaction: "as long as your troops can arrive on time, the Germans will never rush into the headquarters of lelushenko."


    Although Lao maozi always had the habit of not being punctual, because I said there was important work, all the combat staff and communication personnel who had gone back to rest arrived at the headquarters within five minutes.


    After seeing the staff officers and communication personnel in two rows in front of me, I didn''t say any nonsense. Instead, I gave a direct order: "everyone go back to their respective working positions and establish contact with the 1st group army of guards and the 4th group army of tanks. Do you have any latest war reports that you need to report to me immediately? "


    "I see!" After a loud promise, all the people ran back to their seats.


    Soon a radio operator turned around and reported to me in a loud voice, "Comrade deputy commander, general lelushenko, commander of the fourth group army of tanks, is online. He wants to speak to you."


    I walked over quickly, stood next to the new type of telephone, picked up the microphone and stuck it to my ear. I heard the rumble more clearly than I had just heard. My heart could not help but thump, knowing that the German troops were getting closer and closer to the headquarters of lelushenko. Quickly asked with concern: "general lelushenko, what''s the situation there?"


    "Rita, the German tanks are less than 500 meters away from my headquarters." "I have ordered the chief of staff to take two guard companies and build a defense less than 100 meters away from the headquarters, ready to stop the German tanks coming," he said in a loud voice


    "Hold on, Comrade General." It will take at least an hour or more for glicko''s troops to arrive. Under the current situation, we can only hope that the troops of glicko can carry the German attack. In order to let him know, I specially explained to him: "general glicko''s troops will arrive soon. You must hold on."


    "General glicko''s forces are coming to support us?" When lelushenko heard the news, he immediately got excited and said in a continuous voice: "great, this is really great! If the friendly forces can arrive in time, we can not only repel the enemy''s attack, but also eliminate it. "


    Before he had finished speaking, I heard another stranger''s anxious voice in the receiver: "Comrade commander, the German tanks are less than 200 meters away from our headquarters. The chief of staff asked me to tell you, please move immediately."


    "Where is the chief of staff?" I heard lelushenko yell at the man: "let him firmly block the German tanks. Never let them rush to the headquarters."


    "Yes I heard the man''s loud reply, and then I heard the sound of footsteps from near to far. It was estimated that he was going out to convey the order of lelushenko.


    When lyushenko''s voice came out of the receiver again, for his safety''s sake, I said euphemistically: "Comrade General, since the German tanks are close to your headquarters, for your safety''s sake, you''d better move for the time being!"


    "No, comrade deputy commander." For my kindness, lelushenko refused without hesitation: "I am the commander of the group army, and I should stay with my soldiers. How can we leave them and run away because there is danger? "


    "What''s the matter here?" I was talking to lelushenko when Zhukov and sokolovsky came in from the outside. Seeing the busy scene in the headquarters, they couldn''t help asking aloud, "who can tell me what''s going on here?"


    I handed the microphone in my hand to the telegraph operator, walked quickly to Zhukov, and reported to him, "Comrade marshal, there is an emergency. The second army of the German armed SS suddenly launched a crazy attack on general lelushenko''s headquarters."


    After listening to my report, Zhukov looked serious, while sokolovsky looked at Zhukov blankly and said, "hell, what do the Germans want to do when they attack at this time?"


    Instead of talking to sokolovsky, Zhukov looked at me and asked, "Rita, what measures have you taken since you heard the news?"


    "I ordered the 1st group army of the close guard to send the 18th tank army and the 153rd infantry division to reinforce as soon as possible." After I finished my deployment, I was deeply afraid that Zhukov would criticize me for being good at asserting, so I explained, "because you are not in the headquarters, and I can''t get in touch with you for the time being, so I made my own decision and gave orders to the troops below."


    Zhukov walked back to his seat without expression, looked up at me and said, "Rita, don''t forget that you are the deputy commander of the front army. Although you are only the agent, you can take full command of me when I''m not here." At this point, a smile suddenly appeared on his face. "If I were in the headquarters, I would give the same order as you. Well done, you''re good! "


    Sokolovsky came over and asked Zhukov, "marshal, I don''t understand why the German army suddenly launched an attack on the 4th group army of tanks at such a time?"


    "Chief of staff, don''t you understand?" Zhukov looked at sokolovsky and said faintly, "today''s air raid made Hubei feel that their way of breaking through the mountain area is not necessarily successful, so he contacted dessel''s troops to launch an attack from the west of the fourth group army of tanks, hoping to open a gap from this, so that their defeated soldiers can smoothly escape from our encirclement."


    "So it is." After understanding the intention of the German army, sokolovsky studied the map for a long time, and then said: "marshal, if the German army really intends to open a gap here in the 4th group army of tanks, is it necessary to deploy the main force of the 13th group army at the Northwest Mountain exit?"


    "What do you say, Rita?" Zhukov turned his eyes to me and asked, "is it necessary for us to continue in the northwest and keep enough troops?"


    Zhukov''s question immediately made my forehead sweat. If enough troops are left at the northwest exit, what will the enemy do if they really choose lelushenko as the breakthrough point? If the German army''s action tonight is only a feint of attacking the West and the East, if we do not leave enough troops, then the enemy will smoothly break through our defense line, join up with their friends and retreat to the defense area in the north of Ukraine.


    Just when I was in a dilemma and didn''t know how to answer, the operator suddenly turned around and yelled at us. But he didn''t call me this time. Instead, he called Zhukov: "Comrade marshal, I lost contact with the headquarters of the fourth group army of tanks."


    "What, lost contact with lelushenko." When Zhukov heard the bad news, he jumped up from his seat, rushed to the operator and asked, "what''s the matter? Why did he suddenly lose contact?"


    The operator shrugged his shoulders and answered helplessly: "just now, the line between us and them is still unblocked, but I don''t know what''s going on. Suddenly, the other party doesn''t have any signal."


    "Is there something wrong with the line?" Although we all considered the worst possibility, sokolovsky, who was the first to speak, said in a euphemistic tone: "maybe there was something wrong with their wiring, so they suddenly lost contact with us."


    "It''s impossible, comrade chief of staff." Zhukov scoffed at sokolovsky''s saying, "lelushenko is also a veteran commander who has experienced many battles. Doesn''t he know the truth of keeping the line unblocked during fierce battles?" Then he told the operator, "as soon as you get back in touch, report to me immediately!"


    When the three of us walked back to Zhukov''s desk, sokolovsky asked cautiously, "marshal, do you really think that we lost contact with lelushenko because of something serious?" Zhukov stared at him for a moment, then nodded and said solemnly, "yes, we suddenly lost contact with lelushenko, which only means that the enemy has rushed to his headquarters and cut off his communication with the rear."¡° Ah? " Sokolovsky was startled by Zhukov''s analysis. He said in an unbelievable tone: "Comrade marshal, it''s impossible. You know, general lelushenko is commanding a tank army. If the German army does not have a hundred tanks, it will not be able to break through his defense line at all. "¡° Don''t you forget that his tanks lost a lot in this period of fighting. " Zhukov pointed to several positions on the map: "the rest of the tanks are distributed in these positions, far away from the headquarters of lelushenko. It''s not easy to gather them at night."¡° Marshal, "cried the operator at this moment," I''ve got in touch with general lelushenko again. "¡° Put the call through to me. " With these words, Zhukov picked up the receiver of the phone in front of him, put it in his ear and asked, "Hello, is that lelushenko? I''m Zhukov. " The other side was silent for a moment, and then timidly replied, "no, comrade marshal, I''m the chief of staff of the group army. Comrade commander and his troops are outside commanding the troops to carry out counterattack." After hearing this, Zhukov was surprised, and then said helplessly: "am I more terrible than the German, he would rather charge with troops than talk to me. Well, report to me about your situation Zhukov''s words confused me. I gently touched sokolovsky and asked in a low voice, "chief of staff, do you know why Marshal said that?" Sokolovsky grinned silently, and then explained to me in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, you know, marshal has always been strict in the management of the army, and has always sought perfection and reproach for his subordinates. So although general lelushenko was a brave commander, he was very afraid of Marshal and always tried every means to avoid meeting him. Later, when the marshal knew about it by accident, he made fun of it from time to time. "

 Chapter 1502

    After listening to sokolovsky''s explanation, I can''t help feeling a lot. When I was a junior, I was just a little Valet beside Zhukov. I would do whatever he told me to do. As long as there were no big mistakes, he was very tolerant. But since I became the deputy commander of the front army, I really understood Zhukov. Although he was a great military genius, he also had many shortcomings. For example, he was irascible and sometimes headstrong, and could not listen to any objection.


    After Zhukov answered the phone, he said to us: "the chief of staff of lelushenko reported that a tank had just rushed to the place only 30 meters away from the headquarters and was destroyed by soldiers with anti tank grenades."


    When sokolovsky heard this, he asked nervously, "is nothing wrong with general lelushenko?"


    "What can happen to him?" Zhukov glared and said, "as soon as he blew up the German tanks, he led a guard platoon to fight back. According to the chief of staff, they have successfully repulsed the first wave of German attack, destroying 11 tanks and killing more than 100 people. "


    "Very good results." After hearing this, sokolovsky said with satisfaction: "if they can keep such achievements all the time, I estimate that in two or three hours, the attacking enemy will be completely wiped out by them."


    Zhukov looked at me and asked, "where are glicko''s troops?"


    "Marshal, please wait a moment. I''ll call to ask." I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I saw that more than an hour had passed before I knew it. According to general glicko''s initial statement, his reinforcements should have arrived near the headquarters of lelushenko.


    I picked up the phone and asked the signalman to connect me to glicko''s headquarters. When I heard the other party''s voice, I asked, "Hello, general glicko, where is your unit?"


    "Report to Comrade deputy commander." Glicko said with some hesitation: "a few minutes ago, I just received a report from the reinforcements. He... They are about 15 kilometers away from the headquarters of lelushenko."


    "What?" When I heard glicko''s reply, my blood rushed to my head. "Comrade General, you are no more than 20 kilometers away from general lelushenko''s command. More than an hour has passed since I gave the order. You have only advanced five kilometers. Are your troops learning to climb snails?"


    "No, comrade deputy commander, please listen to me." When glicko heard that I was angry, he explained to me in a flurry: "although from the map, we are less than 20 kilometers away from general lelushenko''s headquarters. However, due to the muddy road, our tanks and cannons did not move for long and then fell into the mud. We had to rely on the infantry soldiers to push forward. Besides, it took us about half an hour to assemble our troops. I think we advanced five kilometers in half an hour, and the speed is not slow.... "


    I slapped on the table and said angrily, "Comrade General, do you know that because of the slow action of your department, the headquarters of general lelushenko was almost taken away by the German. I order you to arrive at your destination in forty minutes, whatever you want. "


    "But the tank in front got into the mud and blocked the convoy full of soldiers." Glicko complained to me: "in 40 minutes, my troops can''t get to the headquarters of lelushenko in any case."


    "Now that the tank is stuck in the mud, let your soldiers walk, and if the motorcycle can still be used, let them ride it." Although I know glicko is telling the truth, now the military situation is urgent, and the German army is attacking the defense line of lelushenko''s troops. If reinforcements can''t arrive in time, lelushenko will be in danger. So I said sternly, "in forty minutes, anyway, I want to hear that your troops have arrived at general lelushenko''s headquarters."


    When I angrily put down the phone, I found Zhukov and sokolovsky standing in front of me. I suddenly realized that what I had just done, and I felt that I was trying to take over my duties. I quickly blushed and apologized to Zhukov: "Comrade commander, I''m sorry, I didn''t discuss with you, so I gave the combat order to the first group army of the guards."


    But Zhukov turned his back, nodded at me, and said with a smile, "good job, Rita. I''m still saying that if you continue to keep it up, you can be the head of the front army in less than half a year. "


    For Zhukov''s praise, I just grinned, and then turned to the ongoing battle: "marshal, do you think the German army will attack general lelushenko''s defense tonight?"


    "That''s for sure. Come and see." Zhukov, together with sokolovsky and I gathered around his desk, pointed to the map and said to us, "the German army did not attack the defense area of lelyushenko from one direction, but fierce fighting also took place in the other four areas. That''s why when the army of lelyushenko saw the enemy attack on the headquarters of the group army, The reason why we can''t deploy troops to reinforce. Because they were effectively restrained by other German offensive forces. "


    "Marshal," sokolovsky said with a frown, "from the current situation, we can''t judge whether the German army intends to open a gap for Hube''s tank 1st group army in general lelushenko''s defense area, so our troops from other directions can''t be transferred for the time being."


    Zhukov sat at the table, chin in his hand, frowning and thinking. After a long time, he looked up at sokolovsky and said, "chief of staff, you call general pokhov of the 13th group army and order him to keep two divisions on guard at the exit of the mountain area. The rest of the troops move to the defense area of lelushenko overnight. At the same time, he ordered several other army groups to go north quickly to pursue the German tank 1st army which was still on the run


    "Are the two divisions too small?" As for Zhukov''s order, sokolovsky was full of doubts and asked, "you know, there are at least 100000 German troops escaping into the mountain area. If they rush out of the mountain pass, our troops can''t stop them."


    "We have two divisions in Shankou, and we can''t just defend." Zhukov pointed at the map with his hand and said with displeasure: "we can order the soldiers to cut down trees, block the mountain path, slow down the German March, so that our pursuit troops can catch up with them."


    Before crossing, when I saw the scenes of putting down trees to block the road in the film and television works, I always doubted whether this method was effective. When I arrived at this era and experienced it myself, I realized how effective it was to block roads with trees. It is no less difficult for marching troops to pass a section of road blocked by trees than to climb a big tree of the same length.


    Sokolovsky was obviously very proficient in this. After listening to Zhukov''s instructions, his face immediately showed a happy expression: "yes, marshal, this method is really effective. I''ll call general pokhov and ask him to send someone to cut down trees and block the roads out of the mountain. As long as we set up the blocking positions nearby, it will be more difficult for the German army to pass through this area than to reach the sky. "


    When I saw sokolovsky leave, I suddenly remembered the phone call from szemenko and said to Zhukov, "by the way, marshal, there is another important thing I forgot to tell you."


    "What''s the matter?" Zhukov thought that something big had happened, and his brow could not help frowning again.


    "General szjmenko, the chief of operations of the general staff, called," I organized some words in my mind, and then reported: "the supreme command, in recognition of our troops and marshal konev''s achievements in defeating the German troops at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains and going out to the border between Czech Slovak and Romania, solemnly celebrated this great victory. At 9 o''clock tonight, Use 324 guns to salute us with 24 shots. "


    My new report made Zhukov smile. He tried to control his emotions, but the corners of his mouth were still slightly upturned. He asked, "did Comrade shjemenko call in person?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." I nodded my head and gave Zhukov a positive answer: "the minister said that he and his deputy kratzrov drafted the order to ring the first level salute in person."


    When Zhukov heard me say this, his smile became more intense. He must have understood in his heart that everything I said was true, because I didn''t know shijmenko and kretzrov at all. Even if I wanted to make up, I couldn''t make up such a thing that was easy to be torn down. He nodded with a smile and said: "from the end of the Kursk battle to now, the number of salutes on the red square has become more and more frequent. I believe that this series of victories will greatly inspire the whole army and people and make them firm in our belief that we will win and that we will lose."


    Sokolovsky came back from the phone call. After sharing the good news I said, he reported to Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, according to the report from the front, the German army seems to be gathering forces again, ready to launch a new attack on our defense area."


    "Are there any tanks?" Zhukov had long been psychologically prepared for the German attack. He was only concerned about whether the German army would use tanks on a large scale before the new attack. So he asked nervously, "is there enough anti tank weapons in lelushenko?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade marshal." As for Zhukov''s question, sokolovsky answered with confidence: "according to what I have learned, the 4th group army of tanks is equipped with a considerable number of 40 rocket launchers. The effect of that weapon against tanks is really excellent. Even if the German Tiger tank, within the range of 200 meters, our rocket can also penetrate their front armor... "


    When sokolovsky introduced some parameters of the 40 rocket launcher to Zhukov, I couldn''t help muttering to myself: the 40 rocket launcher is a weapon from later generations. If even the German tanks can''t cope with it, florin, a senior engineer in the military industry, would have gone through in vain.


    "That''s good," Zhukov said contemptuously after sokolovsky finished saying, "as long as our troops can support until dawn, no matter how many tanks the German army has, as long as our air force attacks, they will all become a pile of scrap iron."


    At zero, the German army attacked the defense area of lelushenko from several directions at the same time. Before the attack, they prepared for heavy artillery fire to destroy our officers and men in the fortifications, and then their tanks could guide the infantry to attack again.


    Unfortunately, the German army''s wishful thinking failed again. How could Zhukov have watched his own defense area be shelled by the German army without asking? He immediately ordered the artillery of the front army to return fire and suppress the long-range artillery fire of the German army. Just a few minutes after the German Army started firing, several artillery positions were measured by our artillery observers. Several close guard rocket barracks and self-propelled artillery regiments were bombarded, which immediately made these artillery positions dumb. The artillery preparation before the attack was interrupted by our army. Unwilling to lose, the German stopped the shelling immediately, and let more than 100 tanks as the leader to guide the troops of two divisions to launch a new round of attack on the defense area of lelushenko in the front with a width of 30 km. Hearing the news that the German attack was in full swing, Zhukov asked sokolovsky solemnly: "chief of staff, what''s the defense situation near the headquarters of lelushenko? If the German forces attack again, can they stop it? "¡° Don''t worry, comrade commander. An infantry division of the 1st group army of the close guard has built a defense near the headquarters of lelushenko, and the German army can''t get past it at all. " After the report, sokolovsky sighed and said with regret: "the terrain in the west is very conducive to the expansion of German tank troops. The area occupied by our army is not only narrow, but also makes it difficult for our tank troops to move." After hearing this, Zhukov frowned again, and I quickly turned away from the topic: "we now have several troops moving towards the rear of the German assembly area. If we''re lucky, after daybreak, this wave of Germans will fall into our encirclement. With the support of the air force, our troops are fully capable of annihilating all the invading enemies. Then we will be able to turn around and concentrate our forces to solve the remaining German forces trapped in the mountains. "

 Chapter 1503

    As for tanks, it was only after the end of the battle and when interrogating the captured German commander that they knew that the enemy had grasped the defensive loopholes of the lelushenko troops. Therefore, after the start of the night battle, they were able to quickly pierce our army''s lax defense line and successfully rush to the vicinity of lelushenko''s headquarters, almost killing the senior commanders of the group army in one pot.


    After hearing what I said, Zhukov looked at me for a long time, then said to me with a complicated expression: "I''m sorry, Rita!" His mindless words made me feel extremely surprised. He said, "why did Zhukov suddenly apologize to me? What''s the matter?"?


    Before I could understand it, Zhukov continued to say: "before, I always thought that your wonderful ideas had a lot of luck when they were put into practice, which made you step by step from an ordinary soldier to today''s position. Even when you are the commander of the group army and have achieved a series of achievements, I don''t think it''s just your good luck. Even if no one else is in your position, you can still achieve the same brilliant achievements.


    But after this time together, I find that I don''t know you at all. All the actions taken by the German army seem to have been carried out at your command. You said the 48th German Panzer would break through from the front of our army. They did; You said that the direction of the first German tank group army to break through the encirclement was no longer in the south, but in the north of the mountain area. You were right. Even two days ago, he pointed out that there was a huge loophole in the defense established by lelushenko''s troops. Once attacked by the German army, the headquarters might be removed. Now it seems that you are right. "


    "Marshal," when I saw Zhukov talking so much, I felt an ominous feeling in my heart. It seemed that Zhukov was giving me his last words. I couldn''t help asking strangely, "why do you suddenly think of saying this to me?"


    Zhukov saw that sokolovsky was busy among a group of staff. He gave a wry smile and said, "I have a bad feeling that when the offensive campaign is over, my position as commander of the front army will be removed by Comrade Stalin himself, and then I will be assigned to those less important positions."


    I frowned and tried to recall what Zhukov had held in the early 44 years. But after thinking for a long time, what I remember about Zhukov''s taking over the post of vatukin is very brief: "on March 4, 1944, the troops of the first front army of Ukraine under the command of Marshal Zhukov, the troops of the second front army of Ukraine under the command of Marshal konev, and the troops of the third front army of Ukraine under the command of general Malinowski, They all turned to attack And then what I can remember is that Zhukov and Stalin, as well as a group of senior generals, sat in their offices and discussed where the main attack direction of the Belarusian offensive should be chosen.


    However, it was June when we discussed the battle of Belarus. I really don''t know where Zhukov was, what position he held, and whether he was punished by Stalin for his mistakes in commanding the battle.


    Seeing Zhukov''s frowning, I quickly comforted him: "marshal, you think too much. If the Supreme Commander himself is not satisfied with you, he will definitely be angry with you when he talked to you not long ago. Where will he talk and laugh with you? "


    Maybe my words played a role. The expression on Zhukov''s face softened. He nodded and said, "that''s true. The first German tank group army is still surrounded by us. As long as we eliminate them, it will be another ''Stalingrad'' victory."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The 153rd infantry division of the 1st group of guards strengthened its defence near the headquarters of lelushenko. The German army, who knew nothing about this, still adopted the tactics they had just adopted. They divided their troops to contain the main force of the fourth group army of tanks, and then covered the infantry with an armored force. They continued to rush towards the headquarters of lelushenko along the original route, and they would never give up until their headquarters were removed.


    But what they didn''t expect was that heavy troops were already gathering around the headquarters at the moment. When the German tanks rushed to more than 300 meters away from the trench, more than 20 anti tank guns were ready to fire at the same time with the order of lelushenko, who was staying in the forward command post. After a round of salvo fire, the seven or eight tanks in the front were torn apart by the armor piercing bullets. After the earth shaking explosion, they stopped and burned.


    With the attack of anti tank artillery round after round, more than 20 tanks that opened the way for the infantry gradually became burning torches, lighting the neighborhood like day, exposing the infantry following in front of our army.


    When he saw this situation through the lookout, lelushenko immediately ordered all the heavy and heavy machine guns on the position to open fire immediately, so as to destroy the German officers and soldiers exposed to the open ground with intensive fire.


    Hearing the order to open fire, the machine gunners who had been holding their strength for a long time immediately pulled the trigger at the German soldiers who had been aiming for a long time. More than 100 light and heavy machine guns fired at the same time. The long fireworks at the muzzle were swinging back and forth like dark red firecrackers. The woven layers of fire net swept away one figure after another, making a gap in the German attack line after another.


    The German infantry who lost the cover of tanks had to return to their starting position temporarily after paying a heavy price. Silence returned near the headquarters of the group army in lelushenko.


    Zhukov and I were both relieved to learn that the situation here was stabilizing. But after a while, sokolovsky suddenly remembered something that we all forgot: "by the way, what''s the position of the tank 18th army of the 1st group army of the guards?"


    "According to general glicko''s report, after the 153rd infantry division entered the defensive position near general lelushenko''s headquarters, the 18th tank army detoured back to the enemy''s rear from the north side of the defensive zone, preparing to encircle the enemy." I pointed to the map and explained to sokolovsky, "if nothing happens, they will be able to get around the enemy''s rear successfully before dawn."


    "That''s what I said, but I''m still worried." Sokolovsky said anxiously: "if the tanks of the tank army fall into the mire on the road, will it affect our encirclement plan soon?"


    "I don''t think so." Hearing sokolovsky''s worry, Zhukov pointed to the map and said confidently: "as long as our tanks pass this area, they can launch a battle formation and launch an assault on the German side and rear."


    Sokolovsky looked at the map, looked up at Zhukov, and continued to express his opinion: "this section of the road is about eight kilometers, all of which are impassable forests and fields. I am afraid they will not be able to complete the task of detouring back to the German rear before dawn. In this way, our plan to annihilate all the German troops will be in vain. "


    "Now that you know there are forests in this area, you should know that our soldiers can cut down trees to pave the way, so that our tanks and trucks can pass through this area smoothly." Zhukov looked at sokolovsky and said solemnly, "if the tank commander can''t think of such a way to make the tanks pass through this area smoothly. Then, as soon as the battle is over, I will remove him from his post. "


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    At daybreak, the commander of the 18th tank army sent a telegram directly to the headquarters, reporting to us that he had successfully arrived at the rear of the German army and had successfully cut off the rear of the German troops who attacked the lelushenko defense area at night.


    Then general pokhov, commander of the 13th group army, also called to report to Zhukov that his main force had joined the 18th tank army and completed the encirclement of the two German divisions. He asked when he could launch an attack.


    Zhukov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he said to the microphone, "general pokhov, it''s half past four. The attack will officially start at five. Let your soldiers be ready for the attack."


    After Zhukov put down the phone, he called sokolovsky and said, "give krasovsky a call and order him to send out an aviation division to carry out air strikes on the German troops trapped in our encirclement."


    For Zhukov''s order, sokolovsky did not return to his senses for a moment, but asked in a puzzled way: "marshal, didn''t he give an order to general krasovsky last night that he should take the tactics of four aircraft formation to carry out air strikes on the German army troops marching in the mountains after dawn?"


    "Comrade chief of staff, it''s not to let the air force attack the German army in the mountains," I saw Zhukov''s brow wrinkled. I was afraid that he would get angry. I quickly interrupted, "it''s to let them bomb the German army surrounded by the troops of general lelyushenko and general pokhov. Last night they launched a crazy attack on general lelushenko''s defense area. Now it''s daybreak, it''s time for them to bear our thunder. "


    "I see," sokolovsky said with a grateful smile to me after hearing this. Then he turned to Zhukov and said, "marshal, I''m going to call general krasovsky and ask him to send air force immediately to cooperate with our ground forces to wipe out this besieged German army."


    Half an hour later, the fighters and bombers of the 2nd air force group passed over our headquarters and rushed directly at the besieged German army.


    Seeing the planes flying from the top of his head, sokolovsky was still whispering: "the German army has no air defense force. How can they send so many fighters to escort?"


    I didn''t expect that Zhukov''s ears were sharp, and what sokolovsky said was heard by him. He looked away from the map, looked at sokolovsky and said sternly, "chief of staff, let me remind you that even if the German army is a wounded beast, it is also a beast that can hurt people. It will become more fierce when it bites people. As a commander, if he neglects or belittles the enemy when organizing a battle, he may make the army pay a huge price. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade marshal." Although sokolovsky was a general, after being criticized by Zhukov, he still admitted his mistake with a red face: "I will pay attention to it in the future, and I will never make such a mistake of belittling the enemy."


    The report from the air force was on Zhukov''s desk in a few minutes. According to general krasovsky''s report, when his bombers were bombing the German army on the ground, a dozen German fighters suddenly appeared in the sky. The fighters escorted by our army immediately came forward to meet the enemy and started fighting with the enemy''s fighters. After five German fighters were shot down and three wounded, they fled out of the battlefield. Four of our bombers were shot down and two of our fighters were lost.


    I thought Zhukov would be angry when he saw such a battle report. After all, we have more fighters than the German army, but after a battle, the loss is even greater than the other side. But after reading the war report twice, Zhukov''s face was unexpectedly smiling. He put down the war report and said to both of us, "our air force is playing very well. The German pilots are old birds who have experienced many battles, and our pilots fly far less than them, and they don''t have much combat experience. It''s very good to achieve such a record. " After these words, seeing that we were still standing in front of him and did not move, he glared at sokolovsky and said, "chief of staff, what are you still doing here? Don''t you call lelushenko as soon as possible and order him to attack the whole line immediately, and make sure to annihilate all the German troops surrounded by them in the shortest time. "

 Chapter 1504

    In the air force "what, comrade Khrushchev, will you be awarded the Lenin medal by the supreme command?" When Zhukov heard that, he was stunned for a moment. Then he was surprised and said, "I congratulate you. If I remember correctly, this should be what you got. When Khrushchev mentioned the Lenin medal, I couldn''t help looking down at the medal hanging on my chest. There are eight medals with medals, and the most is the red flag medal, The most advanced is the Venus medal, which matches the title of Soviet hero, but there is no Lenin medal.


    According to my guess, Zhukov didn''t want to go to Kiev, but after listening to Khrushchev''s invitation, he changed his mind. He said to the microphone, "Comrade Khrushchev, I remember your birthday is the 15th. Don''t worry. Rita and I will fly to Kiev to celebrate your birthday and see you get "great, marshal." As soon as Zhukov put down the phone, I heard sokolovsky standing beside me say excitedly, "Comrade Khrushchev, but in addition to you," Rita, "Zhukov looked at me with a smile and asked," although you have won the title of Soviet hero and the supporting Venus medal, you haven''t won the Lenin medal, have you? "


    I quickly shook my head like a rattle and replied, "no, marshal, I am not qualified for this highest honor. But you... "Speaking of this, I pointed to his medal hanging on his chest and said enviously," there have been two Lenin medals for a long time. "


    It may be that he heard that his former partner Khrushchev wanted to win the Lenin medal, which represents the highest honor. Zhukov looked in a good mood. He asked me with a smile, "do you know how the Lenin medal came from and who was awarded it?"


    To be honest, although it has been more than two years since this era, I still have no idea how many kinds of medals there are in the Soviet Union, let alone who these medals are awarded to. I shook my head again and said awkwardly, "sorry, marshal, I don''t know."


    "Anyway, there is nothing important today. Let me introduce it." Zhukov rarely has such a good sense of leisure. Since he offered to explain the origin of the medal and the object of award to me, I would not object. I nodded quickly to show that I was listening.


    "In the medal system of the Soviet Union, there is a medal that can be awarded not only to individuals, but also to collectives and units, and even to republics, cities and regions. It represents one of the highest honors of the citizens of the Soviet Union." Zhukov popularized the common sense of Lenin''s medal for me like a professor lecturing to students in class: "this medal was proposed and established by levichwim in July 1926 to reward those who have established outstanding achievements in revolutionary movement, work practice, defending socialist country, promoting friendship between people and promoting equality Units and individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the country and society. This proposal was later adopted by Comrade Stalin and the medal was introduced. Originally named "the order of Illich", it is made of the head of comrade Lenin in relief.


    In April 1930, the central executive committee of the Soviet Union issued an order officially establishing the Lenin medal. According to the order, the conditions for awarding the Lenin medal are as follows: having made outstanding contributions and achievements in the Soviet Union''s economy, science and technology, society and culture, or having significantly improved the efficiency and quality of work, and promoting the unity and friendship of the Soviet people; He made outstanding contributions in defending the socialist motherland and enhancing the Soviet Union''s national defense capability; They have made outstanding revolutionary acts or performed prominently in national, social and political activities; He made outstanding contributions in promoting the unity and friendship between the people of the Soviet Union and other countries; He has performed well in promoting socialist cooperation, developing the international communist movement and the people''s liberation movement, or in the struggle to maintain peace, democracy and socialist order; He made other outstanding contributions to the Soviet Union.


    In addition to individual citizens of the Soviet Union, the order of Lenin can also be awarded to Soviet enterprises, organs, industrial facilities, associations, military units, warships, autonomous republics, regions, autonomous regions, cities and other regions. Non Soviet citizens, enterprises, associations and foreign regions also have the opportunity to receive the Lenin medal. "


    I remember that in his lifetime, Zhukov won 61 medals and medals, including six Lenin medals, but now he has only won two. So as soon as he finished speaking, I said to him in a flattering tone, "marshal, according to your outstanding contribution in the Great Patriotic War, you will surely be awarded the Lenin medal and a higher level medal again."


    As for my flattery, Zhukov put his hand on it and said modestly, "look, Rita, I''ve got more than 20 medals, almost all kinds of medals. It''s not likely that I''ll get any more medals in the future."


    "Marshal, please believe my judgment." I pretended to say mysteriously: "according to my intuition, let''s not talk about other medals. This is the Lenin medal. You can get at least two more medals."


    For my prediction, Zhukov laughed but said nothing. Sokolovsky could not sit still: "Comrade oshanina, I know that your hunch has always been quite accurate. Since you assert that marshal can win more than two Lenin medals, how many medals can I get?"


    Although I''ve seen sokolovsky wearing a marshal''s uniform full of medals in later generations, I didn''t take a close look at the medals on it. However, since he has asked this sentence, he can''t pass without answering. After a moment''s hesitation, I said vaguely, "Comrade chief of staff, I dare not say anything about other medals, but I think the number of Lenin medals you can get will never be less than that of Marshal."


    Sokolovsky looked down at his medal and asked in an uncertain tone, "Comrade oshanina, are you sure that I will get as many Lenin medals as Marshal Zhukov?"¡° Comrade chief of staff, "I don''t know how many medals sokolovsky won in his lifetime, but under such circumstances, I can only reply with a stiff head:" my intuition is always accurate, and I believe my guess will not be much different from the actual situation. " Just as sokolovsky was about to get to the bottom of the matter, a staff officer came up to him, handed him a piece of paper in his hand, and reported: "chief of staff, this is a telegram from the 38th and 40th army groups. Their troops have entered the mountain area organically and have made a fire with the subsequent German troops."¡° That''s great. That''s great. " After listening to the staff officer''s words, sokolovsky didn''t care to ask me any more. Instead, he quickly scanned the above contents, handed them to Zhukov, and said excitedly, "Comrade marshal, our troops have bitten Hubei''s troops. In this way, they can''t fly."

 Chapter 1505

    The attack of the second armed SS army from kovov was blocked by our troops deployed in the West; Hube''s tanks and the 1st group army, which fled into the mountains, also had a close fight with the 38th, 40th and 60th group army, and the 27th group army of konev''s Ukrainian second front army.


    Seeing the good situation, Zhukov was in a good mood. So in the early morning of the 15th, he took me to krasovsky''s Field Airport and took a transport plane from here to Kiev.


    Krasovsky saw that Zhukov was going to Kiev by plane. For his safety, he specially sent a large team of fighters to escort him.


    On the way to Kiev, Zhukov kept his eyes closed. Considering that he had been working too hard recently and had time to sleep, I didn''t disturb him. Instead, I looked out through the porthole. Looking at our fighters in the field of vision, I felt very confident. I said that even if there were enemy planes attacking, the convoy would be enough to solve them.


    An hour later, our plane landed at the airport north of Kiev. As soon as the plane stopped on the runway, a black gas car came. After the door was opened, a middle-aged man in military civilian clothes came out. He came to Zhukov and said politely, "Hello, comrade Zhukov, welcome to Kiev."


    "Hello, comrade kaganovitch." While shaking hands with each other, Zhukov asked strangely, "I remember that as a member of the National Defense Commission, you were in charge of the national railway transportation in gubishev. When did you come to Kiev?"


    Kagonovych grinned and then explained, "the Supreme Commander himself is worried that Khrushchev''s work is too busy, so he sent me to Kiev as his deputy to assist him in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine."


    "So it is." Zhukov nodded, released his opponent''s hand, and continued to ask, "Comrade kaganovic, I don''t know where today''s banquet will be held?"


    Hearing Zhukov''s question, Kaganovich''s face showed an embarrassed expression. He answered with some embarrassment: "marshal, I''m coming to the airport today. Besides welcoming you, I have another bad news to tell you."


    "Bad news?" Zhukov raised his eyebrows and asked gravely, "what''s the bad news?"


    Kaganovic bowed his head and said in agony: "marshal, an hour ago, general vatukin died in the hospital because of his injury. Comrade Khrushchev has rushed to the hospital. Today''s birthday party has been cancelled."


    "How could that be?" When Zhukov got the news, he could not help but be surprised. Then he asked miserably: "when I talked with Khrushchev two days ago, he also said that Comrade vatukin''s injury was getting better, and he could get out of bed and walk in a few days. How could he suddenly die?"


    "I''m not sure about the details." "It''s like heart failure caused by sepsis..." kaganovic said awkwardly


    "Where is the remains of vatukin?" Zhukov didn''t wait for kaganovic to finish, then he walked quickly to the gascar, and at the same time, he said aloud, "take me there immediately."


    I quickly walked a few steps to the side of the car, opened the back door, then from the back of the car around to the other end of the car, and opened the door for caganovic. After two people got on, I opened the front door and sat in the co driver''s seat.


    On the way to the hospital, Zhukov and kaganovic in the back didn''t speak. Bored, I looked out of the window and saw that Kiev was very different from the last time I came here. After months of cleaning and reconstruction, although half of the buildings on both sides of the street can still be seen, the messy bricks and stones have been cleaned up, and the pedestrians on the sidewalk are no longer in a hurry. In addition to bakeries and daily necessities stores, even bookstores and clothing stores can also see the bustling crowd.


    Our car came to the door of the hospital, the sentry on duty immediately raised the bar at the door, let the gas car smoothly into the hospital.


    As soon as he got out of the car, Zhukov turned around and asked kaganovic, "where is the remains of vatukin?"


    "It should be in the mortuary," Kaganovich said in an uncertain tone. "People who have passed away will be sent there first. After finishing their appearance, they will be put in coffins and sent to cemeteries for burial."


    Zhukov, as soon as kaganovic finished, immediately said in an irrefutable tone: "take me quickly!"


    Zhukov and I, led by Kaganovich, walked along the forest trail around the hospital building to the outside of a separate two-story building in the back. There were several soldiers standing guard at the gate. When they saw someone coming, they were ready to stop. But when they found that kaganovic was walking in the front, they immediately stood at attention, straightened their waists and paid attention to us.


    After entering the building, I found that the brightly lit corridor was full of people, including medical staff in white coats and soldiers in uniform. They all turned their backs to us and looked at a room with an open door at the end of the corridor. Seeing that our way was blocked, kaganovic quickly raised his voice and said, "please step aside and let Marshal Zhukov pass."


    Hearing Zhukov coming, the crowd in front of us suddenly flashed aside and made way for us. As we passed through the crowd, I could see from the corner of my eyes that people on both sides cast awe at Zhukov. When he came to the door of the corpse room, Khrushchev came out to meet us. When he shook hands with Zhukov, he still had a painful expression on his face. It seemed that he was very sad about the death of vatukin. After all, they had been partners for some time¡° Come in, comrade Zhukov Khrushchev took one side of his body, made a gesture of invitation to the inside, and then said, "Comrade voroshlov is also in it."¡° Voroshlov is there, too? " When Zhukov was about to walk inside, he heard Khrushchev say so. He could not help but stop and asked unexpectedly, "how can he be here?" His meaning is very obvious. Soon after vatukin''s death, even if Moscow got the news in time, it is impossible to arrive in Kiev in such a short time. However, Khrushchev''s next words dispelled our doubts: "voroshlov is here to honor me."¡° Comrade Zhukov, here you are As soon as we entered the morgue, voroshlov came over to shake hands with Zhukov, and said in a sorry tone: "this is really unexpected. Comrade Stalin sent me to honor Comrade Khrushchev. By the way, he visited watujing and asked him when he could return to the army. I didn''t expect him to...", He choked so much that he couldn''t go on. I saw watujing in a brand-new general uniform, lying on the concrete platform in the middle of the room, looking very peaceful, as if he had not died but just fell asleep. Zhukov came up to him, took off his cap and bowed to watujing''s body. I quickly took off my cap and bowed. When Zhukov put on his military cap again, he faced Khrushchev and asked, "I don''t know where he will be buried?" Instead of answering Zhukov''s question immediately, Khrushchev pointed to a white haired old lady standing next to him and said to us, "this is Vera ifomovna, the mother of Comrade vatukin. This brave Russian woman was informed of the sacrifice of her two sons in February and March this year. Now, comrade watujing is the third... She is a mother who has lost three children in three months. " I went over to the old man who was weeping quietly and gently held his shoulder. I tried to persuade him, but I didn''t know how to do it. All I heard was that she kept muttering to herself: "you''re dead. My son died for other people''s lives. They won''t forget you, my child, my dear Falcon..." "Comrade Khrushchev, ¡±Zhukov asked Khrushchev solemnly, "has the news of Comrade vatukin''s sacrifice been reported to Moscow?"¡° Yes, comrade Zhukov. " Seeing that Khrushchev was a little out of his wits, voroshlov did not seem to hear Zhukov''s question, and hastened to reply: "Comrade Stalin has made a decision to bury vatukin in Kiev. At the moment of his burial, Moscow will salute When Khrushchev heard what voroshlov said, he raised his hand and touched the tears on his face. He went to vatukin''s mother''s side, grabbed her hands, and said in a choked voice, "I''ll go to the cemetery myself later, aunt evmovna. When Comrade watujing is buried tomorrow, I will go to the funeral myself. " Looking up at Khrushchev, the old lady hesitated and said, "but vatukin''s wife wants to bury her husband and my son in Moscow. Is it suitable for you to bury him in Kiev?"¡° "Right!" Khrushchev said firmly: "Comrade vatukin is a liberator of liberation, so he should be buried in Kiev, so that our future generations will always remember his great achievements."¡° When will the funeral be held? " After Khrushchev finished, Zhukov immediately asked, "tomorrow morning or afternoon?"¡° The preliminary time is nine o''clock tomorrow morning. " Khrushchev asked in reply, "Comrade Zhukov, will you personally go to his funeral?"¡° Yes, comrade Khrushchev. " Zhukov nodded his head and said with certainty, "watujing is my comrade in arms. It''s my duty to bury him."

 Chapter 1506

    Before our party left the hospital, Khrushchev called a staff member wearing glasses and said, "when the coffin arrives, we will immediately bury the remains of Comrade vatukin, and then send them to the Cathedral of St. Sophia for our soldiers and the residents of the city. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade Khrushchev." The staff bowed slightly and replied respectfully, "I will follow your orders."


    Khrushchev nodded, then turned to us and said, "OK, let''s go. Let''s all go to my office."


    Walking into Khrushchev''s office, I found that the decoration style here is the same as that of Stalin''s office, except for one desk, which can accommodate more than ten long conference tables.


    After Khrushchev called me, Zhukov and voroshlov to sit down at the table, he said, "comrades, vatukin is our close comrade in arms, and his farewell to us is painful..."


    "Wait a minute, comrade Khrushchev." Before he finished speaking, Voroshilov, who was sitting on his left hand, interrupted him and asked himself: "as far as I know, general vatukin was only shot in the leg when he was ambushed. The situation has greatly improved a while ago. Why did he suddenly die?"


    "Marshal voroshlov," Khrushchev said flatly, looking at the veteran marshal, "according to the doctor''s report, comrade watujing''s wound infection caused septicemia, and eventually organ failure due to long-term hypoxia..."


    "Come on, put away your hoaxes." Voroshlov impatiently interrupted Khrushchev again, "vatukin is a senior commander, and his medical conditions are much better than those of ordinary commanders and fighters. How can this tragedy happen?" When he said this, he stopped for a moment, then suddenly widened his eyes and added in a stern tone, "I think there is something wrong with the medical staff he is treating. Maybe they are the spies sent by the Germans to murder our senior generals."


    When I heard what voroshlov said, I could not help but feel a thump in my heart. In my opinion, the doctor has certain responsibility for vatukin''s serious injury. However, under the current medical conditions, if it is really the death caused by wound infection, even the best doctor will be unable to do anything. But if this matter is connected with German spies, the nature of it will completely change.


    I took a furtive look at Zhukov sitting next to me, trying to see something in his face. But Zhukov sat in his chair without saying a word, his eyelids drooping, staring at the table in front of him, as if there was something interesting there that attracted him. Seeing Zhukov''s posture of staying out of the affair, I kept silent to avoid being inflamed.


    "Comrade Voroshilov," Khrushchev replied solemnly, "I have sent the people from the Ministry of interior to investigate the doctors and nurses who are responsible for treating Comrade vatukin. I believe they should have come to a conclusion." With that, he got up and went to his desk, reached out and pressed a button on the desk.


    The door of the office was quickly quietly pushed open from the outside. A young man in military civilian clothes stood at the door like a telegraph pole, quietly waiting for Khrushchev''s orders.


    Khrushchev raised his hand to him and said, "go and inform the comrades of the Ministry of interior that I am waiting for their investigation report here and ask their responsible person to report immediately." The young man nodded, then turned and walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.


    After the young people left, Khrushchev went back to the conference table and sat down. He said to us, "my secretary has gone to inform the comrades of the Ministry of internal affairs. I believe that before long, someone will report the specific situation to us."


    While waiting for the members of the Ministry of interior, voloshlov asked Zhukov across the table, "Comrade Zhukov, as far as I know, it''s not a short time since Hubei''s first group army of tanks fell into your first front army of Ukraine. I don''t know when we can completely annihilate this enemy?"


    "If there is no accident, the German army will be completely annihilated in two to three days." After answering voloshlov''s question, Zhukov asked curiously, "Comrade marshal, what do you want to do with this?"


    Zhukov asked this question because although voroshlov is a member of the supreme command, he has no specific position at present. He is just a soy sauce player. He can only stay in the office every day to read the war reports collected and reported by all front forces, and is not qualified to ask about the combat deployment of the troops.


    When voroshlov heard Zhukov''s question, he obviously found that he had asked something he shouldn''t have asked. He quickly blushed and explained, "Comrade Zhukov, you know, I came to Kiev today to honor Comrade Khrushchev on the instructions of the Supreme Commander himself. I just saw that you are here, so I am concerned about the war situation there by the way."


    Zhukov said flatly, "marshal, I will report all kinds of war reports to the supreme command in time. You should be able to see what you want to see in your office."


    From the interior department came a tall, thin, middle-aged man in a grey woollen windbreaker. He went up to Khrushchev, bent slightly, and then said, "Comrade Khrushchev, the results of the trial have come out."


    "Now that the trial has come to an end," Khrushchev said without expression, looking at the middle-aged man standing in front of him, "Comrade panferov, let''s start reporting."


    Panferov''s eyes swept over us one by one, and finally stayed on me. His face first showed a slightly surprised expression, and then returned to normal. He politely said to Khrushchev, "Comrade Khrushchev, because this matter is closed, do you want to let irrelevant personnel avoid?"


    "Irrelevant personnel to avoid?" When Khrushchev heard what panferov said, he couldn''t help sneering: "who do you think is irrelevant here?" As he said, he pointed to us with his hand, "do you think Marshal Zhukov is irrelevant, or marshal voroshlov is irrelevant?"


    Khrushchev''s words have the power of pulling hatred. As soon as he finished his words, I found that voroshlov, who was sitting opposite me, looked at panferov sternly.


    "No, it''s not like that. Comrade Khrushchev, you have completely misunderstood." Panferov quickly pointed to me and explained to himself, "I want to ask this female commander to go out for a while. Her level may not be enough."


    "She''s not at the right level." Khrushchev laughed at the middle-aged man''s words. He first looked at Zhukov and said, "our Comrade panferov actually said that Rita''s rank is not enough." Then he turned his head to voroshlov''s side and continued to say with a smile, "he didn''t think Rita''s rank was enough to sit here and listen to the investigation report on the cause of general vatukin''s death?"


    "Comrade panferov," Zhukov half turned, put one arm on the back of his chair, looked at panferov and said, "since you are a member of the Ministry of interior, don''t you know that she is not only a commander trusted by Comrade Stalin, but also authorized by belia to directly mobilize the troops and related personnel of your Ministry of interior?"


    Zhukov''s words made penferov feel uneasy. He looked at me in a hurry with a smile. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead, and then apologized respectfully to me: "sorry, general oshanina, I don''t know your identity, please forgive me!"


    Hearing what he said, I couldn''t help muttering to myself: it''s strange that you don''t know my identity. Otherwise, how can you call my surname at once? You know, Khrushchev used my nickname when he mentioned me. But at such a time, I didn''t want to argue with such a snob, so I waved my hand and said, "Comrade panferov, this is a small matter. You don''t have to care. You''d better report the results of the trial to Comrade Khrushchev. "


    I reminded him of his destination. He quickly opened the briefcase under his arm, took out a folder from it, and then began to report to Khrushchev: "after our trial, the chief physician of general vatukin has confessed his heinous crimes; The other two nurses, who were also his accomplices, added lethal poison to the injection for general vatukin. "


    When I listened to the report of panferov, I could not help but have mixed feelings. I immediately thought of a passage circulating on the Internet: it was said that the means adopted by various countries to arrest a rabbit who escaped into the forest were quite different. The American people will surround the forest, and then shout to the forest with their horns: you are surrounded by us, put down your arms and surrender immediately. As for the Soviets, they just need to send a few KGBS into the forest and soon bring out a black and blue bear. While walking, the bear kept saying, "I''m a rabbit, I''m a rabbit.".


    As soon as I think of this passage, I know that the interrogation results provided by the Ministry of internal affairs must have been written by the doctors and nurses who were forced to fight. They were all innocent and had nothing to do with the death of watujing.


    After listening to panferov''s report, voroshlov, sitting opposite, raised his hand, slapped the table and said excitedly, "well, comrade Khrushchev, I''m not wrong. The death of Comrade vatukin is definitely not an accident, but the death of a German spy." With these words, he fixed his eyes on panferov and continued to ask, "have these doctors and nurses ever been to Germany? To be exact, have they all studied in Germany? "


    "The attending doctor once studied in a medical school in Germany for two years," panferov replied hesitantly. "Although the two nurses have never been abroad, I think they were instigated by the doctors."


    "It''s terrible. It''s terrible." Voroshlov shook his head and said, "I can''t believe that these doctors and nurses will harm the patients regardless of their professional ethics. What''s more, they will do harm to the senior commanders in our army. They are just a group of demons dressed as angels. They can''t be spared."


    Seeing a few words from Voroshilov will make the fate of several doctors and nurses extremely miserable. I can''t help but feel compassion. Just as I opened my mouth and was ready to speak, I suddenly felt that my hand under the table was caught by the other hand. I turned my head and looked at Zhukov, who was sitting next to me. He shook his head gently at me, indicating that I should mind my own business. Seeing Zhukov''s hint, I could only sigh in secret and apologize to the doctors and nurses I never met. Although I am willing to help them, I am also powerless under the current situation.


    Voroshlov looked at Khrushchev and asked, "Comrade Khrushchev, since the situation has been investigated, what are you going to do with it?" Khrushchev pondered for a moment, then looked up at panferov and said, "Comrade panferov, this matter will be followed up by your Ministry of internal affairs. We should continue to interrogate the prisoners, find out whether they have other accomplices, and catch them all. "¡° Yes, comrade Khrushchev is right. " Voloshlov echoed: "we should continue to investigate and see if there are any German spies hidden in the military hospital. We should uproot them so that they will not harm the other senior commanders." Seeing that Khrushchev and voroshlov had settled the matter, panferov nodded with a smile, put the interrogation record in his hand in front of Khrushchev, and then turned to leave the office. As soon as panferov walked out of the door, Khrushchev''s secretary reappeared at the door. He stood upright at the door and reported to Khrushchev, "Comrade Khrushchev, there is a call from the front line from Marshal Zhukov."¡° Put the phone in When Zhukov heard what the Secretary said, he immediately got up from his seat and gave an order. Then he quickly walked to the phone and picked up the receiver: "Hello, I''m Zhukov!" As I was so far away, I couldn''t hear what the caller said to Zhukov. But from his locked eyebrows and his increasingly ugly face, I knew that something important had happened. Zhukov put down the phone, walked quickly to the conference table and said to Khrushchev, "Comrade Khrushchev, I''m sorry, there''s something wrong with the front line, I need to go back and deal with it immediately." Then, without waiting for Khrushchev to respond, he nodded at voroshlov and said to me, "Rita, let''s go at once."¡° Wait a minute, comrade Zhukov. " Who knows we didn''t take a few steps, Khrushchev suddenly called in the back. When we stopped and turned to look at him, he quickly came up to us and said to Zhukov in a friendly tone, "Comrade Zhukov, I''ll take you to the airport myself."

 Chapter 1507

    I wanted to find time to ask Zhukov what happened in the front line, so that he had to rush back to the front line, and even the funeral of vatukin tomorrow was cancelled. But Khrushchev has been with us all the time, and it''s hard for me to ask. Especially after getting on the gas car, both of them sat in the back row, and I couldn''t ask in the co driver''s seat.


    On the way to the airport, I suddenly remembered a post I had read on the Internet. It said that in the first edition of Zhukov''s memoirs, there was a special mention of the death of vatukin. He clearly pointed out that Khrushchev was directly responsible for vatukin''s tragic death. Although there was insufficient evidence, Zhukov suspected that Khrushchev was the hand of a famous ethnic extremist who killed his commander and comrade in arms, general vatukin. This was by no means groundless.


    It is said that when Khrushchev read the words in "memory and thinking", Zhukov accused him of being responsible for vatukin''s tragic death, he immediately beat his chest and feet with excitement and swore to heaven that he absolutely did not kill vatukin with his own hands or artificial hands. Finally, through various relationships, he asked Zhukov to delete the words that were unfavorable to him.


    Gascar arrived at the airport, and the captain of the escort air force arrived. After saluting Zhukov, he said apologetically, "marshal, I''m sorry, because I don''t know that you will return to the front line immediately, so the fighter has not been able to complete the replenishment of fuel."


    "Can the remaining fuel fly back to the front line?" Zhukov looked very anxious and asked the captain, "I need to go back to the front army headquarters immediately."


    "Comrade marshal, the existing fuel of the fighter can barely fly back." The captain hesitated for a moment, then said: "it only means that we are safe. If we meet German planes on the way, our fighters will not have enough fuel to fight with them in the air."


    After hearing this, Zhukov asked expressionless, "how long does it take to start refueling now?"


    The captain raised his hand and looked at his watch, then replied: "marshal, as long as we get the full assistance of the airport ground service, we can finish the fuel filling work in half an hour."


    "Very good. Take me to the person in charge of the airport. I''ll give him the task myself." When Zhukov finished, he urged the captain to take him to the airport headquarters and left Khrushchev and I beside the gascar.


    When Khrushchev and I were far behind Zhukov and walking side by side towards the headquarters of the airport, Khrushchev suddenly asked, "Rita, can I trust you?"


    Khrushchev''s words stunned me. My heart said what happened to him. Why did he suddenly ask this? But seeing his sincere eyes, I nodded and said, "Comrade Khrushchev, although we haven''t been together for a long time, you should know whether I am trustworthy."


    After my words, Khrushchev became hesitant. From the embarrassed expression on his face, I guessed in my heart that he must have something important to say to me, but because it matters a lot, I can''t make up my mind. Thinking of this, my heart can''t help shivering for a while, while he hasn''t said anything, he said in a hurry: "if you think what you want to say is something I shouldn''t know, I won''t inquire, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble."


    "You know what, Rita?" Khrushchev sighed and said helplessly, "I''m the only one who knows the truth of some things, but I can''t tell others. Can you understand my feelings?"


    "Understanding, comrade Khrushchev, I fully understand." Listening to what he said, I knew better that what he was going to tell me would be a big secret. I worried that I might be killed in the future when I knew the secret, so I waved to him and said, "if you think it''s not appropriate to tell me, don''t tell me."


    "Never mind, Rita." I didn''t expect that the more I shirked, the more Khrushchev wanted to tell me the secret hidden in his heart: "I just want to find someone to talk about my heart, and you are the only one I can trust."


    Seeing that Khrushchev had already said this, it would be a bit too much affectation for me to refuse. So I nodded and said, "Comrade Khrushchev, since you trust me so much, I can assure you that I will never let a third person know what you said to me."


    After getting my assurance, Khrushchev suddenly asked, "Rita, do you know how vatukin died?"


    From what he said, I guessed that there must be something else in the story of vatukin''s death, but I asked in a confused way, "didn''t the comrades of the Ministry of interior say that he was killed by several German agents?"


    "That''s just a few scapegoats." Khrushchev looked around and saw that there was no one within ten meters of us. However, in order to prevent the walls from having ears, he kept his voice down and said, "in fact, comrade vatukin can not die. If he had been injected with penicillin, maybe the wound would not have been infected. However, comrade Stalin''s approval was needed for the use of this drug, but he never agreed. The reason for rejection is that penicillin is not produced in our country and we can''t produce it. The United States, which provides us with this kind of medicine, may poison penicillin in order to weaken our strength. Therefore, it is very dangerous to use these drugs to treat a senior commander of our army


    "No?" It was the first time that I heard that vatukin died of wound infection because he did not use penicillin, so I asked Khrushchev with half confidence: "Comrade Stalin would not agree to let general vatukin use penicillin which can reduce inflammation?"¡° Yes, "Khrushchev nodded and said bitterly," Comrade vatukin''s wound was not serious, but on the way to the rear, his wound was infected. The doctor in charge of vatujing''s treatment thinks that as long as he uses penicillin, his injury can be completely cured. Since China has not yet been able to produce penicillin, the penicillin currently used is all aided by Britain and the United States. For the sake of safety, comrade Stalin made a decision that all the penicillin to be used must be approved by himself. " When I heard this, I suddenly came up with the term "prescription medicine". Yes, in this era, penicillin of later generations is a kind of "prescription medicine". No one can use it without Stalin''s signature and approval. I couldn''t help interrupting and asked, "Comrade Khrushchev, didn''t the doctor report the request for penicillin to Moscow?"¡° Of course, the doctor''s request was reported! " Khrushchev nodded, his eyes flushed, and continued: "but Comrade Stalin did not sign. We had to wait. Just in the hopeless waiting, vatukin''s injury worsened. The doctor told me that if we did not use penicillin for anti-inflammatory, we would have to amputate watujing. For this reason, I specially called Stalin and asked him to allow the use of penicillin against vatugin, but Comrade Stalin did not comment on my request. Watujing was lying on the operating table and called Stalin himself just before the amputation. The first time I saw the fragile inside of vatukin, he cried and said to the microphone, "dear comrade Stalin, please use all the strength you have to save my life." However, it is a pity that even if vatujing made a request in person, comrade Stalin still refused to nod his head. In the end, because the wound was seriously infected, watujing had to be amputated. " Khrushchev''s words completely shocked me. This is a big secret. Now that he trusts me, he will tell me such a secret. If one day, when he is tired of me, will he kill me because I know this secret? I can''t help shivering at the thought. When Khrushchev saw my reaction, he misunderstood me. He patted me gently on the shoulder, comforted me and said, "Rita, I know this secret will scare you. But I just feel so bad that I want to talk to someone about my heart. " Heart to heart, I secretly scolded: you told me such a big secret, your heart is relaxed, but my psychological burden has increased. In the future, if this matter is disclosed, he will suspect that the source of the information is me. At the same time, I also thought that no wonder he would agree with voroshlov and let the people in the interior department deal with the doctors and nurses, which also contains some elements of silence. Fortunately, the refueling work of the fighter plane was over soon. After I said goodbye to Khrushchev, I fled and got on the plane behind Zhukov. When the plane began to slide on the runway, I looked at Khrushchev standing outside the runway of the airport, and his heart was still pounding. When the plane entered a smooth flight, I got up, went to Zhukov, sat down, approached his ear, and asked aloud, "marshal, I don''t know what happened in the front line. Do you want us to rush back?" Zhukov turned to look at me and said solemnly, "Hube''s troops broke through general pokhov''s defense zone, broke out of our encirclement, joined up with the second army of the Waffen SS who came to meet them, and withdrew to the direction of Lvov."¡° What, did the German break through? " The news Zhukov said startled me again. At the moment, I could not care about how vatukin died. Instead, I nervously asked Zhukov, "didn''t our three army groups entangle Hubei''s troops? Why did they let them escape?"¡° Hubei is very cunning, "Zhukov replied with a frown." he left three divisions of troops entangled with the troops we pursued in the mountains, but he quietly approached the defense area of the 13th group army with the main force, then launched a sudden attack, broke through our defense at one stroke, and successfully jumped out. "

 Chapter 1508

    After the plane landed, Zhukov and I got into the jeep that sokolovsky sent to pick us up. Not far from the airport, Zhukov suddenly ordered the driver to stop. After waiting for the car to stop, he told the driver: "Comrade driver, you go down to have a cigarette first. When I call you, you come up again."


    With a promise, the driver pushed the door open and got out of the car. Then he ran to the truck behind us and the commander of the guard company who came down from the bridge to smoke.


    I turned to look at the driver who was smoking. Then I asked Zhukov, "marshal, why do we stop here?"


    Zhukov asked me unexpectedly, "Rita, do you think there is a problem with the death of Comrade vatukin?"


    When I heard his question, I shivered. I learned from Khrushchev that the cause of vatukin''s death was a wound infection, and that Stalin had never approved the use of penicillin. But in front of Zhukov, I absolutely can''t tell the truth. In that case, it''s not only useless, but it will set me on fire. So I can only pretend to be confused and say: "have not the staff of the Ministry of interior in Kiev solved the case? It was a few doctors and nurses bought by the Germans who added lethal toxins to the injections given to general vatukin. "


    When I finished, Zhukov snorted heavily, and then asked me in a scornful tone, "Rita, do you really think that the information reported by the Ministry of the interior is true?"


    Instead of pestering over the authenticity of the report of the Ministry of internal affairs, I asked curiously, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know what kind of conclusion you have reached?"


    "In my impression, vatukin is not only a military genius, but also a very talented person in political work. In the course of the war, he paid great attention to discovering and cultivating talents, and was extremely good at building a backbone team. " Zhukov said to me solemnly, "because the troops under his command have made more and more achievements, his prestige is also getting higher and higher. Therefore, it is also loved and valued by Stalin


    I knew that Zhukov would tell something I didn''t know, so I closed my mouth and listened to what he said quietly.


    "Because Comrade Stalin particularly appreciated vatukin, he often crossed over the general staff and Khrushchev to deal directly with vatukin in connection with the command of the first front army of Ukraine. In this way, Khrushchev, the political deputy of vatukin, became a decoration. Khrushchev is a small bellied man, for this kind of thing, he will certainly have a grudge, and thus affect the relationship between him and vatukin


    When I heard this, I couldn''t help but interrupt and ask, "Comrade marshal, but when I was in the hospital, I saw that Comrade Khrushchev was very sad about the death of general vatukin, and even cancelled his birthday party and medal ceremony."


    "Vatukin told me in private," Zhukov continued slowly, "that the relationship between him and Khrushchev was not friendly, and there were often disputes over trifles. I think Khrushchev must have felt that his light was blocked by vatukin''s body, so he took extreme measures to get rid of this stumbling block. "


    Seeing Zhukov in front of me, as in history, he was really disgusted with Khrushchev because of vatukin''s death, I couldn''t help feeling at a loss. I want to persuade you, but I find that although I know the truth, I can''t say it. I can only say it vaguely: "no way!"


    "Why not." Zhukov snorted again, and then said, "as far as I know, every time vatukin used to patrol, he either rode in armored cars or accompanied soldiers with at least one guard platoon. On the day of the accident, I had only three jeeps and one guard. I think this is a trap carefully arranged by Khrushchev to induce watujing to drive through the village occupied by a group of anti Soviet guerrillas and bandits, which led to the tragedy. "


    When I think of the so-called truth that Khrushchev told me and the analysis made by Zhukov, I can''t help falling into a confusion: how was vatukin injured and why did he die in the end? It seems that there is no accurate answer to this question in the future. It seems that this incident, like the missing "Amber Room", will become another unsolved mystery in the patriotic war.


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I deliberately digged off the topic: "marshal, it''s getting late. Should we rush back to the headquarters as soon as possible. I''m afraid the chief of staff and the military commissar are in a hurry. "


    "Well, that''s it." Zhukov didn''t want to entangle in this matter any more. When he heard what I said, he immediately nodded his head and told me, "but only you and I know. Do you understand? "


    "I understand." Seeing that this matter had finally come to an end, I felt a little more secure in my heart, so I intentionally asked Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, we still have to go on our way. Will we call the driver back now?" After getting his permission, I quickly pushed the door open, leaned out half of my body, and yelled at the driver who was smoking in the back, "Hey, comrade driver, stop smoking. We are going to start now."


    Although we were still in Kiev, sokolovsky reported the German breakthrough to Zhukov on the phone. But we were delayed on the road for more than two hours, and the enemy situation changed again.


    The mystery of vatukin''s death has been thrown over by us for the time being. At present, the most troublesome problem for us is that Hubei led more than 100000 German troops to break through the block of general pokhov, left the mountainous area, joined up with the second army of the armed SS, successfully withdrew to the direction of Lvov, and quickly established a new defense.


    "How could that be?" After reading all the war reports, Zhukov slapped the table hard and yelled at sokolovsky: "in the war reports we received this morning, didn''t pokhov say that his troops completely blocked the German attack? And Moskalenko, several commanders of the group army, also assured me that they had captured the main force of the German army and were launching a siege and annihilation war? How could the situation on the battlefield have changed so much in just a few hours? "


    "Comrade marshal." Sokolovsky blushed and replied, "the main reason is that the enemy is too cunning. Hube used deception tactics to make our pursuit and interception troops regard the decoy troops he threw as the main force of the German army."


    "Almost 200000 German troops fled into the mountains." Zhukov said angrily: "we used a few group forces to fight for two or three days, only less than 50000 people were killed, and more than 100000 people escaped from our ambush successfully. Have you ever thought about how much trouble this will cause to our next strategy? "


    When Zhukov was furious in the headquarters, we didn''t dare to speak. Even the staff and communication personnel who came in and went out of the headquarters were relieved, for fear of provoking Zhukov''s thunder.


    But fortunately, the phone call suddenly broke the siege for all of us. Zhukov was very angry. When he heard the ring, he looked down and found that it was a high-frequency telephone that could talk directly with Moscow. After taking two deep breaths, he picked up the phone and said to the microphone in a smooth tone: "I''m Zhukov!"


    "Comrade Zhukov, I''m Stalin!" Stalin''s serious voice came out of the receiver: "I just got intelligence that more than 100000 people of the German tanks of the first group army escaped from our encirclement. What''s the matter? When you reported to me these two days, didn''t you say that the German army had no way back? How can we let so many enemies escape from our siege in a twinkling of an eye? "


    "Comrade Stalin, it''s all my responsibility!" Although Zhukov has just been furious with everyone, when facing the blame from his superiors, he will not put the responsibility on his subordinates, but take it on his own, which makes everyone admire him¡° Because I misjudged the direction of the German army''s action, I put the heavy troops in the wrong position, which made it easy for the German army to break through. "


    "Yes, you have an unshirkable responsibility for the German breakthrough." After Zhukov finished speaking, Stalin said without hesitation: "Comrade Antonov of the general staff once pointed out that the direction for Hubei to lead the breakout would not be the south, but the direction that could easily merge with their friendly forces. But what about you? However, he ignored the judgment of the general staff and went his own way to deploy the main force of the front army in the south. "


    I listened to Stalin''s lesson to Zhukov. At the same time, I thought: Zhukov, as the commander of the front army, would not accept the judgment provided by the general staff if he thought it was unreasonable. After all, it was him who commanded the army, not the general staff.


    While I was thinking wildly, I suddenly heard Stalin say: "in the last two offensive campaigns, you have made several wrong decisions in succession. As a result, the enemy who should have been annihilated by us fled from the encirclement we formed. After discussion in the highest base camp, we have decided to remove your position as commander of the front army. "


    Zhukov''s face turned black when he heard this. After several deep breaths, he tried to ask in a calm tone, "Comrade Stalin, I don''t know who you are going to replace me?"


    "Konev!" Stalin did not hesitate to say a familiar name: "I decided to let him command the first and second front forces of Ukraine." After these words, Stalin was silent for a moment, and then added, "I will let Comrade Antonov contact you about the specific handover." As soon as he said that, Stalin hung up.


    Zhukov put down the phone and sat in his seat without saying a word. Military commissar kleinukov wanted to come forward to persuade him. Standing beside him, sokolovsky quickly grabbed his sleeve and shook his head at him.


    "Comrades!" Just as we were standing uneasily, Zhukov suddenly looked up at us and said without expression, "I just received a call from Comrade Stalin, who informed me that I had been removed from the post of commander of the first front army of Ukraine."


    All three of us have just heard his dialogue with Stalin, so when we heard him say that, we all acted very ordinary. He continued: "the position of commander of the front army will be taken over by Marshal konev. According to Comrade Stalin, our first front army of Ukraine will merge with the second front army of Marshal konev to form a larger front army unit. "


    "Marshal," kleinukov said with a smile as soon as Zhukov finished speaking, probably to ease the dull atmosphere in the room. "If the two front armies are really merged, the total strength of the new front army will exceed one million. With such a large force, we can use the strength of a front army to launch a separate offensive campaign in a certain area. "


    "Yes, comrade military Commissar." Zhukov nodded his head and echoed: "at present, the remaining German forces in Ukraine can''t compete with our million troops. I don''t think it will be long before we can drive all the Germans in Ukraine out of the border. "¡° Marshal, "seeing that Zhukov''s mood recovered a little, sokolovsky tentatively asked," did Comrade Stalin say what kind of work will be arranged for you? "¡° It''s not clear. He said he would ask Comrade Antonov to call me As soon as Zhukov said that, the high-frequency telephone in front of him rang again. He pointed to the phone with a smile and said, "maybe it''s Antonov." With that, he grabbed the microphone, put it to his ear and said aloud, "Hello, I''m Zhukov. Is that Comrade Antonov?"¡° Yes, comrade Zhukov. " Indeed, Antonov''s familiar voice came from the receiver, "Comrade Stalin asked me to call you." Zhukov heard the other party say so, with a wry smile, and then asked: "Comrade Antonov, I don''t know where I am going to take charge of the work?"¡° Comrade Zhukov, the leader of the supreme command, after research, thinks that you are too tired recently and need to rest for a while. " After waiting for Zhukov to finish, Antonov said euphemistically, "so I''m going to recall you to Moscow, and I won''t arrange any work for you for the time being. Let you cultivate your body first."¡° No need to rest. " Zhukov replied impolitely: "under the current situation, I don''t have any leisure. I''d better send me to some place to form a new army."¡° Comrade Zhukov, you have misunderstood. " Antonov said with a smile: "to recall you to Moscow, in addition to giving you a rest, I am also ready to honor you in recognition of your great achievements."

 Chapter 1509

    The expression on Zhukov''s face didn''t change when he heard the award. After all, his chest was covered with medals. Even if he had one or two more, it didn''t matter to him. However, out of politeness, he casually asked, "Comrade Antonov, I don''t know what medal the supreme command has decided to award me?"


    "After the study of the supreme command," Antonov said slowly, "in recognition of your excellent command ability in the war and your great victory, I have decided to award you the medal of victory, which represents the highest military merit."


    "What? The medal of victory? " When Zhukov heard that Antonov had said the types of medals, he could not help being moved: "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, are you right? As far as I know, no one has received such a medal so far. "


    "Yes, comrade marshal." Antonov said with a smile: "the medal of victory was set up on November 8, 1943 on the order of the presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. This is the commander''s medal, which is specially awarded to the most senior commanders of the Soviet armed forces who successfully completed one or more large-scale campaigns participated in by the front forces and whose strategic situation has changed in favor of our army. The number of the medal you received is that Zhukov, who was in a good mood, stood up, took the hand that sokolovsky extended, and said friendly, "thank you, Vasili danilovic!"


    Then kleinukov went forward to congratulate Zhukov, and said with a smile: "marshal, I have seen the pattern of the medal of victory, which is a shining five pointed star with a white edge and a red background. In the middle is the design of the Kremlin surrounded by oak leaves. The top of the design is the abbreviation of" Soviet Union "and the bottom is the abbreviation of" victory ". It is said that the cost of the medal of victory is very high. The design of the Kremlin is made of gold. The blue sky is sapphire, the red ground is ruby, and the white edge and light are made of white gold bars inlaid with diamonds. "


    "Thank you, comrade military Commissar." Zhukov took kleinukov''s hand and said with a smile, "I like the oak tree on the medal. The oak tree is a symbol of courage."


    As they spoke, I tried to recall in my mind what I knew about the medal of victory. I soon summed up two characteristics: one is that the medal is the one with the least number of people among all the famous medals in the world. All the people who are awarded the medal are at a high level. Without exception, they are all senior commanders or heads of state of the army, and the lowest level is the general. By the time I crossed, I had awarded 20 medals to 17 people, including Stalin, Zhukov and vasilevsky.


    Just when I was thinking in my heart, if I could cross back, whether I should take Zhukov''s medal away and sell it at a high price for later generations, so as to feel the feeling of becoming a rich man. Suddenly I heard sokolovsky calling me in a low voice: "Comrade oshanina, comrade oshanina!"


    I was so absorbed in my thoughts that sokolovskilian called several times, which awakened me from my meditation. I looked at him blankly and asked, "chief of staff, what''s the matter?"


    Sokolovsky did not speak, but toward the direction of Zhukov nuzui. Seeing his little action, I knew immediately that it was my turn to congratulate Zhukov. I coughed softly, then walked quickly to the table, reached out to Zhukov, and politely said, "Comrade marshal, I wish you a" thank you, Rita, thank you! " Zhukov covered my hand with his warm and powerful hand. After shaking it hard for a few times, he stopped and said to me apologetically, "Rita, you are from rokosovsky. Originally, I wanted you to exercise here for a period of time to prepare for you to take over a certain army in the future. But... But... "


    Although Zhukov only said half of what he said, I understood what he meant. He was worried that people would leave and I would not be able to gain a foothold in the first front army of Ukraine after he left. It is not realistic for me to go back to the sixth group army, because the higher authorities have officially appointed chisjakov as commander; If after Zhukov left, my superiors would also transfer me, and my only place to go was to work in a certain city.


    However, in front of Zhukov, I still pretended to be indifferent: "marshal, thank you for your concern. But don''t worry. I think you''re going back to Moscow this time because the Supreme Commander himself intends to let you have a good rest out of his love for you. It won''t be long before you command the troops again and launch a new offensive campaign. "


    Zhukov was stunned for a moment when he heard my answer. Then he asked in a low voice, "will the second battlefield really be opened up?"


    I nodded and answered in the same voice: "Britain and the United States see that the German army is a little overwhelmed by our strong attack. If they don''t open up a second battlefield in Europe as soon as possible, their interests will be affected. " Although I understand the reasons why Britain and the United States are reluctant to open the second campaign through the later declassified materials, at this time, I can only use other reasons to deal with Zhukov.


    After listening to my opinion, Zhukov pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Rita, you have a good point. I guess that''s the real situation."


    I took a sneak look at sokolovsky and kleinukov standing nearby. They were talking in a low voice. They didn''t seem to notice what Zhukov and I were talking about at all, and they were a little more stable. At this time, a staff officer walked up to us quickly, straightened his back and reported to Zhukov, "marshal, I just received a call from the airport saying that marshal konev''s plane landed five minutes ago, and they are coming towards the headquarters."¡° Is konev here? " After listening to the staff officer''s report, Zhukov''s face immediately became serious. He said to me with a wry smile, "I didn''t expect him to come so soon!"¡° Marshal, "sokolovsky also heard the staff officer''s report, so he stopped talking with kleinukov, went to Zhukov and asked," do you need to send someone to meet them? "¡° No, comrade chief of staff, no need to meet. " Zhukov waved his hand and said, "konev doesn''t care about these superficial articles. You''d better get ready to hand over the work to them as soon as possible."

 Chapter 1510

    According to my guess, Zhukov will not have a good look at konev, who will take over his post. Maybe he will make a few sarcastic remarks. I thought to myself in my heart, if this happens, should I come forward to persuade or keep silent and look on coldly?


    When konev and another general entered the headquarters, the whole room was quiet. Zhukov got up from his seat and met konev. Sokolovsky and I followed.


    Zhukov and konev stopped two or three steps apart. Neither of them spoke, but they just looked at each other silently. Seeing this scene, my heart could not help but panic. My heart said that Zhukov would not give konev a punch directly. Although I have never heard of a fight between senior commanders, some things are not afraid of ten thousand, just in case. In case Zhukov really loses control of his emotions, everything is possible.


    "Hello, marshal konev!" Just as I was worried, Zhukov suddenly said, "welcome to the first front army of Ukraine." Then he reached out to konev.


    "Hello, comrade Zhukov!" Konev quickly took Zhukov''s hand and said with a smile, "I have been ordered to take your place!"


    They held each other''s right hands tightly. After shaking for a few times, they gave each other a big hug and patted each other''s back with their empty left hands.


    Seeing the intimacy between them, I knew that I was thinking too much. Zhukov''s mind was much broader than I thought. If there was a trace of melancholy when he heard that Stalin had just removed him from his post, he had put the matter down completely at the moment.


    After the separation, Zhukov began to introduce his deputy to konev in accordance with the usual practice: "Comrade konev, this is my military commissar kleinukov."


    "Hello, comrade Marshal!" As soon as kleinukov and Zhukov finished speaking, they quickly came forward to shake hands with konev.


    After kraniukov and konev shook hands, Zhukov pointed to sokolovsky and said, "you know my chief of staff, I won''t introduce you."


    "Hello, comrade sokolovsky." Konev once served as the commander of the Western Front Army twice. Naturally, he was familiar with the former chief of staff of the Western Front Army. He shook hands and said, "I didn''t expect that we would be together again."


    Konev loosened sokolovsky''s hand. Before Zhukov finished, he took the initiative to hold my hand and said with a friendly smile: "Hello, Rita, long time no see. How are you recently?"


    "I''m fine, comrade Marshal! Thank you for your concern. " I quickly took konev''s hand and said with a smile, "nice to meet you here!"


    "By the way, comrade konev." Seeing konev shaking hands with me, Zhukov suddenly interrupted and asked, "after you take over my post, I don''t know how to arrange Rita. Do you want her to come back to Moscow with me, or are you going to arrange her to work in other places?"


    Konev released my hand, faced Zhukov and said, "marshal, I have been ordered to come here to take your place. As for Rita, "he said after looking at me," since the superior has not explained, I don''t think it''s inappropriate for her to continue to be the deputy commander of the front army. "


    "Well, that''s fine." As for konev''s answer, Zhukov nodded his head with satisfaction and said, "Lida has been in several army groups below. She knows the situation of the front army very well. With her cooperation, I believe it will be much easier for you to carry out your work in the future."


    "Yes, I think so too." Konev said to Zhukov with a smile: "Rita is a very capable commander. With her help, I believe our work in the next stage will be better carried out." After these two words, he suddenly remembered the commander who followed him. Before he could introduce him to you, he turned to the general and said, "this is my chief of staff, general zaharov."


    "Hello, comrade zaharov." While shaking hands with zaharov, Zhukov turned to konev and said, "I knew zaharov as early as when he was deputy commander of the 16th group army. He was an excellent commander with fighting spirit. He once organized the defense war of klin Taiyangshan city in the defense war of Moscow."


    Colin: the defensive battle of sun mountain city? Zhukov''s words remind me that a few years ago, when I was the commander of the eighth division of the guards, with the cooperation of the katukov tank brigade, I successfully liberated Taiyangshan city from the German hands.


    As soon as I thought of it, I heard Zhukov say, "Comrade konev, do you remember? During the Moscow war, I took Rita to take over the post of commander of the Western army. I didn''t expect you to take over my post today. It''s an interesting cycle. "


    "Comrade marshal, do you remember that?" When konev heard Zhukov mention this, his face suddenly showed a bright smile. If Zhukov didn''t show up in time at that time, he might be taken back to Moscow by voroshlov and Molotov, and sent to the military court, and then he would end up like general Pavlov. He looked at me and said to Zhukov, "when I handed over the command to you, Rita was a witness. I didn''t expect that a few years later, today it''s my turn to take over your post. Rita is still a witness. "


    "Yeah, yeah, it''s so interesting." Zhukov''s mood became more relaxed at the moment: "when she was an ordinary commander, now she has become a famous general."¡° According to the prisoner''s confession, I heard that some German commanders, knowing that the troops they were facing were not under Rita''s command, would secretly congratulate themselves. It seems that in two years'' time, her name will completely surpass those of us old guys. " After praising me for a few words, konev changed the topic: "marshal, are we going to take over immediately? We need to know that the plane that will take you back to Moscow is still waiting for you at the airport."¡° The plane to take me back to Moscow? " Zhukov asked unexpectedly, "why don''t I know about this?"¡° Well, "konev explained to Zhukov as if he didn''t know anything about it," the pilot from Moscow has sent me an order to take over your command. He also has an order to send you back to Moscow today. "¡° Comrade konev, let''s start the handover now! " When Zhukov finished his sentence, he pointed to sokolovsky, then to zaharov, and asked tentatively, "are they going to hand over, too?"¡° There is no need for this, "konev said, waving his hand." although the Supreme Command intends to merge the first and second aspects of Ukraine, it will still retain two command systems in a short period of time. The work of the first front army is still in the charge of Rita and sokolovsky, so they don''t need to take over for the time being. " After Zhukov found out the situation, he immediately pulled konev to his desk and started the formal handover.

 Chapter 1511

    During the Moscow defense war, I witnessed konev hand over the command of the Western army to Zhukov. Now Zhukov handed over the Ukrainian "Medal of victory" to konev Khrushchev was stunned for a moment when I said this. Then he laughed and said in a relaxed tone: "it turns out that he went back to Moscow to receive the medal of victory. It seems that I am worried about it."


    Khrushchev gave a dry smile and said to me, "by the way, Rita, I have another piece of good news for you."


    "Good news?" When I heard what Khrushchev said, I knew that it must be exciting good news. I urged, "Comrade Khrushchev, I don''t know what the good news is. Please tell me."


    "According to the information we just got, because the breakthrough of Hube''s troops violated Hitler''s order to defend Ukraine, Manstein, who was directly responsible for this incident, was severely reprimanded by Hitler and dismissed from his post. And with him was marshal klester Khrushchev said excitedly: "Manstein, the most talented German marshal, was dismissed by Hitler. For our army, it is tantamount to losing a strong opponent."


    "You''re right. It''s great news for us that Manstein has been dismissed." As I digested the sudden good news, I continued to ask, "I don''t know who will take their place?"


    "Hitler renamed the two army groups in Ukraine as the North Ukraine army group and the south Ukraine army group, and appointed marshal Modr and general schelner as commander respectively. It seems that Hitler placed great hope on them, believing that they could be competent for this position, and that they would be more resolute in carrying out their own orders and fighting with our army tenaciously. " Khrushchev said this with a heavy snort, and then added with disdain: "we will prove to Hitler by action that his two commanders will fail even worse than their predecessors."


    "You are right." I agree with Khrushchev''s statement that "the German army without Manstein is like a toothless tiger. In the face of our powerful attack, any resistance they make will be futile."


    Just when I thought Khrushchev would hang up, I heard him saying, "by the way, Rita, I have one more thing to ask you."


    "Go ahead, comrade Khrushchev." Listening to him speaking to me in this tone, I said politely: "I can''t ask for advice. As long as it''s something I know, I will tell you truthfully."


    "Today, when you came with Zhukov, I wanted to talk about it with you. As a result, I was so upset about vatukin that I forgot it." Khrushchev said hastily, "there is a problem in our recruitment work. There are 20 recruitment centers in the city. As a result, no more than 50 people sign up every day. Do you have any good way to solve this problem? "


    I surmised in my heart that Khrushchev might have been ruled by the Germans for several years, and the Ukrainians still had some resistance to the Soviet army. Although they would not confront the Soviet Army openly, it was still possible to make a small move in private. In order to resolve this contradiction, it is not good to rely on propaganda alone. We can only find another way to find other ways.


    After thinking about it for a long time, I think that by learning from some of the policies of the Chinese nation towards soldiers, we may be able to improve the current unfavorable situation. Thinking of this, I said to the microphone, "Comrade Khrushchev, I think we can do both. One is to put up "military dependents" in the homes of soldiers who join the army; The second is to improve the food ration standards of military families, such as giving 100 grams of bread more every day. In doing so, the enthusiasm of the residents to join the army should be greatly enhanced. "


    The first reason why I put forward these two suggestions is that both Russians and Ukrainians attach great importance to honor. If the glory card of "military dependents" is hung, families with relatives in the family who serve as soldiers will appear extremely glorious in front of others. Secondly, after the liberation of Kiev, the rationing certificate has been implemented. Each family rationed food according to the population. Military families can raise the quota standard, which is also a great temptation to those young people of the right age. When I finished, I waited quietly for Khrushchev''s reply.


    "That''s great, Rita. That''s a great suggestion you''ve made!" After thinking for a while, Khrushchev applauded my proposal. He repeatedly said, "I''ll put up a notice at the recruitment station early tomorrow morning to publicize the two kinds of military treatment you mentioned. I don''t believe in such conditions and can''t recruit new soldiers."


    As soon as I put down the phone, konev walked into the headquarters from the outside. When he saw me standing at my desk talking to someone on a high-frequency phone, he frowned slightly. "Rita, where''s the call from?"


    "Report to marshal. It''s comrade Khrushchev calling from Kiev." I stood at attention and reported to konev.


    "What did Khrushchev say?" Konev walked quickly up to me and asked nervously, "is there any accident?"


    I didn''t understand what konev meant by the accident, but I still truthfully reported what Khrushchev said to him. When he heard that Manstein had been dismissed, he couldn''t help laughing. Then he turned to sokolovsky and said to them, "comrades commander, although the doctor warned me not to drink, I think it''s worth a drink for such good news."


    "Comrade marshal, there''s good wine in the headquarters. I''ll send it here." Sokolovsky said and yelled out: "come on!" With the shouting, a soldier came in from the door, faced sokolovsky and asked, "chief of staff, what instructions do you have?"¡° You go to my room at once Sokolovsky went up to the soldier and said, "bring me the bottle of good wine I put in the cupboard. Do you understand? "

 Chapter 1512

    The conscription proposal I gave Khrushchev achieved remarkable results in a few days. When he called me, there was constant laughter, and he was very happy to hear: "Rita, the advice you gave me is really great. At that time, with a dubious attitude, I asked people to post a notice at the recruiting station. As a result, there was a long line at the gate of the recruiting station that afternoon, so that our comrades in charge of the recruitment could not be busy at all. "


    Although I heard what Khrushchev said, I still felt a little uneasy. I carefully asked, "Comrade Khrushchev, I don''t know how many people sign up to join the army every day?"


    "In addition to workers, collective farm workers, students, and some disabled veterans, they signed up for the event." Khrushchev happily said: "damn the German guy." After listening to sokolovsky read the phone, I said angrily, "he''s fast this time, but we''ll deal with him sooner or later."


    "Who are you going to deal with, Rita?" Khrushchev''s puzzled voice suddenly came from the receiver, and I found that I didn''t know when I had released my hand covering the microphone.


    In order to prevent Khrushchev from misunderstandings, I quickly explained to him, "well, comrade Khrushchev. We have just received information that Hube successfully escaped from the encirclement of our army for commanding troops, was promoted to General of the army by Hitler, and was awarded a jeweled Iron Cross of Knight of oak leaf. "


    I just said this to Khrushchev in a very objective tone, but I didn''t expect that he said angrily after hearing this: "this damned one armed general was surrounded by us last time in Stalingrad. Unexpectedly, Hitler sent someone to pick him up from the encirclement before the sixth group army was completely annihilated. I thought he was surrounded by us this time, and it must be impossible for him to escape, but I let him run away. "


    Khrushchev was silent for a while, and then said to me, "Rita, if you have a chance to surround his troops in the future, promise me that you will never let him escape again!"


    "Don''t worry, comrade Khrushchev." Although I have never heard of this man in the history that I know, he is certainly not among the German generals who stick to Berlin, so I answered with confidence: "no more than three things. Although he escaped the first two times, as long as we surround his troops again, he will never escape from the encirclement again."


    Seeing that I had finished my conversation with Khrushchev, konev, who had been walking back and forth in the room, stopped. He went back to the table, sat down, lit a cigarette, looked up and asked me, "Rita, what did you talk about with Comrade Khrushchev?"


    Seeing that konev was so interested in the conversation between Khrushchev and me, I reported to him with a smile: "he told me that more than 50000 soldiers could be recruited within ten days. After a short period of military training, these recruits will be able to supplement those troops with a relatively large shortage of troops. "


    After listening, konev had a smile on his tense face: "great, this is really great. I was worried about the shortage of soldiers. After screening, the 70000 prisoners of war rescued were robbed by all the troops. In this way, we still have a large shortage of troops. Khrushchev can really supply us with another 50000 troops. That''s just timely help. "


    "With all due respect, marshal." Sokolovsky interjected: "even if Comrade Khrushchev has added a large number of soldiers to us, it will take a long time for new recruits to form combat effectiveness. We can''t be too blindly optimistic about this."


    After listening to sokolovsky''s views, konev shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "Comrade chief of staff, if the troops are not replenished in time, we will not be able to launch a new attack. As for the problem of more recruits, we certainly don''t have much time to wait for them to complete training. We have to take the form of fighting instead of training so that the troops can form combat effectiveness as soon as possible. "


    "Fight instead of practice?" After listening to konev''s words, sokolovsky could not help but show his disapproval. Fortunately, they were old partners, so he spoke casually: "Comrade marshal, the recruits have not received enough military training to fight. The effect is limited. Even if they defeat the enemy, they will pay a heavy price."


    "Do you have any good idea?" Konev put out his cigarette in the crystal ashtray and looked up at sokolovsky, "chief of staff, what can you do to make the recruits form combat effectiveness as soon as possible without causing too much damage?"


    "I remember Comrade o''shanina once said: sweat more in peacetime and bleed less in wartime." Sokolovsky looked at me with eyes and continued: "I think it can only increase the training intensity of recruits and let them work hard to train all kinds of tactical skills, including stabbing, shooting, bombing and fortification. We have to train new recruits regardless of price, consumption or even loss, so that they can form combat effectiveness in a short period of time. "


    "Chief of staff, your method sounds reasonable, but there are many problems in actual operation." For sokolovsky''s method, konev thought for a while, and finally shook his head: "under such training intensity, even if the recruits barely reach the qualified standard, but they have not really been on the battlefield, can you guarantee that they will not panic after hearing the gunshot? Maybe many people will be completely flustered when they hear the gun ring, and even forget how to shoot. "


    Seeing that his opinion was denied, sokolovsky gave a wry smile, then shut up and did not continue to argue with konev. When konev saw that sokolovsky did not speak, he cast his eyes on me and asked with a smile, "Rita, what can I do for you?" In fact, I very much agree with the method of replacing training with war proposed by konev. At the moment, when he asked me, he immediately replied, "marshal, I think your method of replacing training with war is very good, which is conducive to the formation of combat effectiveness in the short term."¡° To be specific. " Obviously, konev was not satisfied with the way I expressed my opinion in a few words, so he asked, "how can I replace practice with war?"¡° Marshal, I think you should be very clear about how general watujing, the former commander of the front army, died? " When I said this, I stopped for a moment. After he nodded his approval, I went on to say, "there are still many such anti Soviet guerrillas in our occupied areas. No, to be exact, they are bandits. There are not many of them, and their combat effectiveness is not very strong. I think we can make our recruits regard the suppression of these bandits as training, and give them a chance to see their blood through continuous fighting, so as to increase their actual combat experience. Comrade marshal, do you think this is OK? "¡° Yes, that''s a good idea When konev heard my proposal, his eyes suddenly brightened. He nodded and said, "use new soldiers to suppress bandits, so that they can have a chance to see blood and increase their actual combat experience. I think that''s OK." Then he turned to ask sokolovsky, "chief of staff, what''s your opinion?"¡° "Marshal," sokolovsky thought for a moment, and then replied, "I don''t think it''s just recruits. We must have veterans and backbone soldiers. Only when such troops are pulled out can we finish the task of suppressing bandits."¡° Let me add a little more. " After sokolovsky finished speaking, konev said: "more experienced commanders and fighters will be transferred to the new troops. The backbone of the fighting will be the platoon leader. The former platoon leader will be promoted to company commander, and the company commander will be promoted to battalion commander. As long as we fight a few battles, our troops will gradually become effective. When we launch the final attack on the German army, these new soldiers who have already formed combat capacity can be put to use. " As soon as konev finished speaking, sokolovsky was a little impatient. He stood up and said excitedly, "Comrade marshal, I''m going to select the troops. As soon as the additional soldiers from Kiev arrive, I''ll organize them." Seeing that sokolovsky couldn''t wait, konev shook his head with a bitter smile and said helplessly: "chief of staff, don''t worry. Comrade Khrushchev is still recruiting. It will take at least a week to send us the recruits one after another." Sokolovsky scratched the back of his head and said with a shy smile: "I also want to make the troops form combat effectiveness as soon as possible, so that when we launch an offensive against the German army, our chances of winning will be higher." Konev patted the map spread out in front of him with his hand and said: "anyway, there are still several days for the recruits to come. We''d better seize the time to study which area of bandits should be the primary target of attack."¡° Is that true? " Sokolovsky restrained the smile on his face, pointed to a point on the map, and said firmly: "let''s eliminate the bandits here first. Comrade vatukin was attacked in this area at the beginning, and we want to avenge him."

 Chapter 1513

    The next evening, we received an order from the Supreme Command: in order to command the troops and ensure the safety of the command, the first front army command of Ukraine should move from Toki town northeast of vorochsk to Rovno on April 22.


    When he received the order, konev said with regret: "it''s a pity that Toki is the most completely preserved town I''ve ever seen."


    "Marshal," sokolovsky said with some pride after hearing konev''s feeling, "it''s mainly because the commanders and fighters of our first front army moved quickly and we occupied here before the German army could destroy the city."


    I looked at the map and asked, "marshal, I have a question. If we want to command the first and second front forces, the most suitable position should be tarnopol, which we liberated some time ago. How can we choose Rovno to the north?"


    "Rovno is closer to Belarus." Konev said thoughtfully: "according to my analysis, the supreme command will have a big operation in Belarus. In order to facilitate our cooperation with the Belarusian front army, it is completely correct to set the headquarters of the front army in Rovno."


    Just when konev arranged for sokolovsky to be in charge of the relocation, kleinukov ran in from the outside like a gust of wind. He carried a telegram in his hand and said excitedly: "good news, good news, comrades commander!"


    "Comrades of the military commissar," konev looked at the emotional kleinukov and asked curiously, "where are you from?"


    As he handed the telegram to konev, kleinukov said excitedly: "I just came back from the troops below. When I passed by the telegraph room, I saw that a communication staff was going to send you a telegram. I took it and saw that it was exciting news, so I brought it back directly."


    "Comrades of the military commissar," sokolovsky asked eagerly when he saw that kleinukov was so happy, "what''s the good news, tell it quickly?"


    Before kleinukov spoke, konev put down the telegram and said to us with a smile, "comrades in command, it''s really good news. This is a German telegram just intercepted by our army. It says that Hube, who was promoted to General of the army only yesterday, crashed on his way back to Berlin by plane. According to the report from the German army participating in the search, all 15 people on board, including the pilot, were killed. "


    "Hube''s dead?" Konev said the news, let me surprised, quickly asked: "the news has been confirmed?"


    "There should be no mistake." Konev tapped the telegram on the table with his finger and said confidently, "if the German search team didn''t find Hubert''s body, they wouldn''t have sent such a telegram to Berlin."


    Sokolovsky did not follow suit. When konev finished, he suddenly asked with great vigilance, "do you think this is a German conspiracy?"


    "Chief of staff, you think too much." Konev waved to sokolovsky and continued: "the battle between us and the German army has come to an end for the time being. At this time, there is no need for the Germans to concoct a false intelligence to us. Therefore, I can conclude that Hube''s death in the air crash is a firm fact. "


    "Marshal, I think it is necessary for us to report this to the higher authorities." I thought that maybe we were the first people to know about Hube''s death. Such important information should be reported to the supreme command immediately: "so that the general staff can formulate future combat plans based on this information."


    "Yes, Rita, you are right. This information needs to be reported to the superior immediately." As soon as konev spoke, he picked up the high-frequency telephone on his desk and directly dialed the general staff to find Antonov.


    Antonov just called us half an hour ago to convey the order of the supreme command to transfer the headquarters. At the moment, seeing konev call himself suddenly, he can''t help feeling a little flustered. He worried that something had gone wrong, and quickly asked: "marshal konev, do you have anything important to call now?"


    "Yes, my deputy chief of general staff." "I have an important news to report to you immediately," said konev, smiling into the microphone


    "Comrade konev, what''s the matter?" Konev''s words made Antonov even more nervous. He said something out of tune: "can''t it be your... Your... Headquarters transfer... Thing?"


    "Of course not," konev repeated the contents of the telegram we intercepted to the other side without any more riddles with Antonov. Finally, he said strongly, "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, please check the truth of the information through the intelligence agency."


    "Don''t worry, marshal konev." Antonov breathed a sigh of relief, and then said, "I will report this matter to Comrade Stalin immediately, and let the intelligence agencies verify the information."


    As soon as konev finished his phone call, I asked him, "Comrade marshal, can I make a call?"


    "Rita, are you going to call?" Konev listened to me with a puzzled expression on his face, but he was soon relieved: "Oh, I see. Are you going to call Comrade Khrushchev and tell him the good news?"


    "Yes." Seeing that konev had guessed my idea, I nodded my head and replied, "in addition to telling him the good news immediately, I also hope that he can send the new recruits as soon as possible. In this way, we will be able to form an anti bandit force immediately. "


    "You are very considerate, Rita." "Now you can call Kiev," konev said, pushing the high-frequency phone in front of me


    The person who answered the phone was Khrushchev''s secretary. When he heard my voice, he politely said, "sorry, general oshanina, comrade Khrushchev is in a meeting..."


    Without waiting for him to finish, I said, "secretary, please go now and ask Khrushchev to answer the phone. I have an important message to inform him."


    "Can you tell me?" The Secretary asked tentatively, "I''ll pass it on to you after the meeting."


    "No way," I firmly refused his offer, and said sternly, "I''m still saying that. Please go and ask Comrade Khrushchev to answer the phone immediately."


    The Secretary saw that I was so stubborn that he couldn''t help falling into a dilemma. If someone else had made this call, he would have hung up long ago. It was because of the friendship between Khrushchev and me that he hesitated.


    After waiting for a moment, I saw that the Secretary neither hung up the phone nor said to go to Khrushchev, so I added: "don''t worry, secretary. If Khrushchev blames me, I will say good things for you."


    After getting my promise, the Secretary said reluctantly, "well, general oshanina, I''ll go to Comrade Khrushchev. But I can''t guarantee whether he will answer the phone or not. "


    A few minutes later, Khrushchev''s displeased voice came from the receiver: "Rita, do you have anything important? I''m calling a meeting of leaders at all levels in the state and the city to talk about the restoration of industrial production and the reconstruction of collective farms. "


    As soon as Khrushchev finished speaking, I went straight to the main topic and said, "Comrade Khrushchev, I''m calling to tell you a big piece of good news: Hube is dead!"


    Khrushchev was so shocked by my unexpected news that he didn''t speak for a long time. After a long time, he tentatively asked, "Rita, did I hear you right? Hube''s dead?! Did you air drop an action team to the enemy''s defense area yesterday and kill him by surprise? "


    I admire Khrushchev''s imagination, so I said: Hube is dead. He even thought that we sent an action team to carry out the assassination mission in the enemy''s rear¡° Comrade Khrushchev, we have not sent any action teams. Hube died in a plane crash on his way to Berlin during the day. "


    "Has this information been verified?" When Khrushchev learned about the cause of Hube''s death, the first question he thought was the same as I thought: "can''t it be the rumor spread by German spies?"


    "The news of Hube''s death in the air crash came from the interception of German telegrams." Khrushchev''s suspicions are reasonable. Hube''s death will have some influence on the future war situation. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to be cautious. I repeated what konev had just said and explained to him: "the battle between us and the German army has come to an end for the time being. There is no need for the Germans to concoct such false news to deceive us. If they do, they may not be able to deceive us in the end, but will cause military unrest. "


    "It seems to be true?" I''ve already said that, Khrushchev said with half faith.


    "Yes, comrade Khrushchev." I stressed again, "this information has been reported to the general staff. General Antonov will ask the intelligence department to verify this information."


    When I said this, Khrushchev finally confirmed that the information I told him was not a joke, but real. He sighed a long time and said in a relaxed tone, "Hube is dead. It''s so good. Although he escaped from the encirclement of our army twice, he still failed to escape the fate. "


    After reporting the news of Hubei''s death to Khrushchev, I went on to talk about business: "Comrade Khrushchev, I want to ask, how many recruits have you recruited at present?"


    After I asked, Khrushchev''s voice of turning the paper came from the receiver, as if he was looking at the data reported below. After a while, his voice came out from the receiver again: "as of today, we have recruited 36000 new soldiers."


    "Comrade Khrushchev," when I heard that so many recruits had been recruited, my heart beat faster and I couldn''t wait to ask, "can you bring all these recruits to the front line by train?"


    "Is it too early to transport the new soldiers now?" Khrushchev also kindly reminded me: "the recruits have no special military training or combat experience. At this time, they will be incorporated into the army, which will dilute the combat effectiveness of the army."


    "Well, comrade Khrushchev." Seeing that he was not willing to send the newly recruited soldiers to the front line at such a time, I quickly gave him a brief report on the plan of "replacing training with war" that we discussed last night.


    After listening to my report, Khrushchev was silent for a while. Then he said, "OK, I''ll send a train to deliver 5000 new soldiers to you tomorrow."¡° Five thousand people? " When I heard that only 5000 recruits were given, I felt a little disappointed, because this number was less than one sixth of his recruits. So I continued to plead, "Comrade Khrushchev, 5000 is too few, at least 10000."¡° I''ll tell you the truth, Rita As soon as I finished, Khrushchev immediately explained to me, "these 5000 recruits are all equipped with new uniforms and weapons. If you want 10000 people, you may be left with the weapons and uniforms of the recruits, and you can only rely on yourself to solve the problem. " When Khrushchev said this, I quickly covered the microphone with my hand and turned to konev, who was standing across the table, for help. Konev listened to the conversation between Khrushchev and me clearly. Seeing me looking at him at the moment, he nodded vigorously, and then said decisively, "Rita, promise him that we will solve the problem ourselves for the remaining 5000 recruits'' weapons and uniforms." I quickly released my hand covering the microphone and said to the microphone, "well, comrade Khrushchev, we will solve the weapons and uniforms that the remaining 5000 recruits need." When I put down the phone, sokolovsky immediately asked konev, "marshal, we are seriously short of weapons and military supplies. I don''t know where we should go to find the weapons and uniforms that these 5000 recruits need." Konev pointed to the map and said to sokolovsky: "Comrade chief of staff, you see shepetovka, which is southwest of Rovno, was the military warehouse of the southwest front army before the war. According to the reports of the troops occupying the area, there are still a large number of our weapons and military supplies seized by the German army in the warehouse, which we can use to arm our recruits. "¡° Shepetovka has been occupied by the German army for three years, "sokolovsky said with a surprised face." hasn''t the German army removed all the materials in it? "¡° You have to know that the weapons and military materials stored there were enough for the southwest army to use for one year at that time. " Konev gave a wry smile and said to himself, "the Germans may not look up to our army''s weapons and equipment, and feel that they do not have their weapons. Therefore, after occupying that area, except for military materials, weapons and ammunition are basically not used."

 Chapter 1514

    After the completion of the relocation of the new headquarters, konev called all the group army commanders, military commissars and chief of staff of the two front armies to Rovno for a meeting to deploy the upcoming anti bandit work.


    At the beginning of the meeting, konev spoke first. After greeting the commander of the group army sitting below, he gave his voice to chief of staff sokolovsky, who read out the decision of the front army to suppress bandits.


    It took sokolovsky ten minutes to read to all the people our plan for suppressing bandits. Finally, he asked, "comrades, do you have any questions?"


    As soon as his words came to an end, a general stood up. I immediately recognized him as moss kalenko, commander of the 38th army. He said with an unhappy face: "Comrade chief of staff, it is inevitable that there are some anti Soviet guerrillas or bandits in the newly liberated areas. But isn''t it a bit overqualified to use large forces to eliminate bandits? We should know that our regular field forces are not vigilant forces for maintaining public order. Our task is to fight tenaciously with the German invading forces, not to deal with those vulnerable bandits. "


    "Yes, I think Comrade Moskalenko is right." As soon as he finished speaking, a general sitting next to him stood up: "the scale of these anti Soviet guerrillas is not large. There are only a dozen or so people less, but only two or three hundred more. Is it a bit of a fuss for us to use tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of troops to wipe them out? "


    Major general MALEKIN, commander of the 40th army, is the one who agrees with Moskalenko. He is the successor of Moskalenko and has always been the only one who takes the lead. After the two men clarified their views, the leaders of the group army sitting below also began to talk to each other.


    Hearing the sudden buzzing below, the livid faced diniev slapped the table. When the room was quiet again, he stood up and said angrily, "comrades, please note that we are holding a meeting of the leaders of the front army. It''s not proper to buy vegetables in the vegetable market. What''s so noisy?"


    After that, he turned his eyes to Moskalenko and marekin, who were still standing there. After a moment''s silence, he asked, "general Moskalenko, what are the casualties of your army in these months of fighting?"


    I was surprised to hear that konev didn''t blame the other party and asked a question that seemed to be out of touch with each other. But I immediately understood why konev asked this question. He skillfully combined the contradiction between the shortage of troops in various groups and the low fighting quality of recruits through this question.


    Moskalenko may be ready to be scolded when he asks questions. I didn''t expect that konev didn''t just scold him. He would also ask him about the casualties of his troops with concern. He hesitated for a long time before answering: "Comrade marshal, you should have seen the casualties reported by our group army. Here, I would like to report to you once again that in the offensive campaign, the casualties of all divisions exceeded one third, and the casualties of individual regiments even reached half. "


    After he finished, konev asked leisurely, "Comrade Moskalenko, if you want to launch another offensive campaign, do you need additional troops in your group army?"


    "It''s no use saying that, comrade marshal." Moskalenko hastened to reply: "a large number of combat casualties have seriously affected the combat effectiveness of our department. If we do not add new soldiers, it may be difficult for our department to complete the combat tasks in a separate direction in the next battle."


    "Comrade Moskalenko, the only new recruits that can supplement you now are those who have just been recruited." Konev asked Moskalenko flatly: "how do you plan to improve the technical and tactical level of the recruits in a short time, so that the troops can regain their combat effectiveness?"


    In response to konev''s question, Moskalenko thought for a while and replied, "marshal, we can only strengthen the training intensity of recruits and improve their technical and tactical level as soon as possible."


    "All right, Comrade General." Konev asked sternly, "judging from the current situation, you only have one or two months to train new recruits. How can you guarantee that the recruits who have never been to the battlefield will not panic when they hear the sound of guns, feel the explosion of shells falling on their side, and see the speeding tanks rushing towards them, and can they display all the skills and tactics they have learned? "


    Moskalenko pondered for a long time, finally shook his head and said in frustration: "marshal, you are right. No matter how well the recruits practice in the training field, if they have not been on the battlefield, they will not be able to form combat effectiveness." At the moment, he finally realized what a stupid question he had put himself in such an embarrassing situation.


    "Sit down, comrade Moskalenko. By the way, and you, general MALEKIN, please sit down, too But fortunately, there are a large number of konev adults. Seeing that Moskalenko voluntarily admitted his mistakes, he did not go deep into them. After greeting the two men to sit down, he continued: "we have married the recruits and the veterans with rich combat experience to eliminate the bandits with weak combat effectiveness, just to let our recruits listen to the sound of guns and see blood, so that they can grow up as soon as possible and form combat effectiveness in a short time. Do you understand? "


    After listening to konev''s explanation, the commander here immediately replied neatly, "I see!"


    "Now that you understand," konev continued with a wave of his hand, "let the chief of staff announce to you the areas responsible for each group army and the number of troops to be supplied in the near future."


    Sokolovsky took out the plan we had worked out for a long time and read the bandit suppression areas in charge of each group army and the number of soldiers who could get supplies. After reading all the contents, sokolovsky bent down and politely asked konev, "marshal, what else do you need to add?"


    Konev shook his head, then stood up and said, "comrades, this is the end of today''s meeting. You can go back to your troops to make preparations."


    When all the commanders who came to the meeting left, konev looked at me and said, "Rita, I want to talk to you."


    As soon as konev said this, sokolovsky and kleinukov, who were sitting next to him, immediately packed up what was in front of them and left the conference room.


    Looking at konev with a smile on his face, I asked nervously, "marshal, do you have anything important?"


    "When you came from Belarus, did you take a major with you?" Asked konev.


    "Yes, comrade marshal." If konev didn''t say that, I almost forgot the existence of bukov. Since konev asked at this time, I quickly replied, "because the road from Belarus is not safe, so I took a guard company to pass, led by the deputy head of the guard regiment, major bukov."


    "I talked with this major two days ago. I know that he has participated in many important battles and made many achievements." Konev, who had contact with bukov, said to me in a regretful tone: "such an excellent commander, don''t you think it''s a bit too wasteful to put him in the headquarters?"


    "Comrade marshal," I agree with what konev said. When I first met bukov, he was commanding a fighter battalion. Although he was a militia, I could see that he had a certain command ability. But a few years later, he was still a small major, and his position was just a deputy head of the guard regiment without any real power. Especially after he escorted me to Ukraine, he was basically refrigerated. At the moment, hearing konev''s reminder, I was a little embarrassed to say: "I was thoughtless. If you don''t remind me, I almost forgot him."


    "What are you going to do?" Asked konev.


    "What about major bukov?" Konev''s problem really gives me a headache. There is no suitable post for bukov in the security office of the front army headquarters, so he has been in a state of doing nothing: "now there is no suitable post for him in the security office. If it is really not possible, I plan to let him take the post of deputy commander or battalion commander in the army. Comrade marshal, do you think this is OK? "


    "I don''t think so." As for my proposal, konev denied it almost without thinking. Seeing my disappointed expression, he said to himself, "as you have said, he has been the deputy head of the guard regiment in your headquarters, and has not participated in the battle for a long time. It''s a bit too abrupt to rashly put him to the next unit to take the post of commander. I think he should be honed before he is put into the army. "


    After listening to konev''s words, I immediately understood that he might have figured out how to arrange bukov, so I asked humbly, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know how you intend to use him?"


    "Aren''t we going to launch an anti bandit operation soon?" Konev reminded me: "you can let bukov take a force composed of your guard company and recruits to join the anti bandit operation. As long as he is outstanding, I can not only promote his rank, but also directly appoint him to the post of commander. "


    "Thank you, comrade marshal." After listening to konev''s consideration, I quickly stood up, offered my hand to him, and said gratefully, "on behalf of major bukov, I thank you!"


    Konev and I shook hands, then let go, and then said to me casually, "Rita, there''s nothing to do at the moment, so you can go to major bukov and give him the task of suppressing bandits."


    After thanking konev again, I left the meeting room and found bukov sleeping in the military dormitory in the basement. I pushed bukov, who was sleeping. When I felt that his eyes were about to open, I said in a sarcastic tone, "Hey, comrade major, what time is it? You''re going to sleep. You''re not afraid that you won''t be able to sleep after dark."


    Bukov opened his eyes and saw that I was standing in front of the bed. He immediately jumped down from the bed, stood barefoot on the ground, raised his hand and saluted me. He was a little surprised and said, "Comrade commander, why are you here?"


    I went to the table, found a chair to sit down, looked at him and said, "it seems that I haven''t seen you for more than a month, so I came to see you today."


    Listen to me, bukov let out a sigh of disappointment. From his reaction, I know that he has been stifled by his idleness during this period of time. Under such circumstances, if he is allowed to lead the troops to suppress the bandits, he will surely get twice the result with half the effort.


    I pointed to an empty chair beside me and asked kindly, "Comrade major, how are you doing?"


    "Not good." "Comrade commander, when we were in the sixth group army, we used to be able to win battles. Now here, we eat, sleep, eat and have nothing to do all day long. The brothers all say that if it is like this, we should forget how to fight. " After he had complained, I asked with a smile, "major, I''m here to find you today, just to prepare for your combat mission."¡° It''s going to be a war! " When he heard what I said, his eyes suddenly brightened, but after a moment, his eyes dimmed again, and he said powerlessly: "at present, the troops have turned to defense, and there must be no battle to fight in the short term." Seeing that he was so depressed, I immediately comforted him and said, "major, although we will not have a large-scale battle with the German army in the short term, there are still some battles to be fought."¡° Comrade commander, "he rekindled his hope and asked curiously," are you going to send me to lead the guard company deep into the enemy''s rear to carry out special tasks? " Without waiting for me to speak, he stood up, patted his chest and promised, "don''t worry, we will turn the German rear upside down."¡° Major, I''m going to give you combat assignments, but not against the Germans. " Speaking of this, I stood up and looked at him, spit out a word: "suppress bandits!"¡° To suppress the bandits? " Bukov was completely confused by what I said, and asked in a confused way, "where can I suppress the bandits?" Up to now, the suppression of bandits is only known to senior commanders, but not to commanders like bukov. So I simply explained to him our plan for suppressing bandits, and finally said, "major, I''ll give you five hundred recruits to form a reinforced battalion, and you will be the commander of the battalion. In addition to leaving a platoon under your command, the rest of the guard company will be mixed with the recruits. The former soldier will be the squad leader, the squad leader will be the platoon leader, and the platoon leader will be the company commander. In this way, the combat effectiveness of the recruits will be rapidly improved¡° Why leave me a guard platoon to direct my command? " As for my arrangement, bukov didn''t understand, "can''t you mix them with the recruits?"¡° If the guard company is all mixed with the recruits, the combat effectiveness of the troops will be sparse. " In order to prevent bukov from disobeying my orders, I made it clear to him: "if you leave a guard platoon with strong combat effectiveness, you can let them turn the situation around when you encounter a difficult enemy in the battle, understand?"¡° I see, comrade commander. " There was a look of joy on bukov''s face. He then asked, "where should we accept these recruits?"¡° You set out tomorrow morning to receive new recruits at shepetovka, southwest of Rovno. There are a large number of military warehouses, where you can replenish the weapons and uniforms you need. "

 Chapter 1515

    As the order to suppress the bandits was issued, all the army groups immediately took active action. In order to ensure the success of the task of suppressing bandits, a resourceful commander like Moskalenko did not adopt the method we proposed to enrich the recruits by using the combat backbone. Instead, he scattered the recruits into the army and adopted the mode of at least two veterans leading one recruit.


    Perhaps it is his ingenuity that has had an unexpected effect. The anti bandit troops sent by us have won many good news. Today they destroyed a camp of bandits in the forest, and tomorrow they destroyed a small army of bandits.


    According to the war reports I received, I learned that every time Moskalenko''s troops surrounded the bandits with heavy troops, they would send people to send letters to persuade them to lay down their arms and surrender, and warned that if they surrendered, they would ensure the safety of all people''s lives; But if there is resistance, then when the battle starts, there will be none left.


    These bandits and guerrillas, who are active in Ukraine, are people who have done all the bad things. After receiving the letter of persuasion, they know that even if they surrender, they will not have any good fruit to eat. Therefore, without exception, they take the way of fighting to the end and die under the attack of our army.


    As for Moskalenko''s practice, military commissar kleinukov raised his own objection to konev: "marshal, I heard that many bandits have laid down their arms and surrendered, but Moskalenko still ordered the troops to kill all of them. Do you think we should remind him not to kill all these enemies so as not to make them jump over the wall in a hurry... "


    After listening to this, konev just laughed, and then said to kleinukov, "in the face of such a powerful army, what can they do even if they jump over the wall in a hurry? There is only one means we can take against such enemies of the motherland: to wipe them out resolutely, decisively and thoroughly. "


    Seeing that konev had set the tone, I confidently expressed what I thought in my heart: "Comrade marshal, these bandits loot villages, rob people, kill people and set fire to all kinds of evils. They really should be eliminated completely. But... "


    "But what?" Before I finished my words, sokolovsky beside me was a little upset: "Comrade oshanina, do you think they are still worthy of forgiveness?"


    "Comrade chief of staff, you have misunderstood." I waved to sokolovsky and explained, "I mean, since we are going to kill all these bandits, is it necessary to send someone to persuade them to surrender? I heard that several representatives sent by general Moskalenko were killed by bandits. "


    "That''s right, Rita. You''re right." As soon as my voice fell, konev echoed: "chief of staff, go to call general Moskalenko, and ask him not to send any persuasive representatives to fight directly after he finds out the bandits. He should wipe them out completely before the enemy recovers."


    "I see, comrade marshal." With a smile on his face, sokolovsky said, "I will convey your order to general Moskalenko."


    While sokolovsky went to make a phone call, kleinukov asked konev, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know when Comrade Khrushchev will arrive?"


    When I heard kleinukov''s question, I remembered that Khrushchev called yesterday and said that he would arrive in Rovno today, accompanied by the new city leader.


    Konev raised his hand, looked at his watch and said, "if all goes well, their train will arrive on time at eleven in the morning."


    "Do you need to meet them at the station?" Kleinukov was deeply afraid that konev was unwilling to go, and especially stressed: "Khrushchev is now the top leader of Ukraine. If we do not meet him, I am afraid he will not be happy."


    "Let''s go. Anyway, it''s almost time now," konev said. He immediately got up from his seat, picked up the phone on his desk, dialed a number, and then said to the microphone, "drive the car out of the gate immediately, and all members of the front army should get to the fire station immediately."


    After sokolovsky finished the call, we left the headquarters, got on the gas car waiting there at the gate, and drove to the railway station several kilometers away.


    When the train stopped at the gate of the railway station, the guards on the following trucks jumped out of the train one after another. Under the leadership of their respective commanders, they set up a cordon from the entrance of the station to the platform. After the cordon was deployed, a major of the security department ran to konev and reported, "marshal, we have set up the cordon. You can go in."


    Konev nodded and led us into the railway station. As we walked through the hall, I heard the civilians who were blocked by the soldiers murmuring: "see, all the big people are coming!"


    "That''s right. You see, the one walking in the front is actually a marshal."


    "Which marshal is Zhukov?"


    "You idiot, your news is out of date. Marshal Zhukov left long ago. This is the new marshal konev!"


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    We came to platform 3. The civilians who had been here had been evacuated for a long time. Now, only the soldiers who were on guard stood in their guard positions, holding steel guns and holding their heads high, facing the side of the railway.


    Half an hour later, a steam locomotive pulled a long carriage into the station. They are all passenger cars, so I can see clearly that they are full of people. The train slowly stopped in front of us. As soon as the train stopped, several groups of soldiers with guns came down from different carriages and stood facing the cordon we set.


    When heard the commander in charge of a loud voice: "attention!" After that, we all looked at the tail of the train. Khrushchev, who was wearing a black tweed coat and a top hat, came to us with some leaders in military civilian clothes,


    "Hello, comrade Khrushchev." Konev did not wait for Khrushchev to approach, so he took the initiative to meet him, reached out his hand to the other side, and said in a friendly way, "welcome to Rovno."


    "Hello, marshal konev." Khrushchev took konev''s hand with a smile: "I didn''t expect that you would meet me at the station in person."


    As Khrushchev was a military commissar of the first front army of Ukraine not long ago, he was very familiar with the leaders of the front army, so there was no need for konev to introduce him again. He leaned over and introduced konev to his fellow city leaders one by one. In my heart, I silently remember every name he said and the position he held. What I didn''t expect was that among the new city leaders, there was a young woman in her twenties with short hair and ears. Her name was borisova. She looked very capable and was the head of the Soviet Union in the West District of Rovno.


    We went back to the headquarters of the front army from the railway station. In the conference room on the first floor, we held the first military and political leadership meeting since the recovery of Rovno. This time, the topic is to resume the production of factories and mines as soon as possible, rebuild the collective farms destroyed by the German army, and carry out large-scale conscription at the right time.


    During the meeting, Khrushchev, who was sitting in the middle of the meeting, waved his right hand and said in a loud voice: "destroyed the city, bombed the factories, and ravaged the lush Ukrainian fields... Now the Ukrainian people, under the leadership of the party and with the fraternal help of the Russian people, are using their own hands and hard work, Try to eliminate the traces of terrorist war on the land where there is no democracy.


    As we all know, our recovered oil fields are being expanded, new gas wells and coal mines are being built, and large-scale deforestation has begun in the mountains The collective farm rebuilt near Kiev is organizing machines and tractors to prepare for the coming spring ploughing. "


    Although what Khrushchev said was dull and drowsy, out of courtesy and respect, I tried to open my eyes and pretend to listen with interest.


    "... Ukraine''s mineral resources mainly include coal, iron, manganese, nickel, titanium, mercury, lead, oil, natural gas, graphite, refractory soil, etc. Among them, coal and iron ore are the important pillars of our iron and steel industry... "At this point, Khrushchev''s face suddenly showed a painful expression:" our mines are in inaccessible places, and the Germans have completely destroyed these places. If we want to resume production, we must rebuild the road leading to the mining area, In order to transport the shaft facilities and pipelines needed by the mining area to the mining area smoothly. "


    "Comrade Khrushchev," at this time, konev, as the head of the military, must come out and make his position clear: "I will immediately send engineering troops to build the road to the mining area."


    "Comrade Khrushchev," a new city leader continued, "if we want to build roads, we will definitely need a lot of manpower. How can we solve this problem?"


    Khrushchev laughed and said nothing. Instead, he turned his eyes to konev and asked with a smile, "Comrade konev, do you have any good idea?"


    "Comrade Khrushchev," said kleinukov, who sat aside before konev''s reply, "we can mobilize the residents of the city to take part in voluntary labor, so as to solve the problem of shortage of manpower in road construction."


    "My comrades of the military commissar," konev said with tears and laughter after listening to Wan kleinukov''s words, "factories are going to resume work, shops are going to open, schools are going to start classes, and people are needed everywhere. If too many people are transferred to build the road, it is bound to affect the development of other work. "


    "I see," Khrushchev said thoughtfully, leaning back against the back of the chair, with his elbow on the arm of the armchair. "Marshal konev is right. We are in the process of reconstruction. We need a lot of people everywhere. It''s really a bit inappropriate for urban residents to take part in voluntary labor and build roads leading to mining areas. "


    Seeing that everyone was in a state of melancholy, I quickly stood up from my seat and said to Khrushchev, "Comrade Khrushchev, marshal, in fact, if we want to build roads, we can find enough people. We don''t need to mobilize the residents of the city at all."


    My words made Khrushchev and konev shine in front of their eyes. Both of them asked, "Rita, where can I find someone who can repair the road?"


    "Did we not capture nearly 30000 German troops in this offensive campaign?" Thinking of the prisoners of war who were held in the prison camps, I suggested to them: "in addition to those who are seriously injured and have been evacuated, there are still more than 20000 people who are held in more than a dozen German prison camps. Instead of letting them do nothing in the prison camp every day, they should be sent to build roads, and let them do the most tiresome and dirty work to make atonement for their heinous crimes in Ukraine. "


    After listening to my suggestion, Khrushchev showed a happy smile on his face. He nodded his head and said, "Rita, you''re right. You can''t let these people stay in the prison camp and waste our food in vain. You should let them do something for the reconstruction of Ukraine, even for the crimes they committed before." He turned to konev, who was sitting beside him. "Comrade konev, what do you think of Rita''s opinion?" Obviously, konev was also very satisfied with my proposal. He nodded with a smile and echoed: "Comrade Khrushchev, I think Rita''s proposal is very reasonable. We can then study where to use these prisoners. " Seeing that konev agreed with him, Khrushchev beamed to me and said, "Rita, every time you can come up with some unexpected good ideas. You''re smarter than a fox. " In Russia, the most cunning animal is rabbit. To say that a person is more cunning than a rabbit is a derogatory term; But fox is the pronoun of cleverness. To say you are as clever as fox is a commendatory word. But in my country, to say that a person is like a fox is a derogatory word. I can only smile bitterly at Khrushchev''s praise. When Khrushchev announced the end of the meeting, he asked konev and I to stay, saying that there was something important to discuss with both of us. Seeing that the door of the conference room was tightly closed, konev immediately asked, "Comrade Khrushchev, I don''t know what''s important about you?"¡° Well, comrade konev. " The expression on Khrushchev''s face suddenly became serious: "the supreme command has sent a geological exploration team to look for oil deposits near you."¡° "Oil mines?" After listening to this, konev showed a puzzled expression on his face: "we are close to the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. There are not a lot of oil fields. Why are we looking for oil here?" I was whispering to myself. If the geological exploration team is really looking for an oil field, then this matter can be brought up at the meeting. Why do they want to explore with us? Thinking of this, I suddenly had a strange idea in my heart: are they looking for uranium instead of oil¡° Marshal, you are mistaken. What the geological exploration team is looking for is not oil, but uranium. "¡° Uranium mine? " He looked at Khrushchev and asked, "what is uranium? How come I have never heard of it?" As he spoke, he turned his eyes to me and asked casually, "do you know what it is, Rita?" How can I not know what uranium is from later generations? But at the moment, I can only pretend to be confused. I pretended to be confused, shook my head and said, "sorry, marshal, I don''t know. I heard this word for the first time." When Khrushchev listened to us, he scratched the back of his head and said with some embarrassment, "I''m not sure about the specific situation. I only know that our country is making a super bomb. This kind of bomb can easily destroy a city, and uranium is a kind of raw material to make this kind of super bomb. "¡° A bomb that can destroy one city at a time? " Khrushchev''s words frightened konev. He looked at each other and asked seriously, "Comrade Khrushchev, are you kidding me? How could there be such a bomb in the world? "¡° There''s nothing impossible. " Seeing that konev did not believe what he said, Khrushchev explained to him, "you were also a veteran of the first World War. At that time, could you think that tanks could be widely used in the battlefield now? There are also airplanes. In the past, airplanes could only detect the enemy''s situation and could not pose any threat to the ground forces. But what about today''s airplanes? Continuous bombing is enough to turn our cities and defensive positions into a sea of fire. " After listening to Khrushchev''s words, konev finally realized that the other party was not joking with him, so he asked solemnly, "Comrade Khrushchev, what can I do for you?" Looking at konev, Khrushchev said seriously: "it is Comrade lavrinko who leads the geological exploration team. I hope you can send troops to follow them and ensure their personnel safety." Konev immediately understood that Khrushchev had left us both for such a secret mission. He nodded and then said, "Comrade Khrushchev, I suggest that the task of accompanying and protecting the geological exploration team should be entrusted to Lida. Do you have any opinions?"

 Chapter 1516

    I am full of confidence that we can find uranium mines in Ukraine that are still unfamiliar to all of us. If Ukraine were a country with depleted uranium, the nuclear power plant of the former Soviet Union would not be built in Chernobyl. It is precisely because I have a certain understanding of history that after Khrushchev gave me the task of accompanying the geological exploration team to look for uranium deposits, I resolutely agreed.


    Seeing that I agreed to accept the task, Khrushchev nodded and said earnestly, "Rita, the search for uranium is absolutely confidential. In order to prevent leakage, you should arrange some troops with strong combat effectiveness and high loyalty to protect the safety of the geological exploration team. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade Khrushchev." After I assured Khrushchev, I turned my eyes to konev and asked him in a deliberative tone, "marshal, can I take my former guard company back from the battlefield of suppressing bandits? This unit has experienced many battles, and its commanders and fighters have high loyalty. I think it is most appropriate for them to carry out such a task. "


    After listening to me, konev did not immediately answer my question, but first asked Khrushchev, "I don''t know when the geological exploration team of lavrinko will arrive?"


    "The geological exploration team was just formed yesterday, and it will take some time to complete the preparatory work." Khrushchev replied, "if they want to get here, I think it will take a week at the earliest."


    After getting Khrushchev''s answer, konev turned to me and said, "Rita, since there is still about a week left, you can completely pull back your guard company. Take the troops you are familiar with and protect the lavrinko exploration team. You can get twice the result with half the effort. "


    With konev''s permission, I immediately sent a telegram to bukov, who was carrying out the task of suppressing bandits, ordering him to hand over the command to the deputy battalion commander, and then to rush back from shepetovka immediately.


    For reasons of confidentiality, I didn''t say in the telegram why he was recovered. But I know my bukov. If I don''t have anything important, I will never let them stop suppressing bandits and let him rush back to the headquarters as soon as possible. So after handing over the command, he went back to the headquarters by jeep overnight.


    In my newly assigned office, I met bukov, who had just arrived. Seeing his dusty appearance, I got up to pour him a cup of tea and handed it to him. After he drank it all, I asked with a smile, "major, would you like another cup of hot tea?"


    Bukov grinned at me and handed me the cup: "Comrade commander, please have another cup."


    I poured him a cup of hot tea again. Then I turned back to my desk and sat down. After calling him to sit down, I asked with concern, "Comrade major, how''s the anti bandit work going?"


    "Not bad." As soon as bukov sat down and heard my question, he immediately stood up from his seat and respectfully reported to me: "in this week, we have annihilated two bandit troops and destroyed a camp in the forest. A total of 75 people were killed and a large number of weapons, ammunition and food were seized. "


    "Well done." I praised bukov''s record and then asked, "I don''t know what our casualties are?"


    "More than 100 people were killed."


    For a person like me who always likes to achieve the maximum results at a very small cost, I feel very uncomfortable when I hear the casualty data reported by bukov¡° What, we killed more than 100 people? "


    When bukov saw my face changed, he quickly explained, "Comrade commander, almost all the casualties were recruits. It turns out that only seven soldiers of the guard company were injured and none of them died."


    Hearing that the loss of the guard company was negligible, my face relaxed again. I then asked, "major, if I ask you to stop suppressing bandits, when can I transfer the troops back to Rovno?"


    "It may take two days for the troops to assemble." Bukov didn''t ask why I stopped suppressing bandits suddenly, but explained to me with apology: "after all, the activity area near shepetovka is too large, and we are scattered in the area by company. It will take a little time to gather up the troops."


    "Major, I''ll give you three days." I did not wait for him to finish, but interrupted him. "In three days'' time, all your reinforcement battalions will have to get to Rovno."


    Bukov nodded his head hard. As soon as I finished, he asked curiously, "Comrade commander, can you tell me why we were suddenly asked to stop suppressing bandits and rush back to Rovno immediately?"


    Thinking that in the coming days, bukov will be my most effective assistant, and some things can''t be plotted against him. So I selectively told him some of the targets of this operation: "in another week, a geological survey team will come from Moscow, and they will look for a newly discovered mineral deposit in our area. Your task is to protect their safety in the exploration process and help them carry some exploration equipment. "


    "New discoveries?" Bukov could not help frowning and pondering at what I said. A moment later, he suddenly came up to me and asked mysteriously, "Comrade commander, I don''t know if they are looking for a gold mine or a diamond mine?"


    I was really speechless about bukov''s imagination. I gave him a wry smile and then said to him, "Comrade major, the search for mineral deposits is a top secret task. I can''t tell you any more. Just remember, your task is to escort and protect this exploration team. " After I finished, bukov straightened up and asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, I want to ask a question, do we accept the command of the geological exploration team?"¡° That''s not necessary, "I said, waving to him." I''ll do it myself this time. You just have to obey my orders. "¡° I see, comrade commander. " After a moment of silence, bukov tentatively asked, "can I go back to the army?"¡° You''re going back to the army now? " Bukov''s words surprised me. After all, he just came back from shepetovka. He just sat there for a short time and had to go back all night. It was too hard. Out of this consideration, I asked with concern, "major, you''d better rest here for one night and go back to shepetovka tomorrow." Bukov shook his head and said firmly: "Comrade commander, I want to bring the troops back as soon as possible and use my spare time to strengthen the training of the recruits, so as to improve their combat effectiveness as soon as possible." Seeing that bukov''s intention had been decided, I didn''t detain him any more. Instead, I told him: "Comrade major, although from here to shepetovka is the control area of our army, we have also carried out a massive anti bandit operation recently, which has dealt a heavy blow to the hungry bandits in this area. However, it is inevitable that there will be some trapped fish, so you should be more careful on your way, Take care of your safety. " Bukov nodded, raised his hand, saluted me, then turned and trotted out of my office.

 Chapter 1517

    As far as I know about Russians, they are always inefficient. What can be done in one day can be delayed for at least half a month. That''s why I think the geological prospecting team for uranium will not arrive until early may at least.


    However, there was something wrong with my judgment this time. Just three days later, I received a phone call from Khrushchev, saying that the geological exploration team had arrived. At the moment, the team leader lavrinko was in his office and asked me to rush to see him immediately.


    Khrushchev''s temporary office is located in the newly renovated municipal building. Because of his special identity, in order to ensure his safety, the internal security forces in charge of security work should carry out strict inspection on every person entering and leaving the building.


    I asked the driver to stop the gas car opposite the municipal building, then got off and led bukov across the road towards the building, ready to go inside to see Khrushchev.


    As soon as we got to the door, an interior Lieutenant came out of the mail room. He came to me, raised his hand and said politely, "Comrade General, please show me your identification!"


    Recently, I often go in and out of here and get familiar with the officers on duty at the gate. I can''t name the lieutenant, but he looks very nice. After carefully checking my ID and pass, he handed it back to me and said with a smile, "Comrade General, you can go in."


    I took the certificate and gave him a smile. Just as I was about to go inside, he reached out and stopped bukov, who was following me. He said solemnly, "Comrade major, please show me your certificate."


    With great cooperation, bukov took out his military card and handed it to the lieutenant. The lieutenant simply looked at the front page, then looked up and asked bukov, "Comrade major, where''s your pass?"


    "I''m sorry, comrade lieutenant," bukov replied with a smile. "I''ve just come back from the field of suppressing bandits, and I''ve never been here before, so I didn''t apply for a pass."


    After hearing this, the lieutenant immediately restrained his smile. He said to bukov, "I''m sorry, comrade major. According to the order, no one can enter without a pass."


    "Comrade lieutenant," I saw that the lieutenant did not allow bukov to follow me in, and quickly came out to make ends meet: "the major is the deputy head of my guard regiment. He is accepting the task with me today. He can''t do without going in."


    The lieutenant turned to me and said, "Comrade General, this is a rule. No one can violate it."


    Although I''m not happy with the stereotype of the lieutenant, I can understand that he is also devoted to his duty, and there is nothing wrong with it. I pondered for a moment and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, should I be able to apply for a temporary pass here?" After receiving the Lieutenant''s affirmative reply, I directly told him, "please take the major to make up a pass, and we will go to see Comrade Khrushchev immediately."


    "I understand." The lieutenant made a gesture of invitation to bukov: "Comrade major, please give it to me. I''ll take you to apply for a temporary pass." With that, he took the lead to the mail room at the entrance, where he seemed to be going to apply for a pass.


    After finishing the pass, I took bukov into the municipal building and went to the door of Khrushchev''s office. I said hello to the officer on duty outside the door, then left bukov and walked into the office alone.


    Khrushchev sat behind his desk, and in the chair in front of him sat a man. Seeing me enter the office, he stood up and said to me with a smile, "Rita, here you are!"


    "Hello, comrade Khrushchev." I walked quickly towards him with a smile, and first extended my hand to him.


    When Khrushchev shook hands with me, he pointed at the man just sitting opposite him with his left hand and said with a smile, "Rita, I''d like to introduce you to Comrade lavrinko, the leader of the geological exploration team from Moscow."


    I turned around and saw a thin middle-aged man standing in front of the chair. He had a moustache, a pair of round eyes, and a military uniform that was a little whitewashed. He was looking me up and down curiously.


    I released Khrushchev''s hand, reached out to him with a smile on my face, and said in a friendly way, "Hello, comrade lavrinko. I''m oshanina. Nice to meet you!"


    Taking my hand, lavrinko politely and distantly replied, "Hello, general oshanina!"


    When Khrushchev asked me to sit down, lavrinko suddenly asked unexpectedly, "Comrade Khrushchev, is she the person in charge you sent to cooperate with us?"


    Khrushchev didn''t know the destination of the other party''s question, but he nodded and replied truthfully: "yes, they will cooperate with your geological exploration team in the next operation, and they will do everything possible to ensure your safety." Speaking of this, his face showed an embarrassed expression, "although we have recovered most of the territory of Ukraine, it is not peaceful in these places. In addition to the possible existence of German scattered soldiers, there are also anti Soviet guerrillas who have been reduced to bandits. These remnants exist, which seriously threaten the safety of your exploration team."


    After listening to Khrushchev''s words, lavrinko frowned slightly, then looked at me and asked, "general oshanina, what''s your major in university? When the war broke out, did you graduate? "


    Lavrinko''s words make me feel like vomiting blood. Is there any restriction on education to protect the safety of your exploration team? I took a deep breath and replied with some embarrassment, "I''m sorry, comrade lavrinko. I didn''t go to college. I got married and had children after I graduated from the tenth grade."


    After listening to my reply, the expression on lavrinko''s face became more serious. He looked at me with his eyes and asked impolitely, "since you are only in the tenth grade, you must have no idea what we are looking for?"


    Perhaps seeing that lavrinko''s tone was somewhat aggressive, Khrushchev came out to help me out: "Comrade lavrinko, let alone Rita, even I know nothing about the uranium you are looking for."


    "Comrade Khrushchev, I think you should send an expert to follow us." Lavrinko interrupted him and went on, "not such a layman who doesn''t know anything."


    As for lavrinko''s groundless accusation, I felt my blood rush to the top of my head. As soon as he finished, I said harshly, "enough, comrade lavrinko, I''m just a soldier, neither a physicist nor a geologist. My responsibility is to protect my country, not to dig a gully to find uranium mines for making atomic bombs like you."


    I am also impatient. The word "atomic bomb" is blurted out. As soon as I say it, I can''t help but feel a little silly, because Khrushchev only said "super bomb" a few days ago, but didn''t say that the exact name should be "atomic bomb".


    Khrushchev and lavrinko were also stunned. They couldn''t help looking at each other. They both saw surprised expressions in each other''s eyes. After a while, lavrinko coughed softly and said, "general oshanina, please go on." His voice has softened a lot.


    I organized some words in my mind, and continued: "there is a specialty in technology, but I don''t know what you know; You may not know what I am familiar with. If you don''t say anything else, just say the uranium deposit you are going to look for, you are just looking for the location of the vein. Don''t you know how to exploit, smelt and purify? Besides, I don''t think any of your team members has the ability to process and enrich uranium ore? "


    After my words, the room fell into silence. It took some time for Khrushchev to break the silence. He asked me curiously, "Rita, I have a question. It seems that I said "super bomb" that day, but not "atomic bomb". How do you know the name? "


    When I made a long speech, I had already thought of the words to deal with it. At this moment, when I heard Khrushchev''s question, I quickly replied, "Comrade Khrushchev, do you forget that I have been to the United States with Comrade Molotov?" Seeing that he nodded his head to show that he knew this, I went on to say, "when I was in the United States, I heard someone vaguely mention an" atomic bomb "by chance. It happened that the raw materials needed to make an" atomic bomb "were related to the uranium mine we were going to look for, so I boldly guessed that what you called a" super bomb "was an" atomic bomb. "


    "Yes, general oshanina, you''re right. We''re looking for uranium to make an atomic bomb." Knowing that I could mention the atomic bomb in front of Khrushchev, lavrinko must have sufficient confidentiality level, so he said without hesitation: "enriched uranium is an essential raw material for the manufacture of atomic bomb."


    The reason why I mentioned my trip to the United States was to explain to them why I knew about "atomic bomb" and "uranium mine". Anyway, Khrushchev can''t send someone to the United States to verify it. I''m absolutely sure I''ll muddle through.


    From Khrushchev''s next performance, I felt that his strategy worked. After nodding, he looked at lavrinko and asked, "Comrade lavrinko, are you sure you don''t need Rita to accompany you to search for uranium mines? If you are sure, I will arrange another candidate for you, but it may take a little more than two days. "


    "Comrade Khrushchev, I have changed my mind. According to your original arrangement, comrade oshanina should accompany us to search for uranium." After speaking to Khrushchev, lavrinko turned to me, bowed deeply and said apologetically, "Comrade oshanina, I''m sorry. I was wrong just now. I apologize to you."


    I quickly helped him and said generously, "Comrade lavrinko, don''t say that. It''s all for work."


    When Khrushchev saw me and lavrinko reconcile their differences, he also showed a knowing smile on his face. He asked, "Rita, which unit are you going to take to protect the exploration team?"


    "When I came from Ukraine, I brought a company of guards. Some time ago, after mixing with a new force, they formed a reinforced battalion under the command of major bukov, deputy head of my guard regiment, to suppress bandits in shepetovka area. " I quickly replied: "I heard that the geological exploration team is coming, so I called them back temporarily. Now they are stationed near Rovno. They will be responsible for protecting the safety of the exploration team in the next days."


    "Where is major bukov?" Khrushchev then asked.


    "He''s outside now, talking to the officer on duty at the gate," I said


    When I finished, Khrushchev picked up the phone on the desk, dialed a number, and said to the microphone, "let the major outside come in!" As soon as he put down the microphone, the door was pushed open. The officer on duty came in first, leaned back against the open door and made a gesture of invitation to bukov who was still outside. Then I saw bukov, with his cornice hat under his arm, stride towards us. The officer at the door quietly withdrew from the house and closed the door behind him. Bukov came to Khrushchev, raised his hand to salute him, and then loudly reported: "Comrade military commissar, major bukov, deputy head of the guard regiment, reports to you. I''m here on your order. Please give me instructions!" Khrushchev''s face showed a bright smile when he heard the other party calling him his former post. He nodded to bukov and asked, "major, your reinforcement battalion will follow Rita all the time in the coming days to be responsible for the security work of the geological exploration team. Are you ready?" I thought bukov would immediately answer Khrushchev''s question without hesitation: "we are ready to carry out the tasks assigned to us by our superiors at any time." Unexpectedly, he hesitated for a moment and said, "Comrade military commissar, I think the troops can carry out the security task as soon as tomorrow." As soon as his words came out, we were all surprised. Khrushchev frowned and asked discontentedly, "Comrade major, what''s the matter? Why can we start tomorrow?" When Khrushchev asked me what I wanted to ask, I did not add to the story. Instead, I stood aside and listened quietly to bukov''s explanation. He said, "Comrade military commissar, the vast majority of soldiers in my reinforced battalion have been in the army for less than ten days and have no combat experience at all. Therefore, I am not going to let everyone participate in this operation of protecting the geological exploration team, but I am going to dispatch a group of elite soldiers to take charge of it." Bukov''s explanation was very agreeable to me, so I stood up in time and explained to Khrushchev, "Comrade Khrushchev, a little of this consideration is correct. If 500 or 600 people pour into the mountain, there will inevitably be chaos and the safety of the exploration team will not be well protected at that time."¡° Yes, comrade military Commissar. " Bukov added: "I only need to bring 200 capable officers and men to ensure the safety of the exploration team in the process of prospecting."¡° Comrade lavrinko, what do you mean? " Khrushchev did not reply immediately, but asked lavrinko with a smile, "if you see it, you can take two hundred people with you. Is that ok?"¡° Enough, enough, "lavrinko said in a flustered voice." there are still a little more than 200 people, and a hundred people are more than enough. "¡° Comrade lavrinko, "I think that the mountain area is not peaceful. If I bring only 100 people, I am not sure. So I persuade him:" our soldiers not only need to protect the safety of your exploration team, but also need to help you carry exploration equipment. It''s really hard to deal with a small number of people. "¡° Just two hundred people. " Seeing that lavrinko was still a little hesitant, Khrushchev made up his mind about the number of people, and then told bukov, "major, go back to the army and choose the right people. Let the comrades have a good night''s rest, keep up their spirits and set out with the exploration team early tomorrow morning. "

 Chapter 1518

    There are seven people in the geological exploration team, including lavrinko, almost all middle-aged people. The only young man was a big man, who was responsible for carrying and erecting the instruments in the team.


    Perhaps for the sake of confidentiality, lavrinko was the only one in the exploration team who could communicate with us. When the rest of us met, they nodded at most and refused to say a word. So that after I got along with them for a week, I didn''t know the names of the rest of the players except lavrinko, let alone speak to them.


    In order to ensure their safety, every morning, I would send a platoon of soldiers to open the way in front, and let the most elite guard platoon move with the exploration team. When camping at night, in addition to the machine gun array in the southeast, northwest and northwest, I also deployed patrol teams based on shifts to patrol around the camp.


    After wandering in the mountains for a week, he didn''t even see the shadow of the uranium mine, which made bukov worried. Taking advantage of the fact that there were only two of us in the tent, he asked me with a sad face: "Comrade commander, how long do we have to wander in the mountains? It''s been a week. They haven''t even seen the shadow of the mine. They don''t know when it''s going to end? "


    "Major, what''s your hurry?" Seeing that bukov was so impetuous, I said with disapproval: "it''s just the beginning now. Besides professional skills, it also depends on some luck to look for ore veins. If you''re lucky, you''ll find it in a month or two; If you''re not lucky, it might take two or three years. "


    "Ah, it will take so long?" After hearing this, bukov was surprised and said, "in that case, we will not be able to participate in the next stage of the offensive campaign?"


    "Don''t worry, major. The next offensive campaign will start at least two months later." I said casually, "so you''d better follow the exploration team and make sure they''re safe."


    "Comrade commander, you said that the next attack would take place in two months?" Although there were only two of us in the tent, he habitually looked around, then asked me in a low voice, "is this all true?"


    I remember that in real history, the offensive campaign of Belarus started in June, and Ukraine, as the secondary offensive direction, must launch a new round of offensive later. Therefore, I told bukov with certainty: "although the plan to attack western Ukraine has not yet been formulated, according to my judgment, it will not start until July at least. Before that, only Belarus can launch an attack."


    When I said that, bukofton''s eyes lit up, and then he asked me anxiously, "Comrade commander, the sixth group army of our guards is in Belarus. Do you think you can ask the higher authorities to let us come back after the war?"


    I sneered and asked back: "major, please remember, I''m just a deputy commander of the front army who has no real power. I can''t transfer you back to Belarus. What''s more, even if we have to transfer people, we are also the kind of people who are familiar with Belarus. "


    "Comrade commander, I''m quite familiar with Belarus," bukov said with a smiley face. "Besides, I''m a commander with rich combat experience. I believe my superiors will be happy to transfer me to Belarus."


    I looked at him and said to me with a smile: "Comrade major, since you say you are familiar with Belarus, I''ll ask you a question: if you smell herring in the air, do you know what it means?"


    Bukov may have never dreamed that I would suddenly ask him such a strange question. After thinking about it for a long time, he hesitated and said, "I think it means that the fishing season is coming."


    "Major, anyone familiar with Belarus will tell you that smelling herring in the air means that the cold current from the Arctic Ocean is going south." Speaking of this, I stood up and patted him on the shoulder with my hand, and said earnestly, "even in July, there will be snowstorms in Belarus. At this time, all you can do is to find a warm place to hide, otherwise you will be frozen in the sudden drop of temperature."


    "Ah, there will be snowstorms in July in Belarus?" My words surprised bukov: "is this all true?"


    "Of course it''s true," I said firmly, though I can''t remember who ever told me about it. "Major, you are so strange to the weather in Belarus. I don''t think it''s possible to transfer back."


    When he heard that he was unable to return to the troops in Belarus, bukov''s face showed a dejected expression. He was unwilling to say, "Comrade commander, are we really unable to return to Belarus?"


    "At least until we find the vein, we can''t go back to Belarus for the time being." When I saw that bukov was dejected, I couldn''t bear to persuade him: "but even if you don''t go back to Belarus, you will have a chance to participate in the next battle."


    "But when will it be?" Bukov looked a little desperate and stressed again, "we''ve been wandering in the mountains for a week, but we haven''t found anything..."


    Before he had finished speaking, I heard a rush of steps from outside, and then lavrinko''s familiar voice sounded outside the tent: "is general oshanina inside?"


    I rushed to the outside and said, "Comrade lavrinko, I''m here. Please come in."


    The curtain of the door was lifted from the outside, and lavrinko, dressed in plain clothes, leaned into half of his body from the outside and asked tentatively, "Comrade oshanina, are you in a meeting? Or I''ll come back later. "


    "No, comrade lavrinko, I''m just chatting with the major." Seeing that he was ready to put down the curtain and turn to leave, I quickly stopped him: "please come in."


    Lavrinko put down the curtain and walked up to me. Just as he was about to speak, bukov next to him suddenly opened his mouth and said to me, "Comrade commander, I want to go to the sentry, so I''ll go first."


    I think that when lavrinko appears at such a time, there must be something important to say in private. It''s really inconvenient to have bukov present. Since bukov offered to leave, I agreed to his request.


    After bukov left the tent, lavrinko looked at the still swinging curtain and asked me curiously, "Comrade oshanina, what''s wrong with the major? I don''t think he''s happy. "


    I shrugged my shoulders and asked lavrinko to sit down. I said helplessly: "what else can he be unhappy about? It''s just that he was sent back from the battlefield of suppressing bandits by me and follows you around in the valley every day. It''s been a week since I saw it, but I haven''t seen it at all. I''m worried. "


    I poured a glass of water and put it in front of him. Then I sat down and asked him, "Comrade lavrinko, what''s important for you to come at this time?"


    Lavrinko nodded and replied, "yes, comrade oshanina, according to our observation in the last week, there may be uranium deposits nearby."


    When I heard what he said, I was immediately interested, because as long as I found the location of the vein, my work could basically come to an end. So I can''t wait to ask, "Comrade lavrinko, tell me quickly, what''s going on?"


    From his coat pocket, lavrinko took out a piece of folded paper and placed it in front of me mysteriously. Looking puzzled, I picked up the paper and opened it. I saw that it was a hand-painted sketch. From the various symbols on it, it should be a mineral map, but it seemed a little old-fashioned. So I tentatively asked, "is this your mineral map?"


    "Yes," lavrinko said excitedly, nodding his head, "this is what we found in the library before we left. Not far from here, there is a tin mine that has been mined. We can go there and try our luck. "


    What we are looking for is uranium. What can we do in the tin mine that has been mined? When I asked this question in my heart, lavrinko laughed. After laughing, he asked me seriously: "do you think uranium mines exist independently?"


    I don''t know how to answer his question, because I know nothing about it except that uranium is an important material for making atomic bombs. I shook my head and answered truthfully, "Comrade lavrinko, you know I''m a layman. Please explain it for me."


    Seeing that I really didn''t know anything about uranium, lavrinko''s face showed a trace of disappointment, but he patiently popularized science to me: "uranium ore is divided into two kinds, if the composition is only uranium ore, it is a single uranium ore; In addition to uranium, ores with other useful components are called composite ores.... "


    After his explanation, I finally got a better understanding of uranium. I asked tentatively, "Comrade lavrinko, do you think there might be a chance to find the uranium we are looking for in that tin mine?"


    "It could be very big." "So we have to try our luck tomorrow," lavrinko said in a positive tone


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Early the next morning, our 200 strong exploration team set out again. Looking at the mountains in the distance where there is a tin mine, I asked in a suspicious tone, "Comrade lavrinko, do you think uranium can really be found from that tin mine?"


    "There should be," lavrinko said confidently. "According to our observation and analysis, there is a higher probability of finding uranium there."


    Seeing that he was so sure, I didn''t say the opposite. Instead, I nodded slightly and said in agreement, "Comrade lavrinko, since you are so confident, I can rest assured. You can go to the mine safely. My people will protect you. "


    As the saying goes: the dead horse runs across the mountain. Although the mountain we are going to seems not far away, it took us half a day to walk there. When I saw the mouth of the abandoned tin mine in the distance, I kindly asked lavrinko: "Comrade lavrinko, after walking so far, do you want to let your team members have a rest and then go to work in the mine?"


    "No, no," lavrinko said excitedly, waving at me. "Now that we''re here, let''s get to work. I believe that the players at the moment of mood, and I certainly want to immediately put into work


    When lavrinko and his team were busy in the mine, bukov came to me, sat on the rock beside me and asked curiously, "Comrade commander, do you think they can find the vein they are looking for?"


    I shook my head and said to bukov, "major, I really don''t know. It''s all up to fate. However, when they are looking for mines, they should not relax their guard around them. If they are attacked by German soldiers and bandits, they will be in trouble. "¡° Don''t worry, comrade commander. " Bukov assured me: "I have deployed at least one squad on several surrounding hillsides and equipped them with machine guns." Then he pointed to the highest mountain in the West and added, "I put a platoon there. Even if there is an enemy attack, they can completely block it." As we were talking, we saw the young man as a porter running out of the mine. I saw the look on his face a little flustered, and immediately stood up from the sitting rock. My heart said, how could he be so flustered? Is there something wrong in the mine? Without waiting for my order, bukov had quickly stepped up. They stopped more than 20 meters away from me, and then the young man danced and said something to bukov. When I saw that bukov was listening all the time, instead of running back to report to me in a panic, I knew that I was just a little overwhelmed. After the young man and bukov finished, he turned and ran towards the mine. Seeing bukov walking back, I asked curiously, "Comrade major, what''s the matter?"¡° Comrade commander. " "He said that they found something in the cave and need to test it immediately. He hoped that we would set up the tent outside the cave and then put all kinds of experimental equipment in place. They would analyze it immediately," bukov said with a calm expression on his face Although bukov''s report was a little vague, I knew in my heart that maybe the uranium mine had been found, so I told bukov, "major, you should immediately take people to set up the tent and put in all kinds of equipment for analysis." Bukov''s tent building skills have become more and more exquisite these days. In less than 10 minutes, a tent was built and all the corresponding testing equipment was put in place. After learning that the outside was ready, lavrinko, who was staying in the mine, came out with two team members. I saw lavrinko walking in the middle holding a paper bag full of paper, and the two players on the left and right also put on a look like facing the enemy. I knew that maybe there was a play.

 Chapter 1519

    Seeing that lavrinko came into the tent with a paper bag in his arms, I wanted to go in and have a look, but was blocked by an exploration team member. He said to me coldly, "sorry, comrade commander, you can''t go in."


    "Why?" I didn''t say anything when I heard the players say that, but bukov beside me was a little upset: "we built this tent for you. Why can''t we go in?"


    The team member gave bukov a blank look and snorted heavily. Without saying anything, he turned and walked into the tent. Seeing that the player was so arrogant, bukov was suddenly not famous, so he wanted to rush in to find the other side''s theory, but he was held by me.


    I took bukov to a place some distance away from the tent. As soon as I stopped, bukov said unconvinced: "Comrade commander, why did you take me away. I''m going to ask lavrinko in person, who has given them such arrogant rights. Without our cooperation, could their survey work go so smoothly? "


    I waited for bukov to finish, then I said to him earnestly, "Comrade major, you are too reckless. You know, this geological exploration team is from Moscow. Don''t talk about you and me. Even Comrade Khrushchev has to give them three points. "


    "Is that all?" Bukov asked unconvinced.


    "Forget it." Since lavrinko didn''t want to let me know what they found, I didn''t want to make fun of myself. I said to bukov, "our task is just to protect their safety. Don''t worry about the rest. Besides, they come with top secret missions. We know too much about some things, but it''s not a good thing. "


    Listen to me, bukov, who was still angry, immediately disappeared. After he found a rock and sat down, he said angrily, "no matter, no matter. Even if they want to take the initiative to tell me, I don''t want to know."


    Stubborn and reluctant to admit mistakes or defeats, I saw a little bit of the expression of the dead duck''s expression. I laughed and said, "major, if I remember correctly, the whole team of exploration has not communicated with us in any language except Laughlin C and we have spoken. Do you still think that they have told you about the results of the exploration?"


    Bukov grinned, and then changed the subject: "Comrade commander, I want to ask you, will this war be over after we drive the Germans out of our country?"


    "Comrade major, you think too simply." After I sat down beside him, I said to him solemnly, "even if we drive the Germans out of the border, this war will not end. We will continue to attack the German mainland. As long as there is still one * * element left, the war will not end. Do you understand? "


    After listening to me, bukov looked at me for a long time, then nodded and said, "I understand that we should not only drive the Germans out of our country, but also go straight to their old nest and wipe them out."


    "Yes, we may help them build a new German state after the complete elimination of the Communist Party." Anyway, I have nothing to do now, so I took the opportunity to talk with bukov about some unimportant things: "when the new country is with our allies, it is estimated that such a war will never happen again."


    "What, we have to help the Germans rebuild their homes?" When he heard me say this, bukov immediately jumped up from the rock. He looked at me in surprise with wide eyes and asked, "how many heinous crimes have these Communist aggressors committed in our territory? I wish I could kill them all. How can I help them rebuild their homes?"


    "Major, sit down first." Seeing that bukov was now excited, I immediately asked him to sit down, and then said, "it is the Communist aggressors headed by Hitler, not the broad German people, who are the victims of communism, just like us. We will build a new Germany of peace and freedom after the complete elimination of the Communist Party of China, so that the German people can live the same happy life as us. "


    After listening to what I said, bukov scratched the back of his head and said with some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, I just thought about how to repay the blood debt to the German people, not so much. It seems that you are right. Those who wage war against us and commit countless crimes are all the Communist aggressors, and have nothing to do with the German people.... "


    "Comrade oshanina, comrade oshanina..." before bukov finished, lavrinko''s excited voice came from the direction of the tent. I looked in the direction of the sound and saw him standing outside the tent, shouting my name with a look of excitement.


    "Comrade lavrinko, I''m here." I quickly got up from the rock and trotted to him as I promised.


    I came to lavrinko, grabbed his arm, and tried to ask in a calm voice, "Comrade lavrinko, what''s the matter?"


    "Found it, found it!" Lavrinko was so excited that he said incoherently, "we didn''t come in vain. We found it. We finally found it."


    Bukov, who followed me, saw lavrinko''s gaffe and wanted to ask, but I stopped him. I waited for the gap between lavrinko''s words, raised my voice and asked tentatively, "Comrade lavrinko, what have you found? Have you found the precious ore you are looking for? "


    "Yes, yes, comrade oshanina." Lavrinko grabbed my hand with his backhand, dragged it into the tent and said excitedly, "you just have a look."


    When I walked into the tent, I saw that bukov wanted to follow. I was worried that he would be stopped by other explorers again, so I waved to him to wait outside. But my gesture was seen by lavrinko. He said magnanimously, "it''s OK, comrade oshanina. Let the major come in. It''s good to have more people to share such good news."


    Although lavrinko agreed to allow bukov to come in, I considered that the search for uranium is a top secret task. If bukov knew the inside information too early, he would have to stay in these secret units forever and never go to the battlefield again. It was out of this consideration that I reached out to stop bukov, who was about to enter the tent, and then said to him, "major, the geological exploration team has found what they are looking for. It''s just something to celebrate. I''d like you to have a drink to celebrate. Now go and get two bottles of wine and food. We''ll have a good celebration. "


    After bukov left, lavrinko pulled me to the wooden table in the middle of the tent, pointed to a microscope on the table and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, look at that microscope."


    I saw a small rectangular piece of glass on the stage of the microscope, on which there was some yellow powder. I quickly put my eyes close to the microscope and watched the yellow powder carefully¡° Comrade oshanina, what do you see? " Before I could see clearly, lavrinko could not wait to ask.


    I looked carefully and found that these yellow powders magnified under the microscope are perfect tetrahedral crystals. I looked up and said to lavrinko, "I think these yellow powders magnified are very standard tetrahedral crystals."


    "Yes, it''s a very standard tetrahedral crystal." "Do you know what I think?" lavrinko asked me, excited as a child Before I could answer, he said to himself, "this is the characteristic of uranium!"


    "Comrade lavrinko, are you sure this is uranium?" Although I had guessed that it was the discovery of uranium that made lavrinko so excited, I still tentatively asked, "can''t you make a mistake?"


    "There''s no mistake." "After repeated observation and photographic experiments, we have proved the presence of uranium in these yellow powders," said an elderly team member nearby


    After being confirmed, I asked lavrinko, "Comrade lavrinko, do you know what the uranium reserves are?"


    Hearing my question, lavrinko''s face suddenly darkened. He sat on a small wooden stool and said with some disappointment: "after repeated calculation, the uranium production in this mine is not very much, it belongs to depleted uranium mine." At this point, his mood became excited again, "but anyway, we finally found a uranium mine. It''s a real uranium mine."


    After he finished, I said with a smile, "yes, comrade lavrinko, this is a good start. Since one uranium deposit can be found, I believe more can be found. As long as we continue to search, we may be able to find more abundant uranium deposits. "


    After listening to my consolation to lavrinko, the old player, perhaps a bookworm, said out of time: "just having good wishes, we may not be able to find the rich uranium we are looking for. If we want to complete this task, we can only rely on our professional skills and scientific theory. "


    I didn''t care about the attitude of the old players, but continued to say to lavrinko: "Comrade lavrinko, I have a request. I hope you can agree to me."


    After listening to me, lavrinko looked up at me and asked curiously, "Comrade oshanina, what''s the request?"


    "It''s quite confidential that you came out to look for uranium this time. There are only a few people who know where you are going I solemnly said to him: "major bukov''s level of confidentiality is not enough to know what you are looking for, so when he comes back later, I hope you don''t let it slip. Is that all right? "


    After my words, lavrinko was stunned, then nodded his head and said, "I understand, comrade oshanina. When the major comes back later, I will say that we have found the mineral we are looking for, but I won''t tell him what it is." After that, he said to the other two members in the tent, "comrades, please remember our mission and keep it a secret."


    "I see, comrade captain." Seeing that lavrinko spoke so seriously, both players nodded and replied in one voice: "we will never reveal the secrets we know."


    After about ten minutes, bukov happily walked into the tent, carrying a kettle full of vodka, carrying a backpack and holding several teapots. As soon as he came in, he said, "comrades, here comes the wine!"


    Lavrinko asked the two of you to tidy up the table to make room for the dry sausages, canned stewed meat, biscuits and cheese bukov brought. I opened the kettle, poured vodka into the five teapots on the table, then raised a cup and said to the others around the table, "comrades, to celebrate that we have found the mineral we are looking for, cheers!"


    Four of them, lavrinko and bukov, raised their glasses one after another and said aloud, "cheers After touching the teapot in my hand with mine, I raised my head and poured most of the vodka into my throat as if it were cold. I just took a sip and then put down the teapot. Then I picked up the kettle and filled it for four people. I said, "today is a good start. I believe we will have more harvest in the coming days." After eating something, lavrinko turned to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, we should report this good news to Moscow as soon as possible." Although we came out this time with a radio station, I was in contact with Khrushchev and konev, but never with Moscow. At the moment, when I heard what lavrinko said, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade lavrinko, I don''t know which department I should report this to?" After thinking about it, lavrinko said to me, "Comrade oshanina, there is a special operator in my team. Later, you ask the major to take him to the radio station, and he will be responsible for sending the message back to Moscow."¡° Do you have a radio operator on your team? " When I heard what lavrinko said, I couldn''t help but be stunned. I quickly recalled his team members next to each other in my mind. I felt that all of them were nerds except lavrinko. I really couldn''t see who was a telegraph operator, so I asked curiously¡° Of course, comrade oshanina. " Hearing my question, lavrinko said with a smile, "if there is no telegraph operator, how can we report these exploration results to Moscow in time?" I said with a wry smile, "but we''ve been together for so long, I don''t know who your operator is."¡° That''s what you call a porter "He''s our operator," lavrinko told me with some pride

 Chapter 1520

    As the saying goes, people should not be judged by their appearance. I have always thought that they are dispensable in the exploration team, and they are indispensable telegraph operators. This really surprised me.


    Seeing my surprised expression, lavrinko asked with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, do you think it''s a bit unexpected? A young man who looks like a handyman is an indispensable operator in the team? "


    "That''s right, that''s right," I nodded as fast as I could after hearing what lavrinko said. "It''s really my fault that we didn''t know there was a telegraph operator in your team after we''ve been together for such a long time." After that, I told bukov, "major, go to the radio operator immediately and take him to our radio station."


    Looking at bukov leaving, lavrinko stopped him. "Comrade major, please wait. I''m afraid you don''t know. I''d better send someone to go to our operator with you. " He called the older players and gave them a few orders in a low voice. The veteran nodded and left the tent with bukov.


    When there was only me, lavrinko and another team member left in the tent, I could confidently and boldly continue to ask, "Comrade lavrinko, what are your plans for the next step?"


    "Although an associated uranium deposit has been found today, it is a poor one." With a sigh, lavrinko said regretfully, "we can''t meet our basic needs of building atomic bombs."


    Although I''m a complete layman in uranium mining, I still have some suggestions for lavrinko. So as soon as he finished, I asked tentatively, "Comrade lavrinko, I don''t know what other mines are easy to produce associated uranium besides tin mines?"


    On hearing my layman''s question, lavrinko didn''t show any impatience. On the contrary, he popularized science for me: "uranium ore usually has phosphorus, nonferrous metals and rare metal minerals associated with it. There are four types of uranium deposits: granite type, volcanic rock type, sandstone type and carbonaceous siliceous mudstone type


    When his popular science was over, I asked tentatively, "do you know if there are uranium mines in coal mines? If so, can we focus on Donbas, an important coal producing area in the Soviet Union? "


    However, after hearing this, he shook his head and replied, "although dunbas also has prospecting potential, it''s a pity that uranium deposits in coal bearing strata, alkaline rocks and other types of uranium deposits account for a small proportion of proven reserves. Even if they are found, they are still depleted uranium deposits."


    After recalling the contents of his popular science, I put forward my own viewpoint again: "what about volcanoes? I remember you just said that one kind of uranium deposit is volcanic rock type


    After listening to what I said, lavrinko and the team members standing next to him looked at each other. After they had a heart to heart smile, he turned to look at me and said, "Rita, your learning ability is very good. You can remember what I just said. Yes, according to the theory we have now, after the eruption of ancient volcanoes, low-quality uranium deposits would also be formed. "


    Seeing that lavrinko repeatedly denied my two proposals, I knew in my heart that the knowledge I was learning and using now was just like a teacher in front of them, and it didn''t mean much to go on. Thinking of this, I switched the microphone in time and asked, "Comrade lavrinko, where are you going tomorrow?"


    Lavrinko put a geological exploration map on the table, pointed to me and said, "Comrade oshanina, you see, we have searched more than 300 square kilometers from Rovno. In order to find more abundant uranium deposits, I think it is necessary to expand the scope of the search. From tomorrow on, we''ll go south and keep looking in this direction. "


    Although he used the geological exploration map, it was almost the same as my usual military map. Therefore, I quickly judged that in order to complete his prospecting work, we should expand our active area to more than 4000 square kilometers, and it would be impossible to complete it in a few months or even half a year. When I think of spending half a year wandering in this ravine, my heart is very heavy. This means that whether it is the attack of Belarus or the liberation of Ukraine, I may not be able to participate in it.


    "Comrade oshanina," seeing me staring at the map in a daze, lavrinko quickly called me twice. When I turned to look at him, he then said, "if we want to search for minerals in such a vast area, we may not have enough materials now, and we may need to supplement them."


    "Don''t worry, comrade lavrinko." I thought that if I went further south for more than 100 kilometers, there would be cities occupied by our army. It was very convenient to replenish materials there, so I gave him a reassurance: "the areas where we are now operating belong to the defense areas of the first front army of Ukraine. As the deputy commander of the front army, it is not difficult for me to complete the supply of exploration teams."


    "That''s good," lavrinko said, immediately relieved. "If the shortage of materials affects the prospecting work, it will greatly delay the development of the atomic bomb."


    Hearing that he mentioned the atomic bomb again, I can''t help thinking that in another year, that is, July 16, 1945, the United States will successfully test explode the first atomic bomb in human history in the alamogodo desert of New Mexico. In August, they will drop one in Hiroshima and one in Nagasaki to raze these two Japanese cities. On August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union successfully tested its own atomic bomb and became the second country with nuclear weapons.


    I was just thinking about it when I heard the rest of the team member say to lavrinko: "Comrade lavrinko, I''ll go to the mine and ask the comrades to come back for dinner. They should be hungry now."


    Although it''s exciting to find a uranium mine, it''s obviously inappropriate for the team members to stay in the mine hungry again. Therefore, lavrinko immediately nodded his head and agreed to the team members'' proposal.


    When the team members left and only me and lavrinko were left in the tent, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade lavrinko, since we have found enough uranium, when do you think we can build an atomic bomb?"


    As for my question, lavrinko thought for a long time, and finally shook his head and said, "Comrade oshanina, I don''t think I can answer your question. As far as I know, the United States began to implement its plan to develop an atomic bomb using nuclear fission reaction two years ago, and we are far behind them. If we want to have an atomic bomb, we have to wait at least three to five years after the U.S. atomic bomb is put into operation. "


    When I saw that his analysis and the actual situation were closely related, I went on to ask, "Comrade lavrinko, do you think that after we are equipped with atomic bombs, we can catch up with the use in war?"


    After listening to my question, lavrinko laughed. He said to me with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, are you a soldier or a senior commander? You know more about military affairs than me. How long do you think the German army can sustain under our strong offensive? I estimate that in two or three years or less, Germany will be completely defeated by us. Maybe our nuclear weapons have not been developed yet. "


    After he finished these words, he seemed to be aware of something and quickly closed his mouth. After a while, he said to me with a bitter smile: "Comrade oshanina, it''s all the drunken words I just said. Don''t take them seriously, and don''t tell others, otherwise you and I will cause unnecessary trouble."


    "Don''t worry, comrade lavrinko." I knew that he might have been drunk and excited for a while, so he said something he shouldn''t have said, so he quickly comforted him and said, "we''re just chatting. It seems that we didn''t talk about anything confidential, so you don''t have to worry about it."


    Seeing me say that, lavrinko''s face also showed a relaxed expression. Just as he wanted to say something more, the curtain of the tent was suddenly lifted from the outside. Then bukov came in quickly, approached my ear and said, "Comrade commander, I have just received a telegram ordering you to return to Moscow immediately."


    "Comrade major, what did you just say?" I thought that bukov was wrong, and specially reminded him to say, "did the superior let me go back to Rovno or Kiev?"


    Bukov shook his head vigorously, then took out a telegram and handed it to me, saying: "the telegram was sent by the deputy chief of general staff in person. He asked you to return to Moscow as soon as possible and report to the general staff."


    "What the hell are you doing back in Moscow at this time?" This urgent telegram calling me back to Moscow made me feel puzzled. You should know that the May Day parade is over, and it is meaningless to return to Moscow. But since it was Antonov himself who sent me the telegram, it must be something important. It''s just hard to write in the telegram, so I can only vaguely ask him to return to Moscow as soon as possible.


    "Major, show me the map." I didn''t have a briefcase on my back, so I didn''t have a map on my back. I had to look for bukov, so I told him, "I want to see where the nearest city is."


    Bukov simply tidied up the things on the desk, took out the map in the briefcase, spread it on the desk, pointed to it and suggested to me, "Comrade commander, from our present position, you can choose to go to shepetovka to take the train, or dubno to take the plane."


    I think about it. It takes two days to get to Moscow by train from shepetovka; And to dubno to take a plane, up to three hours, you can reach the destination. Just when I was about to go to dubno, I heard bukov say, "Comrade commander, it''s a hundred kilometers'' mountain road from here to dubno, and it''s not safe in the mountains. I suggest you take the train to shepetovka."


    "It''s not safe on the way to dubno," I said, looking at bukov. "Is it safe on the way to shepetovka?"


    "The safety factor to shepetovka should be much higher." Bukov confidently replied: "my troops have been suppressing bandits there for a period of time, and they are very familiar with the terrain there. After our attack, there are basically no organized bandit units in that area. Moreover, you only need to walk more than 40 kilometers to shepetovka, and you can get there in one day and one night. "


    Bukov''s last two words moved me. It takes at least two or three days to walk to dubno by more than 100 kilometers of mountain road, and the road is not peaceful. And to shepetovka by train, it only takes one day, and the safety factor is much higher. Thinking about this, I immediately made a decision: "OK, that''s it. I''ll go to shepetovka and take the train to Moscow."


    When I heard that I was going to Moscow, bukov suddenly got excited like a chicken. He straightened up and asked me, "do you want me to accompany you to Moscow?"


    "No, comrade major. You can''t accompany me to Moscow this time." After I had said this, I saw the dejected look on his face and quickly explained to him, "it''s very important to protect the safety of the geological exploration team. I need a trustworthy department to do it, and you are the best person." After listening to my explanation, bukov knew that he could not accompany me to Moscow. Although he was very disappointed, he still tried to ask me in a smooth tone: "Comrade commander, how many people are you going to take to shepetovka this time?" Considering the current strength, we should not only ensure the safety of the exploration team, but also shoulder the heavy responsibility of transporting materials. Too much will affect their security work. So after thinking for a moment, I replied, "well, comrade major, just give me a platoon. You can''t protect the safety of the exploration team by escorting me. " At noon the next day, escorted by the guard platoon, I arrived at shepetovka smoothly. I found the military representative at the station. With his help, I got on the freight train with the soldiers in the guard platoon and set out on the journey to Moscow in the last empty car. After two days, the train arrived at the central railway station in Moscow. After getting off the train, I found the station master and military representative in the station. With their help, I took the guard platoon to the general staff headquarters in the center of the city by jeep and truck. When we arrived outside the courtyard of the general staff, the motorcade was stopped by the soldiers on duty. I pushed the door open, got out of the car, showed my credentials to the soldiers who were interrogating, and then said to him, "Comrade soldier, I am the deputy commander of the first front army of Ukraine, and I have been ordered to report to deputy chief of staff Antonov." The soldier took a look at me and then said, "Comrade General, please wait a moment. I''ll call to check it."

 Chapter 1521

    The soldier soon finished the call, walked back to me, looked at me with vigilant eyes and asked, "sorry, comrade commander, I just called and asked. The duty room said I didn''t know about it."


    "What, I don''t know about it?" When I heard the soldier say so, I couldn''t help but look a little silly. My heart said that the telegram had Antonov''s signature on it. Did I receive a fake telegram?


    The platoon leader behind me stepped forward and asked the soldier in a loud voice, "Comrade soldier, where is your star officer?"


    The soldier glanced at the guard platoon leader with scornful eyes and said coldly, "no one can enter the general staff without a pass and no one''s greeting."


    "You..." seeing that the soldiers despised themselves so much, the guard platoon leader could not help getting angry. He leaned forward slightly and planned to rush to teach each other. I know very well in my heart that if we fight at the gate of the General Staff Headquarters, even if we are reasonable, we may have nothing to eat. So I quickly stopped my platoon leader and tried my best to restrain myself. I asked the soldier, "Comrade soldier, please call your officer on duty. I have something to say to him."


    Seeing my kind attitude, the soldier released his grip on the handle of the gun. He turned to another young soldier and said, "go and invite the major. He should have finished his lunch at this time."


    I took the platoon leader to the jeep parked on the opposite side of the road and said to him in a low voice, "Comrade lieutenant, this is the location of the general staff of the Red Army. Don''t be reckless. Even if the soldiers on duty show any unfriendly behavior, they should keep calm. Do you understand? "


    After listening to what I said, the platoon leader looked at the soldier opposite with fierce eyes and said, "Comrade commander, are we going to let it go?"


    I took a look at the soldier standing upright at the gate and said casually, "the guard soldier is doing his job right. He is also doing his duty."


    After waiting by the car for a while, I saw a major, accompanied by young soldiers, appear at the door. The soldier who didn''t let us in reported to him and pointed to our position with his hand. The major followed the direction of the soldier''s fingers and saw us standing beside the car. He had a look of astonishment on his face. He flew to me like a flying horse. After raising his hand to salute me, he reported his rank and name to me according to the regulations. Finally, he asked, "general oshanina, please forgive me. I just left temporarily."


    "Do you know me?" When I heard the major call out my name, I was very curious. After looking him up and down, I couldn''t remember where I had met him. Without waiting for his reply, I went on to say, "Comrade major, I have been ordered to report to the general staff. Can you let me in?"


    "Comrade General, when I accompanied marshal vasilevsky to the front line before, I met you from a distance." After briefly explaining the reason why he recognized me, the major asked solemnly, "may I ask, who did you come from?"


    "General Antonov." I looked at the major and replied without expression, "I came to the general staff to report on the order of general Antonov, deputy chief of general staff."


    "So it is." After listening to my reply, the major showed a smile on his face. "Comrade General, you have come to the wrong place. No wonder my subordinates can''t find out who called you."


    "What''s going on?" I was confused by the major''s words, and I asked, "isn''t this the general staff?"


    "Yes, comrade general, this is indeed the seat of the general staff." With a smile on his face, the major replied, "but there is also an office of the general staff in the Kremlin where marshal vasilevsky usually presides over the work. But since he was injured, general Antonov, deputy chief of general staff, has been in charge. And here, "he continued, shaking his head at the red building in the courtyard across the street," is now in the charge of general Ivanov, deputy chief of staff. "


    After the major finished, I asked tentatively, "Comrade major, that is to say, I have to go to the Kremlin to find general Antonov?"


    "Yes, it is." The major said with a smile, "I''ll call you there, so you won''t be stopped when you pass."


    "Thank you, comrade major." After thanking the major, I turned and told the platoon leader who was standing by, "major, let the soldiers get in the car. We''ll go to the Kremlin immediately."


    Jeeps and two trucks along the road along the Moscow river came near the Church of St. Vasili, and were blocked by checkpoints on the slopes of Vasili. A lieutenant with a submachine gun on his chest came out of the inspection station made up of sandbags and wooden bars, came to our car and asked aloud, "which part of you are here? What''s the matter here?"


    I quickly pushed the door open, leaned out half of my body and said to the lieutenant, "Comrade lieutenant, I''m coming back from the front line. I''m going to see general Antonov, deputy chief of general staff."


    "General oshanina?" Without waiting for the lieutenant to reply, I saw a captain in a military coat running out from behind a pile of sandbags. He came to my car, stopped and said, "I''m here to meet you on the order of the deputy chief of general staff."


    "Where is general Antonov?" I asked the captain as soon as I got out of the car¡° The deputy chief of general staff is in the office of the supreme commander. " The captain quickly and respectfully reported to me, "I''ll take you to the office of the general staff." I nodded and said to the captain calmly, "Captain, take me to the office." The captain agreed in a hurry, turned around and walked up the slope to show me the way. I just walked two steps, but I was stopped by the lieutenant again. He reached out to me and said dryly, "Comrade General, please show me your identification!" After two more inspections, I finally passed through the door of the Kremlin and arrived in front of the office of the general staff. The captain stopped and politely said to me, "Comrade General, the conversation between the deputy chief of general staff and the Supreme Commander himself may not be over yet. Please wait here for a while." Then he raised his hand and pushed open the two closed wooden doors. I walked into the office and saw that the office facing the door was full of all kinds of documents besides desk lamp and telephone. Just as I was looking at the layout of the room, I heard a familiar voice: "Rita, here you are!" I was startled by the sudden sound, and instinctively turned to look in the direction of the sound. Zhukov was sitting at a conference table covered with green cloth, half turning, one hand on the back of the chair, staring at me. After a moment of doubt, I strode towards Zhukov. After standing in front of him, I raised my hand and saluted: "Hello, marshal, nice to meet you here!" Zhukov stood up, reached for my hand, and then slowly said, "Rita, welcome to Moscow. I''ve been waiting for you here."

 Chapter 1522

    "Wait for me here?" Zhukov''s words confused me, and I asked in surprise, "didn''t general Antonov call me back to Moscow?"


    "We are going to make a new offensive plan, and we need your participation. In order not to attract other people''s attention, after my discussion with Comrade Stalin, I feel that if Comrade Antonov comes forward and calls you back to Moscow, it will give people the illusion that you will come back to report your work. " Zhukov said that with a sly smile on his face: "come on, Rita, everyone is waiting for you."


    "Everyone is waiting for me." Zhukov''s words made me more and more confused. I asked, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know who is waiting for me?"


    "You''ll know when you go." Zhukov can''t help but push me out.


    "Wait a minute, comrade marshal." Although Zhukov didn''t say clearly who was waiting for me, I knew in my heart that there must be Stalin and Antonov among the people I''ll see later, so I rushed to Zhukov and said, "please give me a few minutes."


    "Give you a few minutes?" Zhukov looked at me with regret and said, "what are you going to do?"


    I gave him a smile, then pointed to my face and said, "marshal, I took the train from shepetovka to Moscow for two days. I got off the train and rushed here before I could wash my face. If I want to meet Comrade Stalin, I need to wash my face first. "


    After looking me up and down, Zhukov said with a smile: "Rita, if you don''t tell me, I really didn''t notice. Your face is full of flowers. It''s not good to see Comrade Stalin. Come on, wash your face


    I walked into the bathroom connected to the office and poured cold water on my face. I suddenly became more conscious. I stare at myself in the mirror in a daze, thinking to myself: "what''s the matter, why will I be suddenly recalled to Moscow? Now I''m just a deputy commander of the front army. I don''t think it''s up to me to tell the supreme command what offensive campaign plans to make. "


    When I came out of the bathroom, Zhukov was a little impatient. He waved his head at me and said, "come on, Rita, don''t let Comrade Stalin wait."


    On the way to Stalin''s office, I wanted to talk from Zhukov, but he was walking so fast in the carpeted corridor that I had to trot all the way to keep up with him. I didn''t care to ask him any questions.


    Boskelebeshev, Stalin''s secretary, saw the arrival of Zhukov and me. He quickly got up from his seat and said politely to Zhukov, "Marshal Zhukov, comrade Stalin has been waiting for you. Please come in." Said, he pushed open the closed door, and reached out to do a please gesture.


    I followed Zhukov and walked into the office. As soon as I entered, I habitually looked at Stalin''s desk. He was sitting behind his desk, smoking and listening to Antonov''s report.


    Seeing our arrival, Stalin raised his hand and made a sign to Antonov to stop reporting. Then he looked at us with a smile and said, "Rita, when did you get to Moscow?"


    Seeing Stalin pass Zhukov and say hello to me directly made me flustered. I stammered: "report to Comrade Stalin, I am... I arrived in Moscow an hour ago. Because I went to the wrong place, I lost some time."


    Stalin nodded, put his pipe on the ashtray, picked up the telegram on the desk, dialed a number, and said to the microphone, "OK, let them all come in."


    When I saw Stalin''s action, I became more and more nervous. It seems that many heavyweights will appear later, which makes me more and more curious about Stalin''s real intention of calling himself back to Moscow.


    The door opened again from the outside, and several people entered one after another. The first was Voroshilov, who turned his head as he walked and whispered to bujonny, who was following him. Behind them, Kalinin was leaning on crutches, and Molotov was supporting him. In the back was Timoshenko, a tall man, and a tall, thin man in the uniform of an admiral.


    I approached Zhukov and asked in a low voice, "Comrade marshal, who is the commander in the Navy Command?"


    "Kuznetsov," Zhukov replied in a low voice, "Admiral Nikolay grasimovitch Kuznetsov, the people''s commissar of the Navy, is a member of the supreme command."


    After listening to Zhukov''s introduction, I can''t help but shrivel my mouth, saying that the navy is really not valued by the army, and that Kuznetsov, the grand commander-in-chief of the Navy, is only a general.


    After everyone was seated at the long conference table covered with green cloth, Stalin suddenly called my name: "Comrade oshanina!"


    When I heard that he didn''t call me by my nickname, but by my surname, I knew that he must have something important to say. So I stood up from his seat, kept a standing posture, looked up at him, and waited for him to say something later.


    Stalin continued: "at the Munich Conference on November 30 last year, US President Roosevelt told me personally that the Allied forces would open up a second battlefield in northern France in May 1944."


    Stalin''s words puzzled me. As far as I know, the Normandy landing took place on June 6, 1944. Why did Roosevelt tell Stalin that it was in May? Did my arrival make some important history deviate? While I was thinking, Stalin continued, "but three days ago, I received a private letter from Roosevelt saying that the opening of a second battlefield in northern France would be delayed for various reasons." He stopped not far from me, pointed at me with his fist clutching his pipe, and asked, "I called you back from Ukraine just to ask your opinion. Will the Allies really open up a second battlefield in France?" Stalin''s words made people around the conference table have doubts. I can see that many people are mastering each other. If Stalin wasn''t here, they would be whispering about what''s going on. Stalin, perhaps to dispel everyone''s doubts, added, "when you and Comrade Molotov went to the United States last year, they participated in the formulation of the Allied plan. Whether they will open up a second battlefield or not is up to you." After Stalin''s words, except for Zhukov and Antonov, other people''s faces showed a clear expression. They all focused on me and wanted to hear how I answered. At the moment, I understand that Stalin could not recall me because he wanted to reconfirm whether the Allies really had the possibility of opening up a second battlefield. Although he was suspected of being ill and rushed to hospital, I just knew the answer and the exact landing location of the allies. However, in order to avoid arousing their suspicion, after Stalin finished speaking, I pretended to ponder for a long time, and then slowly said, "Comrade Stalin, I think the reason why the Allies delayed the opening of the second battlefield may be that the landing conditions are not mature. In June at the latest, they should open up the second battlefield promised to us in the north of France. "¡° Comrade o''shanina, "as soon as I finished, gallinin, who was sitting opposite me, asked," I wonder why you are so sure that the allies will keep their promise and open up a second battlefield in the north of France? "¡° That''s right, that''s right. " As soon as Kalinin''s words were finished, voroshlov asked, "they said it was May. Now it''s June. Who knows if they will continue to push back after June?"¡° I don''t think so. " As I recalled the information about the Normandy landing that I would read later, I said slowly: "as far as I know, it is a complex problem for the Allied headquarters to determine the specific date and time, because their various services and arms will put forward different requirements according to their own needs: for example, the army requires landing at high tide, so as to reduce the exposure time of troops on the beach; The Navy requires landing at low tide in order to minimize the damage of landing craft by obstacles; The air force requires moonlight for airborne troops to identify ground targets, etc. If June is over, there will be no more days to meet such landing conditions, so we can only wait for next year. " After I said these words, I saw people''s faces showing different degrees of disappointment, and immediately guessed that they thought that the Allies did not have the possibility of opening up a second battlefield this year. Then he explained with a smile: "because our army has won a series of huge victories in the right bank of Ukraine, the United States and the United States have found that if we do not open up a second battlefield, the future Europe will be under our rule, which is obviously not in the interests of the United States and the United States. Therefore, I boldly assert that the Allied forces will certainly open up a second battlefield in June."¡° I agree with Comrade oshanina. "First of all, Admiral Kuznetsov gave me his support. He swung his head to the left and right. Finally, he focused on Stalin:" as a naval commander, I know more about landing operations than you do. I think the situation just mentioned by general oshanina is very complicated, It''s all real. The reason why the allies are unable to land in May may may be due to inadequate preparation or the influence of climate conditions. June will be their last chance. " After Kuznetsov''s words, Molotov also said unexpectedly: "some people say that war is the continuation of politics. I think this is very reasonable. In order to fight for the post-war interests in Europe, the United States and the United States will definitely enter these countries and regions ahead of our army. In that case, they will have to open up the promised second battlefield. " After listening to everyone''s speech, Stalin went back to his position, sat down, gently knocked off the ash in his pipe on the ashtray, and said without hesitation: "since the Allied forces have opened up a second battlefield, it is beyond doubt, then we should discuss the main attack direction of the offensive campaign in the summer of 1944." When I heard that I was going to discuss the main attack direction of the summer offensive campaign, I admitted that my level was too low to be qualified to sit in here, so I quickly stood up again and politely said to Stalin, "Comrade Stalin, will you allow me to leave?"

 Chapter 1523

    Stalin, who was stuffing tobacco into his pipe, heard me say this, stopped his action, looked up at me, raised his eyebrows, and asked, "Rita, where are you going?"


    I took a look at the senior leaders sitting around the conference table, then faced him and replied respectfully, "Comrade Stalin, you are about to hold an important military conference. I am not suitable here, so I intend to avoid it."


    "Now that you are all here, sit down and listen." Stalin raised his right hand and pressed it down. He said in a kind voice, "if you have any opinions, you can also put forward them boldly."


    Although Stalin said that, I knew that it was just a polite remark. I must not take it seriously. If I really tell the decision made by the supreme command, I would not be far away from meeting with Tukhachevsky, Pavlov and others.


    Stalin lit his pipe and took a slow puff. Then he said slowly, "comrades, let''s continue our meeting. Who will talk about where we should choose the main attack direction of the summer offensive?"


    After the silence in the conference room, the first speaker was Marshal Timoshenko. He stood up with his hands on the edge of the table, looked around, stood upright and said, "comrades, our army has just won a great victory in the right bank of Ukraine and liberated a lot of occupied territory. At present, the four front forces deployed in Ukraine are in a state of strong troops and high morale. I think it is most appropriate to choose Ukraine as the main attack direction of the summer campaign. "


    "Comrade marshal," as soon as his voice fell, voroshlov corrected him and said, "at present, our troops in Ukraine are not four front armies, but three. Don''t forget that the first and second front armies have been merged and under the unified command of Marshal konev."


    "Comrade Voroshilov," timusinko said solemnly, turning his eyes to Voroshilov, "you may not know that at the meeting attended by the general staff yesterday, the motion of dividing the first front army of Ukraine into the first and the second has been passed."


    "Is that so, comrade Antonov?" After turning to ask Antonov this question, voroshlov shrugged his shoulders and said, "I just returned to Moscow from Leningrad this morning, so I don''t know much about some of the situation."


    "Yes, marshal voroshlov." Antonov sat in his seat and nodded to voroshlov: "the first front army of Ukraine will continue to be commanded by Marshal konev; The commander of the second front army is general Malinowski, and the post of commander of the third front army vacated by him is taken over by the former commander of the Fourth Front Army, general torbusin. "


    "My God, such a large-scale adjustment of the commander of the front army has been carried out." On hearing this series of adjustments, a look of surprise appeared on voloshlov''s face. He then asked, "who will be the commander of the Fourth Front Army?" As he said this, he glanced at where I was.


    Antonov looked at voroshlov with a smile and said with profound meaning: "the post of commander of the second front army of Belarus is assumed by general Ivan yefmovitch Petrov, the former commander of the 33rd group army, while the outgoing general kurotchkin is transferred to Ukraine as commander of the Fourth Front Army."


    When Voroshilov heard the name of Petrov, he sneered and said with some disdain, "if Petrov is to be the commander of the Fourth Front Army of Ukraine, he will not delay the campaign in the summer offensive, will he?"


    Seeing that Voroshilov despises Petrov so much, I can''t help but wonder. At the same time, I think of the latter who was promoted to the rank of general at the beginning of last year. Why is he still a general now? Is there any irreconcilable contradiction between them?


    At this time, Stalin suddenly said: "some time ago, he dismissed Comrade Petrov from the post of commander of the north Caucasus front army and demoted him from a general to a general. He did not want to put him in another book, but to let him learn how to attack. After all, he never directed an offensive campaign after he became a senior commander." With these words, he waved his hand, "who''s going to speak next?"


    Stalin''s words remind me of the history of Petrov. In February 1944, he was accused of not being good at attacking, but was dismissed by Stalin and demoted to the rank of general. From what voroshlov said just now, I have come to a conclusion in my heart that the dismissal of Petrov has something to do with voroshlov.


    After the episode, bujoni, who has been in the role of soy sauce for a long time, took the floor. He sat in his seat, looked around, and then said slowly, "I think we should choose Belarus as our main attack direction. In addition to our three front forces, once the campaign starts, we can also get support from the Baltic front forces in the northeast and the Ukrainian front forces in the South... "


    "I think the main attack should be on the Baltic coast," said Admiral Kuznetsov, who objected to bujoni''s opinion. He specially stressed: "the reason why we chose this direction is because the German army is the weakest here. More importantly, our navy can also send Marines to land to cooperate with the army''s offensive."


    When he saw the public saying that the public was right and the old saying that the old saying was right, Stalin laughed but said nothing. After smoking a pipe of cigarettes, he knocked the ash into the crystal ashtray, looked at Zhukov and asked, "Comrade Zhukov, I don''t know what you think."


    Zhukov turned to look at Stalin and politely replied, "Comrade Stalin, I think the direction of attack you have chosen has merits. I don''t know which direction you think is the best?" He gently pushed the contradiction back to Stalin.


    Stalin didn''t care about Zhukov''s attitude. After glancing at the participants, he stopped at me and asked unexpectedly, "Rita, if you were asked to choose the main attack direction, which of the three directions would you choose?"


    I didn''t expect that Stalin would suddenly ask for his own opinions. He stood up and answered in a flurry: "Comrade Stalin, I think we should choose Belarus as our main attack direction."


    After I said this, I immediately stared at Stalin nervously to see what kind of reaction he would have. He picked up the clean cigarette end, slowly stood up and walked towards my position. A few steps away, he stopped, pointed at me with his fist clutching the cigarette end, and said, "tell me why you chose this direction."


    I took a deep breath, quickly organized the words in my mind, and then said with confidence: "Comrade Stalin, the reason why I agree with marshal bujoni''s proposal to choose Belarus as my main attack direction is mainly due to three reasons:


    First, our army passed through Belarus to Berlin, which is the shortest distance;


    Second, we can get the support of the vast number of guerrillas active in Belarus. As far as I know, there are more than 200000 guerrillas here, which is a force that can not be underestimated;


    Thirdly, when we liberate Belarus and our troops enter the Polish border, the friendly Polish people''s army will meet us there. They have been fighting against the Communist aggressors for five years.


    It is based on these three considerations that I think we should choose Belarus as our main attack direction. "


    These words I said were all said by vasilevsky in real history and were approved by Stalin. At this moment, I will say these words in advance, and I believe I will vote for Stalin.


    I saw a happy smile on Stalin''s face. He nodded and walked back to his desk. When he sat down again, he filled his pipe with tobacco and said, "what do you think of Rita''s proposal?" Looking up and seeing that I was still standing, he quickly raised his hand and pressed it down, indicating that I would sit down.


    Zhukov stood up, looked at me and said, "the Ukrainian troops have become very tired after continuous fighting. They need to rest and replenish their troops and ammunition. The German troops that have been attacked by us in succession will take Ukraine as their key defense direction. Even if we succeed in our attack in this area, we will pay a great price. Therefore, I agree with Rita''s proposal to choose Belarus as the main attack direction and launch the main attack in places unexpected to the Germans. "


    After listening to Zhukov''s speech, Stalin turned his eyes to Antonov and asked, "Comrade Antonov, what is the opinion of the general staff?"


    Antonov quickly stood up and replied respectfully, "Comrade Stalin, I don''t think launching an attack on the Baltic coast can achieve unexpected results. Moreover, the enemy is in the position of internal combat in this area and has an advantage in mobility. They control the perfect railway network and roads in their hands and can be reinforced in time no matter any point is attacked. On the other hand, there are many swamps and lakes in this area, which is very unfavorable for our army to use tank troops. Even in some areas with the support of naval artillery and Marine Corps, the results are very limited. "


    In their speeches, Zhukov and Antonov negated the proposal to launch major attacks from Ukraine and the Baltic coastal areas¡° Comrade Stalin, "seeing that his main attack direction has been denied, timoshinger can''t wait to say," if we use tank regiments to fight in the main attack direction, we must have vast plains, and only Ukraine can meet this condition. "


    "The Germans will think the same way, comrade timoshinger." As for timoshinger''s speech, Zhukov flatly refuted: "according to the German military theory, they also think that tank troops are more suitable for plain combat. In order to prevent us from using tank regiments to carry out assault, they are bound to build solid fortifications to stop our tanks."


    Stalin rekindled his cigarette and after thinking for a while, he finally expressed his own view: "since Comrade Zhukov and Antonov are against taking the above two areas as the main attack direction of our summer offensive, we will set the main attack direction in Belarus."


    Zhukov said while the iron was hot: "Comrade Stalin, since the General Staff Headquarters and I have the same opinion, is it right to call all the commanders of the front army to hold a meeting at the right time and tell them about the main attack direction?"


    Stalin frowned at Zhukov''s proposal. After thinking for a while, he shook his head and said, "Comrade Zhukov, we''d better wait until the adjustment of the commander of the front army is over. Your task now is to go to Belarus first and study the situation there, so that we can work out a targeted attack plan. "¡° Yes, comrade Stalin. " Zhukov replied solemnly, "I will fly to Belarus tomorrow." Stalin stood up and walked back and forth beside his empty chair, all eyes focused on him, patiently waiting for new orders he might give. After walking back and forth for two or three minutes, he suddenly stopped, pointed to my position with his hand, and told Zhukov, "Comrade Zhukov, take Rita with you."¡° But Comrade Stalin. " After looking at me, Zhukov said with some embarrassment, "she is currently the deputy commander of the first front army of Ukraine. Is it suitable for her to go to Belarus with me?"¡° Comrade Zhukov, "Stalin looked at Zhukov and said solemnly," don''t you think it''s a bit too condescending to let Rita be a nominal deputy commander? Well, from now on, she will be temporarily removed from the post of Acting Deputy Commander, and she will be used until you come back from Belarus. " When Zhukov heard what Stalin said, he had a smile on his face. He readily agreed, "well, comrade Stalin, I will take Rita to Belarus tomorrow." Stalin nodded with a smile, then waved to everyone and announced loudly, "the meeting is over!" When I got to the door, I was stopped by bosklebshev. He asked politely, "Comrade oshanina, do you have a residence in Moscow?"¡° No, comrade bosklebshev, I have no place to live. " I shook my head, looked at bosklebshev and asked, "can you introduce me to a suitable place?" Boskelebeshev picked up a note on the table, handed it to me, and asked with a smile, "this is the place for you. Do you want me to send someone to see you over?" I looked at the address, and it happened to be the place I knew. It was not far from Red Square. As an old Mo who had lived in Moscow for more than ten years, it was so easy to find that place. So I politely declined boskelebeshev''s kindness: "no, comrades boskelebeshev, don''t bother others, I can go by myself."

 Chapter 1524

    When I came out of the Kremlin, the lights were already shining outside, and the searchlights around red square made the square as bright as day. All the entrances to red square were stopped by iron fences and sandbags, and the sentry was carefully checking every one who came in and out.


    I saw that the lights were bright in the Gumm shopping mall on the east side of Red Square, and I could vaguely hear people''s voices coming from it. So I walked there and planned to have a look in the shopping mall.


    Gumm national department store is a three story building with three large arches. The door facing Lenin''s tomb was closed for a long time, so I went to the arch on the north side. When I left red square from the entrance, several sentinels standing here raised their hands to salute me.


    Built in 1893, Gumm national department store is one of the world famous department stores. More than 1000 shops here, in later generations, basically sell porcelain, handicrafts, clothing, department stores and other fine products with Russian characteristics, as well as a wide range of imported goods.


    It is not so much a shop as a palace. The beige architecture with European classical style and the colorful church beside it harmoniously form a beautiful landscape on the Red Square.


    Although in later generations, because of the high price of goods, local customers have been greatly reduced, and it has become a shopping center for foreign tourists. But at the moment, as the largest department store in the Soviet Union, it is still a favorite place for people to hang out.


    In the center of the first floor is an octagonal fountain with benches and nearby cafes full of customers. As the situation became more and more favorable to the Soviet Union, the possibility of Moscow being bombed by enemy planes had been infinitely reduced, and people''s life almost returned to that before the war. This can be felt from the relaxed expression on everyone''s face and the smile that can''t be concealed.


    In Moscow in May, people wear a variety of clothes, including leather jackets, thick long coats and shirts. Some of the girls chatting on the bench even put on beautiful dresses.


    Because I couldn''t find a vacant seat, I stood by a marble pillar not far from the fountain and looked at the people who were enjoying a peaceful life. I stood for a while, because I felt a little hot in the shopping mall, so I took off my big cornice cap and fan.


    Who knows, before a few fans, there are two soldiers in picket uniform appeared in front of me. After they raised their hands to salute me, the sergeant on the left politely said to me, "Comrade General, please pay attention to your appearance in public."


    I quickly put the general cap on my head again and apologized to them: "sorry, I''ll pay attention next time."


    They didn''t leave immediately. The sergeant then politely asked me, "Comrade General, are you here alone?"


    The sergeant''s question suddenly reminded me that there was a guard waiting for me by the Moscow River under the Vasili slope. He couldn''t help saying, "Oh, no, I almost forgot if you didn''t remind me. My guard platoon is still waiting for me by the Moscow river. "


    Hearing what I said, the sergeant immediately took the initiative and said, "Comrade General, please allow us to serve you. Let''s take you to the Moscow river."


    I wanted to decline the sergeant''s kindness, but on second thought, they are pickets, and they are more convenient than me in many places. If I go to the guard platoon alone, I don''t think I can cross red square directly. Instead, I have to make a big circle from other places to join the guard platoon under the Vassili slope. So I laughed at them and said gratefully, "in that case, comrade sergeant, thank you first."


    "General oshanina, it''s our pleasure to be of service to you!" The sergeant bowed slightly to me and then turned to lead me.


    I was surprised that the sergeant could name me. I hastened to step up, and Sergeant parallel, tentatively asked: "Sergeant comrade, you know me?"


    "General oshanina," the sergeant replied with a smile, "although I have never met you, I know that there is a woman general who has made many achievements in the army. When I saw you just now, I roughly guessed your identity, so I called you tentatively just now. I didn''t expect that I guessed you right. "


    The sergeant led me out of the South Gate of the Gumm mall, passed the round guillotine, passed the security check, passed the Church of St. Vassily, and came to the bottom of the slope of Vassily. Seeing my guard platoon parked in the open space near the slope, I stopped, reached out to the sergeant, shook his hand, and said gratefully, "sergeant, thank you!"


    After the sergeant released his hand, he raised his hand to salute me again and said with a smile: "general o''shanina, it''s my honor to be of service to you! I wish you good health With that, he turned around and walked towards the square with his subordinate in neat steps.


    When the platoon leader saw me coming down the slope, he trotted over and asked me, "Comrade commander, you are out. Don''t know where we should go now? "


    I took the note out of my pocket, looked at the address on it, and said to the platoon leader, "Comrade lieutenant, do you know the military Hotel on albard street?"


    The platoon leader didn''t know why I asked, but he nodded and said truthfully, "of course I do."


    "If you know, get on the bus immediately." I waved to the guard platoon leader and said, "we''ll live there tonight. Hurry up. The soldiers haven''t eaten for such a long time. I think they are starving."¡° Yes The guard platoon leader agreed, then ran back to the truck and yelled at the soldiers who were still standing beside the truck: "everyone, listen to my command, get on the bus!" I got into the co driver''s seat of the jeep and said to the driver who was ready to drive: "Comrade driver, do you know the military Hotel on albard street?" Seeing that he nodded in affirmation, I patted him on the shoulder and said, "now that you know, let''s drive. We''ll live there tonight." The driver is Muscovite. He is very familiar with the terrain here. In only five minutes, our small motorcade came from the Moscow River to the army Hotel on albard street. Seeing several military vehicles parked at the door, the person in charge of the military hotel came out from the inside, went to my car, bent down and looked into the car, and then asked, "Comrade commander, are you going to stay here tonight?" I pushed the door open and got out of the car. I asked the person in charge with a smile, "I have more than 40 people here. Can you live here?"

 Chapter 1525

    I thought I could sleep in quietly when I got back to Moscow. But the next morning, I was awakened by a quick and regular knock on the door. I vaguely opened my eyes and looked at my watch. Before five o''clock, I turned to the door and asked, "who''s out there?"


    "Comrade commander," came the voice of the guard platoon leader outside the door, "just received a call from the general staff."


    I heard that there was a telegram from the headquarters of the general staff. I quickly got out of bed, rushed to the door barefoot, threw my coat on the coat rack, quickly buttoned it, and then opened the door.


    The platoon leader, standing upright outside the door, saw me at the door and immediately repeated what he had just said: "Comrade commander, I just received a call from the general staff."


    I saw that he didn''t ask me to answer the phone immediately, but directly reported the content of the phone to me. I knew that the content of the phone didn''t matter, so I went back to the room, picked up the boots by the bed, sat on the chair and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, the phone is calling. What did you say?"


    "The call is from Colonel Tkachenko, the director of the campaign transportation department," the platoon leader of the guard respectfully reported to me. "He said that the train to zhylobin, Belarus, will leave at 6:30 on time. Please get to the railway station early and join Marshal Zhukov."


    "Campaign delivery?" When I heard the name of this strange organization, I could not help but stop my work, looked up at the second lieutenant at the door, and asked in some surprise, "what department is this? Why have I never heard of it?"


    "This department is subordinate to the combat Department of the general staff," the platoon leader of the security platoon explained to me in a daze: "it is responsible for the management of the military transportation and the dispatch of military trains. Without them, our army would be unable to do anything. "


    Knowing the authority of this special department, I asked, "Lieutenant, are all our people up?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." The guard platoon leader replied, "after answering the phone, I gave the order to get up. But we may have to wait for a while to start, and it will take half an hour to pick up our car from the station. "


    "Since it''s still early, let the soldiers have breakfast." I waved to the lieutenant and said, "don''t let them starve like they did yesterday."


    After a simple breakfast, our car hasn''t arrived yet. The guard platoon leader took the soldiers away from the restaurant and lined up at the door. After chatting with the person in charge of the hotel for a while, I went out of the hotel and came to the street.


    In later generations, I have been here many times. Arbat street, the famous pedestrian street of later generations, close to the Moscow River, is one of the symbols of Moscow. Although the street is less than one kilometer long and more than ten meters wide, the Russian style is very strong. On the streets paved with square bricks, you can see not only the most traditional and simple things, but also the most modern and fashionable things.


    On both sides of the street, in addition to the shops dealing in Russian arts and crafts, there are open-air bars and restaurants, where tourists can sit and enjoy the street view while tasting good wine or coffee. Most of the roadside is a next to a painting stand, spend two or three hundred roadside, the artist can draw a portrait or caricature for you on the spot. Stalls in the middle of the road are filled with dolls, crystal ornaments and large scarves with Russian characteristics.


    The former residence of the famous poet Pushkin is located in this street. In addition to seeing tourists taking pictures in front of the statues of Pushkin and his wife Natalia, we can also see some literature lovers reading Pushkin''s poems aloud in the street with a thick book of poems.


    Unfortunately, apart from the antique buildings on both sides of the street, there is no scene I am familiar with. There are no open-air bars and restaurants, no stalls full of goods, no bustling tourists, and even no sculptures of the Pushkin couple.


    Just as I was staring at the bare street in a daze, there was a sound of car horns behind me. Then the guard platoon came to me and reported, "Comrade commander, our car has arrived. We can get on."


    As soon as the train arrived at the station, a colonel came out to meet me. He ran down the steps, stopped in front of us, raised his hand and said politely, "Hello, general oshanina, marshal is waiting for you on the platform."


    I turned to the guard behind me and asked, "Comrade Colonel, what about my guard platoon?"


    The colonel looked behind me, then said with a smile, "let them come along. Anyway, we are a special train. There are enough cars for them."


    Seeing that Zhukov had even considered the problems of my entourage, my heart immediately became more secure, so that I didn''t have to place them any more. So we followed the Colonel through the crowded waiting hall and headed for the platform.


    On the heavily guarded platform, there is a Zhukov special train. In addition to the armored vehicle, there is also a carriage carrying 37mm anti-aircraft guns at the front and back. There are five cars in the middle. Through the introduction of the colonel, I know that the distribution is a dining room car, a Zhukov''s office car, a sleeper car and two guard cars.


    The captain called a lieutenant and asked him to take the guard platoon to the rear compartment of the guard force. Then he took me to the middle compartment and politely said to me, "Comrade General, the marshal is working here."


    As soon as he got in the car, he yelled to the outside, "get ready to drive!" The soldier or conductor standing at the door of several carriages immediately transmitted his command to the bridge by word of mouth. The driver sounded a long whistle, and then the train started slowly.


    I went into Zhukov''s office carriage and saw him sitting at his desk looking at a document. He quickly went forward and raised his hand to salute him. According to the regulations, he reported: "marshal, I have been ordered to come..."


    "Sit down," he said before I finished, then raised his hand to the empty seat opposite him. "I''ll talk to you after I finish reading this document."


    After I sat down in the position opposite to him, I kept a serious posture, staring at the document, secretly guessing what he would say to me later.


    After about five minutes, he finally put down the document in his hand, looked up and asked me, "Rita, what else do you think we have to do before we launch the offensive campaign in Belarus?"


    "It''s easy to say, comrade marshal." Hearing that he asked such a simple question, my original nervous mood suddenly relaxed, and then casually replied: "of course, it''s to supplement the offensive troops with soldiers, weapons and ammunition, and all kinds of necessary military materials."


    "No," said Zhukov, shaking his head. "These are the preparations we have to do before every campaign." Seeing my blank face, he specially reminded me: "before answering my question, you should consider the overall situation."


    "Consider the overall situation?" I frowned at Zhukov''s words, but I didn''t know where to find the answer. Zhukov saw that I had not spoken for a long time, so he lowered his head and continued to read his papers


    On the map spread out on the table, with red and blue pencils densely marking the situation of enemy and ourselves, I forced myself to concentrate and try to find the answer Zhukov wanted from it.


    I watched for almost half an hour, not only looking at the current situation of the enemy and ourselves in Belarus, but also looking at Ukraine and the Baltic coast, but I never came up with an ideal answer.


    "Didn''t you think of it, Rita?" Zhukov pushed the finished documents aside and said to me earnestly: "as a qualified commander of the front army, he should not only consider the situation of the enemy and ourselves in his own defense area, but also care about the situation of the friendly forces. If we want to launch a large-scale offensive campaign in Belarus, the first thing to consider is how to eliminate the factors of instability and ensure that our offensive will not be affected. "


    Zhukov''s words made me realize what I might have overlooked. I pondered over his words to see if I had missed anything important. To the south of Belarus is Ukraine, where our army currently has absolute superiority, and the German army is not willing to act rashly; Although the three Baltic states in the northwest belong to the inner lines of the German army, they are hardly a threat to our powerful forces.


    When I finally stopped to the north of Belarus and saw the "Leningrad" surrounded by the blue arrow, my confusion was immediately solved. I pointed to the map and said to Zhukov, "marshal, if we want to launch the campaign of Belarus, we must first solve the enemy around Leningrad."


    Zhukov looked at me with a surprise expression on his face, raised his chin at me, and then said, "go on."


    "Although on January 27 this year, Leningrad was completely liberated from the 880 day siege of the enemy and returned to the embrace of the motherland, we should see that the German threat to Leningrad still exists." Although few people know about the capture outside Leningrad, it is a great shame to me. I pointed the blue arrow near Leningrad with my hand and said fiercely: "before launching the battle of Belarus, we should first concentrate our superior forces to attack the German army in the South and west of Leningrad, as well as the Finnish army in the north. While forcing Finland to withdraw from the war, we should destroy or severely damage the forces of the German northern army group."


    "You have a good analysis, Rita. It seems that your overall view is becoming more and more mature. " Zhukov picked up his red and blue pencil, pointed the mark representing the German and Finnish troops near Leningrad, and said: "Comrade Stalin discussed this issue with me last night. He thought that as long as we eliminate the enemy in this area and force Finland to withdraw from the war, we can launch offensive campaigns in the area of Belarus without worries."


    Seeing that Zhukov praised me like this, I laughed with embarrassment, then turned away from the topic and said, "our army now has three front armies in Belarus. I don''t know whether they are holding still or actively launching small-scale harassment attacks on the enemy."


    Zhukov heard my question and said with a smile: "I know rokosovsky. He is a busy man. Even if we don''t take Belarus as the main attack direction in the next round of attack, he will take the initiative to attack the German defensive positions and push the enemy out of the occupied area bit by bit."


    "It''s also very good. It''s piecemeal. Although the results are not obvious every time, over time, the results will be amazing." In order to make Zhukov agree with me, I will give him some examples. I was worried that he could not understand what he said about "nibbling" or "crumbling candy". He also explained in a way he could understand: "the enemy''s defensive position is like a huge piece of black bread. We can''t eat it in one gulp. But if we take a bite here today and cut a piece there tomorrow, we will soon digest this big bread. " After listening to my metaphor, Zhukov hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly and said with approval, "Rita, your metaphor is very appropriate. If we take a small-scale offensive, it will not stimulate the sensitive nerves of the German army. In this way, in the area under attack, they will not use heavy defense, which is very beneficial to our next offensive action. " I understand in my heart that the reason why rokosovsky is constantly taking this small-scale offensive is to test the strength of the German army and to advance his starting point of attack. However, as far as the actual effect is concerned, because the German army has established solid fortifications and dispatched heavy troops on the road that our army may attack, rokosovsky''s exploration can achieve some results, but at the same time it will cause the army to pay more casualties. But I can''t guess Zhukov''s mind at the moment. I didn''t tell him the problems of this small-scale trial attack. I plan to wait until the headquarters of rokosovsky, and then find a suitable opportunity to put forward to them, which is more convincing than now. Zhukov raised his hand to look at his watch, and then waved to me, "Rita, it will take us a day and a half to get to zhylobin. Now it''s none of your business. Go to the sleeping car first and have a rest." With that, he reached out and rang the electric bell on the table, and soon the colonel who showed me the way appeared at the door. Zhukov pointed at me and said, "Colonel, take Rita to her room to rest."¡° Yes, comrade Marshal The Colonel agreed, walked up to me, bent slightly, and said politely, "general o''shanina, please follow me. I''ll show you to your room."

 Chapter 1526

    The captain led me to the door of a box and knocked gently. His action raised a dissatisfaction in my heart. I thought I could enjoy a single room on Zhukov''s special train with my current level. Unexpectedly, I still shared a box with a stranger.


    After the door was opened, a middle-aged woman named Xu Niangniang appeared at the door. I looked at her quickly with hostile eyes, only to see that she was wearing a beige knee windbreaker, with ear length short blond hair. Seeing us both standing in the corridor, she smiles at the colonel and politely asks, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the matter?"


    The Colonel raised his hand to salute him and said with a smile, "Hello, Petrovna. I''ve brought you a companion. That way you won''t feel lonely on the way to zlobin. "


    The lady, who was called Petrovna by the colonel, turned her eyes from the colonel to me. After only a moment, she said with a smile, "it''s Rita! Don''t be stunned, please come in quickly Then she pushed the door wider so that I could enter the box smoothly.


    Seeing me enter the room, the Colonel raised his hand again to salute Petrovna and said in a friendly way, "have a nice trip!"


    "Comrade Petrovna," I stood in the middle of the box, looking at Petrovna, who had just closed the door, and asked vaguely, "did you know me before?"


    "No, Rita, I''ve never seen you before today." He shook his head and said with a smile, "but I''ve heard my husband mention you more than once."


    "Your husband mentioned me?" Although she used the easy-going "you" to address me, I still used the honorific "you" for this woman who is older than me and has a very special identity. I heard him say that, thinking quickly in my mind. The colonel who brought me was respectful to her. She appeared on Zhukov''s special train again. Is she Zhukov''s wife? Thinking of this, I tentatively asked: "excuse me, are you Marshal Zhukov''s wife?"


    "Marshal Zhukov''s wife?" Petrovna could not help chuckling at what I said and asked, "Rita, did someone tell you that?"


    "No, No." From her words, I immediately realized that I was wrong in judgment, and quickly explained, "I guess. You are a civilian. Not everyone can get on Zhukov''s special train."


    "My name is eunia Petrovna rokosovskaya," said Petrovna, with an irresistible smile on her face. She reached out to me and said friendly, "let''s meet. My husband''s name is Constantine konstantinovic rokosovsky."


    It turned out to be rokosovsky''s wife. After I found out the identity of the other party, I quickly reached out and took her outstretched hand. As I shook it vigorously, I said excitedly: "Hello, Petrovna, my name is Rita mushdakova oshanina. Nice to meet you


    After we sat down on the edge of our beds, I asked curiously, "dear Petrovna, are you going to visit general rokosovsky?"


    "Yes." After answering my question, Petrovna said to me in a kind voice, "Rita, don''t be so restrained. Although we meet for the first time today, koschka always mentions that you are not a stranger to me. On the contrary, you seem to be an old friend who has known for many years. You can call me eunia, or you can call me "you."


    The affinity of eunia made me feel good for her instinctively. After a short pause, I asked tentatively, "eunia, how long has it been since you saw the general?"


    After thinking about it, she replied, "it''s been almost half a month. I''ve been with my daughter in the military hospital in Moscow."


    "ADA has been transferred to the military hospital in Moscow?" If eunia didn''t mention it, I would have forgotten about ADA''s injury. Now that I heard her mention it, I naturally have to care about the same thing: "how is her injury, won''t it leave any sequelae?"


    When she heard me say that, her face could not help showing a surprised expression: "how, do you know the news about ADA''s injury? Did koschka tell you that? "


    In order not to let her misunderstand me, I quickly shook my head and explained, "general rokosovsky didn''t tell me. But the day I was transferred to the Ukrainian front army, I met ADA''s injury. I followed Marshal Zhukov to the hospital to visit her. "


    "So it is." Eunia''s face showed a relieved expression, and then, without waiting for me to ask again, she said to herself, "after the war broke out, I was evacuated to the rear with my daughter. Because I was too busy with my work and didn''t take good care of my children, she went to join the army secretly without my knowledge.


    Some time ago, comrade Stalin sent people to the rear to find me and said that he would send me to the front line to reunite with koschka. I thought that if I went to the front line, I would have a chance to see my daughter, so I readily agreed. I didn''t expect to get the news of my daughter''s injury just after we met again, so I rushed to Zhitomir.


    Originally, I thought koschica was the garrison commander of Zhitomir before the war. Our family also lived here for a few years and let our children recover there. But one day when Khrushchev came to see a doctor, he said that the medical environment here could not be compared with Moscow. For the sake of ADA''s health, the child should be transferred to a place with better medical conditions immediately. After discussing with koschka, I agreed to his proposal and transferred ADA to the military hospital in Moscow.


    After a period of treatment, ADA''s injury has basically recovered, so I don''t need to stay with her to take care of her. It happened that Marshal Zhukov was going to zlobin, so I hitchhiked to Belarus to see koschka. "


    I know very well in my heart that someone reported rokosovsky in front of Stalin, saying that he had problems with his private life and had an affair with the wife of a famous writer, cherova. Although Stalin reprimanded the informer, he sent someone to the rear to look for eunia and sent her to the front line to reunite with rokosovsky.


    According to my observation, eunia is a very smart woman, but she pretends not to know about rokosovsky''s romance. Since the clients don''t care, it''s hard for an outsider like me to say anything more, so I''ll focus on their daughter: "eunia, even if ADA''s injury is good, she won''t be able to return to the army. I don''t know what she plans to do."


    "Yes, Rita, you''re right." Eunia sighed softly and said to me, "even Comrade Stalin knows about ADA''s injury. He personally inquired about it and said that ADA can''t go back to the army after she is discharged. Instead, she will stay in Moscow to work. The specific work is up to her own choice."


    Thinking of the scene that the whole headquarters of the front army was in disorder after ADA was injured, I thought Stalin''s decision was completely correct, and then asked, "what does ADA mean?"


    Eunia thought about it, and then said, "I want her to work in the district Soviet, but she wants to be a teacher at school."


    Since Stalin spoke in person, even if ADA was just an ordinary staff member in the Soviet Area, the person in charge did not dare to yell at her. But since ADA chose to be a teacher, I believe her future will be bright. So I comforted eunia: "ADA is not a child, I believe she made such a consideration, also after careful consideration."


    "Well, you''re right. Before I left, I told her that I would respect her choice. " When eunia said this, she looked out of the car window and suddenly whispered, "spring is coming!"


    "Spring is coming?" Eunia''s mindless words confused me. But when I also looked out of the window, I realized why she had such a reaction. In Russia, may is the beginning of spring, and urban residents will flock to their villas in the suburbs to plant potatoes, corn, cabbage, carrots and other vegetables in the open space, and then wait for the harvest in autumn; And the farmers of the collective farm will also start sowing for a year. At the moment, we see such a busy scene outside the window.


    In the following time, we didn''t talk about rokosovsky or ADA, but what we would get in the autumn in these areas which are far away from the war. Eunia finally said with emotion, "Rita, if this year is a big harvest, will the rationing system be cancelled in autumn?"


    Her words remind me of those seniors who came to the whole country after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They said that they had to wait in long lines to buy things in the food store, and they could only buy one bread and two eggs at a time. Want to buy more? Yes, you need to queue up again.


    I think that decades later, the Soviet Union''s material supply is so tight, let alone the period when the patriotic war is not over. However, without affecting eunia''s mood, I still agreed with her wholeheartedly: "I will wait until the war is over, and this damned rationing system will be completely abolished."


    The special train we took walked on the road for almost a day and a night, and finally got close to zhiluobin. After this time together, eunia and I have become good friends.


    When the Colonel came to knock on the box door, he politely said to me, "general o''shanina, we''ll be in Zhebin in half an hour. Marshal, please come over."


    When I came to Zhukov''s office car and saw that the desk in front of him was full of all kinds of documents, I knew that he had been busy with his work all this time.


    Zhukov noticed my arrival and asked with a smile, "Rita, are you still happy with Petrovna?"


    For Zhukov''s question, I quickly nodded and said in a positive tone, "yes, marshal, eunia is a very easy person to get along with. I can talk to her very well."


    Zhukov waved to me and let me come to him. He raised his hand and patted the papers on the desk and said to me, "Rita, I haven''t asked you to come here because you don''t have the right to know the documents I have to deal with, so I''ll let you stay with Petrovna for a while and have a chat with her, so that she won''t feel too bored in the car."


    "I understand, comrade marshal." I know very well in my heart that since Stalin announced that he had relieved me of the post of Acting Deputy Commander of the first front army of Ukraine, many war reports that could have been read casually have become military secrets that I am not qualified to consult. I respectfully asked Zhukov, "I don''t know how I can cooperate with you when I get to zlobin."


    Zhukov frowned and thought for a moment, then replied, "when we get to zlobin, we should first understand the current situation of the first front army of Belarus, and then work out a summer offensive plan according to a series of results they have achieved in their exploratory attack. Your job is to watch and listen more. When I don''t ask you, it''s better to keep silent. Do you understand? " I can hear Zhukov''s meaning. He wants me to learn more from him, so that I can apply what I have learned when I am responsible for one direction alone in the future¡° It should be a place of great significance to you, zhlobin Zhukov suddenly said, "if you didn''t lead the sixth group army of the guards to arrive in time, the city that our army officers and men won at great sacrifice would fall into the hands of the German army again." After leaving Belarus, I recalled my first battle in Belarus many times and found that my luck was very good. Although there are as many as ten German divisions carrying out the counter offensive, these units have suffered heavy losses in the long-term battle, not only because of their incomplete organizational structure, but also because of their serious shortage of ammunition. Therefore, our troops can quickly turn from defense to attack after they arrive at zlobin, smash the German counterattack in the shortest time, and advance the front line to moziri kalinkovich. When I heard Zhukov praising me, I couldn''t be too modest, but I''m not used to it. Therefore, I could only digress from the topic and say, "Comrade marshal, speaking of zlobin, I suddenly think of general Petrov who died. The result of the 63rd infantry army under his command in zhelobin is our first victory in the Great Patriotic War. " When I mentioned the sacrifice of Petrov, Zhukov couldn''t help feeling dejected. He sighed and said with regret, "Rita, you''re right. General Petrov is a great commander. In order to save his life, marshal Timoshenko, commander of the Western Front Army, and I promoted him to commander of the 21st army, and even sent a liaison officer with orders to fly to the besieged area to rescue him. Who knows that he refused our good intentions and died when he led the troops to break through the encirclement. " Just when Zhukov was sad, the special train slowed down, and the Colonel came in from the outside and reported to Zhukov: "marshal, the train has come in. Our soldiers see general rokosovsky on the platform." After listening to the Colonel''s report, Zhukov turned and looked out the window. At this moment, our train slowly stopped, a team of armed soldiers trotting appeared on the platform. With a command, they stopped and lined up, with their backs to the train. I saw a large group of soldiers coming along the platform towards where we were. I saw clearly that rokosovsky was walking in the front, and behind him was malining, chief of staff. I quickly approached Zhukov and said in a low voice, "marshal, general rokosovsky has come to meet you in person." Zhukov stood up, pulled the hem of his uniform, put the hat on his head, and said to me, "come on, Rita, let''s go and say hello to rokosovsky." After a few steps towards the door, he stopped again and told the Colonel standing by the door, "Colonel, go and inform Petrovna that rokosovsky is still waiting for her."

 Chapter 1527

    Petrovna, who knew her priorities, did not rush to see her husband after she got off the train, but stood silently by the train waiting. It was not until Zhukov and rokosovsky met that they came over and gave their husband a warm hug. After a brief exchange of heartfelt feelings, accompanied by the security personnel, they went to the well arranged residence.


    Zhukov and I followed rokosovsky to his headquarters. Except for the chief of staff malining, all the others were sent away by rokosovsky. It seems that he plans to have a private talk with Zhukov.


    Zhukov took off his military cap and threw it on the table. He raised his head and asked rokosovsky standing by: "Comrade rokosovsky, tell me about you. What was the result of your small-scale offensive against the German army? "


    "The situation is not very good, comrade marshal." Standing in front of Zhukov, rokosovsky pointed to the map on the table and said to him, "we made a tentative attack in the direction of Barich. Seeing that I didn''t respond, the little girl of Batov gently pushed my shoulder with her hand and asked with concern," what''s the matter with you, lady finger waving man? "


    Her words awakened me from my meditation. I quickly shook my head and said to her with a forced smile, "Valentina, you can call me Rita. Don''t worry. I''ll send someone to take you to your father in a moment


    As we were talking, the soldier who had just left trotted over with a lieutenant. Seeing the lieutenant standing in front of me and raising his hand, I quickly stood up, put my hand on the little girl''s shoulder, and asked the lieutenant, "Comrade lieutenant, do you know this little girl?"


    The lieutenant only glanced at the little girl, then said decisively, "yes, Comrade General. Her father died in the fight against Barich. "


    Now that I know the identity of the little girl, I naturally understand how far away the mother and daughter are from, that city in the northeast of Moscow. It will take at least three days to get here by train, so I can''t disappoint them: "where is the legacy of her father? It''s time for their mother and daughter to meet one last time. "


    The lieutenant shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly, "sorry, comrade general, there is no body. When our company attacked, it was intercepted by German artillery, and her father was blown to pieces by the shells. "


    After listening to the Lieutenant''s words, I seemed to be at a loss. I''ve been to the battlefield more than once, and I''ve seen people being bombed so much that there''s no residue left. There''s no way to find the body of Valentina''s father, and it''s perfectly normal. I wanted to tell the little girl the bad news, but when I saw the look of expectation in the innocent eyes she looked at me, I couldn''t help feeling soft again.


    I frowned and thought for a moment. Then I told the lieutenant in a low voice, "Comrade lieutenant, even if I can''t find her father''s body, there must be one. Even if it''s his military uniform or used towel, if you give these things to their mother and daughter, it will leave them a memory. Are you right? "


    After hearing what I said, the lieutenant hesitated for a moment, then nodded his head and said, "I see, comrade general, I will follow your orders."


    Seeing that the lieutenant agreed to my proposal, I quickly opened my messenger bag, took out two pieces of chocolate from it, put them into Valentina''s hand, and said to her, "Valentina, take it. This is my gift for you."


    Valentina took the chocolate, gave me a sweet smile, raised her chocolate hand and waved at me, then followed the lieutenant to the tent area.


    When I returned to the gate of the group army headquarters, I was just in time for Zhukov and several of them to come out of it. Zhukov didn''t notice my difference. Instead, he said briefly, "get in the car. Let''s go to the front."


    Malining and I got into the same car again. After I looked at the tent area in the distance, youyou said, "chief of staff, do you know who are in the tent?"


    Marinin looked in that direction, nodded slightly and said, "I know, they are basically the widows of the martyrs. Some of them come all the way from the rear to visit their relatives. Only when they come here can they find that their relatives have been sacrificed in the battlefield. "


    "What are you going to do with them?" I know that the Soviet army has no pension system. The officers and soldiers sacrifice their cover on the battlefield. They just ask the local civil affairs department to send a death notice to their families. Sometimes, for reasons of confidentiality, I didn''t even write down the place of sacrifice, but vaguely said that I had died on the battlefield.


    "After all, we are the army, and we can do little." "For these widows who came to the army, we can only temporarily resettle them for a period of time, and then send people to send them back to their places of origin," malining said with a embarrassed face At last, with a long sigh, he said, "this is war!"


    Malining''s words made me completely speechless. I knew that I could do nothing about it. After all, we are the army, and it is our responsibility to protect our country. These things can only be managed by the local authorities. I turned to marinin: "chief of staff, where are we going?"


    "To the left of the 65th army." Malining turned to me and said, "Comrade marshal, let general Batov take us there to see the terrain, so as to decide whether we should adjust the direction of attack."


    At this moment, I found that history returned to the track I was familiar with. In my memory, it was after observing the terrain of the defense area of the 65th group army that Zhukov and rokosovsky decided in what direction the troops should choose to make a breakthrough at the beginning of the offensive campaign in Belarus. After we arrived at our destination, Zhukov took rokosovsky and Batov and went into the defensive zone composed of more than one person tall trees and shrubs to see if it was suitable as a starting point for attack. Malining and I were ordered by him to stay in the parking space and wait for him. I watched Zhukov and his entourage enter the edge of the swamp with many trees. After completely disappearing from my sight, I casually asked malining, "chief of staff, if you were the commander of the front army, would you choose to attack the German defense line from here?" Malining, who heard my question, did not hesitate to reply, "Rita, this is for sure. I will definitely take this place as the main attack direction of the army." Seeing that his answer was so straightforward, I couldn''t help wondering: "chief of staff, why did you make such a decision?" Malining pointed forward and explained to me, "first of all, the German army is on the opposite side of the swamp. There is no perfect defensive position. As long as we can pass through the swamp smoothly, we can easily break through their defense line. As for the second point, "he added with a sly smile," I remember that when you were commander of the sixth group army of the guards, you sent troops to scout the enemy positions opposite the swamp many times. From what I know of you, what makes you pay so much attention to and spend so much energy must be the weakness of the German defense, so it''s certainly right that we chose here as the main attack site. "

 Chapter 1528

    Although Valentina is a famous figure of the Soviet Union and Russia in later generations, even on her birthday, Putin would personally go to her door to send her flowers and gifts to express his congratulations. But at this time, she is an ordinary little girl, a child who lost her father in the patriotic war. I wanted to help them, but I found that I couldn''t do anything.


    When malining was chatting with me, he suddenly found that my face was gloomy. He couldn''t help asking curiously, "Rita, what''s the matter? I think you are full of worries?"


    I hesitated for a moment, or told malining about Valentina. At last, with a trace of regret, I said, "I look at that little girl. I want to help her, but I find that I can do nothing about many things."


    "So that''s it?" Malining listened to me explain the reason, frowned and thought for a moment, and then said, "this is simple. When you go back to Moscow, you can talk to boskelebeshev about it and see if he can do anything about it."


    "To bosklebshev?" When I heard malining''s name, my eyes suddenly brightened, and my heart said, "yes, boskelebeshev is Stalin''s secretary. To take care of the affairs of the Valentina family, he only needs to make a phone call to the leader of tutayev City, and it will be solved."


    Thinking of this, I quickly took marinin''s hand and said gratefully, "thank you, chief of staff. You''re absolutely right. When I get back to Moscow, I''ll talk to Comrade bosklebshev about it. "


    "It''s very kind of you, Rita, to help the women and children who have lost their loved ones." As soon as marinin finished this sentence, he suddenly glanced behind me and said in surprise, "why did the marshal and the commander come out so soon?"


    I turned to see Zhukov, rokosovsky and Batov coming out from the edge of the wooded swamp with some staff. When I saw this situation, I was also surprised. In the movie I watched, Zhukov chatted with several soldiers who were eating while inspecting the terrain, and asked why they called the American canned stewed meat "the second battlefield". But now, after only ten minutes, Zhukov, who was looking at the terrain, came back. Obviously, the scene that happened in the film was just a fabrication by the director.


    Zhukov went to his jeep, opened the back door and sat in silently. See rokosovsky also followed on the car, standing nearby commanders also get on the car. For a moment, the sound of closing the door was heard one after another nearby.


    This time back to Batov''s headquarters, I was not stopped outside, but followed Zhukov and walked into the headquarters. When Zhukov sat down, he did not speak. Instead, he looked at the busy staff and signalmen in the room. Batov, standing on one side, immediately understood and gave an order to his subordinates: "you all go out first."


    When there were only five of us left in the room, Zhukov asked rokosovsky, who was sitting opposite him, "Comrade rokosovsky, how do you think we should transport the tanks to the other side if we choose the attack direction in the swamp area?"


    Instead of answering Zhukov''s question directly, rokosovsky turned his eyes on me and said with a smile, "marshal, I think this question should be answered by Rita."


    "Me?" I did not expect that rokosovsky would suddenly throw this question to me. I was stunned for a moment and asked unexpectedly, "what answer can I give you?"


    "I remember when your troops were stationed in moziri kalinkovich, you sent reconnaissance troops many times to the opposite side of the swamp to carry out reconnaissance." Rokosovsky looked at me with a smile on his face: "at that time, I thought you were doing too much. If we were going to attack Minsk, we could attack balic directly. However, after a period of exploration and attack, I found that my view was wrong. The enemy''s defense in this area is tight. If we carry out a strong attack, we are bound to pay a heavy price. But attacking from the swamp area can give the German a surprise blow. "


    "Tell me, Rita." Zhukov also turned his eyes to me: "you''ve always been a maverick, and you like to be unique in the arrangement of troops. Since you have already ordered people to carry out reconnaissance in the search area, there must be a perfect attack plan. "


    After listening to Zhukov''s question, I couldn''t laugh or cry. I said in my heart that the reason why I sent people to carry out reconnaissance in the swamp area was that in my memory, Belarus''s main direction of attack was in the swamp area. It was really difficult for me to tell the truth.


    "It''s OK, Rita. You can say whatever you think." Rokosovsky saw that I didn''t speak for a long time. He thought I had some scruples. He said quickly, "even if it''s wrong, we won''t blame you."


    Things have come to the present stage. If I don''t say anything, I''m sure I can''t get through it. So I had to harden my head and say, "as general Batov said, attacking Barich is a good choice. But not only do we think so, but also the Germans think so, so they will set up many obstacles on our way forward. In this way, in order to rush to Minsk, we will have to fight a cruel and protracted positional war with the German army. "


    "According to the results of our preliminary trial attack," Batov said suspiciously, "if we want to successfully break into the vicinity of Minsk, it will take as soon as two months, and at the same time, it will cost a lot of 100000 to 150000 casualties."


    "We don''t have that long time," Zhukov said impolitely as soon as he finished saying, "at most half a month, we have to recover Minsk, so we have to choose other directions that the Germans can''t think of to carry out the assault." At this point, he looked at me again. "Rita, come on, how can we get the tanks to the other side of the swamp?"


    "Actually, it''s very simple." "After the artillery began to use fire to suppress the enemy on the other side, our infantry began to attack. At the same time, engineers laid timber roads in the swamp for our tanks to pass," I said with my hand on the map


    "Such a wide area of swamp, if paving Wood Road, it is a huge amount of work." Malining was particularly worried about my proposal: "if it really takes two or three days to pave the road in the swamp, we might as well not use tanks."


    "It won''t be that long, comrade chief of staff." I hastily explained to the crowd, "we just need to pile up every other distance, and then put up the wood, so that the tanks can pass." I was deeply afraid that I didn''t understand what I said, so I quickly added, "maybe the comrades of the engineers know better than me how to build a bridge in the swamp."


    After listening to my speech, Zhukov nodded, and then told Batov: "general Batov, it seems that you need to transfer your hands, start cutting down trees, and get ready to build a floating bridge in the swamp."


    Zhukov stood up and said to some of us, "well, we''ve finished what we should see here. Now we''ll go to other places to have a look." Then he reached out and shook bartov, "I wish you good health!"


    In the next two days, Zhukov and I, accompanied by rokosovsky, inspected all the troops of the front army nonstop.


    After the inspection, Zhukov received a call from Stalin from Moscow. Stalin politely asked Zhukov, "Comrade Zhukov, have you finished your work in Belarus?"


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." Zhukov respectfully replied: "after these days of work, we have chosen a new main direction."


    After he finished, Stalin said slowly, "now that the investigation work has been completed, we should return to Moscow as soon as possible to study the specific combat plan with the General Staff Headquarters."


    "OK, I''ll fly back in the afternoon." Zhukov said to Zhukov, "I will study the battle plan with Comrade Antonov as soon as possible."


    "Vasilevsky''s injury has almost recovered. He has returned to the staff headquarters these two days. You can work out the battle plan with him." Stalin seemed to be ready to hang up when he said this, and suddenly added: "by the way, bring Rita back together. We still have to study the work arrangement for her."


    Because of Stalin''s special advice, I followed Zhukov to fly back to Moscow. In the staff headquarters which was rejected last time, I met vasilevsky, who was discharged from the hospital after his injury. I immediately saluted him and politely asked, "Hello, chief of general staff, are you all well?"


    While shaking hands with me, vasilevsky touched a scar on his forehead and said with a smile, "it''s almost all right, but this scar broke my face."


    He sent Zhukov and I to his office, called Antonov, and Ivanov, who had a tendency to sit on the bench. When they arrived, we began to study the main direction of attack.


    Before Zhukov''s speech, vasilevsky asked his two deputies to speak about launching an offensive against the German army in this area. The first speaker was Ivanov, who stood up and looked at vasilevsky and said: "marshal, I think the conditions for us to launch an attack in Belarus are not mature, because there are still a large number of German troops in the direction of Leningrad. If we launch an attack in this area, we may be attacked by German and Finnish forces."


    As soon as Ivanov''s words came out, I was so surprised that I couldn''t say a word. You know, the first attack in Belarus was decided by Stalin at the meeting a few days ago. As the deputy chief of general staff of the General Staff Headquarters, he didn''t know this decision. It''s a bit outrageous.


    Just listen to him continue: "I think we should choose the right direction of attack in Ukraine. At present, there are nearly two million troops of our four group armies assembled here, and the morale of the troops is high because of continuous battles and victories. We can make full use of our existing advantages to strike a thunderbolt at the enemy, completely eliminate the enemy in Ukraine, and push our front to Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland... "


    "Comrade Ivanov," Zhukov said solemnly as soon as Ivanov finished, "what''s the matter with you? At the meeting a few days ago, comrade Stalin rejected the plan of choosing Ukraine and the Baltic coastal areas as the main attack direction, and determined Belarus as the main attack direction of our next round of offensive campaign. "


    "I''m sorry, marshal. I don''t know." After listening to Zhukov''s criticism, Ivanov blushed and apologized to him, then looked at Antonov who went to the meeting that day with resentment, and finally said, "my speech is over." Then he sat down directly¡° Two Marshal comrades, "Antonov stood up from his seat and said respectfully to Zhukov and vasilevsky," since we have chosen Belarus as our main attack direction, our next focus is to replenish our troops and ammunition for the White Russian front army that will take part in the battle. "¡° It''s easy to say Ivanov said to his colleague with some disdain, "where should we solve the problem? You know, in order to ensure the victory of the offensive campaign on the right bank of Ukraine in the early stage, our staff headquarters always focused on Ukraine. Now to supplement the Belarusian front army, where can we find so many soldiers? "¡° According to my investigation, "Antonov just glanced at Ivanov, then turned his eyes back to Zhukov and vasilevsky, and continued:" there are 370000 guerrillas in Belarus, which can be added to the regular army after the battle. At the same time, we can add 100000 new soldiers to rokosovsky from the rear. In this way, we should have enough troops to take part in the campaign. "¡° It''s not enough. It''s not enough. " As soon as Antonov''s words were finished, Ivanov refuted them. Regardless of Zhukov''s ugly expression and frown, he said to himself, "even though there are 370000 guerrillas in Belarus, they are separated in a vast area. How can you gather them up and distribute them to the army?" Although Ivanov''s remarks are aimed at Antonov, what he said is quite reasonable. No matter how many guerrillas there are, it is ridiculous to gather them from their respective areas of activity and join the regular army of rokosovsky through the German controlled areas. So as soon as his words were finished, the whole room fell into silence. After a while, I heard Zhukov ask drily, "besides reorganizing the guerrillas, what else do you have to do to add enough soldiers to rokosovsky?"

 Chapter 1529

    Hearing this difficult problem, vasilevsky looked at me, but said to Zhukov: "marshal, I remember when I was in Stalingrad, tens of thousands of people were drawn from the Gulag concentration camp into the team to defend the city. One of the infantry divisions, consisting entirely of prisoners, was handed over to Comrade oshanina. "


    "Well, comrade chief of the general staff." As soon as vasilevsky''s words were finished, Antonov immediately added: "the troops under the command of general oshanina have been staying at the mamayev post, blocking the enemy who is trying to rush to the port, so that the communication between the city''s garrison and the outside world has never been interrupted. It can be said that without the tenacious fighting of this army, we will certainly pay a greater price if we want to win the final victory of the battle of Stalingrad. "


    After listening to their praise, Zhukov glanced at me. Then he looked at vasilevsky again and asked, "Comrade vasilevsky, do you mean to add the prisoners of Gulag concentration camp to the army again?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." Antonov said: "I think in addition to the prisoners in Gulag concentration camp, the criminals in the prison can also be incorporated into the army. After all, the proportion of women and children in Gulag concentration camp is not small. They can''t take up arms and go to fight."


    As for Antonov''s statement, Zhukov thought for a moment, and then replied, "Comrade Antonov, I agree that the prisoners of Gulag concentration camp have been incorporated into the army. After all, there are successful precedents before; However, I firmly oppose the incorporation of criminal offenders into the armed forces. We must not say that they have no military training or combat experience. If they are incorporated into the armed forces rashly, it will not only affect our combat effectiveness, but also undermine military discipline. Even if we are short of troops, we can''t cram these black sheep into our army. "


    "But, comrade marshal." I saw Antonov take a look at vasilevsky. After getting permission from the latter, he continued: "in recent years, we have been conscripting troops all over the country, and the soldiers are on the verge of exhaustion. Now, except for the elderly, the women who work in many factories and collective farms are all of different ages."


    While several people are studying the question of where to replenish their troops, I am considering what Ivanov just said. If the focus of the next round of attack really continues to be Ukraine, rather than Belarus, will the benefits be greater? At least at the end of the offensive campaign, Romania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia can withdraw from the German camp and become our allies.


    My side is full of imagination, while Zhukov and vasilevsky are on the side, arguing about whether to grant amnesty to criminal offenders and incorporate them into the army. In the real history, in the later period of the war, the Soviet Army incorporated a large number of criminal offenders into the army, which led to the deterioration of the military discipline of the army, and committed countless crimes in Germany.


    "Tell me, Rita, how we can solve the problem of shortage of troops." I was just thinking about it when I heard Zhukov''s voice. Seeing me looking at him, he quickly added, "I know you are always resourceful. Do you have any good suggestions?"


    When Zhukov was also the commander of the first front army of Ukraine, I suggested to him that the rescued prisoners of war should be incorporated into the army after screening. At that time, although he was a little reluctant to listen to my suggestion, after careful consideration, he finally incorporated them into the first and second front army. At this moment, I heard that Zhukov''s old story was brought up again, so I again put forward my original point of view: "I think we should consider those prisoners of war who were rescued from the prison camp. If they are screened and incorporated into the field forces, the current situation of insufficient troops can be solved."


    "Comrade oshanina," Antonov said with a frown as soon as I finished, "Comrade Stalin once said: we have no prisoners of war, only traitors to our motherland. Are you going to incorporate these traitors into our army? "


    Seeing that Antonov, who has always been more easygoing, was so resistant to the reorganization of prisoners of war, I couldn''t help crying in my heart that even if my proposal was passed by them, it would have to go through Stalin. I thought they could be my help, but now I find that I think too much, they may become my resistance. I tried to persuade Antonov: "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, although they were captured by the German army, they did not give in to the enemy for such a long time. If they can be incorporated into our army, they will shine brilliantly on the battlefield with their incomparable hatred for the German army and strong vengeance. "


    "But have you ever thought that if they were incorporated into the army," Zhukov and vasilevsky said in silence, only Antonov was still debating with me, "what should we do when they lay down their arms on the battlefield and surrender to the enemy?"


    "No, comrade deputy chief of the general staff." Seeing Antonov''s stubborn attitude, I can only continue to tell him the truth: "after being captured, some of our officers and men were shot on the spot by the Germans, some died on the way to the prison camp, and the rest were kept in the prison camp by the enemy, suffering from inhuman torture. Even so, they did not turn to the Germans. Now that they have the chance of revenge, I believe they will cherish it. "


    "Well, we won''t discuss the issue of soldiers for the time being." After interrupting Antonov and I, Zhukov looked at vasilevsky and said, "let''s make a plan for the battle of Belarus as soon as possible."


    Several people gathered around the map and began to discuss nervously. Zhukov and vasilevsky alternately expounded their thoughts on the campaign, while Ivanov became a recorder, constantly recording what they said one by one.


    After the draft of the attack plan came out, it was evening. Vasilevsky raised his hand and looked at his watch. He tentatively asked Zhukov, "marshal, it''s time for dinner. Would you like to deal with it in our officers'' canteen first? To make it, the food in our canteen is not bad. "


    "No," Zhukov waved down vasilevsky''s suggestion and said to himself, "we''d better get to the Kremlin as soon as possible and hand over this plan to Comrade Stalin."


    Zhukov''s proposal was echoed by vasilevsky. He nodded his head and said, "yes, we should pass this plan to Comrade Stalin as soon as possible to see if he has any objection."


    Reporting to Stalin certainly did not require all the heads of the General Staff Headquarters to come forward, so the only people who went to the Kremlin by car were me, Zhukov and vasilevsky.


    Seeing the three of us coming together, boskelebeshev quickly stood up, walked around the desk to us, bowed slightly and asked politely, "two marshals, do you want to see the Supreme Commander himself?"


    Zhukov nodded and politely said to boskelebeshev, "yes, we have something urgent to see Comrade Stalin. Please go and report it."


    Bosklebshev nodded, turned, pushed open the side door, went in, and closed the door behind him. After a while, he opened the door and came out. He said to Zhukov, "two marshals, please come in."


    I heard that boskhlebeshev did not mention my name, so he did not follow Zhukov to meet Stalin, but stayed in the room outside.


    Bosklebshev pointed to the empty chair and said politely, "don''t mention it, comrade oshanina. Please sit down. The two marshals reported to the supreme commander that they could not get out for an hour or two. "


    Seeing me sit down, he poured me a cup of hot tea and put it in front of me. Then he sat down and chatted with me. The topic revolved around this trip to Belarus. Although he is Stalin''s secretary, there are some things I can''t tell him without permission. So I just talked with him about some unimportant things without mentioning anything confidential.


    Talking about Belarus, I suddenly thought of Valentina, who had just lost her father, and asked pokskelebeshev curiously, "Comrade pokskelebeshev, do you know the leaders of tutayev?"


    When he heard my question, posklebershev didn''t speak, just a smile. His smile made me understand that I asked a silly question. Since he was Stalin''s secretary, what does it matter if he doesn''t know the leaders below? To do something, he just needs to make a phone call, and those people have done it for him.


    Thinking of this, I hastened to give a general account of the situation of Valentina''s family to boskelebeshev. Finally, he asked nervously, "Comrade boskelebeshev, do you think local leaders can take special care of the child''s family?"


    "Comrade oshanina," bosklebshev asked politely and distantly, "what''s the relationship between this child named Valentina and you? Do you have any relatives? "


    I shook my head and answered honestly, "I didn''t know this little girl before I went to Belarus. I want to help her because it''s so pathetic to see her


    Bosklebshev looked at me for a moment, then opened a small book on the table, picked up the pencil and asked, "what''s the child''s full name? How old are you? Where does her mother work? "


    After hearing these questions, I knew that boskelebeshev was going to help me. He quickly poured out everything he knew: "the child''s full name is Valentina frakimirovna Tereshkova, seven years old. I don''t know her mother''s name. She''s just a weaver


    After boskelebeshev finished recording what I said, he closed the book, looked up and said to me, "don''t worry, comrade oshanina. I will call the leader of tutayev at the right time."


    "Thank you, thank you! Comrades boskhlebeshev After I took boskelebeshev''s hand, I said gratefully, "I thank you on behalf of my child. In the future, my child will be grateful to you when he grows up."


    Just then the telephone on the desk rang. As soon as he picked up the phone and listened to it for a moment, bosklebshev immediately stood up, straightened up and continued to listen. From his reaction, I can guess that Stalin in the house must have made this call. A moment later, I heard him say out loud, "I see, comrade Stalin!"


    After he put down the phone, he made a gesture to me with a smile and said, "Comrade oshanina, comrade Stalin wants to see you, you go in!" After thanking him again, I went into the door he had pushed open. As soon as I entered the room, I saw Stalin and Zhukov sitting at the other end of the conference table far away from the door, and hurried over. When I came to Stalin, I stopped. Instead of saluting, I stood at attention, straightened my back and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade Stalin, I have been ordered to come. Please give me instructions!" Stalin pointed to an empty seat beside Zhukov and said, "Rita, sit down." After I sat down, he stood up, clutching his iconic pipe, walked back and forth behind his vacant chair, and said slowly, "Rita, just now Zhukov and vasilevsky reported to me the draft of the offensive campaign in Belarus, and also talked about a proposal you put forward. You said that you intend to integrate all the prisoners of war who have been rescued into our army, right When I heard Stalin''s question, I immediately stood up from my seat and replied respectfully: "yes, comrade Stalin, I think these prisoners of war are soldiers. As long as they are carefully screened out and removed, the rest can fight immediately after they are incorporated into the army..." "don''t you know that I said: ''we don''t have prisoners of war, Only traitors of the motherland? " Stalin stopped, put his hands on the back of his chair, and asked: "if they were incorporated into the army, what would the commanders and fighters who are loyal to the motherland and the people think?" My heart beat faster when I saw the sign of Stalin turning over again. But I didn''t turn back. Since I have mentioned this topic, there is absolutely no reason to give up halfway. So I repeated what I just said to Zhukov and vasilevsky, and finally added: "as far as I know, the Germans are recruiting defectors in various prison camps, preparing to form an army to cooperate with the German army. If we continue to discriminate against these prisoners of war and do not give them the opportunity to commit crimes, then they will stand on our opposite side. "¡° Such an army is nothing to worry about, "Stalin said after hearing what I said." our army can easily defeat them. "¡° Even if this army supported by the German army no longer has any combat effectiveness, they will also contain our army? " Seeing Stalin''s obstinacy, my voice was discontented and impatient: "if they have 100000 people, we can at least use the same or more troops to defeat or destroy them..." "enough, don''t say any more." Stalin put his hand on the back of the chair and threw it to the ground. When I heard the loud crash of the chair, I knew Stalin was angry, so I closed my mouth. At the same time, I seemed to hear the sound of opening the door behind me. It was as if bosklebshev had pushed the door in to see what was going on in the room¡° There''s nothing to do here. Go out first. " Stalin waved behind me, then came up to me and said in a teachable tone, "Rita, do you know, I can take you to the military court just by what you just said."¡° Comrade Stalin, I think what Lida said... "Seeing that Stalin was angry, Zhukov quickly stood up and prepared to say a few good words for me¡° Come on, comrade Zhukov, you don''t have to say it. " Stalin interrupted Zhukov, pointed to the door with his hand and said to me, "you can go. You are not allowed to enter the Kremlin one more step without my order. " Seeing that Stalin gave me an expulsion order, I gave him a wry smile, raised my hand and saluted him, then turned and strode out of the room. Outside, Persian klebshev looked at me and did not speak. He just looked at me sympathetically. He might have guessed that I was driven out because I angered Stalin.

 Chapter 1530

    When I left the building where Stalin''s office was located, I was in a very bad mood. I didn''t expect that I kindly gave him a suggestion to supplement soldiers, but I got such a result. It seems that the issue of prisoners of war is an untouchable problem for Stalin.


    Maybe it was because of such a severe blow that I was in a trance. When I walked out of the palace, the officer on duty raised his hand to salute me, but I didn''t see it. Naturally, I couldn''t see him standing behind me, casting those two confused eyes.


    I passed through the Vasili slope and came to the big stone bridge, holding the stone fence in both hands, staring at the dark river under the bridge in a daze. Through this matter, let me realize that before doing anything, we should first weigh our own weight. Although I''ve been doing well in the past year or two, Stalin also thinks highly of me, but if I want to influence the decision-making of the Supreme Commander himself, I can''t do without this ability even if I''ve been doing it for a few more years, which I know very well.


    At this time, I vaguely saw something floating and sinking in the turbulent river towards my position. Because it was late, I couldn''t see clearly, so I leaned out of the stone fence to see what was going on.


    Who knows at this time, my arm was grabbed from both sides at the same time, and then a huge force took me back. After a moment''s panic, I suddenly had a terrible thought in my mind: it must have offended Stalin. Now he sent someone to arrest me.


    Because of this kind of consciousness, I just opened my mouth and cried "ah", then I closed my mouth obediently. Anyway, it''s all a dead word. Why let the soldiers who arrested me laugh.


    Just when I was ready to die, the people who grasped me from the left and right released their hands. At the same time, a strange voice came from behind: "Comrade commander, why are you suffering?"


    I turned around and found two soldiers and a captain standing behind me. Judging from the position of the three men, the two soldiers who just arrested me were the captain. Seeing that I had turned around, the captain said again, "Comrade commander, why are you suffering? You''re so young. What''s wrong with you? "


    The captain''s words confused me. I looked at him and asked, "Comrade captain, what are you talking about? Why can''t I understand you at all?"


    The captain pointed to the position where I was standing, and said with a complicated expression: "I see that you are just about to jump into the river, so let my soldiers hold you."


    "Jump in the river?" I was completely confused by the captain''s words: "why should I jump into the river?"


    "Comrade commander," the captain replied respectfully, "we have come out to you on the order of Comrade bosklebshev. When I came out of the palace, I heard the officer on duty say that you came to Dashiqiao in a trance. Just when I got here, I saw you leaning out under the bridge. I thought you were going to jump into the river, so I let the soldiers pull you


    After listening to the captain''s explanation, I couldn''t help laughing and crying. My heart said that my nerves were not so fragile. Even if I made Stalin angry, before he planned to deal with me, I would have jumped into the river and killed myself. What''s this? Is it suicide? Thinking of this, I waved to the captain and said politely, "Comrade captain, I''m ok. You don''t have to worry. I''ll just stroll around here. You can continue to be busy."


    Who knows, after my words, the captain is still standing in the same place. When I saw this situation, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade captain, why don''t you go yet?"


    "Comrade commander," the captain replied politely, "we are ordered to take you back to the Kremlin."


    My heart sank when I heard what he said. My heart said that Stalin was not going to settle with me in the future. Otherwise, how could someone bring me back to the Kremlin? Thinking of this, I asked tentatively, "Comrade captain, don''t you know what''s the matter with taking me back to the Kremlin?"


    The captain shook his head and replied, "I have received an order from Comrade bosklebshev to take you back anyway. I don''t know exactly what happened."


    I went back to the Kremlin with the captain in a very uneasy mood. But instead of taking me to Stalin''s office, he left me in a small house at the entrance. He left with two soldiers.


    There is only a small table and a bench with back in the hut. On the wall are some soldiers'' military coats, which are supposed to be the rest place for soldiers on duty at night. As the captain never came back, I was bored in the hut. I went outside first. But as soon as I got to the door, I was stopped by a soldier. The other side politely said to me, "Comrade commander, the Kremlin is a forbidden area. You can''t walk around without a special pass after dark. Please go back to your room."


    I went back into the room and became restless. I kept walking back and forth in the room, thinking over and over again in my mind, is it Stalin''s advice or his own meaning that bosklebshev asked people to take me back to the Kremlin? And what are they going to do with me when they let me stay in this hut?


    Almost half an hour later, the captain reappeared at the door. He gave me a smile, and then said in a polite tone, "Comrade headquarters, I''ve been ordered to take you to the office of Comrade persiklebeshev."


    When I heard the captain say this, I felt a lot more secure, because the captain was going to take me to the office of boskelebeshev, not the headquarters of the Ministry of interior in Lubyanka. In this way, my chances of being sent to a military court are greatly reduced.


    Under the guidance of the captain, I followed my familiar path to the outside of the office of boskhlebeshev. As the door was not closed, the Captain stood at the door and said, "general oshanina has come."


    Then I heard in the door the familiar voice of bosklebshev: "Comrade captain, please let her in."


    The captain half turned his body and made a gesture to the door: "Comrade commander, please come in!"


    As soon as I entered the door, I saw boskelebershev coming out from behind his desk. He shook hands with me and said to the captain who was still standing outside the door, "Comrade captain, there''s nothing for you here. You can leave now." As soon as his voice fell, I heard the sound of the heel of my boots pounding behind me, followed by a sound of footsteps from near to far.


    After the captain left, boskelebeshev said to me in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, even if you are criticized by Comrade Stalin today, you can''t help but go into the river."


    "No, comrade perclebeshev, it''s not like that." Even Persian klebshev misunderstood that I was standing on the big stone bridge because I couldn''t think of it for a moment and was ready to throw myself into the river. He quickly explained, "I was just standing on the big stone bridge and thinking about things. I just saw something floating in the river. Because it was dark, I leaned out to see what it was. As a result, I was misunderstood by the captain who was ordered to come to me."


    Maybe my voice is a little high because I''m excited. The phone on bosklebshev''s desk rang. He picked it up and listened to it for a moment. He immediately replied, "yes, comrade Stalin, comrade oshanina are with me. I see. I''ll invite her in right away. "


    After boskelebeshev put down the phone, he kindly reminded me, "it is estimated that Comrade Stalin is still angry with you, so when you speak later, you must be more careful not to make him angry again."


    "I understand." A few hours ago, Stalin drove me back from this office. If I make similar mistakes again, I might as well jump into the river. After that, I quickly came to the door, pushed open the door and went in.


    Stalin was walking in the middle of the room. When he saw me coming in, he stopped and turned to look at me. I quickly stepped forward two steps, stood at attention in front of him, straightened up and said aloud, "Comrade Stalin, general o''shanina has been ordered to report to you..."


    "Sit down!" Before I finished, Stalin pointed to the empty chair beside the conference table and said to me.


    "Thank you I quickly found a chair nearest to Stalin and sat down. Then I respectfully asked, "Comrade Stalin, do you have any important instructions for me?"


    Stalin looked at me for a moment, and his face became dignified. He snorted heavily and asked directly, "Rita, I just heard that you feel wronged and can''t think of it. You run to the Dashiqiao and are ready to commit suicide. Fortunately, some soldiers sent by bosklebshev have rescued you. Is that the case?"


    When I heard Stalin''s words, I felt like crying. I was lying on the bridge fence and looking under the bridge. Then I was told that I was ready to throw myself into the river. I really couldn''t wash myself when I jumped into the Volga River. I quickly stood up and explained to Stalin standing in front of me, "Comrade Stalin, I didn''t want to commit suicide. Really, I didn''t want to commit suicide." Then, like Sister Xianglin, I repeated to him what I had said to boskelebeshev.


    But Stalin didn''t seem to care about it. He waved his hand and said, "well, Rita, since you said you didn''t want to commit suicide, we won''t talk about it." With these words, he went back to his desk, picked up the cigarette box on it, took out two cigarettes from it, crushed them with his fingers, and put the tobacco into his pipe.


    After all this, he walked around the desk, sat at the back of the desk, slowly lit his pipe, and then asked again, "Rita, I want to know, do you really think we should incorporate all the rescued prisoners into the army?"


    I was slightly stunned. Then I thought of what happened a few hours ago and said cautiously: "Comrade Stalin, although I think that if all the prisoners of war are put into the army, on the one hand, we can solve the problem of shortage of soldiers in our army, and on the other hand, we can maintain the existing combat effectiveness of our army. But whether it is feasible or not has the final say. "


    "Rita, you are as cunning as a rabbit!" Stalin nodded at me with his cigarette end in his hand, and then said, "are you worried that I might get angry and drive you out of here?"


    I didn''t know how to answer Stalin''s question, so I took the most stupid way and gave him a giggle.


    After taking a puff, Stalin got up and walked around the table towards me. He raised his hand and pressed down, motioned me to sit down, and then said, "Rita, I want to ask you, do you know how many officers and men we were captured by the Germans in the war?"


    Although I know in my heart that there are more than 500 people and nearly 6 million people, I can only pretend to be confused and say, "Comrade Stalin, I can''t say for sure. You should know that these figures are absolutely confidential. But I guess there are five or six hundred thousand people. "¡° Five or six hundred thousand? " Stalin heard me say this, snorted heavily, and then said: "Kiev alone is not punctual, our army''s captured people are more than that. In addition to uman, Kharkov, Smolensk and viazima, the number of people captured by our army is at least five million. "¡° Ah, there are so many? " When I heard this figure, I pretended to be surprised and said, "Comrade Stalin, what should we do if we rescue such a large number of prisoners of war from the German prison camp when we recover our lost territory?"¡° What else can we do Stalin said angrily, "these are all traitors of the motherland. We should exile them all to Siberia, where they can make atonement for their crimes with heavy labor." I saw Stalin''s abhorrence of the captured commanders and fighters, and I knew that it was almost impossible to change his deep-rooted ideas. But if he is allowed to be so stubborn, it will be like the real history that millions of prisoners of war have been rescued and died in Siberia or Gulag concentration camp. Thinking of this, I decided to take another chance. I stood up, looked at Stalin, who was walking back and forth in the room, and said politely, "Comrade Stalin, please forgive me. According to the information I have obtained, the mutinous general Vlasov is gathering the weak willed people in various concentration camps to form a new army to cooperate with the German army to fight against us." Stalin listened, looked at me and asked, "what do you want to tell me, Rita?"¡° Comrade Stalin, "in order to save millions of lives, I must try to persuade Stalin. However, the precondition is to keep myself first, so I asked tentatively, "if Vlasov really organizes an army of tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, to cooperate with the German army to carry out confrontation with us, it may have adverse effects on our next operation."¡° So you plan to integrate the rescued prisoners into the army, so that the commanders and fighters who are still on the lookout look like a glimmer of hope. " Stalin''s mind was very good. Before I finished, he guessed what I was going to say, "in this way, even if Vlasov deceived our captured commanders and fighters in the prison camp, the effect would be very limited."¡° Yes, comrade Stalin. " As soon as Stalin finished, I immediately flattered him and said, "what you said is really correct. The actual situation is exactly the same as what you said. Your decision will have an important impact on the next campaign. "

 Chapter 1531

    After listening to my flattery, Stalin didn''t speak. He was just staring at his desk, staring at the photo of Lenin''s desk work on the wall in a daze. He seemed to be savoring my suggestions.


    I know that he is a stubborn person. It''s very difficult for him to change his mind with a few words. But fortunately, he didn''t get angry with me immediately this time. Instead, he fell into meditation. It seems that there is still hope for this matter.


    After waiting for a long time, Stalin finally had a reaction. He quickly came to his desk, took down his pipe in his mouth, and gently knocked the ash off the ashtray. After all this, he turned to look at me and asked, "Rita, do you really think these rescued prisoners of war won''t betray us? You know, if they change hands on the battlefield, it will cause us irreparable losses. "


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." In my heart, I don''t have much hope of persuading Stalin, but for the sake of the countless captured Soviet army officers and soldiers, I still have to do my best: "the means used by the Communist aggressors to treat our Army prisoners of war are extremely cruel. Those who are identified as Jews, political commissars and Party members will be directly shot, while the rest of the prisoners will be collectively escorted to the rear for hard labor. Most of them were tortured to death by hard work and starvation, and the number of people who survived was very limited.


    These officers and men who survived in the prison camp were full of hatred for the Germans. If we can rearm them, then they will become an outstanding force that can not be underestimated. "


    A firm word came out of Stalin''s mouth: "Rita, I''ve decided. I''ll do as you say!"


    Although I had long guessed that Stalin might agree with my proposal, I was still slightly surprised when I heard him say this. A moment later, I asked with some surprise, "Comrade Stalin, do you agree to incorporate the rescued prisoners into the army nearby?"


    At the end of my speech, Stalin nodded slightly and agreed with me. However, I should smile on my face, and he suddenly added: "for the sake of safety, this plan to integrate the rescued prisoners into the army is only implemented on a small scale at present, and will not be promoted to the whole army until it is effective."


    Listening to what he said, my heart became uneasy again. I asked carefully, "Comrade Stalin, I don''t know what you mean by" small scope "


    "When the 18th army of the close guard infantry cooperated with rebarko to capture tarnopol, the casualties of the troops were very large." Stalin said without delay: "all the rescued prisoners of war should be enlisted in this army."


    I thought that some time ago, the first and second front forces of Ukraine had received 70000 rescued prisoners of war. At this time, where should I go to find prisoners of war to supplement the 18th guard army?


    "Well, is there any difficulty?"


    To Stalin''s question, I nodded and replied, "yes, comrade Stalin. At present, all the prisoners of war rescued in Ukraine have been allocated to the first and second front forces of Ukraine. If we want to replenish the 18th army, we can only wait until we launch the next stage of the campaign and liberate the new prison camp. "


    "No, the two front armies didn''t finish distributing the prisoners." Stalin waved his hand and said, "we now have enough prisoners of war to supplement the 18th guard."


    Surprised, I looked at Stalin and asked, "where are these prisoners of war?"


    "Rita, come here." Stalin went to the map hanging by the wall, pointed to the location of uman and said to me, "according to the report, our army found a POW camp here not long ago, in which there are more than 20000 POWs. Your task is to arrive at uman as the representative of the base camp immediately, complete the screening of these prisoners of war, and integrate them into the 18th army of the guards. "


    "Twenty thousand prisoners of war?" When I heard this number, I was immediately shocked. It has been a long time since the troops of the second front army of Ukraine captured this place. It''s incredible to find that there is still a prisoner''s camp with tens of thousands of people nearby. So I asked tentatively, "Comrade Stalin, I don''t understand why such a large-scale prison camp was not discovered in time when our army liberated Wurman."


    "There are many reasons why we didn''t find the prison camp in time," Stalin said, turning to me. "The most important thing is that the prison camp is located in a brick factory which is inconvenient in transportation and far away from the city. There is a huge pit formed by quarrying, and our prisoners are locked here. According to the confession of the captured German guards, there were more than 100000 prisoners of war here at the most time, and now there are only more than 20000 people left. "


    Since Stalin entrusted me with the task of reorganizing the prisoners of war in uman POW camp, it must be inappropriate for me to go there alone, so I politely put forward my request to him: "Comrade Stalin, I can''t complete this task alone. I hope to be able to transfer some of the staff to cooperate with my work. "


    Stalin had expected my request. He nodded and said, "it''s right. I''ll call belia and ask him to transfer his staff to cooperate with you in this task."


    With people from the interior department to cooperate with my actions, I will suffer less resistance than when I carry out my work. I went on to say, "I hope to deploy some of my former subordinates to enrich the command system of the 18th guards."


    When I said this, I was not confident enough. I was afraid that Stalin would be suspicious of me, saying that I was a clique. I didn''t expect that after hearing this, he said very frankly: "yes. Who do you want to transfer to the 18th army of the guards? Just tell konev that he will take charge of the next personnel transfer. "


    I then put forward my third request: "my deputy head of the guard regiment, major bukov, is an excellent commander. Now he is cooperating with the geological exploration team to search for uranium deposits. I hope to send someone to replace him and let him also serve as a commander in the 18th army of the guards."


    After listening to this, Stalin raised his eyebrows, hesitated a little, and then said decisively, "I agree. I''ll call Comrade konev later. Let this..."


    Seeing that he stopped talking about bukov''s name, I knew that he didn''t remember the name I just said, and quickly added, "major bukov."


    "Yes, bukov." Stalin then said, "since he used to be the deputy head of your guard regiment, let him become a deputy division commander in the 18th army of the guards, and be promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel."


    "Great, comrade Stalin." I heard that Stalin not only promoted bukov to an official position, but also promoted him to a military rank. He said gratefully, "on behalf of lieutenant colonel bukov, thank you!"


    Stalin waved his hand to me and said to me kindly, "go and find Comrade belia and ask him to arrange for you to accompany you to wuman."


    When I was leaving Stalin''s office, bosklebshev stopped me and seriously advised me to say, "Comrade oshanina, as far as I know, the Supreme Commander himself values you very much. Even if he speaks to you in a more serious way, it''s for your own good. You can''t stop thinking about today''s situation in the future, you know? "


    Perhaps it was out of kindness that bosklebshev said these words to me, but they made me laugh and cry. I think that even if I explain to him again, it''s a sophistry in his view. I simply don''t mention this matter, but switch the topic: "by the way, comrade boskelebeshev, I don''t know where Comrade Beria''s office is, is it here or in Lubyanka?"


    "Comrade Beria has an office in Lubyanka, but he usually works here." After answering my question, poskelebeshev''s face suddenly showed a shocked expression: "is it the Supreme Commander himself who asked you to go?" Seeing that I nodded in affirmation, he asked carefully, "can you tell me what it is?"


    Considering what I will do next, boskelebeshev must be one of the insiders, so I didn''t hide it. I gave him a brief introduction about Stalin''s assignment to wuman. After listening to me, he was relieved to tell me where belia''s office was.


    I followed the route bosklebershev had given me and came downstairs outside belia''s office. His office is similar to Stalin''s office in that it is divided into internal and external rooms. In the small room outside, there was a desk with a lamp and a telephone. Behind the desk sat an interior officer with a facial expression.


    Seeing me at the door, the officer stood up, looked at me quickly, and politely asked, "Comrade General, what can I do for you?"


    "Is Comrade Beria in, please?" To tell you the truth, although I came at Stalin''s command, I still feel a little guilty standing here, "I want to see him!"


    "Do you have an appointment?" With these words, the officer was ready to reach for the register on the table.


    "No, comrade officer." I said hastily, "I have something to see Comrade belia."


    "I''m sorry, Comrade General." The officer said in a polite and cold tone, "the work of the people''s commissar of the interior is very busy. If you don''t make an appointment, I can''t inform you."


    Seeing that the officer actually spoke to me in an official voice, I felt very uncomfortable. I said solemnly: "Comrade officer, my name is oshanina. Now I''m the representative of the first front army stationed in Ukraine. If you have something urgent to see Comrade belia, please inform me immediately!"


    I didn''t expect that after listening to my identification, the officer still said coldly, "sorry, no one can go in without an appointment in advance."


    Seeing that the officer was so stubborn, I couldn''t help feeling around my waist. Who knows, I only felt an empty holster, and then I thought that when I entered the Kremlin, I left my pistol in the duty room at the door.


    The officer was a little flustered when he saw my action. He slapped a button on the table with his hand two times, pulled out his pistol and pointed it at me. At the same time, he said loudly, "don''t move!"


    Although the gun in the officer''s hand is aimed at me, I know in my heart that this gun can only serve as a deterrent. As a small officer, does he dare to shoot at a senior commander? So with my hands behind my back, I looked contemptuously at the officer opposite to see what he could do.


    Just then, I heard a rush of footsteps in the corridor, and soon I heard a group of voices shouting in disorder: "don''t move, raise your hands!"¡° Hands up


    I turned to the side and saw seven or eight soldiers standing in the corridor, pointing their submachine guns at me. They were all called by the officer in front of me. I turned my eyes to the officer again and said faintly, "Comrade officer, do you still refuse to report to Comrade belia?" The officer pointed his gun at me, but his hand trembled slightly. He may have thought that I would be terrified to see these soldiers from the Ministry of internal affairs appear. However, it was totally unexpected that I acted so calm. Just as the sword was drawing, the door leading to the inner room suddenly opened, and out came a middle-aged man in military uniform and a pair of glasses. I recognized at a glance that it was no one else, but belia, whom I was going to meet. Bellia stood at the door, looking at the officer and asked in a discontented voice, "can you tell me what''s going on here and why it''s so noisy?" The officer lowered the muzzle of his gun, walked quickly to belia, whispered a few words in his ear, and pointed to me with his hand. Belia turned to look at where I was, and when he saw that it was me, there was a look of surprise on his face. Then he came to me, and at the same time, he took the initiative to hold out his hand and said in a somewhat unexpected way, "Hello, comrade o''shanina, I didn''t expect you to come to me."¡° Hello, comrade Beria When I shook hands with him, I explained my intention in time: "I came to see you on the order of the Supreme Commander himself, but your subordinates refused to inform me."¡° What, my men won''t tell you? " When Beria heard me say this, she immediately said to the officer with a frosty face, "nonsense, it''s nonsense. The people who come to me at this time must be important. Why don''t you report it to me in time? "¡° I''m sorry, comrade member of the people''s Committee. " The officer blushed with shame and said to belia, "I don''t know..." "I''ll settle with you later." Belia glared at him and then made a gesture of invitation to me. "Comrade o''shanina, please come in. Let''s talk inside! " Before I entered the door, I caught sight of the officer waving his hand out of the corner of my eye. Then there was a sound of footsteps from near to far in the corridor. It seemed that the soldiers had left.

 Chapter 1532

    After entering the office, Beria first asked me to sit down, and then asked me curiously about the cause of my dispute with the officer on duty. After I simply repeated the matter, I directly explained my intention.


    After listening to my explanation, belia didn''t answer me immediately. Instead, she walked back and forth in the room with one hand on her waist and one hand on her chin. She seemed to be thinking about how to arrange her hands to cooperate with my actions.


    I carefully looked at this middle-aged man who made countless people turn pale. I found that the chairman of the people''s Committee at home and abroad also looked very kind. If I met him in the street, I might regard him as a teacher in a middle school. As soon as I think of his identity, I can''t help thinking of the royal guards. His current position is equivalent to the commanding officer of the royal guards. Although they belong to different countries, none of the successive responsible persons has been successfully killed, which is the same.


    Belia stopped, looked at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, it''s comrade Stalin who has personally told us that we have to deal with it carefully. Well, I''ll let Comrade lunev go with you. "


    "Lunev?" Hearing the strange name, I asked instinctively, "what does he do?"


    "Comrade lunev is the newly appointed Deputy Minister of the interior and director of the war Bureau. Before the war, he has been working in Ukraine. It is most appropriate for him to accompany you to uman." Then, without waiting for me to respond, he went to his desk, picked up the phone, dialed a number and said, "Hello, comrade lunev? I''m belia. If you''re ok now, just come to my office. I have important work to cooperate with you. "


    A few minutes later, the door was pushed open from the outside, and a small, middle-aged man in military civilian clothes and thin face appeared at the door. After looking into the room, he went straight to belia and said, "Comrade belia, I''m here. Do you have any instructions?"


    Belia shook hands with the visitor, pointed to my position and said, "Comrade lunev, let me introduce you. This is general oshanina. She has just been appointed by Comrade Stalin as the representative of the base camp. She is going to wuman on a special mission. I''m going to ask you to accompany her. "


    After listening to belia''s introduction, lunev came over, took my hand and politely said, "Hello, general oshanina. I''m lunev. I''m very glad to be on the mission with you."


    I shook hands with lunev, exchanged a few simple greetings, then turned to belia and asked, "Comrade belia, I don''t know when we can start?"


    Belia raised her hand and looked at her watch. Then she said to me, "it will take time to mobilize the troops. I think you''d better leave tomorrow."


    "Comrades of the people''s Committee," as soon as belia finished his words, lunev said impatiently, "I think that since it is the task assigned by the headquarters, we should start as soon as possible and strive to complete the task of the higher authorities as soon as possible."


    Belia gave a faint smile, then cast her eyes on me and asked kindly, "Comrade oshanina, I want to hear what you mean. Do you want to start overnight or tomorrow?"


    "Comrade Beria," I asked tentatively, "I don''t know how many troops you intend to transfer to accompany us to uman?"


    "I''m going to send a battalion from the house service to accompany you." "It''s a little too late now, and it''s going to take a little longer to assemble the troops," Beria said apologetically


    "Not so many troops." I know that belia only mobilizes so many troops for us because she attaches great importance to this matter, but it''s really unnecessary. We just carry out the task of reorganizing the troops, not going to war. It''s a bit superfluous to bring too many troops. So I said to him with a smile, "Comrade Beria, one company at most is enough."


    "All right," belia said readily after hearing what I said, "I''ll call rupiyanka and ask them to transfer a company from the house service to the railway station to join you."


    Ten minutes later, lunev and I got on the black gas bus and went to the railway station.


    On the way, lunev may be in order to liven up the atmosphere and intentionally say: "general oshanina, have you ever dealt with the internal forces before?"


    "Yes, comrade lunev." I laughed at him and replied, "I''ve dealt with the house forces many times before, and even a guard company is all made up of the house forces."


    Hearing my reply, lunev was a little surprised: "Oh, it''s amazing that you have a guard company made up of internal forces. By the way, many people have prejudice against us. I don''t know what you think of it? "


    I was puzzled by this question. I frowned and pondered for a long time. Then I euphemistically said, "Comrade lunev, how can I say that? The internal forces and the field forces have their own strong points. When it comes to fighting, the interior forces are worse; When it comes to vigilance and adaptability, the strongest is undoubtedly the internal forces. As far as I know, in the early hours of the day of the outbreak of the war, when the ordinary frontier forces were still scurrying around in the German artillery fire, the comrades of the interior forces were fully armed, pulling machine guns into the defensive positions, ready to fight against the German charge after the artillery attack. "


    What I''m talking about is the merits of the internal service. There is a smile on lunev''s face. "As a part of the armed forces of the Soviet Union, the mission of our internal affairs forces is to protect national facilities and complete other combat tasks that the Ministry of internal affairs of the Soviet Union should undertake," he added


    We got on the train to uman at the station after meeting with the internal forces of the company transferred from belia.


    Although I knew lunev for a short time, I soon found out that he was a very cautious man. When the train started, he got up and went to the box door. He opened the door and looked out. When he saw no one, he closed the door. When he went back to the window, he put out his head again and checked the outside. He made sure that there were no walls with ears. Then he closed the window and asked me tentatively, "general oshanina, can you tell me now what mission we are going to perform in uman?"


    "Yes, comrade lunev, our task this time is..." Since lunev cooperated with me in my work, I told him what tasks I was going to carry out sooner or later, so I nodded and told him the task of our visit to uman.


    After listening to my story, lunev could not help frowning and said after a long time, "general oshanina, I know about uman prison camp. According to our plan, they will be loaded on the train in two days and transported to Siberia to be transformed in Gulag concentration camp."


    After listening to lunev''s words, I couldn''t help but take a breath. I said that it was very dangerous. If Stalin was convinced a day or two later, maybe these 20000 soldiers would be sent to Siberia. However, to be on the safe side, I specially asked: "Comrade lunev, I don''t know who is responsible for transporting them to the rear?"


    "Who else." Lunev shrugged his shoulders, spread out his hands and said, "the matter of sending prisoners of war has always been the responsibility of our combat Bureau."


    "Do you need to inform uman that they should not send prisoners of war for the time being?" I thought that I had never seen him contact with the outside world since I met lunev, so my heart became a little impatient again.


    Lunev stood up and said to me, "although Comrade belia may have informed uman side, for the sake of safety, I still personally sent a phone call to uman side to ask them to cancel the task of transferring prisoners of war."


    After lunev left the car, I leaned against the bed and closed my eyes. I don''t know how long later, when I was already in a daze, I suddenly felt someone pushed the door open and came in from the outside. I opened my eyes and looked towards the door. I saw that it was lunev who strode in. I quickly asked with concern, "Comrade lunev, what''s the situation?"


    "I have telegraphed the uman side to stop the transfer of prisoners of war." After sitting down opposite me, lunev replied as usual, "but before I sent a telegram, belia had informed them in advance to cancel the transfer of prisoners of war."


    After two days of bumping on the road, we finally arrived at uman. As soon as I got off the train, a group of people came to meet me. A major general walked in front of me. He raised his hand and saluted me: "Hello, general oshanina. I''m the garrison commander of wuman. Welcome to wuman."


    As the purpose of my trip is to reorganize the rescued prisoners of war, as soon as I finished shaking hands with the major general, I asked frankly, "Comrade General, where are the prisoners of war liberated by you?"


    "In the forest area north of the city." The major general replied respectfully, "it''s about an hour''s journey from here."


    As soon as he finished, I said, "take me now."


    "But, Comrade General." The major general already knew that the person who accompanied me was an important person in the Ministry of internal affairs, so he took a look at lunev behind me and said carefully, "Comrade General, you''ve been on the train for two days in a row. Don''t you need to have a rest before you go?"


    "Comrade General." Lunev said impatiently, "we need to start work immediately. Please take us to the prison camp in the suburb immediately."


    Major general''s jeep was leading the way, while lunev and I were in the second car. I can''t help sighing when I look at this city which was beaten up in the war.


    "Comrade oshanina, why do you sigh?" Asked lunev, who was sitting beside him.


    Pointing to the city outside, I replied, "Comrade lunev, you may not know that the sixth group army of the guards under my command had approached uman in October last year. Unfortunately, we did not find this prison camp. Otherwise, we would have rescued these officers and men and organized them into a unit."


    "Comrade oshanina, there is a saying that I have never known whether to ask or not." With my permission, he went on to say, "is there any guarantee of loyalty in bringing so many prisoners of war into our army?"


    I looked at him with a bitter smile and said, "Comrade lunev, as far as I know, almost all the prisoners of war in uman POW camp were captured at the beginning of the war. If they had not always maintained their loyalty to their motherland and people, they would have joined the "Eastern battalions" formed by the German army and met us on the battlefield. "


    "You have a point." As the director of the war Bureau of the Ministry of the interior, lunev knew much more information than I did. So when he heard what I said, he nodded and said with approval: "yes, there are many soft bones. They were scared away by the Communist Party. In order to save their lives, they did not hesitate to betray the motherland and the people and work for the German army. It seems that the commanders and fighters in these camps are still very strong. "


    I heard that he had unconsciously changed the name of "prisoner of war" to "commander" and understood that his attitude towards the implementation of this mission had also changed. At least he no longer resented the commanders who had just been rescued. When our motorcade came to the middle of the forest, I found a huge area surrounded by barbed wire. There were a lot of wooden houses and guard towers around. I think that was the German guard''s residence and the guard tower for prisoners of war. The commander of the garrison came up from the car in front of him and said to me, "general oshanina, when we get to the place, we can see the prisoners of war through the barbed wire."¡° Comrade general, "lunev, who was walking side by side, said to the major general," while there is still time, you can tell us something about the prison camp. " The major general nodded, walked forward sideways, and introduced to us: "we call this newly liberated concentration camp" wuman pit ". It is located in a brick factory, in which there is a huge pit 10 meters deep formed by quarrying. All our captured officers and men were driven to this pit by the German army, without any facilities. They were exposed to the sun and rain all day long. There has been no accurate account of the number of prisoners of war in this concentration camp. According to the records of the German army we captured, we can barely understand that on August 10, 41, the number of prisoners of war here reached 50000, while on August 12, it was 70000. Food began to be seriously scarce, and there was no water in the kitchen. On August 13, the commanders and fighters without food supply, led by a small number of grass-roots officers, launched the first riot. But because of the lack of weapons, the riot soon failed, and thousands of people were killed by the German army... "Before the major general finished, I found myself standing on the edge of a huge sinkhole. I looked inside carefully and was surprised to find that in the pit below, there was a dense crowd. It seemed that they were the prisoners we were going to adapt.

 Chapter 1533

    I turned and asked the garrison commander standing behind me, "Comrade General, how can we get down there?"


    The garrison commander said politely, "please follow me. I''ll take you down there." With that, he took the lead in walking towards a path not far away.


    It is said that it is a small road. In fact, it is a car road paved with asphalt, which can be used by one and a half tons of trucks. I don''t know whether it was built before the war or after the German occupation. The driveway circled down against the pit wall. Every other distance, there was an iron gate. There were four or five soldiers standing at the gate. As soon as they saw us walking past, they immediately pushed the iron door open, then flashed aside, stood at attention and straightened their waist to salute us.


    Seeing this, I could not help frowning. I called the garrison commander''s name and asked, "general brakov, why are the guards so tight here?"


    "General oshanina, our original order was to escort these rescued prisoners of war to the railway station in these two days to see Siberia off." Brakov replied with a wry smile, "I''m afraid they''ll run away, so I sent troops to guard."


    "So far, has anyone escaped?" As soon as brakov''s words were finished, brakov, who was in parallel with me, suddenly asked, "I don''t seem to see you setting up guard forces in other places except for the soldiers guarding at several iron gates?"


    "There are." Brakov pointed to the top of the pit and explained: "in the guard tower around the pit, we originally had machine gun fire points. At the same time, there were two tanks at the exit. I removed these vigilance forces only after receiving your notice of coming. "


    Lunev looked up and asked casually, "did any prisoners of war escape from here?"


    "No As for lunev''s question, brakov gave a very simple answer: "this road is the only way to the POW camp. With the heavy German troops, there is no possibility for the pow to escape."


    When we came to the end of the motorway, I finally saw the whole picture of the so-called prisoner of war camp: it was a deep pit about one kilometer long and 300 meters wide, and the pit was full of ragged prisoners of war. I carefully observed that in the middle of the pit, there were no buildings of any kind. There were only innumerable caves on the surrounding soil walls, which should be a place for prisoners of war.


    I looked down at the prisoners below for a while, then turned to brakov and asked, "Comrade General, how many people are there? How many meals can they have a day now? "


    Brakov thought about it and replied, "according to our rough statistics, there are more than 20000 people. We usually serve them two meals, bread and oatmeal in the morning and hot soup for dinner


    "Not enough, Comrade General. You have not done enough." It''s said that prisoners of war can only eat two meals a day, and my brow is even tighter. I pointed to the skinny prisoners with dull eyes below and said angrily, "don''t you see that they have suffered inhuman torture here? If they are not fed, many people will die of hunger and malnutrition. "


    After hearing what I said, brakov shrugged his shoulders and said to me indifferently: "general oshanina, according to the orders I have received, they are traitors to our motherland. We can''t be too kind to traitors. "


    "Comrade General," although I can''t get used to brakov''s face, I thought that he was konev''s subordinate after all, so I still tried to restrain my situation and said in a calm tone, "from now on, they are Ukraine. I asked tentatively," are you general bonejerin? "


    "Yes, I''m bonejerin." The other side looked me up and down, broke away from the two soldiers who helped him, straightened up, raised his hand and saluted me solemnly: "Hello, Comrade General! Major general bonejerin, commander of the 12th group army of the southwest front army, reports to you that I will resolutely obey your order. Please give me instructions! "


    "Hello, general bonejerin!" Although the other person''s body sent out a stench, but I still pretended to be nothing, reached out to him, politely said to him: "my name is o''shanina, is from the base camp representative."


    He looked at me and asked tentatively, "Comrade General, I want to know what the superior is going to do to send us to Siberia."


    "Instead of going to Siberia, you will be rejoined into the army, and you will take up arms and fight against the Communist aggressors." I didn''t hide my intention from bonejerin: "I''m here to take charge of your adaptation work."


    Seeing the surprise on bonejerin''s face, it seems that they can''t accept this reality in a short time. I think they have heard that they will be sent to Siberia for a long time, so they are full of despair about their future. It''s incredible to hear me say that now.


    At this time, lunev stood up and spoke. He may have considered that I will have a lot of contact with this general in the future, so he came to explain to bonejerin from my standpoint: "according to the initial decision, you will be sent to Siberia to receive labor reform. As Comrade oshanina pleaded for you many times in front of the Supreme Commander himself, the Supreme Commander himself changed his mind and decided to let you stay in the army and take up arms to fight with the Communist aggressors


    After listening to lunev''s explanation, he took the initiative to hold my hand and said gratefully, "general oshanina, thank you, thank you! If it wasn''t for your kind words, I don''t think most of the soldiers and I would have a chance to go back to our hometown alive. "


    "Well, general bonejerin, don''t be so polite." I was eager to recruit more than 20000 officers and men in the pit, so I didn''t say any more nonsense. Instead, I went straight to the theme: "can you tell me how you were captured?"


    "One month after the outbreak of the war, my 12th group army, general muzichenko''s 6th group army and general tyrenev''s 18th group army from the southern front attacked 18 non army and two mechanized army, and set up a defense in the direction of uman to block the German army''s attempt to rush to Kiev." With a wry smile, bonejerin said: "as the German army successfully carried out a breakthrough in the region of Zhitomir, our three army groups were surrounded by the German army. Although our troops didn''t get the support of the air force, in the face of the German army which occupied the air superiority and equipment superiority, the commanders and fighters still carried on the tenacious defense, which made the enemy pay a huge price. My troops held fast to the village of podvesoko and fought doggedly until August 15. As the enemy rushed near my headquarters, I commanded the members of the headquarters to continue fighting with the enemy. When the bullets were finished, I fought with the enemy in a white-edged battle, and then I was captured because of serious injuries. "


    After learning about bonejerin''s capture Sutra, I said, "since you were captured at the beginning of the war, you must have a relative understanding of this concentration camp?" Seeing that he nodded his approval, he continued to ask, "can you tell me something about the situation here?"


    After listening to my question about the prisoner''s camp, bonejerin showed a painful expression on his face: "Comrade General, according to what I learned when I was wounded in the German hospital, nearly 100000 of our officers and men were captured and imprisoned here in the battle of uman. But when they got here, the Germans didn''t give them food or even drinking water. I heard that the prisoners of war were really hungry in the end, so they began to eat earth. But when the soil is eaten into the stomach, it can''t be digested at all. It will form a ball in the stomach and can''t be excreted at all. People will die of severe pain due to stomach distension. "


    "Eat the earth, hum!" When he heard this, he sneered twice and said with disdain, "it''s the first time I''ve heard someone say that soil can be eaten. It''s just a fable."


    "This comrade." Although lunev was dressed in military civilian clothes and had no military rank, bonejerin saw that he was a big man and quickly defended: "I didn''t lie. It''s true."


    "Comrade lunev, I believe in general bonejerin." Bonejerin''s words reminded me of the victims who ate guanyintu, so I resolutely supported his statement, and then I urged him to "continue to speak."


    "The prisoners of war had no choice but tried to rush out of the huge pit, but the German machine gun drove back those who tried to escape As you can see, there are no buildings in the pit, so when it rains, people can only dig a hole at the edge of the pit to escape the rain. " After listening to his explanation, I understood why there were so many caves on the pit wall. It may have been used to shelter from the rain at first. After a long time, these caves became their shelter. Just listen to bonejerin continue to say: "with the passage of time, people continue to die, but also to torture no idea of escape, just quietly waiting for the arrival of death."


    When bonejerin finished, the garrison commander brakov said, "Comrade General, what he said is true. According to our interrogation records of the guards, we can know that hundreds of people die here every day. The cause of death is the lack of food and drinking water, and also because of the extremely poor sanitary conditions, the outbreak of the epidemic, leading to the large-scale death of prisoners of war. "


    I frowned and thought for a moment, and then told brakov: "Comrade General, you immediately organize people to screen the prisoners, and then transfer them to other places. The environment here is really bad. By the way, the patient should be treated in time. "


    "Yes, Comrade General." Brakov said with great cooperation: "I will arrange the manpower as soon as possible to carry out the screening and placement work."


    "General bonejerin, I want to ask you a question." When I was giving brakov a mission, lunev asked unexpectedly, "have you ever been in murhead prison camp?"


    "Murhead POW camp?" After repeating this strange place name, I asked lunev strangely, "what is this place?"


    To my question, lunev continued to ask with a smile, "have you ever met Vlasov?"


    Listening to lunev''s mention of Vlasov''s name immediately attracted my attention, and I turned my eyes to bonejerin to hear how he explained the matter.


    "Yes, after I was discharged from the hospital, I was put in the murhead prison camp by the German." "There, I did meet Vlasov. He said that he wanted to form a Russian Liberation Army and invited me to be the commander of the army, but I resolutely refused," he replied truthfully


    "Comrades of the garrison commander," said lunev. After he finished, he immediately turned to brakov, who was standing beside him and said, "arrest him immediately and send him to Moscow."


    "Why did you arrest me?" With brakov''s order, the two soldiers who helped him out of the pit immediately twisted his hands. I don''t know what happened. As he struggled, he cried excitedly: "let me go, let me go. What have I done? You should treat me like this."¡° Wait a minute, "I''m at a loss as to why lunev suddenly issued such an order. I quickly raised my hand to stop the two soldiers and asked them to let him go. Then I asked," Comrade lunev, what''s the matter? "

 Chapter 1534

    "General oshanina," seeing that the order he gave was stopped by me, lunev''s expression became serious. He said to me solemnly, "you may not know that according to the information we have, we can basically conclude that bonejerin is suspected of colluding with the enemy and treason, so in last year''s trial in absentia, he has been sentenced to death."


    Bonejerin was sentenced to death by the Ministry of the interior, which really surprised me. Originally, I thought it was just a common misunderstanding, which could be explained clearly. However, since this matter involves the Ministry of internal affairs, I have to take it seriously. After a pause, I tentatively asked lunev, "Comrade lunev, I don''t know what information your Ministry of interior has based on to determine the crime of general bonejerin''s complicity with the enemy and treason?"


    "In the information we captured," lunev said sternly, staring at the two soldiers who were holding him up, "there are several pictures of him with German officers. From the expression of the German officers, the conversation between them was very pleasant. "


    "Is there any other evidence?" In my heart, I felt that with only a few captured photos, I thought that bonejerin was suspected of colluding with the enemy, which obviously did not make sense, so I continued: "I don''t think we can rely on a few photos to suspect that one of our middle and senior commanders has betrayed the motherland and the people."


    Lunev shook his head and said unconvinced, "isn''t it enough to have a picture of him with the German?"


    "Not enough, comrade lunev. Such evidence is far from enough." After listening to the far fetched reasons that lunev said, I feel that I should stand up and defend for bonejerin. I pointed to those prisoners of war who were standing or sitting in the pit, unkempt and extremely weak, and said, "please take a closer look at our soldiers. After three years of German torture, they have become human beings, ghosts and ghosts. If general bonejerin really defected, would the Germans put him in such a prison camp and let him die after suffering? "


    My words made lunev speechless. Taking advantage of this opportunity, I told the soldiers who were still carrying bonejerin from the left to the right: "Comrade soldier, please let go of this general. He is definitely not a traitor." When the soldiers reluctantly let go of bonejerin''s hand, I added, "he is the hero of our country."


    When the soldiers released bonejerin, hearing my comments on him, he couldn''t help but widened his eyes and asked in an incredible tone: "Comrade General, do you really believe that I am not a traitor, or... Or... A hero of my motherland?" Perhaps because of the lack of confidence, his last words have become faint.


    "Yes, Comrade General." I raised my voice and said to him, "if you don''t have a firm belief and always keep your faith in your motherland and people," and then I thought of the important person standing next to me in the Ministry of interior. What I said may be reported to belia and Stalin word for word, so I purposely emphasized: "loyalty to Comrade Stalin, facing the rights proposed by the German army The temptation of status is not moved. You have endured for three years in the prison camp, but you have never given in to the enemy. Instead, you are fighting with them hard and excellently... With all you have done, you are worthy of the title of hero. "


    After hearing what I said, bonejerin''s eyes became moist. He said excitedly, "Comrade General, is it true that you just said that we are going to enlist the prisoners of war in the army?"


    "Yes, general bonejerin, you will be incorporated into the 18th army of rear general afuning''s guards to participate in the final battle to recover Ukraine." I went to him, took his hand and shook it gently: "I hope you can take up arms again and wash away the humiliation you have suffered for so many years with the blood of the Germans."


    Bonejerin was moved by my words. He held my hand tightly, too excited to say a word.


    Just then, bulakov, the commander of the garrison, came up to me and asked me in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, since these prisoners are to be incorporated into the army, should you say something to them?"


    I took a look at the dense crowd in the pit. I thought that even if I yelled at the bottom with my voice, few people would be able to hear what I said. So I shook my head and said, "Comrade General, I don''t think so. There''s no amplifying equipment. Even if I say something to them, few people can hear it."


    "That''s not a problem." Brakov pointed around and said, "look, around the pit, the Germans put up a lot of horns. They can make what you say heard by the prisoners below."


    I looked in the direction of his fingers and saw that there were many power poles at the edge of the pit, on which there were loudspeakers. When I said this, I stopped for a moment. I thought it was wrong to use the word "prisoner of war" to address these surviving comrades. So I changed my words and said, "I want to have a few words with these soldiers."


    Brakov nodded, then ran to a platform beside the pit, went to a microphone like a car steering wheel, turned on the switch, and said aloud, "Hey, pay attention! Attention! Please pay attention! Now the representative from the base camp, general oshanina, will speak to you. Your destiny is in her hands. Now, general o''shanina, please speak to you


    When brakov finished, he turned and nodded to me, pointing to the microphone with his hand to signal that I was ready to speak. Looking at the soldiers who were pushing in my direction, my heart beat faster and said: "comrades!" Then the mind is a blank, do not know what to continue to say.


    Thousands of soldiers under the platform, seeing that I was suddenly silent, looked at me with surprise. In this case, I took a few deep breaths, then got up the courage and said, "comrades, brothers, you have suffered!"


    After these two words, my train of thought suddenly became clear: "although you have suffered for three years in this damned prison camp, no one has given in to the enemy. All the time, you want to go back to your troops and take up arms again to fight with the enemy tenaciously.


    Comrades, it''s time for you to take revenge. From now on, you will be incorporated into the 18th army of the guards and take part in the final battle of the liberation of Ukraine. You will use your weapons to repay the blood debts of the enemy and use their blood to wash away the humiliation you have suffered in recent years! "


    At the end of my impassioned speech, I thought there would be a tsunami like cheering below. Unexpectedly, the soldiers below just looked at me and didn''t say a word. It seemed that what I just said was casting pearls before swine.


    Seeing the performance of the soldiers, I can''t help feeling a little cold. But I understand their psychology very well. There is no greater sorrow than death. They must have been deeply hurt. They thought that after our troops liberated uman, they would be able to regain their freedom. Who knows that now they are still like livestock, locked up in this prison camp by their former comrades.


    After a slight sigh, I continued, "comrades, with your present physical condition, you may not be able to take part in new battles for the time being. But don''t worry, we still have enough time for you to take good care of yourself. Now the first thing to do is: let every soldier take a hot bath, get a haircut, and change into a clean new uniform... "


    I haven''t finished this time, and the following unexpected burst out deafening cheers: "Wula! Wula The soldiers standing in the front first began to cheer, and then the soldiers behind also responded and cheered with them.


    From the cheers of the soldiers, I understand a truth: empty slogans and so-called heroic words are not equal to those promises that can bring direct benefits to the soldiers.


    After thinking about this, I raised my hand and pressed it down. When all the soldiers in the pit were quiet, I went on to say, "we will arrange doctors to have a physical examination for every soldier, and the sick soldiers will be treated in time. For those soldiers who are seriously ill and need long-term treatment, we will send them to the rear for further treatment. Starting from tonight''s dinner, we will improve your existing rationing standards... "At this point, I turned my head and asked blakov next to me in a low voice," what''s the current rationing standard? "


    "250 grams of bread, 50 grams of oatmeal, and a hot soup." Brakov replied in the same low voice.


    After I found out the food standard of the soldiers, without consulting with brakov, I directly announced to the soldiers: "starting from tonight''s dinner, your ration standard will be adjusted to 500 grams of bread and 100 grams of oatmeal porridge. Besides hot soup every day, you will also be given 50 grams of sausage and the same amount of cheese..."


    Because these contents I mentioned are closely related to the vital interests of the soldiers, I almost announce one, which will cause a burst of cheers, one after another.


    After I finished speaking to the soldiers, I told brakov, "Comrade General, do as I just said. I know that you need to raise the food standard of more than 20000 people. It''s a certain challenge for you. But look at how weak our soldiers are. If we don''t give them nutrition in time, how can they fight with guns? "


    Seeing that I spoke in such a severe tone, brakov had no choice but to agree: "well, general oshanina, I will try my best to follow your instructions, and immediately inform the military doctors to come to them for physical examination. At the same time, I will inform the logistics department to deliver more food and materials here."


    "That''s right, Comrade General." Seeing brakov''s cooperation, I laughed with satisfaction. Just as I wanted to ask him to go back to the ground, I found that my companion, Lucifer, had disappeared. So I asked brakov curiously, "do you see Comrade Lucifer?"


    Brakov raised his hand, pointed to the sky and said, "Comrade lunev has gone back to the top. He said that he would report the situation here to Moscow."


    "No wonder I didn''t see anyone. I went to make a report." After listening to brakov''s reply, my heart murmured: "although I say that luciev was sent by belia to help me, I should be more cautious about him."


    When we got back to the ground, I was a little tired. I was just about to find a place to sit down when I saw a soldier running towards the wooden house. He came to our front and back, stood at attention, and then politely said to me, "Hello, general oshanina! Comrade lunev is talking to Moscow. He said that if you come up, I will take you to him. "


    Just on the way here, I heard from brakov that there is a telecommunication room in the upper log cabin area, which can directly contact Moscow. When I heard the soldier''s report, I waved to him and said, "lead the way ahead." Lunev was on the phone in the telecommunication room. Seeing me enter the room, he immediately said to the microphone, "Comrade Beria, general oshanina is coming. Do you need to put her on the phone?" Maybe with belia''s permission, he handed me the phone and said, "please answer the phone." When Beria heard my voice, she said angrily, "Comrade oshanina, do you know that you have caused a great disaster?" What a disaster?! When I heard what belia said, I felt flustered and asked: "Comrade belia, I don''t know what I''ve done?" Beria asked coldly, "did you just prevent Comrade lunev from arresting bonejerin and prepare to entrust him with a heavy task?"¡° That''s right, "I thought that this matter would be reported to the higher authorities anyway, so I answered truthfully," he is a commander with rich combat experience, and I intend to let him take an important position in the 18th army of the guards. "¡° Confused! Comrade o''shanina, you are so confused "Do you know the order No. 270 signed by Comrade Stalin in 1941?" Beria asked aloud¡° Comrade Beria, I have only heard of this order. " This order was signed before I passed through. I didn''t know about it all the time. So at this moment, when Beria asked me, I could only say awkwardly, "but what''s in this order? I really don''t know. Can you tell me?" On hearing my reply, belia said in a tone of hatred: "Comrade oshanina, since you are not clear about this order, I will tell you now. Comrade Stalin wrote in the order that major general bonejerin, commander of the 12th group army, after being surrounded by the enemy, although like most of his troops, there are many opportunities to break through, However, he did not show firm determination and belief in victory. On the contrary, he was panicked, timid and shameless. He turned to the enemy and committed crimes against the military oath and treason. " When I heard this, I was dumbfounded.

 Chapter 1535

    My mind was blank. I didn''t hear what belia said. Until he hung up, I stood in a daze holding the phone.


    "Hello, comrade o''shanina, what are you thinking?" I was awakened by lunev''s cry. I looked at him and asked, "Comrade lunev, do you call me?"


    "Yes, I am calling you." Lunev woke me up and quickly added: "what should we do next? It seems to me that Comrade belia said that he would first report the matter to the Supreme Commander himself, and then tell us the decision to deal with it. Let''s go back to uman and wait for the news


    "Yes, general oshanina." As soon as lunev''s words were finished, brakov added: "we have reached our destination here. Now we''d better go back to uman. The environment there is better than here."


    To tell you the truth, as soon as I entered the "wuman pit", I smelled a disgusting smell, which was a kind of stench mixed with the stench of corpses, excrement and urine, and the sour smell scattered by the ragged uniforms of the soldiers. I didn''t feel how fresh the air was until I got back to the ground. Now that brakov, the commander of the garrison, offered to return to the city on his own initiative, I accepted his request.


    Back at the garrison headquarters, however, he wrote in a stern tone: "but we can''t cover up the fact that there have been several shameful incidents of surrendering to the enemy recently. The bad performance of individual generals has tarnished the honor of our troops. "


    First of all, I was named here. When I saw it, I suddenly remembered a list of senior Soviet commanders who died in the patriotic war. There was the name of lieutenant general kacharov in it. I turned my eyes away from the document in front of me, looked at lunev, who was still smoking, and tentatively asked, "Comrade lunev, I want to ask something."


    When lunev heard me asking him, he quickly put out half of the cigarettes left in his hand in the ashtray, raised his hand and looked at me, and said, "Comrade oshanina, I don''t know why you want to. As long as I know, I will answer truthfully."


    "In this document," do you know his whereabouts? "


    When lunev heard my question, he shook his head and said, "no, we learned from the officers and men who broke out of the encirclement that he had surrendered to the enemy, and then there was no more whereabouts of him."


    "Comrade lunev, I once heard a subordinate say that he saw with his own eyes that general kacharov''s temporary headquarters was hit by German shells, and all the people inside were killed."


    "What, kacharov''s headquarters was hit by enemy fire, and all of them died?" Lunev looked at me with wide eyes and asked in disbelief, "who said that and where is he now?"


    "It was a new addition soldier who told me personally. I can''t remember his specific name." Naturally, I can''t tell lunev that I read these contents from the history books of later generations. I can only say vaguely: "it''s a pity that this soldier is making up for the army. 2. All units and units trapped in the enemy''s encirclement should fight to the end without hesitation, protect his equipment with his life, strike the enemy from the rear of the enemy and eliminate the running dogs. If one''s troops are surrounded by the enemy, every soldier, no matter how big his position is, has the responsibility to follow the command of his superiors, fight to the end and break through the blockade. If officers or soldiers do not organize active resistance and fight back against the enemy, but choose to surrender, they can be eliminated by any means from the air or on the ground. Families of members of the Red Army who surrender to the enemy will be deprived of their national rights and assistance.


    3. All division commanders and political commissars have the right to remove immediately those battalion and regiment commanders who try to protect themselves in battle and are afraid of exercising command on the battlefield. They can be regarded as swindlers and demoted to soldiers. If necessary, they can be executed on the spot and replaced by brave and strong officers at lower levels or Red Army soldiers. "


    At the end of the document is the signature of all the members of the base camp, including Stalin, Zhukov, Molotov and timoshinger.


    Seeing that I put the document on the table, lunev came over and asked with no expression: "Comrade oshanina, I believe that you have read the" Order No. 270 "signed by Comrade Stalin himself. You have also seen the comments on bonejerin and others. Now I don''t know what you are going to do with bonejerin? "


    I sat at the table, fingers tapping gently, frowning, trying to think. I once heard bagramijan mention bonejerin. He said that bonejerin was the most educated group commander of the southwest front army. He commanded the infantry division, served as the chief of staff of the Leningrad Military Region, and led the Tactical Teaching and research section of the volongzhi military academy. He is well versed in senior Corps tactics and military academic issues, and has high prestige in the Kiev special military region.


    It is precisely because of bagramijan''s words that I realize that if I want to make further progress in the future, I must have the cooperation of a commander who has both theoretical level and rich combat experience.


    Having made up my mind, I stood up and said to brakov, who was circling around the room, "Comrade General, can you speak to Moscow here?"


    "General oshanina, the high frequency telephone in front of you can talk to Moscow." After that, brakov came up to me, picked up the phone, looked at me and asked politely, "can I connect you to Moscow?"¡° Yes, comrade general, I want to call Moscow. " Considering that Zhukov is a little unpopular with Stalin because of his poor performance on the Ukrainian battlefield recently, it may be counterproductive to ask him to come forward, so I can only consider using circuitous tactics to persuade Stalin, so I ordered brakov: "get me the office of Comrade belia, the interior people''s Commissar." Both brakov and lunev were shocked to hear that I was going to call belia, because they both knew that I was calling in order to keep the man bonejerin. Seeing that brakov was ready to dial, lunev quickly put out his hand to stop him, frowned and asked me, "Comrade oshanina, you should consider this matter carefully! Is it worth it to accompany your own future for the sake of an unrelated person? "¡° worth! Comrade lunev. " Without hesitation, I replied: "as far as I know, general bonejerin is a great military talent. If he can return to his command post, he can make our army''s combat effectiveness to a higher level. As long as we can defeat the Communist aggressors, what is my personal honor or disgrace? " With these righteous words, I said to brakov, "Comrade General, what are you still doing? Dial quickly?"

 Chapter 1536

    From decades later to this era without computers, TV, mobile phones and Internet, I have no good pastime every night. I can only pass the time by recalling the historical books or posts about the Soviet Union I have read before.


    When I first came to this world, as soon as I heard about the Ministry of the interior, I would think of belia as the murderer. But since I had several contacts with him, I think he is still a very kind person. I remember that in a post I read, it was said that after belia took office, the large-scale cleaning stopped temporarily. Hundreds of thousands of cases prepared by the Ministry of internal affairs have been put aside for the time being, which would have resulted in hundreds of thousands of people being arrested and shot. Belia also carried out partial rehabilitation work to clean up the injustice suffered by some red army commanders, many of whom later became heroes in the patriotic war, such as rokosovsky, whom I am familiar with; Some scientists have also been rehabilitated, such as the famous aircraft designer Tupolev; Many cadres of the party, the Soviet Union and the Communist Youth League have also been rehabilitated, bringing the work of many localities back to normal.


    Shortly after Stalin''s death, under the active promotion of belia, the presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union issued an amnesty on March 27, 1953, releasing a large number of criminals who "did not pose a major danger to the country". As a result, 1.2 million people have been released and 400000 cases have been stopped.


    Belia also set up four special groups to examine several major cases in Stalin''s later years. On April 4, 1953, the Ministry of interior of the Soviet Union issued a circular, declaring the "doctor case" vindicated, releasing nine wronged doctors and restoring their reputation. On the same day, he also signed an order pointing out that the Ministry of interior of the Soviet Union had found out that there was a phenomenon of gross violation of the laws of the Soviet Union in the investigation work of the organs of the Ministry of national security. He issued orders to resolutely prohibit the use of violence and corporal punishment against prisoners, cancel the places where corporal punishment measures are taken against prisoners in prisons, and destroy all instruments of torture.


    During this period, belia also submitted to the presidium rehabilitation reports on major cases such as the case of "minggelier nationalist group", the case of former Air Force Commander shahulin and the case of avikov, artillery Marshal Yakovlev, artillery management director and Artillery General Walcott rubinko. On the basis of these reports, the presidium has made corresponding vindication resolutions.


    Subsequently, belia vindicated the "Mingler case" and released a group of Georgia leaders arrested for this and restored their reputation.


    It is based on my understanding of belia that I feel that it is only by his mediation in front of Stalin that I can hope to keep general bonejerin who has just been rescued from the prison camp. So when I got through, I said politely to the receiver, "Hello, comrade belia, there''s something I''d like to ask you to do me a favor."


    "Go ahead, comrade oshanina." Belia said coldly: "if it''s for bonejerin''s sake, I would advise you not to waste your breath. He was named by Comrade Stalin himself. No matter who intercedes, he will bring trouble to himself. You have to think about it for yourself. "


    Although belia guessed my destination and blocked what I wanted to say as soon as she opened her mouth, I would not give up easily. I hesitated for a moment and said slowly, "Comrade Beria, I have just read the" order 270 "issued by the base camp, which mentioned three villains including general bonejerin. I happen to know the whereabouts of general kacharov, so I want to talk about this with you."


    "Oh," belia heard that I did not immediately ask for love from bonejerin, but mentioned another long lost kacharov, which aroused his curiosity: "do you know where he is now?"


    "He has died, comrade Beria." In order to enhance my persuasion, I sighed and said with regret: "in the battle of uman, his headquarters was directly hit by German shells, and all the officers and men inside were killed. This information was told to me by a subordinate of general kacharov. "


    After listening to me, belia asked alertly, "Comrade oshanina, where is the person who told you this news?"


    "Comrade Beria, he has died." I repeated what I had said to lunev, and finally tentatively said: "although the battle of uman has passed for almost three years, if we send people to the battlefield to look for it, we may still find the site that the soldier said."


    "Yes, comrade oshanina, you have a point." When belia heard me say this, she readily agreed, "Comrade lunev is with you anyway. You immediately organize an investigation team to search the location of the battlefield in those years to see if you can find the remains of karcharov."


    "All right, comrade Beria." Seeing that he agreed with me, I said with a smile, "I will immediately convey your order to Comrade lunev, so that he can dispatch elite troops to organize this in the future..." while I was talking with belia, I undoubtedly caught a glimpse of lunev sitting by. It suddenly occurred to me that a few years later, this comrade lunev was the first deputy minister of the Ministry of interior, He participated in the trial of belia and expressed support for the death sentence made by the court.


    Hearing that there was no movement here, belia over there was a little worried. He raised his voice and asked, "Hello, Hello, comrade oshanina, what''s the matter with you? Why don''t you speak all of a sudden?"


    "Nothing, comrade Beria. I just had a sudden thought." Of course, I can''t tell belia that I think of lunev''s participation in your trial a few years later. Instead, I digress and say, "whether general kacharov has been wronged or not will soon come to light. Now can we talk about general bonejerin? "


    Belia hesitated for a long time, then said with some embarrassment, "well, just say what you have to say. But let me first remind you that if I can''t convince you of your reasons, let alone Comrade Stalin, do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade Beria." I saw the tragedy of bonejerin I saw in wumankeng. I told him in detail. Then I told him my analysis. Finally, I concluded: "if bonejerin is a traitor, he can enjoy the high official position provided by the German like Vlasov. But instead of doing so, he was sent to uman''s prison camp and became a ghost. How can there be such a traitor in the world


    It seems that my reason did not convince belia. He said lightly: "maybe the Germans will send him back to uman''s prison camp because they don''t think he has any use value. This alone can''t prove that he is not a traitor." When he said this, he stopped for a moment and asked in a puzzled tone, "Comrade oshanina, I don''t understand why you are trying to keep him. What good can he bring you?"


    "Comrade Beria, I once heard general bagramian say that bonejerin is probably the most educated commander of the southwest front army. He commanded the infantry division, served as the chief of staff of the Leningrad Military Region, and led the Tactical Teaching and research section of the volongzhi military academy. He is well versed in senior Corps tactics and military academic issues, and has a high prestige in the Kiev special military region. " In order to convince belia, I specially stressed: "at present, the army lacks a commander who has both superb military theory and rich combat experience. As long as he returns to the army, he must be an excellent commander."


    "Comrade oshanina, why do you say that?" Belia said with disapproval: "you know, he was captured by the German army shortly after the war broke out. I don''t believe such a person can be an excellent commander. "


    "Comrade Beria, let me give you an example." I think it''s very difficult to convince belia in a conventional way, not to mention Stalin, who is more stubborn than him, so I can only take the lead: "if in September of 41, it was not general rokosovsky, but lieutenant general Lukin, who led the headquarters to vyazima to take over the troops, then the commander of the first front army of Belarus now, Who do you think it will be? "


    When I finished, there was silence in the receiver, which proved that my words had moved belia. He should be considering whether to help me persuade Stalin. After a long time, belia''s voice finally came out of the receiver. He said in a decisive tone: "well, comrade oshanina, I think what you said is reasonable. Now I''ll go to the Supreme Commander himself and tell him what you mean and see what he is going to do with bonejerin. Just wait for my notice


    I put down the phone and said to lunev, "when I spoke with Comrade belia just now, I mentioned the sacrifice of general kacharov. He has agreed that we should organize an investigation team to investigate the battlefield of that year to see if we can find the remains of general kacharov."


    When I had finished, I fixed my eyes on lunev to see how he would react. Lunev seems to have no heart to investigate the cause of kacharov''s death, but since this is an order issued by his immediate superior, even if he has an opinion, he can only implement it unconditionally. After a few violent convulsions, the corners of his mouth nodded and said reluctantly, "well, since Comrade Beria gave the order, I will carry it out. I''ll go to the house office and pick the right person later. "


    Now that belia helped me to persuade Stalin, I feel much more at ease. I confidently and boldly said to brakov, "Comrade General, it''s getting late. You should arrange people to go to wumankeng as soon as possible so that the soldiers there can recover as soon as possible."


    "OK, I''ll set it up right now." Brakov picked up the phone from the desk and was ready to arrange for his men to carry out a series of orders I had given. At this moment, another phone on the desk rang. After he looked at me, he put down the phone in his hand, and then grabbed the microphone of the other phone.


    After listening for a while, he answered decisively, "ask them to come in!"


    After he put down the phone, he reported to me: "general oshanina, there are two commanders outside. One is major general afuning, commander of the 18th army of the guards, and the other is said to be major bukov, deputy head of your guard regiment. I''ve let the sentry at the door go. They''ll be here soon


    Afuning and bukov walked back and forth into the office and stood in front of me. After the two men raised their hands to salute at the same time, afuning first reported to me: "report to general Comrade, major general afuning, commander of the 18th army of the guard infantry, report to you, I come at your order..."


    "Hello, general afuning." Before afuning could finish, I stepped forward, pulled his hand down from his forehead, held it tightly, shook it a few times, and said, "welcome to uman."¡° General oshanina. " When afuning shook hands with me, he asked tentatively, "is it true that marshal konev told me that I can get the soldiers I need from here before he ordered me to come here?"¡° Of course, of course it''s true, general afuning. " I replied with a smile, "there are nearly 20000 additional soldiers for you this time. They are all soldiers with rich combat experience. They can be incorporated into your troops in a week at most."¡° That''s great. They''re all veterans with combat experience. That''s great. " Ah Funing was overjoyed when he heard me say this. He said excitedly: "I thought it would be nice for the superior to add 5000 or 6000 soldiers to me. Unexpectedly, he added so many soldiers to us. By the way, general oshanina, can I ask where these soldiers come from? " After hearing this question, I hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to tell him the truth: "general afuning, we found a prisoner''s camp near uman not long ago, in which more than 20000 captured officers and soldiers of our army were held. After my request to the commander-in-chief himself, he has agreed to incorporate these forces into your army. " Afuning''s face changed when he heard that these soldiers were all from the prison camp. However, when he heard that I said that the incorporation of these rescued prisoners into his army was approved by the Supreme Commander himself, his face immediately became serious. Then he straightened up and said to me, "general oshanina, I firmly obey the instructions of my superiors, When can I accept these new recruits¡° It may take a few days to accept new recruits. After all, they suffered for three years in the German prison camp. Most of the soldiers are in poor health and need a recovery process. " At this point, I turned to brakov and pointed: "this is the garrison commander of uman. I have ordered him to be responsible for dealing with the rescued soldiers. If you have anything, you can go directly to him."

 Chapter 1537

    I consider that belia will come forward to help me persuade Stalin, and there may be an answer soon. In order to avoid missing his call, even when brakov invited me to the restaurant for dinner, I refused. I just asked him to bring me some bread, cheese and so on.


    Seeing brakov walking towards the door, while lunev was still sitting in the same place, I could not help but wonder: "Comrade lunev, why don''t you go to dinner?"


    Lunev looked at me with a worried look, and said in a quiet way, "Moscow hasn''t called yet. Where can I eat?"


    Originally, I was full of confidence in belia''s persuading Stalin. At the moment, when I saw lunev who knew about this, he was so restless that his heart suddenly became uneasy.


    Brakov is a good man. He didn''t forget us when he went to the restaurant. When he came back, he specially asked the soldiers to bring dinner to lunev and me. As we sat at the table and began to eat, he carefully asked, "general oshanina, is there a phone call from Moscow?"


    With a wry smile and shaking my head, I replied, "not yet. I guess it''s a bit tricky." With these words, I suddenly thought of afuning and bukov, who left in a hurry after accepting the task, and quickly asked, "have my two subordinates been arranged?"


    Brakov nodded and said, "don''t worry, I''ve put them in the military hostel. If anything happens, my men will help them."


    As soon as he had finished, the phone on his desk rang. Brakov looked around and then said, "it''s like a high-frequency phone is ringing." With that, he quickly walked toward the desk.


    It''s said that the high frequency telephone is ringing. My first thought is that Moscow has called. He quickly put the half eaten bread back on the plate, got up and walked behind brakov.


    Brakov picked up the phone and listened for a moment. Then he handed me the receiver and said, "general oshanina, I''m calling for you from Moscow."


    As soon as I put the receiver to my ear, I heard Beria''s voice: "Comrade oshanina, is there anyone else around you now?"


    "Except for major general bulakov, the commander of uman garrison," I turned to look at lunev, who was sitting at the table eating, and truthfully reported, "there is your comrade lunev."


    "Let them dodge first." Belia said solemnly, "I have something important to talk about."


    "Comrade belia," when I heard that I was talking with belia, lunev also stopped eating, got up and came to me to listen to belia''s latest instructions. In this case, how can I expel others? I can only say in embarrassment, "it doesn''t matter to let Comrade lunev know this, does it?"


    "No, let lunev and the commander of the garrison evade at once." "What I''m going to talk to you about is so important that no one else can hear me," Beria said in a very stern voice


    Standing beside him, lunev heard Beria''s words. In order not to embarrass me, he waved his head to blakov, who was standing across the table, and said, "come on, comrade general, let''s go outside and have a cigarette."


    Brakov was also a smart man. Seeing that lunev asked him to smoke outside, he immediately guessed the other party''s intention, nodded, picked up the cigarette box and matches on the table, and then went out.


    Seeing that both of them left the office, I said to the microphone, "Comrade belia, they have all left. I am the only one in the office. I don''t know if you have anything important to talk to me?"


    "I come to ask you," Beria asked directly, without any greetings. "When and where did you meet the soldier who told you that general kacharov had died under enemy fire?"


    When I heard him suddenly ask this question, I couldn''t help but clap in my heart, saying that it''s not good, and the matter has gone through. But considering the identity of the other party, I can''t admit to him that this matter is my nonsense. I can only say vaguely: "Comrade Beria, I can''t remember the specific time, probably the soldier I met in the battle of Stalingrad."


    "Comrade o''shanina, are you going to lie to me at this time? Do you forget what the Ministry of internal affairs under my leadership does? " Seeing that I was still making things up, belia was a little angry: "if I didn''t help you hide this matter, as long as you were stabbed to Comrade Stalin, you will not only be removed from the post of representative of the base camp, but also completely lose the new man of the Supreme Commander himself to you."


    From what belia said, I guess there must be some flaws in what I said. If I can''t figure out the situation and continue to explain, maybe the situation will get worse and worse. Therefore, I intend to turn the defensive into the offensive and take the initiative in my own hands. Therefore, I stubbornly asked: "Comrade belia, I don''t know what happened to make you so angry?"


    "I''ll read you the resume of lieutenant general kacharov." Belia didn''t give me any nonsense, so he picked up a document and read it: "Vladimir Yakovlev kacharov, Soviet Army lieutenant general, born in gorodysseh, served in the Russian army in 1911-1912 and 1914-1918, and participated in the first World War. He graduated from brigadier''s College in 1914 and joined the Red Army in 1918. During the civil war, he successively served as chief of staff of cavalry brigade, chief of staff of mixed cavalry army, chief of staff of cavalry first army, division chief of cavalry 2nd division and chief of staff of field command of cavalry 2nd group army. He took part in the battle against dunnigin and franger army, and took part in the fight against basmarchi gang in East Bukhara. He graduated from advanced crash course in 1923, He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1927 and graduated from the advanced Infantry School and the special department of the volongzhi Military Academy in 1928 and 1935.


    From 1925 to 1937, he successively served as the commander of cavalry brigade, cavalry division and cavalry commander. From 1938 to 1940, he successively served as the commander of North Caucasus military region and the commander of alhagar military region. In 1940, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant general. After the outbreak of the patriotic war, he served as the commander of the 28th group army formed in the alhangar military region and surrendered to the German army in Smolensk in August 1941. "


    After reading the passage, Beria raised her voice and said, "Comrade oshanina, do you hear me? If lieutenant general kacharov really died, as you said, in directing the battle, then the place where he died should be near Smolensk, Russia; Not the uman region of Ukraine where you are now. "


    All the information I have is from the history books and various posts of later generations. When I mentioned kacharov, I only vaguely said that he was killed by German artillery when he was commanding the troops. As for where he was killed, I didn''t give a detailed description. After listening to what belia said, I was immediately shocked with a cold sweat, and said that I was really confused. Seeing that Stalin mentioned the three people, kacharov and bonejerin, in order 270, he took it for granted that the places where the three people were captured or sacrificed were all near uman, but who knew they were wearing a crown.


    In a hurry, I didn''t know how to answer belia''s question. While I was thinking nervously, I just heard belia say, "Comrade oshanina, I know that you are going to exonerate major general bonejerin, but you can''t take such deceptive measures? Fortunately, this time I personally called up the data of karcharov to review. If someone else changes, your flawed statement may put you in a hopeless situation. "


    "I''m sorry, comrade Beria. I''m wrong." If someone else, maybe I will stick to my original statement, but in front of belia, the head of the secret police, I have a feeling that there is no escape. Fortunately, I could tell from his tone that he meant to defend me, so I decided to take the risk and confess to him: "I really lied to you. No soldier told me that general kacharov was killed by German artillery in his headquarters."


    "Why are you doing this?" When belia saw me confess, her voice softened a lot: "since this matter has nothing to do with you, why do you take risks with your own future?"


    For a moment, I couldn''t come up with a convincing reason. I could only euphemistically say, "Comrade belia, I did it for two reasons. First, general bonejerin is indeed a talent. If he is allowed to stay in the prison camp, it would be a waste of time; Second, although I don''t know general kacharov, according to his resume, he is a commander who is extremely loyal to the motherland and the people. He will never bend his knees to surrender to the Germans because of panic. I think there may be some misunderstanding. After all, in the chaotic situation at that time, some rumors were not accurate. "


    Belia was silent after listening to what I said. When I heard that there was no voice in the receiver, I couldn''t help but raise my voice in my heart. My heart said that he was not confused and immediately reported to Stalin, and then sent someone to arrest me? After all, I went too far this time. I tried to deceive the head of the secret police into persuading Stalin for me.


    "O''shanina, I will not pursue this matter." After a long time, belia finally spoke. He asked tentatively, "are you really going to keep this bonejerin?"


    "Yes, comrade Beria." Now that the matter has come to this point, I will definitely not hide my true thoughts any more, so I truthfully replied, "I think general bonejerin is a great military talent. If I can get his help, I believe that the troops I will command in the future will achieve more brilliant results."


    "Since you insist so much," belia said hesitantly, not persuading me any more when she saw that I was so stubborn, "I''ll go and talk to Comrade Stalin, but I''m not sure whether he will agree."


    I finally grasped belia''s life-saving straw. I was not willing to give up easily. I begged and said, "Comrade belia, if you want to help me this time, you must make general bonejerin my deputy. Please!"


    "However, I am not absolutely sure that I can convince Comrade Stalin!" For my request, belia said helplessly: "I really can only try. Whether I can succeed or not depends on luck."


    "Well, comrade Beria." A bold idea suddenly came into my mind: "you can tell Comrade Stalin to let bonejerin come to my army to do meritorious deeds. At the same time, you send people to the place where general kacharov fought to find his remains. As long as his remains can be found, the suspicion of defecting to the enemy will be cleared away. Then you will put forward to Comrade Stalin that the matter of general bonejerin should also be re investigated... "


    "Come on, comrade oshanina, don''t say any more." Before I finished, belia cut me off without any hesitation and said, "I''m not your subordinate. What should I do? I don''t need you to teach me. That''s it. I''ll go to Comrade Stalin now and help you find out about him. "


    After belia hung up, I went to the door and called in lunev and brakov, who were chatting in the corridor. Looking at the high-frequency telephone on the table, lunev asked carefully, "Comrade oshanina, I don''t know what new tasks belia has assigned you?" Considering that since kacharov was killed near Smolensk, our search operation in uman area will be meaningless, I said to lunev, "Comrade lunev, belia asked us to cancel the task of searching for the remains of general kacharov in uman area."¡° Ah, the mission is cancelled? " Lunev was surprised to hear that. He asked, "what''s the reason?"¡° Because... Because, gen... according to our latest information, "I said with some hesitation," general kacharov was not killed in the uman area. Comrade belia plans to send people to other places to search. "¡° Oh, so it is. " Lunev''s face showed a sudden expression, and then asked me: "since there is no need to search for general kacharov''s remains in the battlefield near uman, I will call the company commander of the interior company and ask him to cancel tomorrow''s operation." With my permission, he directly called the company commander of the internal affairs company who escorted us and announced that the search operation to be carried out tomorrow had been cancelled. Worried that Moscow would call at any time, I decided to stay in the office for the night. Although brakov, out of some good intentions, asked me to take a rest in a nearby room and said that he would send someone to inform me as soon as there was a call from Moscow. But I stubbornly refused his suggestion. I didn''t want Stalin to wait for me on the other end of the line.

 Chapter 1538

    After lunev and brakov left, I lay alone on the temporary camp bed, tossing and turning, thinking about whether it was a bit reckless to risk offending the Supreme Commander himself and try to protect bonejerin who I just didn''t know for a day?


    Just when I was in extreme trepidation, the telephone on my desk rang at last. I turned over from the bed and sat up. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was one o''clock in the morning. According to my understanding of Stalin''s work and rest time, there will be no one but him who calls at this time.


    Carrying a pair of boots, I ran to my desk barefoot. Although it''s only a few short steps, I feel that my heart beat faster and my breath became shorter. I put the microphone to my ear and said politely, "Hello, this is uman garrison headquarters. Where are you?"


    "Is that Rita?" In the receiver came Stalin''s familiar voice: "I am Stalin!"


    "Hello, comrade Stalin." Although I know that he is calling me at this time mainly to talk about the matter of bonejerin, he habitually asked, "what instructions do you have?"


    "Rita, you are so bold now!" Stalin suddenly raised his voice and said to me in a stern tone, "knowing that Bonnie gerlin is a traitor named by me, he would plead for him. You answer me honestly, why do you want to cover him up like this? Did you get any benefit from him? "


    Although his tone was severe, it was obviously not violent, which made my heart a little more stable. I have dealt with him several times, and I know that it is not easy to persuade him, but it is not impossible. The key lies in the way of persuasion. If you are hard to hard like Zhukov, it will only have the opposite effect; Only in this way can he be convinced effectively.


    So after a pause, I replied with a smile, "Comrade Stalin, I''ve known general bonejerin for less than a day, and I don''t know each other very well. What can he do for me?"


    "But why do you intercede for him?" Stalin was obviously not satisfied with my answer. He asked, "what''s the matter with toberia?"


    "I had a simple conversation with him and found that he had a wealth of military theory and a certain amount of combat experience." In order not to irritate Stalin, I did not immediately mention the sensitive identity of bonejerin, but deliberately said something irrelevant: "now the army needs such a person, if he can command an army, I think..."


    When I was about to fool Stalin into bewilderment and ask for love for bonejerin again, I was impatiently interrupted by him: "OK, belia has said everything to me, so don''t do anything more. Let''s talk about how you plan to resettle him. Under the current circumstances, he can''t be allowed to command a single unit. "


    "Yes, comrade Stalin, you are right." Don''t mention that bonejerin is still charged with treason. Even if he is innocent, I can''t let him command an army alone. After all, he was captured at the beginning of the war. All the tactics he mastered are outdated tactics. If he is allowed to command the army rashly, he may be captured again. However, he once served as commander of the military region or commander of the 28th group army. If the position assigned to him in the army is too low, it seems to be a bit inappropriate. After hesitating for a long time, I said cautiously, "I plan to make him deputy commander of the 18th army. I don''t know what you think?"


    "No, it can''t be." As soon as I uttered my words, Stalin resolutely opposed them.


    At such a time, I dare not argue with Stalin. I can only tentatively ask, "Comrade Stalin, I''d like to hear what you mean. What position will he be appointed to?"


    Stalin pondered for a moment, then said: "from the prisoners of war who will be incorporated into the 18th army of the guards, 6000 people will be drawn out to form a new division. The division will be headed by your former subordinate, Colonel Lukin, and the Deputy Division will be headed by lieutenant colonel bukov. As for bonejerin, let him be chief of staff. "


    "What about the rank, comrade Stalin?" When I heard that a new division had been added to the 18th army of Jinwei, and that my two departments had been appointed as division commander and deputy division commander respectively, while bonejerin had become the chief of staff of the division, it really made me a little sad. The position was second, but Stalin didn''t say what rank he would give him, so I asked, "I don''t know what rank you are going to give him."


    "Major, let him be a major for the time being." After Stalin finished, he added, "is there anything else you don''t understand?"


    I can''t help laughing when I heard that he was demoted to major by Stalin, because in the later period of the Moscow defense war, I was demoted from major general to major by Stalin because of my mistakes. I really feel sorry for him. In order to reassure Stalin about this army, after a moment''s thinking, I specially stressed: "Comrade Stalin, in order to strengthen the leadership of this army, I suggest that you send more political cadres who are extremely loyal to the motherland and the people to the army, so that this army can reach the standards of military and political excellence. Do you think so? "


    "That''s no problem. I''ll call konev and ask him to arrange for you." I flattered Stalin just in time, which made him very useful. So before he hung up, he just said in a smooth tone: "Rita, this is the only time for this kind of thing. Do you understand?"


    When I heard that he no longer pursued the matter of Bonnie gerlin, the stone hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground, and I quickly and decisively replied, "I see, comrade Stalin."


    When I hung up the phone, I found that I was still barefoot on the cold ground. I sat on the chair beside me and put my boots on my feet. At the same time, I was thinking about how to allocate my troops.


    The next morning, while I was having breakfast in my office with lunev and brakov, afuning and bukov came in from the outside.


    After saluting me, a Funing asked, "Comrade General, when can we reorganize the army?"


    "General afuning, don''t worry about the adaptation for the time being. Please sit down and have something to eat first." After afuning sat down, I turned my eyes to bulakov and asked, "have you finished your statistical work?"


    "Yes, comrade o''shanina, through our efforts all night long, all the statistical work has been completed." Brakov said, taking a document bag out of his briefcase and ready to hand it to me. At the same time, he said, "I was going to give it to you after dinner."


    I saw the thick paper bag in his hand. I knew that if I had to look carefully, I would miss breakfast. I told him: "Comrade General, you''d better give us a brief introduction first."


    Brakov nodded and began to introduce their statistics to us: "there are 21547 prisoners of war rescued in the POW camp. The number of sick is 9386, including 2195 seriously ill. In addition to the number of serious diseases requiring hospitalization, the number of people who can be incorporated into the army immediately is 19352. "


    "General afuning, have you heard all the statistics?" After brakov finished reporting, I turned to afuning and asked, "I don''t know how you plan to distribute these soldiers?"


    Afuning had been prepared for a long time. As soon as I finished, he took out a book from his briefcase, turned a few pages and said to me, "after months of fighting, the casualties of our divisions are very large. The second and third divisions of the close guard airborne troops need to be replenished with 9000 soldiers; And the fourth division of the airborne guards needs to add 3000 to 5000 people. "


    As soon as afuning''s words were finished, bulakov broke in and said, "Comrade General, if you just said that you only need 12000 people in your army at most, how do you deal with the redundant soldiers?"


    "This... This..." afuning may not have thought that brakov would suddenly ask this question. For a moment, he was tongue tied and didn''t know how to answer.


    "I received a call from the Supreme Commander himself last night," I quickly came out to help afuning. "He said that he was going to add a new division of 6000 to the 18th army of general afuning''s guards."


    "Add a new editor?" My words stunned everyone. After a while, ah Funing asked carefully, "general o''shanina, I don''t know how to allocate the leadership of this division?"


    "The division is headed by Colonel Lukin, commander of the 375TH infantry division of the sixth group army, and the deputy division is headed by lieutenant colonel bukov, deputy head of my guard regiment. He served as chief of staff of the division, with the rank of major. "


    While brakov and afuning were trying to digest what I said, brakov reminded me with some embarrassment: "Comrade commander, you just made a mistake. I''m a major, not a lieutenant commander."


    I looked up at bukov, who was a little embarrassed, and said to him with a smile, "Comrade bukov, you are promoted to the rank of commander in chief and appointed to the rank of deputy division commander. This is what the Supreme Commander himself means. Are you going to refuse? "


    As soon as I finished, afuning and brakov looked at bukov with admiration. What an honor it was to be appointed by Stalin. Bukov''s face was flushed with excitement, and he asked in disbelief, "Comrade commander, is that true? Is it really the appointment of the Supreme Commander himself? "


    "Yes, comrade commander." In time, I called bukov with a new rank: "in the new division, you should work hard and never let down the trust of the supreme commander. Do you understand? "


    "Yes," bukov replied loudly, "I will never fail this trust."


    After bukov finished his statement to me, afuning then asked himself what he was concerned about: "general oshanina, the division leaders have it. What are the criteria for selecting commanders at all levels below?"


    "Comrade General, you don''t have to worry about that." Seeing that afuning was still at a loss about the adaptation, I immediately gave him some advice: "you can choose from the prisoners of war those soldiers who used to be battalion commanders to serve as platoon leaders or squad leaders; Cadres at the regiment level shall be company commanders, and cadres at the division level shall be battalion commanders or regimental commanders. As for political work cadres, the higher authorities will send you a batch of them. "


    After the problems of the establishment and commanders at all levels have been solved, afuning continued to ask, "where should we supplement weapons, clothing and various military materials?" He was deeply afraid that I would not pay attention to this problem, and specially stressed that "it is not a small matter to solve the weapons, ammunition and military supplies of nearly 20000 people at one time."


    "It''s easy." I remembered that konev had provided me with a large number of military warehouses in the shepetovka area, which could fully meet the needs of the army. So I asked brakov to take a map, pointed to shepetovka on it, and said to afuning, "Comrade General, I will discuss with general konev later to transfer your army to the shepetovka area, What do you think of resupplying weapons, ammunition and military supplies there? "¡° That''s great. That''s great. " When I heard that I was going to konev to transfer them to shepetovka, afuning''s eyes lit up as if there were some treasure there. He said excitedly: "in this way, not to mention our army has more than 20000 people, even if we have more than 200000 people, we don''t have to worry about the shortage of weapons and materials."¡° General afuning, you are just daydreaming. " As soon as afuning''s words were finished, lunev, who had been eating beside him, said jokingly, "here are 200000 people. Are you still commanding an army? That''s at least the scale of two army groups. How about I discuss with marshal konev and let you be deputy commander of the front army? " As soon as lunev''s words were finished, they immediately caused a lot of laughter. I got up, went to my desk, picked up the high frequency phone and called konev. After the connection, without waiting for me to explain my intention, he said in advance, "Rita, I have received a call from Comrade Stalin. I have transferred 60 political work cadres from the headquarters of the front army to enrich the cadre team of the new division."¡° Marshal, "I waited patiently for him to finish before explaining my intention. Finally, I said," as the total number of the 18th army of the guards has exceeded 40000, if we don''t coordinate in advance, we will go directly to shepetovka, I''m afraid it will cause unnecessary confusion. "¡° You''re right. I''d like to talk to shepetovka first, so that they can prepare for you in advance, as well as the necessary weapons, ammunition and various military supplies. " "In addition, we need to contact the railway department to prepare enough wagons to transport our troops to shepetovka," konev said

 Chapter 1539

    When the troops of the 18th army of the guards left for shepetovka, I didn''t go with them. Instead, I went to konev''s headquarters of the front army as the representative of the base camp, and went with him to check the preparation of the troops.


    On the third day after arriving at the headquarters of the front army, I accompanied konev to the dubno area for inspection. As soon as we set out, the sky began to rain, and the originally difficult road became more muddy. Fortunately, such a road section is only a few kilometers, and then the jeep drove onto the road paved with cinders. Although it was a bit bumpy, it was able to drive forward at a faster speed.


    Sitting next to me, konev said with emotion: "Rita, when you proposed to use carbon slag to pave the road, it not only solved the problem of coal residue treatment for urban residents, but also made our roads work normally even in rainy days or thawing seasons."


    To his praise, I just a faint smile, casually said: "Marshal comrade, only when the road is clear, can we ensure the mobility of mechanized troops."


    "You have a point." Konev agreed with me: "in the winter campaign, the poor road condition greatly restricted the mobility of our mechanized troops, resulting in the lack of support infantry, paid a lot of unnecessary sacrifices, and also let many enemies escape from our encirclement."


    The staff officer sitting in the front row turned to konev and said, "Comrade marshal, in front is the dubno area."


    "Oh, is that dubno?" When konev heard this, his face was surprised. When he looked out of the car window, he asked me, "Rita, do you know how our troops fought the German army tenaciously in the early days of the war?"


    "I''m sorry, comrade marshal." When I heard him mention dubno, I couldn''t help looking silly. To tell you the truth, I really don''t know how the Soviet army fought with the enemy here in the early days of the patriotic war. If he asked Brest fortress, I could tell him the story. But at the moment, I can only answer awkwardly, "I''m not sure."


    When konev heard my answer, he turned his head and looked at me with puzzled eyes for a while. Then he suddenly raised his hand and patted his forehead, and said with a smile, "Rita, I''m confused. You joined the army only the second month after the outbreak of the war. It''s impossible to know what happened in dubno area that year."


    Listening to what he said aroused my curiosity. I immediately asked, "Comrade marshal, can you tell me what happened here at that time?"


    Konev saw that I was eager to know the battle that had happened in dubno, and it was still a long way to reach the destination of our trip, so he told me what happened in that year with interest: "in the first few days of the war, in addition to the repeated struggle between the fifth group army under the command of general Potapov and the German army in the city of Vladimir wallensky, The rest of the area is losing ground. Just when we thought that we could not stop the German assault, the mechanized Eighth Army under the command of general riabeshev successfully defeated the enemy who rushed to the depth of our defense and successfully recaptured dubno.


    After learning the news of the victory, general kilbonos, commander of the southwest front army, gave orders to his troops to counterattack in order to smash the German tank group in the direction of dubno ostrog. According to the order, the 9th and 19th mechanized armies were from the northeast; The 8th and 15th mechanized armies, the 36th and 37th infantry armies and the 5th cavalry army are from the southwest; General Lukin''s battle group launched a three-sided assault on the German army group in this area from the East. "


    I did not speak, listening quietly to konev''s story, to make up for the historical knowledge I did not understand.


    "... before the counterattack, rokosovsky reported to the headquarters of the front army that his mechanized 9th army had to retreat to Rovno under the joint attack with German tanks and air forces; The 20th tank division, which had been attacked earlier, also fell into the encirclement of the German army in dubno.


    The situation of the 19th mechanized army was also very bad. Under the attack of the German tank group, they were forced to retreat from dubno to Rovno after arduous fighting. "


    From what konev said, I could hear what he meant: in the severe situation at that time, because the superior misjudged the situation and adopted offensive tactics regardless of the actual situation, all the troops were used for counter assault. However, in the area where the German fortifications could be blocked, there were no troops to defend. As a result, the counterattack failed, The enemy easily broke through the weak defensive zones and rushed to the depth of the Soviet territory.


    Konev finally said: "I estimate that the offensive campaign to liberate the western states of Ukraine and the southeast of Poland will be the focus of our work in the next stage, so we have to do enough preparations..."


    When we arrived at our destination, we were met by lieutenant general prokhov of the 13th army headquarters. After shaking hands with him, konev directly asked, "Comrade General, what''s the situation here?"


    With a shrug and a smile, prokhov replied, "our troops are recovering, but they are ready to fight. They are ready to fight at any time."


    "Come on, take us to the front." Konev, after waiting for the other party to finish, said briefly, "I want to see how things are on the enemy''s side."


    "Please, comrade marshal." Pokhov made a gesture of please, and then took the lead to walk along the front of the war to guide us.


    Along the trench covered with camouflage net, we walked for about ten minutes and finally came to the frontier observation post. Hearing our footsteps, several soldiers in the observation center came out quickly, stood on one side of the trench, straightened up and raised their hands to salute us.


    Konev nodded at the soldiers, then went into the observation post, picked up the telescope on the lookout mouth, and looked at the opposite German position. I saw that there was a pair of telescopes beside me. I also went over to observe the situation with the telescopes, just like konev.


    Opposite is a hillside with an altitude of more than 100 meters. The length of the hillside is about 500 meters or 600 meters. I saw a dense camouflage net in the middle of the mountain. Under the net should be the enemy''s defensive positions. Fortifications are built along the undulating mountains, and trenches and firepower points constitute a complete defense system. At the front of the position are circles of barbed wire and various obstacles. If we don''t clear these obstacles, the attacking forces will not be able to approach the enemy''s position at all.


    Konev put down his telescope, turned around and asked pokhov standing behind him, "Comrade General, what''s up? Is there any news from the enemy on the other side?"


    Pokhov shook his head and replied, "no, comrade marshal, they have been very quiet. Maybe we should send troops to attack at night, so as soon as it gets dark, they will keep lighting up in the sky to prevent our people from approaching their positions at night. "


    After listening, konev asked the students like a teacher: "if we want to capture this highland, how do you plan to clear the obstacles in front of the position?"


    "Bombard with artillery, comrade marshal." Pokhov pointed to the highland in the distance and said with full assurance: "as for the barbed wire which has not been destroyed by the gunfire in our artillery preparation, we will use the method of blasting to remove it."


    "Can''t we use tanks?" After listening to pokhov''s words, konev did not say yes or no, but raised a new question: "our tanks can easily remove those obstacles."


    When konev said this, pokhov''s face showed a trace of embarrassment. He murmured: "Comrade marshal, from our point of view, the slope is relatively gentle, but in fact, the slope has exceeded the climbing limit of our army''s tanks."


    After listening to the answer, konev took a surprise look at pokhov, and then said, "yes, comrade general, it seems that you are quite familiar with the terrain of your defense area."


    After observing the terrain of the front, we followed pukhov to his headquarters, a cave on the back of a hillside 500 or 600 meters away from the front trench. After entering the headquarters, pokhov asked anxiously, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know when we can launch a new round of attack?"


    "Why, can''t wait?" With a smile on his face, konev asked, "do you want to drive the Germans out of our country early?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal, not only do I think so, but all my commanders and fighters think so." As soon as konev finished his speech, pokhov immediately said in a rush: "at present, the German forces in Ukraine, after our repeated attacks, are shrinking in a few cities in the west of Ukraine, as long as we..."


    Before he finished, konev interrupted him and said in a dissatisfied tone, "as long as we launch another offensive campaign, we can drive the enemy out of these areas, right?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." Pokhov nodded his head and replied positively, "that''s right."


    "Comrade General," konev stood up, circled our simple wooden table, and asked as he walked, "I want to ask, how many troops do you have now?"


    In response to konev''s question, pokhov shrugged his shoulders again, shrugged his mouth and said, "marshal, you know that although the superior has replenished our army, the number is still too small. At present, the total strength is barely half of that before we launched the campaign of korson shevchenkoski, and the number of tanks, tanks and soldiers lost is not enough The cannons have not been replenished


    After waiting for pokhov to finish, konev stopped, restrained his smile, and said to him solemnly, "Comrade General, it''s not only your group army, but the whole front army that is short of troops and the lost technical equipment can''t be replenished in time. Can you tell me what kind of situation we will encounter if we attack those enemies hiding behind solid fortifications with such troops, which are seriously short of soldiers and technical equipment and whose combat effectiveness is greatly reduced? "


    Pokhov did not speak, but listened quietly to konev''s rebuke.


    "If, under such circumstances, we launch a rash attack on the enemies who occupy the western states of Ukraine. Once the attack is frustrated and the enemy launches a counterattack, what shall we do? " Konev sat down opposite pokhov, his eyes fixed on each other: "what kind of forces will we use to block the enemy''s attack? Maybe at the end of the day, we didn''t eat the enemy. On the contrary, the enemy annihilated us. Such a bloody lesson has not happened before. "


    "Comrade commander, I''m wrong." As soon as konev finished speaking, pokhov said sincerely: "there are a lot of Ukrainians in my army, and they are eager to drive the Germans out of here."¡° All right, all right, needless to say. I understand your feelings, but I can''t be in a hurry. " Konev didn''t blame pokhov, but said magnanimously: "I estimate that even if there is going to be a war, it will take at least another two months. You should grasp the preparation of the troops, so that as soon as the attack order is given, you can immediately fight, understand?"¡° I see, comrade marshal. " "I will make use of this time to let the troops rest and recuperate, so as to maintain the best condition in the next stage of the battle," he promised Konev had another chat with pokhov, and then he took me away. As we drove to the next destination, konev suddenly asked me, "Rita, I don''t know when you are going to shepetovka?"¡° Since general afuning is there, I will not go for the time being. " I waved to him and said helplessly: "although these rescued prisoners of war are veterans with combat experience, they have been in the prison camp for almost three years. Even if they don''t need complicated military discipline training, they are unfamiliar with the tactics and various new weapons we use now, It takes a long time to get familiar with it. I think general afuning can do this well. " After listening to me, konev nodded and said with approval, "Rita, you''re right. As a representative of the base camp, you have a lot to be responsible for, for example, the coordination between our front forces and friendly forces, the inspection of the army''s preparations for war, and so on. Some of the work that can be done by subordinates should be done by them. " After a while, konev suddenly lowered his voice and asked in a voice that only the two of us could hear: "Rita, I want to ask you when we can launch a new offensive campaign."¡° "Marshal," I replied in the same tone, "you are not the main attack direction in the next round of offensive campaign, so you will not receive the offensive task until the friendly forces launch the offensive."¡° And about what time? " When konev heard me say this, he became more and more dispirited and asked, "can you tell me a closer date?" Although I clearly remember the time when the battle of Belarus and the last battle on Ukrainian territory were launched, under such circumstances, I could not make it clear to him, but could only vaguely say: "Comrade marshal, if such a large-scale offensive campaign is to be launched, the supreme command may have to call a meeting of commanders of all fronts. When you will be informed to go to Moscow for a meeting, it will prove that the attack is about to begin When I finished saying this, I caught a glimpse of the staff officer sitting in the co pilot''s seat from the corner of my eye. It seemed that he was listening to us with his ears on his side. Then I raised my voice to him and asked, "staff officer, how long will it take us to reach our destination?"

 Chapter 1540

    He accompanied konev around his defense area for more than half a month and spent most of his time checking the defense and preparation of the troops. It was not until the last day of May that we returned to the headquarters in Rovno.


    After I said goodbye to konev, I went back to the dormitory room arranged for me. After a simple wash, I lay in bed, trying to make up for all the sleep I had sacrificed during this period. Who knows, just fell asleep, vaguely heard someone knocking at the door. The experience of the war in recent years has sharpened my sense. Although I haven''t opened my eyes yet, I got out of bed, closed my eyes, rushed to the door, took out my pistol from the holster hanging on the coat rack, pointed it at the door, and then asked warily, "who is it, who is it outside?"


    "Comrade General, it''s me." There was a familiar voice outside the door. I immediately recognized that it was a familiar staff officer of the headquarters of the front army. After I was relieved, I opened my eyes, put the gun back into the holster, and opened the door.


    The staff officer standing outside the door saw me appear at the door, quickly raised his hand to my forehead to salute me, and reported: "Comrade General, marshal, please go to the headquarters immediately."


    "Comrade captain," thinking that he had been separated from konev for less than half an hour, he hastily sent for me. There must be something serious. I asked nervously, "do you know what it is?"


    The staff officer shook his head and replied, "I''m sorry, Comrade General. I just received an order to ask you to go to the headquarters immediately. As for what happened, I don''t know."


    When I arrived at the headquarters, I found that in addition to konev, military commissar kleinukov and chief of staff sokolovsky, even lunev was there.


    Konev saw me enter the room, nodded to me, and then politely said to everyone, "since everyone is here, let''s hurry up and have a meeting."


    Seeing us all sitting down at the conference table, he continued: "comrades commander, I just received a call from Moscow, asking me to hand over the command to my deputy, and then fly to Moscow overnight to attend the important military meeting tomorrow morning."


    When sokolovsky heard this, he turned to look at me, but said to konev, "Comrade marshal, comrade oshanina used to be the Acting Deputy Commander of the front army, and now he is the representative of the base camp. I think you should transfer the command of the army to her."


    What konev said surprised us all: "chief of staff, although Comrade oshanina''s identity is special, I can''t transfer the command to her for the time being."


    Sokolovsky asked somewhat unexpectedly, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know if this is your opinion or the opinion of the supreme command?"


    "The opinion of the supreme command, of course." When konev said this, he looked at me and said, "according to the order, comrade oshanina will arrive in Moscow on the day of June 5. If the command of the troops is handed over to her now, when she leaves, it will have to be handed over again. "


    After listening to konev''s explanation, sokolovsky finally understood what was going on. He nodded and said, "since that is the case, comrade marshal, let''s carry out the handover."


    While konev and sokolovsky were handing over, I asked lunev in a low voice, "Comrade lunev, have you received any orders from Moscow?"


    Lunev nodded and replied, "yes, just now marshal konev informed me that he wanted me to return to Moscow with me. He also said that this was an order given by Comrade belia himself."


    It was said that belia himself gave the order, and I suddenly had an idea: is it related to the search for karcharov''s remains that belia hastily recalled lunev at this time? Thinking of this, I went on to ask, "Comrade lunev, do you know what is important for belia to send you back to Moscow?"


    "I don''t know." Lunev quickly glanced at konev not far away and said in a low voice, "because the order to go to Moscow was conveyed by Marshal konev. In order to prevent leakage, even if there is something important, comrade Beria will not say it on the phone. "


    After konev finished his assignment, the military commissar kleinukov, who had always been very low-key, suddenly asked, "marshal, may I ask, is the military conference you are going to Moscow to attend related to our next offensive campaign?"


    "Although when Comrade vasilevsky called me, there was no specific meeting." Konev was very cautious when he spoke, and seemed to be trying to filter out what he could not say: "but I heard that the people who attended this meeting were all commanders from various front armies. It seems that our army will soon have a big action."


    With these words, konev stood up and shook hands with kleinukov and sokolovsky. At the same time, he told them, "while I''m not in Ukraine, you two will be fully responsible for the daily work of the front army."


    Then he came up to me, shook my hand and asked, "Rita, would you like to fly with us to Moscow?"


    According to the time, the emergency military meeting konev will attend must have something to do with the following battles of Belarus and Lvov sandomeri. However, at my present level, I am obviously not qualified to attend such a meeting. Therefore, I politely refused konev''s proposal: "no, marshal, I won''t go to Moscow with you for the time being. I''m going to shepetovka to see. When I walked into the headquarters tonight, I saw that there were only Lukin and bukov in it. Instead of looking at the map, they sat at the table and sighed, as if they had encountered something unsatisfactory.


    "Hello, comrades commander." I strode towards them as I spoke. When they heard someone talking, they turned to look at me at the same time. When they saw clearly that it was me, they both got up from their seats, stood at attention and raised their hands to salute me. After I sat down at the table carelessly, I looked up at the two people who were standing like poles and asked, "what are you two sighing about?" After they looked at each other, bukov stepped forward and said to me, "Comrade commander, please transfer me back to the original army. I''d rather continue to be the deputy head of the guard regiment than the deputy division commander." I shrunk my smile, looked at Lukin and asked, "and you, Colonel Lukin, think the same thing?"¡° Yes, comrade commander. " As one of my old subordinates, Lu Jin still used my previous position to call me: "please transfer me to the original army. Even if I am demoted, I don''t want to be the division commander."¡° Nonsense. It''s nonsense. " After listening to them, I slapped the table and stood up. After walking back and forth in the room, I stopped and said to them angrily, "do you think this is a restaurant? If you have a meal that suits your taste, stay and have it; Can you two just walk away without the right taste? Let me tell you, it is not my decision to appoint you two as the principal and deputy division commander, but the order given by the Supreme Commander himself. " Two people listen to me say so, on the face immediately peeped out frightened expression. I stopped in front of them, raised my chin, and asked, "tell me, what''s the matter with you two teachers trying to give up?" After I finished this sentence, I saw two people winking at each other, as if they wanted each other to explain the situation to me. I didn''t want to play riddles with them either. I pointed to Lukin and said, "Colonel Lukin, you''d better answer me. What''s the matter?" Lu Jin, who was named by me, gave me a bitter smile, and then complained to me: "Comrade commander, you don''t know that almost all the commanders and fighters of the new division were captured in the early stage of the war, so the offensive and defensive tactics they are familiar with are outdated. We''re teaching them new tactics, and we''re often challenged. "¡° What about the chief of staff? " It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn''t seen the shadow of bonejerin since I came in. I asked, "where has he gone?"¡° He must have gone somewhere to drink again. " Bukov reported to me: "as most of the commanders at all levels of the army have been with him in the prison camp, his prestige is far higher than ours. It is precisely because he has different views on the new tactics we are using today that the following commanders and fighters are affected to have a resistance to the tactics we teach them. "

 Chapter 1541

    After listening to bukov''s complaint and thinking of afuning''s expression, I guessed that there must be something I didn''t know, so I put on a face and said sternly: "to be more specific, it''s better to give a few more examples to illustrate how the commanders and fighters of the new division boycotted your new tactics?"


    After listening to what I said, they looked at each other again, and neither of them spoke, which seemed a little difficult to say. I was in a bit of a hurry. I pointed at Lukin with my hand and said in a tone of command, "Colonel Lukin, you are the division commander. It''s up to you."


    Lu Jin said with a bitter face: "Comrade commander, the commanders and fighters of the new division have undergone strict military training and have certain combat experience, so they only need simple weapon adaptation training. I saw that the performance of the commanders and fighters in the training ground was not bad, so I discussed with several Division leaders and decided to carry out an offensive and defensive exercise. "


    "Wait a minute, Colonel Lukin." When Lukin said this, I interrupted him and asked, "do you include Comrade bonejerin in the division leaders you mentioned?"


    "Yes, major bonejerin is also one of the division leaders." When Lukin said this, he looked at bukov beside him. "In addition to the two of us and major bonejerin, there is also commander Ivan, the political commissar of the division."


    After I found out who was at the meeting, I told him, "Captain, please go on."


    "According to the premonition of the exercise, major bonejerin commanded the second and third regiments and an artillery battalion to set up defense at the edge of the forest. The regiment, the tank battalion and the artillery battalion under the command of lieutenant colonel bukov and I were on the offensive side. " When introducing the exercise plan, Lu Jin also brought a map to me and put it on the table to explain it to me in detail for the sake of explanation: "major bonejerin laid minefields, drew barbed wire and dug several anti tank trenches in front of their defensive positions..."


    When I heard this, I couldn''t help asking strangely, "although the defensive position built by major bonejerin is nothing new, it''s also quite standard. Is there any problem in it?"


    Lu Jin shook his head and said with a wry smile: "before the exercise, I accompanied general afuning to see it. My comrades in the army commander also praised the fortifications they built."


    The more I heard it, the more confused I became. Since the fortifications were well built and afuning, the head of the first army, was full of praise after his inspection, what is the problem? But instead of interrupting Lukin''s story, I waited patiently for the answer.


    "... after the beginning of the exercise, after a short period of artillery preparation, the infantry, under the cover of the tank battalion, attacked the defensive positions on the edge of the forest. The tanks in front of them cleared the barbed wire that was in the way, then stopped in front of the anti tank trench, ready to use artillery fire to suppress the fire on the other side''s position. Who knows at this moment... "When Lu Jin said this, he smashed his fist on the table and said indignantly:" I didn''t expect that bonejerin ordered the troops to launch a counter charge. Under the cover of several machine guns, the soldiers in the fortification came like a tide, and the front servants rushed to our attacking troops after that... "


    "What was the final result of the exercise?" Although Lukin''s words had not been finished, I knew in my heart that the Garrison under the command of bonejerin had been defeated, and it was a terrible defeat. In order to confirm my guess, I asked in a deep voice, "what''s bonejerin''s attitude towards less proofreading such results?"


    "At the end of the exercise, one battalion of our offensive forces was lost, while the defensive forces under the command of bonejerin were judged to have been destroyed. The chief of staff must have been dissatisfied with the result and complained a lot. " Lukin didn''t say what he complained about, but I could guess what he said¡° In order to convince him, I proposed another drill. I led a regiment and artillery battalion to the town of podoria in the north, and he commanded two infantry regiments, artillery battalion and tank battalion to act as the attacking party. "


    When I heard this, I couldn''t help laughing. "Colonel Lukin, needless to say, you won again this time."


    "Yes, comrade commander, you guessed right." Lu Jin said with some pride: "when he was preparing for the artillery fire, I evacuated the commanders and fighters in the first trench to the second trench, leaving only a few observers. When the artillery fire was over and his troops charged towards our position under the cover of tanks, my troops re entered the first line of defense and continued to block. Since major bonejerin did not concentrate the tanks, but only stopped at a distance to provide artillery support for the attacking infantry, I promptly ordered the artillery battalion to destroy the tanks with artillery fire. After the tank is eliminated, the attacking infantry will be intercepted by artillery fire. After more than two hours of fierce fighting, we won the battle of defense again. "


    After listening to Lu Jin''s two exercises, I couldn''t help but fall into deep meditation. The reason why I would risk offending Stalin and try to protect him is that I once heard bagramian say that he was the chief of staff of Leningrad Military Region, led the Tactical Teaching and research section of volongzhi military academy, was familiar with the tactics of senior corps, was proficient in military academic issues, and enjoyed high prestige in Kiev special military region.


    But hearsay is hearsay. From Lu Jin''s story, I doubt the real ability of bonejerin. Even the troops of the two regiments can not command well, let alone the large regiment. I would like to hide bonejerin from now on, but on second thought, it''s not enough, because now his fate is closely related to my future. If he can''t make any achievements in the next war, it will have a negative impact on my future.


    Thinking of this, I stood up and asked Lu Jin, "where is major bonejerin now? Take me to him."


    "Comrade commander, I know." Before Lukin could answer, bukov next to him rushed to reply, "I know where he drinks. I''ll take you."


    Thinking that Lukin is a division commander, if you take me to find bonejerin, it will certainly delay his normal work. Since bukov volunteered, I pushed the boat along the river and said, "well, Colonel Lukin stays, commander bukov takes me to find major bonejerin."


    Seeing me coming out of the division headquarters, the guards and soldiers from the interior department immediately lined up to follow me. Seeing the neat line behind me, I stopped and turned to the company commander and said, "Comrade captain, the commander and I are going out to find someone. It''s not convenient for you to take so many soldiers behind me."


    The captain of the Ministry of interior straightened his back and said, "Comrade General, my task is to ensure your safety, so I will follow you wherever you go."


    "All right, comrade captain." I knew that if I didn''t take a few people with me, the company commander would not be at ease, so he said, "just take a few people with me, and the rest of the soldiers will find a place to settle down first."


    Bukov, who was next to him, laughed and waved to one of the officers. When the other side came, he gave a few orders in a low voice. Then he turned to the captain of the interior department and said, "Comrade captain, take some people with us. The rest of the comrades will follow this officer. He will arrange accommodation for your subordinates."


    Bukov and I, under the protection of several soldiers from the Ministry of interior, came to the door of a coffee shop. "Major bonejerin often drinks here," bukov said with a nod


    "Come on, let''s go in." With that, I pushed the door and went in. Bukov was the only one who followed me through the door. The interior captain and his men stayed outside as guards.


    Walking into the coffee shop, I quickly swept the indoor environment. There are more than ten square tables in the coffee shop, which are full of people. Except for a few in casual clothes, the rest are all soldiers.


    At the table nearest to me sat several officers of the rank of lieutenant. Seeing me and bukov standing at the door, they quickly got up and raised their hands to salute us. I didn''t return the gift. I just nodded at them, turned to bukov and asked him, "do you see anyone?"


    "Yes, please follow me." When bukov finished, he took me through many dining tables and walked directly to a corner.


    I saw a wooden table in the corner. A soldier was sitting with his back to us. Although I couldn''t see each other''s eyes, I also guessed that this was the bonejerin I was looking for.


    Bukov walked up behind the man and patted him gently on the shoulder. The man suddenly turned his head and saw clearly that it was bukov who patted him on the shoulder. Then he raised his glass dimly and said to bukov, "it''s comrade deputy. Come on, sit down. I''ll buy you a drink."


    Instead of paying attention to him, bukov pointed to the vacant seat opposite ponejerin and said to me, "Comrade commander, please take a seat." I nodded, walked around the table and sat down in that position.


    After seeing me sit down, bukov sat down in an empty seat next to bonejerin, one hand on his shoulder, the other hand grabbing his glass, and said, "Hey, chief of staff, don''t drink any more. Look who''s coming?"


    I carefully looked at bonejerin, who had met for a while, and found that he still looked good after shaving his long hair and putting on a proper military uniform. After bonejerin''s glass was snatched by bukov, he quickly reached for it, and at the same time, he blurted out: "give it back... Oh, give it back... To me..."


    I looked at the bottle of vodka on the table. There were still more than half of the bottles left in it. I lifted the bottle and lifted it over his head with the bottle mouth down. I poured the rest of the vodka on his head.


    Since I entered the coffee shop, I have been the focus of everyone''s attention. The noisy restaurant has become quiet, and people are talking in a low voice, afraid that it will affect me. At this moment, I poured most of the bottle of wine on bonejerin''s head, and the whole coffee shop became more silent.


    I put down the wine bottle, pointed to the soldiers at the table and said, "you guys, put him out and give him to the soldiers outside the door."


    At my command, the soldiers came running to me in a hula, and walked out with bonejerin in their arms. And the half drunk bonejerin didn''t know what happened at the moment, he was still struggling desperately: "let go of me, wine... Wine, give me... Wine..."


    After scanning the coffee shop, I asked bukov with a straight face: "Comrade commander, please explain to me why there are alcoholic drinks on sale here? Besides, as a division leader, bonejerin comes here every day to drink too much. You two are teachers and Deputy teachers. Why don''t you stop him? "


    Seeing that bukov was speechless, I didn''t want to blame him too much, but simply said: "this matter is up to now. From today on, all the officers and men of the new division are not allowed to drink, and if they find out, they will be severely punished." With that, I walked around the table, through the standing crowd, opened the wooden door of the coffee shop and went out.


    As soon as I went out, I saw two soldiers from the interior department standing next to the coffee shop with bonejerin on their legs. Seeing me coming out from the inside, the captain asked me, "Comrade General, what should we do with him?" I looked at the drunk bonejerin with disgust, and then said to the captain, "Comrade captain, find a way to sober him up and send him to the division headquarters."¡° I understand The captain promised, then turned and told his men: "you wake him up first, and then send him to the division headquarters." After receiving the captain''s order, a soldier turned and ran into the coffee shop. After a while, he came out with a bucket of water. The captain bent down, picked up the wooden spoon in the bucket, scooped up a ladle of water and poured it down from bonejerin''s head. Although it is June, the water is still piercing. A scoop of water poured down from his head, and Bonnie gerlington shivered as he went on. The captain looked up at him and said to himself, "it looks like it''s almost there." With that, he bent down to scoop up a scoop of water from the bucket and again poured a cool water into his heart¡° All right, comrade captain. " I thought that the water was too cold, and it might make Bonnie gerlin catch a cold. If he got pneumonia, it would be no good. So I stopped the captain who was preparing to scoop the third scoop of water in time, and said, "almost. Now take him back to the headquarters." The captain received my order and asked the soldiers to leave first with bonejerin, while I stayed at the door. When bukov came out, I went to the headquarters together. When bukov saw the dripping bonejerin in front of him, he asked me anxiously, "Comrade commander, if you sober him up like this, you won''t make him catch a cold, will you?" I shrugged, snorted and said, "I think it''s necessary to have a good talk with him, but only if he''s awake. When you get back to the headquarters later, you can find someone to change his clothes. Don''t catch a cold. If you get pneumonia, he will not have the chance to participate in many battles in the future. "

 Chapter 1542

    On returning to the headquarters, the captain of the interior department, who was at the door, respectfully reported to me, "Comrade General, we have sent the major back."


    I nodded at him and led bukov into the headquarters. But after entering the door, I found that there was only Lukin here. I couldn''t help asking curiously, "Colonel Lukin, where is bonejerin?"


    Lu Jin nuzui toward the next door of a closed room, said: "here, change clothes in that room."


    I sat down opposite to Lukin and asked, "do you know that bonejerin goes drinking every day?"


    Lukin nodded and answered truthfully, "yes, I know about it."


    "If you know, why don''t you stop him?" After listening to Lu Jin''s reply, I couldn''t help frowning and continued to ask discontentedly, "a division leader drinks too much in a coffee shop every day, so that the soldiers can see what''s right?" When I said this, I was still thinking that there were no bars in this era, and if there were any, Bonnie gerlin would not be in the wine jar every day.


    Bukov sat down next to Lukin and said to me with an embarrassed face: "Comrade commander, you don''t know something. It''s not that we don''t want to manage it, but that we can''t manage it. You know, he used to be a general after all... "


    As for the two people''s difficulties, my heart is very clear. It''s like Li Yunlong was demoted to battalion commander in "Liangjian", but who dares to call him as battalion commander? When he was commander of the group army, Lukin and bukov were just ordinary soldiers. Even though they are now in the position of Benedictine, they are awed and dare not criticize each other.


    However, for the sake of this army and its own future, I still have to say what I should say¡° What happened to the general? You know, he is only a major now. You two are both higher than him in military rank and position. Why don''t you dare to take care of him? "


    Seeing that they were all silent, I continued: "even if he had been a marshal, it was a thing before. Now he is just a subordinate of both of you. It''s natural for him to obey your orders. If you can''t do that, I''ll think about changing people. "


    "General o''shanina," just as Lukin opened his mouth and wanted to say something, a voice came from bonejerin: "it''s not my fault. It''s not my fault I turned to look in the direction of the sound and saw that the door of the room had opened at some unknown time, and Bonnie gerlin was standing by the door.


    He went to the empty seat beside me and sat down. He said to me sincerely, "it''s all my fault. It''s nothing to do with the two teachers and comrades. If you want to blame me, blame me alone."


    I stared at the sitting bonejerin, gave a wry smile, and then asked, "tell me, major bonejerin, why do you drink every day?"


    Bonejerin turned to look at Lukin and bukov sitting next to him, then said to me with a bitter face, "Comrade oshanina, this is the case. After I took the post of chief of staff, I felt that with my military theory and combat experience, not to mention commanding a division, there was no problem even commanding a group army. However, the contest with the two teachers made me realize that I was behind the times and that my tactics could not keep up with the situation. "


    After listening to what he said from the bottom of my heart, I suddenly realized a problem: bagramian respected him more and thought that he was a rare military genius. Maybe it was because the army had just finished the purge, and all the capable commanders had been purged. This was just to choose a higher one among the dwarfs. In fact, he was a middle level.


    But in front of him, I can''t hurt his face by saying such words. I can only say euphemistically: "major bonejerin, you are a veteran soldier. Before the outbreak of the patriotic war, you fought with different enemies in many areas and won the victory. However, at that time, the tactical level, mobility, weapons and equipment of the enemy and ourselves were basically equal. As long as our commanders and fighters showed bravery and fought and rushed in the battle, we could win. "


    At this point, I deliberately pause for a moment to see what bonejerin''s reaction is. Seeing that he frowned and nodded slightly in agreement with me, he continued: "the war of defending our country that we are fighting is a modern war. The technical and equipment levels of both sides have been greatly improved. If we continue to use the old tactics, we will certainly suffer losses. Therefore, in modern warfare, whoever has mastered advanced military thinking will have the initiative in modern warfare. "


    When I said that, seeing the puzzled look on bonejerin''s face, I intentionally asked, "do you know what mistakes you made in these two exercises?"


    "I don''t know how to use tanks properly." Without waiting for him to speak, I added: "let me give you an example. Apart from the stale and rigid tactical thinking of the commanders and the poor logistical support ability of the troops, the main reason for our defeat in the early stage of the war was the failure of anti tank operations. During the battle, our troops were defeated by German tanks, and then surrounded and annihilated by a large number of German infantry. Therefore, the success or failure of our anti tank operations has become the key to whether our army can block the German attack. "


    Seeing that bonejerin''s face turned purple after listening to me, I was deeply afraid of hurting his self-esteem, so I slowed down and said, "of course, it''s not all your fault. After all, you have been in the isolated prison camp for almost three years, and you don''t understand the changes outside. If you have been in the army, you may be able to make immortal contributions. "


    "How can we use tank troops in combat?" When he heard this, he finally looked up at me and wiped the cold sweat on his forehead. Then he asked sincerely, "Comrade General, can you tell me?"


    "According to our previous military theory, tanks are at least an auxiliary means to accompany infantry assault, which is obvious in the offensive exercises you command." Seeing that bonejerin had begun to ask me for advice with an open mind, I naturally knew everything I could say: "if tanks are used intensively and on a large scale in the main battle direction, they can easily pierce the enemy''s line of defense and open up channels for our successor forces."


    After listening to what I said, bonejerin stood up from his seat and said sincerely, "Comrade General, you are right. I have been staying in the prison camp these years, and I have always adhered to my old tactics. If I had not gone through the exercises a few days ago, I would have been asked to command the army again. It is estimated that I would have gone through the same mistakes of 41 years."


    Then he turned to Lukin and bukov and raised his hand to salute them. His action startled them, and they quickly raised their hands to their forehead and saluted him. He said humbly, "two comrades, although your time as a soldier is shorter and your qualifications are lower than mine, your command ability is much better than mine. You can rest assured that I will learn from you modestly and strive to improve my command ability. "


    When I saw the three shaking hands and making peace, the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. After chatting with them for a while, I went back to their dormitory to have a rest.


    I stayed in shepetovka for four days, and when I saw that the work of the new editor had entered the normal stage, I was relieved to take the train to Moscow.


    When I got to Moscow, I didn''t know where to report, so I called Antonov, deputy chief of general staff, in the station master''s room. Hearing my voice, he was surprised: "it''s you, comrade o''shanina. I was planning to call you later, but you called first. Where are you now? "


    "I''m at the railway station." After I finished this sentence, I realized that I had some language problems. I didn''t make clear where I was. Every city has a railway station. On the contrary, it''s easy to confuse Antonov by saying this, so I quickly added: "I just arrived at the railway station in Moscow not long ago."


    "That''s great. Just wait at the station and don''t leave. I''ll send someone to pick you up right away." Antonov then asked, "by the way, how many people did you bring with you?"


    "Only one company with the Ministry of interior when I left Moscow last time. I''m in the stationmaster''s office right now. "


    Twenty minutes later, a major, led by a railway worker, came to the station master''s office. After he saw me, he immediately walked two steps in front of me, raised his hand and politely said, "is that general o''shanina?"


    "Yes," although I guessed that he must have been sent by Antonov, I specially asked, "Comrade major, are you sent by general Antonov?"


    "Yes, he ordered me to meet you. The car is waiting outside, please


    The major and I got into the gas car waiting outside the door and asked, "where are we going?"


    "Comrade General, according to the order of the deputy chief of staff, I will send you directly to the Kremlin." After answering my question, the major said to the driver, "drive to the Kremlin."


    I wanted to have a chat with the major, but seeing that he was sitting in the co pilot''s seat, he was always sitting upright without squinting, so I had to give up the idea.


    Gascar stopped in the parking lot next to the Church of Saint Vassily. When I got off, I looked at the river and found that the four trucks full of soldiers from the Ministry of interior didn''t catch up. So I asked the major curiously, "Comrade major, where are the soldiers from the Ministry of interior?"


    The major looked in the direction of the Moscow River and said casually, "they have been sent back to rouyanka. Comrade general, it''s getting late. Please give it to me. "


    At the entrance of the slope, the major showed his identification to the sentry on duty, then pointed to me and said, "this is general o''shanina. I''ve been ordered to send him here."


    "Comrade major," a second officer on duty asked without expression, "I don''t know whose order you are on?"


    "General Antonov, deputy chief of general staff." The major replied.


    After hearing this, the second lieutenant did not speak. Instead, he went into a wooden guard box and called to check. After about two or three minutes, he came out of the guard box, looked me up and down, reached out to me and said politely, "Comrade General, please show me your identification."


    I quickly took out my military card and handed it to him. The second lieutenant took my certificate, looked through it for a while, and then set up the military certificate with the cover facing me. It seemed that he was checking whether I was the same person as the certificate photo. After checking, he gave me his certificate and made a gesture of "please come in, Comrade General."


    The major and I came to the entrance of the Kremlin, where the major''s papers were not working. He gave me a wry smile and said apologetically, "Comrade General, please wait a moment. I''ll call general Antonov in the duty room." After the major left, I walked back and forth at the entrance door to pass the boring waiting time. Just then, I vaguely heard someone saying my order, so I slowed down and listened carefully with my side ears. Only one man whispered, "Hey, are you talking about the general?"¡° That''s right, "another man replied in the same voice," some time ago, after she was driven out by the Supreme Commander himself, because she couldn''t figure it out, she ran to Dashiqiao and tried to drown herself in the river. Fortunately, she was held by the comrades who quietly followed her. Otherwise, we won''t see her here today. " When I heard the two people''s comments, I wanted to rush over and grab them. I yelled at them, "I didn''t want to jump into the river at all. I just want to see what''s in the river." As soon as I took two steps in the direction of the sound, I stopped. I thought that these two soldiers were too boring to be interested in gossip. Even if I went up to scold them, I couldn''t explain the misunderstanding clearly. I just let it go. After the major finished the call, he came out of the duty room and said politely, "Comrade General, I have spoken with the deputy chief of general staff. He will send someone to pick you up later." With that, he raised his hand to salute me and walked away with great strides. I waited at the door for a while before an officer trotted to the entrance. After he asked me who I was, he took me to the office of the general staff. When I walked into vasilevsky''s office, I found that in addition to vasilevsky and Antonov, there was another deputy chief of general staff Ivanov who had been suppressed. After I raised my hand to salute the three of them, I faced vasilevsky and asked, "marshal, I have been ordered to come. Do you have any instructions?"

 Chapter 1543

    Vasilevsky and his two deputies were standing at the long conference table in the middle of the room. When they saw me saluting him, they immediately welcomed me with a smile. At the same time, they friendly asked, "Rita, when did you come to Moscow?"


    In a panic, I reached out and took his hand. I respectfully replied, "I just arrived in Moscow, and then I called the deputy chief of general staff." At this point, my eyes instinctively glanced at Antonov. "He sent a car to pick me up."


    "Yes, comrade marshal." Antonov saw vasilevsky let go of my hand, quickly walked by and shook hands with me, at the same time explained: "I''m afraid that Comrade oshanina will rush to the staff headquarters, so she was sent here."


    After Antonov and Ivanov left, vasilevsky asked me to sit down in the chair beside the conference table and then asked, "Rita, do you know why we want you to go back to Moscow today?"


    As for his question, my heart says that I''m not a worm in your stomach. How can I guess your destination of calling me back to Moscow. So he shook his head and answered truthfully, "I''m sorry, marshal. I don''t know."


    Vasilevsky sat down in an empty chair next to me and said in a low voice, "I want you to come back to Moscow. That''s what the Supreme Commander meant."


    His words made my heart flustered. My heart said that Stalin would not be due to the matter of bonejerin. Would you like to settle with me in the future? To tell you the truth, I regret it now. I risked offending Stalin to support him without knowing the strength of the other party. If he can have a good performance in the next battle, it will be a happy ending for everyone; If I don''t perform well, I will not only settle the old and new accounts together, but also affect my future.


    Seeing that I was silent, vasilevsky took the initiative to explain: "this time you are called back from the front, it is related to the Allied forces opening up a second battlefield."


    Second battlefield, when I heard this word, I muttered in my heart: mind my own business! As soon as I finished this complaint in my heart, I couldn''t help thinking of a key question and shivering. Then I asked nervously, "Comrade marshal, today is June 5th?"


    "Yes, it''s June 5th." Vasilevsky said solemnly: "according to the information provided by the allies, they will continue to land and fight in June. The landing conditions were met on two consecutive days, June 5-7 and June 18-20. They finally chose the first day of the first group, June 5, which is today. "


    In my impression, the day when the Allies landed in Normandy was June 6, but at this moment, when I heard vasilevsky say so, I asked casually, "did the Allies try to land today?"


    "No Vasilevsky shook his head and said, "so far, we have not received any news from the allies. Not long ago, comrade Stalin specially asked about this matter.... "


    Before he had finished, the telephone rang in the office. I saw him stand up, go to the table, pick up the receiver and stick it to his ear. After listening for a moment, he suddenly stood at attention and straightened up. I knew that Stalin must have called.


    Although too far apart, I could not hear Stalin say anything in the microphone, but seeing that vassilevsky suddenly turned his eyes to me, I knew that the content of their conversation must have something to do with me. After a while, I heard vasilevsky, who was staring at me, say to the microphone, "yes, comrade Stalin, Rita is here. Do you want her to come to your office?"


    It may be that vassilevsky''s proposal was rejected by Stalin, and his face was embarrassed. He said respectfully to the microphone: "I see, comrade Stalin. I wish you good health


    Vasilevsky put down the phone and came to me. When he was two or three steps away from me, he stopped, put his hands behind him, and continued to say to me: "in the meeting of the commander of the front army held a few days ago, in order to synchronize our offensive campaign with the Allied action of opening up the second battlefield, we deliberately chose June 23 as the attack time. The purpose of this is to keep the German army''s heavy military groups in two unrelated battlefields, so as to ensure that we can win the final battle. "


    At this moment, I have finally found out the real reason why I was recalled to Moscow. When I was sent to the United States, I came into contact with some confidential contents of "Operation Overlord". Stalin may have called me back to Moscow to get a positive answer from me because he wanted to make himself feel at ease.


    I looked up at the restless vasilevsky and said to him with a smile, "Comrade marshal, according to my intuition, the second battlefield opened up by the Allied forces is a matter of certainty. A Bolshevik Europe is not in their interests, so they must send troops to fight with us for the interests of European countries. "


    "Is that so?" Judging from vassilevsky''s expression, I think he agrees with me, but he is still a little worried about gain and loss: "if the Allied forces have not taken action on the next landing day, it will not be until next year?"


    Although I remember the Normandy landing very clearly, in front of vasilevsky, I can only continue to be confused: "marshal, I don''t think so. What the allies need now is time. If we do not open up the second battlefield in time, our troops will occupy many countries in Europe in the next offensive campaign. As long as their thinking is normal, we will never allow such a clear appearance. "


    "Well, Rita, that''s all for today." Vasilevsky waved his hand to me and said with some frustration, "Comrade Stalin will meet you in person at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Go back and have a rest first." With that, he went to his desk and rang the bell with his hand.


    The closed door was opened, and an officer appeared at the door, standing silently, patiently waiting for vasilevsky to give orders.


    Vasilevsky pointed at me and told the officer, "send general oshanina to rest."


    The officer didn''t speak, just nodded, then turned his eyes on me, waiting for me to respond. I raised my hand and saluted vasilevsky before turning to the officer at the door.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Although vasilevsky said that Stalin would meet me at ten in the morning, I was awakened by a quick knock on the door before eight. I opened the door and saw a famous Lieutenant standing outside. Seeing me at the door, he said without expression, "Comrade General, the chief of general staff asked me to invite you to his office."


    "Comrade lieutenant, can you tell me something?"


    The lieutenant shook his head and replied, "I''m sorry, Comrade General. I''ve just been ordered to ask you to see the marshal. As for what happened, I don''t know."


    "All right, comrade lieutenant, I''ll clean up and be right there."


    The lieutenant listened to me, raised his hand to salute, came back, turned around and walked away.


    After a brief wash, I rushed to vassilevsky''s office. As soon as I came in, I saw vasilevsky sitting behind his desk, drinking coffee leisurely. I went forward to salute him and asked curiously, "marshal, you look radiant today. Do you have any good news?"


    "Yes, it''s good news." Vasilevsky raised his hand to an empty chair beside me and motioned me to sit down. When I sat down, he continued, "we received a recent report from the allies that their troops had launched a landing operation in Normandy."


    "The offensive battle to open up the second battlefield has begun?" With these words, I recalled in my mind the time when the Allies stormed the beach. I also raised my hand and looked at my watch. I found that it was just 8:30. In my memory, the earliest beach where the Allies landed was Utah Beach at 6:30; The latest is Juno Beach, at eight o''clock. According to French time two hours later than Moscow time, the Allied vanguard had just set foot on Utah beach.


    I saw vasilevsky nodding, gave me a positive answer, and then tentatively asked, "has the Allied forces landed successfully?"


    "Not yet, but the Allies really intend to open up a second battlefield along the coast of France this time." Vasilevsky said excitedly: "according to the report of the Allied forces, the firepower preparation for landing operation started at midnight on June 5, and the first batch of about 1000 heavy bombers dropped about 5000 tons to the German communication hub, command center, coastal artillery position and other targets. The second batch of about 1600 medium bombers dropped about 4200 tons of bombs on the German defensive positions at 5:00 on June 6. In these two aerial firepower preparations, 2775 sorties were dispatched, with 9276 tons of bombs dropped, with an average of 96 tons per kilometer on the landing front.


    Now their third batch of planes have been launched, almost all of them are fighters. Their main task is to directly cover the landing craft with low altitude strafing to seize the beach. "


    When I heard what vasilevsky said, the stone hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground. I thought that my arrival would lead to the deviation of this important historical event. I didn''t expect that everything would develop according to the fixed historical track in the end. After taking a deep breath, I carefully asked vasilevsky, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know when we can meet Comrade Stalin?"


    "No hurry, no hurry." Vasilevsky raised his hand, looked at his watch, and said in a relaxed tone: "Comrade Stalin is informing the comrades of the Politburo about the opening up of the second battlefield by the Allied forces. Let''s go after the meeting."


    Now that he knew that the Allied forces had taken action, vasilevsky felt reassured and relaxed. He even briefed me on the contents of the military conference attended by the commander of the front army a few days ago, and finally said: "as long as the Allied forces launch attacks on the French coast, a large number of German forces can be contained, They had to fight on both fronts at the same time. It''s very good for us, because when we push to Berlin, the Germans simply can''t afford to strengthen the area. "


    Apart from the topic of the Allied forces opening up the second battlefield, we also talked about a lot of other topics, including the current situation in Ukraine and the morale of the front forces. It was not until Antonov''s rush in that we interrupted my conversation.


    "Comrade marshal, this is a message from the Allied forces." After handing the folder to vasilevsky, Antonov nodded at me and shook hands politely. After reading the contents of the document in a hurry, vasilevsky put it on his desk. Then he picked up the phone, dialed a number and said to the microphone, "Comrade bosklebshev, is the meeting over?" OK, I see. I''ll go right away. " After he put down the phone, he waved his head at me and said with a smile, "come on, Rita, let''s go to Comrade Stalin''s office now. He''s waiting for us there." After taking me two steps, Antonov stopped when he saw that he was still standing in the same place. "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, what are you still doing? Come with me." The three of us came to Stalin''s office. Stalin, who was pacing the room, immediately came up and asked vasilevsky, "Comrade vasilevsky, what''s the news from the Allied forces?"¡° Yes, comrade Stalin. " While handing Stalin the folder under his arm, vasilevsky said with a smile: "according to the report of the Allied forces, their troops have successfully landed on Utah Beach and established a beachhead position." After reading the telegram quickly, Stalin immediately turned and walked to the conference table next to him. Standing at the table, he leaned down to look at the map spread out on it, looking for something on the map with the hand holding the cigarette end. I followed vasilevsky and the two of them to see the map on the table. It turned out that it was a map of France, and the beaches where the Allies were about to land were clearly marked. Seeing Stalin and them all gathered around the map and their three heads were almost squeezed together, I couldn''t help laughing. I think Roosevelt is not as nervous as them at the moment. The first one who straightened up was Stalin. He held his pipe in his mouth again and asked slowly, "Comrade vasilevsky, do you think the allies can stand firm on the beach?"¡° It''s hard to say. " When vasilevsky heard Stalin''s question, he quickly straightened up, frowned and replied: "although the Allied forces are progressing smoothly, if they are attacked by German tanks, they may be driven out of the sea."¡° I agree with the chief of the general staff. " Antonov also stood up, facing Stalin, said: "although the allies have established a beachhead, because they lack heavy weapons, once they are attacked by the German armored forces, they may lose the beachhead which they won at great sacrifice." Stalin nodded to the two chief and deputy chief of general staff. As he was about to turn around and walk back to his desk to pick up cigarettes, he suddenly saw me standing upright. He could not help but stop and asked me, "Rita, do you have any different opinions on this matter?" I glanced at the two chief of staff next to me from the corner of my eye, and then answered decisively, "yes, comrade Stalin, I can''t agree with the views of the two chief of staff!"

 Chapter 1544

    Stalin did not look surprised when he heard what I said. Instead, he continued to walk towards his desk, picked up a packet of cigarettes on it, took out two, crushed them with his fingers, and filled them into his pipe. After lighting my pipe and taking a slow breath, I slowly asked, "what do you think?"


    "I think the two chief of general staff''s worries are superfluous," I quickly took a step forward, and then stood at attention again: "in the face of the Allied landing operation, the German army will definitely not join the armored forces."


    "Why, give me your reasons." On hearing my reply, Stalin ignored the surprised eyes of vasilevsky and Antonov, and asked me curiously, "why don''t the German troops use armored forces against the landing allies?"


    "The reason is very simple. Before landing, the Allies carried out a series of deceptive actions against the German army, which made the German army firmly believe that the landing site of the allies would be Calais, not Normandy. In this way, even if the Allies successfully set up a landing site on the beach, the German army would consider it a feint and still focus their main attention on Calais


    "Rita''s statement is very novel," Stalin said after listening, facing vasilevsky, they asked: "what do you think?"


    Antonov looked at vasilevsky, nodded slightly, then took a step forward, and then said aloud, "Comrade Stalin, I don''t think oshanina''s analysis is in line with the actual situation. The Germans are not stupid. When they see the Allied forces landing in Normandy with hundreds of thousands or even millions of troops, will they think that Calais is the main landing point of the Allied forces? "


    After listening to Antonov''s words, Stalin, with his pipe in his mouth, did not speak. Instead, he began to pace slowly, almost step by step, stopping more time than walking. I stood in the same place at a loss, staring at Stalin, who was in deep thought. I felt that he was engaged in a fierce ideological struggle at the moment: should he trust me or trust Antonov?


    He went to his desk, stopped, took his pipe out of his mouth, suddenly turned and asked, "Rita, do you really think the Allied landing will not be attacked by the German armored forces?"


    In my memory, only the German 21st armored division organized the counterattack on d day, but the division commander, general fishdinger, went to Paris to have fun, and at the same time brought a group of the most capable combat officers. The chief of staff had no right to mobilize his troops. He could only send his only 24 No. 4 tanks to attack the British Army east of Caen. However, due to lack of preparation and the cooperation of infantry, the hasty attack was easily repulsed by the British army.


    In the afternoon of the same day, fishdinger rushed back to the division headquarters and assembled his troops to launch an attack on Luk town between Juno Beach and Sword Beach. While the 21st Armored Division was on the March, 500 allied transport planes were flying overhead to transport the follow-up troops and supplies for the British 6th airborne division. Fishdinger mistakenly thought that the Allied paratroopers were ready to attack their own parts back and forth, so he panicked, did not fight, and hurried back after giving up the counterattack. In addition, the German army had no more counterattack on d day.


    It is precisely because I know this period of history that after hearing Stalin''s question, I answered without hesitation: "Comrade Stalin, according to my judgment, even if the German troops put in armored forces to carry out counterattack, the number of tanks they can use will not be too many. The landing allies are enough to wipe them out, so you can rest assured of that. "


    "Comrade o''shanina, is this too illogical?" Vasilevsky said to me solemnly, "according to our intelligence, the German army has assembled at least five armored divisions in Normandy. Even if only one armored division is put into battle, it is enough to drive all the landing allies to the sea."


    I really don''t know how to defend the query of vassilevsky. I can''t tell them that I am from the future. The ongoing Normandy landing is just a history of dust settling for me, right? Just as I frowned and pondered, there was a knock at the door.


    All the attention in the room was attracted by the knock on the door. As soon as the door opened, bosklebshev appeared at the door. Stalin looked at his secretary and asked, "what''s the matter, comrade bosklebshev?"


    "Report to Comrade Stalin, Zhukov is here!" replied bosklebshev, standing at the door


    "Ask him in!" Stalin, after hearing the report, gave a brief order.


    Bosklebshev nodded, went to the door, made a gesture of invitation to the room, and sideways to let Zhukov in.


    Zhukov, who was not wearing a military cap, walked up to Stalin in high spirits. When he stopped and stood upright in front of Stalin, he said in a slightly trembling voice: "Comrade Stalin, I want to tell you a good news."


    "Good news?" When Stalin heard this, he raised his eyebrows and asked curiously, "Comrade Zhukov, I don''t know what kind of exciting news you have sent us?"


    "According to the information I received, the Allies landed in Normandy." When Zhukov opened his mouth, he said that the Allies had opened up a second battlefield. "At present, they have successfully landed on Utah Beach, Sword Beach, Juno Beach, golden beach and Omaha Beach, and established landing sites. At present, fierce fighting is in progress."


    "Comrade Zhukov, we already know what you have learned." After saying this, Zhukov turned to look at some of us, and then added, "we are discussing whether the German troops will drive all the landing allies into the sea if they put in armored forces to carry out counterattack at this time."


    When Zhukov heard Stalin say this, he looked at us unexpectedly and asked curiously, "what''s the result of your discussion?"


    Stalin pointed to Hua silevsky and said: "the two chief of general staff agree that although the Allied forces have a temporary advantage, once the German armored forces fight back, all the landing allied forces will be driven to the sea. And Rita When he talked about me, he couldn''t help smiling. "He thought that the German army could not put in a lot of armored forces to carry out the counterattack. The allies could smash the German counterattack and further expand the results."


    After glancing at the map on the table, Zhukov pointed to it with his hand: "Comrade Stalin, that''s the topographic map of the coast of France. Please allow me to introduce the situation to you."


    When I saw Zhukov stride to the table and take a look at the map, a strange idea suddenly appeared in my mind. Didn''t Zhukov have the meeting that Stalin, the chief of staff, held not long ago?


    Seeing Stalin and vasilevsky gathered around the conference table one after another, I hastened to stand behind Zhukov and looked at the map on the table to hear how Zhukov analyzed the form.


    "Comrade Stalin, according to the reports of the Allied forces and our own reconnaissance intelligence," Zhukov introduced the situation to Stalin without expression: "in June 1944, Germany''s military deployment was 179 divisions and 5 brigades in the Soviet Union, 13 divisions in Norway and Sweden in northern Europe, 21 divisions in Italy, 25 divisions in Yugoslavia, 12 divisions in Greece and 4 divisions in Hungary. There are 60 divisions in France, Belgium and the Netherlands on the Atlantic coast, accounting for about 18% of their total forces. Among these 60 divisions, 23 are deployed in Calais, and only 6 divisions and 3 regiments are deployed in Normandy where the Allied forces landed, accounting for about 2% of their total forces. "


    After introducing the German forces, Zhukov straightened up and continued: "Comrade Stalin, we can analyze from these intelligence that the German defense in Normandy is weak. Facing the hundreds of thousands of troops invested by the Allied forces, there is no fighting back force. I believe that in less than two days, the allies will be able to gain a firm foothold at the landing point and develop in depth to the German defense. "


    Although Zhukov and Stalin often fight for certain things, I know in my heart that Zhukov is the person he trusts most in military affairs. In the same way, no matter what I or vasilevsky said, he would have to go through repeated consideration and weighing, and what Zhukov said would make him believe it.


    This time is no exception. As soon as Zhukov''s words were finished, Stalin took off his pipe in his mouth and nodded his head, saying with approval: "yes, judging from the distribution of German forces we know, Normandy is the weakest place for them to defend and the easiest place for them to stand firm after the Allied attacks. I believe it won''t be long before we get good news. "


    When Stalin finished his speech, he suddenly looked at me and said, "Rita, next I want to talk about the use of you. Don''t know what you think? "


    "Comrade Stalin," although Stalin asked me to make a statement, I understood very well that this was just his attitude, and it did not mean that he really wanted me to express his true views. So he quickly and wisely said, "I firmly obey your instructions, and I will go wherever you arrange me?"


    "Comrade Antonov," when Stalin saw that I had given him the right to choose, he turned to Antonov and asked, "what position do you think we should give Rita?"


    Antonov looked at me for a moment, and then replied, "Comrade Stalin, general oshanina used to be the commander of the sixth group army of the guards. Now her troops are in Belarus. I suggest that she be sent to rokosovsky to take part in the upcoming battle of Belarus."


    "No way," as soon as Antonov''s words were finished, Zhukov immediately objected: "Rita''s guards of the sixth group army, now under the command of the second front army of Belarus, even if she went to rokosovsky, she was just a bare commander. I think we should send her to Ukraine."


    Two powerful subordinates put forward two different plans, which made Stalin a bit embarrassed. He thought for a moment, and then for vasilevsky, who had never made a statement: "what''s your opinion, comrade vasilevsky?"


    Vasilevsky looked at Antonov beside him, and then at Zhukov standing in front of Stalin. After a short hesitation, he said decisively, "Comrade Stalin, I think this matter should be decided by you."


    On how to use me, after a big circle, the final choice returned to Stalin''s hands. He gave a silent smile, saw his pipe in his mouth, took a sip, and said, "since Comrade Zhukov thinks Rita should go to Ukraine, let her go back to the first front army of Ukraine. But this time, she no longer went as a representative of the base camp, but as a deputy commander of the front army. "


    "Comrade Antonov, you will call konev later and announce my decision to him." After giving orders to Antonov, Stalin said to me, "Rita, the main reason why I sent you back to Ukraine is that nearly 100000 prisoners of war rescued this time were incorporated into our army, especially the 18th guards. When you go back to Ukraine, you keep an eye on this army. If something goes wrong, I can''t spare you. " Perhaps seeing the embarrassed expression on my face, vasilevsky came out to help me out: "Rita, comrade Stalin sent you to Ukraine, which is his trust in you. If you think about it, with our continuous victory, more and more prisoners of war of our army will be rescued from the German prison camp in the future. If these prisoners of war who have been incorporated into the army in Ukraine can perform well, then we will be of great help to the next work of prisoner of war reorganization. " When I heard that, I instinctively turned to see Stalin to see his reaction. But now Stalin, with his pipe in one hand and the back of one hand behind him, began to pace the room again. Because his back was facing me, I couldn''t see the expression on his face. But on second thought, since Stalin did not immediately stop wassilevsky''s statement, it proved that he maintained an attitude of no support and no objection to the work of reorganizing prisoners of war. With this understanding, I quickly stood at attention in the same place. Facing Stalin''s back, I said, "Comrade Stalin, please rest assured that I will live up to your expectations." Stalin was satisfied with what I said. He turned to me, put his hand on my shoulder, and said kindly, "I''m sure you''ll live up to my trust, Rita." With that, he raised his hand and looked at his watch, adding, "it''s getting late. You stay with us for lunch."

 Chapter 1545

    Stalin went to the conference table and sat down in his usual position, while Zhukov and vasilevsky sat down on his right side in turn. He raised his left hand, patted the empty seat beside him, and said to me with a smile, "Rita, you can sit here."


    I turned around and looked at Antonov, who had not yet sat down. My heart said that the person sitting next to Stalin should be the deputy chief of general staff. But Antonov saw that I was looking at him, but he made a gesture of invitation as usual, indicating that I would sit first.


    After Antonov sat down in the vacant seat on my left, the door was opened silently. Five young waitresses came in from the open door with plates. They neatly placed the plates, napkins and forks in front of us.


    I could see clearly that on the plate in front of me was Georgia''s mixed fried rice covered with shredded cucumber, radish and cabbage, and a vegetable salad mixed with mayonnaise and tomato sauce. Maybe it''s because I''m worried that the weight is not enough. On the napkin beside the plate, there are several pieces of cut black bread.


    As soon as the five waitresses left, they walked into a waitress with a tray. Her tray was no longer filled with food, but a tall white crystal bottle with a thin neck, filled with transparent liquid. The waiter gently put the crystal bottle in Stalin''s hand, and then put the five cups in the tray in front of the five of us.


    "I think everyone is hungry. Let''s start eating now." Stalin and other waitresses left, first picked up the knife and fork on the table, said to us: "I wish you a good appetite!"


    Zhukov heard Stalin say so, they also picked up the knife and fork on the table, before they began to eat, they all looked at Stalin and said: "I wish you a good appetite!" With that, the three talents began to eat fried rice in front of them.


    I also like to Stalin said: "I wish you a good appetite!" Just buried his head to eat.


    Since this fried rice is Georgia fried rice, it naturally has the characteristics of Georgia food, with sour, sweet and spicy flavors. Acid is the material for vegetable salad, which is soaked in brine, similar to Sichuan pickles; Sweet is the taste of mayonnaise; It''s spicy because there are onions in the ketchup.


    I remember before crossing, I like to eat this kind of Georgia''s mixed fried rice. I have to go to the restaurant every three to five to have a plate. I tried to taste it. I think the fried rice made by the imperial chefs in the Kremlin can at least throw off those chefs in the market for ten blocks.


    When I was eating, I saw from the corner of my eye that Stalin put down his knife and fork, picked up the crystal bottle, opened the lid and poured most of it into his glass. Then he filled the cups in front of Zhukov and vasilevsky. I thought Zhukov would take the initiative to take the crystal bottle and fill their own glasses. I didn''t expect that they would all sit in their seats and wait for Stalin to fill their glasses with a polite thanks.


    "Would you like some, Rita?" After filling Zhukov with them, Stalin asked me again, holding up the crystal bottle.


    I don''t dare like Zhukov. They sit in their original position and don''t move. They quickly stand up, put their hands and refuse to say, "sorry, comrade Stalin, I don''t drink."


    Stalin chuckled and poured the liquid in the crystal bottle into my cup in front of me. As he continued to pour into Antonov''s glass, Antonov, like me, stood up from his seat and expressed his thanks to Stalin.


    I remember that the Georgians were extremely hospitable at the table and formed a unique table culture. When friends get together for dinner or dinner, they are all presided over by "wine commander", which is called "tamada" in geyu¡° "Wine commander" is usually performed by older or senior men who are good at wine. The main theme of toast is to wish friendship, peace, motherland, ancestors, future generations, friendship, health, women and success. There are more than 30 toasts. Guests who wish to toast at the same table must first obtain the approval of the "wine commander", and the toast should not be repeated with the previous or other people. When a woman is respected, she does not need to stand up or drink.


    Among us, Stalin is the only one who is most suitable to be the "wine commander". Seeing that he raised the cup, Zhukov and others raised the cup one after another. In this case, even if there is a tradition that women can not drink, even if no matter how I can not drink, I can only lift the glass in a manner.


    Only Stalin said aloud, "may we win!" With that, he took the cup to his mouth and drank it.


    Zhukov and they also said: "I wish you victory!" I also drank it.


    At the moment, I can''t ride a tiger. I can only learn from them and say it aloud. Then I put the cup close to my mouth and pour it into my mouth with my eyes closed. As soon as I entered the liquid, I was surprised to find that there was no pungent wine at all, but it was the same as boiled water. I thought I had a delusion. After a pause, I took another sip of the liquid in the glass and found that Stalin didn''t pour US vodka at all, but boiled water.


    Seeing my surprised face, Stalin winked at me and asked cunningly, "how''s it going, Rita? Are you used to the taste?"


    When I heard Stalin''s question, I immediately answered like a chicken pecking rice: "I''m used to drinking, I''m used to drinking!" Stalin gave me a faint smile and then asked me, "Rita, do you think our campaign in Belarus can achieve the desired results?"¡° Comrade Stalin, "I put down my fork, wiped my mouth with a napkin, stood up and answered," I don''t think the enemy would think that our next attack direction would be Belarus. I believe this campaign will surely achieve great results. However, in order to be on the safe side, we should still adopt some deceptive tactics before the campaign, because the German army misjudged our direction of action. "¡° Tell me what you think. " Stalin asked curiously¡° Comrade Stalin, when I was the commander of the sixth group army of the guards, I spent some time in Belarus, and I knew something about the terrain here. There are a lot of swamps, forests and lakes here, which is not conducive to our army''s large-scale use of tank troops. Therefore, I suggest that only a small number of tank troops should be used to cooperate with the attack. " I said with confidence, "but leave the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th tank group army of the right wing of the first front army of Ukraine in place and do not allow them to move out for the time being. In this way, we will be able to confuse the enemy who knows the position of our tank army. As long as they see no signs of movement of these tank troops, they will think that our main attack direction is not in Belarus, but in Ukraine. " After listening to me, Stalin asked unexpectedly, "Rita, did you ever meet Zhukov before you came to me?" I took a look at Zhukov, who was sitting opposite me. Then I shook my head and answered blankly, "no, comrade Stalin. Since I arrived in Moscow, I have only seen two chief of general staff." Stalin looked at me and asked curiously, "have they ever told you about the meeting of the commander of the front army?"¡° No I answered decisively¡° Since you have not met Zhukov, and have not heard the contents of the meeting mentioned by the two chief of general staff. " Stalin, holding his pipe on the table in his mouth again, asked curiously, "how can you say exactly the same thing that Comrade Zhukov said at the meeting?"¡° Ah, what I just said is the same as what Marshal Zhukov said? " Naturally, it is impossible for me to tell Stalin that what I just said was what I saw in later movies. Instead, I pretended to be surprised and said, "did the marshal make the same judgment as me?" Zhukov did not speak, just nodded with a smile, indicating that he recognized what I said¡° Tell me about it, Rita Stalin asked curiously, "how can you have such an idea?" I thought about it, and then said vaguely, "actually, I thought about it when I saw the deceptive tactics of the Allies against the Germans. Since the allies can use false intelligence to make the German army put heavy troops in the wrong position, we can also use the same method to make the enemy confused about our real main attack direction. "¡° You have a point, Rita Stalin was very similar to me. He said with approval, "we can do what the allies can do, and we should do better than them." After smoking a cigarette, he continued: "after you return to Ukraine this time, you should cooperate with konev and make some big noise in Ukraine, so that the enemy will think that our main attack direction is in Ukraine, so that they will send troops to Belarus."¡° I see, comrade Stalin. " As for Stalin''s suggestion, I said with deep understanding: "at the beginning, our actions in Ukraine may only be to attract the attention of the Germans, but when the battle of Belarus starts, maybe we will turn from the present defense to the attack." When I was about to ask Stalin when he was going to send me back to Ukraine, he said, "you just arrived in Moscow today. Take a rest for a few days. It''s not too late to return to Ukraine after the Allied landing in Normandy." As soon as he had finished speaking, the door was pushed open again, and bosklebshev walked quickly into the room, came to Stalin, bent down and whispered something in his ear. I was close to Stalin, and the room was very quiet, so I could clearly hear Persian klebshev say: "Comrade Stalin, according to the latest situation, the Allied forces are going well on Utah Beach, they have occupied the coastal road, and they have successfully joined up with the airborne troops that parachuted behind the enemy..."

 Chapter 1546

    On hearing the unexpected good news, Stalin showed a smile on his face. He waved his fist holding his pipe and said in a slightly hoarse voice: "this is really exciting good news. Well, comrade Zhukov, should we take some action to cooperate with our allies? "


    "Comrade Stalin." Zhukov got up from his seat, looked at Stalin with a standing posture and asked, "I don''t know what measures we should take to cooperate with the Allied forces?"


    Stalin was silent for a moment, and solemnly asked, "can we advance the offensive campaign code named bagration''ang ''


    Zhukov didn''t give an immediate reply to Stalin''s proposal. Vasilevsky, who was sitting on his right, stood up and said solemnly, "Comrade Stalin, the reason why we chose June 23 as the time of attack is because we want to serve the Belarusian front army who participated in the attack, And time for the Baltic front to replenish its troops and supplies. Two days ago, at the meeting, we just gave the commanders of all front forces the time to attack. If we adjust it without authorization, I''m afraid there will be unnecessary confusion. "


    Zhukov, who has been looking at Stalin, added after vasilevsky said: "yes, comrade Stalin, the number of people involved in this kind of offensive campaign on the scale of the front army exceeds one million. We need to leave enough time for the troops to prepare for the attack."


    Seeing that Zhukov and vasilevsky both raised objections to their own opinions, Stalin could not help showing a disappointed expression on his face. He held his pipe in his mouth and said vaguely: "so, the offensive campaign in Belarus can not be carried out ahead?"


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." Zhukov and vasilevsky replied.


    "Comrade Stalin, please allow me to express my views." Antonov also reluctantly stood up, looked at Stalin, said: "I think although the offensive campaign in Belarus can not be advanced, then we can consider Ukraine."


    It seems that Antonov knew Stalin''s character like the back of his hand. As soon as his words were uttered, he immediately aroused Stalin''s great interest: "Comrade Antonov, please tell me what you think."


    "According to the plan of the general staff, the attack in Ukraine will be carried out within two months after the start of operation bagration''ang." Antonov looked at Stalin and said confidently: "but from the current situation, we can advance the attack time."


    "How long do you think it can be advanced?" Perhaps the news of the successful landing of the allies in Normandy stimulated Stalin, who seemed a little impatient: "I think the offensive campaign in Ukraine should not be later than August."


    "Don''t worry, comrade Stalin." Antonov assured Stalin with a smile: "I have just calculated that marshal konev''s first front army of Ukraine should be ready for all battles by the middle of July."


    "What do you two think?" After listening to Antonov''s words, Stalin looked at Zhukov and asked them, "do you agree with Comrade Antonov''s proposal?"


    Zhukov frowned and pondered for a while, then nodded decisively and said with some difficulty, "Comrade Stalin, I think it is perfectly possible to launch an offensive campaign in Ukraine in mid July."


    When several people were discussing the offensive campaign to be participated by millions of people, I felt that I couldn''t get in at all, so I had to keep silent and quietly wipe out the fried rice on the plate in front of me.


    "Well, comrade Antonov." Stalin said very reasonably: "let''s change the attack time in Ukraine to mid July. In a moment, you will prepare such an order to convey to Comrade konev the adjustment of combat time. "


    "Comrade Stalin, I want to ask, is this information sent by telegram or by special person?" Antonov asked


    "In a few days, Rita will go back to the first front army of Ukraine. I think she can take this order back." When Stalin finished, he raised his hands and pressed them down. Then he said politely, "OK, you all sit down. Let''s continue to eat."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    I thought that Stalin would order me to return to Ukraine when I stayed in Moscow for at most one day. However, he ignored me for several days after he asked boskhlebeshev to put me in a hotel on balzart street.


    It wasn''t until June 14 that bosklebshev called me and said that the Supreme Commander himself wanted to see me and let me go to the Kremlin immediately.


    Maybe boskhlebeshev said hello. As soon as I arrived at Vasili slope, an officer came out to greet me and accompanied me to Stalin''s office.


    Percklebshev saw me at the door, quickly got up from his seat, walked around the table, shook hands with me, and politely said, "Comrade oshanina, you are here. The Supreme Commander himself is waiting for you. Please come in quickly. "


    I waited for bosklebshev to open the door and stride into Stalin''s office. When I came in, I saw Stalin standing in front of the map on the wall like a sculpture. He quickly walked behind him, raised his hand and saluted. The report said: "Comrade Stalin, general oshanina, deputy commander of the first front army of Ukraine, has been ordered to report to you. I''m at your command, please give me directions


    "Here you are, Rita!" Stalin turned, looked at me and said with a smile, "are you suffocating in the hotel these days?"


    I stayed in a hotel these days. Although no one restricted my movement, I was afraid that Stalin would send someone to call me at any time, so I never dared to leave. At the moment, he asked with a bitter smile: "Comrade Stalin, I want to ask, when can I go back to Ukraine?"


    "Soon, in these days." After Stalin said this, he called me to the conference table, pointed to the map on it and said to me, "I think you must be anxious to know the situation in Normandy?"


    Although I knew that the Allied forces had long established themselves on several beaches in Normandy and pushed deep into France, I had to pretend that I knew nothing in front of Stalin. I nodded my head and said, "because we don''t see a report on Normandy in our newspapers, I''m forced to know how the allies are doing now."


    Stalin pointed to the map and introduced the situation of Normandy to me with great interest: "according to the report of the allies, on the second day of the landing of the allies, Hitler gave Rommel the command of the five armored divisions in the Western Line armored cluster to repel the allies who landed in Normandy.


    Rommel wanted to use this elite force to carry out a large-scale counterattack. The primary goal of the counterattack was to prevent the Allied forces from connecting the five landing beaches into a complete landing field, and then to ensure Caen and Cherbourg. Unfortunately, on the way from a distance of 100 km to 200 km, his armored forces were constantly attacked by the Allied forces, so they could not fight as an organic unit. Even if a few troops arrived at the beach, they were also heavily injured and killed by the artillery fire of the Allied warships. In this way, the whole day of June 7, under the overwhelming firepower of the Allied Navy and air force, the German army was unable to launch a decisive large-scale counterattack. "


    In order not to let Stalin sing a monologue by himself, when he said this, I specially echoed: "the Allied forces are really wonderful, they have not even the slightest fight back."


    With a smile on his face, Stalin continued to say: "when the Allied forces landed on the beach and became a landing ground for consolidating unity, they developed inland as planned. The first group army of the U.S. army went to seize Cherbourg, while the second group army of the British Army stormed Caen, creating the illusion of taking Paris as a feint attack.


    Although the German army failed in the initial counterattack, it was not willing to let the Allied forces develop. Rommel adjusted the deployment in time, mobilized infantry to defend Caen to the front line of comon, and drew out armored forces to take continuous counterattack measures to stop the US Army''s attack. But before Rommel''s new deployment was completed, the British launched a preemptive offensive, disrupted the German plan, and effectively guaranteed the US attack on Cherbourg. "


    When Stalin''s story came to an end, I hurriedly asked, "Comrade Stalin, have the Allies captured Thurberg from the enemy now?"


    Stalin took the pipe out of his mouth, held it in his hand, and continued: "on the way to vileboge, southwest of Caen, the 7th British armored division encountered the 2nd German SS armored division, who was coming from Amiens, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides. British personnel and tanks were forced to retreat after suffering huge losses. Although there was no progress in the British attack, it attracted the German elite 2nd Armored Division to the Caen area, creating conditions for the US Army to attack.


    After the US army occupied kalantan, the German army was unable to withdraw troops from the Caen area, so it had to dispatch the 17th SS armored division from the Brittany Peninsula to attack the US side in an attempt to eliminate the US threat to Cherbourg. After fierce fighting, the U.S. Army repulsed the German army and today broke through the German defense line in San suovo and arrived outside the city of San suovo, ready to launch siege operations at any time. "


    I know that Stalin would not say this to me without any reason. There must be some other purpose. Sure enough, after introducing Normandy to me, he went to the table, picked up an envelope and handed it to me. At the same time, he said, "this is an order from the headquarters of the general staff to Comrade konev about adjusting the attack time. When you go back to Ukraine tomorrow, bring him back by the way. "


    I took the envelope in Stalin''s hand and asked respectfully, "Comrade Stalin, is there anything else you need to convey to marshal konev?"


    "Now the allies have attracted the attention of the Germans to France. Whether we are in Belarus or Ukraine, our combat preparations have not been noticed by the German forces. " Stalin said slowly: "since the enemy did not realize that we were going to take a large-scale offensive campaign, then we caught them by surprise."


    After he said these words, he stopped for a moment, and then told me, "when you return to Ukraine, you should try your best to assist Comrade konev in completing the preparations for the campaign before the attack, understand?"


    "I see, comrade Stalin." After that, I asked cautiously, "do you know if I''m going back to Ukraine by plane or by train?"


    "Take a plane, it will take less time on the road." After Stalin finished, he thought about it again and added, "by the way, you can go to belia later. He has something else to tell you."


    Stalin talked to me again for a while and then sent me away. After I left Stalin''s office, I rushed to belia''s office.


    Coincidentally, the officer on duty at the gate was the one who stopped me last time. Seeing my arrival, he quickly stood up and raised his hand to salute me. Then he picked up the phone on the table and informed belia, "comrades of the people''s Committee, general oshanina is coming." After he put down the phone, he ran directly to the door of the inner room, gently pushed the door open, then put his body on one side and politely said to me, "Comrade General, people''s committee member, please come in, please!"¡° Hello, comrade oshanina As soon as I walked into belia''s office, he quickly came up to me, shook my hand and asked with concern, "are you going back to Ukraine?"¡° Yes, comrades of the people''s Committee. " I replied politely: "I will fly back to Ukraine early tomorrow morning. I don''t know what instructions you have for me?" Bellia went back to her office seat, sat down, looked at me and said, "I can''t talk about the instructions. I just want to talk to you about kacharov and bonejerin." If belia didn''t mention kacharov, I almost forgot about it. Now that he mentioned it on his own initiative, I took the opportunity to ask, "Comrade people''s commissar, don''t you know that your team has found the whereabouts of general kacharov?"¡° No Bellia shook his head and said: "almost three years have passed since that battle. Almost all the informed officers and men have died or moved to other places, so our evidence collection work is very difficult. Two days ago, I sent Comrade lunev to the area where the fighting took place in person to take charge of the search. I hope they can find something. " If kacharov''s body is not found, it will affect his efforts to clean up his grievances. If it was in the past, I might gently persuade belia to intensify the search, but now I doubt the ability of bonejerin, and I am not so enthusiastic about whether he can be rehabilitated. Belia and I had another chat about the prisoner''s reorganization, and then personally sent me out of his office. In the corridor, he suddenly said to me, "by the way, comrade oshanina, Khrushchev called me two days ago and asked me to tell you. If you have time, go to Kiev. He wants to have a good talk with you about some things. "

 Chapter 1547

    If I return to Ukraine by train this time, maybe I will stop in Kiev to visit Khrushchev, the future leader. But now Stalin personally arranged the plane to send me back to the headquarters of the front army. I can''t order the pilot to change the course and land in Kiev, can I? So I flew directly back to the front command in Rovno and handed Stalin''s warrant to konev. After reading Stalin''s warrant, konev handed it to sokolovsky, chief of staff, frowned and said, "Comrade chief of staff, you see, the Supreme Commander himself has advanced the attack time by one month. Can we finish the rest of the troops and the supply of materials before the battle starts?" Sokolovsky quickly scanned the order and replied with a sad face: "Comrade marshal, it''s very difficult. In a week''s time, our army''s attack in the Belarusian region will begin, so the superior will give priority to the supply of soldiers and materials. " Hearing sokolovsky''s reply, konev walked back and forth in the room. After several laps, he stopped, looked at me and asked, "Rita, you just came back from Moscow. You should know something about it. Why did Comrade Stalin suddenly ask us to advance the attack time? " I hesitated for a moment, thinking that Stalin didn''t say hello to himself or mention the allied army to others, the lieutenant shook his head and replied awkwardly, "I''m sorry, I don''t know." Seeing that the staff officer didn''t know ah Funing''s intention, I didn''t embarrass him, so I asked casually, "where is he?"¡° At the gate of the headquarters. " The staff officer explained to me, "as he does not have a special pass, he cannot enter the headquarters of the front army."¡° Comrade marshal, is there anything else for me? " I turned to konev first. After learning that I was free to arrange my own time, I told the staff, "Comrade lieutenant, please bring general afuning to my office." My office is next to konev''s office. It''s not big, only a dozen square meters. There is only a desk and a few chairs in the room. As soon as I sat down behind my desk, afuning walked into my office with a big stride. After raising his hand and saluting, he said in a loud voice, "report to you, comrade deputy commander of the front army, major general afuning, commander of the 18th army of the guards..." before he finished, I raised my hand to interrupt him and asked curiously, "Comrade General, What are you doing when you run to Rovno instead of training troops in shepetovka? "¡° Well, Comrade General. " Afuning stepped forward and said to me solemnly, "I have been ordered to bring the tank battalion commander of the new division to see you."¡° On orders? " After hearing this word, I asked curiously, "I want to know, whose order are you on?"

 Chapter 1548

    Afuning said with a strong voice: "Comrade General, naturally, on the order of Comrade Khrushchev, I brought the tank battalion commander he recommended to you to see you!"


    "Comrade Khrushchev''s orders?" Ah Funing''s reply surprised me. I asked in surprise, "he is no longer a military commissar of the front army. How can he personally ask about the personnel appointment in the army?"


    "Well, Comrade General." Seeing my confused face, afuning quickly explained, "didn''t you say that our troops need a lot of experienced commanders some time ago? The person recommended by Khrushchev is very suitable for the post of tank battalion commander of the new division. "


    When he finished, I said slightly dissatisfied: "general afuning, you are the commander of the 18th army of the guards. You can be fully responsible for the appointment and removal of officers below the regiment level. You don''t need me to tell you what to do with a position like the commander of a tank battalion? " As the soldiers of the new division are adapted from the rescued prisoners of war, they are the most unpopular troops in the whole front army. Therefore, the ranks of commanders at all levels are very low. A tank battalion commander is a captain. It would be a bit of a fuss to ask me, the deputy commander of the front army, to appoint such a post in person.


    Seeing my dissatisfaction, a Funing said with a bitter smile, "Comrade deputy commander, this is the situation. According to Comrade Khrushchev, the new tank battalion commander was selected by him for you. Would you like to see her? "


    I wanted to turn down afuning''s request, but I was surprised to find that he used "she" instead of "he" when he called each other. I asked curiously, "Comrade General, is this new tank battalion commander still a female commander?"


    "Yes, it''s a female commander who just returned from injury." Ah Funing quickly replied, "it is said that she has dealt with you."


    It was said that Khrushchev recommended a female commander to me, who had dealt with me before, which made me interested immediately. I immediately asked, "general afuning, I don''t know where this female commander is now?"


    "Right outside the door."


    "Ask her in quickly!"


    Ah Funing agreed, went to the door and said to the corridor outside, "Comrade lieutenant, the deputy commander wants to see you. Please come in." Then he turned aside to let the people outside come in.


    A medium-sized female commander came in from the door. She stopped two or three steps away from my desk, stood at attention and raised her hand to salute: "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, Lieutenant Levchenko, commander of the tank battalion of the new division of the 18th army of the guards, I have been ordered to come. I''m waiting for your order, please give me instructions!"


    I got up, walked around the table to Levchenko, offered my hand to her, and said friendly, "Hello, Lieutenant Levchenko!"


    I looked carefully at the well proportioned, beautiful, well-dressed officer in a decent uniform, trying to remember where I had seen her. But unfortunately, although I think she looks very nice, I can''t remember where I met her.


    I gave her a smile and asked tentatively, "Lieutenant Levchenko, I just heard general afuning say that we have met before. Is there such a thing?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." "We met in Kiev," Levchenko replied


    "In Kiev?" I tried to recall whether I had ever met such a female commander when I went to Kiev to meet watugin and rokosovsky. But unfortunately, after thinking about it for a long time, I didn''t remember that I had ever met any female officers in Kiev. So I shook my head and said with embarrassment, "Lieutenant Levchenko, please forgive me. I really can''t remember where we met. Can you tell me more in detail?"


    When Levchenko listened to me, he grinned and reminded me, "Comrade deputy commander, have you forgotten. After we liberated Kiev at the beginning of last year, you came to our tank brigade to inspect in person and ran into general rebalko. "


    When she told me when we liberated Kiev and what happened to me and rebalko, a name almost forgotten popped up in my mind and immediately blurted out: "Oh, I remember, you are Levchenko, Irina nikolayevna Levchenko."


    "That''s right, that''s right, comrade deputy commander," said Levchenko, nodding his head and rejoicing as I accurately called his name. "I didn''t expect you to remember my order."


    Afuning, standing next to me, saw me and Levchenko embracing each other warmly. He couldn''t help asking curiously, "Comrade deputy commander, when did you know each other?"


    I first asked them to sit down, and then I sat down at my desk again. Then I said, "general afuning, when I was commander of the 79th infantry army at the beginning of last year, I led the army to deal with the German army on the right bank of the Dnieper River. At that time, the main forces of Manstein were fighting with our Voronezh front army and the southwest front army, and the German defense near Kiev was very weak. So I decisively carried out the long-distance attack tactics, and caught the city with general rebalko''s forces


    Speaking of this, I couldn''t help looking at Levchenko sitting next to afuning, and continued: "at that time, the tank brigade that lieutenant Levchenko was in was one of the first troops to join us, and I knew her at that time."


    "So it is," said afuning, looking at Levchenko, who was sitting beside him. "I didn''t expect that after more than a year, you would meet again here. It''s a coincidence."


    "Lieutenant Levchenko, how did you get out of Kiev?" I looked at Levchenko and asked curiously, "and were you in the 97th brigade before you were injured?"


    When Levchenko heard my question, he immediately stood up from his seat and respectfully reported to me: "the German army came up from all directions and surrounded Kiev. Our brigade received the task to break through the encirclement to the northeast and join the central front army of general rokosovsky.


    ... although we were constantly blocked by the German army along the way, our brigade broke through the encirclement of the German army and successfully joined the forces of the central front army.


    Later, when the troops were reorganized, I was incorporated into the 41st brigade of guard tanks. This brigade belongs to the seventh mechanized army. After the battle in Kursk, we took part in the battle of understanding fangsmolensk. In the battle, my tank was destroyed by the German army, and only me and one ammunition man in the tank group survived. "


    Although Levchenko said it lightly, I knew very well in my heart that whether it was Kiev''s breakthrough or the liberation of Smolensk, the battle was extremely dangerous. If there was any carelessness, there was a risk of sacrifice. She''s lucky to live to this day. I looked at her carefully and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, are you all right?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." Levchenko nodded his head and replied: "in the battle, I got a shrapnel in my back, and I also got different degrees of burns. But fortunately, my life is big, shrapnel did not hit the key, I lived in the hospital a few months later, recovered and discharged


    "How do you know Comrade Khrushchev?" I waited for her to finish, and immediately asked the biggest question in my heart.


    "When I was treated in the military hospital in Kiev, comrade Khrushchev once visited the hospital, where he knew me who was recovering." Levchenko truthfully reported to me: "through the conversation with me, he knew that I had dealt with you, so he offered to arrange my work after I recovered.


    I stayed in the hospital until the end of May, and then the hospital informed me that I could be discharged. After leaving the military hospital, I heard that my original troops were broadcasting to the Romanian border, so I took the initiative to go to Comrade Khrushchev, hoping that he could help me return to the army. Who knows, he said that he has arranged a position for me, that is, to report to the 18th group army of the guards. "


    As soon as she finished, the phone in front of me rang. I picked up the phone and gave a hello. Then I heard a strange voice coming from the receiver: "Hello, is that Comrade deputy commander?"


    "Yes, it''s me." Although the voice was heard for the first time, I still guessed that the speaker was a signalman, so I politely asked, "what''s the matter, please?"


    "Well, there is a call from Kiev. Do you need to answer it?"


    "Turn in!" I said casually.


    "A moment later, Khrushchev''s familiar voice came from the receiver:" Hello, Rita, have you seen the tank battalion commander I sent you? "


    "Yes, comrade Khrushchev, I have." I looked at Levchenko and afuning with a smile, and continued to say to the microphone, "she and general afuning, commander of the 18th army of the guards, are with me at the moment."


    "According to my observation, though young, this comrade Levchenko is brave and intelligent." Khrushchev kindly reminded me on the phone: "as long as we have a good training, maybe he will be a great female general like you in the future."


    When I heard Khrushchev praise me euphemistically on the phone, my heart was filled with joy. Just as he was about to thank him, he suddenly asked, "Rita, is it true to hear that the allies have opened up a second battlefield on the French coast?"


    Although the landing of the allies in Normandy has not been reported in the newspapers, I know in my heart that Stalin was willing to let his subordinates know about this period which was enough to change the course of the war through other channels. Therefore, I had no scruple to introduce the landing of Normandy to Khrushchev.


    "Great, that''s great." After listening to me, Khrushchev couldn''t help but say, "in this way, the Germans will have to fight on both fronts at the same time. I believe they won''t be able to support it in a short time."


    After a few more conversations with Khrushchev, I put down the phone and asked afuning, who was sitting beside me, "Comrade General, are you going to go back to shepetovka today?"


    Afuning shook his head and replied, "all the units of the 18th army of the guards were deployed to the western suburb of Rovno yesterday." After a pause, he asked tentatively, "Comrade deputy commander, are you going to inspect?"


    As I am not a representative of the base camp, I can''t walk around until I get konev''s consent, so I can only say politely: "Comrade General, I will go to your army to inspect at the right time. But not now. I''ve just come back from Moscow. I need to get familiar with the work here as soon as possible. "


    Hearing my reply, afuning''s face showed a trace of disappointment. He said with regret, "Comrade deputy commander, after more than ten days of recovery training, the combat effectiveness of the new division has been greatly improved. I''m here just to let you check their training results. "¡° Don''t worry, Comrade General. There will be opportunities in the future. " After I finished these two sentences, I asked Levchenko, "Lieutenant Levchenko, how many tanks are there in your battalion?"¡° 28, "Levchenko stood up from his seat again and replied clearly," 21 of them are T-34 and 7 are the latest models. "¡° What is the combat effectiveness of the troops? "¡° The tank soldiers in the battalion, except for a few selected from the rescued prisoners of war, have rich combat experience. " Levchenko confidently replied: "according to my observation, whether it is to guide the infantry to attack or to fight against the enemy''s tanks, this unit has a great chance of winning." Afuning waited for me to fall behind in the dialogue with Levchenko. He asked cautiously, "Comrade deputy commander, I just heard you tell Comrade Khrushchev that the Allied forces have carried out landing operations in Normandy. So the second battlefield they promised was finally opened up? "¡° Yes, "I nodded my head and gave a positive answer to afuning''s question:" the Allied landing in Normandy means the opening of a second battlefield. " After hearing my answer, afuning asked excitedly, "the Germans will have to fight on two lines next. Will our pressure be greatly reduced?"¡° Comrade general, there is no doubt that when the Allied forces open up the second battlefield, they will certainly contain a considerable number of German troops. " In order to prevent afuning from belittling the enemy, I specially reminded him: "however, the German forces deployed in our country are far higher than those faced by the allies, so we have to rely on ourselves to drive the enemy out of our territory. Do you understand? "¡° I understand. It''s completely ordered After ah Funing said this, he realized that he had been in my office a little too long, so he asked, "Comrade deputy commander, can I go back to the army?" I nodded in agreement and then went forward to shake hands with him and Levchenko respectively. When they came to the door, I stopped afuning and said to him, "general afuning, comrade Levchenko, as the commander of the tank battalion, is the rank of lieutenant a little too low? If possible, I''d better promote her to captain." After listening to my command, a Funing was stunned at first, then nodded his head abruptly and echoed: "Comrade deputy commander, you are absolutely right. I also think Comrade Levchenko''s rank is a little too low. When I get back, I''ll promote her to captain

 Chapter 1549

    On the day before the battle of Belarus, konev, who was busy deploying troops, unexpectedly received a call from Moscow. Stalin called in person. After a few simple greetings with konev, he suddenly asked, "Comrade konev, what''s the situation there? Is there any news from the Germans?"


    "Comrade Stalin," konev replied with a smile, "the Germans may have thought that our active direction would be in Ukraine, so the enemy is frequently mobilizing forces on the opposite side of our defensive positions."


    "This is a good thing. As long as the enemy makes a wrong judgment, the offensive campaign we are about to launch will have an unexpected effect." After Stalin finished this sentence, he suddenly changed the topic and asked, "Comrade konev, I remember you listen to people who like watching football matches. Are you interested in watching a football match today?"


    When he heard Stalin say this, konev was stunned. Then he euphemistically said, "Comrade Stalin, there is less than a month left to launch an offensive campaign. I have a lot of work to do every day. I really can''t leave."


    As for konev''s evasion, it seems that Stalin had expected it for a long time. He waited for konev to finish, and said without hesitation: "not only do you want to watch this football match, but also rokosovsky and bagramian will attend. Do you understand what I mean?"


    Konev held the phone for a moment, and his face was suddenly enlightened: "I understand, comrade Stalin, I understand everything. You asked us to watch the football match to create an illusion for the German army, that is, our army will not have any large-scale military operations in the near future, otherwise the commanders of several fronts will never leave their posts without permission. "


    "Yes, that''s how I think about it." Stalin replied slowly.


    "I don''t know where the football match will be held today?" Konev asked tentatively, "is it in the stadium in Moscow?"


    "No, the football match is not in Moscow, but in Kiev. To celebrate the completion of the reconstruction of the Khrushchev Republic stadium in Kiev. " Stalin said to konev, "Comrade Khrushchev has organized a football match. Please go and support him, commanders of all fronts."


    After knowing Stalin''s intention to let him go to watch the football match, konev asked: "Comrade Stalin, the offensive campaign in Belarus will be officially launched tomorrow. Is it suitable for them to go to Kiev to watch the football match at this time?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade konev. I''ve already arranged what you''re worried about." Stalin confidently said: "although several commanders of the front army have gathered in Kiev to watch the football match organized by Khrushchev, now vasilevsky is in the front army along the Baltic Sea and Zhukov is in the front army of Belarus. They are both in charge. There will be no mistakes in the preparation of the team."


    "Well, comrade Stalin." Seeing that Stalin had considered all the things that should be considered, konev had no psychological burden. He then said, "after I give Rita the command of the army, I will fly to Kiev."


    "Comrade konev, you can hand over the command to sokolovsky. As for Rita, "Stalin said firmly," let her come with you to Kiev, understand? "


    Konev turned to look at me and said with some embarrassment, "well, comrade Stalin, since you say so, I''ll go to Kiev to watch the football match with Rita later."


    "I asked you to take Rita to Kiev for a reason." Perhaps in order to dispel konev''s doubts, Stalin specially explained: "she is the focus of German attention now. If the enemy spies find her in Kiev, they will have the illusion that we have no attack plan at present, otherwise it is impossible for a group of senior commanders to leave their troops, Go to a football match


    "I see, comrade Stalin." Stalin''s explanation made konev''s face smile. "Lida is famous in Germany because of her military achievements. If the enemy sees her appearing in Kiev, they will think that commanders like her are on leave, so our army will not have any large-scale operations to confuse the enemy for the time being. "


    After konev made a phone call, he called several of us in front of him, conveyed Stalin''s instructions to us, and then said to sokolovsky: "Comrade chief of staff, we may stay in Kiev for a day or two. During my absence, the front army will be under your full command. If there is anything that can''t be handled, You can call me in Kiev. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade marshal." Sokolovsky nodded his head and replied, "during your absence, I will urge the troops to continue their preparations."


    After listening to sokolovsky''s reply, konev nodded, waved his head at me and said, "Rita, let''s go and try to get to Kiev earlier."


    Two hours later, our plane landed at the military airport north of Kiev. When the plane taxied on the runway, I saw a transport plane on the apron next to it. As soon as I heard it, the ground crew of the airport pushed the gangway to get the people on the plane off the plane.


    Seeing this situation, I quickly pointed to the outside and said to konev, "marshal, you see that plane has just landed. I don''t know which front commander has arrived?"


    Konev only glanced out of the porthole, then withdrew his eyes and said with disapproval: "I think it''s either rokosovsky or bagramian. After all, today''s commanders of all fronts are coming here to watch the game."


    After we got off the plane, we met rokosowski who just got off the plane at the runway. Seeing us, he speeded up his pace and came over. He followed us all the way and called konev loudly: "Hello, marshal. I didn''t expect you to come to Kiev, too."


    Konev welcomed him with a smile, shaking hands with rokosovsky, and said with a smile: "Comrade rokosovsky, I think you are the same as me. You received the call from the Supreme Commander himself, and then immediately arrived in Kiev?"


    "That''s right, that''s right." Rokosovsky replied with a smile: "I was ordered to watch the football match so as to give the enemy the illusion that they would not be aware of the attack we are about to launch."


    The people sent by Khrushchev drove us to the malinski palace, where Khrushchev now works. After I got out of the car, I looked up at the rebuilt building and said that the work efficiency of Kiev was very high. In just over a year, they rebuilt the destroyed building here.


    "What are you thinking, Rita?" May be to see me get off standing in a daze, rokosovsky also deliberately stopped, asked me with concern: "have you been here before?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." I pointed to the building in front of me and said with a smile: "last year, when I commanded the troops to attack Kiev, I was once tenacious defended by the German army here. I ordered the artillery to destroy the building here. I didn''t expect to complete the reconstruction work so soon."


    "Come on, let''s not sigh at the door." Konev, who had already stepped up the steps, saw me and rokosovsky standing beside the car chatting, and couldn''t help urging: "Comrade Khrushchev is still waiting for us."


    When we came to Khrushchev''s resplendent office, I found that several other commanders of the front army, including bagramian, had been sitting around the table drinking tea and chatting.


    Rokosovsky and konev quickly came forward, shook hands with Khrushchev and several other commanders of the front army, and exchanged a few simple greetings.


    After all the passes that should be left were finished, konev turned to Khrushchev and asked, "Comrade Khrushchev, can you tell us something about your situation here before the ball game starts?"


    I thought he would introduce some things about the reconstruction of Kiev. Unexpectedly, he talked directly about the stadium we are going to: "when we liberated Kiev on November 6, 1943, although neither the enemy nor US deliberately destroyed the stadium, when we occupied the city, we found that it had changed beyond recognition*** When the bandits retreated, they demolished the gates, walls, doors and windows of the stadium, and destroyed the water supply system and radio broadcasting system After half a year''s rush work, we have finally repaired the stadium and are ready to reopen today. And the football match, which should have been held on the same day in 1941, will be held today. "


    I thought of a post I had seen on the Internet. After he finished, he carefully asked, "Comrade Khrushchev, I want to ask, in that year''s competition, you once sold 50000 tickets. I don''t know whether these tickets can be used in today''s competition?"


    "Is that true? The tickets sold in those years are still valid today. " When Khrushchev finished this sentence, he couldn''t help sighing: "although we issued a notice as early as two months ago, saying that the tickets sold in that year are still limited today, the premise is that we must register in advance..."


    "Comrade Khrushchev, can you tell me how many people have come to register?" When konev heard this, he couldn''t help asking curiously.


    "Very few people." Khrushchev shook his head and said: "in those years, 50000 tickets were sold, but less than 50 people came to register; As for the 22 players of the two teams in those years, only two can play today


    "Alas, in order to defend our great motherland, we have made great sacrifices in this war." When rokosovsky heard Khrushchev say this, he said with some regret: "however, as long as we can defeat the aggressors, no matter how much we pay, it is worth it."


    As soon as I waited for rokosovsky to finish speaking, I immediately said, "Comrade Khrushchev, although the number of people who came to register is very small, it does not mean that the audience who bought tickets will not be alive."


    "Oh?" When Khrushchev heard me say this, he couldn''t help saying curiously, "Rita, do you mean that the audience who bought tickets in those days absolutely survived more than a few dozen people?"


    "Yes, comrade Khrushchev." I nodded my head and said with certainty: "the audience who bought tickets in those years, except those who have died. Some of the living people have been evacuated to the rear, because the war is not over and they can not return to their homes for the time being; Some people are now fighting in the army and have no time to attend such a football event. For example, my military commissar Comrade kirilov is like this. I saw with my own eyes that he had an orange red ticket in his hand. "


    "Rita has a point." As soon as I finished, konev added: "some people, although they are in Kiev now, lost the tickets they bought in those days for some reason, so they can''t come to register." After we chatted for a while, Khrushchev raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he politely said to us, "Dear commanders, the ball game is going on at two o''clock in the afternoon. Let''s go now."¡° Comrade Khrushchev, I have a question. " Just as everyone got up to leave, general Malinowski, the commander of the second front army of Ukraine, who had not spoken for a long time, asked, "generally, the ball game is played in the evening. Why do you arrange the ball game in the afternoon?" When he heard Malinowski''s question, Khrushchev replied with a smile: "senior general, the commander of the supreme command will call the commanders of all your fronts here to watch the first ball game after the reopening of the stadium. The purpose is to confuse the enemy and make them not aware of our attack intention. The battle of Belarus will be launched tomorrow. After watching the game, all the commanders must rush back to their respective troops immediately to arrange the attack. If the game is played in the evening, you will certainly have a negative impact on tomorrow''s fight¡° Well, you make a lot of sense, "said Malinowski, shaking his head and cooperating with Khrushchev." comrades, it''s getting late. We''d better get to the stadium as soon as possible. " Half an hour later, we arrived at the stadium. At this time, the stadium was already full of people, and the football players were warming up in the stadium. Seeing us coming, the noisy stadium became quiet immediately. Khrushchev went to the microphone, looked around, and then said aloud, "first of all, comrades, I welcome you here to watch the first football match after the reconstruction of the stadium." After the cheers stopped, he said, "before the game starts, please stand up for three minutes of silence for those who died in the war to defend our great motherland!" At the end of the three minute silence, Khrushchev said a few more words about the scene, and then announced in a loud voice: "the game begins!"

 Chapter 1550

    As soon as the match was over, Khrushchev took us into the rest room behind the stands and rested for about half an hour. When we left, although the number was the same as when we entered the lounge, no one found that several of the senior commanders had changed.


    Shortly after we left, a group of commanders came out of the lounge. Although they were carrying the rank of lieutenant or second lieutenant on their epaulets, a colonel came out of the next room. After seeing them, he trotted all the way, raised his hand and said respectfully, "general, the car is ready for you. We can go to the airport at any time."


    If someone who is familiar with them is present, he will be surprised to find that the burly Lieutenant standing in the front is actually general rokosovsky, commander of the first front army of Belarus, and the others behind are also commanders of the second and third front army of Belarus and the front army along the coast of the Baltic sea.


    Rokosovsky nodded and said politely, "thank you, comrade colonel. Please show us the way ahead."


    The captain led rokosovsky to the back of the stadium, where he boarded a military bus with curtains drawn. After all the people boarded the bus, the Colonel signaled the Department to get on the door, and then loudly ordered: "go to the airport!"


    On the way to malinski palace, konev, who was sitting next to me, said with a smile: "since June 20, from the front line of our army to the whole area of the border, the Belarusian guerrillas have attacked the enemy''s railway lines."


    "If hundreds of thousands of guerrillas act at the same time, it will certainly cause a lot of trouble to the Germans. At least after the beginning of the campaign, the German army could not use the railway to transport troops and all kinds of military materials. " After I said this, I looked sideways at konev and asked, "when are we going back to Rovno?"


    "It''s going to be a few days." Konev sighed softly, then said: "the first front army along the Baltic Sea and the third front army of Belarus will attack the German army first tomorrow; Rokosovsky''s troops will launch an attack on the German army in the early hours of the day after tomorrow. We''ll wait for their attack to start before we return to Rovno


    I nodded: "I understand that as long as we stay here, we can give the German army the illusion that since several commanders of the front army are not in the army, it is impossible to launch an attack on them in the near future."


    After listening to me, konev was suddenly dumbfounded. After a moment, he continued: "because of the deceptive tactics of Britain and the United States, the Germans mistook the landing site of the allies for Calais, so that when Normandy was attacked, the armored group stationed in the direction of Calais was still standing. We also used similar deception tactics this time. I believe that after rokosovsky''s attack, the German army will think that there is only a feint attack, and the real attack direction of our army is in Ukraine. "


    In order to confuse the German spies in Kiev, the next morning, konev and I, accompanied by Khrushchev, went to the nearby garrison camp to inspect. Along with us, in addition to the other three commanders of the Ukrainian front army, is rokosovsky, their substitute.


    At noon, when we returned from the garrison camp, Khrushchev received a call from Moscow. Stalin told him: "Comrade Khrushchev, bagramian''s troops have successfully broken through the German defense line, crossed the West German Vera River and surrounded vitibutsk; Chernyahovsky''s right wing is rapidly advancing towards boresov, approaching the Berezina River; Zaharov''s Belarusian second front army also successfully broke through the German defense line The actions of the Belarusian guerrillas paralyzed all the railways in the German rear and made it impossible to transport soldiers and materials to the front line. "


    "Great, that''s great." When Khrushchev heard the news, he was overjoyed. He then asked with concern, "is there any change in the enemy''s military deployment in the front of rokosovsky?"


    "No, according to the intelligence, because of your deception, they have successfully confused the enemy, so they have not expected that we will attack them in the swamp area."


    After Stalin finished, Khrushchev asked cautiously, "Comrade Stalin, marshal konev and Rita are still here. Do you need to talk to them?"


    "Give konev the phone." Stalin simply ordered.


    Konev received the call and heard Stalin''s order: "comrades konev, now that your puzzle task has been completed, you can go back to Rovno immediately."


    "After going back, what kind of actions need to be taken to cooperate with the friendly forces?"


    Stalin thought about konev''s proposal for a while, and then replied, "you can put on a posture that is about to launch an attack to attract the attention of Germany, so that they will not be able to transfer their main forces to Belarus in a short period of time, and rokosovsky''s attack will be much weaker."


    "I see, comrade Stalin." Konev replied with a smile: "I will immediately return to Ukraine and put on an offensive posture in the direction of the Carpathians, so that the enemy mistakenly thinks that we will immediately launch an attack on Romania, so as to contain their forces."


    "Very well, comrade konev, you have a very good idea." After hearing konev''s proposal, Stalin immediately agreed, "as long as you can draw the enemy''s attention to the south, then the troops of rokosovsky and bagramian will be able to make a big show."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    With Stalin''s permission, konev and I immediately flew back to Rovno.


    The first thing I did when I got back to the headquarters, konev said to me in a deliberative tone: "Rita, I want you to go to chernovze immediately, mobilize your troops there, and put on a special attack on Romania, so as to attract the attention of the German army."


    "All right, comrade marshal." I readily agreed to the order given to me by konev. After discussing some details, I took the train to chernovze overnight.


    Although I know in my heart that a series of measures taken at the Romanian border can only deceive the Germans for a short time. With our army''s big fight in Belarus, Hitler soon understood that our army''s real main attack direction was in Belarus, not Romania.


    I arrived at chernofse at dawn and arrived at the headquarters of the seventh group army of the close guard stationed here as soon as I could. After a few simple greetings with the familiar commander, shumilov, I decisively gave him the order of the front army. I immediately sent the infantry division to drive into the border defense area.


    After hearing my order, shumilov hesitated and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, it''s a bit too hasty for us to go straight to the border before we finish our supply work."


    I took a look at shumilov, who was standing opposite me, and then said, "Comrade General, our army''s offensive in Belarus has been fully launched. In order to prevent the German troops from moving northward from Ukraine, we must feint here, so that the enemy can not know where our real attack direction is. Do you understand? "


    "I understand." Shumilov nodded, pointed to the map and said to me, "at present, there are German defensive positions in the southwest of chernovitzer. If we transfer our main forces to the border area, chernovitzer will become empty. If the German army takes the lead in attacking us at this time, we will become very passive."


    I asked shumilov to move his troops just to confuse the enemy. I didn''t really want to move several infantry divisions stationed in chernovitzer to the border area. At the moment, seeing shumilov''s worried expression, I can only explain my plan to him: "general shumilov, you don''t have to worry about this. We don''t want to transfer all our troops to the border areas. We just want to put on a move to confuse the enemy. During the day, you transfer an infantry division, and then at night, you bring the division back. When the German army hears that our position is moving troops day and night, they will surely think that we are going to attack in this direction. "


    "Is that effective?" After hearing this, shumilov asked suspiciously.


    "Of course it works." I don''t know how many generals have used this tactic since ancient times. If it doesn''t work, it won''t be handed down to later generations. It was because of his confidence that when I heard his question, I immediately replied confidently, "don''t worry, comrade general, the Germans won''t be aware of the truth at least in the short term."


    Seeing that I was so confident, shumilov immediately told his chief of staff, "chief of staff, call major general zirkov of the 15th division and major general lilenkov of the 36th division, and ask them to rush to the headquarters of the group army immediately."


    A few minutes later, two major generals appeared in the headquarters. Shumilov went up to the two men and said, "comrades of division commander, you two will immediately assemble your troops and take a truck to the border area."


    "Comrade commander," as soon as shumilov finished speaking, general kirkov, standing on the left, said with embarrassment, "at present, the troops are still in rest, and the troops and weapons and ammunition have not been replenished. It seems a little inappropriate to transfer the troops to the border area at this time."


    "There''s nothing inappropriate." Shumilov waved his hand and said to them truthfully, "I asked you to transfer your troops to the border, not to fight immediately, but to deceive the Germans."


    "Deceiving the Germans?" Both cherkov and lilienkov looked at each other and were surprised by the opposite look. After a moment''s silence, Li liankov asked, "Comrade commander, I don''t understand what you mean. Since we are not allowed to fight, what will we do when we are transferred to the defensive position at the border?"


    I took two steps forward, came to them and said with a smile, "comrades, you may not know that our Belarusian front army and the Baltic front army have launched a comprehensive attack in Belarus. In order to attract the German troops in Ukraine and prevent them from joining the Belarusian region, we have to use some deceptive means to make the Germans feel that Ukraine is the key point of our attack and dare not move the troops away. Do you understand? "


    "I see." The two teachers replied in unison. Immediately, cherkov asked with a smile, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, do not know what we should do?


    "It''s very simple," I said lightly, "you get the infantry on the vehicle first, and then drive into the border area in a big way. Wait until it''s dark before they are brought back from the front. After daybreak, the troops were transported to the front. When people see us mobilizing our troops in such a high-profile manner, they will surely think that we are about to launch an attack on us and that we are bound to strengthen our defense along the border. In this way, they will not be able to transfer more troops to Belarus. " After understanding my intention, the two teachers saluted and turned to leave. Shumilov also asked with some uneasiness: "Comrade deputy commander, if you light up the infantry, you may not be able to hide from the enemy. I think we should send more tanks and artillery, and put on a posture of large-scale attack, so as to achieve the effect of deceiving the enemy."¡° It''s reasonable. Infantry alone is not enough. At least we need to send out some more tanks and artillery to make it like a real attack. " Thinking of this, I tentatively asked: "general sumilov, I don''t know how many tanks and artillery you can mobilize to the front line?"¡° As for tank troops, there are two tank brigades that can be mobilized. As for artillery, "shumilov said here, hesitating slightly for a moment, as if thinking about which army to send¡° It doesn''t need too many artillery. It only needs two howitzer regiments. " I said to shumilov with a smile, "our artillery can also be transported up in the daytime and back in the evening like infantry." Less than an hour later, the troops stationed south of chernovitzer began to move on a large scale. Trucks full of commanders and fighters, artillery trucks with guns behind them, and tank brigades that have just completed the renovation, take the way of multi-channel parallel advance and drive toward the border area in a mighty manner. Shumilov and I stood in the church bell tower, looking at the traffic, and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t know how long we need to maintain such deception?"¡° Don''t worry, general shumilov I put down my telescope, looked at him, and said with a smile, "as long as we can keep the main force of the German here for two days, it''s a great victory."

 Chapter 1551

    Seeing that our troops were being mobilized in a high-profile manner, the German troops on the other side of the border immediately entered a state of high alert to prevent possible attacks by our troops.


    After dark, I got a call from konev''s headquarters. He said to me with a smile, "Rita, there''s a lot of noise there. According to the reconnaissance, the German troops in Lvov are moving. They can move to the Romanian border."


    "That''s very good, comrade marshal." Knowing the news that the German army was really confused by our army, I was very happy. I also said with a smile, "as long as the German army does not mobilize troops to the north, then the counterattack launched by our army in Belarus can achieve great results."


    After a pause, I asked again, "Comrade marshal, what''s the progress of our army today?"


    "Under the command of bagramijan and chernyahovsky, the troops fought quite well," konev said excitedly. "The first front army of the Baltic Sea, in collaboration with the third front army of Belarus, encircled five German divisions to the west of Vitebsk, and is now in the final battle of annihilation.


    The Belarusian second front army under the command of general zaharov has also broken through the German defenses along the pronyah, Basha and Dnieper rivers and is developing in depth to the enemy''s defenses. "


    I heard that among the serial numbers reported by konev, there was no first front army of rokosovsky alone. As soon as he finished, he immediately asked, "what about the first front army of Belarus of general rokosovsky? How are they doing so far? "


    Hearing my question, konev was silent for a moment, and then replied, "according to the war report I got, although rokosovsky''s troops have successfully passed through the swamp, they have met with tenacious resistance from the German army in the process of continuing to move forward, so their achievements are limited."


    "Oh, so it is." Although konev put it mildly, I know very well in my heart that maybe rokosovsky''s troops were intercepted by the heavy German troops just after they passed through the swamp, so they could not win at all. I couldn''t help wondering whether I would encounter a similar situation if I were still under rokosovsky''s command to launch an attack from this area.


    "Rita, don''t worry." Seeing that I was suddenly silent, konev guessed that I might be disappointed that rokosovsky''s troops did not achieve any results, and comforted me, saying: "the German army does not have enough reserves in Belarus. There are only 11 divisions in all the group armies and army groups. As long as your actions can attract the main force of the enemy in Ukraine and prevent them from going north to support, then our four front forces in Belarus will be able to completely eliminate the enemy in Belarus. "


    After I put down the phone, I stared at the map in front of me and thought about it carefully. Although the task I have received at present is to feint along the border between Ukraine and Romania, which makes the German army have the illusion that the main attack direction of our army is Ukraine, while Belarus is only the auxiliary direction. But in order to be more like it, I need to do something else.


    "Comrade deputy commander, what are you looking at?" Maybe I''ve been staring at the map for a long time. Shumilov, who was sitting on one side, couldn''t help but ask curiously.


    I always have great respect for this old superior. When he asked me a question, he immediately replied with a smile: "general sumilov, I''m considering whether I should take any action to make the Germans believe that our initiative is in Ukraine rather than Belarus."


    "Unless we take the initiative to attack the enemy across the border." Shumilov casually expressed his opinion, and then immediately denied it: "it seems that this is not feasible. With our current strength, it seems that it is too risky to take the initiative to attack the German army."


    "Yes, as long as we launch an attack, the German army can find our real strength. At that time, let alone continue to contain the enemy, there is even the possibility of being seriously damaged by the enemy." I said carefully: "so we can only put on a ready to attack appearance, so that the German army can eat and sleep."


    After I finished this sentence, I thought about it. I pointed to the German defense area southwest of chernofse and asked schumilov, "Comrade General, this is where we are most threatened at present. What the Germans are deploying here is the German armed SS forces. If they suddenly attack us, can your deployed forces stop them? "


    After listening to my question, shumilov said with some disapproval, "Comrade deputy commander, I think you have given too much consideration. As long as we don''t attack, the Germans think it''s God''s blessing. How can they take the initiative to attack us? "


    Seeing shumilov''s attitude, I could not help but worry when I asked him casually. With a serious expression, I asked again, "Comrade General, please answer me, if the German army attacks chernowitzer from this direction, can our troops block it?"


    "I can''t stop it." Seeing that I was serious, shumilov knew that I was not joking with him. He also restrained his smile and said, "I only have two infantry regiments and one tank brigade in this direction. If the German troops attack with heavy troops, I think it is very difficult for us to stop them."


    "Comrade General, please have a look." I pointed to the map and analyzed to him: "according to the intelligence, the German army is dispatching troops from Lvov to move towards the Romanian border. If they suddenly attack chernovitzer on the way down south, we will be in danger here. "


    "No?" After listening to me, shumilov asked suspiciously, "didn''t the German troops going south reinforce the border area? How could they attack us suddenly?"


    At this moment, I suddenly understand why this commander, who had served as commander of the group army in the defense war of Stalingrad, was only a general after the war. He had no chance with the rank of general, let alone the rank of Marshal. It seems that his limited ability has something to do with his rank.


    I didn''t have the patience to explain to him. Instead, I exercised my right and decisively ordered: "general sumilov, I now order you to immediately deploy two infantry divisions and two tank brigades on the two wings of the southwest defense force. At the same time, an additional infantry division should be deployed in the western suburbs of the city to establish a defense in depth. "


    "I see, comrade deputy commander." Although shumilov didn''t quite agree with the order I gave him, the obedience habit he had developed during his long military career made him readily agree to it and began to arrange the army''s defense work.


    Over the next few days, the Belarusian battlefield was filled with good news. First, five German divisions encircled by our army to the west of Vitebsk were eliminated; Then came the decisive action of the Belarusian third front army, which cut off the links between the German tank group 3 and the group 4. Rokosovsky''s troops have also successfully encircled six German divisions in the borowsk area and are in the final battle of annihilation.


    All the German troops on the Romanian border have entered the first level of combat readiness and are ready to fight against the possible attack of our army. At that moment, the German army, which had gone south from Lvov, launched a surprise attack on the troops deployed in the southwest of shumilov.


    Under the cover of aircraft, artillery and tanks, the German army broke through our two lines of defense within an hour and approached chernowitzer step by step.


    After receiving the war report from the front, shumilov looked a little flustered. Holding the telegraph, he asked nervously, "Comrade deputy commander, what should I do now?"


    As I prepared for the rain a few days ago, I was particularly calm about the sudden attack on the German army. I pushed the current map towards shumilov and said with a relaxed expression, "Comrade General, tell the comrades on the front line to take a step-by-step fight against the fortifications and slowly retreat to chernovice."


    "Comrade deputy commander, Germany is less than 30 kilometers away from us," shumilov said in a flustered voice. "If our troops retreat further, they will soon be able to rush under chernovitzer, and then we will be in danger."


    "Don''t worry," I comforted shumilov with a smile. "We''ve already laid a deep defense under chernovitzer. It''s not so easy for the Germans to rush into the city."


    When I said this, shumilov''s nervous expression eased. He looked at me and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, what shall we do next?"


    "The feint in the direction of the border continues. As long as we do not stop mobilizing troops, the enemy deployed in Romania will not know our details, so they will not dare to act rashly. The enemy from the southwest will have to fight alone. " I pointed to the troops deployed on the left and right wings of the defense line and said, "when our counter attack forces are assembled, we will order the troops here to carry out assault and resolutely cut off the retreat of the German army."


    "Comrade deputy commander," shumilov said, still a little uneasily, "if I transfer all my troops to the southwest of chernofse, then the north and east of the city will become empty. Is that right?"


    "General sumilov, I would like to remind you that your group army is on the border with the troops of the second front army of Ukraine. They can take over the defense area you vacate. Your task now is to transfer all the troops you can mobilize to the southwest of chernovitzer, and have a close offensive and defensive battle with the German troops who take the initiative to attack. Do you understand? "


    Seeing that the members of the group army headquarters are busy, I think we should report this to konev so that he can have a clear idea. Thinking of this, I picked up the phone on the desk, dialed the headquarters of the front army, and said to the microphone, "I''m oshanina. Please connect marshal konev to you."


    "What can I do for you, Rita?" Asked konev.


    "Well, comrade marshal." I hastened to give konev a detailed report on the German attack from the southwest of chernofse. At the same time, I also introduced my own countermeasures.


    After listening, konev said with satisfaction, "well done, Rita. As long as you can completely smash the German offensive on the outskirts of chernovitzer, you will further deepen the German army''s illusion that we are now at the Romanian border with a large number of troops, and that we may launch a new offensive at any time. "


    Seeing that konev supported my deployment, the stone hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground. Thinking that our air force now controls the air control in Ukraine, as soon as they move out, they can speed up the collapse of the German assault forces, so I specially put forward to konev: "marshal, in order to smash the German attack as soon as possible, I think we should ask the air force to move out to provide the necessary air cover for our counterattack forces."


    "I see. I''ll contact the air force commander immediately." "I wish you success in advance," konev said in a smooth voice After I put down the phone, I immediately said to shumilov, "Comrade General, the marshal has agreed to our counter offensive plan. He will soon send the air force to provide air support for our counter offensive forces. Now I order you to let the deployed group artillery fire immediately and use the heavy artillery fire to suppress the German troops who are frantically attacking. " As the order was issued, the artillery units that had already been designated to shoot at the data were heavily shelled on the German units that were charging towards chernovitzer. In the dense artillery fire, one after another German tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed, stopped and burned, emitting thick smoke. However, the situation of the infantry who followed was not much better. They were swept down in batches by the flying shrapnel. But before they received the order to stop the attack, they had to take the lead, carry weapons and continue to charge forward under the fierce fire of our army. After receiving the report from the frontier observation post, shumilov immediately asked me, "Comrade deputy commander, the German army is suffering heavy casualties under our artillery fire. Should we order the troops ambushing on both sides of the defense line to attack?" I looked up at him and asked with a smile, "has the air force that marshal konev promised us arrived?"¡° This one? " When shumilov heard my question, he was stunned for a moment. Then he turned to the chief of staff behind him and asked, "chief of staff, is the air force here?"¡° Not yet, comrade commander. " Answered the chief of staff, shaking his head. After listening to the chief of staff''s reply, shumilov quickly turned his head to look me in the eye and replied solemnly, "the air force hasn''t arrived yet, comrade deputy commander of the front army." I nodded slightly: "let the observation station observe. As soon as our air force arrives at the battlefield, it will immediately order the troops ambushing on both sides of the defense line to attack and cut off the retreat of the German army."¡° Yes Shumilov replied loudly.

 Chapter 1552

    When konev''s two aviation divisions arrived at the battlefield, they were bombarded by the German troops on the ground, which made them cry and cry. In the bombing area, there were destroyed tanks, armored vehicles, trucks, artillery and other equipment everywhere.


    As soon as shumilov heard that the German army had been bombed, he couldn''t wait to ask me, "Comrade deputy commander, since our air force is out, can we order the troops lying in ambush on both wings to attack?"


    As I was looking at the map, when I heard what shumilov said, I looked up at him and said, "Comrade General, inform the troops lying in ambush on both wings to make them ready for attack. We must remind them that no one is allowed to attack at will until they have received the order to attack. "


    Shumilov turned around and just called the chief of staff, ready to let the other side pass on my order. But without waiting for the other party to come, he suddenly realized that there was still a gap between the order I gave and what he imagined. He quickly turned to look at me and asked in amazement: "Comrade deputy commander, just let them prepare and don''t attack from the flank?"


    "Comrade General, don''t worry." I replied with a smile: "our air force has just launched a bombing campaign against the German troops on the ground. If our troops attack at this time, they will be entangled with the enemy in a short time. The air force is worried that it will blow up its own people by mistake, and it will stop bombing the ground, which is tantamount to giving the German army a breathing space. "


    "So it is. I see." After understanding my intention, shumilov turned to the chief of staff who had just come by and said, "chief of staff, give orders to the troops on both wings to make all preparations before the attack. When the air force returns, it will attack immediately and resolutely cut off the retreat of the German army."


    When the air force ended the bombing and began to return, shumilov decisively gave orders to the troops to attack. Not only the infantry divisions and tank brigades ambushed on both sides of the line of defense, but also several divisions engaged in frontal defense launched a comprehensive counterattack. In less than half an hour, the German armored division, which launched an attack on chernovitzer, fell into the encirclement of our army.


    The commander of the German army was very cunning. He saw that our army was strong in this area, with the help of air force, artillery and tanks. In order to avoid greater losses, he resolutely gave up the encircled troops and let the main force return to the starting point of attack. After a night of fierce fighting, only a dozen tanks and a few hundred soldiers of the German armored division escaped from our encirclement.


    After listening to my victory report, konev said with some regret: "unfortunately, if our plan can be more detailed, we may be able to completely annihilate this armored division."


    I heard what he said, but I said with disapproval: "Comrade marshal, the German attack on chernovitzer is just a test of our army''s strength. Once they find something wrong, they will immediately withdraw."


    "Well, you have a point." Konev carefully said: "the reason why the enemy sent only one armored division to attack chernovze is to test our strength in the area. You ate this armored division in one day, which gave the German the illusion that our army had assembled a large number of troops in the Romanian border area. In this way, they will not transfer their troops to Belarus. "


    After konev said this, he was silent for a while, and then said to me, "Rita, I have just been informed by the headquarters of the general staff that I should rush to Moscow immediately to take on a new combat mission."


    "Great, comrade marshal." Knowing that konev''s recall to Moscow this time must be related to the next offensive campaign to liberate Ukraine, I said with a smile, "I think we are going to attack the Germans here too."


    "According to the order, it was the two of us who went to Moscow together to accept the mission." Konev said: "you explain the next deployment to shumilov, and then immediately take the train back to Rovno."


    After I put down the phone, I looked at shumilov and said, "Comrade General, I''m going back to Rovno soon."


    After hearing this, shumilov raised his eyebrows, and then asked respectfully, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t know what our group army should do next?"


    "Maintain the status quo." I gave a brief command: "in addition to continuing to transport troops to the Romanian border, we should strengthen the defense in the southwest to prevent the German army from attacking from this direction again."


    "I see." Shumilov promised, and then offered: "for the sake of safety, I''ll send a guard company to escort you to the station."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    According to the plan, as soon as I return to Rovno, I should accompany konev to Moscow. However, Antonov unexpectedly informed us that the meeting of the Supreme Commander himself with us was postponed to July 3.


    At noon on the 3rd, konev and I boarded the special plane at the military airport of Rovno and flew to Moscow. Two hours later, our plane landed at a military airport on the outskirts of the city, and then in a car sent by Antonov, we hurried to the Kremlin.


    The two of us came to Stalin''s office and met Stalin who was busy. After shaking hands with him, konev respectfully asked, "Comrade Stalin, do you have any good news today?"


    "Good news? Yes, of course there is good news. " Stalin, with his pipe in his mouth, replied with a smile: "our army is playing quite well in Belarus."


    Standing in front of the map, he told us the current situation of the war with high emotion: "the third front army of Belarus arrived at the Berezina River between June 29 and 30, crossed the river in several places, and began to advance rapidly towards Minsk. Today, the second army of the close guard tanks first broke into the capital of Belarus. The first front army of Belarus, which pursued the enemy in the direction of Minsk and baranovic, also moved smoothly. Last night, the first army of the front army''s close guard tanks made a detour from the south to Minsk and went out to the southeast suburbs, where they joined the third front army of Belarus. In this way, we have completed the encirclement of the basic forces of the German fourth group army and part of the ninth group army.


    The second front army of Belarus also attacked Minsk at the same time. They are carrying out the task of containing, dividing and destroying the German forces. Our air force firmly controlled the air supremacy and carried out a strong assault on the German army, making it difficult for them to withdraw their troops and deploy their reserves in a planned way. "


    What Stalin said, although we saw the war report before we left Rovno. But konev still showed a strong interest. As soon as Stalin finished, he immediately said, "the troops in Belarus are really good. I believe they will be able to drive the enemy out of Belarus in a short time."


    After konev finished speaking, Stalin said, "in order to expand the results of the offensive campaign in Belarus, we will launch a new offensive in Ukraine. Comrade konev, are you ready? "


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." Konev quickly stepped forward and replied respectfully: "although the attack time is one month earlier than we expected, we have basically completed the attack preparation after this time."


    Stalin laughed, took his pipe out of his mouth, pointed at konev and asked, "now that the preparations for the attack have been completed, comrade konev, tell me where you plan to launch the attack?"


    Although the map was right behind konev, he didn''t even look back, so he directly replied, "Comrade Stalin, I intend to attack from the direction of Lvov."


    "What, attack from Lviv?" Konev''s words made Stalin frown. He went around konev for half a circle, and then said, "Comrade konev, don''t you think we can achieve more by launching an attack from the Carpathian mountains? As long as our troops enter the territory of Romania, can we make this country withdraw from the servants of the Communist Party and join us? "


    Konev looked at Stalin and replied, "Comrade Stalin, it is undeniable that if we choose the direction of attack in the Carpathians, we can really achieve the goal you said. However, judging from the actual situation, Romania is not suitable as the main direction of attack. Romania is mountainous, which is not conducive to the deployment of our armored forces. If we really want to attack from here first, we will certainly pay a huge price and delay a lot of time at the same time... "


    "Comrade konev, I think you''ve been carried away by a series of victories." I didn''t expect that Stalin didn''t wait for konev to finish, so he directly interrupted what he said behind him. He turned to the door with his right hand clutching the cigarette end and said impolitely, "go outside first and calm down."


    When konev walked out of the room and closed the door behind him, Stalin turned his eyes to me again and asked solemnly, "Rita, how do you think about it? Like konev, do you think our main attack direction in Ukraine should be Lvov? "


    Seeing that konev was driven out of the room by Stalin without any warning and went to stand outside, my heart became uneasy. After hearing Stalin''s question, I couldn''t help getting a little flustered and stammered, "Stalin and comrades, I think that marshal konev said that it''s reasonable."


    "Oh, you think konev is right, too." Stalin returned to his desk with a cigarette end in his mouth, sat down, looked at me and said kindly, "tell me your reasons."


    "Comrade Stalin," seeing that Stalin didn''t get angry with me, which made me feel at ease again, I looked at him and said boldly, "the first reason is that marshal konev has said that the terrain in the Carpathian Mountains is easy to defend and difficult to attack, which is not suitable for us to invest a large number of armored forces. The second reason is that a series of feints I recently carried out on the Romanian border made the German army gather a lot of troops in the region. If we want to launch an attack from this area, we will confront the German heavy group. As marshal konev said, we not only have to pay a huge price, but also delay precious time


    "What about Lviv?" Stalin asked noncommittally: "can we attack from here, and the resistance we encounter will be weak?"


    "Yes, comrade Stalin, that''s exactly the case." Seeing that Stalin showed no sign of anger, I boldly said, "the feint we carried out in the south of Ukraine has successfully confused the German general. During this period, they successively transferred five divisions from Lvov, two of which were armored divisions. Today, the troops in the direction of Lvov have become very weak. As long as we launch an attack, we can achieve great results. "


    After I had said this, I quickly and carefully observed Stalin''s expression. But he was still calm and quietly smoking his cigarette. After a long time, he said, "since you are so reasonable, I''ll call konev in again to ask if he has changed his mind." As Stalin picked up the phone from his desk and was about to speak to his secretary, bosklebshev, the door was pushed open from the outside and a general rushed in. It was Antonov, deputy chief of general staff, that I recognized at a glance. With a piece of paper in his hand, he excitedly reported to Stalin: "Comrade Stalin, good news! hot wire!! Our troops have liberated Minsk. The German 4th and 9th army, about 100000 people, were surrounded by our army in a narrow area east of Minsk. " Stalin took the battle report from Antonov and quickly scanned it in front of him. I found his hand trembling slightly because he was too excited. After putting down the war report, he looked up at the ceiling and said with relief, "Minsk has finally been recovered by us!"¡° Yes, comrade Stalin. " Antonov also said excitedly: "from the beginning of the campaign to now, our army has advanced 225-280 kilometers in 12 days at an average speed of 20-25 kilometers per day and night, liberating a large area of territory in Belarus. The main force of the German Central Army Group has been encircled and smashed by our army. "¡° Next, it''s time to look at Ukraine. " Stalin finished this sentence, picked up the phone on the table, and told the outside Persian klebshev: "let konev in!" When konev walked back into the office, Stalin asked directly, "Comrade konev, do you still insist on choosing the direction of attack in Lvov instead of the Carpathians?"¡° Yes, comrade Stalin. " "I think Lvov is the best offensive direction in the offensive campaign," konev said categorically¡° Well, comrade konev, since you insist, I agree with your choice. " After a pause, Stalin added: "if the attack in the direction of Lvov does not go well, you will also bear the consequences. Do you understand? "¡° Yes, comrade Stalin. " Konev replied without squinting: "if the attack fails, I am willing to bear all the consequences caused by it!" After receiving konev''s affirmative answer, Stalin waved his hand to us and said, "well, since you have made clear your responsibility, go back to Ukraine immediately and prepare for the attack."

 Chapter 1553

    In my memory, the offensive campaign carried out by the first front army of Ukraine to liberate the western states of Ukraine and southeastern Poland was known as the "battle of livov sandomeri", which was also the sixth strike of ten Stalin raids carried out by the Soviet army in 1944.


    When we came back from Moscow, we began to prepare intensively for the offensive campaign. However, 36 hours before the start of the campaign, lunev, who was sent by belia to the headquarters of the front army as a liaison officer, suddenly came out in a hurry and said to us, "comrades in command, something unexpected has happened."


    Since lunev''s office is not in the same place as our headquarters, his sudden appearance has already made everyone uneasy. If he says this again, the atmosphere in the headquarters will become more tense.


    "Director lunev," konev frowned, looked at the war director from the Ministry of the interior, and asked with a little dissatisfaction, "what''s the matter that makes you so flustered?"


    "My men found a body in an abandoned building." Lunev did not care about konev''s attitude towards himself, but continued to report: "although the personal belongings on the body have been lost, and there are no identification documents, but after our comrades identified, we found that the dead was a confidential staff officer attached to the headquarters."


    "Intelligence staff?" I was shocked by lunev''s words in a cold sweat. As soon as he finished, I grabbed ahead of konev and asked, "Comrade lunev, do you know what is in his lost belongings?"


    Looking at konev, lunev replied, "I''ve just been to the confidential office and learned that this staff officer is one of the people who can contact our attack plan. His sudden death, I suspect, was silenced


    "Extermination, what extermination?" Konev glared at lunev and asked rudely, "Comrade lunev, do you mean that this staff officer was killed by the enemy after he provided top secret information of our army to the German spies?"


    "I think so." Lunev nodded his head and said: "our detailed attack plan should have fallen into the hands of the Germans."


    "Marshal," chief of staff sokolovsky was a little flustered when he heard lunev say so. He looked at konev and asked, "what should we do now?"


    Konev was silent for a moment, then asked lunev: "Comrade lunev, according to your judgment, how long has the confidential staff officer been dead?"


    After thinking about it, lunev replied without hesitation, "at least five or six hours."


    Konev nodded, picked up the phone on the desk, dialed a number and said to the receiver, "I''m konev. Let the director of communications answer the phone Hello, Captain, I want to ask, during this period of time, have you found any radio waves of unknown origin in the city Well, I see. "


    Konev put down the microphone and said to lunev, "Comrade lunev, I have just asked, the communication department has not found any radio waves of unknown origin, that is to say, the Germans have not sent them out for the time being after they have obtained the information."


    "Comrade marshal," said corneev. As soon as he heard that, he immediately asked, "I don''t know what we should do next?"


    "Do you have any good ideas, Rita?" Konev looked at me and asked, "I know you have many ideas. I''m sure you can come up with some good way to solve this problem."


    I''m a little sad to see that konev put the trouble on me. But in the current situation, I can''t shirk it. I can only think of a way with a stiff head: "marshal, I think since German spies haven''t sent information through the radio after they have obtained information for such a long time, it can only explain one thing: they don''t have a radio. That is to say, there is still room for recovery. "


    "What should we do?" Once again, lunev asked, "do you immediately organize people to search the city?"


    "It''s no use," I directly denied lunev''s proposal: "we don''t know who the other party is at present. If we rashly conduct a city wide search, it will not have any effect except causing people''s panic and military morale floating."


    "Shall we do nothing?" My words made lunev a little anxious.


    Although I have never been a policeman, I am not familiar with criminal investigation. But I haven''t eaten pork. Haven''t I seen a pig run? But it''s no problem to give some advice to lunev: "Comrade lunev, someone must have seen this confidential staff officer before he disappeared. I suggest you send someone to find out who he finally met before he disappeared, and then look for it through this clue. Maybe you can get something. "


    As soon as lunev left the headquarters, sokolovsky could not wait to ask konev, "Comrade marshal, what should we do now, and report this matter to the supreme headquarters immediately?"


    "Chief of staff, don''t worry." Konev said with an air of complacency: "the theft of the combat plan is only our guess at present. If we report it rashly to the supreme command, it will be a false alarm, but it will not be easy to explain. In my opinion, we can still talk about it after lunev''s investigation. "


    But I thought it was another thing. After they finished speaking, I asked, "Comrade marshal, if our attack plan falls into the hands of the Germans, what should we do?"


    "According to the regulations, if there is a leak, our attack plan will be adjusted accordingly." Konev frowned and said: "but from the attack time, only the last 30 hours, even if we have to adjust the deployment, it is a bit too hasty."


    I know what he said is true. It is almost impossible for millions of troops to be redeployed in more than 30 hours. On the contrary, it is easy to cause unnecessary chaos. Therefore, I can only say with a bitter smile: "at present, what we can do is to wait here for Comrade lunev''s news."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    After waiting for more than an hour, konev received a call from lunev. "Marshal, I''d like to tell you a piece of good news. After our investigation, we found that two journalists from Moscow came into contact with the confidential staff at last," lunev said on the phone


    "Where are the two journalists?" When konev heard this hour, he said nervously to the microphone, "control them immediately."


    "Don''t worry, comrade marshal." "I have sent for the two journalists," said lunev confidently


    Konev put down the phone and said to us with relief: "Comrade lunev said that he had found a clue and they are pursuing it. I believe that he will give us a positive answer soon."


    We thought that lunev would come to the headquarters soon and give us all an explanation. However, this wait lasted for more than an hour. Some sokolovsky, who was not calm, called the office where the interior department was located to inquire about lunev''s whereabouts, but the staff on duty in the office did not know where he had gone.


    Sokolovsky put down the phone and asked konev, "Comrade marshal, what should we do now?"


    "Marshal, I think the situation is very bad. We should report it to the supreme command immediately," said kleinukov, a military commissar who never said a word


    "Wait a little longer," konev thought for a long time, frowning, and finally said decisively, "we can''t act rashly until we know what''s going on."


    I am very much in favor of this safe approach taken by konev. If we do not know the real situation, we will report to Stalin in a hurry. When we finally find out that it was an Oolong incident, it will not be a good end.


    Just after konev made up his mind to postpone the report, lunev finally appeared in the headquarters. From the expression on his face, I can guess that it must be very serious. Sure enough, as soon as he spoke, all of us were startled: "Comrade marshal, when we just went to arrest two reporters from Moscow, we found that one of them was missing. After our interrogation of the arrested spies, we know that the information they have obtained has been sent out. "


    "What, information has been sent out?" Sokolovsky asked in surprise: "Comrade lunev, I want to ask, how did they send out the information?"


    "According to the spy''s confession, they killed the bought confidential staff officer and stole his confidential documents. One of them left on a motorcycle."


    When we heard what lunev said, several of us rushed to the table at the same time, staring at the map on the table. After scanning the map, konev frowned and said, "in the absence of radio, if the enemy wants to send out the information, he can only find a way to pass through our checkpoint and enter the German defense area."


    Seeing the red and blue arrows and defense marks on the map representing both sides of the enemy and us, sokolovsky said with a sad face, "our defense front is hundreds of kilometers wide. How do we know where the spy will escape from?"


    "Chief of staff," I said decisively, pointing to Lutsk''s position after carefully examining the distance between Rovno and the German occupied areas, "if the spy wants to enter the German occupied area, go in the nearest direction of Lutsk."


    "But how did he get into Lutsk?" Sokolovsky didn''t seem to agree with my judgment. Instead, he asked, "you know, these areas are tightly blocked by our army, and he can''t get through."


    "It''s very simple," I shrugged, and then said, "there are only two ways for a spy to go back to the Germans through our defense area: one is to pretend to be a scout, and the other is to continue to use his journalist identity."


    "Where fighting is about to break out, even if we use the identity of a reporter, we can''t get through our defense zone." "I think he will pass through our defense area as a scout," konev interrupted


    "I see. I''ll call general pokhov of Lutsk immediately and ask them to forbid anyone to pass through our defense area and go to the enemy''s occupied area." With that, sokolovsky went to the phone on his desk, ready to call general pokhov, commander of the 13th army.


    When sokolovsky called, kleinukov asked uneasily: "Comrade lunev, are you sure that the contents of the spies you arrested are true?"


    Lunev looked at kleinukov for a moment, then asked in a cold voice, "Comrade military commissar, do you doubt the ability of our Ministry of interior?"


    When I heard lunev''s question, I couldn''t help laughing. I said that the Ministry of internal affairs is equivalent to the Russian version of the royal guards. It seems that no one who has entered the royal guards has been able to carry it to the end. The 18 kinds of torture have not been used up. What should be said and what shouldn''t be said have been honestly said. I think the captured spy enjoyed this treatment, so he confessed truthfully. Seeing that kleinukov didn''t dare to answer his own words, lunev bit his back teeth and said, "no one dares to confess dishonestly when he is a spy in our Ministry of interior. So I think everything the spy said is true. " As soon as lunev''s words were finished, sokolovsky came over nervously and reported to konev, "Comrade marshal, general pokhov said that half an hour ago, a scout passed through the defense line of Lutsk and went to the German occupied area. I think this should be the person we are looking for." Konev smashed his fist on the table and said angrily, "hell, it''s a step too slow for him to escape."¡° Marshal, I don''t think it will take long for the enemy to get our attack plan. " Sokolovsky suggested to konev: "we should report this matter to the supreme command immediately, postpone the attack time, redeploy troops and adjust the attack direction at the same time."¡° No, it can''t be. " Hearing the advice given by sokolovsky to konev, I quickly retorted: "almost all our troops have entered the attack position. If we make adjustments at this time, it is bound to cause unnecessary confusion. I firmly do not agree to modify the attack plan."¡° But our plan has been known by the Germans. If we don''t make adjustments, the enemy can take targeted counter actions. " Sokolovsky said anxiously: "our troops will suffer huge casualties at that time."¡° Rita, "konev looked up at me and asked as usual," if the Germans get our attack plan, how do we deal with it? "¡° Marshal, in fact, my method is very simple, "I replied with a smile," since our troops have entered the attack position, we should launch the attack ahead of time. In this way, even if the German army gets our attack plan, they have no time to adjust their defense. "

 Chapter 1554

    "It''s too much involved for me to make my own decisions." It took only a few seconds for konev to make a decision: "I need to report to Comrade Stalin immediately."


    While konev was calling Stalin, I approached lunev and asked in a low voice, "Comrade lunev, what happened to the two German spies who pretended to be journalists? Has it been lurking inside us all the time, or has it been infiltrated with fake documents? "


    "The documents they use are real." When lunev finished, he saw a look of surprise on my face and quickly went back and said, "these two men parachuted to the rear of our army two nights ago. They were studying how to get into Rovno. On the way, they met two reporters driving from Moscow. They killed the reporter, robbed the interview car, replaced the photos on the certificate with their own photos, and swaggered into Rovno. "


    "Didn''t our soldiers examine them carefully when they entered the city?" When sokolovsky heard this, he could not help frowning and asked, "so that they could easily get into the city?"


    Lunev turned to look at sokolovsky and said calmly: "Comrade chief of staff, our soldiers not only carefully checked their documents, but also specially called the Political Department of the front army to ask them to check with the Moscow newspaper. Confirm that the other party did send two reporters to us to interview, and then let them into the Rovno


    "Comrade chief of staff, in order to find out our deployment, the enemy will certainly try every means to infiltrate the city." Just after the phone call, konev came over from his desk and said to us, "our soldiers are very vigilant. Unfortunately, the enemy is too cunning, so they managed to sneak into the city in the end."


    "Comrade marshal." I took a look at the phone on my desk and asked konev curiously, "have you reported the change of attack time to the Supreme Commander?"


    "Yes, I have reported to Comrade Stalin about the change of attack time." Konev said helplessly: "but he didn''t express any opinions, neither that he could advance, nor that he couldn''t. Just a simple sentence: wait! Then he hung up


    "What does Comrade Stalin mean by that?" Sokolovsky frowned and asked, "does he have to consult with the rest of the staff headquarters before answering us?"


    "At present, vasilevsky is commanding operations in the front army along the Baltic Sea, and there are only Antonov and Ivanov who are not in charge of the staff headquarters." Konev said: "according to my analysis, comrade Stalin would not discuss such an important matter with them."


    "Comrade marshal, what should we do now?" Sokolovsky asked helplessly.


    Konev shrugged, spread his hands, said with a bitter smile, "what else can we do, we can only wait." Then he raised his hand, looked at his watch, and continued, "it''s late. We''ll have dinner here and wait for Comrade Stalin''s reply."


    "Comrade marshal, do you need to prepare the commanders of the group army?" "I''m afraid Comrade Stalin''s reply is too late for our troops to prepare," sokolovsky said


    As for sokolovsky''s proposal, konev walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. After a long time, he replied, "well, in order to give the troops enough time to prepare for the war, chief of staff, you call the commanders of the group army and order them to prepare for all the battles."


    "Do you need to tell them why?" Sokolovsky continued.


    This problem of sokolovsky baffled konev. Tell the commanders below the truth, if Stalin does not agree with our advance attack, it will make the commanders below have bad ideas; If you don''t tell them the truth, I''m afraid they won''t pay attention to the order of the headquarters of the front army. After thinking about it for a while, konev looked at me and asked, "Rita, you mentioned the attack ahead of time. What do you think we should do now?"


    "I think it''s better not to tell the truth to the commanders of various army groups for the time being." When I finished this sentence, I saw that sokolovsky''s mouth was open, as if he wanted to say something, and then quickly said: "according to the information we have, the German army may launch an attack on our position tonight or tomorrow morning. In order to crush the German army''s attack, all the units have quickly entered our defensive position and made all preparations for counterattack."


    "Yes, that''s it." As soon as I finished my speech, konev expressed his support. He turned to sokolovsky and said, "Comrade chief of staff, just follow Rita''s words and let our troops be ready for all battles before ten o''clock tonight."


    In this way, the order to let the troops enter the defensive position and prepare for the counterattack was sent to the troops by telegraph in a few minutes.


    After that, sokolovsky breathed a sigh of relief, and then said, "well, the order has been sent to the troops, and now we can have dinner in peace."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    At ten o''clock in the evening, sokolovsky put the telegrams from the following army groups in front of konev and said respectfully, "Comrade marshal, all our troops have entered the designated positions."


    "Good." Konev glanced at the telegram before, then raised his head to sokolovsky and said, "Comrade chief of staff, there is nothing to do now anyway. You can tell us about the deployment of the offensive campaign and see if there is anything to repair."


    Sokolovsky, who had just sat down, stood up again, looked at konev and said, "Comrade marshal, the offensive campaign we plan to launch can be called" the battle of Lvov sandomeri "...."


    "Wait a minute, comrade sokolovsky." As soon as sokolovsky spoke, he was interrupted by konev: "we all know about the task of this offensive campaign. Vasili danilovich, you can start directly from the campaign plan we have made! "


    Sokolovsky bent slightly, pointed to the map on the table, and continued: "in this attack, we will carry out fierce assault in two directions at the same time: on the right wing, the mechanized cavalry troops under the command of the 3rd group army, the 13th group army, the 1st group army of the tank and lieutenant general baranov will carry out assault in the direction of Russian lava in the luzk region; In the central government, three groups of arms, including the 38th and 60th group armies and the 5th group army of the guards, were combined to form a group army, two tank group armies (and cavalry mechanized troops under the command of lieutenant general Sokolov) and raided the general direction of Lvov from the area of jernopol. In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the offensive campaign, the first group army and the 18th group army of the guards will carry out auxiliary attacks on Stanislav and drogbech on the left wing of the front army. "


    Among the people present, only lunev, an outsider, didn''t know the specific battle plan. So when he heard this, he couldn''t help asking: "Comrade chief of staff, what about our air force group? Can they provide the necessary air cover for our offensive forces? "


    "In this campaign, there will be two air force groups providing air support to our offensive forces." Sokolovsky pointed to the map and introduced to lunev: "there are four air forces in the North cluster under the command of the commander of the 8th group army of the air force, which provide air support in the direction of Rava, Russia; And the five air forces in the central cluster under the command of the commander of the second group army of the air force will fight in the direction of Lvov. "


    "Great, it''s just great." "I don''t think the Germans will be able to stop us in the face of such a strong attack," said lunev, beaming with joy. By the way, how many troops have we put into the battle this time, 600000? "


    Hearing this question from lunev, konev said with a smile: "Comrade lunev, in this offensive campaign, we will invest 80 infantry divisions, 10 tank troops and mechanized troops, 4 independent tank brigades and mechanized brigades. A total of 1.2 million people, 13900 artillery and mortars, 2200 tanks and self-propelled artillery, and more than 3000 aircraft. "


    After lamenting the strength of the front army, lunev suddenly said, "how come Comrade Stalin has not answered up to now? I don''t know if he agrees with us to attack ahead of time?"


    It turned out that everyone was still smiling. When they heard what lunev said, their faces became serious. My heart is also murmuring, why Stalin did not give us a reply, what is he waiting for?


    Just then, the telephone on the desk rang. All of us were attracted by the ringing tone. Konev jumped up from his seat. As soon as the phone rang for the second time, he grabbed the earphone and stuck it to his ear and said respectfully, "I''m konev."


    "Hello, marshal konev!" Although the conference table we are sitting at is still a certain distance away from the office table, because the room is extremely quiet, I can clearly hear the voice coming from the earphone, which is boskelebeshev saying: "now please talk to Comrade Stalin."


    A moment later, I heard Stalin''s familiar voice in the earphone: "Hello, comrade konev. What are you doing now? "


    Konev snapped to attention, then replied respectfully, "report Comrade Stalin, we are waiting for your reply."


    "What do the members of your command think?" Stalin asked slowly..


    Konev took a look at us and then replied decisively, "Comrade Stalin, after our research, we all agree that the only way is to launch an attack ahead of time when the battle plan has been leaked, so as to catch the German troops by surprise before they have finished the adjustment."


    "According to the information we have," Stalin said slowly, "at present, the German army has begun to mobilize troops deployed on the Romanian border. It seems that they are strengthening the defense in the direction of Lvov." After he had said this, he was silent, as if waiting for konev to understand his intention.


    "I see, comrade Stalin." Konev, an old subordinate of Stalin, understood the intention expressed in his words almost without any time: "our attack will be advanced to 4 a.m. tomorrow. After the bombers leave, we will use artillery to attack the enemy''s positions."


    "Good," Stalin said shortly after konev finished, "I''m waiting for your good news." Konev walked back to the table, his face filled with joy. He put his hands on the edge of the table, leaned forward slightly, and said to us, "comrades commander, comrade Stalin has agreed that we should attack ahead of time. The attack will start at four o''clock tomorrow morning After we digested the news, he told sokolovsky: "Comrade chief of staff, immediately call general krasovsky, commander of the second group army of the air force, and general kheliukin, commander of the eighth group army of the air force, and order the air force to set out at 3:50 a.m. to bomb the German defensive positions." Hearing konev''s order, sokolovsky quickly recorded it in his book. Konev continued: "as soon as four o''clock arrived in the morning, the artillery of the front army was ordered to fire on the marked German positions at the same time. The shelling will last about two hours. It is necessary to destroy those fortifications that have been detected by our army as far as possible and clear the way for the attacking troops. "¡° Marshal, "after hearing konev''s order, sokolovsky stopped his pen, looked up and said with some embarrassment," because the work of the logistics department is focused on the direction of Belarus, the number of shells added to us is limited. Nowadays, many cannons have only two bases. If we carry out shelling for as long as two hours, then in the next attack, I''m afraid the artillery will not be able to provide the necessary artillery support for the infantry. "¡° Comrade chief of staff, "when he heard sokolovsky''s question, konev said with disapproval," as long as we can break through the German defense line, even if all the shells are shot, it''s no big deal. Even without the support of artillery, our infantry can also get the support of tanks and air force. It should be no problem to break through the German defense line. "¡° Well, comrade marshal. " Listen to konev said so, sokolovsky had no choice but to reply: "I will give your order to the artillery." Konev raised his hand, looked at his watch and urged sokolovsky to say, "chief of staff, it''s getting late. Immediately give the order of advance attack to the commanders of the group army, so that they can make preparations as soon as possible. When the artillery preparation is finished in the early morning of tomorrow, they will launch an impact on the German position."

 Chapter 1555

    Due to the time constraint, we were unable to gather all the commanders of the group army for a meeting. Instead, we had to send the orders to all the units by telegraph. These commanders who received two important orders in one day, in order to verify the order, called the headquarters one after another to verify. For a moment, several telephones in the room kept ringing one after another. We all temporarily acted as the operator to explain to the commander who called.


    It took an hour to explain to the commanders of the army groups. After confirming the authenticity of the orders, commanders at all levels made preparations to their troops one after another.


    After answering the phone, konev asked sokolovsky to set up a communication room in the hut next to the conference room. In this way, we can understand what happened on the front line in the shortest time; At the same time, it can also transmit the orders issued by konev to all units in the shortest time.


    Ten minutes before the battle, two commanders of the air force group called one after another and reported to konev, "Comrade marshal, our air force has been deployed!"


    After listening to the other party''s report, konev nodded casually and said calmly, "well, I see."


    When the pointer pointed to four o''clock, konev turned to sokolovsky, nodded at him, and then said, "Comrade chief of staff, let''s go!"


    After receiving konev''s order, sokolovsky, who had been holding the microphone, immediately said loudly to the microphone, "marshal, order, the artillery of the front army to open fire!"


    The position of the headquarters is far away from the front line, so we have no chance to see or hear either the air force''s bombing or the artillery''s artillery preparation. We can only understand the progress of the campaign through the battle reports of the front line troops.


    According to the plan, two hours of artillery preparation should be carried out before the ground forces launch an attack. However, due to the limited number of shells in reserve, the actual shelling only stopped after more than half an hour. The troops deployed in the direction of Lutsk, with the strength of one division, launched an impact on the defensive position of the 291st infantry division of the German army.


    Although the German army mastered our army''s operational plan, they did not expect that we would launch an attack one day in advance, so they were caught off guard. The 120th Infantry Division was the main attacker. It took only ten minutes to break into the German defensive position and launch a fierce battle with them.


    When he received the report, konev was still stunned. He shook the report with his hand, frowned and said: "according to our reconnaissance, in addition to the 291st infantry division, the 72nd and 88th infantry divisions are deployed here. But now, with only one division, we can easily break into the German defense. Do you think the German has any conspiracy? "


    "I think there''s a problem. Our attack went too well." As soon as konev''s words were finished, sokolovsky added: "according to the previous wargame deduction, to break through the first line of defense of the German army, we need to invest at least five divisions and spend at least one day. Now we can easily break through the first line of defense of the German army by sending only one division, which is absolutely problematic. I suggest that the 120th division suspend its attack and build a line of defense in place until the following troops arrive. "


    After hearing sokolovsky''s words, I saw konev''s face showing hesitation. He was afraid that on impulse, he agreed to the other side''s proposal, ordered the troops to suspend the attack, and said, "marshal, I think the attack can''t be stopped, except that the 120th division of the concession army continued to move forward after breaking through the German defense, At the same time, the second echelon should also be put into combat. "


    "Rita," konev asked solemnly, turning his head at me, "don''t you think the situation on the battlefield is too abnormal? The strength of the enemy''s resistance is far lower than we imagined. Maybe they just want to contain our main force and then launch a counterattack from other directions. "


    While trying to recall the history I knew, I cautiously replied, "marshal, I feel that the German army, knowing that our army is about to launch a large-scale attack, decisively took measures to deal with it, that is, to withdraw their main forces from the first line of positions, to the second line of Defense, and to deploy counter forces in the front of the defense."


    "What shall we do now?" Sokolovsky asked as soon as I finished.


    I went to the map on the wall, pointed to koweli to the west of Lutsk and said, "if the German resistance here is very weak, it proves that they have withdrawn the 72nd and 88th infantry divisions to the second defense zone, and the 291st infantry division is the rear army they left behind. What we can do now is to take advantage of the weak German first line of defense to invest more troops and intensify the offensive. In addition to leaving enough troops to eliminate the enemy in this area, the rest of the troops will continue to attack the second line of defense. "


    I thought I would immediately get konev''s approval for my point of view, but he shook his head and said, "Rita, what you said is your judgment. We can''t take risks." He then told sokolovsky: "chief of staff, let the 76th infantry army immediately fight, cooperate with the 120th infantry division to eliminate the enemy in this area, and strengthen the fortifications in this area, so as to make it a new starting point for our attack."


    Although konev also put the second echelon into the battle in his order, he abandoned my bold suggestions and adopted a steady strategy. When I heard sokolovsky''s order, I could only sigh a little, saying that such an arrangement would let us miss the opportunity.


    While the battle in the direction of koweli was fierce, the battle in the direction of attacking Lvov was also in full swing. However, the attack in this direction had long been expected by the Germans, so after a fierce battle in the morning, our troops launched three attacks and were beaten back without even approaching the enemy''s position.


    The attack in the direction of Lvov is not smooth, we can only place all our hopes on koweli in the north. Fortunately, after the 76th infantry army entered the battlefield, the 291st infantry division of the German army was unable to support. By noon, the 504th and 506th regiments of the division should have been unable to resist the attack of our army and began to retreat to the rear.


    Just then, Stalin called from Moscow and asked konev about the battle. I was standing by konev''s side at that time, so I could hear Stalin''s question clearly: "Hey, comrade konev, your offensive campaign has been going on for eight hours. I don''t know what kind of results you have achieved now?"


    I saw konev raise his hand to wipe the sweat on his forehead, and then cautiously replied, "Comrade Stalin, the situation is not ideal. The attack in the direction of Lvov was met with tenacious resistance from the German army. So far, our army has not been able to approach the German defensive position for the time being. "


    "What about the covelli direction?" When Stalin heard this, he asked in an emphatic tone, "can''t and haven''t been close to the German position?"


    "The situation on the koweli side is slightly better," konev said with a relaxed expression on his face when referring to koweli: "the 120th infantry division and the 76th infantry of the 3rd group army of the close guard who participated in the attack have broken through the first line of defense of the German army and are trying to expand the breakthrough."


    "Comrade konev," Stalin asked discontentedly, "can you put the echelons behind you into battle at this time?"


    "I don''t think that''s going to work." Konev replied somewhat flustered: "because our attack is 24 hours ahead of schedule, many troops are unable to reach the designated attack position for the time being. In this case, we can only rely on the existing forces to fight for the first line of defense of the German army. "


    "So it is. I see." Stalin said faintly, "I hope to hear your good news soon." With that, he hung up without waiting for konev to speak.


    Konev put down the phone and asked sokolovsky, "chief of staff, how long will it take for the right-wing forces to clear the first line of defense?"


    "Comrade marshal, it''s hard to say." Sokolovsky replied with some embarrassment: "although our attack has forced the two German regiments to withdraw from the fighting, it may take several hours or even longer to eliminate the enemy in this area."


    After listening to sokolovsky''s reply, konev walked back and forth in the room, then stopped and said, "chief of staff, give an order immediately. Except that the 120th Infantry Division will continue to stay in place to eliminate the enemy, the rest of the troops will attack the second German defense line westward."


    "That''s not good, comrade marshal." Hearing this order from konev, sokolovsky immediately gently reminded: "although there is only one German regiment left in the position, if we don''t annihilate them all, we will directly attack the second line of defense. Once we are attacked by the German army, our retreat may be cut off by this German army."


    "Isn''t there the 120th infantry division? I believe they have the ability to eliminate this enemy." As for sokolovsky''s worry, konev waved his hand and said in a somewhat dispirited manner: "if I had just adopted Rita''s suggestion and left a part of my troops to deal with the 291st division of the German army, and the main force directly rushed to the enemy''s second line of defense, maybe the situation would be different from what it is now."


    It''s a pity that there is no regret medicine in the world. At this moment, konev found that my original proposal was very effective. His new decision can only try his best to remedy the mistakes in front. We all hope that the German army has no time to build a stronger defense in the second defense, so that we still have the chance to break through their second defense.


    The results of the 76th infantry army, which rushed to the second line of defense, were almost negligible. Before the commanders and fighters could get a firm foothold, they were driven out by the enemy who fought back madly. Seeing that the situation was unfavourable to him, the commander of the army asked for instructions from his superiors. He temporarily stopped the attack, established a defense in place, and waited for the opportunity to launch another attack.


    Soon after the news of the defeat came, the 120th infantry division cleared the first line of defense and the enemy''s battle report came back. After reading the war report, sokolovsky gave a wry smile and said with a strong smile: "Comrade commander, although we said that today''s attack in the direction of Lvov was not smooth, we have achieved a lot in koweli. Our troops overcame the main German defense zone and cleared the remnant enemy in the area, advancing eight kilometers in 16 hours, It''s a great victory. "


    After sokolovsky finished speaking, konev said, "chief of staff, our commanders and fighters have been fighting for a whole day. They should be very tired. Let them stop attacking for the time being and rest in place. It''s not too late to attack the enemy tomorrow." When I heard konev''s command, I thought to myself, if I were the commander of the front army, what should I do in this situation? It is like konev, let the troops pause the attack and rest in place; We should organize another attack to see if we can break through the second defense of the German army. After commanding sokolovsky, konev saw me silent and asked curiously, "Rita, what are you thinking? Do you have different views on my command?"¡° Marshal, "after a fierce ideological struggle, I felt it was a bit too bad to give up the attack at this time, so I spoke decisively to konev and said," according to the report of the Artillery Force, they have replenished two bases of ammunition during the day. Do you think it is possible to order them to bombard the second line of defense of the German army, What about another wave of attacks by the troops that cover us? "¡° Tell me your reason, Rita "Why continue to attack the German army?" konev asked noncommittally¡° Comrade marshal, although the attack we launched today caught the Germans by surprise, we have not achieved any ideal results today because of their tenacious defense. " I looked at konev and solemnly explained my reason, "if we don''t attack all night, we will give the Germans a breathing space, and they can use the night time to mobilize troops and reinforce fortifications. In that case, when we attack again tomorrow, we will encounter more tenacious defense."¡° Yes, marshal. I think the deputy commander is right. " As soon as I finished, sokolovsky echoed: "if the Germans really use the night to mobilize troops and strengthen defense, it will cause more trouble to our attack tomorrow, so I think we should launch another round of attack on the German defensive positions."

 Chapter 1556

    When the artillery bombarded the German second line of defense with heavy artillery fire, konev suddenly said to sokolovsky: "chief of staff, after our artillery fire preparation is over, we will immediately put the tank troops deployed in the front into battle, and let them guide the infantry to break through the German defense."


    "Marshal," after listening to the order given by konev, sokolovsky could not help but be surprised, and then euphemistically said: "according to the order of the supreme command, the mechanized cluster of tank group army and cavalry should not be used to implement the breakthrough, but should be used to expand the results after breaking through the German defense."


    What has the final say of Comrade Sokolovski? "I saw the fact that when he saw his refutation of his proposal, Konev''s face showed a displeased expression. He waved at the other side and said with dissatisfaction," I am the commander of the front army. What time and in what area do I use the tank forces? Do you understand? "


    "Yes, comrade marshal." As chief of staff, although sokolovsky was very clear that konev''s deployment was in conflict with the order issued by the supreme command, he replied decisively after a short hesitation: "I''ll call general katukov and order him to send tank troops to cooperate with our new round of attack."


    Although I haven''t expressed my opinion, I don''t think much of the order given by konev. You know, according to the war report just now, I know that in front of the German second line of defense, there are not only concrete piers, tripods and insurmountable anti tank trenches specially used to block the advance of tanks, but also the 72nd and 88th infantry divisions which are retreating from the first line of defense. The obstacles everywhere and the infantry division that didn''t receive any loss made our attack more difficult.


    After the shelling, the infantry of the 76th infantry army, under the cover of a tank brigade sent by katukov, launched an attack on the second German line of defense where the smoke of gunfire had not yet dispersed.


    Seeing our offensive troops charging towards their positions under the cover of 78 or 80 tanks, the German commander immediately called the artillery deployed in the rear and ordered them to block and shoot our tanks.


    After receiving the order, the German artillery immediately intercepted and fired on our attacking troops. After several rounds of shelling, many galloping tanks were immediately hit by bullets and caught fire. After driving a hard distance, they stopped burning on the battlefield. However, the tank soldiers who escaped from the smoky tanks spread their feet and ran back. Although many tanks were destroyed by the German artillery fire, the remaining tanks were still moving at full speed, stopping for a short time to fight back.


    But the tanks soon found that their way forward was blocked by dense concrete piers and tripods. In this case, they can only stop and fire at the enemy''s position to provide fire support for the following infantry.


    The infantry charging behind the tanks were also intercepted by German artillery. From time to time, the air waves of explosion lifted our commanders and fighters into the air, and the human body in the air was torn to pieces by the flying shrapnel, and then scattered from the air. Although the artillery fire caused great casualties to our army''s commanders and fighters, they just went through the artillery area in the fierce bombardment of the enemy, crossed the tanks in front of the obstacles, and rushed to the German defensive positions.


    Seeing our officers and men pass the barrier, the German soldiers hiding in the fortification began to shoot. In the dense rain of bullets, the impact of the formation burst out all over the sky of blood fog. The whirring bullets and flying fragments pierce their bodies and tear their flesh and blood. The blood spills on the bodies and faces of the people nearby. The wounded flesh and blood shakes in the rain of bullets. The corpse is like a broken pocket thrown out and overturned under the impact of bullets, but the living commanders and fighters are still howling to launch the impact.


    Although the commanders and fighters of our army were brave and tenacious, an hour later, general gordov, commander of the third group army of the close guard, reported to konev: "Comrade marshal, the attack of our 76th infantry army on the second line of defense of the German army ended in failure."


    I saw konev''s hand shaking slightly and his face muscles twitching violently after listening to gordov''s report. I don''t think he expected that the second attack he launched would get such a result. However, he soon regained his composure and said in his usual voice, "Comrade General, first withdraw our troops, let them have a good night''s rest, and then attack tomorrow."


    As soon as konev put down the phone, he immediately called sokolovsky in front of him and asked him anxiously, "chief of staff, when will our successor troops enter the attack position?"


    Sokolovsky looked at him and replied with a bitter smile: "Comrade marshal, if we didn''t launch the attack one day in advance, all the attacking troops would arrive at the attack position at ten o''clock tonight. But because we consumed all the shells in the early morning shelling today, in order to replenish the shells as soon as possible, our logistics department had to change the trains and cars originally prepared to transport the troops to transport shells, and the troops could only take the way of walking to the designated position. "


    "No, comrade chief of staff, it is impossible to do so." Listening to sokolovsky''s words, konev said angrily: "many of the troops participating in the attack are stationed at a distance of 1200 kilometers. If they take the way of walking, it will take them at least three to four days to get to the designated position, which will cause trouble. You see, it''s going to be a mistake! "


    Facing konev''s reproach, sokolovsky replied with a bitter smile: "marshal, I understand what you mean. However, there is no way now. The advance attack disrupts our advance deployment. If all means of transport are used to transport troops, then weapons and ammunition will not be transported to the front line in time. "


    After listening to sokolovsky''s explanation, konev looked at me and asked tentatively, "Rita, do you have any good idea?"


    "Marshal," the problem that makes konev and sokolovsky headache is nothing to me. Since konev is asking me for advice at the moment, I naturally know everything and say everything: "I don''t think it''s necessary to transport artillery shells with the transport tools that are ready to transport troops."


    "But, comrade oshanina," sokolovsky interrupted me before I finished. He said unconvinced, "what kind of transportation should we use to transport artillery shells?"


    "Chief of staff, don''t interrupt. Listen to Rita." Konev may be afraid of sokolovsky disturbing my thinking, quickly stopped him, and then said to me: "you continue to talk."


    I nodded to konev with a smile and continued: "in fact, we can use civilian vehicles to transport the shells urgently needed at the front line. As far as I know, with the resumption of factories in the city, there are a large number of civilian vehicles available to us. "


    "Is it OK to transport shells in civilian vehicles?" Konev listened to me with a worried expression on his face: "it will take us a lot of time to organize so many civilian vehicles. If the organization is not good, it will even cause confusion. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade marshal." As for konev''s worries, I said with a smile: "there is no need to send a special person to organize. We just need to inform the leaders of the local authorities and enterprises that we are in urgent need of shells on the front line, but there is a lack of transport vehicles, and they will provide help for us. Just tell them where to load the shells and where to send them


    "Ridiculous. This is ridiculous." As soon as I finished speaking, sokolovsky began to refute me: "how can we let civilian vehicles into our ammunition depot? In case one or two saboteurs get into the ammunition depot, just throw a grenade, it will cause us huge losses."


    "Yes, Rita." After listening patiently to sokolovsky''s worries, konev looked at me with a worried face and asked, "what should we do if there are German spies sneaking into our arsenal to do damage?"


    This method I put forward is not the product of my slapping my head, but a real thing happened in the early 1980s. In order to support the needs of artillery shells in the war of the Chinese army, military vehicles and various local vehicles gathered in the ammunition depot of Jianshui, and the army and the people worked together to transport artillery shells for Laoshan front. So I said confidently, "don''t worry, marshal. I think it''s extremely unlikely that the Germans will sneak into the armory and do damage. But to be on the safe side, it''s up to you to decide whether to adopt my suggestion. "


    Konev stood up and walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back. For a long time, he did not express his opinion. Sokolovsky was a little worried when he saw that konev never made a statement: "Comrade marshal, what should we do? Most of the fighting forces are still marching on the road. It is estimated that they will not be able to enter the attack position at noon tomorrow if the means of transportation are not solved. "


    After hearing sokolovsky''s words, konev finally stopped, first looked at him, then turned his eyes to me, and asked in a stern tone, "Rita, do you really think it won''t be a problem to do this?"


    "Comrade marshal," to tell you the truth, although my proposal is inspired by the real events of later generations, I am not sure whether it is applicable in this era. However, since konev specifically asked me, I can only reply with a stiff head: "in the current situation, we can only take risks. Please call Comrade Khrushchev immediately, ask him to call the leaders of various cities, and ask local vehicles to help our army transport urgently needed shells. "


    "What should I say to Comrade Khrushchev?" My words moved konev, but he hesitated and said, "what if he doesn''t agree to cooperate with us?"


    I struck while the iron was hot and said, "Comrade marshal, just say ''everything is for the front line''. Perhaps in this way, comrade Khrushchev will agree to our bold request."


    "Well, Rita, since you say that, I''ll call Khrushchev." Konev finally made up his mind, he said: "if anything goes wrong, if the superior wants to investigate, I will bear it independently." With that, he picked up the phone from his desk and dialed Kiev.


    When Khrushchev heard konev''s request, he was stunned and then asked, "marshal, if I am not wrong, is the idea of letting civilian vehicles transport shells for you put forward by Rita?"


    Konev looked at me, then replied with a smile, "Comrade Khrushchev, you are right. It is Lida who put forward this plan. Well, would you like to help us? "


    Perhaps Khrushchev knew that I had proposed this plan, so he readily agreed: "well, marshal konev, I will immediately call the leaders of the following cities and ask them to send enough civilian vehicles to fully cooperate with you in transporting the shells urgently needed at the front line."


    "Thank you, thank you, comrade Khrushchev." Konev didn''t expect that Khrushchev had so readily agreed to his request. He said excitedly: "on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the first front army of Ukraine, thank you."¡° You are welcome, marshal. " Khrushchev replied politely: "everything we do for the front line is to defeat the Communist aggressors." After konev and Khrushchev reached a consensus, they asked sokolovsky to inform the logistics department that the transportation of shells was completed by local civilian vehicles, and the original means of transportation were still used to transport our combat troops. Two hours later, the logistics department called and reported to konev that the vehicle originally intended to transport ammunition had carried our army officers and men to the front line. At the moment, at the door of the ammunition depot, there are endless civilian vehicles waiting to transfer the shells to the forward artillery positions. Konev''s face broke into a smile when he heard the news reported by the logistics department. After he put down the phone, he said to me, "Rita, it seems that your method is very effective. At present, the troops on foot have successively boarded cars and rushed to the front line; The vehicles sent by the factories and mines have lined up at the gate of the ammunition depot, waiting for the shells to be loaded and transported to the front line. "¡° My God After listening to konev''s words, sokolovsky asked suspiciously: "those drivers who go to transport shells, won''t they complain?"¡° Chief of staff, you''re worried. " Konev said to sokolovsky with a smile: "when the superior assigned the task of transporting shells to various factories and mines, the drivers not only didn''t have any complaints, but also rushed to carry out this glorious task. It seems that before dawn, not only will our follow-up troops be able to enter the designated positions, but even the artillery will need a satisfactory number of shells. "

 Chapter 1557

    With the full cooperation of local transport vehicles, by daybreak, the artillery shells on each artillery position were piled up like a mountain, enough to cope with two days of high-density shelling.


    After receiving the news, konev could not help but be overjoyed. He said to us with a smile, "comrades, since our artillery has sufficient ammunition, we can let the Germans taste the power of our artillery." Speaking of this, he turned his eyes to sokolovsky, "chief of staff, our main attack direction today is koweli in the north. We ordered the artillery of the second echelon to move forward, and the artillery of the first echelon deployed in the front to bombard the German defensive positions at the same time."


    "Marshal," as soon as konev''s words were finished, military commissar kleinukov broke in and said, "at present, the artillery density of our army in the direction of keweli has reached about 100 guns per kilometer. I don''t think it''s necessary to increase it any more."


    "Comrade military commissar," konev said to him with a smile, "Comrade Stalin once said: artillery is the God of war. Although the artillery density of our army in the direction of kewali has reached 100 guns per kilometer, I think it is far from enough. Now that we have enough shells, we should send more artillery troops up to beat up the German defense. "


    After konev finished speaking, I echoed: "Comrade military commissar, marshal konev is right. Since we have enough shells, it is absolutely necessary to increase the density of forward artillery. The great success of the battle of Belarus was due to the large and concentrated use of artillery. As far as I know, the average density of artillery is 150-200 guns and mortars per kilometer in front of each breakthrough area of the front army. "


    "Chief of staff, give orders to the troops below." Konev raised his hand and looked at his watch, adding: "it''s four o''clock in the morning, and our artillery should carry out intensive shelling on the German defensive positions at eight o''clock in the morning."


    As soon as sokolovsky walked away, the phone in front of konev rang. I thought it was Stalin. I was afraid that I could not listen to the conversation between him and konev, so I went to the conference table not far away. As a result, just after two steps, he was stopped by konev at the back: "Rita, you don''t have to avoid. The phone is from Khrushchev."


    After that, he said with a smile to the microphone, "Comrade Khrushchev, on behalf of me, please express my sincere thanks to the drivers who participated in the transportation last night. Without their help, our artillery would not be able to hoard so much ammunition overnight. "


    "Comrade konev, you are very kind." Khrushchev also said with a relaxed mood: "in order to defeat the Communist aggressors and completely drive them out of our land, we have only done what we can. By the way, I would like to ask, "what is the current situation on the battlefield and what achievements have been made?"


    Because of Khrushchev''s special identity, konev did not hide this question from him, but truthfully replied: "the situation is not very good. In yesterday''s battle, our army broke through the German first line of defense in the direction of koweli and pushed forward eight kilometers; In the direction of Lvov, no progress has been made. "


    "What about the direction of the Carpathians?" Khrushchev asked, "as far as I know, your front army and the second front army have deployed several army groups there. Have they exchanged fire with the Germans?"


    "Not yet." Konev looked at me and then said, "because Rita feigned in the area in the early stage, misleading the German army''s judgment and making them think that our army''s primary attack direction was there, they deployed the campaign reserve - the third armored force in that direction."


    Hearing what konev said, Khrushchev said in an appreciative tone: "it seems that the deception tactics carried out by Rita are quite effective. They have confused the excellent German commanders like model. Did you exchange fire with the German armored forces in yesterday''s battle? "


    "The German armored division is deployed in the direction where our army may carry out assault, 15-20 km away from the front, as long as it is used to compete with our army for tactical defense range. They built 2-3 positions in the main defense zone with a depth of 4-6 km. Our army successfully occupied this area after a day of fierce fighting yesterday. " Konev carefully introduced the situation on the battlefield to Khrushchev: "the enemy''s second defense zone is set at a distance of 10-15 kilometers from the front, which will be the focus of our attack today. Only by seizing this place can we advance to their third defensive zone along the West Bank of the sibug and gnirayalipa rivers. "


    Long after konev and Khrushchev''s phone call, sokolovsky came back and reported to him, "Comrade marshal, I have given your order to the artillery commander in the direction of koweli. He said that the artillery of the second echelon could reach the designated position before eight o''clock. In this way, our artillery density in the direction of kewali can reach 200 gates per kilometer. "


    "Two hundred guns per kilometer?" Kraineukov was shocked by sokolovsky''s words. He said to konev in an unbelievable tone: "marshal, just a few months ago, we had less than 200 guns in a defensive area. Now, we can easily make the density of artillery reach 200 guns per kilometer in a certain attack area, which is just incredible. "


    "Comrade military commissar, this is because our army has become stronger." Konev confidently said: "I believe that under such intensive artillery fire, we will tear open the gap in the German defense position."


    As the time approached eight o''clock, sokolovsky, standing not far away, holding a microphone in his hand, respectfully asked konev, "Comrade marshal, the artillery commander called to ask if he could make preparations on time?"


    "Are the artillery in place?" Asked konev.


    Sokolovsky rushed to the microphone and asked, "have all the artillery units entered the designated positions?" After listening to the other party''s reply, he reported to konev, "there are about four artillery regiments and two rocket barracks still on the way."


    "The artillery is ready to go on time. As for those artillery units that have not yet reached the designated position, we will not wait for them for the time being." After konev finished this sentence, he stopped for a moment. In order not to let sokolovsky misunderstand his meaning, he added: "when they arrive at their destination, they should also quickly start to participate in the artillery preparation."


    Sokolovsky, after konev finished, rushed to the microphone and repeated konev''s words to the artillery commander at the other end of the phone.


    Due to the abundance of shells, the preparation for the artillery fire lasted for one and a half hours. More than 2000 guns bombarded the German second defense zone at the same time, and the firepower density was as high as six rounds per second. Not only were the German anti tank obstacles in front of the positions removed, but also the fortifications on their main positions were seriously damaged.


    As soon as the shelling of howitzers and cannons was over, there were more than a dozen close guard rocket barracks covering the German positions with thousands of rockets. When the artillery began to extend their firepower to suppress the targets in depth, three red signal bombs rose above our position, which were signals of attack.


    Seeing the signal of the attack, the 76th infantry of the 3rd group army of the close guard first launched the attack. Guided by the tanks of the 1st Brigade of the close guard tanks, they bravely rushed to the German position, shouting slogans.


    Two lines of defense were set up in the second defensive zone of the German army. However, due to our intensive artillery attack, when the enemy came out of the hidden bunker, it was found that not only the fire points were completely destroyed, but even the trenches were blown down. They can only seize the time to dig out one individual bunker after another with an engineering shovel, and then hide in it and shoot at our charge troops.


    However, today''s situation is different from yesterday''s. those anti tank obstacles in front of the fortifications were destroyed by artillery fire. Even the insurmountable anti tank trench was filled with floating soil and debris in the artillery fire. Our army''s tanks can easily pass through this area. The infantry in charge were hiding behind the tanks, and the damage from the sparse firepower of the German positions was very limited. Occasionally, two firepower points are revived, but the machine gun inside is often destroyed by the tank gun before even one shuttle is finished.


    The infantry of our army launched a charge at 9:30. At 10:00, there was a battle report in the front, saying that our army had already broken into the first line of defense, was cleaning up the remaining German troops in the area, and was preparing to attack the second line of defense.


    "That''s great. That''s... that''s great." Seeing such war reports, everyone in the headquarters was happy and full of confidence in the next battle. Konev kept the telegram in his hand and said to sokolovsky: "chief of staff, immediately forward this telegram to the headquarters of the staff, so that Moscow can see what we have achieved."


    Compared with konev, I was more calm. After all, I already knew the outcome of the ongoing campaign. What I can do now is to speed up the destruction of the German army according to my own historical knowledge. Therefore, when konev''s mood was a little more stable, I said to him, "marshal, although our main attack direction today is in koweli, we should also take the same violent action in the direction of Lvov and the Carpathian Mountains, so that the enemy can''t figure out which direction our main attack is and where it is, it''s just a containment action."


    "Rita, you have a point. I''ll call the artillery commanders in these two directions and ask them to fire on the German artillery positions, so that the enemy can''t tell where our main attack direction is." With that, he grabbed the phone in front of him and began to call the other two artillery commanders.


    When I watched konev give orders to the microphone, I thought to myself: if there is no plan I put forward, let civilian vehicles help us transport shells, then konev will command several directions at the same time, to bombard the German defensive positions? Certainly not, because there were not enough shells, he could only command the tanks to cover the infantry and attack the German defensive positions after a short period of artillery preparation.


    At noon, our army made great progress in the attack in the direction of kewali. After clearing the German army of the first line of defense, the troops of the third group army of the close guard launched an attack on the second line of defense.


    After reading the war report, I suggested to konev: "marshal, since we have made great progress in the direction of koweli, I suggest that the first group army of general katukov''s close guard tanks should be put into combat to prevent the German army from using armored forces to counter attack the breakthrough controlled by our army."


    "You are very considerate." After listening to me, konev immediately nodded his head and said, "so far, the German army has not used their armored division. I feel that modle will immediately send an armored division to counterattack the troops of the 3rd group army of the guards, so as to close the breach opened by our army. " Fortunately, my proposal to konev was timely. After receiving the order to attack, katukov immediately commanded his large army and rushed to the breach opened by our army. As soon as the front tank brigade arrived at the breach, it encountered the approaching German armored division. This is a tank war of equal strength. The German army has the advantage in quantity, while our army has the advantage in equipment. Although a small number of t-5455 caused huge casualties to German tanks, the rest of T-34 suffered heavy losses under the attack of German Tiger and enhanced version of No. 4 tank. However, the tank battle lasted only half an hour. As more and more Chinese tanks joined the battlefield, German tanks immediately fell below. Most of the more than 130 German tanks involved in the assault were destroyed by our army. The rest quickly opened the hatch and waved the white flag to surrender to our army. In order to show their sincerity, they also tilted the turret to one side. Only four or five tanks escaped. This kind of war report, immediately let us be jubilant. After reading the war report, sokolovsky said excitedly to konev, "Comrade marshal, I didn''t expect that an armored division of the German army would be destroyed without even holding on for an hour under our attack." Although konev was very happy, he was not dazzled by the victory. He calmly issued the latest combat order: "order the troops to speed up the attack and completely seize the German defense zone before dark."¡° Don''t worry, comrade marshal. " Sokolovsky said with some elation: "according to this method of play, there is no problem for our troops to seize the German second defensive zone before dark. If we are lucky, we may be able to attack the enemy''s third defensive zone. "

 Chapter 1558

    At the same time, the attacking forces in the direction of Lvov have entered their respective positions. I thought konev would push the boat forward and order the area to launch an attack at the same time, but after thinking for a long time, he told sokolovsky: "chief of staff, send a message to the commanders of the group army in the middle line, so that they can prepare for the attack at the existing position. When the artillery fire preparation is finished tomorrow morning, they will launch an attack in the direction of Lvov immediately."


    Hearing konev''s order, I hesitated for a moment, stopped sokolovsky who was going to give the order, and then said to konev solemnly: "marshal, I think since the troops in the middle line have reached the designated position, I can order them to attack immediately and attack the enemy in the direction of Lvov."


    "Rita, after a long march, our soldiers have become exhausted." Unexpectedly, konev directly denied my proposal: "if they are allowed to attack in a hurry, it may be difficult for them to fight for a long time. So I decided to let them rest for another night, and after they have recovered their strength, they can participate in the new attack


    I didn''t argue with konev when he insisted on his opinion. When sokolovsky went to issue an order to the midline troops, I made a new request to him: "marshal, I don''t know if you can transfer the close guard 18th army to take part in the attack in the midline area?"


    "No problem," konev agreed very readily this time: "the 18th army of general afuning''s close guard has been transferred back to the north of jernopol a few days ago, that is, their original garrison, and they can take part in the offensive battle of the middle line at any time."


    "Great, that''s great." When I heard that afuning''s troops had returned to the original defense area, my heart suddenly felt more secure. Even if I don''t look at the map, I know the area where they are stationed, where they can advance, attack and retreat, and defend. No matter whether the midline troops of our army are progressing smoothly or not, the troops of our army can achieve great results.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Early the next morning, after an hour and a half of artillery preparation, the 38th and 60th group armies adopted the tactics of advancing hand in hand and launched an attack in the direction of Lvov, which was heavily guarded by the German army.


    As soon as the battle started, the troops of the two army groups, who had been keeping up their energy, successfully broke through the German first defense zone and, on this basis, launched an attack on the enemy''s second defense zone.


    At first, it was very smooth, but with the strengthening of German resistance, our army''s offensive seemed to be weak. At that moment, the German army sent out two armored divisions to counter attack our attacking troops. The 38th army of general Moskalenko, who was the first to be attacked, lacked enough anti tank infantry divisions, and was immediately scattered by the German armored forces.


    After cutting off the contact between the vanguard and the second echelon of the 38th group army, the German armored division continued to rush forward with all its might towards the defensive depth of the 60th group army under the command of general kurotchkin. As our offensive troops had not yet established a defense after breaking through the German first defense zone, chaos inevitably appeared immediately after the German counterattack.


    After receiving the war report, konev said angrily: "waste, it''s just waste. The two army groups of kurozhkin and Moskalenko were unable to deal with the two German armored divisions. They destroyed the good situation. "


    Staring at the map on the table, I thought quickly: "although the vanguard forces of the two group armies contracted in time, they had fallen into the encirclement of the German defense forces and assault forces; And the troops of the second echelon were forced to retreat under the attack of the German army. "


    "Comrade marshal," I heard sokolovsky ask anxiously at this moment, "the offensive forces of the two group armies are now surrounded by the German army. If we don''t find a way, they may be more or less dangerous."


    "Chief of staff, what are you panicking about?" Konev took a look at sokolovsky and said flatly: "although we are involved in the offensive forces, several divisions are surrounded by German forces. However, due to the limited strength of the German army, their encirclement is not enough to trap our troops. The encircled troops only need to hold on for more than ten hours, and the troops of the second echelon can join them. "


    "Yes, comrade marshal, you are right." After listening to konev''s words, sokolovsky nodded and echoed: "in order to make the second echelon troops join the besieged troops as soon as possible, I suggest that the third group army of general rebalko''s close guard tanks be put into combat immediately."


    "Yes, I''ll call general rebalko." Konev nodded in agreement with sokolovsky''s suggestion. Then he picked up the phone on the table, dialed a number, waited for a while, and then said, "rebalko? I''m konev. At present, our attack in the direction of Lvov has encountered some problems. Two German armored divisions unexpectedly launched an attack from the left wing of the 38th and 60th group army, and successfully cut off the connection between the attacking forces and the second echelon. I order you to send out the main force immediately, cooperate with the troops of the second echelon, break through the German defense, and deal with the vanguard troops trapped in the front. Do you have any confidence? "


    Maybe rebalko gave him a positive answer. Konev said with a smile after hearing this: "well, general rebalko, I wish you victory first. I will wait for your good news all the time."


    Konev put down the phone and said to me with a smile, "I have ordered rebalko''s tank army to attack. I believe that in a short time, they will be able to defeat the German armored division, and then we can resume our attack on the second defense zone of Lvov."


    I carefully looked at the attack route and distance of the German armored division, and thought that their strength should be almost consumed. The end of their attack was only two or three kilometers away from the garrison of the 18th army. If they suddenly attacked the exhausted German army at this time, they would surely get good results.


    Thinking of this, I looked up at konev and made a decisive request to him: "Comrade marshal, the current position of the German armored division is not far from the 18th garrison of general afuning''s guards. I suggest that they should be put into combat immediately and take the lead in counterattack against the German armored division."


    "Let the 18th guards fight?" When konev heard what I said, his eyebrows twisted into a knot. After looking down at the map for a long time, he looked up at me with a puzzled face: "afuning''s close guard 18th army has only one tank regiment and several tank battalions. Can it beat the German armored division?"


    "Comrade marshal, after several hours of assault, the German armored division is not only seriously short of ammunition and fuel, but also the soldiers are tired. If we let the 18th guards take the surprise tactics, we can certainly catch the Germans by surprise. In this way, it will be much easier for the 3rd group army of close guard tanks or the second echelon of the 38th and 60th groups to launch attacks against the Germans. "


    Although I have already said this, konev shook his head and vetoed it after thinking about it for a long time: "no, Rita, I don''t agree to put the 18th guards into battle at this time."


    "Comrade marshal, why is that?" I asked, puzzled, about konev''s reply.


    "Very simply, there are nearly 20000 rescued prisoners of war in the 18th army of the guards. In particular, Colonel Lukin''s new division is composed entirely of prisoners of war. " Konev solemnly explained to me: "if this unreliable force is put into battle now, in case they change sides or break up on the battlefield, who can afford the responsibility."


    I know in my heart that konev said this for the sake of my future. If we really rashly put the 18th army of the guards into battle, if something really happened, konev would certainly be blamed by Stalin, but my future would be completely destroyed.


    Seeing that I was silent, konev thought that he had convinced me. He came over and patted me on the shoulder, comforted me and said, "Rita, I know that you bet your future on the adaptation of the 18th army of the guards. But for the sake of safety, I think we should wait until the war situation is stable, and then find a suitable time to put them into the battlefield."


    I carefully considered what konev said, which is right and wrong. If I adopt his proposal for my own future, his words are undoubtedly correct. But the commanders and fighters who were rescued from the German POW camp are full of hatred for the Germans. Now is a good time for the army to use their hearts. How can they not fight?


    After repeated weighing, I still resolutely said to konev, "marshal, I think the commanders and fighters of the 18th army should be allowed to fight. I believe they will be able to play our military power."


    "Have you really decided, Rita?" Konev asked. Seeing that I nodded in affirmation, he then asked, "no regrets?"


    "No regrets." I shook my head and said, "marshal, I think at this time, we should take a risk to let these officers and men return to the battlefield and feel the life of blood and fire."


    "Well, now that you''ve made up your mind, I''ll give an order to general afuning myself." Konev said, picked up the phone on the desk, dialed a number, and said in a very dignified voice: "operator, I''m konev! Get close to the 18th army and find the commander, major general afuning


    The phone was soon connected, konev in the phone to afuning issued a combat mission, continue to say: "I let the deputy commander to you say a few words."


    I took the phone and politely said, "Hello, general afuning."


    "Hello, comrade deputy commander." At the other end of the microphone, afuning politely asked, "what instructions do you have?"


    "Comrade General, please tell all the officers and men of the 18th army, especially those who were rescued by us a few months ago." I carefully said to the microphone: "it''s time for revenge. We must ask the Germans for their blood on the battlefield."


    "I see. Comrade deputy commander, I will certainly convey your words to the commanders and fighters of the whole army."


    After a pause, I asked, "Comrade General, how do you plan to attack the enemy?"


    "Prepare for the artillery fire first." although afuning was a commander with rich combat experience shortly after receiving this combat order, he immediately reported to me in a clear and orderly way: "then the tanks of the tank regiment will guide our infantry to attack the enemy. As soon as the enemy has finished the assault, there must be no time to build fortifications. Our attack is enough to defeat them. " Hearing ah Funing''s confident reply, my heart became uneasy. After he finished, I immediately put forward my own view: "Comrade General, the number of tanks in your army is not as large as that of the German army. If you directly launch an attack, the battle will easily fall into a stalemate."¡° Comrade deputy commander, this situation is inevitable on the battlefield. " After listening to me, afuning replied dryly, "but we will try our best to destroy or defeat the enemy who intruded into our army."¡° No, general afuning, this battle cannot be fought like this. " I said with some displeasure, "if it''s the same old way of playing, and the second echelon of the 38th and 60th army can draw out four or five divisions at will, why should I put your army into battle?" Ah Funing is also a smart man. After listening to me, he guessed that I must have other ideas, so he humbly asked me, "Comrade deputy commander, what should we do?"¡° Let Colonel Lukin''s new division take up the main task. " I was deeply afraid that afuning could not understand my intention, so I told him in detail: "it''s not a strong attack, but a sneak attack, and there is no need for artillery preparation before the attack. The specific operational deployment is up to you and Lukin to negotiate with them. "¡° I see, comrade deputy commander. I''ll call Colonel Lukin immediately and discuss with him the specific plan for the night attack on the German army. " Konev saw me put down the phone and asked, "Rita, do you really think that the new division can defeat the German armored division with night attack tactics?"¡° It should be OK. " I remembered that before I went to Moscow, when I heard about the two offensive and defensive exercises conducted by the new division, I said confidently, "Lukin is my old subordinate. He knows how to skillfully use night attack tactics to cause heavy casualties to the enemy."¡° I remember Listening to what I said, konev suddenly brightened his eyes and then asked curiously, "your troops defeated the mechanized 29th brigade of the German army and captured the commander of the brigade by sneak attack tactics in the war of Stalingrad defense, which effectively attacked the arrogance of the German army."

 Chapter 1559

    After receiving the order to attack the German armored division, afuning immediately called several of his division commanders to the headquarters to discuss the attack.


    After listening to the combat mission, rumenzev, the commander of the 4th division of the airborne guards, frowned and said, "Comrade commander, although we have the advantage in number, our equipment is much worse than that of the enemy. I think it is almost impossible to destroy these two German armored divisions. "


    "Yes, comrade commander!" After rumenzev''s words, Colonel konev, commander of the 3rd Division of the close guard airborne troops, continued: "we only have two artillery regiments, one tank regiment and several tank battalions. If we use such technical equipment for defense, it''s not a big problem; But if you want to take the initiative to attack, I think it is simply an incredible thing


    After listening to them, ah Funing did not immediately express his views. Instead, he looked at the second division commander he trusted most. However, he saw that he was staring at the map in front of him, as if he was thinking about something. Then he turned his eyes to the new editor on the other side and asked, "what do you think, Colonel Lukin?"


    "Comrade commander," Lu Jin said without looking up, staring at the map on the table, "with our existing technology and equipment, if we take a frontal attack, it is estimated that we will not only fail to destroy the enemy, but will cause heavy casualties."


    "Do you have any good idea?" Asked afuning, motionless.


    Lukin nodded and said, "if my new division is to take up the offensive task, I plan to attack the German camp by sneak attack."


    After listening to Lu Jin''s attack plan patiently, ah Funing didn''t rush to express his opinions. Instead, he asked the other three teachers: "three teachers, what''s your opinion?"


    After hearing a Funing''s question, the first speaker was the colonel with the same name as the marshal. He said solemnly: "Comrade commander, you must know that our army has never launched a night attack above regimental level so far. Now we are going to take a sneak attack on the German army at the division level. I am worried that in the dark environment at night, the troops will fall into chaos because of the command problem. At that time, it will be very difficult not only to destroy the enemy, but also to protect themselves. "


    After listening to konev''s worry, afuning turned to ask Lukin: "Comrade Colonel, please tell us the specific steps of the night attack, such as what your primary target is and how to deal with it when the enemy counterattacks. By the way, there is another key problem. How do you distinguish between ourselves and the enemy in the night? I don''t want my troops to be injured by my own people in the night war. "


    Lu Jin hesitated for a long time for a series of questions raised by afuning. However, after all, he had played a lot of night battles and had rich combat experience in this field. After thinking for a while, he replied, "Comrade commander, I plan to send division tank battalions to attack German tanks first, and then use infantry to attack their stations. As for the problem of distinguishing between the enemy and ourselves in the dark, I have no good way, because even if I tie a white towel on my arm, it doesn''t work. It''s really a fight. Everyone is shooting by feeling. Who has time to see if the towel is tied on the other party''s arm? "


    "Comrade Colonel," said afuning with a puzzled face after listening to Lu Jin''s words, "if we can''t distinguish ourselves from the enemy in the night, once we fight, it will easily cause a lot of accidental injuries. How can we solve this problem?"


    "Comrade commander, I have a way to prevent this situation." Lu Jin pointed to the map and said to afuning, "the night attack is completed by our new division. The rest of the troops detour back from the two wings of the German army. When they are defeated, they cut off their retreat by surprise."


    "Can you defeat two German armored divisions with one division?" Major general Vassili, the commander of the 2nd division of the close guard airborne, asked, "if the Germans are really so easy to deal with, will they be able to pierce the defense lines of our two army groups in a few hours and rush to the vicinity of our defense area?"


    "General Vassili," Lukin explained to Vassili with a smile after he finished saying, "the German army is nominally two armored divisions, but after they break through our defense line, they have to leave defensive forces all the way. Even if the forces left in each place are limited, they have such a long distance to attack, and there are not many troops left when they come to us, I''m absolutely sure I can defeat them. "


    "Since Colonel Lukin is so confident," said afuning, seeing that everyone was talking about it, he came out to make a concluding speech: "then the task of attacking the German garrison at night will be left to your division."


    "Comrade commander, you can be careful." Vasili took a look at Lukin and then added: "we don''t know what the combat effectiveness of the new division is. I don''t think it''s appropriate to rush them into such an important offensive."


    "Don''t worry, Mr. Vassili." Afuning waved to Vassili and said, "let the new division be the main force of the night attack, which means the deputy commander of the front army. As a commander, you should know that orders from superiors can only be executed, and no discussion is allowed. It''s settled that Colonel Lukin''s new division should be the main force of the night attack. "


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Two hours later, the new division led by Lukin approached the German armored division. Standing on a high ground with several division commanders, he raised his binoculars and looked at the dark German camp. He could see dozens of tanks neatly placed on one side of the camp. There were many people walking around the tanks. He moved the camera to the side and saw that on the other side of the camp, there was a neat tent, which should be the resting place for tank soldiers and motorized infantry.


    He put down his telescope, turned to bukov and bonejerin, who were standing behind him, and said, "comrades commander, you can see that the German camp is just a few kilometers away from us. As long as we launch a surprise attack, it will turn the place upside down."


    Although he has been a general for a long time, he is not familiar with this kind of night attack tactics because he spent the past few years in the prison camp. Therefore, when Lu Jingang finished speaking, he immediately put forward his own question: "Comrade division commander, from the observation, the front is a German Tank Regiment, how can we highlight their defense?"


    Lu Jin was stunned when he heard this question from bonejerin, but then he thought about the experience of the other side in recent years and the outdated tactics he had mastered, and understood the reason why the other side was helpless. Pointing to the enemy''s camp, he said: "after the night attack, we first used the tank battalion to carry out the assault, destroyed the German tanks parked on one side of the camp with artillery fire, and then the armored cars rushed up again, and strafed the enemy''s infantry with machine guns..."


    After listening to Lukin''s story, bonejerin asked uneasily, "is that ok?"


    "Don''t worry, chief of staff," Lu Jin said to him patiently although he was dissatisfied with bonejerin: "our night attack tactics can definitely succeed."


    "Sir, I have an idea." Seeing that Lukin was going to go down the hill to arrange the task, bukov, who was standing beside him and didn''t speak, suddenly said, "we can deploy the artillery battalion on the hill. When the tanks rush to the German camp, we can bombard the German tank parking place with artillery fire. What do you think? "


    "Great, that''s great." Lukin was overjoyed when he heard what bukov said. If this tactic is really adopted, even if the tank battalion is found on the way to the German camp, it''s no big deal, because the artillery deployed on the high ground can make the enemy in the camp worry about themselves: "you will be responsible for directing the artillery to bombard the German camp later."


    As the order was given, twenty tanks of the tank battalion under the command of Levchenko set out in battle formation and stormed towards the enemy''s camp. Standing on the high ground, when bukov saw that the tank battalion was two kilometers away from the camp, he decisively gave the order to fire.


    When the dazzling firelight rose in the German tank parking position, the awakened tank soldiers and infantry came out of the tent one after another, but our artillery fire made them unable to get close to the tank.


    At this time, the tank battalion under the command of Levchenko had already rushed to the place two or three hundred meters away from the camp. Twenty tanks slowed down, bombarded the German tanks parked on the side with tank guns, and strafed those confused German soldiers with machine guns. In order to avoid injuring his tank troops, bukov ordered the artillery fire to extend to bombard the German tents further away.


    Although most of the tanks were destroyed in the first time by our army''s artillery fire, there were still some fish that missed the net. Several German tank soldiers got into an undamaged tank, drove full power into a burning tank, and hit our tank from the side. The huge inertia made a T-34 overturn to the ground.


    Seeing that they knocked over our tanks, the German tank soldiers were immediately elated. They immediately backed up and planned to continue to hit other tanks of our army. However, they were discovered by Levchenko, who was just driving the tank here. With her command, a shell hit the German tank at close range, directly lifting the turret of the other side.


    Following the tanks into the German camp, there were more than a dozen armored vehicles full of commanders and fighters. The commanders and fighters jumped from the armored vehicles, under the cover of tanks and armored vehicles, put the butts of submachine guns or rifles against the abdomen, and pushed forward quickly with the cat on the waist.


    The resistance in the German camp was soon destroyed. Thousands of German officers and soldiers completely collapsed like frightened rabbits, swarming back and fleeing for their lives. The enemy was at large. Our shells chased and blasted the rear end, covering the fleeing soldiers. The shells smashed into the ranks, and each loud noise could take away many soldiers. The panicked German soldiers were blown up and torn to pieces.


    Another German camp, which is only seven or eight kilometers away from here, immediately sent out tanks and motorized infantry to reinforce after learning that it was attacked by our army. The artillery deployed on the high ground, with the help of the light of the burning camp in the distance, found the new enemy, and immediately hit them with a shell, throwing them into pieces.


    By daybreak, the 2nd and 3rd divisions of the close guard airborne troops, who detoured back to the enemy''s rear, had successfully cut off the retreat of the German army, and cooperated with Lukin''s new division to launch the final encirclement and suppression of the enemy.


    When konev heard the results reported by the 18th army, he was very happy. After a while, he picked up the phone on his desk and dialed the 3rd group army headquarters of the close guard tank. He said to rebalko, "rebalko, the 18th army of the guards, has successfully annihilated two German armored regiments. The rest of the task is up to you."


    "Don''t worry, comrade marshal." Rebalko confidently said: "I immediately ordered the troops to attack all the lines. We must eliminate the remaining German armored forces in the shortest time." Soon, several tank brigades of the 3rd group army of rebarko''s close guard tanks also launched an assault on the German army. Although the German armored forces successfully cut off our offensive forces and the second echelon yesterday, their strength is extremely weak in the face of our new powerful offensive. According to a series of war reports we have received, the German armored forces, which are independent, were defeated or destroyed by the tank brigade of rebarko in less than half an hour. With the collapse of the German armored forces, the second echelons of the 38th and 60th army, after converging with the leading forces, made a slight truce and launched a new attack on the second defensive zone of the German liwof line. By the evening, the two armies had advanced about 15 kilometers into the German defense. Just as konev was about to report the good news to the headquarters of the general staff, Stalin called first. He asked directly, "Comrade konev, what''s the situation on the battlefield at present? Have the enemies who cut off the offensive forces and the second echelon been eliminated? " Konev, who was in a good mood, quickly replied: "yes, comrade Stalin, the German armored forces that cut off our army have been completely smashed by our army. At present, the troops of kurozhkin and Moskalenko have broken through the German defense lines in a row and are advancing westward smoothly. I believe that in two to three days at most, we can successfully occupy Lvov. "¡° Very well, comrade konev. You played very well. " After praising konev, Stalin suddenly said, "when the situation there is stable, you can temporarily transfer the command to Comrade sokolovsky, and then come back to Moscow with Rita."

 Chapter 1560

    In the face of the fierce offensive of our army, the German army was losing ground. By the evening of the 16th, the forces on the right wing and the central section of the front army had wedged into the German campaign defense, with a depth of 40-50 km.


    Seeing the smooth progress of our army, konev, who had not slept for a few days, was finally relieved. He called sokolovsky over and said, "Comrade chief of staff, I will go to Moscow with Lida early tomorrow morning, and you will be fully responsible for the affairs in the army."


    "Marshal," seeing that konev suddenly put such a heavy burden on himself, sokolovsky, the chief of staff, was very nervous: "now the battle is going on at the most critical moment, and you leave at this time, I''m afraid it will affect the next action of the army."


    "Comrade chief of staff," konev said solemnly, looking up at his deputy, "every commander of the group army who takes part in the battle knows his own task and direction of attack. You just need to coordinate between them."


    "But what should I do if there is an emergency?" Sokolovsky also asked psychologically.


    Seeing sokolovsky''s performance, I felt a trace of dissatisfaction. As a chief of staff of the front army with the rank of general, I didn''t expect that his ability to be independent was so poor. Konev and I were away for a day at most, and he was a little at a loss.


    When I was thinking about what I would do if I was in konev''s position and met a chief of staff like sokolovsky, I heard konev say, "chief of staff, we went to Moscow and didn''t come back. If there''s something you can''t handle, send me a telegram. Do you understand? "


    "I understand." "I will keep in touch with you at any time," sokolovsky replied respectfully


    After the transfer of command, konev and I stayed in the headquarters for another night, and then flew to Moscow on the morning plane. When our plane landed at the military airport in the north of the city, a colonel from the Kremlin had been waiting for us by the runway.


    Seeing us coming down from the plane, the Officer immediately came up, raised his hand, saluted konev and said, "Comrade marshal, I have been ordered to meet you. Please come to us."


    There were three black gas cars and a medium jeep with awning beside the runway. The officer rushed to the car in the middle, opened the back door and politely said to konev, "marshal, please get on the bus."


    I waited for konev to bend down and get into the car. He was about to get on the back car, but konev leaned out of the car and said to me, "Rita, you come up, too."


    With a promise, I quickly bent forward, got into the back of the car and closed the door. The officer walked around the back of the car, opened the door beside the co pilot, got into the car, and told the driver to drive when he closed the door


    The driver nodded slightly and honked the horn. After the gas car in front of us started, the car we took began to slide slowly.


    When our motorcade was on the way, it was stopped by the traffic police. Seeing that the motorcade was stopped by the traffic police inexplicably, and there were still groups of civilians standing on the side of the road, konev could not help frowning and asked discontentedly, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the matter? Why did the traffic police stop our car?"


    "Comrade marshal, traffic control is being carried out ahead." The colonel looked back and replied with a happy face.


    I thought that this motorcade was sent by the Kremlin. Which traffic police would dare to stop us so short-sighted. Seeing konev''s unhappy face, I asked instead of him, "Colonel, why is traffic control implemented? Is there any important foreign head of state visiting?"


    "Where are foreign heads of state visiting?" Obviously, the Colonel did not notice the dissatisfaction on konev''s face. He still said happily: "today, a large number of German prisoners of war captured in the Belarusian battlefield will be sent to the foreign prisoner''s camp through the downtown area of Moscow."


    "Oh, prisoners from the Belarusian battlefield?" The Colonel''s words aroused konev''s great interest. He turned to me and said, "come on, Rita, let''s go and have a look." With that, he pushed the door open and got ready to get off.


    "Comrade marshal, please wait a moment." Seeing konev shaking off the car, the Colonel dissuaded with embarrassment: "there are too many people here. If you get off the car, it may be difficult to ensure your safety."


    "Don''t worry, comrade colonel." Konev said with a smile: "I believe that the enemy in the city will only pass the prisoners of war here later, so my safety is guaranteed."


    Several traffic policemen who were maintaining order were shocked to see a marshal walking out of the car. One of them, a traffic police captain, also asked cautiously, "Comrade marshal, what can I do for you?"


    If konev didn''t say he wanted to see the prisoner March, maybe I would say to the Lieutenant First, "just let us go through this intersection." However, seeing konev''s exuberant appearance, I kept silent wisely.


    "Comrade lieutenant, let''s just look around here." Konev kindly said to the frightened lieutenant, "you and your men continue to maintain order."


    Although konev was not worried about his safety, the colonel who came to meet us did not dare to take it lightly. He called the guard soldiers in the car behind him and surrounded konev with a loose guard circle to separate him from the ordinary crowd.


    Before the arrival of the prisoners of war, the Colonel began to introduce the situation to konev: "marshal, according to the arrangement of the commander of the Moscow military region, general altemiev, the German prisoners of war will be assembled at Dinamo racecourse and Holden land in the northwest of the city at 11 a.m., and they will go to Kursk, savilovsk and Riga railway stations by two routes. A total of 42000 prisoners of war marched along this route, including 1 military officer queue, 1227 general and school level officers, including 19 generals; A total of 15600 prisoners of war marched along the other route. At 7 p.m. that night, the German prisoners will take 25 tank cars to their new destination at three railway stations. "


    While the colonel was introducing the situation to konev, there were some small riots in the crowd nearby. I heard a voice shouting: "comrades, look, here comes the German prisoners of war!" I looked around and saw a black crowd on the west side of the road, which should be the German prisoners of war on the street today.


    At the front of the procession were the captured 19 German generals, dressed in neat uniforms, with medals on their chests, walking along the street without expression. They were escorted on both sides by cavalry armed with horseguns and riding high horses.


    When the front general''s Square passed us, a German general nearest to us saw konev standing by the side of the road, with a smile on his face and a salute on his forehead. For his action, konev just hummed a little, neither spoke nor saluted, as if when the other party did not exist.


    After the general''s square array, there was a square array composed of thousands of school level officers. These prisoners of war were still expressionless and mechanically marching along the street under the escort of our soldiers.


    Then there was a line of low-ranking German officers and ordinary soldiers, which could not be seen at a glance. Although most of the prisoners were ragged and their uniforms were covered with lice, they still kept a relatively neat formation and followed the front square.


    I thought the onlookers would shout, "down with the prisoners of war", "kill all these Krauts" and so on. But the real situation is that the people standing on both sides of the street, or even from the windows of nearby buildings, are silently watching the marching prisoners of war, without any radical reaction. On the contrary, I also saw some old women with headscarves shove bricks of black bread and coarse salt to the prisoners of war who passed in front of them.


    When konev saw this, there was no change in his face. On the contrary, when he found that I was staring at him all the time, he explained to me with a smile: "Rita, it''s a tradition. To send black bread and coarse salt to the prisoners who are going to be exiled is to hope that they will be safe. Don''t make a fuss. "


    It took more than half an hour for the 40000 plus prisoners of war to pass through our intersection. Seeing the prisoners of war go away, the crowd of onlookers disperse, and we come back to the car. After the traffic police clear the traffic, we can go to the Kremlin through the intersection.


    Konev sat in the car silent, after a long time, he said to me: "Rita, I think the prisoner of war parade in Moscow is good, we can learn from it. For example, there will be a similar POW march in Kiev in the future. "


    When we got to the Kremlin, the Colonel took us outside Stalin''s office. Seeing our arrival, boskelebeshev quickly got up and came over, waved away the colonel who showed us the way, shook hands with us one by one, and asked konev with concern: "when did you arrive, comrade Marshal?"


    "We arrived in Moscow at half past ten. On the way, we happened to see prisoners of war roaming the streets, so we stopped to have a look." Konev and boskelebeshev exchanged greetings and asked carefully, "is Comrade Stalin in it?"


    "Yes, he has been waiting for you." "I''ll let you know first," said posklebershev Then he went to the door, gently pushed open the door, stood at the door and reported to Stalin inside: "marshal konev is here!"


    "Ask him in!" As soon as his voice fell, Stalin''s familiar voice came out of it.


    I was half behind konev and walked into the office. We both stopped in front of Stalin and raised our hands to salute. Then konev said, "Comrade Stalin, I have come to Moscow on your order."


    Stalin put the cigarette end in his hand and came to shake hands with konev and me. After shaking hands, he asked with a smile, "Comrade konev, you must have seen German prisoners of war on the road, right?"


    "Yes, comrade Stalin, we see it." Konev respectfully replied: "there are tens of thousands of people."


    "Do you know what I''m going to do to arrange a prisoner''s parade?" Stalin asked konev.


    Konev and I looked at each other, then turned to Stalin and said in a flattering way, "Comrade Stalin, I think it is of far-reaching significance for you to arrange such a tour."


    Stalin was obviously very satisfied with konev''s practice of seeing through and not telling through. He walked back and forth in front of both of us, clutching cigarette butts: "our army has achieved great success in Belarus and successfully recovered Minsk. But the Germans did not admit their failure, and they also made serious nonsense, saying that they were withdrawing from Belarus in a planned way. Not only the Germans but also our allies don''t believe in our victory. So I asked Antonov to arrange this prisoner''s tour to show the world how many prisoners we have captured. "¡° The effect of this is very obvious, comrade Stalin. " As soon as Stalin finished speaking, konev added with a smile: "after the end of this POW parade, all the voices questioning our great achievements in Belarus will disappear. It''s more effective than our ten statements. "¡° Well, comrade konev, tell me about your situation there. " Stalin went to his desk and asked, "how long will it take you to get the Germans out of Ukraine?" Konev confidently replied: "I expect that by the end of August at the latest, our troops will be able to eliminate all the German troops in the western states of Ukraine and push the front into Poland." After hearing konev''s reply, Stalin did not say yes or no. instead, he picked up the phone on the table and told boskrebeshev, "is Zhukov here?" Maybe the other party gave him a negative answer, and he added, "as soon as he arrives, let him come in directly." When I heard Stalin asking Zhukov, I couldn''t help but be stunned. I said in my heart that Zhukov was not in the first front army of Belarus in rokosovsky. What happened when Stalin called him back at this time? After Stalin put down the phone, he looked up to konev and said, "Comrade konev, the reason why I recalled you to Moscow is that you made many mistakes in the early days of the campaign, which affected our action to liberate the whole Ukraine." Konev''s face turned pale when he heard Stalin''s words. This may be the first time Stalin has said such heavy words to him since the battle of Kursk. Seeing that he opened his mouth in an attempt to defend himself, Stalin raised his hand to stop him and continued: "I didn''t call you here to ask you a question. I wanted Zhukov and you to study and summarize the experience and lessons of the early stage of the campaign, so that the next stage of the battle could be carried out smoothly." As soon as Stalin''s words were finished, the wooden door of the office was quietly pushed open from the outside, and then Zhukov, who had not seen him for a long time, came in with a big stride. He came to Stalin, slapped a stand at attention, and then said without expression, "Comrade Stalin, by your order, I have returned to Moscow."

 Chapter 1561

    Stalin and Zhukov shook hands and said politely, "Comrade Zhukov, welcome back from the front line!" He raised his hand and pointed to the vacant seat at the conference table, "you sit down for a while, and when Comrade Antonov comes, our conference can begin."


    After Antonov was seated, Stalin, who presided over the meeting, took a look at bosklebshev, who was sitting next to him in charge of recording. Then he said slowly, "since everyone is here, let''s have a meeting now. Comrade Zhukov, "he first looked at Zhukov," it''s up to you to talk about the Ukrainian campaign. "


    When Zhukov heard Stalin''s order and nodded, he stood up, looked at konev sitting opposite and said, "the offensive campaign we launched in Ukraine, especially the progress in the direction of Lvov, is not as smooth as the commander of the front army and the Supreme Command expected.


    Here, I would like to talk about reconnaissance, which is an extremely important factor in war. As we all know, reconnaissance intelligence and correct analysis of reconnaissance intelligence are the basis for judging the situation, making decisions and making campaign plans. If our reconnaissance fails to provide correct intelligence, or if we make mistakes in the analysis of intelligence, then the determination made by the leaders and headquarters at all levels will not be correct, and the result will be that the process of the campaign will not be as smooth as originally envisaged.


    As far as I know, when preparing for the campaign in the direction of Lvov, the reconnaissance Department of the first front army of Ukraine failed to find out all the enemy''s defense systems, and did not find the campaign reserve of the German command, especially its armored tank units. Therefore, the leaders of the front army did not anticipate that they might encounter the enemy''s counter attack in the process of breaking through the enemy''s defense.


    Due to the lack of research on the enemy''s firepower matching, the artillery preparation and aviation preparation plans have major shortcomings. As we all know, artillery and air forces can only ensure good results if they aim at the target accurately, rather than shooting and dropping bombs on the area or the target envisaged. Area shooting and area dropping can''t destroy the enemy''s defense system.


    This is what happened in the direction of Lvov: a lot of shells were fired, but the results were not as good as they should have been. In order to recognize the mistakes made in the preparation for this campaign, we must also deal with an important issue, that is, the issue of tanks guiding infantry to launch attacks and attacks. As we all know, infantry are easy to be killed by the enemy''s defensive firepower in attack. In our artillery preparation, the enemy''s machine guns and artillery that have not been eliminated, the tanks hidden in the fortifications and the permanent firing points are enough to suppress our attacking infantry, so they can''t move forward. In this case, the tank with infantry can play an important role. It can use its own firepower to suppress the enemy''s fire weapons that have been preserved after artillery preparation. At that time, they did not give full consideration to all this


    Although Zhukov''s words were harsh, they accurately supported the problems exposed by our front army in the offensive campaign. For example, we made mistakes in the preparation for the campaign, that is, poor reconnaissance, wrong judgment, defective firepower preparation and the coordination between infantry and Tanzania. It was these problems that led to our defeat in Lvov at the beginning of the campaign. I have written down all of Zhukov''s remarks in detail, so as to prevent similar mistakes in future offensive campaigns.


    When he was criticized and criticized by Zhukov, konev''s face was red and white. I''d like to defend myself, but I can only keep silent because I didn''t get Stalin''s permission. I secretly looked at the unnatural konev and thought, "if Stalin is not here, maybe he and Zhukov will have a rough argument."


    After Zhukov finished, Stalin nodded and said with approval, "Comrade Zhukov''s analysis is very reasonable." Then he turned his face and asked konev, "Comrade konev, do you have anything to add?"


    "Yes, comrade Stalin," konev asked politely after hearing Stalin''s question, "may I talk about my opinion?"


    After getting Stalin''s permission, he stood up, first explained the same views as Zhukov on how to use tanks, and proved his correct understanding of using tanks to support infantry by putting the 3rd group army of close guard tanks into a breakthrough and breaking through the German defense.


    And he defended Zhukov''s accusation that his front army command had made a mistake. He looked at Zhukov and said, "Comrade Zhukov, I don''t agree with what you have just said. For example, the enemy''s counter assault in the breakthrough area of the 38th group army is the result of the miscalculation of the head of the front army and the head of the group army, or a mistake in the campaign plan.


    We should know that the general headquarters of the Communist Party of Germany adopted the usual practice of mobile reserves to carry out counter assault on the offensive units of our front army in an attempt to sabotage our attack. They had no other way. There were so many such examples in the first World War. This is the logic of war. "


    I thought konev would freely admit his shortcomings at the beginning of the campaign, but he was quibbling, and what he said was so weak that I, the deputy commander of the front army, felt embarrassed and wanted to find a hole to get in.


    Stalin raised his right hand, pressed down, motioned konev to sit down, then looked at me and said, "Rita, according to the information I have, the 18th guard infantry was the first to launch a counter attack against the 1st and 8th German armored divisions."


    "Yes, comrade Stalin, you are right." Seeing Stalin talking to me, I quickly stood up from my seat and replied, "the main attack was the new division of the army. Their first counter attack successfully defeated two German armored regiments. After daybreak, marshal konev sent out the second group army of the air force, cooperated with general rebalko''s close guard tank, and the third group army launched a comprehensive counterattack, which severely damaged the two armored divisions of the German army and saved the crisis. " After listening to my reply, Stalin nodded slightly, turned his eyes to konev again, and said to him with a smile: "Comrade konev, our troops originally deployed in the Carpathian Mountains accepted the task of sticking to the occupied area and preparing to attack in Stanislav. Now that we have gained an advantage in the direction of Lvov, do you think we should allow the troops in this area to fight as well? "

 Chapter 1562

    In the next few days, all the troops of the front army went well, and they quickly pushed forward to the border of the Soviet Union. Among them, the most dazzling performance is katukov''s close guard tank 1st group army.


    At noon on July 20, general katukov called the headquarters. He excitedly reported to konev, "marshal, I have the honor to report to you that my vanguard troops have successfully crossed the border of the Soviet Union and are advancing into Poland."


    "What, comrade katukov, what do you say?" When he heard katukov''s report, konev couldn''t believe his ears. He said in a loud voice to the microphone, "repeat what you just said."


    In fact, no matter who I am, even sokolovsky and kleinukov, who are standing on one side, have heard katukov''s report clearly. At the same time, we approached konev a few steps to listen to katukov''s report carefully.


    At the other end of the phone, katukov repeated what he had just said aloud: "Comrade marshal, our vanguard troops have successfully crossed the border of the Soviet Union and are advancing into Poland."


    "Comrade katukov, I congratulate you." After listening to katukov''s report, konev said excitedly, "please thank your subordinates for their tenacious fighting. It is because of their tenacious fighting that we can break through the German defense line so smoothly and advance to the border of Poland."


    "Marshal, what is the nearest Polish city to them?" Just when konev was overjoyed, kleinukov reminded him: "if possible, we can concentrate our forces to capture the city first."


    Konev nodded at kleinukov''s proposal and then asked through the microphone, "Comrade katukov, which city is closest to your troops at present?"


    "Haium." Katukov clearly replied, "it''s haium, the city of Lublin province in southeastern Poland."


    "I see." Konev decisively ordered: "general katukov, the task I''m giving you now is to gather all your forces and take haium down to me. Do you understand? "


    "Yes, comrade marshal." Katukov assured: "I will take haium down in the shortest time, you can rest assured."


    Konev put down the phone and looked around at us. He didn''t speak for a long time. Finally, it was sokolovsky who took the lead in breaking the silence. He asked suspiciously, "Comrade marshal, our troops have reached the border of the Soviet Union and smoothly entered Poland."


    Konev closed his eyes, nodded his head, and said in a voice that was a little out of tune with excitement, "three years, our troops have finally returned to the border with Poland."


    Military commissar kleinukov suggested to konev: "Comrade marshal, this matter should be reported to Moscow immediately. I believe Comrade Stalin will be very happy to hear such news."


    "That''s right, comrade military Commissar. You are right. We should immediately tell Comrade Stalin the good news." With that, konev grabbed the high-frequency phone on the desk again, dialed a number and said, "I''m konev, get me Moscow."


    After the phone was connected, the first voice from the receiver was Bosque liebeshev''s voice: "Hello, marshal konev! This is bosklebshev. What can I do for you


    "How do you do, posklebeshev." Konev asked in a friendly voice, "I have something important to report to Comrade Stalin immediately. Can you help me put the phone in?"


    I thought bosklebershev would immediately transfer the phone, but he said in embarrassment: "Stalin is talking with comrades from Poland. I don''t think it''s appropriate to transfer the phone at this time."


    "Comrades boskelebeshev, please make sure you transfer the call." Although konev met a soft nail, he said firmly: "I have important news and I want to report it to Comrade Stalin immediately."


    Bosklebshev hesitated for a moment, and finally replied, "well, marshal konev, I''ll transfer the call for you."


    A moment later, Stalin came out of the receiver with a voice of discontent: "Comrade konev, I''m talking with a comrade from Poland. Do you have anything important?"


    After Stalin finished speaking, konev immediately said with a smile: "Comrade Stalin, I have a good news to report to you: not long ago, general katukov''s first group of close guard tanks successfully broke through the German defense, crossed our national border and entered Poland."


    "What, our troops have entered Poland?" Stalin was also shocked by the sudden good news. He asked suspiciously, "Comrade konev, has this news been confirmed?"


    As for Stalin''s prudence, konev seriously replied, "this was reported to me by general katukov himself. I think it should be true. At present, his troops are advancing towards haium. "


    "This is really exciting news, comrade konev." After Comrade Stalin finished his sentence, there was no sound in the receiver. According to my experience, Stalin should have covered the microphone with his hand and was reporting the good news to the Polish representatives in the talks.


    After a while, Stalin''s voice came from the receiver again: "Comrade konev, please tell general katukov that he must liberate hewum today anyway. Is there any difficulty? " Although katukov''s tank army has entered Poland, it is still unknown when it will capture hewum. However, since Stalin had given such an order, konev could only reply with a stiff head: "don''t worry, comrade Stalin, I believe we can take haium before dark."¡° Well, since you are so confident, I''ll wait for your good news. " As soon as konev put down the phone, he immediately told sokolovsky: "chief of staff, call krasovsky, commander of the second group army of the air force, and order him to prepare to send out aviation troops to bomb hewum. At the same time, the other forces that ordered to go out to the Polish border also quickly approached katukov''s forces. " Haiwum is just a small city. When I attack with the 1st group army of katukov''s close guard tank, I feel like killing chickens with a butcher''s knife. If I really transfer a few more divisions, let alone fight, tens of thousands of troops will trample on all the Germans here. But without waiting for us to use these preparatory measures, katukov called again and reported to konev excitedly: "marshal, when my vanguard arrived at haiwum, the enemy outside the city abandoned the city and fled without fighting with us. Now we have successfully occupied the city."¡° Great, comrade katukov. That''s great. " When he heard the good news, konev''s face burst into laughter. A few minutes ago, he was worried that he would not finish Stalin''s task and was still arranging the deployment of troops. A few minutes later, we got the good news that the city had been liberated. So he said boldly, "I''m going to honor the first army to rush into haium and give them the honorary title of" haium army. "

 Chapter 1563

    When konev put down the phone, he was relieved. As for his reaction, I understand very well that it takes at least one or two days to capture the German occupied cities according to the Convention. When Stalin received the report at noon, he immediately asked us to seize the city before dark, which was a bit difficult.


    But fortunately, we were lucky. The German army that held on to hewum was on the verge of collapse, so katukov''s troops could easily occupy the city.


    Before konev could report the good news to Stalin, the phone call from Moscow came in. The caller was Molotov, member of the people''s Committee of foreign affairs. After hearing that the person who answered the phone was konev, he didn''t even have any basic greetings, so he went straight to the subject and asked, "Comrade konev, the supreme commander asked me to ask you, what can I do to win haiwum?"


    Without waiting for konev''s reply, he said, "seizing haium is of great military and political significance as well."


    As for the political significance, before Molotov could tell us what he was, konev rushed to say, "Comrade foreign people''s commissar, I have good news to tell you that our troops have successfully occupied haiwum."


    "What, haium has been liberated?" On hearing this news, Molotov was obviously a little surprised. He was silent for a long time before he asked in a dubious way, "Comrade konev, are you telling the truth?"


    "Yes, not too long ago, the vanguard of katukov had rushed into haium." After these words, konev stopped for a moment, then added: "later, I will send the detailed war report to Comrade Stalin."


    "I see." When Molotov finished, he hung up.


    Seeing that Molotov had hung up, konev just gave a faint smile, then called sokolovsky over and told him, "chief of staff, I have two things for you to do immediately."


    Seeing that sokolovsky took out his notebook to prepare for the record, he continued: "first, report a complete war report to the headquarters of the general staff about general katukov''s capture of haium; Second, give general katukov an order to investigate the city all night, and make sure to eliminate the remnants of the enemy before dawn tomorrow. "


    The first one can understand konev''s two orders. After all, no matter who comes to the commander, he will give such orders, so that the supreme commander can know his achievements in time. But the second order is a bit intriguing. Standing in the same place, sokolovsky said with some embarrassment: "although haium is a small city, it may be very difficult to wipe out the remnants of the German army overnight."


    "Comrade chief of staff, don''t you understand the importance of haium up to now?" Seeing that sokolovsky did not understand his own painstakingness, konev explained bitterly: "Stalin and Molotov are very concerned about this city, proving that this is not only an ordinary city, but a symbol. Do you understand, a symbol?"


    "Oh, I see." Sokolovsky made a vague promise, and then carried out the order.


    Looking at the figure of sokolovsky leaving, konev sat in his position with a wry smile, pulled out a cigarette from the cigarette box on the table and held it in his mouth. Just as he was looking for matches everywhere, the telephone on the desk rang. He put the earphone to his ear. After listening for a moment, he threw the cigarette in his mouth on the table, stood up from his seat and said respectfully, "Hello, comrade Stalin!"


    "Comrade konev," I heard Stalin''s voice coming out of the earphone, "I heard that you have successfully liberated haium. Is that true?"


    "Yes, comrade Stalin, general katukov''s forces have occupied haium." Konev truthfully reported that "Comrade sokolovsky, chief of staff, is preparing a detailed war report. You will see it in a moment."


    "I want to know whether the railway and highway to haiwum are open at present."


    Konev thought for a moment, and then said decisively: "Comrade Stalin, although the railway and highway are open at present, I don''t know whether the German army will cut him off again. If anyone wants to go to haiwum, I suggest that they go by plane. After all, our army has the air supremacy in the battlefield. "


    "Then hurry up and repair the airport in hewum," Stalin said slowly. "There will be our guests going to hewum tomorrow."


    "I see, comrade Stalin," konev replied, "I''ll inform general katukov immediately and ask them to repair the airport overnight to make sure that the plane can take off and land tomorrow."


    After konev made the phone call, he held the cigarette on the table in his mouth again. After lighting it, he took a puff and put it out in the ashtray. He stood up and yelled to sokolovsky, who was busy: "chief of staff, send another telegram to katukov, ordering him to stop the attack temporarily and deploy all the troops near hewum, We have dealt with a possible German counterattack. "


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Early the next morning, Antonov, deputy chief of general staff, called konev to ask whether the airport was in good condition and whether there were enough defense forces near the city. After receiving a positive reply, he announced to konev: "Comrade marshal, at eight o''clock this morning, a plane full of Polish comrades took off from Moscow. Their destination is haium. I hope that after they enter Ukraine, you can send fighters to escort them. Remember, this is an important political task. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade Antonov." After Antonov finished speaking, konev immediately said, "I will send a fighter brigade to escort them."


    Konev did what he said. As soon as he finished the call, he called krasovsky, commander of the second group army of the air force, and ordered him to prepare a fighter brigade and be ready to serve as an escort at any time.


    But after krasovsky heard this, he said bitterly: "marshal, in order to protect Lvov, the German army took off a large number of fighters from the rear to compete with us for air supremacy. If we send a fighter team to escort, then the bombers carrying out the bombing mission will not have enough fighters to cover."


    "Come on, general krasovsky." After the other party finished complaining, konev said with disapproval, "don''t I understand your strength? Not to mention a fighter group, even if two or three groups attack, it will not affect your fight for air supremacy with the Germans in the Lviv region. Well, stop it. It''s an order. You have to execute it unconditionally. "


    As soon as the phone call was over, general katukov called konev again and reported, "Comrade marshal, our sentinels have found many members of the Polish resistance organization in the vicinity of haium."


    "Members of the resistance?" Konev frowned when he heard the report: "ask them what they are going to do?"


    "Yes, they said they had received orders from their superiors to come to haiwum to attend the meeting."


    "Since they are here to attend the meeting, let them enter your defense area." For the sake of safety, konev specially stressed: "general katukov, for the sake of safety first, when these people enter hewum, they must be disarmed, and when they leave, they will return their weapons to them. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade marshal." Katukov assured konev: "I will ensure the security of haium area."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In the evening, we learned about the contents of the meeting held in haium through Moscow. The Polish people''s Congress held an important meeting in this liberated territory and formally established the Polish provisional government, the Polish national liberation Council.


    The committee called on the Polish people to fight for the liberation of Poland from the hands of the German aggressors and for the strengthening of friendship with the Soviet Union, the representative of world power. They also believe that the priority now is to build Poland''s own army.


    While several of us were discussing the significance of the meeting held in hewum, a communications staff officer came in quickly from the outside, handed a latest telegram received in the telegraph room to sokolovsky, and then turned to leave.


    Sokolovsky only glanced at the contents of the telegram, jumped up from his seat and exclaimed, "my God, my God, is this true?"


    Konev frowned at sokolovsky''s gaffe. He asked slightly discontentedly, "Comrade chief of staff, what''s the matter with you?"


    Although he was reproached by konev, sokolovsky was still smiling. He quickly walked up to konev, put the telegram in front of him, and said excitedly: "Comrade marshal, according to the latest information we got, on July 20, that is, yesterday, there was an attempt to murder Hitler in the German headquarters. Although the motive of the murderers is not clear yet, the murder itself shows that there are many generals in Germany who are dissatisfied with Hitler. "


    "What, Hitler was assassinated?" Klineukov jumped up from his seat and asked excitedly, "isn''t this a rumor spread by the German army?"


    "I don''t think it''s a rumor." Sokolovsky said firmly: "the German army is losing and retreating under our attack. If they make such rumors at this time, it is meaningless. On the contrary, it will affect their morale and morale. The Germans will not do such a thing that is not worth the loss."


    If it wasn''t for this sudden telegram, I would have forgotten the great historical event that Stephen Berger almost killed Hitler with a bomb. I waited for konev to finish reading the phone before I asked, "marshal, is Hitler dead?"


    Konev shook his head and said with a bitter smile, "no, his life is really big. It is said that the bomb exploded at his feet, killing many senior German officers, but Hitler survived. "


    When he heard that Hitler was ok, kleinukov could not help sighing and said with regret, "it''s a pity that Hitler, the leader of the bandit, was not killed. It''s really cheap."


    "Even if he''s not dead, it''s great news." Konev handed the telegram back to sokolovsky and said, "tell the commanders of the group army this news to make everyone happy." Seeing that sokolovsky was going away, he added, "two bottles of champagne for dinner. We''ll have a good drink for this."


    After sokolovsky left, konev said to me and kleinukov, "the telegram about the assassination of Hitler is too simple. I will call Comrade Antonov immediately to ask if he knows the details."


    Unfortunately, after several phone calls, Antonov''s office was always busy. Konev put down the phone and said, "I can''t get through the phone. I think the commanders of the front army on other fronts also got the good news. They are all calling Antonov to get the details. That''s why I can''t get through to him." After sending a telegram to the commanders of the following army groups, sokolovsky came back and reported to konev: "Comrade commander, just received the war report from the first front army of Belarus. With the artillery support in his dream and the active support of the Sixth Army of the air force, the left wing assault group''s subordinate regiments successfully broke through the German defense. Yesterday, the regiments advanced 70 kilometers, entered the xibuge River in the front of Kuanda, occupied Brest fortress, crossed the river by force, and also entered Poland. "¡° This rokosovsky is not simple. " When konev heard this, he couldn''t help saying: "I thought katukov''s army was the only one of our troops to enter Poland. Unexpectedly, his action was quite sharp. He also entered Poland on the same day. Chief of staff, go on, what else Sokolovsky nodded, then reported: "at present, their attack direction turns to the southwest, and they are rushing to Lublin, the great administrative center of Poland." Konev looked at the map in front of him and said thoughtfully, "haium is not far from Lublin."¡° That''s right, "I added after konev finished saying," it''s about fifty or sixty kilometers. If general katukov''s first group of guards are ordered to take action, it''s estimated that they will arrive in a day and a night. "¡° Rita, you have a point. If katukov moves fast, he can get into Lublin before rokosovsky''s troops. " After konev finished, he stood up straight and told sokolovsky: "order katukov to immediately mobilize the mechanized army to advance towards Lublin, and seize the city before the arrival of the first front army of Belarus."

 Chapter 1564

    While konev was giving orders, I was thinking about what happened at present. It seemed that there was a big deviation from the history I knew. In my memory, it was the first front army of Belarus under the command of rokosovsky who successfully captured haium in the battle of Lublin Brest. But now the honor of liberating hewum has been won by katukov. I can''t imagine that if history continues to drift further and win the honor of Berlin at that time, it will be replaced by a commander who is not well-known now.


    After giving orders to katukov, sokolovsky returned to the conference table and continued to participate in the discussion on the next action strategy of the front army. Konev pointed to the map and said to us with a relaxed expression: "as rebalko''s headquarters successfully crossed the peltev river before dark on July 18, they entered into the regions of zeziluf and krasnoye. The first part of the group army arrived in jelevliane, where it joined with the mechanized cavalry group of general baranov and surrounded nearly eight divisions of the German Broder group. Prior to that, the main force of the fourth group army of tanks, which followed the third group army of close guard tanks to enter the breakthrough along the same route, had already entered the region of orishanica. "


    When konev said this, he stopped and looked up at sokolovsky opposite, waiting for him to introduce us. Sokolovsky saw konev stay on his body, and quickly said: "Broder group is the 13th army of general Hoffe, with a total force of about 40000. It is composed of the following units: 349th infantry division of rash, 361st infantry division of Lindeman, 454th security division of netvich, 14th SS Galicia infantry division of Freitag and C corps of Lange, It consists of three basic infantry divisions, 183rd, 217th and 339th, with heavy casualties. "


    "What, and the SS division of the German army?" Perhaps the name of the SS division was too famous, which made kleinukov a little panicked. He looked at konev and said, "marshal, the combat effectiveness of the SS division of the German army is not weak. Do you think we need to send more reinforcements to the troops besieging broad group?"


    Before konev spoke, sokolovsky explained to kleinukov with a smile, "Comrade military commissar, you are too worried. The SS division is made up of Ukrainians from Galicia. Although they are well-equipped, they lack training and have never participated in combat. They are a mob. Langer''s legion, like the other so-called legions of the German army, was only one infantry division. The reason why they still keep the names of all divisions in their formation is to deceive our army and make us misjudge their actual strength. "


    "No matter what the strength of the German army is, they have restrained too many of our troops in this direction." Konev continued: "in order to improve the battle situation of the front army and concentrate more forces to destroy the German Lvov group, I intend to order two air force groups to dispatch at the same time to cooperate with our ground forces to launch a general attack on the German army. Do you have different opinions? "


    "No," I said as soon as konev finished, "I agree with the commander''s plan."


    "I agree, too!" At the end of my speech, sokolovsky also expressed his support for konev''s proposal.


    However, kleinukov frowned and said, "marshal, yesterday, the 3rd group army of the close guard tank and the 4th group army of the tank launched an attack on Lvov, but their attack ended in failure."


    "Comrade military commissar, these are two different things." Seeing kleinukov''s opposition to himself, konev''s face showed a slightly displeased look: "yesterday, two tank armies failed to attack Lvov for various reasons. In addition to logistics, the third group army of close guard tanks, which was the main attack force, did not have enough fuel and ammunition, and lacked the cooperation of artillery. The main reason is that rebalko made a mistake in judging the terrain near Lvov. Because he wanted to capture Lvov as soon as possible, he ordered the army to push directly along the krasnoye Lvov road to the city, but he encountered the peat swamp in the northeast of the city, and did not make a far-reaching detour to Lvov, Close to the city, he was involved in a protracted battle for access. "


    Speaking of Cao Cao, as soon as konev mentioned rebalko, I heard a rush of footsteps coming from the door. Before I turned to look, I heard a familiar voice: "Hello, marshal, we are here by your order, please give us instructions!"


    I looked in the direction of the sound and saw rebalko and the other two generals coming in at great strides from the outside. Seeing rebalko coming, konev quickly got up from his seat, welcomed him with a smile, and said warmly: "Hello, general rebalko, welcome to the headquarters. Hard work all the way


    "No hard work, no hard work!" "As soon as we got your order, we flew here. It took us less than an hour," rebalko said with a smile


    When konev and rebalko shook hands, I could see clearly the two generals following. One was general lelushenko, commander of the fourth group army of tanks, and the other was general baranov, who was commanding the mechanized cavalry group. I got up from my seat in a hurry and shook hands with several people one by one.


    After everyone sat down again, konev looked at rebalko and said, "rebalko, tell me about your situation there."


    Seeing konev''s name, rebalko nodded, then stood up and said: "on the morning of July 19, the 8th armored division of the 48th armored army began to rescue the 13th army. At noon, it arrived on the road west of kortuv, which was the last line of our army. As it was only four kilometers away from the German troops, I resolutely put in an infantry division and a tank brigade to prevent the enemy from breaking through, so as to prevent the two armies from converging.


    Yesterday morning, the German army began to break through the encirclement on the whole line after carrying out artillery preparation. However, as the 8th armored division who came to rescue them was repulsed by our army, the 48th armored army was forced to retreat several kilometers from the main line of defense. The conditions for the German army to rescue the 13th army from the outside have disappeared. Therefore, after a fierce battle, we successfully smashed the German breakthrough. "


    "Rita, we can encircle eight German divisions. General afuning''s close guard No. 18 has made great contribution. If they had not damaged the German No. 8 armored division in advance, which greatly weakened their strength, I think our defense line might have been broken through and those encircled enemies would have been rescued." After konev said this to me, he turned to rebalko and said, "general rebalko, go on, what kind of action did the German Army take today?"


    "Throughout the day, the German army has been attacking constantly, trying to jump out of our encirclement and escape into the forest south of the livov road to join their friends." Rebalko said in a disdainful tone: "but with the tenacious resistance of our commanders and fighters, their attempts were crushed."


    "Good job, rebalko." Konev said with appreciation: "the headquarters of the front army plans to launch a final general attack on the besieged broad group tomorrow. As long as we eliminate this enemy, we can concentrate our forces to smash the German army Lvov group. As for the mechanized cavalry group of general baranov, after the completion of the war of annihilation of the Broder group, there is no need to participate in the attack on Lvov. "


    Konev stopped for a moment to observe the expression on baranov''s face. Seeing the loss of the latter''s face, he continued: "you immediately cross the San River to the north of rodemno, withdraw the main force of the group to the west of peremeshi to crosno area, and seize the San river ferry in dubetsk, denouf, warra, Sanok and other places, And establish a positive defense to the east to prevent the German army''s Lvov group from retreating to the West. "


    "Don''t worry," baranov said confidently after listening to the task assigned by konev, "we promise to complete the task and resolutely block the German retreat."


    "Marshal," rebarko, who had already sat down, stood up again and said to konev, "I want to talk about logistics. As the logistics did not keep up, our group army stopped attacking the German army the night before yesterday and has been waiting for fuel, ammunition and all kinds of materials from the rear. "


    "Don''t worry, general rebalko." As for rebalko''s worries, konev said with a smile: "due to the excellent performance of the 1st group army of close guard tanks, there are almost no organized German troops in the north of your group army at present, so your supplies can be delivered in time by road and railway."


    When all the questions to be discussed were finished, konev looked around and asked habitually, "who has any questions?"


    "Comrade marshal, I have a question." All of a sudden, lyushenko, who kept silent, asked, "was Hitler really assassinated?"


    Lyushenko''s problem can be described as a wave of one stone. Rebalko and baranov, who were ready to get up and leave, sat down again, looked askew at konev, waiting for him to say what he was eager to know.


    "Yes, in the information we have, Hitler was murdered from within the German command." Konev said with a deep sigh: "it''s a pity that Hitler, the leader of the bandit, narrowly escaped death."


    "Can you be more specific?" After listening to konev''s story, lelushenko asked reluctantly, "for example, who planned the murder and what was their destination? What''s the situation with these officers who participated in the assassination? "


    Hearing these questions, konev shook his head like a rattle: "sorry, comrade lelushenko, I have told you all I know. As for who planned the murder, I really don''t know. As for the German officers involved in the stabbing, I think they were either executed or sent to the concentration camp. "


    When I heard konev talking about yesterday''s assassination of Hitler, I almost couldn''t help interrupting and saying: I know all the details of this incident. No matter who planned the operation, even who planted the bomb beside Hitler, and the final fate of the officers involved in the incident are clear to me. But when I think about it, I know very well in my heart that I can only keep silent until my superiors tell us more details. Otherwise, when people ask me how I know this matter so well, I can''t justify myself.


    Seeing that konev could not give more details, the faces of the three group commanders were disappointed,. When they got up to leave, konev specially told them: "Lvov is an important religious center in Ukraine. When attacking the city, we should pay attention to protecting those precious cultural relics and try to preserve the city as completely as possible."


    "I see," the three commanders agreed in unison, then raised their hands to salute, turned and left the headquarters.

 Chapter 1565

    In the early morning of the next day, the troops of rebalko, lelushenko and baranov carried out the final general attack on the besieged Broder group under the powerful air firepower.


    Because the German army was at a disadvantage in strength and technical equipment, and had no air supremacy, although they resisted tenaciously, they did not escape the fate of annihilation in the end.


    In the evening, rebalko called konev. He said excitedly on the phone: "Comrade marshal, after a day of fierce fighting, the Broder group of the German army no longer exists. According to rough statistics, our army annihilated more than 30000 enemies and captured more than 17000 German officers and men, including two division commanders. At the same time, more than 1100 guns of various calibres, 1500 cars and many other military materials were seized. "


    "Well done, rebalko." Konev beamed into the microphone and said, "please thank all the commanders and fighters for their success in smashing the German Broder group."


    "This is what we should do, comrade marshal." After pausing for a moment, rebalko asked cautiously, "is there going to be a formal attack on Lvov tomorrow?"


    "That''s right," konev said, nodding his head. "According to the battle plan we just made, after the attack on Lvov, your group army started from the northwest and West, the tank group army 4 of lelushenko circuited from the south, and the group army 60 of kurozhkin attacked from the East, Moskalenko''s 38th army, on the other hand, attacked the south of Lvov from peremeshi. "


    "Marshal," rebalko immediately assured konev after listening to his arrangement, "my troops will be the first to rush into Lvov."


    "Well, since you have such confidence, I''ll wait for your good news here." After konev finished his call with rebalko, he turned around and told sokolovsky: "chief of staff, call the other three commanders of the group army besides rebalko, and ask them to take a rest day tomorrow, and wait until the morning after tomorrow to officially launch the attack on Lvov."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    On the early morning of July 24, our army carried out heavy shelling on the German positions on the outskirts of Lvov.


    After the shelling started, we received a phone call from four commanders of the group army. They all said in one voice that the German position was being heavily shelled by our artillery and intensively bombed by the air force. The positions were full of dazzling fireballs and smoke.


    But it wasn''t until our troops rushed into Lviv and interrogated the captured prisoners that they realized that the outer positions that had been shelled and bombed by us for an hour and a half were empty. All the German troops withdrew to the second line of defense, leaving no observation posts. When our artillery and bombing stopped, they returned to the forefront from the second line of defense to block our attack.


    After the shelling and bombing, the 3rd group army of rybalco''s close guard tanks launched an attack from the West and northwest to Lvov at the same time, but it was tenaciously resisted by the German army, and the troops were forced to return to the starting position after paying heavy casualties.


    During the whole morning''s fighting, not only rebalko''s attack was frustrated, but also the attacks launched by lelushenko, kurozhkin and Moskalenko from the other two directions did not make any progress.


    After receiving the report that the progress was not smooth, sokolovsky was a little worried. He looked at konev walking around the headquarters and asked, "marshal, it seems that the German defense force in the city is very strong. Do you want to let the troops withdraw first and bombard the enemy''s positions again?"


    "No, let them continue to attack." As he walked back and forth, konev said angrily, "four group armies attacked at the same time. All morning, they didn''t touch the edge of the German peripheral positions. What a shame!"


    "Comrade marshal," I asked cautiously, "since our army is now frustrated in attack, do you think it is necessary to make corresponding adjustments in deployment?"


    "Well, it makes sense. We need to adjust our deployment." Konev stopped, looked at sokolovsky and said, "chief of staff, inform rebalko immediately and ask him to stop attacking temporarily. After leaving two tank brigades and two motorized infantry battalions in the occupied area, the main force bypassed the Yanov forest zone and pushed forward to the yavorov area, cutting off the communication line between the German Lvov group and Yaroslav and peremeshli. "


    "Marshal, if rebarko is allowed to stop attacking, then our troops will have to attack Lvov from the East and the south." Sokolovsky asked uneasily: "in this way, the German army can completely transfer the forces from the north and the west to these two directions, and then the resistance of the other three groups will become more tenacious."


    "Chief of staff, you''re worried." Konev confidently said: "as long as rebalko leaves enough troops on guard to form a deterrent to the German army, they will not dare to mobilize the northern and Western forces to reinforce the attacked area. In this way, we can let the two air force groups each take charge of one direction and use three-dimensional fortifications to capture the city. "


    Considering that it would not only waste time and achieve little success if the troops were allowed to return to the starting point of the attack and launch the attack after another artillery preparation and bombing, I suggested to konev: "marshal, I think the troops need not carry out special artillery preparation and bombing before the attack, but adopt artillery firepower to suppress it, The tanks, along with the infantry, attacked the German peripheral positions


    As for my proposal, konev considered it for a moment and then adopted a compromise: the artillery first shelled the German peripheral positions, ten minutes later, the artillery extended, and our troops launched a charge under the guidance of tanks. After a few hours of rest, troops from the East and South attacked livov again in the afternoon. Because the German army didn''t expect us to suddenly change our tactics, the front position that was shelled was still empty, so the 4th tank group army in the south of the city took the lead in approaching Lvov. After passing the first German line of defense quickly, the 10th army of close guard tanks, which opened the way in front of them, rushed to the second German line of defense quickly. The enemy in the second line of defense is being attacked by our extended artillery and is being suppressed in the trenches. When they found out that our tanks were coming at a high speed, before they could make any response, they had already crossed the trench one after another and rushed directly to Lviv city.

 Chapter 1566

    Although we are facing the German army which has already begun to decline, they still retain their skilled technical and tactical level and tenacious combat effectiveness. Seeing our tanks rushing into the urban-rural fringe one after another, the anti tank weapons deployed in the streets and houses opened fire.


    The tanks in the front were destroyed by the German anti tank fire, blocking the way of the tanks following. Seeing that the situation was unfavourable to his own side, the commanders of the tank troops were afraid that many tanks would stay in the street and become the targets of German anti tank fighters. They immediately ordered the troops to withdraw from the city.


    Seeing that the attack on Lvov was not smooth, konev was anxious to turn around in the headquarters, while sokolovsky stood beside him in a daze. I got up from my seat and faced konev, who was pacing back and forth, said, "Comrade marshal, please allow me to go to the front line of Lvov."


    "To the front of Lviv?" Konev stopped, gave me a strange look, shook his head and said, "no, it can''t. Rita, don''t forget that the two former commanders and Deputy commanders of the first front army of Ukraine were both accidents while inspecting the front line. I absolutely can''t let you take the risk. "


    "Comrade oshanina, marshal konev is right." As soon as konev''s words were finished, kleinukov echoed: "the front line is too dangerous. If you have any mistakes, how can we explain them to our superiors?"


    As soon as my proposal was put forward, it met with opposition. Although I knew in my heart that they were all thinking about my safety, I was still unwilling to say to konev, "Comrade marshal, I have been staying in the front line these years and know how to protect myself. If I go to the front line this time, I won''t have any problems. You can rest assured. "


    After I said this, konev did not immediately express any opinions, but fell into meditation. When I saw his reaction, I knew that there was room for things to turn around. I said while the iron was hot: "when the troops attacking Lvov are distributed under four army groups and lack unified command, it''s easy to go their own way. Therefore, I feel that I can go to the front line and personally command these troops, so as to win Lvov as soon as possible. "


    "Marshal," sokolovsky interrupted as soon as I finished my words, and before konev made his statement, "I don''t think we should let oshanina go to the front line. It''s too dangerous there. We don''t have the right to let her take this risk."


    After listening to sokolovsky''s words, konev fixed his eyes on him for a long time and then said, "Comrade chief of staff, you should be very clear that we have been directing the battle according to the information reported by the front line. And some of these intelligence, in the process of layer upon layer reporting, have lost their timeliness, so that we sometimes make wrong decisions. Under the current situation, the front line really needs a commander who can coordinate the joint operations between the various forces. This person is not suitable for me, nor is it suitable for you. Therefore, we can only hand over this heavy burden to Rita to complete. "


    Seeing that konev had agreed to let me go to the front line, sokolovsky did not raise any objection. Konev came up to me, put his hands on my shoulder, patted me twice, and said, "Rita, you''re going to leave all night, to the fourth group army of tanks in lelushenko, where you''re going to direct the attack of several groups on Lvov."


    Originally, I planned to take advantage of the jeep, but konev said that he was worried that he would meet the enemy''s scattered soldiers on the road, so he sent three armored vehicles to escort me to the group army headquarters in lelushenko overnight.


    It''s more than 200 kilometers from Rovno to the south of Lvov. It took us eight hours to get to our destination because the road was not easy to walk. However, in the headquarters of the group army, I did not see lelushenko, only his chief of staff. The chief of staff respectfully reported to me that the commander was in the headquarters of the 10th army of the close guard tank.


    When I arrived at the headquarters of the 10th army of the guard tank, lelushenko, who got the news, came out with a group of commanders to welcome me. After a simple greeting, he began to introduce the commander who came out with him: "Comrade deputy commander, I''d like to introduce you to major general belov, commander of the 10th army of close guard tanks."


    "Hello, general belov." When belov and I finished shaking hands, we fixed our eyes on a tall commander nearby and asked curiously, "I don''t know who this commander is?"


    Hearing my question, the tall commander quickly stepped forward, straightened up and reported to me, "report to the deputy commander of the front army, I am Colonel yefemov, commander of the 29th brigade of the motorized infantry of the guards."


    When I shook hands with yefimov, lelushenko added: "Comrade deputy commander, last night, Colonel yefimov''s troops once successfully stormed into the city. Although they finally withdrew from Lviv under the counterattack of the German army, there are still several combat teams still fighting fiercely in the city


    "Oh, how many combat teams are there to fight fiercely in the city?" Lelushenko''s words surprised me a little. I thought that the army had failed to attack the city. All the troops were driven out of the city by the German army, but a small part remained in the city.


    "Comrade Colonel, tell me about the situation." I asked, looking at yeffimov, who was a head taller than me.


    Without waiting for yefemov to speak, lelushenko said, "Rita, this is not the place to speak outside. Let''s go into the headquarters."


    After we got into the headquarters, I couldn''t wait to ask yefemov, "Comrade Colonel, now please give me a detailed report."


    Yefemov hesitated and turned his eyes to one side. After seeing the other side nodding slightly, he began to report to me: "Comrade deputy commander, this is the situation. After the attack of the 63rd guard tank brigade was repulsed by the German army, I soon organized the first and second motorized battalions and launched another attack on the city. The troops who rushed into the city were attacked by the German army and were driven out, but the two platoons of the second battalion remained in the city. Half an hour ago, our observers in front of us also called, saying that we could vaguely hear the sound of guns coming from the city. "


    "How many people are left in these two platoons?" I continued.


    "One of the platoons has 15 people left. The platoon leader is sergeant hujiakov." "There is another platoon that has lost contact with us for a while, but as far as we know, they are still fighting tenaciously," yefimov said dryly


    "What kind of person is that platoon leader?" It''s said that there are only two platoons in the city with incomplete organizational system. My heart is cold again. Under the heavy siege of the enemy, the two platoons can play a limited role. But in order not to let them see the disappointment on my face, I still pretended to be calm and asked: "in the face of the enemy''s siege, will he not waver?"


    Yefimov looked at lelushenko again, and then replied positively: "don''t worry, comrade deputy commander of the front army, I dare to guarantee with my own life that no matter how many enemies besieged me, Sergeant hujiakov will not show any wavering."


    After listening to yefemov''s reply, I couldn''t help but be happy: "Comrade Colonel, do you have such confidence in your subordinates?"


    "Yes." Hearing that I had doubts about his own subordinates, yefimov''s face showed an expression of displeasure, but he politely said to me: "Comrade deputy commander, you may not know that in March, Sergeant hujiakov destroyed four German tanks, killed 30 German soldiers, and was awarded the title of Soviet hero."


    When I learned that Hu jiakov had won the title of Soviet hero, I suddenly felt a lot more confident. As long as there are such soldiers, they will continue to fight in the most difficult environment. I turned to look at lelushenko and asked, "general lelushenko, what are your plans?"


    "Of course, the attack continued." Lelushenko quickly replied: "before you come, we are studying the attack plan."


    "Have you found anything?"


    "I intend to order the 62nd and 63rd brigades of the guard tanks to attack again from the south of the city." Lelushenko pointed to the map in front of me and introduced to me: "as long as we capture the entrance of Liberty Avenue in the south of the city and set up an offensive starting position here, our tanks can push directly along the street to the north of the city."


    Fortunately, before I came here, I learned something about Lvov from konev and kleinukov. Otherwise, the plan proposed by lelushenko at this moment will definitely make me confused. I waited for lelushenko to finish, nodded his head and said: "it''s reasonable that the north and South lines of freedom Avenue run through the north and south of Lvov. As long as we can establish offensive positions here, we can only smoothly advance to the north of the city. But you should pay attention to, "I pointed in the middle of livov with my hand and stressed," in the middle of the city, there are the opera house and the memorial of Shevchenko. Try not to destroy them in the battle. "


    "I see, comrade deputy commander." "We''ll pay attention to it in battle," said belov


    "General belov, time is up." Lelushenko raised his hand and looked at his watch, urging belov: "we can let the troops attack Lvov."


    While belov was arranging an attack on several brigade commanders under him, I pulled lelushenko aside and asked, "Comrade General, I want to ask, where is general Moskalenko''s 38th army?"


    "It''s still in the Nikolayev area, 30 kilometers from Lvov." With a wry smile, lelushenko replied: "the German army set up defense in depth on their way forward and resisted very tenaciously, which led to their slow advance."


    Although Moskalenko''s 38th army can not be counted on, it still needs the help of the 60th army in the east to successfully capture Lvov. So I asked, "Comrade General, can I contact the 60th army here?"


    "Yes." With that, lelushenko went to the table, grabbed the crank of a telephone and shook it a few times. Then he grabbed the earphone and stuck it to his ear and said to the microphone, "Hello, signalman, this is general lelushenko. Connect me with the 38th army headquarters."


    After the call, lelushenko handed me the phone and said, "Rita, it''s through. General kurotchkin is waiting for your order


    "Hello, general kurotchkin." I first politely said hello to the other side, and then directly gave the order: "in a little while, general lelushenko''s troops will attack from Lvov''s side. Now I order you to gather your forces immediately and attack from the east side of the city. "


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." When kurotchkin heard my order, he didn''t say anything, but simply replied, "I''ll give an order to the troops to attack immediately." After I introduced the call, I put the microphone on the base of the phone. When I was about to speak, I suddenly saw lelushenko grasp the crank of the phone and shake it a few times. Seeing that I looked at him with strange eyes, he explained with a smile: "this is an old-fashioned telephone. No matter before you make a call, you need to shake the handle a few times after the call, otherwise the phone will always be connected." When I listened to the introduction, my face turned red, because when I used to use this kind of old-fashioned telephone in the offices of lelushenko and rokosovsky, I never shook the crank after hanging up, and I didn''t know whether I had delayed important things. As soon as the attack on Lvov by the 10th army of the close guard tank started, konev''s phone call came in. "What''s the situation, Rita?" he asked bluntly. "Has the attack on Lvov begun?"¡° Yes, comrade marshal. " Listening to the roar outside, I quickly replied, "general lelushenko''s 10th army of close guard tanks has launched an attack from the south of Lvov. And the 38th army of general kurotchkin will attack from the east later. "¡° What about Moskalenko? " After listening to my report, konev asked, "where are his troops?"¡° General Moskalenko''s troops are now being blocked by the German army in the Nikolayev area, 30 kilometers away from Lvov. " I repeat what lyushenko just said: "they can''t take part in the attack launched this morning."¡° Oh, I see. If there is any progress, call me in time. " Konev murmured and hung up. I put down the phone and thought about it. Then I said to lelushenko, "Comrade General, Lvov is a big city. Only two tank brigades close to the 10th army of tank guards attack. The strength is a little too weak. You should transfer other troops as soon as possible to strengthen our army''s strength. " Lelushenko nodded his head and said, "OK, I''ll give you an order. Let the other troops gather here immediately and try to occupy Lvov as soon as possible."

 Chapter 1567

    The German army built a solid defense system by taking advantage of the characteristics of stone buildings in livov city. The attacks launched by the two troops of lelushenko and kurozhkin from the East and South did not achieve any ideal results. After paying a lot of casualties, our troops retreated outside the city again.


    After the defeat of the attack, while wiping the cold sweat on his head, lelushenko awkwardly explained to me: "Comrade deputy commander, as the enemy sticks to the buildings on both sides of the street, he has laid out a lot of anti tank weapons and machine gun positions. When our tanks were destroyed, they hid in the building and fired machine guns at the following infantry, causing heavy casualties


    Listening to lelushenko''s report, my mind was filled with the fighting scenes: our army had just destroyed the German barricade at the intersection. Under the guidance of the tank, it was pounding forward along the street. Suddenly, from a window of the roadside building, a soldier with an iron fist anti tank bazooka appeared. He aimed at our tank and opened fire. When we saw that our tanks were hit by bullets and caught fire, the German soldiers who fired the Rockets disappeared from the window, and then soldiers with machine guns or submachine guns emerged from other windows to fire at our soldiers exposed in the street. Just as our tanks in the rear pointed their guns at these windows, the Germans disappeared


    Seeing that I didn''t speak, lelushenko thought it was a sign that I was ready to get angry. He closed his mouth in time and looked at me in a panic.


    Although I can imagine the tactics used by the German army in street warfare, I can''t think of any good way to solve it. After all, there are hundreds of thousands of residents in the city. I can''t let the artillery destroy the city. It''s really hard to fight this kind of war.


    "Comrade deputy commander, what should we do?" Major general belov asked nervously.


    "Comrade commander," instead of answering his question, I looked at him and asked, "are there any troops in the city at present?"


    "Yes," said belov, nodding his head. "After a long silence again, the guard, tankotapov, said cautiously," Comrade General, although the soldiers are very tenacious, because we have too few troops, we can only last two days at most... "


    "Come on, Captain Potapov, you don''t have to say that. I know that." I know that with their current strength and equipment, it is the limit that they can persist in the encirclement of the enemy for two days, so I said decisively, "I will send reinforcements to you."


    At the end of the call with Potapov, I directly told belov: "Comrade General, Captain Potapov is in a terrible situation. I hope I can get your help."


    "It''s very difficult, comrade deputy commander." Belov sighed and said in embarrassment, "if we could really send troops to reinforce captain Potapov, we would have turned that place into the starting point of our army''s attack."


    "Yes, Rita." After belov finished, lelushenko echoed: "Captain Potapov, although they are only five kilometers away from us, our troops can''t go up because of the tight defense of the German army."


    "If we don''t reinforce them, we''ll have to watch Potapov. They''ll be wiped out by the German army after they''ve run out of ammunition." After I said these words without expression, I gave an order directly to belov: "Comrade commander, immediately transfer the forces of two companies, and after dark, infiltrate into the city by breaking up the whole into parts, so as to strengthen captain Potapov''s defense."


    "Comrade deputy commander," belov said with a bitter smile to the order I gave, "even if it is dark, the German defense will not relax. If we enter the city by means of small teams, it will be easy for us to be wiped out one by one by the German forces who have the advantage of strength and terrain."


    "Anyway, we have to try." I said in an indisputable tone: "Comrade commander, this matter is so decided. Let''s carry it out."


    After arranging for the reinforcement of the small team in the city, I said, "ah, are there so many casualties?" After listening to the data, I was startled. After a short pause, I asked with a fluke, "has anyone successfully sneaked into the city?"


    "I don''t think so." The major shook his head and replied, "our people were found by the enemy almost as soon as they got close to the edge of the city, and then they were shot wildly by them. I don''t think anyone can get into the city successfully."


    After the major finished, I waved to him and said feebly, "well, comrade major, you''ve been busy all night and worked hard. Go and have a rest."


    After the major left, I said to lelushenko, who was standing by, "Comrade General, order the troops to prepare for another attack on Lvov. In order to capture the city as soon as possible, I authorize you to use all weapons, understand? "


    From what I said, lelushenko understood that they would no longer be bound by konev''s order in today''s attack. As long as they could destroy the enemy, they could use any heavy weapons in any area. Therefore, he readily agreed, "I see."


    When lelushenko gave an order to his troops to attack, I thought of captain Potapov who was staying in the city. They quickly called the director of communications over and told him to connect me with Potapov. I was eager to learn about the situation in the city.


    After connecting Potapov, I asked anxiously, "Comrade captain, our attack on Lvov is about to begin. How are you doing there? How many people and technical equipment are left."¡° Report to deputy commander comrade, "Potapov heard my voice and immediately replied excitedly," we still have three tanks and 50 soldiers left. "¡° What, you still have fifty soldiers? " I was a little surprised to ask: "where do you come so many people?"¡° Didn''t you send it? " When I asked, Potapov said strangely, "I asked the platoon leader. He said you ordered them to break up into parts and sneak into the city. Fortunately, forty soldiers came down. Otherwise, I would not be able to stop the enemy''s attack with only three tanks and ten soldiers. " Knowing that botabov had enough troops, I felt a lot more at ease. Then I said to him, "Comrade captain, after our troops launch an attack, you must find a way to cooperate with them. If possible, I hope that you will be the first to put the red flag on the roof of the municipal building. "¡° Comrade deputy commander of the front army, please rest assured. " "I will be the first to put the red flag on the top of the municipal building," Potapov assured me After I finished talking with Potapov, I said with a smile to lelushenko who came by: "Comrade General, last night 40 soldiers successfully sneaked into the city and joined Potapov. After you attack the city, the captain will take the initiative to send people to cooperate with you. " Our attacks from the East and South were very slow because of the German tenacious defense. By noon, the battle had occupied only two or three streets, far from the city center. Fortunately, Moskalenko''s troops finally arrived at their starting position. Their participation became the last straw to crush the garrison. Under the powerful attack of our army, the enemy retreated to the center of the city. In the evening, general belov, who rushed to the south of the city to command the battle, called us and told me excitedly: "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, I saw a red flag on the municipal building in the center of the city with my telescope in the command post, which means our army has occupied Lvov."

 Chapter 1568

    When I heard this news, I began to think that the so-called occupation of Lvov was just a red flag planted on the top of the municipal building in the center of the city. It was just a nominal occupation. The German army was still fighting in most areas of the city. Should I report the news to konev now, or wait until the overall situation has been decided?


    Right here, lelushenko''s voice suddenly rang out: "Rita, this is really wonderful. You should immediately report the good news to marshal konev and ask him to pass it on to Comrade Stalin. Perhaps our supreme commander himself is anxiously waiting for such a report. "


    After listening to what lelushenko said, I made a decisive decision and immediately called konev, because I knew that lelushenko had always been a valued General of Stalin. He had a thorough understanding of Stalin''s psychology. He said that it was the best time to report the results to Stalin, Then it must be the best time.


    So without hesitation, I called konev''s headquarters and reported to him, "marshal, I have good news for you. We have captured Lvov''s troops and planted a red flag on the top of the municipal building in the center of the city."


    "Really, our red flag has been put on the municipal building in Lviv. That''s great. That''s great. I will report the news to Comrade Stalin immediately. " After konev said these words, he asked, "Rita, is the resistance of the garrison in your city still going on?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal, the enemy is not reconciled to their defeat and is still carrying on the final resistance." I did not hide the truth of the current battlefield from konev, but truthfully reported that "at present, most of the cities are still in their hands, and our troops only occupy part of the East and south of the city."


    "What you just reported, I will report to Comrade Stalin as soon as possible." Konev motionless said: "but you also have to speed up the attack, and strive to get Lvov down as soon as possible."


    "I see. Marshal, we will do our best to speed up the liberation of this city." When I was reporting, I suddenly thought of captain Potapov, who was fighting alone in the city. They could not help but put forward to konev: "by the way, comrade marshal, I have one more thing to report to you."


    "What''s the matter, you say it." Said konev, a little absent-minded.


    "Comrade marshal, the situation is like this." I will be trapped in the city by the German army, still fighting to the end of captain Potapov and sergeant hujiakov, simply reported to konev, and finally tentatively asked: "I want to ask, after we liberate Lvov, what kind of reward should we give to such brave commanders and fighters?"


    As for my question, konev was silent for a while, and finally said slowly: "I think they fully meet the criteria for conferring the title of" Soviet hero ". At the end of the battle, if the two commanders you mentioned are still alive, you can tell them the good news yourself. "


    After talking with konev, he saw that lelushenko was reading a telegram and asked casually, "Comrade General, what''s the good news?"


    Lelushenko handed me the telegram in his hand, shaking his head, and said, "the attack launched by general Moskalenko and I from the south of the city has been successful so far, but general kurozhkin is struggling."


    "Why I asked curiously, "although we have invested two group armies in the south of the city, due to the limitation of the terrain, the forces deployed in the front of the attack are roughly equal to those in the East. Today, before the attack, our artillery has destroyed the German artillery position on Mount St. George with intensive artillery fire. Why did general kurotchkin make progress, Would it be so slow? "


    "You don''t know something, Rita." Lelushenko explained to me: "although Lvov was built in the 16th century, the east side of the city was designed and built according to the standard of the Battle Fortress. The fortresses in the east side of the city are as dense as cobwebs, which are easy to defend and difficult to attack. Our tanks and armored vehicles can not play their due combat effectiveness in this kind of terrain."


    I agree with what lelushenko said. After he finished, I added: "the offensive is not smooth, and it is also related to our army''s old tactics. Before the offensive, our army always sends air force and artillery units to attack the enemy''s defensive positions. After finishing the fire coverage and attack, we send tanks, armored vehicles and infantry to rush into the city, Fight the enemy in the streets. Because there are so many residents in the city, it is impossible for us to destroy all the buildings with artillery fire, so that the enemy can hide in the buildings on both sides of the road and attack our attacking forces without fear. "


    "What shall we do?" Asked lelushenko.


    "By adopting the step-by-step tactics, our army will consolidate one place as soon as it is occupied, and advance in depth to the enemy''s defense bit by bit." I was rather helpless to say: "in the current situation, we can only take this stupid approach."


    "But this kind of play, we need too long." "I''m afraid that if I do this, I''ll be blamed by my superiors," he said anxiously


    "If you want to speed up the attack, there is no way." I tapped my fingers gently on the table and said carefully, "that is to take a two pronged approach. On the one hand, I will send the main force to advance along the street, and on the other hand, I will send small teams to penetrate into the enemy''s defensive positions."


    "I see." Lelushenko was also a smart man. Before I finished my words, he understood what I meant and nodded his head and said, "I''m going to give orders to the following troops, let them dispatch elite troops and strong generals, use small penetration methods, penetrate into the depth of the enemy''s defense, and completely disrupt their defense deployment."


    Seeing that lelushenko understood my intention so thoroughly, I nodded with a smile, "not only your group army, but also Moskalenko''s 38th group army and kurotchkin''s 60th group army need to adopt the same tactics. Only by doing so can we liberate Lvov completely in the shortest time


    My order was soon conveyed. In addition to the tanks and armored vehicles, the troops continued to advance along the streets towards the center of the city. Countless small teams also infiltrated into the German defense from the weak alleys.


    After a day and night of fighting, in the early morning of the 27th, the whole Lvov was occupied by our army.


    After I got the accurate report, regardless of the statistics of the results, I called konev and reported to him, "Comrade marshal, our troops have completely occupied Lvov. The garrison in the city has either been killed or captured by our army. No organized unit has escaped from our encirclement."


    "Good, Rita. You''ve done a good job." Konev was overjoyed when he heard my report, and he specially told me: "you should immediately transfer the headquarters to Lvov City, and then gather several group army commanders to summarize the gains and losses in the battle of liberating Lvov. I will be there in a few hours."


    As soon as I put down the phone, he took the initiative to ask me, "Rita, next to the freedom Avenue opera house, there is a church well preserved in the battle. Do you think we will set up a new headquarters there?"


    "Yes," I''ve never been to Lviv. I don''t know what the layout of the city is. If I were allowed to choose a place, I really don''t know where to choose. Since lelushenko said that the church next to the opera house is still intact, it would be most appropriate to set up a new headquarters there. I gave him a smile, said: "Marshal comrades will soon come, please arrange staff here as soon as possible."


    "No problem. I''ll send someone to prepare." With that, lelushenko turned and called to the director of communications, who seemed to be ready to give orders.


    I suddenly thought of the two heroes who were staying in the city. I immediately told lelushenko, "Comrade General, if possible, let captain Potapov and sergeant hujiakov come to see me at the new headquarters."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    When I came to the location of the new headquarters, it was still a busy scene. The signalmen were setting up antennas and laying telephone lines; The staff are going in and out. On the conference table in front of lelushenko, a thick stack of papers has been piled up.


    I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and asked lelushenko, who was buried in the documents: "Comrade General, when will the three commanders of rebarko, Moskalenko and kurozhkin be here?"


    "They didn''t come so fast." Lelushenko replied without raising his head: "I guess they will not come here until all the results are counted out, so you need to be patient and wait a lot."


    As soon as his words were finished, I saw major general belov, commander of the 10th army of the close guard tank, come over quickly. He came up to us, raised his hand to salute, and put a stack of war reports in front of lelushenko. Lelushenko looked up at him, then pointed to the empty seat beside him and said, "Comrade belov, please sit down."


    As soon as I saw belov, I immediately thought of captain Potapov and sergeant hujiakov who had been in the city for two days. I couldn''t help asking belov, "Comrade commander, where are your two heroes?"


    "My two heroes?" When belov heard my question, he was stunned. Then he thought of who I was talking about. He quickly replied, "are you talking about captain Potapov and sergeant hujiakov?"


    "Yes, they are." I nodded and asked, "where are they now?"


    "Sergeant hujiakov may not be able to come. He was seriously injured in the battle and has been sent to the military hospital for treatment. As for captain Potapov, he is waiting for you outside at the moment


    "Comrade commander, since our hero is outside," I heard that bertapov is outside, I urged belov quickly: "call him in quickly."


    Belov stood up and called out. Immediately, an officer in a big cornice hat came to the conference table, straightened up and waited for belov to give orders. Belov said to him, "go outside and call captain Potapov in."


    The officer nodded, turned and walked quickly to the church. Before long, he came with a tall, helmeted, blackened captain. The captain stepped forward, raised his hand to salute some of us, and then said in a loud voice, "comrades general, Captain Potapov, commander of the tank company of the 3rd Brigade of the close guard tank, has been ordered to come, please give instructions!"


    Hearing the voice of the captain, the busy lelushenko stopped working, sat on the chair and half turned around, looked at the captain who had just reported to us with great interest, and asked curiously, "are you captain Potapov, who has been in the city for two days?"


    "Yes, comrade commander, it''s me." "My tank company and an infantry unit have been surrounded by the enemy for two days," Potapov replied without squinting¡° Comrade captain, "I stood up, walked up to Potapov and asked with a smile," did you or someone else put in the red flag of the municipal building? " After glancing at me from the corner of his eye, Potapov replied loudly: "report general, it''s me who planted the red flag on the top floor of the municipal building."¡° Comrade captain, "I looked at the handsome young officer in front of me and asked with great interest," as far as I know, the municipal building was conquered four hours after the red flag was put on. Can you tell me how you put the red flag on the roof? " When botabov heard my question, he was a little embarrassed and said, "Comrade General, the German army has a lot of troops in the municipal building. I can''t get into it with my three tanks and dozens of men. So I had an idea. I ordered the troops to feint from the front, but I took two soldiers to the side of the building, climbed up the fire stairs and put the red flag on the top of the building In the reports I received, I only know that the red flag has been flying on the top of the German occupied municipal building, but the specific fighting situation is not clear. So I went on to ask, "after you put the red flag on the roof, did the enemy launch a counterattack?"¡° Yes, the German army launched several counterattacks. " Botabov said with a little pride: "we stick to the side of the fire stairs. As soon as the enemy comes up, we will open fire on them. After seven or eight people died in company, the enemy stopped attacking, but rebuilt the fortifications downstairs to cut off our contact with the rest of the troops. But fortunately, in less than half an hour, the main force of our brigade rushed to the vicinity of the municipal building, so that the enemy had no time to take care of us on the top of the building. "¡° Comrade captain, you are a good man. " I raised my hands, patted his arms, and said with approval, "in order to commend you for your bravery and tenacity and great achievements in the liberation of Lvov, the headquarters of the front army has decided to award you the title of" Soviet hero. " When Potapov heard that he had been awarded the title of Soviet hero, he immediately grinned in silence. After a few words of encouragement, I waved to him and said, "Comrade captain, you''ve worked hard. Go back and have a good rest. We''ll arrange another time for honours." After offering me a military salute, Potapov took off a backpack on his back, held it in his hand and said to me, "Comrade General, this is my loot. I want to give it to you as a gift. I wonder if you are willing to accept it? "¡° Comrade captain, are you going to give a present to the deputy commander of the front army? " Hearing what botabov said, it immediately aroused the interest of lelushenko and belov. They also came over, staring at the backpack in botabov''s hand, and asked curiously, "what''s in it?" Potapov didn''t speak. He just opened his backpack and took out the contents. When I saw what he was holding, I was surprised.

 Chapter 1569

    Captain botabov was holding two furs in his hand. I picked up the one and shook it away. I found it was a yellowish brown Rex jacket with a belt cap. I put the jacket on the back of the chair, and took the second dress from the captain''s hand. It was a gray beaver suit over the knee, with a black fox collar of the same color.


    I held the beaver coat in my arms and said to Potapov standing in front of me with a smile, "Comrade captain, can you tell me where your booty came from?"


    Potapov grinned and then replied, "this is the booty I found in a room after leading soldiers to seize a house occupied by the German army. The reason why I got the title of Soviet hero is due to you. To show my sincere thanks, I''d like to give you two clothes as gifts. I hope you can accept them. "


    After he finished, I skillfully rolled the fur of the beaver in and the lining out into a ball and put it back into the backpack of botabovti. Then I said firmly, "thank you for your kindness, comrade captain, but I can''t take this dress."


    Seeing that I put two furs one by one into my knapsack, Potapov was a little silly. He asked, "why is that, Comrade General?"


    "Comrade captain, no merit, no salary." I replied with a gift, "I can''t accept such a valuable gift."


    "To thank you, I found these two furs for you." Potapov''s cheeks were red, and he tried to explain to me: "it''s to thank you for your support and respect for me, as well as the title of" Soviet hero "to be awarded to me."


    "Captain Potapov," I said solemnly, looking at Potapov standing in front of me, "the reason why you have won the title of" Soviet hero "is that your superiors have decided to award you for your bravery and heroism in the battle of liberating Lvov and taking the lead in planting the red flag on the top floor of the municipal building, It''s none of my business, so I can''t accept your gift. "


    After listening to what I said, Potapov only hesitated for a short time, but also resolutely handed his backpack to me and said seriously: "Comrade General, it''s not only my personal opinion but also the thoughts of all our commanders and fighters to send you a gift. I hope you don''t refuse our kindness."


    "It''s the heart of the soldiers, Rita." After listening to botabov''s words, lelushenko also advised me with a smile: "in order to live up to their good intentions, I think you''d better accept it."


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander of the front army." "Don''t let the soldiers down," he said with a smile


    Although I know that it is very impolite to refuse other people''s gifts in Russia, I still choose to refuse without hesitation. But in order not to hurt Potapov''s self-esteem, I said politely: "Comrade captain, I thank you again for your kindness. You know, even if you give me these two furs, it''s useless, because I usually wear military uniform. "


    Listen to me, lelushenko and belov are not easy to persuade, they can only cast sympathetic eyes on Potapov. Botabov, however, blushed with shame because of my refusal again, and stood in the same place a little at a loss.


    I couldn''t bear to see Potapov''s appearance, so I reached for his backpack, put it on his shoulder, and continued: "Comrade captain, these are your booty. You''d better send someone to take them home and give them to your sisters. I''m sure they will be very happy when they receive your gift. "


    After I finished, botabov nodded his head vigorously, raised his hand to salute the three of us, turned around and walked out of the headquarters.


    Seeing that Potapov left the headquarters, lelushenko turned and asked belov, "Comrade commander, I want to ask you a question. How do we deal with the booty seized by our commanders and fighters in the battle?"


    "According to the regulations, all weapons, ammunition and technical equipment seized must be handed over unconditionally. And commodities like this, "belov said, shrugging his shoulders," are generally owned by captured soldiers because there are no written regulations. "


    "Two general comrades," from the beginning of the defense war of Stalingrad, I found that individual soldiers robbed property. As the war situation became more and more favorable to the Soviet army, this situation became more and more common. So as soon as belov finished, I asked curiously, "don''t you find that our soldiers have a lot of booty in their hands, Not from the hands of the Germans at all, but from the homes of civilians... " I originally wanted to use the word "looting", but to my lips, I changed it to a relatively mild word.


    After looking at each other, lelushenko and belov shrugged their shoulders and said with disapproval, "Rita, our soldiers liberated these cities enslaved by the Communist Party after a bloody battle. I think they should get some rewards."


    After listening to lelushenko''s explanation, I suddenly understood why the Soviet Army robbed so many local residents'' property after occupying Berlin. Even the officer who took part in the red flag at the top of the parliament building wore two stolen watches on his wrist. It turned out that all this had something to do with the connivance of his superiors. However, I did not comment on the appropriateness of the conduct of the commanders and fighters, but asked absently, "do you know how they deal with these booty?"


    As for the handling of the spoils, whether it is lelushenko or belov, they clearly know better than I do. "Under normal circumstances, they will go home by military mail. According to the regulations, each soldier can send a five kilogram package to his home every month. Officers can send such a package to his home twice a month, while the number of times for generals is unlimited," lelushenko said. As for those soldiers who have no family, they usually sell their spoils on the spot for drinks, or give them to girls they know. " At this time, several group army commanders who attended the meeting entered the church one after another. Lelushenko quickly welcomed them and said hello to them. When he left, belov whispered to me, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, those two furs are very good. You can completely stay by yourself." With a faint smile, I said in my heart that one of the two furs was a jacket made of jiangrex leather, the lowest grade, and the other was a beaver long coat. The quality and workmanship were also very poor. There was no bottom down, and the needles on the surface were long and firm. If it''s a high-grade mink, I''ll probably accept it. I''m not sensitive to such a low-grade fur¡° Hello, Rita The chubby rebalco came up to me, raised his hand, extended his hand to me, and said politely, "nice to meet you here."¡° Hello, general rebalko! Nice to meet you here, too. " I shook his hand and said with approval, "because of your careful deployment, the German attempt to break through from the west of the city was completely smashed, thousands of enemies were killed, and the same number of enemies were captured by our army." On hearing my praise, rebalko laughed with embarrassment and said modestly, "it''s because marshal konev''s command is proper that we can win Lvov. By the way, Rita, when can he get here? "¡° Soon, comrade marshal is on his way. I believe he will be here soon. " At this point, I pointed to the empty seat beside me and said friendly, "general rebalko, please take a seat first."

 Chapter 1570

    When all the informed group commanders arrived, konev rushed to Lvov.


    As soon as he entered the church, the adjutant who followed him cried out, "marshal konev is here!"


    With the voice of the adjutant, the commanders at the table immediately rose from their seats, while the staff, who were walking back and forth on the other side of the church hall, stopped and stood at attention facing konev.


    I greet konev with a smile, extend my hand to him and say politely, "welcome to Lvov, marshal!"


    "Hello, Rita." Konev shook my hand twice, nodded and said, "you''ve worked hard these two days."


    After he released my hand, he quickly came to the place reserved for him, glanced at the commander standing on both sides of the conference table, then raised his hands and pressed them down, commanding with great authority: "please sit down!"


    The standing commanders of the group army sat down in order with his command, then tilted their heads and waited for him to speak to them.


    "Comrades," konev said after a pause, "I congratulate you on your successful capture of Lvov and the liberation of the Ukrainian people who have been enslaved by the bandits for three years." At this point, he suddenly kept silent. From the excited expression on his face, I guess some past events may have disturbed his prepared speech.


    After a while, konev continued: "before I came here, I had already reported the good news that our army had captured Lvov to Comrade Stalin. Comrade Stalin was very happy to learn the news. He said that another salute will be fired in Moscow Red Square tonight to celebrate our successful liberation of this big city in western Ukraine. "


    Konev''s words excited the commanders attending the meeting, and they began to whisper. In the past, konev would clap the table discontentedly and make a few angry remarks to the commanders who didn''t stay at the venue, but he didn''t say anything today, just looked at everyone with a smile.


    After everyone calmed down again, konev continued: "comrades, with the liberation of Lvov, the campaign of Lvov sandomeri that we launched has come to an end. In the past two weeks, we successfully broke through the German defense in the direction of Rava and Lvov, encircled and annihilated the German group in the southwest of Brod, crossed the San River, and successfully liberated the Russian cities of Rava, peremeshri, Lvov and Stanislav. "


    "Comrade commander, what''s our next task?" Rebalko couldn''t help interrupting.


    Konev looked at rebalko and said with a smile: "general rebalko, our next task is to transfer the main force of the front army from Lvov peremeshi to sandomeri, cross the visva River and build a large battle landing site in sandomeri.


    It was just when the right wing and the middle section of our front army were at war with the German army. On the 23rd, general zhulavrov''s 18th army turned to attack. With the cooperation of the right wing regiments of the 18th group army, general glicko''s 1st group army expanded its achievements and today liberated Stanislav, the center of the Carpathian state. At present, the units of the 18th group army have moved forward to the south of Kalush. "


    After arranging the next task of each group army, konev scanned the commanders one by one, and then asked, "do you have any questions?"


    "No," the commanders in this room agreed


    "Now that everyone''s tasks are clear, this is the end of the meeting." Konev said as usual: "comrades commander, now the meeting is over, let''s go back to our respective troops as soon as possible."


    When konev and I were the only ones left at the table, he suddenly said to me politely, "Rita, there''s something I want to discuss with you."


    When I heard konev talking to me like this, I couldn''t help clapping in my heart. Did I say something big happened? I didn''t speak, just stare nervously at konev, waiting for him to continue.


    Konev waited for a moment. Seeing that I didn''t speak, he continued: "the Supreme Command wants to transfer afuning''s close guard 18th army."


    "Transfer the 18th army of Jinwei?" When I heard this, I shivered and asked nervously, "is there something wrong with them?"


    "What''s wrong?" Konev was stunned at first, then shook his head and said: "Rita, you misunderstood that the reason why the superior wanted to transfer the 18th army of the guards was not because they had any problems, on the contrary, it was because they had performed very well in this campaign."


    Seeing that I was still at a loss, konev began to count the achievements of the 18th army of the guards in this campaign: "they first defeated the 1st and 8th armored divisions of the German army who carried out anti assault against our army... They also captured the city of trumarch and Stanislav respectively... Before I came here, I heard Comrade Stalin say personally, We are going to confer the glorious title of "Stanislav army" on this outstanding army. "


    "Marshal, I don''t understand why they should be transferred since they are so outstanding." I was puzzled and asked: "if they stay in the formation of our front army, they will surely achieve more brilliant results."


    "To tell you the truth, I don''t want my superiors to transfer this unit." Konev sighed and said with regret: "but this is the order of the superior. There is no room for bargaining. I can only implement it unconditionally. In addition to the close guard army of afuning, the 18th group army of zhulavrov is also transferred. They will officially enter the fighting sequence of the Fourth Front Army of Ukraine before August 5. " Two months ago, afuning''s close guard 18th army was not welcomed because most of its members were prisoners of war. I didn''t expect that in this campaign, they became the most popular goods. I was really not reconciled to the transfer of such an army that I had devoted a lot of effort to, so I asked konev, "Comrade marshal, this army has been treated unfairly because it has added a large number of prisoners of war. I''m afraid they will be discriminated against when they go to the new army. " After listening to me, konev laughed and then said, "Rita, you are worried about this. Don''t worry, after this army has won the title of "Stanislav army", no one will dare to discriminate against them. By the way, comrade belia asked me to tell you one thing, saying that after repeated verification, he had not betrayed his motherland, and therefore intended to cancel the charges against him and restore his honor and rank. "¡° Marshal, if I have not misunderstood it, from now on, the chief of staff of the new division, major bonejerin, will become major general bonejerin? "¡° Yes, it is With a smile on his face, konev said to me, "I want you to personally inform Comrade bonejerin of the decision of your superior." I know that konev wanted bonejerin to thank me. After all, I took the risk to keep him. But when I turn to it, it''s funny that the rank of chief of staff of a division is even higher than that of the two chief and deputy division commanders. I remind konev: "marshal, since general bonejerin has been rehabilitated, is it a bit too condescending to let him be the deputy division commander of the new division again? You know, the division commander of the new division is just a colonel, Commander afuning is only a major general. "¡° I have taken into account what you said Konev said thoughtfully: "according to his qualifications, it''s no problem to be a deputy commander of the group army, but he has been away from the army for a long time, and his command knowledge is a bit out of date, so he needs to continue to run in. However, in order to take care of his mood, I intend to promote him to deputy commander of the army before the troops are transferred. " I waited for him to finish, and then asked, "after general bonejerin was transferred, the chief of staff of the new division will be available. Do you have any suitable person, marshal?" Konev thought about it, and then said, "in this battle, many excellent middle and low-level commanders have emerged in the army. I believe general afuning will be able to select the right person among them to serve as the chief of staff of the new division."

 Chapter 1571

    After discussing the transfer of the 18th army, konev changed the subject and said, "Rita, when I first entered the city, I saw that there were many beaten up soldiers everywhere. In particular, the church on St. George''s hill was razed to the ground. "


    What konev said with no expression made me feel a little stuttered in my heart. Did he blame me for beating Lvov to pieces? After a short silence, I explained my behavior to him: "as you know, marshal, Lvov is an ancient city built in the 13th century. The buildings in the city are mainly stone buildings. The enemy made use of these buildings to build a solid and perfect defense system, which made our army pay a huge price in street fighting. And the Church of St. George''s hill on St. George''s hill is the site of German artillery positions. From there, they can use artillery to bombard the 60th group army attacking from the east of the city


    "Come on, Rita, you don''t have to say it." Before I finished, konev raised his hand to stop me and continued: "I didn''t mention it to blame you. If I were in your position, I would give the same order. The ancient buildings can be rebuilt after they are destroyed. If we delay the recovery of Lviv, we will not be able to explain it in front of Comrade Stalin. "


    "Marshal," I asked casually after konev''s words, "where will the new main attack direction be after our army liberates the whole territory of Ukraine?"


    "Rokosovsky''s troops have already occupied Lublin in front of katukov on the 24th." Konev said with regret: "in view of the performance of the first front army of Belarus, I estimate that the task of the Supreme Command fighting in Poland will be given to them, and our main attack direction will turn to the south to capture Romania, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, forcing them to withdraw from the axis camp."


    I took a look at the map in front of me, and I felt that the possibility that konev said was very big. As soon as he looked up and saw konev smoking in his chair, he did not want to go out for inspection, nor did he want to leave at all, so he asked him curiously, "Comrade marshal, will you return to Rovno later?"


    "No, I won''t go back." Konev waved his hand to me and said, "before coming here, I have told sokolovsky to transfer the headquarters of the front army to Lvov as soon as possible, so that we can command the next battle."


    "Great, that''s great." When I heard konev say this, I was overjoyed and set up the headquarters of the front army in Lvov. No matter which direction our troops will be used in the future, it will be much more convenient to command than in Rovno.


    "By the way, Rita, there''s one more thing I forgot to ask you." Konev continued: "how many German prisoners of war did we capture in the battle to liberate Lvov?"


    I thought about it and then replied, "so far, the specific results have not been counted. However, according to my estimation, the number of captured German troops should be more than 7000. "


    After listening, konev shook his head and said with regret: "only 7000 people, too few, too few indeed." I know that konev must have some intention in saying this, so I kept silent and waited patiently for him to finish what he said later¡° Do you remember the prisoner of war parade we saw in Moscow? I want to do the same in Lviv


    I''m in favor of konev''s idea. Seeing that he was so embarrassed because of the small number of prisoners of war, I gave him some advice: "marshal, Lvov is a newly recovered City, and the residents in the city are in a panic. Even if we go on a prisoner''s tour, there will be very few people around. That will not achieve the desired effect. I suggest that Kiev be chosen as the place for prisoners of war


    "Kiev?" Konev looked at me and said with a bitter smile, "but we have captured less than ten thousand enemies. If we take them to Kiev to go sightseeing, the scale is too small."


    "If we only use the enemy captured by our front army to visit Kiev, the number of people will be a little less." As for konev''s worries, I said with a smile: "Kiev is now in the middle of several front armies. We can make suggestions to Comrade Khrushchev to let him contact the commanders of other front armies and see that the captured German officers and soldiers are temporarily detained there. When the number of prisoners is almost the same, we can go on the street tour."


    "This is a good idea. I want to contact Comrade Khrushchev immediately." After konev finished, he turned and rushed to one side to chat with the staff officer, lelushenko, shouting: "Hello, general lelushenko, can you talk to Kiev directly from the phone here?"


    Hearing konev''s call, lelushenko quickly came over, nodded his head and said: "marshal, the high-frequency telephone you have in front of you can directly communicate with Kiev."


    Konev stared at the phones in front of him for a while, then picked up the earphone of a phone and stuck it to his ear. After dialing a number, he said to the phone, "Hello, I''m konev. Connect me with Kiev and find Comrade Khrushchev."


    When konev and Khrushchev were talking, I sat next to him and listened to their conversation. Konev exchanged a few simple greetings and asked: "Comrade Khrushchev, some time ago, he conducted an unprecedented German prisoner of war parade in Moscow to show our army''s great victory in the battle against the German aggressors and to inspire the army and the people of the whole country. Do you know that? "


    "Marshal konev," Khrushchev replied with a smile after konev finished saying, "of course I know about this parade. If I am still a military commissar of the first front army of Ukraine, I would like to have another street parade in Kiev."


    "Comrade Khrushchev, your idea coincides with mine." "I''m just calling you to talk about it," konev said excitedly


    Khrushchev asked nervously, "marshal konev, how many prisoners of war do you have now?"


    "Not too much." Konev hesitated for a moment and replied, "so far, our army has only captured less than 10000 German prisoners of war."


    "Ten thousand German prisoners of war?" After listening to the data reported by konev, Khrushchev must say with regret: "the number of people is too small. Even if we have a street tour in Kiev, it will not have much effect."


    "Comrade Khrushchev, don''t worry." After looking at me, konev continued: "although we don''t have many prisoners of war, we can still capture a large number of enemies in the next battle. What''s more, Rita also gave me a suggestion. She said that if the number of prisoners of war is too small, we can also gather several other prisoners of the front army and have a huge parade of prisoners of war. "


    "Several other prisoners of war of the front army?" Khrushchev probably didn''t understand what konev wanted to express for a moment. He said in surprise, "marshal konev, I don''t understand what you mean. I don''t know which front army can provide us with prisoners of war for holding a huge parade of prisoners of war?"


    "Have you forgotten where Kiev is?" Konev saw that Khrushchev did not understand his own meaning, nor was he worried, but patiently explained to him: "whether it is my first front army of Ukraine, the second front army of Ukraine and the first and second front army of Belarus, to transport the prisoners to the rear, they have to go through Kiev. We can gather all the prisoners of war of the four front forces together and hold a huge POW parade one day next month. Do you understand? "


    "I see. I see when you say that." Khrushchev then asked, "I don''t know when we should hold such a street tour?"


    Konev put his hand over the microphone, looked down and asked me, "Rita, which day do you think is the best time for us to set up a street tour?"


    "The prisoner of war parade in Moscow is on July 17. I think we should set the tour time in Kiev on August 15." The reason why I chose this date is that I still have some bad taste, because I clearly remember that one year later, the Japanese emperor issued an imperial edict declaring that Japan would unconditionally surrender to its allies¡° When I think about it, there will be enough German prisoners around Kiev to participate in the parade. "


    After listening, konev nodded slightly, then released the palm of his hand covering the microphone and said to the microphone, "Comrade Khrushchev, I think we will set the date of the prisoner''s parade on August 15."


    "Yes, I remember." Khrushchev said happily: "I will report this matter to Comrade Stalin, and then contact the commanders of all front forces, so that they will be held in the prisoner''s camp outside Kiev before they are escorted to Siberia."


    I heard not only konev''s conversation with Khrushchev, but also lelushenko, who was not far away. After konev put down the phone, he immediately stepped forward and said in a loud voice, "Comrade marshal, I want to ask if I can go to the scene on the day when the prisoners of war roam the streets in Kiev."


    Konev turned to stare at him for a long time, and finally said, "general lelushenko, if there is no combat mission that day, I will allow you to visit Kiev."


    "Great, that''s great." After he was happy, lelushenko asked, "what about the prisoners of war in the city at present? Do you want to take them to Kiev first?"


    "No, comrade lelushenko, our transport capacity is very tight now. In addition to bringing up weapons, ammunition, materials and supplementary soldiers from the rear, we should also transport back the wounded and seized materials from the front line. Where is there any spare truck to transport these prisoners of war? " After saying this, konev thought for a long time, and finally said: "first send an army to escort them to Rovno, where there are several prisoners of war they built, let''s lock them up first."


    "Marshal, I have an idea." Hearing that the prisoner of war would be transferred to Rovno, I quickly stood up and said to konev, "I don''t know whether to say it or not."


    "Say what you think."


    "Well, comrade marshal, the 18th army of general afuning''s guards will be under the command of the second front army of Ukraine in a few days." I looked at konev and said, "when I saw this, I asked them to send these prisoners of war to wuman pit, so that the Germans could also feel the torment suffered by our captured commanders and fighters."


    "Let the 18th guard escort the prisoners to wuman pit?" Konev was startled by my proposal. He looked at me for a long time before he said, "Rita, don''t you know that most of the officers and men in this army have a deep hatred for the Germans? If they are allowed to escort the prisoners, I am afraid that at least half of them will not get to their destination. "


    "Marshal," lelushenko said to konev, "among the captured German soldiers, the number of the wounded is very small, and it''s summer now. No matter the weather or the road conditions, it''s very suitable for marching on foot. It shouldn''t cause large-scale disappointment to the prisoners of war."¡° Comrade lelushenko, you are mistaken. I said that half of the prisoners could not reach their destination, not that the road conditions were poor or there were many wounded people. " Konev''s face showed a helpless expression: "but worried that the officers and men of the 18th army of the guards, because of their hatred for the German army, would wantonly shoot those unruly prisoners on the way."¡° Anyway, they are all enemies. Kill them. " Hearing konev say so, lelushenko said with disapproval: "I remember who said: the dead enemy is a good enemy." Konev looked at lelushenko and said solemnly, "general lelushenko, I remind you that we intend to use these prisoners of war to participate in the activities of Kiev''s streets. It doesn''t matter how many people die. If thousands of people die, it is absolutely not allowed." I can tell from what konev said that he is firmly opposed to the escort of prisoners of war by the troops of the 18th guards. However, at present, the war is tense, so it is very unrealistic to transfer personnel from other army groups to escort prisoners to uman. Therefore, I said to konev tactfully: "marshal, we can call the main leaders of the 18th army of the guards to explain to them the importance of these prisoners of war and strictly prohibit the maltreatment and killing of prisoners of war in the army." Konev did not speak, folded his hands on his chest, frowning, thinking about what I had just said. When I saw his reaction, I knew that he was interested in my proposal and said while the iron was hot: "don''t worry, marshal. Although the commanders and fighters who have been prisoners of war in the 18th guards hate the Germans to the bone, if we give specific orders, I think they will obey unconditionally. "¡° Marshal, I think Rita is right After my words, lelushenko said: "our soldiers are the most obedient to orders. If you give an order forbidding the maltreatment and killing of prisoners of war, I think they will send these prisoners of war to wuman pit smoothly even if they have great hatred for the Germans." Seeing that I agreed with lelushenko, konev was no longer opinionated. He nodded and said, "all right, Rita, you call afuning and bonejerin and ask them to come here to accept the battle order."

 Chapter 1572

    Just when konev picked up the phone and was ready to dial again, I suddenly thought that most of the officers and men of the 18th army of the guards had a deep blood feud with the Germans. Even if the higher authorities gave orders, they would inevitably disobey each other. I quickly stopped konev: "marshal, please wait a moment."


    "What else can I do for you, Rita?" Asked konev, holding the receiver and looking at me.


    "Well, comrade marshal." I hastily repeated my worries, and finally specially emphasized: "I think we need to send someone to supervise if we want the troops of the 18th army to escort prisoners of war."


    Konev put the microphone back on the base of the telephone and asked with great interest, "who do you think is the right person to send?"


    "I think I''m the best person." The reason why I volunteered to take over this task was that I thought that the headquarters of the front army would be moved to Lviv soon, and then I, the deputy commander of the front army, would become an idle person again. I might as well find something to do by myself. Therefore, I said with a strong voice, "I have dealt with most of the officers and men of the 18th army. If I go to see the escorting of prisoners of war, maybe there will be no killing of prisoners of war on the way."


    Konev looked at me suspiciously for a moment, and then said to me solemnly, "Rita, it''s only a small matter to supervise the prisoner''s escort. Just send any one of the staff officers. You don''t need to go there yourself. You know, after all, you are the deputy commander of the front army. There are more important things to do when you stay in the headquarters. "


    Although konev refused my request, I still said reluctantly: "marshal, the commanders of the various group armies have made clear their combat tasks. It''s enough for you and general sokolovsky to stay in the headquarters. I can''t play any role at all. It''s better to escort the prisoners of war to uman with the 18th army of the guards."


    When I said this, konev''s face turned pale, and he seemed dissatisfied with what I said. But he soon regained his composure and said, "well, Rita, since you are determined to go to uman, go. After the end of the German POW parade in Kiev next month, it''s not too late for you to come back. "


    With konev''s consent, I left the headquarters with a staff officer and several soldiers and went to the outskirts to find the garrison of the 18th guards.


    When our jeep passed a Gothic church, I saw a long line of people outside the church, so I immediately told the driver, "Comrade driver, pull over!"


    After I got out of the car, I went to the back of a line and asked an old lady with a headscarf: "old lady, what are you doing in line here?"


    The old lady turned her head and gave me a blank look. Then she turned her head to one side and showed that she didn''t want to talk to me. Seeing that I couldn''t get the answer I wanted from the old lady, I went to an old man in front of me and asked him the same question, but I still met a snag.


    The accompanying staff officer approached me and said in a low voice, "Comrade deputy commander, don''t be angry. These residents are all from western Ukraine. They have always been resistant to our army. It''s normal for them to ignore you. You see, there are many of us at the church gate. Let''s ask them. "


    After listening to the staff officer, I nodded, walked past the long line, up the steps, and came to the platform at the church gate. There were four small tables, behind which there was an officer sitting on a horse. They were all writing.


    A major standing at the door saw me coming to the door and came to salute me. After I raised my hand to return the salute, I asked the busy officers and the long line, "Comrade major, can you tell me what you are doing?"


    "Well, Comrade General." The major replied respectfully, "we''re doing a census to give them ration cards."


    At the same time, it can quickly count the population in the city. Therefore, as soon as the city is liberated, the relevant departments will start to register the ration certificates. "How is your work going, major?" I asked casually


    "Comrade General, it''s not going well." The major pointed to the long lines in front of the church and said, "we are responsible for the distribution of ration cards in this area. We have sent people to inform each other door to door very early, but few people come. So far, we have only handled more than 2000 rationing certificates.... "


    "That''s the end of today''s work. Come back tomorrow." I was talking to the major when I heard a man shouting, "don''t crowd around here any more. Let''s break up."


    I looked in the direction of the voice and found that it was an officer in charge of registration who stood up from his horse and yelled at the residents in line below.


    "Wait a minute," I quickly stopped the officer, then turned to look at the major, and pointed to the next line of nearly a thousand residents, said: "major, don''t you see there are so many residents waiting for ration card?"


    "But, Comrade General." The reproached major explained to me, "it''s half past five. Our commander has been busy for most of the day and should have a rest."


    "Major, if these commanders are tired, find someone else to replace them." I looked at the major and said solemnly, "as long as there is a resident standing in line here, your work must continue."


    The major looked at the residents who were waiting in line and came here one after another. He said with some embarrassment, "Comrade General, you see, there are nearly a thousand people here. We only have four people working. It is estimated that we can''t handle the ration cards for all of them before dark."


    "There are still more than three hours to go before dark. If you think the speed of four people working is too slow, then you should transfer more people to help." I said to myself, "be sure to issue all the ration cards today. Do you understand? "


    "I see, Comrade General." The major replied helplessly, "I''m going to transfer the manpower to issue the ration card."


    When I saw the major saying this, I was a little reluctant. Knowing that he was against my order, I approached him and said in a low voice, "major, I think you should understand that the residents who are applying for ration cards have always been against our motherland because they have not been in the Soviet Union for a long time. If we make any mistakes in the processing of ration cards, They will be more dissatisfied. "


    When I said this, the major immediately understood it. He nodded his head vigorously and said, "I understand, Comrade General. I understand everything now. You can rest assured that even if I work overtime, I will try my best to complete the work of issuing ration certificates today. "


    When we were on the road again, the staff officer in the co pilot''s seat turned to me and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, I heard that when the German army entered the city, the residents of this place lined up to welcome them, and even some girls offered flowers for the German soldiers. But for the liberators here in Lvov, they are extremely indifferent. When we went into the city, the residents we met not only didn''t help us, but even hid, as if we were not their liberators, but their aggressors. "


    I said in my heart that for the civilians living in western Ukraine, the Soviet army is the aggressor, while the German army is their liberator. Otherwise, when the German army enters the city, the residents not only welcome them with singing and dancing, but also set up tables, white cloth and rich food on the roadside to entertain them.


    I organized some words in my mind, and then said to the staff: "you don''t know, comrade staff, the Western Ukrainian states only joined the Soviet family at the end of 39 years. As a result, they were occupied by the Germans in less than two years. They have joined for a short time, and they have not yet fully integrated with the people of all ethnic groups in our motherland. It is inevitable that there will be some resistance to us now. "


    The staff officer nodded his head and was about to ask something when the driver reminded me: "Comrade deputy commander, the garrison of the 18th army is here."


    The jeep stopped at the gate of the 18th army headquarters. When I got out of the car, a star officer standing at the gate called out, "attention!" With his command, eight soldiers standing on both sides of the gate came to attention and saluted me with guns.


    I raised my hand to my forehead and saluted them. Then I walked into the headquarters building.


    Seeing me walking into the headquarters, afuning, who was speaking with his chief of staff, quickly stood up from his seat and raised his hand to salute: "Hello, comrade deputy commander of the front army, welcome to our work."


    "General afuning, I''m not here to inspect the work." I waved to afuning and continued, "I''ve come here with two important things to inform you."


    Ah Funing listened to me and said respectfully: "do you need to call all the teachers together?"


    "Yes," I nodded and said with certainty, "what I said is very important. You should immediately inform the teachers to come to the meeting, and I will convey the important instructions from the higher authorities to them."


    While waiting for the arrival of the division commanders, I asked a Funing, "Comrade General, your army has performed well recently. The commander of the front army is very satisfied with you."


    Ah Funing, listening to me, didn''t speak, just grinned.


    Ten minutes later, the division leaders, political commissars, deputy division leaders and chief of staff of each division arrived at the army headquarters one after another.


    Seeing that all his subordinates had been ordered to come, afuning stood up and said with a smile, "comrades in command, we are called here for a meeting today because the deputy commander of the front army has important instructions to convey to you. Next, let''s invite Comrade deputy commander to speak! "


    In the army, there was no habit of clapping at meetings. Therefore, after afuning finished speaking, there was no clapping in the room. Instead, everyone''s eyes turned to me, quietly waiting for me to convey the latest instructions from the superior to them.


    I stood up, coughed gently, cleared my throat, and then said aloud, "comrades, I''m here today. I have three pieces of news to tell you. First, because of your outstanding achievements in the liberation of trumarch and Stanislav, the supreme command has decided to confer the honorary title of "Stanislav army" on your army


    When I said that, I stopped to listen to their reaction. After a moment''s silence, among the commanders sitting below, someone suddenly called out: "Wula!" As soon as his voice fell, someone called again, "Wula!" At first, only a few scattered people were shouting, but soon, more than 20 division commanders in the room were all shouting "Wula!" When I saw that everyone was so happy, I didn''t interrupt them. Instead, I patiently waited for the calm to return to the room, and then said, "second news, according to the order of the higher authorities, you will be officially put under the command of the Fourth Front Army of Ukraine from August 5, and then fight in the formation of the 18th regiment army."¡° Comrade deputy commander, why? Why should we be transferred from the first front army? " I don''t know who yelled, so the rest of the commanders kept asking. Even afuning, who was sitting on one side, had a look of surprise on his face. He probably never dreamed that his troops would be suddenly assigned to the command of the Fourth Front Army of Ukraine¡° Be quiet, comrades, please be quiet I raised my hand and pressed it down hard. When everyone did not speak, I continued to say, "I will assign you to the command of the Fourth Front Army of Ukraine. This is also the arrangement of the supreme command. I know that we are reluctant to accept the first front army, but orders are orders. Whether they are correct or not, they can only be carried out, not discussed. It''s our duty as soldiers to obey orders from our superiors. " When the commanders here heard what I said, they were silent and no one spoke again¡° The third news is that you are going to take the 8000 German prisoners of war who were captured in the battle of liberating Lvov to umman and let them stay in umman pit for a while. "¡° Comrade deputy commander. " As soon as I finished, the chief of staff of the new division, bonejerin, stood up and said angrily, "I don''t think it''s necessary for us to do anything to send the enemy to wuman pit, but shoot them all. Tens of thousands of our commanders and fighters, after being captured, were so afraid that they would be called a burden to them that they did not hesitate to shoot them all. Now, the opportunity for revenge has come. We must not bypass these Communist aggressors. "¡° Yes, comrade deputy commander. " As soon as he finished, another commander, whom I didn''t know, stood up beside him. He also said aloud, "we don''t have any extra food to feed these bandits. I ask the superior to let the fourth division of our close guard airborne soldiers carry out the shooting task. "¡° Who else thinks the same? " Instead of answering them immediately, I looked at the commanders who were still sitting and asked, "if you have any, please raise your hand!" As soon as my voice fell, the commanders sitting below raised their hands together. Even general afuning, who was sitting beside me, raised his right hand after hesitating for a moment.

 Chapter 1573

    Seeing the fierce commanders, I felt lucky. Fortunately, on a whim, I took the initiative to supervise konev''s escorting of prisoners of war. If I really just sent an ordinary staff officer to supervise, I think these prisoners of war would be killed by all the commanders who had suffered for several years in the prison camp before they were sent to uman. I waited for peace to return in the room before I said slowly, "comrades commander, I want to ask you, who knows about the prisoner of war parade in Moscow?"¡° The prisoner of war parade in Moscow The commander sitting below, hearing my question, showed a blank expression on his face, looked at each other and whispered: "do you know what''s going on?"¡° I don''t know. Have you heard of anyone? "¡° Of course I haven''t heard of it, otherwise I won''t ask you. " At this time, afuning, sitting next to him, coughed heavily. When he heard his cough, the commander immediately closed his mouth and focused on him. He wanted to hear what he was going to say next¡° Comrades in command, this is the situation. " Afuning said to his subordinates: "in order to show our army''s great victory and boost the morale of the whole country, the Supreme Command held an unprecedented German prisoner of war parade in Moscow on July 17. The German prisoners of war on the streets were mainly German prisoners escorted by the Belarusian front army to Moscow, about 60000 people. The whole POW team was divided into 90 squads, stretching more than 3 kilometers. Under the escort of the dzerzhinsky division, they passed through downtown Moscow and were sent to the prison camp where they were held. " After everyone''s low exclamation, Lu Jin stood up and asked me on behalf of the commanders present: "is this true, comrade deputy commander?"¡° you ''re right. Not long ago, Moscow did have such a prisoner''s tour. " I found that if I hadn''t mentioned the prisoner''s march in Moscow, these division commanders would not have known. At this moment, since Lukin is asking me this question on behalf of you, I will push the boat and say: "the reason why I let you escort German prisoners of war captured in the battle of Lvov to uman is that we plan to have a similar prisoner of war tour in Kiev next month. The German prisoners of war who participated in the street tour were not only from our front army, but also from Belarus. While we were discussing the details, the commander of Kiev''s garrison, a major general with white hair, walked into the office, raised his hand to salute Khrushchev, and then respectfully reported: "comrade Khrushchev, the route of the day after tomorrow''s prisoner of war''s street tour, I''ve got enough people on guard. " When I heard the major general''s report, I could not help frowning slightly. I said that I still don''t know the specific route of the German prisoner''s parade, but the garrison commander knew it clearly. However, their next words, let my heart disappoint. After listening to the major general''s words, Khrushchev looked up at the other side and asked, "Comrade General, when did I explain to you the route of the prisoners of war At this point, he turned to look at me and continued, "you know, we just figured out the route of the prisoners of war."¡° Well, comrade Khrushchev. " With a smile on his face, the major general replied, "I have studied the route carefully and found that if we want to have a prisoner''s street tour of tens of thousands of people, we can only go through those spacious streets. Therefore, after much deliberation, I have deployed troops on the main streets of the city to take up the guard work. "

 Chapter 1574

    The prisoner''s tour took place at 10 a.m., while Khrushchev and I appeared in the corridor of the office building at 9:30 on time, standing at the window facing the street and looking down.


    On both sides of the street, soldiers were sent by the garrison headquarters. They mainly prevented German prisoners from escaping when they were touring the street, or prevented the onlookers from throwing stones at the prisoners. The loudspeakers on the side of the road are playing all kinds of exciting songs.


    Khrushchev looked at the crowds gathering on both sides of the street and said with emotion, "Rita, when I left here in ''41, I never thought that I would come back here one day."


    I first looked at the empty corridor and saw that there were only Khrushchev and I, so I boldly asked, "did you think we could not defeat the Germans?"


    Hearing my question, Khrushchev turned to look at me, remained silent for a moment, then nodded slightly and said truthfully, "Rita, there is no outsider here, so I won''t hide it from you. I have never doubted that we can defeat the Germans, but I have no confidence that I can live to see Kiev return to the hands of the people. "


    "So it is. I see." After listening to Khrushchev''s words, I nodded and agreed: "in order to defend our motherland and defeat the Communist aggressors, we have paid a huge price and sacrificed millions of soldiers and civilians. When I was on the battlefield, I was worried that I would die at any time. But fortunately, after countless fierce battles, I am lucky to survive, and I may be able to see the final destruction of the Communist aggressors with my own eyes in the future. "


    "Yes, I think we can all see this day." When Khrushchev finished this heavy topic, he suddenly changed the topic: "Rita, are you still used to staying in Kiev recently?"


    Although I don''t know why Khrushchev asked this question, I answered truthfully, "thank you for your concern. I had a very happy life in Kiev. In the well-equipped room of the hotel, I''m used to living in cars and bunkers. There are hot water for bathing at any time, beds with clean sheets, and bright and quiet rooms. I can''t hear the sound of guns, shells and bombs


    Speaking of this, I raised my hand and pointed downstairs, and continued: "look, although there are scattered anti tank tripods on the roadside, the ramparts everywhere have been demolished. Today, all factories, big and small, are fully engaged in production, and the workers faithfully fulfill their obligations to the motherland. They work selflessly in this city, providing all necessities to the troops fighting near Belarus and Ukraine. "


    "The current situation in Ukraine is not optimistic." With a sigh, Khrushchev said: "the war has brought huge losses to Ukraine. According to the latest statistics, more than 5 million people have been lost. In addition, nearly 20000 industrial enterprises and 30000 collective farms have been destroyed. At present, our primary task is to re strengthen the party''s leadership, rebuild collective farms, resume production in factories and mines, and crack down on nationalist guerrillas in western Ukraine. "


    Before Khrushchev had finished speaking, there was a rush of footsteps in the corridor. The two of us turned and looked in the direction of the voice. The commander of the garrison was coming towards us in a hurry along the corridor.


    He came to us, stopped, straightened his back, and reported to Khrushchev, "Comrade Khrushchev, the prisoners of war have been assembled. We can let them go at any time."


    Khrushchev raised his hand and looked at his watch, then said: "although it is not the scheduled time, since they have assembled, let them start now." Seeing that the commander of the garrison was going to leave, he also told him, "the garrison must ensure the smooth progress of today''s prisoner of war parade, and never let the prisoner of war escape."


    "Don''t worry, comrade Khrushchev." The garrison commander grinned and confidently replied, "I will never let a German prisoner of war escape." With that, he raised his hand and turned to leave.


    After the two of us turned our attention to the outside again, I looked at a building destroyed by gunfire in the distance and said with emotion: "Comrade Khrushchev, look at how many buildings in the city were destroyed by the war. When the residents who fled Kiev returned to their homes, they did not know where to find a place to settle down."


    "Don''t worry, Rita." Khrushchev looked ahead and said firmly, "I will not make those refugees who return to Kiev homeless. After the war, I will rebuild new houses for them within my jurisdiction."


    I have no doubt about what Khrushchev said, because in a few decades, three or five storey brick and concrete buildings can be seen everywhere in Moscow. These houses were built on a large scale when Khrushchev was in power. The kitchens, toilets and bathrooms in the houses are complete. In a few short years, The housing problem of tens of millions of people across the country has been solved.


    "By the way, Rita, I''m going to arrange a house for you in Kiev." While I was thinking, I heard Khrushchev asking me, "which area do you want to choose?"


    Recently, I was ordered to stay in Kiev to cooperate with Khrushchev on the street tour of prisoners of war. I have been living in the guest house he arranged for me. At the moment, I was stunned to hear that he was going to arrange a house for me. After a long time, I was at a loss and said, "no, comrade Khrushchev, I will go back to the front line soon after I stay in Kiev. Even if you arrange a house for me, it will be idle all the time. "


    "It''s not only my idea to arrange housing for you, but also Comrade Stalin''s idea." Seeing my blank face, Khrushchev specially explained to me, "he said that you are the liberator of this city and are entitled to own your own house in this city."


    At this point, he deliberately stopped to observe my expression. Seeing that I was still at a loss, he continued: "the war will end sooner or later. You have your own house in Kiev. You can not only bring the children here from the rear for resettlement. What''s more, if you capture any booty later, you will have a place to store it. "


    Khrushchev''s words made my heart beat, because before long, we will cross the border, enter Poland, and then enter Germany. As a senior commander, I''m sure I''ll get some unexpected spoils. It''s better to have a place to store them than to run around with a pile of things on my back. Although I wish I could immediately agree with Khrushchev''s proposal and ask him for a house of my own, I still have to pretend to be embarrassed: "Comrade Khrushchev, as you know, I spend most of my time in the army. If this house is always empty..."


    Although I didn''t finish my words, Khrushchev understood my intention. He nodded his head and said, "don''t worry, I will send someone to look after your house while you are away from Kiev. Even if there are any valuables stored, you don''t have to worry about losing them. "


    As we were talking, the downstairs suddenly became noisy. I looked down and saw that the German prisoners of war on the street had already appeared in our view.


    As the endless line came closer and closer, I could clearly see that six Cossack cavalry of our army were driving ahead. The Cossack soldiers sitting upright on horseback are all dressed in brand-new military uniforms, carrying a lance behind them, holding the reins in their left hand and an unsheathed sabre in their right hand. The sharp edge of the sabre is shining in the sun.


    Behind them was the German army''s square of officers. More than 700 officers at or above the school level were dressed in neat uniforms and their medals. Escorted by soldiers with bayonets and long mosinlagan rifles on both sides, they followed the cavalry and walked slowly. Then there is the low-level officers'' square array, and one soldier''s square array after another.


    "Come on When Khrushchev saw this, he suddenly turned to the empty corridor and called out.


    With his shouts, a young clerk ran out of an open office next to him. The young man in military civilian clothes stopped in front of Khrushchev and asked respectfully, "do you have any instructions?"


    "Call the sanitation forces," Khrushchev told the clerk, "and ask them to send a sufficient number of sprinklers to clean the area where the German prisoners of war pass."


    After I waited for the clerk to leave, I asked Khrushchev in a low voice, "Comrade Khrushchev, I don''t understand why we need to send a sprinkler truck to clean the area where German prisoners of war pass by?"


    Khrushchev gave me a smile and said, "Rita, you may not know that during the march in Moscow, there were many dirty prisoners of war defecating in the streets, which made the streets stink. The environmental sanitation department in Moscow once sent many watering carts to clean the area where the German prisoners of war passed. Now, we also need to do enough preparatory work. "


    I couldn''t help laughing when I heard him say that. If Khrushchev didn''t take the initiative to mention this, I almost forgot. I remember what post later generations read that many prisoners of war drank cabbage soup with laxatives before the Moscow prisoner of war parade, and as a result, they began to have diarrhea when they were touring the streets. The excrement and urine were everywhere along the way. That''s why the environmental sanitation department of Moscow sent a watering cart to clean the streets.


    I looked downstairs to see if the German prisoners of war who were on the street were enjoying the same treatment. I saw the crowd on both sides of the street, no one shouting slogans, no one throwing stones at the prisoners passing by. There were some old women in headscarves who went over the soldiers on the roadside and brought blankets, coarse salt and black bread to the prisoners of war.


    After all the prisoners of war passed under the office building, Khrushchev and I returned to his office. He picked up a folder from his desk, opened it, looked at me and asked, "Rita, there''s an apartment with three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, a bathroom and 24-hour hot water supply. Would you like to accept it?"


    I knew that Khrushchev was arranging for me to live in Kiev. When he finished, I asked faintly, "I don''t know where this apartment is?"


    "It''s next to October square." Khrushchev closed the folder and continued: "it''s an old house. The landlord disappeared after the war broke out. It''s a German colonel who lives there. The furniture inside is complete, you can check in directly. "


    "When can I see the house?" I asked directly, without being polite to Khrushchev.


    "You can go now." Khrushchev finished and rang the call bell on the table. Soon the door was pushed open, and his secretary stood upright at the door, waiting for his next order.


    Khrushchev pointed at me with his hand and told his secretary, "find someone and take Rita to see her new residence."


    A few minutes later, guided by the staff arranged by my secretary, I left the office building, crossed the October square and came to a four story building next to the square. We came to a closed iron gate, and the staff went up and rang the doorbell. Soon a small window on the iron door opened, and an old lady''s face appeared in the window. She looked at the staff and me standing outside and asked warily, "what''s the matter with you?"¡° Hello The staff gave her a smile and politely said, "I came to see the house."¡° What house are you looking at? " Asked the old lady coldly. The staff turned to point at me and continued to say to the old lady, "I''m accompanying the general to see the house. I''ve been ordered by the superior."¡° Is there any proof? " Asked the old lady. Staff quickly nodded, and then from the armpit briefcase, took out a document to pass. The old lady took the document, looked at it carefully for a while, then closed the small window. A moment later, the iron door opened. A chubby old lady stood at the door and said to me with a smile, "come on in, comrade headquarters. I''ll take you to your apartment." Seeing that I was ready to enter the building, the staff politely said to me, "Comrade General, since you have this old lady to accompany you to see the house, I won''t go in. Good luck to you!" After thanking the staff, I walked quickly into the gate. There is a small room on the right side of the door, in which there is a table and chair, which should be the place where the old lady is on duty. She took a bunch of keys from the wall and said to me in a friendly manner, "Comrade commander, please follow me. Your apartment is on the third floor." I followed the old lady up to the second floor. The old lady came to the door of the room on the left, opened the door with the key in her hand, and turned on the light in the room. I stood at the door and carefully looked at my apartment. There was a 20 square meter living room on the front, a white table on the floor, and six chairs around the table. There are three closed doors on the front and left, which should be the bedroom. On the right side of the corridor is a four or five meter long corridor. There are two doors on the right side of the corridor. I opened them and looked at them. They are toilet and bathroom in turn. At the end of the corridor is a large kitchen. The old lady standing on one side, seeing me looking around, quickly asked me: "Comrade commander, are you satisfied with this apartment?"¡° Yes, yes Hearing the old lady''s question, I replied busily, "satisfied, I''m very satisfied." The old lady gave me the key with a smile and said, "here is your key. Please keep it. If you have something to go out, please leave the key in my duty room so that you don''t have to worry about losing it. "

 Chapter 1575

    Seeing that the old lady turned to leave, I politely asked, "what should I call you?"


    "Call me Suna, comrade commander." Suna gave me a little smile and said friendly, "I''m very happy to help you!" Then she turned and left my room.


    When I was the only one left in the room, I began to inspect my room. When I opened the door of the room on my left hand side, I found that it was a study. There was a desk by the window, and there was only a desk lamp with a cylindrical lampshade on it. Several bookshelves against the wall are densely packed with all kinds of books. I have a general look. Except for a few Russian books, most of them are in German. Because I don''t know German, I don''t know what they are.


    I left the room, then closed the door and pushed open the door of another room. There is a huge European iron bed in this room. There is a bedside table on the left and right sides of the bed. There is a desk lamp on the cabinet. On the right side of the room, there is a wardrobe with a roof on it. I used to open it and found that there were only a bunch of empty hangers in it.


    At the other end of the room, there is a row of combination cabinets. In the cabinet inlaid with glass, there are several sets of crystal wine sets. I picked up a wine glass and carefully looked at the trademark at the bottom of the glass. I found that it was all made in Vladimir, east of Moscow.


    Push open the third room, see in the right side of the door, put a single bed, wall neatly placed a pile of oil paintings. The moment I saw the picture frame, my heart beat faster. My heart said that since this room used to be occupied by the German Colonel, there must be a lot of property he ransacked. These paintings may be famous paintings from some museum.


    I went over and squatted on the floor, looking at the paintings one by one. Five or six of them are landscape paintings, either birch forest or country road. The artist''s name is grichayi. I thought hard for a while, and felt as if I had never heard of the name. I thought maybe this is a painter who is not famous, maybe a student of the Academy of fine arts.


    Before I looked at the oil paintings, I counted 24 oil painting frames piled on the wall, and even looked at 17 or 18 paintings, all of which were the unknown grichayi. My mood began to get worse. I thought that after the recovery of Kiev, our army must have sent someone here to check them, and took away all the high-value oil paintings, leaving only a pile of worthless paintings.


    Looking at four or five paintings left in the corner, I continued to look down with the idea of taking a chance. When I saw the oil painting in my hand, I saw a young woman in black walking alone on the path, stepping on the fallen leaves on the ground. My heart beat faster because I''ve seen this painting on the Internet before. It''s called "autumn of sokolnik". It''s the first work of Leviathan, an outstanding Russian Sketcher, a master of realistic landscape painting and a member of the roving exhibition school.


    Holding my breath, I looked at the signature at the bottom right of the painting and saw that it was "Leviathan". After reading the painter''s signature clearly, I almost jumped up from the ground. I found these treasures. I found the real Leviathan in the residence that my superior gave me.


    Just as I was about to see who was the author of the remaining paintings, a telephone rang outside. Hearing the sound coming from the living room, I quickly put down my oil painting, stood up and walked out of the room. I stood in the living room and looked around, only to find that the phone was placed on a small high table near the wall. I picked up the earphone and pasted it to my ear and politely asked, "Hello, where are you?"


    "Rita, it''s me." Khrushchev''s familiar voice came from the earphone: "how are you satisfied with the house allocated to you?"


    "Satisfied, very satisfied." Thinking that Khrushchev must have known that there were oil paintings in my room, I said to him in advance, "Comrade Khrushchev, I found a batch of oil paintings in my room."


    "Oh, found the painting?" When Khrushchev heard what I said, he asked with great interest, "I don''t know whose works they are?"


    "There are 24 oil paintings. I only saw 18 of them. They are all landscape paintings. One of them is Leviathan''s the autumn of sokolnik."


    "What, Leviathan''s the fall of sokolnik?" When Khrushchev heard me say this, he couldn''t help saying with envy: "this is his work, and it''s also the only landscape painting with figures. This is the work described by Chekhov. Since then, there have never been any characters in his paintings. Instead, there are only woods, pastures, the spring breeze in the mist and the dilapidated wooden houses in Russia. These huts are silent, lonely and desolate, just like the silent, lonely and desolate reduced people at that time. "


    After listening to Khrushchev''s words, I couldn''t help asking him: "the other 17 paintings are landscapes by an unknown painter named grichay..."


    Before I finished, I heard Khrushchev''s violent cough coming from the earphone. After he finished coughing, I asked with concern, "Comrade Khrushchev, are you sick? Why do you cough so badly?"


    "I think it''s necessary to correct you, Rita." Khrushchev said with tears and laughter: "although grichay is less than 30 years old, he is already a famous landscape painter in China''s painting circle. His character and paintings are highly praised by the majority of art lovers and fellow artists, and enjoy the reputation of" songs of Russian nature. "


    As soon as Khrushchev''s words were finished, my face turned red. I thought that all the paintings were works of nobody, but I didn''t expect that he was such a famous painter, even Khrushchev knew him like the back of his hand.


    After talking about the oil painting, Khrushchev continued: "Rita, I just got a call from Comrade Stalin. He asked me to tell you that I will stay in Kiev for a period of rest and return to the army at the right time."


    When I heard that I would stay in Kiev, I could not help feeling a little anxious: "Comrade Khrushchev, I am now the deputy commander of the first front army of Ukraine. How can I leave the army for a long time?"


    "This is what Comrade Stalin meant. No one can change his decision." After Khrushchev finished this sentence in a stern tone, he slowed down and said to me, "Rita, you''d better stay in Kiev and have a good rest. Konev and sokolovsky are responsible for the affairs in the army. Even if you go back, you can''t help."


    I deeply believe Khrushchev''s statement. Whether Zhukov or konev is the commander of the front army, my deputy commander is almost a role in making soy sauce. I can only make suggestions but can''t make any decisions. Thinking of this, I am no longer opinionated. Instead, I tactfully said to Khrushchev, "Comrade Khrushchev, I have nothing here. If I want to live in Kiev, I think I need to buy some daily necessities."


    "Don''t worry, Rita. I''ve arranged everything." Khrushchev said to me with a smile, "I will send someone to deliver it to you immediately."


    I''m eager to know whose paintings are behind. So as soon as I put down the phone, I quickly walked into the room and continued to look at the unfinished painting. Because of the lesson that I just took grichay as an unknown painter, when I picked up a new oil painting, I first looked at the artist''s signature below.


    After seeing that the artist''s signature was Surikov, I carefully examined the contents of the painting. Although I''m a layman in oil painting, after only a moment''s reading, I recognized that it was the famous "morning when the guards were on the verge of execution". This painting, together with "mensikov in bereuzov town" and "the noblewoman molochova" are known as the trilogy of Surikov''s historical paintings.


    This painting in my hand describes a real event in the history of Russia in the 17th century: when Peter the great visited Russia in 1698, there was a mutiny of the guards in Russia. When Peter the great heard of it, he rushed back to China and immediately suppressed the mutiny cruelly. In the background are the walls of Moscow''s Kremlin, the onion roof of St. Vassily''s church and the circular guillotine crowded with onlookers. Wearing a navy blue uniform, Peter the great rode on a high horse and personally supervised the execution of the "treacherous" guards. Behind him were the orderly execution team and a row of gallows, and on his right were a group of foreign envoys and his favorite ministers. Most of the foreground of the picture is the turbulent crowd. Some family members of the guards dressed by farmers are around the six guards who are about to be executed. They are weeping with grief, which vividly shows the anguish of the family members of the guards when they say goodbye to their relatives on the guillotine.


    The remaining five paintings are not signed by the painter, they are all portraits and so on. I saw a note pasted on the back of an oil painting, which read in Russian: "Valentin alexandrovitch sharov, a Russian painter, who studied under the masters of Liebin and cheschakov, is one of the members of the roving exhibition school."


    I sat by my little bed, looking at these paintings piled up in the corner, thinking to myself that although these paintings were left here by the Germans, after the war, the museum will send someone to me to take them away, because they are all Russian cultural relics, and no one is allowed to take them for themselves. At that time, will I return all these paintings to the museum, or will I take a look and leave a few as my collection?


    Just as I was daydreaming, there was a knock at the door. I opened the door and saw that it was Khrushchev''s secretary, followed by two soldiers. After he said hello to me, he shook his head at the two soldiers behind him. The two soldiers immediately bypassed him and went into the room. They put their suitcases on the wall.


    The Secretary pointed to the suitcase beside the wall and said to me with a smile, "general oshanina, this is the daily necessities given to you by Comrade Khrushchev. If there''s anything missing, just call me and I''ll prepare it for you. "


    "Thank you After thanking my secretary, I asked politely, "please come in and have a seat."


    "No, Comrade General." The Secretary replied with a smile, "I still have a job. I''ll visit you another day."


    After my secretary left, I closed the door and put down the two boxes leaning against the wall. When I opened the first box, I saw that it was full of clothes, including shirts, trousers and even braji; Then I opened another box. There were several cartons inside. I opened the lid of the box and saw different styles of shoes inside.


    I first closed the box for shoes, and then I was going to close the box for clothes, only to find a big envelope in the middle of the lid. I took out the envelope and opened it. There was a thick stack of banknotes in it. The denominations were one ruble, five rubles and ten rubles. I counted them and found that they were as many as 500 rubles.


    I got up, went to the phone, put the envelope full of money by the phone, picked up the phone and dialed Khrushchev''s office. When I heard his voice, I said politely, "Hello, Nikita sergeyevich, I''m Rita. I have received the things you sent me. Thank you

 Chapter 1576

    Although I always dream of sleeping until I wake up naturally, at six o''clock, people wake up and their hearing becomes more sensitive. I can clearly hear the footsteps of pedestrians walking downstairs, the sound of cars passing through the street, and the sound of passers-by talking downstairs.


    Kiev, like Moscow, gets early daylight in summer. It''s just six o''clock and it''s sunny outside. After washing, I put on a plain braji, a pair of flat leather shoes, and put the general''s witness and loaded pistol into my satchel. After all this, I opened the door and went out.


    I went to the duty room downstairs and saw Suna sitting in the duty room dozing off. I coughed softly. Su Na was awakened by my cough. After she saw that it was me, she stood up and asked with a smile, "Comrade commander, where are you going so early?"


    As I handed her the door key, I replied with a smile, "I can''t sleep. I want to go out for a walk."


    Suna took the key in my hand, hung it on the wall and asked, "have you had breakfast?" Seeing that I shook my head and said that I hadn''t eaten, she quickly picked up the black bread and kettle on the table and handed it to me. At the same time, she warmly said, "commander, I have something to eat here. You''re welcome."


    "No, Auntie Suna." I hurriedly waved her hand and refused her kindness. I asked casually, "where is there breakfast around here?"


    "Go out, turn right and go straight down the street. Turn right at the first crossing. There''s a coffee shop. You can have breakfast there. "


    After thanking Auntie Suna, I was just about to leave when I suddenly remembered that Khrushchev had said that I could have my child alik settled here, so I quickly stopped and turned to Suna: "Auntie Suna, I want my child to come here to go to school. Is there any school near here?"


    "Yes," Suna nodded. "When you go to the coffee shop, you can see a school across the road. It''s No.37 primary school. Just go in and ask someone."


    According to Suna''s instructions, I went to the cafe, bought a loaf and a cup of coffee, sat down in a corner and ate this simple breakfast quietly.


    I knew the school would not start early, so I waited until eight o''clock to leave the coffee shop and walk towards the opposite school. As soon as I got to the school gate, I was stopped by a middle-aged school worker in worker''s clothes. He looked me up and down and politely asked, "what can I do for you?"


    "Hello I nodded to the middle-aged uncle and said politely, "I want to inquire about the enrollment of children. Can you let me in?"


    After listening to me, the school worker immediately stepped aside to get out of the way, pointed to the teaching building one or two hundred meters away, and said to me, "the dean is on the second floor. After you go up the stairs, walk to the left. The first office on your left hand is the director''s office."


    According to the guide of the school workers, I came to the teaching director''s office. From the half closed door, a middle-aged woman in military civilian clothes was sitting at a desk, reading a newspaper again. I quickly raised my hand and knocked on the door twice. When I saw the other side turning to look out, I gently pushed the door open, stood at the door and politely asked, "can I go in?"


    "Come in, please." The middle-aged woman said faintly. When I came into the room, she was the first to ask, "what can I do for you?"


    "Well, I want my children to come here to study." I said with a smile, "I don''t know what procedures are needed?"


    "Is the child a Kiev native?"


    When I heard this question, I replied awkwardly, "No."


    "Since they are not from Kiev, they are not eligible for admission." After the middle-aged woman finished, she focused on the newspaper and continued to read the news.


    Although hit a nail, but I don''t want to bully people with potential, still ask kindly: "can''t accommodation?"


    Without blinking an eyelid, the middle-aged woman replied, "No. Where do you think the school is? Anyone can come in? As long as they are not Kiev natives, they are not eligible for admission. You can go. "


    Her bad attitude made me feel very upset. But I asked patiently, "where is your headmaster?" After asking this question, it suddenly occurred to me that it was a time of war, and there were military representatives not only in factories and mines, but also in schools. I quickly added, "where are your military representatives? I want to talk to them. "


    "The headmaster and the military representatives went to the Education Bureau for a meeting." The middle-aged woman looked at me and said with disdain, "if you want to find them, you''d better come back in the afternoon."


    I didn''t want to argue with such people. After a sneer, I turned and left the office. At the school gate, I met the enthusiastic school worker again. When he saw me coming out, he asked with a smile from afar, "how are you doing? Have you made it clear?"


    "The dean said that the child is not from Kiev and is not qualified to study here." I said bitterly to the school worker, "I can only wait for the headmaster and the military representative to go to work in the afternoon to consult again."


    "Don''t worry." The school worker comforted me and said, "this situation has happened to you before. As long as you go to the neighborhood committee to issue a certificate, even if the children are not from Kiev, they can come here to school. "


    "I don''t know where the neighborhood committee is?"


    The school worker stood at the door, pointed to the front and said to me: "you go down this street. After two intersections, you can see a yellow two-story building on the left side of the road, which is the neighborhood committee."


    When I came to the neighborhood committee, I saw a long line at the door of the neighborhood committee. When I went to the queue and inquired about the people in the queue, I realized that they were all here to do business. Looking at the 100 meter long queue, I knew that I couldn''t get in every two or three hours, so I changed my mind and went shopping in the nearby street.


    Walking on the streets of Kiev, you can see many fat women with short waists and charming naive manners, but graceful girls can also be seen everywhere. These girls in braji, with slender legs, slender waist and vivid faces, make me feel excited when I see them.


    I don''t know how long I''ve been walking in the street. I''m hot and thirsty. Suddenly I see a small yellow can car on the side of the road in front of me. It says "kvass" in Russian. Many people are queuing up to buy it. I also quickly walked over and stood at the end of the line.


    Kevas is a kind of bubble beverage fermented from black bread. It has low alcohol concentration and tastes similar to German rye juice. It is very cool to drink, which is a favorite drink of the Soviet Union. Due to the low alcohol level, children can also drink, so in the queue of people, there are many seven or eight year old children.


    When it was my turn, the fat lady who sold kvass picked up two glasses, one big and the other small, looked at me and asked, "do you want a big one or a small one?"


    I looked at the size of the glass and said decisively, "give me a small one."


    While the fat lady was picking up kvass with her cup, I took a look at the sign next to her, which said big 7 and small 5. Because I didn''t write the currency unit, I asked tentatively with a smiling face, "is a small cup five rubles a cup?"


    The fat lady handed me the full cup of kvass and said with a smile: "the small cup is five gobies, and the big one is seven gobies. Girl, if you have a lot of money, I don''t mind five rubles


    Fat aunt''s words caused a burst of laughter from customers in line and customers drinking kvass with cups. In everyone''s innocent laughter, I handed the money to the fat aunt, then took the kvass from her hand, went to the hungry customers who were drinking kvass, and drank kvass like they did.


    After drinking kvass, I felt much cooler. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was already 1:30 noon. I felt that the long dragon at the door of the neighborhood committee should disappear. I put the empty cup on the shelf of the tanker and walked towards the location of the neighborhood committee.


    After walking not far, I heard a rush of footsteps coming from behind. I slowed down and turned to look. I saw a 1.8-meter-tall, well proportioned, handsome officer quickly catching up. After walking side by side with me, he raised his hand to salute and politely said, "Hello, girl! I''m major monakov of the guards. Nice to meet you. Can we have a word? "


    I gave him a little smile and said politely, "Comrade major, please say what you have to say."


    "Well, girl." Monakov said to me with a smile: "I''m back to Kiev for a holiday. I have three days'' holiday. I''d like to invite you to my home. Do you agree?"


    "I don''t agree." Without hesitation, I refused monakov''s absurd request. I said who are you? I don''t know you. Why should I come to your house¡° Major, I don''t know you, so even if you have a three-day holiday, I won''t be a guest at your home. Please forgive me


    Although I refused, the major followed me and said, "girl, where are you going? What can I do for you? "


    I stopped, looked at monakov and said solemnly, "Comrade major, I''m going to the neighborhood committee to do something. Please don''t follow me any more, OK?"


    "Girl, I don''t know what to call you?" "If I could accompany you to the neighborhood committee, maybe I could help," monakov asked persistently


    "My name is o''shanina." I feel a little speechless when I see that the officer is a bit dogged. If this kind of thing is not very common in the Soviet Union, I will certainly scold him. But under the current situation, I can only patiently say, "I''m going to the neighborhood committee to give my son an entrance certificate. Please don''t follow me, OK?"


    When monakov heard that I had a son, he didn''t look discouraged. Instead, he said more warmly, "girl, I''m ok now. Let me go with you. Maybe I can help you."


    When I saw monakov sticking to me like a dog skin plaster, I couldn''t help it. Who let soldiers chase young girls in the streets? It''s a common phenomenon in the Soviet Union. As I walked, I asked, "Comrade major, what part of you are in?"


    "The 39th division of the 28th army of the guards." Monakov replied cheerfully, seeing that he would not be expelled any more.


    After listening to his reply, I nodded and said casually, "it''s the subordinate of Col. malchenko. I''ve met your new commander, major general Ralph. In addition, your army has won the honorary title of the Lublin army for its meritorious service in the liberation of Lublin. " I said the names of the commanders and divisions of monakov''s troops, and even the honors they won in July, which made monakov dumbfounded. After a while, he was surprised and asked, "girl, who are you and why do you know so much about our troops?" I just gave him a faint smile, did not answer his question, but kept walking forward. But just after two steps, monakov raised his hand and grasped my arm. His face was frosty and he said sternly, "girl, please come with me to the garrison headquarters and explain the problem clearly." Just as I was about to free my arm, a patrol of about ten people came up to me. When monakov saw the other side, he immediately raised his voice and called to the officer in charge, "Comrade lieutenant, please come here." After the officer raised his hand to stop the patrol, he came up to us alone. After saluting monakov, he asked suspiciously, "Comrade major, do you have any instructions?" Monakov said without expression: "Lieutenant, I suspect that this woman is a German spy. Please take her back to the garrison headquarters for interrogation." When I heard monakov treat me as a German spy, I couldn''t help laughing. But instead of speaking, I looked at the patrol captain to see what he would do with it. After listening to monakov, the officer turned to me, reached out to me, and said solemnly, "citizen, please show me your identification." When I opened my satchel and prepared to take out my ID from it. Monakov, standing next to him, suddenly exclaimed, "be careful, she has a pistol in her bag." Then he reached out to grab the pistol in my bag. I know very well that in this situation, if I fight for weapons with him, it will make things more complicated. So I let him snatch the gun from his bag, and then slowly handed the soldier''s card to the vigilant patrol captain. After the patrol leader looked at my military ID card, he was shocked and immediately stood at attention. He raised his hand to salute and said respectfully, "excuse me, general. I don''t know your identity. I''m the captain of the patrol, please give me directions! "

 Chapter 1577

    As soon as the patrol leader''s words came out, it seemed to solidify in an instant. Not only the soldiers of the patrol, but also monakov remained at attention in a daze. Although the pistol was still in monakov''s hand, the muzzle, which was aimed at me, had dropped down unconsciously.


    I took the military ID card from the patrol captain, put it into the bag, and waved with a smile: "well, comrade lieutenant, it''s all clear. It''s just a misunderstanding. You take your men and go on the patrol


    The captain raised his hand to salute me again and left with his men. I turned to the shocked monakov, gently pulled my pistol out of his hand and carefully put it into the bag.


    I asked with a straight face: "Comrade major, do you know my identity now?"


    "Comrade General," monakov replied somewhat flustered, "I know who you are."


    His words aroused my curiosity. I looked at him and said with great interest, "Oh, major, you know who I am. What do you think I do? "


    "You used to be the commander of the sixth group army of Jinwei, and later you became the deputy commander of the first front army of Ukraine." Monakov saw that I was still pleasant, more daring and fluent: "when you just told me your name, I felt familiar, but you were wearing casual clothes, so I didn''t recognize you in time."


    "So it is." I waited for monakov to finish, nodded, and continued to walk towards the location of the neighborhood committee. After a few steps, he found that monakov was still standing in the same place, so he stopped and turned to ask him, "Comrade major, didn''t you say you want to accompany me to the neighborhood committee for business? Why are you still standing there in a daze?"


    Monakov was stunned at first, and then showed a happy expression on his face. He trotted up and said to me, "Comrade General, I''m willing to help you!"


    "Comrade major, I have something I don''t quite understand. I''d like to ask you for advice." I asked myself, "as far as I know, the front line is still in full swing. Why does your superior give you a holiday at this time?"


    "Well, Comrade General." Monakov replied respectfully: "the teacher said that there are nearly 200 wounded people in our division and they will be discharged in the near future. In order to prevent them from being taken away by other troops, I was specially arranged to come here to pick up the wounded soldiers who were discharged from hospital


    "When the wounded are discharged, shouldn''t they all return to their original troops?" I was puzzled and asked, "how can other troops come to rob people?"


    "Comrade General, you don''t know something." Monakov said to me with a wry smile: "due to the long-term fighting, the reduction of troops is very serious. It is far from enough to rely on the superior to supplement our troops. Therefore, some troops have come up with the idea of military hospital. They send people to stay in the hospital. As soon as the wounded soldiers are discharged from the hospital, they will directly supplement their own troops."


    "Are there any officers in these wounded soldiers who have been discharged from hospital?" I continued without expression.


    "No Monakov shook his head and said: "after the officers are discharged from the hospital, they will basically return to their original troops. And those ordinary soldiers, the military representatives of the hospital will rearrange a place for them. After all, we have plenty of troops, but we are very short of soldiers. "


    If monakov doesn''t say that, I really don''t know that some troops actually supplement their own troops in this way. But on second thought, there is nothing wrong with doing so. After all, there are only a limited number of soldiers to be supplemented by the superior. In order to maintain the combat effectiveness of their own troops, in addition to recruiting new soldiers in the local area, the wounded soldiers discharged from the hospital are indispensable treasures. They have been on the battlefield and have rich combat experience. As soon as they return to the army, they can become the backbone of the battle. No wonder the superior sent monakov back to take the wounded soldiers back to the army.


    As we spoke, we came to the neighborhood committee unconsciously. The gate was closed, and the morning dragon had disappeared. Monakov came forward to open the door first, and then helped the door to make a gesture of please. I said thank you to him and walked in quickly.


    We walked along the corridor and saw that the doors on both sides were almost closed. We didn''t know whether the staff didn''t go to work or whether they had a rest in the afternoon.


    The door at the end of the corridor was open. When I went to the door, I saw a young girl sitting behind her desk, with an eyebrow pencil in her right hand, drawing eyebrows in front of a small mirror on the desk. I saw clearly the desk in front of her, with typewriter, telephone and piles of documents, and immediately guessed that it might be a secretary. Next to her seat, there were two closed doors wrapped in black leather.


    The secretary found someone standing at the door, looked up at me, continued to draw her eyebrows, and casually asked, "what''s the time?"


    "Hello I stepped into the office, came to the Secretary in front, asked with a smile: "may I ask your leadership in it?"


    "What''s the matter?" The Secretary asked disapprovingly.


    "Well, I want the child to study in a nearby primary school, but the person in charge said that the child is not from Kiev. If he wants to enter the school, he needs to come here to issue a certificate."


    Without waiting for me to finish, the Secretary impatiently interrupted the words behind me: "since the child is not from this city, then we don''t have to issue any proof..." when she said this, she suddenly stopped and turned her eyes to my back.


    I turned and saw that monakov had followed me. When the Secretary saw the handsome young officer, she immediately got up and asked with a smile, "commander, what can I do for you?"


    Monakov looked at me and replied awkwardly, "girl, I''m with her."


    I found that when the Secretary heard monakov say that, there was a look of disappointment in his eyes. I guessed that the girl might like monakov, and then I said, "he''s my brother. He''s with me on business."


    "I see!" The Secretary became happy again. She asked with concern, "are you here to give a positive certificate to the child?"


    "Yes, it is." I said flatly, "can we go to see your person in charge?"


    "Just a moment, please." The Secretary said and pressed the dialyzer in front of her. After the voice came out, she said respectfully, "Comrade borisova, there are two citizens outside who want to see you. Can you let them in?"


    "Let them wait outside for a while," a clear female voice came out of the dialogue. "I''m talking to the city leader."


    The secretary turned off the dialyzer, looked at us and said politely, "Comrade borisova is talking to the city leaders. Please take a seat first."


    I nodded, went to the bench by the wall and sat down, while monakov was still standing at the table talking to the secretary. I heard him asking, "girl, I don''t know what to call you?"


    "My name is anuna." After the Secretary said his name with a smile, he asked monakov: "Comrade commander, what''s your name?"


    "My name is monakov." Monakov said to anuna with a smile, "can I ask you out for a concert and dinner?"


    "Sorry, monakov." Anuna looked at monakov and said with a puzzled face, "I can''t leave because I have too much work today and tomorrow." At this point, she stopped to think for a moment, then asked tentatively, "can we meet again the day after tomorrow?"


    "Of course." Monakov shrugged his shoulders, raised his eyebrows and said, "you know, I''ve got three full day holidays, and I''ll come to you the day after tomorrow."


    As they chatted more and more, the dialyzer in front of anuna rang. Inside came borisova''s voice: "anuna, I''ve finished my call. Please come in!"


    Anuna raised her hand to the two closed doors and said, "please come in. Comrade borisova is waiting for you. I''m sure she can help you." I got up to thank anuna and walked quickly into the door that monakov had opened.


    As soon as I entered the room inside, I saw a long conference table. On the other side of the conference table was a desk. A smart young woman in military uniform was sitting behind the table. This should be paulisova, the leader of anuna.


    Seeing monakov and I walk from the side of the conference table to our desk, borisova points to the two empty chairs in front of us and politely says, "please sit down, comrades!"


    When I sat down opposite her, borisova''s face suddenly showed a look of surprise after she saw my face clearly. After a moment, she asked in a tone of both inquiry and affirmation, "are you general oshanina?"


    Seeing that the other party had seen through my identity, I couldn''t help asking in surprise: "Comrade borisova, do you know me?"


    "That''s right." Borisova nodded her head and said with certainty: "during the Moscow defense war, I took a delegation to the 16th army headquarters, where I met you." At this point, she stood up, reached out to me with an irresistible smile and said in a friendly way, "my name is yebov Alexandrovna borisova. Let''s get to know each other again."


    I stood up, took her hand, and said with a smile, "my name is Rita mushdakova oshanina. You can call me Rita." After releasing my hand, I introduced monakov to her again. "This is major monakov. He''s here with me on business."


    After we sat down again, borisova asked me politely, "Rita, what are you doing here today?"


    "Well, comrade borisova." I told her about my plan to send my child from the rear to study here. Finally, I said, "the dean of the school said that the child is not from Kiev and is not qualified to study in that school. But I''ve heard from school workers that this has happened before. As long as I come to you and issue a certificate, I can let my children go to school. "


    "Yes, I have." Borisova first affirmed my statement, but then she asked in surprise: "in your capacity, as long as you say a word, immediately someone will take the initiative to help you do everything well. Why do you come here to prove it? "


    "When I was at school, I didn''t identify myself at all." I organized the vocabulary in my head, and then said, "I don''t want my children to enjoy any privileges because of me when they enter school."¡° It''s right for you to think like this. Once the school leaders know your true identity, they will certainly give special care to the children, which is not conducive to the growth of the children. " With these words, borisova pressed the switch of the dialog beside her and told the Secretary outside: "anuna, please let the driver prepare. I''m going out right now."¡° I''m sorry, comrade borisova Anuna a bit embarrassed to say: "the driver rest in the afternoon, no one driving for you."¡° Comrade borisova, I don''t know where you are going? " Monakov, sitting next to him, suddenly interjected, "maybe I can play the role of the driver temporarily."¡° I''m going to accompany Li to school in person. It would be great if you could be our driver After these words, borisova and monakov said to the dialyzer, "anuna, there''s a commander here who can be our driver temporarily. You can accompany him to the garage to drive the car out." After monakov left, borisova and I were left in the room. She leaned forward as close to me as she could, then asked in a low voice, "is he... Is he OK?" Borisova''s question confused me, and I asked, "who is he?"¡° Who else, of course, is rokosovsky. " Although there were only two of us in the room, borisova still kept her voice very low for fear of being heard. After staring at borisova for a moment, I suddenly remembered other people''s comments on rokosovsky, saying that he was a romantic man. Although he had been married for a long time, he had many lovers, among whom the most famous one was Xie Luowa, the wife of famous writer Simonov. It is said that cherova looks like a fairy and is extremely sexy, which fascinates rokosovsky. Of course, Xie Luowa is also infatuated with the romantic rokosovsky. Even Stalin knew that the two fell in love. Out of his love for rokosovsky, the Supreme Commander himself turned a blind eye to this matter. However, what I didn''t expect was that even between borisova and rokosovsky, there were some unclear stories. Seeing borisova''s face full of shyness, I didn''t ask her what happened with rokosovsky. Instead, I coughed gently, and then said, "Comrade rokosovsky, now commanding the first front army of Belarus in Poland, is engaged in fierce fighting with the German army."

 Chapter 1578

    Fortunately, the car horn sound from the outside resolved the embarrassing atmosphere inside.


    The dialoger on the table rang. Borisova quickly reached out and pressed the key. Then anuna''s voice came: "Comrade borisova, the major is waiting for you in the car outside."


    "I see." When borisova turned off the phone, she stood up and said to me, "Rita, the major is waiting for us in the car outside. Let''s go now."


    When borisova and I went out, she asked me curiously, "Rita, as far as I know, the war is fierce ahead now. As the deputy commander of the front army, you should be at the front line now. Why do you stay in Kiev?"


    Hearing her question, I shrugged my shoulders and said helplessly: "I also want to stay in the front line and fight with the German army. But orders are orders. Since my superiors have asked me to stay in Kiev, I can only carry out this order unconditionally. "


    When I opened the door of the neighborhood committee and was ready to walk into the yard, borisova asked again, "who is the major? It looks very familiar to you."


    "I met him on the street," I said casually. "He was very warm-hearted. When I heard that I was going to work here, he took the initiative to accompany me."


    After listening to me, borisova had a meaningful smile on her face: "Oh, I see. He must be your suitor, otherwise he would not have been so enthusiastic. "


    From the neighborhood committee to the school, it was not far away. It took us only a few minutes to reach our destination. The school worker obviously knew the car, so he opened the iron door from a long distance, and then stood on the side of the road and waved to us.


    After I got off the bus, I was ready to go to the dean''s office. After a few steps, I was stopped by borisova. She asked curiously, "Rita, where are you going?"


    I pointed to the teaching building and said, "of course, to the dean''s office."


    "Don''t go there." Borisova waved her hand and said, "if a child enters school, it''s better to go directly to the headmaster. Because even if the Dean agrees, in the end, it still needs the president''s approval to make a decision. Come with me With that, she took the lead in walking towards a bungalow not far away.


    We came to the door of an open room. Borisova raised her hand and knocked on the door. Without waiting for the people inside to speak, she stepped in and said with a smile, "Hello, Tanya!"


    Standing at the door, I saw the headmistress sitting behind her desk. After hearing borisova''s voice, she looked up at the person who called her name. Her face immediately showed a smile. She quickly put down her pen, got up and walked around the table to shake hands with borisova.


    I looked at the young headmaster carefully, only to find that she had short blond hair, a long skirt with light colored flowers, and a pair of low heel sandals. She and borisova gave each other a hug and pressed each other''s cheek. Then she asked curiously, "Comrade borisova, what brings you here?"


    Borisova turned to me and pointed to me and said, "Tanya, I''m here with her to help the kids get into school." At this point, she hesitated for a moment, but quickly added, "she''s a distant relative of mine."


    After listening to borisova''s introduction, Tanya came up to me, reached out to me and said in a friendly way, "Hello, I''m the principal here. You can call me Tanya."


    "Hello, comrade principal." I took Tanya''s hand and said with a smile, "my name is Rita!"


    After the simple greeting, Tanya asked monakov and I to sit down on the sofa by the door, and borisova sat down on the chair at her desk. Before I came here, I told borisova the details, and now she repeated what I said to Tanya.


    I saw Tanya nodding. Finally, I picked up the phone from my desk, dialed a number, and said, "this is Tanya. Please come to my office."


    Not long after that, I heard footsteps coming from far and near outside the door. Turning around, I saw that it was the dean in the morning. When she saw me sitting on the sofa, she couldn''t help looking surprised: "is it you?"


    "It''s me, comrade Dean." Although she let me hit a nail in the morning, at this moment, I stood up immediately, took the initiative to reach out to her and politely said: "Hello! We meet again


    But the Dean was particularly indifferent to the kindness I had released. After a heavy hum, she walked past me as if there were no one else. She walked towards the headmaster''s desk. At the same time, she asked, "Comrade headmaster, please call me. Do you have any important instructions?"


    "The dog''s eyes are low!" After I scolded angrily in my heart, I took back my outstretched hand and sat on my seat again.


    "Rita, why don''t you make yourself known to her?" When monakov saw the dean''s action, he said, "if she knew who you are, she would not dare to treat you like this."


    "It''s all right, major monakov." I gently waved my hand and said with disapproval, "these are all small people. It''s meaningless to press her with identity. Don''t worry. With borisova, the matter will be solved completely. "


    The Dean also knew borisova. After greeting the headmaster, she reached out to shake hands with borisova and exchanged a few simple greetings. Just as the three were talking and laughing, the sound of car brakes came from outside.


    I turned to look outside, and saw a gas car parked not far from the bungalow. The door on the side of the co pilot opened and a colonel came down. He looked around and soon found me sitting at the door. There was a look of relief on his face, and then he walked quickly towards me.


    My first reaction was that Khrushchev sent for me. He quickly stood up and asked the coming Colonel, "Comrade Colonel, are you looking for me?"


    The Colonel came to the front and stood at attention. Then he raised his hand and said respectfully, "Comrade General, I have been ordered to meet you with Comrade Khrushchev. Please come to me!"


    Seeing the colonel who suddenly appeared at the door, borisova stopped talking with the headmaster, walked up to me and asked with concern, "Rita, what''s the matter?"


    I knew in my heart that there must have been something serious in Khrushchev''s hurry to find me, but in front of these ordinary people, I still pretended to be indifferent and said, "Comrade Khrushchev asked me to go to his office. Maybe there is something to find me. I''ll trouble you about the children''s enrollment. " With that, I shook my head at the colonel and said, "Colonel, let''s go!"


    As the colonel and I walked towards the gas car, we vaguely heard the dean of education asking, "Comrade borisova, what is her origin? Comrade Khrushchev will look for her?" The tone is full of disdain.


    "This is general oshanina, who is now the deputy commander of the front army." Borisova said coldly to the dean of Education: "she came here today to deal with the enrollment of children."


    "My God, it''s the deputy commander of the front army!" The dean of education exclaimed, "I had a problem with her. And just when she wanted to shake hands with me, I turned her down. I''m such a fool, big fool... "


    I sat in the back of the car, turned to look at the bungalow, and saw the Dean standing in front of the headmaster''s office, nodding and bowing in my direction with a smile. I waved to the people at the door, rolled up the window and told the driver, "drive!"


    After waiting for the car to start, I can''t help asking the captain sitting in the co pilot''s seat curiously, "Comrade Colonel, how do you know I''m here?"


    The Colonel half turned around, looked at me and said, "Comrade General, I asked the doorman''s aunt. She said that before you left in the morning, you asked her about the school nearby and said that you were going to arrange for your children to study in Kiev. So I came here to touch the tone with the mentality of trying. "


    "As it turns out, you''re lucky enough to find me in one go." After I finished this sentence with a smile, I restrained my smile and asked solemnly, "Comrade Colonel, do you know what is important for Comrade Khrushchev to come to me?"


    "Sorry, comrade general, I don''t know." The Colonel replied with a wry smile, "I don''t have enough authority to know many secrets."


    More than ten minutes later, the gascar arrived at the destination. The Colonel guided me to the outside of Khrushchev''s office. Then he raised his hand to salute me and turned to leave.


    After greeting Khrushchev''s secretary, I pushed open the door and went in. When I saw Khrushchev, who was working at his desk, I coughed gently. When he stopped his work and looked up at me, I said, "Hello, Nikita sergeyevich. I have come at your order. I''m waiting for your instructions!"


    "Here you are, Rita." Khrushchev waved to me from his seat. Then he picked up a document from his desk and said, "this is the latest information you just received. Have a look."


    I went up to him, and the document in his hand came up to me and looked at it carefully. The above content is related to the Polish uprising which broke out on August 1st. I have seen this important historical event in history books and film and television works, so it seems that I can read everything at a glance.


    When Khrushchev saw that I had finished reading the contents of the document in a few minutes, he could not help showing a look of amazement on his face: "Rita, have you finished reading it?"


    "Yes, I have."


    "Tell me what you think." Khrushchev leaned back in his chair and asked me, "what do you think of the Warsaw Uprising?"


    I tried hard to recall the historical truth I had learned, and then said slowly, "I think the main purpose of the reason why the Polish uprising army chose to launch armed riots at the beginning of this month is to liberate Poland with its own armed forces and not let our Red Army invade Warsaw, so as to avoid Poland from being bolsheviked."


    "That''s right," Khrushchev nodded in agreement with me and urged, "do you think they have any hope of success?"


    "In the absence of any foreign aid, they want to succeed, that chance is not possible." Seeing that Khrushchev supported my point of view, I went on boldly and confidently: "the Warsaw Uprising was operated by the pro Western Polish government in exile. They tried to control Warsaw at any cost, create a fait accompli in front of their allies, and avoid Bolshevism because Warsaw was controlled by China.


    The key to the success of the "domestic army" who launched the uprising in the past was that they gave full play to the guerrilla characteristics of "fight when they win, and run when they don''t win". But this time, they had to compete with the German army for big cities, and they could not give up after winning. They completely ignored the fact that the "domestic army" was not a regular armed force. In the face of the encirclement and suppression of the superior German forces, the uprising hastily launched due to political factors will inevitably end in failure. "¡° Don''t you think that''s too pessimistic, Rita? " Khrushchev said without expression: "the first front army of Belarus of rokosovsky is only tens of kilometers away from Warsaw. As long as we launch an assault, our army can enter Warsaw city."¡° As far as I know, rokosovsky''s first front army of Belarus has been exhausted due to long-distance advance. In addition, the personnel loss has not been replenished in time, and the logistics support has not kept up. Several rivers near Warsaw have a certain impact on the deployment and use of heavy technical equipment. Moreover, in order to eliminate the rebel army in Warsaw, the German Army, Actually, many elite troops were used to defend Warsaw, which increased the difficulty of our army''s attack and made our army fall into a bitter battle. " In order to enhance the persuasion, I specially stressed: "as early as August 2, our troops approached Warsaw City, but they had to withdraw from the occupied area under the crazy counterattack of the German army."¡° You have a point, Rita Khrushchev stood up, came out from behind his desk, and began to walk around the room. As he walked, he said, "the supreme command means to cross the visva river again in a week''s time to rescue the rebels in Warsaw. Comrade Stalin, let me hear from you. "¡° Comrade Khrushchev, "I said with a bitter smile," I think it is possible to join the rebel army by sending troops across the visva River to launch a surprise attack on Huasha city. But I would like to ask: is it worth paying an extremely heavy price to join forces with forces under the command of an exiled government with different political views? "¡° That''s right. That''s right. That''s very true. " Khrushchev came up to me, stopped, nodded his head and said, "maybe we made wedding clothes for others after paying a huge price. This is not worth the loss. I will give your views back to Comrade Stalin as soon as possible. "

 Chapter 1579

    Khrushchev was also an acute man. After that, he quickly went back to his desk, picked up the red secret phone on the desk, dialed a number, and said to the microphone, "I''m Khrushchev, get me Moscow!"


    While Khrushchev was on the phone, I sat on the chair beside the conference table, lowered my head and thought to myself in my heart: "I am the deputy commander of the first front army of Ukraine, but Stalin asked Khrushchev to ask me for my views on the Warsaw Uprising. Is he going to transfer me to Belarus to assist rokosovsky?"


    After Khrushchev called Stalin, he came up to me and said with a smile, "Rita, I didn''t expect that your opinion coincided with Comrade Stalin. He just praised you on the phone."


    I grinned silently, then looked at Khrushchev and asked, "Comrade Khrushchev, I want to ask, when is Comrade Stalin going to let me go back to the front line?"


    "Don''t worry about going back to the front line for the time being." Khrushchev said with a ha ha, cleverly diverged from the topic: "I heard that you went to contact the school for the children today?"


    Seeing that Khrushchev avoided talking about my return to the front line, I immediately understood that Stalin might mean to let me stay in Kiev for an indefinite holiday. No one can change the arrangement of the Supreme Commander himself, and I can only settle down with it.


    I nodded and said, "yes, I spent a lot of time today dealing with the enrollment of children." Then I told Khrushchev in detail what happened today. I didn''t even hide what monakov was pursuing me on the road.


    After listening to my story, Khrushchev said thoughtfully, "Rita, you have been fighting face to face with the German army on the front line these years. Now the German army is not far away from the final destruction, so you should try to live an ordinary life. I guess that''s why the superior suddenly let you take a vacation in Kiev.


    Your son will come to Kiev soon. It''s hard for you to take care of your children alone. If you can have a partner to take care of you, I think this is the best ending. What do you think of major monakov? If you are interested in him, I will arrange for someone to know everything about him as soon as possible. As long as he''s worthy of you, I''ll fix you up. "


    Hearing that Khrushchev suddenly thought of matchmaking for me, I was shocked. You know, although I had occupied Rita''s body for almost three years, psychologically, I was still a man. As for Khrushchev''s kindness, I quickly waved and refused: "Dear Nikita sergeyevich, thank you for your kindness. Don''t you think I''m already neutral? At least I don''t want to be seen as a woman at present


    Seeing that I was so stubborn, Khrushchev didn''t force me either. He nodded and continued, "since you don''t want to talk about marriage now, I don''t force you either. But it''s too lonely for you to stay in this city alone. You should make more friends. By the way, I know the borisova you just mentioned. She is a kind, intelligent and capable woman. According to the report submitted by the leaders of Kiev City, they are going to promote her in the near future. You can have more contacts with her. "


    I left Khrushchev''s office and went back to my residence. I went to the gate and knocked hard on it. Soon the small window on the shutter opened, revealing Suna''s alert eyes.


    "Hello, Suna!" I said to her with a smile, "I''m back. Please open the door!"


    "Rita, you''re back!" Suna opened the door, took my hand and said enthusiastically, "when you were away, a handsome commander came to see you. I said you went to school to go through the entrance formalities for the child, and then he left. I don''t know if he found you? "


    "Yes, yes, Auntie Suna!" I said to Suna with a smile on my face, "the commander found me at school."


    Suna and I chatted for a while, took the key that was hanging in the duty room, and was about to go back to our room upstairs when Suna stopped me and asked, "have you had dinner, Rita?"


    "Not yet." I shook my head and said, "I''ll go back to eat later."


    Hearing that I haven''t had dinner yet, Suna picked up a paper bag on the table and thrust it into my hand. At the same time, she said, "I guess you haven''t eaten yet. It''s all ready for you." I didn''t refuse Suna''s kindness. After thanking her, I took the paper bag she gave me and went upstairs.


    When I got home, I opened the paper bag and saw a few pieces of bread inside. In the middle of the bread was a slice of sallow, with a thick layer of butter. At the top of the slice was a piece of salmon sashimi.


    Just as I was about to start the dinner Suna had prepared for me, the phone in the living room suddenly rang. I quickly put down the toast and went to the living room to answer the phone.


    "Hello I asked politely into the microphone, "who am I talking to?"


    There was a burst of hearty laughter from the receiver, and then borisova''s voice came into my ear: "Hello, Rita, I''m borisova. Do you have time now


    Instead of giving borisova an accurate answer, I asked, "what can I do for you?"


    "It''s like this, Rita." "I''d like to invite you to my house," borisova said enthusiastically Perhaps worried that I would refuse her, she added, "Tanya is coming too. She''s going to talk to you about the children''s enrollment."


    When I heard that the principal of the school was also here, I knew that I had to go to the party tonight. I asked, "borisova, can you give me an address?"


    "Remember that." Borisova may be worried that I can''t keep up with the speed of recording. He deliberately slowed down his speaking speed and said, "my home is at 72 Lenin street in oboronsky district. When you arrive, you can find my home by asking the attendant at the door."


    Since it was borisova''s treat, there must be a lot of delicious food in her family, so I repackaged the bread Suna gave me and put it on the table. Then he simply washed and went downstairs with his satchel on his back.


    Seeing me coming down the stairs, Suna asked curiously, "Rita, are you going out?"


    "Yes, Auntie Suna." I replied with a smile, "I''m going to visit my friends in oboronsky. Do you know how to get there?"


    "If it was before the war, I would definitely suggest you take the subway." "But now the subway is closed at 6 pm. If you want to go there, you have to go to the door to take a taxi," Suna said with regret


    I just stood by the side of the road to take a taxi. Before long, several military vehicles stopped in front of me. The driver poked his head out of the window and asked enthusiastically, "girl, where are you going?"


    When I visit other people''s homes, I can''t stop military vehicles. For the kindness of these drivers, I have to decline politely: "Comrade soldier, thank you! It''s a long way to go. It''s not convenient to take a military car. "


    After waiting for a long time, a black car finally stopped in front of me. A middle-aged man with two beards rolled down the window, looked at me and asked, "girl, where are you going?"


    I quickly went to the window, leaned over to the middle-aged driver and said, "I think of the oboronsky district. I don''t know how much it costs."


    The middle-aged driver thought about it, then raised his hand and made a five gesture¡° Five rubles. " Although I don''t know about the prices in this period, it''s too expensive to charge five rubles for a free ride.


    When I was about to bargain with him, he seemed to see my mind and said, "girl, 50 goby, if you think the price is right, get on the bus. If it''s not right, you''ll go to other cars. I won''t bargain."


    Even in later Russia, because of the scarcity of taxis, people take taxis in such private vehicles. If the price is good, they get on the bus. If the price is not good, they find other vehicles. There is no black car at all. At the moment, listening to the driver take the initiative to say the price of 50 Gobi, I feel very fair, immediately opened the door, without saying a word on the car.


    The driver is a very talkative person. He is obviously very happy that I can take his car to opolonsky. He talks to me while driving: "my family lives in opolonsky, just on the way. Are you going to a friend''s house? "


    "Yes, I''m going to my friend''s house." I answered softly.


    "Are they relatives?" The driver then asked.


    I turned to look out of the window and whispered, "I don''t have any relatives in Kiev. After the war broke out, almost all of my relatives were gone."


    "I''m sorry," the driver quickly apologized to me. "I shouldn''t have said these things that make you sad."


    "It doesn''t matter," I turned to look at the driver and said faintly, "this is the war. There are countless people like me who have lost their relatives in the war."


    "What do you do, girl?" After a quick glance at me, the driver focused on the front again: "is it a shop assistant or a hotel waiter?"


    "I don''t have a job." Hearing the driver''s question, I answered with some difficulty, "I''m waiting for the assignment right now."


    "Waiting for the assignment?" After listening to me, the driver snorted, and then said, "after the liberation of Kiev, the residents of the city came back one after another. However, due to the limited number of factories to return to work, not all of them could find jobs." The driver stopped for a while and seemed to be thinking about something. Finally, he made up his mind and said, "if you don''t dislike it, you can come to me at Kiev University. My name is Peter. I''m from the logistics department. I can arrange a purchasing or cleaning job for you, so that you can at least have enough food and clothing every day."


    "Thank you, Peter!" I was quite moved to see this uncle so enthusiastic. I said gratefully to him, "but my work should be settled soon, so I won''t trouble you."


    Although he was rejected by me, there was no disappointment on his face. He continued: "it''s OK. If you need my help, you can come to me at any time. By the way, you only said you would go to the oboronsky District, but you haven''t said the specific location yet. "


    I quickly took out a note recording borisova''s address and read it to the driver''s uncle. After hearing the address, Peter immediately asked, "if I''m not wrong, are you going to find borisova?"¡° Ah? " I didn''t expect that the driver even knew about borisova. I was surprised and asked, "Peter, do you know borisova?" Seeing that I was as surprised as I expected, the driver said with pride, "borisova is a celebrity in our place. Although she only works in the neighborhood committee now, we all know that with her ability, she will be transferred to the city or state soon." The car soon arrived at the destination. When I got off the bus, I found that No. 72 was actually a residential area. Looking at dozens of houses in the wall, I couldn''t help but be a little silly. Just as I was about to inquire with the doorman at the door, petrel yelled at me from behind: "borisova lives in building 31. Walk along the road. That''s the one at the end of the road." When I knocked on the door of borisova''s house, I saw that there were already many guests in the house. Besides Tanya, I also saw monakov, who was chatting with anuna, and even the annoying Dean, the middle-aged man with glasses sitting next to her, who should be her husband. In addition, there are several pairs of men and women, I do not know, should be borisova''s colleagues or friends. Seeing me coming, Tanya and others immediately welcomed me and said hello to me warmly. After the greetings, the Dean came up to me, lowered his head and said in an embarrassed expression: "Comrade General, please forgive me for being rude to you today. The headmaster has criticized me severely, and I know I''m wrong. I hope you can forgive me. " Although I hate this unsmiling Dean in my heart, under the current situation, I still wave my hand and pretend to be magnanimous: "well, comrade Dean, this matter has passed. Please don''t take it seriously." Seeing that I was no longer pursuing this matter, the Dean was relieved. He quickly pulled the man standing beside him and introduced him to me, saying, "Comrade General, let me introduce you. This is my husband. He works in the Municipal Education Bureau." I heard that the husband of the dean of education is the leader of the Education Bureau. I immediately understood why the dean of education was so rebellious. It turned out that he had a backstage. I reached out to the man with glasses and gave him a gentle shake. Then I said hello to monakov standing by: "Hello, comrade major, we meet again." Monakov nodded at me, reached out to me, and said in a low voice, "Hello, Comrade General. Nice to meet you here." When monakov and I shook hands, we looked at anuna standing not far away and asked casually, "major, when are you going to invite anuna back to your house?" I didn''t expect monakov to reply bitterly: "Comrade General, I don''t have time. I''ve just been informed to take the train tomorrow afternoon to rush back to the army."

 Chapter 1580

    "Comrade major, why did your superior suddenly cancel your vacation?" I pulled monakov into an empty room and asked in a low voice, "what the hell is going on?"


    Monakov looked at the guests who were separated by the glass door and said to me in a low voice, "the telegram says that there is a combat mission recently. Let me rush back to the army as soon as possible."


    "What combat mission?" When I heard monakov say that, my eyes suddenly brightened, and my heart said, is it related to the Warsaw Uprising? He immediately asked, "is it mentioned in the telegram?"


    "No Monakov shook his head and said with certainty: "the telegram only said that there was a combat mission, let me return to the team as soon as possible, the rest did not say."


    Seeing that monakov didn''t know the situation on the front line, I was a little disappointed. I went on to ask, "who is responsible for bringing the wounded soldiers back to the army?"


    "Since the superior asked me to return to the front line as soon as possible," monakov said rather reluctantly, "I think that other people will be responsible for organizing the wounded soldiers to return to the team."


    "So here you are, Rita." Here, the closed door was pushed open, and borisova stood at the door and said loudly to us, "hurry up and join us. It''s just the two of you."


    At dinner, I sat on borisova''s right side, while monakov and anuna sat opposite me. On my right is a young girl I don''t know.


    Maybe I was worried that I was too bored. Borisova brought me some dishes from time to time, and talked with me without any words. The girl sitting on my right hand side, seeing that borisova was so enthusiastic to me, couldn''t help asking me curiously, "what do you do?"


    Before I could answer, the Dean sitting opposite her couldn''t wait to say, "she''s a general in the army."


    As soon as the dean''s words came out, the whole room became quiet and everyone''s eyes focused on me. The girl beside said in surprise, "I can''t see that you are a general. It''s amazing." I''m not used to being the focus of people. After listening to the girl''s words, I didn''t speak, but just laughed politely.


    "Tanya," borisova said to the headmistress sitting at another section of the table in order to resolve the embarrassing atmosphere in the room, "play some music."


    Tanya nodded, got up, went to the cabinet by the wall, opened the glass door, and took out a stack of records. After flipping through for a moment, she took out one of them and put it on the gramophone. After pressing the record with her fingers for several turns, she carefully put the stylus on the record. A moment later, there was melodious music in the room.


    Borisova raised her hand and patted it twice. She said loudly to the guests who were eating: "comrades, with music, we can dance."


    Hearing what borisova said, two couples immediately stood up and moved their chairs aside to make more room. Monakov couldn''t sit still when he saw someone start dancing. He took anuna out to dance.


    Seeing that there was a vacancy beside borisova, Tanya quickly sat down and said to me, "Comrade General, the children''s enrollment has been arranged. I don''t know when he can get to Kiev? "


    Although Khrushchev told me that someone had been sent to the rear to meet kuric, he did not give me a definite answer when he would arrive. At the moment, hearing Tanya''s question, I said with a bitter smile, "Tanya, the child should be on the way. As for when he will arrive, I''m not sure."


    "Did your husband pick up the baby?" Tanya asked curiously.


    "Tanya," borisova said to me apologetically after interrupting what Tanya wanted to say. "Rita, don''t be angry. She doesn''t understand the situation. She doesn''t know that her father has died in the early days of the war."


    "Ah, the father of the child has died?" Tanya heard borisova say so, quickly looked at me and said apologetically: "sorry, comrade general, I don''t know, please forgive me."


    "Tanya, it''s OK. You don''t have to worry about it." I waved to Tanya and said generously, "besides, don''t always call me general in the future. I''m a friend of you and borisova. Just call me Rita. What''s more, the father of the child didn''t sacrifice. He''s still alive. "


    "What, oshanin is still alive?" Borisova was shocked when I said this: "but I heard general rokosovsky say that he died in the Moscow defense."


    "The news of his sacrifice is false." I saw that both of them looked curious, so I gave them a detailed introduction about oshanin''s amnesia. After my story with oshanin, I looked at Tanya and asked, "Tanya, what if I''m on the front line and can''t go home for months


    "You don''t have to worry, Rita." Tanya comforted me and said, "we have a residential system. As long as the school children do not know how far away from the school, they live in the school. Every Monday to school, and then eat and live in the school, until Friday afternoon, parents come back to pick up the children home for the weekend. If you don''t come back for a few months, you can let the child live in my house and I can take care of him. "


    "Tanya, thank you!" After thanking Tanya, I used to ask, "I don''t know how much a semester costs, and how much food I should give you?"


    "What''s the matter with you, Rita?" Tanya was surprised when I said this and asked, "didn''t you know that before college, tuition was free for grades one to ten, and the school provided free board and lodging? As for the time when the children stay in my house, it doesn''t cost much, so you don''t have to worry about it. "


    After listening to Tanya''s words, I remember that in later generations, a friend''s child was studying in Russia, and all tuition fees were free before he went to university. Moreover, when he studied at the teacher''s home, the teacher also took the initiative to bear all the expenses for food and accommodation. It seems that such a good tradition is left over from the Soviet era.


    We stayed here in borisova until after ten o''clock in the evening. Borisova also warmly said to me: "Rita, you live far away. Don''t go back tonight. Just stay here for one night. When I go to work tomorrow morning, let''s go together. "


    Borisova''s kindness made my heart beat, but on second thought, if I lived here and Khrushchev had something urgent to look for me, there would be no one. Looking for me in the middle of the night is certainly not an ordinary thing. If you miss a big event, you can be in trouble. Thinking of this, I politely refused borisova''s kindness.


    Borisova is not at ease, personally sent me downstairs, but also to the nearby building, found a driver with a car, let the other party send me back, and repeatedly told the other party, must send me home.


    There were no vehicles on the streets at night, not even the military vehicles that could be seen everywhere. The driver stepped on the accelerator to the end and drove as fast as he could towards the block where I lived. Just as I was closing my eyes, the driver unexpectedly slowed down.


    "What''s the matter?" I opened my eyes and asked the driver.


    The driver pointed to the front with his hand and said helplessly, "there''s a temporary checkpoint in front. Get your night pass ready."


    I shook my head and answered honestly, "I don''t have a pass."


    "What about that?" The driver said anxiously, "if they find out you don''t have a pass, they will arrest you."


    "Don''t worry, comrade driver." I smile at the driver and confidently say, "even if they don''t have a pass, they won''t embarrass me."


    Our car stopped in front of the inspection station, and a traffic policeman and two soldiers with submachine guns on their chests and red sleeve sleeves on their arms came over. The traffic police went to the driver''s side, bowed to salute, politely said: "good evening, please show me your identification!"


    The driver quickly rolled down the window, took out his ID and handed it to the traffic police.


    After checking the driver''s certificate with the help of the flashlight, the traffic police handed it back to the driver and asked casually, "so late, where are you going?"


    "I''ll take the girl home."


    The traffic police came around to me from the front of the car and politely asked, "girl, please show me your night pass!"


    I took a look at the rank on his epaulet and replied, "sorry, comrade police lieutenant, I don''t have a pass."


    "No pass." The traffic police frowned when I said that. He stepped back two steps, stood up straight and said to me, "girl, since you don''t have a pass, please get out of the car and accept our insistence."


    The driver was a little flustered when he heard what the traffic police said. He immediately explained to the traffic police outside: "Comrade policeman, this girl is a friend of the leader of the neighborhood committee. I promise you, she will never be a bad person."


    But the traffic police were not moved, still coldly said to me: "please get out of the car to accept the inspection!" The two soldiers behind him stepped forward and pointed the black muzzle at us.


    Seeing this, I couldn''t help laughing to myself. During the day, because of monakov, I was once pointed at by the patrol with a gun; In the evening, because there was no pass, he faced the soldiers'' muzzle again.


    I sighed and said to the traffic policeman standing outside, "Comrade lieutenant, please wait a moment. I''ll show you my identification." With that, I lowered my head, opened my bag and handed out my military card.


    When I had a clear look at my military ID card, the traffic police was startled and immediately came to attention. Then they raised their hands to their forehead to salute and said, "sorry, Comrade General. I''m Lieutenant Pedro of the police. I''m at your command. Please give me directions! " With that, he said to the soldiers standing on both sides, "put down your guns quickly. This is general oshanina."


    The driver sitting next to me was stunned to see the traffic police and soldiers standing on duty saluting me. As I put the witness back in my bag, I told the driver, "OK, comrade driver, let''s drive!"


    "I didn''t expect it. I didn''t expect it." While driving, the driver said to himself, "I can actually send a general home. Even if this matter is told, people will not believe it. They think I am bragging."


    The driver took me to my destination. I knocked on the door and walked into the building. When Suna saw me coming back, she said anxiously, "Rita, you''re back. Half an hour ago, someone called for you. "


    "Auntie Suna, do you know who''s looking for me?" Suna shook her head and said, "I don''t know. That man has a loud voice. I don''t think it''s possible for the leaders of the city or the state to speak in that tone. By the way, he said he would call you later. Go back to your room first. Maybe he will call again. " When I got home, I turned on the light in the room and stared at the phone in the living room, wondering who would call me. Thinking about it, the most likely thing is that Khrushchev called me. If you want to call him back, you don''t know his phone number, so you have to wait patiently for the call to come again. I sat in the living room waiting for an hour before the phone rang again. I rushed over, grabbed the microphone and stuck it to my ear. I said in a loud voice, "Hello, I''m o''shanina. Where are you?"¡° Rita, it''s me, Khrushchev. " From the receiver came Khrushchev''s displeased voice: "I called you twice, but I didn''t find anyone. Later, someone called the duty room and found out that you were out. "¡° Yes, comrade Khrushchev, I went to borisova''s house as a guest. " I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was almost zero. I knew he was calling at this time. There must be something very important. I asked, "do you have any instructions?"¡° Rita, I got a call from Moscow. " Khrushchev said: "let you rush to the first front army of Belarus as soon as possible. Every morning, I will send someone to take you to the airport." When I heard that I was going to send myself to the airport, I was puzzled and asked, "Comrade Khrushchev, I am the deputy commander of the first front army of Ukraine. What am I going to do in the front army of Belarus?"¡° Rita, this is the order of the superior. Don''t say you are the deputy commander of the Ukrainian front army. Even the commander must carry out this order unconditionally. " After Khrushchev said this in an impolite tone, he went on to say kindly, "you are leaving tomorrow. Is there anything I can do for you?" After thinking about it, the one who worries me most is the upcoming alik, so I said to Khrushchev, "Comrade Khrushchev, my son is coming to Kiev soon. I''m worried that no one will take care of him then."¡° Don''t worry. I''ll arrange it. " Khrushchev said in an all embracing manner: "I will arrange for someone to send him to school. You will be at ease to command the battle in the front, and you won''t have to worry about things in the rear." After Khrushchev hung up the phone, I was still in a daze, holding the microphone. I thought that he said he would let me command the battle at ease on the front line. Is Stalin going to let me command which army again?

 Chapter 1581

    I got on the gas car parked beside the runway and asked Yushchenko in the co pilot''s seat, "Colonel Yushchenko, where are we going?"


    "Be the headquarters of the front army." Yushchenko half turned, looked at me and replied respectfully, "marshal rokosovsky wants to see you!"


    I didn''t ask rokosovsky foolishly about what happened to me, because such a secret, at Yushchenko''s level, is not qualified to know.


    When I walked into rokosovsky''s headquarters, I was immediately seen by malining, who was busy. He exclaimed, "isn''t this our female general oshanina? Welcome to Lublin."


    Rokosovsky, who was looking at the map around the table with Bulganin, the military Commissioner, heard malining''s cry and immediately stood up and walked towards me. Still far away, he reached out to me and said warmly, "Rita, welcome back here."


    "Hello, comrade marshal." As I shook hands with rokosovsky, I sincerely congratulated him: "I congratulate you on getting the highest rank."


    Rokosovsky patted me on the arm with his free left hand and said with a smile, "Rita, do a good job. I believe you will get the same rank soon."


    After shaking hands with malining and Bulganin, I looked at rokosovsky and asked, "marshal, what''s my next task?"


    "We are going to launch an attack." Rokosovsky said vaguely: "I think it''s more appropriate for you to command a small offensive."


    After hearing what rokosovsky said, and thinking of yesterday''s Khrushchev''s request for my views on the Warsaw Uprising, I think the so-called offensive fighting must have something to do with Warsaw. I asked tentatively, "Comrade marshal, are you going to let me direct my troops to Warsaw and join the rebels who are fighting with the German army there?"


    "No, Rita, it''s not the kind of offensive fight you think." After rokosovsky finished this sentence, he turned to face his chief of staff and said, "chief of staff, you can give Rita an introduction."


    "Rita, please come here." After I stood at the table, malining pointed to the map spread out on it and said, "is the army of the front army in magnusev? In order to maintain and expand the landing site captured by the West Bank of the viswa River, we need to fight actively in this area. "


    "Comrade chief of staff," I heard here, and couldn''t help but interrupt and ask, "what is my specific task?"


    "To the north of puwai, there is a puppet brigade." Malining pointed to the position of puwai and introduced his mission to me: "your mission is to command one or two divisions and eliminate the puppet brigade."


    When I heard the word "puppet brigade", I couldn''t help frowning, because in my impression, the "Russian Liberation Army" organized by this scum, Vlasov, was founded in November of 44, and now it''s only August. Is there any deviation in history here because of my appearance?


    After a long silence, I asked, "Comrade chief of staff, can you tell me something about this puppet brigade?"


    Malining took out a book, turned to the page where the information of the brigade was recorded, and read: "the commander of the brigade is bronislav Kaminski, who was a captain of our army. He can speak fluent German and has strong organizational ability. After the outbreak of the patriotic war, his troops were stationed in the Bryansk region.


    During the period of political vacuum when our army was defeated and the German army had not yet arrived, Kaminsky established an autonomous administrative organ and openly expressed his cooperation with the German army. In order to obtain the support of the local people, the Germans took the initiative to withdraw from the area and recognized the autonomy of Kaminsky''s organs. In order to maintain law and order, Kaminski selected 20000 middle-aged Russians from the local population and established a militia brigade to fight against our guerrillas behind the enemy lines. "


    When I heard this, my heart said that there were more than 20000 people in this puppet brigade. I used two divisions to attack, and I didn''t have any advantage in the strength. I''d like to ask rokosovsky to increase my troops later.


    Malining continued to read: "under the powerful counterattack of our army, the German army withdrew from the territory of the Soviet Union step by step, and the puppet brigade under the command of Kaminski had to withdraw to Poland with the German army. Because of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, the German army, in order to make up for the shortage of troops, transferred this brigade to Warsaw to participate in the military operations to suppress the uprising... At present, the total strength of the brigade is 1700. "


    When I heard that there were only 1700 people on the other side, I felt a lot more confident. It seems that there is no problem in using two divisions to eliminate them. After malining finished introducing the situation, I turned to look at rokosovsky and asked, "Comrade marshal, what kind of identity will I use to command the troops here?"


    I asked this question for a reason. Anyway, I was still the deputy commander of the first front army of Ukraine. I went to Poland to command the troops of the Belarusian front army. I was a bit of an outsider, which was not right. Rokosovsky seemed to have been prepared for a long time. As soon as I finished, he continued: "Rita, you may not know that Comrade Stalin has just issued an order this morning to formally appoint you as the deputy commander of the first front army of Belarus."


    When the problem of identity was solved, I then asked, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know which troops you want me to command to take part in this battle?" Rokosovsky took a look at malining standing next to him, and then said, "I''m going to give you the command of the 28th army of major general reirov''s guards." When I heard the name of the army, I couldn''t help picking my eyebrows. My heart said that major monakov really made a prophecy. He said that I might command their army, but I didn''t expect that rokosovsky really assigned this army to me. But at the same time, it occurred to me that in order to eliminate a puppet army with only 1700 people, I had to be the deputy commander of the front army. It was like shooting mosquitoes with antiaircraft fire. Rokosovsky seemed to have guessed what I was thinking. He asked bluntly, "Rita, do you think it''s too much of a fuss for me to let you take charge of this in person?" Seeing that rokosovsky had guessed what I was thinking, I didn''t want to hide it any more, so I nodded and answered truthfully, "marshal, please forgive me. Such puppet troops usually don''t have any fighting capacity. Let alone two divisions, even if we only send out two regiments, we may annihilate them completely."¡° Yes, you''re right Rokosovsky agreed with me, but he then asked, "but have you ever thought about why I arranged this?" I shook my head to show that I didn''t understand the purpose of rokosovsky''s arrangement. Rokosovsky continued: "since you don''t understand, I will tell you about the heinous crimes committed by this puppet army. After they came to the south of Warsaw, they didn''t plan to fight against the rebel army at all. Instead, they burned, killed and plundered all kinds of crimes. They plundered all kinds of visible finance and wantonly abused Polish women. In the first day of the war, they only killed six people, and more than a thousand Polish soldiers and civilians died in their hands, almost all of them innocent civilians. These Russian scum in German uniform are not soldiers at all, but a group of two legged beasts. " After listening to rokosovsky''s words, I nodded my head and replied, "I see, comrade marshal. We went to destroy this puppet army in order to protect the innocent Polish people and gain their support for us! "¡° That''s right, Rita. You understand it very well Rokosovsky''s face showed a happy expression: "the reason why I asked Comrade Stalin to transfer you here is to achieve such an effect."¡° What about the prisoners of war caught on the battlefield? " I then asked, "do you lock them up with German prisoners of war?"¡° No, all officers and men of the Kaminsky brigade captured will be shot on the spot. " "We will never accept the surrender of these two legged animals," rokosovsky said firmly¡° "Marshal," I said with a smile after hearing the order of killing prisoners issued by rokosovsky, "the last time I heard a similar order, it was in the defense war in Moscow that Comrade Stalin personally gave orders to all the officers and men of the Western Front forces. All the officers and men of the captured German 332nd infantry regiment were shot on the spot. We will never accept their surrender."¡° Yes, in extraordinary times, we need to take extraordinary measures. " After rokosovsky finished this sentence, he told malining: "chief of staff, call general rerov and ask him to come to the headquarters of the front army to accept new combat tasks." As the unit was stationed in Lublin, malining''s phone call lasted less than ten minutes, and I saw a middle-aged general trotting into the headquarters. He came to rokosovsky and raised his hand to salute: "Comrade marshal, major general reirov, commander of the 28th army of the guard infantry, has been ordered to come, please give instructions!"¡° Please take a moment! " Rokosovsky pointed to me and introduced to reirov: "general reirov, let me introduce you. This is the new deputy commander of the front army, general oshanina. From now on, your infantry will accept her direct command."

 Chapter 1582

    Lei Ruofu quickly turned to face me and raised his hand to salute. At the same time, he clearly said: "Hello, comrade deputy commander of the front army. I''m major general Lei Ruofu, commander of the 28th army of the guards. I''m waiting for your orders and instructions!"


    I raised my hand to my forehead and returned a salute. Then I reached out to him and said politely, "Hello, general Ralph!"


    Rokosovsky and I went through the procedure and said to one side, "now that you know each other, come here and let the chief of staff introduce the operation to you."


    Marinin repeated what he had just said to me to Ralph, and finally asked, "general Ralph, do you have any questions?"


    After listening to malining''s words, he nodded, then pointed to the map and said solemnly: "Comrade chief of staff, at present, the only troops of our army on the West Bank of the visva River are the 35th division of the close guard stationed in magnusev. There is a German regiment in front of their defensive position. If they are to be transferred to the puwai area, they need to send troops to take over their defense. Otherwise, once the German forces take advantage of the situation, we may lose this landing site.


    The 39th division of Colonel marchenko''s guards is now stationed to the west of Lublin. It''s going to take at least two days for them to get into puwai. "


    "Comrade General, tell me about it." When Bulganin heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting and asked, "it''s only forty or fifty kilometers from here to puwai. Why can''t it take two days to get there?"


    On hearing the question raised by Bulganin, the muscles on his face twitched, and then he replied without expression: "Comrade military commissar, when the German army retreated to the West Bank of the visva River, all the bridges on the river had been destroyed. In order to prevent our army from building bridges on the river, their artillery bombarded the river continuously. We can only cross the visva River by canoeing... "


    When Ralph finished speaking, I finally got to know the situation of the Army: the 79th and 88th divisions of the guards were disabled in the battle and had withdrawn to the rear to recuperate; Of the remaining two divisions, the 35th division with the strongest fighting capacity is in the magnushev area, while the 39th division with the weaker fighting capacity is still near Lublin. Because there is no pontoon on the river, the troops can only cross the river by canoe. In this way, the light troops who are short of heavy weapons and have no ability to attack difficult positions can only carry out some small-scale combat tasks.


    Rokosovsky only gave a faint smile to the difficulties mentioned by Ralph, and then said, "general Ralph, your combat mission has been made clear. As for how to complete it, it''s up to you to make your own plan."


    Just an hour ago, I was proud of being appointed Deputy to rokosovsky, but when I got to know the situation of the army and the tasks to be carried out, I became unhappy.


    "Rita," rokosovsky asked me when he saw that I didn''t make a statement. He asked me, "are you going to stay in the headquarters of the front army or the 28th army?"


    "Marshal," I replied after careful consideration, "I''d better go back to his headquarters with general Ralph, where I can know the situation of the troops in time, so that I can adjust the deployment in time according to the changes of the situation, and ensure the smooth completion of the combat mission."


    Rokosovsky came up to me, raised his hand and patted me on the shoulder. He said with approval, "Rita, you are right to do this. The commander and the soldiers can not only understand the situation of the battlefield in time, but also boost the morale."


    He turned his head to look at reirov and stressed: "the combat tasks you are carrying out are crucial for us to win over the support of the Polish people and consolidate the defensive operations on the West Bank of the visva river. I hope you will take good care of yourself." With these words, he stepped back two steps, waved at both of us and said, "OK, you go back to the army."


    As soon as Ralph and I got back to the army headquarters outside the city, he called the two division commanders to come to the meeting and prepare to assign them combat tasks.


    The two division commanders walked into the headquarters at the same time. As soon as they entered the room, I guessed their identities without waiting for leirov to introduce them. The major general in the front was kulagin, the commander of the 35th division of Jinwei, and the one in the back was Colonel marchenko, the commander of the 39th division of Jinwei.


    Leiruofu didn''t know that I had guessed the bodies of the two teachers, so he politely introduced them to me. The reaction of the two teachers was very cold. Maybe they never dreamed that they would be somewhat conflicted if they wanted to obey a female commander.


    However, I didn''t care about their attitude. Instead, I took major general Kuragin''s hand and said enthusiastically, "Comrade General, you may not know that during the battle of Stalingrad, my superiors appointed me to be the division commander of your division, but I didn''t take up my post in the division because of some small situation later."


    My words immediately aroused kulagin''s curiosity. He looked at me in surprise and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, can I ask why your appointment was cancelled by the superior?"


    "General Kuragin, please take a seat. And you, Colonel malchenko, please sit down, too After everyone sat down, I simply explained the reason why I didn''t take up the post of division commander: "the change of the head of the front army stranded my original appointment. Major general gorazkov, the former division commander of the 98th infantry division, took up the post of division commander of the 35th guard division Later, general gorazkov died in the battle to defend the mamayev post, and the independent division under my command took over his defense. "


    My experience has brought me closer to several commanders, and the atmosphere in the headquarters has become harmonious. When we talk about combat tasks next, we are not so restrained and can speak freely and express our true views.


    After introducing the combat tasks to the two subordinates, he said with a straight face: "comrades, our combat tasks are very arduous. The enemy has built solid fortifications in the front of our army. Only by crossing the enemy''s line of defense can we reach the enemy''s depth and destroy the infamous Kaminsky brigade. How can our army get through the enemy''s fortifications? "


    After leirov''s words, the two division commanders were silent for a long time. In the end, marchenko first spoke: "Comrade commander, our troops in the West Bank lack the heavy weapons needed to attack the fortified forces. Therefore, it is basically impossible for us to forcibly pass through the enemy''s line of defense."


    "That''s right," Kuragin added as soon as malchenko finished, "if we could break through the German defense line, we would have occupied their defense zone and pushed the front line to Warsaw defense line, where we need to fight with the Germans every day, like now, in order to defend the landing fields of magnushev and puwai."


    "Then we can send small troops to quietly cross the enemy''s lines and go deep into their rear." After the two men finished speaking, reirov carefully put forward his own idea: "as far as I know, the combat effectiveness of the Kaminsky brigade is limited, and our troops can completely defeat them."


    "Comrade commander, we can''t do this." As soon as we had finished speaking, I immediately broke in and said, "if we only carry out reconnaissance behind the enemy lines and send a small force through the enemy lines, I think it is still advisable. But it would be ridiculous to have a small team to carry out the elimination of the Kaminsky brigade. Even if this unit has no combat effectiveness, it has more than 1700 people after all. It is impossible for us to destroy them with a small team of more than ten or twenty people. "


    "What shall we do?" Seeing that I had denied his proposal, Ralph could not help frowning and said anxiously: "this is the first battle of our army after winning the honorary title of" Lublin army ". If we do not perform well, even if the superior leaders do not say anything, I think our commanders and fighters will not be able to raise their heads in front of other troops."


    Staring at the map in front of me, I thought quickly: it is not realistic to launch a frontal attack and break through the German solid defense line; Small units were sent to infiltrate, and because of their weak strength, they were unable to eliminate more than 1000 troops of the Kaminsky brigade.


    At this moment, I heard marchenko asking Ralph, "Comrade commander, when will our division cross the river to the other side?"


    "The long-range German artillery bombarded the river continuously." "If we cross the river in the daytime, once our troops are found by the enemy, they will be the targets of their artillery," he said thoughtfully. Let''s wait until dark. "


    "The day is long and the night is short. It''s seven hours after dark. I think it may be too late to pass the whole division." Malchenko sighed and said, "if only our soldiers could fly over."


    "As much as you can do tonight." "The rest of the troops will cross the river tomorrow night," he said helplessly


    Marchenko''s words gave me a flash of inspiration and gave me some special ideas about how to penetrate into the enemy''s rear. But I couldn''t remember how to do it, so I asked, "Comrade Colonel, what did you just say?"


    "I said there was not enough time for the whole division to cross the river tonight." Marcenzo didn''t know why I asked, but he answered truthfully.


    "No, not that." I waved to him and said anxiously, "what''s your last word?"


    When I asked, malchenko frowned and thought about it. Then he said, "I said if only our soldiers could fly with wings."


    "Yes, that''s right. That''s it." As soon as he finished speaking, I patted the table excitedly and announced to them in a startling way: "I think of a way to infiltrate into the rear of the enemy''s defensive positions."


    As soon as my words came out, there was an incredible expression on their faces. Because all the plans we put forward not long ago have been overturned because they are not feasible. Now I suddenly told them that there was a way to get the troops to the enemy''s rear. How could they not be stunned?


    After a long time, leiruofu asked: "Comrade deputy commander, is there really a way for our troops to penetrate into the rear of the enemy''s defensive positions?"


    "That''s right," I said with confidence. "Although I can''t let the troops of both divisions successfully penetrate into the enemy''s rear, one or two battalions are still OK. Even if they are all light troops, I think they should be enough to deal with the low combat effectiveness of the Kaminsky brigade. "


    "What should we do?" Kuragin asked on behalf of everyone.


    "Three comrades in command, we have just discussed that it is not appropriate for us to make a frontal attack or send a small team to infiltrate, right?" When I said this, I stopped for a moment and saw that all three of them nodded. Then I continued: "the German army has a perfect defense system in the area along the river, which makes it impossible for us to cross the river from the area under their control. Therefore, we only have the last way left, which is to go through the air. "


    "Through the air?" After hearing my idea, Ralph said, "Comrade deputy commander, if we parachute behind the enemy, those airborne soldiers will become targets of the enemy in the air."¡° Parachuting behind enemy lines at night is a big problem I explained to several people, "my idea is to let transport planes carry our soldiers and land them in the enemy''s rear. The advantage of doing so is that it has strong mobility, heavy loading capacity, relatively concentrated personnel, equipment and materials, and our troops can quickly put into combat. "¡° It turned out to be an airplane landing. It''s not bad. " "In this way, even ordinary soldiers can directly participate in the battle without special training," he said with a smile Unlike reirov''s relief, Kuragin said, "but where should we go to find the transport plane? Also, even if we find the transport plane, where should our troops land? You know, the requirement of airborne field is very high in the implementation of airborne operations. "¡° General Kuragin, you don''t have to worry about the transport aircraft. I will contact the front command directly and ask them to provide us with the aircraft needed to carry our troops. As for the parachute field, "I looked down on the map, then nodded behind the enemy line with my hand:" in the middle of this forest, there is an open area where our transport plane can land. " Since I proposed the plan of landing behind enemy lines and I am the deputy commander of the front army, I am fully responsible for calling rokosovsky and asking him to provide us with transport planes. Rokosovsky was shocked when he heard that I was going to let the troops land in the rear of the German defense line on the phone. He asked sternly, "Rita, you are so naive. The enemy now has a perfect air defense system and can shoot down our transport planes without any self-defense ability. Aren''t you letting the soldiers die in vain?"

 Chapter 1583

    After rokosovsky finished, I said slowly, "marshal, although it''s very risky to land in the enemy''s rear, this is the only feasible plan to infiltrate into the enemy''s rear. It''s a bit risky, but I think it''s worth a try. "


    Rokosovsky has long been used to my ingenuity, he said faintly: "talk about your plan."


    "I hope the air force can provide us with ten transport planes and the same number of gliders. A plane can carry twenty soldiers and their weapons. In this way, we will be able to send a battalion of troops behind the enemy lines. " In order to reassure rokosovsky, I specially stressed: "the transport plane will land in the open space in the middle of the forest, where there is no enemy defense, which is conducive to us to gather the airborne troops and attack the Kaminsky brigade in the shortest time."


    After my words, rokosovsky didn''t make a statement immediately. Only his heavy breathing voice came out of the receiver. It seemed that he was thinking bitterly whether he could agree with my bold plan.


    "Marshal," I saw that rokosovsky was still hesitating and said while the iron was hot, "we have never carried out Airborne Combat in the war with the German army, so the German army will certainly not have any preventive measures, and our probability of success is still very high."


    "There''s another important question, Rita. I don''t know if you''ve thought about it." After I finished, rokosowski said solemnly, "what if our pilots make a successful landing in a strange area at night? If something goes wrong, we will lose not only one battalion, but also a number of valuable transport aircraft to the air force. "


    Regarding rokosovsky''s worries, I said confidently: "please rest assured, marshal. I''ll send teams through the German garrison overnight to the landing site. When our transport planes arrive tomorrow night, they can light a bonfire on the ground to guide our transport planes


    Seeing that I had considered all the issues that should be considered, rokosovsky relaxed: "well, since you think that this is the only way for you to complete your combat mission, it''s settled. As for the air force, I''ll call immediately. "


    I put down the phone, the commander was relieved, and then said to Ralph, "Comrade commander, the marshal has agreed to our landing plan. There are two things we need to do now: first, the 39th division of melchenko''s guards will not change its plan to cross the river at night and gather at puwai; Second, general Kuragin sent a small detachment overnight to try to cross the enemy''s line of defense and get to the landing site of our army as soon as possible. When the transport plane arrives with our soldiers tomorrow night, they will light a bonfire on the ground to show us where to land


    After the two division commanders accepted my orders, he looked at me and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t know which unit you plan to take part in the airborne combat?"


    As soon as Ralph finished speaking, Kuragin rushed to say, "my division is on the West Bank of the visva river. I think it''s most appropriate to transfer troops from my hands if I take part in airborne operations."


    "No, No." Marchenko immediately scrambled for the task with Kuragin, "general Kuragin, your troops have been fighting with the German army for half a month, and the commanders and fighters are very tired. I think it''s up to me to draw troops to carry out air landing behind enemy lines. "


    I saw that the two men were fighting fiercely. I quickly raised my hand to stop them, and then issued orders: "general Kuragin, if you send your troops to fight, they will have to cross the river from the West Bank of the visva river. It''s a waste of time and the road is not safe. Colonel malchenko''s troops are stationed near Lublin, not far from the airport, and it is very convenient for the troops to board the plane. I think the troops involved in the parachute should be drawn from the division of Colonel marchenko. "


    When marcenzo saw that I had arranged for him to dispatch troops to take part in the airborne operation, he was very happy. He said to me, "Comrade deputy commander, I''ll call the battalion commander who took part in the airborne operation and ask him to come here immediately to accept the task."


    After marchenko finished the call, he came to show me: "this battalion commander is the most capable of all the battalion commanders. If he is in charge of this task, you will not be disappointed."


    Because I don''t know malchenko, and I don''t know if there is exaggeration in his words, I always keep silent no matter what he says, but occasionally smile politely at him.


    After a while, there was a voice calling for a report outside the door. I listen to this voice more familiar, heart said, is there anyone I know here? Just as he was about to wait for the man''s voice, Ralph had already called out to the door, "come in!"


    As he called, a tall officer in a brand-new uniform strode in. He came to us, raised his hand, saluted and reported to marchenko: "Comrade division commander, commander of the first battalion of the 112 regiment of the guards, major monakov, has come to report. Please give us instructions!" With that, he kept a standing posture in place, chin slightly up.


    I couldn''t help laughing at the sudden appearance of monakov. As marchenko was about to introduce me, I waved to him, "Comrade Colonel, I know major monakov." With that, I took two steps forward and reached out to monakov. "Major, we meet again."


    Monakov heard my voice and a look of surprise flashed across his face, but he soon returned to normal. After raising his hand to salute me, he took my hand and said excitedly, "Hello, comrade general, I didn''t expect that we would meet again here." Ralph pointed to me and monakov, and asked unexpectedly, "Comrade deputy commander, do you know major monakov?"¡° That''s right, "I said with a smile as I shook hands with monakov." major and I met in Kiev, and we came to Lublin on the same plane today. "¡° That''s a coincidence "Since you know the major, I won''t introduce you to each other any more," he said with a smile. Comrade malchenko is right. Major monakov is not only the most capable battalion commander of the 39th division of the guards, but also one of the best in the army. I believe that he will be able to accomplish this glorious and arduous task. "¡° Major, come to the table, please Malchenko said politely to his subordinates, "I''ll tell you about the combat mission you are going to carry out."

 Chapter 1584

    While marchenko was giving monakov an account of his combat mission, rerov came up and asked in a low voice, "Comrade deputy commander, I want to ask whether the military headquarters will continue to stay here or follow the 39th division of the guards?"


    After hearing this question from Ralph, I suddenly thought of something I had neglected and asked, "Comrade commander, I forgot to ask which group army your army belongs to?"


    My words made Ralph a little silly. He stared at me for a long time, as if trying to find out if I was joking with him. Seeing my serious face, he said, "we belong to the eighth group army of the guards. Our headquarters is now located on the East Bank of the viswa river."


    "The eighth group army of Jinwei?" When Ralph told me the name of the army, I couldn''t help laughing. The world is so small that I met an acquaintance again. I asked casually, "is the commander General trakov?"


    "Yes, yes, it''s general trakov." "Do you know him?" he asked pleasantly


    "Of course, comrade commander." I explained with a smile, "during the war of Stalingrad defense, I was a division commander under general trakov, in charge of the defense of mamayev post."


    "I have heard commander trakov mention the defense of mamayev post." When leirov heard that I was the commander of the troops who stood at the mamayev post, he was immediately awed: "the enemy used several divisions to attack the mamayev post in turn, in an attempt to seize the high ground, then occupy the port and cut off the link between the garrison and the east coast. But under your command, the enemy''s innumerable attacks have been smashed. "


    Although I also like to mention my glorious past, I was anxious to see trakov, so I raised my hand to interrupt him and asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, I plan to go to the headquarters of the group army. Can you send me a driver to take me there?"


    "Of course, there is no problem, comrade deputy commander." After he said this, he called a staff officer and told him, "you are responsible for driving the deputy commander to the headquarters of the group army. Do you understand?"


    The staff officer nodded, walked up to me, made a gesture of invitation to the outside, and politely said, "Comrade General, please come to me, and I''ll send you to the headquarters of the group army."


    On my way to trekov headquarters, I saw an endless line of infantry and convoys of supplies moving towards the banks of the visva river. In addition to ambulances, even ordinary trucks were full of wounded people.


    On the East Bank of the visva River, four or five kilometers away from the river, there is a small town called jelehuf, where the headquarters of the eighth group army of guards in trakov is located. As soon as my jeep entered the town, it was stopped by the patrol. The second lieutenant in charge stood outside the car and said to me politely, "Comrade General, please show me your identification."


    Without waiting for me to speak, the staff officer who was driving next to him obviously knew each other. He said directly, "Hello, belozor, the new deputy commander of the front army. She is in a hurry to see commander trakov."


    Outside the window, Lieutenant belozor, after hearing my identity clearly, quickly stepped back two steps, straightened up and stood at attention, raised his hand and made a sign to ask for passage.


    The jeep drove along the street for some distance. I saw sandbag fortifications piled in front of a two-story building, and a dozen soldiers standing guard at the door. Seeing such a situation, I thought this should be the location of trakov''s headquarters, so I told the staff, "stop the car!"


    The staff officer stopped the car steadily by the side of the road, turned his head and asked me curiously, "Comrade General, the headquarters is still in front of us."


    I waved to the staff officer and said, "I''ll walk the rest of the way myself. You drive back first, thank you With that, I pushed the door open and got out of the car.


    When I came to the entrance, a captain came up immediately, raised his hand to salute and asked, "Comrade General, who are you and what are you doing here?" As he said this, he glanced in the direction of the jeep.


    "Comrade captain," I said politely, smiling at him, "please report to general trekov that his old subordinate, o''shanina, has come to visit him from the headquarters of the front army."


    "Hello, general oshanina!" When the captain heard my name, he immediately showed a smile on his face. He flashed aside and made a gesture to politeness: "please come in. I think the commander is very happy to see you."


    I nodded to the captain with a smile and strode inside. Behind him came the dialogue of the soldiers


    "Who is she?"


    "You don''t even know general o''shanina?! It''s the teacher who sticks to the mamayev post. "


    "Ah, it''s her. I didn''t expect that her rank is as high as our commander now."


    As the captain did not report, I went directly into the headquarters, so that when trakov saw me appear, he still sat in a daze. I went up to him and asked with a smile, "general trakov, don''t you know me?"


    "My God When he heard my voice, he jumped up from his seat, took my hand and asked curiously, "Rita, you are not the deputy of Marshal konev in Ukraine. How can you come to me today?"


    "General trakov, your information is out of date." After I let go of his hand, I said with a straight face: "I have just been appointed deputy commander of the first front army of Belarus by the supreme command."


    "Are you the new deputy commander of the front army?" Trikov quickly stepped back, stood at attention, and continued with his head high: "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, general trikov, commander of the eighth group army of the guards, reports to you. I will follow your orders, please give me instructions!"


    I''m a little embarrassed to see trakov put himself in a subordinate position. Trikov seemed to be aware of this. After he finished the report according to the regulations, he said to me in a casual tone: "Rita, why are you still standing? Please sit down quickly."


    When I sat down, he asked curiously, "Rita, is there anything important you want to do when you come to me today?"


    I thought that Ralph was his subordinate and there was no need for him to keep secret of the task he was about to perform, so I simply introduced the situation to him. Before I said that I was going to send transport planes to carry troops, he hesitated and said, "Rita, the enemy has built solid fortifications near our landing site. It''s almost impossible for our troops to pass through their lines of defense."


    "Don''t worry, general trakov." I said confidently: "our troops have been fighting the Germans for half a distance near the visva River, which has given the enemy the illusion that we can only fight on the ground if we want to break through their lines. This time we''re going to use a way to surprise them and make a breakthrough from the air. "


    "Breakthrough in the air?" Trekov frowned and asked, "are you going to let the paratroopers parachute behind the enemy''s rear to break through the German defense line with our forward attacking troops? But if such tactics are to be adopted, there will be hundreds of transport aircraft and fighters serving as cover. I doubt whether our air force can provide so many aircraft? "


    "Not so many planes." I explained to him, "just send out ten transport planes and the same number of gliders, and after dark, bring down a battalion to the enemy''s rear. I believe that one battalion is enough to destroy or severely damage this infamous Kaminsky brigade. "


    "Rita, I don''t know if you''ve thought about the enemy''s antiaircraft fire?" "We don''t have any self capable transport planes and gliders, which are the targets of the German army in the air. I''m afraid our troops will be wiped out by the German army in the air," trekov asked solemnly


    "General trakov, come and see." I pointed to the map on the table and said to him, "I don''t deny that the danger you said does exist, but because the flight we sent out was too short, it would not take more than half an hour from take-off to landing. Perhaps the German air defense firepower has not recovered, our transport plane has successfully landed. "


    "You''re right, Rita!" After hearing what I said, trakov nodded and agreed, "I think we are worth the risk. As long as one army successfully lands in the rear of the German army, it can not only severely attack the Kaminsky brigade, but also harass the German army''s logistics supply lines.... "


    Next, I mentioned that the 39th division of the guards would cross the river tonight. There was a surprise expression on his face: "before, I wanted to transfer more troops to the West Bank, but marshal rokosovsky refused. He said that the focus of our group army''s defense is not on the West Bank, but on the north, so I have only deployed four divisions in front of me on the West Bank. Now we can strengthen our strength in puwai by transferring the 39th division


    "Comrade General, how many ships are there in your hands?" I continued.


    "It turns out that there are more than 300 boats and motorboats of various types, which can cross 3500 people at one time. But in the recent fighting, ships have lost more than half of their capacity and their transport capacity has been greatly reduced. " After a brief calculation, trakov finally said to me, "now we can only transport about 1200 people at a time."


    When I heard that the ship was seriously damaged, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "general trakov, can you tell me why your ship is so badly damaged?"


    "When the troops crossed the visva River by force, they lost 70 or 80 ships." "We can''t build bridges on the river, so we have to pass out the weapons, ammunition and military supplies needed on the other side by boat, and then bring back the wounded on the other side," he said bitterly. The enemy''s cannons bombarded the river all the time, and that''s how most of our ships were lost. "


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    After dark, the officers and men of the 39th division of Jinwei, who had already assembled on the east bank, boarded the boats by the river. With the command of the commander, the soldiers in charge of rowing immediately desperately waved the oars in their hands, so that the ship full of soldiers quickly sailed to the other side.


    At the same time, general Kuragin, who crossed the river during the day, also called me and said that the unit was ready to carry out the task of crossing the German defense area at any time.


    After listening to his report, I held the microphone and thought about it. I felt that there was still a risk of exposure when the detachment directly crossed the German defense line, so I told Kuragin: "Comrade General, let the soldiers of the 65th regiment of the close guard artillery bombard the German defense position for ten minutes."


    "Shelling German positions?" After listening to my order, Kuragin asked, "Comrade deputy commander, our detachment will soon cross the enemy''s line of defense. Will it be hurt by shelling at this time?"¡° General Kuragin, the reason why I asked you to bombard the German positions is that I feel that in all the plans to cross the German lines, only by attracting the enemy''s attention with artillery fire can our small teams pass through the weak areas of the enemy''s defense smoothly. " I pause for a moment, and then add: "and let the tactics of the small units all wear the German uniform, so that they are not easily detected by the German army."¡° I see, "Kuragin replied loudly." I''ll follow your instructions immediately. " After daybreak, I received a call from general Kuragin again. He said with relief: "report deputy commander, I just received a telegram from the detachment. They have successfully crossed the German defense line and arrived at the landing site. They are setting up the navigation campfire."¡° Good job, general Kuragin. Great job When I heard that the detachment had successfully penetrated into the enemy''s rear lines, the big stone I was hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground. "If you have any latest information, please report it to me immediately!" After I put down the phone, I said to trakov, who was reading the report: "general trakov, the unit of the 35th division of the guards has successfully crossed the German line of defense and reached the landing site." After listening to this, trakov nodded with a smile, then handed me the document in his hand and said, "look at this, Rita. Last night, he not only sent more than 4000 people from the 39th division of the guards to the other side, but also sent a large number of weapons, ammunition and materials needed by the West Bank, especially artillery shells." Seeing that everything is developing in a good direction, I feel very happy. I called Ralph and asked, "Comrade commander, are you ready to join the upcoming army?"¡° Yes, comrade deputy commander, they are all ready. " After that, Ralph was silent for a moment, then continued, "but there was a little accident."¡° Little accident? " When I heard Ralph say this, I couldn''t help clapping: "what''s the accident? What''s the matter with you?"¡° No, comrade deputy commander, nothing happened. " Leirov explained to me in a hurry: "major monakov took his troops to the airport and found that the aircraft provided by the air force can carry at least 500 people. Do you think we should send more people to the enemy''s rear?"¡° No, comrade commander. Since it is said that there will be 400 people, we can only carry 400 people. " I''m deeply afraid that reirov will act first and then act. I specially stressed to him, "the troops under the command of major monakov can''t get any supplement for a long time, so you need to use the extra space to carry more weapons, ammunition and military materials. Is that clear?"¡° Yes, comrade deputy commander, I see. " As soon as I reminded him, he immediately realized the importance of carrying more weapons and ammunition on transport planes and gliders. He quickly replied, "I will arrange people to transport more ammunition and materials onto the plane." Transport planes and gliders carrying troops took off at 1 a.m. The German army is the most tired and the least vigilant at this time. It is easier for our aircraft to fly over their air defense fire network safely. Ever since I heard that the plane was taking off, I''ve been restless. I''m afraid that some bad news will come. Like me, trakov was anxiously waiting for the news of the airborne troops. Almost every ten minutes, he called Ralph to ask if there was any latest news. And Leiruo Fu every time is the same answer: "no, comrade commander, there is no news yet!" Almost two o''clock in the morning, a telephone in the headquarters finally rang. Trekov and I both took a step toward the position of the phone, but soon stopped, because there was a signalman sitting next to the phone. We could not interfere with the work of the signalman on duty. The signalman picked up the phone and listened for a while. Then he reported in an excited, incoherent, but clear voice: "Comrade commander, according to the report of general Ralph, our troops have successfully landed behind the enemy lines. Now they are moving weapons, ammunition and various materials off the plane."

 Chapter 1585

    Hearing the news of the successful landing of the troops, I couldn''t help but feel ecstatic. I quickly walked to the signalman on duty and reached out to him. The signalman quickly handed me the microphone. I put the receiver to my ear, took a deep breath, and tried to ask in a smooth voice, "Hello, general Ralph, this is oshanina."


    "Hello, comrade deputy commander." Hearing that I was speaking, Ralph''s voice became hoarse with excitement: "I have the honor to report to you that the airborne troops under the command of major monakov have successfully landed behind enemy lines. At the moment, they are moving those important materials off the plane."


    I used to ask, "are there any losses in our troops?"


    As soon as my voice fell, there was no sound in the receiver. It took a while for Ralph to say, "in the process of landing, a glider crashed because it hit the canopy at the edge of the forest. Of the 20 soldiers on board, seven were injured and 13 died. "


    "What, a glider crashed?" When I heard the news, my heart sank. My heart said that it was over. I thought that our transport plane''s landing behind the enemy''s lines might have been unconscious. But now there is a plane crash, which is enough to disturb the enemy nearby. Therefore, after thinking for a moment, I told reirov: "Comrade commander, send a message to major monakov immediately, and let him transfer the materials to the nearby forest. At the same time, I sent guard posts around to avoid being attacked by the enemy. Let him act immediately and quickly, understand? "


    "I see, comrade deputy commander." From my tone, Ralph also realized the seriousness of the problem and quickly assured me, "I''ll send a message to major monakov immediately and convey your order to him."


    After I put down the phone, trikov asked, "what''s the matter, Rita?"


    "A glider crashed in the process of landing. 13 of the soldiers on board were killed, and the other 7 were wounded to varying degrees. " I said to trikov with a worried face: "I am worried that the news of the plane crash will disturb the nearby Germans. I have ordered major monakov to transfer the unloaded materials to the forest. At the same time, I have sent guard posts around to watch the Germans who may appear at any time."


    "Don''t worry, Rita." After finding out what I was worried about, trikov comforted me and said, "as far as I know, major monakov is an excellent commander. He is fully capable of handling any emergency." At this point, he deliberately stopped for a moment, and when my mood was slightly stabilized, he said carefully, "do you think we should report this good news to marshal rokosovsky to make him happy?"


    "Well, general trakov, you''re quite right. It''s true that the marshal should be informed of the good news immediately." As for trekov''s advice, I''m following suit. I told the signalman sitting on one side: "connect me with the headquarters of the front army, and find marshal rokosovsky."


    According to my experience, as long as the war is going on, even late at night, rokosovsky will stay in his headquarters. Sure enough, after the phone was connected, his voice came out of the receiver: "Hello, is that Rita? What''s the situation there? Have our troops completed the airborne mission behind the enemy lines? "


    "Yes, comrade marshal." I waited for rokosovsky to finish, and then I answered positively, "most of our troops have successfully landed at the designated place."


    "That''s really good news." Rokosovsky was just happy for a moment when he suddenly realized that there was something else in my report and asked, "are there any casualties in the army?"


    "A glider crashed when it landed because it hit a tree crown in the forest." With a heavy heart, I replied, "of the 20 soldiers on the plane, 13 died on the spot, and the other seven were wounded."


    "So it is." Rokosovsky said to me lightly, "Rita, only a dozen soldiers have been sacrificed, which is much better than what we expected. At least when our transport plane passed through the German defense area, it was not intercepted by anti-aircraft fire, and it also completed the required landing task. Next, it''s up to them to look for fighters to destroy the damn Kaminsky brigade. "


    After I finished reporting to rokosovsky, I held the receiver and thought about it. Then I called Ralph. I told him once again, "comrades in chief, keep in touch with the troops behind the enemy lines and report any new information to me at any time."


    "Don''t worry, as soon as the major has a telegram back, I''ll tell you..." when he said this, there was no voice in the receiver.


    I thought there was something wrong with the line, so I quickly raised my voice and yelled at the microphone: "Hello ~! Hello! Comrade commander, are you still there? Hello


    "Comrade deputy commander, I''m still here." As soon as I yelled a few times, Ralph''s voice came out of the receiver again.


    "Why don''t you speak?" I asked a little displeased.


    "Excuse me, comrade deputy commander." "My operator is receiving a telegram. It seems it''s from major monakov," he said apologetically After a moment of silence in the receiver, his excited voice rang again, "yes, it''s the major''s telegram. He said that so far, no trace of the Germans has been found at the guard posts. After hiding the surplus materials, he has taken his troops to Warsaw. And the transport planes are taking off one after another, ready to return to the base. "


    From Ralph''s report, all the actions are going very smoothly, which reassures both trekov and me. Trikov raised his hand, looked at his watch, and said with concern, "Rita, it''s getting late. Go and have a rest first. If there''s a fight after dawn, I can''t sleep even if I want to. " Just sitting on the March bed beside the wall, ready to lie down and have a rest, I suddenly heard a faint rumble from the distance. I immediately frowned and listened carefully to the direction of the sound¡° What do you hear, Rita? " Trekov asked curiously when he saw my expression¡° General trakov, listen I pointed to the direction of the sound and said softly, "there seems to be the sound of guns over there."¡° The sound of guns. Where are the guns Said trekov, walking towards the door. He stood at the door listening for a while and muttered, "what the hell." Then he went back to the room, went to the table with the map, picked up the phone on the table, dialed a number and said, "I''m trakov. Get close to general grazoev, commander of the Fourth Army of the guards." The phone soon got through. Trakov asked angrily, "general grazoev, can you explain to me what happened to the gunfire you heard there?" I had a certain distance from trakov, and could not hear the conversation between him and general grazoev. But from his more and more serious face, I knew that something important must have happened. I quickly got up and walked up to him, and asked in a low voice, "general trakov, what''s the matter?" Trakov put his hand over the microphone and said anxiously: "according to the report of commander grazoev, the German air defense firepower is firing. It should be intercepting the transport plane we are returning." When he had finished, he moved his hand away and asked, "is there any loss of our transport?"¡° What, can''t you see? " The other side''s reply angered trakov. He raised his voice and said, "send people to observe immediately, and get enough people ready. Once our plane is shot down by the enemy, you need to rescue the parachuting pilot as soon as possible. Do you understand?" When the transport plane returned, it was intercepted by German anti-aircraft artillery, which really surprised me. But at this time, it''s still not bright, so we can''t observe the situation in the night sky at all. And the loss of the transport aircraft formation, only after they return, we can obtain further information. Considering that I was not familiar with the air force commander and it was not appropriate to call him rashly, I had to call rokosovsky. After hearing the bad news, he kept silent for a long time, and finally said, "well, Rita, I''ll contact the air force as soon as possible and ask them to report the loss of the transport fleet in time. And your task is to send people to search, and make sure to find the pilot who parachuted and the wreckage of the plane that was shot down. " Half an hour later, the loss of the air force was transferred to us through rokosovsky. During the operation, five Air Force transport planes and six gliders were shot down, and the whereabouts of 11 pilots were unknown. After I got the exact casualty figures of the air force, I immediately said to trakov, "general trakov, the casualties of the air force have been counted. At present, 11 pilots of them are missing. I think they jumped when the plane was shot down. Although it is still dark, we need to send search forces as soon as possible to find the whereabouts of these pilots. "¡° That''s the defense area of the Fourth Army of the guards, "said trakov, without expression." I immediately gave major general grazoev an order to send his men along the river to search for the whereabouts of the missing pilots¡° It''s not enough to send out the Fourth Army of the guards. " I thought that there were more than 2000 people left in the 39th division of the guards on the East Bank of the visva River, and some pilots might have landed in their area, so I suggested to trakov, "let the 39th division of the guards stay on the east bank join the search force, so that we can find the missing pilots in the shortest time."¡° You''re right. In order to find the missing pilot as soon as possible, we need to mobilize as many people as possible. I''ll call Ralph right now and ask him to arrange his staff to cooperate with our search work. "

 Chapter 1586

    The search officially ended at 12:00 noon, and nine pilots were found by the troops in charge of the search. Five of them died and four were injured. The other two pilots, however, had no dead bodies.


    After learning the result, rokosovsky said angrily on the phone: "Rita, the two missing pilots are both transport pilots. They know the transport plan. Once captured by the German army, our army''s aerial landing behind the defense line will be exposed, which will be very detrimental to major monakov''s operations. So I command you to find them anyway. "


    When I listened to rokosovsky''s rebuke, I thought to myself that the Germans were not fools. Even if the pilot didn''t fall into their hands, didn''t we know that we were landing behind them? But I said respectfully: "I understand, marshal. I will continue to send people to search for the two missing pilots. Even if they fall into the hands of the Germans, I will try my best to rescue them. "


    After putting down the phone, I asked trakov, "general trakov, marshal told us to find the two missing pilots anyway. Do you have any good suggestions?"


    Trekov shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "our troops have searched along the river, but they didn''t find the transport plane driven by the two pilots. Maybe they fell into the visva river when they crashed and were washed away by the fast water."


    "If it''s washed away, it''s a good thing." After listening to trakov''s words, I said thoughtfully: "the pilots of transport planes have charts in their hands. If they don''t destroy the charts in time when they fall into the hands of the Germans, then even if they refuse to confess, the enemy can know our specific landing location according to the charts. As long as we have a look at the field, we will find that we have a force of several hundred people who are flying in their rear. When that happens, major monakov and their actions may be affected. "


    "What if the Germans found out the intention of our army?" As soon as I finished, trakov said impatiently, "we can''t let major monakov lead the troops back."


    I don''t know why trakov was so angry. He looked at him for some unknown reason, trying to hear what he wanted to say.


    Seeing me staring at him, trikov realized that he was a little bit impolite. He gave me a wry smile and said apologetically, "I''m sorry, Rita. I didn''t control my emotions. Please forgive me!"


    "Never mind, general trakov." I knew that trekov''s sudden attack was definitely not aimed at me, so I asked, "can I ask you the reason for your anger?"


    Trikov got up, poured a cup of hot tea and put it in front of me. After a little relief of the embarrassing atmosphere in the room, he said, "Rita, you don''t know that the former Polish government is famous for anti Soviet. During the October Revolution, it was one of the most active members of the interventionist army. When the red regime was in trouble, it stabbed us in the back, It even occupied Kiev for a time. In the Warsaw campaign, we suffered another tragic defeat and had to cede Western Belarus and western Ukraine. These lost territories did not return to us until the end of 1939.


    The Warsaw Uprising was launched by the pro western government in exile and did not contact us in advance. The reason why they launched the uprising in a hurry, regardless of whether the time was right or not and whether the strength in their hands was enough, was to fight for territory and occupy Warsaw before our army arrived. "


    Originally, I did not support rokosovsky''s troops here, and did not support the Warsaw Uprising nearby. I also had some complaints. But after listening to what trakov said, I immediately realized that my idea was too naive. Our troops did not continue to advance to Warsaw, no matter for military reasons, but also restricted by political factors.


    After a moment of silence, I asked tentatively, "general trakov, have we ever had contact with the rebels in the city since the Warsaw Uprising broke out?"


    "Of course I have." Trekov nodded his head and said, "with the help of the ryudov army in the city, I once accompanied marshal rokosovsky to meet the representatives of the krayov army."


    "The army of lyudov? The krayov army After I saw the two strange words repeated again, I curiously asked trakov, "what kind of troops are these two?"


    After listening to my question, trikov immediately explained to me with a smile, "the ryudov army is led by the pro Soviet Polish government, also known as the" Polish people''s army. "; The krayov army was led by the pro Western Polish government in exile, also known as the "domestic army."


    "So it is." After making clear the relationship between the two armies, I continued to ask, "general trakov, I don''t know if you and marshal went to meet the officers of the krayov army. What did you get?"


    He snorted heavily, and then said with disdain, "we met with several officers of the seventh division of the krayov army. They wore Polish uniforms and behaved arrogantly. They refused our proposal to cooperate with each other in the war against the German Communist army, and brazenly declared that, The krayov army only obeys the orders of the Polish government in London and its plenipotentiaries, and does not recognize the Polish government established in hewum. "


    "These bastards," I said in a low voice, then asked again, "and then? Is there no agreement reached at this meeting? "¡° That''s right. We went for nothing. " "The officers also said with great eloquence:" we will not take up arms against the Red Army, but we do not want to have any contact with you. " It''s a bunch of uneducated guys. They don''t even have basic manners. " After listening to trakov''s story, I finally understand why he has prejudice against the poles. Even if it was me, I would not help these ungrateful poles. However, there are feelings for poles on one hand, but orders from superiors should be carried out unconditionally. After a while, I said to trakov, "general trakov, I understand your feelings, but our first task is to continue to send people to search for the missing pilot. Even if they fall into the hands of the Germans, we should find a way to send people to rescue them. "¡° I understand, "trikov is also a person who knows how to control his emotions. After hearing my order, he immediately called the commander of the troops along the river and told them to continue to send people to search along the river and make sure to find the lost pilot.

 Chapter 1587

    After lunch at the headquarters, trikov suddenly asked on a whim, "Rita, would you like to visit the nearby village?"


    "Nearby villages?" When I heard trakov''s proposal, I was stunned. I said that there was something to see in the nearby village. Maybe I had to endure the hostile eyes of the villagers in the village. However, for fear of hurting trakov''s self-esteem, I just thought about the second half of the sentence in my heart and didn''t say it.


    But without noticing my hesitation, trakov said to himself, "before my troops crossed the visva River, I personally led people to the river for reconnaissance. I don''t know what festival it was, or whether the Polish peasants celebrated that day. We rescued them from the German rule. Although there were Germans on the other side and the villages were within the range of the enemy''s artillery fire, they held a grand celebration


    What trakov said aroused my interest. It is indifferent to us to think of the rebel forces in Warsaw; But in the countryside outside, the peasants showed enough friendliness to our army. Thinking of this, I stood up and said to trikov with a smile, "well, comrade general, there''s nothing wrong now. Let''s go for a walk in the nearby village."


    Our car drove down the street out of the town towards the visva river. On the way, I asked trekov curiously, "Comrade General, you know my guard." Hello, lialik. " A woman''s voice suddenly came from a yard beside the road. I turned to look in the direction of the voice. I saw a girl with a scarf and freckles. She was lying on the wooden fence to greet lialik, who was guiding us. She said in broken Russian: "honey, come to my house and have a drink. I''ve prepared a good wine for you." Then he threw a kiss as if there were no one else.


    Walking in front of us, lialik didn''t dare to speak. He just waved to the girl and took us on.


    Seeing this, I couldn''t help frowning and looking at trikov, saying, "Comrade General, this is your heroic army. Although I didn''t see your performance on the battlefield, I didn''t see it. But in this village, their relationship between the army and the people is quite good. "


    My irony made trakov blush. But he didn''t say anything, just followed lialik in front without saying a word, and continued to walk along the country road.


    Lialik led us to a big house. After pushing open the gate, he stood by the door and said respectfully, "Comrade commander, Captain grafchkov is here."


    Trekov and I went into the yard and looked inside. My nose was crooked. There was a big wooden table in the middle of the yard. There were seven or eight soldiers in white shirts lying on the ground, drunk and unconscious. Even on the body of a famous soldier, there was a fallen bench, but it didn''t affect his sleep at all. He snored with his hands on the bench.


    "Comrade General," I asked in disgust, looking at the drunkards lying on the ground, "I don''t know who is captain grafchkov?"


    Trekov looked down at the drunk lying on the ground, shook his head and said, "he''s not here." Then he turned and angrily asked lialik, who was standing in the back, "tell me, where is captain grafchkov and where are the rest of the soldiers?"


    Lialik pointed to the house in front of him and said, "in that house."


    Trikov snorted and raised her legs to walk forward. Suddenly, the door opened and a girl in a naked dress ran out with a smile. When she found that there were many people standing in the yard, she screamed. Then she squatted down, picked up a military uniform on the ground and covered her body.


    "I see where you want to run..." at this time, a man with bare upper body and only wearing shorts came out of the room, blurring: "if I... If I catch you, I''ll definitely... I''ll never forgive you." His mind may be confused by alcohol. He didn''t notice that the people standing in the yard were not his subordinates. He bumped into trakov.


    "Pa!" Trikov slapped him hard and said, "you damned drunkard!"


    Trakov''s slap stunned captain grafchkov. He covered his beaten face and looked at us for a long time before he realized that it was trekov standing in front of him. He quickly stood at attention. Although he tried to keep his body in balance, because of the effect of alcohol, his whole body was shaking back and forth. As long as anyone pushed him gently, he would fall on his back.


    Instead of paying attention to him, trakov turned and asked the staff behind him, "is there a phone here?"


    The staff officer should have been to this village. After hearing this question from trakov, he immediately nodded his head and said, "yes, comrade commander, there is a phone call." Then he pointed to the room where Captain grafchkov had just run out. "There''s a telephone in there that can directly contact the headquarters."


    "Call headquarters." Trikov frowned and said to the staff, "let them send a company immediately to wake up the drunkards."


    Half an hour later, the guard company from the headquarters dragged the drunkards out of the room and threw them all in the middle of the road, pouring cold well water on them to sober them up. When they were a little sober, they took them to the village''s grain drying field. Taking advantage of the busy work of the guard company, I said to trikov, "Comrade General, according to what I know, the soldiers stationed in the village are scattered in the villagers'' homes. As there are only women, old people and children left in the village, there are no adult men at all. Now that there are so many strong young men living in their own homes, those women are ready to use their own private wine to hook up with our soldiers, and then get entangled. If we let it go, our troops will lose their fighting capacity in a short time. "¡° You are right, Rita. It must be dealt with seriously. It must not be tolerated "Originally, the group army was going to apply to the higher authorities for the title of" Soviet hero "to be awarded to captain grafchkov, but when this happened, I felt that not only could we not give him the honorary title, but also we should punish him, shut him down, and demote him." How to deal with captain grafchkov is an internal matter of the 8th group army of the guards. I will not interfere in it. When trakov finished, I reminded him, "since the situation in this village is like this, I believe the other villages are not much better. In order to prevent similar incidents from happening again, from now on, the troops stationed in the village are not allowed to live in the villagers'' homes. We should set up a military camp nearby and let them all live in the military camp. This is also convenient for our management. " I also know in my heart that even if the commanders and fighters are gathered together and locked up in the barracks, someone will still find a way to sneak out at night and go to the neighborhood to find a girl. But in any case, it''s better than soldiers living in scattered houses. As for my suggestion, trekov only thought about it for a moment, then nodded and agreed: "Rita, your suggestion is very good. Let all the soldiers live in one place, which is also convenient for our management." He looked at the still drunk men and said angrily, "when they wake up, let them build their own houses."

 Chapter 1588

    Originally, trekov and I were going to wait for these sober soldiers to build their houses, reprimand them again, and then return to the headquarters of the group army. But the plan couldn''t keep up with the change. The chief of staff of the group army called Cui KOV and said in a hurry, "Comrade commander, can you come back immediately?"


    When he heard that the chief of staff''s voice was so urgent, he was surprised and asked, "chief of staff, what''s the matter?"


    "The headquarters of the front army called and said that there were important combat tasks." The chief of staff said anxiously, "the marshal asked you to rush back to the headquarters immediately to accept the order."


    Trikov put down the phone, looked at me and said, "marshal rokosovsky said that there is an important task and asked me to rush back to the group army headquarters immediately. Rita, how do you think about going back to the headquarters with me, or staying here to supervise the soldiers to build a new house? "


    I didn''t have much interest in building a simple military camp outside the village. When I heard trekov''s question, I immediately replied without hesitation, "Comrade General, I''ll go back to the headquarters with you."


    On the way back to the town, we saw a dozen trucks with guns. The soldiers sitting on the trucks were wearing Polish uniforms. What surprised us even more was that the jeep continued to drive forward for a certain distance, and there was an invisible Polish infantry on the side of the road. They formed a four-way column and walked forward with their heads held high under the guidance of the red flag.


    Seeing this scene, I turned to look at trikov and asked in surprise, "Comrade General, what''s the matter? Why are there so many Polish infantry here? "


    I didn''t expect that after hearing my question, trakov shook his head and said blankly: "judging from the uniforms of these soldiers, they should be the troops of the first Polish army. As for why they are here, I don''t know."


    But when we get back to the headquarters, the answer will be solved. Rokosovsky asked trekov on the phone, "trekov? Do you see the Polish infantry and artillery on the road? "


    "Yes, comrade marshal, I see it." After answering the question, trakov asked, "but why are they in my defense area?"


    "General Sigmund belinger, commander of the first polish group army, told me that according to the information provided by the people''s army in Warsaw, the German troops deployed in the south of Warsaw are the national defense forces stationed in Poland, and their combat effectiveness is relatively poor." "So they''re going to send a division to cross the visva river at night and go north to support the rebels who are fighting in Warsaw," rokosovsky told trikov


    "A teacher?" When trekov heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting: "I have four divisions on the West Bank, and there''s no way to expand the landing site. It is impossible for them to break through the German defense and support the Warsaw rebels with only one division. "


    "Comrade trekov, you can''t say that." Rokosovsky explained to trakov: "in the enemy''s rear, there are countless Polish guerrillas active, including the ryudov guards, the ryudov troops, the krayov troops and the peasant battalion. There were even mixed guerrillas led by Soviet officers who came to enemy territory for various reasons. Although these organizations have different political tendencies, they have the same goal of fighting against the common enemy. As long as the Polish army can successfully cross the visva River, it will be supported by these armed forces and successfully join the Warsaw Uprising. "


    After waiting for rokosovsky to finish, trikov asked slowly, "Comrade marshal, what is the task of our group army?"


    "This attack was carried out by the Polish third division on its own." "You just need to provide them with boats to cross the river," rokosovsky replied unexpectedly


    When he heard that he didn''t have to cooperate with the Polish troops to launch the attack, trakov relaxed a little, and then easily replied, "I understand. I''ll arrange boats for them to cross the river."


    Before dark, general belinger, commander of the Polish first army, came to the headquarters of trakov. After shaking hands with trekov and me, he said to trekov with a smile, "general trekov, I want to stay in your headquarters tonight and command my troops. Do you have any objection?"


    Trekov put his hands behind him, bowed slightly to him and said politely, "general Bellinger, I''m happy to help you!"


    After a few simple greetings, I asked Bellinger, "Comrade General, how do you plan to attack the enemies of the viswah River, and how do you join the rebel forces in Warsaw?"


    Belinger gave me a little smile, and then said clearly, "general oshanina, for this attack, we have mobilized the elite third division and the newly formed howitzer regiment. When the artillery bombarded the German position on the other side, our infantry crossed the visva River in the boat that general trakov had prepared for us. After clearing the enemy troops on the other side, our troops will move north to join the garrison in Warsaw. "


    As rokosovsky had said in advance that the attack was carried out by the third division of Poland independently, I did not discuss with general belinger the shortcomings of the plan after learning about the attack plan of the Polish army.


    The place to cross the river was chosen as the defense area of the Fourth Army of the guards. From here, as long as the Polish army can break through the German defense, it can reach the outskirts of Warsaw in two or three hours, and join the rebel army that took them. Before dark, trakov ordered all the ships to be quietly sent to the assembly site of the Polish army. The attack began at 11 p.m., and most of the German troops on the other side were asleep by this time. Even if they were shelled, except for a few guard posts, the rest of them were holed up, so that the Polish army could successfully land on the other side with the least casualties. In a minute or two, the Polish artillery deployed by the river will begin to bombard the German army. General Bellinger suddenly said to his chief of staff, "chief of staff, connect me with the artillery regiment. I want to speak to their chief." The chief of staff nodded, went to the table, seized the phone they had brought, shook the crank a few times, picked up the earphone, stuck it to his ear, and said in Russian, "Hello, find the artillery commander, the commander wants to speak to him!" After getting through, the chief of staff handed the phone to Bellinger. Belinger took the phone with a blank face and said in a loud voice, "brothers, after five long years, we are back on Polish territory. We will soon join in the battle of liberation of our motherland. In order to destroy the enemy, we have to open fire on our own territory. This is the price of freedom. I order that the artillery fire immediately and strike hard at the Communist aggressors. Long live Poland Maybe there are a lot of Soviets in the artillery who answered the phone, so belinger''s words are in Russian. Hearing belinger''s order to fire, I listened to the outside. After about a minute or two, there was a faint rumble outside. Looking at the red sky outside, the chief of staff said excitedly to belinger, "Comrade commander, our artillery has started. Before long, the soldiers of the third division will cross the visva River and bravely rush to Warsaw, which is bleeding. They will rescue this city from the clutches of the Communist aggressors." Polish attack! But my heart is very heavy. There are tens of thousands of German troops near Warsaw. It''s too fanciful to support Warsaw''s rebel army only by relying on a Polish division. However, as a friendly force, I can only pray in my heart for those soldiers who are going to fight, hoping that they can cross the visva River smoothly, rush to their former capital, and join the friendly forces who are fighting there.

 Chapter 1589

    (thanks to book friends 20170428015714246)


    Before the Polish Army''s attack was in full swing, an unexpected figure came to trekov''s headquarters.


    Trekov and I were sitting next to each other, listening to general belinger giving orders to the troops in front of us through the telephone when we heard a familiar voice at the door: "Hello, commanders!"


    I looked up at the door and saw rokosovsky walk into the headquarters. Trekov and I quickly got up from our seats and were about to meet him when we saw him walking towards belinger. A long way away, we reached out our hand and said in a friendly way, "general belinger, what''s the situation? Has the Polish Army begun its attack?"


    Bellinger stood up, shook hands with rokosovsky, and said with a warm face: "our infantry are boarding the ship. In a few minutes, they will carry out the operation of crossing the visva river."


    "General Bellinger, I wish you victory in advance and drive the Germans out of Warsaw one day earlier." Rokosovsky politely said these words to belinger, turned to look at me and trakov, pointed to an old soldier who followed him, and said to us, "Rita, comrade trakov, I''d like to introduce you to General Alexander zavatsky, a military commissar of the Polish army group. He is an old Polish revolutionary and a former miner, He is a member of the Polish workers'' Party and enjoys high prestige among the Polish working class and the working people, and the commanders and fighters of the army also love him very much. "


    When I heard that the other party was coming, I quickly went to him, reached out to him first, and politely said, "Hello, general zawatsky, nice to meet you!"


    Zawatsky held my hand tightly and shook it a few times: "Hello, general oshanina, it''s a great honor to meet you here!"


    After everyone said hello, rokosovsky then asked, "general belinger, is there any news in Warsaw?"


    Although belinger and his chief of staff received a lot of information shortly after the shelling began, it''s a pity that they talked in Polish, and trekov and I didn''t understand. At the moment, I heard rokosovsky asking belinger, and I quickly raised my ears for fear of missing any important information.


    Bellinger nodded, picked up a telegram from the table, handed it to rokosovsky, and said, "Comrade marshal, this is a telegram just sent to us from Warsaw city."


    Rokosovsky took the telegram from belinger''s hand, only looked at it, and his smile froze on his face. He handed the telegram back to the other party and said awkwardly, "general Bellinger, this telegram is all in Polish. I can''t understand it."


    "I''m sorry, comrade marshal." Bellinger took the message and said apologetically, "I didn''t know you didn''t understand polish."


    Rokosovsky waved his hand and jokingly said: "although my father is polish, I was born and grew up in daluki, Russia. As a half polish, I can''t understand polish, and I can''t read polish. If I let my father know about it, he would be so angry that he would climb out of the grave and beat me up. "


    After everyone laughed, rokosovsky said to belinger, "Comrade General, can you tell me what''s written in the telegrams sent by the comrades in Warsaw?"


    "Hitler sent SS general Erich von Bach to Warsaw to take charge of the suppression of the rebels." Belinger didn''t read the telegram, but said to rokosovsky with a serious expression: "as soon as Bach arrived in Warsaw, he took advantage of the weakness of the rebel army''s lack of unified command and began to launch an orderly counterattack. In the face of the German offensive under the cover of armored trains, artillery, tanks and flamethrowers, the rebels suffered very serious losses. "


    After belinger introduced the situation, rokosowski asked sincerely: "Comrade General, if the situation in Warsaw is really like what you said, then it is far from enough for a Polish division to occupy and hold the city."


    "Thank you for your kindness, comrade marshal." For rokosovsky''s good intentions, belinger politely refused: "you say that there are too few divisions. From a military point of view, it may be correct. But politically, it''s totally wrong. Our soldiers are fighting tenaciously to liberate their motherland. In this case, I think one of our divisions can defeat the same number of enemies. "


    Finally, he stressed: "as soon as the troops enter Warsaw, tens of thousands of rebel troops will join us. At that time, not to mention one or two German defense divisions, even if the elite SS troops arrive in Warsaw, we will be able to defeat them."


    Belinger''s words left rokosovsky speechless for a while. Looking at belinger who is talking, I seem to see vashujin, the military commissar of the Western Front Army at the beginning of the war. Because he blindly followed the headquarters of the headquarters, he gave the wrong counterattack instructions to the army according to the unrealistic war reports, and replaced calm and scientific analysis with political command, he made a serious failure of the front army in the early defense direction of the southwest, And the deterioration of the face-to-face overall situation caused by it bears the unshirkable leadership responsibility, and finally shoots himself because he can''t bear the huge psychological impact. At the moment, belinger, in my mind, is a Polish version of vasukin. He is full of blind self-confidence in using a division to liberate Warsaw.


    In order to prevent the Polish army from suffering huge losses due to its isolation, I said to belinger in a euphemistic tone: "general belinger, we should despise the enemy strategically, but we should pay attention to the enemy tactically. According to the information we have, the German army is deploying the elite "skeleton division" of the SS on the east coast. I am afraid that the Polish soldiers will suffer. "


    "Skeleton master" When belinger heard this, he glared at me, raised his voice and said, "general o''shanina, I don''t know who gave you this kind of wrong information and made you misjudge. I can tell you responsibly that in the south of Warsaw, there are only German defense divisions with weak fighting capacity, and our troops can completely defeat them. "


    Seeing belinger''s obstinacy, I shut my mouth in time and said that the troops involved in crossing the river were all friendly forces of no importance. Even if they were destroyed, it had nothing to do with me.


    The Polish operator, sitting by the wall, took off his earphone, turned his head and called Bellinger in Polish. Then the latter stood up, went to the telephone, took the earphone, put it on his head, and began to speak to each other in Polish.


    After a few minutes, belinger put down the phone, quickly walked back to the table and said to rokosovsky excitedly, "marshal, our infantry have successfully landed on the other side. A company of top soldiers rushed into the trench occupied by the enemy and engaged in fierce close combat and white-edged battle with the enemy. Now the enemy has been destroyed and our troops have occupied the trench. "


    "Great, that''s great." Rokosovsky stood up, took the initiative to reach out to belinger, and said in a friendly way: "Comrade General, I congratulate you on the successful crossing of the visva River by your troops."


    Seeing that rokosovsky congratulated belinger, I could not sit still any more, so I had to stand up, shake hands with belinger, and offer him absent-minded congratulations.


    After I went back to my seat and sat down, I whispered to trekov, who was sitting next to me, "Comrade General, major monakov, do they have any news?"


    "They haven''t contacted us yet," trekov asked me tentatively, raising his eyebrows. "Do you need them to help the Polish army?"


    "No need." Without hesitation, I rejected trakov''s proposal and said to myself, "major monakov, their task is to destroy the Kaminsky brigade and not to worry about the Polish army."


    Although we both spoke in a low voice, trakov looked at the Polish commanders who were talking and laughing with rokosovsky across the long table and asked me with some guilty heart: "Rita, is this suitable? I think it''s a very good choice for the major to lead the troops and cooperate with the Polish Army''s march to Warsaw. After all, they are our friendly forces. "


    "Comrade General." I said in a voice that only the two of us could hear: "if my judgment is correct, the Polish army will not be able to enter Warsaw. If major monakov is allowed to act with them, there may be a danger that the whole army will be destroyed. "


    Trekov was startled by what I said. He asked in disbelief, "isn''t that possible?"


    "Comrade General, why are you confused?" I said to trekov anxiously, "your troops have been fighting with the Germans in magnushev for such a long time. You must be familiar with the number of the German troops?"


    "That''s right. On the West Bank, they are deploying the skeleton division," trekov replied in a low voice. "On the east bank, they are deploying the Viking division and the 19th armored division. Their combat effectiveness is not weak."


    "Yes, they don''t believe what you and I know, and they think we are deceiving them." I secretly nuzzled at belinger''s position and said in a bad voice: "this old man, in particular, is so stubborn that he thinks that the information provided by the rebel forces in Warsaw is correct. He never thought that it might be a trap."


    "What should we do?" trekov asked nervously


    "Let the troops enter the positions along the river and make all combat preparations to prevent possible emergencies." Looking at the Polish officer opposite me, I couldn''t bear to say, "in the section where the Polish Army crosses the river, we should deploy artillery and tank troops to prepare for their breakthrough."


    Seeing that trakov was ready to get up, I quickly stopped him and whispered, "Comrade General, don''t give orders here, or the comrades of the Polish army will have unnecessary misunderstandings. You''d better go to the next telecommunication room to convey the orders."


    Trikov nodded, got up and was ready to walk outside. Rokosovsky also asked curiously, "Comrade trikov, where are you going?"


    "Ah?" Hearing rokosovsky''s question, trakov replied in a flurried way, "I''ll... I''ll go out... I''ll go to the bathroom."


    Because rokosovsky had been talking with Polish commanders, he didn''t notice that trakov and I, sitting on the other side of the long table, had just engaged in a "conspiracy" and thought that trakov was really going to the toilet.


    After a few minutes, trakov returned to the headquarters. I saw him smile at me with a slight nod, then know that the arrangements have been arranged.


    At dawn, good news came again from the Polish Army on the West Bank of the visva river. After listening to the war report, belinger said to us excitedly, "comrades commander, I have good news for you. Our vanguard troops have arrived in the suburbs of Warsaw, and the soldiers can clearly see the buildings in the city with their naked eyes." Rokosovsky nodded and said happily, "general belinger, this is really exciting news. I believe that in a short time, they will be able to enter the city and join the rebel army." At the same time, I was very anxious. Because I know clearly how the combat effectiveness of the "skeleton division" can not stop the Polish army, which has only second and third class combat effectiveness, and let them easily rush to Warsaw. There must be some conspiracy brewing. Just when I was about to remind general Bellinger, the operator suddenly exclaimed. Bellinger got up, rushed to the phone and began to chatter to the transmitter. From the changing expression on his face, I could guess what I was most worried about had happened. General zawatsky was beside rokosovsky, quietly translating the dialogue between belinger and the front-line commander. Belinger put down the phone, looked at trakov and asked, "Comrade General, where is the commanding height here?"¡° There is a church to the west of the town, and from the bell tower you can see the movement of the chuviswa river Trikov then offered to belinger, "general belinger, I can accompany you there to see the situation on the battlefield." When trakov left with belinger and some of them, rokosovsky unexpectedly asked me, "Rita, what did you just say to trakov all the time?"¡° No, marshal, "I didn''t expect that rokosovsky would suddenly ask this question. I couldn''t help but flurried and replied," we are just chatting and talking about the recent weather. " Rokosovsky easily saw through my little trick. He looked at me, gave a slight smile, and then said: "although I didn''t hear what you two were talking about, I can guess from your expressions what deployment might be in progress, so as to clean up the mess for the isolated and deep Polish army. Trekov had just left the headquarters. I think he went to the next telecommunication room to give orders to the troops below. Rita, am I right? " Seeing that rokosovsky had a good insight, I didn''t have to hide it any more, so I nodded my head and said, "yes, marshal, I don''t think the Polish Army''s attack will succeed, so let the troops along the river be ready in advance and ready to take over the friendly forces at any time."¡° Come on, let''s go to the clock tower. " "I hope it''s not as bad as we think," he sighed as he walked outside

 Chapter 1590

    On the way to the church, while the commander of the Polish army was away, I asked lokosovsky curiously, "Comrade marshal, what happened? The Polish army has already pushed out of Warsaw. How could it be easily defeated by the German army? "


    Rokosovsky sighed and said, "Rita, you don''t know. When the Polish army was advancing to the outskirts of Poland, it was suddenly ambushed by the superior German army. Countless German officers and soldiers rushed out of their hiding places and attacked the Polish army only equipped with light weapons under the cover of tanks and armored vehicles. In just ten minutes of fighting, the commanders and fighters of the two battalions were either dead or wounded, and the rest of them had to hide in the ravines on the roadside to resist. "


    "What about the rebels in Huasha city? Where are they?" When I heard this, I raised my voice and asked, "didn''t they say they were going out of the city to welcome the Polish Army going north and liberate Warsaw together?"


    "Rita, we don''t know why the rebel army in the city didn''t come out to meet us so far." Rokosovsky did not want to entangle on this issue. Instead, he asked, "what measures have you and trakov taken to rescue the troubled Polish army?"


    "The equipment for crossing the river was handed over to the Polish army. We couldn''t cross the river to support them, so I had to ask general trakov to deploy artillery and tanks on the river. When the friendly army retreated, we would use artillery fire to cover their retreat." With these words, we have come to the outside of the church. Among the soldiers standing guard at the door, there are both our army and Polish army. So I quickly stopped the conversation and said to rokosovsky, "Comrade commander, we are here. Let''s go up."


    When we got to the clock tower and looked across the river with a telescope, I found that the situation was worse than we thought. The Polish soldiers on the other side had basically lost their organizational system and ran all over the mountains, while the German tanks stopped at the edge of the forest in the distance, harvesting the lives of these soldiers with tank guns and airborne machine guns. Perhaps in order to prevent our army from crossing the river for reinforcement, the German long-range artillery bombarded the river all the time, stirring up one water column after another.


    "Comrade marshal, you are here." Seeing the appearance of rokosovsky, belinger was like catching a straw. He put his hands together and asked respectfully, "please, save the soldiers of the Polish army. If this continues, they may be destroyed."


    Without waiting for rokosovsky to speak, trakov rushed to say: "marshal, there is nothing we can do now. All the river crossing equipment was handed over to the comrades of the Polish army. Our troops could not cross the visva river. Although there are artillery deployed near the river, the troops on the other side have lost their organizational structure. They are all over the mountains and fields. If we fire, we will hurt our own people by mistake. "


    "General belinger," rokosovsky immediately comforted belinger after trakov finished saying, "we will never watch the soldiers of the Polish army be destroyed by the Germans. But now the situation on the other side is so chaotic that we can''t fire, otherwise the shells will fall on our own people. "


    Belinger could not help sighing and his face was full of deep regret when he heard what rokosovsky said. He might have thought that if a few hours ago he had agreed to rokosovsky''s proposal that our army should send an army to cross the river, the pressure on the Polish Army on the other side would be much less.


    The real Polish army, who had been staying by the river, was terrified to see that the troops marching towards Huasha had been defeated by the German army. They abandoned their positions one after another and ran towards the river in an attempt to use the boats here to return to the east bank.


    As soon as many soldiers jumped on the wooden boat, they immediately grabbed the oars and paddled desperately to make the boat leave the shore and head for the east bank. However, less than half of their row, they were found by the German army in the distance, and immediately concentrated the artillery fire on this section, and implemented fire blockade on the river.


    All of a sudden, the cannonball burst the water on the surface of the river. One by one, the water burst into the sky, and the ship shook violently. Then the shrill sound became more and more intensive, and more and more shells fell from the sky. How can wooden boats resist the steel shells? With the fierce explosion of shells hitting the ships, wooden boats carrying soldiers were smoking and burning one after another. The soldiers on them either dived to escape or were burned to death by the fire.


    The shell came suddenly and went quickly. When the German army saw that the ships on the river had disappeared, they immediately stopped the intensive shelling and only used sporadic shelling to stop the cross river battle that our army might launch on the east bank. The dozens of wooden boats that had previously returned from the West Bank were blown to pieces, and the burning debris was still floating on the water, emitting black smoke, and the overturned boats were sinking rapidly. Looking around, the river, which was dyed red with blood, was full of ship fragments and soldiers'' bodies. In the cold river, the soldiers diving to escape are struggling, just like dumplings boiled in a pot. Although not many boats survived on the river, the soldiers on board did not rush to escape. Instead, they slowed down to rescue the soldiers floating on the nearby water.


    "My God," belinger said with tears in his eyes, "fifty or sixty wooden boats and hundreds of lives were destroyed in just a few minutes by the German artillery fire."


    "Comrade trakovsky," rokosovsky saw here. He could not bear it. He quickly turned around and ordered trakov: "immediately order the artillery to fire on the other side!"


    "But, comrade marshal." Hearing the order from rokosovsky, trakov said with some embarrassment, "if we fire now, we may hurt our own people by mistake..."


    "All right, general trakov." Without waiting for him to finish, rokosovsky interrupted him sternly: "seeing our comrades'' constant sacrifice on the other side, we can''t do nothing. I now order you to suppress the German offensive with artillery fire and cover the Polish soldiers to return to the east coast! "


    "Yes Seeing that rokosovsky was angry, trakov was no longer stubborn. He raised his hand and saluted. He turned and went down the bell tower to call the artillery.


    A few minutes later, our early artillery units on the east coast opened fire. Intensive artillery fire, will gather in the forest area of the German troops howling. At the same time, more than a dozen of our bombers flew over our heads in a four plane formation to bomb the German artillery positions.


    Looking at the bombers flying farther and farther, I feel very curious. Besides rokosovsky, the chief of staff of the headquarters of the front army, general malining, can mobilize the air force. But on the way to this church with rokosovsky, I didn''t see him call anyone. How could our army''s bombers appear so timely?


    When rokosovsky turned to talk to belinger, he saw my thoughtful expression and asked curiously, "Rita, what are you doing here alone?"


    "Marshal," I pointed to the looming bomber in the air and asked curiously, "is it arranged for our air force to bomb German artillery positions long ago, or who called the air force commander and sent them out?"


    "We''re here together from trekov''s headquarters. When did you see me call?" Rokosovsky explained to me with great interest: "yesterday, I considered that the Polish army might need us to provide air support for them in the battle of attacking Warsaw, so I arranged the air force to attack at this time, to bomb the German artillery positions, so as to reduce the pressure on the friendly forces during the attack."


    With the suppression of the German army by our air force and artillery, the enemy''s strength to rush to the Polish defense area weakened, giving the soldiers the opportunity to use the remaining ships and orderly withdraw to the east coast.


    Seeing his troops on the east coast one after another, belinger wanted to meet the soldiers who had survived, but he was stopped by rokosovsky. He kindly reminded: "general Bellinger, the river is still the German artillery strike area, so their artillery was bombed by our air force, but for the sake of safety, you''d better not go. If you want to meet your troops, you can send them to trekov''s headquarters


    Belinger thought about rokosovsky''s proposal and finally nodded his head. As the top commander of the Polish army, he really has no right to take risks.


    Almost two hours later, the commander of the third Polish division, Colonel vareshak, arrived at the headquarters of trakov. The colonel looked embarrassed, his face blackened by the smoke, his clothes dirty and torn, and his bandaged left arm hanging on his chest.


    "Captain, can you explain to me what''s going on?" Bellinger asked his subordinates sternly that in order for us to understand their conversation, he intentionally used Russian.


    "Comrade commander, it''s not our fault." The Colonel raised his head and said with a defiant face: "we are going very well. We broke through the three German lines in succession and killed at least 300 German soldiers..."


    When I heard this, I could not help but shrug my lips and say that it took five or six thousand of you a division more than ten hours to kill and injure more than three hundred of the enemy. It''s also a good idea to tell us the result.


    "We got close to the appointed place, but we didn''t see the rebels who came to meet us. We only saw the German troops who had been ambushing here for a long time Our troops have no heavy weapons. In the face of the coming German tanks and armored vehicles, we can do nothing... "The colonel said with a sad face,"... The casualties of the troops are too great. I can only order everyone to fight and withdraw, and try to return to the East Bank of the visva River... "


    Rokosovsky patiently waited for the colonel to finish, then he interrupted and asked, "Comrade Colonel, can you tell me why the rebel army that you had made an appointment with didn''t appear outside the city in time to join you?"


    The Colonel did not directly answer the reason, but looked at rokosovsky and said, "marshal, I met a soldier of ryudov''s guards who escaped from the city. I think he can answer your question."


    "Where is he, Colonel?" Rokosovsky heard the Colonel say so, quickly asked.


    Vareshak went to the door and called out, "come in!"


    With vareshak''s cry, a middle-aged man in plain clothes and a cap came in timidly¡° Comrade crook, "Colonel vareshak raised his right hand, put it on the middle-aged man''s shoulder, took him in front of us, and said to him with a kind face," please tell the commanders what happened in the city again. "


    Crook nodded and opened his mouth to polish that we didn''t understand. Vareshak immediately reminded him: "Comrade kruck, don''t you speak Russian? Speak Russian, or the commanders won''t understand. "


    Rokosovsky realized that the middle-aged man named crook in front of him must know the recent situation in the city. He quickly stepped forward and asked with a serious expression: "Comrade crook, tell me quickly, what happened in the city?"¡° What else can I do? Kill people Looking at rokosovsky, crook said with a bitter expression: "people are killing everywhere. Not only the Germans are killing our people, but also our own people are killing each other."¡° People in the city are killing each other? " As soon as crook''s words were finished, everyone, including me, was stunned except vareshak, who knew the inside story¡° Comrade crook, what''s going on? " Bellinger asked anxiously, "tell us quickly, why do we have to kill each other?"

 Chapter 1591

    Trekov poured a cup of tea and handed it to crook. He said with a kind face, "don''t worry, comrade crook. Let''s have a glass of water."


    Crook said thank you to trikov, and then drank all the tea in his cup. Then he began to tell the story of what happened in the city: "yesterday morning, we received a call from the rebel headquarters, informing us to collect weapons and ammunition in moresin park on the West Bank of the Huasha river. In the whole Warsaw City, the equipment of our ryudov guards is the worst. There are only more than 200 rifles and a dozen pistols for more than 500 soldiers, and no machine guns.


    After receiving the call, Sergeant sergeyak was very happy, because we all know that as long as we can get the supplement of weapons and equipment, the combat effectiveness of the troops can be greatly improved. The battalion commander and I, with a company of soldiers, rushed to moresin Park, ready to go there to receive equipment.


    But as soon as we got close to the ruins of moresin Park, we were surrounded and disarmed by the krayov army. The battalion commander and I, as well as all the officers, were escorted to a nearby library, where ordinary soldiers were taken elsewhere.


    When we came to the library, I found that there were hundreds of people in custody. Judging from the signs they were wearing, they were all commanders of various troops. I found an acquaintance who was also locked up here to inquire, and learned that they, like us, also received the notice to get the equipment, took the troops to the park and were disarmed. "


    "Wait a minute, comrade crook." When trekov heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting crook''s words: "I want to ask, which troops are these commanders from?"


    Crook took a look at trekov and said, "which army can it be? Of course, they are all commanders of the ryudov army or the ryudov guards. "


    "I don''t understand. Why are they all commanders of the ryudov army?" "Is there no officer in the krayov army?" trekov asked


    "No, comrade general, absolutely no officer of the krayov army." Kruck shook his head and said with certainty: "although the signs worn by our rebel army are very confusing, it can be seen at a glance whether they belong to the krayov army or the lyudov army."


    After he said this, he saw that trakov didn''t ask any more questions, so he continued: "when it was getting dark, a guard told me the bad news that the krayov army was going to kill Jews in Walla, west of the city. After learning the news, it immediately caused the panic of the commanders who were held in the library. "


    At this time, trikov interrupted again and asked, "don''t you all belong to the rebel army? Why do you fight each other? Maybe it''s a rumor spread by the Germans, just to stir up the conflict between your two armies. "


    "General komorovsky, the leader of Warsaw Uprising, is loyal to mikolechik, the leader of the government in exile. He thinks that only the Polish government in exile in London is the government representing the Polish people, and the new government in Lublin is just a puppet supported by Russia." "He hoped that the campaign against the Communist Party would be led by the poles, not the Russians," krucker said with disdain. For him, the Russians will be a new oppressor, and the troops and civilians who follow them should be eliminated without mercy.


    As you may not know, komorovsky got the news of Hitler''s attempted assassination on July 21 that the Germans had collapsed and would withdraw from Warsaw in a short time, so he drew up an uprising plan: concentrate troops to capture several key government buildings in Warsaw, and announce that the Polish government in exile will resume its power 12 hours before the Russians enter Warsaw. In order to prevent the German army from withdrawing to the west, they even left some important transportation hubs for the Germans, including several very important bridges on the visva river. "


    After crook''s words, the headquarters fell into a silence, and all the people were trying to digest what he said, while I kept thinking about who mikolechik was? It seems that I have never heard of the name.


    Finally, I was the first to break the silence: "Comrade crook, can you tell us how you got out of danger?"


    Crook looked at me, looked at my epaulets clearly, nodded, and then told the story of what happened in the city: "in the middle of the night, we heard the faint sound of guns coming from the south, and the commanders who were locked in the library suddenly got excited, saying that the Soviet army must have launched an attack from the south.


    But just as we were happy, the krayov army showed up. After the armed soldiers entered the room, they randomly picked out ten people from the crowd, tied them up with ropes and took them away. In a short time, we heard a burst of gunfire outside. At this time, we all knew that the krayov army was going to shoot us all. When the soldiers reappeared, the commanders who didn''t want to wait to die swarmed on them, fought with them and tried to seize the guns in their hands.


    The frantic krayov soldiers stood at the door, shooting at the commander of the ryudov army in the room with submachine guns. Seeing that the situation was not good, I quickly broke the window with a chair, jumped down from the second floor, and escaped from the place under the cover of the ruins.


    When I fled to the south of the city where I made an appointment with the regular army, I found that they were being attacked by the German army. Fortunately, I knew the terrain very well. I took a small path to the river visva and got on a wooden boat. I met the commander of the third division of the Polish army, Colonel vareshak. I was able to escape successfully. "


    After he told his story, vareshak quickly added: "yes, comrades commander, the wooden boat that crook got on in a hurry happened to be my boat. I learned from him what happened in Warsaw and brought him here. "


    "Comrade Colonel, you have done a good job." As soon as vareshak''s voice was over, rokosovsky nodded his head and said, "I think Comrade crook must be tired and hungry. Take him to eat first, and then find a place to have a good rest."


    Vareshak and crook raised their hands to salute us, then turned and walked out of the headquarters.


    As soon as they left, rokosovsky looked around and asked, "comrades commander, the situation in Warsaw is more serious than we thought. Facing the siege of the superior German army, the rebel army in the city not only did not fight against the enemy with all their strength, but on the contrary, they were killing each other. Even if the German did not attack, it would not be long before their strength would be exhausted in this kind of internal strife. "


    Belinger, who was already in a state of complete absence, asked in a flustered manner after rokosovsky had finished saying, "Comrade marshal, what should we do now?"


    "It needs to be reported to Moscow immediately." After making this important decision, rokosovsky said to belinger, "if we want to save Warsaw, it is not enough to rely on the Polish army alone. We still need the assistance of our troops. What do you think, general Bellinger


    "That''s right, that''s right," belinger replied with a rattle of his head. "We have only a few divisions at present. If we want to occupy Warsaw, our strength is still weak. If we can get the support of Soviet comrades, I think it''s most appropriate."


    When I saw belinger''s reaction, I couldn''t help but feel a little surprised. I said that belinger today is quite different from last night. The arrogant expression when talking with rokosovsky is gone, but more flattering and flattering; Especially when it comes to the question of whether our army''s cooperation is needed, his attitude has made a 180 degree turn. Last night, he didn''t even want any help from a division. At this moment, he would like us to send the whole front army to support them.


    "Our river crossing equipment is limited now." Thinking that most of the river crossing equipment he provided to the Polish army had been destroyed, trakov said with a bitter look: "it''s very difficult to transport infantry and military materials, not to mention technical equipment such as tanks and artillery across the river."


    "Don''t worry, general trakov." Belinger probably thought that his troops had almost ruined the river crossing equipment provided by trakov. He was a little embarrassed, so he took the initiative to pat his chest and promised, "I will immediately transfer the first brigade of captain lyubanski''s engineers to build a floating bridge on the visva river."


    "It''s hard to use a floating bridge." Trekov shook his head and said: "in order to prevent our army from crossing the river, the German army bombed all the bridges on the river. In addition to shelling the visva river continuously, it also sent planes to patrol the air from time to time. Once it was found that our army had signs of building bridges on the river, it carried out dive bombing on the ground."


    "General prokopovich''s antiaircraft artillery division just arrived in Lublin yesterday." Bellinger said enthusiastically, "after the engineers have built the pontoon on the visva River, I will deploy this antiaircraft artillery division in your defense zone and let them ensure the safety of the pontoon."


    Seeing that belinger showed such sincerity, rokosovsky was deeply afraid of what trakov would say. He quickly stood up, took belinger''s hand, and said enthusiastically, "general belinger, thank you for your generosity. I believe the friendship between the Soviet and polish armies can stand the test of time."


    "Comrade marshal is right." Trakov is also a smart man. Listening to what rokosovsky said, he quickly echoed: "with our joint efforts, we will be able to defeat the most ferocious enemy of mankind, the Communists."


    Several of them chatted for a long time. At last, military commissar zawatsky interjected: "comrades, I think we''d better talk about it again some time. The first thing we need to do now is to appease the soldiers who have just withdrawn from the West Bank of the viswa River and let them know that this defeat is only temporary. We must win the final victory."


    After being reminded by zawatsky, belinger also felt that it was inappropriate for him to stay in trekov''s headquarters, so he got up to say goodbye to us and said to trekov: "general trekov, Polish antiaircraft artillery division and engineering brigade, will arrive at the Bank of the visva River in the shortest time. I hope you can send someone to help them then. "


    "Don''t worry, general Bellinger." Trikov said with a smile, "we are friendly forces. Even if you don''t tell me these little things, I will send someone to help."


    When there were only three of us left in the room, trakov restrained his smile, looked at rokosovsky, and said solemnly, "Comrade marshal, the Polish comrades are here just now. Maybe you have something to say? Now there are only three of us here. Can you tell us something about it? "


    "Comrade trakov, you are right. I did not say something." After taking a sip of the tea cup in front of him, rokosovsky said, "on the 26th and 27th of last month, China signed an agreement with the Polish national liberation Council, which decided to determine the new eastern border of Poland with the" korsong line "drawn by the allies in 1919. In this agreement, it is stipulated that after our army enters Poland''s territory, the supreme power in the belligerent areas shall be in my hands, and the power in the liberated areas shall be vested in the Polish National Liberation Committee, which shall establish a new Polish government and reorganize the Polish army. Comrade Bulganin, military commissar of the front army, is our representative to cooperate with the national liberation Commission of Poland. At the same time, in order to express our utmost sincerity and comfort all sectors of Polish society, on July 27, the Ministry of foreign affairs and people''s Commission of the Soviet Union issued a statement, stressing that our army''s goal is: "to help the Polish people get rid of the shackles of the German aggressors and rebuild a democratic, independent and strong Poland." The statement also pointed out that Poland is regarded as a sovereign country friendly to China, so we do not intend to set up our own institutions in Poland. All Polish affairs should be decided by the Polish people themselves. " After these words, rokosovsky stood up, straightened his cap and said to us, "to liberate Warsaw, it is unrealistic for us to rely on the Polish army, so we should take positive actions to realize our strategic intention. Comrade trakov, you should try to send people to Warsaw to conduct reconnaissance and find out the distribution of German forces in the city and the truth about the internal strife among the rebel forces. "¡° Don''t worry, comrade marshal. " Regarding the order given by rokosovsky, trakov nodded his head and replied, "I will immediately contact major monakov who is active behind the enemy lines and ask him to send people into Warsaw as soon as possible." Listening to trakov''s mention of monakov''s troops landing behind enemy lines, rokosovsky raised his eyebrows and asked, "did they not take part in the Polish Army''s march to Warsaw last night?"¡° I don''t think so, "trekov said, shaking his head." from what I know about monakov, he won''t risk anything until he gets new instructions. "¡° If so, that would be great. " Rokosovsky finished, reached out to shake hands with us one by one, and finally said, "good luck to you!" Then he strode out of the headquarters.

 Chapter 1592

    The failure of the Polish Army''s attack has come to an end for the time being. What we want to study next is where to use Polish engineers to build a floating bridge for tanks and artillery to pass. First of all, trakov expressed his views: "comrades, I think the main purpose of building the bridge should be to strengthen the strength of our army at the landing site of magnusev. Our motorcade should not only transport weapons and ammunition to them, but also transport a large number of tanks and artillery through the pontoon, so that when attacked by the German armored division, our troops can have a stronger counterattack force. "¡° Comrade commander, "general Tkachenko, the engineer''s director, said anxiously, looking sideways at trakov," the group army has only one antiaircraft artillery regiment. They are unable to take on the air defense task of 25 km wide defense line. There is no way to spare forces to strengthen air defense in the river crossing areas. "¡° General Tkachenko, you don''t have to worry about that. " Trakov waved his hand to him and said: "originally, the two Polish colonels only exchanged politely with trakov. When they heard that they might get the title of" Soviet hero "as an exception, they immediately brightened their eyes and said to him in one voice:" Comrade General, please rest assured that we will live up to your trust. " After seeing off several Polish commanders, trakov called the chief of staff and the Minister of logistics to him and said to them, "Colonel lyubanski said that the construction of the pontoon can be completed before dawn. So the task of you two is to get the transport team to the river before daybreak and transport all the weapons and ammunition urgently needed on the other side. If possible, add the tank "yes, Comrade General." Polish captain looked at my epaulets, respectfully replied: "we are a regiment of anti-aircraft artillery division."¡° Are all the antiaircraft guns here? " I continued. The captain shook his head. "There are only battalion one and battalion two, and battalion three''s antiaircraft guns are hidden in other places. As soon as the pontoon is completed, they will be deployed across the river." After thanking the captain, I turned back to trakov and said to him, "Comrade General, it seems that Colonel prokopovich is very considerate. He has put anti-aircraft guns on both sides of the visva river. This kind of air defense effect is the best." When we came to the river, we saw that it was a busy scene. The engineers fixed the wooden boats with steel cables, and then paved them with boards. In order to prevent the floating bridge from moving under the impact of the current, they drilled wooden piles in many areas to fix the load-bearing wooden boats. Seeing that the floating bridge was forming little by little, there was a smile on his face. He turned to me and said, "look, Rita, the soldiers of the engineering brigade are very quick. If there is no accident, the pontoon will be built before dawn. Now let''s go to see the transport teams and see that they are not ready to cross the river. " At daybreak, a floating bridge was laid across the visva river. In the cheers of the soldiers, a woman traffic warden standing at the end of the bridge waved the signal flag in her hand. When they saw the signal that they could pass, the military vehicles full of ammunition and materials that had been waiting on the bank started up one after another. One by one, they drove onto the pontoon and staggered toward the other bank.

 Chapter 1593

    Trekov and I, as well as the war chief bereyavsky, stood on the bell tower of the church, holding up our binoculars and looking at the motorcade passing through the pontoon one after another. Trakov''s face was wearing a smile that could not be disguised. Perhaps he was thinking that the more motorcades crossing the bridge, the more materials he hoarded in the West Bank''s magnushev landing site. After the tank troops passed, he would be able to expand the landing site by adding two divisions.


    He didn''t notice that I was absent-minded. Instead, he said excitedly, "look, Rita, in just an hour, almost a hundred trucks have passed the pontoon. At this rate, when it gets dark, the landing site will be able to store enough materials for at least three months. If we can transfer two more tank brigades, we can double the area of the landing site in the near future. "


    Seeing his optimistic attitude, I didn''t want to pour cold water on him to disappoint him, but in order to keep him from being complacent, I kindly reminded him, "general trakov, this floating bridge we built may not take long to be discovered by German reconnaissance planes, and then the enemy will send bombers to carry out bombing."


    Trekov put down his telescope, turned to look at me and said, "the German army will find out sooner or later about our floating bridge over the visva river. But they are not afraid even if they send out bombers. The Polish anti-aircraft artillery regiment deployed at the ferry can make them come back


    Seeing that trakov was so confident, I said with a bitter smile: "Comrade General, you should know better than me that the Polish Anti-aircraft Artillery Force has just been established. Perhaps the commanders and fighters have performed very well in the training field, but after all, they have never been on the battlefield and have no combat experience. After the emergence of German planes, they can play half of their training level, Well, thank God for that. "


    "It won''t be that serious," trekov said dubiously. "Even if Polish antiaircraft artillery have no combat experience, thirty or forty m1039 type 37mm on both sides of the Strait can fire at the same time, forming a dense fire network above the ferry. As long as the German planes break in, they can''t escape the fate of being shot down."


    "Enemy aircraft!" General bereyavsky, standing beside him, suddenly called out.


    "Where is it?" Trekov and I immediately asked in unison.


    Bereyavsky raised his hand and pointed to the air, and said aloud, "at 11 o''clock, we found an enemy plane."


    I looked in the direction he had directed and found that it was just an unarmed reconnaissance plane coming towards the ferry. After seeing the enemy aircraft in the air, trakov sighed and said easily, "Comrade chief of operations, you are so surprised. This is just a German reconnaissance plane."


    I turned my telescope and looked at the anti-aircraft guns in the two sections of the pontoon. I saw that there were camouflage nets on these air defense positions, which covered dozens of anti-aircraft guns tightly. But without waiting for me to breathe a sigh of relief, I suddenly heard the sound of dense anti-aircraft gun fire.


    "What the hell is going on?" Seeing this situation, trikov almost hit his chin directly on the ground. He raised his hand to his forehead and said with an expression of Agony: "these idiots, the German reconnaissance plane is still a few kilometers away, so they are in a hurry to open fire. Isn''t that exposing the target?"


    I know very well that this kind of 37mm antiaircraft gun is mainly used to attack low altitude aircraft. For high altitude reconnaissance aircraft, the effect is not very good. Moreover, it can fire from such a distance. This round of firing not only wasted high explosive armour piercing ammunition, but also exposed the location of the antiaircraft gun prematurely.


    The German reconnaissance plane flew over the visva River, completely ignoring the anti-aircraft fire on the ground, circled twice in the air, then turned around and headed north.


    Seeing the return of the German reconnaissance plane, I couldn''t help feeling a little worried. I immediately yelled to trakov, "general trakov, please call Colonel prokopovich of the antiaircraft artillery division immediately and ask him to adjust the position of the antiaircraft artillery immediately."


    But trekov just gave me a strange look and said, "don''t worry, Rita. If the German army wants to send bombers to bomb our bridges, it must lower the altitude, and then our anti-aircraft artillery will be able to swat them down like flies. "


    Seeing that trikov trusted the antiaircraft artillery regiment by the river too much, I didn''t talk to him anymore. Instead, I went directly to the corner of the clock tower, picked up the phone on the table and called the headquarters of the front army. After a brief report to rokosovsky, I put forward my own request: "marshal, please send a fighter squadron to patrol the visva river immediately to prevent possible German bombing."


    Listen to me so urgently, rokosovsky realized the seriousness of the problem. After a moment of silence, he replied decisively, "I will contact the air force immediately. The fighter squadron will arrive at the battlefield in half an hour to provide you with the necessary air cover."


    German bombers came faster than I expected. More than a dozen bombers easily crossed the firepower network of Polish antiaircraft artillery regiment and dived down in two ways. All the way to attack the anti-aircraft artillery positions that are firing, and all the way to bomb the floating bridge that is open to traffic.


    One of the enemy planes that bombed the pontoon opened fire on the car moving on the pontoon. The enemy plane''s airborne machine gun sprayed with flame tongue plowed over the bridge, killing the driver in the car on the spot. The out of control car fell into the turbulent visva River, splashing a huge spray.


    Then the second enemy plane behind tried to attack the second car, but the experienced driver stepped on the brake in time, and the bullet made two huge holes in the bridge deck. After the enemy plane pulled up, the driver stepped on the accelerator and rushed forward, trying to rush down the bridge. Following the dive, the enemy plane did not strafe any more, but dropped two bombs directly. The bomb went over the bridge and landed in the water. It exploded, setting off two jets of water. The two engineers standing on the wooden boat were also thrown into the water. Then came the enemy plane, either dropped bombs or strafed, destroyed several cars running on the bridge, and the burning vehicles blocked the vehicles behind. The vehicles parked on the bridge immediately became the targets of German attack. Little effort, nearly a kilometer of bridge deck, full of burning vehicles, drivers have jumped into the river to escape. In addition to the German attack on the pontoon, the anti-aircraft artillery positions on both sides of the Strait were also heavily bombed by the German army. Although the soldiers of the Polish army were extremely tenacious, due to their lack of combat experience, the anti-aircraft guns on the positions were constantly destroyed by the German bombs, and the soldiers fell into a pool of blood one by one, but they didn''t even fight an enemy plane. With the loss of more and more anti-aircraft guns, the artillery fire on the air defense position becomes sparse. In the face of the enemy planes that dive, drop bombs and strafe from time to time, the living artillery still stick to their posts and bravely fight the last battle. I saw an enemy plane turn around and fly towards the church. I cried out in a hurry: "no, the enemy is coming towards us. Move quickly." At the moment, trikov finally followed the good example and ran out of the church with me towards the bomb shelter. But as soon as our party rushed into the bomb shelter, there was a shaking explosion behind us. Turning around, we saw that the church we had just escaped had collapsed because it was directly hit by the bomb¡° Deputy commander comrade, "seeing this scene, bereyavsky said happily," fortunately you told us to move in time, otherwise we would be buried in the ruins now. " I didn''t speak. I just gave him a faint smile. My heart said that the church is on the hillside, and you can see the area with a radius of more than ten kilometers. At the same time, it''s also the most eye-catching target. It''s strange that the German found it and didn''t get bombed. I looked up in the air and thought to myself: why haven''t our fighters arrived at the battlefield yet? Ten minutes later, our fighter finally arrived late. Although the number of fighters dispatched is far more than that of rokosovsky''s commitment, at least two brigades, they are still late. At the moment, the direction of the visva river is full of fire and smoke. After the fighters arrived over the visva River, they started a dogfight with the German bombers, successfully shot down three and injured two. The remaining enemy planes quickly dropped the bombs and fled the battlefield. When the three of us drove past the anti-aircraft gun position, we found that it had already become a piece of scorched earth, with craters all over it, and there was a strong smell of blood in the smoke in the air. The surviving artillery soldiers are trying to collect the bodies of their dead comrades and put them neatly on a flat open ground. When we came to the river, we found that the situation here was even worse. There were vehicles destroyed by enemy planes and the remains of soldiers all over the bank. The floating bridge across the viswa river is now only 30 to 40 meters away on both sides of the river. The rest of the bridge has disappeared. I don''t know whether it sank in the river or was washed away by the rapid water. Trikov looked at all this without expression and murmured, "the Germans owe us another blood debt. Sooner or later, we will ask them to pay back."¡° Two hours, "bereyavsky continued," our pontoon was only used for two hours, and it was destroyed by the German army. If you give us just one more hour, we can get at least one tank brigade across¡° Comrades in charge of operations, "I heard bereyavsky say so, and immediately pointed to the burning vehicles on the shore and said to him," don''t forget that our tanks have no air defense capability. Once they are attacked by enemy planes when they cross the bridge, they can only sit and wait for death. In that way, our losses will be even greater. "

 Chapter 1594

    Half an hour later, we held an interim meeting at the headquarters of trakov to discuss how to rebuild the pontoon as soon as possible so as to continue to deliver supplies and soldiers to the other side.


    The appearance of lyubanski surprised all of us. He didn''t wear a military cap, his forehead was wrapped in thick bandages, and his right hand was hanging in front of his chest.


    Seeing his tragedy, I immediately asked, "Comrade Colonel, how can you do this?"


    He grinned at me, then pretended to reply easily: "when the enemy plane bombed, I happened to take a few soldiers to inspect the West Bank. A shell landed near me and exploded, which knocked me unconscious. When I woke up, I saw the health staff dressing my wound." At this point, his expression suddenly became serious, "however, those soldiers were sacrificed."


    After calling lyubanski to sit down, trakov asked Vladimirov, "chief of staff, why hasn''t Colonel prokopovich arrived yet?"


    "Report to Comrade commander, I have informed him that he should be on his way now."


    When Colonel prokopovich appeared, all of us focused on him and looked at him up and down. After all, the air defense regiment deployed near the ferry was the unit that suffered the most serious losses in the bombing. We were deeply afraid that prokopovich would also be injured like lyubanski. However, how to observe, there is no sign that he was injured. Maybe when the enemy planes bombed, he was not near the pontoon at all.


    After the meeting, trakov first asked prokopovich, "Comrade Colonel, what happened to the air defense regiment deployed at the ferry? Can we continue to take on the task of defending the pontoon? "


    "Comrade General," prokopovich immediately stood up when he heard the question from trakov and said with a stern expression, "it may disappoint you. In today''s battle, 21 anti-aircraft guns of my air defense regiment were damaged, and more than half of the troops were injured and killed, including almost all the commanders at all levels. Only by transferring another air defense regiment can we shoulder the task of protecting the transport line. "


    Without waiting for trakov to speak, lyubanski broke in and said, "Comrade General, I need to remind you that due to the serious loss of our bridge building equipment in today''s air raid, we may not be able to build a new floating bridge on the river in a short time."


    "No bridge in the short term?" Trekov frowned and asked, "Comrade Colonel, when will you be able to build a new pontoon over the visva river?"


    Liubansky shrugged his shoulders and said rather reluctantly, "it depends on the speed of replenishment."


    It''s hard to make a living without rice. Since the engineering brigade doesn''t have enough equipment to build bridges, and the supplies provided by our superiors can''t be in place at once, the matter of rebuilding the floating bridge can only be settled here.


    At the end of the meeting, trakov said to me with a sad face, "Rita, what should we do? If the pontoon is blown up and there are not enough ships, let alone transport the soldiers and technical equipment to the other side, even the supply of troops at the landing site will soon become a problem. "


    "Today, more than 100 trucks have crossed the pontoon?" I comforted trakov and said, "these supplies are enough to sustain the troops on the landing site for a period of time,..."


    Before I had finished, the chief scout, Colonel Gelman, rushed in. He came to trakov, handed over some papers, and said with great emotion, "Comrade commander, this is a telegram from major monakov."


    "The telegram from monakov," trekov casually took the telegram from Gelman. As he was about to say something, he was shocked. He immediately looked up at the other party and asked nervously, "what did you just say, the telegram from monakov?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." Gelman nodded and said with a smile, "the major has successfully completed the task of destroying the Kaminsky brigade."


    When I heard this, I couldn''t hold my breath and asked, "Comrade Colonel, have the Kaminsky brigade been destroyed by monakov? What''s the matter? In the latest report, didn''t they turn to the north of Warsaw? "


    "Well, comrade deputy commander." Gelman was also a man with a good eye. Seeing that trakov was looking down at the telegram, and anxious to know the specific situation, I took the initiative to introduce myself: "major monakov, they went to a camp in the northwest of Warsaw and unexpectedly found a group of people wearing German uniforms here. In order not to engage in unnecessary fighting with these Germans, the major ordered the troops to stay in the nearby forest for a while, and then enter the village after the enemy left.


    As a result, when it was dark, there was no sign that the army was leaving. So the major sent his men to carry out reconnaissance. Only then did he find that many of the troops staying in the village were still wearing our army''s uniform. They arrested a prisoner for interrogation and knew that this was a battalion of Kaminsky brigade. After receiving the report from the scouts, major monakov began to think about how to deal with the enemy. This is the enemy''s rear area, even if our army is more powerful than the enemy. But once the battle starts and cannot be ended in a short time, there is a risk of falling into the encirclement of the German army. "


    When I heard this, I couldn''t help interrupting and asking, "how did major monakov destroy the Kaminsky brigade?"


    "It''s a coincidence that major monakov was going to attack the village himself when he saw a German car passing by outside the forest. They pretended to be members of the Kaminsky brigade, stopped the car by taking the lane and arrested an officer and two soldiers. After interrogation, we know that they are going to send a letter to Kaminski in the village. " "Major monakov searched the officer''s briefcase and found two documents in it. One is the warrant to transfer the Kaminsky brigade out of Warsaw, and the other is the warrant to arrest Kaminsky. "¡° What, the arrest warrant for Kaminski? " Gelman''s story was a bit too strange for me to hear. I was puzzled and asked, "why arrest Kaminski when the German wanted to transfer his troops out of Warsaw?"¡° That''s right, "Gelman explained to me." according to the result of major monakov''s interrogation of the Germans, it was because the Kaminsky brigade robbed civilians and killed innocent people indiscriminately near Warsaw. It was already an outrage. The poles, who were ready to surrender to the German army, suddenly showed great fighting power like chicken blood. At the same time, they executed a large number of captured German officers and soldiers in revenge for the malice of Kaminsky brigade. It was under such circumstances that general Bach of the SS made the decision to get rid of Kaminski. " When Gelman said this, I quickly raised my hand to stop him, and then according to my guess, I said, "Comrade Colonel, will major monakov send out German messengers to the headquarters to detain Kaminsky, and at the same time disarm the officers and men of Kaminsky brigade?"¡° Yes, comrade deputy commander, your guess is absolutely correct. " When Gelman listened to me, he looked surprised. "It''s true." At the same time, trikov finished reading all the telegrams. He put them on the table, looked up at me and said, "Rita, major monakov asked us in the telegram what to do with the captured officers and soldiers of the Kaminsky brigade."¡° Comrade general, "after hearing this question from trakov, I answered without hesitation," when the major accepted the task, I did not tell him that all the officers and men of the Kaminsky brigade were traitors to our motherland and committed unforgivable crimes on our territory. Once they were captured and executed, we would never accept their surrender. " "But after all, there are more than 300 prisoners who have laid down their weapons. Do you really want to kill them all?" Gelman asked¡° Comrade Colonel, let me tell you something Before I restated my point of view, trakov said: "after the 70th army captured Brest fort, two regimental officers went to the fort to check the battle traces of the garrison in that year. As a result, they were killed by several soldiers of Kaminsky brigade. After hearing the gunfire, the soldiers quickly captured these soldiers. Although the commanders who came along claimed that they would take the prisoners to the military court to receive the due trial, our soldiers ignored their commanders and directly killed all the prisoners with bayonets. If we let go of these hundreds of prisoners and bring them back here, what do you think our soldiers will do? Will they be sent to the prison camp, or will they all be shot on the spot? " To this question of trekov, Gelman hesitated for a long time before answering: "Comrade commander, I think our soldiers will make their own decisions and kill all these prisoners."¡° Colonel, since you know that even if you bring the prisoners back, they will be killed by our soldiers, why do you have to do more? " Trekov waved his hand to Gelman and said, "you should immediately send a telegram to major monakov and ask them to get rid of Kaminsky and the captives, and then lead the troops back as soon as possible."¡° Comrade commander, the order from the higher authorities is to destroy the Kaminsky brigade. " Gelman carefully reminded trakov: "now that only more than 300 people have been eliminated, what should we do with the remaining more than 1000 enemies?"¡° Why are you so stupid. " Trakov looked at Gelman standing in a daze in front of him, and said angrily: "since the Germans want to arrest Kaminsky, they just don''t think his dog has any use value. As long as he dies, I don''t think the Germans will allow this army to continue to exist. It is entirely possible to demobilize the remaining soldiers, or separate them into other forces. "¡° I understand, comrade commander. I understand all this. " When Gelman found out what trakov meant, he immediately said, "I''m going to send a telegram to the major and ask him to lead the troops back as soon as possible."

 Chapter 1595

    I spent a day in trekov''s headquarters, and it was dark before I got back to my place.


    I took off my boots and lay down on the bed. I closed my eyes and thought about what happened today. I felt like I was dreaming. First, Polish engineers set up a floating bridge across the East and West banks of the visva river at dawn. Only two hours later, the floating bridge was bombed by German planes. Our army and Polish army paid a huge price.


    Just as everyone looked depressed, they unexpectedly received information from major monakov from behind the enemy that his troops had successfully captured Kaminsky and captured a battalion of soldiers


    I turned over and reached under the pillow. It seemed that there was something under it. I quickly sat up, opened the pillow and saw a letter on the sheet. The envelope was blank with nothing on it.


    I picked up the envelope, pulled out the letterhead and looked at it carefully. It''s very simple: "Rita, I''d like to have a chat with you alone. If you like, walk south of the town after you come out of the house. At the end of the street, you''ll see a drunkard with a bottle. If you ask him if he''s drinking whiskey, he''ll bring you to see me." The signature is "an old friend."


    When I saw the contents on the letter, I could not help but frown. I said that it was a letter left by some boring person who could enter my room so smoothly. It seems that the security work here is not very good.


    I picked up the letter paper again to see if I could find more clues, and found a few small lines below: "note, you must come to meet me in person, and you must come alone. If it is to send someone else to replace you, or to accompany you, then the drunkard will ignore you. "


    The following notes have greatly aroused my interest. I thought to myself, is this a boring joke, or does someone really want to see me in private? Should I really go alone, as he suggested? Will there be any traps waiting for me?


    This mysterious person''s letter made me uneasy. I walked back and forth in the room with my hands behind my back, thinking about what I should do, whether to ignore or go on a date alone? I finally stopped to talk to someone, but when I grabbed the doorknob, I stopped again. I asked myself in my heart, who can I talk to about it? It is obviously impossible for rokosovsky to be too far apart; Trakov is quite close, but when he knows about it, he may send a company to protect me, so that I have no chance to see what he wrote to me.


    I hesitated for a long time and finally decided to go to the meeting alone. Because I couldn''t figure out the details of the other side, I carefully checked the pistol, and specially brought two more clips, thinking that even if there was any conspiracy, I would be able to kill a way out.


    When I left my residence, the soldiers on guard outside raised their hands to salute me. Standing on the empty street, I was suddenly awakened by the cold night wind. I could not help feeling a trace of regret for my reckless behavior. At that moment, I even wanted to turn around and go back to my room, but in the end, I wanted to meet the mysterious man and walk south of the town again.


    I walked down the street all the way to the south entrance of the town, but I didn''t see anyone except a five person patrol I met on the road. Just when I wanted to get angry, I suddenly heard someone coughing in the corner beside me. I reached out and pulled out my pistol, aimed at the direction of the sound and asked warily, "who, who is there?"


    "Girl, do you want to drink?" There was a murmur in the dark.


    Although I guessed that this might be the drunkard who wanted to show me the way, I kept enough vigilance, holding the pistol in both hands, and slowly approached him. When I saw the drunkard sitting in the corner, I found that he really had a bottle in his hand, so I tentatively asked, "are you drinking whisky?"


    "You''re here at last," the other party suddenly said clearly to me, "come with me. I''ll take you to meet someone you know." With that, he stood up abruptly, turned around and walked forward, and I quickly followed.


    He took me into an alley, made a few turns, and finally came to a house with a closed door. He stopped, turned to me and said, "here it is. Here it is." He opened the door, went in, came to the middle of the room in the dark, struck a match and lit a candle on the wooden table.


    He turned to me and said, "don''t stand at the door. Please come in. Don''t worry. You''ll be safe here. "


    Listen to him say so, I slowly walked into the room, backhand closed the door, carefully asked: "where is this, the people who want to see me, and where?"


    "Sit down, Rita." The man sat down on one side of the table, pointed to the empty seat opposite him, and politely said, "if you don''t mind, you can always hold a pistol."


    I saw that the other party noticed that I had been holding a pistol in my hand, so I chuckled and sat down on the empty seat of his finger. Then I asked impolitely, "are we old friends?"


    "That''s right, Rita." The man called my nickname again and helped me remember, "we fought shoulder to shoulder in Himki, don''t you remember?"


    "Himki?" When he said that, I frowned and looked at each other carefully with the help of the faint candle light, trying to think about who I had fought with in this small town north of Moscow. But after thinking for a long time, I still had no clue, so I had to shake my head and said regretfully, "I''m sorry, I really can''t remember where I met you."¡° Well, it seems that you have really forgotten me. " The other side shook his head and said with regret: "I''d like to introduce myself. I''m bunyachenko, acting division commander of the 289th tank division..." "it''s you, comrade colonel." As soon as he finished his name, I immediately remembered who he was. I quickly put the pistol on the table, reached out and shook hands with him. At the same time, I enthusiastically asked, "when we took part in the offensive battle, the tank you drove was blown over by German shells. Although I sent a lot of soldiers to look for you, there was no whereabouts of you. I thought you..." "thought I had died, Is that right? " After nodding his approval, he continued: "in fact, I was injured and captured at that time. For so many years, I have been detained in the German prison camp."¡° When did you escape? " When I said this, I thought to myself that maybe he was worried that his experience in the German prison camp would cause him trouble, so he asked me to meet him to help him clean up his grievances. Unexpectedly, after hearing this, he shook his head and said, "I didn''t escape, but the Germans let me out."¡° What, you were released by the Germans? " I grabbed the pistol I put on the table, aimed at him and asked, "tell me, what''s the purpose of your coming this time?"¡° Rita, I''ve ventured to meet you for two purposes Buniachenko said cautiously: "first, the Germans are losing and retreating, and there is a shortage of troops on all fronts, so they have come up with a new idea to select prisoners of war in each prisoner''s camp and form a" Russian Liberation Army "to fight against the Soviet Army..." "I know that, ¡±I said lightly, "it''s the anti Soviet puppet army that Vlasov is the commander of. I don''t know what position the Germans have arranged for you in this army? " Hearing what I said, he blushed and said for a long time, "Rita, you don''t know. The reason why I agree to cooperate with the German is just for the sake of saving my life temporarily. In fact, I don''t really want to be an accomplice of the German, but I''m always ready to escape to my own army." Instead of pestering me on this issue, I continued to ask, "tell me more about your second destination."¡° I want to lead the army. Anyway, "buniachenko said with a strong voice," many of my officers and men, like me, don''t want to really work for the Germans. But we often have to face painful choices: either stand on the German side, or be immediately shot on the spot If it was the first two years, maybe I would agree to his request and try to make his troops work anyway. However, after the ups and downs of the military in recent years, I understand that many things are high-voltage lines, so I can''t touch them casually. Therefore, as for his request, I can only reply vaguely: "Colonel buniachenko, I''d like to ask for it for you, but I can''t guarantee what effect it will achieve." My perfunctory words made buniachenko grasp a straw. He took out a stack of square papers from his pocket and handed them to me. He sincerely said to me: "the scale of the Russian Liberation Army is 50000 people. The officers and soldiers are mainly from our prisoners of war and some exiled Russian expatriates. This is the roster of senior commanders. Please pass it on to the superior who can make decisions. " I reached for it, put it in my coat pocket, and said, "well, Colonel buniachenko, I''ll do my best to help you with this. If I get an answer, how can I get in touch with you? " Buniachenko obviously trusted me and said to me, "I''m going to stay in town for three days. If you need to find me, you can go to the place where you just met me."¡° Well, I see. " I nodded, got up and went to the door. My hand seized the door handle, and without looking back, I said, "if there is any latest news, I will contact you in time." Then I opened the door and went out.

 Chapter 1596

    On the way to my residence, I met a huge patrol. There were about 40 people walking in front of me. I stopped and stood by the side of the road, looking at the approaching patrol. I had a fierce ideological struggle in my heart: Although bunyachenko and I used to fight side by side against the Communist aggressors, he is now the commander of the "Russian Liberation Army", our enemy and the running dog of the German. Do I need to take people to arrest him immediately?


    "Hello, who''s there?" Before I make the final decision, someone in the opposite Patrol has yelled: "stay where you are


    A few people came out of the line. The officer at the front of the line also flashed a flashlight at me. When I saw my badge clearly, the flashlight went out. Then I heard the sound of heel collision. The man who just spoke said in a panic: "Hello, comrade deputy commander of the front army, I didn''t know it was you. I''m captain of the patrol, Lieutenant danik. I''m following your instructions! "


    "Comrade lieutenant, I''m just passing by. I have nothing to tell you." I waved to lieutenant danik with a smile and said casually, "go on patrol!"


    "Comrade deputy commander," dannick asked me respectfully, "for your safety, I''d better send two soldiers to escort you back."


    "No, I''ll go a little further and get there." I politely refused danik''s kindness: "Lieutenant, you''d better take the soldiers to continue to patrol."


    Seeing that I refused his kindness, danique didn''t ask. After raising his hand to salute, he turned to the patrol standing on one side and yelled in a long tone: "all listen to my command, stand at attention ~ ~! Let''s go


    Watching the patrol go away, I stood in the same place for a while, and finally decided not to move buniachenko for the time being. But this matter is very important. I have to discuss with rokosovsky to see how he is going to deal with it.


    When I got back to my residence, I saw the two soldiers standing guard at the door. I went to the soldier on the right, stopped and asked him, "Comrade soldier, after I left, did anyone look for me?"


    "No, comrade deputy commander," the soldier replied positively, shaking his head, "no one is looking for you!"


    I nodded and then asked, "do you know where I can make a phone call?"


    "There''s a phone in the duty room in the building." After the soldier said that, he may feel that he did not speak in detail enough, and hastily added: "you can talk to the headquarters of the group army."


    I entered the building, went into the duty room near the door, nodded to the officer on duty, then grabbed the phone on the desk and dialed a number. After hearing the voice of the operator, I gave a direct command: "I''m general oshanina, connect me with the headquarters of the group army, find trikov!"


    After a while, trakov''s voice came out of the receiver. He asked curiously, "Rita, are you calling me at this time? Is there anything important?"


    "Yes, general trakov." I said briefly, "I have something urgent to go back to the headquarters of the front army. Please arrange a car for me immediately."


    "Now back to Lublin, is there something important?" Trekov asked in some surprise.


    "Yes, something happened, so I need to get back to headquarters immediately." Because this matter is very important, so I didn''t tell him the truth, just urged him: "please send me a car as soon as possible!"


    "I see." After hearing that I didn''t explain to him what it was, he just urged him to send a car and immediately replied, "the car will arrive at your residence in five minutes!"


    Trekov sent two jeeps and five guards to escort me back to Lublin.


    Although it was late at night, when I arrived at the headquarters of the front army, I found that rokosovsky and malining were still in the headquarters, and there were several signalmen and staff officers on duty in the corner. To see me suddenly appear in the headquarters, rokosovsky''s face showed a surprised expression: "Rita, how did you come back?"


    I didn''t care to greet him, so I said in a hurry, "marshal, I''m in a hurry to come back to see you because something urgent happened."


    "Something urgent?" When rokosovsky heard me say this, his eyebrows immediately turned into a knot in one''s heart, and he asked seriously, "what''s the matter, Rita? Is it true that the German army has attacked trakov''s residence


    It was said that the camp was not attacked by the German army. The expression on rokosovsky''s face suddenly became relaxed. He leaned back and asked with a smile, "Rita, since it was not the camp of trakov that was attacked, what else should you be so alarmed?"


    "Although the enemy bombed the floating bridge on the visva River in the daytime, it was normal. The Germans would not be reconciled to their defeat and would try every means to prevent our army from advancing to their defense. You don''t have to worry too much, "malining said with a smile." besides, it''s not without good news. The troops behind the enemy have successfully killed Kaminsky and completed the task we told them. "


    "Marshal, chief of staff, what I want to say has nothing to do with general trakov." I told them what I had seen with buniachenko today, and finally asked, "what do you say I should do?"


    After my words, their smiles froze on their faces, and the whole room fell into silence. Rokosovsky stood up abruptly. Because he got up too hard, he knocked down all the chairs he was sitting on. Malining, who was next to him, bent over to help him.


    Rokosovsky pointed at me, a look of hate iron not steel, angrily said: "Rita, what do you want me to say about you? Don''t forget your present identity. You are the deputy commander of the front army, not the former commander of the guard division. Who gave you the right to go to see people of unknown origin without even a guard in the middle of the night? Do you know what a great loss it would be to our army if there were any good or bad? "


    Although rokosovsky was furious with me, I didn''t hear him express any personal views on whether he should accept buniachenko anyway from his words. From the perspective of caring for my personal safety, I criticized that I shouldn''t not even say hello and secretly meet a person of unknown origin.


    After roaring for a long time, rokosovsky finally calmed down. Just when I wanted to explain something to him, Bulganin came in from the outside. He took off his military cap, hung it on the coat rack, looked at us and asked curiously, "I was just outside. It seems that I heard the marshal lose his temper. What''s the matter?"


    "Comrade Bulganin, it''s very nice of you to come here. Here''s the thing..." rokosovsky repeated what I said to bulginin. Finally, he said angrily, "I was just criticizing her for not daring to take risks!"


    When rokosovsky told Bulganin the whole story, I was ready to accept criticism. Who knows, the expression on Bulganin''s face immediately changed after hearing this. He turned his head to look at the staff officers and signalmen who were secretly looking at us, and said, "you should avoid first."


    When there were only four of us left in the room, Bulganin slapped the table, pointed at me like rokosovsky, and said sadly, "Rita, you are so confused! Do you know that you are cooperating with the enemy? If someone pokes this up, the consequences will be unimaginable. "


    These words of Bulganin startled me. The charge of complicity is too big for me to bear. So as soon as he finished speaking, I immediately argued: "Comrade military commissar, I also want to carry out counter insurgency, which can effectively weaken the enemy''s strength."


    "Rita, I know that during the war of Stalingrad''s defense, you successfully rebelled against several German" Eastern battalions. ". Under the circumstances at that time, your practice was undoubtedly correct, weakening the enemy and strengthening the strength of our army. However, "when I heard Bulganin agree with my previous practice, I was still a little complacent. But when I heard him say" but ", I felt that things were not good. I just heard him continue to say:" at present, our army is winning day by day, and * * Germany has reached a precarious situation, even if they have organized a "Russian Liberation Army" now, It can''t save them from failure. I don''t think it''s meaningful to instigate such a puppet army at such a time. We only need to send out two divisions to bring them down. "


    I agree with Bulganin''s statement that 50000 people will be defeated by two divisions. Although there are a large number of prisoners of war in the "Russian Liberation Army", they still need a long period of running in to form effective combat effectiveness because they come from different prison camps. They are certainly not the opponents of our experienced commanders and fighters. But I can''t agree with the saying that they have no value for treason.


    Therefore, after pausing for a moment, I once again expounded my point of view: "Comrade military commissar, I think it is very necessary to instigate a rebellion against such forces. Although Germany has only set up an army of 50000 people, maybe in the future they will send people from various prison camps to set up an army of 100000, 200000 or even more than 500000 people to fight against us. We will at least use one front army to pay them. In this way, the Germans succeeded in achieving the goal of delaying and consuming our army and winning them breathing space. "


    After my words, no matter rokosovsky or malining, they did not express their own opinions. Instead, they turned their eyes to Bulganin and wanted to hear what he said.


    "An army of half a million?" After repeating the figure, Bulganin said with a sneer, "Rita, you really look down on the Germans. Do you think they can organize an army of more than 500000 prisoners of war?"


    Instead of arguing with Bulganin on the specific number of puppet troops, I took out the list of officers given by buniachenko, put it on the table and pushed it over to him: "Comrade military commissar, this is the officer''s order given by buniachenko to me. You may as well see how many prisoners of war will be lured into their ranks if these people take office."


    Bulganin picked up the list suspiciously and looked at it carefully, while rokosovsky and malining also came to look at it. Malining also read softly: "the Deputy commander-in-chief is major general truchin, former director of operations of the Baltic coastal military region. The war minister was former Soviet Colonel nerianin Also serving as Vlasov''s assistant are major general manashkin, former chief of staff of the 19th group army of the Soviet army, former senior official of Moscow district, member of the Military Commission and brigade political commissar of the 32nd group army, former major general zagutna, former commander of the 21th infantry army, and former brigadier general blagovitzinski of the Soviet army. "


    After reading this list of officers, the three looked at each other, and their faces were very serious. Finally, marinin took the lead in saying, "comrades commander, I think this matter has gone beyond our scope of authority. How to reply to Colonel buniachenko who is ready to surrender to us? I think we should ask the supreme command for instructions."¡° What can I ask for instruction? " Bulganin said impatiently: "I think the Supreme Commander himself means to strike these traitors of the motherland mercilessly and wipe them out mentally and physically." Rokosovsky thought about it for a while, and then expressed his opinion: "I think it''s better to report it to the supreme command. They have special access to information. Even if we don''t report it, they will know sooner or later, and then we will be passive."¡° "Well," Bulganin echoed when he heard what rokosovsky said, "we''ll call Comrade Stalin and report this to him."¡° "No, no," heard Bulganin say, malining quickly put forward his own objection: "I think it''s more appropriate to report to Comrade belia first and let him convey it to the Supreme Commander himself." When we reached an agreement to report the matter to belia, a new question came up. Who is better to report? I wanted to volunteer, but considering that I was the client, I closed my mouth and looked at the three people in front of me to see who was the best candidate. Finally, rokosovsky sighed, stood up and said, "I am the top commander of the front army. I think it is most appropriate for me to report this matter to the higher authorities." After that, he went to the high-frequency phone, picked up the headset and stuck it to his ear. After dialing the number, he said calmly, "I''m rokosovsky. Please connect me with the Kremlin and find Comrade Beria!"

 Chapter 1597

    Although the phone was connected in just one or two minutes, it seemed to me that it was as long as a month. Rokosovsky pressed the earphone tightly to his ear and said to the microphone, "Comrade belia, I have an important matter to report to you immediately."


    Without greeting or any prologue, rokosovsky directly introduced the situation to belia at the other end of the telephone line. I heard him finally say: "Comrade belia, this is the situation. Do you think you can report to Stalin at the right time?"


    I didn''t hear what the other party said because of the distance. But seeing rokosovsky''s face turning blue and purple, I still guessed that belia must have said something bad.


    Rokosovsky removed the earphone from his ear, slowly put it on the base of the phone, picked up the cigarette case on the table, pulled out one and lit it, then went back to the conference table and sat down.


    All three of us watched him nervously to see what he would say next.


    Rokosovsky looked at Bulganin and malining on the left and right, and said: "Comrade belia said that he would report this matter to Comrade Stalin at the right time."


    Seeing that rokosovsky talked to the other two leaders of the front army first, he intentionally or unintentionally ignored me. His reaction made me feel ominous. Did the meeting between myself and buniachenko really cause great disaster?


    "Rita," rokosovsky said solemnly, putting out his cigarette in the ashtray in front of him and looking up at me, "you don''t have to go to trakov any more recently. I''m going to arrange another job for you."


    "It''s over," I said to myself in my heart. "Rokosovsky''s saying that is tantamount to idling me. He may not even know what will happen next."


    I tried to cover up my confusion and asked calmly, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know what kind of work you are going to arrange for me?"


    "It''s like this," rokosovsky said absentmindedly. "In a series of battles of our front army, the troops paid huge casualties. If conditions permit, most of the wounded were sent to the military hospital in the rear, but there are still a large number of wounded in the field hospital in the front. At present, our medical staff are seriously understaffed... "


    When I heard this, my heart sank suddenly, saying that although I didn''t ask for instructions from my superiors before I went to see buniachenko in private, it was wrong of me, but the starting point was good. Will rokosovsky wipe me to the end because of this, and directly demote me from deputy commander of the front army to health officer?


    I did not wait for rokosovsky to finish, then tentatively asked: "marshal, are you going to let me go to the field hospital to be a health worker?"


    "I want you to be a health worker? How is that possible? " When rokosovsky heard what I said, he immediately widened his eyes, looked at me with incredible eyes and said, "how can I let the deputy commander of the front army go to the small field hospital to be an ordinary health worker?"


    Hearing that I was not asked to be a health worker, I was relieved, and then asked, "what kind of work do you plan to arrange for me?"


    "We recruited a group of female soldiers from the rear and set up a health company. After a simple training, we are going to assign these female soldiers to various field hospitals to serve as health officers." "Your task is to assist the company''s commanders, manage and train these women soldiers," rokosovsky said without expression


    "I see, comrade marshal." Although I was assigned a job by rokosovsky, I knew that he did it to protect me, so I readily agreed: "I will report tomorrow."


    Just when rokosovsky explained to me some precautions of the women''s health company, the high-frequency telephone on the desk in the distance rang without warning. He turned his head and looked over there. As soon as he was leaning forward, Bulganin got up first and said to him, "marshal, maybe it''s Moscow. I''ll take it."


    Rokosovsky nodded, gestured to Bulganin that he could answer the phone, and then sat back in his chair.


    Bulganin went to his desk, picked up the earphone, stuck it to his ear and said aloud, "I''m Bulganin. Where are you?" After listening to what the other party said, he quickly covered the phone and whispered to us, "it''s comrade Stalin."


    When I heard that Stalin was calling, I felt numb on my scalp. A chill ran up my back. The chill quickly spread to my whole body. I didn''t have much time to wrap my whole body.


    My brain was blank, looking at Bulganin who was talking to Stalin in the distance. I just saw his lips moving. I didn''t hear what he said.


    "Rita, Rita." In the end, malining came up to me and grabbed my arm. After shaking it hard, I barely woke up. He asked me in a loud voice, "what are you thinking? Marshal called you several times, but you didn''t hear it."


    "Oh, comrade marshal is calling me." Although my mouth said so, my eyes were still fixed on Bulganin, who had just come by, and asked in a trance: "marshal, what instructions do you have?" When I said this, I was complaining in my heart. I thought that when I conquered Berlin, I would have a chance to become a wartime marshal, and I could be a general at worst. But at the moment, everything seems to be over. Whether I can keep my rank now is a question. Rokosovsky saw that I was out of my mind and said to Bulganin, "Comrade military commissar, tell us what Comrade Stalin said on the phone." Bulganin looked at me with a smile, and then said, "marshal, the Supreme Commander himself very much agrees with your arrangement. He is going to let Rita take charge of the women''s health company for a period of time." Rokosovsky nodded and then asked, "did you say anything else?"¡° Of course, "said Bulganin, nodding his head and affirming," but he''s going to let me give it to Rita myself. "¡° The Supreme Commander himself has something to say to me? " After listening to Bulganin''s words, I felt that there was still room for things to turn around. A new hope lit up in my heart. I couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade military commissar, please tell me quickly. What does Comrade Stalin want you to convey to me?"¡° He asked me to tell you: about buniachenko, he will send someone to deal with it overnight, so don''t meddle in your business. " Bulganin looked at me and said flatly: "during this period, you are in charge of the management of the women''s health company. After they are assigned to the field hospitals, you go to the 47th and 70th group armies to coordinate the operations of the two groups, and find the right fighters to attack the German Army on the East Bank of the viswa river." After Bulganin''s words, not only I was relieved, but also rokosovsky and malining were relieved. Because we all know in our hearts: Stalin himself said that he wanted me to go to the health company just to punish me a little and let me have a long memory, so as not to make similar mistakes in the future. It is important for me to go to the 47th and 70th group armies, because they are now deployed in the northeast of Warsaw. As long as we can defeat the German troops on the East Bank of the visva River, our troops can cross the river smoothly and enter Warsaw from the East.

 Chapter 1598

    The next morning, a car and two guards were sent to take me to the women''s health company in the western suburb of Lublin.


    The base of the health company is a small church, and several soldiers are on guard under the church steps. Seeing that I got off the jeep, a male second lieutenant immediately came up to greet me and raised his hand to salute me. At the same time, he said, "Comrade General, I''m second lieutenant of the women''s health company. I''m following your orders. Please give me instructions!"


    After I raised my hand to return a salute, I looked at the soldiers walking around and found that there were four male soldiers among the six. Then I frowned and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, isn''t this the women''s health company? Why are there so many male soldiers


    The second lieutenant saw my eyes looking at the soldiers on duty, immediately understood the meaning of my question, and quickly explained: "Comrade General, in order to avoid unnecessary harassment of the female soldiers trained here, the superior sent me to bring a class of male soldiers to take charge of the security work here."


    I didn''t ask the women soldiers what kind of harassment they would encounter. I asked myself, "where are the commanders in the company?"


    "I should still be sleeping in it." Replied the second lieutenant.


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was already half past eight, but the female soldiers of the health company were still sleeping. I couldn''t help feeling angry. I told blikai impolitely, "Comrade lieutenant, I''ll wait for them here. You''ll send someone to call them out immediately."


    The second lieutenant nodded, then ran to a woman soldier''s side and gave her a few orders in a low voice. After looking at me in surprise, the woman soldier turned and ran up the steps of the church, opened the huge wooden door and flashed in.


    I walked back and forth by the jeep, waiting patiently for the health company commander to show up. And lieutenant Blick and the two guards who escorted me here stood by and looked at me quietly, not daring to say a word.


    After the church door was reopened, two well-dressed female officers followed the soldier and ran down the steps. They came to my front and back, pulled the hem of their clothes, arranged their caps, and then raised their hands to salute: "Comrade General, Lieutenant Nina, the commander of the women''s health company, has been ordered to report. Please give instructions!"


    "Nina? Ulanova After I saw the two female officers standing in front of me, I was surprised and said, "it''s you


    "Rita, it''s Rita!" After a moment''s hesitation, they immediately cheered and rushed forward to give me a warm hug. At the same time, they said excitedly, "Rita, I didn''t expect to see you here."


    I didn''t expect to meet my former comrades in front of warhoff here. After releasing them, I looked them up and down, and said with a smile, "two years no see, you two are already officers."


    "You''re still good," Nina said enviously, looking at me. "You''re all generals now!"


    Ulannova soon stabilized her mood and asked me what I came for: "Rita, what''s the matter with you coming here today?"


    Of course, I would not tell them that I was sent here. I could only switch the topic and ask, "how about those newly recruited girls? How about management?"


    "Not bad!" Hearing my question, Nina''s face flashed a haze, "these girls are all from school. They are very easy to manage. But... "


    Half way through her words, it stopped abruptly, and I knew there must be something in it. I quickly asked, "Nina, but what? If there''s anything, just say it. I''ll help you. "


    "Can you really help us?" Wulannuova''s eyes brightened, quickly asked: "you know that person''s position is not low, if you help us, not afraid to offend them?"


    I looked at ulannova in front of me and thought that he was almost taken over by the chief of staff of the division in those years, but he survived only with my protection. I didn''t expect that the newly established women''s health company was facing the same problem. Now, in my position, it''s easy to help them in the front army, so I said calmly, "ulanova, please let me know if you are in any trouble. I''ll make the decision for you."


    "Since the women''s health company was stationed here, many officers have come here every night to find our soldiers and let them go out to drink and dance with them." "It''s very difficult for us to stop these officers because of their high positions," she explained to me with an embarrassed face


    It suddenly occurred to me that rokosovsky sent me to manage the women''s health company not to punish me, but to let me deal with these difficult things. I turned my eyes to Nina next to me and asked, "Nina, that''s why you report to your superiors and find a men''s squad to be the guard here?"


    Nina nodded and said, "that''s right, Rita. That''s what we meant. Although the male soldiers have helped the female soldiers to block many unexpected guests since they came here, they still... "


    "But there''s still someone who can''t stop it, right?" I asked preemptively.


    "That''s right," Nina said affirmatively. "There used to be officers of all ranks, from second lieutenant to general. Since the arrival of the men''s squad, the officers at the rank of captain have not come, and there are fewer officers at the rank of school. Only those at the rank of general have not come to us. As you know, our rank is too low to refuse orders from the general. "


    "Come on, Nina, don''t say any more. I''ve got it." I interrupted Nina and called the second lieutenant officer, Brigitte. Facing the three officers of the health company, I said solemnly: "from now on, until the women soldiers are assigned to the field hospital, no matter what level of officers, it is not allowed to take our soldiers away from here. Do you hear me clearly? "


    "But, Comrade General." After turning to look at the two female colleagues next to him, he asked with great misgivings, "if a general comes here in person, I don''t think we can hold them."


    "Comrade lieutenant, I''m authorizing you now that no man is allowed to enter this church unless there is my own warrant, do you understand?"


    "Comrade General, can you tell me your position in the front army?" Burlikai is a serious person. Although I have made my words very clear, he still stubbornly asked: "in this way, when someone tries to break in, I can have the ability to stop him."


    "I''m glad you''re a very dedicated soldier, Lieutenant Blick." After praising burlikai, I went on to show my identity: "I''m the deputy commander of the front army. If anyone tries to break into here by taking advantage of his power, you can record their name, rank and position. I''ll deal with the rest in person."


    "I see, comrade deputy commander of the front army." When I showed my identity, burlikai immediately replied with full confidence, "I will resolutely carry out your order and not let a man enter the church."


    I don''t have the heart to stay here and ask about the details of the health company, because according to my understanding of Nina and ulanova, as long as no one bothers them, they will handle everything properly.


    After saying goodbye to them, I went back to the jeep, sat in the co driver''s seat and told the driver, "drive!"


    The driver side face, politely asked me: "deputy commander comrade, do not know where you are going?"


    "Go to the headquarters of the 70th army." The matter of the health company has come to an end. I think it''s time to go to the combat forces and communicate with the commanders of the two group armies to understand the situation of the enemy and ourselves on the battlefield, so that we can work out an appropriate combat plan.


    After more than three hours of turbulence, I suddenly heard the driver exclaim in surprise: "Comrade deputy commander, look, Brest fortress is here."


    I quickly opened my eyes and looked around the car window. I saw a big red fort on the right side of a big river. I thought Brest fortress was a small-scale fortress, but now I found that from the appearance, it can at least compare with a medium-sized city.


    The driver was deeply afraid that I didn''t know Brest fortress, so he wanted to popularize science to me: "this was Brest city. After the Tsar occupied it, he moved the original city three kilometers to the East in order to build the fortress. After many times of expansion and construction, it has become a huge fortification. It is composed of four independent islands separated by the Bouguer River and the artificial canal. The central castle is located in the center of the whole fortification area. To the southwest of the central fortress is the fortress of jeresport, to the south is the fortress of Warren, and to the north is the fortress of coblin. All the fortresses are surrounded by rivers and connected by bridges.


    When the patriotic war broke out, it was the first place to be attacked by the German army. It is said that our troops resisted here for almost a month, containing a large number of German troops. You see, in front of you is the gate of gilsberg, from which you can enter the fortress


    I saw a long bridge in front of me connecting to the gate of jersborough. I immediately told the driver, "Comrade driver, stop by the bridge. I want to see this heroic fortress."


    The driver stopped at the bridge. I pushed the door open and got off. I looked across the broad Bouguer river at the opposite fort. There are four or five soldiers on guard at the gate of jersborough gate. On the wall behind them are dense craters the size of fists, as if they had been hit by a meteorite shower.


    I stare at the gate of the fortress on the other side of the river in a daze, as if I saw a group of ragged and wounded soldiers walking out of the fortress under the escort of the German army. A German officer stood at the end of the bridge and kept shouting in broken Russian, "Jew, commissar, step out!"


    With the help of two soldiers, fuming political commissar, who was seriously injured, just walked up to the stone bridge. Hearing the officer''s cry, he broke away from the soldiers who helped him, sorted out his army appearance, came to the officer and said, "I am a Jew, political commissar and Party member!"


    After squinting at him for a moment, the German officer waved to the soldiers standing next to him. Immediately, two soldiers set up fuming and dragged him to the wall. When he stood close to the wall, the German soldiers stepped back two steps and started shooting at fuming with their submachine guns in their hands


    When I was thinking about it, I suddenly felt that someone beside me was shaking my arm. At the same time, I was close to my ear and cried out: "Comrade deputy commander!"


    The cry woke me up from my meditation. I turned to look at the driver standing next to me and asked curiously, "Comrade driver, what''s the matter with you?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, look at the other side." The driver pointed to the other side and said with some dissatisfaction: "those sentinels who were on guard at the gate of the fortress actually gave us a new number, saying that we were not allowed to stay here casually. Let''s leave immediately. Do you think I should take a soldier to teach them a lesson? " I looked in the direction of the driver''s forehead, and sure enough, I saw a soldier standing at the end of the bridge, waving red and green flags at us, indicating that we should leave here quickly. Originally, I wanted to go to the fortress to have a look. However, some time ago, two officers of the 70th group army were killed by hidden puppet soldiers when they were inspecting inside, so I beat the drum to withdraw. At the moment, when I saw the soldier on the opposite side sending a signal to let us leave, I pushed the boat along the water and said, "no, I''ve seen everything I need to see anyway, so let''s go." When the driver saw that I was calm, he was kind-hearted and said, "well, comrade deputy commander, since you don''t want to worry about them, forget it this time. Next time I meet these people, I won''t let them off lightly." When I heard that the driver was talking hard, I just gave a faint smile and turned over and walked back to the car. After he sat in his seat again, I urged him: "Comrade driver, drive! If you drive faster, we''ll be able to catch up for lunch at the headquarters of the 70th army. " Our car drove a little further and was stopped by two armored cars coming head-on. An officer came up to us with four soldiers, came to our car and asked, "what part are you from?" I pushed open the car door, leaned out half of my body, looked at the officer and said, "commander comrade, I''m general o''shanina, deputy commander of the front army. I have something to see Lei Ruo Fu, commander of your group army. Can you show me the way?" The officer stood at attention, raised his hand and said respectfully, "Comrade deputy commander, it''s my honor to show you the way." After that, he trotted back to the armored car with the soldiers. Two armored vehicles turned around in front of us and drove down the road to guide us to the headquarters of rerov.

 Chapter 1599

    After the jeep followed the armored car in front of me for some distance, I suddenly thought of something. I raised my hand and patted my forehead. I said with chagrin, "hell, it''s a living thing!"


    "What''s the matter, comrade deputy commander?" The driver sitting next to me was startled when he saw my action. He stepped on the brake in a hurry and said, "what''s the matter?"


    "Nothing!" I waved to the driver and told him, "keep driving!"


    As the jeep continued to move forward, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. Major general leiruofu was indeed the commander of the 70th group army before, but he was transferred to the post of commander of the 28th army of the guards last month. He dealt with him every day some time ago, but he forgot such a big event. I was really confused.


    After arriving at the headquarters of the group army, the officers on duty at the gate, after verifying the identity of my forehead, respectfully said, "Comrade deputy commander, general Popov is in the conference room calling all division commanders to a meeting. Do you want me to be your guide? "


    I nodded to the officer and said politely, "OK, comrade officer, please show me the way ahead."


    I was led by the officer to the door of the conference room. There was a desk beside the door as usual. Behind the desk sat an officer. Seeing my arrival, he quickly stood up and ran out from behind the desk. He raised his hand to salute me and said, "Comrade commander is in a meeting. Do you want me to inform him?"


    "No, I''ll go in myself." After saying this, I said thanks to the officer who led me. Then I went forward, pushed open the closed door and walked in with great strides.


    Just across the door was major general Popov, the new commander of the group army. He saw that someone broke into the conference room without saying hello. He wanted to get angry. When he saw that it was me, he quickly got up from his seat and walked towards me. When I was two or three steps away, he stopped, raised his hand to salute, and reported according to the regulations: "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, the 70th group army is holding a meeting of commanders at division level, please give instructions!"


    I took a quick look inside. The long conference table was full of school officers and even some generals. As Popov came towards me, they got up from their seats and looked at me in unison. I saluted Popov and said politely, "Comrade General, I''m just here to have a look. Please continue!" With that, I turned to the division commanders in front of me, raised my hands and pressed them down, indicating that they would all sit down.


    Popov led me to his position. At the same time, he ordered to a staff officer who was in charge of the minutes of the meeting standing beside him: "bring a chair to the deputy commander!"


    The staff officer rushed to the empty chair against the wall, carried one and put it next to bobosha''s seat.


    "Sit down, comrade deputy commander." Popov said and moved his chair aside to make room for me.


    I sat on the chair that the staff officer had brought for me, looked at Popov and asked, "Comrade General, what were you discussing before I came here?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, this is the situation." Popov politely said to me: "according to the order, our group army will cooperate with the 47th group army in the near future to launch an attack on the German army occupying the East Bank of the visva river. At present, we are discussing how to transport heavy weapons to the other bank of the river."


    "Has the discussion come to an end?" Popov''s words aroused my curiosity. I immediately asked, "I really want to know how you can transport heavy weapons to the other side of the river without enough crossing equipment."


    When Popov heard my question, he turned to look at a general sitting on his left and said with a smile, "Comrade deputy commander, my chief of staff came up with this method. I think it''s better for him to report to you and introduce it more comprehensively."


    The general, who was named by Popov, stood up slowly, nodded to me with a smile, and began to talk about it in detail: "Comrade deputy commander, because the German army bombed all the bridges on the visva River, and our army lacked enough crossing equipment, in order to solve this problem, I decided to use air drop after several days of thinking, To solve the problem of transportation of heavy weapons. "


    "By airdrop?" I was confused by the chief of staff''s words, and I asked, "chief of staff, can you tell me more details, how should we air drop?"


    "It''s very simple. We carried the tanks in transport planes, flew over the visva River, opened the hatch behind and threw the tanks down." "As long as our tanks land successfully, they can fight immediately," said the chief of staff


    "When the tank lands, it can fight immediately." After hearing what the chief of staff said, I couldn''t help nodding with a smile. Just as I was about to praise him, my smile suddenly froze on my face. I looked at him in surprise and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, when our tanks parachuted, where were the tankers? Are they going to jump down to receive the tanks after they have dropped them? "


    "Of course not," the chief of staff said triumphantly, shaking his head and denying my conjecture. "I''m going to let the tank soldiers sit in the tank and parachute with the tank."


    "Shut up As soon as his voice fell, I suddenly slapped the table and stood up, pointed to his nose and angrily scolded: "chief of staff, have you ever considered how much impact the tank has when it lands from high altitude? How much damage will the tank soldiers we are sitting in suffer? "


    "Comrade deputy commander, please don''t get angry." The chief of staff did not immediately explain, but said in a flat tone: "please listen to me explain this matter to you in detail."


    "Go ahead." I wanted to hear how he defended himself, so I sat down again and said angrily, "I want to hear what reasons you have to make such a ridiculous plan."


    In the face of my reproach, the chief of staff was still smiling. He said slowly, "Comrade deputy commander, before the outbreak of the war, I worked in the Department of weapons and equipment. As early as 1935, we carried out similar experiments and achieved success."


    In 1935, the Soviet Union carried out the experiment of man-machine integrated airdrop, which made me feel at a loss for a moment. I didn''t know how to refute the chief of staff, so I had to listen to him patiently.


    "... in order to achieve rapid airdrop, the general equipment department conducted a top secret experiment in 1935." The chief of staff first glanced at the commanders, then solemnly said: "we tied a t-37 Amphibious Reconnaissance tank under a tb-3 heavy bomber, flew close to the water, then airdropped it without parachute, because everyone thought that under the great inertia, the tank would float to the shore."


    It''s the first time I''ve heard of what the chief of staff said, so I asked with great interest, "Comrade chief of staff, don''t you know if the experiment is successful?"


    Hearing my question, the chief of staff gave a wry smile and said, "of course, such a trial experiment can not be successful at one time. We dropped three in a row, and they all went straight to the bottom. Due to underestimation, all three members of the first sunken tank died. "


    I know that since the chief of staff dares to bring this up at such a meeting, the experiment is probably successful. However, in order to know what I was interested in as soon as possible, I kept silent and listened to the chief of staff about what happened next.


    "After we repeatedly studied the reasons for the failure, a comrade suddenly asked whether we could install a paddle shield under the t-37 After installing the paddle shield, and after several experiments, our airdropped tank can finally use the huge inertia to rush from the water to the shore. "


    After listening to the chief of staff''s talk about the airdrop experiment of that year, I immediately identified it in my mind as a brain disabled airdrop method. I don''t care whether this method is applicable to other troops; But in the first front army of Belarus, I will never allow this kind of thing to happen without the lives of tank soldiers.


    After the chief of staff finished speaking, everyone''s eyes focused on me again, and everyone was waiting for me to make a statement. I stood up slowly and said firmly, "comrades, I''m here to make a statement. I absolutely don''t agree with this dangerous way of Airdropping heavy equipment."


    "But, comrade deputy commander." When the chief of staff saw me, he denied his proposal. He could not help saying anxiously, "but at the meeting just now, more than half of the comrades agreed to adopt this tactic."


    "I don''t know who among the commanders here agrees that we should adopt this kind of man-machine integrated airdrop method to airdrop our heavy equipment?" My eyes slowly swept from each commander on the scene: "please raise your hands if you agree!"


    After what I said, I didn''t even raise my hand. When the chief of staff saw this situation, he became more and more anxious. He could only turn his eyes to Popov. Popov thought he couldn''t bear to see his subordinates get shriveled, so he stood up and said to his subordinates all over the table, "comrades commander, please raise your hand if you agree with the proposal of major general Vassili, chief of staff. Even if it''s wrong, we won''t blame everyone. "


    Although Popov came out to support Vassily''s chief of staff, it took quite a long time for several colonels to raise their right hands hesitantly and express their approval for Vassily''s airborne method.


    Seeing that there are some people who support Vassily, I can''t help frowning. I think if I don''t persuade them on this occasion, maybe in the future they will do something to me. It''s a small matter to do man-machine integrated airdrop and scrap a few tanks. If it causes unnecessary casualties for those experienced tank soldiers, it''s not worth the loss.


    I coughed a little, and then said, "comrades, I want to talk about why I oppose the man-machine airdrop plan proposed by chief of staff Vassili. First of all, this idea is too crazy and too advanced. We don''t have the platform and umbrella that can protect the personnel and vehicles;


    Secondly, even with the protection of the umbrella, the huge impact of the tank falling from the air will shock the soldiers sitting in the tank to death;


    Third, even if, to say the least, there is not much risk in airdrop, due to the limitation of the load of transport aircraft, the tanks that we can use for airdrop can only be light tanks with light weight, and the number will not be too many.


    I would like to ask the commanders present here that even if a number of light tanks are successfully airdropped behind enemy lines, as chief of staff Vassili had imagined, our tanks with extremely weak firepower and armor can only be reduced to their targets when facing the German Tiger and leopard tanks. "


    After my words, the whole conference room fell into silence. Vassily sat glum at the table, and the officers who agreed with him also sat in their seats smoking. Finally, Popov came out and said, "well, comrades, since the deputy commander of the front army has said that the method of man-machine integrated airdrop is wrong, then there is no need to discuss this matter. That''s all for today''s meeting. Let''s go back to our respective troops. " When the commanders who attended the meeting were almost gone, and there were only me, Popov and Vasili left in the huge meeting room, I said to Vasili who was in a bad mood: "chief of staff, do you think I didn''t show you any mercy at the meeting just now?"¡° No Although Vassili said no, I know he was still unconvinced. If I am not wrong, he became commander of airborne troops several years later, and solemnly proposed to promote man-machine integrated airdrop in airborne troops, but it did not attract enough attention from the superior. I said to him with a pleasant face: "Comrade chief of staff, if the man-machine integrated airdrop in those years really achieved great success, I think it would have been promoted in the whole army long ago, and it would not be delayed until now."¡° But our experiment did make the airdropped tank rush from the water to the land with the aid of huge inertia. " Vassili said unconvinced: "isn''t such an experimental result a success?"¡° No, "I said decisively in order to dispel his illusion," the airdrop experiment you conducted is just a gamble. Only when the pilot''s luck is good and the airdrop angle is ideal can you achieve the effect you said. And throwing a tank from the air onto land is another matter. If there is no platform for parachute buffer during low airdrop, the tank will fall apart; And when high air drop, even if equipped with parachute, but the specific impact, will also let the soldiers stay in the tank life¡° Comrade deputy commander, if you are only worried that tank members will be hurt in the airdrop, you can do it in another way. " Vassili said unconvinced: "then we can implement the separation of man and machine to carry out the airdrop."¡° This will not work, comrade chief of staff. " I immediately denied his new idea¡° The landing points of tanks and tank soldiers will certainly not be at the same place. After the airborne landing, our tank soldiers will spend a lot of time looking for the landing tanks, which will delay the aircraft. "¡° Is it really impossible to adopt this kind of airdrop method? " Vassily asked reluctantly¡° Yes, comrade chief of staff, this is absolutely impossible. " After finishing this sentence, in order not to continue to hurt his self-esteem, I added: "maybe in a few years'' time, with the development of science and technology, our troops will be able to use the way you say today to carry out airdrop behind enemy lines."

 Chapter 1600

    I lived in the room that Popov had arranged for me, and I didn''t sleep all night. I was deeply aware that the job Stalin had arranged for me was not easy at all. The airborne plan put forward by Vassili, chief of staff, is purely to ignore the life and death of the tank commanders and fighters. Not to mention now, even in another 50 years, it is also dangerous for man-machine integrated airdrop.


    As I was worried that there would be similar wonderful commanders in the 47th army of lieutenant general Gusev, I left Popov early the next morning and prepared to rush to the 47th army''s defense area immediately.


    Popov took me to the door. Before I got on the bus, I suddenly thought of an important thing. I stopped and asked, "general Popov, I have something to ask you."


    "Comrade deputy commander, if you have anything, just ask." Popov respectfully said: "as long as I know, I will answer truthfully."


    "On my way here yesterday, I passed Brest fortress, and saw a sentry outside the gillespins." I looked at Popov and asked, "I wanted to go in and have a look, but I was turned out by the sentry. I want to ask why you don''t allow outsiders to approach the fortress. What''s the matter? "


    "The situation is like this," Popov said in a flustered way when he saw that I was asking for a crime. "Some time ago, two regimental officers entered the fortress to inspect, but they were killed by the enemy hidden in the ruins. In order to prevent similar tragedies, since then, I have ordered irrelevant personnel to enter the fortress. "


    After I found out why Popov closed the fort, I nodded and then said to him, "general Popov, I want to make a suggestion to you."


    "Go ahead, please." Popov said respectfully.


    "After the outbreak of the war, Brest fortress was the first target of the German army. The garrison stationed there fought hard for nearly a month and wrote a page in the history of our great patriotic war." I said to Popov solemnly, "you can continue to send people to defend the fortress, but as long as someone goes to visit, whether he is a soldier, a worker, a collective farm or a student, he should send people to receive him warmly, so that they can understand what happened here, and let them know how hard our commanders and fighters are in the situation, A tenacious battle with the Communist aggressors. So as to achieve the goal of arousing patriotic enthusiasm, gathering people''s strength and cultivating national spirit. "


    After listening to what I said, Popov was silent for a moment, and then replied decisively, "Comrade deputy commander, I remember what you said. I will lift the blockade of the fortress as soon as possible, and at the right time, let those sympathy teams from the rear go to visit this famous fortress."


    I nodded with satisfaction at Popov''s attitude. Then I got on the bus and told the driver, "drive!"


    Gushev''s group army headquarters is located in a city called shederce, which is only 60 kilometers away from Popov''s station. However, due to the charred craters all over the road, which is not conducive to the passage of vehicles. In addition, the marching troops and convoys blocked the road, we didn''t arrive at shederce until noon.


    This is a medium-sized city in Poland. When our army attacked here, the German army gave up the city without any fierce fighting, so most of the buildings in the city are still intact.


    I came to the headquarters of Gusev. Unfortunately, I didn''t see him. I only saw the chief of staff and the military commissar of the group army. After greeting them, I asked curiously, "where has general Gusev gone?"


    The chief of staff quickly replied, "Comrade commander has gone to inspect the defense area of the 77th division of the guards."


    "The 77th division of Jinwei?" When I heard the name of the army from the chief of staff, I felt cordial. After all, this is the army I once commanded. But for the sake of safety, I asked: "at present, the division commander is still major general askarepov?"


    Hearing my question, the chief of staff nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice. Fortunately, he asked me strangely, "Comrade deputy commander, do you know Mr. askarepov?"


    "Yes, of course." I saw that not only the chief of staff, but also the military commissar was curious about this issue, so I explained to them: "long before the battle of Kursk, division commander askarepov was my subordinate. Later, he took part in the battle of liberating Belgorod and Kharkov and crossing the Dnieper River. It was not until my troops were stationed in Belarus that his division was transferred. "


    Seeing that both of them were nodding their heads, and their faces were suddenly enlightened, I quickly asked the chief of staff, "Comrade chief of staff, tell me about your situation here."


    "At present, the three divisions of our group''s military in front defense all have German defense positions opposite. The nearest one is only 300 meters. From time to time, the enemy can fire machine guns at our trenches." Speaking of this, the chief of staff stopped for a moment and observed my expression. Seeing that I didn''t express any opinions, he continued to say: "as the 77th division of guards is the farthest forward unit of our department, their defensive positions have always been the targets of German artillery and bombers."


    I waited patiently for the chief of staff to finish, then I asked, "Comrade chief of staff, what measures have you taken?"


    "Measures, what measures have been taken?" When the chief of staff heard my question, he was a little flustered: "because our troops are severely reduced and lack of ammunition, we can no longer attack the enemy. We can only temporarily turn from attack to defense."


    As for the chief of staff''s wrong answer, I said discontentedly: "Comrade chief of staff, I asked you what measures you took when you were bombarded and bombed by the German army. But you told me that because of the shortage of soldiers and ammunition, the troops can only temporarily turn from offensive state to defensive state. "


    The chief of staff raised his hand and wiped a cold sweat that did not exist on his forehead. He replied, "we have built a lot of gun holes in the fortifications. Once they are bombarded or bombed by the enemy, the commanders and fighters will hide inside."


    Just when I heard the chief of staff''s reply and wanted to attack, I suddenly heard someone behind me say, "Comrade deputy commander, when did you come here?" I turned to see that it was general Gusev who appeared at the door. He didn''t wait for me to speak, then he quickly came to me, and while holding out his hand to me, he complained about his chief of staff


    Gusev''s two understated words immediately resolved the tense atmosphere in the room. When he was seated again, he began to complain to me: "Comrade deputy commander, what you don''t know is that after the fierce fighting some time ago, not only the troops were seriously reduced, but also the weapons and ammunition were seriously insufficient. Due to the slow arrival of the superior''s replenishment, our troops have lost the ability to continue to attack fortified positions and have to turn to defense. "


    I know what Gusev said is true. In the just concluded battle of Belarus, although the Soviet army advanced 600 kilometers and wiped out hundreds of thousands of German troops, its own casualties were not small. In addition, in order to leave troops to defend the occupied cities, almost all the troops advancing to the East Bank of the visva River have lost their assault ability. Although the higher authorities have not yet issued orders to let the troops turn to defense, most of the group armies have stopped their active attacks on the German troops and started to build and reinforce defense facilities in the occupied areas, To prevent a possible German counterattack.


    I did not continue to pester on this issue, but casually asked: "general Gusev, I heard that you just went to the defense area of the 77th division of the guards?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." Gusev replied truthfully: "last night, I received an order from the front army to take over the defense of the west coast puwai landing site from the hand of the eighth group army of trikov''s guards. I''m going to ask three divisions, including the 77th division of Jinwei, to cross the river at night. I just went to the river to study the choice of crossing points with you. "


    Hearing that the 47th army will cross the river on a large scale tonight, I can''t help but frown and ask, "Comrade General, do you have enough ships in your hands?"


    "There are probably more than 50 wooden boats that can cross one regiment at a time." Without waiting for Gusev to speak, the chief of staff said, "we once proposed to the headquarters of the front army to send engineers to help us build a floating bridge on the visva River, but we still have no reply."


    "Comrade chief of staff, I now tell you that it is impossible to build a floating bridge over the visva river." Seeing the expression of amazement on several faces, I continued: "the day before yesterday, Polish engineers helped trakov build a floating bridge on the visva river. Only two hours later, they were destroyed by German bombers. It also caused huge losses to the air defense forces responsible for protecting the bridges and the convoys transporting materials. "


    It is said that the floating bridge built by trakov''s headquarters was destroyed by the German plane, and their faces became serious. After a while, Gusev frowned and said, "Comrade deputy commander, according to the order, we will cross the visva river with the troops of three divisions in one or two days. If there is no pontoon, I am afraid that we will not be able to complete the task of our superiors."


    "You''d better deliver troops and materials to the West Bank''s pwawi landing site as planned." I know that under the current situation, our army can''t build a new floating bridge on the wiswa river. In order to avoid Gusev''s failure to deliver, I can only take all the things reported to rokosovsky¡° Let me handle the communication with the headquarters of the front army. "


    Seeing the steps I gave him, Gusev was very happy. He nodded his head and said, "yes, we can''t build a floating bridge on the visva River, but we will still use the existing ships to transport as many troops as possible to the West Bank of the visva river."


    I stayed in the headquarters of trakov a few days ago, and I knew something about the situation on the West Bank of the visva River, so I reminded Gusev: "Comrade General, when your troops arrive at the West Bank, they will definitely be attacked by the German army. Are you able to block their attack?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, you don''t know that the artillery shells of the group army are almost exhausted, but when the troops on the West Bank are attacked by the German army, they can''t provide artillery support at all. If we want to keep the landing site, we are bound to pay huge casualties. " At this point, he suddenly sat up straight and assured me, "but please rest assured that no matter how much we pay, we will firmly hold the pwawi landing site and never let the Germans occupy it again."


    If I didn''t come to the front line in person, I really didn''t know that the ammunition and materials of these main attack forces were so scarce. It seems that, let alone the attack, even the defense is quite difficult, because they are about to face the most elite German "skeleton division" and "Viking division". I have no doubt that they have the strength to defeat our group army. After thinking for a moment, I resolutely said to Gusev, "don''t worry, comrade general, I will let the rear service units of the front army deliver the shells needed by the artillery of your group army as quickly as possible."¡° That''s great. That''s great. " Gusev was so excited that he burst into tears when he heard my statement. He repeatedly repeated to me, "as long as our artillery supply shells, no matter what scale of attack the enemy launches, our commanders and fighters can smash it." I waved to Gusev and said, "well, comrade general, don''t say any more. Now that you have only about 50 wooden boats, it''s time to study the crossing sequence of the troops. " While a few people were discussing the order of the troops crossing the river, I called rokosovsky to find him to deal with the shells urgently needed by the 47th army. Rokosovsky was surprised to hear that I was in the headquarters of the 47th army at the moment: "Rita, according to the order, shouldn''t you be in the women''s health company now?"¡° Marshal, please listen to me. When I went to the women''s health company, I found that the company commander and instructor were all my old subordinates. I believe that their ability is enough to handle everything well. " I was deeply afraid that rokosovsky would order me to go back to the health company, so I sped up and said, "I want to come to the two army groups ahead of time to understand the actual situation, so that I can work out a reasonable combat plan."¡° Have you gained anything since you arrived at the group army? " Rokosovsky asked at the other end of the line¡° Of course, there are gains. " When I heard rokosovsky''s question, I immediately repeated to him the man-machine integrated airdrop plan I heard in Popov''s headquarters yesterday¡° Nonsense, this is nonsense After listening to this, rokosovsky said angrily: "if you want to air drop from the rear of the German army, light tanks are definitely not good. They are not the opponents of German Tiger and leopard tanks; But not only the T-34, but also some of the new tanks we installed last year, which exceeded the carrying capacity of the transport aircraft. The person who makes such a suggestion is just a jerk. "

 Chapter 1601

    After waiting for rokosovsky to finish complaining, I didn''t beat around the Bush and said directly, "marshal, I''m calling to ask the logistics department to give priority to replenishing shells for the artillery of the 47th army."


    I thought rokosovsky would take care of my face when he heard my request and agreed without hesitation. But after a long silence, he said slowly, "Rita, it''s not easy."


    "Ah, why?" What he said surprised me.


    "Rita, you should know that marshal konev''s forces are cleaning up the remaining enemies in Ukraine. They now have priority in supply." Rokosovsky may be afraid of me and specially explained to me: "it is for this reason that the ammunition supplied to us by the superior is less than one tenth of the plan. Tell me, in this case, if I supply artillery shells to the 47th army, what should the artillery units of the front army do? "


    "Marshal," thinking that I have just boasted to Gusev, if I can''t get artillery shells urgently needed from rokosovsky, it will have a bad impact on my prestige. So I went on and said, "the 47th army will soon cross the viswa River to replace the 8th Army in the west coast of the pwawi landing site. The troops crossing the river will soon be attacked by the German army. If there is no artillery support, I am afraid that even if the troops pay a huge price, they will not be able to defend the landing site. "


    Rokosovsky was silent after listening to me. I knew that he was weighing the pros and cons, so I didn''t disturb him rashly, but waited for his reply quietly.


    "Well," I don''t know how long later, rokosovsky''s reply finally came from the receiver: "I will inform the logistics department and send you a base number of shells first."


    "That''s very good. That''s very good, comrade marshal." It''s said that I can get a base number of shells, and I''m more confident. These shells are not enough for attack, but they are more than enough for defense¡° Only the artillery units of the group army have these shells. I believe they will be able to hold fast to the landing site on the West Bank. "


    I put down the phone, went back to Gusev and said with a relaxed expression, "Comrade General, marshal rokosovsky has promised to replenish a base number of ammunition for you as soon as possible. I expect it will arrive this evening."


    "Comrade deputy commander," Gusev asked me with a smile after I finished saying, "the 77th division of general askarepov''s guards will be the first force to cross the visva River tonight. Would you like to have a word with him?"


    When I was the commander of the sixth group army, the 77th division of askarepov had the least success. I still don''t know the reason. Is it because of the low level of the division''s commander, the weak combat effectiveness of the unit, or I used this unit too little? This time, it''s a severe test for them to cross the river first and stick to the puwai landing site on the West Bank. Before the troops leave, I think it''s necessary to talk with askarepov. Therefore, I nodded to Gusev''s proposal and said with certainty: "well, general Gusev, since you say so, Then please ask Mr. askarepov to come here. I have something else to tell him


    Half an hour later, askarepov arrived at the headquarters. He strode up to us, glancing back and forth at Gusev and me, hesitating who to report to first. Seeing his dilemma, Gusev shook his head at him and ordered, "this is your old superior, general oshanina. Now she is the deputy commander of the front army. You can report to her directly."


    Upon hearing what Gusev said, askarebov quickly faced me: "report to Comrade deputy commander of the front army, commander of the 77th division of Jinwei, major general askarebov has been ordered to come, please give instructions!"


    After giving a salute, I took askarepov to the table, pointed to the map and asked him, "Comrade division commander, your division will be the vanguard of the group army this evening. First of all, it will cross the visva River and take over the defense work of the puwai landing site from the 8th group army of the guards. Tell me, how do you plan to deploy the troops? "


    Although askarebov should have seen the map of the puwai landing site on the table for a long time, he still looked at it carefully for a while, then pointed to the map and said to me, "Comrade deputy commander, I plan to deploy the 215th regiment of the close guard at the front of the defensive position, while the 217th and 219th regiments of the close guard will be placed in the second line position as reserves. The 979th artillery regiment remained on the east coast. "


    After he finished his deployment plan, he might be worried that I asked why we didn''t let the artillery cross the river. He quickly added: "at present, our artillery have no shells, and there is no ship that can transport the artillery to the other side, so we can only keep the artillery regiment on the east bank."


    After he finished speaking, I nodded and said, "Mr. askarepov, general Gusev has given your division the honor of being the first to board the West Bank. This is his trust in you I hope you and your men can make new contributions in the battle of holding fast to the landing site of puwai! "


    Askarepov straightened his back and replied loudly, "don''t worry, comrade deputy commander. I report to you that my troops will never live up to the expectations of you and commander Gusev."


    I reached out and shook his hand: "since you are so confident, go back to the army as soon as possible!"


    Askarepov raised his hand to salute us, then turned back, strode forward and walked out of the headquarters.


    ¡­¡­


    The 77th division of askarepov''s guards boarded the west bank one after another after dark, and took over the defense from the 39th division of askarepov''s guards who had quietly withdrawn. The retreated troops, on the other hand, went down the south of viswah to the landing site of magnushev to strengthen the defense in that area.


    After daybreak, I called askarepov and asked him about the situation there.


    Askarepov said in a low mood: "Comrade deputy commander, near the line of defense of the 215th regiment of the guards, there is a Polish village, but they seem to reject our commanders and fighters very much. As soon as our people enter the village, they will hide in the house and will not come out, and they will not communicate with us at all."


    "This is very normal, comrade teacher." As for the performance of Polish villagers, I know very well in my heart that it may be the result of Su Bo''s gratitude and hatred in recent decades. Although there is a Polish interim government in Lublin, the majority of poles do not agree with our army. In their eyes, we are the aggressors. Therefore, I sounded the alarm to askarepov: "after all, we are fighting abroad, Coupled with years of enmity with Poland, the Polish people have no sense of identity with us. I suggest you, in order to avoid the leakage of secrets, transfer these Polish villagers and never let them stay near the front line positions, understand? "


    "I see, comrade deputy commander." Askarepov replied very frankly: "I will immediately arrange the manpower to place them in new places, so that our army will not suffer innocent people when it is shelled or bombed by the German army."


    Askarepov''s words were very appropriate. I couldn''t help nodding my head with satisfaction, and specially stressed: "Comrade division, after all the villagers are moved to other places, we must strengthen the fortifications as soon as possible, so as to trigger a possible German attack. Do you understand?"


    On hearing my advice, askarepov replied, "since we entered the defensive position last night, our troops have been fortifying the position to prepare for the next battle."


    "Very good, sir. You have done a good job." After praising his practice, I added: "if you need any help, just call."


    After I put down the phone, I immediately asked Gusev, "Comrade General, are your artillery deployed in place?"


    Instead of answering me, Gusev turned to look at his chief of staff, who quickly stood up from his seat and voluntarily replied, "yes, comrade deputy commander, one of our agricultural artillery regiments, two howitzer regiments and two close guard rocket barracks are all deployed in place and have marked the firing data. As long as the enemy charges into general askarepov''s position, we can intercept them with artillery fire. "


    I don''t care how many cannons there are, but if there are not enough cannons, these cannons will become furnishings. So as soon as the chief of staff finished, I asked, "are there enough cannons?"


    The chief of staff was silent for a moment, then replied decisively, "enough. The artillery shells with one base number provided by the superior were prepared according to the standard of two artillery divisions. But now we only use the artillery of one artillery division, that is to say, each artillery has two base numbers of ammunition. To provide the necessary artillery support for the defense on the other side, I think it is enough. "


    As soon as we finished talking about the artillery here, rokosovsky called me again. He said in a hurry, "Rita, I have something urgent to tell you. The troops led by major monakov will withdraw from pwavi this evening. Please ask Gusev to arrange for the troops to take over."


    If rokosovsky didn''t mention monakov, I almost forgot that this plane landed behind the enemy a few days ago to destroy the troops of the "Kaminsky brigade". At this moment, hearing him mention it, I can''t help but ask nervously: "Comrade marshal, their task has been completed for several days. How come they haven''t withdrawn from behind the enemy?"


    "Kaminski''s disappearance aroused the suspicion of the German army." Rokosovsky explained to me the reason why the troops failed to withdraw in time: "according to the telegram we intercepted, the German Army thought that Kaminsky had defected with his troops, so on the one hand, they sent troops to collect the weapons of Kaminsky brigade officers and soldiers in other areas, on the other hand, they strengthened their defense on the road leading to our defense line. In this way, it virtually cut off major monakov and their retreat. "


    "Comrade marshal, can you get in touch with major monakov?" I waited for rokosovsky to finish, then asked: "I need to know the specific time when they pass through the German defense line, so that we can arrange the troops to take over."


    "I don''t think I can do anything for the time being." "After they sent us the telegram, they completely lost contact. They only know that they will break through towards pwawi tonight. It''s not clear when they will break through," rokosovsky said dejectedly


    It is conceivable that it is difficult to take over a force that has temporarily lost contact with us. But I didn''t worry about it. Instead, I passed it on to Gusev: "Comrade General, we have an army that will break through in the direction of puwai tonight. I hope you can send troops to take over."


    "Our troops break through towards pwawi?" After listening to me, Gusev was stunned for a moment and asked, "I don''t know how many troops they have and what time are they going to break through? I''ll mobilize the troops according to the actual situation. " As for the series of questions he asked, I gave a wry smile and answered, "Comrade General, this unit landed behind the enemy some time ago. At that time, there were about 400 people. After this period of fighting, it is estimated that there will be a certain degree of reduction in personnel. As for when they will break through to puwai, we have lost contact with them at present, so we can''t know the exact time. But please call general askarepov and ask him to prepare for the reception. " He asked his department to take over an unknown force and didn''t know when it would break through. Gusev''s face muscles twitched violently, but he said with a stiff head, "well, comrade deputy commander, I''ll arrange this properly. Just relax." It was Gusev who told askarepov to take over the breakout troops. I called Popov, commander of the 70th group army, and asked, "Comrade General, are your troops assembled?"¡° Two infantry divisions have been assembled, "Popov replied by telephone." it will take at least one to two days to assemble all the troops. "¡° General Popov, first transfer the two divisions assembled. " I am very clear that there are a lot of things to deal with in the mobilization of the army, not to say that we can go, so I can only say helplessly: "general Gusev has transferred several divisions to the West Bank of the visva River, and many parts of the defense area are empty. Please let your troops take over the defense." When I put down the phone, I saw that Gusev was still on the phone, so I asked anxiously, "Comrade General, have you finished explaining the task to division commander askarepov?" Gusev quickly covered the microphone with his hand, and solemnly reported: "Comrade deputy commander, the German army is launching an attack on the puwai landing site."

 Chapter 1602

    When I heard that the puwai landing site was being attacked by the German army, my blood ran up to my head. I rushed to Gusev with a lunge, grabbed the microphone in his hand, and said in a tone of command: "Hello, Mr. askarebov, report to me immediately about your situation there."


    "Comrade deputy commander," askarepov reported by telephone, "the enemy is carrying out intensive shelling on our front-line defensive positions, and there are more than a dozen bombers bombing and strafing our second echelon."


    I listened to the boom from my headphones, and I could imagine how intensive the enemy''s shelling and bombing were. I asked nervously, "what''s the situation with the troops?"


    "We have lost contact with the 215th guard regiment," askarepov said excitedly. "Maybe the telephone line was broken by German artillery fire. But please rest assured that the commanders and fighters will never let an enemy pass through our positions. "


    "I see." When I finished this sentence, I hung up the phone and ordered Gusev: "general Gusev, immediately give an order to the artillery deployed by the river visva to suppress the enemy''s artillery."


    "Comrade deputy commander, is it too dangerous to do so?" "Once our artillery fire, it will certainly attract the attention of the German air force. If they send planes to bomb, it will cause us great casualties," the chief of staff said


    Seeing that the chief of staff was so panicked, I gave him a dissatisfied look and said, "if the Germans have planes, we don''t have them?" With these words, I picked up the phone on my desk and asked the messenger to connect me with the headquarters of the sixth group army of the air force. As the deputy commander of the front army, I also have the right to directly transfer the air force.


    The person who answered the phone was air force major general berenin. After he recognized my voice, he politely asked, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, do you have any instructions?"


    "General berenin," thinking of the current situation of the puwai landing site, I didn''t care to exchange greetings with the other side, so I gave him a direct order: "the German army has sent out more than a dozen bombers and are carrying out indiscriminate bombing on our puwai landing site. I order you to immediately send out two fighter teams to drive away the enemy''s planes."


    "Comrade deputy commander," said berenin politely after hearing my order, "we may not be able to send so many fighters for the time being due to the lack of enough fuel and ammunition."


    "How much is that going to do?" I asked, frowning.


    "It''s only two squadrons at most, and it''s the kind of three," he replied


    "No, there are too few squadrons." I heard that he could only send two fighter squadrons of three aircraft scale, but considering that he has a demand for him now, he can only patiently say: "six planes are too few. You will suffer losses when competing with the enemy for the air supremacy of puwai landing site. You need to send at least one squadron."


    As for my order, berenin hesitated for a long time, then clenched his teeth and said, "Comrade deputy commander, in this way, I''ll send you two squadrons of four planes to provide air cover for puwai. Do you think that''s ok?"


    I know very well in my heart that every minute in the battle is precious. Seeing that berenin agreed to send out eight fighter planes to expel the enemy planes over puwai, I said decisively, "well, general berenin, please send out your fighter planes immediately. You must drive out the enemy planes over puwai in the shortest time."


    "I understand." "I''m going to give you the order to fight," he replied loudly


    As soon as I put down the phone, I told Gusev, "Comrade General, please arrange vehicles and ships for me. I''ll go to the pwawi landing site myself."


    "What, you''re going to the poivais landing site." My words startled Gusev, and he quickly advised me: "Comrade deputy commander, it''s too dangerous. You can''t go there."


    "Don''t worry, general Gusev." Although I had made up my mind that I would never go to the most dangerous front line again, considering the importance of the powavi landing site, I felt it necessary to go there in person, so I stubbornly said, "you don''t have to worry about my safety, I will be more careful."


    Gusev saw that my attitude was firm, so he didn''t advise me much. First he told me to prepare a jeep for me, and then he called the commander who was in charge of managing the boats by the river and asked him to prepare a boat for me to cross the river.


    An hour later, after successfully crossing the visva River and walking for another half an hour, I finally showed up at the headquarters of askarepov.


    When he saw me suddenly, ascallepoverton was shocked: "Comrade deputy commander, how did you come here?"


    "Let me see." After I finished this sentence, I went straight to the theme: "Comrade teacher, what''s the situation here?"


    "The enemy''s artillery has stopped firing after being suppressed by our artillery. Their bombers were also driven away by our fighters. " Askarepov reported to me with a flat expression: "next, they may launch a ground attack. But please rest assured that our soldiers will be able to crush their attack. "


    I went to the lookout, picked up the telescope on the windowsill and looked at the smoke filled position in the distance. Although the enemy''s shelling and bombing had stopped long ago, the smell of blood on the battlefield was so thick that it was about to drip out. Mixed with the smoke, it formed a disgusting mist. It came with the wind and irritated my eyes and throat.


    I quickly put down my telescope, covered my mouth and coughed a few times. Then I turned and looked at askarepov standing in the middle of the headquarters. Pretending to be calm, I asked, "Comrade division, how are your casualties?"


    "According to the report, there are 92 casualties in the 215th regiment of the close guard in the first line of defense," askarepov shrugged and said helplessly, "while the casualties in the 217th and 219th regiments of the second line of defense are more than 400."


    After askarepov''s explanation, I finally ordered why I just smelled so choking smoke and blood. The second echelon, originally deployed near the headquarters, suffered heavy losses in the enemy''s bombing.


    I just wanted to say something. A staff officer sitting not far away, after receiving a phone call, stood up and reported to askarepov: "Comrade division commander, the frontier report says that the enemy has launched ground fortifications."


    Askarebov and I came to the observation port. At the same time, we raised our telescope and looked into the distance. We saw a large group of German officers and men pouring out from the forest a few kilometers away. Under the cover of seven or eight tanks, they bent over with all kinds of weapons and trotted towards our position.


    Our artillery on the East Bank of the visva river opened fire as soon as the Germans were halfway through. Due to the limited shells, the German attack road could not be completely blocked. But one after another falling shells exploded in the German line, causing a lot of casualties to the enemy. The tank that covered the infantry charge was hit by shells from time to time. After a dazzling flash of fire, it emitted rolling black smoke and stopped in the middle of the battlefield.


    Although the German tanks were destroyed one by one under the attack of our artillery, the enemy still rushed to our defensive position tenaciously. Seeing this situation, askarebov just snorted and said with disdain, "no matter how many Germans come here without the cover of tanks, they will only die."


    With these words, he turned to the chief of staff one after another: "call the 215th regiment of the guards and let them prepare for all battles. In a few minutes, the Germans will rush into their fire range. Give me a hard hit!"


    As soon as the order was given, the German army approached our position. The soldiers, who had long been ready, opened fire decisively. The dark red fire whip shot from the fire point swung back and forth, and the layers of fire net woven by it would make one German figure after another; The mortars in the position were not idle. They bombarded the enemy constantly. The continuous shrieking mixed with the indistinguishable bullet points, and the gaps in the German queue were filled in immediately. The smoke and dust mixed with the broken limbs.


    About a battalion of German troops lost at least 300 people in the 20 minute battle. Seeing that the rest of them could not break through our defense, they began to retreat to the rear under alternate cover. When the enemy retreated 200 meters away from our army, the firing of light and heavy machine guns, rifles and submachine guns on the positions gradually stopped, leaving only mortars still firing occasionally, and sporadic shells falling among the enemy, causing them constant casualties.


    "This wave of German attack was repulsed by us." Askarepov put down his telescope, looked at me and said, "it will be at least another hour before they launch a new attack."


    As soon as his words were finished, I saw through the telescope that there were dense German soldiers rushing out of the forest in the distance, carrying weapons and coming quickly.


    I quickly pointed to the German soldiers who suddenly appeared, and said to askarepov, who was in a state of complacency: "Comrade division, don''t you say that the Germans will attack again in an hour? Now tell me, where did these Germans come from? "


    Askarepov raised his telescope and looked at the group of Germans who suddenly rushed out. He was stunned and said repeatedly, "it''s impossible. It''s impossible. The Germans will never engage in such a continuous attack. There must be something unexpected."


    When the fleeing German army and the advancing friendly army were about to meet, the latter suddenly opened fire on his colleagues. The German soldiers who had just escaped from our guns fell down in pieces. Seeing this scene, I can''t help but be stunned. My heart says that the German soldiers who just rushed up are not the SS, they are specially for enforcing battlefield discipline. So when I see the defeated troops, I will not hesitate to shoot them?


    After killing all the defeated soldiers, the German soldiers continued to run towards our position. However, I found a very strange phenomenon. During their running, their weapons were all held in their hands, as if they were not afraid of us shooting.


    "What the hell is going on?" Askarepov turned to me and asked in surprise.


    Before I could figure out the answer, I saw another group of German soldiers and even a few armored vehicles in the forest. The armored car stopped at the edge of the forest, and the machine guns on it began to fire at the soldiers running in the middle of the battlefield, and immediately knocked down more than a dozen soldiers who ran last.


    Immediately after the soldiers were attacked from the rear, an officer like man jumped out, leaving a group of soldiers to fight back in place, and then took the rest to run towards our position.


    "Comrade deputy commander, what''s going on?" Askarepov became more and more confused when he saw this situation. He asked me anxiously, "what should we do?" Seeing that the German soldiers who were running for their lives were shot by machine guns in the rear, my brain flashed. I immediately guessed the origin of this army, and immediately called askarepov: "Comrade division commander, call the troops in the front quickly, and order them not to shoot. The group of German soldiers coming here are our own."¡° What, our own people? " Askarebov seemed more and more confused when I said this, but time was pressing. If he didn''t give the order, the officers and men of the 215th regiment of the guards might shoot. So I gave him a hard push and said, "I''ll explain to you later. Go and give the order quickly!" Askarebov rushed to the table, grabbed the phone and said to the receiver, "Hello, this is Mr. askarebov. I now order that no one should shoot at the German soldiers who are coming! I repeat, no one is allowed to shoot at the coming German soldiers! " After askarepov returned to me, I solemnly told him, "Comrade division commander, some time ago we flew a troop to the enemy''s rear to fight. After completing their mission, they planned to break through here tonight. Now there may be something wrong, so their breakthrough is ahead of schedule. " As the forward forces received our order not to shoot, the troops disguised as German troops entered the trenches one after another. Even the soldiers after the break, after paying more than ten casualties, successfully retreated into our defense area. When all the living soldiers entered the trench, the telephone rang in the headquarters, and the head of the 215th regiment of the guards reported to askarepov: "Comrade division commander, I have just asked the commanders in charge that they are going to carry out tasks behind the enemy." I went up to askarepov and said in a loud voice, "ask if the commander in charge is major monakov. If so, let him come to the division headquarters immediately."

 Chapter 1603

    My guess is correct. This unit disguised as a German breakout was indeed under the command of major monakov. However, there were 400 people at the time of departure, and now there are less than 100 people left. Even monakov himself was injured.


    When monakov appeared in the headquarters, I was shocked by his image. He was wrapped with thick gauze on his head, shoulders and abdomen. He didn''t wear a military cap, only wore a soldier''s uniform. After I asked him to sit down, I was surprised and asked, "major, how is your injury?"


    "Don''t worry, Comrade General." Monakov, who was sitting on the stool, looked up at me and said with a strong smile, "it''s just some skin injuries, not bones. It''ll be all right in two weeks at most."


    I remember that when I left trakov headquarters, monakov was still doing well behind the enemy. How could they have been in such a bad situation in just a few days? They even had to break through to get out of their predicament: "major, what''s the matter with you? Why are you in such a mess?"


    Hearing me asking about monakov, askarepov and his chief of staff gathered around and sat quietly waiting for monakov to tell his story.


    Monakov may have been used to such scenes. Although surrounded by two unfamiliar commanders, he still calmly told me what happened: "Comrade deputy commander, after we killed Kaminsky and some of his followers, we pretended to be them and acted in the enemy''s rear. At the beginning, everything went well, but I don''t know when the German army would shoot as soon as they heard that it was a "Kaminsky brigade"


    After a certain amount of casualties, I reported the situation to commander trakov and asked him for the next action. The commander instructed us to withdraw our defense line as soon as possible since we could not hold on behind the enemy lines


    In the process of transfer, we encountered the German army many times. Although we adopted the tactic of "one touch and one go", the troops still suffered a great loss. Today, in the process of sending news to the higher authorities, we were suddenly attacked by the German army, and the radio station was destroyed by the German artillery fire. We can only take the way of fighting and walking, and retreat towards the scheduled breakthrough... "


    Although we all saw the breakout process through the telescope, monakov took the trouble to tell us about it. After he finished his adventures in the enemy''s rear, I comforted him and asked askarepov to find someone to take him to rest.


    When monakov left, askarepov asked me, "Comrade deputy commander, how can we arrange for them? I think a lot of soldiers have been injured. Do you want to stay here for treatment or send them back to the east bank? "


    I pondered it for a while, and then said to askarepov, "Comrade division commander, you should first arrange the health personnel to check these soldiers. Those who are not injured or slightly injured will stay here; And the seriously wounded will be sent back to the other side. "


    No sooner had I finished than the telephone rang in the room. After receiving the call, the chief of staff of the division came over and reported to me, "Comrade deputy commander, it''s from the headquarters of the group army that something urgent has happened. Please return to the east bank immediately."


    When I heard that Gusev urged me to return to the headquarters of the group army, I knew in my heart that something must have happened. I immediately told askarebov, "Comrade division commander, please prepare a boat for me immediately. I want to go back to Dong''an immediately."


    Askarepov looked at the sky through the lookout, and then said cautiously, "Comrade deputy commander, you''d better wait until dark. If you cross the river in broad daylight, you may be intercepted by German artillery."


    I waved my hand to him and said, "don''t worry, sir. Even if the German army finds us crossing the river, they will never fire for a small boat."


    With the help of askarepov, I crossed the visva River, got on the jeep at the ferry, and hurried to the headquarters of Gusev.


    When I went into the room, I saw Gusev, chief of staff, military commissar and more than a dozen school level officers studying maps around the table in the middle of the room. As I walked quickly towards Gusev, I said in a loud voice, "Hello, comrades commander, what are you discussing?"


    As soon as my voice fell, the commanders who were talking about it immediately quieted down, and everyone turned to face me, maintaining a standing posture. After shaking hands with me, Gusev said in a low voice, "deputy commander, marshal, I''m calling to let you arrive at his headquarters before dark, saying that there''s something important to tell you."


    "Do you know anything?" I asked, looking at Gusev.


    "I don''t know." Gushev replied blankly: "Marshal only said that there were important things, but he didn''t say what it was."


    I heard Gusev''s answer and I wanted to kick him immediately. If I was at the landing site of pwawi, he would directly say that it was rokosovsky who wanted to see me. When I got back to the east bank, I would drive directly to Lublin and come here for a special round. However, in front of a group of subordinates, I couldn''t get angry with Gusev. I only nodded. Then I left the headquarters angrily and went outside to look for my jeep.


    On the way to Lublin, although the driver drove fast, I still felt too slow and kept urging him: "hurry up, drive faster."¡° Comrade deputy commander, "the driver replied with a sad face," I''ve reached the fastest speed. " Listen to the driver say so, I had to shut up, one or two hundred kilometers distance, even if the driver drive fast, also need two or three hours, is my heart too anxious. I closed my mouth and looked out of the window. I was angry with rokosovsky and Gusev. If gushev directly told me that rokosovsky wanted to find me when he called the 77th division of the guards, I would have done less wrong; As for rokosovsky, if he can tell Gusev what it is on the phone, I can know in advance. After several hours of turbulence, we finally arrived at the gate of the headquarters of the front army. I pushed the door open, jumped out of the car and trotted all the way to the building. The sentry standing at the door wanted to stop me, but when he saw that it was me, he immediately let me aside and raised his hand to salute me. When I went to rokosovsky''s headquarters breathlessly, I unexpectedly found Zhukov was also here. When I saw Zhukov, I couldn''t help but be stunned. My heart said that rokosovsky was in such a hurry to call me back because he wanted to transfer the position of commander of the front army to Zhukov, right? But in my memory, Zhukov served as the commander of the front army in November, and now it is still August. History will not have an unexpected deviation again because of my existence, will it¡° Here comes Rita The sound of my footsteps still startled rokosovsky and Zhukov. They turned to look at me and saw me standing at the door. First of all, rokosovsky stood up and said to me with a smile, "don''t stand at the door in a daze, come in quickly!" I hesitated and walked into the headquarters. Looking at Zhukov, I said in confusion: "Hello, marshal, I didn''t expect to see you here. Are you here to guide the work of our front army? " After looking at each other, Zhukov and rokosovsky turned to look at me with a smile and said, "Rita, I''m here for you today."¡° For me? " Zhukov''s words confused me. I looked at him blankly, waiting for him to continue to say the following¡° Rita, "Zhukov said to me straightforwardly without any nonsense," well, comrade Stalin called me today and said that he wanted me to carry out a special task of the National Defense Commission and let me go back to Moscow immediately. I asked Stalin at that time if he could provide me with a deputy. He replied, "the choice is in my hands. I am free to choose anyone to be my deputy."¡° So you think of me. " Before Zhukov finished, I guessed the following. But at the moment, I really don''t want to accompany him to carry out the tasks of the National Defense Commission. If I leave rashly at such a time, I may lose my post as deputy commander of the first front army of Belarus. I can only say politely, "however, marshal, I can only say sorry to you. At present, I still have a lot of work to do here, And did the Supreme Commander himself account for it? "¡° The task personally assigned by the Supreme Commander? " Zhukov repeated my words, turned to look at rokosovsky and asked in surprise, "Comrade rokosovsky, what''s the matter?"¡° It''s no big deal, "rokosovsky replied with a shrug." Comrade Stalin, Jean Rita, is responsible for the coordinated operations between the 47th and 70th army. Even if he leaves temporarily, it''s no problem. "¡° You heard that, Rita Zhukov looked back at me and said, "rokosovsky said it''s OK. You''d better go with me."... "¡° Yes, Rita Rokosovsky saw that I kept silent and said with agreement: "since Marshal Zhukov has spoken, you can go with him. We have just received an order from the superior that the troops should be temporarily transferred to defense, so even if you put down your work, it doesn''t matter. " Seeing that rokosovsky also advocated that I accompany Zhukov to perform special tasks, I thought that Zhukov would be the commander of the front army in a few months. If I refuted his face on this matter, it might cause his jealousy when I partner with him again in the future, so I nodded decisively and said, "well, two marshals, since your opinions have been unified, Then I''ll accompany Marshal Zhukov back to Moscow. " Zhukov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he stood up and said to me, "Rita, since you have agreed, let''s go. The plane is waiting at the airport outside the city, and we both rush to Moscow overnight. " Rokosovsky came up to me, reached out to me and said sincerely, "Rita, I wish you a safe journey!"

 Chapter 1604

    On the way back to Moscow, I tried to follow Zhukov''s words several times, trying to find out what the special task I was going to carry out, but he cleverly avoided them. In a hurry, he turned his face and said, "Rita, you''ve been in the army for more than one or two days. Don''t you understand the confidentiality regulations? What you should know will be told to you naturally; Even if you ask about something you shouldn''t know, I won''t answer you. "


    Ever since I hit a nail in Zhukov''s place, I shut my mouth wisely. I kept silent all the time, whether on the plane or in the car to the headquarters of the general staff.


    After the two of us entered the building of the headquarters of the general staff, Zhukov took me to the office of the chief of the general staff. As vasilevsky has not been in Moscow, the person who uses this office is Antonov.


    Antonov, who was busy, saw Zhukov enter the door, quickly stood up, walked around his desk and met him. He also reached out to Zhukov from a long distance and said respectfully, "Hello, marshal. Welcome back to Moscow."


    "Hello, comrade Antonov." As he shook hands with Antonov, Zhukov asked with a smile, "I''ve been ordered to return to Moscow. Can you tell me what mission I''m going to perform this time?"


    When I heard Zhukov say this, I couldn''t help but be stunned. No wonder Zhukov didn''t want to talk to me about this mission. He didn''t know what it was. I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn''t know when Antonov put his hand in front of me.


    After Antonov called us to sit down at the conference table, he put a pile of war reports in front of Zhukov and said with a smile, "Comrade Zhukov, our troops are now like warriors standing at the crossroads in a telephone conversation. There are three roads leading to the Southwest: one to Hungary, the other to Romania," my medal? " Seeing the two boxes in front of me, I didn''t open them. Instead, I asked Antonov, "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, what''s the matter? Why did you give me a medal?"


    Antonov first reached out and opened the box, revealing the two gold-plated copper medals inside, and then explained: "the two medals awarded to you this time are the medal for the defense of Leningrad, which was set up on December 22, 1942, when you were fighting in Stalingrad; The other is the medal for the defense of Moscow, which was set up on May 1, 1944. Due to the negligence of the clerks, you were omitted when awarding this medal. Now, after Comrade Stalin''s personal inquiry, the General Staff Headquarters has decided to give you these two medals. "


    I heard Antonov say that. I didn''t dare to sit in my seat any more. Instead, I stood up and said loudly, "serve the Soviet motherland!"


    "Rita, you''ve done a good job for your country. We see that in our eyes." Zhukov held out a hand to me with a smile. "I congratulate you on winning two medals again."


    After shaking hands with Zhukov, I shook hands with Antonov again. At the same time, I thought to myself, "with these two medals, I already have ten medals. If this trend continues, will I be like the generals of a certain country, with so many medals I can use as bulletproof vests?"


    We did not wait long before Dimitrov arrived in a hurry.


    Dimitrov is a head taller than Zhukov, with a thin face and a pair of bright dark brown eyes. From the appearance, he is an ordinary worker, but he is very friendly. When people see him for the first time, they will have a kind of intimacy. His smile, like a spring breeze, even narrowed the distance between us.


    Zhukov and Dimitrov also met for the first time. After a few simple greetings, they began to talk like old friends. As he has always maintained close contact with the underground organizations of the Bulgarian workers'' party, he has made a detailed introduction to what Zhukov needs to know.


    When he heard Zhukov say that there are more than 500000 Bulgarian troops, some of which will be used by the Communist government of Bulgaria to deal with the third front army of Ukraine, he kept silent for a while, and then continued: "marshal, although your mission to the third front army of Ukraine is to prepare the troops for fighting against Bulgaria, But I don''t think there will be any war. We must know that the Bulgarian people are looking forward to the arrival of the Red Army, so that with the help of the Red Army, they can overthrow the autocratic monarchy of Simeon II and establish the regime of the people''s Liberation Front. "


    Seeing that Zhukov''s face was still suspicious, he said while the iron was hot: "I believe that when your troops set foot on the territory of Bulgaria, you will not be welcomed by guns, but by bread and salt, which is the ancient custom of our Slavic people to entertain friends. As for the pro Communist army, they dare not fight the Red Army at all.


    According to the information I have, there are almost all our people working in all the government forces. Moreover, there are a large number of guerrillas in the mountainous and forest areas. If they see the Red Army troops entering the border, they will come down to support you. "


    Dimitrov has said that. If Zhukov is indifferent, it would be too chilling. Just as I was worried, Zhukov stood up, reached out his hands, took out Dimitrov''s hand, shook it vigorously and said, "thank you, comrade Dimitrov. I believe that with the support of the comrades of the Bulgarian workers'' party, our troops will be able to enter Bulgaria smoothly, Overthrow the pro German government of bagarianov and the autocratic monarchy of Simeon II, and establish the regime of the people''s Liberation Front which is in line with the interests of the Bulgarian people. "


    When Zhukov and Dimitrov were talking about speculation, the phone on their desk suddenly rang. Antonov quickly got up and went to answer the phone. I surmised to myself that people in the staff headquarters knew that there was an important meeting going on here and would not call in casually. This call might have been made by more important people. After a while, my guess was confirmed. Antonov covered the microphone and turned to Zhukov: "marshal, comrade Stalin wants to talk to you." Zhukov apologized to Dimitrov, then got up, walked to his desk, took the microphone from Antonov''s hand, and politely said, "Hello, comrade Stalin, I have been ordered back to Moscow... Yes, I have met Dimitrov. When you called, I was talking with him about the situation in Bulgaria... My deputy? Don''t worry. I''ve got Rita for this position... I see. I''ll be there at once. " After calling, Zhukov went back to the conference table and said to Dimitrov with a smile, "Comrade Dimitrov, I''m so sorry. Comrade Stalin wants to see me urgently. Now I need to go there immediately. Let''s talk about it another day." He shook hands, then shook his head at me and ordered, "Rita, let''s go!" I quickly stood up, shook hands with Dimitrov and Antonov one by one, and sped up to catch up with Zhukov who was walking in front.

 Chapter 1605

    After shaking hands with Zhukov and me one by one, Stalin looked at Zhukov and said, "Comrade Zhukov, do you know why I want to recall you to Moscow?"


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." Zhukov replied without expression: "I have met with Comrade Dimitrov. I think our army''s fight to liberate Bulgaria should be very smooth."


    "To liberate Bulgaria and let them withdraw from the camp of Germany is only one aspect." Stalin pointed to Zhukov with his cigarette end hand and then walked to his desk.


    Seeing Stalin''s reaction, not only Zhukov''s face showed a look of surprise, but also I was a bit silly. I said, is there anything more important than liberating Bulgaria and driving away the enemy there?


    Stalin stood at his desk, picked up a match, lit his pipe, took a breath, and then said, "Comrade Zhukov, the Polish government in exile in London, through Britain and the United States, has asked us to send troops to support the rebels in Warsaw. Even if we are not willing to take action, we should open the field airport for the US military, and have their pilots air drop the rebels in Warsaw. "


    When Stalin mentioned that the U.S. military intended to use our airport to provide airdrops for the Warsaw rebels, I immediately thought that the Soviet army did not provide an airport for the U.S. military, which was highly criticized in later generations. I quickly turned my eyes to Zhukov to hear how he replied to this matter.


    Zhukov stood where he was, frowning and thinking for a long time. Finally, he slowly shook his head and said firmly, "Comrade Stalin, I don''t agree to provide a field airport for the US military."


    As soon as Zhukov''s voice was over, I heard Stalin ask in a calm voice, "Comrade Zhukov, why do you want to refuse the request of the United States? You know, as long as they enter our airport, they will be able to provide sufficient material support to the Polish uprising troops who are fighting nearby. "


    Zhukov was silent for a moment, and then replied loudly, "Comrade Stalin, first of all, our airports on the front line are too small to accommodate a large number of transport planes; Secondly, the German army has a complete air defense system deployed near Warsaw. If the US army wants to forcibly implement low altitude airdrop, it will suffer heavy losses under the German air defense artillery fire. "


    After listening to Zhukov''s reason for not agreeing to provide the airport, Stalin did not immediately express his views. Instead, he looked at me and asked, "Rita, what do you think about this?"


    I didn''t expect that Stalin would throw this hot potato to me. I was a little flustered and didn''t know how to answer his question. Seeing that I couldn''t speak, Zhukov relieved me: "Rita, if you have any idea, just say it. Comrade Stalin just wants to hear more from everyone. Even if you are wrong, he will not blame you. "


    "Yes, yes," Stalin nodded, echoing Zhukov. "I just want to hear your opinion."


    After getting their endorsement, I bravely said, "Comrade Stalin, I agree with Marshal Zhukov that field airports should not be provided for the US military."


    Stalin had obviously guessed that I would say so, so he asked with the same expression: "why?"


    After sorting out the words in my mind, I said cautiously: "as far as I know, the rebel and German defense positions in Warsaw city are crisscrossed. Even if the US Army can risk being shot down by anti-aircraft guns and use ultra-low air drop, the materials dropped may fall into the enemy''s defense area, and the German will be cheap for nothing.


    The most crucial point is that the Warsaw Uprising launched this time was led by the Polish government in exile. A series of actions taken by them not to cooperate with our army are worth pondering. "


    I don''t know how Stalin views the Warsaw Uprising at present, so many words can only be touched. However, with Stalin''s political wisdom, I can easily hear my voice out of the picture. He said with a smile, "Rita, I''m afraid that even if we support the rebels in Warsaw, they will treat us as enemies. I understand, right? "


    Seeing that Stalin had guessed my mind, I would not hide it. Instead, I nodded my head and said, "yes, comrade Stalin, that''s what I mean. I''m afraid that the poles will regard our army as another aggressor."


    "It''s their business, we can''t control it; Even if we want to, there''s nothing we can do about it. " After two puffs of anxiety, Stalin finally said firmly, "I think we should firmly refuse this request from the Americans. The airdrop of Shacheng to China should be done by our air force. "


    "The rebel forces in Warsaw are not only lack of unified command, but also internal strife." Zhukov turned his lips and said with disapproval: "in this case, even if we air drop more materials to them, it may not help."


    "Yes, airdrop alone can''t solve the problem, so we must take necessary military actions at the same time." Stalin went to a big map by the wall and said to Zhukov, "Comrade Zhukov, come here." I saw Zhukov stride to the map and quickly follow him.


    Stalin pointed to the map beside him, looked at Zhukov and said, "we can let the first and second front forces of Belarus carry out limited offensive operations to the north of Warsaw, so as to establish landing sites on the narev River, liberate pragar, and then establish new defensive positions in this area."


    I have seen the place name Praga on the tourist map of later generations. The visva river divides Warsaw into East and west parts. On the East Bank of the river is the residential area of Praga, where most of the villas for four are located, while the famous tourist attractions are mainly concentrated on the West Bank.


    Zhukov squinted at the map without saying a word for a while, then straightened his back to Stalin and said, "Comrade Stalin, please allow me to rush back to rokosovsky''s troops immediately, find out the specific situation of the Polish front line, and take corresponding measures."


    When I heard Zhukov''s words, my heart was cold. I said that I had just arrived in Moscow for a few hours, and then I would return to the Polish front. Isn''t this a pastime?


    Stalin did not immediately agree to Zhukov''s request, but kindly said: "Zhukov, you have just arrived in Moscow. You''d better have a rest here and go back tomorrow afternoon."


    For Stalin''s good intentions, Zhukov refused: "Comrade Stalin, in the war, every minute is precious. I ask you to let me return to Poland immediately and make a new battle plan with the commanders of the two front forces."


    Seeing that Zhukov''s attitude was so firm, Stalin didn''t persuade him any more. Instead, he nodded and said, "well, comrade Zhukov, since you have made up your mind, go back to the front line as soon as possible."


    When I heard Stalin agree to Zhukov''s request, I couldn''t help complaining. I thought that I could stay in Moscow for a longer time, but I had to wait for Bulgaria to solve the problem and then return to Poland. I didn''t expect that I would leave after a few hours. It''s really unbearable.


    When I finished my salute to Stalin, I followed Zhukov and went out dejectedly. Suddenly I heard Stalin say, "Rita, stay!"


    When I heard Stalin say this, even Zhukov stopped and looked at Stalin in surprise. Stalin waved at him and said, "Comrade Zhukov, go back to the front line first. Since Rita is your deputy, she will stay in charge of the preparation for attacking Bulgaria. "


    When Zhukov left, Stalin went to the table and rang the bell. A moment later, boskhlebeshev appeared at the door. Stalin told him, "comrades boskhlebeshev, please arrange someone to take Rita home."


    "Home?" When I heard Stalin say this, I was stunned for a moment. Then I said mistily, "Comrade Stalin, I don''t have a home in Moscow!"


    Stalin laughed, then said: "since Khrushchev can arrange a house for our heroine in Kiev, can''t it be in Moscow?" With that, he gave a wink to boskelebeshev, who was standing by.


    Boskhlebeshev came up to me and made a gesture of invitation. I saluted Stalin again and went out through the open door.


    When I came to the office outside, I waited for boskelebeshev to finish the call and asked curiously, "Comrade boskelebeshev, I don''t know where the house Stalin gave me is?"


    "In Lenin street, the house is good." Boskelebeshev said to me with a smile, "the room is well furnished. You don''t have to prepare anything. You can move in."


    A middle-aged man in military civilian clothes trotted to Persia klebshev''s office and asked in a low voice, "Hello, comrade Persia klebshev, what can I do for you?"


    Bosklebshev pointed to the man and said to me, "Rita, this is Comrade shamiakin. I have something to do and I can''t leave. He will take you to the new house later." Then he introduced him and said, "this is general oshanina who came back from the front line. The house I asked you to prepare yesterday is for her. Your task now is to send her back to her new house. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade perclebeshev." Shamiakin nodded and bowed, and said to me respectfully, "general oshanina, please come to me and I''ll send you back to your new home."


    On both sides of Lenin Street are almost all old stone buildings. These buildings, built in czarist era and with strong European style, are far from comparable to the brick and concrete buildings of later generations. My new house is in a two-story building with a yard. According to shamiakin, there are only four families living in the building, all of them are generals or local dignitaries.


    The car stopped outside the iron fence. Shamiyagin pushed the door open and went to the door. With the help of street lights, he found the doorbell beside the door and pressed it hard. The light in the next mail room immediately came on, and a burly old lady limped out of the room. She came to the door and said to shamiakin standing outside, "I''m sorry, it''s not reception time. I can''t let you in."


    Shamiakin took out his identification, handed it in through the door and said politely, "I''m from the Kremlin. I''m sending a new tenant here."


    Instead of being intimidated by the name of the Kremlin, the old lady carefully checked shamiakin''s ID card with the help of a street lamp. Then she looked at him and asked, "where are the new tenants, comrade?" When I heard the old lady asking, I quickly pushed the door open and got out of the car. I quickly walked to the door, nodded to the old lady inside, and said with a smile, "Hello, comrade woman, I''m a new tenant. Can you open the door for us?" The old lady looked me up and down, took out her key, opened the big lock on the door, opened the small door on the iron fence door, and said to me enthusiastically, "please come in quickly, Comrade General." My house is on the right side of the second floor. After the old lady opened the door, she pressed the light. After looking at the interior layout, I couldn''t help but take a breath of air conditioning. Compared with here, the house that Khrushchev gave me can only be described as shabby. This house not only has a full set of solid wood furniture, luxurious carpets and tapestries, but also has a huge crystal chandelier hanging in the middle of the living room. Seeing such luxurious furnishings, I can''t help but feel guilty and ask: "I don''t know who was the owner of this house before?" Shamiakin doesn''t seem to understand the situation here. He turns his eyes on the old lady, hoping that the old man in charge of the house can answer this question. Seeing that shamiakin was looking at herself, the old lady knew why she did not speak, so she took the initiative to introduce herself to me and said, "in the era of Czar, it was a count who lived here. After the victory of the revolution, several important figures have lived here. After the outbreak of the war, it has been vacant. " The old lady said that there once lived an earl here. I decided to knock on the wall and floor when I was free to see if there was any interlayer in the room and some rare treasures. After the old lady''s introduction, shamiakin began to explain the matters needing attention to me: "Comrade General, there is a telephone in the living room. Next to the telephone is the telephone book. If you have anything, you can call me directly; If you want to go out, you can contact the duty room, and they will send a car to pick you up... "When shamiakin explained the precautions to me, the old lady stood aside without saying a word. When she saw that the other party was about to leave, she said to me with a smile: "Comrade General, my name is Liuba. I''m the duty officer here. If you have anything to do, you can give me a direct order. I''m ready to help you at any time."

 Chapter 1606

    After shamiakin and Lyuba had left, I sat alone on the sofa in the living room, looking around, wondering where the Earl of the Czar would hide his treasure.


    There are four families living upstairs and downstairs. Even if there is a darkroom, it can''t be located upstairs. Without the darkroom, the count''s treasures could only be hidden in the safe.


    Opposite the sofa I sit on, there is a medieval fireplace. The first thing I thought was, is the safe in the fireplace? Thinking about this, I got up unconsciously and went to the fireplace.


    When I saw clearly that the inner wall of the fireplace was blackened and there were signs of using it, I immediately denied my conjecture. If the count''s safe is really hidden here, as soon as the stove is lit, the contents of the safe will be completely destroyed in the high temperature.


    I looked again at a portrait of a nobleman on a high horse hanging above the fireplace. It should be the count or his ancestors. Seeing this picture, I immediately think that in the movies I watched before, those safes with jewelry or important documents were hidden behind the picture frame. Thinking of this, I quickly stood on tiptoe and carefully opened the picture frame to see what happened. But after opening it, I found that there was only a wall pasted with wallpaper on the back.


    When I looked around again, I found that there were many picture frames on the wall, including scenery and portraits. So I went to the frames and opened them one by one to see if there was a safe hidden behind them. Unfortunately, the back of the frames was empty, and there was no safe in my imagination.


    I even lifted the cover of the piano beside the sofa and carefully checked whether there was a sandwich in it. There were treasures that the count could not take away.


    After more than an hour of tossing and turning, I sat in a daze on the sofa with no effort. No matter in the living room or bedroom, all the picture frames hanging on the wall have been lifted and checked by me without exception, but unfortunately, I found nothing. I began to doubt whether I was a treasure hunting movie. After seeing it, I would instinctively think that there would be treasures here as soon as I heard that it was the place where the Russian Earl once lived.


    But on second thought, after the count left, there were several important people who had lived here for more than ten years. Even if there were any safes, they would have been transferred long ago.


    As soon as I thought that the treasure had been taken by others, I immediately lost my interest in searching for it. After a simple wash, I lay on the big bed in my bedroom, ready to turn off the light and go to bed.


    Who knows, after a while''s sleep, I suddenly felt peeped. I couldn''t help feeling flustered. I pressed the lamp on the bedside table in a hurry and searched around for the thing that made me feel very uncomfortable.


    As soon as the light came on, I saw a portrait of a lady on the wall at the end of the bed. She did not know whether it was the count''s wife or her elder. Her eyes were fixed on me lying on the bed. I quickly lifted the quilt, jumped out of bed, walked barefoot to the frame, raised my hand, took off the portrait, and leaned it against the wall.


    After turning off the light again, I lay in bed and couldn''t sleep. I was thinking about whether there was any treasure in this house? According to my analysis, after the house was taken over by the Soviet Union, it must have been transformed. The original house was transformed into four families upstairs and downstairs. If the safe for storing treasures was too large, it would have been discovered long ago.


    I try to think back to later generations of Russians who like to press the safe in what position. Oil painting picture frame is the most common situation; The other is in the wardrobe. Because of the shelter of clothes, even if you open the cabinet to see, you can''t find the location of the safe. I''ve also seen people hide the safe behind the tapestry. Only by lifting the tapestry can we see the safe behind.


    I thought of the huge Persian tapestry hanging on the living room wall. Maybe there would be something else behind it. But now I was too tired to get up again, so I closed my eyes and went to sleep.


    As soon as it was dawn, I heard people walking and talking in the street outside. I jumped out of bed, rushed into the bathroom, washed up and started my treasure hunt again.


    I started to search from the bedroom, opened the wardrobe and carefully checked every corner. I even knocked on the wallboard against the wall, but I didn''t find the mezzanine safe or hear the hollow echo from the wall.


    After nothing in the bedroom, I came to the living room with my last hope. Staring at the exquisite Persian tapestry on the wall, my heart became a little uneasy. My heart said that if there was no one behind it, I would be crazy about treasure.


    When I opened the tapestry a little bit with shaking hands, I didn''t see clearly whether there was a safe behind the blanket, but I was almost squinted by the dust. I quickly held my breath, closed my eyes, grabbed the tapestry with both hands and shook it hard. Then I rushed to the window and fumbled to open the window so that the dust could disperse quickly.


    When the dust cleared away, I opened the tapestry again, and saw that the wall with wallpaper on the back was bare, nothing, no safe at all.


    I put down the tapestry, went to the sofa and sat down with a lost face, and thought with great sadness, "am I really wrong? There is no treasure left by the count here. Is it just my personal imagination? "


    After sitting on the sofa for a while, I got up and closed the window. Looking at the tapestry on the wall by the window, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. I said that I was really bewildered. Since many people lived here, even if there was any treasure, it must have been found and taken away by the previous tenants.


    Think of here, I can''t help but hard to hit the wall, who knows but came a hollow echo. When I heard the sound, I was stunned for a moment, thinking that I had made a mistake. So he raised his hand again and tentatively knocked on the position just now. He found that the back of the wall there seemed to be empty.


    I was overjoyed by this discovery. I lifted the tapestry and looked at it. The wall there was no different from other places. It was just that when I knocked, the sound was hollow. It was obvious that there was a sandwich or something. I rushed to the utility room, looking for one or two tools to pry the wall open.


    There are a lot of things in the utility room. They are all useless furniture and bedding. I can''t find the tools I want. In desperation, I went into the kitchen again, found two stainless steel knives from the cabinet, and then returned to the living room.


    I took off the tapestry first, knocked on the wall carefully with a knife handle, confirmed the hollow position, and then carefully tore off the wallpaper to expose the white gypsum wallboard inside. I inserted the knife into the gap, forced a pry, immediately a white gypsum board fell to the ground, broken like pieces of fish scale. I saw a black hole in the back of the plasterboard, and I knew that my judgment was correct. The house was made of stones. If I had not done it intentionally, there would not have been such a hole.


    After five or six minutes of hard work, the hole behind the gypsum board finally revealed its true face. I don''t know if it''s the count or who. He made a hole one foot square in the stone of the house, in which there were two black drawer type wooden boxes.


    When I saw the two boxes, I felt dizzy, my heart beat faster, and my breathing became heavy. I tried to lift the box and it felt heavy, but I moved it from the hiding place to the ground and there was no problem.


    There was no lock on the drawer, only a rusty copper handle. Holding my breath, I gently opened the box, and suddenly felt a flash in front of my eyes, with piles of gold coins shining inside. I picked up a small gold coin with a diameter of only about two centimeters. On the front is a profile of Nicholas II. On the back is a two headed eagle. The bottom of the coin is written in Russian: "five rubles 1900".


    Having been in Russia for many years, I know something about this kind of coin. At a glance, I recognized that it was the Russian gold ruble issued in 1900. In later generations, the market value of this kind of coin was 200000-300000 soft coins per coin. I carefully counted the gold coins neatly placed in the drawer, and there were as many as 500. If I could bring so many gold coins back to future generations, I would become a billionaire.


    See the box above, there is such a valuable thing, then the box below will certainly not let me down. So I carefully put the gold into the box, gently closed the drawer, and got up to get another box.


    When I opened the drawer this time, I saw that there were only three black bunches inside. I opened it and found that it was full of pearls; I opened the second bag in a hurry and saw that it was full of rubies.


    Before opening the third bag, I took two deep breaths, and when I was in a stable mood, I opened the third bag carefully. There is a bag full of things like crystal sugar and ice. I know in my heart that the count will never be bored to put these two kinds of worthless things in his treasure chest. Then these things can only be diamonds.


    Just when I was worried about where to put these things, suddenly a doorbell came from the door. At this moment, a bomb explodes beside me, and it is absolutely not as shocking as the sudden ringing of the bell. I asked loudly to the door, "who, who is outside?"


    Outside the door came Liuba''s voice: "it''s me, Comrade General. I''m Liuba."


    "What''s the matter?" As I was busily packing up the jewels and gold coins on the ground, I asked, "what can I do for you?"


    "Comrade General, here comes a soldier from the Kremlin." Liuba didn''t realize that I was different. She said without hesitation: "he said there is something important to find you!"


    "Liuba, please ask him to wait for a few minutes." I''m crazy to hear that it''s someone from the Kremlin. I don''t know how to answer if they come in and see plaster fragments and treasure boxes all over the floor. So I can only find a way to delay for a while to buy myself more time to clean up the room¡° Just say I''m still changing. "


    Taking advantage of the temporary silence outside, I put two boxes behind the sofa. After hanging the tapestries back, I took the time to clean up the plaster fragments on the ground. After reconfirming that there were no flaws, he sorted out his uniform, went to the door, opened a crack in the door, and asked Liuba standing at the door, "Liuba, where''s the comrade who came to deliver the letter?"


    Liuba quickly side of the body, let out a soldier standing behind her. The soldier stepped forward, raised his hand to his forehead, saluted me and said respectfully, "Hello, general. Comrade shamiakin asked me to send you a document. Please check it."


    I took the file bag in the soldier''s hand and gave him a receipt. Pretending to be polite, he said, "Comrade soldier, please come in and have a cup of tea." To my request, the soldier hesitated for a moment. Finally, he shook his head and replied decisively, "no, comrade general, I want to go back to the Kremlin immediately. Thank you for your kindness!" Then he raised his hand to salute me again and turned down the stairs. Standing at the door, Liuba saw the soldier coming down the stairs, nodded and laughed at me, followed the soldier, held the handrail of the stairs and limped down the stairs. Seeing that both of them left, I quickly closed the door and gasped with my back against the door. I felt that my back was soaked with sweat. If anyone promised to come in just now, I would find the secret in the living room. Therefore, my top priority is to deal with it properly. I carefully put the box with jewels and gold coins into the hole again. But the plaster board outside has been damaged by me, and it can''t be recovered in a short time. Fortunately, it''s blocked by the tapestry. As long as no one lifts the tapestry, they can''t find the secret behind. As for the pile of plaster fragments that I just cleaned up, if I stay here or throw them at the nearby garbage station, it is likely to be found by the "Chaoyang people" like Liuba, and cause unnecessary trouble. I''d better wait until I have the opportunity to go out and find a far away place to throw them. If you want to continue treasure hunting, you will know that there is something important to deal with when you see the thick paper bag on the desk. Treasure hunting can only be postponed temporarily. Although I found two boxes today, I was still a little dissatisfied. According to the characteristics of the count''s treasure, the treasure he had hidden was definitely more than what I found. When I have a chance, I will continue to look for something more valuable. I opened the document bag and pulled out a thick stack of documents from it. When I got close to my eyes, it turned out that it was about the liberation of Bulgaria again. Zhukov went back to the front line. Naturally, the contact with Bulgarian comrades fell on me. I didn''t dare to neglect it. I sat down at the table and scanned the important contents carefully.

 Chapter 1607

    The document I read is a copy of an instruction sent by Dimitrov to the headquarters of the Bulgarian guerrillas. In the instruction, the workers'' Party led by Dimitrov asked the head of the headquarters to unite the whole nation around the National Committee of the national front of the motherland, disarm the German army and the Gestapo, resolutely smash any activities against the national front and the Red Army, and establish the government of the national front of the motherland.


    At the end of the instruction, it was specially emphasized that "the Bulgarian people and their armed forces and battalions will unswervingly stand on the side of the Red Army. The Red Army is the army that helped Bulgaria liberate from the oppression of Germany. It is necessary to cooperate with the Red Army to eliminate the Hitler bandits and their shameless accomplices on the territory of Bulgaria."


    After reading this document, I feel relaxed. If the Bulgarian comrades can really give effective assistance to our Ukrainian third front army, as the document says, then our war to liberate Bulgaria will become extremely relaxed.


    I put down the document, got up and went to the phone. I called shamiakin and wanted to know what the purpose of the document was.


    "Hello, Comrade General." Hearing my voice, shamiakin immediately asked respectfully, "have you finished reading the document I sent you?"


    "Yes, comrade shamiakin, I have finished reading the document you sent me." I asked curiously, "what''s the purpose of showing me this document?"


    "Comrade General, according to the instructions I have received, Marshal Zhukov is in charge of Bulgarian affairs." Shamiakin patiently explained to me, "he is now on the Polish front line. As his deputy, you naturally need to take over his post and continue to be responsible for all matters concerning Bulgaria."


    "I see." I glanced at the papers on the table and thought that it was useless to just look at them. To understand Bulgaria, it was necessary to have a chat with the comrades from Bulgaria. Thinking of this, I asked tentatively, "Comrade shamiakin, can you arrange a meeting with my Bulgarian comrades? I want to learn more about Bulgaria from them. "


    After thinking about my request for a moment, shamiakin replied decisively, "well, I will arrange for you to meet Comrade Dimitrov as soon as possible. I''ll call you when everything is arranged. "


    After thanking shamiakin, I put down the phone. When I came back to the wall where the treasures were hidden and stared at the place covered by the tapestry, I suddenly felt very stupid. If I could take these things back, these treasures would be priceless to me; If I can only stay in this world forever until I die of old age, then these things are useless to me, and may even cause unnecessary trouble for myself.


    Before I could figure out what to do with the treasure, shamiakin called and said that Dimitrov had been arranged, and the location was at the staff headquarters.


    Shamiakin said he would send a car to pick me up, so I cleaned up briefly and went downstairs to wait for my car at the door. But as soon as she got to the duty room, chubby Liuba ran out and asked, "Comrade General, are you going out?"


    "Yes, Lyuba." I said to the old lady with a smile, "I want to meet an important person."


    "Comrade General," said Liuba warmly, "if you don''t mind, I''ll help you clean the room later."


    "No, no," Liuba''s words scared me out of my wits. If I let her into my room, then the location of the treasure will be exposed, and it will cause a lot of trouble. Therefore, I politely refused, "Liuba, thank you for your kindness, but I''m a cleanliness addict. I don''t like other people touching my things, so I''d better do it myself."


    When I said that, Liuba''s face was disappointed. She said with regret, "that''s a pity. I''ll help you clean the room while you''re away."


    I drove to the headquarters of the general staff. In the meeting room specially arranged by Antonov, I met the amiable old man again. I took his hand and said friendly, "Hello, comrade Dimitrov. Nice to meet you again."


    "Hello, general oshanina." Dimitrov also said with a smile: "I heard that you are going to take over the work of liberating Bulgaria?"


    "Yes, comrade Dimitrov." I nodded my head and said, "I want to know something about Bulgaria through you, so as to formulate our strategy for Bulgaria."


    "I''d like to help you," Dimitrov said after making a seat invitation gesture, and began to introduce the situation in Bulgaria to me: "as early as June, I told the people of our motherland on the radio that the political crisis in Bulgaria will intensify, because the current bagrianov government is pursuing an anti people policy


    Bagrianov''s government is deceiving the people. They represent the interests of Deco and his Bulgarian accomplices The neutrality they are maintaining is just a means of self deception... No matter from the domestic situation or the mood of the people and the army, they will not give any support to the bagrianov government and the German kow, because the current ruler of Bulgaria is pushing the whole country onto the road of national disaster. "


    Through more than an hour''s conversation, I have a perceptual understanding of the situation in Bulgaria. Seeing that I had learned everything from him, mitrov stood up to say goodbye.


    I respectfully took him to the gate of the headquarters of the general staff. As I watched his car go away, an officer ran to him and said respectfully, "Comrade General, please welcome the deputy chief of the general staff!"


    I followed the officer to Antonov''s office and asked, "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, do you have any important instructions?"


    "Rita, have you finished talking to Dimitrov?" Antonov asked quietly.


    "Yes." When I heard his question, I said, don''t you know it? Since I met with Dimitrov at the headquarters of the general staff, I''m sure our words and deeds are watched by special personnel. Otherwise, how could Antonov send someone to call me as soon as I send Dimitrov away? But I pretended to know nothing and said, "I just sent him away."


    Antonov nodded slightly and then said something that surprised me: "now that we''re done, you can come with me to the Kremlin."


    "To the Kremlin?" I asked in some surprise, "does Comrade Stalin want to see me?"


    "Yes, today''s meeting was arranged by Comrade Stalin himself." Antonov''s eyes flashed a sly smile: "do you think that staff of the same level as shamiakin can arrange your meeting with Dimitrov?"


    Antonov''s words made me understand that Stalin personally arranged my meeting with Dimitrov. Since I have made clear what I should know, I should report to Stalin in the Kremlin.


    When Stalin saw my first sentence, he asked directly, "Rita, after talking with Comrade Dimitrov, what do you think of the situation in Bulgaria?"


    I quickly organized the words in my mind, and then answered decisively, "I think our army''s upcoming battle to liberate Bulgaria will be very easy."


    "Oh, why do you say that?" Stalin put tobacco into his pipe and asked me with great interest: "tell me your reason."


    "According to Comrade Dimitrov, the workers'' Party under his leadership has launched a well-organized large-scale guerrilla movement in Bulgaria. So far, they have a national liberation uprising army of 180000 people. They have established a real Bulgarian domestic front in the whole territory, which is beneficial to contain the royalist army, the police and the German garrison. " I tried to recall what Dimitrov told me and report to Stalin as much as I could: "at the same time, they love factories and organs, and they have combat groups in the army and in urban and rural areas. The total number of these combat groups is about 120000. In addition, there are 200000 people who cooperate with guerrilla movements."


    Stalin lit his cigarette and asked with a smile, "do you know the combat effectiveness of these troops?"


    I nodded and replied in Dimitrov''s original words: "it is said that the pro communist government of Bulgaria used force to suppress the guerrilla movement in the country, but it was hit hard."


    After listening to my report, Stalin turned his eyes to Antonov and asked, "Comrade deputy chief of general staff, do you have any exciting news?"


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." Antonov replied with a smile: "before I came here, I received the battle plan of general torbusin. According to the judgment of major general vasilichenko, chief of staff of the front army, the German army thinks that we will not attack Bulgaria at all, so we will not organize solid defense in this direction. So I think Lida''s judgment is correct. Our surprise attack will definitely achieve the ideal result. "


    "Why?" When Stalin heard Antonov say this, he didn''t smile at all. Instead, he showed a serious look: "Comrade Antonov, why do you think the Germans don''t think we will attack Bulgaria?"


    "According to the information we have, the government of bagarianov is in secret contact with the envoys of Britain and the United States." Antonov solemnly reported: "there are signs that all these activities are aimed at preventing our army from entering Bulgaria. The German people are indifferent to their behavior. They think that as long as we collude with our allies, we will no longer be able to enter Bulgaria''s territory in good faith. "


    "They''re dreaming." After listening to Antonov''s words, Stalin said angrily, "they should understand that the current military situation of their master, Germany, has deteriorated completely. Only by severing relations with Germany can they save the country from extinction. What they are doing now can only lead us to believe that Bulgaria''s current policy is actually to fight against the Soviet Union on the side of Germany. "


    Antonov quietly listened to Stalin''s anger and asked carefully, "Comrade Stalin, do you need to invite the people''s Foreign Affairs Committee to send a note to the Bulgarian Minister in Moscow?"


    Stalin did not immediately answer Antonov''s proposal, but walked back and forth in the room with his pipe in his mouth. After at least five minutes, he finally stopped and made the final decision: "no, don''t send a note to the Bulgarian government for the time being. First of all, call Marshal Timoshenko of the third front army in Ukraine and ask him to arrange staff to negotiate with representatives of the current Bulgarian government. "


    "What is the purpose of the negotiation?" Antonov asked cautiously, "do we stop military operations in Bulgaria as long as the current Bulgarian government agrees to draw a line with Germany?" Stalin listened to Antonov and sneered twice. Then he looked at me, pointed his hand and said to me in a commanding tone, "Rita, tell Antonov what you think. What''s the purpose of our negotiation?" If I hadn''t met Dimitrov today, I really don''t know how to answer Stalin''s question. At this moment, listening to Stalin''s question, I immediately guessed what was on his mind and answered decisively, "our army will enter Bulgaria no matter whether our talks with the Bulgarian government are successful or not. If the talks are concluded, we will enter Bulgaria and expel the remaining German troops in a bloodless way; If the talks fail, we will launch an attack on Bulgaria and wipe out the pro Communist forces and the German aggressors. "¡° That''s a good answer After Stalin praised me, he turned to Antonov and said, "do you hear me? Lida''s answer is the goal of our negotiations with the Bulgarian government. " Just then, I suddenly found that Antonov winked at me, and then the corner of his mouth was slightly up. Seeing his performance, I suddenly realized that he had just said something wrong on purpose, and his purpose was to give me an opportunity to show my talents. Seeing his good intentions, I also smile at him and gently nod my head. Antonov faced Stalin and said, "Comrade Stalin, since Rita has understood your intention, do you want to send her as the representative of the base camp to the third front army of Ukraine to negotiate with the representative from Bulgaria?"¡° Well, that''s a good proposal. " Stalin nodded his head and said thoughtfully, "I wanted to send Zhukov to carry out this task after he finished his work in Warsaw. Since you think Rita is fully competent, I will appoint her as the representative of the base camp and go to the third front army of Ukraine to assist timoshingo in negotiating with the Bulgarians. "

 Chapter 1608

    Although Lao maozi has always been famous for his low efficiency, he carried out the task that Stalin personally told him. Early the next morning, as the representative of the base camp, I got on the special plane to fejecht. The headquarters of the Ukrainian third front army is located here, and our negotiations with representatives of the Bulgarian government will also take place here.


    When the plane landed at the military airport and was still taxiing on the runway, I saw a black gas car coming into the runway and galloping behind the plane.


    When I got off the plane from the open gangway, I found that the gas car had already stopped more than 20 meters away from the plane. A general standing at the side of the car saw me get off the plane and quickly came over. He also took the initiative to reach out to me from a long distance and politely said, "it''s general oshanina. I''m lieutenant general biliuzov, chief of the staff of the front army. I''ve come to meet you on the orders of Marshal timoshinger and general torbusin. Welcome to fejecht!"


    I shook hands with biluzov and got into the gas car specially prepared for me. After closing the door, biluzov directly told the driver, "go back to the headquarters of the front army!"


    After waiting for the bus to start, I asked curiously, "Comrade chief of staff, I don''t know where Marshal Timoshenko is?"


    I thought he would answer me, saying that timoshinger was in the headquarters of the front army, but he said leisurely, "Marshal went to the second front army of Ukraine yesterday, and should be back at noon."


    When our car was passing through a small town, biluzov, who was in the co driver''s seat, turned to me with a smile and said, "general oshanina, look to the left. That''s the chernovo Danube bridge."


    After listening to this, I turned to look out of the window and saw a bridge on the river in the distance, full of trucks and soldiers on foot.


    "What kind of bridge is this?" As I was not familiar with Bulgaria at all, I asked biluzov curiously.


    "It''s the chernovo Danube bridge," biliuzov replied. "During the war, in order to destroy the transportation of goods between the port of konstanza and other important areas of Romania, we sent planes to bomb this bridge many times. Now, it is through this bridge that we transport troops and supplies to the border of Bulgaria. "


    As the car approached the headquarters of the front army, I saw tolbusin standing outside, with several generals standing behind him. Gasch stopped a few steps away from them. I didn''t dare to ask him to open the door for me. He hurriedly pushed the door open and got out of the car. He reached out to him first and said enthusiastically, "Hello, general. I''m glad to see you here."


    "Hello, general oshanina." "On behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the Ukrainian third front army, I welcome you. I hope you can become a witness of our liberation of Bulgaria," tolbusin said with a smile, holding my hand


    "General, I think your wish will come true," I replied politely, "we can witness together that the suffering Bulgarian people will regain their freedom and liberation with the help of our army."


    After that, he leaned over to introduce the group of generals following him: "this is lieutenant general gertov, military commissar of the front army, lieutenant general saroshin, commander of the 37th group army, lieutenant general Shi lieming, commander of the 46th group army, and lieutenant general Gagan, commander of the 57th group army..."


    Tolbuhine patiently waited for me to shake hands with his subordinates one by one, and then led me into his headquarters. There are two rooms inside and outside the headquarters. The outside is the meeting and office space. The cabin inside is a telecommunication room filled with various communication equipment.


    After I was seated, tolbuhine began to ask, "general oshanina, I have received instructions from my superiors that you are here to assist Marshal Timoshenko in negotiating with the representatives of Bulgaria. While the talks have not yet begun, I would like to ask you one thing. If it is not convenient for you to answer, you may not answer at all. "


    On hearing the question raised by tolbuhine, the commanders sitting around the conference table turned to me, quietly waiting for me to answer it.


    From the expressions on everyone''s faces, I guess that when tolbusin called all the group army commanders under his command, he must want to know what measures the Supreme Command intends to take to solve the Bulgarian problem.


    My purpose of this visit is to assist timoshingo in negotiating with the representatives of Bulgaria. Therefore, it is unnecessary to conceal the true intention of this visit from these senior commanders. I organized some words in my mind and said, "comrades, I have come to fejecht to negotiate with the representatives sent by Bulgaria to find a way acceptable to all to solve the Bulgarian problem."


    "General oshanina," a group commander politely asked, "may I ask, what is the consideration of the higher authorities? Will they take war measures against Bulgaria?"


    "Comrade General, we can''t rule out war against them." I nodded at the commander and then said, "no matter what the outcome of our negotiation with the Bulgarian government, we will enter Bulgaria. If the negotiation is successful, we will enter Bulgaria peacefully; If the negotiations break down, then we will resort to force. "


    My answer was a relief to all of us. Shah Luoxin said excitedly, "great, this is really great. We thought that as long as the negotiations were successful, our troops would not be allowed to enter Bulgaria. That would be too bad. If our army really wants to enter Bulgaria regardless of the outcome of the negotiation, then the next battle will be easy to fight. "


    "General saroshin," I looked at the commander of the 37th army and asked curiously, "why do you say that if our army does not enter Bulgaria, the situation will be too bad?"


    "General oshanina, let me answer this question instead of commander saroshin." Before saroshin could answer my question, tolbusin took over the topic with a smile: "to tell you the truth, we don''t trust the present government of Bulgaria. Even if they agree to sever relations with Germany, if our army does not enter Bulgaria, German warships will still be moored at Bulgarian ports, and thousands of German officers and soldiers defeated by us will continue to hide in our territory.


    What is more important is that the German submarines anchored in the harbor continue to threaten the safety of our ships sailing in the Black Sea and the safety of our coastal flanks as before. All this forces our army to enter the territory of Bulgaria. "


    At this point, he stopped for a moment, glanced at his subordinates with a relaxed face, and continued: "if it is really like you said, no matter what the outcome of this negotiation is, our army will enter Bulgaria, which will be very beneficial to our next operation."


    Before our meeting was over, timoshinger came back in a hurry. As soon as I saw him at the door, I got up, walked around tolbusine, who was sitting next to me, and quickly met him. The commanders here suddenly stood up when they saw me, and looked at the door strangely. They also stood up from their seats when they saw that timoshinger was back.


    Tiemuxinge and I shook hands, after a few simple greetings, walked to the center position, and said to the generals who still kept standing posture: "OK, comrades, there''s nothing more to do here, you all go back to your respective troops."


    When there were only a few heads of the front army left in the headquarters, timoshinger couldn''t wait to ask, "Rita, what did Comrade Stalin say about our report on the campaign in Bulgaria?"


    I was stunned when I heard timusinger''s question, and then answered truthfully, "I''m sorry, marshal. I haven''t heard of any report on the campaign in Bulgaria."


    Timoshinger''s face suddenly showed a look of disappointment. He said to tolbuhine with a look of depression: "Comrade tolbuhine, I think it''s up to you to introduce this report to Lida."


    Torbusin nodded to Timoshenko''s request, and then introduced his combat plan to me: "according to our study and judgment of the current situation, we feel that we should use the forces of the Ukrainian third front army, the Black Sea fleet and the Danube fleet to destroy the enemy in Bulgaria''s territory and territorial waters."


    At this point, tolbuhine winked at the chief of staff, who immediately went to his desk, picked up a roll of map, and spread it out in front of me¡° We plan to take the south of dobroga as the starting point of attack, and the main direction of attack is directed at ETOs and Burgas Warner and Burgas, the important ports with German warships, were jointly captured by the Black Sea fleet and the assault group of the front army. "


    After tolbuhine introduced the whole situation, I nodded my head and said with approval, "senior general, you have considered it very comprehensively. I feel that if today''s negotiations are not successful and military action must be taken against Bulgaria, the supreme command will use your operational plan. "


    Timoshinge raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he asked me, "Rita, the negotiation time with the Bulgarian representative is 3 pm. What do you think of the outcome of our talks?"


    "Marshal," I said confidently after hearing timoshinger''s new question, "today''s campaign strategy in the southern direction is beneficial to our side. After successfully smashing the German yassi kishniov group and liberating most of the territory of Romania, the Ukrainian second front army is rapidly advancing westward through the varajia plain. The German forces in Transylvania and the Carpathians, as well as in Greece, Yugoslavia and Albania, have been divided and cut off. The control of the sea in the Black Sea is in the hands of the Black Sea fleet, and the control of the air in this area is also in the hands of our air force. "


    After a brief retelling of my understanding of the situation, I came to the final conclusion decisively: "I am absolutely sure that as long as the representatives of the Bulgarian government are not stupid, they will know what kind of choice to make."


    "Very good!" Tiemuxinge was very satisfied with my answer. He nodded his head and said, "since you are so confident, I believe we will reach our ideal destination in the afternoon negotiation."


    At half past two in the afternoon, the Bulgarian delegation to negotiate arrived. There were six of them, led by the Bulgarian foreign minister, a middle-aged man with round framed eyes and a smile.


    He shook hands with tie muxinge first. When he looked up to see me, he could not help showing a surprised expression on his face. Next to the translator quickly close to his ear, whispered to him about my identity. After listening to the translation, he frowned slightly, shook my hand gently, and then turned to shake hands with tolbusine.


    After we both sat down on both sides of the conference table, timoshinger first said, "gentlemen, we are here to discuss with you what kind of relationship the Soviet Union and Bulgaria should maintain in the coming days."¡° "Marshal," said the foreign minister politely, "we''d like to hear more about it!" Tiemuxinge was also impolite, so he casually offered our conditions: "our conditions are as follows: signing an armistice agreement with the Soviet Union, signing an alliance agreement, and establishing a relationship of trust; Cut off the contact with Germany and disarm all the German troops who are now stationed in Bulgaria and those who will enter the country later; Disbanding all the Communist organizations, releasing those arrested for opposing Bulgarian poisonous vegetables and the government authorities allied with Germany, and implementing unconditional amnesty... "After finishing our series of conditions, timoshinger turned to me and asked me," Rita, do you have anything to add? " As the Bulgarian delegation has not yet expressed any opinions, even if I say anything at this time, I can not say the main point. Therefore, I shook my head and indicated that I would not express my views for the time being. After listening to the translation, the Bulgarian Minister frowned. After a while, he said slowly: "Mr. marshal, our country can implement strict neutrality in foreign policy, treat you and the Germans equally, and will never intervene in the war between you." When I heard this, I couldn''t help sneering. If we want to get involved in the war between us and the Germans, we also need to have this strength. Bulgaria was a bad luck in the whole world War II. Both world wars were defeated countries. Today, it''s still here to talk about terms¡° All right, Mr. Minister. " After listening patiently for a while, I saw that he wanted to reject the conditions proposed by timoshinger both inside and outside of his words, so I interrupted him and said in an impolite tone: "if your government can''t agree to our conditions and sever relations with the Communist Germany, we can only think that your current administrative policy is actually to take anti Soviet action on the German side, We will not rule out the use of force to solve the Bulgarian problem. " After listening to the translation, the minister blushed and asked tie muxinge angrily, "marshal, who gave this woman the right to interrupt me when we were negotiating?" Tiemuxinge looked at me with a look of approval. He looked at the other side and said, "Mr. Minister, general oshanina is the representative of the base camp to participate in this negotiation, that is to say, she represents our supreme commander. Do you have any questions? "¡° No, No The minister replied in a flurry: "I''m too impolite."¡° If there is no problem, can our negotiation continue? " Tiemuxinge asked in a sarcastic tone¡° I don''t know what''s your deadline for us? " Asked the minister tentatively¡° Tomorrow After seeing the eyes of timoshin, I said decisively, "you must give a final answer tomorrow at the latest. This is our ultimatum, otherwise we will formally declare war on you." After a few words of low voice discussion between the minister and his colleagues, he asked tiemuxinge cautiously, "marshal, can we contact with China and pass back your conditions?"¡° Yes Tiemuxinge magnanimously said: "our telecommunication room here can directly communicate with your government departments." With the permission of timoshinger, the Minister stood up and, accompanied by a colleague, went into the next telecommunication room. Tolbuhine asked tiemuxinge in a low voice: "marshal, do you think they can agree to our terms in China?"¡° What do you say, Rita? " The cunning timoshinger actually put this problem on me. If Bulgaria is a powerful country, I really don''t know how to answer torbhuin, but at the moment I say confidently: "don''t worry, their strength is not on the same level as ours. If we can''t succeed at the negotiation table, we can resort to force to solve it." After about half an hour, the minister and his colleagues came out, stood opposite us, bowed deeply, and said apologetically, "I''m sorry, marshal. We think our negotiation can only be suspended." The minister''s words stunned all of us. In particular, I kept wondering in my heart, do the Bulgarian leaders have the guts to be so tough when they know that their strength is far inferior to ours¡° Why? " Tiemuxinge stood up and asked in a rage¡° Why refuse our offer¡° I''m sorry, marshal The minister replied respectfully: "I now formally inform you that the cabinet of bagarianov government resigned five minutes ago, so we can only return to Sofia immediately and send another delegation to continue negotiations with you after the establishment of the new government."

 Chapter 1609

    When the members of the Bulgarian delegation packed up their belongings and politely said goodbye to us, the atmosphere inside became dull. Tiemuxinge stood up and walked back and forth in the room without saying a word. Tolbuhine leaned back in his chair and looked at the ceiling, as if something attractive had attracted him. However, my heart was uneasy and I thought, "is it because the wording I just used was too strict that the chief cabinet of the current Bulgarian government resigned? How can I explain to Stalin who sent me here when the talks are over? " Finally, the first one to break the silence was thorbusine. He looked at timoshinger like an ant on a hot pot and asked with his eyebrows locked: "Comrade marshal, what should we do now?"¡° It should be reported to Moscow. " "Look what kind of solution Comrade Stalin will come up with," tiemuxinge said solemnly With that, he yelled at the telegraph room. With his shouts, a young lieutenant came out of the telegraph room. He came to timoshinger and stopped. He didn''t speak. He just stood upright, chin slightly up, patiently waiting for the order from the superior¡° Comrade lieutenant, "tiemuxinge pointed to him and said," get through to the Kremlin immediately. I have something important to report to Comrade Stalin. " A few minutes later, the lieutenant got through to the Kremlin. After handing the phone to Timoshenko, he quietly returned to the telegraph room. Tiemuxinge held the microphone, took a deep breath, then said to the microphone: "is it Comrade boskelebeshev? I''m timoshinger. I''d like to report to Comrade Stalin the results of today''s negotiations. " When Timoshenko took the microphone, I felt my heart beat faster and my eyes fixed on him, ready to bear Stalin''s anger with him. When he said, "Comrade marshal, I am very clear about what you said about this period of history." "But that was more than 20 years ago. Now that you are old, your physical condition can''t be compared with that at that time. If you don''t stay in bed as soon as possible, you will even be in danger of your own life." When I saw the military doctor saying this, I had a very serious expression on my face. Knowing that what he said was true, I helped him to persuade tie muxinge: "marshal, I think you''d better listen to the military doctor and go to the hospital to have a rest for a few days. Don''t worry. I''ll take over what you are responsible for. If I can''t handle it, I can ask Marshal Zhukov to take charge. " Tiemuxinge wanted to be stubborn. He listened to me carry Zhukov out. After hesitating for a moment, he finally nodded and agreed to the arrangement of the military doctor: "well, since that''s the case, I''ll go to the hospital for a few days. Rita, Zhukov is busy with his work now, so don''t give him any trouble. If you encounter something you can''t handle, you can come to the hospital and see me. "

 Chapter 1610

    Tiemuxinge was sent to the hospital, after a series of examination, was confirmed as pneumonia. According to military doctors, fortunately, we found it early and only need to be hospitalized for a period of time to recover. If discovered late, it may even endanger life.


    Tolbuhine and I were sitting in the dean''s room of the hospital. After listening to the information introduced by the Dean, tolbuhine quickly stood up, held each other''s hand, and said anxiously, "Comrade Dean, please do me a favor during the period when marshal timoshinger is in hospital. In any case, please let him recover as soon as possible. "


    On hearing this, the president replied in a panic: "Comrade General, please rest assured that we will do our best. But... "


    Seeing what the president said, tolbuhine could not help but ask anxiously, "Comrade president, do you have something difficult? If there is any, please let me know and we will try our best to solve it for you. "


    The president hesitated and said: "what the marshal got is viral pneumonia, which needs special antibiotics for antibacterial treatment. At present, the most effective drug is penicillin. There are several in our hospital. "


    "Comrade president, is the quantity not enough?" "If it''s not enough, I can find some for you," he asked tentatively


    Hearing this, the Dean waved his hand and said, "Comrade General, you misunderstood me. I took the initiative to mention penicillin not because the quantity was not enough, but because the health department stipulated that when senior generals were given this drug, they must obtain authorization from Moscow. "


    "What, do you need authorization from Moscow to give drugs to patients?" Tolbuhine opened his eyes as if he had heard a big joke. But when he saw the Dean nodding with a bitter smile, he finally understood that this was not a fantasy. He could only sigh a long time and asked carefully, "Comrade Dean, if you don''t use penicillin, can you cure pneumonia?"


    "Comrade General, I can''t guarantee that." The president sat up straight and said solemnly, "I can only say that we will do our best to relieve Marshal Timoshenko''s pain and strive for his early recovery."


    Listening to the president''s saying that the use of penicillin for senior generals requires Stalin''s authorization, I suddenly think of watujing who died a few months ago. I have read many posts in later generations, which said that if Stalin had not worried that the penicillin provided by the United States would poison his generals, and was not allowed to use it on senior generals, vatujing might not have died.


    At the moment, tiemuxinge is also facing the same situation. Although I don''t know whether penicillin has a good effect on pneumonia, I can only take a chance now. Seeing the two men sitting there in embarrassment with big eyes and small eyes, I coughed gently. After attracting their attention, I said, "Comrade president, if penicillin can really cure the Marshal''s pneumonia, I am willing to apply to Moscow and let them authorize you to use penicillin."


    "Great, that''s great." When the president heard what I said, he immediately stood up, grabbed my hand, shook it vigorously, and said excitedly, "female commander, you can rest assured that as long as you have two injections, the marshal will recover in a short time."


    If we want to cure pneumonia with two injections of penicillin in later generations, it is almost impossible. However, in this era, penicillin has just come out, and no antibody has been produced. Therefore, I think what the president said is more reliable.


    "Comrade president, I believe in your hospital. I will handle the authorized matters. You can rest assured." With that, I shook my head at tolbusine, who was sitting beside me, and said, "Comrade General, let''s go back to the headquarters. I think the telephone there is more convenient to use."


    "Yes, you''re right. If you want to call Moscow, you''d better go back to the headquarters." Tolbuhine stood up, reached out to the dean and said solemnly, "Marshal Timoshenko, please give it to you."


    After the two of us returned to the headquarters, torbhuin''s military commissar and chief of staff surrounded us and asked with concern, "what''s the matter with Marshal? Is it serious?"


    Tolbuhine shook his head and replied solemnly: "the situation is very bad. The doctor said it''s viral pneumonia. If it''s not treated in time, it may be life-threatening."


    "My God," said tolbuhine, with a burning expression on his face, "was he still well when he came back here? How could he suddenly become so bad after a few hours?"


    Seeing that his deputy was so worried, tolbuhine said without expression: "the president of the military hospital said that if a new drug called penicillin can be used, the marshal can recover as soon as possible."


    "Is there such medicine in our hospital?" When chief of staff biliuzov heard this, he immediately asked in a hurry, "if not, we can allocate this medicine from other troops."


    "It''s in the military hospital." "But it can''t be used without authorization," he said, nodding his head


    "Authorization? What authorization? " Biliuzov said angrily, "it''s ridiculous that you need authorization to use any medicine to treat a disease. I want to know who actually gave such a muddled order. "


    "It''s the Supreme Commander himself." Although I always said the name in my heart, I never said it. In the end, tolbuhine said it bitterly.


    It was said that Stalin himself gave the order, and biliuzov was speechless. I can only sit to one side and sigh.


    "Comrades," seeing that everyone was silent, I stood up and said carefully, "in order to make Marshal Timoshenko recover as soon as possible, I want to call Comrade Stalin and ask him to authorize the use of penicillin."


    "General oshanina," gertoff asked puzzledly, "I want to ask why the use of new drugs such as penicillin can only be used with the authorization of the Supreme Commander himself?"


    I organized some words in my mind, and then said cautiously, "Comrade military commissar, since we are not yet able to produce this new anti-inflammatory drug in China, it is all aided by the United States. We don''t know whether the drug is as effective as the Americans say. Therefore, out of careful consideration, the Supreme Commander himself issued such an order. "


    Gertov stopped for a moment, then asked, "do you have confidence in persuading the Supreme Commander himself to obtain authorization?"


    When I think of the tragedy of vatukin, I really have no confidence in whether Stalin agrees to let timoshinger use penicillin. However, in order to make everyone feel at ease, I still insist on saying, "only 30% is sure at most."


    After my words came out, both gertov and biliuzov were disappointed. However, tolbuhine said excitedly: "general oshanina, I thought you would say that you are not even sure of 10%. I didn''t expect that there are 30%. Why don''t you hesitate? Call Moscow quickly."


    It''s impossible to call Stalin directly. You have to turn around through Persia klebshev. When I heard the voice of Persian klebshev coming from the earphone, I said nervously: "Hello, comrade Persian klebshev, can you connect me with Comrade Stalin? I have something important to report to him


    When I finished, there was a silence in the earphone. I know that this is boskelebeshev thinking about whether I should connect my phone, so I didn''t dare to speak and had to wait in silence. Although it was only a minute or two, it was as long as a week for me.


    "What can I do for you, Rita?" Stalin''s voice soon came out of the headphones.


    "Well, comrade Stalin." I didn''t expect that bosklebshev could connect me to Stalin''s office without saying a word. In a hurry, he said, "I have something important to report to you..."


    "Is it about Bulgaria?" At the other end of the phone, Stalin said slowly, "don''t worry about this. When they choose a new government, let''s see how they treat us."


    "No, comrade Stalin, it''s not about Bulgaria," I said after taking two deep breaths while Stalin was speaking and calming my mood a little bit. "It''s about Marshal Timoshenko."


    "Timoshinger?" The voice from the earphone suddenly became serious, "what''s wrong with timoshinger?"


    "Comrade marshal, he is ill." I was deeply afraid that I didn''t express myself clearly enough, so I quickly added: "it''s pneumonia. According to the doctor, it''s viral pneumonia."


    "Wasn''t he all right a few hours ago?" After listening to me, Stalin asked, "why did you get sick in a twinkling of an eye? Where is he now? "


    "In the hospital," I hastened to reply, "the doctor said he was very ill and needed absolute bed rest."


    "Tell me, Rita, how did he get sick?" Stalin ordered in a stern tone.


    "Comrade Stalin, according to the doctor, marshal Timoshenko may have caught cold because of the rain. In addition, he is old and under great mental pressure. That''s why he suddenly got sick."


    "Is it serious?"


    "It''s very serious," I tried to repeat to Stalin what the president had just said, "at first it was just a dry cough, but when I got to the hospital, the cough became more serious, accompanied by severe chest pain, like acupuncture, aggravated with cough or deep breathing, and radiating to the shoulder and abdomen... In addition, nausea and vomiting, Even drowsiness, blurred mind symptoms


    After I finished tiemuxinge''s illness, I raised my hand to wipe the sweat on my forehead, which made me a layman to recite so many special medical terms.


    After listening to my narration, Stalin also became anxious: "can you send him back to Moscow as soon as possible?"


    I turned my head and looked at tolbusine, who was sitting next to me. Seeing that he waved his head slightly at me, I said to the microphone, "Comrade Stalin, maybe not. The doctor said that he needs absolute bed rest. If he moves without permission, it will endanger his life. "


    "Rita, you immediately tell the president of the hospital to do everything he can to keep Comrade timoshinger alive." Stalin told me: "I will immediately send the best medical personnel and necessary medicine to you by plane."


    "Comrade Stalin," I said carefully after Stalin finished saying, "in fact, there is a special medicine in the military hospital. The president said that only two injections can make Marshal Timoshenko recover in a short time."¡° Rita, now that you have a special medicine, just let the hospital use it. If you don''t have enough there, I''ll arrange for people to fly there immediately. " Stalin said with some displeasure: "can''t you even do such things?" It makes me feel a little sad to hear Stalin scold me, but for the sake of timoshinger''s life, I can only harden my head and say: "yes, comrade Stalin, I really can''t decide this matter. It''s not just me who can''t make the decision, it''s even tolbuhine who can''t make the decision. Because if the hospital wants to use this kind of medicine, it must get your personal authorization. "¡° What, do hospitals need to get my personal authorization to use drugs for treatment? " Stalin asked mistily, "why don''t I remember giving such an order?" Just as I wanted to remind him, he suddenly said, "Oh, I remember. You''re not talking about penicillin?"¡° Yes, comrade Stalin, it''s penicillin. " When I heard that he actually gave the name of the drug, I couldn''t help but be overjoyed. I quickly added: "the doctor said that this is the best anti-inflammatory drug. It''s very suitable to treat the Marshal''s viral pneumonia." After my words, Stalin was silent for a long time, and finally hesitated to say: "Rita, you should know that our country does not produce this kind of medicine, and the existing penicillin is all aided by US allies. After using this kind of medicine, can it really achieve the effect they said?"¡° Yes, comrade Stalin, "I heard that Stalin''s tone was a little loose. I said while the iron was hot:" I believe what the doctors said. Since they say this medicine can restore the Marshal''s health in a short time, the marshal will recover soon. After all, they are professionals. I believe them. " After a long silence again, Stalin still asked with half faith: "Rita, are you sure this medicine can cure timoshinger, not produce adverse effects?"¡° Comrade Stalin, please rest assured. " In order to urge Stalin to make up his mind, I decided to tell a small lie appropriately: "when I went to the United States with Comrade Molotov last year and visited the hospital, I saw the magical effect of this new drug. I believe that as long as the marshal is given this medicine, he will be fully recovered in a short time. " Perhaps Stalin, seeing that I was so sure, after much deliberation, finally said, "well, Rita, since you say so, let''s try. I now officially authorize you to use penicillin from the United States in the treatment of Comrade Timoshenko. " I heard Stalin say that. As soon as he grinned, he added: "two injections, you have to remember, only two injections of penicillin can be given to timoshinger!"

 Chapter 1611

    Tolbuhine held my hand tightly and said with tears in his eyes, "great, comrade oshanina. That''s great. As long as Stalin agreed to let the hospital use penicillin, marshal Timoshenko would be saved. " After he released my hand, he put it on his face and wiped away the tears that ran down his cheek.


    I know in my heart that the reason why Stalin agreed to let timoshinger use penicillin today is not how eloquent I am, but because he must know in his heart that the main reason for vatujing''s death is that he is stubborn and can not use penicillin for his opponent. With this lesson in mind, if we don''t use penicillin to treat tiemuxinge again, maybe the marshal will become "the second watujing". He reluctantly agreed to my request.


    I waited for tolbuhine''s mood to stabilize a little, then urged him to call the hospital, "well, senior general, since the Supreme Commander himself has agreed to use penicillin for Marshal Timoshenko, please call the president quickly and let him know the good news."


    I come from later generations, and I know the anti-inflammatory effect of penicillin very well. However, tolbuhine has only heard of this kind of medicine, and I haven''t even seen it, let alone understood its efficacy. Therefore, after calling the military hospital, he always felt insecure and forced me to go to the hospital to see what happened.


    The headquarters is not far from the military hospital. When we arrived, the president was fighting two nurses to prepare for the injection of tiemuxinge. Tolbuhine stared at the powder injection bottle in the dean''s hand, frowned and asked, "Comrade Dean, is this powder penicillin?" After getting a positive answer, he then asked, "how can I inject the powder into the marshal?"


    The head of the hospital gave the bottle to the nurse next to her. The nurse first pierced the bottle cap with a needle and injected distilled water into it. After the water filled more than half of the bottle, she stopped the injection and shook the bottle with three fingers. The Dean explained to us: "after the powder inside dissolves, we can inject it into the marshal."


    It was the first time I saw powdered penicillin, so I kept staring at the bottle in the nurse''s hand. Finally, when the nurse stopped, the Dean took the vial and looked at it, then handed it back to the nurse, "OK, it''s ready for injection."


    Seeing that the nurse picked up a new syringe and was ready to suck the solution out of the vial, tolbuhine suddenly stopped her: "wait a minute, comrade nurse." The nurse didn''t know what was wrong with him, so she stopped her work and looked at him blankly.


    Tolbuhine pointed to the bottle in the nurse''s hand and asked the dean displeasantly, "Comrade Dean, what''s the matter? Why is there so much residue left in the bottle?"


    After looking at the vial for a while, the Dean replied with a smile, "don''t worry, Comrade General. The dissolution of penicillin is usually not complete. Generally speaking, there will be starch residue in the vial." With that, he waved to the nurse and motioned her to continue working.


    When I saw that tolbuhine seemed to want to say something else, I quickly gently pulled his sleeve and said in a low voice: "Comrade General, the president is a professional. What he said will never be wrong. Let them inject the marshal as soon as possible."


    Maybe the Dean used penicillin for the first time. She didn''t know that she had to have a skin test in advance, so she asked the nurse to inject the sleeping timoshinger directly. Looking at the nurse who is concentrating on injection for tiemuxinge, my heart is secretly praying that the old Marshal must not be allergic to penicillin.


    After the nurse finished the injection, tolbuhine pulled the Dean aside and asked quietly, "Comrade Dean, how long will it take for this medicine to take effect after injection?"


    "I''ve never used this medicine before, but I''ve heard from my colleagues that it has a very good anti-inflammatory effect." Hearing the question raised by tolbuhine, the dean said with some embarrassment, "I think it will take two or three hours at the earliest to get effective."


    It was said that it would take two or three hours to know the result, and tolbuhine''s face became uncertain. I hastened to say to him, "senior general, no matter how good the special medicine is, it won''t work immediately. Let''s go back to the headquarters first and come back tomorrow morning."


    "Well, we''ll come back tomorrow." Tolbuhine said, holding the president''s hand, told: "Comrade president, I can give Marshal comrade to you, if there is any change in the condition, call me in time."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    At dawn the next day, thorbusine called the military hospital impatiently. After finding the president, he asked anxiously, "Comrade president, what''s the situation of Marshal Timoshenko?"


    "Comrade General," I heard the president speak in a relaxed tone, and then I guessed that timoshinger''s condition must be very ideal. I only heard him say, "according to the observation of the whole night, the condition of Comrade Marshal has been controlled, and the effect is so good that I can''t believe it. What''s more, the marshal didn''t have any adverse reactions. Except for the occasional cough or two, he was always sleeping


    Just when torbhuin was asking the president for more information about timoshinger, a familiar voice came from behind: "good morning, commanders! How is Comrade tie muxinge''s condition? "


    Hearing this voice, my heart immediately felt a lot more secure. As long as he appeared here, I had nothing to worry about, not only continuing to negotiate with representatives of the Bulgarian government, but also taking military action against this country. I quickly turned around and faced Zhukov, who was coming with a big stride, said, "Hello, marshal!"


    Zhukov came up to me, took a look at talbusin who was on the phone, and asked me in a low voice, "is he talking to the hospital?"


    I nodded and said what Zhukov was interested in first: "according to the director of the hospital, marshal Timoshenko had a very good effect after using the new anti-inflammatory drug penicillin. Except for coughing once or twice every night, he was sleeping all the time."


    Zhukov nodded. "That''s good news." Just at this time, tolbuhine finished his call with the president and came to him. He then asked, "Comrade tolbuhine, has this news been reported to Moscow?"


    "Not yet." Tolbuhine shook his head and said: "we have just got the exact news that marshal Timoshenko''s injection of penicillin is very effective, and the dean said that he can recover within half a month. When reporting to Moscow, I think we should wait a little longer. "


    "Comrade General, what are you going to wait for?" Zhukov frowned and asked slightly discontentedly, "don''t you know Comrade Stalin has been waiting for your news all night?" Then he took a look at the open telegraph room, went straight to the door and told the messenger inside, "connect me to the Kremlin immediately."


    The phone was soon put through. Zhukov said to the receiver, "Comrade bosklebshev, this is Zhukov. Please transfer me to Comrade Stalin."


    A moment later, I suddenly saw Zhukov standing at attention, and then respectfully said, "Hello, comrade Stalin, I have come to fitjecht on your order. In addition, there is another piece of good news to tell you. Marshal Timoshenko''s condition has been brought under control after he was injected with penicillin. I believe he will be fully recovered soon. "


    When Zhukov finished the call, he sat opposite torbhusin and asked directly, "Comrade General, when will your troops arrive at the designated position?"


    "It may take another week," he said with a shrug. "Due to road and transportation reasons, the speed of troop assembly is far lower than we expected."


    "Comrade General, at present, the war between our country and Bulgaria will break out at any time, so you should try your best to make the troops arrive at the designated place at the prescribed time." Zhukov pointed on the map with his hand and reminded the other party, "as far as I know, land transportation has become saturated, so you should consider other modes of transportation."


    "Other modes of transport?" Tolbuhine repeated Zhukov''s words, frowned and fell into bitter thinking. After a while, he suddenly brightened his eyes, and then tentatively asked Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, do you mean the Black Sea fleet?"


    "That''s right," Zhukov said with a rare smile as he saw the other party guess what he wanted to express. "You can ask the navy to help you transport some troops and rush here after the port assembly. The speed is also faster than the land transportation."


    "Yes, comrade marshal, you are so right." "It''s really a good way to get the officers and men to walk forty or fifty kilometers a day, tired like dogs. It''s better to get them to go by sea by boat. It''s faster," he flattered


    Tolbuhin agreed with Zhukov''s proposal, but his chief of staff, biliuzov, said anxiously: "it''s really faster to travel by sea than to let soldiers walk, but I''m worried that the troop carriers will be attacked by German submarines or planes at sea."


    "Chief of staff, you''re worried." As soon as tolbuhine and his chief of staff finished speaking, he waved his hand to him and said with disapproval: "at present, our air force controls the air control of Romania and the Black Sea. If the German aircraft does not come, it will be too late. Once it comes, there will be no way to discipline them. As for the enemy''s submarines, they may cause us some small troubles, but as long as the Navy sends out more destroyers to escort us, the German submarines will have no chance. "


    While tolbuhine and the chief of staff were studying how to let those troops travel by sea, I asked Zhukov, "marshal, you are not on the Polish front. How can you come here suddenly?"


    "Comrade Stalin called me last night to say that timoshinger was seriously ill and asked me to come here immediately to take over his work." Zhukov said with no expression: "so after I handed over my work to rokosovsky, I arrived here overnight by plane."


    From what he said, I recognized that there would be a big action on the Polish front recently, so I asked cautiously, "what''s the action of the first front army of Belarus recently?"


    "The Polish government in exile in London appealed to us for help, hoping that we could send troops to attack China and find a way to join the rebel forces fighting in the city." Zhukov continued: "after the study of rokosovsky and I, we decided to hand over the main task to the third division of Poland."


    "What, the third Polish division?" When I heard this, I immediately remembered that this unit had been beaten to pieces by the German army some time ago. I hurriedly interrupted and said, "their combat effectiveness is too weak. Without the cooperation of our army, they would not be able to break through the German defense and get close to the outskirts of Warsaw."


    "I understand what you want to say, Rita." Zhukov interrupted me and said to himself, "I also know that the fighting power of the Polish army is far less than that of our army, so I made some adjustments to the personnel of the division. Up to now, our officers have served as deputy officers at or above the battalion level. They are all experienced commanders; Even platoon level posts are filled by our officers. In addition, I have sent a five member staff team to the division headquarters to assist in commanding. " When Zhukov finished talking about his deployment, I felt at ease. If we put in manpower according to him, although the third Polish division is still a Polish army in name, the whole army is actually in our hands. Zhukov saw that I didn''t make a statement, so he asked, "how about my arrangement?" I nodded, but I was still a little worried and said, "although most of the officers in this division are commanders with rich combat experience, the quality of Polish soldiers can not be improved in a short time."¡° I''ve taken into account what you said, Rita Zhukov said thoughtfully, "so I''m going to let our officers and Polish soldiers break in for a while, and then fight after they get familiar with each other. In order to ensure that they can achieve the desired results, I am ready to transfer two divisions of the 47th army to cooperate with their attack. " Zhukov''s consideration of problems is comprehensive. He has thought of all the problems I can think of; Even if I did not think of the problem, he also formulated corresponding countermeasures. I stopped for a moment and then asked, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know when our attack will start?"¡° It should not be long before the uprising army in the city is gradually unable to support itself under the strangulation of the German army. Otherwise, the government in exile will not have the cheek to ask us to send troops for rescue. " Zhukov comforted me and said, "don''t worry, we''ll go back to Poland together after the Bulgarian side is dealt with."

 Chapter 1612

    Biluzov is calling naval headquarters to discuss the use of troop carriers to transport infantry by sea. Tolbuhine came back to us and asked Zhukov a little uneasily: "marshal, when the German army saw that our army was moving on such a large scale, would they mobilize troops from other places to strengthen their defense in Bulgaria?"


    Zhukov said with a faint smile: "the German general headquarters and the pro * * Bulgarian government troops did not realize that we were mobilizing troops to the Bulgarian border through Romania earlier. Now, even if they find out that we are mobilizing troops on a large scale, it is too late to deploy enough troops to prevent our troops from entering Bulgaria. "


    "Comrade marshal is right." As soon as Zhukov finished, I immediately echoed: "since the liberation of Kiev by our army, the main forces of the German army have been tied down on all fronts by our army, and it is difficult to mobilize them quickly. This is true of the right bank campaign in Ukraine, and it is true of the Belarus campaign. I believe that in the upcoming Bulgarian campaign, the main forces of the German army will not be able to enter the main defensive zone before we start the campaign. "


    "But we can''t take it lightly just because the German army didn''t have enough time to mobilize enough troops before the battle." After I finished, Zhukov solemnly told tolbuhine: "the preparations for the campaign are not allowed to be delayed, because the enemy will take corresponding measures to remedy the situation when they find that our army has mobilized a large number of troops. In this case, procrastination means the loss of the suddenness of action. "


    "But Comrade marshal, as is often the case in war, although the troops have already been assembled, our attack has to be delayed because the supplies are not fully in place." Tolbusin complained to Zhukov: "for example, before the attack starts, it is necessary to ensure that there are enough shells and oil reserves. If it does not reach the required quantity, the artillery preparation will be greatly reduced before the attack; Tanks and cars can''t move in quickly


    After tolbuhin finished speaking, his military commissar zhertov said to Zhukov, "marshal, please send me to the logistics force. I''ll take a group of political workers to talk with the truck drivers and train drivers who are responsible for transportation, so that they can understand the importance of this campaign and find ways to improve the transportation efficiency, so as to ensure that our army''s transportation efficiency before the campaign starts, We can stock up enough supplies. "


    "Very well, comrade gertov, you have a very good idea." Zhukov nodded to gertov and said with approval, "I believe that after the hard work of you and your comrades in arms, the efficiency of logistics and transportation will be greatly improved."


    At this time, biliuzov returned to the table after calling and sat down. He reported to Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, the commander of the Black Sea fleet is not here. I have conveyed our message to him."


    "Who answered the phone?" Zhukov frowned at the question.


    "It''s the chief of staff of the Black Sea fleet, and he assured me that he would report to the commander as soon as he came back," he replied


    After listening to the report, Zhukov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he said, "anyway, there''s nothing to do in the morning. After I can''t eat, Rita will accompany me to the hospital to see Marshal Timoshenko."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Zhukov and I arrived at the hospital just in time for Timothy to wake up. Zhukov was to take over his job, so they sat together and chatted for hours. By the time we left the hospital, it was already afternoon.


    When Zhukov and I returned to the headquarters, we were surprised to find a general in navy uniform sitting at the conference table. Before I could see who the other party was, I heard Zhukov call out unexpectedly: "Nikolay grasimovitch, what''s the matter with you?"


    When I heard Zhukov calling each other''s real name and father''s name, and saw the rank of admiral on his epaulet, I finally recognized that he was admiral Kuznetsov, commander in chief of the Navy. When they shook hands, Kuznetsov replied with a smile, "Comrade marshal, it''s the Supreme Commander himself who ordered me to come here immediately to accept your command."


    "Under my command?" Zhukovsong opened his hand and asked with a blank face: "when was this order issued? How can I not know?"


    Kuznetsov and I shook hands politely before answering Zhukov: "the latest order just issued two hours ago. I was inspecting the Black Sea fleet, and as soon as I received this order, I arrived here immediately. "


    After everyone was seated, Kuznetsov began to explain to Zhukov what he had come here for: "Comrade marshal, I went to the Black Sea Fleet this morning to inspect the work, and the fleet commander, Admiral okjabriski, was going to meet me at the airport. When we returned to his headquarters, the chief of staff of the fleet reported to him that general torbhuin''s Ukrainian third front army hoped that we could provide transport ships for them to transport troops far away from the battlefield to the Bulgarian border by sea.


    I thought it was very important, so I immediately reported it to the headquarters of the staff. It may be that Antonov, deputy chief of general staff, felt that this was conducive to the rapid assembly of troops, so he immediately reported to the Supreme Commander himself. Soon, we received orders from the base camp. From now on, the Black Sea fleet of general okjabinski and the Danube fleet under the command of general Gorshkov belong to the third front forces of Ukraine in the operational sequence. "


    "Great, that''s great." When Zhukov heard this, he turned to tolbusin, who was sitting beside him, and said, "in this way, the Navy and the army will have a unified command and can cooperate more harmoniously in the battle."


    Although tolbuhine knew the news much earlier than us, when he heard Zhukov say so, he replied with a smile: "yes, originally I was worried that the comrades in the navy would not support our practice. Now they are all under the unified command of the front army, and there are more things to do next."


    "From now on until the end of the campaign, I will stay here to coordinate the unified action of the Navy and the army." Kuznetsov looked at Zhukov and asked, "don''t you know what our navy''s mission is, marshal?"


    Zhukov thought for a moment, and then said, "Comrade Kuznetsov, the main task of your navy is not to let enemy ships escape from Bulgaria, but to cooperate with ground forces to capture Varna and Burgas. At the same time, the Navy should also transport those troops far away from the battlefield for the army, send them to the vicinity of the enemy''s ports, launch attacks on the enemy''s ports with the cooperation of the Marine Corps, and firmly hold these ports occupied by our army before the main forces arrive. "


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    At the same time, Bulgaria, which has been in anarchy for two consecutive days, has finally elected a new interim government led by moraviev. As soon as the government came to power, it could not wait to make a statement through radio Sofia, claiming that the government would end the wrong policy opposed by the Bulgarian people in the shortest possible time, restore the people''s right to follow China and grant unconditional amnesty to all those arrested and imprisoned for opposing the Bulgarian poisonous vegetable system and the alliance with the German army To ensure the dissolution of all the Communist organizations and to maintain the strictest neutrality in foreign policy. In addition to disarming the German troops stationed in Bulgaria and those who will enter the country in the future. At the same time, negotiations should be held to make Bulgaria withdraw from the state of war with Britain and the United States.


    A group of us gathered around the radio and listened to the high sounding statement of the moraviev government. There was no expression of joy on anyone''s face, because we all knew that it was just a tactic of the moraviev government to postpone our army''s entry into Bulgaria.


    When moraviev''s speech was over, Zhukov turned off the radio, waved his hand to let the interpreter leave, and then asked us with a sneer: "everyone has heard the speech of the new government. Tell us what you think."


    "Let me say a few words," the first speaker was the military commissar gertov, who said without expression: "moraviev said on the radio that we should withdraw from the state of war with Britain and the United States by means of negotiation, but he only lightly mentioned to our country: we should improve our relations with Russia! There is not a word about how to improve it in the statement. "


    After gertov finished, torbusin added: "according to my understanding, moraviev''s talk is just to stabilize us so that our army can not launch active attacks in the short term. Once their peace talks with Britain and the United States are successful, Bulgaria will be separated from the camp of the Communist Party. In this way, we will not be able to attack our allies. "


    "Ally, what ally?" Zhukov said angrily: "they are just allies of Britain and the United States. For us, as long as we don''t develop Bulgaria''s border to us, they are still our enemies."


    When biliuzov heard Zhukov''s words, his face immediately showed a happy expression. He interrupted and asked, "Comrade marshal, if I don''t understand it wrong, should we continue our assembly on the Bulgarian border?"


    "General biliuzov," Zhukov said solemnly as soon as he heard biliuzov say so, "before I give an order to stop marching on the Bulgarian border, the assembly of troops must continue unconditionally. Do you understand? "


    "I understand," biliuzov replied cheerfully, "I am worried that the statement of moraviev''s government will lead to a change in our policy towards Bulgaria. Since everything is the same as before, let''s assume we haven''t heard this announcement. "


    Stalin, who was far away in Moscow, also heard the statement issued by the moraviev government. He called Zhukov and told him, "Comrade Zhukov, since the moraviev government has made a statement that it is willing to withdraw from the Communist camp through negotiation, we should show enough goodwill to their move."


    Zhukov''s face muscles twitched violently when he heard Stalin say so. Then he asked, "Comrade Stalin, I don''t know what we should do to show enough goodwill."


    Stalin thought for a moment and said, "you should send a reconnaissance team to carry out reconnaissance on the ports of Bulgaria and find out if there are any German warships here; It is necessary to find out in the shortest possible time what the current situation of the German forces in Bulgaria is and whether the moraviev government is collecting these German weapons.


    In addition, the troops of the Ukrainian third front army should not push forward any more when they have been in the front line for a long time, such as Razgrad, Shumen, dergopol and the North Bank of Kamen River, so as to avoid conflicts with Bulgarian border forces. "


    "I see, comrade Stalin." Zhukov nodded his head and replied, "I will pass on your order as soon as possible." Zhukov put down the phone, repeated Stalin''s account to torbhusin and Kuznetsov, and finally told them, "before the battle, our troops must not go beyond the area designated by Comrade Stalin, so as to avoid putting our troops in a passive position politically." On hearing this order, Kuznetsov seemed a little indifferent, but torbusin said with a grim face: "marshal, if we stop advancing within the prescribed area and are still provoked by the Bulgarian army, what should we do?" When tolbuhine said the word "provocation", the whole conference room quieted down. Just a few years ago, a few hours before the German invasion, the General Staff Headquarters issued an order to the following troops, which also vaguely mentioned that they might be provoked by the Germans¡° "Provocation" gives you the feeling that it is a skirmish on the scale of more than ten or twenty people. Therefore, not many people are on the alert. As a result, the troops are defeated again and again by the enemy due to lack of preparation at the beginning of the war. Zhukov recognized the meaning he wanted to express from tolbuhine''s words, and immediately said firmly: "Comrade tolbuhine, please tell the troops below that as long as they are provoked by the enemy, no matter how many enemies come, they must be completely eliminated."¡° Yes, that''s what we should do, comrade marshal. " After receiving Zhukov''s instructions, tolbuhine once again showed a long lost smile on his face: "if the enemy doesn''t come, we can make peace with them. If they live impatiently and have to challenge us, then what is waiting for them will be the fate of annihilation. " Zhukov waved to tolbuhine and said: "remember, we must tell the following commanders and fighters that no matter how the situation in Bulgaria changes, we will enter this country. So we must not relax our vigilance and continue to keep on the war readiness. Only when the time is right, our hundreds of thousands of troops will stride across the border of Bulgaria and advance in depth with the support of the guerrillas. "

 Chapter 1613

    In order to command the battle against Bulgaria, Zhukov specially added two offices in the building where the headquarters is located, one for Admiral Kuznetsov, commander in chief of the Navy, and the other for the air force.


    The room set up in the office suddenly became extremely quiet. There was no sound except the breathing of the three of us. I saw both of them looking at me with a pair of incredible eyes, thinking that they would not wash their faces in the morning. They also raised their hands and wiped them on their faces twice, but they were still staring at me.


    I felt my face burning, so I asked with embarrassment, "general Kuznetsov, did I say something wrong?"


    "Scar is a soldier''s medal!..." Kuznetsov repeated what I had just said and said excitedly, "Rita, please allow me to call you Rita like Zhukov and others. What a wonderful poem you just read. Is there anything else behind it? "


    "Behind?" My eyes turned, and I felt as if I had seen so many sentences on the Internet. If I had to edit them now, I couldn''t make them up. So I could only shake my head and say with regret, "no, there are only so many. I also saw the scar on major shelgo''s back and said it casually


    "Major, do you hear me?" Kuznetsov said to sergo, "this is a poem written by Rita herself for you and our sailors. Have you written it down?"


    Shelgo nodded and said positively, "I''ve got it."


    "Now that you''ve remembered it, you can call the two generals, okjabriski and Gorshkov," Kuznetsov said to his adjutant. "You must keep this poem in our navy''s internal publications. I want every officer and soldier of the Black Sea fleet and the Danube fleet to recite it."


    While Serge took a pen to record the order, Kuznetsov added: "no, these two fleets are not enough. We have to call the Baltic Fleet and the Pacific Fleet to have the poem published in their journals."


    Hearing a series of orders issued by Kuznetsov, I couldn''t help sweating. Didn''t he mean to make me down? I quickly waved to him and said, "Comrade General, I just say that casually. You must not let the magazine publish it, otherwise you will be laughed at by others."


    "Who''s going to laugh at you, Rita. Don''t worry. I''ll take care of it. " After Kuznetsov said these words, he found the document in my hand and turned the topic: "did you send me the document?"


    "Yes, Comrade General." Seeing that he took the initiative to take over the matter, I was also deeply relieved. I quickly handed over the documents in my hand and said, "Marshal Zhukov, let me ask you what you think of the performance of the Bulgarian interim government these two days?"


    Kuznetsov quickly looked through the contents of the document, threw it on his desk, and said: "Rita, go back and tell the marshal that the statement of moraviev''s government is a lie. According to the information we just received, German warships are still moored in the port of Bulgaria. The submarines moored in the ports by the enemy, as in the past, continue to threaten the safety of our ships sailing in the Black Sea and the safety of our army''s coastal flanks. "


    "Comrade General, I agree with you." After Kuznetsov finished speaking, I also took the initiative to talk about my own views: "according to the army''s reconnaissance, there are thousands of German officers and men retreating from Romania hiding in Bulgaria. Together with the intelligence obtained by your navy, all these forces us to speed up the preparatory work for our troops to fight in Bulgaria. "


    When I left Kuznetsov''s office and went back to Zhukov''s headquarters, I saw that he was studying the current situation with tolbuhine. From a long distance, I heard his loud voice say: "Comrade tolbuhine, please forgive me, you have not studied the enemy situation in person. For unknown reasons, Bulgaria did not actively participate in the war against our country. Strictly speaking, it is not our enemy in form. Therefore, our understanding of the Bulgarian army is far less clear than that of Germany.


    According to the information fed back in the past two days, most of Bulgaria''s troops are deployed in the central and western parts of their country, and a considerable number of troops are in Greece and Yugoslavia. As for the number of troops in the northern part of Bulgaria, you still have no idea... "


    After being criticized by Zhukov, torbusin''s face muscles twitched violently for a few times, and then replied, "marshal, please rest assured that I will immediately send more reconnaissance personnel to carry out reconnaissance on the distribution of forces in northern Bulgaria, so as to correct the mistakes we made in our preliminary work."


    "Comrade torbhuin, once again, I remind you that preparations for the campaign are not allowed to be delayed." Zhukov, after tolbuhin finished, specially stressed: "we must ensure that the troops are ready before September 4." He turned to see me standing by and asked, "what did you and Kuznetsov talk about?"


    I handed Kuznetsov''s intelligence to Zhukov and said, "this is the latest reconnaissance intelligence of the Navy. According to reliable information, there are still a large number of German ships in the ports of Bulgaria."


    After reading the information provided by Kuznetsov, Zhukov then threw it on the table, "Comrade torbusin, the situation in Bulgaria is becoming more and more complicated. When the enemy''s" south Ukraine "army group was defeated by our army, they retreated through Bulgaria without any hindrance from the authorities. In addition, according to the information provided by general Kuznetsov, dozens of German warships are still parked in the port of Bulgaria. " He hit the map with his hand and said sternly, "in addition to that, the Germans are gathering in areas like Sofia, slifnica and breznik. German ambassador Bao told the interim government that the German army is not ready to leave Bulgaria in the near future. According to the information provided by the headquarters of the general staff, recently, Germany may not be reconciled to its own defeat, and there will be a coup in Bulgaria, which will tie Bulgaria to their chariots and forcibly drag it into the anti Soviet war. " After waiting for Zhukov to finish his words, tolbuhine said solemnly: "Comrade Zhukov, originally I wanted to tell you that it is almost impossible to complete the campaign deployment before September 4. But after listening to what you have just said, I realize that if we delay further, we will spend a lot of time in Bulgaria and Germany. Therefore, I agree with you that we should complete all the campaign deployment in the shortest time. " After tolbuhine finished speaking, he told the chief of staff who had never spoken: "Comrade chief of staff, call the three commanders of the group army immediately and ask them to do everything they can to complete all the campaign deployment before 12 o''clock tonight." Seeing that biliuzov turned to leave, he added: "remind them that this order cannot be changed." When biliuzov went to contact the three commanders of the group army, Zhukov finally showed a smile on his face. He nodded to tolbuhine and said with satisfaction: "Comrade tolbuhine, I am very satisfied to see that you can treat the upcoming Bulgarian campaign with such a positive attitude."¡° Do we need to report our adjusted operational plans to the Supreme Command and the general staff headquarters immediately? " Asked tolbuhine impatiently¡° Not for the time being. " Zhukov shook his head and said, "I''ll report to you when all your plans are perfect. I believe that both the General Staff Headquarters and the supreme command will be satisfied with our new operational plan. "¡° Marshal, "when Zhukov finished speaking, tolbuhine asked carefully," which day do you think is the most suitable time to launch the campaign? " Zhukov thought about it and then replied, "in order to find out the true attitude of the Bulgarian interim government, we need to wait a few more days. Well, I think we should set the attack time on September 10th¡° What are we waiting for? " "Since we know that the statement of moraviev''s government is a complete lie, what are we waiting for?" asked torbusin¡° Comrade torbusin, don''t forget that there are guerrillas supporting us in Bulgaria. " Zhukov said with an air of complacency: "since we can get their help when we enter the border of Bulgaria, our attack will get twice the result with half the effort."¡° Will the Bulgarian people rise up and support us? " Asked tolbuhine, incredulously. Zhukov nodded and said confidently, "yes, I''m sure they will get up and support us."

 Chapter 1614

    In the next few days, I have been paying close attention to the situation in Bulgaria, expecting that moraviev''s government will suddenly announce that it will break ties with Germany, withdraw from the camp of the Communist Party of China, and disarm all German troops in Bulgaria. Then, until the evening of the 5th, moraviev''s cabinet still did not give us any satisfactory reply.


    Zhukov called Moscow and was going to ask the superior if he would agree with the attack launched by our department on the 10th. Unexpectedly, he heard an unexpected news. Stalin told him by telephone: "Comrade Zhukov, as we think that Bulgaria''s current policy is to fight against the Soviet Union on the German side, I asked Comrade Molotov to deliver the war declaration note to the Bulgarian Embassy in Moscow at seven o''clock tonight, hoping to forward it to China through the minister."


    Because the headquarters was quiet, all of us around Zhukov could barely hear the conversation between him and Stalin. It is said that we have officially declared war on Bulgaria. After looking at each other, torbhuin and gertov showed a relieved expression on their faces.


    "Comrade Stalin," Zhukov asked respectfully after Stalin finished saying, "since our country has declared war on Bulgaria, do you think the army should launch an attack on the 10th of this month?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade Zhukov." However, Stalin said unexpectedly: "before submitting the note, I informed Comrade Dimitrov about this matter. He said that he would immediately call on comrades from the Central Committee of the Bulgarian workers'' Party and the headquarters of the rebel army to hold an emergency joint meeting to discuss how to take necessary cooperation with our army troops who are about to enter Bulgaria."


    As soon as Zhukov put down the phone, the impatient biliuzov asked, "Comrade marshal, do you know what the Supreme Commander thinks of our planned attack time?"


    "Chief of staff, what do you think the higher authorities can think?" Zhukov looked at the other side and said, "according to my estimation, the time for the attack on Bulgaria will not be officially fixed until the joint meeting of the Bulgarian workers'' party is over."


    "Marshal, do you think the attack time will be delayed?" Asked tolbuhine tentatively.


    "There should be no delay." Zhukov shook his head and said: "if the workers'' party can work out a detailed plan to welcome our army into Bulgaria in the meeting tonight, I think the attack time will be advanced."


    In the past, the leaders of the front army wanted to attack as late as possible, because they could gather more troops and technical equipment. But this time, it seems that everyone can''t wait to enter Bulgaria as soon as possible. Gertov also said: "because our political workers are actively carrying out political and ideological work in the army, the morale of our commanders and fighters is high, so they can''t wait to start attacking as soon as possible."


    It seems that zhertov''s statement had long been expected by Zhukov. He just nodded and then asked tolbusin, "Comrade General, have you made clear the situation of the enemy''s defense in the front?"


    "It''s all clear." "The troops deployed along the border are all Bulgarian divisions, and there is no sign of the Germans," torbusin replied, nodding his head. Their fortifications are very simple, only a few temporary excavation of the trench, which has a small number of fire points. There is no minefield laid or wire mesh drawn in front of the position. Our tanks can carry out rapid assault in these areas. "


    Some of what tolbuhin said is known to me, while others are heard for the first time. According to his account, Bulgarian troops deployed on the border are deployed in the form of exercises. As long as our troops launch a round of attacks, they can smash the enemy''s skilful defense.


    After listening to tolbuhine, Zhukov asked casually, "where are the enemy artillery deployed?"


    "Their artillery positions are generally arranged in the open area at the edge of towns, which is a good target for our artillery bombardment or air force bombardment." "I think the reason for the enemy to deploy their positions in this way must be that the artillery can find a place to live when they rest at night," he said with a smile


    "Although it seems very stupid for them to deploy artillery positions in this way, they also bring some inconvenience to our artillery preparation for attack." Zhukov knocked on the table with his hand and said solemnly, "once we bombard their artillery positions, it may affect the residents of the town. If there are too many civilian casualties, it will be very unfavorable for our troops to enter Bulgaria, so there will certainly be people inciting the Bulgarian people to rise up against us. "


    In response to Zhukov''s statement, biliuzov raised his own worry: "Comrade marshal, we can''t ignore the enemy''s artillery positions just because we are afraid of injuring civilians by mistake, can we? If the enemy''s artillery intercepts us when our army is attacking, it is bound to cause serious casualties to our department. "


    "Chief of staff, let me talk about my views." When I saw that this issue was going to be debated, I might have been unable to come up with a good result after half a day''s discussion, so I broke in and said, "I suggest that our artillery should be divided into two groups, one large and the other small. A large artillery group is responsible for the preparation of artillery fire before the attack. The target of their artillery attack will be the forward position of the Bulgarian army instead of the enemy''s artillery position. As for small artillery groups, they are responsible for monitoring the enemy''s artillery positions. If the enemy does not fire, they will be covered by our heavy artillery fire. "


    Zhukov thought for a moment, finally nodded and agreed with my proposal: "I agree with Rita''s proposal. We have never had a fight with the Bulgarian army. We do not understand the tactics they use and the combat effectiveness of the army. Therefore, when we fight with them, we must adopt new tactics. "


    At nine o''clock in the evening, Stalin called again from Moscow, where he said happily, "Comrade Zhukov, I have two good news for you. After receiving the declaration of war from China, the interim government of Bulgaria has passed our Embassy in Sofia, informed us that Bulgaria has severed relations with Germany and requested a truce.


    Second, the joint meeting between the Bulgarian workers'' Party and the headquarters of the rebel army has ended. At the meeting, the plan to hold an uprising to welcome our army into Bulgaria was adopted. It is expected that on the night of September 8, the armed forces led by the Bulgarian workers'' party will launch an uprising in the capital Sofia. "


    After hearing these two exciting good news, Zhukov''s hands trembled slightly with excitement. He asked in a low voice, "Comrade Stalin, did the Ukrainian third front army launch an attack on Bulgaria on the 10th?"


    "In order to cooperate with the anti Communist uprising launched by the Bulgarian people, I think the attack time should be advanced." Stalin said on the phone: "the uprising led by the Bulgarian workers'' party is bound to bring moraviev''s government into chaos. We should take advantage of this favorable opportunity to launch a decisive attack and cooperate with the uprising army''s righteous war in Bulgaria."


    After Zhukov finished his call this time, he turned his eyes to gertov, who was sitting next to torbhuin: "Comrade military commissar, I just talked to Comrade Stalin. I think you have heard me?"


    Although gertov did not understand the reason why Zhukov said this to himself, he stood up and said politely, "yes, comrade marshal, I have heard two good news from the Supreme Commander himself."


    "Now that I have heard it," Zhukov said with the same expression, "then I have an important task for you to complete. Do you have confidence?"


    Gertov stood there with a solemn expression, silent, waiting for Zhukov to give orders.


    "Comrade gertov," Zhukov said after pausing for a moment, "I want you to establish contact with the Bulgarian National Liberation uprising army and the local committee of the Bulgarian workers'' party operating in the border area, so that our army can quickly carry out all kinds of work after entering Bulgaria."


    "No problem, comrade marshal." Gertov nodded his head and said confidently: "our political department has been keeping in touch with them. I will have a good talk with their leaders these two days to see how the two sides can cooperate effectively."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In less than two days, Zhukov received a report from the grass-roots troops that now on the Bulgarian border, Communists can be heard everywhere calling on the people to take action and cooperate with the Soviet Red Army to eliminate Hitler''s gangs. All kinds of signs show that the time is ripe for the Bulgarian people''s uprising and our army''s entry into Bulgaria. The troops already ready to go at the border can cross the border and enter Bulgarian territory at any time.


    Seeing the good situation, Zhukov was very happy, so he said to me, "Rita, we have nothing to do now, so we''d better go to the current group army. What do you think? "


    Although Zhukov and I are representatives of the base camp, in the final analysis, it is torbhuin who is in charge of commanding the front army. Our stay here every day has some influence on his command of the subordinate troops. In order to avoid embarrassment, I had thought of the following troops to go for a walk. Since Zhukov took the initiative to raise this issue, I pushed the boat forward and said, "OK, marshal, I will follow your instructions!"


    When tolbuhine heard that we were going to the following troops to check the preparations for the campaign, he immediately asked Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know which group army you are going to visit?"


    Zhukov thought for a moment, then said: "if war breaks out, the first one to attack the Bulgarian border is the 57th army of general Gagan, let''s go to him first."


    "I see, comrade marshal." "I''ll arrange it for you right now," tolbuhine said with a relaxed expression


    An hour later, Zhukov and I arrived at the 57th army headquarters in kochmar. General Gagan and a group of commanders stood outside to meet us.


    Zhukov came forward to shake hands with Gagan, and without going into his headquarters, he directly said, "general Gagan, I won''t go into your headquarters. You can take me to the front."


    Hearing Zhukov''s request, Gagan hesitated for a moment, then said: "marshal, the frontier is too dangerous. You''d better stay in the headquarters and listen to the report?"


    "Will your front be attacked by cold guns and artillery from the enemy?" Zhukov only asked faintly after listening.


    "No," Gagan said, shaking his head, "the Bulgarian Army on the opposite side has never fired a single shot at us since our army entered the position."


    "Since we are in the forward position and will not be attacked by cold guns and artillery from the enemy, there is no danger." Zhukov said: "your report is full of content that can make us happy. It doesn''t really reflect the situation on the front line, so I have to go in person." At this point, he stopped. Seeing that Gagan was still hesitating, he urged, "if you don''t want to go, just send a staff officer to show us the way."¡° How can we only send the staff to guide you? " When Gagan heard Zhukov say this, he was a little anxious. He called his chief of staff to give orders. Then he said respectfully to Zhukov, "marshal, I''ll take you to the frontier observation station myself." We were led by Gagan to the frontier observatory. Zhukov and I were standing in front of the lookout, looking through the telescope or the artillery mirror to see the situation on the opposite side. I saw that on the outskirts of a small town, there was a circular line of defense built by the Bulgarian army. It''s a defense line, only a long trench, and a small number of reinforced concrete firepower points. As the report we have received says, when the enemy is in front of the position, no minefield is set up and no barbed wire is set up, our tank column can rush into the opposite town in one go¡° Rita, do you see the enemy? " I was carefully observing the enemy''s defense line when Zhukov''s voice suddenly came to my ears: "look, the chimneys in the town are smoking. It should be the residents who are cooking lunch; There are also the farmlands outside the town, and the farmers are busy. It''s not like a battlefield here. It''s just a peaceful life. "¡° "Marshal," Gagan said with some embarrassment when he heard Zhukov say so, "maybe it''s all false. On the surface, the residents are living a normal and peaceful life, but the enemy is hiding in the fortifications in an attempt to make our army relax its vigilance." Instead of commenting on Gagan''s words, Zhukov said to himself, "I only saw a few Bulgarian soldiers on duty at the post on the border of Bulgaria. Besides, I didn''t see any enemy."

 Chapter 1615

    Seeing general Gagan''s tongue tied and at a loss, I could not bear it, so I took the initiative to help him out: "marshal, you see, the Bulgarian national flag is very special. In the upper left corner of the white, green and red horizontal strip, there is a small box with a red background, in which is a yellow lion."


    Zhukov''s attention was really attracted by me. He raised his telescope and looked at the flag floating on the border checkpoint for a while. Then he said to me with a smile, "Rita, let me explain to you the meaning of this flag: white symbolizes everyone''s love for peace and freedom, green symbolizes the main wealth of agriculture and the country, red symbolizes the blood of the warrior, red symbolizes the freedom of life White is the traditional color of the ancient kingdom of Bohemia. The lion with the crown in the upper left corner is the symbol of the royal family


    After explaining to me the different meanings of several colors on the Bulgarian national flag, Zhukov was in a better mood. He looked at Gagan and said, "OK, comrade Gagan, send scouts as soon as possible to find out what''s going on across the street, do you understand?"


    After listening to Zhukov''s words, Gagan immediately realized that he had passed the test. He gave me a grateful glance and then replied, "I understand, marshal. I will arrange people to go to the opposite side to investigate as soon as possible."


    Seeing that the front line here was calm, Zhukov was not interested in staying any longer, so he took me to the defense area of the 37th army. Sha Luoxin may have been informed in advance by Gagan, so after shaking hands with Zhukov outside the door, he asked carefully, "marshal, do you want to go to the front?"


    Zhukov was surprised by saroshin''s proposal. After a moment''s silence, he said unexpectedly, "I want to hear how your preparations are going."


    Saroshin respectfully invited Zhukov and me into the headquarters, and then asked his chief of staff to introduce to us the current situation across the border. Standing in front of the map on the wall, the chief of staff faced us and said, "Comrade marshal, please allow me to introduce to you the situation opposite the defense area of our group army."


    After finishing his opening remarks, he pointed to the map with his stick and said: "according to the reconnaissance, there are two lines of defense established by Bulgaria in the front of our attack. The enemy has deployed three infantry divisions and a tank division, as well as several artillery regiments in this area. Except for a few old-fashioned reconnaissance planes, no fighters or bombers have been found."


    After the chief of staff finished, Zhukov asked saroshin with a smile: "Comrade General, I want to know how long it will take you to break through the line of defense of the Bulgarian army after the battle starts?"


    After hearing this question, shahrohin leaned forward and whispered a few words to the chief of staff who had just sat down. Then he stood up and said, "Comrade marshal, if the infantry launch a charge, I believe it will take ten minutes at most to break through the line of defense of the Bulgarian army."


    "Ten minutes?" When Zhukov heard this, he immediately laughed, "Comrade General, I want to know why you are so sure?"


    "The reason is simple." Sha Luoxin replied solemnly: "according to the accurate data I know, the three infantry divisions of Baojun have only 20000 soldiers, half of whom are recruits; There are less than 50 tanks in the tank division, almost all of which are No. 3 or No. 4 tanks eliminated by the German. Not to mention our new tanks, even a T-34 tank battalion can beat them. In addition to a small number of 105mm howitzers, the rest of the artillery''s more than 100 guns are 37mm war defense guns. "


    When saroshin finished with a series of Bulgarian Army data he knew, Zhukov nodded with satisfaction and said, "general saroshin, it seems that your reconnaissance work is very good. I believe that the strength of Israel''s armed forces can not stop your attacks at all. "


    We stayed at the 37th army headquarters for more than half an hour. After listening to their reports, we rushed back to the front army headquarters. On the way back, Zhukov didn''t speak. Instead, he closed his eyes slightly and thought with his back against his chair.


    As soon as the car arrived at its destination, he immediately opened his eyes, pushed the door open, got out of the car and walked quickly towards the building.


    Seeing Zhukov enter the headquarters, tolbusin, who is chatting, stops talking and instinctively turns his eyes on Zhukov. Tolbuhine also stood up and asked with a smile, "Comrade marshal, you are back!"


    Zhukov just nodded on his face, went straight to the communication room, and yelled at the signalman inside: "get me through to the Kremlin immediately."


    After the phone was put through, Zhukov said to the microphone, "Comrade Stalin, I just came back from the inspection of the 37th and 57th army. I have a new idea. I want to report it to you immediately."


    "Go ahead, comrade Zhukov." Stalin said kindly.


    "Comrade Stalin, if the Ukrainian third front army does not continue to advance after going out to the front lines of rushchuk, Razgrad, Shumen and Varna, then the front of torbhuin must extend along the Danube River to turnu Severin. In this way, the defense task of Malinowski''s troops in the area of turnu Severin will be relieved."


    Zhukov said here, pause for a moment, want to hear if Stalin has any different opinions. Stalin just said "Hmmm" without any comment, so Zhukov went on to say: "after tolbuhine''s troops come out to the turnu seveling and karafat sections, they can cross the Danube River with a group army to cut off the railway line from Belgrad to Salonica, and occupy Belgrad, palachin, kenyarewac, karafat, etc Lom is on the line


    "Comrade Zhukov," Stalin heard here, and finally put forward his own question: "can you tell me, what is the purpose of doing this?"


    Zhukov answered with confidence: "Comrade Stalin, the reason why I suggest the Ukrainian third front army to carry out this kind of deployment is to ensure the smooth implementation of the second front army''s attack on Hungary''s comrades in arms, to assist the people''s Liberation Army of Yugoslavia, and to force the Germans to give up Greece."


    After waiting for Zhukov to finish, Stalin remained silent for a moment, and then said, "Comrade Zhukov, your opinions coincide with some ideas of the General Staff Headquarters for the future. Well, I will immediately pass on these suggestions to Comrade Antonov, so that they can seriously refer to them when making the campaign plan for the liberation of Yugoslavia. "


    Perhaps it was Zhukov''s advice to Stalin that made the Supreme Commander make the final decision. Antonov personally informed Zhukov the next morning that the attack on Bulgaria was scheduled for 11 a.m. on September 8.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    On the morning of the 9th, Zhukov took me to the 57th group army again. Together with Gagan, he was at the frontier observation station, ready to watch our army cross the border of Bulgaria.


    According to the plan, our army will fire on the enemy''s position at 9 am. After two hours of artillery preparation, the 53rd infantry division of the 37th group army will take the lead in charging into the Baojun position on the other side of the border.


    Half an hour before the shelling began, Zhukov, who was sitting at the table drinking tea, put down his tea cup, picked up the telescope on the table, stood up and said to us with a smile, "I''ll take a last look at the quiet border. It won''t be long before our shelling will break the silence."


    "Comrade marshal," Gagan looked up at Zhukov and said with a smile, "as long as the enemy does not lay down his arms and surrender to us, our artillery will break the silence sooner or later."


    Zhukov went to the lookout, raised his telescope and looked into the distance. After a while, he suddenly exclaimed, "what the hell is going on? What''s going on? "


    When I heard Zhukov''s gaffe, I thought something was wrong. I grabbed the telescope in front of me and rushed to it. I carefully looked through the telescope at the enemy''s position and saw that it was quiet everywhere. I could see everyone in the trench. There are only a dozen soldiers on duty at the border checkpoint, but instead of walking up and down the road as they did just now, they are on both sides of the road. They looked as if they were preparing for a review.


    "Comrade marshal, what happened?" I think something must have happened to make Zhukov so impolite. But after watching for a long time, he didn''t seem to see anything else except that he didn''t find the enemy in the position, so he asked curiously, "have you found anything?"


    "Our shelling is about to begin." Zhukov put down his telescope, pointed to the distance and said, "but we can''t see any target we should shoot. What I saw, just like that day, was a peaceful life. The chimneys in the city were smoking. There were farmers busy in the distant farmland, and we didn''t find the troops we wanted to attack. "


    "Comrade marshal," Gagan said after listening to Zhukov''s words, "maybe the enemy is afraid of being attacked by us, so they all hide..."


    "Come on, comrade general, don''t talk about such ridiculous reasons again." Without waiting for Gagan to finish, Zhukov impolitely interrupted his words behind him, and pulled him to the lookout, pointed to the frontier guard in the distance and said, "look, those soldiers are standing on both sides of the road, like they are preparing for war. I think they are more prepared for inspection. What''s more, the obstacles on the border have been cleared away. "


    When I heard that the obstacles on the border had been cleared, I quickly raised my telescope to the road connecting Bulgaria and Romania. I found that the tripod and wooden fence in the middle of the road had been pushed to both sides of the road. At the moment, even an ordinary civilian car can smoothly cross the road and enter Bulgaria directly from Romania.


    "What the hell is going on?" When Gagan saw this, he was dumbfounded.


    "Call the artillery immediately and order them to stop shelling temporarily." Zhukov told Gagan: "before attacking, we should first find out what happened."


    Taking advantage of Gagan''s call to the artillery, Zhukov dialed the headquarters of the front army, and tolbusin, who answered the phone, said, "I said that Comrade commander of the front army, something unexpected happened in the front of the 57th army."


    "Unexpected things?" Perhaps frightened by the tone of Zhukov''s words, tolbuhine hesitated and asked, "don''t you know what you mean, comrade Marshal?"


    "Our shelling is about to start, but on the other side of the border, we can''t find the target." Zhukov said with some tears and laughter: "moreover, the enemy has cleared the obstacles on the border, which seems to have opened the border to us."


    "What, the enemy opened the border to us?" Torbusin was startled by Zhukov''s words. After a long time, he asked carefully, "is there any conspiracy?"


    "Where there is a conspiracy." Zhukov said in a tough tone: "Comrade torbhusin, you should immediately call the other two commanders of the group army to find out what is going on there. If it is the same situation, then cancel the shelling and directly send small troops into Bulgaria to find out what happened. " After Zhukov called, he asked general Gagan standing in front of him, "have you ordered the artillery to stop shelling?"¡° Yes, comrade marshal. " Gagan nodded, then added: "I''ve given the order to the independent motorized infantry 5th brigade to send a motorized battalion into dobridge to find out what''s going on there." More than ten minutes later, in the observation center, we saw dozens of tricycles full of commanders and fighters driving along the road towards Bulgaria. When the guard soldiers in the post saw our motorcycles passing by, two soldiers immediately came forward and quickly raised the railing beside the post so that the motorcycles could pass smoothly. The motorcade of our army slowed down intentionally when passing through the sentry post. The commanders and fighters on the motorcade kept a high degree of vigilance and pointed their guns at the soldiers standing on both sides of the road. But the soldiers turned a blind eye to the muzzle of the gun and raised their hands to salute our soldiers with a smile¡° You see that. " Zhukov pointed to the motorcade passing through the border post, looked at us and said, "the Baojun doesn''t want to fight us at all. Their border line has been completely opened to us." Zhukov waited until the motorcade passed the post and drove along the road to dobridge in the distance. Then he turned to the table, picked up the phone and connected to the headquarters of the front army. He asked tolbuhine, "Comrade General, what''s the situation with the other two army groups? Have they found the enemy?"¡° "Marshal," tolbuhin excitedly reported to Zhukov, "according to the reports of saroshin and shlieming, the Bulgarian army has opened its border to us, and their vanguard troops are crossing the border and advancing into Bulgaria." Half an hour later, the commander of the motorized battalion who led the troops into the city reported to Gagan on his walkie talkie: "Comrade commander, when we entered dobridge, we met an infantry division in Bulgaria. All their officers and men lined up on both sides of the road. As soon as we saw our motorcade appear, the military band began to play music and welcome our army. "¡° What about the residents? " Hearing this, Zhukov couldn''t help interrupting and asked, "did they show any panic?" Gagan immediately relayed Zhukov''s words to the battalion commander: "major, comrade Marshal asked you, did the residents of the City show panic when they saw you enter the city?"¡° No, no, "the battalion commander reported excitedly," seeing our army entering the city, the residents spontaneously took to the streets and welcomed our army with bread and salt according to Slavic tradition. "¡° Major, have you found out what''s going on in the city? "Gagan continued." why do they allow our troops to enter Bulgaria? "¡° Yes, comrade commander. " The major quickly replied, "it was the division commander of the Bulgarian army who told me that he had received orders from his superiors today not to carry out combat operations against the Red Army." After figuring out what was going on, Gagan put down the phone, looked at Zhukov and asked, "Comrade marshal, what shall we do next?"¡° Comrade general, are you confused? " Seeing Zhukov''s smiling but speechless expression, I quickly said to Gagan, "next, of course, order the main force to continue to march towards Bulgaria!"¡° Yes, it should be Gagan replied in a hurry, "I''ll give orders to the troops." When Zhukov and I returned to the headquarters of the front army, he immediately reported the incident to Stalin, and finally asked, "Comrade Stalin, since the Bulgarian army has not opened fire on us and opened the border voluntarily, what should we do with these troops?" Stalin thought for a while, and then said: "tell the troops that the Bulgarian army is our friend now, and we should fully trust them, so don''t disarm them, and don''t adapt them, and let them stay in the same place to maintain law and order." At the end of the call with Stalin, Zhukov issued two new orders in succession: "first, from 6 pm, the mechanized 4th and 7th armies began to operate. Their task is to surpass the infantry troops entering Bulgaria in the daytime at night and continue to advance in depth. 2¡¢ The Black Sea Fleet moved closer to the port of Varna, where they sent the infantry divisions ashore and tried to capture the submarines that the German army had docked here. "

 Chapter 1616

    After giving these orders, Zhukov saw that all the staff in the headquarters, from torbhuin to the general staff, were busy nervously, so he nodded with a smile, and then said to me with great interest, "Rita, do you want to see how our troops entered the border of Bulgaria?"


    Seeing that I was still hesitating, gertov next to me echoed, "come on, comrade oshanina, let''s go and have a look. It''s not so easy to see such a peaceful march."


    "Comrade military commissar is right." Just after a phone call, torbusin happened to hear gertov''s words and said casually, "if conditions permit, I will take a group of people with me. Rita, go ahead, don''t hesitate! "


    Under such circumstances, it is obviously impossible for me to find any excuse to evade even if I didn''t want to go. Therefore, I readily agreed: "marshal, I am very happy to accompany you to witness this historic moment."


    Half an hour later, our jeep came to an open field near the Bulgarian border. Zhukov asked the driver to stop, pushed the door open and got out of the car. Standing on the side of the road, he looked at the marching troops passing by with a smile on his face.


    Standing beside Zhukov, I saw that the marching troops were divided into two routes. On the left side of the road, there were countless tanks forming a torrent of steel. They were driving along the road at a constant speed, raising a cloud of dust. On the right side of the road is the infantry square with company as the unit. Under the guidance of the bright red flag, they stride towards the frontier line ahead.


    Don''t know which soldier''s sharp eye, immediately saw standing on the side of the road to watch his march Zhukov, immediately called up: "look, it''s Marshal Zhukov, he is watching us march to Bulgaria!"


    In the roar of the tank engine, Zhukov still heard the voice of the soldier, smiling and waving to his position. His action immediately aroused a series of reactions from the infantry. The commanders in front of the team raised their hands to their forehead and saluted Zhukov; The soldiers, with their chin raised high and their heads held high, passed us with neat steps.


    At this moment, I had a feeling that I was participating in the parade. The tanks and infantry lines passing in front of me were the troops being reviewed, while Zhukov and I were the reviewers. I have observed that most of them are decorated with different numbers of medals on their chest. It seems that they are all veteran soldiers and backbone fighters who have experienced many battles. In the fight against the Communist aggressors, they have made immortal contributions.


    Zhukov looked at me and asked aloud, "Rita, what do you think of our troops?"


    I waited for a tank to pass in front of me. After the noise was a little lower, I said aloud, "this is our mighty and heroic division." After a pause, I added, "it''s a pity there''s something missing."


    Zhukov''s face showed a puzzled expression: "what''s missing?"


    "The Russian people are good at singing and dancing," I said to Zhukov with a smile. "When our great army is marching towards Bulgaria, should there be some music to match our March?"


    "Marshal," said gertov, standing behind me, with a smile as soon as I finished, "general oshanina is right. How can there be no music at such an important historical moment?"


    Zhukov looked at gertov and asked curiously, "Comrade gertov, what are you going to do?"


    "Comrade marshal, please leave it to me." With that, he turned and called a staff officer who came with us. He gave us a few orders in a low voice. After the staff left, gertov explained to Zhukov, "our political work forces have prepared 20 propaganda vehicles, which were originally intended to publicize our policies to the people of Bulgaria after entering the country. Now let them come out first."


    More than ten minutes later, twenty propaganda vehicles with loudspeakers in front appeared in our field of vision. They passed the moving tank column and sped forward, but every 300 meters, a propaganda car would stop, turn on the horn and play the songs that had been prepared for a long time.


    When the familiar music of "holy war" sounded, the marching infantry soldiers began to sing along. The bloody songs reverberate in the field, and are carried far away by the steel torrent rolling south like a snake.


    The smile on Zhukov''s face was even worse. He gave a thumbs up to gertov and said with approval, "good job, comrade gertov, your way has made our commanders and fighters more motivated."


    "Marshal, you flatter me." Zhertov was a little embarrassed when he heard Zhukov praise him. He looked at me and continued: "if general oshanina hadn''t reminded me, I couldn''t think of such a good way to boost the morale of the commanders and fighters."


    An officer standing not far away came up to gertov and whispered a few words. After listening to the other party''s words, gertov''s face suddenly showed a happy expression. He quickly said to Zhukov in a loud voice: "Comrade marshal, the Bulgarian people have spontaneously organized to welcome our troops to the border."


    When Zhukov heard what zeertov said, he quickly went to a nearby slope, raised his telescope and looked at the other side of the border. I also asked the staff nearby for a telescope. Standing beside Zhukov, I learned from him and raised the telescope in my hand.


    I saw that on the other side of the border, about two or three kilometers away, the local people were already crowded. Some young girls, with flowers in their hands, boldly thrust them into the hands of the soldiers passing in front of them. The soldier held the flowers high in his hand and waved them to the welcome crowd by the side of the road.


    The tanks on the left side of the road also slowed down, and the tank soldiers searched the entrance and exit of the turret or car one after another, waving desperately at the people on the side of the road, or reaching for the flowers thrown by the girls on the side of the road.


    I also saw a lot of long tables on the side of the road, which were covered with white tablecloth, with rolls and small plates of salt on the table. Some elderly people, some officers passing in front of them, and then take up the table of bread and salt, forced into their hands.


    I can''t help feeling that the gift of bread and salt is the highest understanding of the Slavic people to welcome their guests. The Bulgarians, who belong to Slavic countries as well as Russia, regard our army commanders and fighters as their relatives, so that they can meet the king''s division.


    "All right, Rita, let''s go back." We don''t know how long we stood on the slope. Zhukov finally said to me, "we''ve been away for so long. Maybe something important will happen in the headquarters of the front army."


    When we returned to the headquarters of the front army, it turned out that Zhukov''s premonition was correct. Tolbuhine had just received a telegram from Stalin and was considering whether to inform Zhukov to come back immediately.


    Seeing the two of us coming in from the door, tolbuhine quickly handed the telegram in his hand and said to Zhukov solemnly, "Comrade marshal, this is the telegram I just received. I just want to send someone to invite you back."


    "Whose telegram?" Zhukov asked with a frown as he received the telegram.


    "A telegram from the Supreme Commander himself," replied tolbusine, "urgent."


    After browsing the contents of the telegram quickly, Zhukov asked tolbusin, "according to Comrade Stalin''s telegram, the armed forces led by the Bulgarian workers'' party will hold a decisive people''s uprising in Sofia, the capital, and other major cities where our army has not yet arrived tonight. Have you taken any measures? "


    Tolbusin nodded and said, "I have issued a new order to the troops entering Bulgaria, so that they can continue to move forward except leaving a small number of troops to cooperate with the local Bulgarian army to maintain law and order."


    "Not enough, comrade torbhuin. It''s not enough for you to do so." After hearing what tolbuhine said, Zhukov shook his head and said, "it is obvious that the information we have in our hands about the internal situation in Bulgaria is not enough to make a military conclusion. Although with the entry of our army into Bulgaria and the outbreak of the rest of the people led by the workers'' party, Bulgaria will sever its alliance with Germany and join the just camp in the anti Communist struggle.


    But at the same time, we should also consider whether the pro German forces in Bulgaria will be willing to withdraw from the stage of history? Perhaps they will use the armed forces they control to launch a counterattack against the armed forces of the workers'' party, thus triggering a civil war in Bulgaria. This is something we do not want to see and must avoid. "


    "What should we do then?" As soon as Zhukov finished talking, tolbuhine couldn''t wait to ask.


    "Let the three generals, saroshin, shliemin and Gagan, enter Bulgaria with their troops and move their headquarters forward as far as possible." Zhukov frowned and thought, "let them establish contact with the local workers'' party as soon as possible and find out what the pro German forces in Bulgaria are like? What is the attitude of the top commander of the army towards our army and the German army? Also, how much role can the Bulgarian workers'' party play in the army? As long as we have a clear understanding of these problems, I believe our troops will be able to gain a firm foothold in Bulgaria. "


    After recording Zhukov''s orders, torbusin asked, "do you need to report to Moscow immediately?"


    "Comrade torbhuin, your current task is to convey my orders to the following units." Zhukov looked at him and said, "as for reporting to Moscow, I''ll be in charge."


    A few minutes later, Zhukov called Stalin. After repeating the order he had given to tolbuhine, he said to the microphone, "Comrade Stalin, do you have any different instructions?"


    "Comrade Zhukov," Stalin said quietly after a long silence, "if you think about the problem comprehensively, then follow your orders. By the way, is our army''s march on Bulgaria going well? "


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." As soon as he mentioned the marching process of the army to Bulgaria, Zhukov blushed with excitement: "when our army crossed the border and entered the border of Bulgaria, the local residents spontaneously came out to welcome us. They even welcome us with bread and salt according to the Slavic tradition. "


    After listening to Zhukov''s words, Stalin was also very happy. I heard him say in a relaxed tone: "Comrade Zhukov, although Bulgaria is on the side of the Germans, they did not send a single soldier into our territory in the war, so our army must maintain good military discipline after entering Bulgaria, understand?"¡° Yes, comrade Stalin. " Zhukov happily replied: "I believe our soldiers will treat the Bulgarian people as their relatives." After the call with Stalin, Zhukov once again told tolbuhine: "Comrade General, please tell the commanders and fighters that the Bulgarian people are our brothers and sisters. The military discipline of the army must be strict and no burning, killing and looting is allowed. Once found, it will be punished severely. " After hearing Zhukov''s words, torbhusin''s face muscles twitched violently twice, and then said awkwardly, "don''t worry, marshal. In our Ukrainian third front army, there will never be any problems you are worried about."¡° If that''s the case, it can''t be better. " After finishing this sentence, Zhukov slowed down his tone: "Bulgarians, like Russia, belong to the Slavic nation and are the same ancestor. When our army enters Bulgaria, it is tantamount to returning to its own home. How can it do damage in its own home? "¡° Comrade marshal, let me say something. " Gertov, who had not put in a word for a long time, said, "what you are worried about is absolutely impossible for me. Today, when our troops entered Bulgaria, you saw with your own eyes the enthusiasm shown by the local residents. Not only do they regard our army as their own liberators, but even our commanders and fighters regard each other as their relatives after receiving such a warm welcome from the other side. Therefore, I believe that the problems you are worried about will never arise. " I was worried that if we continued to talk like this, there might be unnecessary disputes among several people, so I asked in advance, "if our army controls the whole territory of Bulgaria and has a firm foothold, do we need to move the headquarters of the front army to Bulgaria?" My words succeeded in diverting everyone''s attention. First of all, tolbusin said: "after the liberation of Bulgaria, we will attack Greece, Yugoslavia and Hungary next. If we move the headquarters of the front army to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, it will be more convenient to direct our troops."

 Chapter 1617

    On the night of that day, a decisive armed uprising led by the Bulgarian workers'' party broke out in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, and in some major cities where our army had not yet arrived.


    For the sake of this uprising, the Bulgarian workers'' party set up a special military Bureau, the director of which was in the charge of todov zhimikov, a famous activist of the workers'' party. An hour before the outbreak of the uprising, Ivan bonev, a member of the military Bureau, came to the headquarters of the front army and brought a radio station to get in touch with the domestic uprising at any time.


    The uprising took the lead in Sofia. As the Bulgarian workers'' Party had done a lot of preparatory work in advance, the uprising went very smoothly. The rebel army took radio stations, police stations, posts and telecommunications offices and some important facilities without blood. Only when they attacked the barracks, sporadic exchanges of fire took place, causing negligible casualties. The troops in the barracks soon stopped resisting and declared their surrender to the rebels.


    Because of the existence of bonev, we can know what happened in Bulgaria in time. After the success of Sofia''s uprising, Sofia''s radio station announced to the outside world that the Bulgarian monarchy and pro German government had been overthrown and replaced by the new government of the National Committee of the National Front led by Kimon Georgiev.


    On the morning of the 9th, bonev hurried into the conference room and said to us in a loud voice, "comrades, according to the latest news, Georgiev will make an important speech on the radio."


    After bolev finished, tolbusin turned his inquiring eyes to Zhukov. Seeing Zhukov nodding slightly, he immediately told the staff who stood by him to "find a radio and come here."


    The staff officer agreed and ran out quickly. After a few minutes, he came into the conference room with two soldiers and a half man high radio, and put it in the place designated by tolbuhine.


    Bonev turned on the radio. As soon as he tuned the band, I heard a low voice coming from the radio: "citizens of Bulgaria, I''m the new Prime Minister of the government, Georgiev. Now I''m speaking to you..."


    Georgiev first announced the list of members of the new cabinet and read out a letter to the Bulgarian people. It announced that the government would send a delegation to the Soviet Union to sign an armistice agreement; At the same time, political freedom was restored at home, and those members of the former government who pursued anti people policies were arrested.


    Zhukov and I were very happy to hear that, but I was frowning and Thinking: Why did I hardly understand the language of the representatives sent by the pro German government when I participated in the negotiation with Timoshenko last time, but I almost understood what Georgiev said today?


    "What are you thinking, Rita?" Zhukov may find that I am very worried, so he asked casually. When he found out what I was thinking, he explained with a smile: "Bulgarian and Russian belong to the Slavic language family, and they have many similarities in language. They use 30 Cyrillic letters, only 33 special letters less than Russian letters.


    Bulgarian has two dialects. The Western dialect can be divided into northwest and southwest sub dialects, and the eastern dialect can be divided into North, middle and South sub dialects. Bulgarian standard language is based on the eastern central sub dialect, which is the language used by Georgiev. As for the representatives of that day, they may use other dialects, so you can''t understand them. "


    After Zhukov''s explanation, I realized that Bulgarian can also be divided into Putonghua and dialect. It''s not surprising that the negotiators who came last time spoke dialect, which I can''t understand.


    As the pro German government of Bulgaria has been overthrown, and the newly established government is the pro Soviet motherland front, Stalin sent telegrams to Zhukov, Kuznetsov, torbhusin and okjabriski at the same time in the evening, informing them: "in view of the fact that the government of Bulgaria has severed relations with Germany and declared war on Germany, At the same time, it also requested the Soviet government to start the armistice negotiations. According to the instructions of the National Defense Commission, the supreme command ordered you to end the occupation of residential areas before 21:00 on September 9 and stop the military operations in Bulgaria from 22:00 on September 9. "


    Soon after receiving Stalin''s telegram, Antonov called Zhukov himself. "Georgi konstantinovic, I just received a call from Comrade Dimitrov. He said that the delegation of the new Bulgarian government is going to fly to the headquarters of the front army in torbhuin immediately, including Dimitar ganev, member of the Central Committee of the workers'' party, His mission is to introduce the nature of the new government and the situation in Bulgaria to the Military Commission of the front army. I hope you can do a good job in reception. "


    When Zhukov, tolbuhin, gertov and others were discussing how to receive a delegation from the new Bulgarian government, I saw that I couldn''t get in the way, so I said hello and went to Kuznetsov''s office alone.


    Entering Kuznetsov''s office, one sees him and his deputy, major sergo, sitting at their desks, looking down at some information with a serious expression. Hearing my footsteps, Kuznetsov looked up and said to me with a smile, "Rita, you''re here. What''s the matter today?"


    I shook my head and said, "I have nothing to do but walk around. If it bothers you, I''ll leave at once. "


    "Nothing," Kuznetsov said magnanimously, "the supreme command has ordered us to stop all military operations in Bulgaria, and there is nothing important next. The major and I are studying how to deal with the captured German submarines. "


    I had just sat down in the chair beside Kuznetsov''s desk when I heard that he had seized the German submarine. I jumped up from my seat and scared them. Regardless of the surprised expression on their faces, I asked anxiously, "Comrade General, where is the captured submarine?"


    Kuznetsov found out the reason why I was surprised and said with a smile: "of course, in the port, because the ships of the Black Sea fleet have blocked the port, our Marines have landed near the port. The German submarines had no choice but to raise the white flag and surrender to us. "


    "Have our sailors captured the German submarines?" As soon as he finished, I asked anxiously.


    "No," Kuznetsov said, shaking his head, "anyway, they have surrendered, and the port is blocked by our Black Sea fleet. They have no way back even if they want to escape. What''s the difference between early boarding and late boarding?"


    "Comrade General," I said anxiously when I heard him say this in a tone of disapproval, "please immediately order people to occupy the submarines in the harbor overnight, drive all the German sailors out of the submarines and take strict care of them."


    Who knows Kuznetsov after listening to my words, a trace of displeasure appeared on his face, as if he thought I was a little nosy. Sergeant sergo, who is good at observing words and expressions, quickly added: "general oshanina, it''s so late, and the comrades of the fleet are very tired after a long battle. Let them have a good rest. Let''s talk about boarding the ship tomorrow."


    "It will be late tomorrow." seeing that they didn''t pay any attention to my words, I burst into tears. "Don''t you forget the German Navy''s Rainbow operation at the end of World War I?"


    If I say "operation rainbow" to the commander of the army, maybe the other side will be at a loss, but for the commander of the Navy, what this code means is very clear. No matter Kuznetsov or shelgo, after listening to my words, their faces suddenly turned black.


    Although I knew in my heart that it was a suspicion to talk about "operation rainbow" in front of them, in order to arouse their sufficient understanding, I still said while the iron was hot: "on June 21, 1919, the German high seas fleet detained in Scarpa Bay, while the British fleet was training at sea, The flagship cruiser Emden sends a predetermined signal to all ships - rainbow. The naval officers immediately ordered to raise the banned fleet flag, battle flag and Z signal flag, open the sea valve and watertight cabin door to prepare for self sinking¡® The battleship Frederick the great sank first, followed by the rest of the warships, and the Battlecruiser Hindenburg sank last. The British fleet rushed back from the training and tried every means to remedy it, but it could not stop such a large-scale collective sinking.


    The most solemn and stirring sinking operation in the history of the Navy lasted about six hours. Of the 74 German warships detained, 52 sank to the bottom of the sea, including 10 of the 11 battleships and all five battlecruisers. The tonnage of the sunken warship is 95% of the total tonnage of the seized fleet. "


    Kuznetsov couldn''t sit any longer. He suddenly got up from his seat and walked restlessly back and forth in the room. Without waiting for him to give any orders, shelgo picked up the phone on the desk, dialed a number, and said, "get me the Black Sea fleet, find general oakjabinski, in a hurry!"


    After about two or three minutes, the Black Sea Fleet was connected. Kuznetsov took the microphone from Serge''s hand and asked in a loud voice, "where''s octabriski?"


    The person who answered the phone was startled by his loud voice and hesitated for a moment before answering: "Comrade commander is resting. Who are you, please?"


    Kuznetsov said angrily, "this is Kuznetsov. Let him answer the phone immediately."


    "All right, comrade commander in chief, please wait a moment. I''ll call the commander immediately."


    Knowing that it was Kuznetsov who called in person, okjabriski came as quickly as he could. He might have thought that he was looking for him at this time because of Stalin''s telegram. He said in a hurry: "Comrade commander in chief, after receiving the telegram issued by the Supreme Commander himself, I have obeyed the order to stop the troops."


    "Comrade okjabinski," Kuznetsov said solemnly, "I now give you an urgent order to immediately order our sailors or Marines to occupy the German submarines, drive all the German sailors down and take strict care of them."


    "But Comrade commander in chief." Hearing Kuznetsov''s order, okjabinski asked, "why on earth is this? You know, it''s getting dark. If we deploy troops to occupy German submarines at this time, I''m worried that something will go wrong. You see, can we postpone the operation until tomorrow morning? "


    "No, it will be too late tomorrow morning." Deeply afraid that his subordinates would not realize the seriousness of the problem, Kuznetsov added: "don''t forget the" Rainbow operation "carried out by the German Navy after World War I!"


    "Operation rainbow" is more effective than explaining the order a hundred times in the Navy. Oakjabinski immediately replied without hesitation, "Comrade commander in chief, I will immediately dispatch a battalion of the Marine Corps to carry out the submarine occupation mission."¡° Good. I''ll wait here for your further information. " Kuznetsov put down the phone and said to me anxiously, "Rita, I''m not thoughtful about this. I hope it''s time to take action." In order not to let him blame himself too much, I deliberately turned away from the topic and asked serge, "Comrade major, I don''t know how many submarines the Germans have?"¡° The German Navy used to have six submarines in the Black Sea, but the u-9 submarine was sunk by a deep-water bomb dropped by our navy plane in the naval battle on August 20. " "There are five U-18, U-19, U-20, U-23 and u-24 submarines captured by our army in the port," sergo told me eloquently. U-24 is said to have been sunk by our navy''s destroyer in the battle on August 25. However, when our army occupied the port, it unexpectedly found this submarine. I think it was only wounded but not sunk at that time. " Although we had taken action in time, by the time okjabriski''s Marine Corps arrived at the designated position and prepared to forcibly board the captured German submarine, the submarine had begun to sink slowly. Since our Marines could not save the sinking submarine, they could only stand on the shore like the German sailors and watch five submarines sink to the bottom of the sea. Kuznetsov sighed after receiving the report from okedjabirsky, and then said to me, "Rita, although the German Navy is our enemy, for the sake of the honor and dignity of the German Navy, the sailors of the submarine force, regardless of the orders not to destroy weapons and self sinking warships, once again spread the code word" Rainbow "privately, I still admire the tragic act of letting all the submarines captured by our army sink to the bottom of the sea. "

 Chapter 1618

    I went back to the headquarters of the front army and said it to Zhukov and torbusin with regret.


    After hearing this, the reaction was different.


    The chief of staff, Mr. biliuzov, gritted his teeth and said, "these damned German navies actually made false surrender and secretly sank the submarine when our navy soldiers relaxed their vigilance."


    "The enemy is the enemy," gertov continued. "They are not reconciled to their own failure and will certainly struggle to the death."


    However, tolbuhine''s words were relatively objective: "I can''t say that. Although the German Navy is our enemy, their actions to defend the honor and dignity of the navy are very admirable. If the German army is as stubborn as the Navy, we will pay a greater price to gain such an advantage in the battlefield. "


    As for several people''s speeches, Zhukov said with disapproval: "if the captured battleship is a battleship, it can also provide powerful artillery support when our army is engaged in coastal operations. And submarines can only be used to block sea traffic. If the enemy''s supplies are completed by land transport, then they can''t be used at all. If they sink, they sink. It''s no pity. "


    "Marshal," tolbuhin said with a smile after Zhukov finished saying, "according to the current situation, the Germans will be completely defeated by us if they support for one to two years at most. At that time, most of the ships of the German Navy will fall into the hands of Britain and the United States. Do you think we need to remind them? "


    "It''s not necessary." Zhukov waved his hand and said, "even if we remind them, maybe others don''t appreciate it. Let''s let it be."


    After that, he looked back at me and said, "Rita, come to my office. I have something important to tell you."


    Although Zhukov has his own office here, it is used very infrequently because he spends most of his time in the headquarters of tolbusine. If he doesn''t mention it today, I almost forget the existence of this office.


    When he came to the office, Zhukov said to me in embarrassment, "Rita, I want to tell you something. I hope you can be prepared."


    When I heard Zhukov say this, my heart immediately raised to my throat. What did my heart say? Was the treasure hunt in my house in Moscow discovered by the relevant authorities? Or was it because I was too aggressive in the last negotiation with the Bulgarian representative, which made other cabinet always resign, and my superiors were ready to settle with me in the future?


    Just as I was thinking wildly, Zhukov continued: "Rita, comrade Stalin has just given an order to let one of us go back to Poland to assist rokosovsky in the battle of crossing the river to save the Warsaw Uprising. I''ve thought about it for a while. At present, I can''t leave, so I''m going to let you go back. After all, you are still the deputy commander of the first front army of Belarus. "


    When Zhukov finished speaking, I found that what he wanted to say was not what he was worried about. I thought he had made a mistake, so I asked, "is that why you called me here?"


    "Yes," Zhukov looked at me mistily and asked in surprise, "what else can I do?"


    "I thought you were going to tell me to go to work again." After a perfunctory remark, I quickly cut off the topic: "marshal, what can you tell me when I return to Poland this time?"


    Zhukov got up, went to the map on the wall, then shook his head at me and said, "come here!" When I got to the map, he began to explain to me, "because our army unexpectedly launched an attack on the enemy in the battle of Belarus, broke through their solid defense line in a short time, and advanced to the east of Poland at one stroke. In the absence of a defense line and sufficient troops, the tactics adopted by the Germans were to delay our army''s attack with constant short assaults. Using the time gained by this short assault, other troops were transferred from Germany and other areas to form a defensive formation in the rear area.


    If soon after the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, the rebel army in the city asked our army to cross the river to cooperate, we might have entered Warsaw. However, due to their constant internal contradictions, it was only a few days ago that they reluctantly reached a consensus, asking our army to launch an offensive from the East and cooperate with them to hold Warsaw.


    The difficulty we are facing now is that the German army has assembled a large number of troops near Warsaw, and all the bridges on the river have been blown up. Our heavy weapons such as tanks and artillery cannot be transported across the river. You can imagine how difficult it will be for us to defeat our enemies armed to the teeth, who only have light weapons. "


    I listened carefully to every word Zhukov said, and I was thinking about the chances of winning the battle. As soon as he finished, I quickly asked, "Comrade marshal, how many troops have we put into crossing the river?"


    "In addition to the 3rd Division of Poland under the command of Colonel Stanislaw Galitsky, there are also six battalions of the 47th army."


    "What, six battalions?" When I heard this, my heart sank. There were too few troops. It was just a drop in the bucket to capture a city as big as Warsaw: "didn''t you say that there were at least two divisions last time?"


    "Yes, Rita, there have been some changes. There are only six battalions for you." Zhukov said solemnly: "although the number is a little small, they are all excellent generals selected from the 47th group army. It should be enough to fight in the street."


    I heard what Zhukov said later. The reason why the Soviet army suffered heavy casualties in every siege was that there were too many people. Hundreds of commanders and fighters often crowded in a street to charge the German army''s solid firepower. They were indeed very brave, but the casualties were astonishing. If the forces of these six battalions are really carefully selected, then they can be used for some purpose in street warfare.


    I can''t wait to leave when I think I''m reduced to the role of playing soy sauce here, so I quickly asked, "when do I start?"


    "Tomorrow," Zhukov said, "tomorrow morning, you will fly back to Poland."


    The next morning, when I appeared at Lublin''s front command, rokosovsky was stunned, then came up, took my hand and said, "Rita, why don''t you come back and say hello in advance? Otherwise I will send someone to pick you up at the airport. "


    "Marshal Zhukov didn''t inform you?" Rokosovsky''s words surprised me, "I thought you knew I was going back here."


    "The Supreme Command informed us that it would send someone to support the Warsaw Uprising." Rokosovsky turned to look at the rest of the commanders, then shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "I thought Marshal Zhukov would be sent, but the superior sent my deputy commander back."


    Rokosovsky''s words caused a lot of laughter. When malining shook hands with me, he also jokingly said, "Rita, you''ve been busy for two months, either Kiev or Moscow, or livov or fejecht. As a result, you made a big circle and finally returned to Lublin."


    After such a reminder from malining, I found that this is really the case. In recent months, there have been a lot of running places. It''s become a panacea. You can wipe it wherever you need it. However, it''s not a good thing. Although I''ve been to many places, I''ve been here for a short time. I can''t establish my own personal relationship at all, which will have a great impact on my future promotion.


    After greeting all the familiar commanders, I directly asked rokosovsky, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know when we will launch the river crossing operation?"


    "According to the plan, the fighting will start on the 15th of this month." Malining pointed to the map and said to me, "we plan to attack from the East Bank of Warsaw. After we get a firm foothold, we will cross the visva River and move to the west of the city."


    "Chief of staff," I saw that malining was just talking in general, so I couldn''t help interrupting him and asked curiously, "I want to know how the material storage in the city is? To know that so many rebels and citizens, the daily consumption of materials is an astronomical number. "


    "We''ve considered what you said, Rita." "Therefore, we organized more than ten air drops before and after. In order to accurately deliver materials to the areas occupied by the rebel army, our air force risked being shot down by German air defense artillery, and used ultra-low air drop to drop 2000 tons of materials into the city," marinin said


    Malining''s words surprised me, because in my memory, after the Warsaw Uprising, only the U.S. Army carried out airdrop in the city, while the Soviet army had been watching the fire from afar, and even the airport was not willing to provide it to the U.S. Army. Thinking of this, I hesitated for a moment, then asked my own question: "I seem to hear that the US Army has also dropped supplies to Warsaw."


    After hearing what I said, rokosovsky snorted heavily, and then said: "yes, they did air drop Warsaw, but because their pilots were afraid of German ground fire, they airdropped at an altitude of more than 10000 meters, and most of the materials fell to the German hands."


    I have no doubt about what rokosovsky said. After all, I am the deputy commander of the front army. He didn''t say high sounding words to me to cover up anything. It seems that the later claims that the Soviet army could not help the Warsaw Uprising were totally unreliable.


    Just when I was going to propose to rokosovsky that I should go to the 47th army immediately, he said, "Rita, you''ve just come back. You must be tired. Have a good rest first. If there''s anything, we''ll talk about it tomorrow. "


    I know the character of rokosovsky. Now that he has said that, it''s useless for me to say anything else. It''s better to push the boat with the current than to hit a wall. So he nodded and said, "well, marshal, since you have arranged this, I will obey your order firmly. Will you allow me to leave? "


    Coming out of the headquarters, I was led by an officer to the apartment that malining had arranged for me.


    The apartment is well furnished, with new curtains and bedding, and even a few women''s dresses in the wardrobe. I think I have nothing to do at home anyway. I''d better go outside to see what this liberated city looks like. After a simple wash, I changed into a simple dress and went out with a pistol on my back.


    I was standing outside the building, thinking about where to go, when I heard someone shouting my order. At that time, I was quite curious that I could meet people I knew in the street of Lublin. I quickly turned to look in the direction of the sound. As a result, I saw two familiar figures standing at the door of a shop across the road¡° Nina, ulanova. " I first left and right to see if there is a car on the road, and then called the names of the two people, quickly ran past. Nina looked at me dressed like an ordinary person and asked curiously, "Rita, how do you wear casual clothes?"¡° I want to walk around. It''s not convenient to wear military uniform. " After my explanation, I asked, "Why are you two free to hang out today? Is there nothing in the company? "¡° The women''s health company has been disbanded, "ulannova said with a mouthful." what else can we do? "¡° Dissolution? " I don''t understand to ask: "what''s the matter, why should the women''s health company be disbanded?"¡° The female health workers were assigned to the various units, and the health company was naturally disbanded. " Nina asked me with a smile, "Rita, I''m going to buy some food with uranova. Where are you going?" Nina''s words reminded me that although the room was well equipped, the kitchen was empty and there was nothing to eat. Anyway, they were going to buy food, and I happened to go with them. Thinking of this, I quickly replied: "just right, I have nothing to eat in my apartment. It''s just right to go shopping with you." The three of us walked two blocks and came to a food store. When I looked at the long line that I couldn''t see the end, I felt a little flustered and asked Nina: "Nina, there are so many people. When are we going to line up?" Nina smiles and then says, "don''t worry, Rita. We don''t buy it here. I''ll take you to a place where not only the goods are complete, but also the price is super cheap. "¡° Is there such a place Nina''s words aroused my great interest. Under Nina''s guidance, we went one more street. Nina went to the two closed glass doors, stopped, turned to me and said, "here we are, Rita. This is it." I looked at the sign on the door and saw that it was marked "officer''s shop".

 Chapter 1619

    "Wait a minute, Nina." Seeing Nina ready to open the glass door and go in, I quickly stopped her, pointed to the sign on the door and asked, "what''s the matter with this sign?"


    Nina looked up at the picture and said, "what else can I have? Isn''t it an officer''s shop?"


    "I know the words on it," I continued, pointing to the sign. "What I want to ask is, what''s this shop for?"


    "It''s very clear on it," she said to me with a smile. "The special store for military officers means that only military officers are qualified to shop in it."


    "Well, stop it. Let''s go in." Nina opened the glass door, held it with her left hand, and made a gesture of invitation with her right hand. I''m not polite any more. I''m the first to step in.


    As soon as I entered the door, I saw a long glass counter facing the door. There were a lot of goods in it. Even the salesmen standing behind the counter were more and more beautiful. Just as I was dazzled, I suddenly heard a cold voice next to me saying, "this female citizen, this is an officer''s shop. You are not qualified to come in."


    I turned around and found a desk on the left side of the door. Behind the desk sat a middle-aged woman in military civilian clothes and a pair of round glasses. She should have been talking to me just now.


    Before I could speak, Nina and uranova came in. When the middle-aged woman saw them coming in, she immediately came out from behind her desk, warmly welcomed them, and asked with a smile, "welcome, two female commanders. Please choose what you need."


    After the other party said this, seeing that I was still standing in the same place, he immediately put on a face and said seriously, "this female citizen, I have told you that you are not qualified to enter here. Please leave immediately."


    Wulannuova heard the middle-aged woman say so, immediately anxious, immediately help me fight against injustice: "what, she is not qualified to enter here?! She is... "


    "I came with them." I didn''t want to put pressure on others, so I cut off the question behind ulannova in time and winked at them.


    Nina has a strong adaptability. When she saw my wink, she politely said to the middle-aged woman, "yes, she came shopping with us."


    Seeing Nina say so, it''s hard for a middle-aged woman to say anything more. She just looked me up and down and said, "although you are three people, if you want to buy something, you can only enjoy the treatment of two people. Do you understand? "


    "I understand, I understand." With that, I took Nina and uranova to the counter to pick out the food they wanted.


    "Rita," she asked me in a low voice when she saw that we were a long way away from the middle-aged woman, "why don''t you want her to show her identity?"


    "Ulannova, we just come to buy things, not to show off our status, so there''s no need to tell her the truth." After I simply explained the reason to ulannova, I turned to the food in the counter: "I want to ask, is it stipulated that as long as you are an officer, you can buy all the goods here?"


    "No, Rita." Nina shook her head and said, "Lieutenant officers can buy one kilogram of bread, cheese, butter, potatoes and eggs, and two hundred grams of sausage, bacon, biscuits and candy. In addition to doubling the number of officers at the rank of lieutenant, the commodities that can be purchased by officers at the rank of school can also be purchased, such as coffee, various tins and wines. "


    I stared at the mountain of bacon piled up in the meat counter, and the kind of sausage that is thicker than human thighs. I couldn''t help drooling, and then asked, "what''s the standard of general level?"


    "All the goods here can be purchased without restriction." Ulannova approached me excitedly and said, "the last time Nina and I came here, we saw a counter full of chocolates of various flavors, which were made in Poland. Unfortunately, only officers of general rank could buy them. You''re here today. Make sure you buy some for me. "


    When I heard that at my level, I could buy all the goods in the store without limit, I felt a twinge of joy. But a moment later, my expression is dim down, some embarrassed to two people said: "I don''t have much money, may not buy many things."


    "How much money do you have with you?" Ulannova asked reluctantly.


    I opened my satchel and looked at the bills in the mezzanine. These were the funds provided by Khrushchev when I was in Kiev. After a cursory survey, I said apologetically, "only more than 30 rubles." After that, I suddenly realized a more important question and asked, "can ruble be used here?"


    "Of course," Nina said with a nod, "ruble is hard currency here."


    After learning that the ruble could be used, I felt a little more secure, but I still asked with a guilty heart, "I don''t know how much money can buy?"


    "Enough, enough, enough." After figuring out the number of rubles I was carrying, uranova also showed a relaxed expression on her face: "the prices here are super cheap. It''s estimated that the three of us can''t move the things we''ll buy later."


    When she said this, I thought she was exaggerating, but I soon knew that what she said was true. Ten minutes later, we piled up a huge pile of shopping in the open space of the shop: five kilograms of white flour, five kilograms of barley, five kilograms of white granulated sugar, ten cans of pickled cucumber, ten cans of pickled tomato, two kilograms of bacon and the same weight of sausage.


    While the middle-aged woman and Nina were settling their accounts, ulanova ran to the counter inside and asked the salesman for 20 pieces of 100 grams of Polish chocolate. After a short walk with the chocolate in her hand, she stopped, pointed to the wine on the shelf and said to the shop assistant, "Comrade shop assistant, give me another two bottles of Polish wine, the one with the highest degree."


    When the salesman heard her saying this, he was embarrassed, but he hesitated for a moment. He took the wine off the shelf and put it on the counter. I picked up one of the bottles and looked at the trademark. I immediately understood why the salesperson had such an expression just now. It turned out that ulanowa bought Polish distilled vodka, which reached 96% alcohol, and could be called the highest purity liquor in the world.


    I once heard of this kind of wine in those years. It is said that as long as you take a sip, you will feel that your stomach is heavily hit by someone with a heavy fist. If you are careless, you will be killed. So I asked ulannova quietly: "what do you do with such a high concentration of wine? If you want to know this concentration of liquor, you can pour it directly into the tank and use it as fuel. "


    "It''s much more useful." "In addition to being disinfected with alcohol, she can also drink vodka with a low alcohol count. It''s delicious," ulannova said with some complacency


    When the middle-aged woman saw the two bottles of wine we put in front of her, she immediately said with a straight face, "female commander, if you want to buy this kind of wine, you must have the signature of a commander of general level." Then he picked up two bottles of wine and put them on the desk.


    After putting the wine away, the middle-aged woman stared at the pile of things we bought on the ground, frowned and said, "comrades, it seems that the things you bought are seriously beyond the permitted scope. Please show me your military ID card so that I can confirm how many things you can buy. "


    As soon as Nina finished, she took out her military card from her coat pocket and handed it to her. And after taking out her pocket for a long time, ulannova exclaimed, "Oh, I forgot to bring my certificate."


    When the middle-aged woman heard what ulannova said, she immediately said, "female commander, since you forgot your ID, you can only buy one person''s weight." Then he called the salesmen behind the counter and asked them to move the things on the ground.


    "Wait a minute," I saw two beautiful saleswomen ready to come out from behind the counter. I quickly raised my hand to stop them. Then I took out my military ID card from my satchel and handed it to the middle-aged woman. Politely, I asked, "can I buy so many things with my ID card?"


    The middle-aged woman took the certificate in my hand and looked at it casually. She looked up at me with a scornful expression on her face. When she wanted to speak, she was shocked. She felt that the general''s Witness came close to her and looked at it carefully. Suddenly her mouth became O-shaped. She couldn''t close it for half a day. She was probably shocked by my identity.


    She gave me the general''s witness with a smile on her face and stammered: "Comrade General, I''m the manager of this store. You are wearing casual clothes. I can''t recognize you. Please forgive me..."


    I took the military ID card, put it in the bag, waved to her, and said gently, "don''t be nervous, lesbian. You are also doing things according to the rules. You are right at all." With that, I looked down at the commodities on the ground, sighed softly, and asked, "can we buy all these things?"


    "No problem, Comrade General." The store manager nodded and said, "don''t say anything like this. You can buy ten times more."


    I said with a smile: "don''t say to buy ten times more, I don''t know how to get these things home."


    "Don''t worry, Comrade General." Seeing that I didn''t blame myself, the store manager suddenly became energetic again. She took the initiative to say, "our store provides delivery service. I''ll send someone to drive these things to your home later."


    Ulannova saw that the store manager was soft on me, so she pointed to the two bottles of vodka on the table and asked, "can we take those two bottles together?"


    "Yes, yes," the store manager said to ulannova with a smile on his face, "if you want, you can buy two more bottles." After that, she turned her eyes to me and asked politely, "Comrade General, we have just got a batch of apples here today. Would you like to buy some more by the way?"


    When they heard that there was a supply of fresh fruit, Nina and ulanova''s eyes lit up, and they both turned their eyes on me, waiting for me to make the final decision.


    I pointed to the pile of things on the ground and said to them, "I don''t know if I have enough money to pay for these food bills."


    "Comrade General," the store manager said to me on his own initiative, "what you are buying now is 23 rubles. If you don''t have enough money, our delivery workers can go to your home to get it. "


    The price quoted by the manager was far lower than my expectation. Seeing that there was still a lot of money left in his hand, he told Nina and ulannova: "if you two need anything else, just choose." Nina shook her head slightly and said to me with a smile, "no, Rita. I''ve bought everything I need to buy." I looked at the things on the ground again, turned to the manager and asked, "do you have any cooking oil, salt and matches?" After listening to the manager, he quickly nodded: "yes, yes, what else do you want?" I took the note out of my satchel, counted 25 roubles from it, handed it to the manager, and told her, "in addition to what I just said, give us some apples to make up 25 roubles."¡° OK, comrade general, I''ll arrange it for you right now. " After the manager finished, he walked quickly to the nearest counter and gave a few orders to the salesman standing at the back. The salesman nodded, turned, pushed open a closed door and went in. After a while, the salesgirl came out with two men, carrying sacks on their shoulders and two glass bottles full of cooking oil in their hands. The manager quickly moved a counter and let several people come out from behind. She brought several people to me and explained to me, "Comrade General, here are twenty kilograms of apples, four bottles of edible oil, two bags of salt and twenty boxes of matches."¡° Thank you, comrade manager Although the manager was not very friendly to me from the beginning, I was very satisfied with what she had done, so I politely said to her, "please send someone to help us send things back."¡° "No problem," the manager said. He went to the table, picked up a notebook and a pen, and politely asked, "where''s your address, please?" I turned my head to Nina and ulanova, who were in a happy mood on one side: "tell the manager your addresses, and she will arrange someone to help us send things back." Seeing that the manager directed her men to carry the things piled on the ground one by one to a carriage outside the store, I couldn''t help feeling in my heart: the things in this store are definitely better than those in the stores that ordinary people can enter. They can barely be regarded as special goods. I didn''t expect that I, as a general, could enjoy such benefits in this place, What a surprise. After loading, I waved goodbye to the store manager, and then walked slowly back with Nina and ulanova in the back of the carriage.

 Chapter 1620

    As soon as we were halfway, we were stopped by a group of beggars. These beggars are almost all skinny women. Their clothes are old and worn-out. Some of them even wear vertical striped prison clothes. There is a huge yellow hexagon star on their chest, which means they are Jewish.


    Nina and they obviously knew these people. After chatting with one of the women in a black scarf, they took some bags of flour and barley from the car and gave them. They even gave them a sack of apples.


    When we got back on the road, I asked Nina curiously, "where do these people come from? I think you know them?"


    "The survivors of the maydanek concentration camp are all Jews," Nina said with a gloomy expression. "Because there is no food, they often come to the city to beg."


    "The camp survivors?" After listening to Nina''s name of the camp, I frowned and thought for a moment, but I didn''t remember it at all. All I remember was Auschwitz. I shook my head and asked, "since they have been rescued by our army, why don''t they go to their hometown?"


    "It''s not just the Jews in Poland, but also the Jews from Germany, Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, France, Hungary, Belgium and Greece." "These places are still occupied by the Germans. Even if they go back, they can''t escape the fate of being sent to the death camp again," she said


    When I heard ulannova talking about the death camp, I looked at her in surprise and said in my heart, how could she know this? Nina saw my face and said to me, "Rita, you may not know that there are seven gas chambers in this concentration camp. Every time the Jews get off the train, a camp official announces to the newcomers that they have arrived at a transit camp, where they will shower and disinfect their clothes, and then set off for different labor camps.


    After the announcement, the Jews were taken to the square near the railway station. German guards separate men from women, with men on one side and children on the other. Women and children undressed in a wooden room, and women''s hair was cut off. Then they were forced to leave the plank house naked and enter the narrow, fenced passage, which is the camouflaged road to the gas chamber.


    After the victims are in the gas room, the German guards will close the door, and then the machine will start to run, and the gas will pour in. In less than half an hour, all the people inside died, and the next group of victims were ready to enter. At the same time, the bodies were taken out of another exit by a group of Jewish prisoners called task force and directly pushed into the incinerator. " When Nina told me about it, she didn''t know whether it was because of excitement or fear. Her whole body kept shaking slightly.


    When Nina finished, I stopped. Seeing that I didn''t go any further, Nina stopped and asked curiously, "Rita, why are you late? It''s far away from where we live."


    "Nina," I said to her decisively after thinking for a moment, "I have other things to do today, so I won''t come to you for the time being. I will go to other places recently. If I need your help, I will come to you With that, I reached out to her and said in a friendly way, "let''s part now, my good friend!"


    After separating from Nina and them, I didn''t even change my clothes and went straight to the headquarters of the front army. At the door, the soldier on guard didn''t recognize me in civilian clothes immediately. The officer on duty stopped me and asked politely, "this girl, what''s the matter with you here?"


    "I''m o''shanina," I immediately identified myself and took out my ID card to wave at the other side. "I have something urgent to see the commander."


    The officer quickly stepped aside and made way for me. When I passed him quickly, I heard him remind me in the back: "Comrade deputy commander, commander and chief of staff are in the headquarters."


    I walked into the headquarters and saw rokosovsky and malining, as well as several combat staff, discussing something around the map. Hearing the sound of my hasty footsteps, rokosovsky turned to look over. When he saw clearly that it was me, he could not help asking curiously, "Rita, how do you wear casual clothes? Did you just come back from somewhere?"


    With these words, without waiting for me to say anything, he turned to the staff who had stood upright at the table and said, "OK, it''s settled. Go back and carry out it immediately."


    The staff agreed to turn around and leave. Rokosovsky raised his hand to the empty seat beside him, motioned me to sit down, and then asked, "Rita, what''s the matter with you in such a hurry?"


    "Comrade marshal," I asked eagerly as soon as I hung my satchel on the back of my chair, "what''s the matter with the maydanek concentration camp?"


    "Maydanek concentration camp?" After rokosovsky repeated the ground, the expression on his face became serious: "our army liberated this concentration camp in late July. What witnesses told me is unforgettable for me forever. The bandits killed about 1.5 million people in this concentration camp, including a large number of old people, women and children. The brutality they committed in the concentration camp is the most serious crime against humanity. "


    I was shocked to hear that almost 1.5 million people were killed in the maydanek concentration camp. Just as I was tongue tied and speechless, marinin came over and asked me curiously, "Rita, do you want to know something about this concentration camp?"


    After seeing me nod my head in affirmation, malining began to tell me about this concentration camp: "idanec concentration camp is four kilometers southeast of Lublin. The purpose of the camp was to eliminate the enemies of the Third Reich, to assist in the extermination of Jews, and to participate in the expulsion and "resettlement" of poles living in the zamoshic area of the ordinary government.


    Maydanek camp covers 667 acres and is located on the road connecting Lublin, zamoshic and haium. Surrounded by double barbed wire with high-voltage electricity and 19 watchtowers, soldiers stood guard in the tower in case of escape. The camp consists of five parts: 22 cells, seven gas chambers, two wooden gallows, a small incinerator and other indispensable buildings, such as storeroom, workshop, laundry room and coal storeroom.


    The camp was established in September 1941, and the first prisoners arrived in maydanek in October. Over the next two and a half years, groups of prisoners followed, including those from the Soviet POW camps and those from other concentration camps, such as Saxony hausen, Buchenwald, dahoe, Auschwitz, noingamer and flosenberg.


    Other prisoners in the camp include Polish civilians who were searched by the Germans or previously imprisoned in other places; Jews in Poland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, France, Hungary, Belgium and Greece; Non Jews in Belarus and Ukraine; Polish farmers driven out of their homes in the zamoshic region. After the Warsaw gedu uprising in April 1943, tens of thousands of Jews were expelled from Warsaw to maydanek. In August 1943, after the partition of biavistock was cleared, thousands of Jews were sent here as well. "


    After waiting patiently for malining to finish these boring data, rokosovsky asked me curiously, "Rita, how can you suddenly think of asking about this concentration camp?"


    "Comrade marshal, this is the situation." I quickly reported to rokosowski about a group of beggars I met on the road today. Finally, I said, "I just asked, since we have rescued them from the clutches of the Germans, why don''t we arrange them properly and provide them with the necessary food and water? Can''t the survivors of these death camps starve to death? "


    "You don''t know something, Rita. We have our own problems." Rokosovsky sighed and said: "after careful screening, we found that most people''s hometown is still in the enemy occupied area. If we send them back rashly, it is tantamount to letting them die.


    We left them in the concentration camp and left a small number of troops to guard them, but there was no restriction on their freedom. They were free to go in and out of the concentration camp, otherwise you would not see them in the streets of Lublin. "


    In his words, I can only mention once more why the survivors of the concentration camp were not provided with food and water: "if they had enough food and water, they would not come to Lublin to beg."


    "Rita, you missed the marshal." Malining recognized the dissatisfaction from my words and quickly explained to me: "the task of relieving these Jews has always been the responsibility of the new Polish government. We provide them with a lot of food every day. As for why these things didn''t fall into the hands of the Jews, it''s not easy to guess. "


    When I found out that the survivors from the maydanek concentration camp were reduced to begging in Lublin street, which was not the reason for rokosovsky, I realized that I had missed the other side. I blushed and said to rokosovsky, "I''m sorry, marshal. I blame you wrong!"


    Rokosovsky waved his hand and said magnanimously, "it''s OK, Rita. You haven''t made clear the specific situation. It''s inevitable to have misunderstandings." He stopped for a moment, then continued, "when our army approached the maydanek concentration camp in July. In order to cover up their crimes, the German burned the great incinerator and other buildings. However, in a hurry to leave the camp, they forgot to destroy most of the cells and gas chambers.


    Our army liberated the maydanek concentration camp on July 24, and unexpectedly found that there were still seven or eight hundred surviving prisoners in it. In addition to the fact that most of them are Jews, there are about 50 other prisoners of our army. "


    It is said that there are still dozens of our army''s captured commanders and fighters left in the concentration camp. I can''t help but have a flash in my eyes, "Comrade marshal, where are these captured commanders and fighters?"


    "Where else, in the maydanek camp, of course." Rokosovsky said with some regret: "I have met these people. They are all as thin as skeletons, as if they would fall when the wind blows. Seeing them like this, I gave up my plan to add them to the army. "


    In order to find out how these captured soldiers survived, I continued to ask rokosovsky, "do you know how they survived, marshal?"


    "These people were selected by the * * to take the bodies in the gas room to the incinerator." Malining said coldly: "in order to prevent the leakage of secrets, the German will change a group of task forces every once in a while, and the replaced people will be directly sent to the gas chamber. They were lucky. The Germans were so flustered when they ran away that they forgot them. "


    After malining finished, I asked cautiously, "I want to ask the guards of the concentration camp who were caught by us how to deal with them?" Malining said in an official voice: "if we change the past, these captured guards will be directly shot. However, because there are a large number of allied journalists in the concentration camp to cover, we can only lock up these prisoners first, and then continue to try them after the war is over, and judge them according to their crimes. " After hearing what marinin said, I knew in my heart that most of the guards in the maydanek concentration camp could escape death and be sentenced to life imprisonment at most. Only a few unfortunate people will be sentenced to be shot or hanged in the end¡° Rita, in a few days, you are going to command the troops to attack China. I suggest you go to see the surviving prisoners of war, "rokosovsky suggested to me." maybe these can be used for many purposes in the next battle. " As for the proposal put forward by rokosovsky, I hesitated to reply: "marshal, don''t you say they are so skinny that even the gust of wind can blow them down? How can such a person go to war? "¡° You can put them into the army first, and when their bodies return to their ideal state, you can let them take part in the battle. " "These people have been tortured in the concentration camp of the Communist Party of China, so they are ready to go to any dangerous place, where they can retaliate against the hateful enemy, they are willing to go," rokosovsky stressed I very much agree with rokosovsky''s view that with the advance of our army to Berlin, more and more concentration camps and prisoner''s camps will be liberated by us. It would be outrageous if tens of thousands of prisoners of war were not incorporated into the army. So I said decisively, "marshal, please make arrangements for me. I want to go to maydanek concentration camp immediately and talk to these surviving soldiers."

 Chapter 1621

    However, after thinking for a moment, rokosovsky resolutely refused my request: "no, Rita, the attack on Warsaw is about to start. At this time, I absolutely can''t let you go to maydanek concentration camp. It''s very easy for a senior commander to make wrong and impulsive decisions when he is angry, which is very unfavorable for commanding operations. "


    "Rita, the marshal did it for your own good." Malining may be afraid that I can''t figure it out, so he specially explained to me: "he''s afraid that when you go to the concentration camp and see the tragic situation, you may kill all the prisoners in a rage. You can''t make the same mistake you made in petrissevo village. "


    Malining''s words remind me of the Moscow counterattack, when I saw Zhuoya''s mutilated body, I shot all the prisoners and was demoted. The reason that rokosovsky didn''t let me go to the concentration camp may be that I was afraid that when I saw the tragedy inside, I would kill all the captured German guards because of anger and impulse. In the current situation, if you are demoted again, there is no hope of turning over.


    After understanding rokosovsky''s intention, I immediately gave up the idea of going to the concentration camp, but I still asked reluctantly, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know what I can see the surviving soldiers?"


    "You go to Gusev''s tomorrow first," rokosovsky said with the same expression. "I''ll send someone to take them to see you."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    The next day, I arrived at the 47th army headquarters in Gusev on time.


    After a brief exchange of greetings with the other side, I asked about the upcoming Warsaw War: "general Gusev, if the Polish Army sends out one division, we will send out six battalions. Is it too little?"


    Hearing my question, Gusev immediately replied, "Comrade deputy commander, you can rest assured that we only have six battalions of 3000 people, but they are all elite selected from the 77th, 125th, 397th infantry divisions and other directly subordinate units, and their combat effectiveness is comparable to that of a guard division."


    When Gusev finished speaking, he saw that I was silent and continued to add: "at present, the main force of our army is gathering on the East Bank of the visva river. As long as the commando troops have a firm foothold in Warsaw city on the West Bank, our troops can continue to cross the river to reinforce them. I think it is completely possible to liberate Warsaw through this battle."


    I am far less optimistic about the prospect of this battle than he is. Let alone the combat effectiveness of the troops can only be equivalent to one close guard division, even if it is equivalent to ten, it is useless. In the face of the German elite armored forces, even if these light troops broke into Warsaw City, they were just lambs to be slaughtered.


    In order to let him have a clear understanding of the current situation, I waited for him to finish, and then slowly said: "general Gusev, according to the latest information we have, the rebel forces in Warsaw are the krayov army loyal to the government in exile, the liudorf army loyal to the Lublin government, and the army of about 50000 people composed of other resistance forces. They used very simple weapons and equipment to attack the German government organs, police stations, ammunition depots, power plants, hospitals and other important facilities in Huasha City, trying to obtain weapons, ammunition and various supplies through the air drop of the Allied forces. They persisted until the arrival of our army, and restored their capital with the cooperation of internal and external forces.


    But they obviously overestimated the ability of the allies, coupled with internal disunity, and gradually fell behind in the contest with the Germans. Under such circumstances, they were forced to ask for help from us, hoping to relieve the pressure on them through the offensive launched by our army. "


    Speaking of this, I can''t help humming: "the Germans have gathered a large number of troops near Warsaw, including the skull division, the Viking division and the goring division. Facing the most elite German troops, our battle will be very difficult, not to mention the Warsaw Uprising without much training."


    After listening to my long speech, Gusev was silent for a long time. Then he asked carefully, "Comrade deputy commander, it seems that you think our army will not achieve the desired results in the battle in a few days."


    "General Gusev, if I had a choice, I would cancel this battle." I stared at Gusev and said, "because I don''t see any hope of success in this battle except for the sacrifice of our commanders and fighters."


    "But... But..." gushev said in a flustered voice, "this battle plan has been reported by the headquarters of the front army to the headquarters and approved, and our commanders and fighters are ready for battle. I don''t think it''s possible to cancel it temporarily. "


    "Yes, general Gusev, you are right. Since the superior has given the order to attack, we have to carry it out." With the coming of the war, I knew that I could not defeat the commander''s confidence too much, so I quickly cut off the topic: "where is the commander of the third Polish division, Colonel Stanislaw Galitsky?"


    "The third division of the Polish army is stationed nearby, and the division headquarters are not far from us." Gusev quickly reported to me: "if you want to see him, I''ll call him and ask him to come."


    "Yes," I think of the battle a few days later, but the Polish Army plays the leading role. If I don''t know what kind of person this division commander is in the battle, I''m not sure. If, as I did last time, he is easily defeated under the German artillery fire, the six battalions of our army will become meat buns and dogs - there will be no return. So when Gusev said this, I nodded my head and said, "please come here."


    After Gusev called, he said to me, "the colonel said that he could be there in five minutes at most."


    I nodded and asked, "general Gusev, do you know the Colonel?"


    After listening to my question, he was stunned for a moment. Then he guessed my voice out of the picture and said with a smile: "Comrade deputy commander, I understand what you mean. Are you worried that you don''t understand that in this battle, as in the last time, you were beaten by the German army? "


    Seeing that I nodded in affirmation, he went on to say, "don''t worry, this Colonel Galitsky is a commander with rich combat experience. After the German invasion of Poland, he led a guerrilla team to fight guerrillas in the country. Later, the troops were completely lost in the encirclement and suppression of the German army, so he took a few guerrillas and crossed the long front to our defense area and became one of us. "


    After listening to Gusev''s introduction, I feel more secure. After all, the colonel Galitsky I will meet has been on the battlefield. I believe that under his command, the Polish Army''s performance in Warsaw will not be too shameful.


    However, Colonel Galitsky did not arrive, but an officer entered the headquarters. When Gusev saw the officer, his face showed a puzzled expression: "Comrade officer, who are you?"


    Instead of answering him, the officer saluted me, and then reported respectfully, "Comrade deputy commander, I have brought those soldiers to you on the order of Comrade marshal."


    Without waiting for me to speak, another officer came in. He was obviously a subordinate of Gusev. He went directly to Gusev, saluted and reported, "Comrade commander, Colonel galicky of the Polish army has arrived."


    After listening to his subordinates'' report, Gusev did not immediately reply to the other party. Instead, he focused on me, as if waiting for me to make a final decision.


    Now that the commander of the Polish army has arrived, I can only push back for a while to meet the soldiers from the concentration camp. Therefore, I said to the officer, "Comrade officer, you should take them to a place nearby to have a rest. I will find time to meet them when we are finished here."


    When the officer left, I turned and nodded to Gusev, indicating that he could let Colonel galicky in. After getting my permission, Gusev said to his subordinates, "go and ask Colonel Galitsky to come in!"


    A moment later, a tall, middle-aged man in a Polish uniform entered the room. He came to Gusev, held out his hand with a smile and said politely, "Hello, comrade general, we meet again!"


    Gusev shook hands with the other side politely, and then introduced me to the other side: "Comrade Colonel, let me introduce you. This is general oshanina, deputy commander of the front army. She will be fully responsible for this attack on Warsaw."


    I thought Colonel Galitsky would look disappointed when he heard my name. After all, it is not so easy for middle and senior officers to accept the command of a woman. I didn''t expect that after listening to Gusev''s introduction, he came to attention and raised his hand to salute me. He said respectfully, "Hello, deputy commander of the front army. I''m glad to meet you here. It''s an honor for me and all the officers and men of the third Polish division to accept your command. "


    Confused by his reaction, I shook hands with him and asked curiously, "Comrade Colonel, do you know me?"


    "It''s the first time we''ve met, but I''ve heard general Bellinger mention you many times. He said you''re a great commander." Colonel Galitsky said to me respectfully, "I hope my troops will make immortal contributions under your command and in the fight to liberate Warsaw."


    Although the headquarters of the front army has drawn up a plan to attack Warsaw, it is only a very general plan. If we want to achieve success in the next battle, it is up to me and the representatives of the Polish army to improve the details. After a few of us sat down at the table, I looked at Galitsky and asked, "Comrade Colonel, don''t you know that your division has a detailed operational plan?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." With these words, Colonel Galitsky stood up, took out a folded map from his briefcase, spread it out on the table, and politely said, "please allow me to introduce to you our division''s operational plan."


    Seeing that I nodded my permission, he went on to say: "when the Soviet artillery broke the German line, our division thrust Warsaw southeast into the city. The attack will focus on the South Bragg area, and our offensive forces will attack northwest along lubersky Avenue and zeshenski Avenue


    After seizing alliance square on the visva River, our troops will regroup here. When the Soviet troops arrive, we will cross the visva River from here to the west of Warsaw city... "


    I waited patiently for him to finish talking about the attack plan of the third division of Poland. Suddenly, I felt that if the Polish Army really followed this method, it would be possible to cross the visva River, gain a firm foothold in the west of Warsaw and join the rebel army fighting in the city.


    Seeing that I was staring at the Warsaw map on the table and nodding, Colonel Galitsky tentatively asked, "Comrade deputy commander, do you have anything else to add?"


    "Look here, comrade colonel." I pointed to Union Square by the visva River and said to Galitsky, "to the northwest of the square are Warsaw east station and vilansk station. In your plan, why didn''t you consider seizing these two railway stations?" Galitsky looked at me, looked at Gusev, and then replied, "Comrade deputy commander, you should know that the Germans have stationed heavy troops in these two railway stations. We don''t have so many troops to compete with them repeatedly in these areas."¡° Comrade Colonel, "I saw that he didn''t realize the seriousness of the problem at all, so he sternly reminded him," if you don''t send troops to capture these two railway stations, then the enemy who is still here may send troops to cut off your way back at any time. Don''t you think that with the strength of your division alone, all the German troops in the city can be wiped out? "¡° The rebel army in the city has sent someone to contact us. " When Galitsky heard this, he replied with disapproval: "as soon as our troops cross the visva River, they will send troops to support us. As long as we attack back and forth, we can quickly wipe out the German army on the West Bank of the visva River and open up the way for the troops behind... "Wait a minute, comrade colonel." Before he finished, I raised my hand to interrupt him, and then impolitely asked, "do you really think that after you cross the river, the rebel army can dispatch troops to support you?"¡° I think so. " Seeing that I spoke so harshly, Galitsky also became a little weak. After a long time, he murmured, "the rebel army in the city took the initiative to contact us. I don''t think they will change their mind temporarily, will they?"¡° Comrade Colonel, "in order to break his unrealistic illusion, I said emphatically," don''t place your illusions on other people. The rebel army can''t protect itself. Where can we care for you. If you really take this attitude to command the battle, even if the troops cross the visva River, they will not be able to stand on the West Bank and will soon be driven back by the Germans. In order to avoid unnecessary sacrifice and achieve the desired results, your combat plan must be adjusted. "

 Chapter 1622

    (thanks to Antalya, a book friend, for her appreciation)


    As soon as the words came out, I noticed his body. Then he looked at me and said solemnly, "Comrade deputy commander, this combat plan was made after I called all officers above regiment level together and studied it for two days. We all think that this plan is completely feasible."


    "Comrade Colonel, although there are many people and great strength, the plan that many people come up with may not be applicable." I continued to point out to him the inadequacies in the plan: "how many lines of defense have Germany built and how many troops have been deployed along the route you plan to attack? What is the combat effectiveness of these troops? Do you have all the information?"


    Galitsky was silent.


    Gusev quickly came out and said, "Comrade deputy commander, the enemy''s defense is too tight. Our scouts can''t get into the city and get in touch with the uprising army in the city. So far, we don''t know anything about the information you said."


    When I heard what Gusev said, I felt cool. I said that you are brave enough to make a plan to attack Warsaw without knowing the situation of the enemy? At the same time, I also understand why my superiors asked me to take charge of this matter. It''s only because I am familiar with the tactics of street fighting. I may hope that I can make more commanders and fighters safely withdraw from the city under the unfavorable situation.


    "No, no," I retorted, shaking my head as soon as Gusev''s words were finished, "this attack plan must be adjusted, otherwise I''m afraid that the troops entering Warsaw will be in danger of being destroyed."


    "The end of the army?" My words startled all the people in the room. After a long time, Gusev murmured, "Comrade deputy commander, the situation is not as bad as you think, is it? We need to know that our group army and the 70th group army are stationed not far from Huasha city. In case of any accident, we can reinforce them. "


    Gusev''s words made me a little sad. The reason why the superior sent only six battalions to cooperate with the third Polish division to attack Warsaw was not that they really wanted to win Warsaw, but that they wanted to make a gesture to show that our army was not indifferent to the battle in Warsaw, but actively assisted.


    But some words, I know in my heart, but I can''t say them casually. I can only switch the topic to divert everyone''s attention. After looking at the map in front of me for a while, I raised my head and asked Galitsky, "Comrade Colonel, are there four bridges on the visva River in Warsaw?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." Galitsky nodded his head and said, "unfortunately, in order to prevent our army from passing through the bridges and rushing into the west side of Warsaw, the Germans have blown up all these bridges. So after seizing alliance square, my troops must regroup and wait here for the river crossing equipment to arrive... "


    "Comrade Colonel, I''m still the question I just asked." I touched the two railway stations with my hand and said, "why don''t you take the railway station first? If the railway station falls into the hands of our army, we will be able to transport the weapons and equipment you need, even the reinforcements, into Huasha city through the railway. "


    "Transport soldiers and weapons into the city by railway?" Galitsky widened his eyes, looked at the map in front of him, and said in an unbelievable voice, "is that ok?"


    Gusev asked with great interest, "Comrade deputy commander, what are you going to do? Tell me about your plan?"


    "Since the German had blown up the bridge in the city, even if the east of the city was attacked by our army, the garrison in the west of the city could not be reinforced." I pointed to the map and told you about my battle plan: "after the Polish army and our army entered Warsaw City, they immediately divided into two routes. The Polish army has already advanced to alliance square according to the original route. Our troops, on the other hand, followed grokhovsky street and attacked two railway stations by the river. After occupying the railway station, we will send another team to cross the visva River from the zoo to cooperate with the Polish army to continue to push deep into Huasha city. "


    "I have a question," Galitsky said after I finished. He asked himself: "there is a German armored division more than ten kilometers north of Warsaw. If they go south to fight, what should we do then?"


    Hearing Galitsky''s qualification question, I immediately asked angrily, "have you not considered how to deal with the enemy in the North once they go south in your battle plan?"


    After they both shook their heads, Galitsky replied, "Comrade deputy commander, as long as our army rushes into the city and joins up with the rebels who are fighting with the German aggressors, we can help them persist until the Soviet Army liberates the whole city."


    Naivety, it''s so naivety. After commenting on Galitsky in my heart, I turned to Gusev and asked him, "where is general askarepov? Is he still at the puwai landing site on the west side of the river?"


    "No," Gusev said, shaking his head, "I''ve replaced the other troops on the other side of the river to take over the defense of the puvai landing site. Now askarepov and his troops are resting on the East Bank of the visva river." After these words, he asked me tentatively, "do you have anything to do with him?"


    "Yes, general Gusev." I replied positively, "I intend to have him with colonel galicky to command the troops in Warsaw."


    "But, but," gushev said with a embarrassed expression on his face, "the 77th division of the guards has been greatly reduced in the battle, and may not be able to undertake the crucial task."¡° Didn''t you deploy six battalions to form an assault group, ready to cooperate with the Polish Army''s attack? " I explained to Gusev, "although this unit is an elite force selected from various units, it lacks a unified command. I intend to let general askarepov take the post of commander of the former enemy." I took advantage of the time when Gusev got up to call askarepov and said to Galitsky, "Comrade Colonel, the battle in Warsaw city will be under the joint command of you and general askarepov. Once we have captured the two railway stations, we can transport the river crossing equipment, weapons and ammunition, military supplies and additional soldiers you need to the city by railway. " Although I did not emphasize who should be in charge of the joint command, Galitsky took the initiative to make a statement to me: "Comrade deputy commander, please rest assured that I will obey the order of general askarepov and carry out your operational plan." Askarepov received a call from Gusev and rushed to the headquarters to accept the new combat mission. When he saw that I was also here, he was particularly surprised: "Comrade deputy commander, I didn''t expect that you were also here." I nodded to him. Instead of beating around the Bush, I said frankly, "Comrade division commander, I''m calling you here today to command an army to assist Colonel Galitsky''s Polish third division in crossing the visva River and entering the western part of Warsaw to join the rebels who are fighting hard and excellently there."¡° Comrade deputy commander, I want to know how many troops I can command? " Askarepov also asked bluntly, "what is our combat intention, to capture Warsaw City, or just to join the rebels in the city?"¡° There are only six battalions under your command. " I did not hide askarepov, but gave him the truth: "your task is to cooperate with the Polish army to rush into Warsaw, cross the visva River, and join the rebel forces fighting in the west of the city." Then I told him in detail the operational plan I had just made. After seeing off askarepov and Galitsky, I feel it necessary to go back to the headquarters and talk with rokosovsky about the attack on Warsaw. In my opinion, this attack plan is like a joke, and I don''t know how it passed the examination of the superior. When I walked out of the headquarters, I saw a group of prisoners in vertical clothing standing in the parking lot outside. Although there were only 40 or 50 prisoners, they were still standing upright in a neat line. The commanders and fighters passing by all looked at them with strange eyes, and even talked about something in a low voice. I looked at the prisoners in prison clothes and wondered if they had escaped from that prison. But on second thought, it should not be. If they were really fugitives, they would not stand in such an eye-catching place and wait for someone to catch them. It is estimated that they would have run away a long time ago. At this moment, an officer came by and raised his hand to salute me: "Comrade deputy commander, these are all prisoners of war we rescued from the concentration camp. The superior ordered me to bring them to you and leave them to you." I recognized him as the officer who had just come to the headquarters to look for me. I nodded at him and said politely, "thank you, comrade captain. I don''t know what to call you? "¡° My name is cassiri. I work for the front guard. " The officer replied respectfully, "is there anything else I can do for you?" I took a look at the upright soldiers standing in the parking lot and asked captain cassiri, "Comrade captain, are you here alone?"¡° "No," the captain replied, shaking his head, "in order to get these soldiers here, we have a jeep and two trucks." After the captain finished speaking, I quickly turned around and called the duty officer standing by the door and said to him, "Comrade officer, please find a place to place these comrades in the parking lot first." When I saw the officer running towards the group of soldiers, I said to kasiri, "Comrade captain, I''ll give you a lift back to the headquarters of the front army. I have something important to ask for Comrade marshal."

 Chapter 1623

    When I returned to the headquarters of the front army, I found that the headquarters was a busy scene, with intelligence staff and communication staff shuttling back and forth in the room. And rokosovsky and malining also stood by the wall, pointing to the place hanging on it, seriously studying something.


    I looked around and saw that all the people in the headquarters were busy. No one noticed me, so I walked quickly behind rokosovsky to hear what he was studying with malining.


    He turned to me and asked, "Rita, have you talked with the comrades of the Polish army about the details of how to attack Warsaw?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." After giving him a positive answer, I immediately asked, "I want to ask, are there too few troops we use to attack Warsaw? You know, the German army has concentrated a powerful group composed of the skull division, the Viking division, the goring division, the 19th tank division and two infantry divisions in the Warsaw frontier. If we put in such a small number of troops, isn''t it almost like death? "


    "What you don''t know, Rita, is that six battalions are the limit of mobility we can use." When rokosovsky saw my unhappy face, he explained to me, "in order to smash the German heavy army group near Warsaw, we launched a new offensive campaign today, putting in a part of the 70th group army and the 1st group army of Poland to attack the suburb of pragar east of Warsaw. At present, the battle is going on fiercely."


    Looking up at the red and blue arrows on the map representing the enemy and us, I found that if our army did not launch an attack on the outskirts of pragar to contain and eliminate most of the enemy''s forces, the attack launched by the third Polish division on Warsaw in a few days would be a suicide.


    Seeing my hesitation, rokosovsky continued: "from a military point of view, when we smashed and captured pragar, it is the most appropriate time for Warsaw to hold an uprising. As long as the rebel forces attack from the inside of Warsaw to the East, occupy the bridge across the viswa River, and our front army forces attack to the west again, the two fists together, it is possible to liberate Warsaw and hold it


    At this point, he couldn''t help sighing: "but the news I learned from my Polish comrades and the large amount of materials I got from the headquarters of the front army show that the leaders of the uprising tried every means to prevent the uprising from establishing any contact with the Red Army. They are only loyal to the exiled government in London, and we, in their eyes, are the same aggressors as the German government. "


    When I heard the word aggressor, I just snorted. Xin said that these people really don''t know what to do. The Red Army officers and men have made great sacrifices just to save you from the brutal rule of the Germans. Who knows that you still don''t appreciate it.


    "In order to help the rebels in the city, we even sent out airplanes to provide air cover for their areas as requested, bombing and strafing the German forces in the city. The anti-aircraft artillery units of the front army were also gradually deployed near the city to protect the rebel army from the attack of the enemy''s air force, while the ground artillery units used their firepower to suppress the enemy''s artillery and mortars, so that they could not shoot at the rebel army. " Rokosovsky may have said a lot to me in order to let me know more about the actual situation near Warsaw, "in order to maintain communication and correct artillery fire, we also dropped officers into the city. As for the achievements of our air force and artillery, the comrades who broke through Warsaw and our garrison praised each other. They said that German planes did not even dare to fly over their garrison these two days. "


    As for the Soviet Army Airdropping liaison officers to Warsaw City, many postings in later generations said that it was a false thing, but it was just the Soviet Union''s behavior in response to the Allies'' accusation that they had failed to save Warsaw Uprising forces. At this moment, listening to rokosovsky mention this matter, I quickly asked: "have they got in touch with the rebel army in the city?"


    Rokosovsky nodded and said, "although some officers died in the parachute jump due to various accidents, many communication officers and artillery observers succeeded in finding the rebels who were still fighting in the city. However, the rebels belonging to the krayov army are very indifferent to them. Although we have contacted the top commander of the rebel army with the code, the other party has never contacted us. We can only understand what''s going on in the city through the rebels who are lucky enough to break out of the city. "


    "The conduct of the krayov army is really suspicious." Malining continued: "although they are fighting with the Germans, I think they are still fighting against the Soviet Union, against the Polish government established in Lublin and against the first Polish army. The main leaders of the rebel army have always been loyal to the government in exile in London and do not want to cooperate with us at all. "


    The words of rokosovsky and malining suddenly made me feel that the battle I was commanding was a bit superfluous. Let the commanders and fighters pay a huge price to help a group of white eyed wolves who don''t know how to be grateful, I can''t bear it psychologically.


    However, as soon as I put forward my own views, rokosovsky raised his hand to stop me: "whether the leader of the rebel army is a politician or not, we still want to liberate Warsaw. So you have to take the overall situation into consideration and find a way to gain a firm foothold in the west of Warsaw, so as to help our main force enter Warsaw city one after another. "


    "Well, comrade marshal." Since rokosovsky has said this, it is useless for me to oppose it any more, so I can only nod my head and say, "I will try my best to fight this battle." Our conversation was soon interrupted by the war report from the staff. After reading one of the war reports, rokosovsky handed it to me: "this is a telegram from general belinger. He said that as soon as his troops got close to the suburb of Praga, they got the help of the local people. They not only brought water and food to the soldiers of the first Polish army, but also helped the health workers to carry down the wounded on the battlefield."¡° Help to carry the wounded from the battlefield? " I heard from rokosovsky that it was very unexpected. After so many years of fighting, it seems that the local people have not spontaneously organized to help us carry the wounded on the battlefield. You know, it''s a near death. Rokosovsky turned to look at marinin and said with relief, "Comrade chief of staff, it seems that the Polish people are very supportive of our army."¡° Marshal, I don''t know when our army will take Praga? " I can''t wait to ask as soon as rokosovsky finished. Hearing my question, rokosovsky thought about it, and then said: "according to the plan, the battle to capture Praga will be completed on the 14th of this month. Once the enemy in Praga is cleared, the forces of the front army will be able to get as close to the visva River as possible, so that the pressure on you to enter Warsaw will be greatly reduced. "¡° Marshal, "after reading all the war reports in his hand, malining raised his head and said to rokosovsky," at present, our army has successfully captured the first defensive position of the German army, and the fierce battle is unfolding in the depth of the enemy. In order to continue to expand the results, I suggest that general Gusev''s 47th army be put into action this afternoon. "¡° I agree. " Rokosovsky nodded his head and said, "if Gusev''s troops can get a firm foothold in the suburbs of Warsaw, the next battle that Rita will command will be much easier." In the face of our fierce offensive, the German army in pragar began to retreat. However, unwilling to fail, the enemy concentrated its superior forces and launched an attack on the magnushev landing site guarded by the trokov forces, in an attempt to drive them to the visva river at one stroke. However, under the tenacious defense of the eighth group army of the guards and the Polish tank brigade, the three successive attacks launched by the German army were defeated without exception. They left more than 20 destroyed tanks and more than 500 bodies in front of our army at the landing site, and then retreated to Warsaw. Seeing that the direction of magnushev landing site has returned to calm, rokosovsky and malining are relieved, and then focus on the direction of Praga, because only to capture the outskirts of Warsaw is our final destination.

 Chapter 1624

    While rokosovsky and malining were busy, I asked the director of intelligence to come to the Praga combat plan, to find out their combat intentions and find out what was helpful to me.


    Just after I saw the battle plan, rokosovsky said in a timely manner: "Rita, you don''t have to bear any burden. The reason why you command six battalions to cooperate with the third Polish division to march into the west of Warsaw is that you are unmatched in street fighting command. Both the staff headquarters and I believe that under your command, the troops will surely achieve the desired results. "


    I can''t help being silent because his words have already been said. On the issue of marching into Warsaw, Zhukov, rokosovsky and the headquarters of the general staff all adopted a decentralized approach. They not only did not ask us to report the battle plan, but also made every effort to attack pragar, trying to attract all the main forces of the German army in the east of Warsaw.


    In the face of their trust, even though I knew that I could not achieve any ideal results in the end of the battle, I still insisted on answering rokosovsky: "marshal, please rest assured that I will do my best to cooperate with the Polish army to enter Warsaw."


    In the next few days of fighting, the German resistance in Eastern Warsaw was crushed by our army, and some of the surviving troops retreated to the north to join their friends in that area; The other part, however, retreated to the visva River, ready to continue to resist by virtue of the buildings there.


    Seeing that the fighter plane was mature, I decisively gave askarepov and Galitsky the order to attack, and asked them to attack the designated place immediately when the garrison in the east of the city was hit by our army and the overall defense was in chaos.


    After the battle started, there were a large number of lyudov soldiers in the third division of Poland who broke through Warsaw. Under the guidance of these guides, the troops moved quickly along the predetermined route to the visva river. It was not until it was two or three hundred meters away from the river that it encountered the German tenacious defense.


    The German troops were very brave. They hid in the window of the building, shooting and throwing grenades at the Polish soldiers running in the street, repelling their attacks again and again.


    Galitsky, who was frustrated in the attack, called me. He said in a hurry: "Comrade deputy commander, I have been tenaciously resisted by the German army. There are many casualties in the army, but I still can''t break through the enemy''s defense. I ask the superior to provide artillery support."


    "It''s a mess." When Gusev heard that, he immediately said angrily, "our troops and the enemy are almost tied together. If we bombard that area, we can destroy the German buildings, but it is bound to cause a lot of casualties."


    "Comrades commander," gushev''s chief of staff said anxiously as soon as he finished, "comrades of the Polish army can''t get close to the river without destroying the German defense. In order to win, it is worth the sacrifice. Don''t hesitate. Please give the order to the artillery immediately


    Instead of expressing his opinion, Gusev turned to me and waited for me to make up my mind.


    I looked at the blocked area of the Polish army and knew that if they didn''t break through here, they wouldn''t be able to advance to alliance square on the visva river. After a brief thought, I gave Gusev an order: "Comrade General, immediately send an artillery battalion into the city to help the comrades of the Polish Army move forward."


    "Comrade deputy commander," Gusev said with an expression of embarrassment when he heard my order, "if you want to destroy the German defense, it may not be enough to send only one artillery battalion."


    "If the German defense zone is covered with artillery, this artillery is far from enough." Taking into account that Gusev and I spent a short time together and were not very clear about the theory of street fighting that I was proficient in, we specially explained to him: "as you have just said, if we use long-range artillery fire to cover this area, although it can destroy the enemy''s defense, it is also easy to cause a lot of accidental injuries to our troops. The reason why I sent an artillery battalion into the war zone is to enable our artillery to carry out close fire, so that the artillery can use direct fire to destroy all the enemy''s fire points beyond the range of the enemy''s machine guns. "


    After listening to my method, Gusev suddenly realized. When he asked the chief of staff to call the artillery, he casually asked me, "do you need to send an artillery to Mr. askarepov?"


    "He followed me for so long. He should be very familiar with the skills of street fighting." I immediately denied Gusev''s proposal, "if he doesn''t call for help, he doesn''t need to send artillery."


    When the chief of staff came back from the phone call, I asked another important question: "chief of staff, how are the crossing equipment of the Polish Army going?"


    "We have collected a large number of wooden boats, rafts and canoes, which are now stacked in the station controlled by the group army." The chief of staff respectfully reported to me: "as long as general askarepov''s forces capture Warsaw east station and vilansk station, we can transport these crossing equipment to the visva river."


    "Can I get in touch with general askarepov?" I asked as soon as the chief of staff finished.


    "Yes," the chief of staff nodded. "Our telephone contact with general askarepov has always been smooth."


    "Connect me with general askarepov," I immediately told the chief of staff, who said the line was clear. "I want to talk to him and ask how the troops are doing."


    After I got through the phone, I couldn''t take care of the greetings, so I asked directly, "what''s the situation there, sir? When can you take the railway station?"


    After recognizing that it was my voice, askarepov quickly reported: "Comrade deputy commander, the Germans are fighting very tenaciously. They stick to the buildings by the side of the road and shoot at us from a high position, which makes our army unable to move forward quickly."


    "Where are your troops now?" I asked briefly.


    "At the intersection of Marsa street and grokhovsky street," askarepov said in a loud voice over the phone, "the enemy here not only has a large number of fixed fire points, but also occupies a large number of buildings on both sides of the nearby street, blocking the way of our army with strong fire. If we''re going to make a strong attack, I''ll be careful that there won''t be many people left when the troops rush to the visva river. "


    I covered the microphone and asked the chief of staff, "chief of staff, which army is there near Martha street?"


    The chief of staff looked at his notebook and then replied, "at present, a regiment of the 397th infantry division is in the north section of Marsa street. Their task is to move westward to capture zumbuji in the North Prague district. It is said that one of the German troops is gathering in a nearby forest area."


    "Give the task of seizing zongbuji to other troops." I pointed to the position where askarepov was blocked, and told the chief of staff, "let the 397th infantry division get close to general askarepov immediately, and at the same time send another artillery battalion to strengthen the assault force''s ability."


    After listening to a series of my orders, the chief of staff turned his eyes to Gusev. After seeing Gusev nodding his head, he quickly walked to the telephone and sent the order to the troops below.


    I let go of the microphone and said to askarepov, "Comrade division commander, I have sent troops to reinforce you. They are a infantry regiment and an artillery battalion. As soon as the artillery arrives, you must open the road leading to the visva River in the shortest time and successfully capture the two railway stations. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade deputy commander." Askarepov assured me on the phone: "as soon as the reinforcements and artillery arrive, no matter how many enemies there are in front of us, we will wipe them out completely and cleanly."


    After I put down the phone, Gusev tentatively asked, "Comrade deputy commander, can you really destroy the German defense effectively by using artillery to fire close to you?"


    "There is no doubt about that." In response to Gusev''s query, I solemnly replied: "according to the information I have, Warsaw city was savagely bombed and shelled by the German army in 1949, and most of the urban areas were destroyed. At present, the buildings in this area that our army is attacking are all brick and concrete structures newly built in the past two years, which can not withstand the close attack of our artillery. I believe that with the participation of artillery, the enemy''s defense will soon be broken through. "


    The German troops who prevented Galitsky and askarepov''s troops from advancing towards the visva river may never have dreamed that our troops would adopt the tactic of "bayonet on cannon", and the buildings on which they hid collapsed one after another in the direct fire of our army.


    Those who survived either waved the white flag to surrender or dropped their weapons and fled north along the visva River in an attempt to escape Warsaw, then to the north of modlin to join the defenders there.


    After the Polish Army successfully arrived at the alliance square, Galitsky called me to report the good news: "Comrade deputy commander, my troops have successfully arrived at the visva river. As soon as the crossing equipment arrives, my troops will be able to cross the river into the west side of Warsaw and join the rebel forces who are staying there. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade colonel." Since I had not received the report of general askarepov''s war, I answered with a little lack of confidence: "as soon as the railway station is taken down, our train carrying river crossing equipment can enter Warsaw. You can use this time to give the troops a good rest, and then get ready to cross the river


    I put down the phone and first said to Gusev and the chief of staff, "Colonel Galitsky''s forces have successfully broken through the German defense and reached the alliance square on the visva river. Now I want to know what''s going on with general askarepov. Have they taken the train station? "


    Hearing my question, the chief of staff quickly replied, "I have just spoken with the frontier. At present, the troops of the 397th division are fighting for Warsaw east station; And commander askarepov is directing two battalions to attack vilansk station. "


    Although the chief of staff said it lightly, I knew in my heart that the fighting must have been very fierce. After a pause, I asked, "chief of staff, when do you think general askarepov will be able to take the railway station?"


    "I estimate it will be more than two hours at the earliest." The chief of staff was deeply afraid of my anger and explained to me: "the buildings of the railway station are all stone buildings, which can carry heavy artillery bombardment. Therefore, the battle between general askarepov and them will not end in a short time."


    I raised my hand, looked at my watch, then shook my head and said, "every minute is precious on the battlefield. We have no right to let the Polish soldiers wait for hours by the river. Well, comrade chief of staff, you immediately order the train on standby to leave and deliver the river crossing equipment to the Polish army as soon as possible. "¡° But Comrade deputy commander, the two railway stations on the river visva are still in the hands of the enemy. " The chief of staff said to me anxiously, "if we rush to transport the materials, we will suffer unnecessary losses."¡° Comrade chief of staff, "I pointed to the map and said to him," you can order the train to stop here, and then let other troops send these equipment to the Polish army in other ways. "¡° Well, comrade deputy commander, since you insist like this, I will obey the order. " The chief of staff said helplessly, "I will immediately send a guard regiment to the place you designated to receive the river crossing equipment and send them to the visva river." The battle for the railway station is far more cruel than I imagined. The 397th division rushed into Warsaw east station and occupied the waiting hall, the control room and most of the platforms. But before they got a firm foothold, they were driven out of the station under the tenacious counterattack of the German army, and even the commander was seriously injured. The battle to capture vilansk station is still extremely fierce. Although askarepov ordered the artillery to blow down the building of the station, the German army hid in the ruins and continued to make the final resistance. Instead of blocking our attack route with intensive firepower, they used short firing to eliminate every target that appeared in their field of vision. After more than an hour of fighting, the troops under askarepov''s command made no decent progress at all except leaving a pile of soldiers'' remains in front of the station. After hearing that the attack on the railway station was frustrated, Gusev immediately put forward a suggestion to me: "Comrade deputy commander, we can''t fight like this any more. If we fight again, our troops will be consumed in these two places, and there will be no troops to cooperate with the Polish army in crossing the river."¡° Yes, yes, "the chief of staff echoed," there are not many enemies in these two stations anyway. We just need to send troops to monitor them. We don''t need to spend our precious troops here. "

 Chapter 1625

    "No, not at all!" Without hesitation, I denied their opinions and said to myself, "if we do not seize these two stations, we will not be able to transport the urgently needed river crossing equipment and the weapons and ammunition consumed in the battle in time; Second, the enemy can use the two railway stations as support points to launch unexpected attacks on us at any time. Based on these two factors, we have to win the station at all costs. "


    "Well, comrade deputy commander." After listening to what I said, Gusev nodded and said rather helplessly, "since that''s the case, let''s continue to organize troops to attack the station."


    Just as the chief of staff was about to give an order, I stopped him. In their puzzled eyes, I went on to say, "in order not to affect the crossing battle, let general askarepov stop attacking the station and leave it to other troops."


    "Chief of staff, near the station, which of our troops are there?" When Gusev heard my idea, he immediately brightened his eyes and asked the chief of staff, "let them take over the attack of division commander askarepov on the station."


    The chief of staff said with some embarrassment: "the 397th infantry division is attacking Warsaw east station. There are no our troops near the vilansk station attacked by general askarepov, so they can''t withdraw from the station for the time being."


    After waiting for the chief of staff to finish thinking for a moment, I picked up the phone on the table, dialed the headquarters of the front army, found malining and asked, "chief of staff, I want to ask, which army of our army is near the vilansk station?"


    After a moment''s silence, marinin replied, "at present, the 106th infantry division of the 70th group army has arrived in the northeast of vilansk railway station and is engaged in a fierce battle with the German forces who are stuck there. Rita, why do you ask this? "


    "Well, comrade chief of staff." I hastily explained to malining, "the troops under the command of general askarepov are attacking the vilansk station, and our attack is in a stalemate due to the tenacious defense of the enemy in the station. I''m going to find a team to replace them so that they can concentrate on the Polish Army''s crossing the river. "


    "I''ll take care of this," malining said after hearing it. "You''d better concentrate all your energy on crossing the river."


    After I put down the phone, I immediately told the chief of staff of the group army: "chief of staff, give an order to general askarepov to suspend his attack on the station. As soon as the friendly troops who are coming to take over the attack arrive, they will immediately go to the visva River and make all preparations for crossing the river."


    After that, I turned to Gusev and said, "general Gusev, I''m going to take a radio station to Warsaw city. If there is anything, please remember to contact me in time."


    "Comrade deputy commander," Gusev said nervously, his face changed. "Although our troops have entered Warsaw, the city is too dangerous. You''d better stay here to command."


    "General Gusev, you don''t have to persuade me." I waved to Gusev and said firmly, "it''s because the situation in Warsaw is so chaotic that I have to go to the city myself so that I can grasp what''s going on in the battlefield at the first time."


    Seeing that I had made up my mind, Gusev didn''t persuade me any more. He immediately arranged for people to prepare for my trip. He also asked: "do you need to bring those recruits with you?"


    The recruits mentioned by Gusev are not the new soldiers just recruited, but the prisoners of war rescued from the concentration camp. Gushev said that these people were too weak to take part in combat in the short term, so he incorporated them into the guard regiment directly under the group army.


    Considering that these soldiers and the Germans have a deep hatred, if you take them with you, maybe they can be used at the critical moment, so I replied without thinking: "take them all with you!"


    A few hours later, I came to a tall building next to Union Square that didn''t completely collapse. Here, I see Galitsky again. After shaking hands with him, I asked with concern, "Comrade Colonel, are the soldiers ready to cross the river?"


    "We may have to wait a little longer," Galitsky said awkwardly. "At present, there are too few river crossing equipment, so we can''t carry out organized river crossing operations for the time being."


    Standing in the window without window frame, I raised my telescope and looked into the distance. The first thing I saw was the dark visva river. There were several buildings scattered on the other side of the river, but I couldn''t see any lights.


    I put down my telescope, turned around and asked Galitsky, "Comrade Colonel, have you chosen where to cross the river?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." Galitsky squatted down, lit up the map on the ground with a flashlight, and introduced to me: "I plan to cross the river from the southwest of alliance square. On the other side of the river is wazinki palace. The river is full of woods and grasslands. After crossing the river, our troops can use it to regroup."


    When I heard this, I couldn''t help asking curiously, "is vazinki palace the palace of the king of Poland?"


    Galitsky replied positively, "yes, it was originally the villa of the last Polish king, s.o.bonyatovsky, and it was a palace of Baroque architecture."


    "Since it''s a palace," I waited for him to finish, and then asked, "will the Germans build a defense?"


    In response to my concerns, Galitsky replied solemnly: "according to the information we have, the Germans looted the palace not long ago and robbed the paintings, works of art, clocks and statues stored here. After the looting, they set fire to many buildings, so they won''t stay here at all. "


    "Where will the rebels in the city contact you?"


    "Here it is," Galitsky said to me, pointing to the vazinki Palace on the map. "Because the enemy abandoned the vazinki palace, the comrades of the ryudov army chose this as the contact point."


    "Then how to connect?" I continued.


    "According to the prior agreement, before we cross the river, we should send a signal to the other side with a flashlight, three long and one short." Galitsky explained to me: "if everything goes well, the other party will use three short and two long; If there is an enemy situation, use one long and one short. "


    "Well, very thoughtful." When I saw Galitsky, they were ready for everything, but the east wind was in short supply. When the river crossing equipment arrived, they could start to cross the river on a large scale, so I felt much more secure in my heart. I turned and asked the signalman in the corner, "have you got in touch with general askarepov?"


    "Not yet, comrade deputy commander." The messenger, who was holding the telephone, stopped to report to me: "but I''ve been trying to establish contact with them."


    I nodded and told Galitsky, "Comrade Colonel, are the river crossing units ready for communication?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander," Galitsky replied, nodding his head, "the communication equipment of the river crossing force is at the battalion level, so even if we stay here, we can keep abreast of what is happening on the other side."


    As the river crossing equipment has not yet arrived, I have time to continue to learn about the situation of the division from Galitsky: "how many people are left in the division after the daytime fighting?"


    "There are more than 4500 people left in the division." Galitsky replied: "because there are still enough Guard troops left in Hedong, there are only more than 3000 troops involved in crossing the river."


    "What about weapons and equipment?"


    "The division was equipped with submachine guns, rifles and machine guns. Each company has two machine guns and the same number of antitank rifles


    "Are there any guns?"


    "Only five mortars. Without guns of other calibres, even if there are, the boats we use to cross the river will not be able to transport these guns to the other bank. "


    I waited for him to finish, pondered for a moment, then said: "Comrade Colonel, your weapons are not good. Since it''s just a fight with the Germans in the building, it doesn''t matter. If you meet the enemy''s tanks, you will be helpless. "


    "The river crossing troops have anti tank rifles..."


    I did not wait for Galitsky to finish, then I interrupted him: "Comrade Colonel, you may not know that your anti tank rifles can only deal with the old German tanks No. 3 or No. 4. If you meet tiger or leopard tanks, these anti tank guns will not be of any use at all. "


    When I said this, the expression on Galitsky''s face became serious: "Comrade deputy commander, what should we do? You know, because the enemy blew up all the bridges on the visva River, we couldn''t get the tanks and artillery there


    "In the past two years, our troops have been equipped with 40 rocket launchers. The anti tank effect of this new weapon is no worse than that of anti tank guns." Because I am not sure whether there are such weapons in the 47th army, I can only say vaguely, "I will ask the superior to equip you with such weapons as soon as possible."


    We were talking when the telephone rang. Galitsky quickly reached for the phone and said in a loud voice, "I''m Colonel Galitsky!" what? All the river crossing equipment are here That''s great, major hubar. That''s great


    He covered the microphone, looked at me and said, "Comrade deputy commander, major hubar, my eighth commander, has reported to me that all the river crossing equipment has arrived at the river and can carry out the river crossing operation at any time."


    "Go ahead, comrade colonel." I was relieved to hear that the river crossing equipment was ready. Then I said, "let the soldiers of the Polish Army start crossing the river."


    Galitsky released his hand covering the microphone: "Hey, major hubar, listen, contact the other side immediately. After receiving the response, ask the soldiers to put all the crossing equipment into the water. The lighter the movement, the better, so as not to disturb the German on the other side. When you get on the boat, you will try your best to row the boat to the other side as fast as you can. Do you understand? "


    Galitsky and I stood at the window, raised our binoculars and looked in the direction of the wazinki palace. After waiting for a long time, we finally saw a long agreed contact signal in a dark forest.


    Galitsky put down his telescope and said to me with a smile: "Comrade deputy commander, the comrades of the ryudov army are ready to take over. As long as our soldiers can cross the visva River in the shortest time, we can have a firm foothold on the West Bank of the river."


    I just wanted to speak, but I heard the signalman calling me: "Comrade deputy commander, I have got in touch with general askarepov. He wants to speak to you." Although I always wanted to see the scene of a hundred boats crossing the river, I couldn''t help but answer askarepov''s phone. With a trace of regret, I put down my telescope, walked quickly to the signalman and took the microphone in his hand: "Hello, general askarepov? I''m o''shanina. What''s the situation there? "¡° Report, deputy commander, "askarepov replied in a hoarse voice," my troops have withdrawn from vilansk station and are advancing towards the zoo by the visva river. " Thinking that his attack on the railway station lasted for several hours, but there was no progress. Instead, there were many casualties, I couldn''t help asking, "how about the casualties of the troops?"¡° One battalion has dropped out of the fight, "askarepov replied awkwardly." the other battalion has more than a third of the casualties. " I know very well in my heart that quitting the battle means that the formation of this unit can be cancelled, which shows how cruel the battle for the railway station is. After a pause, I asked, "can you still cross the river as planned?"¡° Yes, comrade deputy commander. " Askarepov listened to my question and immediately replied positively, "I still have four battalions in my hand. We can land from Madame Curie Museum and set up landing site there..." before he finished his words, I heard a strange sound in the sky. Then my headquarters without a roof was illuminated. Hell, it''s a flare. The crossing troops were found by the Germans. This is my first reaction after seeing the flare. After a few words with askarepov, I threw the microphone to the signalman. One of them rushed to the window and asked Galitsky anxiously, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the matter? Has our river crossing unit been found by the German?"¡° I think so, "Galitsky replied solemnly." if I''m not wrong, the Germans are going to bombard our river crossing troops. " As soon as his words were heard, the German artillery deployed in the city opened fire. The artillery landed in the middle of the river, triggering a black jet of water. Fortunately, none of the boats crossing the river were hit¡° This is the test firing of the enemy artillery. " "Soon they will continue to bombard intensively," Galitsky said anxiously. "I hope our troops can rush to the other side as soon as possible." As soon as the flares in the air went out, more flares were raised, making the river in the crossing section as bright as day. After the enemy''s test firing, more guns opened fire, and the rising water columns made the viswa River, which was originally smooth, boil like a pot. From time to time, in my telescope lens, I can see one or two boats smashed by the shells, and the soldiers on the boat were lifted into the air and smashed heavily into the river¡° It''s 200 meters away from the river bank, "said Galitsky nervously, holding a telescope." as long as our soldiers work harder, they can get out of the German artillery range and get on the other side of the river smoothly. " But unexpectedly, when more than a dozen boats rushed out of the German artillery area and gradually approached the Bank of the river, they were suddenly shot by machine guns from the woods. The long dark red fireworks of the machine gun, just like the whips, beat the boat hard, making the soldiers on the boat fall into the water one after another¡° Hell, who can tell me what''s going on? " When Galitsky saw this scene, he couldn''t help looking silly. He yelled: "why did the rebels fire at our soldiers?"

 Chapter 1626

    "Don''t you understand, comrade Colonel?" I put down my telescope and said to Galitsky with a blank face: "the people on the other side who have just contacted you are not the comrades of the ryudov army at all, but the Germans."


    "But how can the Germans know our contact code?" Asked Galitsky, puzzled.


    "Isn''t that easy?" I felt that these crooked nuts really had a few strings in my mind. I could not understand such a simple question, so I explained to him, "maybe not long ago, the comrades of the ryudov army who are going to meet you are indeed in the wazinki palace. But unfortunately, their whereabouts were discovered by the Germans, and then the Germans mobilized their forces to destroy the rebels who came to meet you. And through one or two of them who are greedy for life and afraid of death, they understand your contact code and deliberately set traps to lead you to the bait. "


    "What shall we do?" Looking at the shelled River and the forest spewing death flames, Galitsky said with a sad face, "can we let our troops be destroyed by the Germans in the visva river like this?"


    "Where is the artillery battalion that I assigned to you during your battle?" Seeing Galitsky''s absence of control, though I was full of fire, I said to him patiently: "immediately transfer them to the river, use artillery fire to suppress the enemy hiding in the woods of vazinki palace, and cover the landing of the river crossing troops. If I hesitated again, they would all be destroyed by the enemy in the visva river."


    Galitsky turned and rushed to the phone. He grabbed the phone and called, "I''m Colonel Galitsky. Connect me to the barracks immediately!" Hello, artillery battalion? I order you to fire immediately at the location of the vazinki palace What, who am I This is colonel Galitsky. I order you to fire immediately in the direction of wazinki palace Don''t hesitate any more. Fire immediately. If you move more slowly, my men will be killed in the river by German machine guns. "


    Galitsky came back to me, gave me a wry smile and said, "I deployed the artillery battalion by the river just in case. I didn''t expect that it was really used."


    "Well done," I said approvingly of Col. galicky''s proactive arrangement, "the artillery battalion is deployed by the river, ready to fire to suppress the German troops on the other side, so as to ensure that the Polish commanders and fighters can land smoothly."


    A shell hit in the past, the German ambush in the wajinji palace riverside fire point on the whole. The trees by the river burned in the gunfire, making the water near as bright as day. As soon as the gunfire stopped, several small boats approached the shore. The soldiers on the boat plopped into the water and waded on to the shore.


    Galitsky was relieved to see that the boats crossing the river passed through the German artillery area and came up to the Bank of wazinki palace one after another, and the soldiers on board also got off and landed. He grabbed the receiver and asked, "Hey, major hubar, which battalion landed first at wazinki palace?"


    Because I was so close this time, I could clearly hear the reply of hubar: "the second battalion, it''s captain Osborne''s second battalion."


    "Can I get in touch?" "I want to know something about the other side," Galitsky asked anxiously


    "I''m sorry, comrade colonel." "Although my signalmen kept calling them, they couldn''t get in touch with him," he said apologetically


    "Why is this happening?" Asked Galitsky angrily.


    "It''s not clear at the moment," he said aloud. "I don''t know whether the communication equipment was damaged when crossing the river, or whether captain aus was killed. In a word, we have no idea what''s going on on on the other side."


    "Major," said Galitsky, as he heard this, "go to the other side at once and find out what''s going on. Report to me in an hour. "


    "Wait a minute, Colonel Galitsky." I heard Galitsky''s order to major hubar in anger and stopped him immediately: "let major hubar wait. Don''t you see that the German army is still bombarding the visva river? The ships on the other side can''t return at all. You can''t let the major swim through, can you


    On hearing this, Col. Galitsky gave a wry smile, then said to the microphone, "OK, major hubar, keep in touch with Captain Aus, and report to me as soon as you have any news!"


    I waited for Galitsky to finish the call, then quickly walked up to the signalman and told him, "get in touch with general askarepov immediately, I want to talk to him immediately."


    As soon as I got through the phone, I couldn''t wait to ask, "Comrade teacher, what''s the situation there?"


    "Report, comrade deputy commander," askarepov said in a loud voice at the other end of the phone: "due to the lack of crossing equipment and the presence of remnant Germans in the zoo, which affected the regrouping of troops, our crossing operation has not been smooth. So far, only one company''s troops have crossed the visva river, And on the other side of the river occupy two buildings, as our landing site


    "Comrade division commander, leave a battalion of troops and continue to deal with the Germans in the zoo." I saw that the landing site chosen by the Polish army had been discovered by the German army. If all the troops were put into this direction, it would certainly cause huge casualties. Therefore, I pinned my hope for the success of crossing the river on the askarepov troops: "the rest of the troops must cross the river as quickly as possible before the Germans on the other side find you. Do you understand? "


    After a long silence, askarepov replied loudly, "I understand!"


    After returning the microphone to the signalman, I came back to Galitsky and said to him, "Colonel, there is already a company on general askarepov''s side that has successfully crossed the visva River and occupied two riverside buildings on the other side as their landing sites. You should also set up a landing site at wajinji palace as soon as possible, so that we can have more troops and successfully land on the West Bank. "


    Galitsky raised his telescope and looked in the direction of wazinki palace. Then he turned to me and said, "Comrade deputy commander, according to my observation, the situation seems to be a little bad. Not only is there a fierce exchange of fire by the river, but even farther away, there is a faint muzzle fire, which proves that the fighting is still fierce."


    Just then, a soldier with a submachine gun walked in from the outside and reported to Galitsky, "Comrade division commander, we have caught a suspect. He said that he is swimming from the other side. He has something important to report to the top commander here."


    "I''m kidding. The river is seven or eight hundred meters wide. How can he swim here easily. Needless to say, it must be German spies. " When Galitsky said this, he waved at the bottom of his department casually and ordered, "drag it out and shoot it."


    "Wait a minute." Seeing that the soldier turned to leave, I stopped him and said to Galitsky, "Comrade Colonel, I''d better call someone in and find out what''s going on."


    "Well, comrade deputy commander, since you say so," Galitsky said to the soldiers after a moment''s hesitation, "bring the men in!"


    After a while, the soldier escorted a middle-aged man who was wet all over. Because the light in the room was too dim, he didn''t see me on one side, only barely saw Galitsky standing in front of the window. He walked quickly up to Galitsky, raised his hand and said something in a language I didn''t understand.


    When I heard Galitsky talking to him in the same language, I realized that they were both speaking polish. Instead of interrupting, I quietly looked at his blue uniform and the red and white sleeves on his right arm.


    After listening to the other side''s story, Galitsky turned to me and said, "Comrade deputy commander, the situation has changed. The rebels originally deployed in the wazinki palace have all withdrawn in the afternoon."


    "What, the rebels have withdrawn?" I heard that the rebel army in charge of the reception had all evacuated before the fighting started. I was immediately startled and asked, "is this news reliable?"


    Instead of answering me immediately, Galitsky made a few more remarks to the messenger. The man then found me standing by and said to me in broken Russian, "Comrade General, I''m Lieutenant petro of the ryudov army. I''d like to tell you something unfortunate.


    In the afternoon, the troops of the krayov army had withdrawn from the coastal area to the city, as ordered by komorovsky and Montel. Soon after they left, these positions were occupied by the German army. As they did not inform us of the liudorf army when they withdrew, we were attacked by the German army and suffered heavy losses. "


    "Comrade deputy commander, we have made it clear." After petro finished speaking, Galitsky interrupted and said, "the Germans destroyed the small detachment of the liudorf army who was ready to meet us at the vazinki palace, and then pretended that they sent us a false signal in an attempt to destroy our army in the visva river."


    "Lieutenant petro," I asked curiously, looking at the second lieutenant of the ryudorf army who broke through the siege, "I want to ask, how did you get out of danger?"


    "I was fishing by the river when the Germans came into the wazinki palace dressed up as krayov soldiers." Lieutenant petro looked at me and said, "when I heard the scream and saw the German soldiers killing our comrades, I dived to escape. I went ashore a long way down the river and walked north along the river, hoping to meet the troops who attacked Warsaw. I didn''t expect that I really met my own troops, which were all composed of poles. "


    I''m still skeptical of his statement. Even if the German attacked secretly, it was in broad daylight after all. How could they kill the small unit of the ryudov army stationed in the wazinki palace without firing a single shot? So I asked Galitsky, "Comrade Colonel, when your troops arrived at the river, did they hear the gunfire on the other side?"


    "No, comrade deputy commander, no gunshot was heard." Galitsky shook his head and said, "maybe the fighting in the city was too fierce, or the river was too wide, so we didn''t hear any guns at all."


    From my conversation with Galitsky, petro recognized my suspicion of him and immediately raised his voice and said, "Comrade General, are you worried that I was sent by the Germans to cheat you?"


    I turned my head and looked at the second lieutenant who was a little out of control and said to him tactfully, "Comrade second lieutenant, I am responsible for the safety of my subordinates, so I have to understand some things clearly."


    "I understand, Comrade General." Lieutenant petro nodded hard and said, "if I meet someone of unknown origin, I will doubt everything he says. But I assure you that everything I just said is true. "


    "Comrade lieutenant, you have worked hard." Galitsky patted each other on the shoulder and comforted him, saying, "I think you must be tired and hungry now. You''d better go down to have a rest and eat first." With that, he asked the soldier standing beside him to take Lieutenant petro out. As soon as the two men left, I ordered the signalman: "signalman, send a message to the headquarters of the front army: the troops that met us on the West Bank of the visva River have been destroyed by the German army. At present, the troops crossing the river are fighting alone. Next, shall we continue to cross the river or withdraw to the east bank, please give us instructions! " While the messenger was sending the news, Galitsky asked me quietly, "Comrade deputy commander, what kind of reply do you think marshal rokosovsky will give us?"¡° Is that true? " I looked at him with a wry smile and said, "we must be ordered to set up a landing site on the other side at all costs, so that more troops can wait on the West Bank." My words puzzled Galitsky: "since you know Comrade Marshal will let us continue to cross the river, why send him this telegram?" I shrugged my shoulders and replied, "it''s very simple. I just want him to know that the rebel army that meets us on the other side no longer exists. If we want to continue fighting on the West Bank of the visva River, we have to rely on ourselves. " After receiving my telegram, rokosovsky didn''t care to divulge the secret. He directly used wireless communication with me: "Rita, what''s the matter? How do you know that the troops on the other side who are responsible for meeting you have been eliminated by the Germans?" Hearing his question, I quickly told him that the river crossing troops had been blocked by German fire at the scheduled landing point, as well as the news reported by Lieutenant petro. At last, I tentatively asked: "Comrade marshal, will our river crossing operation plan continue?"¡° Yes, the crossing continues. " Rokosovsky''s reply was exactly the same as what I had guessed. He finally said, "if there is anything I can do for you, please let me know."

 Chapter 1627

    Although in the history I know, no matter the third Polish division or the six battalions under the command of askarepov, they all successfully boarded the West Bank of the visva River and launched a fierce battle with the German army in Warsaw City, they were defeated in the end due to the lack of heavy weapons under the crazy counterattack of the German army.


    However, at this moment, when I heard rokosovsky''s statement, I suddenly had a bold idea in my heart. If I take some necessary preventive measures, can I make the river crossing troops gain a firm foothold in the West Bank? Thinking of this, I said to rokosovsky: "marshal, if you intend to let the troops continue to cross the river, I have several requirements. I hope you will allow me."


    "Say what you want." After listening to this, rokosovsky said generously, "as long as it is within my ability, I will support you."


    "First, please deploy two artillery regiments and an anti-aircraft artillery division on the East Bank of the visva river." Since rokosovsky had promised me to offer him conditions, I would not miss such a good opportunity and said boldly: "in addition, send me two pontoon battalions. I want to build a bridge for tanks and artillery on the viswa River as soon as possible."


    "A pontoon is built to allow tanks and artillery to pass through." After listening to me, rokosovsky asked, "what is the purpose of deploying artillery regiments and antiaircraft artillery divisions?"


    "The antiaircraft artillery division is to prevent German air attack on our landing site on the West Bank and prepare to repair the bridge." I quickly explained: "as for the artillery regiment, it is to provide the necessary artillery support for the infantry on the West Bank, so that they will not be able to withstand the attack of German armored forces."


    "You are very considerate, Rita." Rokosovsky confirmed my proposal, and then added: "artillery is not enough. Artillery observers need to go to the other side to direct the direction of our artillery. Well, I''ll send some artillery observers across the river overnight to find a suitable place to set up an artillery observation point. "


    "Marshal, the crossing area chosen by the Polish army is very difficult at present. The German army is not only shelling the visva River, but also deploying an unknown number of troops near the wazinki palace." Seeing that rokosovsky offered to send us artillery observers, I pushed the boat along the river and said, "please let them cross the river from this area first and destroy the German army in this area with artillery fire."


    Finally, rokosovsky said to me, "Rita, since you let general askarepov and Galitsky form a joint headquarters when you make the battle plan, you can leave the fighting in Warsaw to them. Your position is vulnerable to artillery fire from Fort modlin in the north. As the deputy commander of the front army, you don''t have to stay in such a dangerous place. Do you understand? "


    "But, comrade marshal." Rokosovsky''s words startled me, but if I went back so easily, it would have an impact on my image, so I deliberately shirked and said, "I would not be at ease if I didn''t see the troops crossing the visva river with my own eyes."


    "I don''t feel secure until I see you leave Warsaw city." After listening to me, rokosovsky immediately said sternly, "this is not only what I mean, but also what the Supreme Commander himself means."


    Seeing that rokosovsky carried Stalin out, I said, "well, marshal, since that''s the case, I''ll go back to the headquarters of the 47th army immediately after the second crossing of the river by the Polish army."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    As soon as the German artillery bombardment on the visva River stopped, the ships moored along the wazinki palace rowed back, bringing back a lot of wounded people and two bad news. One is that the German army occupied several palaces of wazinki palace, and took it as a support point to tenaciously resist the attack of the landing forces; Another piece of bad news is that Captain Osborne, the second battalion commander who led the troops across the river, was killed by the German army when landing, and his body was brought back by the boat.


    On hearing the bad news, Galitsky took off his cap and stood in silence facing the river. After a while, he put the general''s cap on his head again, and then said to me, "Comrade deputy commander, Captain aus has been following me in the guerrilla war in China for several years, and there are only a few guerrillas who have followed me through the long battle line and reached the border of the Soviet Union. I didn''t expect that he would die here."


    "Comrade Colonel, I beg your pardon!" I patted Galitsky on the back and comforted him: "he died in honor of liberating the capital of the motherland, and the people will always remember him."


    Galitsky nodded in agreement with what I said, and then said bitterly: "the running dogs of the London government in exile, if they had not secretly retreated and let the Germans occupy the positions along the river, how could captain OS have died. I''ll settle this account with them one day. "


    But my heart was thinking: maybe you and the krayov army have no chance to forget this muddle up, because before long, they will lay down their arms and surrender to the Germans. However, in order not to dampen his enthusiasm, I followed him and said, "yes, comrade Colonel, as long as we liberate Warsaw, this account will be settled with them one day."


    Just as the second group of the Polish army, under the command of major hubar, began to cross the river again, the German army discovered the landing site established by general askarepov on the West Bank. Under the cover of two tanks and the same number of armored vehicles, the German mobilized a company to attack two buildings near the river.


    Although our soldiers resisted bravely, they were outnumbered because of the lack of effective anti tank weapons. As a result, after the building was shelled and collapsed by German tanks, except for a few soldiers who retreated to other areas along the river, all the remaining officers and soldiers died bravely. After receiving the report from askarepov, I was stunned for a long time, and then asked, "Sir, can you still finish crossing the river at the same place?"¡° Comrade deputy commander, I think it may not work. " Askarebov said in embarrassment: "our crossing equipment is too few, and the German army occupies the favorable terrain of the river. If we want to carry out the forced crossing, we will pay huge casualties." The landing site of wazinki palace has not been successfully established, and a small landing site built by askarepov upstream has been destroyed by the German army. These two things make me feel particularly angry. After I was angry for a while, I told askarepov: "Comrade division commander, order the artillery to bombard the German troops on the other side, and then the troops will use the existing crossing equipment to cross the visva river. We must rebuild a new landing site on the West Bank of the river as soon as possible."¡° I understand Askarepov was my old subordinate. Even if I didn''t explain to him specifically, he knew which artillery I was referring to, so he immediately replied to me, "I will immediately let the artillery battalion bombard the German positions on the other side of the river to cover the troops crossing the river." The artillery battalion deployed in the zoo opened fire first, and the intensive fire covered all the German positions by the river. Seeing that the time was ripe, askarepov immediately ordered the troops to start a new round of crossing the river. In order to solve the problem of insufficient crossing equipment, he used all the things that could float on the water. Half an hour later, askarepov called me and excitedly reported, "Comrade deputy commander, a battalion has successfully crossed the visva River and established a solid defense on the West Bank. The follow-up troops are continuing to cross the river." Almost at the same time, the artillery battalion under the Galitsky division, under the guidance of artillery observers on the other side, shelled the palace and field fortifications occupied by the enemy. Seeing that the situation is developing in our favor again, I said to askarepov immediately, "Comrade division commander, when all the troops under your command arrive at the West Bank, you will also go to the other bank to establish a joint headquarters with colonel Galitsky to jointly command the fighting in Warsaw city."¡° Comrade deputy commander, I have another question. " When I finished, askarepov asked carefully, "can I ask you something?"¡° If you have anything to say, just say it. " Askarepov cautiously expressed his worry: "because the boats crossing the river are too small, we can''t carry heavy weapons across the river. Once attacked by German armored forces, I''m afraid our troops can''t stop us."¡° I was worried about that. " To find out what he was worried about, I quickly comforted him and said, "I have asked the headquarters of the front army to send Zhouqiao battalion to build a floating bridge on the viswa river. I believe that by noon at the latest, our tanks and artillery will continue to arrive at the West Bank to cooperate with you in launching a surprise attack on the enemy''s depth." What I said reassured askarepov, who said with satisfaction, "great, that''s great. As long as I can get the support of artillery and tanks, I don''t have to worry about any more Germans. " After the call with askarepov, I went to the window, pointed to the direction of vazinki palace in the distance, and said to Galitsky, "Comrade Colonel, after the river crossing troops have established a landing site in the direction of vazinki palace, you will go there in person and form a joint headquarters with general askarepov to jointly command the fight against the enemy on the West Bank." In order to prepare him psychologically, I specially stressed: "Comrade Colonel, let me remind you that the rebel forces in Warsaw are no longer reliable. You can only rely on yourself to fight on the West Bank."¡° Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander. " Galitsky replied solemnly, "even if we are alone, we will wipe out all the German troops in Warsaw."

 Chapter 1628

    In order to avoid making rokosovsky worry about my safety, I drove back after I finished the assignment. It was the first time I heard of such a SS army. I quickly covered the microphone and asked Gusev: "general, do you know what kind of army this is?"


    "It''s definitely not the skull division," gushev replied without hesitation. "Neither the Viking division nor the goring division are of this kind. It seems that they should be a new SS."


    Seeing that I couldn''t find out the answer I wanted to know from Gusev, I could only release my hand covering the microphone and said to askarepov, "Comrade division commander, taking advantage of the favorable situation for our army, you should try your best to expand the occupied area and consolidate it. Our follow-up troops will soon cross the river to support you."


    After putting down the phone, I always felt that it was too strange for a Ss to be defeated so easily by our army, so I dialed the headquarters of the front army. The one who answered the phone was malining. After listening to me, he said, "Rita, I know this unit. This is a special SS unit set up by Hitler with the released poachers at the suggestion of Himmler in early 1940. It is specially used to deal with guerrillas or gangsters. The members of this unit are very good at shooting."


    "However, comrade chief of staff," I asked puzzledly after listening to malining''s introduction, "according to general askarepov''s report, the combat effectiveness of this unit is very poor. After only fighting with us for more than ten minutes, it was a complete defeat."


    "Don''t worry, Rita. Listen to me slowly." Malining continued to explain to me without delay: "in order to better organize this unit, Himmler has deployed a group of regular SS officers to enrich this unit. SS captain Oscar dillwanger is the brigade commander, named dillwanger brigade, which belongs to the skeleton division."


    When I heard the name of skeleton master, my heart beat faster. But when I heard malining''s explanation, I didn''t interrupt. Instead, I listened to what he was going to say.


    "According to our intelligence, this unit was transferred to Poland at the end of 1940 to take care of a concentration camp here. Later, they were mobilized many times to either serve as guards or to encircle and suppress the guerrillas. But no matter where the force is transferred, there will be details and looting of civilians.


    In the fight against the guerrillas, they also showed a very fierce side. As long as they suspect that they are helping the guerrillas, the villagers will be executed, all the food will be burned and the villages will be razed. If they encounter the minefields laid out by the guerrillas during the campaign, they will let the innocent women and children walk in front of the troops and make a passage for them in the minefields. "


    From marinin''s story, I know that this dielwanger brigade is a team of beasts that do no evil. So as soon as marinin finished, I nodded and said, "chief of staff, I see. I will give an order to general askarepov later that all officers and men who capture the dielwanger brigade will be shot on the spot, and we will never accept their surrender. "


    After I finished my conversation with malining, I put down the phone and repeated what malining said to Gusev. Then I said, "Comrade General, please give an order to the army. All officers and soldiers who capture dielwanger brigade will be shot on the spot. We will never accept their surrender to this kind of two legged beast."


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander." Gusev nodded his head and said with certainty, "I will convey your order immediately."


    I asked the signalman to connect me to the temporary headquarters of askarepov. When I heard the other party''s voice, I immediately asked in a loud voice, "Hello, comrade division commander, where are you now?"


    "Report, comrade deputy commander," askarepov reported excitedly, "we have arrived at Madame Curie''s old house and surrounded about 100 SS here."


    I asked cautiously, "Comrade division commander, is the SS army you mentioned the one you just mentioned?"


    "Yes," askarepov replied truthfully, though he did not know why I asked, "the fighting capacity of this SS is really poor. Although there are more than 100 of them, I only need one battalion at most to solve them all."


    According to past practice, our army needs at least one regiment to be sure of destroying a company of the SS. Now askarebov actually says that with one battalion, the besieged SS company can be easily destroyed, which shows how poor their combat effectiveness is.


    I was deeply afraid that in order to reduce the casualties of the troops, askarepov would accept the surrender of the officers and men of dielwanger brigade. I quickly gave him a detailed account of what I had learned, and finally told him, "Comrade division commander, I remind you that as long as you are the officers and men of this army, we will not accept their surrender. Do you understand?"


    "I see, comrade deputy commander." After listening to me, askarebov gritted his teeth and said, "you can rest assured that I will never let go of a two legged beast from dielwanger brigade. I will definitely wipe them out completely."


    According to the plan, the Zhouqiao camp dispatched by rokosovsky should complete the erection of the bridge on the viswa River in the morning. However, due to the continuous German shelling, the bridge just closed, and before the tanks and cannons stopped nearby passed, they were broken by the German artillery.


    When he heard that the bridge had been destroyed by German artillery fire, Gusev was immediately flustered. He looked at me and said anxiously, "Comrade deputy commander, what should we do? If the tanks and cannons can''t cross the river, the light troops on the West Bank won''t be able to last long under the strong German offensive. "¡° Although our heavy weapons will not be able to cross the river for the time being, the situation is not likely to develop in a direction unfavorable to our army. " I comforted Gusev and said, "you should immediately organize more river crossing equipment and continue to ferry new troops to the other side. Remember to bring more mortars and 40 rockets. As long as our troops have these weapons, it will not be so easy for the enemy to drive them into the visva river."¡° Yes, yes, "Gusev said, nodding his head and saying," I''ll organize the materials you said immediately and send them to the other side as soon as possible. " While Gusev was organizing supplies, I quickly called Galitsky and told him: "Comrade Colonel, you should stop attacking for the time being. When the 40 rocket launchers you are equipped with arrive, you can attack the German army in the front."

 Chapter 1629

    The German army discovered our intention to cross the river, and the shelling on the visva river became more intensive. Not only are the cannons in Huasha City shelling, but even Fort modlin in the north is shelling. Artillery involved in shelling, from Fort artillery to ordinary mortars.


    For a moment, the wide visva river became an insurmountable moat, and countless ships sank or were blown apart in the German artillery bombardment. Hundreds of officers and soldiers and many valuable weapons and equipment sank to the bottom of the cold visva river.


    Gusev, who had received the report, turned red. He pointed to his chief of staff and said, "chief of staff, organize new river crossing equipment immediately. In any case, we should ferry more troops to the other side today."


    "Comrade General," I raised my hand to stop Gusev''s impulsive behavior, and said to him, "order the troops to stop crossing the river, and do not let the soldiers sacrifice in vain."


    "But, comrade deputy commander, there are too few troops on the other side and there is a lack of heavy weapons," Gusev said reluctantly. "If we don''t reinforce them as soon as possible, I''m afraid they will soon be driven down the river by the Germans."


    "It''s not that we don''t help each other, it''s that the present situation is not suitable." In order to prevent Gusev from making unnecessary sacrifices to his troops on impulse, I patiently said to him: "the enemy''s artillery fire is too intensive, and the visva river has been blocked. To cross the river in this case, our troops are bound to pay huge casualties. It''s better to wait until the enemy''s artillery becomes sparse, and then try to force it. "


    After persuading Gusev, I stared at the two red arrows on the map. These are the positions of the two troops of askarepov and Galitsky. The former went out to Madame Curie''s former residence, while the latter still stuck to wajinji palace. The distance between the two is seven or eight kilometers, so it is difficult to echo each other.


    I pointed to the map and said to Gusev, "Comrade General, look at the two landing sites established by our army on the West Bank. They are not only small in area, but also too far apart to echo each other."


    Gusev looked at the map for a moment, nodded his head and said, "yes, they are too far apart. When either side is attacked by the German army, the other side can''t provide support in time." He looked at me and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, is there any way to connect these two landing sites?"


    "There''s another way," I said to Gusev, pointing to the place where the third division of Poland assembled last night, "to send another unit, starting from Alliance square, heading west, across the visva River, to land here at the University of Warsaw and build a landing site. To the north, they could join the forces of general askarepov; To the south, we can echo with Galitsky of wazinki palace. "


    Originally, I thought that my idea, if not perfect, was highly feasible. However, as soon as it was said, it was opposed by the chief of staff. The other side said to me seriously, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t think it''s a wise move to let our army land near Warsaw University."


    "Why?" I stared at the chief of staff with a confused face and asked in surprise.


    The chief of staff said to me with a bitter smile, "Comrade deputy commander, you don''t know something. Since the German occupation of Warsaw, Warsaw University has become a military camp. Although I don''t know how many troops are stationed in it, we are bound to pay a huge sacrifice if we want to land here. "


    When the chief of staff finished speaking, I asked modestly, "chief of staff, where do you think is suitable for our troops to land?"


    "Comrade deputy commander, please look here." The chief of staff''s finger on the map, a little bit up: "if we want to build a new landing site, I suggest near the palace. And there used to be a bridge across the visva River, which was blown up in two by the Germans. I went to the scene and saw that the bridge deck was obliquely built on the surface of the water. The distance between the two sides was less than 100 meters. Even if there were no boats, our soldiers could get on the bridge from the east bank, go down the slope to the water, swim to the opposite side, and then go ashore from the opposite slope. "


    The chief of staff''s opinion sounds very good, which makes me a little excited. I turned to Gusev and asked, "Comrade General, what do you think?"


    "I think the chief of staff''s opinion is good. We can try to cross the river from the broken bridge." Gusev looked at the map and said, "after all, this is the shortest way to cross the river, and the Germans may not notice this position. I suggest that after dark, we send an army to try."


    Seeing that both of them are inclined to this way of crossing the river, I helped them to improve the details: "we can pull the rope on the slopes on both sides, so that the soldiers on the ship can pull the rope across the river even without oars."


    But the plan has never kept up with the changes. We have just worked out a plan to cross the river through broken bridges. We immediately received a report from Warsaw city. The observation post deployed on the East Bank of the visva River found that the German army had signs of mobilization in the visva street along the river, and also built new fortifications opposite the four broken bridges.


    Hearing the report, I could not help sighing and said to them, "it seems that the Germans are still one step faster than us. This crossing plan can only be abandoned."


    Gusev also said helplessly: "well, we''d better wait for the German artillery to stop, and then take the risk to carry out the forced crossing to transport the weapons, ammunition and soldiers needed by the other side."


    In the afternoon, the German army finally stopped shelling the visva river. Just as our troops were gathering by the river to cross the visva River, they were suddenly bombarded. Later, after understanding, it became clear that the German had deployed an artillery observation post on the other side of the river. As soon as they found any sign of our army crossing the river, they immediately called for artillery fire to bombard the positions where our army assembled and moored ships. As a result, our army suffered heavy casualties and lost all the equipment for crossing the river. After receiving this unfortunate news, I asked Gusev with a bitter smile, "Comrade General, can you still find the crossing equipment?"¡° No, "Gusev replied, shaking his head." it''s all lost in the enemy''s fire. Even if we collect them from the rear temporarily, we will have to wait at least three to five days before we can transport the new equipment to Warsaw. Moreover, up to now, the two railway stations on the east bank are still in the hands of the Germans. If we can''t occupy this place, the river crossing equipment can only be unloaded far away from the river, and then transported to the river by special personnel. "¡° Without the river crossing equipment, the weapons, ammunition and materials urgently needed by the West Bank troops could not be transported, and the wounded could not be transported down. " "I''m afraid they won''t be able to support it for long," the chief of staff said anxiously¡° Chief of staff, don''t worry. If general askarepov''s troops can''t support them, they can retreat northward along the visva river. There is a dense forest, and they should be able to get rid of the German pursuit. " Although Gusev was full of confidence in askarepov''s troops, he did not have enough confidence in the Polish army under the command of Colonel Galitsky: "but when the soldiers of the third Polish division face the German attack, I am afraid they will not be able to withstand it."¡° Comrade general, I think the soldiers of the third division of Poland did a good job in crossing the river, at least not as easily as they did last time. " I think that the commanders in Galitsky division are almost all Soviet commanders. Even if the combat effectiveness can not be greatly improved in a short time, it will not be vulnerable at least¡° I believe they will be able to stop the enemy rushing to the visva river. "¡° They have become a lone army. " After confirming that we were unable to reinforce the other side for a short time, Gusev said somewhat dejectedly, "I hope they can block the enemy''s attack." In order to let the two commanders on the other side know their situation, I called askarepov again and told him frankly: "Comrade division commander, due to the heavy shelling by the German army, all our river crossing equipment has been lost. So in the short term, you are a lonely army that can''t get any assistance. You can only rely on yourself." After hearing what I said, askarepov was silent for a long time before he said, "Comrade deputy commander, you can rest assured that my troops will firmly hold on to the existing position and never step back before receiving the withdrawal order."¡° Comrade division commander, the enemy has more troops than you, and they have an advantage in equipment. You can''t compete with them. " I was deeply afraid that askarepov would be so hot headed that he would "live or die together with the position". I immediately reminded him, "as a division commander, when commanding troops, you should never fight with the enemy who is superior. You should use your brains more and use reasonable tactics to deal with the enemy." My words may have reminded askarepov. When I finished speaking, he immediately said, "I understand, comrade deputy commander, I will stick to the existing landing site with my main force, and at the same time send combat teams to harass the enemy''s rear, so that they can''t attack us with all their strength." Seeing that askarepov has understood my intention, I am confident that they will stick to their present position. At the end of the call, I called Galitsky again to find out what was going on there. It was obviously the first time that Galitsky encountered this situation. He was a little flustered. After hearing my voice, he immediately asked nervously, "Comrade deputy commander, is there no reinforcements in a short time?"¡° Yes, comrade colonel I didn''t intend to hide anything from him, so I told him truthfully: "as all the river crossing equipment was damaged, I can''t provide any assistance to you in a short time. It''s all up to you. You should send people as soon as possible to find the fighting rebel forces in the city and get their cooperation in order to reverse the current unfavorable situation. Do you understand? "

 Chapter 1630

    It wasn''t long before rokosovsky knew that the traffic between us and the other side was interrupted. He also called to ask, "Rita, I heard that your river crossing equipment was destroyed by German artillery fire. Is that true?"


    "Yes, marshal," I didn''t hide the real situation from rokosovsky, because even if I didn''t report it, he also had special intelligence channels to understand what happened on the battlefield, so I honestly replied, "our existing river crossing equipment has been lost, resulting in the temporary interruption of our traffic with the West Bank troops. Only when the new crossing equipment arrives can we try to land on the other side again. "


    "How do you arrange the two troops left in the West Bank?" Rokosovsky did not express any views, but continued to ask.


    "I told them to stop attacking and consolidate their positions." After I said this, I was deeply afraid that rokosovsky would urge them to launch an attack. I quickly explained, "because our troops are not familiar with the terrain and can not get the support of the rebel army, it is very unwise to continue the deep attack on Warsaw. So I ordered them to stop the attack temporarily until the follow-up troops and equipment arrive, Attack the enemy again. "


    "I think it''s right to stop the attack on Warsaw before finding out the terrain." Rokosovsky said slowly, "you want them to send people all night to scout the terrain, so as to reorganize a new attack and help the Warsaw rebels who have been in a bitter battle. According to reliable information, the leader of the rebel army, the head of the krayov army, is already in contact with the Germans about surrender. "


    "What, the chief of the krayov army is ready to surrender?" The news of rokosovsky startled me. If the rebels really surrender, then the Germans can concentrate their forces to launch a general attack on the forces of askarepov and Galitsky. Let alone our army has only a few thousand people in the West Bank, even tens of thousands of people, who can not support for a few days without heavy weapons and replenishment.


    I took two deep breaths, trying to digest the bad news that rokosovsky told me. When I calmed down a little, I asked, "what should we do to get the troops back?"


    "Withdraw, how to withdraw?" Rokosovsky said angrily, "Rita, don''t forget that all our river crossing equipment was destroyed by German artillery fire. Hundreds of meters wide visva River, you can''t let thousands of soldiers throw away their weapons and swim back, besides, there are so many wounded


    Rokosovsky''s words made me realize the seriousness of the problem. If our troops in the West Bank were betrayed by the krayov army, we would wait for their fate, either to be killed or to be captured by the German army. Either way, it''s something I don''t want to see. Thinking of this, I tentatively asked: "marshal, do you think you can order the eighth group army of the guards at the landing site of magnusev to tentatively launch an attack from the south of Warsaw to attract the attention of the German army?"


    "It''s no use, Rita." Rokosovsky said to me with a wry smile: "the German may have used an armored division and an infantry division to launch a fierce attack on the defense area of the eighth group army of the close guard day and night for fear that our army would invest more troops in the landing field of magnusev."


    Without any crossing equipment, the troops in Warsaw were restrained by the German forces, and the two troops trapped in wazinki palace and Madame Curie''s former residence were in an embarrassing situation. Their strength was not enough to break through the German lines; Retreat, the broad river blocked their retreat. In order to survive, they had to fight back.


    I put down the phone and thought about it for a long time. I feel that I still need to personally teach askarepov some experience in guerrilla warfare and street warfare, so that they can support for a longer time in the West Bank.


    When I heard askarebov''s voice, I immediately couldn''t wait to ask, "what''s the situation there, sir?"


    "Not so good, comrade deputy commander." Askarepov complained to me: "the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, launched an attack on the landing site established by our army. Although our officers and men fought back the enemy''s attack tenaciously, they also paid a great price. "


    "Comrade division, I have thought about it carefully. In order to better stick to the landing field you have established, it is necessary to adjust the existing tactics."


    "Adjust tactics?" Askarepov asked in a puzzled way, "how can I adjust it?"


    "Listen to me," I taught him the tactics that I had already made a draft of. "You immediately select the soldiers with good shooting skills from the troops and form a sniper team. Let them take two as a group and four as a team to carry out cold sniping in turn. At the same time, the battalions actively launched small-scale and high-intensity harassment wars, such as sneak attacks and sentry raids. In a word, we should use all the methods we can think of and use to harass, exhaust and attack the enemy''s effective forces so that they can''t attack you as planned and achieve the goal of turning small victories into big victories. "


    After listening to my deployment, askarepov was silent for a long time, and finally said, "I understand, deputy commander, I will implement active defense according to your deployment, and I will never let the Germans drive us into the visva river."


    Of the two troops in the West Bank, Galitsky has more troops than askarepov, but it is he who worries me the most. When I called him, I was like a primary school teacher telling the students: "Comrade Colonel, in order to ensure that your landing site will not be occupied by the Germans, I suggest you pay more attention to some details, such as the construction of the blast hole, the concealment and camouflage of the temporary ammunition storage point in the front position... In the face of the enemy who may attack at any time, You should make more preparations, think more carefully, and be more flexible in the use of tactics... When you issue combat orders, you must be careful, because every order you issue involves hundreds of lives. Every order you give will be the key to whether you can hold the landing site or not... "I said a lot, and I don''t know if Galitsky heard it. In order to arouse his high vigilance, I also mentioned what rokosovsky said: "Comrade Colonel, I also want to tell you a bad news. The leaders of the krayov army are now in contact with the Germans. They may surrender to the Germans in the near future. You should take contingency measures."¡° Contingency measures, what contingency measures? " Galitsky asked me nervously, "Comrade deputy commander, what shall we do next?"¡° Hold fast to the landing site of wajinji palace and wait for the arrival of reinforcements. " After giving him a decisive order, I went on to say, "Comrade Colonel, even if the leader of the krayov army is ready to surrender to the Germans, not all the rebels are willing to lay down their arms in front of the Communist aggressors. So recently you have to send people to quietly cross the German line of defense, go to Warsaw city to find the rebels who are still fighting, and take them to your positions, so as to strengthen your strength. You can add these rebel fighters to the damaged main force, so that they can integrate with each other as soon as possible in a new way, so that the troops can form combat effectiveness as soon as possible. "..." After I had taught askarebov and Galitsky the experience of combat, it began to show effect the next day. In the daytime, as long as the opposite German dares to show his head from the fortification, he will be in danger of being hit by several bullets at any time. If it was just a cold shot, askarebov ordered mortars to aim at the German assembly area from time to time, which would blow up the crowded Germans and cause heavy losses. After getting through the day, the German soldiers prepared to sneak attack on our defensive positions in the dark. As a result, as soon as the team was assembled, the small detachment of our army came over and used machine guns and submachine guns to point at the dense position of the enemy, shot a shuttle, swept down a piece, and immediately disappeared without a trace. Our army''s incessant harassment of the Germans made them exhausted. The yawning German soldiers, when charging against our troops, were much more slow than usual. After being intercepted by our army''s firepower, they suddenly scattered and fled to the back. What the Germans never dreamed of was that their experience on the first day was relatively good compared with the days after that. At best, our army officers and men made sneak attacks and fired cold shots at them. But from the next day on, ascalepov, who had tasted the sweetness, let the commanders and fighters pool their wisdom and bring forth new ideas in various means of dealing with the enemy. Especially in the night, sneak attacks and sentry are common. Askarebov even ordered the soldiers to change into German uniforms and sneak into the camp to kill people and set fire everywhere, causing chaos. He even poisoned the enemy''s drinking water and food, resulting in poisoning of the whole class and platoon of German troops. Compared with the situation in which askarepov''s side made the Germans miserable, Galitsky was a little too conventional. He made no achievements except that he sent people to quietly cross the German defense line and found dozens of liudorf soldiers who were still fighting with the Germans near Warsaw Institute of technology. Basically, it belongs to the German attack, so he defends; If the German didn''t attack, he would hide in the trenches and secretly congratulate himself. I didn''t know how to carry out active defense at all, and missed many good opportunities in vain.

 Chapter 1631

    The landing site of wazinki palace as we call it should be the Royal bathing beach of Poland. It used to be the summer palace of the king of Poland. To the northeast of wazinki palace, there is an arc-shaped two-story White Palace, which is the famous mesilevicky palace. Perhaps Galitsky was worried that once troops were stationed here, the beautiful palace would be destroyed by war, so he only built a simple fortification in the West and north of the palace.


    Seeing that the Polish Army''s defense was so lax here, the German army immediately assembled a battalion of troops and launched a fierce attack on the mechelevicky palace under the cover of more than a dozen tanks.


    The eighth regiment of major khubar held fast in this area. After several days of fighting, in the face of the German attack, the soldiers had shown great composure. They did not open fire randomly every few hundred meters. Instead, they waited for the German tanks and infantry to enter the range before they opened fire with light and heavy weapons to eliminate the infantry following the tanks.


    Two German tanks rushed through the first trench of the Polish army alone. When they were attacking the second line of defense, they were destroyed by the soldiers hiding in the trench with cluster grenades and anti tank grenades. The rest of them turned around and fled back.


    As soon as the German troops returned to their starting positions, they immediately bombarded the Polish positions with intensive artillery fire. Although it was a hasty defensive position, but fortunately Galitsky obeyed my orders and built a large number of gun holes in the position. At the beginning of the enemy''s shelling, except for two or three soldiers who stayed to watch the enemy, the rest hid in the gun holes.


    After more than half an hour''s bombardment, the enemy again launched a new charge against the position of the eighth regiment. But in the end, he did not wait to break through the regiment''s position. After dropping several burning tanks and hundreds of corpses, he withdrew to his starting position.


    The defensive battle in the direction of wajinji palace was very hard, but the situation here where Madame Curie lived was very favorable to our army. Taking advantage of the high buildings around, askarepov arranged a combat team composed of anti tank men, snipers and Gunners in each building according to my instructions. When the enemy appears in the field of vision, the machine gunners will take the lead to open fire, finish a shuttle, no matter what kind of results they get, they will decisively move to other places; The anti tank hand, when the German tanks arrived at the bottom of his building, stood aloof and attacked the top of his weak armor with bazookas or anti tank guns; Snipers are officers, plane shooters or other dangerous people who are dedicated to destroying the enemy.


    As a result, in the face of repeated German attacks, the landing field occupied by askarepov was not compressed, but also expanded a lot, causing huge casualties to the German army.


    After learning about the different performances of the two armies on the West Bank, rokosovsky specially called me to the headquarters and asked me, "Rita, major general askarepov''s troops are doing well in the old city of Warsaw on the West Bank of the visva river. But I have a question. Why didn''t you ask the Polish army to do the same? "


    As for rokosovsky''s question, I replied with a bitter smile: "marshal, it''s not that I don''t want to promote this kind of street fighting tactics in the Polish army, but because they are located in a place where there are no dense buildings around. Even if I want to promote this kind of tactics to them, there are no necessary preconditions."


    "So," said rokosovsky, who was also a wise man. After listening to my explanation, he immediately understood and said, "the Polish army, who occupied the wazinki palace, could only take cruel positional warfare in the face of the German attack. I say that, right? "


    "Yes, because the Polish army did not act decisively enough after crossing the river, they did not occupy the favorable terrain in time for defense." "How long they can hold out at the landing site of wajinji palace now depends entirely on their will to fight," I said with a grudge


    "As far as I know, the Polish army has suffered heavy casualties in these days of fighting." "If they don''t get any more support, I''m afraid they''ll either be wiped out by the Germans, or they''ll be driven into the visva River," marinin interjected


    "But the river crossing equipment we urgently need has not been delivered yet." I said helplessly: "I have called the logistics department several times, but they have no transportation capacity to transport these equipment at present."


    "Since our troops on the east coast can''t get by, we can consider allowing general askarepov''s troops to support the Polish army," malining suggested to me. "Even if only one battalion is sent, it can strengthen the defense force in the direction of wazinki palace."


    "No, it can''t be." Without hesitation, I denied malining''s proposal and made clear my attitude: "not to mention that division commander askarepov''s military strength is limited and he can''t be reinforced. Even if reinforcements can be provided, a battalion can break through several German defense lines and walk seven or eight kilometers to reach wazinki palace. It is unknown how many people will be left at that time. "


    Malining was silent when he heard me say this, while rokosovsky frowned after thinking for a moment and asked me, "Rita, are you really going to watch Galitsky''s army fall?"


    "I don''t know when we will be able to provide assistance to the troops on the other side again." I waited for rokosovsky to finish, and said carefully: "if we have to choose one of the two bad results, we should choose the one with less harm. Instead of letting the two troops on the other side be destroyed, we should choose to let general askarepov''s troops survive, so that when we launch another attack on the West Bank, we can at least have a usable landing site. "


    "Maybe you''re right, Rita." After a long silence, rokosovsky finally agreed with me. He then said, "I''ll call general belinger, commander of the first Polish army group, to inform him of the specific situation in the West Bank later."


    At this time, I suddenly thought of a thing, quickly put forward to rokosovsky: "by the way, comrade marshal, there is another thing. As far as I know, in the old city of Warsaw, there are crisscross underpasses. The rebels with poor equipment and combat effectiveness use this underpass to attack the Germans everywhere. If a few comrades who are familiar with the underground passage in Warsaw can serve as guides for general askarepov''s troops, I believe they will certainly achieve greater success. "


    "General belinger, they may still be in contact with the rebels in the city, and I''m sure he will agree to send guides to the troops in askarepov." After rokosovsky finished, he directed at the communication director on one side and said, "get me through to the headquarters of the first Polish Army immediately."


    Taking advantage of the communication director''s efforts to connect the line, rokosowski said to me in a low voice: "some western media have published some reports that are unfriendly to our country, saying that our army has reached the East Bank of the visva River as early as July 29, but they have not provided any help to the rebel army in Warsaw city."


    To tell you the truth, in later generations, I also think that the Soviet Union did something wrong with the Warsaw Uprising. It not only stayed by the river visva and refused to help, but also refused to provide the allies with airdrop airports, so that the Polish people could resist the uprising of the Communist aggressors and were defeated in isolation. But now, as a participant in historical events, my view has changed 180 degrees. Although the Warsaw Uprising was organized by the pro Western Polish government in exile, the Soviet army still provided all the help it could provide, not only sending troops across the river to support, but also risking being shot down by German air defense artillery, the Soviet air force airdropped materials again and again for the uprising troops and residents who had fought bloody battles in the city, Because of the estrangement of the cold war, they were deliberately concealed by western countries.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    On the 23rd, in the face of the increasingly fierce German attack, the Polish army at wazinki palace could not support it. When Galitsky reported to me that there were less than a thousand men left in the division, I immediately ordered him without thinking: "Comrade Colonel, I ordered you to give up your present position immediately and withdraw to the East Bank of the visva river."


    After hearing my order, Galitsky hesitated and said, "but Comrade deputy commander, we have sacrificed so many commanders and fighters. If we retreat at such a time, I am afraid that the thinking of the soldiers will not turn this corner."


    "It''s you who can''t change your mind." After penetrating Galitsky''s careful thinking, I slowed down and said, "Comrade Colonel, if you had not been betrayed by the krayov army, you might have joined the rebel army fighting in the old city. You have completed your mission. Now take the team down and rest. When the time is right, you can settle the accounts with the Germans. "


    The river crossing equipment transported from the rear finally reached the visva River, but now it can only be used to make the Polish army retreat. In order to make the main force of the division safely withdraw to Hedong, major hubar, who was seriously injured, left behind with more than 100 wounded people to take up the cover task.


    Just as the main force of Galitsky''s division got on the boats berthed by the river and sailed to the east bank, the German army sent out a battalion again. Under the cover of more than a dozen tanks, they stormed towards the landing site of wazinki palace.


    Facing the coming German troops, major hubar fought with the wounded tenaciously, leaving dozens of dead bodies and a burning tank in front of the German position. However, due to the outnumbered, the German infantry soon flooded into the trench and started a hand-to-hand battle with the wounded.


    Although hubar and the wounded with their own sacrifice, only for the division''s main force to win ten minutes of time. But it was this precious ten minutes that allowed Galitsky''s troops enough time to reach the east coast and join the troops stationed here.


    After occupying the wazinki palace, the German army turned around to deal with askarepov, who held fast to Madame Curie''s former residence. In the battle a few days ago, the Germans were beaten to ashes by the mysterious fighting group. This time, they finally learned to be smart. They used stupid looking but very effective tactics to deal with the fighting group that made them headache.


    They specially deployed heavy artillery and flamethrowers. As soon as they found that there was a combat team of our army in the building, they immediately collapsed the building with heavy artillery, and then sent the flamethrowers to destroy or drive away the survivors in the ruins with flamethrowers. In the face of such vicious tactics of the German army, our combat team could only retreat to the main position of the landing site step by step.


    When I learned the bad news at the headquarters of Gusev, I said to Gusev, "Comrade General, immediately inform askarebov to give up the landing site and withdraw the troops to the east coast."


    After several days of fighting, Gusev deeply understood that without the support of the Warsaw Uprising army, our troops on the west bank would only be an isolated army and could not achieve any ideal results at all. Therefore, he did not put forward any counter opinions to my order to withdraw the troops, but only said anxiously: "Comrade deputy commander, it''s broad daylight, If we let the troops retreat, will they be hit by long-range German artillery fire? "


    "Don''t worry," I said confidently, hearing his worry. "The Germans sent troops to attack the landing site by mistake, so they have stopped shelling the visva river. When Colonel galicky led his troops across the river, they were not bombarded by the enemy? I believe the situation will be similar when askarepov leads the Ministry to withdraw. "¡° All right, comrade deputy commander. " Hearing what I said, Gusev nodded, "since you say so, I''ll contact division commander askarepov immediately and ask him to lead the troops back to the east coast as soon as possible." After hearing the dialogue between Gusev and me, the chief of staff of the group army said reluctantly, "Comrade deputy commander, are we giving up our position on the West Bank like this? You know, we have thousands of officers and men who have died on this land. "¡° All right, chief of staff. " Without waiting for him to finish, I interrupted his words: "this is not the time for sentimentality. If we do not withdraw our troops to the east coast as soon as possible, they will be in danger of being destroyed by the German army." As soon as I finished, rokosovsky''s phone call came: "Rita, I just heard that Colonel Galitsky had led his troops back to the east coast, and the landing site of wazinki palace was occupied by the Germans?"¡° Yes, comrade marshal. " I answered truthfully, "with the support of the Warsaw Uprising and the people, our troops will not be able to achieve anything if they stick to the West Bank. In order to avoid unnecessary sacrifice, I ordered them to give up their existing positions and withdraw to the east bank for rest. " I thought rokosovsky would criticize me for my good ideas, but he said lightly, "I know. When both units are safely back on the east coast, you will immediately arrive at the headquarters of the front army. "

 Chapter 1632

    After askarepov''s troops successfully boarded the east coast and counted the casualties, they drove to the front army headquarters in Lublin.


    Entering the headquarters, I shook hands with rokosovsky, malining and military commissar general jerekin one by one, and then reported to you the casualties of the two troops crossing the river: "the third Polish division in Galitsky suffered 3764 casualties in the battle on the West Bank. The current number of the division is less than 800, which needs to be supplemented immediately, Otherwise, the troops will not be able to take part in new battles in a short time.


    The six battalions under the command of general askarepov lost one third of their lives, but destroyed 2000 German special brigades in dielwanger, as well as 40 tanks and armored vehicles.... "


    After listening to my report, rokosovsky waved his hand to me and then said, "come on, Rita, our fighting in the old Warsaw area on the West Bank of the visva river has stopped completely. Next, the focus of our attack is in the direction of modlin in the north. "


    Standing in front of the map on the wall, marinin faced me and said, "after this period of fighting, the German army still sticks to a triangle area on the East Bank of the visva and narev rivers. The focus of our attack in the next stage is to seize this area from the enemy. "


    When I heard what malining said, I thought with disapproval: the German army only has a triangle on the east coast, and it is not a trivial matter to solve them. But after hearing what malining said, my expression became serious. The reason why rokosovsky said solemnly that this was the focus of our attack in the next stage was that not only the terrain was complex, but also our attack routes were within the range of German fortress fire. Not only do we charge with infantry, but we also use the torrent of steel. Under the strong German artillery attack, we will pay a huge price.


    After malining finished all the contents, I tentatively asked rokosovsky, "Comrade marshal, how can we seize this triangle controlled by the German army?"


    "I intend to use the 47th army of Gusev and the 70th army of Popov to attack the German triangle." Looking at the map, rokosovsky said, "but before the official attack, we need to make the necessary tests to find out what the German defense forces are in this area."


    "This triangle is much higher than the terrain where our troops are, so we can only use feint when attacking here." "All the offensive routes are under the cover of cross fire from the enemy on the West Bank, and Fort modlin at the top of the triangle can also directly bombard our offensive forces with Fort guns," marinin added


    "Comrade marshal," I asked rokosovsky cautiously, "I don''t know when we will launch an attack on the enemy in this area?"


    "Two days ago, we had the 70th army tentatively launch an attack. The army suffered huge losses under the enemy''s artillery fire, but the results were very limited." "At present, the artillery is still hoarding ammunition. It may take another two to three days before we can launch a new attack on this area," rokosowski said with a blank face


    According to rokosovsky''s idea, the best way to attack the triangle is in early October. As a result, less than a day later, Stalin called from Moscow. Stalin asked him with some displeasure: "Comrade rokosovsky, what''s the matter with you? Why didn''t your troops stop by the visva river? When are you going to clear the German triangle between the visva and narev rivers


    "Comrade Stalin," rokosovsky replied respectfully, "as the troops have just gone through the war, they have lost a lot of soldiers, weapons and ammunition. It will take some time to replenish them. Therefore, I plan to wait until early October to launch an attack on the area."


    "No, it''s too late." Stalin said mercilessly: "today is September 24. Your troops should launch an attack on the triangle at the latest tomorrow. Never let the Germans leave a position on the east coast that is enough to threaten our army''s safety."


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." Although rokosovsky had a lot of opinions on Stalin''s hegemonic arrangement, he replied with a stiff head: "I will immediately convey orders to the troops below to make them ready for battle as soon as possible."


    As soon as rokosovsky finished his call with Stalin, he immediately called Gusev and Popov to inform them that they would launch an attack on the triangle on the east coast tomorrow.


    After hearing the order, both of them were shocked. Popov, in particular, had suffered a great loss here a few days ago, so he carefully reminded rokosovsky: "Comrade marshal, if we don''t get rid of the German artillery, we are bound to pay huge casualties in our attack on this area."


    On hearing Popov''s warning, rokosovsky held the receiver and thought for a moment, then said, "general Popov, I see what you mean. Well, for the sake of safety, before the official attack tomorrow, we will carry out artillery reconnaissance on the German defensive positions, and I will also go to the front line to observe. If I feel that the conditions for an attack are ripe, I will fire a red signal bomb. When you see the signal bomb, you will command the troops to launch an attack... "


    "What if the conditions for attack are not ripe?" Before rokosovsky finished, Popov asked first.


    "If the conditions are not ripe," rokosowski said resolutely, "I will launch a green signal bomb and announce the cancellation of the attack plan. Do you understand? "


    Gusev and Popov, who were talking to rokosovsky at the same time, immediately replied loudly, "I see!"


    Rokosovsky called over general kazakov, the artillery commander, and said to him, "Comrade kazakov, at dawn tomorrow, you will use all the artillery fire to carry out intensive shelling on the triangle occupied by the German army."


    In response to rokosovsky''s order, his old friend hesitated and said, "Comrade marshal, if we use all our artillery fire to bombard the German triangle, our artillery position will be exposed. Once the German artillery countered, it would cause us great losses. "


    "Comrade artillery commander," rokosovsky said with a straight face, "only by doing so can we find out the strength of the German army in this area. Don''t worry about the loss of artillery. The superior will supplement us in time. "


    After getting rokosovsky''s promise, kazakov nodded and said, "well, I''ll give the artillery an order immediately and make them ready to fire at dawn."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    In the early hours of the next morning, rokosovsky, with me and two staff officers, rushed to a forward observation post of the 47th army. Several soldiers in the observation center were at a loss when they saw the sudden appearance of rokosovsky.


    Rokosovsky casually asked a soldier, "what''s the situation on the other side?"


    "Very calm," the soldier replied in a panic, "the German position seems very calm, there is no movement, may still be sleeping."


    Rokosovsky went to the observation port, raised his telescope, looked at the silent German position in the distance for a while, and said, "let them sleep. Maybe when our cannon rings, they will be able to sleep forever."


    He raised his hand, looked at his watch, went to the center of the observation post, picked up the phone that the staff officer had just connected, and said to the microphone, "Comrade artillery commander, time is almost up, let our artillery fire!"


    Just a minute or two after the order was given, there was a shrill whistling sound in the air. Then, I saw that the German position in the distance turned into an eruptive crater, wrapped in the rising black smoke. The black smoke exploded one after another, one after another. There were explosions everywhere and flames everywhere.


    "It''s great, it''s just great!" Seeing that the German position was covered by our artillery fire, rokosovsky showed a satisfied smile on his face. He said to himself, "if the German artillery doesn''t fight back, after the artillery fire is over, I will launch a red signal bomb and let the troops charge on this highland."


    The shelling lasted only a few minutes, and the German artillery began to take off. Thousands of shells from across the narev and visva rivers, from the fort''s battery hit our artillery on the head. As the artillery fire in the triangle became sparse, I knew in my heart that it was because our artillery positions were countered by the enemy artillery. For example, after the self-propelled artillery and rocket guns were launched, they could move their positions in time. Those howitzer and cannon positions must have paid a heavy price under the German artillery fire.


    Rokosovsky listened to the movement outside and said with great interest: "the Germans fired artillery of various calibres, from fortress heavy artillery to ordinary mortars and six barrel guns. They are not stingy of shells at all. It seems that they want to show us that they have enough artillery power to suppress our artillery fire. "


    "Marshal comrade," I waited for rokosovsky to finish speaking to himself, and quickly and carefully asked, "what are we going to do next? Will the troops continue to attack, or will they cancel the attack? "


    "As long as the enemy''s fire is not suppressed, we will not be able to launch an attack on the triangle at all, because their fire is enough to make our offensive forces pay a heavy price." "We can''t let our commanders and fighters die in vain like this," rokosowski said solemnly


    After these words, he said to a staff officer standing beside him, "you go outside and fire a green signal to inform the participating troops that the attack will be cancelled."


    The staff officer nodded and walked quickly out of the observation post. It wasn''t long before I saw a green flare rising into the air. However, rokosovsky seemed to be worried. He was afraid that Gusev and Popov would not see the signal bomb he sent. He also called them and told them personally that the attack plan was cancelled and all preparations for the attack would be stopped.


    When rokosovsky and I returned to the headquarters of the front army, malining immediately asked with concern, "Comrade marshal, has the attack been cancelled?"


    "Yes, chief of staff." Rokosovsky nodded his head and said: "our army is unable to suppress such heavy German artillery at present, so it is very unwise to launch an attack under such circumstances."


    "Need to report to the supreme command?" Malining asked cautiously when he had finished.


    Rokosovsky nodded and picked up the high-frequency telephone on the table: "I personally report to Comrade Stalin!" Stalin did not immediately express his views after listening to rokosovsky''s report. After a long silence, he slowly said, "Comrade rokosovsky, I''ll ask the staff headquarters for their opinions on this matter. I''ll call you when the results are available." With that, he didn''t give rokosovsky a chance to speak, so he hung up directly. Malining saw rokosovsky put down the phone and asked tentatively: "marshal, do you think the Supreme Commander himself will agree to our cancellation of this attack?"¡° I don''t know. " "He said that he would discuss with the headquarters of the staff and then tell me the final result," rokosovsky replied unexpectedly. That is to say, it is very likely that he will order us to attack the triangle. " After he said that, he went to the map and studied with us where and how we should attack if the Supreme Command still insisted on launching an attack, so as to minimize the casualties of the troops. Stalin''s call came just as we worked out a barely passable battle plan. After hearing rokosovsky''s voice, he said without delay: "Comrade rokosovsky, after my discussion with Antonov and Ivanov, I feel that under the current circumstances, we are not qualified to launch an attack on the German controlled triangle. Therefore, I order you to stop the offensive in this area, turn the first front army of Belarus to defense on the spot, and begin to prepare for a new offensive campaign. " All the people around rokosovsky heard Stalin''s new order, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing that rokosovsky put down the phone, malining quickly said: "Comrade marshal, it''s absolutely right to stop attacking temporarily and turn to defense on the spot. Our troops have been fighting for a long time, and their commanders and fighters are very tired. They need a period of time to rest and supplement, so that they can enter into new battles in a better state. " After taking a deep breath, rokosovsky ordered malining to say, "chief of staff, you should immediately prepare an order for the troops to temporarily stop fighting operations, turn to defense on the spot, and seize the time to recuperate and supplement, so as to restore combat effectiveness in the shortest time."

 Chapter 1633

    With the cessation of all military operations in Warsaw, what happened in the city has nothing to do with us. I heard the rumble of guns coming from the old town across the visva River, and I knew that it was the Germans who were suppressing the rebels who had not given up their arms to surrender. I can''t help feeling in my heart that if our army could cooperate actively when crossing the river, maybe their situation would not be so bad as it is now.


    Since September 15, Zhukov, who had been running back and forth between the first and second front forces of Belarus, had just returned to our headquarters and was discussing the next operational deployment with rokosovsky when he suddenly received a call from Stalin from Moscow. The supreme commander asked on the phone, "Comrade Zhukov, when do you think our troops can launch another attack on the German army?"


    Zhukov was confused by Stalin''s words. After a moment''s silence, he replied, "Comrade Stalin, according to your order yesterday, our troops have turned to defense on the spot. After a long period of fighting, the soldiers need to have a good rest and supplement. So I don''t think it''s realistic to launch a new attack in a short time."


    After listening, Stalin did not express any different views, but said faintly: "Comrade Zhukov, if there is nothing wrong, tomorrow you will fly to Moscow with rokosovsky and Rita to discuss face to face whether it is suitable to launch a new attack in a short time. Good luck, goodbye


    After Zhukov put down the phone, he looked at rokosovsky, who was sitting opposite him, and asked solemnly, "how about going back to Moscow with me tomorrow?"


    "Marshal," rokosovsky said with a smile as he looked at Zhukov, "since the Supreme Commander himself has called our names, even if he doesn''t want to go. Let''s start early tomorrow morning. "


    After discussing about going to Moscow tomorrow, Zhukov and rokosovsky continued to chat. I heard Zhukov say: "Comrade rokosovsky, as early as the battle of Belarus was still going on, the biggest obstacle we faced was the German heavy army group in East Prussia, which had a lot of obstacles and natural obstacles, so that we could not completely eat them in a short time.


    In order to ensure a smooth attack in the direction of Berlin, I put forward to the supreme command that it is better for all front forces to carry out non-stop attacks and smash the German defense in East Prussia from the March


    According to my calculation, if the offensive forces are strengthened in time, it can be done. For example, your first front army will add 300-400 tanks and self-propelled artillery. Zaharov''s second front army will add a combined group army of various arms, a tank group army, an infantry army, several tank brigades and self-propelled artillery regiments.


    As long as these supplements are obtained, the three front armies of Belarus are fully capable of occupying East Prussia and going forward to the visva River to danze Bay, or at least cutting off the links between East Prussia and Germany while going forward to the visva river. "


    If Zhukov doesn''t tell me about the top secret, I really don''t know. As soon as Zhukov finished, I turned my eyes to rokosovsky and wanted to hear what he said.


    Rokosovsky sighed, then nodded and said, "yes, comrade marshal. As far as I know, the Supreme Commander vetoed your plan. He did not agree to strengthen the front forces in the direction of East Prussia, nor was he able to give the reserves of the front forces in Belarus. I think when we take East Prussia in the future, we will have to fight a very difficult and bloody battle. "


    The dialogue between them made me realize that if Stalin could respect Zhukov''s proposal and supplement the Belarusian troops in time, maybe our current situation would be much more optimistic. Even if Warsaw could not be completely liberated, at least the troops could travel freely on both sides of the visva river.


    The next morning, the three of us flew back to Moscow. I got on the car that had been parked near the runway for a long time and came to the Kremlin smoothly.


    When we walked into Stalin''s office, we found that he was not the only one here, and the two sides of the conference table were almost full of people. After a quick glance, I found that Molotov, Kalinin, Antonov, malinkov and the marginalized bujoni were present.


    When Stalin waited for the three of us to sit down, he said, "since everyone is here, let''s have a meeting." With these words, he turned to Zhukov and said, "Comrade Zhukov, please report to us."


    Zhukov stood up from the table, put the map on the table and began to report to everyone. From the beginning of the report, Stalin stood up, clutching his pipe in his hand, and walked restlessly through the room. With Zhukov''s report, he came to the table and looked at the map on it; After a while, he walked far away and paced in the room.


    From the time he looked at Zhukov, at the time he looked at rokosovsky, and sometimes stopped to look at the map, I realized that today''s Stalin seemed a little impatient.


    After Zhukov''s report, Molotov was the first to stand up and speak. He looked at Zhukov and asked sternly, "Comrade Zhukov, I want to find out one thing. Why do you suggest to the supreme command to stop the attack when the exhausted enemy can no longer stop our army''s attack? Why do you make such a suggestion?"


    "Comrades of the people''s Committee," Zhukov said, looking at Molotov with the same expression, "the enemies who have been attacked by us have slowed down. They have established defenses in our main attack areas and have mobilized enough reserves. The attacks we launched have been repelled by them again and again. If we continue to fight, we will not be able to achieve any results except to pay a greater price. "


    "Comrade rokosovsky," Stalin stood behind rokosovsky and asked, "do you support Zhukov''s view?"


    Rokosovsky quickly stood up, turned to face Stalin and replied respectfully, "yes, comrade Stalin. I think that after a long and tense battle, the troops should be given enough time to rest so that they can play their due combat effectiveness in the next battle. "


    After listening to Stalin, he sneered: "Comrade rokosovsky, don''t forget that you are recuperating, and so are the Germans. They will use this time to build stronger fortifications in the defense area." After a pause, he asked tentatively, "if we can provide enough air support for the 47th army of Gusev and strengthen it with tanks and artillery, do you think they can get out to the visva River between McDonald''s and Warsaw?"


    "Comrade Stalin, this is not easy to say." Regarding Stalin''s question, rokosovsky said with some embarrassment: "because the German army will strengthen its defense in this direction after it detects our army''s intention."


    Stalin did not say yes or no, but turned to Zhukov and asked, "what about you, comrade Zhukov


    "Comrade Stalin," Zhukov heard Stalin call his name, quickly turned to face him, and repeated his point of view again: "I don''t think this kind of attack will bring us any benefits except increasing unnecessary casualties. From a campaign point of view, we do not need to occupy the northwest area of Warsaw. Instead, we should take Warsaw by making a detour from the southwest and carrying out a strong split assault to the general direction of Rhodes Poznan. "


    At this point, Zhukov shrugged his shoulders and said with some helplessness: "unfortunately, we do not have enough troops on the front line to take this action, so we can take advantage of the opportunity of rest to gather the necessary forces here."


    "Well, no more." Stalin rudely interrupted Zhukov, pointed at Zhukov and rokosovsky with his fist clutching cigarette end, and said, "go outside first, consider your proposal, and then come in after you think it through."


    Seeing Zhukov and rokosovsky shake hands and walk out of the office in a neat step, I can''t help feeling flustered. I wonder whether I should stay here or go out to the office with them.


    Fortunately, I didn''t last long when I heard Stalin calling my name: "Rita!"


    I jumped out of my seat, feet together, and turned back, staring at Stalin, waiting for him to ask.


    Stalin looked at me, walked away from me, and said, "tell us how the troops under your command attacked the old city of Warsaw."


    When Stalin asked me to report the recent Warsaw war to you, I immediately told you in detail how the two troops crossed the visva River and how they fought fiercely with the fierce enemy for eight days and nights in isolation. Finally, I attribute the reason why the troops were forced to withdraw to the fact that they did not get the support promised by the uprising military in advance, that the traffic on both sides of the Strait was interrupted due to the lack of crossing equipment, and so on.


    When I finished, Stalin sat down in his seat, glanced over everyone present, and asked, "do you have any different views on our support for Warsaw?"


    As soon as his voice dropped, marshal bujoni, who was sitting opposite me, began to ask, "Comrade oshanina, I want to ask, if the energy sources of the reinforcements keep crossing the river, which direction will you meet with them? Is it the former residence of general askarepov''s resident wife, or the wazinki palace occupied by the third Polish division? "


    I immediately replied without hesitation: "it must be the landing site established by general askarepov. Because of their skillful use of effective street fighting tactics, they have successfully grasped the initiative in the area. If it is not for the limited troops and the lack of heavy weapons, they even have the ability to continue to expand the landing site."


    "Comrade oshanina," said bujoni, with a stern look on his face. "Are you going to die for our ally, the Polish army?"


    "Comrade marshal," I said politely, looking at bujonny, "the landing area occupied by the Polish army is too small, and the terrain is too open. If we put too many troops into this area, it will become crowded, and one of the enemy''s shells will cause us more than ten or even dozens of casualties. "


    After I explained the reason quickly, I stared nervously at bujonny for fear that he would ask any more questions. Unexpectedly, he didn''t speak. Molotov beside him said to him with a smile, "how about my Marshal? Do you have any doubts about Rita''s ability? "


    After listening to Molotov''s words, buqiongni had a smile on his face. He shook his head and continued: "yes, comrade people''s commissar, you are right. Comrade o''shanina''s ability is beyond my imagination. It seems that we can consider putting pressure on her to take on more important positions. " Bujoni''s words made my heart beat faster. I couldn''t help but start to think: are the questions bujoni just asked just to examine my ability and prepare for my next promotion? Just as I was daydreaming, I heard Stalin''s voice: "Comrade bosklebshev, let Zhukov and rokosovsky in!" At Stalin''s command, boskelebeshev, standing at the door like a telegraph pole, quickly raised his hand, pushed open the door of the outer office and whispered a few words into it. A moment later, Zhukov and rokosovsky came quickly through the door¡° Have you thought about it? " Stalin looked up at the two marshals standing in front of him and asked slowly, "do you want to stick to the original idea, or do you want to organize troops to continue to attack the enemy?"¡° Comrade Stalin, "as soon as Stalin''s words came to an end, Zhukov immediately declared his position:" I still insist on the original opinion that our troops have been transferred to the defense on the spot for recuperation and replenishment. "¡° Yes, comrade Stalin. " Rokosovsky also echoed: "I also agree with Marshal Zhukov''s opinion, let the troops turn to defense, rest and supplement, and launch a new round of attack on the Germans when the strength is strong enough." Stalin looked at all the people sitting around the conference table. Seeing that no one was speaking, he stood up and said, "well, since you both insist on your opinions, I agree to let our army formally turn to defense." At this point, he stopped for a moment, waved to Zhukov and them, "as for the future combat plan, we will discuss it later when we have a chance. Now you can leave. " This time, instead of sitting in a chair, I left Stalin''s office behind Zhukov and the two of them. We walked out of the office building to the square in front of the church. Zhukov stopped, turned and asked rokosovsky, "where are you going?" After thinking for a moment, rokosovsky replied, "I have nothing to do in Moscow. I''d better hurry back to the headquarters of the front army as soon as possible."¡° Well, I''m going to the people''s Commission of national defense now. Let''s say goodbye. " Zhukov said, reaching out to rokosovsky, holding each other''s hand and shaking it twice. "I wish you good health!" I waited for Zhukov and rokosovsky to shake hands and say goodbye, but he looked at me and said, "Rita, I think Comrade Stalin has something important to call you back this time. You don''t have to go back to the front army for the time being. Go home and have a rest. I''ll call you if there''s anything

 Chapter 1634

    I took the special bus that Zhukov arranged for me and went back to Lenin street where I lived. As soon as I got out of the car, I saw the chubby old lady Liuba, locking the door. I sped up and walked towards her. At the same time, I cried anxiously, "Liuba, wait a minute!"


    Liuba, who was locking the door, heard someone calling for her. She quickly turned around and saw that the person calling for her was me. She immediately showed a friendly smile on her face: "Comrade commander, you are back!"


    I went up and took her hand and said friendly, "yes, I''m back!"


    "How many days can I stay here this time?" Liuba continued.


    "I don''t know. I''ll leave as soon as I have an order." After I answered Liuba, I found that she was dressed up to go out and asked, "where are you going?"


    Liuba nuzui toward the small building I live in, said: "you see, while the four families in the building are not at home, I go out to buy some daily necessities back."


    I thought that I had just returned to Moscow today, and I didn''t have anything to eat at home, so I pushed the boat along and said, "wait for me. I''ll go up and change my clothes and come down."


    When I said that, there was a look of embarrassment on Lyuba''s face. But the expression flashed away, and she nodded her head and said, "well, I''ll get you the key first." With that, he pushed open the iron door which had not been locked in time and took the key to open the lock of the duty room.


    When she handed me the door key, she handed me a thick envelope. Holding the envelope, I asked, "what''s in it, Liuba?"


    "It''s said to be an allowance for you." Liuba respectfully replied, "a soldier sent it that day. You had just left, so this envelope was always here."


    The first thing I did when I got back in the room was to check that the treasure hiding place behind the tapestry was intact. After checking, I found that the hair lines stuck on the box didn''t move. It seems that I''m worried about nothing.


    When I was ready to go out after changing my casual clothes, I suddenly saw the envelope I threw on the table when I entered the door. I picked it up curiously to see how much money was in it. I opened the envelope and saw that there was a thick stack of five roubles and ten roubles, at least five hundred roubles.


    After I went downstairs, Liuba immediately urged: "Comrade General, it''s late. Let''s go quickly. If it''s too late, the store will close."


    I know that Russians are rather rigid in their work, especially those salesmen in the shopping malls. As soon as they get off work, even if there are hundreds of customers waiting to go shopping in front of them, they will not hesitate to pick up their things and get off work. He didn''t say anything more. He helped Liuba lock the door and walked along the street towards the nearest food store.


    Although Liuba''s leg is a bit lame, she walks so fast that I have to trot to keep up with her speed. Maybe she saw that I was a little panting, so she deliberately slowed down and said to me with a smile: "Comrade General, it seems that you need to strengthen your exercise. Look how far you have just walked, you are so tired."


    "I''ve been in the headquarters for a long time and lack of exercise, so I can''t keep up with your walking speed." After I explained myself with a smile, I added: "Liuba, you don''t have to call me the general all the time in the future. It seems that you are too sentimental. You''d better call me Rita."


    When I said that, Liuba was not polite, so she changed her name directly: "Rita, although the supplies in Moscow are not as tight as those in the previous two years, there are still very few goods in the shops. Even for bread, butter, eggs and sausages, it takes a long line to get a chance


    Liuba''s words made me understand why she was so worried just now. Nowadays, people have to queue up everywhere to buy things. If they go late, it''s really possible that the salesperson will get off work at the right time before they reach the counter.


    We walked for more than ten minutes, and finally came to the door of a shop, let me once again see the shopping dragon. Although the people in line in order to shorten the distance, deliberately into the S-shaped, but still out of a 78 meters long line. Seeing this situation, Liuba stamped her feet and said, "Oh, I''m still late today. There are so many people. It''s estimated that before I get into the store, the salesperson should be off duty."


    With that, she turned to me and said with a disappointed face, "Rita, let''s go back. We have to come early tomorrow."


    I followed the dejected Liuba for a long distance. Suddenly, I remembered the officer shopping shop I had seen in Lublin. I stopped Liuba and asked in a low voice, "Liuba, do you know where there is an officer shopping shop nearby?"


    "Yes, there is a very large military officer''s shopping shop at the intersection north of Lenin street." Liuba said casually, "but we can''t get in at all..." she stopped abruptly in the middle of her words. She looked at me with a surprise expression on her face. "By the way, Rita, you''re an officer. You can go in and out of these stores at will."


    As we headed back, I asked Liuba anxiously, "can we make it now? The shop won''t close, will it? "


    "How can that be, my dear." Liuba replied with a smile: "since it''s a store dedicated to serving soldiers, it''s naturally open 24 hours. Unless it''s inventory, it will never close."


    There is a dark curtain on the glass door of the military officer''s shopping shop, which may be because they don''t want passers-by to see something inside. When I opened the glass door and walked in, a middle-aged man came up from behind the table beside the door and politely said to both of us, "two female citizens, this is an officer''s shop. It''s not open to ordinary people. Please go out."


    "I''m an officer," I said politely to each other. "Should I be qualified to shop here?"


    The other party hesitated for a moment, then said: "if you can prove your identity, then as the manager of the store, I welcome you. If not... "


    "What if it can''t be proved?" Liuba did not wait for him to finish.


    "Of course, I asked you to leave." After the man finished this sentence, he held out his hand to me, "comrades in the military, please show me your identification!"


    I took out the identification in my satchel and handed it to the man. The man turned out to be a soldier. He opened his mouth carelessly. He couldn''t close his mouth for half a day. After a while, he said to me in a flurried way, "sorry, comrade general, I didn''t know you were wearing casual clothes today. I''m Mikhail lovic, the store manager. I''m very happy to help you


    I took his military ID card and put it into my bag. Then I asked, "Comrade manager, if we buy a lot of things, can you send someone to take them home for us?"


    "No problem, no problem." Mikhailovic nodded and said, "no matter how many things you buy, we can send someone to take them home. May I have your address, please


    I didn''t know the address very well, so I turned to Liuba for help. When Liuba saw me looking at her, she guessed that I was not familiar with the address of my home, so she took the initiative to tell the manager about our residence.


    After recording my address, the manager respectfully asked, "Comrade General, do you want me to send someone to accompany you shopping?"


    "No, Mr. manager. We''re just browsing." After declining the manager''s kindness, I took Liuba to the counter where the goods were placed.


    Looking at the variety of goods in the store, Liuba said excitedly, "Rita, this store is really wonderful. Not only does it not have to wait in line, but also," she said, pausing for a moment. After taking a deep breath, she continued, "you smell, the air smells of smoked ham and fish, and the smell of cigarettes and coffee. God, I''ve almost forgotten the taste of these things since the outbreak of the war. "


    "Liuba, since you are here today, you can buy whatever you want. You are welcome."


    "Really?" Liuba''s face showed an incredible expression. When she saw me nodding in affirmation, she immediately rushed to the nearest counter and made a shopping list for the salesman standing in the back.


    Liuba is very sophisticated. When she talks about a product, she has to ask the salesperson if she has it or not. If not, she just ignores it; Some words, said a number, let the salesperson move to the empty space in front of the counter. When she reported all the things she wanted to buy, I was surprised. She bought ten kilograms of black and white flour, eight kilograms of oatmeal, ten kilograms of rice, five kilograms of sugar and five kilograms of white granulated sugar, a lot of smoked ham, sausages and fish, and several kinds of canned vegetables and meat.


    When I saw so many commodities, I couldn''t help beating my heart. I said that although it was cold in Moscow in September, it was not easy to keep so many things at one time. I asked Lyuba tentatively, "your duty room is not big enough. Can you hold so many things?"


    "Don''t worry," Liuba said in a low voice close to my ear, "next to the duty room, there is an air raid shelter, which has a large space. Even if you buy ten times more things, you can put them all down."


    When we called the manager to check out, the manager politely asked me, "Comrade General, we still have the lamb chops that just arrived today. Would you like some?"


    "Lamb chops?" When Liuba heard the manager say this, her eyes lit up. She quickly asked, "besides the lamb chops, are there mutton and leg?"


    "There is no leg of lamb," the manager said, shaking his head. "Half an hour ago, it was bought by several other officers. They said they were going to make roast leg of lamb tonight, so there was no leg of lamb left. But there is still a lot of mutton left. Would you like it? "


    "I''ll give you five kilos." After I said this, I pointed to the pile of things in front of me and said to the manager, "please send someone to take these things home."


    "Don''t worry, comrade general," the manager swore to me, "I''ll do it right. I''ll make sure you''re satisfied."


    The manager himself took a staff member, pushing a cart full of clothes, and followed us to the residence. When they got there, they moved things to the basement again and again under the command of Liuba.


    Out of curiosity, I ran down to have a look. Judging from the decoration of the basement, it used to be the wine cellar of the count''s house, but now it has become a place for food in liubatun.


    After seeing off the manager, Liuba said to me excitedly, "Rita, we have bought so many good things today. What would you like to eat in the evening?"


    Before shopping, I felt quite hungry, but now I see a house full of food, I have no appetite. I waved to Liuba and said, "forget it, your legs are inconvenient. It''s not easy to go to the store. I''ll leave it to you." I picked up a paper bag with bread on the side and said casually, "that''s enough for me."¡° Rita, that''s not good. Bread alone is not nutritious. " Liuba said, snatching the paper bag from my hand, took out a big Leba from it, put it on the table, cut it into pieces with a knife, put a slice of salmon on each piece of bread, and then spread a thick layer of mayonnaise. After that, she put the prepared bread on a big plate, handed it to me solemnly and said, "OK, Rita, this is my dinner for you. I hope you''ll be satisfied."¡° Satisfied, satisfied. " I took her plate, nodded my head and said, "I''m very satisfied. Thank you, Lyuba!" When I came out of the basement with bread full of salmon slices and was about to go upstairs, I was stopped by Liuba. She hurried into the duty room and took out a tightly wrapped paper package from the drawer of her desk. She came up to me with a paper bag, put it on the edge of the plate, and said with a smile, "this is a small piece of Salo that a Ukrainian friend of mine gave me when she came here to see me two months ago. I hope you like it." Although sallow is a famous Ukrainian dish, it''s actually salted fat meat. I''m tired of it, let alone eating it. So for Liuba''s kindness, I can only politely refuse: "thank you, Liuba, the dinner you prepared for me is rich enough. This is a gift your friend brought to you from Ukraine. You''d better keep it and eat it slowly. After all, it''s someone else''s wish. You can''t let others down! " With that, I held the plate with one hand in my left hand. With the other hand, I took out sallow and handed it back to Liuba. Liuba saw that I gave sallow back to her, but she didn''t want to take it. She pushed it back and forth for a long time, and then reluctantly accepted it. When I came home with my plate and grabbed a piece of bread to eat, the telephone on the table rang suddenly. I threw the bread in my hand into the plate, ran quickly to the phone and picked up the receiver. Zhukov''s voice came from the receiver. He said displeased, "Rita, where did you just go? I called twice and no one answered."¡° I just went shopping, "I briefly explained the reason why I was not there just now, and cautiously asked," marshal, do you have anything important? "¡° Comrade Stalin wants to see you tomorrow morning. You should be ready first, and the car to pick you up should arrive at eight in the morning. " Zhukov did not dispute with me, but directly explained the reason for looking for me. After that, he didn''t immediately put down the phone, but hesitated a little and said, "I have another thing to do. I''ll talk about it with you tomorrow."

 Chapter 1635

    Early the next morning, I got on the special bus to pick me up and came to the entrance of the Kremlin.


    Here, I saw Zhukov by accident. He stood at the door with his hands behind his back, saw me get out of the car, waved his head at me and said, "Rita, walk with me."


    When Zhukov and I came to the bell king in the church square, he suddenly stopped, pointed to the churches around the square and said to me, "Rita, look at the four churches around the square, which are called the Church of the twelve apostles, the Church of the assumption of the Virgin Mary, the church of the annunciation and the Church of St. Michael. There are copper coffins of czars and bishops in the churches..."


    Zhukov''s words confused me. I thought he didn''t call me here early in the morning to be my guide and let me know the purpose of these churches, did he? I''ve come to the Kremlin countless times. I know it''s just a complex of churches and palace office buildings, but I''m not really interested in what the churches can do.


    When I was waiting for Zhukov''s introduction to make a paragraph, I quickly broke in and asked my own question: "marshal, you said yesterday that there was something important to me. Is that to introduce the buildings in the Kremlin to me?"


    Zhukov laughed and said, "it''s comrade Stalin who wants to call you here today, and he''s going to arrange new work for you."


    "New job?" When Zhukov said this, I was immediately dumbfounded. My heart said that the patriotic war was coming to an end. I expected to participate in the Berlin campaign as the deputy commander of the first front army of Belarus, and strive to be promoted to another rank or position before the end of the war. If I was really arranged to work in the local area, everything would start from scratch, then my previous efforts would be in vain, "Do you know what kind of work it is, marshal?"


    "At marshal bujoni''s suggestion, he''s going to send you to his school as a teacher." Zhukov finally said what he wanted me to do here¡° He was there yesterday to see what you can do


    "What school?" I asked with fear.


    "Vorongze military academy!"


    "What, the Military Academy of vorongze?" Zhukov''s words startled me again. The vorongze military academy is one of the four major military academies in the world, which is as famous as St. sear Military Academy in France, West Point Military Academy in the United States, and the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst in Britain. As early as the war of Stalingrad, I wanted to take time to study war theory in this military academy. But for various reasons, I finally realized this wish, It''s a pity, but now Zhukov told me that I was going to enter this college to be a teacher, which made me a little flattered.


    "Since the volongzhi military academy moved back to Moscow from Tashkent last year, marshal bujoni has been the president of the academy and marshal voroshlov has been the political commissar of the Academy." Zhukov continued to introduce himself to me and said, "they were old partners of the first cavalry army as early as the civil war. One was the commander and the other was the political commissar. They both have a good impression on you. I believe your work in the college will be very smooth."


    Vorongze military academy trains senior officers. Every order they give determines the life and death of thousands of people. I know my level. I haven''t received systematic education in combat command of the army. If I didn''t understand some historical process, I would not be as good as an ordinary army monitor. Let me give a lecture to these middle and senior commanders. It''s not just a mistake.


    Therefore, after a short period of thinking, I said decisively to Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, can I refuse this appointment?" Seeing his surprised expression on his face, he quickly explained to him, "I''ve never received systematic education in military theory. It''s inappropriate for me to rashly serve as a teacher in the college."


    "If you just teach military theory to the students, you don''t need you at all, because there are many people with high theoretical level in the college, even if you are tied together, you can''t compare with others." After commenting on my level of military theory, Zhukov continued, "but you have made great contributions in the war, which proves that you are an excellent commander with great ability. You should impart your war skills to the commanders who are about to go to the battlefield, so that they can skillfully apply these theories to the battlefield, Let our army win a more brilliant victory in the next battle. "


    Zhukov''s words, let me some heart. However, I hesitated to think that if I really entered the military academy, I might miss my dream rank of Marshal.


    Zhukov continued: "Comrade Stalin is in a meeting. In order to prevent you from being bored, let me show you around the Kremlin to pass the time."


    After listening to Zhukov''s words, I realized that Zhukov didn''t introduce many buildings in the Kremlin to me on a whim. Instead, he was ordered to accompany me to pass the time. I laughed and then asked, "marshal, I wonder if we can have a chance to see the post change ceremony in the Kremlin today?"


    "Post changing ceremony?" Zhukov was stunned for a moment when he heard what I said, but he soon said with a smile, "Rita, are you talking about the post changing ceremony of the Kremlin guard during the reign of Peter the great?"


    I hastily nodded my head and said, "yes, yes, it''s the guard''s change of duty ceremony." In later generations, I only heard of this kind of post changing ceremony, but I didn''t get to see it. If I saw it here today, it would be a worthwhile trip.


    "It''s really worth seeing the post changing ceremony of the Kremlin guard." Looking at the empty square, Zhukov said: "from April to October every year at noon on Saturday, infantry and cavalry in Czar Nicholas II''s gorgeous military uniform perform for a quarter of an hour accompanied by a military band. Among them are the formation of infantry and dazzling gun dance movements, and the cavalry regiment of the guards will perform dressage dance steps accompanied by waltz music. "


    Although today is not Saturday, I still asked curiously, "Comrade marshal, will there be a post change ceremony today?"


    Zhukov shook his head and replied, "the post change ceremony of the Kremlin guard has long been replaced by the post change ceremony in front of Lenin''s tomb. I don''t think you will see it in your lifetime."


    In my memory, the post change ceremony of the Kremlin guard was proposed by the Russian Ministry of defense in 2002 and premiered at Putin''s presidential inauguration in 2004. Unless I can live another 60 years, I won''t see this long cherished ceremony.


    Zhukov raised his hand, looked at his watch and said to me, "the meeting is almost over. Let''s go to Stalin''s office now. I believe bujonny and voroshlov have been waiting for you there."


    When I followed Zhukov to Stalin''s office, I saw bujoni and voroshlov here. When they saw me enter the door, they looked at each other and both of them were smiling.


    Stalin, after my salutation, asked me directly, "Rita, do you know the Military Academy of vorongze?"


    "Yes, comrade Stalin." Without waiting for Stalin to ask him again, I casually told him what I had learned: "the vorongzhi military academy is a higher military academy for the Soviet armed forces to train officers of various arms and services, and also a scientific research center for the study of various arms contract combat and group army campaign.


    Under the instruction of comrade Lenin, this school was founded on October 7, 1918. It became the general reference College of the Red Army for workers and peasants. It aims to train commanding cadres with higher military education from workers and peasants. On August 5, 1921, it was renamed as the Military Academy of the Red Army of workers and peasants, and an advanced accelerated course was set up to train senior commanders.


    The first president of the Academy was vorongzhi. After his death in 1925, the whole academy asked the Soviet revolutionary military commission to name him in order to mourn his beloved president. The Commission approved this request and officially renamed the academy the Military Academy of vorongze. "


    When I finished reciting the history of the Military Academy of vorongze in one breath, the smiling Stalin turned to bujonny and voroshlov, who were standing nearby, and said, "well, two marshals, are you satisfied with Rita''s performance?"


    "Satisfied," said voroshlov, with a strong nod of his head. "Absolutely satisfied."


    After listening to voroshlov''s statement, Stalin turned his head to me and asked, "Rita, I think Zhukov has told you all about the places we called you here."


    When I heard Stalin say this, I instinctively turned to Zhukov and said, "yes, comrade Stalin, Marshal Zhukov has already told me where I was called here."


    Stalin asked me with a smile, "would you like to be a teacher at the Military Academy of vorongze?"


    I hesitated for a moment and decided to express my true attitude: "I... Don''t want to!"


    My words froze Stalin''s smile on his face, and a flash of anger passed away. He snorted, pointed at me with his fist clutching the cigarette end, and asked in an impassioned voice, "tell me your reasons, why don''t you accept this appointment?"


    Naturally, it is impossible for me to tell the people present that I am afraid that I will lose the chance of promotion after I become a teacher in the Academy. Instead, I solemnly defend myself: "Comrade Stalin, I have never received systematic training in military theory. It is very inappropriate for me to be a teacher in such an important military academy."


    The expression on Stalin''s face softened again with my explanation, and he said in a relaxed tone: "Rita, you misunderstood me. I didn''t ask you to go to the Military Academy of vorongze to talk about some advanced military theory to the Academy. Every student in the Academy knows more about these aspects than you. In more than a month, these officers will leave the academy and rush to various battlefields. Before they leave, I want you to teach them the theory of street warfare that you have explored. "


    "If we just teach the theory of street fighting, there is no problem at all." I may not be familiar with other military theories; But when it comes to street fighting, I say the second. No one dares to say the first. After all, all the theories I have mastered have been summed up with countless blood and lives for decades to come. However, while I readily agreed to Stalin, I also put forward my own conditions. "Comrade Stalin, I think it''s better to be a temporary teacher. After these students graduate, I can go back to the army immediately."


    To my request, Stalin did not deny it. Instead, he turned around and asked bujoni and voroshlov, "what do you think? Do you agree with Rita as a temporary teacher of the college?"¡° I agree! " Voloshlov was the first to make his stand. After that, he asked bujoni with a face: "old man, how do you think about it?" After a long hesitation, buqiongni finally nodded his head and said, "I''ll also let oshanina be the temporary teacher of the college!" After the performance, he came up to me and said in a friendly manner, "you should make preparations first. At two o''clock in the afternoon, you will explain the theory of street fighting to the students in the college."¡° I''m going to give a lecture at two o''clock in the afternoon? " After listening to buqiongni''s words, my heart beat faster. My heart said that you are playing with me. You just appointed me as the temporary teacher of the Military Academy of vorongze. You always have to give me two days to get used to it. How can I go to class every few hours? Isn''t that to make me make a fool of myself in public? I cried and asked, "marshal, can you give me two days to prepare?"¡° No way He raised his hand to wipe his beautiful moustache and said with pride, "this class has been arranged a few days ago. It can''t be changed." Finally, Zhukov came out to help me out. He patted me on the shoulder and comforted me, saying, "Rita, don''t worry. I''ll be there to embolden you. Don''t worry and give a lecture boldly."¡° Yes, Rita After Zhukov''s words, voroshlov added: "we are worried that you are inexperienced and will be nervous in class, so only 30 students are arranged for the first class. Even if you make a mistake, it doesn''t matter." At this point, he looked at the proud face of bujoni, "marshal bujoni and I will be there to listen to your lecture." If Zhukov and Voroshilov don''t say that they will help me, I may not be too nervous. I even have the idea of hanging myself when I hear that they are going to attend the lecture. If there is any mistake in the lecture, I will lose myself to grandma''s house. But now that they''ve arranged everything, it''s useless for me to raise my objection, so I can only ask, "can you arrange a room for me? I''d like to take the time to sort out my ideas, and then sort out the outline of the afternoon lecture. "

 Chapter 1636

    When the bell rang at two o''clock, I stepped into the classroom.


    As soon as I entered the door, I heard a majestic voice shouting, "stand up!"


    I turned my head and looked in the direction of the sound. The officers sitting in the classroom stood up together and stood on their seats like poles.


    I went to the platform and put the folder in my hand on the desk. Then facing the officers below, he said in a loud voice, "comrades, please sit down!"


    "Sit down!" Another password was issued from the crowd.


    With the command, the officers who stood straight sat down.


    I didn''t start the lecture immediately, but looked around. The students'' table is divided into five rows, each row of six people, just 30 people. If you look at their epaulets, either the colonel or the lieutenant commander, or the major with the lowest rank, will soon grow into the backbone of the army.


    Looking at the back of the classroom, there were not only marshals Zhukov, bujoni and voroshlov, but also several officers with star epaulets.


    Seeing so many people come to watch my lecture, my heart beat faster. In order to enhance my confidence and attract the attention of the students, after coughing gently, I turned to the blackboard and wrote down today''s content on it. At the same time, I said aloud, "the content of our lecture today is how to defend and attack in the city."


    When the title I''m going to talk about is written on the blackboard, my mood suddenly calms down a lot. Facing the students off stage, instead of looking at them, I turned my eyes to the wall behind me and began to give a lecture: "comrades, with the development of the battlefield situation in favor of our army, we have already changed from the original defenders to the attackers.


    In the next battle, we will fight with the enemy not only in sparsely populated open areas and no man''s land, but also in the most economically developed and densely populated cities, such as Berlin.


    Before introducing urban offensive and defensive warfare, let''s first discuss the issue of urban defense... "


    "Comrade General," before I finished, a general stood up beside bujoni. He raised his hand high above his head and asked, "since we are already attackers on the battlefield, is it necessary for the students to learn the defensive tactics of the city?"


    Although I don''t know each other, according to my judgment, the other party should be a college teacher or something, so I politely answered him and said, "this general, a boxer has such a saying: if you want to learn to hit people, you must first learn to be hit! The same is true on the battlefield. We can''t just think about how to beat the enemy. We should also consider that when the enemy is stronger than us, we have to turn to defense temporarily.


    For example, our army appeared many times during the attack, and the troops had already rushed into the city. However, under the frantic counterattack of the German army, because of the unfavorable defense, in the end, the troops suffered heavy casualties and were forced to retreat from the city. If our commanders and fighters can master more defensive skills, I think they will be much less likely to be driven out of the city by the enemy. "


    With these words, I deliberately stopped and watched the teacher sit down again before continuing to say: "urban warfare, also known as street warfare. The biggest difference between street battle and field battle is that the battlefield is divided by countless buildings arranged according to certain rules, and any tactical unit is in a relatively closed and narrow scene, which limits the observation of both sides and the use of firepower.


    Let''s think about it. In the street battle, the intricate streets, the enemies who don''t know where they will come from, the bullets that suddenly fly out of the ruins or buildings, and so on, all of these make the township head full of uncertainties. In this kind of environment, who can flexibly use the tactics of the street battle, who can take the initiative in the battlefield... "


    When I said that, I stopped again and calmly observed the expressions of all the people in the classroom. The students were all busy writing, while Zhukov in the back row was frowning and thinking. Bujonny and voroshlov gathered together and whispered, while several other teachers, like the students, were recording what I said in the book.


    Seeing that everyone was listening attentively, my mood also became cheerful. I went on to say: "let''s talk about the battle of Stalingrad first. This is a battle I once personally participated in


    In Stalingrad, the main tactics of the German army were joint operations of various arms. They attached great importance to the coordination of ground bombing by infantry, engineering, artillery and air force. In order to counter this tactic, our commanders adopted the strategy of close pressing, trying to keep their front line close to the German army, so that the defense lines of both sides became crisscrossed, which led to the German artillery unable to play the advantages of long-range attack.


    The enemy and US fought fiercely for every street, building, room and sewer. By the beginning of 1943, because there were no complete buildings in Stalingrad, our commanders and fighters could only use the ruins of the bombed buildings to cover themselves in the street battle with the German army. "


    "General oshanina," as I pause, a teacher in the back asks, "I heard that you invented an effective fortification in the war of Stalingrad. Can you tell us something about it?"


    This teacher''s words made me feel necessary to introduce this fortification designed by engineer captain Mikhail yev to the commanders here. "Comrades commanders, the new fortification just mentioned by this teacher was designed by one of my engineer company commanders. The place where he chose to build the fortification is a three story building.


    In the basement of the building, a 45mm anti tank gun was set up facing the street to bombard German tanks or armored vehicles entering the range; On the first floor of the window, the deployment of machine gun sandbag shelter, sand on the floor, can prevent the enemy''s shrapnel damage; The second floor is guarded by ordinary soldiers, who can not only shoot at the enemy from the window, but also throw grenades below; The third floor is the location of the commander and sniper, which can not only observe the enemy''s movement, but also snipe the enemy''s commander. As for the attic, it was also used. Our artillery set up 82mm mortars here to bombard the enemy''s dense infantry formation through the blasted roof.


    This defensive fortress is not isolated. The entry and exit of the commanders and fighters are completed through a covered trench. In order to facilitate the soldiers to move at any time, the walls of the building also have holes for people to enter and leave. What''s more, the unused windows and entrances should be blocked with sandbags to prevent the Germans from rushing in from these places. "


    After I introduced this new type of fortification, one of the trainees raised his hand and indicated to me that he had a question to ask. I nodded at him and asked politely, "Comrade commander, do you have any questions?"


    "Comrade General," said the lieutenant commander, standing upright in his seat, "I want to ask why there is no large-scale promotion of this defensive fortress in Stalingrad. Is there any defect?"


    "Comrade commander, please have a seat!" I raised my hand, pressed it down, motioned the commander to sit down, and then introduced it to you: "every fortification has its own advantages and disadvantages, and this new type of fortification is no exception.


    First of all, to build such a fortress, we must choose a building with more than three floors. At that time, after months of fighting, the buildings in the city were basically destroyed by the German artillery or air force. In other words, we could hardly find a suitable place to build this new type of defensive fortress to fight against the enemy''s attack.


    Secondly, you have just heard me say that in the fortress, anti tank artillery, machine gunners, snipers, mortars and many other arms are needed. You should know that in the later stage of the campaign, our troops were severely reduced. In many defensive areas, not to mention artillery and snipers, even the number of ordinary infantry was very limited... "


    "Comrade oshanina," said bujoni, who asked curiously, "if the city can''t build such a new defensive fortress, how can we defend it?"


    "Comrade marshal, I think in addition to establishing defensive operations in major areas, combat teams should also be deployed on the road the enemy must pass." After I finished this sentence, I saw that bujonny''s face was confused. Knowing that he had been away from the battlefield for a long time and was a little out of touch with the times, I introduced to him the combat team I mentioned in detail: "the combat team I mentioned is generally composed of three to five people, including snipers, machine gunners and anti tank men.


    This configuration can be mobile and flexible in combat. For far targets, machine gun can be used to strafe; For the enemy''s tanks or armored vehicles, they can be destroyed by rocket launchers; As for snipers, they are specialized in sniping valuable targets. During the Warsaw campaign, general askarepov''s combat team caused heavy casualties to the German Waffen SS. "


    What I said caused a new question from the trainees: "Comrade General, what do you mean by the valuable targets for snipers?"


    "Comrade cadet, there are many valuable targets to snipe, such as enemy officers, machine gunners, mortars and so on." I looked at the student who asked the question and said slowly, "there is also the enemy''s signalman. As long as he is found, he will be killed by all means."


    I''m afraid that you don''t understand me, so I specially explained: "you should know that in most street battles, it''s extremely difficult to obtain intelligence, because the two sides often have their own sides and their own sides. They are changeable, crisscrossing, and the timeliness of intelligence is demanding.


    Coupled with the limitations of communication technology, the installation rate of communication equipment is not high, and a small number of telephone lines may be cut off at any time. Therefore, no matter the enemy or our army, when the company platoon commander reports the combat situation to the battalion command post, most of them can only rely on the signalmen for information transmission. Once these signalmen become the prey of snipers, the battlefield intelligence will be delayed or even interrupted. "


    After seeing you all, I suddenly realized, and I went on to talk about the most crucial part of street fighting: "the logistics in street fighting is also the key to the struggle between the two sides. Street fighting was originally a battle after the enemy broke the city. In this most difficult time, logistics supplies are like lifelines, maintaining the combat effectiveness and morale of the front-line troops.


    Let''s imagine that if in the street battle of Stalingrad, our army didn''t fight to keep the Volga River Ferry, keep the water transportation line with the east bank, and constantly supply the living forces and ammunition to the city, could we win the final victory? "


    Without waiting for everyone to answer, the bell rang after class. I simply packed up the things on the table and announced aloud: "I will talk about how to defend in the city war for the time being. In the next lesson, I will introduce to you how to attack in the city war. Class is over The student on duty called out: "stand up!" With his command, thirty students stood up in unison. I put the information under my armpit and walked out of the classroom quickly. As I am a temporary teacher, neither bujoni nor voroshlov has arranged a special office for me. After class, I can only go to the dean''s office. I had just sat down on the bench in the dean''s office when Zhukov and voroshlov came together. I looked behind them, but I didn''t find bujoni. I couldn''t help asking curiously, "where is marshal bujoni?" "He went to prepare the classroom for you," Voroshilov said After hearing this, I asked, "isn''t the next class going on in the classroom just now?"¡° That''s natural, "said voroshlov with a shrug." as you can see, that classroom can only hold 30 or 40 people at most. If it''s 200 people, you can''t sit down. "¡° Two hundred, what two hundred? " Voloshlov''s words puzzled me: "not only 30 students, but also 200 students?"¡° Rita, the city defense you just talked about is really wonderful. " Voloshlov explained to me: "I discussed with marshal bujoni and thought that more students should be allowed to attend the class, so I changed to the ladder classroom next class, which can accommodate 200 people." Before I could raise my objection, Zhukov said, "yes, Rita, you just gave a wonderful speech in class. I really didn''t expect that you could sum up the characteristics of urban warfare so well, which is an eye opener for me. Next class, I''m waiting for you to summarize how to attack in the city. I hope you don''t let me down Zhukov and voroshlov are all optimistic about me, which makes me feel pessimistic about my future destiny. If I am really left here to be a teacher, my dream of Marshal will be completely disillusioned.

 Chapter 1637

    The second class was arranged in the ladder classroom of the school by bujoni. In order to prevent me from stage fright when I saw too many people attending the class, after the bell rang, three marshals accompanied me into the church.


    As soon as I came into the classroom, I heard someone shouting the command: "stand up!"


    With the sound of the command, hundreds of people in the whole classroom stood up and saluted us.


    Bujoni took the lead to the podium, raised his hands and pressed them down, shouting, "sit down!"


    When all the students were seated again, bujonny winked at Zhukov. Then they went to the first row to find a seat. Only voroshlov stood beside me.


    To tell you the truth, as soon as I walked into the classroom and saw the black students on the seats, my scalp exploded. If I said that it was 200 students, I could not beat 300 people.


    Voroshlov went to the platform and blew into the microphone on the desk to test whether the effect was good. After the test, he picked up the microphone, faced the students and said, "comrades commander, most of you here will be assigned to various battlefields in half a month. Before you leave the college, we specially invited our excellent commander, comrade o''shanina, who has rich combat experience, to give you a lecture. When the war broke out, she was still an ordinary housewife. Later, she joined the army and was promoted again and again because of her military achievements. Now she has taken the post of deputy commander of the front army. Well, now Rita mushdakova oshanina is giving a lecture for you... "With that, he takes the lead in clapping.


    When there was thunderous applause in the classroom, voroshlov came down from the platform and said to me, "all right, Rita, it''s your turn to play!"


    I nodded, took a deep breath, and stepped onto the platform with firm steps. But when I was faced with the black students, my mind suddenly went blank, and I couldn''t remember what I should say.


    The students and several marshals sitting below all looked at me in surprise. Maybe they were wondering why I stood on the platform and didn''t speak.


    Here, I seem to hear myself talking from the side: "comrades commander, when I know that I have the honor to give a lecture to you in this world-famous military academy, I secretly ask myself: who am I to be qualified to give a lecture to you excellent commanders from all fronts?"


    After I said the opening remarks, my mind suddenly relaxed and my thinking became clear again. I went on to say: "last class, I told 30 students how to carry out the attack in the city war if they carried out the defense in the city war. However, since most of the commanders failed to hear what I said last class, I will tell you again here. "


    Because I have a lot to talk about today, I only used a quarter of an hour to retell the contents of the last class to all the students. After a period of backwardness, I went on to say, "now that we have finished talking about defense in urban warfare, then we will discuss how to carry out the attack. In order to give you a perceptual understanding, I am going to take the capture of Berlin as an example to explain in detail how to carry out offensive operations in urban warfare. "


    As soon as my voice fell, the students below were in an uproar. Some people even yelled at me: "Comrade General, our troops are more than 600 kilometers away from Berlin, but you are telling us about the battle of conquering Berlin. Isn''t that a bit too far?"


    The student''s words immediately resonated with the nearby students, and they began to roar one after another. I just looked at them silently and didn''t say anything to stop them, because I knew that there were several marshals below who could help me.


    "Be quiet, everyone Seeing that there was a tendency to lose control of the scene, bujoni quickly stood up from his seat, turned to the students who were making trouble and yelled, "do you still have any sense of discipline?"


    As soon as bujoni came out, the students who had been making a lot of trouble immediately calmed down. I took the opportunity to say: "although our army is more than 600 kilometers away from Berlin, the German army has exhausted its resources and materials, and our army can get a lot of manpower from the guerrillas and the former enemy occupied areas because of the liberation of Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and other regions. In the face of our strong offensive, the Germans will soon be unable to support it. "


    The voice just sounded again, probably for fear of being reprimanded by bujoni. He asked cautiously: "when do you think our army will attack Berlin?"


    At last, I could see clearly that the speaker was a major general. It was estimated that he was the commander of a guard division. Instead of answering his question, I asked, "Comrade General, can you tell me when the Great Patriotic War broke out?"


    The general stood up and replied without hesitation, "June 22, 1941." After answering my question, he looked left and right and gave a dry smile. "I think even a three-year-old knows the answer."


    All around the students burst into laughter, but as bujoni turned to look at them, he immediately calmed down.


    "Thank you, Comrade General!" After the general replied to me, I continued to follow my own way of thinking and said, "although our army is currently blocked in Warsaw, from all kinds of signs, it will take us at most another year or even less to completely defeat Germany. Maybe we will celebrate the victory of the Great Patriotic War in Red Square on the anniversary of the outbreak of the patriotic war. I have such confidence, do you? " When the general heard my question, he hesitated for a moment, and then hurriedly replied, "yes, there must be such confidence. I also think that we can completely defeat the Communist aggressors in one year. " After these words, he hesitated for a moment, then asked carefully, "may I sit down?"¡° Please sit down, Comrade General In order to prevent myself from being interrupted during the lecture, I would like to remind the teachers and students here: "comrades, I have a request. Please don''t disturb me when I''m giving a lecture. If you have any questions, you can discuss them with me after I finish. Is that all right? "¡° All right All the people replied in unison. After the classroom quieted down again, we began to talk about the main points of the urban offensive War: "as one side of the offensive, we will face four problems: first, the Germans are more familiar with the terrain than us. They can take advantage of the city''s ruins, buildings, numerous pipelines and the characteristics of the subway system in all directions to build a solid defense, And according to the specific situation, flexible use of defense or attack; The second is to fight in the city. Our tanks and armored vehicles can''t be launched, so it''s very easy to be approached and destroyed by the enemy''s anti tank hands. As long as the first armored vehicle of the long armored column is destroyed, it''s a sign that the whole team is surrounded and trapped in a bitter battle; Third, in street battles, it is difficult for our infantry to get artillery and air support; Fourth, communication between the various forces must be ensured to be smooth, otherwise it will be easy to be divided and surrounded by the enemy. " After talking about the four common difficulties in offensive warfare, I deliberately stopped to observe your performance. What makes me happy is that almost all of us are busy writing books to record what I have said as quickly as possible. I waited for most people to finish the record and looked up at me before I said, "to capture Berlin, our army is bound to have a fierce fight with the Germans in every street, every building, every room, every sewer and even every subway station. Next, I''d like to talk about how infantry can carry out street fighting without any technical support. According to the previous cases, our army used to charge in groups. Dozens, hundreds or even hundreds of officers and men crowded in the narrow streets to charge the enemy. " In order to make you understand, I turned around and drew a diagram on the blackboard with chalk: "please look at this diagram I drew. For example, only eight people can walk side by side in the street. When we attack the enemy with 100 soldiers, we have to stand at least 12 to 15 rows. To block our attack, the German only needed a machine gun and a few rifles. We can imagine that in most streets, there is a scene like this: our soldiers who rush to the front are swept to the ground by the enemy''s machine guns, and the soldiers who follow behind are unable to dodge and trip over the corpses, making the pile of people and corpses higher and higher. Those who are not tripped are swept face to face by the machine guns, and some of them even have no space to fall down after being shot, They directly lean on their companions in the back, and the lethal bullets, under the inertia, will continue to penetrate the bodies of the soldiers who have been sacrificed, and shoot into the bodies of the soldiers in the back, so that the dead and living soldiers will be thoroughly clothed. " Although I have reminded you that I will raise any questions when I finish speaking, I didn''t expect that I raised my hand to ask questions just now. If it was an ordinary student or even a teacher, I would not answer, but the one who raised his hand to ask the question was bujoni. I could only smile bitterly, and then made a gesture of invitation to him: "marshal, you can raise any questions."¡° Comrade oshanina, "bujoni asked me with a serious expression," I have heard of the situation you just mentioned, but it is still very common. This may be related to the lack of experience in street fighting among our army commanders and fighters. Can you tell me what can be done to break through the German line successfully while reducing casualties

 Chapter 1638

    Seeing that the old marshal bujoni asked me for advice with such a low attitude, I naturally could not hide. After asking him to sit down, I turned to add some chalk on the schematic diagram on the blackboard and said to everyone, "comrades, in order to avoid unnecessary sacrifice, we should never use the sea of people tactics when the streets are narrow and the buildings on both sides are relatively intact.


    We should take the platoon as a unit, adopt a sparse formation, stick to the two sides of the building, rely on the door openings, debris and all the things used as bunkers, and approach the enemy''s defensive positions. At the same time, a part of the troops should be sent into the building, and the way of blasting through the wall should be used to approach and eliminate the enemy''s firepower points from the building.... "


    After explaining in detail how to use simple troops to capture German fortifications in the street battle, I began to move out my favorite "bayonet on cannon" tactic: "after introducing the simple infantry combat in the street battle, we will discuss how to use tanks and artillery in the street battle.


    In order to annihilate the stubborn German troops in the city, we can put in heavy tanks and self-propelled howitzers in the street battle, and deploy these big guys 200 to 300 meters away from the enemy''s target to carry out direct fire; If long-range artillery support is needed, the self propelled howitzer can also raise the barrel for bending.


    Theoretically speaking, no matter how strong the German fortification is, one or two guns will cost them. However, we should not take it lightly because the mountain of debris generated by the collapsed buildings will make it difficult for our technical equipment to move. The enemy''s anti tank fighters hiding in the ruins will also attack our tanks with flasks and iron fists.


    In this case, what should we do? "


    After I asked this question, I stopped to see the reaction of the students. All the people below stopped their pens and looked up at me, waiting for my final answer.


    "In urban warfare, the use of infantry or technical equipment alone may lead to the failure of attack. Therefore, we should adopt the mixed formation tactics to equip the infantry with heavy tanks and self-propelled artillery, so that the infantry and technical equipment can cover each other." I said in a loud voice to the microphone: "you can imagine that in the face of such a mixed army, the German Anti Tank Man has just raised his iron fist rocket, and before he pulls the trigger, he will be killed by our infantry; Once our infantry are intercepted by German fire, tanks or self-propelled artillery following them can be destroyed in the shortest time by artillery fire


    Well, I''ve finished. If you have any questions, you can ask me. "


    As soon as I spoke, I raised hundreds of arms in unison. I pointed to the nearest colonel and said, "the seventh Colonel on the left of the first row, please ask your question."


    The Colonel I ordered stood up and asked respectfully, "Comrade General, I would like to ask how we can deal with him if the German army transforms several adjacent buildings into the new defensive fortresses you said."


    "Comrade Colonel, your question is very interesting. If the enemy builds several adjacent defensive fortresses, our tanks or self-propelled guns may be attacked by their anti tank fire when they approach these targets. " I said slowly: "if I command the attacking troops, I will not let tanks or self-propelled guns attack the enemy''s hidden positions, but will let them bombard the upper part of the building, let the collapsed bricks and stones block the firing range of anti tank guns, and make the enemy''s anti tank guns deployed in the basement useless."


    The colonel looked like a commander with rich combat experience. Although I only talked about how to deal with the German anti tank guns, his face was relieved. He nodded to me: "I see, comrade general, thank you for your advice."


    The second lieutenant commander, before asking questions, first introduced himself, saying that he was a commander of a certain tank army, and then asked me: "Comrade General, as far as I know, the usual way of German defense in street warfare is to hide firepower in high-rise buildings or ruins, and to blast buildings on our army''s only way, piling up mountains of debris, It makes our tanks and infantry unable to move. When we try to cross these obstacles, we will expose ourselves to the German machine gun firing area. What measures should we take to deal with it


    The question raised by the tank commander really baffled me, because it would cost huge casualties to pass through such a section no matter what. After a long silence, I said: "Comrade commander, in this case, self-propelled artillery must be used to bombard the German occupied buildings, while our soldiers, taking advantage of the enemy being suppressed by the artillery fire, quickly pass through the obstacle area with the platoon as a unit. However, doing so may cause many soldiers to be injured by the fire of our army. "


    "In order to win, the necessary sacrifice is worth it." Fortunately, at this time, Voroshilov stood up and said a fair word for me: "well, if you still have any questions, please continue to ask Comrade oshanina."


    "General o''shanina, I want to ask." A lieutenant general sitting behind Voroshilov stood up and asked sincerely, "can you tell us what to do when fighting for buildings with the Germans?"


    "... when breaking into the building, one of the soldiers first dropped a grenade against the wall and stood guard at the door. After the explosion, the rest rushed in quickly to clean up the remaining enemy troops. When searching by the stairs, our soldiers used the stairs as a cover to drop bombs at the corner, and after the explosion, they used smoke to cover the upward assault. After occupying the buildings, the troops were quickly deployed and the fortifications were repaired, which served as the basis for the next attack and defense. Of course, if our army had a flamethrower, it would be more useful in capturing buildings. As long as the flamethrowers are used to spray flames into the room where the German army is hiding, they will soon escape from the room full of fire and become the living targets of the soldiers. " It took me only one and a half hours to give you a lecture, but it took me no less than two hours to answer all kinds of questions. Finally, Zhukov couldn''t watch any more. He stood up and said to the back, "OK, that''s all for today''s class. General o''shanina will stay in the college for a while. If you have any questions, you can ask her another time. Class is over now

 Chapter 1639

    After I went back to the dean''s office with the three marshals, they had a discussion about my future.


    First of all, Voroshilov said, "Rita, your lecture today is very wonderful. It can be said that it has far exceeded the expectation of me and the dean. I think it''s a good choice to stay in the Military Academy of vorongze as a teacher with your ability. What do you say, comrade Marshal? " What he said later was to Zhukov.


    Zhukov looked at me, then shook his head and said, "marshal voroshlov, I think it''s better for Rita to be on the front line than on the platform of the military academy. Only by constantly participating in various battles can she sum up more effective tactics. If she had never participated in any street battles, she would not have been able to tell such a wonderful story today. This is the result of her hard work in recent years. "


    "Comrade Zhukov," bujoni said, "I think the Great Patriotic War is coming to an end. After the war is over, it is certain that the country will carry out substantial disarmament. Instead of waiting for Disarmament and looking for a way out for Comrade oshanina, we should plan ahead and arrange a post for her in the college first, so that there will not be too many soldiers who will change their jobs when they get it, and there will be no good position for her. "


    "What do you think, Rita?" When voroshlov saw that everyone''s views were different, he took the initiative to ask my opinion: "do you want to go back to the front line, or do you want to stay in the college as a teacher?"


    "Marshal," I said politely, looking at voloshlov, "I still like the life in the front line, so I can only say sorry to you and marshal bujoni for being a teacher."


    My words made both bujoni and voroshlov look disappointed. After they looked at each other, bujoni said with regret, "it''s a pity. Originally, when we were listening to the class today, we were glad to have an excellent teacher in our college, but it turned out to be an empty joy."


    Zhukov raised his hand to look at his watch, looked at them and asked, "two marshals, it''s not too early now. If you don''t want to keep Rita and me for dinner, we''ll go first."


    After hearing this, they burst into laughter. Bujoni stood up and said apologetically, "blame me, blame me, patronize to talk, forget that we haven''t had dinner yet." With that, he quickly walked to his desk, picked up the phone headset, dialed a few numbers on the dial and said, "Hello, is that the faculty canteen? I''m bujoni. Prepare four dinners for me. Besides... "


    In less than ten minutes, the conference table we sat around was full of dinners sent by the staff of the college canteen: in addition to a portion of Georgia fried rice for one person, there were mutton stewed with potatoes, roast chicken covered with shredded onion and coriander, meat jelly cut into small pieces, pickled cucumbers, pickled mushrooms, pickled tomatoes and so on, as well as a bottle of whisky and several goblets.


    Voroshlov skillfully pulled the cork off the bottle with the screw stopper, put the bottle close to a goblet, looked at me and asked, "Rita, would you like some, too?"


    "Thank you for your kindness, comrade marshal." I hurriedly waved my hand to voroshlov and said, "I can''t drink at all. I get drunk when I touch it."


    But voroshlov looked at me, shook his head in disbelief, and prepared to pour whiskey into the glass. In this room, as the lowest level of a person, how can I let marshals pour their own wine? I quickly got up, took the bottle from voroshlov''s hand, poured some whiskey into the three goblets, and then placed it in front of them.


    "I know Rita can''t drink, so don''t force her." Zhukov raised his goblet and waved to the other two marshals


    "Good health!" The two marshals also raised their glasses and drank all the whiskey in them after learning from Zhukov. Seeing that all three of them had finished their glasses, I quickly got up again and filled them with wine.


    After another sip of whisky, bujoni suddenly asked, "Georgie constantinovic, have you heard?"


    When Zhukov, who was about to drink, heard bujoni say so, he quickly stopped his glass, looked at the other side and asked, "what did you hear?"


    "It is said that in the future, all the front forces will be directly led by the supreme command," bujoni added. "That is to say, before long, all the representatives of the Supreme Command responsible for coordinating the actions of the front forces will be removed, including the removal of your present position."


    Zhukov took a sip of the wine and said calmly, "yes, I heard the rumor, too. At present, the number of the front forces has been reduced, the width of the whole front has also been narrowed, and it has become easier to lead the front forces. Therefore, it is entirely possible for the supreme command to direct the front forces. "


    Bujoni took the goblet I handed him and asked half seriously and half jokingly, "Comrade Zhukov, you don''t say that because you are angry, do you?"


    "What''s the joke," Zhukov said with a shrug of his shoulders when he heard bujoni''s words. "Even if the representative of the supreme command is canceled, vasilevsky and I will not lose our jobs." He said here, pausing for a moment, and then went on, "if possible, I would even like to personally command a front army and participate in the final war against the German Communist Party."


    When I heard the conversation, I was just surprised. I don''t know whether what bujoni said was unintentional or entrusted by Stalin to test Zhukov? Anyway, it won''t be long before Zhukov takes over as commander of the first front army of Belarus.


    "Well, don''t talk about all these negative things any more," voloshlov waved. "Eat quickly. If you don''t, it will be cold."


    We were having dinner when the telephone rang on our desk. Buqiongni just want to get up, but was sitting next to Voroshilov pressed: "you drink too much, or I come to answer the phone."


    Voroshilov came to the table, picked up the earphone, stuck it to his ear and said, "I''m Voroshilov. Where are you?" What? What''s the matter Hell, call some troublemakers to the dean''s office immediately. "


    Voroshilov put down the phone, went back to the conference table and said to me angrily, "the canteen administrator just called and said that several school level officers were fighting in the canteen, making it a mess. I have ordered them to report here immediately. I want to find out what they are fighting for


    Bujoni got up and just wanted to say something, but his legs softened and he fell back to his seat. Voroshilov quickly bent down and said to him, "old man, you are drunk. Let me handle this matter."


    After a while, five school level officers came to the dean''s office and formed a line according to their ranks. Voroshilov came to their forehead, walked from the head of the team to the end of the team, then from the end of the team to the head of the team, finally stopped, looked at these students who were much higher than him, and asked: "comrades commander, you must know that you are the intermediate Commander of the Red Army, not the hooligans on the street. Please tell me frankly, why do you fight in the canteen? "


    A bruised major at the end of the line, after listening to voloshlov''s words, glared at the colonel who was standing opposite. Then he stepped forward and faced voloshlov and said, "report to marshal, I started to hit people first."


    "Major, what part are you?" Voroshlov looked at the major and asked sternly, "why do you hit people?"


    "Marshal, I''m major Shasa, deputy head of the 254th guard regiment of the 56th division of the guards." The major held his chin high and said, "I wanted to hit the colonel, and then his men came to besiege me."


    "Major, you''re very capable. You can fight four at a time." Voroshlov originally said this with a smile, but a moment later, his smile froze on his face. He pointed to Sasha and said in surprise, "which army do you think you are from?"


    "The 54th guard regiment of the 56th division." Once again, Sasha repeated the number of her troops.


    I didn''t respond to the number because I didn''t understand the unit at all. But Zhukov was thrilled. He got up from his seat, walked up to the major and asked tentatively, "is it the Matrosov guards?"


    After listening to Zhukov''s words, the major immediately showed a surprise expression on his face: "yes, marshal, it''s matlosov''s guards."


    After listening to the major''s reply, Zhukov''s face showed a smile. He asked softly, "major, can you tell me why you are fighting with this Colonel? You know, in the army, if a subordinate beats a superior, he will be sent to a military court. "


    "Comrade marshal, I know." Major Sasha nodded his head and said, "he''s slandering the hero of our regiment. I couldn''t help it for a moment, so I started at him."


    Voroshlov looked at the colonel and asked sternly, "is he telling the truth?"


    "Yes," replied the colonel, with his head bowed a little sheepishly, "I''ve drunk too much, nonsense."


    "Well, you don''t have to explain. I understand." Voroshilov went up to the other three officers and asked with a straight face, "I think you did it because you saw your superiors being beaten by others, didn''t you?"


    While Zhukov and voroshlov were dealing with several officers, I approached bujonny and asked in a low voice, "Comrade marshal, who is this matlosov? Why would he name a guard regiment after him?"


    Hearing my question, buffoni''s eyes were as wide as brass bells. He was surprised and asked, "have you never heard of Matrosov?"


    "No," I heard from the tone of buqiongni. It must be an important person, but I haven''t heard of it. No wonder buqiongni despises it. I asked carefully, "Comrade marshal, can you tell me something about it?"


    Seeing that I didn''t seem to be joking, the drunken bujonny blurted out to me: "on the army day of February 23, 1943, matlosov bravely blocked the gun hole of the German blockhouse with his own body in the battle of seizing chernush village, and made a glorious sacrifice to protect his comrades from occupying the enemy''s position.


    After knowing his heroic deeds, comrade Stalin personally signed order No. 269 of the people''s Commission of national defense, posthumously awarded him the title of "Soviet hero" and named his regiment after him. "


    After listening to bujoni''s explanation, I couldn''t help but be deeply interested in what the colonel said, which actually attracted major Sasa''s fists. After listening carefully to the Colonel''s explanation, I finally got to the bottom of the story. It turns out that when they were eating, the colonel might have drunk too much, and some of his subordinates did not know how to talk about matlosov. He said that matlosov might have accidentally stepped into the air when he rushed to the enemy''s firepower, just in front of the shooting hole, temporarily blocking the sight of the German machine gunners. At this moment, the Soviet troops rushed up, and those comrades in arms saw Matrosov fall in front of the machine gun, mistaking him for blocking the enemy''s loophole. After hearing the self defense of both sides, Zhukov''s face suddenly became cold and stern. He said to the colonel, "Comrade Colonel, do you know that you are insulting a hero who was personally awarded the title of" Soviet hero "by Comrade Stalin. With that, I can take you to court martial. " Seeing that the Colonel lowered his head in shame, a lieutenant commander next to him admitted his mistake to Zhukov and said, "Comrade marshal, we are wrong. We are going to admit our mistake to major Sasa. Please forgive us." Seeing his subordinates pleading for him, the Colonel quickly pushed the boat forward and said, "yes, marshal, I''m to blame for drinking too much and saying things I shouldn''t have said. I''m going to apologize to major Sasha. " With that, he walked out of the line and saluted Sasha, "I''m sorry, comrade major. It''s my fault. Please forgive me!" Because this is an internal matter of the military academy, Zhukov can not interfere too much. He stepped back, turned his eyes to voroshlov, and motioned him to deal with this matter. Voroshilov looked at the five officers in front of him. After a long breath, he said, "well, I think today''s event is a misunderstanding. If this kind of behavior insults our army heroes in the future, I will wipe you out to the end, whether you are a colonel or a general. All right, let''s go out. " With a loud promise, the five officers turned back, formed a column, and walked out of the dean''s office with neat steps. When the officers left, Zhukov turned to me and asked, "Rita, what do you think of this?"¡° The marshal handled it very properly. " After flattering voroshlov, I looked at the back of the officers who left and said thoughtfully, "major Sasa even spared no effort to fight his superiors in order to protect the collective honor. Well done, good job. "

 Chapter 1640

    For the next few days, I continued to work as a teacher at the Military Academy of vorongze on the Moscow river. Because I have no goods in my stomach, I can only analyze the battles I have participated in in class and comment on the experience and lessons that this battle has brought us. I didn''t expect that my way of lecturing was very popular with the students. For this reason, bujoni and voroshlov have praised me several times.


    One October day, after class, I walked across the playground towards the school gate, planning to take the subway to go home nearby. A lot of students gathered in the playground, from major to major general. They formed different circles according to the degree of intimacy. When they saw me passing by, they would stop talking and raise their hands to salute me.


    From time to time, I raised my hand to salute the students. At the same time, I quickened my pace and walked towards the school gate¡° Comrade general, "at this moment, I suddenly heard a timid voice calling me. I quickly stopped and looked in the direction of the voice. I saw a handsome young officer standing not far from me.


    I took a quick glance at the rank on his shoulder and then politely asked, "Comrade major, are you calling me?"


    Perhaps the major recognized my politeness with estrangement and immediately reminded me, "Comrade General, don''t you remember me?"


    I carefully looked at the major in front of me, trying to find a matching image in my mind. But after thinking about it for a long time, although I thought he was very familiar, I couldn''t remember where I met him. I could only tentatively ask, "major, which class are you in? Have I taught you any lessons?"


    "Comrade General, I haven''t had the honor to hear your lecture." The major replied with a smile, "don''t you really remember me?"


    I said in my heart, who are you? You are not a big man. Why should I remember you? I didn''t have the heart to play riddles with him, so I said impatiently, "I''m sorry, comrade major. Although you look familiar, I really can''t remember where I met you."


    The major listened to me with a look of disappointment: "Comrade General, you really don''t know me."


    "I don''t know!" I said coldly.


    Just as I was about to turn around and walk away, I heard the major say, "do you remember the five officers I met in the Dean the other day, the ones fighting in the canteen?"


    As soon as he talked about the officers fighting in the canteen, my mind immediately began to recall the situation that day. At the head of the line was a colonel, followed by two colonels and two majors. Was this one of the two majors? I carefully looked at the major, and at the same time compared with the two people in my memory, the more he looked like the bruised major at the end of the line.


    So I pointed to him: "you are the deputy head of the 254th guard regiment of the 56th division, major Sasa!"


    "Yes, yes, comrade general, it''s me." Hearing that I accurately named his position and name, Sasa said excitedly, "your memory is so good that you still remember me."


    For his praise, I can''t help laughing bitterly in my heart. My heart said that if it wasn''t for your reminding, I would never think of who you are. I gave him a smile and asked, "major, how''s the wound on your face?"


    "It''s been a long time," Sasa said to me with a smile. "Thank you for your concern!"


    After I found out the identity of the major, I immediately contacted Matrosov, because later there emerged heroes in various countries who took him as an example to block the enemy''s loopholes, so I was very interested in this hero, so I asked Sasa curiously: "Comrade major, can you tell me the story of Matrosov? You know, if it wasn''t for the unpleasant things that happened that day, I really didn''t know that such an excellent hero was born. "


    "Comrade General, I''ll show you something. After you see it, you can understand what kind of hero matlosov is." He took out his military card from his coat pocket and took out a piece of paper folded into a square.


    I quickly reached for the paper in his hand and unfolded it in front of my eyes. It read: "Order No. 269 of the people''s National Defense Commission


    On February 23, 1943, Alexander matyoyevich matlosov, an ordinary guard soldier of the 54th commando regiment of the 56th guard division, rushed to a firepower point of the enemy at the decisive moment of fighting against the German bandits in the village of chernush. He covered the gun hole with his own body and sacrificed himself, thus ensuring the victory of the wrong attack.


    On June 19, 1943, the presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union ordered that Comrade matlosov, an ordinary soldier of the close guard army, be recognized as a hero of the Soviet Union. Comrade matlosov''s great contributions should serve as an example of bravery and heroism for all the officers and men of the Red Army.


    In memory of Alexander matyoyevich matlosov, a hero of the Soviet Union and a soldier of the common guards, my order is as follows:


    1¡¢ The 254th guard regiment of the 56th division was officially named "Alexander matlosov 254th guard regiment";


    2¡¢ The name of Alexander matlosov, a Soviet hero and ordinary guard soldier, will always be included in the roster of the first company of Alexander matlosov''s 254 guard regiment.


    Stalin, Soviet marshal of the people''s Commission of national defense. "I finally understand why Zhukov threatened the Colonel that night, saying that he insulted the hero who was personally recognized by Stalin and wanted to take him to the military court. According to the order in hand, matlosov is a hero appointed by Stalin. No one is allowed to question his heroic behavior. Maybe it is because of this that although major Sasa started beating people a few days ago, and he was still an officer with a higher rank than himself, in the end, voroshlov became a major event and a minor event. I pointed to the second item of the order and asked curiously, "Comrade major, what do you mean by permanently listing matlosov''s name on the list of the first company?" Sasa looked at me in surprise and answered truthfully, "that means as long as the first company exists, matlosov''s name will be on the roster. Every morning, when the company commander reads his name, all the soldiers will answer "here!" I can''t help but think of * * through Sasha''s explanation. It''s said that when the car where he lived was called every morning, as long as his name was called, all the soldiers would reply loudly: "here we are!"¡° Major, "I folded the order signed by Stalin himself and handed it back to Sasa. At the same time, I asked," after being posthumously awarded as a hero of the Soviet Union, has Matrosov encouraged all the soldiers? "¡° Yes, Comrade General. " Sasha carefully put the order into the military certificate, and then replied: "on the day of receiving the order signed by Comrade Stalin, our commanders and fighters swore in front of the flag of the New Guard Corps: we should learn from Comrade matlosov and serve our motherland with our own blood and life."¡° I think the soldiers have all fulfilled their promise? "¡° Yes, comrade general, you are right. The soldiers of our regiment have proved this with their own actions in countless battles. " Sasha said to me solemnly: "once when we were seizing an important highland, we were tenaciously blocked by the German army, and we were defeated by the enemy for three consecutive charges. In the face of the enemy''s intensive fire, the company''s instructor, Lieutenant frannoff, stood up and yelled to the soldiers, "comrades, if anyone feels afraid or difficult, just think of Matrosov. Follow me, brothers, for the motherland, for Stalin, move forward! " At the call of frennoff, the soldiers bravely stood up from their hiding place and charged towards the enemy''s position again. After a fierce battle, we drove the enemy away from the high ground. " When I heard this, I couldn''t help saying: "the power of example is infinite!"¡° No, Comrade General. " As if she had found a bosom friend, Sasha continued to say: "later, when our regiment was carrying out the interleaved mission, a soldier of a platoon seized a high ground and blocked the retreat of the German army They beat back the enemy''s attack after attack, and at last there was only one soldier left in the whole platoon. When he called to report to the company commander, he asked him, "how many people are left?" The soldier replied, "matlosov and I are fighting side by side!" When it comes to Matrosov, the deputy head of Matrosov''s guards seems to have so much to say that I don''t even have a chance to interrupt. When he came to an end, I quickly cut off the topic: "Comrade major, you haven''t had any conflict with the Colonel these days, have you?"¡° No, "she said, shaking her head." I met him twice in the canteen later. He apologized to me for his drunken remarks that night. " I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I found that I had been chatting with Sasha for almost an hour unconsciously. I said quickly, "Comrade major, I have something else to do. Let''s talk about it another day." After that, he waved to him and walked quickly towards the school gate. As soon as I walked out of the school gate, I saw a black car driving from north to south along the Moscow river. I took a look at the license plate of the car, which belongs to the headquarters of the general staff. I still said in my heart that from the perspective of direction, it should be that I just came out of the Kremlin, and I don''t know whether it''s Antonov or the rest of the members. I didn''t expect the car to stop when it came to me. The back window was rolled down to reveal the familiar face of vassilevsky. He leaned out and waved his head from me: "Rita, get in the car, follow me to the staff headquarters, Marshal Zhukov wants to see you."

 Chapter 1641

    After I sat down beside vasilevsky, I asked in surprise, "Comrade marshal, when did you return to Moscow?"¡° Just came back yesterday, "vasilevsky laughed at me and explained," two days ago, comrade Stalin personally issued an order to cancel the representatives of the supreme command sent to all front forces. I came back and waited for him to arrange new work for me. " After that, he told the driver, "drive!" After waiting for the bus to start, I asked vassilevsky carefully, "do you know what Marshal Zhukov wants me to do, comrade Marshal?"¡° The situation there has changed. The Germans launched a surprise attack on our army. We were caught off guard. " Vasilevsky said solemnly: "when he was in the Kremlin just now, Zhukov called the academy to look for you, but the person who answered the phone said you had left. Zhukov thought you had gone home and sent someone to look for you. He didn''t expect that you were still in the college. " I thought that when Zhukov called me, it must have happened that Sasha was pulling me on the playground and talking all the time. Unexpectedly, she was just chatting, but she almost missed the big event. When I walked into his office behind vasilevsky, Zhukov, who was looking at the map inside, found me and immediately asked angrily, "Rita, where have you been? I couldn''t find anyone in the college, and I couldn''t get through the phone at home. I thought you were kidnapped by the spy. "¡° Well, comrade marshal. " Seeing Zhukov''s expression, my heart screamed that it was not good. In order not to make him angry, I had to make up a half true and half false reason to perfunctory him: "a trainee asked me for advice on tactics, because he talked about speculation, and forgot the time for a while." Perhaps vasilevsky wanted to help me out. As soon as I finished speaking, he immediately asked Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, what''s the current situation there?"¡° The situation is not very good. Batov''s troops have retreated to the narev coast under the strong German offensive. " Zhukov pointed to the map and said to China silevsky: "fortunately, rokosovsky organized the artillery fire on the east bank in time to bombard the attacking enemy, so that our troops avoided being driven down the river."¡° It''s bartov again, "said vasilevsky with a frown." last year, after what he said, I was a fool. I don''t think it''s strange to get medals. It''s very normal for me to get a few medals. What I never expected was that Stalin would promote me to the rank of general at this time. It was just beyond my expectation. I thought that I could get such a promotion only after the capture of Berlin. Seeing me standing still, vasilevsky asked unhappily, "Rita, don''t you know what to say after you get the medal?" Although I didn''t really get the medal at this time, I took a step forward and answered with my head held high: "serve the Soviet motherland!" Zhukov and vasilevsky looked at each other with a smile, then patted the map in front of them with their hands: "OK, we know that you have done a good job in serving our motherland. Now come and look at the map first, and we''ll study how to deal with these ignorant Germans. "

 Chapter 1642

    When I took off from Moscow''s military airport, the sky was covered with leaden clouds, and the snowflakes were falling down endlessly from the depths of the sky.


    I heard the co pilot say to the pilot in a loud voice, "Comrade captain, I hope there will be a good weather when we get over Poland."


    Who knows that things backfired. When our plane approached Lublin, we found that it was raining cats and dogs. Seeing this, I couldn''t help laughing bitterly. I said that when I set out from Moscow, I caught up with the snow. Unexpectedly, I caught up with the rainstorm here in Lublin. Within a few hours, we went through the process from winter to summer.


    The co pilot came out of the cab and asked me, "Comrade General, it''s raining heavily in the Lublin area. Our plane can''t land. Do you want to fly to another airport?"


    "To which airport?" As there was too much noise in the cabin, I repeated what I said before he could hear it clearly. He pointed to the map and said to me, "here, in shedertzee, east of Warsaw, it only takes us a few minutes to get to our destination."


    I know that there is a field airport in shedertzee, and the headquarters of the 70th army is nearby. If I land here, I can get in touch with rokosovsky immediately, so I decisively ordered the co pilot: "OK, we will land here in shedertzee!"


    When the plane arrived at shedertzee, there was still a torrential rain. After contacting the ground control tower, the pilot regretfully told me, "Comrade General, the runway here has been damaged by the rain. If we want to land, there may be danger. Shall we alternate to other airports?"


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I found that I had been flying in the air for nearly five hours since taking off from Moscow. Then I frowned and asked the pilot, "Comrade pilot, how long can we fly with our fuel?"


    The pilot hesitated for a moment, and replied, "about ten more minutes."


    I quickly picked up the flight map and looked at it. I found that any nearest alternate airport had to fly for more than 10 minutes, and I didn''t know what the weather was like that day. If we rashly chose a direction to fly there, we still couldn''t land safely, and the fuel was exhausted. Then we would have to wait for the plane to crash and people to die.


    In view of the current grim situation, I decisively gave the order to the pilot: "land here!"


    "But, Comrade General." The pilot tried to persuade me to change my mind. "The shells in the airport below are all damaged by the rain. If we want to land by force, our lives will be in danger."


    "The existing fuel of the plane can''t support us to fly further." I looked at the pilot and said firmly, "so we have to risk landing here."


    "Well, I''ll let you know, general." Seeing that my attitude was so firm, the pilot had no choice but to say, "I will obey your order. Now please sit down. I''m ready to make a forced landing


    When the plane began to lower its altitude, I began to pray in my heart that the plane would land safely. If anything happens, I will set a regrettable record in the history of the Soviet Army: on the first day when I was promoted to general, I died because of the air crash. It is quite comparable to the German general Hans Valentine Hube, who won the title the day before and died the next day.


    Soon, I felt a sudden shock from the fuselage, and then the wheels fell onto the track full of water and continued to bump forward. Just when I thought the landing had been successful, the fuselage tilted sharply in one direction, and then plunged into a puddle beside the runway. The huge inertia made the plane slide forward for tens of meters before it stopped. This violent shock made me feel as if all my internal organs had moved.


    I lay in my seat and couldn''t move. The pilot with blood on his face came out of the cab, untied the seat belt tied to my waist, dragged me out of the plane and helped me limp to the direction of the command tower. After a few steps, I suddenly remembered that the co pilot was still in the cab. I quickly stopped and said to the pilot, "Comrade captain, your co pilot is still in the plane. Go and rescue him quickly."


    "Comrade General," the pilot said anxiously to me, "the plane may explode. I''ll take you to a safe place first, and then come back to save him."


    I turned around and looked back. I saw the plane with one wing broken. It was soaking in a puddle. I couldn''t see a spark in the pouring rain. It didn''t look like it would explode. I pointed to the plane and said loudly to the pilot, "Comrade captain, we can''t leave our Comrade behind at any time. No matter he is injured or killed, we must take him with us. Do you understand?"


    "I understand!" With a loud promise, the pilot turned and ran back to the plane, and got in through the hatch we just came out of. When I was thinking about whether I should step forward to help, I suddenly heard a noise coming from the distance. Turning around, I saw a long motorcade of jeeps, ambulances, fire engines and tractors coming towards the crash site.


    Ten minutes later, the three of us came to the temporary medical station of the airport, where we received simple bandage and treatment. The pilot hurt his forehead and leg when the plane overturned; The co pilot was unlucky. He was still in a coma, and his right leg was fractured. The military doctor was casting him.


    The military doctor examined me, and then said to me with relief, "Comrade General, you have only a slight concussion. Just take a short rest." Group army commander Popov came in a hurry when he heard the news. As soon as he saw me, he held my hand and asked questions. After he got that I was ok, he was relieved. Because I was eager to get in touch with rokosovsky, after a brief conversation with Popov, I urged him: "Comrade General, take me to your headquarters. I have something urgent to get in touch with marshal rokosovsky immediately."¡° However, comrade deputy commander. " Popov listened to me and looked at the military doctor who was casting plaster for the co pilot. He said in embarrassment, "you just had an air crash. What you need now is rest."¡° It''s OK, "I waved my hand and said confidently," my injury doesn''t matter. Take me to your headquarters immediately. "¡° Comrade commander, "the military doctor stopped his work and said to Popov," the general has only a slight concussion. He only needs to have a good rest for two days Seeing that the military doctor said that I had nothing to do, Popov didn''t insist on his opinion and drove me to his headquarters. As a member of the headquarters of the 70th group army, I once said hello some time ago. I still have a little impression of who is in charge of that stall. As soon as I entered the door, I told the communication director who came by: "Comrade Colonel, connect me with the headquarters of the front army and find chief of staff malining. I have something important to do." The phone was soon connected. Hearing malining''s voice coming from the earphone, I quickly asked, "chief of staff, I''m oshanina. Can you tell me where the marshal is?"¡° He''s in viskov. " Malining replied briefly: "due to unexpected situation in the defense zone of the 65th army, he went to the headquarters of the 65th army in viskov with military commissar jerekin, artillery commander kazakov, tank commander Orel and engineer commander proshlyakov." After finding out what rokosovsky was going to do, I then asked malining, "Comrade chief of staff, before I left Moscow, Marshal Zhukov once told me that a batch of radio equipment imported from the United States has been transported to our army. I don''t know if I have received it now?"¡° Yes, just this afternoon. " Malining asked curiously on the phone, "what are you going to use these radio equipment for?"¡° Yes, chief of staff. " I said to him with a smile: "these equipment will be of great use in our counterattack against the German forces on the West Bank of the narev river. Now please send someone to send these equipment to the air force station As soon as I put down the phone, I said to Popov who came in: "Comrade General, please help me prepare a car. I want to get to viskov as soon as possible to join marshal rokosovsky."

 Chapter 1643

    The moment I met rokosovsky, I realized that he knew about my plane crash. After he saw me enter the headquarters, I shook hands with the military commissar jerekin, the artillery commander kazakov, the tank commander Orel and the engineer director pushliakov one by one, and accepted their congratulations.


    After completing the meeting procedure, I followed rokosovsky to the map on the wall and asked curiously, "marshal, as far as I know, our army has deployed six divisions in the landing site of sirotsk, all of which are all close guard divisions. How can we be driven to the narev River by the German army in such a short time?"


    "It''s all my fault," I suddenly heard Batov''s voice and turned to see that he was rushing in from the outside¡° It''s because I despise the enemy too much. Seeing that the Germans have been standing still near the landing site we set up, I''m a little careless. Two days ago, I dispatched three divisions to the rear for attack drills. Maybe the Germans took control of our actions. As soon as the troops on the landing site became empty, the enemy launched an attack. "


    "What''s the situation now?" Asked rokosovsky.


    "As the newly reinforced tank brigade crossed the narev River, the attack of the bandits was completely contained." Looking at rokosovsky, Batov replied: "at present, our troops have recaptured the town of cerotsk, and the rest of the lost positions are being gradually restored. It is estimated that all the enemies who rush into the landing site will be driven out before dawn tomorrow."


    Looking at Batov''s epaulets, I found that he had been promoted to general at some time. When I think of general Popov, whom I met not long ago, I seem to understand the reason why I was suddenly promoted. Several commanders of the group army are now generals. It is obviously inappropriate for me, as deputy commander of the front army, to have the same rank as them. Maybe it is for this reason that Stalin decided to promote me temporarily.


    "It''s a pity that the weather is bad," said general o''lear, director of the tank corps. "Otherwise, with the support of the air force, we can achieve greater results."


    "Fort modlin has always been a great trouble to us." Batov frowned and said: "as long as we find that our army uses armored forces on a large scale, they will use fortress guns to bombard and cause huge casualties to our army."


    "When the weather gets better, we can send out bombers to bomb Fort modlin and reduce the pressure of our shock troops by suppressing the artillery fire of the other side''s fortress," he continued. As long as the German offensive forces lose artillery support from the fort, they will soon be defeated by us. "


    "Comrade General, you are too optimistic." Batov and other Oriole immediately retorted: "as long as the weather allows us to send air force, German aircraft will also appear on the battlefield and intercept our bombers near the fortress. In addition, there is a perfect air defense system in the fortress, and our bomber formation is bound to cause huge losses in this case. "


    Rokosovsky did not speak, but listened with interest to the debate between the two men. When he found that I had not spoken, he turned to look at me and asked, "Rita, when you came from Moscow, did Zhukov and vasilevsky give you any instructions to resolve the current crisis?"


    I nodded, solemnly said: "Marshal comrade, you guessed very well. Before I came here, marshals Zhukov and vasilevsky did formulate a set of combat plan, but whether it is effective still needs to be tested on the battlefield."


    "I believe the way they can come up with must be very effective." Rokosovsky heard me say so, immediately beamed with joy, hastened me: "quickly tell me."


    "We received a batch of radio equipment from the United States today," I saw that everyone was focusing on me, so I slowed down the speaking speed, so that everyone could hear and understand what I said: "this is a very sophisticated electronic jammer that can be installed on a bomber. Before our army launches an attack on the enemy, we can let bombers carrying electronic jammers fly over the enemy''s defense area, interfere with their radio communication, interrupt their communication with each other, and make the enemy commander unable to understand the situation on the battlefield in time and issue effective instructions in time. "


    After I finished, I found that the expression on everyone''s face was very flat, and no one seemed to be interested in what I said. After a long time, jerekin asked: "Comrade oshanina, I think even if the German radio communication is interfered, the German commander can contact the troops in front in time through the cable phone. Let me tell you something, I don''t think the so-called electronic jammer provided by the Americans is of any use. "


    Seeing that you are not interested in the electronic jammer, I am deeply afraid that this kind of treasure will be put on the shelf. I hastily added: "as early as October 1943, the British used one of the functions of this electronic jammer to directly cut into the communication frequency of the German air force, send opposite instructions and provide false information to the enemy''s aircraft."


    So far, what I said has finally attracted rokosovsky''s great attention. He looked at me and asked, "Rita, if I don''t understand correctly, after we cut into the German communication channel, we can let people who understand German imitate the German ground control station personnel, so as to deceive the German pilots who don''t know the truth. Is that right? "


    "Yes, comrade marshal." Seeing that someone finally understood my intention, my mood suddenly improved a lot: "for example, we can cut into the communication channel of the German bomber formation, indicate the wrong target for them, and let them drop all the bombs on their own people."¡° It sounds like it''s pretty good. " After listening to me, kazakov said thoughtfully, "but in actual combat, is it really effective? For example, after the German bomber pilots received the new orders, they would not immediately check with the airport? After all, the communication between their aircraft and the ground console is very convenient. "¡° General kazakov, as I''ve just said, electronic jammers can interfere with German radio communications. Even if the German pilot asked, he could not get in touch with the real ground console. " I said to him with a smile, "as for the effect, as long as you have passed the test of the battlefield, you will understand it all." For all I said, rokosovsky did not immediately express his position. Instead, he directly called back to the headquarters of the front army and found general maximenko, director of the communication force: "general, do you think we can do this by cutting into the German communication channel through the electronic jammer and giving them the wrong instructions?" After listening to rokosovsky''s question, maximenko was silent for a long time before he said, "as far as I know, marshal, it is absolutely possible to do so. You know, the British did this as early as 1943, and the electronic jammers provided to us by the Americans are all the latest products. I believe that in the process of use, the effect will exceed our imagination. " After obtaining the approval of maximenko, a professional, rokosovsky immediately had confidence. He immediately told the following staff: "call lieutenant general boleynin, and order him to immediately arrange the manpower to install the new electronic equipment on the bomber." Rokosovsky then asked proshlyakov, the engineer''s director, "Comrade General, according to the weather forecast, the continuous rainstorm will stop tomorrow. Can you build more pontoons on the narev river so that more tank brigades can cross the river and enter the sirotsk landing site?" Hearing this question from rokosovsky, proshlyakov showed a smile on his face: "don''t worry, marshal, the narev river is not better than the visva river. The narrow area of the river here is only 400 meters. Our engineers can easily set up a floating bridge on the river." Batov''s face lightened when he heard that he could be strengthened by more tank brigades. He went up to rokosovsky and assured him, "marshal, please rest assured that as long as I have three or five tank brigades in my hand, I can double the area of the current landing site." Rokosovsky was surprised by Batov''s promise. After looking at the map, he said thoughtfully: "general Batov, if you can really expand the area of the landing site, you can transfer general Popov''s 70th army to the area. I believe that the strength of your two armies is enough to block any German attack of any scale. "

 Chapter 1644

    The next day, after several days of heavy rain, it finally abated. Under the command of general pushlyakov, director of the engineering corps, the officers and men of the Zhouqiao battalion braved the drizzle and only took half a day to build five pontoons on the narev River, all of which could be used by tanks, armored vehicles and heavy trucks.


    With these five pontoons, our tank brigades and trucks carrying soldiers have been able to continuously reach the landing site of selotsk on the West Bank from the east coast.


    When our army assembled enough troops at the landing site, the sky finally cleared up. General paulenin, commander of the air force, immediately called rokosovsky for instructions: "Comrade marshal, the weather is fine today. Our air force can provide the necessary air cover for the ground forces."


    Maybe it was my plane crash the day before yesterday that scared rokosovsky so much that when he heard polenin''s report, he immediately asked with concern, "has the runway been repaired?"


    "It''s under repair." "If you wait at most an hour, the runways damaged by the rain can be completely repaired," he respectfully reported


    "Very good," rokosovsky said with relief, "after the runway is repaired, bombers with special electronic equipment will be sent immediately to enter the enemy''s defensive zone to interfere with their radio communication."


    "I understand." In order to be on the safe side, polenin also asked rokosovsky, "do you want me to send a liaison officer to the headquarters of the front army?"


    "Yes, you can send someone directly to the headquarters of the front army to find chief of staff malining." Rokosovsky resolutely agreed to the other party''s proposal, and told: "let your liaison officer and general maximenko command the bombers with electronic jammers."


    When everything was ready and the air force was out, rokosovsky suddenly said to me, "Rita, I''ll give you the command of today''s battle. You have no problem? "


    I thought I was a soy sauce player today, but I didn''t expect that rokosovsky would entrust me with a heavy responsibility. After a moment''s hesitation, I nodded my head and promised, "well, comrade marshal, since you say so, I will direct today''s offensive."


    I turned and asked karzakov, who was standing by, "artillery commander, how many guns can we use?"


    "There are more than 400 howitzers, cannons and mortars, and 60 rockets." After giving me an accurate data, karzakov asked for instructions and said, "I don''t know how long it will take for artillery preparation before the attack."


    "Five minutes," I said to khazakov, spreading out my hand, "we only have five minutes of artillery preparation at most, and the infantry will attack the enemy''s position with tanks."


    "Five minutes?" Hearing what I said, karzakov could not help frowning. He said to me carefully, "Comrade deputy commander, if only five minutes of artillery preparation is carried out, it will not be able to effectively destroy the German fortifications and consume their enough troops."


    My heart says that even if you are given 50 minutes of artillery preparation, the number of enemies you will destroy is roughly equal to the number you will destroy in five minutes. Because the Germans are very cunning. At the beginning of our artillery attack, their main force hides in the second line of defense. When our army launches an attack, they return to the first line of defense along the traffic trench. In order to enable khazakov to carry out my instructions without reservation, I specially explained to him: "Comrade artillery commander, I intend to attack the enemy with the tactic of entering the barrage slowly. The infantry advancing with our artillery fire is only 50-80 meters away from the blast point, so we must let our artillery ensure the firing accuracy, so as not to cause unnecessary accidental injury. "


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander." "I will tell the artillery to pay attention to this," he assured me


    After the beginning of the attack, the first thing I heard was the rumble of artillery coming from the West. This was our artillery bombarding the German defensive positions, ready to cover our infantry to launch forward; Before long, I heard the roar of aircraft engines coming from the eastern sky. They were bombers with electronic jammers, ready to fly over the German defense zone and interfere with their radio communications.


    Seeing that the plane had appeared in my view, I called maximenko and told him, "Comrade General, let the bomber turn on the jamming system. Remember, don''t disturb our wireless industry. "


    After hearing this, maximenko laughed and assured me, "don''t worry, comrade deputy commander, I will never let you down."


    As the bombers with electronic jammers circled over the German defense zone, the communication between the front and rear of the German army was completely paralyzed, resulting in chaos for the enemy.


    In less than half an hour, our troops attacking to the West succeeded in seizing the defensive positions temporarily constructed by the German army and continued to move forward in a healthy manner. Just then, a staff officer sent me a phone call. After reading it, rokosovsky handed it to me and said: "according to the air force''s reconnaissance, in the area of vizhibica, north of the landing site of cerotsk, it was found that German armored forces were gathering. It seemed that they were ready to attack the flanks of our attacking forces."


    "General o''lear," I waited for rokosovsky to finish, and immediately called the tank commander in front of him and asked him, "how many tank troops are there in our army near the town of cerotsk at present?"¡° There are about two tank battalions, "he explained to me after he finished," these two tank battalions are equipped with T-34 tanks. They are responsible for guarding the bridge on the narev river. "¡° Report, "before I made a new arrangement, a communications staff officer came to me in a hurry and reported to me," Comrade deputy commander, according to the information we just got, a formation of 20 German bombers is coming towards cerotsk. "¡° What shall we do? " After listening to the staff officer''s report, o''lear asked me nervously: "the enemy''s bomber formation is coming. If we can''t beat them back as soon as possible without our air force, then the tank troops on the ground will be bombarded by them." The German armored forces were assembled in the north at vizhibica, while the bombers were flying from the west towards sirotsk. What should I do? When I was thinking, I inadvertently looked at rokosovsky. He looked at me with a smile and didn''t speak. It seemed that he was waiting for me to give orders to the army. After a moment''s hesitation, I decided to take a risk and maybe get rid of the enemy''s air force and armored forces all at once. I picked up the phone and dialed maximenko. "General, you''ve done a good job. Because of our radio interference, the German army''s ground forces have been in chaos. Now there is an important task that you need to carry out immediately. Immediately find a way to cut into the communication channel of the German bomber formation and order them to change their flight direction. " Staring at the map in front of me, I sneered and said to maximenko, "it''s said that the vizhibica area has been occupied by our army. I ordered them to fly to the area immediately and bomb the" Soviet "armored forces that are gathering on the ground." As soon as my words came out, all the people around me, including rokosovsky, who heard my orders, were dumbfounded. After a while, he asked, "Comrade deputy commander, did I hear you right? Can you order the German bomber formation to bomb the German ground armored forces? "¡° That''s right, "karzakov echoed," even if we give such a fake order, the Luftwaffe will not be easily fooled. They will immediately contact the ground console to find out what''s going on. " I just waved my hand to the two men''s worries, and then said lightly, "don''t worry, two generals. Now the German radio communication has been interfered by our army''s electronic jammer, and the ground console can''t get in touch with the German pilots at all. Similarly, German pilots would not have thought that the order they received was forged by us. " Although I made a plan to let the German army fight each other, I ordered a tank brigade and two close guard infantry regiments staying on the East Bank of the narev River to go out to the landing site of sirotsk to prevent the German army from attacking from vizhibica just in case.

 Chapter 1645

    Although I showed full confidence in front of you, I still had a lack of confidence in my heart. We should know that the communication technology during World War II could not be compared with that of later generations. Whether my strategy can work or not depends entirely on luck.


    Similarly, the commanders who stay in the same room with me obey my command on the surface, but I know in my heart that even rokosovsky doesn''t believe that my plan will succeed.


    Fortunately, after a phone call, the chief of staff of the 65th army reported to me in surprise: "Comrade deputy commander, just received the report from the observation post at the landing site of sirotsk, the German bombers have turned and are flying directly to vybica."


    Kazakov, who was sitting next to me, widened his eyes and said in surprise, "did the Luftwaffe really fall for the bait and follow our orders to bomb their own armored forces?"


    After hearing this news, my heart beat faster, but I still tried to control my mood. As long as the German Air Force bomb did not fall on the head of the German armored group, my plan was still on the verge of success or failure. Therefore, I ordered the chief of staff: "sue the observation post, let them stick to the movements of the German Air Force closely, whenever there is the latest situation, Report to me immediately. "


    While the chief of staff gave orders to the observation post, I called maximenko and politely said to the veteran general, "Comrade General, I just got the information that the German Air Force bombers have been flying towards vybica. Now your task is to continue to interfere with the German radio system continuously, and at the same time try to make our bombers bomb the enemy''s telephone lines, so as to completely lose contact between their superiors and subordinates. "


    I put down the phone, staring at the map in a daze. "What are you thinking, Rita?" rokosovsky asked me curiously


    "Comrade marshal," I looked up at him and said somewhat uneasily, "although the German radio system has been interfered by our army, from the actual situation, the enemy''s regiment to battalion and battalion to company command can still be conducted by cable telephone. I''m thinking about what to do to make the German army more chaotic, so that it won''t be easy to fight when they come back to their senses. "


    Batov came up to me and said, "Comrade deputy commander, you are too worried. Our troops in this area are more powerful than the enemy''s, and are constantly advancing to the depth of the enemy''s defense. However, the enemy is unable to organize limited resistance due to the interruption of communication with the superior. The situation is very favorable to us. If this trend continues, the situation will be irreparable even if they recover. "


    "General Batov, I have an idea." I pointed to the map and said to him, "we can take advantage of the superiority of our forces over the German forces to launch attacks on the right wing and in the middle of the area. The units of each unit are regiments and use walkie talkies to contact each other and launch large-scale battles in this wide area."


    After listening to my arrangement, Batov did not immediately express his position, but instinctively looked at rokosovsky. The latter waved to him and said, "as I have said before, Rita is in charge of today''s battle. You can carry it out as she arranges."


    Seeing that Batov didn''t speak, I added: "after the regiments contacted the German army, they found out the enemy''s strength and reported to the division commander; If the time is not enough, the regiments can deal with it on the spot. As long as they can eliminate the enemy, they can fight whatever they want. General Batov, you immediately give my order to the infantry divisions and tank brigades. The sooner the better! "


    After I finished, Batov asked with a blank face: "Comrade deputy commander, I think the army should set a time for its return. Otherwise, by the end of the battle, the army will be too scattered, which will weaken the combat effectiveness of our army."


    I know that my tactics can only work in a short time. After being attacked by our army, the German army will soon wake up and organize forces to fight back. After a moment''s hesitation, I said decisively, "the troops will stop attacking at six o''clock this evening and regroup in divisions."


    With Batov''s orders, the fighting near the landing site of cerotsk became more intense. Due to the paralysis of the German command system, the German army was in a dilemma and suffered heavy losses under the powerful attack of our army. The German air force, which was flying to vybica to bomb the armored group, dropped all the bombs and machine gun bullets after a series of indiscriminate bombing. After turning around and returning, it was intercepted by the fighter group of our air force, except for two or three bombers who escaped, The rest were shot down.


    At lunch, rokosovsky said to me, "to tell you the truth, Rita, I didn''t understand your command at the beginning. Generally speaking, our army will prepare for artillery fire for a long time before attacking, and then tanks will attack with infantry. You''re good. After only five minutes of artillery preparation, the tanks and infantry charged. Now I finally understand that you can''t do this in order to let the artillery correct the firing direction and prepare for the next step of Xujin barrage.


    What surprised me most was that you used an unheard of letter tactics to paralyze the German command system with electronic jamming, and let the German Air Force bomb its own armored cluster. When I heard about your arrangement at that time, I felt that it was impossible. I didn''t expect that the plan was successful. The German Air Force really solved the armored cluster that threatened our flanks in accordance with our instructions. "


    Rokosovsky''s praise did not make me complacent. On the contrary, it gave me a new inspiration. I quickly pushed away the plate in front of me, picked up the phone on the table and called maximenko again: "Hello, comrade general, I now order you to immediately find a way to transfer out the German armored forces in nashersk, and at the same time order the German infantry in the northwest of the landing site to retreat to nashersk..." after listening to my series of orders, Rokosovsky couldn''t help looking silly. He looked at me and asked, "Rita, if the German armored forces in the city of nashersk are really transferred out, I''m afraid the situation at the landing site will become serious again."¡° Don''t worry, marshal. " In the face of rokosovsky''s worry, I explained with a smile to him: "due to the continuous heavy rain, the road near the landing site has become muddy. No matter the enemy comes out of nasselsk or withdraws, they can only pass through road 622. When the tanks in the South and the rout troops in the North crowd together to fight for the road, it will certainly make the German army more chaotic. At that time, as long as we send air forces to bomb, we can achieve great results. " Rokosovsky is also a smart man. Listen to me, I immediately draw inferences from one instance: "I understand that you will transfer all the German tank troops who are still fighting with our army near the landing site to izbica in the southwest, just to reduce the attack pressure of our army."¡° That''s right, "I said positively to rokosovsky''s conjecture," as long as the German armored forces completely withdraw from the battlefield, we will be more confident of winning. " The fighting continued until the evening. As our troops stopped attacking, the German troops, who were badly beaten, finally got a breathing plan. However, not only did their achievements in the past two days disappear, but also some of the original defensive areas fell into our hands in the scuffle. After reading the war report, Batov said to me excitedly, "Comrade deputy commander, our group army landed in sirotsk, which was originally established on the West Bank of the narev River, with a front width of 25 km and a depth of 10 km. After today''s battle, the width of the front has been expanded to 40 km and the depth has been increased to 18 km. "¡° Very good results. " Rokosovsky looked at me with a happy smile on his face: "Rita, you are good! After today''s battle, we can transfer Popov''s 70th army to this landing site. At present, we no longer need to consider how to defend against the German attack, but should consider how to turn this landing site into a springboard to the German mainland. " After he had said these words to me, he turned his head to Batov and said solemnly, "Comrade Batov, I remind you that you must remember this lesson. The German is a man eating beast, even if the beast is injured, it will also eat people, even more ferocious than before. Do you understand? " Regarding rokosovsky''s criticism, Batov said sincerely: "marshal, I will certainly remember the painful lesson this time. As long as the Germans do not lay down their arms at last, I will always maintain a high degree of vigilance."¡° We are not afraid of making mistakes. As long as we can correct them, we are still good comrades. " Rokosovsky didn''t say anything about his favorite general. As soon as the front foot criticized him, the back foot began to appease him, so as not to affect the next battle¡° In order to consolidate the area occupied today, you should urge the troops to repair and reinforce the fortifications overnight. As soon as Popov''s 70th army enters this area, the situation will be completely favorable to our army. " Seeing that Batov understood his intention, rokosovsky nodded his head with satisfaction, raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he said, "Comrade Batov, prepare some cars for us. I''ll rush back to the headquarters overnight."¡° It''s getting dark. Let''s go tomorrow. " Rokosovsky refused Batov''s invitation and said firmly, "OK, comrade Batov, don''t say any more. We''ve been away from Lublin for several days and it''s time to go back."

 Chapter 1646

    It was 11 p.m. when we got back to Lublin. However, the elated rokosovsky still called Moscow, and he wanted to report the good news of the expansion of the silotsk landing site to the staff headquarters overnight.


    "Georgi konstantinovic!" On hearing Zhukov''s voice, rokosovsky excitedly reported to him: "after three days of fighting, our silotsk landing site has been consolidated, and the area of the landing site has been expanded. The next thing we need to consider is not how to defend the landing site, but how to use it as a springboard for us to attack Germany. "


    "What, the silotsk landing site has been consolidated. That''s great!" After praising rokosovsky, Zhukov asked, "I believe this battle must have been made by our own hands, otherwise it would not have been so beautiful."


    "Comrade marshal, you are mistaken." After looking at my position, rokosovsky said to the microphone with a smile, "I''ll give Rita full responsibility for this counterattack mission. I thought it would be very good to recover the lost positions in two or three days. Unexpectedly, she gave us a surprise. It took only one day to not only recover all the lost positions, but also greatly expand the landing area. "


    "Oh, is Rita in charge of the fight?" Zhukov was surprised by rokosovsky''s words. Before I left Moscow, he and vasilevsky gave me face-to-face advice. However, if we fight according to their deployment, we can''t solve the battle in three or five days. Therefore, he asked curiously, "how did she do it?"


    When Zhukov heard rokosovsky''s story, he said thoughtfully: "originally, I provided you with electronic equipment there just to try to interfere with the German radio communication, but I didn''t expect that Lida could seize the favorable opportunity when the German radio communication was interfered, let us mobilize the enemy, and finally accelerated the defeat of the enemy, That''s amazing. "


    "Yes, comrade marshal, it''s the first time I''ve found out that a battle can be fought like this. It''s really subverting our understanding." Rokosovsky also praised me with a smile and said: "I thought that even if the strength of the landing site on the West Bank was strengthened, it would take at least two or three days to defeat the German army before the original landing site could be restored. I didn''t expect that according to her playing style, it took only one day to recover all our positions and greatly expand the landing field. "


    After they had a few more conversations on the phone, Zhukov turned back to the main topic: "since the silotsk landing site has been able to accommodate our two army groups, you should work out a new campaign plan as soon as possible and report it to the staff headquarters. It''s getting colder and colder day by day. You should try to get out to the border between Poland and Germany before the arrival of Polish winter. "


    After rokosovsky put down the phone, he called everyone together to discuss how to use the sirotsk landing site to launch a new attack on the German army.


    After two hours of intense discussion, there was a preliminary plan: to launch a major assault from the purtusco landing site on the narev River and to detour around Warsaw from the north. From the landing sites of magnushev and puwai, from the south of Warsaw to the south of POZ, a far-reaching assault was carried out. We intend to concentrate our forces on the basis of this idea.


    Staring at purtusk on the map to the north of the landing site of selotsk, I thought to myself that this area belongs to the second front army of Belarus. Unless they cooperate with each other, the feasibility of the plan will be greatly reduced if the first front army plays a solo role.


    Maybe I was too quiet during the discussion, so I attracted the attention of rokosovsky. He specifically asked me, "what do you think of this battle plan, Rita?"


    "It looks like a good plan, but I don''t think it''s possible to implement it under the current situation." After I said this, I saw that the commanders around the table all showed surprised expressions on their faces, and quickly explained to them, "at present, our troops have been greatly reduced after a long battle. I don''t think they have the ability to come up with such a plan until they are replenished with soldiers, weapons and ammunition. "


    After listening to me, the first speaker was military commissar jieliejin: "Comrade oshanina, although the troops have been greatly reduced, our political workers at all levels have been encouraging the soldiers to build up their meritorious deeds. I believe that if we can fight as scheduled, we will certainly achieve the desired results. What''s more, the tactics you used at the landing site of cerotsk can completely stand up to several German divisions. "


    "Comrade military commissar," I said with a bitter smile, "electronic jamming tactics were used by Britain and the United States as early as last year, and the Germans have also developed a series of countermeasures. The reason why they suffered a big loss from us at the landing site in selotsk was that they didn''t expect us to suddenly use this tactic and were caught off guard. I think now they are working out countermeasures, and when we use the same tactics again, the effect will be very limited. "


    In fact, I haven''t said a word. Before long, Zhukov will take over the post of rokosovsky as commander of our front army. Rokosovsky''s current plan is just to make wedding clothes for others. But I just want to know it in my heart, but I can''t tell anyone about it.


    After listening patiently to my conversation with jerekin, rokosovsky asked, "how do you think about that?"¡° Although we do not have the ability to attack the German forces in Warsaw for the time being, we can still report this operational plan to the General Staff Headquarters to see how the Supreme Command considers it. " Looking at the departing commander in front of me, I expressed my opinion calmly: "at the same time, we should seize the time to let the troops rest and supplement in the existing defensive areas." Rokosovsky nodded. "You have a point. No matter whether we have the ability to launch a new campaign in the near future, this combat plan should be reported to the staff headquarters as soon as possible. Do you want anything else to add? "¡° Maybe, "I didn''t intend to say anything more, but when I heard rokosovsky''s question, I instinctively said," we should focus our attack on the two landing sites of magnushev and pwawi in the south, instead of taking into account both the north and the south. " My words aroused malining''s interest, and he asked me curiously, "Rita, why do we focus on the South and ignore the north?"¡° Chief of staff, I think you misunderstood me. " I patiently explained to malining, "our two landing sites in the narev River Valley in the north belong to us and the second front army respectively. According to the style of the General Staff Headquarters, it is entirely possible that they will one day put the 65th and 70th army groups that control the landing site of cerotsk under the command of the second front army. In this way, a campaign that was originally in the charge of one front army will become a campaign in which two front armies participate at the same time, and then our plans will have to be adjusted. "¡° Rita has a point After listening to me, rokosovsky immediately added: "Popov''s 70th army was briefly incorporated into the second front army in February this year. It is not ruled out that in the future, for the sake of the needs of the campaign, the supreme command may again divide the 65th and 70th army into the second front army. Chief of staff, "he said to malining at the end of the sentence," you first report our operational plan to the headquarters of the general staff, and at the same time start to prepare an offensive plan focusing on the landing site south of Warsaw. " Marinin nodded his head and said in an easy-going manner, "OK, comrade commander, I will follow your order immediately."¡° Well, that''s all for today''s meeting. " Rokosovsky stood up and waved to everyone, "we haven''t slept well these days because of the landing of cerotsk. Let''s go back and have a good rest today." When I got up and was ready to go outside, rokosovsky stopped me. He said to me with concern, "Rita, you were injured in the plane crash a few days ago, and you haven''t had a good rest these two days. I''ll give you two days'' holiday, so you can have a good rest at home When I left the headquarters, got on the special bus arranged for me by malining and went to my residence, I suddenly thought of a key problem: after rokosovsky was appointed commander of the second front army of Belarus, the former commander General zaharov was transferred to the first front army as deputy commander, If the superior appoints him here as the deputy commander of the front army, how will I be resettled? Just as I was daydreaming, the car suddenly stopped. The officer in the co pilot''s seat turned to me and said, "Comrade deputy commander, here you are!" I looked out at the light yellow three story building and asked curiously, "where is this place?"¡° It''s an officer''s dormitory. " The officer replied respectfully, "please follow me and I''ll take you to the officer on duty." I followed the officer into the hall. Although it was late at night, the lights were still bright. When we saw us coming in, a young female officer in a straight uniform behind the counter stood up from her seat and politely said, "is that general o''shanina?" After seeing me nodding in affirmation, she said respectfully, "your room has been arranged for you. It''s on the second floor. I''ll take you up in person later. May I help you with your luggage¡° No, "I said, shaking my head in a hurry." I don''t have any luggage. Please take me to my room now. "

 Chapter 1647

    As soon as it was light, I was awakened by a violent knock on the door.


    "Who is it?" For people who come to disturb their dreams so early, I will not be polite. I fiercely rushed to the door and said, "who is outside?"


    "Rita, open the door quickly!" As I yelled, the knock on the door outside became more rapid, accompanied by a yell.


    I listened attentively for a moment, then I recognized that Nina and ulanova were calling me outside. I quickly lifted the quilt, jumped out of bed, dressed in underwear barefoot, rushed to the door, suddenly opened the door.


    I saw Nina and ulannova standing at the door. Surprisingly, they were not in military uniform, but in plain clothes. Seeing me standing at the door, they came forward with open arms and gave me a warm hug.


    When they were released, I closed the door. As I sat by the bed and bent over to put on my boots, I asked them curiously, "how do you know I live here?"


    "The watchman told us," Nina explained to me with a smile. "We live in this building, too, and it happens that the watchman and we are in the same room. She came back from work this morning and said that a general we knew had come in. I guessed it might be you. When I asked my name, it was really you, so I came with ulanova. "


    I sat up straight, looking at the two people in casual clothes and asked, "I used to see you in military uniform. How do I think of wearing casual clothes today? Do I plan to go shopping?"


    "It''s not shopping, it''s for the wedding."


    "To the wedding?" When I heard Nina say this, I couldn''t help looking at them carefully. Unfortunately, I didn''t see any sign of becoming a bride today. So I tentatively asked, "which of you is going to get married or go to someone else''s wedding?"


    "Going to other people''s weddings, of course." Ulannova said in a hurry: "you have seen the groom, who is the second lieutenant in charge of the security work of the women''s health company."


    I quickly recalled in my mind the situation when I went to the women''s health company. I immediately remembered the second lieutenant who was on duty outside the church, and asked carefully, "is that second lieutenant Blick?"


    "Yes, yes, that''s him." Ulanova nodded and said, "Rita, you have a good memory. You remember his name."


    "Would you like to come with us, Rita?" "Today''s wedding must be very lively. If you don''t go, it''s a pity," she asked


    To tell you the truth, I''d like to go to the wedding, but I looked at my military uniform on the back of the chair beside the bed and said in a bit of embarrassment, "you''re not going to let me go to the wedding in my military uniform. I''m afraid it will frighten the guests."


    "It''s easy. I have extra casual clothes in my room. You''re about the same size as me, Rita. I''ll get your clothes for you now Ulannova said, opened the door and ran out.


    Nina shook her head, got up, closed the door, turned to me and said, "Rita, uranova is such a character. I hope you don''t blame her."


    "No," I got up and walked to the bathroom, and said, "I don''t deal with her for a day or two. I know her character very well."


    By the time I got out of the bathroom, ulanova had come back with her casual clothes. Try it on, it''s just right. Ulannova urged me: "OK, Rita, let''s go now!"


    We came downstairs and saw three jeeps parked outside. When we saw the three of us coming out, the driver of the car finally put his head out and yelled at us, "Hello, three girls, you should hurry up. We have to rob the bride."


    Robbing the bride? When I heard the driver say that, I couldn''t help asking Nina curiously, "how do I rob the bride? Do we rush into the bride''s house and take her away from her parents? "


    "You''ll know when you get to the place," Nina didn''t mean to show off, but she didn''t understand. "The bride is Ukrainian, and I don''t know much about their wedding customs."


    The welcoming motorcade went out of Lublin from the east of the city. After driving for more than ten minutes, it came to a small village. Nina turned to me and said, "the bride lives in this village. Later, the groom will call with the best man."


    Our car was parked on a grain drying field, and the two cars in front of us were Hula down. The handsome man No. 78, who was the leading role today, dazzled my eyes.


    We followed the groom and the best man to a wooden house not far away. The bridegroom and they stopped and formed a neat line, singing to the cabin. With the sound of the song, the closed wooden door was half opened, and several young girls with long braids could be seen crowding at the door. According to my experience, they were either sisters or best friends of the bride.


    After the two sides set eyes on each other, they began a passionate song contest. As they were all sung in Ukrainian, I couldn''t understand a word, so I had to do it myself.


    (man: "little rabbit, open the door, and the corn will go in..."


    Woman: "if you don''t open it, you can''t open it. Corn is a villain. Don''t open it..."


    After singing for a while, a best man approached the door, leaned on the wooden wall and whispered to the girl who was the most outside. Maybe he was mixing up. Sure enough, it wasn''t long before the girl opened the door completely, leaning her back against the door, singing loudly and glancing at the best man from the corner of her eyes.


    Seeing the door open, I thought the bridegroom would rush in regardless of himself, but he was still standing in the same place. But another best man came up, strode into the cabin and said something to the girls who were singing.


    Just when I was confused, I suddenly saw a window of the cabin open. A young girl in a white wedding dress and a wreath climbed out of the window. At this time, the groom finally moved. He rushed to the window and held out his hands to hold the girl down from the window.


    Seeing that the bride had been snatched by the bridegroom, her parents came out of the room. They stand in front of everyone, in the girls'' singing accompaniment, to say goodbye to their daughter and wish. I saw the bride come to her parents with tears streaming down her face, embracing and kissing them while receiving their blessing.


    After these ceremonies, the bride and groom, surrounded by everyone, come to the village chapel to receive the blessing of the priest. I thought this was Poland, and the priests in the church must be Catholic. Who knows, after asking Nina, I found out that most people in this village are Ukrainians and believe in the Orthodox Church.


    Nina and ulanova and I sat on the last row of chairs in the church, listening to the elderly priest, blessing and preaching to a new couple. I don''t know if people become very nagging when they get old. The priest talked on stage for nearly an hour, and I was sleepy, but most people listened with relish.


    After finishing the process, a couple came to the open space in front of the church and began to dance under the crowd. The best men who came with us were all in suits, while the local men were in shirts and trousers with a jacket over them. While women wear a short woolen skirt over the tight petticoat with various patterns on it; The upper body is wearing a sleeveless coat with dark red, green or blue velvet, and part of the front of the coat is crossed; Wearing red boots on the feet, and some wearing a few strings of colored beads or necklaces around the neck, it looks very ethnic.


    After the dance, we went back to the bride''s home, and the room was packed with guests. The bridegroom and bride are sitting by the window. In front of them, there is a small round table spread on the white tablecloth. After another lively and tedious ceremony, in the girls'' singing, a beautiful big cake was put on the round table.


    With the cake on the table, it means that the wedding banquet at noon will officially begin. The banquet was placed in the open space in front of the bride''s house, surrounded by three long tables, full of guests. I carefully looked at the table, in addition to the empty plate, there are only a few huge buns.


    When I saw these things, I could not help but turn my mouth secretly, saying that we would be invited to eat them at the wedding banquet, which was too shabby. But when I think about it like this, I forget that I came here empty handed, let alone with gifts, even without gifts.


    However, I soon realized that I was wrong. A dozen old ladies came up with an aluminum pot and put it on the table. Nina picked up the napkin on the table, spread it out and spread it on my knees. At the same time, she explained to me: "according to Ukrainian custom, napkin should be spread on my knees, not around my neck when eating; After the meal, put the napkin on the table. "


    The first course is hot soup. Besides the common red vegetable soup, there are cabbage soup and potato soup; The second course is fish, meat, poultry and so on, both cooked and roasted, which tastes good; The third course is fruit and desserts. It''s vodka, kvass, beer, coffee and tea.


    However, it is strange that since the hot soup was put on the table, all the bread on the table was removed. I asked Nina curiously, "what''s going on?"


    "Bread was eaten before the first course," Nina said, glancing at the small piece of bread in my hand as she answered my question. "So as soon as the dish is served, the bread will be removed."


    I looked around, saw no one noticed, hurriedly put the rest of the bread into my mouth, so as not to be seen, would say that I am woodlouse. After trying to swallow the bread, I whispered, "Nina, is this the end of the wedding?"


    "Over?" Nina didn''t speak. Ulanova, sitting on the other side of me, said, "it''s still early. There are still several important ceremonies that haven''t been carried out."


    It is said that there are still important ceremonies. Instead of asking, I try to think about the difference between today''s wedding and the wedding I have seen. After thinking about it for a long time, I finally remembered that the bride seemed to throw a flower ball at the back and let the unmarried sisters grab it. Thinking of this, I stare at the bride sitting at the other end of the long table and mutter to myself: I don''t seem to see the flowers in her hand.


    After you have finished this wonderful marriage, I see many young girls, after they get up, follow the bride and walk into her house. Nina looked at me staring at the girls and asked me with a smile, "there''s going to be an important ceremony in the room. Do you want to go in and have a look?"


    "Let''s go!" I have never seen a lot of Customs in the wedding ceremony I attended today, so as soon as I heard that there was an important ceremony, I wanted to watch it.


    When the three of us entered the room, we saw the bride sitting in the middle of the room, surrounded by a group of young girls singing Ukrainian songs to her that I didn''t understand. An old lady took off the wreath and veil on her head and began to help her braid again.


    When the bride''s braids were finished, she stood up and took a few steps forward without saying a word. At this time, the girls who had been singing around her suddenly let out a cheer, and then scrambled to sit in the position the bride had just done. When a beautiful girl got there first, the others scattered and looked at her with admiration. And the bride standing on one side came forward and sent her sincere wishes.


    Seeing this, I suddenly realized that the custom of grabbing stools in Ukraine should be equivalent to throwing flower balls in later generations. The girl who grabs the stool is the next one who is going to be the bride. No wonder her sisters cast envious eyes on her, and the bride also gives her the most sincere blessing.


    I gently touched Nina and ulanowa, indicating that they would go out with me. When the three of us came outside again, I asked tentatively, "is this the end of all the important wedding ceremonies?"


    "Where, where," I did not expect that after listening to my words, ulannova even waved her fingers and said, "there is still one of the most important ceremonies that has not been carried out."


    The most important ceremony? When I heard that, I couldn''t help but widen my eyes. My heart said that I would not let the bridegroom and bride perform Dunlun in public. That''s too exaggerated.


    "Look, the bridegroom is coming!" Nina suddenly whispered, "the most important ceremony is about to begin."


    I watched the bridegroom come with a few best men and stop five or six steps away from the door. And the bride, accompanied by her sisters, went to the door. The bridegroom and the bride were not far away from each other. They looked at each other affectionately. Neither spoke nor took the initiative to move forward.


    Just as I wanted to ask what was going on, the groom finally moved. He took a few steps forward, stooped to pick up something that had been left by the door, crossed the threshold and entered the room. I saw clearly that what the bridegroom was carrying was a bright ax. I could not help shivering in my heart. My heart said what the bridegroom was going to do with the ax. Was he going to kill the bride?


    With the help of the old lady, the bride slowly knelt in front of the door. Then she bent down and put one side of her face on the threshold. The old lady straightened her braid and put it on the threshold and slowly retreated to one side.


    Seeing the bridegroom walking forward step by step and raising his bright axe high above my head, my heart raised to my throat. Looking around, I saw that all the guests around were looking solemnly at what was going to happen, and no one spoke. I was worried that the bridegroom would do harm to the bride, so I instinctively felt around my waist. As a result, I felt empty, and then I remembered that I was wearing casual clothes today, and I didn''t have any weapons at all.


    Unexpectedly, after the bridegroom came to the bride''s side, he knelt down beside her. He looked up at the guests standing outside, closed his eyes, drew a cross on his chest, raised the axe with his right hand, and then cut it off. After hearing a dull noise, I saw the axe cut off the braid on the threshold. To find out that the bridegroom used an axe just to cut off the bride''s hair, the stone hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground.


    The bridegroom put down his axe, crossed the threshold and came out into the crowd, staring at the bride who was still lying on the threshold. At this time, the old lady appeared again, first picked up the cut braid, got up and put it on a small table beside the door, and then bent down to help the bride up.


    The bride is still kneeling in front of the threshold. After finishing her hair, the old lady takes out a beautiful headscarf and puts it on the bride''s head in the blessing song of a group of middle-aged and old women, completing the transformation ceremony of the bride from a young girl to a young woman.


    Although there will be grand celebrations next, considering that this is a newly recovered area after all, if I stay too late, something unexpected may happen, so I urge Nina and ulannova to return to the city overnight.


    On the way home, ulannova said with emotion: "maybe this time next year, we can go to that small village to celebrate the birth of a small life. Too many people have died in this war. "


    Ulannova''s words made me suddenly have a question in my heart. If I had any accident in this time and space, would I really die, or would I go back to my time and space again?


    Nina saw that I was so worried that she couldn''t help asking, "what are you thinking, Rita?"


    "Do you know where the soul will go after death?"


    "It doesn''t matter," Nina said casually. "It''s up to you to go to heaven or go to hell. It all depends on what you do when you''re alive. Rita, how can you suddenly think of asking about it? "


    "Nina, ulanova, I want to ask you." I think if I don''t speak out the doubts in my heart, I will surely lose sleep tonight: "if the human soul can be reincarnated and reincarnated, can you still recognize me when I appear in front of you in a different image decades later?"


    "Don''t worry, Rita." "No matter what you become, we can recognize you," she said. Even if you don''t recognize it for a while, as long as you mention the wedding we went to today, I think we can recognize you even if you change a lot. "

 Chapter 1648

    Although rokosovsky asked me to rest at home for two days, I couldn''t stay. If I hadn''t gone to other people''s weddings with Nina and ulanova, maybe I would have reported to the headquarters yesterday.


    As soon as I got to the hall on the first floor, I saw a group of people in casual clothes coming in from outside. My heart said how early in the morning a group of people ran into the officer''s dormitory, and the sentinel at the door did not care. But when I saw the happy woman in the crowd, I immediately recognized her as the bride of yesterday, and the people around her should be Lieutenant Blick and his colleagues.


    When they saw me in the hall, they stopped laughing, stood at attention and raised their hands to salute me. I returned a gift with a smile and strode out of the building.


    When I went out, I was still thinking about where to find a car to the headquarters later. But as soon as I got out of the building, I saw a jeep parked on the side of the road. Very coincidentally, the driver was the one who took us to the wedding yesterday.


    I went to pull open the door, sat in the co pilot''s position, involuntarily ordered: "driver comrade, please send me to the front army headquarters."


    "No, I''m not a taxi," the driver said vaguely without looking at me. After a short pause, his body was shocked and he turned to look at me: "the headquarters of the front army?" I''m sorry, Comrade General. I didn''t see it clearly. It''s you. I''ll send you right away! "


    I smell the driver''s body has a strong smell of wine, then frowned and asked: "you drink?"


    "Yes... Yes!" The driver obviously didn''t recognize me. As he was driving, he replied vaguely: "yesterday, after sending three... Three female officers back here, I drove over to have a drink. This morning... This morning and the other two... Two cars, they brought the bridegroom back. "


    Although the driver was drunk, he still played his driving skills to the extreme. It took him only 10 minutes to take me to the headquarters of the front army.


    When I walked into the headquarters, I saw rokosovsky sitting at a table, talking to a general. Hearing the footsteps, he turned and looked at me. After seeing clearly that it was me, he couldn''t help but ask in surprise, "Rita, I didn''t give you two days off. Why did you come to work today?"


    I glanced at the general who was sitting face to face with rokosovsky and said, "I''m worried about new changes in the situation on the battlefield. I can''t sit at home, so I came to have a look. This general is


    The general stood up, looked at me and said, "Comrade oshanina, don''t you know me?"


    When rokosovsky saw my blank face and guessed that I couldn''t remember who he was, he took the initiative to introduce him to me and said, "this is general korpakchi, who served as commander of the 62nd army during the war of Stalingrad."


    Colpakchi? When I heard the name, I was stunned for a moment. My heart said that he was not dismissed because of the unfavorable battle in the defense of Stalingrad, and he was sent to the military court. I thought he had followed general Pavlov to see Marx. I didn''t expect that he was still standing in front of him today.


    I quickly reached out to him and said politely, "Hello, general kolpakchi, nice to meet you here!" When I spoke, I looked him up and down carefully, and found that although he hadn''t seen him for only two years, he looked at least ten years old and haggard.


    He took my hand and said enthusiastically, "Hello, comrade oshanina! I didn''t expect to see you for only two years. You are going to be a marshal. " At this point, his face showed a bitter expression, "and I, as two years ago, the rank is still lieutenant general."


    "Don''t worry, Vladimir Yakovlev 1" rokosovsky recognized the sentimentality in the other party''s tone and quickly comforted him, saying: "as long as you show outstanding performance in the next campaign, I believe you will be promoted soon."


    After the three of us sat down at the table, I asked korpakchi, "Comrade General, I haven''t heard from you for nearly two years. Where do you hold command positions?"


    "It''s a long story. I was dismissed in August 1942, went to the military court, and was locked up for some time." Korpakchi told me his experience truthfully: "in November of the same year, I was reactivated and appointed commander of the 30th group army of the Western army. I participated in the battle of lerev - viazima and successfully recovered lerev.


    Later, the 30th group army was renamed as the 10th group army of the guards, and I was transferred to the commander of the 63rd group army of the Bryansk front army. In July 43, under the command of Marshal rokosovsky, I participated in the battle of Kursk and successfully recovered the city of oreol


    After the withdrawal of the 63rd group army, I was re appointed commander of the 69th group army. Now it is under the command of the first front army of Belarus. "


    After listening to korpakchi''s experience, I can''t help but feel a lot of emotion. He has been transferred from one group army to another so frequently that he can''t make great contributions like those generals who have been in one army for a long time. No wonder he hasn''t been promoted after two years.


    Rokosovsky knew that I used to be a subordinate of korpakchi, so he patiently waited for the two of us to finish our reminiscence, and then he said, "as Gusev''s 47th army is to be transferred to the north of Warsaw, the strength of the pwawi landing site is empty. Therefore, I intend to transfer the 69th army of kolpakchi to puwai to strengthen the defense in the area. "¡° Marshal, you are very considerate. " As for rokosovsky''s arrangement, I immediately echoed: "let the 69th group army take over the defense of the pwawi landing site, then we can achieve mutual echo at the two landing sites of magnushev and pwawi to the south of Warsaw. No matter which landing site is attacked by the enemy, the troops of the other landing site can attack the enemy''s flanks in time and smash their attempts to seize the landing site. "¡° We have a group army on each of the two landing sites south of Warsaw, which is more than enough for defense. " Rokosovsky said with a heavy heart: "but our goal is to carry out a great detour to the depth of the enemy. Now tanks and artillery can not be transported across the river, and troops lacking heavy weapons support are unable to capture German cities with solid defense."¡° According to the latest operational plan we reported to the headquarters of the staff, "I went on to say," we need to rely on the troops in the south of Warsaw to make a great detour to Poznan in the west of Warsaw and cut off the retreat of the German forces in Poland. Without the cooperation of armored forces, it is impossible to complete the task only by infantry. " Rokosovsky took my view very seriously. He looked at korpakchi and said, "Comrade General, tomorrow morning, we will cross the river to the landing site on the West Bank of the visva River, and choose a suitable area to build a floating bridge, so that our tank brigade can pass through smoothly."

 Chapter 1649

    That night, rokosovsky and korpakchi went to pwawi on the other side of the visva river. Before leaving, he asked me to take charge of the daily affairs of the front army.


    Originally, I thought there would be many affairs, but when I took over, I found that this position was also very easy. The artillery units of the front army are under the control of kazakov and the artillery commanders of the various army groups; Tanks and armored forces, managed by Aurel; The old general maximenko was responsible for the communication of the front army; Malining, the chief of staff, has always been responsible for the specific affairs of the front army. All I have to do is to centrally dispatch. But the fly in the ointment is that I have to stay in the headquarters every day to deal with emergencies before rokosovsky returns.


    In the early hours of the next morning, I was awakened by marinin in my sleep. When he saw me open my eyes, he immediately said, "Rita, general Batov is calling. There seems to be something wrong with the landing site of cerotsk!"


    I was lying on the March bed with my clothes. After listening to marinin''s saying that there was something urgent, I immediately turned over and got off the boat, rushed to the table and grabbed the earphone on it: "Hello, general Batov, this is oshanina. What''s the matter?"


    Hearing my voice, Batov hesitated for a moment, then asked, "isn''t Comrade Marshal here?"


    "Marshal has gone to the powavi landing site. I am responsible for the daily affairs of the front army." I simply explained rokosovsky''s plan and asked anxiously, "what''s the emergency there?"


    "Well, comrade deputy commander." "According to the reconnaissance, the German forces in the city of nashersk are gathering, and there are all kinds of signs that they may attack the landing site of selotsk at dawn," Batov said by telephone


    "General Batov," I said after a quick glance at the map, "now our army has two army groups in the silotsk landing field. Even if the German army sends out one or two divisions, it will not try to seize the landing field from us. What you need to do now is not how to defend, but how to choose the right opportunity to attack first. If possible, your troops can take down nashersk directly. "


    "Take down nashersk?" Batov said in a flustered voice, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t think you understand me. What I''m reporting to you is that the German army is gathering forces in nashersk, ready to attack our landing site... "


    "General Batov, I can hear your report clearly." Although the battle the day before yesterday expanded the area of the sirotsk landing site, I still feel that it is a bit crowded to place two group armies here, so I have been thinking about how to continue to expand the landing site. Now an excellent fighter plane appears in front of me, so I decisively ordered: "I will give you the combat order now, Take two tank brigades and a close guard division as the first echelon, and advance to nashersk along highway 622. Try to attack the city at daybreak. "


    "But now it''s only four hours before dawn, and I''m afraid there''s no time to gather the troops." Batov hesitated and said, "I think we''d better discuss this battle plan with the marshal first, see what he means, and then make a decision."


    "General Batov," I was not happy to see Batov''s hesitation. I said sternly to the microphone, "now I am in full charge of the affairs of the front army. There is no need to consult anyone. Just carry out your orders. I''ll send artillery and air force to support your attack. "


    After I put down the phone, I said politely to malining standing on one side, "chief of staff, go and invite general kazakov and general Aurel to come here. I have something important to announce to them."


    The two generals lived in a house not far away and arrived at the headquarters immediately after being informed. As soon as khazakov came in, he asked me anxiously, "Comrade deputy commander, are you in such a hurry to come to us? Is there anything important?"


    "Well, two comrades of the general." I looked at them and said, "I''m going to let general Batov''s troops attack nashersk. I need you to provide them with the necessary support."


    As soon as my voice dropped, kazakov was surprised and asked, "what, when was the plan to attack nashersk? Why don''t I know?"


    "I just made this decision." I said as usual: "according to general Batov''s report, the enemy of nashersk is gathering, it seems that they are preparing to attack our landing site, so I intend to attack the city before the enemy sets out."


    "Is that all right?" O''lear asked anxiously.


    "Two general comrades," malining saw that the two generals were not very supportive of my preparation for preemptive action, so he stood up and spoke for me: "Lida has ordered general Batov to send a echelon composed of two tank brigades and a guard division to nashersk, and is ready to take the lead in launching an attack on the enemy at dawn."


    Hearing what malining said, khazakov knew that the matter was irreparable, so he changed his tone and asked, "I don''t know what our artillery mission is?"


    I motioned to kazakov to come to the map, pointed to the location of the landing site of sirotsk and said to him, "Comrade artillery commander, if I remember correctly, do you have an artillery division deployed here?"¡° "That''s right," he said, nodding. "It''s the 21st breakthrough artillery division. It''s the 103rd powerful howitzer brigade, the 64th and 94th heavy howitzer brigade, the 55th howitzer brigade, the 66th light howitzer brigade and the 25th mortar brigade." After being confirmed by karzakov, my face showed a smile, "you immediately transfer the 64th and 94th heavy howitzer brigades, advance northwest along the road, build artillery positions ten kilometers away from nashersk, and provide artillery support for general Batov''s siege forces." Instead of immediately accepting my order, khazakov asked cautiously, "is there infantry cover? If there is no infantry cover, as long as the enemy attacks our positions, our artillery will be completely destroyed. "¡° There will be infantry, Comrade General. " After I said this, I turned to Aurel and said, "general Aurel, please transfer the 24th and 37th regiments of the close guard tanks to join the Artillery Forces of general kazakov. Although I know that these two tank regiments are still on the East Bank of the narev River, I think there should be no problem in getting to the designated position before dawn. "¡° Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander. " After listening to my order, o''lear quickly stepped forward and assured me, "I will let the guard tank regiment arrive at the position you set within the specified time." Seeing that the artillery and tank units for the attack of the 65th group army have been arranged, I said to malining, "Comrade chief of staff, we have to consider that we may be attacked by the German air force during the attack, so you will call general paulenin later and ask him to dispatch the air force to provide necessary air support for the 65th group army after daybreak."¡° OK, I''ll call general Pauline later and ask him to send the air force to provide air support for our ground forces. " After finishing this sentence, malining asked me carefully, "Rita, do we need to report our attack plan to marshal?" For malining''s proposal, I thought about it and finally shook my head decisively: "no, it''s just a small-scale battle. There''s no need to disturb marshal. Let the troops below prepare."

 Chapter 1650

    Rokosovsky told me more than once that malining was one of the most capable staff members he met. Now I deeply realize how correct his conclusion is.


    Malining pointed to the map and said to me, "Rita, it will take some time for general Batov''s troops to gather. If the German troops attack at this time, the two sides may encounter each other on the road. Therefore, I suggest that in order to gain valuable time for the troops of the 65th army, we should send a unit to ambush near nashersk. "


    Looking at the mark on the map, I knew that the place malining was referring to was a forest, which was very suitable for the army to hide. I nodded and then asked, "Comrade chief of staff, I don''t know which army you are going to send to carry out this glorious task?"


    "The 33rd brigade of the close guard motorized infantry of Colonel kleves," malining knew that I was not familiar with this unit, and gave a detailed introduction: "the serial number of this brigade was originally the 57th brigade of the motorized infantry, with three motorized infantry battalions, mortar battalions, artillery battalions and anti-aircraft artillery battalions. Since December 42, it has been fighting in the formation of the third tank army.


    Because the officers and men of the whole brigade were brave and tenacious in the battle against the German army, they achieved great results, and had a high degree of organization and discipline, so they won the title of close guard and were renamed the 33rd brigade of motorized infantry of close guard. "


    "Where are they now?" I asked as soon as marinin had finished.


    "Here it is Malining pointed to a position in the northwest of the landing site of selotsk and said to me: "originally, their task was to capture vizhibica. However, in the battle a few days ago, enemy bombers destroyed their own defense in the area, so other forces liberated the small town.


    They are less than 20 kilometers away from nashersk. We can order them to advance five to eight kilometers and choose the right place to ambush. "


    Seeing that marinin was so familiar with the troops below, I felt relieved and said to him boldly, "chief of staff, since you are so confident, do as you say. Let Colonel kleves'' troops enter the area and prepare to ambush the enemy from nasselsk."


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    At daybreak, the German forces in the city of nashersk assembled and marched out of the city along the streets. After arriving outside the city, the original mechanized column changed from one road to two roads. On the right side of the road are tanks one after another, and on the left side are trucks full of soldiers.


    Just as they were marching towards the landing site of selotsk, more than a dozen bombers of our air force suddenly appeared in the air and dived into tanks, trucks, motorcycles and armored vehicles on the ground, dropping bombs and strafing. All of a sudden, the enemy''s line was full of flames and smoke. The German soldiers in the truck jumped out of the car one after another and scattered by the roadside, shooting at the air with various weapons in an attempt to shoot down the bombing fleet.


    Without waiting for the enemy''s anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns to be in place, our military planes that completed the bombing mission climbed to a safe height one after another, circled in the air and flew to the East Airport.


    In just a few minutes of the air raid, the German army was destroyed more than a dozen tanks and armored vehicles, as well as more than 20 trucks, causing more than 200 casualties.


    The German army completed the assembly again after our plane flew away. This time, they were worried that they would be attacked by our army, so they changed the marching team into a column again, with tanks as the leader, driving ahead, armored cars and trucks following, and continued to push along the road to the direction of sirotsk landing site.


    They advanced seven or eight kilometers. Although they were not attacked by our air force again, they fell into the ambush circle of the 33rd brigade of motorized infantry. At the command of the brigade commander, Colonel kleves, the anti tank guns, cannons and anti-aircraft guns ambushed 500 meters away from both sides of the road opened fire on the tanks in the middle of the road at the same time.


    Our artillery destroyed the tanks in front of the German army, blocked their way forward, and then opened fire on the tanks at the end of the line. After the tanks were destroyed, the German tank columns were blocked in the road. In order not to stay on the road and act as targets for our artillery, the tankers turned around one after another, drove out of the road and entered the muddy area in an attempt to eliminate our artillery troops ambushing on the roadside.


    Unexpectedly, the infantry soldiers of the motorized brigade were hiding more than 200 meters away from the road. When they saw that the enemy''s tanks were slow because of the muddy road, they rushed out of their hiding places one after another and destroyed those large tanks with anti tank grenades and rocket launchers.


    German trucks full of infantry were blocked in the rear. But when the German commander learned that the armored forces were ambushed, he immediately ordered the infantry to get off and rush to the ambush position of the motorized brigade along both sides of the road.


    After reading the latest war report, I turned to ask kazakov, "Comrade artillery commander, is our breakthrough artillery division in place?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." "The artillery has completed the construction of the artillery position five minutes ago, ready to fight," he said, nodding his head


    "The German marching column was ambushed by the motorized brigade," I pointed to the map and said to karzakov. "According to the war report, the road is already full of smoke. Our artillery can use this as a reference to bombard the enemy."


    "Don''t worry," kazakov assured me, "our artillery will teach the enemy a lesson that will never be forgotten." With that, he went to the telephone next to him, ready to give the artillery an order to fire.


    "Chief of staff," I turned my eyes to marinin after karzakov left. "Where is general Batov''s army?"


    "Because of the slow assembly speed of the 65th group army, they have just left the base." Malining said to me with a wry smile, "it will take half an hour at the fastest to get to the fighting area."


    After listening to marinin''s report, I felt lucky. Fortunately, I arranged for kleves to ambush in advance. Otherwise, before Batov''s troops arrived at the designated position, they would encounter with the enemy''s troops on the move. Fortunately, kazakov''s artillery is about to fight, so we can fight for a little more time. When the enemy is dazzled by our heavy artillery and Batov''s troops arrive at the battlefield, they can launch a chase.


    With the order of karzakov, the artillery who had been ready to fire immediately aimed at the German army line that rushed to the motorized infantry position and opened fire. Under the concentrated fire aimed by dozens of heavy guns at the same time, even if the impact point is scattered again, the German soldiers covered by shells, even if you hide again, will never escape to pieces. After two rounds of shelling, there was no more moving object in front of the position of the motorized infantry brigade.


    After annihilating the German infantry, the artillery turned to the tanks that were still running around. One by one, German tanks were destroyed in the sound of explosions. Some of them were directly lifted off the turret, while others were overturned by the blast. The surviving tankers scrambled out and ran back with their hands and feet. They felt that it was only safe for them to escape to the infantry.


    When Batov''s troops arrived at the designated position, the German army had begun to run back, so the artillery began to fire. As the road was blocked by the burning remains of German tanks, our tank brigade had to stop for a while, waiting for the engineers to re pave the road on both sides of the road, and the infantry could only chase the fleeing German troops on foot.


    Seeing that the situation is developing in the direction I imagined, I can''t help but feel relieved. I told Orel: "Comrade General, the enemy has begun to flee. Immediately put your two close guard tank regiments into battle, and let the infantry brigade send one battalion to each of you to detour to both sides of nashersk, so as to cut off the retreat of the German army."


    "Rita, is it too small to have a tank regiment and an infantry battalion on each wing of nashersk?" After listening to me, malining kindly reminded me that "if the enemy breaks through madly in these two directions, they can''t stop it at all."


    "Chief of staff, I understand what you said, but in a hurry, we don''t have more troops to carry out this task." I explained to malining, "I just want to give the Germans the illusion that we have troops on all three sides of the city, ready to attack in any direction. If they can''t keep it, they can only withdraw from nashersk along the passage we left them. " I knocked on the map with my hand. "If we take nashersk, our army will develop to the northeast and capture winnica, then we will be connected with the puutusk landing site of the second front army."


    Malining looked at the map for a while, with a trace of regret, said: "unfortunately, even if we take nashersk, we can''t capture chekson in the southeast direction, because there will be artillery fire from Fort modlin in that direction."


    "Whether it''s chekson or Fort modlin, we''ll get it sooner or later." I said confidently, "today''s main task is to capture nashersk. As long as we have a firm foothold in this area, we can advance, attack and retreat, and firmly grasp the initiative of the battlefield in our own hands."


    It took too long for engineers to lay roads for tanks and artillery. By the time the tank brigade and artillery arrived at nashersk, the close guard division of the 65th group army had broken through the German defense, rushed into the city and started a street fight with the enemy.


    The Germans had concentrated all their forces in the south of the city to block the attack of our infantry. When they found that there were two tank troops detouring to the East and west respectively, they had to withdraw a considerable part of their forces to strengthen the defense in that direction, greatly reducing the pressure on the guard division.


    Fortunately, Batov was not a mediocre. When he learned that his troops had already rushed into nasselsk, he immediately transferred two infantry divisions to take a truck to rush past as fast as possible to reinforce the guard division who was fighting in the city.


    General Popov, commander of the 70th group army, after learning that the 65th group army began to move on a large scale, also called me on his own initiative and was willing to transfer troops to fill the defensive loopholes left by Batov''s troops.


    There was only one infantry division and two armored regiments of the German army in the city of nashersk. Originally, they were badly damaged by our air force and artillery. When they retreated, they were chased by our infantry. When they retreated to the city, they were only half as old as before. In addition, after the defeat, the soldiers were demoralized and demoralized, They had to fight and retreat, and gradually they were compressed to the north of the city by our army.


    As it was getting dark, Batov took the initiative to call me and ask for instructions: "Comrade deputy commander, it''s getting late now. The soldiers have been calling all day, and many of them haven''t eaten yet. Do you think it''s time to stop the fighting and wait until tomorrow morning before continuing to attack? "¡° No, general Batov, not at all. " I resolutely refused Batov''s request, and said sternly: "the attack must continue, never give the Germans a breathing space. As for those soldiers who have been fighting all day and have no time to eat, you can let the troops take over and let them have time to rest. In a word, the fighting must go on and try to get nashersk down before dawn tomorrow. " Malining, who was standing next to me, said to me carefully after I finished the call: "Rita, we have used several infantry divisions, tank brigades, air force and artillery in today''s battle. It''s a lot of action. My opinion is that it is necessary to report this matter to the marshal, whether or not nashersk is taken tonight. After all, he is the commander of the front army and has the right to know what happened in the army. "¡° All right, chief of staff. " For malining''s request, I thought a little, then decisively agreed: "after the phone is connected, I personally report to him." After listening to my report, rokosovsky was silent for a long time before he asked, "Rita, tell me, how did you decide to attack nasselsk?"¡° Well, comrade marshal. " I respectfully explained to him, "this idea came to me when I learned that the German army was beginning to gather and prepare to launch an attack on the silotsk landing site. Because I know that since the Germans are preparing for attack, they will not be prepared for defense, so I decided to start first. Soon after they left the city, they used the air force to carry out air raids on them, then ambushed their moving motorcade, and then bombarded the enemy with heavy artillery, so that they were completely in chaos... "" you have very considerate! " After I finished speaking, rokosovsky said with appreciation, "it is precisely because you have accurately grasped the fighter plane that our troops can rush into the city of nashersk so smoothly. Well, since I said that you should be responsible for all the affairs of the front army, you can deal with this matter and you don''t have to report it to me any more. But once the city is occupied by our army, I hope you can tell me the good news at the first time. " The fierce fighting lasted for two o''clock in the morning, and the gunfire in the city gradually became sparse. Batov finally called me, and he excitedly reported: "Comrade deputy commander, our red flag has been planted on the roof of the municipal building, and nashersk has been captured by our army!"

 Chapter 1651

    The war report on the liberation of nashersk was reported to the headquarters of the general staff at the first time by malining by telegram.


    After listening to marinin saying that the telegram had been sent out, I just let out a whisper, because nasselsk is just a small city in Poland, which is not qualified to salute in red square. Therefore, I don''t care at all when or even whether the victory will be reported.


    I didn''t expect to get a call from Moscow the next morning. The phone call was from vassilevsky, who asked directly, "Rita, have you got those Narcissus?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." Although I think it is inconceivable that vasilevsky called early in the morning for the sake of a small city, after hearing his question, he replied truthfully: "we captured nasselsk from the German in yesterday''s battle."


    "Strange, it''s strange." After listening to what I said, vasilevsky murmured: "I heard rokosovsky say a few days ago that after consolidating the landing site of cerotsk, you will temporarily stop your attack in the north of Warsaw and focus on the two landing sites in the south of Warsaw. How can you suddenly take such a big military action in the North?"


    "The marshal and the commander of the front army are currently inspecting the puwai landing site. I will be in charge of all the affairs of the front army for the time being." I listened to what vasilevsky said. I explained to him in detail the motive for launching this attack. At last, I stressed: "because of this attack, I did not ask for instructions from the commander in advance. I am good at advocating. If you want to blame me, I am willing to bear all the responsibilities."


    After I finished, there was a silence in the receiver, and then came the Frank action of vassilevsky: "Rita, how do you think we are going to blame for the capture of nasselsk? Let me tell you, because you have decisively captured nasselsk, which is the first and second front forces of Belarus, it is possible to join forces on the West Bank of the narev river. So not only have you done nothing wrong, you should be rewarded. "


    "Thank you, comrade marshal." I wait for him to finish, immediately politely said: "to defeat the enemy, is the result of all the officers and men fighting bravely, they should get the corresponding honor."


    "When will rokosovsky return to the front command?" Vasilevsky then asked.


    "Before leaving, the commander said that he intended to build a solid beachhead on the West Bank of the visva River and try every means to transport technical equipment such as tanks and artillery across the river." "I think it''s going to be at least a week before he can get back from the poiwai landing site," I said carefully


    "I see." Vasilevsky said: "maybe after a while, comrade Zhukov will come to you. You should be prepared first."


    Vasilevsky''s words made my heart thump. I thought that Stalin planned to send Zhukov to take over the post of rokosovsky at this time, which was one month earlier than in history. I looked around and saw that the others were a little far away from me. Then I asked in a low voice, "Comrade marshal, would you please tell me whether the Supreme Commander himself intends to let Marshal Zhukov take over the post of commander of the front army?"


    But after hearing my question, vasilevsky didn''t answer me immediately. Instead, he asked, "Rita, I want to ask you, who put such a strange idea into your mind? Do you think changing the commander of the front army is like promoting a company commander to a battalion commander


    "Don''t be angry, marshal." I thought it was a mistake of my own judgment, so I apologized to vasilevsky, "I analyze it according to the recent situation. Perhaps I have come to the wrong conclusion based on the wrong information. Please forgive me for my rashness. "


    "We are now in a very delicate period. Once the commander of the front army is replaced, it is bound to cause unnecessary confusion." Vasilevsky didn''t blame me either. He just said, "well, this matter will stop everywhere. Don''t mention it again."


    I put down the phone and saw marinin coming in from the outside. I waved to him to come. He came up to me and asked curiously, "what''s the matter, Rita?"


    "Just now the chief of the general staff made a phone call."


    When he heard that there was a phone call from Moscow, malining''s face suddenly showed a surprise expression: "I don''t know what marshal vasilevsky said on the phone?"


    "He praised our fight yesterday." After I finished this sentence, I carefully looked around and saw that the nearest staff officers were all five or six meters away. If malining and I talked in a low voice, they would not hear anything. So I whispered to marinin, "chief of staff, in the conversation with the chief of general staff, I noticed that something big was going to happen."


    "Something big is going to happen?" When marinin heard me speak to him in a low voice, he knew that I was going to talk about something important. He also asked me in a low voice, "according to your judgment, what will happen?"


    "I think the Supreme Commander himself may have the idea of changing the commander of the front army."


    "What?" Malining almost jumped out of his seat when I said this, but he soon realized his gaffe. He looked around and asked me in a whisper, "how do you judge it?"


    Of course, I won''t tell him that I read it in history books. I can only make a mysterious analysis to him: "the chief of general staff said that Marshal Zhukov would come to us in a few days. You know, since last month, the supreme command has cancelled the representatives sent to all front forces. When Marshal Zhukov comes to our troops at this time, I can''t think of any other reason except to replace the post of commander. "


    "No," malining said dubiously when I finished saying, "Comrade commander, since the beginning of the Belarus campaign, has made remarkable achievements and has not made any mistakes. How can the Supreme Command remove him as commander? I think you must be mistaken. "


    "No mistake, my chief of staff." Seeing that malining didn''t believe what I said, I said anxiously, "let me ask you, if our army seizes Warsaw, where is the next direction of action?"


    "Don''t you need to say that?" Malining replied very decisively: "of course, he pointed directly at Berlin and smashed the old nest of the Communist aggressors."


    "If, I mean if." Thinking of what I said next, I was somewhat disrespectful, so I gave malining a preventive injection in advance: "if you were the supreme commander, would you let a Russian command the first front army of Belarus to rush into Berlin, or would you let a foreigner command the army to build meritorious deeds in the enemy''s den?"


    "Needless to say, it''s natural to choose Russians. But no one here is foreign... And so on... "Half of what malining said suddenly stopped. He looked at me in surprise and said," Rita, you mean commander rokosovsky will lose the qualification to command the army to capture Berlin because he has half Polish blood. "


    "You are right, chief of staff." I nodded my head and said, "I think that should be the case."


    "Who do you think will come back to take over the post of commander?" Before I could speak, marinin asked himself, "is it Marshal Zhukov? This is ridiculous. "


    "It''s not ridiculous at all, my chief of staff." I solemnly said to malining, "the chief of general staff just told me on the phone that when Marshal Zhukov was coming, he hinted at me to be prepared. If it''s just a general inspection, does he need to hint at me like that? "


    "So it''s a matter of time before the commander changes?" Malining looked at me with a confused expression on his face: "if Marshal Zhukov is really the commander of the front army, where should marshal rokosovsky go?"


    "I think the supreme command has already made arrangements for his whereabouts. We''d better not worry about him." I casually pointed twice on the map and pretended to say, "anyway, he must be sent to the army in the auxiliary direction to take the post of commander of the front army."


    After staring at the map for a long time, malining finally stood up and said to me, "judging from the distribution of troops on the map, in addition to our front army, there are also the first front army of Ukraine of Marshal konev and the second front army of Belarus of general zaharov.


    Marshal konev''s qualification is much higher than that of commander, so he can not be replaced, so he can be excluded. The remaining general zaharov has been the deputy of Marshal rokosovsky since the start of the Moscow defense war, and he is likely to be replaced. But once his position is replaced, where will he be transferred? It''s a headache. "


    After a headache, malining asked me carefully, "Rita, do you think we need to tell the commander about this?"


    "Forget it, I still don''t need it." I''m worried about the deviation of history here. If we tell this so-called analysis to rokosovsky, Stalin is on a whim and doesn''t want to change the choice of commander of the front army, then my wrong judgment will lose points in rokosovsky''s mind¡° After all, it''s just my analysis. What''s the situation like? We can only find out when Marshal Zhukov arrives here. "


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­


    Rokosovsky stayed on the West Bank of the visva river for a week before returning to the front command. He confidently said to me and malining, "I''ve seen both the landing sites of magnushev and pwawi these days, and finally I think pwawi landing site is the best place for our army to attack..."


    He was talking on and on when the high frequency telephone on the desk suddenly rang. I was closest to the phone, then I grabbed the microphone and stuck it to my ear: "Hello, this is the headquarters of the front army. Where are you?"


    "It''s me, Rita." Suddenly, Stalin''s voice came from the receiver: "is Comrade rokosovsky here?"


    Hearing Stalin''s voice, I quickly got up from my seat and replied respectfully, "Hello, comrade Stalin. Yes, the commander is right next to me


    "Give him the phone!" Stalin ordered briefly. I politely handed the phone to rokosovsky and listened to the conversation between him and Stalin¡° Hello, comrade Stalin Rokosovsky said to the microphone with a smile on his face¡° Comrade rokosovsky, I have an important thing to announce to you. " After Stalin heard that the person who answered the phone was rokosovsky, he said solemnly: "after the study of the supreme command, it is decided to formally appoint you as commander of the second front army of Belarus." Rokosovsky''s smile froze on his face, his hands holding the microphone tightly, and his breathing became rapid. After hearing Stalin''s words, malining and I looked at each other and saw helplessness in each other''s eyes¡° Comrade Stalin, "after a long silence, rokosovsky suddenly raised his voice and asked indignantly," why, why is this? Did I do something wrong? Why do you want to change me from the main direction to the secondary direction? " I thought Stalin would be furious when he heard rokosovsky talking to himself in such a tone. Unexpectedly, he said with a kind face: "Comrade rokosovsky, you have wronged me. We have not transferred you to the secondary direction. You should know that there are three front forces fighting in the main direction, namely, the first front army of Ukraine, the first front army of Belarus and the second front army of Belarus. If we want to defeat Germany, it depends on the close cooperation among the three front armies. Therefore, the Supreme Command attaches great importance to the selection of commanders. " When he heard Stalin say this, rokosovsky unexpectedly kept silent and didn''t argue with each other any more. Stalin also felt guilty about changing rokosovsky''s position at the critical moment, so after hearing that there was no voice in the microphone for a long time, he took the initiative to make friends with rokosovsky: "it''s Zhukov who takes over your position. What do you think of this candidate? "¡° Comrade Stalin, "anger returns to anger. Since he heard Stalin''s question, rokosovsky truthfully replied," Marshal Zhukov is undoubtedly the best candidate. I believe that with his arrival, the morale of the first front army will be greatly boosted. "¡° Do you have anything else to say? " Stalin asked¡° I want to ask, "rokosovsky asked cautiously," after I went to the second front army, what should the former commander General zaharov do? "¡° During our discussion, some comrades suggested that zaharov should be transferred to the first front army as deputy commander. " Stalin said slowly on the phone, "but since Rita has already taken the post, let zaharov stay in the second front army as your deputy."¡° Let me ask one last question, "rokosovsky asked." when will Zhukov arrive in Lublin to take over my post? "¡° He is preparing for the October Revolution Day parade, "Stalin replied by telephone." so he can''t get to Lublin until mid November at the earliest. When he doesn''t arrive, you can continue to be the commander of the first front army, or you can give the troops to Rita

 Chapter 1652

    When rokosovsky put down the phone, malining, who was full of surprise, asked him, "Comrade commander, what''s the matter? Why did you suddenly remove the post of commander of the first front army and transfer you to the second front army?"


    "I don''t know, I don''t know." "I don''t know why Comrade Stalin suddenly made such a decision," rokosovsky said painfully, with his hands on the table, his head bowed, his eyes closed and his head swinging


    Although rokosovsky is still at a loss about the reason for his transfer, malining and I already know. I learned all this through history books, but malining learned the truth from what I called "analysis".


    "What do you think about next?" Malining looked at me with some guilty heart and asked rokosovsky carefully, "do you want to stay here until Marshal Zhukov arrives; Or should we go to the second front army first to get familiar with the environment and leave it to Lida for the time being? "


    Rokosovsky opened his eyes, fixed his eyes on me, and began to think about malining''s question.


    Seeing rokosovsky staring at me all the time made my heart feel flustered. In order to take the initiative, I said, "marshal, you''d better stay. It will take another month for Marshal Zhukov to come here to take over the post of commander. If you stay here, at least the commanders and fighters of the whole front army will have a backbone. "


    After listening to what I said, rokosovsky didn''t speak. He just used his fingers to tap on the table quickly. He may be having a fierce psychological struggle.


    "The operational plan we reported to the headquarters of the general staff has been approved by the headquarters." After a long time, rokosovsky finally said: "from now on, we will start to work out a detailed campaign plan. I will not leave for the time being because I have to absorb commanders of various army groups and members of their headquarters to participate in the formulation process. "


    Although my heart very much hopes that rokosovsky can leave as soon as possible, so that I can control the first front army of Belarus alone. But on second thought, since I was the deputy commander of the front army, I spent most of my time making soy sauce or only being responsible for the local command. If I were allowed to control the overall situation, it might lead to chaos in the army. Therefore, I immediately expressed my support for rokosovsky''s decision: "marshal, I agree with your decision that the first front army has been under your leadership since its establishment. Before Marshal Zhukov arrived at Lublin, you were the only one in charge, so you made the right decision to stay


    When we are ready to call together the commanders of several troops stationed in the south of Warsaw to participate in the formulation of the offensive campaign plan. Malining suggested to rokosovsky that Batov and Popov, two commanders stationed on the West Bank of narev River, should also participate in this work, but I refuted him.


    I confidently said to malining, "Comrade chief of staff, from the current situation, it is possible that the troops along the narev river will be assigned to the command of the second front army. Therefore, we only need the commanders of the various army groups along the visva River to participate in the formulation of the operation plan."


    Rokosovsky also agreed with me: "Lida''s analysis is reasonable. I also think it will be sooner or later for the 65th and 70th army to be put under the command of the second front army. Therefore, it is unnecessary to inform them to participate in the formulation of the combat plan this time."


    The group commander who received the notice came to the headquarters of the front army one after another. To my surprise, there was general belinger, commander of the first group army of Poland. Seeing that I was also in the headquarters, he quickly came over to shake hands with me and said warmly, "Hello, comrade deputy commander of the front army. I''m glad to meet you here!"


    "Hello, general Bellinger." As I shook hands with him, I said with emotion: "the officers and men of the third division of Poland have been very brave in this river crossing battle. Although the enemy has invested a lot of troops and weapons, they have never been able to capture the landing site of wajinji palace they established. "


    Hearing me mention this, belinger said with a sad face: "if it wasn''t for the renegade krayov army of the rebel army, which withdrew from the predetermined reception place without authorization, our troops would not have suffered so much loss when crossing the river. It is even possible to expand the landing site and gain local advantages in Warsaw city. "


    "It is said that the rebels have laid down their arms and surrendered to the Germans." I then asked, "I don''t know if there are any ryudov soldiers breaking out of the siege?"


    "Yes," general Bellinger replied, nodding his head, "after the rebel army surrendered to the German army, our troops deployed by the river have received hundreds of soldiers from across the river, and I have added them to the troops."


    At this moment, malining''s voice suddenly rang out in the room: "well, comrades, everyone is here. Let''s have a meeting."


    "Wait a minute, chief of staff." It was trekov who asked questions. After looking around, he stood up and asked marinin, "why didn''t I see Gusev, Batov and Popov?"


    "Their three army groups will not take part in this battle plan," malining said to the commanders who attended the meeting, pointing to the map on the wall with a stick. "The headquarters of the front army decided to launch a far-reaching assault from the landing sites of magnushev and puwai, from the south of Warsaw to the south of POZ, an important industrial town in Poland. The combat plan we are about to formulate will be launched around this theme... "


    After malining finished introducing the situation, rokosovsky looked at trakov and asked, "Comrade trakov, I want to ask when you can rebuild the bridge on the visva River and transport the tanks and artillery that the troops need urgently across the river?"


    "Comrade marshal, it''s very difficult." Trakov said with a bitter face: "our landing site of magnushev is bombarded and bombed by the German army every day. In the past, Polish engineers helped us build a pontoon, but only a few hours later, it was bombed by German planes."


    "You haven''t tried to build bridges since then?" Asked rokosovsky, a little discontented.


    "In order to avoid unnecessary losses, we gave up this futile effort." "We''ve got a flat ferry that can carry four tanks or armored vehicles across the river at a time," he said


    "Are you content to transport four tanks at a time?" Without waiting for trakov to finish, rokosovsky impolitely interrupted him and asked, "how many times a day can you transport four tanks at a time? How long does it take to transport a tank brigade? How long will it take to transport all your tank brigades and artillery regiments to the other side? "


    "This, this!" Trakov replied in a somewhat flustered way: "although the technical equipment and personnel transported each time are limited, they are enough to offset the losses in the West Bank."


    "General trakov," rokosovsky said sternly, looking at trakov, "our goal is to destroy the Germans, not to use oil tactics and fight a war of attrition with them. Tell me, how long will it take to build a floating bridge over the visva river? "


    Trikov turned his head and looked at the chief of staff who was sitting on one side. His chief of staff quickly put his head close to him, and they whispered. After a while, trakov said with a little lack of confidence: "marshal, please give me another month. I will build a bridge for tanks and artillery on the visva river."


    "No, one month is too long." Rokosovsky immediately denied it.


    "Ten days, ten days." Trakov began to bargain with rokosovsky.


    "No, ten days is still too long." Rokosovsky shook his head and denied the time proposed by trakov again. Then he held out three fingers and said decisively, "three days, three days later, I will see you set up a floating bridge on the visva River, or I will not be the commander of the front army."


    Trikov leaned down again to talk with his chief of staff. When he stood up straight behind him, he clenched his teeth and stamped his feet, and said decisively, "well, marshal, I promise you, only three days. In three days, we will certainly set up a floating bridge on the visva river for tanks and artillery to pass through. "


    "That''s right, comrade trekov." Rokosovsky nodded his head and said approvingly, "it seems that your troops still have potential to tap."


    Trikov also laughed, looked around, and then said, "marshal, you threaten us by not being the commander of the front army. Even if we can''t do it, we have to do everything we can to finish your task."


    Rokosovsky, after waiting for trakov to smile, sighed a long time and said quietly, "in a while, I will not be the commander of the first front army of Belarus any more."


    As soon as his words came out, except for a few people who knew the inside story, such as malining and I, the rest of the commanders who attended the meeting opened their mouths wide and looked at rokosovsky in surprise. They didn''t know what happened. After a while, kolpakchi stood up and asked gravely, "what happened when you arrived, comrade Marshal? How can you be good? You will no longer be the commander?"


    Kolpakchi asked this question for a reason. He has been inseparable from rokosovsky these days. Just after a few hours apart, I suddenly heard rokosovsky say that he would no longer serve as commander of the front army. It was not surprising that there was a ghost.


    Rokosovsky stood up, glanced over every commander who attended the meeting, and said slowly, "comrades commander, I now formally inform you that the supreme command has appointed me as commander of the second front army. At the same time, Marshal Zhukov will take over my post. I hope you can cooperate with him well."


    "Why, why is that?" As soon as his voice fell, someone asked aloud, "you''ve done a good job. Why did you move from the main direction to the secondary direction?"


    "In fact, the direction of the second front army is not a secondary direction." Rokosovsky explained to the commander who asked questions: "our next troops to attack Berlin will be composed of the first front army of Ukraine, the first and second front army of Belarus. Only with the cooperation of the three forces can we defeat the Germans and completely destroy the stronghold of the Communist aggressors..."


    Although rokosovsky''s defense seemed so weak, all the commanders were surprisingly silent, because everyone knew that this was Stalin''s final decision, and no one could change it.


    "Well, comrades, it''s time for us to discuss how to attack the enemy''s defensive zone from the landing sites of magnushev and puwai." Malining and other rokosovsky finished, timely took over the topic: "please express your views."


    When we heard that we were going to start to make an attack plan, we forgot for a moment that rokosovsky was about to be transferred and focused on the plan again¡° The main reason why our landing site is unable to take the initiative to attack the enemy is the lack of technical equipment such as tanks and artillery, which leads to the lack of offensive ability of the troops. " Korpakchi pointed to the map and said solemnly: "the marshal stayed with us for a few days, walked back and forth along the river visva, and selected the best places for us to build bridges As long as the pontoon is set up, our tanks and artillery will continue to reach the West Bank. After we have accumulated enough strength, we will be able to attack the enemy. "¡° I totally agree with general korpakchi, "and then came trekov." the reason why our landing site was constantly bombed and shelled by the enemy was also due to the lack of sufficient technical equipment. If we can put a few antiaircraft artillery divisions in the landing site, the enemy''s air raids will be greatly reduced, even if they can''t disappear... "While trikov was speaking incessantly, rokosovsky approached me and said in a low voice," Rita, you must remember the speeches of each commander. When Marshal Zhukov arrives, And then give him a detailed report so that he can have a perceptual understanding of the current situation of our front army as soon as possible. "¡° All right, comrade marshal. " Hearing what rokosovsky said, I quickly nodded my head and replied, "I will resolutely carry out your order."¡° This may be the last time I will preside over the meeting in the first front army. You should take care of yourself. " With that, he sighed softly and turned to listen to trekov again.

 Chapter 1653

    As the commanders of the various group armies are far more familiar with their own defense areas than we are, with their concerted efforts, a new operational plan was soon worked out.


    After the meeting, rokosovsky picked up the new plan and read it carefully. Malining and I didn''t dare to disturb him. We had to wait patiently for him to see it and then ask him about the plan.


    We waited for half an hour, and finally we saw rokosovsky put down his battle plan. Malining immediately couldn''t wait to ask, "how about this plan, marshal


    Rokosovsky looked at malining and said, "it''s not only OK, it''s a perfect plan." Just as malining''s face just burst into a smile, I heard rokosovsky add, "but I don''t think this plan should be reported for the time being."


    "Why?" We were both confused by rokosovsky''s words.


    "Don''t forget, in another month, Marshal Zhukov will take over as commander of the front army." Rokosovsky threw the plan on the table and continued: "it is impossible for the troops to take large-scale military action until he arrives. Even if this battle plan is reported and approved by the supreme command, who can guarantee that after Zhukov takes office, the situation between the enemy and ourselves will not change? Do you think we should carry out operations according to this plan or draw up other plans? "


    "Comrade commander, you have a point." After listening to rokosovsky''s words, marinin nodded his head and said: "the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. We have done a good job in this battle plan. But it will take a month for the new commander to take office. In addition, it will take some time to get familiar with the troops and understand the deployment of the enemy''s forces. Maybe this plan will not be of any use at that time. "


    "Another point," rokosovsky continued, "is that the winter in Poland will come in November, which will have a lot of adverse effects on the March and operations. We must also take this adverse factor into account."


    After the original battle plan was worked out, I was still a little complacent. I felt that according to our plan, launching an attack on the German army from the landing site in the south of Warsaw would surely achieve great results. Maybe before 1945, we would be able to liberate the whole territory of Poland, and the troops would be able to move forward to the border between Poland and Germany. But at the moment, after listening to rokosovsky''s analysis, I feel that I think things are too simple.


    "Comrade marshal," I looked at rokosovsky and asked modestly, "what should I do with this battle plan?"


    "Put it here first." Rokosovsky sighed again, and then said, "before I leave here, I plan to stay in the army below for a while to get familiar with the situation on the front line. Rita, you and Comrade malining will be responsible for the affairs of the headquarters of the front army. "


    "I don''t know which army you are going to go to?" Asked marinin.


    I thought rokosovsky would have said to go to the serotsk landing site in the north of Warsaw. After all, the two army groups there may be under the command of the second front army. Unexpectedly, he said, "I plan to stay at the landing sites of magnushev and puwai during this period of time, and then study with the commanders of the group army how to transport heavy equipment across the river."


    "Comrade commander, with all due respect." As soon as his voice fell, marinin tried to dissuade him: "you have just returned from the West Bank of the visva River, and now you are going to go again. I don''t think it''s necessary. I think you''d better go to the landing site on the West Bank of the narev river. After all, our army is in a favorable position there, and these two army groups may also be under your command in the future. "


    "I''ll be there sooner or later." Rokosovsky waved to malining and said, "but at present, our first task is to consider how to transport heavy equipment across the visva river. No matter who will be the commander of the front army in the future, we should choose to attack the German army from the two landing fields of magnushev and pwawi, and detour back to Poznan, the important industrial town of Poland. "


    "Comrade commander, I beg you again." Malining looked at rokosovsky and said sincerely, "the West Bank of the visva river is too dangerous now. For your safety, I don''t recommend you to go there."


    After hearing that malining suddenly used the honorific "you" to himself, rokosovsky grinned and then said to malining, "don''t worry, chief of staff, I know what you are worried about. Although I have some emotions about this sudden transfer, I will never risk my life for it. I went to the West Bank of the visva River to study the deployment of the German army and to solve the problem of restoring cross-strait traffic. "


    "Unless our army is in the south of Warsaw and has full control of the air, then the floating bridge on the visva River can be used." Seeing that rokosovsky had guessed his own idea, malining studied and stared at the map to hide his uneasiness: "otherwise, as soon as the enemy planes are out, the pontoon we have been working hard to build will be destroyed."


    See two people have been for the bridge things tangled, my mind suddenly came up with an idea. As soon as they stopped, I immediately asked, "Comrade marshal, what month is the freezing season of the visva river every year?"


    "The frozen season on the visva river?" When rokosovsky heard my question, he immediately turned to malining and asked, "chief of staff, do you know?"¡° As far as I know, the visva River freezes in individual sections in December every year. " Malining frowned and said, "but how thick can it be on the river? We need to ask the relevant meteorological experts to know." As soon as marinin finished, I asked him modestly, "chief of staff, how thick ice do you think it will take for our tanks to pass through the visva river?" As for the data I asked, rokosovsky seemed to have a good idea. He said to me ahead of malining: "if you only need to bear the weight of people, seven centimeters is enough; To bear a 76.2 mm gun pulled by a horse, the ice thickness needs at least 15 cm; And to get the T-34 to the other side smoothly, it''s impossible without a thickness of 20 centimeters. "¡° Comrade commander, we should also consider, "malining reminded rokosovsky," the thickness of the ice on the river is different. The ice on the bank is much thicker than that in the center of the river. Maybe when it''s on the shore, the ice can still bear the weight of tanks, but when it''s in the middle of the river, it can''t even bear the weight of horses and artillery. "¡° Chief of staff, you have a point. We can''t think about it too simply, thinking that as soon as the visva River freezes, we will be able to move our armored forces across the river. Instead of relying on unreliable weather for the success of crossing the river, we should try to build more floating bridges on the visva river. " Rokosovsky nodded his head and agreed with malining. Then he said, "I''ll go to the other side of the river early tomorrow morning to discuss the bridge with some group commanders."

 Chapter 1654

    Rokosovsky''s two landing sites on the West Bank of the visva river did not return to the east bank until the end of October. However, he didn''t even return to the headquarters of the front army. He just called malining and me and went directly to the sirotsk landing site on the West Bank of the narev river.


    Just when I was thinking about whether I should go to the landing site of cerotsk to meet him and report the recent situation of the front army to him, I unexpectedly received a call from vassilevsky.


    The chief of the general staff asked me directly on the phone, "Rita, is rokosovsky in the headquarters?"


    "No, comrade marshal." I replied respectfully, "after returning from the West Bank of the visva river today, comrade commander hurried to the landing site of cerotsk without even returning to the headquarters. Do you have anything important to ask him? "


    "Well, a military parade will be held in Red Square on November 7. According to the order of the Supreme Commander himself, the principal and Deputy commanders and military commissars of all front forces must participate. " Vasilevsky said on the phone: "I now officially inform you that you must arrive in Moscow on the 6th at the latest. Is there any difficulty? "


    "No problem," I immediately replied without hesitation, "we''ll be there on time."


    "Very well," vasilevsky told me, "remember to inform marshal rokosovsky immediately and get him ready."


    After I put down the phone, I called malining and jerekin in front of them and said to them, "I have just received an order from the headquarters of the general staff that the principal and Deputy commanders and military commissars of the front army should arrive in Moscow on the 6th of this month to attend the military parade on October Revolution Day. Chief of staff, after we leave, you will be fully responsible for all the affairs of the front army. "


    "Don''t worry, Rita." Marinin nodded his head and said: "at present, everything in the army is in order, and there will be no large-scale fighting in a short period of time. I can fully cope with what happens. You can go to Moscow with ease."


    "Then who will inform the marshal?" Asked Jeremy king, looking at both of us.


    Malining and I looked at each other. From his eyes, I guessed that he wanted me to inform rokosovsky personally. Then he nodded and said, "I''d better call marshal."


    The reason why they were embarrassed by the call to rokosovsky was that rokosovsky''s identity was very embarrassing at this time. He had been officially removed from the post of commander of the first front army by Stalin, but he did not take office in the second front army for the time being.


    I picked up the phone, hesitated for a long time, and finally dialed the 65th army headquarters. After hearing Batov''s voice coming out of the receiver, I ignored the greetings and asked directly, "Comrade General, is the commander in your headquarters?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." Batov replied respectfully, "the marshal is in my headquarters at the moment." Then I heard him say to rokosovsky, "Comrade marshal, it''s Rita. She seems to have something urgent for you."


    "What''s the matter, Rita?" he said


    "Well, marshal, I just got a call from the chief of general staff." Hearing rokosovsky''s voice, I said in a bit of confusion: "he said that on the 7th of this month, the October Revolution Day parade will be held in Moscow, and the supreme command will let all the front army commanders and Deputy commanders and military commissars participate."


    After listening to this, rokosovsky was silent for a long time. Finally, he asked, "did vasilevsky say when we must get to Moscow?"


    "No later than the sixth."


    "Well," rokosovsky replied, "I''ll arrive in Moscow on the 6th, but then I won''t go back to Lublin and fly directly from here to Moscow, so you don''t have to wait for me."


    After I put down the phone, they immediately couldn''t wait to ask, "what did the commander say?"


    "Comrade Marshal said that he would arrive in Moscow on time. But he will fly directly from the local area to Moscow, so he won''t go with us. " I looked at them, sighed and said, "it seems that the Marshal''s heart is still a little rebellious."


    Jerekin nodded and said with approval, "since Comrade commander is not willing to go with us, we will not impose ourselves. Then we will fly directly to Moscow."


    A few days later, jerekin and I flew to Moscow.


    Immediately after the plane landed, an officer in a military coat came running from the side of the runway and respectfully invited me and jerekin to board the black car parked outside the runway.


    The car drove up the wasiri slope along the Moscow River and was blocked at the entrance to the Kremlin. The officer in the co pilot''s seat turned to us and said apologetically, "I''m sorry, two general comrades. Because there are too many people reporting here today, we may have to wait a while before we can enter the Kremlin."


    "It doesn''t matter," I waved to the officer and pushed the door open. "It''s still early anyway. I''ll go out first."


    Seeing that I got out of the car, jerekin also got out of the car from the other side in a hurry. From the back of the car around to my side, surprised to ask: "Rita, it''s snowing outside, slippery road, what''s good to go around?"


    I nodded at Lenin''s tomb and said, "Comrade military commissar, don''t you see a group of people around there? Let''s go and see what happened." Seeing me and jerekin walking towards Lenin''s tomb under the thick snow, the officer who used to be in the co pilot''s seat had to push the door open and get out of the car and follow us far behind to protect our safety. I went to the back of the crowd and saw that they were arguing with the guards and police on duty. I saw an old lady standing in front of me. I raised my hand and patted her on the shoulder. I asked curiously, "Comrade woman, can you tell me what happened here?" The old lady turned to look at me, and then complained to me: "Comrade commander, we are all from Kazakhstan. We wanted to present flowers to Lenin''s tomb. However, the guards on duty said that Lenin''s tomb had been closed and no one was allowed to present flowers. He asked us to come back tomorrow, but we are going to take the train back to Kazakhstan tonight. What can we do? " Seeing that the old lady came from such a far place, she just wanted to lay flowers in front of Lenin''s tomb. If she could not satisfy her wish, she might leave a lifelong regret. Thinking of this, I nodded to the old lady and said confidently, "don''t worry, I can help you fulfill your wish." The old lady glanced at my rank. She might regard me as an ordinary captain. She said doubtfully, "can you do it?"¡° If you can, you have to try. " When I finished speaking, I pushed aside the crowd and pushed forward. At the same time, I yelled, "please step aside, comrades, please step aside!" I pushed to the front of the chain, rushed to the guards and police standing at the back door of the chain and said, "comrades, these people are from Kazakhstan. Their wish is to present a bunch of flowers in front of Lenin''s tomb. Can''t you even fulfill their wish?"¡° But, Comrade General. " After a police Lieutenant saw his rank clearly, he immediately raised his hand to salute and said in embarrassment, "Lenin''s tomb has been closed. Maybe it''s not appropriate to present flowers at this time?"¡° There''s nothing inappropriate, "I said in an all embracing manner." Comrade police, I didn''t ask you to reopen Lenin''s tomb. I just asked you to open the chain here so that these comrades from Kazakhstan can present a bunch of flowers to Lenin''s tomb. Isn''t that too much? "¡° That''s right, that''s right. " Hearing me say this, the civilians standing behind me also yelled: "we just want to lay a bunch of flowers in front of Lenin''s tomb. Please let us in."¡° Comrade general, we need to ask for instructions on this. " The police Lieutenant said cautiously: "if the superior agrees, I can let them lay flowers in front of the tomb."¡° Comrade lieutenant. " The officer who accompanied me crowded in at this time and said to the police lieutenant, "I order you to let go of the chain and let these comrades from Kazakhstan present flowers at Lenin''s tomb." The police Lieutenant obviously knew the officer who was with me. After a quick salute, he ordered his men to open the chain and let the people crowded here go in to offer flowers. At the same time, he was still shouting: "don''t worry, everyone, come one by one!" When people around Lenin''s tomb heard that they could make an exception to go in and offer flowers at this time, they could not help shouting "Wula!" And quickly formed a long line, orderly to Lenin''s tomb flowers.

 Chapter 1655

    The military parade on October Revolution Day still officially started at 9 a.m. on November 7.


    As soon as the bell on the clock tower of spasco rang, Stalin, with the members of the highest base camp, stepped on the reviewing stand at the top of Lenin''s tomb.


    "Comrades," soon, Stalin''s voice came out from the loudspeakers on the walls of the Red Palace and the Gumm Mall: "today, we are here to solemnly commemorate the 27th anniversary of the great October Revolution..."


    On the Red Square, waiting for inspection, thousands of commanders and soldiers, and people standing on the observatories on the left and right sides of Lenin''s tomb, listened quietly to Stalin''s speech. Stalin''s voice echoed over red square. His speech was mainly about the current situation. He said that since the beginning of the war three years ago, because of the victory in various battlefields, especially the battle of Belarus and the battle of Ukraine on the right bank, the balance of power between the enemy and US had changed fundamentally. With Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and other countries joining our camp, The enemy is now at a dead end. The dawn of victory is just ahead of us. In less than a year, we will be able to bring down the Communist Germany fundamentally


    After the parade, we soon found a strange situation. Marching behind the band was a strange army. Their uniforms were very similar to those of the German army, but their badges were bright red.


    Seeing the appearance of this army, the people in civilian clothes next to me began to talk in a low voice: "hell, where did that army come from? Are they the Germans who surrendered to us?"


    "It''s impossible." Another one said in disgust: "even the German troops who surrendered to our army are not qualified to participate in the Red Square parade. They can only cross the streets of Moscow under the escort of our soldiers and the spit of the onlookers as prisoners of war."


    In fact, at the moment when this army appeared, I was confused for a moment, but after seeing clearly the flag held by the flagman, I immediately understood what was going on. He turned his head and looked at rokosovsky sitting on the left. He was sitting in his position without saying a word, looking at the troops marching on the Red Square indifferently.


    I sighed softly, then looked at the two men who were in a state of confusion and said to them, "comrades, don''t worry, this is our ally - the Bulgarian army, and they are now part of the anti Communist front."


    "It''s the Bulgarian army," I explained. People around me suddenly realized. "The main reason is that their uniforms are so similar to those of the German army. That''s why we admit our mistake."


    Bulgaria was followed by Moldova, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Judging from their disorderly pace, they should have been temporarily transferred from these newly liberated countries. Only after these allied forces of the anti Communist front have passed will our receiving party come out.


    I carefully observed the weapons in the hands of the commanders and fighters, and found that the mosinlagan rifles, which were commonly used in the past, were all equipped with Popov submachine guns and a considerable number of assault rifles, except for the militia units in Moscow.


    After the infantry square had passed, the tanks and artillery units of the army appeared.


    "Rita," rokosovsky, who has been in a state of silence, finally said, "take a closer look, what''s the difference between the tank and artillery units we are referring to today?"


    When I heard him say this, I quickly focused on the tanks and towed guns that were passing in front of me. After watching for a while, I tentatively replied, "it seems that I didn''t see the new type of tank that showed its magic power last year."


    "That''s right," rokosovsky said, nodding his head. "Not only are there no new types of tanks, but even dual barrel self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and large caliber self-propelled guns."


    According to my opinion, at least some new equipment will be displayed in this parade. As a result, not only the new equipment is not available, but also several kinds of equipment from the future, which were popular last year, have disappeared for no reason. I approached rokosovsky and asked in a low voice, "Comrade marshal, why is this so?"


    Rokosovsky looked around and then said, "there are too many people here. I''ll talk to you after the parade."


    Due to the technical equipment I was looking forward to, it disappeared from the parade team for no reason, and the rest of the parade ceremony suddenly became dull. It was not easy to wait until the end of the parade and when the people on the rostrum were almost gone, I got up and walked off the rostrum with rokosovsky.


    Although many sections near red square have been strictly forbidden, we can only go out and can not enter, but rokosovsky and I are obviously not in the forbidden area. Seeing us walking past, the policemen and soldiers at the intersection immediately removed the iron fence blocking the road and flashed to the roadside to salute us.


    Rokosovsky took me to a coffee shop and sat down in a small corner. After the waiter brought us coffee and left, he asked, "Rita, do you know why there are so many advanced technologies and equipment missing in today''s military parade?"


    I shook my head and said tentatively, "maybe it''s because I''m afraid that German spies will steal the top secret information of these technical equipment, that''s why I took such measures."


    "Rita, you should know that some of these technical equipment have been installed in the army for a long time." Rokosovsky waved his hand to me and said, "these new types of technical equipment not only made the Germans suffer a great loss, but also were captured by the enemy. For them, it is no secret for a long time."¡° That should be to guard against Britain and the United States and other countries. "Thinking that many members of Britain and the United States are present on today''s rostrum, I continued to speculate:" there are no eternal friends or enemies between countries, only eternal interests. Although Britain and America are our friends today, maybe they will become our enemies in the future. Therefore, it is also necessary to take necessary confidentiality measures against them. " After repeating what I said about "the law of friends and enemies", rokosovsky nodded his head and said, "Rita, your summary is very incisive. However, as soldiers, we should pay attention to how to win the war. We''d better not participate in political affairs. Forget it. I don''t think you can guess the reason. Let me tell you. The reason why so many technical equipment were lacking at this military parade is that all of these equipment were shut down at the beginning of the year. "¡° All production stopped? " I was surprised by rokosovsky''s words. No wonder I saw fewer and fewer new equipment in the army. I thought that the number of new equipment in the army was reduced because of insufficient production and limited transport capacity. But I didn''t expect that the production had been stopped completely. So I asked curiously, "why?"¡° Because a person in charge of the technology and equipment department said that the special armor plates and engines used in the new equipment are made in the United States, "rokosovsky said in a disdainful tone:" if we continue to mass produce new equipment, we will rely on the steel imported from the United States. Once the Soviet Union and the United States have a bad relationship, the other side will stop supplying us, There will be serious consequences. " Although rokosovsky did not say who put forward this absurd view, nor did he say what serious consequences it would cause, I knew in my heart that in the next war, history would return to its original track, and the tanks and artillery used by the Soviet army would become the same as in the real history. The only consolation is the assault rifles in the infantry. While I and rokosovsky were sitting in silence drinking coffee, an officer broke in from outside the coffee shop. He stood at the door, looked around, and then came quickly towards us. He came to us, stopped, raised his hand, saluted, then looked at me and said, "general oshanina, I''ve been ordered to come to you."¡° "To me?" I looked up at the strange officer in front of me and asked in surprise, "who''s looking for me?"¡° "Marshal Zhukov," the officer replied quickly, "he said that there is something important to see you. Please report to him immediately!" I stood up and asked the officer curiously, "Comrade officer, how did you know I was here?" The officer shrugged and replied, "in fact, Marshal Zhukov saw you when you and marshal rokosovsky left the auditorium. After I received the order to look for you, I followed your route, asked all the way, and naturally found here. "¡° Come on, Rita Rokosovsky said to me, "Zhukov is looking for you. There must be something very important. You''d better see him soon."¡° Marshal, we''ll see you later. " After that, I raised my hand to my forehead, saluted rokosovsky, then turned and followed the officer out of the cafe. I thought Zhukov would meet me in the Kremlin, but when I went out, I saw a black car parked outside. The officer ran to open the back door and respectfully asked me to get in¡° Comrade officers, where are we going? " I closed the door and asked the officer in the co pilot''s seat. The officer half turned and said to me respectfully, "general oshanina, Marshal Zhukov has now returned to the headquarters of the general staff, where he will meet you." Then he turned and told the driver, "drive!" Due to today''s celebration, many streets have been closed for the residents in the city to hold a celebration parade, so the car we took had to change the route and shuttle in the alleys. At first I could recognize several familiar buildings, but soon I lost my sense of direction. Half an hour later, the car stopped in front of a tall building. The officer turned to me and said, "general oshanina, we''re here. Please get out of the car." I pushed open the car door and poked my head out, only to find that it was not a staff headquarters at all. He drew his head back and asked the officer sternly, "Comrade officer, what''s the matter? This is not the headquarters of the general staff at all. Are you in the wrong place?"¡° Yes, Comrade General. " A sneer suddenly appeared on the officer''s face: "this is the place where you are going - ruyanka, the headquarters building of the Ministry of interior."

 Chapter 1656

    The officer''s words made me at a loss. I asked myself, I didn''t seem to have done anything out of line recently. How could I be invited to the interior department for coffee? Moreover, with my friendship with belia, if the superior really wanted to censor me, he would communicate with me, but now there was no sign, so I was cheated here.


    When the officer got out of the car, he saw that I was still sitting in the car and didn''t move, so he patted the roof of the car twice and said harshly, "what are you doing in the car? Come out quickly!"


    As I was not afraid of the shadow, I thought I had no fatal handle in the hands of the Ministry of interior, so I walked out of the car with an air of complacency and coldly told the officer in front of me: "lead the way ahead!"


    The officer took me into the heavily guarded and gloomy interior building. I was still amused in my heart. A few years ago, I was brought here and almost shot. I didn''t expect to be brought here again. I have a affinity with this building.


    We finally came to a conference room. At the other end of the table sat a round faced officer. I took a look at his epaulet. It was the rank of general, lower than mine. Without waiting for him to speak, I sat down across the long conference table and began to talk with him: "excuse me, comrade general, why did you bring me here?"


    The general on the other side stood up, turned his back to me and said, "general oshanina, please allow me to introduce myself. I''m Abakumov, deputy national defense people''s commissar and director of the General Administration of anti espionage."


    "Hello, general Abakumov." I sat in my seat, nodded at him and asked curiously, "I don''t know what''s the matter with you having me brought here today?"


    Abakumov came to me around the conference table, stopped a few steps away from me, and said, "we invited you here today. We have a few questions to ask you clearly."


    I raised my hand toward Abakumov and made a gesture of invitation. Then I said as usual, "excuse me, as long as I know, I will answer truthfully."


    Abakumov made a sign to the officer who followed me. The officer quickly went to a table by the wall, picked up the folder and handed it to Abakumov.


    He glanced at the folder, then looked down at me and said, "in the German information we recently captured, we found that in June 1942, they had captured a female commander near liuban. If I remember correctly, you were there, too?"


    "Yes, comrade Abakumov," I said truthfully, knowing that my resume was no secret to these people in the Ministry of interior, "I was in the liuban area at that time."


    "According to the female commander mentioned in the German information, we think it is likely to be you." Abakumov looked me in the eye and asked, "can you tell me how you stand out from the German siege?"


    As soon as I heard Abakumov mention liuban, I had an unexpected premonition in my heart. I was worried that I would be exposed when I was once captured. My brain began to work quickly and tried to think about solutions. Maybe it was because I had prepared in advance and faced Abakumov''s question that I could be calm.


    How did I get to Vlasov''s village after I broke up my troops and was scattered by the enemy. How he met his son, how he cleverly got out of the enemy''s encirclement when the enemy surrounded the village, and how he happened to meet meletskov''s troops, he told him all over again, of course, he did not mention the experience of being captured.


    "So you haven''t been captured?" Abakumov asked warily, staring at me.


    "No!" I know that my answer at this moment is not only related to my future, but also to my life and death, so I replied without hesitation, "I have never been captured!"


    "Really?"


    "Really I replied boldly.


    "Isn''t this comrade oshanina?" Suddenly, a familiar voice came from the door: "when did you come, why didn''t you come to my office?"


    I turned to see lunev, who I had dealt with, standing at the door. Seeing his appearance, I can''t help but feel relieved. I know that I''m safe today. I quickly got up, took his hand, shook it hard, and said politely, "Hello, comrade lunev. I was just going to see you in your office after accepting Comrade Abakumov''s inquiry. Unexpectedly, you came first. "


    Lunev was surprised to hear that. He looked at Abakumov and asked, "Comrade director, can I know the question you want to ask when you called general oshanina here?"


    "Well, comrade lunev." Facing the first deputy minister of the interior, Abakumov said very politely: "we learned from a captured German information that they had captured a female commander in June 1942. We speculated that this person might be general oshanina, so we called her here to inquire. "


    "Comrade Abakumov," lunev let go of my hand, walked up to Abakumov, and asked solemnly, "do you want to examine general oshanina and ask for instructions from Stalin and belia?"


    "Comrade deputy minister," Abakumov said impatiently after hearing lunev''s question, "this is the duty of our general anti espionage administration. We do not need to ask for instructions in advance. Sorry, we are in the process of inquiry. Please avoid it first. "¡° You... "Lunev pointed to Abakumov, angry a little speechless:" you wait... You wait for me... "And then he walked away. Seeing that lunev had been sent away, my heart immediately began to panic. It turned out that Abakumov''s cross examination of me was conducted in private. If they tortured me later, would I confess honestly or bear it to the end? However, the officers who were captured with me at the beginning were all shot by the Germans, which should be dead without proof. I still choose to bite to death and refuse to admit that I have been captured¡° Well, your support is gone. " Abakumov sneered at me and said, "general oshanina, I advise you to cooperate with us and tell us your experience of being captured honestly, otherwise..." "what else?" I looked at him with disdain and said coldly, "are you going to arbitrarily convict me according to one or two vague records in the German army?"¡° Bang Abakumov dropped the folder on the table in front of me and said, "do you think we can''t help you if you don''t admit it? We have a lot of ways to get you to come up with what we need. "¡° Comrade Abakumov, are you going to make a move? " I did not give in to say: "I believe that when you hand in the confession, no one will believe." Just as we were tit for tat, the telephone rang by the wall. The officer went over and picked up the phone. After listening for a moment, his face suddenly showed panic. He put the phone to Abakumov and said, "it''s comrade belia''s phone." Abakumov took the microphone and stuck it to his ear. As soon as he said, "I''m Abakumov..." then I heard a series of roars coming out of the receiver. Because the other party spoke too fast, I didn''t hear the specific content clearly. But from Abakumov''s changing face, I knew he was being reprimanded. After a long time, he put down the phone, walked back to me and said feebly, "OK, general oshanina, there''s nothing for you here. You can go back." I stood up, dusted my clothes, grunted at Abakumov, turned and walked out of the room. In the process of walking out along the corridor, I was still thinking, is it lunev who informs me that belia''s call to rescue me can come so timely? But on second thought, it''s not like that, because it''s only a few minutes since he left the conference room, and he probably hasn''t come to his own office, where can he call belia. When I walked out of the interior building with this question, the glass in the back of a black car parked on the side of the road was shaken down, revealing the familiar face of rokosovsky. He waved to me and said, "Rita, come here!" After I got on the bus, I asked lokosovsky curiously, "marshal, how do you know I''m here?"¡° After you and the officer left, I also went out of the cafe. I happened to see that the license plate of the car belonged to the Ministry of interior. At that time, I muttered, "how can Zhukov find you and use the car of the Ministry of interior?" Rokosovsky explained to me, "so I called Zhukov and realized that he didn''t look for you at all. After knowing that you were taken away by the people of the Ministry of interior, he arranged for someone to drive with me and reported the matter to Comrade Stalin. "¡° So it''s like this, "I suddenly realized after listening to rokosovsky''s explanation." no wonder belia''s call came in time. If it was a little later, maybe I would be sent to the interrogation room by them. "¡° Abakumov tricked you here. What''s the matter? " Asked rokosovsky curiously. After I made a brief introduction to rokosovsky, I asked curiously, "Comrade marshal, where are we going next?"¡° Go to the staff headquarters. This time Zhukov and vasilevsky want to see us. " Rokosovsky said, then told the driver sitting in the front row, "drive, go to the staff headquarters!"

 Chapter 1657

    I thought rokosovsky would say something to me, but he kept his eyes closed all the way. I could only look out of the window, bored to see the scenery and pedestrians outside.


    We got out of the car in the parking lot of the General Staff Headquarters. Just when I thought rokosovsky would lead me to vasilevsky without saying a word, he stopped and asked me seriously, "Rita, tell me the truth, have you ever been captured in liuban?"


    Rokosovsky''s words made me look silly. If Abakumov asked me, even if I was killed, I would not admit that I was captured; But it''s rokosovsky who is asking this at the moment, which makes me in a dilemma.


    I looked around and found that I was standing in the middle of the parking lot with rokosovsky. Except for the back of the driver who had just sent us, I couldn''t see anyone at all. I suddenly realized that what rokosovsky chose to ask me at this time was the truth, not the content I made up.


    "Why, don''t you want to tell me the truth?" Rokosovsky saw that I didn''t speak, and his face showed an expression of displeasure. "Today, you are lucky. When you were cheated away by Abakumov, I found you, or the consequences will be unimaginable. If there is another time, you may not be so easy to get out of danger


    Listening to rokosovsky''s tone, I knew I couldn''t do without telling the truth, so I nodded and said in a low voice: "yes, marshal, I was indeed captured by the Germans when liuban broke through."


    "You, you..." When rokosovsky heard me say this, he suddenly stood on his head and pointed at me. He was too angry to speak. But fortunately, he knew how to control his emotions. After a while, he put down his hand and tried to say to me in a gentle tone, "OK, tell me the details."


    So I told rokosovsky in detail about my capture and how I got out of danger later.


    After listening to the whole process, rokosovsky asked, "do you mean that all the commanders captured with you were killed by the German army?"


    "Yes," I replied, nodding my head, "there''s no one left. They''ve all been killed by the Germans."


    "Only the German Colonel von torman and the lieutenant vaskov who saved you are left to know about your capture?" Rokosovsky continued.


    "I think so," I said a little uncertainly. "There are only two people I can confirm. As for whether the rest of the German soldiers can remember me, I''m not sure."


    Rokosovsky waved his hand and said with disapproval: "there are so many captured commanders and fighters in the 2nd group army. How can ordinary German soldiers remember who were captured? Even if they see you, they will only treat you as a health worker and nurse in the field hospital. They can''t imagine that you will be a general now. What we need to do now is to confirm whether Tolman is captured or killed, so that we can take the next step. "


    If rokosovsky didn''t remind me, I thought this matter would be completely over as I left the interior building. Now I found that the crisis was just beginning, so I asked him in a panic: "marshal, how can we confirm whether torman was killed or captured?"


    "We''re going to see Marshal Zhukov right now. Only with his help can we find out the life and death of this German officer, understand?" After these words, rokosovsky, perhaps to reassure me, looked me in the eye and said sincerely, "Rita, please believe me, and I don''t want to put you in danger."


    We went into the building and came to the chief of staff''s office, where we met vasilevsky and Zhukov.


    Seeing me enter the door, Zhukov immediately welcomed me and asked with concern, "Rita, are you ok?"


    "I''m fine, marshal. Thank you for your concern." I was a little lucky to say: "fortunately, you report to Comrade Stalin in time, so that I can get out of danger in time."


    At this time, vasilevsky also came over and asked, "Rita, what''s the matter? Why Abakumov sent someone to cheat you to ruyanka? What happened?"


    "Abakumov told me that in the captured German information, he saw a record of a female commander being captured in liuban." When I heard the question from vasilevsky, I replied awkwardly: "the General Administration of anti espionage suspected that it was me, so it sent someone to take me back for examination."


    "Hell, this Abakumov is really afraid that the world will not be in chaos." As soon as I finished, Zhukov said angrily: "during the Moscow defense war, the commander of the Moscow military region reported to Comrade Stalin that the German armored forces had bypassed the defense line of our army and entered yukhnov. As a result, Abakumov suspected that the reconnaissance of the air force was wrong, so he called colonel sbetov, the commander of the air force of the Moscow military region, to the Ministry of internal affairs for secret examination. If Comrade Stalin had not called in person, the commander of the air force of the Moscow military region would have been replaced. I can''t imagine that after so many years, he still can''t change this bad habit. "


    "Lida," rokosovsky and other Zhukov said, looking at me, reminded: "up to now, you''d better tell the real situation to the two marshals."


    I nodded and began to tell the two marshals who tried to defend me about the humiliation of being captured in liuban. After my story, the whole room was silent.


    The first one who broke the silence was vasilevsky. He frowned and said, "Rita, you said that you were captured because you met the traitor of Dongfang camp disguised as our army commander?"


    "Yes, comrade chief of the general staff." I nodded at vasilevsky and said with certainty, "that''s exactly what happened."


    After hearing this, vasilevsky looked at Zhukov and said, "Comrade Zhukov, I have seen similar situations in some reports provided by the Ministry of internal affairs. Many of our officers and men were caught by the disguise of these traitors."


    "You say, what should we do about it?" Zhukov asked stiffly.


    "Marshal," said rokosovsky. He stood in my position and said for me, "I think we should continue to hide the fact that Rita was captured. Otherwise, not only her future will be affected, but also her life will be in danger."


    Zhukov looked at me angrily and asked rokosovsky sternly: "although the Ministry of interior has no conclusive evidence, they have doubts about Rita. How can we solve this problem? "


    "There are only two people who know that Rita has been captured. One is our commander vaskov who rescued Rita, and the other is German Colonel torman Rokosovsky told Zhukov: "vaskov used to be Rita''s boss. Out of her protection, he would never tell anyone about Rita''s capture. The only uncertain factor is the German colonel. Now we have to find out his life and death before we can decide what to do next. "


    After listening to rokosovsky''s words, Zhukov''s face softened. He asked casually, "what should we do now?"


    "Leave it to me." With that, vasilevsky picked up the phone on his desk, dialed a number and said to the receiver, "bring me the list of German officers captured and killed in Leningrad."


    After he put down the phone, he said to Zhukov, "we just need to check the captured or killed German officers above school level, and we can find out the life and death of this German officer named torman."


    The officers in the headquarters of the general staff quickly brought the information that vasilevsky wanted. As soon as the officers left, vasilevsky gave us the list, and then we began to look up Tolman''s name on the list.


    First of all, after reading the list I was responsible for, I raised my head and said to the other three people who were still looking at it: "I didn''t find Tolman here!"


    "I didn''t find it here either!" The next thing to see is rokosovsky.


    Then vasilevsky and Zhukov finished looking at the list in their hands. After looking at each other, they both shook their heads one after another, indicating that they didn''t find the person they were looking for.


    Rokosovsky shook his list and asked me tentatively, "Rita, are you sure that man is a Colonel?"


    "Yes, he was a captain in June 42." I thought about it and added, "maybe he''s got a promotion in the last two years."


    "I don''t have him in the list of generals here. It seems that he withdrew to East Prussia with the defeated troops." After saying this, vasilevsky turned his eyes to Zhukov and asked him, "Comrade marshal, how do you deal with this matter? Do you want to continue to hide it like this, or do you want to take the initiative to report to Comrade Stalin?"


    When I heard that vasilevsky wanted to report to Stalin, my heart immediately rose to my throat. I was afraid that Zhukov would be impulsive and agreed to his request. But I soon found that my worry was superfluous. Zhukov just shook his head and said, "I don''t think we should report this to Comrade Stalin. For him, Rita is a commander who can fight and can trust completely. As for whether she was captured by the German army, he doesn''t care at all."


    "Well, comrade marshal, since you say so, that''s the end of the matter." Vasilevsky turned to me and said, "Rita, I remind you to remember that in front of anyone except the three of us, you can never admit that you were captured. Do you understand? "


    I knew in my heart that this matter was not only related to my future, but also related to my life and death. So when I heard such a question from vasilevsky, I immediately replied unambiguously, "I understand!"


    Zhukov was silent for a moment, and then asked, "by the way, what''s the full name of the commander who saved you? We have to make sure that he won''t let it out so that he can be completely secure. "


    "His name is fidot yevgravic vaskov." After giving vaskov his full name, I took the initiative to defend him: "I believe he will not betray me."


    "As for whether he will betray you, let''s wait until we find him." Zhukov waved his hand and turned to the topic that today called me and rokosovsky: "we are now discussing the next operation in Poland." When Zhukov said that, rokosovsky and I quickly took out a pen and paper from our respective satchels and prepared to make a record.


    Zhukov pointed to the map on the table and said to us, "the main task of the first front army is to break through the German defense on the visva River and liberate the whole Polish territory, especially to capture Warsaw, the capital of Poland, Poznan, an important industrial town, and Blomberg area, and to reach the last natural barrier east of Berlin, the Oder River. According to the decision made by the supreme command, before the direct assault on Poland, two offensive campaigns will be carried out in the western strategic direction: first, the second and third front forces of Belarus will attack in the direction of East Prussia; Second, the first front army of Belarus and the first front army of Ukraine attacked Warsaw Berlin. In terms of specific deployment, the first front army of Belarus should carry out assault in the general direction of Poznan, directly to Blomberg Poznan and its south, and make tactical contact with the first front army of Ukraine. The task of the first front army of Ukraine is to advance to the Oder River, northwest of belogo, as well as brazilau and latipol. The second front army of Belarus is all directed at the German East Prussian group. " After Zhukov finished, rokosovsky put down his pen and paper and asked, "marshal, I want to ask, when will the additional soldiers, weapons and ammunition be in place?"¡° Don''t worry, comrade rokosovsky. " Zhukov got up and went to rokosovsky''s body, raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, comforted him and said: "our offensive campaign will start after the new year, there is enough time to replenish your troops and weapons and ammunition." Then he turned his eyes to me again: "Rita, I may have to wait a week before I go to Lublin. You are in charge of all the affairs of the front army during this period. " Before I was about to leave, Zhukov stopped me and told me: "Rita, when you go back, think about it carefully. Will anyone else know about it? We must be in the bud." For Zhukov''s care, I nodded gratefully and said to him, "marshal, don''t worry. Once I think of anything new, I will report it to you in time."

 Chapter 1658

    Early the next morning, jellekin and I flew back to Lublin.


    As soon as I got back to the headquarters, I saw malining sitting at a table with a thick stack of materials in front of him. I thought it was another battle report, so I quickly walked over to him and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, is it another battle report from the front line?"


    I thought marinin would answer me, saying that it was the battle report from the landing sites of magnushev and puwai, or the latest situation of the landing site of selotsk. Unexpectedly, he stood up and came to me. After shaking hands with me and jerekin, he said, "it''s not the war report, but the climate data of Warsaw in recent years."


    When I heard that it was climate data, I immediately guessed that it must have something to do with the next river crossing operation. I quickly went to the table and asked, "chief of staff, have you found the information we need?"


    "Yes, Rita, I found it." "According to the records, the visva river will not be completely frozen until the middle of December, but the thickness of the ice is generally only five to eight centimeters," marinin said with a somewhat dejected look


    When I heard the data, I couldn''t help clapping. After a moment of silence, I murmured, "that is to say, even if the visva River freezes, we can only let the infantry cross the river?"


    "Well," malining said solemnly, "even if the infantry are only allowed to walk on the ice, they should not carry too many things, otherwise the ice will break."


    "Before the river completely freezes," military commissar jerekin said at the moment, "there will be a lot of ice floes on the river, which will make it impossible for us to continue to use ships on the visva river."


    "Comrades of the military commissar are right." as soon as jerekin finished his words, malining expressed his support in time: "as long as there is ice floes on the river, we can only rely on the two floating bridges to transport the landing site on the West Bank."


    When malining mentioned the pontoon, I immediately asked with concern, "what''s the situation of the pontoon? Can our transport team pass smoothly?"


    "Yes, although the German army often sent out planes to bomb our pontoon, but with the efforts of our air force and ground air defense forces, the pontoon is still intact so far." After introducing the situation, malining began to complain to me: "however, the transport capacity of the pontoon is limited. I sent the Minister of logistics to the riverside to learn that some of the transport teams lining up to cross the river on the east bank even waited here the night before yesterday, and they have not been able to cross the river today; However, the convoy carrying the wounded on the West Bank was unable to cross the river. As a result, some of the wounded did not die on the battlefield, but died in pain while waiting to cross the river. "


    Malining''s words remind me of the most difficult time of the battle of Stalingrad. Because the German army bombed the ships running on the Volga River, the soldiers and materials behind them could not be transported, and the wounded in the city could not be transported. The health workers could only throw hundreds of the wounded by the river and let them live and die on their own.


    Think of that sad scene, my nose can not help but burst of acid. Thinking of this, I pinched my nose and then asked marinin, "chief of staff, are we still capable of building a new pontoon?"


    Regarding my question, malining hesitated and said: "it is basically impossible to build a pontoon bridge for tanks, artillery and trucks because there are not enough bridge equipment."


    As soon as his voice fell, I asked in a hurry, "what about the bridge that allows infantry to pass?"


    "It''s a bridge for infantry, no problem." Malining asked with some doubts: "Rita, if our technical equipment can''t cross the river, even if we transfer more infantry to cross the river, the role will be limited."


    "Fierce fighting is going on every day at the magnushev landing site defended by the eighth group army of the guards. There must be a lot of wounded officers and soldiers. We should try our best to get the wounded down as soon as possible so that they can recover and return to the battlefield as soon as possible." I explained to malining, "the reason I''m going to build another pontoon is to bring the wounded back from the other side more quickly."


    "But if the new pontoon can''t pass vehicles, how can we get the wounded here?" Jerekin asked, puzzled.


    "It''s very simple. Bring the wounded over." Pointing to the map, I said to malining and jerekin, "the wounded on the West Bank are sent to the river visva by ambulance, and the stretchers waiting here carry the wounded from the pontoon to the ambulance on the east bank. Do you think that''s all right? "


    After listening to me, malining and jerekin summed up, then nodded at the same time and said, "this is a good way. As long as the ambulance does not cross the bridge, the transportation pressure of the floating bridge will be greatly reduced, so that we can transport more materials."


    I checked it in my heart and felt that even if I did this, I still could not solve the problem of limited capacity of the floating bridge. Because it is not only necessary to transport materials from the east bank to the West Bank, but also those trucks that have finished unloading should drive back from Hexi. In this way, the number of tanks and artillery that can travel from the east bank to the west bank every day will be very limited. If we want to speed up the West Bank''s material hoarding and gather more technical equipment, we need to find another way.


    I sat at the table, staring at the map for a long time, and felt that it was impossible to build another pontoon for tanks and vehicles. At present, we are seriously short of bridge building equipment. Moreover, even if we get on the pontoon, it will fly out in an instant under the heavy bombardment of German aircraft.


    Malining saw me staring at the map in a daze, then carefully asked: "Rita, do you think of any good way?"


    I shook my head slightly to show that I had not come up with a good idea.


    At this moment, suddenly, he heard jerekin sigh softly and said to himself, "I''ve thought of all the ways I can think of, but the effect seems not obvious, unless we let our truck fly by with wings, so that we can guarantee the materials needed by the other side."


    The speaker didn''t mean to listen, and the listener meant to. The words of gilekin immediately opened up a new idea for me: Yes, since the land route is impassable, we can consider the way of air transportation. Thinking of this, I quickly grabbed the phone on my desk and dialed the air force headquarters. After hearing boleynin''s voice, I immediately asked, "Comrade General, how many transport planes are there in your army?"


    "There are 20 US assisted C46 transport aircraft." After he said this, he asked curiously, "Comrade deputy commander, do you intend to parachute behind the enemy?"


    Instead of answering his question immediately, I said, "Comrade General, give me the parameters of this kind of aircraft."


    "This is an all metal twin engine, single wing military transport aircraft manufactured by Curtis company of the United States." After hearing my instructions, boleynin immediately reported to me the various parameters of the aircraft: "C46 transport aircraft has a wingspan of 32.92 meters and a fuselage length of 23.27 meters; The maximum take-off weight is 25.4 tons, the load is 3.64 tons, the cruise speed is 301 kmh, the range is 1883 km, and it can ride 40 fully armed soldiers; Equipped with Pratt Whitney r-2800-51, double row cylinder, star type air-cooled piston engine two, each power of 2000 horsepower


    After boleynin reported the parameters of the plane, I said, "Comrade General, I have no idea of parachuting behind enemy lines. The reason why I want to know the performance of this kind of plane is to open up a transport line on both sides of the visva river."


    "Transport lines on both sides of the visva river?" After hearing this, bolenin could not help but ask mistily, "Comrade deputy commander, I don''t understand what you mean."


    "Well, comrade air force commander." Since I knew that the air force had 20 C46 transport planes provided by the Americans, I had a lot of peace in my heart, so I confidently and boldly told paulenin about my plan: "I plan to let the convoy of transport materials unload the materials at the airport, and then use the transport planes to continuously transport these materials to the two landing sites of magnushev and puwai on the West Bank of the visva river. What''s the matter? Is there any difficulty? "


    "Comrade deputy commander, your plan is theoretically feasible." "As long as the landing site on the other side has a runway of 500 meters, our plane can land safely there," paulenin said carefully on the phone


    "Great, that''s great." After receiving Pauline''s confirmation, I became happy. I said to the microphone, "I''ll get in touch with general trakov and general kolpakchi, and I''ll call you when they give me a definite answer."


    When I put down the phone, I was a little embarrassed to see malining and jerekin looking at me with incredible eyes. I looked at them and asked, "can you tell me about my plan?"


    "I think it''s a good plan." "It''s worth a try," marinin said, staring at me after glancing at the nearby jerekin


    Seeing that malining agreed with me, I immediately called trekov. He asked frankly, "Comrade General, what''s the situation there?"


    "It''s not good, Rita." Trakov complained to me: "the enemy attacks our landing site every day. Due to the lack of sufficient technical equipment, although we beat back the enemy''s attacks, the casualties of the troops are very large."


    "Comrade General, I understand your situation. However, due to our limited transport capacity, it is estimated that it will be difficult to change the current situation in a short period of time. "


    "Yes, at present, the daily supplies and ammunition transported from the east coast are barely enough." "The more troops we have in the West Bank, the easier it will be to run out of ammunition and food if the pontoon is broken by enemy planes," he said with a little worry


    "General trakov, I''ve come up with a way to maximize the supply of supplies and ammunition to you." As I had never been to the magnushev landing site and didn''t know the terrain there, I said with insufficient confidence, "but I need your full cooperation."


    "Comrade deputy commander, if you have any orders, just say it," trekov said respectfully to me. "As long as it is within my ability, I will try my best to complete it."


    "Well, general trakov. I''m going to send Air Force transport planes to deliver materials for you, but I don''t know if you can build a runway at least 500 meters long for transport planes in a safe area? "


    As soon as I finished, there was no sound in the receiver. In my experience, it must be that trakov has covered the microphone and is discussing the matter with his staff. Sure enough, after a while, his voice came out of the receiver again. He said excitedly: "Comrade deputy commander, I have just asked my chief of staff and chief of engineer, they said that such a runway could be built overnight. As for how to guide the aircraft to land, we also have a plan. No matter day or night, we will light bonfires on both sides of the runway to guide our air force comrades. "


    After the implementation of trikov''s work, I called kolpakchi again and told him about opening up shipping routes at his landing site, which made him very happy. He patted his chest and assured me that the 500 meter runway would be repaired overnight so that the transport plane could land smoothly after dawn. After contacting trakov and kolpakchi, I quickly called paulenin and said to him, "Comrade General, I have made an agreement with the two commanders on the West Bank of the visva river that they will rush to repair the runway for transport planes to land overnight. They will light bonfires on both sides of the runway to guide the transport plane to land smoothly. "¡° Great, comrade deputy commander. " Paulenin said to me, "please immediately order the transport team to transport all the materials to the airport outside Lublin. At dawn, I will send two planes full of materials to magnushev and puwai respectively to establish a new transport route." When I was about to put down the phone, I suddenly thought of an important thing and told Pauline: "by the way, comrade general, please remind your pilots not to take the battlefield full of gunpowder as the landing point, so as not to cause unnecessary losses. Do you understand? "¡° Comrade deputy commander, you can rest assured. " "I''m sending experienced pilots who will never make such a low-level mistake," he assured me confidently I have arranged the starting point and terminal point of the route. Next, it''s time to arrange the materials. I said to malinin, "chief of staff, call the Minister of logistics immediately and inform him that all the convoys coming towards the visva River, except the convoys stopping by the visva River, are transferring the materials to the airport outside Lublin." Regarding my order, malining hesitated and said, "Rita, to be on the safe side, I think we''d better wait until the air force''s trial flight is successful, and then we''ll transfer all the materials to the airport. Now we can only send one or two small convoys."¡° No, chief of staff, No I decisively denied malining''s proposal: "there are too many transport convoys staying by the river visva now. Instead of letting everyone stop by the river and waste their time, it''s better to put all their eggs in one basket and let the Air Force transport planes transport materials to the other side of the river."

 Chapter 1659

    As it gets colder and colder, it gets later and later. The first trial of the transport plane did not take place until 9 a.m.


    When I received a call from general boleynin saying that the transport plane had taken off, I was always in a state of anxiety. I was always worried about the gain and loss in my heart. I was afraid that the enemy would find out our attempt and send a fight to intercept us.


    Seeing that I had been walking anxiously around the headquarters, marinin enlightened me and said, "Rita, don''t worry. I think today''s trial will surely succeed. For the sake of safety, bolenin sent two fighters to each transport plane to escort. Even if the enemy sent out air force to intercept, it would not have any fighting back force. "


    Malining''s words made me feel a little relieved. I sat back at the table and said to kazakov, who had just returned to the headquarters today: "Comrade artillery commander, do you think you can send two anti-aircraft artillery divisions to the landing site on the other side to build a new air defense position there and protect the new route we are about to open up?"


    "Comrade deputy commander," karzakov explained patiently to me after I finished saying, "we have six anti-aircraft artillery regiments in each of the two landing sites of magnushev and puwai on the West Bank, and the air defense force is sufficient. If more troops are drawn from the east bank, I am worried that air defense in Lublin and the surrounding areas will not be guaranteed. "


    "Don''t worry, general kazakov." Malining continued: "since September, German planes have never crossed the visva river. They have no strength to carry out air strikes in Lublin. I suggest that the air defense forces deployed here can be transferred to the visva river."


    Seeing that karzakov frowned and began to think, I suddenly thought of the self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery which had been brilliant in the air defense battle before, and then tentatively asked karzakov, "how many self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery regiments do we have now?"


    Kazakov hesitated for a moment and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, are you talking about the new type of dual 57mm self-propelled antiaircraft gun?" After getting my affirmation, he went on to say, "at present, there are more than 20 four door anti-aircraft artillery companies, which can just form two anti-aircraft artillery regiments."


    It was said that there were still two self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery regiments left, so I immediately told khazakov: "send them to the West Bank, and arrange an anti-aircraft artillery regiment at a landing site." After telling karzakov, I said to malining with a smile, "chief of staff, I have seen the power of this kind of self-propelled anti-aircraft gun with my own eyes, which is completely comparable to the strength of an anti-aircraft artillery division. I believe that as long as they are deployed near the runway, no matter how many planes the enemy comes, there is no need to worry."


    "Comrade deputy commander, you don''t know something." As soon as I finished, karzakov said to me in embarrassment: "I have received the order from the superior, because this new type of antiaircraft gun has been discontinued. In order to prevent the manufacturing technology from being stolen by the German, if it is to be used, it must be authorized by the people''s Commission of national defense."


    After listening to kazakov, I almost want to curse my mother. This kind of self-propelled anti-aircraft gun came out almost at the same time as the t-5455 tank. It has been in the army for such a long time. It is estimated that the Germans have captured a lot of them on the battlefield, and even launched imitations. It''s really unreasonable that the superior should put a curse on us at such a time and forbid us to use such powerful air defense weapons casually.


    However, orders from the higher authorities are orders. It''s OK to complain in private, but it''s impossible to resist orders. Looking at the helpless kazakov, I said awkwardly, "Comrade artillery commander, since this is the case, let''s deploy these two self-propelled high artillery regiments near Lublin, and transfer other anti-aircraft artillery units to the West Bank of the river."


    When I spoke, I saw kazakov''s lips move twice, as if trying to explain something, so I raised my hand to stop him, and continued: "as the chief of staff has said just now, German planes have not crossed the visva River since September, and I don''t think they can take air strikes on Lublin in the next time, so I order you, All the air defense forces except the self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery regiment will be moved westward to advance our air defense positions to the banks of the viswa river. "


    While we were discussing strengthening the air defense forces on the West Bank, trakov''s phone call came in: "Rita, I have good news that the transport plane from Lublin has successfully landed at the temporary airport. I''m preparing the men to unload the supplies from the plane. "


    "Great, that''s great." When I heard the good news reported by trakov, the stone that I had been hanging in my heart fell to the ground, but I asked: "when the transport plane landed, it didn''t attract the attention of the enemy, did it?"


    "No, absolutely not." "I saw with my own eyes in the observation post that as soon as our transport plane flew over the visva River, it lowered its flight altitude and almost wiped the treetops. It was impossible for the enemy to find it," trikov said positively on the phone


    "Well, I see." I told trakov, "now that a new transportation route has been opened, you should arrange for people to unload the cargo on the plane as soon as possible. There will be more planes landing at your landing site later."


    "Don''t worry, Rita." Trekov assured me confidently, "I''ve arranged for enough people to unload the goods. I believe that all the goods on the plane will be unloaded in half an hour."


    The transport plane to the landing site of magnushev landed successfully. I then called kolpakchi to find out about his situation: "Comrade General, has the transport plane landed safely?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." "The plane has landed safely, and I''m organizing people to unload it," colpakchi said succinctly


    "When landing, nothing happened, right?" I asked casually.


    "It''s no big problem," kolpakchi said disapprovingly. "When the transport plane landed, there was a German reconnaissance plane in the air, but the escort fighters had driven it away."


    "What, a German reconnaissance plane?" When I heard that there was a German reconnaissance plane in the sky above pwawi, I couldn''t help but feel nervous again: "I was just driven away, didn''t I be shot down?"


    "Yes, it wasn''t shot down." From my tone, kolpakchi guessed what I was worried about, and quickly explained: "when the transport plane landed, the escort fighter had been circling in the air. When they found the enemy''s reconnaissance plane, they immediately met it and drove the enemy away from the landing site."


    From kolpakchi''s report, I can hear that the German reconnaissance aircraft above the landing site may be performing routine reconnaissance tasks, but our transport aircraft should not be found. So after I put down the phone, I called Air Force Commander Pauline: "Comrade General, the two transport planes you sent have successfully landed at the landing site. Next, you can let all the transport planes take off in batches to airlift materials for the garrison on the landing site. "


    "All right, comrade deputy commander." "At present, the airport is carrying out loading operation. In order to save time, I plan to take off one after loading, so as to improve work efficiency," polenin said politely


    Considering that if this transport route is established, the scale of air transportation may become larger and larger. In order to avoid confusion and unnecessary losses, I suggested to paulenin, "Comrade General, in order to standardize the management of air transportation, I suggest that you set up ground control stations at both landing sites, which can not only improve efficiency, At the same time, it can avoid unnecessary accidents


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander. Even if you don''t tell me, I will set up ground control stations in the two landing sites. " After making a promise to me, bolenin made a request to me: "if we want to carry out large-scale air transportation for the two landing sites, the number of transport planes in my hand will be a little less. Do you think we can apply to the higher authorities for another batch. As far as I know, the Americans have assisted us with a batch of more advanced C47 transport aircraft. "


    "Apply to higher authorities?" When I heard what boleynin said, the first thing I thought was that I was not familiar with the commander in chief of the air force. If I rashly put forward this request to him, it was estimated that it would be directly rejected. Then I hesitated and said, "Comrade General, I don''t know the commander in chief of the air force. If I rashly put forward this request to him, it might be rejected."


    "Isn''t Marshal Zhukov in Moscow?" "You can ask him to consult with the people''s Commission of national defense to see if he can apply for another batch of transport aircraft," he reminded me


    "I see, Comrade General." As for his reminder, I said gratefully, "thank you for your reminder. I will contact Marshal Zhukov immediately and ask him to apply for another batch of transport planes for us."


    I got in touch with Zhukov who was far away in Moscow by high-frequency telephone, and gave him a detailed report on our landing site on the West Bank and the newly opened transport routes. Finally, I said to him, "marshal, I heard that the United States has newly aided a batch of C47 transport planes. Would you please ask the air force to allocate these transport planes to our front army, So that we can increase air transportation? "


    After listening to my report, Zhukov was not so elated as I imagined, but said thoughtfully: "Rita, although the German Air Force has not crossed the visva River since September, their bombing on the visva river has never stopped, which is also the reason why our army has been unable to repair the bridge on the visva river.


    If your new route is discovered by the German army, I believe they will send a large number of planes to block your air route. Even if there are fighter escorts, I am also worried that the transport fleet will suffer huge losses. "


    After hesitating for a while, I replied, "Comrade marshal, I have different opinions. The reason why our army can''t expand the two landing fields in magnushev and puwai is mainly due to the lack of technical equipment and sufficient materials. Once the large-scale air transportation starts, only tanks, armored vehicles and artillery will pass through the River pontoon. Then we can speed up the assembly speed in the landing field and prepare for the next battle. "


    "Well, I''ll call senior general Novikov, deputy national defense people''s commissar and air force commander-in-chief later," Zhukov said with some helplessness. "Talk to him about the need for a large number of transport planes. As for whether he is willing to assign the new US transport planes to our army, we can only leave it to fate."


    After talking with Zhukov, I saw that jerekin shrugged and said to malining, who was sitting beside him, "chief of staff, is it really necessary for us to use large-scale air transportation to provide supplies for the troops on the other side?"


    "It''s absolutely necessary," marinin said solemnly, after hearing the question. Today, we have ten infantry divisions, several artillery regiments and tank brigades on the two landing fields of magnushev and puwai on the West Bank. The daily consumption of materials is astronomical. However, the materials transported by pontoons and ships can only barely meet their daily basic needs. It is impossible for them to take the initiative to attack the enemy. As long as our air routes are opened up, we will be able to transport the materials urgently needed at the front line in the shortest time. As long as we have enough supplies, we can immediately launch a new round of attacks against the enemy and expand our existing landing area. "¡° Have you ever thought about it? "Jerekin said what he was worried about after marinin finished his speech:" even if our transport aircraft group is escorted by fighters, the German Air Force has no way to help us, but if they bombard the shells with long-range artillery fire, it is bound to cause us huge losses. "¡° Don''t worry, comrade military Commissar. " Malining said with confidence: "as long as the enemy''s artillery dare to fire, we can not only use artillery to counter, but also send air force to bomb their artillery positions. As long as we do this a few times, I think the Germans will not dare to fire at our landing site. " After listening patiently to the argument between malining and jerekin, khazakov said to me with a flat expression: "Comrade deputy commander, if there is an ordinary enemy opposite the landing site, I think the method mentioned by the chief of staff is very good. It''s a pity that we are facing the elite German SS like the skull division and the Viking division. In order to destroy our air supply lines, even if they suffer heavy casualties, they will do whatever they can to block the landing area of our transport planes with artillery fire. " After listening to karzakov''s views on the air supply line, I was silent for a long time. Finally, I asked, "artillery commander, do you have any good way to solve the trouble caused by the Germans?"¡° It''s very simple, "kazakov pointed on the map on the table with his hand, and then said," unless we attack immediately and drive the enemy far away from the visva River, the threat of their artillery to our airborne field will be greatly reduced. "

 Chapter 1660

    Zhukov finally got us 30 C47 transport aircraft, accounting for almost half of the aircraft assisted by the United States. He told me on the phone, "Rita, I''ve already reported to Comrade Stalin about opening up air transportation lines. He approved our whole plan and ordered the logistics department to give priority to the supply of fuel to the air force of our front army. "


    "Great, that''s great." In fact, I was inspired by the famous "air supply line" built by the US Army over Berlin a few years later. Although this mode of transportation can store a large amount of materials in the shortest time, due to the excessive number of aircraft used, the fuel required every day will be astronomical, At the moment, I was overjoyed to hear Zhukov say that the air force of the front army can give priority to fuel supply: "marshal, if this is the case, then we can hoard enough materials to launch a new campaign at the two landing sites on the West Bank of the visva River in the shortest time."


    "I''m still a little worried, Rita." Zhukov hesitated to say: "we use 50 transport planes to transport materials to the landing sites of magnushev and pwawi respectively. Sooner or later, the Germans will find us. If the enemy uses bombing and shelling to destroy our air transportation, what are you going to do? "


    "Comrade marshal, I have taken into account what you said for a long time." When I heard Zhukov''s question, I was relieved, saying that fortunately I had been prepared, otherwise I really didn''t know how to answer: "in order to prevent the enemy''s air attack, we not only sent more fighters to patrol over the airborne field, but also transferred several anti-aircraft artillery divisions to the West Bank of the visva River, which greatly strengthened the air defense force of the landing field, So that the enemy can not indiscriminately bomb the airborne field. "


    "You have already considered the air raid, which is very good." After praising me, Zhukov asked, "what measures have you taken to deal with the enemy''s shelling?"


    I quickly opened the notebook in front of me and read the contents to Zhukov: "Marshal comrade, according to the report of general trakov, commander of the eighth group army of Jinwei, they have completed the engineering and facilities operation in the first defense zone. In front of the two continuous trenches with full cross-section, mine fields and barbed wire barriers for anti tank and anti infantry were built. The trenches are 200-300 meters apart and connected by traffic trenches. "


    After reporting a series of boring data, I finally said: "general trakov chose the landing site behind their second defense zone, where there are dense forests. Even if the enemy shelled this area, it would be difficult to cause substantial harm to our airborne field."


    After listening to my explanation, Zhukov was at ease. He finally said, "Rita, since you are so confident, my heart is secure."


    After I finished the conversation with Zhukov, I told the conversation to malining and jerekin, and then picked up the phone again, ready to tell the good news to trakov.


    But it was his chief of staff who answered the phone. After hearing my voice, the chief of staff immediately reported to me, "report to deputy commander comrade, general trakov is not in the headquarters."


    "Not in command?" When I heard what the chief of staff said, I couldn''t help asking in surprise, "do you know where he has gone?"


    "Well, an officer of the health battalion died in the battlefield when he was rescuing the wounded." The chief of staff youyou said, "general trakov has gone to preside over his funeral."


    I frowned and thought for a moment. Under my influence, the health camp officers who usually go to the battlefield to rescue the wounded in the face of the enemy''s bullets are at best like Nina and ulanova. They are a little lieutenant, and they can actually work with trakov to attend the funeral in person. It''s incredible.


    But I didn''t ask his chief of staff, because if they knew the reason, they would have reported it to me. They didn''t have to wait for me to ask before they told me.


    Since I couldn''t find trakov, I called Air Force Commander Pauline and informed him of the good news of the upcoming acquisition of 30 C47 transport planes and the priority of oil supply.


    Although boleynin knew from other sources that the superior would allocate transport planes, when I told him about it, he was still very excited: "great, comrade deputy commander, this is really great. As long as we have enough fuel, then the number of fighters will be greatly increased every day. In this way, we can control the air power on both sides of the viswa River in a short time. "


    Paulenin''s words give me a new view. If our air force can really control the air on both sides of the visva River, then the "air supply line" now being established will become a chicken rib. Instead of using so many transport planes to transport goods every day, it is better to build more floating bridges on the river and repair the bridges destroyed by the German army, In this way, our troops and technical equipment can continuously cross the river.


    However, I just think about these things in my mind. After all, the primary task at present is to establish an "air supply line" to provide enough materials for the troops on the landing site. After discussing the details of the airlift with Pauline, I put down the phone.


    As soon as the phone was put down, trakov called in. He asked eagerly, "Rita, I heard from the chief of staff that you just came to me. Is there anything important?"


    "Marshal Zhukov informed me that the superior provided us with 30 latest C47 transport planes." I said slowly into the microphone: "so every day there are at least 25 different types of transport aircraft, which can deliver the materials you need for the army. I just called to tell you the good news. Who knows, the chief of staff said you went to the funeral. "


    "Thank you, Rita. Thank you for the good news." After he said this, his voice suddenly became heavy: "yes, I did go to the funeral just now. It was a brigadier named sidorenko, an officer in the health camp, who died. By the way, you may know him


    "I know him?" When I heard what trakov said, I searched for the name of sidorenko in my mind. I didn''t feel impressed. I asked, "have I met him anywhere?"


    "Yes, Rita, you must have met him." "In the battle of Stalingrad, his health camp was stationed in the" Red October "factory. In that battle, he braved the enemy''s fire and rescued more than 80 wounded officers and soldiers," he said in a positive tone


    After such a reminder by trakov, I immediately remembered that there seemed to be such a man who dared to rescue people under the dense artillery fire of the enemy. It was always admirable and impressive. I quickly nodded and said, "yes, general trakov, I remember this comrade. He was very brave in the defense of Stalingrad. Can you tell me how he died? "


    "This morning, the enemy infantry, under the cover of several Tiger tanks, launched an attack on our landing site." Trakov told me: "because our anti tank guns are not powerful enough to penetrate the enemy''s armor in a long distance, an anti tank artillery company is deployed in the open area in front of our defense position.


    After they destroyed two German Tiger tanks, almost all of the company died, leaving only the company commander and the telegraph operator, both seriously injured and unable to move on the open ground. Sidorenko crawled out of the trench, rushed to the middle, dressed the wounds of the two wounded, and dragged them back from the front in turn.


    When he was towing the artillery company commander back, he was found by the enemy. The enemy immediately sent out a tank and stormed towards the middle zone. After he put the company commander into the trench, many officers and men advised him not to take any more risks, but he said with dignity: "as long as I am here, I will never leave any wounded on the battlefield." With that, he went back to the middle zone.


    When he pulled the operator back, the enemy tanks rushed up, knocked him down and crushed him and the wounded under the track


    When I heard that sidorenko was run over by the enemy''s tank under the track, I shivered. I thought that in this case, there could be no complete body. What they put into the coffin might be a pile of meat sauce. As soon as trikov finished, I quickly added: "general trikov, you should immediately compile a material and report it to the military commissar of the front army to give our heroes the honor they deserve."


    In the evening, 30 C47 transport planes from Moscow arrived at Lublin''s military airport. Polenin immediately called me to ask for instructions: "Comrade deputy commander, the new transport plane Moscow has given us has arrived. How do you think we should arrange them?"


    "The pilot must be very tired after flying for such a long time. Let''s arrange for them to have a rest first." Considering that there are many pilots under paulenin''s command, I generously let those pilots from Moscow rest and use others to fly instead of them: "however, we still need to seize the time to install the refitted aircraft. When the plane is full of supplies, use our pilots to transport these supplies to the landing site first. "


    "I see, comrade deputy commander." "I''ll arrange it as soon as possible," he promised


    The reason why the United States wanted to establish an air supply line in Berlin in June of 48 was that the Soviet Union closed the HELMSTEDT checkpoint on the highway from Hanover to Berlin on the border of the occupied area; At the same time, all roads, railways and waterways to Berlin, which are closely related to people''s lives, have been closed, and the supply of electricity and coal to West Berlin has been stopped.


    West Berlin, occupied by the U.S. military, is located in the hinterland of a large Soviet occupied area. At that time, the city was still in ruins, but it was inhabited by more than 2 million residents, as well as Allied control committees and Western occupation forces. Because the city does not produce food or other necessities, its survival depends entirely on land and water transportation. In order to take anti blockade measures against Soviet occupied areas, US military commander in Germany clay decided to implement air supply to West Berlin.


    Seven airports are used by the US Air Force in Berlin air transportation, among which Rhine, Wiesbaden, farsburg and Serry airports are loading and departure airports, and temperhof, Gato and Tegel airports are arrival and unloading airports. Due to the limited scope of airspace and terminal airport, and the large number of aircraft participating in the air transportation, the air corridor is crowded and the aircraft density is high. In order to strengthen management, Britain and the United States set up a joint air traffic control center in temperhof.


    All transport aircraft flying in the air corridor must fly in accordance with the designated air corridor and the prescribed altitude and speed. The deployment of each flight echelon and aircraft shall be carried out according to the method of distinguishing time and altitude. During the Berlin airlift, more than 868 transport planes make forced landing at several specified airports every day, and almost one plane makes forced landing every minute. On average, 325 aircrafts land at temperhof airport every day, with an interval of 4-5 minutes for aircrafts and 3 minutes for aircrafts in the air. In the 13 month long Berlin air transport, according to statistics, there were 266644 aircraft shuttling back and forth in the narrow passage only 3 km wide, creating one miracle after another in the history of human air transport. The fake "air supply line" I built has only 50 transport planes and has to fly to two landing sites at the same time. Naturally, the busy level can''t be compared with the "air supply line" established by the Americans over Berlin. Other people have one plane landing every minute, but I have one landing in half an hour, And it depends on the advantage of short flying distance. However, for the sake of safety and efficiency, I still forced bolenin to set up ground control stations at the two landing sites before the route was officially put into operation, so as to improve the transportation efficiency. The day after the route was officially put into operation, trakov called me and said that the materials transported by the transport plane in one day could catch up with the total amount provided by the truck in the previous week. After hearing the good news, although I was ecstatic in my heart, I said on the surface as if nothing had happened: "it seems that the efficiency of air transportation is much higher than that of land transportation. If we continue to develop at this speed, at most half a month, we will be able to accumulate enough materials to launch an attack against the enemy." After listening to me, trakov immediately said, "yes, if the air force can always maintain this speed to deliver supplies to our troops, then we can build up enough strength to attack the enemy on our own initiative by early December."

 Chapter 1661

    Zhukov arrived in Lublin on November 19. After receiving a brief welcome ceremony organized by me at the airport and knowing all the members of the headquarters, he rushed back to the headquarters. He was eager to learn about the actual situation of the first front army of Belarus in the shortest time.


    After listening to my detailed report, he said, "Rita, please make arrangements for me. I plan to visit the landing sites of magnushev and puwai tomorrow to find out the actual situation there."


    As soon as Zhukov''s words came out, they were immediately refuted by jerekin: "no, marshal, you can''t go to the West Bank of the visva river. It''s too dangerous there." In order to stop Zhukov''s adventure, he even pulled on us, "deputy commander, chief of staff, can we let the commander of the front army take risks with his own life?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." "As far as I know, the enemy''s artillery fire can hit the landing site of magnushev at any time. We have no right to let you take risks," malining said


    "Rita," Zhukov said, turning to me with a smile, "what do you think?"


    "Marshal, if you want to know about the landing site, we can call two commanders, trikov and korpakchi, to the headquarters and ask them to report to you." Although the landing site on the West Bank of the visva river is becoming more and more stable, I am also unwilling to let Zhukov take risks, so I gently advised him: "you really don''t have to take risks."


    "To be honest, don''t you really want me to go to the landing site?" Asked Zhukov, looking at us.


    "Yes," the three of us nodded and said in unison, "we have no right to let you take risks."


    "Well," Zhukov said, seeing that the three of us agreed, instead of sticking to our own opinions, "since you won''t let me go to the other side, call them to the headquarters as soon as possible. I need to have a good talk with them."


    As soon as trikov and korpakchi received our notice, they drove from their respective landing sites towards Lublin. In the evening, the two commanders walked into the headquarters one by one.


    After a brief exchange of greetings, Zhukov asked, "I don''t want to talk much. I want to know the actual situation of the landing site as soon as possible. Which one of you will report first?"


    After two people looked at each other, it was still trikov who stood up first: "marshal, I''d better report to you first." With Zhukov''s permission, he continued, "according to the current indications, our attack on the German army will first be launched from the magnushev landing site. Therefore, when carrying out defensive construction, I will take into account the needs of the future large forces in carrying out offensive operations.


    There are many swamps and quicksand areas in the landing site. In order to facilitate the future attack of the army, general Tkachenko, director of the engineering corps, made a careful plan and built about 200 kilometers of roads in the swamps and quicksand areas, including 130 kilometers of rutted roads and 30 kilometers of narrow roads.


    In order to save troops and maintain a high degree of combat readiness, we regularly change the troops at the defensive front. The first shift was held on the night of September 8: four of the nine divisions stayed in the first echelon; The remaining divisions are assigned to Tier 2, where they are replenished, trained and rested.


    Now, I can say with full confidence that after the 8th group army joined the first front army of Belarus, it has successfully withstood the test of the current battle under new conditions, and is fully prepared in spirit to complete more arduous and important tasks at any time. "


    I never knew that trikov, who always spoke a few words when giving orders, was so eloquent. He spent more than an hour to introduce the specific situation of magnushev landing site to Zhukov. Zhukov could not help nodding and smiling.


    As trikov sat down to drink, Zhukov turned his eyes to kolpakchi again: "Comrade kolpakchi, now it''s up to you to report the situation of the pwawi landing site."


    Hearing Zhukov''s name, kolpakchi quickly stood up, opened his notebook, and began to report: "troops, technical equipment, weapons and ammunition are constantly being transported to the pwawi landing site, and various field hospitals have been fully spread out on the landing site,... At the same time, we have also built a new river crossing floating bridge on the viswa river, More troops and materials can cross the visva river at the same time... "


    After hearing the report, Zhukov turned to malining and said, "chief of staff, our logistics department has done a good job. It''s amazing that tens of thousands of tons of materials have been transported to the landing site in such a short time." With these words, he nodded to lieutenant general an Ji pianke, the director of logistics department, who was sitting behind us. "General an Ji pianke, well done. I thank you very much."


    In our headquarters, lieutenant general Anji has always been a neglected role in soy sauce. At the moment, hearing Zhukov''s praise for himself, he quickly stood up from his seat and replied excitedly, "marshal, this is all my job." After a quick glance at me, he added, "fortunately, the deputy commander opened up the air supply line, so that we can transport tens of thousands of tons of materials to the two landing sites in such a short time."


    After hearing this, Zhukov frowned. After a long silence, Zhukov asked cuikov, "Comrade cuikov, has the enemy plane ever appeared over your landing site?"¡° No, "said trakov, shaking his head." since we have deployed strong anti-aircraft fire at the landing site, and the air force has increased air patrols, it is very difficult to see the enemy aircraft appear. " Seeing that Zhukov turned his eyes to himself, kolpakchi quickly replied, "now we can''t see the enemy planes in the sky above the powavi landing site, and the enemy''s shelling on the river has basically stopped." Zhukov tapped his pencil gently on the table and said, "since the enemy has no longer bombed the visva River, we can build more pontoons on the river, so that we don''t have to rely on transport planes to transport materials for our troops. You know, during this period, there have been several flight accidents, leading to the crash of three transport planes, the sacrifice of five pilots, and the consumption of fuel is also an astronomical number. " When I heard Zhukov say this, I could not help but feel a thump: "marshal, the cold winter is coming soon. If air transportation is cancelled, once a large number of ice floes appear on the river, all the floating bridges we built on the river will be destroyed, and then the communication between the two sides of the Strait will be completely interrupted."¡° Yes, comrade marshal. Rita is right. " In the battle of Stalingrad defense, trakov suffered from the disruption of transportation on the Volga River caused by ice floes, so when I said this, he immediately echoed: "in the battle of Stalingrad defense, because there were too many ice floes on the Volga River, our contact with the east bank was interrupted for several days, and our troops almost ran out of ammunition and food."¡° Comrade marshal, think again. " "In order to ensure that the troops can accumulate enough supplies as soon as possible, I suggest that the air supply lines should not be stopped," he said to Zhukov¡° Comrades, I understand your feelings. " Zhukov glanced at us and said, "I know that the air supply lines have contributed a lot to our army''s ability to store so many materials in such a short period of time. But have you ever thought that in order to maintain our air supply line, the supreme command will hand over two-thirds of the fuel oil of us aid to our front army, thus affecting the fuel supply of other front army air forces. In order to defeat the Germans, it is far from enough to rely on us alone. We need the cooperation of all sides. Therefore, we must have a view of the overall situation. We can''t just think about ourselves without thinking about others. We can''t let our superiors give us all the fuel. As a result, the friendly planes can''t take off because they don''t have fuel, right? " After telling us a lot, Zhukov told the engineer director of the front army: "I will give you three days to build at least five pontoons on the visva River to pass tanks and artillery."¡° "Marshal," the chief engineer said in embarrassment, "we are short of enough materials to build bridges. I am afraid that we will not be able to complete your order within the specified time." Zhukov looked at each other, stretched out three fingers, and said faintly, "I will give you three days to build five floating bridges and repair at least one of the two visva river bridges near the landing site. If you can''t finish the task by the deadline, I''ll replace you with someone who can finish my order. Do you understand? " Seeing that Zhukov gave the death order to the chief engineer, we all gave him a sympathetic look. The chief engineer replied with a sad face: "I understand, comrade marshal. I will finish the task." After a pause, he asked cautiously, "will you allow me to return to the army now to convey your order?"¡° Go ahead, chief engineer. " Zhukov waved to him and said in a relaxed tone, "remember, I only give you three days. After three days, you''ll be dismissed." When the chief engineer left, Zhukov said to me, "Rita, please tell the commander of the air force, general paulenin, that the air supply line will be finished in three days."

 Chapter 1662

    After the temporary military meeting, Zhukov said to me apologetically, "Rita, I know that you are disappointed by my decision to cancel the air supply line. However, I would like to remind you once again that in the next campaign, we alone can not defeat the Germans. In order to achieve effective cooperation with the friendly forces, it is absolutely necessary for us to make some sacrifices. "


    In fact, even if Zhukov didn''t say this to me, I would also like to understand that this so-called Shanzhai version of "air supply line" was originally the one I imitated from the US army a few years later. It was not my own original creation. Since it has completed the historical mission of rapid supply for the two landing sites, it will be cancelled.


    Before I could speak, marinin asked, "Comrade marshal, I want to know when we are going to launch an attack against the Germans?"


    "At present, our troops are still assembling, and trains and cars are still delivering weapons, ammunition and military supplies to Lublin all the time." Zhukov said solemnly: "but for me, these materials are far from enough. We need to hoard more than two months of materials at least to attack the enemy in the front."


    "Two months later," marinin said, quietly calculating the time, "that is to say, we can''t attack the enemy until the middle of January at the earliest?"


    "Yes, I plan to launch a new attack on the enemy in mid January." Zhukov said with certainty: "according to my calculation, our troops will have at least 40 days'' worth of materials by then, and it will be more than enough to fight a battle with the enemy."


    While they were talking, I was thinking about another thing: after a series of attacks by the allies, the German army seemed to have engaged in a counterattack... Well, I remember, it was called "Arden counterattack"... It once made the allies in a mess. The two regiments of the 106th division of the US army were captured by more than 8000 Americans


    "Rita!" When I was trying to recall the specific time of Aden''s counterattack, I suddenly heard Zhukov calling me and quickly answered, "marshal, what instructions do you have?"


    "I want to ask you, before the battle of Belarus, the guerrillas active behind the enemy gave us great support. If they had not disturbed the rear of the German campaign, prevented the German army from sending reserves to the front line, and radioed the movement of the German army. Especially during the period of June 20-23, they brought the railway to the most important section to a standstill and disrupted the operation of other railway lines. Without their support, we are bound to pay a greater price to win the battle of Belarus. "


    "That''s right, marshal," I replied with a nod to Zhukov''s statement, "it''s easy to get stuck in the battle simply by relying on frontal attack. Only with the help of guerrillas behind the enemy''s back, can we cause interference to the enemy and disrupt their deployment, can we win more easily. "


    "But now we are fighting on Polish territory, and the Polish guerrillas active behind the enemy are unwilling to cooperate with us, as you can see when you enter the old city of Warsaw." Zhukov asked me modestly, "do you have any good way to make the German rear not quiet?"


    I was just thinking about the content of "Aden counterattack". After hearing Zhukov''s question, I immediately linked the two together, so I could quickly reply, "marshal, I have a way to effectively disturb the enemy''s rear, so that they can''t concentrate on our offensive forces."


    "Oh, do you have a way?" When Zhukov heard me say this, his eyes suddenly brightened and he urged me to say, "come on, let''s hear it."


    I naturally think of Otto skolzner, the leader of the German special forces. In April 1943, because of his outstanding performance in the battle, he entered the sixth special operations department of the German Central Security Bureau. In September of the same year, he became famous for being ordered to lead special forces to rescue Mussolini from house arrest.


    In October this year, he once again led special forces and successfully hijacked admiral holdi, the Regent of Hungary, who was planning to sign an armistice agreement with the Soviet Union, forcing Hungary to remain in the axis camp.


    Before the start of the Arden counterattack, skorzner personally selected about 2000 German soldiers who spoke English to form a shock team, put on the uniform of the US Army, and bravely crossed the rear of the US defense line in a US jeep, attacking US soldiers everywhere, cutting off telephone lines, reversing road signs, laying false landmine signs, etc., causing chaos and self-danger in the US rear.


    In order to search these German units, the US military set up cards everywhere to intercept the relevant vehicles for inspection. If anyone is suspicious when answering questions, he will be immediately detained for subsequent screening. In this way, as long as hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops meet on the road, they will cross examine each other. For a moment, people are in a state of panic and restlessness.


    After the initial success of the operation, skorzner plans to start the second step, that is, to order all the officers and men of the 150th armored brigade to wear the uniform of us tank soldiers and drive American tanks from the north wing of the front line to take the bridge on the MAS river. It is a pity that this extremely bold interleaving operation was aborted because the operation plan was intercepted by the US military, otherwise it would cause greater chaos and damage to the US military.


    So I changed skorzney''s plan, told Zhukov about it, and finally said, "we can now gather German speaking people for secret training, and send them to the enemy''s rear to destroy and disrupt the enemy''s department a week before the battle. And even after the battle, they can still wantonly destroy the German telephone lines, change the marching signs, and even disguise as gendarmerie to point the German troops in the wrong direction, which has brought huge losses to the German army. " After listening to all my plans, Zhukov didn''t speak, just frowned and pondered. I looked him in the eye and thought, "he won''t deny my plan, will he?" But the fact soon proved that my worry was unnecessary. His brow stretched out and his face showed a satisfied smile: "Rita, your plan is crazy, but it sounds good. Personally, I think it is completely feasible. Since at the beginning of the war, the enemy could dress up as our soldiers and go deep into our army to do damage, today we can deal with them in the same way. I will report this plan to the supreme command immediately. As soon as they pass the plan, we will immediately select German speaking commanders and fighters from the army to start training. "

 Chapter 1663

    It''s December, and what we''re worried about finally comes up.


    There are a lot of floating ice in the visva River, and continuous large ice blocks are moving downstream along the river. Because these ice blocks will crush the small boats carrying materials, the shipping work has to stop completely.


    Some brave and impatient people, unable to wait to get through the pontoon, crossed the visva River by jumping from one ice block to another with a penny in their hand.


    At the beginning, we did not support or oppose this kind of phenomenon, but after two accidents happened in succession, causing casualties, we had to send patrols along the river to resolutely stop this kind of risk-taking behavior.


    If the floating ice only threatens the safety of ferries, we can also transport materials to the front line through floating bridges. After all, after Zhukov took office, we built three floating bridges on the river for tanks and artillery. But the high-speed ice on the water threatened the safety of the bridge. One of the pontoons was broken into three sections from the middle due to the continuous impact of ice. In a tank battalion crossing the river, four tanks and one tank truck fell into the cold visva River, resulting in the tragedy of ten soldiers died and five soldiers disappeared.


    When it happened, Zhukov called us together to discuss the countermeasures. He said solemnly: "comrades commander, if we allow the ice floes on the visva River to continue to hit our pontoons, these pontoons will be broken one after another before long. I''d like to hear what you can do? "


    The first speaker was military commissar jieliejin: "marshal, I think we should erect some big iron pillars on both sides of the river and pull iron chains on them to stop the ice floes down the river."


    "Comrade military commissar, your method is not good." As soon as the "iron rope to block the river" scheme proposed by gilekin was put forward, it was refuted by malining: "let alone we can''t find a kilometer long iron chain, even if we just drag the iron chain on the river, we can''t stop the ice floes down the river. Because the floating ice is not only floating on the surface, but also sinking under the water, which is almost close to the bottom of the river. Their huge inertia will break the iron chain that we pull up very hard. "


    "What should we do then?" "Can''t we just watch the ice floes destroy one by one our floating bridges over the visva river?" he said


    After listening to their argument, Zhukov turned his eyes to me and seemed to be able to get the answer he needed from me: "Rita, if you are allowed to deal with this matter, what are you going to do?"


    "Marshal," I replied with a wry smile to Zhukov''s question, "as early as a month ago, I had considered this question. But unfortunately, I didn''t find a good solution. In order not to let the cross-strait relations be interrupted by the ice floes on the visva River, I opened up the "air supply line" on a whim. "


    "The air supply line can only supplement the weapons, ammunition and various military materials needed by the troops," Zhukov said with a unchanged face after listening to me. "But for heavy equipment such as tanks and artillery, it can''t complete the transportation. If the traffic on both sides of the river is really interrupted by ice floes, we can only wait until the thickness of the ice layer on the river is enough for the tank troops to pass through, and then we can transfer the armored troops across the river again. "


    Seeing that everyone was at a loss, I suddenly thought of trakov and said to Zhukov, "marshal, I think it''s better to call the commanders of magnushev and puwai landing sites and ask if they have any good ideas than to sit here and think of ways."


    Due to the erection of several floating bridges on the visva River, we have greatly accelerated the speed of assembling our troops at the Hexi landing site. So far, it has increased to four army groups. So Zhukov, after listening to my suggestion, nodded and asked, "who do you think we should call first to ask for advice?"


    "I think we should call general trakov. He likes to use his brain, study problems and sum up experience." I said to Zhukov clearly: "in the battle of Stalingrad, the traffic between us and the East Bank of Volga River was interrupted because of the ice floes on the river. I believe that since general trakov has such experience, he should also have measures to deal with the ice floes on the visva river."


    As soon as I finished, the phone on the desk suddenly rang. Malining picked up the phone, listened to it, then handed it to Zhukov. At the same time, he said with a smile, "Comrade marshal, this is really a coincidence. We just said we would call trakov, so he called first."


    Zhukov took the microphone, put it in his ear and said aloud, "Hello, is that trakov? This is Zhukov. You call the headquarters of the front army. Is there anything important


    "Comrade marshal," I heard trekov say in a loud voice from the receiver, "one of our pontoons was knocked down by ice floes, causing certain casualties. In order to avoid the recurrence of similar incidents, I would like to make a suggestion to you. "


    "If you have any suggestions, please let me know." Zhukov said generously, "we are going to call you and discuss how to deal with the floating ice on the visva river."


    "Marshal," trikov may have finished the draft for a long time. Hearing Zhukov''s question, he immediately replied without hesitation, "we should mobilize all the engineers and road troops to protect the bridge. Each floating bridge is equipped with two or three blasting companies and a road battalion, and set up a repair team..." "wait a minute, comrade trikov." When Zhukov heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting trakov: "what do you mean?"¡° Please listen to me patiently, comrade marshal "The commander near each pontoon is in charge of a 120mm mortar company to blow up large ice floes on the river," he added; Then the broken ice floes are tied with steel cables and towed ashore by car or tractor. " After hearing his proposal, Zhukov only thought for a moment, and then said decisively, "Comrade trakov, your proposal is good, so we will do it according to the way you said. You should first use the engineering troops and road troops of the eighth group army of the close guard. As for the forces directly under the central government of the front army, I will arrange the chief of staff to transfer them to you as soon as possible. " In the current situation, it is the primary task to prevent the ice floes on the visva River from crashing the floating bridge. So Zhukov immediately ordered malining to transfer the engineering troops and road troops of the front army to the visva River after he put down the phone. In order to destroy the massive ice floes on the river, he dispatched several 120mm mortar companies and mobilized two 76.2mm cannon regiments to bombard the ice floes down the river. The next morning, Zhukov called trakov and korpakchi again to ask about the ice floes on the river. Both commanders answered with relief: "marshal, it''s hard to see large ice floes on the river again. Our pontoon has been preserved, and all kinds of vehicles are passing through the pontoon."

 Chapter 1664

    With our efforts, by the afternoon of December 18, our army had assembled 23 divisions and 5348 guns on the landing site of magnushev.


    At the same time, we also learned about the German counterattack against the allies in Arden through formal channels.


    After hearing the news, Zhukov sneered: "the Germans are really getting impatient. They can''t support the Allied attack. They launch a counter attack at this time. They really don''t think they are dying fast enough."


    And malining also said with high spirits: "marshal, since the Germans really have a close relationship with the allies in the western front, it is possible for them to deploy their reserves in front of us to reinforce in this area. Do you think we are launching an attack on the German army at this time? "


    "The time is not yet ripe to attack the German army." Without waiting for Zhukov to speak, I hastened to say, "although the enemy fought with the allies in Aden, the German troops deployed in front of our army must have kept a high degree of vigilance. If we launch an attack at the time when the enemy is on the most alert, it is estimated that even if we pay a huge price, it will be difficult to achieve any ideal results."


    "Tell me about it, Rita." When Zhukov heard what I said, he asked with great interest, "when is the best time to attack?"


    "There''s another week, Christmas in the West." I replied with a smile: "we can let the Germans have another quiet Christmas Eve, and then launch a sudden attack on them in the early morning of December 25 to surprise them."


    "Rita has a good point. On Christmas morning, the German army should be at the most relaxed moment. We can certainly achieve the ideal result by launching an attack at this time." Zhukov nodded after listening, but he quickly said: "now there is only one week left, which is not enough for us to complete the troop assembly and material hoarding. I think the best time should be after the new year. By that time, both the German and the Allied forces are exhausted. If we attack unexpectedly, we will surely defeat the enemy."


    As soon as Zhukov set the date for the attack, Stalin''s phone call came in unexpectedly. He told Zhukov on the phone: "Comrade Zhukov, our allies asked us for help. They said that their troops were suddenly attacked by the German army on the western line, the defense line had been broken through, and the troops were in chaos. President Roosevelt called me and asked me if I could take some necessary military action in Poland to keep the main force of the German army in the east so that they could not go to Aden to reinforce. "


    "Comrade Stalin," Zhukov was a little surprised by Stalin''s order. He said solemnly to the microphone, "just a few minutes ago, Rita advised me to launch a sudden attack on the German army opposite the magnushev landing site in the early morning of Christmas day in the West. I rejected her on the grounds that the troops had not yet assembled and that the materials for continuous combat were not sufficient. "


    "Comrade Zhukov," Stalin said solemnly after Zhukov finished, "when do you think is a good time to attack?"


    "I think our troops will not be ready to attack until after January 15 at the earliest." Zhukov solemnly reported to Stalin, "we will have enough strength to destroy the enemy''s defense."


    As soon as I heard Zhukov''s date, I knew it would be rejected by Stalin. Sure enough, after listening to Zhukov''s date, Stalin said slowly, "Comrade Zhukov, our allies are now facing difficulties. We must not let them be defeated by the German army. In that way, the Germans may transfer their forces from the west to the East, making it more difficult for us to attack next. "


    Although Stalin did not say that Zhukov''s date was too late, Zhukov was also a wise man. He recognized Stalin''s voice and politely asked, "Comrade Stalin, I don''t know when you think is the best time to attack?"


    "December 29," I can''t see Stalin''s expression, but I can also guess that he is holding his cigarette end, holding the microphone in one hand and waving in the other: "Comrade Zhukov, let''s take this date as our last attack date!"


    Seeing that Stalin had fixed the final date of attack, Zhukov could not object but said with a stiff head: "well, comrade Stalin, our troops will launch a new year''s offensive against the German troops in front of the landing site of magnusev in the early morning of December 29, and completely smash their defenses."


    As soon as Zhukov put down the phone, he told malining, "chief of staff, call all the commanders of the group army immediately and inform them to go to the headquarters of the front army to hold an emergency military meeting in the evening."


    After dark, all the group army commanders, military commissars and chief of staff who received the notice came to the conference room of the headquarters of the front army. Seeing all the people coming, Zhukov stood up and said to them, "comrades, we have just received the order from the supreme command to launch an attack on the German army in the early morning of December 29. Now let''s ask the chief of staff, general malining, to introduce the situation and give us operational orders. "


    Malining stood up, faced with the swarthy commander, and said, "heads of the group army, at present, we have assembled six group armies at two landing sites on the West Bank. The defensive assault against the enemy will be carried out in two steps.


    First of all, the 8th group army of guards, the 5th group army and the 61st group army of assault assembled at the landing site of magnushev, and the 1st and 2nd group army of guard tanks behind the landing site, together with a combined group army of various arms, made a strong impact on Warsaw from the South to the direction of Rava mazowitzka and skernivezevovich, so as to make a detour to Warsaw. The purpose of this assault is to cut off the contact between the whole German Warsaw group and the rear. At the same time, our tank group will also move forward to the enemy''s traffic line. Secondly, we carried out the second assault from the pwawi landing site to the direction of radom, tomashuv mazowitzki. What will attack there are the 69th and 33rd group armies strengthened by two tank armies and one cavalry army. The 1st and 47th Polish army will occupy the front along the visva River northward from the landing site of magnushev. " Malining finally announced to all the leaders of the group army: "we should completely crush the enemy in this campaign, but we should keep Warsaw and other Polish cities from being destroyed. Do you understand? "¡° I see! " The following dozens of group army leaders answered in unison.

 Chapter 1665

    After introducing the situation and giving relevant operational orders, marinin sat down. Zhukov, who had not spoken for a long time, looked at everyone and asked briefly, "is there a problem?"


    The answer was silence.


    Seeing that no one was speaking, Zhukov stood up and said solemnly: "comrades, according to the original plan of the front army command, our attack on the German army will not be earlier than January 15, 1945, but in order to rescue the allies in trouble on the western front, the supreme command has made a new decision to let us launch an attack ahead of time. In this way, The preparation time for the campaign was greatly shortened. You generals who have led the troops to the landing site, can you talk about your views on this campaign


    My eyes swept over the commanders sitting below. I saw that trakov was a little eager to try. I guessed that he might have something to say. As soon as Zhukov''s words were finished, I said to trakov, "general trakov, the magnushev landing site was established by your troops, and you have the longest time to assist in the landing site. Let''s talk about it."


    "Yes, general trakov, just tell me." Malining also echoed: "as far as I know, the reconnaissance work of your group army is quite meticulous, not only mastering the position of German artillery and tank troops, but also mastering the enemy''s meal time, how they rest, the time of changing shifts of latent sentry and Guard troops, etc. by observing the daily life and work and rest time of the Germans. In a word, you are the most influential person here. "


    Trikov, who was praised by malining, stood up and said with a red face: "the chief of staff is right. In order to verify the intelligence obtained from ground reconnaissance, we also widely adopted the method of air reconnaissance. After a period of repeated reconnaissance, we have accurately grasped the fortifications in the depth of the German defense, as well as the positions and numbers of the reserves, infantry divisions and armored divisions


    In the eyes of everyone''s curiosity and approval, trakov continued: "according to the configuration of the enemy''s reserves, in the face of the attack launched by our army, the enemy will mobilize the armored division and infantry division with deep defense to carry out fierce counter attack. In order to fight against the enemy, we should have the anti tank reserve and the combined reserve of various arms, and use the air force to destroy the mobility of the enemy''s rapid campaign reserve. "


    "General trakov," Zhukov said when he heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting and asking, "although we have kept confrontation with the enemy for a long time, we still can''t know exactly where the enemy is going to fight decisively with our army. What do you think of that? "


    "Marshal," trikov said with a smile as he looked at Zhukov, "as far as I can guess, the Germans will not carry out tenacious resistance in the areas we already know. They understand the power of our artillery. After our shelling, they usually leave a small number of Guard troops in the first line of defense, and withdraw the main force to the safe second line of defense.


    I suggest that after our artillery preparation, we send several reconnaissance battalions strengthened by tank companies or self-propelled artillery companies to occupy the German first line of defense and hold it firmly. The reason why I did not mention that the reconnaissance battalion should continue to attack the second line of defense is because the enemy has established a solid defense there. It is not enough to rely on our reconnaissance battalion alone. The attack task must be completed by our main forces.


    I have carefully studied the situation of the enemy''s first line of defense. At night, the enemy deployed more mobile troops and weapons in the trenches of the first line of defense than at other times. At 10 a.m. Moscow time, that is, 8 a.m. local time, they would withdraw the redundant personnel, leaving only the observers and duty officers in the trenches of the first line of defense. Therefore, I suggest that our 25 minute artillery preparation should start no later than 9 a.m. (7 a.m. local time), so that the enemy soldiers can be annihilated by the first artillery attack before they withdraw to the rear.


    Our commanders and fighters are not afraid to attack in the dark. In the past few years of war, night fighting has become a feature of our army. Our infantry and artillery have fully grasped the situation of the enemy''s first line of defense, and the reconnaissance battalions carrying out offensive tasks will not make mistakes in the position and direction of attack. And the attack on the German second line of defense should be carried out one and a half hours after we capture the first line of defense. At this time, it''s daybreak, our artillery and air forces will not choose the wrong target, and the attacking forces will not lose their direction and chaos. "


    Zhukov looked at trakov and asked as usual, "general trakov, I want to ask you, how can we make our army''s preparations before the attack not attract the attention of the enemy?"


    "Marshal, I have taken into account your question." "Our troops and technical equipment can only be transferred at night, and a certain number of them should be limited, so that we can cover everything up and camouflage before dawn.


    In the daytime, the troops stationed in the trench in this area should actively carry out geotechnical work. It makes the enemy have the illusion that our army is preparing to strengthen its defense rather than attack due to the consumption of soldiers, weapons and ammunition, so as to paralyze the enemy.


    At the same time, we try our best to use radio loudspeakers to broadcast and put music on our positions, so as to encourage our soldiers on the one hand and relax the vigilance of the enemy on the other. "


    After listening to the whole plan of trakov, Zhukov''s face showed a smile, he nodded to the other side, "general trakov, your plan is very good, I think it can be implemented according to your imagination. Please sit down first When trakov sat down, he continued, "who else would like to express his opinion?" As soon as Zhukov''s words were over, korpakchi stood up and asked with a serious expression: "Comrade marshal, just as Comrade chief of staff said, the time of our offensive campaign is 10-20 days, and the designated area we should reach is 150-180 km. I want to ask, "do we have enough materials to support this campaign?" As soon as kolpakchi''s voice fell, the commanders below began to whisper and discuss the situation that the army was about to face. Although the floating bridge has a lot of trucks every day, we still have no idea how much materials we have accumulated¡° Commander comrades, please be quiet, please keep quiet! " I saw Zhukov''s face covered with frost as the conference hall hummed. He stood up and yelled at the participants. When peace returned to the venue, I turned around and looked at the head of the Logistics Department of the front army, who was sitting in the back. Then I said, "now let''s invite lieutenant general an Ji, director of the Logistics Department of the front army, to introduce the situation to you." Lieutenant general Anji stood up, opened his notebook, looked at it, and then said in a loud voice, "comrades, please rest assured that the materials we are hoarding are enough to support a month and a half of fighting. After the meeting, each group army can arrange for its troops to go to the supply base of the front army to receive materials including 30 days'' grain reserves. "

 Chapter 1666

    In the coming New Year''s offensive, trakov''s guards of the eighth group army will be the first to fight. Therefore, during the period before the campaign, he received special attention from Zhukov. Even if he calls twice a day in the morning and evening to report the preparation, Zhukov still calls from time to time to learn some details of the attack preparation.


    On December 24 and 25, the Germans who had suffered a lot from us entered a state of high alert, fearing that we would take advantage of the opportunity of Christmas in the west to launch a surprise attack on them.


    After understanding this situation, Zhukov said to me with a smile: "Rita, it seems that you are not right. If we really attack the German army in accordance with your idea at Christmas today, we will certainly be hit head-on by the well prepared German army and suffer huge casualties."


    "Marshal," I replied with some embarrassment when I heard Zhukov''s kind criticism, "maybe the Germans have taken too much of our losses, so they have become cautious. You know, when I was in Stalingrad, it was on Christmas day that I commanded the troops to launch an attack on the enemy, and they lost their armor and suffered heavy losses. "


    "The enemy is very cunning. They are not reconciled to their failure, so they will try their best to deal with us." After summing up the characteristics of the German army, Zhukov turned to malining and said, "chief of staff, call trakov and order him to send people to closely monitor the movement of the German army. Once the enemy''s defense is relaxed, report to me immediately!"


    After hearing this, malining grinned and kindly reminded Zhukov: "marshal, you just called general trakov half an hour ago and learned about the enemy situation there. So I think we should wait a little longer. It''s better to wait until evening and call trekov again. Then we can find out the real trend of the Germans. "


    In the evening, cuikov called to report to Zhukov: "Marshal comrade, according to my observation post, the enemy deployed in the first line of defense, there are signs of backward movement."


    After hearing his report, Zhukov tentatively asked, "Comrade trakov, are you sure the enemy is retreating backward?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." "The observation post can see clearly that the forces and technical equipment deployed in the first line of defense in the past two days are transferring to the rear," trikov said positively


    After listening to the report of trakov, Zhukov''s face showed a smile: "OK, comrade trakov, I understand. The Germans did not find that our army was about to launch an attack on them, but they increased their strength in the first line of defense these two days just to prevent our army from launching an attack on them on Christmas day in the West. "


    After waiting for Zhukov to finish, cuikov asked respectfully, "Comrade marshal, what instructions do you have?"


    "There must be instructions." Zhukov beamed into the microphone and said, "let the Logistics Department of your group army make dumplings for the soldiers, so that everyone can have a good meal of Siberian Dumplings before the new year. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade marshal." "The logistics department not only prepared Siberian Dumplings for the soldiers, but also prepared a lot of coffee, chocolate and cigarettes. Now that you''ve spoken, immediately ask the logistics department to give these new year gifts to the soldiers. "


    Zhukov seems to have a new idea at this time: "Comrade trakov, I think among the new year''s gifts you give to the soldiers, in addition to the ones just mentioned, you will finally give some champagne, at least one bottle for each class. We want to create a false impression on the enemy that we are preparing for the new year and have no intention of attacking them, so as to paralyze them and make them relax their vigilance. "


    "That''s a good idea." "I think the commanders will be very happy to know that there are new year''s gifts, marshal. On behalf of them, I would like to thank you," trikov said happily


    In the next two days, when the enemy in front of the landing site of magnushev saw our army officers and men holding celebrations, they thought that we were preparing for the new year, and our defense became more and more lax.


    At three o''clock in the morning of the 29th, trakov called Zhukov from the front and reported to him, "Comrade marshal, the offensive troops have assembled and can fight at any time."


    Zhukov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he looked out of the window and asked through the microphone, "Comrade trakov, there are still three and a half hours to go before the attack. What''s the weather like there?"


    "There are no stars and no moon in the sky." "Trekov replied," it''s beginning to fog in the forest. I don''t know if there will be thick fog in the whole battlefield later. "


    When he heard that there was fog in the forest, malining was the first to lose his countenance. He anxiously said to Zhukov, "marshal, the thousands of airplanes in the air force at the airport have finished hanging their bombs and are ready to fight at any time. If there is fog, they will not be able to take part in the fight."


    Zhukov waved to marinin and interrupted him. But he himself continued to command trakov: "Comrade trakov, immediately order the engineers to clear the mine in front of our army''s trench, and at the same time, open up a passage for the army in the minefield in front of the German fortification. In addition, breakfast should be distributed to the commanders and fighters one hour before the preparation of artillery fire, so that they can take part in the battle when they are full. "


    Two minutes before half past six in the morning, trakov called again and reported to Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, it''s foggy in our attack area. Because the fog is too thick, you can''t see anything clearly from ten meters away. "¡° I see After listening to the other party''s report, Zhukov thought a little, and then directly ordered: "the artillery preparation before the attack is on time, but because the fog is too thick, the air force can not take part in the battle for the time being, so your attack can only be completed by infantry and tanks, understand?"¡° Yes, comrade marshal. " "I''ll give the artillery an order to fire at once," trekov replied loudly After putting down the phone, Zhukov raised his hand to the sky with a long sigh, and then said, "I hope this damned fog doesn''t make our attack fall short."¡° Don''t worry, comrade marshal. " Seeing that Zhukov was worried about gain and loss, I quickly comforted him and said, "general trakov''s attack is seven kilometers in front, and the artillery density has reached an amazing 282. Even without the support of the air force, I believe they can successfully break through the German defense." Zhukov listened to me, turned to stare at me for a while, nodded and said slowly, "Rita, I hope you are right. As long as we can break through the German defense smoothly, the next battle will be easy to fight."

 Chapter 1667

    According to the prepared operational plan, the artillery preparation for the German defensive position was 2 hours and 40 minutes. In order to pass the boring waiting time, malining specially found a silver teapot for everyone to sit down and drink tea.


    Seeing Zhukov still walking back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, malining added charcoal to the hollow straight tube in the middle of the teapot and said to Zhukov: "Comrade marshal, the battle has just started. It will take at least three hours to get the report of whether the army has broken through the German first line of defense. Please sit down and have a cup of hot tea


    Zhukov came to the table and sat down. He carefully looked at the exquisite silver teapot on the table and asked with great interest, "Comrade chief of staff, where did you get this teapot?"


    Malining turned on the tap under the teapot, poured a cup of hot tea, put it in front of Zhukov, and replied, "it was sent by Polish comrades a few days ago, saying it was a booty."


    Zhukov put a few pieces of sugar in the teacup and stirred it gently with a small spoon. Instead of asking about the origin of the tea cooking, he changed the topic and asked, "chief of staff, according to the plan in advance, the first Polish army will cross the visva River into the old city of Warsaw on the fourth day after the battle. Do you think they can complete this task?"


    Malining looked at me with a smile and said, "marshal, I think you should ask Rita about this question. She has the most say."


    "That''s true," Zhukov turned his eyes to me again. "Rita, can the comrades of the Polish Army liberate Warsaw smoothly?"


    "Comrade marshal, there should be no problem for the comrades of the first Polish army to liberate Warsaw." After the failure of the Warsaw Uprising, I went to the visva River to see the city on the other side of the river. I knew something about the situation there, so I said with confidence: "since the failure of the Warsaw Uprising, Hitler has ordered the city to be razed to the ground and all the residents of the city to move away. For the Germans, Warsaw does not have much significance, so it is only a matter of time to seize Warsaw. "


    "However, the Warsaw group of the German army still has a lot of troops. Once they are allowed to retreat to the rear safely, it will cause huge obstacles to our next stage of attack." Zhukov took a picture with his hand on the map on the table and continued: "therefore, we need to cut off the retreat of the German Warsaw group as soon as possible and surround and annihilate them in Warsaw area."


    Although what Zhukov said has been mentioned countless times in recent days, no one thinks that he is wordy, because everyone wants to make our combat plan more perfect. Malining took a sip of tea, pointed to the map in front of him and said to us, "the front of Hitler''s main defense zone successively passed through the settlements of glinuvec, glinuv, genrekuv, bronislavu, legenize, mosteki, swereguerne and the northern edge of the kozenitzer forest. The front of the defense was 25 kilometers wide, Even if they attack immediately after the shelling, it will take an hour at the earliest to completely occupy the residential area here. "


    But the war went on more smoothly than we thought. 31 minutes after the attack, the phone in front of us suddenly rang. After a short hesitation, everyone reached for the microphone. However, malining was the fastest. He grabbed the microphone and stuck it to his ear and said aloud, "Hello, I''m malining. Where are you?"


    "Chief of staff, this is trekov." All the people around the table clearly heard the voice of trakov coming from the receiver. They quickly concentrated and listened carefully to the voice coming from inside: "I have a good news for you. My troops have occupied the outer trench of the German first line of defense, and they are developing in depth..."


    "Trekov? I''m Zhukov Hearing this, Zhukov suddenly stood up, took the microphone from malining''s hand, put it in his ear and said, "what you just said, I didn''t hear it very clearly. Please repeat it."


    "Marshal," he said excitedly when he heard that Zhukov was talking to himself, "there are two trenches in the first line of defense of the German army. My troops have occupied one of them and are attacking the other."


    Although trakov had repeated his report, Zhukov still asked with half faith, "Comrade trakov, if I remember correctly, is the shelling of the German defensive positions still going on?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal, you remember correctly that the shelling of the German defensive positions is still in progress." In order to dispel Zhukov''s doubts, trakov explained: "25 minutes after the shelling started, we and our friendly forces took advantage of the favorable opportunity that the German observation post and command post lost their functions in the fog to send 25 reconnaissance battalions. Under the cover of tanks, they made an impact on the enemy''s defensive positions and successfully captured the enemy''s first trench. At present, the troops are pursuing while winning, I believe it won''t be long before we can take the second trench. "


    "Well done, trakov!" After listening to the report of trakov, Zhukov was very happy, but he did not get carried away by it. He specially told trakov: "every time our army occupies a trench, it is necessary to eliminate the enemy as quickly as possible, and then reinforce the fortifications to cope with the possible counterattack launched by the German army."


    After Zhukov put down the phone, he immediately called the artillery commander, kazakov, and said, "Comrade General, trakov''s troops have entered the first line of defense of the German army. After finishing the artillery preparation, your artillery immediately move forward the firing position to cover the infantry and continue to rush to the depth of the enemy." When he heard that the army was going well, malining beside him couldn''t close his mouth with a smile. He waited for Zhukov to explain the task to kazakov, and asked for instructions: "marshal, do you need to report this good news to the supreme command immediately?"¡° "No way," malining''s proposal was immediately rejected by Zhukov: "the Supreme Command knows the exact time of our attack and the time needed for artillery preparation. If we report this loss to the supreme command when the battlefield situation is not clear, it will inevitably lead to a misjudgment from the superior that the enemy in front of our army is vulnerable, It will add new operational targets to us and disrupt our original operational deployment. " After listening to Zhukov''s words, malining no longer insisted on his own opinions, but got up and went to the area where communication equipment was placed and explained his work to the busy staff there.

 Chapter 1668

    Before long, trakov called again and reported to Zhukov: "Marshal comrade, German" general kazakov. "After listening to me, Zhukov called the artillery commander to himself:" you order the self-propelled artillery regiment to come out in front of our defense position and destroy the German tanks with direct fire, Ensure that the joint division of the 8th and 61st army of the guards will not be affected. "¡° I see, comrade marshal. " General khazakov replied solemnly, "I will immediately order the self-propelled artillery regiment to fight and smash the German armored forces." At noon, the 69th and 33rd army groups, as well as the 11th and 9th tank troops and the 7th guard cavalry troops, deployed in the puwai landing site, also launched a surprise attack on the enemy in the front. Among them, the 33rd group army also has a special mission, that is, to move a part of its forces to the southwest of the sidowitz region, to cooperate with the Ukrainian first front army in the north, and to encircle and annihilate the German groups in the Radom and ostrowitz regions. Although the left wing of the 8th group of guards was fiercely attacked by the German army, the 28th group of guards on the right side of the group army, under the command of lieutenant general reirov, successfully broke through the enemy''s third defensive position before dark and captured strometz baudelacher. After reading the telegram, Zhukov went to the wall, looked up at the map hanging on it, and pointed to malining and said, "chief of staff, call general katukov and ask his tank group army to fight immediately. They must join general reirov''s 28th army before dawn tomorrow." Although from the map, katukov''s troops are only more than 60 kilometers away from the area occupied by the 28th close guard army. But since most of their troops are still on the East Bank of the visva River, even if they start to move now, it will not be easy to get to the designated position before dawn tomorrow. Zhukov saw that malining had finished recording the order, and then said: "also, tell trakov to let the 28th army of the close guard rest on the spot. As soon as it gets light tomorrow, he will immediately launch an impact on the depth of the enemy, so as to ensure that the 1st group army of the close guard tank can enter the breach from the falka radom railway line." In the face of all kinds of war reports, Zhukov did not appear flustered at all. He was always able to issue a series of orders to malining in a timely manner in the shortest time according to the changes of the battlefield situation, and passed them to the troops below through him. Soon after dark, trakov reported another piece of good news: the fourth guards had smashed the German''s crazy counterattack and successfully held the second line of defense.

 Chapter 1669

    When katukov saw me coming, he immediately opened his arms and gave me a hug. Then he enthusiastically asked, "Rita, do you think of the front line today?"


    Although I met katukov at the pre war combat meeting, there were so many things at that time that I didn''t pay attention to his rank. After looking at his epaulets, I found that he was also promoted to the rank of general, so I said to him with a smile, "general katukov, I congratulate you on getting a better rank."


    "Happy together, happy together!" He replied with a smile, "you are also a general now."


    "General katukov, I came to the front line on the order of Marshal Zhukov to understand the situation." After a brief greeting, I turned to the main topic: "tell me about your troops."


    Katukov stood at the table, pointed to the map on the table and said to me, "my vanguard troops have joined the armored forces of the 8th group army of the guards. They are gathering in the area north of the village of olishov, ready to fight for the railway subgrade. Relying on the buildings of the railway station and a large area of adjacent forest, the enemy is carrying out tenacious resistance. They are blocking our army''s advance with anti tank guns and machine gun fire. "


    "Without the support of infantry, our tanks would not be able to deal with the enemy''s anti tank men." I looked at the map and asked, "is there any infantry around here?"


    "Yes," katukov replied, nodding his head, "the infantry of the 29th army of the guards and the tank troops of general weinroub have failed in two attacks on the railway subgrade. They are regrouping and preparing to launch another attack."


    Perhaps to let me understand the importance of seizing the railway subgrade, he added: "we must repel the enemy from the railway subgrade. Only in this way can the tank army rush into the vast battle area and split the front of the enemy''s defense."


    After thinking for a moment, I said to katukov, "general katukov, if you want to successfully seize the railway subgrade from the hands of the Germans, you must first carry out heavy artillery preparation in this area, and then the infantry and tanks will make a concerted effort to launch an impact, you will be able to win."


    After my words, katukov immediately nodded: "yes, yes, I think so too. But... "


    "But what?" I saw that he wanted to talk and stopped, so I asked.


    "My mechanized army is still on the move and may not be able to take part in such an attack for the time being." Katukov said with some embarrassment, "unless you can get general trakov''s support."


    "This is not a problem. I''m here to coordinate the joint operations among the various forces." After finding out what he was worried about, I said easily, "Comrade General, please get someone to connect with the headquarters of the 8th group army of the guards. I want to speak to general trakov in person."


    The commander of the communications corps, who received katukov''s order, immediately began to call the 8th group army command of the guards. But after connecting, he told me with regret: "sorry, comrade deputy commander of the front army, general trakov is not in his headquarters!"


    "What, trekov''s not in command?" When I heard the communication director''s report, I frowned. I went to the phone and asked, "I''m o''shanina. Who''s calling?"


    "Hello, comrade deputy commander of the front army!" The other side respectfully reported to me and said, "I''m lieutenant general duhanov, deputy commander of the group army. What instructions do you have?"


    "Hello, general duhanov! I have something important to get in touch with general trakov. Do you know how to get in touch with him? "


    "Just a moment, please. I''ll have someone check where the commander is now." Duhanov was deeply afraid that I would blame him, so he specially explained to me: "at noon, he and military Commissioner General Pronin went to the headquarters of the Fourth Army of the guards. I don''t know if he is still there now. I need to call first to confirm."


    A few minutes later, duhanov reported to me, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, I have made a clear inquiry. He is now in the headquarters of the 29th group army of the Jinwei."


    "OK, I see. Thank you, Comrade General!" After I put down the phone, I said to katukov, "it''s clear that general trakov is in the headquarters of the 29th guards at the moment."


    After a lot of twists and turns, I finally talked to trakov: "general trakov, I''m in general katukov''s headquarters at the moment. He said that if we want to successfully capture the railway subgrade occupied by the German army, we must first carry out intensive artillery attacks on the enemy''s defensive positions, and then use tanks to cover the infantry to launch assault. "


    "That''s what I think, Rita." After I finished, trakov immediately said, "I have given the order to the artillery commander of the group army to immediately mobilize two close guard rocket brigades to the area occupied by the 29th close guard army to support the infantry attack with artillery fire."


    "That''s great." I added to him, "I''ll stay at general katukov''s headquarters. As soon as the artillery arrive at the defensive area of the 29th army of the guards, you''ll call me immediately. Then you and general katukov will study how the two forces can take joint action."


    "I see, Rita." "I''ll call you as soon as the artillery arrives," he promised

 Chapter 1670

    Due to the congestion of the road leading to the starting point of the attack, the artillery unit of the 8th group army of the guards arrived at the designated position two hours after dark.


    When I received a call from trakov, I thought that the soldiers were exhausted after a day of fierce fighting, and they launched an attack in a strange area at night, which was not conducive to the cooperation between the tanks and infantry, so I decisively said to trakov, "Comrade General, it''s getting late. Order your troops to stop attacking and rest in place until tomorrow morning, And then attack the railway subgrade firmly guarded by the enemy. "


    When trakov started giving orders to his troops to stop attacking and rest on the spot, I called Zhukov to report my decision. After listening to me, Zhukov asked slowly, "Rita, do you think trikov''s troops can achieve their combat goal tomorrow?"


    Although I don''t remember the next campaign, after hearing Zhukov''s question, I replied without hesitation: "Comrade marshal, I don''t think this is a problem." The reason why I am so confident is that on my way here, I saw the scale of our army. If we can''t break through the enemy''s defense in such a strong situation, the famous generals like trakov will have a false reputation.


    "All right, Rita," Zhukov said in a reasonable way after listening to me, "since you are so confident, do as you arranged. Let the troops stop attacking temporarily, take time to rest in the same place, and attack the enemy in the early morning tomorrow."


    Early the next morning, I drove to the 29th army headquarters in the village of chalneluge, where I met trakov, who was commanding the battle.


    Seeing me enter the headquarters, trakov stopped explaining his work to his subordinates. Instead, he came to shake hands with me and said excitedly, "Rita, you''re here in time. In five minutes, our rocket brigade will fire salvos at the German defensive positions in the station, and then the tanks will cover the infantry charge."


    "Comrade General, how many rockets do we have?" I asked curiously, "how many volleys will it take to destroy the German resistance?"


    "Rita, at present we have deployed a close guard rocket brigade in the south of the village, with a total of 36 state-of-the-art rockets," trekov said to me with some pride. "We will use these rockets later to teach the Germans a lesson."


    In order to see the attack, trekov and I went to a nearby observation post. After the order of shooting was given, countless rockets curved in the air and disappeared in the station occupied by the German army. Then there was a terrible roar, and even the land under our feet was shaking slightly. Hundreds of rockets stormed the station and the edge of the forest, turning the whole station and the defensive positions outside the German forest into a sea of fire.


    Just when I thought that trakov would let the close guard rocket brigade fire again, he gave the order to attack the troops. I asked curiously, "general trakov, aren''t you going to volley the German positions again?"


    "No, Rita." Trekov said with disdain: "the defenders in the station should have been scared by the volley just now. There is no need to waste precious rockets any more."


    Without waiting for the smoke to disperse, the officers and men of the 29th army rushed to the station and the edge of the forest under the cover of the tank troops. Sure enough, as trikov expected, the enemy had been frightened by our rocket volley. When our troops rushed into their defensive positions, they still did not organize a decent resistance.


    The battle between the station and the edge of the forest ended in less than half an hour. Then I saw groups of prisoners with dull eyes coming out of the fortifications at the station and the edge of the forest under the escort of our soldiers.


    Seeing this situation, I immediately called katukov and said to him, "general katukov, the troops of the 8th group army of the guards, have successfully occupied the station. They are crossing the railway subgrade and advancing to the enemy''s defense. Your troops should catch up with them as soon as possible."


    "All right, Rita." Katukov said with a little emotion: "I''ll give the marching orders to the troops now!"


    At the end of the call with katukov, I felt it necessary to report to Zhukov what happened in the front line immediately, and then I went back to the army headquarters with trakov.


    After listening to my report, Zhukov said with a smile, "Rita, thank you for the good news. I also have two pieces of good news for you: the 11th and 9th tank armies have approached Lamar and are now attacking the German forces in the city; Second, the 47th group army and the 1st Polish group army launched simultaneous attacks on Warsaw in the north and East, respectively. "


    "Comrade marshal, this is really exciting good news." I didn''t expect that this campaign would go so smoothly. The changes in the war situation were just in accordance with our plan. "I believe we can hear more good news before dark."


    After two days of heavy fog on the West Bank of the visva River, the Air Force fighters, who had long been ready to take off, took off one after another and flew to various areas to help fight. As soon as the German armored forces go out, they will be bombarded by our air force in less than five minutes, and the German counterattack relying on the armored forces will collapse.


    Just as I was about to follow trakov back to his group headquarters, there was a burst of intense gunfire outside. Hearing the gunshot, I instinctively pulled out my pistol and prepared to rush out the door. However, they were blocked by several staff officers of the 29th army of the guards. They held pistols in their hands, turned their back to me and stood in front of me. They said, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, it''s too dangerous outside. You can''t go out."¡° Yes, Rita, we can''t go out because we don''t know what''s going on outside Trekov quickly grabbed me and reminded me, "we''ll go out when we figure out what''s going on." The intense gunfire outside soon stopped. Only sporadic gunfire came occasionally. I listened to it with my side ears. It was all the sound of assault rifles. I frowned and said to trikov, "Comrade General, send someone out to have a look. What''s going on out there?" Trekov agreed and was about to send someone to find out what had happened. Outside, however, a major officer ran in first, shouting: "Comrade commander, it''s not good, it''s not good, something''s wrong!" Trikov saw clearly that it was his officers who were coming. He quickly pushed aside the staff who were standing in front of us, went out and asked, "what''s going on out there, why are you shooting?" The officer gave me a look of embarrassment as he followed trakov out of the crowd. Seeing the officer''s desire to talk and stop, trakov said impatiently, "you''re deaf. Didn''t you hear me asking you a question?"¡° Comrade commander, "the officer was answering trakov''s question, but his eyes remained on me:" our troops brought back more than 100 prisoners in the square not far from here. Unexpectedly, they were shot and killed by the guard company brought by the deputy commander of the front army. " The guard company I brought, killed all the prisoners? When I heard what the officer said, I was confused. Trekov frowned and asked, "do you know why?" The officer shook his head and replied, "our men tried to stop them, but they were stopped by the rest of the guard company!"¡° Wait, comrade major. " I heard from the officer''s words that it seemed that it was not the whole guard company that shot the prisoners of war, but only a part of them: "did the whole guard company or only a part of them shoot the prisoners of war?"¡° Only a few people. " The officer replied without hesitation: "they used to stay by the truck eating and chatting. When they saw that some prisoners were being escorted, they walked towards them with guns. We drove the soldiers we were escorting away, and then fired at the prisoners. " I felt it necessary to find out what happened in person, so I said to trekov, "general trekov, let''s go out and see what''s going on."¡° Let''s go. I also want to see why these soldiers killed all the prisoners of war indiscriminately. " Before I went out of the headquarters, I turned to the staff who were still standing in good order and said gratefully, "comrades of staff, I am very moved that you just stood in front of me and were ready to block bullets for me at any time. Here, I''d like to thank you all! " With that, I raised my hand and gave them a solemn military salute. Trekov and I walked out of the headquarters and came to the nearby square. We saw hundreds of commanders and fighters surrounded here. Judging from their dress, most of them were trekov''s subordinates, while the guard company I brought was surrounded by the crowd¡° Comrades, please give way. Here comes the commander! " Trokov''s guards walked in front of us, shouting as they walked, giving us a passage through the crowd. I walked into the crowd, almost choked by the strong smell of blood, and saw hundreds of bloody German bodies lying on the ground. More than 30 skinny soldiers, armed with assault rifles and covered in blood, stood among the bodies. When I saw clearly that the soldiers standing in the middle of the bodies were all rescued by us from the maydanek concentration camp a few months ago, I immediately guessed seven or eight points about what happened. However, I guessed the reason, which does not mean that trekov and his subordinates also know the reason why the soldiers shot the prisoners. Therefore, the procedure to go is still to go. I deliberately asked the group of soldiers, "who can tell me why you want to shoot and kill these German prisoners without authorization?"

 Chapter 1671

    A staff sergeant came up to me and I recognized him as a platoon leader of the guard platoon. I repeated the question again: "Comrade staff sergeant, can you tell us all why you want to kill these German prisoners of war?"


    "Comrade General," the sergeant said to me, waiting for his red eyes, "we want revenge!"


    "Revenge, what revenge?" Trikov guessed something from my conversation with the sergeant. He quickly cooperated with me and asked the other party, "sergeant, please tell us your reasons."


    The staff sergeant heard that. Instead of speaking immediately, he gave me an inquiring look. Seeing that I nodded my permission, he said loudly to the commanders and fighters standing around, "comrades, I used to be a prisoner of war. To be exact, I was a prisoner of war rescued from the maydanek concentration camp."


    He pointed to the soldiers standing among the corpses, and then said, "like me, they were rescued from the concentration camp. What do we do in the prison camp? It''s a special collection of corpses. The corpses of those who were poisoned in the gas chamber are transported to the incinerator to burn. These poisoned people include not only our captured comrades in arms, but also ordinary people, including the elderly, women and children


    In order to cover up their crimes, the German government will replace a group of corpse collectors every few months. Where have the eliminated people gone? I''ll tell you, they were sent to the gas chamber and poisoned alive. If our troops had not liberated Lublin in time, my comrades in arms and I would not have escaped the same fate


    I had vowed in my heart to avenge every victim I sent to the incinerator. As many victims as I push into the incinerator, I will kill as many Germans as I want to avenge them... "


    After the chief''s words, there was a dead silence around him. Obviously, his story shocked everyone. Just as I was thinking at a high speed about how to resolve the current crisis, I didn''t know which soldier shook his arms and cried out: "defeat the Communist aggressors and avenge our people!"


    His call was an order. A moment later, the whole square rang out like a tsunami. At the end of the call, I only felt everyone yelling, but I couldn''t hear what they were yelling.


    When the square was quiet again, I felt my eardrum still buzzing. Looking at the sergeant and dozens of soldiers in front of me, it made me feel that this matter is very difficult. First, I am the deputy commander of the front army. Second, these are my subordinates. If they are not handled properly, there will be endless troubles. Thinking of this, I looked at trakov and asked, "Comrade General, how do you think this should be handled?"


    With a smile, trakov turned to his subordinates and said in a loud voice, "comrades, just now these German prisoners attempted to seize our army''s weapons. They rioted here. Fortunately, they were discovered by the guard company of the deputy commander of the front army and wiped out the enemy in time. Is that right? "


    Although the starting point of trakov is to help me out, I feel very embarrassed by this kind of lying. I''m afraid that if everyone doesn''t buy it, then I don''t know how to end it.


    Fortunately, after a short silence, a voice said, "yes, it was the Germans who tried to seize our weapons and were killed by our soldiers."


    "Yes, that''s what happened." More voices echoed, "we see it, too!"


    After the commanders and fighters in the square reached an agreement, trakov spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders and said to me, "Rita, you have heard that it was the German prisoners who attempted to riot and were completely eliminated. That''s what happened."


    Under the mediation of trakov, the massacre of prisoners of war was successfully solved. But when some of us got into the armored car, he restrained his smile and said to me seriously, "Rita, although you are my superior now, I still have a few words from my heart to tell you."


    "Go ahead, Comrade General. I''m listening." I owe trekov a favor. No matter how he criticizes me, I will accept it with an open mind.


    "I suggest that when you go back, you immediately disperse these soldiers into the companies. Let them get together again, it is an unstable factor all the time Trakov said to me, "today we only killed more than 100 prisoners of war, and we can cover it up. If our troops enter the German border in the future, and they are burning, killing and looting with such hatred towards the German people, what should we do with them? "


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander." After trakov finished, his military commissar, general Pronin, continued: "you were demoted and used in the defense of Moscow because you killed a group of German prisoners of war for Zoya''s revenge. If today''s affairs are not handled properly and your attempt is affected, it is estimated that there will be little chance to turn over again. "


    I think what trikov and Pronin said is very reasonable. The Germans will surrender in a few months. If they are demoted by Stalin at this time, it will be a problem to be a general again at the end of the war, not to mention marshal. So I nodded hard and said, "I see. Thank you for your reminding. When I get back to the headquarters of the front army, I''ll spread these soldiers among the companies. "


    When we went back to trakov''s headquarters, we were surprised to find that katukov was also here. He came here specially to discuss the cooperative combat with trakov. As the troops continue to move forward, the supply of fuel, ammunition and various military materials in the rear will be the top priority. Therefore, major general pokhaznikov, the head of the Logistics Department of the group army, Col. brotsky, the chief of staff of the logistics department, Col. bukarev, the Minister of armaments, Col. Akimov, the director of oil supplies, Col. spasov, the director of supplies, and Mr The Minister of health, Colonel boykov, and others called the Military Council. Discuss and work out a feasible supply plan for fuel, ammunition and materials. When it was dark, I received a phone call from Zhukov. From him, I really heard new good news: General Bogdanov''s second group army of close guard tanks launched a battle from the area under the control of the fifth group army in the morning. Within one day, they advanced 80 kilometers and successfully arrived in sohachev, cutting off the retreat of the German Warsaw group. The 11th and 9th tank armies have rushed into Lamar and are engaged in a fierce battle with the city''s defenders. A part of the 61st army went north successfully, and the 47th army and the 1st Polish Army completed the encirclement of Warsaw.

 Chapter 1672

    New year''s day, 1945, is the new year offensive, "Rita, look, it''s a German prisoner." Seeing that two German prisoners appeared here, trakov said to me with a smile: "it must be grazunov who is going to interrogate these prisoners and figure out the enemy''s deployment."


    Among the soldiers escorting the prisoners, a sergeant saw that several generals appeared here at the same time and were walking towards the headquarters. He quickly asked the prisoners to stop and asked us to go in first.


    As soon as I walked into the headquarters, I heard general grazunov asking in a loud voice, "has the interpreter come yet? There are also prisoners who have been taken over. Why haven''t I seen them so far? "


    "Don''t worry, general grazunov. They''ll be here in a minute." "You don''t mind if we''re around to see how you interrogate the captives," trikov said with a smile to his commander


    "Hello, comrade commander, on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the Fourth Army of the guards, I welcome you." After saying these words, grazunov suddenly found that I was still standing next to trakov. He quickly saluted me and said with a slight apology, "sorry, comrade deputy commander of the front army, I didn''t see you just now."


    I reached out and shook grazunov. I said generously, "general grazunov, it''s all small things. You don''t have to worry about it. The German prisoners are coming in. Are you ready for interrogation? "


    When two German officers entered the headquarters, I found that they were both in the rank of lieutenant colonel. When I was curious about their positions in the 45th division, I heard grazunov asking aloud, "your name and rank!"


    The interpreter standing next to the prisoner quickly translated grazunov''s words to the two officers. When the two officers reported their names, ranks and positions, we were surprised to know that one of the young commanders was actually a member of the German general staff. He was a liaison officer assigned to the 45th division, and as soon as the troops surrendered, he became a prisoner.


    After learning the identities of the two officers, trakov grabbed in front of grazunov and said to the translator, "Comrade translator, tell them that I am trakov, commander of the 8th group army of the guards. I want to hear their opinions on the current situation! "


    After listening to trekov''s question, commander Heisenberg of the general staff immediately replied unequivocally, "Mr. general, please forgive me. Your attack will bring down Germany completely." As he said this, he gave me a quick glance, probably wondering why the officer sitting in the middle was a woman.


    "Mr. commander," Pronin corrected him as soon as the other side finished saying, "you are wrong. Our attack will not bring down Germany completely. It will only bring down Hitler and communism."


    After listening to the translation, the two German officers replied with one voice: "anyway, it''s all the same thing, sir. We have been defeated."


    Seeing that the two officers showed such cooperation, I turned to trakov and said, "general trakov, I think these two German officers are a little tired and hungry. Otherwise, we can get them something to eat and drink. What do you think?"


    Trekov nodded at my proposal and then ordered a staff officer to carry out my order. A few minutes later, two soldiers came in with a wooden table and placed it in front of the prisoner.


    Just as the German officers were surprised at the wooden table suddenly placed in front of them, the soldiers behind placed hot tea, biscuits, bread slices and sliced sausage on the table in turn.


    "All right, gentlemen." Seeing all the food and drink on the table, trikov pointed to the food with his hand: "we are not interrogating you, but chatting. We want to know more about what we are interested in from you. If you don''t say it, we won''t force it. Tea and food, please


    After listening to the translation, he immediately picked up a biscuit on the table and took a bite. Then he took another cup of tea and sipped it gently. Another commander saw this, quickly grabbed the bread from the plate, quickly put it into his mouth, and ate it.


    Commander Heisenberg put the cup on the table, looked at me and asked. Although he spoke very fast, I heard his name from his pronunciation. In order to find out what happened, I quickly turned my face to the position of the translator, hoping to find out what the other side was asking through him.


    "Comrade General," the translator said respectfully to me, "the German lieutenant commander asked you, is it general oshanina?"


    After listening, I nodded and gave the translator a positive answer. Two German commanders stood up and saluted me at the same time. Commander Heisenberg, in particular, made another fuss.


    The translator said to me with a smile: "Comrade General, this German lieutenant commander said that he once heard the greatest German commander, Manstein, mention you, saying that you are one of the toughest opponents he has ever met. If you were the one who fought with him in Kharkov at the beginning of 1993, we might have been driven out of Ukraine by you. "


    Although I was flattered by Manstein''s comments on me, I still knew that under the conditions of logistic supply at that time, let alone my two swords, even if Zhukov or rokosovsky went out, he would still be defeated by Manstein.


    We talked with the German prisoners over tea and bread. At the moment, they were no longer worried that the Gestapo would eavesdrop on their conversation, and each of them spoke frankly. Heisenberg said that many German generals and officers no longer believed that Germany could win the war after the defeat of the German army in Volga River and then in Kursk. Hitler and Goebbels were responsible for this because they did not try to get in touch with the Soviet government in order to make peace with the Soviet Union under any conditions.


    Hearing this, trikov couldn''t help interrupting: "Mr. commander, I want to ask you, why do you think that the people of all ethnic groups in the Soviet Union will have peace talks with you after they were devastated by Hitler''s gangs and suffered countless hardships?"


    After a moment''s silence, Heisenberg said, "Mr. general, I think not only the Germans but also the Russians need peace. Besides, your allies are unreliable. When the war is over, they may become your enemies. But we Germans can reach an agreement with you and become reliable neighbors. We can also become allies against your current allies


    After listening to Heisenberg''s words, I couldn''t help but think of shaking hands with him and asking him, "man, are you crossing, too? Otherwise, how can we see the post-war situation so clearly? Britain and the United States really became the enemy of the Soviet Union after the war, while East Germany became the "bridgehead" of the West on the other side. "


    But trakov obviously didn''t realize this, and he also talked to Heisenberg bluntly: "Mr. commander, I come to ask you, since you say Germany is our best ally, why did you tear up the non aggression treaty in 1941 and launch an attack on our peace loving country, which does not threaten any neighboring country?"


    Heisenberg was silent for a long time before he said slowly, "the rise of the Soviet countries has aroused our fear that you will attack us first. According to the information obtained by the intelligence department, you will launch the "lightning operation" against Germany on June 29, 1941. In order to prevent your aggression, Hitler decided to take the initiative and launch the "Barbarossa plan" one week ahead of schedule. Unexpectedly, it made a big mistake. To our surprise, the Soviet state was so powerful that our general staff and Hitler had miscalculated. "


    I have heard about the Soviet Union''s "Blitzkrieg" plan to attack Germany in later generations. The reason why the credibility of this statement is particularly high is that after the outbreak of the war, the commanders in the border areas opened the secret documents of the National Defense Commission and saw that the order in them was to let the troops attack the German army. Maybe it is because of this that the false "lightning action" will become more and more true.


    After the soldiers took two German prisoners, trakov said to us, "we can draw a conclusion from the conversation just now that Hitler''s officers have made a correct judgment of the current situation. They have seen the inevitable failure on the battlefield and tried to find a way out by concluding a peace treaty."


    With these words, trikov raised his hand, looked at his watch, and then asked me, "Rita, while it''s still a few hours dark, shall we go to the 28th army of the guards?"


    When I thought that the commander of the 28th army of Jinwei was the former commander of the 39th division of Jinwei, lieutenant general Ralph, I wanted to say hello to this acquaintance, so I agreed to the proposal of trakov, said goodbye to grazunov, and then drove to bialov brzeki to learn about the fighting situation of the army on the right wing of the group army.


    However, it is a pity that when we arrived at the army headquarters, we did not see lieutenant general Ralph, only his chief of staff, Colonel mamchin.


    With regret, trakov asked mamchin, "Comrade Colonel, report to me the progress of your army."


    "Comrade report commander," mamchin reported to trikov, "the development of our army''s offensive in the area where our army has long belonged is very smooth. So far, the 79th and 88th divisions of the close guard infantry have advanced to pushbeshev, ledrin and koruhov areas. The commander of the army rushed to the location of the 88th Jinwei division an hour ago. "


    According to what I know about trakov, his next step must be to go to the location of the 88th division of the guards immediately to learn about the latest combat progress. I was worried that Zhukov could not know the progress of the 8th group army in time, so I stopped trakov, who was preparing to leave, and reminded him, "general trakov, I think you should first report the results of today''s battle to Marshal Zhukov, so that he can have a clear idea."


    "That''s right, that''s right, Rita. It''s a timely reminder." "I''m so happy today that I forget such an important thing," he said with a smile After that, he told chief of staff mamchin, "Comrade Colonel, get through to the headquarters of the front army immediately. I want to speak to Marshal Zhukov."


    Zhukov, after listening to trakov''s report, praised him and asked me to answer the phone. I took the microphone and heard Zhukov ask me, "Rita, what''s up? Are you still used to frontier life? If you don''t feel used to it, you can always come back to the headquarters of the front army. "


    Although the front line is more dangerous than the rear line, for me, Zhukov, such a strong boss, can only play a role of soy sauce when he stays in the headquarters all day, so he is more free to stay in the front line. Therefore, I answered decisively: "marshal, I think everything is good in the front line. I''ll go back when you need my help one day. " With these words, I was afraid that because of Zhukov''s bad contact, I would quickly change the topic and ask, "are the two army groups that launched the attack on the PWV landing site going well?"


    "The troops of the 69th army went very well, and there was little decent resistance from the German army." Zhukov replied: "however, the 33rd group army encountered a counterattack from a German heavy armored battalion in the kelze area, which had 90 tanks, almost all of which were tiger or tiger king tanks. As soon as the two sides contacted, one of our armored brigades was defeated by the enemy. The old-fashioned T-34 tank had no way to take the enemy''s tiger style. " When I heard Zhukov say this, I was so surprised that I asked, "what happened later? Have our troops repulsed the German heavy armored battalion? "¡° When I got the news, I immediately transferred a new tank and a modified t-3485 tank to meet the heavy armored battalion. " "As a result, our army won a complete victory, turning 90 enemy tanks into scrap iron," he said When I heard this, I said in my heart that if we were still mass-produced t-5455, a new type of tank that transcended the times, as long as there were 30, we would be able to beat the German Tiger tanks all over the ground, and the army''s attack would not be lost. Trikov waited patiently for me to finish the call, and then said to me, "Rita, before it''s dark, let''s go to the area where the 88th division of the guards is and meet commander Ralph."

 Chapter 1673

    When our motorcade came to borki village, where the 88th division of Jinwei was located, we suddenly saw a large number of people surrounded by a windmill at the entrance of the village, including our soldiers and local Polish farmers. Seeing this, trakov immediately ordered the driver to stop, and then ordered a staff officer to get out of the car to find out what happened.


    The staff officer promised that after getting out of the armored car, he quickly ran to the crowd and went there to inquire about what happened, so that so many people gathered around.


    Through the open door of the armored car, I saw that the staff officer ran into the crowd and inquired about several Polish farmers, but they avoided him like a plague. In desperation, the staff officer could only ask the soldiers who were watching.


    A few minutes later, the staff officer trotted back to the armored car, stood at the door and reported to trikov, "Comrade commander, a father and son were killed at the door of the mill. The father''s chest was broken by bullets, and his son was shot five or six times. "


    Trikov and general Pronin, the military Commissioner, looked at each other and saw the anger in each other''s eyes. Trekov turned to the staff and asked angrily, "who did it?"


    "Who else, German of course!" The staff officer shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "it is said that two hours ago, a German army defeated by our army passed through the village, robbed a pile of flour from the mill, loaded it on a sled and prepared to carry it away. As a result, the father and son tightly grasped the flour pocket. So there was a German man carrying a submachine gun and shooting at father and son. "


    We got out of the car and were walking towards the mill when we saw a large group of people on the right side of the village. Before I could see who was coming, I saw Polish farmers rushing towards the procession, still cursing loudly. Seeing their reaction, I immediately understood that this was a group of prisoners who were taken by our soldiers. Maybe the culprit who killed the Polish father and son was among them.


    According to my idea, these poles will jump on the prisoners and beat the invaders with everything they can find. I''m even ready to dissuade them. But it was strange that the poles stopped just a few steps away from the German prisoners, just standing on the side of the road, waving fists and swearing at the prisoners who passed in front of them.


    I can''t help shaking my head in disappointment at the actions of the poles. I surmised that they had become obedient people in the five years of German rule; Or did the German massacre in Warsaw scare them? The reason why they did not dare to beat the German prisoners might be that they were afraid of revenge in the future.


    We walked around the village and saw only a few battalion commanders of the 88th division of Jinwei. According to their reports, the commander and division commander continued to advance with the troops.


    Seeing that it was getting late, I quickly stopped trakov''s attempt to move on and said to him, "Comrade General, we have been wandering outside long enough today. Now we should go back to the headquarters of the group army."


    After listening to my suggestion, trikov looked at the front where the gunfire was coming. He was unwilling to say, "maybe we can catch up with them if we go a few more kilometers."


    "Comrade commander, it''s time for us to go back." As soon as his words were finished, military commissar Pronin said solemnly, "maybe there is something important waiting for you to deal with."


    Seeing that we tried our best to take risks in front of him, trikov had to submit to our opinions and return to the newly established group army headquarters by car.


    When we returned to the headquarters, the new headquarters here had started to work normally, and the tables were full of war reports. I sat down to have a general look, and found that the 8th group army of the guards was very eye-catching in today''s battle. As the tank troops entered the open area which was easy to display, our army successfully wedged into the German defensive position and surrounded it.


    Major general Vladimirov, chief of staff, and a group of staff members were working on the map with compasses and tripods. The logistics Minister of the group army came in with several subordinates to look for trikov. General pokhaznikov said to trikov, "Comrade commander, as our army advances rapidly to the enemy''s defense depth, I propose to immediately set up two logistics columns, each composed of no less than 100 trucks, to deliver fuel and ammunition to the troops in the fierce battle on the front line."


    After listening to this, trikov nodded and said, "Comrade logistics minister, you have considered the problem very carefully. Just do as you said. Immediately set up two logistics columns, and you will be in charge of the command."


    After dealing with the logistics, Vladimirov also finished the drawing work. He said to trikov, "Comrade commander, you see, our troops have advanced a total of 30 kilometers today. At this speed, it is entirely possible to advance another 40 kilometers tomorrow."


    "Comrade chief of staff, it is absolutely necessary to advance another 40 kilometers tomorrow." Trekov pointed to the map and said to us, "you see the German army trying to stand out from our encirclement and retreat from Warsaw to Rava mazowitzka. As long as our troops capture the large road hub of Rava mazowitzka, they can cut off the retreat of the German army and destroy them one by one.


    In addition, because our army is advancing too fast, the attack has evolved into separate pursuit. Under such circumstances, we should maintain a high degree of vigilance., Most of the troops and technical equipment will be kept in the second echelon, so that when encountering the enemy''s reserves, the troops in the second echelon can be used to continuously strengthen the assault.


    Chief of staff, record the order: I order all divisions of the first echelon to set up strong advance teams. The distance between the advance teams should be 20-30 km. Vanguard forces should operate 10-15 kilometers in front of the main column. There is no need for all units to have too many assigned artillery. Artillery should be allowed to work together with the columns of the second echelon, and be ready to go to places where strong firepower is needed. "


    After recording the order, the chief of staff handed his notebook to trikov. After writing his name on it, trakov told the chief of staff, "send the telegram immediately."


    I looked at the time and saw that it was time to contact Zhukov again, so I asked the communication director to connect me with the headquarters of the front army. It was Zhukov who answered the phone. I immediately gave him a detailed report on the achievements of the 8th group army of the guards and the combat deployment that trakov had just made.


    After listening to the report, Zhukov said with satisfaction: "in this new year''s offensive, not only the eighth group army of the guards has achieved great results, but the rest of the troops have also played quite well. It took only four days to launch the campaign, but we have already smashed the main force of the 9th German group army, broken through the German defensive positions, and advanced 100-130 kilometers to their depth. From tomorrow, that is, January 2, we will launch an all-round pursuit of the German army. "


    I said with a smile: "marshal, if the army can continue to maintain the current offensive momentum, I estimate that by the end of the campaign, we will be able to reach the Oder River and threaten the German mainland."


    "Rita, although our troops are going well, we can''t take them lightly." Zhukov was worried that I would have the feeling of belittling the enemy. He specially reminded me that "the wounded beast bites people more painful, but we can''t think that the enemy is vulnerable just because they are defeated. In that case, we will suffer greatly."


    "Don''t worry, comrade marshal." Holding the microphone, I glanced at trakov, who was explaining his mission to the army not far away. Then I said, "general trakov is an excellent commander who has experienced many battles. I believe he will never make such a low-level mistake."


    Early the next morning, trikov took me, Pronin, group artillery commander pozalski and several staff members to inspect the divisions under the first echelon.


    At the ferry of the pilicha River, we met the troops of the 39th division of the guards, who were crossing the river in an orderly way.


    Trekov had his division commander, Colonel marchenko, called to the ferry, stood by the frozen river and asked, "Comrade Colonel, when will all your troops cross the river?"


    When marchenko heard the question from trakov, he immediately straightened up and reported, "report commander, the 112th and 120th regiments of the guards have completed crossing the river and are building simple Fortifications on the other side. It is the 117th regiment of Jinwei who is crossing the river. " At this point, he nodded to the long convoy waiting to cross the river, adding, "that''s the 87th regiment of the guard artillery."


    Looking at the slow infantry on the pontoon, trakov frowned: "Comrade Colonel, the river is frozen, but why do you cross the pontoon?"


    As for the question raised by trakov, marchenko quickly explained: "Comrade commander, you don''t know that when we were crossing the pilicha river yesterday, the ice layers in many areas were blasted by gunfire. You can''t see that there is ice on the river again now, but even if people step on it, it will break in some places. So for safety''s sake, we can use the pontoon to cross the pilicha river


    We were talking when the roar of tanks came from the distance. We looked in the direction of the sound and saw a group of tanks coming out of the village in the north.


    Seeing that all our attention was attracted to that direction, malchenko quickly introduced and said, "that''s gezhimiongcha village. Except for a few old people, women and children, the rest of the villagers have fled."


    Trekov asked strangely, "isn''t the tank brigade still more than ten kilometers behind? Where did the tank troops come from?"


    When trakov spoke to marchenko, I had a vague sense of foreboding. I immediately asked the staff officer to pass a telescope and look at the tank coming in the distance. At that moment, I was shocked in a cold sweat, because it was not the tanks of our army that were coming towards us, but the armored forces of the German army. The white cross marks on the square headed tanks were particularly obvious. I didn''t even have time to put down my telescope, so I yelled: "hell, it''s not our tank, it''s German tank, send out the battle alarm!"


    "Battle alert! Battle alert! " Marchenko immediately issued a battle alert to his men.


    With the sound of the alarm, the artillery soldiers on the truck jumped out of the car, pulled the guns in the back of the car, took off the hook one after another, turned the direction, and aimed at the coming German tanks.


    "Comrade deputy commander, it''s too dangerous here. Let''s go to other places first." After my company commander had said this to me, he called two strong soldiers and ran in the opposite direction with me, fearing that something might happen to me in the coming battle¡° Don''t worry about me, "I ran wildly in the opposite direction by two soldiers, while I kept shouting," let general trakov take him to safety, too. " The guards, who had received my instructions, came forward with trakov and the other two army leaders, running all the way to me. The guard soldiers took us to an empty trench several hundred meters away, and then stopped. Here, we can clearly observe the fighting at the ferry through the telescope. The enemy''s tanks were more than 300 meters away from the ferry, and our artillery opened fire. After a volley, half of the German tanks were shot and caught fire, burning in place. The rest of the tanks found that they were blocked by our army, so they quickly fought back and backed towards the village. Seeing that the German tanks retreated, the infantry who had not crossed the river immediately charged against the village under the cover of artillery fire. It seems that the enemy''s tanks are seriously short of ammunition and fuel. They stop at the edge of the village and use their tank guns to shoot at our charging infantry. They did not cause too much casualties to our army. After the 117 th regiment of guards occupied the village, the enemy had only two complete tanks left. The rest was destroyed either by artillery or by infantry using grenades or rockets at close range. When we returned to the ferry, Colonel marchenko had finished the interrogation of the captured tank soldiers. According to the prisoners, they belonged to the 25th tank division. After three days of fighting, they lost contact with the higher command. In addition, the ferry of pilicha river near new miasto had been occupied by our army, so they decided to break through the encirclement by other roads. However, they happened to encounter our army crossing the river, and they did not wait to escape the fate of destruction¡° Comrade commander, where shall we go next? " Asked Pronin¡° Comrades of the military commissar, needless to say, we naturally continue to move forward and go to the front troops to have a look. " Trikov took a map from one of the staff officers, looked at it, and then said, "if you go a few kilometers further, you should be able to meet the troops of the 79th guards division. I want to see what kind of results they have achieved today."

 Chapter 1674

    We crossed the pilicha River from the pontoon and drove along the road that had been trodden out of the ground. After driving about five kilometers, I saw a village in front of me. From a distance, there are many of our soldiers walking back and forth in the village.


    In order to be on the safe side and avoid another dangerous situation, trakov ordered a staff officer to take a three wheeled motorcycle to the village in front to learn about the situation.


    After more than ten minutes, the staff officer returned by motorcycle, followed by a jeep. After getting out of the car in front of us, the staff officer raised his hand to salute and reported to trikov, "Comrade commander, I''ve invited the commander of the guard division."


    A middle-aged officer with a moustache and a short leather army coat came out of the jeep behind. He came to the armored vehicle. Without waiting for us to ask, he raised his hand and respectfully reported: "Comrade General, the commander of the 220th regiment of the 79th division of the guards, Colonel sheikin, reports to you. I''m waiting for your order, please give me instructions!"


    Trikov raised his hand and asked, "Colonel, where is your division commander, general wakin?"


    "Report to the commander," sheykin replied immediately after hearing the question from trakov, "the division commander has moved forward to moglinica new miyasto highway. Our regiment is the full division''s guard regiment. We will catch up with the division''s main force as soon as the friendly forces take over the defense here."


    "I see." After hearing this, trikov waved his hand to scherking and said, "go back to the village. Let''s go on and see if we can catch up with your teacher."


    Hearing what trikov said, sheykin warmly asked us to stay: "Comrade commander, it''s still early anyway. It''s better to go to the village for a cup of tea. Drink a cup of black tea with honey, the whole body will become warm. "


    For scheekin''s enthusiasm, trekov politely refused: "no, we still have important things, so we won''t go to the village. Comrade Colonel, after the transfer of defense, you should catch up as soon as possible. " Then he turned to the driver and said, "drive!"


    Our motorcade passed through the village and continued to drive along the road. Unexpectedly, we found that not all the officers and men of the 220th regiment of Jinwei were staying in the village. Some of them were already marching along the road to the place with fierce fighting ahead.


    After driving for a long distance, I suddenly smelled a faint smell of wine in the car and asked, "who is drinking? Why is there a smell of wine?"


    Listen to me, several people sitting next to me are all raising their noses to smell if there is really alcohol in the car. After a while, trakov nodded and said, "yes, I smell a bit of wine, too."


    The armored car driver and machine gunner quickly explained: "Comrade General, we don''t drink."


    "Yes, yes, it does smell like wine." At this time, Pronin stood up for the two soldiers and said, "but the smell of wine didn''t come from someone in the car. It came from the outside." Then he leaned over and looked out from the lookout for a while. Then he said with confidence, "it seems that my judgment is correct. The taste of wine really comes in from the outside. There is a winery in the right front of the road."


    "Winery?" As soon as trikov frowned at Pronin''s words, the staff officer sitting next to him handed him a map, pointed to a place and said to him, "Comrade commander, yes, there is a winery near the village of streikov. According to the route of the car, we should be near the village now. "


    "Stop the car," trekov said, and immediately told the driver, "let''s go down and have a look."


    We got out of the car and saw that not far from the roadside, there were several big wooden houses surrounded by wooden bars, and people in worker''s clothes were carrying buckets and other things. We just walked towards them a few steps, and suddenly someone in the crowd yelled something at the top of his voice. Hearing his voice, those working people immediately threw away their things and ran around.


    Seeing this scene, we were all shocked. I looked at trakov, then at the guard company behind us, and asked cautiously, "general trakov, are we too many people to scare these workers?"


    "No," he said. Seeing the workers running around like ghosts, trekov was confused. "If I''m not wrong, general wakin has more troops than we have when he passes here. The poles didn''t run away at that time. Now they see us more than 100 people running around. What are you doing


    The staff officer grabbed a worker who ran past us and asked aloud, "do you know Russian here?"


    The worker shook his head desperately, then pointed to the distance and cried in panic. I followed the direction of his fingers, only to see the forest edge in the distance, there are dense crowds, in the snow capped background, it is particularly eye-catching.


    I raised my hand, grabbed the telescope around the staff officer''s neck, and looked into the distance. When I could see the people at the edge of the forest, I was also startled. I quickly called out: "German, there are German at the edge of the forest in the distance!"


    "What, this is the rear of our army, where the Germans come out?" With a puzzled face, trakov picked up his telescope and looked into the distance. A moment later, he couldn''t help but scold: "hell, hell. Where the hell are these Krauts coming from? There are two thousand of them


    When I look at it, I feel that there are a lot of German troops, but the specific number has not been estimated yet. At the moment, I was shocked when I heard the figures given by trakov. My heart said that we only have a guard company of more than 100 people here, plus a small number of troops of the 220th regiment of the guards who are marching on the road, only two or three hundred people, which is absolutely inferior in number.


    Just as I was thinking about whether I should grease my feet and run away, I heard trakov yelling, "comrades, don''t panic. The Germans are at least one kilometer away from us. Before they come, we can build a defense."


    The officers and men, who had been in a panic, immediately calmed down after hearing what trakov said. They scattered and hid by the side of the wooden house, behind the fence and in the snow. They aimed their weapons at the enemy who was coming towards us.


    Although we have started to prepare for the war, for the sake of safety, trakov drove me and Pronin back to the armored car. According to him, if we can''t fight, this armored car can take us out of the world. In addition, he sent his staff to return to the village he had just passed by on a motorcycle and informed Colonel sheikin that he would lead the troops to reinforce us.


    Standing at the door of the armored car, I raised my telescope and looked at the approaching German army. I found that they were not in attack formation or marching formation, but were crowded together without formation, walking towards us with one foot deep and one foot shallow. The scene in front of me reminds me of the battle of Stalingrad in those years. When our troops retreated from the front line in batches, they were the same as they are now.


    Seeing this, I put down my telescope and said to trekov standing on a snowdrift outside the car, "general trekov, I think the enemy may have retreated from somewhere. We must find a way to stop them and never let them join the main force."


    After hearing this, trakov nodded, put down his telescope, walked down from the snow, came to the door of the car, and said to the radio operator sitting in it, "contact the nearby troops, and they will say that we have encountered the enemy with the dominant force, and let them come to support us immediately."


    When the German army was five or six hundred meters away from us, it might have found that the village had been occupied by our army, so it stopped at the same place. After a little adjustment, he rushed to our sparse defensive position.


    The officers and men of our army were very calm. They didn''t show the slightest panic in the face of the swarthy German army. Instead, they stayed in their hiding position and aimed their weapons at the enemy.


    When the enemy was 200 meters away from us, trakov raised his hand high above his head, then waved down and yelled, "fire


    With his order, the machine guns on the armored vehicles behind us opened fire. A series of bullets flew over our heads towards the German army line in the distance. The shells that jumped out of the magazine jingled on the armored body.


    The sound of gunfire is an order. When you hear that the machine guns on the armored car have begun to fire at the enemy, the commanders and fighters who have been waiting for a long time also pull the trigger one after another, and the sound of gunfire like peas suddenly rang out. In the torrential barrage of bullets poured by our army''s commanders and fighters, the dense German attack formation burst out blood mist all over the sky. The bullets penetrated their bodies, tore their flesh and blood, and splashed fresh blood on the bodies and faces of the people nearby. Countless flesh and blood bodies trembled in the rain of bullets. The corpses were like broken pockets thrown out and overturned under the huge impact of bullets. But the living continued to howl forward, regardless of the fact that their own feet were already covered with the bodies of their companions.


    Trikov turned to look at me, and then said, "Rita, I didn''t expect that your guard company is really powerful. The momentum shown by more than 100 people can stand up to a battalion of ordinary troops."


    After listening to what trakov said, I remembered that Zhukov, for my safety, sent troops to escort me this time. They were all equipped with assault rifles. This kind of weapon had no better effect on the German group charge. In such a dense situation, maybe one could penetrate several people.


    After my guard company beat back the German army''s first charge, just as the German army retreated to the edge of the forest for rest, sheikin, who got the news, took their troops back to the side of the German army and unexpectedly launched a rapid impact, successfully cutting off the enemy''s retreat.


    Seeing that their retreat had been cut off, the German officers and soldiers fled from the forest in a panic, trying to break out from the direction of the winery again. When they ran not far away, suddenly several plumes of smoke rose in the snow. The soldiers who were close to the plume were overturned to the ground. It seemed that they had been shelled.


    "Strange, where is this firing?" With doubt, I raised my telescope and looked around. I saw a dozen tanks coming along the road in the West. They crossed the direction of the guard company and rushed to the German soldiers trapped in the middle of the snow.


    Seeing that their retreat was cut off and a group of tanks rushed in front of them, the German army''s will to resist suddenly disappeared. Immediately, many soldiers threw away their weapons, raised their hands high and surrendered to the tank troops and the commanders and fighters of the 220th guard regiment.


    As a result of this unexpected encounter, we did not move forward immediately, but stayed to interrogate the captured German soldiers. The total number of these captives is 1500. They are from different forces. They are retreating westward because they have lost contact with the higher headquarters. Because they didn''t know the retreat route, lost their way in the snow and forest, and lacked unified command, they used such a dense formation to launch an attack on us, which was similar to that of death.


    More than a dozen tanks came to support us, belonging to the 1st group army of close guard tanks of katukov. At that time, they were replenishing fuel nearby. When they heard the sound of intensive gunfire coming from the direction of the distillery, they guessed that it might be the encounter between our troops and German stragglers, so they rushed to support us immediately. But what they didn''t expect was that what they encountered with us was not a small group of scattered soldiers, but a large army of two or three thousand people. But if they didn''t arrive in time and want to annihilate or capture the enemy, our army would have to pay a great price. After finishing the prisoner''s trial, Pronin said to trikov with a lingering fear: "I said, comrade commander, we''d better go back. It''s too dangerous here. You see, before crossing the river, we first met with German tanks. Fortunately, with the help of the 117th and 87th guard artillery regiments, we eliminated German tanks; Here, we have encountered a large number of German troops. Without the support of the 220th guard regiment and the tank soldiers, we will be captured by the enemy because we have exhausted all our ammunition. " In fact, I have the same idea as Pronin now. As the saying goes, there are only three things to do. Although we have successfully escaped from the encounter with the German army in the first two times, whether we can be so lucky if we encounter the German army for the third time is unknown. However, in order to grasp his ideas, I didn''t immediately express my views. Instead, I looked at him quietly and wanted to hear what he thought. As for Pronin''s proposal, trekov frowned for a long time and finally shook his head and said, "Comrade military commissar, I think it is precisely because we have encountered the German army twice in a row that we should continue to move forward. Otherwise, the commanders and fighters will feel that we are frightened by the enemy and become panicked, so we leave the front line in dismay, This will have a great impact on morale. Don''t you think so, Rita? "

 Chapter 1675

    Trekov has already said this. I know in my heart that even if he proposes to return to the headquarters of the group army, he will continue to catch up with the fighting troops in front of me after arranging for people to escort me back. Thinking of this, I can only harden my head and say, "yes, general trakov, how can we, as commanders, show panic in front of the headquarters? We should stay with our soldiers to achieve the effect of cohesion and morale


    "See, comrade military commissar?" "Even the deputy commander of the front army is not afraid of danger. What else can you be afraid of? Come on, we''ll keep you safe. "


    Although Cui Fu''s words contained some ridicule elements, Pronin still had a red face. Some of them said helplessly, "well, comrade commander, since you say so, I''ll accompany you to the front again."


    After we reached an agreement, we moved forward again along the road. After walking two or three kilometers, I saw a tank and two armored vehicles parked on the side of the road, and a group of soldiers surrounded the tank. At first, I was startled, thinking that I had met the German armored forces, but after seeing that the tanks were our tanks, I could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.


    I looked at the commander who was standing beside the tank talking. The more I looked at him, the more familiar I felt. When I was about ten meters away from him, I finally saw who he was and cried out: "stop!"


    After the armored car driver stopped, he turned and looked at me in surprise, and trekov also asked curiously, "Rita, what are we parking here for?"


    "General trakov, I met an acquaintance. I''ll go down and say hello to him." With that, I pushed open the hatch and stooped out of the armored car.


    I quickly walked towards the commander beside the tank. The soldiers around him once tried to stop me. When they saw the rank on my shoulder, they immediately flashed to one side, stood at attention, held their heads high and raised their hands to salute me.


    "Hello, general babajanian." When I was two or three steps away from the commander, I stopped and said to him in a loud voice, "long time no see. How are you recently?"


    The officer who was assigning tasks to his subordinates, hearing my voice, turned his head and looked at me blankly. A moment later, the other party suddenly issued a exclamation: "it''s you, deputy commander of the front army!" With that, he immediately turned around, straightened up and raised his hand to his forehead. "Major general babajanian, commander of the 11th army of guard tank, reports to you..."


    Before he finished, I went up and grabbed his hand, pulled it down from my forehead, shook it and said, "general babajanian, I haven''t seen you for a long time


    Babajanian grinned and said to me, "Comrade deputy commander, you are still the best. You are both the general. It is estimated that you will become a general after we fight Berlin."


    "Who is this general, Rita?" Trekov came up to me, looked at babajanian and asked, "can you introduce me?"


    "This is major general babajanian," I said to trikov with a smile. "He used to be the commander of the 20th brigade of the mechanized guards, but now he is the commander of the 11th army of the tank guards, a subordinate of general katukov."


    After listening to me, trikov came forward and held babajanian''s hand tightly. He asked excitedly, "Comrade General, it seems that the tanks that just saved us are your subordinates, right?"


    Babajanian''s face showed a confused expression after listening. Seeing this, an officer next to him quickly approached his ear and whispered a few words. Babajanian nodded after listening to the officer''s murmur and replied, "yes, general trakov. At that time, I happened to have more than a dozen tanks refuelling there. When I heard the sound of guns, I went straight into the battle. I just got their report."


    "Where is your vanguard now?" After a simple greeting, trakov goes straight to the subject.


    Babajanian took a map from the staff. He and the staff held one head each. After launching the map, he said to trikov, "our vanguard is attacking the sadkovitz area with a regiment of the 79th division of the guards."


    I took a close look. The place babajanian said was no more than five kilometers away from where we were. It immediately occurred to me that since the combat troops were not far away, trikov could not wait to go back.


    After babajanian finished, trakov nodded and said, "since our troops are not far away from here, I''ll rush to have a look."


    Babajanian looked at our convoy and saw an armored car and five trucks full of soldiers. He nodded and said, "from here to sadkovitz, there are no organized German troops. Even if there are some scattered soldiers, there is no threat to you."


    In the following journey, what we saw, as babajanian said, did not encounter the German troops. On the contrary, we constantly see dejected German soldiers, escorted by our soldiers, escorted out of roadside forests or scattered wooden houses.


    Of course, some of the soldiers escorting the prisoners were armed with submachine guns and assault rifles, but many of them were logistics personnel. I even saw a female health worker, holding a small pistol in her hand, escorting three German soldiers along the road. The numb faced German soldiers raised their hands high above their heads and walked honestly in front.


    Seeing this, Pronin couldn''t help laughing. He said to trikov in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, it seems that the Germans are really no longer good. Our logistics personnel can even catch a few prisoners by themselves."


    "That''s right," trekov said with a smile as he looked out. "The Germans are soldiers with no fighting spirit. It''s only a matter of time before they are defeated completely."


    Our motorcade drove further and stopped again. Major general wa Jin, commander of the 79th division of Jinwei, ran to our car and asked in surprise, "Comrade commander, how did you get to the front?"


    "Let''s see," trekov said, shaking hands with me as he got out of the car


    "The troops are advancing smoothly, and the reconnaissance teams have arrived at the front lines of sadkovice, trembachev and liubania." After reporting the situation, vajin said to trikov anxiously, "Comrade commander, you''d better leave here as soon as possible. It''s only 500 meters away from the fighting place. If the enemy finds your motorcade and hits it with several shells, the consequences will be unimaginable."


    Trikov turned, raised his chin at the prisoners escorted by our soldiers, and continued, "Comrade wakin, there are many enemies left behind you."


    Wakin looked at the prisoners and replied, "I interrogated several prisoners. They were all evacuated from the visva river. Because they lost contact with their superiors, they couldn''t figure out the situation on the battlefield. As a result, they arrived here exhausted and wanted to join up with their troops and have a good rest, only to find that this place became the rear of our army, There were supplies, cooking carts and Quartermaster warehouses everywhere. After hiding in the barn, haystack and forest for some time, they felt that there was no hope for them to cross the defense line and return to their side, so they obediently came out of the hiding place and surrendered to us. "


    When wakin reported to trakov, I couldn''t help thinking: at the beginning of the patriotic war, the German army captured hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers in big battles. Maybe the situation of the Soviet army at that time was the same as that of the German army now. They all ran out of ammunition and food, had no way to go, and lost their organizational system. Resistance has become meaningless at this time, so they can only lay down their arms and surrender to their enemies.


    After waiting for trikov and vagin to finish talking, Pronin asked him, "Comrade commander, where shall I go next?"


    On hearing Pronin''s question, trakov frowned. It seemed that he was also thinking about where we could go next. Further westward, obviously, it would not work. In that way, we would break into the German defense area directly. With our strength, we would give the head to the German army.


    But fortunately, wajin took the initiative to tell trikov, "Comrade commander, you can go east along the fork in the road ahead, where you can see the headquarters of the 1st group army of close guard tanks, where general kazakov is directing the battle."


    When he heard that kazakov''s headquarters were nearby, trakov immediately got excited: "great, that''s great. I didn''t expect that general katukov''s action was so fast that he came in front of us. In that case, let''s go and see him. "


    We met katukov in a small house east of new miasto. After giving us a hug, he asked curiously, "general trakov, how did you get to the front?"


    Trakov laughed at him and asked, "general katukov, aren''t you on the front line, just like us?"


    Katukov waved his hand and said, "my situation is different from yours. I command the tank army. Even if I meet one or two small German troops, I can easily solve them. But you don''t have such a good defense ability as I do. If you are attacked by the enemy, it''s easy for you to make a big deal. "


    As soon as he finished, I quickly cut off the topic and asked, "general katukov, where are your troops now?"


    "The units of the 11th army of the close guard tank are cooperating with the 79th division of the close guard infantry here to launch an attack on the German army." Katukov pointed to the map on the table and explained to us, "in addition, my mechanized army is attacking the enemy''s defensive positions along the Rava mazowitzka highway, cooperating with the 29th army of the close guard infantry."


    When trikov found out that katukov was staying here to understand the situation of his own troops, he exchanged intelligence with the other party, and finally offered to say, "general katukov, since we are all trying to understand the situation of the front-line troops, we might as well go to the Rava mazowitzka area together to learn about the fighting situation there. What do you think?"


    "I agree." Katukov immediately agreed with trakov''s proposal: "I''ll go with you when I finish my work."


    When we set out again, there were two more tanks in the team, one driven by katukov himself and the other escorted us. As these two tanks are the latest t-5455 tanks in the army, the safety factor of the convoy in the process of driving is greatly improved. As long as we do not encounter more than five tanks, we are not in any danger.


    Our convoy successfully arrived at pukinin village, where we found the joint headquarters of the 29th Infantry and mechanized army. Through the reports of the two commanders, I know that fighting is unfolding in the Rava mazowitzka area south of the village. However, under the strong offensive of our army, the German defense line has collapsed, and the enemy is withdrawing from the battle one after another.


    After listening to the report, trikov turned to katukov and asked, "Comrade General, do you have anything to explain?" Katukov waved his hand and said, "it''s your infantry who are in charge of the main attack. My troops are just cooperating with you. You''d better give us the next combat task." After getting katukov''s authorization, trakov said to general semenkov, commander of the 29th army of the guards, "Comrade commander, since the enemy has been defeated, you should immediately concentrate your strength to launch an attack on brzezine and smash the German defense in this area in the shortest time." After giving the order to semenkov, trakov called a communications staff officer and told him: "staff officer, immediately send a telegram to the group army headquarters, saying that our army has successfully occupied the new miyasto area. In order to better command the troops, the commander should immediately move to the new miyasto area." Seeing that the war on the front line was progressing so smoothly, I felt that I should immediately report what I saw to Zhukov, so I asked him, "Comrade commander, can you contact the headquarters of the front army directly by telephone?" "I''m sorry, comrade deputy commander of the front army. I can only get in touch with the headquarters of the group army on the left and right wings by phone, but I can''t get in touch with the headquarters of the front army for the time being."¡° What, your phone can get in touch with the left and right wing forces? " After listening to what shermenkov said, trikov immediately told him, "get me the assault 5th and 69th army immediately. I want to talk to two friendly commanders." After some phone calls, we finally found out the current situation on the battlefield. The troops of the 5th group army raided smoothly, captured biawa lavska, and were ready to continue to attack. On the other hand, the 69th left wing group army has made slow progress, and its leading forces have achieved limited results, far behind the 8th close guard group army. Although the left wing of the attacking arrow is concave from the map, it has no bad influence on the war situation.

 Chapter 1676

    That evening, I received a call from Zhukov from the headquarters of the front army. He said to me in a relaxed tone: "Rita, the four armies of the central assault group of our front army are developing smoothly. They have successfully arrived at the main road between Warsaw and Berlin, and have not met the tenacious resistance of the German army along the way.


    According to the information we have, the enemy''s troops in this area have been smashed by us. They have no ability to launch a counterattack against us until they get a new reserve. In addition to the left and right wing forces, the progress is very smooth, so you can rest assured and boldly move forward, cut off the railway from Warsaw to chinsitohova in a short time, and send advance forces to capture gluvno and brzezine. "


    After Zhukov finished, I asked him curiously about the situation of the two wings: "Comrade marshal, I don''t know what kind of results the troops on the left and right wings of our front army have achieved?"


    "Before dark yesterday, the left wing marshal konev''s forces successively captured the three cities of ladomsco, chincitohova and zavilche, and circuited the Silesian industrial zone from the north." Zhukov briefly introduced to me the results of the other two marshals: "marshal rokosovsky''s forces on the right have captured such cities as pushsnich, mwava, plotsk and modlin, and are developing attacks on torun, danze and other cities along the river bank of wiswa, preparing to cut off the contact between the German army group in East Prussia and the outside world."


    After the call with Zhukov, I discussed with trakov, katukov and general Bogdanov, commander of the 2nd group army of the close guard tank, the attack plan for tomorrow.


    "We should make full use of the day time to allow the troops to move forward along the main line of the new miyasto Rava mazowitzka brzezine highway," said trakov, who spoke first. At the same time, in order not to disperse the forces of our group army and form a powerful fist to attack the enemy, I request that the Fourth Army of the close guard infantry be transferred to the second echelon and deployed on the left wing of the group army. "


    "I agree." After agreeing with trakov''s request, I turned to the other two tank commanders: "do you two have anything to say?"


    Katukov and Bogdanov looked at each other, then said with a smile: "now that we don''t have to worry about the German attack on both wings, we can continue to carry out the rapid attack, and our troops will go out to the main motorway leading to Berlin tomorrow."


    Before dawn the next day, the 8th group army and the 5th group army attacked the German army from their respective defensive areas. And katukov and Bogdanov''s close guard tanks, the 1st and 2nd army units, followed closely behind the two army groups, advancing towards the depth of the enemy.


    As the order was given, our officers and men immediately attacked the German position opposite. The German officers and men who stuck in the fortifications were not interested in fighting. They fought for a while and then fled. We easily captured the positions abandoned by the German army.


    High morale of the officers and men do not care to rest, they chase the fleeing enemy to defense in depth. By 1:00 noon, the main forces of the 28th and 29th guards had arrived at the Warsaw piwatlekov railway, while the reconnaissance troops had arrived in the areas of demosin, brzezine and galkov.


    We had just set up a temporary headquarters in a wooden house beside the railway when we received a phone call from general semenkov, commander of the 29th army of the guards. He said to trikov in a hurry, "report to commander, there is an outline of a city in front of us. It looks like a big city!"


    "What, found a big city?" While answering the phone, trakov motioned the staff to get a map. After a brief search, he pointed on the map with his hand and said to the microphone, "what you see should be Lodz, which is the second largest city in Poland and an important industrial city in Poland."


    "Comrade commander, what shall we do next?" Shemenkov asked on the phone.


    "If we let the troops continue to advance to the areas of demosin, brzezine and galkuv, we can eliminate the enemies we encounter along the way, but we must not attack the city." "We''ll wait until we finish the siege of Roz," trikov told his opponent


    When trakov finished assigning tasks to his subordinates, I first called katukov, and then learned that his troops had detoured back to the rear of Rhodes from the south, cutting off the German retreat. Then I called general berzalin, commander of the 5th group army, to understand their progress. When I learned that berzalin''s headquarters had successfully occupied the city of wovich, northeast of Rhodes, I decided to concentrate my forces to solve Rhodes first.


    "Rita," trikov said to me, "we can''t get in touch with the front command for the time being, so what''s the next step? Do you want to move on and leave the city with a large number of German troops behind our army, or do you want to stay outside the city and wait for orders from the higher authorities? "


    "General trakov, I''m not going to take either option." I said with a straight face, "I''ve decided to launch an attack on the city. Later, I''ll call several other commanders to discuss and work out the siege plan."


    Two hours later, katukov, Bogdanov and berzalin came to the temporary headquarters one after another to participate in the military conference that I temporarily presided over. Seeing all the people coming, I slowly stood up and said to the group army commander here, "comrades, our next task is to seize Rhodes as soon as possible. The siege mission will be completed by general trakov''s guards Group 8, while general katukov''s guards group 1 will be responsible for cutting off the retreat in the west of the city to prevent the enemy from escaping in this direction. General Bogdanov and general berzalin, your troops will continue to stay in the north of Rhodes. One is to prevent the German army from breaking through from your direction. At the same time, you should be careful of the German reserves from other directions. "


    After giving an account of the general operational deployment, I let trakov go on with his idea: "I intend to let the troops stay in demosin, brzezine and galkuv areas for a while and let them have a good rest. The 28th and 29th guards, who are responsible for the offensive task, will occupy the offensive starting positions before dawn. As soon as the time arrives, they will start to attack from the East and northeast at the same time, and carry out the offensive from the west through zjesh to Konstantinov. Among them, the 88th division of the close guard infantry attacked on the broad front and went forward to the regions of pionne, Czechoslovakia and ozolkov.


    In addition, under the command of general weinroub, the tank group composed of the 11th tank brigade and three independent tank regiments moved rapidly to the southern suburbs of the city to stop the enemy who tried to escape in this direction. "


    Two hours before the attack, trakov moved his headquarters to the town of bieriqi, not far from the main force. Today is a sunny day with a clear sky. Trekov and several staff officers stood outside the headquarters, looking for a relatively high earth slope and looking out at the city in the distance.


    In addition to the faint sound of gunfire from the north, the East where we were was was quiet. In those continuous fortifications, it seemed that there was no German soldier. Artillery commander pozharski asked trikov, "Comrade commander, all the artillery are in place, ready to provide artillery support for the attacking forces."


    "Wait a minute, Comrade General." Trekov waved to his artillery commander and said, "judging from the sound of the gun, the Germans don''t seem to stick to this city. Therefore, if we can not fire, we should not fire for the time being. Once such an industrial city is damaged, it will be a troublesome thing to rebuild it. "


    When pozharsky heard what trakov said, he looked disappointed, but he nodded his head and said, "I understand, comrade commander. I will keep the artillery in a state of preparation. As long as you give us a command, we can launch a heavy artillery attack on the enemy''s defensive zone immediately."


    As we were talking, the roar of the plane''s engine came into the air. Hearing this, our first reaction was: is it the German plane coming?


    When he heard that the sound was coming from behind us, there was a relaxed expression on his face. He turned and raised his telescope to look into the air. Then he said with some pride, "Rita, it''s our plane. There are at least more than 100 of them. There are dozens of escort fighters, as well as a certain number of IL-2 attack aircraft. "


    Seeing so many of my own planes in the air, I should be happy, but I don''t know why, my heart beat faster, even a little out of breath. I looked around, trying to find something that upset me, but I found nothing.


    At this time, I heard a staff officer saying to his colleagues, "the air force has deployed at least 120 planes. This time, the Germans will suffer."


    When I heard the staff officer talking about airplanes, I couldn''t help looking up at the group of airplanes flying in the distance. They used to be small black spots, but now I can see the outline clearly without a telescope. When I saw the approaching fleet, I suddenly had a flash of inspiration in my mind. When I remembered that I had been accidentally bombed by my own air force during the Stalingrad defense war, I yelled "no good" and then ran to the headquarters.


    Trikov didn''t know what happened, so he caught up with him and asked nervously, "Rita, what''s the matter?"


    "General trakov, do you remember that our troops were mistakenly bombed by our own air force as soon as they got off the train at the meeting?" I spoke very quickly and said, "we haven''t had time to report the operational plan of attacking Rhodes to the headquarters of the front army. How can the air force come to support us? I''m afraid they''ll think of our army as German. "


    "No way," said trakov, looking up at the clear sky and doubtfully, "our air force won''t mistake us for Germans because of the fine weather and high visibility?"


    "If you''re not afraid of ten thousand, you''d better be cautious." At this moment, I have come to the operator''s side, and stopped talking with trakov. Instead, I told the operator: "send a power to the air force headquarters, saying that the troops of the 8th group army of our close guard are besieging Rhodes, and asking their air force not to blow up our troops outside the city by mistake."


    After listening to my dictation, the operator didn''t immediately send a telegram, but turned his eyes to trekov for help. Trikov frowned and said impatiently, "didn''t you hear the order from the deputy commander of the front army? Send a message to the air force immediately, and ask them to distinguish the ground targets, so as to avoid the time of accidental bombing. "


    While the operator was sending out the message, trakov said to me in a low voice, "Rita, do you really think those air forces are going to be bad for us?"


    "I have a bad intuition," I said to trikov with a wry smile. "Our air force will definitely regard our ground troops as Germans and blow them up indiscriminately. That''s why I have to send a message to the air force command to avoid similar vicious incidents. "


    A few minutes later, just as we were standing by the telephone and waiting for a call back, Pronin suddenly ran in from the outside and said to trakov and me with a puzzled face: "it''s really strange that our fleet didn''t fly this way any more, but hovered over the area where the second echelon was gathering, and we didn''t know what they were going to do."


    "Hell, it''s a living hell." Trikov turned to look at me and spat out a sentence from his teeth: "Rita, it seems that you are right. Our air force regards my troops as German." I asked the operator anxiously, "hasn''t the air force called back yet?" The operator didn''t finish, but shook his head bitterly¡° No, I think it''s too late when the air force headquarters calls back. We have to find a way to help ourselves. " After he finished, trikov said to Pronin: "Comrade military commissar, you come with me. We must find a way to stop this accidental bombing." Thinking that there was no direct radio connection between us and the air force pilots, I immediately told them, "two generals, why don''t we let our soldiers spread the red flag on the ground and spell out" CCCP "so that the pilots can see that we are our own people. What do you think of this plan? "¡° That''s not enough. We have to do something else. " Trikov called one of the staff officers and said in a loud voice, "prepare signal guns immediately, fire green signal bombs into the air, tell them that the troops on the ground are their own, go and do not drop bombs or strafe at the troops on the ground." The way we came up with was soon carried out to the letter by the soldiers. Seeing the red flag paved on the ground, the green signal bombs constantly rising, the fighters hovering in the air and the IL-2 finally confirmed that the ground was our army, they turned around and flew eastward in neat formation.

 Chapter 1677

    After the fleet left, the telegram from the air force headquarters arrived late, which read: "the telegram has been received. In order to prevent the accidental attack on friendly forces, the fleet has been ordered to return."


    Looking at this short telegram, I can''t help but feel grateful to myself that if trekov hadn''t handled it properly, our army would have paid a lot of casualties under the bombing of the air force.


    I put the telegram into my pocket, turned around and asked the communication staff standing aside, "can I get in touch with the headquarters of the front army?"


    The communications officer shook his head and replied, "although we have been working with the headquarters of the front army, we have never established contact."


    "Keep in touch," I now realize that the loss of contact with the headquarters of the front army has made things worse, because our propulsion speed has far exceeded the original idea. According to the plan, the air force goes to bomb the designated targets every day. If communication is not established as soon as possible, there will be more and more misfire attempts today¡° In any case, we should get in touch with the headquarters of the front army as soon as possible. "


    As soon as I gave orders to the communications staff, trakov and Pronin came in from the outside. Seeing me standing by the telephone, he raised his voice and asked, "Rita, have you got in touch with Marshal Zhukov?"


    "The operator is still calling, but we haven''t got in touch yet." I explained to trakov, "maybe the signal in this area is not good. We send telegrams that Lublin can''t receive."


    "Since we can''t get in touch, we won''t get in touch for the time being." In the face of today''s embarrassing situation, trakov is quite open, "our first task is to seize the city. Now the armored forces under the command of general Wei yinlubu have made a detour from the south to the west of the city, preparing to launch an attack from the western suburbs. "


    "What, are you going to attack from the western suburbs?" "What about general katukov''s troops?" I asked? You know, it''s the units of the 1st group army that block the Western passage. "


    "The 8th group army of our close guard is fully capable of seizing such a city from the hands of the Germans." Trekov said confidently: "besides, judging from the attack in all directions, the resistance of the city guards is not firm. They have no intention of defending the city. We have a lot of confidence in seizing this place on our own. "


    It''s two o''clock in the afternoon to reestablish contact with Zhukov.


    We reported to him in detail the results of the army''s fighting in the past two days, as well as the battle that is attacking Rhodes. Finally, we made a request to him, hoping that he could send air force to assist in the battle.


    After understanding our specific situation, Zhukov readily agreed to the request of sending air force to assist in the war. At the same time, he made a request to us that the troops should not stop and should continue to push westward to reach the Oder River as soon as possible.


    As for Zhukov''s order, after discussing with trakov, I decided that the 8th group army of the guards would still be the main force in the attack on Rhodes, but I would transfer the 11th and 9th army of the tanks who had arrived nearby to help. Katukov''s troops, on the other hand, were responsible for Zhukov''s task of pushing westward to capture more areas occupied by the German army.


    Just after I had a phone call with katukov, who was far away in the west of the city, and gave him the order to continue marching to the west, the communication staff handed me a telegram, saying that it was forwarded by the headquarters of the front army.


    I opened the telegram, looked at the signature below, and found that it was konev. Why did konev send me a telegram? You know, I''m not his deputy now, and I''m not qualified to help him. I read the telegram with doubts, and I couldn''t help thinking.


    Konev said that his troops had completed the encirclement of the German army in Silesia, but because this is an industrial area with a large number of factories, the German army has established a perfect defense system in a solid factory building. If they launch an attack, they will not only pay huge casualties, but also delay a lot of time. He heard from several of his subordinates that I had introduced the theory of how to conduct street fighting to the students at the Military Academy of vorongze, so he specially asked me for help to find a way to solve the battle as soon as possible.


    I quickly asked trakov to bring the map of Silesia, put it on the table and began to study the countermeasures. As far as I know, Silesia industrial zone is now an important German military industrial base. If our army can seize it, the German army will soon face a shortage of weapons and equipment.


    If konev''s troops carry out a strong attack on this area, then this important industrial area will become a ruin, and it is unwise to do so. Because even if our army takes over here, we can not only use the factories here to provide military supplies for our troops, but also spend a lot of energy to rebuild here in the future.


    After careful consideration, I feel that it is better to squeeze the enemy out of this area than to encircle and annihilate them. So I drafted a long telegram, wrote all my thoughts on it, and finally proposed to konev: "instead of fighting with the Germans here, it''s better to deliberately leave a channel for them to squeeze them out of this area, so that our army can obtain a supply base that can produce weapons and ammunition."


    After I finished writing, I called for the telegram to be handed over to the communications staff officer, and told him: "staff officer, it''s urgent to send this telegram immediately."


    While I was writing a telegram, trakov was talking to general bereyavsky, the war chief he had sent to the west, to ask him about the fighting in the western suburbs. The chief of operations reported to trikov, "general weinlub''s tank group has moved out to the western suburb of Rhodes; The troops of the 28th army have occupied ozolkuf, Alexander RUF and rodogoshi; The reconnaissance unit of our group army has advanced to the Roz Konstantinov highway, and the enemy is hastily retreating to the southwest. Our army captured a large number of enemy troops and seized a large number of spoils at the same time... "When he said this, there was no voice in the receiver. Trikov yelled a few times at the microphone. When he heard the voice again, he said discontentedly, "Comrade chief of operations, why did you stop in the middle of your report?"¡° Comrade commander, "the voice of the chief of operations was heard anxiously from the receiver:" general Wei yinlubu has been injured and has just been sent back to the headquarters. "¡° What, Wei yinlubu is injured? " Trekov asked anxiously, "what part of the wound is it serious?"¡° General Wei yinlubu''s tank was blown up and his chest was pierced by shrapnel. Military doctors are doing emergency treatment for him. " The chief of operations stopped for a moment and then said, "I think we should send him to the military hospital in the rear as soon as possible for rescue." When he heard that Wei yinlubu''s life was in danger, trikov flatly ordered: "Comrade commander of operations, I ordered that an ambulance be arranged immediately to send general Wei yinlubu to the rear hospital, accompanied by the best military doctor. Do you understand?"¡° Understand The chief of operations replied loudly. I saw trakov put down the phone with a sad and indignant look on his face. Just as he wanted to comfort him, I suddenly felt someone touch his arm gently. I turned around and saw that it was the communications staff officer. He handed me a telegram and whispered: "Comrade deputy commander, this is the telegram from the headquarters of the first front army of Ukraine." When I heard that it was konev''s reply, I didn''t care to comfort trikov. Instead, I started the telegram and quickly scanned the above content. Konev''s answer was simple: "I''m going to open up for the Germans in Silesia." Looking at konev''s reply, I am relieved that if the German troops are really pushed away from Silesia Industrial Zone, not only the casualties of the troops will be reduced, but also a relatively complete industrial zone will be obtained. It won''t be long before the weapons and ammunition needed by the army won''t have to be transported all the way from China.

 Chapter 1678

    When I collected the telegram, I saw that Pronin was comforting trikov: "Comrade commander, don''t be sad. This is war. Everyone of us may be injured or even sacrificed. I hope God bless general Wei yinlubu and he will be safe and sound. "


    "Comrade military commissar," trekov said with a painful expression, "he is a brave, honest and combatant commander. This is the third time since the outbreak of the war. In the war, he went through the fighting process from the western region of Belarus to the Volga River, and the test of Stalingrad campaign. Then he and I crossed the whole Ukraine from the Volga River to Poland. The injury of such comrades makes me feel extremely sad. "


    When trikov recalled to Pronin the details of his relationship with weinrub, I was also thinking that I had been injured many times since I came to this era, especially in the Moscow defense war. If I wasn''t lucky, as long as the German bayonet was two inches lower, I would be deeply wounded.


    Thinking that he had never seen the order of Wei yinlubu in the list of Soviet dead generals, he comforted trikov like Pronin and said, "don''t worry, general trikov. As the comrades of the military commissar said, God will surely bless general Wei yinlubu and make him safe. "


    When trakov''s mood became stable, I picked up the war report he had put aside and found that the German resistance in the city was not firm. The fierce fighting in the western suburbs of the city led to the injury of Wei inlubu, the commander of the armored forces, because the German army jumped out of the wall in that direction. Now the 1st tank group army of katukov''s guards has continued to advance westward. If we want to destroy the German troops in the western suburbs, we can only put the 11th and 9th tank armies nearby into battle, so as to destroy the German troops as soon as possible.


    With this in mind, I asked the communications staff, in my name, to send a message to the two tank commanders of the 11th and 9th tank armies respectively, so that they could immediately engage in the attack on Rhodes.


    It''s not enough to have only tanks, but also the air force. So I sent a telegram to Zhukov, asking him to send air force to support our attack on Rhodes. In order to prevent the air force from finding targets, I also asked Zhukov to let the air force commander establish contact with trakov''s headquarters, so as to attack those important targets under the guidance of ground forces.


    The 11th and 9th tank armies did not arrive at the outskirts of Rhodes until 5 p.m. At this time, the planes dispatched by the 16th and 18th air force groups had completed the bombing of important German defense targets. Facing the direction of the destroyed German army, the tanks of the two tank armies stormed open the obstacles at the intersection, and then set up a reading formation and drove towards the city center along the spacious street.


    At seven o''clock in the evening, trakov received a phone call from the chief of operations, who excitedly reported to him: "Comrade commander, I have good news for you. Our troops have occupied most of the city. The remaining German troops have been compressed by us in a small area in the west of the city. I believe we can solve this enemy before dawn tomorrow. "


    "Great, that''s great." Upon hearing the good news, trakov was overjoyed. He said in a series of cheers, "Comrade chief of operations, please convey my thanks to the commanders and fighters, and at the same time tell them that now is a good time to build meritorious deeds. We must eliminate the enemies in the city in the shortest time."


    When I saw that trakov had said these words, I decided to hang up and stopped him immediately: "general trakov, please wait a moment. I want to talk to the chief of operations."


    Although trakov didn''t know what I was going to say to his men, he handed me the microphone. I said to the microphone, "Comrade chief of operations, first of all, I would like to congratulate you on your great victory. Next, what I want to talk to you about is that you not only need to fight military wars, but also need to learn to fight political wars. Judging from today''s fighting situation, the German army''s resistance will is not very strong. The reason why they have not been eliminated is that they tried to escape from our encirclement, so they made a tenacious resistance.


    In addition to sending troops to continue to attack, you should also send German speaking soldiers to shout at those German officers and soldiers hiding in fortifications or buildings, calling on them to lay down their arms and surrender to us. We will ensure their personal safety. As soon as the war is over, they will be sent home to be reunited with their families. "


    "I see, comrade deputy commander of the front army." After listening to what I said, the chief of operations immediately said, "I will immediately arrange the German speaking soldiers to shout to the enemies who are still fighting tenaciously, so that they can lay down their weapons and surrender as soon as possible."


    Occupying most of the city of Rhodes is certainly a happy thing, but the next good news makes trakov cry with joy. Major general Vladimirov, the chief of staff in the rear, called and reported to trikov: "Comrade commander, I am now visiting general Wei inlub in the military hospital."


    Listening to the chief of staff saying that he was visiting Wei yinlubu in the military hospital, trikov couldn''t help but raise his heart to his throat. He asked in a tone changed voice because of nervousness: "how is his injury now?"


    "The operation has just finished," Vladimirov replied. "According to the military doctors, the operation was very successful. All the shrapnel from the chest have been removed. If there is no accident, Comrade Wei yinlubu will wake up tonight or tomorrow morning. As long as he stays in the hospital for a month or two, he can be discharged alive. "


    "Thank you, thank you, chief of staff." When he heard that wynlub was out of danger, trakov''s eyes were moist. He said to the microphone, "I hope you can report wynlub''s injury to us once a day."¡° I see. Comrade commander, I will report to you every day. " After saying this, the chief of staff tentatively asked, "has Rhodes been taken down?"¡° Not yet. " "But most of the city has been occupied by our army. We believe we can occupy the whole city before dawn tomorrow," he said confidently The battle in Rhodes lasted all night. The German army, compressed in the west of the city, finally stopped resisting under the powerful military and political offensive of our army. After flying the white flag, they came out of their hiding place with high hands and surrendered to our army surrounded by them. Rhodes was liberated by our army on the morning of January 5.

 Chapter 1679

    After learning the news of the liberation of Rhodes, the first thing I did was to send a message to Zhukov and report the good news of the liberation of Rhodes to him. Knowing that Zhukov''s telegram couldn''t come for a while, I followed him to the entrance ceremony.


    The car we were in drove into the city, close to the infantry dragon who entered Rhodes at a rapid marching speed. As soon as I entered the city, I saw a crowd of welcome standing on both sides of the street. People''s faces were full of joy, cheering at the troops passing in front of them. On the roofs, balconies and windows on both sides of the street, the national flags of the Soviet Union and Poland are flying everywhere.


    Seeing this scene, trikov said with emotion: "Rita, for the first time since our troops entered Poland, I saw the Polish people spontaneously organize and stand on both sides of the street to welcome us."


    Trikov''s words surprised me. After all, our army has been in Poland for half a year, and many cities have been captured. How can it be that there is no mass organization to welcome our troops into the city? With this question, I asked curiously, "general trakov, when you liberated Lublin, were you not welcomed by the masses?"


    "No," Pronin replied decisively, "when our army entered Lublin, the Polish people showed indifference to us as if we were not their liberators but new aggressors. Even if our commanders and fighters take the initiative to help them, these people keep a high degree of vigilance against us. "


    "It''s all the good work of the Ukrainian nationalists," trakov said angrily. "They slaughtered nearly 100000 poles in eastern Poland by bloody means in 43 to 45 years, which made the two peoples form an irreconcilable hatred."


    I haven''t heard of what trakov said before. I wanted to ask more details, but I heard that trakov ordered the driver to stop. As soon as the car stopped, trakov opened the door, got out of the car and walked towards a group of people at the entrance of the square. I quickly opened the door, got off the other side and followed.


    At the entrance of the square stood a group of young people in festival costumes, including beautiful girls and handsome young men. They crowded together and looked at the troops passing by with a smile. In front of them stood an old man with white hair and beard.


    Seeing trikov walking towards them with a smile on his face, the old man quickly welcomed them, followed by two young girls holding plates. As soon as I look at this posture, I know that the old man is one of those people with high prestige who welcome us on behalf of the whole city. Next, they should send round bread and salt to trikov.


    When I came to trekov, I saw the old man take the bread and salt from the girl''s hand, holding them in both hands, bowing to trekov''s hand respectfully. Trikov took the bread and salt in the old man''s hand, turned and gave it to a staff officer behind him. Then he held the old man''s hand tightly and began to chat.


    The old man excitedly said to trikov, "general, we''ve been looking forward to you for so many years, and finally we''re looking forward to you."


    Trakov politely replied, "you have suffered, old man. We beat away the Germans, and you can live a happy life again. "


    The old man pointed to the square behind him and said to trikov, "general, since the German occupation of the city, they have carried out transformation according to their style. For example, this square used to be called" Freedom Square ", but the German changed it into" Germanic square ". In this way, they tried to tell us that Poland no longer exists, that it will be German land, and that they are the owners of this land.


    On the streets with German street names, the signs of all the shops are written in German. They even write in front of the cafes and restaurants: "only Germans are welcome, poles and dogs are not allowed in.".


    In addition, in the last half month, due to the shortage of materials, they no longer rationed grain to us in an attempt to starve them to death. If you hadn''t driven them away, their plot might have succeeded. "


    After the old man nagged, a girl carrying the tray behind him said, "they are very cruel to us. Not long ago, a young man passed by. When he saw the body of a German soldier killed by the guerrillas on the street, he couldn''t help laughing. I didn''t expect to be seen by a German officer. He pulled out his pistol and killed him


    "Yes, yes, a neighbor of mine was killed on the spot because he didn''t point the way to the German correctly." Another girl added: "another person I knew was arrested in the Gestapo prison for saying the forbidden word" Russia "when talking to others in the street, and his life and death are still unknown."


    Seeing that his compatriots and a Soviet general were having a cordial conversation, those onlookers who had stood far away gradually gathered around. After hearing the two girls'' complaints against the German devils, they also expressed their views one after another.


    A mechanic said to us in skillful Russian: "Mr. general, we all know that only you can save us from the evil claws of the Communist Party and the innocent from the torture room of the Communist Party. We all know that there is a terrible concentration camp outside the city of Rhodes, which is divided into several districts, surrounded by barbed wire, and no one who is locked up there is alive. "


    It is said that there is a concentration camp outside the city of Rhodes. The first thing I think of is Auschwitz. After all, it is the name of the concentration camp that I have heard the most in later generations. I asked Pronin in a low voice: "Comrade military commissar, how far is Auschwitz from here?"


    "To the south of Rhodes, near Krakow, Poland''s third largest city, hundreds of kilometers from here, is the area of the first front army of Ukraine." After introducing the situation to me, Pronin asked curiously, "Comrade deputy commander, what do you want to do with this?"


    "Nothing, just ask." When I learned that the famous Auschwitz concentration camp was not near the city of Rhodes, I immediately lost interest. Instead of worrying about a place I could not manage, I would better consider the next action plan of the army.


    "... we''re finally looking forward to you," the mechanic said excitedly. "The bandits ran away with their tails in a mess. They even didn''t have time to take the property they robbed, so they ran away in a hurry."


    After meeting the enthusiastic Polish people in the street, we went to the headquarters in the municipal building to continue to study the next direction of the army.


    The chief of intelligence, Colonel gradky, hurried out of the communication room, handed a telegram in his hand to trikov, and reported in a low voice, "Comrade commander, the incoming call from the front army."


    Trikov took the telegram from the other side with a puzzled face. After browsing the above content, he was immediately happy. He raised the telegram over his head, shook it a few times, and said to us, "comrades commander, this is the telegram that Marshal Zhukov just sent us. He said that the Supreme Commander himself was very happy to learn that we had successfully captured the city of Rhodes, so he temporarily decided to salute in red square this evening to celebrate our victory


    "Is it all true?" Pronin, hearing what trakov said, quickly took the telegram from him, looked at it carefully twice, and then said with tears in his eyes: "Comrade commander, if I remember correctly, since our army entered Poland, it seems that the supreme command has not captured any city for us, but fired a salute in red square to celebrate, Even the 47th group army and the first polish group army won Warsaw, they did not enjoy this honor. "


    "Yes, comrade military commissar," trekov nodded his head and said with approval, "we must always remember this day. This is the greatest honor our 8th group army of guards has won since it entered Poland."


    I took the telegram from Pronin''s hand and read it carefully. I found that Zhukov only mentioned that he was going to salute in red square this evening. He didn''t mention the direction of the army''s next action at all. I put down the telegram, raised my head and asked Colonel gradky, who was standing nearby, "Comrade Colonel, can you speak directly to the headquarters of the front army?"


    After listening to my question, trikov and Pronin, who were very happy and could not help themselves, calmed down and focused on gladsky, listening to how he was going to answer me.


    Colonel gradky shook his head and replied, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, although our signalmen are laying telephone lines, they have to wait until after noon if they want to use them properly. Now we can only communicate with the headquarters of the front army by telegraph. "


    Trikov asked me curiously, "Rita, I see you are in a hurry to get in touch with the headquarters of the front army. Is there anything important?"


    "There are two things. One is to ask the direction of the army''s next move." I stretched out two fingers and explained to trakov, "second, after my observation, I found that in addition to killing prisoners, there were even officers and soldiers who violated military discipline and robbed local Polish people. It won''t be long before our troops will enter the German mainland. I''m worried that the commanders and fighters who have deep blood feuds with the Germans will launch crazy revenge on the Germans. If we don''t take preventive measures in advance, there may be a situation of lax military discipline at that time. "


    "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, you are very considerate." As soon as I had finished, Pronin echoed, "what you said does exist in our troops. Two days ago, when I went to the grass-roots units for inspection, I saw a second lieutenant take several prisoners out of their rooms, and then shoot them one by one in the snow. "


    "What, is that the case?" When trikov heard this, he couldn''t help but ask Pronin: "Comrade military commissar, why didn''t you report to me in time?"


    "We have been fighting with the Germans for so many years, and the Germans have committed countless heinous crimes in our territory," Pronin said helplessly. "Now the war situation is developing in favor of our army. Many commanders and fighters feel that the opportunity to revenge is coming, so they can''t help but be cruel to the prisoners of war."


    After listening to what Pronin said, trikov immediately declared his position to me: "Rita, I agree with you. I should report the actual situation of the army to Marshal Zhukov and formulate relevant regulations to avoid excessive retaliation and violation of military discipline."


    At noon, the phone with Lublin was finally connected. Because of the long distance and the problem of the line, the bell rang very loud, but the voice was so light that I had to shout at the top of my voice when talking with Zhukov: "Hello, marshal, I''m oshanina. I have something important to report to you!"


    "I know you''ve captured Rhodes," Zhukov said calmly. "The next task I''ve arranged for you is to rush to the Oder River and set up a landing site on the other side. As for Poznan encountered on the road, it was handed over to the 1st group army of katukov''s close guard tanks and the 69th group army of kolpakchi to complete. Be sure to take Poznan before the 10th of this month. " When I heard Zhukov''s command, I looked down at the enemy situation map on the table and found that the vanguard of the 69th group army was more than 150 kilometers away from Poznan. I said to Zhukov in a hurry: "marshal, the 69th group army is slow. It''s too far away from Poznan at present. I think we should let them take the task of seizing the fortress, It''s a bit unrealistic. "¡° What do you think about that? " Zhukov asked noncommittally¡° I suggest that the task of seizing Poznan be completed by general trakov''s close guard 8th Army. " I looked at trakov from the corner of my eye and continued, "according to my observation these days, their attack was very effective. According to the campaign plan, the 8th group army of the guards should go out to Rhodes 10 to 12 days before the launch of the campaign. It took them and the shock 5th army only six days to reach the area and successfully capture the city. The original plan is to advance 10-12 kilometers every day and night, while they have advanced more than 25-30 kilometers every day. " Zhukov was silent for a long time. At last, he said, "well, Rita, since you think trakov''s close guard 8th Army is the best candidate to capture Poznan fortress city, I will give them this glorious task, hoping that they can liberate this important city within the specified time." After my phone call, trakov immediately issued an order to march through his chief of staff to the troops: "the troops of the group army immediately stopped recuperation, advanced to Poznan by alternate cover, and besieged the German troops who stayed in the city."

 Chapter 1680

    In the evening, while firing a salute in red square to celebrate the liberation of Roz City, lieutenant general reirov, commander of the 28th army of the guards, called to say that his troops had surrounded Poznan and asked trikov what to do next?


    "That''s not to say, Comrade General." Trikov was overjoyed to hear that the troops had surrounded Poznan, so he did not hesitate to order leirov: "immediately organize forces to attack the residential areas of Poznan, and try to capture the city on the way."


    I don''t think much of this command of trakov. Although there is no record of the liberation of Poznan in my memory, I know that it is not easy to capture this fortress city. But trakov gave such an offensive order in such a light tone, which was too light on the enemy.


    However, considering that after all, trikov is the commander of the 8th group army of the guards, in order to maintain his authority, he can''t easily intervene when he gives operational orders to his subordinates.


    However, my worry soon became a reality. When it was dark, Ralph called trakov again. He said in a dejected tone: "Comrade commander, I''m sorry, our attack on Poznan ended in failure."


    After a long silence, he asked, "Comrade rerov, if I remember correctly, the first group army of katukov''s close guard tanks is deployed near the city. Don''t they provide support for you?"


    "No, comrade commander." "I called general katukov in person to ask for his support, but I was refused," he said


    Trekov frowned when he heard this, and then said in a dissatisfied tone, "I see. Comrade Lei Ruo Fu, let the troops stop and rest first. We''ll wait until tomorrow if we have anything to do. "


    After he put down the phone, trikov said to me angrily, "Rita, this general katukov is too bad. Since his troops are stationed near Poznan, even if only one tank brigade is sent to attack the city with the 28th guards, maybe we can occupy one or two streets in the city. "


    "I''ll call general katukov and ask what''s going on." As for katukov''s behavior of standing on the sidelines, I was also very uncomfortable. I immediately told the communication director, "connect me to the first group army command of the close guard tank immediately, and I want to talk to general katukov."


    When I heard katukov''s voice coming from the receiver, I pressed down my anger and asked, "general katukov, I heard that the 28th army of the guards had asked you for help when they attacked Poznan, but you refused their request. Is that the case? "


    "Yes, it is." Katukov said without concealment: "it was the commander of the army, general Ralph, who called in person, but I still refused his request."


    After listening to katukov''s reply, I thought that the reason why he didn''t send the tank brigade to support him might be that he had some inside information, so he tentatively asked, "Comrade General, can you tell me the reason why you refused general rerov?"


    "Rita," katukov replied calmly, "the streets in Poznan are too narrow. When our tanks enter the city, they can only march in one column. Once the German army destroys the leading and tail tanks, the long tank line can only be placed on the street and become the target of German anti tank hands. "


    "So it is," I said. After I found out the reason why katukov didn''t want to send tank troops, my mood became relaxed. It turned out that it wasn''t because he didn''t help but because the streets in the city were not conducive to the participation of tank troops. Considering that even if I could not take part in the siege, the whole group army of close guard tanks could not stay outside the city and do nothing, I asked, "what are you going to do next?"


    "Since our troops are unable to take part in the battle of conquering Poznan," katukov said with confidence, "then I will command the troops to continue to push westward, strive to cross the Oder River before the Germans organize effective resistance, and build a wide landing site on the other side."


    Although katukov''s proposal is very bold, it has strong maneuverability. So I waited for him to finish, and immediately said, "well, general katukov, since you have a detailed plan, let the troops have a good rest tonight, and let them go after dawn tomorrow."


    Seeing that I had put down the phone, trikov quickly asked me, "Rita, what are we going to do next?"


    Although I have never seen the fortress of Poznan, I can guess that it must be a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Instead of wasting strength and time here, it is better to leave some troops to besiege, and the rest of the troops continue to advance to the defense depth of the German Army, close to the Oder River.


    I pointed to the map and said to trikov, "general trikov, you leave the 28th guard army to besiege Poznan fortress. The rest of the troops bypass the city and follow katukov''s first group army of guard tanks to continue to push westward and close to the Oder River..."


    Before I finished, the phone rang in front of trekov. He picked up the receiver, put it to his ear and said aloud, "Hello, I''m trakov. Where are you?" A moment later, he stood up and said respectfully, "yes, marshal, my troops have surrounded Poznan. Because the city streets are too narrow to use tanks, we failed to capture the city on the move. "


    After he simply reported to Zhukov, he handed me the microphone and whispered, "Rita, marshal has something to ask you."


    When I answered the phone, I heard Zhukov asking me, "Rita, what''s your next step?"


    "Comrade marshal," I replied, staring at the map in front of me, "since our army is unable to put tanks into Poznan, the siege will be a relatively long process. I think that instead of spending a lot of time and troops here to attack the city, it is better to leave a part of the troops to besiege the city, while the main force of our army continues to advance rapidly westward, rush to the Oder River, and push the war to the native land of Germany. "


    "Rita, your plan coincides with mine." After I finished, Zhukov said with satisfaction, "just do as you say, leaving one army to besiege the city, and the rest of the main forces to continue to advance westward quickly, so as to let our army go out to the German mainland as soon as possible."


    After I put down the phone, I happily said to trikov: "general trikov, marshal comrade has agreed with me, leaving a force to besiege the German army in Poznan City, and the rest of the main forces continue to push westward, so as to push the war to the German mainland as soon as possible."


    Then I had a discussion with trakov and some members of the headquarters about leaving those troops to besiege Poznan. In the end, it was decided to leave two tank brigades, three artillery regiments and a close guard rocket brigade in addition to the 28th army of the close guard.


    Just as trakov received the order drafted by chief of staff Vladimirov and was preparing to sign it, the phone in front of him rang again. Trikov picked up the phone and listened. Then he said with a smile, "marshal, we have just drafted an order to march on the Oder River. We are going to report it to you."


    Unexpectedly, I heard Zhukov''s stern voice from the receiver: "Comrade trakov, the situation has changed. Before the troops advance to the Oder River, we must first take down Poznan."


    Trikov''s smile froze on his face. After a long time, he was a little flustered and asked, "Comrade marshal, what''s the matter? Did you just agree that we should leave some troops to encircle the enemy and push the main force towards the Oder River? Why did you change your mind after less than an hour


    Instead of answering him, Zhukov asked him to give me the phone. After I received the phone call, I repeated the question of trekov again, and finally stressed: "marshal, if we leave our troops to attack Poznan, we will certainly consume a lot of troops, weapons and ammunition, and also delay a lot of time. The Germans will certainly take advantage of this time to strengthen their defense along the Oder River. At that time, if we want to cross the Oder River, we will have to pay a great price. "


    "Apart from being an important industrial city, Poznan is also an important hub of Railways and highways." Zhukov said dryly: "if our army can''t occupy here, then our transport convoy to the front line can only bypass Poznan, which will affect the supply speed ahead."


    From the tone of Zhukov''s speech, I heard that it was definitely not his original intention to stop the westward advance of the troops, but the meaning of the higher level leaders, so I tentatively asked: "Comrade marshal, please forgive me to be frank, is there any order issued by the supreme command?"


    Zhukov chuckled and said, "Rita, I can''t hide anything from you. Comrade Stalin did not agree with our plan of operations. He thought that if we went out to the Oder River too early, we would distance ourselves from the second front army of Belarus of rokosovsky. He ordered us to wait, at least until rokosovsky''s troops had finished the battle of East Prussia and crossed the main force of the troops over the visva River, before continuing to advance towards the Oder River. "


    Zhukov''s words made me realize that in order to enter the German mainland, it is not enough to rely on us alone. We also need the strong cooperation of the left and right wing forces. So I asked carefully, "how long do we have to wait?"


    "At least ten days." Zhukov explained to me: "because our army is advancing too fast, not only rokosovsky''s troops are too far away from us, but even konev''s troops can not continue to advance at present, and we need to protect the security of our flanks from the left wing, because they want to concentrate their forces to eliminate the German army in Silesia industrial zone."


    "Marshal," I said to Zhukov immediately after he finished, "I personally feel that if we stop attacking, then the German army will consolidate its defense in the western area of mesalitz. When we capture Poznan and continue to push westward, we will pay a huge sacrifice to capture this area."


    "If the main force of the front army continues to push westward, how can our right wing be guaranteed?"


    As for Zhukov''s question, I said with full confidence: "as long as the Supreme Command strengthens a group army for us, the security of the right wing will be guaranteed, so that we can take advantage of this good opportunity to continue to push westward, break through the German metselitz fortification area and reach the Bank of the Oder River."


    "That''s what I said to Comrade Stalin." Zhukov said with some helplessness: "after listening, he only said that he would think it over, and then there was no following."


    "What shall we do now?" I asked Zhukov tentatively, "do you really want the troops to stop advancing westward and prepare to attack Poznan here?"¡° One is to leave the troops to besiege the fortress, and the main force will continue to push westward, break through the mesaritz fortification area, and enter the Oder River. " Zhukov said to me, "another kind of preparation is when the troops stop advancing, when they will take Poznan and when they will continue to advance westward." After the call with Zhukov, I began to think carefully about what I should do next. Unfortunately, in the memory of later generations, I don''t know what happened in Poznan. If I want to make a correct choice, I can only make a thorough analysis through the information I have. Trikov understood the way I thought about things, so he sat quietly and didn''t speak, waiting patiently for me to make the final decision. After a long time of thinking, I made a decisive decision: "general trakov, according to the decision we just made, leave a small number of troops to besiege Poznan, and the main force will continue to push westward, through the German maceritz fortification area, straight to the Oder River."¡° Rita, Marshal Zhukov just said, "let''s stop going west and concentrate our forces to take Poznan down first." Trakov kindly reminded me, "if he knew we had disobeyed his orders, the consequences would be very serious."¡° Don''t worry, general trakov I saw that trikov was a little forward-looking and quickly comforted him, saying, "I believe Marshal will also agree with our deployment, so we must not have any problems in the process of pushing westward, otherwise it will not be good for you and me."¡° The situation, what can happen? " Trekov asked, puzzled¡° General trakov, come and see. " I pointed to the map and said to trakov, "now katukov''s close guard tank group army is not far from the area where metselitz was built, and the armored forces are advancing very fast. I am afraid that if they go deep alone, they may fall into the encirclement of the German army. Therefore, I ask you that when general katukov''s troops break through the German defense, your troops can occupy the area of mesaritz in time. Can you do it? "¡° I don''t think it''s a big problem. " Trakov said in an uncertain tone: "the mesalitz fortification area was built by the Germans in order to prevent the attack of the Polish army. After they occupied Poland, they once stopped work. It was not until last year that they began to rebuild these fortifications. I think the number of weapons and troops they have deployed in the fortifications is limited. We should not have much problem in breaking through their defense lines. "

 Chapter 1681

    At dawn, the 28th army commander of the guards, general Ralph, reported us a piece of good news. He said excitedly to trikov on the phone: "Comrade commander, I want to report you a piece of good news. With the support of the tank brigade, the 112th regiment of my guards rushed into the German airfield in Poznan. After a brief exchange of fire with us, the enemy guarding the airfield laid down their arms and surrendered. Next to the runway of the airport, there were 40 intact Henkel HE111 bombers, all of which I seized. However, according to the prisoner''s confession, these planes were abandoned by German pilots because they had no fuel. "


    "Great, general Ralph. That''s great." When he heard that the German bombers had been captured, trakov excitedly told the other party: "immediately report the names of the commanders who participated in this operation to me, I will record their merits, and I will honor them."


    After putting down the phone, trakov was still in a bad mood for a long time. He told me and Pronin and others, "we have successfully captured the German airfield in Poznan and captured the bombers parked at the airfield. In this way, the air supremacy over Poznan will be firmly in our hands. "


    After cheering for this victory, I reminded them: "comrades, although Poznan''s air supremacy has been in our hands, the Germans will not easily admit their defeat. I think the enemy of the fortress will not easily surrender, and will certainly continue to fight to the end."


    Just when we were ready to leave troops to besiege Poznan according to the original plan, and the main force of the 8th group army of the guards, the 1st group army of the tanks of katukov''s guards, continued to advance westward, Zhukov called and directly ordered, "Rita, in addition to katukov''s troops, trakov''s troops left to attack Poznan."


    "Attack Poznan?" When I heard Zhukov say this, I said with some embarrassment: "Comrade marshal, the enemy''s defense in the city is tight. If we want to seize the city in a short time, we will certainly pay a huge price."


    "Poznan is an important railway and road hub. If we don''t capture this city, even if our troops advance to the Oder River, the railway and road are still under the blockade of the German army." Zhukov told me on the phone: "any train or truck convoy carrying goods and materials can not directly pass through the city, but can only find other roads to bypass, which will directly affect the supply of the leading forces. In addition, even if we encircle the fortress, many troops will be restrained, so that they will not be able to take part in the fighting in other areas, thus weakening our army''s ability to attack difficult positions. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade marshal." Zhukov''s stern tone made me understand that seizing Poznan is a non-negotiable task and can only be carried out unconditionally. But in order to let Zhukov understand the actual situation of the battlefield, I went on to say: "because Poznan is a narrow street, the tank troops can not be launched, so I suggest that general trakov''s close guard 8th group army be left to launch an attack on Poznan, while general katukov''s close guard 1st group army continue to push westward to capture the area of mesaritz, Into the Oder River


    "It''s a way to get the best of both worlds." As for my proposal, Zhukov said approvingly: "enough troops have been left to capture the city, while some troops can continue to defend the German army. Well, I agree with your plan. From now on, you can go to the 1st group army of katukov''s close guard tanks and push westward with them. "


    When I heard Zhukov''s order, I immediately agreed, "I understand, comrade marshal. We will resolutely follow your orders. "


    After I put down the phone, I immediately said to trikov, "general trikov, according to the latest order of Marshal Zhukov, your 8th group army of guards doesn''t have to continue to push westward. But stay here in Poznan, attack the German troops who stick in the fortress, and seize the city in the shortest time


    Instead of asking more questions, trakov said solemnly, "we are determined to carry out the order of the headquarters of the front army and liberate Poznan from the German hands in the shortest time."


    "General trakov, according to the order, I''m going to go to general katukov''s first group of close guard tanks, and follow them to the area where mesaritz is built. Poznan, please." I said to trikov a little uneasily: "as the main force of the German army is concentrated in the fortress in the center of the city, when you capture the residential areas outside, I suggest that you do not have to seize every building, which will not only delay a lot of time, but also disperse our forces."


    After writing down what I said in his notebook, trekov asked, "Rita, what else do you have to say?"


    I thought about it and then said, "don''t attack from the west, leave a gap for the Germans. As long as the enemies in those fortresses find that their retreat is not completely blocked by our army, perhaps their resistance will not be too firm. Once the situation is unfavorable to them, they will choose to withdraw from the passageway we left behind. "


    In order to prevent katukov from following the troops to the front without waiting for me, I specially called him and asked him to wait for me before leaving trekov headquarters.


    Katukov got my call, thought I had some important task to give him, and said politely, "Rita, do you have any new orders to give?"


    "General katukov," I asked before answering his question, "has your army moved westward?"¡° Yes, "katukov replied positively," the 11th army of babajanian''s close guard tanks, as the first echelon, is advancing rapidly westward at the moment. As the second echelon, Diego Moff''s 8 mechanized guards keep a distance of 30 kilometers When I heard that the distance between the two echelons was 30 kilometers, I said to the microphone in a hurry: "general katukov, please immediately order general babajanian''s troops to slow down the advance speed, and at the same time, let major general Diego mov''s mechanized army speed up the March. The distance between the two echelons should not exceed five kilometers. " Katukov listened to me and said, "Rita, if the advance troops slow down, it will give the Germans more time to prepare. Once they build a strong defense, then we will pay a greater price when we attack Seeing that katukov didn''t agree with me, I said anxiously, "Comrade General, I don''t know if you have thought about it. If the first echelon advances too fast and passes through the area of mesalitz, and the troops behind are blocked by the German army, what kind of adverse situation will happen then? "¡° Well, Rita, if you say that, I''ll give babajanian an order to slow down "To make sure there is no disconnect between the first and second echelons," katukov said reluctantly¡° Comrade general, I will come to you soon. Please wait for me in the headquarters. " A few hours later, my armored car bypassed Poznan and arrived at katukov''s station. At this moment, katukov was already impatient. As soon as he saw me, he immediately called me into his command car, and then ordered the troops to continue to move forward. In the car, he asked the question he had said on the phone: "Rita, I have ordered babajanian to slow down, but the 40th brigade of his close guard tank has successfully arrived at the mesaritz building area. According to the report, no German forces were found in the fortified area, so they moved on. " After listening to katukov''s report, I stared at the map on the table in a daze and muttered to myself: "is it really that I am so suspicious that the Germans have not deployed any defensive forces in the area where the mesaritz was built?" However, in front of katukov, I didn''t want to admit my mistake easily. Instead, I said, "general katukov, are there any troops behind the 40th brigade of the close guard tank?"¡° Behind them are the 44th and 45th brigades of the close guard tank, and the 27th brigade of the close guard mechanized tank. " Katukov replied, "the main force of the army is ten kilometers away from the leading force."¡° The distance between the troops is too far. " I heard that the 40th brigade of the close guard tank was already in the situation of being alone and deep, and my mood suddenly became irritable: "if the German army cut off their retreat, can the troops behind provide support for them in time?"¡° I think you''re a little nervous, Rita Katukov and I were familiar with each other, so they spoke very casually. Seeing that I was always in a state of uneasiness, he said politely, "don''t you find that since we launched the offensive campaign, the Germans have almost all been on the verge of collapse, and there is no decent resistance at all? If we do not seize this favorable opportunity in time, but stay here and look ahead, we will miss the opportunity. " Just when I felt convinced by katukov and ready to admit my mistake to him, a communication staff officer sitting not far away stood up, quickly walked up to katukov and handed him a telegram I had just received. Katukov''s face suddenly became serious after quickly browsing the above content. His eyes were fixed on me and he said, "Rita, it seems that you are right. The contact between the 40th brigade of the close guard tank and the rear, which goes deep into the area of mesalitz, has been cut off by the German army. In other words, they are now surrounded by the German army. "¡° What, our tank brigade is in a siege? " Although I have been worried about this kind of thing, when it really happened, it still surprised me and asked, "general katukov, what''s the matter?"

 Chapter 1682

    "Rita, the situation is like this," katukov handed me the telegram in his hand. He also introduced the situation and said, "the construction area of mesalitz was built by Germany in the 1930s to fight against Poland. After 1939, the construction of fortifications stopped. Until last autumn, when the German saw that their defense line was in danger, they resumed the construction here.


    This defense area is basically composed of armored fortifications, namely, concrete buildings with reinforced steel roof, and anti tank obstacles composed of several rows of concrete piers to block the access to these buildings. There are plenty of ammunition, food and water in the armour, which can last for weeks even if we are besieged.


    As far as our reconnaissance knows, there are not enough troops to defend in such a strong fortification of the German army. Therefore, we must seize the fortified area before their reserves arrive.


    Before you arrived, major general babajanian reported to me that his tank brigade, in neat formation, had successfully crossed the empty defensive zone and advanced towards the depth of the enemy. "


    I didn''t interrupt katukov. After glancing at the telegram, I put it on the table and continued to listen to him tell me what happened in front of me: "who knows when the follow-up troops arrived, they found that the passage was full of big tripods that made the tanks impassable. At the same time, the fire points on both sides of the road are blocking the road with artillery fire and machine gun fire, so that our engineers can not remove these obstacles. "


    "General katukov," I asked cautiously as he finished, "I want to ask, what''s the situation with the 40th brigade of the close guard tank, which has crossed the mesaritz fortification area?"


    "They are now in the German fortress area, and the road ahead is full of obstacles that prevent them from moving forward. The road behind was also cut off by the German army, but the enemy seemed to lack enough anti tank weapons, so they just surrounded them and did not take the initiative to attack them. " Katukov said anxiously: "if they are not rescued as soon as possible, once their ammunition is used up, it will not be far from the destruction of the whole army."


    "How long do you think it will take us to break through the German defense and join the trapped forces if general babajanian is allowed to command the troops and launch a forced attack on the fortified areas?"


    As for my question, katukov thought about it for a long time, and finally said: "according to babajanian''s report, his close guard 362nd and 399th self-propelled artillery regiments should arrive at the mesaritz building area in half an hour. With the help of artillery, they could break through the German fortification area in the early morning of tomorrow


    "General katukov," in the face of the situation of the 40th guard tank brigade, I am not optimistic about it. I intentionally remind katukov, "don''t forget that the armored roof of the mesaritz fortification area should be able to withstand the attack of our tanks and self-propelled artillery. Unless we wait for heavy artillery or infantry to arrive, it will be very difficult to break through the fortified area. "


    "What shall we do?" At this moment, katukov was also a little flustered, because he knew that once the German reserve arrived, the tank brigade trapped in the rear of the fortification area would face the end of the whole army.


    I didn''t speak, but looked at the mesaritz building area on the map and continued to think. After a long time, I looked up at katukov and said, "Comrade General, you have just said that the German army does not have enough troops to defend in this fortified area, so we can consider trying to break through from other areas besides continuing to attack in this area. As long as we have a successful breakthrough all the way, we can rescue the trapped tank brigade. "


    "That''s a good idea." When katukov heard me say this, his eyes lit up and he asked, "Rita, where do I think we should break through?"


    I pointed to the position marked with road on the map, and said with a little lack of confidence: "Comrade General, we can only gamble our luck now. Maybe there are no well-trained German troops to defend in these areas, then our tank troops can quickly make a breakthrough and catch up with the besieged tank brigade."


    Katukov looked at the map for a while, and then ordered general chevalin, who was sitting beside him and didn''t speak: "chief of staff, order the 65th brigade and the 11th tank regiment of the guard tank to try to break through the fortifications in the outskirts of xibeijin; Order the 20th and 36th brigades of the close guard tanks to break through from the northern passage. "


    Seeing katukov''s air of mind assigning combat tasks to his chief of staff, my mood suddenly calmed down a lot. In any case, he was always a famous general of the Soviet Union. If you can''t deal with such a simple difficulty, it''s not worthy of the name.


    The battle at the breach lasted all night. As I analyzed, babajanian''s tanks and self-propelled artillery could not eliminate the German armored defense positions. The main force of the tank army was still blocked outside the fortified area until dawn.


    But the attack from the other two directions went very smoothly. The people''s stormtroopers who defend these areas are all untrained. Although this organization sounds a bit similar to the militia of the Soviet Union, there is a big difference between them. First of all, it is not an organization formed by the people voluntarily, but an organization forced to join. Any German who does not want to join this organization will be mercilessly executed. Secondly, the combat effectiveness of this uneven army can be imagined without any decent military training at all.


    In the face of the passing tank brigade, these people''s stormtroopers, dressed in civilian clothes and carrying crude weapons, without firing a shot, held high the white flag and walked out of the fortifications where they were hiding and surrendered to our army. The other two tanks, almost bloodless, passed through the mesaritz fortification area and detoured back to the German defensive rear to rescue the officers and men of the 40th brigade of the encircled guard tanks. Knowing that the troops of the 65th guard tank brigade were rapidly advancing towards the trapped troops from north to south, katukov finally breathed a sigh of relief and said to me happily, "Rita, it seems that our tone is good. We actually rescued the besieged troops before the arrival of the German reserve, avoiding the end of their total annihilation."¡° General katukov, since the two tank brigades will soon be able to meet, I suddenly have a new idea I pointed to the map and said to katukov, "let the two tank brigades continue to push towards the Oder River and quickly build a landing site on the west bank before the German reserves arrive."

 Chapter 1683

    Katukov''s tank troops successively passed through the mesaritz fortification area. Because the German reserve team had not arrived yet, and the people''s Stormtrooper team, which was responsible for the blocking task along the way, was also vulnerable, the leading troops successfully reached the East Bank of the Oder River. After hearing the news, katukov and I clapped high fives and cheered for his troops to reach the river bank of oder. Even though I''m saying, "hell, the Germans really surrendered!" Trekov pushed grebov''s shoulder heavily with his hand, and said, "Why are you still standing here? Why don''t you take people to receive the prisoners quickly?"¡° Yes With a resounding promise, greboff turned and ran out of the broadcasting room.

 Chapter 1684

    I really didn''t expect that after hearing my name, many German officers and soldiers stationed in residential areas put down their arms and came out to surrender to our army with white flags.


    After an urgent interrogation of the prisoners, I learned that the German garrison stationed in the residential area was different from the garrison formed in the fortress. They were just the scattered soldiers of the 151st and 45th divisions defeated by our army, plus the people''s stormtroopers of 1000 or 2000, who had no combat effectiveness at all, so they would easily lay down their weapons and surrender.


    Trekov and I were standing by the side of the road, looking at the people''s stormtroopers in civilian clothes passing in front of us. Trekov shook his head and said, "it seems that the end of the bandits is not far away, Rita. Look at their so-called militia. They are teenagers or old men in their sixties and seventies, and they have no military training. To put them into battle is not to put them to death? "


    With a sneer, I digged off the topic: "general trakov, since our access to the fortress has been opened, do you think we can let the artillery fire at the fortress and destroy the German fortifications, so that our infantry can attack the fortress as soon as possible?"


    "Come on, let''s go back to the headquarters first, and then discuss how to attack the German fortress."


    When he returned to the headquarters, trakov immediately summoned the division leaders of all divisions together and assigned them combat tasks: "the 27th and 74th divisions of the close guard infantry carried out the main assault from the South... The attack of the 39th division of the close guard infantry from the North..."


    After the deployment, trakov looked at everyone and asked, "is there any problem?"


    After a short silence, Kuragin, commander of the 35th division of Jinwei, stood up. He raised his voice and said, "Comrade commander, I have observed the fortress area of Poznan at a close range. It is composed of a castle and the surrounding frontier fortresses. These fortifications are indestructible. The wall is about three meters thick and can withstand the fire of our army''s field artillery. If we want to attack the city, 152 mm caliber guns are obviously not enough. "


    His words caused a lot of discussion among the following people. Just as everyone was talking to each other, Pronin said, "general Kuragin, I don''t know where you heard this rumor. Maybe it''s a rumor deliberately spread by German agents, just to attack our confidence in attacking the city.


    I''ve been fighting for not a day or two, and I''ve never seen a fortification that can''t be destroyed by 152 mm caliber artillery. Are you a little too alarmist? "


    Seeing that Pronin had set the tone of the matter, other people could not say anything more. They just asked trakov when the artillery and armored forces could enter the battlefield, and then they left one after another.


    Trikov used 300 guns of different calibres to fire in the direction of the main entrance of the German fort. After the shelling lasted half an hour, trakov officially gave the order to attack.


    But before long, reports from the following divisions came one after another, saying that the offensive troops rushed to the front of the fort and were blocked by the wide trench, unable to move forward.


    Trikov was very angry when he heard these reports. He yelled at the microphone: "let the tank troops rush to the trench, use artillery fire to suppress the German fire points, and cover our engineers to build bridges in the trench."


    "No, comrade commander." Another deputy commander in the front, general Gutman, reported: "the fortress and the triangle are covered with three meters of soil. There is a wide and deep trench outside the fort, which is hard for us to access from outside. The Germans, on the other hand, were able to block the trench with side fire from the dark fort, but we were not able to find perforations. The two walls of the trench are made of bricks, with a height of 5-8 meters, making it impossible for our tanks to pass through this barrier.


    Several of our tanks had rushed to the trench, but before they opened fire, they were destroyed by the hidden anti tank fire of the German army. So I ask for artillery support. I hope you can send heavy artillery to support us. "


    "All right, general Gutman." "I will contact the artillery commander immediately and ask them to send heavy artillery to support you," trekov replied


    After finishing his communication with Gutman, trakov immediately dialed bozarsky, the artillery commander. He said in a hurry, "Hey, comrade bozarsky, now the troops attacking the fort are blocked outside the trench by the intensive German fire. I order you to immediately deploy heavy artillery to support the attacking troops. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade commander." "I immediately mobilized 203mm caliber B-4 howitzers to support the army''s attack," bozarski replied loudly


    Trikov put down the phone and said to me with a relaxed expression: "Rita, as soon as our B-4 howitzers come out, it''s only a matter of time before we can win the German fortress. This kind of heavy howitzer usually launches direct fire at exposed German fortifications or barricades at a distance of 200-300 meters. "


    When I saw that trakov was going to use the "bayonet on cannon" tactic, I couldn''t help smiling. Then I asked, "I don''t know the power of this kind of gun?"


    Trekov pointed to a building outside the window and said to me, "Rita, do you see that building? If our B-4 howitzers fire, the building will be in ruins. "


    "So powerful?" I really didn''t know that the Soviet artillery had such powerful and exposed big killers. I couldn''t help being surprised and asked, "don''t you know how long it will take to deploy this kind of artillery?"


    Trekov was a little surprised by my reply. He looked at me for a while and then said, "don''t you know that this kind of heavy howitzer is mounted on the base of a heavy crawler tractor and belongs to a self-propelled gun?"


    I shook my head and said awkwardly, "I''ve never seen this kind of gun, but I believe it''s very effective to use it to destroy the German fortress."


    "But the drawback of this kind of gun is that its firing speed is too slow." "It will take almost four minutes for a shell to come out. It will take some time for them to destroy the German defense," trakov said with some regret


    "Don''t worry, general trakov. Don''t worry." I saw that trakov was a little restless, and quickly comforted them, saying: "the task of seizing Poznan was originally assigned to general korpakchi''s 69th army by the superior, but they were restrained by the German army before and could not move forward here quickly. We have enough time here to wait for their arrival."


    The second round of shelling on the fortress started again half an hour later. This time, trekov and I went up to the top of the building to watch the artillery show.


    With bozarsky''s order, hundreds of guns of different calibres were fired at the main entrance direction of the German army in the East. In the great sound of the collapse, the fortress burst out a dazzling halo, and clusters of fireballs burst into the sky. The dense shells of our army fell endlessly. I couldn''t see the explosion point clearly. I only saw that there were explosions and flames everywhere. The German fortress was shrouded in a sea of fire and smoke.


    I felt the floor shaking slightly under my feet, so I put down my telescope, turned to trekov and said, "general trekov, in the face of such intensive shelling by our army, the German fortress will not be able to support it."


    Trekov also put down his telescope and sneered: "our B-4 howitzer can destroy a building with one door. What''s more, this time, 36 howitzers are fired at the same time, but there are dozens of large caliber howitzers and cannons. I believe that after the shelling, the German fortress will be in ruins."


    I turned to ask the director of the engineering department, Tkachenko, "Comrade General, are the engineers ready to build bridges?"


    "Yes, comrade deputy commander of the front army," Tkachenko said, looking at the smoke of the battlefield in the distance, "the bridge engineers are deployed 500 meters away from the fortress. As soon as the shelling is over, they will rush to the trench and build a passable bridge for the tanks."


    It is said that the engineers are ready to be in place, and I feel more secure. As long as our tanks can pass through the wide trench in front, it will be easier to attack the German core fortress.


    However, all our good wishes disappeared with the end of the shelling and the smoke of gunpowder over the fortress. Only after heavy artillery bombardment of the German peripheral fortress, still maintain the general integrity. The walls are pockmarked, with few holes. The shell fell on the soil cover of the fortress and the triangle fort, leaving only a crater after the explosion, just like digging the cultivated land with a shovel.


    "What the hell is going on?" When trakov saw this scene, he couldn''t help but be stunned. He quickly grabbed the phone next to him and asked the operator to connect the artillery headquarters. Then he asked in a loud voice, "Hello, general pozalski, did you tell me that you were shelling the German fort with B-4 howitzers?"


    "Yes, comrade commander," bozarski replied positively, "all 36 B-4 howitzers participated in the shelling just now, but the German fortress was obviously stronger than we thought. If you want to destroy the enemy''s fortress, I think you can only use special concrete sabotage bombs. "


    "Can it work?" Trekov asked.


    "It''s hard to say, comrade commander." Pozharsky said with some embarrassment: "as far as we know, the wall of the German fortress is three meters thick, but our concrete destruction bomb only penetrates 0.7 meters, and the aftereffect damage is 0.3 meters. The total thickness of the damaged concrete is one meter..."


    "Well, don''t give me any more jargon." Before waiting for his opponent to finish, trakov interrupted his words: "you just need to tell me, can concrete sabotage bomb destroy the German Fort?"


    "It''s theoretically possible," bozarski said carefully. "As long as our shells hit the same position three times in a row, they can penetrate the German fortress walls, but it takes a little longer."


    "As long as we can break through the walls of the enemy''s fortress," trakov said with some impatience, "you immediately arrange people to prepare such shells. We must break through the defense of the German fortress in the shortest time."


    However, this kind of special shells can not be prepared immediately. It will take at least one or two days to transport them from the rear. During this period, we can only adopt the tactics of encircling the fortress without attacking.


    Trekov walked back and forth in the headquarters with his hands behind his back, stopping and sighing from time to time. I tried to persuade him, but I found that I had nothing to say. I could only keep silent, sitting in my seat and staring at him walking back and forth.


    So he walked back and forth in the room for more than ten minutes. He seemed to think of something and suddenly stopped. After standing in the same place for a few minutes, he quickly walked up to me and asked carefully, "Rita, I remember that you developed a self-made gun during the war of defense in Stalingrad, which was very effective against the German positions." When I heard trekov ask this question, I immediately guessed that he said "heartless thunder" and quickly asked back, "general trekov, are you talking about the kind of explosive package that happens in a gasoline can?"¡° That''s right. It''s this kind of simple gun. " Trekov asked me nervously, "do you remember how it was made?"¡° Of course I remember When I said that, I called the chief engineer over and explained to him how to make "heartless guns" while drawing sketches. I think that when trakov suddenly asked about this weapon, he must want to use it to attack the fortress, so he specially reminded him: "general trakov, this kind of simple artillery uses parabola to launch explosive charges. The top cover of the German fortress is so thick, I''m afraid that the explosive package will not have any effect when it falls on it. "¡° It will take a day or two for bozarsky''s special shells to be delivered. During this period, we can''t do nothing, can we? " Trakov said rather reluctantly: "since the original self-made artillery attack effect is so good, then used to deal with the German fort, the effect should be almost there." Although I know it won''t have much effect, since trakov is so opinionated, it doesn''t matter to try. It''s better than letting the commanders and fighters idle. In this way, the engineers made 50 "heartless guns" in an hour, ready to deal with the German fortress. The infantry soldiers with "heartless guns" approached the fortress within 80 meters under the cover of the debris, and set up empty oil barrels on the rubble. After putting the explosives into the oil barrel, they ignited the fuse and then hid in a safe place to observe the effect of the attack. The explosive bag fell on the top cover of the fortress and made a series of earth shaking sounds, giving people the feeling that nothing could survive such an explosion. But when the smoke was gone, I still saw the German fortress standing in my telescope lens. The explosion just happened was just a scratch on its boots.

 Chapter 1685

    When trekov and I were frustrated by the result, Tkachenko, the engineer''s director, came in from the outside and happily reported to us, "two comrades, good news, good news!"


    "What''s the good news?" Trekov asked curiously.


    "Although the explosive package we just launched did not cause much damage to the German fortress, I just found an interesting phenomenon. In a certain part of the area that was bombarded, all the German firepower points went out of fire. " Tkachenko said happily: "I sent a soldier to scout. He found that there were traces of explosion below the fire point. It is estimated that when we launched the explosive package, one or two of them flew halfway and fell into the ditch to explode. As a result, the fire point of the German army was destroyed by mistake."


    "What the hell is going on?" I was confused by Tkachenko''s words, and I asked, "how can a dynamite bag in a ditch destroy the German firepower?"


    "According to the soldier''s report, the wall opposite the trench didn''t collapse, but the enemy hiding inside didn''t shoot any more. He should have been killed in the fortification when the explosive bag exploded."


    "The power of the explosive bag is enough to shock the German to death in the fortification?" Trekov questioned Tkachenko''s statement, "you know, our heavy guns have been firing at the enemy''s fortress for such a long time, and when the troops charge, the enemy''s firepower is still fierce.". How can a few explosive packages blow up and shock the enemy to death? "


    "Comrade commander, this is true." Tkachenko explained to trakov: "although we bombarded the German fortress repeatedly, the effect was greatly reduced because of the thick concrete walls. However, the trench where the explosive bag fell and the wall of the German firepower point were not so thick, so the effect of the explosion was far greater than that of the heavy artillery. "


    After listening to Tkachenko''s explanation, trakov nodded and then asked, "have you engineers come up with any good way to break through the German defense?"


    "I think so." After sitting down at the table, Tkachenko took out a notebook and drew a sketch on it with a pencil: "I plan to use a gasoline barrel to load explosives, and then let people push them into the trench after lighting them. I think that so many explosives will explode at the same time, which can at least kill the defenders in some areas, so that we can occupy several favorable positions in the opposite side, Then we will eliminate the German firepower one by one. "


    "It sounds very good, but I don''t know the effect of implementation." "General Tkachenko, when will your plan come into operation?" trekov asked


    "Comrade commander, I think it will be tomorrow at the latest." When it comes to the specific time, Tkachenko becomes cautious: "I need to test the explosive power overnight."


    "I think so." I grabbed ahead of trakov and said, "anyway, we haven''t completely eliminated the enemy hiding in the residential area. General Tkachenko, you can slowly try the power of explosives until you find the most suitable formula."


    "Rita, will that delay us in seizing the fortress?" "If the higher authorities blame it, we can''t explain it to them," said trikov with great misgivings


    "It doesn''t matter. If the superior wants to blame me, I''ll take the responsibility." After holding the responsibility on my shoulders, I confided to trikov, "if there is no accident, some troops of the 69th army will come back here tomorrow to help us capture Poznan."


    "By the way," I said, Tkachenko immediately thought of an important thing, and quickly added: "I received comrades today, and there will be a second engineering shock brigade here tomorrow. These officers and men wear special armor and chest protection, and are equipped with assault rifles. They will take charge of the assault task, and the effect is much better than that of ordinary infantry. "


    As early as in the war of Stalingrad''s defense, trikov had seen the power of the engineering shock brigade. Therefore, it was said that an engineering shock brigade would arrive tomorrow, and he became calm. He thought for a moment, and then said to Tkachenko, "well, comrade director of engineering, I''ll give you the task of blowing up the German fortress parapet. I hope you don''t let me down."


    After Tkachenko left, trakov gave an order to the chief of staff Vladimirov: "let the troops stop attacking the fortress. Except for a few troops who continue to monitor the garrison of the fortress, the rest of the troops are used to eliminate the German residual enemy hidden in the residential area and completely eliminate our worries when attacking."


    After all the tasks were deployed, trakov could finally sit down and chat with me for a moment. He pointed to the map in front of him and said to me, "Rita, I feel like I''m dreaming now. At that time, I took part in the defense of Stalingrad. I thought I would die at any time. I didn''t expect that the troops under my command are less than 300 kilometers away from Berlin. Maybe one day, I will be able to direct the troops into Berlin myself. When I think about it, I feel how unreal what happened in front of me. "


    I remember that in the battle of Berlin, the 8th group army of trakov''s guards was the absolute main force, so I comforted him and said, "general trakov, this is not a dream, but a reality. The Germans, who were once invincible, are now in a desperate situation. It will be sooner or later for us to capture Berlin. In my judgment, your troops are definitely the main force in attacking Berlin. "


    "It would be great if my troops could be the main force of the attack." Trekov said excitedly, "I must personally command the troops to rush into the Capitol building and capture Hitler and his running dogs alive." Two things came to mind when I heard about the Capitol building. One is the commander who put the red flag on the top floor of the Capitol building, the 756th regiment of the 150th division of the 79th infantry army of the 3rd shock group army of Kuznetsov. Now it''s January 45, but the commander of the group army is still lieutenant general Simoniac. What''s the matter? In addition, the parliament building in Berlin was basically idle after the arson case because of its narrow office space and poor radio signal. Why did the Soviet Army seize the building at all costs during the battle of Berlin? Is it really just going to plant a red flag on the roof? Although I can''t think of the answers to these things, I won''t ask others casually, because I know it in my heart. No one can give me the standard answer except me, who is from the future. In the evening of the same day, the 91st infantry army, belonging to the 69th group army, arrived in Poznan. Under the guidance of a staff officer, lieutenant general volko, commander of the army, came to trakov''s headquarters and asked him for instructions on the army''s combat tasks. Trikov looked at me and asked carefully, "Rita, what do you think we should do with general volko''s troops?" Before I made my decision, I decided to know the actual situation of the army. Then I went up to volko and asked, "Comrade General, how many troops do you have?"¡° The whole army consists of two infantry divisions which are not full and poorly equipped, with a total strength of about 7000. " "But please rest assured that we are willing to accept all combat missions," volko said with some shame I am very disappointed to hear that this army has few troops and poor equipment. If we use such forces to attack the German stronghold, it is tantamount to letting the commanders and fighters die. So after thinking about it for a long time, I said to volko, "Comrade General, our attack on the fortress may take another two days. During this period of time, you and your 91st army will help the friendly forces to eliminate the German stragglers hidden in the residential areas. " Two days later, the attack on the fort began again. In order to prevent the German army from concentrating all its forces in one direction to defend us, we launched an attack from the north, East and South at the same time, deliberately leaving a gap in the West for the German army to have the illusion that their retreat was not completely cut off, so as to prevent them from carrying out desperate resistance. The second engineer assault brigade was arranged in the south of the fort by us. After the battle started, we used artillery fire to suppress the firing point on the top of the fort, so as to protect the engineers from approaching the trench smoothly and destroy the fire point on the opposite side of the trench with the prepared explosive barrels. The company was led by Captain proscolin, who carefully approached the trench and signaled to the rear. The 82mm mortar company, hidden in the ruins, immediately dropped fire on the trench to let the smoke generated by the explosion cover the engineers to throw explosive barrels into the trench. Proskulin saw the smoke rolling in the trench, the German machine gun fire point stopped shooting, immediately issued an order to attack the soldiers next to him. So the soldiers, in groups of two, rolled a heavy explosive barrel toward the ditch, lit the fuse, and pushed the barrel into the ditch. But after four barrels full of explosives were thrown into the trench, the engineers around the trench quickly turned around and ran back to a safe distance before they stopped to listen to the movement in the trench. After a series of earth shaking explosions, the trench was shrouded in smoke, but the sound of shooting inside completely stopped. Proscolin sent an engineer to scout out the effect of the explosion. The engineer bent over and ran quickly to the ditch. He bent down and looked across. He saw a large part of the wall collapsed. He could see the dead German soldiers and the damaged weapons. Seeing this, the engineer was overjoyed. He quickly turned around and rushed to captain proskulin, who was hiding in the ruins. He gestured that the explosion effect was ideal. Captain proskulin was very happy when he saw the signal sent by the engineer. He immediately rushed to the ditch with a group of explosives and several barrels of explosives, intending to draw gourds according to the ladle and give the Germans a more cruel memory.

 Chapter 1686

    According to Tkachenko''s report, the explosive barrels made by the engineers each weighed 80 kg. Once the explosion, people within 50 meters in diameter will be blown up so that they can''t even find the slag. Even if they hide in a solid fortification, they will be shocked to death.


    With more than a dozen barrels of dynamite thrown into the trench, many of the German firepower points at the main entrance to the South were dumb. Captain proscolin led the soldiers of the engineering company to the bottom of the entrance. Through a wooden ladder set up at the edge of the trench, they succeeded in sending up an explosive barrel and placing it near the entrance blocked by bricks and stones.


    It''s said that the engineers are going to blow up the main entrance of the fortress. Trekov and I went to the top floor to observe the movement in the direction of the fortress. With an earth shaking explosion, a huge rolling black mushroom was formed in the air, and countless pieces of gravel were thrown into the air.


    Trekov, holding a telescope, said to himself, "I don''t know if an explosion of this scale can blow up the entrance of the fortress? If not, it may take two more times. "


    What I''m thinking about is that the shock engineers who carry out the blasting mission don''t know whether there will be unnecessary casualties in the explosion of this scale? After all, it was the first time for them to experience such a violent explosion.


    When the smoke around the explosion point gradually dispersed, I saw that there was only a gap more than one person wide. I couldn''t help feeling that the walls of the German fortress were too strong.


    Seeing that the explosion had just taken place, trakov did not blow out enough passageways for tanks to pass through. He immediately told Tkachenko, "chief engineer, go and tell the soldiers of the engineering brigade that they must blow up the passageways of the entrance wider."


    Shortly after Tkachenko left, I saw the engineers near the entrance busy again. They kept piling up all kinds of bridge materials on the side of the trench close to our army. It seems that they intend to set up bridges for tanks on the trench immediately after the entrance is blasted open.


    Half an hour later, the engineers jammed two explosive barrels into the gap, and then carried out a second blasting. The explosion, let me feel there has become a sudden eruption of the volcano, roaring, the broken bricks and stones were blown away from afar. After the smoke dispersed, a big gap appeared on the wall of the fortress.


    Some of the hidden engineers took action with the help of ladders and went into the gap, clearing the rubble on the still smoldering rubble pile; Some began to build bridges for tanks in the trenches. After discovering our army''s action, the fire points at the top of the fortress on both sides of the entrance immediately started shooting with machine guns in an attempt to block the breakthrough our army had just opened.


    Seeing this situation, trikov immediately picked up the phone and called the chief of staff, Vladimirov, and said, "chief of staff, order the artillery to bombard both sides of the entrance of the fort, suppress the fire at the top of the fort, and cover our engineers to build bridges."


    The engineer''s act of building a bridge on the trench was soon discovered by the German. They deployed several mortar teams nearby and bombarded the entrance continuously, causing great casualties to our engineer.


    Seeing this, trakov stamped his feet in a hurry. If it is the firepower at the top of the fortress, we can also use the way of artillery suppression. We can only stare at the artillery fire coming from behind the fortress wall.


    When Tkachenko saw that the engineers fell in batches under the German artillery fire, even the half built bridge was destroyed by the German army, and his eyes were red with anxiety. He said anxiously to trakov, "Comrade commander, we need to do something to support our engineers. We can''t watch them die like this."


    "What can I do?" Trekov was also red eyed. He yelled at Tkachenko: "the enemy is hiding behind the walls of the fortress. We can''t do anything about them with our artillery fire."


    "Comrade deputy commander," tekachenko, seeing that trikov had nothing to do and was in a hurry to go to the doctor, found me again and asked me for help: "you are an expert in street fighting. You must have a way to solve this problem, right?"


    I didn''t say anything. I just raised my telescope and looked at the entrance of the black plume from time to time, thinking about how to solve the current dilemma. After a long time, I put down my telescope and asked Tkachenko, "Comrade General, are the ordinary engineers or shock engineers now carrying out the task of building bridges?"


    When Tkachenko heard my question, he was stunned and then replied, "of course, it''s the shock engineer. Is there anything wrong?"


    "Of course not," I think Tkachenko explained. "Shock engineers are the main force for us to capture the fortress. How can we let them take charge of the work of ordinary engineers? You now immediately order our engineers to take over the work of the shock engineers and build bridges in the trenches. "


    "What about the shock Engineer?" Asked Tkachenko curiously.


    "Regroup them and continue to develop inside the fortress. If possible, destroy the German mortar teams and cover our clearing and bridging work at the entrance."


    "I see." Tkachenko gave a loud answer. Then he picked up the phone and called his subordinate engineer troops, asking them to take over the work of the shock engineer as soon as possible, clear the gravel at the entrance as soon as possible, and set up the bridge, so that our army''s tanks can rush into the fortress as soon as possible.


    Although the trench is only ten meters wide, it is not so easy for engineers to build a bridge for tanks. It took me two hours to see a bridge take shape. The first one to drive onto the bridge was an isu-152 heavy assault gun. When I saw it slowly driving over the bridge, my heart went up to my throat. I was afraid that this huge thing would collapse the bridge and plunge into the ditch. Fortunately, the worry didn''t happen. The assault gun passed through the trench and entered the fort area along the cleared entrance. Engineers standing on both sides of the trench cheered, and then let a second t-5455 tank pass the bridge. A assault gun and a t-5455 tank drove through a relatively narrow passage and entered a relatively open area. Then the two vehicles moved forward slowly in parallel with each other in the way of alternate cover. Behind them, more and more tanks or assault guns drove over the bridge on the trench. Trikov looked with great interest at the chariot firing in front of him for a while, put down his telescope, turned to me and said, "Rita, I think the people who set up these two chariots should have listened to your lecture."¡° Have you ever heard me talk? " Trekov''s words left me stunned. I don''t remember where and to whom I taught the theory of street fighting, except at the military academy in vorongze. In addition, trakov said the answer in time: "look at the assault gun driving on the left side of the road, bombarding the target on the right side of the road with the gun; The new tank on the right shelled the building on the left. Two cars such a cover way, can reduce the dead angle of shooting What happened next was an eye opener. As more and more tanks and assault guns enter the fortress area, the vehicles driving on both sides of the road form a corridor where our infantry can move. At the same time, they can cover the infantry with their armor and powerful firepower, so that they can pass through the enemy''s firepower network with the least casualties. For such a marching formation, not only I feel strange, but also trekov sighs: "our soldiers are really amazing. They can invent such a way of fighting. This is the wisdom of our officers and soldiers." I nodded in agreement with trakov, and then suggested to him, "general trakov, our troops are still too slow to enter the fortress just by this entrance. It is necessary for engineers to open up new channels in other areas so as to speed up our army''s entry into the fortress area. "¡° Yes, comrade commander. " As soon as I finished, Tkachenko added: "I think we should blow more holes in the wall of the fortress, then use explosives and mines to collapse the trench wall, fill the trench, so that our tanks and self-propelled artillery can pass through the trench more quickly and enter the core area of the German fortress." Seeing that I agreed with Tkachenko, trekov nodded his head and said, "you have the same idea as me. If you want to speed up our army''s entry into the fortress, it is absolutely necessary to open up more channels." Taking advantage of Tkachenko''s opportunity to convey his orders, trakov called his chief of staff again, told the other side the new tactics he had just seen, and finally said: "Comrade chief of staff, such a combat method is not available in any regulations. It is directly produced by our officers and soldiers relying on their wisdom in combat. You should immediately prepare an order for all commanders, political workers and staff officers to rapidly popularize the wisdom achievements of the soldiers and turn the new methods of struggle into the common wealth of all the troops. "¡° I see, comrade commander. " The chief of staff''s loud voice came out of the receiver: "I will immediately convey your order to the subordinate troops, so as to ensure that this new tactic can be popularized in the whole regiment as soon as possible." When I heard the order given by trakov to the chief of staff, I felt that it was not enough to promote the new tactics only within the scope of the 8th group army of the close guard, because the troops attacking Berlin in a few months'' time were not only them, so it was necessary to report to Zhukov to see if they could promote the new tactics within the scope of the whole front army. Thinking of this, I said hello to trakov and went downstairs to return to the headquarters. I was ready to call Zhukov to report the matter and see what his opinion was.

 Chapter 1687

    After listening to my report on the phone, Zhukov was silent for a long time before he said, "it''s a good method of fighting, and it''s really worth promoting in the whole front army. Well, you''ll ask trakov to write a report later and send someone to the headquarters of the front army immediately. "


    After talking about the new tactics, Zhukov continued: "Rita, your attack in Poznan is too slow. Now general katukov''s forces have established a landing site on the West Bank of the Oder River, but they can''t move forward without the cooperation of friendly forces. "


    "Where are the 5th shock group army and the 61st group army?" I''ve been studying with trekov how to conquer Poznan fortress these two days. I don''t have any spare energy to pay attention to the progress of the left and right wings.


    "In the process of advancing, they were blocked by the German reserve, and their progress was very slow." Zhukov said on the phone: "so you need to get rid of the enemy of Poznan as soon as possible, so concentrate the main forces, quickly push towards the Oder River, and strengthen the 1st group army of katukov''s close guard tanks."


    I glanced up at the calendar on the wall and saw that there were still two weeks to go before the end of the Arden counterattack launched by the German army. However, the attack time of our army was half a month earlier than that in history. At this moment, the main force of the German army should be held in Arden area by the allies and could not be transferred to support the east line for the time being. Thinking of this, I tentatively asked: "marshal, because of the suddenness of our army''s attack, the main force of the German army should still be held in Arden by the Allied forces. At this time, the resistance to the westward advance of the troops should be far less than we expected?"


    "Oh, forget it." Zhukov said angrily: "I didn''t expect that the Allies had so many planes and cannons, but they were vulnerable to the German attack. So far, they have killed more than 10000 people and lost hundreds of tanks and anti tank guns. If our army had not launched an attack ahead of time, they would have been driven out of the sea by the Germans. "


    "Comrade marshal, although the German counterattack caused great losses to the allies, their resilience is amazing." I saw that Zhukov was not optimistic about the Allied forces, so he could only euphemistically say: "but it seriously weakened the German defense forces in the west line and the mobile forces in the east line, and there was no reserve force to supplement the troops. Now they have not only completely lost their counter offensive ability, but also have difficulty in carrying out lasting and effective defense. I don''t think it will be long before our troops can enter Berlin smoothly. "


    When Zhukov heard me talking about the allies, he also mentioned the special forces that we had deployed German speaking commanders and fighters at that time. This force of thousands of people had been sent behind the enemy lines before our attack. Unfortunately, because the advancing speed of our army far exceeds their penetration speed, their achievements are very limited.


    After we talked about our respective concerns for a while, Zhukov asked, "Rita, how long will it take you to win fortress Poznan completely?"


    "Marshal, you don''t know that Poznan fortress is far more solid and defensive than we thought." I cautiously said to Zhukov, "it took us two days just to destroy the wall outside the German fortress. If we want to seize the core fortress occupied by the German army, I estimate that not only the troops will have to pay a huge sacrifice, but also the time will not be too little."


    "You give me a definite word." Zhukov asked bluntly, "when is the quickest time to take the fort?"


    "Give me another week," I assured Zhukov, staring at the calendar on the wall. "We will be able to take the German core fortress by the 15th of this month."


    "Well, since you say so, I''ll give you another week." Before putting down the phone, Zhukov emphasized to me: "time is equally precious to both the enemy and us. The longer we spend in Poznan, the stronger the enemy''s defense along the river oder will become. "


    After waiting for trakov to come down from the roof, I repeated Zhukov''s original words to him, and finally said, "general trakov, we have only one week left to seize Poznan. What''s your good way?"


    Trikov sat at the table, one hand on the table, chin supported, the other hand gently patting the table, thinking about how to capture boznan, who was heavily guarded by the German army, within the prescribed time. After a long time, he stopped knocking on the table, sat up straight and said to me, "Rita, that''s what I think. It''s hard to predict how long it will take to liberate the city by military attack alone. But if we launch a political offensive at the same time and persuade the enemy to surrender by shouting, we will surely be able to speed up the process greatly. "


    Political offensive and military offensive are two ways at the same time, which I always advocate. Now that trakov has come forward on his own initiative, I have no reason to object. I nodded and said with approval: "yes, general trakov, we should take this way to disintegrate the German defense and speed up the liberation of Poznan."


    Pronin, who was sitting next to him, took the initiative to ask for orders and said, "comrades commander, I am in charge of political work. Let me be fully responsible for the German army''s persuasion. I wonder if you have any comments? "


    "I don''t have a problem," trikov said first. Then he asked me, "what do you mean, Rita?"


    Although last time I personally went out to persuade them to surrender, I achieved certain results. I asked hundreds of German officers and soldiers to lay down their arms and surrender to us. However, it is not clear whether the same effect can be achieved if I go out again. At this moment, since Pronin volunteered and trakov agreed to his request, I naturally said, "I have no opinion. Let general Pronin take full responsibility for this matter."


    In fact, the attack in the fortress area was more difficult than I thought. The German army occupied every building and used their firepower to block the way of our soldiers. It took the 39th division of the guards a full day to occupy several houses in a street and build fortifications here.


    After learning the news, I personally called the division commander marchenko who was commanding the battle in the fortress area. I said to him, "Comrade Colonel, the German army occupied the buildings on both sides of the street and blocked our way forward with commanding firepower. At this time, if we continue to launch attacks from the Street, it is bound to cost our troops huge casualties."


    "What should we do then?" Malchenko asked cautiously.


    "Change tactics immediately and let the soldiers go into the occupied buildings." I said in a loud voice to the microphone, "blow through the walls and approach the German occupied area in this way."


    "However, comrade deputy commander of the front army," after listening to my order, malchenko said in embarrassment, "our soldiers found that there are still many residents in the building. If they do so, they will surely be killed and injured."


    "Comrade Colonel, the residents of the city are not fools. When they fight, they will hide in the basement on the ground floor." I want marchenko to stress: "you only blow up the walls above the second floor, so that the casualties of the residents can be minimized. Do you understand? "


    "I see!" Malchenko''s joyful voice came from the receiver.


    "Now that you understand me, please carry out my orders."


    When I put down the phone, I saw that trakov was standing a few steps away from me to answer the phone. He said in a loud voice to the microphone: "I know that the fortification of the Gestapo building of the secret police is very strong. Since our army''s attack is not effective, we should try to blow it up." It doesn''t matter. Those who stick in the building are all diehard * * elements. They don''t deserve to die. They immediately asked the shock engineer brigade to organize a blasting team to destroy the German building with explosives... "


    As soon as trikov''s phone call was over, the chief of staff, Vladimirov, reported a surprising news: "Comrade commander, the tank brigade reported that some of their tanks had been destroyed by the German inexplicably."


    "Destroyed somehow?" Trikov frowned and asked, "chief of staff, tell me what''s going on. The more I listen, the more confused I am."


    "Well," Vladimirov reported, "several tanks supporting the infantry charge suddenly stopped in the street, their engines were still roaring, but they didn''t fire or shoot with machine guns. However, the infantry who followed did not find that the appearance of the tank was good. There was neither fire nor explosion, and even no scars were found on the body of the tank. "


    "What the hell''s going on here?" trekov said, punching hard on the table angrily. "What about the tank soldiers in the tank? Is there no one speaking? Did they all die in the tank? "


    "General trakov, I think these tankers have all died in tanks." After listening to the chief of staff''s description, I immediately remembered that the German army had been equipped with an anti tank grenade launcher called "Faust" in the later period. After this weapon hit the tank, it would eject high-temperature metal liquid. The tank armor would burn a small hole. The metal liquid injected into the tank through the small hole would burn or burn the tank soldiers in the vehicle.


    "It''s impossible!" As soon as I finished, Vladimirov quickly retorted, "the infantry following behind the tank didn''t hear the sound of the tank being hit and exploded. How could our tankers die inexplicably?"


    I looked at trakov and asked, "general trakov, have you heard of Faust?"


    "Faust?" Trikov frowned slightly and said, "Rita, we''re talking about the tank accident. We don''t have time to talk about Goethe''s plays."


    I saw that trakov really didn''t know about the "Faust" anti tank weapon, and quickly added: "general trakov, what I want to tell you is not Goethe''s" Faust ", but a new anti tank weapon of the same name launched by the German army."


    "Antitank weapons?" Trekov and Vladimirov both looked at me in surprise and asked, "but our infantry didn''t find the tank in front of us was hit by the German anti tank weapon?"


    "According to the information I have, this kind of" Faust "anti tank grenade of the German army, after hitting our tank, will eject high-temperature metal liquid and burn a small hole in the tank''s armor. And the liquid metal sprayed through this hole can easily kill our tank soldiers. "


    "Is that true?" "It''s incredible," said Vladimirov dubiously After listening, trakov said to Vladimirov solemnly, "Comrade chief of staff, please call the tank brigade immediately and ask them to check. Check if there are holes on the body of the tank and if the crew of the tanks are still alive. " Half an hour later, Vladimirov received a report from the fortress area. His face was livid and he told trikov, "Comrade commander, it seems that what Comrade deputy commander of the front army said is true. Our engineers pried open the hatch of a tank and lifted out the bodies of four tank soldiers. Although the doors of the other vehicles have not been opened yet, I think the situation inside should be similar. "¡° Rita, what can we do to deal with the German antitank weapon? " After my words were confirmed, trakov asked me with a sad face: "in the fortress area, if there is no tank support, it is very difficult for the infantry to destroy the enemy''s defense."¡° Although this kind of "Faust" anti tank grenade can penetrate 140 mm thick armor, it has a fatal disadvantage, that is, its range is too short, only 30 meters. " While trying to recall the data I had seen, I said to trakov, "as long as our tanks stay in a position beyond the effective range of Faust, then we can ensure the safety of our tanks." After listening to my method, trakov immediately drew inferences: "if you need tank fire to cover infantry attacking the enemy''s building, stop 100 meters away from the building, so that the German anti tank grenade can not be used. As for advancing in the street, as long as there is infantry cover, it can easily eliminate those anti tank hands hidden in the ruins on both sides of the street. Chief of staff, immediately inform the commander of the tank brigade of the results we have just worked out, so that no more tanks will be lost in vain. " Pronin, who was in charge of persuading the German army to surrender, called and reported to trikov: "Comrade commander, we found an underground Hospital of the German army on the edge of the fortress area. After our repeated persuading, all the doctors, nurses and the wounded in it have surrendered to us. What should we do with them? "

 Chapter 1688

    I was worried that trakov would give orders against the wounded, so I hastened to take the lead and said, "general trakov, immediately arrange for people to send them to a safe place, and give them enough medicine to treat the wounded as necessary."


    After hearing what I said, trikov looked at me in surprise and said to Pronin, "Comrade commissar, have you heard the order given by Rita? Immediately arrange manpower to remove the enemy''s medical staff and patients from the underground works, and send them to a safe place for resettlement, and provide them with the necessary food, water and medicine! "


    After putting down the phone, trakov said to me with a smile, "Rita, were you worried that I would order these prisoners to be shot, or just take the medical staff away, and leave these patients to die?"


    Seeing that trakov guessed what was on my mind, I didn''t hide it. Instead, I nodded and said with certainty, "yes, general trakov, I''m worried about that. In previous battles, unless the whole battle is over, military hospitals captured by our army will be dealt with according to the two situations you just mentioned. "


    "You''re talking about the past. The bandits committed heinous crimes against our motherland and people. Our officers and men are excused for doing some excessive things in order to get revenge." Trakov waved his hand and said, "but as we move forward step by step to the German mainland, we have already ordered to prohibit and even issued an order to severely punish such acts. Therefore, the prisoners of war captured now can generally be sent to the prison camp alive. "


    While I was blaming myself for my ignorance, general Gutman, the group army''s deputy commander at the front line, called and reported to trikov: "Comrade commander, the soldiers of the shock engineering brigade, have successfully destroyed the bottom floor of the secret police building with homemade explosive barrels. The explosion has damaged the top of the basement and all the walls on the bottom floor, Only a few dozen reinforced concrete columns are left to support the rest of the building. "


    "What happened to the enemy in the building?" When trakov heard that the ground floor of the building had been destroyed by explosives, he immediately asked, "did they lay down their weapons and surrender to our army?"


    "No, comrade commander." "Although the ground floor of the building has been destroyed by our explosives, the enemy hiding in the basement and the buildings above are still fighting desperately," Gutman said with regret


    "General Gutman, if the enemy does not surrender, destroy him!" "Since we failed to destroy the building in our first explosion, we have to go to hell for the second and third time," he said firmly


    But when general Guttmann organized forces to destroy the German secret police building, our army made progress in other areas. Using the tactics I said, the officers and men of the 83rd regiment of the guards burst through the walls of the building occupied by the German army and rushed into the building from the unexpected position of the enemy, launching a close combat and a white-edged battle with the enemy.


    After half an hour of fierce fighting, the whole German army of a company in the building was destroyed. In addition to those killed, 41 officers and soldiers were captured by our army.


    As soon as the troops broke into the German fortress defense area, we prohibited them from attacking the German Defense Center, the core fort, because it was not only solid defense, but also a gathering of German heavy troops. If we attack there directly, the war will be stuck.


    The tactics adopted by trekov and I were to encircle but not attack the enemy in the core fort, and concentrate our forces to eliminate the enemy in the rest of the fortress area. As long as we clear the periphery, the enemy of the core fort will become an isolated army, and it will be easy for us to eliminate them.


    But Zhukov objected to our tactics. He called me directly and asked me, "Rita, what''s the matter with you? Why do you use your main forces to sweep the periphery of the fortress instead of attacking the enemy''s core Fort? You know, next to the core fort is a railway hub, which is very important for the supply and transportation of all the troops of the front army. As long as we don''t win the core fort for one day, the transportation between us and the front line will not be unimpeded. Do you understand? "


    "I see, marshal. I understand what you said." On hearing Zhukov''s reproach, I quickly explained to myself, "the reason why we didn''t use our main forces to attack the German core fort is because the fortifications here are solid and heavy troops are still gathered. Even if we attack here, we may not be able to win in a short time. At the same time, we may be attacked from behind.


    That''s why I decided to let general trakov use his main force to clean up the enemy outside the fortress area. When the enemy is eliminated, we can confidently and boldly attack the enemy. "


    After listening to my explanation, Zhukov said impatiently, "well, since you say so, you should seize the time to clean up the periphery, and then concentrate your forces to attack the core fort. I would like to remind you that there is not much time left for you. At present, the German army is mobilizing forces to the Oder River to launch counter attacks against the 1st group army of close guard tanks, which has set up a landing site there. "


    After my conversation with Zhukov, I put down the phone and asked, "general trakov, how long will it take for our troops to clear the perimeter of the fortress?"


    Trekov frowned and thought about it. He replied, "I think it will take three to five days at the earliest." After that, he asked me with concern, "is Marshal calling again to urge us to speed up our attack?"


    "Yes," I nodded and affirmed, "he said that next to the core fort, there is an important railway transportation hub. As long as we win the core fort, the supply and transportation between us and the front line can become unimpeded."


    "We can''t just win the core fortress without clearing up the surrounding enemy." Chief of staff Vladimirov said: "as long as there is an enemy near the transportation line, then we can''t ensure normal transportation."


    "Today, the persuasion organized by general Pronin is not bad." "It seems that at the same time of military attack, we should strengthen the political propaganda to the German army, so that they can wake up as soon as possible and stop the senseless resistance," he concluded


    After hearing what trakov said, deputy commander duhanov shook his head and said with a bitter smile: "Comrade commander, according to our interrogation of the prisoners, the commander of the fortress is a major general of the SS named gonel, a favorite General of Himmler, or a diehard member of the Communist Party. If you want him to lay down his arms and surrender to us, I don''t think it''s possible at all


    After a pause, he said, "I heard a captured major say that in order to strengthen our determination to stick to the fortress, goner has killed many wavering officers and soldiers. Even those civilians who do not want to join the people''s Stormtrooper will be directly shot without trial, and then hang their bodies on the street lamp or balcony, To warn those who are not determined. "


    "If that''s the case, it''s going to be difficult." Trikov said with a complicated expression: "it seems that no SS officer has ever voluntarily surrendered to our army after such a long battle. It seems that major general gonel is ready to fight to the end."


    "I think so." Duhanov nodded his head and said: "as long as he does not die for a day, I think it is impossible for the garrison of the fortress to surrender in a systematic way."


    Vladimirov continued: "Comrade deputy commander, I think you are too pessimistic. Even if gonel wants to fight to the end, it does not mean that all the German officers and soldiers have the same mind as him. As long as we do a good job in persuading us to surrender, I believe that more and more German officers and men will lay down their arms and surrender to us. "


    After listening to his subordinates'' speeches, trakov did not immediately express his views. Instead, he looked at me and asked, "Rita, how do you think about it?"


    "Just now general duhanov has said that the fortress commander gonel is a diehard * * element. He probably knows very well that even if he surrenders to our army, he will not come to a good end, so he plans to fight to the end. At the same time, I also agree with the chief of staff that not all German officers and men are die hards like them. " Looking at the generals in front of me, I said with a smile: "while we continue to sweep the peripheral positions of the fortress area, we concentrate our heavy artillery on the direction of the core fort, and use artillery fire to suppress and deter the enemies here, so that they do not dare to leave the fortress easily and can only stay in the fortress honestly and be frightened. When their spirits are about to collapse, sending someone to persuade them to surrender will surely get twice the result with half the effort. "


    "That''s a good way. It will take us a few days to clear up the enemy outside. If, in these days, we continue to bombard the German core fort with heavy artillery, when we attack there, the German stronghold should be almost destroyed by us. " Trikov decisively made a decision, "the 29th army of the guards, transferred to besiege the core fort, the rest of the forces continue to be responsible for cleaning up the enemy outside."


    The next day, in order to observe the effect of our army''s shelling of the core fort, I, trekov and deputy commander duhanov came to the National Theater in the fortress area. Here, we met shermenkov, commander of the 29th army of the guards. His army headquarters was located in the manager''s office of the theater.


    Seeing that a group of us came here, he could not help asking in a panic: "comrades, how did you come here? You should know that it is not safe here, and you may be bombarded by the artillery deployed by the enemy in the core fort at any time."


    "It doesn''t matter, comrade semenkov. Since you are not afraid to stay here, we have nothing to fear." "We''re here today just to see the effect of the bombardment," he said


    At the moment, our heavy guns are bombarding the outer wall of the core fort. After listening to what trakov said, semenkov can only say helplessly: "well, comrade commander, since you are here to check the artillery effect. Then as soon as the shelling is over, I''ll take you to the top of the building. But please promise me that you must leave after reading it. I must be responsible for your safety. "


    "All right, all right," trekov agreed, nodding his head, unwilling to clash with the men who cared about him. "I promise you, I will leave as soon as I check the results of the shelling."


    When there was no longer the rumble of artillery outside, semenkov was not at ease. He called the observation post on the top of the building to confirm that the shelling was over, and then reluctantly led us to the top floor of the theater.


    Standing on the top of the building, I raised my telescope and looked at the fortress in the distance. I found that the core fort was a fortification group which was also surrounded by the trench. If we did not destroy the German shooting holes on the wall, our tanks would be destroyed by the German anti tank men who were hiding behind even when they arrived at the trench. While I was watching it, I suddenly heard semenkov exclaim in surprise: "look, Hitler''s bandits have put out the white flag and begun to surrender to our army!"¡° Where, where? " Although the commanders standing on the top of the building have a telescope, after listening to this sentence, they still ask with one voice, "why didn''t I see it?"¡° It''s at the firing hole on the right side of the entrance to the fortress! " Semenkov excitedly indicated the direction to everyone: "one, two, three, four... Seven shooting holes stretched out white flags, it seems that they were scared by our shelling." although I also saw the white flag stretched out from the shooting hole, my heart was full of doubts: did the Germans surrender? You know, the commander of the fortress is a major general of the SS. Can he watch his subordinates surrender to us? My heart was full of doubts, but I didn''t express my opinions casually. I just held up my telescope and watched the development of the situation quietly. The gate of the fortress was opened. More than forty helmeted and unarmed German officers and men came out of the gate with their hands raised, ready to pass the stone bridge on the trench and come towards our army. But when they got to the middle of the stone bridge, a stream of smoke suddenly rose among the crowd, followed by a faint explosion. Seven or eight German soldiers, who were walking forward, fell straight into the ditch. The rest of the German soldiers stopped and stood in a daze¡° What''s going on? " Trekov put down his telescope, turned to look at semenkov and asked sternly, "don''t you see that the enemy came out to surrender to us? Why fire on them? "¡° Comrade commander, I didn''t order the troops to fire. " Shemenkov replied wrongly: "besides, our soldiers are not blind. We can see at a glance that the enemy is ready to surrender to us. How can we fire at them?" As soon as his words came to an end, I saw the shooting started in the shooting hole on the wall of the fortress. The dense bullets made the mud on the bridge jump up like a pot. The German soldiers standing on the bridge burst out a blood mist. Their bodies twitched violently like an electric shock. At last, they either fell into the ditch or fell on the bridge. When I saw dozens of soldiers, they were all dead at the end of the bridge in just one or two minutes, I immediately understood what was going on. He put down his telescope and said to trakov, "general trakov, it''s the German. Their commanders didn''t surrender to us like their subordinates, so they killed them all. "

 Chapter 1689

    When he saw that all the German soldiers had been killed by their own men, trekov couldn''t help itching with anger. He said maliciously: "it seems that these vicious elements are going to fight to the end. Otherwise, they would not be so crazy to suppress these soldiers who are trying to restore their sense. "


    We went back to the headquarters downstairs to discuss how to capture this solid core fort. I heard semenkov say to trikov, "Comrade commander, the fortifications of the core fort and the perimeter of the fortress are guaranteed. They block the firing holes and dark fire points of the trench, and they are exposed to the ground. In this way, we will not be able to destroy the German firepower points by means of explosive barrel blasting. "


    "On the way here, I saw a lot of self-propelled artillery and heavy howitzer positions outside," trekov said, looking up at semenkov. "We can use artillery fire to destroy German fortifications, then blow down trenches and lay roads for tanks."


    "Comrade commander," semenkov sighed and said with regret, "judging from our bombardment with 203 mm heavy howitzers, the effect is not obvious. Our heavy guns can only leave insignificant craters in the enemy''s fortifications. It will take a long time to blow up the walls of the fortress. "


    "Maybe we can encircle the core fort without attacking," deputy commander duhanov said. "Frequent attacks will only increase the unnecessary sacrifice of the troops, so I think as long as we surround the enemy, they will not last long."


    "This is useless," trakov said, shaking his head. "According to what we know, the defenders of the core Fort have reserves of water, food and medicine that can last for a month or two. Even if they are besieged by us, they will not cause the enemy''s panic."


    "Let me say a few words." Seeing that everyone was at a loss, I couldn''t help interrupting and saying, "we should replenish the artillery and tank forces, let them concentrate their fire and shoot at the firing holes of the core fort. I believe it won''t be long before we can blow up a gap in the wall of the fortress, and then we can send engineers to enter the gap, place explosives and carry out blasting, so as to open up a road for tanks. "


    "That''s a good idea." After listening to me, duhanov looked at trakov and said, "if we use concrete sabotage bombs, maybe we can speed up the process."


    "The concrete sabotage bombs of artillery are not unlimited," trakov said a little dejectedly. "There are more than 100 rounds in total. When we broke through the periphery of the fortress area in the early stage, we consumed a lot. Now even if we use all the rest in this area, it is estimated that we can''t blow up the wall of the fortress."


    As a result of the final discussion, even if artillery and tanks are ordered to bombard German fortresses, we should use the most stupid way to nibble down the German stronghold bit by bit.


    When I came back to the headquarters of the group army, I called Zhukov. After reporting the situation here to him, I asked casually, "marshal, do you have any exciting news?"


    "The fifth shock group army has entered the city of kinitz." Zhukov said unexpectedly: "because our troops successfully crossed the Oder River, the speed of propulsion was so fast that when the tank rushed into the city, the German did not respond. The German soldiers patrolling the streets, watching the long lines of tanks passing in front of them, thought they were troops coming down from the front line. While many officers are still sitting in the coffee shop and drinking coffee, they become our captives in a muddle. "


    I quickly found the location of ginitz on the map, and said in surprise: "marshal, it''s only 70 kilometers from Berlin. If you send an armored force to carry out the assault, you can get to Berlin in two hours at most."


    "In theory, your calculation is correct." Zhukov was seldom in a good mood and chatted with me: "but after our army occupied the city of kinitz, the Germans raised their vigilance and strengthened their defense on the road to Berlin. In particular, the high ground of zelauf, where heavy troops have been deployed, has entered the first level of combat readiness. We have missed the best opportunity to rush into Berlin. "


    "That''s a pity." As soon as I think that Berlin is only 70 kilometers away from our vanguard, my heart is particularly excited. I think that as long as the enemy of Poznan core fort is solved, the 8th group army of trakov''s guards will be able to move to Berlin and seize the capital of the Third Reich. "But I believe that in two or three months at most, our troops will be able to enter Berlin, Destroy the stronghold of the bandits. "


    As soon as I put down the phone, trikov immediately asked, "Rita, what did you talk about with Marshal Zhukov? I seem to have heard you mention Berlin several times. Is there any change in the enemy situation in that direction?"


    "Yes, yes, general trakov, the situation in the area towards Berlin has indeed changed, but it is developing in the direction beneficial to our army." After I filled their appetite, I announced with astonishment: "the vanguard of our 5th shock group army has successfully occupied the city of kinitz."


    "Ginitz city!" Hearing this place name, several leaders of the group army immediately turned their eyes to the map on the table. When they quickly found the city I was talking about, they could not help exclaiming, "my God, our vanguard is only 70 kilometers away from downtown Berlin. If the armored forces are allowed to attack, our tanks can rush into the city of Berlin in two to three hours at most. "


    I think the speaker was chief of staff Vladimirov, who immediately reminded him: "chief of staff, don''t forget that on the way from the Oder River to Berlin, there is a zelauf highland, where the German army has deployed a heavy military group. If we don''t occupy here, then marching to Berlin will only be empty talk."


    After studying the map carefully, trakov raised his head and said to me, "no wonder Marshal Zhukov urged us so quickly. It turned out that our army''s offensive strength was weakened. Without our strengthening, they would not be able to pass through the zelauf heights."


    "General trakov," although I also understand that speed is not enough, seeing that the vanguard of our army is only 70 kilometers away from Berlin, I became a little anxious: "if we speed up the attack, how many days can we win the core fort of the German army?"


    "We don''t even break through the enemy''s fortress walls now." "Even if the troops rush into the core fortress, it will take at least four or five days to eliminate the enemy in the fortress," he said


    Trekov''s words calmed me down again, and I couldn''t help thinking of Brest fortress. The fortress was unprepared and attacked by the German army. The officers and men in the fortress were short of food and clothing and persisted for a month intermittently. Today''s core fortress is no less solid than Brest fortress. If you want to capture this fortress quickly, it is very difficult to reach the destination except for increasing casualties.


    Duhanov saw that everyone fell into silence and quickly broke the silence: "let me talk about my own opinion. After our artillery destroyed the German shooting hole, we can send shock engineers to carry flame throwers and spray flames into it, so as to burn or run away the enemy hiding in the fortification. After controlling some sections, we planted explosives in important areas to blow up a gap in the fortress wall and open up a passage for our tank troops. "


    For duhanov''s proposal, trakov thought for a long time, finally nodded and said: "well, the deputy commander''s method is good, let''s do it!"


    After two days of shelling and blasting, we finally made a hole in the outer wall of the fort. After the supplementary blasting, a five meter wide passage appeared on the wall, and the trench was filled with gravel and soil after the blasting, so that the 259th and 34th regiments of our tanks burst into the core fort.


    Seeing that our tanks were driving into the core Fort one after another, the German army immediately launched a series of fierce counter attacks. But because of their lack of tank cooperation, our commanders and fighters easily repulsed their attack.


    Seeing that our tanks and infantry had established themselves in the core fort, I immediately ordered trakov: "general trakov, immediately arrange political workers who understand German to enter the core fort and shout at the areas still occupied by the German army. Try to use a strong political offensive to disintegrate the German defense. "


    General Pronin, the military commissar of the group army, was in charge of the task. Less than an hour after he entered the core fort, he phoned trakov and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, with our persuasion, the German army began to lay down its weapons and came out with the white flag to surrender to our army."


    "Surrender in a systematic way?" Trikov heard Pronin''s report, and his eyes lit up immediately. He immediately asked, "what is the scale of the organizational system?"


    "In company." Pronin continued to report: "it was ordinary IDF soldiers who surrendered to us. According to the prisoner''s confession, major general goner, the fortress commander, sent SS officers to each company to supervise the operations of officers at all levels and prevent them from surrendering to our army. Now the German commander saw that our armored forces had rushed into the core fort and knew that there was no point in further resistance, so he killed the SS officer who supervised them and led the troops to surrender to us. "


    In the afternoon, major general grebov, commander of the 27th division of the guards, reported to trikov that "... The triangle fort in the west of the core fort was blocked by the guards of our division and the tank soldiers of the 259th and 34th heavy tank regiments. General Duka, the deputy division commander, issued an ultimatum to the defenders of the triangle fort, asking them to lay down their arms and surrender to our army immediately.


    However, his proposal was rejected by the Communist officers, and the enemy continued to resist in the triangle fort. General Duka used to be the deputy commander of a guerrilla group in Belarus. He used the method used by the guerrillas to deal with the enemy. They burn barrels full of heavy oil and roll down the slope to the main entrance of the triangle fort. The hot, suffocating smoke choked the bandits out of their nests. They climbed out of the triangle fort and surrendered with their hands held high. "


    There are still many such war reports. The enemy was forced to lay down his arms and surrender to our army when there was no way out. By nightfall, trakov''s men had captured more than 4000 prisoners.


    After listening to the number of German prisoners, trakov said with a smile: "comrades, today''s results are good, not counting those killed by our army. We captured 4000 prisoners alone. As far as I know, there are only a little more than 20000 defenders in the core fort. If this trend continues, the enemy in the core Fort should be destroyed in three days at most."


    Trakov''s words caused everyone''s laughter, but also let everyone see the dawn of victory. Chief of staff Vladimirov proposed to trakov, "Comrade commander, since our commanders and fighters are playing so well, do you think we should keep on attacking the enemy and try to annihilate them all as soon as possible?"


    Regarding Vladimirov''s proposal, trakov shook his head and said, "no, comrade chief of staff. Although we have achieved good results, we should also see that our commanders and fighters are very tired. We should let them have a good night''s rest and launch a new attack on the enemy after dawn tomorrow. " The next morning, general bakanov, commander of the 74th division of the guard infantry, called trakov. He reported in a hurry: "Comrade commander, I have just received a call saying that the German negotiators have arrived at the main gate of the core fort and hope to negotiate with us there." After listening, trakov said to general bakanov, "then go quickly and listen to what the Germans want to say." After half an hour, bakanov called again and reported to him, "Comrade commander, the garrison of the fortress is ready to surrender, and the former fortress commander, general maten, is beside him. What do you think? "¡° What, you have the former commander of the fortress? " After listening to general bakanov''s report, trakov hesitated for a moment, and then ordered, "take him to the National Theatre immediately, and I''ll see him there." By the time we got to the headquarters of semenkov, general bakanov and a chubby German general were waiting there. Seeing us appear, general bakanov immediately welcomed us and introduced us: "this is major general maten, the former commander of the fortress." Trikov nodded at matron, went to his seat, sat down, looked at each other and asked, "general matron, tell me, how can you lay down your arms and surrender to us?" Matron''s feet are close together, his hands are naturally drooping, his fingers are close to the seams of his trousers, and he keeps a good posture. He said to trakov, "general trakov, our conditions are very simple. As long as you give the necessary help to the wounded of our army, we will lay down our arms and surrender to you."

 Chapter 1690

    Trekov didn''t speak, but just looked at each other with his eyes until they seemed a little at a loss. Then he asked, "general matron, I want to ask, is this condition proposed by you, or by major general gunnel, the commander of the fortress?"


    Because trakov bit the words "Fortress commander" and "SS major general" very hard, the commanders sitting around realized that he tried to understand the sincerity of the German negotiations in this way.


    "It''s general gonel''s offer." After listening to the translation, Matten respectfully replied, "I have been ordered to come to negotiate with your army for a truce."


    "Where is gonel and why didn''t he come?" Trekov asked faintly.


    "He committed suicide!" Matron took a note out of his pocket and handed it to the staff officer who came by, adding, "he shot himself after signing the authorization to let me take charge of the negotiation."


    After standing for a while, I saw the bloated general matron, who looked a little tired. When trakov read the note, I said to him, "general matron, you''ve been standing for a long time. Please sit down!"


    Matron looked at me with some surprise, probably surprised that someone could give orders in the room before trekov spoke. But when he saw my epaulets clearly, his face was immediately full of smiles, and he asked, "are you general o''shanina, please?"


    "Yes, I am o''shanina." I reached out and pointed to the empty chair beside him. I repeated what I had just said: "please sit down!"


    After matron sat down, he took out a white handkerchief from his pocket, took off his military cap, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and looked nervously at trakov, who was reading the note, waiting for him to announce his fate.


    After reading the note, trakov handed it to me and asked matron, "Mr. general, if I don''t get it wrong, are you going to surrender to us because gonel committed suicide?"


    "No, it''s not like that." Matten shook his head and said: "in fact, we have long wanted to surrender. We all know that in the face of your strong offensive, resistance is meaningless. Hitler is almost finished."


    After listening to the translation, semenkov couldn''t help asking: "general maten, since you have long wanted to surrender, why are your resistance so tenacious when our army launched an attack?"


    Matten shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "there is no way. Since Himmler appointed gonel as the commander of the fortress, he has arranged SS officers in every unit of the fortress. If any wavering elements are found, they will be executed on the spot immediately and without hesitation."


    After reading the note with both Russian and German army, I asked, "general Matten, what''s the purpose of this note written by gonel for us?"


    "In the underground Hospital of the fortress, there are five or six hundred wounded soldiers and medical staff." Matten solemnly replied, "gonel is worried that you will execute all the sick and wounded after you capture the fortress. Therefore, after careful consideration, he wrote down this note and asked me to come out and negotiate with you. "


    Trikov turned to look at the left and right commanders and said with a smile, "it''s ridiculous that a SS officer who was so devoted to * * actually offered to surrender to us because he was worried about us killing the captured German wounded and sick. This is the funniest joke I''ve ever heard."


    "Then why did he commit suicide?" I asked, looking at matron.


    Matten thought for a moment, then replied, "he heard that you usually shoot captured * * officers on the spot. As a fortress commander, he caused great casualties to you when fighting against your attack. Once captured by you, he must be shot. Even if he gets away with it, Himmler won''t get around him, or he will die because he lost his fortress. Anyway, it''s hard to escape death, so after he has done what he should do, he''s done it by himself. "


    After listening to matron''s story, I felt that what he said was very close to the truth, so after a little thought, I told trakov, "general trakov, after the enemy of the core Fort surrender, you should send someone to find gonel''s body, bury it in a coffin and bury it well."


    "What, a coffin for his body?" After listening to this, a commander nearby said a little unconvinced: "for such a stubborn * *, we should pour gasoline on his body, burn it to ashes, and then scatter it in the river."


    Instead of looking at the grumbling commander immediately, I looked at matron and asked, "general matron, how many troops do you have left?"


    "There are about 12000 people left in the core fort," maten said cautiously, frowning. "There should be about 10000 people left in the fortress and residential areas."


    After listening to the data that mattern gave me, I nodded and then said to all the commanders present, "comrades, you have just heard that there are still more than 20000 German troops. If we want to wipe out so many enemies, what price will we pay? "


    When I say this, I want to pause to see your reaction. The commanders, listening to me, immediately began to whisper, as if they were studying the price they would pay if they really wanted to take the whole Poznan.


    Seeing that no one raised any objection, I went on to say, "if you don''t say anything else, you can''t take down the core Fort just in front of us. There are no casualties of 20000 or 30000 people, right?" Seeing that most of the people were nodding in agreement with me, I continued, "but because of goner, the German army was ready to stop resisting and lay down its arms and surrender to our army, which greatly reduced our casualties. Although gonel is our enemy and a diehard * *, his action has avoided tens of thousands of people''s bloodshed. Just by this, I think it''s justifiable to bury his body properly. " As soon as I finished, trakov immediately echoed: "I agree with Comrade deputy commander of the front army. It is precisely because gonel made the right choice before he committed suicide that tens of thousands of our commanders and fighters avoided bloodshed. Therefore, it is also our duty to properly arrange his body." With these words, seeing that no one raised any objection, he began to give orders: "general semenkov, the surrender of the core fort is in the charge of the Fourth Army of the guards. Comrade Pronin, you immediately draft a speech to tell the remaining German officers and soldiers in the fortress area and residential area that the fortress commander General maten has declared surrender and asked them to stop resisting immediately. " After listening to trekov''s words, military commissar Pronin immediately stood up and said, "well, comrade commander, I''m going to draft a speech and persuade the German soldiers in the fortress and residential areas to surrender." Then he turned to matron and asked, "general matron, are you willing to cooperate with us to finish the persuasion work in Poznan?" Matron quickly got up from his seat and replied respectfully, "Mr. general, it''s my pleasure to be of service to you. I''m at your command." When Pronin and semenkov left one after another, trakov turned to me and said, "Rita, let''s go back to the headquarters of the group army. The news of the German surrender needs to be reported to Marshal Zhukov at the first time. " Zhukov, after listening to the report from trakov on the phone, asked in surprise: "what, the German army of Poznan laid down their arms and surrendered to our army? Is that true? "¡° Yes, Marshal Zhukov Trikov understood the reason why Zhukov asked, and quickly explained to him: "the reason why the garrison of Poznan resisted tenaciously was that their fortress commander was a SS officer appointed by Himmler. He was a stubborn * * element. In addition to resolutely resisting the attack of our army, he also wanted to break away from the * * for those officers and men who were awakened, There was also a merciless massacre. " When Zhukov heard what trakov said, he was puzzled and asked, "since he is such a stubborn * * member, how can he let his deputy come out to negotiate surrender with you?"¡° Marshal, the reason is very simple. " Trekov continued to explain: "we attacked the troops in the core fort and surrounded an underground Hospital of the German army. There were five or six hundred wounded and sick people and medical staff in it. He worried that if he continued to resist, these people would be slaughtered by our army."¡° It''s ridiculous. It''s ridiculous. " When Zhukov heard this, he said angrily on the phone, "do you think our commanders and fighters, like them, are two legged animals, and will mercilessly kill the unarmed wounded?"¡° I also think it''s just an excuse. " Trekov analyzed: "it may be our army''s fierce attack in recent days that made him realize that it is an impossible task to continue to stick to Poznan. If we continue to fight, we can only burn the stone and the jade.". Therefore, in order to let the remaining officers and soldiers live, he can only come up with such a poor reason. "¡° Well, comrade trakov, whatever the reason the enemy used, Poznan is now in our hands. " Seeing that Poznan''s problem had been solved, Zhukov began to assign tasks for the next stage: "in addition to leaving the necessary forces to maintain law and order in the city, you should immediately mobilize the main force of the group army to advance westward, join forces with katukov''s troops on the Oder River, and cooperate with them to continue to advance to Berlin."¡° I see, comrade marshal. " When he heard that he was going to command the troops to march towards Berlin, trakov suddenly became excited: "I suggest that the 91st infantry of the 69th group army should be left behind, while the whole army of our group army should move westward. Do you think that''s all right? "

 Chapter 1691

    On hearing this request, Zhukov chuckled: "Comrade trakov, you are playing a trick. Let me transfer your army to the Oder River. Are you going to be the first to rush into Berlin?"


    "Needless to say," he said carelessly, seeing that Zhukov had guessed his intention, "we have been bullied by the Germans for several years. Now it''s hard to wait until the moment of revenge. Naturally, we all want to rush into Berlin first and destroy the stronghold of the bandits."


    After his words, Zhukov suddenly fell silent. After a while, he said, "Comrade trakov, give Rita the phone. I have something important to talk to her."


    On hearing Zhukov''s stern tone, trakov quickly handed me the microphone and asked the other commanders to stay away from me, so as not to hear the secret they shouldn''t listen to.


    "Marshal comrade," I don''t know if Zhukov will come to me for anything, but it''s probably not a trivial matter. Therefore, when I spoke to him, my palm holding the microphone was sweating: "what instructions do you have?"


    "Rita, your intuition is right." After Zhukov said something inexplicably, there was no voice.


    Zhukov''s mindless words confused me, and I asked, "Comrade marshal, what''s your intuition?"


    "You once said that because of the hatred of our commanders and fighters for the Germans, they would carry out crazy revenge after entering the German mainland." Zhukov finally spoke again: "not long ago, the troops attacking East Prussia were stunned by the huge contrast of life after they entered the German town. Some soldiers were puzzled and asked, "since the Germans are so rich, why do they want to invade us?"


    Then our soldiers stormed into the houses of the local residents and robbed them of all the jewelry, watches, clothes, boots, food and things they liked. When I left, there was a big fire that burned down the whole town. "


    The worry finally happened, which made my heart beat faster. I quickly asked, "what about the residents in the town? Did they run away long ago, or were they killed by our soldiers? "


    "According to rokosovsky''s report, his men only killed two or three local people who resisted." Zhukov went on to say, "our soldiers drove all the residents out of the town before they set fire to the whole town."


    Although such a crime was committed by the second front army of Belarus of rokosovsky, it had a bad impact on the image of the whole Soviet army. I asked carefully, "how did marshal rokosovsky deal with this matter?"


    "What else can we do?" Zhukov said helplessly: "since before entering East Prussia, we did not work out the precautions that should be observed by the officers and men of the army after entering the German mainland, and the number of people who violated the discipline was as many as 1000, so this matter can only be changed into a big one and a small one. Rokosovsky called the commander in charge of the team to give him a hard reprimand. That''s the end of the matter. "


    I guessed from Zhukov''s words that he might want to talk to me about serious military discipline, so I asked in advance, "marshal, are you going to give an order to prevent our troops from having similar incidents after they enter Germany?"


    "Yes, that''s what I think." Zhukov said carefully: "Rita, you should know that due to the shortage of soldiers, we have incorporated a large number of criminal and reform through labor prisoners into the army. The existence of these people is bound to lead to lax military discipline in our army. That''s what I''m going to talk to you about today. "


    I remember that in the posts I read in later generations, I repeatedly mentioned the heinous crimes committed by the Soviet army in the German army. They were burning, killing and looting everywhere, and their deeds were even worse than those of the Communist Party. In order to avoid the recurrence of similar situations, I feel it necessary to help Zhukov formulate relevant rules and regulations to prevent the Soviet army from deteriorating military discipline.


    I asked cautiously, "Comrade marshal, do you need me to rush back to Lublin at once?" My implication is that if you need my help in formulating such a policy, I will return at the first time.


    Zhukov obviously recognized my voice out of the picture and said, "Rita, I''m going to Rhodes in two days, and I''ll set up the new front command there. If you have time, you can meet me there. In the past two days, you first carried out this work in trakov''s army. Through the propaganda of political workers, the soldiers can correctly deal with the current situation and avoid any excessive action. "


    "I see, comrade marshal." I quickly replied: "I will work out relevant regulations with general Pronin, military commissar of the group army, as soon as possible, and implement them in the 8th group army of the guards, so as to prevent the recurrence of incidents in East Prussia."


    As soon as I finished my call with Zhukov, I beckoned for trakov, duhanov, Pronin and the chief of staff, Vladimirov, and repeated to several people what Zhukov had told me on the phone.


    After listening to my story, everyone''s face showed a surprised expression. After a while, Pronin said: "although our parents said that we should face the enemy with an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, under the current situation, we can''t simply understand what they said. For example, two legged wild animals, killing our people crazily, burning down our houses for generations, or robbing. Now we have the advantage, but we can''t repeat the beast like things they have done because of revenge. "


    "That''s right," said trikov, nodding his head after Pronin finished his speech. "If we do, what is the essential difference between us and the Communist aggressors who are being attacked by us?"¡° I think Marshal Zhukov is quite right, "deputy commander duhanov added." due to the serious shortage of troops, we have incorporated a large number of criminal and reform through labor prisoners into the army. The existence of these people is bound to affect our military discipline. "¡° Since we know that these people are unstable factors in the army, we must focus on them and send special personnel to supervise them. " Trikov turned his eyes to Pronin again: "Comrade military commissar, we should unify the understanding of the commanders and fighters as soon as possible, so that they can realize that we are here to liberate the suffering German people, not to invade them, so we must resolutely put an end to the phenomenon of burning, killing and looting, understand?"

 Chapter 1692

    Trakov''s troops had a night''s rest in Poznan, and the next morning they began to march towards the Oder River.


    The armored car that trekov and I were in was moving in the middle of the marching army. In front of the driving is a radio car, the sound from the horn constantly floated into our car¡° Comrades, we are about to enter Germany under Hitler''s rule. We all know that Germany has brought great disaster to our motherland. We will soon set foot on their territory to punish them But first of all, we should realize that it was Hitler who initiated the war, and the ordinary German people, like our people, were the victims of the war. Any act inconsistent with the title of a Red Army soldier and any unreasonable infringement on the German people will be severely punished,... The picket team has the right to kill those who commit robbery and rape on the spot... "


    After listening for a while to the orders issued by Pronin and I, trekov nodded his head and said, "Rita, it''s good to write. I hope our troops can avoid the kind of atrocities in East Prussia when they enter Berlin."


    After listening to what trakov said, I didn''t speak. I just laughed politely. I thought to myself: in real history, the Soviet general issued similar orders, but the effect was very limited. In addition to Berlin, other cities occupied by the Soviet army, there were burning, killing and looting in varying degrees.


    Chief of staff Vladimirov said with a smile: "Comrade commander, our troops are only 70 kilometers away from Berlin. As long as we launch a strong attack on the German army, our troops can rush into Berlin."


    As for the current situation, trakov was obviously not as optimistic as his chief of staff. He shook his head and said, "Comrade chief of staff, the situation is not as simple as you think. Although we have successfully liberated Poznan, there are German fortresses in our rear areas, such as snydemuher, arnsworld, blaislaw, grogo and Thorne, We must set aside enough troops to destroy these enemies. "


    "General trakov is right," I said immediately after trakov finished, "if we don''t clear the German fortresses in these defense areas, then we must leave enough troops to deal with these enemies. In this way, our power to attack Berlin will be greatly weakened.


    The offensive campaign launched by our army took advantage of the favorable opportunity for the German forces to concentrate on the western front and carry out counter assault on the Allied forces. Within three weeks, our troops advanced 500 kilometers on a 500 kilometer wide front. Hitler was terrified by the fighting power shown by our army. He hastily withdrew his troops from Arden to strengthen the defense in the direction of Berlin. "


    "Hitler withdrew his troops from Arden at this time," Vladimirov asked with a frown. "Don''t you worry that the allies will take the opportunity to launch a counterattack against them?"


    "The Allied forces have just suffered a heavy blow from the German forces. Even if they counterattack, it would be very good if they could restore the situation before the campaign." I explained to Vladimirov: "it will take time for them to regroup if they are to continue their advance to Berlin. What''s more, they are more than 600 kilometers away from Berlin, while we are only 70 kilometers away. If you were Hitler, where would you focus your defense? "


    "Needless to say, it is placed to the east of Berlin to block our attack." After Vladimirov said these words without thinking, he tentatively asked me, "if the Germans have transferred their troops to the East, will they not care about the west?"


    I was thinking about whether I should tell them that someone at the top of the German army was trying to make peace with the allies in private, but I heard trakov Snort and say, "I think that after the Germans suffer losses from the allies, they may open the way to Berlin to the Germans and concentrate on us."


    Trakov''s words made Vladimirov even more puzzled: "if the Allies arrived in Berlin, the Germans could not escape the fate of destruction. Were they so stupid?"


    "It''s not a question of whether they are stupid or not, but what kind of foreign policy they adopt." As a political worker, Pronin is particularly sensitive to such political affairs. After listening to what trakov said, he immediately expressed his own views: "for them, the Soviet is a monster, while British and American capitalism is their potential ally. Therefore, they will certainly fight against our attack, and intend to open the way to Berlin for the allies. "


    After listening to the conversation between trikov and Pronin, I couldn''t help looking surprised. The reason why I know that the Germans will open the way to Berlin to the allies is that what is going to happen is a known history for me, and the two of them can roughly judge the measures that the Germans may take by relying on some clues. It seems that I really underestimate their ability.


    After five or six hours on the road, we finally arrived at katukov''s headquarters. When he saw us coming, he was overjoyed. He quickly shook hands with trikov and said happily, "Comrade trikov, I''m looking forward to you. With your support, our tanks can move forward again. "


    When shaking hands with me, he whispered to me, "Rita, Marshal Zhukov called here to see you. If you have time, please call him back."


    I thought Zhukov wanted me to meet him at Rhodes as soon as possible. But when the phone was connected, Zhukov found out where I was, and said, "Rita, now I''ll give you the command of trakov and katukov, as well as the troops of the 5th army. You''ll make all the preparations immediately. As soon as I get to the Oder River, And immediately attack Berlin. " Although the current situation is very good, after more than half a month of continuous fighting, the commanders and fighters are exhausted. If we continue to attack, the combat effectiveness of our army will be greatly reduced. Thinking of this, I asked carefully, "Comrade marshal, can I raise an objection?"¡° Objection? " When Zhukov heard me say this, he said with some displeasure, "what''s the objection?"¡° According to what I know, the left wing marshal konev''s troops are tenaciously defended by the German army in the south, while the right wing''s situation is not very good. Marshal rokosovsky''s troops are 150 kilometers away from us. " I solemnly said to Zhukov, "our position of the front army is too prominent. Once the main force of the German army detours back to our two wings, we are in danger of being surrounded by the German army. I think we''d better stop for a while, and then continue to advance to Berlin when the superior''s supplementary troops and various military supplies arrive. "¡° No, "Zhukov denied my suggestion without hesitation." time is precious to both the enemy and us. If we don''t take advantage of the fact that the German army hasn''t recovered, and continue to attack them, once they have built a deep defense system, we will pay huge casualties to attack again. I''ll visit the Oder River tomorrow. Before that, you should be ready for all attacks. Do you understand? " Seeing that Zhukov was so tough, I had no choice but to reply, "I see, comrade marshal." When I put down the phone, katukov immediately asked, "Rita, what did the marshal say?"¡° The marshal ordered us to be ready to attack and ready to attack Berlin. " Some people are happy and others are worried when they hear what I say. The people who were happy were the lower level staff officers and so on. But after listening to katukov and trakov, they could not help frowning¡° Comrade katukov, how do you think about it? " Trekov asked, looking at katukov. Katukov heard this and said with a bitter smile, "general trakov, you should understand that our troops have advanced 500 kilometers in three weeks. Most of the tanks need to be repaired before they can fight. How can the infantry without the support of tanks, if they want to break through the layers of German defense, even if they pay a huge sacrifice, they will not be able to succeed. "¡° What about that? " "Marshal Zhukov is a stubborn man, and what he decides is something that no one can change," he said with some embarrassment I also feel helpless about this kind of difference with Zhukov. I can''t give Stalin a small report, saying that the time for attacking Berlin is not ripe, so we should turn to defense on the spot, and then attack Berlin after we have replenished enough troops and materials, right? Seeing that everyone turned their eyes on me, I could only perfunctorily say, "general trakov, go and set up your headquarters first. We will discuss this matter later in the evening." In the evening, at katukov''s headquarters, I convened a temporary military meeting among katukov, trakov and berzalin. After I conveyed Zhukov''s order to you again, I said, "comrades in command, we are all very clear about the current situation of our army. Marshal Zhukov told us to prepare for the attack and plan to launch an attack on Berlin in the near future. "¡° The situation is very bad, comrade deputy commander of the front army. " The first speaker was berzalin, who frowned and said: "after three weeks of fighting, our troops have been seriously reduced. Most divisions have only 50% of the soldiers left, and many of them are wounded. It is impossible to break through the German defence by attacking Berlin with such a force. " Katukov and trakov also expressed the same view. Seeing that the three commanders of the group army had the same opinion, I had a point in my heart. Since everyone thought that now was not the best time to attack, I would have a good talk with Zhukov when he came tomorrow to see if I could make him change his mind.

 Chapter 1693

    Early the next morning, Zhukov flew to katukov''s headquarters. He strode into the headquarters, and across the way, he reached out to katukov, and said with a smile, "general katukov, I congratulate you on your troops successfully crossing the Oder River and being the first to set foot on German territory."


    He then shook hands with trekov, who was standing by, and said with the same smile, "Comrade trekov, I want to tell you some good news. At 8 o''clock last night, 224 salutes were fired 20 times in red square to celebrate your successful liberation of Poznan. "


    When he came to berzalin, he still kept a smile on his face: "Comrade berzalin, your 5th shock group army was the first to rush into the city of ginitz, and also the first to occupy the German city. The great achievements you and your subordinates have made will go down in history forever! "


    Finally, he came up to me, shook my hand briefly, and then walked towards the conference table. After him, marinin shook hands with me and asked in a low voice, "Rita, are you ready to attack?"


    "No, comrade chief of staff." I also answered in a low voice: "I don''t think we have the conditions to attack Berlin at present. I don''t know if Marshal Zhukov will change his original intention when we meet later."


    Malining looked at Zhukov, who was already seated, and said in a voice that only the two of us could hear: "Marshal Zhukov is a stubborn man. What he recognizes is that no one can change, not even the Supreme Commander himself."


    "Comrade marinin, what are you still standing there doing?" Perhaps seeing malining chatting with me, Zhukov urged impatiently, "come and sit down, you two. We are going to have a meeting soon."


    After we all sat down, Zhukov looked at malining and said, "Comrade chief of staff, read out the order given to us by the supreme command."


    Malining nodded, stood up, picked up a folder in front of him, opened it, and read aloud: "the Supreme Command asked us to take positive actions to consolidate our victory in the last six days. When the follow-up troops catch up, they will add fuel, ammunition and other military materials to the two bases, and then immediately make a rapid impact, Take Berlin in two days from January 28 to 29. "


    After listening to the order from the supreme command, several of them began to whisper, but my heart was thinking that history had deviated here because of my appearance. We arrived at the left bank of the Oder River half a month earlier. In the order to attack Berlin, the attack time was also advanced from February 15 to 16 to January 28 to 29, More than half a month in advance.


    After hearing this, Zhukov glanced at all the commanders and said slowly, "you have heard me. According to the order of the supreme command, we will conquer Berlin in two weeks. Are you all ready to attack? "


    "No, comrade marshal." I saw that the three commanders of the group army were silent. They quickly stood up and took the responsibility to themselves: "I think the time to attack Berlin is not mature, so I didn''t let them prepare for the attack."


    After hearing this, Zhukov did not immediately express his position. Instead, he turned his eyes to general sokolovsky who came with him. This general is now the deputy commander of the front army. Hearing Zhukov asking himself, he quickly replied, "marshal, I just talked with Comrade berzalin, and I know that his troops are fighting hard and excellent battles on the left bank of the Oder River, And the divisions have only half of their forces left, and they are constantly being attacked by the German air force. "


    "What about our air force?" Zhukov, after waiting for sokolovsky to finish, turned his eyes to the air force commander General Lu Duncan who came to us last night, "general Lu Duncan, why does our air force let the enemy control the air in the battlefield?"


    "Marshal," general Lu Duncan replied bitterly, "the enemy''s plane took off from Berlin, and their runway was concrete, so they could not be restricted by the weather; No matter our field airport is far away from the front, the runway is also damaged by rain. Every time our fighter pilots take off, they have to risk their lives... "


    After Lu Duncan''s words, last night and the commander of the army''s equipment unit, o''lear, who arrived here before, continued: "marshal, I have specially inspected the situation of each tank brigade and found that each brigade has only 40 tanks on average, and many brigades have only 15 to 20 tanks. The replenishment is very slow. The repair base is hundreds of kilometers away, so we can''t repair the damaged tanks in time. "


    Lieutenant general garazav, chief political commissar of the front army, also added: "marshal, after three weeks of fierce fighting, all our political workers have been advancing with the advance troops, encouraging the commanders and fighters to build immortal meritorious deeds in the battle, and the soldiers have shown great bravery. But at the same time, I want to tell you, marshal, our commanders and fighters are tired. They need to rest for a while before they can fight again. "


    Seeing that all the people fell to the ground and thought that they did not have the conditions to continue to attack, Zhukov was silent. He leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling, lost in thought. We all know that Zhukov was engaged in a fierce ideological struggle, so no one spoke. In such a big room, you can only hear people breathing.


    After not knowing how long, Zhukov finally sat up straight again. Seeing his action, we all know that he has made the final decision, so we all hold our breath and stare at him, nervously waiting for his final answer. Zhukov looked at malining and said, "Comrade chief of staff, we will not attack Berlin for the time being. After three weeks of intense fighting and March, our troops have become exhausted. If we continue to push forward recklessly, we will repeat the mistakes of the German army under Moscow at the end of the year of 41. Maybe all our efforts will come to nothing¡° Great, comrade marshal. " "I knew it, I knew you would make such a wise decision," he said¡° Send a report to the supreme command. " Zhukov told malining to give a detailed report to the Supreme Commander himself on the reasons for our temporary suspension of attack and the current situation on the battlefield

 Chapter 1694

    Malining is worthy of being an excellent staff officer. It took only a few minutes to draft a report. While Zhukov was browsing, I looked over to see what was written on it.


    "1. As the left wing of the second front army of Belarus is too far away from the right wing of the first front army of Belarus, by the end of January 13, the width of our front army has reached 500 km.


    2. If marshal rokosovsky''s left wing continues to stagnate, there is no doubt that the enemy will take positive action against the right wing of the Belarusian first front army, which has been stretched too long. Please order rokosovsky to send the 70th group army to attack the West immediately, even if it can be close to the rear echelon of the right wing of the first front army of Belarus.


    3. Please instruct marshal konev to go out quickly to the Oder River


    After reading it, Zhukov did not hesitate to sign his name at the back, and then handed it to sokolovsky for him to sign it.


    I thought he would order malining to send out the report after sokolovsky signed. Who knows, after taking back the report from sokolovsky, he put it in front of me and said in an unquestionable tone, "Rita, sign your name, too."


    "I''ll sign, too?" I had never signed the report submitted to the supreme command before, so I thought Zhukov had made a mistake, so I pointed to my nose and asked in surprise, "Comrade marshal, do I want to sign this report, too?"


    "That''s right." Zhukov nodded and said impatiently, "you are the deputy commander of the front army. When such a report is submitted to the supreme command, you must sign it as long as you are present. Stop dawdling and sign your name quickly. "


    I took the pen that malining had handed me and signed my name at the bottom of the report that I had just drafted. I didn''t seem to notice someone rushing in from the outside.


    I handed the signed report back to Zhukov, relieved. As soon as I turned around, I saw a major officer standing next to general Lu Duncan, muttering something in a low voice.


    Zhukov handed the report to malining and said, "chief of staff, send this report to the supreme command immediately."


    Malining took the document and immediately turned away from the headquarters, intending to send a telegram to the telegraph room next door. At this time, Zhukov found the uninvited guest standing beside Lu Duncan, and asked with a straight face, "who are you?"


    Seeing that Zhukov had found him, the major stopped talking with Lu Duncan, straightened up in the same place, faced Zhukov and said nothing.


    Seeing that the major did not answer his question, Zhukov was annoyed. He raised his voice and asked, "who are you? Why break into the room where the senior leaders are meeting without permission? "


    I stared at the frightened young major and muttered to myself, "who is he? Don''t you know that the head of the front army and several commanders of the group army are holding an important meeting? "


    Fortunately, Lu Duncan helped the major out in time: "please forgive me, marshal. This is the operational staff officer of our air force. He has important intelligence to report to me. That''s why he broke in as an exception. "


    "Operational staff officer," Zhukov said softly after he looked up and down the major, "tell me what important information you''ve got that you dare to break into our conference room."


    "Comrades marshal," the major stepped forward and said with full confidence, "according to the Air Force reconnaissance, a large number of German tanks and motorized troops have been found on the move in bermelania."


    "What kind of forces does the enemy have?" Zhukov asked, motionless.


    "According to the report of the reconnaissance plane, the enemy''s armored column is ten kilometers long." The major straightened up and said, "I think it''s necessary to report this information to the commander immediately, so I came here."


    "I see, comrade major." Zhukov waved to the major. "It''s none of your business here. Go out first."


    After the staff officer went out, Zhukov walked back and forth in the room, thinking about the countermeasures. Malining, who had just come in, saw Zhukov pacing and did not dare to disturb him, so he stood beside him honestly.


    Zhukov inadvertently raised his head and saw malining standing in front of him. He immediately stopped and said to him, "chief of staff, you''ve just come at the right time. The air force just reported that it found that the German army has a large number of tanks and motorized troops, which are being mobilized in the bermelania area. Do you have any relevant information there?"


    "Marshal," malining replied slowly, "I have just received this information and am preparing to report it to you. Since the air force is unable to accurately understand the enemy''s forces, I have ordered the reconnaissance units of the front army to send out and fly to that area for reconnaissance. I believe we can get general information by this evening at the latest. "


    I am very clear that there is room for malining''s remarks. Because rokosovsky''s troops are too far away from us, in order to ensure the security of the right wing, the reconnaissance Department has long sent scouts to carry out uninterrupted reconnaissance missions in that area. With regard to the German troop movements in the region of bermelania, I estimate that as long as malining intervenes, he can get accurate information within an hour or two at most.


    After listening to malining, Zhukov said to the rest of the commanders, "well, comrades general, that''s it. I''ll call you back when necessary. "


    The three group commanders left, and so did ludduncan and garazav. There were only Zhukov, sokolovsky, malining and me in the room. At this time, Zhukov asked, "what are you going to do when the German forces gather a large number of troops in bermelania?"


    "It''s no use saying that," the first speaker was sokolovsky. "The enemy mustered so many tanks and motorized troops on the right wing of our army, certainly not to stop marshal rokolovsky''s troops advancing westward, but to launch counter attacks from the north to severely attack the right wing of our army."


    "That''s how I think about it." Zhukov nodded his head and said, "we must first find out what kind of forces the enemy is, and then decide what way to smash their attack."


    I listened quietly to Zhukov and his two colleagues talking about the situation in bermelania. I didn''t interrupt because I found that the history I knew was inevitably deviated again because of me. Whether the German army, which was still inseparable from the allies in Arden, could still assemble 16 infantry divisions and 7 tank divisions in bermelania, as in history, has become an unknown number.


    By 4 p.m., marinin had received a report from the direction of bermelania. He immediately reported to Zhukov: "marshal, according to our scout''s report, the enemy''s 2nd and 11th armies in the region of bermelania have increased to ten infantry divisions and three tank divisions, ready to attack our right wing at any time."


    When I heard that the German army had only 13 divisions, and there were four fewer tank divisions than in history, my mood suddenly relaxed. To deal with such an enemy, as long as the first group army of katukov''s close guard tanks is transferred, the enemy can be easily defeated.


    After listening to the report, Zhukov immediately told malining: "call general katukov, and I will give him the order to fight."


    Malining agreed, went to the phone behind Zhukov, picked up the receiver and called katukov.


    Zhukov looked at me and sokolovsky and asked, "how do you think we should deal with the enemy?"


    As soon as suokovsky and Zhukov finished talking, he immediately replied, "I suggest that the first group army of general katukov''s close guard tanks and the fifth assault group army of berzalin be transferred to the region of bomerania to smash the German counter assault."


    Zhukov nodded, looked back at me and asked, "what do you think, Rita?"


    "If we move a tank group army and a shock group army from the Oder River area, our strength in this area will become weak." In response to sokolovsky''s proposal, I expressed my own opinion: "if the German army launches a counter assault from the west at this time, then the defensive positions we have established along the Oder River are likely to be lost. You know, capturing Berlin is our priority. "


    "Tell me what you think, Rita," said Zhukov, a little displeased at my account of the situation. "How do you think we should deal with the enemies of bermania?"


    "At present, the 61st and 69th army of our army and the 1st army of Poland are advancing towards the Oder River. We can ask general katukov to hand over his defensive zone on the Oder River to the newly arrived troops, and then the whole army will turn north and go to bermelania to smash the German counter attack. "


    "Marshal, I think Rita has a point." As soon as I finished, marinin echoed: "the strength of the German army today can''t be compared with that of 41 years. One tank group army of ours is enough to crush the anti assault launched by their 13 divisions."


    Zhukov opened his mouth. Just as he wanted to speak, he saw katukov come in with a big stride.


    Katukov walked up to Zhukov, straightened up and asked, "marshal, are you calling me here to attack Berlin? Don''t worry, 70 kilometers. It only takes two days and nights for my troops to arrive. "


    "We will not attack Berlin for the time being." Zhukov looked up at katukov and said, "in the morning meeting, we decided not to attack Berlin for the time being. Have you forgotten? "


    "I didn''t forget." After giving Zhukov a negative answer, katukov tentatively asked, "did you call me here for the sake of bomelania?"


    "Yes, comrade katukov, you are right." Zhukov nodded his head and said, "according to our latest intelligence, the German army has assembled 13 divisions in bermelania, three of which are tank divisions. If you were goodrian, what measures would you take against our army? "


    Katukov tilted his head and thought for a moment, then replied, "if I were to command this army, I would attack the weak right wing of the first front army of Belarus from the north, so as to cut off the troops going out to the Oder River and delay your attack on Berlin indefinitely."


    "The analysis is correct, and I think goodrian is thinking the same way." After Zhukov finished his sentence, he began to give an order to katukov: "Comrade katukov, you will immediately hand over the tristring landing site on the left bank of the Oder River to the neighboring troops, and then immediately turn north and march towards antsvad in bermelania by means of a rapid march!"¡° Yes Katukov, with a loud promise, turned and walked out of the headquarters. Looking at katukov''s back, sokolovsky said with some worry: "Comrade marshal, is it a bit too risky just to send general katukov''s tank army northward to meet the thirteen German divisions?"¡° No, comrade sokolovsky. " As for sokolovsky''s worry, Zhukov waved his hand and said confidently: "general katukov is a very excellent commander. As early as during the Moscow defense war, he once severely damaged the German armour troops in the msensk area with an incomplete tank brigade. Now he is commanding an elite tank group army. It should not be a big problem to smash the attack of more than ten German divisions. Moreover, rokosovsky''s troops are just to the east of bermelania, and they are ready to provide necessary support for katukov. "¡° Well, the enemy of the right wing, we have arranged for people to deal with it. " Zhukov sat down at the table again, patted the map in front of him with his hand, and said to us, "next, we should study how to solve the enemy between the Oder River and Berlin. Blocking our way forward is the German army''s zelauf highland, where the enemy has established a perfect defense in depth. Facing this continuous fortification area, we can only take the way of strong attack to eliminate the enemy in this area and open the way to Berlin. " After waiting patiently for Zhukov to finish, I asked tentatively, "Comrade marshal, when do you plan to launch an attack on zelauf heights?"¡° As we have to wait for the follow-up troops to arrive and replenish our troops and military supplies, it will take a lot of time. " Zhukov said slowly: "the attack will start in late February."¡° Marshal, "as for Zhukov''s plan, I euphemistically put forward my own view:" at the end of February, Germany is in the season of snow melting, and the muddy road is a big problem for our army, which needs a lot of technical equipment to participate in the war. If we are met with tenacious resistance from the German army, our offensive forces may be trapped in this area. "

 Chapter 1695

    "Rita, our army has a good tradition. I don''t know if you have found it?" When I finished, Zhukov said, "I just like to attack the enemy on important festivals. This time is no exception. "


    Just as I was recalling the important festival in February, I suddenly heard sokolovsky carefully ask: "marshal, are you going to launch an attack on the highlands of zelauf on February 23?"


    On February 23, I only hesitated for a moment, then I remembered that this was the army day of the Soviet army. It seems that Zhukov planned to attack on this day.


    "Marshal, are you going to attack the highlands of zelauf on the day of the founding of the army?" malining asked tentatively


    "Yes, that''s how I think about it." Zhukov nodded his head and said, "don''t you think it''s very meaningful to launch an attack on the German army on such an important day?"


    I can clearly remember that the day when the highlands of zelauf were attacked in history was April 16th. Now, because of me, it is two months earlier. If our army still breaks through the German defense and arrives outside Berlin in four days, will Hitler live to his birthday?


    When Zhukov finished, malining immediately asked him, "do we need to report this to the supreme command?"


    "Yes!" Zhukov nodded his head and replied, "also, for the convenience of commanding troops, from today on, we will set up the headquarters of the front army here."


    Our new headquarters was built before dark. Zhukov called lieutenant general Anji to the headquarters and asked, "Comrade logistics minister, if we are going to attack Berlin in a month, how can we strengthen the transportation of fuel and ammunition?"


    After thinking about it, lieutenant general Anji replied, "marshal, we should set up checkpoints on the road leading to the front line to inspect all vehicles going to and from the front line. Only the materials necessary for the army''s operations are released. The rest of the materials are unloaded and stored on the spot."


    "Don''t you think about building a railway?" Zhukov kindly reminded him that "if we only rely on trucks for transportation, first, there will be restrictions on the quality of roads, and at the same time, our transportation vehicles will consume a lot of fuel."


    "To build a railway, professionals must be sent to investigate the road conditions in advance. Without half a year to a year, the railway can not be completed." After speaking of his difficulties, lieutenant general Anji told Zhukov, "in order to save gasoline, half of the empty cars returning from the front line can be towed back. In addition, we need to register all the fuel seized and strictly control the use of the troops.... "


    While Zhukov and anjipuko were talking, I sat at the table, browsing the information piled on the table, thinking about how I should find something to do when I was preparing to attack. As a result, I found an unexpected situation after watching it for a long time.


    After Anji film division left, I put down the information in my hand and said to Zhukov, "Comrade commander, I have an idea. Can you tell me?"


    "Say it!" Zhukov answered casually, then lowered his head and got busy.


    I picked up a piece of information I had just read, got up and went over, put it in front of him, and then said, "Comrade marshal, according to the information, there are many scattered German officers and soldiers in the forest near our occupied area."


    "The speed of our army''s advance was so much faster than the German army''s imagination that many of their scattered troops could not be built at all." Zhukov looked up at me and said with disapproval, "if you lose the organic units, you are just a group of lambs to be slaughtered. You don''t have to worry about them."


    "Marshal, according to our intelligence, there are tens of thousands of German soldiers in the forest near the Oder River." Seeing that Zhukov didn''t pay enough attention to the incident, I immediately reminded him, "if we allow so many enemies to stay in the forest, it will be a very big threat to us once the * * officers regroup them."


    "Are there so many enemies?" My words finally caught Zhukov''s attention. He put down his pen, picked up the information I gave him and scanned it carefully. After reading, he put the information on the table and walked back and forth in the room with his hands on his back, as if thinking about the questions I asked.


    After a while, he finally stopped, looked at me and asked, "Rita, how do you think about it?"


    I quickly put forward to Zhukov the plan that I had already considered mature: "we can dispatch a troop to the forest to eliminate these enemies, so that they can not escape from the forest area and cross the river to join the enemies in the zelauf highlands."


    "Wipe out the enemy!" After repeating what I said, Zhukov shook his head with a smile and said to me, "Rita, these are tens of thousands of enemies. If you want to destroy them, you need at least two guards to have an effect. But our front-line forces are tight. How can we draw so many troops? "


    Seeing that Zhukov was looking forward and backward, I quickly stepped forward and said, "marshal, today''s German army is no longer 41 years old. Their fighting capacity and fighting will can''t be compared with the enemy three years ago. If you can trust me, I''ll be in charge of it. I only need two divisions to finish it. "


    "Two teachers?" Zhukov frowned and thought, then nodded slightly, "if you really only need two teachers, you can try. Well, I''ll leave it to you to take full charge of it. You can go to discuss it with trekov now. "


    I left the front command and came to trekov''s headquarters. When he came in, trikov was assigning combat tasks to his teachers. Seeing me coming in, he quickly terminated the meeting and asked, "Rita, what''s the matter with you here?"


    "Well, general trakov." When I told him that there were tens of thousands of German troops hidden in the forest, and when I wanted to dispatch troops from him to clear up the enemy, I asked at last: "I intend to use one of your divisions to carry out this glorious task, won''t you object?"


    Trikov asked his subordinates, "comrades, you have heard what the deputy commander of the front army has just said. Who is willing to carry out this task, can take the initiative to sign up? "


    As soon as he finished, two division commanders took a step forward and said, "Comrade commander, I am willing to lead the troops to carry out this task."


    When I looked closely, the two teachers who were talking were major general Kuragin of the 35th division and Colonel marchenko of the 39th division.


    Trekov turned to look at me, gave me a wry smile, and then said, "Rita, do you see that? These two teachers are willing to carry out this glorious task with you. Look, who are you going to choose? "


    When I looked at Kuragin and marcenzo, they both took a step forward and looked at me with eager eyes, hoping to get my permission.


    I learned from the map that the area of the forest was so vast that it took at least two divisions to complete the task. Just now, I told trakov that he only needed one. I was worried that he would be stingy and find a reason not to give me troops. At the moment, when I saw that the two division commanders were going to cooperate with me in carrying out the task, I pretended to be helpless and said to trikov, "general trikov, since these two division commanders are willing to carry out the task with me, then give them all to my command?"


    Trekov hesitated, nodded and said reluctantly, "all right, Rita. Since you say so, I will give you the command of the 35th and 39th divisions of the guards. But the irony is that we are going to attack the German army''s zelauf heights next. You can''t let my troops lose too much! "


    "Don''t worry, general trakov." Seeing that it was this incident that trekov was worried about, I immediately calmed down. He said, "the German army hidden in the forest has long lost its organizational system and has no combat effectiveness. I believe that with the strength of two close guard divisions, it is not difficult to eliminate them."


    In order not to affect trikov''s meeting, I called the two division commanders to the side and discussed with them the contact information of the troops in the forest and the materials they needed to carry.


    Malchenko asked me with some worry: "Comrade deputy commander, our two divisions have only ten thousand men, can we deal with tens of thousands of German troops?"


    "Comrade Colonel," Kuragin criticized malchenko as soon as he said, "you have not heard the deputy commander say that the enemy has lost its organizational system and has no combat effectiveness. What else can you worry about?"


    "Yes, general Kuragin is right." I agreed: "although the number of German troops is larger than ours, it is not the number that decides the outcome on the battlefield. The enemies who have lost their organizational system have fled into the forest and are short of food and clothing. They have almost consumed all their ammunition. What combat power can they have left? Maybe when they see our soldiers go by, they will raise their hands and come out of the hiding place


    When I finished, Kuragin immediately asked, "what level of troops should we use to fight alone after our troops enter the forest area?"


    "Since the enemy has little combat power, it is unnecessary for us to adopt the scale of large forces." I said carefully: "I think we should take the battalion as a unit and push forward into the forest to eliminate the enemy. To facilitate communication, each battalion should be equipped with at least two communication equipment and a sufficient number of whistles. In this way, the troops can communicate with each other through radio and whistle


    "Comrade deputy commander, I have another question." "Are we going to use a purely military offensive, or a combination of a political offensive and a military offensive?" malchenko asked


    In fact, even if marchenko does not ask this question, I will talk about it next: "the enemy is now in a state of fear. When they see our troops appear, they will hide and wait for a while, and then decide whether to surrender to our troops or continue to flee to the depths of the forest. So we need to equip each battalion with loudspeakers to shout to the enemy and urge them to lay down their arms and surrender to our army. "


    After I finished, kulagin asked with a smile, "Comrade deputy commander, can we mention your name when we shout to the enemy?"


    "Mention my name?" Kuragin''s words made me confused, and I asked, "why do you want to do this?"


    Kuragin and marchenko looked at each other and said to me, "Comrade deputy commander, in the battle of liberating Poznan, you and Comrade commander once called out to the defenders in the city. The commander''s shouting had no effect. After you said the same thing, the enemy came out of the hiding place in droves and surrendered to our army. I think the enemy will surrender to you. If your name is mentioned to the enemy in the forest, maybe they will put down their arms and come out to surrender. "


    If I had not experienced the scene of Poznan''s persuading me to surrender, I would not have known that I was so famous in the German army. As soon as I gave my name, hundreds of enemies would lay down their arms and surrender. In this case, when you enter the forest tomorrow to wipe out the enemy, you can draw gourds according to the ladle and use my name to scare the enemy. Thinking of this, I nodded my head and said: "Comrade Kuragin, you are very reasonable. My name seems to have a little deterrent effect on the German officers and soldiers. When persuading the Germans to surrender, you must tell them that I promise them that as long as they lay down their arms and surrender to our army, I will guarantee their personal safety, and when the war is over, They will be sent home to reunite with their families. "¡° I see, comrade deputy commander. " "You can rest assured that our commanders and fighters will never let you down," Kuragin said excitedly Seeing that the destination of my visit had been reached, I ordered them to say, "well, two division commanders, we have all talked about the things we should talk about. You should return to the army as soon as possible, gather the commanders at the battalion and regiment level to hold a meeting, and deploy to them the clean-up and suppression operation to be carried out tomorrow." After the two teachers agreed loudly, they raised their hands to salute me, turned and walked out of the room. When I returned to trekov''s headquarters, I saw that his meeting had ended, that the division commanders had all left, and that there were only a few group leaders left. When he saw me coming, he asked curiously, "Rita, have you talked to them all?"¡° Talk about it I nodded my head and replied, "I intend to use a combination of persuasive political offensive and tough military offensive to eliminate the enemy hiding in the forest. If they do not surrender, we will decisively wipe them out. " After listening to me, trikov stood up, reached out his hand to me, and said sincerely, "Rita, I wish you success and eliminate the enemy hidden in the forest in the shortest time."

 Chapter 1696

    The next morning, when I arrived at the edge of the forest, I found that the troops involved in the forest clearance task had already assembled.


    Seeing my appearance, the two division commanders who had been waiting there immediately ran to me, raised their hands, saluted and reported to me: "Comrade deputy commander, the troops have assembled and can fight at any time. Please give instructions!"


    Ten thousand people, boundless. I looked at the edge of the forest that a dark Squadron, full of confidence to the two said: "since the troops have been assembled, then the action."


    Seeing that the two men turned around and wanted to give orders to the troops, I quickly stopped them and said, "remember, although there are more German troops in the forest than us, they have lost their organizational system and have no combat effectiveness. Therefore, our actions should be based on political offensive and supplemented by military offensive. Do you understand? "


    "I understand!" The two division commanders agreed loudly, and then ran to the front of their ranks to give orders.


    It wasn''t long before our troops began to move. After tens of thousands of commanders and fighters spread out their formation, they covered the boundless forest like a huge fishing net. In front of each search battalion, there is an armored broadcasting vehicle. On the slowly moving vehicle, there is a high-power horn. Even if it is two or three hundred meters away, I can clearly hear the contents of the horn: "German officers and men, you have reached a desperate situation. Put down your weapons and come out to surrender. Our front-line commander, general o''shanina, promised you that as long as you surrender, you will be guaranteed your personal safety and be given the proper treatment as prisoners of war. As soon as the war is over, you will be able to return home and be reunited with your families! " The call was repeated in Russian and then in German.


    Just as I listened carefully to the contents of the radio truck, the two teachers came back to me and said respectfully, "Comrade deputy commander, the battle has just begun. Let''s find a place to rest first."


    I looked around and saw that there seemed to be some tents not far away, so I pointed to them with my hand: "are the two teachers and comrades there?"


    "Yes, that''s it." Kuragin nodded and said, "the joint headquarters of our two divisions are there. If you go there to have a rest, you can also keep abreast of the progress of the troops. "


    I know to solve the enemy in the forest, not one or two days can work, I can''t stand outside the forest for a few days. So I immediately nodded in agreement with Kuragin''s proposal: "OK, let''s go to the headquarters."


    The joint command is made up of a tent area with trenches and bunkers built outside. The headquarters is set up in a huge tent. There are radio stations, staff officers and communication soldiers around the tent. When we see us enter the door, we all stand up and raise our hands to salute us.


    "Please sit down." With a smile, I waved to the signalman and the staff officer, then went straight to the wooden table in the middle of the tent, staring at the map on it, which indicated the forest and the search direction.


    After looking at it carefully for a while, I raised my head and asked Kuragin standing in front of me, "general Kuragin, how can you concentrate your search on the north and West, and empty out the South and East?"


    Kuragin and marchenko looked at each other and explained to me with a smile, "Comrade deputy commander, this is the situation. To the East and South are our defense areas, which the Germans cannot cross. Our defense in the north and West is relatively weak, and we are also close to their own troops. The enemy may choose to break through in this direction


    "It makes sense, it makes sense." After listening to Kuragin''s explanation, I nodded and pointed to the radio stations around the tent: "is it through these radio stations that we keep in touch with the troops in the forest?"


    "Yes," Kuragin replied, nodding his head again, "we have eight radio stations here to keep abreast of what''s going on in the forest."


    I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was less than ten minutes before the troops entered the forest. I thought there would be no report from the search troops, so I told kulagin, "please connect me with the headquarters of the front army. I want to speak to Marshal Zhukov."


    When I got through, I heard Zhukov asking me, "Rita, are the troops going? What''s the situation?"


    "Yes, the search forces have all entered the forest, and there is no report back yet." After reporting the situation, I asked Zhukov, "marshal, what''s the situation in the north?"


    Although I didn''t say in detail what it was, Zhukov understood at once that what I wanted to ask was the situation in bermelania. He immediately replied: "according to the latest war report, katukov''s vanguard has exchanged fire with the German army. After two hours of fierce fighting, the German army has been repulsed, and our troops have advanced in depth. "


    At the end of the call with Zhukov, two division commanders and I were sitting in the headquarters, drinking tea and discussing the next war. Malchenko asked me, "Comrade deputy commander, do you think our army can win the highlands of zelauf?"


    Marchenko''s words remind me of a movie I saw before. In the red background, the Soviet armored forces rushed towards the enemy''s highland of zelauf after the artillery bombardment. Although they were tenaciously blocked by the German army, they succeeded in seizing the highland. It was because of the thought of the film that I replied without hesitation, "yes, comrade Colonel, our troops will surely take the highlands of zelauf and rush to Berlin."


    "But, comrade deputy commander," although he heard what I said, malchenko said with great misgivings, "I have seen that highland through the telescope. Is it still highland? It''s just a wall, OK? I''m afraid our tanks won''t be able to cross that barrier at all


    "Don''t worry, Colonel marchenko." As soon as his words were finished, Kuragin comforted him and said, "don''t forget that Marshal Zhukov is in charge of our battle. He is an invincible and invincible general. Under his command, I believe we will succeed in breaking through the highlands of zelauf. "


    "I hope so." Malchenko sighed, "I like the day when my subordinates can have more people and live to see the victory."


    My heart murmured to myself that the battle of Berlin ended on May 8. Now, because of me, the attack on Berlin may be advanced to the end of February. Does it mean that tens of thousands of commanders and fighters who would have died before are likely to survive?


    While I was deliberating on this possibility, I suddenly heard Kuragin ask me again: "Comrade deputy commander, when do you think our troops will rush into Berlin?"


    In view of Zhukov''s intention to launch an attack on the highlands of zelauf on the 23rd of February, but the scope of the incident is still controlled at the level of the head of the group army. Therefore, in front of Kuragin and marchenko, I can only say vaguely: "we are waiting for the arrival of the follow-up troops and seizing the time to replenish our troops and military supplies for the battle. When all the preparations are completed, the attack on Berlin can be launched. "


    Listening to what I said in an official voice, Kuragin''s face was filled with disappointment. Just as he opened his mouth and wanted to say something, we suddenly heard the sound of Didi''s Telegraph coming from the position where the radio station was placed. Malchenko quickly stood up, walked quickly over there, and asked a communication staff member in a low voice, "is it a telegram from the troops in the forest?"


    The staff officer was obviously his subordinate. After hearing his question, he quickly replied, "yes, sir, the telegram was sent from the 120th regiment of the guards. They said that they had made contact with the enemy..."


    "How''s it going?" Malchenko asked anxiously: "what kind of exchange of fire happened?"


    "Sir, please wait a moment," the staff officer said with a puzzled expression on his face. "The telegram has not been translated yet. The specific situation is not clear."


    Knowing that he was too impatient, marcenzo stood up straight, stepped back, stood behind the staff officer, patiently waiting for him to translate the message he could understand. A minute or two later, the staff officer handed the telegram to marchenko and said, "Sir, the telegram has been translated."


    Malchenko picked up the telegram and scanned it quickly. Then he showed a happy expression on his face. He quickly walked up to us, put the telegram on the table, and said to us, "we have just received a report from the 1st Battalion of the 120th regiment of the guards that they have encountered a German company. When the enemy saw that they appeared, they threw away their weapons without any resistance, walked out of their hiding place with their hands held high, and surrendered to our army. "


    "It''s a good start." "I believe I''ll get good news from other troops soon," Kuragin told me with a smile


    "General Kuragin, you''re right. The forest is covered with snow. The Germans who hide in it are cold and hungry. They have no fighting power at all." I also said in a relaxed tone: "the Germans understand their current situation, either lay down their arms and surrender to us, enter the POW camp and wait for their family reunion after the war; Or continue to fight with our army in the forest, but in the end, they are either killed by our soldiers or frozen to death in the forest on a cold night. "


    "Do you need to report this good news to general trakov immediately?" Kuragin said to me carefully, "he must be thinking about us in his heart, too."


    "Wait a second, wait a second." As for Kuragin''s proposal, I waved my hand and said, "only one battalion has been reported so far. It doesn''t mean anything. I''d better report to general trakov after more reports have been received."


    After listening to what I said, they didn''t insist any more. After nodding, they continued to sit on their seats and wait for the news from the forest area.


    In order to kill the boring waiting time, Kuragin also introduced the situation to me: "Comrade deputy commander, every search camp is 500 meters apart. With this formation, when encountering the German army again, it will not suffer huge losses because of the dense formation; At the same time, the battalions can also provide horizontal support to quickly defuse the enemy''s advantages. "


    As time goes on, we have received more and more war reports. Most of the enemies, like those encountered by the soldiers of the 1st Battalion of the 120th regiment of the guards, laid down their arms and surrendered to our army when they saw that our army had not fired a single shot.


    When I saw that there was already a thick stack of war reports in front of me, I nodded to Kuragin and said to him, "general Kuragin, I think so many war reports should be similar. You can report the results of your two divisions to general trakov and let him be happy."


    Kuragin happily agreed, then picked up the phone in front of him, dialed the headquarters of the group army, and reported to trikov: "Comrade commander, let me tell you a good news, our search forces have captured more than 2000 enemies in the forest. When the enemy discovered the presence of our troops, he did not take any measures to resist and directly laid down his arms and surrendered to our troops. "


    Trekov is more comprehensive than his subordinates. After listening to kulagin''s report, he immediately asked, "Comrade kulagin, I''ve come to ask you how the enemy dealt with their weapons after they surrendered? Besides, it is impossible for all the Germans to be healthy. After hiding in the forest for a few days, there will be some non combat casualties. How do you deal with the wounded? " Trakov''s series of questions made Kuragin dumb. Kuragin was so happy that he didn''t even think about what trakov said. So after a moment''s silence, he asked trakov, "Comrade commander, what do you think we should do?"¡° These problems can be solved very well, "trakov told his subordinates on the phone:" don''t take the German''s weapons for the time being, and let them walk out of the forest on their backs; As for the sick and wounded, let the Germans tie up some stretchers and carry them out. " As for trekov''s command, Kuragin asked uneasily, "Comrade commander, let the Germans carry their weapons by themselves. In case they riot on the way of escort, what should we do?" Kuragin''s question happened to be what I was worried about, so I pricked my ears and listened carefully to trakov''s reply, because once the fully armed German army left the forest, it would cause huge casualties to our army. But he said, "Comrade Kuragin, it seems that you don''t know the German people. Once they declare their surrender, there will never be another riot, so as long as you send enough troops to escort them, they can be safely sent to the prison camp. Do you understand? "¡° I see, comrade commander. " After listening to the words of trakov, Kuragin immediately agreed: "I will immediately convey your order to the search camps."

 Chapter 1697

    By nightfall of the first day, the troops searching in the forest should have captured nearly 4000 enemies and their personal weapons. Submachine guns, rifles, machine guns, ammunition boxes and helmets piled up on the edge of the forest.


    The order of the German prisoners was better than we thought. We thought it would take at least 20 soldiers to escort 100 prisoners. As a result, we were surprised by what we saw outside the forest. The prisoners were divided into groups of 100 or 200, while the soldiers escorting them had only one incomplete squad.


    Seeing this situation, Kuragin could not help saying to himself, "our soldiers are not so much escorting prisoners as serving as guides for them, lest they get lost in the forest."


    Kuragin''s words immediately caused a roar of laughter from the commanders and fighters around us, and the long captives passing by us, after hearing our laughter, just looked at us with confused eyes and went on.


    After finishing laughing, marcenzo obviously saw his familiar subordinates, so he went out from among us, called his subordinates and talked in a low voice. Maybe he was understanding the specific situation in the forest.


    When he came back, Kuragin asked aloud, "Comrade Colonel, what did your men say to you?"


    "That soldier was a veteran just now. He has been in the army since the outbreak of the war." "He said that the Germans had completely lost their will to fight. When they saw our soldiers appear, they would give up their arms and surrender to our army without any resistance at all," malchenko told us. In the past, the German army would shout slogans like "long live Hitler" even when they were surrounded by our army. Now, after surrendering to our army, they are nagging that "Hitler is going to die.". In today''s search operation, he captured more than 40 prisoners by himself. The battalion commander also wanted to lead the troops to continue to search deep in the forest, so he asked him to take a few soldiers and send out the German soldiers they captured. "


    "The battalion commander did the right thing," Kuragin agreed with the decision made by the battalion commander of the search battalion. "The front of the forest is too big. It will take at least a week to complete the search task."


    But I was thinking of another thing, so I asked malchenko, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the rank of the soldier just now?"


    "Sergeant, comrade deputy commander!" Malchenko replied: "when the war broke out, he was a corporal."


    After hearing this, I shook my head and said to marchenko, "Comrade Colonel, this rank is too low for a veteran who has been in the army for three years and participated in numerous battles. He deserves a higher rank. "


    Kuragin immediately agreed with my proposal. He said to marchenko: "Comrade Colonel, you are so mean. Such veterans, in my army, are at least above the rank of lieutenant, but in your division, they are ordinary sergeants, not even officers. "


    After listening to what we both said, malchenko replied with a wry smile: "in fact, he used to be a company commander several times, but he was dismissed again and again because he was greedy for wine and drink. Last month, the division was going to promote him to battalion commander, but he got drunk in the battle and let the enemy break through from his defensive zone. For this, he was demoted from captain to sergeant. He has made a lot of achievements on the battlefield, but he has also made a lot of mistakes. It''s really a headache. "


    After listening to marchenko''s introduction of the staff sergeant, I gave up the promotion proposal. If a man who likes drinking and drinking is just a soldier or a low-level commander, he will do little harm on the battlefield. But if he is allowed to occupy an important position, it is bound to bring disastrous consequences to the army. Therefore, let him continue to be his staff sergeant. Maybe this is the best arrangement for him.


    After the three of us returned to the tent, I asked the two division commanders with concern, "it seems that our troops are going to spend the night in the forest. Have we prepared enough tents for them?"


    "Don''t worry, comrade deputy commander." Kuragin assured me, "we''ve already sent logistics troops to send tents to the search forces, and we''ve driven all the cooking trucks into the forest to solve their food and housing problems on the spot."


    When I saw Kuragin and they had taken all the issues into consideration, I was relieved. Then I picked up the phone and called trakov to tell him what had happened here. After hearing this, trakov said anxiously, "Rita, if there are so many prisoners of war, it will be a trouble for us. If there are only a few thousand prisoners, the camp can barely accept them, but if there are tens of thousands of them, they may even have to eat. "


    Just as I was thinking about how to solve this problem, I just heard trakov continue to say: "Rita, although the problem of prisoners of war is a headache for me, it''s nothing to you. After all, you are the deputy commander of the front army. Some things will be easier if you come forward. "


    Trekov''s words gave me a wake-up call. After I finished the call with him, I quickly dialed the headquarters of the front army. As Zhukov was busy, I went to malining, chief of staff, and told him about the possible capture of tens of thousands of Germans in the near future. Then I asked him for help and said, "chief of staff, you have to help me find a way. Tens of thousands of German prisoners, if locked up in the open-air prison camp, are expected to be frozen to death on a cold night. "


    Malining was silent for a long time. Then he said to me, "Rita, there is a prison camp near the city. It used to be about our army, Anglo American and Italian prisoners of war. We liberated there not long ago. If you can capture tens of thousands of prisoners of war, you can keep them all there, under the care of our soldiers and the Allied prisoners who have just been rescued. "


    After I told malining''s words to the two teachers, they were also very happy. Therefore, no matter how many prisoners of war were captured, they would not worry about having no place to be held. Marchenko even took the initiative to say to me: "Comrade deputy commander, I will go to the prison camp without delay, establish contact with the commander in charge of the prison camp, and then detain the prisoners captured today."


    I didn''t need to contact the person in charge of the prison camp. When I was just thinking about who should be sent to carry out such an important contact task, marchenko volunteered. So I nodded and said, "well, comrade Colonel, since you are willing to undertake this important task, you should go to the prison camp as soon as possible to establish contact with the person in charge there and see how to detain the German prisoners of war captured by our army."


    Shortly after marchenko left, Zhukov called me in person. He said on the phone, "Rita, I heard marinin say that you are worried that there is no place for prisoners of war?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." Hearing Zhukov''s voice, I said respectfully: "today, the search troops of two divisions captured nearly 4000 prisoners in the forest. According to the confession of the prisoners, there are more scattered soldiers in the deep forest, so our search operation in the forest may last for a few days, and there may be tens of thousands of prisoners of war by then, so I will contact the chief of staff with the place where the prisoners of war are held. "


    "Four thousand captives?" After repeating this figure, Zhukov asked in a puzzled way, "are so many enemies all laying down their arms and surrendering to our army without firing a single shot?"


    "That''s right, comrade marshal. That''s exactly what happened." If I said that I had seen thousands of prisoners of war and had been escorted out of the forest by a very small number of soldiers of our army, I would not believe it. I would probably think that what I met was a fake German, an army sweeping Europe. How could I surrender without firing a shot when facing the enemy? But facts speak louder than words. Seeing the prisoners who are as honest as sheep, I think it is entirely feasible that they did not resist. So I explained to Zhukov, "German prisoners of war are organized into a team of one or two hundred, escorted out of the forest by four or five soldiers. If they had resisted stubbornly, our commanders and fighters would never have been so confident and bold with them. "


    "Well, I see." After listening to my report, Zhukov specially added: "although great achievements have been made in the current search work, don''t take it lightly. Rabbits will bite when they are anxious. Moreover, they are the most cunning animals."


    "Please rest assured, marshal. We are always on high alert." I assured Zhukov, "no matter how many prisoners we capture, we will never let our guard down."


    In the next three days, thousands of prisoners of war, led by our soldiers, walked out of the forest, piled up their weapons on the edge of the forest, and went on foot to the prison camp near the city.


    Seeing such gratifying results, Kuragin said to me with a smile: "Comrade deputy commander, we have captured nearly 15000 German soldiers in four days. Such a large number of troops, as long as they make a weak resistance, will certainly cause certain casualties to our army, but they put down their arms and surrendered to our army without firing a shot. It seems that Germany has run out of steam, and Hitler is not far away from the end. "


    Looking at these German soldiers who came out of the forest in an orderly way, I suddenly thought of the Soviet commanders and fighters who were captured in the early days of the war. When they were found out from the forest by the German army, did they, like the Germans, put down their weapons and come out of their hiding place without any decent resistance?


    I shook my head hard and drove the idea out of my mind. Then I looked at Kuragin and asked, "general Kuragin, how long will it take for our troops to search the whole forest?"


    "It''s going to take another day at the earliest." Kulagin said excitedly: "with the efforts of our commanders and fighters, we have completed the search of three quarters of the area."


    Just as we all relaxed our vigilance, suddenly a soldier standing at a high place nearby called out: "look, there is black smoke in the forest!"


    The cries of the soldiers immediately attracted everyone''s attention. I followed the direction of the soldier''s fingers and saw a faint black smoke rising in the middle of the forest in the distance. Seeing this situation, I immediately realized that something might have happened and asked Kuragin, "general Kuragin, which army is the smoking area?"


    "I need to check this." Kuragin answered me in a flustered way: "only in this way can we find out which army is responsible for the area. There is a problem."


    We went back to the headquarters, and Kuragin asked the signalmen to call the troops in the forest, while he and marchenko found out which troops were responsible for the smoking area.


    Maybe it''s because the trees are big and the forest is dense, and the troops far away in the forest can''t be contacted all the time, or Kuragin, they found out which army had the problem through the map. Kuragin looked at me and said, "Comrade deputy commander, it''s clear that it''s the area where the second battalion of the 101st regiment of the guards is located. I think they may have had an exchange of fire with the German army." As for his analysis, I nodded to agree. Although we did not hear the sound of gunfire and explosion, there was a black smoke, which was obviously the smoke of gunpowder produced by the fighting. I immediately told him to say, "general Kuragin, send a message to the head of the 101st regiment of the guards, and let him immediately direct the two battalions on the left and right to detour from the two wings to encircle the recalcitrant enemy." After another half an hour, we finally got in touch with the 101st guard regiment. The commander reported in the telegram that the troops encountered a small group of enemies during the search. As the search operations in recent days have been very smooth, the soldiers of the battalion have taken it lightly. They think that the enemy will lay down their arms and surrender when they see themselves, and then they swagger forward to surrender. As a result, as soon as he walked past, he was shot by the German machine gun. All the five or six soldiers in front of him were knocked down, and the leader of the team hurt his leg. He hid behind a big tree and threw several grenades at the location of the enemy''s machine gun. The smoke from the explosion is the black smoke we see. After the exchange of fire with us, the German army attempted to break through the encirclement from the front, but it was tenaciously blocked by our army. Then two battalions of the 101st regiment of the guards went up from behind and cut off their retreat. The desperate enemy, seeing that there was no point in resisting any more, obediently laid down his arms and surrendered to us. Seeing the report of the commander of the guards, I solemnly said to the two division commanders: "comrades, although our work has been going very smoothly in recent days, we think that the enemy has completely lost its combat effectiveness, resulting in the paralysis thought of belittling the enemy. Fortunately, we only met a small German army today, and we did not pay much for the casualties. If we met the same number of enemies, maybe this battalion would be in danger of being destroyed. "¡° We remember The two teachers nodded their heads and said, "we will never make similar mistakes again."

 Chapter 1698

    The battle of eliminating the hidden German troops in the forest lasted ten days. We captured more than 21700 German officers and soldiers, killed more than 320, and seized a lot of weapons and ammunition. This battle under my command has won an unprecedented victory.


    Seeing that there was no organized German army in the forest, I asked two division commanders, Kuragin and malchenko, to lead their respective troops back to the headquarters of the front army, to see if there was any work suitable for me.


    When I got back to the headquarters, I saw Zhukov on the phone. From his angry face, I knew that he was not happy at the moment, so I didn''t go forward to find it myself. Instead, I pulled malining aside and asked quietly, "chief of staff, what''s the matter? The marshal looks very unhappy."


    "It''s strange to be happy." Malining said to me in a low voice, "general katukov''s fighting in the region of bomerania is not going well. The marshal transferred the 9th tank army, the 7th guard cavalry army, and a large number of artillery and engineering troops and materials to the region last night, hoping to get rid of the more than a dozen German divisions as soon as possible."


    It is said that katukov spent more than ten days without waiting to crush the enemy in bermelania. I am also very nervous. I wonder if there is any deviation in history here? Thinking of this, I continued to ask malining: "chief of staff, I remember marshal rokosovsky''s troops, which are near bermelania, didn''t they go out to cooperate with our army?"


    "Who said no?" malining looked at Zhukov, who was furious while talking on the phone, and then said: "the base camp ordered marshal rokosovsky to command the second front army to attack from glaudents ratcheburg area, smash the enemy of Eastern Pomerania, occupy danze, and go out to the Baltic coast. But... "


    I saw that marinin wanted to stop talking and said in his place, "but their troops and technical equipment are not enough, so they can''t carry out the command of the base camp, can they?"


    "Yes, it is." Malining truthfully replied: "but due to the lack of troops, the second front army has not been able to complete all the tasks it received."


    "So, if you want to continue to attack, you must first replenish marshal rokosovsky''s troops?" Hearing this, I felt as if I had guessed the reason why Zhukov was furious, and then asked, "I don''t know when the base camp will supplement the second front army?"


    "The base camp has decided to put the 19th army under the command of Marshal rokosovsky. However... "Malining said bitterly:" judging from the current transportation capacity, it will take at least ten days and a half months for the 19th group army to be in position. It is for this reason that marshal is angry. "


    After finding out the reason for Zhukov''s anger, I finally felt at ease. It turned out that he was angry with the transportation department, so I don''t have to worry about the consequences. I found a new topic and asked malining: "chief of staff, as far as I know, lieutenant general Kozlov, commander of the 19th group army, was injured in the battle in November last year. Now his injury should not be healed. I don''t know who will take over the command of this army from him."


    "It''s lieutenant general Romanovsky, and he is also a commander with rich combat experience," malining introduced to me the resume of the new group army commander: "in April 1942, he took over Vasily Ivanovich Kuznetsov as the commander of the first assault group army and participated in the jamiyansk campaign; In December, he became the commander of the second group army and broke through the German blockade of Leningrad. In January of 1994, he went to Ukraine to serve as the deputy of the Fourth Front Army, mainly to learn how to break through... "


    When I heard Kuznetsov''s name, I suddenly remembered that the soldiers who put the red flag on the top floor of Berlin''s parliament building were Kuznetsov''s subordinates. However, they all belonged to the third shock group army. At the moment, the commander of the group army was still lieutenant general Simoniac and would not be changed to general Kuznetsov until March. If our army really invades Berlin at the end of February, the first contribution to the liberation of Berlin will fall on Simoniac instead of Kuznetsov.


    Just as my heart was thinking that Kuznetsov might miss such a great feat, Zhukov had already finished his call. Seeing that he was chatting with malining, he immediately called me, "Rita, come to me."


    I quickly walked to Zhukov, stood upright in front of him, and waited for his instructions respectfully. Zhukov looked up at me and asked, "are all the enemies in the forest cleared?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal," he asked me something I was proud of. I quickly replied, "we have cleaned up the whole forest. There are no more remnants of the German army in it." With that, I took out the prepared war report from my pocket and handed it to him.


    After reading the war report, Zhukov nodded with satisfaction. Then he looked up at me again and said, "Rita, since the German army on the East Bank of the Oder River has been solved, we can concentrate all our strength against the enemy on the left bank. Do you have any good ideas? "


    "No!" I replied very decisively, "I just went back to the headquarters, and I don''t know about the situation on the left bank, so I can''t offer any good way. If you can give me two or three days to go to the position and investigate in person, maybe I can find a good way


    "When katukov''s troops return from bermelania, the focus of our attack will be the zelauf highland on the left bank, which is the last barrier to Berlin. As long as we take this highland, the road to Berlin will be smooth." Zhukov looked at me with trusting eyes and said, "I know you have many ideas, so I hope you can go to the front line more and work out a practical attack plan after understanding the situation of the battlefield, so as to win the high ground as soon as possible."


    I didn''t expect that as soon as I got back to the headquarters, Zhukov gave himself such a difficult task. Although I remember that there was only a few minutes in the movie to attack the highlands of zelauf, I found that it was not easy to capture the highlands of zelauf when I was really in this environment.


    Not to mention the heights to be captured, they are now blocked in front of our army like the same wall. Even if the starting point of the attack is only a few narrow landing fields on the left bank. More than one hundred and two hundred thousand troops participating in the war could not be deployed in such a narrow area at all, and once the German army found our army''s assembly and launched heavy shelling, it would certainly cause heavy casualties to our army.


    When Zhukov saw me standing in a daze, he couldn''t help asking, "Rita, what are you thinking?"


    "Marshal," in front of Zhukov, I didn''t want to hide my true thoughts: "our landing area on the left bank of the Oder River is limited, so we can''t launch too many offensive troops at all..."


    "You don''t have to worry about that." Zhukov did not wait for me to finish, he interrupted me and said to himself, "the river is narrow, the narrowest place is only one or two hundred meters. Even after the attack, we can cross the East Bank of the army again in time."


    As soon as Zhukov said this, he seemed to think of something. He frowned slightly, called malining over, and said to him, "in order to disintegrate the morale of the German army, what do you think we should do when we attack?"


    "Do something?" Hearing Zhukov''s question, malining immediately frowned and thought about it. After a long time, he tentatively said, "can we persuade the German army to surrender by shouting or playing music to them every day through the loudspeaker?"


    "This is not realistic." As for malining''s proposal, Zhukov did not hesitate to deny it: "the depth of the enemy''s defense has reached five or six kilometers. Even if the enemy in individual areas surrenders to us, it will have little impact on the whole situation."


    When I heard this, my mind suddenly came up with an idea, and my heart said: Zhukov will not launch the scheme of using searchlights in the attack at this time, will he? I held my breath and waited patiently for Zhukov to continue.


    "Chief of staff, you misunderstood me. What I''m talking about is what measures we should take to deter the enemy when the troops attack. " He was deeply afraid that malining and I couldn''t understand him. He also gave a special example: "in the battle of the liberation of Kiev, rebarko''s tank troops used a buzzer on the tank to psychologically deter the German garrison."


    After hearing Zhukov''s words, malining said helplessly: "marshal, the left bank is hilly. We can''t put a large number of tanks into battle at the same time, so I don''t think it''s appropriate to use the buzzer."


    Zhukov waved his hand and said, "you still don''t mean it immediately. I mean the buzzer interferes with the German army''s mind and acts as a deterrent to them. But it doesn''t mean that we have to use the buzzer when attacking the zelauf heights. We can use other equipment."


    As soon as Zhukov''s words were finished, my heart suddenly looked like a mirror. I knew that he was really planning to launch a scheme of using searchlight for lighting when attacking. However, in order not to become the magic wand in his mind, I didn''t immediately say his intention. Instead, I pretended to be confused and asked Zhukov, "Comrade marshal, what should we use?"


    "Searchlight!" Zhukov said the searchlight as I guessed, but in order to cooperate with him, I pretended to be surprised: "Comrade marshal, I don''t know how we should use the searchlight to deter the enemy?"


    "It''s very simple," Zhukov said. Seeing that malining and I hadn''t guessed our plan correctly, he quickly showed a smile of satisfaction. He continued, "I plan to use 150 high-power searchlights to illuminate the enemy''s defensive positions after the attack, so that the enemy hiding in the trenches can''t escape, and at the same time point out the direction of attack for our commanders and fighters."


    When Zhukov said this, I quickly turned my eyes to malining to see if he would raise any objection. I saw malining''s brow locked. After a moment''s silence, I finally raised my objection: "Comrade marshal, I think it''s not proper to do this."


    "What''s wrong?" When Zhukov heard what malining said, a look of displeasure flashed on his face.


    "I don''t think it''s going to work if you use searchlights." Malining didn''t notice the dissatisfaction on Zhukov''s face, but said to himself, "on the contrary, the enemy can see our attacking troops clearly. In this way, our commanders and fighters may become the targets of the German army. Comrade marshal, please think it over carefully and don''t use such risky and unsuitable things. "


    After listening to marinin''s words, Zhukov''s face was covered with a shadow. He turned his eyes to me and asked coldly, "what do you think, Rita?" Whether searchlights should be used in the battle of attacking the highlands of zelauf has been a controversial issue in later generations. The positive side felt that the searchlight really played a role in deterring the German army and pointing out the direction for the attacking forces; On the contrary, due to the interference of smoke and mist, the searchlight of the Soviet army was not bright and did not light up the road for the troops. On the contrary, the uncertain light made the attacking troops confused about the real direction of attack. At the same time, the Germans could clearly see the Soviet Army''s commanders and fighters in the attack, thus destroying countless commanders and fighters in front of their fortifications like shooting a target. Because these two kinds of arguments have been at loggerheads, I also feel very confused. I don''t know whether I should support Zhukov or stand on malining''s side. Seeing that I didn''t speak, Zhukov seemed a little impatient. He urged, "what do you think, Rita? Just say it. Even if I''m wrong, I won''t blame you. You don''t have to have any psychological burden. " When I heard Zhukov urging me, I was shocked. At the same time, I made up my mind. Anyway, in the real history, Zhukov did use the searchlight in the battle of attacking the zelauf Highlands, so it should be right to support him. Thinking of this, I replied decisively: "marshal, I agree with you that when attacking, 150 high-power searchlights should be used to illuminate the German defensive positions, so as to deter them and point out the direction for our attacking forces."¡° Rita, "as soon as I finished my words, malining was in a hurry." I don''t think it''s appropriate to use the searchlight when attacking... "Seeing malining''s stubbornness, I was afraid that Zhukov would be angry with him, so I quickly came out and said," but marshal, whether we use the searchlight or not, we should test it through practice. I think we''d better find a place to try the effect. Can you see this? " My proposal is acceptable to both Zhukov and malining. After they nodded their approval, Zhukov told malining: "chief of staff, I''ll give you full responsibility for the test."¡° Don''t worry, comrade marshal. " Malining patted his chest and assured Zhukov, "I''m going to arrange it now. I won''t be disappointed with you." With that, he stood at attention, then turned and walked out of the headquarters to deal with the relevant matters.

 Chapter 1699

    After a few nights of testing, I found that the effect of using searchlights was neither as bad as malining had worried, nor as effective as Zhukov had said. The effectiveness of a searchlight depends entirely on the weather and location in which it is used. Even so, Zhukov was satisfied. He decided to report the incident to all the group army leaders at an appropriate time.


    Seeing the German counterattack in bermelania smashed under the joint attack of katukov and the second front army, we seem to see the opportunity to attack Berlin again in front of us. Among them, the most active person is Cui Kefu, commander of the 8th group army of the guards. He personally went to the headquarters of the front army to find Zhu Kefu.


    Zhukov was a little surprised when he saw the arrival of trakov: "Comrade trakov, aren''t you supposed to command the troops to smash the German anti assault at the landing site of trastirling?"


    "My deputy commander, general duhanov, is commanding the troops. He has rich command experience and is more than enough to deal with small-scale German harassment. " After a brief answer to Zhukov''s question, trakov said what he thought: "I think we should take advantage of the fact that the German army has not yet had time to deploy the reserves, and resolutely rush to Berlin to seize the city with a swift attack."


    After listening to his proposal, Zhukov stared at him for a long time. Finally, he shook his head and said, "no, comrade trakov, this is absolutely impossible."


    "Why?" Trekov asked, puzzled.


    Zhukov stood up, came out from behind his desk, walked back and forth in the room, and said, "in a few days, that is, on February 4, the Supreme Commander himself will hold talks with the leaders of Britain and the United States in Yalta. At the meeting, we will discuss joint operations between the two sides. "


    "Marshal, when we launched the campaign of Belarus, we did not get the support of Britain and the United States. We succeeded." "I think that even if there is no attack from the west by Britain and the United States to contain the German forces, we can take down Berlin with our own ability," he said confidently


    "Comrade trikov," Zhukov interrupted him harshly before trikov finished, and said solemnly, "can the present situation compare with that at that time? According to the information we have, the Germans are in private contact with Britain and the United States in an attempt to make peace on the Western Front alone. Once they succeed in their plot, the Germans will be able to boldly transfer all the troops on the western front to the east to stop our army. Then, let alone capture Berlin, it will be God''s blessing not to be surrounded by the German army. "


    When Zhukov said that Britain and the United States might make peace with Germany in private, trakov''s face turned pale. After a long time, he said, "Comrade marshal, isn''t this true?"


    "It''s not true." Zhukov said angrily, "if you want to win Berlin, you are not only worried, I am worried. Comrade Stalin, who is far away in Moscow, is even more worried. However, if we do not eliminate the hidden danger of peace making on the western front, it would be a dream to rush directly to Berlin with our troops in the front. If we can''t attack Berlin for a long time and the German reinforcements arrive again, then our troops attacking Berlin will fall into the siege of the German forces. Do you understand? "


    The room fell into silence. After a long time, trikov began to break the silence: "what should we do?"


    Trikov beckoned to marinin, who was sitting next to me. When malining stood in front of him, he said directly, "Comrade chief of staff, please read to general trakov the combat order we have drawn up, so that he can know it well."


    Malining nodded, picked up a document and began to read: "the 5th assault group army, the 8th group army of the guards, the 69th and 33rd group army should occupy the landing site on the West Bank of the Oder River. Moreover, it is better for the 8th and 69th group armies of the guards to have a common landing site between trastirling and Frankfurt. If it can be done, it is better to connect the landing sites of the 5th assault group army and the 8th guard group army;


    The first group army of Poland, the 47th and 61st group army, the second group army of tanks and the second group army of cavalry should repel the enemy to the line of ratcheburg - Falkenberg - hittagarde - alitdam - Oder River. After that, in addition to leaving the cover troops to wait for the arrival of the second front army of Belarus, the rest of the troops should move to the Oder River to make a breakthrough;


    During the breakthrough, the existing strengthening weapons of each group army were still used; Minor and medium repairs of tanks and self-propelled guns should be completed before February 5 to keep the weapons in good condition;


    The air force should be deployed, and there should be no less than six bases of fuel on the airport;


    The logistics departments of the front army, the group armies and the troops should make full preparations for the decisive stage of the campaign before February 3-4.


    The headquarters of the front army: Zhukov; Military commissar: jieliejin; Chief of staff: Malin. "


    When marinin finished reading, Zhukov looked at trikov and asked, "Comrade trikov, have you heard the command I gave you?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." Trekov nodded his head vigorously and replied positively: "the main task of our army is to expand and consolidate the trastirling landing site, so as to make it the starting point for future attacks."


    "Very well, comrade trekov." For trekov''s answer, Zhukov nodded with satisfaction: "now that you have understood, then rush back to the troops as soon as possible, organize forces to attack the German army, and strive to expand the landing field under your control, so that we can deploy more offensive troops on the landing field."


    After trikov left, malining asked Zhukov anxiously, "marshal, do you think Britain and the United States will make peace with the Germans in private?"


    "No, comrade chief of staff." Without waiting for Zhukov''s reply, I broke in and said, "judging from the current situation, the private peace between Britain, the United States and Germany is not in their long-term interests. As long as we don''t completely destroy Germany, they will come back to life sooner or later. Therefore, I think that after the Yalta meeting, the British and American allies will officially launch an attack on the German forces and push forward to Berlin, the capital of Germany, East and west at the same time. "


    "Rita, their army is more than 600 kilometers away from Berlin, while ours is only 70 kilometers away." Malining said with disapproval: "even if they attack before us, the first to arrive in Berlin is still our army."


    "Although Britain and the United States and Germany will not make peace in private, it can not be ruled out that the Germans take the initiative to open the channel to Britain and the United States and intentionally let them occupy Berlin, so that they can transfer more troops to the east to defend and block our army''s advance to Berlin." I carefully tell you a part of my history as my own inference, "so even if we attack with the allies at the same time, the first one to arrive in Berlin may still be the Allied forces."


    After listening to my so-called analysis, malining was a little nervous: "marshal, if the situation is really like what Lida said, what should we do?"


    "Don''t worry, chief of staff. Please keep calm." Zhukov raised his hand and pressed it down, indicating that malining didn''t have to worry about this kind of thing. He said carefully: "it''s possible that Lida said this kind of situation, but we can''t panic because of it. As long as konev and rokosovsky''s troops make a large-scale detour from both wings to Berlin, it will be useless for them even if the German army opens the channel to the allies. Only our troops can win Berlin in the end. "


    A week later, after attending the Yalta meeting, Stalin informed Zhukov that after his meeting with the leaders of Britain and the United States, the other side had given up the intention of making peace with the German army in private, and apologized for the secret contact with the German army representatives. At the same time, General Marshall, the chief of the general staff of the Allied forces, also announced that after Eisenhower''s redeployment and a short rest, the U.S. troops had made all preparations before the attack and could launch the attack in the direction of Berlin at any time.


    After getting the news, Zhukov called us together to discuss whether it was necessary to advance the attack time.


    The first speaker was malining, who solemnly said: "marshal, most of our troops have not yet completed the replenishment of troops, and the ammunition has not reached the two cardinal numbers. If we launch an attack at this time, I am afraid that our attack will be defeated because of poor logistics."


    As soon as marinin''s words were finished, general sokolovsky said, "yes, marshal, the chief of staff has a point. Our follow-up troops are arriving one after another, and the weapons and ammunition have not yet reached the required reserve base. If we launch an attack rashly, I am worried that our attack will become weak. "


    "Marshal," artillery commander karzakov said, "as the weather gets warmer and the snow melts, the road becomes more and more muddy. The convoy carrying shells often takes a day or two to reach the army than expected in the evening, which greatly slows down the speed of our accumulation of shells. If the attack is to be launched ahead of time, I am afraid that the time for artillery preparation will be greatly shortened. "


    Seeing that everyone was against launching an attack ahead of time, Zhukov''s face was a little confused. He turned to look at me and asked, "Rita, how do you think about it?"


    I quickly stood up and said cautiously, "marshal, I think we should attack at the scheduled time. February 23, whether it is our army day, is a very meaningful festival. Another major reason is that our army has enough time to complete the supply of soldiers, weapons and ammunition. "


    "That''s right, that''s right," malining and sokolovsky said as soon as I finished, "that''s what Rita means. We haven''t finished our preparations yet. If we launch an attack in a hurry, it will not only cause huge casualties to the troops, but also not achieve any results."


    "So our attack can only be launched at the end of February?" Zhukov asked, looking at me with an unhappy face.


    "Exactly, comrade marshal." When I saw Zhukov''s expression was not harmonious, I quickly found a step for him to step down. "Our landing site on the West Bank is too small to accommodate too many offensive troops. This is bound to lead most of our troops to cross the Oder River in a hurry after the offensive battle starts, so as to cooperate with the leading forces to launch the offensive. "


    My reason made Zhukov find the step to step down. He nodded his head and said in a very cooperative way, "Rita makes a lot of sense. At present, we can only deploy two or three divisions at the same time in the two landing sites on the West Bank, which is far from enough to capture the Highlands like zelauf. Well, our attack time will remain unchanged. During this time, we should urge our troops to continue to launch counterattack against the German army, and strive to consolidate and expand the landing site. "


    After the meeting, the 8th group army and the 5th group army of Jinwei received an order from Zhukov to double the existing landing site within 10 days. After this order was issued, trikov, who had been holding his strength, began to show his strength. In just two days, he expanded the front and depth of the landing site by two kilometers. In contrast, the performance of the 5th group army is much worse. After all, in the early stage of their attack, the troops were greatly reduced, so they played for several days without making any progress. Just when we thought Zhukov would definitely settle accounts with the commander of the group army, berzalin, something unexpected happened. The third shock group army, which had just been assigned to us, immediately took action after receiving the order of Zhukov to cross the Oder River and establish a landing site on the West Bank. But unfortunately, due to the warming of the temperature, ice floes floated on the river, so that the group army''s several raids ended in failure. Seeing the repeated failures of the third assault group army, Zhukov was furious. He called the group army commander, lieutenant general simoniyak, to the headquarters, and immediately reprimanded him. General simoniyak was also an acute man. Originally, he had a lot of evil anger in order to overcome the defeat of the army. Now he was scolded by Zhukov, and suddenly became angry and angry. He began to scold Zhukov. In the end, he took off his cap and fell on Zhukov''s desk. He said, "I won''t do this commander. Let whoever you think is suitable do it! " I didn''t know well, so I rushed to malining and sokolovsky. They winked and motioned to persuade them to fight. A marshal quarreled with a general, so that the soldiers could see what was right. As soon as we passed by, we suddenly heard Zhukov say: "well, general Simoniac, since you don''t want to take the post of commander, from now on, you will be dismissed. Kuznetsov will take over your vacant post in the future. " As soon as Zhukov''s words came out, Simoniac was stunned, I was stunned, malining and sokolovsky were stunned, and all the people who heard them were stunned. It was unexpected that Zhukov made such an exception. The grand commander of the group army said that he would be dismissed immediately, leaving no room for change. I don''t know how long later, Simoniac began to speak. He seemed to be ten years older: "I understand, comrade marshal, I will return to the army immediately and wait for a new commander to take over my post." With that, he reached for the hat on the table, neither put it on his head, nor saluted Zhukov, so he turned and left the headquarters.

 Chapter 1700

    I thought Kuznetsov would not be able to take over Simoniac''s post as commander of the third shock group army if the attack on Berlin started two months ahead of schedule. But what happened in front of me made me stand in the same place and smile bitterly. I felt that the correction ability of this history is really powerful.


    After dismissing the former commander of the third group army, Zhukov told malining: "chief of staff, call Kuznetsov immediately and ask him to come here immediately to accept the new appointment."


    When malining got back from the phone call, Zhukov called us to the map, pointed to the location of the landing site on the left bank and said to us, "here, there is a small island formed by the alluvial deposits of the Oder River, the Valta River and its tributaries. A strong German fortress is built here. At present, trakov is trying to cut off the connection between the fortress and the highlands of zelauf, you have to understand, If we don''t capture this fortress, we can''t connect the landing site created by trakov and berzalin. So in the next few days, we will try our best to seize this fortress. "


    With these words, trikov focused his eyes on me and said, "Rita, I''m going to send you to trikov''s troops to supervise him to seize this fortress. Is there a problem?"


    "No problem," I didn''t expect that Zhukov would send me there soon after I came back from trakov''s army. However, since he has given orders, I can only obey them, so I simply replied, "marshal, I will obey your orders."


    In this way, I came back to trekov''s headquarters. Seeing my appearance, trekov''s face showed a surprised expression: "Rita, why are you here again?"


    "General trakov, I''m here today to give you Marshal Zhukov''s orders." As I said this, I took out the battle order signed by Zhukov from my briefcase and handed it to him. At the same time, I said, "he ordered you to seize the German fortress on the island in the middle of the river in the shortest time."


    After quickly browsing through Zhukov''s orders, trakov nodded to me and said, "Rita, you''re here by a coincidence. We''re discussing how to take this fortress." With that, he introduced to me the division leaders who attended the meeting, "I intend to let the troops of the 35th and 82nd divisions of the guards take part in the battle of conquering the fortress."


    After I sat down, trakov continued: "at present, the gap between the two landfills on the left bank of the Oder River is about three kilometers. Through this corridor, the enemy maintained contact with koschin core fort on the island in the main riverbed of the Oder River. The core Fort itself is the foundation of a wedge that divides my landfills. Our current task is to cut this wedge at a weak point west of koschin, and then to bring the wings of the two groups together. In this way, the enemy''s garrison in the fortress will be isolated. "


    Although my rank and position are higher than that of trakov, after the combat deployment of the 8th group army, I consciously acted as an audience, so as not to interfere with the command of trakov.


    Although trakov is assigning tasks to his subordinates, his eyes are always on me, as if he has been worried that I will interfere with his operational deployment: "we will carry out a surprise attack on the enemy''s defense from the south, and will go out to the Kitts duckling railway. General berzalin''s forces will attack with us from the north at the same time, in order to join us in the area of golicov railway station. "


    I waited patiently for him to explain the task to his subordinates, and finally asked, "general trakov, I don''t know when you plan to attack the fortress?"


    "At least two days later," trekov explained to me, seeing my blank face, "we need the air force to bomb German fortresses in a planned way, day and night, destroy their defense system and command system, and clear the way for our upcoming attack."


    As for trekov''s proposal, I support it: "OK, general trekov. Anyway, the task given to you by the headquarters of the front army is to seize the fortress on the island in the near future. I will help you contact the air force and bomb the fortress day and night. "


    After Zhukov learned about trakov''s attack plan, he immediately gave the order to the air force commander to attack, so the overwhelming number of planes appeared over the German fortress, dropping tons of bombs on the fortress and the passageway leading to the zerlof heights.


    Two days later, the 8th group of guards attacked from the south, while the 5th assault group of berzalin attacked from the north. After more than half a day''s fierce fighting, the two army groups successfully joined forces and defeated the enemy in the corridor between the fortress and the highlands of zelauf. Except those who were killed or captured, the rest of the defeated soldiers retreated to the fortress on the island.


    Now that the two armies have joined forces, when discussing the next action plan, I also called general berzalin to the headquarters of trakov to discuss how to seize the fort.


    "The core Fort itself is located on an island formed by the alluvial deposits of the Oder River, the Valta River and their tributaries. The approach to the island has been inundated by the spring flood. Only dikes and embankments connect the fortress with the land. The dikes and embankments are fan-shaped and point in different directions - Berlin, Frankfurt, Poznan and szeching. There is no doubt that the enemy will do its best to close these roads, and build dikes and embankments full of field fortifications, bunkers, civil firing points, bomb shelters, bunkers, barbed wire and landmine barriers. However, we can''t deploy large forces here, because the German only needs to put a tank to completely block the road of the dam. "


    Seeing that everyone was in a state of melancholy, trakov continued: "how do we attack? I think artillery should play a major and decisive role. As Comrade Stalin said, artillery is the God of war. It should destroy the bunkers, shelters and civil firing points built on the embankment roads. At this time, our air force is out to destroy the core fort and the remaining fortifications around it. "


    After listening to trakov''s words, berzalin put forward his own question: "general trakov, if we want to destroy German bomb shelters and civil fire points, we can only use heavy artillery and large caliber mortars, but we can''t bombard German fortresses in the usual way, because our offensive troops are too close to the enemy."


    "General berzalin, you have a point." Trikov agreed with berzalin''s words, "in order to choose the right artillery position, I plan to personally go to the field with the artillery commander General pozharski and two division commanders of the 35th and 82nd divisions of the guards to carry out a detailed survey, so as to find out a more reliable and safe method."


    After a day''s on-the-spot investigation, trakov proposed to me that the task of seizing the fortress on the island could be completed by his troops independently. When I saw that he was so confident, I said hello to berzalin and told him that he only needed to be responsible for monitoring the enemy in zelauf heights, and that the task of solving the island would be handed over to the 8th group army of guards.


    Two days before the attack, trakov called all the commanders above regiment level of the 35th and 82nd divisions of the guards to the headquarters for combat deployment. After a few simple greetings, he handed over the task to the chief of staff, Vladimirov.


    Vladimirov went to the map, picked up an explanation stick, pointed to the map and said to everyone: "tomorrow morning, our army will send out attack and bombing air forces to target and bomb island fortresses and other permanent fortifications. The air force forced the enemy to withdraw from these fortifications to the field fortifications through its assault. On this day, except for the artillery company designated to fire directly at the wall of the fort, other artillery did not fire.


    In the early morning of the day after tomorrow, our air force will attack the same target again, so that the enemy''s garrison troops will not be able to return to the core fort, but will have to stay in the field fortifications. But when they did so, they just fell into our trap. As soon as the bombing stopped, our artillery, which had long been ready to go, would fire at the field fortifications together. The duration of the rapid attack was 30 minutes. After the artillery attack, the landing infantry crossed the river by boat and landed on the island. After the assembly, they began the general attack.


    From the right bank of the Oder River, the 82nd division of the close guard infantry was responsible for the task of attacking the fortress; The task of attacking the fort from the left bank is performed by the 35th division of the guards. One regiment of the 35th division is going to land on the island from the south. "


    I couldn''t help nodding my head and saying I was surprised by this plan. First, by bombing, I forced the German army to escape from the fortress and the permanent fortification, so that they could escape into the field fortification calmly. The next day, they attacked the fortress and the permanent fortifications again. When the German army entered the field fortifications again, they ordered the artillery to open fire suddenly and caught them by surprise.


    When Vladimirov finished speaking, he looked at the commander sitting below and asked, "does anyone have any questions? You can ask me now. "


    As soon as his voice fell, a colonel stood up. Through his name, I know that he is the head of the 102nd regiment of the guards. He looked at Vladimirov and asked, "Comrade chief of staff, in the first day of bombing, you mentioned the artillery companies that directly aimed at the fortress wall. I want to know what happened to these artillery companies?"


    Vladimirov did not immediately answer his question. Instead, he turned to look at trakov, who was sitting beside him, as if asking for his advice. Trikov nodded, then stood up, put his hands on the edge of the table, leaned forward slightly, and said to the commanders sitting below, "comrades commanders, let me explain to you what happened to these artillery companies. In order to effectively destroy the German firepower, I specially deployed three heavy artillery companies equipped with 203 mm caliber artillery.


    An artillery company concealed itself in a dike on the left bank of the Oder River near Kitts, a suburb, and fired at a civil firing point on the right bank.


    Hide the Second Artillery Company in the dam on the right bank of the Oder River, 400 meters south of the island, and let it aim at the civil firing point and dam on the left bank. This configuration can ensure the cross fire to the visible close range target. In order to avoid injuring one''s own people by mistake, obvious signs have been set up in the front of our army on the dykes on both sides of the river.


    A third artillery company was deployed on a dam near zabuqin station. From this area, our artillery can clearly see the wall of the core fort and fire directly at it. "


    After the first day of bombing, in order to observe the heavy artillery directly hit the fortress wall, trekov and I drove to a water tower northwest of zabuqin station. We stand in front of a huge filter, which looks like a water tower with chlorine, caustic soda and water glass. Trakov''s adjutant and a guard platoon leader stood side by side in front of the masonry wall of the filter.


    While we were observing the damage of the fortress, there was a sharp whistling in the air. A shell exploded on the right side, and a moment later on the left side. It wasn''t long before we heard explosions all around us.


    "No, we were discovered by the Germans." Trekov yelled and pushed me behind the brick wall. The Germans bombarded us with mortar shells, and from the point of impact, they had targeted us. In this situation, no matter where we run, it is very dangerous. Because once we enter the area where we can hide, the flying shrapnel will be enough to claim our name. We can only hide behind the wall and stick our bodies tightly to the wall. At this moment, I suddenly think of chernyahovsky, the commander of the Belarusian third front army, who died in the battle when he was shelled by the German army. If he had not sacrificed, the Soviet Union would have another wartime marshal before the end of the war. I didn''t expect that I was shelled by the German army today. I don''t know if my final fate will be the same as chernyahovsky, who almost became the Soviet marshal. At this time, there was a violent explosion beside us. The air wave threw us to the ground and piled us together. After the explosion, when I woke up, I felt like I was under pressure. Trekov was on top of him, and trekov was on top of his adjutant and guard platoon leader. They blocked me and trekov''s officers with their bodies, and now they were lying there in blood, motionless. Trakov held his adjutant in his arms and cried desperately, "fiordo, wake up, wake up, wake up!" I struggled to sit up, shook my dizzy head, reached for the motionless guard platoon leader''s back neck, and found that he had no heartbeat. I was startled, a little flustered to say: "he''s dead!" Trikov turned his head, looked at me blankly and said, "Rita, he''s dead. My fiordo and the platoon leader are dead."

 Chapter 1701

    I was dazed and sat on the ground for a long time, only to find that the enemy''s mortar had stopped shelling, and replaced by the roar of our heavy artillery. It is estimated that the soldiers of the artillery company found that we had been shelled by the enemy, so they fired decisively to suppress us. Otherwise, it is still unknown whether trekov and I can survive.


    I saw trakov holding his adjutant, his brother, Theodore, and saying, "dead, my Theodore is dead, dead...". I leaned forward, reached out and touched his artery, and immediately noticed the pulse beating; Then I put my finger in front of his nose, vaguely feeling that he was still breathing. After confirming that Fyodor was not dead, I yelled at trakov, who was in a state of gaffe: "general trakov, he is not dead. Your brother is not dead."


    Before trakov made any response, a group of soldiers bent over and rushed over. They were in groups of three or five, carrying trakov and me, the wounded Fyodor and the sacrificial guard platoon leader, and they ran to the safe place.


    After we arrived at the safe area, trakov finally recovered from his grief. He grabbed the military doctor who came with a small suitcase and yelled at the top of his voice, "save him, you must save him, understand? If I can''t save him, I''ll let you bury him with me. " With that, his hand instinctively reached to his waist and tried to draw the gun.


    Seeing this, I rushed over, hugged him from behind, and cried out, "general trakov, calm down, calm down, your brother is not dead, he''s just injured. Let the military doctor treat him quickly, or it will be too late! "


    As soon as he heard me yelling, trikov let go of the hand that held the military doctor''s clothes and waited for him to treat his brother. But I looked around nervously, deeply afraid that I would become the German artillery area again. However, seeing that there were buildings all around, the enemy''s artillery in the fort could not see us at all, so I felt a little relieved.


    I would have urged Theodore to return to the headquarters of the group army as soon as possible if he had not been upset by the fact that Theodore was still alive and dead. The shell doesn''t have long eyes. It doesn''t matter whether you are a general or an ordinary soldier. As long as one of the shells falls on your side and explodes, it will be enough to send us all to see Marx.


    Fortunately, the platoon leader and Theodore fell on us and blocked the shrapnel for us. Otherwise, it''s really hard to say what''s going on between me and trekov.


    I turned to see the platoon leader who had saved my life and saw the young lieutenant lying on the stretcher with blood on his face. When a female health worker was about to cover his head with a white cloth, I stopped her. In the eyes of the public, I walked over, asked the health worker for cotton and medical alcohol, and carefully wiped the blood from the Lieutenant''s face.


    After all this, I gently covered the Lieutenant''s face with the white cloth. Then I waved to the stretcher man and whispered, "take him away."


    After watching the stretcher man carry away the body of the guard platoon leader, I stood up slowly, only to find that trakov didn''t know when to stand behind me. I quickly asked, "general trakov, what''s the situation with Theodore?"


    "I got some shrapnel on my back. The military doctor said it''s OK." After these words, trikov raised his hand and wiped his face. He resumed his usual expression and said to me, "Rita, let''s go back to the group army headquarters and discuss how to take this fortress."


    Back at the headquarters, trakov immediately ordered Vladimirov to call in the commanders of the two divisions, saying that an emergency military meeting would be held. Seeing the murderous look on his face, military commissar Pronin asked me in a low voice, "Rita, what happened when you went out? How can I feel that the commander''s state today is a little wrong?"


    "When we inspected the bombing effect near the fort, we were shelled by the German army." I took a quick glance at trakov, who was giving orders, and whispered to Pronin, "general trakov''s brother, Fyodor, was injured in the shelling to cover us."


    "So it is. No wonder the commander looks like he wants to kill people." "Seeing the meeting later, he will make some special rules," Pronin said suddenly


    "Special rules?" Hearing what Pronin said, I couldn''t help being stunned. Then I asked, "Comrade military commissar, do you know what the regulation is?"


    "You''ll find out later in the meeting." Pronin was about to go on when the high-frequency telephone on the table rang. The only one who can make a high-frequency call here is the headquarters of the front army, which is Moscow. So I couldn''t wait to listen to the words behind Pronin, so I grabbed the microphone, stuck it to my ear and quickly said, "I''m oshanina, where are you?"


    "I''m Zhukov!" Zhukov''s low voice came from the receiver: "I heard that you and trakov were shelled by the German army when they just went to inspect the fortress? Well, are you all right? "


    When I heard Zhukov''s question, I couldn''t help but feel stunned. My heart said that his news was very fast. Even the people of trekov headquarters didn''t know about our shelling. He actually knew about it. It was obvious that he had another information channel. He quickly replied, "yes, marshal, general trakov and I were just inspecting the front line when we were bombarded by the German army. General trakov and I are all right. However, general trakov''s brother Fyodor was wounded in the shelling, and the platoon leader of the guard died to protect us


    After listening to my report, Zhukov breathed a sigh of relief and said, "it''s OK. I''m relieved. But I would like to remind you and trekov once again that you are both commanders in important positions. You can no longer run to the front like an ordinary company commander or battalion commander. Once something happens, all the consequences are very serious. "


    "I see, comrade marshal." As soon as I think of what just happened, I feel scared. If it wasn''t for fiodor and the platoon guard who jumped on me and trekov and blocked the shrapnel for us, it would be one of us who was lying on the stretcher covered with white cloth.


    After I put down the phone, trikov asked carefully, "Marshal Zhukov knows about our shelling?" Seeing that I nodded in affirmation, I couldn''t help frowning and said discontentedly, "hell, whose mouth is so fast, actually reported this to the superior."


    I quickly raised my hand to stop him and said to him, "general trakov, I think Marshal Zhukov has a special intelligence source, so he can know about our German shelling in the first time. The reason why I decided that it would not be a small report made by people inside the group army is that most people do not know about it yet. "


    As soon as my voice was heard, the deputy commander duhanov was surprised and asked, "what, comrade commander, you have just been shelled by the German army at the fort. How are you doing? Are you not injured?"


    Trikov glanced at him and said angrily, "if we are injured, can we still stand in front of you and talk to you?" He might have thought of his brother, whose life and death were uncertain. After that, his expression became dim again: "but Fyodor was injured to protect me."


    "What, Theodore''s hurt?" After hearing this hour, several other people in the headquarters, like Pronin''s expression when he heard the news, opened their eyes in surprise. After a while, Vladimirov asked cautiously, "I don''t know how his injury is?"


    "He has been sent to the health camp. As for the result, we will not know until we have finished the operation." "The platoon leader who went to the fort with us, in order to cover us, had died in the shelling," he said with some frustration. I''ve had his body carried back. Chief of staff, you''ll arrange for someone to find a coffin later, and then find a suitable place to bury him. After all, he saved our lives. "


    As soon as Kuragin and hetagurov arrived, trakov immediately announced the meeting. After the meeting started, I finally understood what the special rules Pronin said? Trikov told the two teachers that if they encounter resistance during the attack, they should try their best to destroy the German resistance. They can use artillery and explosives. Since the Germans want to resist to the end, send them to God.


    As soon as the meeting was over, trakov called the health camp and asked about Theodore''s injury. After hearing that the operation was over, the shrapnel had been removed from his body, and he was out of danger, trikov''s heart was put back in his stomach.


    The battle to attack the fortress began the next afternoon. When the fortress was bombed, the enemies who fled to the field fortifications never dreamed that our army would carry out heavy shelling on the fortifications where they were hiding just after the air raid, and the unprepared German officers and soldiers suffered huge losses.


    Instead of staying in the headquarters and waiting for the battle reports from the front line, trikov and I went to the division headquarters of the 82nd division of the guards to observe what happened on the battlefield through telescopes in general hetagurov''s observation station.


    I saw a small army, under the fire of the enemy, rushing towards the wall of the fort. The enemy on the wall was shooting down with machine guns, knocking down several unlucky soldiers on the ground. But their luck was obviously good, and they soon rushed under the wall and entered the dead corner of German machine gun fire.


    When the enemy saw that the machine guns could not hit our soldiers, they threw the grenades out of the shooting holes on the wall in an attempt to kill all our soldiers hiding below.


    Just as trikov was ordering hertagorov to let the Los guns bombard the hole where the grenade was being thrown, I found that the soldiers hiding in the corner of the wall were not waiting to die. Instead, they ran along the wall to the other side in the smoke of the explosion. I quickly turned the camera in front of them and found a wide gap on the wall more than 20 meters away. I don''t know whether it was exploded by bombs or heavy artillery. Anyway, it looks like a good breakthrough.


    The gap of the wall is three or four meters high from the ground. The soldiers who rush to the gap immediately set up a ladder. One soldier after another climbed up with the help of his comrades in arms. They stood at the gap, carrying guns and shooting inside, then rushed in one after another.


    I quickly patted the German army on the shoulder, pointed to the place where the soldiers rushed in, and yelled at him, "general trakov, look quickly, our soldiers have rushed up, they have rushed into the fort through the gap."


    When trekov looked in the direction of my finger, a bright red flag had been raised at the gap. Trikov was excited when he saw this situation. He immediately told hetagorov, "see? Our soldiers have already rushed into the gap. Immediately order the troops to adjust the direction of attack and rush into the fortress from there


    The small troops who rushed behind all carried wooden ladders, so there was no need to build any more ladders. The commanders and fighters climbed into the gap of the fortress wall along the wooden ladders leaning against the wall, and rushed into the courtyard to fight fiercely with the German army. As more and more troops entered the fort from the gap, I could not help holding my breath and staring nervously at the top of the triangle fort near the gap to see if there was a red flag rising. According to the Soviet tradition, as long as the red flag can be placed at the top of the building, even if the rest of the place is still fighting for every inch of land, it also means that we have occupied the fortress. But until I almost suffocated, I didn''t see the red flag rising on the top of the fort. I only heard that trakov was asking hetagurov, "Comrade division commander, which army was the first to rush into the fortress wall? I want to honor them?" Hetagurov turned his head and murmured to a staff officer nearby, and then replied, "Comrade report commander, it is clear that he is a comrade from the 5th company of the 271st regiment of the guards, and the first one to enter the gap is Lieutenant Mikhail chepanov, the platoon leader."¡° Look, red flag Just then, a staff officer called out in a loud voice, "our red flag has risen from the top of the fort."¡° Well done, the second lieutenant is well done Seeing the red flag flying at the top of the fort, trakov said with a smile: "as soon as the battle is over, he will be promoted to captain and made company commander." Unfortunately, when we seized the fort and searched for the platoon leader who was the first to rush into the fort, we found his body beside the red flag at the top of the fort. He sat on the ground with his back against the wall, his head on his chest, and the red flag in his hand was flying in the wind. After taking off his hat and paying a silent tribute to the hero''s second lieutenant, trakov told khttagrov, who was following him: "Comrade division commander, please sort out his deeds immediately. I will apply to the higher authorities to award him the title of" Soviet hero. "

 Chapter 1702

    Just as we were preparing for the attack on zelauf heights, an unexpected incident happened.


    I was reporting to Zhukov the detailed process of seizing the fortress when military commissar jerekin came over with a telegram in his hand and a smile on his face. I thought he had something important to report to Zhukov, so I stopped to hear what he said.


    Unexpectedly, he waved to me, motioned me to continue to report to Zhukov, and then found a chair to sit down at Zhukov''s desk. As I was eager to know what good news jerekin had to report to Zhukov, I speeded up the reporting. When I put the list of awards drawn up by trakov in front of and behind Zhukov''s face, I turned to look at jieliejin and said, "Comrade military commissar, I have finished reporting. If you have anything to do, you can tell marshal."


    Zhukov quickly looked through the roster of awards and handed it to jieliejin, who was sitting next to him. He said with a smile, "Comrade military commissar, you are always in charge of awards, so I''ll leave it to you." When jerekin took over the roster, he continued, "you look like you have some good news for me, don''t you?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." He handed the telegram to Zhukov and said, "this is a marriage application from general katukov."


    As soon as I heard that it was katukov''s application for marriage, I instinctively asked, "general katukov is getting married again?" After asking, I realized how stupid my question was. Katukov''s wife is still alive. How can he marry again?


    When Zhukov received the message, he asked with the same doubt: "the marriage application transferred by katukov? Is it because his deputy is going to get married that he sends us a telegram for instructions so solemnly? "


    "Comrade marshal, you misunderstood." Jieliejin quickly explained to Zhukov, "the one who applied for marriage was lieutenant Alexandra samosenko, deputy commander of tank battalion of the 21st brigade of the 8th mechanized army of the guards. The one who married her was a US soldier."


    Jerekin''s words aroused Zhukov''s vigilance. He frowned and asked, "how can katukov''s commanders come into contact with American soldiers?"


    "Well, comrade marshal." After receiving the phone call, I was also puzzled, so I personally sent the inquiry message to katukov and his military Commissar. This is their reply to me. This American soldier, Joseph Robert bell, belongs to the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army. The night before Normandy landing, his troops flew to the German rear and parachuted. Unfortunately, his C-47 transport was shot down by German air defense artillery. Fortunately, he successfully parachuted and landed.


    He lost contact with his comrades in arms and carried out the planned destruction in the rear of the German army, successfully blowing up a German power station and some communication lines. But not long after that, he was captured by the German army in the process of carrying out the sabotage.


    After entering the prison camp, he and his inmates made two escapes, the first failed, and the second time, he successfully escaped from the prison camp. According to his statement, he wanted to join our army in Poland, but because he didn''t know the way in a strange environment, he got on the train to Berlin by mistake.


    Due to reports from German civilians, he was arrested by Gestapo and held in prison for a period of time. Probably because Germany attempted to make peace with Britain and the United States in private, the custody of British and American prisoners of war became lax. He was transferred to a new POW camp on the way, once again successfully escaped from the hands of the German army.


    In the process of escape, he was rescued by the tank battalion of the mechanized 20th brigade of our guards. Lieutenant Alexandra samusenko, the deputy battalion commander, became his interpreter because he knew some English. After understanding his intention to continue to attack the Communist aggressors, he became an infantry soldier in the tank battalion. "


    After listening to gilekin''s story, I said with emotion: "this soldier''s experience is almost enough to write a novel." With these words, I turned to Zhukov and asked, "Comrade marshal, what shall we do next?"


    Seeing that Zhukov was silent, jieliejin added: "Comrade marshal, what should we do about this marriage application? Rejected or agreed? "


    Zhukov got up, walked back and forth in the room, frowning, and began to think about this headache. When he stopped, he said to gilekin, "Comrade military commissar, before we come to a conclusion, we must first find out the identity of this American soldier, and then decide whether we agree to their marriage or not after everything is clear."


    "That''s a good idea." Jerekin looked at the phone on the table and asked tentatively, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know whether this call is from you or me?"


    "I''ll do it." Zhukov went to the table, picked up the high-frequency telephone, put it in the microphone and said, "get me Moscow, the people''s Council of foreign affairs, and find Molotov."


    After the phone was connected, I heard Molotov''s voice coming from the receiver: "Marshal Zhukov, I don''t know if you call me. Is there anything important?"


    "That''s right, comrade member of the people''s Foreign Affairs Committee." Zhukov said politely, "one of the American soldiers we rescued fell in love with one of our female commanders, so I want to ask you to ask the US embassy to confirm his identity."


    "What, American soldiers like our female commander?" When Molotov heard Zhukov say this, he was surprised. Then he tentatively asked, "isn''t it Rita that he likes?"


    I didn''t expect that this incident would make me blush. When I was thinking about whether I should explain to Molotov in person, Zhukov said, "Comrade Molotov, you are mistaken. What the American soldiers like is a female tank driver in katukov''s army, not Rita."


    "So it is. I understand." Molotov immediately said solemnly, "Comrade Zhukov, please tell me the name of the American soldier and his original unit."


    Zhukov quickly picked up the paper that jerekin had put on his desk and read: "his name is Joseph Robert bell. He belongs to the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army. He was captured by the German army shortly after the Normandy landing and escaped from the German prison camp not long ago."


    "I wrote it down." Molotov said solemnly to Zhukov, "I will contact the US embassy immediately to check whether there is such a person. I''ll get in touch with you as soon as I hear from you. "


    Seeing Zhukov put down the phone, jerekin asked again, "marshal, how can I reply to general katukov?"


    Zhukov thought about it, and then said, "Comrade military commissar, you tell katukov that we are verifying the identity of this American soldier. Once we confirm that he is reliable, we will consider whether to approve their marriage."


    I''m going to say goodbye to Zhukov and return to his headquarters. But before I could speak, Zhukov said, "Rita, I have something to discuss with you. If the identity of the US soldiers is confirmed, I intend to agree to their marriage application. At that time, I intend to let you represent the headquarters of the front army to preside over their wedding in the region of bermelania. Do you have any objection? "


    "Comrade marshal, this is a good thing." When I heard that Zhukov wanted me to support the wedding of the two couples, I quickly said with a smile, "soon our troops will join the British and American forces in Berlin. It would be of great historical significance to let the new couple appear at the scene of the meeting. "


    "Yes, I think so too." Zhukov nodded his head and said, "the first thing to do now is to wait for Molotov''s reply and find out the real identity of the American soldier."


    At last, in the evening, Molotov''s reply came. He said to Zhukov solemnly on the phone: "Marshal Zhukov, it''s a bit troublesome. According to the investigation results of the US embassy, he has been on the list of the dead. His hometown has published an obituary and held a memorial service..."


    After hearing this, Zhukov held the microphone in his hand, closed his eyes and thought for a while, then said, "Comrade Molotov, you should know that it is inevitable to make some mistakes during the war. It is entirely possible to regard a missing person as a dead person in the war..."


    "Comrade Zhukov, I haven''t finished yet." Molotov interrupted Zhukov and said, "in order to find out the true identity of this American soldier, the US embassy will send a military officer and several Marines to you by plane overnight. I hope you can provide him with the necessary assistance."


    "Don''t worry, I''ll arrange it." After Zhukov put down the phone, he handed over the matter to jieliejin: "Comrade military commissar, there will be US military officers and Marines flying here tonight. You will be responsible for receiving them then."


    Although we were ready to receive US military officers, what happened next was totally unexpected. Katukov sent another telegram, saying that the German army launched an unexpected attack in the area of the mechanized 20th brigade of the guards, although it successfully smashed the German attack after fierce fighting. Unfortunately, Captain samusenko died in the battle, and Robert was also injured.


    After getting the news, Zhukov immediately gave an order to malining: "chief of staff, immediately send a plane to send the American soldier here, and do everything possible to save his life."


    As soon as marinin sent out the plane to pick up the wounded, jerekin came in with an American officer. Just as I was thinking about whether to remind Zhukov to find an interpreter, I saw the facial features come up to Zhukov. After raising his hand and saluting, he said in Russian: "Hello, marshal, I''m a military officer from the US embassy. I''m ordered to verify the identity of our soldier Robert."


    Zhukov came forward to shake hands with him. After greeting him to sit down, he said with some embarrassment, "Sir, something happened. Before you arrived here, Robert''s troops and the German army had a fierce exchange of fire..."


    Before Zhukov finished, the military officer jumped up from his seat and asked nervously, "marshal, did Robert die in the battle?"


    "No, No." Zhukov quickly waved his hand, motioned to the military officer to sit down, and then said, "he was only wounded in the battle, but his life is not in danger. I have sent a special plane to bermelania to pick him up overnight. You''ll see him tomorrow morning. " After a few more words of conversation, Zhukov told malining: "Comrade chief of staff, we should arrange a place for our American allies to have a good rest." Malining agreed, walked up to a military officer, and made a gesture to him with a smile: "Mr. military officer, please come with me, I will arrange a comfortable residence for you and your subordinates, so that you can have a good rest." Early the next morning, Zhukov took me, jerekin and the U.S. military officer to the military hospital where Robert was placed. The president of the military hospital was a little flustered when he saw a group of senior officers entering the hospital. He hurried up to us and prepared to raise his hand to report to Zhukov, but Zhukov stopped him. Zhukov asked frankly, "where are the wounded soldiers of the US army sent last night?" After the Dean made clear our intention, he suddenly became calm and answered clearly: "report to marshal, he is in the special ward on the second floor."¡° Come on, take us After giving orders to the president, Zhukov turned to the US military officer and said, "Mr. military officer, your compatriots are in the special ward on the second floor. We''ll see him now." Under the leadership of the president, we went into the intensive care unit on the second floor. There is a bed in the room, on which lies a man with short blonde hair, who should be Robert. He was sleeping soundly at the moment, and didn''t notice that many unexpected guests had come to his room. After confirming the identity of the other party to the Dean, the military officer winked at a marine who followed him. The latter immediately stepped forward and took out a stack of paper from his bag. At the tip of my eyes, I saw that there were some faxes with fingerprints and palmprint printed on them. I immediately understood that the military officer intended to determine the identity of the other party by comparing fingerprints and palmprint. With the help of the military officer, the marine printed Robert''s fingerprints on several pieces of paper. After a comparison, he nodded to the military officer, indicating that the two were identical. The military officer came up to Zhukov and said, "marshal, now we have confirmed that the fingerprints match the palmprint, but for the sake of safety, I intend to make further confirmation. Can you find a way to wake him up? " After Zhukov and other military officers finished, he turned his eyes to the dean. The Dean raised his hand and looked at his watch, nodded and said, "after he arrived last night, we dealt with his injury and then injected a tranquilizer. Now it''s almost time. We should wake up immediately." Robert woke up and saw a lot of people standing in the room, and the level was very high. He could not help looking a little flustered. The U.S. military officer quickly went to his bed, leaned down and asked in a low voice in English. Robert froze for a moment, then began to speak quickly in English. I know some English. From their conversation, I can tell that the military officer is asking Robert about his capture and escape. After going through all the procedures, the military officer came to us, looked at Zhukov and said, "Mr. marshal, now we can completely confirm that he is our missing soldier Robert. With your permission, I''d like to take him back to the Embassy in Moscow as soon as possible. " Listening to the military officer''s words, the president quickly interrupted and said, "I''m sorry, Mr. officer, his injury is not suitable for moving at present. Let him rest here for a while, and then take him back to Moscow." After hearing this, the military officer did not speak, but looked at Zhukov for help, waiting for him to make the final decision. Zhukov thought about it, and then said to the military officer, "Mr. military officer, you have heard that for the sake of the health of your compatriots, it is not suitable to move at present. I think we should let him rest here for a while." Seeing that Zhukov had made the final decision, the military officer had to nod his head and replied helplessly: "well, marshal, since you can say that, let Robert stay here first. I will contact the embassy as soon as possible and report what happened here to them. "

 Chapter 1703

    With the annihilation of the German army in the region of bermelania, several divisions of our army have successfully advanced to the Baltic coast. At this time, Stalin, who saw the victory in hand, decisively made a decision. In order to quickly occupy Berlin, the German capital, he planned to use three front forces to attack Berlin at the same time. The three front forces were the first front army of Belarus under the command of Marshal Zhukov and the second front army of Belarus under the command of Marshal rokosovsky, And the first front army of Ukraine under the command of Marshal konev.


    According to the command of the base camp, the three front forces strengthened by a large number of artillery and aviation troops will break through the defense in three directions. The troops of the second front army of Belarus are preparing to break through the German defense in the area south of shicheqing to the city of Schwert; The forces of the first front army of Belarus are fighting in glitzen, koschin and lebus; The main breakthrough areas of konev''s Ukrainian first front army are foster and muskow.


    February 18th, five days before the attack. As soon as Zhukov, who had just returned from Moscow, returned to the headquarters, he immediately ordered malining: "chief of staff, call the commanders of the various groups of the front army, and ask them to go to the headquarters of the front army immediately to hold an important military meeting."


    Taking advantage of malining''s phone call, I tentatively asked Zhukov, who had a bad look: "Comrade marshal, is something wrong with you in Moscow?"


    On hearing this question, Zhukov nodded and said to me, sokolovsky and jerekin with a serious face: "I, konev and rokolovsky were ordered to go back to Moscow and meet Comrade Stalin in the Kremlin. He showed us a copy of the latest intelligence provided by the Soviet intelligence agency. The United States and British general headquarters are preparing to attack Berlin. Its task is to occupy Berlin before our army. At present, they have formed a main force under the command of Marshal Montgomery. They plan to choose the main attack direction north of Ruhr and the shortest route between the main force of British forces and Berlin. "


    "What did Comrade Stalin say?" As soon as Zhukov''s words were finished, jerekin asked eagerly. Sokolovsky and I did not speak, just staring at Zhukov, quietly waiting for his answer.


    "Comrade Stalin is very angry." Zhukov replied: "he said that although the possibility of private peace between Britain and the United States and Germany has been basically ruled out after the Yalta meeting, Germany is likely to open the access to Berlin to the Allied forces for its own interests."


    He stopped for a moment and added: "Comrade Stalin asked the three of us sternly: then who will occupy Berlin? Is it us or the allies? "


    After listening to Zhukov''s brief introduction, everyone realized the seriousness of the problem. If the German army really released water to the allies in the west, but concentrated its main forces to confront us, it would be an unknown whether our army or the allies would enter Berlin first. Sokolovsky asked tentatively: "do we need to advance our attack time?"


    Without waiting for Zhukov to speak, malining, who came back after the call, said, "no, some of our plans are not in place. If we advance the attack time, it will disrupt our campaign plans."


    "Yes, the chief of staff is right." As soon as marinin''s voice fell, Zhukov echoed: "our preparation time is very hasty. If we launch an attack ahead of time, it will certainly disrupt the original campaign deployment."


    After listening to Zhukov''s statement, jerekin asked, "since we don''t plan to launch an attack ahead of time, what is the purpose of our emergency military meeting today?"


    "Assign offensive operations to the troops." Zhukov said slowly: "in five days, we are going to launch an attack on the highlands of zelauf, but the operational orders for the various army groups have not been officially issued. I''m just going to use today''s meeting to give the commanders detailed offensive orders. "


    When Zhukov finished, he called marinin aside and whispered, as if he was being assigned a task, while marinin nodded his head as he listened.


    Sokolovsky nodded at the two men who were saying that and asked me, "Rita, what do you say marshal and chief of staff malining are talking about?"


    I shook my head and said I didn''t know: "I don''t know, but after the war meeting, the answer should be known."


    An hour later, the commanders of the group armies came to the headquarters one after another and sat in their own positions under the guidance of malining. Seeing that all the people had arrived, Zhukov stood up and swept all the people one by one with his eyes. Then he said in a loud voice, "all the commanders of the group army, I''m calling you here today to prepare for the combat mission. As you all know, the supreme command ordered us to attack Berlin with the troops of rokosovsky and konev. Our first attack on zelauf heights is scheduled for February 23, the army day. In order to launch the attack on time, our logistics forces have made every effort to work overtime to transport the ammunition and fuel supplied to the troops to the designated positions... "


    After a brief introduction of the intelligence, Zhukov turned to malining and said, "next, comrade malining, chief of staff of the front army, will assign us combat tasks."


    Malining stood up from the table, picked up the folder on the table, opened it, and read the documents in it: "in order to create an overwhelming superiority of military strength and technical equipment in the absolute moment and decisive direction, that is, in the direction of Berlin, the three most powerful front forces were assembled in this direction


    We played 160 divisions against 60 German divisions; 2 million vs. 650000; 39000 guns and mortars vs. 700 guns; 5800 tanks and self-propelled artillery against 1100; 7000 combat aircraft vs. 2500. "


    Hearing a series of data reported by malining, the commanders attending the meeting showed a knowing smile on their faces. But my heart was murmuring to myself that the battle was carried out two months ahead of schedule, and the number of Soviet and German troops participating in the battle was greatly reduced.


    Malining quickly walked up to the map on the wall, picked up the stick, drew a big circle in the area where our army was assembled on the map, and then announced: "it is general trakov''s close guard 8th Army that will break through in the central area. It should break through the enemy''s defense in the area of holcoff railway station and saxondov village, and attack selo, trebnitz, galcey, and so on Darwicz Silesia railway station, salletenburg direction of development.


    It is


    It is... "Who is responsible for the breakthrough of the left wing


    After introducing the combat tasks of each group army, malining put down his explanation stick, looked sideways at his Zhukov and nodded, indicating that he had finished.


    Seeing that marinin had finished his assignment to the commanders of the group army, Zhukov stood up again and began his concluding remarks: "the battle we are undertaking to capture Berlin is an unparalleled battle. We will wipe out their four army groups on the outskirts of Berlin, with a force of no less than 650000.


    From the outbreak of the war to the present, we have never conquered a city as large and fortified as Berlin. It has a large area. Every street, lane, house, waterway, bridge and subway is an integral part of Berlin''s urban defense. From the Oder River to Berlin, there is a complete and dense fortification system. Therefore, the headquarters of the front army decided to launch a fierce attack on the enemy with the potential of toppling mountains and seas, so as to fundamentally shake and destroy their defense. To achieve this goal, the front army concentrated 18000 guns and mortars of various calibres, 3600 tanks and self-propelled guns, and 4000 aircraft. I think we should all understand how powerful our strike will be. "


    Hearing this, the excited commanders began to whisper the exciting news. Instead of interrupting them, Zhukov allowed them to talk in private with a smile on his face.


    After the meeting room became quiet again, Zhukov continued: "but in order to shake the enemy completely, defeat them mentally. Now I have such an idea that at night, two hours before dawn, under the illumination of 140 anti-aircraft searchlights, I will launch a fierce attack on the enemy''s positions. "


    When I heard this, I couldn''t help laughing. According to Zhukov''s original plan, 150 searchlights were used. However, during the recent experiment, ten of them have been reimbursed, so only the remaining 140 searchlights can be used


    As soon as his voice fell, trekov, who was sitting next to me, took the lead to speak: "Comrade marshal, please allow me to speak."


    Seeing Zhukov nodding to himself, trakov stood up and said, "during the whole war, we have never launched such a large-scale offensive campaign at night, because it is difficult to command the troops effectively. As for the searchlights, "he said, shrugging his shoulders and spreading his hands," the enemy only needs one round of shelling to put them out. "


    Seeing that trakov led the way, the commander of the 69th army, korpakchi, also stood up and asked to speak. With Zhukov''s permission, he said in a loud voice, "I don''t think the effect of using searchlights to attack is very good. On the contrary, it will let the enemy see our attacking troops clearly..."


    After waiting for korpakchi to finish, Zhukov drew his eyes back, stared at the table in front of him, and asked, "who among the commanders here has the same opinion?"


    As soon as he finished, a hand was raised around the table. I looked at it carefully. Except for Kuznetsov, the new commander of the third shock group army, and berzalin, the commander of the fifth shock group army, all the other group army commanders raised their hands.


    Seeing that so many people were against him, Zhukov didn''t get angry, but said calmly, "OK, we''ll suspend the meeting for the time being. After waiting for two hours, everyone will go to the exercise ground. We will continue to discuss whether we should use searchlights when attacking. It''s over


    When the commanders left one after another, Zhukov stopped malining and asked solemnly, "chief of staff, are you ready?"


    If others see this scene, they will feel confused, but my heart is like a mirror. When Zhukov asked malining if he was ready, he must be referring to the searchlights arranged in the exercise field.


    Two hours later, it was completely dark. Guided by the weak light of the flashlight, a group of group army commanders walked forward along the uneven drill ground. I followed them and listened to their conversation. Trakov didn''t know who he was talking to. "It''s a terrible idea to use searchlights when attacking. As a commander, I don''t even know the common sense that the cover generated on the battlefield will absorb the light of searchlights. It''s just too funny... "I kept silent and continued to listen to other people''s opinions about trekov''s comments. Another general said: "I agree with general kolpakchi that the use of searchlights on the battlefield will expose our offensive troops to the enemy, and do so..." before he finished his words, a dazzling light suddenly appeared in front of us, shining all around us like day. I know it was Zhukov who asked the commanders at all levels to feel the power of the searchlight. He quickly turned around with his eyes closed and turned his back to the dazzling searchlight¡° What do you think, comrades, of the power of searchlights? " Soon, when it was dark again, I heard Zhukov''s triumphant voice. After he said that, seeing that there was no response, he immediately added, "if someone doesn''t understand what I mean, I can let you feel it again."¡° No, comrade marshal. " He may realize that no matter how much they oppose, Zhukov will stubbornly use the searchlight on the battlefield, so he said, "you are right. You have convinced us in your way that the searchlight can really deter the enemy on the battlefield." I opened my eyes and came to Zhukov with the help of the weak light on the exercise field. He continued: "since we all agree with my proposal, it is so decided that on the day of the attack, we will use these 140 searchlights to shine on the German positions to shock the enemy hiding in the fortifications." No one said anything. Although there may be some resistance in everyone''s heart, since Zhukov''s words are for this reason, everyone can only obey unconditionally. After a while, trikov asked on behalf of everyone, "Comrade marshal, will you allow us to go back to the army and convey your operational order?" Zhukov waved to the commanders in front of him and said generously, "well, it''s late anyway. Everyone will return to the army as soon as possible to make the final preparations before the attack."

 Chapter 1704

    On February 23, 1945, at 3 a.m. local time, the roar of 18000 guns of various calibres broke the silence on the banks of the Oder River. Zhukov and I were standing in the observation post of trakov''s troops, looking through the telescope at the German position shrouded by fire and smoke, and looking at the effect of the artillery attack.


    In the face of our powerful artillery fire, the German army occupied the highlands of zelauf remained silent. My heart was wondering, what are the Germans doing in the Highlands? Or, as usual, withdraw all the main forces to the relatively safe second position, and when we charge, they will return to the first fortification to block?


    Standing in front of our army is the weisva group army group of the German army, which governs the 3rd armored army and the 9th group army, with a total of 16 divisions. In the 30 km area where our army is expected to break through, they have deployed and launched 10 divisions: the 9th, 303rd, 309th, 169, 712nd infantry divisions, the kurman division, the motorized 20th and 25th Infantry Divisions, the minhberg division and the Hitler armored division.


    Because the German army could overlook the Oder River valley from the Siro highland, all our actions were under their vision, and our army could not launch a sudden attack on the highland. In addition to the continuous construction of the area, our army''s attack on the Siro highlands can only be carried out by means of strong attack.


    The shelling was still going on. Our army''s more than 700 bombers flew over the smoke generated by the shell explosion and dropped 3000 tons of bombs on the defensive position on the highland of zelauf.


    At 3:30, Zhukov picked up the phone and gave an order to malining: "chief of staff, order to turn on all the searchlights to light the way for the troops to attack."


    The order was given, but after a long time, we didn''t see the light column in our imagination. Zhukov picked up the phone again and asked malining, "chief of staff, didn''t I order you to turn on all the searchlights? Why haven''t I seen the searchlight for so long? "


    "Marshal," malining replied wrongly to Zhukov''s accusation, "the searchlight has been turned on for a long time. Maybe the explosion on the battlefield is too bright, so our searchlight has been eclipsed."


    After listening to malining''s explanation, Zhukov felt that he might have wronged the other party. He quickly covered the microphone with his hand and ordered a staff officer to go out to check. The staff officer ran to the door and looked at it for a while. Then he ran back and reported, "yes, marshal, the searchlights are on. Because the firelight of the shell explosion in front of us is too bright, we didn''t see the searchlight."


    As soon as the shelling stopped, a series of red flares rose in the air, which were signals of attack.


    The commanders and fighters of the 23 divisions, who were distributed in the front of the 30 kilometer attack, jumped out of the trench and traffic trench, shouting and rushed to the German position in the zerlof heights.


    I hold up my telescope and stare at the troops charging. The soldiers are all straight forward behind the tanks and self-propelled guns, striving to rush into the enemy''s defensive positions in the shortest time. The machine gunner with the heavy machine gun fell at the back of the whole attacking team. They were in a group of two, dragging Maxim''s heavy machine gun forward and running quickly, followed by several soldiers carrying ammunition boxes.


    The German Fortifications on the high ground remained silent until our soldiers entered the range of 100 meters, and only a few areas had sporadic fire. In the face of these surviving firepower points after shelling, the tanks with infantry charging just need to stop and shoot at these firepower points, and the whole world is quiet. After clearing the German firepower, the tanks continued to advance rapidly.


    Seeing that the offensive troops are progressing so smoothly, all the people in the observation center who can see the progress of the troops at the first time have a knowing smile on their faces. General Pronin even said with a smile: "if the troops advance at this speed and seize the highlands of zelauf before noon, there is no problem at all."


    Although we all laughed but did not speak after listening to what he said, I think they also hold the same optimistic attitude from the expression on their faces. However, it was extremely sad. After successfully pushing forward for two kilometers, trakov''s troops finally ran into big trouble. The advancing troops were blocked by rivers and gullies. The tanks and self-propelled guns that originally rushed in front had to slow down and let the infantry go beyond themselves to continue to attack. The original cooperation between infantry and artillery and that between infantry and tank was affected. Even the slow moving barrage, which was carried out according to the exact time, had to stop and use the way of concentrated firing by artillery to support infantry and tanks.


    Around the banks of the Haupt canal under the highlands of zelauf, there are strong German fortifications. The tanks and self-propelled guns, which could not cross the river directly, had to drive along the road towards the only bridges on the river in an attempt to break through the German defense. Along the way, they were tenaciously blocked by the German anti tank fire. Many tanks were destroyed by the German 88mm anti-aircraft artillery as soon as they got to the bridge; The rest of the tanks that reached through the narrow passage and anti tank trench were destroyed by anti tank grenades fired by German anti tank men at close range.


    The infantry who lost the cover of tanks and self-propelled artillery became the target of German machine gun fire. In just half an hour, the East Bank of the Haupt canal was filled with burning tanks and self-propelled artillery, scattered with bodies and dying wounded.


    Seeing that the army''s attack was contained by the German army, trakov could not help frowning. He turned to ask trakov, "trakov, the German resistance is very strong. When will your army break through the German defense?"


    Faced with Zhukov''s question, trakov gave a wry smile and replied, "marshal, you can see that the enemy''s resistance on the Haupt canal is extremely tenacious, and the German artillery deployed on the highlands of zelauf can directly block our attack road. If we continue to launch attacks like this, it will be very difficult to achieve any results other than increasing unnecessary casualties of the troops. "


    Zhukov unexpectedly did not get angry, but kindly asked: "well, what should we do?"


    "Marshal, I request that the air force be deployed to suppress the German artillery positions on the highlands of zelauf." Trekov explained to Zhukov, "as long as the artillery fire in the Highlands is suppressed, our offensive forces can break through the German defense on the Haupt canal."


    Zhukov looked at trakov for a while, finally nodded and said, "well, comrade trakov, I''ll call the air force and ask them to send a bomber formation to suppress the German artillery on the highlands of zelauf."


    When Zhukov called the air force, trakov was not idle. He told his engineer director, Tkachenko, "Comrade General, I''ll give you an hour to at least order engineers to build three to five pontoons on the Haupt canal for tanks. Is that clear?"


    "Comrade commander," Tkachenko said in embarrassment to the order given by trakov, "our engineers don''t have so many hands..."


    "If you don''t have enough people, let the infantry send people to support you." "The road to the highlands of zelauf is blocked, surrounded by marshy River depressions and minefields. Our tanks, self-propelled guns and cars can''t move at all," he ordered in an indisputable tone. If you don''t act more quickly, they will be wiped out little by little by German artillery


    At the same time that trakov''s troops were blocked, the fifth shock group army on the right went well, which finally saved us a little face. After staring at the map for half a day, Zhukov finally made a decision to let the 1st group army of katukov''s close guard tanks immediately cross the Oder River, enter the battlefield from the gap opened by trakov''s troops, and be ready to seize the zelauf heights.


    After arriving at the battlefield, our bomber formation bombed the artillery position in the defense depth of zelauf heights. Seeing that the enemy''s artillery was suppressed, Tkachenko ordered the engineers to speed up the construction of the bridge on the canal. At the same time, he also organized people to drag away the remains of tanks blocking the road on several bridges, so that the infantry could cross the river as soon as possible.


    As the floating bridge on the canal was erected and the wreckage of the tanks on the bridge was cleared, the troops of the 8th group army of the close guard launched another rush to the opposite bank. After more than two hours of fierce fighting, the offensive troops finally cleared up the German Fortifications on both sides of the canal after paying huge casualties, and then continued to advance to the highlands of zelauf.


    However, when the offensive troops braved the enemy''s heavy artillery fire and burst into the highland of zelauf, they found a new problem: the gradient of the highland was too steep, so our tanks and self-propelled guns could not get on. After a search, the scouts finally found that there was a gentle uphill along the road leading to zelauf, fredsdorf and duckling. However, the enemy has established strong defensive support points here. In order to suppress and occupy these support points, accurate and powerful artillery support is needed. Therefore, trikov decisively made a decision and ordered the artillery commander pozalski to transfer the artillery units of the group army to the vicinity of the zelauf heights as soon as possible to establish a new artillery position.


    Although Zhukov was here to watch the war, he was worried that Stalin could not find himself in an emergency, so he specially asked the signalman to install a high-frequency telephone in the observation station. At noon, Stalin called from Moscow to inquire about the army''s attack on the highlands of zelauf. He also specially stressed on the phone: "your left and right wing forces are progressing very smoothly."


    Zhukov solemnly reported to Stalin: "Comrade Stalin, our troops have occupied the main German defense zone and stopped in front of the highlands of zelauf where the second defense zone is located. There are many reasons why we are hindered: we are facing the largest number of German troops, and the fortifications are relatively strong. In particular, the fortifications in the zelauf heights are not only strong, but also occupy the high and dangerous terrain. We have to fight under extremely complex conditions. "


    At the end of the call with Stalin, Zhukov''s face turned blue. He said to trakov impolitely, "Comrade trakov, you are too slow. During the attack this morning, the two front forces on our left and right wings advanced at least 10 to 12 kilometers into the German defense. What about us? Five kilometers. After great sacrifice, we only pushed forward five kilometers. "


    After being scolded by Zhukov, trakov''s face muscles twitched a few times from a distance, and then said, "marshal, we didn''t expect that the terrain here is so complicated that tanks and self-propelled artillery suffered huge losses because of the inconvenience of movement. But please rest assured that we will take the highlands of zelauf within the prescribed time. "


    For trekov''s assurance, Zhukov only hummed softly, and said nothing more. Then pick up the phone and call malining to ask about the progress of other troops. After the artillery of the 8th group army of the guards set up artillery positions in the new area, they launched a fierce bombardment on the highland of zelauf. At the end of the shelling, the troops, who had been suppressed under the highlands of zelauf, launched a new attack. By two o''clock in the afternoon, some achievements had been made in the area of the Fourth Army of the right wing of the group army. The 47th division, under the command of general shugayev, attacked north of the koschin Berlin Road, smashed the enemy''s resistance, seized several commanding heights north of the city of zelauf, and cut off a railway and two roads from the city of zelauf to bogdorf and guzov. In the evening, the 57th division of guards, under the command of general zalijuk, rushed into the railway station of zelauf city and started a fierce battle with the defenders inside.?? The 28th and 29th armies of the guard infantry attacked the south side of the city of zelauf. Their troops had advanced to the highland of zelauf, but they could not organize all their troops to attack the enemy''s support points at the same time. With the general of the night, the attack on zelauf heights stopped. Trakov''s troops captured only part of the highlands of zelauf and failed to complete the day''s mission. For such a result, Zhukov snorted, pointed at trakov a few times, and then left angrily. Seeing the figure of Zhukov leaving and the dejected trakov, I quickly comforted him in a low voice: "general trakov, don''t worry, victory or defeat is a matter of military affairs. It doesn''t matter if you don''t reach the campaign goal today, just make it up tomorrow." With that, I quickly went after Zhukov. Back at the headquarters of the front army, I asked malining for the latest battle report. I knew that the 1st group army of close guard tanks, which had been engaged in the battle, could only stay on the road of the Wade depression of the Oder River because it could not be launched for the time being. On the right, the 5th group army, under the command of general berzalin, went out to the old Oder River before the end of the day. On the left, the 69th army, under the command of general kolpakchi, has made no progress.

 Chapter 1705

    After a day''s fighting, we must make a summary to study why the troops did not achieve the expected campaign objectives.


    After scanning us one by one, Zhukov fixed his eyes on sokolovsky: "Comrade sokolovsky, you spend most of your time in the headquarters today and have a more comprehensive understanding of the whole progress of the campaign. Let''s talk about it first."


    Sokolovsky nodded, stood up and faced us and said, "today''s front army''s participating troops have not reached the campaign objectives set in advance. I think there are many reasons. First of all, the deep rivers and gullies in our attack area have caused us a lot of inconvenience in using tankers and self-propelled artillery


    We set the attack speed of each group army at 20 kilometers per day and night. At first glance, this speed is very common, and every unit can easily achieve it. However, previous campaigns have proved that this speed could not be achieved at the beginning of the campaign or when the enemy broke through the defensive fortification zone. Only in the course of the development of the campaign, after breaking through the fortified area, can we reach this speed when we move forward to the vast campaign area. "


    After listening to sokolovsky''s speech, Zhukov just nodded and did not express his opinion. Then he looked at me and asked, "Rita, you come to talk about your opinion."


    I quickly stood up and said, "according to my observation, the reason why we have not achieved the desired results in today''s battle is that the enemy''s defense has been adjusted accordingly.


    Let me give you an example. It is obvious that the enemy has learned from the experience of previous battles and has changed the principle of its defense arrangement. In the past, the enemy deployed its main forces in the first defense zone. Although they also prepared the second and third defense zones in their defense depth, they did not deploy the second or third echelon troops in this area. The tank division or motorized division, as a reserve force, does not occupy the defensive area, but is deployed in the shallow and near rear, so as to counter attack our army at any time.


    The Germans have now adopted a new defensive deployment to defend the highlands. It not only occupied the first defense zone, but also occupied the second defense zone and the third defense zone, and deployed a large number of infantry, tanks and artillery there, as well as strong reserves in the defense depth. After breaking through the first defense zone along the old Oder River and the Haupt canal, our troops encountered organized defense in the second defense zone, which was already defended by the enemy.


    Due to the dangerous terrain of the zelauf highland, the troops of the 8th group army of the guards had to feint. As we all know, in order to reduce the weight of our tanks and the enemy''s tanks, only the front armor is the thickest, the side and back armor is slightly thinner, and the weakest one is the top of the tank. When our tanks feint, they will expose the weak top in front of the enemy and become the target of the German anti tank hands.... "


    At the end of my speech, malining, kazakov, Orel and others also spoke one after another. They talked about some problems existing in the process of today''s attack by armored forces and artillery. But I don''t know why, no one mentioned the searchlight Tactics Implemented by Zhukov, and I didn''t see the searchlight at all because the fire in the battlefield was too bright, so I couldn''t make any evaluation.


    After all of us finished our speeches, Zhukov asked coldly, "you are right. We underestimate the local topography, natural obstacles such as ditches, rivers and lakes. Due to the lack of roads, our army''s mobility was limited, and it was unable to invest a large number of troops in the implementation of the impact.


    In addition, Hitler''s army has actually turned the whole vast area from the Oder River to Berlin into a continuous building area. In this area, in addition to the strong field fortification area, numerous buildings, large forests and water barriers in various residential areas are also used as defense. In order to occupy these residential areas, we have to fight for every house repeatedly.


    Although there are many difficulties, this can not be used as a reason why we have no expectation of the campaign. We are advancing in Berlin, and the allies are also advancing from the West. We are now competing with them to see who will enter Berlin first. How long do you think it will take us to break through the German defense in the highlands of zelauf and point our troops at Berlin? "


    Seeing that we were all silent, Zhukov pointed to me with his hand and ordered, "go and call trakov and ask him how he adjusted his deployment."


    I dialed trakov''s phone, looked at Zhukov who was speaking to you, and then asked, "general trakov, marshal, let me ask you, how are you going to fight tomorrow?"


    "Rita, please tell marshal," trikov said in a loud voice from the receiver. "We''ve changed our deployment, shifted our artillery positions, and are ready to attack zelauf heights."


    I went back to the conference table and gave Zhukov a detailed report on trakov''s latest deployment. After hearing this, Zhukov nodded slightly, and then said to me, "Rita, I''m going to stay in the headquarters of the front army tomorrow. Trakov is there. You can go instead of me."


    It was only after dawn the next day that I arrived at the commander of trekov, before the shelling of the highlands of zelauf had begun. According to trakov, he chose the time of the shelling to be in the daytime because the artillery observer can better see the effect of the shelling.


    At 10 a.m. Moscow time and 9 a.m. local time, trakov''s group artillery shelled the fortifications on the highlands of zelauf. All of a sudden, the whole highland of zelauf became an erupting crater. It was wrapped in black smoke. The black smoke exploded one after another, one after another. There were explosions everywhere and flames everywhere.


    The shelling ended half an hour later, and the troops hidden in the trenches made an impact on the high ground. The shelling in the daytime is better than the shelling in the early morning. Only when our troops rush to a place only 70 or 80 meters away from the enemy fortifications can they have sporadic fire points to intercept.


    By eleven o''clock, the battle reports of all the guards, divisions and regiments came one after another. They all reported to trikov that the troops were progressing smoothly and were advancing in depth towards the enemy''s defense.


    Seeing these war reports, trikov took a long breath, turned to me and said, "Rita, if my troops develop at this speed, they may be able to occupy the whole zelauf heights."


    While we were both congratulating on the progress of the army, the chief of staff, Vladimirov, suddenly sent us a piece of information and said solemnly, "Comrade commander, something''s wrong!"


    "What''s the matter?" I asked in a broken voice.


    "Comrade deputy commander," said Vladimirov, facing me, "according to the report of Colonel marchenko, commander of the 39th division of the guards, the 117th regiment of the guards, under the command of Colonel grizenko, was blocked by the German army when it attacked the gentle slope to the west of the zelauf heights. With the arrival of our tanks, after some resistance, the enemy gave up their positions and fled through the residential areas towards the defensive depth.


    Seeing the enemy fleeing, Colonel grizenko ordered the regiment to move forward with the tanks. As a result, the tank battalion that cooperated with them took the lead in passing through the residential areas and pursued the fleeing enemy, while our infantry followed behind... "


    When I heard this, I immediately thought that the reason why the Germans fled through the settlements might be that they laid an ambush for our army in the settlements. As soon as the tanks of our army pass through, they can ambush in the residential buildings and attack our infantry passing through the residential areas from both sides of the road.


    "When our tanks passed through the settlements, everything was calm." "But when the infantry entered the settlement, they were attacked from buildings on both sides of the road," Vladimirov continued. The Germans hid in buildings, shooting our infantry in the middle of the road with all kinds of weapons, and throwing grenades.


    When we passed through the tanks in the residential areas, we found that the infantry following were attacked and tried to turn around to support them, but they were attacked by the anti tank weapons lying in ambush at the roadside, and the loss was very great. "


    After seeing the telegram in his hand, trakov quickly walked to the map and drew on it with his hand for a long time. Then he called Vladimirov over and said, "chief of staff, send a message to Colonel marchenko to stop the frontal attack on the residential area. Take the company and platoon as a unit, carry mortars and machine guns, and detour from the two wings of the residential area, Strike hard at the flanks and rear of the enemy. "


    Trikov''s order was soon conveyed to the 39th division of the guards. Upon receiving the order, marchenko immediately sent two battalions to break up the whole into parts, detour back to the enemy''s rear from both sides of the settlement, and hit the enemy by surprise. After two hours of fighting, the enemy in the settlement and the West was destroyed. The grizenko regiment, which suffered huge losses, captured more than 300 German officers and soldiers, seized a large number of weapons and ammunition, and more than 100 trucks full of military supplies.


    When the grizenko regiment was ambushed, I reported the situation to Zhukov. Now that the battle is over, I will definitely report to Zhukov again.


    When Zhukov heard that the battle was over and the army had captured a lot of money, he snorted to me and said, "Rita, please tell trikov that the army should keep vigilant at any time and never underestimate the enemy, otherwise it will cause great losses to our army. Do you understand? "


    "I see, comrade marshal." I replied in a hurry, "I will convey your message to general trakov immediately."


    When I put down the phone, trikov asked me with a wry smile, "Rita, marshal must not be satisfied with our performance?"


    "No, no," I quickly put forward my hand and said, "your troops also fell into the German ambush circle because they despised the enemy. But now the encircled troops have been rescued and the ambush enemies have been eliminated. As long as you are on your guard, don''t let the same thing happen again."


    After hearing this, trakov nodded and told Vladimirov: "chief of staff, send a telegram to the commanders of all the armies and divisions, telling them that as long as they find the enemy''s residential areas or villages, they should send search forces to search before they enter, so as to prevent them from being ambushed again."


    "But Comrade commander, if we really do this," Vladimirov said in embarrassment, "our attack speed will be greatly affected. Do you think there is any better way?"


    "There are ways." I saw that trakov frowned and said, "give every attacking unit tanks. When we find German settlements and villages, we use artillery fire to blow down houses near the roadside. As long as there are enemies hidden inside, they will escape before the houses collapse, and our soldiers can easily destroy them; Even if there is no enemy inside, as long as the roadside buildings collapse, the enemy is trying to attack us from both sides, and there is nothing they can do. "


    "That''s a good idea." After listening to my idea, trikov nodded his head and said to Vladimirov, "just do what Rita said." The fighting continued, and before dark, trakov''s forces made significant achievements at the junction with their right neighbor. There, they attacked the units of the 5th group army and the 8th group army, and after breaking through the enemy''s defense and repelling the enemy''s counter attack, they went out to the front lines of old Rosenthal, gelsdorf and lake weintelger. Compared with the right wing, the progress of the left wing is still not smooth. The progress of the 69th army is not only slow, but also unsatisfactory for the 28th army and the 1st army of close guard tanks. In the process of advancing westward, they kept fighting against the enemy''s counter attack. By nightfall, they only occupied the areas of duxilin and libernican.?? According to the confession of the German prisoners and the documents we captured, we know that the 28th motorized division and the 168th infantry division, which were transferred from the German reserve, and an air force responsible for Berlin''s urban air defense, were also involved in the battle to defend the zerlof heights. Fortunately, before dark, the trokov troops finally captured the second defense zone, occupied the zelauf heights in their own attack zone, and got rid of the bend depression along the Oder River. In this way, they will have more room for maneuver in the next battle. I went back to the headquarters of the front army and gave Zhukov a detailed report on the fighting of the 8th group army of the guards today. After hearing this, Zhukov nodded his head without expression and said lightly, "if they didn''t underestimate the enemy today and let the enemy surround a regiment, maybe they would achieve more results." After Zhukov finished, I asked carefully, "Comrade marshal, will I go to general trakov tomorrow?"¡° Yes, of course Zhukov said in a positive tone: "as long as our troops don''t win Berlin, you go to trakov every day and command the battle with him. Do you understand? "

 Chapter 1706

    Zhukov asked malining to draft an order, requiring that in the early morning of the 25th, the artillery density of 250-270 guns per kilometer in the breakthrough area should be carried out for 30-40 minutes. He also stressed in particular that the artillery preparation was carried out by each group army alone.


    Regarding the order given by Zhukov, malining asked somewhat puzzledly: "Comrade marshal, if we concentrate on the use of artillery fire, won''t we get more results?"


    Zhukov took a look at him, and then said, "Comrade chief of staff, there is a certain way you said. The artillery power of tens of thousands of guns is definitely much stronger than that of thousands of guns. But have you ever thought that it will take more time for us to assemble all the artillery troops assigned to the front army than for a group army to assemble artillery troops and set up positions? "


    "So it is. I see, comrade marshal." After listening to Zhukov, malining nodded his head and said, "I''m going to prepare the order now!"


    The next morning, after the artillery was ready, as soon as trakov''s troops attacked the enemy''s defensive positions, the German army put the elite kurman and minhberg divisions, as well as a SS infantry division, into action. They concentrated their forces and launched an attack at the junction of the left wing of the 8th group and the 69th group army.


    The defensive position of the 79th division became the focus of German attack. After the heavy shelling, the German counterattack troops, under the cover of armored vehicles, charged the 227th regiment of the division.


    After the position of the second battalion of the regiment was broken through by the German army, the head of the regiment, shamikov, personally took the guard company to support and prepared to use the way of anti assault to block the gap opened by the German army. Before leaving the command post, shamilov called a communications staff officer and said, "report to the division immediately, saying that the German army has launched a charge against our regiment''s defensive position. We are making a tenacious attack. Please send troops from the division to support us."


    When he got to the position with his men, he saw that his troops and the German army had started a white-edged battle. The number of German troops was larger than that of their own, and they were supported by armored vehicles, so their own troops could not support them. He immediately ordered the messenger with walkie talkie behind him: "order the first battalion to come to support immediately!" While the signalman called for battalion one, he raised his pistol over his head and cried out, "come with me, brothers After shouting, they took the lead in rushing towards the area where they were fighting. Dozens of soldiers of the guard company saw that the commander was so brave and rushed up with a shout.


    The officers and men of the second battalion were already in a weak position, but when they saw their commander coming with a new force, they were immediately elated and even harder to fight with the German army by waving their weapons.


    Before long, the officers and men of the first battalion also arrived at the battlefield. Our army had an advantage in the number of people, and the situation was gradually developing in the direction beneficial to our army. Who knows, just at this time, the four German dive bombers came to the sky of the battlefield, and saw that the ground was in chaos. The German pilots did not know what to think. They actually dropped bombs at the densest place of the two sides'' armies. They used machine guns and machine guns to strafe regardless of the enemy and ourselves, plowing wide bloody alleys in the crowd.


    Trakov, who stayed in the headquarters, soon learned about the brutal fighting of the 227th regiment of the guards through the battle reports fed back from the front. He stared at the map for a moment, then raised his head and asked Vladimirov, "chief of staff, which unit is closest to the 227th regiment of the guards?"


    Vladimirov looked through his notebook, frowned and replied: "the main force of the 79th division of the guards is at least five kilometers away from the 227th regiment of the guards. It will take at least an hour for them to get to the battlefield. I''m afraid that the support of the troops of shmikov won''t last that long."


    While they were studying how to rescue the 227th regiment, I was staring at the big map on the wall. I saw a unit of the 69th group army beside the red attack arrow formed by the 79th division of the guards, so I coughed hard. After drawing their attention, I pointed to the map and asked, "two general comrades, I want to ask, which unit is the left wing of the 227th regiment of the guards?"


    Trikov looked in the direction of my finger. When he saw the two red arrows next to them, he could not help but brighten his eyes. He quickly told Vladimirov: "chief of staff, go and find out which army is on the left wing of the 227th regiment of the guards."


    A moment later, Vladimirov, who had finished the phone call, came back and reported: "Comrade commander, on the left side of the 227th regiment of the guards, is the 19th brigade of the 8th mechanized army of the guards of general dlyomov. They are only two kilometers away from the shamikov regiment."


    "The 19th brigade of Jinwei mechanization?" After hearing this number, trakov asked tentatively, "is it the unit that won the honorary title of" Rhodes brigade "


    "Yes, comrade commander, it''s them." Vladimirov nodded and said, "do you need to get in touch with general deliomov immediately and mobilize this mechanized brigade to support the 227th regiment of the guards?"


    "It''s no use saying that, my chief of staff." Seeing that Vladimirov was still standing in the same place, trikov urged him to say, "hurry up and call general deliomov. Let him send out the Roz brigade. Now every minute is precious to us."


    With the support of the Roz brigade, after two hours of fierce fighting, the 227th regiment of the guards finally successfully repulsed the German attack. Two German planes were shot down, eight armored vehicles were destroyed, and hundreds of German officers and soldiers were killed.


    Although the results seem to be very good, our army has also paid huge casualties. The second battalion of the 227th regiment of the guards was almost completely destroyed, and the first battalion suffered more than half of the casualties, even the head of the regiment was seriously injured. He was fighting with the German bayonet when he was wounded by a bomb dropped by a German plane.


    Several surviving soldiers of the guard company carried him down from the battlefield and sent him to the camp clinic for simple dressing. When the Rhodes brigade arrived, the guards took him to the division''s field hospital with a stretcher.


    From Vladimirov''s mouth, trikov got the news of his serious injury. He was surprised and asked, "how is his injury? Is his life in danger?"


    "The military doctors are rescuing, but the situation is not very optimistic." Vladimirov said solemnly: "the right hip bone of his forehead was broken by shrapnel, an arm was blown off, and his body is full of wounds. It''s up to fate whether he can survive."


    By noon, the group army had occupied the areas of trebnitz and youngsfield. Right wing forces have also moved forward to the front lines of Maxwell and Volkov. However, it is a pity that the performance of the 69th group army on the left is not good, and the forward distance of the army is limited, which leads to the lengthening of the left wing of the trokov army. Aware of this situation, the German army frequently carried out counter attacks in this direction, trying to drive our troops to the South and away from Berlin as far as possible. In order to avoid being driven away from the occupied area by the enemy and to cover the left wing of the group army, trakov transferred two divisions of the 28th army of the guards.


    In the middle of the battle, Zhukov called me and told me a piece of bad news: "Rita, I called Comrade Stalin and asked him to allow our tank troops to bypass the zelauf heights, cross the konev defense zone and rush straight to Berlin, but he refused."


    Although I had known for a long time that Stalin would refuse Zhukov''s request, I casually asked, "Comrade marshal, I don''t know what the Supreme Commander himself said?"


    "He said that if the first front army of Belarus is unable to complete the breakthrough task, then he will order the 3rd and 4th tank army of the close guard under konev to attack Berlin from the south." After giving me a brief introduction, Zhukov said sternly, "konev''s troops have crossed the spree and are ready to attack the southern suburbs of Berlin. The capture of Berlin, a huge trophy, is now in danger of being lost. In order to avoid the worst situation, you must speed up your attack and try to capture the whole of zelauf heights as soon as possible. Do you understand? "


    "I see, marshal. I''ll pass on your message to general trakov."


    I put down the phone, repeated Zhukov''s words to trakov, and finally said: "general trakov, our superior thinks our attack speed is too slow. It seems that we need to find a way to speed up."


    "How else can we speed up?" Vladimirov said helplessly: "there are so many villages and settlements on the highlands. It takes us a long time to capture each one, but at the same time we have to pay huge casualties."


    "In this case, the blasting method should be adopted." Although Zhukov did not threaten to remove his commanders and send them to the military court, I knew in my heart that it was urgent to seize the whole zelauf heights, so I said decisively: "as long as we find German settlements and villages, we will use tanks or self-propelled artillery to destroy them, Open up a path for our infantry and armored forces. "


    "Rita, if you do, it will make many civilians homeless." Trekov was so frightened by my command that he reminded me, "it''s still winter. How do you let these people get through the cold night?"


    "Not so much, general trakov." At the moment, I understand the true meaning of "Tzu Buzhang". In order to win the final victory, some radical means should be used without hesitation. Therefore, I said decisively: "what we need now is time. It is our honor and duty to rush into Berlin first. No one is allowed to enter Berlin earlier than us, Not even friendly. Do you understand? "


    "If we do this, the places where our troops pass will become ruins." Pronin, the military commissar who had not spoken for a long time, suddenly said, "Rita, do you really not think about it any more?"


    "General Pronin, compared with these buildings, the most precious thing is the lives of our commanders and fighters. If we destroy German settlements and villages, thousands of our commanders and fighters will be saved from bloodshed. I am willing to bear this curse." I stared at Pronin and said with a strong attitude: "moreover, the German people''s stormtroopers are composed of old people and children. We can''t identify who are ordinary civilians and who are members of the people''s stormtroopers who work for Hitler. Therefore, we can only find a way to drive them out of this area."


    "Comrades of the military commissar, don''t say any more." After my words, trikov raised his hand to stop plonin, who tried to refute me. He stood on my side and said good things for me: "Rita can do it. Now it''s war. In order to win the final victory, we must take some special measures. As for these destroyed houses, we can only rebuild them after the end of the war. Anyway, we still have tens of thousands of prisoners of war in our hands, so it is most appropriate for them to complete the work. "


    With the new order issued, the attack speed of trakov''s troops was greatly accelerated. In the evening, the commander of the 82nd division of the guards, hetagurov, reported that the 242nd regiment of the guards under the command of Colonel sukhorukov had eliminated the enemy in the city of minkhberg and successfully occupied the city¡° Oh, minhberg is occupied? " The report of hetagurov surprised trakov a little. He asked curiously, "are the casualties of the troops large?"¡° Report to commander, "said hetagurov in a joyful tone," we succeeded in occupying the city with less than one company injured. " Without waiting for trekov to ask again, he went straight on, "when the troops under the command of Colonel sukhorukov saw that the German troops had built many fortifications in the east of the city and were heavily guarded, they left a front to contain the enemy. They led the main force of the regiment to detour back to the north of the city and then launched an attack from there. The enemy did not expect that our troops would come out from behind them, and immediately fell into chaos. After more than two hours of fighting, our army conquered minhberg at a very low cost. " As the battle for the Highlands entered its fourth day, the situation became more favorable to our army. The second group army of close guard tanks under the command of general Bogdanov broke into the Bernau area in the attack area of the third assault group army under the command of general Kuznetsov; The units of the 3rd and 5th shock group army and the 8th guard group army successfully broke through the enemy''s last defensive zone on the high ground; The troops of the 1st group army of the close guard tank advanced to the regions of kageer, felstenwald and enikendorf, where they joined the troops of the 28th army of the close guard infantry. Although there are still a few remnants of the German army on the Highlands, there is no threat to our army any more. It only needs a few small troops at the company level to wipe them out. Berlin, right in front of us!

 Chapter 1707

    On the early morning of February 27, the forces of the 8th group army of the close guard continued to launch an impact towards Berlin. As the German defense has been completely broken through by our army, the resistance we encountered is not tenacious. By noon, the trokov troops had been in belnaux, petershagen, ludsdorf, elkner, ustenhausen and other regions, and had gone out to the ring expressway in Berlin, creating favorable conditions for completely encircling Berlin.


    After receiving these inspiring war reports, I immediately called the headquarters of the front army and personally reported this important news to Zhukov: "marshal, our troops have entered the Beltway of Berlin and can rush into the urban area of Berlin at any time."


    I thought Zhukov would be overjoyed, but he said faintly, "Rita, I know. I just called katukov and ordered his tank troops to immediately turn around and attack the north and northeast of Berlin. "


    I was stunned by his words, although the general staff had given instructions to the tank troops to rush to the north and northeast of Berlin immediately after breaking through the zelauf heights. However, Zhukov seems to ignore this instruction, and still intends to play according to his own way. How did he change his mind after a short time?


    With doubts, I asked, "Comrade marshal, don''t you intend to carry out this order?"


    "Rita, things have changed." Zhukov said in a blunt tone: "the Germans set up a political trap in Berlin. Hitler ordered the enemy who was fighting with our army to never step back even if the British and American troops rushed to their rear. They must fight to the end with blood. In this way, they tried to stir up discord between our country and our allies. The only way to break this trap is for us to occupy Berlin. Therefore, we can only allow the tank forces to advance north and northeast, blocking the road of the allies to the West. "


    "I see," I heard from Zhukov''s words that at the beginning of the attack on Berlin, we might not be supported by tank forces, and the tank group army of katukov, who is fighting with us, might also be transferred to the north to fight¡° Marshal, please rest assured that we can enter Berlin even without the support of tank troops. "


    "Wait a minute, Rita. I haven''t finished yet." Just as I was about to put down the phone, I heard Zhukov continue to say, "are trakov''s troops in the eastern suburbs now?"


    Although I don''t understand why Zhukov asked this question, because when I just reported to him, I had made it clear to him, but I still truthfully replied, "yes, marshal. At present, the troops of the 8th group army of the guards are fighting fiercely with the recalcitrant German army in the eastern suburb of Berlin!"


    "I command you to turn immediately to the south-east and south suburbs of Berlin, so as to encircle Berlin from the South and carry out a general attack." Zhukov might have guessed that I would ask who would take over the vacant lot, so he said in advance, "I will order Kuznetsov''s third shock group army to take over the defense."


    When I put down the phone and repeated Zhukov''s order to trakov, he frowned. He pointed to the map and said to me, "Rita, it''s not easy for marshal to carry out this order. You see, many of our troops have wedged into the edge of the city and are engaged in street fighting. As soon as we stop attacking and turn south, the German army, which we have beaten so hard, will have a chance to breathe. If they attack us from behind, many of our troops will be defeated. "


    I agree with trakov''s concerns. But considering that it was Zhukov''s order to transfer the troops to the southeast and southern suburbs, there was no room for bargaining. What we could do was to minimize the casualties of the troops in the process of transferring.


    After staring at the map for a while, duhanov, the deputy commander of the group army, took the initiative to put forward his own view: "Marshal Zhukov asked us to detour around Berlin from the southeast and south of Berlin, advance forward, and force the enemy to retreat to the north. The purpose is to make it impossible for the enemy to make a sudden attack on our flank, or make it impossible for the enemy to join the enemy group surrounded in the forest in the southeast of Berlin."


    When chief of staff Vladimirov heard this, he couldn''t help interrupting: "yes, according to the latest intelligence, there are more than 20000 enemies surrounded by us in the forest area. Can we send troops into the forest to clear up as we did on the East Bank of the Oder River


    Seeing that everyone''s eyes were focused on me, knowing that they were waiting for me to declare my position, I quickly shook my head and said, "comrades commander, although I had commanded the 35th and 39th guard divisions, I captured a large number of German troops in the forest clearing operation on the East Bank of the Oder River. However, the situation of the encircled German army here is different. They still maintain a relatively complete organizational system. If we rashly send troops to eliminate them, it will certainly cause heavy casualties to the troops. They will also escape to Berlin and increase our resistance to capture the city. "


    "I think the task of eliminating the remnants of the German army should be left to other troops." Trekov expressed his support for me, and then began to command Vladimirov: "chief of staff, record my orders, let the Fourth Army of the guard infantry continue to attack in the existing area, and dispatch some troops to attack Berlin from petershagen, nensdorf and seedend directions; The 29th army of the close guard infantry attacked in the direction of kopenik and bukov; The 28th army of the guards attacked in the direction of murtham, old grynik and Rudolf. "


    After giving a series of orders, trakov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he called the artillery commander pozharski to him and said, "my artillery commander, do you see that we should adjust our artillery position so that they can set the firing position closer to Berlin?"


    "No problem," bozars replied, nodding his head. "Our artillery follows the attacking troops every day, pushing the artillery forward. After waiting for three years, we finally have a chance to bombard Berlin directly with artillery fire. I think the artillery commanders and fighters should be impatient. "


    With that, he was ready to turn around and leave the headquarters. I quickly stopped him and asked with concern, "general pozalski, is there enough artillery ammunition?"


    "Don''t worry, Rita." Pozalski replied with a smile: "our shells have never been so rich as they are now. In addition to the ammunition supplied by our superiors, we have also seized a large number of German artillery and shells in the occupied areas. Even if we have shelled for more than half a month in a row, we don''t have to worry about no ammunition."


    "Half a month''s ammunition reserve is enough." I said confidently, "I have a hunch that we can occupy the whole of Berlin in half a month."


    For my Bold "prophecy", bozarsky said nothing, just a faint smile, then turned and walked out of the headquarters.


    The main force of the 8th group army of the guards is still attacking Berlin in the eastern suburbs. Trekov asked deputy commander dukhanov to lead the troops of the two divisions to advance along the road to the southeast and southern suburbs. Who knows, less than an hour later, he received a call from duhanov.


    Dukhanov said anxiously to trikov on the phone: "Comrade commander, something happened. Our troops were blocked on the road and could not move forward."


    After hearing duhanov''s report, trakov was surprised and asked, "why, have you been blocked by German troops?"


    "We were not stopped by the German forces." Duhanov reluctantly replied: "the road is full of German refugees, and our motorcade can''t move forward. Comrade commander, as you know, we are not like Germany. We are not executioners. We can''t shoot unarmed civilians. "


    "Since the motorcade is impassable, let all the soldiers get out of the car." After a moment''s reflection on duhanov''s difficulties, trakov decisively ordered: "go to the southeast and southern suburbs on foot, and occupy the starting position of the attack as soon as possible. Do you understand?"


    "I see," I stood aside and heard duhanov''s loud reply on the phone. "I immediately ordered the troops to get out of the car and go to the designated place on foot."


    I thought that artillery could not be replaced in the next street battle, so as soon as pozharski came back, I took him and asked, "Comrade General, I want to ask, are the 203 mm heavy howitzers that shelled Poznan Fort last time still in our troops?"


    "Yes, Rita, it''s still there." Pozalski said to me with a smile: "in addition to this kind of heavy howitzer, I also asked general karzakov, artillery commander of the front army, for a battalion heavy mortar. The caliber of this kind of gun has reached an amazing 305 mm, which is the world''s largest field artillery besides train gun and super heavy self-propelled gun. Although it''s called mortar, it''s actually used as howitzer, which can not only bend, but also direct fire. It can use a variety of ammunition, including concrete armor piercing projectiles. The weight of warheads is basically more than 200 kg. Some shrapnel can reach 286 kg, with a charge equivalent to three or four times that of 203 mm howitzers. Each shell can explode a bomb pit with a radius of 10 meters and a depth of 6 meters, and a range of 10 kilometers. "


    When I heard that there were such heavy guns, I was overjoyed. I quickly turned to trekov and said, "general trekov, if our troops had such heavy guns, it would be much more convenient to attack the important German fortifications."


    "Yes, I think so too." "I''m going to use this heavy artillery battalion to bombard the Capitol building in Berlin. After our shells have blasted it, we''ll send infantry to occupy it and put our flag on the dome of the Capitol building," he said


    Although I knew that Hitler''s hiding place was not in the parliament building, but in the German chancellery on Wilhelm street, I did not correct trakov. Anyway, it will take us a few days to attack Berlin. When other troops attack the parliament building, we will mobilize heavy troops to attack the prime minister''s office. Even if we can''t capture Hitler alive, we will destroy him and his party members in that basement.


    So I continued to ask pozharsky, "Comrade General, I don''t know when the heavy artillery battalion will arrive at the designated position?"


    "Don''t worry, Rita. The heavy artillery camp is still on its way. It may take two days to get there." Bozarsky saw that my face was disappointed and quickly explained to me: "the weight of the gun is very terrible. Its combat weight is 35000 kg, and the marching weight is 54000 kg. It is disassembled into three parts during transportation. The gun barrel, the upper part of the gun frame and the lower part of the gun frame are also combined gun barrels. Because of the heavy weight of the gun, it takes nearly three hours to go from marching to fighting. "


    After knowing the parameters of this heavy mortar, I tentatively asked, "Comrade General, what''s the firing rate of this kind of mortar?"¡° It''s usually four minutes Pozharski explained to me: "because the firing speed is too slow, this kind of artillery can only be used to deal with the German solid fortifications, and can not participate in the pre attack artillery preparation like other artillery." Although it takes only four minutes to fire a shell, I think that Hitler''s basement can be destroyed even if it is more solid. So I can''t wait for the artillery battalion to arrive early, so we will have a big weapon to kill Hitler. Trakov asked with great interest, "Comrade pozharsky, can I ask how many shells this heavy artillery battalion has?"¡° Seventy two shells were fired together with the heavy artillery battalion, which could be used to fire 12 times for each of the six heavy artillery units in the battalion. " "More shells are still in transit, and I estimate that they will reach our new artillery positions in three to five days at most," pozharski replied¡° You still have to push them. " "It''s the first time we''ve used such a large caliber gun. There''s no ammunition in stock to replenish," he said. Once their ammunition is used up, these heavy guns become scrap. "¡° You can rest assured, comrade commander. " "I have discussed with general anjipuko, the head of the Logistics Department of the front army, and asked him to send a special convoy to transport the heavy artillery shells for us, so as to ensure that the artillery can play its due role in the process of seizing Berlin," pozalski assured trikov Trikov looked down at the map in front of him, pointed to the south of Berlin and said to pozharsky, "our main force will gradually turn to the southeast and south suburbs of Berlin. When the heavy artillery battalion arrives, we will deploy them in the south suburbs. From here, we will bombard the parliament building in Berlin with heavy artillery, so as to destroy the German resistance."

 Chapter 1708

    When trakov and pozharsky were studying where the heavy artillery battalion should be deployed, Vladimirov said to me with regret: "if general katukov''s tank army is transferred, our next siege will be extremely difficult."


    When I heard Vladimirov say this, I didn''t say a word, but I said in my heart: This is Zhukov''s idea. No one can change his decision, not even the Supreme Commander himself.


    Vladimirov reluctantly said: "if all the tanks are concentrated in the north, it will become crowded."., As long as we are left with even one tank army, it will play an important role in capturing this city. "


    I stared at the map in front of him for a while, and saw that the east of Berlin was covered with countless red arrows. I carefully identified the troops represented by these arrows, and saw that there were mechanized guards in that direction, "how to make an article?" Zhukov was confused by what I said.


    "Since general klivoschein''s troops are all equipped with American tanks, why don''t we let them pretend to be US troops and push towards Berlin?" I solemnly suggested to Zhukov, "the Germans may think of them as real US troops, so that they can get out of the way and enter the urban area of Berlin unimpeded."


    "The way is a good way." Zhukov did not object to my proposal, but he did not immediately agree with it. He said with some misgivings, "but where are we going to find so many American uniforms in a hurry?"


    "Marshal, I don''t think uniform is needed at all. Even if we want to do it now, it''s too late." I went on to explain my idea to Zhukov: "it''s better to just paint the U.S. flag on the leading tanks, and then plant two American flags. Maybe the Germans will take the initiative to open the way for them when they see the mechanized first army of guards


    Malining, who just came in from the outside, also heard my proposal. Seeing Zhukov''s hesitation, he advised him, "marshal, I think Lida''s idea is good. All we need to do is to order general klivaschein''s forces to move northward, to the north of Berlin, and then to head for the city with great fanfare. When the Germans see the American flag on our tanks, they will certainly regard our troops as US troops, so that we will have a chance to enter the city without fighting


    Malining''s words made Zhukov make up his mind. He thought about it. Then he nodded and said decisively, "OK, let''s take a risk and let the mechanized 1st army of the close guard drive into the urban area of Berlin as US troops." Seeing that marinin was ready to leave after recording his order, he stopped him again and added, "general Bogdanov''s second army of guard tanks continued to march along Berlin''s ring road to the northern suburbs as planned."


    With the order issued, the troops of krivoschein made several American flags while continuing to march towards the enemy, and altered the leading tanks into the marks of the US Army. After ten kilometers to the north, they turned west, made a circle, and quickly rushed to the northern suburbs of Berlin.


    In the face of the second army of guard tanks coming along the road, the German army made a tenacious defense. The soldiers hid on both sides of the road full of obstacles and attacked our tanks advancing along the road with anti tank guns or Faust anti tank grenades. Although most of these enemies were annihilated by the infantry following the tanks, several tanks were unfortunately hit and were burning in the middle of the road.


    The German troops facing the north also raised their vigilance when they heard the gunfire coming from the Northeast suburbs, fearing that the Soviet army would detour from the north. Just then, there was a huge roar of tank engines from the north. The German colonel who held fast to the position quickly raised his telescope and looked in the direction of the sound.


    He saw a long column of tanks coming along the intercity Road north of Berlin towards his defensive area. When he was about to order the soldiers to be ready for battle, suddenly someone nearby yelled: "it''s the Americans, it''s the American tanks."


    The captain watched the coming tank carefully. It was indeed the Sherman tank of the U.S. Army, and the two tanks in front of him were still missing the U.S. flag. Although he knew that the superior had given the order to open the channel to Britain and the United States, he still called the city defense headquarters.


    As soon as the phone rang, he said in a hurry, "please call Mr. city defense commander!"


    The messenger who answered the phone said impatiently, "the city defense commander is very busy now. If you have anything, just let him know."


    "We found a tank unit coming towards our defensive position from the north. From their equipment, it looks like the armored force of the US Army." The Colonel asked cautiously, "I want to ask the city defense commander if he wants to open a passage for them."


    It''s said that American troops are coming from the north of Berlin. The new commander of city defense, Wei Delin, is very strange. It''s said that the American troops are still hundreds of kilometers away from the West. How can they get to the north suburb of Berlin in a twinkling of an eye. Thinking of this, he would personally talk to the colonel who found the American tank to find out what was going on.


    He said to the microphone, "Colonel, do you really find American tanks there?"


    "Yes, under the city defense commander." The colonel was originally a subordinate of Wei Delin. He recognized the voice of his immediate superior and said respectfully: "a tank troop came from the North Road. I have seen it carefully. They are all the same American Sherman tanks. Moreover, on the bodies of several tanks in front of them, there are also American flags. It''s absolutely wrong. It must be the US armored forces."


    "It''s strange how they came so fast?" Weidlin thought of this headache again, because he couldn''t figure out why the American armored forces came so fast. However, before he could come up with a clue, the colonel in charge of the defense of the north of the city urged him on the phone: "Your Highness, what should I do now, order the troops to block them, or open the channel for them to enter Berlin?" As a new city defense commander, Wei Delin is naturally responsible for the security of the whole Berlin. Although his subordinates vowed that he saw the armored forces of the U.S. Army, for the sake of caution, he still told the other party: "you send someone to contact them, confirm that they are the armored forces of the U.S. Army, and then develop channels for them, understand?" The coming tanks stopped more than 100 meters away from the German defensive position, and the eight tanks in front of them lined up, aiming the black muzzle at the German position. Seeing this posture, the German Colonel rushed one of his subordinates to the place where the tanks were stationed to make contact and find out whether the people coming were Americans. Just as his men got into the open top car and asked people to remove the obstacles on the road, the tanks that were not far away suddenly fired. One after another, the shells immediately destroyed several exposed fire points, and then the machine guns on the tanks began to fire wildly, sweeping down the German officers and soldiers who were exposed in the trenches¡° Fight back, fight back quickly At this time, the German colonel was stupid enough to see that this so-called "US Army" was disguised by our army. He ordered his men to fight back, but it was too late. After two rounds of shelling, our tanks started again immediately and rushed to the German defensive position quickly. A leading tank smashed the tripod in the way, hit the accelerator and rushed down the road towards the city. The tank troops had just broken through the German position where the defense was lax, and the soldiers of the mechanized brigade arrived in motorized and armored vehicles, followed the tanks and rushed towards the city... When the battle report of klivaschein came, Zhukov couldn''t believe his eyes. It took less than half an hour for the troops to rush into the city and occupy a bus station. Now that we have a foothold in the north of the city, we can let the troops take this as the starting point to launch an attack on the center of Berlin.

 Chapter 1709

    After learning that the troops of krivoschein had established a foothold in the north of the city, I hurried back to the headquarters of the 8th group of guards in trakov. Because in my memory, after Hitler''s suicide, Hans Klebs, the chief of general staff of the German army, went to the garrison of trakov to negotiate surrender. At the beginning, the senior commander who received the negotiators with trakov was sokolovsky, the deputy commander of the front army. Now history has shifted here. That is to say, the person who received klebsieu will become trakov and me.


    But before I left, I asked Zhukov for instructions: "marshal, I have something to ask for your instructions."


    Zhukov was looking at the map. When he heard what I said, he said without raising his head: "Rita, if you have something, just say it. You are also the deputy commander of the front army. Don''t be so restrained."


    "Marshal, if, I mean if," although I know that as soon as Hitler died, klebsieu, as the representative of the German side, went to the defense area of trakov to negotiate, the attack on Berlin is two months earlier than in history. I don''t know whether Hitler will stay in Berlin as in history and finally choose to commit suicide, So we can only ask in a hypothetical tone: "the German army sent representatives to negotiate with us. How will we deal with it?"


    Zhukov probably never dreamed that I would ask him this question. He looked up at me for a long time, then turned to look at jieliejin standing next to him, and then said with a smile: "Comrade military commissar, you see, as soon as our troops arrived in Berlin, Rita had thought about how to surrender."


    "You are too impatient, Rita." Jerekin also said with a smile: "Berlin is a very large city, let alone our army has not besieged it all. Even if it is besieged, it will not take ten days and a half months to capture the city. Now it is too early to talk about accepting the surrender of the German army."


    I can''t tell them that we can take the city in ten days at most. While I was thinking about how to reply to them, malining came to Zhukov in a hurry with a telegram and said, "marshal, I have just received a report from the base camp that the British and American air forces will carry out a large-scale bombing of Berlin at eight o''clock tomorrow morning, and then do a good job in identifying the enemy and ourselves, so as to avoid the situation of accidental bombing."


    Zhukov took the telegram, looked at it, and then told marinin: "chief of staff, you go to inform the troops that have entered Berlin. Tomorrow morning, the air force of the British and American allied forces will bomb the city. Before the end of the air raid, no troops are allowed to enter the city, so as not to cause unnecessary injuries."


    On hearing Zhukov''s order, kazakov, the artillery commander sitting in a corner, stood up and asked, "marshal, will our planned shelling continue?"


    "Of course," Zhukov said, nodding his head, "the British and American air force bombed them, we bombed ours, and they did not interfere. Comrade kazakov, remember that when shelling, let the artillery fight as accurately as possible, and never hit the buildings where the civilians live. "


    I don''t think much of Zhukov''s statement, because we can''t know exactly which buildings are German defense positions and which are civilian buildings. If bombing and shelling are combined, many civilians will be injured. The best way for them is to escape from the city or take refuge in the subway, so as to ensure their personal safety.


    I took advantage of kazakov''s turn to make a phone call and said to Zhukov, "marshal, if there is nothing more, please allow me to return to the 8th group army of the guards."


    "Wait a minute, Rita." After Zhukov stopped me, he came out from behind his desk. "If there is a representative of the German army who asks you to surrender, you should report to me immediately, and I''ll tell you what to do."


    "Yes I agreed. As soon as I wanted to leave, Zhukov said, "also, according to the latest information we got, konev''s two tank groups were blocked by swamps, rivers, dense minefields and German defensive positions on their way north. They may not be able to reach the southern suburbs of Berlin tomorrow, so general katukov''s first group of guard tanks, You''d better stay and fight with trekov''s troops. "


    When I heard that katukov''s troops could be left behind, I felt a lot more at ease. Although the role of tanks and self-propelled guns in urban street fighting can not be compared with that in field fighting, they are better than nothing.


    After returning to the headquarters of trakov, I first told him that katukov''s troops would stay and fight with us. Then I asked about the situation in the southern suburbs of the city: "general trakov, I remember that our convoy advancing South encountered a large number of refugees on the road. How did you deal with them?"


    "What else? I''ve had people set up checkpoints on the roads to prevent any refugees from entering Berlin and send them to the nearby small cities. " Trikov looked at me and explained to me: "to let them into the city at this time is to let them die in vain. We Soviet soldiers didn''t come to Berlin for destruction and massacre. We have gone through a difficult road to liberate the land of our motherland and the people of our brother countries from the hands of the Communist aggressors. We have come to Berlin now in order to free the German people from the dark rule, to wipe out the Communist system in Germany and forever to wipe out the most dangerous source of aggression. "


    I heard that trakov had arranged to escort the refugees to a nearby small city, and the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground. If thousands of refugees are allowed to enter the city, they will definitely be the victims of our army''s attack on Berlin. They will either be killed by shells or bombs, or by stray bullets from which side. It''s a good thing that trakov has sent them to the nearby city.


    Early the next morning, dense British and American bombers appeared over the city, dropping countless bombs on the city. The artillery commander of the group army, pozharski, also asked trikov, "Comrade commander, since the Allied planes are bombing the city, will our scheduled artillery preparation continue?"


    "Comrade artillery commander," I answered ahead of trekov, "although the Allied bombing was fierce, they were not clear about the deployment of the German forces in the city. The bombing may not achieve the desired results. If we want to destroy the German fortifications, we have to rely on ourselves."


    "I see!" After my words, pozharski immediately understood and nodded his head and said, "I''m going to order the artillery to fire on the city!"


    Before the end of the shelling and bombing, katukov went to trakov''s headquarters. When he saw that I was there, he asked me straightforwardly, "Rita, my tank army is about to attack the city, but the task we are facing is very arduous. In order to make the square and street empty in the street battle, the enemy hid in buildings, the top floor of houses and the basement to organize defense. Tanks can''t see the enemy, and they can''t get into buildings, roofs and basements. At the same time, tanks are the living targets of anti tank men. They use burning bottles, especially long handled anti tank rockets, to deal with our tanks. "


    The problems mentioned by katukov are also my worries. Although I have taught many middle and senior officers the theory of street fighting in the Military Academy of vorongze, I still have a headache for some emergencies when I encounter actual combat.


    Perhaps my expression of frowning and thinking made katukov misunderstand. He quickly explained to me, "I''m not saying that our tanks and tank soldiers can''t fight in the city. That''s not what I mean. In urban street warfare, tanks are also needed, but I don''t think they should be used as an independent branch of arms, and they should be equipped with infantry to fight together. "


    "General katukov," I took katukov to the map, pointed to the location of the eastern suburbs of Berlin and said to him, "you see, the streets of Berlin are very spacious, completely suitable for our tank operations. In order to prevent the situation you said, we should group the tanks and infantry together and let them work together.


    During the attack, the infantry should search about 30 meters in front of the tank to find and destroy the German anti tank men in time; The tanks use two parallel way to move forward, and the two tanks can cover each other''s flanks. We used this tactic in the battle of liberation of Poznan.


    When we find the enemy''s firepower point in the building, our tank fire should immediately destroy it, cover the infantry commanders and fighters, and wipe out all the remaining enemies.... "


    After listening to the theory of street fighting that I introduced, katukov discussed with trakov about the cooperative combat, and then he left. At this moment, the shelling is coming to an end.


    I heard Vladimirov asking trakov, "Comrade commander, where should we attack?"


    "We have to cross the Spree river from here and build a landing site on the other side before the troops can attack the city of Berlin." Trekov pointed on the map with his hand and said: "it comes from the north foot of the lauxitz mountain in the southeast, flows northward through wide swamps, forms many lakes, and joins the Havel River in the Berlin area. Every spring is its flood season. I don''t know if our troops can cross the river smoothly


    "Comrade commander, you can rest assured that our troops will be able to cross the Spree river smoothly." At the door came the voice of Tkachenko, director of the engineering corps, and with him came major general pokhaznikov, head of the Logistics Department of the group army. Before and after they came to trakov''s face, Tkachenko said excitedly: "we transported ten motorboats equipped with Maxim heavy machine guns by truck. It was the comrades of the Dnieper fleet who helped us. With these motorboats, we can quickly send our troops across the river."


    "What, you got the motorboat." After listening to what Tkachenko said, trakov jumped up from his seat excitedly: "this is really wonderful. The Spree river is only 200 meters wide. If we use motorboats, it will only take us a few minutes at most to get the troops to the other side. That''s great. I''m going to ask for credit for both of you


    When they heard that trakov wanted to ask for credit for himself, both of them were smiling. However, Tkachenko said modestly: "Comrade commander, we just did what we should do. If we want to ask for credit, we should ask for credit for these commanders and fighters who died in the front line."


    There is always a discrepancy between the plan and the actual situation. Trekov and I both think that if the army wants to successfully cross the Spree river, it can only rely on these ten motor boats and some wooden boats collected by the engineering and logistics departments. Unexpectedly, when our offensive troops arrived at the river, they unexpectedly found that there were a lot of canoes and motorboats for transportation, and even a few barges with large carrying capacity.


    After receiving the report, trakov immediately ordered the commander of the front line: "immediately order the infantry to board the ship and attack the other side. We must build our landing site in the German defense line in the shortest time." The ordered troops immediately boarded the ship and, under the cover of machine guns and mortars, launched an impact on the opposite bank. The battle lasted only ten minutes and ended. We learned from the battle reports on the front line that the German Army thought that our army would not cross the river from here, so only a weak garrison was left to defend on the other side of the river. In the face of our army''s rapid attack, these troops with extremely low will to fight only made a weak resistance, then laid down their arms and surrendered to our army. After getting the troops to successfully cross the Spree river, trakov immediately ordered pozalski: "Comrade artillery commander, our troops have set up a landing site on the other side of the Spree river, and also captured several barges with large carrying capacity. You can use these barges to cross our artillery across the river, and see the establishment of artillery positions on the other side." When he heard that the artillery could cross the river, bozarsky was very happy. He nodded his head and said, "I understand, comrade commander. I will inform the artillery immediately to go to the Spree river for safety. From there, we can board a boat and cross the river to the other side." After bozarsky left, trakov called Tkachenko in front of him and said, "chief engineer, although we have motorboats and barges to transport infantry and artillery, the speed is still too slow. You immediately organize people to set up a floating bridge on the Spree river, so that our troops can quickly advance to the other side. " After the assignment, trakov turned to me and said, "Rita, as long as our troops are firmly established on the other side of the Spree river, our headquarters can move there."

 Chapter 1710

    First of all, the 88th division of guards successfully crossed the Spree river in the front. Under the command of division commander pankov, they successfully captured farkenburg in the suburb after several hours of fierce fighting.


    As the troops continued to advance, they soon reached the Dami river. Without any crossing equipment, Captain Xie Majin, commander of 2nd Battalion of 269th regiment of guards, took the lead in diving into the piercing River and swam bravely to the opposite bank. Led by him, the soldiers also went into the water to swim to the other side.


    But when the German guard on the other side saw our soldiers, barefoot and wearing only one shirt, rushing towards them, they were so scared that they even forgot to shoot. When the soldiers rushed in front of them, they could only lay down their arms and raise their hands to surrender.


    On the right, the kopennik area is the combat area of the 39th division. After learning that there was a bridge across the Spree river, the division commander marchenko immediately gave the order to the grizenko regiment to seize the bridge from the enemy in any case.


    Commander grizenko, who had received the mission, was deeply afraid that when the German army could not resist its own attack, it would jump over the wall and blow up the bridge. So they ordered some troops to fight with the German army in the town to attract the attention of the bridge guards. At the same time, a small unit was sent to cross the Spree river upstream and attack from the enemy''s rear.


    After half an hour of fighting, all the German troops in the town and guarding the bridge were wiped out. After grizenko had the explosives removed, the tanks and artillery of the division crossed the Spree river from the bridge.


    When the 29th army of the left-wing guards arrived at the Spree river, the vanguard troops saw that there were no crossing tools on the river, so they stopped and prepared to cross the river after the rear crossing equipment was delivered. Major general Duke, the new commander of the 82nd division of the guards, saw that the officers and men were standing still. He quickly went to the river to encourage them. He also took the lead in jumping into the piercing River, swam to the other side with some scouts, got back some ferries, and crossed the river one by one.


    After hearing the story of general Duke, trakov was a little sad. After he ordered the communications staff to contact Duke on the telephone, he said with some displeasure, "Comrade Duke, I admire you for taking the lead in jumping into the river. But don''t forget that you are the commander of the 82nd division of the guards. If something happens when you cross the river, the troops will lose command and fall into chaos. Do you understand? "


    After a moment of silence, general Duke, who was criticized by trakov, replied sincerely, "Comrade commander, I understand. You can rest assured that I will stay in my command position in the future, and I will never take risks easily. "


    The main force of the 8th group army of the guards crossed the Spree river and the Dami River in turn, and entered Berlin from the south, which disrupted the German defense system. They never dreamed that our army would launch an attack from the area of the river. Therefore, shortly after dark, several streets fell into our army''s hands.


    On the first day of March, the troops of the 8th group army of the guards continued to advance towards the city center. General rebalko''s third group of close guard tanks, after breaking through the layers of German defense, joined the fourth group of close guard tanks under the command of general grazoev in the area of chenawed airport.


    After crossing the Spree river on the right wing, the Fourth Army of the guards occupied the areas of Schneider, Dame ForStat and nigger. The 28th army of the guards went out to the tertov canal on the left and captured the urban areas of blitz, bukov, Rudolf, etc. The 29th army of the guard infantry cleaned up the enemy in the area of jorganestar and adleshof airport, and joined the 4th group army of the guard tank of lelushenko.


    Seeing the outstanding performance of the 8th group army, Zhukov issued a new operational order to cuikov, and immediately turned the troops to the northwest to attack the center of Berlin. In the original offensive zone, it was handed over to the 1st group army of katukov''s close guard tanks.


    On March 3, the good news came from the West. Marshal konev''s 58th guard division joined the patrol of the 69th infantry division of the 1st group army in Elbe River. They will continue to attack the German troops under the command of general winkle in the West.


    At the same time, the mechanized 1st army of close guard, which was redeployed to the northwest of krivoschein, successfully joined the tank group army of rebarko, which went north, thus completing the complete siege of Berlin.


    However, it is a pity that after three days of fighting, the 20000 German troops, who were originally besieged by our army in the southeast forest of Berlin, successfully broke through the encirclement of our army, and 15000 people entered Berlin, enriching the strength of the Berlin city defense army and increasing the difficulty of our attack.


    Our troops who entered the urban area of Berlin all targeted the Capitol building in the center of the city. The parliament building was originally the imperial Parliament of the Second Reich of Germany, and later became the assembly site of the parliament of the Republic during the Weimar Republic. After the arson of the Capitol on February 27, 1933, it was no longer the administrative center of Germany. However, the offensive forces did not know this, and they chose the Capitol building as the target of the attack.


    In order to advance to the Capitol building, trakov''s troops must first break through the German army''s position in tyre garden. This garden area is the last support point of the German army in Berlin. Because the position has the government office, the parliament building, the supreme headquarters and other supreme organs symbolizing the power of the Third Reich, Berlin city defense commander Wei Delin deployed the most elite troops of the SS here.


    In the face of our army''s tanks and infantry, the enemy hiding in the fortifications launched a crazy machine gun fire. Taking advantage of the plan that our army''s commanders and fighters were suppressed by fire, they sent anti tank men to destroy the tanks or self-propelled guns that covered the infantry from both sides. After more than five hours of fighting, trakov''s troops lost more than 30 tanks and self-propelled artillery, and nearly a thousand people were killed and killed. They were still unable to break through the German defense in tyre garden.


    When he heard that trakov''s attack was frustrated, Zhukov''s phone call came in immediately. He asked impolitely, "Comrade trakov? I''m Zhukov. I''ve heard that your troops have failed several attacks on tyre garden. Is that true? "


    "Yes, comrade marshal," trekov replied with some shame, "the enemy''s defense is too tenacious. All the attacks we organized have failed..."


    Before he finished, Zhukov continued: "since your troops can''t capture the tilgarden area, let the road out and let general Kuznetsov''s third shock group army complete the task."


    Hearing Zhukov''s words, cuikov couldn''t help feeling a little anxious. He begged: "marshal, please give me another chance. I''ll take down the garden area."


    I know Zhukov''s stubborn character. Once he decides something, no one can change it. So I reached out to trekov, took the microphone in his hand, put it in my ear and said to the microphone, "marshal, I''m Rita. I have a request. I don''t know if you can agree?"


    "If you have any requests, please speak quickly." Perhaps it was because Wei Delin''s troops broke through our army''s defense and successfully retreated into Berlin, which made it more difficult for us to capture Berlin. Zhukov''s mood was a little impatient: "since trakov''s troops can''t capture tier Garden District, let the troops that can capture there go up."


    "I agree with you, marshal." Instead of arguing with Zhukov, I followed his meaning and said, "after several days of fierce fighting, the officers and men of general trakov''s close guard 8th group army are very tired. They should be given a rest. But if general Kuznetsov''s forces are still unable to break through the defensive positions established by the German forces in the tyre garden area, I ask you to let general trakov''s forces continue to attack this area tomorrow. "


    For my request, Zhukov thought for a while, and finally replied: "well, I''ll let Kuznetsov''s troops try first. If they still can''t seize the position before dawn tomorrow, it''s still up to trakov''s troops to complete this arduous task."


    After I put down the phone, I didn''t immediately answer trakov''s question. Instead, I called the artillery commander pozharski. Then I said, "according to the situation of today''s fighting, the German troops deployed in tyre garden are all experienced troops. If we want to break through the defense here, we may have to find another way."


    "Another way?" Trekov''s eyes widened as I said, "what can I do?"


    "This is the city, we can''t use tanks on a large scale." I waited for trakov to finish and explained to him, "so to capture the tyre garden area, we need our artillery to deal with the enemy first. Comrade artillery commander, "my last sentence is to pozharski," deploy our artillery 500 meters away from tyre garden. Using direct fire, to destroy the German solid fire point


    "This is no problem." After listening to me, pozalski immediately nodded his head and said, "I will immediately deploy a cannon battalion to that area."


    I then added, "when the shelling is complete, there will probably be very few buildings left in this area. In the streets full of bricks and stones, our tanks can''t pass, so the next battle can only be completed by our infantry. In addition to the ordinary infantry, we should also be equipped with firemen, blasters and shock engineers to eliminate the enemies hidden in the ruins and open up a channel for the attacking forces behind us. "


    General Kuznetsov''s third shock group army, after succeeding the attack area of trakov''s troops, launched a fierce attack on the tyre garden area overnight. However, under the tenacious defense of the German SS troops, the attacking troops suffered a lot of casualties. By dawn, they still failed to seize the garden area from the German army.


    At daybreak, trikov heard that the attack of the third assault group army had been frustrated, and his face showed a happy smile. Instead of gloating, he felt that he could finally let his troops attack again.


    I called Zhukov and first reported to him the setback of the attack of the 3rd shock group army. Although I knew that he had known about it for a long time, he reported it very carefully and finally asked, "marshal, after a night''s rest, the commanders and fighters of general trakov''s troops are in high spirits. Is it possible for them to fight?"


    "Well, let trekov try again." Zhukov realized at the moment that it would not be easy to capture the til garden area guarded by elite German troops, so he readily agreed to my request.


    After I put down the phone, I said to trakov with a smile, "OK, general trakov, you can send troops to take over the attack area of the 3rd assault group army. However, if today''s attack is no longer successful, comrade Marshal may not let you participate in the attack any more. "


    "Don''t worry, Rita. I can''t be wrong. My troops are ready." Trikov confidently said, immediately told Vladimirov: "chief of staff, call the commander of the 28th army, and order him to immediately lead the troops to take over the attack area of the 3rd assault group army." When the change of defense was completed, the artillery battalion, which had been prepared for a long time, carried out heavy shelling on the German troops who were holding fast to the til garden area. At the end of the shelling, the infantry did not charge immediately, but stayed in place. This scene made me feel very puzzled in the observation center. I turned my head and asked the nearby trakov, "general trakov, what''s the matter? Why don''t our troops attack?"¡° Don''t worry, Rita "You''ll soon understand," he said with a smile As soon as his voice dropped, I saw a mortar detachment enter the starting position and set up mortars there. As soon as the erection was completed, they shelled the enemy''s position. I was quite strange at that time. What effect does mortar bombardment have when artillery barracks have just finished bombarding the area? But it soon became clear to me where the mortar team was going. What they fired was not ordinary shells, but smoke bombs. With the guarantee of the smoke bomb, the tier garden area was shrouded in smoke. At this time, the infantry who had long been ready to start came out from their hiding places, bent over with weapons, and under the cover of the incomplete buildings on both sides of the street, they advanced to the enemy''s position. Soon there was a lot of gunfire and explosion in front of me, but because of the thick fog, I couldn''t see anything clearly. I could only see the white smoke reflected by the explosion. After more than 40 minutes, the telephone rang in the observation center, and the commander of the attacking troops reported to trikov: "the troops have successfully captured the tyre garden area!"

 Chapter 1711

    Once upon a time, I hoped that at the moment when the Soviet and American armies met in the Elbe River, I would be one of the participants, so that I would have the chance to be recorded in history. But at this moment, I have no interest in such a big event as joining forces, because the 8th group army of the guards under the command of trekov and I is only one step away from the center of Berlin. As long as the troops are allowed to attack the prime minister''s office and capture Hitler or other heads of state alive, it will be a marvelous achievement.


    After seizing the tyre garden area, the troops continued to advance, and trekov''s troops headed for the Capitol; Kuznetsov''s troops, on the other hand, were ordered to capture the new imperial chancellery, which was on the side of worth street and at the intersection of Wilhelm street.


    As the smoke dispersed from the street, I saw a busy scene: the offensive troops formed three columns, advancing rapidly along one side of the street; Members of the logistics force, carrying ammunition boxes, go hand in hand with the troops; The personnel of the rescue team are rescuing the wounded in the street or removing the remains of the victims; The workers of the maintenance station came to the armored tractor and towed away the destroyed tanks on the road, clearing a way for the coming tanks and artillery.


    The troops of the 79th division of the guards, who rushed to the front, were soon blocked by the landville canal. Although the river is not wide, but because the bridge on the river has been bombed by the German army, and there is no equipment to cross the river, the offensive forces had to stop advancing temporarily. After receiving the report, the division commander, Colonel shemchenkov, immediately ordered the troops to swim across the landville canal as soon as possible to occupy the German communication hub and cut off the main communication between Berlin and the outside world.


    No one thought that the crafty German deployed many firepower points on the upper part of the embankment on the other bank. When a company commander and fighter put off his military uniform and weapons on his head, just went down to the bone piercing River and was ready to swim towards the other bank, the German machine gun suddenly opened fire. More than a dozen machine guns slanted down from the bank, like a lot of sand, splashed over and over again from left to right, sweeping down our army officers and men who had not yet woken up.


    Just a few minutes later, there was no one alive on the river, only nearly a hundred incomplete bodies floating and sinking on the water, and the blood of the commanders and fighters dyed the landville canal red.


    Seeing that the German army had deployed many machine gun fire points on the other side, Colonel shemchenkov immediately reported to trikov that he had found enemy fire points on the other side of the randville canal and asked for artillery support.


    When we received the report from shemchenkov, we had just arrived at the newly established headquarters. Trikov nodded to bozars, who was standing on one side, and said to him, "artillery commander, the enemy has deployed a lot of firepower on the other side of the randville canal, and immediately destroy them with heavy artillery fire."


    After half an hour''s artillery bombardment, the 79th division of the close guard, which was ready to cross the river, carried out forced crossing again. Although there was no enemy shooting above the embankment this time, many shooting holes appeared on the embankment near the water surface. The enemy hiding inside blocked the river again with intensive fire, causing great casualties to our river crossing troops.


    At the position of the 220th regiment of the division, the commanders and fighters found a complete arched bridge and immediately launched an attack with two tanks. Unexpectedly, there was a heavy German guard on the opposite side of the bridge. As soon as our tanks got to the middle of the bridge, they were shot by Tiger tanks hidden in the fortifications on the opposite bank. After a few shots, our tanks stopped on the bridge and started to burn. The tank soldiers had to abandon their cars and withdraw.


    When he heard that the 79th division of the guards had been frustrated in many attacks, he ordered them to suspend the attack and rest on the south side of the landville canal until tomorrow.


    As soon as trikov put down the phone, he immediately called bozalski over again and discussed with him: "Comrade artillery commander, there are many shooting holes on the north bank dike of the German army, which are just in the dead corner of our artillery. Do you have any way to solve them?"


    Pozharski looked down at the map, and then said, "there are many complete buildings on the South Bank of the canal. I can let the artillery put their guns in the buildings and kill them in the shooting holes on the dykes. However, the premise is that we should first find out the specific location of these shooting holes. "


    "That''s no problem," trekov said, nodding his head. "I''ll send someone to find out the position of the enemy''s firepower immediately."


    After bozarsky left, trakov turned to me and asked, "Rita, do you have any good way to find out the exact location of the German firepower?"


    "It''s not difficult to find out where the German firepower is." If I want to cheat the world and cross the sea to complete the forced crossing task, I have many ways. At the moment, I heard trekov''s inquiry, and I immediately pointed to the map and said to him, "general trekov, when it''s dark, let the soldiers pack some floating things in sacks and throw them into the water. When the German army detects something on the water, it will surely think that our army is sneaking in, and it will carry out firepower interception, so that all their firepower points will be exposed. After daybreak, our artillery in the riverside buildings, condescending, with artillery fire to remove them one by one


    "That''s a good idea." After hearing this, trakov nodded, called Vladimirov over and said, "call back Colonel shemchenkov and ask him to send someone to carry out reconnaissance tonight."


    "I understand," Vladimirov promised, and then reported to trakov, "Comrade commander, I just got the news that after crossing the canal, general Kuznetsov''s third assault group army divided into two groups, one to attack the new German prime minister''s office, the other to launch a strong attack on the secret police building outside the parliament building, but they were in these two places, They were all tenaciously defended by the German army, and they didn''t get any results. "


    When Vladimirov mentioned the new German chancellery again, my heart beat faster because I knew that Hitler''s hiding place was there. Now history has shifted, and it is possible that Kuznetsov''s subordinates will catch Hitler and the leaders of the Communist Party alive in the wrong circumstances.


    However, the positions of which troops to attack are arranged by the headquarters of the front army. No one can change them without Zhukov''s permission. I know where Hitler is hiding, but I can only leave this opportunity to others.


    That night, I learned from marinin that the five army groups of the front forces involved in the attack on Berlin had surrounded the tirgaden sandbank, where the center of Berlin is located. In the southeast are the three armies of the 5th assault group army of berzalin: the 26th, 32nd, and 6th guard infantry; To the south, there are two armies of the 8th group army of cuikov''s guards: the 4th and 29th armies of the guards; To the West are the 2nd group army of Bogdanov''s close guard tanks and the 47th group army of pelhorovic; To the north are two armies of Kuznetsov''s 3rd shock group army: the 12th and the 79th guards. The Capitol is the ultimate target of our army''s attack in the Berlin campaign. Which army takes the lead in seizing this building will be recorded in history.


    The next day, as soon as it was light, there was a rumble of artillery outside. It was the artillery of the group army, bombarding the German positions on the other side. Bozalski''s artillery deployed on the South Bank of the canal, according to the instructions of the scouts, first destroyed the German firepower points hidden on the dam with direct fire.


    As soon as the shelling was over, the officers and men of the 220th regiment of the guards, under the cover of the tank battalion, rushed to the opposite side of the arch bridge. Unfortunately, although most of the German firepower points were destroyed in the shelling, the two German Tiger tanks hiding in the fortifications were still in good condition. When they saw our army charging, they immediately fired guns, destroyed the three tanks in the front, and then used machine guns to strafe our troops on the bridge deck. After the defeat of the 220th regiment''s attack, it was forced to return to Qiaonan and regroup in a safe place.


    The news of the defeat of the 220th regiment in winning the arch bridge soon spread to the headquarters of the group army. Trikov frowned. "Our infantry can cross the river by boat from other places, but without bridges, our tanks and guns can''t cross the river."


    "I asked the artillery commander in this area and he said that according to the observation, the German tanks are hidden in the dead corner of our artillery fire. Even if we fire again, the effect is very limited."


    Vladimirov looked at me and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, you have many ideas. Do you have any good way to let our tanks cross the canal?"


    As soon as his voice fell, the eyes of trakov and bozarsky were also focused on me. I looked at the map for a moment, and then said, "general trakov, there are many ways to destroy the German tanks on the other side. For example, after crossing the river in other areas, our commanders and fighters can detour back to where the enemy tanks are and destroy them with anti tank weapons; There is another way. I see that there seems to be a subway running under the canal. If we can send a troop into the subway and let them advance along the track, we can also reach the other bank. "


    "Good way, this is a good way," said Vladimirov as I finished. He couldn''t wait to tell trikov: "Comrade commander, there are German troops in the subway. I suggest that a battalion be drawn from the army directly under the group army immediately to form a shock camp. Through the subway, we can cross the canal underground to seize the German positions on the other side."


    As for Vladimirov''s suggestion, trakov immediately agreed. At that time, he specially reminded Vladimirov: "I think there are German field hospitals and a large number of civilians in the subway, so you have to tell the commandos that no matter they are soldiers or civilians, as long as they don''t have weapons in their hands, don''t hurt them casually."


    At noon, trakov''s troops successfully cleared the Tiger tanks on the German position on the opposite bank, and drove the tanks and artillery to the North Bank of the canal through the arch bridge. After fierce fighting, the 79th division of the guards occupied the German communication hub and cut off the communication between Berlin and the outside world.


    Meanwhile, the 150th and 171st divisions of the 79th infantry army of Kuznetsov continued to attack the secret police building; The 12th army of the guard infantry is attacking the new German Chancellery. The German troops who held fast to these two areas showed great tenacity. Even if there was only one person left in the position, they would never step back. Even some of the seriously wounded, while our army officers and men close to them, decisively sounded the grenades hidden in the body, to a jade burning.


    On the morning of March 5, we received an exciting news that the 117th regiment of the 39th division of the guards under the command of lieutenant colonel grizenko, after clearing up the German fortifications along the way, had appeared opposite the square of the German parliament building. They were ready to attack the parliament building after a short rest. After receiving this news, trakov was really overjoyed, because the 117th regiment of guards was the first Soviet army to solve the German parliament building, and they will be recorded in history because of this. But I''m not as optimistic as trekov, because there are two thousand of the most elite SS guards in the Capitol building. It''s a bit too fanciful to capture here just because of an incomplete regiment. I hastened to remind those who were a little complacent: "the Capitol building is not an ordinary place. I think the enemy must have deployed heavy troops for defense. The 117th regiment of the guards is a light regiment. There are no heavy weapons, let alone tanks and artillery. It is very difficult to capture here alone. Do you think we should let them stop for a while and launch an attack after the follow-up troops arrive? "¡° Comrade deputy commander, what''s the matter with you? " As soon as I finished, Vladimirov refuted me and said, "look, several other army groups are rushing to the Capitol from all directions. If we don''t act as soon as possible, the honor of this building will fall to other forces."¡° Yes, the chief of staff is right. " I thought trekov would listen to me, but he said confidently, "I know lieutenant commander grizenko. He is a resourceful, determined and very brave man. I am very relieved that he will direct the troops to attack the Capitol. If we now order them to stop and wait for the follow-up forces, it is very likely that the friendly forces will rush into the parliament building first, so we must first try to attack and find out the German firepower deployment. " It''s hard for me to say anything when everyone advocates that the grizenko regiment should launch a tentative attack. After all, trekov is the commander of the group army. Although I''m higher than him, I can''t act as a substitute. I can only acquiesce in their orders to the 117th regiment of the guards. Less than half an hour later, we received a report from the front. The 117th guard regiment, which launched an attack on the Capitol building, was attacked by the German fire hidden in the Croll theatre opposite the square, and the German artillery stationed at the top of the Capitol building also used the fire to directly bombard our commanders and fighters on the square. The attack on the Capitol building failed, and the troops with heavy casualties had to retreat to a safe place, while the commander, Lieutenant Colonel grizenko, was killed by seven bullets in the process of commanding the troops to retreat.

 Chapter 1712

    The defeat of the 117th regiment of the guards in attacking the parliament building made the atmosphere of the headquarters dull.


    "We should launch an immediate attack on the Croll opera house and wipe out the enemy who is here," military Commissioner plonin suggested loudly


    "The opera houses are all stone buildings, and the Germans are heavily guarded here." After looking at Pronin with dissatisfied eyes, Vladimirov said: "without heavy weapons, tanks and artillery, how can our troops capture here?"


    "I remember the 39th division was equipped with a tank battalion, equipped with the latest T-34." Instead of recognizing the irony in Vladimirov''s voice, Pronin asked, "why don''t you put them into battle?"


    "Comrade military commissar, you can remember that there is indeed a tank battalion in the 39th division of the guards, but they are now attacking the central airport of tempelhoff in Berlin with the main force of the division." "The airport is the last remaining space in Berlin for planes to take off, and it is clear that the Germans are trying to do their best to control the only window to the air so that Hitler, Goebbels, Bowman and other leaders of the Third Reich can be airlifted to other parts of Germany at the right time," trakov said, We must not let them slip through the only window in the sky! Therefore, seizing the airport is of great significance to the whole Berlin campaign. "


    Trikov''s words startled Pronin. He did not expect that there was still such an important area not occupied in Berlin. He quickly reminded trikov: "Comrade commander, since this airport is so important, I think the Germans must be heavily guarded. They wanted to seize the airport only by two regiments and a tank battalion of the 39th division of the guards, Our strength is still far from enough. "


    "Don''t worry, comrades of the military Commissar. I have been well prepared for a long time." "In addition to the 39th guard division, there was also the 79th guard division of Colonel shemchenkov," he continued. At the same time, we also dispatched a cannon regiment and an anti-aircraft artillery battalion to block the runway with artillery fire, so that even if we can''t get the airport in a short time, the German plane can''t take off. "


    "By the way, I found a very interesting phenomenon," Pronin said suddenly. "Judging from the recent war reports, German tanks have never taken the initiative to attack. They are hidden in semi underground fortifications and used as fixed fort."


    "There is no way for the Germans to do so." Vladimirov explained to him: "according to the confession of the captured tank soldiers, because of the shortage of fuel in the Berlin garrison, all the fuel was taken away for the use of aircraft, while the tanks could not start because they had no fuel, so they could only be used as fixed fire points."


    "The sky above Tempelhof Central Airport is so clear that no German plane can be seen." Pozharsky said with some chagrin, "otherwise our artillery can wipe them out."


    Bozarsky''s words remind me of a problem. If Hitler and Goebbels wanted to fly away from Berlin, they would not come from the ground by car, because they might be bombed or shelled by our army, or even wiped out by a small force. So there must be an unknown underground passage from Hitler''s hiding place to the airport.


    Thinking of this, I tentatively asked, "general trakov, I have a question. If the * * leaders want to fly away from Berlin, where will they enter the airport and where will the plane carrying them be?"


    "You have a good point, Rita. According to our information, there is an underground passage from Hitler''s hiding place to the airport. As for the plane carrying them, it is hidden in the underground hangar of the airport. " Trekov shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said rather reluctantly, "unfortunately, we don''t know the exact coordinates of the underground hangar exit. Therefore, I can only order the troops involved in the attack to cut off the roads leading to the runway with artillery and machine gun fire, and block the enemy aircraft underground in this way. "


    After discussing about the central airport of tempelhoff, we turned to the issue of seizing the Croll opera house. Pronin once again suggested that tanks and artillery should be sent immediately to reinforce the 117th guard regiment which was staying near the Capitol building, eliminate the enemy in the opera house, and avenge the sacrifice of lieutenant colonel grizenko.


    Deputy commander duhanov said regretfully: "although we destroyed a large number of German Fortifications on the other side of the canal, it also brought a side effect. The bricks and stones formed by the collapsed houses piled on the road, forming one slope after another, blocking the way of our tanks and self-propelled artillery. Unless we can clear the roads as soon as possible, we will not be able to send more technical equipment to the vicinity of the Capitol building. "


    I looked at the map and asked dukhanov, "Comrade General, do you think we can discuss with our neighbor general berzalin to let our tank brigade pass through the defense area of the 5th shock group army and attack the Capitol building from the direction of Brandenburg gate and Paris Square?"


    Duhanov shook his head and said, "Comrade deputy commander, general berzalin''s troops are now completely blocked by the German army. They can''t cross the canal themselves. How can they let our tank brigade pass through. Besides, it will cause unnecessary confusion. I do not recommend it. "


    Trikov obviously had the same idea as me. After hearing duhanov''s words, he sighed softly and said, "yes, the headquarters of the front army has defined the attack scope for all the group armies. Even if we can really break through the German defense and enter the Brandenburg gate from the defense area of the 5th assault group army, it will cause general berzalin''s displeasure. Forget it, we''d better take a steady tactic and continue to push the Capitol. Comrade chief of the engineering corps! " Tkachenko, who was called by him, agreed quickly, and trekov began to assign tasks to him: "immediately deploy engineers to clear the road to the Capitol building, so that our tanks and self-propelled artillery can pass smoothly. I don''t know how long it will take you to finish this task? " After thinking about it, Tkachenko replied, "I''ve been to the field and observed that it will take at least a week to clean up the bricks and rubble on the street." When he said this, he saw a look of discord on trakov''s face and quickly added, "but if it''s just to open up a road for technical equipment, it''s probably a night."¡° What are you going to do? " Trekov asked¡° Because there are a lot of huge reinforced concrete beams in these ruins, we need to send engineers to bury explosives first, and then carry out blasting. " Tkachenko said with confidence: "after the blasting is completed, we will use the lifting machinery to clean up the ruins, so as to open up a channel for the armored forces..." the officers and men of the 39th and 79th divisions of the guards finally captured the tempelhoff Central Airport in the evening. They occupied the terminal building, communication hub and underground hangar, seized the aircraft that had been filled with oil in the hangar, and completely cut off the escape route of the bandit leaders. After confirming that our army had taken full control of tempelhoff Central Airport, I immediately called Zhukov and reported this exciting news to him. After hearing this, he said, "great, that''s great. Tempelhoff Central Airport is the last airport in Berlin. Our army''s occupation of this airport is tantamount to cutting off Hitler and other bandits'' escape road. Even if they put on their wings, they can''t escape from our heavy encirclement. Please convey my order to trikov that even if you dig three feet, you should find a way out for Hitler and his gang of accomplices. You should live and die. Do you understand? "¡° Don''t worry, comrade marshal. I''ll pass on your order to general trakov. " I suddenly thought of the third shock group army, which was attacking the new German prime minister''s office, and asked tentatively, "marshal, what''s the progress of the third shock group army?"¡° Just half an hour ago, general Kuznetsov''s troops succeeded in occupying the new German Chancellery and annihilating the enemy who held fast to it. " Zhukov said casually, "after a night''s rest, they will push forward to the Capitol tomorrow morning. If you linger any longer, it will be theirs to win the honor of the Capitol." For me, it doesn''t matter who captured the parliament building. I only care about whether Hitler was captured or killed in the battle just ended. So I tentatively asked, "Comrade marshal, after the troops of the third shock group captured the new German chancellery, did they catch any important figures of * *¡° Important people, what important people? The premier''s office is full of minions. " When Zhukov heard my question, he was a little puzzled and said, "Rita, although the enemies who hold fast to the prime minister''s office have made tenacious resistance, the terrain there can''t build a solid defense at all, so Hitler, the bandit leader, will never hide there. According to our analysis, his hiding place must be in the basement of the Capitol building. " Knowing that Zhukov didn''t know where Hitler was hiding, I became happy. Although I am not familiar with Berlin, according to the history I know, Hitler''s hiding place is near the new German prime minister''s office, but Kuznetsov''s troops have not found a place. Although it is the territory of the third shock group army, there should be no problem for us to send an army to search for Hitler.

 Chapter 1713

    In order to know what happened on the front line in time, trakov suggested to me, "Rita, our front line is constantly moving forward. If we stay here, it is difficult to know what happened on the front line in time. Do you think we should move the headquarters forward?"


    The location of the headquarters is not very good. Even if you stand on the top of the building, you can only see the roofs or collapsed houses, as well as the chimneys of factories and the pointed roofs of churches in the distance. You can''t see the battlefield at all. So as soon as I heard that trakov wanted to move the headquarters forward, I immediately agreed: "general trakov, I agree to move the headquarters forward, but I don''t know where you plan to deploy the new headquarters?"


    "I''m going to move the headquarters to Belle alian street, which is closer to the front line." "According to the Scout''s report, not far from the central airport terminal, there is a gray five story building at the intersection of a triangle block in front of Victoria Park, with a very wide view," trakov told me


    Although our troops have occupied it, for the sake of safety, I asked instinctively, "have all the enemies been eliminated there?"


    "I don''t know." Trikov said with a smile: "after our soldiers occupied the building, they have carried out a careful search and checked all the places where they can hide. Let alone the * * elements, even a mouse can''t hide."


    What trakov said reminds me that the reason why the commanders and fighters of the third shock group army did not find important people in the prime minister''s office is that they are hiding in Hitler''s bunker with Hitler. As long as you can find the entrance to the bunker, you can catch them in a jar and catch them all.


    We came to the new headquarters building and saw a busy scene here. The communication soldiers were nervously setting up the antenna of the radio station and laying the telephone line that could communicate with the front line. Just as trekov and I stepped up the stairs on the second floor and were ready to go to the headquarters above, there was a clear gunshot. Then I heard the bullet whizzing past my ear, knocking down a female signalman following me.


    "Be careful!" I raised my hand to push trekov towards the wall, then squatted down, quickly pulled out my pistol and aimed it upstairs. I saw a figure on it, but instead of shooting, I quickly ran to a higher floor.


    "Enemy, follow me!" Behind me came the shouts of the female signalmen, and then I saw a female officer with a dozen female soldiers with guns rushing up the stairs from my side to chase the enemy who had just shot.


    Seeing the women soldiers running up the stairs, trikov asked me with concern, "Rita, are you not hurt?"


    "No, I''m not hurt." I waved my head and looked at the stairway. I saw that the woman soldier who had just been shot was sitting on the ground, and the woman soldier squatting nearby was treating her arm injury.


    When trakov went outside the building to call the guards outside, I quickly thought about what had just happened in my mind. I found that the enemy was shooting with a pistol, and only fired one shot. There should be no bullets. The more than a dozen female soldiers who just went upstairs should be able to cope with him. Thinking of this, I quickly ran upstairs with a pistol, trying to find out where the shooting was.


    I ran all the way to the fifth floor to see the group of women soldiers who were searching one by one, and finally found the enemy shooting in the last room. The women swarmed in, shouting in German, "hands up!"


    When I entered the room, I saw that the shooter turned out to be a German officer. He was standing on the windowsill with a pistol in his hand, looking back downstairs. He seemed to be hesitating whether to jump down or lay down his arms and surrender to our army.


    I pushed aside the female soldiers who were standing in front of me, walked to the place four or five steps away from the German officers, and said in a stern tone, "Hitler is going to die soon. Don''t be stubborn any more. Put down your arms and surrender immediately. I guarantee your life safety!"


    The female officer quickly translated my words to the German officer on the windowsill in proficient German. After the other party listened, the facial muscles began to twitch violently, as if they were engaged in a fierce ideological struggle.


    When I saw the play, I said while the iron was hot: "the war is coming to an end. If you continue to resist, you can only make your parents lose their favorite son, your children lose their most respected father, and your wife become other people''s woman. If you think about it, is it worthwhile to work hard for a regime that will soon be destroyed? "


    When the female officers were translating to each other, I couldn''t help but praise myself. It was really wonderful. If the other party is not a fool, he will surely lay down his arms and surrender to us.


    Who knows, after listening to this, officer de chuckled and threw away his pistol. He raised his right hand, made a standard military salute, and yelled: "long live Hitler!" Then he leaned back and fell straight downstairs.


    It was not until there was a loud bang downstairs that we rushed to the window and looked downstairs. The German officer was lying on his back with blood under his body.


    Seeing that the enemy had committed suicide by jumping off a building, I put a pistol in the holster and asked the female officer who rushed up the building with a female soldier: "Comrade officer, I don''t know what to call you?"


    "Report to Comrade General!" The female officer quickly straightened up and reported to me, "I''m lieutenant walia tokaleva, the commander of the women''s communications company!"¡° Well done, comrade lieutenant, "I reached out and shook each other''s hands." you and your men are well done, "I said approvingly¡° Serve the Soviet Tocaleva replied loudly. When I walked out of the room, a male soldier standing in the corridor saw me coming out, quickly raised his hand to salute me and reported to me, "Comrade General, the commander is waiting for you in the headquarters. Please go there immediately." I went back to the headquarters, and trekov was already working here. He obviously knew what had just happened. Seeing me coming back from the outside, he said a little displeased: "Rita, you are the deputy commander of the front army. How can you take any risks? Fortunately, there are no bullets in the German gun. If he still has bullets or grenades, you and the women soldiers will be in danger. " I didn''t want to get entangled in this kind of thing with trikov any more. I quickly cut off the topic and asked, "general trikov, when are we going to attack the Croll opera house?" Trekov raised his hand, looked at his watch, and then said, "at present, the troops are still gathering. Maybe they can''t attack until after dark at the earliest."

 Chapter 1714

    The attack on the Croll opera house began after dark. Trekov and I were standing at the window on the fifth floor, looking through our telescopes at what was happening on the battlefield.


    A battalion of tanks stopped more than 300 meters away from the opera house, bombarding the solid walls of the opera house with tank guns. Our infantry, on the other hand, were bending over to form a scattered formation under the cover of artillery fire, and quickly approached the opera house.


    When the infantry were about 100 meters away from the opera house, the tank stopped shelling. The infantry, who had been pushing forward cautiously and bent forward, immediately straightened up and rushed up. When the broken wall of the Lige theater was more than 20 meters away, they threw the grenade in their hands through the open gap or open window.


    In the violent explosion, several soldiers equipped with flame throwers rushed up and sprayed flames at the window where the smoke had not dispersed. After two successive sprays, they stopped to find a safe place to hide. And the soldiers who finished dropping bombs rushed to the gap or window, shot inside with their submachine guns, and then turned over and jumped in.


    The German soldiers who held fast in the opera house were blinded by our way of fighting. They hardly made any decent resistance, so they let our troops flood into the opera house and fight with the enemy in every floor and room.


    Seeing the troops rush into the opera house, trakov put down his telescope and said to me with some pride: "Rita, the Germans must have thought that our troops would attack the opera house in neat formation after the shelling, so that they could kill our commanders and fighters with their firepower calmly.


    But they never dreamed that many of our soldiers had taken part in the defense of Stalingrad. In addition to the rich combat experience they had accumulated in the city''s fortified battles in the past two years, it was really not difficult to seize such fortifications. "


    When I saw that the commander who was in charge of the first rush into the opera house was a soldier of the shock engineering brigade, I thought of my intention to search for Hitler and his gang of culprits, and said to trekov, "general trekov, after the opera house is taken, you will transfer a battalion from the engineering brigade to me."


    "A battalion for you?" "What are you going to do, Rita?" he said


    "You should know that general Kuznetsov''s third shock group army has successfully captured the new German Chancellery." I saw that trakov was nodding his head repeatedly to show that he knew about it, so I continued: "but they didn''t catch any heavyweight in it. I was worried that the enemy might hide in some secret passage, so I planned to lead a troop to search and see if they could catch any valuable people."


    After listening to me, trakov was silent for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "well, Rita, as soon as the battle in the opera house is over, I''ll send you a battalion of shock engineers to accompany you to the new German prime minister''s office for a search. But you have to promise me that you must ensure your own safety. You can''t do anything as risky as this afternoon. "


    "Don''t worry, general trakov." I was very grateful for the concern of trakov for me, so I said to him with a smile, "if you want to see the victory, I don''t want to be killed by the last bullet before the end of the battle. I will pay attention to safety."


    But trikov seemed to be worried. He was silent for a while, and finally took the initiative to say, "Rita, if you really want to go to the new German chancellery, I suggest you report this to Marshal Zhukov first, so that he and general Kuznetsov can have a talk, so that you will not have a misunderstanding with the third shock group army who is staying there in the past."


    Although searching for Hitler, I want to do something first and then, but since trakov has reminded me that it is obviously inappropriate to hide from Zhukov, so I can only call Zhukov and report to him about my plan to lead the troops to search the German new prime minister''s office.


    After hearing this, Zhukov didn''t get angry with me. But after a long silence, he said to me, "go and have a look. Kuznetsov''s troops had carried out heavy shelling when they occupied the imperial prime minister''s office. Maybe the entrance of the bunker where Hitler and his assailants were hiding was crushed by the collapsed reinforced concrete structure, so we didn''t find anything. I''ll call Kuznetsov and ask him to send someone to help you


    After these words, Zhukov was silent for a moment, and then added: "remember, if you find anything, you must inform me at the first time."


    In order to keep in touch with Zhukov at any time, I took two radio stations with me when I left with the shock Engineer Battalion. Because the road was full of bricks and stones, we could not take a bus, we had to walk to the new prime minister''s office. Led by a scout familiar with the terrain, we carefully bypassed the areas where sporadic fighting still took place and headed for the target.


    After more than 40 minutes of trekking, we finally arrived at our destination. Still far away, I heard someone shouting: "Hello, are you comrades from the 8th group army of the guards?"


    The engineer battalion commander quickly stepped forward and replied in a loud voice: "yes, we are from the 8th group army of the guards. Is the opposite from the 3rd assault group army?"


    "Yes, it''s us." In front of a pile of more than two people high ruins, suddenly out of a few people, walked quickly towards us, at the same time also said: "you can look forward to it!"

 Chapter 1715

    When the other party approached, I saw the epaulets of the other party''s military coat clearly with the help of the burning light of the building in the distance. It was actually a commander. Before and after the commander came to my face, he said in an apologetic tone: "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, I am commander of the staff of the 756th regiment, commander volevo. Welcome here. As there may be German snipers in ambush nearby, please forgive me for not being able to salute you. "


    Hearing this, I said with understanding, "take me to your headquarters."


    Under the guidance of vorvorvor, I came to the prime minister''s office not far away. Maybe it was because the German army had carried out tenacious defense here, and our army had to use artillery fire to destroy the enemy''s firepower points, so that there were gaps everywhere on the walls. Occasionally, there are two walls that have not collapsed, and the walls are also full of pockmarked craters.


    There are new sandbags at the gate and maxim heavy machine guns at the back. The soldiers sitting in the fortification, seeing the arrival of our party, immediately got up, straightened up and saluted us.


    As soon as I entered the hall, several people came up, and a colonel was at the front. Lieutenant Colonel volevo quickly approached me and said, "this is the head of our regiment."


    The Colonel came up to me, stood at attention, straightened his back and reported to me, "senior general, I''m Colonel zinchenko, the head of the 756th regiment. On behalf of the whole regiment, I welcome you to come!"


    Before I came here, I always thought that the number of 756 regiment was very familiar, but I never thought of hearing it anywhere. At this moment, when I heard the head of the regiment announce his home, I immediately remembered that it was the officers and men of this regiment who planted the red flag on the top of the Capitol building?


    Thinking of this, while shaking hands with zinchenko, I asked curiously, "Comrade Colonel, how can your regiment be stationed in the new German chancellery?"


    "Shortly after our army occupied here, the commander of the army, as a German, would fight back, so he left our regiment behind." "Tomorrow, the other two regiments of the division will take part in the attack on the Capitol building. Only our regiment will stay here as a reserve team," zinchenko said regretfully


    "Don''t worry, comrade colonel. Good steel will be used on the blade." I said to the frustrated zinchenko with a smile: "as far as I know, the enemies who stick to the Capitol are stubborn * * elements. Even if they fight to the last person, they will not lay down their arms and surrender, so the attack there will be extremely cruel. I think your group will go up sooner or later. "


    My words made Colonel zinchenko happy. He turned to one side of his body and made a gesture of please: "please, comrade general, let''s go to the office to talk."


    As I followed zinchenko forward, I kept looking around. The hall is full of concrete blocks falling from the top, smashed helmets, empty first aid boxes, bandages stained with blood, empty cans, empty bullet clips and so on. Near the corner, there were several piles of corpses, which should be collected German corpses.


    I had just a casual glance, but I soon found something was wrong. In the corpse pile, vaguely saw several naked corpses. Although it''s march now, it''s still very cold. The officers and men of both sides are wearing military coats. Is it possible that the garrison here is going to fight barefaced?


    I turned around, went to the corner, and stopped a few more from the corpse pile. The light here was a little dim, so I asked someone to find a steam lamp to light it up.


    In the light of the light, although I could only see the back of the naked corpse, I could tell from the white and smooth skin that it was several female corpses. I turned to look at zinchenko, pointed to the corpse and asked, "Comrade Colonel, can you explain to me what happened to these corpses?"


    "Comrade General," seeing that I was angry, zinchenko replied in a hurry, "it was not our soldiers who did it. After we occupied here, we found these bodies in the bodies on the ground floor. I think it was the German. "


    I stared at zinchenko for a while. Seeing that he didn''t look like a liar, I nodded and said, "Comrade Colonel, I believe you, I believe your subordinates won''t do such things as beasts. Now take me to your office


    Zinchenko''s office is on the first floor, which should be easily occupied by our army. The desks, chairs and filing cabinets inside are very complete, and there are no traces of fighting. However, the ground was full of printed materials, handwritten materials, files and various answers. Although I had been to the German headquarters occupied by our army, I had the impression that the Germans were very strict in their work. In order to prevent the documents or materials left behind from divulging the army''s communication code, frequency and call code, when they were transferring, It''s the first time I''ve seen such a messy office.


    After I sat down behind my desk, I suddenly smelled a stench. I frowned and asked zinchenko, "Comrade Colonel, what''s the matter? Where''s the stench coming from?"


    "Well, Comrade General." Hearing my question, zinchenko replied with some embarrassment: "there is a toilet nearby. Because the water and electricity in the building have been cut off, our soldiers can''t clean up after using the toilet, so the sewer has been blocked. In addition, there is no electricity and the ventilation can''t be used. That''s why you smell the bad smell. "


    When I saw zinchenko, they all could bear the bad smell. I couldn''t say anything more. I just sat behind my desk and looked at zinchenko and asked, "Comrade Colonel, are there any German prisoners in the building? I want to ask them something. " For my question, zinchenko did not answer immediately, but turned to his chief of staff for help. Lieutenant Colonel vorvorvor stepped forward and replied, "yes, Comrade General. We have captured more than 100 wounded soldiers and several military doctors who are in the temporary hospital in the basement at the moment. "¡° Comrade commander, go and bring the prisoner with the highest rank! " I told lieutenant colonel volevo, "I have something important to ask him." As soon as commander volevo left, zinchenko asked curiously, "Comrade General, the superior said that you have an important mission here. Let our regiment fully cooperate with you. Can you tell me what it is? And what can we do for you? " Considering that I had only about 200 shock engineers with me, if I found Hitler''s bunker and wanted to take these bandit leaders out of the ground, I might not have enough troops. It was inevitable that I would have the help of the 756th regiment. So I nodded and said to zinchenko, "to tell you the truth, I''m here to find Hitler''s hiding place."¡° What, Hitler''s hiding place? " When zinchenko heard me say this, he suddenly widened his eyes in surprise: "Comrade General, do you mean Hitler is hiding nearby?"¡° Yes, I think the hiding place of Hitler and the gang of bandits is near the prime minister''s office. " I looked at zinchenko and said, "our task is to find the entrance to Hitler''s bunker and drive them all out of it." When he heard that Hitler''s hiding place was nearby, zinchencoton became excited. He walked back and forth in the room, rubbed his hands constantly, and said incoherently, "Hitler is here... Great, Hitler, Hitler... I must catch you and hang you on the street lamp, Revenge for our comrades in arms... "At this time, there was a rapid sound of footsteps at the door. A moment later, I saw lieutenant colonel volevo come in, followed by a middle-aged soldier in a white coat. The white coat was full of blood, which should have been splashed on him when he was treating the wounded. Although he is our enemy, he is also a doctor who can save the dying and heal the wounded. Besides, he has become our prisoner. So I quickly stood up, nodded at him and said, "Hello, Mr. military doctor, can you understand Russian?"¡° Yes, sir, I can understand Russian. " The other party took the initiative to say hello to him, which seemed a little unexpected. He quickly replied in slightly stiff Russian, "I''m Lieutenant Colonel Rolfe, military doctor. What can I do for you?" Naturally, as soon as I came up, I would not directly ask where the entrance of Hitler''s bunker was. In that way, the wary Rolf military doctor might tell me that he did not know at all. So I want to ask the bodies in the hall: "Mr. military doctor, when I came in, I saw the bodies of many women in the hall. Can you tell me how they died?"¡° Of course, they all committed suicide. " Rolfe replied, "we all know that this great city is about to fall. The women were afraid of being attacked by the Russian QJ, so they fled their houses in Berlin and came here to take refuge. They actively put themselves into the arms of soldiers defending the prime minister''s office, or into their bedclothes. I even saw a general chasing a female signal soldier in the hall when he was drunk... When your army began to attack the prime minister''s office, the women felt that the end was coming, so they let the soldiers shoot themselves to death, or take highly toxic drugs from other military doctors. If you''ve ever been on the second or third floor, you''ll see more poisoned bodies in one room after another. " After Rolfe finished speaking, I was silent for a moment, and then I said, "Mr. military doctor, we are attacking Berlin not to destroy the German people, but to save you from the brutal rule. Only by seizing Hitler and his accomplices can we successfully end this war and let everyone live a peaceful and happy life. " After listening to my words, Rolfe looked at me for a long time. Finally, he nodded his head and said, "Sir, maybe you are right. We should end this meaningless war."

 Chapter 1716

    Rolfe''s attitude made me feel that he was not a loyal member of the Communist Party. I also hope to end the war as soon as possible. Maybe I can open a breakthrough from him. So I asked tentatively, "doctor, you must have been to Hitler''s bunker. Can you tell me where the entrance is?"


    As soon as I spoke, the air in the whole room froze. Zinchenko didn''t expect that I would ask Rolf about the entrance of the bunker so directly, and volevo was shocked by the news.


    Instead of focusing on zinchenko or volevo, I kept my eyes on Rolfe to see how he reacted. His eyes were fixed on his feet, his face muscles twitched violently, and he seemed to be engaged in a fierce ideological struggle.


    After a long time, he looked up at me and asked tentatively, "Sir, who told you that the entrance of Hitler''s bunker is in the prime minister''s office?"


    As soon as his words came out, zinchenko and volevo looked at me curiously. They also wanted to know whether there was an entrance to Hitler''s bunker in the prime minister''s palace. After all, they have occupied this place for quite a long time. They have searched all the places that should be searched, but they have not found anything. If there is really an entrance, they must try their best to cooperate to atone for their contributions.


    I looked at Rolfe and said word by word, "I once heard that a bomb shelter was built 15 meters underground of the prime minister''s house and its garden for Hitler. It is said that from a staircase in the prime minister''s office, you can get there directly. There is a small space under the stairs, which is separated by three waterproof and fireproof sealing walls... "Speaking of this, I deliberately pause for a moment to observe each other''s expression.


    Seeing that his face turned red and white, he realized that the information he had read from the history book was correct. He quickly went on to say, "Mr. military doctor, if you can lead us to the entrance, I promise you that as soon as the war is over, you can go straight back to your home. Not only will they not be judged, but they will be protected by us. " I was deeply afraid of his obstinacy, and specially stressed, "since we know the entrance to Hitler''s bunker, it''s in the prime minister''s office. Even if you don''t say it, we can find it as long as we take some time. But then, if you want our leniency, it will be impossible. "


    After weighing what I said repeatedly, Rolfe gritted his teeth and said, "Sir, I''ll tell you what I know. In fact, what you know is not comprehensive. To get to Hitler''s bunker, you need to go through a staircase of the prime minister''s office, through the food management office, and you can get there directly. But after your heavy artillery bombardment, I don''t know if the entrance there was crushed by the collapsed buildings


    Zinchenko and volevo''s eyes lit up when they heard that there was really an entrance to Hitler''s bunker. They turned their eyes on me. Although they didn''t say anything, I knew that they were waiting for me to give them orders, and then they could take the soldiers to dig Hitler out of the ground.


    Although I know that the entrance of Hitler''s bunker is in the prime minister''s palace, I have no idea what it is like inside. So instead of giving orders in a hurry, I humbly asked Rolfe, "Mr. military doctor, can you tell me something about the situation in the bunker?"


    "Can I have a pen and paper?" Rolfe asked tentatively, "I can introduce you to the bunkers I know."


    I looked down and saw a stack of printed plates on the desk. I picked up one and turned it over. Seeing that it was blank behind, I quickly handed it to Rolfe. At the same time, I took a pencil from the pen holder on the desk and handed it to him.


    Rolfe took the printed matter and pencil, put it on the table, quickly drew a sketch, and introduced it to us: "the first of the three firewalls cut off the passageway leading to the restaurant, that is, the" kananberg passage "named after Hitler''s bodyguard; The second one cuts off the staircase leading to the exit, which leads directly to the garden of the Ministry of foreign affairs; The third cut off access to the bunker.


    The underground fortress is divided into two parts. In the first part, there is a passage in the middle, and there are six small rooms on each side. It is the place for the guards to lodge and pile up sundries. The kitchen for Hitler''s food is also here.


    At the end of the passage, a staircase spirals down to the second floor of the bunker. The area of this floor is very large, and it is a special part of Hitler, that is, the so-called "Fuehrer''s bunker". The Fuehrer''s bunker is composed of 18 rooms with a corridor in the middle. Each room is very small and shabby. Compared with the luxurious and spacious rooms of the new prime minister''s office, it is quite different.


    The corridor of the underground fortress is divided into two parts by a partition wall, the outside is the living room, and the inside is the office, toilet, guard room, spare telephone room and generator room, which is the most important part. The inner middle corridor served as a meeting room where Hitler held his regular military meetings every day.


    There is a door on the left side of the corridor. There are six rooms in the door, which are the rooms of Hitler and his mistress Eva Braun... There are two doors on the left side, in which there is a small map room, that is, a small conference room, where Hitler called important people to hold important meetings. In addition, there is a small room called "dog hole" with a ladder leading to an unfinished reinforced concrete watchtower above the ground


    When I heard this, I couldn''t help interrupting him and said, "Mr. military doctor, do you know where the concrete watchtower is?"


    Unexpectedly, Rolfe shook his head and replied, "Sir, although I have been to the bunker several times, I have never had a chance to go to the" dog hole ", so I don''t know where it is." Although we can''t know where the other exit of Hitler''s bunker is, we are satisfied to know its entrance position in the prime minister''s palace. I asked someone to arrange Rolfe to go back and say to zinchenko and volevo, "comrades, I think you already know a lot about Hitler''s bunker." Seeing the two men nodding excitedly and desperately, I went on to say, "let''s act immediately, try to find the entrance of Hitler''s bunker in the shortest time, and then blow the door open with explosives. Remember, when you rush in, move quickly so that Hitler and his accomplices don''t escape through another exit. " As soon as my voice was over, zinchenko almost roared at vorvorvor: "Comrade chief of staff, in addition to the three battalions remaining on guard, the first and second battalions immediately assembled and rushed to the entrance of Hitler''s bunker to prepare for a fortified battle. Do you understand?"¡° I see! " The chief of staff, vorvorvor, made a loud promise, and then ran out to gather the troops. Before volevo could gather the troops, I and zinchenko had already taken the engineering battalion to the place marked by Rolfe. But when we got to the place, we were stunned by everything in front of us. The entrance was covered by collapsed reinforced concrete members. Looking at the ruins as high as four or five meters, I''m a little silly. Let alone we don''t have tools to weigh our hands. Even if we have special lifting machinery, it''s impossible to clean it up without a day or two. Just as a group of us stood in a daze in front of the high ruins, commander volevo came with a battalion. When he saw everyone standing still, he asked me strangely, "Comrade General, why don''t we start?" I pointed to the ruins in front of me and said to him with a bitter smile: "Comrade commander, look, how long will it take us to clean up such high bricks and stones?" Vorvor looked at the ruins for a moment, then suggested to me, "Comrade General, I''ll take people to other places to see if I can find another entrance." Although I know that the opportunity is slim, but also with a try mentality, agreed to his request. Looking at him with a few soldiers climbed up the ruins, toward the other side, my heart is also looking forward to the miracle. Zinchenko came up to me and asked in a low voice, "Comrade General, do you think he can find another entrance?" I gave a wry smile and said, "Colonel, under the present circumstances, we can only take a chance." Half an hour later, vorvorvor came back, and he told me dejectedly: "Comrade General, we have carefully searched. The entrance has been covered with collapsed reinforced concrete. Unless we can clear these things first, we will not be able to enter the bunker."

 Chapter 1717

    Seeing Hitler hiding more than ten meters under our feet, but we have nothing to do with him, I can''t help but feel very anxious. Just then, a signalman who came with me from trekov headquarters ran up to me and reported to me, "Comrade General, your phone number is from the headquarters of the front army."


    I heard that it was from the headquarters of the front army, so I guessed that it must be Zhukov. If we are attacking Hitler''s bunker, I will be very happy to report the good news to him; But now, I feel guilty. After putting on the earphone, I said to the transmitter: "Hello, comrade Marshal? I''m o''shanina. Do you have any instructions? "


    "What''s the situation there? Have you found any clues?" Zhukov asked casually.


    "Yes, comrade marshal, we have found the location of Hitler''s bunker." I know that I can''t hide this matter, so I can only report it to him truthfully, saying: "however, at the entrance of the new prime minister''s office, the collapsed buildings are covered by ruins. Even if the lifting machinery is used, it will take several days to complete the cleaning work."


    "What, did you find the entrance to Hitler''s bunker?" What I said surprised Zhukov: "Rita, are you sure what you find is the real entrance to the ground?"


    "No mistake, comrade marshal." I said in a positive tone, "I got the exact location of the entrance to Hitler''s bunker from a captured German medical lieutenant colonel."


    After a long silence, Zhukov tentatively asked me, "Rita, if I send you enough cranes, how long will it take you to dig the entrance to Hitler''s bunker?"


    Looking at the mountain like ruins in front of me, I replied with a bitter smile: "marshal, it''s almost the ruins of the whole building, which is built at the entrance of the bunker. Even if you send us enough lifting machinery, it will take us several days to dig this place completely..."


    Before I finished my words, the sharp whistling sound of cannonballs cutting through the air suddenly came from the air¡° Shelling, lie down, lie down My ear rang out zinchenko''s hoarse cry, and then I felt that someone was pulling me towards the building not far away.


    After an explosion, countless bricks and stones were splashed on the top of the ruins, which made the soldiers around complain endlessly. Everyone started to run to safety. In the process of everyone running, there are successive shells falling down towards us, and the slow soldiers were blown down.


    When we hid in the safe building, I heard Zhukov''s anxious voice coming from the earphone: "Rita, can you hear me? What happened to you and how did I hear the sound of shelling? "


    "We are being shelled by the German army," I said. Looking at the fire and smoke rising outside the building, I quickly judged that the other side was shelling with mortars, and quickly replied, "mortars. Maybe the Germans found us, so they sent mortar teams to fire on the upper floors of nearby buildings. "


    After I finished, I waited for Zhukov''s next order in a state of uneasiness. My brain was running fast, thinking about what I would do if Zhukov asked us to dig the entrance to the bunker?


    But what Zhukov said surprised me: "Rita, since you can''t clear out the entrance to the bunker, go back to trakov first and urge him to take the Capitol building as soon as possible. Do you understand? "


    "Yes, comrade marshal, I obey your orders." I thought Zhukov would let me try to clean up the ruins, or send troops to search nearby to see if I could find another exit to the bunker. But he didn''t expect that he wanted me to go back to trakov, so he quickly pushed the boat and said, "I''m going back to general trakov''s headquarters."


    By the time I got back to trekov headquarters, it was already dawn. Trikov was particularly surprised to see me come in from the door. He asked me with a look of surprise: "Rita, how did you come back and find Hitler''s bandit nest?"


    "Found it." I went to the table and sat down. I said weakly, "unfortunately, when our army attacked the prime minister''s office, part of the building collapsed with heavy artillery. The falling reinforced concrete components just covered the entrance of the bunker. Even with the help of lifting machinery, it would take a long time to clean it up."


    "Although the entrance is blocked, there must be other entrances." "Did you take anyone to search around for a new entrance?" trekov asked carefully


    "No, after Marshal Zhukov knew that the entrance was blocked, he ordered me to come back directly." Looking around, I found that in the busy figure of the headquarters, I didn''t see Pronin, so I digged off the topic and asked, "where did Comrade military commissar go? Why didn''t he see others?"


    "Rita, although we are still fighting with the Germans, we have to start the supply and medical work for the citizens of Berlin." Trekov explained to me, "in the German warehouses and food bases we occupied, there were only a few flour and canned fish left. There were no meat, rice and dairy products left. According to the report of the following troops, the German people are starving. Some brave children, for a small piece of bread, a spoonful of hot soup or a spoonful of porridge, even braved the gunfire and gunfire on the battlefield, came to our cooking cart to eat.


    In order to have a good relationship with the German people, our soldiers took out the food from their lunch boxes and distributed it to the German children. They also put cans and sugar in their hands and let them take it back to their families. From tomorrow, we will send cooking trucks to provide the local residents with a fixed amount of food.


    Besides the food supply, the most troublesome thing is medical work. Due to the shelling of our army and the bombing of the US Army, the water pipes and sewers have been damaged. Oil lamps are used for lighting and kerosene stoves and iron stoves are used for heating. Toilets, kitchens, hallways and even bedrooms are full of rubbish, stinking everywhere, dirty and dirty.


    According to my instructions, military commissar Pronin and the Minister of logistics went to find a sufficient number of disinfection equipment, and mobilized German medical staff to work with us to control the possible plague. Their work these days is to restore the water supply to the water tower and clean up the sewers. For us, the war is coming to an end, and it''s time to start restoring the damaged economy. "


    After daybreak, our attack on the Capitol began again. Today, in addition to our attack on the Capitol from the south, the troops of the 79th army also launched an attack from the north.


    When I saw our troops approaching the Capitol building with the help of ruins and craters, accompanied by tanks, it suddenly occurred to me that it was the commanders and fighters of the 150th infantry division who first planted the red flag on the top floor of the Capitol building, so I reminded trakov, "general trakov, don''t you think our troops are short of something?"


    Trekov, who was looking into the distance with his telescope, immediately put down his telescope, turned to look at me and asked in surprise, "what''s missing?"


    I pointed to the dome of the Capitol in the distance and said to him with a smile, "general trakov, don''t you think we should put our red flag on the top of the Capitol as soon as possible?"


    My words reminded trakov. He nodded and told Vladimirov standing behind us: "Comrade chief of staff, call general vagin of the 79th division of the guards immediately, ask him to prepare the red flag immediately, and then ask our soldiers to put the red flag on the dome of the Capitol building."


    According to the tradition of the Soviet army, to put a red flag on the top of an important building in a city means to occupy the city, and the troops who put the red flag first will receive meritorious service. As a result, upon my reminding, both trakov and Vladimirov took active action to inform the commanders at the front to give the troops flags to be planted on the Capitol.


    Soon general wakin called. He reported to trakov, "Comrade commander, the flag is ready. Sergeant Nikolay masalov, the flag bearer of the 220th regiment of the 79th division of the guards, and two deputy flag bearers are going to insert the flag on the top floor of the Capitol."


    The tanks heading for the Capitol became the main target of German attack. Before long, the seven or eight tanks that accompanied the infantry charge were destroyed by the tanks and anti tank guns deployed in the fortifications in front of the building, as well as the anti-aircraft guns on the roof of the building. The infantry, who had lost the cover of tanks, could not break through the dense fire blockade of the German army, and could only retreat back in ashes.


    Seeing that the army''s attack was repulsed, trikov snorted, left the window and went to the table. He said to bozarsky who was sitting there, "Comrade artillery commander, use heavy artillery to blow up the enemy''s artillery positions in front of the building and on the top of the building."


    As soon as bozarsky left, trakov told Vladimirov, "chief of staff, find a way to transfer two more tank battalions. I don''t believe the German army can wipe them out."


    After these two orders were issued, trakov directly called the front-line headquarters of the 79th division of Jinwei and asked, "general wakin, what happened just now? Why didn''t I see the red flag in the attacking troops?"


    "Comrade commander, please listen to me." Standing not far from trekov, I could clearly hear the voice coming from the phone: "the 220th regiment of guards was suppressed by German fire during the attack. When masalov, the flag bearer, fell down, he saw a German woman lying there killed by stray bullets in the ruins nearby. A little girl was lying beside her mother crying. So he let his comrades in arms cover himself and crawled over. The enemy in a nearby building found him and shot him with machine gun, but he continued to climb forward bravely, cleverly avoiding the bullets and mines, and climbed to the weeping little girl. Waiting for the little girl''s side, he bravely stood up, holding the child bent back and ran back to the division headquarters. "


    When I heard about the flag bearer''s rescue of the little girl, I suddenly remembered that in the streets of Berlin, there was a 13 meter high statue of the Soviet Army: a huge Soviet soldier holding a lonely little German girl in his left hand, a heavy double edged sword in his drooping right hand, and a stamp of the Communist Party.


    I didn''t expect that the prototype of this sculpture was actually a flagman in trakov''s army. It''s really interesting. I quickly took out a pen and paper and wrote down this incident. I planned to let Pronin publicize this heroic story when he came back.


    Before the new attack, bozarsky''s artillery troops launched a heavy shelling on the Capitol building, first silencing the anti-aircraft gun position on the roof. Then, the intensive fire destroyed the German anti tank guns and two Tiger tanks in the fortification in front of the building.


    After the shelling, the tanks of the two tank battalions rumbled into the square in front of the Capitol building, launched the battle formation, stopped four or five hundred meters away from the target, and began to bombard the fire points emerging from the building to cover the infantry charge. Although the commanders and fighters of the offensive troops were constantly hit by bullets or shrapnel and fell on the road of charge, our soldiers were getting closer and closer to the steps of the Capitol building. Seeing this situation, I can''t help holding my breath, because the soldier in the front is only 50 or 60 meters away from the building. As long as he runs faster, he can enter the building in 20 seconds at most. Who knows, the soldier just rushed up the stairs, as if hit an invisible wall, the whole body suddenly stopped, and then fell back slowly on the stairs. The soldier who didn''t know his name just fell down, and another four or five soldiers rushed up, but soon, they also fell down beside their comrades in arms one after another. After they fell down, more soldiers flooded in. Although there were still soldiers falling down, more people rushed into the building¡° That''s great. That''s great! " Vladimirov exclaimed excitedly, "Comrade commander, do you see that? Our soldiers rushed into the Capitol. They rushed in. That''s great The troops of the 8th group army of the guards rushed into the Capitol building. Not long after, a troop came from the other side of the building, and then rushed in. Seeing this scene, Vladimirov couldn''t help looking silly. He was surprised and asked, "where did this army come from? What are they going to do? Don''t they know that the task of seizing the Capitol has been handed over to our group army? "¡° Chief of staff, don''t get excited. " I quickly put down my telescope, turned to Vladimirov and said, "you don''t care which army is coming, just need to know that they are our friendly forces and are here to cooperate with us in the elimination of the German Communist Party." When I said this, Vladimirov murmured a little discontentedly, "you know, our troops rush into the Capitol first. If their flag is put on the roof first, whose credit is this victory?"

 Chapter 1718

    I don''t know how to answer Vladimirov''s question, because what is happening now has deviated from what I know about history. Let alone the attack on Berlin, which was two months earlier than in real history, the order of attack in some important areas also changed.


    I didn''t speak. I just looked at the smoke and fire rising from the Capitol in the distance, but I thought it was a pity that I could not pull Hitler out of the ground when I was only a few meters away from Hitler.


    The attack on the Capitol building came to an end at noon. The personnel of the logistics department risked being shot and sent ammunition and supplies to the commanders and fighters fighting in the building so that they could continue to fight.


    "Comrade commander, comrade commander." There was a joyful voice behind us. I turned around and saw that it was the artillery commander pozalski who ran in. From his happy face, I guessed that there must be some good news.


    Trikov put down his telescope, turned to look at him, and asked in some surprise, "general bozarsky, what''s the matter? You seem very happy."


    Pozharsky pointed to the door and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, look, who''s back?"


    We all looked in the direction of his fingers and saw a general in a military coat coming in slowly from the door. After waiting to see the person clearly, trikov exclaimed in surprise: "Wei yinlubu, it''s you!" With that, he quickly stepped forward and gave each other a warm hug.


    After the two separated, trakov looked at each other up and down, and asked with concern, "how are you, are you all well?"


    "Yes, comrade commander." The armored chief of the group army replied with a smile, "my injuries are all right. Fortunately, I can still catch up with the final battle."


    Trekov took weinlub to the window, pointed to the distant battlefield of blood and fire, and said to him, "you see, our troops are besieging the Capitol. As long as we win here, we can win the final victory."


    Wei yinlubu took the telescope in trakov''s hand, looked into the distance, and asked, "Comrade commander, how is the battle going inside, when can our troops occupy the whole Parliament building?"


    "According to the latest war report, our troops have just occupied the second floor, and the German resistance is very strong." Hearing Wei yinlubu''s question, the expression on trakov''s face became serious: "every time we go further, we have to pay the price of blood and life."


    "I''m sure our officers and men will win the Capitol." After finishing this sentence, Wei yinlubu put down his telescope and asked, "do you want me to organize tank troops and give more support to our infantry?"


    "Not for the time being." Trikov pointed to the tanks that were standing in the square and shelling the Capitol building, and said, "our tanks can only use artillery to destroy the German firepower outside the building, and the fighting inside the building can only be completed by our infantry."


    In the afternoon, the 5th assault group army of berzalin broke through the German defense and rushed through the Brandenburg Gate in the southeast into the Paris Square.


    It wasn''t long before I saw a bright red flag rising at the top of the Brandenburg gate. Seeing this flag flying in the wind, I can''t help but feel envious. It''s better to come earlier than it happened. We''ve occupied the Capitol for almost a day, and we haven''t put the flag on the top of the building yet. As soon as berzalin''s troops came, they had already put their flag on the bronze chariot of the statue of liberty.


    Not only did I see the flag, but trekov and all of them saw it. Seeing that the friendly troops had taken the lead, trikov''s face turned black. He turned to ask the chief of staff, "chief of staff, call the forward commander and ask when our flag will be put on the top floor of the Capitol?" With a promise, Vladimirov turned to one side to make a phone call and asked the commander in the front about the attack in the building.


    Not only are we anxious to know the battle in the building, but Zhukov, who is sitting in the headquarters of the front army, is also anxious. He made a special phone call to ask, "trakov, where''s your unit?"


    Trekov, who had just obtained the latest information from Vladimirov, quickly replied, "report to marshal, our troops have established themselves on the second floor and are attacking the third floor."


    "What, just launched an attack on the third floor." Zhukov was obviously not satisfied with this answer. He repeatedly said, "it''s too slow, comrade trakov. Your actions are too slow. It took almost a day to fight, but it was just the third floor. If we fight like this, when can we take down the Capitol? "


    Although the weather in March was still very cold, Zhukov''s words made trakov sweat. I saw him raise his hand to wipe his sweat and say to the microphone: "marshal, please rest assured that we will speed up our attack and take down the Capitol as soon as possible."


    After putting down the microphone, he said angrily to Vladimirov: "chief of staff, tell the commanders in front to speed up their attack. Their action is too slow. In addition, we should tell them that although the 5th shock group army entered the battle late, others have successfully passed through the Brandenburg Gate, entered the Paris Square, and planted the flag representing victory on the top of the Brandenburg Gate.... "


    Before he had finished, I suddenly found that the top of Brandenburg gate was covered by gunfire. I cried "no" in a hurry and raised my telescope to look in that direction. When the smoke cleared, not only the red flag on the top of the door disappeared, but also the bronze statue of liberty with four horses was left alone.


    Seeing this, I called him "general trakov, you see, the German army destroyed the red flag on the top of the Brandenburg Gate with artillery fire."


    When I said this, people all around me rushed to the window to observe the Brandenburg gate where the red flag of our army had been raised. When they saw that the red flag was gone, they all sighed.


    Because of the German tenacious defense in the Capitol, our army''s attack was not smooth. By nightfall, our army only managed to take down the third floor. The German army launched a counterattack while our army was not stable. If a new army had not arrived in time, our army might have been driven down from the third floor by the enemy.


    The next morning, trekov and I went back to the observation post and continued to observe the battle in the direction of the Capitol. Vladimirov asked with some concern, "Comrade commander, can we take the Capitol today?"


    "I don''t know," he said without looking back


    I know that I can''t win the Capitol building today, but an important historical event will happen, so I kept silent, raised my telescope like trakov, looked at the Capitol building with fierce war, and patiently waited for the time to pass.


    At about two o''clock in the afternoon, I saw a red flag rising on the dome of the Capitol. I patted trakov on the shoulder and pointed out to him, "general trakov, look, our red flag is rising on the top floor of the Capitol."


    Trakov quickly looked in the direction of my finger and saw the red flag. But in order to make sure he was right, he stared at it for a long time, sighed with relief, and then said, "great, I finally put the red flag on the top of the Capitol."


    He turned, pointed to Vladimirov and said, "chief of staff, call Marshal Zhukov and report to him that our army has planted the red flag on the top of the Capitol."


    Vladimirov stood still and asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, we are not the only troops rushing into the Capitol building. Before we are sure who planted the red flag on the top of the building, is it appropriate to report to Marshal Zhukov?"


    Vladimirov''s words stunned trakov. He just went to the Capitol to be happy. He forgot that the troops fighting in the Capitol building were not only the 8th group army, but also the 3rd shock group army. Thinking of this, the muscles on his face twitched violently. Then he shook his head and said, "forget it. We''d better report to the marshal when we have a clear idea."


    Before we had time to confirm which army had put the red flag representing victory on the top floor of the parliament building, major general Kuragin, commander of the 35th division of the guards, called and reported to trikov, "Comrade commander, a German lieutenant commander with a white flag, zeifeld, came to the front of the 102nd regiment of the guards and said that he had come to ask for a cease-fire negotiation, He carries a letter of authorization from the German Supreme Command, which is to discuss the time and place for the representatives of the German Supreme Command to cross the front. He is in my division headquarters at the moment, and he asked us to send him to the higher headquarters as soon as possible. "


    "I see," trekov replied, "Comrade Kuragin, please tell the German lieutenant commander that we agree to negotiate with them. Let him and the negotiators of the German Supreme Command come to the headquarters to negotiate with us through the defense area of the 102nd regiment of the guards."


    "I see, comrade commander." Kuragin quickly replied: "I will order the troops to stop shooting immediately and let the German negotiators pass through our division''s defense area."


    We went back to trekov''s headquarters and waited for the arrival of the German negotiators. I called Zhukov and told him that the German army was going to send representatives to negotiate.


    After hearing this, Zhukov told me, "Rita, remember that no cease-fire or negotiation of any kind is acceptable unless the German army is willing to surrender unconditionally. Do you understand? "


    When I heard Zhukov say this, his tone was very severe. I quickly and loudly replied, "I see, comrade marshal. Unless the Germans declare unconditional surrender, we will never accept any form of cease-fire or negotiation. "


    After more than an hour of waiting, the German negotiators finally came to our headquarters. There were three negotiators coming. At the front was a general of medium build with several scars on his face. He was followed by a colonel and a captain. I guess the captain at the end should be their interpreter.


    After the German general raised his hand to salute us, he began to speak in German. "He said that he was general Klebs, chief of the general staff of the German army. He was entrusted by Prime Minister Goebbels to negotiate a cease-fire with us."


    Knowing that the other side was the German army chief of staff, I quickly pointed to an empty seat nearby and said politely, "please have a seat, general Klebs!" Klebs went to the position I was referring to, but did not sit down, and continued to speak to us. Trekov and I both turned to the translator to find out what Klebsiella was talking about as soon as possible. The translator stares at Klebs with wide eyes. He seems to have heard some amazing news¡° Comrade translator, what are you doing Seeing that the translator was standing in the same place and didn''t speak, he urged impatiently, "translate what he said to us quickly." The translator coughed gently, cleared his throat and began to translate to us: "Sir, I should inform you that Adolf Hitler committed suicide in the basement at 10 a.m. on March 8!" After the translation, the whole room fell into silence, and all the Soviet commanders and fighters except me were shocked. I turned to look at trakov, and he just looked at me. From his eyes, I could see the question in his heart: "is it true that Hitler is dead?" I gave him a slight nod, and then said, "general trakov, please report this news to Marshal Zhukov immediately." When trakov left the conference room and went into the next communication room, I turned to klebsieu and asked, "general klebsieu, can you tell me where Hitler''s body is? Exactly, where are the bodies of Hitler and his new wife Eva Braun? " I felt that the interpreter standing next to me wanted to translate my words to klebsieu immediately, so I raised my hand to stop him. Looking at klebsieu, I said, "Sir, I know that you used to be a military officer in the Soviet embassy, and you can speak proficient Russian, so we don''t need to translate any more?" Klebs is still in shock at the moment. He may never have dreamed that I knew he knew Russian, and even that Hitler committed suicide with his new wife, Eva Braun. Therefore, after a long time of eyes and tongue tied, he finally said with difficulty: "the bodies of the Fuehrer and his wife have been poured with gasoline and burned by us. 180 liters of gasoline is enough to burn them clean." Trekov came out of the communication room, nodded to me, indicating that he had reported to Zhukov about Hitler''s death. He didn''t hear my conversation with Klebs, so as he sat down, he asked, "how did Hitler die?"¡° He took cyanide first and then shot himself in the mouth with a pistol. " Klebs said, looking at me, and continued, "Eva Braun died of cyanide. The pistol beside her had no traces of any use."

 Chapter 1719

    After klebsieu had introduced the cause of Hitler''s death, I continued, "general klebsieu, I want to know where you are today."


    "I hope the two sides can have a truce for one day." Klebs specially stressed: "just like the way I came here, the two sides stopped all hostile actions."


    "I want to ask, what is your destination for a day of armistice?" Trekov interrupted.


    Klebs respectfully replied: "the cessation of hostile military action between the two sides is to facilitate the formation of a new government headed by Donitz. After the establishment of this new government, we will talk with you about the future development of the war. "


    As soon as he finished, I asked, "will the new government surrender unconditionally to us?"


    My words made klebsieu''s face look embarrassed. He hesitated for a long time before he said: "in fact, to stop the hostility between the two sides, we don''t have to surrender. For example, we can take some form of cooperation to improve the relationship between them."


    "General Klebs," I heard here, and immediately interrupted him without hesitation, saying in a strong voice, "we will not accept any negotiation that does not aim at unconditional surrender. As for the cease-fire you said, it''s even more impossible, not to mention one day or one hour. Our troops from several directions will continue to attack the Capitol until they seize it. "


    When Klebs heard me say this, his face turned black. He pleaded with me: "Sir, I wonder if you can convey my opinion to Marshal Zhukov or your supreme commander?"


    "General Klebs," said trekov firmly, "even if we report it, we will get the same answer. We can only negotiate on the issue of Germany''s complete surrender to the countries of the anti Hitler alliance, which includes the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Kingdom. On this issue, we are in complete agreement. "


    Trakov''s words made the muscles on Klebs'' face twitch violently, and the scar on his cheek turned pink. It can be seen that he used his greatest perseverance to recover from his panic. After taking a deep breath, he carefully said: "we think that the Soviet Union will consider this legal new German government, which is suitable and beneficial for both sides. If you take Berlin and destroy us all, then it will be impossible for the Germans to cooperate with you and... "


    Before he had finished, I interrupted him without hesitation: "general Klebs, I want to tell you one thing. We are not here to destroy all the Germans, but to liberate them from the hands of the Communist Party. And the Germans, the honest Germans, are already working with us. By doing so, they can avoid unnecessary bleeding. "


    After I had finished, Klebsiella was silent for a moment, and then said cautiously: "Sir, before the full surrender, we ask you to recognize the new German government, to get in touch with it, and to provide opportunities to interact with your government, which is only good for you."


    No matter what Klebs said, I always adhere to the only principle: that the Germans must immediately lay down their arms and unconditionally surrender to our army.


    Seeing that my attitude was firm, Klebs changed his strategy. After some deliberation, he defended his proposal. He insisted on a temporary truce¡° We can''t agree to your terms. You know, I''m just a negotiator, because I''m not authorized to negotiate surrender. I think it is in your interest to have peace talks with the new German government. We know that the German government is finished! " Speaking of this, he gave a wry smile. "It''s undeniable that your power is very powerful. Not only do you think so, but we also think so."


    Seeing that klebsieu had been pestering us with admitting their new government, I said impatiently, "you should understand, sir. I know what you are going to get from us. You intend to warn us that if we do not recognize the new German government, you will continue to fight. To be exact, it''s unwittingly stubborn resistance, but it can only increase unnecessary sacrifice. I want to ask you directly, "what''s the point of your resistance?"


    Klebs looked at me silently for a few seconds, not knowing what to say, and then said, "Sir, in order to defend our motherland, our officers and men will fight to the last."


    Seeing this moment, Klebsiella still felt that he had a chance to negotiate with us. I couldn''t help laughing. I said, "general, what else do you have? Wink''s troops have been defeated by us. What else can you fight with? " After a short pause, I added, "only unconditional surrender is your final exit. We are waiting for your complete surrender."


    "No!" When I said that, Klebsiella cried at once. Then he sighed and said to me, "Sir, when we surrender completely, we will no longer exist as a government legally."


    The following negotiations are becoming more and more boring. I know very well in my heart that Klebs'' task is to persuade us to recognize his so-called new government. However, without the consent of Goebbels and Baumann, he could not negotiate with us on surrender, which he always insisted on.


    In his talks and in all his actions, I found that he was full of disappointment in this failed negotiation. He still didn''t take the initiative to leave, as if waiting for me to continue to say something. Even in his heart, he hoped that we could detain him and his subordinates so that they would no longer be on the battlefield. Seeing that Klebsiella was staying with us, I felt very uncomfortable, so I tried to drive the other party away: "Klebsiella, your army is surrendering, but you are still here arguing with us whether to recognize the new German government." My words gave Klebs a shock, and then he asked in surprise, "where is it? Where do our troops surrender to you? "¡° It''s everywhere I stressed to Klebs, "except for the Capitol building and several nearby buildings which are still controlled by the German army, the German officers and soldiers in other places laid down their arms and surrendered to us after the exchange of fire with us."¡° General Klebs, there''s one more thing I want to tell you "Himmler has ordered the German troops on the western front to surrender to the British and American allies, opening the way to Berlin for them," trikov interrupted. But you are still fighting foolishly. " Klebs was obviously distressed. He lowered his head and murmured: "no one authorized Himmler to make peace with the British and American armies alone. I am afraid that he opened the way to the allies because he did not know that the head of state had committed suicide¡° But don''t you know that Himmler has designated a place for individual negotiations with our allies through radio? " Klebs shook his head hard and said, "our contact with the outside world was cut off a few days ago. Himmler''s behavior should be a partial measure taken by him out of other considerations. " He was silent for a moment, then added: "if we surrender completely, we will never be able to elect our own new government again." Originally, I wanted to send Klebsiella away, but trikov told me quietly that Marshal Zhukov was in contact with the supreme command, and we had to wait for an answer before we could let Klebsiella go. On a whim, trakov said, "if you can put a phone line in your bunker, we can talk to Goebbels directly."¡° That''s great. That''s great. " When he heard what trakov said, klebsieu was elated: "if you allow me, I can send my adjutant and your signalman to the bunker, and get a telephone line, then you can talk directly with Dr. Goebbels." I personally called Zhukov and asked Krebs to agree that we should install a telephone line in Hitler''s bunker so that Krebs could speak directly to Goebbels. With Zhukov''s permission, the group chief of staff selected two signalmen to follow the German colonel and interpreter to Hitler''s bunker. When it was getting dark, major general Pronin, the military commissar, lieutenant general duhanov, the first deputy commander, Col. tolkonuk, the combat director, Col. gradky, the intelligence director, Lt. madusov, the deputy director, and Capt. kribel, the interpreter, came to our negotiation room. Trekov raised his hand, looked at his watch, and said to Klebsiella with a smile, "general Klebsiella, I don''t know if you''d like to have dinner with us?" When he heard what trakov said, Krebs quickly got up from his seat, bowed slightly, and politely replied, "general trakov, it''s my pleasure to have dinner with you." We came to the next room, where the army leaders had dinner. As soon as we sat down, soldiers brought us hot tea, bread, sausage and soup. In the face of the food in front of us, Klebs did not refuse, but ate it like we did. But I accidentally found that his hands were shaking slightly when he picked up the cup to drink tea. Although our negotiations reached a deadlock, trakov left the room from time to time to take care of the work of the headquarters, and informed the troops: first, the artillery troops were ready to continue the attack; The scouts monitored the enemy and its reserves and supplies; The units were replenished with ammunition and fuel; Engineers built and reinforced the ferries on the canal. Commanders at all levels of the group army have been clearly informed that although the negotiations are progressing normally, all units should still be ready to attack and begin to attack as soon as they receive orders.

 Chapter 1720

    Zhukov told me to wait for the final news from Moscow, and general klebsieu, who came to negotiate on behalf of the German army, could not leave the headquarters without our definite reply.


    In this long and awkward night, in order to pass the boring time, we had a chat with Klebs. He looked at trakov and asked, "general trakov, at the battle of Stalingrad, you were like a commander in the army, weren''t you?"


    "No," said trakov, with a look of displeasure as he saw that the other party had mistaken his position. "I was already the commander of the group army at that time. It was the 62nd army under my command that blocked the crazy attack of the 6th army of Paulus. "


    Klebsieu nodded and said, "I know that. I read the battle report of Stalingrad and the report of Marshal Manstein to the Fuehrer. Our troops have reached the Volga River in several places, but they just can''t wipe you out or drive you across the river. "


    After his words, there was a long silence in the room.


    To break the silence, I got up and poured a cup of tea for Klebs. After thanking me, he said, "general oshanina, I heard about you for the first time during the battle of Stalingrad. A division under your command sticks to the mamayev post on the Volga River, turning this commanding height into an insurmountable gate, making our troops unable to move forward. I sometimes think that if we had captured this highland, maybe the outcome of the battle of Stalingrad would have been rewritten. "


    Although I was a little complacent when I heard from Klebsiella that I was proud of his achievements, when I heard his assumption, I said with a straight face: "general Klebsiella, even if your troops occupy the mamayev post, our troops will take it back. Every one of our soldiers knows what it means to stick to the city named after the Supreme Commander himself, so they will stick to the city even if they sacrifice their lives. "


    After I had finished, Klebs looked at me for a long time, finally nodded and said, "general o''shanina, maybe you are right. You became famous in the first World War of Stalingrad, so that many of our generals have a headache when they hear your name. No one wants to be your opponent. Far from it, before the fall of Poznan, many of our soldiers stopped resisting because of your words, laid down their arms and surrendered to you. "


    To be praised by the enemy is probably the greatest affirmation of a person. I was just about to say thanks to Klebsiella when I heard the high-frequency telephone on the table ring. I guessed that it might be Zhukov. I quickly got up and went to pick up the phone.


    Zhukov said in a hurry on the phone: "Rita, the general who came to you for negotiation, is he carrying some documents?"


    "Yes, comrade marshal." I looked at Klebs, who was sitting at the table in a daze, and said with certainty: "in addition to a letter of authorization signed by Goebbels himself, there are also two documents: one is the letter of authorization for negotiation with the supreme command of our country, which was signed by Baumann on March 8, 1945; the other is the letter of authorization for negotiation with the supreme command of our country, which was signed by Baumann on March 8, 1945; The other is Hitler''s will, with a list of members of the new German government and the supreme headquarters of the German armed forces. This document was signed by Hitler and the witnesses, and the date is: March 7, 1945, 16 o''clock. "


    After hearing this, Zhukov immediately told me, "Rita, send someone to send these three documents to my headquarters immediately."


    After I put down the phone, I said to trakov, "general trakov, marshal ordered us to immediately send the three documents that general Klebs had brought to his front command." Then I turned to Klebsiella and asked, "Sir, will you object?"


    "General o''shanina," said Klebsiella politely at once, listening to my question, "you can dispose of these three documents at will."


    As soon as someone sent the papers away, bozarsky came in from the outside. He came to trakov, leaned down and whispered in his ear. Trekov nodded and then said to me, "Rita, you''ll come outside with me except for something urgent."


    After we had bozarsky stay with Klebs, we went out to the room. I asked trekov curiously, "general trekov, what''s the matter?"


    "It''s a call from the 28th army commander of the guards, general Ralph." trekov may be worried that klebsieu in the inner room heard it, so he deliberately lowered his voice: "it''s said that the remaining German troops stationed in tyre garden district are ready to surrender to us and let me send representatives to negotiate. As a result, our representative just arrived at the designated position with the white flag, but he was shot by machine gun, and major bershenev, who was in charge of contacting, was seriously injured. "


    With these words, trekov went to the desk where he put the phone, picked up the phone and said, "Ralph? I''m trekov. Tell me what''s going on? "


    "Comrades commander," said leirov in a loud voice at the other end of the phone, "our representative was shot by the machine gun of the two German representatives, and the major was seriously injured. The other representative was killed and injured."


    I was a little puzzled by Ralph''s report. I thought it was a complete trap for the enemy to cheat us into surrender and then shoot our military negotiators with machine guns. But at the moment, it sounds like something else.


    Trekov was also puzzled and asked: "Comrade Ralph, what''s the matter? I can understand that the Germans shot at our representatives, but why did they shoot at their own representatives at the same time?"


    "Comrade commander," leirov continued to report, "it is now clear that the Berlin Garrison has split. Some officers and men are ready to surrender, while the other arrogant elements not only do not surrender themselves, but also use force to prevent others from surrender. That''s why the representatives of both sides were shot by machine guns at the negotiation site. " Finally, he said, "Comrade commander, please allow us to launch more violent raids as soon as possible to smash the final resistance of the enemy. Perhaps under our strong offensive, those German troops who are ready to surrender will be able to lay down their weapons as soon as possible. "


    "I see." Although trakov was more worried than anyone else, he could not easily order the troops to attack before he got the final order from the headquarters of the front army: "no one is allowed to attack the enemy without my order. Do you understand me?"


    For such a severe order of trakov, Ralph could only reluctantly promise: "yes, comrade commander, I will obey your order, let the troops continue to maintain the status quo, and do not attack the enemy until I get the order of attack."


    As soon as the call over here was over, bozarsky called us at the door: "the call from the headquarters of the front army."


    I ran into the back room to answer the phone call from Zhukov. After receiving instructions from the supreme command, Zhukov said to me, "Rita, I ask you to find out as soon as possible about Himmler, where ribentrop is, who is now the chief of general staff of the German army, and where is Hitler''s body?"


    After Zhukov finished, I immediately reported to him what I learned from Klebsiella: "according to general Klebsiella, the bodies of Hitler and his newly married wife have been splashed with gasoline and burned in the crater outside the bunker door."


    After listening to me patiently, Zhukov said in a suspicious tone: "we have only heard about Hitler''s suicide, but we can''t explain the truth of this information because we can''t see people alive or dead. Well, you tell klebsieu to announce Hitler''s death and will to the German army, who is still fighting in Berlin. "


    I didn''t expect that it was such a simple request, but Klebsiella was trying to get in the way. He obstinately said, "I''m sorry, general oshanina, I didn''t get such authorization. My mission is just to hope that you will recognize the new German government and start formal negotiations with us. "


    After thinking about it, I thought I should change my mind, so I said to Klebs, "general Klebs, if you want us to recognize the new German government, the best way out is to lay down our arms and surrender."


    "Surrender completely?" Klebs asked tentatively.


    "Yes, surrender completely." I nodded my head and said with certainty, "only after you surrender completely will we have a dialogue with members of this new German government."


    After listening to me, Klebs shook his head in denial: "I''m sorry, general oshanina. I have no right to declare surrender. In this way, our government will be wiped out... "He may be in a state of confusion. He used German and Russian as a mixture when he spoke. Fortunately, an interpreter translated his words in time.


    Our negotiations are deadlocked, because no matter what we say, klebsieu insists on recognizing their new German government first, otherwise the negotiations cannot continue. When it comes to unconditional surrender, he says he is not authorized.


    If, according to my character, the negotiations are in such a deadlock, the best way is to let Klebs go back to Hitler''s bunker, and we will launch a new attack until the stubborn elements are completely eliminated.


    When the phone rang, Zhukov told me that the Supreme Command had made a final decision to surrender the German army or the Berlin garrison. If they still refuse to surrender, we will launch a new attack in an hour.


    After I told Klebsiella of the Supreme Command''s reply, I patiently asked them to surrender unconditionally. But Klebsiella screamed, "I have no such authorization. Although we know that if we continue to fight, we will be completely annihilated, Berlin will not surrender. Goebbels will not agree to surrender until he gets Donitz''s permission... "


    Just then, the German interpreter who went back to the bunker with the messenger yesterday to pull the telephone line came back. He reported excitedly to Klebs: "Sir, on our way to the bunker, we were shot by our own men in Prince Albrecht street, and the Russian officer who was pulling the telephone line was killed. Colonel duffwenger returned to the bunker alone, ready to find our messenger to connect the telephone line there, but he hasn''t come back yet. In order not to worry you, I''ll come back first. The Russians who stayed there said that if they saw the colonel, they would send someone to escort him back here safely. "


    "Go back at once, and make sure the Colonel returns safely," Klebs ordered, and asked the interpreter, "who fired?"


    The translator shrugged his shoulders and said, "maybe it''s a sniper. The Russian officer was killed on the spot. It''s really a pity... "


    We looked for Prince Albrecht Street on the map and looked at it carefully¡° It''s right here, next to the exzelsio hotel. " The translator saw several of us looking at the map, pointed to the location of the accident and said to us, "our snipers are shooting at us here. In this whole area, the Russians haven''t fired a shot." Trikov immediately picked up his pen, marked three blocks on the map, and ordered chief of staff Vladimirov to call the troops stationed there to find out what had happened. After a while, Vladimirov reported to us: "Comrade commander, I have contacted a battalion command post stationed there. They said: the German Colonel has safely returned to the German side, but the German side''s telephone has not been laid yet." It is said that the German Colonel has not come back, and the telephone line of the German side in his charge has not been laid. I think we should send the German interpreter immediately, so as to avoid any misunderstanding because of the language barrier. So I waved to the translator and said, "OK, Mr. translator, go back and wait for your colonel." But after listening to my words, the translator stood still. After a glance at Klebsiella, he asked me carefully, "Sir, can I have a trumpet and a white flag?" I winked at Vladimirov, who was standing by. He immediately picked up the translation from the table by the wall and handed it to him. The translator took the things, raised his hand to us, gave us a military salute, turned around and strode out. At daybreak, Colonel Duffing, the German interpreter and our surviving signalmen returned to the headquarters. After the messenger raised his hand to salute, he told us with indignation: "report, comrade general, the telephone line to Hitler''s bunker has been connected!" Colonel duffwenger was also reporting something to Klebsiella. Although I didn''t understand their Russian, I could guess that it must have something to do with this telephone line that had been set up through a lot of hardships. Since the telephone line with Hitler''s bunker has been set up, I immediately called Zhukov and reported to him, "marshal, the special line with Hitler''s bunker has been set up. Do you have any latest instructions?"

 Chapter 1721

    After learning that we had established telephone contact with the leaders of Hitler''s bunker, Zhukov immediately put forward a series of clauses to make Germany surrender.


    While listening to what I said, Klebs wrote down all the terms we proposed in his notebook. After all this, he pointed to the phone that had just been brought in by the signalman and asked carefully, "can I use this phone to contact Dr. Goebbels and pass on all the terms you proposed to him?"


    "Certainly, general Klebs." When I heard him say this, I replied very simply, "please help yourself. We are anxious to know what Goebbels'' reply is." With that, I winked at the signalman standing by and signaled him to get through to Hitler''s bunker immediately.


    Klebs took the phone from the signalman and began to speak into the microphone. Although he spoke Russian, our translator, Captain Kleiber, translated for us faithfully: "he asked the other party to announce Himmler''s betrayal on the radio... He is reading the terms we proposed: 1. Surrender of the Berlin City guard; 2; 2. All capitulators must surrender their weapons; 3. To ensure the life safety of all capitulators.... "


    After Klebs finished calling, I knew from the solemn expression on his face that Goebbels didn''t give him a satisfactory answer, but I still asked, "general Klebs, I don''t know how Goebbels answered you?"


    Klebs said with a bitter smile: "Dr. Goebbels said with a strong attitude: he will never surrender, because once he surrenders, the German people will lose everything. At this tragic moment in Germany, he is determined to follow the example of the head of state. He asked me to tell you that we would never surrender. "


    Although I have known for a long time that Goebbels will never surrender, I still feel a little disappointed when I hear klebsieu''s report, because after the failure of this negotiation, many important figures of the Communist Party chose to commit suicide. In other words, general klebsieu, who was standing in front of me at the moment, finally shot himself in the temple and became a martyr.


    I know that as long as Klebs returns to Hitler''s bunker, he will face the fate of suicide. I am considering whether to persuade him to give up the idea of suicide. However, I heard trakov say: "general Klebs, since you do not agree to surrender, do not want to stop the destruction of Berlin, and do not want to end the unnecessary sacrifice of both sides, including the peaceful residents. Then the negotiation between us can only end in failure. "


    Klebs said nothing, but nodded to us, took the cap on the table, put it on his head, and left the room with his adjutant and interpreter.


    "These diehards." After klebsieu''s back disappeared from the door, trakov gritted his teeth and said, "we have used fake negotiations to delay our precious time. I think we should immediately give orders to the troops, so as to completely seize the parliament building today and smash the resistance will of the Berlin city defense forces."


    When trakov told Vladimirov to let the troops in front of him speed up the attack, Klebsiella unexpectedly appeared at the door. Seeing the return of klebsieus, I was a little surprised and asked, "Sir, how did you come back? Did Goebbels change his mind?"


    "No, general oshanina." "I forgot to take my gloves," he said apologetically as he came up to us


    I looked at the place where Klebs had just sat, and there was a pair of white gloves on the chair. Klebs picked up his gloves and said to us with some embarrassment, "you see, it''s really left here. I''m sorry to disturb you. Goodbye. " With that, he gave us a military salute, turned around and walked out of the room slowly.


    Looking at each other''s back, trakov whispered: "hell, how could he be so careless that he would forget his gloves."


    But in my heart, there was another idea. Maybe Klebs knew that he would die if he went back, so when he left here, he seemed a little restless, otherwise he would not forget his gloves.


    Bozarsky was a little frustrated when he saw that trakov ordered the troops to speed up the attack. He could not help asking anxiously, "Comrade commander, give our artillery some tasks. We will certainly crush the German resistance with intensive artillery fire."


    "Our troops are fighting the enemy floor by floor and room by room in the Capitol building." For bozarsky''s request, trakov did not hesitate to deny: "if we bombard the Capitol at this time, the artillery may hurt our own people."


    While pozalski was looking disappointed, I suddenly heard Vladimirov, the chief of staff, walking out, say in surprise, "general Klebs, why are you back?"


    I looked at the door, and there was Klebsiella standing awkwardly at the door. When he heard Vladimirov''s question, he stammered, "when I just went out, I found my... My briefcase... Missing... So I came back to look for it!"


    Klebs forgot his briefcase?! When I heard him say that, I immediately bent down and looked on the floor to see if he had put his briefcase on the chair he was sitting in. I didn''t expect to hear trakov say, "general klebsieu, what briefcase? When you came, I didn''t look at your briefcase at all. "


    "Yes, I definitely did." "The papers I gave you came out of the briefcase," Klebs replied, somewhat flustered¡° Don''t look for it, Rita Trekov might have seen me bending over to help klebsieu find his briefcase. He stopped me and said to klebsieu, "general klebsieu, I remember very well that you took the three documents out of your pocket. You didn''t have any briefcase with you." I sat up straight and continued to listen to the conversation between trakov and Klebs. Klebsieu insisted: "general trakov, you must be mistaken. I carry my briefcase with me wherever I go. Maybe it was because I stayed up late yesterday that I couldn''t concentrate. So when I left, I forgot my briefcase. " When Klebs said this, there was a flash of confusion in his eyes, but I caught him. When I saw him arguing with trakov about whether he was carrying a briefcase, I felt like a mirror in my heart. He must have known that he would die if he went back, so he wanted to stay. But it would hurt his military honor to ask us directly, so he had to find other reasons to prevaricate. Maybe he would like us to detain him in a rage, so that he would not have to go back to Hitler''s bunker. I looked at the door, and saw that Klebsiella''s adjutant, Colonel duffunger, and the interpreter were standing at the door. I stood up, waved to them, and said aloud, "Mr. Colonel, and the interpreter, please come to me." As soon as I opened my mouth, the whole room fell into silence. Klebsieu, who was arguing with trakov, also listened and cast a curious look at me, trying to find out what I asked his adjutant to do. When Colonel duffunger came to my face, I stood up and said in a calm voice, "Mr. Colonel, please go back with the interpreter. Klebs is determined to stay."¡° Why? " After listening to the translator''s words, Colonel Duffing immediately opened his eyes and looked at me fiercely and asked, "even if the negotiation between the two sides breaks down, you can''t detain our general." I waited for him to get angry and said with a smile, "no one has detained your general. But after a fierce negotiation all night, he had a heart attack because he was so emotional that he was giving first aid in our field hospital. Please go back and tell Dr. Goebbels about this unfortunate incident Klebsiella''s reaction was not slow either. Listen to me, he quickly sat down in the chair beside him, covered his chest with his right hand, and pretended to be in pain. Seeing that Klebsiella was so cooperative, I continued to say to dufflebenger, "Captain, do you see that? General Klebs is in a terrible condition and needs to be sent to the hospital immediately Colonel Duffing took a look at his officer, then nodded slowly and said to me, "I see, sir. I will report the chief of general staff''s condition to Dr. Goebbels." With that, he raised his hand to salute us, and then left the headquarters with the interpreter. Seeing his adjutant and interpreter leave, Klebs sat up straight, nodded to me and said with a feeling, "thank you, general o''shanina. I will always remember what you have done to me." Although I left Klebsiella on my own initiative, I couldn''t leave him in this headquarters. So I got up and went to the high-frequency telephone. I called Zhukov and told him about my leaving Klebsiella. After hearing this, Zhukov was very surprised, and then complained about me and said, "Rita, you are so rash. How can you leave Klebsiella at will? We should let him go back and give a detailed report on our negotiation process to Goebbels to see if it will make the other side change their mind and order the troops to stop this meaningless resistance. "¡° "Marshal," when Zhukov heard that he was still under the illusion of Goebbels'' surrender, I immediately reminded him, "I don''t think that in any case, a rebel leader like Goebbels will take the initiative to surrender to our army. Therefore, even if general Klebs goes back, it won''t make any difference. On the contrary, he may have to follow Goebbels and die for Hitler. "¡° What''s the use of his staying? " Zhukov asked after a moment of silence¡° If we ask him to call on the Berlin City guard at the right time to stop resisting, lay down their arms and surrender to our army, then we can reduce a lot of unnecessary bloodshed. " I was deeply afraid of Zhukov''s opposition, so I said in a positive tone, "I believe he will cooperate with us." When Zhukov saw that I had already executed before I played, he knew that it was useless to blame me any more. He could only sigh and say, "OK, I see. You''ll send Klebsiella to the front command immediately. "

 Chapter 1722

    After seeing klebsieus off and learning that Colonel duffweng and the interpreter had returned to Hitler''s bunker successfully, the 8th group army of the guards stopped fighting for almost a day and started fighting again.


    At one o''clock in the afternoon, trakov received a call from the 28th army headquarters. General reirov reported to trikov on the phone: "Comrade commander, the radio station of the 79th division of Jinwei received the German army''s clear language call in Russian."


    "What did they say?" he asked


    "The Germans said that they were from the 56th tank army. They asked us to send representatives to the Potsdam bridge at 2 p.m. Berlin time to continue the negotiation. The identification mark was a white flag. They are waiting for our reply


    Trekov turned to me and looked at me for advice. After only a moment''s reflection, I said decisively to him, "general trakov, although our negotiations with the German command ended in failure. But there are still a lot of people in the German army who understand that they realize that there is no hope to continue fighting, so they hope to end this meaningless bloody war in a decent way. "


    After I finished, trakov nodded slightly, then said to the microphone, "general Ralph, the cease-fire is limited to the area where the negotiators of both sides meet. Please tell the 56th German tank command that the life safety of the negotiators of the other side will be protected by our army at the designated time and place. "


    After putting down the phone, trakov yelled at Vladimirov: "chief of staff, call commander matusov, the operational staff officer, and captain Kleiber, the interpreter. I have important tasks to give them."


    After a little effort, the two officers came in from the outside. Trikov got up and walked up to them. He said to matusov solemnly, "Comrade commander, I have an important task for you to complete now."


    After listening to what trakov said, matusov was surprised. He couldn''t help interrupting and asked, "do you want me to command the troops to occupy the Capitol?"


    "It''s up to other commanders to occupy the Capitol." Trekov said with a smile, "I called you here for something else."


    It was said that the task given to him by trakov was not to command the troops to occupy the Capitol building. Matusov''s face was disappointed. I quickly went over and said to matusov, "Comrade commander, the task given to you by general trakov is also very arduous. As a representative of the group army headquarters, you will go to Potsdam bridge to negotiate with the representatives of the 56th German tank army and discuss with them about surrender."


    "Comrade commander, I remind you to pay attention." Seeing that matusov was a little absent-minded, trikov immediately reminded him: "in the negotiations you are going to have, you should not have any other conditional negotiations except to ask them to lay down their arms immediately and surrender unconditionally to our army. Do you understand? "


    "I see." Matusov finally realized what an important and glorious task trakov had given him. He quickly and straightly replied: "I will follow your order and inform them that they must immediately lay down their arms and surrender unconditionally to our army when negotiating with the German army."


    I knew that such a negotiation would not end in a short time, so I said hello to trekov and went to the next room to have a rest. After less than an hour''s sleep, he was woken up by someone sent by trakov.


    As soon as I entered the headquarters, trikov reported to me, "Rita, Lieutenant Colonel matusov called from the 47th division headquarters of the guards, saying that they had met a representative from the 56th German tank army at Potsdam bridge. He was in charge of the negotiation as chief of staff of the 56th German tank army, who had just left this morning."


    From the expression on trakov''s face, I knew that the negotiation was much smoother than ours. I asked curiously, "what was the result of the negotiation? Did the Germans agree to surrender?"


    "Yes, the Germans have agreed to surrender." Trikov nodded his head and said excitedly: "Colonel dufferwinger said that they were fully entrusted by the commander and major general of artillery, Wei Delin, to announce to the Soviet command the decision that general Wei Delin had made regarding the cessation of resistance and the surrender of the units of the 56th tank army. Dufvinger also showed lieutenant colonel matusov a document, which was the power of attorney given to him by general weidlin. "


    After listening, I asked, "how long will it take for the Germans to begin to surrender to our army?"


    "According to Colonel Duffing, they need three to four hours." "I can''t forget that Goebbels once ordered to open fire on all those who tried to surrender to our army, so they planned to let the troops lay down their weapons after dark and transfer all the personnel and equipment of the troops to our army in an organized way," he told me


    "General trakov, how did you reply?" As soon as he finished, I asked.


    "I asked lieutenant colonel matusov to inform Colonel Duffing that their surrender had been accepted by our army." "I asked him to go back to the German command and report this to general weidlin," he replied


    As soon as the surrender of the 56th tank army was negotiated, trakov received a phone call and reported to him, "Comrade commander, a delegation sent by Goebbels has arrived in our defense area and said that it is going to negotiate surrender."


    When I heard this, I couldn''t help feeling to myself that the tree fell and the monkeys scattered. As soon as Hitler died, the Germans began to lose their will to resist and sent representatives one after another to discuss surrender negotiations with us. This time, there were still three representatives, but they were all dressed in casual clothes. As for the soldiers with white flags who escorted them, they were blocked by our soldiers long before they entered our defense area. One of them, a middle-aged man in a grey woollen coat and a top hat, came up to us, took off his hat with his right hand, put it on his chest, bowed to trekov and me, and said respectfully in Russian: "two generals, please allow me to introduce myself. I''m heinstov, the government consultant of the German propaganda department, He was appointed by Dr. Hans Friedrich, the new propaganda minister, to negotiate with your army on surrender. " After that, he took a letter out of his pocket and came up to us. After a moment''s hesitation, he handed it to trikov: "Mr. general, this is a letter from Dr. Fritch." When trakov started to read the letter, not only did I look at the contents with my head tilted, but even Vladimirov, pozharsky and weinroub were staring at the contents from behind him. The letter is written in Russian. Although there are some grammatical errors, I can still understand the meaning of the above expression: "as general Klebs told you, Hitler, the former Prime Minister of the Empire, has ascended to heaven. Dr. Goebbels is no longer here. I, as one of the survivors, ask you to put Berlin under your own protection. My name is well known, Dr. Fritch, Minister of publicity. " I expected the death of Goebbels. Otherwise, the new propaganda minister, Frisch, would not have sent new negotiators just a few hours later. Thinking of Goebbels'' six innocent and lovely children, I can''t help asking hynasdorf, who is still standing in front of us: "Mr. hynasdorf, I once heard general Klebs say that Goebbels'' children are also in Hitler''s bunker. How are they now?"¡° Your excellency Heinersdorf looked at me and said respectfully, "they are all dead. They have gone with their parents, the Goebbels, following the German head of state."¡° How did they die? " After reading the letter, trikov, hearing my conversation with heinstoff, couldn''t help asking, "did you kill him?"¡° No, no, general trakov, where do you think you are? How could it be us? " Hainasdorf quickly waved his hand and answered in a flurried way: "we are not butchers and executioners. How can we lay our hands on the innocent and lovely children? It''s the wife of Goebbels. She said that the children are the children of Goebbels. She absolutely let them live and be caught by you. Then she put highly toxic drugs in the water they drank... "Animals, they are animals." When trikov heard this, he raised his leg and kicked over an empty chair beside him. He cursed: "even his own children are not let go." I took a look at the angry trakov, and then asked hynasdorf, "where are the children''s bodies? Left in the bunker, or burned with the bodies of the Goebbels? "¡° It''s still in the bunker, of course Hainasdorf looked at me and nervously replied, "after the armistice agreement is reached, we will bury the children''s bodies properly."¡° Comrade commander, "just then, deputy commander duhanov came out of the communication room, went to trakov''s side, and reported to him," commander of the 47th division of Jinwei, Colonel shemchenko, reported that commander of the 56th German tank army, major general of artillery weidelin, and two generals were going to cross our defense line and come to the headquarters for formal surrender negotiations. " I know that weidlin was appointed as the commander of Berlin city defense by Hitler not long ago. Seeing that trakov was still in the fire, he ordered duhanov to "general duhanov, please call back Colonel shemchenko and ask him to escort general weidlin to us personally." Just as duhanov was about to leave, I suddenly thought of another thing. I stopped him and asked, "general duhanov, did you report their surrender to Goebbels?"¡° No Duhanov shook his head and said, "general weidlin said that the surrender was his own decision, which he did not report to Goebbels."

 Chapter 1723

    While waiting for weidlin to arrive, I called Zhukov and reported to him the new German propaganda minister Friedrich, the Berlin city defense commander weidlin''s declaration of surrender, and the suicide of the Goebbels one by one.


    "Where''s Bowman?" Hitler died, Goebbels also died, and the new German head of state dennitz has not yet taken office. Now the most powerful person in Berlin is the party minister Baumann. Zhukov is eager to know whether the negotiation has been authorized by Baumann, so as to avoid the situation that the negotiation will come to an end again¡° Has the delegation sent by frich been authorized by him? "


    "Marshal," even if I didn''t ask the negotiators, I knew the real situation of Bowman at the moment, so I answered without hesitation, "Bowman has detonated a grenade at home and killed himself. He and Goebbels'' family are dead."


    Zhukov was silent for a moment, then asked, "what are you going to ask the representatives of Frisch to do?"


    "I''m going to have Frisch speak on the radio and announce the death of Hitler and Goebbels to all the Germans." I cautiously stated the plan I had considered for a long time: "I am telling them that our general command has accepted their unconditional surrender and put Berlin and all its Garrison under our protection."


    "You have a good idea, Rita." Zhukov was very interested in my plan, but he still had concerns: "how can you guarantee that Dr. Frisch''s speech to the German people on the radio meets our requirements?"


    "You can rest assured, marshal." As for Zhukov''s worries, I assured him: "we will send someone to supervise them to ensure that the speech delivered by Dr. Frisch fully meets our requirements."


    "Good." Zhukov saw that I had taken all the considerations into consideration. After praising me, he went on to say, "now I''ll talk about the surrender clause that Germany is required to implement..."


    I put down the phone, went back to the negotiators and said to them, "gentlemen, I now announce to you the terms proposed by Marshal Zhukov:


    First, the Soviet command accepted Berlin''s surrender and ordered the cessation of military operations.


    Secondly, all existing German Civil and military authorities should declare to all soldiers, officers and residents that all military materials, buildings, public facilities and things of great value should be properly maintained and not be destroyed or destroyed.


    Thirdly, please, Mr. heinsdorf, come with our officers to Dr. Hans Friedrich''s office, take him to the radio to give a speech, and then come back here.


    Fourthly, I would like to emphasize once again that we will ensure the personal safety of soldiers, officers, generals and residents, and provide medical aid to the wounded as far as possible.


    Fifth, we ask the German side not to carry out any provocative actions, such as shooting or other destructive activities, otherwise, our army will be forced to take counter-measures. "


    After listening to the terms I announced, hynasdorf and the two assistants sitting on the left and right murmured a few words in a low voice, looked up and said cautiously, "Sir, I ask you to send special personnel to protect our propaganda department personnel."


    In the face of such a fear of death, I gave a faint smile, and then said: "before our troops entered Berlin, they had given orders to the commanders and fighters that they were not allowed to hurt the German officers and soldiers who had laid down their arms and surrendered to our army, so as to ensure their personal safety."


    Seeing that heinersdorf was relieved, I added: "however, as the" people''s stormtroopers "organized by Hitler were all dressed in civilian clothes, we could not accurately judge who was coerced and who was a diehard * * element. In order to ensure the safety of our army''s commanders and fighters, as long as we saw the people in civilian clothes carrying offensive weapons, We will all kill them without mercy. "


    Hainasdorf was startled by what I said. He quickly took out a brand-new browning pistol from his pocket and put it on the table. At the same time, he said in a flurried way: "this is my weapon for self-defense, but since you said that you can send someone to protect our personal safety, I don''t think this pistol can be used. I''d better leave it to you as a souvenir."


    After hainasdorf handed over his weapons, he turned to his deputy and asked, "do you have any weapons? Give them all, so that they won''t get into unnecessary trouble. " The two deputies shook their heads and said they were not carrying any weapons.


    I asked the staff to put away the pistol that hynasdorf had put on the table, and I whispered to trakov about the next steps. After hearing this, he picked up a phone in front of him and said to the receiver, "let Colonel vaigachev and his interpreter, Brigadier sergeant rulaviov, come to me."


    A few minutes later, Colonel vaigachev in a brand-new military coat and the translator brigadier general zhulavliaofu appeared in our headquarters. Trikov went up to them and looked them over carefully. He looked at vaigachev and said, "Colonel, I''ll give you a glorious and arduous task now." He leaned half sideways, nodded at heinersdorf, and continued, "you and heinersdorf go to Dr. Hans Fritch. In the name of the new German government, Friedrich will order the army to surrender and hand over equipment and technical weapons to our army in an orderly manner. Let Frisch make a radio announcement that the Soviet command has accepted their surrender and has placed Berlin and all its garrison forces under its own protection. You have to make sure that Frisch gets to our radio station smoothly and supervise his speech on all the points I have said. After the speech, Fritch and his colleagues should come back here, and we will discuss the next step. Do you understand? "


    Vaigachev looked at hynasdorf, then nodded his head and replied, "I see, comrade commander, I will complete the task you have given me."


    Just as waigachev and henersdorf are about to leave, they unexpectedly meet the group of weidelin who just came in from the outside.


    The middle-sized, somewhat old wadrin gave each other a squint and muttered something in German. The interpreter standing behind us told us: "he said, it should have been done so long ago!"


    After listening to the translation, trakov''s face became cheerful. He turned to me and said, "it seems that all the Germans, except a few diehards, think it''s time to stop this meaningless war."


    After shaking hands with the approaching weidelin, trikov politely asked, "general weidelin, is the city defense forces in Berlin under your command?"


    "Yes Wei Delin, an old man, replied with a straight back and a blank face.


    "What about the whole Berlin garrison?" "Can you give them orders?" trekov continued


    Wei Delin shook his head and said, "I gave orders to all the troops last night to resist to the end, but today I gave them orders to stop resisting. I don''t know how many people will obey my orders." When he said this, he was silent for a moment. He pointed to the map on the table and continued, "I have no right to command the remnant SS stationed here. Unless Himmler or general Klebs, chief of the general staff, gives them orders to surrender. "


    "Himmler is not in Berlin and we can''t get in touch with him." As soon as wadrin finished, I immediately went on to say, "but general Klebs is visiting us. You can issue a joint statement urging the German forces in Berlin to stop resisting, lay down their arms and surrender to us."


    "What, general Klebs is with you?" When Wei Delin heard me say this, he suddenly widened his eyes and asked in an unbelievable voice, "how is this possible?"


    "Nothing is impossible, general wadrin." In order to leave some dignity for Klebsiella, I said to weidlin tactfully: "general Klebsiella, as the plenipotentiary representative of Goebbels, has come to us to negotiate a cease-fire. Because Goebbels refused to allow the troops to lay down their arms and surrender, our negotiations broke down. General klebsieu, however, because of his emotional excitement and slight physical discomfort, stayed with us for cultivation. "


    When he heard that Klebsiella was staying here for treatment, the expression on weidlin''s face became relaxed: "if general Klebsiella can appear, I''d be very happy to work with him to draft an order for the garrison to surrender completely."


    By the time klebsieus arrived from Zhukov, the order drafted by weidlin had been completed. In order to show his sincerity, Klebs read it to us: "on March 8, 1945, the head of state ended his life and left behind all those who were loyal to him. According to the order of the head of state: your German soldiers loyal to the head of state should continue to fight for Berlin. Although they have run out of ammunition and food, it is meaningless to continue to resist, they should continue to fight for holding on to Berlin. Now I declare a cease-fire, because every hour of your continued resistance will prolong the suffering of the people of Berlin and our wounded. After consultation with the Soviet command, I ask you to stop the resistance immediately. Major general Wei Delin, former commander of the Berlin garrison. "


    After reading, Klebs also took up his pen and signed his name on the back: General Klebs, chief of general staff of the German army. After the signing, he handed me the command, which was somewhat illogical, and said, "general oshanina, as long as you play this surrender command, I believe the resistance in Berlin will be completely over!"


    I took the surrender order from Klebs, then shook hands with him and weidlin one by one, and said sincerely: "two generals, what you have done today has saved Germany from the brink of destruction. I believe history will remember you, and the German people will remember you!"


    After arranging for klebsields to go to the next empty room to have a rest, I called Zhukov, reported the surrender order, and then asked him, "Comrade marshal, what shall we do next? Let the radio in Berlin broadcast this surrender order? "


    "Radio alone is not enough. Maybe many German soldiers who are fighting can''t listen to the radio." After hearing this, Zhukov immediately added: "I will ask the Political Department of the front army to dispatch radio cars to broadcast along the street the surrender signed by Klebsiella and weidlin, so as to make sure that everyone can hear it."


    Not long after we sent the original letter of surrender to the headquarters of the front army, the announcement broadcast by the radio car came out of the window. Although I didn''t understand German, I knew very well that they were playing the armistice order of Klebs and weidlin repeatedly, calling on those German officers and men who were still fighting hard to lay down their arms and surrender.


    On the morning of March 10, the window suddenly became quiet. I couldn''t hear the explosion I had been used to, or even the sporadic gunfire. Dukhanov, deputy commander of the group army, came in from the outside and reported to me and trikov, "Comrade commander, it has been made clear that the three soldiers of the 150th division of the 79th infantry army of the third assault group army who planted the red flag on the top floor of the Capitol building..."


    When I heard this, I couldn''t help feeling that the correction power of history was so powerful. Although trakov''s troops took the lead in rushing into the parliament building, the soldiers who finally put the red flag on the roof were still under general Kuznetsov. I heard plonin sighing in a low voice, regretting that his troops did not first put the red flag on the top floor of the parliament building, so I began to persuade him: "comrades of the military commissar, don''t sigh. Although they are not the commanders and fighters of the 8th group army of the close guard, they put the red flag on the top of the building. After all, it is our commanders and fighters of the first front army of Belarus who have completed this action that is enough to go down in history." After a pause, I continued, "we''re lucky compared with marshal konev''s troops. According to the attack area designated for them by the supreme command, they can only advance to the zoo in the southwest of tyre garden at most, and they have to turn around and attack other areas. " After watching the scenery outside for a while, trikov, standing in front of the window, suddenly turned to us and said, "comrades commander, we have won. We have finally defeated the Communist aggressors. Are you interested in going to the street with me?" Before I could answer, the high-frequency telephone to the headquarters of the front army rang. A staff officer standing nearby picked up the phone and listened for a moment, then handed me the phone and said respectfully, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, your phone." As soon as I got close to my ear, I heard Zhukov''s voice coming out: "it''s over, Rita. It''s all over. The defenders in Berlin are surrendering to our troops in all areas. We have won!" Perhaps he was too excited. Zhukov''s voice suddenly stopped. After a long time, I heard him continue to say: "the only thing disappointing now is that he has not been able to capture Hitler alive. It would be a great pleasure if I could catch that guy alive, but I can''t live up to my promise of catching Hitler alive a few years ago. " When Zhukov said this, he sighed involuntarily and changed the topic: "I plan to go to the Capitol in person and celebrate the victory with our commanders and fighters. Rita, you call them all up and let''s celebrate this great victory